By Chandre Dharmawardana, Canada

[A shorter version of this article appeared in the Daily News:  http://www.dailynews.lk/2018/04/19/features/148615/glyphosate-ban-has-gmoa-studied-research]

In a press conference held on 11th April,  the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) stated that fresh laws should be introduced to take stern action” against people involved in smuggling in such harmful chemicals” like glyphosate. The GMOA considers  glyphosate to be harmful” because it allegedly  causes cancer and kidney disease. However, just last November, the world’s largest study on the health effects of glyphosate covering over  nearly a quarter century (23 years)  and  involving 90,000 people, found NO harmful effects even on applying powerful statistical analysis to scrutinize the data.

As the kidney, blood, urine, heart function and many other health characteristics were monitored for over nearly a quarter century, any increase in all chronic diseases including kindey disease can now be ruled  out as being NOT connected with the use of glyphosate formulations in agriculture.

Published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) on 9-November 2017, the long-term large-numbers study found that there was NO association between glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s popular herbicide RoundUp and any type of cancer. In particular, there was no association with any solid tumors or lymphoid malignancies overall, including non-Hogkin Lymphoma  and its subtypes”. The new study used  long-term data collected through the Agricultural Health Study. The study carefully monitored the health of nearly 90,000 people in Iowa and North Carolina from 1993 to 2010. These included farmers licensed to apply pesticides to their crops, and their spouses. The impact of more than 54,000 pesticide applications is taken into account in the study of which 83 percent contained glyphosate. Many of the farmers had been using glyphosate even before the study. Yet, after some two decades of continuous and intense use of glyphosate herbicides,  they found NO significant increase in cancers among those exposed to the chemical.

Most scientists acknowledged the quality, clarity and decisiveness of the study, funded entirely with government and university sources.  Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge, said:

This large and careful study shows no significant relationship between Glyphosate use and any cancer.  The reported possible association with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is no more than one would expect by chance when looking at 22 different cancer types. In fact the association that comes closest to statistical significance is a negative link with testicular cancer – that is, higher Glyphosate use was associated with lower risk – but again this is just the sort of chance result one would expect.”

So, how did the GMOA miss this decisive, massive study which in fact looks at the type of diseases that the GMOA thinks is caused by glyphosate? Even though we can excuse Ven. Ratana and his acolytes to be out of touch with the scientific community, one would expect that the GMOA would have its committee of mavens when it comes to technical matters, even though we recognized that the GMOA is a trade union with the primary mandate of protecting its own turf.

The most important non-communicable disease” that the GMOA refers to is cancer. This is precisely what is now definitively excluded from any association with the use of glyphosate, even if the latter were used continuously and intensely for two decades by a farmer.  Perhaps the GMOA  also has in mind the form of chronic kidney disease of unknown origin (CKDu)  that is prevalent mainly in the Rajarata. There is no scientific evidence at all in support of this, while there is compelling  evidence against the claim. In Sri Lanka, a small but politically powerful group of individuals led by Ven. Ratana, and a small number of scientists on the fringe of the main scientific community have claimed that chronic kidney disease is caused by the glyphosate in the environment and the food chain, and that too only if arsenic, hard-water  and other  agents are found in conjunction with glyphosate.

The US study

But the cats, dogs, cattle, and many villages in the Rajarata itself where the residents drink water from agricultural channels, rives and lakes do NOT get CKDu, while those who drink water from their private wells, located away from the paddy fields, get CKDu. So there is a strong anti-correlation between agrochemical use and CKDu. We also know that countries like Malaysia or NewZealand, which use many dozens of times more agrochemicals than Sri Lanka have no such chronic diseases.

Furthermore, the 90,000 people monitored by the US-NCI study would have also alerted the researchers to any higher incidence of kidney disease, since many different health indices of these subjects were a part of the inputs to the data base. While the presence of correlations does not establish a causal connection, the LACK of any correlation is a very strong indication that glyphosate cannot be a causative factor in diseases that the GMOA has indicated.

This US-NCI study is  just one of the many studies that have come  to this conclusion. Over 190 countries of the world are satisfied and approve the use of glyphosate. However,  strong political movements that take a nostalgic, romantic and often anti-science approach to agriculture have become very powerful during recent decades. Their strength is the unreasoned fear of the public, fanned by the MANTHRA”  that chemicals in the food” cause all sorts of chronic diseases. These groups join hands with the commercial interests of large consumer chains that  offer organic-foods”, natural foods” holistic foods” etc., catering to the elite classes who also control the politics of most countries, constituting about 1% of the world population. It is not surprising that many educated people and indeed medical doctors who do the daily grind”, but do not follow the research, fall for the  chemicals are poisoning our food” MANTHRA. In fact, many agrochemicals, if applied in sufficiently high doses can be toxic, as with ALL pharmaceuticals and industrial substances like gasoline, chlorine,  or common detergents. Even spices like chillies and cloves are potent toxins when their familiar-use thresholds are exceeded.

The conclusion  of the International Agency for Research in cancer (IARC) in 2015 that glyphosate is a class-II hazard  causing cancer at  high doses was a god-sent to the no-chemicals in my-food”  (NCMF) lobby. The class-II HAZARD was weaponized for propaganda and renamed a  dangerous TOXIN although no health risk was implied by the IARC. The NCMF lobby joined the powerful activists engaged  against Frankenfood”. This was their name for foods  cropped from genetically modified organisms (GMO). Wheat, Soya, canola oil, rice and vegetables where specific genes in their DNA  have been replaced by other genes confer them economically or medically  desirable properties. Genetic engineering of crops is the modern version of plant breeding” where  trial and error approaches are replaced by a  modern approach guided by the DNA of the  crops  of interest.  A  key role in  GMO cropping  has been given to  glyphosate  in that it is economically advantageous to use GMO crops resistant to glyphosate to allow weed control. Sri Lankans have been safely eating GM-wheat flour from USA, and Canadian lentils,  for decades.

The opponents of GMO have directed their guns on glyphosate as a part of their campaign against  so-called Frankenfoods”. Every manner of propaganda trick has been used. One of the most farcical  is the Kangaroo court organized by a French journalist, Marie-Monique Robin in the Hague, Netherlands. This propaganda event, patented and owned by Ms. Robin is named by her  The international court of Justice, Hague”, is to deceive the public by associating  with similar-sounding  institutions linked to the United Nations.

(see: http://dh-web.org/green/NatuNewsFake.html )

This court” pronounced in April 2017 that Monsanto has committed crimes against humanity in unleashing glyphosate which is a weapon of mass destruction”! Ven. Ratana, and Dr. Jayasumana were the main Sri Lankan delegates” to the Kangaroo court. The delegation claimed that 3 out of every 100 families  in the Rajarata gave birth to deformed children due to glyphosate use.  However, 3% is the expected average birth statistic for deformed children,  irrespective of glyphosate use, even in the days before glypohsate, be it in glyphobic” Norway, Sri Lanka or glyphilic” North America. Ven. Ratana  repeated the same false claim of 3% birth defects  in the Rajarata being due to glyphosate” on Derana Television, 27-3-2018.

On the same broadcast, Ven. Ratana stated that the GMOA is with him. Does the GMOA stand with the false statistics that Ven. Ratana rattles out? Has the GMOA taken cognizance of the world’s largest study on  glyphosate covering some 90,000 people exposed to glyphosate for some two decades, continuously? As a responsible, professional  body, we hope  that the GMOA acts on the basis of evidence and  rejects the false claims of  misguided zealots.

Sometimes it is claimed that products imported from diverse sources and small suppliers contain unknown, secret” ingredients that may be harmful, and hence we cannot use them, and so we have BAN all  herbicides. In fact, such claims are unfounded, as Chinese and Indian products are now up to world standards and even compete in the North American market. Instead of suffering a staggering Rs10-12  billion loss every year, we can use a tiny fraction of that to allow the import of the slightly more expensive but proven product, to allay the  fear psychosis  that has been fanned across the country by uninformed zealots.

Meanwhile, two medical doctors, Prof. Saroj Jayasinghe, and Prof. Herath have stated that glyphosate should continue to be BANNED  on the basis of what they call the precautionary principle (PP), i.e., as a precaution because there is some doubt among  the scientific community about the total safety of glyphosate. There is always doubt about everything in science, as science never makes dogmatic statements that claim 100% exactitude. There are always some scientists  as well as individual members of the public who claim that vaccinations are not safe, that fluoridation of water is not safe, that coconut milk is not safe etc., etc., and so on.

The precautionary principle when used to ban  and banish” is  known as the PP-BB. Such approaches have failed historically as with alcohol, guns etc. Indeed the imposed ban on glyphosate has led to a glut of contraband from India, proving that the PP-BB does not work. The lack of glyphosate or any other viable alternative weedicide during the last three years, and the consequent loss of crop productivity is believed to have made the country directly loose some Rs 30 billion, while indirect losses, and abandonment of plantations, have to counted in as well.

The modern approach to PP is to use control and constrain”, i.e., PP-CC, where the toxic substance, or the dangerous weapon, is not made available to the public but available through qualified service providers. Thus guns and weapons are available to the police and security forces, but not to the public. Pharmaceuticals are available to doctors and hospitals, and only  non-prescription drugs can be bought by the public without any controls. Toxic agrochemicals like paraquat can also be made available to the farmer through technically competent, approved service providers, just as spraying for Dengue mosquitoes can be requested by any member of the public who may need such a service. No harmful insecticides and larvicides are sold directly to private individuals. That is, the PP is fully implemented by having the right controls and constraints on the toxic substance.

However, we have to be fore-warned that today we have proponents  who  may reverse much of our gains in public health by opposing even fluoridation of water on the claim that the scientific community is divided on the issue, and hence fluoridation should be banned on the basis of the PP. Given such misunderstandings on the nature of scientific doubt, PP-BB  and the public good on the one hand, and the action of anti-science zealots who want to turn back agriculture to the days of slash and burn cultivation, we face a grim reality that the public may not be aware of.

[The author was a past Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry at the SJP  university, Sri Lanka, and pioneering the setting up of the food science department at the SJP university;  he currently works as Physicist at the National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa,  and as a professor at the Dept. of Physics,  University of Montreal, Canada. ]

Ranjith Soysa MEDIA RELEASE SPUR (Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka Inc)

– 22 April 2018

The Society for Peace Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR) joins other nationalist organisations, professionals and patriotic politicians in strongly condemning the proposal to abolish the Executive Presidential System in Sri Lanka.

The territorial integrity and unitary state of the nation is critically dependent on an Executive President who is directly elected by all its eligible citizens regardless of ethnicity, religion or regional/local interests.  In particular, it acts as a counterweight to the separatist features of the 13^th Amendment because the peoples’ sovereignty over the entire nation is exercised by the President through the Provincial Governors.

It is indeed the Executive President, who is also the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, who played a vital role in providing political leadership and mobilising the resources to protect the country from the separatist forces and resisted foreign interference during war with the Tamil Tiger Terrorists.   Even in recent times, the perpetrators of infamous Central Bond Scam would not have been exposed even to this extent if not for the intervention of the President.

At a time when the legislative arm of the country has been prone to instability and is being held to ransom by power brokers, it is the Executive Presidency which retains the important role of balancing the power blocks and setting the political direction for Sri Lanka as a whole.

The Presidential System of Government is widely and successfully used in both Western and Eastern countries.  While improvements to the Sri Lankan Constitution are always possible, they should be done with proper analysis and consultation rather than as an expedient short-cut to power at the expense of the nation’s stability and security.

In the present context, hasty steps are being taken to introduce a new constitution at the behest of the separatist diaspora as well as the external powers which are attempting to change the character of Sri Lanka by enhancing the powers of the periphery at the expense of a strong and unifying centre.  The sudden interest of the JVP and other fringe groups in promoting this as a ‘democratic’ solution is nothing but a trap to enshrine the separatist ‘power sharing’ among racist enclaves within a weakened Sri Lankan State.

It is indeed unfortunate that some representatives of the Joint Opposition appear to support the abolition of the executive presidency.   Those on this ‘fool’s errand’, dreaming that it could be linked to the dissolution of Parliament followed by early election, are in fact ‘throwing out the baby with the bath water’ in return for short-term gains in political power.

Hence, we urge the Joint Opposition, the SLFP as well as the patriotic members of all other parties to oppose any proposal to abolish the Executive Presidency.  We also appeal to the people of Sri Lanka to be alert to this impending threat and reject any such Constitutional Amendment if and when it is placed before them at a future Referendum.

Ranjith Soysa

(Spokesperson)

සජීව චාමිකර | Sajeewa Chamikara ඉඩම් හා කෘෂිකර්ම ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරණ ව්‍යාපාරය

දුම්බර අඩවිය හෙවත් නකල්ස් කදුකරයේ පිහිටි අක්කර 21,000 ක පමණ වතු ඉඩම් විවිධ ව්‍යාපෘති කි‍්‍රයාත්මක කිරීම සදහා රාජ්‍ය ව්‍යවසාය හා මහනුවර සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යංශයේ හිටපු අමාත්‍ය කබීර් හෂීම් හා වත්මන් අමාත්‍ය ලක්ෂ්මන් කිරිඇල්ල යන මහත්වරුන් විසින් ඔවුන්ගේ හිතවතුන් හා ඥාතීන් වෙත පවරා දී තිබේ.

මෙලෙස විවිධ පුද්ගලයින්ට පැවරීම සිදු කර ඇත්තේ රාජ්‍ය වැවිලි සංස්ථාව හා ඇල්කඩුව වැවිලි සමාගම මගින් කළමනාකරණය කරනු ලබන වතු ඉඩම් ය.

නකල්ස් සංරක්ෂිත වනාන්තරය මායිමේ පිහිටි අලකොළේ, කොටගල, ගල්පිහිල්ල, ගෝමරේ, හග්ගල්ල, හෙයාර් පාර්ක්, හුන්නස්ගිරිය, කැළෑබොක්ක, මැදවත්ත, නිකොලොය, රංගල හා ඕපල්ගල යන රාජ්‍ය වැවිලි සංස්ථාවට අයත් හෙක්ටයාර 9675 ක් වන වතු ඉඩම් වලින් හෙක්ටයාර 6192 ක් සහ ඇල්කඩුව වැවිලි සමාගමට අයත් බණ්ඩරපොළ, ඇල්කඩුව, හුණුගල, පිටකන්ද, රත්වත්ත, සැලගම, හපුගස්පිටිය, මිල්ලවාන හා නාලන්දා වතු ඉඩම් වලට අයත් හෙක්ටයාර 3693 න් හෙක්ටයාර 2363 ක් වශයෙන් විවිධ පුද්ගලයින් හා සමාගම් වලට හෙක්ටයාර 8555 ක් නැතහොත් අක්කර 21,400 ක වතු ඉඩම් පැවරීම සිදු කර ඇත. මෙම පැවරීම සිදු කර ඇත්තේ අක්කරයකට වාර්ෂික ව රුපියල් 2857 ක මුදලකට තිස්පස් අවුරුදු බදු පදනම යටතේ ය.

නකල්ස් සංරක්ෂිත වනාන්තරය මායිමේ පිහිටි හෙයාර් පාර්ක් වත්තේ අක්කර 900 ක් පමණ මේ ආකාරයෙන් මහ පරිමාණ කුකුළු ගොවිපොළක් සදහා කි‍්‍රස්බ්‍රෝ සමාගමට ලබා දී තිබේ. සංරක්ෂිත වනාන්තරය මායිමේ පිහිටි රත්වත්ත වතු යාය රෝස තිරුවානා ඛණිජ කැණීම සදහා ලබා දී ඇති අතර මේ වන විට මහ පරිමාණයෙන් නීති විරෝධී ලෙස මෙම ඛණිජ කැණීම් කටයුතු සිදු කෙරේ. මැදවත්ත වතු යායේ අක්කර 35 ක් මහ පරිමාණ හෝටල් ව්‍යාපෘතියක් සදහා ලබා දී තිබේ. මේ සියල්ල මේ වන විට සිදු වන්නේ ජාතික පාරිසරික පනත උල්ලංඝනය කරමින් නීති විරෝධී ලෙස ය.

කි‍්‍රස්බ්‍රෝ සමාගම දිගින් දිගට ම මේ ආකාරයෙන් සංවේදී පරිසර පද්ධති ආක‍්‍රමණය කරමින් සිටී. 2007 වසරේ දී මහවැලි ‘‘සී’’ කලාපයට අයත් ඇළකොටලිය හෙවත් මහපිටිය අලිමංකඬේ අක්කර 150 ක තෘණ භූමි පවරාගෙන කුකුළු ආහාර ලෙස භාවිතයට ගැනීමට බඩ ඉරිගු වගා කිරීම ඇරැුඹින. මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතිය සදහා එවකට මධ්‍යම පරිසර අධිකාරියේ හිටපු සභාපති උදය ගම්මන්පිල මහතා විසින් අවසර ලබා දීම සිදු කෙරින. මේ ආකාරයෙන් ම කි‍්‍රස්බ්‍රෝ සමාගම දුම්බර අඩවියේ ඉතා සංවේදී ඉඩම් අත්පත් කර ගෙන මහ පරිමාණ කුකුළු ගොවිපොළවල් සැකැසීමට සූදානම් වේ.

දුම්බර අඩවිය යනු සුවිශේෂී ජෛව කලාපයකි. දේශගුණික විවිධත්වය, මහවැලි ගගේ ප‍්‍රධාන ජල පෝෂකයක් වීම නිසා මෙහි ඇති වටිනාකම ඉතා අධික මට්ටමක පවතී. මේ සියල්ල දුම්බර අඩවියේ ඉඩම් අවභාවිතාව හේතුවෙන් විනාශ වී යාමට ඉඩදිය යුතු නැත.

සමස්ත දුම්බර කඳුකරය ම ලංකාවේ දිග ම ගංගාව වන මහවැලි ගෙඟ් ප‍්‍රධානතම ජල පෝෂක ප‍්‍රදේශය යි. මහවැලි ජල පෝෂක ප‍්‍රදේශ අතුරින් 30%ක් පමණ ආවරණය වන්නේ දුම්බර කඳුකරයෙනි. හෙක්ටයාර 21,000 ක් පමණ ප‍්‍රදේශයක් පුරා ව්‍යාප්ත ව ඇති දුම්බර කඳුකරයෙන් ලංකාවේ මුළු භූමි ප‍්‍රමාණයෙන් 0.32‍්‍% ක් පමණ ආවරණය වී ඇත. මධ්‍යම පළාතේ මහනුවර දිස්තී‍්‍රක්කයේ මිණිපේ, උඩදුම්බර, පාතදුම්බර හා පන්විල යන ප‍්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කොට්ඨාස හතරේ සහ මාතලේ දිස්තී‍්‍රක්කයේ උකුවෙල, රත්තොට, ලග්ගල-පල්ලේගම හා විල්ගමුව යන ප‍්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කොට්ඨාශ හතරේ දුම්බර කඳුකරය ව්‍යාප්ත ව තිබේ. 2009 අංක 65 දරන පනතින් සංශෝධිත 1907 අංක 16 දරන වන සංරක්ෂණ ආඥා පනතේ 3අ(1) වැනි උප වගන්තිය යටතේ 2000 මැයි මස 05 වන දින අංක 1130/22 දරන ගැසට් නිවේදනය මඟින් දුම්බර කඳුකරයේ රජයට අයත් වනාන්තර හෙක්ටයාර 17825 ක් පමණ වන භූමි ප‍්‍රමාණයක් ලංකාවේ ප‍්‍රථම සංරක්ෂණ වනාන්තරය ලෙස ප‍්‍රකාශයට පත් කර තිබේ. සංරක්ෂණ වනාන්තරය ලෙස ප‍්‍රකාශයට පත් කළ භූමියේ පෞද්ගලික ඉඩම් හා වෙනත් රජයේ ඉඩම් හෙක්ටයාර 2000 ක් පමණ වේ. එ්වා මේ වන විට ක‍්‍රමාණුකූල ව වන සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව යටතට පවරා ගැනීමේ කටයුතු සිදු වෙමින් පවතී. එහෙත් එහි මන්දගාමි ස්වරූපය හා වන්දි ගෙවීම්වල ප‍්‍රමාද වීම් හේතුවෙන් මේ වනාන්තර ඉඩම් පවරා ගැනීමේ කටයුතු ව්‍යාකූල තත්ත්වයට පත් ව තිබෙන අතරතුර එම ඉඩම් විවිධ සමාගම් වලට හා ව්‍යාපාරිකයන්ට පැවරීමේ කටයුතු සිදු කෙරෙමින් පවතී.

මෙම ඉඩම් පවරා ගැනීම කඩිනම් කිරීමට අවශ්‍යවන ඉතා වැදගත් වන අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩල තීරණයක් 2004 වසරේ දී ගැනිණ. එහෙත් එය අද වන තෙක් නිසි පරිදි කි‍්‍රයාත්මක නො වේ. අංක පීඑස්/සිපී/26/2004 හා 2004 ජූලි 22 වන දින දරන අමාත්‍යමණ්ඩල සංදේශයට අනුව නකල්ස් සංරක්ෂණ වනාන්තරයට යාව හෝ ඉන් කිලෝමීටර් බාගයක් ඇතුළත පිහිටි සියලූ ම ඉඩම් ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරණ කොමිෂන් සභාවට අයත් වනාන්තර, 1972 අංක 01 දරන ඉඩම් ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරණ නීතියේ 22(1)ඊ සහ 44(එ්) වගන්ති ප‍්‍රකාරව වන සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට පැවරීම සඳහා නිර්දේශ ලැබී තිබේ. එහෙත් මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් පරිසර අමාත්‍යංශය හා වන සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ඉදිරි කටයුතු කඩිනමින් සැලැසුම් කිරීම හෝ ඉඩම් පවරා ගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය කි‍්‍රයාමාර්ග ගැනීම හෝ මේ වන තුරු අවසන් කර නොමැත.

මෙවන් සුවිශේෂී වූ පරිසර පද්ධති ඇතුළු ව අප රටේ ඉඩම් දේශීය හා විදේශීය සමාගම් වලට මෙන් ම මහ පරිමාණ ව්‍යාපාරිකයන්ට පැවරීම සදහා අලූතින් ඉඩම් පනතක් ගෙන ඒමට ද වත්මන් රජය කි‍්‍රයා කරමින් සිටී. රජයේ ඉඩම් බැංකු පනත (State Land Bank Act) නමින් මෙම පනත ගෙන එ්මට මේ වන විට සැලැසුම් කර ඇත. වගන්ති 33 කින් සමන්විත මෙම පනත මගින් ඉඩම් බැංකු පිහිටුවීම, රාජ්‍ය බැංකු කොමිෂම පිහිටුවීම හා බලය පැවරීම ඇතුළු ව කොටස් 7 කින් සමන්විත ව මෙම පනත සකස් කර ඇත. මෙම පනතින් බලාපොරොත්තු වන්නේ ඉඩම් ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරණ කොමිෂන් සභාව සතු ඉඩම් ඇතුළු ව රජයට අයත් ඉඩම් වෙළෙදපොළ යාන්ත‍්‍රණයට ඇතුළත් කිරීම ය.

නව ලිබරල් ආර්ථික සැලැසුම් කි‍්‍රයාත්මක කරමින් ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ කොන්දේසි මත පූර්ණ විවෘත ආර්ථිකයක් ගොඩනැගීමට උත්සාහ දරන වත්මන් රජය අප රටේ සියලූම ස්වාභාවික සම්පත් ඇතුළු ව පොදු දේපොළ විකුණා දැමීමට කි‍්‍රයා කරමින් සිටී. මේ තත්ත්වය නතර කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය කි‍්‍රයාමාර්ග කඩිනමින් ගත යුතු අතර රාජ්‍ය ඉඩම් බැංකු පනත සම්පූර්ණයෙන් ම පරාජය කළ යුතු ය. එපමණක් නොව නකල්ස් කදුකරයේ පිහිටි ඉඩම් විවිධ සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘති සදහා සමාගම් සතු කිරීම වහාම නතර කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය බලපෑම කළ යුතු ය. එපමණක් නොව දැනට මෙරට සිදු වන ඉඩම් අව භාවිතාව හා ඉඩම් කොල්ලය නතර කිරීම සදහා ජනතාවාදී සැබෑ ඉඩම් ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරණයක් සිදු කළ යුතු ය. ඒ සදහා ඉඩම් ප‍්‍රතිපත්තියක් සකස් කළ කිරීමට ජනතාව එක් විය යුතු ව ඇත.

සම්පූර්ණ සටහන සදහා පිවිසෙන්න

සජීව චාමිකර | Sajeewa Chamikara
ඉඩම් හා කෘෂිකර්ම ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරණ ව්‍යාපාරය

ආචාර්ය වසන්ත සේන වැලිඅංග

මිනිසාගේ බිහිවීම

මිනිසා බිහි වන්නේ කංසා ශාකය බිහි වී වසර මිලියන 30 ක් පමණ ගෙවී ගිය පසුව ය. එනම් වසර ලක්ෂ දෙකකට පමණ ඉහත දී ය. අප්‍රිකාවේ දී බිහි වූ මිනිසා චීනයට පැමිණෙන්නේ් වසර 25000 කට පමණ ඉහත දී ය. මිනිසාට ප්‍රථම වතාවට කංසා ශාකය හමුවන්නේ වසර 12000 කට පමණ ඉහත දී ය. කංසා ශාකයෙන් ලබා ගත හැකි ප්‍රයෝජන දුටු මිනිසා කංසා ශාකය ගෘහාශ්‍රිත බෝගයක් ලෙස වගා කරන්නට විය. මිනිසාගේ එන්ඩෝකැනබිනොයිඩ පද්ධතිය ද කංසා නිසා සක්‍රිය විය. එකල කංසා ශාකය බහුකාර්ය බෝගයක් ලෙස පරිභෝජනය කෙරිණි. 

ආහාර, ඖෂධ, රෙදි විවීම, රූපලාවන්‍ය, ඉන්ධන, විනෝදය සහ ආධ්‍යාත්මික ජීවිතය ඉහළ නංවා ගැනීම සදහා උදව් දුන්නේ කංසා ශාකය යි. සයිතියන්වරු කූඩාරම් සැදිම සදහා භාවිත කළේ කංසා දඩුය. කෘෂිකාර්මික ශිෂ්ටාචාරය ආරම්භ වන්නේ චීනයේ දී ය. ඉන් පසු මිනිසාගේ සමාජය නාගරීකරණය වන්නට විය. නාගරීකරණය නිසා ආහාර රටා වෙනස් වූ අතර ආහාරයේ තිබූ විවිධත්වය ද අඩු විය. නැවතත් සෞඛ්‍ය සම්පන්න වීම සදහා අවශ්‍ය ආහාර වනාන්තරයේ වූ ශාක, සත්ත්ව සහ පාෂාණවලින් ම ලබා ගැනීමට සේවාවන් බිහි විය. මෙම නව සේවාව ඖෂධ සැපයීම වූ අතර ඖෂධ ඛෙදාහැරීමට දක්ෂ මිනිසුන් වෛද්‍යවරු ලෙස දේවත්වයට පත් විය.

කංසා ඉතිහාසය

වසර 12000 කට ඉහත දී මිනිසා කෘෂිකාර්මික ශිෂ්ටාචාරය ආරම්භ කරන විට ගෘහස්ථකරණය කළ පළමු ශාකය කංසා ය. එසේ සිදු කළේ එයින් ලබා ගත හැකි වූ අමුද්‍රව්‍ය ඔවුන්ගේ ජිවිතයට නැතිව බැරි වූ නිසා ය. කෘෂිකර්මය සමග ආරම්භ වූ වෙළදාම සමග කංසා ආශ්‍රිත විවිධ නිෂ්පාදන ලොව පුරා ව්‍යාප්ත විය. ඒ සමග ම චීනයේ අල්තායි කදුවැටියෙන් බිහි වූ කංසා ශාකය ලොව පුරා ව්‍යාප්ත වන්නට විය.

චීනයේ සිට කංසා ශාකය ඉන්දියාවට රැගෙන ආවේ ආර්යයන් විසිනි. ඔවුන් වෙළෙන්දන් ය. මධ්‍යධරණි ප්‍රදේශයට සහ යුරෝපයට රැගෙන ආවේ සයිතියන් වෙළෙන්දන් විසිනි. අප්‍රිකාවට රැගෙන ගියේ අරාබි ජාතික වළෙන්දන් විසිනි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට රැගෙන එන්නට ඇත්තේ රාවණා රජු ලංකාද්වීපයේ පාලකයා වු කාලයේ දී ය. යුරෝපයේ සිට ඇමරිකාවට කංසා රැගෙන ගියේ ක්‍රිස්ටෝපර් කොලොම්බස් විසිනි. යුරෝපයේ සිට ඔස්ටේ‍රලියාවට කංසා රැගෙන ගියේ කැප්ටන් ආතර් පිලිප් විසින් වසර 1787 දී ය.

එන්ඩෝකැනබිනොයිඩ පද්ධතිය

විශ්වය ආරම්භය සිදු වූයේ වසර බිලියන 13.7 කට ඉහත දී ය. ඉන්පසුව ක්‍රමයෙන් සෞරග්‍රහ මණ්ඩල නිර්මාණය විය. පෘථීවි ග්‍රහවස්තුවේ සාගරවල ජීවය ඇරඹිණි. ජීවයේ රසායනික පදනම ඩීඑන්ඒ බවට පත් විය. ඩිඑන්ඒ සහිත ඒක සෛලික ජීවීන් පරිණාමය වී බහු සෛලික සංකීර්ණ ජීවින් බවට පත් විය. මෙම සංකීර්ණ සතුන්ගේ ශාරීරික යහපාලනය ස්ථාවරව පවත්වා ගැනීම සදහා වසර මිලියන 600 කට ඉහත දී ජෛව රසායනික පද්ධතියක් බිහි විය. වර්තමාන විද්‍යාඥයින් විසින් එම ජෛව රසායනික පදනම හදුන්වා දෙන්නේ එන්ඩෝකැනබිනොයිඩ පද්ධතිය ලෙස යි. 

මෙම ජෛව රසායනික පද්ධතිය සක්‍රීය කරන්නේ මොළයෙන් නිපදවන රසායන දෙකක් මගිනි. එම රසායන දෙක විද්‍යාඥයින් නම් කර ඇත්තේ ආනන්දමයිඩ් සහ විරෝධ්මයින් ලෙස යි. එන්ඩෝකැනබිනොයිඩ පද්ධතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක වන විට ප්‍රතිශක්තිය වැඩි වෙයි. රෝගාබාධවලට ගොදුරු වීම අඩු වෙයි. ආහාර රුචිය වැඩි වෙයි. අමතක කිරීම පහසු වෙයි. මනසට ආනන්දට ලැඛෙයි. පොදුවේ ගත් කළ හිත සිරුර සහ මනසේ පාලනය යහපත්ව පවත්වා ගැනීමට ද හැකි වෙයි.

කංසා ශාකයේ බිහි වීම

එන්ඩෝකැනබිනොයිඩ පද්ධතිය නිර්මාය වී වසර මිලියන 600 කට පමන පසුව එනම් වසර මිලියන 30 කට ඉහත දී මධ්‍යම ආසියාවේ අල්තායි කදුවැටියේ දී කංසා ශාකය බිහි විය. මේරූ ගැහැණු කංසා ශාකවල කරටිවලින් පැනනගින ගැහුණුමල් වටා ඇති නිපත්‍ර සහ පත්‍රවලින් මැලියම් වර්ගයක් ශ්‍රාවය වෙයි. එහි රසායන 500 ක් පමණ ඇති අතර කංසා ශාකයට ආවේණික වූ රසායන 80ක් පමණ ඇත. වර්තමානයේ දී විද්‍යාඥයින් විසින් ඒවා පිළිබදව අධයනය කර කාණ්ඩ අටකට වර්ගීකරණය කර ඇත. 

එයින් කාණ්ඩ දෙකකට එනම් ටෙට්රාහයිඩ්‍රෝකැනබිනොයිඩ සහ කැනබිඩයෝල්වලට සතුන්ගේ සිරුර තුළ ඇති එන්ඩෝකැනබිනොයිඩ පද්ධතිය සක්‍රිය කළ හැකිය. මෙම රසායන දෙකට මනසෙන් නිපදවන ආනන්දමයිඩ් සහ විරෝධ්මයින්වලින් සිදු කරන ක්‍රියාව සිදු කළ හැකිය. කංසා ඇටවල පිෂ්ඨය, ප්‍රෝටීන සහ මේදය බහුල ය. ඔමේගා 3 සහ 6 ෆැටි ඇසිඩ් වර්ග මිනිස් සිරුරට අවශ්‍ය වන පරිදි ම 1-3 අනුපාතයෙන් ම පවතී. කංසා කද වටා ඇති පොත්තේ ශක්තිමත් නම්‍යශීලි තන්තු බහුල ය. කංසා අරටුව ශක්තිමක්ය නම්‍යශීලීය.

ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහ

ශිෂ්ටාචාරයේ මුල් වැසියන් නව පරම්පරාවට දැනුම ලබා දුන්නේ ප්‍රායෝගිකව පුහුණු කිරීම සහ කාව්‍යමය ආකාරයට ය. ලේඛනකරණය ආරම්භ වීමත් සමග තොරතුරු වෙන වෙනම ලේඛන ගත විය. ආහාර සහ ඖෂධ පිළිබද තොරතුරු අඩංගු ලේඛන ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහ ලෙස හදුන්වයි. ඉන්දියානුවන්ගේ මුල් ම ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහය ඇතුළත් වූයේ වේදයේ ය. චීනයේ මුල් ම ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහය පෙන්ෂෝචින්ග් නම් විය. පර්සියානුවන්ගේ ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහය මාක්ෂාන් අල් අද්වියාවි ය. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මුල් ම ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහය සාරාර්ථ සංග්‍රහය යි. යුරෝපයේ සැම රටකට මෙන්ම ඇමරිකාවේ ද ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහයන් ඇත.

ලතින් බසින් මැටීරියා මෙඩිකා නම් වූ ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහය ඉංග්‍රීසි බසින් ඩිස්පෙන්සරි හෝ පාර්මැකෝපියා නම් වෙයි. මෙම සියලූ ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහවල තිබූ ප්‍රධාන ම ඖෂධීය ශාකයක් වූයේ කංසා ය. වසර 1200 දී සම්පාදනය වූ ආනන්දකංඩම් නැමැති ඉංදීය ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහයට අනුව කංසා පරිභෝජනයෙන් සියලු දෝෂ සහ රෝග නැසෙයි. මතකය තීවුර වෙයි. ආහාර රුචිය වැඩි වෙයි. මලබද්දය දුරු වෙයි. මකුණන් සහ උකුණන් ද නසයි. මෛථූන ශ්‍රාවයන්ගේ නිෂ්පාදනය වැඩි වෙයි. ඥානය වර්ධනය කරයි. ධාර්මික ගුණ වැඩි වෙයි.

දේශ ගවේෂණ සමග යටත් විජිතවලින් ගෙන්වා ගත් ඖෂධ අධිරාජ්‍යවාදින්ගේ ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහවලට එකතු විය. එංගලන්තයේ සහ ඇමරිකාවේ ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහවලට කංසා, අබිං සහ කොකා එකතු වුයේ ඒ අයුරිනි. මත්පැන් සහ දුම්කොළ යටත් විජිතවලට හදුන්වා දීම ද මේ අතර සිදු විය.  වසර 1900 වන විට ලෝකයේ සැම රටකම කංසා, අබිං, මොර්ෆීන්, හෙරොයින් සහ කොකේන් ඖෂධීය ලෙස භාවිත කළ අතර ප්‍රඥාවන්තයින් විසින් මනස සන්තර්පනය කර ගැනීම සදහා ද භාවිත කරන ලදී. කොකා, අබිං සහ කංසා ශාක අතරෙන් බහු කාර්ය බෝගයක් වූයේ කංසා ය. රෙදි විවීම, කරදාසි නිපදවීම, ඉන්ධන, ආහාර සහ රූපලාවන්‍ය සදහා භාවිතා කළේ ද කංසා ශාකයෙන් ලබා ගත් අමුද්‍රව්‍යය.

රසායන විද්‍යාවේ ප්‍රගමනය

ඇමරිකාවේ සහ යුරෝපයේ එවකට සිටි රසායන විද්‍යාඥයින් විසින් මෙම ප්‍රධාන ඖෂධ තුනෙහි ක්‍රියාකාරි රසායනය සොයා පර්යේෂණ කරන ලදී. වසර 1804 දී අබිංවල ඇති ක්‍රියාකාරී රසායනය හදුනා ගැනීමට පර්යේෂකයින්ට හැකි විය. ඉන්පසුව එම රසායනය නිස්සාරනය කර වෙළද පොළට ඉදිරිපත් කෙරිණි. දුම්කොළවල ක්‍රියාකාරි රසායනය හදුනා ගත්තේ ජර්මන් ජාතික පර්යේෂකයින් දෙනෙකු විසින් වසර 1828 දී ය. එය  නිකොටින් නම් විය. කොකා ශාකයේ ක්‍රියාකාරී රසායනය හදුනා ගත්තේ වසර 1855 දී ය. එය කොකේන් ලෙසින් හැදින් විණි. මොර්ෆීන් සහ විනාකිරි එකතු කර හෙරොයින් සැදීම ආරම්භ කළේ වසර 1874 දී ය. එ කල කොකේන්, මොර්ෆීන් සහ හෙරොයින් ඖෂධ ලෙස භාවිත කෙරිණි. එ කල තිබු අනෙක් ජනප්‍රිය ඖෂධය කංසා විය.

ඇබ්බැහිය සහ තහනම

මේ අතර කොකේන් හෙරොයින් සහ මොර්ෆීන් සමාජ ව්‍යසනයක් බවට පත් විය. එයට හේතුව ඒවාට ඇබ්බැහි වන නිසා ය. ඒවා පාලනයට ඇමරිකානු මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය අධිකාරිය ආරම්භ කරන ලදී. ඇමරිකානු රජය විසින් කොකෙන්, මොර්ෆීන් සහ හෙරොයින් පරිබෝජනයට නුසුදුසු ද්‍රව්‍ය බවට පත් කරන ලදී. ඒ සමගම කොකා ශාකය සහ අබිං ශාකය  වගා කිරීම සහ භාවිතය තහනම් කෙරිණි.

රසායන විද්‍යාවේ ප්‍රගමණයත් සමග පෙට්රෝලියම් අමුද්‍රව්‍ය භාවිතයෙන් කෘත්‍රීම ද්‍රව්‍ය නිෂ්පාදනය ආරම්භ විය. කෘත්‍රීම භාණ්ඩ සදහා වෙළදපොළ නිර්මාණය කිරිම අපහසු විය. වසර 1940 දී කෘත්‍රිම හෙවත් සින්තෙටික් අමුද්‍රව්‍යවලින් සැදූ භාණ්ඩ වෙළදපොළ ආක්‍රමණය කළේ ය. රසායනාගාරවල දී කෘත්‍රීම ඖෂධ වර්ග නිර්මාණය වන්නට විය. කැලෑ ගස් කපමින් කරදාසි සැදීම ආරම්භ වූයේ ද මේ කාලයේ දී ය. දැව තලපයෙන් කඩදාසි නිපදවීම ආරම්භ විය. ඒ සමගම පරිසරයට පිළිකාකාරක ඩයොක්සීන් වැනි රසායන එකතු විය. දුම්කොළ භාවිතය නිසා පිළිකා සෑදෙන බව වසර 1952 වන විට පර්යේෂණවලින් හෙළි විය.

කෘත්‍රීම අමුද්‍රව්‍ය වලින් ඇදුම්, ඛෙහෙත්, ලණු, කඹ ආදි කංසාවලින් සිදු කළ බොහෝ දේවල් කිරිමට හැකි විය. කෘත්‍රීම ඖෂධ විකුණා ගැනීම සදහා වෙළදපොළ නිර්මාණය කිරීම ඉතා අපහසු විය. ඇමරිකාවේ මුල්‍ය ආයතනය, මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය අධිකාරිය සහ මාධ්‍ය ජාලයක හිමිකරුවෙකු එකතු වී කංසා ශාකය ගොවිබිමෙන් ඉවත් කිරීම සදහා උපක්‍රමයක් දියත් කළහ. කංසා යනු මත්ද්‍රව්‍යක් බවත් එම නිසා කංසා ශාකය පරිබෝජනයට නුසුදුසු ද්‍රව්‍ය කාණ්ඩයට ඇතුළත් කළ යුතු බවත් ඔවුන් යෝජනා කළේ ය. ඇමරිකානු ෆෙඩරල් රජය කංසා තහනම් කළේ ය. මේ අතර ඇමරිකානු ඖෂධ සංග්‍රහයෙන් කංසා ඉවත් විය. ප්‍රාන්ත රජයන් විසින් ද කංසා තහනම් කරන ලදී. ඉන්පසු එක්සත් ජාතින්ගේ සංවිධානය සමග එකතු වී ලොව පුරා කංසා වගාව සහ භාවිතය තහනම් කෙරිණි.

තහනම ඉවතට

බටහිර ජාතිකයින්ගේ පර්යේෂණවලට අනුව කංසා ප්‍රතිශක්තිය වැඩි කරයි. බැක්ටීරියා විනාශ කරයි. පිළිකා වර්ධනය නවතයි. ස්නායු ආරක්ෂා කරයි. රුධිරයේ සීනි ප්‍රමාණය අඩු කරයි. අස්ථී වර්ධනය කර ශක්තිමත් බව වැඩි කරයි. වලිප්පුව නවතයි. ආසාදන වළක්වයි. රුධිරවාහිනී හිරවීම වළක්වයි. කුඩා බඩවැලේ ආසාදන සහ අපහසුතා අඩු කරයි. ඔක්කාරය නවතයි. වේදනා නසයි. කාංසාව දුරු කරයි. මාංශපේශි ලිහිල්ව තබයි. ස්පොරියාසිස් වැනි චර්ම ආසාදන වළකයි. මනසට ආනන්දය ද ලබා දෙයි.

මේ සමග ම කංසා රසායනයන් ශරීරගත වීම අඩු වී සින්තෙටික් රසායන, සාන්ද්‍රණය අධික මධ්‍යසාර සහ නිකොටින් ශරීරගත වීම ඇරඹුණි. මේ අතර කෘත්‍රිම ඖෂධවල ව්‍යාප්තිය තව දුරටත් වැඩි විය. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ගෙන්වන ඖෂධවලට පාලනයක් තිබිය යුතු බව පෙන්වා දුන්නේ මේ කාලයේ දී ය. ඒ වෛද්‍ය සේනක බිබිලේ මහතා විසින් වසර 1970 දී ය. පිළිකාව සමාජය පුරා ව්‍යාප්ත වන අතර කංසාවලට පිළිකා නැසිය හැකි බව 1974 දී සොයා ගැනුණි. වසර 1976 සිට 1992 දක්වා වූ කාලයේ දී ඇමරිකානු පිළිකා රෝගීන්ට වසරකට කිලෝ නවයක කංසා සලාකයක් ලැබුණි. ඒ පිළිකාවෙන් සහනය ලබා ගැනීම පිණිස දුම් ඉරීමට ය.

වසර 2015 වන විට කංසා ආශ්‍රිත ඖෂධ වර්ග 650කට පමණ අන්තර් ජාතික පේටන්ට් බලපත්‍ර ලබාගෙන ඇත. මේ වන විට ලෝකයේ රටවල් 40කට ආසන්න ප්‍රමාණයක කංසා වගා කිරීම අරඹා ඇත. කංසා ශාකයෙන් ලබා ගන්නා අමුද්‍රව්‍යවලින් ඖෂධ, ආහාර, තෙල් කඩදාසි, රෙදි, ප්ලාසිටික්, ගොඩනැගිලි ද්‍රව්‍ය, රූපලාවන්‍ය සහ විනෝදාශ්වාදය ලැබිය හැකි බියර් සහ ආනන්දය ලැබිය හැකි මරිජුවානා හෙවත් ගංජා ද නීත්‍යානුකූලව නිපදවයි. කංසා මත පදනම් වන ආර්ථීකයක් දක්වා ඔවුන් ගමන් කරමින් සිටියි. කංසා ශාකය කප් රුකක් බදු ය. ත්‍රෛලෝක්‍යවිජයා හෙළි කරන්නේ කංසා පිළිබදව එම සත්‍ය කතාව යි.

 

රියර් අද්මිරාල්  සරත් වීරසේකර

අපේ රටට නිදහස ලබා ගැනීමට ප්‍රථමයෙන් පවා බෙදුම්වාදී දෙමළ දේශපාලනඥයන් රටේ දෙමළ රාජ්‍යයක්‌ පිහිටුවීමට ගත් ප්‍රයත්නයක්‌ අප දකිමු. මැලේසියාවේ බහුතර මැලේ ජාතීන් 52% ක්‌ පමණි. ඉතිරිය චීන සහ දෙමළ ජාතිකයන් ය. ඒ රටේ භූමි පුත්‍ර සංකල්පය මගින් සියලු දේට ප්‍රමුඛස්‌ථානය සහ සියලු වරප්‍රසාද පළමුවෙන් හිමිවන්නේ රටේ භූමි පුත්‍රයන් සේ සැලකෙන මැලේ ජාතිකයන්ටය. නමුත් ඒ රටේ සිටින දෙමළ ජාතිකයන් මැලේසියාවේ වෙනම රාජ්‍යයක්‌ ඉල්ලා දඟලන්නේ නැත. මන්ද මැලේසියාවේ මැලේවරුන් සියල්ලම පාහේ සමගි නිසා ය. භූමි පුත්‍ර සංකල්පයට විරුද්ධව ක්‍රියා කළහොත් දැඩි දඬුවම් විඳීමට සිදුවන බව දන්නා නිසා ය. එසේම අධිරාජ්‍යවාදීන් යටතේ සිටි කාලය තුළ මැලේ බහුතරයට සිදු වූ අසාධාරණකම් නිසා එම අසාධාරණය ඉවත් කොට ඔවුන්ට සාධාරණත්වය ඉටු කළ යුතු බව සුළු ජාතියක්‌ වන දෙමළ ජාතියද පිළිගත් නිසා ය.

නමුත් අපේ රටේ සිංහල බහුතරය 74% ක්‌ පමණ වෙති. දෙමළ ජාතිකයන් ඇත්තේ 12% ක්‌ පමණි. (තවත් 5% ක්‌ වතු දෙමළ ජාතිකයන් ය) නමුත් දෙමළ දේශපාලනඥයන් අපට නිදහස ලැබීමට පෙර සිට අද දක්‌වා උතුරට/ නැගෙනහිරට දෙමළ ජාතිය සඳහා වෙනම රාජ්‍යයක්‌ ලබා ගැනීමට උත්සාහ කරයි. ඒ අපේ රටේ ‘සිංහල භූමි පුත්‍ර‘ සංකල්පයක සේයාවක්‌ පවා නැති තත්ත්වයක්‌ මතය. එසේ කිරීමට හේතුව සිංහලයන්ගේ තිබෙන අසමගිකම නිසාය. බලයට පැමිණීමට සහ බලයේ රැඳී සිටීමට සුළු ජාතීන්ගේ සහාය ලබා ගැනීමට සිංහල බහුතරය රට පාවාදීමට සැදී පැහැදී සිටින නිසාය.

එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ. කොටි ත්‍රස්‌තවාදී සංවිධානය වසර 30 ක්‌ තිස්‌සේ මිනිස්‌ ඝාතන ඇතුළුව රට වැනසුවේ උතුර – නැගෙනහිර උන්ට වෙනම රාජ්‍යයක්‌ ස්‌ථාපිත කිරීමටය. අපේ හමුදාව ත්‍රස්‌තවාදය නිම කොට එය වළකාලීය. එසේ කිරීමට අපේ රණවිරුවෝ 29000 ක්‌ දිවි පිදූ අතර, 14,000 ක්‌ පූර්ණ ආබාධිත තත්ත්වයට පත් විය. ඊට අමතරව රටේ වටිනා සම්පත් විනාශ වූ අතර, සිවිල් වැසියන් ද (විශේෂයෙන් මායිම් ගම්මානවල විසූ සිංහල වැසියන්) දස දහස්‌ ගණනින් ජීවිතක්‍ෂයට පත්විය. එවන් වූ උදාර කැපවීම් සහ සිදු වූ මහා විනාශයෙන් පසුව තවමත් උතුර නැගෙනහිර බෙදීමේ ව්‍යායාමය දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදී දේශපාලනඥයන් විසින් අත් හැර නොතිබේ නම් සහ ඒ සඳහා දිගින් දිගටම ක්‍රියාකරයි නම් වරද තිබෙන්නේ කා අතද?

අද රටේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ විපක්‍ෂ නායක ධුරය දරන්නේ සහ රටේ සිවුවන පුරවැසියා බවට පත් වී ජාත්‍යන්තරයේ පවා ගෞරව ලබන්නේ බෙදුම්වාදී කොටි ත්‍රස්‌තවාදී සංවිධානයේ දේශපාලන හස්‌තය වන ආසන 16 ක්‌ පමණක්‌ හිමි ද්‍රවිඩ ජාතික සංධානයේ නායක ආර් සම්බන්ධන් ය. ඔහු තවමත් දෙමළ ඊළමක්‌ සඳහා කෙසේ හෝ යා යුතුය, යන්න අරමුණ කොට ගත් ‘වඩුක්‌කොඩෙයි‘ සම්මුතියේ ප්‍රබල පාර්ශ්වයකි. ආසන 16 ක්‌ හිමි සම්බන්ධන්ට විපක්‍ෂ නායකකම ලැබෙන්නේ ආසන 53 ක්‌ තිබෙන ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‍ෂයේ නායකයාට එම තනතුර අහිමි කරමිනි. එසේ කරන්නේ රටේ ව්‍යවස්‌ථාව ද උල්ලංඝනය කරමින් පිහිටුවන ලද ඊනියා ජාතික ආණ්‌ඩුවේ මුවාවෙනි. වර්තමාන පාලකයන් තමන්ට බලයේ රැඳී සිටීමට ජාතිය පාවා දී ඇත්තේත් උතුර – නැගෙනහිර බෙදුම්වාදයට උඩගෙඩි දී ඇත්තේත් ඒ අයුරිනි.

රට බෙදා හෝ බලයේ සිටීමට උත්සාහ කරන මෙම පාලකයන් ඒ සඳහා සම්බන්ධන්ට විපක්‍ෂ නායකකම පූජා කොට ව්‍යවස්‌ථා සංශෝධන මගින් රට බෙදීමට දැනටමත් පිඹුරුපත් සකසා ඇති අන්දම අප මීට ඉහතදී පෙන්වා දී ඇත්තෙමු. අද එහි මෑතම තත්ත්වය වී ඇත්තේ ජනතා විමුක්‌ති පෙරමුණ ලවා රටේ විධායක ජනාධිපති ක්‍රමය අහෝසි කරන යෝජනාවක්‌ ගෙන ඒමයි.

ලංකාවට විධායක ජනාධිපති ක්‍රමය මුලින්ම හඳුන්වා දුන්නේ 1977 දී පළමු ජනරජ ආණ්‌ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවට ගෙන ආ දෙවන ව්‍යවස්‌ථා සංශෝධනයෙනි. 1978 පෙබරවාරි 4 වන දින ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනරජයේ ප්‍රථම විධායක ජනාධිපති ලෙස දිවුරුම් දුන්නේ ඡේ. ආර්. ජයවර්ධන මහතාය. එම ධුරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් විවිධ මතිමතාන්තර තිබුණ ද එහි වැදගත්කම වඩාත්ම ඉස්‌මතු වූයේ 1987 දී අප වෙත ඉන්දියාව විසින් බලෙන් පැටවූ 13 වැනි සංශෝධනය ක්‍රියාත්මක වූ පසුව සහ බෙදුම්වාදී යුද්ධය බරපතළ ලෙස පැවතුන කාලය තුළය.

13 113 වන සංශෝධනය ඉන්දියාවේ නිෂ්පාදිත සංකල්පයකි. එය සම්මත කරන ලද්දේ ද ඇඳිරි නීතිය දමා, සිවිල් වැසියන්ගේ විරුද්ධත්වය බිහිසුණු ලෙස මැඬ පවත්වා මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ගේ දින නොමැති අස්‌වීම් ලිපි ලබාගෙන බලෙන්ය. එයින් එතෙක්‌ ඒකීය රාජ්‍යයක්‌ ලෙස පැවතුනු අපේ රට බොහෝ දුරට ෙµඩරල් රාජ්‍යයක්‌ බවට පත්විය. එසේ වුණේ ලංකාව පළාත් නවයකට බෙදා සෑම පළාතකම පළාත් ආණ්‌ඩුවක්‌ ස්‌ථාපිත කොට එතෙක්‌ මධ්‍යම රජය පමණක්‌ සතු වූ ව්‍යවස්‌ථාදායක බලයේ සහ විධායක බලයේ යම් ප්‍රමාණයක්‌ පළාත් ආණ්‌ඩුවලට ද ලබාදීම නිසා ය.

13 වන සංශෝධනය අනුමත වීමට පෙර ඕනෑම විෂයයක්‌ සම්බන්ධයෙන් නීති පැනවීමේ පරම රාජ්‍ය බලය තිබුණේ මධ්‍යම රජයටය. මෙම සංශෝධනයෙන් පළාත් ආණ්‌ඩුවට පමණක්‌ ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ හැකි විෂයයන් 37 ක්‌ද, මධ්‍යම රජයටත්, පළාත් ආණ්‌ඩුවටත් එක සේ ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ හැකි විෂයයන් 36 ක්‌ ද, (සමගාමී ලැයිස්‌තුව) අනුමත විය. එම විෂයයන් 73 තුළ පොලිස්‌ හා ඉඩම් බලතල ද වීම සුවිශේෂී කරුණකි.

මීට අමතරව රටේ ඒකීයභාවය විනාශ කරන ලක්‍ෂණ වූයේ උතුර සහ නැගෙනහිර පළාත් දෙක ඒකාබද්ධ කොට “දෙමළ නිජභූමිය” හෙවත් “ඊළම” ස්‌ථාපිත කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය කරන ප්‍රතිපාදන 13 ට ඇතුළත් වීමය. මහ ඇමැතිවරයාගේ සෘජු පාලනය යටතේ පළාත් පොලිසියක්‌ ස්‌ථාපිත කිරීම ද පළාත තුළ තිබෙන සියලුම රජයේ ඉඩම් පළාත් ආණ්‌ඩුව යටතට ගැනීම ද මින් සිදුවූ නමුත් මෙතෙක්‌ පත් වූ කිසිම ජනාධිපතිවරයෙක්‌ ඒ කිසිදෙයක්‌ කිරීම වළක්‌වාගෙන සිටියේ තමාගේ “විධායක” බලතල හේතුවෙනි. මෙහිදී පළාතක විධායක බලය මහ ඇමැතිගේ සහ පළාත් ඇමැති මණ්‌aඩලයේ උපදෙස්‌ පරිදි ආණ්‌ඩුකාරවරයා ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ යුතු වුව ද ආණ්‌ඩුකාරවරයා සිටින්නේ ජනාධිපතිගේ විධායක බලය නියෝජනය කරමින් පළාත් ඇමැතිට ඉහළින් ය.

13 වැනි සංශෝධනය ශේ්‍රෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ විමසුමට ලක්‌වූ අවස්‌ථාවේදී ශේ්‍රෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ අග විනිසුරු ෂර්වානන්ද ප්‍රමුඛ බහුතර විනිසුරුවරුන්ගේ මතය වූයේ රටේ ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවේ 154(4)2 වගන්තියට අනුව ආණ්‌ඩුකාරවරයා ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ විධායක බලයට අනුව තම පළාත තුළ විධායක බලය ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන නිසා 13 න් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඒකීය බව නොනැසී රැකී තිබෙන බවය. කරුණු එසේ නම් 13 වැනි සංශෝධනය ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙද්දීම විධායක ජනාධිපති ධුරය අහෝසි කළ හොත්, ඉහත තීරණය අනුව රටේ ඒකීයභාවය නැසෙන බව අමුතුවෙන් කිව යුතුද?

එය එසේ වනවිට 13 වැනි සංශෝධනයෙන් රටේ ජනතාව සතු පරමාධිපත්‍යය පළාත් සභාවලට ද බෙදී යන නිසා එයින් රාජ්‍යයේ ඒකීයභාවයට හානි පැමිණෙන බව ඉහත ශේ්‍රෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ වනසුන්දර විනිසුරු ඇතුළු විනිසුරුවන් 4 දෙනෙකු තීරණය කොට තිබිණ. ජනාධිපති නීතිඥ මනෝහර ද සිල්වා මහතා තම “ව්‍යවස්‌ථා සංශෝධන” නමැති කෘතියේ එම කරුණ ඉතා පැහැදිලිව විස්‌තර කර ඇත. ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවේ 3 වන වගන්තියට අනුව ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනරජයේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය ජනතාව කෙරෙහි පිහිටා ඇත්තේ ය. එහි 76 වන වගන්තියට අනුව පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ව්‍යවස්‌ථාදායක බලය අත්නොහළ යුතු අතර කවර වූ ව්‍යවස්‌ථාදායක බලයක්‌ සහිත කිසිම අධිකාරියක්‌ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසින් නොපිහිට විය යුතුය. නමුත් 13 වැනි සංශෝධනයෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව සතු ව්‍යවස්‌ථාදායක බලය (නීති සෑදීමේ බලය සමහරක්‌ විෂයයන් සඳහා) පළාත් සභාවට පවරා තිබේ. එය ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය අන්සතු කිරීමකි. එබැවින් එයින් අප රටේ ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවේ 3 වන සහ 76 වැනි වගන්ති උල්ලංඝනය වී තිබෙන බව ඔවුන්ගේ මතයයි.

නමුත් අග විනිසුරු ෂර්වානන්ද ඇතුළු ශේ්‍රෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ විනිසුරුවන් 5 කු 13 වන සංශෝධනයෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ව්‍යවස්‌ථාදායක බලය අන්සතු නොවන බව තීරණය කරන්නේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට 2/3 බලයෙන් පළාත් සභාවක නීතියක්‌ වෙනස්‌ කළ හැකි බැවිනි. නමුත් 2/3 ක බලයක්‌ නොමැති පාර්ලිමේන්තුවකට පළාත් සභාවක්‌ මගින් රටට කෙතරම් හානි කරවන නීති සම්පාදනය කළත් බලා සිටීම හැර වෙන කළ හැකි දෙයක්‌ නොවේ. තවද එසේ පළාත් සභා නීතියක්‌ අවලංගු කිරීමට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට 2/3 බලයක්‌ අවශ්‍ය වුවත් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට තමන්ගේ නීතියක්‌ අහෝසි කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය වන්නේ සාමාන්‍ය බහුතරයක්‌ පමණි. එබැවින් පළාත් සභා නීතියක්‌ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ නීතියක්‌ අභිබවා යන තත්ත්වයක්‌ 13 න් උදාවීම තුළ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ උත්තරීතර බව දැනටමත් කෙලෙසී ඇති බව මනෝහර ද සිල්වා මහතා කදිමට සිය කෘතියෙන් පෙන්වා දෙයි.

එසේම අප ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවේ 4(ආ) වගන්තියේ සඳහන් වන්නේ ජනතාව සතු විධායක බලය ජනාධිපති විසින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ යුතු බවයි. නමුත් 13 වැනි සංශෝධනයෙන් පළාත් පාලන ලැයිස්‌තුවේ සහ සමගාමී ලැයිස්‌තුවේ සඳහන් විෂයයන් සම්බන්ධ විධායක බලය පළාතේ මහ ඇමැති/ අමාත්‍ය මණ්‌ඩලයේ උපදෙස්‌ මත ආණ්‌ඩුකාරවරයා ක්‍රියාත්මක කරයි. එසේ ජනාධිපති සතු කර ඇති විධායක බලය ආණ්‌ඩුකාරවරයා හා පළාත් සභා අමාත්‍ය මණ්‌ඩලය වෙත පැවරීම ලංකාවේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය ජනතාව සතුය යන්න සඳහන් වන ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවේ 3 වැනි වගන්තියට පටහැනිවේ.

එය එසේ වුවද ආණ්‌ඩුකාරවරයා ස්‌වකීය බලය ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ විධායක බලයට අනුකූල ලෙස ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ යුතු බව 154 ආ(2) වගන්තියේ දැක්‌වෙන බැවින් පළාත් ආණ්‌ඩුවකට විධායක බලය පාවිච්චි කළ හැකි වනුයේ ජනපතිගේ සමස්‌ත විධායක බලයට යටත්ව බැවින් මෙය ජනතාවගේ විධායක බලය අන්සතු කිරීමක්‌ නොවන බව ෂර්වානන්ද අගවිනිසුරු ප්‍රමුඛ කණ්‌ඩායම තීරණය කර තිබුණි. කරුණු එසේ වන නමුත් ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවේ 154(ඊ) හි සඳහන් වන්නේ ආණ්‌ඩුකාරවරයා කටයුතු කළ යුත්තේ ප්‍රධාන අමාත්‍යවරයා ප්‍රමුඛ අමාත්‍ය මණ්‌ඩලයේ උපදෙස්‌ අනුව බවය. එසේ නම් ඕනෑම කුඩා දරුවකුට වුවද තේරුම් ගත හැකි පරිදි විධායක ජනාධිපති ක්‍රමය අහෝසි වන්නේ නම් ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවේ 154(ඊ) තවමත් බලගැන්වී ඇති නිසා ආණ්‌ඩුකාරවරයා පළාත් ඇමැති මණ්‌aඩලය අනුව ක්‍රියා කරන රූකඩ නාමික තනතුරක්‌ බවට පත්වීම වැළැක්‌විය නොහේ. විධායක ජනපති ධුරය මුළුමනින්ම අහෝසි කළ විට තමන්ට කැමැති පරිදි නීති සෑදිය හැකි, ඒවා ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ හැකි ස්‌වාධීන පළාත් රාජ්‍යයන් 9 ක්‌ බිහිවන්නේ ඒ අයුරිනි. ඒකීය ෙµඩරල් වන්නේ ද ඒ අයුරිනි.

උතුරේ විග්නේශ්වරන් මහ ඇමැතිවරයා දැනටමත් දෙමළ සංහාරය, යුද අපරාධ, දෙමළ කාන්තාවන් වඳ කිරීම යනාදිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිංහලයාට විරුද්ධව යෝජනා 27 ක්‌ උතුරු පළාත් සභාවේ සම්මත කොට තිබේ. ඔහු උතුරේ බුදු පිළිම ස්‌ථාපිත කිරීමට විරුද්ධව ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ කිලිනොච්චියේ පෙළපාලි යන අතර නාගදීපයේ බුදුපිළිමය ඉදිකිරීමට විරුද්ධව ද ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ ක්‍රියා කරන ලදී. මෙම පුද්ගලයාගේ මෙම සිංහල විරෝධී බෞද්ධ විරෝධී ක්‍රියා නීති බවට පත් කොට ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම මෙතෙක්‌ වළකාගෙන ඇත්තේ විධායක ජනපති ධුරය නිසාය. එම ධුරය අහෝසි කිරීම විග්නේශ්වරන් නමැති පනින රිළවාට ඉනිමන් තැබීමක්‌ නොවන්නේ ද?

13 වැනි සංශෝධනය බලපැවැත් වෙනතුරු. රට පෙඩරල් වීම වැළැක්‌වීමට නම් විධායක ජනාධිපති ධුරය අහෝසි නොකළ යුතුයෑයි ජාති හිතෛෂීහු පවසන්නේ එබැවිනි. එසේ නොමැති නම් පළාත් සභා පාලන බලතල හෝ ජනපති සතුව තිබිය යුතුය.

බෙදුම්වාදී ත්‍රස්‌තවාදය අප නිම කළ ද බෙදුම්වාදය තවම නිමවී නැත. රටේ බෙදුම්වාදී දෙමළ දේශපාලනඥයෝ උතුරට සහ නැගෙහිරට පෙඩරල් බලතල ප්‍රථමයෙන් ලබාගෙන පසුව ඒ පළාත් දෙක එක්‌කොට වෙනම ඊළාම් රාජ්‍යයක්‌ කරා යන ගමනට හොඳින් අවතීර්ණ වී තිබේ. ප්‍රභාකරන්ට යුද්ධයෙන්/ ත්‍රස්‌තවාදයෙන් ඉෂ්ට කර ගැනීමට නොහැකිවුණු ඊළාම් අරමුණ කරා දැන් සම්බන්ධන්, සුමන්දිරන් සහ විග්නේශ්වරන්ලා වර්තමාන පාලකයන්ගේ නිවටකම ප්‍රයෝජනයට ගනිමින් සූක්‍ෂම ලෙසට ළඟා වෙමින් සිටී. අවසානයේ කොතැනක හෝ සිරවීමක්‌ වුවහොත් නැවත යුද්ධ කිරීමට / එසේ නැතහොත් ත්‍රස්‌තවාදය යළි දියත් කිරීමට ඔවුන් පසුබට නොවේ. නැවත යුද්ධයක්‌ පැමිණෙන්නේ නම් ඒ සඳහා හොඳින් යුද පුහුණුව ලැබූ පුනරුත්ථාපනය කොට නිදහස්‌ කරන ලද කොටි සාමාජිකයන් 11,600 කගේ සහ රජයට බාර නොවුණු ත්‍රස්‌තවාදී 4000 කගේ දත්තයන් දැනටමත් ඔවුහු ගබඩා කොට තිබේ. භූගත ආයුධ ද තිබෙන බවට සැකයක්‌ නොමැත. උතුරේ අධි ආරක්‍ෂක කලාප ඉවත් කොට ඇති අතර අතිශය වැදගත් හමුදා කඳවුරු, අවි ගබඩා, ගුවන් පථ යනාදියට ආසන්න ඉඩම් පවා සම්බන්ධන්ගේ තර්ජනය හමුවේ සිවිල් වැසියන් සඳහා ලබාදී ඇත. හමුදා බුද්ධි නිලධාරීන්ට විරුද්ධව කටයුතු කිරීමට අතුරුදන් කාර්යාල පනත සහ බලාත්කාරයෙන් අතුරුදන් පනත සම්මත කොට තිබේ. සාම සාධක හමුදා සඳහා යැමට නම් මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සලේ අනුමැතිය ලබාගත යුතු තැනට අපව පත්කොට ඇත. දැනටමත් යුද්ධයේ අවසාන අදියර ට සහභාගී වූ උසස්‌ නිලධාරීන්ට ඔස්‌ටේ්‍රලියාවට එංගලන්තයට යැමට වීසා ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කොට තිබේ. යුද්ධයක්‌ නැවත පැමිණුනහොත් එයට මුහුණදීමට සිටින හමුදා පුද්ගලයන්ගේ මානසික තත්ත්වය එයයි. පසුගිය යුද්ධය අපට ජයග්‍රහණය කළ හැකි වූයේ ජනපතිගේ විධායක බලය නිසාය. ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවට අනුව යුද වැදීම සහ සාමය සඳහා තීරණය කරන්නේ ජනපති ය. සෘජු තීරණ අවශ්‍ය මොහොතේ නොගතහොත් ඒ සඳහා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ අනුමැතිය එනතෙක්‌ සිටීමට සිදුවුවහොත් වන්නේ ජය ගැනීමට නොව පැරදී පලා යැමටය. ඊළාම්වාදය තිබෙනතාක්‌ කල් යුද්ධයක්‌ නැවත ඇතිවීමේ ප්‍රවණතාවය තිබෙනතාක්‌ කල් විධායක ජනපති ධුරය හෝ තිබිය යුත්තේ එබැවිනි.

කරුණු එසේ හෙයින් 13 වැනි සංශෝධනය බලාත්මකව පවතිනතාක්‌ සහ ඊළාම්වාදය පවතින තාක්‌කල් (එයින් අවසානයේ නැවත ත්‍රස්‌තවාදය හිස එසවීමට ඉඩ ඇති බැවින්) විධායක ජනපති ධුරය තිබිය යුතු බව මගේ හැඟීමයි. “පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවන්නේ නම් එයට අප එකඟ” යෑයි ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‍ෂය පවසන්නේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවන්නේ නැති බව ඔවුන් හො¹කාරවම දන්නා නිසා විය යුතුය. එසේම ජවිපෙ එයට එකඟ වුවහොත් එයට ද නොරැවටෙන මෙන් අප ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‍ෂයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිමු. 19 වැනි සංශෝධනයට ඡන්දය දෙන ලෙස කීවේ ඊට පහුවදාම 20 වැනි සංශෝධනය ගෙන එන බවට පොරොන්දු වෙමින් බව ද අමතක නොකළ යුතුය. මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමාට මීළඟ ජනාධිපතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් වීම වැළැක්‌වූයේ 19 න් බවද සිතා ගත යුතුය. එබැවින් ජනතාව තවදුරටත් මුලා කිරීමට ජවිපෙට සහ වර්තමාන රජයට ඉඩ නොදීමට ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‍ෂය කටයුතු කළ යුතු වේ. “රට අනතුරට හෙළා බලයට පැමිණීමට උත්සාහ කරන්නේය” යන ද්‍රෝහි චෝදනාවට ඔවුන් ලක්‌ නොවිය යුතුය. එසේ වුවහොත් දේශප්‍රේමී ජනතාවගේ සහාය මින් මතු ඔවුනට නොලැබෙනු ඇත. වර්තමාන ඊනියා යහපාලනය තුළ වරප්‍රසාද වරදානවලට ගැති නොවී ඉන්ද්‍ර‚ලයක්‌ මෙන් සිටිමින් මෙතෙක්‌ කල් ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‍ෂය රට වෙනුවෙන් කරන ලද කාර්යභාරය අපේ ඉමහත් ගෞරවයට පාත්‍ර වී ඇති බව ද ප්‍රකාශ කරමු. එය එසේම තවදුරටත් පවතින බව අපගේ ඒකායන විශ්වාසයයි.

By TOI STAFF

Echoing Assad regime, Pink Floyd co-founder claims rescue group spreads propaganda for ‘jihadists and terrorists’

Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters denounced the White Helmets civil defense group in Syria as a fake organization” that spreads propaganda for jihadists and terrorists.”

Rogers made the comment Friday at a concert in Barcelona, when he said someone had wanted to speak to the audience on behalf of the group about the alleged chemical attack by the Syrian regime earlier this month.

He is one voice. I personally think he is entirely wrong. I believe the organization that he purports to represents and who he supports — the White Helmets — are a fake organization that exists only to create propaganda for the jihadists and terrorists,” said Waters, who in recent years has become known for his vocal backing of a boycott of Israel.

If we would listen to the propaganda of the White Helmets and others, we would be encouraged to encourage our governments to go and start dropping bombs on people in Syria,” he added, saying to do so would be a mistake of monumental proportions.”

Waters’ remarks echoed those of Syria and its backer Russia, who have asserted the deadly chemical attack in Douma was staged. Western countries have pointed the finger at Syria, and the US, UK and France carried out strikes against Syrian targets over the weekend in retaliation for the attack.

Images of the attack in Douma were shared by the White Helmets, which works to rescue civilians in rebel-held areas.

They have gained international renown for their daring rescues, often filmed and circulated on social media, and were nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.

AFP contributed to this report.

 

By Cyril Wimalasurendra Courtesy The Island

April 23, 2018, 11:54 pm

All other Buddhist nations, the world over, are making grand preperations to celebrate Vesak Poya Day, on May 29, and it is absurd for Sri Lanka to celebrate Vesak on April 29, Malwatte Anunayake Ven. Niyangoda Sri Vijithasiri Thera says.

Even the international Vesak Day was celebrated, on May 29, the Thera said yesterday. “According to tradition, Sri Lankans celebrate Vesak in May. However, the government has decided to celebrate Vesak in April. No one has the right to change the Vesak Poya Day.”

“The Poya Day, which falls on April 29, is the Bak Poya Day. Although there is nothing wrong with considering it an ‘Adhi Pasaloswaka Poya Day,’ it cannot be regarded as the Vesak Poya Day. Adhi Poya occurs, when two full moon days fall in the same month.”

Ven. Vijithasiri Thera said: “Buddhists, in other countries, including Thailand, Cambodia, Tibet, Vietnam, China, Myanmar and India, celebrate the Vesak on the Poya Day, which falls in May. Sri Lankan Mahanayaka and Anunayake Theras have been invited to the International Vesak Celebrations, to be held on May 29.”

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 Canada

21 April 2018

Jack MacLaren, Independent (Trillium Party) MPP for Carleton-Mississippi Mills,

Ontario

Cc. Premier Kathleen Wynne, MPP

Dear Jack MacLaren:

‘Sweet Mother of Jesus!’  What’s all this that I read in the Toronto Sun of April 12, 2018,  bylined Bonokoski which says Removing Tamil Tigers off terrorist list naive, foolish thinking.”  Did you really stand up in Queen’s Park Chambers and suggest that?.  Phew! Man, did you really! What the heck did you add in to your coffee that morning, or smoked before you went to bed the night before.  I am intrigued.

For God’s sake, give me a break, Jack.  What’s wrong with you.  It is not

Naive, foolish thinking”, It is stupid and idiotic thinking..”

Why all this stupidity Jack, what was the incentive, to come up with this stupidity. Did the friends of Tamil Tiger terrorists promise you a  year’s supply of spicy lentil Masala Wade for your breakfast for 365 days?  Or was it that they promised to fund your election campaign under the banner of the Trillium Party now that you were kicked out from the Conservative Party Caucus on May 2017. Spit out the truth, Jack.

I say to you that you will never  ever learn from your past Tamil Tiger supporting follys,  hiccups and faux pas when these Greater Toronto Area  separatist-Tamil friends of yours made you into a laughable finger-puppet that could be manipulated and squeezed into Ha-ha-hi-hi ridiculous shapes to be laughed at..  They know when they meet a foolish vote-greedy Canadian politician made out of putty.

And by now you should know unless you are dumb, that the Tamil bloc votes come with a price. – We will give you our bloc-vote only if you help us resurrect the Tamil Tiger terrorism and reclaim our past grandeur in the ‘World of Terrorism’ as the most ruthless terrorist group in the world, and help us to claim a mono-ethnic, racist, separatist-Tamil State, Eelam” in the North and East of Sri Lanka

containing 33% of the prime real estate bordered by 60% of the coast line.  And this too for 10% of the Tamil population, as thousands and thousands of Tamils flew out of their crow’s nests no sooner the floodgates were opened around the world for the Tamil refugees in search of a country in the West whose roads were paved with gold.  They had little interest to go East..  And  they chose Canada as one of them.  And so they came in plane loads, with passports when they got on the planes and no passports when they landed.  The passports had vanished in an ABRACADABRA swish of an ‘I am a refugee wand.’

Jack, I will bet my last dollar, that 90% of your separatist-Tamil friends wouldn’t have had a snowball chance in hell if they had tried to immigrate to Canada through the legitimate strict point system.  And that is the rub!.

These separatist-Tamils are smart, and they got you well entrenched in their green $20 bills stuffed pocket so that you could feel the bills and smell them.  They will pick by instinct and from the hungry looks of Canadian politicians who will come grovelling at their feet begging for their votes,  Hey! Jack, you happen to be one of them. A good pick of the draw as they know that you are a good candidate to take you down their garden path with a. maze of lies and untruths.

Do you remember Jack, you and a few other Conservative colleagues at Queen’s Park looked lobster red-faced bloody fools in December 2015, when you were taken without skates and skis, down the ice-slippery, sloping garden path by the separatist-Tamils.   Do you?

It was Stewart Bell who reported on 2nd December, 2015, in the National Post with a head line, Ontario Conservatives ‘unaware’ their Queen’s Park guest was being deported for terrorism,.”  And your guest was Eelaventham, a Tamil.  What a hoot!  Jack, you will never learn, will you.  What’s wrong with you?

Jack, you know sweet nothing about the Tamil Tiger terrorists that you are batting for to sanitize and white-wash them to claim that they are no longer a bunch of suicide bombing, ethnic cleansing terrorists, and that they are good guys, as good as innocent-faced choir boys and should be taken off Canada’s official Terrorist list.  Hmmm….interesting Fairy tale.!

Wow..wow! Jack, just hold your horses right there. Don’t tell me that you had met some hard-core Tamil Tigers walking the streets of the Greater Toronto Area and got them into washing machines and tumble-washed them with Tide soap and got their white Tiger stripes off their bodies and presented them  to Canada as good, clean White Snow Tigers, who wouldn’t harm anyone, not even a fly on the wall, Did you?  I thought it won’t be that easy to get the Tamil Tiger terrorists stripes off as Tamil Tigers will always be  blood thirsty Tamil Tigers, whether you use Tide, or Purex or Sunlight soaps to wash them even with a drop or two of Bleach.

• These are the Tamil Tiger terrorists who not only assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India using a suicide bomber on Tuesday, 21 May,1991, and also killed President Premadasa of Sri Lanka using a suicide bomber on 1 May, 1993.  They also killed several politicians who did not toe their Eelam-separatist lines.  Did you know this Jack? Or are all these news to you.  Here are some names of the Sri Lankan politicians that the Tamil Tigers assassinated.  The catalogue is long but I  will give you a taste of what they did and could do.

27.07.1975      Alfred Duraiappah (Tamil) – Mayor of Jaffna

25.05.1981      A. Thiagarajah (Tamil) – MP for Vadukkodai

29.04.1983      S.J.Muttiah (Tamil) – UNP candidate for Chavakachcheri

29.04.1983      S.J.Rajarathnam (Tamil) -UNP Organizer, Valvettithurai

29.04.1983      K.B.Rathnasingham (Tamil) -UNP Organizer Point Pedro

12.08.1983      A.R.Rajasooriyar (Tamil) – UNP Organizer, Jaffna

18.09.1984      S. Gopalapillai (Tamil) – UNP Organizer Ampara

03.09.1985      V.Dharmalingam (Tamil) – MP for Manipay

03.09.1985       K.Alalasundaram (Tamil) – MP for Kopai

06.05.1986       Sri Sabaratnam (Tamil) – TELO Leader

08.03.1988       S. Vijayanandan (Tamil) – District Secretary of Ceylon

Communist Party

20.03.1988       V. Master (Tamil) – TULF Organizer for Kalmunai

07.03.1989       S. Sabarathnamoorthy (Tamil) – TULF Ex-DDC Chairman

13.07.1989       A. Amirthalingam (Tamil) – TULF Leader

13.07.1989       V. Yogeswaran (Tamil) -Ex-TULF MP for Jaffna

07.05.1990       Sam Tambimuttu (Tamil -EPRLF MP for Batticaloa

19.06.1990       K. Padmanabha (Tamil)) – EPRLF Leader

19.06.1990       W.K. Yogasangarie (Tamil) – EPRLF MP for Jaffna

19.06.1990       P .Krubakaran (Tamil) – Ex-Finance Minister for NEPC

28.06.1990       T. Ganeshalingam (Tamil) – Provincial Minister for North

and East.

Well, Jack, these were the killings of politicians by your friends, the Tamil Tiger terrorists, from July 1975 until the end of 1990. And there were many more assassinations of politicians by the end of  the Eelam War on 19 May, 2009, like Lakshman Kadirgamar (Tamil), the Foreign Minister.killed by a Tamil Tiger sniper bullet on 12 August, 2005.

So you have sold your soul to help these assassins. Does your conscience prick you a bit now, having heard all this.

Jack, but here’s what bothers me with your stupidity trying to give a clean slate for these assassins, the Tamil Tiger terrorists, when Canada put Momin Kawaja (born in April 1979)  behind bars for the rest of his life having found him guilty on his involvement in a plot to plant fertiliser bombs in the UK.  I believe that no bombs were made nor anyone killed from his involvement. He was found guilty under the Anti-Terrorism Act.  Can you reconcile with what you are trying to do for the Tamil Tigers with what we have done to Momin Kawaja.  Have you got an intelligent explanation to defend your act in the Queen’s Park Chambers.  If you do I’d like to hear of it.  Your foolishness amazes me!

Did you Jack, give a serious thought as to what you were planning to do to help the Tamil Tiger terrorists, before sanitizing and painting the Tamil Tiger terrorists lily-white to seek from the Canadian government a reprieve for their unholy killings and ethnic cleansing sins, and  have them erased from the official Canadian Government listing of terrorists organizations?  Or did you think that you had the divine right to act God and sweep all the Tamil Tiger heinous acts under the carpet so that no one would ever know?

Did you,Jack?  Heinous brutal acts like. how they plucked infants from Sinhalese Mothers breasts and cracked their skulls by bashing them on boulders of charnockite granite rocks; Like how they stopped a bus carrying novice Buddhist monks on June 2, 1987 and massacred and brutally mutilated 33 of them and their mentor, Chief priest Ven. Hegoda Indrasara at Aranthalawa in Ampara; Like on Friday, 3 August 1990, how the Tamil Tigers opened fire  with Kalashnikovs and killed 103 Muslims and injured 70 others while they were at prayer at the Meera Jumma Mosque in Kathankudy.  And later on 28 October 1990, the Tamil Tigers kicked out 90,000 Muslims from Jaffna giving them 24 hours to move out leaving behind gold and other valuables at the nearest mosque;

and how these cowards shot and killed 700 policemen on June 11, 1990, who had surrendered being blindfolded and their hands tied at their backs and  asked to kneel down, then shot them point blank through their skulls.  The policemen surrendered with the promise that they will be sent south unharmed.  Bloody cunning  liars, weren’t they Jack!  And they happen to be your buddies for whom you acted as their saviour standing at attention at the Queen’s Park chambers like a  preacher wearing a white-collar starched towards heaven. .Hallelujah! What glory to you, Jack.

Well, Jack, what have you got to say now.  And you have the audacity and temerity to ask the Canadian Government to remove these sordid murderers from the official list of terrorists.  Jack, I hope you won’t have nightmares tonight due to your ridiculous, crass stupidity.

To conclude this Lesson on Tamil Tiger Terrorists 101 so that you can make some educated decisions before you want to sanitize and whitewash them lily-white again,  it is incumbent upon you to explain to your constituents of your rural riding of Carleton-Mississippi Mills who voted you into represent them at Queen’s Park, why the heck you are interested in Tamil Tigers who fought a terrorist war with the Sri Lankan Government almost 8,524 miles away.  Why this Tamil Tiger issue has taken precedent from what is expected of you like winning Ontario Trade for your riding, like the right to work in Quebec for your constituents, and fighting for a fair share of the transit pie at Queen’s Park, the safety, security, good education and jobs.  Well, why?

Call a Town Hall meeting Jack, and get on with it,  And if you want to have a public debate with me on the issue to consolidate your position on the Tamil Tiger file which has absolutely nothing to do with your  Carleton-Mississippi Mills riding, and why you did what you did speaking for the Tamil Tiger serial-killer terrorists. Trust me  I am game for it,,  Do it.  Let’s do it, Jack..

Sincerely,

Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr.)

(an I will stand on guard for thee’ Sinhalese Sri Lankan-Canadian

to boot, and an Ottawan since 1970)

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA. 

Despite dismissal by some silly quisling politicians as a never winning and politically suicide effort the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) the nascent political party of Sri Lanka made a tremendous and historical victory in the February 10^th local government elections beating all traditional political parties and becoming first in the majority of local government Institutions in the country.  Its victory was a surprise to many partisan political commentators to warn the neo-liberal reactionary UNP to take even undemocratic actions to suppress the forward march of the SLPP.  The Pohottuwa has been the choice of over 45% of the voters and another significant percentage who voted for groups aligned to SLPP in Maharaggama, Beruwela, Bandarawela etc.  Critics have pointed out that the political charisma of the former President Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa was the sole ingredient for the SLPP’s success, although it was one major factor and other reasons included the growing hatred towards the inept government which burden them unceasingly. 

In the forthcoming weeks and months there could be various forms of discriminations and ill treatments to identified and leading SLPP supporters and hence the SLPP without remaining complacent with its success and popularity now itself launch a massive programme to protect its supporters, expand its voter base, establish party offices in every village and the towns, enlist new memberships on a modern highly targeted formula (for instance enlist at least one member from each family), and consolidate support for it from the Sath Maha Balawegavaya, comprising the old Pancha Maha Balawegayaga and the War Heroes and Students.

In this connection it is necessary to hold a party convention as early as possible with the participation of all Joint Opposition members, newly elected members of local government institutions, representatives of the Sath Maha Balawegavaya, academics, professionals, representatives from patriotic organizations, minority community organizations, women’s organizations, youth organizations, progressives, interested general public and overseas resident Sri Lankan organizations to adopt a series of resolutions, elect central, regional and district office bearers with the intention of electing office bearers of overseas resident Sri Lankans as well, and appoint committees to draw up a constitution, and a policy framework to rescue the country from the present calamity. 

We should not expect that the treacherous enemy forces and the gruesome foreign forces who puppeteers the perfidious reactionary politicians and NGO vultures of Sri Lanka will remain silent allowing the SLPP political group to take firm roots in the country. This was evident from the recent Kandy clashes in which the communalist government of Sirisena made all efforts although it was unsuccessful to blame the SLPP for the violence and attempts were even made to indict JO MPs Dilum Amunugama and Lohan Ratwatte as responsible for the riots.

The latest move to create dissent and divisions in the SLPP is the emergence of the gang of 16 that had been unleashed by Aappa Sirisea on the behest of his foreign puppeteers.  The real objective of the gang of 16 was clearly outlined by the political chameleon Dilan Perera who hitherto acted as the media spokesman of Sirisena’s SLFP rump.  Addressing the media on 18^th April he has said that the gang of 16 left the government in order to strengthen the SLFP under the leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena and their objective is to get the SLFPers in the joint opposition back to Sirisena’s SLFP.

It is also suspected that the move of the Gang of 16” was under the blessings of the UNP as well.  The political editor of Sunday Times (22^nd April 2018) reveals that a lesser known fact among most politically literate Sri Lankans was a directive Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe issued to all parliamentarians of his United National Front (UNF) ahead of the National New Year. It said that he told them to refrain from criticising the Gang of 16 MPs who had voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against him.. This further confirms that the Gang of 16 is on a clandestine mission to somehow destroy the SLPP and they should not be trusted and they should not be taken into the SLPP fold under any circumstances.

Therefore the SLPP should act cautiously and without further delay, and perhaps immediately after holding the May Day rally in Galle on the 7^th it should hold the party convention and also start the proposed series of public rallies to be held in major towns which was stalled due to the No Confidence Motion against Ranil Wickremasinghe.

It is suggested that at this party convention or a week of party seminars (as it was done by leftist parties in the past in the form of a mega get together.  I remember that the SLFP too had such events in Ampara and Kurunegala) should be held in which prominent personalities, politicians, academics industrialists and professionals should address the participants on various topics particularly highlighting the political and economic disasters that have been caused to the country, on the follies of the despicable Sirisena-Ranil government, and on the people’s responsibility to rescue the country from the present quagmire.

The party convention should elect the following committees to represent each and every segment of the society:

Committees to represent the Maha Sangha, Farmers (separately for Paddy farmers, vegetable and fruit farmers, and farmers of other crops including export crops), Fisher folk (marine and inland), animal husbandry, milk producers, Doctors, indigenous medical practitioners, Nurses, Health workers, Teachers, University teachers, IT teachers, Women’s, students (University and others), Pensioners associations, Disabled and retired war heroes associations (if it is legally permitted), Legal fraternity, Minority community Units such as Tamil, Muslim, Christian, Indian Origin Tamils, Aadi Vaasi Society, Trade Unions combined and separately for public sector, private sector, media personnel, private and state bank employees, film industry, apparel industry, garment industry, gem and jewellery industry,  various other industries, sand mining, quarry operators, shop employees, restaurant employees, transport sector (separately for private and SLTB). Railways. Three wheel drivers, school transport, skilled workers (masons, plumbers, carpenters, electricians etc), LG institution workers, daily wage earners, unskilled workers, payment hawkers,  etc.

Professionals and erudite personalities should be inducted into these committees as much as possible to guide them in the proper perspective and political objectives..

In addition to this on a cooperative basis the party organizations should establish restaurants, rice mills, food processing units, bus services, lending institutions and village based industries suitable for the respective areas.

Foreign branches should be established in all European countries, in the United States. Canada, Japan, Middle East countries, Australia, South Africa, India and Asian countries including Malaysia and Singapore.  These associations should be geared to counter tiger terrorists’ malicious propaganda and misinformation activities against Sri Lanka, provide accurate information about the country and its people and to promote tourism and investments.  The party should keep these associations periodically informed about the economic and development activities of the country and there should be a separate party office in Colombo coordinating these activities.

The SLPP should also adopt Non Aligned Policy as its foreign policy which brought much fame to Sri Lanka during Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s time and even J.RJatawardene did not dare to challenge or change it.

It is also suggested that maximum efforts should be made to obtain the services of the following for the promotion and policy formulations of the SLPP.

Ven.Muruttuwe Ananda Thero, Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka Thero, other ven. Theros on the recommendation of the former President Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, Mr. Hudson Samarasinghe, veteran journalist C.A.Chandraprema, Dr Dayan Jayatilleke, Malinda Seneviratne, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera, Dr Seetha Arambepola, Rev. Fr. Wimal Tirimanne, Ms. Tamara Kunanayagam, Mr. Arun Thambimuttu, at least two Jaffna youth who oppose Vellala caste structure,  Karuna Amman, Lawyer Rushdi Habib, Ali Sabri PC, Mr. Omar Kamil,  Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne, Mr.Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Manohara De Silva PC, Mrs. Anuradha Yahampath, Mr. Prathibha Mahanamahewa, Dr. Ranjith Bandara, Admiral Wasanthha Karannagoda Ms. Kamalika Peiris, Mr. Wasantha Keerthiratne Mr. Ranjith Vithanage etc.   This is only a few names I can remember and the readers of this article  may submit the names of other suitable patriotic personalities.

The party should start a daily and weekend newspaper and a website in all the three languages as early as possible and on priority basis and steps should also be taken to establish a Radio station and a TV Channel at the earliest.

After forming the suitable committees they should go into full action in their respective areas and gather information and data on the resources available, shortcomings been faced and reforms required in their respective fields and these findings should be submitted for information and further action by the tri-monthly party conventions without waiting for a whole year for the traditional annual party convention.  It is only in this manner the new party, the SLPP, could become a true people’s party living in the minds of the people and dedicated to the service of the down trodden society in this country. (end)

By M D P DISSANAYAKE

Having a President like Maithreepala Sirisena cannot be a sound argument to do away with the Presidency.   That selection  was a cardinal mistake.

Sobhitha talked about the Constitution, like a Tyre with 17 patches.  Now he is no more.  Now we have the same Tyre with 19 patches. JVP want to add another.  This motion by JVP is  a virtual contractual arrangement with the group of UNP, SLMC, JVP, TNA  and all anti Sri Lankan forces to abolish Presidency.  The Executive Presidency should not be abolished as a punishment to President Maithreepala Sirisena.  Restricting the EP for two years was a mistake,  the amendment must be revoked.  Candidates such as Maithreepala struggling to manage even his first year in his office.  Maithreepala will never come to power again as President with a public mandate.

JVP is a spend force.  They are trying as many political gimmicks as possible to rebuild a political image to enhance their vote base.  JVP is hands in glove with corrupt.  Former Minister Wijedasa Rajapakse confimed that he has positive evidence of JVP accepting cash from the UNP just before last general election.   During past couple of years, JVP was part and parcel of the corrupt, inefficient Ranil – Maithree government.  Now realizing the tide is turning away from government, to grab anti-government votes, Anura Kumara and his gang are working on several fronts to improve their image.   In any 2019/20 elections, JVP will be wiped out of the political map.  They killed Kotikawatte Saddhatissa Thera, destroyed Buddhist temples, killed hundreds of youth. JVP is the substitute for TNA in the South. In the coming Wesak JVP celebrate May day in Jaffna, by courtesy of their proxies, TNA. JVP score card in Presidential Elections were: In 1982  Rohana Wijeweera 273,000 votes ( or 4.19%) and in 1999 Nandana Gunatilleke 344,000 votes ( or 4.08%).   In Parliamentary Elections  2010 441,000 votes ( or 5.49%), in 2015  543,000 votes ( or 4.87%) and in 2018 Local Elections 695,000 ( 6.26%). Erosion of vote base of JVP was  very similar to the down fall of LSSP in elections in 1947, 1952, 1956, 1960 March, 1960 July, 1965, 1970 and 1977 managing 10%, 13%, 11%, 11%, 8%, 8%, 9% and 3.61% winning no seats in 1977.  If Preferential System did not operate in 2015, JVP could have won between 0 and 1 seat.

If JVP had any sensible leader in the party, it was none other than Mr Wimal Weerawansa, who is now a highly recognized political national leader of Sri Lanka, with the likes of Mahinda Rajapakse, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera, Gotabaya Rajapakse, Nalaka Godahewa, Basil Rajapakse. DIG Anura Senanayake, Former Air Marshall Chief Harry Gunatilleke, Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda etc.  Wimal’s contribution in the past for the national agenda cannot be underestimated, he in most instances single handedly made robust and concise analysis of the proposed constitution highlighting its dangers to the Nation,  well ahead of many other political leaders.   His predictions, one by one, have come true.  Wimal in fact set the national agenda for the Joint Opposition, in spite of  threats for him and his family.  Wimal richly deserves   a long  and successful political journey. 

At a time President Mahinda Rajapakse had built a strong and effective Leadership Team for the future of Sri Lanka , it was sad a total stranger and  a Pawn like Prez Maithreepala was elevated to the rank of Presidency.

Everyone, including Rosy Senanayake, talk about making Sri Lanka a country like Singapore.  It is now time to stop soft peddling.  You are invited to travel on the streets of Serangoon Road on any evening, specially on Wednesdays and Fridays, the Tamils worship at the nearby Kovil and eat their food on Banana Leaves and peacefully leave. They do not spit on the roads. They do not litter streets.  They behave like dogs with their tales between the legs.  If they ask Little India to be made a separate Eelam, what will happen to the Tamils in Singapore?  Will they simply disappear to the thin air next morning!!!

Sinhalese must be settled in North and East in the same ratio of Sinhala-Tamil-Muslims in South and West.   Buddhist temples and monasteries must be built in the same ratio to Churches, Kovils and Mosques in South and West.  All Tamil and Muslim public schools must be merged with the General Public Schools.

The tasks ahead for Sri Lanka are enormous.  Instead of abolishing Presidency, it must be further strengthened.  Future President must have absolute power to revoke any legislation, if in his opinion, counter productive to public interest.   For example he should have powers to rescind 13 and 19 Amendments, without being challenged in any Court of Law.  Some may call it Dictatorship.  So be it!  But as an appetiser, lets call it GUIDED DEMOCRACY like in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Former Prime Minister Mr S W R D Bandaranaike, had State of Emergency for long periods, to combat trade union strikes organised by the his political enemies and Unions of Dr N M Perera and Mr Bala Thampoe.  When asked by foreign journalists as to why he derail democracy in Sri Lanka by using State of Emergency, the Hon. P M said:  We in Sri Lanka, if you have a continuous severe head ache, we use HISA KUDICHCHIYA ( an Ayurvedic traditional herbal paste placed on the head of the patient), and that stop the head ache.  So what is wrong with it” he asked?

Usvatte-aratchi Courtesy The Island

April 22, 2018, 10:14 pm
It is progress that scientists, including two eminent physicians, have taken up, again, the case against glyphosate. Bhikkhusangha taken in general, and Bhikkhu Ratana in particular, do not have the tool kit which qualifies them to make decisions in these matters. Earlier, certain other scientists had taken up the case for glyphosate. Somethings belong mostly in religion and others mostly in natural philosophy, the circles intersecting each other only in the higher regions. The present case for and against glyphosate, the way I recall it, rests on epidemiological studies. Glyphosate has been used widely as a weedkiller for some time in tea plantations. Why has there been no evidence of the incidence of kidney diseases among the populations in tea plantations? Does not manufactured tea carry residue of the herbicide? India grows tea on a scale far larger than we and do they not use glyphosate? If they do, what is the incidence of kidney disease there? As Mahaveli flows from the hills, first west and then north east and as the incidence of kidney diseases is most prevalent in the lower reaches of the river basin (in Area H in the Mahaveli project), why do not those waters carrying the toxic material from the plantations cause the sickness all the way down, including lands above Bowatenne? Do cultivators in Area C watered by Maduru Oya and in the Gal Oya valley use glyphosate with any intensity to kill weeds and why is there no hue and cry about kidney diseases there? Both NWP and Hambantota are major rice growing areas and if the cultivators there use glyphosate to kill weeds and one does not hear panic from there, how does one explain the difference? What are the differences in incidence? And if the incidence of the disease is location specific, is that not, prima facie, evidence that there is something separate from and perhaps in addition to glyphosate that may be responsible for the affliction? Should not the regression equation now have another variable and with different results?

In addition to the epidemiological studies, have there been studies by bio-chemists on the reaction of glyphosate with body chemicals to understand how chemicals in glyphosate react with other chemicals in the body? Is there a minimum amount of glyphosate that the body can absorb without causing irreparable damage to kidneys? Or is glyphosate in the minutest quantities toxic to humans?Is there any evidence that other creatures, both large and small, that share this environment are similarly ill-affected?

As you must have guessed easily, I am no scientist. Economies exist for human welfare and not the other way round. If any activity to promote the economy is as dangerous to human life as some scientists, including physicians allege, it is wise to act on the ‘precautionary principle’and avoid the use of glyphosate, while some others work in the lab and in hospitals to find for us the evidence beyond a high correlation coefficient, which, after all, provides only of evidence of association of two sets of data and not causation, which latter is what we are after, especially so when the data for the study of correlation may may be wonky. My uninformed guess is that these other studies are not beyond the financial capacity of plantations to bear nor beyond the mental equipment with our scientists to undertake. (Incidentally, there is no such word as ‘weedicide’ in the dictionary, but there are both ‘weedkiller’ and ‘herbicide’.)

 

Usvatte-aratchi

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

‘Petroleum prices to be increased on May Day’

Joint Opposition (JO) spokesman Bandula Gunawardena, MP, yesterday alleged that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government was about to introduce a fuel pricing formula at the behest of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Addressing the media at Vajirasharma temple, Punchi Borella, Gunawardena accused the government of having given in to IMF dictates. The JO strongly opposed the pricing formula, as the people were struggling to make ends meet, Gunawardena said.

Predicting that the pricing formula would be introduced on May Day, Gunawardena said that JO May Day rally would focus on the ill-effects of the IMF-government agreement.

Responding to a query by The Island, Gunawardena, however, admitted that a fuel pricing formula was necessary. Sri Lanka couldn’t do without a pricing formula for major imports such as fuel, he said.

Asked why the Rajapaksa government in which he was trade minister had disregarded a Supreme Court directive in the late Nov 2008 that a pricing formula be introduced to regulate fuel prices, Gunawardena said the judiciary couldn’t interfere with powers and functions of Parliament.

The then Speaker had explained the parliament’s position vis a vis Supreme Court instructions issued to the then Secretary to the Treasury, Gunawardena said. The Island asked Gunawardena whether he believed Sri Lanka needed a pricing formula. Gunwardena said that such a formula was a must. Asked to explain why the previous government had failed to do so, Gunawardena claimed that the UNP had ridiculed his attempt to introduce a gas pricing formula and, therefore, therfore, it had decided against introducing a fuel pricing formula.

A three-bench panel chaired by the Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva also asked the then president Mahinda Rajapaksa to replace minister in charge of petroleum resources, AHM Fowzie.

Gunawardena said that Supreme Court gave orders after considering two petitions seeking annulment of hedging agreements signed by de Mel with two private banks for purchasing fuel.

Gunawardena said that Kiniyawala Palitha Thero, Ravi Karunanayake MP and Ravi Jayawardene had filed one petition and the other was filed by the chairman of Laugfs gas company WKH Wegapitiya.

Commenting on former Finance Minister Karunanayake’s criticism of the controversial IMF-government agreement, Gunawardena pointed out that Karunanayake endorsed that deal on behalf of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration.

The JO spokesman said that an IMF delegation was in Colombo to examine the status of the implementation of its agreement with Sri Lanka.

The government was under tremendous IMF pressure to increase its revenue regardless of the extreme difficulties experienced by the vast majority of people, the MP said. Basically, the government had agreed to increase revenue, reduce public sector expenditure, reduce budget deficit, adopt a free-floating exchange rate and restructure loss making state enterprises.

The JO called the media briefing in the wake of the IMF declaring it had reached an understanding with Sri Lanka regarding long-delayed fuel pricing formula,.

Responding to another query, Gunawardena admitted that the previous government, too, had agreed to IMF conditions though subsequently side-stepped them.

Gunawardena alleged that the current dispensation had ruined the economy and caused irreparable damage to it over the past three years.

The intervention in Syria has become an eye opener as a string of lies, fake videos, images, recruitment of child artists & PR firms have exposed the lies that have gone into justifying military intervention by the West & UN action thereafter. A girl crying before Congress claiming she witnesses Iraqi soldiers remove babies from incubators justified the invasion of Iraq. Channel 4’s star witness was Vany Kumar who had arrived from London to the Vanni and her accounts of blood being mixed with water & given to dying Tamil civilians together with a series of documentaries titled Killing Fields” led to successive UNHRC Resolutions against Sri Lanka. We will now examine these two accounts to showcase how & what has gone into fooling all of us.

This is Nayirah. It was not her real name. Her real name was hidden to protect her from the ‘Iraqis’.

In 1990, she was a 15 year old girl who was one of the many who testified before US Congress. She described with tears how Iraqi soldiers removed babies from the incubators & killed them at the Al-Addan hospital. “While I was there, I saw the Iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns, and go into the room where … babies were in incubators. They took the babies out of the incubators, took the incubators, and left the babies on the cold floor to die.” Her witness accounts were so vivid it moved those present to tears. Her incubator story was repeated no less than 7 times by the US President George Bush Senior himself. Her story may not have been the only justification to invade Iraq but it definitely steered US sentiments to facilitate it. Even Amnesty International quoted her testimony claiming 312 dead babies and later was forced to retract it. However, there were no other witnesses to support her story, not even the doctors who were present on that day at the hospital.

What the world did not know was that Nayirah was not her real name.

She was Nijirah Al-Sabah, the daughter of Saud Bin Nasir Al-Sabah, the Kuwait ambassador to the US & Canada & a member of the Kuwait Royal Family & she had been trained to cry & give falsified evidence by US PR firm Hill & Knowlton. The firm distributed her testimony. The politicians used the story to manipulate the public and the mainstream media helped spread & reinforce the lie. The killing babies story worked in World War 1 when the British accused Germans. H&K vice-president Lauri Fitz-Pegado had coached Nayirah

When ‘Nayirah’s father was questioned. This was his reply “If I wanted to lie, or if we wanted to lie, if we wanted to exaggerate, I wouldn’t use my daughter to do so. I could easily buy other people to do it.“
— Saud Nasir al-Sabah, Kuwait’s Ambassador to the United States and Canada. He was also related to the Kuwait Royal family. ‘Nayirah’ & family were living in the US.

On 2^nd August 1990 – Iraqi troops under orders of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.

When Saddam was a ‘friend’ of the US between 1980-1988 and helped kill about 150,000 Iranians the US, the world, the UN or media were not concerned about human rights. Now that Saddam was no longer an ally of the US & he had done the unpardonable act of invading a country that had oil, the US decided to take action.

According to US Congressman Jimmy Hayes of Louisiana, the Kuwait government had hired 20 PR, law & lobby firms to mobilize US opinion & force against Saddam & Iraq. Some of these included Rendon Group, Neill & Co(to ($50,000 p.m. to lobby Congress) Hill & Knowlton who claimed to be representing Citizens for a Free Kuwait” a front created to hide the real role of the Kuwait Government which had paid $11.9m through the front.

The head of Hill & Knowlton (Craig Fuller) was Chief of Staff when George Bush was Vice President. The devices & techniques used (press conferences showing torture, ‘Free Kuwait” t-shirts, bumper stickers at college campuses, releasing ‘hostage’ letters, radio shows, publication of books Rape of Kuwait” ) by Hill & Knowlton in the 1990s to steer US public sentiment should make everyone wonder at the methodologies now being used. Wirthlin Group, a unit within the Hill & Knowlton carried out daily opinion polls to test the pulse of the people. Wirthlin’s job was to project Saddam as a madman, committing atrocities even against his own people and the US needed to stop him. On September 23, 1990, Hill & Knowlton used its links to evangelical mega-churches to organize a National Day of Prayer for the Kuwaiti people. H&K launched a yellow ribbon campaign to support US invasion. That Iraq was about to strike Saudi Arabia was another PR lie. However, the world may have been fooled but one man wasn’t – John MacArthur, author of ‘The Second Front’ depicting the manipulation of news media during the Gulf War began to doubt the incubator story and soon the whole world came to know it was a paid lie. How happy is Nayirah at what her sobs have done to a country 28 years later?

Here are some videos to understand those that aided, abetted & paid to lie to invade Iraq

Persian Gulf War: Kuwait Incubator Baby Hoax with Tom Lantos and Nayirah – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi6J-pYWqc4

60 Minutes ‘Nayirah’ Part 1 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_JfqkEXdAg

To sell a war – Gulf War propaganda – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaR1YBR5g6U&t=63s

This is Vany Kumar

She was presented by UK Channel 4 documentary Killing Fields” as a Star Witness. She has 4 names – Dr. Tamilvani, Damilvany Kumar, Damilvany  Gnanakumar & Vany Kumar. C4 screened her 10 times. She was described as a young English Tamil woman who had left London to spend 6 months with relatives in Sri Lanka”…”founder herself caught up with tens of thousands of displaced Tamil civilians on the exodus eastwards”. The UK Guardian reported that she came to Sri Lanka on 28 February 2009 for the 1^st time since moving to UK in 1994 & headed for the Vanni. C4 also says she had not disclosed her whereabouts even to close relatives & it is odd that the first call she made from Sri Lanka was to British media & not to her family.

Like Nayirah who had witnessed Iraqi soldiers putting babies out of incubators, Vany Kumar claims to have watched a 6 year old boy have his leg amputated without anesthetics, then she contradicted herself by claiming blood with mixed with water. She also claimed she saw hospital staff filter blood coming out of patients through a cloth before feeding it back into their veins. You don’t have to be a doctor know that blood cannot be mixed with water & given to patients! Her lies were exposed by Dr. Shanmugarajah (whom she was assisting) in his affidavit we did not conduct any sort of surgery without giving anesthesia”.

She turned out to be a member of the LTTE front the Tamil Youth Organization that was declared a LTTE front by the GOSL in 2014. She is alleged to have arrived in Sri Lanka & made contact with LTTE’s Castro & had undergone military training under Durga, female LTTE leader of Sodiya regiment. She had functioned as translator for LTTE propaganda/media. She denies LTTE abused children then why should UNSG & foreign envoys appeal to the LTTE to release civilians & not use them as hostages, human shields & conscript them as combatants? She says LTTE don’t want to kill their own people, they were fighting for them, they worked so hard to save their people”.. and she even declares the people chose to stay”

The UK Guardian declares she provided running commentary to the outside world from behind the lines”. On 30 May 2009 days after the military defeat of the LTTE the Guardian published an article titled Call to free British medic held in Sri Lanka war zone”. Now Vany Kumar had become a British woman” interned in one of the islands’ detention camps” – if so how did she make contact with others? Then began a global campaign to project her as helping the wounded in a hospital & the British Foreign Office demanded her release. From there onwards  from 8000 dead, jumped to double figures 16,000, 40,000 & 150,000 & now 200,000!

How can a member of the proscribed LTTE become a witness” under UNRC witness protection act” & given 20 years. Amnesty International & many other human rights organizations including the UN quoted her extensively too! Lord Naseby says C4 witnesses are paid members of LTTE http://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=25901&mode=beauti

Vany Kumar, 25… in a telephone interview with the Guardian, she describes life on the front line. (how did Vany Kumar have access to dial UK from the Vanni?)

• The most terrible thing that I have seen was when a mother had a bullet go through her breast and she was dead and the baby was still on the other side of the breast and the baby was drinking her milk, and that really affected me. I was at that place where it happened. (given Vany’s association with LTTE does this single statement depict the travesty of justice and how media has contributed to blurring civilians from LTTE)
• [The shelling] is definitely coming from the government side, that can be sure, because it is only a small area on the LTTE side and from the sound and from the distance I can surely say it is from the government side.” (a giveaway – an LTTE ‘civilian’ pinning the blame on the GOSL)
• I just want my sister back with me as soon as possible. My mum is crying and we need her back. We didn’t have anything to do with the war.” (why didn’t she tell her family she was coming to Vanni)
• Both parties have got to have a ceasefire. I think the international [community] has to either come into the country or get both parties to stop the fighting and start thinking about the civilians living here. Every single person living here asks why the international [community] is not doing anything.”(did she not say in the C4 interview that civilians were staying with the LTTE voluntarily and that the LTTE was not keeping them by force?)

On 1st June 2009, Murali Reddy an embedded Indian journalist wrote to The Hindu ‘Mystery shrouds presence of British woman in tiger territory’. Reddy refers to Vany Kumar as Damilvany Gnanakumar and asks a very simple question. How did she land in the island nation and how did she stay on in the tiger-controlled territory for nearly 15months?

Nayirah was no victim, she was coached. Vany Kumar was no civilian but a member of a LTTE front.

$12million was paid to Hill & Knowlton PR firm to mastermind & set the stage for the the Gulf War. Nayirah was virtually a hired actress coached to cry & fool the US public & prompt action against a country. How much was C4 paid to make Killing Fields, to lobby & influence foreign governments, foreign MPs & officials of the UN to take action against Sri Lanka? We recall how when the C4 documentary was screen in various parliaments around the world, the MPs were moved to tears just the way Nayirah was coached to cry & lie.

The extent of the lies can be now seen in returning to the news that was relayed

Damilvany Gnanakumar witness of Sri Lanka war – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOqLmYxIDlg

Sri Lankan civil war: Damilvany’s story – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7FSdpWjDkw

Eyewitness Sri Lanka: ‘This is too much to take. Why is the world not helping?’ –

LTTE member Vany Kumar : How many LTTE Terrorists have become witnesses” – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/12/sri-lanka-eyewitness-civil-war

http://www.sinhalanet.net/ltte-member-vany-kumar-how-many-ltte-terrorists-have-become-witnesses

Lies Agreed Upon – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5O1JAfRXew (refuting the C4 videos)

Shenali D Waduge

That regime change took place aligning a bevy of political parties, personages, over 50 civil society groups in an effortless coup against the previous government was evidenced in January 2015 and the string of actions & decisions taken thereafter put into context has spelt doom & destabilization for Sri Lanka. How many people have now realized whether the gameplan was to put their man in power tweaking the puppet President’s powers by introducing the 19^th amendment booby trap?

The 19a Bill was passed in Parliament on 28^th April 2015 with a 2/3 majority after 174 amendments. 212 voted in favor, 1 abstained, 10 were absent and 1 voted against. We mention with admiration the sole person who voted against it – Admiral Sarath Weerasekera. With so many amendments we would like to know whether the 19a Bill passed was the same as what was debated in Parliament on 16^th March 2015 or was it a different version? Who will answer?

The only thing against the 18^th amendment giving three or more term limits to the Presidency was the fact the former President could have nullified the 13a or diluted its powers before doing further amendments. What voters need to realize is that while a President had the right to contest for 2 or more terms, the voters had every right to reject him and this is exactly what happened to the former President seeking a third term in office. Therefore, there was nothing detrimental for the state or voters in the 18^thamendment. (Clause 4 of the 19th Amendment, Article 31(2) of the Constitution)

However, 19a was assured to answer all problems. Needless to say it has created more problems than even the politicians can handle and the President who has warmed his presidential seat is beginning to find that he has been taken for a right royal ride and there is absolutely nothing he can do about it constitutionally.

We have a President who only in his third year has realized that six years Presidential term was cut down to 5 through the 19a (Clause 3 of the 19th Amendment, Article 30(2) of the Constitution)! Obviously a clue that he was brought in clueless about what his job role was. It was only in his third year did the same President realize he could not remove the Prime Minister because of 19a. There are more surprises for the President – he cannot even change the Prime Minister, a possibility that a President had without even having to notify parliament, the public or even the Prime Minister for that matter. Clause 9 of the 19th Amendment, Article 46(2) of the Constitution prevents the President removing the PM at his discretion – why was this clause inserted? for whose benefit?

It is a known secret that the PM is a poodle of the West. Until 1993 he was virtually a nobody, then Premadasa was assassinated & he became the PM. It is also curious that LTTE attacked and killed virtually all of UNP’s best of leaders including military heads who had aligned to UNP & were tipped to be presidential candidates. Gamini Dissanayake, Lalith Athulathmudali, Gen. Algama, Gen Janaka Perera. Thus, the present PM has remained head of the UNP since 1994 with no alternative leader insight.

In the event the post of President falls vacant before the term of office ends as per 19a any parliamentarian with the most support can become President and with the manner the PM managed to buy over PMs, the previous obstacle before the 19a has also been removed!

The President should by now have realized that he cannot even dissolve Parliament because of 19a. Not only that he cannot even remove the PM at his discretion (Clause 9 of the 19th Amendment, Article 46(2) of the Constitution)

So you have to wonder were all these insertions in the 19a pre-planned to ensure their man the present PM could not be removed while also clipping the President’s powers? Something everyone needs to now seriously think about.

Another puzzling question is why would 19a drafters wish to include clause (19) after repealing Article 85(2) that removes President’s power to put to a referendum any Bill (not a constitutional amendment) which is rejected by Parliament.

The Supreme Court opined that Clause 11 and 26 required referendum plus 2/3 majority for below items.

Quite a few confusing clauses prevail

Article 42(3) proposed PM to be head of Cabinet

Article 43(1) proposed PM to determine number of Ministers & Ministries & assignment of its subject & functions

Article 43(3) proposed PM to change assignment of subjects & recommend to the President changes in composition of the Cabinet

Article 44(2) proposed the PM to determine subjects & functions of non-cabinet Ministers

Article 44(3) proposed the PM to change subjects assigned to non-cabinet Ministers

Article 44(5) proposed that any cabinet minister at the request of the PM could by gazette delegate power, functions to any minister by cabinet minister.

However, Clause 9 of the 19th Amendment, Article 43(2), 44(1), 45(1) and 46(3)(a) of the Constitution demands the President to act on advice of the PM when appointing or removing cabinet, non-cabinet or even deputy ministers.

Yet, Clause 9 of the 19th Amendment, Article 43(1), 44(2) of the Constitution says the President can consult the PM ONLY IF S/HE considers it NECESSARY to determine number of cabinet ministers/non-cabinet ministers & subjects assigned to them. Note number of Deputy Ministers, their functions are not included.

So one may ask, exactly what powers the President is left with! All he was left with was some bizarre foreign PR slogans – ensure constitution was respected, promote national reconciliation & integration, ensure functioning of the constitutional council, advice the election commission – and the hilarious part is that none of these entities are even bound to listen to him after appointment Clause 5 of the 19th Amendment, Article 33(1) of the Constitution

 

Clause 26 proposed through Article 104B (5)(c)

Gave powers to the Election Commission to appoint a competent authority to take over State or Private broadcaster/telecaster which violated regulations issued by the Election Commission. All political broadcasts were to come under them.

Now connect this to the manner the present election commissioner has been functioning where he failed to even release the total election results officially and has been openly functioning with bias as seen by the statements he is making against the majority populace.

Let’s all recall that the present government came into power claiming that they would save the nation from the corrupt former government.

We would like to pose an open question to the 50 civil society organizations who went out of their way to campaign 24×7 to bring yahapalana government to power, why they are so silent now? They decried about lack of good governance of the previous government but are deaf, blind & dumb to the illegalities & irregularities being committed by the very people they brought to power. How can any citizen rely on these 50 civil society organizations?

The voters were promised yahapalana or good governance & citizens were painted a picture of a dreamland dawning for Sri Lanka with a coalition of non-corrupt rulers taking over. However, that the people were being fooled by fancy slogans & well-oiled statements was seen by the manner that the Presidential election that elected a President resulted in the appointment of a PM (sans a General Election) without removing the sitting PM and the establishment of a fake government that came to be called a ‘national unity government’. In so creating this bogus ‘national government’ it justified the denial of Opposition to the SLFP & paved way to appoint a 16 member TNA which has LTTE links to be appointed as the country’s Opposition & the TNA head as the Opposition Leader who is using his position to speak on behalf of the LTTE cadres & Tamils for political reasons only.

The drafters of the 19a were so cunning and their intentions to maintain a jumbo government at the cost of the citizens did not matter which is why they put wool over the citizens by promising a 30-member government but included the national unity clause into the 19a to use as a carrot & bribe to dish out appointments to selfish MPs & shut them up from joining the opposition. Thus the national unity government by virtue of the 19a allowed 45 Cabinet Ministers and 55 Non-Cabinet & Deputy Ministers. It would be good for someone to check if they have violated these figures in lavishly giving away portfolios for any Member pretending to jump ship!

The obvious task of this fake national government is to be used to pass Bills & a new constitution that the people of Sri Lanka have not asked for, want or need but aligns to the bigger agendas of those drawing the strings of the traitors put into power and the treacheries that are now taking place.

With all its alleged ‘corruptions’ against the previous government, Sri Lanka was 79^th in the Global Corruption Index in 2014 by 2018 Sri Lanka has been placed 91! The Sri Lankan rupee against the dollar was Rs.133 in 2014 it is now Rs.156. Forbes Magazine declared Sri Lanka as one of the 10 coolest places to visit in 2014. Those screaming murders & disappearances against the previous government are silent on the shocking crime statistics of late – in just 4 months there have been 17 murders while kidnappings, daylight gun violence, robberies have increased as well.

All these added up and every action that has taken since 2015 have destabilized Sri Lanka and caused not only tensions among communities but have made the entire country vulnerable and economically volatile to end up with not even a begging bowl to now beg with.

 

 

 

Shenali D Waduge

Senaka Weeraratna Hony. Secretary German Dharmaduta Society

It is with great sadness that I am conveying to you the heartbreaking news of the death of our close friend and dedicated Buddhist worker, Mr. D. Ananda de Silva, Assistant Secretary, German Dharmaduta Society. I have been informed by his son Renuka that his father died early morning today (at 4.30 a.m.) from Liver failure. He was ailing for some time and during the last few months he spent time in Hospital. He was 79 years old.

He is survived by three children, two sons Priyanka and Renuka and daughter, Sangeethika. His wife Mrs. Dharshani Fernando passed away in early February 2018.

On behalf of the German Dharmaduta Society I have taken the liberty of sending out to members of his family, our most heartfelt condolences and sympathy. Ananda will be deeply missed. This is truly a great loss to the German Dharmaduta Society and to the entire Buddhist community.

Since year 1963 Ananda de Silva has been closely associated with the German Dharmaduta Society. He came into contact with Asoka Weeraratna, when he responded to an advertisement in 1963 calling for volunteers to obtain training in meditation with a view to joining the Sangha. He spent time at Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya at the time of its founding in 1967, as a disciple of Ven. Matara Sri Nanarama Maha Thero.

He also visited Germany and resided at the Berlin Vihara (Das Buddhistische Haus) for a couple of years in the early 1980s, assisting the Resident monks and the management of the Berlin Temple. He was closely associated with Asoka Weeraratna ( later Ven. Mitirigala Dhammanissanti Thero) in several of his projects including the public campaign calling on the Govt. of Sri Lanka under President R. Premadasa to withdraw state patronage to the Inland Fisheries scheme. It resulted finally in President Premadasa discontinuing state sponsorship of Inland Fisheries in 1990 and thereby preventing Buddhists from embracing wrong livelihoods.

Ananda de Silva became an Instructor in Meditation. He also served the German Dharmaduta Society  in the capacity of Assistant Secretary for about 15 years until the time of his passing.

He was a good public speaker and a talented writer in Sinhala. In these respects he was a great asset to the work of the GDS. He inherited literary skills from his father who was committed to reading and writing. He has several brothers some of whom are in the field of Education. One brother is the Principal of Dewapathiraja College, Ambalangoda.

The funeral will take place on Monday April 23, 2018 at Pokunuwita, Henagama. The remains of the late Ananda de Silva will be kept for viewing until 3.00 p.m. on April 23, at his residence at 237 / 4, Henegama, Pokunuwita (Panadura / Horana main Road).

Tel. contact no. 0777 298 458 (Renuka de Silva).

May he attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana.

Senaka Weeraratna

Hony. Secretary

German Dharmaduta Society

April 21, 2018

Edward Walter Perera (11 December 1875 – 15 February 1953) was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) barrister, politician and freedom fighter. He was known as the ‘Lion of Kotte‘ and was a prominent figure in the Sri Lankan independence movement and a senator.

Early life and education

Born on 11 December 1875 at Unawatuna, Galle to Edward Francis Perera, Proctor of Colombo. Raised as a devoted Christian, Perera was educated at Royal College, Colombo and was the first editor of the Royal College Magazine, he served as a sub-editor of the newspaper, Examiner until he was called to the Bar in May 1900. Having gone to England for further studies, he became a Barrister in 1909. Perera was a member of the first Reform Deputation in 1910.

 E. W. Perera Senator of Ceylon

Personal details

Born

11 December 1875

Died

15 February 1953

Nationality

Ceylonese (Sri Lankan)

Alma mater

Royal College Colombo

Occupation

Politics

Profession

Barrister

A memorandum was drafted at a secret meeting held at the residence of E. W. Perera, initiated by Sir James Peiris and presided over by Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, before presenting it to his majesties government, the support of the British members of parliament and the press in England had to be obtained. Sea voyage was dangerous due to the presence of German submarines, which attacked ships and destroyed them. Abandoning a promising career at the Bar, E. W. Perera undertook the task of going over to England by obtaining permission saying he was going to do some research in the British museum. To his advantage, the British treated him as a scholarly Christian Barrister rather than a national patriot, he was accompanied by George E. de Silva. In England, he was joined by Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and later by Sir D.B Jayatilaka and they presented the memorandum to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, pleading for the repeal of martial law and describing the atrocities committed by the Police led by Dowbiggin.^[1] The mission was a success, the British government ordered the release of the leaders who were in detention. Several high officials were transferred. A new Governor, Sir John Anderson was sent to replace Sir Robert Chalmers with instructions to inquire and report to His Majesty’s Government. E. W. Perera’s effort was greatly appreciated and he was thereafter referred to as the Lion of Kotte.
During World War I, in 1915 commercial-ethnic rivalry erupted into a riot in Colombo against the Muslims, with Christians participating as much as Buddhists. Fearing an uprising the inexperienced British colonial Governor of Ceylon Sir Robert Chalmers declared Martial Law on 2 June 1915 and on the advice of Inspector General of Police Herbert Dowbiggin began a brutal suppression of the Sinhala community by giving orders to the Police and the Army to shoot any one who they deemed a rioter without a trial, it is said the numbers of Sinhalese killed this way were thousands.^{[citation needed]} Many local leaders, that included D. S. Senanayake, D. R. Wijewardena, Arthur V. Dias, Dr. Cassius Pereira, Dr. W. A. de Silva, F.R. Dias Bandaranaike, H. M. Amarasuriya, A.H. Molamure where imprisoned and Captain D.E.Henry Pedris, a militia commander, was shot for mutiny.Role in the independence movement

It was also E. W. Perera who with the help of D. R. Wijewardena, the press baron (grandfarther of the current Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickramasinghe) traced the location of the banner of last King Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe, the last king of the Kingdom of Kandy to the Royal Hospital Chelsea where it was kept since the surrender of the Kingdom to the British in 1815. The recovered banner became a focal point in the independence movement and it became the flag of the Dominion of Ceylon upon its independence in 1948.^[2]

Political career

He was a member of the Legislative Council – first as member from Western Province BH Division (1920) and then representing the Kalutara District (1924), as President of the Ceylon National Congress, he led its delegation before the Donoughmore Commission in 1926/27. Sincere to his convictions, he opposed the granting of universal adult suffrage and broke with his colleagues in the Congress, he agitated for full freedom and formed the All-Ceylon Liberal Association with Sir James Peiris. However, he was elected Member of the State Council for the Horana seat (1931) by a majority of 12,432 votes, he was a scholar and wrote several books. He died on 15 February 1953 at the age of 79.

See also

• National Heroes of Sri Lanka
• Sri Lankan independence movement
• Sri Lankan independence activist
• Legislative Council of Ceylon

External links

• Those who led the struggle
• Lion of Kotte
• http://bandaragama.wordpress.com/

References

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The 1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots (also known as the anti-Muslim riots of 1913^[1][2][3] or the 1915 Buddhist Mohammedan riots or the 1915 Ceylonese riots) was a widespread and prolonged ethnic riot in the island of Ceylon between Sinhalese Buddhists and the Ceylon Moors and the brutal suppression of it by the British colonial authorities.^[4]

1915 Sinhalese-Muslim riots
Ceylon
Date	28 May – 8 August 1915
Location	Western Provinceand Sabaragamuwa, British Ceylon
Caused by	Attempt to prevent an attack on a Buddhist procession by Indian Moors
Methods	Widespread looting, assault, arson and murder
Lead figures
Robert Chalmers
Arrests/Injuries/Deaths
Arrests: N/A Injuries: N/A Deaths: 116 (63 killed by the police/military)

The riots started in Kandy in the night of 28 May 1915 and spread to neighbouring villages on 30 May and to Colombo on 31 May and other towns there after. It was suppressed by 9 June with final incidents taking place on 11 May in Chilaw. Taking place at a time World War I was raging in Europe, the British feared the riots as a possible native upraising, martial law was first declared in the Western and Sabaragamuwa Provinces on 2 June, extended to other provinces in the following days, and terminated on 30 August, during which many summary executions and other atrocities where carried out by the colonial forces in attempts to subdue the riots.^[4][5]

Contents

Kalathma Jayawardhane Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Buddhasasana Minister Gamini Jayawickrama Perera said yesterday the ban of pandals on Vesak and Poson Poya Days would not be changed and stressed the need to focus on the spiritual aspect of religion rather than on mundane activities.

He told Daily Mirror that this prohibition on pandals would only apply to May 29, the Vesak Poya Day and June 27 the Poson Poya Day and that pandals could be put up on the other days.

The minister had imposed this restriction last month but the Government Information Department said the government had not taken a policy decision to ban dansals and pandals on Vesak and on Poson Poya Days.

He said the ministry had requested the people to refrain from putting up pandals only on Vesak and Poson Poya Days following a request made to him by the Mahanayake Theras.

This decision was made to safeguard Buddhist principles and encourage Buddhists to engage in spiritual activities during Vesak and Poson,” the minister said.

He said all concerned including the Police had been informed to impose this restriction on pandals on the specified days while dansals can be held on these days.

The ministry will soon make a proposal to the Cabinet to prohibit pandals on Vesak and Poson Poya Days applicable to every year. A national policy will be implemented in this regard,” he said.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

London, April 20 (newsin.asia): The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) being held here has asked Sri Lanka to give leadership to mangrove conservation in the Commonwealth.

Sri Lanka has been having a successful mangrove conservation program since 2015 thanks to President Maithripala Sirisena.

This was stated during the 25th inaugural ceremony of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), held on April 19.‎

By Editor Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

The airstrikes carried out by the US, UK and France on alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria on April 14, are yet another instance of how the US (and its allies) use false flags” or fake news” to unleash military action to serve their geo-strategic interests, writes P.K.Bala.chandran in DailyFT.

Western governments used their national media to the hilt to portray Assad as a ruthless and bloodthirsty dictator who relished watching TV images of kids being killed by poison gas.

Covering Up Evidence   

However, for all its efforts to show that Assad is using chemical weapons, Washington has produced no evidence to show that chemical weapons have been used.

In fact, according to the Russians, the US used the April 14 air strikes to destroy evidence which might show that America’s charge about the use of chemical weapons is false. The attacks took place just before a team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was to visit Douma, the site which was allegedly subjected to chemical attacks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told BBC that the allegations of chemical weapons use were only based on media reports and social media” and that the incident of chemical weapons use in Douma was staged”.

Robert Fisk of The Independent went to Douma where he was told by a local doctor that people died not because of gas but due to lack of oxygen in their bunkers. During bombings, gusts of wind threw mounds of dust into bunkers which chocked those who were taking shelter there.

There are many people I talked to amid the ruins of the town who said they had never believed in gas stories, which were usually put about, they claimed, by the armed Islamist groups,” Fisk wrote.

Peter Ford, the former British Ambassador to Syria, told BBC Radio Scotland that in all probability”the alleged chemical attack never happened and that the video and image evidence used as proof by the US and its allies was falsified

Past Use of Fake News

Writing in Russia Today Irish journalist Danielle Ryan says that ‘false flag’ or fake news” has been used many times before by the US to start military operations.

In October 1990, the testimony a 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl, Nayirah, before the US Congress, was used to sell the first Gulf War to the American people.  An emotional Nayirah told the Congressional Human Rights Caucus that she had witnessed Iraqi soldiers taking babies out of incubators and leaving them on the floor to die.

But what the American public did not know was that Nayirah was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US and she had been coached by the American PR firm Hill and Knowlton.

Operation Northwoods

Ryan recalls that in the 1960s, American military leaders devised plans to bomb US cities and blame Cuban leader Fidel Castro for them, in order to manufacture public and international support for a war against Cuba.

The plan was codenamed Operation Northwoods. The American military suggested sinking boatloads of Cuban refugees, hijacking planes and bombing Miami. The goal was to convince Americans that Castro had unleashed a reign of terror upon them.”

The top brass were even willing to cause US military casualties by blowing up an American boat in Guantanamo Bay and blaming Cuba. Why? Because, as they put it: casualty lists in US newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation and help manufacture support for war,” Ryan writes.

The plans were quashed by President Kennedy, who was assassinated one year later, leading some to speculate on a link between those events, the writer speculates.’

Gulf of Tonkin

On August 2, 1964, North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked the USS ‘Maddox’ while it was on routine patrol” in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. Two days later, the US Navy reported a second unprovoked” attack on the ‘Maddox’ and the USS ‘Turner Joy’.

Ryan says that the second attack was fake”. But it led to the unleashing of a war in Vietnam which proved to be the most disastrous in American history.

WMD with Saddam Hussein

George Bush went to war against Saddam Hussein of Iraq for allegedly possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).

But John Nixon, the CIA agent who interrogated Saddam in 2003, came to the conclusion that there weren’t any such weapons.

But America wanted to overthrow Saddam anyhow, and cooked up the story of the WMD without intelligence confirmation, Nixon told The Independent. 

Fake Soviet aircraft

Ryan refers to a recently declassified three-page memo written by members of the National Security Council suggesting that the US government should acquire Soviet aircraft which would be used to stage attacks and provide the pretext for war.

Such aircraft, the memo said, could be used in a provocation operation in which Soviet aircraft would appear to attack US or friendly installations to provide an excuse for US intervention.”

Objectives Not Attained

By all independent accounts, last Saturday’s airstrikes against Syria have failed to deliver the goods. It is not clear as to what they destroyed. Russian reports have been contradictory. One report said that chemical warfare facilities were evacuated to safer places elsewhere days ahead of the raid. But the official Russian and Syrian stand is that there were no chemical facilities in the first place.

At any rate, the attacks have made no difference to the ground situation in Syria. They have, on the other hand, provoked the allies of the US in Europe to call for a political solution eschewing war.

Europe is concerned that more than 465,000 Syrians have been killed, over a million injured, and over 12 million ( half the country’s prewar population)  have been displaced because  of the eight year war.

US policy on Syria is confused. President Donald Trump, for all his bluff and bluster, is in two minds about keeping US troops in Syria. On the one hand, Washington is fighting some of the Islamist terror groups ranged against the Syrian government headed by Assad. But on the other hand, it is also hell bent on overthrowing Assad and is using some Islamic groups for this purpose.

However, for all its efforts, the US has been unable to make a material change in the situation in Syria. Assad is well entrenched and is pushing back the Islamist rebels. And his ally, Russia, continues to have a firm footing in the country. American pressure has only been driving Syria into the arms of Russia.

(The featured image at the top shows Syrian missiles to intercept US air raiders)  

C.A.Chandraprema Courtesy The Island

• Major Ajith Prasanna takes a closer look at what Keith Noyahr wrote
• Sunday Leader throwing red herrings across the trail
• The mistake that Gota made

April 21, 2018, 8:10 pm
Amidst the political confusion that engulfed the country after the recent local government elections and just before the New Year holidays, the former Director of Military Intelligence Major General Amal Karunasekera was arrested in relation to the abduction and torture of Keith Noyahr, the Defence Correspondent of the now defunct newspaper The Nation, back in 2008. After this arrest, the state owned Sunday Observer explained how Maj. Gen. Karunasekera came to be implicated in this case as follows – when Keith Noyahr was abducted on May 22, 2008 his colleagues in The Nation had contacted President Mahinda Rajapksa and the then Defence Secretary and informed them of the abduction. Thereupon President Mahinda Rajapaksa had called Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who in turn had called Maj. Gen. Kapila Hendavitharana the Chief of National Intelligence who in turn had contacted the Director of Military Intelligence Maj General Amal Karunasekera and he in turn had contacted Major Bulathwatte and this had resulted in the release of Noyahr.

The Sunday Observer further stated that mobile phone signals had indicated that both Major Bulathwatte and Keith Noyahr had been in a safehouse run by Major Bulathwatte in Dompe. Earlier, an article that appeared in The Sunday Leader April 9, 2017 titled ‘The Keith Noyahr Saga: A Synopsis’ had revealed that detectives have also recovered the white van used for the abduction. It was said to be owned by a Dompe resident and leased to Bulathwatte. It had also been found that the safehouse in Dompe where Noyahr had been allegedly held, had also been taken on lease by Major Bulathwatte. According to this Sunday Leader article, Noyahr’s abduction took place because he wrote an article about the LTTE bomb that was set off near the Colombo Hilton Hotel on Sir Chittampalan Gardiner Mawatha on Friday May 16, 2008 which was described as ‘a scathing indictment’ of those officials in charge of the security and intelligence apparatus in charge of guarding Colombo.

This refers to an article titled “Ramming into the Colombo HSZ” datelined 18 May 2008 which can be accessed on the following link – http://www.nation.lk/2008/05/18/militarym.htm. Even though the Sunday Leader tries to portray this article as the immediate cause for the abduction and torture of Noyahr, readers who access the original article on the above link will see that this article was merely a description of the LTTE attack and its ramifications and it was not by any means a ‘scathing’ attack on anybody. In fact, the Sunday Leader had after describing it as ‘a scathing article’ against the government had in the same breath said incongruously that “The article was relatively mild, suggesting only that the authorities remedy their ‘failure to anticipate’…” How can any newspaper article be a scathing criticism and relatively mild at the same time? This article was no different to hundreds of articles appearing on a daily basis in newspapers and if journalists were going to be abducted and tortured for writing articles like that, then every journalist in this country should have been abducted and assaulted by the Army during that time.

The mere fact that the Sunday Leader has gone out of its way to say that it was this nondescript article of 18 May 2008 that led to the abduction and torture of Keith Noyahr and not the blistering attack the latter had launched a week earlier on 11 May 2008 on the then Army Commander Sarath Fonseka clearly shows that there is a deliberate attempt to deflect attention from Fonseka. If a ‘reasonable person’ reads the two articles mentioned above, there is little doubt that he would conclude that the article on Fonseka was far more more likely to provoke an attack than the article on the bomb blast in Colombo. A newspaper cannot pretend to be oblivious to the difference between the two articles and if they do, then that is for a dishonest purpose.

Back in February 26, 2017, the Sunday Leader in an article titled “Startling Details Emerge In Keith Noyahr Abduction Probe” had stated that “Although certain groups were pointing fingers at the then Army Commander, Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka for masterminding the abduction because of Noyahr’s article on May 11, 2008 in the weekly, The Nation newspaper titled ‘An Army is not its Commander’s private fiefdom’ which heavily criticized the then Army Commander, Fonseka was not involved in the abduction.” However the Sunday Leader has not explained how they arrived at the conclusion that Noyahr was attacked for the article of 18 May 2008 and not for the earlier one published on 11 May 2008. The two Sunday Leader articles quoted here published on February 26, 2017 and April 9, 2017 had a further series of allegations to link Gota to the Noyahr case. One such allegation was the claim that when The Nation Editor Lalith Alahakoon called Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse on 22 May 2008, to appeal for Noyahr’s release, Rajapakse had berated Alahakoon and laughed off the abduction as most likely a domestic dispute between Noyahr and his wife!

It has to be said that this writer is not surpised at all if Gota had in fact laughed it off at first. That was in May 2008 before any of the series of attacks on journalists had taken place and this coming unexpectedly from the blues would naturally have been dismissed out of hand as something that cannot happen. Furthermore a journalist like Noyahr was not known for writing anything controversial. In fact, even this writer did not know why anyone would want to go to the length of abducting and assaulting Noyahr. For the past ten years, this writer had only a vague impression that Noyahr had written something that was critical of Sarath Fonseka and that had led to the attack. It was not until Major Ajith Prasanna emailed the article that Noyahr had written on 11 May 2008 that this writer actually read it. If such was the situation among journalists, one can be certain that very few members of the general public would have been able to hazard a guess as to why Noyahr was attacked. If Gota thought it was a joke when he first heard about the abduction, that can be excused because it is unlikely that he too would have read what Noyahr had written on 11 May 2008. Some journalists are known for writing scathing attacks on those wielding power, and Noyahr was most certainly not one of them – at least not until he wrote that article on Fonseka.

Another allegation made by the Sunday leader is that later, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had threatened two journalists from the government controlled Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (Lake House) for taking part at a protest at Kollupitiya demanding that the government should bring the perpetrators of the attack on Noyahr to book. Rajapaksa is supposed to have harangued Poddala Jayantha and Sanath Balasooriya for two-and-a-half hours, saying among other things that there were large numbers of military personnel who ‘revered Fonseka like a God’ and that he could not control these people and that they may finish you off’. Funnily enough, even as the Sunday Leader strives to foist the blame for the abduction of Noyahr on Gota, the discussion seems to keep circling back to Fonseka even in the Sunday Leader’s own revelations! Gota is supposed to have berated these journalists for having criticized Fonseka with Lakshman Hulugalle telling Sanath Balasuriya that he had video tapes of a speech by Balasuriya in which he criticized Fonseka. The Sunday Leader claimed that all this ‘shows that Rajapaksa was behind this abduction’. So the argument is that Gota had got Noyahr abducted and thrashed for having criticized Fonseka! It is an undeniable fact that between May 2008 and May 2009, Gota’s only interest was in getting the war over with, and he did not want anything affecting the morale of the Army at a time when it was making headway against the terrorists. Even when Lasantha Wickrematunga was killed in January 2009 and everyone was blaming Fonseka, Gota went on TV a few days later and said that the Indian National Security Advisor M.K.Narayananan had told him that Fonseka was the best army commander in the world.

There is no question about the fact that due to to his desire to finish the war and to prevent the army from being demoralized due to Fonseka getting mired in unwanted controversies, Gota did go out on a limb in publicly defending Fonseka instead of condemning him as a madman who was misusing his powers to exact revenge on mediamen for real and imagined slights. However, Gota’s public defence of his army commander at a time when the war was at its height, does not mean that he was responsible for carrying out those attacks. His effort was to avoid unwanted controversies, not to create them. Everytime Fonny’s name was soiled, Gota had to play nanny to prevent demoralization in the army and to keep the war on track. The day after Lasantha Wickrematunga killed, on 9 January 2009, the then opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe kept saying repeatedly that this killing was carried out by an element within the armed forces that the government had no control over and that it was not only the opposition that was in danger but the government as well.

Even when Keith Noyahr was abducted in 2008 and that was followed by attacks on Namal Perera, Mahendra Ratnaweera and Upali Tennakoon, that was the same stance taken by the then Chief Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera. The UNP knew that no government or politician would carry out attacks on journalists in that manner and that such actions could only be carried out by a non-political person wielding unbridled power.

When the Sunday Leader contacted Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka and asked him about the allegations levelled against him over killings and abductions of journalists, he had stressed that he had never had any dealings or falling out with any journalist and that it was former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had serious disputes with media personnel. Fonseka had also said that Gotabaya Rajapaksa directly supervised all security and intelligence operations in and around Colombo through a separate chain of command packed with loyalists, bypassing the normal organizational structures of the three armed forces and the police and that it was through this group that the Rajapaksas carried out high profile assaults, abductions and murders of media personalities and others. Thus the Sunday Leader is literally falling over itself to accept what Fonseka says and to lay the blame for the Noyahr incident on Gota. Yet the very arguments the Sunday Leader puts forward points yet again at Fonseka.

Would anyone in his right mind believe, knowing who Fonseka is, that he would have had no issue with the person who wrote that article in The Nation titled “An army is not its commander’s private fiefdom” on 11 May 2008? Note that what is criticized in this artcle are the actions of the army commander, not those of the defence ministry.

———————————————————————————————

(What follows is an abridged version of the ‘Military Matters’ column in The Nation that was published on 11 May 2008. Noyahr was abducted and assaulted on 22 May 2008. Attorney at Law Major Ajith Prasanna drew the attention of the media to this article at a press conference held before the New Year. His argument was that this artcle constitutes a motivation for the attack on Noyahr and the police should be pursuing this line of inquiry as well.)

An army is not its commander’s private fiefdom

The promotion criteria adopted by Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka… have caused rumblings within the Sri Lanka Army… there are 27 Colonels eligible to be promoted Brigadiers, who have now been sidelined….However, this recommendation by Army HQ is yet to be approved by the Defence Ministry. Several Senior Army Officers had made representations to political authorities, stating that they should not be subjected to injustice. Even in effecting transfers, there is the possibility of affording key operational experience to favourites. Take the case of Col. Janaka Walgama who, has been at Staff College, Training or at Army HQ, almost all his military life, was posted to a key operational area, Trincomalee, bypassing several others. The new system has paved the way for military authorities to promote several junior officers to key positions such as Brigade Commanders and even General Officers Commanding several Divisions.

Brig. Samantha Sooriyabandara of the Commando Regiment, was put in charge of the main 53 strike Division in Jaffna. Brig. Sooriyabandara, who commanded the troops in Muhamalai, where a major debacle took place last month, has now been posted as the defence attaché to the Sri Lankan mission in Washington D.C…Not only did he lack the required experience to be given the 53 Div Commander slot, he has not held a single important Staff Officer job at Army HQ or even at Divisional HQ, to be posted as Defence Attaché to Washington D.C. Does he have the competence to handle the Navy, Air Force and Army on behalf of the Sri Lankan Government and, has he ever handled correspondence, so vital for this post? He was earlier in charge of the personal security of the Army Chief.

Maj. Gen. Dhammika Liyanage, another officer, who was in charge of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s personal security, with no battlefield experience as a Brigade Commander in the northern area, has replaced Maj. Gen. Parakrama Pannipitiya in the east as SF Commander. After a five-year period in Colombo, attached to different places, Maj. Gen. Liyanage was posted to the east replacing Maj. Gen. Pannipitiya. Army HQ had overlooked very senior officers when making this appointment, as Maj. Gen. Liyanage was 30th in the list.

The Deputy Chief of Staff position was filled by Army HQ, with the appointment of Jaffna Security Forces Commander Maj. Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri. However, this appointment was later withheld. According to the order of precedence, it should have been Maj. Gen. Sumith Balasuriya who should have been appointed as the Deputy Chief of Staff.

Maj. Gen. Pannipitiya, who was relieved of the eastern command and later asked to vacate his official quarters at Summit Flats, challenged the decision of the military authorities, stating that his fundamental rights had been violated. Lawyers argued in court that, after doing what had to be done in the east, Pannipitiya was unceremoniously removed and his security withdrawn.

Meanwhile, Army HQ had also recommended that the Vishista Seva Vibushanaya (VSV) should only be conferred on service commanders and former service commanders who had not already been conferred with VSV. It is learnt that the Defence Ministry did not comply with the recommendation made by Army HQ that, only the serving service commanders and former service commanders be conferred with this highly respected decoration. The Ministry accepted the recommendations of both the Navy Commander Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda and Air Force Commander Air Marshal Roshan Goonetilleke for the award to be given to 17 serving Naval officers, including the commander, and seven serving Air Force officers, including the commander, respectively. This award should not be an elitist one for only the service chiefs, as few make it to the number one position in the services. Lt. Gen. Fonseka was the only one from the Army to receive the award while in uniform. The awarding of VSV to several serving Officers of the Navy and Air Force including the two service chiefs and only the Army Commander (while in service) might send out wrong signals. In this current phase of the war, while two dozen serving Officers from the Navy and Air Force have performed distinguished service, there are no distinguished Army personnel deserving the award, except the one who nominated himself.

The question on the lips of many is why was Fonseka not nominated by, five previous Army commanders, for the Uttama Seva Padakkama(USP)? General Shantha Kottegoda, General Lionel Balagalla, General Sri Lal Weerasuriya, General Rohan Daluwatte, General Gerry De Silva and General Cecil Waidyaratne had their reasons for overlooking Fonseka. Six months back Gen. Fonseka was awarded USP setting the stage for a VSV. If an officer has been charged for scandalous conduct and found guilty, one loses his unblemished record. Having deprived several Senior Regimented Officers from receiving this award, Army Commander Lt. Gen. Fonseka, at a recent meeting at Army HQ for Principal Staff Officers and Directors in an around Colombo, said, “If one aspires to ascend to the highest echelons in the Sri Lankan Army, he should perform and prove himself”.

At the conference, Gen. Fonseka said, “Simply carrying flower baskets to pay homage to gods, won’t help”. In the same breath, he said that certain Senior Officers were behaving in a manner not in keeping with their positions. He was referring to a General clad in sarong and dancing alongside a local politico, at an informal party. Gen. Fonseka said that by their actions, they have been reduced to the status of jokers. Insiders are of the view that, he had, by innuendo, directed those attacks at his No. 2, the Commandant of the Volunteer Force, Maj. Gen. Lawrence Fernando and Maj. Gen. Pannipitiya. with whom he has a running legal battle.

Gen.Fonseka, no doubt, has been an excellent Army Officer, and needs to be saluted for his achievements, but there are many Officers who opine that he was no gentleman. Considering the manner in which he handled men and matters, promotions and awards. Many left the service saddened and are willing to come forward and testify, many more are digging their heels on how they were shabbily treated after much sacrifice.

For the entire article please visit: http://www.nation.lk/2008/05/11/militarym.htm

By Charles.S.Perera

We are all human beings first before we started calling ourselves Tamil, Sinhala, Muslim or what not. Therefore we have to first treat all human beings equal,  even those within our own  Community not down grading another for what he had been called upon to do. This is  how we have to see the larger human species, when we have passed our primitive stage of growth and become intelligent men and women.

There is surely at least a very small group of  Tamil Intelligentsia who can understand  their role in life and see things as they really are. The Tamils  cannot  hold Sampanthan and his TNA Cronies, C.V.Wigneswaran or Mano Ganeshan  as the sacrosanct Tamil leaders who are carrying out a meaningful reform to give the Tamil people a hopeful, prosperous, and a happy future, living on their own separated from the influence of Sinhala Community. This applies also to the Muslim Community but it needs a different  argument.

Sri Lanka had been in the past influenced by India in different ways. The King Asoka’s influence  was the most rich, positive, and rejuvenating period of the Sri Lankan history.. Because it was not  military, destructive, forceful entrance into the Sinhala Nation. But the influence  of King Asoka transformed Sri Lanka in all aspects of its life. It helped Sri Lanka absorb itself into a great culture, and change into a unique country with Theravada Buddhist teachings its treasured identity.

The later Indian  influences were forced, destructive, Dravidian  intrusions, by marauders, plunderers , treasure hunters and invaders. They left Sri Lanka with immense lot of problems that ate in to its  religious, social, and political fabric like an ever growing cancer spreading in to an entire physical body. They destroyed from the beginning the great cultural religious fabric affecting its peace and prosperity.

But the influence of the great Buddhist culture withstood the Sinhala people from not getting entirely lost within these later savage Indian incursions, and adopted and accepted the nefarious Dravidian influences allowing it to accommodate itself without greater damage  from the undesirable intruders.

The intrusion of   others with good or bad intention into its own culture in a country can have bad and good influences. Sri Lanka was able to accept the good and even introduced religious philosophies of the Dravidian settlers , and made  it part of their Sinhala Buddhist culture.

But the worst of what  came with the Dravidians or the Tamil  and damaged greatly its general peaceful existence was its Hindu culture with its destructive caste system. The Tamils even extended their inborn cultural caste bias to the Sinhala population  who accepted them generously.

The Tamil settlers remained  aloof without wanting to be stained by the  Sinhala people and their culture. That is their ingrained  religious cultural need  to be separated , and isolated from the Sinhala and the influence of their religion and culture.

This seeking separatist political  existence is the result of their inborn  caste mentality. The Tamils  cannot even mix  as equals with every one within their own Community, treating them  differently according to what caste each group of them belongs. So how can we expect the Tamils  who do not treat their own people equally  to accept  to be one with the  rest of the Communities in Sri Lanka.

It is this rusty old retarded caste mentality that forced  GG Ponnambalam to asking for fifty fifty, or Chelvanayagama a  Christian Tamil coming from Malayasia  ask for a Federal Constitution, Prabhakaran  wanted to divide Sri Lanka to have a separate Eelam, and now a withered old Tamil from south trying to make his place amoung the Tamils in the north blame Sinhala for genocide and demanding  separation from the Sinhala.

Wigneswaran’s hypocrise lies in the fact that he had allowed his two sons to marry Sinhala Women. How can he explain that to the Tamils in the north ?

What really is the problem the Tamils have with the Sinhala amoung whom the Tamils had decided to settle down ?  They were never invited by the Sinhala, they  forced themselves in.

They had settled down in this country long ago, and  generations of Tamils have lived with generations of Sinhala. So what is the problem now for the Tamils to seek separation from the Sinhala ?  Why do the Tamils want to be different ?

Haven’t the Sinhala accepted them,  live with  them side by side,  and even given away their daughters in marriage to Tamils and taken their daughters in marriage to Sinhala homes ?

So why now this demand for a separate Eelam,  a separate Province for Tamils ?

The terrorist Prabhakaran created greater terror in the North and East. The terrorists  kidnapped the Tamil Children to make them their soldiers and  suicide bombs. The terrorists took away 300 or more  thousands of innocent Tamils and drove them from place to place like cattle keeping them as a human shield to save themselves.

And yet the Tamil mentality is so sick they still want memorials for terrorists and some even imitate them threatening a possible resurgence of terrorism. But have the Sinhala people with whom the Tamils lived in harmony for generations been like the terrorists ?

Is it not time for the Tamil Intelligentsia to ask  whether there is something wrong with the Sinhala,  or whether there is some thing wrong with the Tamils ?

The  Tamils are a  mentally retarded people preoccupied mostly with their toilet problem. That is the problem with India too . India still wants low caste Tamils to occupy their toilets even if they have solved it to a great extent  by making any open space any where their toilet. They still mentally yearn for the low caste untouchable to clean the places where they put their dirt.

The Tamils continue to  imbibed their ancient Indian  caste mentality. Indians like to be called a developed  Nation, they have educated the low caste Dalits. They have begun  constructing toilets, but yet they kill Dalits  for nothing . It was recently reported that a Dalit High Court Judge was made to resign because the other judges did not want a Dalit amoung them.

It is this same toilet problem that make Wigneswaran, Sampanthan, Sumandiran, Sivajilingam  and the whole host of  the Tamil political bigwigs desperately call for separation, a federal Constitution, and remove giving Buddhism a constitutional protection, demand a separate province for the Tamils, and eventually a Eelam state of their own to have their toilets washed by low caste Tamils, have their low caste Tamils attend to menial work that they do not want to do.

The low caste Tamils in the North and East should beware that,  if ever there were to be a Tamil Eelam State, there would be utter suffering for those of the lower castes. Stay on with the  Sinhala,  and then it will not matter whether you are high caste or low caste.

I appeal to the ordinary Tamil people and the Tamil intelligentsia , to think now  and chase away Sampanthans, Sumanthiorans, Wigneswarans, Sivajilingams et al coming to your homes asking for your vote,  because for them if you are not of their caste then for them  you have no human value, fo ryou are a low caste destined  to live the life  your ancient fore fathers lived. For the Tamil politicians your value is restricted only to your VOTE to be elected as a Councillor or a Parliamentarian and thereafter  Lord over you.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Priorities are mixed up by Sri Lankan Delegation to Commonwealth Business forum in London

Sri Lanka to give leadership for mangrove conservation in Commonwealth countries”

FT / Friday, 20 April 2018 00:00

London: Sri Lanka has been named as the country to give leadership for the conservation of mangroves in Commonwealth countries during the 25th inaugural ceremony of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), held yesterday .
At yesterday’s meeting, an active committee has been established under the leadership of Sri Lanka to share the knowledge and the procedure on mangrove conservation with other Commonwealth states.

I represented Sri Lankan Private sector to promote blue economy among common wealth countries with a view of developing Ocean related activities like Fishery .Aquaculture/Boat building, Marina development .Sri Lanka can enormously benefit by harnessing this area to develop economy We can generate income for poor fisher folks and to earn foreign money by exporting fish and also provide employment.

I regret to say the Department of Industry Commerce who organized the delegation have miserably failed .Instead of sending more representatives from such industries and entrepreneurs’, band wagon of Gem Traders, Batik Makers .Curry powder sellers etc. were given prominence.

Our mission to get commonwealth interested in blue economy was in the back seat.

There were no B2B meetings organized by the High Commission or Ministry for more important sectors .On the last day there was a breakfast meeting where Cameroon and Sri Lanka made presentations .Cameroon Embassy handed over a pack of documents with a memory stick to all participants, but our Embassy was not capable of even have such dossier .When I asked one of the Ministry Officer, whether I can find a way to hand over the brochures I carried, they were nor interested.

(I raise my hat only to the two Sri Lankans who made a presentation on Software sales  and port development .)

I spent my own money to travel and I was really disgusted to see the government officers on a jolly ride to London with no keen interest to promote our country and the more important industries

Gen traders and garment sellers were in the forefront

We need to learn from Africans?

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

සාකච්ඡා කළේ, ප්‍රසන්න සංජීව තෙන්නකෝන් උපුටාගැණීම ලංකාදීප

විශ්වාසභංගයේදී මොකද වුණේ‍? එතැනින් පසු රට කොතැනටද? මේ ඒ ගැන විමසමින් එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානයේ කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ නායක විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා සමග කළ සාකච්ඡාවකි.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – මොන තර්ක විතර්ක දැම්මත් විශ්වාසභංගයෙන් අවසානයේදී සිද්ධ වුණේ‍ අගමැති රනිල් ශක්තිමත් කිරීමක්?

• පිළිතුර – අගමැති රනිල් ශක්තිමත් වෙලා නම් එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ සියලු නාහෙන් ඇඬිලි දැන් නතර වෙලා තියෙන්න ඕන. විශ්වාසභංගයේදී අගමැති රනිල්ට පක්ෂව ඡන්දය දීපු එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේම සමහර මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් දැන් ආපහු කියන්න පටන් අරන් තියෙනවා අපි ගේනවා දැන් විශ්වාසභංගයක් කියලා. ඔවුන්ට පෙනිලා තියෙනවා ඔවුන් බලාපොරොත්තු වෙන ප්‍රතිසංවිධාන යූඑන්පීය ඇතුලේ වෙන්නේ නැහැ කියලා. ඒ නිසා අගමැතිවරයා ශක්තිමත්වීමක් මේකෙන් වෙලා නෑ. හිටියට වඩා ඔහු දුර්වලවීමක් වෙලා තියෙන්නේ.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – එහෙම කියන්න බැහැ. විශ්වාසභංගය එනකොට අගමැතිවරයාට පක්ෂ නායකත්වයෙන් ඉවත් වෙන්න කියලා පක්ෂ අභ්‍යන්තරයෙන්ම විශාල කැරැල්ලක් නිර්මාණය වෙලා තිබුණේ. නමුත් දැන් පක්ෂය ඒකමතිකව තීරණය කරලා තියෙනවා ‘පක්ෂයේ නායකයා රනිල්’ විය යුතුයි කියලා.

• පිළිතුර – ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණයට අදාළව යූඑන්පී මන්ත්‍රී කණ්ඩායම කැඳවලා අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී සාකච්ඡාවක් තිබ්බා. ඒ විශ්වාසභංගයෙන් පස්සේ අපට තියෙන තොරතුරුවලට අනුව සියයට 90කට වඩා මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් ඉල්ලා සිටියා ඔහු අගමැතිකමේ ඉන්නත් පක්ෂ නායකත්වය වෙන කෙනෙකුට දෙන්නත් කියලා. පක්ෂ නායකත්වය වෙන කෙනෙකුට දීම ගැන අවසන් තීරණයක් අරගෙන නෑ. නැවත ඔවුන් අප්‍රේල් 30 හමුවෙන්න තීරණය කරලා තියෙනවා. ඒ තීරණාත්මක හමුවේ දී තමයි යූඑන්පීයේ පිපිරීම කොයි විදියට ද වෙන්නේ කියලා තීරණය කෙරෙන්නේ. යම් හෙයකින් අගමැතිවරයා පක්ෂ නායකත්වය වෙන කෙනෙකුට දෙන්න තීරණය කළොත් අර්බුදය තාවකාලිකව සමථයකට පත් වෙයි. එහෙම නැතිව තමන්ට එරෙහිව එන කැරලිකාර මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ට ඇමැතිකම් නියෝජ්‍ය ඇමැතිකම් දීමෙන් පමණක් මේක විසඳාගන්න පුළුවන් වෙයි කියලා අපි නම් විශ්‍වාස කරන්නේ නෑ. අනික් අතට අගමැතිවරයා දිනුවට ඔහුත් ඇතුළත් වුණු ඊනියා ජාතික ආණ්‍ඩුවේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 16ක් අද විපක්ෂයට එන්න ලෑස්ති වෙලා ඉන්නවා. එතකොට කොහොමද ඒක දිනුමක් වෙන්නේ? අගමැතිවරයාගේ ආණ්ඩුවේ ඔවුන් හිටියේ. හැබැයි විශ්‍වාසභංගයෙන් පසුව ඔහුගේ ආණ්ඩුවේ දහසය දෙනෙක් විපක්ෂයට එන්න බලාපොරොත්තුවෙන් ඉන්නවා. එතකොට තව හය හත් දෙනෙක් ඕකට එකතු වුණොත් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ තුනෙන් දෙකක බලය මේ ඊනියා ජාතික ආණ්‍ඩුවට නැති වෙනවා. දැන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිහස් පක්ෂයේ මධ්‍යම කාරක සභාව අඟහරුවාදා තීරණය කරලා තියෙන්නේ කෙළින්ම නිල වශයෙන්ම ඊනියා ජාතික ආණ්ඩුවෙන් ඉවත් වෙන්න. බදාදා ඔවුන් කැබිනට් එක වර්ජනය කළා. යම් හෙයකින් ඔවුන් තීරණයක් ගත්තොත් මේ ඊනියා ජාතික ආණ්ඩුවෙන් ඉවත් වෙන්න එතකොට අගමැතිවරයා ලබලා තියෙන්නේ ජයග්‍රහණයක් ද?. ඔහු හිටපු තත්ත්වයෙන් පහළට ගමන් කරලා තියෙන්නේ.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – මගේ ප්‍රශ්නය වෙන්නේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුළ ඔහු ලැබුවේ ජයක් නොවන්නේ කොහොමද කියලයි?

• පිළිතුර – ජය පරාජය හොඳට පේන්නේ රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ පැරදිලා අපි දිනුවානම් තමයි. අපි පරාදයි කියලා පෙනුණට ඔය ඔබ කියන පරාජය ඇතුළෙත් හානිය වෙලා තියෙන්නේ ආණ්ඩුවට. අපිට හානියක් වෙලා නෑ.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 41ක් ඉන්නවා. ඒකෙන් 16ක් විතරක් ගැනීම ජයග්‍රහණයක් හැටියට ඔබ විග්‍රහ කරන්නේ කොහොමද?

• පිළිතුර – 41න් 16ක්වත් ගන්න පුළුවන් තත්ත්වයක් කලින් තිබුණාද? 16ක් නොවෙයි නිකම් 4ක් 5ක්වත්. කිසි ප්‍රශ්‍්නයක් නැතිව 16ක් අපේ පැත්තට ආවේ මේ විශ්වාසභංගය හින්දනේ. ඒ 16 බලනවනේ තවත් මේක ශක්තිමත් කරගන්න. ඔවුන් විපක්ෂයට එන්න තීරණය කරන දවසට ඔවුන් එන්නේ තවත් අය එකතු කරගෙන. ඒක බලාගන්න පුළුවන් වෙයි අනාගතයේ දී. ඒ සියලු පිපුරුම් ඇති වුණේ මේ විශ්‍වාසභංගයෙන් පස්සේ. දේශපාලනය කියන්නේ සාමාන්‍ය පරිදි ඔහේ ගලාගෙන යන්න ඉඩ දීලා බලාගෙන ඉඳීම නම් අපි මේ කරලා තියෙන්නේ වැරැද්දක්. නමුත් දේශපාලනය කියන්නේ සුදුසු මොහොත බලලා සුදුසු ප්‍රහාරය එල්ල කිරීමයි. අපි කළේ‍ ඒක තමයි. ඒකේ ප්‍රතිඵල තියෙනවා. 54ක්ව හිටපු ඒකාබද්ධයට තව අලුතෙන් 16ක් එකතු වීමට නියමිතයි. 16ට වඩා ඊනියා ජාතික ආණ්ඩුවේ තුනෙන් දෙකක බලය අහිමිවීමට නියමිතව තියෙනවා. ජවිපෙ පය පැත්තකට තිබ්බත් තුනෙන් දෙකේ බලය පාවිච්චි කරගෙන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය කරගෙන බටහිර න්‍යාය පත්‍රය දිගෙලි කරන්න ගිය ගමන එක්තරා ආකාරයකට අඩාළවීමක් වෙලා තියෙනවා. ජනාධිපතිවරයයි අගමැතිවරයයි අතර තියෙන සීතල යුද්ධය උණුසුම් තත්ත්වයට පත් වෙලා තියෙනවා. ඒ වගේම ජනාධිපතිවරයාට තමන්ගේ හා තමා සමග සිටින පිරිසගේ අනාගත ඉරණම ගැන කල්පනා කරන්න බල කෙරිලා තියෙනවා. පෙබවරවාරි 10 මහජනතාව ඡන්දයෙන් දීපු ප්‍රතිඵලය පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ඇතුළේ‍ මේ රසායනික පරිවර්තනය වෙන්න නම් මේ පියවර අපි ගත යුතුව තිබුණා. අපි ඒක කළා.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – ඔබ හිතන විදියට මේ විශ්වාසභංගය ඔබලා පැරදුණේ ඇයි?

• පිළිතුර – මම නැවතත් කියනවා අපි පරාද නැහැ. භූමිකම්පාවක් මේ වුණේ‍. ඒක රිච්ටර් මාපක 8.5ක නොවෙන්න පුළුවන්. 6.5ක වෙන්න පුළුවන්. 6.5ක භූමි කම්පාවකින් 8.5ක භූමි කම්පාවක ප්‍රතික්‍රියාව ඇති වෙන්නේ නැහැ. හැබැයි 6.5කටත් කම්පනයක් තියෙනවා. පසු පිපිරීම් තියෙනවා. 8.5ක කම්පනය වඩාත් බිහිසුණුයි. පසු පිපිරීම් තියෙනවා. ඒ නිසා කෙනෙකුට කියන්න බෑ මේක 8.5කට නොවීම නිසා මේක 6.5කට වීම නිසා මේක භූමිකම්පාවක් නොවේ කියලා. මේක භූමි කම්පාවක්.

ප්‍රශ්නය – මගේ ප්‍රශ්නය ඒ ගැන නොවෙයි. අවසන් ප්‍රතිඵලය ගැනයි?

පිළිතුර – මෙවැනි පියවරක් ගන්නකොට ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්ෂයේ පක්ෂ නායකයන් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාගේ නායකත්වයෙන් අපි රැස්වෙලා සාකච්ඡා කරනකොට අපි බලනවනේ ප්‍රතිඵලය ‘ඒ’ නම් මොකද්ද තත්ත්වය. ප්‍රතිඵලය ‘බී’ නම් මොකද්ද තත්ත්වය. ඔහු පරාජය වුණොත් ඊළඟට යන තත්ත්වය මොකද්ද? ඒකට මුහුණ දෙන්න අපි ලෑස්තිද? ඔහු දිනුවොත් ඒකට මුහුණ දෙන්න අපි ලෑස්තිද? එතකොට මොකද්ද අපිට තියෙන තත්ත්වය. එහෙම සලකා බලමින්නේ අපි තීන්දු තීරණ ගන්නේ.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – එහෙම සලකා බැලීමක් තිබුණා ද?

• පිළිතුර – නැතිව. සමහර පඬියෝ හිතාගෙන ඉන්නවා එහෙම නැහැයි කියලා. ඔය සමහර ආචාර්ය පඬියෝ ඉන්නවා මෙතෙක් කල් අපි ගත්ත තීරණ වැරැදියි. 2010 පෙබරවාරි 18 නුගේගොඩන් පටන් ගත්ත සටනක් වැරැදියි. එහෙම බැලුවොත්. ඇයි අපි ඒ පඬියන්ගෙන් අහලා නෑනේ. පඬියගෙන් උපදෙස් අරන් නෑ.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමාටත් වඩා එතුමාවත් වාටියට තල්ලු කරමින් තීන්දු තීරණ ගැනීමේ සම්පූර්ණ බලය තමන් අතට ගනිමින් ඒ විදේශ ඔත්තු සේවා න්‍යාය පත්‍රයට අනුව මේ බලවේගය අයාලේ රැගෙන යන්න ජයග්‍රාහී සටනකට නොවෙයි පරාජයේ සටනකට රැගෙන යන්න ඇතැමුන් උත්සාහ කරනවා.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – ඔබ කාටද ඔහොම චෝදනා කරන්නේ?

• පිළිතුර – පඬියට හා පඬියන්ට. සමහර පඬියෝ ඔය මතය හදන්න හදනවා. සමහරුන්ගේ පටු විග්‍රහයක් තියෙනවා ‘රනිල් දිගටම ඉන්න ඕනෑ’ කියලා. එතකොට මේක තවත් කුණු වෙනවා. ආණ්ඩුව විතරක් නොවෙයිනේ කුණු වෙන්නේ. රටත් එක්කමනේ කුණු වෙන්නේ. රටත් එක්කම කුණු වුණාට ඒ අයට ප්‍රශ්නයක් නෑ. රටත් එක්කම කුණු වුණාට පස්සේ මේ රට කවුරු බාර ගත්තත් ඒක පරණ තත්ත්වයට ගේන එක ලේසි නෑ. එතකොට රනිල් අතේ තමයි බටහිර න්‍යාය පත්‍රය තියෙන්නේ. රනිල් අතේ තමයි ඉන්දියානු න්‍යාය පත්‍රය තියෙන්නේ. රනිල් තමයි නරුම හා මුග්ධ මානසිකත්වයෙන් යුතුව ඒ න්‍යාය පත්‍ර දිගේලි කරන්න සුදුසු මිනිහා.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – එතකොට ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රී ගැන ප්‍රශ්නයක් නෑ?

• පිළිතුර – සිරිසේන ජනාධිපතිවරයා කියන්නේ උන්නැහැගේ මන්දිරයේ එක්තරා ආකාරයකට දේශපාලන හුදකලා භාවයට පත් වූ සාධකයක්. ඔහුටත් විධායක ජනාධිපති හැටියට කළ හැකි බලපෑමක් තියෙනවා. නමුත් ඔහු අතේ නොවෙයි ආණ්‍ඩු පාලනය තියෙන්නේ. ආණ්ඩු පාලනය තියෙන්නේ අගමැතිවරයා අතේ. ඒ නිසා ඒ ආණ්ඩු පාලනයේ මුදුනටනේ ප්‍රහාරය එල්ල කරන්න ඕනෑ. ආණ්ඩු පාලනයේ මුදුන ජනාධිපතිනම් එතැනට. මුදුන අගමැතිනම් එතැනට. මෙතැන මුදුන අගමැති. ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ කොහොම තිබුණත්. ඒ මුදුනට ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කරන්න ඕනෑ. එහෙම ප්‍රහාර එල්ල කරලා ඒ ආණ්ඩුව දුර්වල කරන්න ඕනෑ. ඊනියා ජාතික ආණ්‍ඩුව වට්ටන්න ඕනෑ. ඒකට අපි ප්‍රහාරාත්මක වෙන්න ඕනෑ. අගමැතිවරයා දිගටම තියාගෙන දේශපාලනය කරන්න ඕනෑ කියලා කියනවා නම් ඒක අමු තක්කඩිකමක්.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – විශ්‍වාසභංගය පරාද වුණේ ඔය ඔබ කියන වර්ගයේ තක්කඩියන් පොහොට්ටුවේ හිටපු නිසාද?

• පිළිතුර – ඒකට ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන්ම බලපෑවේ ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ වැනෙන සුළු දියාරු ප්‍රතිපත්තිය කියලයි අපි නම් හිතන්නේ. විශ්වාසභංගයට කලින් දවසෙත් යූඑන්පී එකේ 26 දෙනෙකුට වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක් ස්ථාන තුනක රැඳිලා හිටියා ජනාධිපතිවරයාගෙන් තමන්ගේ කණ්ඩායමට නිසි විධානයක් ලැබෙන තුරු. විශේෂයෙන්ම ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ 41 දෙනාට. ඒ නිසා එතැන මත දෙකක් මතු වුණා. අවසානයේ දී ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඔහු විසින් දිය යුතුව තිබූ විධානය මග ඇරියා. ඒක ඇතුළේ යූඑන්පී කණ්ඩායම් එක්ක සාකච්ඡා කරමින් හිටපු ශ්‍රී ලංකා එකේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්‍ඨ නායකයන්ට වුණා ගිහින් කියන්න ‘අපේ පැත්තේ අවුලක්. ඔයගොල්ලෝ කැමති තීරණයක් ගන්න’ කියලා. ඒ නිසා තමයි උග්‍ර රනිල් විරෝධයක හිටපු යූඑන්පීයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ටත් විශ්වාසභංගයට විරුද්ධව ඡන්දය දෙන්න වුණේ. එතැන ඇත්තටම ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ වැනෙන සුලු දියාරු හැසිරීම අගමැතිවරයාගේ දේශපාලන ප්‍රාණය ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සඳහා සෘජු ලෙස ඉවහල් වුණා.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – විශ්වාසභංගයේදී මොණර කොළ හුවමාරුවීම් ගැන කතා වුණා. රහස් ගිවිසුම් ගැන කිව්වා. මේවා සුපුරුදු චෝදනා?

• පිළිතුර – මොණර කොළ කතාව මම විතරක් නොවෙයි කියන්නේ. දයාසිරි ජයසේකර මම දැක්කා කියලා තියෙනවා ‘කෝටියක මුදලක් ගත්ත මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙක් ඔහු සමග කිව්වා කියලා ණය තුරුස්ටික ඔක්කොම ඒකෙන් බේරාගත්තා’ කියලා කිව්වා කියලා. තව ඕන තරම් කියන්න පුළුවන්. නමුත් නම්ගම් කියන එක සදාචාරාත්මක නැහැ. දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානයේ ඡන්ද ටිකත් අර කොන්දේසි 10ට විතරක් එකඟවෙලා දුන්නා නොවෙයි. ඒ එක ඡන්දයකට අදාළ මිලක් තිබුණා. ඒ මිල ලැබුණා. ඔවුන්ට අයවැයේදීත් මිලක් ගෙවලා තිබුණා. ඔවුන්ම පසුව ඒක ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ කිව්වා. ඊට වඩා වැඩි මිලක් මේකේදී හමු වුණා. මං හිතන්නේ බැඳුම්කර හොරකමෙන් උපයපු අයථා ධනයෙන් සැලකිය යුතු පංගුවක් ඔය සති දෙකේ වියදම් වුණා. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට නොපැමිණ සිටීමටත් ගෙව්වා. නෑවිත් ඉන්නත් ගෙව්වා. හැබැයි ඔය මොණර කොළ සෙල්ලම් තිබුණත් සිරිසේන ජනාධිපතිවරයා තමන්ගේ කණ්ඩායම එක මතයකට ගන්න සමත් වුණා නම් ප්‍රතිඵලය ඊට වඩා වෙනස්.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්ෂයේ මන්ත්‍රී එස්.එම්. චන්ද්‍රසේන කියලා තිබුණා. ‘අපේ කට්ටිය කළේ මාධ්‍ය සංදර්ශන. තිබුණ සියලුම තුරුම්පු කලින් කිව්වා. එතකොට යූඑන්පීයට ඒකට සූදානම් වෙන්න පුළුවන්කම ලැබුණා’ කියලා.

• පිළිතුර – ඒ කවුරුහරි උගන්වපු එකක්නේ කියන්නේ. චන්ද්‍රසේන මන්ත්‍රීතුමාට ස්වයංව පහළ වෙච්ච අදහසක් නොවෙයි. එයාගේ කවුරුහරි ගෝඩ් ෆාදර් කෙනෙක් උගන්වපු කතාවක් ඔය කියන්නේ.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – නමුත් ඔහු කියන කතාවේ ඇත්තක් තියෙනවා. සංඛ්‍යා ලේඛන එළිපිටම කිව්වා.

• පිළිතුර – මෙහෙමයි. කවුරුවත් මේකේ මාධ්‍ය සංදර්ශන තියන්න ගියේ නැහැනේ. එහෙන් එන්නෙ කවුද කියලා නම් ගම් කියන්න ගියෙත් නෑනේ. එතකොට විශ්වාසය ඇති කරන්න යමෙක් යම් යම් සංඛ්‍යා ලේඛන කියන්න ඇති. 225 දෙනා අතරේ බලපෑම් සහගත මනසක් හදන්න එහෙම කියන්න වෙනවා. එහෙම වුණාම තමයි මැද ඉන්න ​ෙකනත් අපේ පැත්තට එන්න තීරණයක් ගන්න ​ෙපළඹෙන්නේ. ඒ සඳහා කරපු ප්‍රකාශ මේක අසාර්ථක වෙන්න හේතු වුණේ නැහැ. ඒ වගේ ප්‍රකාශයකින් වෙන්නේ විශ්‍වාසය වැඩි වීමක්. ඔය චන්ද්‍රසේන මන්ත්‍රීතුමාගේ පිටිපස්සේ ඉන්න කෙනෙක් උගන්වන දෙයක් තමයි ඔහු ඔය කියන්නේ.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – කවුද ඔය ඔබ කියන ගෝඩ් ෆාදර්?

• පිළිතුර – බලාගත්තැකි ඉදිරියේදී.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – ඒකාබද්ධය ඇතුළෙත් දේශ​ෙද්‍රා්හියෝ. බටහිර හා ඉන්දියන් පිල්ලි ඉන්නවා කියලා ඔබම කියලා තිබුණා.

• පිළිතුර – මේ මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා වටා ගොඩනැගෙන මේ මහා සජිවී බලවේගය බෙදන්න, විවිධ ප්‍රශ්න හදන්න. ඒක ඇතුළේ අසතුටට හා අතෘප්තියට පත් බලවේගයක් නිර්මාණය කරන්න විදෙස් ඔත්තු සේවාවන්වලට ඕනෑ. මේ බලවේගයත් ඒ ඔත්තු සේවාවන්හි න්‍යාය පත්‍රයට අනුව හසුරුවා ගන්න පුළුවන් නම් ඒ විදේශ ඔත්තු සේවා ඒක කරනවා. මේකට නිදහස් ස්වාධීනව ගලා යන්න දෙන්නේ නැහැ. අද ඒ විදේශ ඔත්තු සේවාවන්ට වුවමනාව නියෝජනය කරන ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වයක් ඇතැම් පුද්ගලයන්ගෙන් අපට පෙනෙන්න තියෙනවා.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – කෙළින්ම කියන්න? ඒ අය කවුද?

• පිළිතුර – ඒ අය කවුද කියලා අනාගතයේ දී මීට වඩා විවෘතව කතා කරන්න අපි සූදානම්. ඒ අය බලන්නේ ප්‍රාදේශීය සභා සභාපතිවරු පත් කරනකොට වෙනත් අනෙකුත් පක්ෂ සමග වැඩ කරනකොට විශේෂයෙන්ම මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාගේ කැමැත්තටත් වඩා ඒ ඒ බලවේග තමන්ගේ අණසකට ගන්න බලාගෙන ඉන්නේ ඒ ඔත්තු සේවාවන්ගේ සහායකයන්ගේ යටතට. මේ බලවේගය පත් කිරීමේ උත්සාහයක් තියෙනවා.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – ඔබ වගකීමෙන් ද කියන්නේ?

• පිළිතුර – පැහැදිළිවම! අපි ඒ ගැන හොඳ අවබෝධයකින් වගේම අවදියෙන් ඉන්නේ. ඒ අයට ඕනෑ අපිවත් මේකෙන් එළියට ඇඳලා දාන්න. අපිව එළියට ඇඳලා දැමීම සඳහා වූ පියවර ඔවුන් ගත්තා පහුගිය දවස්වල. ඒක අපි හොඳට දැනුම්වත්ව අවබෝධ කරගෙන අපි මේ ඉන්නේ. අපි මේ ඉන්නේ එළියට යන්න බයේ නොවෙයි. ඒ ඔත්තු සේවාවන්ට අවශ්‍ය විදියට මේ බලවේගය කඩන්න ඉඩ දිය යුතු නැති නිසා.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – ඇතුළෙන් මේ ප්‍රහාරය එල්ල වෙන්නේ ඔබට විතරද? තවත් අයටත් එල්ල වෙනවද?

• පිළිතුර – මම හිතන්නේ මම ඉන්න මතයේ තවත් අය ඉන්නවා.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – මහින්ද සුළඟ බලවේගය දැන් බැසිල්ගේ කල්ලිය හා ගෝඨාගේ කල්ලිය කියලා දෙකට බෙදිලා කියලත් කියනවා?

• පිළිතුර – නෑ මේකේ කල්ලි නෑ. කල්ලි හදන්න සමහරු හදනවා. හැබැයි මේකේ මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමා මූලික කරගත් බලවේගයක් මෙතැන තියෙන්නේ. එහෙම නැතිව අර කල්ලි මේ කල්ලි කියලා දෙකක් මෙතැන නෑ. හැබැයි එහෙම කල්ලියක් හදන්න සමහරු උත්සහා කරනවා. මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමාටත් වඩා එතුමාවත් වාටියට තල්ලු කරමින් තීන්දු තීරණ ගැනීමේ සම්පූර්ණ බලය තමන් අතට ගනිමින් ඒ විදේශ ඔත්තු සේවා න්‍යාය පත්‍රයට අනුව මේ බලවේගය අයාලේ රැගෙන යන්න ජයග්‍රාහී සටනකට නොවෙයි පරාජයේ සටනකට රැගෙන යන්න ඇතැමුන් උත්සාහ කරනවා.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – ඒ ඔත්තු සේවා නියෝජිතයන් කවුද කියලා ඇයි කෙළින්ම කියන්න බැරි?

• පිළිතුර – ඒ කවුද කියලා අපි අනාගතයේ දී කියන්නම්.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – ගෝඨාභයගේ තදියම් කල්ලිය තමයි මේ විශ්වාසභංගය ගෙනල්ලා අසාර්ථක සටනක් කළේ කියලත් කියනවා.

• පිළිතුර – ගෝඨාභය කියන්නේ මේ මොහොතේ මේ රටේ දේශපාලනයේ නිරත වෙන කෙනෙක් නොවෙයි. එතුමා මේ වෙලාවේ ඉන්නෙත් චීනයේ. එතුමා කවදාවත් දේශපාලන තීරණවලට බලපෑම් කරලා නැහැ. ඒ නිසා ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිවරණයට එයි කියන බයට ගෝඨාභයගේ ප්‍රතිරූපයට ගහන්න තියෙන මෝඩ තෘෂ්ණාව ඉටු කරගන්න තමයි මේකට ගෝඨාභය කෙනෙක් පටලවා ගෙන තියෙන්නේ. මේ විශ්වාසභංග යෝජනාවට එතුමගේ කිසිම සම්බන්ධයක් නෑ.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – එහෙම නම් කොහොමද මේ විශ්‍වාසභංගය එකපාරටම ආවේ.

• පිළිතුර – මේ විශ්‍වාසභංග යෝජනාව දාන්න තීරණය කළේ‍ මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා. බැසිල් රාජපක්ෂ ඇතුළු අනෙක් පක්ෂ නායකයෝ ඔක්කොම ඉන්න පක්ෂ නායක රැස්වීමේ දී. ඔය තීරණය ගත්තු පළමු රැස්වීමට මම ගිහිල්ලා හිටියෙත් නෑ. මම වෙන කටයුත්තක හිටියේ.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – මෙතැනින් එහාට මොකක් වෙයිද?

• පිළිතුර – මේ ති​ෙයන්නේ පූර්ව ප්‍රසව අවදියක්. 2019 ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී ප්‍රසූත කිරීමට නියමිත පාලන තන්ත්‍රයක් තියෙනවා. ඊට පෙර එන විළිරුදාව තමයි මේ රට දැන් අත්විඳිමින් ඉන්නේ. අද රට යන තැන. හැම පැත්තෙන්ම පහළට වැටීමක් මිසක් ඉහළට යාමක් නෑ. ජීවන බර හැර වෙනත් කිසිවක් ඉහළ යන්නේ නෑ. රටේ පාලනයක් නෑ. අම්මා – අප්පා නැති දරුවකු බවට රට පත් වෙලා.

• ප්‍රශ්නය – ඒකාබද්ධය මොකද්ද මේ පසුබිම තුළ කරන්න තීරණය කරලා තියෙන්නේ?

• පිළිතුර – මේ තත්ත්වයෙන් ගොඩ එන්න වඩාත් වැදගත් වෙනවා කිසිදු බෙදුම්වාදී හා වෙනත් න්‍යාය පත්‍රයකට යමක් නොවුණු පාලන තන්ත්‍රයක් බිහි කර ගැනීම. ඉතා හොඳ අන්තර් කාලීන පාලනයක් ඊළඟ ජනාධිපතිවරණයට හෝ මහ මැතිවරණයට කලින් බිහි කර ගත යුතුයි. රටේ දැවෙන ප්‍රශ්‍්න වලට වෙනත් උත්තරයක් නෑ.

සාකච්ඡා කළේ,
ප්‍රසන්න සංජීව තෙන්නකෝන්

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana Courtesy The Island

April 20, 2018, 10:25 pm

Warped logic seems to be the order of the day; be it local, to justify errant politicians; or international, to teach lessons to ‘non-compliant’ states, where the dictum seems to be ‘Punish first and then investigate’. Lynn Ockersz, in his well-reasoned ‘World Scan’ calls it ‘World Disorder’ (The Island, 19 April) and analyses the international scene but there is hardly any doubt that events in Sri Lanka, too, were manoeuvred internationally. Going through the interesting correspondence following the unsuccessful no-confidence motion on our dearly-loved Prime Minister, it is pretty obvious that those who still support him and Yahapalanaya, strive hard to establish a new logic: in spite of the undeniable attempted cover-up of the bond-scam, as I pointed out in my piece ‘Ranil’s Watergate?’ (The Island, 2 April), he is better than the one who may replace him. Why? Because that person is alleged, not proved, to be more corrupt. Is this simply a compromise? No, to my mind it is warped logic.

Bond Scams

Having had the opportunity to discuss with some ‘legal-eagles’, I can add a few more points to highlight that the Prime Minister’s responsibility goes far beyond a ‘cover-up’. When the bond-scams took place, the Central Bank was under his purview and, therefore, he should take responsibility; which is the democratic norm. His supporters will claim that the Presidential Commission did not find him guilty which raises an issue of greater concern. Till his appearance, the manner in which the assigned State Counsel conducted proceedings was exemplary. When the PM appeared, the Attorney General springs up on the excuse that it is only the AG that can question the PM and proceeds to question him, not cross-examine, based on a list of questions provided in advance! When I put this question, my ‘legal-eagle’ laughed aloud and asked me ‘Has a PM being questioned ever, before a commission or courts either as a suspect or a witness?’ Looks as if the AG’s was a lame excuse, nay, more of warped logic! Whither Justicia!

Syria

No-confidence motion

The TNA, which leads the opposition officially, can proudly claim that it saved the PM from his own party and government. As far as I can gather, the TNA had decided to abstain but changed its mind, at the last moment, to please our international benefactors who are of the firm view that Ranil is our best leader. After all, weaklings like our country should have leaders that please them, not ones who look after its’ citizenry. Well, these are the little details of ‘World Disorder’! When TNA changed mind, President Sirisena changed his mind too but his followers understood his directions in different ways! Those in the UNP, burning with the desire of ousting Ranil withdrew to their shells, waiting for another day!

The reason given for celebrating Ranil’s victory is that had he lost, Mahinda will stage a comeback. If that is what the voters want, is that not democracy? Or, is democracy having elections till you get the result the ‘international community’ wants, like what happened in Egypt? Mahinda paid for his political misdeeds by his humiliating defeat. The alleged corruption against him remains unproved. If the Yahapalanaya could not prove it for three years, who is at fault?

Salisbury poisoning incident and Russia

As indicated in my article ‘Russia may have done it but…’ (The Island, 27 March), Russia was punished for an incident where an ex-double agent and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent on 4th March. Facts were beyond doubt, the acting HC for UK in Sri Lanka took the unusual step of writing a piece to warn us that it could happen anywhere (The Island, 24 March). The turn of events since, has been very perplexing. British Foreign Secretary claimed during an interview on German television that the head of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down has assured him that the identified the nerve agent, Novichok, definitely came from Russia. But, Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of DSTL denied this and said that the source was not identified.

Experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) arrived in the UK on 19 March to confirm the results but their report is contested by the Russians, who claim that Skripals were poisoned by BZ substance, which Russia has never produced but USA and UK have done. OPCW claims that it was a contaminant and the substance that was found on Skripal’s door-handle was pure Novichok. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has countered, that it would be impossible to identify pure Novichok on a door-handle as it degrades fast. They should know! None of these was reported by BBC though international media like Reuters did, which raises the issue of not giving two sides of a story.

One morning, it was announced that Skripals were desperately ill and, even if they did recover, they will have permanent neurological damage but the same evening the daughter woke up, to be discharged two days later! Interestingly, this story went into oblivion, when Trump decided to bomb Damascus though some commentators contend that this contributed to the Damascus bombing, at least Theresa May’s decision to support.

Douma chemical gas incident

President Obama, in his wisdom, introduced his ‘red-line’ for the Syrian war, when in August 2012, he gave the understanding that he would intervene if there occurred chemical attacks. A few months later, it did happen and, as expected, Assad regime was blamed. However, Obama opted not to intervene, the excuse being that he would not be able to get congressional support. May be there is an alternate explanation, that it was a staged attack by the armed opposition to get USA involved.

Earlier this month, as Douma was being taken over by the government forces, another chemical attack occurred. What purpose this serves the Assad government, is anybody’s guess. Even before OPCW could visit Douma to establish facts, Trump decided to bomb some sites in Baghdad, with the support of President Macron of France and Prime Minister Theresa May of UK. Warning Russians when and where the attack would occur; an attack that did not result in any casualties, seems more like a gesture, which Trump excels in.

The most interesting article on this was by Robert Fisk, an award-winning journalist who specialises in Middle Eastern affairs and is based in Beirut. His article, in the British newspaper ‘Independent’, titled “The search for truth in the rubble of Douma – and one doctor’s doubts over the chemical attack” (https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-chemical-attack-gas-douma-robert-fisk-ghouta-damascus-a8307726.html) is fascinating reading. He starts the piece by stating:

“This is the story of a town called Douma, a ravaged, stinking place of smashed apartment blocks – and of an underground clinic whose images of suffering allowed three of the Western world’s most powerful nations to bomb Syria last week. There’s even a friendly doctor in a green coat who, when I track him down in the very same clinic, cheerfully tells me that the “gas” videotape which horrified the world – despite all the doubters – is perfectly genuine.” But, then he adds:

“War stories, however, have a habit of growing darker. For the same 58-year old senior Syrian doctor then adds something profoundly uncomfortable: the patients, he says, were overcome not by gas but by oxygen starvation in the rubbish-filled tunnels and basements in which they lived, on a night of wind and heavy shelling that stirred up a dust storm. ”

He continues by saying that this doctor may be an Assad supporter but, interestingly, he could not find any witnesses for a gas attack nor anyone who was concerned about it, unlike the international community. He poses the question: “How could it be that Douma refugees who had reached camps in Turkey were already describing a gas attack which no-one in Douma today seemed to recall?”

What I found most interesting was his reference to White Helmets, medical first responders whose efforts are always witnessed by TV crews, so much so that they were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize:

“The White Helmets – the medical first responders already legendary in the West but with some interesting corners to their own story – played a familiar role during the battles. They are partly funded by the Foreign Office and most of the local offices were staffed by Douma men. I found their wrecked offices not far from Dr Rahaibani’s clinic. A gas mask had been left outside a food container with one eye-piece pierced and a pile of dirty military camouflage uniforms lay inside one room. Planted, I asked myself? I doubt it. The place was heaped with capsules, broken medical equipment and files, bedding and mattresses.” “Of course, we must hear their side of the story, but it will not happen here: a woman told us that every member of the White Helmets in Douma abandoned their main headquarters and chose to take the government-organised and Russian-protected buses to the rebel province of Idlib with the armed groups when the final truce was agreed.”

Sounds familiar?

In an era of social media where everyone is trying to be a journalist, often peddling falsehoods than the truth, it is reassuring that there still are journalists of the calibre of Fisk, going in search of truth, risking life and limb. Will ‘warped logic’ win, still?

Courtesy RT

 

https://youtu.be/yaZRZo9FGQI

https://www.rt.com/news/424694-douma-boy-video-attack/

Courtesy newsin.asia

Colombo, April 20 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s Transport Ministry, on Friday said it had been made obligatory for all three wheel services in the island country to fix a meter and issue a receipt at the end of the trip.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

 This essay in the Darusman report series  features the   Report by Major General  John Holmes prepared at the request of the Paranagama Commsiion. It is taken from the Parangama Commjission Report.

ANNEX 1 – MILITARY EXPERT OPINION BY MAJOR GENERAL JOHN HOLMES DSO OBE MC

EXPERT MILITARY REPORT

By

Major General John Holmes DSO OBE MC

Major General (Retired) John Holmes DSO OBE MC

General Holmes’ military career began at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1968. He was commissioned into the Scots Guards, before joining 22 Special Air Service Regiment in 1974. His career thereafter was essentially with UK Special Forces until retirement in 2002.

He first saw action in Northern Ireland during 1971 during a tour with the Scots Guards. In this deployment he won a Military Cross for confronting a crowd of some 350 rioters with just 3 soldiers behind him. During his first tour as a Troop Commander of 22 SAS he completed two operational tours in Dhofar (Oman’s Southern Province), fighting a Communist insurgency. In 1978 he also commanded the UK’s Counter-Terrorist Military Response Team (CTMRT) and helped evolve the tactics and equipment that have subsequently been used world-wide in hostage rescue operations. After an operational jungle deployment, a close protection task in two Central American countries and a further two tours in Northern Ireland, he attended Staff College in 1982.

After Staff College he was given command of a SAS Squadron and for 6 months of his two year posting again commanded the CTMRT. In late 1989 he took over command of 22 SAS Regiment, which was deployed in 1991 in Western Iraq during Gulf War One. He was awarded an OBE for this deployment. Additionally, as commanding officer, he was charged with oversight and command of CTMRT and deployed on numerous domestic and overseas exercises. He returned as Director UK Special Forces in 1999 and deployed to command Operation Barras in Sierre Leone in 2000. This was a highly complex and challenging hostage rescue operation in the Sierre Leone jungle. Its ultimate success acted as part catalyst to the successful conclusion of the Sierre Leone conflict. He was awarded his DSO for this operation.

His various staff appointments included a posting in Washington DC as the Special Operations Liaison Officer and three years at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium, where he was SACEUR’s NATO Command Group Secretary. During this latter appointment he was involved in planning for operations in Kosovo.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………… 1

Summary………………………………………………………………………………………. 1

Accusations…………………………………………………………………………………… 2

Aim……………………………………………………………………………………………… 2

GoSL POLICY…………………………………………………………………………………….. 3

Background…………………………………………………………………………………… 3

Policy…………………………………………………………………………………………… 3

Training………………………………………………………………………………………… 3

LTTE POLICY…………………………………………………………………………………….. 5

Background…………………………………………………………………………………… 5

Policy…………………………………………………………………………………………… 5

Training………………………………………………………………………………………… 6

THE FINAL PHASE- THE EASTERN WANNI………………………………………………. 8

9 January 2009………………………………………………………………………………. 8

Dilemma………………………………………………………………………………………. 8

Challenges Posed……………………………………………………………………………. 9

Ground and Weather…………………………………………………………………….. 11

SLA Military Capability………………………………………………………………….. 12

LTTE Military Capability…………………………………………………………………. 30

NFZs…………………………………………………………………………………………… 17

SLA ROE………………………………………………………………………………………. 18

Proportionality…………………………………………………………………………….. 21

CRATER ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………………………… 22

IMAGERY ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………………………. 24

Report No. 1………………………………………………………………………………… 24

Report No.2………………………………………………………………………………… 48

Imagery Summary………………………………………………………………………… 26

CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………………………………… 27

INTRODUCTION

Summary

1. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) were founded in 1976 and carried out their first major attack on 24 July 1983. From the outset, the LTTE’s military commander was Velupillai Prabhakaran. By 2002 the LTTE controlled large tracts of Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka and were supported by a rich and influential diaspora. They had also fashioned a well trained and equipped military force comprising land, sea and air components. The movement was ruthless in its control of Tamil areas including the violent suppression of Tamil opposition groups and forced recruitment of child soldiers, both boys and girls. Velupillai Prabhakaran demanded absolute loyalty and sacrifice and cultivated a cult- like following”. 910 An undated LTTE oath of loyalty even mentioned Velupillai Prabhakaran by name:

I hereby affirm sincerely to toil to redeem our motherland, Tamil Ealam, from the oppressors of atrocities and to establish the lost sovereignty and uphold the dignity of our race, under the leadership of our national leader Hon V Prabhakaran and dedicate myself to the liberation of the nation and fight against all suppression”.

911

2. For the first 23 years of the conflict the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) remained open to a political solution with the LTTE and tried to engage them in peace talks. GoSL even accepted an Indian Peace Keeping Force for two years in 1987. In 2002 a peace process was facilitated by Norway and a ceasefire agreement signed and a Monitoring Mission established (SLMM). Between Feb 2002 and May 2007, the SLMM ruled that the LTTE violated the ceasefire 3,830 times as opposed to 351 violations by GoSL912. Hostilities resumed in July 2006 with a successful GoSL campaign securing the Eastern Province by July 2007. In March of that year GoSL had also launched an offensive in the north where the LTTE controlled some 6,792 sq kms of territory (‘The Wanni’). By Nov 2008 the Western Wanni was secured and operations were underway to take the LTTE administrative capital of Kilinochchi, which was secured on 2 Jan Until January 2009 there were no significant complaints against the conduct of the Sri Lankan Armed   Forces

. In fact quite the reverse is true: a cable from the US Embassy in Colombo to the US State Department states:

The Government has gained considerable credit until this point for conducting a disciplined military campaign over the past two years that minimized civilian casualties”913.

910 Report of the Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka [hereinafter ‘Darusman Report’] (31 March 2011) < http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf >. para 31.  911  Translated copy of an LTTE oath, undated, as found in document recovered by   SLA.

912 Ministry of Defence (MOD), Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka, Humanitarian Factual Analysis Sri Lanka, July 2006- May 2009 (July 2011), para  125.

913 US Ambassador Robert Blake, ‘Sri Lanka: Declared Safe Zone Inoperative; ICRC Contemplates Full Withdrawal’, Embassy Colombo, WikiLeaks, 27 January 2009, released 30 August 2011, para. 7. < http://www.cabledrum.net/cables/09COLOMBO95  >.

Accusations

3. There are numerous critical reports that have alleged that the Sri Lankan Army (hereinafter, SLA) disregarded the laws of armed conflict and international humanitarian law during the final five months of the campaign in the Wanni. I have read a number of these reports including the following:
   • The Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka dated  31

March 2011 (The Darusman Report)914.

• The report of the Secretary-General’s Internal Review Panel on UN Action in Sri

Lanka dated November 2012 (The Petrie  Report).915

• The University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) Special Report No 32 dated 10.06.09.916 – in essence, a Tamil report, critical of both GoSL and the
• US Embassy Cables-‘Wikileaks’
• Human Rights Watch-War on the Displaced February, 917

4. The above reports contain a number of allegations, a major one of which is that the scale of the loss of civilian life in the final five months of the war was contrary to the principles of distinction, military necessity and proportionality as defined by the laws of armed conflict and international humanitarian law. They refer in particular to the continuous shelling of civilians in no fire zones (NFZs) and directed artillery fire at hospitals, both temporary and

Aim

5. The aim of this document is to report on the actions of the SLA against the LTTE during the final five months of the war to help determine whether the SLA’s operations, particularly regarding the use of artillery, constituted a deliberate disregard of the laws of armed conflict and international humanitarian law. In addition, this report addresses whether the military operations of SLA were proportionate in accordance with the laws of armed

914Darusman Report, (31 March  2011)

915 Report of the Secretary-General’s Internal Review Panel on United Nations Action in Sri Lanka, (November 2012) <  http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/The_Internal_Review_Panel_report_on_Sri_Lanka.pdf  >. 916 University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), ‘A Marred Victory and a Defeat Pregnant with Foreboding, Special Report No. 32’   (10 June 2009), < http://www.uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport32.htm  >.

917  Human Rights Watch, War on the Displaced, 19 February  2009

<http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/srilanka0209webwcover_0.pdf   >.

GoSL POLICY

Background

6. Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected President of Sri Lanka in November 2005: his manifesto included a pledge to review the 2002 cease-fire agreement with the LTTE. He was also committed to an increase in resources for the SLA and was well aware that the LTTE had used the ceasefire to rearm. By July 2006 hostilities had resumed. The failure of successive peace initiatives over the years cannot have encouraged continued political dialogue and the US ‘War On Terror’ together with the proscription of the LTTE as a terrorist organisation by the US in 1997, the UK in 2001 and the EU in 2006, would also have added weight to consideration of a possible military solution.918 It was also felt that the intervention of India in June 1997 halted an ongoing and successful SLA operation that would probably have destroyed the LTTE – a set of events that was not forgotten in 2009. 919 Additionally GoSL were aware that the LTTE were using the protracted ceasefire to rearm. 920

Policy

7. The then President appointed himself to be Minister of Defence and his brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as Secretary of Defence and Lieutenant General Fonseka as Army Commander. The President also obtained parliamentary approval for major increases in the defence budget which grew to $1.6b in 2009. 921 This allowed General Fonseka to revitalise the SLA by increasing both its remuneration and its manpower to 300,000 troops over 3 years922, which created 5 new divisions923 and facilitated an operational rotation of units   at the front, whilst securing rear areas. The Sri Lankan Air Force ( hereinafter, SLAF) was also re-equipped and, importantly, as the ‘Sea Tigers’ controlled a sizeable length of the Eastern coastline, the Sri Lankan Navy ( hereinafter, SLN) developed a blue water capability.

Training

8. Historically, the SLA had been a relatively inflexible and ponderous organisation with little manoeuvre capability. This effectively gave the LTTE, who were capable of rapid deployment, the initiative and also allowed them to build effective terrorism and conventional military capabilities in parallel. 924 One of the most striking military  reforms

918 Manjula Fernando, ‘EU classification of LTTE as a terrorist group stands’, Sunday Observer (16 November 2012)  <  http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2014/11/16/fea06.asp >.

919  K.M. de Silva, Sri Lanka and the Defeat of the LTTE (Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2012), p.    2.

920  MOD, Humanitarian Factual Analysis Sri Lanka, para  88.

921 Anjali Sharma, ‘Post-War Sri Lanka: A Resurgent Nation’, Observer Research Foundation (12 July 2010) < http://orfonline.org/cms/sites/orfonline/modules/analysis/AnalysisDetail.html?cmaid=19481&mmacmaid=19470  >. 922 Ahmed S. Hashim, When Counterinsurgency Wins: Sri Lanka’s Defeat of the Tamil Tigers (New Delhi:  Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd., 2014),   p.188

923 Ibid

924 Ibid. at pp. 31-32

was a new emphasis on small unit operations – hitherto the SLA had always operated, as   if in a conventional operational setting, at company and platoon level. This made them vulnerable to LTTE ambushes, artillery and mines. This new emphasis on small unit operations kept casualties lower and proved more effective in terms of both reconnaissance and subsequent strike action. It also better prepared the SLA for operations in a variety of environments from primary jungle to thick bush, paddy fields and plantations. The new tactics encompassed the creation and expansion of specialised units such as Special Forces and the Rapid Action Battle Squad and the Special Boat Squadron in the Navy. 925 Infantry Battalions also gave selected individuals specialist training and formed them into 4 or 8 man teams, called Special Infantry Operational Teams.

9. The former Commander of the SLA, General Cyril Ranatunga, who oversaw the successful 1997 operations against the LTTE, established the Directorate of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in January 1997 926. His memoires, written in 2009, were critical of government policy and are worth quoting as he not only perceived the lack of a policy, but also clearly understood the many lines of operation that a successful strategy would require:

There appeared to be a total lack of continuity in the conduct of operations against the armed Tamil terrorists. This is the result of having no policy on how to eradicate terrorism. This type of ethnic- based armed conflict, once ignited due to many reasons, is difficult to eradicate without a firm policy derived from strength and practice ability”. 927

10. One of his requirements was for all ranks to understand and implement Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. He understood the importance of seeking not to alienate the Tamil civilian population and sought to improve on ‘hearts and minds’ training. According to the SLA’s own statistics some 140,971 soldiers of all ranks were trained or refreshed on various courses between 1997 and 2008. Similar directorates for the Navy and Air Force were established in 2002.According to evidence given before the LLRC Commission in August 2010, human rights cells had been set up at every HQ down to field level:

The Security Council had decided to pursue a strategy aimed at avoiding civilian casualties in the conduct of military operations. Accordingly, all operational orders to the Army, Navy and Air Force had clearly directed that every possible step be taken to avoid civilian casualties”928.

925  Fish, Sri Lanka learns to counter Sea Tigers’ swarm  tactics

926  MOD, Humanitarian Factual Analysis Sri Lanka, para  248.

927 General Cyril Ranatunga, Adventurous Journey: From Peace to war, Insurgency to Terrorism (Sri Lanka: Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2009), p.92

928 Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation (Hereinafter ‘LLRC’) (November 2011) < http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201112/FINAL%20LLRC%20REPORT.pdf >. para 4.36

LTTE POLICY

Background

11. The LTTE had an organised command structure that was divided into 7 geographical divisions or wings, each under the command of a district commander who was responsible to Velupillai Prabhakaran. Additionally, there were 10 specialist wings; intelligence, procurement, finance, military, political, communications, research, black tigers, sea tiger and air tiger, all of which reported to directly to Prabhakaran. 929 At the beginning of 2008 it was estimated that the military wing had approximately 20 to 30,000 fighters or cadres supported by an auxiliary force that had been given basic military The LTTE were able to access military equipment, finance and political support through the extensive Tamil diaspora, some of whom were supporters of the LTTE; throughout the 2002/06 ceasefire the LTTE were able to upgrade their weapon systems and to stockpile weapons, ammunition and equipment not only on shore but also in floating armouries in international waters. The Air Tigers had approximately 25 trained pilots and 6 Czech-built Zlin Z-143 single engine four seat aircraft that were modified to carry up to four bombs per mission.930 Their last attempted strike was on 20 February 2009 when 2 aircraft attempted a ‘9/11’ type attack on Colombo – they were destroyed before they reached their targets.
12. The Sea Tigers were demonstrably more successful than their air compatriots. At their height they numbered some 6,000 fighters divided into numerous teams based in units along the North East coast. They adapted or manufactured many of their own craft, including semi-submersibles, and were developing mini submarines. Importantly, they co- operated closely with the Military Wing and were carefully integrated into most operations.931 But by the end of 2008 the SLA had captured 20 Sea Tiger bases and their contribution in the last months of the war was minimal. The ‘Black Tigers’ comprised elite fighters especially trained for suicide missions under the direct command of Velupillai Prabhakaran. Following the example of the bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut by Islamic Jihad in 1984932, the LTTE were the first terrorist organisation to perfect and develop the use the suicide concept since World War They established this tactic as an integral part of their fighting strategy and transferred their expertise to other terrorist organisations.

Policy

13. The LTTE used the period of the 2002-6 ceasefire to rearm and to prepare for what they referred to as the final war”933. They also endeavoured to consolidate their political and administrative organisation in the territories that they held and attempted to extend their

929 International Crimes Evidence Project Report (ICEP), ‘Island of Impunity? Investigation into international crimes in the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war’ [Hereinafter ‘Island of Impunity’] (February 2014), paras.

16.113 onwards

930 Ibid, para. 16.128.

931 Ibid, para. 16.134.

932 ‘On This Day (1950-2005) 20 September 1984’, BBC website. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/20/newsid_2525000/2525197.stm 933  MOD, Humanitarian Factual Analysis Sri Lanka, para  121.

influence in other parts of the country where, under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, they were allowed to set up political offices.  934

It operated and sought to project itself as a de facto state. To this end the LTTE developed a well-structured international strategy and, in the territory it controlled, established its own police, jails, courts, immigration department, banks and some social services”935.

14. However, there were setbacks. In 2004, the second in command of the LTTE, Vinayagamoorvthi Muralitharan, (aka. Colonel Karuna), defected together with his 6,000 fighters. He not only provided significant intelligence that assisted later operations, but his defection also led to a substantial reduction in LTTE recruitment in the Eastern Province936. It was also clear that the events of 9/11 and the subsequent war on terror would have a knock-on effect on the international community’s perception of the LTTE. With the help of the Indian Navy, the Sri Lankan Navy began to reduce the LTTE’s maritime capability and seize its floating armouries – according to Jane’s Review, 11 LTTE floating armouries were destroyed in 2006 and a further 3 in 2007.937 These logistic issues manifested themselves in the last months of the war when the LTTE allegedly ran short of artillery ammunition. 938 It also put added significance on the LTTE’s ability to manufacture their own war
15. Whilst the LTTE acknowledged and prepared for a further conflict, it was, perhaps, not initially apparent to them, despite the very obvious improvements to SLA capabilities, that this would be fought at a sustained tempo which their logistics structure would be incapable of supporting and for which their manpower reserves would be inadequate. The loss of the Eastern Province in July 2007 meant that defeat was possible; the loss of their administrative capital, Kilinochchi, on 2 January 2009 meant that, unless they could secure a ceasefire, military defeat, in detail, was inevitable: the only strategy available to the LTTE after Kilinochchi fell was to secure a ceasefire and to bend all their resources to achieving that goal. This was a strategy acknowledged by US Ambassador Blake in his cable to the State Department of 5 February 2009,

The LTTE had refused to allow civilians to leave because the LTTE needs the civilians as human shields as a pool for forced conscription, and as a means to try and persuade the international community to force a cease- fire upon the government, since that is the LTTE’s only  hope.”939

Training

934 Ibid para. 120.

935 Darusman Report, para 33.

936 Malik Jalal, ‘Think Like a Guerrilla, Counterinsurgency Lessons from Sri Lanka’, Harvard Kennedy School Review (2011), p. 6

937 Jane’s Intelligence Review

938  ICEP, Island of Impunity, para 16.126.

939  US Ambassador Robert Blake, ‘Co-chair Meeting with UN Special Envoy to Sri Lanka’,    Embassy Colombo,

WikiLeaks, 5 February 2009, para  4.

16. The training given to front line LTTE fighters fell broadly into three categories. Basic training, which lasted approximately 4 months940 and took place in LTTE bases which were established in almost every village941: special operations training, which included special reconnaissance, sniping, mine laying, artillery942 : and last, but by no means least, refresher training943 for all of the above. The LTTE,

invested heavily in training and discipline, command and control, communications, ideological indoctrination and psychological warfare instruction”. 944

The preamble to a LTTE training document seized in 2009 describes the movement’s aims

and concludes by stating,

In such a situation military training must be provided that gives efficiency and confidence in order to drive away the enemy with vigour to reclaim our territories and it is our political aim to build up a militarized people power with clear political vision. Accordingly we have established our hierarchy and militarized our activities”945.

17. The inference of the above statement was that the LTTE would militarize the Tamil civilian population in the areas that they

Civilians were also enlisted by the LTTE into their war effort in other ways, using them, for example, to dig trenches and build fortifications, often exposing them to additional harm”946.

 They also pursued exclusionary policies in the areas they controlled. The worst example was the expulsion of some 75,000 Muslim residents from the Jaffna peninsula in October 1990.947 Overall, the civilian population were there to be used for whatever purpose the LTTE saw fit. Tamil opposition groups were ruthlessly stamped out and internal dissent was not tolerated – the LTTE saw itself as the sole representative of the Tamil people and its elusive leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, demanded absolute loyalty and sacrifice and cultivated a cult-like following”948

940‘Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)’, Jane’s World Insurgency and Terrorism    (6 Jun 2012), p. 11.

941  Paul Moorcroft, Total Destruction of the Tamil Tigers (South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military, 2012), p.   94.

942  MOD, Humanitarian Factual Analysis Sri Lanka, para.  49.

943 Ibid, para. 51

944  ICEP, Island of Impunity, para 16.120.

945Translated Copy of LTTE training document handed to author by SLA,   undated.

946 Darusman Report, para 68.

947  MOD, Humanitarian Factual Analysis Sri Lanka, para  35.

948 Darusman Report, para 31.

THE FINAL PHASE- THE EASTERN WANNI

9 January 2009

18. The SLA had, by 9 January 2009, secured the western part of the Northern Province, opened up the A9 road through to Jaffna (for the first time in 23 years) and occupied Kilinochchi, the administrative capital of the On 2 January the President called upon the LTTE to lay down its arms and surrender.949 The SLA had effectively reached a tipping point whereby the LTTE were now trapped in an area of some 1,800 sq kms (see map at Annex B) and was surrounded on three sides. It would also have been obvious to the SLA command chain through aerial reconnaissance, UAV footage and Humint,950 that there were large numbers of civilians trapped in the same area. This would clearly present tactical challenges if the fighting was to continue and was probably a factor in offering terms. The LTTE did not surrender. Indeed the retention of a civilian population in their zone of influence was a vital element of their strategy as it,

Lent legitimacy to their claim for a separate homeland and provided a buffer against the SLA offensive”.951

Over the next five months the number of civilians trapped in the remaining LTTE controlled area became a subject of intense debate between GoSL, the UN and associated NGOs. The Darusman Report states that around 330,000 civilians were trapped into an ever decreasing area, fleeing the shelling but kept hostage by the LTTE”.952 In factual terms, 290,000 IDPs were processed at the end of the war and the University Teachers Report in its introduction states that Militarily stymied, it (LTTE) took physical hostage of 300,000 people in its final stages”. Whilst the true number will never be known, it can be reasonably assumed that a minimum of 290,000 civilians were concentrated into the shrinking LTTE perimeter during the final months. But it should not be forgotten that for many of the civilians this was their home and that they feared what would happen to them if they crossed over – some also had experienced the SLA occupation of Jaffna and had moved with the LTTE since 1995.953 Many also had relatives serving with the LTTE either voluntarily or as a result of forced recruitment.

Dilemma

19. Given that the LTTE had no intention of surrendering, GoSL had an unpalatable dilemma. It could either accept a ceasefire, which the international community and UN were starting to promote, or continue with the offensive whilst trying to mitigate the threat to civilians. GoSL had no intention of accepting a ceasefire, as experience had shown that the LTTE merely used ceasefires to regroup  and rearm. This  occurred in  1997 during     the  Indian

949  MOD, Humanitarian Factual Analysis Sri Lanka, para  173

950 Human intelligence sources 951 Darusman Report, para. 70 952 Darusman Report, p. ii.

953 Darusman Report, para. 71.

brokered ceasefire and again during the 2002/06 ceasefire. There would also have been concern that the LTTE leaders would escape and be able to start a guerrilla campaign. A UN concern voiced by Sir John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs 2007 -2010, was that the LTTE might use the trapped civilians to stage a mass suicide,

My worst fears of a concluding dreadful act of a Masada-style mass suicide were not realised”.954

In my military opinion, factoring in this experienced diplomat’s view, which appears to corroborate some of the GoSL’s own views on the ruthlessness of the LTTE, this presented as a wholly unique and unusual hostage taking situation. Indeed, ISIL, in Syria, has adopted some of these strategies, forcing the allied coalition in Iraq to make hard choices in the overall protection of the civilian population and the stability of the region. However, I must stress that final phase of the Sri Lankan situation, in 2009, appeared, at the time, to be a unique event, pitting the GoSL against a well trained and suicidal fighting force who were prepared to kill their own civilians. In fact, I do not believe that the strategic difficulties of resolving the last phase of the war have been fully appreciated by military strategists until relatively recently.

SLA tactics would have to take into account their likely casualties when they pressed their case against a fanatical enemy determined to fight to the last. If the strategic aim was to destroy the LTTE and its leadership once and for all, thus saving lives in the long term, then the dilemma was how to accomplish this whilst saving as many of the civilians trapped in the Wanni as practically possible. Tactical options open to the SLA are discussed in more detail at paragraph 20 below.

Challenges Posed

20. From the start of the Eastern offensive in August 2006, GoSL had referred to their operations as being ‘Humanitarian’, which perhaps reflected the emphasis placed by SLA on civilian protection, rather than any form of punitive aspect directed against civilians: but nothing can have prepared them for the challenge they now faced. In an area approximately the size of Greater London within the M25, with no dominating ground and during the inclement weather of the north east monsoon, they had to kill or capture up to 5,000 thousand well-armed, fanatical LTTE fighters (many of whom had been issued with cyanide pills) in prepared positions, operating amongst and around over 290,000 civilians, who were themselves short of food and medical supplies. Additionally, large numbers of LTTE fought in civilian clothes in order to confuse the drones and exploit the civilians as a human buffer”.955 Indeed, the Darusman Report makes it clear that in the last phase stage of the conflict LTTE cadre were not always in uniform…”.956   The author can think of no

954 Sir John Holmes, The Politics of Humanity: The Reality of Relief Aid (London: Head of Zeus, 2013), p.112; Sir John Holmes was UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs 2007   -2010

955  Frances Harrison, Still Counting the Dead: Survivors of Sri Lanka’s Hidden    War’ (London: Portobello Books,

2012), p. 245.

military precedent that the SLA could have turned to for guidance. This would have been  a challenge for the most professional and best informed and equipped armies in the  world.

21. All the available evidence shows that the LTTE were using civilians as human buffers/shields to obtain a military advantage. 957The SLA would have been justified in using appropriate firepower to attain their military objectives. To do otherwise would be tactically
22. In military terms the tactical options were stark. Field Commanders would have been well aware of past SLA casualty numbers and it is generally acknowledged that soldiers become less prepared to put their lives on the line towards the end of a campaign that is obviously moving towards a successful conclusion. As it was, and according to official GoSL figures, a total of 2,126 members of the Sri Lankan Security Forces were killed and 10,679 wounded from 1 January to 19 May 2009. Conversely, higher command would have been eager to get the job completed whilst the SLA had both the initiative and the momentum to achieve the strategic goal The one inescapable military certainty was that the LTTE could only be defeated `in detail’ through a protracted infantry and Special Forces operation. More sophisticated armed forces could have considered an amphibious option behind LTTE lines, which might have achieved surprise and shortened the conflict. In my military opinion, the SLA did not have a sufficient amphibious capability. Similarly, the Sri Lankan Air Force did not possess the rotary assets to complete an airmobile assault. More imaginative use of armour might also have been considered, but the terrain, weather (see below) and soft soil limited its deployment as did the availability to the LTTE of anti- tank missiles and mines. A well targeted Special Forces operation with the aim of killing Prabhakaran and his immediate commanders could have been countenanced with precise intelligence and precision guided weapons (PGMs). But SLAF did not have the exact location of Prabhakaran and, as the perimeter shrunk, the collateral danger to civilians increased. The latter also negated the use of overwhelming and sustained firepower. The only realistic option was a step by step ‘boots on the ground’ advance. Photographs taken by the author in December 2014 at Annex C show the few remaining houses in the combat area that still show battle damage – although of little evidential significance, the battle damage has all been caused by small arms fire. The tactical balance to be struck was to ensure the assaulting troops were given the necessary fire support whilst minimising SLA casualties and collateral  damage and civilian
23. The mitigation measures adopted to protect civilians included the attempted designation by GoSL of NFZs,958 humanitarian corridors, leaflet drops (examples are shown at Annex D), the use of loud speakers to encourage civilians to cross the lines, UN organised humanitarian aid convoys, the facilitation of ICRC brokered evacuations from the beach, and the preparation of camps and medical facilities to receive significant numbers of IDPs. On 6 April 2009, as detailed in paragraph 174 of the Darusman Report, the Commander of the SLA, Lieutenant General    Fonseka, was quoted in Sri Lanka’s Observer newspaper as

957 Darusman Report. Para98. p28

958  The LTTE did not agree the terms of any NFZ in the final  phase.

saying that the SLA was involved in the world’s largest hostage rescue” operation.959 On 12 April, coinciding with the Sinhala and Tamil New Year the Sri Lankan President announced a 48 hour period of military restraint to allow civilians to escape and for the LTTE to surrender (see Annex E). On 27 April 2009 a joint Indian-Sri Lankan statement was released which stated,…the Sri Lankan security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy calibre guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian casualties”.960 In fact, and according to a Government source the use of artillery and 122mm mortars had been stopped with the declaration of the first NFZ on 19 January 2009. However, and according to the same source, the use of 81 and 82mm mortars was possible with Brigade or Divisional agreement. There is therefore a degree of ambiguity in the Presidential statement for the definition of a heavy calibre gun – see para 24.  961

23. The most effective measure to reduce civilian casualties would be the degree of detailed planning and rehearsal that would govern the assault during the last few months. Equally important would be the tempo of operations, as surprise was going to be difficult to achieve and too much haste, given the LTTE tactics, would inevitably result in more civilian casualties. Step by step Special Forces led, infantry operations gradually became the norm and this was reflected in Lieutenant General Fonseka’s comment (Paragraph 22 above) on 6 April 2009. For the final assault across the Nandhikkadal Lagoon into what were NFZs 4 and 5, a model was created which accurately reflected LTTE positions as pin pointed by UAV
24. It is perhaps useful at this stage to understand some military terminology. A direct fire weapon is in simple terms one that is aimed and fired at a visible target. An indirect fire weapon is one where the firer cannot actually see the target and is normally working off co-ordinates provided by an observer closer to the front – mortars and artillery are indirect fire weapons. Obviously the danger of collateral damage is greater with an indirect fire weapon. It should be born in mind that during combat it is unusual to be able to destroy an indirect fire weapon with direct fire except by the use of air delivered laser guided bombs or rockets. However, to have such a capability immediately available would have required a `cab rank’ of airborne, armed aircraft available for immediate tasking by ground troops: the Sri Lankan Air Force did not have that capability. The dilemma for the SLA was how to respond when their ground forces were subjected to LTTE indirect fire: did they respond in kind and would any response have been proportionate. This is discussed further at paragraph 28. Artillery is generally acknowledged to fall into three categories:
    • Light artillery are guns up to and including 105mm
    • Medium artillery are guns of more than 105mm and less than
    • Heavy artillery are guns of 155mm and larger (not possessed by SLA).

Ground and Weather

959 Darusman Report, para. 174

960  Moorcroft, Total Destruction of the Tamil Tigers, p.  144

961 Heavy Artillery are guns of 155m and the SLA neither used, nor were in possession of heavy artillery during the conflict.

25. The terrain in the Eastern Wanni varies from primary jungle in the south to paddy fields and Palmyra plantations around Kilinochchi and dry scrub towards the coast. The whole area was waterlogged in January 2009, as indeed it was when the author visited in December 2014. There are two significant natural water obstacles parallel with the coast; the Jaffna Lagoon to the north and the Nandhikkadal Lagoon to the south. The latter would play a significant role in preventing civilians from escaping west to safety. The appalling conditions were worsened when the LTTE destroyed the walls of the Kalmadukulam tank, which flooded some fifteen square kilometres. They attempted to do the same to the Iranamadu tank, the largest reservoir in the north (approximately 6 to 8 times the size of the Kalmadukulam tank), but the LTTE fighters sent to complete the mission disobeyed orders and surrendered to the SLA instead.962 It is of note that if they had completed their mission successfully, the effects were potentially catastrophic for both trapped civilians and the advancing SLA. The area was bounded by two un-metalled roads, the A9 running north to Jaffna and the A34 running from Mullaittivu on the coast west to its junction with the A9. The soil type varies from ‘paddy’ earth around Kilinochchi to lighter sandy soil and then sand along the beach and
26. The north east monsoon lasts from December to March and on poor days brings a low cloud base and torrential rain, which would have had a significant effect on airborne surveillance, whether from satellites, fixed wing aircraft or UAVs. The US State Department Report to Congress on Incidents During the Recent Conflict in Sri Lanka, 2009, states, when referring to satellite imagery, on page 10 states that, sandy soil conditions in the NFZ and the emerging monsoon season resulting in increased cloud cover further complicated efforts to monitor the conflict with commercial and USG sources.”963 I have adopted this observation to conclude that the prevailing weather conditions made contemporaneous and accurate satellite imagery

SLA Military Capability

27. The strategic and political direction of the war against the LTTE was provided by the National Security Council (NSC), which was charged with the maintenance of national security, with authority to direct security operations and matters incidental to it”.964 The NSC’s directives would then be passed through the Joint Operations Headquarters, run by the Chief of Defence Staff, to the individual service commanders. In the case of the SLA, command then passed from the Army Commander to regional headquarters known as Security Forces Headquarters (SFHQ), and from there to Divisional and Task Force Headquarters for implementation.965 For operations in the Eastern Wanni, one SFHQ was involved, SFHQ-Wanni based at Vavuniya.966 Operations in the Wanni were conducted   by five divisions, although one of these (58 Division) was also designated a Task Force, and 4 Task A Division was sub-divided into three Brigades of three infantry

962  Paul Moorcroft, Ibid, p. 134.

963 U.S. Department of State, Report to Congress on Incidents During the Recent Conflict in Sri Lanka (2009), < http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/131025.pdf >.   p. 10

964  ICEP, Island of Impunity,  para 16.7.

965 Ibid, para 16.27.

966 Ibid, para 16.34

Battalions each. A Brigade consisted of between 2,500 and 3,000 personnel. A Task Force consisted of only two Brigades of three Battalions each. There were also specialist Brigades such as Special Forces, Commando, Air Mobile and an Artillery Brigade.967 Overall, it is reasonable to assume that there were approximately 80,000 troops available for operations in the Wanni (East and West). Whilst this might, on the face of it, sound excessive, it merely reflects the reality of conducting operations in challenging circumstances with high casualty rates, inclement weather and a fanatical enemy. There was also the need to rotate units through the front line, whilst also securing rear areas. The available SLA deployment area declined in parallel with the shrinking perimeter.

28. In terms of artillery support open sources indicate that the SLA had access to (45):
    • Mortars – 81mm, 82mm,107mm,
    • Artillery – 85mm, 122mm, 130mm,
    • MBRLs – 122mm

The artillery, MBRLs and the 107mm and 122mm mortars would probably have been part of the Artillery Brigade and detached to support Divisions and Task Forces. The 81mm and 82mm mortars are more likely to have been integral to infantry Battalions. It is of note that the SLA did not possess heavy artillery (guns of 155mm calibre and  above).

29. According to the SLA the only fuzes available for both artillery and mortars were ‘impact fuzes’ – they exploded on hitting the ground. Although there have been some references to MBRL air burst fuzes being used by the SLA, 968 these cannot be substantiated. Indeed, given the protection afforded by the tree canopy in many areas, a purchase of air burst munitions would not have made a lot of sense. Artillery and mortar fire support is most effective if it is properly controlled and directed. To this end the SLA would have deployed Forward Observation Officers (FOOs) and relied on their UAV coverage for target identification. They also had 4 Chinese locating radars, which, by numerous accounts were highly effective.969. Locating counter battery radars have been developed principally for counter-battery fire – they enable a commander to locate enemy guns that have been shelling his own troops and provide the coordinates to allow his own artillery to shell the enemy guns. However, this tactic is only effective if the enemy guns stay in position long enough to become targets themselves. If so called ‘shoot and scoot’ tactics were used by the LTTE then the effectiveness of the counter battery radar would be somewhat curtailed. An eye witness account of such tactics being used by the LTTE is recounted by a retired UN Bangladeshi Colonel on page 109 (Chapter 5, The Convoy) of Gordon Weiss’s book, The Cage”.970

967 Ibid, para 16.46

968  Moorcroft, Total Destruction of the Tamil Tigers, p.  135

969 Ibid, p. 130.

970 Gordon Weiss, The Cage, p,109. Weiss describes the account of the UN convoy member who was apparently a former artillery officer. There were artillery exchanges between the army and the Tigers,who had stationed mobile artillery batteries in and around PTK.Harun could see the barrel flashes from Tiger heavy artillery piece just 300 metres from the hospital, quite apart from hearing its thumping reports.As the Tiger artillery sent outgoing rounds against the army’s advance and then shifted position,he could count off the seconds until an incoming barrage responded in an effort to destroy the  guns.”

30. In the ‘US Department of State – Report to Congress on Incidents During the Recent Conflict in Sri Lanka, 2009’, I noted that there appeared to be an acceptance of the LTTE deliberately placing their artillery guns close to civilians in order to cause casualties upon the Tamil civilian population .971
31. There are reports of SLA using Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers (hereinafter MBRLs) during the final months of the war. It has not been possible to substantiate these claims. It is of note, however, that the killing power of a MBRL is significant and that at their most effective, the SLA variant could fire 40 rockets in 18 to 22 seconds. These are described as ‘area weapons’ which unleash, fierce firepower. This would kill or seriously injure any unprotected person in an area approximately 600 x Given the political circumstances prevailing at the time, if such destructive force had been deployed, this would have caused a major outcry to halt the fighting. There is no evidence from what I have examined of the destruction that would have been caused, particularly with regard to buildings such as hospitals, if such firepower had been unleashed . Moreover, unnecessary casualties would have been counterproductive to the overall SLA military strategy: any military commander would have been cognisant of this obvious political factor.
32. For close air support the Sri Lankan Air Force had Kfir C-2, Kfir C-7 and MiG-27M Flogger J2 fixed wing aircraft.972 They also had MI 24 attack and MI 17 transport helicopters. The author could not determine whether Precision Guided Munitions (PGM) were available to the Air
33. The Sri Lankan Navy possessed some 50 combat and support ships and in excess of 100 inshore patrol craft.973 They were supported by the Sri Lankan Special Boat Service (SBS) which by 2009 numbered some 600 personnel.974 The SBS’s role was to penetrate LTTE territory to provide reconnaissance, surveillance and direct action operations. According  to official accounts975 the Sri Lankan Navy established secure sea corridors for civilians escaping from LTTE held areas, although in practical terms they were probably not that successful because escaping civilians would have neither the navigational aids nor the knowledge to conform to them. There are, however, many reports 976of the Navy helping escaping civilians, whether by taking them on board or by offering medical

LTTE Military Capability

34. The LTTE use of civilians has already been referred to elsewhere in this Report, but it is worth emphasising once again as, during the final months of the conflict, it reached new

971 January 27 – The New York Times reported that a hospital came under shelling. The article quoted one witness saying, Our team on the ground was certain the shell came from the Sri Lanka military, but apparently response to   an LTTE shell. All around them was the carnage from casualties from people who may have thought they would be safer being near the UN.” Another witness said, The team on the ground had suspected that the rebels were firing at government forces from close to where civilians were taking  shelter.”

972 ICEP, Island of Impunity, para 16.74. 973 ICEP, Island of Impunity, para. 16.89 974 Ibid.

975  MOD, Humanitarian Factual Analysis Sri Lanka, para  229.

976 Ibid, para. 234-235

levels of intensity. The two quotes below come from the University Teachers Report mentioned at Paragraph 3 above.

The upshot was the LTTE whose astounding military success was founded on despoiling the social fabric of the Tamils and making everything, from child bearing to education, creatures of its military  needs.”

Even as the LTTE leaders were discussing surrender terms, they were sending out

very young suicide cadres to ‘martyrdom’ to slow down the army advance”.  977

Although  reduced  to  some  5,000 hard-core fighters978        the  LTTE  were reinforced by conscripted civilians of all ages – as the UN  recognised;

The LTTE relied on forced recruitment in an attempt to maintain its forces. While previously the LTTE took one child per family for its forces, as the war progressed, the policy intensified and was enforced with brutality, often recruiting several children from the same family, including boys and girls as young as 14. Civilians were also enlisted by the LTTE into their war effort in other ways, using them, for example, to dig trenches and build fortifications, often exposing them to additional harm”.979

35. The LTTE were also masters of defensive earthworks called bunds (example at Annex F), and they had the time and the conscripted labour to build them. One such bund in the western Wanni was over 30 kms long and the SLA lost 153 soldiers in breaching just one section of it”.980 The use of defensive bunkers and bunds lasted until the final days of the conflict:

Increasingly, LTTE forces, mounting their last defence, moved onto the coastal strip in the second NFZ, particularly in the Mullivaikkal area, where the LTTE leadership had a complex network of bunkers and fortifications and where it ultimately made its final stand”.981

36. In terms of artillery the LTTE were reasonably well off, although their supply chains had been disrupted, especially after the loss of their floating armouries. One source reports that,

these vessels were carrying over 80,000 artillery rounds, over 100,000 mortar rounds, a bullet- proof jeep, three aircraft in dismantled form, torpedoes and surface to air missiles”.982

977 University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), ‘A Marred Victory and a Defeat Pregnant with Foreboding, Special Report No. 32’ (10 June 2009), < http://www.uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport32.htm >.   p.  2.

978 Darusman Report, para. 66.

979 Ibid, para 68.

980  Moorcroft, Total Destruction of the Tamil Tigers, p.  131

981 Darusman Report, para. 97

982 Ahmed S. Hashim, When Counterinsurgency Wins: Sri Lanka’s Defeat of the Tamil Tigers (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press India Pvt. Ltd., 2014),  p.  94

 

 

 

According to daily Government press releases during the final five months of the conflict, the following LTTE artillery pieces and mortars were recovered, although it is not possible from the information available to determine the last time they had been  used983:

• 29 Jan – 1 x 152mm artillery
• 31 Jan – 3 x 120mm mortars, 3 x 81mm mortars, 1 x 60mm
• 16 Feb – 2 x 130mm artillery
• 24 Feb – 14 x 60mm mortars, 43 x 60mm mortar barrels, 25 x 2 inch mortar barrels, 3 x 120mm mortar
• 3 Mar – 1 x 130mm artillery piece, 1 x 122mm gun
• 6 Mar – 6 x 60mm
• 16 Mar – 5 x improvised
• 28 Mar – 2 x 60mm
• 31 Mar – 1 x 130mm artillery
• 13 May – 2 x 60mm
• 15 May – 22 x 60mm mortars, 1 x 81mm mortar
• 16 May – 1 x 152mm artillery piece, 3 x 60mm mortars, 1 x 81mm mortar

By way of limited corroboration, there is a report 984 that in one of the last battles (at Iranapalai) on 4/5 April the LTTE lost three 130mm guns. There is no doubt that the  LTTE had access to artillery and mortars until the  end,

Towards  the  end  of  the  war  the  numbers  of  shells,  but  not  the       accuracy

declined”.985

37. A list of all recovered LTTE weapons during the war and some photographs are attached at Annexes G and H. The list is extensive and includes wire guided anti-tank missiles, surface to air missiles and homemade MBRLs. There were two capability gaps in the LTTE inventory: first, the Air Tigers were never really effective and did not contribute at all during the final months: second, the LTTE had limited surveillance capacity, fire control measures or equipment. This would not have made a difference during the pitched battles when SLA were assaulting the bunds, but would have made a significant difference when LTTE were using indirect fire. One former LTTE intelligence major interviewed by the author986 stated that when the LTTE pulled back from a location they would record its position and then shell it from their new position on the basis that the SLA would have subsequently occupied it. Unobserved fire such as this could obviously catch civilians and SLA troops
38. The LTTE were technically innovative and made their own weapons including the 6 barrel MBRLs, two of which were recovered on 3 March and 13 May 2009 respectively (see Annex H). They also manufactured improvised rocket launchers, artillery pieces and giant mortars (see Annex H). It is believed the giant mortar rounds were still in development and

983  Extracted from GoSL press releases between January – May   2009

984  Moorcroft, Total Destruction of the Tamil Tigers,  p.137

985 Ibid, p. 130.

986  Interview Author and (Maj) Subramaniyam Sathyamoorthi Ex LTTE, 19 December   2014..

according to Government sources, the round itself had an improvised phosphorous war head. An observation on improvised weapons and ammunition is that their range and accuracy would be inconsistent. For instance, the improvised 6 barrel MBRL (Annex H) appears to lack a solid platform and so would have been extremely unstable when fired – this would have resulted in loss of range, inaccuracy and a much greater spread of rounds, which inevitably would have added to the civilian casualty count. Perhaps the most effective homemade weapons” in the LTTE armoury were the suicide bombers, who were used to the very end. Annex I, which is an extract from a government list of suicide attacks, details the attacks and casualties during the last five months of the war. Serial 114, which is attached to this report, deals with the numerous suicide attacks, and is noteworthy for its callousness as it took place at an IDP reception centre and appeared to be an illustration of a willingness of the LTTE to use suicide attacks to kill their own civilian population who were trying to escape,

Although the LTTE’s supply chains had been disrupted, especially after the loss  of its floating warehouses, it still had access to some stockpiles of weapons, including some artillery and a few MBRLs. It used them to offer stiff resistance from behind its fortifications and earth bunds and also launched waves of suicide attacks”.987

NFZs

39. There were 5 NFZs. The idea for such zones would appear to have come from the SLA and instructions are set out in letters (copies at Annex J) as follows:
    • NFZ 1 letter dated 19 Jan
    • NFZ 2 letter dated 19 Jan
    • NFZ 3 letter dated 19 Jan
    • NFZ 4 dated 11 Feb
    • NFZ 5 dated 9 May

The first two letters come from Army HQ and are signed by Brigadier K A D Karunasekera and addressed to the Head of Delegation, ICRC. The third letter comes from the Military Intelligence Directorate and appears to have a military distribution with the ICRC being informed by SFHQ Wanni. Trapped civilians were informed of the NFZs by leaflet drops (an example from the last days of the conflict is at Annex J), loud-speakers and  wireless.

40. According to the Rules of Armed Conflict988, a NFZ only becomes effective if all warring parties agree its details. The LTTE did not endorse any of the NFZs and from the moment they were created they fired artillery and mortars at the SLA from inside the NFZs, sometimes from close to hospitals,

The LTTE also fired mobile artillery from the vicinity of the hospital, but did    not

use the hospital for military purposes until after it was  evacuated.”.989

987 Darusman Report, para. 69

988  Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, ICRC, 12    August 1949.

989 Darusman Report, para. 94

The LTTE is now widely recruiting from among the trapped population, forcing

both young and old to fight, and is positioning its artillery  within

civilian concentrations”.990

Photographs purporting to be LTTE positions amongst the civilian population in the Eastern Wanni are at Annex K. They were allegedly taken by Reddy, one of two Indian journalists embedded with the SLA. It is also well documented that in the closing months, LTTE fighters wore civilian clothes as noted in the Darusman Report, LTTE cadres were not always in uniform at this stage”.991 Furthermore, the trapped civilians were either voluntarily helping or being forced to build military fortifications; this is on top of forced conscription, which intensified as the war progressed.

41. The logic behind the delineation of the NFZs has in some accounts raised questions, but in the author’s view, the NFZs followed the movement of the civilian population, which essentially followed the loss of territory by the LTTE. Given the LTTE’s overall use of trapped civilians, it follows that they were forced to retreat in tandem with the LTTE and beginning in February, the LTTE commenced a policy of shooting civilians who attempted to escape, and, to this end, cadre took up positions where they could spot civilians who might try to break out”.992
42. Whilst in the perception of the International Community the NFZs were inviolate, they did not legally exist, as the LTTE had not agreed to them. Additionally, the LTTE fought from within the NFZs, often in civilian clothes, whilst also using the IDPs as a buffer from the SLA and also as a source of labour and fighters. All armies will retain their inherent right to self-defence when threatened and, given the presence of so many civilians, any such response in these circumstances should be judged by the principles of distinction, legitimate targeting, military necessity and proportionality as defined in international law. Faced with these circumstances, a western Army would control their response through the use of well circulated and easily interpretable Rules of Engagement (ROE). Additionally, the command chain would ensure that all troops were aware of civilian concentrations, hospitals, UN/NGO facilities, humanitarian convoys etc. within their area of operations. The SLA would appear to have complied with this passage of information requirement and the author was given photocopies of 6 x signals issued by SFHQ(W) during January and early February 2009. These are at Annex

SLA: Rules of Engagement (ROE)

43. In essence, ROE set out the operational parameters for military action – as such, they can provide both authorisation, for, or limitations on the use of force. Historically, ROE have provided a measure of protection for civilians caught up in an armed conflict. In their most basic form they inform an individual soldier of the circumstances in which he might use

990 US Ambassador Robert Blake, ‘Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 35’, Embassy Colombo, WikiLeaks, 19 March 2009, para. 5.< http://www.cabledrum.net/cables/09COLOMBO310    >.

991 Darusman Report, para. 97.

992 Ibid, para. 99.

force. During recent years, particularly in sophisticated armed forces, ROE have assumed  a growing importance as the ability to conduct precision, long range strikes, either by manned aircraft or UAVs, has increased. The key to understanding ROE is that they seek to limit collateral damage (proportionality) through precision (distinction) whilst allowing operations to progress (legitimate targeting and military necessity). ROE do NOT and are unlikely ever to prevent collateral damage and civilian deaths, even with the most well equipped and trained armies. A UK definition of ROE, from the Staff Officer’s Handbook 14, is at Annex M. Note the penultimate sentence, The UK’s inherent right to self defence however, will always apply”. Similar wording is used in almost all international ROE seen by the author.

44. I have seen documents that equate with ROE applying to the early weeks of 2009. I have not made available to me any ROE’s thereafter. On the face of it this might appear to be a serious omission and a possible factor behind some of the alleged violations of the Laws of Armed Conflict. But SLA’s operational capabilities have to be kept in perspective. From 2006 the SLA became an increasingly effective army as it expanded together with the addition of new weapons, tactics and increased remuneration. These factors combined to increase morale, which in turn resulted in a successful series of operations. However, the SLA was still a developing force with a minimum education requirement for recruitment purposes of Sri Lankan Grade 8, which requires reading and writing skills. Post war the standard was raised to Grade 10. Even in modern western armies the interpretation of written ROE can prove challenging. A Human Rights Watch Report entitled ‘Off Target, The Conduct of the War and Civilian Casualties in Iraq’ dated 2003 stated on page 102 that While US rules of engagement on paper met international humanitarian law standards, in practice, soldiers and marines reported conflicting interpretations of what they meant and how to apply them in practice….” Doctrinally, the SLA 2006 reforms had introduced a form of ‘auftragstakik’ or mission command, which encourages initiative at lower rank levels. It is the opposite of ‘befehlstakik’, which is a process requiring detailed orders down to the lowest levels. To that end, the SLA had discovered a winning formula that was ideally suited to the final challenges of the
45. The operations during this phase of the war involved small unit actions, set piece conventional engagements and ‘hostage rescue’ operations in different environments. Subjectively, the SLA, at its operational best, most probably operated at a sophistication level of 6 out of 10. Issuing ROE for the final four months of the war would have been confusing and impractical. Instead, the SLA relied upon the over-arching political direction to avoid excessive human casualties, as this would have had the likelihood of ensuring international intervention, on the basis of a humanitarian disaster, thereby frustrating a key military objective, namely to kill or capture the LTTE leadership. Common sense dictates that this is likely to have been passed down the command chain. If this had been otherwise, in my opinion, it astonishing that 290,000 Tamil civilians survived to be rescued by the SLA. It is also of note that that there are too many well recorded instances of soldiers helping Tamil civilians to escape to believe that the ‘no civilian casualty’ policy was not understood by all ranks. Gordon Weiss makes the point on page 216 of his book, ‘The Cage’,

It remains a credit to many of the front-line SLA soldiers that, despite odd cruel exceptions, they so often seem to have made the effort to draw civilians out from the morass of fighting ahead of them in an attempt to save lives”.993

If there had been a blanket policy of elimination of LTTE cadres, then the capture and rehabilitation of approximately 12,000 cadres who emerged from the final phase,994 supports the contention that there was neither a systematic policy to kill surrendering LTTE, nor civilians. 995 If I compare this approach to internal conflicts of which I have personal experience, such as in Sierra Leone, where widespread and systematic atrocity crimes took place, this supports my opinion that this was not an army that was seeking to indiscriminately exterminate their enemy or civilians. Of course, this does not exclude individual instances where war crimes may have  occurred.

In my opinion it might also be argued that some of the deliberate operations completed by the SLA had as an additional aim, the rescue of civilian hostages. In a US Embassy cable to the State Department on 20 April 2009, US Ambassador Blake reports a successful SLA operation near and in Putumattalan that enabled 35,000 civilians to escape the combat zone with a further 1,500 escaping by sea.

46. The Sri Lankan Air Force operated at a more sophisticated level, which, given the technical requirements of their service, is not surprising. Additionally, the Air Force had the necessary surveillance (satellite imagery and UAV coverage) and delivery vehicles to operate more sophisticated targeting and battle damage assessments. Until the final five months, the Air Force targeting procedures appear to have been relatively rigorous with targeting collateral collected from numerous sources; informants, ground surveillance, UAV and air sorties. As a general rule, as recorded in an official publication, all Battlefield Air Interdiction (BAI) sorties occurred within a 3 to 5 km belt of the LTTE’s defence lines, thus enhancing civilian safety. The same publication admits that this was not possible in the final months of the war and that BAI sorties ceased. But a cable from the US Embassy to the State Department on 27 April 2009 states quite clearly,

The Sri Lankan Air Force says it continues to attack targets only in the area south of the CSZ and north of Mullaitivu. Targets include LTTE fighting positions in the area south of the safe zone.”

Further down the same paragraph the cable continues,

An Air Force source reports there is no use of attack helicopters since the capture of Puttukudiyuruppu (PTK) East because they are too vulnerable to LTTE small

993  Gordon Weiss, The Cage, p. 216

994  Camelia Nathaniel, ‘11,770 Rehabilitated Ex-LTTE Cadres of Both Genders Are Being Re-integrated    into

Society’, Dbsjeyaraj Website, 24 January 2013. <http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/15251   >.

995 http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/15251, As an aside, this article by a respected Tamil journalists, suggests that following a rehabilitation programme former cadres have been trained with vocational skills and reintegrated back  into society.

arms. According to this source, the SLAF Commander categorically refuses to carry out strikes within the no fire zones”despite Army pressure to do  so”.

Proportionality

47. In everything the author has had access to and reviewed there is no indication that SLA deliberately or disproportionally targeted the civilian population in the course of their operations. In fact, the available evidence suggests the reverse. The use of civilians as human buffers by the LTTE in whatever circumstances would have resulted in civilian deaths.
48. In the author’s experience in situations of this kind the intelligence picture is never a hundred per cent. Who was or was not a genuine civilian could not have been known. In such circumstances a commander acting reasonably and in accordance with the law would take what steps he could, whilst minimising civilian casualties, to achieve his military objective. These principles would have applied during the final months of the war and thus the loss of civilian life, to the extent that it can be determined, is capable of being interpreted as collateral damage that, however regrettable, is permitted by the laws of armed These conclusions are further borne out by the sections that follow on crater and imagery analysis.

CRATER ANALYSIS

49. The interpretation of satellite imagery played a role in the Darusman assertion in paragraph 251 that the SLA were guilty of the widespread shelling of a large IDP population” 996 throughout the final months of the conflict and A cable from the US Embassy in Sri Lanka back to the State Department on 3 April 2009 states:

Ambassador recommended to UN Resident Representative Neil Buhne that he considers sharing the UN imagery with the GoSL because it demonstrates that there is proof of shelling and could discourage future shelling if the government knows there is a mechanism for tracking it”.997

50. If the aim is to attribute shelling to a particular participant, then it is pivotal to the argument to prove that a specific crater was caused by a shell from a particular type of weapon which was fired on a particular bearing. The British Army Pamphlet that covers crater analysis is titled Artillery Training in Battle, Pamphlet No 12, Part 3. The introduction section of the pamphlet, under the heading ‘Criteria’, states that The crater(s) selected for examination should be fresh. Distinctive features tend to erode over time and may disappear altogether in poor weather.” It goes on to state that It may not be possible to examine craters when the ground is unsuitable. The ground may be too rocky and hard in which case little impression is made. Conversely, the ground may be too soft and wet in which case the crater may fill with water”.998 Lastly, the introduction states that craters must be approached carefully as foot/tyre marks may destroy valuable details indicated by the spoil, splinter pattern and fragments. In the case of the Wanni, the presence of so many civilians in the area and the desire to recover the dead and wounded would probably have destroyed much of this kind of evidence quite early on. The pamphlet also notes that The craters made by bombs delivered by aircraft are not particularly distinctive”.999
51. Apart from immediate on the ground inspection, the same principals can be applied to the analysis of imagery of shell craters. Most craters make a clearly defined pattern on the ground and differ according to the type of projectile fired and the type of fuze Without going into unnecessary detail, the explosion of a shell causes an inner crater, its momentum carries the effect forward and the splinter pattern is thrown to the sides in the form of an arrow that points back towards the gun that fired the shell. A mortar crater has different characteristics, but it is still possible to determine the angle of impact and the line of fire.
52. There are three significant factors that impact the interpretation of the available imagery from the Eastern Wanni:

996 Darusman Report, para. 251.

997 US Ambassador Robert Blake, ‘Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 46 ‘, Embassy Colombo, WikiLeaks, 3 April 2009, para.  2<  http://www.cabledrum.net/cables/09COLOMBO393 >.

998  British Army Pamphlet that covers crater analysis is titled    Artillery Training in Battle, Pamphlet No 12, Part 3.

The introduction section of the pamphlet, under the heading  ‘Criteria’

999  British Army Pamphlet that covers crater analysis is titled    Artillery Training in Battle, Pamphlet No 12, Part 3.

The introduction section of the pamphlet, under the heading  ‘Criteria’

• The weather; ‘…emerging monsoon season resulting in increased cloud cover…”1000
• The soil, light to
• The number of civilians in the

1000  Moorcroft, Total Destruction of the Tamil Tigers, p.  134.

IMAGERY ANALYSIS

53. Two reports have been prepared by McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS), a specialist imagery company based in London. The reports are attached respectively at Annexes N and O. Rather than repeat the full content of each report, this document only sets out the aim and main

Report No. 1

54. MIS was tasked to look at a frequently quoted imagery study (believed to be dated 8 Oct 2009) by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The study was commissioned by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and its overall aim was to study conditions in NFZ 3 during the period 6 to 10 May 2009. MIS concluded that:
    • There are a number of craters above 3m in diameter, which may indicate that large calibre artillery systems or air delivered munitions might have been used in those cases.
    • However there are a number of key variables which all effect the nature of a
    • Confidence in identifying which weapon system was used, and when, is
    • Identifying the direction of the shot from the available imagery is not possible with a high degree of confidence. This is possibly the most important issue in ascribing culpability and underlines the difficulty in any investigative

Report No 2

56. The aim of this more comprehensive report was to:
    • Determine whether any of the craters in the NFZs predate 2 January
    • Search for LTTE weapons in the
    • Estimate the number of graves in each
    • Estimate the maximum number of temporary shelters in each
    • Check for the projection of ejecta for all identified craters in
    • In addition to available imagery, incorporate, as appropriate, handheld photography taken from helicopter overflights of the NFZs on 29 May
    • Study the specific accusations of the use of artillery as recorded in the Darusman Report.
    • Define the weather in the NFZs in the period 2 January to 19
57. Paragraph 81 of the Darusman Report states that during the period 19 -20 January 2009 shells hit Vallipunam Hospital in NFZ 1. Imagery dated 21 January 2009 indicates that it was likely that the hospital had not received indirect fire on those dates”.
58. Paragraphs 83 and 84 of the Darusman Report state that artillery fire fell on a food distribution centre on 23 and 24 January and also hit the Udayaarkaddu Hospital on 24 January. Imagery for these dates was not available; however imagery dated 16 March 2009 does substantiate indirect fire being used in the area and two of the hospital buildings appear to have significant damage”.
59. Paragraph 91 of the Darusman Report states that the hospital at Puthukkudiyiruppu was hit every day between 29 January and 4 February 2009 by Multi Barrelled Rocket Launchers (MBRLs) and other artillery taking at least nine direct hits. Imagery dated 5 February 2009 indicates that the hospital had suffered two possible areas of damage during the time frame, but not nine direct hits. However, imagery dated 16 March 2009 shows that the hospital and its associated buildings had suffered from a great deal of damage”. The author also notes that even one salvo from a MBRL would have devastated the entire area (see paragraph 31).
60. Paragraph 94 of the Darusman Report states that on 6 February 2009 the Ponnambalam Hospital was shelled causing part of it to collapse and that it was shelled again on the 9 February 2009. Only imagery dated 5 February was available for this site and this shows the hospital to be in relatively good condition. Subsequent imagery does illustrate that the hospital did suffer over time from indirect fire and several buildings were destroyed and probable craters can be observed around the hospital compound”. Three images relating to the Ponnambalam Hospital at page 189 of the Darusman Report are also possibly erroneous. Two of these images refer to specific buildings being destroyed between 21 January and 5 February 2009, yet on the available imagery dated 5 February 2009, both buildings are still standing. The third image again relates to a specific building being destroyed in the same time frame. The building is still standing in imagery dated 16 March 2009.
61. Paragraph 111 of the Darusman Report states that on 11 and 12 May 2009 the temporary hospital at Vellamullivaikkal was also hit by shells killing a number of people. Imagery dated 10 May 2009 revealed that the hospital had already received damage from probable indirect fire. However, imagery dated 24 May 2009 detected no additional
62. Paragraph 104 of the Darusman Report states that on the 9 February 2009 shells fell on Putumattalan Hospital killing at least 16 patients. Imagery dated 9 February 2009 was not available but subsequent imagery throughout May 2009 does show several probable indirect fire strikes and damage to hospital buildings”.
63. Paragraph 120 of the Darusman Report states that on 16 May the LTTE destroyed a lot of its equipment in a large explosion in an area of NFZ 3. A change detection study using imagery dated 16 March and 24 May 2009 showed no evidence of large-scale destruction (craters or debris) was noted throughout the NFZ”.
64. Analysis of imagery dated 31 October 2008 indicated that NFZ 1 had received indirect fire, but the type and exact date could not be Imagery dated 10 May 2009 concludes that the number of graves identified in the NFZs totals 1,332. Imagery dated 21 January 2009 identifies 4,174 temporary shelters within NFZ 1. Imagery dated 10 May 2009 reveals approximately 5,200 temporary shelters in NFZ 2 and 6,900 in NFZ 3. The report notes that in the case of NFZs 2 and 3, the shelters were densely packed and were within blocks defined by track networks. All craters identified from available imagery and photographs were checked for the projection of ejecta that would indicate the direction from which  the round was fired. The report concludes that for a variety of reasons the analyst had low confidence in determining potential azimuths1001  from imagery analysis  alone”.

Imagery Summary

64. To the author’s knowledge only ‘imagery snap shots’ (including this report’s two analyses) from the last four months of the war have been analysed in an attempt to determine the scale of shelling in the NFZs and attribute blame. It is possible that a more comprehensive daily overview from December 2008 onwards might yield more information, although the limitations as set out by the US State Department Report of 2009, would still apply
65. Indeed, if the US had access to satellite imagery that was more detailed and comprehensive, no doubt, it would have been disclosed by
66. There would appear to be sufficient evidence to challenge a number of the allegations in the Darusman Report, particularly from a timing view It is also noted that the specific allegation of the use of MBRLs would appear to have no basis in fact, as the level of destruction wrought by such weapons is significant and would almost certainly be identified from imagery. The number of temporary shelters and their lay out that were still standing on 10 May is also significant in that it refutes any suggestion of the deliberate targeting of civilians by SLA artillery, from indiscriminate use of such weapons which had the potential to devastate these areas in a very short space of time.

1001 direction of fire

CONCLUSIONS

67. There was no military or political advantage to GoSL in killing civilians or shelling hospitals indiscriminately, indeed the reverse is the case. High civilian casualties would have made an international/Indian push for halting the final phase, more
68. My task has not been to examine individual instances of war crimes, but rather to focus on the military responses to what was clearly a hostage situation and whether the responses of the SLA in broad terms were proportionate responses to the challenges they faced. It is of course entirely possible that there were incidents on both sides that may have amounted to breaches of the rules of
69. However, from the LTTE’s perspective, the killing of civilians was an acknowledged part of their strategy. The status in law of some of these civilians is also arguable, as their voluntary assistance, particularly in a combat function, would forfeit their civilian protected However, I have made the assumption that the bulk were entitled to treated as civilians who were forcibly prevented from leaving the conflict zone by LTTE as an adjunct to their strategy of compelling the international community and the UN into forcing a ceasefire on GoSL. By the Oxford Dictionary definition these people could be considered as hostages – A person seized or held as security for the fulfilment of a condition”.1002 This is spelt out with more clarity in Article 1 of the UN International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages (1 Dec 1979), which states,

Any person who seizes or detains and threatens to kill, to injure or to continue to detain another person in order to compel a third party, namely, a State, an international intergovernmental organisation, a natural or juridical person, or a group of persons, to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the hostage commits the offence of taking hostages.”1003

70. There is evidence from plausible witnesses and imagery that both mortars and artillery were fired into and out of areas where civilians were present and being held there by the LTTE and that this fire also hit buildings acknowledged to be hospitals. It is, in any sense, wrong to label the areas as NFZs, as by law these did NOT exist. The areas under discussion were so small that an artillery or a mortar round would probably have been bound to injure or kill someone. This civilian melting pot also contained LTTE fighters in civilian clothes, civilians who were actively assisting the LTTE, as well as LTTE artillery and
71. The clinching argument as to where responsibility lies for the shelling is in the direction from which the shells were This can only be retrospectively determined from analysis of the shell craters either on the ground as soon as possible after the event or from available imagery or, to a lesser extent, from credible witnesses at the receiving end. To suggest, as one report does1004, that because the barrels of SLA artillery tracked the declaration of  the

1002  Available at < http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/hostage   >.

1003  Article 1 of the UN International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, 1 December   1979.

1004 Darusman Report, para. 101.

‘NFZs’ is an indication that they fired into those NFZs is inaccurate and speculative, devoid of any forensic relevance. It is normal artillery practice for guns to be laid in the direction of the threat, but that does not mean they actually fired. Given that the analysis of the shell craters is inconclusive, the only source of reliable information are eye-witness accounts, where the direction of shot is best determined either visually by observing a gun flash or audibly by hearing the discharge of a gun or mortar. The flat nature of the ground in the Eastern Wanni makes observation difficult, but a witness might hear a distant bang from a particular angle and after a small pause observe the explosion of a shell close by; he can then with some assurance, but not with total certainty, say that the round came from a particular direction. This method, though, is to an extent dependent on a practised ear and the absence of surrounding noise and other distractions. Most accounts that describe events within the NFZs over those last few months tell of chaos, confusion, emotion and terror – these background conditions are less than ideal when endeavouring to determine the direction of incoming indirect fire. The author therefore believes that it is not possible at this point in time, on the evidence available, to accurately state which side’s artillery and mortars caused identified shell craters and civilian  casualties.

72. As cases from the ICTY have demonstrated this exercise can be attempted, but it is a very costly exercise and after such a period of time that has elapsed, whether accurate results can be established is far from certain. A number of military lawyers have been highly critical of the ICTY’s attempts to investigate and prosecute cases involving shelling incidents and indeed, the most significant case that deals with this issue has been overturned on appeal and the defendant acquitted on the facts of this case. The military criticism, however, is not so as to shield those who may be guilty of war crimes, but simply because the technical expertise required to establish the necessary facts to the required standard is often absent. In addition, with the absence of contemporaneous forensic evidence, any investigating authority would require a huge amount of documentation from army records, such as war diaries, to try and piece together from which side a shell was being fired on a particular day. If the LTTE had not resorted to deliberately attracting fire into hospitals by positioning their guns in close proximity, or killing their own civilians, this task may have been easier. However, faced with this fact, as accepted by most NGOS, being able to establish which side fired from where, five years after the event, is going to be a difficult
73. My conclusion in this Report is that both sides fired into the so called ‘NFZs’, but it is GoSL that is being held to account, which brings us back to the tenet of proportionality, distinction, legitimate targeting and military necessity as applied to fire in support of deliberate operations, tactical encounters and counter battery
74. Let us start with deliberate operations. The military aim was to defeat LTTE and, in the absence of their surrender, this meant killing or capturing their cadres/leaders and seizing their strongholds, even when they were located in areas populated by civilians. GoSL had to factor in the ‘Masada’ possibility as the LTTE became increasingly desperate. Evidence of their willingness to sacrifice their own civilians has, post the last phase, been acknowledged by many.1005     Given  the  reported  strength  of  their  fortifications  and an

1005  US State Department Report, 2009.  p24.

understandable requirement to limit the SLA’s own casualties, the use of targeted airpower and artillery, if used, would seem to be justified and proportionate, provided every effort had been made to get the civilians to move prior to the assault. It should also be noted that LTTE, on the evidence seen, appear to have responded to these deliberate assaults using  all the weapons at their disposal, with some of their rounds inevitably landing in civilian areas to the rear of the assaulting troops. It is clear in my opinion, that looking at the military strategies that the LTTE adopted, that the leadership were desperate to protect Velupillai Prabhakaran and seek to ensure his escape whatever the cost to their own civilian population.

81. Given that on the SLA side, this was principally an infantry and Special Forces operation there would have been continual tactical engagements, some of which would have been over relatively quickly, while others would have involved a prolonged, but local, fire fight during which the SLA troops involved would have requested fire support from their Battalion’s integral 81 and 82mm mortars – the necessary coordinates for which would be passed by radio either by a qualified Mortar Fire Controller (MFC) or by a trained senior rank. The fire would then have been adjusted as required to achieve the intended outcome. There is nothing that the author has either read or been told that states that local fire support of this kind was unavailable and going back to the premise of self-defence, nor should it have been. Again, it is inevitable that stray rounds from both sides would have caused civilian
82. Counter Battery fire is described at Para 29. The SLA had used it effectively in previous operations. It is important to underline that there had not been allegations of indiscriminate shelling and war crimes in the previous military artillery operations that equate to the criticisms made in the last phase of the 2009 operation. In my opinion this is indicative of a command ‘culture’ that did not appear to espouse indiscriminate shelling. The key question, however, is whether and how counter battery fire was used in the Eastern Wanni, as conditions there were quite unlike those of previous operations. Imagery most certainly supports the contention that the necessary artillery assets for counter-battery fire were available as were the necessary locating radars. In a perfect world the radar would identify a target, a UAV would confirm that it was still there (distinction, legitimate targeting and military necessity conditions fulfilled) and fire would be returned. This sequence would take a few minutes and the offending gun could probably have been moved – LTTE were using ‘shoot and scoot’ tactics with fighters dressed in civilian clothes. The process could be speeded up by just relying on the locating radar and not using an UAV, but this would only have satisfied the military necessity requirement and then only in terms of self- defence. In these circumstances, the LTTE must also share a large proportion of the blame because they were operating out of uniform amongst
83. The precise number of civilian deaths and their exact status at their time of death may never be known. The accusations against GoSL imply either a deliberate policy to target civilians or disinterest in the scale of civilian casualties in achieving their strategic objective. All the available evidence discounts any form of deliberate policy or systematically reckless or disproportionate conduct, despite the civilian casualties, to the extent that it is even possible to determine what proportion of those killed were
84. It is undeniable, though, that had LTTE not driven civilians before them and executed them when they attempted to escape, then civilian casualties would have been significantly lower. A figure of up to 40,000 civilian deaths is much quoted and has been simply arrived at by subtracting the number of IDPs processed (290,000) from the Darusman estimate of the number of civilians caught up in the final months of the war (330,000). The author believes that, in principle, there is every reason to challenge this estimate of the numbers killed: for instance, in the imagery analysis there are 1,332 obvious graves (para 63 above). These might be LTTE gravesites, but let us assume that they are IDP ones and that there are 4 bodies to each grave; then that gives a total of 5,328 bodies. There would, of course, be unmarked graves invisible to imagery and a large number of bodies were never recovered because they died by drowning, were buried in LTTE bunkers and fortifications or just decomposed quickly in the monsoon climate. However, in most wars the number of missing presumed dead is lower than the number of bodies recovered. A cable from US Ambassador Blake to the State Department on 7 April 2009 states that the UN estimate of deaths for the period 20 January to 6 April was 4,164 with a further 10,002 wounded. The cable also states that the estimated daily kill rate was 33 a day in January and 63 a day in February and March. 1006 To reach 40,000 deaths would require a kill ratio of 287 per day over 139 days (1 January to 19 May) and to reach 26,000 deaths would require a rate of 187 per day. Comparisons are of course invidious, but the accepted figure for German civilian deaths after the 1945 Dresden raid(s) is 25,000; and 24,000 Polish and German soldiers died during the 63 days intense fighting of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. The figure of 40,000 civilians killed which has been repeatedly published is, in my view, extremely difficult to sustain on the evidence which I have
85. The Wanni operation was not of the `classic’ hostage rescue variety if only because of the number of hostages involved and the ebb and flow of battle. However, there were similarities; the SLA did not rush in, but instead took its time to plan and adapt its tactics to take account of the civilian presence. It was, in the view of the author, an entirely unique situation and the fact that 290,000 people escaped alive is in itself
86. Indeed, given the allegations of the use of MBRLs and use of heavy weaponry against the civilian population, had the SLA embarked on an indiscriminate campaign of bombardment, the trite but obvious point that any military expert is forced to conclude, is that 2/3 days of shelling would have decimated all those in that final confined area. I reiterate, in my experience of hostage rescue, the fact that so many escaped, is
87. This suggests to the author that it is extremely difficult to sustain an accusation of the deliberate killing of civilians by the SLA by shelling, which had the artillery potential over a very short period of time to devastate the temporary civilian encampments, particularly in NFZs 2 and
88. Mistakes that resulted in unnecessary civilian deaths were most definitely made by the SLA, but  all  armies  in all  conflicts  make such mistakes.  There may even  have     been

1006 US Ambassador Robert Blake, ‘Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 48’, Embassy Colombo, WikiLeaks, 7 April 2009 released 26 August 2011. < http://www.cabledrum.net/cables/09COLOMBO402   >.

mistakes that were reckless and greater analysis of particular incidents, such as some of the IDF hospital strikes may demonstrate this. Again, this will depend on whether this was SLA return fire on the LTTE, who had deliberately used ‘shoot and scoot’ tactics, to endanger the hospitals and patients.

83. However, overall and for the reasons considered above, on the available evidence it is my opinion, that the SLA’s operations in broad terms, were proportionate in the Whilst the SLA was a relatively unsophisticated army, they had evolved into a battle and ultimately war winning machine that made up for its lack of sophistication by the application of three of the most important principles of war: selection and maintenance of the aim; offensive action and concentration of force. In my military opinion, faced with a determined enemy that were deploying the most ruthless of tactics and which involved endangering the Tamil civilian population, SLA had limited options with regard to the battle strategy they could deploy. This would have posed a dilemma for the very best trained and equipped armies in the world. The SLA had either to continue taking casualties and allow the LTTE to continue preying upon its own civilians, or take the battle to the LTTE, albeit with an increase in civilian casualties. The tactical options were stark, but in my military opinion, justifiable and proportionate given the unique situation SLA faced in the last phase. Therefore, on the evidence available to me, taking into account my own combat experience, I do not find, in broad terms that the military and artillery campaigns were conducted indiscriminately, but were proportionate to the military objectives sought.

London Date

ANNEXES:

A: Bibliography.

B: Map of the Wanni.

C: Photographs of Battle Damage. D: Examples of Leaflet Drops.

E: Presidential Pause Statement. F: Example of a Bund.

G: List of LTTE Weapons Recovered. H: Photographs of LTTE weapons.

I: Log of Suicide Attacks.

1. NFZ Letters.

K: Photographs of LTTE Positions. L: SF HQ (W) 6 x Signals.

M: ROE Definition.

N: McKenzie Intelligence Services Report No 1. O: McKenzie Intelligence Services Report No 2.