By Dr. Nalaka Godahewa Courtesy Ceylon Today

“Sir, after all those contributions to the nation, how could you lose the election?” a very emotional senior citizen asked the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a public event in Kurunegala just a few days ago. Rajapaksa gave an interesting answer to the senior citizen, “After the war, we focussed totally on the development of the country and particularly the North and East. We lost the election primarily because the Tamils and Muslims voted against us in large numbers. It looks like we forgot to do politics where it mattered most”. This perhaps was a reasonably good answer to a question that most people are still searching for an answer. Rajapaksa and his key advisors forgot that Sri Lankans in general and Sinhalese in particular, have very short memories.

Apparently, the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran used to remind his cadres about this weakness of the Sinhalese all the time.

By January 2015, 6,217,162 people had forgotten that they had been suffering from a 26-year-long war until 2009. They had forgotten the fear and the hardships they had to endure for so many years due to the conflict. They had forgotten that they were facing frequent power cuts until President Rajapaksa built the Norochcholai Power Plant. They had forgotten that travelling long distances within the country was a nightmare until Rajapaksa built the highways. They had forgotten that Colombo was once a dirty city and all the canals were smelly. They had forgotten that a large number of farmers committed suicide every year unable to buy fertilizer for their paddy fields. They had forgotten that unemployment was as high as 8 per cent when Rajapaksa came to power in 2005 and it had been reduced to 4.3 per cent by 2014. They had forgotten that telephone penetration in the country was only about 3 per cent in 2005 and by the time Rajapaksa was defeated there was 20 per cent more telephones used in the country than the actual population. They had forgotten that inflation, which was in double digits when Rajapaksa came to power, had been reduced to 3.3 per cent by 2014. They had forgotten that poverty which was at 15 per cent in 2005 had been reduced to 6 per cent by 2014. They were just unhappy. All they wanted was a change.

Weaknesses

There are no perfect leaders in the world. All the great leaders that we know of in the history have had their own weaknesses.

Even Emperor Asoka, who contributed so much to the spread of Buddhism in India and the rest of the world, was a brutal killer until he converted to Buddhism. Deng Xiaoping who is considered the Father of Modern China had blood on his hands due to the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. There were enough criticisms about the dictatorial approach of Lee Kuan Yew who transformed Singapore from a fishing village to a super power. Dr. Mahathir Mohammad of Malaysia and Dr. Abdul Gayoom of Maldives, who changed the fortunes of their respective nations, also had their share of weaknesses.

But history was kind to these leaders. They had enough time at their disposal to transform their countries so that most people remember the good side of them than their negative aspects.

Unfortunately, Rajapaksa didn’t have that luxury. He was ousted at a peacefully held election four and a half years after he ended the 30-year-long war in Sri Lanka. Despite early accusations from some lowly politicians about a coup, there was no such effort to retain power by force. The former President accepted defeat gracefully and left for his village even before the final result was announced.

Political strategists

As Rajapaksa himself admitted in Kurunegala, the political strategists in his camp had completely forgotten that they need to keep addressing different segments of society. Even though so much development work was carried out in the North and East, there was no machinery in place to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people living in those areas. Muslims were not reminded of the hardships that their communities had to undergo under the LTTE rule. They were not reminded how much President Rajapaksa had done to support the Muslims even internationally. The elite in Colombo were another group of people who were not addressed effectively. When the Opposition started brainwashing the middle class and the floating voters, the response of the Rajapaksa Government was far below expected.

That’s how the Opposition, armed with financial support and strategic input from their international allies, could muster a sufficient number of voters to defeat President Rajapaksa. They managed to convince the voters that there is a need for better governance in the country.

A beautiful picture was painted during the election campaign. People started believing in the rainbow alliance that was emerging.

Voting Rajapaksa out and voting Sirisena in appeared to be the simplest solution to make Sri Lanka great again. Just look at the expectations that were created. The country would prosper at a much faster rate than before. Corruption would be completely eliminated. Foreign investors would rush to Sri Lanka. Stock market would thrive. Industries would boom. One million jobs would be created within five years. Law and order would be restored. The country would be drug free. Cost of living would be reduced.

The national debt will be completely eliminated by 2023. Education sector would receive 6 per cent GDP from the budget allocations while the health sector would receive 3 per cent of GDP.

Beautiful picture

A beautiful picture indeed! Who would want to miss this? That’s probably how the 6.2 million voters who fell for these promises thought.

But after two years and nine months since the new government came to power, even those people must be realizing that something has gone wrong. As the old saying goes a book cannot be judged only by its cover.

Let us do a reality check to understand the ground situation today.

The government, which came to power promising a corruption free society, is already in serious trouble having to defend the biggest financial crime of the history of this country. The bond scam is one of the most spoken of topics at every forum. According to the State Minister of Finance Lakshman Yapa, the direct and indirect cost of the bond scam to the country is over Rs 1 trillion.

The total economy of this country is only Rs 11.5 trillion and the loss due to bond scam is almost 10 per cent of that according to this assessment of the State Minister. Even though some people tried to discredit the minister, saying he has got the numbers wrong, it can easily be established that the facts are stubborn.

Bending the law

Instead of restoring law and order as promised by the government leaders when they were in Opposition, the new Inspector General of Police (IGP) has publicly explained how he intends to bend the law. There are ample examples of bending the law from the time the new government came to power. The government seems to be bending the law at will to protect its supporters and also to harass its opponents. The Police and the Bribery Commission have not touched a single person connected to the bond scam yet, though they are busy investigating thousands of people connected to the previous regime.

Instead of new jobs that were promised, the country has lost even the jobs that existed before. A comparison between employment statistics of 2014 and 2016 in the Central Bank Annual Report of 2016 shows that the loss is as high as 476,000 jobs within these two years.

The government came to power promising a reduction in the cost of living. But it has not happened. In reality, the government has increased taxes by 40 per cent during the initial two years in power. This amounts to an increase of Rs 414 billion per year. Ultimately all these taxes are paid by the people of this country directly or indirectly. With the introduction of the new laws, the tax burden of the people will increase further.

National debt

Even though the leadership of the present government keeps talking about a debt trap created by the previous government, in reality it is the present government, which has increased the national debt by 32 per cent within just two years. According to the Auditor General, the national debt had increased from Rs 7,391 billion in 2014 to Rs 9,865 billion by December 2016. If taken as a percentage of GDP, then the debt burden has increased from 71.3 per cent to 83.3 per cent within just two years. What is important to note here is that national debt as a percentage of GDP had reduced from 102.5 per cent to 71.3 per cent during the 2005-2014 period. Once again it has started climbing up and it is not a good sign. In 2016, the government had been borrowing at a rate of approximately Rs 3 billion every day.

We can keep highlighting more facts but they are not going to please the reader. Indeed it is a really gloomy picture.
On 4 September 2017, the government introduced the latest economic policy document at a mega function held at the BMICH.

We have to call it the latest because the previous economic policy document was introduced just one month ago on 22 August 2017. In fact the current leadership of the country has presented nine policy documents since they entered the election campaign in late 2014.

How long are we going to believe these fairy tales of the government?

Dr. Nalaka Godahewa is a former Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism and of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka. He has three professional qualifications in Engineering, Finance and Marketing and also an MBA. He holds a PhD in Economics

by Padraig Colman Courtesy Ceylon Today

Sri Lankans have grown cynical about the number of public commissions and inquiries which have failed to shed any light or improve anything. Perhaps Sri Lankan politicians have learned from their former colonial masters that a good way to defuse a controversy is to set up an inquiry to delay any need for real action, at the same time providing a good living for lawyers and the great and the good who sit on these commissions.

On 30 January 1972, British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians in Derry during a peaceful protest march against internment. Fourteen people died. There were inquiries that did not convince anybody. The Saville Inquiry was established in 1998 to reinvestigate the incident. Saville’s report was not made public until 2010.

On 11 July 2017, The UK Government announced a full inquiry into how contaminated blood products gave thousands of people hepatitis C and HIV. Fourteen people died as a result of Bloody Sunday. As many as 2,400 people died as a result of the tainted blood scandal. Andrew Evans of the pressure group Tainted Blood commented: ‘Had haemophiliacs all died on one day, there would have been an immediate investigation and we would not have endured this silent scandal’.

Haemophilia is a genetically acquired disease in which the blood does not clot properly. It was once popularly called “the royal disease” and figured prominently in the history of European royalty in the 19th and 20th centuries. Queen Victoria, through two of her five daughters (Princess Alice and Princess Beatrice), passed the mutation to various royal houses across the continent, including the royal families of Spain, Germany and Russia. Victoria’s son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany also suffered from the disease.

Factor VIII and Factor IX concentrates

The first blood-clotting products were produced in 1966 and from the 1970s the UK imported vast quantities from the US. In the 1970s, sufferers took products known as Factor VIII and Factor IX concentrates, which were made by distilling and concentrating the plasma of large groups of donors. Factor concentrates were seen as a revolutionary treatment and a surge in demand led to pharmaceutical companies seeking substantial supplies of blood. Unfortunately, the blood was acquired from tainted sources.

Convicts, drug addicts, prostitutes and people known to be infected with HIV or hepatitis were paid to donate their blood. The WHO warned Britain of the dangers of using these imported products. Large numbers of people were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C because of blood products supplied by the NHS. Of the 1,243 victims who were co-infected with both hepatitis C and HIV, less than 250 are still alive as I write.

In 1982, the first UK haemophiliac patient was diagnosed with Aids. Dr N Galbraith of the Public Health Laboratory Service warned the Department of Health (DoH) that all blood products imported from the US should be withdrawn. A Department of Health official deemed this ‘premature’ and ‘imbalanced’.

Those who campaigned for 30 years for an inquiry were not pleased at the recent announcement because the proposed inquiry was to be overseen by the DoH, the government department to blame for what happened.The main groups representing victims and their families lack trust in the department because they believe its officials were complicit in covering up the scandal for decades. There is even evidence that children were used as guinea pigs to test blood-clotting products. There was secret monitoring and failure to inform patients and families of the results. Documents were destroyed and medical records altered.

The mayor of Greater Manchester, former Labour Health Secretary Andy Burnham (surely, he was complicit also), has urged Theresa May to step in to save the inquiry. ‘I’m appealing to the Prime Minister to salvage the process before trust gets corroded on all sides.’ He said the Government could help solve the impasse by simply switching oversight to the Cabinet Office.

Commissions and Omissions

When the British magazine Private Eye reported on the issue in 1987, the death toll of haemophiliacs stood at 23 but the Tory Government, despite repeated warnings, continued to use imported blood from skid row donors. The magazine points out that there are 2,000 surviving haemophiliacs whose lives have been ruined by the Government’s failure to fund the production of safe blood-clotting products in the UK. In early 2000, safe but more expensive synthetic clotting agents were made available for children but not adults. Some adults found that they had been given products that may contain the fatal neurodegenerative variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease – remember mad cow disease?

Much was exposed by an inquiry led by Lord Archer (the former Solicitor General for England and Wales – not Jeffrey). This was a privately-funded independent inquiry set up in 2007 and concluded in 2009. Archer had campaigned for an inquiry with Lord Owen, who was the Labour Health Secretary from 1974 to 1976, Lord Jenkin, former Shadow Health Secretary, and others. The inquiry had no legal status and could not subpoena witnesses or demand the disclosure of documents. It did address the issue of missing evidence and documents relating to the scandal. For example, the ministerial papers of Lord Owen had been destroyed.

‘We have been unable to ascertain who carried out the destruction of the papers, and who gave the instructions. But the conclusion appears inescapable that some official made a decision which he or she had no authority to make, or that someone was guilty of a serious error of judgment. The consequence is that Lord Owen has done his best to recollect details of events a quarter of a century ago, but both he, and we, have been deprived of the primary sources.’

The current Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, claimed that the Government could be ‘proud of our record in support of those who suffered from this injustice to date, both financially and in the search for truth’. To add further insult to the many injuries already inflicted, Hunt announced that proposed increases in payments to those with HIV and advanced hep C or both would be cut to better help those with first stage chronic hep C – robbing one set of victims to help another.

Richard Titmuss, British social researcher and teacher, published The Gift Relationship in 1970. He compared blood donations in Britain (entirely voluntary) and the US (some bought and sold). Titmuss’ conclusions concerned the quality of communities where people are encouraged to give to strangers. When blood becomes a commodity, he argued, its quality is corrupted (American blood was four times more likely to infect recipients with hepatitis than was British blood). Titmuss helped preserve the National Blood Service from Thatcherite privatisation.

Privatisation and Outsourcing

Titmuss wrote about the value of altruism, reciprocity and social duty symbolised by donating blood free of chargein order to benefit the sick. I worked in the Department of Health in the late 1980s and early 1990s when the so-called ‘reforms’ were introduced in order to impose market considerations on the care of the sick.

Under Labour and Conservative Governments, this had brought about a corrosive commercialisation.

Harvard Philosopher Michael J Sandel has written a stimulating book entitled What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets.

Sandel’s argument is that markets and finance are taking over everything and in the process, are creating a moral vacuum. It is interesting to see that with Vision 2025, the UNP is still trying to drag Sri Lanka along with the delusion that privatisation and outsourcing are the panaceas for all evils despite all evidence to the contrary. The launch of V2025, the blueprint for the future of a ‘rich Sri Lanka’ at BMICH gave an opportunity for old clichés to be trotted out. The President and the Prime Minister said that in Sri Lanka Finance Management was poor; perception of corruption was high, infrastructure inadequate; many laws were outdated and institutions were weak. ‘Reforms are needed on all these fronts and we must revitalise both governance and economic management.’ Privatisation and public private finance initiatives will solve all Sri Lanka’s problems apparently. This conveniently ignores the fact that privatisation and deregulation give license to corruption. The railway system in the UK is an utter shambles as a result of privatisation. So is the water ‘industry’. Many questioned whether it was morally justifiable for a God-given basic commodity like water to be traded for profit. Will they buy and sell the air that we breathe? They would if they could. I will explore the morality of markets further next week using Professor Sandel’s book as my guide.

with Ravi Ladduwahetty Courtesy Ceylon Today

Indeed, Russia and the U.S. were allies during the two tragic conflicts of the two World Wars, which allows us to think there’s something objectively bringing us together in difficult times, and I think – I believe – it has to do with geopolitical interests and also has a moral component.

– Russian President Vladimir Putin

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphosˈ was the king of Ephyra (now known as Corinth). He was punished for his self-aggrandizing craftiness and deceitfulness by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it come back to hit him, repeating this action for eternity. Through the classical influence on modern culture, tasks that are both laborious and futile are therefore described as Sisyphean.

On the other hand, also in Greek mythology, Cerberus often called the hound of Hades, is the monstrous multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. Cerberus was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon, and usually is described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from parts of his body.Cerberus is primarily known for his capture by Heracles, one of Heracles’ twelve labourers.

The new world order

It is moot to note that most of the global issues and the bones of contention are of a Sisyphean nature and they are described as Sisyphean.

This is manifestly and patently clear in the case of the clarion call for global change. We have again gone to the bottom of the hill, again like Sisyphus, with the US opting out of the Paris Accord which was heavily lobbied for by the new French President Emmanuel Macron. Reaching global consensus on each of these matters which are of global importance, are Sisyphean by nature.

There are some countries which have already opted out, while some other countries stand firm on international standards regarding these global matters.

Take for instance, parameters in relation to integrating economies and global economic development. It is then that national interests come in. Otherwise, what else would explain BREXIT? England opted out of the European Union, as it felt that an unnecessary number of Europeans were moving in and out of her territory. So, here again , there were the national interests which came ahead of the global or at least regional interests, as was very evident, in this instance.

This is the Sisyphean task. Each time that the man was asked to throw the huge stone off the mountain, God Olympus ensured that the stone kept rolling back before the mountain. It was a never ending task for Sisyphus. That is evidenced by the candid examples which are seen in global geopolitics and global geo-economics of today. Whether it is climate change or whether it is disarmament or economic integration, global leaders agree on certain parameters, then they beg to disagree like the Paris Accord on Climate Change! States in our global community accept theories when the national interests match up to theregional or global interests, be they climate change, disarmament or economic integration as the case may be.

Take the case of the Paris Accord in 2000 where most Member States of the UN and others agreed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Now the United States President Donald Trump himself says that the US cannot agree to global standards! Then, there are other countries, which also state that they need more time for the interpretation of the conditions. Sri Lanka, as well as some other developing countries, has stated that they have not reached the level of operation of the developed countries, in this regard.

This includes India and China which is a manifestation of a pathetic situation. The so-called developed countries have come together which have had multiplier effects on the environment in different countries. These are not figments of imagination, but time will tell what serious impact climate change would have on the world.

Disarmament

The next topic would be disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation.

It is a good thing that the NPT or the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty has worked. There is the IAEA or the International Atomic Energy Authority Board of Governors also at work.

There is a clarion call from these global institutions that there should be no nuclear weapons.

But evidence shows that these very countries are continuing to increase their nuclear arsenal. It appears as if North Korea is continuing with their agendas while maintaining that they do not heed to the global call.

Global economic integration

Global economic integration is one of the best forms of enhancing per capita incomes and living standards of the world. In this instance, the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) is better than the most powerful economic power in the world which is the EU, which is seen crumbling with BREXIT. In sharp contrast, there is CARICOM and ASEAN which are seen as huge success stories.

However, Myanmar is seen to be ethnic cleansing and the movement is seen to be losing its respect. It is in this context that the CARICOM say they are better. When they tried to do the same ethnic cleansing, it is the Dominican Republic which tried to ostracize and take away the membership of Seychelles.

So, under these circumstances, the implementation of the new global order is a gargantuan Sisyphean task, and will never happen until and unless the global order and interests match with the national interests. It is then that we could see the proliferation of globalization. It will be then that Sisyphus will be able to throw the stone beyond the hill where God Olympus will not send it back.

As for Cerberus, the dog which was guarding the underworld, there is one thing that he was vulnerable to and that was good music and he would fall asleep to it, permitting the return of Orpheus’ wife from the dead.

Now we see the manifestation of this in global geopolitics. A sop (an euphemism for a bribe) to Cerberus in the form of music ! That is to the countries which protect their own interests. This is also manifest with the presence of the United States in the Indian Ocean, which is not for the protection of the Indian Ocean and its border countries, per se, but to mitigate China’s presence in the Indian Ocean! What a tangled web we weave!

This columnist could be contacted on ravi.ladduwahetty@ceylontoday.lk

by SANJA DE SILVA JAYATILLEKA Courtesy The Island  

[The writer is author of ‘MISSION IMPOSSIBLE-GENEVA: Sri Lanka’s Counter-Hegemonic Asymmetric Diplomacy at the UN Human Rights Council’, published by Vijitha Yapa and now available at the International Book Fair, BMICH.]

September 14, 2017, 9:21 pm

The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance is to be voted on in Parliament on the 21st of this month. Just 6 days away.

The Convention came into force on the 23rd December 2010. So far, of the 193 member states of the United Nations, only 57 countries have become State Parties by ratifying it. State Parties have voluntarily undertaken to be bound by its provisions.  Sri Lanka became a State Party on the 26th of May 2016. Just over a year ago.

Of cardinal significance is that the UK and the US have not become State Parties. When Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty’s Government whether it intends to sign the bill, Lord Triesman, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) had this to say:

Protest against wartime disappearances

“The Government needs to conduct a detailed analysis of the provisions of the treaty and their implications for implementation in order to determine the UK’s position towards ratification, including whether we would need to make any reservations. The UK did not sign the convention at the signing ceremony in Paris on 6 February because the UK does not sign international treaties unless it has a firm intention to ratify within a reasonable time frame. We understand that 57 states, including 10 member states of the European Union, have so far signed the convention…”

As for the US, this is how it went at the Daily Press Briefings, with Sean McCormack, saying on 7th February 2007 in Washington DC:

“QUESTION: Did you notice that 57 countries signed a treaty today that would basically bar governments from holding secret detainees and the U.S. did not join?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah. This is — I understand that there is a Convention for the Protection of All Persons and Enforced Disappearances. And I know — I have some information on it here, George. I confess I don’t have all the details. I do know that we participated in all the meetings that produced the draft. Beyond that, I can’t give you specific reasons here from the podium as to why we didn’t sign on to it. We’ve put out a public document that I can give you the citation for afterwards and it explains our reasons for not participating in the draft. But I think just as a general comment, clearly the draft that was put up for a vote or put for signature was not one that met our needs and expectations.”

And yet, Sri Lanka’s Yahapalana government which looks to those two countries for guidance, signed up for it. Some of the other countries which signed up, declared certain reservations at the time of signing which are included with their signature. For instance, Cuba has the following declaration:

“Declaration:  The Republic of Cuba hereby declares, in accordance with article 42, paragraph 2, that it does not consider itself obliged to refer its disputes to the International Court of Justice, as provided for in paragraph 1 of the same article.”

Morocco, Ukraine and Venezuela did the same. Sri Lanka, however, did not.

Consider the following in Article 13.4:

“If a State Party which makes extradition conditional on the existence of a treaty receives a request for extradition from another State Party with which it has no extradition treaty, it may consider this Convention as the necessary legal basis for extradition in respect of the offence of enforced disappearance.”

From what I understand, this means that in the case of Sri Lanka, even if we don’t have an extradition treaty with another State Party, if they request the extradition of, say, General Jagath Jayasuriya to Brazil (which by the way is a State Party), we have to oblige!

Isn’t that why this government is gagging to ratify this treaty? If it wasn’t, wouldn’t it have made a declaration that gave it a way out?

The only declaration Sri Lanka did make at the time of signing is to strengthen the role of the committee:

“Declaration under article 32: “… the Government [of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka] wishes to declare as per Article 32 of the Convention that it recognizes the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications in which a State Party claims that another State Party is not fulfilling its obligations under this Convention”.

This was despite the fact that article 32 goes on to say:

“The Committee shall not receive communications concerning a State Party which has not made such a declaration, nor communications from a State Party which has not made such a declaration.”

This makes it seem like Sri Lanka, in May 2016, wanted very much to avail itself of every opportunity to use this convention fully!

Even if it claims good faith, it is incumbent on a government to ensure that the country’s security as a state is not jeopardized when it signs international treaties. One has only to recall the Darusman report with its extravagant claims, to be alerted to the dangers of a distorted narrative skillfully mainstreamed by a separatist Diaspora which was able to co-opt even eminent international lawyers to underwrite its claims.

The claims in Brazil by a civil society group which calls for the extradition of General Jagath Jayasuriya is only the canary in the mineshaft.

The inordinate hurry to bring this Convention for a vote in parliament at this time, when most members are seized with the far more important work of the Constitution, only exposes this government’s bad faith in trying to slip it in without due consideration of the national interest, and without granting adequate time for the parliament (i.e. the people’s elected representatives) to study it and make the necessary amendments to it.

Reading Sir Desmond de Silva QC’s riveting book, ‘Madam Where Are Your Mangoes?’ where he recounts his experiences as the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone which indicted Charles Taylor, the President of Liberia, an evil character by all accounts, it is clear that the international criminal justice system has many ways to bring wrongdoers to justice. Sir Desmond’s Diary record for the 10th of March 2003 reads: “HMS Iron Duke is at anchor off Lumley Beach. Her 4.5 inch guns with a range of twenty two kilometers are trained on Freetown…”  Freetown is where the Special Court was located.  It continues: “C company of the Royal Gurkhas is conducting a set piece firepower demonstration…They will use antitank guided missile and medium range mortars… The projection of power is…a signal that any attempt to interfere with arrests to be carried out, or any attempt to come to the aid of the indicted War criminals will be met with force.”

In President Charles Taylor’s case, despite the African continent’s reluctance to hand him over, ways were found to persuade Nigeria to do the deed. The Appeals Chamber gave a judgment in this case that read: “The principle seems now established that the sovereign equality of states does not prevent the head of state from being prosecuted before an international tribunal or court.”

People such as Charles Taylor needed to be stopped since he sounds like he’d lost his mind— the crimes ascribed to him are utterly heinous. However Sri Lanka at this moment in history is facing a false narrative about its war against an ethnic separatist militia employing terrorism, including suicide bombing, as its weapon of choice. The anti-war, anti-Sri Lanka lobby has been able to win the sympathy of the powerful Western countries, even though this narrative conspicuously failed to win a vote at the UN Human Rights Council in 2009. Before the goodwill gained by that effort could be consolidated to firmly establish a fair account of the war against the LTTE, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador was recalled by the government of the day. Since then, the approach of that Sri Lankan government saw many resolutions censoring it, urging it to prosecute those alleged of War Crimes. It is during this time that we saw the Darusman report present a biased view, which the government of the day never countered! It is now like the gold standard of accounts against Sri Lanka and is quoted in every book and article on the subject.

Just as one thought it couldn’t get worse, the successor government was only too eager to co-sponsor resolutions of similar or worse claims.  And now we have this Convention on Disappearances about to be presented in parliament.

As the book Travesty by John Laughland shows, in the case of the International Court of Justice for Former Yugoslavia, in the West’s eagerness to prosecute, this court was illegally constituted and its judgments found wanting. Some who have been prosecuted have been exonerated, but too late, for they died while incarcerated.

In this context, it seems unethical and a crass political expediency for the government to bring this bill to parliament on the 21st of this month, sandwiched between the 20th amendment (Sept 20th) and the tabling of the consolidated Steering Committee report on the Constitution (Sept 22nd).

If the really existing Opposition is unable to successfully appeal for postponement, they should at least attempt to include reservations by way of amendments. It may be unusual procedure since we have already signed the convention. But since the convention itself allows amendments to it with the support of two thirds of the state parties, I don’t see why a parliament which was not consulted when the convention was signed by the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry, should meekly accede to it without proper consideration of our national interest. It is for this purpose that we have sent our representatives to parliament. The least they can do is to declare its opposition and enter its reservations into the ratification to properly reflect the position of the people of this country.

At least some of us citizens don’t want this government to use this convention to eliminate the competition that it clearly cannot overcome at an election.

 [The writer is author of ‘MISSION IMPOSSIBLE-GENEVA: Sri Lanka’s Counter-Hegemonic Asymmetric Diplomacy at the UN Human Rights Council’, published by Vijitha Yapa and now available at the International Book Fair, BMICH.]

Editorial Courtesy The Island

September 14, 2017, 9:20 pm
The central expressway project is riddled with corruption, the JVP tells us. We don’t intend to question the veracity of the Rathu Sahodarayas’ claim because they are quite au fait with the affairs of the present government as one of the yahapalana allies. It may be recalled that they were represented on the National Executive Council, which was formed after the defeat of the previous administration, to usher in good governance among other things! What one gathers from the questions they raise in Parliament is that they are privy to the findings of the special investigative units, established by the present government to probe corruption under the Rajapaksa government. Never has the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government called into question the accuracy of information the JVP comes out with in Parliament about corruption; instead, it promptly acts thereon to pillory its political enemies before having them arrested. So, there is no way the government can claim that the JVP has got it wrong only where the central highway issue is concerned.

One of the main allegations the UNP used to turn public opinion against the Rajapaksa government and engineer the 2015 regime change was corruption in the expressway projects. Curiously, the yahapalana government has not had the questionable highway deals under the previous dispensation investigated. It owes an explanation. There has been a role reversal with the Rajapaksa loyalists in the Joint Opposition (JO) now making the same allegation against the yahapalana leaders. The JVP has been demanding to know whether the central expressway will be made of gold, given its massive cost.

The successful anti-corruption campaign launched by the UNP and its yahapalana chums including the JVP caused the Rajapaksa government to lose elections. The present administration is not holding elections for fear of losing them!

Chairman of the Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna Prof. G. L. Peiris, too, has told the media that the government has, paying no heed to Technical Evaluation Committee recommendations, decided to award the contract for building the Central Expressway to some Japanese companies in a questionable manner and the country will suffer a huge loss.

True, corrupt deals under the previous government stank to high heaven and the JO heavyweights did their damnedest to defend them albeit in vain and vilified the anti-corruption activists including the then Opposition members. But, that should not be a reason for the incumbent government to ignore the serious allegations of corruption against its own members.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament the other day that the present government had been able to slash the cost of the central expressway project considerably. If so, there is no need for the government to fear a probe. The general consensus is that the previous government launched mega development projects unlike the present dispensation, but there were massive cost overruns like that of the Uma Oya project and corruption was rampant. The present administration undertook to conduct investigations thereinto and bring those who had lined their pockets at the expense of the public to justice. But, it has not made good on that pledge. Is it because, after being ensconced in power, it has found that ‘the streets are paved with gold’ and does not want to order probes lest they should not be able to benefit from kickbacks?

Let President Maithripala Sirisena be urged to order an investigation into the central expressway project issue.

Meanwhile, Japan promptly responded to Sri Lanka’s distress call when the Meethotamulla garbage dump collapsed in April this year. It rushed in a team of experts here to carry out an investigation and submit a report. It has to act equally fast as regards the very serious allegations against some of its companies which have been named by the Opposition, and get to the bottom of it.

By Shyam Nuwan Ganewatta and Sarath Dharmasena

Senior Additional Solicitor General Dappula de Livera PC the chief counsel of the Attorney General’s Department before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the treasury bond scam yesterday said that he could not agree with the Commission’s decision not to compel the owner of Perpetual Treasuries Ltd Arjuna Aloysius to give evidence before the commission.

“We do not agree with the Commission’s decision not to compel Aloysius to give evidence. I have explained the necessity of obtaining a statement from Arjun Aloysius. This decision overlooking the matters presented before the Commission is an arbitrary one,” Livera PC said.

Livera PC said that he was stating the opinion of the Attorney General on the issue.

The Senior Additional Solicitor General said that he would not make any further statements on the issue and the future course of action with regard to the matter would be decided after a discussion with the Attorney General and that would be conveyed to the Commission.

The Senior Additional Solicitor General said so following a statement made before the Commission by Gamini Marapana appearing for Arjun Aloysius.

When the Commission resumed sittings yesterday, the Chairman of the Commission Supreme Court Judge KT Chitrasiri queried from Marapana whether the latter’s client would give evidence before the Commission or not and what was his standpoint over the matter.

Marapana: There is no change in the decision we had made in this regard. Arjuna Aloysius would not give evidence before the Commission. He does not want to give evidence before the Commission.

The Commission had summoned Aloysius to give him an opportunity to state his version with regard to some issues that transpired at the sessions, Marapana said adding that his client however changed his mind and decided not to give evidence after considering the advise given by him.

Marapana PC said that he appreciated the latest decision by the Commission not to compel Aloysius to appear before the Commission. Marapana said that the Commission’s ruling was exemplary and the landmark ruling would be very useful for lawyers and judges in the future.

 lanka C news

අර්ජුන් ඇලෝසියස් දන්නා සියල්ල හෙලි කලොත් බැදුම්කරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් බොහෝ දේ එලියට එනු ඇති බවත් මෙම වංචාවේ මහ මොලකරු පමණක් නොව පොදු අපේක්‍ෂකයා දිනවීම සදහා කටයුතු කල අය ගැනද තොරතුරැ හෙලිවනු ඇති බව ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණු නායක විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා පවසයි.

තමන්ගෙන් ප‍්‍රශ්න කරන්න ගත්තොත් තමන් ඒවා හෙලි කරන බවට අර්ජුන් ඇලෝසියස් තර්ජනය කරමින් සිටින බවද මන්ත‍්‍රීවරයා සදහන් කලේ එම පක්‍ෂ මූලස්ථානයේ පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදීය.

අනුරුද්ධ බණ්ඩාර රණවාරණ මාධ්‍ය ලේකම් ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණ

මැතිවරණ සිතියම හකුළන 20 වැනි ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයට පක්‍ෂව අත ඔසවා පසුව මැතිවරණයක් ළං වී විපක්‍ෂයේ අසුන් ගැනීම කිසිදු ඵලක් නැති බවත් හැකි නම් එම සංශෝධනයට විරුද්ධව ඡන්දය ප්‍රකාශ කර පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ විපක්‍ෂයේ අසුන් ගන්නා ලෙසත් බුලත් කොළය ලකුණින් තරඟ වැද ජයගත් ශ්‍රීලනිපයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්, නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන්, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් හා කැබිනට් අමාත්‍යවරුන් වෙතින් ඉල්ලා සිටින බව ජානිපෙ නායක විමල් වීරවංශ මහතා පැවසීය.

ජනිත සෙනෙවිරත්න උපුටා ගැන්ම දිවයින

ආණ්‌ඩුව මේ වන විට විවිධ පාර්ශව ගණනාවක්‌ සමඟ ගැටලු නිර්මාණය කරගෙන ඇති අතර තවදුරටත් දිනෙන් දින එය වර්ධනය වෙමින් පවතී. විශේෂයෙන්ම මහා සංඝරත්නය ඉලක්‌ක කරගෙන මහා සංඝරත්නයට අපහාස කරමින් ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ ප්‍රකාශ නිකුත් කරන්නට ඇතැම් ඇමැතිවරු කටයුතු කිරීම රට තුළ මහත් ආන්දෝලනයට හේතුවී තිබේ.

මුලින්ම මහා සංඝරත්නය වෙත ආණ්‌ඩුවේ ප්‍රබලයකු වන සරත් ෙµdන්සේකා අපහාස කළේය. පූජ්‍ය ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ නාහිමියන්ට ඉතාම මෑතකදී පිස්‌සු චීවරධාරියා යෑයි බැණ වැදුණේය. ඇමැති සරත් ෙµdන්සේකා ඉන් අනතුරුව භික්‌ෂුන් වහන්සේලා ඉලක්‌ක කරමින් බරපතළ ප්‍රකාශයක්‌ සිදු කළේය. භික්‌ෂුන් වහන්සේලා දානේ වළඳනවාට වඩා මහින්දගේ බඩගෝස්‌තරවාදයෙන් යෑපුණ අය බවට ඔහු චෝදනා කළේය.

ඉන්පසුව නියෝජ්‍ය ඇමැති රන්ජන් රාමනායක විසින් භික්‌ෂුන් වහන්සේලාට දැඩි ලෙස අපහාස කරන ලදී.

රටේ ජනගහනයෙන් සියයට හැත්තෑපහක්‌ පමණ බෞද්ධයන් සිටින රටක මෙලෙස බෞද්ධ භික්‌ෂුන් වහන්සේලාට අපහාස කිරීම බරපතළ කාරණයක්‌ වුවද එක්‌සත් ජාතික පක්‌ෂය විසින් දේශපාලන පක්‌ෂයක්‌ ලෙස ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් කිසිවක්‌ සිදු නොකිරීම කැපී පෙනේ.

දඹුලු විහාරයේ ප්‍රශ්නය, කන්දෙ විහාරයේ පිංකැට ප්‍රශ්නය ආදී අතිශය සංවේදී ආගමික ස්‌ථානවලට වර්තමාන රජය යටතේ එල්ල වූ බලපෑම් මෙහිදී අමතක කළ නොහැක.

මේ සියලු කටයුතු සිදු වන්නේ රටටම හොරෙන් කෙටුම්පත් කරන ලද නව ආණ්‌ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්‌ථාව ඉක්‌මනින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නට සැරසෙන මොහොතකය.

නව ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවක්‌ සඳහා පත්කර ඇති පාර්ලිමේන්තු මෙහෙයුම් කමිටුවෙහි අවසන් වාර්තාව ඉදිරි සති තුන හතරක කාලය තුළදී පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කර දින කිහිපයක්‌ ඇතුළත එය සම්මත කර ගැනීමට රජයේ උත්සාහය බව දැනගන්නට තිබේ.

ඉන් අනතුරුව අවසන් ව්‍යවස්‌ථා කෙටුම්පත සැකසීමටද අදහස්‌ කර සිටින අතර එයද පාර්ලිමේන්තුවෙන් සම්මත කිරීමෙන් පසුව නොවැම්බර් මාසයේ දී ඒ සඳහා ජනමත විචාරණයක්‌ පැවැත්වීම රජයේ අරමුණයි.

ඒ අනුව පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණයට පෙර ජනමත විචාරණය පැවැත්වීමට බොහෝ දුරට ඉඩ ඇති බව සඳහන්ය.

මේ නව ව්‍යවස්‌ථාව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ගෙන ඒමේ කතාව කරළියට එන්නට පෙර අධිකරණ ඇමැති විජයදාස රාජපක්‌ෂ මහතා හදිසියේම තනතුරින් ඉවත් කිරීම සිදු වූයේ විදුලි වේගයෙනි. රටේ තීරණාත්මක අවස්‌ථාවල රටත්, ජාතියත්, ආගමත් වෙනුවෙන් සටනට එන මහා සංඝරත්නය මේ රට බෙදන ෙµඩරල් ව්‍යවස්‌ථාව ගෙන එන මොහොතේ නිහඬ කරවීම මේ ඇමැතිවරුන් ලවා මහා සංඝරත්නයට අපහාස කිරීමේ අරමුණ දැයි සිතෙන තරමට තත්ත්වය බරපතළය.

බෞද්ධාගම රට, ජාතිය ආරක්‌ෂා කරන බවට සපථ කළ ආණ්‌ඩුවේ හවුල්කාර පක්‌ෂයක්‌ වන ජාතික හෙළ උරුමය මෙවැනි තත්ත්වයන් හමුවේ මුනිවත රකී. එදා බෞද්ධ රාජ්‍යයක්‌ කරා යන බව කී ජාතික හෙළ උරුමයේ වර්තමානයේ සම සභාපති හා නියෝජ්‍ය ඇමැති කරුණාරත්න පරණවිතාන අද කියන්නේ වනාන්තරවල සිටින වල් අලින් අල්ලා පිටරටට විකුණා දැමිය යුතු බවත්, ඌරන්, රිළවුන් ඝාතනයට අවසර දී ඇත්නම් ඔවුන්ගේ මස්‌ විකිණීමටද අවසර දිය යුතු බවයි. රාජ්‍ය බලය හමුවේ මේ අයට සියල්ල අමතකව තිබීම පුදුම සහගතය.

විසිවැනි ආණ්‌ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්‌ථා සංශෝධනය පළාත් සභාවල සම්මත කරගන්නා ආකාරය අනුව ඉදිරියේ දී නව ආණ්‌ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්‌ථාවද සම්මත කරගන්නට බලහත්කාරය භාවිත වේදැයි සැක මතුවී තිබේ. මේ සියලු සංශෝධන ගෙන ඒමේදී රට, ජාතිය, ආගම ගැන සිතා හෘද සාක්‌ෂියට අනුව කටයුතු කරන්නට පාලකයන් කටයුතු කළ යුතුය.

සිල් රෙදි නඩුව සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිර දඬුවම් ලැබ සිටින හිටපු ජනාධිපති ලේකම් ලලිත් වීරතුංග හා විදුලි සංදේශ නියාමන කොමිසමේ හිටපු අධ්‍යක්‌ෂ ජනරාල් අනූෂ පැල්පිට යන මහත්වරු කොළඹ මහාධිකරණය හමුවේ ඇප අයෑදුම් කරමින් අභියාචනයක්‌ ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබේ.

ඒ අනුව මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් නීතිපතිට හා පොලිස්‌ මූල්‍ය අපරාධ කොට්‌ඨාසයේ අධ්‍යක්‌ෂවරයාට ලබන 20 වැනිදා අධිකරණය හමුවේ පෙනී සිටින ලෙස කොළඹ මහාධිකරණ විනිසුරු ගිහාන් කුලතුංග මහතා නියම කළේය.

මේ අතර හිටපු ජනාධිපති ලේකම් ලලිත් වීරතුංග සහ විදුලි සංදේශ නියාමන කොමිෂන් සභාවේ හිටපු අධ්‍යක්‌ෂ අනූෂ පැල්පිට මහත්වරුන් වෙනුවෙන් අධිකරණයෙන් නියම කළ වන්දිය ගෙවීමට මැදිහත්වීමට ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‌ෂය සූදානම් වෙයි.

ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‌ෂය නියෝජනය කරන පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරයකුගෙන් රුපියල් ලක්‌ෂයක මුදලක්‌ද, ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‌ෂයේ පළාත් සභා මන්ත්‍රීවරයකුගෙන් රුපියල් පනස්‌ දහසක්‌ද, පළාත් පාලන ආයතන සභිකයකුගෙන් රුපියල් 25,000 ක මුදලක්‌ද එකතු කිරීමට නියමිතය. පරිත්‍යාගශීලින්ගෙන්ද ඒ සඳහා මුදල් ලබා ගැනීමට අපේක්‍ෂා කෙරේ.

සිල් සමාදන් වන බෞද්ධ උපාසක උපාසිකාවන්ට සිල් රෙදි ලබාදිය යුතු බවට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සම්බුද්ධ ජයන්ති මහෝත්සවය සඳහා පත්කළ රාජ්‍ය කමිටුව නිර්දේශයක්‌ අනුව සිල් රෙදි ලබාදීම සිදුව ඇතැයි ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්‌ෂයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පසුගියදා ප්‍රකාශ කළේය. ඒ අනුව හිටපු ජනාධිපතිවරයා එම නියෝගය දී ඇති බවද ඒ මහතා පැවසීය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය එක්‌සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලයට ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලද යෝජනාවේ නිර්දේශ කඩිනමින් ඉටු කිරීම සඳහා නිශ්චිත හා පැහැදිලි කාල රාමුවක්‌ සහ යාන්ත්‍රණයක්‌ ස්‌ථාපිත කළ යුතු යෑයි එක්‌සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලයේ මහ කොමසාරිස්‌ සෙයිද් රාද් අල් හුසේන් මහතා ස්‌විට්‌සර්ලන්තයේ ජිනීවා නුවරදී පසුගියදා ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබේ.

දැනට පවතින ත්‍රස්‌තවාදය පිටුදැකීමේ පනත වෙනුවට ජාත්‍යන්තර මානව හිමිකම් ප්‍රමිති හා තත්ත්ව වලට අනුකූලව නව පනතක්‌ ගෙන එන්නැයි ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජයට නැවත වරක්‌ දැනුම් දෙන බවද එක්‌සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් පිළිබඳ මහ කොමසාරිස්‌වරයා පැවැසීය.

‘අතුරුදන්වූවන් පිළිබඳ සෙවීමේ කාර්යාලයේ කටයුතු කඩිනමින් ආරම්භ කළ යුතුයි. එමෙන්ම හමුදාව යටතේ තිබෙන ඉඩම් මුදා හැරීම ඇතුළු විශ්වාසය ගොඩනැඟීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය පියවර කඩිනමින් ගත යුතු බවද ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජයට අවධාරණය කරනවා. දීර්ඝ කාලයක්‌ තිස්‌සේ ත්‍රස්‌තවාදය පිටුදැකීමේ පනත යටතේ තිබෙන නඩු කටයුතු ආදිය කඩිනමින් විසඳීමට කටයුතු කළ යුතු බව ද සිහිපත් කරනවා. එමෙන්ම ජාත්‍යන්තර මානව හිමිකම් ප්‍රඥප්තීන්වලට අනුව දැනට තිබෙන පනත වෙනුවට නව පනතක්‌ ගෙන ආ යුතු බව නැවත වරක්‌ ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජයට සිහිපත් කළ යුතුයි. උතුරේ පීඩිතයන්ගේ විරෝධතාවලින් ප්‍රතිසංස්‌කරණ සිදුවන්නේ මන්දගාමීව බව පෙනී යනවා. එක්‌සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලයට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සම අනුග්‍රහය යටතේ ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලද යෝජනාවේ නිර්දේශ කඩිනමින් ඉටු කිරීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය පියවර ගත යුතුයි’. එම නිර්දේශ සහ අනෙකුත් ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ඉටු කිරීම සඳහා නිශ්චිත හා පැහැදිලි කාලරාමුවක්‌ සහ යාන්ත්‍රණයක්‌ ස්‌ථාපිත කළ යුතු යෑයිද ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස්‌ දක්‌වමින් මානව හිමිකම් මහ කොමසාරිස්‌ සෙයිද් රාද් අල් හුසේන් මහතා පවසා තිබේ.

එක්‌සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය, ඇමරිකා එක්‌සත් ජනපදය හා යුරෝපා රටවල්වලට අනුව අපේ රට පලනය කරන්නට ඉඩ දෙනවාද යන්න පාලකයන් විසින් තීරණය කළ යුතුය. මේ ආකාරයට අපේ රටේ අභ්‍යන්තර ප්‍රශ්නවලට මැදිහත් වන්නට මොවුන්ට ඉඩදිය යුතුද යන්න රටේ ජනතාව තීරණය කළ යුතුය. යුරෝපා සංගමය ජී.එස්‌.පී. ප්ලස්‌ පෙන්වමින් ත්‍රස්‌තවාදය වැළැක්‌වීමේ පනත අහෝසි කිරීම, ජනාධිපතිවරයා සතු හදිසි අවස්‌ථා නියෝග, අත්‍යවශ්‍ය සේවා නියෝග පැනවීමේ බලය අහෝසි කිරීම, සමලිංගික විවාහ සිදු කිරීමට නීතිමය ඉඩකඩ හදාදීම, ෙµඩරල් ව්‍යවස්‌ථාව සැකසීමේ ක්‍රියාදාමය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නීති පද්ධතිය වෙනස්‌ කිරීම සඳහා බලපෑම් කරමින් සිටී.

දක්‍ෂිණ හා කටුනායක – කොළඹ අධිවේගී මාර්ගයන් විදෙස්‌ සමාගමකට බදු දීමට සාකච්ඡා පැවැත්වෙමින් තිබේ. මෙම අධිවේගී මාර්ග වසර 15 කට හෝ 20 කට බදු දී මුදල් එකවර ලබා ගැනීමට නියමිතය.

මේ අතර ලංකා ඛනිජ තෙල් සංස්‌ථාව සතු ඉන්ධන පිරවුම්හල් චීනයට ලබාදීමට නියමිතය.

රජය යටතේ තබා ගනිමින් ලාභ ඉපයිය හැකි ව්‍යාපාර මේ ආකාරයට පිටරටට විකුණන්නේ කවර හේතුවකට දැයි අපට නම් නොතේරේ. වසර පහකට බලයට පැමිණි මේ ආණ්‌ඩුවට රටේ සම්පත් මේ ආකාරයට විකුණා දමන්නට කිසිදු සදාචාරාත්මක අයිතියක්‌ නොමැත. මේ ආකාරයට විකුණා දමන දේ අනාගතයේ බිහිවන වෙනත් රජයක්‌ යටතේ යළිත් ජනසතු කළ යුතු අතරම මෙලෙස ජනතාව සතු ජාතික දේපළ යළිත් විකුණා දමන්නට නොහැකි වන ආකාරයට නව නීති රීතිද ගෙන ආ යුතුය.

සයිටම් ප්‍රශ්නය යළිත් බරපතළ තැනකට පැමිණ තිබේ. යළිත් වරක්‌ වෛද්‍ය වර්ජන ආරම්භ වී තිබේ. එය ඉදිරියේ දී තවදුරටත් වර්ධනය වනු ඇත. උග්‍ර ණය උගුලකට සිරවී සිටින නෙවිල් ප්‍රනාන්දු රෝහල රාජ්‍ය බැංකුවකට සින්න වීමට ආසන්න අවස්‌ථාවේ රජය මැදිහත් වී එම රෝහල බේරාගෙන ඇතැයි දූෂණ විරෝධී හඬ සංවිධානයද පසුගියදා චෝදනා කළේය. මේවාට විරුද්ධව ජනතාව අධිකරණයට යා යුතුය.

මේ හේතුවෙන් සෑම මසකටම රුපියල් මිලියන 25 බැගින් වසර 10 ක කාලයක්‌ සඳහා රුපියල් මිලියන 3000 ක මුදලක්‌ ගෙවීමට රජයට සිදුව තිබේ. මේ පසුපස ඇති කතාව රටට හෙළිකළ යුතුව තිබේ. මේ ප්‍රශ්නය නිසා රජයේ වෛද්‍ය විද්‍යාලවල වෛද්‍ය උපාධි අපේක්‌ෂකයන් හයදහස්‌ පන්සියයක්‌ මාස හතක කාලයක්‌ තිස්‌සේ අධ්‍යාපනය අහිමිව සිටිති. ආණ්‌ඩුවේ හිතුවක්‌කාර ඇමැතිවරුන්ගේ වහසි බස්‌ නවතා මේ ප්‍රශ්නයට සාධාරණ විසඳුමක්‌ ලබාදිය යුතුය.

ජීවන වියදම අහස උසට නැඟ තිබේ. සහල් කිලෝව රුපියල් 100 – 120 – 150 – 170 අතරය. පොල් ගෙඩිය රුපියල් 90 – 100 අතරය. අල හා බී ලූනු මිලද කිලෝව රුපියල් 160 – 180 අතරය. මෙලෙස ජීවන වියදම ඉහළ යැම සාමාන්‍ය ජනතාවට දරාගත නොහැක.

H. L. D. Mahindapala

In a drama never seen in the Westminster tradition, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had brazenly escorted his closest partner in cut-throat politics, Ravi Karunanayake, to the front benches of the House on the day the latter was forced to announce his resignation because of his involvement in the biggest financial scandal in the 70-year history of the Sri Lankan Parliament. Normally, the ruling elite would for the sake of self-preservation take prudent and cautious steps to dissociate itself from an accused party facing multi-million dollar scandals. This is an obvious necessity because any association with the accused party casts doubts on the credibility, integrity, viability and, most of all, the morality of the entire government. The government, therefore, keeps a healthy distance to make at least a pretense of having nothing to do with the accused party who is left to twist in the wind from the nearest hanging tree by the self-proclaimed moral majority.

A prime minister may, out of personal loyalty extend his backing privately but never in public. The moral backlash would be suicidal to any leader in the Westminster model if he decides to embrace publicly those who are tainted with corruption. But kicking all moral considerations and public opinion aside the Prime Minister, in a bizarre turn of events, escorted Ravi Karunanayake to his ministerial seat. Why did he go out of his way to assist his Assistant Leader? What message does this act convey to the public? Doesn’t this leave the unambiguous impression that the Prime Minister is hand in glove with the accused?  Or is the PM openly saying that there is no need for Karunanayake to worry now as he will be brought back to the front bench after the heat cools down later? Either way, it indicates that Wickremesinghe is, directly or indirectly, linked to the dealings that led to the resignation of Karunanayake.

The Prime Minister is a veteran parliamentarian, and a lawyer to boot, who should know, after all his years of experience in the Westminster system, that escorting corruption to one of the highest seats in Parliament reflects the lowest perversion of a kakocracy and not the highest values of a democracy. His act of enthroning corruption distorts and devalues the moral power of the fundamental principles of parliamentary practices and procedures needed for good governance.  Most of all, it is a reprehensible act that questions his integrity. Isn’t his failure to maintain the basic principles the primary cause for the dysfunctional state of Yahapalanaya today? On which side of political morality can he be when he escorts corruption and enthrones it in a ministerial seat in Parliament, eh?

As they say, fish begins to rot from the head and there is no doubt in the public mind that the major issues that are dragging the Yahapalanaya regime into incremental loss of public confidence have originated from the desk of Wickremesinghe. From day one of the Yahapalanaya regime the President put the responsibilities of initiating, implementing, policing (FCID) and the monitoring of major state affairs on Wickremesinghe’s shoulders. It was a huge responsibility going beyond the role of holding a seat in the Prime Minister’s office. His role was to be the moral arbiter steering the state into a new moral order. In short, the responsibilities were showered on him with the expectation of processing policies and programs through clean channels to achieve the highest moral standards promised in the Yahapalanaya manifesto. .

The promised venna-suck (pronunciation : when-a-suck, meaning change/difference) in the Yahapalanaya regime was to achieve a squeaky clean administration. In fact, Yahapalanaya was born out of the need for a higher morality and its fundamental task was to act within unimpeachable parameters of political conduct. Clearly, the mandate given to Ranil (Mr. Clean”) Wickremesinghe on January 8, 2015, was to give moral leadership. The most appealing promise given to the electorate was to lift the nation from the depths of the moral morass into which it has fallen. Not only that, it promised to place the state on the Himalayan heights of purity.

The political capital they earned on January 8, 2015 was mainly to implement this promise. The crisis that is facing the government today is because Wickremesinghe, the CEO of the Yahapalanaya regime, has failed in his duty to give moral leadership. His failure is totally unacceptable. For instance, on January 9, 2015 he was sworn in as Prime Minister. And the rot began in February 2015 – less than a month after he became Prime Minister — with Wickremesinghe importing the head of the Central Bank (CB) from Singapore, Arjuna Mahendran. Apart from being Wickremesinghe’s willing lackey, Mahendran is a highly overrated spinner of bogus theories that impressed the new fixer of the Yahapalanaya regime.

Mahendran walked into the Central Bank making it known to all and sundry that Wickremesinghe was his Uncle”. Every other statement that fell from his big mouth began with the declaration : As Uncle Wickremesinghe told me….”  etc. In other words, he was out to impress the officers of the CB that he was not a mere bureaucratic functionary of the state. He wanted to make sure that his words came from the highest source of the land. And with that kind of Uncle-Nephew” relationship anyone going against his word would be challenging the words of his Uncle”. In fact, he is on record saying that it was Uncle Wickremesinghe” who authorized the bond auction. All this goes to prove W. Dahanayake’s famous description of the UNP as the Uncle-Nephew Party”. Mahendran took it one step further and made the Central Bank also into an Uncle-Nephew” enterprise.

This appointment has been the primary cause of the current crisis faced by the nation. It signifies Wickremesinghe’s inability to make the correct choices on any critical issue. It confirms that all his solutions, whether in politics or economics, have ended in disasters. It indicates that hasn’t a clue of either the nature of the crisis facing the nation or its solution. Each time he comes up with a kokatath-thailaya (cure all) it has ended in dragging the nation and himself into worse situations. His standard solution is to pass the buck by appointing committees – endless committees that ended like his career in absolutely nothing. His choice of Arjuna Mahendran marked the beginning of the end of Wickremesinghe.

He has not explained why he imported Mahendran when there were competent and experienced bankers at home who had worked their way up to the top. But for reasons best known to Wickremesinghe he handpicked the Singaporean.  Lo and behold, that appointment begat the Singaporean’s son-in-law, Arjun Aloysius. Who begat the bond scam. Which begat the Presidential commission. Which begat Ravi Karunanayake. Which begat his resignation.  All of which begat the crisis we are in. Which makes Wickremesinghe the father of the political crisis facing Yahapalanaya regime and, more importantly, the moral crisis arising from his abject failure to honour  his promises.

The stinking moral crisis that is flying off the fan is not what he promised. This is the anti-thesis of the venna-suck (difference) he promised to the people. The venna-suckers who rush to defend the PM will, no doubt, cite the failures of Mahinda Rajapakse, his immediate predecessor. This is their last resort to defend and polish the tainted image of a leader who promised the ideal state free from corruption.  Pointing the finger at his predecessor’s past sins is a cheap trick to deflect attention away from the current corrupt hole into which he has fallen. It is not a valid defense, not after promising a venna-suck. In any case, two wrongs do not add up to one right.

The venna-suckers should know by now that their leaders stridently promised not to repeat the missteps of their predecessor when they dangled the Yahapalanaya as the alternative to Mahinda Rajapakse. The change / difference can come only from a new moral order. That is what Wickremesinghe has to deliver if he is to save his neck. In the next election people will be asked to vote not on Mahinda Rajapakse’s mistakes but on Ranil Wickremesinghe’s promises. He promised to do better than his predecessors by ruling from the highest moral plane. Who can save him if he fails to deliver his promises?

The sum and substance of the manifesto of the Yahapalanaya was to run the state on incorruptible principles. Today he stands as the lily that festered smelling far worse than Meetotamulla. The disillusioned people feel that they have been taken for a ride by Wickremesinghe whose own rotten record has risen, in leaps and bounds, way above that of his predecessor. Today he stands out as the irredeemable venna-sucker who had betrayed the principles he promised to keep.

The people have already given their verdict on Mahinda Rajapakase in the last election. It is Wickremesinghe who is in the dock now. People will be asked to vote on Wickremesinghe’s record and not on Mahinda Rajapakse’s performance. But Wickremesinghe is lurching from crisis to crisis unable to get a grip on the accelerating speed with which he is going down the slippery slope. When his moral worth hits rock bottom, sooner or later, will it be difficult to guess the verdict of people at the next election?

It is against this background that he fronted up, with pomp and bravado, at the gallery of pictures designed to celebrate his four decades in politics. Truth to tell, the missing pictures in the gallery would have been more dramatic and revealing than his self-adulatory poses hung on the wall. (More of this later.)

I must confess that I haven’t seen the exhibition but, without doing so, I can confirm that the whole show must be as interesting as the used tissues floating in Wickremesinghe’s toilet before they are flushed out. What is there in his career to make him look like a worthy leader of a nation, really? A leader is defined by the achievements he has scored in facing the challenges of the time and not by the number of times he became the prime minister. Any objective survey of his career will conclude that he has failed the big tests that confronted him and the nation:

Test 1: The nation was desperately in need of moral purity and economic salvation. He was hailed as Mr. Clean” with a special gift for managing the economy and producing results. That fiction was nailed when the bond scandal – the biggest financial racket in the nation’s history – exposed him as a person of interest in the fraud. With the bond scandal his moral status has nose-dived like a plane without fuel. Besides, his role in the bond scandal stands out as another example where he has exhibited his extraordinary capacity to create crises more than solving them.

Test 2 : The overwhelming challenge  faced by the nation in the post-independent era was the North-South conflict. Leader after leader got stuck in the longest running war of Asia. Wickremesinghe’s smart idea to solve it was the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) he signed with Velupillai Prabhakaran. It was an abject appeasement which gave the upper hand to Prabhakaran. But in his blind arrogance Wickremesinghe believed that he had surpassed the record of Dutugemunu. Believing in his own fiction that he had solved the problem he removed the check-points and the barriers guarding the city. Prabhakaran knew better. He knew that Wickremesinghe was only a cardboard hero of the pin-heads in the UNP and not the people. He ran rings round Wickremesinghe and shot his CFA to indecipherable bits and pieces. Wickremesinghe has never recovered from the stigma attached to this political failure in which thousands died because of his stupidity. If the bond scandal ruined his reputation as Mr. Clean” and as a competent economic manager then the CFA proved that he was also a political idiot who believed that he could save the nation by selling a part of it to a fascist dictator. As stated earlier, his solutions exacerbated the status quo and made the consequences of his cock-eyed acts unbearable to the nation.

Test 3: Throughout his political career he put his faith in the West believing that they would come to his rescue the day he needs them. That day came on January 8, 2015 when he got back to Temple Trees” with the help of CIA, RAW, minorities and 50-odd NGOs. But to his dismay he discovered that the West was not going to risk their necks for him the way he had risked his neck for them. Let down by the friends he cultivated in the West, he had no alternative but to do a quick volte face and turn towards the East. That put an end to his reputation as a maestro on international relations.

Test 4 : He has overawed his UNPers by posing as a master political strategist who can outwit his rivals. But throughout his 40-year political career he has never been able to take the party to the peak of power. He could never rise above the No.2 position. He is a leader who had conceded publicly that non-UNPers are fit to lead the nation better than he could. In fact, in playing second fiddle to Gen. Sarath Fonseka and Maithripala Sirisena he has confirmed incontrovertibly that the people have no faith in him. He knows that he does not have the capacity to be No.1. With all the political heritage and assets of the Grand Old Party of the nation behind him why has he surrendered the leadership of the nation to non-UNPers? Why is it that the people had refused repeatedly to place any trust in him? He leads the UNP only to install SLFPers and outsiders in power. After 40 years in politics isn’t his greatest achievement in installing Maithripala Sirisena as President? What else is there to his glory?

In conceding the presidency to non-UNPers successively he has conceded openly that he is not fit to the lead the nation, or even his party. Maithripala Sirisena won because they UNPers voted en bloc for him. Even the UNPers flocked to vote for the non-UNP candidates because they never trusted Wickremesinghe’s commitment to save the nation from its internal and external enemies. The humiliating factor in all this is that he has never been ashamed of playing second fiddle as long as he got a share of power below No.1. He has been quite content to play the role of No.2. In the last election he was hoping to grab the presidential powers through constitutional manipulation. He was hoping that President Sirisena would devolve all the presidential powers to him and retire into a ceremonial role. But that strategy too failed. So what is the big achievement in Wickremesinghe’s political career?

If, as shown above, he has failed to manage the economy, failed to stem corruption in his regime, surrendered to Velupillai Prabhakaran, come a cropper in his foreign policy, dragged the nation down to the lowest moral depths and never won the ultimate prize in leadership throughout his 40 years in politics where can one find the glory in his career? There isn’t a single issue on which he can go down in history as the man who made a lasting contribution to the economic prosperity, domestic security, territorial integrity and national unity and harmony. The last saving grace would have been his image of Mr. Clean”. But after Wickremesinghe’s involvement in the bond scam that image has come crashing down like the mountain of muck at Meetotamulla.

It is obvious that the pictures hung at the gallery to glorify his past do not tell the full story. Those missing pictures would have traced his political trajectory far more dramatically and truthfully than the formal pictures hung on the wall. The missing pictures would have attracted more crowds than the ones exhibited on the walls. For instance, the pictures of Gonawila Sunil, one of his close chuckgolayas, coming out of jail before completing his term for raping a teenage girl would have had an electric impact on the visitors. So would the pictures of Gonawila Sunil receiving a JP-ship, with the blessings of his master.

These pictures are significant because they reveal that Wickremesinghe’s moral standards run on parallel lines with that of his underworld king-pin, Gonawila Sunil : one rapes teenagers and the other rapes the nation. His political path had run in a straight line from Gonawila Sunil to Karunanayake without wavering in between. Of course, there has been a slight deviation and that was to import his most costly albatross from Singapore.  But that is not the main issue. The issue that should be raised is simply this : what has he achieved in the intervening years, between Gonawila Sunil and Ravi Karunanayake, for him to crow and celebrate?

Let us begin by evaluating his claim that he has been the prime minister four times. Technically he is correct. But this claim fails to recognize that he was sacked from that post twice, first by his own party headed by Gamini Dissanayake and the second time when he was sitting blissfully at White House not knowing that his other partner in cut-throat politics Chandrika Kumaratunga (CBK) had stealthily cut all four legs of the chair in which he was sitting.

The details reveal that there is not much glory in the number of times he became prime minister. First, he became PM, after the assassination of President Premadasa because Sirisena Cooray who was offered the premiership by President D. B. Wijetunga refused to take it and nominated Wickremesinghe to the post. Wickremesinghe was not the first choice. He became the accidental PM with the blessings of Sirisena Cooray. Second time he failed to last long because he was sacked on charges of selling the nation to Prabhakaran by CBK. Third time too he became PM with the power of another Sirisena. It was also questionable because President Sirisena appointed him with a stroke of his pen when D. M. Jayaratne was still sitting in the chair as the legally appointed PM. Wickremesinghe was not the people’s choice.

Fourth time, the people again refused to make him the prime minister in his own right. He fell short of the majority he needed to be PM in a house of 225. He managed to become the PM because the President decided to give him the job. If he couldn’t become the PM with 50-odd NGOs, CIA, RAW, minorities what are his chances next time round when he would have eroded the feel good factor that gave him the bare minimum to creep in through the back door to the PM’s seat the last time?

When CBK sacked him the timing was perfect : she couldn’t have picked a more dramatic moment to humiliate her opponent. In her vindictive ways she tried to fix him by appointing a commission to investigate the Batalanda torture chambers. The she delivered the coup de grace : stabbed him in the back when he was in the White House knowing that the public would not rise to bring him back. She has also described him and his politics very aptly. Putting down his inability to articulate a clear political vision she said: Ranil-gay kattay pittu”. Also hitting him at the place where it hits most she said: Ranil katha-karan-nay katin noway.”

Now consider the other telling statistic which is bound to go down in the Guinness book of records. It is stunning. According to all known counts he has lost 29 elections in 40 years. Can anyone find another loser like Ranil Wickremesinghe? Of course, after forty years of experience he must be feeling now the hot winds of change breathing down his neck again. In his bones, he must be fully aware that the next psephological statistic will rise to thirty, whenever the next election is held.

If he couldn’t rise to power on his own steam with the consent of the people 29 times, if he always had to piggy-back on outside parties to perform short and temporary stints at Temple Trees”, if he was thrown out  of Temple Trees” by his own party headed by Gamini Dissanayake, if his gamble for peace with Prabhakaran – the most critical political mission of our time — led to utter failure, if the ground was cut under his feet by his then rival CBK when he was engaged in a charivari with Bush at the White House, inflicting the worst humiliation for a leader of a nation, if after 40 years he has failed to be Numero Uno, and if his economic management have shifted from  Perpetual Treasury to perpetual treachery,  if his future is as black as the back of well used clay pot in Gonawila Sunil’s kitchen, and, finally, if his climactic act capping forty years of parliamentary politics  is to escort Ravi Karunanayake to his ministerial seat what is there for him to celebrate, really?

The exhibition of pictures hung to highlight Wickremesinghe’s political career was meant to be an advertisement for his achievements. I am told that it is also meant to be a preliminary launch of his campaign to win the next presidential race. So far I have not seen media reports of the people flocking to see the amazing glories of forty years of nothingness. There were more people rolling up in bus loads to pay homage to Mahinda Rajapakse when he lost power than those lining up to view the glories of Ranil Wickremesinghe. Up until this moment of writing I’ve seen only Ravi Karunanayake standing behind him, perhaps as quid pro quo for escorting him to the well of the House on his day of reckoning.

If he wanted to draw a crowd he should have exhibited pictures of him burning the CBK- Neelan agreement in Parliament and then rushing to sign an agreement with Velupillai Prabhakaran giving El-lam to him. A picture of his banging pots and pans at street corners to bring down the cost of living would have brought at least some cynical smiles. Or to see him riding in bullock carts to protest against the government would have been hilarious. A replay of him offering TVs and jeans to farmers too would have been a sight to watch. His pathetic performance of spitting on the heroic soldiers wending their way to victory is something that our soldiers will never forget. Nor will they forget him dodging  February 4 celebration of Independence Day because there was no glory to him in watching Mahinda Rajapakse taking  the salute. And  his  doing a U- turn from the west to the east is also a memorable feat.

The fundamental flaw in RWs character has been his inability to read the signs of his time. Time and again he has failed to decipher what’s happening under his very nose. Our village boys knew the lie of the land better than him. As everyone knows, when they were advancing victoriously, capturing Thoppigala, he ridiculed them as some futile rock climbers. But they knew better. So how can he lead the nation when he fails grasp the meaning of events under his own feet? He, in short, does not know whether he is in Pamankada or Alimankada, to quote his buddy Ravi Karunanayake.

He has now come to the end of his political career. He has nowhere to go from here. The next election will be definitely his last election. It will decide his fate forever. Right now he thinks he can survive by perverting parliamentary practices and procedures. His aim is to use parliament as his rubber stamp. He has appointed a Leader of the Opposition, R. Sambanthan, who is like his government: neither of them commands a majority in the House to stand on their own two feet. The SLFPers and other catchers” will have to back him all the way for him to maintain his majority. Whether the marriage of convenience between the two temporary partners – UNP –SLFP – will remain intact is yet to be seen. Certainly their honeymoon is over. How long the friction and the bickering that is bedeviling the misalliance can hold them together is going to be a perpetual tricky point.

It is the corruption in which he wallows that stinks to high heaven. He has even corrupted the Parliament. To begin with he survives in Parliament with the backing of the MPs who were rejected by the people. Then for his survival he forced a dissolution of Parliament to make the COPE report on the Bond scandal null and void. The manipulated and indecent dissolution of parliament to cover-up his Bond scandal confirms his utter contempt for the best of parliamentary traditions. In his usual delusional way he fancies that his short-term poli-tricks can sustain him in power for at least the balance of his term. But he forgets that his previous three short-terms as premier failed to keep him going for the full term because his cheap poli-tricks boomeranged on him. Knowing his past failures, this time he began his fourth term by passing a law to last at least four-and-a-half years. However, there is no guarantee that shifting loyalties in a Parliament notorious for cross-overs can sustain him in power for his anticipated full term.

He is also at logger heads with the President who still has the power to pull the rug under his feet, if he decides to undercut him. Besides, Wickremesinghe right now is walking on pappadums which are crumbling each time he takes a step in whichever direction he turns. His options are not only limited but dwindling. He has not much room to flex his muscles the way he wants as at the time he was sworn in as PM.. In short, he is on the brink of extinction and his future hangs on the mercy of the President. The judgment of the people will, of course, will not be so merciful.

He is desperately hanging on to power because he fears that the guillotine (FCID) he introduced to behead his opponents will chop his neck off after the next election. One things is quite certain : he is one politician who will not need a grave digger. Why should he? After all, he has been his own grave digger for so long that any cost of hiring a grave digger will be a total waste of  money because he has been hard at work in digging his own hole for forty years.

By : A.A..NIZAM – MATARA

Sirisena-Ranil western and Indian slavish Junta claims that they have gained friendship with all countries in the world but openly displays their slavery to the western countries especially to the International thug the United States. This foolish government has issued a statement, clearly on the behest of the United States deploring the nuclear test carried out by North Korea on 3^rd September (almost 10 days after the event) and warning that its repeated violations of UN resolutions pose a grave threat to the countries in the region and beyond.  No other country except the American puppet South Korea has issued a condemnation like this.

North Korea is a strategically important country for both Russia and China having their borders on both sides of North Korea.  Recent American threats to North Korea were extensively condemned by Presidents Putin and Xi Jinping at the recently concluded 9^th BRICS summit held in China and they emphasized that they will not allow any harm to befall on North Korea

Instead of issuing a statement on the behest of the international thug the Sirisena-Ranil Junta should understand that North Korea carried the nuclear test on 3^rd September only three days after two nuclear-capable US B-1B strategic bombers conducted their own test” alongside four F-35Bs and a few Japanese F-15s. It was pointed out at the BRICS Summit that only a freeze on US/Japan/South Korea military drills; will lead to a freeze on North Korea’s nuclear program; and then diplomacy can take over. The Summit also condemned the United States for evoking nuclear capabilities” as a conflict resolution mechanism.

The Russian President addressing a media conference in the sidelines of the BRICS summit on 5^th September, after the North Korean nuclear test, said that North Korea Would Rather Eat Grass Than Give Up Nuclear Weapons”.. He also warned that  imposing sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear missile program would be counter-productive and said threats of military action could trigger “a global catastrophe.”  Russia, which shares a border with North Korea, has repeatedly joined China in calling the belligerent United States for negotiations with Pyongyang, suggesting that the United States and South Korea halt all major war games in exchange for North Korea halting its testing program.

The Sirisena-Ranil Junta’s condemnation of North Korea evidently shows that Sri Lanka has obligingly accepted the recent idea floated by the United States for all countries to cut economic links with North Korea to try to strong-arm Pyongyang into changing its behaviour.

Foreign policy analysts have pointed out that the unstable regime in Pyongyang has concluded that its only hope of self-preservation, in the face of provocative threats from the Trump administration, is to try and expand its nuclear arsenal as quickly as possible. They say that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is acutely conscious of the brutal end of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, after they abandoned their so-called weapons of mass destruction.

US Defence Secretary James Mad Dog” Mattis has warned North Korea that it faced a massive military response” to any threat to the US or its allies. The bellicose Trump himself has warned of a US nuclear attack against North Korea when he declared last month that North Korea will confront fire and fury like the world has never seen.”

After September 3^rd nuclear test, the White House, along with the American media have turned its fire on China and Russia, underscoring the fact that the US confrontation with North Korea is bound up with far broader strategic aims. American strategists regard domination of the vast Eurasian land mass as the key to US global hegemony and China as the chief obstacle to that goal. US media have also accused that China and Russia were providing economic help” to North Korea. Reports said that what is now being actively discussed in Washington is a total economic embargo, which itself is tantamount to an act of war, and the cutting of trade with those countries who continue to conduct any link with North Korea, above all China and Russia.

The belligerent Trump, who is reported to be preparing trade war measures against China has said that the United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea, and the U.S Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin confirmed to the media that he was preparing a sanctions package to send to the President, for his strong consideration.

Economic Analysts point out that if that happens the implications for the global economy are immense and would result in a collapse of trade, plunging the world into economic depression, as in the 1930s. They say that such a possibility is being actively considered is a measure of the depth of the economic and geo-political tensions wracking the world. They also state that the threat of all-out trade war between the world’s two largest economies, China and the United States will be accompanied by the preparations for all-out military conflict.

The Trump administration has accelerated the diplomatic, economic and military challenge to China which was mooted by the former U.S President Barak Obama under his pivot to Asia.” Programme.  Under this programme a massive US military build-up in North East Asia, including the installation of anti-ballistic missile systems and huge and highly provocative joint US-South Korean war games, is directed more at fighting a nuclear war with China than a conflict with the small, backward country of North Korea.

As well as ramping up the confrontation on the Korean Peninsula, the Trump administration has given the green light for more freedom of navigation” operations in another of the region’s volatile flashpoints—the South China Sea. The Wall Street Journal reported that the US Pacific Command is preparing to sail warships and send military aircraft directly into waters and airspace claimed by China around its islets, two or three times in the next few months as part of a regular schedule.

In Europe, the International Thug US is reported to be escalating its confrontation with Russia by taking the first steps towards annulling the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with the former Soviet Union. German sources have warned, the danger is that the US will construct new missiles and station them in Europe,” raising the terrifying spectre of a nuclear war in Europe between the two countries the US and Russia and that both possess thousands of nuclear warheads.

According to the joint Russian-Chinese de-escalation plan, North Korea would stop work on its missile program in exchange for the US and South Korea halting large-scale war games, allowing tensions to gradually subside.  Russia believes that the policy of putting pressure on Pyongyang to stop its nuclear missile programme is misguided and futile. President Putin has pointed out that the region’s problems should only be settled through a direct dialogue of all the parties concerned without any preconditions and has added that provocations, pressure and militarist and insulting rhetoric are dead-end roads.

Under these circumstances Sirisena-Ranil Junta should feel shameful for issuing a warning to North Korea on the behest of the International thug the United States and thereby antagonizing China and Russia the two countries that firmly stood with us throughout the war period and would help us in the future as well.  If an all out war breaks out unfortunately the government should take full responsibility for all the difficulties that may be confronted by the people of this country.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera 

I can see that JVP is so bankrupt because they have already lost the grass root level of support from youngsters ,hence they are trying their best to catch the audience by uttering nonsense .

That may be the reason why they talk utter nonsense about fishery harbours being sold .Mutwal/Modera fishery harbour was abandoned after  construction of the Dikovita Harbour and Sri Lanka Navy was using to park the arrested fishing boats which were used to transport migrants to Australia .Previous defence Secretary was plannings to acquire the harbour to be used to park such boats ,thus depriving The Corporation of any financial benefits.In this backdrop ,corporation offered the harbour for private development .

Bankrupt SPLA with  the connivance of a son of a fishery minister who sold the Fishery Corporation land to some scrupulous Russians to build a fish canning factory ,later bolted away because someone  was asking one rupee from  every fish-can produced ,keep accusing the ex fishery minister also for selling out Modera harbour .

The  investors, genuinely obtained the land for lease from  the corporation ,manage to secure a financing package from private sector to develop the harbour,Now the harbour is taking shape to become one of the state of art Fishery Boat Repair Yard with private investment is gearing to repair fishing trawlers plying in the area after lifting of EU sanctions.
JVP and some brainless politicians who have not even  visited the yard to see the unprecedented development are accusing various ministers for taking bribes .

One would like to also ask how JVP had Access to funds to build their head office in Battaramulle if they are so above board ?

JVP should be ashamed of telling utter lies to the public to get their attention. People feel sorry for the JVP as they will not get even a single seat new parliament seat after the amendment to the constitution,

That may be the reason why JVP keep uttering their funeral songs prior to their ultimate political death

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

By Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Chandrika faction fails to understand MR is the biggest brand the SLFP has

I had been requested by Mr. Bandaranaike to meet him every Wednesday with Mervyn de Silva.” 

– Elmo Gooneratne, Reminiscences,
CT,September 8, 2017.

When the British uncovered Soviet spies in the Establishment, they often looked the other way because imprisonment would send shock waves throughout the system and disturb social stability and consensus.

The British knew how to manage these things. The Lankans do not. Lalith Weeratunga was the last serving member of a distinguished tribe of gentlemanly civil servants, the survivors of which are Godfrey Gunatilleke, Neville Jayaweera, Tissa Devendra, Bradman Weerakoon and Susil Siriwardhana.

He has been imprisoned and heavily fined for a victimless crime. His careless compliance or impropriety pales into insignificance in comparison with the cold villainy of Mr. Clean Out, the Boss of the bond scam bosses.

The very image of the respectable, affable, hardworking Lalith Weeratunga in handcuffs would have sent psychological shockwaves through the State system and polarised society. It triggered the realisation in me that there are two types of players in this town: those who had better book their one-way tickets to the US or UK just before the national elections of 2019/2020 and those who need not do so.

The Government has failed to understand that even if Mahinda is out of the way, there is Gota, and if Gota is out of the way, there is Chamal, and if Chamal is out of the way, there is Dinesh, and if Dinesh is out of the way there is Dullas

Meanwhile, the Yahapalana Government assures us that the project of Constitutional change, a project that in any self–respecting country is the most sovereign of processes, is motivated and driven by purely national considerations and compulsions.

This claim is made nonsense of by the official testimony of US Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells, who identified the wellsprings of the reform agenda and confirmed that our Constitutional reform process, among other things, will be under the oversight” of the UN.

These resolutions committed the Sri Lankan Government to transitional justice and prevention of the recurrence of the violence… Specific steps include Constitutional reform devolving more administrative power from the Central Government to Sri Lanka’s regions… and a credible mechanism to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes. The United Nations will continue its oversight of the implementation of these steps through March 2019,” Ms. Wells said.’ (dailymirror.lk/article)

How did we wind up a UN protectorate as it were, having won Asia’s longest war? And what on earth is the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) doing in a Government that has made these commitments, despite the opposition or dissent signalled by President Sirisena (if we are to believe his speech on the party’s 66th anniversary— which I do). What is to become, electorally, of the SLFP, or that section of the SLFP which remains in the Government which is proceeding along the rails prescribed by the US and is driven by the Ruthless Rootless” UNP?

The SLFP was conceived of and born as a moderate alternative to and a democratic substitute for, the rightwing, pro-Western, comprador capitalist UNP. It is built for that purpose. That is its raison d’etre. According to the New Testament, Jesus poses the existential questions: What use is salt if it loses its savour? What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?” The essential principle involved in these questions is true in any and every realm of endeavour including the political. What befalls a political party if it loses its role and function and its way? What does it profit a politician if he gains all his Cabinet perks but loses his vote base?

The Government is trying to dodge an election of any sort, like a tethered man trying to dodge a bullet.

The JO-SLPP bloc may say to the Government what IRA’s said to Maggie Thatcher after the Brighton bomb blast: you have to be lucky every time, but we have to get lucky only once.” The Government can dodge elections only so long. It can run but it can’t hide. Sooner rather than later, an election will catch up with it. The UNP will lose, probably badly, but it will survive.

There is less at stake. The ‘official’ SLFP however will risk all. If it is beaten into third place as is likely, what will it do? Stay with the Government and go into extinction at the national elections of 2019-2020, hoping to resurrect itself after?

If Chandrika and her serfs hope that the JO-SLPP will be decapitated by legal action, they have failed to calculate the effect of UNP-driven punitive action on the SLFP vote-base, which will react against the SLFP collaborators with fury.

The Government has also failed to understand that even if Mahinda is out of the way, there is Gota, and if Gota is out of the way, there is Chamal, and if Chamal is out of the way, there is Dinesh, and if Dinesh is out of the way there is Dullas.

Who does the UNP have to run for President in 2019 when the dynamic will be one of throwing the rascals out”? Ranil, Fonny, or Champika? Who stands uncompromised and nationally popular?

What the Chandrika faction fails to understand is that just as the UNP ran on DS Senanayaka’s achievement of obtaining Independence (Hence the Father of the Nation”), Mahinda Rajapaksa is the biggest brand name that the SLFP has available to display—the man who swiftly won Asia’s longest war beating a dreadful, historically emotive enemy, reunified the state, resurrected the economy and transformed the face of the country.

How did we wind up a UN protectorate as it were, having won Asia’s longest war? And what on earth is the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) doing in a Government that has made these commitments, despite the opposition or dissent signalled by President Sirisena  What is to become, electorally, of the SLFP…

Insofar as the 2009 victory was a Second Independence, MR is the equivalent of D.S. Senanayake. Unlike DS he is also alive and active, and is the most loved pubic personality in the country.

In the SLFP canon he is second only to SWRD Bandaranaike, the founding father– and for the current generations of voters perhaps a more significant figure because they never knew SWRD. 2009 was the second 1956.

Running on the SLFP ticket without and against Mahinda Rajapaksa and hoping to retain the loyalty of SLFP voters would be as outrageously silly as Liu Shao Chi or Deng Hsiao Ping trying to wrest the Communist Party away from a live Mao Ze Dong and hoping to retain the loyalty of the party’s peasant base!

 In the SLFP canon he is second only to SWRD Bandaranaike, the founding father– and for the current generations of voters perhaps a more significant figure because they never knew SWRD. 2009 was the second 1956

The SLFP faction in Government has few choices. The LSSP exited the UF coalition in 1975 and even that proved too late—it was wiped out in 1977. Ditto the CPSL which quit in 1976. If the SLFP leaves the Yahapalana coalition after an electoral defeat at the upcoming Local Government or Provincial council elections, why should or would the JO accept it except as the tuft of a tail? And why should the UNP retain its services?

The only momentum to catch is the anti-UNP pendulum swing. The only wave to surf is the anti-Government wave. The SLFP has to pivot right now, get on the exit ramp and head for the exits. It has sins to wash off, credibility to restore, and catching up to do as an anti-UNP party.

The SLFP deserves a rousing cheer for its stand on Constitutional change: no abolition of the executive Presidency, no transfer of the Governor’s powers to the Chief Minister, no amalgamation of provinces, and no abolition of the Concurrent list.

In Game of Thrones, the game has changed radically, as we all know. With the White Walker zombies at the gates, the only dividing line that counts, as Jon Snow says, is between the living and the dead; those who are breathing and those who are not. With the Western White Walkers’ spear-carriers, the Green Walkers, on a state-liquidating rampage, the only dividing line that counts in Sri Lankan politics today is between those who have a politico-electoral future beyond 2020 and those who don’t. Until it quits this Government, the official SLFP will remain stranded in the camp of the electoral Walking Dead.

Gomin Dayasri Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Bemoan the non-availability of fresh material in the upper tiers of politics to replace the decrepit. For survival, the decayed leadership is ready to reach alliance with a devilish opponent. Unsuitable descendants await, both kinsmen and sycophants, located craftily in the wings of the second tier.

• TNA, the official minuscule opposition, unable to reach acceptability outside the province
• Maybe a UNP govt under a new leader is a more pragmatic alternate
• Wings of SLFP will re-merge under a Sirisena and Rajapakse combine
• MR’s chief executive stands convicted of failing to keep his boss on the correct path

Among this wild bunch, TNA’s honest Sampanthan stands like a beacon, living under trying circumstances under his invented avenger Wigneswaran and his crazy coots, making TNA, the official minuscular opposition – an unstable parochial outfit, unable to reach acceptability outside the province.

Return of the UNP under a Wickremasinghe administration is out of the reckoning – a cause long lost. Process will be accelerated if an unacceptable constitution is presented to the South leading to a breakdown. Ongoing stupidity will bind the divided SLFP.

MR’s comprehension was not beyond what he last heard from the last meeeting Understatement of a man that won the war many said was unwinnable. Yet, there is an element of wisdom in the utterance

UNP as a party is ahead of its leader in public esteem. Maybe a UNP govt under a new leader is a more pragmatic alternate: prevents their first line of defence from crossing to enemy territory in disgust? Ranil is less self-centred than Mahinda, prepared to yield place to a stronger candidate, as he did in 2015, decision he rues in hindsight. President Sirisena short on votes; waits long to eat into the disgusted UNP’s bases to strengthen his domain. Wings of the SLFP will re-merge under a Sirisena and Rajapakse combine. Promises another corrupt regime in the making. Join the devil to keep afloat is a staying principle. It sidelines Gota – suits Mahinda and Basil. Necessity will make Gota play second fiddle.

If Gotabhaya stands instead of Mahinda as the Presidential/Premiership candidate, majorities will soar in the south as he reflects the want of the Sinhala youth and voters express confidence in his delivery service. He holds a proven track record as against a lackadaisical Mahinda, whose chief executive stands convicted of failing to keep his boss on the correct path. Amount of Rs. 600 million is not peanuts sanctioned out of public funds near election time in distributing sil clothes to devotees. That is not a form of charity that acquires merit. Amount is mind-boggling but the price is equidistant to the fringe benefits picked by Yes Minister” gentlemen.

Elbowing the entrenched elite is virtually impossible where experienced Mahinda upstaged the politically naïve Gotabhaya Rajapakse – came on invitation but took over the centrefold at a seminar organized by an inexperienced coterie displaying Gota’s bare cupboard of talent from an over-crowded think tank [more a reservoir] that took months to gather. Worse, carries segments of the contaminated muck of the last regime.

Initial reaction was a horror story notwithstanding the presence of astute Kamal Guneratne, the military heavyweight with a spotless record and the wavering intellectual stimulator Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke; appear to be the maestro’s attaches for beckoning. Neglected to tap encyclopedic Prof. Gerry Pieris, an intellect par excellence at a well-attended seminar organized with military precision.

Writer declined an invitation to the podium at the seminar, felt uncomfortable in the company of a few disreputable that makes Gota, no more than a provider of sub standard intellectual feeder to his brother’s ancient wannabe cabinet. Gota committed hara-kiri at a posh seminar while a few good men lost their independence in the allotted six minute cameos to be branded as Gota boys” while the corrupt thrived in showing they are soon in business on the back of Gota’s name to mar him success in politics.

The ‘man of the match’ was Mahinda Rajapakse – his domineering personality made his kid brother look juvenile. Gota in a cabinet will play a lesser role than as Defence Secretary: being feeble in the tricky unaccustomed art of politics. His organization lacks depth in knowledgeable politics. Wasted, a chance of a lifetime, with many expecting a change that did not augur well, looking at the front rows of invitees. He needs to change his palace guards discreetly. Most likely ‘Team Gota’ is congratulating each other for a pop show presented with the same old timers singing the same signature tunes. It is economics that matter: a new economic order counts; constitution is the instrument of jointer of the two wings of the SLFP, to place old faces in new places.

UNP can only cut down losses (not win of course) if it brings in more dynamic players into key offices – otherwise leaves the field wide open in bringing – the twice rejected MR back to office with Gota in a reduced role, that would falter from the beginning to fail miserably only to re-establish the UNP at the next session of electioneering. In short the prime cry is for a leadership change. Spirit of our electorate is to rightly fault the holders in office and look lovingly at the team they defeated once, forgetting their sordid past. This psyche leaves Mother Lanka in a state of a troubled trauma?

UNP dropped a ‘sitter’ in a dream situation. They had overcome MR, colossus that won the war overcoming terrorism that created a mini world record; brought a majority of the SLFP under the UNP fold to present a coalition govt; split the SLFP down the centre; won goodwill by restoring the independence of justice; made friends with the heirs of terrorism in the north; replaced the opposition in the hands of a sympathetic TNA; boosted the confidence of a shattered police force that was loyal to the UNP at the elections. UNP are the repository of financial wizardly but handed the subject to the least qualified for the assignment – Ravi Karunanayake. That was the beginning of serial undoing for the UNP. It is finance and economics that bodes ill for the UNP with Ranil Wickremasinghe shattering his claim of a clean image after the bond issue.

Both Ranil and MR are fighting for survival and have no time to think long. Ranil begotten with affairs of state, with a few to rescue him from the mess his countrymen are facing due to the economic collapse caused by two successive regimes. A more leisurely paced MR was never a thinking man, as a esteemed columnist once stated – his comprehension was not beyond what he last heard from the last meeeting. Understatement of a man that won the war many said was unwinnable. Yet, there is an element of wisdom in the utterance.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike rid the party of corrupt parliamentarians that were found guilty of bribery under the Commission of Inquiry Act. She held bye-elections on schedule, won most but lost a few, but never feared of an ouster. She lost a Bill in Parliament and called for general elections and lost it, handed over power and returned to be restored at the next election with a 2/3 majority. MR’s and Ranil’s problems are that they give cover to many alleged crooks and inevitably carry questions marks on their shoulders?

It needs a hostile take over for a genuine regime-change within the political parties: a friendly succession would carry the renewable sewage, reincarnated to resurface as the next coming leader adapts on coming to power. Leaders are preferable to their handlers as they held moments of worthwhile glory. ‘Follow the Leader’ should not be the motto. A parallel leadership must be placed on a gradient/incline where few more of the front liners are trained to succeed in times of need. MR out of office looks at dowdy kinsmen and the boot licking fraternity while Wickremasinghe in office goes for dude friends alienated from realities of local conditions making amiable friends for fellowship on dull evenings. Maithripala Sirisena is a victim of hanging on with too many of dead wood sycophants waiting to jump ship and MR waits to pick any discarded rubbish let loose as he hopes to come to power without the peoples vote if possible under the queer provisions of the constitution. Old men are often in a hurry.

Remember both MR (a great man that dethroned deadly terrorism with bare local hands) and Ranil (never in the mould of the great UNP’s of the past like Gamini Jayasuriya, U.B. Wanninayake, M.D.Banda and M.D.H. Jayewardene) came to politics in the 1970s in the midst of two violent insurrections in the North and South.

Two generations have by-passed them but yet there is no replacement in a country sprouting with emerging unexposed talent because the party structures are non-democratic to any challenge to the leadership, is off-set by a kept second tier. Both leaders need each other to keep them in office as they work in tandem. If one falls other is likely to fade away by compulsion. Ranil – the more likely candidate to back down made a compelling sacrifice being the less selfish in agreeing to make way for Sirisena at a time UNP peaked in popularity after the Badulla provincial election results. Parliamentarians matter as their sole desire is to be re-elected unlikely for many under Ranil’s leadership.

Nation can be proud of a born-again judiciary with brave and bold like Judge Gihan Kulatunga at the helm who listens to both sides attentively, studies the law and gives judgements on the merits, mindful of the needs of society, without delay. What more can be asked from a Judge? Most of his judgements stood in appeal and the respected young Judge has won esteem. We live in hope, as is in many Asian societies to be kept within civilized bounds by an un-kept judiciary.

Dharshan Weerasekera, Attorney-at-law

D. B. S. Jeyaraj, the LTTE propagandist sometimes also known to masquerade as a ‘journalist,’ has written a lengthy commentary on the judgment in H. K. D. Chandrasoma’s case, published in the Daily Mirror of 19^th August 2017 and titled, ‘Federalism is not Separatism, rules the Supreme Court.’

As far as I understand it, Mr. Jeyaraj’s argument is that the judgment is important because of two reasons:  first, it has definitively established that the Illangai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) political party is not a separatist party, and second, to advocate for federalism in Sri Lanka is not the equivalent of advocating for separatism.  He goes on to say that the SC has given the ITAK a ‘clean chit.’

If Chandrasoma had won the case, the ITAK would have been proscribed as a separatist party, which means that R. Sampanthan, M. A. Sumanthiran, C.V. Wigneswaran, and a host of lesser lights in the TNA elected to the Parliament or to Provincial Councils under the ITAK banner will have immediately lost their jobs.  So in that sense they dodged a bullet, and the likes of Jeyaraj and others are probably breathing a sigh of relief.

As Counsel for Chandrasoma, I have certain insights into the case that I hope will contribute to a more robust and meaningful public discussion of this important case.  I shall briefly discuss four issues:  one, why Chandrasoma filed the case; two, some salient facts about the background to the 6^th Amendment; three, the Petitioner’s main argument and the court’s responses to them (i.e. the essence of the judgment); and finally, why I think the judgment is important for our times.

The reason for filing the case

As much as I understand it, Chandrasoma’s fear – and I think it is a fear shared by many other Sinhalas not just the nationalists – is that the TNA, ITAK and their assorted allies are laying the legal groundwork for a future unilateral secession either through a referendum held just for the residents of the North and East, or by a unilateral declaration of independence by a Provincial Government or an independent group operating within such a province (we can call this later the ‘Kosovo method.’)

My instructions were to explore legal means of preventing such an eventuality.  We decided to go with the 6^th Amendment to the Constitution, because it had never been interpreted in its 35-year existence.  Win or lose, at the end of the case there was going to be an interpretation of the 6^th Amendment, and that was going to be an advancement of the law.  Now, we do have such an interpretation.

The background to the 6^th Amendment

The 6^th Amendment to our Constitution is almost a word for word replication of India’s Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967, enacted to combat secessionist and separatist movements.  The difference between the Indian version and our own is that in India the action is filed at the High Court, whereas in our country the action is filed in the Supreme Court.

The advantage in the Indian version is that if the respondent is found guilty he has a chance to appeal, whereas with us, there is no such option.  (In my view, this is a weakness in our law that needs to be addressed, but in any event the petitioner resorted to the law he had in hand.)

The point is that, the Indians have been making vigorous use of their law, unlike in our country, and in fact the Indian Parliament has seen fit to amend the Act six times since `1967, each time making it more rigorous.  There is a rich body of Indian case law which has interpreted the Act and its uses over the years.

In my view, the above facts reveal two things:  first, the Indian Parliament plus the courts have considered that the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act is an effective means of combating secessionism and separatism in that country, and two, that perhaps given a federal system such as what the Indians have, coupled with the realities of communalism which are an integral part of Indian politics, a device such as the UAPA is essential in order to maintain the territorial integrity of the country in the long run.

Since Sri Lanka has adopted key elements of the Indian federal system with the 13^th Amendment, Sri Lanka has important lessons to learn from the above two points, especially with respect to using the 6^th Amendment.  By facilitating an interpretation of the 6^th Amendment, Chandrasoma has made it possible for other concerned citizens to resort to this provision more easily.

The Petitioner’s main arguments  

The Petitioner’s claim was that explicit statements in the ITAK’s Constitution plus reasonable inferences that can be drawn from relevant passages in that document indicate that the arrangement of government the ITAK is seeking is that of a ‘Confederation,’ and that, since a ‘Confederation’ by definition involves a union of sovereign states, ITAK seeks is to establish such a sovereign state, namely, Tamil Eelam.

The Petitioner relied on three arguments in order to support the above claim:  first, an Amendment to the ITAK Constitution in 2008, which substituted the word ‘Innaipachi’ for the word ‘Samasthi’ with reference to the type of government what the ITAK is seeking.  It is not in dispute that the Sanskrit work ‘Samasthi’ means ‘federal.’  Chandrasoma’s claim was that the word ‘Innaipachi,’ read in the context of certain ideas and concepts contained in the relevant passage, can only mean ‘Confederation.’

Second, in its passage on ‘aims and objects’ the ITAK asserts that the Tamils of Sri Lanka have a right to self-determination under international law.  Chandrasoma’s claim was that, a right to self-determination is only claimed by people who want to liberate themselves from another people or a country, such as in the case of colonial occupation.  Therefore, to assert a right to self-determination indicates that the ITAK harbours an intention of separating from the Sinhalas and the rest of Sri Lanka, and this in turn indicates they have an intention of setting up a separate state.

Third and finally, the Petitioner focused on ‘Rule 17’ of the Amendment to the ITAK’s Constitution where ITAK unambiguously endorses ‘all resolutions and actions taken by the Tamil United Liberation Front and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi from 14^th May 1976.’  It is not in dispute that the Vaddukodai Declaration, a seminal separatist document (among other things it was considered by Vellupillai Prabakaran as giving him a mandate for his actions) was signed by the TULF on 14^th May 1976.

So, Chandrasoma’s claim was that, the fact that the ITAK has endorsed all TULF resolutions going back specifically to 14^th May 1976 means that ITAK has unmistakably endorsed the Vaddukoddai Resolution, which indicates that it continues to harbour separatist intentions.

What does the court say to these charges?  On the first count, the court says that the change in words from ‘Samasthi’ to ‘Innaipachi’ does not connote a change in meaning or objective, and that what ITAK had done was to substitute for a Sanskrit word a pure Tamil word of equivalent meaning.  The court pointed out that ITAK had made such substitutions in a number of other places in the Constitution also.

On the second count, court says that ‘self-determination’ has an internal dimension, and that the fact that someone asserts ‘self-determination,’ does not necessarily mean they harbor an intention to secede, but could mean that they wish to gain more power for themselves within the existing system.  Such an ambition cannot be considered as amounting to a separatist intention.

On the third count, court says that, because the Petitioner had not listed the TULF as a Respondent, and it was the TULF that had originally signed the Vadukoddai Declaration, the fact that the ITAK has endorsed all resolutions and acts of the TULF going back to 14^th May 1976 is irrelevant for purposes of the present case.

It is an astute point, because it is possible that the TULF, between 1976 and 2008, adopted a resolution renouncing the Vaddukodai Declaration, in which case the ITAK would necessarily have endorsed such resolution also, as per ‘Rule 17’ of its Constitution.

Such then is the judgment.  All in all, it is a balanced and well-reasoned judgment and far be it for me to criticize it.  I shall now turn to the reasons that I think the judgment is especially important for our times.

The reasons that make the judgment important

I shall discuss two reasons.  First, the court sets out certain principles relating to the definition of ‘federalism.’ The court bases its discussion on the dictionary-definition of ‘federalism,’ and compliments that by referring to certain observations of Chief Justice Sharvananda from the judgment in the 13^th Amendment case.

The conclusion of the court, which is an amalgamation of the aforesaid dictionary-definition plus CJ Sharvananda’s observations is that the terms ‘Unitary’ and ‘Federal’ are misleading (i.e. there can be unitary elements in a federal system and vice versa) but the fundamental juxtaposition is between unitary/federal on the one hand and ‘Confederation’ on the other.   The key passage with respect to this is as follows:

‘It is established that there is a clear distinction between the words ‘federation’ and ‘confederation.’  The main issue in this case is whether advocating the establishment of a federal state is tantamount to establishment of a separate state….The labeling of states as unitary and federal sometimes may be misleading.  There could be unitary states with features or attributes of a federal state and vice versa.  In a unitary state if more powers are given to the units it could be considered as a federal state.  Similarly, in a federal state if the centre is more powerful and the power is concentrated in the centre it could be considered as a unitary state.  Therefore, sharing of sovereignty, devolution of power and decentralization will pave the way for a federal form of government within a unitary state.  The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution devolved power to the provinces.  The ITAK is advocating for a federalist form of government by devolving more powers to the provinces within the framework of a unitary state.  Advocating for a federal form of government within the existing state could not be considered as advocating separatism.’ (page 17)

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that a Sri Lankan court has explicitly articulated the above point, and it has profound ramifications, particularly to ongoing discussions about devolution of power to the Provinces.

To digress a moment, as a general matter, to my knowledge all hitherto discussions of federalism in this country have been based on definitions proffered by various academics, public intellections and suchlike pundits, and the common element in these definitions is that they see federalism as being part of a single continuum, with ‘Unitary’ at one extreme end of it and ‘Confederation’ at the other.

Under the aforesaid definitions, it is possible to interpret federalism as permitting an arrangement where the central government and the peripheral units are equals, or co-equals, ‘supreme within their own spheres of influence.’

What the court has done with Chandrasoma’s judgment is to put an end to the aforesaid speculations.  The court has established that the valid definition of ‘federalism’ at least in terms of its application in Sri Lanka is the dictionary-definition (which is also the classical definition of the concept ‘federalism’), where the fundamental dichotomy is between federalism on the one side and confederation on the other.

Furthermore, by relying on CJ Sharvananda’s observations in the 13^th Amendment judgment, the court has identified the distinctive element that turns a federal system into a confederation, to wit:  it is division of sovereignty.  Court cites with approval the following passage from the CJ Sharvananda’s judgment in the 13^th Amendment case:

‘In a Unitary State the national government is legally supreme over all other levels.   The essence of a Unitary State is that sovereignty is undivided – in other words, that the powers of the central government are unrestricted.  The two essential qualities of a Unitary State are 1) the supremacy of the central Parliament and 2) the absence of subsidiary sovereign bodies.  It does not mean the absence of subsidiary law-making bodies, but it does mean that they exist and can be abolished at the discretion of the central authority.’  (page 10)

To repeat, the distinctive characteristic of the existing system of government in Sri Lanka, whether we wish to call it ‘Unitary’ or ‘Unitary/Federal,’ is undivided sovereignty. The practical manifestation of this in terms of the distribution of powers between the center and the provinces is that, no matter how much power may be devolved to the provinces, the center must always retain the power to keep the provinces under control, which necessarily includes the capacity to take back the powers of the provinces if needed.

It follows from the aforesaid that if an attempt is made to dilute the powers of the center to an extent where the center can no longer exert effective control over the provinces, such an attempt cannot be justified as an attempt to enhance or further federalism: it is instead an attempt to break out of the federal model and pursue a confederation.

The importance of Chandrasoma’s case is that the aforesaid ideas have now become a part of the constitutional jurisprudence of Sri Lanka.  What are the ramifications of this?  I’ll just explain three lasting ramifications.

First, ITAK is permitted to advocate for ‘federalism,’ but only within the ‘existing system,’ which is to say, the unitary/federal model as now defined by court.  In such a system, there is a distinct limit to the amount of power that can be devolved to the peripheral units, and that limit – the red-line, as it were – is where the centre loses the capacity to impose effective control over the peripheral units, including to take back at its discretion the powers devolved to the units.

Second, under the definition of ‘federalism’ set out by the court, a right to external self-determination does not exist in our country for people dissatisfied for whatever reason with the amount of power devolved to the Provinces.  They must adjust their own demands and expectations and function within the parameters of the existing system.  Court confirms this by citing with approval the famous ruling of the Canadian Supreme Court in Reference re Secession of Quebec.   Court specifically cites the following passage from the aforesaid judgment:

‘The Court was also required to consider whether a right to unilateral secession exists under international law….a right to secession only arises under the principle of self-determination of people at international law where ‘a people’ is governed as part of a colonial empire, where ‘a people’ is subject to alien subjugation, domination or exploitation, and possibly where a ‘people’ is denied any meaningful exercise of its rights of self-determination within the state of which they are a part.  In other circumstances peoples are expected to achieve self-determination within the framework of their existing state.  A state whose government represents the whole of the people or peoples resident within its territory, on the basis of equality and without discrimination and respects the principle of self-determination in its internal arrangements, is entitled to maintain its territorial integrity under international law and to have that territorial integrity recognized by other states.’  (p. 16)

Since the Tamils of Sri Lanka are not under colonial occupation, or under ‘alien subjugation and domination,’ and furthermore, since the democratic rights of Tamils are respected – as evidenced by the fact that members of ITAK are in Parliament and in Provincial Councils – the ITAK cannot claim that the Tamils of Sri Lanka have a right to external self-determination under international law.

The judgment in Chandrasoma’s case now makes it easier to make the above case before the international community, because it has clarified what the ‘existing system’ is.  Also, it opens the way for opponents of devolution – not just of further devolution but even of the amount of devolution that has been affected so far (i.e. under the 13^th Amendment)- to say something like this:

‘If what ITAK wants is more power or autonomy for Tamils, and a unitary/federal system allows for devolution of powers as long as the Center retains the unshakeable capacity to control the Provinces effectively including to withdraw the powers given to the Provinces, let’s have such a system, but let the unit of devolution be something other than the Province, say, the District.’

ITAK, and all other ‘federalists’ in this country, will have to give a reasonable reply to a query such as the above, especially if it is asked in the international arena.  And until such an answer is given, they will find it difficult to advance any arguments about the purported right of Tamils in this country to external self-determination under international law.

Third, if it had been the idea of the TNA, the ITAK and their assorted allies to permit the word ‘Unitary’ to remain in the Constitution, but bring in constitutional changes that diluted the powers of the center over the periphery to an extent where the center can no longer effectively control the actions of the Provincial Governments – for instance by curtailing the powers of the President over the Provincial Governor or by eliminating the concurrent list –  without subjecting the related constitutional amendment to a referendum, such a thing is no longer possible.

Now that the meaning of ‘federalism’ has been clarified with respect to its defining characteristic, no matter what one calls the resulting form of government, if there’s a reduction or a change in the power of the Centre vis a vis the Provinces, the issue of whether there’s the potential for that change to result in a division of sovereignty arises.

Sovereignty, as everyone knows, is a matter that comes under Article 3 of the Constitution, long recognized as the very backbone of the Constitution, and one of the Articles that automatically requires a referendum in order to amend.

Therefore, if an attempt is made to sneak in constitutional changes that dilute the power of the Centre vis a vis the Provinces by relying solely on a two-third majority in Parliament, now there’s a chance to challenge the related Bill under Article 3 of  the Constitution, and seek a referendum.  That is a huge advantage for the People at this moment.

Finally, the important point about Chandrasoma’s case is that in the course of it Court ordered an English translation of the ITAK Constitution to be produced by the Department of Official Languages.  To the best of my knowledge this is the only such official translation of the document because the version in the Elections Commissions’ office is in Tamil.

As already mentioned, in ‘Rule 17’ of the Amendment to the ITAK Constitution in 2008, it explicitly states that ITAK endorses all resolutions and acts of the TULF going back to 14^th May 1976.  That means ITAK endorses the Vaddukoddai Declaration, an indisputably separatist document, unless in the time between 1976 and 2008 the TULF has passed a resolution renouncing the said Declaration.

In Chandrasoma’s case, the court deemed the above fact irrelevant, and for good reason.  However, the fact that ITAK has endorsed the resolutions and acts of the TULF going back to 14^th May 1976 is now in the public domain, thanks to Chandrasoma.  All that is required is for a civic-minded Sri Lankan to re-file an application  against the ITAK solely on ‘Rule 17’ of its Constitution, and this time list the TULF as a respondent also, and then let them come before court and explain themselves.

To the best of my knowledge, the TULF has now renounced the Vaddukoddai Declaration.  So, all they have to do is get on the stand (figuratively speaking) and say so.  In that event, the ITAK is caught, well and good.   Meanwhile, if ITAK tries to amend its Amendment and belatedly renounce the ‘VD,’ they’ll be caught inter alia under Section 8(2)(f) of the Evidence Ordinance (‘subsequent conduct’).  So, they are stuck.

In short, if the ITAK thought that with Chandrasoma’s case they were rid of a headache, they are mistaken.  It may well be that, their troubles – or rather the real ‘fun’ – is just beginning.

[1] A version of this paper was published in lankaweb on 21^st August 2017.

Dharshan Weerasekera, Attorney-at-Law

[Author’s note:  The present paper is intended to be read with a previous paper of mine titled, ‘H. K. D. Chandrasoma’s Case:  A Response to D. B. S. Jeyaraj,’ published in lankaweb.  For the convenience of readers that article is republished along with this one]

On 21^st August 2017, I published an article in lankaweb titled, ‘H. K. D. Chandrasoma’s case:  A Response to D. B. S. Jeyaraj,’ in which I endeavored to explain why Chandrasoma filed the case, his main claims against ITAK, the court’s answers to those claims, and finally, the aspects of the judgment that I considered to be of seminal importance to the country.[1]

In my view, the lasting importance of the judgment is in the fundamental change or rather development that the court has introduced with respect to the definition of ‘federalism’ that must now apply in Sri Lanka, at least as far as constitutional jurisprudence is concerned, and the ramifications of this to ongoing debates over devolution, including the proposed constitutional reforms.

In the past 2-3 weeks, I have read in the local papers at least two articles that have commented on Chandrasoma’s case, in particular comparing and contrasting the court’s definition of ‘federalism’ with other definitions given by various academics and scholars.  In my view, the writers of these articles are engaging in a futile exercise, because of the following reasons.

As far as constitutional jurisprudence is concerned, the judgment of a court invariably supersedes or trumps the opinions and speculations of academics (to the extent those opinions or speculations have not been incorporated into a judicial ruling).  If there is, say, a future challenge to a constitutional amendment where the definition of ‘federalism’ is a significant factor, our judges will give priority to the definitions generated by fellow judges on the bench.

Therefore, the more reasonable thing to do is to try and understand what exactly the court said about federalism in the instant case, rather than to seek after definitions proffered by various academics and other pundits – definitions the court has neither referred to nor relied on in the judgment.

In this paper, I shall briefly discuss three matters.  First, explain again what I consider to be the court’s definition of ‘federalism’; second, explain the general ramifications of the aforesaid definition to ongoing discussions over devolution; and third, point out the specific ramifications to, one, the Parliamentary Sub Committee report on Centre-Periphery relations tabled in November 2016, and two, Paragraph 16 of UNHRC resolution 30/1, which also explicitly calls for ‘devolution’ as a means of providing a ‘political settlement’ to the Tamils.

The Definition of ‘federalism’

The definition of ‘federalism’ that the court presents in Chandrasoma’s case is based on two things:  the dictionary definition of the word, supplemented by a key portion of Chief Justice Sharvananda’s judgment in the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution.  For the dictionary-definition, court has relied on the definition in Black’s law Dictionary, an authoritative source for lawyers.

However, it is possible that a lay-reader might object to this by saying that, as far as he or she is concerned Black’s Law Dictionary does not carry any special authority.  I emphasize that, the definition of ‘federalism’ with respect to its material elements is consistent among all reputable dictionaries, and in order to be on the safe side I shall give the definition of ‘federalism’ found in the Oxford Law Dictionary, right after quoting from Black’s.

The following is the definition of ‘Federal Government’ found in Black’s Law Dictionary (6^th Edition) relied on by court:

‘The system of government administered in a nation formed by a union or confederation of several independent States.’

‘In strict usage, there is a distinction between a confederation and a federal government.  The former term denotes a league or permanent alliance between several States, each of which is fully sovereign and independent, and each of which retains its full dignity, organization, and sovereignty, though yielding to the central authority a controlling power for a few limited purposes, such as external and diplomatic relations.  In this case, the component States are the units, with respect to the confederation, and the central government acts upon them, not upon the individual citizens.  In a Federal Government, on the other hand, the allied States form a union (e.g. the United States) not, indeed, to such an extent as to destroy their separate organization or deprive them of quasi sovereignty with respect to the administration of their purely local concerns, but so that the central power is erected into a true national government, possessing sovereignty both external and internal—while the administration of national affairs is directed and its effects felt, not by the separate States deliberating as units, but by the people of all, in their collective capacity, as citizens of the nation. The distinction is expressed by the German writers by the use of two words ‘Staatenbund’ and ‘Bundesstaat’; the former denoting a league of confederation of states, and the latter a federal government or state formed by means of a league of confederation.’[2]

The following is the definition of ‘Federal State’ given in the Oxford Law Dictionary:

‘Federal State:  A State formed by the amalgamation or union of previously autonomous or independent States.  A newly created federal state is constitutionally granted direct power over the subjects or citizens of the formerly independent states.  As such, the new federal state becomes a single composite international legal person.  Those former entities that comprise it have consented to subsume their former sovereignty into that of the federal State, although they retain their identity in municipal law.  Examples of Federal States include the USA and Switzerland.  COMPARE Confederation.’[3]

From both sets of quotes, it is clear that  the defining characteristic of a Federal State is that, one, the power of the central government reaches to the citizens or residents of the individual provinces (by contrast, in a confederation the power of the central government reaches only to the governments of the provinces), and two, the power of the central government is always supreme over that of the provincial governments (this is made especially clear by the Oxford Dictionary, to wit, ‘Those former entities that comprise it have consented to subsume their former sovereignty into that of the Federal State).

A necessary implication of the above is that, in a federal union the peripheral units cannot secede at will i.e., without the consent of the pother units that make up the union, while in a confederation they can.  Similarly, in a federal union a peripheral units cannot persist in acting contrary to the wishes of the center – the center always has the power to bring such recalcitrant unit under control, including taking back the powers given to the peripheral units as such.

I shall now turn to the second component of the court’s discussion of ‘federalism,’ where the court relies on a key portion from Chief Justice Sharvananda’s judgment in the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution (1987 2 SLR 319).  The court explicitly refers to the following remarks of CJ Sharvananda from the judgment in the 13^th Amendment case:

‘The term ‘Unitary’ in Article 2 is used in contradistinction to the term ‘Federal,’ which means an association of semi-autonomous units with a distribution of sovereign powers between the units and the center.  In a Unitary State the national government is legally supreme over all other levels.   The essence of a Unitary State is that sovereignty is undivided – in other words, that the powers of the central government are unrestricted.  The two essential qualities of a Unitary State are 1) the supremacy of the central Parliament and 2) the absence of subsidiary sovereign bodies.  It does not mean the absence of subsidiary law-making bodies, but it does mean that they exist and can be abolished at the discretion of the central authority.’  (page 10)

I draw the attention of the reader to the first sentence in the above passage, to wit;  ‘The term ‘Unitary’ in Article  2 is used in contradistinction to the term ‘Federal,’ which means an association of semi-autonomous units with a distribution of sovereign powers between the units and the center.’  The importance of this sentence is that, as CJ Sharvananda saw it, our Constitution does not permit an arrangement of government where the center and the peripheral units are equals or co-ordinates only, i.e. where the center cannot assert its authority over the peripheral units if and when needed.  I shall explain the implications of this point in a moment.

I shall now proceed to explain the general ramifications o the judgment both to general discussions of devolution, and the specific ramifications to the Sub-Committee report on Center –Periphery relations, and also UNHRC resolution 30/1.

The general ramifications of the Chandrasoma judgment to discussions of devolution in Sri Lanka

The following is the key passage in the judgment where the court gives its verdict as to whether Chandrasoma has established that ITAK is a separatist party.  The courts says:

‘It is established that there is a clear distinction between the words ‘federation’ and ‘confederation.’  The main issue in this case is whether advocating the establishment of a federal state is tantamount to establishment of a separate state….The labeling of states as unitary and federal sometimes may be misleading.  There could be unitary states with features or attributes of a federal state and vice versa.  In a unitary state if more powers are given to the units it could be considered as a federal state.  Similarly, in a federal state if the centre is more powerful and the power is concentrated in the centre it could be considered as a unitary state.  Therefore, sharing of sovereignty, devolution of power and decentralization will pave the way for a federal form of government within a unitary state.  The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution devolved power to the provinces.  The ITAK is advocating for a federalist form of government by devolving more powers to the provinces within the framework of a unitary state.  Advocating for a federal form of government within the existing state could not be considered as advocating separatism.’ (page 17)

In this section I shall briefly explain the general ramifications of the above passage to discussions over devolution in this country.  I shall start with the necessary background information, which involves discussing Article 2 of the Constitution.  Article 2 of the Sri Lanka Constitution states:

‘The Republic of Sri Lanka is a Unitary State’

Nowhere in the Constitution is the term ‘Unitary’ defined.  For instance, there is no interpretation clause which defines that term.  [In my view, Sri Lanka would have been spared a lot of trouble if Mr. J. R. Jayawardena had seen to it to include an interpretation clause that defined ‘Unitary State’ when he first introduced the ’78 Constitution.  For one thing, it would have prevented the lingering controversy over the passing of the 13^th amendment, i.e. whether or not it required a referendum.  But all that is beside the point]

The point is this.  Because there is no definition for ‘Unitary’ provided in the Constitution itself, the only valid definition or interpretation of that term as far as our Constitution is concerned is the definition provided by C. J. Sharvananda in the 13^th Amendment judgment, quoted earlier.  (This is because of the operation of the maxim, ‘An interpretation of the law obtains the force of law,’ and C. J. Sharvananda’s definition has not been rejected or modified in any way by our courts in subsequent years.)

The problem is that, the 13^th Amendment has undoubtedly diluted the power of the central government, and CJ Sharvananda’s definition permits such dilution subject to the condition that there can never be a division of sovereignty.  Unfortunately, this situation has provided an opening for the Eelamists.  As long as the term ‘Federal State’ or ‘federalism’ was left undefined by our courts, C. J. Sharvananda’s definition of ‘Unitary State’ permitted the Eelamists to say something like this:
‘Under the ‘Unitary’ system of Sri Lanka as defined by our own courts, devolution of power is permitted.  A ‘Federal State’ is also an arrangement of government which permits a devolution of power on a sliding scale, that is, in some ‘Federal States’ there can be a strong central government (i.e. the US) and in others there can be a weak central government (i.e. Switzerland) with far more powers devolved to the peripheral units.  We advocate a ‘Federal’ system of government for Sri Lanka, and we are not doing anything wrong, because all we are asking for is just more devolution of power.’

Permit me to quote the actual words of two key Eelamists, in this case R. Sampanthan and M. A. Sumanthiran, to illustrate the above point.  The following is what Mr. Sampanthan said in the course of an important speech in 2012, at the 14^th National Convention of the ITAK in Batticaloa:

‘Our expectation for a solution to the ethnic problem of the sovereignty of the Tamil people is based on a structure outside that of a unitary government, in a united Sri Lanka in which Tamil people have all the powers of government needed to live with self respect and self-sufficiency.  We believe that only within such a structure of government can the Tamil people truly enjoy the right to self-determination that is their inalienable right.’[4]

‘The position that the North and East of Sri Lanka are the areas of historical habitation of the Tamil speaking people cannot be compromised in the structure of government.  We must have unrestricted authority to govern our own land, protect our own people, and develop our own economy, culture and tradition.  Powers must be allocated under this structure based on the understanding that meaningful devolution should go beyond the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution passed in 1987. This position has been accepted by our party.  Our acceptance of his position does not mean that we consider the 13^th Amendment to be an acceptable solution, nor that, in the event our right to internal self-determination is continuously denied, we will not claim our right under international law to external self-determination.  It only means that this is the only realistic solution today.’[5]

The following, meanwhile, are some remarks by Mr. Sumanthiran, from an article published in the Bar Association of Sri Lanka Law Journal of 2015.  The article is part of an ‘exchange’ with three others – Ranil Wickremasinghe, Faiser Mustapha and J. C. Weliamuna – on the principles that must guide the proposed new Constitution.  Mr. Sumanthiran gives his ideas as to the principles that must underpin Center-Periphery relations, and says inter alia:

‘In accordance with this principle [i.e. the purported principle of maximum devolution], the Centre must have the minimum possible subjects and functions and the Centre and the devolved units must be supreme in their respective spheres of competence.’[6]

‘Thus, the list of subjects for the Centre should be limited to matters that are ‘national’ in nature—matters such as National Defence, Foreign Affairs, National Fiscal Policy, Immigration/Emmigration, Citizenship, Customs, Posts, Telecommunications, International Airports, Major Harbours, Railways, National Highways and Maritime Zones.’[7]

‘All other powers must be exercised by the provinces.  This must include exclusive powers over land, development, health and education.’[8]

There are two key elements in what both the aforesaid Eelamists are saying:  first, they consider that the amount or extent of devolution is a matter to be determined by the people demanding such devolution – in this case the Eelamists themselves – and not by natural limits intrinsic to the system; and second, it is possible in the Federal State as they envision it for the Center and the Peripheral Units to be ‘equal,’ i.e. ‘Supreme within their respective spheres of competence.’

It should be noted that, the aforesaid idea is entirely contrary to the definition of ‘federalism’ accepted by most people including the dictionaries.  Recall that, according to the dictionary-definition of ‘federalism,’ the sovereignty of the central government always subsumes that of the peripheral units, which means that, though the peripheral may have exclusive jurisdiction over particular matters, this is always subject to the authority of the central government, i.e. the central government retains the right to withdraw such jurisdiction if it deems such action necessary.

We thus come to the judgment in Chandrasoma’s case.  I shall specify three important ways in which it impacts discussions over devolution in this country.  First, the court has taken judicial notice of the fact that as a result of the 13^th Amendment we now have a federal arrangement of government, or at any rate that what we like to think of as a ‘unitary’ system has in reality incorporated significant federal elements.

The court, however, has defined ‘federalism,’ so it is no longer possible for the Eelamists to promote schemes of devolution (which the Eelamists call ‘federal’) but which are entirely contrary to what most people including the dictionaries understand by the word ‘federal.’  According to the definition of ‘federal government’ that court has now set out, the central government must always be superior to the peripheral units, i.e. the sovereignty of the center always subsume that of the peripheral units.

So, ideas such as those being peddled by the likes of Mssrs. Sampanthan and Sumanthiran, to wit:  that they want ‘all the powers of government needed to live with self respect and self-sufficiency,’ that, ‘the Centre must have the minimum possible subjects and functions and the Centre and the devolved units must be supreme in their respective spheres of competence,’ and so on, can no longer be presented as if those ideas were federal ideas.

Second, the idea that the people demanding devolution have an unrestricted right to determine the amount or extent of power to be devolved is no longer viable.  In either a Federal State as defined by the dictionaries, or a ‘Unitary State’ as defined by C. J. Sharvananda, the system sets distinct limits on the amount of devolution possible, namely, the limit is reached when the Center loses the capacity to effectively control the Peripheral Units.

Third, in concluding paragraph of its judgment, the court unequivocally states that, a party advocating federalism in Sri Lanka can do so only within the framework of the unitary system.  It is worth repeating the key portion of that paragraph.  Court says:

‘The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution devolved power to the provinces.  The ITAK is advocating for a federalist form of government by devolving more powers to the provinces within the framework of a unitary state.  Advocating for a federal form of government within the existing state could not be considered as advocating separatism.’

To repeat, ITAK (or any other party) can advocate for a federal state, but only within the framework of a unitary state.  So, it is impossible from now on for the Eelamists to play one of their main tricks, namely, saying that what they advocate is ‘federalism within the framework of a united and undivided Sri Lanka.’ It should be noted that, a confederation is also ‘united and undivided’ until one or more of its members decide to separate!

It must be emphasized that, the court does not say, ‘ITAK is advocating for a federalist form of government within the framework of a united and undivided Sri Lanka.’  If ITAK wants to pursue federalism in this country, court expects it to do so within the framework of a unitary state, as such a thing is understood in our constitutional jurisprudence.

What is the definition of a ‘Unitary State,’ valid for our Constitution?  As already explained, it is the definition given by C. J. Sharvananda, quoted earlier.  So, from now on, whatever the Eelamists choose to call the system of government they prefer for our country, in its substance that system must always have a central government that is superior to the peripheral units, and retains the authority inter alia to take back the powers devolved to the peripheral units.

In my view, on each of the aforesaid points, the court has dealt a deathblow to the ambitions of the Eelamists.   All that remains is for me to explain the specific ramifications of the judgment to, one, the Subcommittee report on Center – Periphery relations tabled in November 2016, and Paragraph 16 of UNHRC resolution 30/1, which also calls on the GOSL to reach a ‘political settlement’ with the Tamils by devolving more power to the Provinces.

Unfortunately, the constraints of time prevent me from taking up this matter at this moment.  I shall try to take it up in a future paper.  However, this may be a blessing in disguise.  I urge readers especially if they are law students to complete the task, and contribute something new and interesting to ongoing discussions of this seminal case.

[1] The judgment in H. K. D. Chandrasoma v. Mervai Senathirajah Secretary of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi, SC/SPL/03/2014 (delivered on 4^th August 2017) is available at www.supremecourt.lk

[2] Pages 9-10 of the judgment

[3] Oxford Law Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2015

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

[5] Ibid

[6] ‘Towards a Desirable Legal Framework for Achieving National Reconciliation in Sri Lanka,’ M. A. Sumanthiran, Bar Association of Sri Lanka Law Journal, Vol. XXI, 2015, pages, 38-41, pg. 40.Ibid,

[7] Ibid

[8] Ibid

by Dr. Sudath Gunasekara (SLAS)

A pre-publication copy of the monograph titled Sri Lanka: Land Policy for Sustainable Development, authored by Gerald Peiris (Professor Emeritus of the University of Peradeniya) which is due to be released on 15 September 2015, has been sent to me with an invitation to evaluate it. In undertaking this task I find it appropriate to place it against the backdrop of the knowledge and experience I have acquired both in the course of my official duties in the executive cadres of the state-sector administrative services that stretched for well over three decades, devoted almost entirely to matters concerning the needs of the more depressed segments of our peasantry, as well as my own research writings, including a doctoral dissertation, on agrarian affairs in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka.

This monograph is undoubtedly a landmark in studies on land policies in Sri Lanka in that it signifies a radical departure from all conventional studies undertaken so far on this subject in this country which were primarily concerned with matters such as ownership and tenurial relations in land, land-use, forest conservation, subsistence farming and poverty alleviation with a special focus on the peasantry. In this discourse the author has urged a more comprehensive approach to land policy formulation – an approach that takes into account the impulses and impact of land policies that have been pursued from historical to modern times in details not found in any other study on this subject. He has made an in- depth analysis with a sharp insight into a wide range of areas that impinge on land policies in Sri Lanka such as theoretical concepts, evolution of land policies, land reforms, rural poverty, agriculture including both the peasant and commercial plantation sectors, land grabbing and malpractices, and the need for strict and urgent legal measures to arrest this disaster, depletions of forests,  conservation of water resources and  biodiversity, effects of planation agriculture on  Sri Lankan life and  the intricacies of the rural–urban-estate land use systems. I am particularly impressed with the attention he has paid to the need to protect the central watersheds (the ‘Geographical Heartland’, HADABIMA, of Sri Lanka as I call them) against soil erosion and land degradation and depletion of water resources, pivotal for sustainable development and human survival in this country which no other scholar has so eloquently articulated.

He has emphasised the necessity for a complete reorientation of land policies beyond these fields to cover a wider spectrum such as the needs and aspirations of people to meet the demand for land for different competing uses like paddy cultivation, plantation agriculture, livestock rearing, rapidly increasing urban needs and infrastructure development like roads and railways and arresting natural hazards such as landslides and floods and disruption of wetland ecosystems. Besides, he has also called for the need to address a wider range of current issues like territorial integrity, sovereignty, devolution of power relating to lands that are of pivotal significance to governance and all aspects of life in the country, with special reference to the vital importance of reorienting land policy towards enduring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. A related perspective highlighted by Peiris is the need to protect land and its resources from foreign and domestic, intrusions driven by subversive ethnic considerations that pauses a serious threat to territorial integrity sand sovereignty of this Island nation.

The text is profusely illustrated and supported by maps, illustrations, charts and tables that have enhanced the academic value of the book. This thesis is equally useful for all sectors including academics and students who look for innovations and knew knowledge, policy makers and administrators involved in land work, looking for visionary land policies and the general public who treat land as their wealth and heritage. In compiling this discourse Professor Peiris has made use of his unparalleled and vast wealth of undisputed scholarly acumen and the wealth of almost sixty years of experience as a University teacher, scholar, researcher and a consultant in a wide range of fields and countries both in the West and the East which has served as the underpinning of this masterly analysis.

One final word on the painting on the front-cover designed by Manjula Peiris. It is, indeed, a masterpiece symbolizing the challenges our nation is facing both for ensuring sustainable development and as well as for the survival in this country which is being imperilled. It depicts symbolically the ominous terror and the plight of hapless rural farmer family. The man, though resolutely trying to drive away the impediment of a herd of charging wild elephants is also desperately struggling to save his family and himself.  He has only a rod and a huluatta (torch brand) for his defence against this terror by a herd of jumbo wild elephants. The anguished mother with the frightened child on her back is pulling the elder by her hand desperately who is holding a lantern in her other hand with trembling heart and soul dramatically portrays the plight of hapless peasants in the country side. Are these miserable peasants invoking god to save them from this ominous challenge before the nation arising from wrong land policies or no policies situation adopted by policy makers and the neglect for which they alone are mainly responsible.

The name of the book is very appropriate and speaks volumes on the thematic essence of the its content.  The need for a comprehensive and meaningful land policy, not only for sustainable development but also for survival in this Island nation is the pivotal message that has epitomized in this masterpiece.

This brief and modest attempt of mine is only a passing glimpse on this great work. One needs to read it in between line and it has to be ‘chewed and digested’ as Francis Bacon has once said of great books, to understand the real value of this unique treaties. But of cause the efforts of Prof Peiris will find their true results only in the implementation of policies embodied in this thesis by the policy makers and those who implement them. I commend this book for all those scholars, teachers and students, policy makers, Administrators and the general public who are genuinely and seriously interested in sustainable development and concerned with the survival of the Sri Lankan Nation.

This book has been published by Gevindu Kumaratunga of the firm ‘Visidunu Prakashakayo‘. It will be formally release at the Annual Book Fair which will open on 15 September 2017 at the BMICH.

Champa Fernando Secretary, KACPAW (Kandy Association for Community Protection through Animal Welfare)

A worldwide petition protesting to Minister Faiszer Musthapha, Hon. Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government, to not to legalize killing of dogs in Sri Lanka has gained close to 30,000 signatures within a week from across the world and within Sri Lanka.

The petition asks to say NO to ITEM 14 of Sri Lanka’s Draft Dog Registration Act – LDO 36/2015, which would give the Provincial Councils the legality to kill ALL straying dogs!

Some Government Officials led by the Secretary to the Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government, want as per ITEM 14 of the above Act, ALL STRAY DOGS to be SEIZED by EVERY Local Authority, DETAINED and KILLED if not claimed by payment in 3 Days!!

This would be the beginning of the end of the No-Kill Policy on Dogs, a policy upheld by Minister Faiszer Musthapha as one that cannot be violated. But including Item 14 in the Dog Registration Act will clearly violate the No-Kill Policy, making the Minister’s humane stance hollow and meaningless.

The polarity of opinion of the Minister and some of his officials on this issue is indeed peculiar and needs to be bridged in favour of the civilized, humane option of Non-Killing of Dogs, discarding sinister plans to start killing dogs in Sri Lanka.

Predominantly a Buddhist Country, Sri Lanka enjoys a NO-Kill Policy on Dogs since 2006 and has a National Dog Sterilization Programme annually funded by the Government in place since 2008. This HUMANE approach is lauded world over and Sri Lanka is seen as a trailblazing, civilized and progressive country in the region.

So what is needed is not to go back to the Medieval Age by starting to kill dogs, a method proven over hundred years to be futile with regard to controlling the dog population, but to progress forward on the No-Kill Policy and ensure that the dog sterilization programme is effectively and comprehensively carried out right across this small Island nation so that the dog population is systematically and sustainably and HUMANELY reduced.

The petition can be signed at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/949/809/086/seize-detain-kill-sri-lanka-readying-legislation-to-kill-its-dogs/?taf_id=41835710&cid=fb_na

Champa Fernando

Secretary, KACPAW (Kandy Association for Community Protection through Animal Welfare)

Dr Hector Perera       London

Takeaways are often cheap, convenient and satisfying but, unfortunately, they’re not always very healthy. Some takeaway meals can push you over your recommended daily maximum amount of salt and fat, which can lead to a variety of health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes. Takeaway food are plenty but which one to choose?

A meal cooked and bought at a shop or restaurant but taken somewhere else, often home, to be eaten, or the shop or restaurant itself. A lot of takeaway food is perfectly safe for people with coeliac disease. However, you do need to be careful what you order and be aware of the risk of cross contamination in some takeaway restaurants. Britain will spend almost £8bn a year on takeaways by the end of the decade as a surge in smartphone usage and time-pressed households cooking fewer meals boosts the country’s predilection for takeaway food.

Expenditure on pizza, curry and Chinese food is expected to grow by 28% during this decade to £7.6bn a year according to figures from Euromonitor International. Forget hunting around for paper menus. There are plenty of instantly access a wide array of local favourites, whether you’re after Brighton’s best fish & chips or a full English breakfast in Liverpool. Browse peer-reviewed takeaway menus and filter by opening times, accepted payment methods, deals and discounts. With online payment and convenient re-ordering. Some on line takeaway even got you covered for a wine or beer to go with it. I think even in Sri Lanka, mainly in Colombo city area there are plenty of home delivering takeaways. No wonder some housewives are not bothered to cook at home. Whether they are healthy and clean is your choice, food on the table in no time. Why bother in smoky, dusty and hot kitchens, just pick up the phone then meals come on wheels as fast as they could, what a change!

Fish and chips

There are lots of ways to make your trip to the chippy a healthier one. Have a portion of baked beans or mushy peas with your fish and chips. Watch out for other foods that are high in fat, such as pies and sausages.

The thicker the chips the better, because they absorb less fat. Try to have a smaller portion or share your chips. Ask for your fish and chips without salt – if you want some salt, then add a small amount yourself.

Italian

If you’re having pizza, choose lower-fat toppings, such as vegetables, ham, fish and prawns. You could ask for some extra veg on your pizza to bump up your daily fruit and veg portions. But if you don’t want to increase the saturated fat content and number of calories in your meal, don’t ask for extra cheese.

With pasta dishes, if you want a lower-fat option go for a sauce that’s based on tomatoes or vegetables, rather than cream.

Try to avoid: large deep-pan pizzas, pizzas with a cheese-stuffed crust, triple cheese with pepperoni pizzas, creamy pasta sauces and garlic bread.

Healthier options: small or medium pizzas with a thin base and vegetable or lean meat topping, tomato-based pasta sauces, bruschetta.

Chinese

Anything that’s battered or marked as “crispy” on the menu means it’s deep-fried. Watch out for starters such as prawn crackers and spring rolls, because these are generally deep-fried. Anything in batter will be high in fat. Sweet and sour pork is usually battered.

Try to avoid: sweet and sour battered pork balls with special or egg-fried rice, prawn toast, spring rolls. Healthier options: crab and corn soup, steamed dumplings, steamed vegetables and plain boiled rice, steamed fish, chicken chop suey, Szechuan prawns.

Thai

Try to stick to stir-fried dishes or steamed dishes containing chicken, fish or vegetables instead of curries. Thai curries, such as the popular green and red curries, contain coconut milk, which is high in saturated fat. If you choose a curry, try not to eat all the sauce. Have some steamed rice with your meal instead of egg-fried rice.

Indian

Try to avoid anything that’s creamy or deep-fried. To reduce the amount of fat in your meal, choose dishes with tomato-based sauces, such as tandoori and madras, plain rice or chapatti. Also choose plenty of vegetables, including lentil side dishes (known as dhal).

Kebab and burgers

Doner kebabs can be high in fat. For a healthier option, go for a shish kebab, which is a skewer with whole cuts of meat or fish and usually grilled.

If you’re having a burger, avoid breaded or battered chicken or fish patties, extra cheese, bacon strips and high-fat sauces, such as mayonnaise. Instead, go for a regular, single-patty hamburger without mayonnaise or cheese and have with extra salad.

Try to avoid: large doner kebab with mayonnaise and no salad, burgers with cheese and mayonnaise, thin-cut chips, chicken or fish patties deep-fried in batter. Healthier options: shish kebab with pitta bread and salad, grilled burgers made from lean fish or meat (beef or whole chicken breast) and without cheese and mayonnaise.

Rice & Curry or Rice ‘N’ Curry

I read some reviews about rice and curry in some places in Sri Lanka and this is what they wrote. Age old food still going strong!

This is my go to place when it comes to having lunch on a weekday since this place is situated quite closely to my workplace. For Rs. 200/- you can chose between anything from Fried Chicken, curry chicken, fried fish, curry fish , prawns or cuttlefish and that variety is a major reason when I happen to visit the place quite often. Had lunch on number of occasions and each time I was content with the food. For breakfast they do offer a pasta with chicken and that was fine by normal standards as well but nothing ravishing keep in mind! Service gets a bit late during rush hours but it’s worth the wait compared to what you get at all the other places around here. I have always taken away and never dined in house but there’s space for about ten people to dine in. Would visit again when I need to have a quick lunch on a working day.

Visited the restaurant last week along with family on our vacation. Went with great expectations and the place was laid out like a village set up, rustic seating ,waiters in traditional clothes and complete with a rooster and hen s adding to the ambiance.
Well the atmosphere was great and we opted for the buffet which was laid out on earthenware dished and there were 3 counters one for salads, fresh fruits and desserts, one counter called the toddy shop which had a disinterested lady manning it which served some fried fish and prepared omelettes lying in open dishes which were being sampled by enthusiastic flies yes by flies. We asked her to prepare fresh ones but she merely pointed to the stale ones so I did not pick up any. The main course counter had a lot of dishes both non vegetarian and vegetarian. The NV dishes included Negombo Pork Curry, Chicken curry, dried fish curry, mutton curry, fish head curry (which I quite enjoyed) and the pick of the lot Cuttle fish curry.
There was Plain steamed rice, turmeric rice and red rice but no sight of hoppers or string hoppers. Once you are on holiday in Sri Lanka then you will find out there are far too many takeaway places or ready to eat places in any town. It is your choice to find which ones are better than the others. Your comments are welcomed perera6@hotmail.co.uk

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

September 12, 2017, 8:04 pm
The high profile launch of Eliya (light) by wartime Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa underscored Sri Lanka’s PATHETIC failure to counter unsubstantiated war crimes allegations, directed by a section of the international community, since the conclusion of the war, in May 2009.

Sri Lanka paid a very heavy price for its failure and the previous government can never absolve itself of the responsibility for the situation.

Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka’s Army brought the war to a successful conclusion, on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon, on the morning of May 19, 2009, when heavy caliber ammunition penetrated LTTE leader Velupillai’s Prabhakaran’s forehead. The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has credited the Fourth Battalion of the Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment (4 VIR) for Prabhakaran’s killing. A not so celebrated infantry battalion was fortunate to secure unprecedented recognition.

The SLA would never have succeeded in pursuing Prabhakaran, successfully, if the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Air Force had failed to achieve their strategic objectives during Eelam War IV (Aug 2006-May 2009). Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda and Air Marshal Roshan Gunatilleke provided legendary leadership to the SLN and SLAF, respectively, whereas Defence Secretary Rajapaksa ensured an unstoppable offensive, over a period of three years, until the LTTE was brought to its knees. His role, in Sri Lanka’s victory over terrorism, can never be challenged or disputed.

But the failure on the part of the Rajapaksa administration to counter unsubstantiated war crimes allegations, certainly helped those who had been propagating war crimes allegations as well as accusations in respect of post-war incidents, leading to the change of government, in January, 2015.

The US, EU and India spearheaded the 2015 project in collaboration with the four-party Tamil National Alliance (TNA), one-time political arm of the LTTE.

Although a US led project failed, in January 2010, to oust President Rajapaksa, an identical mission succeeded in January 2015. On both occasions, they used those who had been close to President Rajapaksa, namely the then Gen. Sarath Fonseka and Minister Maithripala Sirisena as battering rams, in 2010 and 2015, respectively.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa facilitated the enemy project by calling presidential polls two years ahead of scheduled time. Among those who had officially requested President Rajapaksa not to do so were then SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena in April 2014 and D.E.W. Gunasekera, Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Prof. Tissa Vitharana in Oct 2014. President Rajapaksa ignored their sensible advice.

Gajaba Regiment veteran Rajapaksa launched the Eliya project on Sept. 6, 2017, amidst the latest simmering dispute over war-winning Army Chief the then Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka accusing the then Vanni Security Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya of atrocities.

The Eliya project, meant to thwart the ongoing bid to bring in a new Constitution, in accordance with Geneva Resolution 30/1, co-sponsored by the UNP-SLFP government, on Oct 1, 2015, received the backing of the civil society. Among them were distinguished non-career diplomats, Dayan Jayatilleka, who calls himself a Sri Lankan patriot, and also an internationalist, and Tamara Kunanayakam. Jayatilleka and Kunanayakam made brief presentations on behalf of Eliya. It would be pertinent to mention that the Rajapaksa administration unceremoniously removed both Jayatilleka and Kunanayakam, at the expense of Sri Lanka’s defence overseas. Now they are back, along with former MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe, who switched his allegiance to Maithripala Sirisena at the onset of the operation against President Rajapaksa, in late 2014. Prof. Wijesinghe was also present at the launch of Eliya.

Among those who had been present at the launch of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s initiative, were twice President Mahinda Rajapaksa and brother Basil Rajapaksa accused of war crimes. They were among four leaders of the war-winning Rajapaksa team blamed by the then US Ambassador in Colombo Patricia Butenis for war crimes. The other accused are Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, on the podium, and now Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, Regional Development Minister in the UNP-SLFP coalition.

Fonseka’s entry into politics, in late 2009, triggered an unprecedented crisis and, unfortunately, divided the war-winning team. But, whatever political disputes, Sarath Fonseka had been a key member of the war-winning team, and his contribution to Sri Lanka’s war against terrorism can never be challenged. That is the undeniable truth. In fact, Sri Lanka’s triumph over terrorism or resultant war crimes allegations cannot be discussed, under any circumstances, without taking the Fonseka factor into consideration.

Those who had flayed Fonseka for accusations, directed at Jayasuriya, must not forget the Sinha Regiment veteran is also part of the solution, regardless of his political affiliations now.

The writer had an opportunity to take up a range of issues, pertaining to accountability issues, during Balaya, a weekly live programme, hosted by Sudewa Hettiarachchi, Director News, Hiru, on Sept 7, 2017, the day after the launch of ‘Eliya.’ The timing of Balaya couldn’t have been better with naval veteran Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera (former Deputy Minister, UPFA), who had addressed the gathering at the ‘Eliya’ launch on the previous, on the ‘Balaya’ panel. The writer teamed up with Weerasekera, whereas the opposing team comprised Gamini Viyangoda of Purawesi Balaya, an influential civil society organization that had forcefully campaigned for President Rajapaksa’s ouster, and Dr. Jehan Perera, executive Director of the National Peace Council (NPC), the foremost NGO funded by successive Norwegian governments, and the recipient of substantial funding from other foreign ‘sources.’

Perera, accompanied the Sri Lankan delegation to the Geneva Human Rights Council sessions, in March 2017. He backed Sri Lanka’s request for an additional two-year period to implement Resolution 30/1.

The debate dealt with war crimes allegations in the wake of Fonseka’s latest outburst directed at Jayasuriya.

Essentially, Viyangoda, a member of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTFRM) and Perera strongly pushed for a thorough investigation into accountability issues. Viyangoda reiterated his backing for CTFRM recommendation for foreign judges in domestic war crimes court, in line with Resolution 30/1. Perera threw his weight behind Viyangoda, while faulting the previous government for excessive loss of civilian lives during the Vanni offensive and detention of over 300,000 people at the conclusion of the fighting. They asserted that international intervention could have been averted had the Rajapaksa administration swiftly and decisively addressed human rights concerns. They squarely placed the blame on the previous government for the current crisis, while underscoring the responsibility on the part of Sri Lanka to address domestic as well as international concerns in respect of wartime conduct of political and military leaderships.

Weerasekera lucidly explained how the ongoing Geneva project relentlessly undermined Sri Lanka with the focus on immense sacrifices made by the armed forces and the people. The naval veteran also discussed the failure on the part of the international community to intervene and take punitive action against the LTTE at an earlier stage. Weerasekera recalled the atrocities that had been committed by the LTTE over a period of time while explaining their own efforts to protect civilians. Weerasekera cited the rescue of Sea Tiger leader Soosai’s wife and children by the navy on May 16, 2009, as they were fleeing in a boat towards Tamil Nadu as an example of their approach towards non-combatants. Weerasekera proved that Resolution 30/1, that had been co-sponsored by the current government, was based on the report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka, aka OISL, though Viyangoda took a contrary view.

Weerasekera strongly opposed foreign judges as well as other foreign personnel in proposed judicial mechanism whereas the writer expressed the opinion that proper defence strategy following fresh reappraisal of the entire gamut of issues will enable Sri Lanka to successfully counter allegations even before foreign judges. It would be pertinent to stress that the responsibility in proving allegations directed at Sri Lanka lies with those pushing for war crimes probe. The writer asserted that foreign judges wouldn’t be an issue if Sri Lanka, forcefully brought out all relevant factors.

The writer raised the following issues with the panelists.

Thamilini’s revelations

The pivotal importance of establishing the circumstances leading to the resumption of war, in Aug 2006. Sivakamy Sivasubramaniyam alias Thamilini, in her memoirs, Thiyuni Asipathaka Sevana Yata (Under the shadow of a sword), launched in May 2016, following her death in Oct 2015, briefly explained how Prabhakaran had wanted to facilitate Mahinda Rajapaksa’s victory, at the Nov 2005 presidential poll, to enable the LTTE to resume war and bring his campaign to a successful end. There cannot be any dispute over Thamilini’s assertions as regards the LTTE creating an environment for resumption of all out war and the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, in Aug. 2005, on specific orders given by Prabhakaran as Thamilini’s book was launched by artiste, Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, on her husband Jeyakumar’s request. Viyangoda and senior lecturer Swaminadan Wimal had addressed the gathering at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI). Dharmasiri Bandaranayake or Viyangoda wouldn’t have done anything under any circumstances to justify the war against the LTTE, hence the need to seriously examine Thamilini’s revelations.

Victor Ivan’s disclosure

Former Ravaya Editor Victor Ivan, in a special article on ‘Jeyaraj’, published in Sept 2011, in memory of Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, assassinated in April 2008, revealed how President Rajapaksa had sent Seva Lanka chief Harsha Navaratne to reach an understanding with the LTTE soon after Prabhakaran launched claymore attacks in Dec 2005. The then presidential secretary Lalith Weeratunga had accompanied Harsha Kumara Navaratne. President Rajapaksa had sent Harsha Navaratne again with Fernandopulle to make representations to the LTTE, on his behalf, in the wake of the Mavilaru crisis, caused by the LTTE in June/July 2006. According to Victor Ivan, Navaratne had made the revelations a few months after Fernandopulle’s assassination at Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe’s residence. Among those present had been Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne (then an influential member of the Rajapaksa cabinet), TNA leader R. Sampanthan and TNA members of parliament, Suresh Premachandran and Mavai Senathirajah. Victor Ivan also quoted Sampanthan as having said that the war couldn’t be called genocide though he wasn’t prepared to admit that publicly. Victor Ivan underscored that Harsha Kumara Navaratne had made the revelation after the TNA accused President Rajapaksa of resorting to war without making an effort to negotiate with the LTTE.

P’karan’s targets

The LTTE realized the requirement to deprive President Rajapaksa of Lt. Gen. Fonseka and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa at a very early stage of eelam war IV. Had Prabhakaran succeeded in eliminating Fonseka, in April 2006, and Rajapaksa, in Oct 2006, the war effort would have failed. Fonseka had the strength to declare that he wouldn’t leave the war to his successor, while Gotabhaya told Norwegians the problem could be definitely settled through military means, according to Pawns of Peace: Evaluation of Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka released in Sept 2011. Let me reproduce verbatim the relevant section: “On April 6, 2006, Norwegian Special Envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer and Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar have a tense meeting with Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. In response to a question about whether the ethnic and political problems could be solved by military means Gotabhaya answers, ‘yes.’

Had Prabhakaran succeeded, the outcome of the war could have been different. The split in the Rajapaksa camp obviously delighted those elements wanting to divide the country on ethnic lines.

Denial of ‘white flag’ allegations

Reappraisal of specific allegation in respect of execution of LTTE cadres on the Vanni east front in mid May 2009 against the backdrop of a public statement made by Lt. Col. Lawrence Smith, US defence attache, in Colombo, in June 2011, regarding the allegation. Lt. Col. Smith denied the allegation at the inaugural Defence Seminar organized by the SLA at the Ramada. Interestingly, the US State Department never denied Lt. Col’s statement, though it declared the officer didn’t make that statement on behalf of the US.

Discrepancy in numbers killed

Requirement to establish the number of civilians killed during the final phase. The UN Panel of Experts (PoE) estimated the number of killed at over 40,000, in March 2011, whereas the Amnesty International, in Sept 2011, placed the number of civilian deaths at 10,000. In Sept. 2011, the British parliament was told of 60,000 civilians and 40,000 LTTE cadres killed during January-May 2009. These vastly different figures should be examined taking into consideration still confidential UN report that placed the number of persons killed in areas under LTTE control during Aug 2008 – May 2009 at 7,721 and 18,479 wounded. The war ended a week after the UN stopped collecting data due to the intensity of the fighting.

TNA’s culpability

Inquire into TNA’s partnership with the LTTE since 2001 when the former came into being. The EU alleged that the TNA secured the lion’s share of electorates/seats in the Northern and Eastern electorates at the April 2004 parliamentary polls, thanks to violence unleashed by the LTTE on those opposed to the TNA and former stuffing ballot boxes of the latter. Having declared the LTTE sole representative of Tamils in 2001, the TNA faithfully served the terrorist group, both in and outside parliament, until the SLA put a bullet through Prabhakaran’s head.

Allegations against the SLA should be probed taking into consideration the TNA support for Fonseka and Maithripala Sirisena at the January 2010, January 2015 presidential polls, respectively. Fonseka had commanded the victorious SLA accused of indiscriminate killings while Maithripala Sirisena held the defence portfolio in the last week of Vanni offensive. The TNA had no qualms in throwing its weight behind them in spite of war crimes allegations. Would Sampanthan have backed them, especially Fonseka, if he really believed in his own accusations?

Wiki leaks revelations

Although, the Paranagama Commission, in its second mandate, referred to Wiki leaks, for some strange reason, the previous government never made use of US diplomatic cables. One such cable, revealed top ICRC official asserting how SLA could have finished off the LTTE quicker if it didn’t take civilian factor into consideration.

The cable, dated July 15, 2009, signed by the then Geneva-based US ambassador, Clint Williamson, cleared the SLA of crimes against humanity during the Vanni offensive. The cable, addressed to the US State Department, was based on a confidential conversation Ambassador Williamson had with the then ICRC head of operations for South Asia, Jacque de Maio on July 9, 2009. Ambassador Williamson wrote: “The army was determined not to let the LTTE escape from its shrinking territory, even though this meant the civilians being kept hostage by the LTTE were at an increasing risk. So, de Maio said, while one could safely say that there were ‘serious, widespread violations of international humanitarian law,’ by the Sri Lankan forces, it didn’t amount to genocide. He could cite examples of where the army had stopped shelling when the ICRC informed them it was killing civilians. In fact, the army actually could have won the military battle faster with higher civilian casualties, yet chose a slower approach which led to a greater number of Sri Lankan military deaths. He concluded however, by asserting that the GoSL failed to recognize its obligation to protect civilians, despite the approach leading to higher military casualties.”

SLA lost 2,400 officers and men in 2009 though the war ended in May 2009.

Tamil victims

In response to Viyangoda’s assertion that 90 per cent of victims were Tamils, the writer pointed out the need to inquire into circumstances under which that community suffered since the Indian military intervention in 1980s. A thorough inquiry should examine the deaths due to Indian Army operations in Sri Lanka (1987-1990), fighting among Indian sponsored Tamil groups, sea borne Tamil terrorist raid on the Maldives in Nov 1988, LTTE executing its own for allegedly plotting against its leader and political killings. It wouldn’t be right to restrict investigations into allegations blamed on Sri Lanka. TNA MP Dharmalingham Siddarthan, Chairman of Center-Periphery Relations Sub Committee that recommended far reaching constitutional reforms meant to weaken the 1978 Constitution is on record as having said that two TULF MPs including his father were abducted and executed by Indian sponsored TELO terrorists at the behest of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) in 1985.

Humanitarian missions

Proposed accountability mechanism should seek clarification from foreign powers and INGOs in respect of supplies that had been moved overland and then by sea to the area under LTTE control up to the second week of May 2009. The previous government lacked even a basic plan to prepare solid defence to counter lies and to cleverly use vital information provided by foreign sources such as the US (Lt Col. Lawrence Smith) and UN (PoE report). Let India inform the proposed accountability mechanism how its personnel, based at Pulmoddai, north of Trincomalee, received wounded men, women and children evacuated by the ICRC. The writer had the opportunity to visit a makeshift Indian medical facility in late April 2009. The evacuation operation allowed nearly 15,000 civilians, both wounded and relatives to reach Pulmoddai. The accusation that Sri Lanka had waged genocidal war should be investigated keeping in mind how the wounded were evacuated even in the second week of May 2009. War ended on the morning of May 19, 2009.

Role for Norway

Proposed accountability mechanism should thoroughly inquire into efforts made by the international community to save civilians. The then MP and presidential advisor, Basil Rajapaksa, received a one-page missive, on Feb. 16, 2009, from then Norwegian ambassador, Tore Hattrem. The Norwegian embassy delivered the letter to Basil Rajapaksa in the wake of Ambassador Hattrem discussing the situation on the Vanni east front with President Rajapaksa’s brother. Basil Rajapaksa had been exploring ways and means of securing the release of the Vanni population, held hostage by the LTTE, and was in touch with Western diplomatic missions in Colombo, in this regard.

Hattrem’s note to Basil Rajapaksa revealed Norway’s serious concern over the LTTE’s refusal to release the civilians. The Island received a copy of the hitherto unknown Norwegian note, headlined ‘Offer/Proposal to the LTTE’, personally signed by Ambassador Hattrem. The Norwegian envoy was writing to Basil Rajapaksa on behalf of those countries trying to negotiate a ceasefire between the government and the LTTE, to facilitate the release of civilians, held hostage by the latter.

The following is the text of Ambassador Hattrem’s letter, addressed to Basil Rajapaksa:

“I refer to our telephone conversation today. The proposal to the LTTE on how to release the civilian population, now trapped in the LTTE controlled area, has been transmitted to the LTTE through several channels. So far, there has been, regrettably, no response from the LTTE and it does not seem to be likely that the LTTE will agree with this in the near future.”

Those who really want to clear Sri Lanka’s name should face the accusers in a court of law. It would be pertinent to stress that it would be their responsibility and challenge to prove still unproven allegations on which Geneva wanted our Constitution changed to pave the way for a federal structure.

(To be continued on Sept 20)

Editorial Courtesy The Island

September 12, 2017, 8:06 pm
US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Alice Wells is reported to have told a Congressional subcommittee that non-concessional Chinese loans have placed unsustainable debt burdens on Sri Lanka. ‘They are now of concern to the Sri Lankan people in the government,’ she has said. She sounds like the yahapalana leaders who used to clamour against China and Chinese loans while campaigning hard to dislodge the pro-Chinese Rajapaksa government.

Why have some western powers suddenly awoken to the debt burden of the developing world? In the past, they dominated the world through aid, which came with many strings attached. But, their economies are no longer strong enough to do so and they have, therefore, opted for the most economical way of achieving that objective. They are using human rights as a tool to control the developing world. This method has proved to be very cost effective. The western governments now have to fund only some influential INGOs and NGOs operating in the developing world instead of the so-called Third World governments which have an enormous appetite for aid, part of it is siphoned off by corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. They have succeeded in hijacking the UNHRC and using it as a bludgeon against the states, perceived to be hostile to them, and to protect their allies in spite of their grave human rights abuses.

China is now doing what the West is no longer capable of doing; it provides developing countries with loans without trying to run parallel governments therein. It has thus been able to expand the sphere of its influence extensively, posing new geopolitical challenges to the West. It is only natural that Chinese loans causes so much concern to the capitalist bloc, struggling to retain its grip on the world. Interestingly, Europe has had to soften its stand on some African nations, which it used to condemn for human rights violations in a bid to counter China’s growing influence in that region.

There is no love lost between the present Sri Lankan government and China. But, the former has no way of pulling out of China’s sphere of influence due to its economic difficulties. The UNP-led UNF government crashed in 2004 as it could not raise funds even by compromising national security and appeasing the LTTE. It was eyeing a 4.5-billion-dollar aid package which the US, Japan, the EU and Norway—which came to be known as the Tokyo Co-chairs of Sri Lanka’s ‘peace process’—promised; the implementation of their aid pledge was made conditional to progress to be made in negotiations with the intransigent LTTE, which stuck to its Eelam demand like a limpet. The present UNP-led yahapalana administration also expected the western powers which helped engineer the 2015 regime change here to help it financially. Else, it would not have taken on China to the extent of undertaking to scrap the Chinese-funded Port City project. But, it received nothing by way of financial assistance from its admirers in the West.

The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government wouldn’t have had to swallow its pride and grovel before the Chinese leaders, begging for funds if the US and other western powers had provided it with the much-needed soft loans. Ironically, even some of the western powers critical of Chinese loans are dependent on China, which has been investing in euro zone government debt.

Washington’s concern over Sri Lanka’s debt burden should be appreciated. But, the question is what the US is going to do about it. On Nov. 01, 2016, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Yi Xianliang, did not mince his words when he asked the then Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, who was critical of the Chinese interest rates, why the latter had asked for another loan if the Chinese loans were so expensive. Those who are shedding copious tears for Sri Lanka, in a debt trap, should answer this question and make available loans at lower interest rates if their concerns about this country are genuine.

Courtesy ANI

Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) [India], Sep 12 (ANI): 12 Indian fishermen, who were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy from Delft Island were produced in Oorkavalthurai court on Tuesday.

The Sri Lankan court has remanded the fishermen in Jaffna jail up to September 26.

Yesterday, 12 Indian fishermen, along with two boats were caught by the Sri Lankan navy and taken to the Kankesanthurai Naval camp for interrogation.

Meanwhile, after the arrest of fishermen Tamil Nadu’s Pudukottai district also announced indefinite strike demanding immediate release of their fellowmen. (ANI)

CONSTANTINO XAVIER Courtesy The Hindu

China’s inroads into South Asia since the mid-2000s have eroded India’s traditional primacy in the region, from Afghanistan to Myanmar and also in the Indian Ocean. As Beijing deploys its formidable financial resources and develops its strategic clout across the subcontinent, New Delhi faces capacity challenges to stem Chinese offensive in its own strategic backyard.

Prime Minister Modi’s new ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, unveiled in 2014, has consequently focused on reaching out to other states to develop partnerships across the region. This balancing strategy marks a departure from India’s unsustainable efforts to insulate South Asia as its exclusive sphere of influence and deny space to any extra-regional actors.

Officially, these unprecedented outreach efforts are implicitly referred to as a partnership with like-minded” countries. According to Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, in its quest for more people-centric” connectivity projects and a cooperative regional architecture,” India is working closely with a number of other international players whose approach is similar.”

New South Asian partners

A range of examples speak volumes about this new strategy. With the US, India now conducts close consultations on smaller states such as Nepal, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka. In 2015, following Japan’s permanent inclusion into the Malabar naval exercises, Tokyo and New Delhi developed a joint Vision 2025” plan promising to seek synergy… by closely coordinating, bilaterally and with other partners, for better regional integration and improved connectivity,” especially in the Bay of Bengal region. The Asia-Africa Growth Corridor, announced in 2016, further highlights India’s willingness to work with Japan to develop alternatives to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

In 2014, India and Russia signed an unprecedented agreement to cooperate on developing nuclear power in third countries, with a focus on Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Year 2015 saw the first Australia-India Maritime Exercise (AUSINDEX) off India’s Eastern coast. And with the UK, India signed a statement of intent on partnership for cooperation in third countries” with a focus on development assistance in South Asia, and held its first formal dialogue on regional affairs in 2016.

With Brussels, Paris, and Berlin, New Delhi has engaged in dialogues about maritime security and the Indian Ocean region, and shared intelligence to bolster regional counter-terrorism efforts. Finally, contrasting with its past reluctance to involve multilateral organisations, India has enthusiastically endorsed the Asian Development Bank’s South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) operational programme for 2016-25, focused on improving connectivity between the subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

Expanding partnerships

While many of these partnerships are still nascent, there are measures that will allow their expansion across three sequential levels. First, o increase mutual consultation, New Delhi and extra-regional powers must invest in creating institutional mechanisms dedicated to sharing assessments on South Asia.

Under existing consultations, Afghanistan, Pakistan, or broader Asian strategic issues frequently overshadow Nepal or Sri Lanka. This must give way to specific bilateral dialogues on three specific regional vectors: political and strategic issues, with a focus on China, counter-terrorism, and maritime security; economic issues, with a focus on connectivity, trade, and investment initiatives; and developmental issues, with a focus on aid projects and other economic assistance initiatives.

Second, to increase the prospects for coordination, India and partners can identify bilateral areas for policy coordination across South Asia, agreeing to a division of labour that maximises each side’s advantage. In Bangladesh, for example, India has focused on political and capacity-building objectives, while Japan is concentrating its financial might in infrastructure projects. Similarly, there are also indications that India and the US have successfully coordinated their political postures on the Maldives, with a good cop, bad cop” dynamic leveraging carrots and sticks” to shape Male’s behaviour.

At the third and highest level, in order to contain China and advance concrete cooperation across South Asia, India and its extra-regional partners should aspire to integrate efforts and implement joint projects. This will require expanding bilateral dialogues to include third countries, on the model of the India-US-Afghanistan trilateral. Such partnerships could focus on a variety of specific sectors to strengthen third countries in the region, including joint disbursement, implementation and monitoring of development assistance; establishment of dedicated funds to facilitate infrastructure development or acquisition of military equipment; capacity-building training for administrative and security personnel; democracy assistance to strengthen good governance and the rule of law; and joint military exercises, focusing on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

Challenges ahead

While India and its extra-regional partners develop efforts to consult, coordinate, and cooperate across South Asia, they will also have to prepare for a variety of challenges. First, extra-regional partners will have to continue to recognise India’s predominant role in the region and defer to its security concerns, whether real or imagined.

For example, by allowing India to take the lead” and consolidate its role as a first responder” to regional crises in recent years (such as the Nepal earthquake), the US has earned much goodwill in New Delhi. Second, as the region’s small states play an increasingly sophisticated balancing game, seeking to play off India and its partners against China, closer consultation and coordination will be key.

Finally, when it comes to the normative dimension of democracy and human rights, New Delhi and its like-minded friends will also face occasional tensions given their different priorities. For India, the focus is naturally on the short-term, with economic and security interests incentivising the pragmatic engagement of any regime type in its neighbourhood. While the West’s liberal interventionist impulse has receded, the US and European partners will, however, continue to privilege a value-based and long-term approach that emphasises pressure on authoritarian regimes.

This last challenge is currently playing out in Myanmar, with clashing Indian and Western positions on the importance of the Rohingya refugee issue. As former Indian diplomat Shiv Shankar Menon presciently noted in the late 2000s, the desire for sanctions” is always directly proportional to the distance from Myanmar of the country demanding it.”

Under rising international pressure, Naypyidaw is tilting back to China for support, further complicating India’s connectivity plans across the Bay of Bengal. Similar balancing dynamics can be observed in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Maldives, which further highlight how critical India’s global outreach efforts are to its quest to remain influential in its own region.

The writer is a fellow at Carnegie India in New Delhi. This article is by special arrangement with the Center for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania

Gotabaya Rajapaksa

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUOym1NMvhozUuWfBl4wxow/featured

Shenali D Waduge

We cannot ignore global geopolitics and corporate warfare together with neocolonial aspirations in trying to come to terms with the situation unfolding in Myanmar. The stage is now being set to transfer the geopolitical focus to Asia and Myanmar has been placed centre stage. If groups of people are receiving armed training doesn’t a country have a right to defend itself? These armed groups are neither freedom fighter’s but terrorists for eventually they will even target their own just as the LTTE did in Sri Lanka.

Let’s look at some of the similarities that Sri Lanka & Myanmar share

Both are two of the last remaining Theravada Buddhist countries. Militancy in Sri Lanka was first launched clandestinely from South India trained with the knowledge of the Indian Government. In the case of Myanmar it is well documented that the Rohingya’s have at least 5 armed groups. While all Tamils did not side with LTTE Terrorists in Sri Lanka, it is without a doubt that all Rohingyas are not supporting these Bengali Terrorists. However, both did not have a choice and became victims in the hands of the militants and the governments tasked to defend their country against militancy.

Sri Lanka’s conflict generated a powerful diaspora lobby group who became tasked to fund and flame the conflict as it served their advantage in becoming economic refugees. Both fled in boats seeking better pastures overseas. It is more than possible that many a terrorist would have masqueraded as ‘refugees’ and accompanied the real victims to foreign shores where from these countries they would generate the propaganda necessary to keep the conflict ongoing as it would generate income and begin turning the wheels of how geopolitical maneuvering takes places in arm-twisting elected governments. This is where media/NGOs/ internet/humanitarian organizations enter the scene where a long and lucrative livelihood for them is certain so long as the conflict lasts. Many LTTE diaspora groups are registered as foreign charities/NGOs and humanitarian organizations fleecing foreign governments by making use of tax havens and other welfare freebies.

It is these entities now rushing to produce reports, documentaries, false flag situations, fake news and lies to assist those that are funding them to achieve their corporate/geopolitical objectives. The power of funding and what they can produce was clear in the lies that helped justify the illegal invasions & R2P actions against Yugoslavia carving a separate & independent state (Kosovo), South Sudan, lies that has destabilized Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya & luckily the Syrian people backed their leader making the Syrian exercise placed in a list of surprising failures! Having virtually left Middle East and Africa in flames these same entities using the proxy jihadist partners are now moving to Asia where the political pivot policy was made clear.

When Bengali terrorists are being funded by Al Qaeda and ISIS both of which are now proven creations of the West and their intelligence it is baffling that just because they are using Islam as the slogan and Muslims as their soldiers, that the Muslim world are unable to realize these hard facts and denounce them.

However, it is nothing to be surprised as most Tamils have been silent against LTTE terror even after being militarily defeated and not many are coming forward to even nullify the lies that the LTTE diaspora are cooking up on a regular basis to sustain their existence and continue their livelihood based on their supposed ‘grievance’. It is more than possible that these Bengali Terrorists will be used to carry out a very long drawn out conflict in Myanmar till those pulling the strings are satisfied that they can force India, Myanmar, China to succumb to their machinations. These are serious factors that the governments of India, Myanmar & China need to take stock of. Asia must not be allowed to become another Middle East or Africa or even South America. Already the drugs smuggling, plethora of illegal activities, human smuggling etc have achieved hub status in Asia. Both LTTE and these jihadist terror groups are famous for narcotic smuggling partnering with foreign intelligence agencies.

We saw how hundreds of NGOs virtually opening shop next door to LTTE offices when LTTE ran their defacto state – while all of them wrote handsome reports on child soldiers, the suffering of the Tamils etc none of them did tuppence to stop a single child from being kidnapped from their families and turned into child soldiers. The lady now seated in Sri Lanka’s Constitutional Council stands guilty herself for contributing zero to stop child soldier recruitment and she was named to be part of a fact-finding mission to Myanmar!

This is where Myanmar will also need to take stock of the UN and how UN and its puppet envoys are being used to politically present the need for foreign intervention. Sri Lanka’s case has been easier for we have an appeasing government placed in power after a well-funded regime change who are more than willing to hand over every piece of the administration & national asset to foreign powers! However, they are well aware that Myanmar and its people have more pluck and will refuse to bend down to the whims and fancies even though many accuse Aung San Su Ki of being a Western proxy. Note how the UN is taking out all their jargon – genocide, ethnic cleansing which should immediately warn us what the real gameplan is.

While it is without doubt that the Rohingyas must be suffering as a result of being guineapigs in a bigger game, it is virtually the same scenario that befell the Tamils caught between LTTE and Government troops. Was life better with the LTTE was often a question posed when LTTE was militarily defeated and when despite making USD300m annual profits the LTTE had not even made a single road or building for the people they claimed to be fighting to look after except build lavish bunkers for themselves and homes for their families. Similarly, we cannot ignore the fact that whoever is funding the Bengali militants and using the Rohingyas are doing so to carve out an area which had been historically a place that sought separation just like the Eelam ploy in Sri Lanka. It is baffling how Tamils who originate from Tamil Nadu where the first quest for self-determination started is arguing for a homeland in Sri Lanka’s North and East well while even the ethnicity of Rohingyas in question given that the name itself never existed until the 1950s.

Let us not forget that the British are accountable for the unfolding tragedy in both Sri Lanka and Myanmar through their divide and rule policies. Bangladesh eventually received independence but it is highly unlikely that India which turned down the independence of Khalistan nor supported the self-determination of Tamils in Tamil Nadu would help the Bengali Terrorists in Myanmar though India did use the LTTE militancy to wrest economic and political control over Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka’s leaders failed to adopt a strategy to deal with this reality. The leaders of Asia for petty political brownies against their own neighbors cannot and repeat cannot ignore that the enemy all of Asia is now dealing with will destroy all of these countries if the leaders of these countries do not unite to take the bull by the horns.

Those clamoring to present solutions will doubtless present the notion that taking a line and dividing an area is the solution. Do they need to be getting handsome salary packages to come up with a solution like that! They often completely ignore that in Sri Lanka more Tamils are living peacefully with the Sinhalese outside of the terrain being sought as ‘separate’ while in Myanmar too there are plenty of Muslims living peacefully with the people of Myanmar throughout the country. So what really is the mischief makers upto using Sri Lanka’s North/East and Myanmar’s Rakhine province? This is where the truth gets well hidden behind a plethora of propaganda and lies. This is where intelligence observers and readers and often the victims themselves need to realistically take stock of the situation.

While it is unfortunate that the Rohingyas are being used as bait, it is really no different to how the Vanni Tamils were used and not many Tamils in either Colombo or overseas nor even the Tamil leaders did anything to demand that the LTTE terrorists release their people and stop recruiting children to turn into child soldiers. This was so because the Tamils that the terrorists picked were from poor and low caste homes. Their welfare didn’t matter to Tamils living elsewhere who were beneficiaries of the conflict by using that to apply as refugees on the discrimination ticket and many who are now living overseas. Is this the same scenario for Muslim Rohingyas as Muslims themselves are divided the world over though both lobby as an united front to achieve their demands?

When the scrooge of terror enters the scene and when it is coupled with geopolitics and corporate objectives it is very hard for truth to prevail or for the victims to have any say. Even today, 8 years after LTTE defeat the Tamil people are now victims of Tamil political leadership continuing the separatist game. Rohingyas will no doubt face a similar future. Even if the solution is for them to return to Bangladesh where they originally came from it is unlikely that option would be promoted because these Rohingyas are needed for the Bengali terrorists to justify their existence and penetrate and win over territory while in the background the West and UN will play their part – we saw Western nations lining up to offer ‘aid’ to Rohingyas and we know exactly where that led in Libya, Syria and all other countries which after delivering ‘democracy’ they are now worse off than when under the rule of their supposed ‘dictators’.

We certainly do not wish for Myanmar to become the newest victim of the geopolitical, corporate, neo-imperial agenda using Bengali terrorists as masquerade.

Shenali D Waduge

තේජා ගොඩකන්දෙආරච්චි

මහවැසි, ගංවතුර හා නායයාම් මෙන්ම නියඟය හා දුර්භික්ෂයද අපේ රට ගිල ගන්නේ මාරුවෙන් මාරුවටය. එක නිමේෂයකදී ලක්ෂ ගණන් ජනතාව බීමට වතුර පොදක් නැතිව, ඉරි තැලුන බිම්කඩක අතරමං කරන සොබා දහම, ඊලඟ නිමේෂයේදී මහා සැඩ පහරක වෙසින් පැමින ජනතාව ගිලගනී. කලට වැසි ලැබ, කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයෙන් ස්වයංපෝෂිතව තිබූ රටක් මෙවන් තත්වයකට ඇද වැටුනේ කෙසේද?

ඒ අතර පොළොන්නරුවේ නව කෘෂි වෙළඳ මධ්‍යස්ථානයකට ‘මුල්ගල‘ තබන ගමන් ලබන මාසයේ සිට ‘වගා සංග්‍රාමයක්‘ අරඹන්නට අපේක්ෂා කරන බව ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන පවසන්නේය. ඔහු ජනාධිපති තනතුරට පත්වී වසර 3 ක් ගතවීමටත් ආසන්න වුවද මේ වන තුරුත් තමන් කරන්නට අදහස් කරන ලොකු ලොකු සිහින ගැන කියවනවා මිසෙක කරලා පෙන්වූ දෙයක් නම් නැත. කොටින් කියතොත් ඉලක්කය තිබුනද ඒ කරා ගෙනයන ක්‍රියාකාරකම් පද්ධතියක් නොමැත. වරක් ඔහු ‘පැහැබර හෙටක් – තිරසර රටක්‘ කියා පොත් වගයක් මුද්‍රණයකර, මහා උත්සවයක් පවත්වා බෙදා හැරියේය. එය එතැනින් අවසන්ය. ඩෙංගු මර්ධනය සඳහා නියාමකවරුන් පත්කර තවත් උත්සවයක් පැවැත්වූ අතර ඉන් මාස කිහිපයක් ගිය තැන ඩෙංගු වසංගතයට ගොදුරුවන ජනතාව ලක්ෂ සංඛ්‍යාතව ඉහල ගිය කල්හි, මෙවන් පත්වීම් කලාද කියා සිතන්නටවත් ජනතාවට අවකාශයක් නැතිවිය. ඒ අතරතුර රටටම ආදර්ශයක් දෙන්නට යයි පවසමින් යෝග ව්‍යායාම්වල යෙදීම, සුවතා වැඩ සටහන්, දරු පරපුර රැක ගැනීමේ වැඩසටහන් නිමක් නැත. මෙවන් කටින් බතල සිටුවන ගනයේ උත්සව නිසා, ඒවාට වැයවන මුදල් කන්දරාව සහ මේවා වෙනුවෙන් වැයවන නිළධාරීන් ඇතුලු ජනතාවගේ කාලය, එනම් තම තමන්ගේ ප්‍රශ්න විසඳා ගැනීමට තිබෙන කාලය, අපතේ යනු මිස මෙතෙක් රටට කෙරුන වැඩක් ඇතිද කියා සිතා බැලීම වටී.

ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේම වචනයෙන් කියන පරිදි ‘ගොවි පුතෙකු‘ සහ ‘තක්සලාවක් බඳු නිවසක හැදුන වැඩුන අයෙකු‘ ලෙස ඔහු හැමදාම කියන ප්‍රධාන මාතෘකාවන් වන දරුවන් සහ කෘෂිකර්මාන්තය සම්බන්ධව මඳක් විග්‍රහ කිරීම තුල රටේ ජනාධිපති ලෙස ඔහු සතු ධාරිතාව ගැන යම් අවබෝධයක් ලබා ගැනීමට හැකි වනු ඇත.

ඔහු දරු පරපුර ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට කටයුතු කරනවිට ඔවුන් ගිල ගන්නා ව්‍යසනයන් රටේ කොපමන වේද කියා ඔහුට දැනෙනු ඇතිද? නමුත් අපේ ජනාධිපතිවරයාට ව්‍යසනයන් ලෙස පෙනෙන්නේ ජංගම දුරකථන සහ අන්තර්ජාලය පමනි. ඔහුට අනුව දරුවන් අතර සිය දිවි හානිකර ගැනීම් වැඩිවී ඇත්තේ ඒ කරුණු දෙක නිසාය. මාස කිහිපයකට පෙර විදේශයකදී නව තාක්ෂණයේ ව්‍යාප්තිය පිලිබඳ උත්සවයකට සහභාගී වෙමින්, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව නව තාක්ෂණය අතින් අාසියාවේ මුල් තැනට ගෙන එන බව පැවසුවේ ඔහුමය. පාසල් සිසුන්ට ටැබ් එකක් බෙදා දෙන්නට හදිසි වී ඇත්තේද ඔහුගේම කැබිනෙට්ටුවේම අධ්‍යාපන ඇමතිවරයාටය. මේ ටැබ් එක සමගම මතුවන අනෙකුත් ප්‍රායෝගික ගැටලු විසඳන්නේ කෙසේද කියා සහතිකයක් ඔහුට තිබේද? මනාව ඉදිකල පාසලකට ගොඩවී, ළමුන්ගේ අත්පොලසන් මධ්‍යයේ ගිටාර් වාදනයකර, තමාගේ සිහින ප්‍රබන්ධයන්ගෙන් එකක් පවසා යනවා හැරුනකොට ඉසට හරිහමං සෙවනක් නැතිව හෝ මේස පුටු නැතිව බිම හිඳගෙන අකුරු කරන පොල් අතු, කටු මැටියෙන් ඉදිවූ පාසලකට ඔහු ගොඩ වදිනු ඔබ කිසි දිනෙක රූපවාහිනියෙන් දැක තිබේද? 

රටේ ඇති පාසල් අතරින් 50% ක ට වඩා ඇත්තේ මෙවන් අඩුපාඩු සහිතවය. පාසල් යන වයසේ වුව පාසල් නොයන දරුවන් සංඛ්‍යාව කොපමන වේද? ළමා පරපුරට ඇති සැබෑ ප්‍රශ්න මේවාය. ජංගම දුරකථන හෝ අන්තර්ජාල පහසුකම් භුක්ති විඳින දරුවන් සංඛ්‍යාවට වඩා ඉහත කියූ ප්‍රශ්නවලට මුහුණ දෙන දරුවන් සංඛ්‍යාව වැඩිය. මේ පාසල්වල තත්වය නගා සිටුවීමට අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශය සතු විධිමත් වැඩ පිලිවෙලක් නැත. දරුවන්ගේ ළමාවිය නිදහස සීමා කරන, ඔවුන් තම දෙමව්පියන්ගේ (දෙමව්පියන්ද මෙම අධ්‍යාපන ක්‍රමය තුල එතැනට තල්ලු කර දමනු ලැබ ඇත්තෝය) සිහින මාළිගාවල සිරකරුවන් බවට පත් කරන අධ්‍යාපන ක්‍රමය විධිමත් කිරීම දරු පරපුර වෙනුවෙන් කල යුතු මූලිකම දේ බව මෙතෙක් සිටි බොහෝ නායකයන්ට මෙන්ම ඔහුටද නොවැටහෙන බව පෙනෙන නිසා 2015 දී සිදුකල ජනතා තේරීමද නිෂ්ඵල බව පැහැදිලිය.

ජීව විද්‍යාත්මකව කිවහොත් මනුෂ්‍යයාගේ ජීවිතයේ මොළය, බුද්ධිය සක්‍රීයතම වන කාලය, විවිධ ඉල්ලීම් කරමින් අද මහාමාර්ගවල ගෙවා දමන සරසවි සිසුන්ට තම සාධාරණ ඉල්ලීම් සඳහා කොලය වසා ගසන ගැහිලි මිස සාධාරණ ඉල්ලීම් නොලැබෙන බැවින් අනාගත පරපුරට අත්වන ඉරණම කිව යුතු නොවේ. මන්ද වත්මන් පාසල් සිසුන්ට තම ළමා ජීවිතය කැප කරමින් වෙහෙසෙන්නට සිදුව ඇත්තේ මේ සරසවි තුලට රිංගා ගැනීමටම වන බැවිනි.

සියල්ලටම වඩා පාසල් දරු දැරියන් අමතා මෙවන් සම්පප්‍රලාප කියවන විට තම රජය, පසුගිය අයවැයෙන් අධ්‍යාපනය සඳහා වෙන්කල පිරිවැය අඩකින් කපා දැමූ අයුරු මොහුට සිහිවිය යුතුය. උසස් අධ්‍යාපනය සහ මහා මාර්ග එකම අමාත්‍යංශයක් යටතට ගෙන ඇති බැවින්, මේ වන විට අදාල ඇමතිවරයා උසස් අධ්‍යාපනය අතහැර දමා මහාමාර්ග දෙසට පමනක් ඇස ගසාගෙන සිටින බව පෙනේ. මධ්‍යම අධිවේගී මාර්ගය පිලිබඳ ටෙන්ඩර් ගණුදෙනු ගැන අද කියවෙන කරුණු කාරණා පදනම් කරගත්විට, ලක්ෂ්මන් කිරිඇල්ල ඇමතිවරයා තම දියණිය සතු ඉදිකිරීම් කොම්පැනියට ලබාදෙන මිලියන ගණන් කොන්ත්‍රාත්තු දෙස බලනවිට, අධ්‍යාපනය ඔහුට අමතර හිසරදයක් බව සැක නැත.

අනිත් අතට අධ්‍යාපනයෙන් නිසි ලෙස පෝෂණය වූ ජනතාවක් සිටීනම් ඔවුන්ට මෙසේ සුරසැප විඳිමින් සුවසේ පසුවන්නට නොහැකි වනුඇත. ජීවිතය ඉගෙන ගන්නට දෑස් විවර කරගෙන බලා සිටින පාසල් දරුවන් අමතමින් ජනාධිපතිවරයා මේ විකාර කියවන්නේද ඒ බුද්ධි ශෝධන කොන්ත්‍රාත්තුවේම කොටසක් ලෙස මිස වෙන කුමකටද? 

ඊලඟට මේ ‘ගොවි පුතා‘ ගේ ලබන මස සිට අරඹන්නට අපේක්ෂා කරන ‘වගා සංග්‍රාමය‘ ගැන අවධානය යොමු කරමු. කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයට අද අත්ව ඇති ඉරණම ගැන කිසිවෙකුට අමුතුවෙන් කියන්නට අවශ්‍ය නොවේ. පලමුව මොහුට මේ වන විට සිදු ඇති පාරිසරික වෙනස්කම් පිලිබඳව අවබෝධ විය යුතුය. නියඟය හා ගංවතුර විසින් රටේ භූමිය මාරුවෙන් මාරුවට ගිල ගන්නා කල්හි ඊට සෑහෙන දුරකට හේතු සාධක වන පරිසර විනාශයන් නවතා ලන්නට, පරිසර විෂය භාර ජනාධිපතිවරයාහට සැබෑ වුවමනාවක් තිබේද? ස්වභාවික උපද්‍රවවලට අමතරව පවතින අලි මිනිස් ගැටුමට පිලිතුර වශයෙන්, එම විෂයට කොහෙත්ම සම්බන්ධයක් නැති කරුණාරත්න පරණවිතාන ඇමතිවරයා ලඟ ඇති විසඳුම නම් වැඩිපුර සිටින අලි අල්ලා රට පැටවීමයි. රටේ ඇති වරායන්, සරු ඉඩම්, ගුවන් තොටුපොලවල් ආදී සම්පත් ගනයට වැටෙන සියලු දේ විකුණන්නටම සැදී පැහැදී සිටින යහපාලන රජයට අලින්, වල් ඌරන් ආදී සතුන් පමනක් නොව වැඩිපුර සිටින මිනිසුන් හා ගැහැණුන්ද විකුණාගෙන කන්නට සිතක් පහල නොවුවහොත් පුදුමයකි.

මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ ජයග්‍රහණයේ බලකණුවක් මෙන්ම මහා තේරීමද වූ ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයේ මහලේකම් දුමින්ද දිසානායක යනු යහපාලන රජයේ කෘෂිකර්ම ඇමතිවරයාය. ඔහු විසින් තම අමාත්‍යංශය වෙනුවෙන් යය කියමින් සිනමා නිළියකගෙන් කුලියට ගත් ගොඩනැගිල්ලට රුපියල් මිලියන 1140 ක් කුලිය පමනක් ගෙවා ඇති බව ජනතාවට රහසක් නොවේ. එසේම සාප්පු සංකීර්ණයක්සඳහා සැළසුම්කල මෙම ගොඩනැගිල්ලට කාර්යාලයක පෙනුම ලබාදීම වෙනුවෙන් නිර්ලෝභීව තවත් රු. මිලියන 249 ක් වෙන්කර ඇත. පසුගිය වසර දෙක තිස්සේ දුමින්ද දිසානායක අතින් සිදුවූ වගා සංග්‍රාමය එයයි. ගොඩනැගිල්ලේ හිමිකාරිය වූ සබීතා පෙරේරාද මහජනතාවට (අ)හිමිඒ මුදල තම බැංකු ගිණුමේ දමාගෙන දෙරණ ‘ලිට්ල් හාට්ස්‘ ව්‍යාපෘතියේ ප්‍රචාරක වැඩසටහනට පැමින, හොටු කඳුලු පෙරමින්, සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයේ වගකීමක් විය යුතුව ඇති, රිජ්වේ ආර්යා ළමා රෝහලේ හදවත් රෝගී දරුවන් වෙනුවෙන් වාට්ටු සංකීර්ණයක් ඉදිකිරීම සඳහා මුදල් පරිත්‍යාග කරන ලෙස මහජනතාවගෙන්ම ඉල්ලා සිටියාය. ඉතින් සමහර දෙමව්පියන් තම පොඩිවුන්ගේ කැට පවා පරිත්‍යාග කලේ රජයේ මැති ඇමතිවරුන්ගේ හිත තම වගකීම්වලින් නිදහස් වනු පිනිසම නොවේද?

සෑම අස්වනු වාරයකම තම වී අස්වැන්න ගබඩා කිරීමට ගබඩා පහසුකම් නැතිව, විකුණා ගැනීමට මගක් නැතිව කඳුලු පිරුනු නෙතින් යුතු ගොවීන්ය. ගොවිතැන් කරන කාලයට ඔවුන්ට එක්කෝ වතුර නැත. නැත්නම් වතුර ඕනෑවටත් වැඩිය. පිට පිට සිදුවන ස්වභාවික උපද්‍රව නිසා මොවුන්ගේ වගා පාලු වනවිට අමාත්‍යංශය වන්දි ගෙවන්නේ තම ඇඟෙන් ඇටයක් යනවාක් මෙනි. මාස කිහිපයකට පෙර ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ වැවක් ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කර ගොවි ජනතාවට භාර දෙන අතර කල කතාවේදී, තමා පුද්ගලිකව තායිලන්ත අගමැතිට කතාකර ලංකාවට සහල් එවන මෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටි බවත්, තායි අගමැතිවරයා ඊට එකඟ වූ බවත් ආඩම්බරයෙන් පවසා සිටියේය. එසේ නොමැතිව මොහු කිසි දිනෙක තම රටේ නිපදවෙන සහලකින් ජනතාවගේ කුසගින්න නිවන බවක් කෘෂිකර්ම ඇමති සමග සාකච්ඡා කර ඇතිද? කෘෂිකර්ම ඇමතිට ඊට වඩා වැඩ තිබේ. පක්ෂයේ මහලේකම් වශයෙන් ලාහට ගෙම්බන් එකතු කිරීම!

කොටින්ම වගා සංග්‍රාමය ගැන කතා කරද්දී පවා පැවසුවේ චීනයෙන් සහල් ගෙන්වන අන්දමය. දැන් චීනය යහපාලන රජයේ ගජමිතුරා වී සිටින නිසා මේ ගොවි ජනතාවට කරන තර්ජනයක්ද විය හැක. ‘උඹලගෙ හාල් නැතුවට අපට එක ටෙලිෆෝන් කෝල් එකෙන් හාල් එවන්න අය ඉන්නවා‘ කියා?

වඩාත්ම කණගාටුදායක වනුයේ  වත්මන් ජනතාව එක එක දේශපාලු පිස්සන්ගේ කතා අතර ඒ ඒ කාලවල් වලදී අතරමංව සිටිනවා හැරෙන්නට ජනාධිපති ප්‍රමුඛ යහපාලන රජය තම හරසුන් ප්‍රතිපත්ති ඔස්සේ රට ඇදගෙන යන අගාධය පිලිබඳව සම්පූර්ණ අවධානයක් යොමු නොකිරීමය. 2015 ජනවාරි 08 වන දා, නව අපේක්ෂාවක් ඇතිව මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන නම් දේශපාලකයාට ජනතාව ජන වරමක් දුන්හ. එසේ වැඩිපුරම අපේක්ෂාවක් තිබුනේ ජනතාව ලඟද, ජාත්‍යන්තරය ලඟද යන්න පිලිබඳව විවාදයක් නැත. නමුත් දැන් මේ මිනිසාට රටක් කරගෙන යන්නට හැකි පෞරුෂයක් හෝ බුද්ධියක් තිබේද කියා ජනතාව සිතිය යුත්තේ ‘මගේ සටන දූෂිත පාලනය එලවා දමන තුරු පමනයි‘ කියාගෙන ආ මොහු දැන් තවත් වතාවක් රැඳී සිටින්නට තැත් කරන බවක් පෙනෙන බැවිනි. බැඳුම්කර වංචාවේ ප්‍රධාන වගකිව යුත්තා වූ රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, නිසි බලයක් නැතිව තිබියදීත් බලයට ගෙනාවේ මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේනය. ඉතිරි මුලු කැබිනෙට්ටුවම පත්වුනේ ඒ මතය. අද කැබිනට් ඇමතිවරු එකිනෙකා පරයමින් මහජන මුදල් අපහරණය කරනවිට ඒ පවෙන් ගැලවීමට ජනාධිපතිවරයාට නොහැකි එබැවිනි.

මේ සියල්ල තුල ගම්‍ය වන්නේ තැනට සුදුසු පුද්ගලයා හඳුනා ගැනීම සම්බන්ධව ඔහු තුල ඇති නොහැකියාවයි. ඒ තබා තමා කියන දේ ක්‍රියාවට නැංවිය හැකිද කියාවත් තක්සේරුවක් නොමැති අතර ඒ වැඩි හරියක් ඔහේ කටට එන වචනය.

මේ විකාර අසා සිට අත්පොලසන් දෙන ජනතාවක් තවමත් සිටීම වඩාත්ම කණගාටුදායක කාරණයයි.

විවිධ ඇමතිවරුන් කරන ප්‍රකාශයන් නිසා ඇවිස්සෙන ජනතා විරෝධය හමුවේ ඒවා නිවැරදි කරන්නට කාලය ගත වනවා මිස රරටට වැඩක් කරනනට තමාට කාලය නැතැයි ජනාධිපතිවරයා මෑතකදී පවසා තිබිනි. 

ඇමතිවරු පත්කලේ අප නොවේ. ඔහුමය!

Senaka Weeraratna Attorney at Law

On June 4, 1921, the legal doctrine of superior orders was invoked during the German Military Trials that took place after World War I: One of the most famous of these trials was the case of Lieutenant Karl Neumann, who was a U-boat captain accused of the sinking of the hospital ship the Dover Castle. He frankly admitted to having sunk the ship, but he qualified it by saying that he had done so on the basis of orders given to him by the German Admiralty and so therefore he could not be held personally liable for his actions. The Reichsgericht, then Germany’s supreme court, acquitted him, accepting the defense of superior orders as a grounds to avoid criminal liability. That very court had this to say in the matter of superior orders:

… that all civilized nations recognize the principle that a subordinate is covered by the orders of his superiors.

The superior orders defense is still used with the following rationale in the following scenario: An “order” may come from one’s superior at the level of national law. But according to Nuremberg Principle IV, such an order is sometimes “unlawful” according to international law. Such an “unlawful order” presents a legal dilemma from which there is no legal escape: On one hand, a person who refuses such an unlawful order faces the possibility of legal punishment at the national level for refusing orders. On the other hand, a person who accepts such an unlawful order faces the possibility of legal punishment at the international level (e.g. Nuremberg Trials) for committing unlawful acts.

Nuremberg Principle II responds to that dilemma by stating: “The fact that internal law does not impose a penalty for an act which constitutes a crime under international law does not relieve the person who committed the act from responsibility under international law.

The above scenario might present a legal dilemma, but Nuremberg Principle IV speaks of “a moral choice” as being just as important as “legal” decisions: It states: “The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him”.
In “moral choices” or ethical dilemmas an ethical decision is often made by appealing to a “higher ethic” such as ethics in religion or secular ethics.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superior_orders

In the case involving Lalith Weeratunga and Anusha Palpita, the application of moral choice would be having to choose between serving the interests of the Buddha Sasana under Article 9 of the Constitution which is a mandatory duty imposed on all public servants (irrespective of religion) and not serve the Buddha Sasana and thereby violate the Constitution.

The duty imposed by the Constitution of Sri Lanka under Article 9 is an inviolable duty and supersedes all other obligations or rules set out under ordinary municipal law or international law.

Presidential Pardon

A Presidential Pardon should be given because of the special nature of the case. These two ‘ convicts’ carried out an Order that was issued directly by a sitting President, and which he (Mahinda Rajapakse ) is now admitting he has done in his capacity as President. If the issue is that of committing a wrong while in office, then the party who issued the Order while in Office should also have been enjoined as a co -accused. That was not done. Convicting those who executed the Order while allowing those who issued the ‘ illegal ‘ order to go scot free without any liability attached is tantamount to a travesty of justice. It is a miscarriage of justice; an act of the legal system that is an insult to the system of justice.

The defence of following orders is a valid defense, though it failed at Nuremberg because the orders to kill innocent people, both Jews and non – Jews, were stricto sensu immoral. There is no question of immorality in distributing ‘ Sil Reddi ‘ to the Buddhist public. Article 9 of the Constitution clearly specifies and gives a mandate to the State to give foremost place to Buddhism. Article 9 is not meant to be treated like a white elephant. It is a living provision and embeds a 2300 year tradition of requirement on the part of the State to serve the Buddha Sasana. All our past rulers before the colonial era served the cause of Buddhism as one of their primary obligations. The motive is irrelevant when performing a service to the Buddhist public. Only the incumbent President can undo the damage done to a public servant for carrying out an Order of a President, by releasing him from Prison through a Presidential Pardon.

Public service decision making unsettled

This Court decision unsettles the entire public service. Any direction given by a Cabinet Minister or even the President himself is now open to a protracted and unnecessarily time consuming evaluation by a subordinate public servant (s) ‘ Should I follow the direction or not’ and risk punishment for insubordination even if he delays in trying to work out a skin saving solution. Indiscipline will grow in the public service because now freedom is given ( by virtue of this Court Order) for public servants to reject Orders from above if they in their discretion find a directive unpalatable. The ultimate losers will be the public but can they complain? In any society the people get the leaders they deserve.

Senaka Weeraratna

Attorney at Law

මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍රය

කෙරවලපිටිය LNG විදුලි බලාගාර ඉදි කිරීම ටෙන්ඩරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන් හා දේශපාලන නායකත්වය අතර ඇතිවී ඇති ගැටුම හේතුවෙන් විදුලි බිල ඉහළ අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම සිදුවනු ඇතැයි ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍ර‍යේ විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් මහතා නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් පවසයි.

කෙරවලපිටිය විදුලි බලාගාරයට අදාළ ටෙන්ඩරය තාක්ෂණික කමිටු නිර්දේශ මත තෝරාගත් කොරියානු සැම්සුන් සමාගම වෙත ප්‍ර‍ධානය කිරීමට විදුලි බල අමාත්‍යාංශය උත්සහ දැරීය.  ඒ සමගම එම ටෙන්ඩරය අහිමි වූ දේශපාලනයට සම්බන්ධ ව්‍යාපාරිකයින් මෙම ටෙන්ඩරය කඩාකප්පල් කිරීමට මේ වන විට සැලසුම් සහගත උත්සාහයක් දරමින් සිටී.  ඔවුන් තාක්ෂණික කමිටුවේ හා ටෙන්ඩර් කමිටුවේ නිලධාරීන්ට තර්ජනය කිරීමත් සමග ශ්‍රී ලංකා පරිපාලන සේවයේ නිලධාරීන් ටෙන්ඩර් කමිටුවෙන් ඉල්ලා අස්විය. 

තාක්ෂණික කමිටුවට අනුව, සුදුසුකම් සපුරා ඇති සමාගම වෙත ටෙන්ඩරය ප්‍ර‍ධානය කිරීම මේ වන විට දේශපාලන බලපෑම මත නවතා දමා ඇත.  දේශපාලන බලපෑම් හා ආර්ථික ‘ආර්ථික කළමනාකරණය සදහා වූ කැබිනට් කමිටුව  (CCEM) හරහා විදුලිබල හා බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම්වරයා වෙත බලපෑම් එල්ල වී ඇත්තේ සුදුසුකම් සපුරා නොමැති තෝරාගත් ආයතන 6 ක ටෙන්ඩර් අයදුම්පත් ද විවෘත කරන ලෙසයි.

මේ අතර විදුලිබල ඉංජිනේරුවන් හා පෞද්ගලික ඩීසල් විදුලි ව්‍යාපාරිකයින් මෙම ටෙන්ඩරය කඩාකප්පල් වීමෙන් ‘ක්ෂණික විදුලිය මිලදී ගැනීම් හරහා‘ තමන්ට අති විශාල ලාභයක් ලබා ගැනීමේ අරමුණින් කටයුතු කරමින් සිටින අතර, විදුලි බිල වැඩි කිරීමේ යෝජනාවක් ද ඉදිරිපත් කොට ඇත.

ටෙන්ඩරයේ අඩුපාඩු සකස් කිරීම සදහා අවස්ථාවක් ලබා දෙන්නේ නම් ඒ සදහා සියලුම ටෙන්ඩර්කරුවන් වෙත සාධාරණ අවස්ථාවක් හිමි විය යුතුය.  දේශාපාලන ව්‍යාපාරිකයින්ගේ අවශ්‍යතාව මත රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන් වෙත පීඩණයක් එල්ල කිරීම කිසි ලෙසකින් හෝ සිදු නොවිය යුතු තත්වයක් බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍ර‍ය අවධාරණය කරයි.

කෙරවලපිටිය විදුලි බලාගාර ටෙන්ඩරය විනිවිද භාවයකින් යුතුව, නිසි තාක්ෂණික ඇගයීම් නර්දේශ මත සිදු විය යුතු බව අවධාරණය කරන ශ්‍රී ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කේන්ද්‍ර‍ය, ඒ සදහා බලපෑම් කිරීමෙන් වලකින් ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටී.  ජනාධිපති නීතිඥ උපුල් ජයසූරිය මහතාට ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලයේ සභාපති ධූරය අහිමි වූයේ ද විදුලිබල මිලදී ගැනීම් සදහා වන ආයෝජකයින් සම්බන්ධයෙන් එල්ලවූ දේශපාලන බලපෑම් හේතුවෙනි.

ලංකාවේ දුෂිතව ටෙන්ඩර් ගනුදෙනු අතර විදුලිබල හා පුනර්ජනණීය බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යාංශය ඉදිරියෙන්ම සිටින අතර ගල්අගුරු මිලදී ගැනීම, ජෙනරේටර් මිලදී ගැනීම, ඩීසල් විදුලිය පුද්ගලික අංශයෙන් මිලදී ගැනීම හරහා දිගින් දිගටම අක්‍ර‍මිකතා සිදුවන බව පසුගිය වසර හතර තුල අප විසින් අවධාරණය කර ඇතැයි ද තෙන්නකෝන් මහතාගේ අත්සනින් නිකුත් කල නිවේදනයේ දැක්වේ.