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

උදේනි සමන් කුමාර උපුටාගැණීම  මව්බිම

ගම්පහ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ කිරිඳිවැල නගරයෙන් ඔබ්බෙහි කිලෝමීටර් 7ක් පමණ ගිය තැන මීතිරිගල නම් පිටිසර සිරියෙන් අනූන රමණීය ගම්මානය පිහිටා තිබේ. ඉතිහාසයේ සීතාවක රාජධානිය පැවති සමයේ රජ මාලිගයට මීකිරි සැපයූ ගම්මානය මීකිරිගාල වශයෙන් හැඳින්වූ අතර පසුව එය මීතිරිගල වී යැයි එගම නම සම්බන්ධ ග්‍රාම නාම නිරුක්තිය පිළිබඳව පැරැන්නෝ පවසති.

20 වැනි සියවසේ අග භාගයේ ‘මීතිරිගල’ නැවත ජාතික වශයෙන් මහත් ප්‍රසිද්ධියට පත් වන්නේ එහි බිහිවූ ‘නිස්සරණ’ ආරණ්‍යය නිසාය. මීතිරිගල නිස්සරණ ආරණ්‍යයේ උත්පත්ති කතාව බොහෝ දෙනා නොදත් අසිරිමත් එකකි. එය හුදෙක් තනි පුද්ගලයකුගේ නිස්සරණාධ්‍යාශය නිසාම සහ ඔහුගේ අප්‍රතිහත උත්සාහය නිසාම බිහිවූ පුණ්‍ය නිකේතනයකි. ඒ උතුම් කටයුත්තේ ඉතිහාසය සැකෙවින් මෙසේය.

බි්‍රතාන්‍ය පාලන සමයේ මෙරට බිහිවූ දේශීය වෙළෙඳ ව්‍යාපාර අතර කැපී පෙනෙන ව්‍යාපාරයක් වූයේ වීරරත්න සහ පුත්‍රයෝ ජුවලරි ආයතනයයි. එය දකුණේ ගාල්ල නගරය කේන්ද්‍රීය කොට ආරම්භ වූ අතර කොළඹ මරදානේද පසුව ඔවුන්ගේ ස්වර්ණාභරණ වෙළෙඳසලක් ආරම්භ කෙරිණි. වීරරත්න පවුලේ වැඩිමහල් පුත්‍රයා වූයේ අසෝක වීරරත්නය. ඔහු කොළඹ ආනන්ද විද්‍යාලයේ අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබ බෞද්ධ දර්ශනය ගැඹුරින් හදාරා පියාගේ අනුමැතිය ඇතිව බුද්ධ ශාසනයේ චිරස්ථිතිය උදෙසා කැපවූ විශිෂ්ට පුරුෂයෙකි.

1928දී අනගාරික ධර්මපාලතුමන් දේශ දේශාන්තරයන්හි බුදු දහම රැගෙන යෑම පිණිස කැපවූවා මෙන්ම 1953දී බුදු දහම යුරෝපයට ගෙන යෑමට කැපවූයේ අසෝක වීරරත්නය. ඔහු ඒ සඳහා ජර්මානු ධර්ම දූත සංගමය පිහිටුවීය. 1957 ඓතිහාසික මිහින්තලේ අම්බස්තල චෛත්‍යය අසලින් ආරම්භ කළ ධර්ම දූත ගමන කෙළවර වූයේ ජර්මනියේ බර්ලින් නගරයෙනි. ජර්මන් බෞද්ධ මන්දිරයේ නිර්මාතෘවරයා වුයේද අසෝක වීරරත්නය.
යුරෝපයට ප්‍රථමයෙන් බුද්ධ ප්‍රතිමාවක් සහ බෞද්ධ ධජයක් ගෙන ගියේද ඒ මහතා විසිනි. ජර්මන් බෞද්ධ විහාරය හා බෞද්ධ මන්දිරය වර්තමානයේ බෞද්ධ අධ්‍යාපනය ලබාදෙන කීර්තිමත් විද්‍යාලයකි.

දැන් අපි නැවතත් මීතිරිගල නිස්සරණ ආරණ්‍යය පිළිබඳව යොමු වෙමු. විදෙස් ධර්ම දූත සේවාවන් නිම කළ අසෝක වීරරත්නයන්ගේ අධිෂ්ඨානය වූයේ නැවත ලංකාවට පැමිණ ආරණ්‍ය සේනාසනයක් පිහිටුවා එහි පැවිදි වී ජීවිතාවසානය දක්වා භාවනානුයෝගීව විසීමය. ඔහු එහිලා ගනු ලැබූ ප්‍රථම පියවර වූයේ ඊට සුදුසු නිසල වන උයනක් තෝරා ගැනීමය. මීතිරිගල ගම්මානයට පැමිණි වීරරත්නයෝ 1967 වසරේදී අක්කර 500කින් යුතු මෙම ස්වාභාවික වනරක්ෂිතය මිලට ගෙන තමන් අපේක්ෂා කළ නිස්සරණ ආරණ්‍ය සේනාසනය ආරම්භ කළේය. “නිස්සරණ” අරමුණ විදහා පෙන්වන බෞද්ධ දර්ශනයට අනුකූල චිත්‍රයක් සේනාසන ද්වාරයෙහි සිතුවම් කරන්නට ඔහුට අවශ්‍ය විය. එකල ලංකාවේ බෞද්ධ සිතුවම් කලාවේ නියුතුව සිටි අග්‍රගණ්‍ය චිත්‍ර ශිල්පියා වූයේ ඩැනී විමලසිරිය.

ඔහු ලෝවැඩ සඟරාව සිතුවමට නඟා චිත්‍ර ප්‍රදර්ශනයක්ද පවත්වා ප්‍රසිද්ධියට පත්ව සිටියේය. අසෝක වීරරත්නයන්ගේ ආරාධනයෙන් මීතිරිගලට පැමිණි ඩැනී විමලසිරි ඔබ මෙහි දකින චිත්‍රය නිස්සරණ ආරණ්‍යයේ ප්‍රධාන ශාලාවේ සිතුවම් කළේය. මේ චිත්‍රයේ පිළිබිඹු වන අදහසට පාදක වන බෞද්ධ කතා ප්‍රවෘත්තිය මෙසේය.

“කාශ්‍යප බුදුන් වහන්සේ ඇවෑමෙන් බුදු සසුන පිරිහෙමින් පැවති යුගයක භික්ෂුන් වහන්සේ සත් නමක් මේ අත් භවයේදීම බවුන් වඩා මාර්ගඵලයට පත් වෙමුයි කතිකා කොට මිනිස් වාසයෙන් තොර ගන කැලෑවක පිහිටි ගිරි මුදුනකට නැඟ ගත්හ. කන්ද නැඟීමට ආධාර වූ ඉණිමඟද කඩා බිඳ දැමුවේ නැවත මාර්ගඵල ලබා මිස මිනිස් වාසයට නොඑන්නෙමැයි තීරණය කොටය. ඔවුහු සත් නම පර්වතයෙහිම වෙසෙමින් දැඩි අදිටනින් යුතුව භාවනාවේ යෙදුණහ. ටික කලකින් ඔවුන් අතරින් දෙනමක් කෙලෙසුන් නසා රහත් ඵලයට පැමිණියහ. ඉතිරි පස් නම අනාගාමී, සකෘදාගාමී ආදී මාර්ග ඵලයන්ට එළඹ එම ගිරි හිසෙහිම අපවත්වී වදාළහ.”

ඩැනී විමලසිරිගේ චිත්‍ර එකල කලා විචාරකයන් හඳුන්වනු ලැබුවේ “යථාර්ථදර්ශී බෞද්ධාගමික භාවචිත්‍ර” වශයෙනි. ඔහු එකල රත්ගම දේව පතිරාජ විද්‍යාලයේ චිත්‍ර ගුරුවරයාය. බොහෝ දුෂ්කරතා විඳිමින් ඔහු මෙම චිත්‍රය ඇඳ තිබෙන්නේ විසකුරු සර්ප ගහනය මැද තමන් විසින්ම ආහාර පවා පිළියෙල කරගනිමින් ඉතා දුකසේය. එහෙත් ආශ්චර්යයක් වන්නේ මේ වන විට වසර 50ක් ගතව ඇතත් අදත් මේ චිත්‍රය මීතිරිගල නිස්සරණ වනයේ ආරක්ෂිතව පැවතීමය. එය එසේ වුවද මේ චිත්‍රය කවදා කවුරුන් විසින් අඳින ලද්දේදැයි දන්නා කිසිවකු නොවීම කනගාටුවට කරුණකි. නව ඉදිකිරීම් හමුවේ මේ අගනා සිතුවම ආරක්ෂා කිරීමේ ගෞරවය හිමිවිය යුත්තේ වර්තමානයේ නිස්සරණ ආරණ්‍යයේ භාරකාරත්වය උසුලන උඩඊරියගම ධම්මජීව හිමියන්ට හා මීතිරිගල නිස්සරණ වනය භාරකාර පදනමේ යාවජීව සාමාජික අසෝක වීරරත්න මහතාගේ ඥාති පුත්‍ර අධිනීතිඥ සේනක වීරරත්න මහතාටය.

මීතිරිගල නිස්සරණ ආරණ්‍ය සේනාසනය 1968දී සඟසතු කොට පූජා කෙරුණු අතර ඊට ප්‍රථම මහජනයාට දැක බලා ගන්නට විවෘතව තැබූ අවස්ථාවේ ලක්ෂ සංඛ්‍යාත ජනකායක් සිවු දිගින් මීතිරිගලට ඇදී ආවෝය. එවකට කිරිඳිවැල අනුර මහා විද්‍යාලයේ උසස් පෙළ ශිෂ්‍යයකු වූ ලියුම්කරුද ශිෂ්‍ය කණ්ඩායමක් කැටුව ගොස් සෙනඟ හැසිරවීමේ ස්වේච්ඡා සේවයේ යෙදුණු බව සඳහන් කළ යුතුය.

ගිහියකු ලෙස බුදු සසුනේ චිරස්ථිතිය උදෙසා තමන්ට කළ හැකි සියලු මෙහෙවර නිමාකළ අසෝක වීරරත්න අනගාරික තුමා 1972 වසරේ මීතිරිගල ධම්මනිසන්ති නමින් පැවිදි දිවියට ඇතුළත්ව ආරණ්‍ය සේනාසනයේ භාවනානුයෝගීව වාසය කරන්නට වූහ. උන්වහන්සේ 1999 වසරේ අපවත් වන තුරුම ප්‍රසිද්ධ කටයුතු සඳහා සහභාගි නොවීය. මීතිරිගල ධම්මනිසන්ති හිමිපාණෝ නිස්සරණාධ්‍යාශයෙන් දිවි ගමන නිමා කළේ ජීවිතයේ අනිත්‍යභාවය පසක් කරමිනි.

උදේනි සමන් කුමාර

Courtesy: Mawbima (Sunday ) Satana Supplement . September 1-2, 2018

මොනරාගල – සංජීව බණ්ඩාර උපුටාගැණීම  මව්බිම

ආණ්ඩුවට අවශ්‍ය පරිදි ව්‍යවස්ථාව වෙනස් කිරීමට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී ඉඩ නොතබන බවත් පොදුජන පෙරමුණ ආණ්ඩුවක් යටතේ රටේ ජනතාව මත පටවා ඇති බදු බර ඉවත් කිරීමට වහා කටයුතු කරන බවත් කුරුණෑගල දිස්ත්‍රික් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රි මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ පවසයි.

ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ දැනට ඉන්න ස්ථාවරය වෙනස් කොට ඔවුන් නියෝජනය කරන පන්තියේ ජනතාව පිළිබඳව සිතා තීරණයක් ගනීවි යැයි තමන් බලාපොරොත්තු වන බවද ඒ මහතා පැවැසීය.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මේ අදහස් පළ කළේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන ව්‍යාපාරික පෙරමුණේ මොනරාගල දිස්ත්‍රික් බල මණ්ඩලය අමතමිනි.
එහිදී රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මෙසේද පැවැසීය.

මේ ආණ්ඩුවේ බදු ප්‍රතිපත්තිය පිළිබඳව ඉන් සිදුවෙලා තියෙන මහජන පීඩාව පිළිබඳව මට වඩා හොඳට මේ රටේ ජනතාව දන්නවා. රටේ ආර්ථිකය විශාල කඩාවැටීමකට ලක්වී තියෙනවා. ආර්ථිකය පිළිබඳව මේ ආණ්ඩුවට පැහැදිලි දර්ශනයක් නැහැ. අඳුරු වලාකුළකින් එය වැහිලයි තියෙන්නේ. මේ ආණ්ඩුව බලයට පත්වෙලා දැන් අවුරුදු හතරකට ආසන්න වෙනවා. මේ කාලයට එදා තිබුණ බදු බරට වඩා දෙගුණයක බදු බරක් ජනතාව මත පනවලා තියෙනවා. වසර තිහක යුද්ධය තිබුණ අවධියේ මේ රටේ ව්‍යාපාර දියුණු කරන්න අවස්ථාව තිබුණේ නැහැ. අපි යුද්ධය නිමා කරලා ව්‍යාපාරිකයන්ට අලුත් ව්‍යාපාර රට තුළඅරඹන්න අවස්ථාව හදලා දුන්නා. අද සමහරු ෂැංග්‍රිලා හෝටලයට ගිහින් කාලා ඇවිත් මට බනිනවා.

සමහරු විවාහ උත්සව ගත්තෙත් ඒකේ. ෂැංග්‍රිලා ආයෝජනයත් එක්ක හෝටල් ක්‍ෂේත්‍රයේ විශාල පිබිදීමක් ඇති වුණා. ලෝකයේ පිළිගත් විශාල හෝටල් හිමියන් ප්‍රමාණයක් ලංකාවේ ආයෝජනයට යොමු වුණා.

උතුරු මැද පළාතේ ගොවි ජනතාව කන්න හයක් වතුර නැතිව වගා කරලා නැහැ. පසුගිය කාලේ වී තොග ගෙනත් මත්තල ගුවන් තොටුපොළේ ගොඩ ගහලා වී වලට, සහල්වලට ආණ්ඩුව කළ අපහාසයට දේව කෝපයක් විදියට ලැබෙයි. ඒක තමයි වැස්සත් නැත්තේ.

අපිට ගෑවිච්ච හැම කෙනාම එෆ්.සී.අයි.ඩී. එකට ගෙන්වනවා. ළඟදී බදු අයකරන්න ඕන කිව්ව. ධම්මික පෙරේරා හතළිස් නව වතාවක් එෆ්.සී.අයි.ඩී. එකට ගෙනැල්ලා තියෙනවා. පසුගිය කාලේ එතුමාගේ ටයිල් ෆැක්ටරි හතරක් වහලා සේවකයන් එළියට දාන්න එතුමාට සිද්ධ වුණා. මොකද මේ ආර්ථිකය කඩා වැටිලා නිසා ව්‍යාපාර පවත්වාගෙන යන්න බැහැ. දැන් එතුමා ඉන්දියාවෙන් ටයිල් ගෙන්වලා තමයි විකුණන්නේ.

සිල් රෙදි බෙදුවා කියලා මගේ ලේකම්වරයා හිරේ දැම්මා. පොළොන්නරුවේ සිල්රෙදි බෙදුවේ දැන් ඉන්න ජනාධිපතිතුමයි. දැන් ඇමැති මණ්ඩලයේ ඉඳලා මට බනින උදවිය ඒ කාලේ ඔක්කොම සිල් රෙදි බෙදුවේ. බුද්ධ ජයන්තිය දවසේ මහ නායක හාමුදුරුවන්ගෙන් ආව යෝජනාවකට අනුවයි. අපේ ආණ්ඩුව කාලේ බුද්ධාගම ආරක්ෂා කරමින් අනෙකුත් ආගම්වලට සැලකුවා. අද මොකද වෙලා තියෙන්නේ. “බුදුන්ගේ රස්තියාදුව” කියලා බුදුන්ට අපහාස වන පොත් ලියනවා. සමහරු හෙලුවැල්ල පරමං සුඛං කියලා කියනවා. අපි මේකට හිනා වෙන්න නෙවෙයි අඬන්න ඕන.

ලංකාවේ ස්වර්ණාභරණ ව්‍යාපෘතිය කඩා වැටිලා මැණික් ව්‍යාපාරය කඩා වැටිලා. මේ කඩා වැටීම බරපතළයි. අපි බලයට පැමිණි පසු ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් සහ ජනතාව මත පටවා තිබෙන බදු බර අඩු කරනවා අඩු කරනවාමයි. කඩා වැටුණු ව්‍යාපාර නැවත ගොඩගෙන ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් ශක්තිමත් කරනවා. ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් ගත් ණය පිළිබඳව නැවත සිතා බලා ඔවුන්ට තව තවත් ණය ලබාදෙන්න අපි කටයුතු කරනවා.

අපේ ආණ්ඩුව කාලේ දැයට කිරුළ වැඩසටහන යටතේ දිස්ත්‍රික් සියයට අනූහයකට විදුලිය දුන්නා. මාර්ග කාපට් කළා. වැව් අමුණු හැදුවා. මේ අය එන්ටප්‍රයිස් ශ්‍රී ලංකා කියලා එකක් ගෙනැල්ලා අක්කර 25ක රබර් වත්තක් කපලා දමලා.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

London, September 5: (BDNews24): The data published in The Lancet on Wednesday showed that more than one in four adults globally (28 percent or 1.4 billion people) are physically inactive. This can be, however, as high as one in three adults inactive in some counties.

Insufficient physical activity is a leading risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, and has a negative effect on mental health and quality of life, the report authored by four WHO experts says.

They report data that update 2008 estimates on levels of activity and, for the first time, report trend analyses showing that overall, the global level of inactivity in adults remains largely unchanged since 2001.

In 159 of 168 countries, the prevalence of insufficient physical activity was lower in men than in women, with a difference of at least 10 percentage points in 65 countries, and a difference of more than 20 percentage points in nine countries, including Bangladesh.

The prevalence was 20 percent to 29.9 percent among men in Bangladesh while 30 percent to 39.9 percent in women.

These data show the need for all countries to increase the priority given to national and sub-national actions to provide the environments that support physical activity and increase the opportunities for people of all ages and abilities, to be active every day.

The new Global Action Plan on Physical Activity sets the target to reduce physical inactivity by 10 percent by 2025 and 15 percent by 2030. With the latest report, The Lancet says the target is not on track.

Regular physical inactivity increases peoples risk of poor health, including cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer and diabetes, falls, as well as mental health conditions.

In Bangladesh, non-communicable diseases, according to a WHO report in 2014, account for 59 percent of total deaths. Of these, cardiovascular diseases cause the highest 17 percent deaths followed by chronic lung diseases at 11 percent and cancer 10 percent.

The NCD Alliance in last October warned that those diseases are affecting the people of the Asian region including Bangladesh younger than the rest of the world.

The Lancet, a British medical journal, ahead of World Obesity Day in October last year, indicated the rise in obesity rates in low and middle income countries.

In Bangladesh, it said, obesity among boys aged 5 to 19 years was found at 3 percent in 2016 which was only 0.03 percent in 1975.

Among girls, the rate jumped to 2.3 percent from almost nil four decades ago at the same age group.

The global school-based health survey in 2014 showed that 59 percent of Bangladesh adolescents are insufficiently active” and 79 percent.

The government has taken up policies to combat non-communicable diseases, but there is no separate lane for bicycling or proper pavements for walking.

One way to explain sex differences in activity is to assess male and female participation in different domains of activity (activity at work or in the household, for transport, and during leisure time), and at different intensities (moderate and vigorous),” the authors wrote.

Previous research indicates that women tend to do less leisure-time activity, and lower-intensity activity than do men. Offering more opportunities for safe and accessible leisure-time activity to women in order to increase their overall levels of activity would therefore help close the gender gap and achieve the 2025 global physical activity target.”

Besides, they said cultural norms, traditional roles, or lack of social and community support might lead to reduced participation in physical activity among girls and women.

Understanding and addressing these barriers is needed to plan and deliver culturally sensitive actions to support behaviour change.”

But the data show that progress towards the global target set by WHO member states to reduce physical inactivity by 10 percent by 2025 has been too slow and is not on track.

Levels of insufficient physical activity are particularly high and still rising in high-income countries, and worldwide, women are less active than are men.”

The authors called for a significant increase in national action is urgently needed in most countries to scale-up implementation of effective policies.

They acknowledged new policies in global and national level, but said implementation will require bold leadership and full engagement” across sectors to change the current approach.

Collaboration across sectors could generate significant returns, because policies that support increasing physical activity can provide other benefits to health, local economies, community wellbeing, and environmental sustainability, and contribute towards achieving many of the 2030 SDGs,” The Lancet concluded.

Courtesy Ceylon Today

The Joint Opposition staged a mass protest against the Government in Colombo today that saw thousands of their supporters flood the city centre.

The protest was led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa with his son Namal and younger brother Gotabaya among the participants.

Several Members of Parliament from the group as well as some of the breakaway SLFP “Group of 16” were also among the participants

ඒකාබද්ද විපක්‍ෂය විසින් කොළඹදී පවත්වන ‘ජනබල’ විරෝධතාවය මේ වන විට ආරම්භ වී ඇත.

විරෝධතාවය නිසා කොළඹ මාර්ග ගණනාවක දැඩි මාර්ග තදබදයක් ඇතිව තිබේ.

https://www.facebook.com/NamalSL/videos/335185920385250/

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

The protest titled ‘Janabalaya Colombata’ is spearheaded by Rajapakse’s eldest son and MP, Namal Rajapakse.

The JO expects over 200,000 protesters from all across the country to take part in the rally, which will be held at Fort, the heart of Colombo’s business hub.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a statement on Wednesday that September 5th was not a public holiday. He said many people including school children had arrived in the city and the government could not let them be affected by the protest.

The usual busy roads of Colombo remained silent and many schools closed by 12 noon ahead of the protest which was set to begin at 2pm. Despite an earlier statement by the JO that the protest would end at 7pm, MP Udaya Gammanpila said protesters would sit through the night into Thursday.

Police said that over 5000 additional police officers had been deployed across the city to maintain law and order. Riot police, the STF and heavy military trucks were seen roaming around Colombo since early Wednesday morning.

The JO, had for months been preparing for the protest which is being held against the existing high cost of living, economic instability, the government’s policies etc.