එම්. ඒ සුමන්තිරන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානය

2018 මැයි මස 6 වන ඉරුදින දිවයින ඉරිදා සංග්‍රයේ මුල් පිටුවේ දැක්වෙන, —උතුරු නැගෙනහිර පන්සල් තැනීම තහනම් කරන්න˜ ලෙස මම විසින් සඳහන් කළ බව කියැවෙන පුවත සම්පූර්ණ අසත්‍ය බව මෙයින් සඳහන් කරමි.

ද්‍රවිඩ සන්ධානය වෙනුවෙන් මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ඡාවකදී මා විසින් ප්‍රකාශ කළ කරුණු විකෘති කොට දක්වමින් බෞද්ධ ජනතාව කෝපයට පත් කිරීමට මෙමගින් උත්සහ දරා ඇත.

මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ඡාවකදී අසනු ලැබූ ප්‍රශ්නයකට පිළිතුරු දෙමින්, —බෞද්ධ ප්‍රජාව ජීවත් නොවන ප්‍රදේශයන්හි බුදු පිළිම ඉදි කිරීම තේරුමක් නොමැති බවත් මෙවැනි ප්‍රදේශ වලින් ඉදිකොට තිබුණු බුදු පිළිම ඉවත් කොට ඇති බවත් ඊට අමතරව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී මේ සම්බන්ධව වාර්තාවන්ද අප විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කොට ඇති බවත් මා විසින් සඳහන් කළෙමි.

එබැවින් මෙලෙස අසත්‍යය කරුණු පළ කරමින් ජනතාව අතර ගැටුම් ඇතිකිරීමට තැත් කිරීම හේතුවෙන් මෙම පුවත් පතට එරෙහිව නීතිමය ක්‍රියා මාර්ග
ගැනීමට මම බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමි.

එසේම එම ප්‍රවෘත්තිය නිවැරදි කරමින් මාගේ මෙම නිල ප්‍රකාශයට ප්‍රමුඛත්වය ලබා දෙමින් පළ කරන මෙන් මම සියලූම මාධ්‍යයන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිමි.
ස්තූතියි

එම්. ඒ සුමන්තිරන්
පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී
දෙමළ ජාතික සන්ධානය

බන්ධුල ගුණරත්න උපුටාගැණීම  මව්බිම

COLOMBO, May 11 (Reuters) – The Sri Lankan rupee will depreciate gradually as dollar outflows surpass inflows, central bank chief Indrajit Coomarswamy said on Friday.

Basically in Sri Lanka, (dollar) receipts are less than outflows. From now onwards it (rupee) will depreciate, but it would depreciate in a gradual way like it happened last year,” he told reporters in Colombo.

His comments come as the rupee hovers around record lows due to lack of exporter dollar conversions and political uncertainty after President Maithripala Sirisena suspended the parliament on April 12.

The currency hit a record low close on Thursday.

Political uncertainty would have encouraged people (exporters) to hold money (dollars) outside the country for a little longer,” he said during the post-monetary policy rate decision media briefing.

Depreciation is normal. But depreciating 1-2 percent a day is not rational. That’s more than warranted. We are saying it moved more than warranted.”

He said the central bank is studying carefully” if there was extra pressure on the currency than was expected and also the behavior of exchange rate market participants.

The country’s monetary authority would take action if it found any signs of manipulation, he cautioned.

We will make sure there won’t be any manipulation… we will be very stern if there is any manipulation.”

Last week, central bank’s senior deputy governor said the rupee would stabilise and the central bank will intervene to smoothen high volatility as there is no reason for a weaker currency.

The currency has declined 0.2 percent against the dollar so far this month after sliding 1.5 percent last month. It has fallen 2.9 percent so far this year, after having shed 2.5 percent in 2017. (Reporting by Ranga Sirilal Writing by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Sunil Nair)

වසන්තප්‍රිය රාමනායක උපුටාගැණීම ලංකාදීප

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, May 11 (newsin.asia): The Sri Lanka army has set up a Directorate of Overseas Operations” dedicated to preparing material to defend itself against war crimes charges made in the international arena. This was stated by the Army Commander, Lt.Gen.Mahesh Senanayake, at a meeting with the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Sri Lanka here on Thursday.

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) had passed several resolutions accusing the Lankan Army of breaching International Humanitarian Law which could be deemed war crimes.”

The UNHRC and the West-based human rights lobby have called for an international judicial mechanism to investigate and bring the guilty to book. The former UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Prince Zeid had even suggested the extension of Universal Jurisdiction to Sri Lanka.

Gen.Senanayake said that in the absence of adequate support from those outside the army, the Army considers it necessary to have an organization or a think tank of its own, to defend the institution in the context of the grave charges. And the defense has to be carried out with facts and figures.

The General said that the Directorate of Overseas Operations was set up in April and is already engaged in the collection of the relevant material.

The other important task that has been given to it is the whetting of Army personnel wanting to serve in UN Peace Keeping Mission overseas.

War Crimes Charges

The General said that he is not against any inquiry about alleged war crimes and that he and the Army are keen to clear the institution’s  name. He felt that there is no need to fear an inquiry if the Army had not committed any violations wantonly as alleged by people overseas. He believes that there was no wanton violation of the laws of war on an significant scale.

A few personnel may have committed crimes, but the whole Army cannot  be blamed for that. At any rate 14 personnel who had committed objectionable act had been punished,” he said, mentioning those who are now serving sentences.

The Army has not told its side of the story, which is what the new think tank will do,” Gen.Senanayake said.

There is still no clarity about many war time issues, including casualty figures. Some say that 100,000 civilians were killed with 40, 000 dying in the last phase of the war. The government puts the figure at 7000 to 8000, the General pointed out.

The army too had lost men. The 30 year war had claimed 20,000 soldiers’ lives. 37, 000 were wounded and 3488 were Missing in Action and are yet to be traced.

Allegations Based on Hearsay    

As regards accusations of abductions or physical elimination he said that most of them were made by non-residents of Sri Lanka and were based in hearsay. Only a proper inquiry would reveal the truth, he said.

The General said that the Army welcomes the setting up of the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) to trace the missing.

The peace time Sri Lankan Army is keen on educating its personnel on human rights and international humanitarian law and has made these a part of its training manual.

About 500 personnel of the Sri Lankan Army are serving  in UN peace keeping missions in Mali, Lebanon. Congo and Sudan. The Army is ready to send up to 3500 well trained personnel abroad on such missions, Gen.Senanayake said.

Transformation Into Peace Time Army

Since the end of the war on May 19, 2009, the Sri Lankan Army has transformed itself into a peace time army contributing to national development and reconciliation.

The Army is the only institution which has the capacity to help the civilian administration in the former war zone in the North and East of the island. It is involved in rehabilitation and re-settlement. 77% of the lands held by the Army during the war in the North and East has been returned .The majority of these  were private lands,” Gen.Senanayake said.

On April 13, this year, 315 of the 640 families living in refugee camps in Jaffna, were given back their lands.

Only those lands which are necessary for security would be kept, such as the lands around the airbase in Palaly in Jaffna. This is because national security cannot be compromised,” the General said.

In Trincomalee district, the Army has rehabilitated  570 tanks or reservoirs. In Polonaruwa district, 214 tanks were rehabilitated. The army  provides workers and expertise for house building in the war zone. By year end, 300 houses would have been built in the North.

On the complaint that the army is building recreation facilities for its staff in the North, Gen.Senanayake said that Rest and Recreational (R and R) facilities are needed for any army.

Northern Provincial Council Not Helpful

Asked whether he is getting support from the Northern Provincial Council and Chief Minister C.V.Wigneswaran, the General said that while the Chief Minister is  his best friend” the Council has done little.

It has passed 387 resolutions since it came into being in 2013. But none of these has been implemented. Some are not implementable, for example the demand for the total withdrawal of the army from the North,” Gen.Senanayake said.

The General however added that the Government Agents in the North are fully cooperating  with the Army in carrying out developmental tasks.

De-Mining

On de-mining he said that 27 million sq. meters are yet to be de-mined in the island, as per the norms of humanitarian de-mining. Out of these, 1.9 million sq.meters are in Jaffna peninsula. 75% of the de-mining is being done by the Army, he added.

The problem of de-mining in Sri Lanka is that there are no maps of mines laid by the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF).

Right Sizing” the Army

Although the Army has been downsized by about 25% from the war time strength of 236,000, and some equipment like battle tanks and ammunition will be disposed off, the idea is to right size” the army rather than down size” it.

As a peace time army, personnel are being trained for civilian tasks and as part of this process, batches of personnel at the lower levels are being sent for training in a variety of trades which will not only help them participate in development assistance, but have a gainful vocation after retirement.

Gen.Senanayake himself is a professional civil engineer with a degree from the College of Military Engineering in Pune, India ,affiliated to the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

As for the training of combat units, Gen.Senanayake said that since wars of the future will be fought at the small scale unit level, Non-Commissioned  Officers (NCOs) are being trained to lead men and take decisions.

Indian Army Chief to visit Lanka

General Senanayake said that the Chief of Staff of the Indian Army, Gen.Bipin Rawat, will be on a seven-day visit to Sri Lanka from the coming weekend onwards. He will call on the armed forces chiefs, the President and the Prime Minister, and visit military establishments in Trincomalee and Diyatalawa.

(The featured image at the top shows Lt.Gen.Mahesh Senanayake, Commander of the Sri Lankan Army) 

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

As a first step towards the change, senior politician, A.H.M. Fowzie, was sworn in as the State Minister for National Unity and Reconciliation by President Maithripala Sirisena here on Friday.

Mano Ganeshan will in all likelihood be the cabinet Minister of National Coexistence Dialogue and Official Languages, the  portfolio he has been holding since 2015.

Officials said that a gazette notification of the changes would be issued shortly.

In the recent cabinet reshuffle, Minister Ganeshan was allotted the portfolios of National Integration, Reconciliation and Official Languages. The Office of Missing Persons (OMP) and the Organization for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) were placed under the Ministry of Reconciliation and allotted to him.

But Ganeshan felt that  the crucial department of OMP and ONUR were better handled by the President himself as the decisions regarding them would have to be taken at the highest level and orders also issued from the highest level.

According to Ganeshan, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera were also of the same view.

He appealed to the President to take over Reconciliation and the above mentioned institutions under his wing.

Sources in the Presidential Secretariat said that the matter is being discussed by the President and the Prime Minister. Also under consideration is an opinion that, administratively, it would make sense to allot  the subjects to the Prime Minister.

Once a decision is taken, a gazette notifying it would be issued, officials said.

Meanwhile on Friday, AHM. Fowzie, was sworn in as State Minister of National Unity and Reconciliation to hold the fort till a cabinet Minister is notified. Fowzie is a senior politician and a member of the President’s party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

No one can deny that regime change took place in January 2015. The West generally dethrones strong leaders & replaces with appeasing puppets. Regime change in Sri Lanka proved Rajapakse was a strong leader & West’s alternative choice to be appeasing puppets. That a different mode of regime change was adopted having attempted to create various Sri Lanka Springs was seen by the manner a Buddhist monk was chosen to spearhead the anti-Rajapakse election defeat. Today Maduluwawa Sobitha is no more to witness the damage he has done. That damage is nowhere near the rising anti-Sri Lanka programs now being rolled out. Do people realize how far Sri Lanka’s sovereignty is declining? Can an election reverse, alter or negate these dramatic changes and who can save Sri Lanka and who are being used as decoys to prevent it are questions we need to now ponder.

The statement of President Obama said In this region, India can play a positive role in helping countries forge a better future, from Burma to Sri Lanka, where today there’s new hope for democracy.” Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice We’ll help countries in transition—like Burma, Tunisia, and Sri Lanka” and immediate arrivals of Tom Malinowski, US Asst Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights & Labor & US Secretary of State John Kerry sufficed as evidence of regime change.

A bevy of locals, MPs in the Rajapakse government, UNP, JVP, TNA, Left parties, media, lawyers, academics, 50 civil society organizations were roped in to defeat Rajapakse. Rajapakse claimed some $650m was spent to oust him. The PR campaigns promised a democratic country with rule of law, rights for all, independence of the judiciary, development & economy benefitting all, no wastage of public funds, no cronies, no kick-backs, no excessive borrowings, no bloating of public service, freedom of speech and freedom after speech, no one shot dead in the night or abducted. One Don Manu a regular columnist claims the PM has the strength of 10 of the whole of Parliament put together because his conscience is pure’. That’s not what the voters at the local government elections thought 3 years after the government was forced to hold an election!

Other give away was the 100 day program while the 19^th amendment was simply a means of creating a bogus national government to absorb all the kangaroos to prevent an opposition while it secured the necessary 2/3 majority to pass controversial constitutionally questionable Bills in Parliament! The funds to maintain a jumbo government came after the Central Bank was brought under the PM who appointed his friend a non-Sri Lankan citizen as Governor & enabled 2 bond scams to raise money.

Note the areas that have been lined up for change – the police are taught Buddhism by a Catholic priest, the armed forces, the public sector, profit-making state institutes, education system, Buddhism & related centres, media, legal fraternity, health, transport & trade, lands & resources. Every area that citizens can generate self-power or self-sustainability is being targeted for destruction subtly without notice & being crippled or placed under supervision of local stooges or sold to foreign concerns. Now the US marines land conversing in Sinhala and singing songs in Sinhala. The only army to have defeated a terrorist movement is now being trained by armies that create terrorist movements!

Phone calls of Senior DIGs are being tapped, military have lost their arms & ammunition capability, sensitive and strategic areas are being slowly turned into foreign investment zones making it out of bounds to locals. Minor demonstrations & protests are staged to test the water for future bigger false flags. Nationalist voices are being watched & monitored. Social media inspite of Western trained local puppets have not being able to promote yahapalana as they did to win the 2015 elections.

A new troika is emerging – UNP-JVP & TNA. They will be spearheading all future elections together and passing Bills unconstitutionally without vote! Now, JVP holds a joint May Day rally with TNA! The links are slowly emerging as are questions wondering if the same foreign entities are funding all three.

Local industries are now receiving slow death & replaced with foreign investments, foreign labor & no-go zones for locals. Trade agreements are being signed without even looking into the catastrophic outcomes or national security aspects. Would a government decide to remove restrictions on foreign ownership of shipping agencies & freight forwarding agencies and compromise the nation’s security? Connect this to the removal of restrictions on foreigners owning land?  The PM accepting proposal by his financial advisor Paskarlingam has approved without a Cabinet paper or even a tender to Trimble Navigation paying them $154m to prepare land survey maps & create a database of state owned land with staff of Survey Department & resources under Trimble. A private US company is being given complete control of Sri Lanka’s land registry!

Bias of tender procedures has even seen Yahapalana taken to court : Ceylon Oxygen over awarding contract to Gas World to supply medical gases to 40 government hospitals. Contract changing prilled urea to granular urea is another faux pas bypassing transparent tender procedure. Senok Trade Combines even went to court against the Govt’s decision to award installation of power generation sets to an Indian company overrung the CEB’s recommendations. Another controversial decision was the e-passport project awarded without transparency to De La Rue Lanka.

The nations remain’s shocked at the biased & vengeful manner that the intelligence service personnel, police & military personnel are being hurled into prison without bail, Buddhist monks are also arrested & put into prison while two secretaries nabbed while taking a bribe and close associates of the PM & working for the President are escorted without handcuffs. The appeasing nature of the government has sharpened the tigers teeth in the manner that the tiger agents are demanding the removal of Sinhala speaking government officials, removal of Buddhist heritage sites from the North while the government has meekly approved the Jaffna university to erect a monument for a terrorist leader & his terrorist outfit. Jaffna university remains state owned and the public must demand why a terrorist leader should be commemorated with tax payers money! Is it then a surprise that the government happily co-sponsors a legally questionable and controversial UNHRC resolution virtually accepting a national army committed war crimes. Would any government betray their own troops such as this government has? But then the very party being accused of being the tigers political arm is now the Opposition & its head the Opposition Leader and supported by the JVP who is now being used as the front to introduce the remaining detrimental Bills that would seal Sri Lanka’s sovereignty into a slave nation.

What may lie ahead.

By using Buddhist monks the regime change operators have succeeded in angering the non-Buddhists while also dividing the Buddhist vote base. The numerous other Buddhist monks increasingly coming to the limelight is aimed at disillusioning the Sinhala Buddhists while helping spew hatred against the majority among the minorities while justifying the government to bulldoze the anti-Buddhist programs already devised & being launched one by one.

Divide & rule is the policy adopted by any weak government frantic to grasp on to power at whatever cost & by whatever means. Help & funding by external parties cannot erase an increasingly unpopular government especially one that comes to power based on lies which are now catching up on them. The local government results have to be seen more as a protest vote that needs careful analysis.

How many have been able to grasp the connection of UNP to every racial riot that has transpired in Sri Lanka – 1977, 1983 & even the recent Kandy riots. The social media helped highlight Muslims openly voicing the UNP link. Understandably Muslims that championed to bring yahapalana to power are the biggest victims in terms of business.  It has meant the strategies have been fine tuned to divide the Muslim votes & away from accumulating towards the JO candidate. Probably the decision to field Sirisena is a manoevre in this direction using the Muslim MPs in the SLFP. Can the Muslim MPs in the UNP maintain the Muslim vote base is the next question? The strategies will definitely be to divide the Muslim votes while attempting to maintain the UNP Muslim vote base intact.

Local Government elections 2018

Presidential Elections 2015

General Elections 2015

How about the Tamil votes? ITAK secured 515,963 votes (4.6%) at the 2015 general elections. However, it secured only 339,675 votes (3%) at the local government elections. Did 176,288 Tamils not go to vote or did they not vote for ITAK? What of the JVP vote base at the General Elections in 2015 JVP secured 543,944 or 4.87% but at the local government elections JVP obtained 693,875 votes (6.2%) This base will certainly be used to generate the necessary numbers for a victory!

The next question is how much of the UPFA’s 989,821 (8.94%) votes & the SLFP’s 491,835 (4.44%) votes at the Local Government elections will remain with Sirisena & how would the yahapalana strategists plan to split these to ensure these votes do not get collected to the yahapalana opposition candidate. This is some 1.48million (13.3%) votes though President Sirisena as Common Candidate but contesting under SWAN symbol secured 6,217,162 (51.2%)! It clearly shows President Sirisena has virtually lost confidence of all those that voted for him. But he will be used as a spoiler candidate as are many others now being lined up for more spoiler roles. The strategists will try to divide the Opposition candidates votes & floating votes in order not to even place a second preference vote which will give the UNP leader the needed edge.

What will the yahapalana strategists apply to split the SLPP’s 4,941,952 (44.6%) votes gained at the local government election when at the 2015 Presidential elections the former President on his own secured 5,768,090 (47.58%)

In all probability the UNP may not go for a common candidate & instead take the risk of fielding their own leader keeping in mind that at the 2015 General Elections the United National Front (not the UNP) secured 5,098,916 of 45.66% of votes with the help of All Ceylon Makkal Congress, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Muslim Tamil National Alliance, Democratic National Movement, Jathika Hela Urumaya, National Front for Good Governance, Tamil Progressive Alliance, National Union of Workers, Democratic People’s Front, Up Control People’s Front, United Left Front.

5,098,916 or 45.66% was with UNP contesting as an alliance. However, UNP that contested alone for the local government elections ended up with only 3,612,259 or 32.6% votes. Is this 3.6m/32.6% the UNP vote base if so how can UNP reach the magical 50% figure to become President or is the next best option to go for a second count and field others who will promote the UNP leader as their second choice?

This looks quite a possible scenario. You will note the many new entrants entering the scene many of whom are being subtly promoted as presidential hopefuls… some are making stunning speeches against the system, some are landing from nowhere claiming to eliminate all loans, others are wooing the Sinhala vote base through well funded programs that appeal to them – animal welfare, indigenous foods/agriculture/culture, development social services … social media is suddenly creating various groups, various programs, various interviews, all with an agenda and all collecting data. Many of those being promoted to cater to different mindsets – urban/rural/extremist/moderate, ethno-religious have connections with key ministers of the yahapalana government & are recipients of funding from overseas. Many of these key ministers have personal goals to become President of Sri Lanka themselves! Guess who these raja yoga aspirants are!

Dishing foreign accolades, titles & going overseas for training are now dead giveaways and the moment any MP or others have their photos splashed across the papers with their certificates people must immediately recall how the present PM & President were recipients before the regime change. The question everyone must ask & wonder is what are they instructed to do and resolve not to have anything to do with it.

By now if we all studied & analyzed the manner countries like Yugoslavia, South Sudan, Libya, Iraq, Haiti & now Syria have fallen it should immediately make all citizens to resolve to identify the external forces & the local traitors roped in to do the same in Sri Lanka some are playing role as extremists, some as moderates, some as civil society representatives… they are all subtly given a role to play to fool the masses.

We are an island nation with a high literacy let us not fall prey to these mechanizations and repent after turning Sri Lanka into a failed state & its people into slaves of foreigners owning every inch and corner of our land.

Identify & expose these local traitors?

Shenali D Waduge

චාර්ල්ස් .එස්.පෙරේරා  විසින්

අවුරුදු ගණනාවක් පරදේශිකයන්ට යටත්ව  ඉහලපැලන්තියකටයි පහලපන්තියකටයි රට දෙකට කැඩුණු යුගයකදී දිළිඳුකමින් මිරිකීසිටි ජනතාවක් ඉතා අසීරුවෙන් දිළිඳුකමින් හා වහල් මානිසිකත්වයෙන් ගොඩඒමට වැයම්කරද්දී අතීත සමාජය කෙන්ද්‍රයකොටගත් ජන කොටස් පහක් එක්තැන් කරවා නැවතත් රටට නියම නිදහස මනුස්සකම ආගම ධර්මය ගෙන ආ සමාජවාදී ප්‍රයත්නයට දෙමල  දේශපාලකයන් විසින් ජාතීවාදීන් යයි  හංවඩු ගහමින්  ජනතාව සිංහල දෙමල වශයෙන් නැවත දෙකඩ කොට  රටආපසුගෙනගිය යුගයක් වීය.  

මේ ලංකාව කෙරෙහි  දේශ ප්‍රේමයක්  නොමැති දෙමල දේශපාලකයන්ගේ රට නගා සිටුවීම වෙනුවට  රට දෙකඩ කිරීමේ ප්‍රයත්නයන් නිසා මේ අපේ රට  අන්ත පරාජිත භාවයට පත්වෙමින් තිබියදී දෙමලවාර්ගික කොටසක් විසින්ම අවිගත් ත්‍රස්තවාදය රටේ ඇතිකර අවුරුදු තිහක් තිස්සේ භීෂණයෙන් හා මරණ  බයින් පසුවූ ජනතාවක් ඒ ත්‍රස්තවාදයෙන්  හා බියෙන් මුදවාගෙන රටට හා ජාතියට සාමය උදාකර දියුනුවෙ මග විවුර්තකළ  මහින්ද රාජපක්ස ජනාධිපති තුමන්ට විරුද්ධව  නොමගගිය ජනතාවක් විසින් රටේ මහා කර්මයකට මහින්ද රාජපක්ස ජනාධිපති තුමන් පරාජයකොට  රජකරවපු කාලකන්නියා රටක් කිරීමේ මොනම හැකියාවක් නැතිව යහපාලනයක් හදාගෙන කරන භයානක විගඩම නිසා  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවා දැනටමත් දෙකඩවී  විනාශය කරා  ගෙනයෑමේ  වැඩපිළිවෙලක් ගෙනයමින් පසුවෙයි.  

දැනට මහජනතාවගේ විශ්වාශය ඔහුකෙරෙහි නොමැති බව වටහා ගන්නට තරම් මොලයක් නොමැති මේ අධර්මිෂ්ට  තන්හාවෙන් ක්‍රෝධයෙන්  පිරුණු හිතකින් යුත් පව්කාරයා රටට ද්‍රෝහී ලංකා විරෝධී විදේශිකයන්ගේ අතකොලුබවට පත්වීසිටින අතලොස්සක් ධනවාදීන් විසින් මෙහෙයවන යහපාලනයක් බදාගෙන තව කාලයක් පාලනයෙසිටීමට සුදානම් බව නොබෝදා ජනරැලියකදී පැවසීය.

මේ කාලකන්නි රට වැනසීමේ යහපාලනයට තවදුරටත් මේ රටේ පාලනය  දුන්නොත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව නැත්තටම නැතිවීයෑමට ඉඩ තිබෙන බැවින් මේ ලංකාවට අහිතකර පව්කාර යහපාලනය  පන්නා  දැමීමේ වැඩපිළිවෙලක් වහාම සකස්කළයුතුව ඇත. එය සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනතාවගේ පරම යුතුකමයි. ඒ සඳහා ලංකාවේ සියලුම බෞද්ධයින් දේශපාලන වෙනස්කම් අභිභාවා රටවෙනුවෙන් එකමුතු වියයුතුය.

අවුරුදු  තුනක් තිස්සේ මේ හැතිකරය මොනවද කලේ. නමට පමණක් විධායක බලය තියන ජනාධිපති සිරිසේනට බැංකු හොරකම පිටුපස තිබුණු රනිල්ගේ සම්බන්ධය දැනදැනත් ඔහුටවිරුද්ධව කිසිමදෙයක් කිරීමට අසමත්නම්  ඒ  ජනාධිපතිගෙන් රටටවත් ජනතාවටවත්  සේවයක් වෙනවාද ? කිසිම වරදකට සම්බන්ධකමක්  තිබුන බවක් මෙතෙක්  හෙලිනොවූ ජනාධිපති මහින්ද  රාජපක්ස මැතිතුමාට හා  ඔහුගේ පවුලේ උදවියට චෝදනා එල්ලකරන එක නතර කරන්න වචන මාත්‍රයකින් හෝ උත්සහයක් නොකරන ක්‍රෝධයෙන් හා මාන්නයෙන් හිත පුරවාගත්  සිරිසේන ජනාධිපතිගෙන් කිනම් ප්‍රයෝජනයක් ද ?

එහෙම ජනාධිපති කියනවා තව බොහෝ වැඩ අවසන්කලයුතුව තියෙන බැවින් ඔහු 2020න් පසුව විශ්‍රාම ගන්නේ නැතිලු. මොනවාද මේ අවසන් නොකළ වැඩ ?  රටට දෙන්න ඕනේ හැම හෙනගෙඩියක්ම දීල  තවත් සංහිඳියාවක් කරපින්නාගෙන දෙමළුන්ට ලංකාවේ ඉතුරූහරියත් දෙන්නයි  මේ කාලකන්නි මනුස්සයා කරන්න හදන්නේ. රටට වෙන විනාශය ගැන කිසිම හැගීමක ඔහුට නැත.

නිදහස හෝ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍ර වාදය මොකක්දැයි හරිහැටි වටහානොගත් සමහරක් මෝඩයින් කියනවා  මේ යහපාලන ය හොඳ  දෙයක් දුන්නලු. ඒ ආණ්ඩුව විච්වෙචනය කිරීමේ  නිදහසලු. මෙයින් මිනිස්සුන්ගේ බඩවල් පිරෙනවද ? මේකද  සාමාන්‍ය ජනතාව මේ ආණ්ඩුවෙන් බලාපොරොත්තුවෙන්නේ ?  විවෙචනය කිරීමේ නිදහස තිබුනට රට දිළිඳු ප්‍රපාතයකට ගෙනගිහිල්ලයි තියෙන්නේ. ඒක සමහරක් උන්ට පෙන්නේ නැ.

මෙ කාලකන්නි හැත්ත තරහෙන් හා ක්‍රෝධයෙන් පිරුණු පව්කාරයෝ. එය ඔවුන්ගේ මුසල මුනුවලින්ම පේනවා. එහෙම එවුන් කොහොමද රටක් හදන්නේ ? ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ කාලකන්නිත් දැන් වැඩකරනවා පෙනෙන්නේ ලංකාවේ හතුරු බලවේග සමග බව ඔවුන් කියන කතාවලින් තේරෙනවා.

බොහොම අමාරුවෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආසන හයක් දිනාගත් ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ බිමල්  රත්නායක කියන කාලකන්නියෙක් ලන්ඩන් නුවරට ගිහිල්ල කියනවා  ලංකාව සිංහල බෞද්ධ රටක් නොවේ බහුපාක්ෂික රටක් කියලා. ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුණ 20වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයක් කියලා එකක් ගේනවා ජනාධිපති ගේ විධායක බලතල  අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ප්‍රධාන කැබිනෙට් මණ්ඩලයට පැවරිය යුතුයි කියලා.

ඒ සංශෝධන්ම ඔවුන් යෝජනා කරනවා ජනාධිපති තොරා පත් කර ගතයුත්තේ ජනතා චන්දයෙන් නොවේ නමුත් පාරලිමේන්තුවෙන් කියල. මේ මොන විගඩමක්ද මුන් ජාතියේ හතුරන් නේද? මුන් වැඩකරන්නේ කාගේ උවමනවන්වලටද ? ජනතාව ජනතා වීමුක්ති පෙරමුණ සම්පුර්ණයෙන්ම ප්‍රතික්සේපකලයුතුයි.

මුන් මේ හතරබීරි කතා කියද්දී අපේ ලංකාව තවතවත් පිරිහෙනවා. රට පාලනය කරන්න මොනම හැකියාවක් නැතිබව සක්සුදක්සේ පෙනෙද්දී මුන් තවතවත් යහපාලනයේ රැදී සිටීමටයි ලකලෑස්තිවෙන්නේ. මුන් අර මීතොටමුල්ලේ කුනුකන්දට යටවෙලා විනාශවෙවා.

මේ අපේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ රට මේ කාලකන්නින්ගේ ග්‍රහනයෙන් ගලවාගෙන රට නැවතත් වැටී තිබෙන ප්‍රපාතයෙන් ගොඩගෙන දියුනුවක්කරාගෙන යන්නනම් නැවතත් රාජපක්ස ජනාධිපති තුමන්ගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් යුත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණටම රට භාරදිය  යුතුය.

රාජපක්ස පවුල ගැන කතාකරකර අපවාද කලාට  ජනතාවට විශ්වාශය තැබිය හැක්කේ රට රාජපක්ෂ සහෝදරයන් එකමුතුව  කරන පාලනයකටය. ඒ ඔවුන් රටගැන ආදරයක් තියෙන ආගම ධර්මය ගරුකරන  සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් නිසයි. මේ රටට මේ අවස්ථාවේ අවශ්‍ය ඔවුන් ගේ පාලනයක්මය. 

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

ඉපලෝගම ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කොට්ඨාශයට අයත් පූගොල්ලෑව(පුලියන්කුලම) 516 ග්‍රාම නිළධාරි වසමේ බැලුම්ගල අවට පැතිර තිබූ පධාන ඝර සංකීර්ණයක් ඇතුළු ඉපැරණි නටබුන් රාශියක් ඩෝසරයකට අසුවී කල විනාශය  මෑතකදී වාර්තා වූ තවත් ජාතික උරුම සංහාරයක කොටසකි.නැගෙනහිර මොට්ටාගල හිරුකෝවිල් මෙන්ම සාම්පූර් දාගැබ ඩෝසර් කිරීම දක්වා පැතිර යන මේ ඛේදවාචකයන් ට වග කිව යුත්තන් සිටී. නමුත් දඹුල්ලේ කලු දිය පොකුණ සෙල් ලිපිය ග්‍රයින්ඩර කළ අපරාධකාරයන් මෙන්ම මොවුහුද පුරාවස්තු ආරක්ෂණ කොට්ඨාශයෙන් බලපෑමක් නොවී නිදැල්ලේ හැසිරෙති.වනජිවී වන සංරක්ෂණ මෙන්ම ප්‍රා දේශීය ලේකම් වරුද අතයට කරන ගනුදෙනු වලින් ඉඩම් අන්සන්තක කරද්දී සෙල්ලිපි පධානඝර ඉතිරි වේයැයි සිතන්නටවත් නොහැකිය.

        අනුරාධපුර යටත් කොට ගත් එළාරගේ විජිතපුර බලකොටුව පිහිටි ස්ථානයක් වශයෙන් ප්‍රසිද්ධ ප්‍ර  දේශයක් කලාවැව ආශ්‍ර යෙන් දැකිය හැකිය. කලාවැව ඉස්මත්තේ උස්ව නැගී සිට අපරිමිත දායාවෙන් කරුණාවෙන් ලෝසතුන් දෙස බලන අවුකන බුදු රුව මෙන්ම මේ සිදු වීම් දෙස අපට උපේක්ෂාවෙන් බැලිය හැකිය.සංහිඳියාව සඳහා මදක් ඉවසිය යුතුයයි ද ජාතිවාදී ගැටුම් වලට නොයා යුතු යැයිද රජය පුන පුනා පවසන බැවින් එවැනි උපේක්ෂාවක් අවශ්‍ය බව මේ මොහොතේදී වුව රජයේ මාධ්‍ය ප්‍රකාශකයන් වදාරනු දැක බල ගත හැකිය. කෙසේ වෙතත් දිනෙන් දින අප මුතුන් මිත්තන් විසින් ගොඩනැගූ උදාර සංස්කෘතික වටිනාකම් විනාශ මුඛයට යෑම නවත්වාගන්නට අපට නොහැකිව තිබේ.

       ඉපලෝගම හිරිපිටියාගම අසන්නයේ පවතින මෙම පැරණි ස්ථානයට විජිත පුර බැලුම්ගල යයිද බලකොටු අඩවියක් යයිද ගැමියන් කියිති. 1998 වර්ෂයේදී මෙම නටබුන් පරීක්ෂා කොට පුරාවිද්‍යා ගවේෂකයන් සකස් කල වාර්තාවක් නිසා මෙම ස්ථානය ආරක්ෂිත ප්‍රදේශයක් ලෙසට ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කාර්යාලය සතුව පවතින ගම්පිඹුරු වල සටහන් විය. මේ වාර්තාකරණයෙන් පසු දැන් වසර විස්සක් ගතව තිබේ. සාමාන්‍ය යෙන් එවැනි වාර්තාවකින් පසු එම ස්ථානය මැනුම් කොට භූමිය වෙන් කොට තබා ගැසට් මගින් රක්ෂිතය ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කිරීම අනුමත ක්‍රම වේදයයි. ඒහෙත් වසර විස්සක් ගතව තිබියදීත් එම ක්‍රියාව සිදුව නොමැත.ඒ අතර පහුගිය කාලය පුරාවටම මෙම ස්ථානයට නිධන් හාරන්නන් ගෙන් අතවර සිදු විය.ඒ අතර ප්‍රාදේශීය දේශපාලනඥයන් ග්‍රාම නිළධාරීන් මෙන්ම ඉහළ ගණයේ දෙශපාලඥයන්ද  සිටි බව නොරහසකි. එහෙත් ගම්මුන් මෙම ස්ථානයේ හේනක් පවා කොටන්නට බිය වූහ. එයට හේතුව හාස්කම් සපිරි භූමියක් වීමයි. දුටු ගැමුණු රජු මෙහි බැලුම් ගල අවට අංගම් සටන් මඩුවක් පවත්වා ගෙන ගිය බවද පසු කාලයේදී  මෙම භූමිය විශේෂයෙන්ම දෙමළ සතුරන් ගෙන් ආරක්ෂාව පතා මානෑවට වැදුණ මහානාම රජු දවසදී  මෙහි පධාන ඝර සහිත ආරණ්‍ය සේනාසනයක් ඉඳි වූ බවද තතු දන්නෝ කියති.ඒ අනුව අවදි කීපයක වැදගත් ඉපැරණි ඉතිහාසයක් මෙහි සැඟව පවතින අකාරය තේරුම් ගත හැකිය. නමුත් මෙම ඉතිහාසය ගොඩ ගැනීමට නම් එය ජාතික රුධිරයේ කොටසක් බවට පත් කර ලීමට නම් පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයන් අතින් ඒවා කැණීමකට ලක් කොට තහවුරු කිරීම් වලට ලක් කොට ශාස්ත්‍රීය අවසානයක් දැකිය යුතු වෙයි.එහෙත් අද පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ඇතුළු සමස්ත ජාතික උරුමයට වග කියන ආයතන පත්ව ඇති ශෝචනීය තත්ත්වයන් නිසා එවැනි වැදගත් පියවරකට පා තැබීම සිහිනයක් බවට පත්ව තිබේ.

        යහපාලන රජය බලයට පත්වූ වහාම පැරණි ජාතික උරුමයන් අමාත්‍යංශය අහෝසි කොට මෙම ආයතන සියල්ල අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශයට අනුබද්ධ කොට සංස්කෘතික විෂය වෙන්ව ගැසට්  කරන ලදී.පුරාවිද්‍යා විෂාය භාර අමාත්‍යවරයා බවට පත් කරන ලද්දේ අකිල විරාජ කාරියවසම් මහතාය. ඔහුගේ ක්‍රියාකාලපය පිළිබඳ හොඳම නිදසුන දඹුල්ල රජ මහා විහාරයේ ප්‍රවේශ පත් සිද්දියේදී පැහැදිලි විය. ඉතාමත් හිතුවක්කාර ලෙස කටයුතු කරමින් සංඝයා වහන්සේලාට පවා අවමන් කරමින් දඹුල්ල විහාරය පවරා ගනිමියි උදම් ඇනූ අමාත්‍යරයා හොස්ස බිම ඇණ ගත්තේ අස්ගිරි මහා විහාරයේ නායක ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේලා ගේ අභීත ඉදිරිපත් වීමෙනි. ඇමතිවරයා එහිදී මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදල යටතේ පවතින ආයතන වල මෙන්ම පුරා විද්‍යා ස්ථාන වලින් මුදල් අය කිරීමේ බලය තමන් යටතට ගැනීමට වෑයම් කලේය. කෙසේ වෙතත් අවසානයේ දී ඔහු සිය මැතිවරණ කොට්ඨාශයේ තමන්ගේ චන්ද දායකයන් 1600 ක් පමණ මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදල යටතේ රැකියාවට බඳවා ගත්තේය. වර්ෂයකට රුපියල් දශලක්ෂ 3600 ක් පමණ ආදායමක් ලබන මෙම අරමුදල ට ඔවුන්ට වැටුප්  ගෙවීම ප්‍රශ්ණයක් නොවේ . නමුත් ඒ අරමුදලෙන් පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට ලබා දෙන්නේ ඉතාමත් සොච්චමකි. එනම් සියයට විසි පහකි.එයද භක්ෂණය කිරීම පිණිස මෑතකදී මෙම බඳවා ගත් හිතවතුන් පුරවිද්‍යා ස්ථානවලට අනුයුක්ත කර තිබේ. ඔවුහු බෞද්ධ වන්දාන කරුවන් ගේ හැඳුනුම්පත් පවා පරීක්ෂා කරමින් ඇමතිබලය පෙන්නූ ආකාරයක් පසුගියදා කූරගලින් වාර්තා විය. කෙසේ වෙතත් පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්මෙන්තුවත් මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදලත් අද පත්ව තිබෙන්නේ තමන්ගේ හිතවතුන්ට රැකියා දෙන ස්ථානයක් ලෙසටයි. ඒ අතර යහපාලන රජයේ කුණු හෝදන්නට කැපවුණු පූජ්‍ය දඹර අමිල හිමියන් පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්‍යක්ෂක වරයෙකු(ශාස්ත්‍රීය) ලෙසට බඳවා ගැනීමටද මේ දිනවල බල අරගලයක් නිර්මාණයව තිබේ. මේ බල අරගල අස්සේ පුරාවිද්‍යා ස්ථාන රැක ගැනීමට බලධාරීන්ට ඉස්පාසුවක් ඇතැයි සිතිය නොහැකිය. එසේම පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව සතුව සිටින අවංක නිළධාරීන්ද උදාසීන තත්ත්වයකට ඇද දමා ඇත්තේ මේ දෙශපාලන අරමුණු ක්‍රියාත්මක වීමෙනි.

           දැන් පුරාවිද්‍යාව මෙන්ම සංස්කෘතික විෂයත් එක් අමත්‍යංශයකට පත් කොට විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂ අමාත්‍යවරයා විෂය භාර පුද්ගලයා ලෙස නම් කළ  බව පසුගියදා ප්‍රකාශයට පත් විය. එහෙත් තව වෙනතුරු එම විෂයයන් ගැසට් කර නොමැත. පුරාවිද්‍යාව මෙන්ම මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදලත් අගමැති වරයා යටතේ තබා ගන්නට වළිකන බව වාර්තාවේ. ඒ මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදල යටතේ රැස්වන විශාල මුදල් කන්දරාවට ලොබිනි. එවැනි වකවානුවක ඉපලෝගම විජිතපුර සිදුවූ මේ විනාශය සුළුවෙන් තැකිය හැකි නොවේ. මරක්කල ජනතාව ගේ යම් කිසි ප්‍රතිශතයක් ජීවත් වන ප්‍ර දේශයකට මුස්ලිම් බලධාරීන් පත් කිරීම මෑතකාලයේ දක්නට ලැබෙන සිදුවීමකි.හොරොව්පොතාන එක් උදාහරණයකි. එහිදී ලේකම් වරයාගේ අනුදැනුම යටතේ ඉඩම් නිදහස් කිරීම අනවසර කැලෑ කැපීම සිදු වේ. ජනාවාස ඉඳිවේ.ඉපලෝගමටත් සජිදාභානු පත්වීම අහඹුවක් විය නොහැකිය. ඇය යටතේ ගම් උදාවට ඉඩම් නිදහස් වන්නේ සියලු ජනවර්ගයන්ට වාසය පිණිස නිවාස තැනවීමටයි. ඉපලෝගම ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කොට්ඨාශයේ අංක 518 හීනුක්වෑගම වසමේ ඉඩම් පිළිබඳ පුරාවිද්‍යා වාර්තාවක් ඉල්ලා සජිදා භානු මහත්මිය විසින්  පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට දැනුම් දෙන්නේ මෙයට ටික කාලයකට ප්‍රථමවයි.ඒ අතර නිවාස සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියත් ගම් උදා බලධාරීනුත් එකතු වී මෙම ඩෝසර කිරීම කොට මුල් ගලක්ද කබා ගොස් තිබෙන්නේ නිවාස ඇමතිවරයාගේ බලපෑම මතය යන නිගමනයට එන්නට සිදුව ඇත්තේය. ඒ ඉතා ඉක්මනින් මෙම ක්‍රියාවලිය සිදු වීමෙනි.දැන් ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම්ක වරියට ස්ථාන මාරුවක් ලැබී තිබේ.නිවාස සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියේ අනුරාධපුර කළමනාකාරියගේ වැඩ තහනම් කර තිබේ. ග්‍රාම නිළධාරිවරයාටද මාරුවීම ලැබී තිබේ. නමුත් රජයේ නිළධාරීන්ට එරෙහිව නඩු පැවරීමට ප්‍රථම විධිමත්ව කළ යුතු වැඩ කොටසක් පුරාවිද්‍යා නිළධාරීන් සතුව තිබේ. එයට කල් ගතවිය හැකිය.එම නිසා විනාශ වී ගිය මෙම ස්ථානයේ ඉතිරි කොටස්වත් මතු පරපුරට දායාද කර ලීමට වහාම මෙම ප්‍ර දේශ මැන ලකුණු කොට රක්ෂිතයක් ලෙසින් ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කළ යුතුය. මන්දගාමීව කටයුතු කරන නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවත් අනෙකුත් ආයතනත් සක්‍රීය කොට මෙහෙයුමක් ලෙසට මෙය අවසන් කිරීමේ වගකීම පුරාවිද්‍යා අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් වරයා සතුය.ඔහු සිය පුරාවිද්‍යා ආඥා පණත නිසි පරිදි ක්‍රියාවට නැන්විය යුතුය.අලස පුරාවස්තු ආරක්ෂණ කොට්ඨාශය පණ ගන්වා දූෂිතයන් ඉවත් කරලීමටද කටයුතු කළ යුතුය.පුරාවිද්‍යාවට නොහැකි නම් මෙම ඓතිහාසික ස්ථාන මහා සංඝරත්නයට වහාම භාර දිය යුතු බවටද දැන්විය යුතුය. එසේ නැතහොත් සාම්පූර් දාගැබ ඩෝසර කිරීමේ සිද්දිය මෙන්ම මෙම සංහරයද ඉතා ඉක්මනින් ජනතාවගෙන් වසන් වී යා හැකිය.

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

ලසන්ත වික්‍රමසිංහ ලේකම් තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ වෘත්තීයවේදීන්ගේ සංසදය

අතිගරු ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මැතිතුමා
ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජය
අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමනි,

පාර්ලිමේන්තු අනුමැතිය ලබා නොගෙන සිංගප්පූරු නිදහස් වෙළඳ ගිවිසුම බලාත්මක කිරීම සහ මැයි මස පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත ෑඔක‍A සාකච්ඡා වටය.
පසුගිය ජනවාරි 23 වන දින ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ සිංගප්පූරුව අතර අත්සන් තැබූ නිදහස් වෙළඳ ගිවිසුම මැයි මස පළමු වනදා සිට ක්‍රියාත්මක වන බව අමාත්‍ය මලික් සමරවික්‍රම ඇමතිතුමා මාධ්‍ය හමුවේ ප්‍රකාශ කළේය. ඕනෑම ගිවිසුමක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමෙන් පසුව පමණක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන බවට ඔබතුමා විසින් මෙරට මහජනතාව හමුවේ ලබාදී තිඛෙන පොරොන්දුව එමඟින් කඩවී ඇති බව අපි ඉතා කණගාටුවෙන් සඳහන් කරන්නෙමු. මෙම ගිවිසුම තුළ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව හරහා ක්‍රියාත්මක විය යුතු බදු සංශෝධන, සේවා, ආයෝජන, භූමිය, සාගරය, ආගමන-විගමන, බුද්ධිමය දේපළ ආදී විවිධ ක්ෂේත්‍රයන් ආවරණය වී ඇත. එසේම මෙවැනි වෙළඳ ගිවිසුමක් හා බැදුණු පසුව ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සම්මත කරන අණ පනත් සහ නීති රීති මෙම ගිවිසුම හා සම්බන්ධ කාර්යයන් සඳහා බල නොපවත්වන බවද ඔබතුමා වෙත අවධාරණය කරන්නෙමු. එවැනි පසුබිමක් තුළ මෙම සිංගප්පූරු – ශ්‍රී ලංකා වෙළද ගිවිසුම පාර්ලිමේන්තුව මඟ හැර බලාත්මක කිරීම රටේ පුරවැසියන්ගේ පරමාධිපත්‍ය බලය හෑල්ලූවට ලක් කිරීමක් බව ඔබතුමාට ද වැටහෙන බව අපි විශ්වාස කරමු.

එසේම මෙම ගිවිසුම අත්සන් කිරීම සඳහා කැබිනට් අනුමැතිය ලබාගෙන ඇත්තේ ඔබතුමා ඇතුළු සමස්ථ කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයම නොමඟ යැවීම මඟිනි. එහිදී සඳහන් කර ඇත්තේ වෘත්තිකයන් ඇතුළු පාර්ශව කරුවන්ගේ අදහස් සැළකිල්ලට ගෙන මෙම ගිවිසුම සකස් කළ බවයි. නමුත් සත්‍යය දැන් හෙළි වී තිබේ. දිවයිනේ සියළුම වෘත්තීය සමිති සහ සංවිධාන මේ ගිවිසුම සකස් කිරීම සදහා තම අදහස් ලබා නොගත් බවට මාධ්‍ය නිවේදන නිකුත් කර ඇති අතර මේ වන විටත් මෙම ගිවිසුමට එරෙහිව අවම වශයෙන් නඩු හතක් වෘත්තිකයන් විසින් ශේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ පවරා තිබේ.

එසේම මෙම ගිවිසුම තුළ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් අපනයන කරන භාණ්ඩ සඳහා සිංගප්පූරුව විසින් බදු සහන ලබා දුන් භාණ්ඩවලින් 99%ක්ම කොහොමත් සිංගප්පූරුව තුළ ලොව ඕනෑම රටකට බදු අය නොකරන භාණ්ඩ බව ඔබතුමා මේ වන විට දැනුවත් වී ඇතැයි අපි සිතමු. එසේම මෙම ගිවිසුම මඟින් සිංගප්පූරුවට බදු රහිතව ලෝකයේ ඕනෑම රටකින් පැමිණෙන භාණ්ඩ බදු රහිතවම ලංකාව වෙත අපනයනය කිරීමට සිංගප්පුරුවේ ව්‍යාපාරිකයන්ට පහසුවෙන්ම ඉඩ ලැඛෙන බව සිංගප්පුරුවේ අදාළ අමාත්‍යාංශය විසින් මෙම ගිවිසුම අත්සන් කළ 2018 ජනවාරි 23 වනදා නිකුත් කළ මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනය මඟින් පැහැදිලි වේ.

මේ සියලූ කරුණු ඔබතුමාට පවා දැනගන්නන්ට ලැඛෙන්නේ මෙම ගිවිසුම අත්සන් කර ක්‍රියාත්මක වන විටය. එයම සංවර්ධන උපායමාර්ග සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර වෙළඳ අමාත්‍යාංශය ක්‍රියාත්මක වන ආකාරය විසින් පවත්වනු ලබන ˜විනිවිදභාවය˜ පිළිබඳව මනා තක්සේරුවක් ලබා දෙයි.

එසේම 2018 මැයි 23 වන දින සිට මැයි 25 දක්වා ඉන්දු-ලංකා ආර්ථීක සහ තාක්ෂි‚ක සහයෝගීතා ගිවිසුම (ETCA) – පිළිබඳව සාකච්ඡා වටයක් සදහා ඉන්දියානු නියෝජිත පිරිසක් දිවයිනට පැමිŒමට නියමිත බව අපට දැනගන්නට ලැබී තිබේ. සිංගප්පුරු ගිවිසුම එකවරම අත්සන් කළා සේ(ETCA)  ගිවිසුමද කිසිදු වගවිභාගයකින් තොරව එකවරම අත්සන් කර දැමීමට අදාළ අමාත්‍යාංශය විසින් නුදුරේදීම ක්‍රියාකරනු ඇති බවට එම අමාත්‍යාංශයේ පෙර හැසිරීම මඟින් අපට සාධාරණ සැකයක් මතුවී තිබේ.

අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමනි, ඉහත සඳහන් කරන ලද කාරණා සැළකිල්ලට ගෙන පහත සඳහන් ක්‍රියාමාර්ග දෙක වෙත යොමු වන ලෙස අප ඔබතුමාගෙන් ඉතා ගෞරවයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.
1 සිංගප්පුරු වෙළඳ ගිවිසුම ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම අත්හිටුවීම.
2 මැයි මස කොළඹදී පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත ඉන්දු-ලංකා ආර්ථීක සහ තාක්ෂි‚ක සහයෝගීතා ගිවිසුම (ෑඔක‍A) සාකච්ඡා අත්හිටුවීම.

ලසන්ත වික්‍රමසිංහ
ලේකම්

තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ වෘත්තීයවේදීන්ගේ සංසදය

Association of Information Technology Professionals

පිටපත් : ගරු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරු, ජනමාධ්‍යය.

RANJITH SOYSA

TNA MP Sumanthiran voicing the opinion of his party insists that no Buddhist temples should be allowed to be constructed in the North and the East. We, the Sri Lankan people would request Mr Sumanthiran to further clarify his extremely communal statement and to state how the TNA reached such a maverick conclusion.

One wonders whether Sumathiran is attempting to resurrect the once considered important but  discarded by the historians, the infamous Cleghorn minute or the TULF manifesto which claimed  ..” Tamil Eelam shall consist of the people of the Northern and Eastern provinces” leading to the myth of Tamils traditional homeland. The influx of people of South Indian origin was only around 1650 when the Dutch settled them in Jaffna to work in the tobacco plantations.

TNA should realize that any exclusive claims to any part of land of Sri Lanka was totally rejected and blown over in Nanadikadal. The fact that the Sinhalese lived in the North and the East for more than 2000 years and they have historically important areas in the North and the East cannot be denied. As the land belongs to the State of Sri Lanka and when the people need to be settled in meeting the demand as the population increase as well for the economic and  national security objectives decisions will have to be taken from the national point of view rather than on myths.

The Sinhala Buddhists who built the civilization and fought against the foreign rulers as well the separatist forces have the absolute right to build the temples etc in any area of Sri Lanka. No one can attempt to restrict this inalienable right of the Sinhala Buddhists to live and attend to their basic rights in any province. It is very relevant to mention that there is a piece of legislation introduced by the British in 1892 that excluding the Buddhists, all other religious groups should obtain the permission of the Governor to build places of worship.. Are we to assume that the Buddhists in Sri Lanka should agitate to forcefully implement this law?

We request the TNA MP, the TNA and the fellow travellers to DESIST from recreating communal discord and not to get lost in the wash. They are reminded of the paths leading to possible unenviable repercussions of slap-dash racist utterances affecting all Sri Lankans,

RANJITH SOYSA

මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනය  මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍රය

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ආයෝජකයන් කැඳවීමටත්, ආයෝජකයන් රඳවා ගැනීමටත් ඒ සඳහා පහසුකම් සැලසීමේ වගකීම  පැවරී ඇති ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලය තම රාජකාරිය නිසි පරිදි ඉටු නොකරන  බව  ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍රය අවධාරණය කරයි. එහි විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා රාජගිරියේදී පැවැති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී පෙන්වා දුන්නේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලය මෙරටට පැමිණෙන ආයෝජකයින් මෙරට රඳවා ගැනීමට ගනු ලබන පියවර කිසිසේතම් ප්‍රමාණවත් නොවන බවයි.

විශේෂයෙන් මෙරටට පැමිණෙන ආයෝජකයින්ගෙන් කප්පම් ගැනීම නතර කරමින් ඔවුන් රැකගැනීමෙ වගකීම ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලය සතු වන බව ද  තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා මෙහිදී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

පසුගියදා කන්තලේ සීනි සමාගම සඳහා පැමිණි ආයෝජකයෙකුගෙන් කප්පම් ලබාගැනිමේදී ජනාධිපති කාර්ය මණ්ඩල හිටපු ප්‍රධානියා අත් අඩංගුවට පත්වූ  බවත් මේ එවන් එක් සිදුවීමක් පමණක් බවත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍රෙය් විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂවරයා සඳහන් කළේය. මෙලෙස වාර්තා නොවන අල්ලස් ලබාගැනීම් කොපමණ ප්‍රමාණයක් සිදුවී ඇතිදැයි  නිශ්චිතවම කිසිවකුට පැවැසිය නොහැකි බවද හෙතෙම පෙන්වා දුන්නේය. එවන් නින්දිත සිදුවීම් වළක්වා ගැනීමට නම් ශ්‍රී  ලංකා ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලය විසින් සිය යාන්ත්‍රණය විධිමත් කළ යුතු බව තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා පැවසීය.

එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා මෙසේ ද පැවසීය

වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුව ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලයේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල්වරයාට රුපියල් දෙලක්ෂ හැත්තෑපන්දහසේ සිට රුපියල් අට ලක්ෂ පනස් දහස  දක්වා වැටුප වැඩි කර තිබෙනවා. ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලයේ වත්මන් සභාපතිවරයා  කාර්යාලයට පැමිණෙන්නේ සතියකට වරක් පමණයි. එසේ පැමිණියත් ඔහු කාර්යාලයේ රැඳී සිටින්නේ පැය කිහිපයක් විතරයි. මෙහෙම පුළුවන්ද ආයෝජන නංවන්න? ආයෝජකයෝ ආරක්ෂා කරන්න? ඔවුනගේ ප්‍රශ්න වලට පිළිතුරු දෙන්න?  කන්තලේ ආයෝජකයා අල්ලස් කොමිසම හමුවට ගිය එකට මේ වෙනෙකොට මරණ තර්ජන එල්ල වෙලා. ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලය මොකක්ද ඔහුට දීලා තියෙන සහතිකය ඔහුගේ ආරක්ෂාව ගැන. ඒනිසා  මේ ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලයේ ක්‍රියාවලිය විධිමත් කිරීම අද අත්‍යවශ්‍ය තත්වයක් වෙනවා.

මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය

ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍රය

2018 මැයි 10 වැනිදා

Dr Sarath Obeysekeara

.”Another Cabinet reshuffle is the talking point these days. Health Minister and Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne said on Sunday that there would be a Cabinet reshuffle before May 1 with the portfolios assigned in a scientific manner.   This is not the government’s first Cabinet reshuffle and also not the first time that Dr. Senaratne assured the country on behalf of the government that the portfolios would be assigned in a scientific manner. It was during the 2015 presidential election campaign that the leaders of the incumbent government promised to appoint a 30-member Cabinet on a scientific basis. 

When I read the news item above and later read about appointment of Ministers on a Scientific Basis. I was quite disappointed. Nevertheless President and PM had to take some action to safeguard the future of the Yahapalanaya Government, and stave away   the vultures waiting to topple the ‘Cart”

My contention is President and the Prime Minister shall now appoint chairmen to Corporations and statutory bodies using a Scientific Approach

I was appointed to  SLLRDC as the chairman in 1989 by Premadasa ,where I neither had any political affiliations  nor I was a stooge of the clan ..Another educated chairman of a corporation was requested find someone with exposure in International Industrial fields for the post and I was requested to meet him in his office .He asked my background (of course he would have known already) and asked me to read the act of SLLRC and take over .He gave be few months to develop new building in Rajagiriya.We were involved   in Gamudawa and other development project.

Most of the agencies like NHDA was run by a veteran Susil Siriwardane .Water Board by Me Nadugala .SEC my Eng. Mr. Silva  who were highly educated ,and handpicked my Premeds .If the Minister wanted someone in the Board  they were nominated as working directors etc. .Even the brother of Mrs Premadasa was never appointed as a chairman .Ministry of housing has Mr Conrad Tisera and Mt Alillaperuma with Dr Joachm and Gamunu Silva in SEC who were highly educated .

One day President calls me 4 am form Keselwatte and asked me to find a chairman for Timber Corporation claiming that the existing chairman purportedly was under his surveillance and not to his liking .Even up to date   I wm not sure why he asked me to find one with some good back ground .

This is how President appointed chairman to the board and refused to play to the tune of ministers .

We have a new chairman in Timber Coprporation today after the previous got the boot, but people raised eye brows when they found that that the appointment is under serious cloud of suitability.

It is high time that President appoints the new board of the statutory bodies  under the new ministers with educated experienced people rather that appointing stooges who can ruin the reputation of the Yahaplana Government

Dr Sarath Obeysekeara

ALI SUKHANVER

Difficult to decide why Dr. Shakil Afridi betrayed his own people by playing in the hands of Americans and more difficult is to trace the reason behind such a strong American desire of ‘snatching’ away Dr. Afridi from Pakistan. Why do the Americans need so badly, the so-called ‘Pakistani’ doctor Shakil Afridi? Some say, Dr. Afridi must be handed over to US if Dr. Afia comes back to Pakistan in exchange.

According to the Sputnik, ‘Just after the death of Osama bin Laden in May 2011, the US press reported that Shakil Afridi had been collecting DNA samples of Bin Laden’s family by the order of CIA, which was confirmed by the then-CIA Director Leon Panetta and then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.’ It means there is no ambiguity regarding Dr. Afridi’s working for the CIA.

What would have been the reaction of the US government if Dr. Afridi were a US citizen and were found guilty of working for some foreign agency against the interest of the US? Certainly the US reaction would have been worse than that of Pakistan in that case. A few days back I was surfing the net in search of the CIA agents who deceived their country and started working for some hostile agencies. I wanted to know how they were treated when the secret of their ‘double-crossing’ was exposed.

The first name I came by was that of Harold James Nicholson .He joined the CIA in October 1980, after having served as captain in a US Army intelligence unit. In his career with the CIA, Nicholson was assigned duties throughout the world; he worked for the CIA as an operations officer specializing in intelligence operations against foreign intelligence services, including the intelligence services of the USSR and later, the Russian Federation.

From 1982 until 1985, he worked for the CIA in Manila, where he had direct contacts with targeted Soviet officials; from 1985 until 1987 he worked for the CIA in Bangkok, from 1987 until 1989 in Tokyo. From 1990 until 1992, he was the CIA Chief of Station in Bucharest, Romania. Nicholson was convicted of selling US intelligence to Russia for $300,000 and was sentenced to 23 years 7 months of imprisonment on June 5, 1997. Nicholson would come out of the prison in 2024.

There was another name in the list of the US spies who were found guilty of double-crossing and of working against US’ interests, Robert Philip Hanssen. He spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States for 22 years from 1979 to 2001. He is currently serving 15 consecutive life sentences at ADX Florence, near Florence, Colorado.

In 1984 Richard Miller, a 20-year veteran who was stationed at the FBI’s foreign counterintelligence unit in Los Angeles at the time of his arrest, was arrested for selling classified documents to Russian agents, one of whom he was having an affair with.

In 1986, Miller was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. His conviction later was overturned but at a second trial in 1990 he was again found guilty. Miller was released from prison in 1994. Another FBI agent caught spying for Moscow was Earl Pitts, who volunteered to become a mole for the KGB in 1987. He handed over classified information to the Russians until 1992 and was paid more than $220,000 for the purpose.

In 1996, Pitts was caught in an FBI sting operation. He pleaded guilty to espionage and in 1997 was given 27 years in prison. In short all those who worked against the national interest of the US and all those who became a tool in the hands of the agencies hostile to US were treated brutally rather mercilessly. But in case of Dr. Afridi, the US authorities are expecting from Pakistan, a response otherwise.

The US authorities are doing all their best to get Dr. Afridi by hook or by crook but yet they have not succeeded. According to different media reports, Washington so many times offered Islamabad to exchange Shakil Afridi for Pakistani scientist Afia Siddique but Pakistan did never accept this ‘golden-offer.’

Finding no other way of getting Dr. Afridi out of the prison, a jail-break plan was prepared but Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence got a tip of that plan and ‘detonated’ the plan by shifting Dr. Afridi to some other safe location. The game is still on; let us see what happens next. However it seems that Pakistan would never hand over this traitor to US because in the past, handing over the spies to their god-fathers had not been a good experience particularly with reference to the Indian spies.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, May 10 (The Island/Daily News): The Indian investor K.P.Nagaraj, who complained that President Maithripala Sirisena’s Chief of Staff, I. H.K. Mahanama and Chairman of State Timber Corporation P. Dissanayake, had allegedly taken a bribe from him, has informed the Cinnamon Gardens Police that he has been receiving death threats.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, May 10 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s parliament Wednesday voted to set up special courts to try multi-billion dollar graft cases under former president Mahinda Rajapakse.

The move aims to accelerate several high-profile cases following criticism over the slow pace of justice since President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in 2015 promising to stamp out corruption.

Parliament voted 119-52 to create high courts to take up white collar crimes and reduce the backlog of cases.

The new courts will reduce pressure on the criminal justice system and help speed up hearings,” Justice Minister Thalatha Atukorale said.

The choice of which cases will be taken up by the new courts will be made by the chief justice to ensure that no political pressure is involved, she added.

Sirisena came to power three years ago pledging to punish members of the former administration accused of stealing vast sums during Rajapakse’s decade in power.

Rajapakse loyalists in the 225-member parliament voted against the bill.

Sirisena has said up to half of all public procurement contracts under the Rajapakse administration were corrupt, and his government has renegotiated several multi-billion dollar projects.

Rajapakse’s chief aide Lalith Weeratunga has already been convicted of misappropriating $4 million and sentenced to three years in prison.

Two of the former president’s three sons have been charged with money-laundering and other relatives face corruption allegations.

Rajapakse, who is not under investigation, denies any wrongdoing and accuses his successor of a witch hunt

එරන්ද කේ නවරත්න. බොදු බල සේනා මාධ්‍ය අංශය වෙනුවෙන්.

නිවාස සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය විසින් ඩෝසර් කර විනාශ කරන ලද විජිතපුර, බැලුම්ගල ඓතිහාසික පුරාවිද්‍යා භූමියට සිදුවී ඇති විනාශ සොයා බැලීම සඳහා බොදු බල සේනා මහ ලේකම්, ශාස්ත්‍රපති, රාජකීය පණ්ඩිත ගලගොඩඅත්තේ ඥානසාර හිමි ඇතුළු බොදු බල සේනා සංවිධානයේ නියෝජිතයන් පිරිසක් ඊයේ (7) දින එම ස්ථානයේ සංචාරයක නිරත විය.

එම අවස්ථාවේදී මාධ්‍ය ඇමතු ඥානසාර හිමි සඳහන් කර සිටියේ,

ඉපලෝගම ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කොට්ඨාශයේ බැලුම්ගල පුරාවිද්‍යා ස්ථානයේ, ඉතාම හදිස්සියේ සිදුකර ඇති විනාශය පිලිබදව රටට කරුණු කීම පිලිබදව මාධ්‍ය ආයතනවලට ස්තුතිය පල කර සිටිනවා.  අපිට තිබෙන අතීත අද්දැකීම් අනුව සමහර විට හෙට දණ්ඩ නීති සංග්‍රහය උස්සගෙන රටේ පාලකයෝ සහ නිලධාරීන් අපේ පස්සේ පැමිණේවි… මොකටද මේ කැලේකට ගියේ කියලා. ඒක තමයි මේ රටේ නීතියේ හැටි. හොරකම නෙවෙයි අල්ලන්නේ හොරකම පෙන්වා දෙන මිනිස්සු.

කාගේ උවමනාවකටද මේ “හෙනගහන අපරාදය” කලේ?

මේ ස්ථානය ඉතිහාසයට බොහෝ නෑකම් කියන තැනක් බව බැලූ බැල්මට හොදින් පෙනෙනවා. එළාර දුටුගැමුණු යුද්ධය පිලිබදව පුංචි දරුවාගේ සිට වැඩිහිටියා දක්වා දන්නවා. විශේෂයෙන් මේ රජරට, රිටිගල දක්වා දිවෙන කලාපයේ විජිතපුරයට සම්බන්ද නෑකම් එක්ක මේ ස්ථානය මොන වගේ තැනක් බවට බාවිතා කලාද යන්න ජනප්‍රවාදයට අනුව දැනගන්නට ලැබෙනවා. පුරාවිද්‍යාවට අදාළ කරුණු පුරාවිද්‍යාඥ්ඥයන් විසින් තහවුරු කර ගනීවි. අපිට තිබෙන ගැටලුව නම් කඩිමුඩියේ මේ ස්ථානය එළිපෙහෙළි කරලා, එක පාරටම නිසි නිර්දේශවලින් තොරව… උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් ගම්මානයක හදන්න උවමනානම්.. ඒ සඳහා අවශ්‍ය නිර්ණායක තිබෙනවා. පරිසරයේ තිබෙන ගහකොළ කපනවානම් ඒකට අවශ්‍ය අනුමැතිය තිබිය යුතුයි. ගල් ආදිය කඩා ඉවත්කරනවානම් ඒවාට අවශ්‍ය අවසරයන් තිබිය යුතුයි. ඒ මොකක්වත් නැතිව කාගේ උවමනාවකටද මේ “හෙනගහන අපරාදය” කලේ කියන එක අපි  අහන්න අවශ්‍යයි. ඒ වගේම නිවාස සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය මේ රටේ කොටසක් නෙවෙයිද? ඒ අය වෙනම ආණ්ඩුවක්ද? ගම්මානයක් හදන්න අවශ්‍යනම් ඒක කරන විදිහක් තිබෙනවා. ඇමතිවරුන්ට රටේ තිබෙන ඉඩම් ගැන අවබෝදයක් නෑ… ඒ නිසා තමයි රාජ්‍ය යාන්ත්‍රණයක් තිබෙන්නේ.

https://youtu.be/oAFtZlkISrE

නිධන් පිලිබදව ලොල් බවක් ඇති කවුරුන් හෝ මේ පිටුපස ඉන්නවා

මේ ඉඩම්වල නිසි බලධරයා තමයි ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම්. මෙවැනි තැනක් වෙන් කරලා දෙන්න කලින් ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම්ට වගකීමක් තිබෙනවා. අපට වැඩක් නෑ එතන ඉන්නේ සිංහලද දෙමළද මුස්ලිම්ද කියලා.ඒ තනතුරේ වගකීම පැහැර හැර තිබෙනවා මේ වෙලාවේ. ඒ වගේම අපි අවධාරණය කරන්න ඕනි නිවාස සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියේ ඉන්න නිධන් පිලිබදව ලොල් බවක් ඇති කවුරුන් හෝ මේ පිටුපස ඉන්නවා විය හැකියි. අපි ස්තුති වන්ත වෙන්න ඕනි දුකසේ ජිවත් වෙන මේ ප්‍රදේශයේ සිටින අහිංසක මිනිසුන්ට. අවුරුදු ගණනාවක්  ඔවුන් මේක රැකගෙන ඇවිත් තිබෙනවා. ඒ වගේම මිට වසර 20 කට ඉහතදී මෙවැනිම සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතියකට මේ භුමිය නිදහස් කර ගැනීමට යාමේදී, පුරාවස්තු ඇතිබවට සනාථ වී ඇති බැවින් පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව විසින් මෙය රක්ෂිත භූමියක් බවට නම් කොට තිබෙනවා. එනිසා ඒ ව්‍යාපෘතිය වසර 20කට කලින් නතර කොට තිබෙනවා.

අවුරුද්දකට කලින් ජනාධිපතිටත් කිවුවා…

එහෙමනම් අපි මේ අවස්ථාවේදී අපි චෝදනා කල යුතුයි පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවටත්. මේක උතුරවත් නැගෙනහිරවත් නෙවෙයි. මේ වැව් බැදී රාජ්‍ය. අපිට නෑකම් කියන තැන. හදුනාගත්තනම්, අවමතරමින් හෝ මෙය පුරාවිද්‍යා භූමියක් බවට බෝර්ඩ් එකක්වත් ගහන්න බැරි නොහැකියාව කුමක්ද? මීට වසරකට ඉහතදී ජනාධිපතිවරයා මුණගැහිලා එවකට බුද්ධශාසන ඇමතිවරයාත් සමගින් පුරාවිද්‍යාවට අදාළ සියලු නිලධාරීන් ගෙන්වා… එකගකරවා ගත්තා, අවම තරමින් හදුනා ගත් ස්ථානවල බෝර්ඩ් ලෑල්ලක්වත් එල්ලන්න කියලා. ඒවා හුදු කතා සාකච්චා පමණයි.

පවුකාර තක්කඩින් මේ වනසන්නේ අපේ පරපුරේ උරුමය

ඒ නිසා අපි අතිශයින් කම්පාවට පත්වෙනවා මේ වනසන්නේ අපේ පරපුරේ උරුමය. මේ සඳකඩ පහනක, ගල්කනුවක තිබෙන වටිනාකම සැගවුන යටගියාව කොතෙක්දැයි අපිට කියා නිමකළ නොහැකියි. එනිසා මේ පවුකාර තක්කඩින්ට අපි කියනවා උබලා මේ වනසන්නේ අපේ පරපුරේ  උරුමය බව. මේ පුරාවස්තු සිංහලයන්ට පමණක් නොවෙයි. මේ රටේ උපදින හැම එකාලටම අයිතියි. ඒ බව අන්‍ය ජාතිකයන්ද දැනගත යුතුයි.

මහ දහවල් ජාතිය සතු වත්කම් කොල්ලකෑමක්

මේ සංවර්ධනයට මුවා වෙලා නිධන් පැහැර ගනිමින් සිද්ධකරන, මේ ජාතික මංකොල්ලය නතර කිරීමට බලධාරීන් ක්‍රියාත්මක වියයුතුයි. මේ කරලා තිබෙන විනාශයට තීන්දු ගත්තවුන්ගේ වැඩ තහනම් කර විනාශ කර ඇති දේවල් තිබූ තැන්වල පිහිටුවා වහා පුරාවිද්‍යා රක්ෂිතයක් බවට නම් කර අනාගත පරපුරට බාරදිය යුතුයි. අපි දැක්කා ලංකාවේ කොහෙවත් නොදැක්ක පහන් ගලක්. එය අපේ දරුවන් දැක ගත යුතුයි. චෛත්‍ය විනාශ කර නිධන් හාරලා. දකුණු පසට ගියහම විශාල ගබඩාවක් විනාශ කරලා. මෙතන පාරක් හදන්න ගියානම් මේක අමුතුමු සැලැස්මකට වැඩකරලා තිබෙන්නේ. පාර අටපට්ටම් කරලා. ඒ වගේම ගල උඩත් ගිහිලා බොරත් දාලා. මේක හරි අමුතු එකක්. පැහැදිලිවම මහ දහවල් ජාතිය සතු වත්කම් කොල්ලකෑමක් මේ කරලා තිබෙන්නේ. බලධාරයන්ද ඇවිල්ලා මේවා බලන්න ඕනි. කොතනකවත් හමු නොවුණු ඉතිහාසක් මෙතන තිබෙන්නේ. බලුම්ගලටත් බෝර දාල විනාශ කරන්න සැලසුම් කරලා.

නිතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙන්නේ නැත්නම් අපි නීතිය අතට අරගෙන හරි මේවා ආරක්ෂා කල යුතුයි.

මේ ගම්වැසියන්ට අපි කියනවා මේ… පාදඩ දේශපාලන බලවේගවලට  බය වෙන්න එපා. ඕනෑම දෙයක් වෙනුවෙන් අපි පෙනී ඉන්නවා. ඔය ඇත්තෝ මේක මෙතෙක් ආරක්ෂා කළා වගේ ඉදිරියටත් ඇහැ ගහගෙන ඉන්න. නිධන් හොරු එනවනම් ඒකට මේ රටේ නිතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙන්නේ නැත්නම් කරුණාකරලා අපි නීතිය අතට අරගෙන හරි මේවා ආරක්ෂා කල යුතුයි.

ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම්වරිය මෙතන බරපතල වරදක් කරලා තිබෙනවා. ඇය තනතුරේ වගකීම පැහැර හැර තිබෙනවා. මේ ඉතිහාසය නොදන්නා මිනිසු එක්ක අපි කොහෙද යන්නේ. මේ උන්ගේ අම්මගේ අප්පාගේ භුදල් නෙවෙයි. මේ සිද්ධියට අදාළ නියෝග දුන් ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම්, ග්‍රාම නිලධාරී, නිවාස සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියේ නිලධාරීන්, අහිංසක ගම්මුන්ට තර්ජනය කල නිලධාරීන්, නිධන් සොරුන් ඇතුළු මීට අනුබල දෙන්නන්ට විරුද්ධව වහාම නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන ලෙසට අපි ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා.

අපි ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා පුරාවිද්‍යා අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජෙනරාල් ඇතුළු බලධාරීන්ගෙන් කරුණාකර පුරාවිද්‍යා ස්ථාන වැනසීම පිලිබදව පුරාවිද්‍යා ආඥ්ඥා පනත ක්‍රියාත්මක කර වහාම මේ අයව නීතියේ රැහැනට කොටු කර ඔවුන්ට අදාල නිතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්න කියලා. මලකඩ කන්න ඔය අණ පනත් තිබිලා වැඩක් නෑ…

එරන්ද කේ නවරත්න.
බොදු බල සේනා මාධ්‍ය අංශය වෙනුවෙන්.

උපුටාගැණීම  මව්බිම

අල්ලසට හා දූෂණයට විරුද්ධව ලෝකයේ වැඩිපුරම කතා කරන රට කුමක්දැයි ඇසුවහොත් ඊට පිළිතුර “ශ්‍රී ලංකාව” යන්නය. ලෝකයේ අල්ලස හා දූෂණය වැඩිපුරම පවතින රටවල් අතළොස්ස අතරද ලංකාව ඉදිරියෙන්ම සිටී. අපේ රටේ අල්ලස් දීමත්, ගැනීමත්, දෙකම නීතිය ඉදිරියේ වරදක් බව නීති පොතේ තිබේ. පොතේ තිබීමේ කිසිම වැදගැම්මක් නැත. රථවාහන පොලිසියට අල්ලස් නොදුන් රියැදුරකු ලංකාවේ සිටී නම් එය ලෝක පුදුමයකි. අල්ලසට යට නොවූ රාජ්‍ය ආයතනයක් ඇඟිල්ල දිගුකර පෙන්වන්නැයි කීවොත් පෙන්වීමට එවැනි ආයතන තිබේද යන්නත් සැක සහිතය. අඩුම තරමින් කිරිහට්ටියක් හෝ අල්ලසක් ලෙස ගන්නට අතීතයේ සිටම ලොක්කෝ පුරුදුව සිටිති.

එක දිගට ලෝකයේ බලයේ සිටි ජනාධිපතිවරුන් තිදෙනකුගේ කාර්ය මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානියන් දූෂණ, වංචා, නඩුවලට අසුවූ බව ප්‍රකාශ කළේ ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රිපාල සිරිසේනය. අල්ලසට යටවී ඇත්තේ දේශපාලකයන්ම පමණක් නොවේ. අල්ලසට, දූෂණයට යටවූ නිලධාරි පැළැන්තියක්ද රටේ මුල් බැස සිටිති. ඔවුන් හිතන්නේ රට ගැන නොව සාක්කුව ගැනය. ඔවුන්ට තනතුරු පිරිනමන්නට දේශපාලනඥයෝද සැදී පැහැදී සිටිති. රාජ්‍ය ආයතන පරිහානිය කරා පල්ලම් බසින්නේ මේ දූෂිත නිලධාරි පැළැන්තිය නිසාය. අර්ධ රාජ්‍ය ආයතනවල, සංස්ථා ව්‍යවස්ථාපිත මණ්ඩලවල අධ්‍යක්ෂ මණ්ඩල පිරී තිබෙන්නේ දේශපාලන හෙන්චයියන්ගෙනි. ඔවුන් පුටුවල වාඩි වෙන්නේම හොරකම් කරන්නට බලාගෙනය. කොයි ආණ්ඩුව මාරු වුවත් මෙරිගෝරවුන්ඩ් යනවා වගේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ මණ්ඩලවලට පත්වන්නේ එකම පිරිසකි. ඔවුන්ට විරුද්ධව වෘත්තීය සමිති සහ සේවකයන් කොතෙක් පැමිණිලි ඉදිරිපත් කළද ප්‍රතිඵලයක් අත් නොවේ.

යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව බලයට පත් කිරීමේදී පෙරමුණ ගත් සමාජ ව්‍යාපාරයේ මූලික ඉල්ලීමක් වූයේද රාජ්‍ය ආයතනවලට අරක්ගත් දූෂිතයන් ඉවත්කොට සුදුස්සන්ට වගකීම් පැවරීමය. මාදුළුවාවේ සෝභිත හිමියන් එවැනි දූෂණයෙන් තොර, වගකීම් සහිත විෂය ප්‍රවීණයන්ගේ නම් ලැයිස්තුවක්ද නායකයන් දෙදෙනාට භාරදුන් බවද එකල දැනගන්නට ලැබිණි. එහෙත් මේ ආණ්ඩුව යටතේද සිදුවූයේ නම් දැරූ දූෂිතයන් රාජ්‍ය ආයතනවල ඉහළ තනතුරුවලට පත්කිරීමය. අද එය නැවත නැවතත් සිදුවෙමින් තිබේ.

හොඳම උදාහරණය රාජ්‍ය දැව සංස්ථාවේ සභාපති රුපියල් කෝටි ගණනක් අල්ලස් ගැනීම සම්බන්ධව අත්අඩංගුවට ගත් විට පැය 24 යන්නට මත්තෙන් එවැනිම චෝදනාවලට ලක්වූවකු හිස් වූ සභාපති ධුරයට පත්කිරීමය. මේවා නොදැන, ආවා-ගියාට සිදුවන්නේ යැයි තීරණය කිරීම ඥානාන්විත නොවේ. තමන්ට ඉදිරියේදී දේශපාලන වශයෙන් වාසි ගැනීමේ යටි අරමුණ ඇතිව දේශපාලන හෙන්චයියලාට තනතුරු පිරිනැමීමද අල්ලසකි. ලංකාවේ අර්ධ රාජ්‍ය ආයතනවල ඉහළ පුටුවල වැජඹෙන්නේ එසේ පත්කළ විශේෂ හැකියාවන් ප්‍රදර්ශනය නොකළ පුහු මිනිසුන්ය. ඔවුහු කඳ පණුවන් ලෙස මහජනතාවගේ ආයතන කා දමනවා මිස ප්‍රගතියක් පෙන්වීමට අසමත් වෙති. ප්‍රගතියක් පෙන්වීමට අවශ්‍ය නොවන්නේ එකී තනතුරු තමන්ට ලැබුණු වරදාන බව ඔවුන්ද හොඳින් දන්නා නිසාය.

අදාළ විෂයන් පිළිබඳව විශේෂඥ දැනුමැති, විනයක් සහිත උගත් බුද්ධිමත් ක්‍රියාශීලී රටට ආදරය ඇති තරුණයන් ඇතුළු සුදුස්සන් කොතෙක් සිටියත් ඔවුන්ට ඉහළ වගකීමක් දරන අවස්ථාව දෙන්නට ලංකාවේ දේශපාලනඥයන් සූදානම් නැත.

දේශපාලන ඇම්බැට්ටයකු ඉහළම පුටුවේ වාඩි කරවා සමස්ත ආයතනික ව්‍යුහයම කඩා වැටෙන්නට සැලැස්වීම පාලකයන් අනුදත් ක්‍රමවේදයයි. රටට ප්‍රේම කරන බුද්ධිමතුන් රට හැර යන්නේ, උගතුන් පිටුදකින මේ අපකීර්තිමත් ක්‍රියාව නතර කරන බවක් පේන මානයක නැති නිසාය. එය රටට ජාතියට ඔරොත්තු නොදෙන මහා සෝදාපාළුවකි. නරින්ට කුකුළන් භාරදීමේ අඥාන ක්‍රියාව දැන්වත් නතර කළ යුතුය. අල්ලසට දූෂණයට විරුද්ධ බව කන්‍ෙදාස්කිරියාවක් වන තරමට පුන පුනා ප්‍රකාශ කරමින් සොරුන් වැදගත් තනතුරුවලට පත්කිරීම දැන්වත් නතර කළ යුතුය.

Sheain Fernandopulle Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Cabinet spokesman and Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, Rajitha Senaratne became speechless during a news briefing held yesterday when a journalist asked about the appointment of Anuruddha Polgampola as the new Chairman of State Timber Corporation who had been arrested over two alleged major financial frauds during the past.

Journalist: What is your stance on the President’s appointment of Anuruddha Polgampola as the new Chairman of State Timber Corporation who had been arrested over two major financial frauds earlier?

Minister: Anuruddha Polgampola was the one who went to Bribery Commission to lodge a complaint against me.

Journalist: Is this your Good Governance to give him such a post merely because he was so active during the Local Government elections and supporting the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Minister: Normally, such helpful persons are the ones who are appointed to such posts.

Journalist: Your government is boasting that the portfolios are given according to scientific basis. Has any scientific basis been used to this appointment.

Minister: Even those who were appointed under the scientific basis have been caught and arrested.

Meanwhile, Minister Thalatha Atukorale who also participated in the news briefing was seen gesturing to the journalist who asked the questions stating that it is getting late. Parakku Wenawa”.

By Dr. DAYAN JAYATILLEKA Courtesy The Island

May 9, 2018, 10:08 pm

Things just moved, changed, in the world and Sri Lanka, and I hope we are taking notice. Let’s start with the world and move on to Sri Lanka.

President Trump’s pullout from the Iran deal sharply enhances the prospect of war in the Middle East, with devastating consequences for the world economy as a whole and the economies of developing (or in our case, under-developing) countries of the global South, in particular. The neoconservative hawks in the Trump administration—most notably National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—and their allies the Netanyahu administration and the Saudi monarchy, are clearly hoping to provoke Iran into resuming its nuclear weapons programme which it had abandoned even before the signing of the deal.

Iran may then become the target of an attack on the ground that itis “racing” towards a nuclear weapon. The gamble is that the US will back Israel and that the two military machines, being the most formidable alliance on the planet, supported by the far less impressive Saudi Arabia, will be able to prevail over Iran. The ultimate goal is that military defeat will trigger regime change in Tehran, reversing the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

For Israel, the goal is strategic and regional: weaken Iran, the Hezbollah and Hamas. For the US, the goal is grand-strategic and global: push Russia back in the region, and tighten the encirclement of Moscow, thereby weakening Putin– and by weakening Russia, also weaken China, the ultimate enemy. This is how the hawks in the US hope to reverse the relative decline of US global hegemony and the rise of Eurasia, chiefly China backed by Russia.

Matters may not be that easy. Iran is a highly motivated state and society. It is motivated by a combination of factors that social scientists recognize as the strongest combination of motivational factors in the world: religion (any theistic religion) and revolution (any type of real revolution). In the Iranian case there is also the powerful motivator of civilisational nationalism/patriotism.

The Iranian military, the elite Revolutionary Guards, their strategic allies Hezbollah (which, through its political proxies and partners, has just secured preponderance in the Lebanese parliament, defeating the pro-western bloc), Hamas, and the Shiite militias in Iraq, have developed an impressive capacity for asymmetric warfare. The entire Middle East region may turn into a new Vietnam for the US and may even alter the situation for Israel in a manner that Tel Aviv least expects—now that the demonstrations on the Gaza border, where unarmed teenagers are shot dead by Israeli snipers with explosive bullets, show just how much self-sacrificial desperation the Palestinian people have been driven to.

Sri Lanka: The candidacy stakes

In Sri Lanka, the balance of forces is shifting. Veteran politician Dinesh Gunawardena notes that the recent SLFP rebellion marks the largest number to cross over from Government to the Opposition at any one time, in the history of the Sri Lankan parliament. When traffic flows usually from opposition to government for reasons of opportunism and purposes of patronage, any reverse flow is noteworthy. Such reverse flows, such as in 1964 and 1975 are signs of a government doomed to be defeated at the next election. So it is with the rebellion of the SLFP Sixteen.

The SLFP rebellion is noteworthy not only because of quantitative factors, but qualitative ones. As Dayasiri Jayasekara pointed out on Derana 360, of the 16 rebels, 14 have university degrees, eight are lawyers and one is a specialist doctor.

The Sri Lankan political scenario registered yet another change at the Sugathadasa Stadium, with Sajith Premadasa receiving sustained applause; far more so than any other personality. His speech which was punctuated by lusty cheers, was a full-on attack on the neoliberal economic orthodoxy that has brought the UNP’s base vote from 40%-45% down to 32%. He didn’t stop at that but went on to invoke his father’s memory – President Ranasinghe Premadasa was a local equivalent of a Juan Peron or Salvador Allende—and unfurl what sounded suspiciously like an election manifesto.

With the UNP’s crisis having triggered boycotts from within the parliamentary group, ghettoized its May Day in the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, and manifested disaffection from supporters outside the stadium, Sajith Premadasa emerged clearly as the most popular personality in the UNP and the only hope – and outside chance at best– of avoiding a catastrophe at the Presidential election next year.

Already the UNP’s rightwing elite has begun to counterattack in the mainstream and social media, arguing that the UNP does not need a “duplicate Mahinda Rajapaksa”. In the first place that’s overly flattering – and today’s UNP would be lucky to produce anyone who could be credibly compared with the country’s most loved personality who will doubtless become a folk deity when he is no more.

In the second place, these rightwing propagandists have dismally failed to understand the lessons of the miraculous 1988 turnaround, where the UNP snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. It was precisely by fielding a candidate who was even more patriotic and populist than Mrs. Bandaranaike. As UNP Gen Sec Ranjan Wijeratne’s survey had clearly indicated, the mood in the country was such that Premadasa was the only acceptable option; the only one with even half a chance. Had Gamini Dissanayake been the candidate in 1988 instead of Premadasa, not only would the UNP have lost; it would have been overrun and massacred by the violent xenophobes—so hated was the governing party, for its perceived treachery and manifest insensitivity to the poor. Ranasinghe Premadasa was the only exception.

If the UNP does not repeat the move of the maestro, President Jayawardene, in 1988 when the party and government’s back was to the wall, and play the Premadasa card, then, as Sajith said, to the assembled party loyalists in his Sugathadasa stadium May 7th speech (referring to the need for total change and radical democratization of the party and its policies): “May God help us!”

Meanwhile, the SLPP-JO was the sole formation among the serious national contenders for state power next year, to have a May Day procession and rally, signaling that it is still the largest political formation in the island. The number of references to Basil Rajapaksa made it clear that the race for the Presidential candidacy is underway.

There are SLPP voices supporting Basil but the SLPP is not the JO and not even the whole of the SLFP group with Mahinda. The JO parliamentarians as a bloc are loyal to Mahinda and no one else. Any aspiring candidate will not only have to secure MR’s fullest support but also earn the trust of the JO parliamentarians. Among the broader public; i.e. in society at large, the groundswell is for Gotabhaya. Inexorably, the choice before Mahinda Rajapaksa is becoming Gotabhaya (or Chamal).

Unless Mahinda Rajapaksa can become Prime Minister and revise the 19th Amendment before late 2019—which is the best possible outcome for the country—then the choices have to be made as to the candidates of the respective sides. The increasingly restless and rebellious social mood will impact the final choices.

By Rathindra Kuruwita Courtesy The Island

The Indian investor who complained that President Maithripala Sirisena’s Chief of Staff, I. K. Mahanama and Chairman of State Timber Corporation P. Dissanayake, had allegedly taken a bribe from him, has informed the Cinnamon Gardens Police that he has been receiving death threats.

On Tuesday morning, an unidentified person visited the Indian businessman’s office, in Colombo 07, and gave his receptionist a two-page letter, threatening him with death. The man also threatened the receptionist.

“The letter has been handed over to the Cinnamon Gardens Police,” the Police Media Unit said.

Executive Director of Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) Executive Director, Keerthi Tennakoon said the Board of Investment and ministries, established for investment promotion, had done nothing to ensure the Indian’s safety. “There is no one to look after investors. They are harassed by politicians and officials alike. How can we promote investment? SSP Priyantha Chandrasiri, Director of the Investigation Division of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption said that they were continuing with their investigations and they had a strong case against Mahanama and Dissanayake.

By Rathindra KuruwitaCourtesy The Island

May 9, 2018, 11:20 pm

President Maithripala Sirisena’s Chief of Staff I. K. Mahanama, who was arrested recently while allegedly taking Rs. 20 million bribe from an Indian investor, is alleged to have abused the late Minister M. K. A. D. S. Gunawardana’s name to solicit bribes,

Mahanama was the Secretary to the Ministry of Lands when M. K. A. D. S. Gunawardana was the minister of lands. The late minister’s son Nalin Gunawardena said yesterday: “I have learned that Mahanama told the Indian investing in Kantale Sugar factory, in 2016, that my father in his death bed, had instructed him to obtain a bribe from the investor. Mahanama has said my father wanted to secure our future with the money. I was my father’s coordinating secretary and I can assure that my father was not involved in any such rackets.”
Gunawardana

Executive Director of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) Keerthi Tennakoon said that on February 14, 2015, one month after the Good Governance administration came to power, the approval to recommence operations of the Kantale Sugar factory had been given.

“This was to be one of the first large scale projects under the new administration. The investor got the nod from the Cabinet on June 17, 2015. An agreement was signed between MG Sugar and the BoI. One of the conditions of the agreement was that MG Sugar should deposit US $ 10 million with the Sri Lankan government and on August 08, 2015 the company fulfilled that obligation.”

The Minister of Lands at that time was M. K. A. D. S. Gunawardana, who represented the Trincomalee District. The Minister died in January 2016 and was succeeded by John Amaratunga.

– අරවින්ද අතුකෝරල 

පිවිතුරු හෙල උරුමය පක්‍ෂ මූලස්ථානයේදී පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී එම පක්‍ෂ නායක පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත‍්‍රී උදය ගම්මන්පිල මහතා මෙසේ අදහස් පල කලේය.

මේ දිනවල ආණ්ඩුවට තියෙන ලොකුම භය තමයි ගෝඨාභය. ගෝඨාභය මහතා ඉදිරි ජනාධිපතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් වුනොත් අනේ අපි සුනේ සුන් කියලා හිතලා එතුමව හිර කරන්න පසුගිය අවුරුදු තුන පුරාවටම විවිධ ආකාරයේ නඩු ගොඩ නැගුවා. හැබැයි මේ සුරංගනා කතා පමණක්මය කියන එක ඉහල උසාවියෙන් තීරණය කරලා ඒ සෑම අවස්ථාවකදීම එතුමන්ව අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම උසාවි නියෝග හරහා තහනම් කලා. දැන් මොකක්ද කරන්න යන්නේ.

අපට හමුදාවෙන් තොරතුරු ලැබුනා හමුදා බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානියා එක්නැලිගොඩ අතුරුදහන් කිරීම පිලිබඳ චෝදනා කරලා අත් අඩංගුවට ගත්ත හමුදා භටයන්ව ගෙන්වලා ඔවුන්ට බලපෑම් කරන්න සූදානමක් තිබෙනවා කියලා.  ඒ සදහා අවශ්‍ය දේශපාලන උපදෙස් ඉහලින් ලැබී තිබෙනවා.

ඒ අනුව හමුදා බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානියා එක්නැලිගොඩ අතුරුදහන් කිරීම පිළිබඳ අත් අඩංගුවට ගත්ත හමුදා භටයන්ය තමන් ලගට ගෙන්වලා, තමන් මේ වරද කල බවත් ඒ කලේ ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමන්ගේ බලපෑම් මත බවත් පොලීසියට ප්‍රකාශකරන්න යැයි ඔවුන්ට බලපෑම් කරන මෙන් ඉහලින් ඔහුට උපදෙස් ලැබී තිබෙන බවට හමුදාවේ ඉහලම නිළධාරීන් මාර්ගයෙන් අපට දැන ගන්න ලැබුනා.

මේ කතාව ඇත්තනම් අපි බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානියාට අනතුරු අගවනවා. සාක්ෂිකරුවන් සහ වින්දිතයන් සුරැකීමේ පනත යටතේ සාක්ෂියක් වෙනස් කරන මෙන් සාක්ෂියක් ප්‍රකාශ කරන මෙන් බලපෑම් කිරීම සිරදඩුවම් ලැබිය හැකි වරදක් කියන එක අපි හුමදා බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානීයා ඇතුලු දේශපාලනයට යට වෙන්න හදන හමුදාවේ ඉහල නිළධාරීන්ට සිහිපත් කරනවා. ඒ වගේම දේශපාලකයන්ට කඩේ ගිහින් හමුදාවේ ගෞරවය රණ විරුවාගේ අභිමාණයත් කෙලසන්න එපා කියලා අපි හමුදාවේ ඉහල නිලධාරීන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා.

https://youtu.be/B5zNuthGUQo

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA

Sri Lankan newspapers and certain foreign papers on 4^th May, Friday morning were full of details relating to the arrest of President Maithripala Sirisena’s Chief of Staff Dr. I.H.K Mahanama and the Chairman of the State Timber Corporation, which also comes under the purview of the President Mr. Piyadasa Dissanaake who was formerly the Chief of Staff of former President Chandrika. Many websites however jumped the gun by reporting the incident on 3^rd night itself relating to these arrests which had taken place on the 3^rd evening.

Lana E News (LEN) reported the incident under the caption that President Gamarala‘s Rs. 540 million bribe taking..! His Chief of Staff and Timber Corp. chairman collect Rs. 20 million as down payment -caught red handed!!”  It said that the two officers who were nabbed while collecting a bribe of Rs. 20 million at the Colombo Taj Samudra hotel car park were close cronies of the President and this criminal transaction had taken place with the aiding and abetting of the president himself, based on reports reaching Lanka e news. 

Elaborating further, LEN said that Mahanama formerly was the permanent secretary of Lands Ministry where he earned the inglorious distinction as a massive bribe taker and about two months ago he went on retirement and the President gave him an extension despite his notoriety and appointed him as his chief of staff saying that he has taken into his fold the best officer.

The website explained that Mahanama and Dissanayake have collected the bribe from an Indian businessman promising they would obtain the necessary cabinet approval through the President to entrust the Kantalai sugar factory to him. It said that initially they have demanded a sum of Rs. 540 million as the bribe to be paid to the president and however that the sum was later reduced to Rs. 100 million. It said that it was while they were collecting a sum of Rs. 20 million as an advance they were nabbed by the Bribery and Corruption Commission officials when they were gleefully and blissfully counting the bribe.

The LEN said that it is very clear that these two bosom pals of Gamarala have taken this bribe with Gamarala’s aiding and abetting and if President Gamarala has any sense of shame he should resign at once.

Mr. Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon, Executive Director of CaFFE/CHR writing to Lankaweb the history of this bribe taking deal said that the proposal to recommence the operations of the Kantale Sugar factory was first forwarded in 2006 during the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration and in 2010, international bids were called to find a suitable investor but however the deal was put on hold.

On February 14, 2015, a month after this government came to power, on the initiative of Minister M. K. A. D. S. Gunawardana, the approval to recommence the operations of the Kantale Sugar factory was given and it was with India’s MG Sugar an agreement was signed between MG Sugar and the BoI. One of the conditions of the agreement was that MG Sugar must deposit US $ 10 million with the Sri Lankan government and on August 08, 2015 the company fulfilled that obligation.

However the Ministry of Lands kept on delaying what it needed to do on its part and placed many hurdles to prevent the investment from taking place. Dr. IK Mahanama, who was the secretary to the Ministry of Lands informed the investor, repeatedly, that he can prevent the delays from the AGs department and that nothing will be done without his approval and informed the investor that he needs US $ 3 million to ensure that the deal goes through.

Mr. Tennekoon said that on September 2017 Chairman of the State Timber Corporation P. Dissanayake also approached the investor and demanded a bribe during a meeting at Waters’ Edge Hotel. Between October 2017 and February 2018 Mahanama and Dissanayake demanded a bribe from the investor on four separate occasions and threatened that they won’t allow the project to take place unless the bribe is paid.

He said that on April 2017 land for the cultivation of sugar cane was given and on September 17, 2017 the cultivation began. At this point Mahanama once again threatened the investor that unless he received his bribe he will retake the land earmarked for sugar cane planting. By this time the investor had brought his British and South African partners to Sri Lanka.

Feeling that he has no other choice the investor approached the Bribery Commission on February 2018. MG Sugar also went for arbitration in Singapore against the constant harassment and during this time Mahanama became the President’s Chief of Staff. He again approached the investor promising to iron out the problems and brought in Chairman of the State Timber Corporation P. Dissanayake to act as a mediator.  As per Mr. Tennekoon, Dissanayake who was the secretary to former President Chandrika Bandaranaike was a past master of extortion, known as ‘Bar Piya’ among MPs in the 90s and early 00s and has amassed considerable assets including two two-storied houses at Gregory’s Road, an apartment at Union Place, three bars in Gampaha, one in Matara and two houses in Battaramulla. Mahanama has told the investor that he needs to take a bribe because he wants an income after he retires. Mahanama has also told the investor that he plans to construct a building near the University of Kelaniya and rent it out.

A report on this bribe taking published in the Sunday Times on 6^th May said that parties from the aggrieved investors’ side met Prime Minister Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe in Kantale when he attended election meetings there earlier this year and told him about their dilemma and then the PM advised them to send their complant in writing to his office. Accordingly, a letter was sent to the Prime Minister, the President’s Office and Lands Minister Gayantha Karunatilleka. The report said that the PM’s office then encouraged the investor to lodge a complaint with CIABOC and this was done on the assurance that the informant would not face victimisation. As regards the letter sent to President’s office no action has been taken perhaps due to the alleged involvement in the deal by President’s son and the son-in-law as it was reported by the Lanka-E-News.

The Sunday Leader reported that Sirisena’s Chief of Staff Mahanama was reportedly going to pay a VIP a part of the money. It said that a VIP was also involved in the whole deal and part of the bribe was to be paid to the VIP.

The Website Ecnomynext said the incident was a major setback for Sirisena who is embroiled in a cold-war power struggle with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. It said Sirisena used the Central Bank bond scam to discredit Wickremesinghe’s United National Party, arguing that the fugitive former central bank governor Arjuna Mahendran was a nominee of the Prime Minister but the tables have now turned and by Sirisena’s own logic, he should accept responsibility for Mahanama taking a bribe from a foreign investor. It further stated that Sirisena was dislodged from his moral high ground last month following reports that his daughter had obtained a liquor licence although he himself had restored a ban on women buying or serving liquor at restaurants and the sugar deal that went sour is only making things worse for Sirisena. It also stated the sugar scandal could be a blot on Sirisena’s record and strengthen allegations of other wrong doings including the purchase of a naval craft from Russia.

So the so-called two headed inept government is now led by one Bond Scam manipulator and the other Sugar Scam manipulator and because of them unfortunately the country has suffered losses that could have been  adequate to sustain several generations of yet unborn children of this country.

Meanwhile,Lanka E News in its follow up report posted on 6^th May with photo evidence (visit https://server2.kproxy.com/servlet/redirect.srv/sruj/sbgpzrozdrd/sqrs/p2/news/7506/si) said that President’s family and family of Dissanayake who took 20 million bribe on behalf of President are closest pals ! The above referemced photograph showed Sashimal Dissanayake the son of P.Dissanayake, Daham Sirisena (son of the president) and Thilina Suranjith the notorious wheeler dealer son in law of the president posing together, and said that the saying that buddies of the same  crooked  feather flock together is indeed true ! The LEN said that when the President Gamarala went for the Commonwealth conference in London with an over bloated delegation of over 100 members, it was Sashimal who was caught taking bribes from them and interestingly, Sashimal and Daham Sirisena occupied the same room It also stated that Thilina the wheeler dealer son in law of Gamarala had been roaming the streets of America, Japan, Korea, Germany and England  On most occasions he has been accompanied by Sashimal the son of culprit Dissanayake  now in prison) .LEN with this news report also published the following phoographs attended to the bottom of the respective item:

1. Shashimal, Daham Sirisena and Thilina Suranjith taken in England
2. Daham and Shashimal sitting together at the Independent Festival,
3. Daham and Shashimal in a foreign location
4. Shashimal, Daham Sirisena and Thilina trio – place not mentioned
5. Shashimal, Daham and Thilina trio with Mrs. Jsayanthi Sirisena in England

These photographs show how intinate had been the families of Sirisena and Dissanayake, 

The Website further stated that it was learnt that the night before Mahanama and Dissanayake were nabbed, they had been at the Galle Face hotel with the complainant who is the Indian national, along with two Russians and it is there  the final decision was taken  to collect the bribe the following day and Mahanama and Dissanayake have finally wound  up that night with two Russian whores in bed supplied by the Russians.

The LEN also reported that in place of Dissanayake, the President has appointed another corrupt scoundrel as though the President has never known what integrity, honesty, or who are ‘clean’ individuals. The new State Timber Corporation chairman is Anurudha Polgampola, who was best noted for his criminal activities and sordid pole vaulting habits. The website said that he was earlier with Wimal Werawansa and later somersaulted to Maithripala‘s camp saying he wanted to strengthen the latter. The LEN said that while he was with the so called JVP, he smuggled some individuals to Japan, and for this crime he was jailed there. The JVP chased him out in 2008 and thereafter he joined with Weerawansa and even as recent as 2017, he was taken into custody by the anti corruption unit of Mirihana police, because he defrauded two businessmen in a sum of Rs. 7.5 million.(end)

DHARSHAN WEERASEKERA

I have been involved in some of the actions that a number of Sinhala organizations have been taking in Geneva to counter resolution 30/1, so I hope I have some credibility to speak on the related issues.  To the best of my knowledge, there are at present two schools of thought on how the next Sri Lankan President or ‘Leader’ (whoever that might be) ought to handle resolution 30/1.  The first is to renegotiate the resolution, keeping whatever is good in it, rejecting what is undoubtedly bad, and proceeding thereon.

The second is to reject the resolution completely, and if the UNHRC balks at this to file for an Advisory Opinion at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) obtain the relevant rulings and proceed thereon.  Much of the work that I have been involved with re Geneva over the past year or so has been in establishing the factual basis along with compiling the relevant documents to make this second option possible, if and when a future Sri Lankan ‘Leader’ were to decide to take it.

There is a rumour of an effort by some to undermine, dilute or belittle this second option and take it off the table for the next Sri Lankan ‘Leader,’ who everyone is confident will come to power with an overwhelming mandate from the Sinhalas, and therefore have the power to initiate inter alia fundamental changes to the Constitution including, at long last, repeal the 13^th Amendment.

I am not saying that the next Sri Lankan ‘Leader’ must invariably and inevitably reject resolution 30/1, only that it must be one of the main options open to him or her when he or she takes power.  In this article I shall briefly point out what I see as the drawbacks of the first ‘school of thought’ and reiterate the positives in the second.

OPTION NO.1:  RENEGOTIATE RESOLUTION 30/1

The main problem with the first option is that even if one renegotiates every single paragraph of resolution 30/1 but leave the final paragraph, Paragraph 16 intact – Paragraph 16 calls for constitutional reform involving devolution of power and the full implementation of the 13^th Amendment – the Sinhalas still lose in the long run, because they will never again be able to make a run to repeal the 13^th Amendment.

To the best of my knowledge, the persons urging the renegotiation of resolution 30/1 have never advocated changing Paragraph 16.  Paragraph 16 says:

‘[The Council] Welcomes the commitment of the Government of Sri Lanka to a political settlement by taking the necessary constitutional measures, encourages the Government’s efforts to fulfill its commitments on the devolution of political authority, which is integral to reconciliation and the full enjoyment of human rights by all members of its population; and also encourages the Government to ensure that all Provincial Councils are able to operate effectively, in accordance with the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.’[1]

If Paragraph 16 is re-affirmed by a future Sri Lankan Government, one with an overwhelming mandate from the Sinhalas themselves, it will be impossible not to carry out what the international community demands, and any attempt to do so might raise the presumption for a right to self-determination by the Tamils, something which they will no doubt exploit to the fullest in order to get the international community to endorse a move for secession.

The most controversial if not hated provisions of resolution 30 at least as far as Sinhalas are concerned are the recommendations for:

1. a) A ‘Truth Commission, (Para 4)
2. b) An Office for Reparations, (Para 4)
3. c) An Office of Missing Persons, (Para 4)
4. d) Ratification of the International Convention on Enforced Disappearances, (Para 13)
5. e) A ‘Special Court’ to try Sri Lanka’s military and civilian leaders for purported war crimes, (Para 6)
6. f) Amending the domestic criminal statutes to permit prosecution of persons even without the aforesaid ‘Special Courts,’ (Para 7)
7. g) A ‘political settlement’ involving devolution of power as a means of addressing the problems of the minorities. (Para 16)

Let’s now turn to the issue of renegotiating resolution 30/1.  The question is, ‘What exactly is there to renegotiate?’  Note that, of the matters set out above, the OMP is already established, the Convention on Enforced Disappearances ratified, the Office of Reparations (we are told) is in the pipeline, as are the amendments to the criminal statutes.  That leaves the Special Courts, the Truth Commission and the ‘Political Settlement’ involving devolution.

Special Courts are now redundant because much of what was sought to be achieved through them can now be done through the OMP and the relevant provisions under the Convention on Enforced Disappearances including extradition of our people for prosecution before international tribunals.

So, if by ‘renegotiation’ what our folks mean is getting the Council to remove or modify the recommendations on Special Courts and the Truth Commission in return for a renewed commitment by us to the full implementation of the 13A, Sri Lanka’s enemies will be quite happy to cut that deal because they lose very little and gain everything.

Meanwhile, from the point of view of the Sinhalas, the aforesaid ‘deal’ is not a deal at all but a trap.  For these reasons I maintain that renegotiating resolution 30/1 is not in the best interest of the Sinhalas.

OPTION 2:  REJECT RESOLUTION 30/1 LOCK, STOCK AND BARREL

The Eelamists wanted to achieve two things through the Geneva ‘accountability’ process:   first, to get revenge from key Sinhala political and military leaders for defeating the LTTE; and second, to ‘create the conditions for international recognition of Tamil self-determination,’ which is to say, to create the conditions for an international endorsement for Eelam.

I quote below a statement by Vishvanadan Rudhrakumaran one of the most hardcore of Eelamists and head of the self-proclaimed ‘Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam’ operating out of the United States,’ from an article in 2013, that is, at the very onset of the aforesaid accountability process in Geneva.  He says:

‘The Tamil struggle in Sri Lanka for an independent and sovereign State has two dimensions. One is to create conditions for international recognition and full realization of the Tamils’ right to self-determination and the other to bring to light what happened in the final stages of the war in 2009…..

After justice is done to our people, we want the UN to deliberate, similar to its deliberations pertaining to Kosovo, about the measures that should be taken to prevent reoccurrence of genocide on the island of Sri Lanka.

In all the referendums held in recent years, whether it is Kosovo, South Sudan or even East Timor, the Diaspora was entitled and allowed to vote. Tamils inside the island of Sri Lanka and those outside it are indeed like two sides of the same coin, namely the nation of Tamil Eelam.’[2]

I must now say a word about devolution of power.  To the best of my knowledge, for the Tamils, ‘devolution of power’ means they get to ask for as much power as they want, and the Sinhalas have to give it, and if they don’t the Tamils reserve the right to cry ‘Foul!’ and demand self-determination.   Here, for instance, is R. Sampanthan from a well-known speech in April 2012.  He says:

‘Our expectation for a solution to the ethnic problem of the sovereignty of the Tamil people is based on a political structure outside that of a unitary government, in a united Sri Lanka in which Tamil people have all the powers of government needed to live with self respect and self-sufficiency….Our acceptance of this position does not mean that we consider the 13^th Amendment to be an acceptable solution, nor that, in the event of our right to internal self-determination is continuously denied, we will not claim our right under international law to external self-determination.  It only means that this is the only realistic solution today.’[3]

Note that, Sampanthan wants all the powers of government needed to live with self-sufficiency,’ and it is the Tamils themselves who are to decide how much power that is.

If one combines the observations of Rudhrakumaran and Sampanthan, and bring to mind Paragraph 16 of resolution 30/1, it is clear that they have got exactly what they want. All that they have to do is to keep insisting that Paragraph 16 be fully implemented, and if it isn’t to ask the international community to recognize a purported right of Tamils in Sri Lanka to self-determination under international law.

If there’s international recognition of a purported right of Sri Lankan Tamils to a specific and defined area of land within Sri Lanka, no Sri Lankan Government will be able to resist the subsequent pressure by the international community to allow a referendum on secession (the option that Rudhrakumaran is plugging) or some other mechanism to achieve formal separation.

Let’s now look at Paragraph 16 from the point of view of the Sinhalas.  In Paragraph 16 the Council asserts that ‘devolution of political authority’ is integral to reconciliation and the full enjoyment of human rights by all members of its population, meaning that, in the Council’s opinion, whatever final political settlement is reached between the minorities and the Sinhalas, if it is to be viable, it has to involve devolution of power.

(If devolution of power is integral to reconciliation, one must presume that, without it, no reconciliation is possible, i.e. the purported political settlement will be a failure.  Therefore any solution, if it is to be viable, must involve devolution.)

So, if Paragraph is allowed to remain – or more important is re-affirmed by a future Sri Lankan Government – it will permanently lock the Sinhalas into accepting devolution as the solution to the purported ‘ethnic problem,’ even if the Sinhalas after due reflection on the relevant issues formulate alternatives to devolution, alternatives that in their view better serve the interests of the country. In short, it will make devolution non-negotiable for a future Government.

As far as I’m concerned, persons such as Rudhrakumaran, Sampanthan and others of their ilk are not interested in a ‘solution’ to the purported ‘ethnic problem, or rather, the only solution they are interested in is Eelam.   Devolution is a trap and a shibboleth they are using in order to keep the Sinhalas dancing to their (i.e. the Eelamists’) tune.

The point is this.  The next Sri Lankan ‘Leader,’ who as I mentioned earlier everyone is confidant will come to power with the overwhelming support of the Sinhalas, if he or she is to vindicate the trust and faith placed in him or her by the Sinhalas, must solve the purported ‘ethnic problem’ once and for all.  It cannot be postponed or handed over to the next generation.

(I realize that many Sinhalas dispute that there is any such thing as an ‘ethnic problem’ in this country, and that if there was a problem at all if was a terrorist problem.  Fine.  But in that case, the next Sri Lankan ‘Leader’ still has to establish before the world, with cogent evidence, that there is no further problem, and that continuing cries by the minorities especially the Tamils that they are being subjected to shabby treatment is baseless.  Either way, the point remains the same.  The matter must be decisively settled.)

If the aforesaid ‘leader’ is to do the above, he or she must have all options on the table, and if all options are to be on the table, then by definition it must include the possible repeal of the 13^th Amendment.  Besides, the 13A was never subjected to a referendum, and it is only fair that the Sinhalas be given a shot at it.  If Paragraph 16 remains intact, it will preclude the next Sri Lankan ‘Leader’ from even considering that option, so I cannot countenance renegotiating resolution 30/1.  It is far better to reject the resolution in toto.

[1] A/HRC/RES/30/1, 15^th October 2015 Paragraph 16, www.ohchr.org

[2] ‘Diaspora Tamils should be a part of U.N. referendum on Eelam, ‘ Vishvanadan Rudhrakumaran, The Weekend Leader, www.theweekendleader.com, 3^rd April 2013

[3] ‘Address of R. Sampanthan at the 14^th National Convention of ITAK in Batticaloa,’ www.dbsjeyaraj.com  27^th May 2012

Wimal Weerawansa’s speech at Joint Opposition May Day rally in Galle

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s speech at Joint Opposition May Day rally in Galle

By Prof. Sirimevan Colombage Emeritus Professor of Economics, Open University of Sri Lanka

May 8, 2018, 12:00 pm

Sri Lanka is facing harsh external financing vulnerabilities contrary to the Central Bank’s recent claims that the country’s gross official foreign reserves have risen to the historically highest level of US $ 9.9 billion, reflecting improved economic prospects.

According to a press release issued by the Central Bank last week, oversubscription of the International Sovereign Bond (ISB) amounting to US $ 2.5 billion (largest ever), which was offered in April, signals foreign investors’ confidence in Sri Lanka’s economic performance and potential. The Central Bank goes on to say that it has received favourable response from the international community for a proposed term loan of $ 1 billion, which is to be utilised by the government to repay more expensive existing debt.

The affirmative statements issued by the IMF with regard to the country’s economic performance and the better credit ratings given by two international rating agencies are also a reflection of positive foreign sentiments, according to the press release.

As regards the ongoing depreciation of the rupee, the Central Bank authorities are reported to have dismissed the popular “myth” of aggravating foreign debt liabilities by rupee depreciation, and expressed their unwavering capacity to tackle any resulting inflationary pressures through monetary policy.

Central Bank’s complacency unwarranted

The above statements indicate that the Central Bank is quite complacent about the economic achievements, particularly on the balance of payments front, and thus, the general public is given the impression that there is no reason to panic.

However, the rapid exchange rate depreciation during the past couple of weeks itself reflects the external finance fragility. Such fast depreciation, of course, is inevitable given the grave balance of payments situation. The depreciation has far reaching repercussions on debt service payments from the viewpoint of fiscal balancing, although the Central Bank denies such adverse effects. The supply-side effects of exchange rate depreciation on inflation and cost of living too are undeniable, and the central bank has limited ability to control such price increases through its demand-side policy tools within the now famous inflation targeting monetary policy framework.

We cannot afford to be too complacent about the unprecedented rise in foreign reserves, as those are nothing but funds borrowed from international capital markets, which are subject to stringent terms and conditions. Oversubscription of the ISB to the tune of 2.6 times is undoubtedly a reflection of the improved foreign sentiments, as claimed by the Central Bank. However, it should be noted that these foreign loans are taken at very high cost to the country. Such market borrowings further enhance the already unsustainable debt stock posing severe debt sustainability risks in the near future, though they may help to ease the present external financing problems and to postpone the inevitable economic reforms.

Private foreign lending institutions are ever ready to disburse sovereign loans to governments in poor countries at premiums favourable to them. Many countries in the regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia have fallen into this debt trap.

Foreign reserves raised by commercial borrowings

The increase in foreign reserves is no reason for complacency, as it is entirely an outcome of borrowings from overseas capital markets, rather than a result of any improvement in the domestic economy. The Central Bank itself admits in its press release that the inflow of recent ISB proceeds is the reason for the rise in international reserves to the peak level. The increase in gross official reserves from $ 7,959 million at the end of 2017 to $ 9,927 million by now is entirely a result of the foreign borrowings raised through the ISB.

Foreign borrowings through an ISB amounting to $ 1.5 billion issued by the Central Bank last year too helped to improve the reserve position previously. It was complemented by a net inflow of Treasury Bond proceeds amounting to $ 360 million in 2017. Thus, debt security inflows were the major contributory factor that led to an external financial account surplus of $ 2,068 million in 2017, and the resulting equivalent amount of increase in foreign reserves.

The rise in foreign reserve stock, for whatever reason, is a temporary phenomenon in the current context, as it is going to fall down soon due to the upcoming foreign debt repayments. The net drain on foreign reserves within the next 12 months is estimated to be $ 7.5 billion, of which $ 6.3 billion is for foreign currency loans, securities and deposits, and the balance $ 1.2 billion is for foreign currency forwards and futures.

Hence, unless the Central Bank borrows continuously from foreign capital markets, it is impossible to maintain the foreign reserve position at a satisfactory level. This means further acceleration of the country’s foreign debt burden.

Rupee depreciation mirrors the economic downfall

The rupee has depreciated sharply against the US dollar since the beginning of this year, as shown in the Chart. The weakening of the currency is largely a reflection of the continuing setback in the external sector characterized by the wide trade gap and heavy external debt commitments. The rupee fell by 3.3 percent against the dollar this year so far, compared with a drop of 2.5 percent last year. In April alone, the rupee fell by 1.1 percent reflecting a sharper depreciation.

Undoubtedly, freer movement of the exchange rate is essential to improve the country’s export competitiveness and to discourage imports so as to reverse the weakening of the balance of payments. Such an exchange rate system is compelling, as the Central Bank is in the process of moving towards an inflation targeting monetary policy framework in which it is not permissible to have a nominal anchor such as the exchange rate or the money supply. In terms of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement with the IMF, the Central Bank is committed to pursuing a flexible exchange rate regime with intervention limited to preventing wide fluctuations and building up official reserves.

The adverse effects of the Central Bank’s previous attempts to defend an overvalued currency on the external sector were clearly evident. Hence, the shift towards a more flexible exchange rate regime is commendable.

Nevertheless, certain statements issued by the high-ranking Central Bank officials few days ago with regard to the rupee depreciation tend to mislead the public. They have dismissed the “myth” of aggravating foreign debt liabilities by rupee depreciation. They also defended the rupee fall on the grounds of their ability to intervene in the foreign exchange market at any time due to the strong foreign reserve position. They further claim that any inflationary pressures arising from the rupee depreciation could be tackled by adjusting their policy (interest) rates.

Exchange rate pressures on foreign debt burden undeniable

The effects of currency depreciation on foreign debt burden are well known. Although the depreciation does not cause any rise in the foreign debt stock in US dollar terms as claimed by the Central Bank, the external debt stock as well as its service costs in rupee terms go up proportionately due to the depreciation causing severe burden on fiscal operations.

The rupee depreciation resulted in a rise in the foreign debt stock by a staggering Rs. 225.2 billion at the end of 2017, according to the Central Bank’s latest Annual Report. This year’s depreciation to date has led to increase the foreign debt stock further by around Rs. 155 billion.

The main reason for the rise in foreign debt is the financing of budget deficit through foreign sources, mainly commercial borrowings. As a result of these continuous foreign borrowings, the debt service payments have bunched heavily at present costing the government a whopping US $ 17.8 billion during the period 2018-2022; $ 2.8 billion 2018, $ 4.2 billion in 2019, 3.7 billion in 2020, $ 3.3 billion in 2021 and $ 3.7 billion in 2022.

In rupee terms, the external debt service payments for this year is likely to go up by over Rs. 14 billion as a result of the exchange rate depreciation that took place to date. These costs will increase further during the rest of the year depending on the extent of depreciation.

Balance of Payments is in crisis

The country’s external sector is in a dismal state. The trade deficit widened from $ 8.9 billion in 2016 to $ 9.6 billion in 2017. The rapid increase in imports outpaced the slower export growth. The export sector, which still depends largely on garments and commodity exports, has failed to increase its share in the global market with innovative, knowledge-based, high-tech products, unlike in the fast-growing neighbouring countries. In contrast, imports rise at a faster pace calling for monetary policy tightening.

The larger surplus generated in the services account in 2017, which was due to increased earnings from transport and tourism, was inadequate to offset the negative impact of the huge trade deficit on the balance of payments. The situation is being worsened by a slowdown of worker remittances due to unsettled conditions in West Asia.

Overall, the current account recorded a deficit of $ 2.3 billion amounting to 2.6 percent of GDP in 2017. This had to be financed mainly through foreign borrowings consisted of Sovereign Bonds, Treasury Bonds and long-term loans. In the absence of dynamism in the export sector and the weak macroeconomic fundamentals which hinder foreign direct investments, the balance of payments situation is unlikely to improve in the near future.

Exchange rate pass-through to inflation

The rupee depreciation obviously has had cost-push effects on import prices and consequently on domestic consumer prices. This process is usually measured through the ‘exchange rate pass-though’, defined as the effect of exchange rate changes on domestic inflation.

Evidently, rupee depreciation has varying upward effects on both wholesale and consumer prices with the maximum effect occurring in the second month of the shock on wholesale prices and between the second and the third month on consumer prices. Around 25 percent of the variation in consumer price inflation could be explained by external shocks including exchange rate, oil price and import price shocks.

The initial round of inflationary effects of the rupee depreciation is already evident with the recent price increases in milk powder, LP gas and fuel. Inflation is likely to escalate further in the coming months owing to the currency depreciation. Needless to say, that high inflation has adverse spill-over effects on the living standards of the poor and lower middle-income class families.

Pragmatic economic strategies lacking

The country’s GDP growth rate slumped to 3.1 percent in 2017 – the lowest since 2001 – reflecting the economic downturn. The growth prospects are severely constrained by the balance of payments difficulties discussed in this article. The increasing debt burden has adverse effects on both the external and fiscal sectors. The country does not have the capacity to repay its foreign loans, and therefore, maturing debt has to be rolled over into new debt posing painful rollover risks in the coming years.

In the meantime, the ongoing rupee depreciation resulting from the weak external finances exerts adverse effects on the cost of living, debt burden and many other economic variables.

Amidst this precarious economic plight, the government is preoccupied with its own political agendas such as strengthening the political parties, frequent cabinet reshuffles and cross-overs. In the circumstances, adequate attention is not given to tackle the current economic crisis. The current political instability has disastrous effects on the country’s international image discouraging prospective foreign investors.

The government is engaged in firefighting exercises to tackle the day-to-day problems rather than addressing the underlying economic disarrays with comprehensive economic strategies from a long-term perspective. The Vision-2025 launched with grand fanfare not so long ago seems to be sidetracked as in the case of previous economic policy statements. In any case, all those policy documents contained only wish-lists rather than any pragmatic macroeconomic policy frameworks that are geared to resuscitate the falling economy.

In this context, the Central Bank has the leading role to play in rectifying the disarrays in macroeconomic fundamentals, rather than consoling itself with the success of foreign loan mobilization.