Shenali D Waduge

Isn’t it puzzling to see scores of Tamils living in Canada, UK, Europe & mostly Western nations holding colorful placards, braving winter weather, screaming Eelam” with heavy foreign accents and if we didn’t know any better, we may think they were demanding something from where they were located. But, all this anguish they are going through often several times a year is for an Eelam back in Sri Lanka, where many of them have not even visited for decades while others do not even wish to go. The isolated campaigns that are held in Sri Lanka often organized by pro-Eelam Tamil political parties are unable to bring the numbers that the foreign Eelam protestors can easily rally. Why is this? Why are Tamils living overseas demanding a Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka & not Tamils living in Sri Lanka?

Many of the Tamils living in Western shores are those who went after July 1983 well-choreographed riots that paved the way for scores of Tamils to go as refugees” asylum seekers”. Many of those who went were not the victims but those who used the opportunity to project themselves as victims. This group of people went on to become the kitty for the LTTE organizing events & promoting the quest for separatism. They were tasked to lobby politicians & trained in how to win the empathy of the western world with their well concocted stories woven round a bogus homeland. All this continued while LTTE assassinated, carried out suicide missions & kept a nation on its toes. Eventually, the western nations began banning LTTE but it didn’t stop the LTTE Diaspora from openly campaigning & even inviting foreign MPs to their events. The LTTE Diaspora knew too well that they were a geopolitical tool against the Sri Lankan state & this sufficed for them to carve out their demands.

How many of these LTTE diaspora fighting for a Tamil Eelam would give up their western lifestyles, property & business in the West, educating their children in the West & come to live in this Eelam they are demanding. Probably none! If so, why have they even got the younger generation also involved in demanding Eelam when they cannot even pronounce a single town in Sri Lanka’s north & have never even been to Sri Lanka?

It is definitely a puzzle. Why would these Tamil Diaspora wish to have their people return to a life they suffered under LTTE? Anyone who lived under LTTE would know how life was like for them, living in fear, not knowing when their child would be kidnapped & trained as a child soldier. Wait… this scenario was never experienced by any of the Tamil elite high caste society. None of their children were kidnapped by the LTTE. Why was this? If anyone is in doubt, just check & see if any Tamil elite high caste children were kidnapped & turned into child soldiers. You can bet no one was. All of the child soldiers were from very poor low caste families, whose parents had no choice but to donate” their child. The Tamil high castes cared not what happened to these children. This was clear when in 1957 the Tamil high caste politicians travelled by sea to UK to appeal to the Privy Council to annul the Social Disabilities Act passed by PM SWRD Bandaranaike enabling Tamil low castes to gain education by going to school. The Tamil high castes opposed this. Yet, the world thinks that the Sinhalese oppressed the Tamils. In reality it was the Tamil high castes who were oppressing their own.

Another oppression not given much publicity is the Thesavalamai law which was originally applicable to the Malabars that came from South India & later codified by the Dutch & continued by the colonial British as they were dependent on South Indian indentured labor to work on their plantations. Eventually, the Malabars became the new Vellala” caste who were the sole owners of land in Jaffna forbidding other castes to own land. To remove any oppression of Tamils, the Thesavalamai foreign law must be annulled first. It is a pity that the Tamil placard holders overseas are ignoring this to enable the majority low castes to own land in Jaffna.

How many of these placards holding foreign Tamils help their Tamil brethren in times of need? Or are they funded only to gain international media publicity? Have they looked after the close to 300,000 civilians LTTE used as human shields & hostages that the Sri Lanka Armed Forces saved?

All they are interested in is using significant dates of LTTE to gather & make a noise, while in countries like Canada they have managed to even teach bogus history of a genocide where other than figures they are plucking from the sky, they cannot even produce names of the people they claim to have been killed. There are no dead bodies, no skeletons, no names but annually they are gathering, shedding crocodile tears & claiming genocide”. They say truth always comes out & when it does some foreign MPs are going to be very embarrassed at what fools they were turned into attending these LTTE commemorations.

Apart from the Jaffna University where for some reason no government is taking action against a State funded university where academics & students are holding vigils and decorating university grounds with LTTE decorations. Unashamedly, these lecturers & students are celebrating terrorists. Are they getting funds from LTTE Diaspora? Or they threatened or are they actually missing these terrorists? Leaving aside these annual commemorations at the Jaffna university, all other pro-LTTE events see only a countable number of people, even the most recent one organized by Ponnambalam junior hardly had 10 people. Even the commemorations for LTTE dead hardly has any notable presence.

A mistake made by past governments & even the present government is their failure to identify the terrorists from Tamils. Why are they always cozying up to the terrorists & not the Tamils? In so doing, they are silencing the Tamils many of whom have lived in fear of the LTTE & had their family members killed by LTTE while overseas these Tamils have been subject to physical & mental threats by numerous terrorist knife groups, of which the one’s in UK & France are even on police watch list.

https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/jaffna-university-students-mark-day-three-maaveerar-remembrance-week

The Govt must take the side of the Tamils not Terrorists.

The Govt must take action against the Jaffna University academia that is allowing unashamed commemoration of terrorists. Do you see any State university in US, Canada, Europe commemorating Osama Bin Laden or similar terrorists?

How can the Nation move forward if the so-called educated” are indoctrinating youth/students to venerate terrorists? No wonder these youth who eventually go overseas are holding placards screaming in support of terrorists! The ideology of terrorism is nothing to feel proud about. It has destroyed lives, destroyed homes & destroyed a Nation.

These LTTE Diaspora have made a lucrative business network from this Eelam quest – they sell Eelam souvenirs, Eelam events are a must pay & attend, they are making movies/documentaries – how many have become multi-millionaires from this Eelam sing song should be investigated!

If these Eelam seekers holding foreign passports, living in the West want an Eelam in Sri Lanka, why don’t they settle in Sri Lanka & fight for it, instead of happily living in the West while outsourcing their dirty work to the Tamils living in Sri Lanka who simply want to have a peaceful life, educate their children & achieve their personal goals.

Shenali D Waduge

e-Con e-News

blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com

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

e-Con e-News 17-23 November 2024

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‘It is the responsibility of AKD to see that that elite class will

not raise its head again & there will be a society in which

wealth & prosperity are shared more equitably by all.

If he fails, he will also face the same fate as his predecessors.’

– WA Wijewardena (see ee Economists, Economic Challenges

of New Government: Road ahead not smooth, but treacherous

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‘Remains to be seen if JVP has discarded

its turbulent past is true’ – Sunday Times

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‘Sri Lanka’s new government should do everything to regain

the ‘B’ credit rating by 2027-28 to pay back its creditors

including the IMF through affordable market borrowings.’

– World Bank Sri Lanka Lead Economist Gregory Smith

(ee Economists, SL needs ‘B’ credit rating to repay IMF: WB)

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‘In today’s times when flow of capital takes place globally &

many a time without any controls, it is important that Sri Lanka

becomes a strong sovereign state in the region to begin with,

a state that boldly spells its terms & conditions, & also cleverly wades

through the complex diplomatic tunnels in the region.’

– Ravi Kumar (ee Economists, New Sri Lanka & Challenges)

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‘In the East, & in practically all of the countries where communists had

taken power, the principal problem of political leadership was not the

‘withering away of the state apparatus’ but how to avoid the danger

of colonial or neocolonial subjection, & how, therefore, to make up

 for backwardness in relation to the more industrially advanced countries.’

– Domenico Losurdo (Western Marxism, 2024)

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There seems to be no end to the experts proffering good wishes & advices to the latest oarsmen, sightseeing on the Diyavanna. Others are demanding their slice of newly fried soya sausages, signing petitions demanding this & that percentage as usual. Academics, current & long retired, are speedily dropping their pants to flaunt chemically inflated & soggy credentials. None can even broach the inevitability of demanding a modern industrialization that must recapture our home market from the imperialist multinational banks & corporations – for only a machine-making industrialized society can cast off all odious debts. The foreign vampires also believe they have crippled (or made ‘independent’!) the Central Bank to prevent its investment in such modern endeavors.

     The ruling import-export plantation oligarchy still remains, also as the main ‘opposition’. Our fate somehow in the claws of an infamous New York District Court, with Exxon Rockefeller’s Citibank on both sides of the bargaining table (see ee Random Notes). The US government has apparently got ‘dirt’ on all our supposed leaders, past, present… Yet, the future still always appears uncertain…

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• Big bankers & the innumerable chambers of commerce (a narrow gang of importers), who hold a large amount of the so-called debt that the people supposedly owe, are all congratulating the NPP government, and wishing them luck. Good luck indeed! They must certainly know something, the people do not know? Certainly the ‘landslide’ proclaimed by all & sundry, appears less ‘land’ and more ‘slide…’, if the actual mathematics & the divisions among the ‘traditional’ ruling oligarchy are actually tabulated.

            With US, Japanese & Indian advisors & warships sailing in & out of the country, while a supposedly defeated & brain-dead US President is threatening nuclear war, midst the US attempt to shakedown the financial backers of India’s Narendra Modi government, the NPP government is said to have chosen that media-foggy day of Friday to have signed the long-debated 17^th IMF deal, a deal they once clearly opposed, that pension funds are being plundered for…

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• Other native informants including that breed of AC’d NGO ‘Marxists’, house-trained in London, are announcing to the world such fables as ‘Sri Lanka’s People have Kicked out the Old Political Class’ (see ee Economists). Others of their ilk, more cautious, are adding the disclaimer, ‘even if temporarily’. Now what kind of ‘Marxists’ are these, to confuse the electoral political class with the overall political & economic ruling class? Even the traditional electoral manipulators have not been defeated. They have simply stepped back, to lick their wounds, if any, and to regroup & submit in more monstrous & complete fashion to imperialist dictat. The vampire class has not been defeated. Having handed over a poisoned chalice of a rigged polity, this invisible highest class hopes to smash from this not-very-high electoral pedestal, what they feel is the last of the Sinhala Buddhist (in substance if not in name) resistance in the country.

     It may be karma? if we also recall the JVP role, however justified they may feel, in the undermining of the 1970-77 Sirimavo Bandaranaike ‘Left’ coalition, which subsequently imploded, soon after the US-plotted annihilation of the Salvador Allende ‘Marxist’ government in Chile in 1973… Karma, like those proverbial chickens, always comes home to roost (unless they end up as modified meat at a KFC outlet).

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• The weekly economist WA Wijewardena, with his 1,000 or more columns, has never sought to spell out how this ‘society in which wealth & prosperity are shared more equitably’ could come about, and why it is all hangs heavily on the shoulders of an Executive President – a post Wijewardena was often paid, along with other NGOcrats, to deride. He’s made a few references here & there to the need for an industrialized society, but they are among the rarest of rarest gems, of negligible weight. Concerned, like the fake ‘Leftist’ & ‘Marxists’, with ‘withering away of the state apparatus’, they dare not enlighten us on how but how to avoid the dangers of centuries-long colonial & neocolonial subjection.

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‘For millions of housewives there is no such thing as

a corporate entity called Unilever. There is just the

daily routine of choosing between Lifebuoy & Lux…’

Kwame Nkrumah, Neocolonialism, see ee Focus

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When he could not find explanations at home to analyze Sri Lanka’s still colonized economy, in order to transform it, SBD de Silva would search the wider world to obtain clues. One continent he directed much attention to in his classic The Political Economy of Underdevelopment, was Africa. It is in Africa, we find the origins of Sri Lanka’s still-dominant multinational corporations & banks, such as Unilever, Standard Chartered, Ceylon Tobacco Corp (aka British American Tobacco), who encash many of the so called ‘economists’ who daily & weekly clog the blogs & airwaves.

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• This ee Focus turns to Kwame Nkrumah, President of Ghana, who was eventually deposed in 1966, by military officers trained by Canadian ‘advisors’. All the ambitious industrial projects – eg, the Volta River dam to provide irrigation & electricity – were then stunted or dismantled. We also recall the Peruvian leader José Carlos Mariátegui, contemporary of the Angarika Dharampala (also see, ee 5 January 2019)

     There’s an interesting link between Nkrumah & Sri Lanka – one of Nkrumah’s teachers in high school in Ghana was Sri Lankan. But the more interesting link is with ee’s muse, SBD de Silva. ‘Sir’ Arthur Lewis was Nkrumah advisor, knighted (benighted!) by the English in 1963 and given a Nobel Prize in Economics in 1979! It may be no coincidence that SBD de Silva was working on his classic at the time, which was a full-blown critique of Lewis’ claim that the plantation system was modern & had impulses to share with the peasant sector.

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• ‘The new NPP government is sitting on the ticking time-bomb that is Sri Lanka’s 17^th IMF program…’ notes Shiran Illanperuma in this ee Focus. He wonders how the new coalition including Marxist-Leninists & liberal (libertarians, more like it) will step tenderly around & over the minefields of such ‘novel instruments’ as ‘governance-linked bonds’ & ‘macro-linked bonds’, whose only beneficiary would be the ‘private bondholders, like BlackRock, who own the largest share of Sri Lanka’s debt’. Add to the mix, the USA’s ‘Indo-Pacific Strategy to contain China’, which will be boosted under renewed President Trump, and the pressure to offer ‘refugee’ status here to the US military, as & when they see fit to barge in. Indeed this latest dispensation may very well inspire & propel the colonial alliance of merchants to regroup even more menacingly. He seems to see succour from the ‘resurgent’ bloc of BRICs, and wonders if the NPP can rekindle the Bandung spirit, and restore Sri Lanka’s leading role in such a worldly movement…

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• Meanwhile, just as so-called ‘autonomous robots’ turn out to be remote-controlled by humans, just as the modern ‘Cloud’ is merely someone else’s bigger computer – the so-called ‘independent’ Central Bank seems to be blithely unaware of the economic consequences of the CBSL losing control over interest rates”. Though much of the language is dense & maybe beyond the ken of us amateurs, apparently the CBSL, which loves to model old US Treasury tattered hand-me-downs, continues ‘to adhere to its flawed notion of money printing’ (a favorite bugaboo of the corporate thinktanks), remaining bravely committed ‘to the quantity theory of money (QTM)’ despite QTM being obviously discarded even by such leading researchers ‘in monetary policy, such as the US & England’.

     Worse, ‘even the IMF observes, the CBSL seems to be permitting the market, rather than policy, to set money market rates, while managing liquidity to prevent instability in these rates’. One hopes the Nicholases would at least come up with a clearer comic/cartoon version with eyeball-grabbing graphics to explain how increases in the ‘cash bases’ are linked to other factors such as the Central Bank’s dealings with imperialist commercial banks & other financial institutions…

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• Modern colonialism is also the worst form of imperialism. For those who practise it, it means power without responsibility and for those who suffer from it, it means exploitation without redress. In the days of old-fashioned colonialism, the imperial power had at least to explain & justify at home the actions it was taking abroad. In the colony those who served the ruling imperial power could at least look to its protection against any violent move by their opponents. With modern colonialism neither is the case. Above all, modern colonialism, like colonialism before it, postpones the facing of the social issues which will have to be faced by the fully developed sector of the world before the danger of world war can be eliminated or the problem of world poverty resolved.

     Neo-colonialism or so-called modern colonialism, like colonialism, is an attempt to export the social conflicts of the capitalist countries. The temporary success of this policy can be seen in the ever widening gap between the richer & the poorer nations of the world. But the internal contradictions & conflicts of neo-colonialism make it certain that it cannot endure as a permanent world policy. How it should be brought to an end is a problem that should be studied, above all, by the West, because it is they who will feel the full impact of the ultimate failure. The longer it continues, the more certain it is that its inevitable collapse will destroy the social system of which they have made it a foundation.” – Nkrumah, Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism, 1965

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Contents:

The 100 Billion Dollar Question: Can US Citibank, Warships & Courts Postpone the Inevitable?

C. Wijeyawickrema

හැඳින්වීම

අල්ලාගත් හා භාරවූ jvp සටන්කරුවන්ගේ ශාක්ෂි සටහන් කර ගැනීම සඳහා 1971 දෙසැම්බර් මාසයේදී රජයෙන් තෝරාගත් නිලධාරීන් 200 දෙනාගෙන් තවමත් ජීවත්ව සිටිනා අයෙක් වශයෙන්, 1935 සිට මාක්ස්වාදීන් විසින් වැපුරූ වෛරය (බංගවේවා දේශපාලනය) වෙනුවට මෛත්‍රීය (බෞද්ධ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදාව?) තෝරාගෙන 2024 දී රාජ්‍ය බලය ලබාගැනීමට අනුර කුමාරට හැකිවීම මා අගය කරන්නේ එවකට පැවැති සිස්ටම් එක වෙනස් කල යුතු බව පේරාදෙණියේ ඉගෙනගන්නා  සිටි කාලයේ සිටම මාද  විශ්වාස කල නිසාය. එහෙත් ඒ සඳහා ගත් උපාය මාර්ග නුසුදුසු, ලදරු හා නිකරුණේ අවංක හා එඩිතර තරුණ ජීවිත දහස් ගණනක් විනාශකල ජරමරයක් වුන බව 1971 දී  මෙන්ම අදටත් මගේ මතයය.

ලංකාව: කළු සුද්දන්ගේ පාලන සමය 1948-2019 (නොහොත් මන්ත්‍රී ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍ර (නාස් ලණු) වාදය යන මාතෘකාව යටතේ මා විසින් පලකල රචනා  පොත් දෙකේ (දෙවන භාගය -1948-2024), සියේට තුනේම ඉන්නවා වෙනුවට ජයග්‍රාහී මාවතකට යාම සඳහා කල හැකි දේ පිළිඹඳව 2023 නොවැම්බර් හා දෙසැම්බර් මාස වලදී ලියූ රචනා දෙකක්ම ඇතුලත් කලා පමණක් නොව ඒවා ඒ දිනවලම ඊමේල් මඟින් jvp පක්ෂයට හා අනුර කුමාරට යවන ලදී.  2018/19 ගෝඨාභයට බලය ලබාදීම සඳහා ඒකරාශිවු සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනයා ඔහු කෙරෙහි හා ඉන්පසු ස්වීප් ටිකට් එකක් ඇදුන රනිල් හා පොහොට්ටු පක්ෂය කෙරෙහි ඇතිවූ කලකිරීමද නිසා අනුර කුමාරට  හා npp ට ගෙඩිපිටින් චන්දය දුන්නේය.

ලැබී අති අධික බලය ඉදිරියේ පරණ සියේට තුනේ jvp අය හා සමහර npp අළුත් අය, විශේෂයෙන්ම ප්‍රොපෙසර්ලා යම් යම් රඟපෑම් කරණ ආකාරයක් දිස්වේ. ත්‍රීපීස් සූට් ඇඳගෙන, මාත් කම්කරුවෙක් කියන ප්‍රොපෙසර් ඇමතිලා, හිනිදුම සුනිල්ලා ඔවුන්ගේ හැසිරීම මඟින් දැන හෝ නොදැන, අනුර කුමාරව අමාරුවේ දමාවිද යන සැකයක් මට මතුවේ. මෙවැනි හැඳින්වීමක් ලිව්වේ ඉතාමත් වැදගත්වන කතානායකගේ කතාව ලිවීමට පසුබිමක් වශයෙනි.

කතානායකගේ හිස් වැසුම හා ජය මංගල ගාථා

මෙහිලා ඔහුට සිදුවූ අකරතැබ්බය ලෝක වාර්තාවකි. ඔහුට මෙසේ වූයේ කුමක් නිසාද? ඔහු මොනතරම් ඉහල ගිය විද්වතෙක් වුනත්, නොබෙල් තෑග්ගක් ගත්තත්, මුල් වරට යමක් හිසට දාන්නටවූ විට ඒ ගැන කාගෙන්වත් නොඅසන්නට තීරණය කලේ ඇයි? ඔහු උසාවිවල නඩුකාරයින්, කලින් කතානායකලාගේ පින්තූර දැක නැද්ද? ජයමංගල ගාථාවලට ඔහුත් භයවුනා වත්ද? නැත්නම් සම්ප්‍රදාය කඩන්නට ඔහු මෙසේ කලාද?

ගෝනි බිල්ලෙක් වැනි මේ පින්තූරය ලෝකය පුරාම ප්‍රසිද්ධව යෑම අළුත් ඓතිහාසික ආණ්ඩුවකට අනවශ්‍ය වාතයකි. කන්දෙක වසා එකතුකර දමන්නට බොත්තමක් හෝ වෙල්ක්‍රෝ පටියක් හෝ නැත්නම් පාර්ලිමේන්තු නිලධාරියෙක් ආය කට්ටක්/ අල්පෙනෙත්තක් ගසා ඔහුගේ ඉල්ලීම පිට ඔහුව ඇන්ඳුවාද/ නැත්නම් ඇන්දුවාද?

ආචාර්ය උපාධි ගන්නාවිට අපට උගන්වා තිබෙන්නේ සාගරය නමැති දැණුම් සම්භාරයෙන් අපි දන්නේ දිය බින්දුවක්වත් දෙයක් පමණක් බවය. චීන කියමනක් අනුව අපි මියයන තුරුම ඉගෙන ගන්නෙමු. මේ කාරණා දැන සිටියා නම් දියවන්නා හෝටලයේ පියන් කෙනෙක්ගෙන් හෝ නොදන්නා දෙයක් අසා දැනගැනීම වටිනා බව මෙතුමාට වැටහෙන්නට ඉඩ තිබුණි. ගිය නුවණ  ඇතුන් ලවා වත් ඇදගත නොහැක!

විපක්ෂ නායක අසුනේ ඉඳගත් දෙමළ මන්ත්‍රී Ramanathan Archchuna

මෙම කරුණ සම්බන්ධයෙන් කතානායකවරයා මාධ්‍යයට දුන් පිලිතුරද විද්‍යාඥයින්, ඉතිහාසය හා භූගෝල විද්‍යාව නොදන්නාකම නිසා අමාරුවේ වැටීමට ඇති ඉඩකඩ ගැන අනතුරු ඇඟවීමකි. මේ දොස්තර මන්ත්‍රී දෙන නිදහසට කරුණ කතානායකවරයා සිය හිස්වැසුම පැලඳීමටම සමාන ආකාරයේම නොදැනුවත් කමකි. දෙන්නාම ඉන්නේ එකම බෝට්ටුවේය.

මෙවැනි අයෙකුව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමට හෝ වෙනත් දඬුවමක් දීමට සිතීම නිවට ක්‍රියාවකි. ඒ වෙනුවට සිදුවිය යුත්තේ ඔහුගේ මතවාදය මතවාදයෙන්ම පරාජය කිරීමය. ශානක්‍යයන්, ගජේන්ද්‍ර පොන්නම්බලම්, සුමන්තිරන් විග්නේශ්වරන් වැන්නන් 13-A ඉස්සරහට දමාගෙන පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී ගෙනාවේත් මේ මතවාදයමය. 13-A යනු රට දෙකට කැඩීමේ හා ඉන් පසු රටවල් දෙකක් අතර පලස්තීනයේ මෙන් මායිම් යුද්ධ ඇතිවීමේ මර උගුල බව නොදන්නවා මෙන් හැසිරෙන්නේ චන්ද්‍රිකා, රනිල්, සජිත්, රාජිත, ඩලස්, ඩිලාන් ඇතුළු දුෂ්ඨ හා දූෂිත පිරිසය. දයාන් ජයතිලක නම් විග්නේශ්වරන් කරේ තියාගෙන ගොස් බැටකා දැන් නිහඬය.

ලංකාවේ දෙමළ බෙදුම් වාදය ඉන්දියාව හින්දු හා ද්‍රවිඩ වශයෙන් බෙදා කැබලි කිරීමේ ලෝක ක්‍රිස්තියානි ව්‍යාපාරයේම අත්තකි (Breaking India: Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalith and Faultlines, Rajiv Malhotra and Aravindan Neelakandan, 2012). මෙය කෙතරම් බැඳී තිබේද යත් නේරු විසින් චීනය සමඟ යුද්ධයෙන් (1962) පරදින අවස්ථාවෙන් ප්‍රයෝජනය ගෙන රට කැඩීමේ උත්සාහ 1963 දී නීති විරෝධී කල විට (anti-secession Amendment 16), ටැමිල්නාඩ් සිට එය ලංකාවේ වතුකරයට DMK (ද්‍රවිඩ මුනේත්‍ර කසාගම්) ලෙස ඩඩ්ලි සේනානායකගේ හත්හවුල් ආණ්ඩුකාලයේදී ආවේය (1965-70).

1917/18 දී මැඩ්‍රාස් ප්‍රාන්තයේ ආරම්භවූ ද්‍රවිඩස්ථාන් ව්‍යාපාරය 1921/23 දී පොන්නම්බලම් අරුණාචලම් විසින් ලංකාවේ ක්‍රියාත්මක කලේ ටැමිලක්කම් ව්‍යාපාරය වශයෙන්ය. තමන්ට රටේ නායකත්වය නොලැබෙන බව වටහාගත් ඔහු, 1919 දී ඔහුම මූලිකවී පිහිටුවාගත් ලංකා ජාතික සංගමයෙන් ඉවත්ව මෙම ගමන ගියේය.

මෙම ඓතිහාසික කරුණ ඉදිරිපත් කලේ 1956 රාජ්‍ය භාෂා පණත ඊලම් ව්‍යාපාරයට හේතුවය යන මිථ්‍යාව පෙන්වා දීමටය. චෙල්වනායගම් දෙමළ රාජ්‍ය පක්ෂය අටවාගත්තේ 1949 දීය. ලංකාවේ මාක්ස්වාදීන් හා ක්‍රිස්තියානි පල්ලිය දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදයට ඔක්ෂිජන් දුන්නේය. අදටත් ඊළම්කාරයින් පන්සල්වලට විරුද්ධව පෙලපාලි යන්නේ ක්‍රිස්තියානි පාස්ටර්ලාගේ උසිගැන්වීම හා ආධාර මතය.

බොදු බල සේනාව

බොදු බල සේනාවේ ඥානසාර හාමුදුරුවන්ට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට යාමට ලැබුණ අවස්ථාවද සිංහල දුෂ්ඨ කළු සුද්දන්ගේ කුමන්ත්‍රණයක් නිසා අහිමිවිය. එසේ නොවන්නට උන්වහන්සේ විසින් අළුත් මාදිලියේ පානදුරා වාදයක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුලට ගෙන එන්නට හොඳටම ඉඩ තිබුණේය

දෙමළ චේ ගුවේරා

සියේට 60 ක් පමණවන යාපනේ වෙල්ලාල පීඩනයට අසුවූ සිටින ජනයා අවදිකලේ අරුන් සිද්ධාර්ථ් විසින්ය. nppඑකට ලැබුණ දෙමළ චන්ද වලට එය බලපෑවා නිසැකය. ඔහු පිටරට දෙමළ ඊලම්කාරයින් සමඟත්, ඉන්දියන් රෝ  එකේ යාපනේ හින්දි භාෂා  ආක්‍රමණයට විරුද්ධවත් සටන් කරමින් සිටී.  npp ට 2024 ලැබුණා මෙන්ම 2018/19 දී ගෝටාභයටත් විශාල දෙමළ චන්ද ප්‍රමාණයක් ලැබුණේය.

උතුරේ පලාත් සභාවේ මහඇමතිවීම තම අරමුණ බව මේ දෙමළ මන්ත්‍රී කියා සිටී. එක අතකින් ඔහු ශානක්‍යයන්ලාටද තර්ජනයකි. සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස කරන්නට යන්නේ කුමක්ද? ඔහු මේ මන්ත්‍රීව බාගන්නට ක්‍රියාකලේය. npp එක නම් ඔහුගේ ඩීල් යෝජනාව ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කලේය.

එහෙත් අනුර කුමාර ලොස් ඇන්ජලිස් වලදී කල කතාව මේ දෙමළ මන්ත්‍රීට දුන් තල්ලුවක් වැනිය. ඔහු විසින් දියවන්නා හෝටලයේ කල <රාජාසන කතාවේදී> ජාතිවාදයට හා ආගමික අන්තවාදයට ඉඩ දෙන්නේ නැත යන ප්‍රකාශය සූරියමල් ව්‍යාපාරය අමතක කර පොපිමලක් පැලඳ ගත්තා මෙන් වැරදි මහාචාර්ය උපදෙස් නිසා නොමඟ ‍යෑමක්ය.

දියවන්නා හෝටලය ඇතුලේ හෝ ඉන් පිටත හෝ දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදීන්ට විරුද්ධව මතවාදී සටනක් දීමට හැකි සිංහලයෙක් නොසිටියේය. ඊට හේතුව දෙමළ හා මුස්ලිම් චන්දවලට තිබූ පෙරේත කමය. ඉඳහිට හෝ ඒ ගැන කතාකලේ සරත් වීරසේකර, විමල් වීරවංශ හා ගම්මන්පිල පමණය.

ජාතිවාදය හා ජාතික වාදය අතර වෙනස සුමන්තිරන් හා අරුන් සිද්ධාර්ථ් අතර ඇති වෙනසමය. මේවා පෙන්වා දීමට 10 වෙනි පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ (එය තවදුරටත් දියවන්නා හෝටලයක් නොවෙතියි සිතේ) ඉන්නා එකම මන්ත්‍රී පංචස්කන්ධය දිලිත්  ජයවීර පමණක් වීම සිංහල ජාතිය කෙතරම් ඛේදජනක තැනකට වැටී තිබේද යන යථාර්ථය දිනපතාම දියවන්නා හෝටලයේදී පෙනෙනවා නිසැකය.

Dheshamaanya Dr. Sudath Gunasekara Ex-Secretary to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayaka and President Mahanuwara Sinhala Baudhdha Jesta Purawesiyange  Sanvidhanaya.

FIRST Posted on November 7th, 2023 ( AcRevized vesion) 11.25.2024

EELAM concept is a vicious colonial invention of the West to entice the Tamils in Sri Lanka to destroy the only Sinhala Buddhist nation on this planet, to realize their long term strategic and geopolitical goals in the Indo Pacific region.

The idea of EELAM in this country is a Western colonial invention, although that word was never mentioned in their earlier correspondence. Destroying the Sinhala nation and dividing Sri Lanka between Sinhalese and Tamils was the most important strategic intrigue of British colonial policy of divide and rule that was adopted by them from the time they ceded this country, to the United Kingdom in 1815.

In this search

EELAM concept is a vicious colonial invention of the West to entice the Tamils in Sri Lanka to destroy the only Sinhala Buddhist nation on this planet

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ/ ශ්‍රීී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍රය

කොරියානු E 8 වීසා ප්‍රශ්නය විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යංශය විසින් තම බල අධිකාරිය පෙන්වීම සඳහා අටවා ගන්නා ප්‍රශ්නයකි.  එයින් මෙරට තරුණයින් 107 කට ආසන්න පිරිසකට කොරියානු රැකියා සිහිනය බොදවන්නේය.

කොරියානු ඊ 8 වීසා යනු කොරියානු ප්‍රාන්ත රාජ්‍යයන් හි කෙටි කාලීන රැකියා සඳහා ලබා සුදුසුකම් පරීක්ෂා කර, සෘජුව ලංකාවේ තරුණයින් වෙත ලැබෙන මාස 7 -8 ක රැකියාවකි.  එමගින් රු. ලක්ෂ 40 කට වැඩි මුදල් ඉතිරි කර ගෙන නැවත ලංකාවට පැමිණීමට තරුණයින්ට හැකිය.

මේ ගැන ලංකාවේ රජයට කළ යුතු දෙයක් නැත.  මෙහි වංචාවක් හෝ අකටයුත්තක්  ද නැත.  කොරියා රජය මේ පිරිසට වීසා ලබා දි ඇත. රැකියාව ස්ථිරය. පඩි ලැබේ. නියමිත කාලය අවසන් වූ පසුව කොරියානු ප්‍රාන්තය විසින්ම මේ තරුණයින් ලංකාවට එවනු ලැබේ.

විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශයේ උද්දච්ච නිලධාරීන් පිරිසක් දැන් වීසා ලැබී ඇති ලංකාවේ තරුණ පිරිසට විදේශගතවීමට ඉඩ දෙන්නේ නැත.  එයට නිශ්චිත හේතුවක් කියන්නේ ද නැත.

ඊටත් වඩා අද දහවල් මේ තරුණයින් ගේ සාමකාමී පා ගමනට වලක්වන්නට පොලීසියේ නිලධාරීන් කටයුතු කළ ආකාරය ලැජ්ජා සහගතය.   මේ තරුණයින් ඉල්ලන්නේ තමන්ට විසා ලැබී ඇති බැවින් ගුවන්ගතවීමට තමන්ට ඇති අයිතියට ගරු කරන ලෙස ය.  අනෙක් අතට  මේ ඊ 8 වීසා ක්‍රමය ලංකාව ලබාගත්තේ අතිශයින් දුෂ්කර රාජ්‍යතාන්ත්‍රික මැදිහත්වීම් රැසක් මැදය. නියමිත දිනට මේ පිරිස විදේශ ගත නොවේ නම් මේ රැකියා ලබා ගැනීම ආසියාවේ තවත් රාජ්‍යයන් කිහිපයක් සැදී පැහැදී සිටී.

දෛනිකව රාජ්‍යයේ පැන නගින ගැටළු විසඳීමට ක්‍රමයක් තිබිය යුතුය.  හැම දේටම උත්තර පොලීසිය යොදවා රාජ්‍ය ආයතනයක් සිදු කරන අත්තනෝමතික ක්‍රියාව වැලැක්වීමට බලය යෙදවීම නොවේ. 

දැන් විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශය මේ තරුණයින් විදේශගතවීම වැලැක්වීමෙන් බලාපොරොත්තු වන්නේ මොනවාද?  තමන්ට කැමති ලැයිස්තුවකට තරුණයින් පිටරට යැවීම නම්, එය කිසි ලෙසකින් හෝ සිදුවන්නේ නැත. සුදුසුකම් ඇති තරුණයින්ට වීසා ලැබී ඇත.  ඔවුන්ට කොරියාවට යන්නට අවස්ථාව නොදේ නම්, ලංකාවට නැවත රාජ්‍ය මැදිහත්වීම, රක්ෂණ ආවරණ සහ තවත් බෝහෝ රැකියා සුක්ෂිතතාව සහිත මේ රැකියා අවස්ථා ලැබෙන්නේ නැත.  

මේ රැකියාවක් නියං ලැබුණේ නැති බව, විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශයේ නිකමුන් දැන ගත යුතුය.

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් 

විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ/ ශ්‍රීී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍රය

by A. Abdul Aziz

The Second Khalifa of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (Community) in Islam Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, may Allah be pleased with him, formed Auxiliary Organizations in the J     ama’at to serve the needs of both genders according to different age groups:

In 1922: Majlis Lajna Ima’illah for women.

In 1928: Majlis Nasirat-ul-Ahmadiyya for girls ages 7 – 15.

In 1938:  Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya for men ages 15 – 40.

In 1940: Majlis Ansarullah for men age 40 and above.

On Sunday the 24^th November 2024, at Baitul Basit Mosque Sri Lanka in Pasyala, Ahmadiyya Elders Association Annual Gathering (Ijtima) was held. Previous day, the Sports Event taken place. Theme of the Event was ‘Importance of Salat (Prayer)’

The main event started at 9.30 am with Flag Hoisting followed by silent prayer by Mr. S. Nizam Khan – National President, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Sri Lanka). Program further continued with Holy Qur’an recitation by A.H. Nasir Ahmad followed by translations.  

Mr. N. Nasir, President of the Association, read out the Pledge of Association and the audience repeated. He also put the Message of Worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community   Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad. This Message was sent by His Holiness on the event of Ahmadiyya Elders’ Association Annual Gathering held in India recently.

 An Urdu poem composed by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi was recited followed by translation.

In his inaugural Address, the National Prescient of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Sri Lanka, emphasized the importance of observing daily prayers and prayers in congregation with full attention quoting from the Holy Qur’an, Prophet of Islam Muhammad (PBUH) and writings of Founder, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam.

The event included academic competitions such as Holy Qur’an recitation, Urdu Poem, short speech and the memory test etc. and the prize distribution was also part of the event. 

Annual Report was read out by I.A. Masood Ahmad, General Secretary of the Association.

Vote of Thanks by Arshad, Officer, Ijtima Committee. and the daylong event concluded with silent prayer. 

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was founded in 1889 in a small town Qadian, in Punjab, India.  Its founder, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) claimed to be the Promised Reformer of the age.  Ahmadiyya Community stands for the brotherhood of mankind and tries to establish peace on earth through love, persuasion and tolerance.  It is a spiritual Community and has no political agenda (www,alislam.org)

LOVE FOR ALL, HATRED FOR NONE.

බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ඉංජිනේරු ගාල්ලේ දෙව් සිරි පී. හේවාවිදාන ලන්ඩන් සිට ලියයි. Devsiri@hotmail.com

 අවිස්සාවේල්ල කොස්ගම  තුන් මෝදර ඇල හරහා ධාවනය කළ ඩබල් කැප් රථයක් සැඩ පහරට අසුවී එහි සිටි ව්‍යා පා රිකවරයකු හා රියැදුරු අවා සනා වන්ත ලෙස  මියගිය පුවත පසුගිය බදා දා ලංකා වේ පුවත්පත්වලින් මා  දුටුවෙමි. නිකරුණේ වැ ස්සේ ඇලවල් තරණය කරන්නට ගො ස් අපරා දේ නා ස්ති වුන ජීවිත දෙකක් කියා මම ලිපිය කියවමින් දුක් වුනෙමි. නමුත් මගේ ශෝ  කය දහගුණයකින් වැඩි වූයේ ලිපියේ අන්තිමට සඳහන් වූ ව්‍යාපාරික මහතාගේ නම දුටු විටය.                  චන්න කබ්‍ රල් ලොකු ලියන මා සමග කො ළඹ ආනන්දයේ එකට ඉගෙන ගත් අති ජා ත මිත්‍රයකු විය ඔහු පා සලේ කැ ඩෙට්,  හො කී හා පාපන්දු කණ්ඩා යම් වලට සෙල්ලම් කළ විශිෂ්ට ක්‍රීඩකයෙකුද වීය.ළමා ලේඛකයකු ඔහු ආනන්දය  නමින් පළ කෙරුණු පා සැ ල් සඟරා වේ ප්‍රධා න කතෘ ද විය. එපමණක් නොව 1972 මා ආනන්ද විදුහලේ ප්‍රධාන ශිෂ්‍ය නායකයාව සිටියදී චන්න මගේ සමීපතම ශිෂ්‍ය නායකයෙකුද වීය.  ඉහළ පන්තිවල ළමයින්ගේ හැසිරීම හා විනය හැඩ ගැස්වීම ඔහුට මා භාර දුන් කාර්යවීය . චන්න එය හිතුවාටත් වඩා ඉහළින් ඉටු කළේය. චන්න  හා මගේ මිතු දම වැඩිවූයේ අපි දෙදෙනාම එකම අවදියේ එංගලන්තයට පැමිණි පසුවය ලන්ඩන් නුවර බ්‍රෙන්ට් නගර සභාවේ සේවය ට බැ ඳුණු චන්න ඉතා සුළු කලක් තුළ එහි සිටි කාරයක්ෂ තම නිලධා රියාවීය  බොහෝ ලාංකිකයන් පිටරට ගිය පසු රැකියා හෝ පවුලේ වැඩ කටයුතු නිසාදෝ ආගමික කටයුතු අතපසු කරති. ඔවුන්‍ට මා ස තුනකට සැරයක්වත් පන්සල් යාමට වෙලාවක් නැත.  නමුත් චන්න ලොකු ලියන එවැන්නකු නොවීය. ලන්ඩන් බෞ ද්ධ මධ්‍යස්ථානය තේම්ස් විහාරය හා එඩ්මන්ටන් විහරය   යන පන්සල් තුනේම ප්‍රධා න දා යකයකු වූ චන්න තමන්ට හැකි පමණින් ඒවාට උදව් උපකාළේය. බිරිඳ නිලන්ති හා පුතුන් දේවින්ද හා සුමිදු සමග මේ පන්සල්වල සෑ ම ආගමික උත්සවයකටම සහභාගි වූ එතුමා තම ධනයෙන්  සැලකිය යුතු කොටසක් මෙම පන්සල්වල අභිවෘ ද්ධිය සඳහා නොමසුරුව පූජා කළේය.    සුප්‍රසිද්ධ ලේඛක දයා රණසිංහ විසින් දශක තුනක් තිස්සේ ලන්ඩන් වල පළ කරන ලද ජනප්‍රිය ලංකා විත්ති පුවත් පතේ  graphic designer  ග්‍රැපික්ස් ඩිසයිනර් වශයෙන් ලොකු වැඩ කොටසක් ඉටු ඉටුකළේ චන්නය.  

එංගලන්තයේ  පන්සල් කිහිපයක  ගොඩනැගිලි ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණයන්ට මුදල් ලබා ගැනීම  සඳහා  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ජනප්‍රිය කලා කරුවන් හා නාට්‍ය ශිල්පීන්  තම මුදලින් එංගලන්තයට ගෙන්වා සංස්කෘතික සංදර්ශන සංවිධානය කළේද මේ වටිනා බෞ  ද්ධ දායකතුමාය.

.  ලන්ඩන් නුවර ඇල්ෆර්ටන් නගරයේ ජීවත් වූ චන්න ලොකු ලියනගේ නිවස නිතරම ලාංකික හිතමිතුරන්ගෙන් පිරී ගිය                   හෝ ටලයක් වැ නි තැ නක් වීය. ලන්ඩන් වල සංගීත සන්දර්ශන, අවුරුදු උත්සව හෝ  පින්කම් වලට සහභාගි වීමට ඈත පළා ත් වලින් පැ මිණෙන  යහළුවන් බලෙන් හෝ තම නිවසට කැ ඳවා සංග්‍රහ කිරීම ඔහුගේ හා  නිලන්තිගේ සිරිත විය. සංගීතයට බෙහෙවින් ඇල්ම කළ චන්න  ලන්ඩන්වල  පැ වැ ති බො හෝ  අවුරුදු උත්සවවලදී අලංකාර ලෙස ගිටා රය වා දනය කරමින්  ඩහස් ගණන් නරඹන්නන් මුසපත් කළේය. ලන්ඩන් නුවර ලාංකිකයකු හදිසියේ අභාවයට පත්වුවහොත් වහාම එම නිවසට ගො ස් පවුලේ  උදවියට අවශ්‍ය නම් මුදලින් උදව් උපකාර කිරීමටත් අවමංගල කටයුතු සංවිධානය කිරීමේ මූලිකත්වය ගැනීමටත් චන්න කිසිවිටක පසුබට වූයේ නැත. නමුත් මගේ මේ සුන්දර පාසැල් මිත්‍රයා ලන්ඩන් වල කළ උත්තම  කා ර්යය වූයේ LTTE  කොටි සංවිධානයට විරුද්ධව නොබියව පා රට බැසීමයි.  80 හා  90  දශක  තුළ කොටි ත්‍රස්ත අනුගාමිකයෝ  ශ්‍රී ලංකා වට එරෙහිව බරපතල බොරු ප්‍රචාර ගෙනියමින් සිංහල අපි දෙමළ ජනතාව ඝා තනය කරන ම්ලේච්චියන් පිරිසක් යයි ලොව පුරා ප්‍රචාරය කළෝය. ඔවුන්ගේ අසත්‍ය ප්‍රචාරවලට භය වී ලන්ඩන් මහ කො මසා රිස් කා ර්යා ලයේ නිලධාරිනුත් බො හෝ   ලාංකිකයනුත් ඔලු හංගා ගෙන සිටිද්දී චන්න ලො කු ලියන ලංකා  ත්‍රස්තවා දයට එරෙහි බ්‍රිතා න්‍යවැසියෝ නැමැති සංවිධානය පිහිටුවා ගත්තේය.ඩග්ලස් වික්‍රමරත්න හා  ගා මි ණී කීර්ති චන්ද්‍ර වැ නි අනිකුත් සිංහල සංගම්  නා යකයින් සමග එක්වී චන්න 1998 දී ලන්ඩන් නුවර  පැවැත්වූ කොටි  විරෝ ධී  පෙළපා ලිය හා  රැලියට  ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් හතළිස් දා හකට අධික පිරිසක් එක් වූහ. ලංකා වට විරුද්ධව කොටි ඩයස්පෝ රා ව ලොව පුරා ගෙනයන ප්‍රචාර සම්පූර්ණ අසත්‍ය බව  කා රණා  සමග බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය පා ර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ටත් රජයටත් පහදා දීම සඳහා චන්න ලොකුලියන විශාල වෙහෙසක් දැ රුවේය

ඔහුගේ උත්සාහය මල්ඵල ගැනුනේ කොටි සංවිධානය ත්‍රස්තවා දී  සංවිධානයක් බව බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය රජය විසින් නිල වශයෙන් හංවඩු  ගැ සූ දිනයේදීය. චන්න විසින් කරගෙන යන ලද අභීත කො ටි විරෝ ධී ජා ති හිතෛෂී සේවය නිසා ම මෙහි සිටින ලාංකික අපි ඔහු හැ ඳින්වූයේ මහ කළුසිංහලයා වශයෙනි.  ලන්ඩන් වල පන්සල් වලට පවුම් දහස් ගණනින් උදව් කළ චන්න ලොකු ලියන මෙයට වසර කිහිපයකට පෙර ලංකාවේ පදිංචියට ගියේය. අවුරුදු හතළිහක් පමණ එංගලන්තේ ජීවත්වී ආපහු ලංකාවට යන්නේ ඇයිදැ යි මා විමසූ විට චන්න මට කිවේ “මිත්‍රයා අපි කො හේ ජීවත් වුණත් අන්තිම හුස්ම  ලංකා වේ හෙලන්න ඕන නිසා  මම ආපහු යනවා” කියාය

ශ්‍රී ලංකා වට ගියත් ඔහු තම බෞද්ධ  සේවය නතර කළේ නැත. හඳපාං  ගො ඩ තිබුන තමන්ගේ රු කෝ ටි ගණනක් වටිනා  ඉඩමක් සසුනට පූජා කළ එතුමා  එහි  දර්ශනීය

තා පා සා රා මයක්ගො ඩනැ ගීය.අද එහි භික්ෂූන් 150ක් වැඩ වා සය කරමින් භා වනා  හා   ධර්මදූත මෙහෙවරේ යෙදෙති. බෞ  ද්ධ යන්ට අති විශා ල සේවයක් කරති. 

ත්‍රස්තවා ද ය පැ වති සමයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා වේ උන්නතිය සඳහා ලන්ඩන් වල සිට අභීත හා  ඉතා වැ දගත් සේවයක් ඉටුකළ මේ මහා කළු සිංහලයා  හා  මගේ සුන්දර පා සැ ල් මිතුරා  නො හිතු අවස්ථා වක අප හැ ර දමා  යා ම මට ඉවසිය නො හැ කි  දුකකි.  එය සිදුවූයේ රියදුරුගේ නො සැ ලකිල්ල නිසා යයි හිතෙන විට මගේ වේදනා ව තව තවත්වැ ඩි වෙයි.                      

 මා   සදා දරණීය මිත්‍රයා ණෙනි යළි හමුවනතුරු අපි සමු ගනිමු. 

 බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ඉංජිනේරු ගාල්ලේ දෙව් සිරි පී. හේවා විදාන ලන්ඩන් සිට ලියයි. Devsiri@hotmail.com

Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel SL,  Solicitor in England and Wales, President Ambassador’s Forum in UK /SL

What is the  big issue?

Is it has become a a big issue for the social media  Harini, Vijitha, and ‘’Tilvin’’ attending the ABBA show at Mt Hotel in promoting tourism in Sri Lanka as a promotional event. Mount Lavinia in Sri Lanka being one of the historical and traditional hotels have organized an event for music fans in Sri Lanka inviting a pop band based in Switzerland following the ABBA pop band with expensive entrance tickets the music fans readily and quickly purchased.  It is the  view of the citizen that it would be an issue  if they have not attended this famous event as it is their duty to do so to represent the governance in such a promotional  with  private and government sector with the best wishes of the tourist authority. Tourism is the fastest and easiest product that contributes immensely to the GDP of nations starting from USA, China and many depending on tourists and tourism as an income to the country that will also helpful in all other areas of governance. 

Grateful to Mount Lavinia Hotel for organizing the event

Taking steps to promote tourism to increase our GDP, attract more tourists  collect more foreign exchange are our priorities and  this event  is an occasion for us to grab and citizen is grateful to the Mount Lavenia Hotel and organizers to create this rare opportunity to the music lovers and the tourists worldover expecting to watch online.  Tourists are awaiting to enjoy and take part physically and online similar events and this may be another promotional event for Sri Lanka in need of foreign exchange and tourism promotion . The citizen should credit the tourism and public sector jointly organizing such events and  and encourage more as a need of the day. 2019 has been the peak year on tourism in Sri Lanka and it is growing faster and steadily with the world trends competing with the competitors on the trade as Sri Lanka has to work harder and aim high to reach teh expected destination to be the best tourist destination world over using the inbuilt beauty , resources, strategic  situation in the powerful Indian ocean on the traditional and historic silk route, different climates with in the reach of few hours, and religious and archaeological sites found in the compact island in receipt of awards continously on tourism and connected on hospitality and beauty to be branded as beautiful Sri Lanka shortly as incredible India branded India as a tourist destination.

Suggest ‘’Beautiful Sri Lanka’’ as the brand name for Sri Lanka internationally

Many countries have brand names. Incredible India is the brand name of India. Sri Lanka is the best if not one of the best beautiful compact islands on the globe with beautiful, long shallow beaches, forests with biodiversity including ‘Sinharaja’ one of the UN recognized sites, network of beautiful rivers originating from beautiful hilly md country with beautiful ‘Nuwaraeliya’ named Little England considering the similar climatic conditions, Ability to reach Ell fall and many other beautiful water falls, withing few hours drive from cold middle country, umber of mini and massive forests with large number of Elephants, and traditional tigers inherent to Sri Lanka, excellent network of comfortable road network connected to high way with beautiful sceneries and travelling in the midst of beautiful tea planta tons add to the natural beauty of the beauty island second to none with extremely friendly climatic conditions through out the year with no extreme whether conditions what so ever.

Social media should be balanced moderns and patriotic

Sri Lankan Social media hiss an excellent reputation worldover despite the controversies and pitfalls yet moving ahead as a vibrant impartial media respected and believed by the community and we as citizens wish and hope will maintain the balance and credibility.This  event was held at colonial, historical and prestigious Mt Hotel famous for the history, the beach attached and the food with the highest reputation in the world of tourism and it should be credited of organizing the event and inviting the newly elected governance to assist them in the promotional work as necessitated at the is hour when tourism is booming Sri Lanka despite the competition worldover as Sri Lanka is not the only beautiful girl on the beach  when the competitors such as India, Thailand,Maldives, China and small nations too are working hard to add more to the GDP from tourism for foreign exchange they need to improve economy. Therefore our social media must be bit more realistic in their dealings and walk another extra mile in order to help the country to get over from the econimic crisis still in using tourism as a vehicle as it is the best way to recover our econimic downturn which is the main drawback to Sri Lanka.

Tourism

Tourism is fastest growing and easiest to conduct if properly and professionally done as there is a great demand for tourism by the tourist who is eager to travel. It is standing at a principle transformative trends due to the steep drop due to covid 19 unexpected fall of economy now recovering faster recovering fast  with 1487303 tourists with a great impact on tourism that gives contributes 9% to the  global GDP, when RSA as a leader earning 236 trillion, world 9.9 trillion earning 234.5 billion, Sri Lanka contributed  5.15 % to the GDP earning 1.1 million in 2022 4.4 billion 2018, with 1.49 million visitor in 23, on SL economy of 84 billion, which is the 3rd largest and fastest industry, It is Thomos Cook who initiated teh modern trend and UK earns 234.5 billion  the numbers are impressive yet Sri Lanka is lagging behind with app resources and beauty in possession but not exploiting and exploring properly with proper marketing strategies and when the Public Private partnership of governance and Mt Lavinia initiated an innovative stave on promotion it is our duty including social media to promote and assist the efforts made.

Musical Band connected to ABBA fans and tourism promotion

ABBA tribute band group arrived from Sweden with all funfair to the fully packed audience of most expensive tickets that will carry the message to worldover ABBEY fans who will carry the message of Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka tourism is an event that will give a promotional boost to Sri Lanka and it is the duty of our social media embassies and the Sri Lankan community world over to grab the opportunity to popularise our beauty and it is the duty of  Sri Lanka tourism to promote the brand name of Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka tourism as the moto and brand ‘’beautiful Sri Lanka’’. It is a good move taken by the Mt Lavinia group and also a sensible and progressive move on the part of the participants let by PM Harini to be modern novel and to be with the youth a the musical festival to promote tourism, ad also hope and wish the social media will be progressive modern and active  on current trends. It is time to change and the citizen has given a mandate for a change for good and to be modern at the door steps of digital and AI age. Tony Blair being the labour PM brought about changes with conservative policies more the a Consumer PM on changing the economy, outlook and the image of UK to me moment for good and this too is akin to the changes made by him for Britain and sensible to be modern and progressive for a better future using tourism as a vehicle.

Sarathdw28@gmail.com Please browse the articles by the author on tourism on the internet /Digital Tourism/Tourism and Hospitality / Way forward to be the best tourist destination/Global Tourism/ Towards best tourist destination.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $200 million loan to upgrade Sri Lanka’s power sector infrastructure, enhancing the reliability of transmission and distribution networks and facilitating greater integration of renewable energy.

Driving power sector reforms, combined with targeted infrastructure interventions, is essential to facilitate competitive renewable energy development and reduce power generation costs,” said ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono. By expanding and modernizing infrastructure and incorporating digitalization solutions, this project will support the government’s goal of increased integration of renewable energy in the electricity mix, reduce power interruptions, and minimize transmission and distribution losses.”

Sri Lanka achieved 100% household electrification in 2016. Peak demand reached around 2,800 megawatts (MW) in 2023, including contributions from distributed renewable energy, and is projected to grow significantly by 2030. While Sri Lanka’s total installed power generation capacity reached 5,191 MW in 2023, about 50% of the country’s electricity generation in 2023 came from thermal power plants, underscoring the challenges in transitioning to a more sustainable energy mix. In its updated nationally determined contribution, the government has set an ambitious target of 70% electricity generation from renewables by 2030 and carbon neutrality in electricity generation by 2050.

The Power System Strengthening and Renewable Energy Integration Project will enhance climate resilience and expand the capacity of transmission and distribution networks, enabling greater integration of renewable energy. The project will expand the 220-kilovolt and 132-kilovolt transmission infrastructure with new transmission lines and substations, modernize the medium voltage distribution network, and upgrade grid protection systems. The project will introduce Sri Lanka’s first grid-scale battery energy storage system at the transmission level, establish a renewable energy center to forecast and monitor renewable energy generation, and implement network automation systems with SCADA and remote terminal units, providing operators with real-time data and alerts to ensure efficient power delivery.

The approval of this project reflects the significant progress made by Sri Lanka in advancing power sector reforms, which aims to enhance financial sustainability, ensure cost recovery tariff revisions, and competitive renewable energy development. ADB’s support for infrastructure upgrades is contingent on these reforms, recognizing their critical role in renewable energy integration and improving the sector’s overall performance.

The project will strengthen the institutional capacities of Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Lanka Electric Company (LECO)—the only utilities in the country responsible for power delivery to end-consumers. The project will improve their ability to integrate and manage renewable energy systems, adopt digital solutions, and enhance hosting capacity of rooftop solar installations. 

Various career development activities for CEB and LECO female staff, awareness-raising programs on safe and productive use of electricity, training on adopting clean energy solutions for women-led groups and businesses will be implemented. 
Of the total amount, $150 million will be provided to CEB and $50 million will go to LECO. Both financing will be guaranteed by the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 69 members—49 from the region.

–ADB–

Garvin Karunaratne, PhD Michigan State University formerly of the SLAS, G.A.Matara

It is reported that the IMF  has approved  the third review of Sri Lanka’s Economic Reform Programme. (AdaDerana:23/11/24)

It is hoped that what is approved will enable the development of the country in  terms of increasing production in agriculture and also bringing about employment opportunities and incomes for the people.

Before Sri Lanka came under the aegis of the IMF in 1977 Sri Lanka had  programmes that enabled the development of the country worked by the Government. Such development was vetoed by the  ruling of the Structural Adjustment Programme that  development was to be done by the Private Sector and not by  programmes  run by the State.

I refer to three major development programmes that brought about development- production and also employment and incomes to the people.

These are

The Divisional Development Councils Programme

The Department for Development of Agricultural Markeing

The Small Industries Department  Textile Development Programme.

These three development programmes played a cruicial role in creating production and thereby creating employment and incomes for the people. In detail, the Divisional Development Councils Programme encompassed the creation of small development projects in the entire island which brought about production in agriculture and industry, training people and providing them with the chance to become productive, earn in the process of making saleable items- creating incomes for the people and also creating what the people needed, items that were imported with foreign exchange.

The Department for Development of Agricultural Marketing  attended to the purchase of vegetables, fruits and cereals including  paddy at reasonable prices from producers,  marketed the produce in connurbations ensuing that produce was available at reasonable prices, and even established a Cannery that made Sri Lanka self sufficient in all fruit produce within three years 1955 to 1958 and even built up an export trade in pine apple.

The Small Industries Department developed an islandwide programme of handlooms and powerlooms that wove textiles out of imported yarn. Sri Lanka thereby produced its own textles. No damsels ever went to Singapore to buy elegant sarees. They dictated the coloures, patterns  and texture to hnadloom specialists and wore exclusive bespoke sarees.  We then produced all the textiles we needed on imported yarn. This function was abolished.

These three development programmes were very successfully implemented. I speak with firm authority as I have been directing the programmes at district and national level during my eighteen years service as a senior hand in the Administrative Service.

What is also important is the fact that no foreign exchange is requited for these three programmes. It is all local money- printed. The theory that some pseudo experts hold that printing money causes inflation is really nonsense. All countries including the mighty giant India runs their  country on entirely printed Rupees. I happened to work as the Commonwealth Fund Consultant to Bangladesh for two years and created the Youth Self Employmet Programme which has today brought employment to over three million youths and is today the most successful employment programme of world stature. entire done with locally printed Taka.  

It is hoped that the IMF will approve the implementation of these three programmes immediately. For the first time our elections have produced an administration that is devoted to development and given a chance will  leave no stone unturned in its attempt at development.

Such a task if ever done will also bring great prestige to the IMF, as since 1977 the IMF has been used to stall development and not to bring about development.

Garvin Karunaratne, PhD Michigan State University

formerly of the SLAS, G.A.Matara

21112024, garvin_karunaratne@hotmail.com

Prof. Hudson McLean

All We Are Saying is

Give Peace a Chance!  

Director of National intelligence pick Tulsi Gabbard blamed the invasion of Ukraine on NATO.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/22/politics/donald-trump-presidency-what-matters/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc

The USA Voter decided to Throw DNC Out!

Biden! Do Not Start what You Could Not Finish!

—-ENDS—-

Express Your Opinion – Read What Others Say!
The Independent Interactive Voice of Sri Lanka on the Internet.

Please visit -: http://www.lankaweb.com/

Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel Sri Lanka, Solicitor in England and Wales, President Ambassador’s forum and former Ambassador to UAE and Israel

Martin Luther King Jr said ‘’ darkness can not drive out darkness. Only light can do it. Hate can not drive away hate. Only love can do it said in 1963 in his book strength of love is repeatedly quoted since then so offer speaking on love and kindness to extend to others especially at the time of anger and fear.’’

This has been echoed by Buddha on Dhammapada which over thousands of years ago states, in a Verse (’Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this  world,by non hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is the law of eternal’’ President AKD started his maiden thrown speech with the above quotation by the great human rights activist Luther King and ended with the note may Triple Gem and God protect you, at the 10th Parliament with impromptu , long and convincing speech addressing the Nation on the future plans, policies, strategies touching all aspects and areas in most simple but dignified speech – one of the best made by a leader of the country ever. His ending appealed the masses and the contents of the speech were in great detail not missing any points is to his credit education, eloquence and ability to remember all facts and figures so accurately to speak so clearly, fast,  and with great confidence and convection appealing to the nation so affectionately. VV

Vision by the visionary leader

President AKD had many enemies and lot of fabricated stories have been circulating about his family financial dealings and hovering round a campaign against him and the organization he is leading with determined aim and organized network with the intimate goal he reached with the group with a vision led by the visionary leader. Is achievements are due to his vision and leadership unexpected and unbelievable with the rice of the voter percentage of  to initially 43% and thereafter to overwhelming parliamentary majority to enable hm  bring about any changes for the developments of he nation to the expected panning and vision, by him and the group the visionary group when there was no iota  of hopes of indications, yet continued to struggle with the  same vigour determination and aim is credit to his consistence , determination and the discipline of the group who stood by him to date despite suppressions oppressions and resistance from rival groups is indeed creditable and admirable at any cost or standard. In the recent past Sri Lanka appears to be in the dark without a vision , visionary, and a future plan for the country handled and meddled by inefficient and dishonest rulers who made the country bankrupt and indebted to the extent of inability to pay the international loans obtained due to the investments of unproductive projects obtained for high interest rates subject to commissions are to be yet to be traced and computed for legal scrutiny . President AKD quite correctly stated at the longest throne speech and long speeches before and after, that priority will be given to rule of law, campaign against bribery corruption, establish freedom of judiciary and law and order including eradication of the underworld spread as a cancer locally and internationally possible with political patronage. Nation in deed is in the dark with no vision and a visionary leader with a proper group. Now the citizen has chosen a leader with a vision with a visionary group who will work together as one on the implementation with the agreement entered with the citizen long ahead of electing on all elections wiping out teh oppositions democratically to be replaced more efficient educated group representing all groups and areas in the country to teh satisfaction of all citizens.

Sri Lanka still follows British parliamentary Model and practices

Though we are an independent Republic still the British model and traditions are followed and adopted as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations ceremonially headed by the  King of Britain. We have been following British model as a guide using the traditions and volumes published on Parliamentary traditions, including the throne  speech also known as the ‘’Gracious  speech’’ based on the tradition started in the 16th century on the speech by the King or Queen on the policy decisions of the government established by the people. Adjustments and alterations were made since 1948 by successive governments in Sri Lanka and this time the ceremony has been the simplest but with we presume the longest speech so far mad by the leader of the Nation addressing the citizen with the most simplest, communications so close to the hearts and minds of the citizen listing with a pin drop silence around the country over the  developed media network scheduled to be digitalized as state by AKD in the policy statement. AKD s speech was long as usual but contents, continuity and the power of expression was so powerful and convincing the citizen followed it well and truly  that covered almost all the areas in governance with facts, figures, and solutions with future plans with usual fluency and without a properly written statements as has been done by his predecessors through out since independence. A written speech by a senior government servant or a media personal has been the practice before but AKD has few documents on facts and figures and the long speech has been the long speech generally making so confidently and purely on memory.another which has been the normal practice in Sri Lanka and the commonwealth.

Contents speech were of high quality and presentation was appealing and convincing

The contends of the speech was real practical and convincing to eh ordinary citizen to be understood so clearly and convincingly. President AKD is a graduate 56 years of age and 24 years in the Parliament as a frontline debater, was born in a small village in the dry zone in an ordinary family and has gone through hardships from childhood yet continued his education with a religious and village background with the guidance of political gurus and village friends, with less or no opportunities but determined person from childhood due to the suppression and the lack of needs for him and family until he managed to follow higher education at a university where he continued his political timer of the carrier with political maturity as a full time of the party when he was appointed as the party leader and a membered of the parliament where he served 24 long years as an excellent debater who always spoke sense with facts and figure unlike many member of the parliament has not posses  possess reputations as honest and competent member of the parliament.

Why he chose the verse by Martin Luther at this ceremonial and historic occasion?

AKD used the quotation of Luther King possibly to ease the tension and ill will of the opponents who were bitter over the overwhelming majority the citizen has given his as a massive mandate by wining over the Presidential election convincedly and thereafter the Parliamentary election wining all parts of the country and wiping out the opponents winning over the disputed territories  and ethnic groups in North and the East the controversial and disputed areas nobody expected AKD and the group to win over. Most important unexpected happening was the conduct of the NPP leader and the group on exercising the overwhelming mandated given by the  masses very much over 2/3 rd majority the Parliament by a single party to change the constitution and any other law convincingly and the response of AKD that he is ahead of the parameters of the power given and that is will be utilized carefully and only when required to fulfil the aspirations and the policies presented to teh citizen as the contract between the citizen and the governance in the administration of the next five years for the vision put forward by a trusted and visionary leader teh citizen has full trust on. Once united ‘’granary’’ of -Asia- in  the Indian ocean has been a divided nation until the election of the winning the entire country as one unit including North and East despite demands it to be separated on ethnic grounds wiping out the traditional communal leaders replaced by educated professionally qualified group, with a vision for the country with a political and economic model without antagonising the international brotherhood assisted Sri Lanka with certain doubts and sceptics due to the misbehaviours on incorrect economic strategies that brought teh country to rock bottom i including ailing economy in the country. There was opposition and a campaign that he and group is going to be ruthless and will resort to iron fist administration to fear the ordinary citizen experienced in 1900 s during the former leaders led by RW who was assassinated inhumanly of the regime then, and it has been  necessary for President AKD to eradicate the bad impressions painted on him and the group. He emphaticised at the maiden speech priorities and plan of action on many areas on tourism. Digitalisation, modernisations based on clean and  Green Sri Lanka, whilst not making drastic changes on international agreements, foreign policy, Education, and international relations meeting large number of world leaders in teh midst of well wishes including world powers with friendship trust and affection despite the adverse publicity before being left oriented, yet agreed to work in partnership with the west and the local private sector on modern business forums and ideologies showing that he is not a traditional left oriented leader yet a person prepared for a change being his winning local motto .

‘’Digital transformation and Digit  ID’’

 Steps have already taken of digital ID, digitalized transport tickets based on digitalized cloud  ( practised in Vietnam, Singapore, UK, and many Asian Countries /as well) Digital transformation and state private partnership by taking immediate stops of sale of telecom, and Sri Lankan  airlines are voluntary and based on proper planning and strategy with the assistance of number of professionals and intellectuals who are prepared to serve in Sri Lanka on voluntary basis leaving their lucrative positions are signs of their belief and commitment to the vision,leader and leadership of the visionary leader showing a steady commanding honest figure to attract the citizen and the world leaders carefully eying  on teh conduct of the Sri Lankan= leader serve. His vision on the IT sector is north worthy to mention that he plans to increase IT professionals to 200,000 from  85,000 in 6 year, and transform the income on tourism from 3.45 million to 15 billion which is realistic considering the success in 2018 and the current leapfrog success on tourism exploring our beauty and resources and we suggest to promote and publishes Sri Lanka’s brand as BUAUTIFUL SRI LANKA as incredible India and Malaysia as Gem of Asia – a suggestion- It seems the governance is sailing at the right direction based on the vision on which they were elected led by the chosen visionary leader, who is sailing the ship carefully with the group assisting the leader to achieve the mission they are entrusted to for us to say we have the visionary leader as in UAE, Israel and Singapore for us to take us to the highest position in the world . Sarathdw28@gmail.com

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

දේශපාලන භූමියේදී සිදුකරන අපහාසාත්මක අසත්‍ය චෝදනාවලට නීතිමය පියවර ගත හැකි ශක්තිමත් නව පනතක් පෞද්ගලික මන්ත්‍රී යෝජනාවක් ලෙස නව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ගෙන ඒමට කටයුතු කරන බව පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණේ ජාතික සංවිධායක නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පැවසීය.

ලැම්බෝගිනි 18ක් ඇති බවටත්, උගන්ඩාවට මුදල් ගෙනගිය බවටත් චෝදනා කළ පුද්ගලයන් පසුව තමන් බොරු ප්‍රකාශ කළ බව ප්‍රකාශ කළත් එම චෝදනාවන්ට ලක්වූ පුද්ගලයන්ට ඒ වනවිට සිදුවී ඇති හානිය නිවැරදි කළ නොහැකි බව පැවසූ නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මන්ත්‍රීවරයා තවදුරටත් ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටියේ දේශපාලන භූමියේදී බොරු චෝදනා එල්ල කරන පුද්ගලයන්ට එරෙහිව කටයුතු කළ හැකි ආකාරයට නීතිය ශක්තිමත් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය පියවර ගන්නා ලෙස ආණඩුවෙන්ද ඉල්ලා සිටින බවයි.

දේශපාලන භූමියේදී තමන්ගේ නමට එල්ල වී ඇති බොරු චෝදනා හේතුවෙන් තමන්ට සිදුවී ඇති හානිය නිවැරදිකර ගැනීමට පෙර එබඳු චෝදනා හේතුවෙන් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ නමට සිදුවී ඇති හානිය නිදොස් කොට නිදහස්කර ගැනීමට තමන් ප්‍රමුඛතාවයක් දී කටයුතු කරන බවත් නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මන්ත්‍රීවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දක්වමින් පැවසීය.

එරික් ගාමිණි ජිනප්‍රිය
දිවයින

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

පසුගිය මැතිවරණයට ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ජාතික ලැයිස්තුව යටතේ ඉදිරිපත් කර සිටි ආචාර්යවරියක් මැතිවරණයෙන් පසුව පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ඒමට අකැමැත්ත පල කර තිබේ.

ඒ ආණ්ඩුව පාර්ශවයෙන් ඇයට කරන ලද ආරාධනාව ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරමිනි.

ඇය එහිදී හේතුව ලෙස දන්වා ඇත්තේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ගොස් ලැබෙන වැටුප තමනට ප්‍රමාණවත් නොවන බවයි.

ඒ හරහා පවුලේ ආර්ථික ගැටලු ඇතිවිය හැකි බව බවත් එනිසා තමන් එම යෝජනාව කාරුණිකව ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරන බවත් ඇය සඳහන් කර ඇත.

Courtesy Business Standard

Last November, the agency said it would provide $553 million in financing for the port terminal project in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. The project is partly owned by India’s Adani Group

A U.S. agency that agreed to lend more than $500 million to a Sri Lanka port development backed by the Adani Group said it is still conducting due diligence on the project in the wake of bribery allegations against the group’s billionaire founder Gautam Adani and other top executives, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. 

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation has not reached a final agreement on the loan, an official with the agency said in an email to Bloomberg.

 “We continue to conduct due diligence to ensure that all aspects of the project meet our rigorous standards before any loan disbursements are made,” the official said, according to the report.

 Last November, the agency said it would provide $553 million in financing for the port terminal project in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. The project is partly owned by India’s Adani Group. 

U.S. authorities have charged Adani and seven other people with agreeing to pay bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts that could yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years as well as to develop India’s largest solar power project.

 The Adani Group has said the accusations as well as those leveled by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a parallel civil case are “baseless and denied” and that it will seek “all possible legal recourse.”

 The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the Adani Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.

Written by Shubhajit Roy Courtesy The Indian Express

In value terms, India’s power exports to Bangladesh had crossed $1 billion, almost 10 per cent of India’s total exports to its neighbour.

The corporate office of the Adani group.(Reuters Photo)

With US prosecutors indicting Adani Group chairman Gautam S Adani and seven others for allegedly offering bribes to Indian government officials, Bangladesh has decided to hire a reputed legal and investigative firm” to assist its review” of major power generation contracts including the Adani power trading pact. This may lead to potential renegotiation or cancellation of contracts”, officials told The Indian Express Sunday.

The Bangladesh government, in a statement, said, The National Review Committee on the ministry of power, energy, and mineral resources on Sunday asked the Interim Government to hire a reputed legal and investigative firm to assist its review of major power generation contracts signed during Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic rule between 2009 and 2024.”

The committee is currently engaged in the detailed investigation of several contracts. They include Adani (Godda) BIFPCL 1234.4 megawatt coal fired power plant,” it said, adding to the list power plants in Payra (1320 MW coal), Meghnaghat (335 MW dual fuel), Ashuganj (195 MW gas), Bashkhali (612 MW Coal), Meghnaghat (583 MW dual fuel) and Meghnaghat (584 MW gas/RLNG).

In an extraordinary resolution, the committee led by Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury said it needed more time to do further analysis of other solicited and unsolicited contracts. The committee is collecting evidence that may lead to potential renegotiation or cancellation of contracts in line with the international arbitration laws and proceedings,” it said.

To facilitate this, we recommend the immediate engagement of one or more top-quality international legal and investigative firms to assist our committee, the review committee said in its resolution,” the statement said.

It said it wants to ensure that its investigations are in line with international standards and will be acceptable in international negotiations and arbitration,” it said.

Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Adani Power Limited told The Indian Express, We do not comment on the internal matters of Bangladesh. Our PPA is in existence for (the) past seven years and is perfectly legal and fully compliant with all laws. We continue to fulfil our contractual obligations by supplying power.”

The Bangladesh interim government, under Prof Muhammad Yunus, had formed a high-level inquiry committee, consisting of energy and legal experts, to re-examine the country’s power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Adani Group signed in 2017. This was in line with the direction of the Bangladesh high court.

On November 19, a two-judge bench, comprising Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury, asked the government to submit the committee’s report within two months, Bangladesh’s news agency UNB had reported.

Additionally, the HC had ordered the government to submit all documents related to the 25-year deal between the power division and Adani Group in a month’s time.

The HC’s directive came after a writ petition was filed by Supreme Court lawyer M. Abdul Qaiyum on November 13. Qaiyum had earlier sent a legal notice to the chairman of Bangladesh power development board (BPDB) and the secretary to the ministry of power and energy and sought reevaluation of the terms of the PPA or cancellation of the deals, the UNB reported.

The Indian Express had reported on September 12 that the Yunus-led interim government was set to scrutinise Indian businesses including the Adani Group which exports power from its Jharkhand unit under a 2017 agreement.

More specifically, the interim government is keen to know the terms of the agreement and if the price being paid for power is justified.

In November 2017, Adani Power (Jharkhand) Ltd (APJL) signed a 25-year 1,496 MW (net) Power Purchase Agreement with the Bangladesh Power Development Board. Under this, Bangladesh would buy 100 per cent electricity produced by AJPL’s Godda plant. The unit, which runs on 100 per cent imported coal, was declared a Special Economic Zone by the Indian government in March 2019.

The Godda plant, fully commercially operational during April-June 2023, supplies 7-10 per cent of Bangladesh’s base load. In 2023-24, it exported about 7,508 million units of power, or almost 63 per cent of India’s total power exports of 11,934 million units to Bangladesh.

In value terms, India’s power exports to Bangladesh had crossed $1 billion, almost 10 per cent of India’s total exports to its neighbour.

In the case of Sri Lanka, the new government led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake is yet to take a final decision regarding the Adani Green Energy Ltd. (AGEL) wind power project in Mannar and Pooneryn, among other ongoing investments in the country.

Speaking to Sri Lankan daily The Sunday Morning, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) spokesperson Eng. Dhanushka Parakramasinghe confirmed that while the matter was being reviewed”, no final decision had been made so far.

He said a proposal regarding the wind power project would be submitted to the Cabinet in the coming weeks for further deliberation.

The Cabinet will review all the details regarding the Adani wind power project before making a final decision. We are currently in the process of evaluating all aspects of the project, including its financial feasibility and environmental impact,” Parakramasinghe told The Sunday Morning.

It is important that we ensure transparency and accountability in such large-scale projects, especially in light of the international concerns raised about the Adani Group,” he said.

The AKD government had told the country’s Supreme Court that it would reconsider the approval granted by the previous government to the Adani Group for the wind power project.

Courtesy The Island

Buddhist monks, dignitaries, and representatives from Buddhist societies and temples across the world at the event

A grand welcome as well as a blessing ceremony was recently held in honour of Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Highways and Transport, Government of India, recognising his leadership in advancing development projects that link sacred Buddhist sites and historical religious cities across India, said a release from the Jambudvipa Sri Lanka Buddhist Temple in Sarnath.

The event, organised by the Maha Bodhi Charitable Trust under the guidance of Bhante Harshabodhi Maha Thero, aimed to celebrate the ongoing efforts to connect these significant cultural landmarks.

The ceremony, which took place with the cooperation of the Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC) and the Indo-Sri Lanka International Buddhist Association, was attended by a large number of senior Buddhist monks, dignitaries, and representatives from Buddhist societies and temples across the world. Notable attendees included Venerable Dr. K Siri Sumedha Thero, President of the Indo-Sri Lanka International Buddhist Association, and the High Priest of Jambudvipa Sri Lanka Buddhist Temple in Sarnath.

During the event, participants expressed their appreciation for the substantial contributions made by Nitin Gadkari and the Indian government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They lauded the transformative development works aimed at connecting key Buddhist pilgrimage sites, thus enhancing cultural and spiritual ties between India and Sri Lanka, and fostering deeper international Buddhist unity.

The attendees also offered prayers and blessings for the continued success of these projects and the prosperous future of India. The ceremony emphasized the significant role of these developments in promoting global peace and strengthening the shared heritage of the Buddhist community.

 DARSHANA SANJEEWA BALASURIYA   Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Gampaha, Nov 24 (Daily Mirror) – The excavation in search of alleged buried treasure near the Central Expressway construction site in the Wanduramba area of Veyangoda ended yesterday evening without any discovery of treasure or items of archaeological value.

The excavation, which began on November 21, was initiated under a court order from the Attanagalle Magistrate’s Court following the arrest of nine individuals, including a man dressed in robes, who were suspected of digging for treasure at the site.

The operation involved personnel from the police, Special Task Force (STF), Mirigama Divisional Secretariat, Archaeological Department and the Road Development Authority. Initially, the court had granted permission for a two-day excavation period, which concluded on Friday afternoon. However, after presenting new information to the court, Veyangoda Police obtained an additional day for the operation, allowing the excavation to continue for a third day.

Work resumed at 9 a.m. yesterday, with authorities taking steps to break a large stone blocking further progress. The stone was crushed in front of the public.

Courtesy  TAPROBANE TV

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

WION- Aiming to cash on growing outbound Indian tourists, Sri Lanka and Australia have launched new initiatives to cash in on this. Sri Lankan Airlines has launched a unique package for Indian tourists- the “Ramayana Trail” that includes 50 significant locations in the country which is associated with the Hindu epic.

These include Seeta Amman Temple, where Mata Sita is said to have prayed during her captivity, to Rumassala hill, where a piece of the Himalayas is believed to have landed, dropped by Hanuman.

Launching the trail officially over the weekend in Delhi, the Sri Lankan high commissioner said, “The Ramayan is not merely a story, it is a tapestry encapsulating culture, spirituality, and heritage. It has been a source of inspiration, guidance, fostering a connection between India & Sri Lanka…Sri Lankan Airlines is not only offering the opportunity to discover significant locations” 

Sri Lankan Airlines is the country’s national carrier, and the initiative comes at a time when India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was extended to the country, which enhances digital financial connectivity. It not only facilitates cross-border transactions, and digital connectivity but also helps the Indian tourists travelling to the country.  

Chief Executive Officer of Sri Lankan Airlines, Richard Nuttall said, “Our Gurus came with this wonderful idea, that it was time for the Ramayana trail. We are really proud to promote this concept and bring the trail to India. We hope this will take tourism from India to Sri Lanka to a new level”.

Indians were the largest group of foreign tourists to travel to Sri Lanka in October 2024. With a share of 26.8%, around 36000 Indians travelled to the country also known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean”. The next largest number of tourists were from Russia, at just 7.6% share. From November 1-20th 2024, 26,700 Indian tourists travelled to the country, according to Sri Lankan govt data.

Courtesy AdaDerana

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a summons to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, indicted on U.S. bribery allegations related to a bombshell federal indictment against him, a court filing showed.

The SEC is suing the head of the Adani Group and his nephew Sagar Adani, alleging they engaged in hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to help an Adani company while falsely touting the company’s compliance with antibribery principles and laws in connection with a $750 million bond offering.”

The summons requires an answer within 21 days, according to the filing dated Wednesday in federal court in the Eastern District of New York. The SEC suit seeks unspecified monetary penalties and restrictions on the Adanis from serving as officers of listed companies.

Adani Group representatives did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Sunday.

The group has denied the criminal charges as baseless”. The group CFO said the indictment is linked to one contract of Adani Green Energy that makes up some 10% of its business, and that no other firms in the conglomerate were accused of wrongdoing.

Federal prosecutors issued arrest warrants for Gautam and Sagar Adani, alleging they participated in a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials to secure power-supply deals.

Authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar, agreed to bribe Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India’s largest solar power plant project.

The crisis is the second in two years to hit the ports-to-power conglomerate founded by Adani, 62, one of the world’s richest people. The fallout was felt immediately, as billions of dollars were wiped off the market value of Adani Group companies and Kenya’s president canceled a massive airport project with the group.

Source: Reuters
–Agencies 

L. Michael Hager FacebookTwitterReddit

When a political party loses its legitimacy, its traditional priorities and moral compass, its candidates lose elections. Opting not to hold an open convention, which would have tested political viability, the DNC (acting on the President’s recommendation) invited Kamala Harris to replace Biden on the ticket.  For many Democrats, the lack of a competitive primary undermined the legitimacy of process.

In a misguided effort to attract anti-Trump Republicans, Harris  enlisted conservative Republican Liz Cheney  to join her on the campaign trail. This  strategy  failed.  The Republicans stuck with Trump or voted third party.  In the effort, Harris alienated many core supporters who saw her cave on such  issues as  fracking, immigration and health care.  Her policy backtracking was another blow to party legitimacy.

An even more delegitimizing strategy was to take for granted the support of working-class voters and labor unions. Both UAW President Shawn Fain and  Senator Bernie Sanders were noticeably absent from Harris’ campaign events, which included instead entertainment celebrities and Cheney.  Commenting on the election outcome, Bernie said it should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them.”

The possibly heaviest, blow to party legitimacy was the large defection of progressives and other Democrats who were horrified by the ongoing genocide in Gaza and by the continued transfer of U.S. weaponry to Israel for its wars in both Gaza and Lebanon. Harris lost the popular count by five million votes.  At the same time, she finished 12 million votes below the 81.2 million votes Biden received in 2020.  Where did those missing Democratic voters go?

The November 10 New York Times featured an op-ed entitled Democrats Ignored Gaza, and It Brought Down Their Party.” Its author. Peter Beinart, a contributing Opinion writer for the Times and an editor at large of Jewish Currents offered an answer to the missing voter question.  He observed that,

Over the past year, Israel’s slaughter and starvation of Palestinians–funded by U.S. taxpayers and live-streamed on social media–has triggered one of the greatest surges in progressive activation in a generation.”

He went on to say, Many Americans roused to action by their government’s complicity in Gaza’s destruction have no personal connection to Palestine or Israel.  Like many Americans who protested South African apartheid or the Vietnam War, their motive is not ethnic or religious.  It is moral.”

I could identify with Beinart’s remarks. When Biden began enabling Israel’s genocide last October, I left the Democratic Party after 68 years of loyal membership.  My vote on November 5 was a write-in for Bernie Sanders.

Since then, I have come to realize that Biden has not been alone in starting or expanding U.S. wars of choice.  Of the seven Democratic presidents in office from 1945, only Jimmy Carter managed to avoid war (though it was the Iranian hostage crisis and his failure to rescue U.S. hostages that denied him a second term).

How can the Democratic Party recover its moral compass, with proxy wars raging in both Gaza and Ukraine?  Why should the U.S. continue to give Israel an exception from international law and United Nations condemnation? According to Beinart,  Democrats must begin to align their policies on Israel and Palestine” with the broader principles of human equality and respect for international law. The Palestinian exception,” says Beinart, is not just immoral. It is politically disastrous.”

Unless the Democratic Party abandons its current war policies in favor of international diplomacy, it won’t be able to win back the support of its important progressive wing. It will continue to lose elections.

L. Michael Hager is cofounder and former Director General, International Development Law Organization, Rome.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/11/20/the-democratic-war-party-and-its-loss-of-legitimacy/

Dave Lindorff Courtesy Counterpunch

There is no justifiable explanation for lame duck President Joe Biden’s sudden turnabout decision to okay Ukraine’s use of longer-range US ATACMS ballistic missiles t which can hit targets as much as 200 miles inside Russia.

Biden and his ironically-dubbed national security brain trust” of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan have for most of this year been nixing Kiev’s request for such missiles as well as permission for Ukraine use Britain’s Storm Shadow stand-off air-launched long-range cruise missiles to hit Russian targets. They did this arguing that such attacks on the Russian heartland could lead to a spiraling escalation of that war — an escalation that could quickly go nuclear.

Now those two out-of-their-depth but supremely over-confident advisors and the doddering outgoing president they serve are claiming the US has to respond” to Russia’s supposed escalation of the war. They are referring to Vladimir Putin’s acceptance of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s offer of over 10.000 North Korean troops to assist Russia in driving invading Ukrainian forces out of its Kursk region north of Ukraine.

But the Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk Oblast itself was an significant escalation or this conflict and the US had made it worse by providing shorter range missiles, called HIMARs, which were already being launched  from Ukraine into Russian territory.

Basically, the Ukrainian-Russian war, now 1000-days running, has been following an all-too-common pattern of tit-for-tat escalation of the kind that led to WWI, the US CiVil War, the Korean War and the Spanish-American War, The problem is that at some point one of those tits or tats is likely to lead to a situation where Russia, feeling hard-pressed by a more powerful adversary in the US and its NATO allies, will feel sufficiently threatened to resort to a nuclear response. And the nature of nuclear war which is fought by missiles, not by the ponderous moving of large numbers of troops and motorized weapons, is that the process of escalations is measured in days, hours or even minutes.

Will this latest move up the escalation ladder, providing Ukraine’s military with US (and British) rockets that can hit targets deep inside Russia, and doing so in both cases with the necessary assistance of US military satellites for guidance, be the rung that leads to Russia’s use of some of its nukes?

Fortunately probably not, but the mere chance that it could happen makes Biden’s escalation decision beyond appalling.

I say it is not likely to lead to nuclear war because in fact, it is unlikely that Ukraine will have the ability to launch any ATACMS rockets in the remaining few weeks of Biden’s presidential dotage. Firstly, even any of those rockets in Ukraine, they are few in number. The UK’s  Telegraph newspaper quotes a retired leader of Ukraine’s military as saying it would take ‘hundreds” of those missiles to significantly weaken Russia’s advancing counterattack in Kursk. Second, the Ukrainian military personnel using the ATACMs have to be trained in how to fire them and to use the satellite-based guidance system to direct them to targets. All that will take time. And time is running out for the Biden administration. On Jan. 3, 2025, the new Congress, which will be fully in the hands of the Republicans, will be seated, and the new Republican-led  Senate can be counted on to tie Biden’s hands and reverse his decision on provision of the rockets, if instructed to do so by incoming President-Elect Donald Trump.

Jan. 3 is only 45 days away.

Moreover, Biden (who has promised Trump a smooth transition” (in contrast to Trump’s refusal to leave office after the 2020 election), will in the coming weeks have to follow the long-standing tradition of a smooth handoff by bringing Trump and his foreign policy team in on discussions on any foreign policy crisis or issue,

And Trump certainly does not want to begin  his second term with a hot war on his hands.

So why did Biden and his foreign policy handlers make this sudden provocative and destabilizing decision?

It is surely not because Russia invited in some North Korean infantry — poor souls who will surely be chewed up given the language barrier between the Korean-speaking troops and their Russian officers.

I suspect Biden’s decision to authorize the more powerful and longer-range missiles for Ukraine was motivated by a desire to either establish his and his foreign policy team’s hard line against Russia. Or more ore sinisterly, it could be an effort to actually press Russia into responding with some kind of retaliation, hopefully not nuclear, but perhaps a conventional attack on US or British trainers, of a storage depot for ATACMS rockets.

Putin, however (who has reportedly been in phone communication with Trump), knows that the incoming president badly wants to start off his second presidential term with a peace deal in Ukraine. Given that, the Russian leader, no matter how angry he may be at the breaching of one of his ‘red lines,’ is unlikely to allow himself to be provoked into taking a retaliatory action that could provoke a surge of anti-Russia patriotic fervor in the US. Such a result could  prevent Trump from following through with his plan to be the peacemaker.

Any way you look at it though, Biden’s and his advisors’ move on providing those ATACM missiles and okaying their use inside Russia is the height of recklessness and must be condemned.

This article by Dave Lindorff appeared originally in ThisCantBeHappening! on its new Substack platform at https://thiscantbehappening.substack.com/. Please check out the new site and consider signing up for a cut-rate subscription that will be available until the end of the month.

Dilrook Kannangara

Provincial council and local government elections are overdue. They must be held as soon as possible. Most government powers that matter to the people including healthcare, education, agriculture, etc. are provincial powers. Central government cannot deliver on any promise without these powers vested in provincial councils. Local government bodies are the grassroots level governance units. They matter to daily needs of constituents. For that reason, there is no merit in delaying these elections any further. Holding them now ensures the ruling party gets compliant provincial councils and local government bodies.

While provincial councilors number cannot be changed from 450, the number of people elected to local governance bodies must be drastically reduced from over its current number of 8,000. At the maximum 800 is sufficient. These can be passed by parliament without delay and before the election.

Just like all other parties that ruled Sri Lanka, NPP and the JVP fully embrace 13A and the existing provincial council system. The JVP of 1987 is long gone and priorities have changed in all political parties in the country with the passage of time. Given tremendous minority support and cordial relations with India, there is no requirement to change 13A or the provincial council system at this moment. It can be considered at the time of introducing a new Constitution. What is now required is electing councilors into existing provincial councils.

It is a good idea to hold all provincial council and local government elections on the same day. In order to avoid confusion, raise income for the government and reduce administrative expenses, election bond/deposit must be increased to at least Rs 100,000 per candidate.

Prof. Hudson McLean

Is this a Fact Now?

Director of National intelligence pick Tulsi Gabbard blamed the invasion on NATO.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/22/politics/donald-trump-presidency-what-matters/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc

His early Cabinet appointments are contradictory given some – such as (secretary of state pick Marco) Rubio and (incoming national security adviser Mike) Waltz – have in the past expressed support for Ukraine, while (director of national intelligence pick Tulsi) Gabbard blamed the invasion on NATO.

Destrction of Lives & Property by NATO?

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The Independent Interactive Voice of Sri Lanka on the Internet.

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Prof. Hudson McLean

Ukraine is Redundant!

Let Us Not Start a Destructive WW111!

NATO Does Not Need Ukraine Anymore.

NATO has now Finland & Sweden as Members.

Old Joe(ker) Biden on his way out, is only trying to create trouble for King Donald Trump.

Ukraine is hoping and trying to get NATO involved by getting Russia to attack Poland. Hope Russia stays out of this!

Russia-Ukraine must be given the opportunity to sort their own problem, started by NATO-USA.

Any Mediator involved must be out of UK-USA-NATO-EU!

An Impartial, Independent, Credible, Reputable, with an International Calibre Statesman is Available!

Express Your Opinion – Read What Others Say!
The Independent Interactive Voice of Sri Lanka on the Internet.

Please visit -: http://www.lankaweb.com/

By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, November 23: Among the many historic ‘firsts’ that the November 2024 parliamentary elections witnessed, two achievements by the National People’s Power (NPP) have evinced the most attention.

The NPP’s landslide victory marks the first time since the introduction of the proportional representation electoral system in Sri Lanka that a single party or alliance has won a two-thirds majority in parliament.

The NPP has won all but one of the 22 districts in the country. What is particularly noteworthy about this victory is that the NPP has won more seats in all the five electoral districts in the Northern and Eastern provinces, except Batticaloa. The same is true in districts where Malaiyaha ( Hill country )  Tamils ​​live in large numbers.

For the first time, a majority-Sinhalese political party has won most of the seats in the districts of the Northern and Eastern provinces, including Jaffna district, which was considered a ‘fortress’ of Tamil nationalist politics.

For the first time in Sri Lanka’s electoral history, the NPP has received overwhelming support from voters across ethnic and religious lines, from north to south and from east to west. No politician or observer has yet been able to provide a proper objective interpretation of this historic victory.

Some observers have said that the overwhelming support received by the NPP across the country is a significant step towards national unity, breaking with tradition, and that even regions historically disillusioned with central governance have placed their trust in the leadership of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

They also  said that the president and his NPP have  succeeded in fostering a  national perspective that transcends traditional divisions even though some of the most pressing problems of the people of the north and east was not a part of their election campaign. This I seen as a reflection of the fact that those people have begun to show interest in joining the national political mainstream.

Meanwhile, leaders of the flagship party of the NPP, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), especially its General Secretary Tilvin Silva, say that the minority communities have rejected communal politics.

Unusually, this time there was no room for nationalist campaigns in the South at the presidential and parliamentary elections. The main reasons for this were that the forces that spearheaded Sinhala Buddhist nationalist politics under the leadership of the Rajapaksas  had been severely weakened and that the main political parties had reached out to the minority communities to win votes.

The Tamil nationalist political parties that had represented the Tamil people in the North and East suffered a severe setback in the parliamentary elections. The Ilankai Thamizharasu Katchi  (ITAK)  has nothing to be proud of in winning two more seats this time than it did in the previous parliament. The party should look at its current standing among the Tamil people against the backdrop of the fact that the NPP won more seats in five districts.

Amidst this unprecedented setback for the Tamil parties, many politicians who were identified as Sinhala Buddhist hard line nationalists in the South did not get elected to parliament this time. Based on these trends, some political analysts claim that Sinhala Buddhist nationalism in the South and Tamil nationalism in the North have been defeated.

One has to bear in mind the fact that just as the electoral defeat of certain Sinhala hard line nationalists cannot be interpreted as a defeat of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, the setbacks suffered by Tamil nationalist parties in the North and East cannot also be interpreted as a rejection of Tamil nationalism by the Tamil people.

It cannot be said that the Tamil people accepted the position of the NPP on the national ethnic problem and supported it in the election without showing any interest in their legitimate political aspirations and grievances based on long- standing ideas.

The Tamil people of the North and East have expressed their resentment against Tamil parties and their leaders who had represented them for the past fifteen years since the end of the civil war. The Tamil people believe that their leaders merely harked back to past struggles and used emotional Tamil nationalist slogans to get votes. They had failed to adopt effective approaches to secure the Tamils’ long standing demands.

Moreover, the Tamil people are outraged that the Tamil polity is fragmented at a time when Tamil political forces need to unite and act as one like never before.

The Tamil people had no other choice but to turn to the NPP because there was no political force among them that could lead them on a practical and sensible political path as an alternative to Tamil parties. A situation arose in which large numbers of those people who had not supported Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the presidential election nearly two months ago were inclined to vote for the NPP after he assumed the presidency.

In many areas, the Tamil people directly told Tamil leaders who met   them that they would vote for the President’s party this time. Those leaders, who failed to properly assess the feelings of their people, remained lukewarm, hoping that the Tamil people would vote only for the Tamil parties as usual.

The NPP was considered the best alternative by the people of the South to reject the traditional mainstream political parties that were responsible for misrule and the prevailing corrupt political culture. Taking advantage of the changed political situation in the period following the Aragalaya” People’s Uprising, the NPP developed itself into a grand political movement.

The Tamil people in the North and East, who were waiting for an opportunity to reject Tamil political parties, had no other option but to turn to the NPP. It is doubtful whether the Tamil parties, which have not learned any lessons from past experiences and devised prudent strategies, will be able to meet the demands of the situation.

This being the case, President Dissanayake, who delivered his government’s policy statement at the first sitting of the new Parliament last Thursday, said that he would never allow  politics of racism and religious extremism to resurface. But ensuring that racism and religious extremism do not reappear depends entirely on the policies and actions of his government.

If the President believes that the overwhelming support that the people have given to his government, across ethnic and religious lines, will help create a situation where racism will not resurface, then it is essential for him to find meaningful solutions to the problems that racism had created in the country. without delay.

The first requirement for the President to achieve his goal is to change the political culture of Southern Sri Lanka, which does not respect the legitimate political aspirations and genuine grievances of minority communities.

The NPP, especially the JVP, has so far shown no clear signs of breaking free from its intolerant past, when it opposed all attempts to find a political solution to the national ethnic problem. The position expressed by the NPP during the recent controversies over the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was the latest evidence.

The people have given Dissanayake a resounding mandate that has never been given to any previous president. There is no obstacle for him and his government to find solutions to the ethnic problem, whether by amending the law or introducing a new constitution. All that is needed is political will.

The President has a duty to send a clear message to the Tamil people, who have rejected most Tamil parties and supported the NPP. At the same time, the he also has a responsibility to tell the Sinhalese people what approach they are obligated to adopt in dealing with the problems of the people of the North and East, who have sent several members of a national party to Parliament for the first time in history rejecting their own leaders.

The President should dedicate himself to creating a conducive climate in the South to find a political solution to the ethnic problem by winning the confidence of the majority who have deep-seated negative attitudes towards devolution of power and the legitimate political aspirations of the minority communities.

He is now in a very strong position to prevail upon the Sinhala polity and the Sinhalese people on the necessity to find a political solution and bridge the divisions in the country.

If he succumbs to the compulsions of Sinhalese hard-line nationalist forces and factions of the Maha Sangha, like previous Sinhalese leaders, President Dissanayaka will surely join the list of leaders who have missed the rare opportunities presented by history.

An acid test of his political mettle will be how he handles the 13th Amendment ahead of the provincial council elections which he intends to have any time next year.

Finally, a comment made last week by JVP general secretary Tilvin Silva in an interview with Meera Srinivasan, a Colombo correspondent  of the influential Chennai English daily ‘The Hindu’, is noteworthy: He said: ” There was a wrong perception because of the  history written by those who defeated us. Our path was not willingly chosen, it was forced on us. We were facing allegations of violence. It  was not our action, but a reaction from our end. If the state’s repression was armed ,so was our response.”

” The political moment has opened up space to rewrite the story of not just the party, but also the country without characterising some as terrorists who took up arms for no reason.”

It is time the JVP leaders realized that even for the Tamils, there is a long story to tell about the misconceptions  that exist regarding the root causes of their armed struggle and the need to rewrite distorted history and to adopt a healthy new approach to the ethnic problem in the interest of the future of the nation.

( The writer is a senior journalist based in Colombo)

Courtesy Xinhua

COLOMBO, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) — A supplementary agreement for the China-aided housing project for low-income families in Sri Lanka was signed here on Friday, with officials from Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing and Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong attending the event.

Anura Karunathilake, minister of urban development, construction and housing, said that over the past decades, whenever Sri Lanka faced difficulties, the Chinese government and people have always extended a helping hand without hesitation. He expressed gratitude for the selfless assistance from the Chinese government and people, emphasizing that the agreement signed on Friday is of utmost importance to the Sri Lankan people.

Tang Yandi, counselor of the Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka, said the project aims to provide high-quality residential buildings in designated areas of Colombo for low-income households.

“The successful signing of the supplementary agreement will be a token of our further strengthened friendship,” Tang said, expressing his confidence that the project will be another success with close cooperation between the two sides.

The implementation agreement for the housing project was signed in November 2023, and the supplementary agreement details specific bidding and division of work for the project.

According to the agreement, the construction works for 1,996 housing units for low-income families in Sri Lanka will commence soon.

Data from the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing showed that more than 700,000 families in Sri Lanka lived without permanent housing as of November 2023. 

Courtesy CNN

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new leftist government has agreed to press ahead with a controversial IMF bailout programme that involves tough austerity and economic reforms, the international lender announced on Saturday (Nov 23).

The International Monetary Fund said it reached an agreement with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s administration to continue with the four-year loan negotiated by his predecessor last year.

“The authorities have committed to stay within the guardrails of the programme,” IMF team leader Peter Breuer told reporters at the end of talks with the new government.

He said the new government’s commitment ensured policy continuity.

“Sustaining the reform momentum is critical to safeguarding the hard-won gains of the programme, and putting the economy on a path towards lasting recovery and stable and inclusive growth,” Breuer added.

Sri Lanka went to the IMF for a rescue package after the country defaulted on its US$46 billion external debt in April 2022 during an unprecedented economic meltdown.

The shortage of foreign exchange, which left the country unable to finance even the most essential imports of food and fuel, led to months of street protests and forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign.

The US$2.9 billion loan secured early last year required Colombo to sharply raise taxes, remove generous energy subsidies and agree to restructure more than 50 loss-making state enterprises.

Related:

Commentary: Sri Lankans made it clear they want change in a historic election

Commentary: Sri Lankans want change. They deserve continuity

Dissanayake’s predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe secured the rescue that involves the disbursement of a US$2.9 billion loan over four years.

In his first address to parliament, after his National People’s Power party won a landslide at the Nov 14 election, Dissanayake backed the IMF deal on Thursday, marking a U-turn from his election pledge.

The dissatisfaction with traditional politicians held responsible for the economic collapse was a key driver of Dissanayake’s electoral success.

Dissanayake said there was no room to make any mistakes in managing the economy.

According to Breuer, the new government’s pledge to fight corruption will “reinvigorate governance reforms”, rebuild economic confidence, and make growth more robust and inclusive.

Sri Lanka will now be able to draw down US$333 million, subject to IMF board approval, by the end of the year.

Last month, Dissanayake’s interim cabinet signed off on a controversial restructuring of US$14.7 billion in foreign commercial credit tentatively agreed by Wickremesinghe.

The debt restructuring is a key IMF demand to rebuild the island’s economy, which shrank 7.8 per cent in 2022, its worst performance ever.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

2024 මාස් කන්නය අරඹා මාසයක කාලයක් ගතවී තිබුන ද ගොවීන්ට සහනාධාර ලෙස රු. 15000ක මුදලක් පසුගිය රජය විසින්  ලබාදෙන බව ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබුනද, එම මුදල රු. 25000 දක්වා වර්තමාන රජය ඉහළ දමා ලබාදෙන බව පැවසුවද, මේ වන තෙක් එම 25000ක මුදල කෙසේවුවද 15000ක මුදල පවා ගොවීන්ට නොලැබී ඇති බව ගොවීහු චෝදනා කරති.

වේදිකාවේ කුමන කතා කීවද බලයට ආ පසු ඒ කිසිවක් ක්‍රියාත්මක නොවන බවත් පවසන ඔවුන්, මාසයක් වයසැති ගොයම් පැලවලට අවශ්‍ය මූලික පොහොර ටික පවා යෙදීමට නොහැකි වීමෙන් අනුරාධපුර ප්‍රදේශයේ ගොවීහු දැඩි අපහසුතාවට පත්ව ඇති බවත් පෙන්වා දෙයි.