Dr. Daya Hewapathirane

Buddhism has been and continues to be, the basis or foundation of Sri Lanka’s culture for over 2300 years. The Sinhala people have been practicing Buddhism continuously, far longer than anyone else in the world. Ours is the oldest Buddhist country in the world with Buddhism arriving in the island and establishing itself far and wide since 237 BCE. Buddhists across the world respect Sri Lanka as the country where pure Buddhism or Buddhist teachings in its original form prevails. Notably, it is the traditional Buddhist flag of Sri Lanka which is regarded as the Buddhist flag of all Buddhists across the world.

The Sinhala Buddhist culture is the national culture of Sri Lanka. It is one of the World’s oldest, continuous, unchanged cultures in existence and a culture that is unique to Sri Lanka. The island’s Buddhist culture has achieved an individuality and identity that distinguishes it from its neighbors. It is important to note that whatever cultural traits brought from India have undergone significant changes and independent growth, largely influenced by Buddhism which was formally introduced to the country in the 3rd century BCE. Then and now, what our motherland clearly projects are its Sinhala Buddhist imprint.

All deeper aspects of Sri Lanka’s culture are reflective of Buddhist ideology, principles, ethics, virtues, values, morality, traditions, customs, thoughts, temperament, attitudes, and way of life. Whatever new elements that have been absorbed into the culture at different times, were subject to appropriate modifications, adjustments, and adaptations to make them compatible with Buddhist principles and values. Buddhist principles were intertwined in these new additions although there may be exceptions which often are those elements which are in the process of being adapted to fit into the cultural norms of-the-country.

All salient aspects of our national culture – tangible and intangible, either grew or evolved within the borders of our country. Sinhala language and literature originated in Sri Lanka. Sinhala language in fact, is the most important defining element of our nation’s culture and heritage, from historic times. The Sinhala language exists only in Sri Lanka and has its own distinguished literary tradition. Sinhala is one of the world’s oldest living languages. All other languages used in Sri Lanka originated in other countries. Sinhala is the only legitimate national language of Sri Lanka, which from ancient times had a strong unifying effect in our motherland helping to reinforce the solidarity of our people as a unique cultural entity in the world. Sovereign national rights of Sri Lanka rests with the Sinhala people who are indigenous to this country, forming its dominant majority community for over 2500 years. Sri Lanka is the only national sovereign motherland of the Sinhala people. Their culture, way of life and their Sinhala language originated and developed-in-Sri-Lanka.
The strength of this cultural foundation was tested several times in the past, during periods of foreign invasion, devastation, and exploitation. But the nation stayed intact, withstanding threats, perils, and calamities, largely owing to the power and potency of its Sinhala Buddhist cultural foundation. It is the inspiration of this strong Buddhist foundation that is reflected in the lives of the people. Despite invasions, threats, challenges, Buddhist culture did not disappear from our island, unlike in the case with several other countries. Today, over 70% of the total population of Sri Lanka is Buddhists. The simple and uncomplicated lifestyle promoted by our culture, is based on the five precepts of Buddhism. Their mind-set, temperament and attitude towards life are clearly reflective of Buddhist norms and values such as compassion, non-violence, tolerance, morality, and peaceful coexistence with other living beings and with nature.

Buddhism is not a religion with a dogmatic canon. Buddhism functions not through crusades, but through tolerance, openness, and the persuasive power of its philosophical foundation. Tolerance and the enormous adaptability of Buddhism are qualities that have remained unchanged throughout its remarkable history.  Buddhism upholds everything worthy and meaningful. It promotes peace, peaceful coexistence, and democratic principles in governance. It promotes human rights, development of individual and community virtues and discipline in accordance with the “pancha seela”. Non-violence and compassion towards all living beings has been the cornerstone of the
national culture of Sri Lanka from early times. Peaceful cohabitation was promoted by Sinhala Buddhist kings from early times. Respect for the natural environment and sustainable and participatory development of resources and upheld in Buddhism. In addition, Buddhism strongly promotes tolerance of other faiths, religious and social harmony, and-cordial-relations-with-other-nations.

Tamils, Muslims, and Malays are non-indigenous minority communities of Sri Lanka, with their own cultures and religions, who settled in the island at different times in the past, coming from their own motherlands. All non-indigenous minority communities of whatever label, are duty-bound to become a part of the Sinhala Buddhist Nation, just the way minority communities are expected to do in other countries of the world, especially Canada, Australia, USA, UK, Norway. Those settling down or have already settled down in host countries have a bounden duty to merge with the host nation into a single coherent nation of members. Any initiative by anyone, that would dilute or threaten the national sovereignty of the Sinhala people is not only unjust but also illegal and will not be acceptable to the Sinhala community. All minority communities of Sri Lanka are expected to strengthen the Sinhala Buddhist nation founded on the noble principles of non-violence, tolerance, compassion, and where peaceful co-habitation has been the cornerstone from historic times. “Forgiving and forgetting” has been the attitude of the Sinhala people from historic times, even towards those who have harmed them repeatedly in the past, because our people know that eventually justice and truth will-prevail.

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane

Nimal Tissa Wijetunga

පාලිත ආරියරත්න

සර්වාගමික පිස්සුව හෙවත් ඔක්කොම ආගම් එකයි යන පිස්සුව අපරට තුල පැතිර යමින් තිබේ. මෙම පිස්සුව අප බොදු රට තුල පැතිරීමට ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන්ම දායක වන්නේ පෙර කොටි සංවිධානයට හා පාස්ටර් මගමරුවන්ට උදවු කෙරූ පිරිස්ය. මොවුන්ගේ පරම අපේක්ෂාව වන්නේ:

ALI SUKHANVER

Most of the people in Pakistan love US and the American nation and desire a good working relationship between the two countries in spite of unfriendly attitude shown by different US leaders and in spite of so many sanctions imposed on Pakistan by the US authorities but at the same time, there are a few Americans who are harshly hated and disliked everywhere in Pakistan; Larry Pressler is also one of them.

People hate him because of his constant participation in evergreen ‘Anti-Pakistan’ movement run by India. It is also a very interesting reality that Mr. Larry Pressler has become so popular in India on the basis of his anti-Pakistan sentiments that he could have defeated Mr. Modi in any election if he were an Indian. His honestly sincere services for the Indian nation are so great that sometimes people misunderstand him as an Indian national.

It is neither a sin nor a crime to love and serve India but it is something very unpleasant that this 75 year old Republican politician from South Dakota has been doing all his best to give Pakistan a ‘tough time’ without any rhyme and reason. Though he has yet not succeeded in achieving his aim and objective but on the basis of his notorious activities against Pakistan, he has earned a lot of hatred and disliking from the people of Pakistan.

Earlier the people of Pakistan had hated him on the basis of his notorious ‘Pressler’s Amendment’ and his controversial book, ‘Neighbour in Arms’ but now he has provided them another golden opportunity of adding more hatred by writing an article in the Hindustan Times. The title of this article is, ‘Thank You, President Trump for calling out Pakistan on Terrorism.’ This write up is replete with so many mumbo-jumbo ideas of an old man whose nervous-system seems badly affected by his growing age and who knows it well that the only way for him to keep him in the lime light is to talk-nonsense against Pakistan.

Throughout this article we find him trying to make people believe that he himself is the only person who is providing all assistance and guidance to Mr. Trump. It seems that Mr. Trump is an innocent child and Larry Pressler is his grandfather. Particularly the closing lines of his article are ridiculously nonsense. He says, ‘Thank you, President Trump, for being the first US President to openly attack Pakistan and to identify them as liars about terrorism! And thank you for moving closer to India.’  It is simply a misconception of Larry Pressler that Mr. Trump has launched any attack on Pakistan.

Moreover attacking Pakistan has never been the US’ target or aim and objective as a weak Pakistan could never be in US’ interest. The US authorities are well aware of the fact that no country has helped US more than Pakistan in its war on terror. Certainly it needs no documentary proof that Pakistan has sacrificed thousands of its civilians and security officials in providing assistance to US’ in the war on terror. Moreover, it is also known to the US policy makers that without taking Pakistan on board as a major stake holder, no effort for Peace in Afghanistan could be fruitful.

Pakistan is simply a need of the US in the region but unfortunately this honorable old man Pressler does not seem willing to accept this simple reality. He is misguided by the notion that US could conquer Afghanistan which has ever been a land of ‘the unbeatable.’ And more misguiding to him seems the idea that this adventure could be done in collaboration with India. In his recent article, he has said, Pakistan should be treated like North Korea — like a rogue state. The only reason Pakistan is not a totally failed state is that countries like China and the United States continue to prop it up with massive amounts of foreign aid. Unless Pakistan changes its ways with respect to terrorism, it should be declared a terrorist state. Several leading foreign policy experts besides me have urged as much. Indeed, the first Bush administration seriously considered doing so in 1992.

Pakistan’s leaders have essentially blackmailed us into providing aid for the war on terror with threats to cease assistance in rooting out terrorists in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, we know full well that Pakistan harbours terrorists, and many military leaders believe terrorists have infiltrated Pakistan’s ranks.” Larry Pressler has been a very intelligent politician in the days when he was not so old and senile but better for him is to take rest and not to waste his time and energy in his useless war against Pakistan. His non-sense stubbornness in this matter is going to pay him nothing but hatred and disliking on a large scale.

One day he will have to tell the world the reason behind his enmity with Pakistan. However some of the people are of opinion that Larry Pressler could never have been such a ‘known figure’ if he had not chosen the ‘short-cut’ to popularity, i.e. going against Pakistan. It is his ‘evil-genius’ skill of perception that through his ‘naughty-craftsmanship’, he has won a lot of acclamation within the anti-Pakistan social and political circles of India. It would have been much better if he had tried to win hearts, not only of the Indians, but of millions more living in Pakistan too. It is always better to be a showering cloud than being a water-tap in the bath-tub.

දිවයින ඉරිදා සංග්‍රහය

* අම්පාරේ සිද්ධිය සැලසුමක්‌ නුවර සිද්ධිය අහම්බයක්‌
* පොලිසිය හිතන විදිහත් හරි
* ජනතාව හිතන විදිහත් හරි

මහගමසේකර මාවතේ පිහිටි ජනාධිපති නිල නිවස තුළ නීතිය හා සාමය පිළිබඳව නව අමාත්‍යවරයා ලෙස රංජිත් මද්දුම බණ්‌ඩාර මහතා වැඩ භාර ගනිමින් සිටියේය. දේශපාලන තීන්දු තීරණ ගණනාවක්‌ පිළිබඳව, සාකච්ඡා ඇති වූයේ එම දිවුරුම් දීමෙන් පසුවය. ඒ අතරවාරයේදී රටේ ඇතිවී තිබෙන නොසන්සුන්තාවය පිළිබඳව ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රිපාල සිරිසේන මහතා සමග කරන සාකච්ඡාවයි මේ.

ප්‍රශ්නය – ජනාධිපතිතුමනි, මුලින්ම අම්පාරේ නොසන්සුන්තාවයක්‌ ඇතිවුණා. ඊට සතියකට පසු මහනුවර ප්‍රදේශයේ නොසන්සුන්තාවයක්‌ ඇතිවුණා. මේ සිද්ධි දෙක මේ රට යළිත් වර්ගවාදී ගින්නක දහනය කරවීම සඳහා හොඳටම ප්‍රමාණවත්. විශේෂයෙන්ම එක්‌සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කමිටුව රැස්‌වී තිබෙන අවස්‌ථාවක මෙවැනි සිද්ධි ඇතිවීම හේතුවෙන් ජාතික වශයෙන් පමණක්‌ නොව ජාත්‍යන්තර වශයෙන් ද මේ රට අපකීර්තියට ලක්‌වෙනවා. රාජ්‍ය නායකයා ලෙස ඔබ මේ තත්ත්වය ඇතිවීම දකින්නේ කොහොමද…?

පිළිතුර – අම්පාර සිද්ධිය පැහැදිලිවම සැලසුම් කරලා කරපු වැඩක්‌. ඒක අහඹු සිදුවීමක්‌ හෝ හදිසියේ ඇතිවුණු තත්ත්වයක්‌ නෙවෙයි. කලින් සංවිධානය කරපු සිදුවීමක්‌.

මහනුවර තෙල්දෙණිය ප්‍රදේශයේ රියෑදුරෙකුට පහරදීම කලින් සංවිධානය වෙච්ච එකක්‌ නෙවෙයි. මුස්‌ලිම් තරුණයෝ තුන්දෙනෙක්‌ හොඳටම මත්පැන් පානය කරලා, ත්‍රීවීල් එකක යනකොට, තවත් වාහනයක ගැටුණා. මේ තරුණයන් තිදෙනා අනෙක්‌ වාහනයේ රියෑදුරුට ගැහුවා. දවස්‌ කීපයකට පස්‌සේ ගුටි කෑ තරුණයා රෝහලේදී මිය ගියා. එතන වැරැද්ද ඒගොල්ලන්ගේ.

මට පේන විදියට අම්පාර සිද්ධියත්, රියෑදුරුගේ මරණයත් යන දෙකම එකට තියලා, අවසනාවන්ත තත්ත්වයක්‌ දක්‌වා එය යම් පිරිසක්‌ විසින් එය සංවිධානය කළා. අම්පාර සිද්ධිය සංවිධානය කරපු පිරිස, මේ ප්‍රශ්නය මහනුවරටත් ගත්තා කියලයි, මම විශ්වාස කරන්නේ. එක පැත්තකින් මේකේ අන්තවාදීන්ගේ ක්‍රියාකලාප තියනවා. තවත් පැත්තකින් ආණ්‌ඩුවට විරුද්ධව දේශපාලන බලවේගවල පසුබිමකුත් තියනවා. එයට හේතු සාක්‌ෂි, සාධක බොහෝ තිබෙනවා. එක උදාහරණයක්‌ ගත්තහම පෙනෙන දෙයක්‌ තමයි තෙල්දෙණියේ මුස්‌ලිම් ජනතාවගේ කඩවලට ගහන කොට, ඒ කඩ පේළියේම මුස්‌ලිම් කඩයක්‌ තියෙනවා ඡන්ද ලකුණක්‌ තියෙන. ඒ ලකුණ තිබෙන මුස්‌ලිම් කඩේට ගහන්නේ නැතිව, ඒ අයිනේ තිබෙන අනිත් ඔක්‌කොම කඩවලට ගහලා තියෙනවා.

කුලියාපිටියේ මුස්‌ලිම් කඩ දෙකකට පහර දුන්නා. එක්‌සත් ජාතික පක්‌ෂයෙන් තරග කරපු අපේක්‌ෂකයෙක්‌, ඔහුගේ වාහනයෙන් ගිහින් එම පහරදීම කර තිබෙන බව පරීක්‌ෂණවලදී හොයා ගෙන තිබෙනවා. සමහර දේවල් පැහැදිලිවම, දේශපාලන පසුබිම්වලින් ආණ්‌ඩුවට විරුද්ධව සිද්ධ කරපුවා බව මේ සාධක වලින් පෙනෙනවා. සමහර අය දේශපාලන පසුබිමක්‌ නැතිව අන්තවාදී විදියට හිතන අය. මේ තත්ත්වය තුළ තමයි මේ ප්‍රශ්නය වර්ධනය වුණේ…

මහනුවර ප්‍රදේශයේ කලබල කරන අයට විශාල වශයෙන් අරක්‌කු, කසිප්පු ඒ ගම්වලටම ගිහිල්ලා දෙන වැඩපිළිවෙළක්‌ තිබිලා තියෙනවා. රජයේ නිලධාරීන්, පොලීසිය, හමුදාව, ස්‌වාමීන් වහන්සේලා ඒ අය කියන්නේ මේ විදිහේ පහරදීම් කරන අයව ගිහින් හම්බ වුණාම, ඒ කවුරුත් එක්‌ක කතා කරන්න පුළුවන් හොද සිහියෙන් හිටියේ නැහැ, කියලයි.

ප්‍රශ්නය – තත්ත්වය සාමාන්‍ය කිරීම සඳහා ආණ්‌ඩුව ගත් ක්‍රියාමාර්ග අතර සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ජාලා තහනමක්‌ ද ක්‍රියාත්මක කළා. එවැනි පියවරක්‌ ගැනීමට හේතුවූ කාරණා පැහැදිලි කළහොත්…

පිළිතුර – අන්තවාදී පිරිස්‌ සමාජ වෙබ් අඩවි පාවිච්චි කෙරුවෙ ඉතාමත්ම පහත් විදියට. මේ ගැටුම වර්ධනය වෙන්න මූලික වශයෙන්ම සමාජ වෙබ් අඩවි හේතු වුණා. ඒ නිසා තමයි අපි ඒවා නියාමනය කරන්න පටන් ගත්තේ. ජාතික ආරක්‌ෂාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් තිබෙන නීති රීති යටතේ එවැනි ක්‍රියාමාගර් ගැනීමේ බලය රජයට තිබෙනවා. කැබිනට්‌ මණ්‌ඩලය සාකච්ඡා කරලා, ජාතික ආරක්‌ෂක මණ්‌ඩලය සාකච්ඡා කරලා, සමාජ වෙබ් අඩවි තාවකාලිකව වාරණය කිරීම සඳහා පියවර ගැනීමට රජයට සිදුවුණා.

ප්‍රශ්නය – මහනුවර ප්‍රශ්නෙ තිබෙන වෙලාවෙ ඔබ මහනුවරට යනවා. එවැනි අනාරක්‌ෂිත පරිසරයක රටේ රාජ්‍ය නායකයා ප්‍රශ්නය මැදට යැම අති අවදානම් කාරී කටයුත්තක්‌…

පිළිතුර – ඔබට මතක ඇති මම ගිය අවුරුද්දේ යාපනයට ගිය අවස්‌ථාව. එවිට යාපනයේ අන්තවාදී පිරිස්‌ විශාල විරෝධතාවන්වල නිරතවෙලා හිටියා. ඒ අයවත් බලාපොරොත්තු නොවුණු විදියට, ආරක්‌ෂක අංශ බලාපොරොත්තු නොවුණු විදියට, මම වාහනෙන් බැහැලා ඒ අය ළඟට ගිහින් කතා කළා. ‘ඇයි මේ විදියට හැසිරෙන්නේ. ඕන දෙයක්‌ මාත් එක්‌ක කතා කරන්න, සාකච්ඡා කරන්න පුළුවන්. මම ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී නායකයෙක්‌. ඒක නිසා මෙහෙම කලබල කරන්නේ නැතිව, මාත් එක්‌ක කතා කරන්න…’ කියලා මම කිව්වා. ඒ අය ඒක පිළිගත්තා. ඊට දවස්‌ දෙකකට පස්‌සේ යාපනයේ උද්ඝෝෂණය කරපු අය, මගේ ආරාධනය අනුව කොළඹට ආවා. ඒ අයගේ ඉල්ලීමක්‌ තිබුණා. ඒ ඉල්ලීමත් මම ඉෂ්ට කළා. ජනාධිපතිතුමා අපේ ඉල්ලීම ඉෂ්ට කළා…’ කියලා ඒ අයට මා ගැන පැහැදීමෙන් ප්‍රශ්නය නිමාවුණා.

එදා මම අනුරාධපුරේ දිස්‌ත්‍රික්‌ සංවර්ධන සභා කටයුතු සඳහා, අනුරාධපුරේ ඉන්න තිබුණේ. උදේ කුරුණෑගල රැස්‌වීමක්‌ යොදාගෙන තිබුණා. කුරුණෑගලදී මට ආරංචි වුණා තත්ත්වය ඉතාම නරකයි. මේ විදිහේ නොසන්සුන්තාවයක්‌ තියනවයි කියලා. ඒ නිසා, මම වැඩ සේරම නවත්තලා නුවරට ගියා. ගිහිල්ලා මහානායක ස්‌වාමීන්ද්‍රයාණන් වහන්සේලා දැනුවත් කරලා, ෙත්‍රෙනිකායික අනුනායක ස්‌වාමීන්ද්‍රයාණන් වහන්සේලා, ඒවගේම ඉස්‌ලාම් මව්ලවිතුමන්ලා, ක්‍රිස්‌තියානි, හින්දු පූජකතුමන්ලා ඒ සියලුදෙනා ගෙනැල්ලා, හමුදා නිලධාරීන් පොලීසිය, දේශපාලනඥයන් සේරම එකට තියලා සාකච්ඡා කරලා මේ තත්ත්වය වෙනස්‌ කරන්න, සාමය ඇති කරන්න, මේ ගැටුම් වළක්‌වන්න කටයුතු කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය දේවල් සාකච්ඡා කරලා ඒ තීන්දු තීරණ ගත්තා.

ඔය වගේ ප්‍රශ්නවලදී මම ගැන නෙවෙයි හිතන්නේ. රටේ ප්‍රශ්නය ගැනයි මම හිතන්නේ. මට වඩා මිනිස්‌සුන්ගේ ජීවිත. ගෙවල් ගිනිගන්නවා නම් වාහන ගිනි ගන්නවා නම් මිනිසුන්ගේ ජීවිත විනාශ වෙනවා නම් මම මම ගැන හිතන්නේ නැතිව ප්‍රශ්නය තියන තැනට හෝ ගිහිල්ලා විසඳුමක්‌ දීම මගේ ප්‍රතිපත්තිය. මගේ අවුරුදු 50 ක ජීවිතය ගත්තහම එවැනි සිදුවීම් ඕනතරම් තිබෙනවා. දැඩි භයානක ස්‌ථානවලට අවදානම් ස්‌ථානවලට මම එහෙම ගිහින් තිබෙනවා. මම ජනාධිපති අපේක්‌ෂකයා වුණෙත් ලොකු අවදානමක්‌ අරගෙනනේ. මහමුහුදට පැන්නා වගේනේ මම පැන්නේ.

ඉතින් මේ වගේ ප්‍රශ්න තියෙන කොට මම යනවා. මට විශ්වාසයක්‌ තිබෙනවා ඒ තැනකට ගිහින් කතා කරපුවහම ඒ අයට මාත් එක්‌ක යම් එක`ගතාවයකට එන්න පුළුවන් වෙයි කියලා. ඒ පිළිබඳව මට අත්දැකීම් තිබෙනවා. ඒ වගේම හැම වෙලේම ඒ දේ සිද්ධ වෙලත් තිබෙනවා. ඕනෑම බරපතළ දරුණු අදහස්‌ දරන, ප්‍රචණ්‌ඩකාරී අදහස්‌ දරන අය එක්‌ක පවා කතා කරපුවහම ඒ අය වෙනස්‌ වුණු ආකාරයන් මම දැකලා තිබෙනවා. මාව මරන්න ආපු එල්ටීටීඊ ත්‍රස්‌තවාදියා ගෙනැල්ලා මම නිදහස්‌ කෙරුවා. ඒක තමයි මගේ ප්‍රතිපත්තිය. මේක එක එක්‌කෙනාට එක එක විදියට පේන්න පුළුවන්.

ප්‍රශ්නය – නුවර සිද්ධියේදී පොලීසිය රාජකාරි කටයුතු කරන ලද ආකාරය ගැන රටේ විවිධ මත තිබෙනවා. පොලීසිය නිසොල්මනේ හිටියා කියලා, ජනතාවගෙන් චෝදනාවක්‌ තියෙනවා.. තවත් සමහරු කියනවා දැන් පොලීසියත් මේ වගේ දේවල්වලට අත දාන්න බයයි. මොකද රතුපස්‌වල වැනි සිද්ධි වලට පසුව මුහුණ දුන් තත්ත්වය නිසා, අධිකරණය හමුවට යැමට සිදුවෙතැයි පොලීසිය සහ ආරක්‌ෂක අංශ සැකයෙන් සිටින බව පෙනෙනනවා. ඒ පිළිබඳව ඔබතුමාගේ අදහස කුමක්‌ද?

පිළිතුර – පොලීසිය හිතන විදිහත් හරි. මහජනයා හිතන විදියත් හරි. ඒ මොකද පොලීසිය පැත්තෙන් පොලිස්‌ නිලධාරීන්ගේ විශාල කැප කිරීමක්‌ තිබෙනවා, උනන්දුවක්‌ තිබෙනවා. දිවා රෑ වැඩ කරනවා, වගේම ඒ අයගේ දුක්‌ ගැනවිල්ලක්‌ තිබෙනවා… මොනවා හරි සිද්ධියක්‌ වුණාම, ඒ අය ගැන බලන්න කෙනෙක්‌ නැහැ කියන එක ඔවුන් නිතරම කියනවා. ඒ කතාව ඇත්ත. සමහර වෙලාවට රජය වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී ඉඳලා, උද්ඝෝෂණ පෙළපාලි විරෝධතා ඒවා පාලනය කරන්න ඒ අය කටයුතු කරපුවහම, අවසාන දෝෂාරෝපනයේදී ඔවුන් තනිවෙනවා. මානව හිමිකම් නීති, ඒවගේම යම් යම් අලුත් නීති රීති යටතේ මේ ප්‍රශ්න පොලීසියට ඇතිවී තිබෙනවා. සමහර වෙලාවට රජයේ නීතිපතිවරයාවත්, ඒ අය වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී හිටින්න බැහැ කියනවා. ඇත්තටම මේක ප්‍රශ්නයක්‌. ආණ්‌ඩුවක්‌ රටක්‌ එක්‌ක වැඩ කරන කොට සීමාව කොතනද කියලා, මානව හිමිකම් කොමිෂන් සභාව දැනගන්න ඕනෑ. ඒ සීමාවලින් එහා ගියාම රටකට ආණ්‌ඩු කරන්න බැහැ. ඒක තමයි ඇත්ත තත්ත්වය. මේක යුරෝපය නෙවෙයි. යුරෝපයේ තත්ත්වයට මේ රටේ ආර්ථිකය සංවර්ධනය වෙලත් නැහැ. ඒ තත්ත්වයට අධ්‍යාපනය දියුණු වෙලත් නැහැ. ඒ තත්ත්වයට හැදියාව ඇවිල්ලත් නැහැ.

ලාංකික ජනතාව වගේම සිංහල බෞද්ධයෝ කියන්නේ විශාල හැදියාවක්‌ තිබුණු, විනයගරුක, ඉතාම ගෞරවනීය ජාතියක්‌…. නමුත් අද ඇතිවෙලා තියෙන්නේ, විෂම තත්ත්වයක්‌… ඔවුන් අන්තර්ජාලය සමග හැසිරෙන විදිහ, පෞද්ගලිකව මුදල් හම්බ කරන්න වෙහෙසෙන විදිය. රට ගැන සහ මහජනයා ගැන නොසිතා තමන්ගේ පෞද්ගලික න්‍යාය පත්‍ර පිළිබඳව හැසිරෙන ආකාරය. මේ තත්ත්වයන් ගත්තහම රටේ සමාජය දරුණු පරිහානියකට ලක්‌වෙලා. දර්ශනයක්‌, ප්‍රතිපත්තියක්‌ නැති දේශපාලනඥයෝ තමයි මේ තත්ත්වයට වඩාත් වගකිව යුත්තේ. හිස්‌, පුහු දේවල්, අන්තවාදී අදහස්‌ එක්‌ක මහජනයාගේ ඔළුවට දාලා, නිවැරදි දේ කියන්නේ නැතිව දැඩි විදියට ජාතිවාදී හැ`ගීම් අවුස්‌සලා, මහජනතාවගේ ගුණාත්මකභාවය විනාශ කරලා තියෙන්නේ ඒ උදවිය.

පසුගිය අවුරුදු දහයක දොළහක කාලය තුළ, තොරතුරු තාක්‌ෂණය සමග බද්ධවීමත් සමග මිනිසුන් ආධ්‍යාත්මික වශයෙන් විශාල පිරිහීමකට ලක්‌වෙලා තිබෙනවා. අපි ඇත්ත කතා කරන්න ඕන. රටේ එක පිරිසක්‌ වඩාත් අධ්‍යාත්මික නැඹුරුවට ලක්‌වෙලා තිබෙනවා. පන්සල, පල්ලිය. සිල් ගැනීම ආදීය එක පැත්තකින් විශාල වශයෙන් වැඩිවී තිබෙනවා. තවත් පැත්තකින් ගත්විට බරපතළ ලෙස සමාජ පිරිහීමක්‌ තිබෙනවා. ඒ සමාජ පිරිහීම ඇතැම් අය වැරදි විදියට කළමනාකරණය කරනවා.

මේ තත්ත්වයන් වලදී මහජනයා කියනවා නම් පොලිසිය කටයුතු කරන ආකාරයේ දුර්වලකම් තිබෙනවා කියා එහි සත්‍යයක්‌ තිබෙනවා. පොලිසියේ දුක්‌ගැනවිල්ල ගැනත් අපි සිතිය යුතුයි. ඇයි එහෙම පොලිසියට සිදුවුණේ කියන කාරණාව. කවුරු මොනවා කතා කළත් රජයක්‌ පොලිසිය රැකගත යුතුයි. පොලිසිය රැකගන්නේ නැතුව රජයක්‌ කරන්න බැහැ. මහා ලොකුවට මානව හිමිකම් ගැන කතා කරන අය ඉන්නවා තමයි. නමුත් රටක්‌ ගෙනයාමට රජය සමග පොලිසිය සහ ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදාව, රාජ්‍යයේ හිතවත්භාවය තියෙන්න ඕන. රාජ්‍යය සමග විශ්වාසය තියෙන්න ඕන. විශ්වාසය සහ හිතවත්භාවය පළුදු වුණොත් රාජ්‍යයක කටයුතු කිරීමට ප්‍රශ්න ඇති වෙනවා. මේ තත්ත්වයන් ඇතිවී තිබෙන්නේ වැරදි දේශපාලන හැසිරීම්, වැරදි තීන්දු තීරණ සමගයි.

ප්‍රශ්නය – මේ වන විට ආණ්‌ඩුවට යම් රතු නිවේදනයක්‌ මැතිවරණ ප්‍රතිඵල හරහා මහජනතාව නිකුත්කර තිබෙනවා. ඒ පිළිබඳව ඔබගේ තක්‌සේරුව කුමක්‌ද…?

පිළිතුර – මැතිවරණ ප්‍රතිඵලය, රජයට විරුද්ධව දුන්න පමණින්ම, ජයග්‍රහණය භුක්‌ති විඳින අය නිවැරදි යෑයි ජනතාව කියන්නේ නැහැ. ජයග්‍රහණය ලබාගත් පාර්ශව අතීතයේ කළ වැරදි පිළිබඳව අද වන තෙක්‌ සමාලෝචනයක්‌ කර නැහැ. ඒ වැරදි හරිගස්‌ස ගන්නවා කියා අපිට පේන්නෙත් නැහැ. මේ ජයග්‍රහණය තුළ ජයග්‍රහණ උන්මාදයකින් ද`ගලනවා මිසක්‌, ඔවුන් කොතනටද යන්නේ කියා මම දකින්නේ නැහැ. ජාතික වශයෙන් සහ අන්තර්ජාතික වශයෙන් මේ තිබෙන තත්ත්වයන් සැලකිල්ලට ගත්විට, මැතිවරණ පරාජය ලැබූ රජය ලෙස අපේ පාර්ශවයත්, එමෙන්ම ජයග්‍රහණය ලබපු විරුද්ධ පක්‌ෂයේ පාර්ශ්වත් මීට ඒ ප්‍රතිඵලය පිළිබඳව කල්පනා කළ යුතුයි.

මේ මැතිවරණ ජයග්‍රහණය කාගෙවත් ජයග්‍රහණයක්‌ නොවෙයි. ජනතාව පෙන්නවලා තිබෙනවා මේ තිබෙන ගමන් මාර්ගය නිවැරදි කර ගත යුතුයි කියා. ඒ නිවැරදි කරගැනීම රජය පමණක්‌ කළ යුත්තක්‌ නොවෙයි. අපේක්‌ෂකයා කවුද කියලා දන්නේවත් නැතුව, මැරිච්ච මිනිස්‌සු පවා ජයග්‍රහණය කරපු මැතිවරණයක්‌ මේක… මිනිසකුගේ අතක්‌ කපලා මල්ලක දා ගෙන ගිය, මහනුවර දිස්‌ත්‍රික්‌කයේ අපේක්‌ෂකයෙකුත් මේ ඡන්දයෙන් මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙක්‌ වෙලා තිබෙනවා. මේ මැතිවරණ ප්‍රතිඵලය පුද්ගලයෙක්‌ දිහා බලා දුන් එකක්‌ නෙවේ. මෙය කාටත් පාඩමක්‌ ලෙසයි දී තිබෙන්නේ. මේ ප්‍රතිඵලය දිහා බලලා, තමන්ට හෙට අනිද්දා ආණ්‌ඩුවක්‌ එනවා කියා, විපක්‌ෂය හිතනවා නම්, ඔවුන් වරද්ද ගන්නේ, එතැන. මගේ අවුරුදු පනහක දේශපාලන අත්දැකීම් වගේම, ජනාධිපතිවරයා විදියට මෙහි වටපිට, උඩ යට, කළු සුදු සියල්ල මට පේනවා. මැතිවරණයෙන් පරාදවූ අයට සේම ජයග්‍රහණය කළ අයටත් බොහෝ දේ සිතන්න තිබෙනවා.

ප්‍රශ්නය(- ඔබතුමා රටේ නායකයා ලෙස මුහුණ දී සිටින්නේ අර්බුදකාරී සමයකට… දේශපාලන අස්‌ථාවරත්වය හේතුවෙන් රටේ දෛනික කටයුතු පවා ඇනහිටින තත්ත්වයක්‌ ඇතිවෙලා තිබෙනවා. මේ අස්‌ථාවරභාවය පිළිබඳව රාජ්‍ය නායකයා ලෙස ඔබ හිතන්නේ කුමක්‌ද…?

පිළිතුර – දේශපාලනඥයෙක්‌ විදියට මේක මට හොඳ අත්දැකීමක්‌… මේ රටේ බලයට පත්වුණ නායකයන්, වැඩිපුර පිරිසක්‌ බරපතළ ප්‍රශ්න වලට මුහුණ දුන්නා. ඩී.එස්‌ සේනානායක මහතා අශ්වයා පිටින් වැටිලා මැරුණා. බණ්‌ඩාරනායක මහතාව ඝාතනය කළා. සිරිමාවෝ මැතිණියගේ කාලයේ හමුදා කුමන්ත්‍රණ, පොලිස්‌ කුමන්ත්‍රණ, ප්‍රජා අයිතිය අහෝසි කිරීම් තිබුණා. ඩඩ්ලි සේනානායක මහතාගේ කාලයේ හාල් සේරුව පිළිබඳ ප්‍රශ්න වෙලා, නැව් නැගලා හැංගිලා ඉඳලා තියෙනවා. එතකොට ඡේ.ආර්. ජයවර්ධන මහතාත් ලොකු ප්‍රශ්නයකට මුහුණ දුන්නා… යුද්ධය ආරම්භ වෙලා. ඉන්දු ලංකා ගිවිසුම ආවේ ඒ කාලයේ… ප්‍රේමදාස මහතාව මරලා දැම්මා. චන්ද්‍රිකා මැතිණිය බලයට පත්වුණාම, එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ එකේ ප්‍රහාරයට ලක්‌වුණා. එතුමියගේ ආණ්‌ඩුව කඩා වැටුණා. ඒ කාලයේ හිටපු කණ්‌ඩායමක්‌ අයින් වෙලා, විපක්‌ෂය බලයට ගෙනාවා. මහින්ද රාජපක්‌ෂ මහතා යුද්ධයක්‌ එක්‌ක බරපතළ තත්වයට මුහුණ දුන්නා. ඒ ආණ්‌ඩුවේ ලොකු අර්බුද පිපිරීම් ඇතිවුණා. එතුමාට ආණ්‌ඩුව කරගන්න බැරි නිසා අවුරුදු දෙකකට කලින් මැතිවරණයක්‌ තිබ්බා. මහින්ද රාජපක්‌ෂ මහතාගේ පක්‌ෂයේ ලේකම් එළියට ගිහින්, එතුමාව පරදවලා ආණ්‌ඩුවක්‌ හැදුවා. මේ ඔක්‌කොම අර්බුද. මමත් අද අර්බුදයක ඉන්නවා. ඒ සියලුදෙනා මුහුණ දුන්නට වඩා වෙනස්‌ අර්බුදයක තමා මම ඉන්නේ. ඒක තමයි මෙතැන තිබෙන ප්‍රශ්නය.

ප්‍රශ්නය – පසුගිය කාල සීමාවේදී කිසිම වැඩක්‌ වුණේ නැහැ කියන ඒක දැන් පිළිගත් මතයක්‌ බවට රටේ ස්‌ථාපනය වෙලා තිබෙනවා. ඔබ ජනාධිපති ලෙස කටයුතු කළත් මේ ආණ්‌ඩුවෙන් කිසිම වැඩක්‌ වෙන්නේ නැත්තේ ඇයි…? වෙන එකක්‌ තබා ජනාධිපතිවරයා ලෙස ඔබ විසින් ලබා දෙන නියෝගයක්‌වත් ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙන්නේ නැති තත්ත්වයකට රට දැන් පත්වෙලා…

පිළිතුර – මේ රටේ පොදු මහජනතාවට මෙතැනදි විශේෂයෙන් කියන්න ඕන දෙයක්‌ තිබෙනවා.මේ රටේ උගතුන් පවා, බොහෝ දේශපාලනඥයන් පවා හිතාගෙන ඉන්නේ මට තිබෙන්නේ කලින් ජනාධිපතිවරුන්ට තිබෙන බලතල කියලා. බොහෝ දෙනෙක්‌ මේක තේරුම් අරගෙන නැහැ… මේ රටේ අධිකරණ ක්‌ෂේත්‍රවල ඉන්න අයට පවා, ඒක තේරිලා නැහැ. අධිකරණ ක්‌ෂේත්‍රයේ යම් යම් කාරණා සාකච්ඡා කරන්න, විනිසුරුවරුන් ආපුවාම ඔවුන්ගෙන් මම ඇහුවා ‘ඔබතුමාලා තාම හිතාගෙන ඉන්නේ, මේ ඉන්නේ, 19 වැනි සංශෝධනයට කලින් සිටිය ජනාධිපතිවරයෙක්‌ කියලාද…’ කියලා… අද මේ රටේ ගොඩක්‌ අය මට දොස්‌ කියන්නේ මේ ඉන්නේ 19 වන සංශෝධනයට කලින් ඉන්න ජනාධිපතිකෙනෙක්‌ කියලා හිතාගෙන. 19 වන සංශෝධනයෙන් වුණ වෙනස කවුරුත් තේරුම් අරගෙන නැහැ. තීන්දු තීරණ ගන්නේ නැහැ කියලා, සමහරු මට චෝදනා කරනවා. එහෙම කියන්නේ ඇයි? ඒ කියන්නේ එයාලා හිතනවා මෙයා කලින් ජනාධිපතිවරු වගේ වැඩ කරන්නේ නැහැ කියලා. කලින් හිටපු දෙන්නා ජනාධිපති විදියට, හෙට වැඩ බාරගත්තත් එයාලාට අහගන්න වෙන්නෙත් මේ කතා ටික තමයි. ඒක තමයි ඇත්ත කතාව. මීට කලින් මේ රටේ නීතිපති පත්කළේ ජනාධිපති. අගවිනිසුරු, ශේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ විනිසුරු, පොලිස්‌පති, කොමිෂන් සභා, මේ සියලු දේවල් පත් කළේ ජනාධිපතිගේ තනි අභිමතය පරිදි. අද ඒ කිසිවක්‌ කරන්න බැහැ. අද ඒ මිනිසුන්ව අයින් කරන්නත් බැහැ. අද මේ තුළ හුඟක්‌ වෙනස්‌කම් ඇතිවෙලා තිබෙනවා.

මේ වෙනස පිළිබඳ අවබෝධය විශාල පිරිසකට නැති එක තුළ තමයි බොහෝ චෝදනා මට කරන්නේ. සමහර අය කියනවා කතාව විතරයි, වැඩ නැහැ කියලා. මම කතාකරලා වැඩ කරන්න යනකොට, ඔන්න කොහේ හෝ තැනක හිරවෙලා. වැඩ කරන කොට සාමුහික එක`ගත්වය ගන්න බැරිව ගියාම වැඩ කරන්න බැහැ. නවතිනවා. මම වැඩ කරන්න ඕන රටේ තිබෙන ව්‍යවස්‌ථාව අනුවයි. කොච්චර විවේචන එල්ල වුණත්, මම මට කරන්න පුළුවන් උපරිම ජනතාව වෙනුවෙන් ඉටු කරනවා. ඒ විවේචනවලට මම ගැස්‌සෙන මිනිහෙක්‌ නෙමෙයි. මගේ දේශපාලන ජීවිතයේ එහෙම ගැස්‌සීම් නැහැ.

Lanka Lead News

රට තුළ හදිසියේ පැනනැගුණු සිංහල මුස්‌ලිම් නොසන්සුන්තාව මහා ගින්නක්‌ සේ නැගුනේ කාගේ උවමනාවකටද යන්න ජාතිවාදය ප්‍රතික්‌ෂේප කරන සියලු දෙනාගේම අවධානයට ලක්‌ විය යුතු කාරණයකි. මානව හිමිකම් පිළිබඳ නීතිවේදී සංවිධානයේ විධායක අධ්‍යක්‌ෂ නීතිඥ කල්‍යානන්ද තිරාණගම සමග පැවැත්වූ මෙම සාකච්ඡාව ඒ පිළිබඳවය.

පළාත් පාලන ඡන්දයේ ප්‍රතිඵල තුළින් පෙනුණ දේත් රට තුළ අද සිදුවෙමින් පවතින දේත් අතර බරපතළ වෙනසක්‌ තිබෙනවා. මේ වෙනස ඔබ දකින්නෙ කොහොමද?

පසුගියදා පැවති ඡන්දයේ ප්‍රතිඵල තුළින් ආණ්‌ඩුවේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති ජනතාව ප්‍රතික්‌ෂේප කර තිබෙන බව ආණ්‌ඩුවත් එක්‌සත් ජාතික පක්‌ෂයත් ප්‍රකාශ කළා. අපට නිවැරදි කරගත යුතු බොහෝ දේ තිබෙන බව මේ ප්‍රතිපල තුළින් පැහැදිලි වන බව එජාපයත් ආණ්‌ඩුවේ ශ්‍රීලනිපයේ අයත් කියා සිටියා.

මේ නිසා මේ මැතිවරණ ප්‍රතිඵලයෙන් පසු රටට, ජාතියට සහ ජනතාවට හානිකර ක්‍රියාදාමයන්ගෙන් ඉවත් වෙලා ආණ්‌ඩුව ජනතා හිතවාදී වැඩපිළිවෙළකට යයි කියල ජනතාව කල්පනා කළා. විපක්‌ෂයත් එය බලාපොරොත්තු වුණා. ඒත් මැතිවරණය අවසන් වෙලා සතියක්‌ දෙකක්‌ යන විට ආණ්‌ඩුව ජනතාවට පෙන්වූවේ මේ මැතිවරණ ප්‍රතිඵලය නොසලකා ඔවුන් ඔවුන්ගේ ගමන යන බවයි.

මේ සිදුවීම් මාලාව පැහැදිලි කරගත යුත්තේ ආණ්‌ඩුව කියන දෙයින් නොවෙයි, ආණ්‌ඩුව කරන දෙයින්. කැබිනට්‌ මණ්‌ඩලය පත් කළ විධිය බලන්න. එජාපය තුළ දුක්‌ගැනවිලි නැගූ කීප දෙනෙකුට තිබුණු ප්‍රශ්න විසඳුවා මිස කැබිනට්‌ මාරුවෙන් සිදුවූ වෙනත් යහපතක්‌ නෑ. අලුත් කැබිනට්‌ මණ්‌ඩලයක්‌ පත්කිරීම ජනතාවගේ අවශ්‍යතාවක්‌ හෝ ඉල්ලීමක්‌ නෙමෙයි. ඡන්දය පවත්වල දැන් මාසයක්‌ ගතවුණා. තවම අවසන් ප්‍රතිඵලයවත් ප්‍රකාශයට පත්කරන්න බැරිවුණා. ඒත් කැබිනට්‌ මණ්‌ඩලය සංශෝධනය කළා.

මැතිවරණයෙන් දින කිහිපයකට පස්‌සෙ අගමැතිවරයා සිංගප්පූරුවට ගිහින් ප්‍රකාශ කළේ එන්න ඕන දෙයක්‌ ගන්න ලංකාවෙ දොර ඇරියා කියලයි. වතුර ඉල්ලල පාරට බැස්‌ස රාජාංගනේ ගොවියන්ට ආණ්‌ඩුව සලකපු හැටි බලන්න. කාන්තාවො පාරදිගේ ඇදගෙන ගියා. වයසක ගොවියන්ගෙ ඔළු පැලුවා. ආණ්‌ඩුව මේ කියන්නෙ ජනතාව මොනව කිව්වත් ආණ්‌ඩුවට විරුද්ධව ඡන්දය ප්‍රකාශ කළත් ඒ ජනතා මතයට පයින් ගහල ආණ්‌ඩුව තමන්ගෙ ගමන යන බවයි. සයිටම් විරෝධීන්ට පහර දීමයි රාජාංගනේ අහිංසක ගොවීන්ට පහර දීමයි අතර විශාල වෙනසක්‌ තිබෙනවා. ගොවීන්ට පහර දීමෙන් ආණ්‌ඩුව දෙන දැඩි පණිවිඩය ජනතාව තේරුම් ගත යුතුයි.

ඉතා සුළු සිදුවීමක්‌ මත රට තුළ සිංහල මුස්‌ලිම් ගැටුමක්‌ නිර්මාණය වීමේ වගකීම සමහරු පවරන්නෙ ආණ්‌ඩුවට. ආණ්‌ඩුව මේ ගැටුම වර්ධනය වීමට ඉඩහැරියා යන චෝදනාව ගැන ඔබේ අදහස කුමක්‌ද?

මම එය දකින්නෙත් ආණ්‌ඩුව මේ ගැටුම ගැන කියන දේ අනුව නෙමෙයි, මේ ගැටුම්කාරී අවස්‌ථාවේ ආණ්‌ඩුව කළ දේවල් අනුවයි. මේ වෙලාවෙ ආණ්‌ඩුව වැඩ තුන හතරක්‌ එකපාරට කරගත්ත. මහ බැංකු බැඳුම්කර වංචාව වැනි දේවල් රටට හෙළිදරව් වුණේ ඒ ගැන කොමිසම් පත්කිරීම නිසයි. ඒ නිසා කොමිසම් පත් කිරීමට නොහැකි වන ලෙස නීතිය සකස්‌ කිරීමට ආණ්‌ඩුව ඉතාම සූක්‌ෂ්ම වැඩපිළිවෙළක්‌ යොදා තිබෙනවා. සක්‍රිය බැරකම් කළමනාකරණය කිරීමේ පනත ගෙන ඒමේ අරමුණ ඒකයි. ජන්දය පැවැත්වුවේ පෙබරවාරි 10. මේ පනත ගෙනාවෙ පෙබරවාරි 19. තවම ඒක සම්මත වුණේ නෑ. මේ පනතේ අඩංගු කරුණු දෙස බලන විට ඒ පනත ගෙන ඒමේ අරමුණ පැහැදිලියි. අපේ රටට අවශ්‍ය ණය ප්‍රමාණ සහ ණය ගැනීම තීන්දු කළේ මහ බැංකුව. මේ පනතට අනුව එය තීරණය කරන්නෙ මහ බැංකුව නෙමෙයි. මහ බැංකුව භාර අමාත්‍යවරයා. ගන්න ණය ප්‍රමාණය ගියවර මහබැංකුව තීරණය කළේ බිලියන එකයි. මේ පනතට අනුව සමස්‌ත අයවැයෙන් සියයට දහයක්‌. ඒ කියන්නෙ කෝටි දහදාහක්‌ විතර. ගන්න පොලිය කීයද ගන්නෙ කොහෙන්ද කොහොමද ඒ ඔක්‌කොම එදා තීරණය කළේ මහබැංකුවේ මූල්‍ය මණ්‌ඩලය. මේ පනතට අනුව ඒ තීරණ ගන්නෙ ඇමැතිවරයා. දැන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය හමුවේ තිබෙන මේ පනත පිළිබඳ තීන්දුව අපි බලාපොරොත්තුවෙන් ඉන්නවා.

ඊළඟට ගෙන ආව විදේශ විනිමය පිළිබඳ පනත. ඒක ගෙනාවෙ මැදපෙරදිග දුක්‌විඳින කාන්තාවො, වතුකරයෙ දුක්‌විඳින කම්කරුවො සහ නිදහස්‌ වෙළෙඳ කලාපෙ දුක්‌ විඳින තරුණ තරුණියො උපයන විදේශ විනිමය මංකොල්ලකන්න. 2003 දිත් මේ පනත ගේන්න උත්සාහ කළා. සුප්‍රිම් උසාවියට කරුණු කියල මම ඒක වැළැක්‌වුවා. එය සම්මත කරන්න නම් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ තුනෙන් දෙකක අනුමැතියත් ජනමත විචාරණයකුත් පැවැත්විය යුතුයි කියල තීන්දුවක්‌ ගත්ත. දැන් මේ අලුත් පනත යටතෙ විදේශ විනිමය ගේන ප්‍රමාණ හෙළිදරව් කළ යුතු නෑ. ඕන කෙනෙකුට ඕන තරම් ගේන්න ගෙනයන්න පුළුවන්. මේ පනතෙනුත් කරන්නෙ රට කොල්ලකන්න දොර අරින එක. හොරු අල්ලනව කියල ආවට මේ ආණ්‌ඩුව කරන්නෙ හොරු රකින එකයි හොරකම ආයතනගත කරන එකයි. මේ පනත් ගේන්නෙ හොරකම රටේ පාලනයේම කොටසක්‌ බවට පත්කරන්නයි.

රේගු පනතෙන් කරන්න හදන්නෙත් හොරුන්ට පහසුකම් සලසන්නයි. පිටරටින් යමක්‌ ගේනවිට සහ ගෙනියනවිට එයට බදු පැනවීමේ බලයක්‌ රේගු අධ්‍යක්‌ෂ ජනරාල්ට තිබෙනවා. අලුත් රේගු පනතින් කරන්න හදන්නෙ ඒ අයිතිය රේගු අධ්‍යක්‌ෂ ජනරාල්ගෙන් අයින් කරල රේගුව භාර ඇමැතිට දෙන්න.

මේක තමයි ආණ්‌ඩුව ගෙනියන්න හදන වැඩපිළිවෙළ. මේවට ජනතාව විරුද්ධ වන විට විපක්‌ෂය නැගී සිටින විට ඔවුන් මර්දනය කරන්න, ජනතාව ඇහැට වැලිගහල මේ පනත් ගෙනෙන්න ආණ්‌ඩුව මේ වෙලාව පාවිච්චි කරනව. ආණ්‌ඩුව පසුගිය 6 වැනිදා ඉදිරිපත් කරපු අධිකරණ සංවිධාන සංශෝධන පනත ගේන්නෙත් මේ ජනතා විරෝධී වැඩවලට විරුද්ධවෙන විපක්‌ෂයේ දේශපාලනඥයන් සිර අඩස්‌සියේ තියන්නයි. දැනට මහාධිකරණ මගින් විභාග කරන වංචා දූෂණ නඩු මීට පස්‌සෙ විභාග කරන්නෙ මේ පනත මගින් ඇතිකිරීමට යෝජිත ස්‌ථිර ත්‍රිපුද්ගල මහාධිකරණය මගිනුයි. මේ මහාධිකරණයේ තිබෙන විශේෂත්වය තමයි දූෂණ වංචා සම්බන්ධයෙන් චෝදනා ලබන පුද්ගලයා එම නඩු විභාගය අවසන් වන තෙක්‌ සිරගත කර තැබීම. නඩු විභාගය අවසාන වනතෙක්‌ ඇප නෑ. විපක්‌ෂයේ දේශපාලනඥයන් නිහඬ කිරීම තමයි මේ පනතේ අරමුණ. නීතිඥවරයෙක්‌ ආවත් නාවත් නඩු විභාගය පැවැත්වීමත් විනිශ්චයකාරවරයෙක්‌ ඉවත්වීම හෝ විශ්‍රාම ගිය පසු තම නඩුව නව විනිශ්චයකාරවරයකු යටතේ නැවත මුල සිට විභාග කරන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටීමට විත්තිකරුවකුට දැන් ඇති අයිතියත් මේ නව පනතින් අහෝසි කර තිබෙනවා. මේ පනතට අනුව මේ නඩු විභාග කරන ස්‌ථානය තීරණය කරන්නේ නීතිපති වරයා හෝ අගවිනිසුරුවරයා නොව අධිකරණ ඇමතිවරයායි. ආණ්‌ඩුව මේ සකස්‌ කරන්නේ රට විජාතිකකරණය කොට මර්දනකාරී වැඩපිළිවෙළක්‌ යටතේ පාලනය කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය පසුබිමයි. ඉදිරි කාලයේදී ආණ්‌ඩුව ගෙන ඒමට බලාපොරොත්තු වන නව ආණ්‌ඩු ක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවට එරෙහිව නැගෙන හඬ මර්දනය කරන්නත් ආණ්‌ඩුවට ඒ පසුබිම අවශ්‍යයි. ආණ්‌ඩුවට මේ පසුබිම හදාගන්න රටේ කලබල ඇතිවීම විශාල උදව්වක්‌.

රටේ මේ කලබල මැද පසුගියදා අතුරුදන් වූවන්ගේ කාර්යාල පනත සම්මත වුණා. අතුරුදන් වූවන්ගේ කාර්යාලය සඳහා පත් කර ඇති ඇතැම් සාමාජිකයන් ගැන බරපතළ විවේචන මතුව තිබෙනවා?

අතුරුදන් වූවන්ගේ කාර්යාලවලට පත්කරන සාමාජිකයන්ට සිද්ධිමය කරුණු සෙවීම, මානව හිමිකම් නීතිය, ජාත්‍යන්තර මානුෂික නීතිය, මානව ප්‍රතිචාර පිළිබඳ ඇති පළපුරුද්ද ආදී සුදුසුකම් තිබිය යුතු බව එම පනතේ සඳහන් වෙනවා. ඒ අනුව මෙම කාර්යාලයේ සාමාජිකයන් ලෙස පත්වන්නේ රටට එරෙහිව ගතු කියන, අතුරුදන් වූවන් පිළිබඳ සාවද්‍ය වාර්තා විදේශ සංවිධානවලට සපයන පුද්ගලයින් බව මීට වසර දෙකකට පෙර මා පුවත්පත් සාකච්ඡාවලදී ප්‍රකාශ කළා. මා එදා කළ ඒ ප්‍රකාශය අද එලෙසින්ම සිදු වී තිබෙනවා. මේ පත්කර තිබෙන සමහරු විදේශ නියෝජිතයො. සමහරු මේ යහපාලන ආණ්‌ඩුව බලයට ගෙන ඒමට පත් කළ අය. මේ කවුරුවත් ස්‌වාධීන පුද්ගලයො නෙමෙයි. මෙය රටට සහ හමුදාවට එරෙහිව සිදුකරන දේශපාලන ක්‍රියාදාමයක්‌.

මේ සාමාජිකයන් පත්කිරීමට ජනාධිපතිට කිසිම බලයක්‌ නෑ. ඒ පත්වීම් සිදුකරන්නේ ව්‍යවස්‌ථා සම්පාදක මණ්‌ඩලය මගින්. ඒ මණ්‌ඩලයේ ඉන්නෙ එජාප හිතවාදී පිsරිසක්‌. ස්‌වාධීන යෑයි පත්කළ තිදෙනත් යහපාලන ආණ්‌ඩුවේ හිතවත්තු. ව්‍යවස්‌ථා සම්පාදක මණ්‌ඩලයෙන් තෝරන පිරිස ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් පත් නොකළොත් සති දෙකකට පසු ඔවුන් ඉබේම එම තනතුරුවලට පත්වෙනවා. මේ පනතින් ජනාධිපතිවරයා බෙලහීන තත්ත්වයට පත් කර ඇති අන්දම ඉන් පැහැදිලියි. මේ කාර්යාලවලට පත් කරන අය තීන්දු කළේ රාජ්‍ය නොවන සංවිධාන. මේ කාර්යාලය පවත්වාගෙන යැමට අවශ්‍ය රෙගුලාසි පසුගියදා කඩිනමින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කර සම්මත කර ගත්තා. රටේ තිබෙන මේ කලබල මැද එම රෙගුලාසිවල තිබෙන දේවල් ගැන සොයාබලන්න කාටවත් අවස්‌ථාවක්‌ ලැබුණෙ නෑ. බලහත්කාරයෙන් අතුරුදන් කිරීමෙන් ආරක්‌ෂා කිරීමේ ජාත්‍යන්තර සම්මුති පනත පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ පසුගියදා වැඩි ඡන්දයෙන් සම්මත වුණා. මෙය රටට ඉතාමත් හානිකර පනතක්‌. 2017 පෙබරවාරි මාසයේ මෙය ගෙන එන්නට උත්සාහ කරන විට භික්‌ෂූන් වහන්සේ ඇතුළු රටේ ප්‍රභූ පිරිසක්‌ ජනාධිපතිතුමා හමුවී මේ පනත නොගෙනෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටියා. ඒ අනුව ජනාධිපතිතුමා එය නොගෙනෙන බව ප්‍රකාශ කළා. තමුන් එදා දෙවරක්‌ම ගෙන ඒම වැළැක්‌වූ මෙම පනත නැවතත් ගෙන එන විට එය නතර කිරීමට ජනාධිපතිතුමාට යුතුකමක්‌ තිබුණා. රටේ නායකයා සහ කැබිනට්‌ මණ්‌ඩලයේ ප්‍රධානියා වශයෙන් මම දන්නෙ නෑ කියල කියන්න එතුමාට බෑ.

මේ පනත වර්තමානයට සහ අනාගතයට මිස අතීතයට බලපාන්නේ නැහැ නේද?

මේ පනතට අනුව බලහත්කාරයෙන් අතුරුදන් කිරීම යනු මිනිස්‌ සංහතියට එරෙහිව කරන අපරාධයක්‌. මිනිස්‌ සංහතියට එරෙහිව කරන අපරාධ යුද අපරාධයි. 1992 සම්මත කළ මේ පනත 2008 සිට ක්‍රියාත්මකයි. මේ පනතට රටවල් 109 ක්‌ අත්සන් කර තිබෙනවා. ඒ රටවලට අපේ හමුදා නායකයෙක්‌ ගියොත් ඒ රටේ කෙනෙකුට ඔහුට විරුද්ධව පැමිණිල්ලක්‌ ඉදිරිපත් කරල ඔහුව අත්අඩංගුවට පත්කරවන්න පුළුවන්. එවිට ඊට අවශ්‍ය සාක්‌ෂි මේ අතුරුදන් වූවන්ගේ කාර්යාලයෙන් ලබාදෙනව. මේ රටේදී අතීතයට බලපාන විදිහට එය කරන්න බැරිවුණත් වෙන රටකදි පුළුවන්. ජාත්‍යන්තර නීතියට අනුව අතීතයේදීත් වරදක්‌ කළ බව ඔප්පු වුණොත් තමන්ගෙ රටේ දී වුණත් දඬුවම් කරන්න පුළුවන්.

අපේ රටේ සිංහල දෙමළ වාර්ගික ගැටුමක්‌ දීර්ඝ කාලයක්‌ පැවතුනා. සිංහල මුස්‌ලිම් නොසන්සුන්තාවක්‌ දැන් ඇතිවෙලා තිබෙනවා. අපේ රටේ ජනවර්ග අතර වරින් වර මේ විදිහට ඇතිවන ගැටුම් නිසා යුගෝස්‌ලාවියාවට සිදුවූ දේ අපේ රටටත් වෙයිද?

ඒක ඇතිවෙන්න කලින් ඇති කරන්නයි මේ හදන්නෙ. ආණ්‌ඩුව ගේන්න හදන නව ව්‍යවස්‌ථාව ගෙනාවොත් වෙන්නෙත් ඒක. පටු දේශපාලන අරමුණු ඉටුකරගන්න මේ විදිහට රට තුළ ගැටුම් ඇතිකිරීමෙන් සිංහල බෞද්ධයා දෙමළ මිනිසුන්ට පමණක්‌ නොවෙයි මුස්‌ලිම් මිනිසුන්ටත් හිරිහැර කරන පිරිසක්‌ යෑයි ලෝක ප්‍රජාව තුළ මතයක්‌ ඇතිවෙන්න පුළුවන්. එහි ප්‍රතිඵල භයානක විය හැකියි.

 lanka C news

තමන් මුහුණ දී සිටින අස්ථාවරභාවයෙන් මිදීම සඳහා ආණ්ඩුව තෙල්දෙනියෙන් ඇරඹි සිංහල – මුස්ලිම් ගැටුම සමනය කිරීමට පොලීසිය යෙදවීම මග හැර සිටීමෙන් එම ගැටුම වෙනත් ප‍්‍රදේශ කරා වේගයෙන් පැතිර ගිය බවත් ඒ නිසා ජීවිත හානි, දේපළ හානි මෙන්ම ජාත්‍යන්තර වශයෙන් රට අපකීර්තියට පත් වීම ද සිදු වූ බවත් මේ ගැටුමේ සම්පූර්ණ වගකීම ආණ්ඩුව විසින් භාර ගත යුතු බවත් ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ පවසයි.

පිටකෝට්ටේ පිහිටි ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ ප‍්‍රධාන කාර්යාලයේ දී පැවැති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකට එක් වෙමින් ජානිපෙ ප‍්‍රචාරක ලේකම් මොහොමඞ් මුසම්මිල් මහතා මෙසේ පැවසීය.

එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ ඒ මහතා මහතා මෙසේ ද සඳහන් කළේය.

‘මේ වන විට තෙල්දෙනිය ප‍්‍රදේශයෙන් ඇරඹි මහනුවර දිස්ත‍්‍රික්කය පුරා පැතිර ගිය ගැටුම්කාරී තත්ත්වය සමනය කිරීම සඳහා මැදිහත්වීම ආණ්ඩුව ඉතාමත් සැලසුම් සහගතව මග හැර තිබෙන බව ඉතා පැහැදිලියි. ඒ වගේම මේ ගැටුම්වලට මුල් වූ මැර පිරිස්වලට ඇණ්ඩුවේ අනුග‍්‍රහය නොමදව ලැබුණු බවටත් බොහෝ සාක්‍ෂි තිබෙනවා.

‘ඇසින් දුටු සාක්‍ෂි’

තෙල්දෙනිය අම්බාල ප‍්‍රදේශයේ විසූ කුමාරසිංහ සහෝදරයාගේ ඝාතනයත් ඊට නීතිය ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වීමේ ප‍්‍රමාදයත් හේතු කොට ඇතැම් ජාතිවාදී අන්තවාදී පිරිස් ගැටුමකට අර අඳින බව හොඳින් දැක ගත හැකි වුණා. ඒ බව කල් තියා අවබෝධ කරගත් ප‍්‍රදේශයේ බෞද්ධ භික්‍ෂූන්වහන්සේලා, මුස්ලිම් ආගමික නායකයන් හා දිගන නගරයේ ව්‍යාපාරික ප‍්‍රජාව කුමාරසිංහ සහෝදරයාගේ අවසන් කටයුතු යෙදී තිබූ මාර්තු 05 වැනිදා දිගන නගරයේ කඩ සාප්පු වසා දැමීමට තීන්දු කර තිබුණා. පොලීසියට මේ තත්ත්වය නොවැටහී තිබෙන්න හැකියාවක් නැහැ. මාර්තු 05 වැනිදා මා සිටියේ ද දිගන ප‍්‍රදේශයේ. එදින උදේ 10 – 11ට පමණ මා දිගන නගරය පසුකර යන විට දුටුවා, නගරය පුරාවටම ආරක්‍ෂාව සඳහා තිබුණේ එකම විශේෂ කාර්ය බලකා ජීප් රථයක් බව. ආරක්‍ෂක වැටවල් වෙනුවට රථ වාහන පොලීසිය යොදා ගන්නා ‘ප්ලාස්ටික් කෝන්’ යොදා තිබුණා. ගැටුම්කාරී තත්ත්වයක් ඇති වුවහොත් ඊට මැදිහත්වීමේ කිසිදු පූර්ව සූදානමක පොලීසිය නොසිටි බව මා සියැසින්ම දුටුවා.

‘ආණ්ඩුවේ අස්ථාවරත්වය රජයන කාලයක්’

ඒ වගේම යුද හමුදාපතිවරයා පැවසුවා ‘පොලීසිය බලාගෙන ඉඳිද්දි පහර දුන්නා කියා ජනතාව චෝදනා කළා. හමුදාව එන විට බොහෝ ස්ථාන ගිනි අරන් අවසන්. පොලීසිය මෙම සිදුවීම මැඩ පැවැත්වීමට අපොහොසත් වී තිබෙනවා’ කියා. ඒ වගේම ආණ්ඩුවේ ඇමතිවරයකු චෝදනා කළා ‘පිටතින් පැමිණි මැර පිරිස්වලට පහර දී පලා යෑමට පොලීසිය පැයක කාලයක් ලබා දී තිබුණා’ කියා. මෙවැනි අවාසනාවන්ත තත්ත්වයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය වී තිබුණේ කාට ද? පසුගිය මාර්තු 05 වැනිදායින් ඇරඹි සතිය තුළ තමයි අග‍්‍රාමාත්‍ය රනිල් වික‍්‍රමසිංහ මහතාට එරෙහි විශ්වාසභංගය ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‍ෂය විසින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට නියමිතව තිබුණේ. ඊට එක්සත් ජාතික පක්‍ෂයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත‍්‍රීවරුන්ගේ සහාය ද ලැබී තිබුණා. පාලිත රංගෙබණ්ඩාර වැනි එජාප මන්ත‍්‍රීවරුන් රනිල් වික‍්‍රමසිංහ මහතාව ප‍්‍රසිද්ධියේ විවේචනය කරමින් තිබුණා. ආණ්ඩුවේ ශ‍්‍රී ලනිප ඇමතිවරුන් බොහෝ දෙනකු ද රනිල් වික‍්‍රමසිංහ අගමැති ධුරයෙන් ඉවත් කළ ආණ්ඩුවක් ගැන සාකච්ඡුා කරමින් සිටියා. ඒ විදියට ආණ්ඩුවේ අස්ථාවරත්වය රජයන කාලයක් තමයි මේ ගැටුම ඇරඹි මාර්තු 05 වැනිදාට පෙර තිබුණේ.

‘ගැටුමෙන් පසු වාසිය ආණ්ඩුවට’

ඒ වගේම පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණයෙන් පොහොට්ටුව ලැබූ විශිෂ්ට ජයග‍්‍රහණය යටපත් කිරීමේ උවමනාවක් ද ආණ්ඩුවේ කණ්ඩායම්වලට තිබුණා. ඒ වගේම ආර්ථික බිඳ වැටීම, අර්ජුන් මහේන්ද්‍රන් හිටපු මහ බැංකු අධිපතිවරයා සොයා ගැනීමට බැරි වීම ආදී ප‍්‍රශ්නත් මේ අයට තිබුණා. ඉතිං ආණ්ඩුව විශ්වාස කළා මෙවැනි ගැටුම්කාරී තත්ත්වයකට ඉඩ සැලසීමෙන් තමන් මුහුණ පා සිටින අස්ථාවරත්වයෙන් මිදෙන්න පුළුවන් කියා. මෙවැනි ගැටුමකින් පසුව ඉතා පැහැදිලිව වාසිය ලැබෙන්නේ මේ ආණ්ඩුවටයි. සැලසුම් සහගතව පොලීසිය ගැටුම් නිරාකරණය සඳහා නොයොදවා ගැටුම් උත්සන්න වීමට ඉඩ හැරි ආණ්ඩුව මේ අවාසනාවන්ත තත්ත්වයට සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම වගකිව යුතුයි. නීතිය හා සාමය අමාත්‍යාංශය භාර අමාත්‍යවරයා ලෙස රනිල් වික‍්‍රමසිංහ මහතා මේ ගැටුම සමනයට කිසිදු ක‍්‍රියාමාර්ගයක් නොගත්තේ ඉතාම සැලසුම් සහතවයි. ඔහු ඇමතිවරයකු ලෙස සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම අසමත් කියා රටට පෙන්වූවා.

‘1983 කළු ජූලිය හා සමානයි’

1983 කළු ජූලිය අවස්ථාවේදීත් මෙවැනි පූර්ව සැලසුමකට අනුවයි සියල්ල සිදු වුයේ. පෙළපාලියකින් එනවා, පළමුව කඩ සාප්පු මංකොල්ල කනවා. ඊට පසුව ගිනි තියනවා. මෙවැනි සැලැස්මක් අතේ තියා ගෙනයි එදා සිරිල් මැතිව්ලා කළු ජූලිය දියත් කළේ. දිගන, අකුරණ ආදී තැන්වල මේ බව ඉතා පැහැදිලිව දැක ගත හැකියි. මුස්ලිම් ජනතාව වෙසෙන ප‍්‍රදේශ හරහා මෙවැනි පෙළපාලි එනකොට ඒ දෙපස තිබෙන අතුරු මාර්ගවලට රැකවල් ලා ගෙන මුස්ලිම් ජනතාවගේ නිවාස හා දේපළවලට රැකවරණය සැලසුවේ ඒ ප‍්‍රදේශවල බෞද්ධ භික්‍ෂූන්වහන්සේලා, සිංහල බෞද්ධ බැතිමතුන්. පෙළපාලි ගියේ, කඩ සාප්පු මංකොල්ල කෑවේ, ඒවා ගිනි තැබුවේ පිටතින් ආ මැර පිරිස්. ඒ නිසා ඉතා පැහැදිලිව පෙනෙනවා, මේ ගැටුම කෘත‍්‍රිමව ඇති කරපු එකක් කියා. 1983 දී දෙමළ ජනතාවට පහර දුන්නේ ඇඳිරිනීතිය මැද්දේ. මෙවරත් මුස්ලිම් ජනතාවට පහර දුන්නේ ඇඳිරිනීතිය මැද්දේ. ගැටුම් සමනය කරන්න පොලීසිය මැදිහත් නොවීම, සියල්ල සිදු වී අවසන් වුණාම හමුදාව යෙදවීම ආදී මේ සියල්ලෙන් පෙනෙන්නේ මේවා ආණ්ඩුවේ අනුග‍්‍රහය, ආධාරය, අනුබල මත සිදු වූ ඒවා බවයි.

1983 කළු ජූලියෙන් පසුව සිදුවූයේ බහුතර දෙමළ ජනතාව කොටි ත‍්‍රස්තවාදය දෙසට, ප‍්‍රභාකරන්ගේ තුරුළට තල්ලූ කර හැරීම. එදා දෙමළ ජන සමාජය, ප‍්‍රභාකරන් ඇතුළු දෙමළ ජාතිවාදී බෙදුම්වාදී, බලවේගවල සරණ පතන තැනට පත් කළා. මෙතැනදී සිදු කරන්න හදන්නෙත් ඒකයි. සැලසුම් සහගතව මෙවැනි ගැටුමක් නිර්මාණය කළාම විවිධ මානසිකත්වයන්හි සිටින ආවේගශීලී තරුණ පිරිස් ගැටුම්වලට මැදි කර ගන්න පහසුයි. මෙවැනි සිදුවීම්වලින් දීර්ඝකාලීනව රටට සිදු වන හානිය ඉතා බරපතළ බව තේරුම් ගත යුතුයි.

‘අන්තවාදීන්ට ඉඩ හදා දීම’

ආණ්ඩුව වගේම මෙවැනි ගැටුමකින් වාසිය ලබන්නේ ජාතිවාදී, අන්තවාදී කල්ලි කණ්ඩායම්. මෙතෙක් කලක් මුස්ලිම් ජනතාව බහුතරයක් ප‍්‍රධාන දේශපාලන පක්‍ෂ වටා රොක් වෙලා සිටියා. නමුත් මේ ගැටුමෙන් පසුව මුස්ලිම් අන්තවාදී කණ්ඩායම්වලට ඉඩක් ලැබෙනවා. ඔවුන්ව බෙදුම්වාදය දෙසට රැුගෙන යාමට. අද මුස්ලිම් සමාජය තුළ මේ අන්තවාදී කොටස් සූක්‍ෂ්ම මතයක් හදනවා ‘අපට සිංහල ජනතාවගෙන් පිහිටක් නැහැ. අපේ ආරක්‍ෂාව අපිම සලසා ගත යුතුයි. අපි බෙදුම්වාදයේ පිහිට පැතිය යුතුයි’ කියා. ඒ අනුව අයිඑස්අයිඑස් වැනි අන්තවාදී සංවිධානවලට ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ පැලපදියම් වීමේ ඉඩකඩ නිර්මාණය කර දීමයි මේ ගැටුමේ නිර්මාතෘවරුන් සිදු කළේ.

‘භික්‍ෂූන්වහන්සේ අපකීර්තියට පත් කිරීම’

මේ ගැටුම් නිර්මාණය කළ පිරිස් බෞද්ධ භික්‍ෂූන්වහන්සේලා සතු බලය, වටිනාකම් පද්ධතිය හෑල්ලූවට ලක් කිරීමට ද උත්සාහ කරමින් සිටිනවා. ජාත්‍යන්තර මාධ්‍ය යොදා ගනිමින් උලූප්පන්න හදනවා ‘බෞද්ධ භික්‍ෂූන්වහන්සේලා මෙම ගැටුම් අවුලූවන්න මැදිහත් වුණා’ කියා. ඇත්තෙන්ම සිදු වුණේ බෞද්ධ භික්‍ෂූන්වහන්සේලා මේ ගැටුම් ඇවිලී යාම වැළැක්වීමයි. නමුත් බෙදුම්වාදී ව්‍යවස්ථාවට, රටට අහිතකර කවර හෝ කරුණකට එරෙහිව පෙරට එන භික්‍ෂූන්වහන්සේලා නිහ`ඩ කරවීම මේ ආණ්ඩුවේ සහ ඔවුන්ගේ බටහිර හාම්පුතුන්ගේ උවමනාවයි. ඒ සඳහා ද මේ ගැටුම යොදා ගත් බව පැහැදිලියි. ආණ්ඩුවට වගේම අපේ මාතෘභූමිය තම ග‍්‍රහණයට ගැනීමට බලා සිටින බලවේගවලට සහ සියලූ ආකාරයේ අන්තවාදී කොටස්වලට පමණයි මෙම ගැටුමෙහි වාසිය ඇත්තේ.

ඒ නිසා ඒ බව මැනවින් තේරුම්ගෙන කිසිදු ආකාරයකින් ගැටුමට සම්බන්ධ නොවූ සිංහල හා මුස්ලිම් අතිබහුතර ජනතාවට අපි අපේ ප‍්‍රණාමය පුද කර සිටිනවා. ඒ වගේම මෙවැනි අන්තවාදයට උඩගෙඩි දෙන ගැටුම් නිර්මාණය කරන විනාශකාරී බලවේග හඳුනාගෙන ඒවා පරාජය කිරීමට පෙරට එන ලෙස සියලූ ලක්මාතාවගේ දූදරුවන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා’’

මෙම මාධ්‍ය හමුවට ජානිපෙ ත‍්‍රිකුණාමල දිස්ත‍්‍රික් නායක සුනිල් අමරසිංහ සහ කොටිකාවත්ත මුල්ලේරියාව ප‍්‍රාදේශීය සභා මන්ත‍්‍රී හේමසිරි අමරසිංහ යන මහත්වරු ද එක්ව සිටියහ.

අනුරුද්ධ බණ්ඩාර රණවාරණ
මාධ්‍ය ලේකම්
ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ

Meera Srinivasan Courtesy The Hindu

Though curfew imposed in the district was lifted early in the day, it may be re-imposed depending on the situation

It is no understatement to say that historically Christianity & Islam have been at odds. Both have fought wars to declare who was superior. Both have historically pursued a quest for supremacy of power. However, both have co-joined to influence other not so powerful religious sans institutional backing. Both Vatican/Holy See and the stricter form of Islam (Wahhabism) under control of Saudi have at their disposal a plethora of trigger points that are used to influence non-Islamic & non-Christian/Catholic nations politically, culturally, economically, via international trade, diplomatically and even socially. They have groups steering these endeavours at state, non-state, NGOs, INGO and even private capacity levels. These facts have to be taken into account whenever either or both join to chagrin other religions and people following other faiths.

There are 2.2billion Christians worldwide.

In 1900 the Christian population was just 600million.

In 1900 Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa was 9%

In 2010 it has shot up to 63%.

In 2015 Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa stood at 26% (in 1990 it was 9%)

In Asia-Pacific the Christian populace in 1910 was 3%, it is now 7% in 2010 (Pew Research)

Catholics number 1.1billion. Over 285million are Evangelicals. Other offshoots include Assemblies of God, Independent Bible Churches, etc.

A shocking 33,000 Christian denominations interpret Scriptures differently.

Indonesia, a Muslim majority country is home to more Christians than all 20 countries in the Middle-East North Africa region combined.

More than a third of Christians (37%) live in Americas where nearly 9 out of 10 (86%) are Christian. US, Brazil, Mexico account for nearly 1 in every 4 Christians worldwide.

Jesus was the poorest of the poor, Roman Catholicism which claims to be His Church, is the richest of the rich, the wealthiest institution on earth.

The Church of England’s income was £1.41 billion in 2013 – beating McDonald’s.

The Vatican refers to the Vatican City, an independent sovereign territory located in Rome, Italy. Vatican is home to the Pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy See, which is the government of the Catholic Church.

The Pope is the leader of this absolute monarchy, while the legislature is run by Cardinals (Pontifical Commission)

Vatican City is 0.17sq.miles and occupies 850 people. The Pope is leader to 1.2billion Catholics worldwide.

Vatican’s annual revenue is more than $300million. Vatican is protected by the Pontifical Swiss Guards Corps.

Vatican Bank, officially titled the Institute for the Works of Religion (also known as IOR), manages $8bn of assets. The Bank also has gold reserves worth over $20m with the US Federal Reserve.

The CIA estimates Vatican City’s 2011 revenue to be $308m.

The Holy See (the Government of the Church) has investments in the New York Stock Exchange, in real estate, pharmaceutical companies that manufacture birth control,

There is also allegations that Vatican is the main shareholder of arms manufacturer – Pietro Beretta. Because of its sovereignty, the Vatican Bank has the ability to withhold account information from regulators and authorities.

The Vatican exerts power on countries that have significant catholic populace and it also influences international donor agencies.

Jean-Guy Vaillancourt, professor of sociology at the University of Montreal says

http://churchandstate.org.uk/2015/11/vatican-power-over-governments/http://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/01/vatican-influence-on-domestic-and-foreign-policy-making-in-the-united-states/

Report by Center for Reproductive Law & Policy questions the entry of the

Vatican to the UN being the only religion to be accepted as it can influence population, family planning, and women’s rights.

Vatican has held high profile positions in 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the 1993 Vienna Conference on Human Rights.  http://www.population-security.org/crlp-94-07.htm

Then there is Opus Dei – one of the most influential religious organizations in the world. It holds enormous power over local communities. Publicly it donates to locals in need, but underneath much controversy exists. Dan Browns’ Da Vinci Code reveals the cult nature of it.

The US has channelled millions to influence foreign elections. $10 million was sent to the Christian Democrats in Italy’s 1948 election campaign. CIA has also been used to overthrow elected governments and prop up puppets. George E. Irani’s book, The Papacy and the Middle East, illustrates the Vatican’s involvement in Lebanon’s series of religious wars in the 1970s and 1980s.

More than 70% religious non-government organisations (NGOs) at the UN are Christian while, the Vatican enjoys a special observer status, as a state and religion. Muslim NGOs are often represented through the collective of states in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/christianity-dominates-united-nations-concludes-study-9032598.html

Imagine how pro-Christian governments in the West, pro-Muslim/Islam governments influence the UN at every level upon non-Christian & non-Islamic countries? Is this not where the UN bias is rooted?

Overall, the UN regularly engages with more than 3,000 non-governmental organisations afforded ‘official’ UN status. Around 10 per cent are classified as FBOs (faith based organizations), implying that their activities and goals are significantly molded by religious orientations and principles.

Then at the other end of the spectrum is Islam.

In July 2013, Wahhabism was identified by the European Parliament in Strasbourg as the main source of global terrorism.

In the 1970s, with the help of funding from petroleum exports and other factors, Saudi charities started funding Wahhabi schools (madrassas) and mosques across the globe (UK Telegraph)

US State Department estimated that over the past four decades Riyadh has invested more than $10bn (£6bn) into charitable foundations in an attempt to replace mainstream Sunni Islam with the harsh intolerance of its Wahhabism. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/29/what-is-wahhabism-the-reactionary-branch-of-islam-said-to-be-the/

The intelligence service of India estimates more than $244 million has been spent by Saudi Wahhabis during the past decade to set up 40 new mosques and four new madrassas and take over hundreds of others across the subcontinent, from Kashmir in the north to Maharashtra in the west and Kerala in the south.

The years 2011 to 2013 alone saw a record number of 25,000 Wahabis coming to India and conducting seminars in various parts of the country. They brought in Rs 1700 crore in several installments and used it to propagate the Wahabi style of Islam.

The Saudi sponsored Wahabis are aiming to set up their own education system in India – Rs 800 crore is being spent on setting up Universities in different parts of the country. They have earmarked Rs 400 crore to set up 40 Mosques adhering only to Wahabi preachings.

In Bosnia, too, Saudi financing has been central since the end of the civil war, in 1995, for construction of new mosques and cultural centers, such as the King Fahd Mosque in Sarajevo.

Saudi and Qatari Wahhabi charities controlled 60% of mosques in Italy by 2009.

80% of the 1,200 mosques operating in the US were constructed after 2001 & with Saudi money.

The money trail reflects the larger trend of the Saudi financing of Wahhabism abroad. Funds are funneled from Saudi sources through multiple, seemingly innocuous bank accounts—often via Qatar and Kuwait—reaching the accounts of mosques and imams who make distributions to Wahhabi organizations and individuals abroad. (Carol E. B. Choksy)

Bob Graham, a former Democratic senator from Florida who has called for declassification of the portion of the 9/11 Commission report dealing with Saudi Arabian links to the hijackers, says ISIS is a product of Saudi ideals, Saudi money, and Saudi organizational support.”

According to the Saudi monarchy’s official websites, Wahhabi charities and royal trusts, including that of another Saudi ruler, the late King Fahd, spent millions of dollars recruiting students to more than 1,500 mosques, 210 Muslim centers, 202 Islamic colleges, and 2,000 madrassas and on staffing those institutions with nearly 4,000 preachers and missionaries in non-Muslim nations in central, southern, and southeast Asia, as well as in Africa, Europe, and North America.

Using majority Muslim countries which number over 50, the IOC joins as a bloc of nations to make demands and exerts power over non-Muslim nations using trade, tourism, UN, UNHRC, local Muslims/local mosques/local Muslim politicians etc.

Money is disbursed to not only promote Islam but also purchase property & land, shares in countries, investments etc and all these added up make formidable challenges to any non-Muslim countries.

Islam exerts power politically, socially, economically, culturally using both state and non-state apparatus and these pose issues and concerns.

Let us clear some facts about the 3 Abrahamic religions.

Both Islam and the Generic Church stand guilty of pursuing world conquest and domination through control of territory and people while Judaism pursued goal of dominating the world by controlling the world’s capital.

That historical mandate of conquest continues using pan-national/international structures and ‘liberal’ politically correct idioms.

Islam adopts the method of increasing Muslim population through birth and conversions while Judaism continues to control the world’s wealth.

Where does this leave a compassionate philosophy like Buddhism and its adherents?

The trigger points of influence by these 3 Abrahamic faiths is clear and prevalent across Government and non-Government (private/Public) structures at every level. This is why communication/PR/media influences people’s minds against or for a cause that is directed or choreographed by those who own and influence these entities. This is why the Buddhists & Hindus almost always gets a raw deal electronically/print communication channels as well as by the UN, Western Governments & majority-Muslim states.

There are no neutral countries today that are either Western or Islamic. Though we must mention with gratitude Pakistan that helped Sri Lanka end the conflict & other Muslim majority nations that voted for Sri Lanka at the UNHRC. The EU bloc of nations have voted against Sri Lanka.

History is witness to how these Abrahamic faiths used the sword on behalf of their religion. Every murder, every territory taken was in the name of their God. Their new weapons have become the natives that have converted and the floors of the international agencies which they influence and the slogans democracy, freedom multiculturalism, human rights, racism, equality are perfect to interfere and dictate to non-Christian/non-Islamic countries which they eye to take over. There are only a few left. While both compete to take over non-Christian/non-Islamic territory they themselves are at odds with one another.

The Middle East and parts of Africa are in chaos. The new found friends to upset any country has become the Al Qaeda, ISIS and their off shoots. Hired Muslims and Christians are helping to kill innocent Muslims and Christians in a bogus war on terror.

At the international level world trade is controlled by the IMF, WTO, World Bank who dictate the world order and money flow and control illegal & legal trade with the capacity to make bank collapse and recover.

It is in this global context that Buddhism/Buddhists face unprecedented challenges.

Inside the UN – 70% NGOs, the Christian Western bloc vote, the Islamic bloc vote determines what UN officials deem ‘right’.

Foreign government funds are also disbursed to non-state organizations to propagate a policy that gets subtly hidden in internationalized jargon.

At the propaganda/media levels the situation is simple. A Christian/Islamic racist remark is given lesser coverage while a Buddhist or Hindu reacting to the remarks get full media attention and the electronic and print media goes into action to completely annihilate the person reacting, ignoring the reason for the reaction.

Moreover, there are hired people or those with bogus names tasked to denigrate Buddhism/Buddhists and this is flagged throughout the media channels given the impression that the world’s worst are no one but the Buddhists and Buddhism is to blame and this give reasons to sideline the place of Buddhism, marginalize the place given to Buddhism and that is what is being done vis a vis the new constitutional changes being proposed in Sri Lanka.

The ground work has been nicely laid out to prepare people for the realization of the historical objective to oust Buddhism from its sacred role and position in Sri Lanka using all the jargon and people and institutes available and at their disposal.

It is only the people who have a solid understanding of the past, the historical background of Sri Lanka together with the understand of the influence and the trigger points that are used and are in control of the parties out to oust Buddhism, who understands the bigger picture.

The issue has nothing to do with people following the Abrahamic faiths. Most of them do not know or are totally unaware of what goes on inside these financially power religious institutions or what their leaders and their board of directors are really upto. What they are upto in reality has nothing to do with the philosophy that bore their faiths.

It is therefore time that people wake up to realities and place situations in their proper context.

A web comment is quoted to highlight the situation further

“Buddhism is the only religion without a creator god. Buddhism’s reincarnation tallies with science. There are no 
conflicts with science in Buddhism. But in today’s mad world Buddhism has been pushed to a corner since
 Buddhism doesn’t have an organisation/organisations to protect. It’s very sad Buddhism’s non-violence approach 
itself is being destroyed by the other two religion. Buddhism doesn’t have a Vatican (smallest, yet the most
powerful country in the world) or Mecca. So the destruction of Buddhism in Sri Lanka goes full steam ahead in
 Sri Lanka”

Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights in Sri Lanka Incorporated under Associations Incorporation Act 1981(QLD)

Why is it so important to oppose the proposed new constitution?

Please do not look at this issue through blue, green or red glasses. This goes beyond political affiliations.

The future of our land of birth is at stake. If they become successful in getting this constitution passed there will be irreversible damage to the country.

• Clearly this is an attempt to introduce a Federal system to Sri Lanka, supposedly to solve the ethnic conflict.
• In the draft proposals submitted, the word ‘Unitary’ has been removed from the English version and replaced with the words ‘Aekeeya Raajya/Orumittanaadu’. Clearly this is an attempt to remove the ‘Unitary’ status of the country and replace it with ‘Federal’ or ‘United’ status. In the Sinhala version, there is a definition given to ‘Aekiya Raajya’, which does not indicate ‘Unitary’ or ‘Aekeeya’ concept of previous constitution. The word in Tamil ‘Orumittanadu’ indicate a ‘United’ or ‘Federal’ state. This is a stealth attempt to mislead people opposed to a ‘Federal’ state.
• ‘Unitary’ status indicates one government, whereas ‘Federal’ or ‘United’ indicate several governments.
• Provincial Governors are to be appointed on the recommendations by the Provincial Councils and governors are to function on the instructions of the cabinets of Provincial Councils. Central government will not be able to exercise any powers through governors under proposed new constitution.
• This goes beyond the quasi-Federal status of Indian constitution. In short, Provincial Councils of Sri Lanka will have more powers than Tamil Nadu State of India.
• Concurrent List, which lists subjects on which the both Central and Provincial governments have authority as per the current constitution, is proposed to be removed, leaving only National and Provincial Lists. The Central government will have only finance, foreign affairs, national defence and national economy as subjects. Central government will not have any power to intervene in other areas even if the rights of ethnic minorities in those provinces are openly violated.
• The current constitution has strong provisions against separatism with penalties specified. Anyone promoting separatism can be prosecuted. These provisions are watered down in the new constitutional proposals with no provisions to prosecute individuals promoting separatism.
• As we see even now, the Northern and Eastern Provincial Councils are controlled by extremely racist politicians who discriminate against people not belonging to their ethnic communities. This is going to worsen under the proposed new constitution.

Is this the solution to ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka?

The proponents of the new constitutional proposals claim that this will solve the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. If anyone believes that the separatists will be satisfied with a Federal State, he or she is so far removed from reality. This is an attempt by the separatists to legalise the concept of Tamil Homeland as a precursor to eventual separation.

• 51% of Tamil people live outside Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. How can Federation help Tamils living outside North & East?
• Even the current Provincial Council system was promoted as ‘the solution’ to ethnic problem in Sri Lanka. However, it did not stop LTTE terrorism or demands of the separatist lobby.
• The proposed new constitution is like the one proposed during Chandrika Kumaratunga’s time. At that time, the LTTE, TNA and Tamil diaspora opposed it, saying that it did not meet their aspirations. The people who supported the LTTE will not be satisfied with this too. They want a separate state and this is just a stepping stone.
• This constitution will support the creation of a two- nation concept. Instead of uniting different ethnic communities, this will further divide them.

 Is there a mandate for a constitutional change?

An often-touted argument of the proponents of the new constitution is that people gave a mandate for a constitutional change at the last election. This is a gross misrepresentation of facts. The constitutional changes politicians canvassed on were for a change in the executive presidency and the proportional representation system of elections. Change of the system of government to a Federal system was never brought up and people clearly did not give anyone a mandate to change the system of government to a Federal one from a Unitary one.

Who wants a federation in Sri Lanka?

Majority of Tamil population in Sri Lanka want solutions to their problems, which are not very much different to the problems of Sinhalese. It is only the racist politicians in North & East, Tamil diaspora who funded the LTTE, some Western governments with vested interests, India and NGOs funded by Western countries are agitating for a ‘Federal’ state. For several decades racist Tamil politicians found that they could get elected simply by whipping up racial hatred and promoting separation and/or federation as panacea for all the problems faced by Tamil people.

The reason for the demand for a separate or a federal state is based on the mythical ‘Tamil Homeland’ concept created by the fabricated history fed to generations of Tamil people

 Future of Sri Lanka if the new constitution is adopted

If the new constitution is approved by 2/3 majority in Sri Lankan parliament (which is a possibility considering calibre of Sri Lankan politicians who do not have a back bone to go against party stances on any issue and will do anything for financial or personal gains), it will most probably go for a referendum. If people in the country are hoodwinked to vote for the new constitution, the fate of the country will be sealed and there will not be any turning back.

• Sinhalese living in the North & East will be severely discriminated. Even if they close-down all the Sinhala schools in North & East, the Central government will not have any power to intervene. Note that the Chief Minister of the Northern Province has demanded that Tamil be the only officiallanguage in the North & East. Even if they stop water supply and do not maintain roads to Sinhala areas in North & East, the Central government will not be able to do anything.
• The new constitution will not satisfy the separatists. Next, they will request the withdrawal of armed forces from North & East completely, which would most likely to be done to appease them. They will request that the national flag (and national anthem) be changed. Already TNA politicians are saying that they do not agree with our national flag. Politicians will comply and change our national flag and anthem to appease them.
• Police will be under the Provincial Chief Minister and they will serve as an armed provincial force. The Central government will not get any intelligence information on subversive activities from them, creating fertile conditions for terrorist groups to start their campaign again.
• All state land will be under the Provincial governments. Sinhalese will not be given any land in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Provincial governments can even pass laws prohibiting land sale to people outside their ethnic community (similar to Thesavalamai law in Jaffna).
• Central government will be powerless to dissolve provincial governments without 2/3 majority in both the parliament and the proposed new senate. To do that they must clearly prove that the provincial government is about to secede, which will be too late to prevent the damage.
• Sri Lanka will end up as Sri Lanka-Tamil Eelam Confederation before long and Tamil Eelam will eventually secede.

Being patriotic is more important than being ‘politically correct’ or toeing your party line

As people of Sri Lankan origin living outside Sri Lanka, we have a duty to educate our friends and relatives in Sri Lanka about the dangers of the proposed constitution so that they can communicate their strong objections to their elected representatives.

This is not a campaign against or a campaign for any political party in Sri Lanka. Patriotism and allegiance to our country of birth should prevail over any other affiliations or political ideologies.

If anyone thinks that the proposed new constitution will help create ethic harmony between communities, they will realise their naivety very soon. Our recent history is littered with incidents of people going out of way to appease separatists and getting nothing in return.

We need to decide on where we stand. Are we going to simply watch our country and people being divided and not do anything to oppose it?

SPUR QLD

Email: spurqld@yahoo.com

පුවත්පත් නිවේදනය විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ/කැෆේ සංවිධානය

Rani Devi

Dear Lanka Web,

I read on your website about media racism on Sri Lanka. What you wrote is true as the whole world is suffering from radical Islam and the leftist media lie and make Islamist look like the victim, like in Myanmar the leftist media, United nations,  Human rights and NGO’s all lie that Rohingya are victims when Rohingya have been killing Buddhists as long as they have been in Myanmar and it was jihadists who attacked the innocent villages last year when Rohngya’s went to Bangladesh.

It is only pro Islam, leftist media that are the problem, others know the media lies . India and Hindus support Myanmar and Sri Lanka 100% not Rohingya or jihadists. Most of the  Indian media is leftist as they are paid by congress and other anti India people who are anti Hindu and pro Islam. India has had 70 years leftist, anti Hindu rule after British raj and since 2014 when Mr. Modi was elected the left are doing everything to remove him and they are using the media.

You wrote that India hates Sinhala Buddhists because Tamils are key to advancing their agendas. India and Hindus do not hate Sri Lanka Buddhists.

I read that the Catholic church was an ally to the tigers, the church has a lot of control of Tamil people in India and many have converted . The problem goes back to the Portuguese  invasion and the changing of history and of the interpretation of Vedic scriptures that was used  to divide and rule by the  British and then Congress continued with this.

The Tamil’s and Hindus were told they were invaders of India that is why Mr.Modi is  going to  re write history because of the invaders changing history and the interpretation of the Vedas, true history should be told and it will help to stop the divide in India caused by invaders.

India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar should help each other with the Rohingya, jihad problem and together bring peace to their Countries and not think each other an enemy.

Thank you for your time.

Regards

Rani

http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2009/04/catholic-church-ally-of-tamil-tiger.html

පුවත්පත් නිවේදනය විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ/ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍ර‍ය

ජනතා විවේචණයට මුහුණ දී ගත නොහැකි රජය දිගටම අන්තර් ජාලය හා සමාජ  ජාලා සීමා කිරීමට උත්සහ දරනවා – කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් නිවේදනයකින් පවසයි

අන්තර් ජාලය භාවිත වන්නේ ජාතිවාදය ඇවිස්සීමට හෝ ආණ්ඩු විවේචණය කිරීමට පමණක් නොව එය ව්‍යාපාරික හා සන්නිවේදන මෙවලමක් බැවින් සමාජ ජාලා වාරණය අවසන් කිරීමට රජය වහා කටයුතු කළ යුතු ව ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍ර‍ය නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් පවසයි.   සංවිධානාත්මක පරිගණක අපරාධ මර්ධනය කිරීමට ද, ආණ්ඩුව පිළිබද දේශපාලන විවේචනයට මුහුණ දිය නොහැකිව සිටින රජය අන්තර් ජාලය, සමාජ ජාලා, තොරුතුරු සන්නිවේදනයට සීමා පනවා තිබේ.  නමුත් එහි ආර්ථික සා සාමාජීය බලපෑම අති විශාල බව රජය වටහා ගත යුතු බව ද, වහා මෙම තහනම ඉවත් කළ යුතු බව ද, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍ර‍යේ විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා නිකුත් කළ නිවේදනයේ දැක්වේ.

ලංකාවේ ලක්ෂ 59 ක් ෆෙස් බුක් භාවිත කරති.  ලක්ෂ 8 ක් ටුවිටර් භාවිත කරති. ලංකාව ජනගහනයට වැඩි දුරකතන ප්‍ර‍මාණයක් සහිත රටකි. ලංකාවේ ජනප්‍රියම ඇප් එක වයිබර් වන අතර, Anubhav Nayyar, the Regional Head of Viber South Asia  ට අනුව ලංකාව ලෝකයේ වයිබර් ස්ටිකර් නිශ්පාදනය සිදු කරන ප්‍ර‍මුඛ රාජ්‍යයන් 5 න් එකකි!

ලංකාවේ වයිබර්, වට්ස්අප්, මැසෙන්ජර් වැනි සමාජ ජාලා භාවිත කරන මුළු සංඛ්‍යාව මිලියන 6.8 කි.   මැද පෙරදිග, ලෝකයේ විවිධ රටවල්වල වෙසෙන තම ඥාතීන්, හිතවතුන් සමග පහසුම සන්නිවේදන මාර්ග සියල්ලම පාහේ දැන් දින 6 ක් අවහිර වී ඇත.  ලාභ සන්නිවේදන මාර්ග අවහිරවීම යනු වැඩි මිලක් ගෙවා එම පහසුකම් ලබාගැනීමට පාරිභෝගිකයින්ට සිදුවීමයි.  සමාජ ජාලා අවහිර කළ වහාම ටෙලිකොම් ඇතුළු සන්නිවේදන පහසුකම් සපයන ආයතන කළේ  සෘජු විදේස් දුරකතන පහසුකම් පිළිබද දැන්වීම් පල කිරීමය. අවම මිල සේවා ලබා ගැනීමට වෙනුවට වැඩි මිලක් ගෙවා අන්තර් ජාතික සන්නිවේදන පහසුකම් ලබා ගැනීමට මිලියන 3 ක් වන පාරිභෝගිකයින්ට සිදුව තිබේ.

විදේශගත ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයින් තම ඥාති හිතවතුන් සමග සබදතා පවත්වාගන්නේ අන්තර් ජාලය හරහා ය.  ජාත්‍යන්තර වෙළෙදපොළට සේවා සපයන ආයතන සිය ගණනක් ලංකාවේ ඇති අතර ඔවුන්ගේ ව්‍යාපාර දැවැන්ත බිද වැටීමක ලක් වී තිබේ. 

මෙයට මසකට පෙර පැවති පළාත් පාලන ඡන්දවිමසීමෙන් දැවැන්ත පරාජයක් ලැබූ ආණ්ඩු පක්ෂය තමන්ට එරෙහිව එල්ල වන ජනතා විරෝධය, විවේචණය මැඩලීම සදහා සමාජ ජාලා වාරණය දිගටම පවත්වා ගෙන යාමට උත්සහ දරමින් සිටී.   මහනුවර සිට සමාජ ජාලා හරහා මිනී මැරුම්, දේපල කොල්ලකෑම, දේපල විනාශ කිරීම සදහා දායක වූ පුද්ගලයින් ඒ සදහා භාවිත කළ සේවා පිළිබද දත්ත (අයි.පී. ලිපිනයන් පවා) ෆෙස් බුක් ඇතුළු සමාජ ජාලා මගින් ලංකාවේ බලධාරීන් වෙත ලබා දී තිබිය දී දින දෙකක් ඔවුන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීමට නොහැකිවීම ලංකා පොලීසියේ දුර්වලතාවයකි.  නීතිය හා සාමය පවත්වාගෙන යාමේ දුබලතාවයකි.

නොමිලේ වයි-ෆයි සබදතා ලබාදීම, ටැබ් ලබාදීම, තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණය පුළුල් කිරීම පිළිබද මාධ්‍ය සංදර්ශන පවත්වමින් සමාජ ජාලා මර්ධනයට කටයුතු කිරීම විහිළු සහගත ක්‍රියාවකි.  ‘මහසොහොන් බලකාය’ නමින් තෙල්දෙණිය නගර මධ්‍යයේ සිව් මහල් ගොඩනැගිල්ලක මුලස්ථානයක් පවත්වාගෙන ගිය අතර, මෙම ප්‍ර‍චණ්ඩවත්වයට නායකත්වය දුන් පුද්ගලයින් තවමත් නිරපද්‍රිතව සිටී.  එමෙන්ම, මුස්ලිම් ජාතිකයින් අතර ක්‍රියාත්මක අන්තවාදී සංවිධාන සාමාජිකයින් සම්බන්ධයෙන් ද, නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මකවීමක් දක්නට නොලැබේ.  ඇප කොන්දේසි උල්ලංඝණය කරමින් මෙම කටයුතු සදහා සහභාගි වූ පිරිස් තවමත් නිදැල්ලේ සිටී.  එවැනි පරිසරයක සමාජ ජාලා සීමා කිරීම දිගටම පවත්වාගෙනයාම ‘අදහස් ප්‍ර‍කාශ කිරීමේ නිදහස සීමා කිරීමක් බව ත්,  එය රටට දැවැන්ත මුල්‍ය පාඩුවක් සිදු කරන කටයුත්තක් බවත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍ර‍ය අවධාරණය කරයි.

කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන්

විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ/ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍ර‍ය

2018 මාර්තු 11

C. Wijeyawickrema

1.International king makers

There are universal truths. The sun rises from the east is an example. Reconciliation cannot cohabit with balkanization is also a universal truth. If reconciliation is undertaken to create a unitary or a united country, the balkanization plan by RanilW-Mrs. Chandrika-MaithripalaS trio using hardcore Marxists Jayampathy W and Lal Wijenayaka is its opposite, an anathema. Therefore, this reconciliation talk is an eyewash. It is now Christal clear that the western embassies brought this trio into power in 2015 to reach their long-term goal of breaking the Sinhala-Buddhist foundation in Sri Lanka. Christian Rosy Senanayaka and half-Buddhist Mrs. Chandrika preach this sermon on a regular basis, and the international king makers (IKMs) use such pawns to accomplish their aim. MaithripalaS and the late Ven. Maduluwave Sobhitha were unfortunate cat’s paws trapped in this game. The unfair treatment given to MS by MahindaR gave IKMs an easy loophole to divide the Sinhala Buddhist vote which did not work in 2010 when IMKs tried it with SarathF, a loose cannon. IKMs benefitted from MR’s half-hearted conversion as a believer of the European imported two myths of Inter-faith and multi-culturalism. Politicians do that to placate communalist Muslim, Christian or Tamil politicians.

2. this war is not winnable crowd

Apart from this fundamental conflict between reconciliation and balkanization, another basic error of this reconciliation game is it is handled by those black-whites and separatists who belong to the this war is not winnable” crowd. How can people have faith in a Saravanamuttu, Manori Muttettuvegama or a Nimalka Fernando to be honest and impartial in dealing with such sensitive issues like alleged war crimes or missing persons?  Dollar-backed offices led by Mrs. Chandrika or Mano Ganeshan are IKM pawns in the eyes of Sinhala Buddhists. All kinds of committees appointed by the trio above including the joke called the constitutional council does not have a single respectable Sinhala Buddhist as a member.

3. Badmouthing by Wigneswaran

The speeches by western white agents openly admitted that they gave dollars to regime change in SL. It was different in magnitude to the unopened bundles of dollar bills found in SarathF’s relatively bank safes in 2010. The new separatists in new wine bottle like Wigneswaran makes nasty anti-reconciliation statements the trio has no guts to control. Wigneswaran’s reconciliation includes Tamils not marrying Sinhalese, removal of Buddha statutes from Jaffna, an ex-Marxists, ex-Christian governor Reginald Cooray talks about Buddhist monks not coming to Jaffna (for conversion of low castes?)! How can there be conciliation with such state of affairs?

4. Sinhala Commission report to the dust bin of history

When there are two parties to a conflict, reconciliation cannot take place if the IKM agents are hammering one side, openly favoring the other side? What the above trio has done so far using people like MangalaS etc. is to ridicule or humiliate the Sinhala Buddhist heritage trying to force people to accept their views on sexual orientation, women’s liberation etc. A systematic effort to disgrace Buddhist monks, Buddhist cultural practices and even the traditional broadcasting of Pirith in Buddhist temples because a few Christians who came to live near the temple cannot sleep in the morning make Sinhala Buddhist angry. The destruction of Buddhist archeological sites and the trio’s unwillingness to stop it makes Buddhists feel that reconciliation means discrimination against them to placate Muslim and Tamil politician crooks.

5. Islam al taqiyya rule

Sharia theory of el taqiyya, which allows a Muslim to lie and practice deception is now in operation in Muslim majority locations in the island. Submission, cooperation and oppression, the three stages of how Sharia Muslims live in a host community as their population numbers grow from smaller guest status to a majority is a political-administrative reality in the eastern province. This has been exposed by the monk Ampitiye Sumanaratana at Mangalaramaya, Batticaloa. Tamil-speaking Muslim officers harass Sinhala villagers, denying them justice and fair play, not even the right to register and have a birth certificate. It is amazing how, this one monk is fighting against the entire establishment in Sri Lanka from local GSNs and police officers to the Colombo cabinet and president against Muslim and Tamil separatism. When Wijedasa Rajapakse as minister in charge of Buddhist Affairs tried to intervene finally, he was removed from the cabinet. Sinhala Buddhists wait helplessly against such actions and reactions by fake Buddhists in power. Can there be conciliation with dollar trees with NGOs in Colombo ministerial office of Mrs. Chandrika and Mano Ganeshan?

6. Foreign invasions

The song Danno Budunge was like a national anthem for rural people during the white rule before 1948. Singing it in Gothic or Italian tone at an independence-day celebration becomes an affront to long-suffered Sinhala Buddhists. RanilW allowed this to provoke or irritate people and wanted to punish the TV news reporter for sarcastically criticizing the lady’s experiment. No one would oppose her experiment if it was done at any other occasion such as a UNP meeting or a UNP funeral. This is at a time the national anthem was changed from matha to thantai. Bringing prince Edward is to go to Colonial times in mind. But politicians, NGOs and people like Dayan Jayatilaka, C. A. Chandraprema, Tissaranee Gunasekara, DBS Jeyaraj hide the fact that the Sinhala Buddhists are facing not just the IKM power but at least three other foreign threats.

Christian fundamentalism is busy with unethical conversions. How many BOI-registered church locations in Sri Lanka? UNP minister Iran Wickramaratna has a hundred of those huts! Next comes the hidden money of Prabakaran, now used by the global Tamil forum. Portion of this money is used to intimidate local politicians in white parliaments in the world, except Russia. The most dangerous now is the Arab dollars. Fake Sinhala Buddhist politicians are trapped to the neck with this power. Sri Lankan women clean Arab toilets and remit billions which these hopeless politicians used to import luxury cars and Russian prostitutes.

7. Donoughmore Buddhists

After 1931, black-white Sinhala politicians changed their last version of Christian religion and became Buddhists to get Sinhala Buddhist votes. They used village monks to work as translators for them as they could speak only kitchen Sinhala. These fake Buddhists did not do a thing to save or protect the Buddha Sasanaya.  Instead they got rid of the Anagarika Dharmapala and sabotaged the Rural Development and Crime Eradication Program of Ven. Kalukondayave Pragnasekara. It is unbelievable that even Sir D. B. Jayatilaka could not help the monk! Agents of fake reconciliation are blind to the international forces working against the Sinhala Buddhist heritage. They must work to stop Arab money or Tamil separatist money or evangelical money pouring into the island to propagate their extremist views. Apart from bribes politicians take, they keep silent because they want Muslim vote, rich Christian vote or Tamil vote. They are like the fake Donoughmore Buddhists in the past.

8. Commission Reports ignored

It is another universal truth in Sri Lanka that the original owners of this island, the Sinhala Buddhists, (just like the Japanese own Japan) suffered for 500 years under the iron rule of foreign Christian rule. After 1931 this was continued with black-white rule. From time to time, under pressure, to fool Sinhala Buddhists, black-white governments appointed Commissions of Inquiry to look into the grievances of the majority people. The last one of these, a result of the self-sacrificing silent revolution made by the late Ven. Gangodawila Soma, the 2002 Buddhist Commission Report dealt with unethical conversion and specifically, the growing menace of Sharia-Wahabi halal face covering poison pills, but Mrs. Chandrika and MR, who benefitted in 2005 election from the Soma dowry totally ignored the report. If the new trio after 2015 want true reconciliation they must appoint a commission of inquiry to examine the grievances of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people.

9. Bodu Bala Sena

Why did JHU fail and why BBS had a meteoric rise after May 2012? Why is that the entire black-white establishment hate BBS? The reason was that it exposed the game played by fake Buddhist or half-Christian Buddhist Sinhala politicians. They have been treating the Sinhala Buddhists the same way the men proverbially treated the kind-hearted women. Ven. Elle Gunawansa described this mildly when he said that Buddhists who carried Buddhists flags for these politicians ended up with the flag poles in their hands! The open public conspiracy to isolate and silence BBS monk, to kill the messenger, just like what had happened to so many other active Buddhist monks who faced mysterious deaths stopped after the June 20, 2017 Asgiri Declaration. Yet, the trio allowed their agents to level below the belt attacks on the Sanga establishment, which protected this island for 2000 years. Bodu Bala Sena followed the Anagarika Dharmapala path instead of the late Ven. Gangodwila Soma’s soft path.

The exposure of this Buddhist game by BBS rattled all types of Sinhala politicians and they all got united in demanding the head of BBS leader. Even an otherwise honest person like Rajiva Wijesinghe attacks BBS with falsehood or half-truths. Dayan Jayatilaka is in the same boat. He calls (writes) Ven. Soma as Rev. Soma in the Christian way. He does not know the difference. In an opinion page letter dated March 8, 2018 on Islamophobia in the Island newspaper he disclosed new information that the country’s Sinhala Buddhists did not know. He begins saying that MR vetoed the anti-conversion bill in 2005. Then, when Dinesh Gunawardena and Wimal Weerawansa urged at a cabinet meeting to ban the birth of BBS, its inaugural meeting at Maharagama in May 2012, Dayan says, MR nodded his head in agreement. Again, after the Alutgama incident while coming back from Japan MR ordered the arrest of BBS leader but the defense circles stopped it. All this came out because of Dayan’s dire need to blame Champika Ranawaka as a bad man. C.A. Chandraprema did the same using Christian DBS Jeyaraj’s and Colombo Telegraph anti-Sinhala Buddhist websites.

Sri Lanka today is covered with evil triangles large as well as local: politician-officer-NGO. When Sinhala politicians do not take action against sharia acts in the name of reconciliation, somebody has to do something. The Mahason Movement is one such group. For example, it exposed how expired medication is repacked and sold by the Royal pharmacy owned by a Muslim, how Sinhala women are subjected to forced birth control surgery etc. acting as a watch dog. This is not racial act, but courage by dedicated Sinhala youth. For this sin police arrested two of its leaders under emergency order. This is not a path to reconciliation, the bribe-taking politicians must realize.

Proverbial Cat’s on rocks

The question is that when BBS is asking for a commission of inquiry on the Alutgama incident, Dinesh, Wimal or MR acted like proverbial cats on rocks. The new trio are also like cats and they are so afraid of BBS coming before a commission of inquiry. There will never be reconciliation as long as these politicians try to hide the truth to thrive in politics. For them a Muslim block vote is more important than the principle of redressing genuine grievances of Sinhala Buddhists. Removal discrimination perpetrated against the majority reasonably, is not discrimination against minority communities. If the new SLPP either misunderstands the map it got in February 2018 or those federal and pro Muslim agents in it plan to cheat Sinhala Buddhists after coming to power, it will face dire consequences. For example, the Wilpattu debacle and allowing a university with an Arab king’s name to train Islam mullahs in Arabic for madrassas cannot create reconciliation. Did some get Arab dollars as bribes?

The above paragraphs are an extended introduction to the subject I wanted to present here. In 2006, I wrote an essay titled Federal marriages and water wars” in 2006, a later reprint of which from the Lankaweb appended at the end of this note. It was a general description of how taking the 13-A path toward an F” solution could create an island engulfed in water wars, a common occurrence at the South Indian state borders today. If the purpose of 13-A or 13-A plus or whatever is to bring reconciliation, these reconciliation crooks will be dead and gone to see the results of their stupid actions. My disgust against these politicians, how they destroy Sri Lanka with sets of puppet officers resurfaced again when I saw the essay written by engineer Neville Ladduwahetty, titled, Impact of past and present irrigation works on reconciliation,” (Island, March 4, 2018).

In his essay, he reports a specific example of how the Moragahakanda water transfer project could become a new tiger’s tail. Northern CM, Wigneswaran has already staked a claim for this water. Simply stated, the government is promising or giving high hopes to northern Tamils that the south will supply them with water. This appears to be a false promise, because there are five ancient tanks, Minneriya, Kaudulla, Giritale, Kantale and Parakrama Samudraya (marked in Map – A as nos. 8, 10, 20, Kantalai & 9, respectively) that depend on water from M reservoir.

Neville states, … despite the high figures assumed in respect of rainfall (2000mm) and runoff (30%) the shortfall of 243,000 acre ft. that represents 57.5 % of the storage capacity of Moragahakanda is needed to augment all five tanks to their full capacity. This has to be released from the Moragahakanda reservoir through the Elahera canal [blue line on Map-A] and directly from the Amban Ganga. This also means that since this quantity of water is available mostly during the North East Monsoon from October to March of any year, and since Moragahakanda is located above the Elahera Canal, any storage at Moragahakanda is possible ONLY AFTER the 57.5% of the storage capacity of Moragahakanda is released to the five ancient tanks…”

….Since storage at Moragahakanda would be at the tail end of the NorthEast Monsoon, the waters that could be stored would only be that amount of water that could be diverted from Polgolla to Amban Ganga, and from any rains from a weakened North East Monsoon plus that from the South West Monsoon. Whether such depleted quantities would be sufficient to serve the intended purpose of Moragahakanda in respect of power generation and delivery to the Upper Elahera Canal which is reported to be currently under construction should be given serious consideration….”

By mixing ancient irrigation system with western brains of hydrologic marvels, politicians and university engineers have created another cement and concrete problem. If Northeast or Southwest Monsoons delayed or not sufficient in quantity new western mega concrete plans and ancient ecology-based irrigation systems both will be in trouble and Tamil separatists will go to Geneva complaining violation of their human right to water. When Gal Oya project did not supply enough water to the Senanayaka Tank, there was no agency to go to Geneva. It was a blunder done by DSS not listening to Dr. S. A. Wickramasinhge’s plea not to have one huge tank but to have a number of upstream smaller tanks. Actually, this was the concept that the Tennessee Valley Authority in USA implemented with regard to the Tennessee River. The Gal Oya project was a TVA project done outside USA. But it had to do it the Ceylonese politicians’ way!

Civil engineer D. L. O Mendis, now over 90 years old struggled all his adult life to try to stop hydrological engineering madness of university engineers, who did not understand the marvel of ancient irrigation water management of our kings. The first opportunity they get these western-oriented engineers destroyed ancient water conservation systems with bulldozers. DLO in his book, Community based water conservation and development, 2013, has pointed out how the Uda Walawe Basin Project ignored ancient water and soil conservation ecosystem embracing hydrologic engineering, thus destroying hundreds or even thousands of smaller tanks. He blames those who decided on the Moragahakanda NCP canal (Take water to North). He says NCP canal is a ridge channel, traced virtually on the central dividing ridge in the north-central part of the island, whereas other ancient canals such as Kalaweva jayaganga, Minipe and Elahera canals are contour channels (p.161). We hope that the 2,400 tank restoration project of president Sirisena, just launched, will not destroy ancient Vetiya system (p. 147), a system of collecting river flood water above the river basin.

==================

‘Federal’ Marriages and Water Wars
Posted on August 5th, 2009

By: C. Wijeyawickrama

There is no state without a Tamil – but there is no state for the Tamils.” World Confederation of Tamils (www.tamilnation.org)

‘India is a Myth’:

The merchants of federal formula are reluctant to compare ‘Federal’ arrangements with marriage contracts. In the recent past we saw this behavior first hand in an exchange of letters with one Kandappa from Jaffna under the titles Federalism and Marriage” and Federalism and Sexism” (Island, Jan 11, 2006). The comparison exposes defects in the Federal method. This is why Mr. Anandasangaree has become the Ambedkar of Sri Lanka preaching to JVP that the Indian model is not really a Federal but a mixture of Federal and Unitary.

Perhaps Mr. Anandasangaree may not be aware of the fact that India is a myth” is a protest movement alive amongst groups of Tamils in India who call India, Hindia or Hindistan. One would wonder why recently Mr. Anandasangaree, himself had to ask in vain from Karunanidhi to not violate the federal decision to train 200 police officers in Tamilnadu if his Indian model is not Federal but mixture of Federal & Unitary! (Island, Aug 10, 2006). The Dravidasthan movement that began in South India in the 1930s is buried and not dead as evidenced by the arrest of MDMK’s Manimaran under the Indian Penal Code section 153(b), and the arrest warrant open for Kandanbam of DPI (Dalit Panther of India).

Marvil Aru Anicut:

The blockage and bombing of the Marvil Aru-Verugal Aru area have proven to the world that the theory of a joint Federal and Unitary is also a myth like the hoax of a traditional Tamil homeland in the Eastern Province. The Malaria mosquito simply did not allow it as pointed out by the geography professor G. H. Peiris. If a party filed for a divorce (from Unitary partner) [despite a generous court order (CFA, 2002), the greatest giveaway in history according to the Scotsman Paul Harris, and a humiliating surrender by the other party (I-SL Agreement, 1987], tried to use water supply to make the marriage under one roof unpleasant, what is in store when the parties were to be allowed to move into their own separate houses?

Water Wars in India:

Mr. Kandappa in January 2006 accepted the fact that Tamilnad has had water wars with two of its neighbors, Kerala and Karnataka, under the Indian model. India had water wars with Pakistan and is bound to have water wars with Pakistan in Kashmir. India has water disputes with Bangladesh-a river delta that became a separate country- where the big brother’s decisions makes Bangladesh either flooded with excess water or starved of water during the dry season.

I raised the issue of water wars between Tamilnad and its neighbors in order to show that federalism is not the solution to help Sri Lankan Tamils to achieve their aspirations” (mentioned by the late Kumar Pannambalam) or to handle the legitimate Tamil grievances” (emphasized recently by US governmental officers Jeff Lunstead, Richard Boucher and Nicholas Burns, and Indian leaders Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi). Rivers do not respect political boundaries.

Hence there were water disputes between countries (USA-Canada, India-Pakistan, India-Bangladesh, Egypt-Sudan) and between states under ‘Federal’ marriages. Water (Jordan River) is a hidden time bomb in the Middle East conflict.

Water and ‘Federal’ marriage Contracts:

Water as an essential human need becomes a political weapon because it operates at the interface of time and space. Water at the wrong place in the wrong time becomes flood and disaster. Water not at the right place in the right time creates drought and famine. Too much water or too little water at a given place and in a given time can be manipulated for political purposes if the two parties to a federal marriage happen to be upstream versus downstream water users.

Water is a good example to show the value of the epithet, You cannot legislate against geography.” Water flows from high to low ground irrespective of political boundaries. Actually, ‘Federal’ arrangements are also examples of acceptance of this epithet because it allows diverse regions to become stronger by the human political mechanism of federation or confederation. EU is the best example in this regard, to treat the European landmass as one political unit.

The Federal arrangement is done by either with two lists or three lists. Two lists give federal powers and state powers. Three lists, is the Indian method with of an additional concurrent list. With regard to water use this is a recipe for disaster.

In a Flat World” of globalization, constitutions, schedules, court cases, water compacts or arbitrations are instruments designed to handle water disputes. Lawyers and constitutional book experts thrive under this arrangement, but in the end, people will die at the water front. USA has followed this litigation method.

Yet even American and Canadian fishermen came close to shooting at each other at sea several times in the past on fishing rights. The two states, Oklahoma and Texas had river water disputes because the Red River between the two shifts horizontally over the years. The Colorado River water use allocation is an issue for all the states sharing it. The mighty Colorado ends as a sludge-toxic canal when it reaches the border between USA and Mexico.

Sri Lanka’s Eelam Boundary:

Whether, Sri Lanka’s ‘Federal’ formula merchants could prevent future Marvil Arus by a thick document regulating water rights and water allocations is a life and death issue for all Sri Lankans. Can the national list, the state list and the concurrent list prepared by a group of Colombo, lawyers prevent an aggressive marriage partner who had a bitter divorce fight from demanding more water when a drought prevents releasing more water downstream?

Will there be border clashes or filing cases at the World Court? Is compromise possible? Sri Lanka’s situation is unique for four reasons.

(1) Sri Lanka is the first country on earth to go from a single country to ‘Federal’ country.

(2) Sri Lanka’s physical geography and the Eelam boundary do not match at all.

(3) There is an Indian Tamil population in the upstream river catchment areas in the central mountain

regions where a Malayanadu movement is in dormant.

(4) Eelam” is a world Tamil dream and not just a Sri Lanka Tamil or Tamilnad Tamil dream.

The Eelam boundary (red lines on maps) on the Tamil Eealm map (www.tamilcanadian.com) is an attempt to legislate against geography and therefore, even if the two partners to the marriage have new saintly qualities and decided to erase from their mind previous murderous divorce battles, water wars would become inevitable. The panacea presented by the death merchants of the Indian federal formula would not help due to reasons of:

1. Political Geography:

Sri Lanka will be the only island state divided to create a federal marriage. In all the other Federal marriages (USA, India, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland) it was parties already divided who became united under one roof by ‘Federal’ arrangement.

Whether, the Federal Sri Lanka will have two partners, eight partners or the Eastern Province will have separate Sinhala or Muslim (Oluvil declaration) units will further complicate water allocation issues.

2. Physical Geography:

Sri Lanka is a pear-shaped island with a central mountain mass surrounded by a hilly landscape region and coastal plains. Because of this physical geography rivers are short and radiate from the central highlands. The only river that could be called a river system is the Mahaweli Ganga”.

3. Cultural Geography:

With an Indian Tamil population living in the central mountain region where the upstream water catchment areas are located, any agitation or collaboration between Northern Tamils, Tamilnad Tamils or World Tamils and the Indian Tamils (Malayanadu) could disrupt water supply especially to the Mahaweli Ganga Scheme by blocking the headwaters during drought.

4. Climatology:

The island has a weather and climate based on the seasonal Monsoon winds. South-West Monsoons come with a heavy moisture content dropping it on a smaller area.

North-East Monsoons on the other hand come from the Bay of Bengal” with less moisture and spreads over a vast area. This creates two basic water regiments for the Wet Zone and the Dry Zone. Yet, even the Wet Zone is not free of droughts.

With one of the island’s Arid Zones in the Eelam” area (Mannar region), the demand for more water for that region could become an issue in the future.

5. Geology:

The availability of groundwater resources is influenced by geological history, and the demand for surface water is affected by this factor. For example, since Jaffna is a limestone (Karst) region, plans to convert the Jaffna lagoon into a fresh water lake could demand diversion of more water from the Mahaweli Scheme to the Kanakarayan Aru (K on Map 2).

6. Historical Geography:

Eealm boundary is based on two Provincial boundaries arbitrarily created by the colonial ruler for administrative control. The continuation of these boundaries will become more problematic when two fighting sides become F marriage partners. The two-nation theory was a colonial relic applied only in two previous occasions: India and Pakistan and Israel and Palestine. Under the traditional Tamil homelands myth North and East Provinces were temporarily merged with a sinister move to apply the two-nation theory to Sri Lanka.

It was not based on geography or democracy but forced on a bankrupt President by a car racing Premier. Since it is a myth, hostilities will always remain if it is forced on the Sinhala majority community.

7. Geopolitics:

Tamil minority community in Sri Lanka enjoys more rights and privileges in Sri Lanka than what Tamils enjoy in Tamilnad, India. But the Tamil dream is to have its own sovereign country (see World Tamil Confederation website) on earth. They failed in the Fiji Island and have no chance in Malaysia or even in India and the best target is Sri Lanka.

With this aim, under a federal marriage scheme water conflicts could be used to harass and weaken the Sinhala majority in Sri Lanka.

8. Tamilnadu Politics:

Despite proscription separatist politics in India after the invasion of India by China in 1962, the dream of a separate Tamil country in India is not dead. Tamilnadu politicians act as tamed-moderate leaders due to survival pressure from Delhi and the political rivals waiting for a come-back (Rival Tamilnadu chief ministers send each other to jail). The description that Sri Lanka has a majority-minority complex is real.

With 70 million Tamils at next door and websites and politicians supporting a Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka where can the 10 million Sinhalese go? Water wars are an effective method to keep the pot boiling.

9. Corrupt Colombo Politicians:

Sinhala-Tamil ethnic issue was a creation of about 200 or so Colombo ruling families. During the past 60 years or so they mismanaged the country, converted the English versus Swabasha issue in to a Sinhala-Tamil language conflict, increased the gap between Colombo and the villages and widened the gap between rich living in Colombo, and the poor in the villages.

For the past 20 years they conspired with foreign agents (Liam-Fox agreement?) to divide the country into two so that these families could continue to rule the southern portion from Colombo. These Colombo black whites who accept that they are avalangu kaasis” will use future water disputes as beggar’s wounds to keep common people in bondage. The long boundary line between ‘Federal’ partners will give room for plenty of mini water wars.

The Solution:

The two maps are not aimed at creating fear against devolution. Devolution is different from the merchandize called Indian federal formula of NGO and INGO agents. Real, as opposed to fake devolution from the concentration of power in the Colombo crowd of politicians (and officers) is what people are waiting for. The political and economic power must be decentralized and given to the people. The PC system and the new election law did not create devolution.

It created a new layer of corrupt politicians. After 1980 Colombo rulers destroyed the VC, TC, UC-based local government system. Rather than fostering a healthy local government system, each UNP and SLFP local govt. minister abused his powers and weakened local democracy and self-governance. The Abhayewardhana Report on Local Government Reforms (1999) provided in detail why the country needed to go back to the pre-1980 system to overcome the mess we are now in, especially the white elephant called PCs.

1. T. Ariyaratne of Sarvodaya proposed a system of national governance structure based on local building blocks in 1988 in his booklet, The Power Pyramid and the Dharmic Cycle.” From time to time Arjuna Hulugalle presents his CIMOGG proposal of devolution at the district level with a base which is similar to the Sarvodaya proposal (Island, July 31, 2006). Actually, all these are so similar to what was presented by president of Pakistan Ayub Khan on October 26, 1959 as Pakistan’s new constitution. Under it the whole country was divided into very small constituencies of between 800 and 1000 people.

This novel type of constituency was called the basic democracy.” There were 80,000 such elected units as the first tier of the constitutional structure (Pakistan: old country/new nation by Ian Stephens (1964, page 315).

The geographer Madduma Bandara proposed a river basin-based Provincial Division of seven units in 1987 (Chapter 4 in Fifty years of Sri Lanka’s Independence: a socio-economic review, edited by A.V. de S. Indraratna (1998, p.83). Actually, this is the best scientific approach for a united” Sri Lanka where the term united really means unity. The AGA divisions and even the Grama Sevaka divisions should ideally be based on River-Oya-Ela basins. This way we will not have a mind-boggling number of 14,000 GS divisions in the island.

The Scotsman Paul Harris recently identified the Muslim factor as a future problem for Sri Lanka. He says that the al Qaeda-Taliban groups will sooner or later become actively involved in helping the Muslims in the Eastern Province to meet Tamil Terror with Islam terror. The geographer G. H. Peiris in his new book, Sri Lanka: challenges of the new millennium (2006), speaks of the growing unrest in the upcountry area among the school going Indian Tamil youth.

Rather than a monster of a merged North-East Provinces, Sri Lanka’s homegrown solution must be a District-level devolution where elected members of the local government units in a district creates the DC with super powers given them to operate as an (almost) autonomous administrative units. Such DCs should be allowed to merge for resource use purposes.

Thus, Tamils can have ten or more DCs where they can achieve their aspirations. For example, in their DCs they can decide not to declare Vesak as a public holiday which Prabakaran’s cousin brother told this writer when they were students in Canada in 1979.

Since the early 1960s Sri Lanka faced a gradual erosion of its structural democracy (i.e., abolition of the Senate, violation of the separation of powers doctrine, disregard for the rule of law and even lying at the question time in the parliament, appointing politicians as SC judges). Since 1978, in addition to structural erosion there was a death of territorial democracy of the worst possible type. The new electoral laws removed the voter from the elected and prevented honest, educated and dedicated local people contesting elections.

We ended up with a parliament which is a disgrace to representative democracy in the world. While people were denied the right to select what they like, they have been forced to select from the list the party leaders decide from Colombo after job interviews.” Then the number of Grama Sevakas” increased from 4,000 to 14,000 in the 1990s. Politicians use them to spy on people and not to serve people.

It is crucial that the territorial democracy restored as soon as possible, and the structural democracy revived by abolishing the 1978 bahubootha viyavastava.” The Eelam map is the wrong way to handle this overhauling as it is an attempt to cure a cancer by feeding it. The Vadi Bana preached by NGO peace activists such as the Christian-born Jehan Perera will have no use (Divaina, August 7, 2006).

(The writer taught water resources geography and political geography at Kent State University, Ohio, USA)

The clean hands doctrine means that anyone with soiled hands is not morally capable of preaching. LTTE drove Sinhalese & Muslims from their homes in the North and it is only thereafter that LTTE claimed the North to be the sole homeland of the Tamil people. The world has conveniently forgotten this horrid past but Muslims many who still remain in refugee camps will recall their tragedy at the hands of LTTE. It is hilarious that the LTTE fronts that supported LTTE through the years raising funds, holding pro-LTTE events abroad and providing arms & ammunition for LTTE cadres to kill are now issuing statements. The principle of Nemo judex in causa sua must apply. No one can be the judge of their own case. There cannot be selective justice.

Global Tamil Forum calls for stern action against those responsible for perpetrating anti-Muslim violence in Sri Lanka

http://asiantribune.com/node/91670

For those with dementia of LTTE crimes upon innocent unarmed Sinhalese & Muslims let us bring out some examples to remind the world once again.

The LTTE fronts are asking the world now to take action against Sri Lanka. This is really funny given LTTE track record of brutality upon innocent unarmed Sinhala & Muslim civilians. Just take a look at these images of what LTTE did to Muslims in 1990

Muslims chased out of their homes in Jaffna by LTTE – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr-y_C8YVhc

President of the Northern Muslims’ Rights Organisation Dr. S.H. Hasbullah addressing a public meeting held sometime back at the Colombo Public Library Auditorium said “Muslims of the North got on very well with the Tamils there. Most Muslims spoke Tamil. There was no quarrel or trouble of any kind between the two communities. However one-day (22.10.90) the most cruel blow was dealt on the Muslims in the North, by the LTTE.

“Quite unexpectedly, the LTTE announced over the loudspeakers in the streets and villages of Muslim settlements in the Northern Province that Muslims must leave their homes, villages and towns leaving all their valuables and money behind or face death. While Muslims of all areas of the North were given 48 hours to leave, from 7 am on October 22, 1990, the Muslims of the Jaffna town were given only two hours to quit. Muslim mothers with small children and infants pleaded with the LTTE cadres to allow them time till the heavy rains stopped. The reply of the LTTE cadres was the point of the gun and shouting “move on”,” Dr. Hasbullah said.

” Ethnic cleansing of the Muslims by the Tamil terrorists was completed as far back as 1990 in the North. The Muslims were driven away from the five districts of the North where there were 75 per cent distinct Muslim settlements comprising 5 per cent of the population there. While there were in this region 48 government Muslim majority schools, there were also over 100 Mosques, majority of the which had been destroyed by the Tamil terrorists.

The ethnic cleansing of the Muslims in the five districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu, Mannar and Vauniya was carried out in one day (on 22nd October 1990). https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items01/210801-2.html

August 1990 – Kattankudy massacre (4 mosques attacked by LTTE) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJPEW2rS44g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tBby-IL36Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_8cE2ukES0

More than 174 Muslims including over 25 children in prayer were slaughtered by LTTE

 Here, Seyed Sherifdeen writes an account of how LTTE killed his father, 10 year old brother and many relatives. http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2017/08/13/kattankudy-mosque-killings-in-1990-reliving-bloodshed-and-trauma-27-years-on/  

Just as Sinhalese cannot count the many villages LTTE attacked, Muslims cannot either.

• 30 May 1990 – Mahindapura/Dehiwatte village, Trincomalee
• 24 July 1990 – Aralaganvila village, Ampara
• 30 July 1990 – 14 Muslim farmers returning home from their paddy fields killed in Akkaraipattu, Ampara. LTTE distributed quit notes to Muslims living in Ampara and Batticoloa to leave their villages before 10^th August 1990 or face death.
• 30 July 1990 – Kovilladi village,
• 5 August 1990 – LTTE attack Muslim villagers working in paddy fields in Mulliyankadu village,
• 6 August 1990 – Ampara, LTTE attack villagers working on paddy field and mutilated 34 Muslims
• 11 August 1990 – Eravur, over 200 LTTE cadres with clubs, machetes, swords and firearms enter Saddam Hussein village, Ponnaikadu, and Klawaichchannai villages in Eravur and butcher 173 Muslims most of whom were women and children. In some cases entire family were wiped out leaving none to even carry out funeral rites. Eviction orders by LTTE was extended to 20^th August or face death.
• 12 August 1990 – Weeracholai village, Ampara, LTTE torture to death 4 Muslims working in their paddy fields
• 13 August 1990 – Muttur fishing village, LTTE abduct 6 Muslim fishermen and hack them to death
• From July to August 1990 – LTTE slaughtered over 650 Muslims in an ethnic cleansing campaign triggering a mass exodus of Muslims.
• 13 August 1990 – Avaranthalawa village, Vavuniya – LTTE storm village killing 10 civilians including women and children.
• 9 September 1990 – Uhana, Ampara- LTTE attack a tractor carrying Muslim farmers killing 7
• 13 September 1990 – LTTE abduct 7 Muslim farmers in Ponnai South, Anuradhapura and torture them to death.
• 11 October 1990 – Arugambay Muslim village attacked by LTTE killing 9 Muslims mostly women who were collecting firewood
• 29 October 1990 – LTTE torture 3 Muslims in Olukulam village, Batticoloa.
• 19 September 1990 – LTTE attack Muslim village in Palligodella, killing 13 Muslims.
• 22 October 1990 – LTTE go from house to house to loot from homes before evicting Muslims from the North.
• 24 March 1991 – LTTE bomb Akkaraipattu fish market killing 9 Muslims and injuring over 20
• 6 July 1991 – Muslim villagers attacked with knives and swords in Puther, Polonnaruwa killing 18.
• 29 April 1992 – 56 Muslims killed by LTTE in Muslim village of Alinchipotana, Polonnaruwa
• 15 July 1992 – Kiranlulama, Batticoloa, a bus load of Muslims travelling fom Kattankudy attacked by LTTE killing 19 Muslims. Muslim train passengers ordered to get off Batticoloa bound train at Parangiyamadu
• 1 September 1992 – Saindamadu market, Kalmunai, 22 Muslims killed by LTTE bomg
• 15 Oct 1992 – Muslim train passengers were ordered by the terrorist to get off the Batticaloa bound train at Parangiyamadu and the 11 Muslims who got down were gunned and killed
• 15 October 1992 – 5 Muslim villages in – Palligodella, Ahamadpura, Agbopura, Pamnurana, Polonnaruwa attacked killing 171 Muslims
• Nearly 100,000 Muslims were evicted forcibly by the LTTE from the 5 Northern districts in October 1990 – Muslims of the Jaffna town were given only two hours to quit their homes.

Inspite of all these killings the leader of the Muslim Congress Hakeem has no qualms about shaking hands with the man who ordered the death of Muslims

However, the entire world focus is only on Tamils completely ignoring that Sinhaelse & Muslims too suffered. But the world dishes out NO post-conflict development beneficiaries to Sinhalese or Muslims. It is ONLY to Tamils. How fair is this?

Sinhalese & Muslims were the FIRST victims. LTTE fired the FIRST shots. These shots were aimed at Sinhalese & Muslims who were virtually ethnically cleansed from their homes in the North and given only a few hours to vacate. Who confiscated their belonging and took their homes and lands? Why have these lands and property not been returned to the rightful owners?

Census statistics will confirm that thousands of Sinhalese & Muslims were living in the North well before 1948. Where are they now? What happened to them? Why are they not been allowed to return to their homes? Some of these Sinhalese & Muslims are still languishing in makeshift homes as refugees since 1980s.Where are those human rights pundits and UN officials. Have they not visited them and looked into their grievances or are these cases not high profile enough?

How dare these LTTE fronts now, behaving as mother superiors dictate what foreign governments should do to a sovereign nation when none of these fronts though declared proscribed under UNSC Resolution 1373 have yet to be investigated and cleared for them to have any right to dictate terms.

Shenali D Waduge

By Charles.S.Perera

Recently in Ampara there was a manifestation of the people against Muslim eateries for supposed to have introduced pills to sterilise Sinhala women. Some time ago  a Bakery near a Girls’ School in Katugastota was similarly accused of selling cakes from two counters one for Sinhala Girls and another for Muslim Girls. The cakes sold to Sinhala Girls were supposed to have contained the dreaded sterility pills. The Bakery was finally closed down.

The JVP which is trying to be the Diyasena of Sri Lanka today–a panacea to all political ills coming from Yahapalanaya  on one side, and the Rajapaksas and SLPP on the other,  deplore these current unrest between the Muslim and Sinhala Communities.

The JVP went for the Local Government election crying high and low its political slogan  that the Yahaplanaya government representing the UNP and the SLFP,  and SLPP representing the President Mahinda Rajapakse are all thieves, bribe takers, and with them there is no political future for the country, therefore the people should vote for the JVP the party which consists of honest Diyasernas who can revitalise and bring peace and prosperity to Sri Lanka.

But unfortunately for JVP, the people  preferred to avoid Diyasenas and voted for the SLPP which represented their dear President Mahinda Rajapakse who ended the 30 year war , developed the country to a great extent and thwarted the separatist Tamil political effort to a Communal division of the country.

The writer had stressed in several articles to Lankaweb , that the JVP if they are a Marxist political party as they like to call themselves, should have nothing to do with the Capitalist UNP and other reactionary forces, but unite with the Socialist movement of the Country represented today by SLPP to make the people experience their positive contribution to the development of Sri Lanka,  instead of running after  illusive thieves they say are with President Mahinda Rajapakse and the SLPP .

Now after having been completely and shamefully  rejected by the people at the Local Government elections, the JVP is making use of the present upsurge of Communal tension between the Muslims and the Sinhala, to show that JVP is again the political panacea for the settlement of Communal tension.

They –the JVP,  say that,  the people should not follow  either the Yahapalanaya with its UNP and other reactionary forces , as they are creating the Communal tension to stay in power,  nor  the SLPP and Mahinda Rajapakse as they are creating  Communal  tension to come back to power. Therefore the people have only one choice  the JVP, which is between the present two villainous political groups in fray, which is capable of settling the present communal upheaval.

JVP assures the people that the  so called sterilising pills found  in the food served in a Muslim Restaurant were inoffensive lumps of flour.  And JVP member Handunetti stressed that there is no such thing as pills to sterilise women and it is only an excuse for certain political elements in Ampara to accuse the innocent Muslims, making it political issue.

However, Handunetti is not far from the truth that there is no pills in the world market to  sterilize women, and what was said to have been found in the food served in a Muslim Restaurant may have been some thing different”.

Only way to sterilize a woman  it is said is by blocking the  fallopian tubes to stop male sperm from reaching the womb.

But, there isnevertheless, a  pill called the Abortion pill which can force miscarriage in a woman if administered during the early period of conception. Only way to find out whether such pills are being  used in an unauthorised manner , is to collect statistics from hospitals in areas where any pills were found in the food, to see whether there had been reports of an  abnormal  number of cases of miscarriages amoung the women in the area. That may be a clue, or  a  mere coincidence.

(https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/abortion/the-abortion-pill)

But danger of such reports is that it can create a psychological fear of conception amoung women that may cause miscarriages. However, finding unknown substances in food served to people in Muslim eateries should be investigated. Our own Muslims may not indulge in such activities , but the infiltration of foreign Muslim fanatics in to Muslim villages cannot be ruled out.

We never believed that our Tamil youth could be trained as terrorists in the Jungles of South India, but it did happen and when we came to know about it,  it was too late. There are reports that there are special schools that teach terror in the name of God. Hence it is the role of the Government to see that no such thing is being prepared secretly  in the backwoods of Sri Lanka.

Unfortunately  our Secret Service has been completely dis-organised by Sirisena Ranil Yahapaalanaya Government,  and we do not seem to have a reliable Secret Service. With the American and British Agents interfering into our Armed Forces providing them with training  etc.,  our Armed Forces are disarmed against questionable activities by Foreign Forces  which may be  detrimental to Communal relations in our Country.

Therefore, JVP in assuming to be the Divine Saviour of  Sri Lanka presently in complete political disarray, may be forgetting that there may be activities  taking place behind scene -in the back stage, which may  rise up one day and go completely uncontrollable , as it was with  terrorism in 1970s.

Sudath Gunasekara

10.3.2018

I want all my readers in the above two categories to read the following letter by Nisthas Idroos. And  ask him to withdraw all the dirty aspersion he has passed on Buddhist monks in this country. And also not write this type of rubbish here after. From his reference to Justin Trudeau the Canadian PM it appears that he is a Canadian citizen. On the other hand if he is in Sri Lanka at least temporally I request the Law enforcing authorities to arrest him for inciting communal tension and causing character assassination against the Buddhist Monks in this country

The Sinhala-Buddhists Will Hit Us Next In 2020

Also let the authorities direct Editor Colombo Telegraph  not to publish this type of articles inciting communal tension specially at a time like this when astate of emergency is in force.

දිගන අලුත් තත්වේ අරක්කු බිලලු සටනට එන්නේ හාමුදුරුවරු පොලිසියට බැනවැදුණු හැටි

by C.A.Chandraprema Courtesy The Island

March 10, 2018, 7:54 pm
The riots that were sparked off about a week ago due to the death of a Sinhala truck driver following an assault by a group of Muslim men in Digana have now subsided. As the dust settles on the riots, one cannot but help but notice that the yahapalana government which was vitually under a state of siege when the riots started, has now incongruously emerged steadier than it was earlier. The differences between the ruling partners the UNP and the SLFP which came to surface during the local government election campaign have been all but forgotten. The position taken by some of the SLFP ministers in government that they could not continue to serve under Ranil Wickremesinghe as PM has been forgotten. The attempt at mustering the numbers necessary to make Nimal Siripala de Silva the Prime Minister has been forgotten. The no-confidence motion against the PM which was to be moved by some disgruntled elements within the UNP itself which included State Minister Palith Range Bandara has fallen by the wayside. The Joint Opposition’s cry that the government has lost its mandate to rule and that a general election be called immediately, has lost its sting.

The vexed question of who was going to hold the portfolio of Law and Order has been satisfactorily settled with a steady UNPer being appointed to the position in the middle of the riots. Above all, the ignominious defeat of both partners of the yahapalana government, the UNP and the SLFP at the local government elections has been effectively swept under the carpet. Many of the other problems in the country such as the deterioration of the economy, the still rising cost of living and the numerous failings of the government have virtually been forgotten. This is not to say that the government has emerged stronger after the riots. Indeed it has not. The state of paralysis that could be seen as things careered out of control in the Kandy district, has if anything convinced even larger numbers of people that this government does not have the capacity to rule. However, many factors that were threatening to tear the government apart at the seams are no longer at the forefront of the people’s consciousness and the government will be able to limp along like this till the next flashpoint.

The ban on social media networks like facebook has made the government unpopular among the younger generation that voted them into power. When a similar outbreak of violence took place in Aluthgama in 2014, the previous government never tried to block the social media but took other steps to contain the problem. Today the IGP claims that the block on the social media helped a great deal to stop the rioting. Did it really, or was the gradual reduction in rioting something that was happening as a matter of course anyway? This writer is inclined to believe that it was a natural petering off rather than anything achieved through the ban imposed on the social media. Even before social media was banned, the riots never spread outside the Kandy district where it began. If it was the social media that was fuelling the riots, disturbances should have spread to other areas as well. In any case, the ban on facebook was also only partially successful. Anyone IT savyy enough to have a facebook account will know how to use VPN to work around the ban.

Disappearances Bill rammed through in the confusion

In fact it transpired that the ban was being circumvented even by the leaders of the government because new posts had taken place even on Maithripala Sirisena’s own facebook account after the ban had been imposed. There were many posts on facebook making fun of the ban. One post asked “Are we all ‘raja-drohiyas’ now because we use VPN?” another said that the next time a ban was imposed on facebook only the ‘gamaralas’ and ‘gamahamines’ will drop out because everyone else will be using VPN! The government for its part appears to have recognized riots as the great boon they needed. And they took steps to make hay while the sun shines. In the midst of all the confusion, they rammed through the Enforced Disappearances Bill, appointed Members to the Office of Missing Persons, and introduced the highly questionable Judicature Bill in Parliament. The last of these will not be dealt with here because it has not yet been passed by Parliament. Making appointments to the OMP and the passing of the Enforced Disappearances Bill will however have far reaching consequences for this country.

In August 2016, the OMP Bill was bulldozed through Parliament by the UNP, the SLFP government group, the JVP and the TNA despite the objections raised by the Joint Opposition. Less than 40 minutes was allowed to debate this new law. Then a vote was taken and the Speaker declared the Bill to have been passed. In the confusion surrounding the Sinhala-Muslim riots, the government rammed through the Enforced Disappearences Bill in much the same way. This was a piece of legislation that the government had presented to Parliament twice earlier and then withdrawn due to protests from the Buddhist monks and the public. If not for the Sinhala-Muslim riots, this law may never have seen the light of day. It should be remembered that a joint meeting of the Karaka Sangha Sabhas of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters had asked the government not to proceed with this legislation.

The Joint Opposition had asked for more time to debate the Enforced Disappearences Bill. This had been agreed to, and the vote was not going to be taken last Thursday but the Speaker had suddenly put it to the vote and declared the Bill to be passed. During the short debate that had taken place earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Tilak Marapana had told Parliament that he wished to include a phrase ‘excluding Sri Lankans’ in Section 8 of the Bill in response to the allegation made by the JO to the effect that the legislation allowed a foreign state to try Sri Lankans, who are found to have committed an offence in Sri Lanka. Section 8 says that the government of Sri Lanka will notify any state, which makes an extradition request, of the steps already taken or to be taken in respect of the prosecution or extradition of the person accused of offences under the Act. However the Prime Minister had withdrawn the amendment proposed by the Foreign Minister and the Bill was finally passed without any amendments.

Implications of operationalizing the OMP

President Maithripala Sirisena appointed the seven members of the OMP just days before the Sinhala-Muslim riots broke out in Kandy. The main motive for this was obviously the UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva. The Office of Missing Persons is one of several institutions that the yahapalana government has agreed to set up to ‘deal with the past’ in terms of the UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1 of 14 October 2015. Even though it is described as an ‘office’ the proposed OMP will be a tribunal for all practical purposes which can examine witnesses, issue summons and hold hearings. Even more significantly, its officers can enter without warrant, at any time of day or night, any police station, prison or military installation and seize any document or object they require for investigations. Anyone who fails or refuses to cooperate with the OMP may be punished for contempt of court.

When the OMP Act was first passed, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa drew attention to the fact that the new law required the seven members of the OMP to have experience in fact finding and expertise in human rights law and international humanitarian law and pointed out that the appointees will for the most part be representatives of Western funded NGOs. Now looking at the people who have been appointed to the OMP, he has been proved right. A howl of protest has already arisen in this regard. What is even more insidious is that the present composition of the Constitutional Council is such that all the ten members of the Constitutional Council are yahapalanites and hence all members of the OMP are also yahapalanites. The danger in a lot like that exercising the powers vested in the OMP should be obvious. Section 21 of the Act empowers the OMP to receive funding from any source local or foreign. Hence this body can receive funding from foreign governments, international NGOs and even from pro-LTTE Diaspora organizations that have not been banned.

The OMP is empowered to entertain complaints not only from relations and friends of missing persons but from any interested party both local and foreign which makes it obvious that the pro-LTTE Diaspora organizations which are trying to continue the war against the Sri Lankan state by other means will be heavily involved in this body. Government bodies at all levels including the armed forces and intelligence services are mandatorily required to render fullest assistance to the OMP and the provisions of the Official Secrets Act will not apply to the proposed institution. Given the present composition of the OMP, can one even begin to imagine the implications this will have for the country? Furthermore, section 12 (c) (iii) of the Act allows the OMP to admit as evidence any statement or material disregarding all criteria laid down in the Evidence Ordinance. Disregarding the Evidence Ordinance will result in the common safeguards available even to the accused in ordinary criminal courts in this country being denied to those brought before the OMP. Moreover, the provisions of the Right to Information Act will not apply to the work of the OMP. No court, not even the Supreme Court can order any officer of the OMP to submit to courts any material communicated to him in confidence.

Under Section 25 of the Act, all officers of the OMP have been granted complete immunity from civil and criminal liability for any act or omission on their part or the contents of any report they may publish. Nothing that the OMP does can be called into question by any court of law except the Supreme Court under Articles 126 and 140 of the constitution. However, as the OMP can withhold information under Section 15 of the Act, there will be no practical use in moving even the Supreme Court against the OMP.  Under section 13(1)(i) of the Act, information gathered by the OMP can be referred to the relevant law enforcement or prosecuting authority. It can be observed that the various laws being introduced by this government complement one another. The Office of Missing Persons (which will be funded and maintained by interested foreign parties) can make an allegation against an individual in a report and on that basis a foreign country can ask for the extradition of the suspect to be either tried in that country or handed over to an international criminal tribunal for prosecution.

The Enforced Disappearances Bill

The Bill to incorporate into the law of Sri Lanka, the provisions of the ‘International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances’ has now been passed. Section 8 of this Act enables foreign countries to seek the extradition of a Sri Lankan who is suspected, accused or convicted of having caused enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka. When such a request is made, the government of Sri Lanka is obliged to inform the foreign country of the measures it intends taking to prosecute or extradite that person. Section 21 empowers the executive arm of the State to oversee the FULL implementation of the international convention on enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka.

Article 10 of this Convention makes it clear that any State in whose territory a person (who can be a citizen of any other member state) suspected of having committed an offence of enforced disappearance is present, can take that person into custody. According to Article 11, after making an arrest in that manner, the member state concerned can take one of three alternative courses of action – (a) extradite that person to another country in accordance with its international obligations, (b) prosecute that person under its own laws or (c) hand him over for prosecution to an international criminal tribunal whose jurisdiction that member state has recognized. Article 13 of the international convention also states that any member state may request the extradition of a person suspected of being responsible for enforced disappearances in any other member state and all member states are supposed to respect such requests for extradition. Because Sri Lanka is now a signatory to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the provisions of Articles 10, 11 and 13 form a part of our obligations under this Convention.

Article 32 of the international Convention (which the Sri Lankan government has accepted by a separate declaration) enables any member State to complain to the 10-member ‘Committee on Enforced Disappearances’ in Geneva that Sri Lanka is not fulfilling her obligations under this Convention and the Committee can investigate such complaints. Countries like the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, never even signed this Convention. Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Ireland and India signed it ten years ago in 2007, but never ratified it. Many countries have kept away from this Convention altogether for the obvious reason that its provisions have the potential to violate the individual rights of citizens of the States that join it. The proposed law is an attempt to subject our armed forces to international war crimes prosecutions without using the term ‘war crimes’ and rephrasing it as ‘disappearances’. The only ‘disappeared’ persons whose cases will be dealt with under this proposed law, will be those of the LTTE because the armed forces have already categorised the thousands of soldiers who disappeared as ‘assumed to be dead’. However LTTE combatants who have either died in battle or fled overseas still continue to be categorised as having ‘disappeared’ by all interested parties.

 Was Tilak Marapana being truthful?

Even though Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana said in Parliament that the Enforced Disappearances Act will not have retrospective effect, Article 13(6) of our Constitution specifically says that there is no impediment to applying a new law retroactively if at the time the act in question was committed, it was ‘criminal according to the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations’. Apart from this blanket provision in our Constitution, the retroactive application of the Enforced Disappearances Act is also written into it.  Section 20(1) of the Act goes as follows: “Without prejudice to any judicial or other remedy provided for by or under any written law, any person with a legitimate interest shall be entitled to apply by way of petition addressed to the High Court seeking the enforcement of sections 7, 14, 15, 16 or 19 of this Act and to plead for such relief or redress as shall be prayed for in such petition.” And Section 20(2) goes as follows: “The jurisdiction of the High Court may be invoked under subsection (1) of this section by any person with a legitimate interest, by himself or through any other person on his behalf, within three months of the date on which the non-enforcement of sections 7, 14, 15, 16 or 19 of this Act becomes known to such person,…”

Section 14 of the Enforced

Disappearances Act goes as follows: “14. (1) Every victim and relative of a victim shall have the right to know the truth regarding the circumstances of an enforced disappearance, the progress and results of the investigation as are carried out by the law enforcement authorities, and the fate of the disappeared person. (2) Every victim and relative of a victim shall, subject to restrictions placed by law, have the right to form and freely participate in organizations and associations concerned with attempting to establish the circumstances of offences committed under section 3 and the fate of disappeared persons, and to assist victims of offences under section 3. (3) Where there are reasonable grounds for believing that a person has been subjected to an offence under section 3, law enforcement authorities shall undertake an investigation, even if there has been no formal complaint. (4) Law enforcement authorities shall take all appropriate measures to search for and locate the disappeared person, and in the case of a person held in secret detention, procure the release of such person, and in the event of death, to locate, respect and return the remains of such person.”

The ‘non-enforcement’ of Section 14 that is spoken of in Section 20 is about people not knowing the whereabouts of disappeared persons irrespective of when they disappeared. The inherent retroactivity of this proposed enabling legislation has been cleverly concealed. Within three months of a person becoming aware that he has still not received news of what happened to someone 10 or even 20 years ago, that person can make an application to the High Court under Section 20, asking for relief under Section 14. Thanks to the Sinhala-Muslim riots, this law is now on our statute books.

 lanka C news

පැයක් ඇතුලත පහර දී පලා යන්නැයි මහනුවර කලහකාරීන්ට පොලීසිය විසින් කාලය ලබා දී තිබූ බව ඇමති එම්.එච්.ඒ. හලීම් මහතා පවසයි.

පොලීසිය එම ප‍්‍රහාරයන්ට ඉඩ සලසා දුන් බවත් තම ප‍්‍රදේශයේම දේශපාලන නායකයෙක්ද ඊට සම්බන්ධන බවද ඇමතිවරයා කියා සිටියේ අගමැති රනිල් වික‍්‍රමසිංහ මහතාගේ ප‍්‍රධානත්වයෙන් මහනුවරදී පැවති සාකච්චාවකදීය.

මහසොහොන් බලකාය නම් සංවිධානයේ මූලස්ථානය පිහිටා ඇත්තේ දිගන ප‍්‍රදේශයේ නිසා මේ ආකාරයේ ප‍්‍රශ්න ඇති වේ යයි තමන්ට සැක සිතුනු නිසා විශේෂ ආරක්‍ෂාවක් දෙන්නැයි පොලීසියෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටි බවද ඔහු කීය.

මහනුවර ප‍්‍රදේශයේ සිදුවූ කලහකාරී සිදුවීම් වලින් සිදුව ඇති හානි පූර්ණය හා ඉදිරි කටයුතු සම්බන්දයෙන් මෙම සාකච්චාව අගමැතිවරයාගේ ප‍්‍රධානත්වයෙන් පැවති අතර ඊට දේශපාලඥයන් මෙන්ම ප‍්‍රදේශයේ පිරිස්ද එක්ව සිටියහ.

අභියාචනාධිකරණයේ වර්තමාන සභාපති විනිසුරු ප්‍රීති පද්මන් සූරසේන මහතා සහ අභියාචනාධිකරණ විනිසුරු ශිරාන් ගුණරත්න මහතා විසින් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ  24.2 ව්‍යවස්ථාවට පටහැනිව ක්‍රියා කරමින් සිංහල භාෂවෙන් ඉදිරිපත් කළ පෙත්සම සදහා විවෘත අධිකරණයේදී කරුණු තහවුරු කිරීමට අවස්ථාව නොදීම සහ අභියාචනාධිකරණයේ කරුණු තහවුරු කිරීමට ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් අභියාචනාධිකරණයට පෙත්සම් ඉදිරිපත් කළ යුතු බවට ප්‍රකාශ කිරීම ඇතුළුව සම්බන්ධව සුදුසු පියවර ගන්නා ලෙසත් ඔවුන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරු ලෙස පත්කිරීමට හෝ නිර්දේශ කිරීම සිදුකිරීමේ එකී ක්‍රියාවන් සළකිල්ලට ගන්නා ලෙසත් ඉල්ලා සිටීමින් නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන මහතා ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතාට සහ කථානායක කරු ජයසූරිය ඇතුළු ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සභාවේ සාමාජිකයන් ‍වෙත ලියාපදිංචි තැපෑලෙන් දැන්වීම් යොමු කර ඇත.

එකී දැන්වීම යොමු කිරීමට අදාල සිදුවීම මෙසේ ය.

කොළඹ අංක 06 මහාධිකරණයේ විනිසුරුවරයා විසින් විභාග කරනු ලබන නඩුවක් සාධාරණව සහ අපක්ෂාතීව විභාග නොකරන හෙයින් 1978 අංක 2 දරන අධිකරණ සංවිධාන පනතේ විධිවිධාන යටතේ වෙනත් මහාධිකරණයකට නඩුව මාරුකර ගැනීම සදහා සේවාදායකගේ උපදෙස්මත සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පෙත්සමක් සහ දිව්රුම් ප්‍රකාශයක් සහ ඇමිණුම් ඉදිරිපත් කර අධිකරණ සංවිධාන පනතේ 46 වගන්තිය විධිවිධාන යටතේ සහන පතා අභියාචනාධිකරණයට 2018.03.05 දින එකී නීතීඥවරයා CA/TR/04/2018 සේවාදායකයා වෙනුවෙන් නඩුව පවරා ඇත. කොළඹ අංක 06 මහාධිකරණයේ නැවත නඩුව 2018.03.13 දිනට විභාගයට නියමිත හෙයින් එකී මහාධිකරණයෙන් වෙනත් මහාධිකරණයකට නඩුව මාරු කිරීමේ ඉල්ලීම 2018.03.13 දිනට පෙර කරුණු තහවුරු කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය බවත් නොඑසේ බලවත් අයුක්තියක් වන බවත් අභියාචනාධිකරනයේ අවධානයට යොමු කර ඇත.

එකී නඩුව 2018.03.08 දිනට කරුණු තහවුරු කිරීම සදහා අභියාචනාධිකරණය නියෝග කර ඇති අතර ඒ අනුව 2018.03.08 දින විවෘත අධිකරණයේදී කරුණු තහවුරු කිරීමට සූදානම් වූ අවස්ථාවේ සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පෙත්සම ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති හෙයින් කරුණු තහවුරු කිරීමට අවස්ථාව නොදී, වළක්වා වෙනත් කරුණු අතර අභියාචනාධිකරණයේ කරුණු තහවුරු කිරීමට ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් අභියාචනාධිකරණයට පෙත්සම් ඉදිරිපත් කළ යුතු බවට දක්වමින් අභියාචනාධිකරණයට සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පෙත්සම් ඉදිරිපත් කළ හැකිද? යන්න සම්බන්ධ නියෝගය සදහා කරුණු දැක්වීමට නඩුව මාස ගණනාවක් ඈත දිනයකට කල් දමා ඇත.

සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පෙත්සම් සහ දිව්රුම් ප්‍රකාශ ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබූ හෙයින් විවෘත අධිකරණයේ දී 2018.03.08 දින කරුණු තහවුරු කිරීම සදහා අවස්ථාව නොදී  මාස ගණනාවක් නඩුව කල් දැමීම මගින් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 24.2 ව්‍යවස්ථාව බරපතල ලෙස උල්ලංඝනය කිරීමක් බවත් Coomaraswamy V. Shanmugaratna Iyar And Another නඩුවේ තීරණය නොසළකා සිටීමක් බවත් උපරිමාධිකරණවල අධිකරණ භාවිතය නොසළකා සිටීමක් බවත්” සිය සේවාදායකයා අභියාචනාධිකරණයේ සහන පතා පැමිණි කාරණය පසෙක තබා සහ ඒ සම්බන්ධව කරණු තහවුරු කිරීමට අවස්ථාව නොදී අභියාචනාධිකරණයට සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පෙත්සම් ඉදිරිපත් කළ හැකිද යන්න සම්බන්ධව කරුණු විමසා අදාල නියෝගය එනම් සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පෙත්සම් ඉදිරිපත් කළ හැකිද යන්න සම්බන්ධ නඩුව කැදවීමට මාස ගණනාවක් පසුව එන ඉදිරි දිනයක් ලබා දෙන බව කියා නඩුව කල් දැමීමෙන් නීතීඥවරයකුට හිමි භාෂා අයිතිය සම්බන්ධ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා විධිවිධාන උල්ලංඝනය කිරීමක් බවත් සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් අභියාචනාධිකරණයේ නඩු පැවරීමට පුරවැසියන්ට ඇති අයිතිය වැළක්වීමක්/ අහිමිකිරිමක් බවත් අවධානයට යොමු කරමින් නීතීඥවරයා ජනාධිපතිවරයාට සහ ව්‍යවස්ථා සභාවට දැන්වීම යවා ඇත.

සාධාරණව සහ අපක්ෂාතීව නඩුව විභාග කර ගැනීම සදහා අංක 06 මහාධිකරණයේ නඩුව වෙනත් මහාධිකරණයකට මාරු කර ගැනීම සදහා පෙත්සමෙන් බලාපොරොත්තු වූ සහනය අයද සිටීම සදහා කරුණු තහවුරු කිරීම, සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පෙත්සම ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම මත ඉහත අභියාචනාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරුන් දෙදෙනා 2018.03.08 දින අහිමි කළ බවත් නමුත් මෙයට පෙර අභියාචනාධිකරණයේ සහ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පෙත්සම් ඉදිරිපත්කර කරුණු තහවුරු කර දීර්ඝ පුහුණුවක් සහ අත්දැකීම් සහ හැකියාව සහ පරිචය ඇති බවත් නීතීඥවරයා ජනාධිපතිවරයාටත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සභාවටත් දන්වා යවා ඇති අතර අභියාචනාධිකරණ CA/TR/04/2018 අංක දරන නඩුවේ දී 2018.03.08 දින සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පෙත්සම ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම මත කරුණු තහවුරු කිරීමට ඉඩ නොදීම හේතුවෙන් නීතීඥවරයෙකු ලෙස ඔහුගේ වත්තීය අයිතිවාසිකම් අහිමි කිරීමට සහ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව මගින් භාෂාව සම්බන්ධව ලබාදී ඇති ආරක්ෂාව, වෙනස්කමකට ලක් නොවී සිටීමට ඇති අයිතිය ඇතුළු අයිතිවාසිකම් අහිමි කිරීමට ඉහත අභියාචනාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරු විසින් ක්‍රියා කර ඇති බව නීතීඥවරයා පෙන්වාදී ඇත.

ඒ අනුව මේ සම්බන්ධව සුදුසු ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගෙන ජනතාවගේ භාෂා අයිතිය ආරක්ෂා නොකරන විනිසුරුවරු ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරු ලෙස පත්කිරීමට හෝ නිර්දේශ කිරීම සිදුකිරීමේදී ඉහත කරුණු සළකා බලන ලෙස

නීතීඥ අරුණ උණවටුන මහතා ජනාධිපතිවරයාගෙන් සහ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සභාවෙන් ඉල්ලා ඇත.

එම නීතීඥවරයා එකී දැන්වීමේ පිටපත් රාජ්‍ය භාෂා කොම්ෂන් සභාවේ සභාපතිවරයාටත්, රාජ්‍ය භාෂා කොමසාරිසටත්, නීතිපතිවරයාටත් යොමුකර ඇත.

ලියුම් කරු කීර්ති රත්නායක

Ajith Siriwardana Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Wickremesinghe observed the damaged property in Kengalla and Akurana and attended a special discussion of Kandy Defense Committee held at Kandy District Secretariat afterwards, Ada Derana correspondent reported.

Meanwhile, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya led a group of party leaders of all political parties in parliament representing all communities, religious leaders and people’s representatives in Kandy district to meet the people affected by the violence in the last few days.

The group met with the Buddhist Chief Prelates of Malwatta and Asgiri chapters and afterwards with the Muslim religious leaders at the main Mosques in the Kandy City. The group also met with the Hindu religious leaders and community leaders at the Central Provincial Governor’s office.

The group also held a special discussion with the security forces chiefs prior to visiting the affected towns to meet the people affected by the violence.

Meanwhile security forces have been further deployed in the Kandy Police Division as normalcy was returning fast after the unrest that was raging in Kandy recently. In addition to the police, the Police Special Task Force, the Army and the Navy have been deployed in the area to  ensure the safety of all civilians and property.

As Buddhists, we feel hurt & saddened at the manner mainstream media has been reporting on Sri Lanka. Every event is quickly turned into delivering headlines that specifically targets Buddhists & Buddhism and completely brainwashes the world against the majority populace in Sri Lanka. The owners, the paid journalists that carry the story, the editor who decides the headline & approves content are so hateful of Buddhists & Buddhism. Why? What have Buddhists or Buddhism done to them to be this vengeful with their pen? How can media be allowed to demonize a race & religion this way? When the Government & international bodies are clamping down on racism and going as far as to completely block social media, how fair is it for the print media to be allowed to publicly attack one party this way without an iota of evidence?

Take the headlines that have been relayed globally by mainstream media. Are these media fishing for catchy headlines to sell or are they truly serious about reporting truth & facts? We seriously have our doubts. Take each of the write ups and there is nothing factual except sensationalism which gets picked up by other media and after a few additional sensationalism is rotated as news once more. These are serious media ethic violations but then who can we raise objections with. It is apparent & clear that the global objective is to tarnish the image of Buddhists & Buddhism as Sri Lanka is geopolitically significant competition.

Reading below not a single would be able to grasp that the entire fracas arose from an isolated incident wherein 4 drunkards assaulted a truck driver for not allowing them to overtake him and the truck driver died after over 10 days in the intensive care.

It was secondary that the drunkards were all Muslim and the truck driver was a Sinhalese Buddhist. As everyone can see the drunkards did not drink because they were Muslim or the truck driver did not allow the drunkards to overtake him because he was Sinhala Buddhist! If Police had immediately arrested and charged the men with attack and murder and publicly stated this, there would have been no room for any mischief by any party.

Globe and Mail – Buddhist mobs sweep through Sri Lanka’s Muslim neighbourhoods

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/buddhist-mobs-sweep-through-sri-lankas-muslim-neighbourhoods/article38247030/

The writer Bharatha Mallawarchi makes a sweeping statement alleging that the mobs were Buddhist. How can he ascertain this? Did they wear t-shirts carrying ‘I am Buddhist’?

Reuters – Buddhist mobs target Sri Lanka’s Muslims despite state of emergency

By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilalt – the article has nothing whatsoever about the incident & is plugging various other past news with the obvious objective of declaring Buddhists as guilty.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-lanka-clashes/buddhist-mobs-target-sri-lankas-muslims-despite-state-of-emergency-idUSKCN1GJ0TJ

BBC – Sri Lanka struggles to curb Buddhist riots

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43305453

Times of India – Buddhist mobs target Sri Lanka’s Muslims despite curfew https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/buddhist-mobs-target-sri-lankas-muslims-despite-state-of-emergency/articleshow/63200233.cms

Let it be reiterated that the people of the area, the victims who had their houses & properties destroyed and attacked are in unison to say that it was a pre-planned attack and they have openly pointed fingers at the Government & the police for inaction. Please listen to this Muslim cleric (in civilian clothing) He does not make one reference or accuse Sinhala Buddhists of being the attackers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVPUF52oJkk

Let us also remind the world and media in particular that not one war has been waged by Buddhists on behalf of Buddhism which cannot be said of either Christianity & Islam. History is witness to how both these religions have waged wars in the name of their religion.

Let us also remind the world that Buddhism spread to Persia & Far East with millions of people embracing the teachings of Buddha not because a sword, missionaries or coercive tactics were used but purely because people found sense in the teachings and Buddhism could be scientifically proved. There were no requirement to indulge in myths, fairytales, mandatory rules & regulations and anyone could question and seek answers. Are these the factors that threatens others? Is this why a global campaign is out to denigrate Buddha’s teachings and ridicule the followers? We are also alert to how a subtle campaign is out to hijack Buddhas core teachings and repackage as being non-Buddhist. Mindfulness is one such attempt we notice is being promoted without any acknowledgement to Buddha. We really want to know why there is such a well-funded campaign lying in wait to use media to make sweeping generalizations and corner Buddhists into not defending their religion.

The plan may work with a lot of people but we would like to play straight and ask directly what it is that the anti-Buddhist and anti-Buddhism lobby find so hateful?

Whether it is the global media or even local media great pains are taken to pinpoint every blame to Sinhalese Buddhists. The 1964 Press Commission Report will reveal how media has been playing politics with communication. The unabashed lengths media owners, the editors and the journalists go to is shocking when extracts of this report is read. These are no exaggerations and come with examples and proof. A content analysis of present media outlets and the editorials and journalists will further reveal that the malady has not changed.

Press Commission Report 1964 – Some extracts https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2014/05/04/the-press-commission-report-1964-some-extracts-and-a-brief-commentary/

Denigration of Buddhism by Sri Lanka’s Mass Media – Commission of Inquiry urgently needed – https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2017/06/30/denigration-of-buddhism-by-sri-lankas-mass-media-commission-of-inquiry-urgently-needed/

Press Complaints Commission – Buddhism bashing in newspapers in Sri Lanka https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2014/06/24/press-complaints-commission-buddhism-bashing-in-newspapers-in-sri-lanka/

Sri Lanka needs a national media commission to steer journalistic ethics https://www.onlanka.com/news/sri-lanka-needs-a-national-media-commission-to-steer-journalistic-ethics.html

Is Sri Lanka’s Media promoting peace – https://www.onlanka.com/news/is-sri-lankas-media-promoting-peace.html

These are all violations of the Code of Professional Practice (Code of Ethics) of The Editors Guild of Sri Lanka and Free Media Movement adopted by the Sri Lanka Press Institute.

https://samsn.ifj.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Sri-Lanka-Code-of-Ethics.pdf

• 1 The media must take all reasonable care to report news and pictures accurately and without distortion.
• 3 A journalist shall not knowingly or wilfully promote communal or religious discord or violence.

Why is everyone against Sinhalese Buddhists – the West hates them because the West needs to use the minority tag to advance their agendas for which Tamils have been useful for 3 decades and now with the West’s pivot to Asia both Sri Lanka & Myanmar are being targeted with Islamic fundamentalists with media going on a crying campaign about Rohingyas without ascertaining the true facts on where Rohingyas actually belong to and not asking why these Muslim refugees are not taken in by Muslim majority countries, India hates Sinhala Buddhists because Tamils are key to advancing their agendas but none of the minorities seem to realize that all these external ‘friends’ are simply using the minorities to advance their own agendas.

It is only when the majority feel safe that they have the strength to protect the minorities. This is why all external forces are out to weaken the majority. In weakening the majority the foundation of the country is affected. We all know that none can rely on politicians and it is the politicians that have brought great damage to the nation with their irresponsible and power-hungry governance. The minorities of Sri Lanka bear witness to how the Sinhalese have protected them. King Senarath sent his envoy Attapattu to the North to fight the Portuguese and sacrificed his life in defending the land, the same King gave refuge to the Muslims who were being hounded & killed by both Portuguese & the Dutch. The present Muslims in Kandy are sons & daughters of those Muslims the Sinhala king helped resettle saving them from death & danger. In every riot that has had government backing it was the Sinhalese who provided safe haven, food and protection to the minorities July 1983 is one such example of many. Can the minorities please come out and admit this without allowing the media & vested parties to get away with their lies.

It is commended that many Muslims at least have realized the larger plan and the bigger picture. Perhaps it is one reason why social media was blocked. While social media allows free and unrestricted expression of opinion, it also enables people to counter lies and falsehoods which is not possible on print media for even right of replies are rarely entertained if it means a Sinhala Buddhist is trying to get the true story across. Even poya day supplements are now being used to contest the teachings of Buddha by non-Buddhist writers while a bevy of non-Buddhist regular writers are given columns to write what they like against Buddhists and there is no room for response. Now even the state print media is being used to convey the message by so-called historians who are indirectly asking all minorities to gang up against the Sinhala Buddhists!

http://www.dailynews.lk/2018/02/26/features/143898/cycles-history

There’s a political space that’s been left empty. The UNP has taken advantage of this, to a point. Let’s look at the mathematics of it: if you get the Sinhalese Christians, the Muslims, and the Tamils together”

When these truths are told openly and bravely, the response is to get some pseudo Sinhalese to call the messenger all sorts of names – racist, fundamentalist, extremist are generally terms that are thrashed across media to bury the message and prevent anyone from reading and understanding the message. This tactic has worked in the past but people are now waking up and realizing the truth. They are not suckers for lies any more. Anyone is welcome to tag people by name calling but they must come out and challenge where and which line racism prevails instead of indulging in a maligning campaign simply to hide the truth from the readers.

The public is advised to verify print media reports without accepting every story on print. Media is paid to only report not to claim to be the sole witness, judge, jury & executioner.

Shenali D Waduge

Sarath Wijesinghe – former Ambassador to UAE and Israel

Law and Order

Law and order of a nation is paramount for the citizens live in peace and harmony in the complex society. State and religions have provided for the legal implementation of the laws and morality by religions in a developed society. Any country Rule of Law should prevail with supremacy of law which is fair and reasonable and equal to before law to all citizens, provided by the supreme law of the country namely the constitution which is considered to be supreme created by the constitution which is the supreme document through which all subsidiary law is derived from. Citizens are subjects, subject to law and order which is reasonable and supreme monitored by the Independent Judiciary independent from political or any other interference or influence. Law and Order is enforced by the security forces appointed by the State elected by free and fair elections held periodically. In this ideal situation there is no room for the breakdown of law and order if the system runs smoothly with no briery corruption or nepotism. How long and to what extent this idealism is applied to the citizen is the moot issue today with conflicts around due to miss readings and misunderstandings by gossip and media.

Break down of Law and Order

Sadly in Sri Lanka there is a severe break down of law and order today countrywide in the pretext of various faces, such as communal hatred, drug menace, organized and sporadic crimes and motor and other accidents and many manmade disasters such is deforestation, sand mining and environmental disasters, in which the recent riots and commotions in Tambutthagama Water”, Ampara,” and Digana”, and many have emerged as most recent suppressed by police with the assistance by some civilians appear to be trained in such situations. Root courses of these unfortunate incidents are complex and varied which is the duty of the governance and sociologists to explore, and to find permanent solutions. Clamping down and keep the incidents under control is the duty of the security forces and the political authority expected to act with extreme care and vision when the situation is in the state of ignition due to disappointments, economic deprivations due to cost of living, loss of hopes, gossip, misreporting and no reporting of the news with spread of information fast with over 22 million mobile phones and strong network of social media and gossip network. Now that the social media is blocked and controlled leaving room for Gossip to spread faster via mobile networks not necessarily via social media. Covering the actual facts under the carpet will raise suspicions and leave room for gossip mongers to spread juicy stories via easily accessible social media in hand prioritized over other needs today. What has happened in Digana” is inaction and not taking prompt steps to an isolated incident of attack by some Muslim youth under influence of liquor resulting death of a Sinhala lorry driver not based on racial hatred at all

which is an undisciplined act of some ruthless group of Sri Lankan youth, exploded out of proportion due to lack on publicly to the citizen on the correct situation and inability of the police and the Ministry of Law and order expected to have taken prompt and immediate steps to clamp it with least effort and tact. Nobody was responsible and there appear to be no leadership and promptness in immediate steps on such explosive unforeseen incidents with potential to explode out of proportion. Moving Sagala out ,was an unwise move, as he had proved himself to be a person capable of handling such a situation though a novice to the ministerial portfolio.

Government and Governance /Sagala – Fonseka factors/ and appointment of Madduma Bandara

Appointment of Madduma Bandara appears to be on the right direction and a good choice satisfying all the parties. He is a balanced and accepted personality temperamentally suited for the position and it is the duty of all parties to help him at this decisive juncture to clear the mess. Elected government is expected to govern the nation with a policy and vision giving confidence to the people for safety for life, livelihood, free from bribery corruption, nepotism, without disappointing the citizen voted the government on trust to be trustees for a given time. If the trust is lost the contract ends and the citizen will start revolting for justice fail play and equality on justice. Efficient and honest administrative mechanism is a pre requisite to maintain the trust thrust on the elected representatives during the course of governance. Though inefficient, the governance is elected by the people for a given period and the best use of the available resources should have been used in selecting the Leaders of the government. In that respect Sagala Ratnayaka has been a good choice for the position of the Minister of law and Order who performed reasonably well and the reluctance of other members of the parliament for the appointment indicates of the choice as the best out of the lot. Non appointment of Sarath Fonseka probably a narrow escape to avoid blood bath and a major disaster as he would not have been in a position to deliver goods due to his ruthlessness and tactlessness with lack of facilities with only police department under the ministry compelling him to use his ministry portfolio and the high position/designation as a field Marched supposed to be a powerful position in compares with the international accepted norms of such positions worldwide. Ministry of Law and order was set up on recommendations by the LLRC with the police department under the Ministry w sharing the power with Ministry of Justice and Defense complementing the same/similar duties in maintains law and order of the country which is the main task of an elected government. Sagala did a reasonable good job and his departure is a grave mistake as had he been the line minister during riots the unfortunate situation should have been probably avoided. Apart from being a ruthless army commander aimed at meeting targets given by the political leadership to end the war which has lasted nearly thirty years in which SF has been in active service over three decades, it is not clear how a person of his experience will be able to handle and give leadership to such a sensitive, complicated, difficult, and people friendly organization the world is watching through the international law and political microscopic eye.

Break down of law and order

Threat break of law and order continues with no solution and the steps taken place to clamp down appear to escalate situation and complicated issues. Though the immediate reaction of any prudent government is to impose emergency rule, whether is it the best solution is to be decided considering the corruption of the system and the police forces against whom there have been continuous protests taking law into the hands of the citizen, and the ruthless and in fortunate incidents taken

place durian g emergency rules in Sri Lanka, India and the Asian/African countries indicate dangers of emergency rule over the solution to the issue .Will ban on FB and social media will be a solution or acceleration of events is yet to experience with the gossip mongers with 23 million mobile phones and dense internet users in the country giving priority to political discussions priority compare to other countries. Therefore every step taken should be well thought and well calculated

Way forward for a peaceful resolution to end the unfortunate situation in this blessed land of blessed people

People of Sri Lanka is blessed with finest whether, climatic condition, beautiful scenery and natural resources to be a best tourist destination, religious tolerance, cultural diversity, educated and intelligent citizens with highest proportion of education amidst unfortunate events that takes place due to bad governance and lack of proper leadership. Experience has shown us that we need an iron fist governance with a human face, akin to Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia or Israel adopted to us with democratic and cultural values with a visionary leader/leadership with a stranger and vision with Sri Lanka friendly foreign/economic and other policies free from corruption bribery and nepotism are ideal conditions wished by the citizen expected to choose the governance to manage the country for a limited period on trust as trustees. Sri Lankans are adopted to be tolerant and tendencies of sharing and looking after each other. It is a fact that racism is less in Sri Lanka compared to UK, EU. West and East which is a fact known to those explored the inner world of the world citizen. Sri Lankans are inherently kind and considerate pressured on economic and political deprivations due to mismanagement of the poor and economy by successive governments. It is the duty of all sectors of the society to resolve to work together to make this blessed island great with unity and hard work with a proper leadership. When Muslims arrived as traders Sri Lankan kings gave them shelter and freedom to enjoy personal life and religion and saved them from other colonial invaders. Tamils and Snhalese are united on religious beliefs and practices on the belief and practices of religions. In Colombo the majority race is Muslims with Tamils second and Sinhalese the majority race last indicating the co-existence and religious/ cultural harmony. Differences and disputes are common even in the same family and Sri Lankans have proved they are though tempered has the ability to forget and forgive soon to live together as brethren’s. Therefore it is the wish of every citizen to forge ahead to be true Sri Lankans in this blessed Island.

Author could be contacted on sarath7@hotmail.co.uk

Sarath Wijesinghe former Ambassador to UAE and Israel

Bribery and corruption is rampant

Bribery and corruption is rampant and all over like air and breathe. Development and reputation of the country depends on the impact of the corrupt regime and governance which has a direct impact of law and order and rule of law. There is no room for law and order with corrupt rule and rulers with bribery corruption and nepotism. Sri Lanka has ranked the 4^th 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. “President Sirisena” 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 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. 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 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 transactionsit is hard to find millions of indirect/direct bribing in business transactions and government dealings adopting traditional methods of investigations.

Currently – a hot topic and seminars conducted

Because it is the current hot topic of the day two seminars were organized at Organization of Professionals on 15^th and 16^th – one on 15^th by Sri Lanka 2050 organized and moderated by the former Ambassador Sarath Wijesinghe, with speakers D E W Gunasekara- former Miister, 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 – 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.

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.

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 General and Way forward

Director General appear to 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. If the leadership is corrupting inert the political situation inevitably is worsened with disability.” Dilrukshy de Silve” started the job with enthusiasm and funfair who was compelled to leave, when services of” Lacille 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!. Author Sarath Wjesinghe could be contacted on sarath7@hotmail.co.uk

Is this the key man who mastermind  Anti-Muslim Violence In Kandy or a man who exposed Muslim exapnsionism ?

මහනුවර මුස්ලිම් “රෝයල්” ෆාමසියේ හොර බෙහෙත් අල්ලලා -Amith Weerasinghe Kandy Royal Muslim pharmacy

https://youtu.be/oT0u0zPnx_s

ජාතික සංවිධාන තහනම් කල යුතුද

Ruwan M. Jayatunge and Mieczyslaw Pokorski