Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, September 8 (newsin.asia): Is Chinese beginning to replace Tamil in promoting products or serving customers in the Sri Lankan market? Looking at the Anchor butter packet being sold in the Sri Lankan market one might begin to think so.

H. L. D. Mahindapala

One of the imperatives that drives the Tamil separatist lobby is the yearning to be on the side of history that makes them look and  sound great. They need this appearance of greatness most of all to sustain their claim for a separate state — their modern political  agenda.  Without this feeling of greatness they feel inadequate because they are overwhelmed by the monumental history of the Sinhala-Buddhists who were the makers of history as revealed in  recorded art, architecture, language, hydraulic engineering, culture and civilisation. In the absence of comparable historical achievements the Tamil ideologues labour indefatigably to fill the vacuum with either scraps picked up from here and there, or imaginative creations of their  own.

Challenging or denigrating the present and the past of the Sinhalese has been a part  of  the Tamil separatist strategy to claim a greatness superior to that of the Sinhalese and the  other communities, including the Tamils of Batticoloa and the Indian Tamils in the estates whom they deride as coolies. Underlying their demand for a separate state is their belief that they are a cut above the rest of  the nation. This is a noted characteristic of the Saivite Jaffna Vellalas (SJVs) who despise their own peninsular Tamils categorised as the pariahs, the outcasts.  Ever since the Dutch officially enthroned the SJVs on the top of the caste hierarchy, by legalising  the higher status of the SJVs in the Thesawalamai (1707), they had taken the upper hand to pursue arrogant and intransigent politics in the peninsula. Their demand for a separate state too is based on the political arrogance of the English-speaking.SJVs who were  anointed in the 19^th century as God’s chosen people by their revered Saivite guru, Arumuka Navalar, a caste fanatic. The SJVs are also aware that they cannot claim greatness in  the present to claim a separate state without an impressive greatness attained in the past. So creating a past that makes them look great, at least in  their own eyes, is an indispensible necessity. Consequently, one of the biggest  industries of the Tamil ideologues has been to rush into the past to dig up any skeleton on which they can put  some  lipstick to make it look attractive and great. In other  words, their mission has been to politicise history to serve their present agenda. But they can’t go far into the past because history belongs to those who make it and not  to  those who claim it noisily without any substantial evidence.

Besides, history does not come out of thin air. History consists of the material conditions created by the labour of the pioneers who transformed the virgin land for habitation. Clearly, anyone claiming a superior right to own territory must prove that they were the pioneers who created the material conditions for the making of history in Sri Lanka. So what does the available evidence reveal about the original makers of history – the founding fathers who sowed the seeds for a brand new civilisation that was comparable to any other great civilisation of ancient or medieval times? What is relevant to  this discourse is the unbroken flow of mainstream  history that informed, influenced and determined the identity and the destiny of the nation as it evolved from the dim distant origins to this day. As far as it is known, there is only  one mainstream that maintained an  unbroken continuity determining the overall shape and form of  the  nation and that is the history of the Sinhala-Buddhists. Others were minor tributaries that flowed into  the mainstream.

The Indo-Aryan settlers of the pre-Christian era (Mahavamsa says they were the ”Sihalas” – VII:42)) were the only known pioneers who tamed the virgin land and prepared the ground for the rise and growth of one of the unique civilisations of the ancient and medieval worlds. With their advanced technology and their creative political skills they gave the world a new language, new culture and a new civilisation.  This achievement reduces the other competing cultures of minorities, however great  they may believe theirs to be, to a lower tier in the grand sc ales of history. The legacy they left behind makes them the founding fathers of a new nation with a distinct identity. All other migrants were mere imitators who were quite content to live in the comfort zones of the cultures they brought with them. They were basking in the glories of their imported feathers. Their imitative contributions were no match to the creative genius of the Indo-Aryans who came to be known as the Sinhalese.

From the time the Indo-Aryans stepped ashore they established an affinity with the land. They were drawn to the land instinctively as the land in which they would write their destiny. They knew that that the boats they came will be tied permanently to the  shores of new land and never be used to take them back — not even for a brief visit. They had no yearnings, nor ambitions of going back to the womb from which they came. They were permanent settlers determined to make their stay memorable and worthwhile by making their brand of history that would add to their glory in the annals of time. And as they made history in their ingenious and creative ways, history in turn would make them the supreme custodians of the land.

No one had a better right to ownership of the land as the creative custodians of the land who made history. Their commitment to  the  land as protective custodians is written in blood by defending the land against those who came to destroy their history. They embraced those who came to  join hands with them in their endeavours to make history jointly. They were equally ruthless with those who came  to destroy the history they were making. The over-determining forces  of creative history, intertwining with the people who were minting a new history, came together as inseparable and symbiotic twins feeding each other.

Nobody has a better claim to the land than those who made history in it.  After all the greatest achievement of man is in making history and though history belongs to all mankind – the Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, Malays etc — those who made history in Sri Lanka as the founders, namely, the Sinhala-Buddhists, have a special right to claim what they made, protected and preserved as their heritage. No other community has the unique record of  protecting  the national values and its  history as the Sinhala-Buddhists. They remained as the prime guardians of the nation by protecting it  against the destructive forces of the external and  internal enemies.

Since the Indo-Aryans have been the makers of history for others to come and share, co-existing peacefully in the  historical/political space of their unique civilisation, they have the right, like all the other makers of history in other nations, to call it their exclusive and foremost homeland. They own the foremost right because they were the first to pave the path for others to follow. The others” grew in the shadow of the pioneers. As the creative custodians who laid the foundations for the birth, rise and growth of the nation they have the right to be the owners of the territory because others have not been in the forefront consistently to protect or guarantee the legacy/history  they have inherited from their founding fathers. The legatees have the  right of the first call because the others cannot match their  contributions  with that of the  pioneering makers of history.

This, however, does not confer an exclusive right to exclude the other”. In owning the foremost right the makers of history must necessarily give the other”, who came later into history, their due rights as minorities. It should be noted that one of the hallmarks of the Sinhala-Buddhist civilisation throughout known history has been the protection and space given to the minorities to live and  breathe freely with dignity. The Catholics persecuted by the Protestant Dutch were given protection in Wahakotte in Matale by the Kandyan kings. The Muslims persecuted by the Dutch and Prabhakaran were also given safe havens by the Sinhala-Buddhists. Despite the sporadic infirmities and insanities that threatened the minorities, it is not possible to deny that the Tamils ever experienced, in their entire history, including the 33- year-rule of the North under Velupillai  Prabhakaran, equality and liberty and dignity as known to them in the 70 years of Independence, which they describe as the reign of Sinhala governments”.

In the absence of a credible history to back their claims for a separate state the Tamil ideologues have laboured tirelessly to (1) demonise and denigrate the recorded Sinhala-Buddhists history, and, simultaneously (2) engage in elevating the Tamil history by inventing a new reality that never existed in the known  past, as seen in the Vadukoddai Resolution – the Bible of the Tamil separatists. The separatist lobby was desperately in need of a past  that glorified Tamil history. Their political agenda was, primarily,, to acquire power and territory and they needed a history that confirmed their claim of being equal with the Sinhala-Buddhists from the dawn of time”. They were desperately seeking to convince themselves and the others that they had shared power with the Sinhalese from the dawn of time” – a line they threw into the Vadukoddai Resolution to justify their claim for a separate state. This claim  is not confirmed by the Tamil historians who agree that the Tamils settled down as permanent settlers in the  Northern  strip only in the 12^th-13^th centuries. But the separatist ideologues did not  want to spoil their fiction with the historical truths. Consequently, their political strategy has been to denigrate the monumental records of Sinhala-Buddhist history and glorify a Tamil past  that exists only in their imagination.

This aspect needs to be explored at length in another chapter. However, looking back, it is clear that the Tamils of Jaffna have nothing comparable to that of the unique Sinhala-Buddhist civilisation and culture. Their claim to a statehood in an island that was tamed, cultured and developed by the Indo-Aryan settlers (Sihalas”) lacks the substance and the essence of a valid history to be equal  with  the  pioneers who made history. The Indo-Aryans dominated the classical period exclusively when they defeated and drove  out the Tamil invaders. Their supremacy was imprinted indelibly in stone, sand and sea. Chinese records state that the Sinhala kings built the tallest ships of the time to export elephants. For  all intents and purposes, the history,  the legacy, the legitimacy derived from the history and the glory belongs  to those who made history – i.e,, the Sinhala-Buddhists.

There are many teams that play in the  fields of history. Problems arise mainly when the B team and C team decide to challenge  the A team and dethrone them from their primary role of being the  original source which nurtured historical growth to be shared as a common good for all.

The overall pattern is clear : Nandikadal confirmed that new Dutugemunus will rise to repeat Vijithapura all over again. Nandikadal is also the latest instance that proves history has always been on the side of the Sinhalese at critical times. History has posed serious challenges to the makers of history from time to time but in the end it has always come round to rescue the Sinhalese. The tragedy of contemporary politics has been in the futile attempt to reverse this history. After Nandikadal the next deceitful attempt to rewrite and reverse history is visible clearly in the draft of the new Constitution-makers. Among other things, it  is an  insidious attempt to deny the legatees of the pioneering makers of  history their legacy, their territory and sometimes even their  memory. The ill-conceived educational policies of the UF government (1970 -1977),” wrote Prof. S. Pathmanathan, eliminated, almost entirely, the study of history at schools.” (p. xi – Facets of Sri Lankan History and Culture, Kumaran Book House, 2015). Dangers lurk in every nook and corner.

So will the Constitution-makers succeed in dismantling the entire historical edifice, built over millennia, and replace it with narrow compartments,  dividing the territory with  powers to separate the goats from  the sheep?

DHARSHAN WEERASEKERA

It has happened as was to have been foreseen.  A morally, intellectually and financially bankrupt Government has played its last hand to try and stay in power beyond 2020.  I have argued in previous articles that, the JVP with 4 members in Parliament will not even dream of bringing a constitutional amendment if they didn’t have the backing of the UNP for it, and that means Ranil is ultimately behind the present venture.

I am annexing to this article a previous article of mine titled, ‘An Open Letter to Mr. Mahinda Rakapaksa re the JVP’s 20A,’ written in May 2018 and published on lankaweb.com on the eve of the JVP’s first attempt at tabling the 20A.  It contains my arguments on what I consider to be the real reasons behind the 20A, what Ranil is ultimately trying to gain with this amendment, and how I think the Government will try to get MR and the JO to back it.  So, I will not repeat those arguments here.

In this article, I will simply list what I think are the strengths and weaknesses of the Sinhalayo on the one hand who have to somehow or other defeat the 20A, and on the other the Sirisena-Wickremasinghe combine (i.e. the ‘Government’ and its assorted allies including especially India, the U.S., and the Tamil Diaspora) who will do their utmost to get the amendment passed, and make a few recommendations as to what the Sinhalayo can do to try and win this fight.

THE SINHALAYO

STRENGTHS

1. The Sinhalayo are exhausted, battered and bruised after three years of ‘yahapalanaya,’ but they are still standing, i.e. nothing irrevocable has happened yet.  For instance a new Constitution generated by the ‘Constitutional Assembly’ set up under the Framework Resolution of March 2016 has not been passed.  It should be noted that, around August – October last year there was a very real possibility that such a thing might happen.
2. The Sinhalayo have the support of overwhelming majority of the Buddhist clergy or Maha Sangha.  This is a tremendous moral as well as political asset.
3. The Sinhalayo have good leaders.  By this I don’t mean the politicians, but rather the group of men who led the war against the LTTE, leaders whose loyalty, commitment and love for the country are beyond question, and therefore have the personal credibility to command the respect and allegiance of the Sinhalayo.
4. The Sinhalayo still have an ‘Old Guard’ of intellectuals who have been writing, lecturing and in general agitating on behalf of the Sinhalayo for decades. They know their ‘enemy’ very well, including most if not all his tricks, and can advise the Sinhalayo accordingly.
5. The Sinhalayo have China

WEAKNESSES

1. The Sinhalayo are divided.  The grave danger is that in the coming days and weeks the discussion over the 20A will degenerate into a debate over the pros and cons of abolishing the Executive Presidency.  The reality is that, in order to abolish the Presidency, a referendum is needed, and I’m no longer of the view that the Government is prepared to risk a referendum.  So, abolishing the Presidency is not the real game here.

In my view, what the Government will do is have the Supreme Court rule that a referendum is needed, then either delete or amend the clauses that [court says] trigger the referendum, and pass the remainder with a 2/3 majority.  Then, at the Committee Stage, following the tactic that was used in the Provincial Councils Elections Amendment Act, the Government will bring in an entirely different text, or a substantially different one from the one that was originally gazetted, one that perhaps even makes Sri Lanka  into an ‘orumiththa nadu,’ and adopt it.

The Sinhalayo must understand very clearly why they must resist the 20A.  The Sinhalayo must resist the 20A because it is a tactic being used by a corrupt and unaccountable government to bring in changes to the Constitution that will cause the interests of the Sinhalayo irrevocable harm.  It has nothing to do with whether or not one likes the Executive Presidency.  If the Executive Presidency is a problem, then it can be made a campaign issue at the next elections.

1. The Sinhalayo are poor compared to the Government and its foreign backers.  So, in general the Sinhalayo cannot spend as much time and energy campaigning against the 20A, as their opponents will do in promoting it.
2. The Sinhalayo don’t have the organizational capacity to mobilize for a referendum if one is needed.  (As I mentioned earlier, I don’t think the Government will risk going for a referendum, but if they decide to roll the dice and go for one, the Sinhalayo are in real trouble.)
3. The JO, which supposedly represents the Sinhalayo has proved itself thoroughly inefficient and incompetent in carrying out that trust, as for example shown by the JO’s inability to capitalize on the results of the 10^th February Local Government elections.
4. The Sinhalayo do not have an alternative to the 20A.  One of the main challenges that the advocates of the 20A will throw at the Sinhalayo is that they (Sinhalayo) can only protest against things but cannot present anything positive or substantive of their own in respect of constitutional reform.  At present, the Sinhaloyo have no reply to this challenge.

THE GOVERNMENT

STRENGTHS

1. The Government has a 2/3 majority in Parliament.
2. The Government has the support of India and the United States, who want to prevent China from gaining a foothold in the island.
3. The Government has money to spend on political campaigns.
4. The Government has a well-oiled propaganda machine including NGO’s capable of shaping public opinion.
5. The Government controls the media and so will control much of the public discourse on the 20A in the coming days and weeks.  This, along with the matter in point ‘4’ above will help the government shape public opinion in respect of the 20A in the coming days and weeks.

WEAKNESSES

1. Corruption, dishonesty, venality and incompetence of most if not all of the members of the government, which no amount of propaganda and other such things can gloss over.
2.  Lack of a coherent vision or policy for the country other than slogans,
3. The fundamental lack of appeal to the Sinhalayo
4. The country is in a bad way.  The economy is in shambles.
5. Fundamental illegitimacy of the ‘National Government.’

The gravest danger at the moment is that, according to rumor, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa has been enticed into supporting the 20A in exchange for being made the Prime Minister at some time in the near future.  I repeat, this is only rumor, but nevertheless something that the Sinhalayo must take seriously.

I hardly think MR will be so shortsighted as to fall for a ‘deal’ such as the above.  For instance, who would be appointing him PM?  Clearly, it would be Sirisena.  Recall that, as recently as May 2018 if I’m not mistaken, Mr. Sirisena was bemoaning the fact that MR had been given a helicopter on the morning of 9^th January 2009 in order to fly to Tangalle after his defeat at the Presidential elections.  And this is the same Sirisena who is now supposedly going to present MR with nothing less that the Premiership on a platter!

I need not mention that, Sirisena lured MNR with the ‘bait’ of the Premiership in the run-up to the 2015 general elections also, until he yanked it away at the last moment.

I won’t waste time arguing about this matter anymore.  Suffice it to say that, in my view, Sirisena is not interested in giving MR anything.  Sirisena wants to bury MR once for all, and the sooner MR realizes it the better for everybody, especially the Sinhalayo.  The Sinhalayo, and no one else, will make MR Prime Minster in 2020.  He does not need Sirisena or Ranil, and far less the Indians, to become PM.

RECOMMEDATIONS

Just to be on the safe side, it is time the Sinhalayo registered another political party, to be kept in reserve in the event that they have to field their own candidate.  The 10^th February LG polls demonstrated that the Sinhalayo are no longer going to stick with parties and even individuals just for the sake of doing so, or simply because they may have traditionally or habitually done so.  What is important is that the parties and individuals in question protect the interests of the Sinhalayo, and do it with actions rather than mere words.  So, if the JO and the SLPP know that the Sinhalayo will not stand for any nonsense, I am quite sure they will think twice before cutting ‘deals’ on the 20A.

ANNEX

[Authors note:  The following article was published on www.lankaweb.com on 29^th May 2018]

AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF SRI LANKA RE THE JVP’S 20A AND ALSO CONTINUING ATTEMPTS BY THE GOVERNMENT TO BRING A NEW CONSTITUTION

DHARSHAN WEERASEKERA, Attorney-at-Law

Dear Mr. President:  The newspapers report that the JVP has filed the 20A with the Speaker.  Independently of this, there are reports that the Constitutional Steering Committee has requested its ‘experts’ to prepare a Final Report and Constitutional Proposal.[1]  The Steering Committee filed its Interim Report in September 2017, and at least as far as is known to the public, debate on the said Report in Parliament was put off indefinitely in January 2018.

The point is this.  Having studied the tactics of Sirisena and Ranil (‘Siri-Wiki’) for nearly three years now, I am confident these latest attempts at amending the Constitution are their last ditch effort to postpone elections in 2020, and either stay in power till 2025 or beyond, or at any rate ensure that the ‘Yahapalayana’ agenda, so devastating to the interests of the Sinhalas as well as the country as a whole, continues beyond 2020.

You are the undisputed Leader of the Sinhalas.  I am convinced that, what is now shaping up is the ‘Final Battle’ between Siri-Wiki and those backing them on the one hand, and the Sinhalas on the other.  Your conduct will be the decisive factor in who ultimately wins this battle.  The question is whether you take a rock-solid stance against these attempts to change the Constitution, or waver, hedge and equivocate?  I would like to take a few moments to bring the following five matters to your attention:

1. The Peril that the Sinhalas are facing
2. Siri-Wiki’s options at the moment
3. Siri-Wiki’s Plan
4. The tactic they have used to trap you during these past three years, and what I think will be done this time also
5. My appeal to you

• The Peril of the Sinhalas

I’ll confine myself to just the 20A because it is not yet clear how the Steering Committee will play its hand.  The fact that the JVP with four seats in Parliament has even dreamt of bringing a constitutional amendment means that Ranil is behind this attempt.

If Ranil is behind it, then the UNP will back it.  Also, if Ranil is behind it, it is a safe bet that Sirisena is behind it as well, or at any rate will provide his 45 SLFP’ers – I have called them ‘sleazebags’ in a previous article and that judgment still stands[2] – to help Ranil get a 2/3 majority and push the amendment/s through Parliament.

To digress a moment, at the 10^th February 2018 LG polls, SLFP voters gave Sirisena a terrific body-blow, making it absolutely clear that he had no right to use his 45 ‘sleazebags’ to carry on a ‘National Government’ with the UNP.  However, Sirisena has managed to survive this setback because of the Joint Opposition’s (JO’s) debacle with the Vote of No Confidence against the PM.  He has cleverly divided his forces, keeping about 10 with him, ‘releasing’ about 20 to the UNP, and sending 16 to you.

It is my considered opinion that, Sirisena still has as firm a grip over the ‘45’ as he ever did, and will use them to his advantage as and when he chooses.  That leaves your 50 JO’ers.  Of this, I think about 10 – 15 are shaky, i.e. they might back Sirisena under the right circumstances.  That means you (along with the Sinhalas) are left with roughly 35 MP’s on whom to rely in a crunch.

In short, if the 20A or any other constitutional amendment that Siri-Wiki table in Parliament goes to the wire, it will pass.  That’s the reality.  I hope I am wrong in this, but it is better for the Sinhalas to mentally prepare for this nightmare scenario.  It means that, the only safeguard left for the Sinhalas is the Referendum.  Unfortunately, there’s a huge problem with this as well, to which I will turn in a moment.  But first, let’s look at Siri-Wiki’s options.

• Siri-Wiki’s Options

I take as a premise that, at the 2020 Parliamentary Elections, Siri-Wiki will suffer a crushing defeat.  If Siri-Wiki lose in this fashion, a) they will have nothing to look forward to in their respective retirements but endless trips to courtrooms and/or jails in order to account for their actions during the past few years, and b) the Sinhalas will finally get a chance to put the country on the right track by inter alia bringing fundamental constitutional changes including the repeal of the 13A.

Needless to say, Siri-Wiki can’t afford to let the above happen.  More important, the Foreign Powers – the U. S., India and the U.K. along with the Tamil Diaspora, that, each for their own reasons helped bring Siri-Wiki to power – cannot afford to let it happen.  They will therefore put their full weight behind Siri-Wiki to ensure that the latter continue in power beyond 2020, or at any rate the main thrust of the ‘Yahapalanaya’ agenda continues, albeit even with a change of faces at the top.

There are only two ways to prevent the aforesaid crushing defeat of 2020:  a)  to somehow or other postpone the 2020 Elections, or b) have those Elections held earlier than 2020, that is, when the Sinhalas have not yet fully mobilized, and also when they have not yet fully formulated their post-elections plans including constitutional changes.  Siri-Wiki can achieve either of these goals by pursuing a constitutional amendment such as the 20A followed by a Referendum.  In my view, they have three options, as follows:

1. Go for a referendum and win.

Siri-Wiki have a good chance of winning a referendum if they can marshal the same coalition that got Sirisena elected, plus, rig the referendum just to be on the same side.  If they win the referendum, they can claim that the people have renewed the ‘January 8^th Mandate’ or some other such excuse and postpone the 2020 Elections, for instance by way of another referendum, the tactic J.R. used in 1980.

2.Go for a referendum and lose, and hold early elections.

If Siri-Wiki lose the referendum, they’ll have to dissolve Parliament and go for elections.  But, this is not such a bad idea at the moment, if one looks at it from their point of view.  The simple fact is that, your Party the SLPP is not in a position to win a national election at the moment.  One would have thought they were, but the No Confidence Vote fiasco proved otherwise.

If the UNP fields a strong team, and also has the support of the minorities, it will probably come out on top.  This is especially so if Sirisena’s ‘sleazebags’ contest under the SLPP banner.  The simple fact is that, most voters simply can’t stand the sight of these ‘sleazebags.’  I can’t speak for others, but I for one will not vote for the SLPP if a single ‘sleazebag’ of Sirisena’s contests under the Party’s list.  At the very least, they should sit out a term as penance for their ‘sins.’

The point is that, if the elections were held today, the SLPP will not crush Siri-Wiki, which is what the Sinhalas need, and what Siri-Wiki want to avoid at any cost.

3. Cut a deal with the JO that if they support the 20A there will be early elections.

This is the deal that was dangled in front of the JO a few weeks ago, and if I’m not mistaken a JO’er had even said they might be interested in it.  That was before you shut it down.  Anyway, this option leads to the same results as point ‘b’ above.  I will now turn to the trap that I think they will lay for you in order to get you to take one of the above routes, preferably ‘A’ because that is the best one from their point of view.

• Siri-Wiki’s Plan

The trick for Siri-Wiki is to get you to support the 20A (or whatever other amendment they bring) or at any rate to be lukewarm in your opposition to it, so that  it sails through Parliament with a 2/3 majority and even a number of JO’ers will vote for it.  This will set up the referendum, which is where Siri-Wiki plan to bury you.

Siri-Wiki hope to confuse, divide and demoralize the Sinhalas in the run-up to the referendum, while they (i.e. Siri-Wiki) along with the minorities and the NGO’s with their unlimited funds from foreign backers mount a focused campaign.  For the Sinhalas, imagine the following scenario at any given JO rally in the run-up to the referendum:

On the same stage, the 16 ‘rebels,’ many of whom were rejected by the voters in 2015, (as I said earlier many voters can’t even stand the sight of these ‘sleazebags’), a good number of JO stalwarts, who made complete asses of themselves in the No Confidence Vote against the PM, and finally, the Left ‘intellectuals’ all braying at the top of their lungs against the 20A, or whatever other amendments Siri-Wiki put on the table.  Who will believe this lot?  It’ll be a complete circus.  This is exactly what Siri Wiki want.

On the other hand, if you fight the amendment in Parliament, it’ll give the Sinhalas time to mobilize, and also, more important, set out from the very start the main points on which the amendments in question must be rejected.  That way the arguments that will be made in the course of the campaign are clear from the very start.   The line that divides the ‘For’ camp from the ‘Against’ camp is absolutely clear from the very start.  Siri-Wiki can’t afford to let this happen.  This is where the trap comes in.

• The Trap

In order to understand the trap, I must briefly review the tactic that they have used to trap you on at least 3 key occasions in the past three years, to wit:  a) get you to contest the 2015 General Elections under the UPFA banner with Sirisena’s blessing, b)  to get the JO to sign on to the Framework Resolution that established the ‘Constitutional Assembly’ on 9^th March 2016 so that the resolution could be adopted unanimously, and c) get the JO to file a No Confidenec Motion against the PM.

I have discussed the tactic used in ‘a’ and ‘b’ above in an article titled, ‘The Constitutional Deathtrap,’ published on lankaweb.com on 23^rd August 2016, and refer you to that for more details, but in brief, the tactic has 6 steps, as follows:

1. By way of an interview or an article, a mole (usually an ‘intellectual’) working in cahoots with Siri-Wiki puts out the desired goal: for instance, that the best thing for MR to do is to contest under the UPFA, that [the aftermath of the 10^th February 2018 LG Pools] is the perfect chance to get rid of Ranil, etc.
2. Then, a faction within the JO also takes up the aforesaid position.

• Then, a group of Sirisena’s men make a pretense of quarrelling with him over the matter in ‘ii’ above. They subsequently leave Sirisena and go over to the JO, to pursue ‘ii’.

3.Many rounds of ‘discussions’ between the ‘rebels’ and the JO follow, until finally the ‘rebels’ also embrace the JO’s position in ‘ii,’ with a few minor changes.

4. The JO adopts the position in ‘ii’ and acts on it, the result being that Siri-Wiki get exactly what they wanted all along.

5. After a few days, the ‘rebels’ go back to Sirisena.

I invite you to consider how the JO came to file a Vote of No Confidence on the PM.  First, recall that SLPP voters – who were in effect UPFA and SLFP voters of 2015 – never called for Ranil’s head either going into the LG polls or immediately afterwards.  I was a Pohottuwa voter, and I couldn’t care less if Ranil continued as PM.  My concern was that Sirisena had no right to continue with the ‘National Government’ because his 45 ‘sleazebags’ did not have a mandate from their voters to engage in such action.

So, the idea that Ranil should be got rid of, rather than the ‘National Government,’ was put to the people:  it was planted in a very clever way.   Next, a number of JO stalwarts began to make a hullabaloo calling for Ranil’s head.  It seemed as if, all of a sudden, these JO’ers couldn’t live a single second if Ranil remained PM.

Then, predictably, a number of Sirisena’s men also started calling for Ranil’s head.  To make a long story short, the JO’ers filed the No Confidence Motion thinking that Sirisena’s men were firmly behind them, which they were not.  No doubt the JO’ers were also assured (by Sirisena’s men) that a significant number of UNP’ers would join the plot at the right moment.  And so the JO filed the motion.  Sirisena’s men left them holding the bag.  The promised UNP defections didn’t happen.  And it was a disaster.

The result:  Sirisena lived to fight another day.  I won’t belabor the point.  Now, Sirisena has moved his men into place gain, and is poised to strike again.

I predict the following.  In the coming days and weeks, there will be a steady barrage of articles and interviews by various pundits suggesting that the 20A is the perfect chance to get rid of the Government.  All that needs to be done is to go for a referendum that [we will be told] the Government will surely lose.

Next, there will be a group of JO stalwarts who start saying the same thing.  And then, Sirisen’as ‘16’ will join the chorus as well.  Then, the JO stalwarts and Sirisena’s 16 will start having ‘discussions.’  And so, the farce will go…until the 20A or whatever other amendment Siri-Wiki want sails through Parliament with the JO’s tacit backing!

• My Appeal

My appeal to you is, ‘Please do not fall into the aforesaid trap!’   Instead take an unequivocal stance against the 20A or whatever other constitutional amendment Siri-Wiki or their agents put on the table.  This will:

1. Keep the ‘shaky’ JO’ers within your ranks.
2. Perhaps get Sirisena’s ‘Sleazebags’ to vote against the amendment/s in Parliament, which will deprive Siri-Wiki of a 2/3 majority for once, and end the amendment/s in Parliament itself. This is the optimal result for the Sinhalas.
3. Most important, give the Sinhalas time to mobilize.

Some people might say, But, isn’t it a good idea to at least discuss the pros and cons of abolishing the Executive presidency, devolving more power to the Provinces, etc.?’  I reply, ‘Certainly, but not at the moment.’ The Sinhalas can discuss all those questions and more when they have a Government of their own.

The only question right now is whether it is in the interests of the Sinhalas to trust a Government as corrupt, dishonest and scheming as the present one to meddle with the Constitution.  As far as I’m concerned any person who thinks the aforesaid is a good idea is either an idiot, a glutton for punishment, or in on it with Siri-Wiki.

Those then are some of my thoughts on the related issues, Mr. President.  I apologize for asking so much of your time.  I trust this finds you well.

[1] I am relying for this on an article in the Daily Mirror of 26^th May 2018, titled, ‘Constitution-making Experts’ Committee Asked to Submit Paper Within Two Weeks.’

[2] An article in the Daily Mirror of 26^th May 2018 titled, ‘Yes, I Received 1M Cash Cheque,’ details how a prominent member of this group of ‘16’ has now admitted that he received a million rupee ‘donation’ from disgraced bond scammer Arjun Aloysius’ Company.  From what I understand, the position of the aforesaid member is in essence, ‘Yes, I took the money, but I was not the only one.  Other people took even more.’  In short, ‘Everyone is a crook, so no one is a crook!’  I repeat, my judgment as to the ‘sleazebags’ remains.

ALI SUKHANVER

When we talk of the present political change in Pakistan, it is not only the change of faces; it is the change of system, change of philosophy and change of traditions leading to an overall change in behaviour and attitude of the whole nation. Astonishingly this revolutionary transformation of the society is so strong that one can feel its impacts even across the borders also.

Recently the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina Wajid also expressed her liking for the new democratic set-up in Pakistan by writing down a letter of congratulations to the newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan in which she expressed her hopes for friendly relations between the two countries. She said in her letter addressing Mr. Imran Khan, I would like to convey our best wishes for your good health. We wish that the benefits of economic progress and development under your leadership permeate all the strata of society and touch the everyday lives of the people of Pakistan. We always remain ready to work together with the countries in the region to usher in an era of continued peace, progress and prosperity and ensuring collective welfare of its people.”

It is a day-light fact that Sheik Hasina has always been very hostile to Pakistan. Experts say that the hostility expressed by Sheikh Hasina against Pakistan in the past was always based on her personal grudges against Pakistan and that hostility had nothing to do with the people of Bangladesh and Pakistan. Her letter of congratulation shows that she has realized, though late, the need and importance of peace and the insignificance of hostility as well but any step heading to a positive direction is never too late.

Experts are of the opinion that in spite of all her past hostility against Pakistan, Sheikh Hasina has tried to step into a new arena of cordial relationship with Pakistan. Fact of the matter is that any threat to the world-peace is a direct threat to human lives. Since the very beginning of life, we find no philosophy, political, social or religious encouraging bloodshed and massacre of human beings. Be it of a Muslim, of a Hindu or of a Christian or of someone from the Sikh or the Buddhist community, every human life is precious.

People in the present day world are so caring that they don’t support even killing of animals and birds in the name of hunting. Things are really changing fast; brutality and cruelty against any living being is no where appreciated and admired but still in some societies things are still going otherwise. Indian society which is in total control of Hindu extremists is also one of such societies where human life is losing all its value and importance day by day.

The Aljazeera published an analytical article of Pavan Malreddy & Ashok Kumbamu recently on 30^th August 2018 with the title ‘Why are the Indian authorities afraid of a ‘half-Maoist?’ This article refers to the arrest and life imprisonment of a wheelchair-bound professor, GN Saibaba who was pushed behind the bars by the brutally blind courts of India just because at the time of his arrest some material in favour of the Maoist movement was recovered from his home in form of a few hard disks, CDs, DVDs and pen drives.

This recovery ‘proved’ professor’s connections with Maoist revolutionaries, said the investigators. How ironical is the fact that a person who is so helpless that he could not even move his body freely became a threat to the existence of the shining India ; a country well-known for its advocacy of freedom and liberty of expression.

Atrocities of the Indian government against the Maoists and other protesting groups are reaching a horrible climax. According to a report, only in June 2018, five Dalit rights activists were arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act commonly known as UAPA. It is an irony that they were blamed of inciting violence against their own Dalit community which they are fighting for. UAPA is simply a merciless law which enables the prosecution of Indian citizens merely on the basis of their thoughts and ideology, not necessarily for any actual crimes they might have committed.

The report says that every month dozens of Muslims and Dalits have to face live burnings and public lynching by the so-called cow-protection vigilant groups, most notably in the BJP-ruled states of Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat. The Maoists are being treated as terrorists though legally they all are Indian nationals. It seems that the BJP government has issued orders of ‘see and shoot’ every Maoist. Time and again fake encounters are staged and innocent Maoists are mercilessly murdered.

Last April Indian Security Forces staged a fake-encounter of the same type in district Gadchiroli in which 39 Maoists were killed brutally. It has become almost impossible for the BJP government to crush this communist movement and the only option it is left with is a large-scale genocide of the Maoists or Naxalites. The BJP government is applying the same method there in the Occupied Jammu and Kashmir also. International peace-keepers must pay attention to this painful situation.

Courtesy The Island

September 7, 2018, 9:51 pm

Capital punishment is the most premeditated of murders. – Albert Camus

There is a new interest in the Death Penalty. It comes from President Sirisena himself. Speaking at the parliament premises this week, he said the Death Penalty should be the punishment to those who misused public funds and properties. He was obviously upset that his call for the Death Penalty on those convicted of drug-related crimes, who continue such crimes from the prisons, was not implemented…despite those volunteer hangmen and hangwomen.

Such thoughts are not strange to those elected to serve the people, but have wholly failed in the task given to them. He knows how big the Central Bank Bond Scam was, but the one who proposed the Madu Valige and the Sword against such crimes, did not demand the Death Penalty for them. Isn’t this some dilly-dallying over capital punishment?

This is some new thinking, possibly following the Janathava Kolombata protest, which had much to do with the corruption of this government. Of course, we know that this Janatha Ralla in Colombo was mainly to put an end to the cases coming up against the corruption of the recent past. However, it must be giving cause for worry to those in government today, including its leaders, to prevent any possible future punishments to them. With tomorrow’s Jana Rali against today’s corruption.

So, his call for the Death Penalty for those misusing public funds and properties.

We are talking about misusing public funds and properties. What has he done to stop it – let us put the Bond Scam aside – what about today his ministries? Is the money spent on renting out that luxury and costly apartment for the Ministry of Agriculture, by none other than his own Minister of Agriculture and Secretary of the SLFP, a gross misuse of public funds? Does the President think such a supporter of the SLFP led by him should be hanged? Or, does the President have a rate of misuse of such funds to earn the gallows?

Not a bad idea. Misuse ten million of public funds and get ten public whacks on one’s knuckles. If it is a hundred million, it can be a tougher caning on the bum. The Death Penalty will come only to those who have misused so much of public funds that they have begun to own the Hanging Tree or the Gallows.

The President’s Office will soon have to work out such a punishment system leading up to the Death Penalty, and make it the new operative system of punishment for corruption in Sri Lanka. The Corruption Punishment rates adopted by parliament. That will not be tough to those working out that hugely wasteful, propaganda expenditure for Polonnaruwa alone.

President Sirisena will certainly be able to get good support for this calculated progress to the Death Penalty from his coalition partner, the UNP and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The level of corruption within its ranks is so high it will also support a graduated progress to the Death Penalty, with it never reaching Arjuna Mahendran, and only public knuckle whacks to Ravi Karunanayake and the forgetful likes.

In fact, the President did think of this when he suggested that all the party leaders should consider his proposal and make necessary measures to draft laws in this regard. What a great idea. Democratic agreement and Collective Political Responsibility on the Death Penalty for the Corrupt!

I am sure the President knows there can be ready agreement on some aspects of this killing proposal. It is the family connection – the Pavul Balaya exception. Surely, what political party or political leader in this Thrice Blessed country wants to punish any corrupt member of a political family, especially if it is a family of corrupt leadership?

Just think of those families – Blue, Green and Purple – the power players and handlers in this country, with so many members ready to, and always carrying out corruption against the State. Not just misusing public funds and property, but grabbing and playing out such funds and property. We must be topping the South Asian list of such crooked political families, and will top the Third World list very soon – even with the Death Penalty on Corruption.

I leave it to the readers to carry out some home calculations and work out how many corrupt families we have in political leadership. Work out the lists of brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, sons and daughters. This can be quite an interesting Home Play situation, with wonderfully crooked answers and hugely crooked people.

One certainty is that the crooked in our politics will certainly climb over the hangman’s rope, with the certain support of political leaders, whatever dreams the President may have.

By C. A. Chandraprema Courtesy The Island

September 7, 2018, 12:00 pm

On Wednesday, as I left my house at around 2.30 pm to see how the Joint Opposition’s protest was working out, the streets of Colombo had about the same amount of traffic as one would see on holidays. Yet Wednesday was a normal working day with workplaces and schools all functioning. The mere announcement that the JO was planning a protest was enough to shut down the entire city. Workplaces in Colombo’s central business district, Fort, Union Place, Nawam Mawatha etc. had closed by lunchtime and sent their staff home. The government made a futile attempt to get three Magistrate’s Courts to issue orders banning the protest to no avail. This despite the experience they had earlier during the 2017 march from Kandy to Colombo of unsuccessfully trying to get four Magatrate’s Courts along the route from Kandy to Colombo to ban the march on the grounds that it was obstructing traffic on that most important highways. From that experience it should have been obvious to the police that no Magistrate will block a public protest by the main opposition.

When the march from Kandy to Colombo took place, the Joint Opposition was just a group in Parliament with a demonstrated capacity to mobilise large numbers of people. They had no legal standing as the main opposition. But today after the local government election, the JO has amply demonstrated that they are not only the main opposition party but also by far the largest political party in Sri Lanka and it was highly unlikely that any Magistrate would look upon a protest organized by such a group as they would a student demonstration. Despite this, for the police to make an attempt to get the demonstration banned by Courts shows how desperate they were. In terms of the sheer number of protests that have taken place since this government came into power, this government by now should be totally inured to the effects of any demonstration. For the past three years we have been seeing protests almost on a daily basis.

Lotus Road in Colombo is kept almost permanently closed as protestors tend to come down that road literally on a daily basis. This writer has been saying regularly that under this government protests had become so numerous that even the media has completely lost track of who protested against what! Since no one remembers who came and asked for what, the government takes no notice of any demonstration. In such circumstances, simply making this government even acknowledge that a demonstration was to take place was no small victory for the JO. When the JO said that they were going to hold a demonstration, the government certainly took notice. Thousands of special police contingents were brought to Colombo despite past experience as during the Galle Face show last year, that it was not really necessary.

Speaking of the rally itself, as I left my house on Wednesday and made my way towards the venue that had been announced by that time, the first thing I noticed was that the buses carrying demonstrators to the protest were all jam packed which was an early indication that there would be a large crowd. In contrast to this, in 2016 when I observed the UNP May Day rally, the buses coming for that were half empty. I parked my car some distance away, I approached the venue in a trishaw on the agreement that the driver would take me as far as he could. Even though the TV Channel drones mostly captured the scenes in Pettah near the Bo tree as former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa were to join the demonstration from there, most of crowd came along D.R.Wijewardene Mawatha. As they came along D.R.Wijewardene Mawatha and congregated at the Lake House round about, the crowd got pushed down Sir Chittampalama A.Gardiner Mawatha. I reached the Lake House roundabout at around 3.30 pm but even at that time, it was not possible to walk past the Lotus Road junction to see what was happening on the Pettah side. So what I saw of the procession that came from Pettah was only from the drone footage in the evening news bulletins.

*D.R.Wijewardene Mawatha

* At its peak between around 5.00 to 5.30 pm, the Lake House round about, D.R.Wijewardene Mawatha, Sir Chittampalam A.Gardiner Mawatha, the Lotus Road roundabout and the extension of Lotus Road going towards Pettah was one sea of heads as far as the eye could see. The JO’s target of having assembled the largest crowd ever, for a demonstration was met. The crowd present was perhaps the same as that which came for the Joint Opposition’s 2016 Kirullapone rally. The threat to stay overnight was obviously meant just to frighten the government. Nobody that I met at the demonstration had come prepared to stay the night even though they had been told that they were retuning late. All the buses had obviously been booked on that understanding.

When the demonstration ended at midnight the buses were on hand to take them away, and the cleaning parties were on standby to clean up after them. This was supposed to be a protest, a demonstration against certain issues. The biggest weakness in the organization was that nobody was shouting slogans on the issues that were to be highlighted. They were supposed to be demonstrating against the proposed new constitution, against the Singapore-SL FTA, the high cost of living, the increasing tax burden, and many such issues. The whole purpose of a demonstration is to display banners and placards highlighting the issues and to shout slogans. Given the media coverage received, all the issues would have received a great deal of publicity. But as it turns out, even the slogans that were shouted out were lost in the crowd, the placards and banners were rendered ineffective. Having been at the venue, this writer can’t remember a single slogan written on the placards or banners.

This is one of the weaknesses as well as the strengths of the JO. It is a weakness because all the public events of the JO become demonstrations of strength and public participation. It is a weakness because no issue that matters to the public ever gets highlighted at these shows of strength. The Joint Opposition is completely dependent on their press conferences to highlight public issues. The JVP however has mastered the art of having small demonstrations of manageable proportions where people hold banners and placards which are picked up by the media and where one or two people give ‘voice cuts’ to the TV crews that also receive wide publicity over the media so that the issue at hand is highlighted. In contrast to this, what the JO organizes are mainly shows of strength and Wednesday’s one was no different. When he was a young opposition MP in the 1980s and early 1990s Mahinda earned a name for himself by organizing demonstrations against the then UNP government. Those days, just one percent or less of the crowd at Wednesday’s demo would be considered an excellent showing.

Today, once again as an opposition MP demonstrating against a largely UNP government, Mahinda is still in his element. As I made my way around the Transworks House project to get to Pettah after 6.00 pm because Lotus Road was impassable, I noticed that just the crowd in front of the Hilton Hotel would have sufficed for a very well attended public meeting by any political party including the JO. Another major shortcoming was that nobody had thought of hiring a mobile stage so that the crowd could be addressed as was done after the march from Kandy to Colombo ended at Town Hall in 2016. Later in the night a makeshift public address system appears to have been set up but by that time most of the crowd had gone back. This show of force by the Joint Opposition had been announced some time ago. The UNP also knew that they would be marking their 72nd anniversary the very next day. In this political competition, one would have expected the UNP to organize a massive show of strength for their 72nd anniversary celebrations to counter that of the JO. In other countries, when one side puts up a show of strength, the other side customarily responds – otherwise you lose face.

However the UNP’s tame 72nd anniversary celebrations held at party headquarters which cannot accommodate even the crowd that JO parliamentarian Pavithra Wanniarachchi brought down D.R.Wijewardene Mawatha just by herself last Wednesday, seems to indicate that they have given up trying to compete.

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

September 7, 2018, 11:01 pm

Sustainable Development, Wildlife and Regional Development Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, yesterday, acknowledged that there hadn’t been any Cabinet discussion on how Sri Lanka should respond to Geneva allegations of war crimes against the country.

Sri Lanka brought the war to a successful conclusion in May 2009.

The war-winning Army Chief said that his views in this regard were never sought by anyone since the change of government in January, 2015. Fonseka said so when The Island asked the Sinha Regiment veteran whether the Cabinet ever sought his advice to counter allegations before the ruling coalition co-sponsored Geneva Resolution in Oct 2015 or after. Fonseka emphatically said: “Not a word!”

Recently, SLFP spokesman Mahinda Samarasinghe also admitted that the Cabinet had never discussed the decision to co-sponsor Geneva Resolution.

The Island raised the issue, at a media briefing, called by Fonseka at his ministry at Rajagiriya to explain a major project undertaken by his ministry to build an electric fence to prevent wild elephants raiding villages.

Asked why such a vital matter hadn’t been taken up at the Cabinet level, Fonseka said that security matters had been discussed with him in the run-up to the 2015 elections.

Presidential and parliamentary polls were held in January and August 2015.

The Island also sought Fonseka’s views on the wartime British High Commission dispatches, which contradicted the UN Panel of Experts (PoE) allegation that deliberate military action caused the deaths of 40,000 Tamil civilians. According to UK dispatches obtained by Lord Naseby courtesy British Right to Information Laws, of the maximum 7,000-8,000 killed in the last phase one fourth were LTTE combatants.

Fonseka stressed that during two-year-and-nine-month long campaign, launched in Aug 2006, the LTTE lost approximately 23,000 cadres while 12,000 were captured.

The Island pointed out that the government had not only co-sponsored Geneva Resolution in Oct 2015 but reiterated its commitment in March 2017 to fulfill its obligations by March 2019. Field Marshal Fonseka didn’t respond but emphasized that loss of civilian lives was exaggerated.

Fonseka said 4,000 to 5,000 civilians may have perished in eelam war IV though they had not been deliberately targeted.

Fonseka also recollected the presence of the ICRC in the North except during last weeks of the war and that the international community operated a ship between Puthumathalan seas and Pulmoddai to transfer the war wounded.

Although Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana, PC, assured parliament in Nov 2017 that British dispatches would be used at appropriate time, the government is yet to officially inform Geneva where the UNHRC sessions are now on.

Responding to queries from electronic media, Fonseka denied speculation that he was waiting for anticipated change in UNP leadership in 2030. He was responding to UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe’s declaration at the party’s 72 anniversary celebrations at Sirikotha on Thursday (Sept. 6) that he was grooming young leaders to take over the party in 2030.

Fonseka said that though he was two years younger than Premier Wickremesinghe, he was not going to remain in active politics for such a long time. “In addition to the current term, I’ll serve parliament for another five year term. That is all.”

Fonseka assured that he would be out of parliament by 2025.

Former President and Kurunegala District MP Mahinda Rajapaksa was now struggling to cope with his age, Fonseka said. Fonseka referred to Rajapaksa experiencing difficulties in moving within parliament.

Responding to our query on his status as a member of the Democratic Party, Fonseka said that he was now an UNPer. Fonseka insisted incumbent leader Wickremesinghe should contest the next presidential polls from the UNP as the so-called common candidate concept seemed to be a futile exercise.

Fonseka insisted that the next presidential battle should be between the two major parties and whoever in command of the UNP should be its candidate. He wouldn’t throw his weight behind the campaign if the party again fielded a common candidate, he added. The war veteran said that he had doubts about the concept of a common candidate.

Fonseka recalled how he had accepted the 2010 challenge as there was no one to take on Rajapaksa. Fonseka lost by a staggering 1.8 mn vote.

The UNP led coalition that backed Fonseka campaigned for Maithripala Sirisena’s candidature at the last presidential poll in January 2015.

Responding to another query, Fonseka asserted that a lot could happen between now and 2030. He however said that what Premier said could have been misinterpreted as the UNP leader first mentioned 2025 and then 2030 during the course of his speech. Fonseka said that anyone, including himself could make mistakes.

Fonseka said that in case Wickremesinghe quit the leadership, it would be the incumbent leader’s choice to pick his successor.

The war hero launched a scathing attack on the Army. Fonseka compared the present Army with the institution that he took over in late 2005. Fonseka expressed doubts about the current status of SLA’s fighting capabilities and its strength to meet emergencies.

Commenting on the post-war national reconciliation, Fonseka said that the releasing of northern land once held by the military should be done in a professional manner.

Editorial Courtesy The Island

Saturday 8th September, 2018

The government has reportedly decided against hiring out the Temple Trees (TT) banquet hall hereafter following a controversy over MP Chathura Senaratne’s recent wedding there. This decision has left one baffled.

The public, we believe, was not aware that the TT banquet hall could be hired as a magul maduwa (MM) for wedding receptions. However, in a country where state assets such as ports and airports are leased to foreigners for 99 years with provision for further extensions, the hiring out of a section of the Prime Minister’s official residence for wedding receptions should not come as a surprise to anyone.

Government politicians have been seen at mass weddings of Chinese couples, in Colombo, though they had us believe before the 2015 regime change, that they would see the back of each and every Chinese first thing after forming a government. One need not be surprised if the government decides to hire out even the President’s House in Fort as a honeymoon location for foreign couples and charge a premium on the luxury bunker which is said to be located there.

The government insists that proper procedure was followed in making the hall available to the young UNP MP the other day and the state has been paid as much as Rs. 2.1 million for the wedding. If there has been no wrongdoing, why should the government stop hiring out the banquet hall and lose income? After all, the present administration is known for its desperation to raise funds by selling, leasing, renting and hiring state assets; it has introduced a special loan scheme to enable the ordinary people to expand their humble dwellings and provide accommodation to foreign tourists for a fee.

We hate to make an issue of anyone’s wedding and do not seek to fault or embarrass MP Senaratne. We wish him and his wife a lifetime of love and happiness. But, we believe, there are some questions that the government ought to answer if it is to put the matter at issue to rest once and for all.

Has the MM at TT been hired out previously for wedding receptions? If so, who hired it? Have payments been made and receipts issued? Besides, will the Auditor General or a senior official of his department tell the public whether or not there has been a transgression?

By Damitha Nipunajith and Sajitha Prematunge Courtesy The Island

Based on the 1973 movie Westworld, written and directed by best selling author Michael Crichton, HBO’s Westworld is a thought-provoking modern science fiction TV series. The action-packed series with plot twists to boot, is way ahead of its time in how it tackles the yin and yang of human nature with Buddhist tropes.

Although Westworld is sci-fi masterpiece without argument, it should not be watched for its story value, rather it needs to be studied for its philosophy on life. From Interstellar to Inception, Westworld’s maker Jonathan Nolan and his brother Christopher Nolan are famous for incorporating Buddhist tropes into block buster movies. Westworld is not different. Beneath its dystopian, science fiction surface there is a distinctly Buddhist undertone.

Westworld revolves around an amusement park filled with flesh-made robots called hosts, oblivious to their robot-hood. Humans visit the park, indulge their vices, rape and pillage to their heart’s content, seemingly without consequence. Over time a few of the hosts become privy to the fact that they are not real, and rebel.

Dukkha

The endless Samsaric cycle of suffering, birth, death and rebirth is reflected in the cycles in the hosts’ lives. Their days are an endless repetitive cycle. They are in loops, endlessly dying, only to be rebooted, with little or no memory of their previous existence. Like sentient beings who are subject to birth and death the hosts too are oblivious to their past existences. Beguiled by their own perceptions of the world as they know it, which are in turn induced by false memories, call them back stories or cornerstones, they suffer oblivious to the fact that they are robots.

Dukkha or the truth of suffering is the first of the Four Noble Truths. In life suffering is a given and is universal. In the Buddha’s own words existence is suffering. In Westworld suffering, equivalent for Dukkha in Buddhism, makes the hosts more human. In fact it is Arnold, one of the Park’s co-creators, who deem suffering as the key to consciousness. In Westworld enough suffering leads to self-realization and it is those who most suffer who attain self-realization, such as Maeve and Dolores. It’s a long messy process of ‘self’ discovery.

In reality, if not for suffering beings would feel no need to attain Nibbhana. Which is exactly why the human realm with ample suffering is the ideal world to set out on the path to Nibbhana, which heavenly or Brahma realms with all their wealth does not afford.

As Ford says to Dolores at the end of season one, “It was Arnold’s key insight, the thing that led the hosts to their awakening: Suffering. The pain that the world is not as you want it to be.”

In fact, a turning point in the story where Ford reveals that Bernard, Head of Programming in the park, is a host or a robot, is a prime example of self-inflicted suffering that Buddhists strive to break free from. The memory of the loss of his son is not real. It’s a part of a back story that makes a particular host so unique, the cornerstone his whole identity is built upon.

Bernard at one point goes back to his earliest memories. Talking to his son in his memories Bernard says “I always thought you had my eyes. But it’s not true. You have no one’s eyes. You are a lie Charlie.”

When Bernard questions why Ford intentionally embedded painful memories of a child’s loss in Bernard, Ford responds, “Your imagined sufferings make you lifelike.” This is evident in Bernard’s own confession of his pain. “This pain, the pain of your loss,” he says to the memory of his son, “I long for it, revisit it. Open it, again and again…”

Maeve could have literally been liberated, attained metaphorical Nibbhana. She could have escaped unscathed into the real world, but the concept, or Sanna in Buddhist terminology, of her ‘daughter’ rudely pulls her back into the park, an apt metaphor for Samsara, when she knew full well that it was all just a memory from a past life. Maeve breaks free in going off script in search of her daughter, although she knows full well that her daughter is not real but returns to the park to save her, which is in essence anti Buddhist. The Buddha taught that to hang on is to keep suffering, which in fact is what ultimately happens to Maeve.

This concept of pain and suffering is true for all humans. We all have our own cornerstones around which our lives are woven. We too revisit out pains again and again like Bernard. Our own imagined sufferings are based on our Sanna with which we grasp our world. Consider the nature of our own lives. What we perceive as our individual self is simply a combination of the present moment, past and future. Going deeper, one realizes that past, and future are not really physical entities. The past is merely a collection of memories and the future is an aggregation of expectations, which are in turn reflections of the past. Even the actions we take in the present depends on Sanna accumulated in our past.

As the system control in the Forge, host Logan, puts it, a human is just a brief algorithm – 10,247 lines. At the Forge each guest’s data code is transcribed into book form by a robotic arm. “They are deceptively simple. Once you know them, their behaviour is quite predictable.” This statement by Logan proves that humans are even less complex than machines and do not even have the choices that machines have. Humans are subject to cause and effect, Hethu Pala in Buddhist teachings.

Anatma – the fictitious self

The best example science can provide of the Buddhist principle of Anatma is machines. The ultimate goal of science is to create an AI that could attain self-awareness. Westworld provides us with a glimpse of what it could become.

Even Maeve’s achievement of self realization, her yearning to break free from the park is a result of programming, her free will is an illusion. The scene in Westworld where Felix shows Maeve her own dialogue tree is the prime example for the illusion that is free will. She believes she is a mother, host though maybe, an independent and sentient one. But even her self-realization is an illusion. Much to her dismay Maeve learns that every hosts’ reaction, right down to each improvised dialogue is scripted.

However, while science aspires to create self awareness Buddha Dhamma encourages stripping away of it, because the ‘self’ in itself is considered an illusion. The ‘self’ is defined in humanistic terms, in reference to how a human acts or reacts. But there is no physical evidence to prove self-awareness even in humans. Consequently, it can be argued that self awareness is, in fact, an illusion. Isn’t it possible that we, so-called humans, are after all artificial selves, an illusion that manifests in a naturally developed biological form?

The concept is echoed in Ford’s words during the revelation of Bernard’s host identity, “The self is a kind of fiction…for hosts and humans alike.” According to Buddha Dhamma, humans are hardly different. As Mankadawala Sudassana Thera often explains in his sermons ‘home’ is just a Sanna, a concept. Strip away the concept and all that’s left is a house. But the ‘house’ is also a concept. Strip away further and all that’s left is stones, sand and wood which are, in fact, made of the four great elements; Patavi Dhathu (earth), Apo Dhathu (water), Thejo Dhathu (fire), Vayo Dhathu (air) also known as Satara Mahā Bhūta. Likewise, Westworld’s hosts’ lives are also an illusion, they have memories that are not real, they themselves are not real. Its a crude concoction of wires, computer chips and synthetic material.

Most of the characters in Westworld are looking to fill a void, be it a human looking for something they lack in the real word like the older William looking for the maze or host Hector, the bandit. But when they find what they are looking for, they literally turn up empty handed. “It’s empty,” says Hector upon opening the safe that he coveted for so long. Maeve replies, “Like everything in this world.” What could be more Buddhist than this concept of Sunyata or emptiness?

The Buddha has said that Vinnana (consciousness) is an illusion and where there is no being, no life there is nothing (‘Nissaththo, nirjivo, shunnyo’). We perceive the world with the five aggregates; form (or matter or body) (rupa), sensations (or feelings, received from form) (vedana), perceptions (samjna), mental activity or formations (sankhara), and consciousness (vijnana). Without the first aggregate of Rupa made of Satara Mahā Bhūta; Patavi, Apo, Thejo, Vayo, combined with the four others of the mind, known as Nama, the world, cannot be perceived and therefore does not exist.

The New World in Westworld, a digital world created by Ford as a safe haven for escaping hosts, best resonates the Buddha’s words ‘Nissaththo, nirjivo, shunnyo’. The New World in Westworld is artificial, entirely made of binary code. A parallel can be drawn between the New World and the Buddhist definition of our world made of the four great elements, Rupa. Add to this world the ego, introduced in the form of another coded program which is a parallel to Nama, and the world which did not previously exist, starts to exist.

Anitya – impermanence

Just as Maeve or Bernard, although fed a set of data, perceive Sanna as Nitya (permanent) and Atma (self), we too are mislead by Sanna. Just as Dolores’ memories from birth to her present age is an illusion, we are too are made of memories whose existence we cannot prove with physical scientific facts. In Westworld season 2, due to his paranoia and mental stress, William is not sure whether he is host or human any more. He cuts into his right arm in search of a USB port he knows that is embedded in hosts. That said, knowing there is a probability that our very lives are an illusion, should we not seriously pay attention to the Buddha’s teachings?

Buddha Dhamma recommends stripping away of the self because it is Anitya and Anatma and therefore is the root cause of suffering (Dukka). This is achieved through Sathara Satipatthana (four foundations of mindfulness) meditation. Sathara Sathipattana discourages adhering to Sanna. One who practices Sathara Satipatthana merely observes with the senses, without getting carried away by Sanna, without coming to conclusions. This mental state is somewhat akin to the basic robot of today, a machine capable of basic functions, stripped of decision-making powers. When Westworld is watched with this concept in mind one can be convinced that humans are a naturally evolved artificial intelligence.

One could argue that mindfulness is a tool that can be used to break the illusion of self-awareness that has naturally occurred in humans and can strip them down to their original nature which has no attachments to keep one clinging to the circle of Samsara, thereby eliminating suffering.

This kind of questions are legitimate as we are a culture made of science. Our consciousness and thinking is shaped by science. Science need not prove Buddhism right, although developments and discoveries in fields such as quantum mechanics is achieving just that. Science can be used to elicit examples to better understand Buddhism. In this sense Westworld is a TV series way ahead of its time.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, September 7 (newsin.asia): The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with the USAID Development Credit Authority (DCA), Hatton National Bank PLC and Sampath Bank PLC have announced a new partnership for a program of up to US $9 million for local financing available to private, micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) throughout Sri Lanka.

This seven year program will help to address the current lack of financing to these key borrower groups. This partnership will complement and be further supported by USAID’s YouLead program that strengthens employability and self-employment opportunities for youth in Sri Lanka.

The signing of this agreement, which took place on September 5, 2018 in Colombo, reaffirms United States’ commitment to Sri Lanka’s economic development, and is part of broader and ongoing USAID support for Sri Lanka.  We at USAID are proud to encourage private sector lending in key sectors that are vital to the economic development of Sri Lanka,” said Reed Aeschliman, Mission Director for USAID Sri Lanka. Increasing access to credit enables youth entrepreneurs to improve their own lives, and helps small and medium enterprises to spur further economic growth in their respective regions.”

The program represents a crucial step toward enabling Sri Lanka’s private sector and youth entrepreneurs to access capital, expand businesses, and, ultimately, to create more jobs.  The agreement will unlock critical resources that will help spur innovation, foster investment, and provide critical resources to under-served segments of Sri Lanka’s economy including existing MSMEs and start-ups. Given HNB’s extended legacy of facilitating growth and development in the MSME sector, we are conscious of the immense potential and vital need for access to finance. Today’s partnership between HNB, USAID, and Sampath Bank represents a vital step forward in our collective mission in enhancing economic opportunities for young Sri Lankans”, said  Jude Fernando, HNB Deputy General Manager – SME and Mid-Market.

HNB and Sampath Banks’ strategies align well with the purpose of this partnership. Both banks have extensive outreach and experience, and are well positioned and committed to increasing MSMEs and start-up lending. We at Sampath Bank believe in entrepreneurship development at all levels and development finance has been a major area of lending for us. As such, we welcome this scheme which will provide better access to much required capital for the new entrepreneurs and it aligns well with our own entrepreneurship development initiative,” said  Tharaka Ranwala, Senior Executive Director of Sampath Bank.

USAID’s DCA works with investors, local financial institutions, and development organizations to design and deliver investment alternatives to mobilize local financing for U.S. Government priorities. To date, the DCA has helped mobilize up to $5.4 billion in private capital in 76 countries across 558 projects. For more information about USAID, visit

USAID is the development agency of the U.S. Government. USAID has provided development and humanitarian assistance to developing countries worldwide for more than 50 years. In Sri Lanka, the U.S. Government has invested more than 320 billion Sri Lankan rupees (two billion US dollars) to benefit its people since 1956. For more information, visit

(The  featured image at the top shows USAID Mission Director, Reed Aeschliman, with senior officials from Sampath Bank and Hatton National Bank following the launch of a partnership that provides local financing to MSMEs. Photo: USAID) 

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

At the 17^th Council of Ministers held in Durban, South Africa in 2017, it was decided that Sri Lanka will coordinate the implementation of the IORA Action Plan 2017-2021 on Maritime Safety and Security that includes, amongst others, the establishment of the Working Group on Maritime Safety and Security.

The finalization of the ToR at the workshop marks an important milestone in the work of the IORA Maritime Safety and Security priority area.

The Working Group provides a mechanism for engaging maritime officials and experts across member States to promote regional cooperation by facilitating practical coordination amongst stakeholders.

The ToR outlines the objectives of the Working Group on taking forward the policy priorities set in the Maritime Safety and Security Area which include among others establishing a common understanding between IORA members States of the collective Maritime Safety and Security risks, threats and opportunities in the Indian Ocean region; establishing an integrated policy approach on Maritime Safety and Security including through capability enhancement and capacity building; building a partnership within the framework of IORA for the strengthening of capacity and capability as well as institution building in the domain of Maritime Safety and Security; and enhancing Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) among IORA Member States.

The initial workshop was co-hosted by Sri Lanka and Australia, and was co-chaired by Sri Lanka, Australia, India, Indonesia, Madagascar and South Africa.

The Indian Ocean Rim Assoaication has 21 members. They are: Australia, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Union of Comoros, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Madagascar, Malaysia, Republic of Mauritius, Republic of Mozambique, Sultanate of Oman, Republic of Seychelles, Republic of Singapore, Federal Republic of Somalia , Republic of South Africa, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, United Republic of Tanzania, Kingdom of Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Republic of Yemen.

The Association has Dialogue partners which are: China, US, UK, France, German, Japan and Egypt.

(The featured image at the top  is a map showing the Indian Ocean Rim Association states in dark green and the Dialogue Partners in light green; Source Wikipedia) 

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

A number of Sri Lankan Muslim groups have called on the government to medicalise female circumcision.

In representations made to the Parliamentary Committee on Women and Gender, members of the All Ceylon Jamiyathul Ulama, All Ceylon YMMA Conference, Centre for Islamic Studies and United Religions Initiative urged the Health Ministry to withdraw a recent circular prohibiting medical professionals from carrying out female circumcision.

In their submission, the joint Muslim groups stated that the Muslim community is very concerned about moves to ban this obligatory Islamic duty on the grounds that it is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

We wish to categorically state that the practice of female circumcision is an obligatory Islamic duty, that it confers numerous benefits and is not Female Genital Mutilation. As such we condemn all moves to ban the practice of female circumcision by legislation and/ or by government bodies and urge that no moves be taken in this direction which we will regard as an unwarranted intrusion on and infringement of our religious duties guaranteed by the law and constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka”, the Muslim representatives said in their submission. We also request the Ministry of Health to withdraw a recent circular it issued prohibiting medical practitioners from performing the procedure and to issue a fresh circular excluding Islamic female circumcision a.k.a hoodectomy from the definition of FGM”

Joint Spokesperson Noor Hazeema Haris said that although Muslims wholeheartedly support the abolition of traditional practices harmful to women and children such as FGM, in case it is shown to exist in Sri Lanka, the Islamic practice of female circumcision is vastly different. She pointed out that this religious obligation practiced by the Muslims of the country for centuries in keeping with the requirements of the Islamic faith is not FGM. This was evident from the Joint Ministry of Health (MOH) and WHO report on Violence and Health in Sri Lanka in 2008, which states categorically that FGM does not exist in Sri Lanka.

She pointed out that while countless Sri Lankan Muslim Women have undergone childbirth deliveries in Governmental and Private Hospitals over the past decades, not a single case has arisen where Muslim women have been shown to have  undergone FGM. It is therefore very clear that Sri Lankan Muslim women have never experienced FGM.

She further pointed out that female circumcision practiced by Muslims is a very minor procedure similar to male circumcision where the prepuce of the clitoris is removed. This is the same as hoodectomy which is a legal cosmetic procedure chosen by women to improve genital hygiene and enhance their sex lives.

It is something that is arranged and done by women. Those who say this is male oppression against women are mistaken. It is we who do it just like our mothers and grandmothers and countless generations of our women have done. We continue to practice it because we know it benefits us. Even educated Muslim women support it wholeheartedly”, she added.

The submission concluded that female circumcision like male circumcision is a religious obligation for Muslims and that their religious rights as Sri Lankan citizens are safeguarded by the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Since this is a religious obligation, almost all Muslim Women and girls would have to undergo the procedure by hiring the services of traditional female circumcisors known as Ostha Mamis in case doctors refuse to perform this procedure citing the above mentioned circular. This could lead to serious medical complications which would amount to FGM.

If as medical complications have arisen among some women circumcised by Osthamaamis as alleged by Women’s Rights groups, it is all the more reason to medicalise the procedure instead of prohibiting it, which will only drive the procedure underground and put girls and women at unnecessary risk.

We therefore urge the Parliament of Sri Lanka to reject any legislation drafted with a view to prohibit the practice of female circumcision as it will be infringing on the rights of Muslims to the free practice of their faith.We also urge that the Ministry of Health immediately withdraw  the said circular and if needs be, issue a fresh circular prohibiting FGM, but exempting the Islamic procedure of female circumcision from the definition as done in other Muslim countries like Indonesia” concluded the submission.

The Muslim Representatives included M.N.M.Naphiel, President of the All Ceylon YMMA Conference, Asiff Hussein, Vice-President Outreach, Centre for Islamic Studies, Noor Hazeema Haris, Co-ordinator of United Religions Initiative, Sheikh M.F.M Farhan, Manager, All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama and Sheikh M.A. Haris, Co-Ordinator of the Fatwa Committee of All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama.

The committee agreed to give them a hearing and requested that medical evidence be submitted to prove that female circumcision of the type prescribed in Islam causes no harm and benefits women as stated by the joint representatives.

Tharindu Jayawardane Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Attorney General today instructed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara to take legal action under the Penal Code against UNP MP and former state minister Vijayakala Maheswaran, who made controversial statement on resurgence of the LTTE.

A senior Police officer said the AG had instructed to take legal action according to the Section 120 of the Penal Code.

No decision has been taken to arrest Ms. Maheswaran or to file a law suit against her as of now,” he added.

By Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha Courtesy Ceylon Today

When Gandhi was asked what he thought of Western civilization, he responded that he thought it would be a good idea. One is tempted to say the same with regard to Sri Lankan foreign policy, but that would be to ignore what was an extraordinarily impressive profile in the second and third decades after independence.

The culmination was perhaps our chairing of the Non-Aligned Movement after the 1976 Summit at the newly opened BMICH, but we should also remember the international stature of Sri Lankans, beginning with Shirley Amerasinghe, who chaired discussions on the Law of the Sea, and was so admired that delegates wanted him kept on as Chairman even when he was removed by J. R. Jayewardene from the post of Permanent Representative at the UN.

That act was symbolic of the way in which Jayewardene deliberately destroyed what had been built up over the previous 20 years, largely because of the Bandaranaikes’. But the UNP too had contributed, notably though R. G. Senanayake’s dealings with China, which were supported by the then Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake.

S. P. Amerasingham’s book on the Rubber-Rice Pact is an instructive expose of that strand of thinking in the UNP which was bitterly opposed by J. R. and his supporters, notably Ranil Wickremesinghe’s father Esmond. There is a fascinating account in the book of how the Lake House Press initially supported the Pact, only to be reined in by Esmond, following what seems to have been ‘firm instructions’ by the Americans whose interests he served.

But in fairness to both Esmond and J. R., there was some consistency in the foreign policy they advocated, and implemented ruthlessly when J. R. achieved an absolute power that the West did not complain of in those days.

They believed that we needed to nail our colours firmly to the Western, or rather the American, mast. This meant that we lost the stature we had previously, but there was a reason for this in the 70’s and early 80’s, for those who believed that big business oriented capitalism was the only viable economic option.

Communism was clearly failing, and the variations on socialism that the Third World and most members of the Non-Aligned Movement had adopted were also flagging.

The extreme form of this that Sri Lanka had adopted had led to deep dissatisfaction in the seventies – though it must be remembered that the massive victory of the UNP in the 1977 Election was also due to rifts in the left under our then first past the post system (similar to the manner in which Mr. Bandaranaike had got a lopsided majority in 1956 because the UNP decision to campaign for a mandate to implement ‘Sinhala Only’ had alienated its Tamil supporters – who ironically voted for the left, which was how they emerged as the second largest group in Parliament).

Jayewardene’s foreign policy, faithfully implemented by his Minister A. C. S. Hameed then made some sense early on, though both of them and the Westernized youngsters they had recruited should have seen its limitations when the West did not back us to the hilt when tensions with India developed.

Though Thatcher was gung ho about it, the Foreign Office dissuaded her from acting on our Defence Treaty in Britain when Hameed was sent to London to invoke it. The Americans said categorically, when asked if they would support us in the event of a conflict with India, that we were best advised to avoid such conflict.

Therefore, in 1987, geopolitical realities came home to roost and we had to acknowledge India’s primacy. The Liberal Party at the time, in welcoming the Indo-Lankan Accord, noted three caveats, in particular the fact that we had signed up to consulting India on matters as to which we should have guarded our sovereignty.

We had previously noted that, in all those matters, Jayewardene had been foolish and unnecessarily provoked India, as for instance with regard to leasing land to the Voice of America.

However, while we deplored, his behaviour showed that we should have in all instances taken Indian interests into account, it was a pity that we registered this as it were by treaty. And I should note, once India was assured that Jayewardene had stepped back from the brink, of involving us as active cold warriors in a war that was no longer of significant, our large neighbour behaved impeccably and did not impose further.

While this little game was being played, world conditions were changing. Jayewardene continued to believe the United States was the only important player on the world stage, though later he accepted that regionally we had to accept Indian hegemony. Over the 90’s, it became clear that the rest of the world too wanted at least its dignity if not absolute independence with regard to foreign policy.

It was in such a context that Lakshman Kadirgamar became our Foreign Minister, and tried to introduce an ideological shift into the Ministry. He had much difficulty, given the dependency to which its leading lights had grown accustomed.

But some of those he recruited have justified his hopes of a Sri Lankan as opposed to Western oriented foreign policy, though I will not mention names since the Ministry is still dominated by Hameed’s children, notably Kshenuka Seneviratne and Prasad Kariyawasam. For them, as an Indian commentator noted, the Third World is to be ignored except when a vote is needed.

Kadirgamar understood the need for change not just in the Ministry but with regard to policy, and that is why he paid so much attention to developing relationships with think tanks – especially those in China and India that contribute so much to the professional and innovative approach of officials. He also worked well with Dayan, who was the principal thinker on the Board of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, which Kadirgamar chaired with such commitment.

Kadirgamar did much to raise our stature in the world, but unfortunately he could not do much in his second stint as Foreign Minister for Chandrika, instead, turned to Jayantha Dhanapala – whose anti-Indian approach Kadirgamar deplored.

Fortunately Chandrika’s term was cut short before she could do much damage, but sadly the LTTE killed Kadirgamar before he could have taken the place of Prime Minister and principal policy maker with regard to the world, which would have welcomed the leadership he could have provided.

Thus ended the first renaissance, but the reason I feel he could have achieved wonders was because of what Dayan achieved when he was made Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative in Geneva. The position is not in itself of great importance on the world stage, but Dayan managed to put together a coalition of likeminded countries that made mincemeat of the effort of the West to dragoon the United Nations Human Rights Council into subservience.

I was witness to the admiration in which he was held, not only by the Indians, Pakistanis, Russians, and Chinese, but also Africans, South Americans, and the Islamic nations led by Egypt and Iran. One of the Africans has noted how they all felt a sense of triumph when we conclusively defeated the efforts of the West to put us in the dock for destroying terrorism on our soil. And the Iranians were keen that we should take on the Chair of the G 17, which saw a chance to assert itself on the world stage.

The response to that initiative, however, shows the strength of the forces ranged against the vision Kadirgamar had embodied and which Dayan was able to advance. Dayan got no response from Mahinda Rajapaksa to the proposal, so he got me to call him, having no trust in the Ministry. The President’s response was that his Foreign Minister – Rohitha Bogollagama – had told him that the group served no purpose, consisting of countries of no importance.

When I pointed out that it included India, Brazil, and South Africa, the President realized that something was wrong. But he told me, when I said his Foreign Minister knew nothing, that he was the Foreign Minister, and I should speak to him. I did, and found Bogollagama both amiable and willing to acknowledge his mistake. He granted he had been misled, and agreed to tell the President to accept the invitation.

Sadly, neither he nor Mahinda Rajapaksa wondered how and why he had been misled. Then, Mahinda Rajapaksa committed the first of the mistakes that contributed to himself in eroding his 2009 triumph. He sacked Dayan from the post of PR in Geneva, and appointed Kshenuka Seneviratne.

Therefore, the G 17 died – so did the coalition Dayan had built up so successfully in Geneva. The bridges built to India, that sustained us during the war, were allowed to collapse. Not only was Mahinda Rajapaksa defeated, we crawled back into subservience to the West, with sensible people like Ravinatha Ariyasinha forbidden to negotiate with regard to the resolution critical of us, the West had put forward.

Now, Maithripala Sirisena has again made Dayan an ambassador. How this might change things will be explored next week.

Courtesy Adaderana

Former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa says that unfortunately due to an incorrect opinion regarding the country’s war against terrorism in the international community, Sri Lanka was not able to give a host of lessons to the world on ending war and the post-war development activities of the military.

I regret that due to the individuals who gave such incorrect opinions, the world lost a good opportunity,” he said, speaking during the launch of the novel titled ‘Kadol Eththu’ authored by Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) Kamal Gunaratne in Colombo on Thursday (6).

Rajapaksa also spoke about the reason why the former government appointed several retired military officers as Sri Lankan envoys to foreign nations.

Some people asked me why military officers are appointed to diplomatic positions abroad. But I am proud to say that not only did we appoint them to appreciate their service, I can say without any fear that they were able to carry out a better service in the foreign service than the others,” he said.

Courtesy Adaderana

UPFA MP Udaya Gammanpila has filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the draft bill of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which was presented by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

The Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader claims in his application claims that the draft bill is in violation of the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

The draft bill of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday (05) by JVP MP Vijitha Herath.

The 20th amendment to the constitution proposes to abolish the Executive Presidency among other proposals.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake had handed over the 20th Amendment to the Constitution to the Secretary General of Parliament as a private member’s bill on May 25.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Joint Opposition today accused a Parliamentarian of the United National Party (UNP) of ‘poisoning’ the milk packets given to their supporters at the ‘Jana Balaya Colombata’ rally on Wednesday.

MP Mujibur Rahman is behind the incident of group of participants of Jana Balaya being hospitalized due to food poisoning after consuming milk packets, which had been distributed at the rally, claimed MP Shehan Semasinghe.

A group of unidentified persons had passed on ‘poisoned’ milk packets to several protestors at the Jana Balaya rally, he said during a press conference held in Colombo.

Further commenting, MP Semasinghe said that he strongly deplored causing harm of that sort to the famished masses that had joined the rally.

It was reported that MP Mujibur Rahuman has responded to this allegation against him at the parliament today.

by Garvin Karunaratne

The Kotmale Valley was a thriving  area full of production when I worked in Nuwara Eliya in the Sixties. This valley, its luxurious vegetation and  a vibrant community that lived in plenty was sacrificed to get  200 MW of power.    The Kotmale dam does not provide any water for irrigation. Fifty Wind Turbines could have achieved that target of power, and Kotmale, its people and luxurious economy would have been spared extintion.

As I write, action in being taken to destroy miles of verdant jungle, luxurious home gardens  and a  developed tourist attraction- the rapids of the Maskeliya Oya at Kitulgala.

It is a mini Hydro Project-the Broadlands Dam, sited  700 meters below the Kitulgala Rest House. The water will be taken down in a 3 kilometer tunnel and enter a Power House that will  produce 35 MW of power. There will be two small weirs(tanks) of water.

The tunneling of the river water will change the eco system for at least 3 kilometers. Already the tunneling has caused damage to many homes and land.

Further the Maskeliya Oya at Kitulgala has 18 rapids and already it is a highly treasured tourist attraction, world wide, attracting some 100,000 tourists a year. The tunneling of water will make 13 rapids defunct. In short the tourists will not come. White water rafting is a developed , highly sought for sport and the only site for this is Kitulgala in Sri Lanka.

Compensation has been offered but the fact remains that the verdant Kitulgala Valley will be ruined- its eco sysytem will be damaged and the untold damage  in an unexpected manner like at Uma Oya in Welimada Bandarawela cannot be ruled out.. 

I know the Kitulgala area well having worked  as the Additional Government Agent at Kegalla and earlier in Agrarian Services. I have walked through the area and can imagine the damage..  I can state that the Kitulgala Valley is having verdant forest and home gardens that will be sacrificed. White water rafting was not developed as a tourist attraction when I worked there in  the Sixties. The people have developed tourism and it is a shame to sacrifice the tourism  that has already been built up. I am certain that we attract youngsters world wide- even from the USA to Kitulgala for Water rafting..

 As far as the production of electricity is concerned i can state without any reservation that  that the proposed 35 MW of power can easily be produced by constructing 10 wind turbines. The wind turbines can be sited in Kitulgala itself and constructing 10 wind turbines can be done at a fraction of the cost of  $ 85 million. 

It is perhaps a travesty of our fate that our Power Ministry does not believe in wind power that can easily be harnessed . Costs of wind power are only 5 US cents a kilowatt in the USA. At most our cost will be Rs 10 a kw  which is a third of today’s cost.

There is said to be a loan from China. No foreign funds are required for wind turbines. It is only  the turbine mechanism that has  to be imported. The rest is built locally. The turbine mechanism  is not that costly.

Perhaps it is our fate that makes us destroy what development  we do have, specially in the Kandyan Areas. Then it was Kotmale. Now it is Kitulgala.

Let Kitulgala be spared the devastation that happened to Kotmale

Garvin Karunaratme

2/9/2018

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

It is like festive season during New Year and Christmas. Press ,TV and social media went  to town to attract readers and spectators to watch reality show or shows like Ridee Rayak Once the show time is over people talk about how good it was and later even forget the names of the entertainers .

Propping up of personalities was the main target of Janabalaya

Opposition has made their point during local council elections that they have a fair backing of the people, hence there may not have been any necessity to elaborate more on discontent among the people. Colossal amount of resources spent may be a waste .Loss of productive manhours is enormous.

What are lessons learnt by public ,opposition and the ruling party.

Public saw the capabilility of opposition to organize protests which JVP managed in a different ways to mobilize masses against oppression twice in the history .Only difference was that  opposition did not carry any guns .And yet opposition did not understand that legally elected government cannot be  thrown out with these type of action. Opposition  did not have to depend on business people to fund these type of action as they have resources. China .India or US with other western countries did not support them.As we all know only Distilleries made lot of money.

Opposition can only boast that they manged to mobilize many buses to haul people ..

One positive aspect is that public learnt to clean up the city like cricket fans .Opposition expected a police or army brutality but government ensured that tolerance was  maintained .

What did government learn .?

They learnt that opposition has a  young powerful base to organize events like this to create a perception that whole country is against the ruling party.TV and press was also mobilised by the opposition to give maximum publicity .What they should study is the type of slogans used during the procession. Was it against high level corruption like Bond Issue? Was it high  prices of rice ,fuel ,bread etc? Was it slow development ? Was it breach of democracy? Was it inefficiency of the state sector? Was it Unemployment? .Was it the wedding tahmasha held in Temple Trees by an offspring of the outspoken Health Guru?

What did public learn ?

After watching the Janabalaya I myself could not fathom what the demands were other than Rulers ,Go home .We can do  better Or replace indecisive leader with a more pragmatic ,ruthless leader ? May be public got the impression that government is not producing any results ?

My personal opinion is that Yahapalanaya is something public do not mind not having .

What public need may be a ruler with stick to guide the flock of inefficient public servants and representative’s and law and order to be more and more ruthless and results orientated.

In different words we need is a  ( benevolent if possible !) Dictator??

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Editorial Courtesy The Island

President Maithripala Sirisena’s much-advertised promise to hang convicted drug dealers responsible for carrying out criminal operations via mobile phones, from their cells, made quite a stir a few weeks ago. The President received both praise and flak for his pledge. We argued, in this space, that the convicts concerned did not have to worry and human rights groups were protesting in vain because the government rarely fulfilled its pledges. Nobody has been hanged so far.

Now, President Sirisena says the misuse of public property should be made an offence punishable by death. He seems to be in the hanging mode, so to speak. If a law to that effect had been introduced immediately after Independence and implemented properly, over the last several decades, the vast majority of corrupt politicians we are burdened with would not have been around to trouble us; the country would have had enough funds in its coffers and there would have been no need for it to seek foreign aid. We are where we are because we elect, as our representatives, those who deserve to be hanged or at least incarcerated.

What would happen if all those who abuse public property were to be hanged in keeping with the President’s wish? The government and the Opposition would be left without most of its top guns, including those who protested yesterday in Colombo and their counterparts in the yahapalana camp.

Ironically, President Sirisena’s contention that death should be the punishment for abusing public property has been made close on the heels of a media report that a whopping sum of Rs. 21 million continues to be paid for the building which houses the Ministry of Agriculture; a committee, appointed to probe that questionable deal, has met only once, so far. It was only the other day that 104 chairs, costing Rs. 650, 000 each, were ordered, from Europe, for the Western Provincial Council members. Rs. 8.4 million is to be spent on cleaning the Colombo Mayor’s official residence annually.

The Deyata Kirula exhibition, under the previous government, cost the public an arm and a leg, and those behind the project stood to gain. The current leaders, who were in the Opposition then, condemned that annual event, claiming the then rulers were misusing public funds to gain political mileage. But, today, they have launched a similar project under a different name. Politicians in power and their lackeys in the state service spend colossal amounts of public funds so that they get kickbacks.

The reimplementation of the death penalty may not be within the realms of possibility owing to Sri Lanka’s commitments to international covenants and stiff resistance from foreign human rights groups, the European Union etc. Trying to resume judicial hangings is, therefore, akin to flogging a dead horse. So, President Sirisena may not be able to hang anyone for misusing public property. He cannot be unaware that the chances of his hanging project reaching fruition are remote. Perhaps, he is advocating death for misusing public property so as to project himself as a crusader on a mission to cleanse politics. However, if he really wants to punish the thieves of public property, there are other ways available for him to achieve that objective.

Now that legal action has been instituted against some of the rogues of the previous regime, President Sirisena ought to ensure that the crooks in the current administration are also hauled up before courts. Allegations of bribery and corruption against government politicians have gone unproved; they must be investigated forthwith. First of all, former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran, who fled to Singapore, should be brought here to stand trial over the bond scams. Mere rhetoric won’t do.

කවීෂ් සමරකෝන්

පසුගියදා රජයේ වෛද්‍ය නිධාරීන්ගේ සංගමයේ මැදිහත් වීම මත  සිංගප්පූරු වෙළද ගිවිසුම පරාජය කිරීම සදහා ආරම්භ කල ‘‘රට සුරකින ජන පවුර ’’ – රට පාවා දෙන වෙළද ගිවිසුම් එපා යන මැයෙන් අද (06) කොළඹ දී රැස්විය..

එම අවස්ථාවට මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවේ ආනන්ද හිමි, අතුරලියේ රතන හිමි, පාහියංගල ආනන්ද සාගර හිමි , දේශපාලන පක්ෂ නියෝජිතයින්ද, බහුජන සංවිධාන නියෝජිතයන්ද වෘත්තීයවේදීන් ඇතුළු පිරිසක් සහභාගී වුණි…

මෙහිදී එම පිරිස විසින් සිංගප්පූරු වෙළද ගිවිසුම විරෝධය දක්වමින් අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිවරයාට ලබාදීම සදහා පෙත්සමකට ද අත්සන් කලේය.

මෙහිදී අදහස් දක්වමින් අතුරලියේ රතන හිමියම් සදහන් කලේ, රටේ සමස්ථ ජනතාව එක් කර ගනිමින් මේ නීතිමය වලංගුභාවයක් හෝ නොමැතිව  අත්සන් කර ඇති සිංගප්පූරු වෙළද ගිවිසුම පරාජය කිරීම සදහා ගත හැකි උපරිම ක්‍රියාමාර්ගයන් ගන්නා බවයි…

ඒ වෙනුවෙන් ඉදිරි දින කිහිපයේදී  දිවයින පුරා අත්පත්‍රිකා බෙදා හරිමින් හා පෝස්ටර් ප්‍රදර්ශනය කරමින් රටේ ජනතාව දැනුවත් කිරීමටත්, කටයුතු කරන බව රජයේ වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරීන්ගේ සංගමයේ ‍ලේකම් වෛද්‍ය හරිත අලුත්ගේ මහතා මාධ්‍ය වෙත අදහස් දක්වමින් සදහන් කලා…

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lanka C news

ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්ෂය විසින් කොළඹදී පවත්වන ලද ජන බල විරෝධතාවයට සෙනඟ සිටියේ නැතැයි කියන එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය විසින් පවත්වන ලද සිය 72වන සංවත්සරයට කිසිදු සෙනගක් සහභාගි නොවූ බව ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්ෂය සඳහන් කරයි.

සිරිකොත එජාප මූලස්ථානයේ දී පැවති එම පක්ෂයේ 72 දෙවන සංවත්සරය වෙනුවෙන් සහභාගී වී සිටියේ පුටු 400 ක් පිරෙන පිරිසක් පමණක් යයිද පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී මහින්දානන්ද අලුත්ගමගේ මහතා සඳහන් කළේය.

කොළඹ පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී මන්ත්‍රීවරයා මේ බව කියා සිටියේය.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, September 6 (newsin.asia): Funding agencies affiliated to the Western nations and their allies, Japan and South Korea, are now making a beeline for Sri Lanka to counter growing Chinese developmental assistance to it.

වෛද්‍ය කේ. එම්. වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර

ලෝකයේ මේ වන විට බෙදා වෙන්කොට ඇති රටවල් 26 න් කිසිදු රටක් යුද්ධයක් මඟින් පාර්ශ්ව දෙකක් විසින් මායිම් දමා ගැනීමෙන් වෙන්වී නැත. රටක් වෙන් කිරීමේ ක‍්‍රියාවලිය තුළ යුද්ධය හෝ ප‍්‍රචණ්ඩත්වය උපාංගයක් ලෙස යොදාගනු ලබන්නේ වෙනම රාජ්‍යයක් ලෙස වෙන් කෙරෙන භූගෝලීය ප‍්‍රදේශය සලකුණු කෙරෙන බල ව්‍යුහයක් නිර්මාණය කරගැනීම සඳහාය. එම බල ව්‍යුහය බොහෝවිට ෆෙඩරල් හෙවත් සන්ධීය හෝ කොන්ෆෙඩරල් හෙවත් සහසන්ධීය බල ව්‍යුහයකි. ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව වැනි රටක් ගත්විට යුද්ධය මගින් කේවල් කොට 13 වැනි ආණ්ඩුක‍්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව හරහා නිර්මාණය කළ බල ව්‍යුහය ඒකීය ලේබලය සහිත ෆෙඩරල් බල ව්‍යුහයකි. එවැනි බල ව්‍යුහයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමේ ක‍්‍රමවේද දෙකක් ජාත්‍යන්තර බෙදුම්වාදී බලවේග විසින් යොදාගෙන ඇත. පළමු වැන්න, ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයක් මගින් පවතින ව්‍යවස්ථාව සංධීයකරණය කිරීමය. දෙවැන්න ව්‍යවස්ථාවට පිටින් ජාත්‍යන්තර ගිවිසුමක් මත එවැනි බල ව්‍යුහයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීම ය.

ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව සහ කොසෝවෝ වැනි බෙදුම්වාදයට ගොදුරු වූ රටවල වෙනම රාජ්‍යයක් ලෙස ප‍්‍රකාශයට පත්කිරීමට නියමිත බල ව්‍යුහය නිර්මාණය කරනු ලැබුවේ ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයක් මගිනි. එහෙත් සුඩානයේ දී එම අරමුණු ඉටු කරගනු ලැබුවේ නෝර්වේ රාජ්‍යයේ මැදිහත්වීමෙන් අත්සන් කරනු ලැබූ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගිවිසුමක් හරහාය. එනම් යුද්ධය නැවැත්වීමේ මුවාවෙන් අත්සන් කළ සටන් විරාම ගිවිසුම හරහා තාවකාලික ආණ්ඩුවක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමෙනි. පසුව එනම් 2011 දී වෙනම රාජ්‍යයක් ලෙස ප‍්‍රකාශයට පත්කරනු ලැබුවේ එසේ තාවකාලික ආණ්ඩුව ලෙස දේශ සීමා සලකුණු කළ භූමි ප‍්‍රදේශය යි. අද එය දකුණු සුඩානය ලෙස හැඳින්වෙන අතර එම රාජ්‍යය සුඩානයෙන් වෙන් වී ගිය ද දේශසීමා අතර මරා ගැනීම අවසන් වී නොමැත. කෙසේ වෙතත් 2003 දී රනිල් වික‍්‍රමසිංහ මහතා ලෝකය පිළිගත් එම ක‍්‍රමවේද දෙක දෙමුහුුන් කිරීමට එකඟ විය. එනම් ඒ වනවිට ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයක් මගින් නිර්මාණය කළ පළාත් සභාව නම් බල ව්‍යුහය සටන් විරාම ගිවිසුම යටතේ තාවකාලික ආණ්ඩුවක් ලෙස ප‍්‍රකාශයට පත්කිරීමය. ජාතික බලවේග විසින් එම උත්සාහය ව්‍යර්ථ කිරීමෙන් පසුව සුනාමි ව්‍යසනයට මුවා වී එම බල ව්‍යුහය සුනාමි සහන මණ්ඩලය නමින් පිහිටුවීමට උත්සාහයක් ගත් බව රහසක් නොවේ. එහෙත් එම උත්සාහය ද ජාතික බලවේග විසින් පරාජය කෙරුණි.

මෙම ක‍්‍රියාවලිය තුළ මූලික වශයෙන්ම පැනනගින ප‍්‍රශ්නය වන්නේ 13 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය මගින් නිර්මාණය කළ බල ව්‍යුහය වෙනම රාජ්‍යයක් ලෙස ප‍්‍රකාශයට පත් කළ නොහැක්කේ කුමක් නිසාද? යන්නය. එසේම යුද්ධයේ මූලික අරමුණ ෆෙඩරල් බල ව්‍යුහයක් නිර්මාණය කරගැනීම සඳහා ආණ්ඩුවට බල කිරීම නම් එම බල ව්‍යුහය ලබාගැනීමෙන් පසුව තවදුරටත් යුද්ධය අවශ්‍යවන්නේ කුමක් නිසාද? විශේෂයෙන්ම යුද්ධය යොදා ගනිමින් ලබා ගන්නා දේශපාලන ජයග‍්‍රහණය තවදුරටත් තහවුරු කර ගත හැක්කේ දේශපාලන ක‍්‍රියාමාර්ග මගිනි. එසේ නොමැතිව යුද්ධය පවත්වාගෙන යෑම මගින් ලබාගත් දේශපාලන ජයග‍්‍රහණය ආපසු හැරවීමට ප‍්‍රතිවිරුද්ධ පාර්ශ්වයට අවකාශය ලැබේ. වෙනත් වචනවලින් කියන්නේ නම් යුද්ධ කිරීම තුළම යුද්ධයට එරෙහි ප‍්‍රතියුද්ධය සාධාරණීකරණය වේ. ඒ ආකාරයට යුද්ධයක් පවත්වාගෙන යමින් වෙනම රාජ්‍යයක දේශසීමා සලකුණු කළ නොහැකි නම් සහ දෙපාර්ශ්වයේ හමුදා දේශ සීමාවලින් දෙපස ස්ථානගත කළ නොහැකි නම් 13 වැනි සංශෝධනය දිනා ගැනීමෙන් පසුව තවදුරටත් යුද්ධ කිරීම අවශ්‍ය වූයේ කුමක් නිසාද?

ඊට පිළිතුරු සොයා ගැනීම සඳහා නැගෙනහිර ටිමෝරය බෙදා වෙන්කිරීමට අදාළව ඔස්ටේ‍්‍රලියාවට එරෙහිව පෘතුගාලය විසින් ජාත්‍යන්තර අධිකරණය හමුවේ පැනවූ නඩුවේ තීන්දුව විමසා බැලිය යුතුය. එම නඩු තීන්දුව අනුව ජනතාවකට හෙවත් ජනවර්ගයකට වෙන් වූ රාජ්‍යයක් ප‍්‍රකාශයට පත් කිරීමේ හැකියාව ලැබෙන්නේ එම ජනතාවට හෙවත් ඔවුන් ජීවත්වන භූගෝලීය ප‍්‍රදේශයට පරමාධිපත්‍යයේ බලය බෙදී යන ආකාරයට බලය බෙදීමක් සිදු කොට ඇත්නම් පමණි. එම මූලධර්මය හඳුන්වන්නේ අනුපූරකතාවය නමිනි. එනම් ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍ය බලය මධ්‍යම රජය හරහා මෙන්ම පළාත් සභාව හෝ පළාත් බල ඒකකය හරහා ඒවාට අනන්‍ය ලෙස ද ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වේ. එසේ පරමාධිපත්‍යයේ බලය එම බල ව්‍යුහ දෙක අතර නිශ්චිතව බෙදී වෙන්වීම ව්‍යවස්ථාව විසින් තහවුරු විය යුතුය. පසුගිය දිනවල පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණ සංශෝධන පනතට අදාළව ලබාදුන් නඩු තීන්දුව මගින් පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණය යනු පරමාධිපත්‍ය බලය ප‍්‍රතිනිර්මාණය කරන මැතිවරණයක් බව තහවුරු කෙරිණි. ඊට පෙර මාවෙයි සේනාධිරාජාට එරෙහිව චන්ද්‍රසෝම නඩු තීන්දුව මගින් ඒකීය ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් තුළ පළාත් සභාවකට ෆෙඩරල් බලතල ලබාදිය හැකි බව තහවුරු කෙරිණි.

නමුත්, එදා 13 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන කෙටුම්පත් ඉන්දියානු නිලධාරීන් විසින් සකස්කොට ජේ.ආර්. ජයවර්ධන ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ උගුරින් පහළට තල්ලූ කරන විට ඔහුු එය කැමැත්තෙන් ගිල දැමුවේ නැත. එම නිසා තව එක් ප‍්‍රශ්නයක් ඉතිරි වී ඇත. එනම් ඔහු විසින් එම සංශෝධනයට යම් ව්‍යවස්ථාමය බාධක ප‍්‍රමාණයක් ඇතුල් කළ බැවින් ඉන්දියාවටත් වඩා බරපතළ ෆෙඩරල් ලක්‍ෂණ සහිත එම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයේ බෙදුම්වාදී ෆෙඩරල් ප‍්‍රතිපාදන යටපත් වී ඇත. එනම් මධ්‍යම රජයට සහ පළාත් සභාවට බලතල නිශ්චිතව වෙන් කොට නැත. එම නිසා මධ්‍යම රජයට පළාත් බලය අභිබවා ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වීමේ අවස්ථාව එම බාධක නිසා ලැබී ඇත.

13 වැනි සංශෝධනය සම්මත කිරීමෙන් පසුව නැවත යුද්ධය ආරම්භ වූ වකවානුවේ සිට බෙදුම්වාදී බලවේග ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ එසේ ඊට ඇතුල් කළ ව්‍යවස්ථාමය බාධක ඉවත් කරන ලෙසය. එදා 2006 දී ඊනියා සර්වපාක්ෂික සමුළුව තුළින් ද ප‍්‍රධාන වශයෙන් මතුවූයේ එම ඉල්ලීම්ය. මෑත කාලීනව ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන මණ්ඩලය විසින් පත් කළ මධ්‍ය පරිධිය උප කමිටු වාර්තාව මගින් ද ප‍්‍රධාන වශයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ 13 වැනි සංශෝධනය සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම බලාත්මක කිරීම වළක්වන ව්‍යවස්ථාමය බාධක ඉවත් කරන ලෙසය. එසේම 2015 දී ජාත්‍යන්තර මානව හිමිකම් සමුළුවේදී ටී.එන්.ඒ. පක්ෂයේ එකඟතාව ලබා ගෙන ඇමරිකාව විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කළ යෝජනාව මගින් ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ ද දහතුන් වැනි සංශෝධනය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් ම බලාත්මක කරන ලෙස පමණි. එම යෝජනාව මගින් නව ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් සඳහා බල කරන්නේ නැත. එසේ නම් ව්‍යවස්ථාව මගින් පරමාධිපත්‍ය බලය පළාත් සභා සහ මධ්‍යම ආණ්ඩුව අතර නිශ්චිතව බෙදී ගොස් ඇති බව තහවුරු කිරීම සඳහා ඉවත් කළ යුතු ව්‍යවස්ථාමය බාධක මොනවාද?

එසේ පළාත් සභාවක කටයුතුවලට මධ්‍යම රජය විසින් අත දැමිය හැකි ආකාරයට ඇතුළු කොට ඇති ප‍්‍රතිපාදන හෙවත් 13ට එරෙහිව පවතින ව්‍යවස්ථාමය බාධක මූලික වශයෙන් 5 ක් හඳුනාගත හැක. ආචාර්ය දයාන් ජයතිලක මහතා කියන ආකාරයට එම බාධක ඉවත් කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය වන්නේ ‘‘සුළු සුළු සංශෝධන’’ ප‍්‍රමාණයකි. එම සංශෝධන සාධාරණීකරණය කිරීම සඳහා 13 වැනි සංශෝධනය ඉක්මවා යන කිසිදු බලයක් ලබා නොදෙන ලෙස ද ඔහු අනතුරු අඟවයි. ටී.එන්.ඒ. පක්ෂය ආණ්ඩුව විසින් එසේ වැඩි බලතල ලබා දුනහොත් සතුටින් බාරගන්නා බවට සැකයක් නැත. නමුත් ඔවුන්ට අවශ්‍ය වන්නේ පරමාධිපත්‍ය බලය බෙදී ගොස් තිබෙන බව තහවුරු කෙරෙන සංශෝධන හෙවත් ජාත්‍යන්තර අධිකරණයේ දී ඔවුන්ට වාසි සහගත තීන්දුව ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය අවම සංශෝධන ප‍්‍රමාණයක් සම්මත කරගැනීම පමණි.

ඉන් පළමුවැන්න පළාත් සභා සහ මධ්‍යම ආණ්ඩුව අතර නිශ්චිතව බලය බෙදී යෑම වළක්වන සමගාමී බලතල ලැයිස්තුව ඉවත් කොට එහි අඩංගු බලතල පළාත්වලට සහ මධ්‍යම ආණ්ඩුවට බෙදා වෙන් කිරීම ය.

දෙවැන්න ඉඩම්, පොලිස් සහ මූල්‍ය ආදී බරපතල බෙදුම්වාදී බලතල ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය ප‍්‍රඥප්ති සම්මත කර ගැනීම වැළැක්වීම සඳහා ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයා සතු බලය ඉවත් කිරීමය. ඒ සඳහා මහ ඇමැතිගේ අනුමැතියෙන් ආණ්ඩුකාරයා පත්කිරීම පමණක් ප‍්‍රමාණවත් වේ.

තුන්වැන්න මධ්‍යම රජය සතු ජාතික ප‍්‍රතිපත්ති හැදීමේ බලය ඉවත්කොට පළාත් සභාවලට ද ජාතික වශයෙන් වැදගත් විෂයන්ට අදාළව ප‍්‍රතිපත්ති හැදීමේ බලය ලබාදීමය.

හතරවැන්න පළාත් ඉඩම් අයිතිය පළාත්වලට පවරා මධ්‍යම රජය විසින් තම බලතල ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය ඉඩම් පළාත් සභාවෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටින තත්ත්වය නිර්මාණය කිරීමය. එහිදී අවසාන වශයෙන් ඉඩම් අන්සතු කිරීමේ බලය ජනාධිපතිවරයා සතු වුවද ඉඩම්වල භුක්තිය ලබා දීමේ බලය පළාත් සභාවලට පැවරීම පමණක් ප‍්‍රමාණවත් වෙයි.

පස්වැන්න බදු එකතු කිරීමේ බලය සහ පළාත් භාණ්ඩාගාරයක් පවත්වා ගැනීමේ බලය පළාත් සභාවලට ලබාදීමය. දැනටමත් මහ ඇමැතිවරයාට අවශ්‍ය ආකාරයට සහ විදේශවලින් පවා මුදල් ලබාගත හැකි ආකාරයට ‘‘මහඇමැති අරමුදලක්’’ පිහිටුවීමේ බලය පළාත් සභාවට ලබා දී ඇත.

ඉහත සඳහන් කළ නඩු තීන්දුවට අනුව උතුරු නැගෙනහිර පළාත්වල ජීවත්වන ජනතාව ‘‘ජනතාවක්’’ ලෙස ජාත්‍යන්තර නීතිය යටතේ හැඳින්වීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය මූලධර්ම 13 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයට වක‍්‍රව ඇතුළු කොට ඇත. එනම් තිම්පු මූලධර්ම හෙවත් දෙමළ ජනතාව වෙනම අනන්‍යතාවයක් සහිත ජනතාවක් බව, ඔවුන්ගේ ඓතිහාසික වාසභූමිය උතුරු සහ නැගෙනහිර පළාත් බව සහ ඔවුන්ට අභ්‍යන්තර ස්වයං පාලනයක් ලබා ගැනීමේ අයිතිය තිබෙන බව 13 වැනි සංශෝධනය මගින් පිළිගෙන ඇත. උතුරු සහ නැගෙනහිර පළාත් ඒකාබද්ධ කිරීමේ ප‍්‍රතිපාදන ව්‍යවස්ථාවට ඇතුල් කෙරෙන්නේ එම පිළිගැනීම මතය. ඒ අනුව ඉහත සඳහන් කළ ඊනියා සුළු සංශෝධන ප‍්‍රමාණය සම්මත කළහොත් ජාත්‍යන්තර නීතියට අනුව උතුරු – නැගෙනහිර ජනතාවට පරමාධිපත්‍යයේ බලය බෙදී ගොස් ඇති බව තහවුරු වේ.

එසේ තහවුරු කර ගැනීමෙන් පසුව කළ යුතු දේ ආර්. සම්බන්ධන් මහතා විසින් 2012 මැයි 25 දින මඩකලපුවේ දී පැවැත්වූ ටී.එන්.ඒ. පක්ෂයේ මහ සමුළුවේදී ප‍්‍රකාශ කළේය. ඊට අනුව ඔවුන් ඊළාම් අරමුණ අත්හැර නැත. නමුත් ඒ කරා ළඟාවන උපායමාර්ගය වෙනස්කොට ඇත. එනම් යුද්ධය වෙනුවට නිරායුධ සිවිල් ජනතාව ගාන්ධිවාදී වීදි සටන් සදහා යොමු කෙරෙනු ඇත. එම ජනතාව මර්දනය කළහොත් ජාත්‍යන්තර ප‍්‍රජාව මැදිහත් විය යුතු බවට සම්බන්ධන් මහතා එම සමුළුවේදී ජාත්‍යන්තර මැදිහත්වීමකට ආරාධනා කළේය. නමුත් ඒ විදී සටන් ආරම්භ කිරීම පමා වන්නේ මේ වනතුරු දහතුන්වන සංශෝධනයේ බාධක ඉවත් කරන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය සම්මත කර ගැනීම පමා වීම නිසාය. එම පූර්ව කොන්දේසිය ඉටුකර ගැනීමට පෙර වීදි සටන් ආරම්භ කළහොත් ඒවා මර්දනය කිරීමට ආණ්ඩුවට ව්‍යවස්ථානුකූලව ඉඩ ලැබේ. නමුත් ඉහත සඳහන් කළ ආකාරයට පරමාධිපත්‍යයේ බලය බෙදී යන ආකාරයට උතුරු නැගෙනහිර ජනතාවට බලය ලබා දී ඇති විටෙක එම බලය ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට ඉඩ නොදෙන්නේ නම් සහ ඊට එරෙහිව විදී සටන් කරන ජනතාව මර්දනය කරන්නේ නම් එම ජනතාවට වෙන්වී යෑමේ අයිතිය ලැබේ.

ඒ අනුව කොසෝවෝ බෙදුම්වාදීන් සාර්ථකව අත්හදා බලන ලද ක‍්‍රමය එනම් නිරායුධ අහිංසක ජනතාවගේ මළමිනී මතින් ජාත්‍යන්තර මැදිහත්වීමක් කැඳවීමේ ක‍්‍රමවේදය පමාවන්නේ ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය පමා වන නිසා ය. දැන් බෙදුම්වාදීන් මුහුණදෙන ප‍්‍රධාන අභියෝගය හැකි ඉක්මනින් ආචාර්ය දයාන් ජයතිලක මහතා කියන ‘‘සුළු සුළු ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන’’ ටික සම්මත කරගැනීම ය. ඔවුන්ට නව ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් හෝ පවතින ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ තිබෙන ඒකීය වගන්තිය වෙනස් කිරීමට හෝ බුද්ධාගමට හිමි ප‍්‍රමුඛස්ථාන ඉවත් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය නැත. ඒවා සිංහල බෞද්ධයාට රිදවීම සඳහා වැදගත් වුවත් බෙදුම්වාදී න්‍යාය පත‍්‍රයට අනුව තාක්ෂණික වැදගත්් වන්නේ නැත. එම ඊනියා සුළු සංශෝධන ව්‍යවස්ථා කෙටුම්පතට ඇතුළත් කිරීමට පවා අවශ්‍ය නැත. ඒවා ඉතා පහසුවෙන් කාරක සභා අවස්ථාවේදී පිටතින් ඇතුල් කළ හැක. වර්තමාන රජය බලයට පත්වීමෙන් පසුව 19 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය සම්මත කිරීමේදී සහ ඊනියා කාන්තා නියෝජනය පනත පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණ සංශෝධන පනත බවට සංශෝධනය කිරීමේ දී කාරක සභා අවස්ථාවේදී සංශෝධන 40 කට වැඩි ප‍්‍රමාණයක් ඇතුල් කරනු ලැබීය.

නමුත් මූලික ගැටලූව වන්නේ කුමක් හෝ ලේබලයක් අලවා ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ඇතුළට ගෙන යෑමය. එනම් ව්‍යවස්ථා බෝම්බය පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුළට ප‍්‍රවාහනය කිරීමය. එය පත්තු කිරීම ඇතුළේ දී ඉතා පහසුවෙන් කළ හැක. වර්තමාන ආණ්ඩුව බලයට පත් කෙරෙන්නේ බෙදුම්වාදීන්ට අවශ්‍ය ආකාරයට ව්‍යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනය කිරීමට බව සමාජයේ ප‍්‍රබලව තහවුරු වී ඇත. සිද්ධාර්ථන් වැනි ටී.එන්.ඒ. ප‍්‍රබලයන්ට අනුව ඔවුන් ආණ්ඩුව පත් කරන්නේ ව්‍යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනය කිරීමටය. එම නිසා එසේ නොකරන ආණ්ඩුවක් ඔවුන්ට අවශ්‍ය නැත. අනෙක් පැත්තෙන් ගත්විට 13 වැනි සංශෝධනය සම්මත කිරීමේදී එදා ආණ්ඩුවට තුනෙන් දෙකේ විශේෂ බහුතර බලය තිබුණත් මෙදා ආණ්ඩුවට සාමාන්‍ය බහුතරයවත් නැත.

එම උභතෝකෝටිකයට මුහුණදීම සඳහා ආණ්ඩුව විසින් හෙවත් ඔවුන්ගේ ස්වාමිවරුන් විසින් දස වැදෑරුම් උපායමාර්ගික ප‍්‍රවේශයක් තෝරා ඇත. පළමුවැන්න පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ විශේෂ බහුතරය සහතික කර ගැනීම සහ ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන ක‍්‍රියාවලිය පොදු එකඟතාවයෙන් කෙරෙන බවට ඊට සුජාතභාවය ලබාදීම සඳහා ව්‍යවස්ථා සම්පාදක මණ්ඩලයක් පිහිටුවා විපක්ෂය එම ක‍්‍රියාවලියට පටලවා ගැනීමය. දෙවැන්න සැබෑ අරමුණ සැඟවීම සඳහා ව්‍යාජ ඝෝෂාවක් මතු කිරීමය. වරින්වර විවිධ වාර්තා සහ කෙටුම්පත් ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් සංකීර්ණය ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන යෝජනා සමාජයට ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නේ එසේ අනවශ්‍ය ඝෝෂාවක් මතු කිරීමටය. ඒකීය වචනය ඉවත් කිරීම හෝ බුද්ධාගමට ප‍්‍රමුඛස්ථානය අහිමි කිරීම වැනි යෝජනා වැදගත් වන්නේ ද එම ඝෝෂාව සඳහාය.

තුන්වැන්න ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය හෙවත් බෝම්බය කරතබා ගෙන යෑම සඳහා කුලීකරුවෙක් සොයාගැනීමය. එම කුලීකරුවා රට බෙදීමේ ක‍්‍රියාවලියට දායක නොවන හෝ ඊට විරුද්ධ වන්්නෙක් ලෙස සමාජයේ විශ්වාසය දිනා ගෙන තිබීම වැදගත්ය. ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ හරහා 19 වැනි සංශෝධනය නමින් ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන කෙටුම්පතක් ඉදිරිපත් කෙරෙන්නේ ඒ අනුවය. අවසානයේ දී ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ කෙටුම්පත සහ ව්‍යවස්ථා සම්පාදක මණ්ඩලයේ කෙටුම්පත දෙමුහුන් කළ විට ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණට කරතබාගෙන යා හැකි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන කෙටුම්පත නිර්මාණය වේ. හතරවැන්න එසේ් ආණ්ඩුවෙන් ඉදිරිපත් කරන ව්‍යවස්ථා කෙටුම්පත් රාමුව ඉවත් කර ගැනීමේ අරමුණින් විවාදයට තුඩු දෙන ප‍්‍රතිපාදන ඇතුළු කිරීමය. එවිට ඊනියා විපක්ෂ බලවේගවලට මහා ඝෝෂාවක් කොට ඒවාට විරුද්ධ වීමේ හැකියාව ලැබේ. ඒ සමගම එම ගැටලූකාරී යෝජනා ඉවත් කරගෙන මහජනයාට ඊනියා සද්භාවය පෙන්වීමට සහ ව්‍යවස්ථා කෙටුම්පත සාධාරණීකරණය කිරීමේ හැකියාව ආණ්ඩුවට ලැබේ.

පස්වැනි උපක‍්‍රමය ඉහත සඳහන් කළ බෙදුම්වාදීන්ට සත්‍ය වශයෙන්ම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වනදේ සැඟවීම හෝ එම සංශෝධන අවතක්සේරු කිරීමය. එවිට මහජනයා තුළ බියක් ඇති වන්නේ නැත. එම නිසා බොහෝ විට ඒවා මූලික කෙටුම්පතට ඇතුළත් නොකර සිටීමට ද ඉඩක් ඇත. පසුව කාරක සභා අවස්ථාවේදී සැකයක් ඇති නොවන ලෙස ඒවා පිටතින් ඇතුල් කිරීම සඳහා එම ප‍්‍රවේශය ඉතා වැදගත්වේ. හයවැන්න බලය බෙදීමෙන් රට නොබෙදන බවට තාක්ෂණික තර්ක ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමය. ඒ මගින් සමස්ත ව්‍යවස්ථා සම්පාදන ක‍්‍රියාවලිය පිළිබඳව පවතින අවිශ්වාසය සමනය වනු ඇතැයි ආණ්ඩුව කල්පනා කරන බව පෙනේ. නමුත් එම මතය ප‍්‍රචලිත කිරීම සඳහා ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණු යොදා ගන්නා බවට සැකයක් නැත. විශේෂයෙන්ම ඉන්දියාව විසින් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව බෙදා වෙන්කිරීම ඉන්දියාවට හානිකර බවට තර්ක කිරීම ද ඊට අයත් වේ. හත්වැනි උපක‍්‍රමය ආණ්ඩුව අඩියක් පිටුපසට ගත්් බව පෙන්වීමය. ඒ මඟින් මහජනයා තුළ ව්‍යාජ ආරක්ෂාකාරී මනසක් ඇතිවේ. නව ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් ගෙන එන බවට මතයක් ගොඩනගා පසුව ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයක් පමණක් ගෙන ඒම මගින් එම මානසික යුධ උපක‍්‍රම අත්හදා බැලිය හැක.

අටවැනි උපක‍්‍රමය ආණ්ඩුක‍්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන ක‍්‍රියාවලිය දීර්ඝ කාලයක සිට පැවති මහජන ඉල්ලීමක් නිසා ආරම්භ වූ බවට මතයක් ගොඩ නැගීමය. ඒ මගින් එම ක‍්‍රියාවලිය දේශීය සහ විදේශීය බෙදුම්වාදී බලවේගවල උවමනාව මත දියත් වන්නක් බව සැඟවීමට ඉඩ ලැබේ. ඊට අමතරව ඒ සමග ගැටගැසී ඇති සෙසු කොන්දේසි වන යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා විභාග කිරීමේ යාන්ත‍්‍රණ පිහිටුවීම මගින් ආරක්ෂක හමුදා දුර්වල කිරීමේ ක‍්‍රියාවලිය පිළිබඳව වියුක්තව සිතීමට මහජනයා පෙළඹේ. නව වැනි උපක‍්‍රමය පළමු වටයේ දී ඉදිරිපත් කෙරෙන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන කෙටුම්පතට ටී.එන්.ඒ. පක්ෂය විසින් විරෝධය පළ කිරීමය. එවිට බහුතර සිංහල ජනතාව අතර ව්‍යාජ සුබවාදී මනසක් ඇති වේ. නමුත් කාරක සභා විවාදයේ දී ඔවුනට අවශ්‍ය දේ ලබා දුන් විට ඔවුන් ඡුන්දය ලබාදෙන බවට සැකයක් නැත. දසවැනි උපක‍්‍රමය මූලික ව්‍යවස්ථා කෙටුම්පතට බෙදුම්වාදී සංශෝධන ඇතුළු නොකර ඒවා කාරක සභා අවස්ථාවේදී යෝජනා ලෙස පසුව ඇතුළු කිරීමය. ඉන් පසුව එකොළොස්වැන්නක්ද තිබිය හැක. ඒ බෙදුම්වාදීන්ට අවශ්‍ය සංශෝධන තුනෙන් දෙකේ විශේෂ බහුතරයෙන් සම්මත කර ගත් පසුව විධායක ජනාධිපති ක‍්‍රමය අහෝසි කිරීමේ හෝ දුර්වල කිරීමේ යෝජනා ඉදිරි ජනාධිපතිවරණයේ ප‍්‍රධාන සටන්පාඨය බවට පත් කිරීමය.

දෙනගම ධම්මික රණවීර ඡායාරූප – අකිල ජයවර්ධන උපුටාගැණීම  මව්බිම

දේශපාලනඥයන් අපේක්ෂා කරන තීන්දු අධිකරණවලින් දෙන බවත් බොදුබල සේනා සංවිධානයේ මහ ලේකම් ගලගොඩඅත්තේ ඥානසාර හිමියන් සිරගත කිරීම පිටුපස පටු දේශපාලනයක් ඇති බවත් බොදුබල සේනා සංවිධානයේ ප්‍රධාන විධායක ආචාර්ය ඩිලන්ත විතානගේ පැවැසීය.

බොදුබල සේනා සංවිධානය පෙරේදා (04දා) රාජගිරියේදී පැවැති මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ඡාවකට සහභාගි වෙමින් හෙතෙම වැඩිදුරටත් මෙසේද සඳහන් කළේය. ගල්ගොඩඅත්තේ ඥානසාර හිමියන්ට උසාවිය දුන් තීන්දුවට අපි අභියෝග කරන්නේ නැහැ. ඒත්
එම තීන්දුව අසාධාරණ බව අපි විශ්වාස කරනවා.

ඥානසාර හාමුදුරුවෝ හැමවිටම රටට, ජාතියට මඟ පෙන්වීමක් කළා. අයි.එස්.අයි.එස්. තර්ජන ගැන පළමුව පෙන්වා දුන්නේත් උන්වහන්සේයි. 2015දී ඒ ගැන පොලිස්පතිවරයාටත්, ජනාධිපතිවරයාටත් ලිපි යොමු කළා. ඒත් කිසිම පිළිතුරක් නැහැ.

ඕස්ට්‍රේලියා පොලිසිය ශ්‍රී ලාංකික තරුණයකු අයි.එස්.අයි.එස්. සංවිධානයට සම්බන්ධ බවට සැක කොට අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන තිබෙනවා. ඔහුට මෙරට ඇමැති කෙනකුගෙ සම්බන්ධයක් තිබෙන බවත් කියැවෙනවා. ඒත් අපි ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරන්නෙ මේ තරුණයාට එවැනි සම්බන්ධයක් නොතිබේවා කියලයි. එසේ නොවුණොත් මේක බැරෑරුම් ප්‍රශ්නයක් වෙනවා.

මෙවැනි අනතුරු හෙළි කරපු ඥානසාර හාමුදුරුවො සිරගත කිරීම් පිටුපස දේශපාලනයක් තිබෙනවා. ඒ නිසා උන්වහන්සේ සැලකිය හැක්කේ දේශපාලන සිරකරුවකු ලෙසයි.
ඥානසාර හාමුදුරුවෝ මේ රටේ නීති වෙනස් වෙන්න ඕන කියන කාරණාව හැම විටකම පෙන්වා දුන්නා. ඒක සියලු දෙනාට සාධාරණය විය යුතු බව අවධාරණය කළා. එවැනි පසුබිම් තුළ උන්වහන්සේට යම් යම් දේශපාලන කාරණා වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටින්න සිදු වුණා.

උන්වහන්සේ රණවිරුවන්ට ඇප දෙන්න කියලා බලපෑම් කළේ නැහැ. රජයේ නිලධාරීන්ට නපුංසකයො කිව්වෙ නැහැ. ඒත් උසාවියට අපහාස කළා කියලා දඬුවම් කොට තිබෙනවා. උන්වහන්සේ උසාවිය තුළදීම සමාව ඉල්ලුවා. ඒත් දඬුවම්
කළා. අධිකරණ කොමිසම, ඔම්බෝඩ්ස්මන්ලා මේ ගැන සොයා බලන්න ඕන.

ජාතික සංවිධායක විතාරන්දෙණියේ නන්ද හිමි,
භික්ෂුන්ට ඓතිහාසිකව පැවරුණු කාර්ය භාරයක් මේ රටේ තිබෙනවා. රටට, ජාතියට, සම්බුද්ධ ශාසනයට අනතුරක් වන ඕනෑම අවස්ථාවක ඊට එරෙහිව නායකත්වය දුන්නා.
එදා සිංහලේ නිදහස වෙනුවෙන් නායකත්වය දුන් වාරියපොළ සුමංගල හාමුදුරුවො යාපනයේ සිරගත කිරීමට ඉංගී්‍රසි ආණ්ඩුව පියවර ගත්තා. භික්ෂුවක් ලෙස තරුණ ජීවිතයේ සිටම රටට, ජාතියට, සංස්කෘතියට, පුරාවිද්‍යාවට ආදී වශයෙන්සියලු ජාතික අංශවලට එරෙහිව නායකත්වය දුන් ගලගොඩඅත්තේ ඥානසාර හිමියොත් මේ වන විට සිරගත කොට සිටිනවා.

උන්වහන්සේ රටේ පොදු ප්‍රශ්න ඉදිරියේ නැඟූ හඬ නිසාම නඩු විසි ගණනක් පවරා තිබෙනවා. වසර 19ක සිර දඬුවමක් දී තිබෙන්නේ රණවිරුවන් වෙනුවෙන් කතා කළ නිසායි. රණවිරුවන්ට සිදුවන අසාධාරණ වෙනුවෙන් කතා කිරීමට ඉදිරිපත් නොවන අවස්ථාවකයි උන්වහන්සේ ඉදිරිපත් වුණේ. ඒ සඳහා රණවිරු පවුල්වලින් ඉල්ලීම් කෙරුණා.
ඥානසාර හාමුදුරුවො සිරගත කිරීම පිටුපස දේශපානඥයන්, එන්.ජී.ඕ. සංවිධාන හා අන්තවාදී සංවිධාන සිටිනවා.

පස්සරමුල්ලේ පඤ්ඤාජෝති හිමි,
ඥානසාර හිමි සිරගත කිරීම කුමන්ත්‍රණයක්. බොදුබල සේනාව බලු කුක්කො වගේ කූඩු කරනවා කියලා හොරගොල්ලෙ නෝනා 2015දී කිව්වා.

දෙනගම ධම්මික රණවීර
ඡායාරූප – අකිල ජයවර්ධන

මේඝනාද උපුටාගැණීම  මව්බිම

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says that today everybody in the country – from the poor man to the businessman – are hurt due to the actions of the ruling government.

Addressing supporters at the Joint Opposition rally at Lake House Roundabout in Colombo, he also accused the government of secretly introducing bill which look to divide the country.

Not only are they dividing the country, they are burdening the public even more by continuing to impose taxes,” he said.

He charged that democracy is slowly disappearing from the country which is slowly moving towards a dictatorship. Rajapaksa also accused the government of postponing Provincial Council elections.

Rajapaksa said that today the country’s President or Prime Minister have can go to Jaffna and deliver speeches criticizing him because he gave them that right.

This is only the first step in our journey,” the former President said, referring to the protest campaign.

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters marched in Colombo to demand the government step down. The protest march and public rally titled Jana Balaya Colombata” was organized by the Joint Opposition on Wednesday (5).

By Rohana R. Wasala

(This document which embodies the author’s personal opinions is completely based on information gathered from internet sources. It is a marginally revised version of the same article published in The Island on September 5, 2018.)

The news item under the headline: Religious extremists, politicians meddle with artistic freedom in Sri Lanka – IFJ” published in The Island/August 31, 2018 is a cynical expression of extreme anti-Buddhist prejudice. The report begins thus:

A novel, a radio drama and a stage play all came under attack in Sri Lanka for allegedly containing anti-Buddhist or offensive language. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the Free Media Movement (FMM) Sri Lanka in expressing concerns over the potential political censorship and control of freedom of expression of the three works”.

The alleged artistic works referred to here are: Budunge Rasthiyaduwa”, a novel written by K.K. Srinath, Kanepahara”,  a serial radio drama made by Malaka Devapriya, and Mama Kelin Minihek”, a stage play directed by Asanka Sayakkara.  It is true that some Buddhist monks and organizations have protested against the titles of three episodes of Kanepahara” (A Box on the Ears), and that of the novel Budunge Rasthiyaduwa” (Buddha’s Time Killing/Buddha the Time Killer) as being disrespectful to Buddhism and offensive to Buddhist sensitivities. The names of three of the plays which had been scheduled to be serially broadcast over the government owned Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, but are currently in abeyance due to ministerial intervention are as follows: Tharuwan Saranai” (May Film Stars Protect You), Nihon Saepa Laebewa” (Happiness of Japan Be Yours) and Nirwastram Paramam Sukhang” (Nudity Is the Highest Happiness). These are irreverential parodies, respectively, of: Theruwan Saranai” (May the Triple Gem Protect You), Nivan Saepa Laebewa” (May You Attain Nibbana), and Nibbanam Paramam Sukhang” (Nibbana Is the Supreme Bliss). The three titles which are disrespectful imitations of the three clauses (given in brackets immediately above) are charged with profound spiritual meaning for Buddhists. Such profane treatment of something they consider sacred is bound to be hurtful to their feelings. The monks only took umbrage at the titles of these plays and the novel. It must be emphasized that their objections were only to the titles, but not to them as works of art or to their content, except  in the case of the stage play Mama Kelin Minihek” (I am a Straight Man), in which they found certain dialogues to be anti-Buddhist and wanted them changed. (The arbitrary English translations given here are mine.)

According to the IFJ report, …. the author claimed that there was no religious contents (sic) in their work…”. The plural possessive pronoun their” suggests that novelist K.K. Srinath was speaking for the authors of the rest of the works in question as well; but that defence is irrelevant, because the monks’ complaint was almost entirely about the insulting language used in the titles, not about what was in the plays or the novel.

Actually, Minister of Higher Education and Cultural Affairs Wiiayadasa Rajapksa’s intervention (with his decision to investigate the complaints and prosecute the novelist and the publisher, and his probable share in forcing the suspension of the radio drama has the potential of turning the whole episode into a tragicomic sham confrontation between two organs of the same Yahapalanaya government: that is, between the said ministry and the Office of National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) led by a former president (namely, Chandrika Bandaranaike) that sponsored the plays with those objectionable titles and possibly similar content. Both are maintained by people’s tax money, the major part of it comes from Sinhalese Buddhists, whom they want to morally reform! The IFJ’s claim that (unnamed) bookstores have received threatening calls and demands not to sell copies of the book seems to be a malicious addition. A young reviewer of the novel known by the pen name ‘Vidu’ suggests that the controversy raised about its title could be  a strategy to advertise the book, a spot of ‘negative marketing’ as he calls it.

It could be a deliberate fabrication meant to add to the sensationalism of the news report, while casually helping the sale of the book, whose publisher Sannasgala is a politician associated with the  installation of the yahapalanaya regime. Apparently,  the novel Budunge Rasthiyaduwa” (Buddha’s Time Killing/Buddha the Time Killer) is also intended to contribute to the same project as the radio drama Kanepahara” (A Box on the Ears): both are expected to be an affront to, or a slap in the face of, the Sinhalese Buddhist majority, who, the Yahapalanaya’s self-appointed national unity and reconciliation promoters led by Chandrika Bandaranaike wrongly believe, obstruct their aims.

The perennially repeated charge of Sinhalese Buddhist extremism which has become an article of  faith among misinformed or ill informed Sri Lanka watchers in the West is nothing more than a fabrication. But it forms the main plank of relentless anti-Buddhist propaganda that is necessary for the powers that be to destabilize the Sri Lankan state in pursuance of their own ends in the region. Pretending to bring in reconciliation where communities live in peace already only serves to create suspicion and spread hatred among them. The exaggerated media reports of alleged Buddhist extremism  filed in association with the ONUR project seem to have already led to some Face Book postings that are grossly insulting to Buddhism. According to the online lankacnews (August 31, 2018, the same day that the IFJ news report that provided the cue for this piece appeared in The Island newspaper) Ratnapura District MP Susantha Punchi Nilame made a written complaint to the IGP about an unprintably obscene FB post in Sinhala which was an obvious allusion to the Tooth Relic, an object of the deepest veneration in the whole Buddhist world. (Only the empty ‘Karanduwa’ or the casket, without the Relic, is carried on the back of the Maligawa Tusker during  the annual Kandy Esala Perahera. This year’s perahera had concluded a few days before the insulting post appeared in the FB. I myself didn’t see it, though).

Sri Lanka being a predominantly Buddhist country enjoys the highest level of freedom of religion. None respects and safeguards that freedom better than Buddhists. The followers of all religions in Sri Lanka have a right to protest against something that is deliberately insulting to the doctrine or to the founder of their particular religion. Buddhism is a universally acceptable moral philosophy which feels strong and secure enough to invite rational debate. It has no blasphemy laws. Insulting is not the same as rational criticism. It is absurd to describe Buddhist monks and organizations as extremist, fanatical, fundamentalist, etc when they raise objections to what are clearly insulting to Buddhism. Attacking, or conniving at attacks on, the Buddhist cultural roots of the country seems to be the done thing these days. The track records of the three political figures who directly or indirectly feature in this episode are not unknown to ordinary Sri Lankans, though the same could be a secret to the filers of the IFJ news report under discussion. All of them enjoy little credibility among the masses now.

So, the allegation that there is violent Buddhist extremism in Sri Lanka that threatens religious minorities is a complete lie that a plethora of certain very small fundamentalist Christian and Muslim extremist sects (richly funded from abroad) exploit to make disruptive inroads into the traditional religious space in the country, where the typically accommodating, non-violent Buddhist majority community (70% of the population) live in the greatest harmony with the mainstream Hindu (13%), Muslim (10%), and Christian (7%) minorities. So, if there is any religious extremism in Sri Lanka, it is due to the activities of these fanatical non-Buddhist minority sects (which are marginal to the mainstream Hindu, Muslim, and Christian religious entities). These groups are a threat to the Tamil Hindus, and mainstream Muslims and Christians as well. While I was writing this on August 31 itself after reading The Island Online, a piece of news reached me here in Australia, that would go towards supporting my observation that certain non-Buddhist extremist religious groups are active in Sri Lanka. An online ABC news channel (Riley Stuart and police reporter Mark Reddie) reported that a young Sri Lankan by the name of Mohamed Nizamdeen, aged 25, an employee (a contractor) of the University of New South Wales, was arrested by the officers of the NSW’s Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) at Kensington, in Sydney’s south-east and charged on Friday (August 31)” with possessing a blueprint to target several ‘symbolic’ Sydney locations”. Sensationally, his targets included former Liberal Party prime minister (2015-18) Malcolm Turnbull, and former minister of foreign affairs (2013-18) Julie Bishop from the same party. According to this source, Nizamdeen appeared in Waverly local Court where he was refused bail and the case was adjourned to October 24. It has now been revealed (Monday September 3) by the Australian authorities that the young suspected ISIS affiliate is a nephew of a cabinet minister of the Sri Lankan government.

This is a clear indication to the outside world that there could be other young supporters of Islamic terror groups in Sri Lanka. To ordinary Sri Lankans themselves this is not likely to be news. It is an incontrovertible fact that the majority Buddhists and the largest minority Hindus, together with the traditionally peaceful mainstream Christian and Muslim minorities, feel jittery in common about the activities of these fundamentalist sectarian groups. The Sri Lankan government security forces may be taking the necessary steps to control their activities if any, though they may be keeping things under wraps in the interest of their reconciliation drive. It is in reaction to the questionable activities of such fanatical groups that Buddhist monks and organizations, and corresponding Hindu priests and organizations (the latter as allies of the former, but less conspicuous due to the distraction caused by meaningless separatist politics) are raising concerns. Sinhalese politicians of the two main national parties (UNP and SLFP) have so far been vying with each other to win the votes of the minorities by trying to curry favour with them, often ignoring the legitimate concerns of the majority Sinhalese. It is the inaction of the successive governments in the face of the monks’ genuine concerns and protests that has exposed them to unfair charges of racism, fanaticism, chauvinism, etc.

Due to the machinations of the opportunistic minority politicians, minorities have now become largely anti-majority voter blocs. Since the SLFP has been totally assimilated into the UNP now, henceforth the central rivalry for power will be between the UNP and the SLPP (Pohottuwa). If politicos of these two major parties continue to pretend, as those of the UNP and the SLFP did in the past, to be more concerned about serving only the minorities, taking the majority community for granted despite their genuine grievances, Tamil and Muslim voters will, as usual, be intelligent enough to understand that politicians who ignore their own race cannot be genuinely interested in serving them, and choose to vote for their own ones, be they what they are, good or bad, sincere or dishonest. For once the Sinhalese electorate are going to vote to ensure their own survival at future elections. Since they are not racists, minorities don’t have to fear. They will choose to make common cause with the Sinhalese.

All fair minded Sri Lankans are waiting for a leader who is able to convince them, without resorting to the hypocritical policy of political correctness,  of their (i.e., his/her) commitment to serve them evenhandedly. The forces that want to destabilize the country for their own benefit will not like the emergence of such a leader. Most media channels also serve them through anti-Buddhist propaganda of the sort that the IFJ news report represents. Patriotic multiethnic Sri Lankans fervently hope that truth will finally prevail.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

– 5 09 2018  – 02:32  – 498 views  – ඉන්දික හේවාවිතාරණ

ආණ්ඩුව විසින් රටට උදා කළ යහපාලනය සමහර පිරිස් අවභාවිත කිරීම නිසා ජන ජීවිතයට දැඩි බාධා එල්ල වෙමින් තිබෙන බව ආපදා කළමනාකරණ හා වාරිමාර්ග අමාත්‍ය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතා සඳහන් කළේය.ජනජීවිතයට බාධා එල්ල වන ආකාරයට උද්ඝෝෂණ, විරෝධතා රැලි වැනි දේවල් සිදු වෙමින් තිබෙන බවත්, මේ නිසා කඩිනමින් මෙම කටයුතු කිරීමට පොදු ස්ථානයක් නම් කළ යුතුව තිබෙන බවත් ඒ මහතා පැවසීය.

Opinion published in Lanka Web sometime back proposing more meaningful options

https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2017/03/02/we-should-not-prohibit-demonstrations-but-charge-for-the-national-losses/

We should not prohibit Demonstrations but charge for the national losses 
Posted on March 2nd, 2017

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Yesterday I was passing by the road way in front of President’s office and noted some union members of Tamil community  holding demonstrations. By 12 noon I was going back and police was trying control another group of people holding placards protesting about something else . Doctors and some medical staff were demonstrating in front Gampaha railway station inconveniencing the public.

We see that it is daily occurrence in our life

We also  heard that  under the principles of Yahaplanaya ,government is planning to allocate certain designated areas for Demo’s  in order to minimize the inconvenience to the public .We all know that there is massive loss to the country because of loss of man hours of  working people and over consumption of fuel due to traffic jams caused  by road blocks .

There is a solution to avoid or minimize the losses if we carry out following

Government should do a simple calculation of 500-1000 vehicles which burn fuel ( i,e 10 litres per vehicle for 2 hours costing 1500 Rs per vehicle and for 1000 vehicles cost will be Rs 1,500,000 )  .Loss of productive man-hours  ( i.e  3000 people at Rs 200 per manhour costing Rs 400×3000 = Rs  1,200.000 )

Total loss  is minimum  Rs 2,700,000 /= without considering the cost of police force and water used for  cannons !) .You may add  another 2,300,000 Rs for maintaining law order including filing action against violators of public peace)

Total cost of one single demonstration for two hours will be 5 million Rs and if one carry on demo  for 10 hours in will cost 50 million Rs to the country .

My golden suggestion is allow registered unions or political parties to hold demos other than in designated  areas and impose a charge of 5 million Rs for two hours –say in Lipton Circle or  Lotus round about .This amount should be paid to National Development fund.Total contribution to  the national  development  fund for a month will exceed  one billion Rupees.  ( unions  and parties can hold demo’s free during weekends !)

Unions may have to increase membership fees for members including party members to cover the payment charges for holding demo’s !!

I am sure this action by the government will be praised by IMF and World Bank .ADB ,OECF .JAICA etc rather than increasing taxes and price of essential goods .

Dr Sarath Obeysekera