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Future legal proceedings will target all individuals involved in coal scams, with cases filed in court under a subsequent administration, says National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa.
He made these remarks during a press conference held in Colombo today.
This is the first bilateral official visit of an Indian Vice President to the island nation. Though, in October 2000, the then V-P Krishan Kant had visited Sri Lanka, it was for the state funeral of former PM Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Vice President C P Radhakrishnan will begin an official visit to Sri Lanka on Sunday, his office announced on Saturday. During the two-day visit, Radhakrishnan will call on Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Disanayaka, and also meet Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya.
During the two-day official visit, the first by an Indian vice-president to the island nation, he will also interact with leaders of the Indian-origin Tamil community and Tamil leaders from the Northern and Eastern regions of Sri Lanka, as per his office.
Later in the day, the vice president will address the Indian diaspora at a community event in Colombo, where he will virtually hand over houses to beneficiaries from Tamil communities, built with assistance from the Indian government as part of the third phase of the Indian Housing Project.
With this, the total number of houses for Tamil communities will reach 50,000, while 10,000 more houses are being built in the fourth phase of the project, the statement mentioned.
Explained
Keeping the promise
India’s development cooperation with Sri Lanka stands out as one of the most important pillars of the bilateral relationship. The Indian government has been carrying out people-oriented development projects across the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, with the construction of 60,000 houses under the four phases of Indian Housing Project at a total cost of more than Rs 1,800 crore – among the largest grant assistance projects. The fourth phase, covering 10,000 houses for plantation sector workers, follows an announcement made by PM Modi in May 2017.
On Monday, the vice president will travel to Nuwara Eliya, visit the Indian Housing Projects, and interact with the local Tamil community. Indian-origin Tamilians comprise approximately 1.6 million (about 7%) of Sri Lanka’s population.
This visit, which follows recent high-level engagements between the two countries, is expected to further strengthen the millennia-old civilisational and people-to-people ties between India and Sri Lanka, the statement said.
This is the first bilateral official visit of the Vice President of India to Sri Lanka. In October 2000, the then Vice President Krishan Kant had visited Sri Lanka for the state funeral of former PM Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
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High-level engagements between the two countries have taken place in the recent past, with President Disanayaka visiting India in February, and PM Amarasuriya visiting India in October 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had three telephonic conversations with President Disanayaka: in April 2025, in the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack; in December 2025, post Cyclone Ditwah; and just last month, to discuss the West Asia conflict.
In the wake of widespread devastation in Sri Lanka due to Cyclone Ditwah in November 2025, New Delhi had announced immediate and multi-sectoral assistance for relief and rescue under Operation Sagar Bandhu. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had visited Sri Lanka and announced a $450 million package for rebuilding and rehabilitation.
Earlier, India has been the ‘first responder’ for Sri Lanka with Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard assisting in Sri Lankan waters to avert large-scale environmental damage incidents such as MV XPress Pearl in May 2021 and MT New Diamond in September 2020.
The United States Armada seems stranded half way around the world in the Indian Ocean whose energy trade routes it seeks to blockade to stymie Asian economies amid the fog of war on Iran. In the western reach of the vast Indian Ocean (IO), far from home bases in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the American Armada assembled against Iran is spilling blood and treasure that the US can ill afford.
South and Southeast Asia, and China, the workshop of the world, are global growth hubs at this time. Perhaps President Trump reckons that by starving these economies of fuel and fertilizer from West Asia he may Make America Great Again” (MAGA), and shore up the exorbitantly privileged Petrodollar? The oil backed US greenback’s global reserve currency status is under pressure given America’s whopping 39 trillion deficit and the rise of the Chinese Petro Yuan.
The US war machine is trying valiantly to blockade the Straits of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman in the Arabian Sea, all of which are part of the ancient Indian Ocean maritime Silk Route. This sea silk route connected the supercontinent of Asia and its civilizations for millennia- long before the United States came into existence in the new world. These past and present Asian Sea Lanes, are part of the modern Chinese Belt and Road (BRI) for global connectivity, and constitute the world’s Superhighway for energy, trade and submarine data cable routes.
It was at the center of the same Indian Ocean in the Seas of Sri Lanka that a US torpedo sank the IRIS Dena, killing 84 Iranian sailors, while causing environmental damage and affecting local fisheries and tourist livelihoods in the first week of the US-Israel war on Iran.
Does Trump reckon that he may shore up the exorbitantly privileged US Petrodollar through energy colonialism and occupation of Indian Ocean SLOC; including oil grabbing, energy infrastructure destruction, and taxing global supply routes while playing war games targeting with Middle East proxy, Israel?
Indian Ocean Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC), forged and traversed by monsoon winds and rains, have been increasingly subject to geoengineering, staged climate disasters and weather warfare, a la Operation Popeye during the Vietnam War. This was evident in a series of devastating twister storms unleashed last year on Aceh, North Sumatra at the Strait of Malacca Choke point and Sri Lanka, another SLOC chokepoint. The US and UK occupy the Chagos Island with the Diego Garcia military base due southwest of Sri Lanka at the center of the IO.
With fuel prices through the roof and blackouts in many monsoon Asia countries, ridding the Indian Ocean of the US war machine and sending the American Armada back to the Atlantic Ocean is now a priority. Demilitarizing and shutting down foreign, mainly Euro-American military bases to end neocolonial occupation and looting of fisheries and sea bed mineral resources which belong to the littoral peoples of the Indian Ocean World is increasingly a security priority -to return to a modicum of Peace and Prosperity in the region.
Across maritime Asia there is a growing perception that America, an Atlantic and Pacific Ocean county has no right to be blockading the SLOC of the Indian Ocean with an environment despoiling war machine, of aircraft carriers, submarines, missiles, bombs, drone warfare and other environment despoiling war toys.
Imperial Overreach? Oil Grabbing in Venezuela, Iran, blockading Cuba
With the US Armada treading water in the Indian Ocean to blockade Iranian ports, a Russian tanker recently bought oil to Cuba in the Caribbean Sea – off the coast of Florida. The Socialist government of Cuba had been long sanctioned, and is now blockaded, starved of fuel and strangled by the Trump regime. Marco Rubio, Secretary of State seeks regime change in his country of ancestral origin, much as happened earlier this year in Venezuela and Iran.
Russia discreetly stated that the oil delivery to Cuba which has suffered extended blackouts was a ‘humanitarian’ gesture. The Russian tanker, Anatoly Kolodkin docked in Cuba in late March 2026, delivering approximately 730,000 barrels of crude oil to the Port of Matanzas.
Shades of American Imperial Overstretch: Has President Trump’s operation Epic Fury to oil-grab in Iran, fresh from the oil-grab in Venezuela to control global oil supply, markets and pricing to shore up the exorbitantly privileged Petrodollar come a cropper in the Indian Ocean? Meanwhile, Iran allied Yemeni Houthis (Ansarallah) have also threatened to block the Red Sea !
Trump lifted sanctions on Iranian and Russian oil earlier this month only to do a volte face, moving to blockade the Straits of Hormuz and Indian Ocean energy trade routes. Are the flip-flops and Disinformation meant to distract from attempts to take down the Asian Century, while pumping and dumping countries as much as stock and bond markets with exogenous economic oil shocks enabling Oil companies to make big profits?
Iran after all had said that the straits were open to friendly countries. The Disinformation, flip flops contradictory messaging as a maximum pressure tactic by Trump signal another broader, global agenda besides shutting down Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Control of Indian Ocean Sea Lanes to take down the Asian 21st Century?
Presumably, Admirals of the American Armada would take note of these developments and history to look for an off ramp; a face saving Exit Strategy from the Indian Ocean World before Asia Unites to drive out the American Armada and restore the ‘Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace’
During the Cold War the Indian Ocean was demarcated a ‘Zone of Peace’ to be free of Nuclear weapons and big power rivalry by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace was led by the world’s first woman Head of State, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike at the 1971 United Nations General Assembly. Resolution (2832) proposed by Sri Lanka, supported by Tanzania and NAM aimed to halt foreign military expansion, eliminate nuclear weapons, and remove great-power rivalries. It was formally adopted on December 1971, to create a secure maritime region.
The history and memory of the NAM initiative to declare the ‘Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace’ have not died in Asia or the Indian Ocean World despite invention of the Indo-Pacific” to Partition, Divide and Rule the Indian Ocean by US Central Intelligence Agency linked security think tanks.
It’s the Petrodollar, Stupid!
President Trump claimed that the US blockade of the Straits of Hormuz that runs in Iran’s territorial waters was done to unblock it! Iran however, has made it clear that the Straits of Hormuz which carries almost 20 percent of global fuel supply are open to friends in the Asian neighborhood and the Indian Ocean World. Ships that pass through Hormuz may need to pay a Toll in Petro Yuan — rather than the exorbitantly privileged Petrodollar for safe passage.
And here lies the rub. The US dollar which is a fiat currency or paper money without intrinsic value (unlike Gold for instance), is backed by Petroleum or Oil, which is the world’s most traded commodity. It is hence that oil due to its near universal demand is sometimes referred to as black gold”. However, the oil-backed Petrodollar is increasingly under pressure for many reasons, particularly, the ongoing transition to renewable energy sources like solar, wind and hydro, lowering demand, as well as, the BRICS de-dollarizing and trading in national currencies. Hence, the US push to monopolize oil sources, processing infrastructure, trade routes and choke points at this time also given the huge US deficit which puts pressure on the dollar which is increasingly and unsafe haven. The IMF has warned that America’s debt to GDP ratio is unsustainable.
Having first claimed that the purpose of moving the American Armada to the IO was to prevent Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, President Trump seems to have shifted goal posts to the Straits of Hormuz and control of Indian Ocean sea lanes via war on Iran. Energy supply chain disruption and blockade would of course starve Asian economies. Was this the Endgame of President Trump’s latest war of choice–taking down the Asian 21st century to Make America Great Again? Mixed motives, none of which are particularly attractive are par for the course.
Energy Colonialism in the Fog of War: Shades of a Staged Emergency
As a recent Primer from the Tri-continental Institute noted: The US-Israeli war on Iran is exposing the Oil-Dollar-Wall Street complex that binds oil, financial markets, and dollar power, with consequences that reach far beyond the region.
A pattern of energy neocolonialism is emerging at this time as the US Armada tests the waters toward establishing a new normal of control across Indian Ocean SLOC, under the guise of a free and open Indo-Pacific”. The blockade on Iranian ports and oil shipments establishes a US presence in the IO, even as US corporations profit maximize by rerouting energy supply chains and establishing new markets in Asia and other parts of the world, particularly in geostrategic countries that it seeks to control.
Amid the fog of war and Hormuz blockade, US oil companies sold overpriced American sweet crude oil and gas at exorbitant prices and transport cost to Asian countries already ensnared in Petrodollar Eurobond debt traps. If not for the blockade these countries would source cheaper energy closer home in Asia.
For instance, geostrategic Sri Lanka at the center of the Indian recently purchased American gas and oil at astronomical prices. Citizens saw a 25 percent increase overnight in gas prices. [i]Meanwhile the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) purchased diesel at a whopping 286$ a barrel.
Russia’s offer to supply oil and gas at lower cost was cold shouldered by the Colombo regime, which wears a mask of neutrality, being caught in a Eurobond Petrodollar debt trap and subject to IMF advice and control of the Central Bank.
Energy has become a battleground for geopolitical control through development aid, loans, and other bilateral and multilateral assistance in the geostrategic island which has a high potential for renewables – solar and hydro – which are being underutilized at this time.
Trump has described BRICS and the attempts of Global South countries to become energy independent, de-dollarize and conduct bi-lateral trade in local currencies as an attack on the Petrodollar. Colombo and its business elites fear US sanctions would cripple the economy.
Sri Lanka which staged a first ever Sovereign Default into the waiting arms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in 2022, like other Petrodollar Eurobond debt trapped countries has lost economic sovereignty and Energy policy autonomy to the Washington Twins (IMF and World Bank) at this time and now buys exorbitantly priced US sourced energy with exorbitantly privileged US dollars that it does not have!
IMF Reforms and Energy Corruption Rackets: The New Normal?
Energy Sector corruption and price gouging in the fog of war has become the new normal thanks also to IMF reforms of the Energy Sector, which fragmented the national electricity grid and infrastructure, while decimating oversight mechanisms. The substandard coal scandal is the tip of the iceberg of external networks embedded in the electricity sector which has been subject to IMF reforms in the past 2 years.
Ironically in the name of ‘good governance’, IMF-induced reforms in the Energy Sector have enabled unprecedented corruption rackets to thrive extending energy neocolonialism also as part of the green transition, now exacerbated in the fog of war and Energy Emergency.
Of course, corrupt officials at the Ceylon Electricity Board and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), have been also embolden by Ministers dancing to Washington’s oil sanctions tunes. Just this week in Sri Lanka, the Minister of Power and Energy, Kumara Jayakody already under investigation for fertilizer and coal tender scams was finally forced to resign after the expose of the CPC purchase of diesel at $ 286 per barrel. [ii]
Was the Minister a casualty of US energy colonialism in the fog of Disinformation and War in Iran as much as IMF reforms to extend Energy colonialism in the geostrategic Indian Ocean island? Many shady energy deals like the US Gas deal pass through Dubai, Swiss and Singapore companies. Singapore, proximate to the Strait of Malacca choke point also houses a US military base. Meanwhile, Malaysia and Indonesia on the Malacca Strait were recently persuaded like Sri Lanka to sign defense corporation agreements with the US.
Finally, there are Shades of the Covid-19 virus and vaccine Pandemic Emergency and global transport, trade and supply disruptions across the Indian Ocean world at this time. The CV-19 panicdemic, global lockdown and supply chain disruption enabled massive wealth transfers from the Global South to north, Big Pharma profit maximizing with Emergency authorized mRNA injections and GAFAM Digital colonialism and GAFAM Digital colonialism. Today oil companies and their stockholders are making a chilling killing on Trumps energy markets chaos strategy.
Much like the Covid-19 chaos operation to disrupt the global economy, the current US blockade of Indian Ocean SLOC is being used to promote QR coded fuel rationing for tracking and surveilling populations for the Great Reset.
It is increasingly clear that the US Armada is testing IO waters to promote a new normal of energy colonialism to contain Asian economies and Make America Great Again (MAGA), but may needs an Exit Strategy to return home soon to Atlantic and Pacific shores– before Asia Unites to evict it from the Indian Ocean World. Trump clearly overplayed its hand when he boasted that he would ‘destroy a civilization overnight’. TO BE CONTINUED: America’s Waterloo, Enter China, Exit India
[i] https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/Sri-Lanka-turns-to-American-gas-for-cooking/108-335535
[ii] https://www.dailymirror.lk/top-story/CPC-confirms-286-diesel-barrel-purchase-rejects-overpricing-claims/155-338057
Bribery and corruption are rampant and a menace to the humanity and corruption is rampant all over like air and breath. It is happening all over and happen historically during all times. Development and reputation of the country depend on the impact of the corrupt regime and governance which has a direct impact of law and order and rule of law. Corruption is accumulation of wealth by illegal means mainly by using their position entrusted with to be honest living as a government servant. White collar corruption is massive when small timers do it in small scale. There is no room for law and order with corrupt rule and rulers involved in bribery corruption and nepotism. Sri Lanka has ranked the 4th position in the globe with law and orders ranked very much below, also ranked as a main Hub on drugs and drug peddling with daylight robberies and crimes increasing day by day. Mainly due to increase of bribery and corruption President Sirisena” (then) during his regime has launched war against Bribery and corruption by appointing three Ministers headed by the Health Minister who is inquired into by the on accusations and misuse of public funds in rent, shipping scams and other shady transections which are in the public domain. Incidentally then Prime Minister who is alleged to be a main brainchild of Bond Scam by inviting and defending the main accused Arjun Mahandran”, too have launched a vigorous campaign against bribery and corruption in the recent past by appointing a group to carry out the program under his personal supervision, despite programs by both President and the Prime Minister whilst Bribery and corruption is thriving countrywide as before. It is an open secret that the members of the executive and legislature is accused of direct and indirect bribery and corruption known to the citizen carrying on the criminal acts of bribery against the state without being investigated. Only few members of the government are inquired into for petty incidents when accusations amounting to millions and trillions on the ministers on the government are still shelved. Accusations against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa” swindling and siphoning 18 billion dollars in Dubai complained by the Health Minister” Rajitha Senaratna” is shelved with no inquiry or further proceedings.as the entire Sri Lankan budget do notes less than the Brive be mentioned. Allegations against the President on corruption and nepotism will emerge only after he relinquishes the post as he is currently protected by the immunity under the constitution. Bribery Commission should take notice of complaints via media and take immediate steps or exonerate the accused person to be fair by him. Bribery is an offence against the state punishable jointly under the bribery act and the penal code with a special procedure by a Commission appointed by the Constitutional Council and headed by a Director General a reputed and experienced lawyer also appointed by the President. Independence of the Commissioners, Director General and the staff is guaranteed and adequate facilities are given to conduct the inquiries with no fear and interference. Bribery act no 11 0f 1958/2 of 1965/7 of 65/38 of 79/1 of 75/9 of 88/19 of 1994/11 of 1954 and no 19 of 1994 will be amended soon again, which defines bribery as who offers any gratification to a public servant as an inducement or reward for a public servant for performing or abstaining for performing any official act or expediting or hindering or preventing the performance of any official act whether by that public servant or any other public servant or assisting favoring hindering or delaying any person in the transection of any business with the Government. With the limited staff and the resources, it is not possible to net the countrywide bribe takers unless other modern methods such as Education, Name and Shame methods with the help of the media, recognizing and rewarding the complainants and the informants, appointment of dedicated officers in the public sector, are few suggestions to be followed in the clamping process. But in the complicated economic regime of millions of transactions, it is hard to find millions of indirect/direct bribing in business transactions and government dealings adopting traditional methods of investigations. JVP government came into power with the slogan of eradication of corruption and there is news the new minister who is the leader of the movement of capturing thieves has asked for 30% instead of the 10% commission claimed by a political in a previous government. This reminds of the story of the Dragan in na cave in China killing man in large scale, when the most powerful giant was sent in to destroy the dragon to find the strong man in the end has become a new Dragen show whoever taken the position become Dragen in the cave of power and money. Current JVP government came to power with the promise of catching thieves with piles of files but not a single thief I s found and bribery corruption thriving and nepotism takes place at a large scale with emergency regulations is on to catch thieves. There are doubts on those who demanded power to catch thieves who has accumulated new wealth which is published in media on assert declarations of politicians appear to be white as white, now has become black as ever.
Currently – a hot and sad topic in how difficult it is to prevent the menace
Because it is the current hot topic of the day two seminars were organized sometime back at Organization of Professionals on 15th and 16th – one on 15th by Sri Lanka 2050 organized and moderated by the former Ambassador Sarath Wijesinghe, with speakers D E W Gunasekara- former Mister, Rusiripala Tennekoon, former BOC Chairman, Nanagananda Kodituwakku, activist lawyer and Sham Nuwan Ganawatta the journalist who inaugurated his book on the title Kawada Hora” – Who is the Thief in the bond Scam with the topic” Bond Scam and Corruption and impact on the economy” ,and the other seminar on 16/2/2018 jointly organized by the BASL and OPA on the topic Bribery and Good Governance” addressed by Sarath jayamanna – then Director General Bribery Commission, S C Mayadunna – a former Auditor General, and Yasantha Kodagoda Additional Solicitor General and Presidents Council. First seminar was lively while the second seminar was somewhat academic. The seminars indicated the interest and activism in the field of Bribery and corruption and deliberations were extremely useful on planning combating war on bribery and corruption and planning out short- and long-term strategies for eradication of the menace. There is news that the Commission will be given more powers to expand the jurisdiction, and to bring private sector under the Bribery Act are moves on the right direction though the existing powers could be properly utilized if there a genuine need, desire and direct power without the influence of invisible forces acting with remote controls of the governance which has proven to be bitter past experiences as once Churchill state med what worries is inaction and not necessarily active in the right direction” . Bond Scam responsible for the loss of billions of EPF, Bank, and public money took long time to expose those responsible in the toothless commission of inquiry which could have been easily dealt with the Bribery Commission on its own motion. We do not find fault of the Director General and the Commission as it is not our culture as in USA where the sitting President was rigorously interrogated by the special prosecutor, when in Sri Lanka prime Minister who invited Mahandran to Sri Lanka and defended him in the Parliament was soft peddled by giving few questions in advance contrary to the professional way the other witness were interrogated. Minister Duminda Dissanayaka and Minister Rajitha Senaratna are alleged to overspent millions on rental scams which are in the public domain which has not come to the purview of the Bribery Commission with many other scams in the public domains. Public will have trust and confidence on the Commission and will cooperate if proactive matters are taken place to bring the offenders to justice whilst catching sprats in small transactions. Today the accusation that the current director general has been a member of the JVP claimed by one time president late Nandana Gunathilake is a worrying statement. Corruption cannot the completely eradicated but the governance must try to control it by strict legislation and discipline by the governance setting an example ego the public sector. Justice appear to be seen and the governance should be transparent to gain the confidence of the citizen.
Previous convictions of members of legislature
It is ironic that despite the steps against Bribery and Corruption no member of the legislature or Executive was convicted is except during S W R D Bandaraneika’s regime when Monnakulama” Marrikker” and few members of the parliament were convicted as a result of the findings of Talgodapitiya” Commission. Members of the Parliament were found guilty in India and many countries on charges of bribery and corruption, but in Sri Lanka despite the citizen’s knowledge and information on the public domain bribery is rampant from the top downwards. Activist lawyer N Kodituwakku” has filed a case in the Supreme Court on misuse and corruption by all the members of the Parliament with a loss of 3 billion to the tax payer on tax free vehicles which is dragging on technical grounds without quick disposal which is the need of the hour to set an example to the culprits. Today unfortunately there are public show of images and news of finding culprits but no cases appear to be filed or proceeding which is a worrying factor. 159 luxury double cabs to all MPs is unwanted for and amount to corruption to please them who has agreed to travel on public transport in power.
Complete eradication impossible but try to minimize the cancer
Eradication of bribery and corruption is impossible. The attempts should be to minimize and to introduce a bribery/corruption free culture in the society. Is it possible in the current political and economic situation of poverty struggle corruption with easy black money and disappearance of the values of the citizen cherished historically with religious and cultural bonds which now has diapering fast. Director General Sarath jayamanna was comparing the situation in the west culturally anti Bribe trends to be followed in the Sri Lankan polite and citizen, which is an arduous task in the most corrupt society with free economy freedom for bribery absence of law-and-order opportunities for illegal deals drug crime and weak implementation of legal regime.
Director Generals competence honesty background and accusations to him
Director General should be working hard within his mandate which is an impossible task to achieve alone, unless legal structure is strengthened and new strategies adopted with honest dedicate and committed leadership whiter than white. Allegations against the current d9 that he has been a member of JVP by Nandana Gunatilaka a former Chairman of JVP is worrying and needs clarification from the present Director General If the leadership is corrupting inert the political situation inevitably is worsened with disability.” Dilrukshy de Silve” then DG bribery and corruption had started the job with enthusiasm and funfair who was compelled to leave, when services of” Lucille Silva” was abruptly discontinued by a powerful invisible hand with a blow on the trend against bribery. Toothless commission was appointed on the bond scam to catch the thieves of the biggest robbery in Sri Lanka ever when the main culprit is free with others enjoying the fruits freely worldwide. Prime Minister who invited controversial Arjun Mahandran” to Sri Lanka and defended him in the parliament was soft peddled at the commission with prearranged few questions reminding us of how Clinton was interrogated by the special prosecutor whilst he was still the powerful President – the most powerful person on the planet! Law and Order, Rule of Law and Equality Before Law should be rigorously implemented to clamp down bribery and corruption. These are history and the present too is not rosy. Coal fiasco has come to the surface sacrificing the minister and secretary with many questions un answered. Asset declarations of larders of JVP politicians have raised many questions to be answered. Imposition of emergency law during this peaceful era too is worrying as it is draconian law that can arrest citizens with no procedure is followed and Col Sallay’s arrest and detention people say is not called for considering the service and sacrifices made by him to the nation. Author Sarath Wjesinghe could be contacted on 0094766530166 wijesinghesarath05@gmail.com
Justice Radhabinod Pal (1886–1967), the only judge at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal (1946–1948) to find all Japanese defendants not guilty, remains a towering figure in international law for his critique of “Victor’s Justice”.
The call for his posthumous felicitation in Sri Lanka centers on his rejection of retroactive laws and his stance that conquerors should not pass judgment on the conquered. This sentiment aligns historically with Sri Lanka’s own diplomatic legacy, most notably the 1951 San Francisco Peace Conference speech by J.R. Jayewardene, who invoked the Buddha’s words—”Hatred ceases not by hatred, but by love”—to advocate for an independent Japan.
Key Dimensions of the Felicitation Call
Symbolic Venues for Recognition and the Symposium
If you are looking to visit or organize events at sites related to this shared history, several locations in Colombo reflect the deep Japan-Sri Lanka-India connection:
see also
Key Aspects of the Commemoration Proposal:
This initiative seeks to recognize his dedication to “Even Justice,” which argues that justice cannot be truly impartial if it is only enforced by the victors.
Source: AI Overview
No dollars to face imports. Perhaps what I did in Bangladesh to create the Youth Self Employment Programme- is a story that offers ideas and a way.
It all happened in the Bangladesh Secretariat, three days after General Ershard took over the country in a bloodless coup on the 24 th of March 1982. The Minister for Youth Development was clamped in prison and the work of the Ministry was in jeopardy. The third in command, Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam, the Minister for Labour and Manpower evaluated the work done by the Ministry. Suddenly at the close, he realized that I was an outsider and inquired who I was and I was then introduced as the Commonwealth Fund Advisor to the Ministry of Youth Development.
What can you contribute for Bangladesh”. It was more a military command. I could have spoken in support of the youth training programmes done by the Ministry but decided otherwise. I replied.
I would like you to consider approving a new programme aimed at making the 40,000 youths who are being trained every year to be guided to become self employed.”
The Secretary to the Treasury, the highest officer in the land, objected.
The Creation of self employment can never be done. The ILO of the United Nations has just folded up a self employment programme which they have been trying to establish in Tangail, Bangladesh over the past three years with a massive loss. They brought experts from all parts of the world to guide the programme but it was a total failure. The Bangladesh Treasury has no more funds to waste. The ILO are the experts. They hold the last word on employment creation.
I replied that though the ILO failed I had the experience as well as the academic qualifications, which was contested by the Secretary to the Treasury. He was adamant that I would fail. I argued with the Secretary to the Treasury explaining how I had successfully established employment projects in Sri Lanka and how I held the academic qualifications at doctoral level. The heated battle went on for over two hours. The Minister allowed the two of us to argue; he was making notes and finally commanded us to stop.
Are there any development programmes in Bangladesh that train people to become self employed?”
The Secretary to the Treasury replied: None”
How many youths are trained in vocations every year.” The Minister inquired.
The Secretary to the Treasury rattled out the number that were being trained by all Government Departments and it totalled to some two hundred thousand. This included the 40,000 the Ministry of Youth trained a year.
Tell me the number of youths that pass out every year and fail to find either employment or a place for further study and continue being unemployed and destitute, living scraping the barrel for life.”
The Secretary to the Treasury replied. Sir, It is in the millions.”
The Minister without batting an eyelid ordered, staring at me, in my face.
I approve you establishing a self employment programme. Go ahead and show what you can do, which the ILO. failed to do.”
Before I could thank him the Secretary to the Treasury replied;
I will not provide any funds from the Bangladesh Treasury. The failure of the ILO attempt was a massive waste of funds and the Treasury has no more funds to waste.”
I replied even without consulting the two Secretaries of the Ministry with whom I worked, who were present.
I need no new funds. I will find savings within approved youth training programme budgets to hold training sessions. I need approval to divert savings from approved training budgets to create this new programme and approval to alter the remits of officers to include training for self employment.”
The Minister approved my request.
I got cracking with training youth directors and lecturers of training institutes in economics. It included detailed studies on the economy of Bangladesh to identify areas where there was a propensity to create employment in a manner that also helped the economy in terms of production.
We had no funds to offer subsidies of any sort.
Youth Directors were all veteran workers who knew the art of relating to the youth. They moved with the youth and introduced ideas of how the youth could find incomes by rearing chicks and live with the chicks and see them grow. Some youths persuaded their brothers and sisters- even those who had migrated to the UK to help them. Till then they had not known what to with what they had studied in their three months training.
Yousoof Ali, a youth who had been trained did not know what to do with what he had learned and he became a nuisance to his brothers and sisters at home. His elder brother who could not tolerate him even went to the office of the Deputy Director of Youth at Jamalpur and accused the Department of indoctrinating his brother with ideas they could not follow. He even threatened to burn the office down. Instead of reporting to the Police who would have arrested him for public disorder the Deputy Director for Youth Development got in touch with us. I instructed the Deputy Director to somehow placate him and request him to attend our training sessions on self employment with his belligerent brother This was in a weeks’ time. When I marched into the training sessions I was shown his brother who was really breathing fire at us and the Department. Our sessions ran into hours of activity where we inspired the youths to save and commence any enterprises on their own. Some were motivated to even save the small daily stipend we paid for attendance to buy chicks which they could rear and see how the value increased. Our sessions were more inspiring the youth to save and take action to grow something, buy a chick and see it grow. The belligerent brother too joined us in our sessions because we related to them as brothers and sisters, as equals and the brother was so convinced that he immediately coughed up funds for his belligerent brother to buy a cow, ducklings and chicks and rear them. His brother got down to work under our supervision. Ten months later, on a surprise inspection, I met the belligerent lad- he had , 190 layer ducks, one milk cow, 2 goats, earning a net income of Taka 1496 in December1982, all achieved in eight months. Our aim was to make them earn Taka 500 the then salary of a Clerical Officer in the Government Service.
We built up the momentum not by offering money and subsidies, but by relating to the youth day in and day out. One word of a problem- it could be small farm of a dozen chicks two hundred miles away in an inaccessible village but we were there within hours to share the burden with the youth. We were inspiring the youth to become entrepreneurs and it was never instructing, but in youth work language participating with the youth, make the youth think and act -to educate them informally.
We were building up the abilities and capacities of the youth to become entrepreneurs,perhaps the only such programme the World has known.
It was non formal education in action where officials were never instructors but providers of ideas for the youth to think and become motivated. The staff was totally trained in non formal education methods of inspiring the youths to think and act on their own and become productive.
By the time my service period of two years was over, I had trained officials to continue the employment programme as a youth movement. It really paid high dividends. I last met the Minister Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam just before I left Bangladesh. My request to him was to make an order that youths on our Youth Development Programme who had within months created incomes and earned more than the tax level should be given a reprieve to be exempt from taxes for a few years. The Minister said he will get that done.
These were the beginings of a youth self employment programme that commencing in 1982 has created over three million youth entrepreneurs within four decades. 1982 to 2022, the only such programme of development the world has known. In a letter to me on June 20, 2005, a full twenty two years after I had established the Self Employment Programme, MrAsafuddowlah, the Secretary to the Ministry of Youth Development wrote:
You will be happy to learn that the Self Employment Programme of the Youth Department has expanded across the country and attained great success. I have not forgotten your valuable contribution to the success of this great programme.”(Muhammed Asafuddowlah: June 20, 2005)
The Fifth Five Year Plan of the Planning Commission of Bangladesh, makes glorious references to this Programme and devotes eight pages to detail its success. It is a Programme that has achieved accolades in all the subsequent Five Year Plans of the Planning Commission of Bangladesh.
It is important to note that for the first four years we had no funds from the Bangladesh Treasury. We found funds through savings in approved training budgets . But once we proved ourselves though hard work in training youths and inspiring them to become productive the Government funded it aided by the IFAD(FAO)
The youth self employment programme became a national programme and many helped. Way back after my work in Bangladesh I was working in Edinburgh. Whenever I went to London I took bulky and heavy dress pattern books which I handed over to Bangladesh Biman to be taken to the poor youth entrepreneurs in dress making at Jamalpur. That was the contribution made by Bangladesh Biman. Once six cows, all what a youth had died. I with Golam Atahar the Director for Livestock marched to the Insurance Corporation of Bangladesh. The two of us held the floor for an hour, In three days the Insurance Corp approved an insurance programme for cattle on our employment programme. I am dead certain that I could not do such things in my own country, Sri Lanka. In Bangladesh, administrators were dedicated and worked unruffled despite odds.
By now(2023)over three million youths have become entrepreneurs on this programme. Many thanks are due to the officers of the Bangladesh Civil Service and officers of the Ministry , trained by me, who carried on the programme initiated by me to achieve to reach the World Stature of today. The Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh is a world class programme that has found a definite place within the sands of time.
It is high time that the Government of Sri Lanka seeks to establish a similar programme to create employment for our youth and also create the production that will allay the economic meltdown of today. Take employment creation out of the vagary of party politics- these are national programmes that have to be invariably supported, despite changes in Governments.
In 2011,when His Excellency Milinda Moragoda, till recently our Ambassador at Delhi made a bid for the Mayorship of Colombo in his Manifesto stated that if elected, he would seek to implement the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh which incidentally was am amazingly successful scheme introduced to that country by a distinguished son of Sri Lanka, Dr Garvin Karunaratne, who served in Bangladesh as an international consultant.”(The Nation: 11/9/2011)
It will be a pleasure to serve my Motherland again and I look forward to establish an employment creation programme if called upon. . It will be done in nineteen months- the exact time I took to establish that Programme in Bangladesh.
Garvin Karunaratne, Ph D Michigan State University, formerly SLAS, GA Matara 1971-1973
Legitimate questions could be asked about Prince Vijaya’s voyage. Why was he coming towards Sri Lanka? Was he actually headed to Sri Lanka? He had no known association with Buddhism, so he would not have made the voyage as a missionary to introduce Buddhism to Sri Lanka. As a trader? Very likely. If so, would he choose a relatively less attractive destination for trading, or would he choose an attractive destination worth his while and go to a place like Korkai, situated at the mouth of the Thamirabarani river in the Southern part of India which was known as a major centre for pearl fishing.
Thamirabarani River (Sanskrit: Tāmraparṇī), is located in the Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu, South India. It is on the southeast coast of India, and it sits directly across the Gulf of Mannar from the north-western coast of Sri Lanka to the area called Tambapanni. Research confirms the Thamirabarani area was a major hub of ancient maritime connections. Tambapaṇṇī in Sri Lanka is a name derived from Tāmraparṇī or Tāmravarṇī (in Sanskrit) and it has got reference to the Thamirabarani river in India. Korkai, situated at the mouth of the Thamirabarani, was known as a legendary centre for pearl fishing. This port was a primary trade partner for Sri Lanka’s northern ports like Mantai, and findings of Rouletted Ware (a type of pottery) prove a shared maritime culture.
Archaeological Research and Findings
The Mahavamsa
As Prince Vijaya’s arrival in Sri Lanka has a direct link to the Mahavamsa, the following narrative will be useful to contextualise the question posed in the title of this article. The Mahāvaṃsa records events starting from the 6th century BCE (the 500s BC) when Prince Vijaya supposedly landed in the island but wasn’t physically written down until the 5th century CE (the 400s AD). Because the “6th century BCE” covers 600–501 BCE and the “5th/6th century CE” covers 401–600 CE, the gap between the start of the history and the act of writing it by Ven Mahanama is roughly 900 to 1,100 years. This gap is significant because it highlights that for nearly a millennium, the earliest history of Sri Lanka was preserved primarily through an oral tradition.
Key details regarding its composition:
The text was largely unknown to the Western world until the first printed edition was published in 1837 by George Turnour, a British civil servant
The Mahavamsa narrative relating to Prince Vijaya’s arrival in the island and landing in an area called Tambapanni (which basically means copper coloured soil), which is in the north-western coast of Sri Lanka, and almost opposite the Thamirabarani River on the other side of the Gulf of Mannar, poses some interesting speculative discussion.
Wikipedia says that from a research standpoint, the Thamirabarani region is seen as the cultural twin of early Sri Lanka on the opposite side of the Gulf of Mannar. The shared name and red soil suggest that any landing at Tambapanni in Sri Lanka may have been part of a broader migratory wave that originally targeted the pearl-rich ports of the Thamirabarani River in India, and not Tambapanni in Sri Lanka which was not known for such wealth.
Maritime archaeological information suggests that the Thamirabarani-Sri Lanka Route in the Gulf of Mannar, was notoriously shallow and filled with reefs (like Adam’s Bridge) and it had led to frequent historical accounts of ships being driven off course or wrecked.
Researchers also suggest that the similarity in names—where the Indian river and the Sri Lankan island share similar titles—indicates that early seafaring groups from the Northwest of India (such as Gujarat/Sopara) may have attempted to reach Thamirabarani in India but were blown off course by monsoons, or ship wrecked, with the sea farers ultimately landing on the red sands of Sri Lanka instead. While no single Vijaya-era wreck has been positively identified to date, recent underwater surveys in the Palk Strait have found stone anchors and pottery shards that confirm the heavy usage of this “S-shaped” trade route by ancient mariners. Considering the hive of trading activity in ports in the Thamirabarani river, it is more likely and logical for sea faring traders to go to Thamirabarani in India rather than Tambapanni in Sri Lanka. Their journeys could have been treacherous at times considering the challenges mentioned earlier, some of them could have landed in Tambapanni in Sri Lanka although their intended objective was to go to Thamirabarani. Besides this, to a sailor from Northwest India, the sight of the red cliffs at Kudiramalai (Tambapanni) would look remarkably similar to the red earth of the Thamirabarani region they were searching for. Landing there might also have been a case of mistaken identity.
Given this possibility, one could ask the question whether Prince Vijaya also faced such a situation and he in fact landed in Sri Lanka and not India due to a logical maritime accident. If he was just a sea farer, a Prince or otherwise, and who was only after the opportunities that Thamirabarani offered, but got carried away to Sri Lanka and if a subsequent mythological legend was not built around him, the incident could have been considered one of those events”.
However, had Prince Vijaya actually reached Thamirabarani as he had planned and not Tambapanni in Sri Lanka, the pivotal link between Prince Vijaya and the Mahavamsa gives rise to a very challenging interpretation to what is stated in the Mahavamsa. Sri Lankan history, particularly the early part of it as related in the Mahavamsa will be subject to challenge, because of the possibility that Prince Vijaya never arrived in Sri Lanka. The legend that the prince supposedly arrived in Sri Lanka on the day the Buddha passed away, and the many stories relating to Kuveni and her clan, the mythical devils called Yaksha and Naga will add weight to the view that the Vijaya story was indeed just a mythical legend.
No conclusions are being drawn here one way or the other, but one fact that can be stated is that there is no scientific evidence, archaeological or otherwise, that a Prince called Vijaya in fact arrived in Sri Lanka. What is available is a narrative written about 1000 years after the poetic verses depicting history that supposedly were composed and memorised and passed down verbally until they were compiled into a document by Ven Mahanama.
A more plausible history based on available research findings
Today, most secular historians view the Vijaya story as part of a natural phenomenon of a gradual, multi-wave migration of Indo-Aryan speakers that took place over centuries, rather than a single event with 700 men. There are challenges to the historical accounts in the Mahavamsa, in the form of physical evidence that actually exist from that period (c. 500 BCE), such as the Anuradhapura Citadel excavations, which show a city already thriving before the traditional founding date in the Mahavamsa. The excavations at the Anuradhapura Citadel (specifically the Gedige and Salgahawatta areas) provide the most powerful evidence that a sophisticated, urban society existed in Sri Lanka long before the traditional Vijaya arrival date of 543 BCE. While the Mahavamsa attributes the city’s founding to King Pandukabhaya around the 4th century BCE, scientific dating has pushed the city’s origins back nearly 500 years earlier.
Key Evidence from the Citadel (c. 900–500 BCE)
Why this challenges the Myth
This physical evidence directly contradicts the “Vijaya” narrative in two ways:
The discovery of Black and Red Ware (BRW) pottery is the single most important archaeological link between pre-Vijaya Sri Lanka and South India, particularly the Thamirabarani region. This pottery proves that the two regions were part of a single, unified cultural and economic zone long before the periods described in the Mahavamsa. In Anuradhapura, BRW appears in layers dated to 10th Century BCE (900 BCE), nearly 400 years before the traditional Vijaya date. It was used for both daily domestic life and specialized burial rituals in Megalithic tombs (cist burials and urns).
The Thamirabarani/South Indian Connection
The BRW found in Sri Lanka (at sites like Anuradhapura, Pomparippu, and Kantarodai) is reportedly virtually identical to that found in the Thamirabarani River basin (sites like Adichanallur and Korkai).
Because this pottery and its associated lifestyle (iron use, paddy farming) are dated to 900–600 BCE, it proves that the civilization Vijaya supposedly “founded” was already fully operational and trading across the ocean centuries before he arrived. In essence, the archaeology suggests that if a “Vijaya” did land, he didn’t land in a wilderness of demons; he landed in a sophisticated, international trade network that had been using Black and Red Ware to exchange goods with South India for generations
Another archaeological factor that supports this view are the Ibbankatuwa Megalithic Tombs (near Dambulla). These are mentioned as the “silent witnesses” to the people who lived in Sri Lanka between 700 BCE and 400 BCE with excavations proving the existence of a well-organized human society. This is a massive cemetery covering over 13 hectares with burials in tombs (stone boxes made of granite slabs). Experts are of the opinion that this level of organized burial indicates a settled society with clear social hierarchies and respect for ancestors and they included thousands of beads made from carnelian, agate, and quartz, some of which are not native to Sri Lanka and would have been imported from North and West India. Archaeologists had also found fine jewellery, including gold wire and copper rods, proving they were skilled in metallurgy, and farming implements and weapons, showing they had mastered the Iron Age technology long before the “Vijaya” arrival.
Conclusion
There seems to be a substantial amount of archaeological evidence to support the existence of an organised, literate, well-functioning society in Sri Lanka long before Vijaya’s arrival which has no supporting evidence, and therefore more mythical than factual. The discussion and debate is not, and should not be about whether he arrived or not, but about the myths and folklore embedded in the early periods covered by the Mahavamsa using his arrival to virtually spin” a story around him. The origin of the Sinhala race, it embracing Buddhism and making the island a Sinhala Buddhist country, when there is archaeological evidence to support the fact that the island was inhabited as described, that it included people from other parts of the world, perhaps mostly from the South of India considering its proximity to the North West of Sri Lanka, that its inhabitants followed a diverse mix of indigenous animism, spirit worship, and early Indian faiths, where the religious scene was not a single, organized system, but a “hodgepodge” of cults that existed among the early Sinhalese and other ethnic groups like the Nagas. (International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science- https://rsisinternational.org /virtual-library/papers/the-pre-buddhist-religious-beliefs-in-ancient-sri-lanka/#:~:text=We%20can %20categorized %20the%20pre,such%20as%20Chitrar%C4%81ja%20and%20K%C4%81lav%C4%93la)
While it may be too late to change the converted” who subscribe to the traditional Vijaya based Sinhala Buddhist literary narrative in the Mahavamsa, a logical, plausible, researched history should define the narrative relating to the ancient inhabitation of the island. A substantial amount of such researched information is available to recast the islands ancient history into a model that depicts it as one that consisted of several well-functioning, sophisticated human societies when Vijaya supposedly arrived in the island, if indeed he did arrive in Sri Lanka.
It all happened in the Bangladesh Secretariat, three days after General Ershard took over the country in a bloodless coup on the 24 th of March 1982. The Minister for Youth Development was clamped in prison and the work of the Ministry was in jeopardy. The third in command, Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam, the Minister for Labour and Manpower evaluated the work done by the Ministry. Suddenly at the close, he realized that I was an outsider and inquired who I was and I was then introduced as the Commonwealth Fund Advisor to the Ministry of Youth Development.
What can you contribute for Bangladesh”. It was more a military command. I could have spoken in support of the youth training programmes done by the Ministry but decided otherwise. I replied.
I would like you to consider approving a new programme aimed at making the 40,000 youths who are being trained every year to be guided to become self employed.”
The Secretary to the Treasury, the highest officer in the land, objected.
The Creation of self employment can never be done. The ILO of the United Nations has just folded up a self employment programme which they have been trying to establish in Tangail, Bangladesh over the past three years with a massive loss. They brought experts from all parts of the world to guide the programme but it was a total failure. The Bangladesh Treasury has no more funds to waste. The ILO are the experts. They hold the last word on employment creation.
I replied that though the ILO failed I had the experience as well as the academic qualifications, which was contested by the Secretary to the Treasury. He was adamant that I would fail. I argued with the Secretary to the Treasury explaining how I had successfully established employment projects in Sri Lanka and how I held the academic qualifications at doctoral level. The heated battle went on for over two hours. The Minister allowed the two of us to argue; he was making notes and finally commanded us to stop.
Are there any development programmes in Bangladesh that train people to become self employed?”
The Secretary to the Treasury replied: None”
How many youths are trained in vocations every year.” The Minister inquired.
The Secretary to the Treasury rattled out the number that were being trained by all Government Departments and it totalled to some two hundred thousand. This included the 40,000 the Ministry of Youth trained a year.
Tell me the number of youths that pass out every year and fail to find either employment or a place for further study and continue being unemployed and destitute, living scraping the barrel for life.”
The Secretary to the Treasury replied. Sir, It is in the millions.”
The Minister without batting an eyelid ordered, staring at me, in my face.
I approve you establishing a self employment programme. Go ahead and show what you can do, which the ILO. failed to do.”
Before I could thank him the Secretary to the Treasury replied;
I will not provide any funds from the Bangladesh Treasury. The failure of the ILO attempt was a massive waste of funds and the Treasury has no more funds to waste.”
I replied even without consulting the two Secretaries of the Ministry with whom I worked, who were present.
I need no new funds. I will find savings within approved youth training programme budgets to hold training sessions. I need approval to divert savings from approved training budgets to create this new programme and approval to alter the remits of officers to include training for self employment.”
The Minister approved my request.
I got cracking with training youth directors and lecturers of training institutes in economics. It included detailed studies on the economy of Bangladesh to identify areas where there was a propensity to create employment in a manner that also helped the economy in terms of production.
We had no funds to offer subsidies of any sort.
Youth Directors were all veteran workers who knew the art of relating to the youth. They moved with the youth and introduced ideas of how the youth could find incomes by rearing chicks and live with the chicks and see them grow. Some youths persuaded their brothers and sisters- even those who had migrated to the UK to help them. Till then they had not known what to with what they had studied in their three months training.
Yousoof Ali, a youth who had been trained did not know what to do with what he had learned and he became a nuisance to his brothers and sisters at home. His elder brother who could not tolerate him even went to the office of the Deputy Director of Youth at Jamalpur and accused the Department of indoctrinating his brother with ideas they could not follow. He even threatened to burn the office down. Instead of reporting to the Police who would have arrested him for public disorder the Deputy Director for Youth Development got in touch with us. I instructed the Deputy Director to somehow placate him and request him to attend our training sessions on self employment with his belligerent brother This was in a weeks’ time. When I marched into the training sessions I was shown his brother who was really breathing fire at us and the Department. Our sessions ran into hours of activity where we inspired the youths to save and commence any enterprises on their own. Some were motivated to even save the small daily stipend we paid for attendance to buy chicks which they could rear and see how the value increased. Our sessions were more inspiring the youth to save and take action to grow something, buy a chick and see it grow. The belligerent brother too joined us in our sessions because we related to them as brothers and sisters, as equals and the brother was so convinced that he immediately coughed up funds for his belligerent brother to buy a cow, ducklings and chicks and rear them. His brother got down to work under our supervision. Ten months later, on a surprise inspection, I met the belligerent lad- he had , 190 layer ducks, one milk cow, 2 goats, earning a net income of Taka 1496 in December1982, all achieved in eight months. Our aim was to make them earn Taka 500 the then salary of a Clerical Officer in the Government Service.
We built up the momentum not by offering money and subsidies, but by relating to them day in and day out. One word of a problem- it could be small farm of a dozen chicks two hundred miles away in an inaccessible village but we were there within hours to share the burden with the youth. We were inspiring the youth to become entrepreneurs and it was never instructing, but in youth work language participating with the youth, make the youth think and act -to educate them informally.
We were building up the abilities and capacities of the youth to become entrepreneurs,perhaps the only such programme the World has known.
It was non formal education in action where officials were never instructors but providers of ideas for the youth to think and become motivated. The staff was totally trained in non formal education methods of inspiring the youths to think and act on their own and become productive.
By the time my service period of two years was over, I had trained officials to continue the employment programme as a youth movement. It really paid high dividends. I last met the Minister Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam just before I left Bangladesh. My request to him was to make an order that youths on our Youth Development Programme who had within months created incomes and earned more than the tax level should be given a reprieve to be exempt from taxes for a few years. The Minister said he will get that done.
These were the beginings of a youth self employment programme that commencing in 1982 has created over three million youth entrepreneurs within four decades. 1982 to 2022, the only such programme of development the world has known. In a letter to me on June 20, 2005, a full twenty two years after I had established the Self Employment Programme, MrAsafuddowlah, the Secretary to the Ministry of Youth Development wrote:
You will be happy to learn that the Self Employment Programme of the Youth Department has expanded across the country and attained great success. I have not forgotten your valuable contribution to the success of this great programme.”(Muhammed Asafuddowlah: June 20, 2005)
The Fifth Five Year Plan of the Planning Commission of Bangladesh, makes glorious references to this Programme and devotes eight pages to detail its success. It is a Programme that has achieved accolades in all the subsequent Five Year Plans of the Planning Commission of Bangladesh.
It is important to note that for the first four years we had no funds from the Bangladesh Treasury. We found funds through savings in approved training budgets . But once we proved ourselves though hard work in training youths and inspiring them to become productive the Government funded it aided by the IFAD(FAO)
The youth self employment programme became a national programme and many helped. Way back after my work in Bangladesh I was working in Edinburgh. Whenever I went to London I took bulky and heavy dress pattern books which I handed over to Bangladesh Biman to be taken to the poor youth entrepreneurs in dress making at Jamalpur. That was the contribution made by Bangladesh Biman. Once six cows, all what a youth had died. I with Golam Atahar the Director for Livestock marched to the Insurance Corporation of Bangladesh. The two of us held the floor for an hour, In three days the Insurance Corp approved an insurance programme for cattle on our employment programme. I am dead certain that I could not do such things in my own country, Sri Lanka. In Bangladesh, administrators were dedicated and worked unruffled despite odds.
By now(2023)over three million youths have become entrepreneurs on this programme. Many thanks are due to the officers of the Bangladesh Civil Service and officers of the Ministry , trained by me, who carried on the programme initiated by me to achieve to reach the World Stature of today. The Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh is a world class programme that has found a definite place within the sands of time.
It is high time that the Government of Sri Lanka seeks to establish a similar programme to create employment for our youth and also create the production that will allay the economic meltdown of today. Take employment creation out of the vagary of party politics- these are national programmes that have to be invariably supported, despite changes in Governments.
In 2011,when His Excellency Milinda Moragoda, till recently our Ambassador at Delhi made a bid for the Mayorship of Colombo in his Manifesto stated that if elected, he would seek to implement the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh which incidentally was am amazingly successful scheme introduced to that country by a distinguished son of Sri Lanka, Dr Garvin Karunaratne, who served in Bangladesh as an international consultant.”(The Nation: 11/9/2011)
It will be a pleasure to serve my Motherland again and I look forward to establish an employment creation programme if called upon. . It will be done in nineteen months- the exact time I took to establish that Programme in Bangladesh.
Sarath Wijesinghe President’s counsel former Ambassador to UAE and Israel and former chairman consumer Affairs Authority
Ombudsman System world over and Sri Lanka a necessity today
Ombudsman is a unique system used in many parts of the world successfully in place of expensive litigation and to settle matters in a friendlier and more amicable way. Litigation as we all know is very expensive cumbersome and time consuming. Ombudsman may be appointed by the government or private entities and groups to themselves ot to cover the entire country. Sri Lankan constitution provides for an Ombudsman for administrative purposes by access to him is difficult as one has to to through the Speaker to the Parliament for services of the Ombudsman. In India and citizen has access to Ombudsman by a letter and there are lawyers on public interest litigation who will help the litigant helped by the judiciary developed the jurisprudence of public interest litigation to hep the citizen.
The ombudsman system is prevalent the world over for convenience, clarity, 6+efficiency in place of complex litigation used in many areas of Administration, Finance, Legal Services, Insurance, Medical and many other areas and sectors, especially in the West when business deals are active and alive. An ombudsman appointed by the State or privately is a person accepted and respected by the parties concerned and the world as impartial, learned, clean and reputed for all parties to accept the decision expected to be given to the family and impartially after having heard or read the documents and representation orally or in writing at a venue amicably agreed upon by parties on the given subject and the disputed deliberations. Services of this Good Office are invited when there is a dispute or requirements for clarity or decisions of disputed areas to the satisfaction of all the parties. In many instances, we tend to look for the British or Western model as a precedent as a system practised successfully, especially in the business world and many other areas the world over. Consumerism in Sri Lanka is at its lowest ebb and needs rejuvenation and drastic exchanges to bring it in the right direction to ease consumer suffering in silence without an organized consumer regime as in other parts of the world. In all directions making it difficult to make ends meet. The Indian Consumerism and Ombudsman scheme is working well with the establishment of Consumer Courts and updated legislative mechanisms, unfortunately, lacking in Sri Lanka with a lame and outdated Act that was introduced in 2003 with no changes to date when we are at the doorstep of the ‘AI’ age. It appears that the expected change is immediate and imminent in consumerism for a better day for the consumer for consumer items and services of quality at reasonable and affordable consideration.
Ombudsman system in operation in the UK, EU and the rest of the world
The history of the Ombudsman runs back to 221 BC to China, 1809 Sweden and established in the West in order to resolve administrative matters in a more amicable way to ease the responsibilities of the King and the administration and give quick relief to the people that developed to the current form in UK, EU, and many other countries in a more organized manner. There is a Parliamentary Ombudsman in the UK and Sri Lanka in operation in a different way when the Parliamentary Administrator is set up under Article 156- 41 (c) and Act No. 17 of 1981 and 1994. To access the Ombudsman in Sri Lanka, the aggrieved party is bound to go through the Speaker of Parliament when it is convenient in the UK by website or contacting directly for redress. It operates in the EU and other countries and many parts of the world in a different way, and the fact that it was in existence in China in 221 BC indicates that the system has been widespread and used by states for a long time for various purposes. The unique aspect of the model is the ability to be used in any kind of system of governance whether a dictatorial or a democracy adopted to suit the situation. In Britain, the ombudsman system functions satisfactorily in Rail, Trade Associations, Insurance Sector, Banks, Energy, Health, Pension, Legal Services, and many others, whereas in Sri Lanka apart from the Parliamentary Ombudsman incorporated in the Constitution, the Financial and Insurance Ombudsman system was in operation and it is doubtful whether it is still in operation which appears not to be successful and effected as expected by legislation and practices in other countries. The offices of the Financial and Insurance Ombudsman seem to be not in operation and no further steps have been taken to explore the concept which is effective and successful sei in other parts of the world.
Ombudsman system in Sri Lanka
In addition to the ombudsman provided in the constitution
Why Consumer Ombudsman for Sri Lanka? And way forward
Consumerism and consumer activism and the main regulator CAA and the price control and regulatory procedure are unfortunately a failure due to a lack of proper vision, leadership, and legislation which is outdated and requires immediate and drastic changes to meet the current demands of the citizen pressed with the excessive pricing regime and lack of control and regulations to control the prices of consumer items and services. Until then, an Ombudsman could be appointed by amending Act No. 9 of 2003 or incorporating regulations under the Act that allow to incorporate new regulations. The ombudsman process is simple, cost-effective, and accessible if applied properly as in the UK that manages on the website unlike the long process in Sri Lanka to access the ombudsman via the Speaker of Parliament. The inquiries at the CAA are accumulating and there is a delay in drafting new legislation and the ombudsman system could assist the Government at no cost as the position could be linked to the existing legislation with minute changes to legislation. The ombudsman system in cost-effective, quick, accessible, and effective if it links with mediation legal board, consumer associations and the CAA with fierce and active programmed on consumer education, to bring about the aspired ‘Change’ to the citizen for consumer items and services of quality at a reasonable and affordable price.
In nutshell the institution of the Ombudsman is a burning necessity for Sri Lanka to ,eke legel system close to the citizen, easier to settle disputes and arbitrage matters accepted to the world and to be in par with the world situation.
About the author:
Sarath Wijesinghe, former Chairman Consumer Affairs Authority of Sri Lanka, former Ambassador to UAE and Israel, President’s Counsel and Solicitor in England and Wales.
Wijesinghesarath05@gmail.com
The illegal US-Israeli war on Iran is exposing the Oil-Dollar-Wall Street complex that binds oil, financial markets, and dollar power, with consequences that reach far beyond the region.
As you and I worry about how war and inflation will impact our families and nations, bond traders are fixated on the numbers on their screens, calculating what might happen to seemingly arcane financial instruments. Their job is to protect the treasure of the wealthy. For the past fifty years, the relative stability of the US dollar – above all as embodied in US Treasury securities – has rested in part on what is called the ‘petrodollar’ system.
When petroleum prices are relatively stable, the costs of production and transport are more predictable, inflation is easier to contain, and the prices of bonds and other financial assets are less likely to swing wildly. In such conditions, the wealthy can multiply their paper wealth with greater confidence. Despite the existence of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil cartel since 1960, the United States continues to shape the terms on which much of the world’s petroleum is shipped, priced, and paid for through its monopoly on violence – by securing key chokepoints and client states with its bases and fleets, and by using sanctions to make oil sales involving targeted states or firms harder to insure, finance, transport, and settle financially. Coups and wars also serve to discipline states that seek too much control over their own resources or wish to move outside this dollar-centred order.
Inflation – a sustained increase in prices over a period of time – is the enemy of financial wealth, as it depreciates the purchasing power of financial assets. Since the world economy is dependent on energy derived from oil, a rise in oil prices leads to a rise in the price of all other commodities and the overall cost of production and transport, lowering the value of bonds and other financial assets that depend on low inflation. Holders of financial wealth therefore tend to favour policies that curb inflation through austerity, restrictive fiscal policy, and by keeping the prices of oil – and therefore costs of production, including wages – down. The wealthy prefer holding assets that are stable relative to the prices of commodities and wages, which is why the US dollar has been their currency of preference for holding wealth and denominating major debts and contracts. By offshoring production to poorer countries, the US has kept wage levels and inflation low at home and maintained the purchasing power of the US dollar. Although there have been moments of crisis, no other currency has come close to replacing the primacy of the US dollar, since no other state combines the military reach, sanctions power, alliance networks, and financial depth required to command the pricing of key commodities like oil.
Bond traders and their clients are now worried that Iran has already shown it can restrict passage through the Strait of Hormuz and thereby challenge Washington’s ability to police the movement of the oil that transits that chokepoint – more than a fifth of the world’s total. In 2025, roughly 21 million barrels a day transited the strait at an average price of $69 a barrel, totalling around $530 billion per year. The global oil market is priced between $2–3 trillion per year. A significant share of this enormous hoard has traditionally been reinvested into US Treasury bonds and dollar-based financial assets. If Washington can no longer guarantee the terms under which that oil moves and, worse, if more of the proceeds are going to be held in non-dollar currencies (such as the Chinese yuan, which is the currency of settlement that Iran prefers), this will provoke great turbulence in the dollar-denominated bond market which is the heart of the global financial system.
Those of you who are not specialists on the subject may be wondering: what exactly is ‘the bond market’? What is a ‘dollar-denominated bond’? What is the ‘petrodollar’, or indeed, the ‘petroyuan’? How does this entire system work? Financial markets are conceptually simple but operationally complex, often appearing opaque because they are laden with jargon and because specialised actors seem to be interpreting and acting on the basis of abstract expectations and relative prices.
This newsletter is a primer on some of the key concepts needed to understand the global financial system in the context of the illegal war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran. For the specialist, the answers to the questions that follow may be too simplistic while for the general reader, some conceptual questions may not be fully answered. That is the limit of any primer, so forgive us in advance.
We hope the above primer has helped explain some of the more arcane parts of the present conjuncture. These concepts and processes are important to understand because Iran has linked yuan-denominated oil trade to safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz as a leverage against the United States. By controlling a chokepoint carrying major global oil flows, Iran can bypass sanctions, undermine the petrodollar system, and strengthen ties with China. While this may not in itself destroy the petrodollar system, it inflicts upon the US a significant cost for its unwillingness to come to a grand bargain and end an almost fifty-year conflict.
Since the end of World War II, several nations have transformed themselves from poverty to prosperity within a generation. Countries such as Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, South Korea during the era of Park Chung-hee, and Rwanda under Paul Kagame have demonstrated how strong leadership can accelerate national development.
Similarly, several Middle Eastern states such as United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have leveraged centralized governance structures to implement long-term economic strategies with remarkable speed.
The Common Factor: Discipline and Direction
In each of these cases, rapid development was not accidental. It was driven by:
These governments were able to make difficult decisions—often unpopular ones—without being paralyzed by political fragmentation.
The Sri Lankan Reality
Sri Lanka, despite its strategic location and educated population, has struggled with:
The result has been missed opportunities in sectors such as maritime trade, energy, and industrial development—areas where countries like Singapore surged ahead.
The Critical Question: Authoritarianism or Effective Governance?
While it is tempting to conclude that Sri Lanka needs an authoritarian system, global experience suggests caution. Many countries that adopted dictatorship regimes—particularly in parts of Africa and Latin America—ended up with:
The success stories are exceptions, not the rule.
A More Practical Path for Sri Lanka
Rather than advocating dictatorship, Sri Lanka should aim for a model of strong democratic governance with discipline, including:
Conclusion
Sri Lanka does not need to abandon democracy to achieve development. What it needs is decisive leadership within a democratic framework—a system where rules are enforced, policies are consistent, and national interest overrides short-term political gain.
The lesson from Singapore or South Korea is not dictatorship—it is discipline, vision, and execution.
Regards
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody and Energy Ministry Secretary Professor Udayanga Hemapala resigned from their respective positions.
They submitted their resignation letters to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to facilitate an impartial and independent investigation by the Special Presidential Commission examining the coal importation process.
Continued from Tuesday, April 07, 2026
The Island daily the next day (Monday, December 11, 2017) carried KD’s reply to another writer, Bodhi Dhanapala from Canada, who had made a reference to him in an earlier article to the same paper. I was sure then that Bodhi Dhanapala would respond to him appropriately in due course. As I anticipated, BD’s response appeared in The Island of December 16, 2017. It was an excellent reply to KD, in my opinion. But first let me recall what KD said in reply to Dhanapala in The Island of December 11
KD summarized what he called his ‘views’ in the form of five points (a-e). He had earlier promised to deal with ‘extremism in general’ in his Sunday column of December 10 (which we were looking at in Part I of this article). Actually, we were looking at the article that KD had thus promised. (It was obvious to me then that, by some quirk, there had been a delay in publishing KD’s reply letter in The Island.) These five points are implicit in KD’s Sunday Island article. Among the five points are two that are particularly relevant to us here. One of them was (b), which said (in KD’s words): I have opposed LTTE terrorism as much as I opposed the state sponsored terrorism of the Sri Lankan military. The latter in fact helped to breed the former. Without the carnage of 1983 the LTTE would have remained no more than a marginal force among Tamils”.
It appeared that the UNP government of the day (in 1983) was initially hesitant, for reasons only known to them, in containing the mob violence that erupted following the common funeral in Colombo of some unarmed soldiers murdered in cold blood in Jaffna by LTTE terrorists; the military was not responsible for the deadly results of governmental indecision. The1983 riots were not due to the alleged barbarism of the Sinhalese either. Although I was not in Sri Lanka at the time, authentic accounts I heard from the BBC World Service radio and from friends back home suggested that the violence was committed by criminal gangs, perhaps under some political encouragement. Ordinary Sinhalese, as usual in such situations, did everything they could to offer shelter and vital help to the victims. Innocent ordinary Sinhalese in Tamil majority areas were subjected to retaliatory attacks, but these were not widely reported.
There were complex realities that prompted the violence committed on innocent Tamil civilians by criminal elements taking the opportunity to loot. The government’s failure to maintain law and order on that occasion led some to hypothesize that it was actually an orchestrated event engineered by a third party. Weaponized communal disruption, occasionally witnessed even today, has a long history.
Mindless mob violence excepted, legitimate countermeasures taken with appropriate intensity by the security forces against armed terrorism as ordered by the government, were certainly not to be categorised as state terrorism. KD’s statement here gave the readers the wrong impression that the Sri Lankan military acted on its own without direction from the country’s political leadership in its operations against LTTE terrorism in its infancy. The public security personnel had always taken orders from the government; they had always acted intra vires. At the same time, it was common knowledge then that LTTE terrorism was nurtured from outside; it was not something sponsored by the Sri Lankan military.
The second point from KD’s list that I considered relevant to us here was (e), again in KD’s words: I comment on barbarism of all forms. Currently these include Burma -Buddhist instigated genocide, ISIS, the Saudi led blockade of Yemen, bombing in Syria and Hindutva mobs. In the past it included LTTE terrorism”. All civilized people would share KD’s sentiments regarding barbarism. But we who knew who were the real barbarians and who were not could not agree with KD when he identified Burmese Buddhists as barbaric terrorists who had initiated violence against the so-called Rohingyas. In most of KD’s newspaper articles that I had read, he demonstrated his deep prejudice against the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community. He extended this to Burmese Buddhists as well. The truth about what was actually happening in Myanmar was cleverly hidden from the world by the Western media. It was a predominantly Buddhist (88%) country where Muslims accounted for only 4% of the population. Traditional Muslims live in peace with their Buddhist neighbours, without being subjected to any discrimination.
The Rohingyas are Muslim migrants from Bangladesh who are settled in the Rakhine region of Myanmar. Western media falsely depict them as the most persecuted minority in the world”. Though they are described as having lived in that region for centuries, the truth is otherwise. It was during the British occupation of Burma (1885-1948) that Muslim migrants arrived there. These Muslims, supported by money flowing from Islamic fundamentalist groups from the rich Gulf states, have lately begun to agitate for their own sovereign Islamic state in the Rakhine (Arakan) region. It is they who started killing innocent Buddhists and Buddhist monks in that region, burning their places of worship, and houses. Little about such ethnic cleansing activities by religious extremists against the native Buddhist population is reported in the mainstream media due to the influence of money. These media have already demonized all those innocent Buddhists and monks who merely react to fundamentalist violence.
Among these monks, Ashin Wirathu Thera, who leads a completely justified anti-Islamic fundamentalist movement. A 2013 issue of the TIME magazine carried a front page photo of Wirathu Thera with the caption “Face of Buddhist terror”. His only fault was articulating the plight of innocent Myanmar Buddhists who were being persecuted by a minority of murderous religious lunatics who were determined to Islamize this predominantly Buddhist nation. But media coverage is only for purported violence by Buddhists against Muslim immigrants. Money from the rich sponsors of Islamic terror in West Asia buys the latter false victimhood in the media. The poor wronged Buddhist majority are unheard and unseen. Wirathu Thera says: “No money, no media”.
In December 2024, the Sri Lankan Navy rescued 102 Rohingya refugees (25 children among them) packed in a dilapidated boat adrift in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast. They were allegedly fleeing persecution in Myanmar. Following proper legal procedures the authorities moved them to an airforce base in Mullaitivu. Some Buddhist monks showed their concern about taking in these alleged asylum seekers because of their trouble-hit place of origin.
It appeared that the government of State Counsellor (Prime Minister) Aung San Sun Kyi (who was in office from 2016 to 2021) had decided to use the military to contain Islamic extremist violence and to respond to retaliatory acts of violence from their victims, as well. This earned the wrath of the so-called international community, who did not seem to care about the unprovoked victimization of Buddhists in Myanmar and elsewhere including Bangladesh.
I remember reading courageous Bangladeshi feminist writer and former medical doctor Taslima Nasreen’s 1993 novel ‘Lajja’ (Shame) which describes in graphic detail atrocities committed against Hindus and Buddhists in that country by extremist elements from the Muslim majority. She was accused of making a ‘blasphemous’ proposal for a revision of the Quran (but according to her, she only called for the abolition of sharia, which amounted to the same thing in their reckoning), and was threatened with death. Since 1994 she had been living in exile. The article titled Will the Pope raise the plight of Buddhists and Hindus? Crisis in Chittagong in Hill tracts” by Savako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker reproduced on Lankaweb on December 15, 2017 strongly suggested the duplicity that KD attributed to his Holy Father” (who was none other than Pope Francis).
In his article, KD wrote:
(Aside: Pope Francis could have safeguarded his moral stature if he had not gone to Burma at all, nor spoken in soft, muted and muddled tones. Holy Father, didn’t you know that these people call themselves Rohingya?)”.
We know why the Pope spoke ‘in soft, muted and muddled tones’, as it appeared to KD. The Pope had a moral conscience unlike his deracinated little minded anti-Hindu anti-Buddhist disciple. The Pope’s eyes were at least half open to the unenviable lot of the innocent non-Muslims (native majority Myanmar Buddhists). It was obvious that for political reasons,the Holy Father would/could not come out with the truth, which was harmful to the dominant global agendas. KD had no such moral qualms.
To be concluded
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), or the Tokyo Trial (1946–1948), remains a cornerstone for debating the legitimacy of international criminal law. While often overshadowed by Nuremberg, the Tokyo Trial’s “one-sided” nature and the radical dissent of Justice Radhabinod Pal have gained renewed relevance in contemporary legal discourse, especially in post-colonial contexts like Sri Lanka.
The “Kangaroo Court” Critique
Critics and historians have often labeled the Tokyo proceedings a “victor’s justice” or a political trial rather than a purely judicial one. Key arguments supporting this “Kangaroo Court” characterization include:
Justice Radhabinod Pal’s Dissent
Justice Pal, representing India, was the only judge to submit a comprehensive dissent (over 1,230 pages) finding all defendants not guilty of all charges. His “heroic” stand-alone judgment was based on several foundational critiques:
Relevance to Sri Lankan Legal Education
There is a growing argument that these historical critiques deserve more focus in Sri Lankan legal education to provide a balanced view of international law:
Sri Lankan lawyer’s criticism of Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal on the premises of the Japanese Parliament
On November 14, 2018, Sri Lankan attorney Senaka Weeraratna addressed a symposium at the Japanese Diet, arguing that Japan’s WWII actions facilitated Asian liberation from Western rule and criticizing the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal. Organized by the Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact, the speech labeled the tribunal a “victor’s justice” and “Kangaroo Court,” highlighting the lack of Asian judges and the retroactivity of “crimes against peace” charges.
Key criticisms included:
Senaka Weeraratna advocated for a re-trial by Asian judges to correct these historical, one-sided judgments.
see also
The speech in the Japanese Parliament (Diet)
Source: AI Overview
සතුට සැමරීම වරදක් නොවේ. නමුත් අපේ සතුට තවත් කෙනෙකුගේ කඳුළක් හෝ පීඩාවක් බවට පත්වන තැන එය “සතුටක්” ලෙස හැඳින්විය හැකිද? දශක හයකට අධික ජීවිත අත්දැකීම් දෙස ආපසු හැරී බලන විට, ගිනිකෙළි සහ අහස්කූරුවලින් සිදුවන විනාශය අද වන විට බරපතල සමාජීය සහ පාරිසරික ගැටලුවක් වී හමාරයි.
එදා සහ අද: වෙනස් වූ වහලවල් – නොමියුනු අනතුර!
මීට වසර හැටකට පෙර, මා ඇස්පනාපිටම දුටු සිදුවීමක් තිබේ. මුහුදු වෙරළේ තිබූ ධීවරයන්ගේ පොල් අතු සෙවිලි කළ නිවසකට වැදුණු එකම එක අහස්කූරක ගිනි පුපුරකින්, මුළු නිවාස පේළියම ගිනිබත් වීමට ගතවූයේ ඉතා සුළු වේලාවකි. මුහුදු හුළඟත් සමඟ ඒ විනාශය මැඩපැවැත්වීම එදා අසීරු විය.
අද වන විට අපේ නිවාසවල වහලවල් තහඩු හෝ උළු වලින් නවීකරණය වී ඇතත්, අනතුරේ ස්වභාවය වෙනස් වී තිබේ. මෑතකදී අපේ නිවසේ වහලයට පතිත වූ පිළිස්සුණු අහස්කූරු දෙකකින් එකක් සිරවී තිබුණේ සෝලර් පැනල් (Solar Panels) අතරය. මිල අධික පුනර්ජනනීය බලශක්ති පද්ධතිවලට මෙයින් සිදුවිය හැකි හානිය සුළුපටු නොවේ. එයින් සිදුවන ආර්ථික පාඩුව සහ බලශක්ති බිඳවැටීම අද කාලයේ දරාගත නොහැක්කකි.
තවදුරටත් නොසලකා හැරිය නොහැකි කරුණු:
යෝජනාව: තහනම නෙවෙයි – විනයගරුක සැමරීම!
ගිනිකෙළි සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම තහනම් කළ යුතු යැයි මා යෝජනා කරන්නේ නැත. නමුත් එය සිදුකරන ආකාරය වෙනස් විය යුතුය:
අපේ ඉල්ලීම!
බලධාරීන් මේ පිළිබඳව අවධානය යොමු කළ යුතුය. අපේ විනෝදය තවත් කෙනෙකුගේ ජීවිතයට තර්ජනයක් නොවන පරිදි නීතිමය රාමුවක් සකස් කිරීම කාලීන අවශ්යතාවයකි.
ඔබත් මෙයට එකඟද? ඔබේ අදහස සහ ඔබ මුහුණ දුන් මෙවැනි අත්දැකීම් පහතින් Comment කරන්න. මෙය share කර බලධාරීන්ගේ අවධානයට යොමු කරමු!
#FireworksSafety #PublicAwareness #SriLanka #SocialResponsibility #ProtectOurPets #SolarEnergyProtection
සසංක ද සිල්වා මකුඹුර
A prolonged conflict in the Middle East has the potential to trigger a global economic slowdown, driven by rising oil prices, disrupted supply chains, and reduced investor confidence. For a country like Sri Lanka—highly dependent on imports, remittances, and external financing—such a recession could be particularly challenging. However, crisis also present opportunities for disciplined nations to reset, reorganize, and rebuild stronger.
Sri Lanka must respond with urgency, unity, and pragmatic leadership. The focus should be on internal resilience, efficient governance, and visible economic activity that attracts foreign investment.
Mobilizing Youth for National Productivity
One of the most immediate steps is to channel the energy of unemployed and underutilized youth into productive sectors. A structured national service program, operating under the supervision of the armed forces, can be established to support agriculture, irrigation rehabilitation, and rural infrastructure.
This is not militarization, but organization. Countries such as Israel have demonstrated how disciplined national service can build both economic resilience and social cohesion. Sri Lanka can adapt a similar framework suited to its democratic context, ensuring voluntary participation with incentives, training, and future employment pathways.
Strengthening Local Governance and Law Enforcement
Economic stability requires social order. Empowering vetted village-level leaders—working in coordination with the police and armed forces—can help maintain discipline, prevent petty crime, and ensure fair distribution of scarce resources during difficult times.
However, such a system must operate within the rule of law, with clear accountability mechanisms to prevent misuse of authority. Community leadership should reinforce—not replace—formal institutions.
Fast-Tracking Investment Through Unsolicited Proposals
In times of crisis, speed is critical. Sri Lanka should open the door for credible investors to submit unsolicited proposals, particularly in high-potential sectors such as ports, logistics, offshore services, and marine industries.
With proper safeguards, transparency, and cabinet-level oversight, this approach can accelerate project implementation. Strategic locations like Trincomalee offer immense potential for development as energy, bunkering, and maritime service hubs, especially if positioned to attract regional partners including India and China in a balanced manner.
Enforcing Resource Disciplin
A recession demands strict control over national resources. Wastage of electricity and water must be addressed through both regulation and public awareness.
Simple measures—such as limiting non-essential lighting, especially for commercial advertising—can significantly reduce energy demand. Appointing accountable management representatives in key sectors to monitor and report on resource usage can improve efficiency across the system.
This is not about restriction alone; it is about cultivating a culture of responsibility.
Demonstrating Visible Development to Attract FDI
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is driven not only by policy but by perception. Investors must see tangible signs of activity: construction, infrastructure upgrades, port development, and industrial zones in motion.
Sri Lanka must project itself as a country that is working—despite global adversity. Clear communication, policy consistency, and visible execution will build confidence among international investors.
Conclusion
Sri Lanka cannot control global conflicts, but it can control its response. By mobilizing its people, enforcing discipline, accelerating investment, and managing resources wisely, the country can not only survive a global recession but emerge more self-reliant and competitive.
The path forward requires decisive leadership and collective effort. In times of crisis, nations that act with clarity and courage are the ones that endure—and eventually thrive.
Regards
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
India has made a major strategic move in Sri Lanka by acquiring a controlling stake in Colombo Dockyard, marking its first-ever takeover of a foreign shipbuilding facility. Led by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, the deal gives India a 51 per cent stake in Sri Lanka’s largest and most established shipyard, located within the crucial Port of Colombo.
For decades, five powerful actors—the United States, the Arab states, the European Union, AIPAC, and Israel’s own opposition—have all claimed to seek Israeli-Palestinian peace while enabling permanent occupation, together burying the two state solution.
The Five Enablers Of The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Every powerful actor in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict professes to seek peace. The US and EU repeat the two state mantra, the Arab states invoke Palestinian rights, AIPAC proclaims its defense of Israel’s security, and Israeli opposition parties promise responsible” leadership and stability. Yet each, in its own way, has enabled and entrenched a destructive status quo—shielding Israel from accountability, normalizing permanent ruthless occupation, and rendering Palestinian statehood ever more illusory while fueling radicalization on both sides.
The US as the Prime Enabler
Successive US administrations have long recited support for a two-state solution, yet in practice, Washington has done more to bury that prospect than to realize it. For decades, the United States has shielded Israel from real international accountability while refusing to use its vast leverage to compel any meaningful movement toward Palestinian statehood. By turning the peace process” into an empty ritual, the US has provided cover for a status quo that is neither peaceful nor temporary.
At the same time, unconditional US military, financial, and diplomatic backing has enabled Israel’s relentless settlement expansion and creeping annexation of Palestinian land. American officials issue ritual complaints about settlements, but the financial and military aid kept flowing and the vetoes at the UN kept coming, signaling that no red line would ever be enforced. This toxic mix of lofty rhetoric and impunity has locked both peoples into an ever more entrenched, zero-sum conflict and foreclosed the only viable formula—two states—for ending it.
The Gaza war has stripped away any remaining illusions. Even amid mass devastation and accusations of genocidal conduct, Washington has continued to arm and protect Israel diplomatically, becoming complicit in Israel’s war crimes. To be sure, in the name of protecting Israel, the United States has gravely imperiled Israel’s viability as a democratic state and its long-term security while setting the stage for the next violent conflagration, to Israel’s detriment.
The Arab States’ Shortcomings
The Arab states, though never tiring of affirming the justice of the Palestinian cause and the necessity of a two-state solution, have consistently fallen short of their words. Although they possess enormous strategic weight—withholding or granting diplomatic recognition, and opening markets, energy, airspace, and security cooperation—they have rarely used these tools to force Israel to choose between occupation and peace with the Palestinians. This failure has signaled to Israel that it can normalize relations with some Arab states, à la the Abraham Accords, while maintaining its grip on Palestinian land without risking any backlash.
Even in the face of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, most Arab governments limited themselves to statements, summits, and carefully choreographed outrage that stopped well short of meaningful pressure. The Arab states that normalized relations with Israel continued to protect key political and economic ties, while the front-line states—Egypt and Jordan—maintained security coordination that shielded Israel from real strategic isolation.
By doing so little when so much was at stake, Arab states have become, in effect, accomplices to the perpetuation of the conflict they denounce. Their inaction has left Palestinians without a credible Arab shield, allowed Israel to entrench settlement and annexation, and pushed the two-state solution—the only realistic path to a just peace and security for both Israel and the Palestinians—to the wayside.
The EU’s Shortsightedness
The European Union is Israel’s largest trading partner and a major source of investment, technology, and diplomatic legitimacy. Yet, it has systematically refused to wield this considerable leverage to force a choice between occupation and peace with the Palestinians. Instead of linking market access, research cooperation, or association agreements to clear benchmarks on settlements and Palestinian rights, Brussels has largely confined itself to criticism and symbolic measures that Israel has comfortably ignored. The EU’s posture has effectively insulated Israel from serious economic or diplomatic consequences for entrenching an apartheid one-state reality of perpetual domination.
At the same time, although individual EU states, including France, the United Kingdom, and Spain, have recognized the Palestinian state, they have done virtually nothing to turn that recognition into hard power; arms exports and trade preferences continue with Israel as usual. Recognition becomes a cheap, cost free declaration rather than a meaningful constraint on Israeli policy.
Thus, EU passivity has helped normalize occupation and settlement expansion while leaving Palestinians without an effective European counterweight, making a genuine two-state solution ever more remote, to the detriment of both Israel and the Palestinians.
AIPAC’s Culpability
AIPAC presents itself as a friend of Israel. Still, by relentlessly reinforcing the country’s most hardline positions, it has turned pro Israel” into a rigid orthodoxy that equates any pressure on Israeli governments with betrayal, thereby narrowing the range of policies American lawmakers feel politically safe to support.
For decades, AIPAC has backed Israeli governments without qualification—endorsing military campaigns, providing political cover for settlement expansion, and supporting a maximalist posture toward the Palestinians. It rallies Congress behind unconditional aid, arms transfers, and diplomatic protection. This has helped Israeli leaders believe they can permanently deepen occupation and de facto annexation while still counting on automatic American support.
AIPAC has refused to use its considerable leverage to press for peace-oriented concessions and territorial compromise. Instead, it has rendered the two state solution an empty slogan while supporting the Israeli policies that make it impossible. In doing so, AIPAC has directly contributed to the ever worsening conflict and put Israel’s security under constant threat. Still, AIPAC has not awakened from its blind support that jeopardizes Israel’s very existence and, with that, scuttles any prospect for an Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Israeli Opposition Parties’ Dismal Failure Israel’s opposition parties have failed to offer a credible, sustained alternative to the right’s permanent conflict paradigm, and in doing so have gravely weakened Israel’s chances for peace. Instead of forcefully championing a two state solution, most opposition leaders tiptoe around the very words Palestinian state,” intimidated by electoral backlash and the charge of being soft” on security. Their political inaptitude has allowed the right to define what is realistic,” narrowing the political options to endless occupation and recurrent war.
Thus, they have directly contributed to the current impasse, making the conflict ever more intractable. Without a major party willing to argue that Israel’s long term security depends on a two-state solution, the public hears only variations of the same message: manage, contain, punish, but never resolve. This abdication cedes the strategic debate to the extremist Netanyahu and his messianic lunatics, who are creepingly implementing their scheme of greater Israel, which would bury any prospect for peace.
It is a dire reality for the country that the opposing parties failed to coalesce and present a united front to push for a two-state solution, even following the Gaza war, which has unequivocally demonstrated that after nearly 80 years of conflict, only peace would provide Israel with ultimate security. Every leader from these parties feels they are the most qualified to be the prime minister, but has failed miserably to offer realistic plans to end the conflict.
By failing to unite, organize, educate, and mobilize Israelis around a clear two state vision, these parties are undermining Israel’s security, eroding its international standing, and endangering its very future as a Jewish, democratic state.
The record of these five enablers is devastating. They made a just peace ever more remote, pushing Israel precariously toward an apartheid one state reality it cannot sustain morally, demographically, or strategically, while abandoning the Palestinians to the cruelest, inhumane occupation.
They must change course now—or condemn Israelis and Palestinians to generations of bloodshed that will erase Israel’s reason for being and extinguish Palestinian nationhood.
____________
Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.alon@alonben-meir.com
The fastest-conquering empire in world history took 75 years to fail in India. This is not a footnote. This is the most suppressed military story in medieval history. A forensic breakdown of 13 Arab expeditions, 5 dead commanders, and the Hindu kingdoms that broke the Umayyad Caliphate — backed by their own documents.
The Arab Caliphate conquered Persia in months. Spain in an afternoon. But when they reached the Indus, something different happened. 75 years. 13 expeditions. 5 commanders killed in the field. And a final admission from the Caliph himself — India was “not worth the cost.”
This is the story of how Indian civilization stopped the world’s most powerful military machine — and why your textbooks never told you. We trace the evidence: Muhammad bin Qasim’s brief entry into Sindh, the three-year collapse of Arab rule, and the 300-year wall built by the Pratiharas that the Caliphate never broke. This isn’t mythology. This is archaeology, primary sources, and the Caliphate’s own records — used against them. If you care about ancient Indian history, medieval Indian history, or the real story of how Hindu kingdoms shaped world civilization — this is the documentary nobody made until now.
Sri Lanka’s Legal Education system values uncritically the inheritance of Roman – Dutch Law but nobody has ever complained that the very same Roman Dutch law was used by the Dutch East India Company to issue Placarts banning Buddhism and Hinduism as Cannibal faiths in 1711 and 1732.
Sri Lanka’s law schools have yet to draw attention to this unpardonable failing in the Dutch colonial administration and Roman – Dutch Law that is still misleadingly taught as a neutral framework of legal principles. It has always been an instrument of colonial control especially in South Africa during Apartheid Rule. This is not part of the conversation in Sri Lanka’s law schools.
AI Overview Response
This is a profound observation on the historical friction between colonial legal structures and indigenous culture.
While Roman-Dutch Law provides the foundation for our civil matters (like contracts and delicts), the Placaten (edicts) you mentioned highlight its origins as an instrument of colonial control. The 1711 and 1732 edicts were designed to consolidate the Dutch Reformed Church’s authority by criminalizing “heathen” practices.
The reason this often goes “uncomplaining” in modern legal education is likely due to the compartmentalization of the law:
This creates a paradox where a system once used to suppress local identity is now upheld as a pillar of Sri Lanka’s jurisprudence.
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The assertion that Sri Lanka’s legal education system uncritically values the inheritance of Roman-Dutch Law (RDL) is a topic of contemporary debate, particularly regarding how the colonial context of this law is taught. While Roman-Dutch Law is formally recognized as the residual “common law” of the island and is highly influential in areas like land, property, and delict, its application during the Dutch East India Company (VOC) era (1658–1796) was fundamentally tools for control rather than a neutral legal system. .
While Roman-Dutch Law is formally recognized as the residual “common law” of the island and is highly influential in areas like land, property, and delict, its application during the Dutch East India Company (VOC) era (1658–1796) was fundamentally tools for control rather than a neutral legal system.
Regarding the use of Roman-Dutch law to regulate religious practices:
The “adoption” of this legal framework by the British in 1796 did lead to the gradual abolishment of specific, exceptionally harsh Dutch-era practices, such as torture and certain capital punishments, as highlighted in colonial ordinances.
However, the foundational reliance on a system that was initially imposed as a tool of a commercial entity (the VOC) remains a key area of study for legal historians examining the nuances of Sri Lanka’s mixed legal system.
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Apr 12, 2026 #srilankahistory #Channel4 #RightToReply
This rare archival footage captures a historic Channel 4 UK Right to Reply” programme (1986), featuring a response to the controversial documentary A Troubled Paradise” (1985), produced by Tim Cooper.
The programme presents a critical perspective from Douglas Wickramaratne, alongside Chandra Monerawela, then High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom, addressing concerns of bias and misrepresentation in the original broadcast.
This is a significant moment in media history, highlighting how Sri Lankan representatives challenged Tamil Tiger narratives during a pivotal period. 🎤
Featured Speakers: Douglas Wickramaratne Chandra Monerawela (High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the UK) 🏛️
Context: Original documentary: A Troubled Paradise (1985) Broadcaster: Channel 4 (UK) Programme: Right to Reply Year: 1986 🇱🇰 Cultural & Historical Significance:
This programme reflects the engagement of the Sri Lankan diaspora and official representatives in shaping international discourse during a critical period in Sri Lanka’s history. 🧾
Credits: Organised by the Sinhala Association (UK) 📺
More Archival Sri Lankan History: Explore rare footage, cultural events, and historical discussions from the Sri Lankan community in the UK.
Colonial and Neoliberal Origins: Ecological and Collective Alternatives
https://www.degruyter.com/document/isbn/9783111203454/html?lang=en
Now in Paperback
This book provides a broad picture of Sri Lanka’s on-going political and economic crisis as the culmination of several centuries of colonial and neo-colonial developments. The book presents the Sri Lankan crisis as an exemplification of a broader global existential crisis facing more and more debt trapped countries, especially in the post-colonial Global South. The book’s in-depth case study raises important questions pertaining to sovereignty and political and economic democracy in Sri Lanka and the world at large.
The book also explores the emergence of the crisis in the context of the accelerating geopolitical conflict between China and the USA in the Indian Ocean. It ponders if the debt crisis, economic collapse and political destabilization in Sri Lanka were intentionally precipitated to the advantage of the Quadrilateral Alliance (USA, India, Australia and Japan).
Moving beyond geopolitical rivalry, the book juxtaposes Sri Lanka’s political-economic crisis with the broader ecological crisis of climate change and sea-level rise.
The book concludes with a consideration of the ethical dilemmas behind the debt and survival crisis in Sri Lanka and across the world. It points out a range of social movements and initiatives in Sri Lanka and the Global South which subscribe to collective and ecological alternatives and a Middle Path of sustainability and social justice.
Asoka Bandarage, California Institute for Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA, USA.
“In this well-written, well-researched scholarly text, Asoka Bandarage brilliantly combines a detailed historical analysis of the political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka and a global ethical perspective pertaining to similar crises elsewhere in the world.”
T. Lalithasiri Gunaruwan, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
“A very useful analysis providing depth and background to understanding the current Sri Lankan economic crisis. Bandarage goes well beyond the standard tropes of ‘policy errors’ or culture/identity-based explanations, to locate the Sri Lankan experience in the wider context of profit-, technology- and finance-driven globalization.”
Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
“Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World is a most timely book – and urgently needed for the world that is at a critical crossroads of extreme and accelerating possibilities. For alternatives that are just and sustainable, the crisis needs to be understood both historically as well as in the contemporary context. I cannot think of very many who can do that – both with scholarship and passion – with a fusion of global as well as local and holistic perspectives as Asoka Bandarage has been able to do here.”
Sajed Kamal has taught at Boston University, Northeastern University, Antioch New England Graduate School, and Brandeis University
“A powerful, riveting and in-depth analysis of the structural and destructive legacy of colonialism on post-colonial and debt-trapped countries like Sri Lanka … Dr. Bandarage’s superb book is well-researched, expertly synthesized and presented with rigor in an engaging and accessible writing style. It is a tremendous achievement and a must-read for every scholar and student of history, colonialism, underdevelopment, hegemonic domination and ecological disasters. Its cutting-edge scholarship is of critical importance in the fields of economics, political science, environmental studies and policy coordination at the national and international level.”
Filomina C. Steady, Professor Emerita, Anthropology and Africana Studies, Wellesley College, USA
“Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World is a valuable addition to any library or private collection concerned with the historical roots and future of the crisis in Sri Lanka and its global implications. In these pages Professor Bandarage writes with urgency and clarity of her nation, its situation in relationship to a history of colonialism, neoliberalism, complex global issues, and climate change. She brings to the table a deep understanding of contemporary international complexities, and the reality of climate change for the world today. Her appeal to a more compassionate understanding of human nature and consciousness itself could not be more timely.”
Allan Leslie Combs, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Consciousness Studies and Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies, California Institute of Integral Studies
“Bandarage’s book … is a must-read for those seeking alternative methodological stances and more comprehensive perspectives on the analysis of socio-economic crises in emerging economies … . Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World stands out as a refreshing and much-needed addition to the body of literature addressing the Sri Lankan crisis of the 2020s. It provides a holistic viewpoint, highlighting the multifaceted nature of the crisis and tracing its origins back to Sri Lanka’s historical evolution from colonial times. Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World is perhaps the only comprehensive publication written from such a holistic approach so far … .”
W. D. Lakshman, Professor Emeritus, University of Colombo
“In Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World, Asoka Bandarage provides a profound and compelling analysis of the contemporary dilemma that goes far beyond conventional approaches. Using an in-depth case study of Sri Lanka, the book provides an incisive analysis of the structural and ideological roots of the interrelated global political, economic and existential crisis. It traces the trajectory of colonialism and neoliberalism which has given rise to environmental and social destruction including economic inequality, debt, poverty and political instability in Sri Lanka and the Global South. While delineating the prevailing system of exploitation and destruction, the book brings clarity and direction to the urgency of change. Going beyond a mere critique of capitalism, the book questions the paradigm of domination and the underlying dualism of self versus the other and calls for a shift towards a partnership approach to life which upholds the ethic of interdependence and harmony. This is a very thorough and insightful work of great value internationally to policymakers and activists in the environmental, social justice and peace movements and to all concerned with resolving the survival crisis facing us.”
Roberto Savio, Inter Press News Service, World Social Forum, Othernews, University for Peace of the United Nations
“This book provides a deep analysis on present day conditions lining up monetary, economic, political and philosophical issues. It demonstrates that the crisis is not merely economic or one of state administration but a crisis of huma nity. Among other urgent issues, the author discusses the destruction of the environment and resources, the debt burden, the demise of states and historical civilizations and the transformation of humanity itself. A special feature of the book is the presentation of facts with a historical and structural perspective and a vision of alternative values and evolution. This book is a timely contribution which allows not only our country, but intellectuals throughout the world to think again on the path we have travelled and form a new perception on how a better world could be created.”
Dr. Liyanage Tudor Weerasinghe, Senior Lecturer in Mass Media, Sri Palee Campus, University of Colombo
“Professor Asoka Bandarage’s new book, Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World: Colonial and Neoliberal Origins: Ecological and Collective Alternatives, is a remarkable book inasmuch as she manages to deal honestly and innovatively with local, regional, and international problems and issues simultaneously. Her analysis of the Sri Lankan crisis is set within the context of regional and global issues as well as the historical trajectory from Dutch to British to US and Chinese colonial and neo-colonial experiences. Her investigation of the crisis in this wider perspective shows how truly transnational yet local her analysis and prognoses are. She illustrates how Sri Lanka and the world can learn from past mistakes by taking a total perspective of the problems of post-colonial dominance, corporate hegemony, autocratic corruption, structural inequality, environmental degradation, and debt crises. Her solutions adhere to an already powerful double movement towards participatory democracy, quality of life issues, industry policy, community involvement, and personal development. As part of a wider voice gaining momentum in the global community, her call for a humanistic revival and a global renaissance is to be condoned and supported for us to move from polycrises to a more balanced reality on planet Earth into the hopefully short-term future.”
Dr Phil O’Hara, Director of the Global Political Economy Research Unit (GPERU), Perth, Australia, and Past President of the Association for Evolutionary Economics (AFEE)
I enclose a write upon the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh, I initiated in Bangladesh which has now grown to international level.
by Garvin Karunaratne
It all happened in the Bangladesh Secretariat, three days after General Ershard took over the country in a bloodless coup on the 24 th of March 1982. The Minister for Youth Development was clamped in prison and the work of the Ministry was in jeopardy. The third in command, Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam, the Minister for Labour and Manpower evaluated the work done in the Ministry. Suddenly at the close, he realized that I was an outsider and inquired who I was and I was then introduced as the Commonwealth Fund Advisor to the Ministry of Youth Development.
What can you contribute for Bangladesh”. It was more a military command. I could have spoken in support of the youth training programmes done by the Ministry but decided otherwise. I replied.
I would like you to consider approving a new programme aimed at making the 40,000 youths who are being trained every year to be guided to become self employed.”
The Secretary to the Treasury, the highest officer in the land, objected.
The Creation of self employment can never be done. The ILO of the United Nations has just folded up a self employment programme which they have been trying to establish in Tangail, Bangladesh over the past three years with a massive loss. They brought experts from all parts of the world to guide the programme but it was a total failure. The Bangladesh Treasury has no more funds to waste. The ILO are the experts. They hold the last word on employment creation.
I replied that though the ILO failed I had the experience as well as the academic qualifications, which was contested by the Secretary to the Treasury. He was adamant that I would fail. I argued with the Secretary to the Treasury explaining how I had successfully established employment projections in Sri Lanka and how I held the academic qualifications at doctoral level. The heated battle went on for over two hours. The Minister allowed the two of us to argue; he was making notes and finally commanded us to stop.
Are there any development programmes in Bangladesh that train people to become self employed?”
The Secretary to the Treasury replied: None”
How many youths are trained in vocations every year.” The Minister inquired.
The Secretary to the Treasury rattled out the number that were being trained by all Government Departments and it totalled to some two hundred thousand. This included the 40,000 the Ministry of Youth trained a year.
Tell me the number of youths that pass out every year and fail to find either employment or a place for further study and continue being unemployed and destitute, living scraping the barrel for life.”
The Secretary to the Treasury replied. It is in the millions.”
The Minister without battling an eyelid ordered, staring at me, in my face.
I approve you establishing a self employment programme. Go ahead and show what you can do, which the ILO. failed to do.”
Before I could thank him the Secretary to the Treasury replied;
I will not provide any funds from the Bangladesh Treasury. The failure of the ILO attempt was a massive waste of funds and the Treasury has no more funds to waste.”
I replied even without consulting the two Secretaries of the Ministry who were present.
I need no new funds. I will find savings within approved youth training programme budgets to hold training sessions. I need approval to divert savings from approved training budgets to create this new programme and approval to alter the remits of officers to include training for self employment.”
The Minister approved my request.
I got cracking with training youth directors and lecturers of training institutes in economics. It included detailed studies on the economy of Bangladesh to identify areas where there was a propensity to create employment in a manner that also helped the economy in terms of production.
We had no funds to offer subsidies of any sort.
Youth Directors were all veteran workers who knew the art of relating to the youth. They moved with the youth and introduced ideas of how the youth could find incomes by rearing chicks and live with the chicks and see them grow. Some youths persuaded their brothers and sisters- even those who had migrated to the UK to help them. Till then they had not known what to with what they had studied in their three months training.
Yousoof Ali, a youth who had been trained did not know what to do with what he had learned and he became a nuisance to his brothers and sisters at home. His elder brother who could not tolerate him even went to the office of the Deputy Director of Youth at Jamalpur and accused the Department of indoctrinating his brother with ideas they could not follow. He even threatened to burn the office down. Instead of reporting to the Police who would have arrested him for public disorder the Deputy Director for Youth Development got in touch with us. I instructed the Deputy Director to somehow placate him and request him to attend our training sessions on self employment with his belligerent brother This was in a weeks’ time. When I marched into the training sessions I was shown his brother who was really breathing fire at us and the Department. Our sessions ran into hours of activity where we inspired the youths to save and commence any enterprises on their own. Some were motivated to even save the small daily stipend we paid for attendance to buy chicks which they could rear and see how the value increased. Our sessions were more inspiring the youth to save and take action to grow something, buy a chick and see it grow. The belligerent brother too joined us in our sessions because we related to them as brothers and sisters, as equals and the brother was so convinced that he immediately coffed up funds for his belligerent brother to buy a cow, ducklings and chicks and rear them. His brother got down to work under our supervision. Ten months later, I met the belligerent lad- he had , 190 layer ducks, one milk cow, 2 goats, earning a net income of Taka 1496 in December1982, all achieved in eight months. Our aim was to make them earn Taka 500 the then salary of a Clerical Officer in the Government Service.
We built up the momentum not by offering money and subsidies, but by relating to them day in and day out. One word of a problem- it could be small farm of a dozen chicks two hundred miles away in an inaccessible village but we were there within hours to share the burden with the youth. We were inspiring the youth to becoeme entrepreneurs and it was never instructing, but in youth work language participating with the youth, make the youth think and act -to educate them informally.
We were building up the abilities and capacities of the youth to become entrepreneurs.
It was non formal education in action where officials were never instructors but providers of ideas for the youth to think and become motivated. The staff was totally trained in non formal education methods of inspiring the youths to think and act on their own and become productive.
By the time my service period of two years was over, I had trained officials to continue the employment programme as a youth movement. It really paid high dividends. I last met the Minister Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam just before I left Bangladesh. My request to him was to make an order that youths on our Youth Development Programme who had within months created incomes and earned more than the tax level should be given a reprieve to be exempt from taxes for a few years. The Minister said he will get that done.
These were the beginings of a youth self employment programme that begining in 1982 has created over three million youth entrepreneurs within four decades. 1982 to 2022, the only such programme of development the world has known. In a letter to me on June 20, 2005, a full twenty two years after I had established the Self Employment Programme, the Secretary to the Ministry of Youth Development wrote:
You will be happy to learn that the Self Employment Programme of the Youth Department has expanded across the country and attained great success. I have not forgotten your valuable contribution to the success of this great programme.”(Muhammed Asafuddowlah: June 20, 2005)
The Fourth Five Year Plan of the Planning Commission of Bangladesh, makes glorious references to this Programme and devotes eight pages to detail its success. It is a Programme that has achieved accolades in all the Five Year Plans of the Planning Commission.
It is important to note that for the first four years we had no funds from the Bangladesh Treasury. We found funds through savings in approved training budgets . But once we proved ourselves though hard work in training youths and inspiring them to become productive it paid huge dividends.
The youth self employment programme became a national programme and many helped. Way back after my work in Bangladesh I was working in Edinburgh. Whenever I went to London I took bulky and heavy dress pattern books which I handed over to Bangladesh Biman to be taken to the poor youth entrepreneurs in dress making at Jamalpur. That was the contribution made by Bangladesh Biman.
By now over three nmillion youths have become entrepreneurs on this programme. Many thanks are due to the officers of the Bangladesh Civil Service and officers of the Ministry , trained by me, who carried on the programme initiated by me to achieve the world stature of today. Today the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh is a world class programme that has found a definite place within the sands of time.
It is time that the Government of Sri Lanka seeks to establish a similar programme to create employment for our youth and also create the production that will allay the economic meltdown of today.
In 2011,when His Excellency Milinda Moragoda, today our Ambassador at Delhi made a bid for the Mayorship of Colombo in his Manifesto stated that if elected, he would seek to implement the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh which incidentally was am amazingly successful scheme introduced to that country by a distinguished son of Sri Lanka, Dr Garvin Karunaratne, who served in Bangladesh as an international consultant.”(The Nation: 11/9/2011)
It will be a pleasure to serve my Motherland again and I look forward to establish an employment creation programme if called upon. . It will be done in nineteen months- the time I took to establish that Programme in Bangladesh.
Garvin Karunaratne, Ph D Michigan State University, formerly SLAS, GA Matara 1971-1973.
During the Dutch colonial period in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the Dutch East India Company (VOC) issued several Placaaten (decrees or edicts) designed to suppress non-Protestant religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism, with particularly severe actions taken in the 1710s and 1730s.
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Several repressive placaarts (official proclamations) were issued during the Dutch colonial period in Sri Lanka. Records indicate a major escalation in religious repression around 1732.
Key Dutch Placaarts and Religious Policies
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) used a legalistic approach to suppress local religions and Catholicism in favor of the Reformed Church.
Method of Suppression
Unlike the more direct violence often attributed to the Portuguese, the Dutch utilized administrative pressure to force conversion:
Despite these harsh laws, many Buddhists practiced their faith in secret or found refuge in the Kingdom of Kandy, where the Buddhist Sinhalese kings protected and even helped revive the religion.
Courtesy : AI Overview
Christopher Schweitzer was a German serving in the Dutch forces in Ceylon. The voyage of Christopher Schweitzer from Wurtenberg, Germany who spent time in Ceylon in the 1670s has left an interesting account.
While in Ceylon between 1676 – 1682 Schweitzer refers to the visit of a Persian Delegation to the Kingdom of Kandy probably in 1679. While stationed in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) as a soldier and clerk for the Dutch East India Company ( VOC) between 1676 and 1682, Christopher Schweitzer documented the arrival of a Persian delegation sent to the Kingdom of Kandy. Schweitzer was then performing duties as a Sentry guard in the border areas of the Dutch controlled administration i.e., Avissawella ( Sitawaka) and Kandyan Kingdom.
Key details of this historical encounter include: Arrival and Purpose: The Persian ambassadors arrived in the late 1670s (around 1679). They were sent by the Safavid Shah to the court of King Rajasinghe II (r. 1635–1687).
The Delegation’s Gifts: Schweitzer noted that the ambassadors brought exotic gifts for the King, including Persian horses, which were highly prized in the Kandyan court for their stature and breed.
Protocol and Reception: Schweitzer describes the immense pomp and ceremony involved in receiving the delegation. The Dutch, who controlled the maritime provinces, were often required to facilitate the passage of such foreign embassies to the inland Kandyan kingdom.
Observations on Culture: In his journal, titled Journal-und-Tage-buch seiner sechs jährigen ost indienischen Reise (later translated as Voyage to the East Indies), Schweitzer also provided details on the luxurious Persian textiles used by the Kandyan royalty, which he attributed to these diplomatic and trade exchanges. What are the details of the Persian Delegation to the Kingdom of Kandy in 1679?
1) How many were in the delegation? 2) What are the names and designations of the visitors? 3) What are the gifts? 4) What were the political discussions on ? 5) What did the King of Kandy want from the Persians? 6) What did the Persians want from the Kandyans? 7) Any further information on these topics will be valued.
Schweitzer’s account is a rare European eyewitness record of 17th-century Kandyan diplomacy with powers beyond the reach of European colonial interests.
Senaka Weeraratna
Refer
Schweitzer, C. 1688. Journal- und Tage-Buch seiner sechs-jahrigen Ost-Indianischen Reise, angefangen den 1 Decembris Anno 1675 und vollendet den 2 Septemb Anno 1682. Tuebingen, Johann Georg Cotta. pp. i-iv, 1-136, i-xiii.
After Assam, Keralam and Puducherry (union territory), the State legislative assembly elections are knocking at the doors of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in the second half of April 2026. Meanwhile, the millions of voters have shown an extraordinary commitment to electoral politics as they participated in the largely peaceful single-phase assembly polls on 9 April recording a high voters’ turnout. Assam recorded 85.96% voter participation in 126 assembly seats, where Puducherry showcased over 90% voting in 30 constituencies followed by Keralam (140 seats) with nearly 80% turnout.
Assam’s 2.50 crore electorates (including 1.25 crore female voters and 6.4 lakh first-timers) have sealed the fates of 722 candidates representing different political parties and independent contenders in the electronic voting machines which were set in 31,490 polling stations across 35 districts. Tamil Nadu now prepares for single-phase poling on 23 April and West Bengal readied for voting in two phases (23 and 29 April). The outcome of all polls including the bye-elections held in Karnataka’s Bagalkot and Davanagere South seats, Nagaland’s Koridang and Tripura’s Dharmanagar constituency will be available on 4 May.
According to the Election Commission of India, a large number of assembly constituencies in Assam namely Parbatjhora, Golakganj, Gauripur, Dhubri, Birsing Jarua, Bilasipara, Mankachar, Jaleshwar, Goalpara West, Goalpara East, Abhayapuri, Srijangram, Bongaigaon, Mandia, Chenga, Pakabetbari, Chamaria, Barkhetri, Nalbari, Dalgaon, Laharighat, Dhing, Rupahihat and Samaguri recorded over 90% polling. However, the urban localities under Kamrup and Kamrup (metropolitan) districts reported a slightly lower turnout (around 80% in Dimoria, Dispur, Guwahati Central, Jalukbari and New Guwahati seats). Earlier, Assam witnessed a significant voters’ response in 2016 (84.72%), which defeated the Congress government in Dispur and paved the way for a new found alliance led by Bharatiya Janata Party.
With high voters’ participation, the political observers in the region put two completely opposite predictions, where one group is favouring the return of the BJP-led government and the other one has been weighing for the Indian National Congress-led opposition alliance. A sizable population of Assam openly supported the saffron alliance citing the reasons for improved safety-security scenario, sustainable development and impartial welfare initiatives for the entire population. An aggressive campaign by incumbent chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, adding colours to it by subsequent presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah with other senior BJP leaders in election rallies, is projected to encourage more voters to reach the polling booths.
Moreover, the pertinent issues including anti-influx measures, implementing a number of peace accords, wide ranging development and public welfare initiatives might have attracted the attention of indigenous population. Assam government’s flagship direct benefit transfer scheme Orunodoi offers a monthly financial assistance of Rs 1250, deposited in bank accounts of eligible women, where the scheme today covers nearly 40 lakh beneficiaries across the State. Just a few days prior to the poll schedule was announced, the government transferred Rs 9,000 to each Orunodoi beneficiary (comprising four months of monthly deposits along with a Bohag/Rongali Bihu gift in cash).
A large group of analysts argue that the larger participation of voters indicated the confidence in the ruling government and so they term it as a pro-incumbency wave. They also pointed out that the mainstream Assamese voters usually show reluctance for participating in any electoral process (compared to the Bangladesh/East Pakistan origin Muslim population living in Assam since the days of independence), but this time they came together to elect their representatives keeping an eye to the future of the next generation.
Additionally, the special review of voters list prior to the polls where the names of non-existent voters (due to death or girls marrying outside the constituency) and an increased awareness among common electorates also contributed in enhancing the voter turnout visibly. The women, many of whom remain beneficiaries of various government-sponsored welfare schemes in the last few years, exceeded their male counterparts. Records indicate that Assam women voters were legging behind the male electorates in 2011 assembly polls, whereas they made it to equal share in 2016 and in the last two elections (2021 and 2026), the female voters slightly surpassed the male contributions.
The other group has tried to establish the scenario in favour of the opposition parties citing the reasons of a decade long anti-incumbency, continued atrocities against the religious minority voters and personal corruption and mismanagement of government funds by CM Sarma and his family. Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi termed the unprecedented voter turnout in polls was in favour of change. The deputy-leader of the oppositions in Lok Sabha also came out vocal against Sarma precisely after his party senior Pawan Khera made sensational public allegations against Sarma’s family. Just three days before the polling date, Khera organized a press conference in New Delhi (and later in Guwahati also) to claim that the CM’s wife Riniki Bhuyan possesses multiple passports and unaccounted assets in foreign lands. Gogoi opined that since Khera’s press conference (which invited court notices to him and later compelled to approach Telangana High Court for temporary relief), Sarma appeared panicked and he was making abusive public statements as well as intimidating remarks against some media personnel.
Gogoi was seconded by political leaders belonging to the Congress-led alliance like Asom Jatiya Parishad, Raijor Dal, etc. However, once a trusted ally to the Congress, All India United Democratic Front went to polls solo in this election. BJP Assam president Dilip Saikia expressed confidence that the saffron party-led National Democratic Alliance would do better this time. Terming the exceptional voter turnout in a peaceful ambience as pro-BJP, the saffron leader argued that the NDA would easily cross 75 (total score in 2021 assembly election) this year. Asom Gana Parishad president Atul Bora also predicted to win over 90 seats for the NDA, where his party fielded candidates in 26 constituencies, Bodoland People’s Front nominees fought in 11 and the BJP in 89 constituencies.
Jorhat constituency attracted the media attention as the sitting BJP legislator Hitendra Nath Goswami and his competitor Congress Parliamentarian Gogoi have shown retrained campaigning with no personal attacks. CM Sarma however criticized the Congress for bringing up the issue of Zubeen Garg’s mysterious death in Singapore last year for the political campaign anticipating electoral gains. The Congress manifesto promised to facilitate justice for Zubeen within 100 days if voted to power. Zubeen’s widow Garima Saikia Garg and close relatives had earlier appealed to all political parties for not politicizing his untimely death for electoral gains. While casting votes in Guwahati, Garima repeated her call after expressing confidence in the trials currently going on in local court.
ICC is duty bound to uphold and promote the ‘ Spirit of Cricket’. ‘ Natural Justice ‘ is a cardinal component of the latter. ICC is mandated by its fundamentals to resolve the dispute on the ownership of Player Referral (DRS) Intellectual Property by invoking Natural Justice principles rather than misleading legal jargon that brings no relief to the true inventor of Player Relief.
The dispute over the Intellectual Property (IP) ownership of the Player Referral/Decision Review System (DRS) has evolved into a significant ethical challenge for the International Cricket Council (ICC), with calls to apply principles of “Natural Justice” rather than legalistic defenses.
The Claim of Authorship
ICC Position and Legal Standing
Arguments for ‘Natural Justice’ Over Legal Jargon
As of April 2026, the dispute continues, with supporters calling for the system to be officially recognized as the “Weeraratna DRS” to reflect its true origins.
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AI Overview
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See also
https://share.google/aimode/8jOGsgASSQnYZOH2x
The International Cricket Council (ICC) faces ongoing calls to resolve a long-standing intellectual property dispute regarding the Decision Review System (DRS) based on principles of Natural Justice and the “Spirit of Cricket“.
The Core Dispute
The dispute centers on the claim by
Senaka Weeraratna, a Sri Lankan lawyer, that he is the original inventor of the “Player Referral” concept—the foundational element of the DRS.
Argument for Natural Justice
Proponents of Weeraratna’s claim argue that the ICC, as the custodian of the sport, is duty-bound to uphold the Spirit of Cricket, which prioritizes fair play and sportsmanship. They contend that the ICC should move beyond “misleading legal jargon” and apply the following principles:
Proposed Resolutions
Current discussions and appeals suggest several paths forward to resolve the impasse without further legal technicalities:
Source: AI Overview
The recent recognition of NDB Bank as a top performer at Euromoney 2026, prominently featured in the Sunday papers, painted a picture of strength, resilience, and institutional excellence. Yet, within days, the public has been confronted with deeply troubling revelations of alleged fraud within the same institution. This stark contrast between celebrated success and emerging scandal raises urgent questions about governance, oversight, and the effectiveness of Sri Lanka’s accelerating push toward digitization in banking and finance.
At a time when the Government is championing digital transformation across all sectors—particularly financial services—this incident exposes a critical vulnerability: technology alone cannot guarantee integrity. Digital systems are only as strong as the governance frameworks, internal controls, and ethical standards that underpin them. When these fail, digitization may even amplify risks rather than mitigate them.
The situation calls for decisive and transparent action. The leadership of the bank, including the CEO and Board of Directors, must be held fully accountable for lapses in oversight. Responsibility at this level is not merely symbolic—it is foundational to public trust. Where serious irregularities are suspected, temporary restrictions, including legal and investigative measures, may be necessary to ensure impartial inquiry and prevent interference.
Entire board of directors should be kept on house arrest with conditions prohibiting oversea travel
The role of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka becomes paramount in such circumstances. As the regulator and guardian of financial stability, it must act swiftly to safeguard depositors, maintain systemic confidence, and, if required, assume supervisory control over operations until normalcy is restored. Such intervention is not punitive but protective—aimed at preserving the integrity of the financial system.
Equally concerning is the potential economic fallout. If losses arising from fraudulent activities are written off, it may reduce the institution’s tax liabilities, effectively shifting part of the burden onto the public. This creates a moral hazard and undermines fairness in the economic system. Mechanisms must be put in place to ensure that those responsible are held financially accountable and that illicit gains are traced, recovered, and returned.
This episode must serve as a wake-up call. Sri Lanka’s journey toward a digital economy is both necessary and inevitable, but it must be anchored in robust governance, real-time auditing, and uncompromising accountability. Without these, digitization risks becoming a façade—masking systemic weaknesses rather than resolving them.
The public deserves more than assurances; it deserves action. Transparency, accountability, and institutional reform must now take precedence over accolades and public relations narratives. Only then can confidence be restored, and the promise of a modern, digital financial system truly realized.
Desert Wanderer … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
SEE https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/04/08/ceasefire-deal-iran-us-israel-war-trump/
The negotiations in Islamabad have ended without an agreement. Rather than engaging in genuine diplomacy, the United States attempted to bully the Iranian negotiators into accepting their demands unconditionally or facing annihilation. JD Vance proved to be a big disappointment in this regard; the negotiations in Pakistan were a waste of time and space, as American intentions were rotten from the start.
This diplomatic failure is not an isolated event but rather a reflection of a broader, more violent strategy being championed by US leaders and the American media. For instance, Marc A. Thiessen, in an essay titled Here’s how Trump can prove Iran wrong,” outlined a series of aggressive measures designed to force Iranian capitulation. His proposal included targeted strikes to assassinate the Iranian negotiation team—individuals who, in his words, were previously spared for the purpose of negotiations.” By leveraging direct threats, Thiessen argued that Iranian leaders must understand their lives depend on reaching a deal favorable to the Trump administration, while further advocating for the military occupation of Kharg Island and the seizure of Iranian oil assets.
For Full Report The Lull Before the Storm: Why the Islamabad Collapse Signals Global Catastrophe. | Thuppahi’s Blog
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