No Constitution can change the place due to Buddhism, Sinhala Buddhists, the National Anthem, Map or the National Flag
Posted on June 5th, 2016
Shenali D Waduge
In constitutions there are some things that are sacrosanct and cannot be touched. These are the country’s national anthem, the national map, the national flag, the foremost place for Buddhism and the Sinhale Buddhists who built the nation. No politician or political party, whims of separatist inclined minorities or foreign agendas can touch this substratum status given to them through history. The primordial national identity of our nation remains Sinhale. It is with the Sinhale nation that the British signed the Kandyan Convention in 1815. The Sinhale not Sri Lanka is our nation. The people living in it are Sinhale Buddhist, Sinhale Tamil, Sinhale Muslims etc. There is no ‘Sri Lankan’ identity. The name Sri Lanka is just 44 years old introduced with the 1972 Republican constitution. Our independence from invaded occupied rule came only in 1972 and not 1948 as we chose to remain a dominion. Nations with dominion status were semi-independent
Our nation’s history did not start after 1505 and the illegal occupation of invading Portuguese, Dutch or the British. Our nation’s history did not start after these illegal occupiers gave ceremonial independence in 1948. Our history is long and proud and it is this history that needs to be denoted across every national symbol, acknowledged, fostered and protected by every constitution whoever comes into power.
The proposals to make Sri Lanka secular, to make all religions equal, to change the national anthem and national flag are all with very insidious intent. The long term outcome is to turn Sri Lanka to another Maldives expunged of its Buddhist past, evangelized former Buddhist nation South Korea and a prostituted state Philippines. A country with over 2600 proud history should not take that route and no party or persons should be allowed to destroy a past that other nations are envious about.
The attempt by those selected to draft the new constitution firstly are not representative of the majority views. The manner they are attempting to introduce the ‘secular’ state through the new constitution is to remove a historically held right to protect Buddhism as was done by not only the Sinhale kings but even South Indian invaders like Elara.
Norway, EU, the US, Canada or UK cant demand Sri Lanka’s place for Buddhism be changed when these very nations have given the Roman Catholic faith an entire country and the Pope the head of the Church is considered on par with all global leaders. Such favouritism for one religion while not even officially recognizing Buddhism in their countries shows their bias and hypocrisy. The manner these governments fund missionaries and faith-based NGOs to increase flocks in developing nations is aligned to the ultimate goal of removing Theravada Buddhism & Hinduism. They are today using lascoreens and sepoys who did their bidding first under occupied rule and now for perks and privileges.
No reconciliation can be possible or acceptable unless and until the former colonial Catholic/Christian nations apologize and return all that they plundered and compensate for the atrocious crimes committed. Silence on compensating for these crimes while demanding rights and freedoms is really hilarious!
Foremost place to Buddhism
Buddhism is the bedrock of the culture and civilization of the Sinhale people. Future of Theravada Buddhism depends on its existence in Sinhale. King Devanampiyatissa declared Buddhism the state religion of Sinhale in 246 BC Ever since Theravada Buddhism has been continuing to preserve that sacred identity.
A huge international campaign is out to shame and demonise Sri Lanka using their acolytes to force spineless leaders to remove the foremost place to Buddhism and replace with failed pluralist, multicultural, multireligious slogans. Even the British monarch is the defender of the Christian faith inspite of Britain being a multi-religious society.
We may recall the assassination of King Buwanakabahu VII by a Portuguese soldier in Kelaniya in 1552AD as a punishment for his refusal to abandon Buddhism.
Buddhism and Sinhale (Sri Lanka) go together. The moment Buddhism is removed the likelihood is that the country’s name will be changed like Philippines who never challenged why their nation should be named after a Spaniard.
The betrayal of Sinhale by selfish chieftans and the signing of the Kandyan Convention in 1815 resulted in 12 clauses with British agreeing (without intending) to preserve the powers and privileges of the Chiefs, to preserve the laws & customs and institutions of the country (Clause 4) and maintain and protect Buddhist religion, rites, ministers, places of worship (Clause 5). That these promises were made not to keep is a lesson that should not be forgotten giving warning signals not to allow anyone to touch the place afforded to Buddhism hereafter.
The Presidential Buddha Sasana Commission Report (2002) observed ‘that the constitutional obligation accorded by the Constitution of Sri Lanka to give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana devolves on the Government of Sri Lanka, all state institutions, other organisations, and all its citizens”.
The report also says
Sri Lanka is the centre of Theravada Buddhism. It is the duty and responsibility of everyone to preserve it for the future generations. The Government, the bhikkus, the Buddhist societies and organizations, and the Buddhist people should work for this because preserving Buddhism in Sri Lanka leads to the development of worldwide Buddhism. Further, the Commission believes that its recommendations do not disturb the constitutional rights of the followers of other religions, while it improves the harmony rather than animosity among people who follow various religions” …….
It is seen that the religion of the majority of the people in a country becomes the state religion. Bhutan, Nepal, United Kingdom, certain European countries, and Arabic countries are examples of this. In the Sri Lankan society, this condition prevailed until 1815. In Malaysia, even though its Islamic population is 52%, the state religion has become Islam. From the Devanam Piya Tissa era to 1815, the state religion had been Buddhism”.
The Buddha Sasana is defined by the Commission as
as the Buddha, the nine super-mundane (navalokuttara) Dhamma, the Sangha, the Buddhist temples (viharas) with their ancillary structures, forest hermitages (aranya senasana) and meditation centres, Bo trees, stupas, image houses, relic chambers, dhamma books and libraries, designated buildings for performance of vinaya acts by the sangha (uposathagara), fields, gardens and properties belonging to the Buddhist temples, Buddhist education, devalas, nuns and nunneries, the laity who had taken refuge in the Triple Gem, Buddhist literature, culture and civilisation, Buddhist festivals and processions (peraharas), Buddhist customs and traditions, Buddhist principles and values and all that are required for its perpetuity .
Chapter 5 of the report deals extensively with the question of Lands belonging to Buddhist Religious Places (Siddhasthana) and Temples (Viharas) in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka National Anthem
A national anthem is a representation of a country’s unique identity under which the country is proud to rally around. Therefore essentially an anthem instils patriotism and nationalism. Nationalism comes when for a greater good individuals rally collectively. The key operational word is ‘collective’ nationalism. A war is the key moment that rallies people because to win a war a country must have the support of the troops in the field and the people – the military offensive against the LTTE clearly demarcated those for and against LTTE. British national anthem God Save the Queen, the French La Marseillaise and the Star-Spangled Banner have ties to the military.
Anthems also tell a story, a message and is meant to inspire the present to follow our ancestors and the way they defended the nation. The reference to ‘motherland’ is to treat the country like a mother defending her child. Essentially an anthem when sung should automatically instil the love for one’s country and the conviction that one would carry out one’s duty to defend the sovereignty of the country. When those calling for the change to the national anthem are parties and individuals who seek to separate, divide and hand over the nation to foreign rule are we insane to accept their proposals using the fraudulent term reconciliation?
Sri Lanka National Flag
Why are we ignoring a flag that had been used by the Sinhale Kings who protected the sovereignty of Sri Lanka for centuries and instead trying to tweak a flag created following a pseudo-independence from Britain? There was really no independence in 1948 as Sri Lanka chose to remain a dominion.
It was MP for Batticoloa A Sinnalebbe who on 16 January 1948 suggested that the national flag used by the Sinhale kings be continued. A E Goonesinghe seconded the proposal. As was to be expected it was the extremist elements no different to now in the form of Chelvanayagam and other Tamils who opposed. These oppositions have a history for automatically the Sinhalese end up giving in and minorities win the day.
Thus, Prime Minister D S Senanayake appointed a National Flag Committee on 27 January 1948 comprising – SWRD Bandaranaike, G G Ponnambalam, T B Jayah, J L Kotelawala, Dr L A Rajapakse, Senator Nadesan and JR Jayawardena. It is baffling why Ponnambalan who has never shown nationalism except to spearhead minority rule should have been included to this committee.
The new flag was passed in Parliament on 1 March 1951 (51 votes for and 21 against with 8 abstaining). When the country became a Republic on 22 May 1972 the new flag included 4 Bo-leaves. This was incorporated into the 1978 Constitution as Article 6 (second schedule).
Today the same elements attempting to divide the country is trying to change the flag.
Sinhala Buddhists
The origins of the Sinhala race, it is believed, traces far beyond even King Rawana era. Skeletal remains found in Balangoda dates over 28,000 years. The written history is however 2500 years.
The island was known as Hela, Heladiva. 4 tribes – Yaksha, Raksha, Naga and Deva lived in Helaya thus it became Sivu-Helaya living in thun-Sinhale (Ruhunu-Maya-Pihiti) which later became Sinhale. It was because the foreign invaders could not pronounce Sinhale that they called the island ‘Seylan’, ‘Ceylon’. Technically it is incorrect for the British who signed the 1815 Kandyan Convention with the Sinhale nation to give provisional independence to ‘Ceylon’ in 1948.
Professor Mendis Rohanadheera, Dr. Suriya Gunasekera, Dr. Nath Amarakone, Messers J.R.P. Sooryapperuma, Arisen Ahabudhu etc. we firmly deny that the Sinhala race are descendants of any Indian origin.
Col. Anil Amarasekera has put the case excellently.
The national rights enjoyed by the majority indigenous population of any country that are not given to minority immigrant populations or their descendants are:
- The right to call their country their national motherland.
- The right to the territory of that national motherland.
- The right to have their language as the national language.
- The right to have their religion as the national religion.
- The right to have their culture as the national culture.
- The right to have their flag as the national flag.
Col. Amarasekera also brings out an interesting point. He says though ‘Eelam’ is being used to claim ‘land of the Tamils’ originally Ilam in Tamil referred to ‘Lanka of the Sinhale people’ – the Tamil lexicon published under University of Madras (page 328) reads thus Ilam in Pali, Sinhala, 1. Ceylon. The Tamil word given as meaning for ‘Ilam’ is ‘Sinhalum’. ‘Ila’ in Tamil means ‘Sinhala’ or ‘Hela’. ‘Illakkachu’ in Tamil means Sinhala coins (Ila – Sinala / Kachchu coins)
Dr. Daya Hewapathirane establishes the argument further. He says The Sinhala Buddhist culture is one of the world’s oldest, continuous, unchanged cultures in existence. Buddhism and Buddhist cultural heritage, including the nationwide historic remains of Buddhist culture, provide a distinct character and identity to this island nation. Ours is one of the rare countries in the world with a well recorded history extending to over 2500 years. The Sinhala history as recorded in the Mahavansa is regarded as the second-most remarkable history in existence of an ancient and cultured civilization. It is second only to the records maintained by the Shu Chinese emperors. Being one of world’s exemplary cultures in existence, the Sinhala people do have their legitimate, traditional and historical right to Sinhale as a civilization unique to this island nation alone.”
The most widely spoken language, exclusive to Sinhale or Sri Lanka, is the legitimate National Language of this island Nation for over 2500 years.”
The Sinhala language is exclusive language to this island nation. The Sinhale language originated in this island and is central to the national identity. The minority languages originated elsewhere and these minorities are settler communities who have their homelands elsewhere. Tamil and English should only be link languages and not official/national languages.
Just as people need to earn respect and not demand it, the minorities at all times must realize that they cannot demand thousands of history be removed just to appease their demands. Using aspirations and grievance minorities cannot wipe out key facets of Sinhale’s history. Affording rights equal for all before the law should not get mixed up with changing the national identity of the country and no minority can attempt to change the ethos of that country.
All of the times that appeasement has been the chosen option, it was never enough and the demands have now become bolder and bordering a quest for separatism as seen by the insertion of the confederal option into the latest constitutional proposals.
There is a limit a nation can take. There has to be reciprocity in all matters. Can the minorities come forward to give examples of how far they have contributed to the nation/nation building?
We can give the example of Lakshman Kadiragamar and fondly appreciate that inspite of being a Tamil it was he who even got UN to declare Vesak a UN holiday. However, most Tamils look down upon him and he is never spoken with the same pride Sinhalese speak of him. We also fondly remember Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan. D. S. Senanayake, F. R. Dias Bandaranaike, . H. W. Amarasuriya, A. H. Molammure, D. R. Wijewardena, Dr. Casssius Perera and E. T. de Silva imprisoned by the British would have been shot dead if not for the intervention of Sir Ramanathan.
Sir Ramanathan Take the Sinhalese nation. I have served the race all my life. In my twenty-eighth year I entered the Legislative Council and never once have I thought myself to be a member of the Tamil community only — I supported the Sinhalese interests and every other interest and treated every subject with the same sympathy and desire to do the best for all communities. I knew through and through the men and women of the Sinhalese community of all classes. They have all the characteristics of a great people. They are decidedly considerate and peaceful.’
Lest we have forgotten, it was Sir Ponnambalam who travelled by ship to England to speak on behalf of the biased stand taken by the British during the Sinhala-Muslim riots of 1915 and met the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London as well as British Parliamentarians and politicians and was responsible for recalling the Governor and the British Army Brigadier from Ceylon while releasing all the imprisoned Sinhalese.
This magnanimous gesture won Sir Ramanathan a hero’s welcome with men drawing his carriage (not horses) to his residence in Ward Place as a mark of gratitude. Some of the elite Sinhala men drew the carriage to show gratitude and that is the essence of living as one community. Do we have such Tamil statesman today? While there are enough of Sinhalese to speak on behalf of Tamils, have any recent Tamil politicians done the same for the Sinhalese?
Similarly Sir Razik Fareed, a Muslim who placed the community before self not looking for position but the future of the next generation. He held positions in the Colombo Municipal Council, was elected as a Senator and held the Ministerial portfolio of Trade under caretaker government of Prime Minister Dahanayake. He stood against communal politics and claimed that Muslims should identify with the national parties and stand by the majority community in resolving common matters.
Then there is Dr Ameer Ali former advisor to Howard Government in Australia. Some of his quotes:
- The SLMC came out with a religious cry,” ….This was evidenced by their first leader M.H.M. Ashroff shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ at the opening of political rallies. It is a political abuse of religion when the name of God becomes a rallying point”.
- This change can be seen in the attire of the Muslims. The burqa and the niqab – covering all but the eyes – were not existent in the 1970s. At the time, Muslim women wore saris and covered their heads. In what sense are they any less Muslim than those who are covering their whole bodies today?” he asked, Why has the externality taken priority over the internal change that is the spirit of the Quran?”
India’s Prevention of Insults to National Honor Act 1971 is noteworthy of mention. The Act prohibits desecration of or insult to the country’s national symbols including national flag, the Constitution, Indian Map and the National Anthem. No one can burn, mutilate, deface, defile, disfigure, destroy, trample upon or show disrespect in words, spoken or written or by acts against these. These provisions need to be included into Sri Lanka’s to stop various people and parties attempting to experiment with entities that embodies the history and pride of an entire nation.
In summary it is now time that the true defenders of the nation come forward to disallow any changes to the Country’s national anthem, the national flag, the map, the foremost place given to Buddhism and the place afforded to Sinhala Buddhists – all that they built is visible and by evident by excavations.
Shenali D Waduge
June 5th, 2016 at 8:36 pm
Sri Lanka’s national flag, national anthem, national religion, national security, national economy and even the national and official language have become playthings of politicians eager to appease South Indian minorities to gain votes. This has been particularly so after 1982 when politicians realised the need to depend on minority votes in a presidential election. If not for the presidential elections, a government can be formed purely on Sinhala votes.
If the national identity is to be preserved, the executive presidency must be abolished.
June 5th, 2016 at 8:39 pm
Tamil and Muslim voters’ ability to manipulate the election of the most powerful person in the country will be much higher in 2020 than in 2015. Now that they know their election power, they will make stronger demands from both parties near the next presidential election.
June 6th, 2016 at 4:01 am
Yesterday, the third largest arms storage facility of the Sri Lankan Army went up in flames. Is this sabotage by the Yahapalanaya Government itself to weaken our Armed Forces? Weapons worth millions of US dollars went up in flames. Was Ranil, Sirisena, CBK, Mangala, RAW, the US, the UK, the EU, Norway, Sweden, Canada behind this? Is this to weaken our Armed Forces so that the TNA separatist terrorists can get what they want via constitutional changes i.e. Eelam?
A great danger facing Sri Lanka is the proposed constitutional changes. UNP MPs frequently come on discussion forums on TV and state that the policy of the UNP is maximum devolution of power within a unitary state. However, you cannot any longer call yourself a unitary state if you devolve too much power in the first place! Even now with the 13th amendment in force, Sri Lanka is no longer a unitary state. I would suggest that the Global Sri Lankan Forum write a press release suggesting that no more power should be devolved to the provincial councils than they have at present and especially not land, police and fiscal powers. The GSLF should demand unequivocally that North East Sri Lanka is definitely not a Tamil homeland as stated in the 13th amendment but the homeland of firstly the Sinhala Buddhists (as per the history and archaeology of the island) and subsequently and at present the homeland of all the people of Sri Lanka in total. The GSLF should absolutely demand this change be brought on as part of the13th amendment. The clause in the 13th amendment which says that any two provinces can be merged should also be deleted.
GSLF, please write a press release and release this to the Sri Lankan press immediately before Ranil, Sirisena, CBK and Managla bring on a federal constitution (disguised as ‘unitary’) with extremely wide powers with the North East being merged (effectively an Eelam) as what the TNA separatist terrorists, the US imperialists, the UK, the EU, Canada, Norway, Sweden and India wants.
June 6th, 2016 at 4:23 am
“Tamil Exclusiveness” concept is one of the root causes for ethnic tension in our motherland. Mono ethnic enclaves should not be encouraged. That’s the reason to non-tolerance of other cultures. Everyone should have a common Sri Lankan identity. Sri lanka is for every son and daughter of the soil, whether speaking in English, Tamil or Sinhala. Equality,liberty and freedom to exercise one’s religion, language and culture is all that matters. Time has come to stop all this nonsense of being Tamil and Sinhalese. We are all Sri Lankans and Sri Lanka belongs to all its children. Every Sri Lankan citizen has to be treated equally, should be allowed to move around freely without any restrictions and when they do so they should be encouraged to procure these assets at market prices.
Sri Lanka is a free country; Anybody from Dondra Point should be able to live in Point Pedro and vice versa as well. Co-inhabitant is the best solution to national integrity and makes different ethnic groups to understand each other. Now that the Tamil speaking Sri Lankans are relocating to Canada, UK, Australia etc Sinhala speaking Sri Lankans should relocate to the vacant areas left by the Tamil speaking Sri Lankans.
In Singapore EIP – Ethnic Integration Policy – is enforced to balance ethnic composition.
We have learned to swim as fish and fly as birds but we have not yet learned to walk as brothers and sisters. The real welfare of human race is to share love, peace, and prosper.
Any Sri lankan should be able to live where ever they want, as long as the law of the country is respected and followed. When racists use “Tamil Areas” it implies that there are some areas exclusive for Tamils. Do people call Kandy, Nuwaraeliya or Milagiriya Sinhala Towns? Why this ethnically designated towns only in the North? Who ‘colonized’ Wellawatte and Milagiriya?
Tamil speaking Sri Lankans know that Sinhala speaking Sri Lankans are great neighbours and even better than German, French, Italian or British. Tamil speaking Sri Lankans are living in harmony with Sinhala speaking Sri Lankans in the South. While population of the rest of the country increased rapidly, with some once small towns like Galle and Matara becoming mega cities with population bursting at the seams, the population in the North has dropped by more than half. Given that millions of Tamil speaking Sri Lankans are living in the South and South is too cramped with people so we must create new settlements (no matter what language they speak) in the North and East.
. There are no ethnic homelands in Sri Lanka – only Sri Lankans and Sri Lanka
June 6th, 2016 at 4:23 am
One thing is certain when these catholic-run YAMAPALLAN (to Sinhalese only) in the UNPatriotic party
ruling Sri Lanka they will destroy the Sinhalese race, Buddhism and Sri Lanka to please the minorities and
the west. Minorities always vote for the traitor YAMAPALLAN. So with a bit of support from the traitor
Sinhalese they always win.
Now the die-hard catholic, token Buddhist traitor chief pol pot ponil ruling Sri Lanka and Sinhalese, Buddhism and
Sri Lanka in real danger. He knows he has to get the job done this time since Batalande alugosuwa is old and
might not get a chance again for a long time as they have done enough destruction in just under 2 years getting
into power by promising moon and the earth. So quick quick action needed. So constitution change, federal etc.
etc. all coming. No problem for the YAMA PALLAN since there are a lot of traitor Sinhalese still supporting
the Sinhalese-murdering, Buddhism-destroying, Sri Lanka destryoing catholic-run UNPatriotic party.
Destruction of the place for Buddhism, Unitary State, National Flag, etc. etc. will be gone we can guarantee
that. Traitor alugosuwa (to Sinhalese only) thambi mudiyanse jr put foundations to break up Sri Lanka by
implementing 13. Now traitor alugosuwa’s nephew (again to Sinhale only) outdo the treacherous, crafty alugosu
uncle and complete the job. We have to thank the traitor Sinhalese who supportedand still supporting these
catholic-run YAMA PALLANGE UNPatriotic party giving them reins of Sri Lanka.
June 6th, 2016 at 12:01 pm
It is the 13-A, imposed under Duress by INDIA that is causing most of the divisive ethnic problems in Lanka. Remove it. The UNP led Yahap now has the political clout to do just that.
If the Yahap people do not remove the 13-A, with or without the JO, it is evident that they do not want to remove it to please the International Community, isn’t it ?
June 6th, 2016 at 4:55 pm
Was this EXPLOSION & FIRE an ACCIDENT or SABOTAGE?
How much of the Ammunition required by the Armed Forces to DEFEND Sri Lanka was DESTROYED?
Will the Yamapalana GoSL PLEAD POVERTY and NOT REPLACE this Ammunition?
Is this the TIP of ICEBERG of a DEVIOUS PLOT to render Sri Lanka DEFENCELESS??
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Sri Lanka races to defuse bombs after depot blast
Mon, Jun 6, 2016, 06:59 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 06 (AFP) COLOMBO- Lankan police were Monday racing to defuse unexploded bombs that fell on villages near the capital overnight and destroyed hundreds of homes, after a huge and deadly fire at an ammunition depot.
At least one soldier burnt to death and thousands of villagers fled their homes after fire broke out at the Salawa military complex late Sunday, triggering a series of explosions that sent shrapnel flying into the air.
Local businessman Neville Nishantha fled with his wife and three children as the explosions began and returned on Monday morning to see his house in ruins.
“A mortar bomb had gone through my roof and hit the living room,” Nishantha told Agence France-Presse.
“A wall collapsed in the bedroom where my three children would have slept.”
On Monday police Special Task Force commandos were deployed to defuse multi-barrel rockets, artillery rounds, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar bombs which landed in residential areas.
An Agence France-Presse photographer saw commandos collecting at least four unexploded rockets, one of which was lodged in the ground outside an abandoned home.
“Forensic experts have examined the site and we have just begun clearing the main roads of all unexploded ordnance,” a senior police official told Agence France-Presse.
An aerial view of the army complex from a nearby mountaintop showed only a water tower remained relatively intact. All the buildings were either completely destroyed or had their roofs blown out.
Nearly 50 people were treated for injuries or smoke inhalation after the fire, which forced the evacuation of the local government hospital. Police said the facility had been badly damaged.
Blame game
Former president Mahinda Rajapakse said his administration had planned to relocate the ammunition dump from the built-up area before he was defeated in the January 2015 election.
“My government had plans to relocate this ammunition depot but the new government has failed to execute it,” he told Agence France-Presse.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited the devastated area Monday and promised to rebuild destroyed homes, his office said.
Authorities have yet to establish the cause of the fire which began at sundown Sunday and continued until Monday morning.
Government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said the national security council was due to review the blast.
“This is a military matter and they must investigate if this was an accident or sabotage,” said Senaratne.
One of the affected villages housed widows and wounded veterans from Sri Lanka’s long civil war, who had to cross a river to safety.
“We took a boat and went across the Kelani river and took shelter at a temple,” said 53-year-old widow Mahilagodage Rohini.
“Most of the houses at our (Swarna Jayanthi) village have been destroyed.”
Wasantha Fernando, 45, said he abandoned his home and ran as thick black smoke filled the area.
“When I got back this morning the entire place was covered in ash,” he said, adding that his walls had cracked and the house was unstable.
Residents of high-rise buildings in Colombo said they could see the fire at the Salawa military complex, about 36 kilometers (22 miles) east of the capital.
The camp occupies a former plywood factory that was used to store heavy weaponry and ammunition, including rockets.
Sri Lanka’s decades-long Tamil separatist war ended in May 2009.
It was the second time in three weeks that residents around the capital had been forced to leave their homes.
Last month, around 200,000 residents of Colombo had to flee floods when the Kelani river burst its banks. AFP
Read More:: AFP (Source)
June 6th, 2016 at 5:01 pm
The WITCH HUNT of the desperate Ponil BROADENS; “Gota’s men” to be TARGETED!
Is this Yahapalana or Yamapalanaya?
What GOES AROUND will INEVITABLY COME AROUND!
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Govt. zeroes in on ‘Gota’s men’ in state institutions
Island.lk
June 5, 2016, 11:26 pm
By Saman Indrajith and Norman Palihawadane
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed his officials to prepare a report on military officials appointed to ministries and statutory boards on recommendations of former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, sources close to the PM’s office said yesterday.
The officials have been requested to submit their report to the Prime Minister within a week, the sources said.
The officials have also been directed to include the details and information of all top officials of public organisations, statutory boards and departments accused of misappropriation of public funds during the previous government.
The Prime Minister has handed over the complaints received by his office and the Presidential Secretariat against officials responsible for swindling of public funds to the investigators and asked them to probe those complaints, sources said.
They said the Prime Minister’s Office had received complaints that officials appointed to three ministries and 16 departments and statutory boards during the previous government allegedly continued to engaged in questionable deals.
Some of those officials had been appointed from the military services on the recommendation of former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, sources said.
The Prime Minister’s directive had come against the background of the stories doing the rounds of appointing the former Defence Secretary to the post of Vice President of the SLFP, political party sources said.
Minister of Labour and Trade Union Relations and Senior Vice Chairman of the SLFP W. D. J. Seneviratne last week said that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa should be appointed to the post of Vice President of the SLFP to preserve the party’s unity.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, contacted for comment on the statement made by Minister Seneviratne, said that he had nothing to say and the question should be directed to the Minister himself.
The Rajapaksa family remained united, the former President said.
Former Chief Minister of the Western Province and Gampaha District UPFA MP Prasanna Ranatunga said Minister Seneviratne should have made that statement in time for the last general election.
“What is before us is only the local government election and we as members of the Joint Opposition are wary of the motive of that statement,” MP Ranatunga added.
June 6th, 2016 at 5:20 pm
MORE RECONCILIATION experts from the UK have arrived to PRESSURE the GoSL for MORE CONCESSIONS!
They follow on the heels of
1. The previous UK PRESSURE teams
2. John Kerry and assorted US teams
3. Japanese DElegation
4. Norwegian RECONCILIATION “Experts” who aided and abetted the LTTE
5. Germany experts
6. Canadian RECONCILIATION team
7. South African Reconciliation team
8. South Korean Reconciliation team
9. French Reconciliation team
10. Indian Reconciliation team
My God, ALL of these people, with countries KNEE DEEP in SUPPRESSING and KILLING various other peoples ALL OVER THE WORLD, are advising the GoSL on Human Rights & Reconciliation!
And the Yamapalanaya GoSL, by TRAITORS who never defended SriLanka and its People, are now declaring themselves to be a government BY Sudusu people, OF Sudusu people, only FOR Sudusu people are accepting the responsibility for ACCUSATIONS and ALLEGATIONS on various dastardly crimes, iignoring that the ONLY THING Sri Lanka did was to protect and defend its citizens against murder and mayhem inflicted upon them.!
WHO then are these SO-CALLED SUDUSU people? They are people who never shed a drop of their OWN BLOOD to DEFEND Sri Lanka!
Is there NO END to their HYPOCRISY??
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Top British officials hold discussions with PM, Opposition Leader on progress in reconciliation, human rights
Mon, Jun 6, 2016, 10:46 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 06, Colombo: Two top officials of the British government arrived in Sri Lanka earlier Monday met with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan in Colombo today.
Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Simon McDonald and Permanent Under-Secretary at the UK Department for International Development Mark Lowcock met with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and discussed progress on reconciliation, anti-corruption and UK assistance for reconciliation and reform, the British High Commission in Colombo said.
The UK government officials also met with Leader of the Opposition and the Tamil National Alliance MP R. Sampanthan to discuss challenges facing the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, and progress on reconciliation.
Meeting with Minister of Law and Order & Southern Development Sagala Ratnayake and Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) SDIG Wickmarasinghe, the visiting officials focused the discussions efforts to reform the Sri Lanka Police Service to improve local safety, security and post-conflict stability.
Following the meeting British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka James Dauris signed a contract with The Asia Foundation to continue UK funded community policing initiatives in Sri Lanka.
Mr. McDonald, the most senior UK diplomat and Mr. Lowcock also met with Director General of the Commission for the Investigation of Allegations of Bribery or Corruption Mrs Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe to discuss Sri Lankan efforts to counter corruption.
The UK is supporting efforts of the Sri Lankan government to investigate allegations of bribery and corruption, the High Commission said. Thus far, efforts have included officers from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in the UK working on capacity building and training of Sri Lankan investigators and prosecutors.
Picture credits: British High Commission Colombo
June 6th, 2016 at 6:26 pm
A similar but low scale explosion took place at the Mattegoda army camp in 2014.
These may be done by those who want to earn commissions on weapons purchases. It was one of the most lucrative industries until 2009 when the government needed regular stocks of ammunition. However, with the end of the war, the frequency fell. Now these stocks are replenished only when the old stock reaches the use by date. That is depriving millions of dollars to purchasers and intermediaries. I don’t rule out their involvement. Defence budget for 2016 was raised by 25% so there is money.
June 6th, 2016 at 11:31 pm
Public officials wary of being hounded: Writes to President, PM Say fears taking decisions that may backfire
DailyNews.lk
Jun 07 2016
By Disna Mudalige
The Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association has sought the intervention of the President and the Prime Minister to ward off undue pressure on public officials from investigative bodies such as the FCID and the PRECIFAC.
Association President Ranjith Ariyaratne told the Daily News yesterday that the senior public officials in the ranks of Ministry Secretary and Head of Department were very much concerned on the ongoing investigations and legal action by these bodies.
“The officials are frustrated and they are hesitating to perform their duties as they don’t know how these will be defined at a later stage. Even though there has been a minor error, the officials are produced before court. They may later be proved innocent, but their image had already been damaged by then. We pointed out this problem to the President and the Prime Minister and we have faith that they will take appropriate decisions in these regards,” he said.
“The public officials sit at various director boards, committees and tender boards as Ex-Officio members. In these statutory bodies there are only a handful of such ex-officio members, and the rest of the members have been appointed by the political authority. For example the position of Chairman is mostly a political appointment. Sometimes they exert undue pressure on the decisions of the Director Boards,” Ariyaratne said.
“Then the entire Director Board has to shoulder the responsibility. Sometimes the decision making is done by a separate group and the implementation is done by another group. Those who took political decisions have been let off the hook so far, while it is the public officials who have fallen into difficulty,” he said.
Ariyaratne said public officials should be dealt under the administrative service law, and not under the criminal law.
The Association in a letter dated May 30 to President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe stated there is a risk of a collapse in the entire public service sector due to the ongoing court cases and investigations involving public officials.
“We believe initiating legal action against the wrongdoers involved in financial crimes during the period of the former government is essential for good governance. As public officials we extend our full support to conduct transparent and impartial inquiries. We do not see any wrong in instituting legal action against the corrupt politicians and officials who had misused public money. However, it is not fair to put this blame on the honest public officials who approved these proposals at the initial stage as those were originally good policy decisions,” the letter stated.
It further stated even though the officials had been working actively during the recent landslides and floods, they had been hesitating when it came to financial matters.
It further said about 150 executive level officials in the Finance Ministry are about to take a decision not to sit for director board meetings so that they become ex-officio members.
The letter further pointed out this situation has also resulted in slow progress of the projects.
A senior public official who wished to remain anonymous told the Daily News that the President and Prime Minister had intervened to temporarily halt the apprehension of several public officials following the Association’s request.
He said public officials in higher ranks have not taken a hard and fast decision to vacate their positions, adding that those were rumours by the opposition political groups.
June 7th, 2016 at 3:29 am
Gotabhaya speaks with innocent conviction. He is way above his relatives in politics. In my view the only Rajapaksa worthy of national leadership.
“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_rLklLXfX0”
June 7th, 2016 at 5:15 am
There is no ethnic problem but a problem with the TNA racist, separatist, terrorists and its supporters phycology. This is the problem. the solution is for as many Sinhala people to be settled in especially the North and in the East too. This is the only solution to this problem. The problem is a physiological problem of the TNA racist, separatist, terrorists who cannot live in pace and harmony with all the other people in the island.
June 7th, 2016 at 10:09 pm
Thank you Shenali for raising the issues on behalf of Sinhala Buddhists.
Unfortunately the biggest enemy is within our sasana. Norway and the West were successful in breaking the sinhala buddhist vote through the sasana. Quite recently I heard a sermon from one of the renowned monks that Buddhists need not reciprocate or be grateful to anyone who had helped them. That requirement, the monk said, makes people to be subservient and obligated.
He said he does not contribute to Sri Lankan politics and does not care if Mahinda or Sirisena is at the helm. Mahinda did what he had to to do and defeated terrorism so that all citizens can live in peace. But it does not mean that any gratitude is necessary for this achievement. People have to let go of these obligations when pursing Buddhist religion. In a subtle manner the monk was asking people to not vote for Mahinda as a mark of gratitude for his work.
This monk was brazen enough to instil this type of thought, which is quite contrary to the basic principles of Buddhism, in a very public forum. This type of lectures are quite successful in moving Sinhala Buddhists away from their basic human rights of safeguarding their country, their obligations to future generations, and the need to preserve the integrity of the country. We need to find a strategy to get rid of these rogue monks from the sasana to unite Sinhala Buddhists of the country.