Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Ceylon Today

Sri Lanka’s bureaucratic approval processes, which impinge on the competitiveness of businesses, were highlighted by Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) Chief Economist Anushka Wijesinha, at a seminar in Colombo on Thursday.

There are many complains from investors an exporters regarding same issue where Sri Lankan government Officers are a hindrance to any export.

I wrote about this when EDB held a promotional drive in Galle where everyone admitted the Indonesia and Vietnam are ahead of Sri Lanka ion export growth .

Read

https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2017/09/25/sad-state-of-affairs-of-sri-lankan-exports/

We started a shipyard to build boats and now we have  an order for Maldives which is  being finalised .In order to get the Duty free facility to import materials which are not manufactured in Sri Lanka  ,company inquired from Sri Lanka Customs to provide  duty waiver and S” Vat facility .as the boat is for export .

Customs wants approval from Minister of Industries hence  our officers submitted an application form to  Ministry of Industries to  provide a letter that the yard is capable of carrying out the order.

As per the Bureaucratic procedure  ministry is supposed to send someone to carry out the inspection of the yard .It is 2 weeks since the application was submitted and the officer kept promising and did not visit the yard ,I personally requested a consultant of the ministry who promised to send someone and yet the officer did not visit the yard despite many reminders !

Yesterday ministry of Industries have asked the shipyard to obtain a letter from the Sri Lanka Ports Authority  ( SLPA) to confirm that the equipment and materials to be imparted are for the boats !!

SLPA has nothing to do with the boat building and we are not sure why Ministry of industries is resorting to such delay tactics .

Many companies are facing such obstacles in getting various approvals from various ministries despite  the fact the government keep promising the provide relief by way  of getting rid of Bureaucracy.

We need to learn from Vietnam !

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

 lanka C news

යම් යම් විරෝධතා කරලා උද්ඝෝෂණ කලොත් ශක්තිමත් වෙන්නේ යක්‍ෂයා බව අමතක නොකරන්නැයි ජනාධිපති මෛත‍්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතා පවසයි.

ඒ මහතා මේ අදහස් පල කලේ යාපනයේදී පැවති දෙමල භාෂා දින සැමරුම් උත්සවය අමතමිනි.

ජනාධිපතිවරයාට විරෝධය පල කරමින් යාපනයේ ස්ථාන කිහිපයකම පැවති විරෝධතා සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජනාධිපතිවරයා එම අදහස් පල කලේය.

එක් විරෝධතාවයක් පැවති ස්ථානයට ජනාධිපතිවරයා වාහනයෙන් බැස ගිය අතර එහිදී විරෝධතාවරුවන් සිය ගැටළු පවසා සිටිහය. එම ස්ථානයේ දෙමල ජාතික සන්ධානයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත‍්‍රීවරුන් කිහිප දෙනෙකුද විය.

ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ සංචාරය සිදුවන කාල සීමාවේදී යාපනයේ උද්ඝෝෂණ විරෝධතා පැවැත්වීම තහන්ම කරමින් අධිකරණය විසින් තහනම් නියෝගයක්ද නිකුත් කර තිබින.

Zee Media Bureau

Researchers claim a compound in the rainforest berry could kill head and neck tumours as well as melanomas within minutes.

By Amy Ziniak for Daily Mail Australia

PUBLISHED: 06:16, 9 October 2014 | UPDATED: 22:25, 11 October 2014

• Australian scientists on verge of cancer cure with cancer fighting berry
• QIMR have used an experimental drug from the seeds of the rainforest plant, Blushwood tree, which only grows in far north Queensland
• EBC-46 has found to lead to rapid breakdown of cancer tumors 
• The experimental drug has been used to successfully shrink or destroy tumors in pets
• Human trials to use the drug are imminent

A team of medical researchers are on their way to finding a cure for cancer after the discovery of a an amazing rainforest berry which holds cancer fighting properties.

Scientists at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Queensland have used an experimental drug produced from the seeds of the rainforest plant, Blushwood tree (Hylandia Dockrillii), which exclusively grows in far north Queensland, to cure solid cancer tumours in pre-clinical trials. 

Already the drug has been used to successfully destroy or shrink tumours in pets and animals – including dogs, cats and horses and even Tasmanian Devils, while human trials are imminent.

Blushwood (pictured) is the plant where the cancer fighting berries are sourced. Scientists from an experimental drug produced by the seeds of the plant have been used to cure cancer tumors in pre clinical trials

The study led by Dr Glen Boyle (pictured) found a single injection of the drug EBC-46 led to rapid breakdown of a range of tumors which could be effective in human patients

The study led by Dr Glen Boyle found a single injection of the drug EBC-46 led to rapid breakdown of a range of tumors which could be effective in human patients.

‘We were able to achieve very strong results injecting EBC-46 directly into melanoma models, as well as cancers of the head, neck and colon,’ said Dr Boyle.

‘In most cases the single injection treatment caused the loss of viability of cancer cells within four hours, and ultimately destroyed the tumours.’

By Charles.S.Perera

The  so called Yahapalanaya government which had been deceiving the people of this country ever since Maithripala Sirisena was elected President of Sri Lanka on the 8^th January,2015, has no right what so ever to present a note, a paper or  a draft to the Parliament as a preliminary to the writing of  a new Constitution for Sri Lanka.

Today the people of Sri Lanka are divided as they had never been before. The Tamil terrorists have been eliminated but they have reappeared in another form-Wigneswaran, TNA and the Tamil Diaspora, and the Western Governments assisting them”-the four evils , to be an important supportive group of the Sirisena Ranil- Yahapalanaya Government to dissolve the Sri Lankan identity.

This Sirisena Ranil government will do any thing , make any sacrifice to retain the support of the four evils”. The JVP  has become a party to the Yahapalanaya Government’s shameless plan  to change Sri Lanka behind scene into a Federal State according to the desire of the four  evils”.

Hence to allow the Sirisena Ranil government under these circumstances to write a new Constitution is to make Sri Lanka  a sacrificial lamb” of this Yahapalanaya Government on the altar of reconciliation to satisfy the Tamils of the TNA, the ultra Tamil Wigneswaran ,  the Tamil diaspora and their supporters the West-the four evils”

Therefore under no circumstance should the patriots of this great country of the Sinhala Buddhists of Sri Lanka allow this  pseudo Yahapalanaya Government of Sirisena –Ranil to write a new Constitution for Sri Lanka. Kiriella a UNP Minister of this government says that they would give 13 plus and abolish the executive Presidency.

They are manipulating to take away the executive powers from the President to transfer them to the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe is a stooge of the West and the West wants him to usurp the powers of the President so that they can do what they want with Sri Lanka. In order to keep the President quiet and believe that the West is friendly towards him, the Western Governments even go to the extent of  proposing Maithripala Sirisena for the Nobel Peace Prize.

What has Maithripala Sirisena given to Sri Lanka and to  its people, and to the world  that makes him deserve the Noble Peace Prize ?  

Does  not this suggestion of the west shows their utter hypocrisy to fool the leaders of developing countries to make them subordinate to their pseudo-generosity ?  Or is it for having made things easy for the West led by  USA, by sponsoring their resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, with the support of the UN Human Rights Commissioner condemning the  Sri Lanka Armed Forces that eliminated terrorism for war crimes and establish hybrid courts,  to give back to the Tamils what they  failed to obtain through terrorism ?

Maithripala Sirisena as President of a most unpatriotic government since Independence calling itself Yahapalanaya,  does need a Noble Peace Prize as no government any where in the world has supported  the West led by USA to make a devastating  resolution against its own country, and its own Armed Forces, condemning the country’s legal system and suggesting setting up hybrid courts to try its own  Armed Forces for war crimes.

These UNP yes men to Ranil Wickramasinghe- their leader, even two years after they have taken over the government of Sri Lanka from its visionary leader Mahinda Rajapakse, still use the name of the  President Mahinda Rajapakse to cover up their own sins, and make people believe that they are following  what Mahinda Rajapakse failed to do.

Minister Kiriella says that the new Constitution may grant 13plus as proposed by Mahinda Rajapakse. They have only the name of President Mahinda Rajapakse to save their skins, but they know that  they  can never get any where near President Mahinda Rajapakse who had the  ability to change a Sri Lanka that was suffering for thirty years under terrorism to  a peaceful secure country with the communities united as Sri Lankans.

The uniqueness of this Yahapalanaya Government is that it has openly allowed corruption and thefts in the Central Bank itself and in the construction of the Central Highway, and though number of its Ministers though accused for bribery, corruption and theft have not been summoned by courts and punishments meted out though the President Mahinda Rajapakse, his kith and kin , Ministers of his Government, and all connected to him continue to be summoned by the  courts and remanded at their pleasure.

The Yahapalanaya Government  swears that the new Constitution has not been written as yet but only the proposals by the five Committees have been presented to the parliament. But the proposals do not give any assurance that they will finally be able to write an acceptable non-federal Constitution.

This government does every thing in stealth hiding facts not only from the people but also from the President Maithripala Sirisena blissfully ignorant of what is going on behind his back.

Even the Supreme Court of the Land is bluffed, changing its verdicts through Parliamentary Bills, and persuading even the JVP to vote with the government to provide a two third majority.

There is no reason why this Sirisena Ranil Yahapalana government should at all write a new Constitution when the 1978 Constitution is an acceptable document which had served its purpose during the most critical period of the recent history of Sri Lanka. Any required Constitutional changes could  easily be made by Constitutional amendments.

It has become evident that if this Yayapalanaya traitors  would get down to write a new Constitution we will not only loose the unitary status of Sri Lanka but it may also loose its name from Sri Lanka to OrumiththaNaadu”.

Sinhala Language has  already lost its significant place under Yahapalanaya Regime. These writers of a new Constitution have failed to find an appropriate word in Sinhala to mean united” hence they have used this Tamil word Orumiththa Nadu” in the Sinhala text of the Constitution, as well as in the English text to the exclusion of the English word Unitary.

There may have  been a reason why the President Mahinda Rajapakse did not remove the 13Amendment. However it has to be removed from the Constitution and retain the executive powers of the President intact. We are still not completely  out of terrorism which may raise its ugly head sooner or later if we let the  Yahapalanaya continue to rule Sri Lanka.

The Present Yahapalanaya government does not take any thing seriously. As they have mismanaged the economy of Sri Lanka they without accepting their disastrous bungling since their taking over the Government of Sri Lanka on the 8^th January,2015, act like a bull in a glass shop” taking haphazard decisions  to  patch up” their wrong doings.

As the Sirisena –Ranil government is now in very critical financial straights, they have begun selling Sri Lanka’s most valued treasures” such as the unique natural harbour at Trincomalee, 15 thousand acres of prime land  in the South , Mattala Airport , Lankan Air Lines,  and part of the Colombo harbour etc.

The UNP Ministers and now some of the SLFP seniors like Mahinda Samarasinghe, Sarath Amunugama  are bragging that they have done what President Mahinda Rajapakse failed to do, which was to bring Sri Lanka into the fold of the West. But what have they received from their new found friends of the West. Their Western friends  have still not taken up even a single major development project. But they are nevertheless profiting from Sri Lanka’s dive into disaster. It was the same that the West did with the misfortunes of Greece. It is Germany and France that gained from the misfortunes of Greece.

Ranil Wickramasinghe with his Mount Pelerin connection hoped that America would have come to his aid, and even began by insulting China to give the West the signal that he was on their side against China.

But America and the West treated him  just like they treated his uncle J.R.Jayawardana-nicknamed Yankee Dikee, who expected  America and the West –to be his safety net against Indian brutality.

USA and the West will pay glowing tributes to Yahapalanaya for regaining democratic Sri Lanka, and reconciliation with the minorities and taking the Armed Forces before a hybrid court to be tried for war crimes which they believe Sri Lanka Armed Forces  committed in eliminating terrorists. That is all that the Yahapalanaya government will get from the Western friends.

CFA which enabled the terrorists to kill thousands of soldiers and innocent civilians was entered into with the terrorist leader Prabhakaran by PM Ranil Wickramasinghe with the aid of the Norvegian mediator Eric Solheim.  Ranil Wickramasinghe  neither consulted the then President Chandrika Kumaratunga nor the Parliament before he entered into that disastrous CFA.

How can then the people of Sri Lanka trust Ranil Wickramasinghe as the Prime Minister to write a new Constitution which would not finally be in effect  a Federal Constitution ?

What guarantee do the people have that Ranil Wickramasinghe will not be a traitor once again as he did with the CFA ?

The Yahapalanaya Government has no sense of values. They want to make Sri Lanka a Singapore. They want to sacrifice  Buddhism and Sinhala culture for an imagined reconciliation with the Tamils and the Muslims. They of the Yahapalanaya Government ,do not understand that there could never be a real reconciliation with the Tamils unless they give up  their call for  a separate territory for the Tamils and agree to live with all Communities.

Though the Yahapalanaya Government asserts that in the new Constitution nothing would be changed viz à viz the primary place given to Buddhism as in the previous Constitutions,  when in the new draft of the Constitution it is said that Buddhism will be given its rightful place and adds that the other religions will also have an equal place.

The President may be able to fool the Mahanayake Theros with a promise of special place to Buddhism and  the protection it deserves, but the people cannot be fooled by the reality of what is being done behind their backs.

The reconciliation with the Tamils is a farce since the defeat of terrorists. It is not the Sinhala that should move towards Tamils,  but it is the Tamils who should  come to the Sinhala to assure their sincerity to reconcile with the Communities. As it is the Yahapalanaya exercise  of reconciliation is a complete handover of North and East to Tamils with even the right to decide how they are to govern themselves without the interference of the Central Government.

There is no necessity to write a new Constitution to Sri Lanka. The Present  Constitution of Sri Lanka should  continue retaining all  the elements of the first Constitution prepared by the British when they granted Independence to Sri Lanka. Any Country’s Constitution is written by the Majority Community safeguarding its religious and cultural identity . 

It is more so with regard to Sri Lanka with its unique 2600 year old Buddhist tradition and Buddhist Culture  which is the identity itself  of Sri Lanka.

In no country has the minorities of the Country consulted in the writing of  a Constitution. But the Majority Community allows the minorities the right to religious worship and maintain their cultural identities,  allowing them to enjoy all the rights and priviledges of the  majority community, without discrimination. 

It is for the minorities to accept the Constitution as theirs, as they are accepted as the people of this country.

The Constitution protects the territoriality of Sri Lanka, therefore the Muslims should not be allowed to clear forests and open unauthorised Muslim settlements where ever they want. And the Tamils should not be allowed to  attack  Buddhist Temples  or destroy Buddhist Statues anywhere in the Island, nor allow them to chase away the Sinhala from occupying their lands and property any where in the Island be in the North, East, South or the West.

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando

The historical conviction, followed by the rigid sentence of rigourous imprisonment for three years by the High Courts, on the former Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge and Anusha Pelpita, under Section 386 of the Penal Code for ‘dishonestly misappropriating’ a sum of Rs. 600 million belonging to the TRC created a façade by a certain section of politicos. Both were convicted for procuring ‘Sil clothes’ illegally from the TRC and distributing just prior to the last Presidential elections in the Kurunegala District. It developed into more complicated issue when the former President, Mahinda Rajapaksa declared that, I had ordered & funded through the President’s Special Development Fund,” seeking protection under Article 35 of the Constitution. However, Anusha Pelpita seemed to have a different version when he had explained to his  friends thus:

Basil Rajapaksa ordered us to distribute Sil clothing. I explained to him that it was illegal, and then he used the filthiest language on me. I informed Lalith Weeratunge about it; upon consulting the former President, Lalith Weeratunge said, If Basil said so, to distribute the clothes. Nevertheless, we covered ourselves by endorsing a minute in the file to that effect but but in the end, the two of us had to go to prison!”

Permanent Secretary’s duties

Administrative Secretaries are duty bound to guide their masters and specifically compelled to safeguard and avoid any malpractices. It is clear as crystal that the two officials had done so, but it is evident now that Basil Rajapaksa has been the perpetrator behind this illicit move. Naturally Mahinda Rajapaksa has to defend, his brother and one time minister, stating it was done under the ‘President’s Special Development Fund’.  

What would have been if Lalith Weeratunge were refuse to execute the provocative instruction, similar to Thusitha Halloluwa, the Chairman of the state-owned Colombo Commercial Fertilizer Ltd, who tendered his resignation to the Minister of Agriculture in September 2017? Halloluwa naturally felt he was unable to carry out his duties in a warped manner! This makes the difference between the two officials that shows one has a backbone while the other backboneless!

Misdemeanor

Leaving legal and political aspects aside and considering the moral and ethical facets, this problem completely turned into a tendentious joke when the Joint Opposition members managed to convince a section of the ‘Buddhist clergy’ (who are widely referred to as men in yellow robes!) into a mockery  to tarnish the pristine form of Buddhism by persuading these ‘monks’ to raise millions towards the Court’s penalties of the convicted, by inducing them to go on Pindapatha. Monks parading on streets for begging (Pindapatha) for money is irrefutably contradictory to Buddhist Vinaya (rules). Any ordained Buddhist monk should be mindful of the fact that Lord Buddha ordered Bhikkus to go on ‘begging’ (Pindapatha) from house to house, only to seek food for Bhikkus’ survival. This shameful manipulation, therefore, by warped politicians in encouraging a few naïve ‘monks’ has reflected as a scandalous action to tarnish Buddhism, a philosophy, which teaches the ‘path of practice and spiritual development, leading to Insight into the true nature of reality’. Buddhists undertake to observe the second code of Buddha’s ethics (precepts) by promising to abstain from stealing, (immaterial whether it is under an Executive order or otherwise), and by chanting the fourth precept, vowing to ‘refrain from fabricated and deceitful speech’.

Handling of money was regarded as a taboo during Buddha’s era, as such it becomes an aberrant imprudence to drag anyone in a yellow robe out onto the streets, especially during the Vassana Season (rainy season), and to persuade them to go on Pindapatha. Therefore, this heinous act perpetrated by two Buddhist parliamentarians, who are often seen on TV, visiting the Mahanayakas holding Mal Watti (tray of flowers) and Ata Pirikara and prostrating before the Mahanayakas, have stooped into mortifying levels as an outright ignominy to Buddhism.

Buddhism teaches that human life is full of suffering caused by desire, and the only way to end this suffering is through enlightenment. Despite such golden rules, and people listening to holy monks who pontificate Bana to illumine the laity by elucidating the fact that one the effective means of shortening one’s sansaric journey would be to be generous and help fellow human beings, with good chethana (intentions), it is a travesty to see various ‘monks’ in diverse shades, from yellow to dark brown robes, stooping to mortifying levels of misleading the ignoramus devotees who blindly respect Buddha’s yellow robe.

Kalandaka Jathaka illustrates how Bodhisattva, once born as a squirrel in a previous life, due to some past karmic effect, attempting to rescue its baby, that had fallen into flood water during stormy weather and ended up in the ocean, by dipping its tail in water and taking drop by drop in an attempt to empty the mighty ocean! God Sakkara, at that very moment having felt the tribulation, had appeared on the scene to rescue the baby squirrel, Jathaka Katha continues. Comparably, will the most powerful, who ordered to ‘distribute Sil clothes’ under the President’s Special Development Fund, now appear as god Sakkara in this dire situation to bail out the victims by paying the heavy penalties?

tilakfernando@gmail.com

By Rohana R. Wasala

(This was first published on June 24, 2016 as part of a longer article under the title A glance at PRCR report in the context of drive for federalism”, which was featured in The Island on June 22 & 24, 2016. That article was posted on June 23, 2016 in toto on Lankaweb under the different title Apropos of Constitutional reforms”. The text here comprises the latter portion of the same. It is now being republished, slightly updated, in view of its topical relevance. The current obfuscations and prevarications of the obtrusive NGO influenced constitution makers on vital issues were foreshadowed in that document – RRW.)

A glance at the 22 chapter final Report on Public Representations on Constitutional Reforms (May 2016) reveals the anti-majority bias of the proposed reforms: if the suggested recommendations are passed the new constitution will be more pleasing to foreign vested interests and separatists than to ordinary Sri Lankans. This is a contradiction of the basic principle that …the origin of power is in the people” which is stressed in the report by the PRCR Committee (appointed by Maithri). The commissioners observe ….we need to build consensus around the reforms and to engage actively with citizens to build support. For this, we need political leadership and imagination.” Can we be sure that a sufficient number out of the present lot in parliament are gifted with these qualities?

Despite the fact that we have locally no dearth of suitable constitutional experts, seasoned diplomats, and political scientists and distinguished legal consultants to serve in such a position, the government seems to have appointed a set of individuals to the PRCR committee who are relatively unknown or generally less known than those we would expect to be invited to perform that extremely important task (that of formulating the basic law of the country) in respect of Sri Lanka.

The report states that the members had to achieve much within a too short a time. The final product indeed shows signs of it having been rushed out. I can’t predict how in general the majority community and the minorities will respond to its contents (by ‘contents’ I mean mainly, the alleged public submissions under the different subjects to be covered in the constitution, and the committee’s recommendations based on them). There is no doubt that the recommendations are well meant within the parameters given by the powers that be, but they seem to have a tendency to represent the majority community as xenophobic, which it is definitely not. That is how I feel as a layman who loves nothing but peace and prosperity for the people of his beloved motherland; but I hope that I am going to be proven wrong in my negative impression about what could be basis for the future ‘supreme law of the land’.

In the view of the committee members, Sinhalese fears are a consequence of years of conflict and war in our country and the suspicion and mistrust it has engendered between communities”. How can the Sinhalese ignore the growing mass of evidence that suggests that the separate state concept is still alive. Have the commissioners considered in depth what led to conflict and war” in the first place? Don’t they recognize the fact that the communalist minority politicians behave in ways that exacerbate these feelings in the Sinhalese, who don’t usually think in terms of communalism? Instead, the commissioners blame the situation on what they call ethno-religious nationalism” of different groups (but, in terms of our experience, this phrase almost exclusively refers to Sinhalese Buddhists). The nationalism that the rational majority of Sri Lankans believe in embraces all the communities that live in the country; it cannot be described as exclusively ethno-religious (Sinhalese Buddhist). Sri Lankan nationalists are predominantly Sinhalese Buddhists, because numerically/population-wise they form the majority. The Sinhalese who are nationalists are nationalists, not because they are ethnically Sinhalese, but because they are Sri Lankans. That Sri Lanka is their only homeland is also an indisputable fact (but on that basis they don’t demand or expect special treatment that deprives others of their rights as equal citizens). We have Sri Lankan nationalists too who are of other ethnicities and religious affiliations. Minority politicians who champion the rights of only their groups to the exclusion of others must be condemned as communalists; in fact, there are minority politicians who are pro-national, and non-communalist. However, the ‘racist’ label is usually tagged on to those Sinhalese who dare to speak up for the rights of the Sinhalese majority even in their accustomed inclusive way (i.e. not forgetting about equal rights for others).

Chapter 20 of the report deals with the subject of affirmative action and reconciliation”. (The use of the phrase ‘affirmative action’ here is historically ironical. The ‘affirmative action’ measures introduced since 1956 to address the anomalies that the particularly dispossessed  Sinhalese majority had been subjected to in their only homeland during colonial times were later found to be problematic; the intensification of the separatist problem is also an unexpected result of that historic ‘affirmative action’ process.) Among the reforms suggested in Chapter 20, the rights of those with different sexual orientation” (commonly known elsewhere as LGBT – lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) form one item. Should a culturally sensitive piece of legislation like this be imposed on our rather conservative people? Not many are ready yet to stomach such ‘newfangled’ ideas as same-sex marriage. (Sex between two males would be treated with the same moral disapproval as it was in Victorian London in Oscar Wilde’s time (1854-1900), where homosexuality was condemned as gross indecency”. Though there is no question about the necessity of safeguarding the human rights of people of different sexual orientation, should this be included in the constitution in a hurry where more nationally pressing issues are crying to be resolved on a priority basis? For example, a more important issue than gay rights is the question of religious fundamentalism, esp. Christian and Islamic fundamentalism, both of which are threatening our society today. Fundamentalist ideologies of religions could lead to mutual exclusion. The recommendations in Chapter 4 might not be adequate to deal with the issues.

In Chapter 3, we have controversial submissions like this: .. refugees of Sri Lankan origin who had to leave the country due to war, terrorism and persecution and their offspring should be offered dual citizenship free of charge; registration of citizenship need (s) to be decentralized. …”. Such proposals will evoke conflicting responses from the majority and minority communities. Not all Sri Lankans left Sri Lanka for foreign destinations due to war, terrorism, and persecution”; most did so as economic refugees, exploiting temporary disturbances. The brief recommendations made in response to submissions including the above are: (a) To treat all Sri Lankan citizens equally whether one becomes a citizen by descent or registration, and (b) Those who become citizens by registration should take an oath of allegiance. An oath alone will not address the central issue. Of course, these particular recommendations will be debated during the actual constitution making, although there is nothing controversial about them and nothing unacceptable to anyone; but the problem will be who left Sri Lanka as genuine refugees and who didn’t. However, since the parliamentary composition of the ruling coalition does not reflect the relative strengths of the diverse shades of opinion (regarding the issues) that really exist among the general populace, how can the constitution makers ensure that no community is subjected to discrimination in terms of the supreme law of the land?

Annex G comprises a provisional list of public submissions. It lists 3655 individuals and organizations that made submissions. Looking at it one feels that only minorities including marginal groups among the majority Sinhalese seem to have taken these public consultations seriously. The majority Sinhalese seem to be sceptical about its mission, and they are least represented in it. Could this constitution making project succeed, I wonder?

The commissioners can only be expected to act on the assumption that the leadership that they say is essential is already available in the form of the ad hoc UNP-SLFP coalition, miscalled a national or unity government, that currently rules. But it seems that, in this alliance of incompatibles, united only by the common goal of pre-empting a return of Rajapaksa ascendancy, the actual power rotates round an axis that runs between Maithri as president on the one side, and the trio Ranil, Mangala  and Chandrika (as prime minister, foreign minister/now finance minister, and SLFP advisor, respectively) on the other. It is not strictly right to describe the present ruling alliance as a proper UNP-SLFP coalition, because only some SLFP MPs including defeated candidates among them have joined it. Almost all of the currently sitting SLFP MPs won their seats because of Mahinda, but now they have to repudiate him in order to please Maithri. It is quite clear that Maithri, who contested the presidential election as a party-less common candidate under the swan symbol having walked out of the SLFP in anger, readily accepted the leadership of the SLFP, having little moral or legal right to that post. Soon after marginally losing the presidential election, Mahinda let his successful challenger assume the leadership of the party apparently in order to save it from the fate of an immediately depleted parliamentary presence (The potential at that point in time was for a decisive UNP victory in a parliamentary election because that party formed the government after January 8, 2015 under the newly elected president). It was partly due to his clever move that so many SLFPers were able to get into parliament at the August 17 election. The president could have dissolved parliament soon after the January 2015 presidential election if Mahinda insisted that the UPFA government continue to rule because they had the majority of seats. In such a situation the UNP would have won the election, though not overwhelmingly perhaps. By appointing Ranil as PM, Maithri was fulfilling an earlier pledge to the former. I don’t think he will betray him for the rest of his term, especially because of the menacing Rajapaksa factor.

SLFPers in the government are saying that they want to strengthen the SLFP that is supposed to be a partner of the ruling ‘national’ government, and their ultimate goal is to form an SLFP government in 2020. Will the UNP willingly allow that? Its leader Ranil is already PM, and it will be natural for him to aim at the presidency after Maithri’s term ends. For now, Ranil’s declared aim is to pass the new constitution, which seems to be designed to accommodate minority demands that are potentially injurious to the unitary status of the Sri Lankan state. The leadership that the members of the PRCR Committee say is needed is already there, as suggested before. But that is not the leadership that the country needs. The country needs a leader who can unite the different communities and save the country from being effectively fragmented on ethnic lines, without surrendering our independence and sovereignty to aggressively interfering foreign powers.

Upali Cooray

A very thought provoking pragmatic debate ended today(11^th Sept.) between Dr. Dayan Jayatillake(DJ) and Emeritus Professor Dr. G.H.Peiris (GP)  in the Colombo Telegraph and in The Island newspaper, concerning the devolution of political power in Sri Lanka. There appears to be two contrasting views between the two who are known as backers of the Joint Opposition (JO).  They have recently come out openly challenging the government’s attempt to carry out constitutional reforms enabling implementation of the 13^th amendment. I believe that some realities which did not surface in this debate and significant facts about their intellectual thinking over the years should be told in order to augment our understanding about the two intellectuals.

A well known academic and activist DJ  has a chequered history behind him, becoming implicated in extremist politics, founded with others; the Vikalpa Kandayama” (Alternative Group) In the 1980s. His group supported the Tamil militancy for some time and maintained that their actions were a war of national emancipation, not terrorism. Vikalpa Kandayama” formed a relationship with the EPRLF of Vartharajah Perumal who declared Tamil Elam” in the North and East. Having being elected as Chief Minister he said that Sri Lanka Army is not required in his Elam. Vikalpa Kandayama was banned in 1986 and DJ who was a Minister in Perumal’s Elam government for a short stint, was indicted, in absentia, by the Colombo High Court on 14 counts comprising conspiracy to overthrow the state through violence. In the meantime, DJ had gone into hiding, spending two years underground in Sri Lanka and one year in India. He was then pardoned by President J. R. Jayewardene. Perumal fled to India.

DJ then joined the Sri Lanka People’s Party after its leader Vijaya Kumaratunga was assassinated and became a member of the party’s central committee. Chandrika Kumaratunga whom he now calls federalist was the leader of the party after Vijaya’s assassination. She adopted the same policy on devolution even at that time. DJ then gave up his radical beliefs and became a prominent supporter of President Ranasinghe Premadasa, serving as his advisor from 1989 to 1993.  Devolution, democracy and development were Premadasa’s plan to resolve the ethnic problem.

DJ’s’ crowning glory was shielding Sri Lanka from denunciation by the UNHRC for alleged human rights violations during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009. DJ had been appointed for a two-year term but when his contract expired in June 2009 President Mahinda Rajapaksa extended his contract until June 2010.  His glory was short lived, when on 17 July 2009 the Foreign Ministry told him by fax to “relinquish duties and return to Colombo on 20^th August”. According to DJ no reason was given for his sacking but it was suggested that Sinhalese nationalists” were unhappy with support for the implementation of the 13th Amendment.

Though the Indian government brought pressure on President Rajapaksa, to fully implement the 13 plus amendment he never did so. Tactically he held free elections in the Northern province and nothing more was given as required by the Indians and the Tamil Diaspora supported by the West. Chief Minister C. V. Vigneswaran was elected to office in 2007 who now adopts a more radical policy than the TNA and requires the government to fully implement the 13^th amendment plus.

On the other hand GP who has never been a political activist but a political thinker and an unofficial and a prominent member of the think tank of Rajapaksa government, and now the JO. He uses his geographic knowledge adeptly in his arguments why devolution of power should not be permitted by any government in Sri Lanka. DJ in his writings in English to The Colombo Telegraph and the Island newspaper implies that GP belongs to Sinhala fundamentalist school and a strong exponent of the concept.

What is not observed by many is, DJ in his Sinhala speeches does not dare to directly state that he is an exponent of the 13 amendment to the constitution of Sri Lanka which would ultimately lead to a formulation of a federal state with police and land powers vested with the province.

Addressing the Viyath maga” conference organized by the war winning former defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa held recently, DJ was careful in his Sinhala speech not to show his innermost thinking but cleverly spoke of smart patriotism or enlightened patriotism instead of island mentality. He suggested that new elite such as professionals in the national list in a presidential system and unitary state would be the answer. He never elaborated that the unitary state would have the propensity to end in cessation.

An extract from his piece The ethnic issue: fantasy vs. reality”… (Colombo Telegraph 25^th Sept.) that any attempt by Colombo to roll back the 13^th amendment, scrap province and introduce the district as the unit of devolution will be met, in the first instance, by ceaseless Stayagrahas in the North and East and violent crackdown by state(especially under a more nationalist government) will be instantly transmitted by camera phones triggering a global media Tsunami of denunciation, resulting in an Indo-US response – against which China is too far away to defend us, should it be so inclined” .

The other question is DJ while superficially showing he is an activist of the JO, his writings in English are more on par with Yahapalana regime policy on the national question. As GP says …..there is no need whatever to regard our country’s proximity to India as Karmic determination that impels us to remain subservient to the very forces……..overtly or covertly supported the thirty year Elam war”

The Tamil terrorist problem in Sri Lanka began during the cold war. India subsequently became a strong ally of the US. Things changed rapidly during the last two decades and China has become the largest exporter of goods to both countries. A si’ne qua non.

China’s formidable power will unquestionably become more so, as the Port at Hambantota and the Port City in Colombo will attach us to the string of pearls. Besides, what GP failed to mention is the proposed KRA canal that would connect Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea across southern Thailand. The canal would provide an alternative transit for shipments of oil to China and Japan shortened by 1200 KM. China refers to it as a part of string of Pearls in the 21^st century maritime Silk Road.  The Chinese have completed feasibility studies by 2016 and awaiting Thai government and the King’s approval. What we in Sri Lanka should realize is that there is no other port between the KRA canal and Hambantota resulting in every cargo ship having to have a bunkering stop at that port.  Therefore the argument of DJ that China is too far, strategically and geographically, will hold no water in the very near future.

In passing; The Island newspaper (10^th Oct) first page news item on Catalonia, is notable. It says Catalan independence would not be recognized: France. Pressure has mounted on Catalan President to back down after hundreds of thousands of protestors last week rallied to defend national unity”. DJ should comment.

GP in his book Twilight of the Tigers” challenges that the territorial devolution is a feasible method of settling Sri Lanka’s political problems and questions the thinking that started the peace process in 2000-01.Peiris had correctly  foreseen the  course of the war unlike DJ because he is an expert in this arena, having contributed to Jane’s intelligence review. Moreover, for years he has kept to an uncompromising patriotic position seeking to safeguard the island’s sovereignty. He stood alongside with persons such as H.L. de Silva and S.L Gunasekara in opposing federalism on the grounds that the devolutionary processes under consideration, including the north-east merger sub-state (which was later persuaded to the Supreme Court by a group of lawyers, its continued existence was unconstitutional, would imperil political stability).  GP approaches the subject from a statist” position devoted to efficient centralized planning and delivery. The book is up-to-date by his expertise in economic Geography and political economy. Thus, study of his masterpiece on Sri Lanka Challenges of the new millennium would assist readers who wish to acquire in depth material on the issues he raises. The book would supplement his argument in the Twilight that the creation of an exclusive Tamil homeland would not work peacefully because of such issues as the distribution of water resources and agriculture, Jaffna Tamil Vellala superiority over Batticaloa Tamils (remember Karuna) would emerge as thorny flash-points for future confrontation.

The parable of Lute which DJ quotes(Colombo Telegraph 25^th Sept) is, Buddha living in Rjagaha in India questioned one of his disciples, having given him a Lute to play in which the strings have to be tuned to have proper balance…..” Similarly, if energy is applied too strongly, it will lead to restlessness, and if energy is too lax, it will lead to lassitude. Therefore keep energy balance and the balance of spiritual faculties”……

One has to question whether DJ has kept his intellectual balance similar to that of GP.

Upali Cooray

egalawan288@gmail.com

 lanka C news

ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 26 ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ පුරවැසියකු විම හා ඔහුගේ නිත්‍යානුකූල භාවය ඉතා පැහැදිලිව සඳහන් කොට ඇත. ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 3 වෙනි ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව ශ්‍රීලංකා ජනරජයේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය ජනතාව කෙරෙහි පිහිටා ඇත. එනම් ජනතාව මෙරටේ නිත්‍යානුකූල පුරවැසියන්ගෙන් සැදුම්ලත් වනුය, ඒ අනුව ජනතාව පරමාධිපත්‍යය රටේ උත්තරිතර වනු ඇත.

එමෙන්ම මෙරටේ විධායකය ව්‍යවස්තාදායකය හා අධිකරණය ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය මත පිහිටුවා ඇත. එනම් රටේ සියලු කාර්යයන් සිදු වන්නේ මෙරටේ නිත්‍යානුකූල පුරවැසියන්ගෙන් සැදුම්ලත් ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය බලය මගින් ඔහුන් විසින් ඔහුන්ගෙන් පත් කර ගන්නා නියෝජිතයින් හරහා ය.

ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 31 (1) ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ අ. යටතේ ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ පිලිගත් දේශපාලන පක්ෂයකින් ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ පුරවැසියකු ජනාධිපති ධූරය සඳහා යෝජනා කල හැක්කේ ය යන්න පැහැදිලිව සඳහන් වේ වන අතර එය ජනාධිපති ධූරය සඳහා මූලික සුදුසුකමකි.

ඒ අනුව 2014 නොවැම්බර් මස 24 වෙනිදා ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව එවකට පැවත්වීමට නියමිතව තිබු ජනාධිපතිවරණය සඳහා ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ පුරවැසියකු තම අපේක්ෂකයන් ලෙස මැතිවරණ කොමිසම වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කෙරෙනු අතර එහි මෙරටේ ප්‍රධාන පක්ෂ දෙක පහත පරිදි වේ.

1. එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සංධානය ( ඡන්දය ලකුණ බුලත් කොලය) වෙනුවෙන් එහි සභාපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා සහ එම පක්ෂයේ ලේකම් සුසිල් ප්‍රෙම්ජයන්ත මහතා විසින් පක්ෂයේ ඒකමතික තීරණය අනුව එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සංධානය සභාපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා.
2. ශ්‍රිලංකා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ ( ඡන්ද ලකුණ, හංසයා) එහි සභාපති ශලිල මුණසිංහ හා එම පක්ෂයේ ලේකම් ශ්‍යාමලී පෙරේරා විසින් එම පක්ෂයේ තීරණය අනුව මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන මහතා

මෙහිදී ඉහත පක්ෂ දෙකේ නියෝජිතයින් ශ්‍රිලංකා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ ( හංසයා) ඡන්ද 6,217,162 එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සංධානය ( බුලත් කොලය) ඡන්ද 5,768,090 ක් ද ලබාගත්තේය.

ඉහත ඡන්දය පවත්වා අවුරුද්දයි මාස 10 ක් ගතවනතුරු එම මැතිවරණයේ වැඩි ඡන්දය ලබාගත් පක්ෂය මෙරටේ නිත්‍යානුකූල නොවන පක්ෂයක් බව මෙරටේ ජනතාවට දැනගන්නට ලැබෙන්නේ පසුගිය දා විදේශ බැංකුවලින් මුදල් වංචා කොට පොලිසිය මගින් අත් අඩංගුවට ගෙන අධිකරණයට ඉදිරිපත් කල එම පක්ෂයේ නායක සහ සභාපති ශලිල මුණසිංහ ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ පුරවැසියකු නොවන බැවිනි.

කරුණු එසේ නම් එදා 2015 ජනාධිපතිවරණය සඳහා ශ්‍රිලංකා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ ( ඡන්ද ලකුණ, හංසයා) එහි සභාපති ශලිල මුණසිංහ හා ලේකම් ශ්‍යාමලී පෙරේරා විසින් ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ මැතිවරණ කොමිසම රවටා ඇති බැව් ඉතා පැහැදිලි ය. ඒ අනුව මේ වනවිට රටේ සමස්ථ ජනතාවගේ ස්වාධිපත්‍යයට වංචා කොට ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ ජනාධිපතිවරණයක් සඳහා කූට ලෙස ලේඛන සකස් කොට නිත්‍යානුකූල නොවන පක්ෂයක් විසින් නිත්‍යානුකූල බවට දිව්රුම් පෙත්සම් ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් නියෝජිතයකු ඉදිරිපත් කොට ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍යයට වංචා කොට ඇත.

එමෙන්ම මෙවෙනි ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ පුරවැසියකු නොවන පුද්ගලයකු විසින් අටවා ගත් නිත්‍යානුකූල නොවන පක්ෂයක් හරහා නියෝජිතයකු ඉදිරිපත් නොකලේ නම් ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ පුරවැසියන්ගේ සැදුම්ලත් නිත්‍යානුකූල පක්ෂයක් විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කල නියෝජිතයා අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම ජයග්‍රහණය කරනු ඇත.

සුසන්තිකා ජයසිංහ 2000 වසරේ ඔලිම්පික් සඳහා ඉදිරිපත් වී තෙවැනි ස්ථානයට පැමිණ ලෝකඩ පදක්කම දිනාගත් අතර එහි පලමු ස්ථානය දිනාගත්තේ ඇමරිකානු ක්‍රීඩිකාවක් වු මේරියන් ජෝන්ස් ය. එහෙත් පලවෙනි ස්ථානයට පැමිණි මේරියන් ජෝන්ස් ධාවනය නීති විරෝධී යයි ඊට වසර 4 කට පසු හෙලිවීමෙන් පසු ලෝක ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව විසින් ඇයගේ එම ජයග්‍රහණය අහෝසි කොට ජීවිතාත්තය දක්වා නැවත තරග කිරිම තහනම් කලේ ය. ඒ අනුව දෙවෙනි ස්ථානයේ ක්‍රීඩිකාව පලවෙනි ස්ථානයටත් සුසන්තිකා ජයසිංහ දෙවෙනි ස්ථානයට පත්කොට ඇයට වසර 4 කට පසුව ලෝකඩ වෙනුවට රිදි පදක්කම ලෝක ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුව පිලිගැන්විය.

මේ අනුව බලන කල 2015 ජනාධිපතිවරණය සඳහා ශ්‍රිලංකා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ ( ඡන්ද ලකුණ, හංසයා) එහි සභාපති ශලිල මුණසිංහ හා ලේකම් ශ්‍යාමලී පෙරේරා විසින් ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ මැතිවරණ කොමිසම රවටා නියෝජිතයකු ඉදිරිපත් කොට ජයග්‍රහණය කිරිම මොන විදියට ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ ස්වාධීන මැතිවරණ කොමිසම විමර්ශනය කරන්නේ ද යන්න ජනතාව මෙන්ම නීති කේෂ්ත්‍රයේ පිරිස් බලා සිටි.

එමෙන්ම පසුගිය ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදි ශ්‍රිලංකා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පෙරමුණ ( ඡන්ද ලකුණ, හංසයා) ජනාධිපතිවරණය සඳහා ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට මෙරටේ පුරවැසියකු නොවන පුද්ගලයකු වශයෙන් එහි සභාපති ශලිල මුණසිංහ කටයුතු කොට ඇත. එමෙන්ම ඒ හරහා ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ පිලිගත් දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් ලෙස එම විදේශිකයාට විසින් මිලදී ගත් පක්ෂයක් කූට ලේඛන සකස් කොට ජනාධිපතිවරණය හරහා මුලු මහත් ජනතාව මුලා කොට ඇත.

එමෙන්ම මෙම විදේශිකයා එම පක්ෂයේ සභාපති ලෙස නිලධාරි මඩුල්ලක් ඇතුළු ලේකම් පත් කොට පසුගිය ජනාධිපතිවරණය සඳහා අපේක්ෂකයකු ඉදිරිපත් කොට එම පුද්ගලයා ද නිතී විරෝධී පෙළඹීමකට පත්කොට ඇත. එමගින් රටේ නිත්‍යානුකූල පුරවැසියන්ගෙන් සැදුම්ලත් පිලිගත් දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක සභාපතිවරයෙකු එම ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදි පරාජයට පත්කිරීමට කුමන්ත්‍රණය කිරිම මෙන්ම ශ්‍රිලාංකික ජනතාවගේ අයිතිවාසිකම් කඩ කොට මෙරටේ උත්තරිතර වූ ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය බලය කූට ලෙස වංචා කිරිම නිති විරෝධිය.

රාජේන්ද්‍ර අල්විස්

(කැනඩාවේ බෞද්ධ කොන්ග්‍රසයේ හිටපු සභාපති)

ප්‍ර:       පසුගියදා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කෝට්ටේ සංඝ සභාව විසින් ඔබ වහන්සේට කැනඩාවේ ප්‍රධාන සංඝ නායක පදවිය පිරිනමනු ලැබූ බව අපට අදනගන්නට ලැබුණා. පළමුවෙන් ම, මේ උතුම් පදවි ලාභය ගැන කැනඩාවේ වෙසෙන ඔබ වහන්සේගේ දායක දායිකා පිරිස් වෙනුවෙනුත්, පෞද්ගලිකවත්, අපේ බැති බර සුබ පැතුම් මෙ සේ පුද කරන්නට කැමතියි.

පි:      මේ අවස්ථාවේදී ඔබ සැමගේ සුබ පැතුම් මා ඉතා නිහතමානිව, අදරින් පිළිගන්නා අතර ඒ ගැන ඔබ සැමට මගේ ආශීර්වාද පූර්වක ස්තුතියද ඉතා කාරුණිකව පිරිනමනවා. ඒ සමඟ ම කෙටියෙන් හෝ මේ ගැන පෙරවදනක් සැපයීම ද සුදුසුයැ යි මා කල්පනාකරනවා. නිරාමිස සුවය සොයා සසුන් ගත වූ අපට මෙවැනි තනතුරු  ගැන අපේක්ෂාවක් හෝ ඇල්මක් හෝ නැහැ. පසුගිය කාලයේ ශාසනික සේවාවන් සඳහා උතුරු ඇමෙරිකාවට නිතර නිතර වැඩම කළ මාදුළුවාවේ සෝභිත නාහිමියන් හා මැටිවිලියේ පඤ්ඤාකිත්ති නාහිමියන් වහන්සේලා මේ තනතුරට මා  පත් කරන ලෙස මීට වසර කිහිපයකට ම පෙර කෝට්ටේ සංඝ සභාවට යෝජනා කර තිබුණා. ඒ අනුව මේ තනතුර මා වෙත පිරිනැමීමට සියලු කටයුතු ද සුදානම් කර තිබුණා. එහෙත්, ඒ සඳහා අපගේ එකඟතාවයක් නොවූ බැවින් කලක් තිස්සේ ඒ කටයුතු යටපත් වෙමින් තිබුණා. ගතවන කාලයත් සමඟ මතුවූ ඇතැම් ප්‍රයෝගික හේතු සහ කෝට්ටේ සංඝ සභාවේ නියෝග මත පසුව මා මේ තනතුර පිළිගන්නට යෙදුණා.

ප්‍ර :      නව යොවුන් වියේදී ඔබ වහන්සේ සසුන් ගත වූ ආකාරය ගැන විස්තර ටිකක් දැන ගන්නට කැමතියි.

පි:       මා පැවිදි බිමට පිවිසුනේ වසර 1970 ජන්වාරි 22 දායි. මේ දිනය මගේ ජිවිතයේ ඉතා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨත ම දිනය වශයෙනුයි මා සලකන්නේ. අපේ පවුලේ හිටියේ මල්ලිත් මාත් පමණයි.  මේ කාලයේ අප ඉගෙන ගනිමින් සිටියේ බ්‍රහ්මණගම ශ්‍රී මේධානන්ද මහා විද්‍යාලයේ යි. එවක මා සිටියේ අ:පො:ස උ/පෙළ හදාරමිනුයි. මා පැවිදි කරනු ලැබූ මාගේ ගුරුදේවෝත්තමයාණන් වහන්සේලා වූ අති පුජනීය පරගස්තොට පියරතන හා මාවිත්තර අරියවංස යන ලොකු හාමුදුරුවරු මගේ අධ්‍යාපන කටයුතු කෙරෙහි විශේෂ උනන්දුවක් දැක්වූවා. මාවිත්තර අරියවංස ලොකු හාමුදුරුවරුවන් වහන්සේ කොළඹ ආනන්ද විද්‍යාලයේ ආදී විද්‍යාර්ථියෙකු වූවා සේ ම සිංහල පාලි සංස්කෘත ඉංග්‍රීසි දෙමළ හා හින්දි යන භාෂාවන්හි විශාරද දැනීමක් ඇති වියතෙක් ද වුණා. මේ නායක හාමුදුරුවන් වහන්සේලාගේ තීරණය අනුව, පැවිදි දිවියට අදාල වූ මුලික අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබීම සඳහා මහරගම සිරි වජිරඥාන ධර්මායතනයට ඇතුළු වීමේ අනගි අවස්ථාව මට උදා වුණා. මෙහිදී පැවදිවීම සඳහා අත පොත් තැබීමේ ශාසනික චාරිත්‍රය ඉතා කාරුණිකව ඉටු කරන ලද්දේ හපුතලේ අරියවංස නාහිමිපාණන් විසින්. (ලංකාවේ කීර්තිමත් විද්වතෙකු වූ වී.ජ.මු ලොකු බණ්ඩාර මහතා මේ නාහිමිපාණන්ගේ සමීප ඥාතිවරයෙකි).

ප්‍ර:       මහරගම ධර්මායතනය ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ කීර්තිමත් භික්ෂු අභ්‍යාස ආයතනයක් ලෙස ඉතා ප්‍රසිද්ධයි. මේ කීර්තියට පාදක වන හේතු ඔබ වහන්සේගේ අත්දැකීම් ආශ්‍රිතව කෙටි පිළිතුරක් දිය හැකිද ?

පි:       ඔව්. මහරගම ධර්මායතනය ආධුනික භික්ෂුන්ට ශාසනික කටයුතු සාර්ථකව කරගෙන යාම සඳහා මනා අනුස්ථාපනයක් ලබා දෙන අනුපමේය ගුරු භුමියක්. මඩිහේ පඥාසීහ මහනාහිමියන්ගේ පා සෙවනේ මේ පුණ්‍යභුමියෙදී මා ලද අධ්‍යාපනය පැවිදි ජීවිතයේදී මෙතෙක් මා ලද මහඟු සම්පත බව වෙසෙසින් සඳහන් කළ යුතුයි. මේ ආයතනයේ තිබූ විශේෂ ලක්ෂණයක් වූයේ මෙහි උගත් පැවිදි සිසුනට විදේශීය ධර්මප්‍රචාරක කටයුතු කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය සුවිශේෂ කුසලතා ලබ දිමට විධි විධාන යොදා තිබීමයි. අනෙක් විශේෂ කරුණ නම්, මෙහි ගුරුවරුන් ලෙස සේවය කරන ලද්දේ අම්පිටියේ රාහුල, වලස්මුල්ලේ රතනසාර, දවුල්දෙණ ඥානිස්සර, දෙවිනුවර අරියවංස, දැමුණුමෑයේ ඥාරතන, දික්වැල්ලේ උපතිස්ස, එළුවාපොළ පඥ්ඥාරතන ආදී පණ්ඩිත හාමුදුරුවරුන් සමඟ මහාචාර්ය රත්නවිජේතුංග,  මහාචාර්ය ටී. බී කාන්ගහ ආරච්චි, සිරිමල් රණවැල්ල, ගුණපාල සේනාධීර, උපාලි ආරියදාස, විමල් සෙනෙවිරත්න වැනි ප්‍රකට ගිහි විද්වත් පිරිසක් වීමයි.

ඕනෑ ම අධ්‍යාපන ක්ෂේත්‍රයක තිබිය යුතු ප්‍රධාන අංගයන් වන දැණුම, ආකල්ප හා කුසලතා ලබාදීම අතින් මේ ආයතනය ලංකාවේ පැවති කිසි ම ශාසනික අධ්‍යාපන ආයතනයකට දෙවැනි වුයේ නැහැ.

ප්‍ර:       ඔබ වහන්සේගේ අධ්‍යයන ප්‍රාප්තීන් මෙහි දායකවරුන්ගේ කතා බහට නිතර මාතෘකා වෙනවා. ඒ ගැන යමක් කීමට කාරුණික වෙනවද ?

පි:       ඒ ගැන මොකටද දැන් ? (සිනා සෙමින්) අධ්‍යාපනය ලබන්නේ එයින් යම්කිසි සේවාවක් කිරීම‍ට මිසක් ඒ ගැන කතා කර කර සිටීමට නොවෙයි නේ. ඒත් ඔබ ඔය ප්‍රශ්නය අහන ආකාරයේ හැටියට ඒ ගැන කෙටියෙන් හෝ යමක් කීමට සිදු වෙනවා.

මහරගම ධර්මායතනයේදී අපගේ ප්‍රධාන අධ්‍යාපන දිශානියතය වූයේ රාජකීය පණ්ඩිත විභාගයෙන් සමත් වීමයි. මේ සඳහා සැලසුම් කර තිබූ පුළුල් විෂය නිර්දේශමාලාව හදාරා නිම කිරීමට සාමාන්‍යයෙන් අවුරුදු දහයක් පමණ ගතවන වෙනවා. ඒත් අවුරුදු හතර හමාරක් වැනි කෙටි කාලයක් තුළ දී මා ඒ පාඨමාලාව හදාරා නිමකොට, 1975 දී රාජකීය පණ්ඩිත විභාගයෙන් සමත් වුණා. ඊට සමගාමිව, විද්‍යෝදය පිරිවෙන විසින් පවත්වනු ලැබූ ත්‍රිපිටකාචාර්ය විභාගයෙන්ද මා සමත් වුණා. පසුව මා පේරාදෙණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය මගින් බී. ඒ. උපාධිය සදහා බාහිරව පෙනී සිට ඉන් සමත් වූ අතර ඊට පසුව පාලි හා බෞද්ධ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය පවත්වූ බී. ඒ. උපාධියෙන්ද ගෞරව සාමාර්ථයක් ලැබුවා. ඉන් පසු 1985 දී, පේරාදෙණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය මගින් පැවැත් වූ අධ්‍යාපන ඩිප්ලෝමා විභාගයෙන් ද විද්‍යාලංකාර පශ්චාත් උපාධි ආයතනයෙන් පවත්වනු ලැබූ ඩිප්ලෝමා විභාගයෙන් හා එම්. ඒ. විභාගයෙන්ද මා සමත් වුණා. සැබැවින් ම මා මෙහිදී සතුටු වන්නේ මේ විභාග සමත් වීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් නොව, මා ලද ඒ දැණුමෙන් යම්කිසි ශාසනික සේවාවක් කිරීම සඳහා මට අවස්ථාව ලැබීම ගැනයි. 

ප්‍ර:       ඔබ වහන්සේගේ අධ්‍යාපන ප්‍රාප්තින් ඉතා දීප්තිමත්. මේ අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් ශාසනික සේවාව සඳහා යෙද වුයේ කවර ආකාරයකට දැයි දැනගැනීමට අප කැමතියි.

පි:       පළමුවෙන් ම කිව යුත්තේ සාමාන්‍ය පාසල් අධ්‍යාපන ක්‍රමයත් භික්ෂු අධ්‍යාපන ක්‍රමයත් (පාරිවේණික) අතර මුලික වෙනසක් පවතින බවයි. පාසල් අධ්‍යාපනය බෙහිවින් ම දැනුම් කේන්ද්‍රීයයි. එහෙත් භික්ෂු අධ්‍යාපනයේ මුලික අරමුණ වන්නේ සීල, සමාධි, පඥ්ඥා යන ආකල්ප සම්පත්තිය සිසුනට පවරා දීමයි. අප ක්‍රියා කළේ මේ පදනමේ සිටයි.

මා වසර 1979 සිට 1986 දක්වා මහරගම ධර්මායතනයේ ආචාර්යවරයෙකු ලෙස සේවයෙහි දී සිටියා.1986 දී මඩිහේ පඥ්ඥාසීහ නාහිමිපාණන්ගේ ඇරයුමෙන් ධර්මායතනයේ විදුහල්පති තනතුරද භාරගන්නට යෙදුණා. තමා ඉගෙනගත් විද්‍යායතනයේ ම විදුහල්පති තනතුරට පත්වීම කෙනෙකුට කලාතුරකින් උදාවන භාග්‍යයක්. ඒ නිසාම මා ඒ තනතුරෙහි කටයුතු කළේ මහත් වූ සතුටකින්, ආයතනික භක්තියකින් හා ශාසනික ලැදියාවකින් බව අවධාරණයෙන් කිව යුතුයි.

මේ කටයුතු කරන අතරේ ම 1982/3 වර්ෂයන්හිදී මට පේරාදෙණියේ සුබෝධාරාමයේ හා මහනුවර වජිරාරාමයේත් ඉගැන්වීමේ කටයුතුවල නියැලෙන්නට සිදු වුණා. එමෙන් ම මේ අතරතුරේදී පේරාදෙණියේ සුබෝධාරාමයේ ඥානාලංකාර පිරිවෙණ ප්‍රතිෂ්ඨාපනය කිරීමේ කටයුතු අරඹන්නට මට සිදු වූ අතර එහි ප්‍රථම පරිවෙනාධිපතීන් වහන්සේ ලෙස කටයුතු කිරීමටත් සිදුවුණා.

මෙසේ අලුතින් ආරම්භ කළ ඥානාලංකාර පිරිවෙණ පවතවාගෙන ගියේ තරමක නව ප්‍රවේශයකින් යුතුවයි. පාරම්පාරික බෞද්ධ සම්ප්‍රදායයන් වන පිණ්ඩපාතයෙන් යැපීම, භාවනා පුහුණුව ආදිය මෙහිදී ද එලෙසින් ම පවත්වාගෙන ගිය අතර ප්‍රාචීන භාෂා ශාස්ත්‍රයන් හැදෑරීම ද නොවෙනස්ව කරගෙන ගියා. මීට අමතරව ඉංග්‍රීසි වැනි ප්‍රතිචීන භාෂා ශාස්ත්‍රයන් ඉගෙනීම සඳහා ද මෙහි ප්‍රමාණවත් ඉඩ පහසුකම් සළසා තිබුණා. එමෙන් ම තෘතිය අධ්‍යාපනය සඳහා සරසවි පිවිසීමට ද මෙහිදී බාධාවක් තිබුණේ නැහැ. විදේශීය ධර්මදූත මෙහෙවර සඳහා මනා පෙරහුරුවක් මෙහිදී ලබා දුන් අතර ඊට අදාල බුද්ධිමය පෝෂණයද නොඅඩුව ලබා දුන්නා. කෙටියෙන් කියතොත් මේ ක්‍රමය යටතේ නව ලොව දෙස බැලීමට පැවිදි සිසුනට හොඳ කවුළුවක් විවෘත වුණා. දැනට මෙහි පැවිදි ශිෂ්‍යයන් 200 ක් පමණ ඉගෙනුම ලබනවා.

ප්‍ර:       ඔබ වහන්සේ උතුරු ඇමෙරිකාවට සැපත් වීමෙන් පසු ශාසනික වශයෙන් මේ කළාපයේ නව යුගයක උදාවක් ඇති වූ බව අප දන්නවා. මේ දිගු කතා පුවතේ ප්‍රධාන මං සලකුණු මොනවද ?

පි:       වසර 1990  දී මා ඇමෙරිකාවට මුලින්ම ගියේ ලොස්ඇන්ජලීස් නුවර බෞද්ධ විහාරයේ වැඩ සිටි අම්බලන්තොට කෝලිත හිමිපාණන්ගේ ආරාධනාවෙන්. පසුව මඩිහේ පඥ්ඥාසීහ මහනාහිමිපාණන් එහි වැඩ සිටින පණ්ඩිත අහංගම ධම්මාරාම නාහිමිපාණන් වෙත ලිඛිතව ඉල්ලීමක් කර තිබුණා, මගේ අභිවෘද්ධිය සැළසීමට අදාල සෑම උපකාරයක් ම උපරිම අන්දමින් ඉටුකිරීමට කාරුණික වන ලෙස. ඒ සියල්ල මා සිතුවාටත් වඩා හොදින් ඉටු වුණා. මෙහිදී ලොස්ඇන්ජලීස් බෞද්ධ විහාරයේ වැඩ සිටි අහංගම ධම්මාරාම නාහිමිපාණන්ගෙන් මා ලදා අනුග්‍රහයත් ඉතා ගෞරවයෙන් හා උපකාරානුස්මෘතියෙන් මෙහිදී සඳහන් කළ යුතුයි. ඇමෙරිකාවේ වාසය කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය චිරනිවාසී වරපත (Green Card) මා ලදුයේ ද උන්වහන්සේගේ අනුග්‍රහයෙන්.

මෙසේ  ලොස්ඇන්ජලීස් බෞද්ධ විහාරයේ ටික කලක් සිටින විට කැනඩාවේ, ටොරොන්ටෝ නගරයේ වැඩ විසූ මගේ සම්භක්ත (හදවතින් වැළඳගත්) මිත්‍රවර කුලුගම්මන ධම්මාවාස හිමිපාණන් මා අමතා විශේෂ ඉල්ලීමක් කළා. උන්වහන්සේ ඉල්ලා සිටියේ, තමන් වහන්සේ සමඟ එක්ව මිසිසාගා නුවර පන්සලක් ආරම්භ කිරීමට සක්‍රීයව දායක වීමට එහි පැමිණෙන ලෙස යි. සියලු සත්පුරුෂ ධර්මයන්ගෙන් සමූපේත මගේ ජීවීතයට ඉතා සමීප පූජණීය මිත්‍රවරයාණ කෙනෙකු වූ ධම්මාවාස නාහිමි පාණන්ගේ ඉල්ලීම මා එලෙසින් ම ඉටු කළා. මා මේ කීවේ දිග කතාවක් ඉතා කෙටියෙන්. හෝල්ටන් පීල් බෞද්ධ සංගමය නමින් එදා අප ඇරඹු මේ විහාරස්ථානය අද දායකවරුන් විශාල සංඛ්‍යාවකින් සමන්විත ඉතා දර්ශණීය බෞද්ධ මධ්‍යස්ථානයක්.

මේ අයුරින් ම අපගේ පරිශ්‍රමයෙන් 1997 ඇමෙරිකාවේ ඩිට්‍රොයිට් නගරයේ පන්සලත්, 2000 දී වින්ඩ්සර් නගරයේ පන්සලත්, 2001 දී මිනසෝටා ජනපදයේ පන්සලත් ආරම්භ කළා. මේ අතර,  ලෝස්ඇන්ජලීස් නුවර තිබූ බෞද්ධ විහාරය තව දුරටත් පුළුල් පරිශ්‍රයක පැසඩිනා නගරයේ ඉතා සාර්ථක අන්දමින් නැවත ස්ථාපනය කිරීමට කටයුතු කළා. ඒ 1999 දී.

මේ විහාරස්ථානයන් පිහිටුවීමේ හා පවත්වාගෙන යාමේ සෑම කටයුත්තක් ම ඉතා සාර්ථකත්වයට පත් වූයේ අපගේ ශිෂ්‍ය භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේලාගේ අප්‍රතිහත ධෛර්යයත්, දක්ෂතාවයත්, කැපවීමත් නිසා බව ස්තුති පෙරදැරිව වෙසෙසින් සඳහන් කළ යුතුය.  මෙහිදී ම විසින් මග පෙන්වා දෙන ලදුව ශාසනික සේවය ඉතාම ඉහළ මට්ටමෙන් කරන අධ්‍යාපන ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ද උසස් ම උපාධි ලද ඇමෙරිකාවේ හා කැනඩාවේ දෙරටේ ම ජීවත් වන අපේ ශිෂ්‍ය භික්ෂු පිරිස පිළිබඳ  මා තුළ ඇති ගෞරවය ද පළ කළ යුතු වෙනවා.

ප්‍ර:       වසර 2008 දී ඔබ වහන්සේ ඔටාවා නුවර හිල්ඩා ජවයවර්ධනාරාමයට පැමිණීම විශේෂ සිද්ධියක් වන්නට ඇති නේද?

පි:       සැබවින්ම හිල්ඩා ජවයවර්ධනාරාමයට පැමිණීම විශේෂ සිද්ධියක් තමයි. වසර 2008 දී හිල්ඩා ජවයවර්ධනාරාමය දායක සභාවේ ප්‍රධාන නිළතල දැරූ දායක පිරිසක්, ඔබත් ඇතුලුව, අපේ මිසිසාගා පන්සලට පැමිණ මා හට ආරාධනයක් කළා, හිල්ඩා ජවයවර්ධනාරාමයට වැඩම කර එහි විහාරාධිකම භාරගන්නා ලෙසට. දිගින් දිගටම කල්පනා කිරීමෙන් පසු අප ඒ ඉල්ලීමට එකඟ වුණා. 2008 සිට 2012 දක්වා කාලය තුළ මේ පන්සලේ නේවසිකව සිටි අනෙකුත් විහාරස්ථ ස්වාමින් වහන්සේලාත් සමඟ, මේ පන්සලේ කටයුතු ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීමට මා ලොකු වෙහෙසක් දැරුවා. අද මේ විහාරස්ථානයෙන් ලාංකික සම්භවයක් ඇති දරුවන්ටත්, වැඩි හිටියන්ටත්, මුල් කැනඩා ජාතිකයන්ටත් දහම් පන්ති, භාවනා වැඩ සටහන්, මාසික සිල් වැඩසටහන්, ධර්ම සාකච්ඡා සැසි ආදී පැවැත්වීම මගින් ලොකු මෙහෙවරක් කරනවා. ඒ වගේ ම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් විටින් විට මෙහි වැඩම කරන ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේලාටත් විදේශීය අලුත් පරිසරයකදී නව අත්දැකීම් සම්භාරයක් ලබා දීමට අප අවස්ථාව සළසා දී තිබෙනවා.

ප්‍ර:       හිල්ඩා ජයවර්ධනාරාමයේ විහාරාධිපතිත්වය දරණ අතරේ ම අර්ධ කාලීන වශයෙන් හෝ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ශාසනිකව කටයුතු සඳහාත් සක්‍රීයව දායක වීමට ඔබ වහන්සේ තීරණය කළේ ඇයි?

පි:       මා පැවිදි වූ අපේ සඟ පරපුරේ මුල් පන්සල වන සිද්ධමුල්ල පුරාණ විහාරයේ යි. මේ පන්සල ද ඇතුලුව දීපංගොඩ ශ්‍රී වර්ධනාරාමය, කුඩමාදුව සංඝිකාරාමය යන පන්සල් දෙකත් අපේ සඟ පරපුරටම අයිති පන්සල්. මේ පන්සල් තුනේ ම ආධිපත්‍යය දැරුවේ මගේ ශාසනික සහෝදර ස්වාමින් වහන්සේලා විසිනු යි. උන්වහන්සේලා සියලු දෙනා ඉතා නුදුරු කාලයන්හි අපවත් වීමෙන් පසු මේ පන්සල් තුනම පවත්වාගෙන යාමේ විශාල අසීරු තත්වයක් මතු වුණා. එයට විශේෂිත ම හේතුව වූයේ මේ පන්සල් තුනේ ම සිටියේ  අධ්‍යයන කටයුතු නිමා  නො කළ පොඩි හාමුදුරුවරුන් වීමයි. එනිසා මේ පොඩි හාමුදුරුවන් රැක බලා ගැනීම සඳහාත්, සාමණේර හාමුදුරුවන් අධ්‍යාපන කටයුතුවල නිරත කරවීම සඳහාත්, අපේ දායක කාරකාදීන්ගේ ආගමික අවශ්‍යතා පිරිමැසීම සඳහාත් අර්ධාකලිනව හෝ ලංකාවට වැඩම කොට ඒ කටයුතු ඉටුකිරීම මට අතපසු කළ නොහැකි යුතුකමක් වුණා. සැබවින් ම මට ලංකාවට යෑමට සිදු වූයේ, මේ තත්වය නිසා අපේ සංඝ සභාව විසින් කරන ලද  නියෝගයක් අනුවයි. ඒ හැරත්, මා අධ්‍යාත්මික වශයෙනුත් මේ යුතුකම ඉටු කිරීමට බැඳී සිටිනවා.

ප්‍ර:       මේ මොහොත ඔබ වහන්සේ  කැනඩාවේ ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක පදවියෙන් පිදුම් ලද අවස්ථාවක්. එමෙන් ම සැට පස්වැනි ජන්ම දිනයට සපැමිණි අවස්ථාවක්. අද අඩ සියවසකට ආසන්න, බැබලෙන පැවිදි ජීවිතයකට ප්‍රෞඩ ලෙස හිමිකම් කිව හැකි ඔබ වහන්සේ අද අපට දෙන පණිවුඩය කුමක්ද ?

පි:       ඒකට කියන්න තියෙන්නේ බුදු රජාණන් වහන්සේ වදාළ දේම යි. “අප්පමාදෙන සම්පාදේථ” කියලා කියපු දේ. මේ රටවලට ආපු අයට, බෞද්ධයන්ට විශේෂයෙන් ම හොඳ අවස්ථාවක් ලැබිල තියෙනවා මෙලොව පරලොව දෙකම දිනා ගන්නට කටයුතු කරන්නට. මෙලොව වශයෙන් ආර්ථික, අධ්‍යාපන, සාමාජික ක්ෂේත්‍රයන්හි ජයග්‍රහණ ලබා ගන්න ඕනෑ. යුතුකම්, වගකීම්, හා ශිලාචාරකම් හඳුනා ගෙන කටයුතු කරන්න ඕනෑ. අර ධම්මපදයේ ගාථාවක් තියෙනව නේ “අසාරේ සාරමතිනෝ” ආදී වශයෙන්. ඒ අනුව නිසරු දේ නිසරු වශයෙන් ම මිසක් සරු වශයෙන් දැකිය යුතුම නැහැ. තවත් එකක් තිබෙනවා අපේ බෞද්ධ පිරිස මේ පන්සල් විහාර ගොඩනගා ගෙන  නඩත්තු කරන්නේ තමන්ගේ ප්‍රයෝජනය සඳහා ම නොවෙයි. බුදු හාමුදුරුවන් වහන්සේගේ දහම් පණිවුඩය අනෙක් ලෝකයාටත් හැකි හැකි විධියට ලබා දීමටයි. ඒ සඳහාත් භෞතික සම්පත්වලින් වගේ ම ආදර්ශයෙන්, ආකල්පයෙන් හා කුසලතාවෙන් ද දායක වන ලෙස කරුණාවෙන් මතක් කළ යුතු වෙනවා.

By A. Abdul Aziz

 Caliph and Archbishop speak of need for worldwide religious freedom

According to our Press Department U.K., On 10 October 2017, the Most Reverend, the Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace, Justin Welby visited London’s oldest Mosque, the Fazl Mosque where he met with the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph), His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.

Earlier, the Archbishop also visited the largest Mosque in Western Europe, the BaitulFutuh Mosque in Morden.

During the meeting, the Caliph and the Archbishop discussed the continued persecution of religious minorities in various parts of the world.

His Holiness informed the Archbishop that he himself had been falsely imprisoned in Pakistan in 1999 prior to his election as Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
During the meeting, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad spoke of the need for ‘tolerance’ in society and for ‘mutual respect’ to be displayed by all people and communities. He said that it was imperative that people had the right to practice their religion freely and without any form of coercion.
The meeting concluded as His Holiness presented the Archbishop with a copy of the Holy Quran, including both the original Arabic text and the English translation.

Following the meeting, the Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace, Justin Welby said during an interview with MTA News:
It was a great honour to meet His Holiness (Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad). It was a wonderful meeting, hospitable and warm… We spoke principally about the issues of persecution, which is something the Ahmadiyya Community is well aware of and suffers hugely and we also spoke about the nature of religious extremism around the world in the different faiths and the importance of faith communities in the United Kingdom standing together, both for the common good of the country and for each other’s support.”

During his visit, the Archbishop was given a tour of both the BaitulFutuh Mosque in Morden and the Fazl Mosque in Southfields.

By Lucien Rajakarunanayake Courtesy The Island

October 13, 2017, 10:09 pm

From its outset, the Treasury Bond Scam was seen as a massive fraud carried on public funds or people’s assets managed by the Central Bank. As the probe on the Bond Scams that took place shortly after the election of the present government in 2015, what the public saw was the crooked manipulation of the Central Bank, the repository of the liquid national assets, made possible by the appointment of a Governor whose interests were more that of Green Politics, than of the people and the country.

As the probe moves on to its final stages, the country is now seeing a different area of fraud that directly affects the several million employees in the private sector in the country, as well as a large number employed in the State institutions, that are not government departments. Apart from the larger national assets, we now see the hugely crooked and fraudulent manipulation of the savings of this wide mass of employees in the country, who have no right to state pensions.

It is the Employees’ Provident Fund – EPF – that manages the life’s savings of almost all non-state employees in the country that has been rigged by a combination of Treasury Bond dealers with the foul assistance of those in the EPF itself.

The EPF, established in 1958, and is described as the largest Social Security Scheme in the country, has said its aim as to “assure financial stability to the employee in the winter of life and to reward the employee for his or her role in the economic growth of the country.”

It states further that: “your investment in time and money is safe, sound and growing annually in the hands of the EPF, giving you peace of mind that you will be stable and able to provide for your family and loved ones in the latter part of life.

“Thus, you can rest assured that your future is a little bit more stable and secure with the Employees Provident Fund.”

The above is, in fact, a great promise, and one which the contributors to this fund, the non-state sector employees in their millions believed and trusted through all these years. It was known that the EPF balance of every member “keeps growing as you mature at your working environment as the cumulative balance in your EPF account, which is maintained by the Central Bank and is invested in Treasury Bills, Treasury Bonds, Equity, Corporate Debentures and Rupee Securities, etc. Depending on the rate of return, an annual interest rate is declared and credited to your account”.

There were questions raised at times, whether the EPF should invest in certain institutions or funds, but there was the belief that whatever was done, was in the best interests of the Fund, and therefore, of the members. The retirement benefits received, or the housing or marriage facilities obtained were looked upon with joyful expectation. In the past several years, the EPF was also seen as one of the most efficient and speedy institutions of the state, especially in dealing with its members and their needs.

But what do we have now? The Treasury Bond Scam has exposed the EPF as a major corrupt arm of that Primary Dealer – Perpetual Treasuries Limited – whose machinations of corruption are spread in all directions, with the Ministry and former Minister of Finance, State and Private Banks and distillers of alcohol, too.

What has the EPF been doing, and how has it lost much of the trust the public had in it, through its transactions in questionable Treasury Bond auctions? It does not bid at Primary Auctions for Treasury Bonds on one day, while having the funds to make a bid. A few days later, on the settlement day of the same auction, the EPF buys some of those bonds issued at the Primary Auction from the Secondary Market. This is buying it at a loss, which would not have taken place if it made the bid in the Primary auction. And, this did not happen just once. So who is to blame?

Has the Central Bank taken any action against its dealers who acted in this manner, and if not when will it do so?

What more do we hear now? That the same crooked Primary Dealer, the Perpetually Crooked, had one or more EPF Dealers on its payroll, especially code named “Charlie” who has/have been paid not less than Rs 97 million up to March 2015 – the time of those big rackets in primary auctions. Does it need much thinking to know how much of profit that Perpetually Crooked one would have made to pay Rs. 97 million to an informant from the EPF? How much would all this have really cost the EPF?

What does all this mean to those final profits that go to help the private sector employees, who have no pension, in the winter of their life?

Isn’t it time the trade unions in the private sector, especially key unions such as the Ceylon Mercantile Union and others, representing plantation workers to company employees, raised this issue and called for a much bigger and longer probe into the EPF, to ensure more stability and security for those awaiting retirement benefits from the EPF?

If the EPF is allowed to go on in this manner, it will lead to its members having a winter of discontent when they retire, which is not what the EPF was ever meant to be.

The EPF must not be allowed to continue anymore as the Employees’ Pickpocket Fund and not Provident Fund. The working people of the country need the surest assurance that the EPF is freed of all this corruption – from the government, politics and crooked business, and kept as the trusted and largest Social Security Service in the country. The EPF should also not be considered a Penthouse Fund, as some in government would want it to be.

Editorial Courtesy The Island

October 13, 2017, 10:08 pm
We thought Parliament was the only place where rejects were accommodated. We thought wrong. True, quite a few candidates, mostly from the UPFA, rejected by people at the last general election (2015), were brought in as National List MPs. It was a slap on the Sri Lankan voter across the face. Adding insult to injury, the yahapalana government elevated those rejects to Cabinet ranks. But, now, we are told that rejects from Parliament have been donated to the Dalada Maligawa! No, we don’t mean the political rejects in the garb of ministers.

It has been reported that a camera system, removed from Parliament for the installation of a new one, has been donated to the Dalada Maligawa. Meritorious as this act may seem on the face of it, the question is why the equipment found unfit to be used any longer in Parliament was considered fit enough to be gifted to the holiest Buddhist shrine in the country. The government may claim that the equipment is still in good condition. If so, why on earth has it been replaced?

Let it be repeated that anything considered unfit to be used in Parliament shouldn’t be donated to holy shrines, Buddhist or otherwise. Why couldn’t the government gift new equipment to the Maligawa? It cannot cite pecuniary difficulties as the reason. It is notorious for its profligacy. It has so far spent about two billion rupees on super luxury vehicles for ministers since 2015 and pays millions of rupees a month for a building as rent without using it.

Supplementary estimates, seeking funds to feather the nests of the ruling party potentates, are submitted to Parliament even in times of disasters. The Salawa township was still burning in the aftermath of the blast of the army’s central armoury when a supplementary estimate for ministerial vehicles was submitted. Another one was presented immediately after the Meethotamulla garbage dump tragedy. This is something to be expected when those who should be relegated to waste dumps are elected as lawmakers. Colossal sums of money, allocated for refurbishing the official residences of government leaders, from time to time, make one wonder whether they are living in palaces.

There have been nearly 50% and 41% increases in funds allocated for the President and the Prime Minister respectively from Budget 2018, according to the Appropriation Bill presented to Parliament recently. True, the previous regime indulged in criminal waste of public funds, but the present-day leaders, came to power, promising to cut down on their expenses and utilise the funds so saved for the benefit of the public.

Government leaders often visit foreign shrines, of course, at the expense of the Sri Lankan taxpayers. It looks as though the local deities were not good enough for them. One of the aging ministers recently went to the extent of tonsuring himself to redeem a vow at a foreign temple and made a spectacle of himself in Parliament, wearing a jet-black wig. Do these politicians offer used items to their favourite foreign shrines as well?

If ministers are made to continue to use their super luxury cars which are in excellent condition, for a few more years, instead of asking for new ones, the government will be able to save enough funds to donate cameras to main shrines belonging to all religions. There is no way it can justify purchasing new vehicles for ministers including the political rejects among them and donating second-hand cameras to the most venerated Buddhist shrine.

The government ought to learn from the poor people including the Veddhas how to make offerings to Sri Dalada Maligawa in the proper manner. They don’t consume the rice and honey they harvest without first offering part thereof to the sacred temple. They come all the way from their villages, covering long distances, to Kandy, for that purpose. Why can’t the self-righteous politicians emulate them?

Courtesy Focus Taiwan News Channel

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Sri Lankan police have apprehended two of the five suspects allegedly involved in the hacking of US$60 million from Taiwan’s Far Eastern International Bank earlier this month, according to an update from the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) on Friday.

CIB section chief Chiu Shao-chou (邱紹洲) told reporters that two individuals of dual British and Sri Lankan citizenship have been apprehended by Sri Lankan police.

One of the suspects, identified as Janaka Chaminda Nammuni, was arrested on Oct. 6 while trying to withdraw the equivalent of NT$15.7 million (about US$520.000) from a bank in Sri Lanka.

The other, identified as Shalila Moonesinghe, chairman of national liquefied petroleum gas supplier Litro Gas, was arrested on Oct. 9 after allegedly transferring US$1.1 million from Far Eastern International Bank to his personal account, according to Sri Lankan media reports.

Police in Sri Lanka are on the hunt for three remaining suspects — one Sri Lankan and two Indians — but have not ruled out the possibility that there were others involved in the heist.

As for the money that was illegally wired out, Chiu said 99.74 percent of it has either been recovered or at least frozen.

(By Chu Tse-wei and Kuan-lin Liu)

S. Akurugoda

As stated in recent editorial of a printed media titled  ‘Crooked and fleas’, our country today, has earned notoriety as a rogues’ paradise.

The basic question we have is ‘who is responsible for creating this situation?’.

The eradication of terrorism militarily under the Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR) leadership was of ‘grave concern’ to some countries (including those who trained and armed the racial groups at the very beginning), who are interested in maintaining their ‘superiority’ over the others. On the other hand, the eradication of terrorism also caused tremendous hardship to the political wings of the militarily eliminated LTTE, TNA and GTF, politicians who signed pacts with the terrorist leader and promoted so-called political solutions for three decades  and the lobbyist NGOs who were the paid agents of those spy agencies. They were exploring  every possible  political avenues, by hook or crook, to  topple MR and to install a puppet regime to achieve their goals.

We were under foreign powers for centuries due to the acts of saboteurs and traitors. We have witnessed, during our life time, how powerful are enemies within, when toppling regimes. Throughout our history,  invaders manipulate public opinion using  ‘Creeping through Ears’ (Kanen Ringeema) and ‘Giving Dead Ropes ‘ (Dirachcha Lanu Deema ) as weapons  to capture power, more than artilleries. The invaders used  the above weapons with the enormous support from power-hungry segment of the society.

What we achieved in January 2015 was the mere consequence  of manipulation of public opinion (similar to what the invaders did in the past) by these foreign and  local elements to create distrust, ill-will among allies and  loss of confidence with the leadership of  President MR.  Unfortunately, no one is perfect and we are witnessing some of negative effects of his apparent weaknesses.  Although President Mahinda Rajapaksa has done a wonderful thing by keeping parliamentarians with different interest  in his government, probably with the intention of achieving political stability as a short term measure,   he too appeared fail to identify enemies within.   There are ardent supporters of 13th Amendment and Federalism even , even today, among his JO members.

The coming few months will be very crucial as the enemies of our nation and their paid agents will work overtime and will spend billions of rupees to turn the country onto turmoil , to trap all those who were opposing them and to achieve their goals at any cost. Unless we are fully aware of what is going on and act wisely to defeat the sinister motives of those enemies, what we achieved  by defeating  racial separatism militarily , will be at stake.

Dr Sudath Gunasekara

12.10.2017.

I remember reading Cabinet Government’ by Sir Ivor Jennings’ the classic account on Cabinet government in England as a student in college and also as an undergraduate at the University. We were made to believe that it was a sacrosanct mechanism in modern democratic systems of Government.

A cabinet by way of definition in political science is a committee of senior ministers responsible for controlling Government policy.  It is influenced by the French word cabin-et. In sum overall it has the meaning small in it. So irrespective of whether it is a room, shelter, space or a house of wood the dominant meaning, it inherits the fundamental characteristic of it being small. In UK, (Land area 6 times Sri Lanka) the mother of Modern Cabinet system of Government, it is a small group of 22 Ministers, including the   Prime Minister who heads it who is described as ‘Primus inter pares (first among equals) he presides over the meetings. In some countries like USA they are called Secretaries and the meetings are presided over by the President and there is no Prime Minister. In USA which is almost 150 times bigger than Sri Lanka the Cabinet including the President is 25. Thus in all countries it has two common features for example it is small and it consists of the best brains in state craft in the country. In some countries like UK its Members are senior politicians but in some others it is formed with top executives who are experts in their own fields, for example USA. In Sri Lanka too we started with this system in 1948 following the British model and continued to have the same system until 1972 when the country was declares a Republic under a new Constitution. Before, we had a Monarchy nearly for 2500 years. During the last days of the Kingdom, the Kandyan period, the Monarch was supported and advised by a Council of Ministers ( Disavas and Rate Mahattayas) headed by a Chief Adigar called the Maha Adilkarama, the parallel of modern Prime Minister. The Raja Sabhava the parallel of modern Cabinet was presided over by the King.

Now look at Sri Lanka (only 25,000 Sq mile in area) today has more than 112 Ministers when the affairs of the country could be managed with 12 to 15 Ministries and Ministers. But ironically they call it Yahapalanaya (Good Governance).  I do not know how many of them are Cabinet and non- Cabinet. We hold the world Guianese record of having the biggest Cabinet in the world for any country. The other interesting thing is here in Sri Lanka we have some peculiar Ministers. Some are called Cabinet. Some are called State Ministers as if others are non-State. Some are called Special project Ministers and another set is called Deputy Ministers. But in actual practice the Cabinet Ministers run the show all other Ministers are only ceremonial figures to whom positions are doled out to enable them to get the benefits and numerous privileges of the posts like salaries, official vehicles and drivers, official quarters, Ministerial staff, Luxury Offices enhanced allowances and pensions, duty free vehicle permits worth 20, 30, or even more millions that could be sold every five years, foreign jaunts and many other unlimited privileges like giving bars and permits and getting government contracts for themselves in other people’s names or friends who look after the Minsters interests in return and doling out jobs in Government institutions and corporations among favorites. All these privileges and benefits are enjoyed for no work done to the people other than voting in Parliament to keep the Government going and collect the votes at elections in their Districts for the Party.

If you go through the list of Ministries attached, you will see how funny and ridicules the naming the ministries are. It is like a Pissage palamalla to use a local adage. They have no scientific, functional or rational relationship. They are just named and given to Ministers with a list of institutions attached to boss over these institutions.   See the list attached for details. One gets utterly confused as to what they really mean. For example to name a few M/Higher Education and Road Development, Good Governance and infrastructure, Defense and Urban Development. I cited only few examples. Please have a look for yourself at the list given.

Apart from that, if you trace the names of Ministers, in my opinion, there is not a Single man or women worthy of being appointed as a Minister in this list. When we think of Ministers, People like DS, SWRD, Sirima B, NM. Colvin, Khenaman, CWWKannagara, Felix B, TB Ilangaratna, TB Subasinha, Maitripala Senanayaka. JR, Luxman Kadiragama, Lalith Atulatmudali, Gamini Dissanayaka, Gamani Jayasooriya, Roney De Mel, Nissanka Wijeratna, Mahinda Rajapaksa, A Ratnayaka, MD Banda and Wanninayaka come to my mind. Can you think of at least one man or woman like that in this Cabinet?.

Once again going back to the concept of Cabinet Government as we knew it, I feel the whole definition of the word Cabinet has to be redefined in the Sri Lankan context as it is utterly irrelevant and absured to use the conventions terminology to describe our Cabinet. The concept of smallness and quality in our context does not apply to it by any means. The dictionary meaning in that respect remains unchanged. But I am inclined to replace the letter n with M so that it will read as Cabimutt. I do not know how far it is etymologically sound. Nevertheless I deem it to be the most appropriate word that could be coined to describe our Cabinet and I take the liberty call it CabiMutt and assign the meaning  a small group of mutts though inappropriate to it in terms of both the size and the quality as Jennings has defined it. There may be few of them who are definitely not mutts as they are not both stupid and ignorant.

However even those few who are not ignorant are certainly stupid if not cunning for all of them are blundering people. Prevailing circumstances have compelled all of them to be dull and stupid persons or at least they behave so, may be to safeguard their personal interests. To this extent none of them could be called Public Servants (meaning the people who serve the people), because none of them serve the people. They only enjoy the privileges conferred or rather showered upon them by Parliament by virtue of the fact they are supposed to be elected by the people. But they are hardly concerned about the people of the country.  The prevailing electoral system has distanced them from the people to the extent today they represent nobody. Besides helping themselves they only help their party leaders both in Parliament and outside in order to safeguard their positions and perks. In this backdrop I think it is more than appropriate to call it a Cabimutt rather than a Cabinet, meaning a small group of Mutts.

I don’t think I need to mention about other salient characteristics of Cabinets such as collective responsibility, maintenance of the highest standards of objectivity, quality of debate and discussions, secrecy, strict adherence to Legal and Administrative norms, requirements and traditions and the décor and decorum of proceedings. The daily news bulletins on TVs and other media will tell you enough.

List of ministries in Sri Lanka 2016

The President

Prime Minister

1 Minister of Defense and Urban Development

2 Minister of Finance and Planning

3 Minister of Ports and Shipping

4 Minister of Law & Order

5 Minister of Buddhasasana and Religious Affairs

6 Minister for Good Governance and Infrastructure

7 Minister for Human Resources

8 Minister for Rural Affairs

9 Minister for Urban Affairs

10 Minister for Social Services

11 Minister for Consumer Welfare

12 Minister for National Resources

13 Minister for Scientific Affairs

`14 Minister for International Monetary Co-operation

15 Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine

16 Minister of Mahaweli Development and Environment

17 Minister of Water Supply and Drainage

18 Minister of Local Government and Provincial Councils

19 Minister of Housing and Construction

20 Minister of Justice

21 Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs

22 Minister of National Co-existence Dialogue and Official Languages

23 Minister of Higher Education and Highways

24 Minister of Foreign Affairs

25 Minister of Home Affairs

26 Minister of Posts, Postal Services and Muslim Religious Affairs

27 Minister of Power and Energy

28 Minister of Petroleum Industries

29 Minister of Women and Child Affairs

30 Minister of Labour Relations and Productivity Improvement

31 Minister of Education

32 Minister of Plantation Industries

33 Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development

34 Minister of Land and Land Development

35 Minister of Private Transport Services

36 Minister of Agriculture

37 Minister of Mass Media and Information

38 Minister of Transport

39 Minister of Youth Affairs & Skills Development

40 Minister of Co-operatives and Internal Trade

41 Minister of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms

42 Minister of Indigenous Medicine

43 Minister of Minor Export Crop Promotion

44 Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion & Welfare

45 Minister of Civil Aviation

46 Minister of Coconut Development and Janatha Estate Development

47 Minister of Culture & the Arts

48 Minister of Disaster Management

49 Minister of Resettlement

50 Minister of Public Relations & Public Affairs

51 Minister of Sports

52 Minister of State Resources and Enterprise Development

53 Minister of Telecommunication & Information Technology

54 Minister of National Heritage

55 Minister of Sugar Industry Development

56 Minister of Public Management Reforms

57 Minister of Investment Promotion

58 Minister of Botanical Gardens and Public Recreation

59 Minister of Education Services

60 Minister of Wildlife Resources Conservation

This is the list I copied from Wikipedia on 12.10.2017. We have only a list of 60 here .But actually there are about 112 or  Ministers today. Therefore obviously this list is not comprehensive. Ministries like Janatha Savibala Genviime, Special Services, Parliamentary Affairs, Regional Development, Southern area Development, Mega police, Irrigation, Christian Affairs, Upcountry Village & Infrastructure development are not included here. They are missing or not shown to conceal the long list of Ministries and mislead people.

The Editorial Courtesy The Island

October 12, 2017, 9:49 pm

Today is Friday the 13th. Not all of us are troubled by triskaidekaphobia, but its association with Satan reminds us of the proverbial man who sold his soul to the devil. The day is of significance to Sri Lankans owing to the conclusion of the proceedings of the presidential commission of inquiry probing bond scams. The evil forces behind the biggest ever financial fraud in the country will heave a sigh of relief today.

Ministers Malik Samarawickrema and Kabir Hashim testified before the presidential commission on Wednesday. Interestingly, while Hashim, the General Secretary of the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s party (UNP), was giving evidence in connection with the Central Bank bond scam, Shalila Moonesinghe, the leader of the party (New Democratic Front), on whose ticket Maithripala Sirisena was elected President in 2015, was remanded over an international financial scam!

Nobody apparently took any interest in the two ministers’ evidence for obvious reasons. Disillusioned, people no longer expect the big names involved in the bond scams to be brought to justice. They are now convinced that yahapalanaya and Rajapaksa palanaya are only Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

The yahapalana ministers were asked whether Perpetual Treasuries owner Arjun Aloysius or anyone connected to him or his company had contributed funds to the UNP. In a country where there are neither laws governing campaign funds and expenditure nor mechanisms to trace them only a nitwit will answer that question in the affirmative. (One is reminded of the idiotic question in visa applications; the applicants are asked whether they intend to commit act of terrorism in the host country!) It was only natural that the question was answered in the negative before the bond commission. The two ministers were seen leaving the commission, beaming from ear to ear. Their former Cabinet colleague, Ravi Karunanayake, must be wondering why he was not so lucky.

The aforesaid question, put to Samarawickrema and Hashim, should have been posed to Aloysius, who earned and handled huge profits from the controversial bond auctions. But, he has been allowed to remain silent and there is no way any information can be elicited from him.

Money bags usually lavish funds on both main parties as well as prominent candidates of all political stripes in the run-up to an election so that they stand to gain whoever wins. Slush funds consist of black money which finds its way into the hands of politicians in the fray. This is the name of the game in politics. That may explain why some cantankerous Opposition firebrands, who take to the streets at the drop of a hat, have chosen to go slow on the bond scams. If their hands had been clean as they claim they would have launched a frontal attack on the government.

The only way anyone can find out whether the UNP (or the SLFP) has benefited from the largesse of Perpetual Treasuries or any other company for that matter is to conduct a probe and trace its sources of funding. This is a gargantuan task because neither parties nor politicians are required to maintain records of their campaign related funds. The UNP-SLFP coalition claims to be on a mission to usher in good governance, which consists in transparency and accountability among other things. They should put their own houses (read Sirikotha and the Darley Road office) in order before they have others’ assets probed.

Sirikotha was in straitened circumstances towards the end of the Rajapaksa rule. It was struggling to raise funds even for settling utility bills. But, following the change of government in January 2015 it bounced back overnight so much so that it outspent the SLFP at the general election which followed a few months later. Similarly, the SLFP headquarters which had been in utter penury for 17 long years got a massive cash injection after its victory at the 1994 general election. Political parties are the fountains of corruption.

The Attorney General’s Department officials assisting the bond commission chose to remain silent when they were asked whether they had any questions for the ministerial duo. All intelligent Sri Lankans will read their reaction as a silent protest or even an expression of no faith. Their disappointment is palpable and frustration understandable. They have done their best for the sake of the public. They can rest assured that the right thinking people won’t think less of them because of the unfortunate turn of events we have witnessed during the past several weeks. People know the intrepid officials have not succeeded in achieving their goal because some boot-licking bureaucratic lackeys above them have put paid to their valiant efforts.

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

The Joint Opposition (JO) yesterday sought an explanation from the National Election Commission (NEC) regarding the registration of the New Democratic Front (NDF) as a political party in spite of its leader Shalila Moonasinge being a British national.

National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa, MP posed the question to the NEC at a media briefing called by the JO at Dr N.M. Perera Centre.

Weerawansa said the NEC certainly owed an explanation to the public in the wake of Moonasinghe being arrested over his alleged involvement in stealing money from Taiwan’s Far Eastern International Bank.

JO parliamentary group leader and MP Dinesh Gunawardena, UPFA MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Prof. G.L. Peiris and Prof. Tissa Vitharana backed Weerawansa’s call for full disclosure of the circumstances under which the NDF had received political recognition in 2009.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has informed the Fort Magistrate Court that Moonasinghe was a British national, while the other person remanded in connection with the Taiwan bank robbery held dual UK and Sri Lankan citizenship.

MP Weerawansa pointed out that presidential election candidates, the then Gen Sarath Fonseka and Maithripala Sirisena had contested elections in Jan 2010 and Jan 2015, respectively, on the NDF ticket under the swan symbol.

The NDF is a breakaway faction of the Democratic United National Front (DUNF) formed by a faction of the UNP opposed to the then President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s authoritarian rule.

Weerawansa called for exhaustive review of the procedures currently in place for registering political parties in the wake of the revelation of the shocking lapse on the part of the previous Election Department.

The NEC was established in Nov 2015 in accordance with the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The NEC comprises Mahinda Deshapriya (Chairman), N.J. Abeysekera, PC and Prof. S. Ratnajeevan Hoole.

The NFF Leader said a JVP led group that included Gen. Fonseka contested parliamentary polls in 2010 on the NDF ticket. Among those who had been elected on the NDF ticket on that occasion were Gen. Fonseka, Arjuna Ranatunga and Tiran Alles.

The government appointed Singaporean Arjuna Mahendran as Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in January knowing well a foreigner couldn’t be appointed. Now, the same government had appointed a British passport holder as Chairman of the government owned Litro Gas, Sri Lanka’s largest LPG supplier, the MP said.

Weerawansa questioned the legitimacy of those who had secured office after having contested on the NDF ticket.

The former JVP propaganda Secretary said that they expected NEC Chairman to address their concerns, bravely as he did during the previous administration.

Director (Legal), NEC, Nimal G. Punchihewa yesterday told The Island that as the NDF had been registered as a political party in accordance with the Parliament Elections Act (No 1 of 1981) there was a requirement to review the relevant procedures.

Punchihewa acknowledged there had been an obvious lapse on their part due to shortcomings in the registration process.

Election Commission of Sri Lanka in its website identified NDF as the 34th registered political party out of 64 political parties. The website named attorney at law Ms Sharmila Perera as its Secretary.

Ms Perera wasn’t available for comment.

lanka C news

හංසයා ලකුණ පක්ෂයේ සභාපති ශලිල මුණසිංහ බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ පුරවැසියකු වන බවත් ඔහුගේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විසා තව නොබෝ දිනයකින් නිමවන බවත් ලෝකයේ බැංකු අතර වංචා සිදු කොට බන්ධනාගාර ගත කිරිමට යාමේදි මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණයේදි හෙලිදරව් වි ඇත.

රාජ්‍ය ආයතනයක් වන ලිට්ත්‍රො ගෑස් සමාගමේ සභාපති ලෙස බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ පුරවැසියකු පත් කලේ කෙසේද යන්නත් එසේ පත්කලේ කවුරුන් ද යන්න සොයා බැලිය යුතු කරුණකි.

එහෙත් ඊටත් වඩා වැදගත් වනුයේ මෙවෙනි වංචාකාර පුද්ගලයකු කෙසේ ද ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ 6 වෙනි විධායක ජනාධිපතිවරයෙකු බිහිකළ පක්ෂයක නායකයකු ලෙස මැතිවරණ කොමසාරිස්වරයා පිලිගත්තේද යන වගයි.

එමෙන්ම මැතිවරණ කොමසාරිස්වරයා වෙත ඉදිරිපත් කල ශ්‍රීලංකාවේ පුරවැසියන්ට පමණක් හිමි හැදුනුම්පත සහ එහි අංකයන් කෙසේ මෙවෙනි විදේශීය පුරවැසියකු ලබා ගත්තේ ද යන්න ත් සොයා බැලිය යුතු තවත් කරුණකි.

එහෙත් ආරංචි මාර්ගයන් සඳහන් කරනුයේ ලෝකයේ බැංකු අතර වංචා සිදු කොට ලබාගත් කෝටි ගනන් මුදල් මෙන්ම වෙනත් අනියම් මාර්ගවලින් ලැබුනු විශාල මුදල් ප්‍රමාණයක් මොහුගේ ගිනුම් වල තිබෙන බවත් මෙවා නිසියාකාරව හෙලිදරව් වූවොත් මෙරටේ ප්‍රභූවරුන් කිහිප දෙනෙකුගේ නම් හා වෙනත් සංවිධානයන්වල සම්බන්ධතා ඒ මහාපරිමාන මූල්‍ය වංචා සමඟ හෙලිවීමට හැකියාවක් ඇති බවයි.

මේ අතර පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත‍්‍රී සී.බී. රත්නායක මහතා පවසන්නේ මෙරට පුරවැසි භාවය නැති පක්‍ෂයක සභාපතීත්වය යටතේ ඇති හංසයා පක්ෂය මෙරට නීත්‍යානුකුළද නැද්ද එම පක්‍ෂය යටතේ මැතිවණවලට තරග කිරීම නීත්‍යානුකූලව පිලිගත හැකිදැයි ප‍්‍රශ්න ඇති බවයි.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

October 12, 2017 at 8:02 am | lanka C news

සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයේ මානසික සෞඛ්‍ය සදහා වෙනම ඒකකයක් ද ස්ථාපිත කර තිබෙනවා. එහි දැනට ඇති සංඛ්‍යා ලේඛණ වලට අනුව රජයේ සේවකයින් 05 දෙනෙකුගෙන් එක් අයෙකුට මානසික ආතතිය ඇති බව සොයාගෙන තිබෙනවා. රැකියා ස්ථානයේ ගැටලු, නිවසේ ගැටලු ඒ සදහා හේතු වී තිබෙනවා.

All the law makers  ( Member of Parliament) are also state employees getting a salary and a pension.They are also considered as Employees  of the People ( selected by the people )

It will not be incorrect to mention that 40 or more ( 5 out of 225 members– 20%)  ) also suffer from Mental Stress and the remaining   may be suffering from Dementia (loss of memory) These MP’s have given many promises to the masses ,and it seems that they keep forgetting that they stated before coming to Parliament ? It can be either due to mental stress or pressure?

Another problem we have is that most of the criminals also tend to lose memory due to Stress and during legal proceeding  that they claim that they  lost memory >

Sri Lanka needs a another ministry of Mental Health Services ( in Addition to Ministry of Health) which should be headed by a psychiatrist .( there is nothing wrong as our minister of health is a Dentist who does not mince ( chew)  words  !)

Every MP should undertake a Fitness Certificate carried out by this Ministry before they contest and afterwards .There should also be a Lie Detector” test which can be used to allocate KPI ( Key Performance Indicators ) in order to decide whether the MP is selected to Re contest.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about the extra-judicial killing of Mr. Naiwala Appuhamilage Gamini Edwad (50) resident of Divulapitiya Police Division. On 2 October 2017, he was illegally arrested by Crime Branch Officers of the Police Station. Later, during his interrogation, he was tortured and pressured to admit committing a crime of theft. The victim continuously and vehemently refuted the accusations and did not accept them. He was produced before the Magistrate on the next day and remanded. Though he was treated at the Negombo Prison Hospital he was later admitted to the Negombo General Hospital due to his acute medical condition. On admission the victim was pronounced dead. This was due to Police Officers, the Magistrate and the prison officers in respect to the protection of inmates. In question in the country is: all citizens need to be considered innocent until proven guilty according to the Constitution. No proper investigation has yet been carried out into the death of Gamini.

CASE NARRATIVE:

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information about Mr. Naiwala Appuhamilage Gamini Edwad (50) of Kelepitimulla, Hunumulla, Divulapitiya in the Gampaha District. Gamini was married and the father of two children, a 12 year old daughter and an 8 year old son. He was a Watchman in the private home of a foreigner.

On 2 October 2017, Gamini was at home with his wife and two children. Two police officers attached to the Divulapitiya Police Station arrived at his house and inquired about Gamini. Gamini came to the front of the house and talked to the Police Officers asking for the reason of their search. The Officers informed him that he was to be arrested and ordered him to follow them. Gamini cordially informed the Officers that he has to take two children to school. He pleaded that the Officers consider him compassionately and provide an alternative solution. However, the Officers were rude to him, cuffed his hands and dragged him to the vehicle parked in front of the house. He was abused with obscene language in front of his wife and children.

He was brought directly to the Divulapitiya Police Station where questioning started. The arresting Officer, later identified as the Inspector of Police (IP) Saman Priyantha, the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Crime Branch of the Police Station was the interrogator. Gamini was questioned about a theft in the house where he was working as a Watchman. He denied any involvement in this theft. The owner of the house was a foreigner. At this point, IP Saman started beating him with fists and kicks. Gamini was pressured to accept the fact that he stole property from his employer’s home. He vehemently denied the accusations. Later he was held over in a cell.

At night Gamini was again questioned by IP Saman and repeatedly pressured to accede to the accusations against him. Gamini refused to accept the accusations. A Police Officer beat Gamini in the face, stomach, legs and arms. A particularly strong strike hit Gamini’s head, causing an injury visible on autopsy. Gamini was hung from the ceiling and beaten and forced to admit the theft. He never accepted it.

On 3 October 2017, Gamini was produced before the Minuwangoda Magistrate Court. The lawyer representing Gamini very clearly explained to the Magistrate that his client had been severely tortured. He requested that he be released on bail considering his physical condition and the necessity of taking medical treatment. The lawyers request was not entertained by the Magistrate and he remanded Gamini until 10 October. Gamini was brought to the Negombo Remand Prison and assigned to Ward No: 2 of the prison.

As his physical condition worsened, Gamini was admitted to the Prison Hospital on the morning of 4 October. The Medical Doctors examined him and immediately transferred him to the Negombo General Hospital. On admission, he was pronounced dead at 10:40 p.m. While several relatives were trying to visit him at the prison they were obstructed and prevented by Prison Authorities from doing so. They stated that Gamini’s condition was serious so that he had to be kept in a restricted room inside the prison. Repeated requests by his relatives to see him were refused.

On 5 October, the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of the hospital conducted the post-mortem examination. He informed the relatives and the Authorities that the cause of death was due to shock. Gamini sustained internal hemorrhaging as a result of the damage to his internal organs caused by the severe torture he suffered at the hands of the IP, OIC and other unnamed Police Officers.

The relatives held the position that Gamini was in good physical and mental health when he was arrested. He had no complaints of any ailments before his arrest. Responsible Police Officers have caused the death of their relative by beating him to death.

The Police Media Spokesperson’s communique revealed that an immediate Police Investigation had been conducted under the supervision of the Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) Colombo North. As a result of the investigation, the OIC of the Crime Branch of the Divulapitiya Police Station, Saman Priyantha was arrested in the evening of 5 October 2017. The Acting OIC of the Police Station and other Police Constables were transferred to the Paliyagoda Police Station.

No details were produced on the complaint against Gamini that the Police received about a theft. No property had been produced before the Courts said to be stolen by the victim. Neither virtual complainant’s statements, nor any other evidence which revealed that Gamini had been involved in any crime, has not yet been submitted to the Court as evidence by the Police.

Gamini’s relatives maintain that he was extra-judicially killed by the Police. He was tortured to death. This is another example of a severely faulty Policing System in Sri Lanka. It murders innocent suspects under the guise of crime prevention.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The Asian Human Rights Commission has reported numerous cases of arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and extrajudicial killings of citizens at the hands of the Sri Lankan Police. Under International and Local law, these are illegal actions. They have been taking place daily at Police Stations all over Sri Lanka. It is common knowledge that the Police use torture as an instrument to terrorize innocent people, harass the general public and instill fear. Presently, the Police are implementing a policy of ‘elimination with extreme persuasion’ or in plain language–murdering suspected criminals. They arrest and kill people without their ever being produced in a Court of Law.

Needless to say, there is a lack of protection for those lawyers willing to take up cases against abusive Police Officers and State Authorities. This means that the Law continues to be employed as a tool by the Authorities to control the population. By undermining society’s respect for the Law and allowing impunity to go on unabated, a long-term, psychological burden and financial burden is placed on the shoulders of victims, their families and the general population.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the Authorities listed below expressing your concern about this case. Kindly request an immediate investigation into allegations of an extra-judicial killing by the Police. Prosecution of those proven to be responsible under Criminal Law is imperative. The Officers involved should also be subject to an internal investigation for breach of Police Departmental Orders. The AHRC will write a separate letter to the Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions in this regard.

To support this case, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ________,

SRI LANKA: Innocent man tortured to death by Divulapitiya Police

Name of Victim: Mr. Naiwala Appuhamilage Gamini Edwad (50) of Kelepitimulla, Hunumulla, Divulapitiya in the Gampaha District

Alleged perpetrators: 1) OIC, Saman Priyantha Crime Branch of the Divulapitiya Police Station
2) Unnamed Officers attached to the Divulapitiya Police Station

Date of incident: 2 October 2017

Place of incident: Divulapitiya Police Division

According to the information I have received, Mr. Naiwala Appuhamilage Gamini Edwad (50) of Kelepitimulla, Hunumulla, Divulapitiya in the Gampaha District. Gamini was married and the father of two children, a 12 year old daughter and an 8 year old son. He was a Watchman in the private home of a foreigner.

On 2 October 2017, Gamini was at home with his wife and two children. Two police officers attached to the Divulapitiya Police Station arrived at his house and inquired about Gamini. Gamini came to the front of the house and talked to the Police Officers asking for the reason of their search. The Officers informed him that he was to be arrested and ordered him to follow them. Gamini cordially informed the Officers that he has to take two children to school. He pleaded that the Officers consider him compassionately and provide an alternative solution. However, the Officers were rude to him, cuffed his hands and dragged him to the vehicle parked in front of the house. He was abused with obscene language in front of his wife and children.

He was brought directly to the Divulapitiya Police Station where questioning started. The arresting Officer, later identified as the Inspector of Police (IP) Saman Priyantha, the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Crime Branch of the Police Station was the interrogator. Gamini was questioned about a theft in the house where he was working as a Watchman. He denied any involvement in this theft. The owner of the house was a foreigner. At this point, IP Saman started beating him with fists and kicks. Gamini was pressured to accept the fact that he stole property from his employer’s home. He vehemently denied the accusations. Later he was held over in a cell.

At night Gamini was again questioned by IP Saman and repeatedly pressured to accede to the accusations against him. Gamini refused to accept the accusations. A Police Officer beat Gamini in the face, stomach, legs and arms. A particularly strong strike hit Gamini’s head, causing an injury visible on autopsy. Gamini was hung from the ceiling and beaten and forced to admit the theft. He never accepted it.

On 3 October 2017, Gamini was produced before the Minuwangoda Magistrate Court. The lawyer representing Gamini very clearly explained to the Magistrate that his client had been severely tortured. He requested that he be released on bail considering his physical condition and the necessity of taking medical treatment. The lawyers request was not entertained by the Magistrate and he remanded Gamini until 10 October. Gamini was brought to the Negombo Remand Prison and assigned to Ward No: 2 of the prison.

As his physical condition worsened, Gamini was admitted to the Prison Hospital on the morning of 4 October. The Medical Doctors examined him and immediately transferred him to the Negombo General Hospital. On admission, he was pronounced dead at 10:40 p.m. While several relatives were trying to visit him at the prison they were obstructed and prevented by Prison Authorities from doing so. They stated that Gamini’s condition was serious so that he had to be kept in a restricted room inside the prison. Repeated requests by his relatives to see him were refused.

On 5 October, the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of the hospital conducted the post-mortem examination. He informed the relatives and the Authorities that the cause of death was due to shock. Gamini sustained internal hemorrhaging as a result of the damage to his internal organs caused by the severe torture he suffered at the hands of the IP, OIC and other unnamed Police Officers.

The relatives held the position that Gamini was in good physical and mental health when he was arrested. He had no complaints of any ailments before his arrest. Responsible Police Officers have caused the death of their relative by beating him to death.

The Police Media Spokesperson’s communique revealed that an immediate Police Investigation had been conducted under the supervision of the Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) Colombo North. As a result of the investigation, the OIC of the Crime Branch of the Divulapitiya Police Station, Saman Priyantha was arrested in the evening of 5 October 2017. The Acting OIC of the Police Station and other Police Constables were transferred to the Paliyagoda Police Station.

No details were produced on the complaint against Gamini that the Police received about a theft. No property had been produced before the Courts said to be stolen by the victim. Neither virtual complainant’s statements, nor any other evidence which revealed that Gamini had been involved in any crime, has not yet been submitted to the Court as evidence by the Police.

Gamini’s relatives maintain that he was extra-judicially killed by the Police. He was tortured to death. This is another example of a severely faulty Policing System in Sri Lanka. It murders innocent suspects under the guise of crime prevention.

I therefore request your intervention to ensure that an immediate investigation is undertaken into the death of Gamini. The Officers involved must also be subject to an internal investigation for breach of Departmental Orders.

Yours Sincerely,
———————
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Pujith Jayasundara
   Inspector General of Police
   New Secretariat
   Colombo 1
   SRI LANKA
   Fax: +94 11 2 440440 / 327877
   E-mail: igp@police.lk
2. Mr. Jayantha Jayasooriya PC
   Attorney General
   Attorney General’s Department
   Colombo 12
   SRI LANKA
   Fax: +94 11 2 436421
   E-mail: ag@attorneygeneral.gov.lk
3. Mr. N. Ariyadasa Cooray
   Secretary
   National Police Commission
   3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers
   109 Galle Road
   Colombo 03
   SRI LANKA
   Tel: +94 11 2 395310
   Fax: +94 11 2 395867
   E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk or polcom@sltnet.lk
4. Secretary
   Human Rights Commission
   No. 36, Kynsey Road
   Colombo 8
   SRI LANKA
   Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
   Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
   E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Program
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Read this UAC online

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION-URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding Mr. Andige Lakshitha Piyumal Peiris (26), a permanent resident of the Trincomalee District. On 6 July 2017, Piyumal was illegally arrested by Police Officers attached to the Kantale Police Station. He was accused of assaulting two Police Officers which he vehemently denied. He was detained and produced before the Magistrate on a fabricated charge of obstructing Police duties. The victim successfully explained to the Magistrate that there is no evidence to prove his involvement in committing such a crime. The Police requested time to investigate and Peiris was released on bail. He said that the Police acted arbitrarily, illegally arresting, detaining and producing him before the Magistrate on a trumped-up charge. They violated his fundamental rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.

Case Narrative:

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information about Mr. Andige Lakshitha Piyumal Peiris (26), of No: 192/2, 1st Cross Road, Kantale in the Trincomalee District. Piyumal runs a small business.

On 6 July 2017 at 9 a.m., Piyumal received a message from the Kantale Police Station to report to the Officer-in-Charge (OIC). Piyumala was busy during the day as he is self-employed in a small-scale business. He accepted the message from the Police Officer but informed him that he can report to the Officer when he is released from work. The Officer who was in uniform warned him of future consequences if he did not immediately report to the Police. Piyumal was afraid about the reason for calling him to the Police Station by a senior Officer. He knew that he is innocent, has never engaged in any violent activity and has never been a party to commit a crime in his life.

After completing his most pressing works, he left to report to the Police, arriving about 7 p.m.. He informed the Police receptionist that he was asked to meet the OIC and was taken to his office. Piyumal was questioned by the OIC, as to whether he had assaulted 2 Police Officers at the Bogaha Junction at Kantale-Thrincomalee Road at 6.30 p.m. on 13 June 2017. Piyumal was shocked by the question. He informed the OIC that he did not assault the two Officers. The OIC became angry. He threatened that he would be tortured, produced before the Courts on fabricated charges and remanded and would not be released for a long time. Piyumal asserted to the OIC that he never committed any such assault. He explained his position as a married man and the father of two children. He is engaged in running a small-scale business. He is considered to be a peaceful citizen with no history of being involved in any crime.

The OIC was not satisfied and ordered he be detained in a cell for the night. On 7 July 2017, he was produced before the Kantale Magistrate on a fabricated charge of obstructing the official duties of the Police. Piyumal informed the Magistrate that he was not aware of the incident or the charge. He explained to the Judge that, the place of this incident, his residence and his place of business are all far away. It appears the Police have mistakenly arrested him and absorbed him into this unknown case. Not to be bested, the Police informed the Judge that matters remain under investigation, needing more time to verify/clarify the facts. The Magistrate then released Piyumal on bail. His case is still pending.

Piyumal vehemently denied the charge against him. He firmly holds to the position that he was illegally arrested, detained in a cell at the Kantale Police Station with his fundamental rights, guaranteed by the Constitution, violated.

Suggested Action:

Please send letters to the Authorities listed below expressing your concern about this case. Request an immediate investigation into the allegations of illegal arrest by the Police. Prosecute those proved to be responsible under the Law for misusing the powers of the State. The officers involved must be subject to an internal investigation for breach of Police Departmental Orders. Please request the National Police Commission (NPC) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to open a special investigation into the malpractices of Police Officers who abuse their powers.

To support this case, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear _______

SRI LANKA: innocent man illegally arrested and charged by Kantale Police

Name of Victim: Mr. Andige Lakshitha Piyumal Peiris (26), of No: 192/2, 1st Cross Road, Kantale                             in the Trincomalee District.

Alleged perpetrators: Officer-in-Charge of the Kantale Police Station

Date of incident: 06 July 2017

Place of incident: Kantale Police Division

According to information I have received the information about Mr. Andige Lakshitha Piyumal Peiris (26), of No: 192/2, 1st Cross Road, Kantale in the Trincomalee District. Piyumal runs a small business.

On 6 July 2017 at 9 a.m., Piyumal received a message from the Kantale Police Station to report to the Officer-in-Charge (OIC). Piyumala was busy during the day as he is self-employed in a small-scale business. He accepted the message from the Police Officer but informed him that he can report to the Officer when he is released from work. The Officer who was in uniform warned him of future consequences if he did not immediately report to the Police. Piyumal was afraid about the reason for calling him to the Police Station by a senior Officer. He knew that he is innocent, has never engaged in any violent activity and has never been a party to commit a crime in his life.

After completing his most pressing works, he left to report to the Police, arriving about 7 p.m.. He informed the Police receptionist that he was asked to meet the OIC and was taken to his office. Piyumal was questioned by the OIC, as to whether he had assaulted 2 Police Officers at the Bogaha Junction at Kantale-Thrincomalee Road at 6.30 p.m. on 13 June 2017. Piyumal was shocked by the question. He informed the OIC that he did not assault the two Officers. The OIC became angry. He threatened that he would be tortured, produced before the Courts on fabricated charges and remanded and would not be released for a long time. Piyumal asserted to the OIC that he never committed any such assault. He explained his position as a married man and the father of two children. He is engaged in running a small-scale business. He is considered to be a peaceful citizen with no history of being involved in any crime.

The OIC was not satisfied and ordered he be detained in a cell for the night. On 7 July 2017, he was produced before the Kantale Magistrate on a fabricated charge of obstructing the official duties of the Police. Piyumal informed the Magistrate that he was not aware of the incident or the charge. He explained to the Judge that, the place of this incident, his residence and his place of business are all far away. It appears the Police have mistakenly arrested him and absorbed him into this unknown case. Not to be bested, the Police informed the Judge that matters remain under investigation, needing more time to verify/clarify the facts. The Magistrate then released Piyumal on bail. His case is still pending.

Piyumal vehemently denied the charge against him. He firmly holds to the position that he was illegally arrested, detained in a cell at the Kantale Police Station with his fundamental rights, guaranteed by the Constitution, violated.

I request the intervention of your good offices. Ensure that the Authorities listed below open an immediate investigation into the allegations of violations of the fundamental rights of the victim by Officers of the Sri Lanka Police Department. The Officers involved should also be subject to internal investigations for breach of Police Departmental Orders.

Yours sincerely,

———————
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Pujith Jayasundara
Inspector General of Police
New Secretariat
Colombo 1
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 440440 / 327877
E-mail: igp@police.lk

2. Mr. Jayantha Jayasooriya PC
Attorney General
Attorney General’s Department
Colombo 12
SRI LANKA
Fax: +94 11 2 436421
E-mail: ag@attorneygeneral.gov.lk

3. Secretary
National Police Commission
3rd Floor, Rotunda Towers
109 Galle Road
Colombo 03
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 395310
Fax: +94 11 2 395867
E-mail: npcgen@sltnet.lk or polcom@sltnet.lk

4. Secretary
Human Rights Commission
No. 36, Kynsey Road
Colombo 8
SRI LANKA
Tel: +94 11 2 694 925 / 673 806
Fax: +94 11 2 694 924 / 696 470
E-mail: sechrc@sltnet.lk

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Program
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Read this UAC online

By Adela Lin and  Anusha Ondaatjie  Courtesy Bloomberg

By Malinda Seneviratne Courtesy The Daily Mirror

By Amrit Muttukumaru Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Will the mandate of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the Alleged Central Bank Bond scam be allowed to lapse without key witnesses being called?

This is arguably one of the largest financial scams to have taken place in the post-independence history of Sri Lanka. For sheer impunity and involvement of powerful politicians in collusion with a section of the corporate sector and regulatory authorities it is hard to beat.

(Whether the muted response of the opposition has anything to do with former Central Bank Governor, Arjuna Mahendran’s stint as Chief  Investment Executive at Dubai Emirates NBD Bank could be interesting to know).

• Some Key witnesses not yet summoned by (PCoI) to clarify matters
• Rosy was not a COPE member after 2015 parliamentary polls
• PM hand-picked Arjuna Mahendran, a foreign national to head CBSL
• PCoI did a commendable job bringing some alleged scams to light

The Presidential Secretariat attributes the objective of the PCoI to President Sirisena stating: to give the utmost punishment to those who are guilty of offences”
(http://www.presidentsoffice.gov.lk/?p=3778)

If the people of Sri Lanka are serious about good governance, should they not hold him accountable to this commitment? To be fair by the Presidential Commission, it must be flagged they have done a commendable job to bring some of the machinations of these alleged scams to the notice of the general public. This has whet their appetite to get to the bottom of these scams by identifying the key personnel involved.

Although Dr. Harsha de Silva was summoned by the PCoI in June this year, there has not been much information in the public domain whether he was adequately questioned on ‘footnotes’ saga

At the same time the (PCoI) to use a cricketing parlance has dropped sitters (straightforward catches) which include for example:

1) Failure to ask the Chairman, Bank of Ceylon when he was a witness last week (i) what made the BoC give Perpetual Treasuries Ltd., (PTL) facilities for billions of rupees virtually over the counter just prior to a Bond auction? (ii) why the BoC with a primary dealer license bought Treasury Bonds in the secondary market from PTL? (iii) why the BoC Chairman attended a meeting relating to bidding at the Bond auction said to have been convened by the then Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake when state banks came under the purview of another Minister – Kabir Hashim in circumstances where Karunanayake had no authority over State Banks?

The same holds true to the Chairmen of People’s Bank and NSB in relation to the said meeting.

2) Although it was reported that Dr. Harsha de Silva was summoned by the PCoI in June this year, there has not been much information in the public domain whether he was adequately questioned on his role on the controversial ‘footnotes’ saga in the alleged Treasury Bond scam. He is Deputy Minister, Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs where the Prime Minister is the Minister in charge.

‘The Sunday Times’ of October 30, 2016 reports:As is clear, the thrust of these footnotes is to make clear that Mahendran has not been responsible of any impropriety.
The UNP is confident that it can, through the documentation Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva has received, prove its case that its man Arjuna Mahendran is not to blame.”
(http://www.sundaytimes.lk/161030/columns/the-dramatic-bond-issue-how-cope-went-beyond-bioscope-215374.html)

Key Witnesses 

I am glad to note at the time of penning this piece that ministers Malik Samarawickrama and Kabir Hashim said to have been present at the INITIAL meeting in 2015 on the issuance of Treasury Bonds have been summoned as witnesses by the PCoI. At this time Malik Samarawickrama who did not hold ministerial portfolio was Chairman of the UNP, Minister Kabir Hashim was UNP General Secretary and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe – UNP leader.

This is one of the largest financial scams to have taken place in the post-independence history. For sheer impunity and involvement of powerful politicians in collusion with a section of the corporate sector and regulatory authorities it is hard to beat

The following Key witnesses and others not yet summoned by the (PCoI) must be given the opportunity to clarify matters in the interest of their good name:

1) R. Paskaralingam – Advisor to the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs (Ministry held by PM Wickremesinghe) is said to have been present at the meeting convened by then Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake with Chairmen of State Banks (BoC, PB, NSB) relating to bidding at the Bond auction.

2) Rosy Senanayake, in connection with the allegation at the PCoI that COPE documents relating to PTL CEO Kasun Palisena’s testimony was given to ‘PTL owner’ Arjun Aloysius by Rosy’s son” identified as Kanishka Senanayake”.

This has been denied by Ms. Senanayake on the grounds she was not a COPE member after the August 2015 parliamentary elections. Does not the question arise whether in her capacity as ‘Deputy Chief of Staff’ in Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s ‘core team’ she would have access to COPE reports? Although requested, she has still not clarified this position.

It was also alleged at the PCoI that Saman Kumara, the then dealer for the EPF at the CBSL had received a personal loan of Rs. 25 million from PABC when Nimal Perera was Chairman

3) Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe (i) who hand-picked Arjuna Mahendran, a foreign national in whom he had the fullest confidence to be Governor – Central Bank of Sri Lanka and who he even endorsed for a second term (ii) the CBSL the issuing agency for Treasury Bonds falling under the purview of the Prime Minister (iii) who was fully confident on the propriety of the issuance of Bonds which he robustly defended in Parliament which is at variance with the other evidence presented before the PCoI .

4) Nimal Perera – former Chairman of Pan Asia Banking Corporation (PABC) said to have made the decision for PABC to act as the intermediary in secondary market transactions between PTL and EPF.

It was also alleged at the PCoI that Saman Kumara, the then dealer for the EPF at the CBSL had received a personal loan of Rs. 25 million from PABC when Nimal Perera was Chairman. It is relevant to ascertain whether this loan and its settlement (if any) took place in the ordinary course of banking practice or whether any special privileges were afforded.

Should this not be of interest to the Central Bank’s ‘Bank Supervision Department’ as well?

The PM who hand-picked Arjuna Mahendran, a foreign national in whom he had the fullest confidence to be Governor – Central Bank of Sri Lanka and who he even endorsed for a second term

(http://www.dailymirror.lk/132603/EPF-officer-who-dealt-with-PTL-interdicted )

5) The Chairmen of state financial institutions – Bank of Ceylon (Ronald Perera), National Savings Bank (Aswin de Silva) and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (Hemaka Amarasuriya) in the context of these institutions with primary dealer licenses purchasing Treasury Bonds in the secondary market from PTL.

Conclusion

More crucial than President Sirisena’s objective to give the utmost punishment to those who are guilty of offences” is quantifying the losses to the people of Sri Lanka and its immediate return.
The sooner this issue is put to rest the better. The country seems obsessed with this alleged scam while placing other instances of alleged corruption also under the Rajapaksa presidency and issues of governance on the back burner.

Dr. Palitha Kohona Courtesy Ceylon Today

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted the resolution entitled ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ on 1 October 2015, Resolution 30/1. (After a resolution promoted by the European Union (EU) was defeated in 2009 and a resolution tabled by Sri Lanka was adopted by an overwhelming majority. An attempt to table a resolution critical of Sri Lanka in 2010 was aborted). Resolution 30/1 has been described by some critics as a Constitution amendment project for Sri Lanka. Interestingly, it was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka. In 2017, Sri Lanka obtained a two year grace period to implement the resolution, further confirming the country’s acquiescence with Resolution 30/1.

Ominously, this year, the High Commissioner noted that in the absence of progress on the implementation of Res. 30/1, other countries could invoke the ‘universal jurisdiction’ principle to start judicial proceedings against persons accused of having committed war crimes. This quantitative leap in the approach of the normally circumspect High Commissioner has caused more than a few eyebrows to be raised. Special Mandate Holder, Ben Emmerson, went way beyond his brief when he threatened dire consequences for Sri Lanka not vigorously implementing the resolution. We have reached the end of another Human Rights Council Session. Sri Lankan nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) took centre stage at this session.

Resolutions critical of Sri Lanka

Prior to 2015, the Human Rights Council had adopted three resolutions critical of Sri Lanka since 2012 with every year witnessing a diminishing number of votes in support of Sri Lanka and a gradual tightening of the provisions in the resolutions. Interestingly, with the change of government, Sri Lanka decided to co-sponsor the 2015 resolution. The key objective of the new government in co-sponsoring the resolution appears to be to accommodate the concerns of its main sponsors (mainly some key Western counties) and appease them with a view to ending the increasingly bitter confrontation that was developing between them on the one side and Sri Lanka on the other. Perhaps, the government even expected to be rewarded with large dollops of aid money from the West, but this has not happened while demands for its implementation have increased. (The new administration in Washington has reduced the small amount of aid provided to Sri Lanka, US$ 35 million, to a measly US$ 3.4 million). Earlier, with the gradual deterioration of key bilateral relationships, and the slow motion drift away from each other, the US began to take the lead in driving the resolution critical of Sri Lanka in 2012 at the UN Human Rights Council. A country that was once considered a warm friend of Sri Lanka was now acting in an outright hostile manner. The US military had even shared vital intelligence with the Sri Lankan military during the critical last stages of the war although other parts of the administration, with the Leahy Act providing the inspiration, had an increasingly hostile attitude. The US lead was followed by the UK and Canada, with the EU joining in. The result was inevitable. The US, with diplomatic missions in a majority of countries of the world and far reaching economic and military clout, had the type of diplomatic and financial influence that could overpower many challengers. Even friends such as India, a stalwart of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and a longstanding opponent of country specific resolutions in the HRC, advised Sri Lanka at ambassadorial level to reach an accommodation with the West. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka, for reasons that cannot be explained in a few words, decided to confront the US at the Human Rights Council and to oppose the resolution. Sri Lanka just did not have the diplomatic and financial muscle to take on the US head on. The US was able to ensure that even India, despite its longstanding proximate relationship with Sri Lanka, joined those who would vote against us in 2014. It was not reason or logic that prevailed, but diplomatic brute force. Some capitals of member countries of the HRC were telephoned in the middle of the night by senior officials of the Obama Administration.

Lobby groups

And Sri Lanka, by far, was not even the worst offender to incur the wrath of the international human rights lobby groups and the leading Western HR champions. However, once the decision was made in Colombo to confront the US, the diplomats gamely spearheaded Sri Lanka’s campaign, including in New York. Capitals were lobbied at great expense by fly-in, fly-out ministerial level delegations (who may not have been well prepared for the task) while diplomats at multilateral missions were tasked to approach their counterparts. It was increasingly clear that the outcome would not be a happy one for Sri Lanka.

Unfortunately, the US position continued to harden and Sri Lanka was getting pushed into the same basket of usual suspects reserved for the states regularly blacklisted by Washington. Examples include North Korea, Burma, Iran, Belarus, and Syria. This was an unfortunate development in the bilateral relationship.

Could this change in the relationship be explained in a simple manner? Much more research will need to be done. In my mind, one thing was clear. It was not only the possibility that the Sri Lankan forces may have committed human rights violations that drove Washington to spearhead a campaign to demonise Sri Lanka and its leadership. There were other more likely candidates for this demonic label of ‘really nasty state.’ In my view, there were political and personal goals and prejudices at play as well. Some have even suggested that this was part of a regime change project.

Picking on Sri Lanka

The three human rights champions of Washington, all women, (Power, Rice, Donoghue) may have decided to pick on Sri Lanka for their own reasons. They seem to have formed a dislike for the Sri Lankan leadership and were not reluctant to say so publicly.

Iraq, Afghanistan, and definitely Israel were ‘no go’ areas for any American official with ambition. Iran and Syria were a waste of time because the countries concerned were in the habit of ignoring Washington’s agonized, vitriolic, and selective complaints about human rights violations. Sri Lanka was always in the lime light, thanks to an array of human rights organisations that targeted the country regularly and a good candidate to be dragged over the coals. There was a cheer squad of Tamil expatriate organisations and human rights NGOs egging them on. The media could not get enough of the bad side of Sri Lanka. Channel 4 produced heart wrenching documentaries on Sri Lanka’s war on terrorism from an anti-government perspective annually and, intriguingly, prior to the Human Rights Council sessions. Channel 4 seemed to popularise the view that Sri Lanka was the nastiest of them all, largely based on allegations which have been challenged repeatedly by Sri Lanka. Reich Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, once said that a lie repeated often enough would become the truth. This was happening in the case of Sri Lanka.

In addition to this, prominent elements of the Sri Lankan leadership glowed in the light of Western approbation. The elements behind the resolution may have figured out that denying them the approbation that was so eagerly sought, was a punishment by itself.

Most importantly, Sri Lanka seemed to take the bait and respond as expected. Was it more like a game?

Personal confrontations and prejudices most certainly encouraged powerful individuals in the West to strive for the kill in Sri Lanka. There is no doubt that personal relations are a major part of diplomacy. After having defeated a bloody terrorist group at immense cost, the Sri Lankan leadership failed to recognize the importance of continuing to cultivate the power brokers of the West.

Sri Lanka, for its part, may also not have adequately addressed some of the allegations or orchestrated its message contradicting the Channel 4 documentaries, the media stories and the negative perceptions that were mounting. There were considerable opportunities to do so without appearing to toe the HRC line. Sometimes we may have missed the trees for the woods.

Opportunities dismissed

But the opportunities presented were not used, ignored, or simply dismissed. Significantly, well resourced Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) support groups kept up the anti-Sri Lanka campaign using influential members of the Western political establishment, the NGO community, and the media. Yasmin Sooka, a member of the Secretary General’s personal Panel of Experts, has continued to highlight absurd numbers of civilian deaths with no substantiation. She has even made the outrageous suggestion that the government deliberately starved the civilians. This allegation just cannot bear scrutiny as the food supplies to the areas controlled by the terrorist group were regularly monitored by a high level committee (the Committee for Coordinating Humanitarian Affairs) that included the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN and the ambassadors of the US, Norway, and Japan. You will recall that Hillary Clinton received funding from the group, ‘Tamils for Hillary’ which was affiliated with the LTTE while the LTTE was a proscribed foreign terrorist organisation in the US. Later, the campaign was obliged to return the contribution quietly after representations were made at the highest level. That did not stop Hillary Clinton from subsequently talking about bad terrorists and good freedom fighters.

The possibility of orchestrating a regime change may also have entered the minds of the powerful sympathizers of the Tamil Tigers in the West. The UNHRC provided a useful platform to enhance the negative image of Sri Lanka.

Continued tomorrow

(Dr Palitha Kohona is former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations)