Dasatha News

Courtesy Hiru News

Amid a rice shortage in the market, the private sector has imported 75,000 metric tons of rice following the government’s decision to address the scarcity. According to Sri Lanka Customs, the imports include 32,000 metric tons of raw rice and 43,000 metric tons of Nadu rice.

However, consumers report a continued shortage of raw rice and allege that rice is being sold above the government-mandated prices. Instances of traders selling rice without displaying prices have also been reported.

To address potential salt shortages, Lanka Salt Company Chairman Nandanatalika announced plans to import 30,000 metric tons of salt as a precautionary measure.<

Meanwhile, the price of eggs, which recently exceeded Rs. 60 each, has dropped significantly, with eggs now available in the market for Rs. 25 to 30.

Shenali D Waduge

Does Anura Kumara Disanayake have a vision for the Nation. Did those who voted, vote because they thought he had a vision for the Nation? Is JVP really the Marxist” party it labels itself to be? These questions, can be answered in the actions and people are beginning to have their apprehensions. Anyone with a vision first needs to self-appraise the political playing field both at home & abroad in order to devise tactical & strategic actions, solutions to the challenges & threats to enforce that vision. It is well & fine to criticize actions of a government in power while in opposition which was a core reason for people to think AKD possessed the magic to solve Sri Lanka’s problems, but how well can one steer the ship after coming to power, is a totally different ballgame? AKD is finding this out too late. No leader should think that ideas will flow to mind like magic to govern the nation after sitting on the executive chair!

Thus, a question now on the minds of both voters & non-voters is where is AKD going to take the nation having got Executive & Parliamentary majority. Those who voted considered that AKD held the magic wand. Of those who did not, they had little choice, no alternative party to vote for, which is one reason why an unprecedented number of voters chose not to vote. By default, a somewhat artificial victory has prevailed. While the JVP bloc vote remains, the additional votes have come from the disgruntled voters of 2019-2020 who had no alternative while majority of them fell prey to deceptive fake campaigns. One noteworthy and positive feature of the election was that all the old guard who had been jumping sides over the years all lost their seats. While the old guard disappointed the nation by their selfish governance, how far a new & inexperienced Parliament can handle the hawks & eagles both locally & internationally has to be a cause for concern. The reason lies in a psychological assessment of the personalities now holding governance.

Firstly, we must understand that the JVP envisaged by its founder Rohana Wijeweera is not the JVP that is merged with the neo-liberal NPP of today. Rohana Wijeweera inspite of heading 2 insurrections, warned us of the dangers of Indian expansionist agenda including the likelihood of Indian boots well before Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987. How far his party was infiltrated by the West & Catholic movement since inception should be a separate case study, given most of his living stalwarts are today anti-Sinhala Buddhists & living in Western nations & have done nothing for Wijeweera’s family.

How far the JVP was really a rebellion against the State or how far the infiltrators objective was to sacrifice Sinhala Buddhist youth also needs to be investigated. The situation is no different to how the elite Tamil politicians sacrificed poor low caste Tamil youth to armed militancy to achieve their political objectives.

Just as LTTE changed hands from India to become pawns of the West’s geopolitical goals, the JVP since 1990s propped virtually every government in power or provided the ground support/campaigning to bring governments to power. When JVP was the richest political party, that they were funded not take power but to either bring parties to power & thereafter stir trouble for parties in power is a known secret. JVP had control over trade unions, university students’ unions, key academics, and JVP even had their own men dressed in Buddhist robes used to embarrass the Maha Sangha locally & internationally. JVP were masters at using these pawns.

One of the mistakes that political parties & politicians make is to undermine the international friends that support them before an election & their ulterior motives & expectations after the election. The same formula applies to those who come forward to sponsor election campaigns & post-election demand their return in excess of what they gave. Many of the critics of political parties are those unsatisfied with what they got in return for what they gave pre-election. This coterie of people often fund the opposition to bring down the govt. The international friends expect much more & they are difficult to shrug off as easily as the locals. Going against them may often lead to being upstaged from power. This ground reality is what prompts leaders to be happy to give in to all that the foreign friends seek even at the cost of the nation’s sovereignty.

The body language & statements are a dead give away as to the friendships forged & actions are enough to conclude that political survival wins over doing right by the nation & the People & remaining steadfast to one’s promises & assurances given prior to elections. This body language is now, very clear in the gestures to the US & Indian envoys.

As for the JVP old guard watching the political environment unfold under the leadership of their leaders, none of them expect their leader to become a closet chaser & within months vocalize the exact opposite of what won him their support. Top on the list of these reversals is the original JVP stand on India. The decision to continue the Provincial Councils, inspite of it being an unnecessary expense to the State, while being a looming threat & a stepping stone for secessionism, has to be taken together with the new links to LTTE Diaspora groups whose ban was only lifted as part of yahapalana reconciliation” bogey pursuant to co-sponsoring the treacherous UNHRC  Resolution which UVP did not denounce. These elements have now teamed up with some hired Theros to promote a bogus Himalayan Declaration” that wishes to make Sri Lanka plural”, make black money white” channeling to the Northern PC, demanding further devolution,  mentioning united” instead of unitary” and the eyes are watching the President’s actions though he should not endorse it.

We need to take a step back to 2015 when regime change took place with US, Indian support & JVP ground support. Noteworthy, is that alongside the regime change the architects split the 3 main political parties creating SLPP from SLFP & SJB from UNP & NPP merged to JVP.

SLPP won in 2019/2020 & JVP-NPP won in 2024, the SJB has been the lone failure.

NPP comprise breakaways from SLFP, UNP & other parties as these were neo-liberal pro-US/India. They comprised anti-Sinhala Buddhists & anti-national elements. This can be seen throughout the campaign & the manner the Jayamangala gatha was unceremoniously deleted from the Parliamentary Opening Ceremony while carols were sung at the Presidents Secretariat.

Despite the JVP cadre being from majority Sinhala Buddhist homes a key element was the party stand against Buddhism. The emphasis on secular” pluralism” advocated by the team headed to draft a new constitution in 2015 is a present NPP member & AKD manifesto claims to implement this draft. Turning a nation ‘secular’ ‘plural’ hides a hidden objective to erase the cultural-religious history & identity of nations after which the globalist rule decides what faith, what culture a nation is to follow. As we can see the competition is now between the Church-the Mosque & the Hindutva rule. Why they all feel challenged or threatened by Buddhism is a puzzle.

Understandably, JVP won the election not on its own. Many believe JVP would not have won the election on its own. Nevertheless, this very merger with NPP is seeing cracks. While the ideology of the old guard of the JVP which forms the backbone of the party remains true to its ideological past, the NPP is neo-liberal West-thinking players. The golden question now is – where does AKD the President, his Cabinet & Ministers of the JVP now stand. Are they tilting towards the NPP ideology, are they going to function as true Marxists” or are they happy to simply use the Marxist” label? The last option will sooner than later expose them amongst their own, while the second option may lead to clashes with NPP, & if the President & key heads tilt to West/India, they may well be upstaged by their own but if they do not, they well be upstaged by their friends turned foes”. Grabbing power by deceit & governing by deceit has limitations & repercussions – the general public with experience in people’s revolts are today ruthless and unforgiving.

Politics has no permanent friends but permanent interests. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka has always had a set of traditional friends who have backed us on international forums. The President must forge better ties with them. This is the only way to build the defenses needed. The President must not depend on one mode to take Sri Lanka from debt. Look for options. Forge trade agreements that are more powerful & offer win-win solutions. More importantly, keep the corrupt Public Sector of Sri Lanka in check & scrutinized in particular the Secretaries. Let us not forget that the Public Sector is more corrupt than the politicians. There are over 1.5million of them to a Parliament of 225 + 1. The officials are the one’s negotiating agreements. They are the one’s inserting clauses. They are the ones that draft the terms & conditions. They are the ones who forget” to include protective exit clauses or agree to detrimental & dangerous insertions that impact the sovereignty of the Nation including the State having to pay massive compensations. The damage they have done & can do has never been assessed or investigated. It should. It is often their actions, inactions or intentionally delayed actions that bring a government into disrepute & make the State vulnerable.

So far, the expectations on the President & Parliament are high. They promised a clean government. These promises have been in for some shocks with the qualification fiasco, the removal of a VC whose fault was that he stopped student ragging on his campus, extra-marital affairs & vehicle snatching, sudden disappearance of salt, coconuts, rice & the monkey drama have set the stage for people to watch the government with criticism than the euphoria that existed when they came to power.

Instead of taking the ugly path of resorting to victimization of political rivals, it is better to clean the Public Sector of corruption from the 3 main branches of governance, enter more powerful trade agreements that offer win-win solutions than trade agreements that JVP was originally against which would even change the demography of Sri Lanka & lose Sri Lankans their jobs, their land & even resources, refrain from any of the proposed connectivity” which would seriously threaten Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

We are all watching the President & his Team – will they go left or right. If they go left, will the right upstage them. If they go left, what advantage will they bring. If they stay in the middle, what would be their fate?

Shenali D Waduge

By Nalliah Thayabharan

Germany’s political landscape is undergoing a seismic shift as the Bundestag has been officially dissolved triggering snap elections that could reshape the nation’s future.  President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the dramatic announcement on December 27, 2024 marking a critical moment in German Democratic history. The dissolution follows Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unexpected loss of a confidence vote on December 16, 2024 effectively ending his coalition government.

The Free Democratic Party’s withdrawal from the ruling coalition precipitated this unprecedented political crisis. The move has left Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party without a parliamentary majority forcing an immediate electoral intervention.

Snap elections are now scheduled for February 23, 2025 – a date carefully negotiated by Germany’s major political parties. It’s a moment that could fundamentally alter the country’s political trajectory since significant changes are brewing. The Christian Democratic Union led by Friedrich Merz is currently leading by 10% over the Social Democratic Party. This shift represents a substantial realignment of German political power.

Alternative for Germany – a far-right and right-wing populist political party is also polling strongly though they continue to face significant challenges in forming potential coalitions. Their rise highlights the growing complexity of Germany’s political landscape.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier emphasized the critical nature of this moment warning against hatred and violence in the upcoming election campaign. He described political stability as a precious asset that must be carefully protected.

The upcoming elections will focus on several critical national issues including economic challenges, immigration policies, support for Ukraine and climate change strategies. Each party will be seeking to present compelling solutions to these complex problems.

Friedrich Merz has already positioned the Christian Democratic Union as an alternative to the current government criticizing Olaf Scholz’s Administration for what he describes as excessive economic regulation. His strategy involves presenting the Christian Democratic Union as a more dynamic and responsive political option.

The dissolution represents more than just a procedural political event – it’s a potential turning point that could reshape Germany’s domestic and international political approach. The
fragmentation of the current coalition signals deeper challenges within the nation’s political system.

Rolf Heinrich Mützenich – leader of the Social Democratic Party’s Parliamentary faction suggested the snap elections would allow German to refocus on what’s truly important. “We can now concentrate on what is really good for our country” he stated indicating a desire to move beyond current political deadlock. The geopolitical implications of these elections extend far beyond Germany’s borders.

With ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and economic uncertainties globally, the next government’s composition will have significant international consequences. As Germany prepares for this critical electoral moment politically the potential for significant political realignment has captured national and international attention making these upcoming elections a pivotal moment in contemporary European politics.  

Germany stands at a crossroads with voters set to determine the future direction of one of Europe’s most powerful and influential economies. The coming weeks will be crucial in shaping Germany’s political landscape.

We are living in a time of worldwide global political crisis, German government’s actions were very shortsighted and very incompetent and more and more Germans no longer feel represented by the political parties. Similar to Canadians, Germans rightly feel that the government no longer represents their interests and that the established parties hardly defer on key political issues. All four political parties – the Social Democrats, the Greens, the Liberals, and the Conservative Christian democrats support a toxic policy mix of participating in US proxy wars such as in Ukraine or in Gaza implementing economic sanctions and rearmament while at the same time cutting social spendings.

So the consequences in Germany are a shrinking economy, poor infrastructure and exploding energy prices and inflation and this unsettles many Germans and they don’t know what party to vote for or out of desperation they may turn to the right to the right-wing parties.

Like Canada, Germany will no longer be recognizable in 10 years time as the German Political parties failed on the issue of peace and abandoned Germany’s anti-war policies and positions.

Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party has become a party of progressive neoliberalism together with a focus on identity politics rather than leftwing class politics – economic and social policy in the interest of the working class people.

The extreme right party is gaining strength so the right-wing alternative for Germany is pulling at over 20% nationwide and even over 30% in some federal states in eastern Germany.

The economy in Germany is very much dependent on the geopolitical interest of the US. The sanctions and the economic warfare against Russia including the energy sanctions hit the German economy while the US economy is benefiting from the energy sanctions exporting more natural gas to European Countries including Germany.

Germany is a country poor in raw materials and strong in exports, so a large part of prosperity depends on industrial value creation, so that’s why Germany needs cheap energy from Russia.

Germany no longer relies on mediation, balancing interests and diplomacy but it’s playing the military card in more and more conflicts around the world, though the conflicts and wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East cannot be resolved militarily.

Germany needs a strong political force that consistently promotes peace diplomacy and negotiated solutions.

To widen the corridor of opinions, Germany should stop the cancel culture which is a poison for democracy. Anyone who does not agree with the mainstream opinion bubble is quickly defamed and this is unworthy for a democracy and it’s poison for Germany’s democracy.

More than half of the Germans no longer dares to speak their mind openly outside of a protected space and this is the poison for democracy.  That’s why bringing back anti-war politics is so important and we have that missing in the US and Canada as well.

Germans are very much not just in support of Israel’s genocide in Gaza but Germany is in many ways a participant and giving so much legal and diplomatic cover and constantly aiding Israel. Germany is after the United States and United Kingdom, the third largest arms and ammunition supplier for Israel.

There’s a popular dissatisfaction among Germans with Europe’s and Germany’s foreign policy of unconditional submission to the US hegemonic policy supporting all these US proxy wars.

Regarding Gaza and Ukraine in principle Europe must become an independent player instead of being a pawn in the conflict and a vassal to the United States.

In view of the suffering in West Asia and especially of the people in Gaza and the West Bank, there is no alternative to an immediate ceasefire. Ceasefire is not everything but without a ceasefire is everything nothing.

By supporting Israeli warfare the West shares responsibility for the mass murder of Palestinians.

The U.S. has done a frighteningly good job of binding its European vassals to itself, not only economically through trade measures and militarily through NATO, but by shaping their whole leadership class via American schools and institutions. Olaf Scholz  and his compatriots literally can’t see the damage they’re doing to their own countries because they’ve so thoroughly bought into the American mindset. The establishment across America, Germany, the UK, France, Canada, Italy seem to all be making the same fatal mistake with no ability to learn from their own or their counterparts’ mistakes. What did repeat though, several times, was US foreign policy causing trouble in Europe’s neighborhood, creating waves of immigrants. The cause of migration is directly linked to their adherence to free trade imperialism and their subservience to Washington. They could easily tackle the problem, but not without breaking with transatlanticism. And so they prefer to not do anything. They’re all going to go down with the Empire. The USA has only expendable pawns.  

ප්‍ර සමරසිංහ

රුහුණු විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ නවක වදය 99% කින්ම නවතා දැමීමට සහ මෙම ආයතනයේ ඇතැම් ගුරුවරුන්ගේ, ශිෂ්‍ය සංගම් නිලධාරීන්ගේ, අනධ්‍යන කාර්ය මණ්ඩල නිලධාරීන්ගේ රජයේ මුදල් අවභාවිතාව ඇතුළු අනෙකුත් දුෂණ වැළකීමට, මින් පෙර විසූ කිසිම උපකුලපතිවරයකු ක්‍රියා නොකල පරිදි නොපැකිලව නොබියව ඉමහත් පරිශ්‍රමයකින් කටයුතු කලේ ළමා රෝග විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය- උපකුලපති සුජීව අමරසේනය.

ඒ මහතාගේ දෙවෙන සේවා ධුර කාලය මාස 4 ක් පමණ ඉතිරිව තිබියදී, හොර බොරු වංචා, දූෂණ වලින් තොර සිරිලංකාවක් බිහිකිරීමට නව ආණ්ඩුවක් තේරී පත්විය. 

පහුගිය වසර 4-5ක කාලයක් එම විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයෙ මැඩ පැවැත්ව තිබු ගර්ජන, ‘අරගල’ නව ආණ්ඩුව සමඟින් පිබිදෙන්නට පටන් ගත් අයුරු පුදුම සහගතය. මහාචාර්ය සුජීව අමරසේනට එරෙහිව කිසිදු නිල චෝදනා පතක් හෝ ඉදිරිපත් නොකර උපකුලපති බලතල අත්හිටුවා වැඩ බලන උපකුලපතිවරයෙකු පත් කිරීම ඊටත් පුදුම සහගතය. එතුමන් කල වැරැද්ද වූයේ හොර බොරු වංචා දුෂණ වලින් තොර විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයක් සිරිලංකාවේ පවත්වා ගෙන යන්නට දරදිය ඇදීමය.    

හොර බොරු වංචා දුෂණ වලින් තොර සිරිලංකාවක් බිහිකිරීම තේමා පාඨය කොටගත් රජයක් මෙලෙස හැසිරෙන්නේ ඇයිදැයි තේරෙන්නේ නැත. සිරිලංකා පාලි හා බෞද්ධ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය ඇතුළු සමස්ත සිරිලංකා විශ්ව විද්‍යාලවල යහ පාලනයට හා මුළුමහත් සිරිලක්වැසියනට මේ නව රජය පුදන කොටම කාපි යකා සේ දී ඇත්තේ ඉතාමත් භයානක පුර්වාදර්ශයක්ය.

ගම්පහ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී හිටපු කතානායක අශෝක රන්වලගේ, ලොව පිළිගත් පුද්ගලික විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයක් වන වසෙදා විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයෙ ‘බොරු හිමිකම් ආචාර්ය උපාධි පට්ටම ‘ බොහොමයක් ප්‍රධාන ජනමාධ්‍ය වල පුවත්පත් හෙඩිම වීමත්, මහාචාර්ය සුජීව අමරසේනගේ උපකුලපති බලතල අත්හිටුවීමේ සිද්ධි දාමය ප්‍රධාන පුවත්පත්වල ප්‍රධාන හෙඩිමේ හෝ කතුවැකිවල හෝ සඳහන් නොවීමත් විද්‍යමාන කරන්නේ සිරිලංකාව ඇදෙන දිශානතිය විය හැකිය. මේ සම්බන්ධව බොහෝ සමාජ මාධ්‍ය සිටියේද සිටින්නේද ඇස් කන් වසා ගෙනය.

සුජීව අමරසේන මහතා වැනි වැඩ කරන්නට දන්නා, ඒ වාගේම වැඩ කරන අවංක නායකයින් දුර්ලභය. ඔහුගේ සේවා කාලය තව දීර්ග කර එම මහඟු සේවාව විශ්ව විද්‍යාල සිසුනට ලබා දිය යුතුමය. 16,000 ක් පමණ සිසුන් ගෙන් සමන්විත රුහුණු විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය නිර්නාමික ලෙස සිසු-මත-විචාරණයක් ස්වාධීනව කරන්නේ නම් දිනන පරදින පාර්ශව සහ එයට හේතු පහත පළමුවන වීඩියෝවෙන් නිරවුල්ව පැහැදිලි කර ගත හැක.

හිටපු කතානායක අශෝක රන්වල

වියත්මගේ යෑමට, හිටපු ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂට සිද්ධ විය. ඒ මග යාමෙන් සිදුවූ අනර්ථය සුළුපටු නැත. වියත්මග ආදර්ශ කර ගත් ඇතැම් මාලිමාවෝ කොහෙවත් නැති අක්ෂර තම නම මුලට, අගට පාස්සන්නට  පටන් ගත්තෝය. අන්තිමට, බිල්ලක් වූයේ අශෝක රන්වලගේ කථානායක පට්ටමද? ඒ බිල්ල පූජා කර නිරුපද්‍රිතව සිටින්නෝ දියවන්නාවේ ඇත්තෙම නැතැයි කියා කාට නම් කිව හැකිද? 

වසෙදා විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයෙන් ‘ලබා ගත්’ තම පරණ ආචාර්ය උපාධි සහතිකය සොයා ගන්නා තෙක් බිලි වෙමියි කියා ලිස්සා යාම ‘බොරුවේ බොරුව’ සාමාන්‍යකරණය කිරීමක්ය. මේ සිද්ධිය සම්බන්ධයෙන්, සිරිලංකාද්වීපයේ හැම අහුමුල්ලකටම අත පොවන, ඇමෙරිකානු තානාපතිවරියගේ මුනිවත අපූරුය! සිරිලංකා ජපන් තානාපති කාර්යාලයද වසෙදා විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ කීර්තිය බේරා ගන්නට එන පාටක් නැත.

ඒ කෙසේ වෙතත්, ‘ලංකාවේ මාධ්‍ය සදාචාර අනාගතය කෙසේ විය යුතුද’ කියා පහත දෙවන වීඩියෝවෙ අන්තිම විනාඩි තුනෙන් යමක් උගත හැකිය. 

ආචාර්ය අරුණ කීර්ති ගමගේ 

බුද්ධ ජයන්ති පාලි ත්‍රිපිටකය සහ අටුවා ටීකා ඉතාමත් මැනවින් පරිශීලනය කර, ව්‍යක්ත ලෙස පාලි බස හසුරුවන, දැනට ජර්මනියේ මාබර්ග් විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ බෞද්ධ පශ්චාත් උපාධි අධ්‍යයනයක යෙදෙන ආචාර්ය අරුණ කීර්ති ගමගේ මහතා, සිරිලංකාවේ පාලි සහ බෞද්ධ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ සිදු වන අකටයුතුකම් ගැන නොබියව කතා කරන ආචාර්‍යවරයෙක්ය. එහි ඇතැම් ආචාර්යවරුන් පාලි බස මනා ලෙස නොහදාරන බවත්, උපාධිය ලබා ගත් පසුව නිතර නිතර කලයුතු පාලි බස හැදැරීම් නොකරන බවත් පෙන්වා දී ඇත. 

එකිනෙකට පරස්පර මුලික අධ්‍යයන ක්‍රම වේද දෙපදයකින් සෑදුන ‘බෞද්ධ-මනෝවිද්‍යා’ විෂය අරබයා කෙරෙන දහම් විකෘති සමඟ පාලි බස ඉගෙන නොගත් බටහිර මනෝ වෛද්‍යවරුන් දෙදෙනෙකු ලියා ඇති පොත් දෙකක ජාතක කථා තුනක් හිතුමතේ විකෘති කර ඇති අයුරුත්, පහත අවසන් වීඩියෝවෙන් දැක ගත හැක. ( ආචාර්ය විජිත කුමාර ද මෙහි කරුණු ඉදිරිපත් කරයි.) 

සිරිලංකාව ඇතුළු ලෝකයට විකෘති නොකළ බුදු දහම ඉතිරි කර රැක දෙන්නට නම් පාලි බස පරතෙරට හදාරා ත්‍රිපිටකය, අටුවා ටීකා මැනවින් අවබෝධ කරගත්  ‘සුජීව අමරසේන කෙනෙක්’ පාලි හා බෞද්ධ විශ්ව විද්‍යාල උප කුලපතිධුරයට පත් වෙන දවසක් උදා වෙන්නේ කවදාද?

Dr. Sudath Gunasekara (SLAS)   Mahanuwara    

Santhose Jah Esqr 
Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka,
21  Dhrsana,Gemunu Mwatha 
Colombo.                                              

                                         The Need to change the overall Kautilyan policy of Mathsya nyaaya and the Panikkar policies towards its neighbors, particularly Sri Lanka.

                         Dr. Sudath Gunasekara (SLAS) Former Secretary to Prime Minister Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranayake and the President of the Sri Lanka Administrative Services Association. (1991-1994)

     Dear Sir,

At the very outset I would like to request India, our big brother, to change the overall Kautilyan perception of Mathsya nyaaya and the Sardhar Panikkar policies towards its neighbors, particularly Sri Lanka, including its meddling with the migrant Tamils living in this country,  who has  a domicile history of less than 350 years in this country (KNL EELAM MYTH EXPOSED 2020), claiming that they are people of Indian origin, should first end, as a prerequisite to heal the wounds it has already inflicted upon this country in the recent past, starting from the infamous Rajeev Gandhi invasion of Sri Lanka 1987”, to open a new chapter  of an everlasting age of goodwill and friendship once again between our two countries, as it was at its peak during the Asokan period, c. 265–238 bce ) going back to the days  of The Gauthama Buddha, the Greatest human being India had ever given to this world in 623 BC.

I shall be grateful to you to advise your government to treat this country as a free and independent sovereign state as much as the India is, as it had been from the inception of history.

However, I must clearly and honestly state here, that the enviable and brotherly good will and the cordial relationship existed between our two countries in that distant past, starting in the classical days of Gautama Buddha and Emperor Asoka and even much later during the days of Nehru – Bandaranayake period (1956-1977) are now gone for good, since the 1987 Rajiv invasion of Sri Lanka.  

The infamous Rajiv/JR Accord of July 29.1987 that was forced on Sri Lanka at gun point, preceded by his shameless Parippu dropping by an Air invasion violating Sri Lankan territorial integrity, sovereignty and the independence, marks the worst invasion in its 2500-year history, as it affected the whole country against all previous foiled South Indian invasions in history, starting in the 2^nd century BC that were limited only to the northern parts of the Island. Even Rama’s invasion was confined to only rescuing Sita from where she was said to have been kept in secret by Ravana, but never had any effect on the whole country, other than Ravana’s death at the hands of Rama.  But Rajeev’s invasion had an Island wide and far-reaching effect, declaring 1/3 of its sovereign territory and it set the rhythm for a criminal travesty of the history of this 2500-year-old sovereign Sinhala Kingdom as an invasion of the whole country, while even Tamilnadu with 8.39 Crores of Tamils that had been the true historical homeland of the Tamil race for millennia is not recognized as a Tamil Homeland by India.

The infamous Rajiv/J R Accord of 29^th July 1987

1. It declared the North and East, of the country covering 1/3^rd the area of this Island including and 2/3 of the coastal belt with over from Puttalama on the West to Kumana in the South Eastern corner of the Island, as the historical Homeland of the Tamil people who were brought in to this country only in the late 17^th century (by Dutch) and by the British through the 19th century. It also merged Northen and Eastern provinces and provided for the amalgamation of 2 or more provinces for less than 12 % of the migrant population of the country, probably with the idea of including the Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa provinces and even few parts of the Southern province like Rakwana and Deniyaaya, where few Estate Tamils are resident. This is Panikkar theory in fullaction

 Map showing the Provinces of Sri Lanka

2.DeclaringTamil also as an official Language in this country, (while it is not so, even in India where 8. 35b Crore Tamils live);

3 Granted citizenships to all Tamils in Sri Lanka, including even the illicit immigrants on the Street and villages as gypsies without fully adhering to the legal requirements regarding the registration of Citizens in any country.

4 The Accord was signed under pressure from India amid public protests all over the Island culminating with the national protest organized by the Opposition headed by the Leader of the Opposition Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranayaka in Petta Colombo where several participants were killed due to shooting by the armed forces on the orders of the Government.

 It should be noted here that Three prominent Cabinet Ministers including the Prime Minister Premadasa, Lalith Athulathamudali and Gamani Jayasuriya Boycotted the occasion in protest.

 5.Signing of the Accord was followed by the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution that ended the unitary character of the state, Sri Lanka that was there for 25 centuries and it laid the foundation for the division of the Island in to 9 semi-autonomous provincial Governments, thereby putting an end to the unitary state of Sri Lanka and (see below for more details)

I have identified the following main reasons as responsible for this sad and unfortunate situation.

1 Wrong attitudes and wrong policies of the Indian government towards this country, born out of fabricated information fed by Tamils in Tamilnadu, Sri Lanka and the so-called Tamil diaspora living all over the world.

2  Ignorance of the true history of this country and the history of Tamils living here,

3 Government of Indias dependence on the Tamilnadu votes to maintain political stability at the center.

4. the influence of the Colonial West

5. Ignorance or deliberate refusal on the part of the Indian Government to accept that Sinhalese are also of Indian origin who have come to this country 25 centuries before these Malaba people were brought here only in the late 17^th through the 19^th century 

6. Utter disregard to accept the fact that Sri Lanka is a separate sovereign country and not a part of India

7 Reluctance of India to accept this country is also an independent sovereign country of equal status although small in size.

8 Absence of patriotic and strong Sinhala political leadership who can convincingly put the record right and the weakness of the then Sri Lankan senile leadership  

 9 The big brother attitude of India and its reluctance to admit Sri Lanka as an independent sovereign State.

10 Absence of patriotic Sinhala leaders who knows their own history and who have the courage to stand up against this type of Indian invasion and the incompetence of Sri Lanka politician to protect and defend their own motherland

11.The influence of Panikkar policy which India is perusing that will antagonize its all neighbors

It was the British colonial invaders who picked up the EELAM concept from South Indian Eelaamists and introduced this strategy in Sri Lanka with 3 main objectives

First,

To destroy the millennia old Sinhala Buddhist civilization in this island nation, to avenge the humiliating defeats they suffered in Sri Lanka from 1803 to 1848 at the hands of brave Sinhala patriots

 Second,

To destroy the age old political and cultural good will that exist between two Asian twin brothers, India (the Elder) and Sri Lanka (the younger) and

 Third,

To divide Sri Lanka in to two rival ethnic States, Sinhalese and Tamils (EELAM) eternally fighting against each other, as they have done all over the world, with a hidden agenda to create a permanent Neocolonial political and strategic base in South Asia for the Westen neo colonial powers, to control the emerging Asia of the 21st century right at the center of the Indian Ocean and to stop the rise of China and India as great powers and also to stop Sri Lanka being developed as the hub of the emerging 21^st century Asia. Please remember, then it will be the biggest threat to the independence of India, once the age-old friend Sinhala Buddhist Sri Lanka state is no more.

In this backdrop, what I have proposed here, I think is the only way to defeat this Church backed Western neo-colonial global control strategy.

The first pre requisite of this master plan, I propose to defeat this vicious neocolonial game is to reinvent the age old, friendly and cordial relationship that was there between India and Sri Lanka as two independent and strong states by defeating the EELAM dream of the Kumari Kandam lobby of the Tamilnadu State and its Church allies in the neo-colonial West. It is extremely disastrous to both Sri Lanka and India as it will end up by balkanizing greater India and divide Sri Lanka also in to two separate ethnic States, eternally fighting each other. This is exactly what the Western neo-colonial world wants done. To destabilize India, Sri Lanka, and make Sri Lanka their hub to stop the emerging twenty first century world around the Indo Pacific Oceans. the QUAD that is called the Asian NATO is already actively engaged in this vicious game; by tactfully getting India and Japan to join this organization to set those two countries against other Asian countries. The chief and dominant members of the QUAD, USA and Australia, both of whom are Church backed powerful white colonial powers of colonial settlements of migrants from Europe who had established their white settlements by annihilating the native owners of those countries.

Building up of an independent and nonaligned India and Sri Lanka is a must to avoid this disaster.

The first step, rather the sine qua non in this long journey is to restore the age old friendly and strong relations between, India and Sri Lanka and create an Asian geopolitical heartland” based in Sri Lanka to realize the dream of the 21^st century Asia. Sri Lanka’s geographical location on the globe at the center of the Indian Ocean, where all the world’s busiest naval and air routes meet, confirm the ancient Indian Puranic concept of Lanka as the center of the world (Bhuu madhYayei lankiiyathithi Lanka) becoming a reality in the 21^st century. Its global location at the center of the world surrounded by the Indian Ocean extending from Africa in the west to Australia in the east and the Bay of Bengal in the north to Antarctica in the south, open all around to the world, with a long and rich Buddhist culture, makes Sri Lanka the ideal global strategical heartland for this role. With Sir Arthar Clerks prophesy in his Deep Range that by 2050 all religions based on God centered Abrahamic teachings will disappear. Therefore, Buddhism will be the only religion that can inspire the human mind and heart” (1954) and Sri Lanka being the home and the head quarter of the Theravaadha Buddhism in the world, it is not surprising that the Church dominated Westen powers are determined to wipe out Sri Lanka from the world map to avoid this imminent disaster to them.

The close and strong millennia old relationship between Sri Lanka and India underscores this 21^st century global geostrategic reality. The need to build up a mutually beneficial and closer and strong bondage between our two countries is therefore, a sine qua non to realize this dream Asia of the 21st century. The iron foundation for this Indo Sri Lanka relationship has to be based on the age-old classical and historical brotherhood that existed for millennia between our two countries. In order to realize this supreme goal, we have to build up the Indo-Sri Lanka connectivity based on the following background, described in detail below.

I don’t think for a moment, I need to elaborate to you, as a distinguished and a veteran officer of the IAS of your caliber, on the unique and close historical, political, the cultural and spiritual relationship that existed between our two countries from the time of Gautama the Buddha, the greatest human being ever given to this world by Bharath Desh. Lord Buddha ‘s first visit to this Island was in 588 BC, in the ninth month after he attained enlightenment, to Mahiyangana to settle a waring dispute between two native tribes Yakkas and Nagas.  On the verge of his attaining Parinibbana, (543) he also selected Sri Lanka as the only land in which his Dhamma will last for 5000 years to come in its purest form, although Jambudviipa was his beloved birth place and it is over 50 times the area of Sri Lanaka. He requested Sakka the King of Gods at the great assembly of devas, to protect Prince Vijaya, an Aryan Sakya Prince from northern Bharath and his retinue of 700 who landed on the same day, Buddha attained Nibbana in Lanka Deepa in 543 BC. The same day, marks the Birthday of the Sinhala Buddhist nation on this Island. Thence forth this country had been named as the land of the Buddha and also the land of the Sinhala race.

It was Emperor Asoka, another great son of Bharatha who was acclaimed as the greatest Emperor the world had ever known, officially gifted the Buddha sasana to this country during the reign of his erstwhile friend King Devaanampiyatissa who was the King here at that time, at the beginning of the 4^th century BC (307). Ever since the close political, religious, spiritual and cultural, ties between the two countries were made the stronger, by selecting his own son Mahinda and daughter Sangamittaa as the royal emissaries to bring the Budha’s noble message to this land of the Sinhala people, known as Lanka Deepa at that time.  This close relationship between these two countries laid the foundation for a unique and unmatched human civilization on this resplendent Island. Such was the unique and remarkable level of the close relationship that existed between our two countries, from the time of Gauthama the Buddha.

This however was unfortunately marred later by the successive invasions by the non-Aryans, like Chola a Pandya from south India starting in the 2nd century BC, which culminated and ended up with the Kalinga Maga invasion in the 12th century. The Maga  invasion  left behind an indelible devastations done to the political , social, economic and the cultural landscape of this Island nation that resulted in the inevitable shifting of a glorious Sinhala Buddhist civilization  in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa Kingdoms of world reputation from the dry zone, the cradle of that great civilization, to the hill country and the South West of the Island, converting the Rajarata in to a vast expansion of sprawling jungle that remained neglected until its reopening began again only after the British took over the governance of the whole island after entering in to a friendly Convention agreed upon between two  Kingdoms of equal status, with this country on 2^nd of March 1815,  that is the British Empire and the Kandyan Kingdom of Sinhale, being the only  Kingdom that was not captured by war in the whole British Empire. The Convention referred to here was the Kandyan Convention[S1] .

Thereafter, the cunning and the uncivilized British, having made the Kandyan Convention almost dysfunctional by the famous Royal Proclamation No. 21^st of Nov 1818 by Governor Brownrigg, started a period of callous, divisive and repressive 133-year-old exploitation and brutal regime in the whole British Empire, that has gone down in world history as one of the darkest periods, referring to which, John Davy surgeon to Governor Brown Wrigg  had said the history of British rule in Ceylon after the 1818 rebellion cannot be related without shame. None of the members of the leading families (all males over 16 years) in the Kandyan country have survived. Small pox and privation has destroyed those spared by the gun and the sword”.

Meanwhile,  they started a large scale Colonial Settler Colonization” program in this country with poverty stricken Malabar cooly labour gangs from South India, first, in the Islands Northern and Eastern provinces created by them in 1833, that were under dense jungle almost uninhabited, except for few sporadic settlements of native Sinhalese around the neglected Tanks, after the mass exodus of the native Sinhalese to the South West and the hill country, following the Maga devastation in the 13^th century AD.

The British colonial intruders got all these Malabar cooly labours gazetted as Ceylon Tamils in 1901 by intrigue having appointing a Malabar man, Ponnambalan Arunachalam, a grandson of a Dutch toilet keeper, who was made the first Ceylon Civil Servant of their Choice, as the first Registrar General of this country. That was how those Malabar labourers became Ceylon Tamils overnight in 1901, who were made aristocratic with one stroke of a Malabar descendant Ponnambalan  Arunaachalam, with the hidden intention of making them the rulers of this millennia old Sinhala Kingdom.

 Second, the same British, started to inundate the central hill country with the second wave of Malaba slave coolies, with the opening up of the Central hill country for largescale Coffee in 1840 s and later Tea plantation in 1870s to settle and work on these lands that were originally owned by the natives Sinhalese from the dawn of history up to 1840. In the post 1840 period, the British imported an army of South Indian Malabar indentured cooly labor nearing 1.2 million and settled them on these newly opened up plantations that were covered with primeval forest from the dawn of history. This opened up a sad period of destruction of forests, land and the rivers of the geographical Heartland (HADABIMA) of this Island followed by a prolonged period of cruel exploitation of natural resources of mother Lanka together with the sweat and blood of the poverty stricken poor South Indian labour, to fill the coffers of England.  

It is very important to be noted here that the Sinhalese also had come to this country 26 centuries before the Malabar who were brought to this country by the Western colonial invaders after 1780s with the triple objectives of a) finding cheap labour for their projects, b) destroy Sri Lanka and finally c) to create a war base in South Asia for them to control emerging future Asia.

Ironically, these immigrants are the people who are now claiming a separate kingdom on the land found, developed, civilization established and defended and protected against 18 South Indian invasions from the 2^nd century BC to 13^th century AD (ancestors of the same Malabars) and three western invasions from 1505 to 1948) by the native Sinhalese

The British left behind these people who were British citizens until then, as an army of stateless immigrant labour high and dry on this soil, leaving behind a bone of contention and an incurable chronic headache to this country, when they left the shores of the Island in 1948, after conferring the so-called fake Independence to this country, retaining all three cardinal requirements of an independent state, namely, Legislative, Executive and Judicial powers with them. Although countries like Burma and Uganda chased out such Indian immigrant labour gangs from their lands immediately after independence, the Sri Lankan leaders, partly being a product of a rich Buddhist culture and partly as a brain washed compradors of the west did not resort to such inhuman acts, although neither those laborers nor the present day Indian politicians have ever appreciated the benevolence conferred upon this army of immigrant labour by the Sinhalese Buddhist of this country up to date.

Sad colonial legacies

This, briefly summarizes the imposed on this Island nation by the British when they left in 1948 leaving behind their vicious cycle of colonial exploitation with more  ropes all around the neck of Mother Lanka keeping the colonial reins Fastly  holding  in their hands tied on to all techniques of state craft such as legislative, executive and judicial , and all  branches of statecraft like  internal governance, foreign affairs, the Islands security ,the import export economy, the language and the machinery of Public Administration, education while keeping the dependency trap tightly held in their own hands.

It is in this back drop of sad colonial legacies inherited by us, I decided to draw your kind attention to the three articles, already NKL Justice Perera has sent to you which I consider as authoritative master pieces on the artificially created Tamil Problem in Sri Lanka, that pose an intractable and also a big headache to both Sri Lanka and India due to prevailing ignorance on this subject  His book EELAM exposed is a magnum opus on this  subject, which no Tamil scholar or politician has challenge up to now. I have no doubt that his valuable contribution will help us to find a lasting solution to this decades old political impasse created by the crazy Tamil politicians 

These important and authentic articles compiled by an eminent lawyer, L.K.N. PERERA ( LL.B Cey)  Attorney at law,  and a senior Judge, based on the  results of a comprehensive and painstaking study  carried out by him over a long period of time that has covered wider and authentic historical sources that includes valuable, impartial and irreputable and first hand  historical information  on this subject, by Portuguese, Dutch and British authors, deliberately overlooked even by some acclaimed historians, (brain washed products of the colonial education)  for your information, so that you will get a realistic and a rational idea as to how you may address this  Tamil issue in Sri Lanka, impartially, as a true diplomat, in your future diplomatic dealings without getting misled by false propaganda by extremist Tamils, both here and abroad, specially South India who are quarrelling for a separate state and self-determination, for a dream Thamil State called EELAM ( which also means the Land of the Sinhalese, a term coined by South Indian Dravidayan people speaking Tamil language to call this land) on this land of the Sinhala nation, who had been the  sole hereditary owners of this country even before the historic times began, as has beenclearly proved and established beyond all reasonable doubts by the Mahavamsa and accepted by all the renowned historians of the world over, except the EELAMIST of South India, Sri Lanka and the so-called Church backed Tamil Diaspora living in the Western World.

 There is No Tamil nation here

May I add here that, how can there could be a Tamil nation here in Sri Lanka, with less than 350 years of white man’s immigrant labour domicile history, when there is no Tamil nation or an Independent Tamil Eelam even in South India which is said to be the historical Homeland of the Tamil Nation, where over 7 million Tamils live. I don’t think I need to remind you, as a senior officer of the IAS, how Jawar Lal Nehru, the great Statesman of Barath dealt with them when they demanded secession in 1963. Nehru brought in legislation making it illegal to demand secession and introduced the 16^th Amendment to the Constitution of India banning secession to protect the territorial integrity of Bharath Desh, in spite of the fact that South India had been the traditional historical homeland of the Tamils from the inception of history, although it is now dominated by the Western Church backed elements, trying to balkanize India. Hilary Clintons visit to Chennai in 2011 is speculated by many as a part of this strategy. But the irony to be noted here is they are not recognized as a nation even in India and nor are they given the status of a separate Independent and sovereign country with special privileges like a separate law similar to Thesavalamei law enjoyed by the Malabar community living in Sri Lanka. The Tamil language is also not given equal status with the official language Hindi in India unlike in this country where it is given equals status with the Sinhala language, the language of the native Sinhalese who had been there from the inception of history. But Rajiv got this too done through the same JR who signed the Indo Lanka Accord, by getting him to amend the Constitution of this country making Tamil also an official language in this country,

Isn’t it a big constitutional tragedy that the 16^th amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka in 1988 opened the doors for secession at the instigation of India whereas the 16^th Amendment to the Indian Constitution by the same India in 1963 prohibited Tamil secession in India.

Even though Tamil Nadu is the second largest State with a strong economy, the Tamils living there don’t ask for separation at present and even equal status or things such as the right for self-determination, equality, dignity and self-respect etc, as claimed by those who live here even though they are only Malabar immigrants  brought  here in the late 18th century and the 19^th century, by the Colonial Dutch and British, as slave labourers to work on their tobacco farms in a foreign country, the Jaffna peninsula and  other activities such as toddy tapping and public works as colonial rulers did in all colonies acquired by them to facilitate their divide and rule policy. Here in Sri Lanka, the Tamils in the North and East who have less than 350 years of domicile history want a separate State with everything such as right for self-determination, equality, dignity and self-respect etc. It is the Tamilnadu based Western church backed Tamils in South India who want an EELAM in Sri Lanka. Their underlying strategy here is to find a lounging pad outside India to capture Tamilnadu so that they can start balkanizing India from here, regardless of the 16^th Amendment to the Indian Constitution.

In this backdrop, my question, is why doesn’t the Malabar community living with more privileges here, than in India and the world over, demand the Indian Government to first accept them as a nation and ask India to give them a separate State in Tamilnadu, before they declare war for a separate State in some on else’s country here?  After all South India is the ‘de facto and de Jure’ traditional Homeland and the cradle of Tamils civilization in the world, who were supposed to have Migrated from Sudan through North Western India in prehistoric times.

Way back in 1799 in this country, when the Secretary to Governor North, Cleghorn addressed a brief note where he gave a dead rope to North to win his credentials as a Dutch captive , saying that Sri Lanka or Ceylon as it was called by them at that time “consists of two nations as Tamils and Sinhalese, (even though when there were no Tamils at that time here, as  they were named as Ceylon Tamils only in 1901 by Ponnambalan  Arunachalam). Please note even Cleghorn here has referred to the Tamils as Malabar people and Sinhalese as the natives of this Island. He also went on to say that this country consists of two Districts (countries) the Tamil district or Tamil country starting from Puttalam through-Jaffna-Trinco-Batticaloa to Walawe Ganga in the South. And the Sinhalese the natives on the other hand owned the rest from Walawe to Puttalam and the interior.  The poor Governor North had to depend entirely on this Dutch civil servant as he was only a novice to Sri Lanka at that time. This was a criminal fabrication of the true history of this country on the part of Cleghorne that was known to the whole world as the Sinhala Kingdom, at least from 543 BC.  The Sinhala Kingdom was one of the most ancient in the whole world, that stood in par with the then giants like China, India Greece, Rome and even Egypt. This was a criminal travesty of Sri Lanka history by Cleghorne and is nothing but mere pseudo intellectual bribery made to win the laurels of the new Governor for his survival as a captive of the British.

One more important point I would like to bring to your kind notice in this regard.

 I do not know whether you have seen “The Sinhalese and the Aryan Theory by Sivathiratnam published around 1970 in London, as a series of letters written by a Tamil Father to his Son” probably persuaded and funded by the colonial British who started this dirty game of dividing the land of the Sinhalese, in pursuance of their dirty divide and rule policy. As you know, the British Could never capture this Island nation by war unlike other countries, including India. Therefore, they had a very big issue to settle with the Sinhalese people, more so, with those who lived in the Kandyan kingdom who defeated them in three battles in 1803 and ,1818 and 1848 killing thousands of their men.  These defeats have been described as the most humiliating defeats the British ever have had anywhere in the world. As you probably know as an eminent Officer of the Indian Civil Service.Finally it was only on the shrewd and cunning John Doylies cleverness and intrigue that enabled them to annex the Kandyan Kingdom to the British empire in 1815. But please remember even that was done on equal terms as two sovereign Kingdoms, on the 2nd of March 1815 by a mutually agreed convention, where the conditions of the Buddhist clergy finally prevailed. I am proud as a Sinhalese to say that we were never defeated in war as an Asian nation, in spite of their superior gun power.  It was these Kandyan brave and patriotic men, women and the brave and learned Buddhist clergy like Wariyapola Sumangala and Kadahapola of the Asgiriya Chapter who prevented this Island nation being another America, Australia or New Zealand, that were completely routed and colonized by these invaders after total annihilation of the natives and finally naming those countries after their British sea pirates or some colonial criminals.

In this backdrop I hope you can play a very important role as a distinguished IAS officer at least in future in dealing with  the Sri Lanka-Indian issues, to educate the Indian Government  as a true Indian intellectual and an eminent civil servant hailing from the great Buddhist traditions as left behind by Lord Buddha, the Greatest human being and Teacher India had given to the world as H.G. Wells has once said, in the 6th century BC, and on the foundation of whose teachings this land and the Sinhala nation was built ever since 307 BC.  It is with the greatest adoration I mention here that it was another Great son of Bharath Dhesh, King Asoka the Great, the Greatest Emperor the world had ever known, gifted the Lord’s teachings that laid the eternal foundation for the Sinhala Buddhist civilization of this Island Nation, that will last until the sun and the moon shall shine in the high heavens. You can just see how much these two Great sons of Jambudeepa, Lord Buddha and Emperor Asoka had loved this Island when Buddha had first chosen Lanka as the land where his dispensation will last for 5000 years to come and second Asoka sent both of his own Son and Daughter, by his first Queen Maharani Devi to establish Buddhism as the state religion in this Island to King Devanampiyatissa his erstwhile friend , who was the King ruling over this Island at that time. That was the kind of close relationship that prevailed between this country and the Northern Indian civilization of the great Bharath Dhesh or Jambudweepa as it was known then.

However, the South Indians like Cholas, Pandyans had always been invaders and enemies of this Country from 2^nd century BC. They had invaded this Island nation 17 times up to the 13^th Century Kalinga Maga devastation, that devastated the entire NCP and even the South Eastern part of the country. But it should be clearly noted that none of these south Indian invaders could capture the whole Kingdom of Sri Lanka. Every time they invaded, they had been defeated by the Sinhale Kings and chased out and all of them had to lick their wounds. Those   who survived the war got integrated with the natives.

The EELAM quest by Prabhakaran assisted by Rajeev Ghandhi’s government

The latest episode was the EELAM quest by Prabhakaran who was heavily assisted by Rajeev Ghandhi’s government and it was on his benevolence that Murderer Prabakaran got the courage and stamina to fight the brave Sinhalese who had never got defeated in war against any invader at any time in known history. I must also mention it here with pride that we as a Buddhist nation had never invaded another country and stayed there to capture new territory as Kautillyan has always advocated in Indian history. There were only two or three occasions where King Parakaramabahu the Great and Gajabahu had done so to South India, Burma and Siam, purely in retaliation against some wrong they had done to our merchants. Apart from the bravery of our rulers coupled with that of the patriotic warriors, it was the blessings of the Triple Gem, Buddha, dhamma and Sangha that had protected this Island throughout history.  The whole world knows what happened at the end, to Rajeev, the benefactor of EELAm criminals was assassinated on his own motherland by Prabhakaran for all the help he gave to him including his own bullet proof jacket to continue the LTTE killings here. This is exactly what will happen at the end to everybody who tries to harm this land of the Buddha. Finally, at the end justice prevailed over injustice in 2009 and this Island nation thrice Blessed and sanctified by the Lord Buddha, was again saved by Mahinda Rajapaksa, by defeating Prabhakarans killer outfit LTTE, known as the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world.  

In this backdrop I would like you to advice the Indian politicians and bureaucrats as a veteran IAS officer to look at this Island nation as the younger brother of Great Bharath Desh admitting it as the land of the Sinhala nation, as it had been so from time immemorial and never a land of Tamils, although the South Indian Cholas and Magas have played hell here in the 2nd BC to 13AD.

 I would also like you and your government to refrain from entertaining mad ethnic lunatics like Vigneshwaran or any other ungrateful men like those of the slave trade leaders of the Thondaman clan who helped the White to tether South Indians in millions and who became rich Maharajas on the sweat and blood of those poor indentured labourers. These so-called saviors of Estate Tamils made their riches here but worship Tamilnadu (not India) like those who praise and worship the ocean after having drunk water from the well, to quench their thirst”.

In the same way, I would like to request you, to earnestly look at Indo-Lanka relationship from a pragmatic and realistic angle and not as a self-seeking and narrow-minded Indian politician or a bureaucrat of the same ilk. At the same time, I would also request you not to entertain the communal minded Sri Lankan Tamil politicians whether they come from the North, East, West or the Center and I would be thankful to you if you can ask them to settle their problems if they have any, with the Sri Lankan government as you are  here only as the representative of the Govt of India and not as a representative of the Tamilnadu  State or a representative of the Tamilnadu film idols like Vijekumar Chandrasekaram,  who has publicly vouched to erase Sri Lanka from the map of the world.  (Pl see Page 14 Aruna Sinhala Paper Sunday Nov 3^rd) Meanwhile I also request you to advice the Modi Government firstly, to asks to tender an open apology to the people of this country for what he has said and to stop this kind of aggressive talk at least in future.

One last word of warning about the global Tamil Forums aspiration for an Eelam on this soil.  I would like you   to resist all Tamil attempts to create an EELAM in Sri Lanka, a separate Tamil State on Sri Lanka soil, as the stepping stone for their World Eelam Empire whose Headquarters will be in Tamilnadu, that will finally control the whole of the Indian sub-continent.   This movement will be the biggest threat for the survival of the Hindu Bharath Desh concept you people cherish so much.  As such it is incumbent on the part of the Government of India not to support Tamils in Sri Lanka for a separate as it will pave the way for EELAM which will function as the launching pad for the greater Eeelam in India, that will finally balkanize the subcontinent and draw the curtain on your cherished Mahabharata dream. It is in this backdrop I request you to strongly advice your government in India, not to support these ungrateful Malabar people residents here and ask them to either integrate with the natives or go back to their historical Motherland in India, without trying to be a peg that is inimical to the long-standing friendship between our two countries, which is vital to our cherish and final goal of a greater Asia in future.

The EELam Dream

The EELam concept is a dream of a South Indian Eelaamist, the founders of the Kumari Kandam concept. Their plan was first to create an EELAM in the North and East of Sri Lanka first (EELAM in fact means the land of the Sinhalese as coined by the South Indians to call it in medieval times). Then second, to capture whole of Sri Lanka and call it Tamil EELAM. Third, add Tamilnadu (the first step of balkanization of India supported by the Catholic West) which the Tamils consider as the historical home land of the Tamil Nation and then using it as the lounging pad to capture whole of Indian subcontinent as the greater EELAM to teach a lesson to Nehru and the Indian Government who proscribed separatism spearheaded by the Dravid Munnethra Kasagam movement, by the Anti-secession Amendment No.16 in 1963. Finally, to expand it to all other countries around the globe where Tamils are living, like Fiji and Malaysia and end up with the establishment of their dream World Federation of Greater Tamil EELAM including Mohenjodaro Harappa which they consider as their original center of Eelam in India, after migrating from Sudan. I have no doubt that you fully understand the greater danger of the Eelam Tiger concept paused to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.

A historical tragedy for the Indian politicians and mandarins like Dixit to support the cause of EELAM without realizing the greater danger that will befall on India.

It is a pity and a historical tragedy too, for the Indian politicians like Rajiv Ghandhi and mandarins like Dixit former Ambassador to Sri Lanka, the present Prime minister Modi and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar who is a strong patronizer of the cause of EELAM and supporter of the Sri Lankan Tamil Community, without knowing the greater implications of this vicious Eelam movement that is going to completely   balkanized the Greater Bharat at the end, unless India takes timely action to arrest this tragedy without  supporting Tamils   living in Sri Lanka in forming a separate State.

                Rajiv got killed on 21^st My 1991 as he did not accept my warning I posted to him in March 1991. I wrote that letter to PM Rajiv Ghandhi in mid-March 1991 about 2 months before he was assassinated on 21^st. May 1991, pleading him not to support LTTE Tigers and also warned him that in the event of his refusal to do so, it will definitely lead to his own assassination very soon. That letter was sent under the Signature of the Most Venerable Mahanaayaka Thero of the Asgiriya Chapter Sri Paliipaana Chandaananda Thero, who was one of the two most powerful national Heads of this country. Two months later as I predicted Rajiv was Assassinated on this own motherland by an agent of Prabhakaran, to whose killer gang, Rajiv had given all support, including money and special military training for the LTTE killer cadre all over India. Finally  he also presented even his own bullet proof security JACKET for him to survive,  to destabilize the Sri Lankan government and achieve his dream of establishing a separate state in this country  without knowing what Prabhakaran was planning to do in pursuit of his vicious move in establishing his World Greater Empire of the lost Tamil Eelam (something never existed on this earth) the day dream of the  inventors of Kumari Kandan, the lost Lemuria a Dravidayan dream land, that is supposed to have existed  billions of years ago according to them, their fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers and the uncles and nephews of this mad idea.

Finally, in this backdrop of such dangers to come, I suppose India will take appropriate measures to protect the disintegration and disappearance of India                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  from the world  map due to the subversive activities of  the Greater World Eelam activists , I appeal to you as the Indian Ambassador to our country to refrain from paying any special attention to these Malabar Tamils   living in Sri Lanka or supporting them in keeping with the highest traditions of diplomatic protocol.

Also, I would like you to strictly adhere to the relevant provisions of the Geneva convention at least in future, keeping with the accepted diplomatic norms enshrined therein. We find that the Ambassadors of USA, UK and even Japan, having taken a lesson from you perhaps, also are now engaged in bilateral dealings directly with the Tamil and sometimes the Muslim community as well, violating the Geneva convention on diplomatic norms. I urge you to kindly refrain from these illegal and unconventional practices and treat this country as an independent sovereign country. That will open their eyes too, I hope. I also request you as a seasoned officer of the IAS to please advise your government as well, that the current policy of your government of taking the side of the Tamil community living in this country and treating them as people of Indian origin and supporting them directly is unconventional, unethical, undiplomatic illegal too, when it comes to diplomatic ethics between two independent sovereign nations. I bring this to your notice as a person who loves his country just like his mother and also sadly as there is no government or a single politician or a single national leader like Mahatma Ghandi, or T Lest Ranasingha Premadasain who declared David Gladstone Uk Ambassador this country, to tell those Ambassadors and their Governments to stop this kind of misbehavior or depart.

 Furthermore, I also would like to bring to your kind notice the following undiplomatic unconventional and suspicious actions currently followed by your government in dealing with the Tamil Community living in this country that impinges seriously on the independence and sovereignty of this Island nation and that thereby creating a reasonable suspicion in the minds of the people of this country that India is trying to consolidate its hold on this Island as well,  as a another State of India like what your country has already done in Bhutan and Nepal.  

I would like to highlight few issues that have drawn our serios concern in this regard

1 Having three Consular Generals Offices in Jaffna, Kandy and Hambanthota as if the High Commission in Colombo is unable to cover this small Island of 25,332 sq miles.  

 2 Your preferential treatment to the Tamil and Malabar community resident in this country by dealing directly with them bypassing the government of this country, by providing them with technical advice, scholarships to Tamils only, financial and political support and even housing and many other social upliftment programmers.

 4 You and your government also deal directly with Tamils instead telling them that they have to settle all their grievances with the Government of this country so long as they remain as citizens of this country where they live and make their living.

5 You and your government also entertain Tamils living in this country to make representations against the government of this country

The sum total of all these activities clearly shows a serios hidden agenda of Indias policy towards this country and also clear sings of territorial expansion behind Indian attitude and actions towards this country, reminding us of the fate of Bhutan and Nepal.

Therefore, I earnestly request you to recommend the closure of the above three Consular Offices with immediate effect and stop all kind of direct dealings with all Tamils living here to better our relationships with India and also to advise the Indian government and politicians to not to have any direct dealings with Tamils here or give any preferential treatment to Tamils and treat them as full citizens of this country and stop all dealings with Tamils living here.

 I also would request you to perform your duties as the Indian Ambassador to Sri Lanka   without going back to the days of Jyotindra Nath Dixit who behaved like the Indian viceroy in Sri Lankan during the times he was here.

And please request your government

6 To stop Illicit poaching by Tamilnadu fishermen in Sri Lanka waters, both in the Manar Bay and the eastern seas violating all accepted and international laws and basic civilized human ethics in using our marine territory and robbing the livelihood of Sri Lankan fishermen.

 7 To please advise your government to reprimand Indian citizens like Tamilnadu film idol Vijekumar Chandrasekaram, who has publicly vouched to erase Sri Lanka from the map of the world as if he can do it’ and all others of the ilk, to refrain from uttering such irresponsible and provocative statements that might lead to communal flaring up and displeasure towards India. Furthermore, we demand that he must tender an open apology to the government and the people of this country, for uttering such mischievous words and refrain from making such provocative activities impinging on the sovereignty of this country, at least in future. The dead silence on the part of Indian government on his provocative and uncivilized statement amounts to Indian approval of his mad utterance.

8 Another very serious issue I note is the so-called mythological Ramayana Trail project which covers the whole of this Island like a huge fishing net thrown over this Island by India. That also should be stopped immediately as it is also a disguised Indian invasion programme wearing an expansionist political

Map showing the Ramayana trail 

  It has been said that this programme is going to put up 21 Rama Kovils all over the Island covering the   whole (see above Map). In my opinion this is worse than Rajiv invasion 2087. I also request you to advise your government to drop this Indianization program as well.

Therefore, I would like to request you, as the Ambassador of the Indian government for the need to convince the Indian Government to drop this fabricated  Ramayan trail story and to treat Sri Lanka as a separate and Independent sovereign country and also to please advise the Indian Government to stop forthwith all these undiplomatic tactics and interventions that amounts to naked Indian invasion, disregarding the Independence and sovereignty of this country and let sanity and civilized diplomacy prevails in place of invasion and subversive politics.  

My most pertinent question is as to why India, which is 50 times the size of this small Island is using all these subversive tactics of territorial expansion to annex this Island?

I guess five reasons. The first is to satisfy the EELAM lobby in Thamilnadua to net their votes. Second, to satisfy the communal separatist Tamil community in Sri Lanka. Third, to satisfy the ambition of Colonial West to destroy the Sinhala Buddhist nation in this country for the reasons I have already stated above. Fourth to satisfy the never-ending Indian mentality of territorial expansion from the of Ramayana days.

But I would also like to remind you here that all Indian invasions starting from the days of mythical Ramayana narrative and ending with Rajiv Ghandhi’s arrogant, childish and unethical Parippu invasion in 1987 have failed up to date, and all attempts to capture this Island nation in history also have ended up in disaster. Therefore, we have no doubt that the present-day Modi’s manuring will also end up with the same fate.

So my Dear Santosh, finally, though it looks a bit undiplomatic, I am addressing this note to you , more at a personal level, as an elder brother of your own, and a retired senior member of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service, who is deeply concerned about the independence, freedom and sovereignty of his own country in the same way you do regarding your country, I would like to remind you of the tragic consequences that befell on your Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandhi in 1991 for ignoring the advice given to him by me in good faith under the signature of the most Venerable Mahanaayaka Thero of the Asgiriya Chapter as his personal Secretary. Had your Prime Minister listened to what I had said in March 1991 in that letter, he would have perhaps lived up to date in good health.

Today I predict, definitely the same fate will befall on all those who support the Malabar community in this country who were named as Ceylon Tamils only in 1901 by Ponnambalan Arunachachalam at the instigation of the British against the Sinha Buddhists in this country, irrespective of whether they live in the North East or the Center of this Island. The Sinhalese, the undisputed Bhumiputhras of the Island nation, were the people who had lived here from the beginning of history or even before, running in to more than 50,000 years, as you know. But Malabars living in this country have less than 350 years history in Sri Lanka as had been proved by my erstwhile friend Mr. LKN Perera, an honest judicial officer turned a patriotic historian in his retirement. If you like and if you have the time to spare, to read his Magnum opus on this subject, EELAM EXPOSED 2020” I can ask him to present a copy to you.

 So in this back drop, dear Ambassador, I would like to tender my sincere advice in all good faith to you, to advise your government to change its present  pro Sri Lankan Tamil mentality and give up its expansionist agenda forth with, especially towards this country and open a new chapter in Indo Sri Lanka relationships,  beginning from the year 2025 and try to treat all SARC members in particular and all Asian countries in general as friendly nations of one family, The Asian Family, as your real enemies are not in Asia but they are still in the West.  

As a devoted and proud Sinhala Buddhists we are ever prepared to forget all the unpleasant recent past on the part of India and let us open the doors to another  Lord Buddha and Asoka era or at least another Sirima Bandaranayake- Indhira Ghandhi era in our diplomatic, economic and cultural relations, in keeping with the unforgettable and  historic relationships we have had, starting from the time of Lord Buddha and Asoka The  Great, that laid down the concrete foundation for the  spiritual, political, economic, social and ethical foundation for the unique Sinhala Buddhist civilization in this Island nation.

Finally, I would like request you to please advise your leaders back at home, to follow the footsteps of those two Great Sons of early India, the Lord Buddha and Asoka the Great, only a land like India could have given to this world, in solving our present day problems facing our countries  that is entangled in tangles, both inner tangles and outer tangles, arising from lust, greed, hatred and ignorance, all of which are Fastly taking the whole world and humanity to total nemesis. We as Sinhalese Buddhists will follow the teachings of Lord Buddha and you pray your own gods.

I would appreciate it very much, if you could, as the Ambassadors to that Great civilization Bharath Dhesh, representing your governments in this country, will seriously take my advice as a brother officer of a parallel Service and act in conformity with the Geneva convents and more so as a true son of  that Great Bharath Buddhist tradition will advise your Government  to  refrain from meddling with the internal affairs of this country while  you yourself adhere  to the duties of an Ambassador of that Great nation,  within the covenants of the internationally accepted Geneva convention on ambassadorial duties, of cause keeping with the noble traditions given to the world by Bhagawath Geethaa and Dhammapadha.

I hope and wish you will not disagree with me when I say that the Tamils in Sri Lanka enjoy more rights and privileges than those in their historical and traditional Homeland in India or any other country in the world. As such why this big fuss and meddling over an artificial grievance, created by the self-seeking Tamil politicians living here and in Tamilnadu, backed by Indian politicians only to bag the Tamilnadu votes and the so-called Tamil Diaspora the world over for whom it is only a big business and finally the Church backed Western colonial elements and anti-Asian organizations like the newly found QUAD, duped as  The South Asian NATO’” by critics.    

All Tamils in this country as well as in India and the world over and countries who support the Tamils world over to protect their domestic political interests at Home specially like the governments of Canada, UK, USA, Norway and Sweeden and above all India should accept that;

First, Sri Lanka is the historical Home Land of the Sinhala Buddhist nation as it had been so at least from 543 BC and it was the Sinhala Buddhists who had found, developed and protected its unique culture and built up its civilization, defended its territorial integrity, sovereignty and freedom from the beginning of history and protected it against all foreign invasions from the 2^nd century BC up to date from South India and from Western Colonial invasions from 1505 to 1815. Even in 1815 this was the only country in the world that was added to the British Empire by an agreement mutually agreed upon between two Kingdoms on equal status and Sri Lanka had gone down in history as the only such country that was not captured by the British by war. Second, this tiny piece of 25,332 Square miles is the only land on earth, the Sinhalese have to live in, as an independent and sovereign nation, on this earth whereas Tamils have their own Motherland in South India from where they were brought by their colonial masters and Muslim practically have homelands all over the world covering about 1/3 the total area of the globe.

Present day minorities, Malabars (presently called Tamils baptized so only in 1901) and Muslims who were confined to Beruwala in the SW littoral when the Portuguese came in 1505 are only immigrant minorities in this country. The first batch of Malabars who were confined to the North and Eastern littorals were brought in to the Island by the Dutch in late 18^th century and thereafter by the British in the 19^th century mainly as slave labour from South India to work on their projects and toddy tapping and partly as colonial settlers. Second wave, by the British in large scale to work on the newly opened up Coffee and Tea plantations in the central hill country who were given citizenship only in 1988 under the Rajiv/JR accord of 1987 that was imposed on this country at gun point by India by invading the country.

 Talking about Muslims, there are two groups of Muslims in this country. That is those who came as traders from various Muslim countries in late 13th century and those who came from India later as marakkalas and Hambayas. Present day Muslims are the descendants of these people and who survived Portuguese massacre in 1505 and migrated to the Kandyan kingdom and who were accommodated as refugees by King Senarath of Kandy. He settled them in different parts of the country, the main settlement being the Panamapattuwa in the Eastern littorals.

Accordingly, both these communities are immigrant minorities only.  None of them has a right to claim nationality or citizenship in this country unless they integrate with the native Sinhalese, the Bhumiputhras of this land, agreeing in writing to abide by the laws of the land, and agree to live in one undivided country called Sri Lanka as one nation. Those who got citizenship by an affidavit under Rajiv/JR Accord of 1987 don’t fall in to this category, because none of them are legitimate citizens as yet, as they have not been duly registered under the Sri Lanka Citizenship Act. Therefore, it is necessary that all issues have to be settled within the Sri Lankan legal framework.

This, in my opinion, is The only way to restore the lost sanity, good will and friendship among the native Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim minorities and restore peace and prosperity once again on this Paradise Island. India or any other foreign country should not get involved in internal matters of this country. It should be left for Sri Lanka alone as an independent and sovereign country to decide its own destiny.

(We all Sri Lankans demand that India should immediately close down all these 3 peripheral consular generals offices to clear our minds of a planned Indian invasion)

Meanwhile I would also like you to advice your government to engage in the following exemplary pursuits immediately, for Indias own safety.

9.If India wants to be the leader of Asia or at least of South Asia or a co-leader within a collective group like China, Russia, Japan, Thailand and Sri Lanka of the 21^st Century Asian Continent. But India also has to be always exemplary and above board, going by the way it has handled the SAARC since 2014.

10. Finally  In this backdrop we Sri Lankans want India to withdraw immediately from pursuing any matter arising from the Rajiv /JR Accord  of 30^th July 1987  as  we Sri Lankans have decided to  abolish  it  as it amounts  to a complete travesty of  the true history of this 25 centuries old  written history of this island  nation  and  it also pave the way for the division of this country in to two separate States one Sinhala and the other Tamil leading to the end of its territorial integrity as a Sinhala Buddhist  Kingdom with a 2500 years of a glorious history. As you know since India has already unilaterally violated it several times, we have no legal bar in abolishing it with a 2/3 majority in Parliament.  The other curse that has to be got rid of is the the 13^th Amendment under which provincial councils were set up and the mechanism on ground is already laid down to divide the country in to 9 independent States. It has already completely destroyed the centuries old district administration in the Island. Therefore the 13 A also has to be abolished if this country is to remain as a Sinhala Buddhist country any more.

Overall, I am compelled to conclude with this wish.

 I pray for the dawn of a new era of goodwill, friendship, trust and mutual prosperity between our two countries in all fields like political, economic, social and cultural under your able guidance as the current High Commissioner of India to its younger Brother Sri Lanka. If you do your duty, I have no doubt that the two of us will go down in history as the two architects of the dawn of a neo- Gauthama Buddha-Asoka era for both India and Sri Lanka’s diplomatic relations. Let us hope and pray that with the blessings of all Gods ruling over our two countries the dawn of this new era of peace, prosperity and goodwill be a reality before we close our eyes. 

If this attempt also fails, we are planning to organize continuous Island wide massive public protests to defeat this ongoing Indian conspiracy, to save our motherland.

Please let me conclude this historic letter with the following quotation from Dhammapada.

Manasa che pudhutTeina- Bhasathi vaa -karothi vaa

Thatho nan dukka manveithi- chakkanva vahathopadan’

(If one speaks or act with an impure mind-Then that will always bring sorrow -as if the wheels that fallow the bulls two hindlegs} (yamaka vagga Dhammapada 1.1)

Manasaa che pasannena -Bhaasathi vaa karothivaa

Thatho nan suka manveithi -Chaayaava anapaayini” 

(If one speaks or act with a pure mind and good intention, then that will always bring good, as if one’s shadow also always follows him”) (yamaka vagga Dhammapada 1:2)

Hope you will bear with me for taking your precious time.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Sudath Gunasekara

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 [S1]

Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel and former Ambassador to UAE and Israel/President Ambassador’ forum in UK/SL

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Cost of living is the cost of living of an average family computed in various ways for the purpose of computation of the official cost of living giving guidance that increases every due to various factors beyond the control of the governance and the consumer who is always in the receiving end. It is the accepted norm that a consumer must have a sufficient earning to make ends meet always the governance is supposed to be responsible for, as it is governance that is responsible for the control of prices of consumer items directly and indirectly mainly in the open economy where trader and consumer meet eve to eve in dealing with the prices of consumer items. Prizes of consumer items are never static though the income varies based on the development of the economic situation of the country, where poor and poorest are the most affected. It is the duty of the rulers to find ways to ease their burden and the organization is bound to protect them and the legal system is duty-bound to protect the deprived group of the casualty.

Consumer

There is a general saying that the consumer is a king and powerful as he can control the trader by organized consumerism if and when they are well organized as in the west, which is not the reality as the consumer in Sri Lanka is not as organized as consumers in the west who are well organized. When ‘’Coka Cola’’ used water in Thams River it is the media and the consumer organization’s that agitated against to kneel down the company to correct the mistake made. 999agitations on consumerisms on behalf of the consumer agitating for consumer items and services of quality at a reasonable prize, but the prize hikes during the festive season continues to date and it is the duty if the consumer to take precautionary measures to take preventive measures. Despite the bread ordinance and act of measure of weights in force the price of bread and consumer items increase at a steady rate at the discretion of the trader enjoying free trade in the absence of the prize control act not in force on free economic regime. Price of bread few pence some years ago is over on pound today varying prizes depending on the weight and quality of bread in different supermarkets, which applies to all other consumer items when the consumer is complaining of the high prices, which is a universal scenario. In short every citizen is a computer and it is the duty of the governance to provide facilities to the cross section of the entire society considering every citizen a consumer.

solution

What is the solution for the high cost is a matter being discussed in many forums with no proper answer with one answer on application of competition and competition law and process linked to consumer activism via organize consumer organizations. Trader and industrialist is a group required for the society to carry on consumerism and they say consumer is always right and it is the duty of the trader , industrialist and the regulator to give due place to the consumer for a proper consumer regime and a successful trade to the nation to be economically balanced. It is a need to balance all together for a reasonable cost of living for the consumer to live peacefully and conformably. Who are responsible for a proper consumer regime and a comfortable life of the citizen is the most important question to find a solution for the high cost of living ever increasing. Successive regimes are attempting to find solutions with no success and this is a continuous struggle the consumer as a group going through ever in any society, mostly in socies of open economy mostly as in socialist setups there are more safeguards for the consumer than in the open trade society.

World Consumer Day- 15^th March every year celebrated worldwide

 More than ever it is the consumer itself you are responsible and at the receiving end  who are responsible to be organized and to be aware of their regents and duties to receive the attention of the public , governance and the media as the group most neglected in the society as John Kennady declared in 1962 at the congress that the consumers are a grip that is most neglected and disorganized no knowing what their rights and powers are and initiated the world consumer day and organization’s by initiating the world consumer day which is today celebrated in over 300 countries every 15^th of march with great funfair and celebrations to flex muscles of the consumer and to organize themselves. Every year Consumer International selects a timely topic and organize seminars workshop’s and activism worldwide with educational, activism and promotional programs and Sri Lanka too is engaged in the celebrations headed by the regulator CAA and the government as well and we are informed the new Minister of trade is taking seps with the consumer Affairs Authority number of programs all over the country  by organizing seminars, workshops and activism to  organize consumer for a proper consumer regime so that the consumer will be protected which is  the citizen will be benefited in brining down the cost of living which is unbearable today.

Festive Season

Why is the cost of living rising during the festive season is natural due to the demand and shortages of the consumer items and the unreasonable behavior of the trader and the disorganization of the consumer who are impatient to purchase consumer goods expecting shortages during the season. Consumer tends to store items expecting shortages and the errant trader too are sharp to understand the behaviors of the consumer. The theme of the World Consumer Day on 2025 march 15 would be on the topic just transition to sustainable life style and previously dealt with digitalization, food, just market place and similar topics that will be chosen in future based on the then needs of the society. Why is cost of living is rising and especially during festive reason is a matter addressed by the consumer experts finding a solution in the interest of the citizen daily finding hard to make ends meet everyday and especially during festive season to perform their duties for the rest of the family and the society. But finding a solution is hard as it is every changing and challenging as it is linked to politics, economy and governance. Gene ally it is the Venance, the regulator, the trader, industrialists and more importantly the consumer itself who are responsible for the fluctuation sob the prizes of consumer items dis – proportionately. It is an open secret that old expired, old stocks air coming back to the open during the festive season for the innocent consumers purchase as new at may be higher prizes sometimes.

Legal Basis

Legal basis and the practice of the governance on the consumer and trader is of great importance on the increases of prices especially on festive season in a society when the price of consumer items is generally on the high side due to exonymic situation and the imbalance of the trade pattern, for which the legal basis play a main role. In Sri Lanka the main regulator is the Consumer Affairs Authority established under act no 9 of 2003, by establishing the CAA with a statutory body by replacing the English modelled system replacing the traditional English modelled acts to set up the statutory body with a mixture of English. Australian Canadian modelled system based on regulation in place of price control system and mechanism which appear to be unsuccessful as a teethless lion expecting the consumer organizations, media and the regulator to work together with the assistance of the regulator, trader, consumer, media and industrialists which has not been proved successful as expected by the act. Therefore, it has become necessary to bring drastic changes by introducing a new act forthwith possible following the Indian model that has follow some parts of the English model and traditional Indian modelled subsystem with the guidance of the Supreme Court and principles of public interest litigation and similar concepts. We are proposing a consumer ombudsman in the system and it is a good idea to rethinks of introducing principles of prize control we are used to.

Festive Seasons

Festive seasons will come and go during seasons and it is the duty of the consumer to be sharp and smart consumers without getting into the traps of errant traders, who technically are expected to be genuine and honest traders as in ‘’Seravanija Jathaka’’ where the genuine trader is always victorious, which unfortunately not the situation in Sri Lanka where the consumer is inundated with adulterated food and consumer items of lower quality with hard pressed CAA struggling with a limited staff and inadequate legal and procedural mechanism, which means that it is the duty of the regulator to be active all the time and consumer to be active smart and vigilant all the time with organized consumer movement.

Way out and forward-looking steps by parties concerned

Parties concerned are the Citizen, – Consumer- Regulator – Ministry of Trade Governance- Trader Consumer, Industrialists, Media, who should be aware of their duties to the nation as a matter of duty and it is paramount they must do a thorough study on their duties to the sociality all the time not only during festive season alone. It appears that the CAA is not as active as expected and in the forefront in the media limelight in organizing and directing the citizen and the parties concerned and it is the duty of the young and energetic Minister to be active and give special attention to this areas as a matter of priority, as this is an area the citizen has utmost hope and trust for consumer items of quality at the reasonable price and of required and expected quality. (Auther could be contacted on sarathdw28@gmail.com References – Hyde Park interview with Indeevari SL must have consumer Courts/ Lanka Web 12.12.24 consumer be vigilant. Telegraph jan 23 Consumer, Consumer Ombudsman 28.10 Ceylon today Price control 2003 Telegraph- any more on Lanka Web, Telegraph, Daily news Observer by the author)

Centre for Policy Research

Machine Eye

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Twenty second death anniversary of Deshabandu Alec Robertson falls on the 31st of December, 2024. His passing away was widely lamented by all Sri Lankans as well as his numerous foreign friends and acquaintances who had at some time or other benefitted from his guidance, friendship and exemplary life, and more than anything else from his deep understanding and propagation of the Buddha Dhamma. Sri Lanka has no shortage of Buddhist scholars, among both the Sangha and the lay persons but not many would claim to have all the other wonderful attributes that were found in extraordinary abundance in Robertson. 

Looking back on Robertson’s life, one could assume that he has been fortunate in many ways, in his long sojourn as a servant of the Buddha and the Dhamma. 
Alec has the remarkable ability to expand, through his own efforts, his knowledge of the Dhamma through the mastery of Pali and a deep understanding of the three Piṭakas. His remarkable memory was his other forte, which adorned him as a shining armour in his many engaging discussions on the Dhamma, often in the company of others, with great eminence and erudition.
Practically all who have penned their appreciations of Alec and assessed his many contributions in the service of the Dhamma have been the most emphatic on his dexterity in responding to probing questions and clarifications on the Dhamma and the life of the Buddha. What was most remarkable about Alec was his unhesitating responses, and their clarity in delivery. 
Robertson has a large number of publications on the Dhamma to his credit. These included Buddhist Attitude Towards Christianity”, Nibbana-Happiness Supreme”, The Triple Gem and The Uposatha”, and Buddha-the Healer in Comparable”. He also contributed Buddhist articles to journals and newspapers. To the Buddhist Annual, Vesak Sirisara, he contributed articles on a variety of subjects over an unbroken period exceeding 20 years.
Let me end this short appreciation with the following quote by Asoka Jayasinghe (written in 2005) who considered himself as an adult ‘Shishya’ of Alec:
We are left with the memory of this great Buddhist layman whose life was that of an ideal Buddhist; both in erudition and practice”
Sabba danam dhamma danam jinati”

උපුටා ගැන්ම  ලංකා ලීඩර්

විපක්ෂ නායක සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතා දේශපාලනයෙන් සමුගැනීමේ සූදානමක් පවතින බව මව්බිම ජනතා පක්ෂයේ නායක පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දිලිත් ජයවීර මහතා පවසයි.

අද (27) පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී මාධ්‍යවේදියෙකු නැගූ ප්‍රශ්නයකට පිළිතුරු ලබාදෙමින් මන්ත්‍රීවරයා පැවසුවේ විපක්ෂ නායකවරයා සිය උප්පැන්න සහතිකයේ සිට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් පෙන්වා ඇති කාරණයෙන් ගම්‍ය වන්නේ ඔහු දේශපාලනයෙන් සමුගැනීමේ සූදානමක් ඇති බවයි.

විපක්ෂය යනු සර්වජන බලය පක්ෂය බවත් එය ඒඩිතර විපක්ෂ බවත් විපක්ෂය යනුවෙන් නමින් හැදිනවූ පළියට එය විපක්ෂය නොවන බවද මන්ත්‍රී දිලිත් ජයවීර මහතා පැවසුවා

විපක්ෂයේ ක්‍රියාදාමය විපක්ෂය කටයුතු කරන ආකාරය ඔවුන් ජනතාව සමග කටයුතු කරන ආකාරය ජනතාව තීරණය කරන බවද හෙතෙම වැඩිදුරටත් කියා සිටියා.

Courtesy Adaderana

The newly-appointed Chairman of Lanka Salt Company in Hambantota, T. Nandana Thilaka has urged the public to avoid panic-buying and hoarding salt amidst rumors of a shortage. 

Addressing the media after assuming office today (28), Mr. Thilaka clarified that the current salt supply is sufficient to meet household needs in the country.

Two 400-gram packets of salt powder and one kilogram of crystal salt are enough for an average household for a month,” he stated, emphasizing that unnecessary stockpiling is unwarranted. 

The chairman reassured the public that the Hambantota Lanka Salt Company currently has 6,000 metric tons of salt in stock, sufficient to last until January. Additionally, he added that plans are in place to import 30,000 metric tons of salt to prevent any potential shortages. 

Mr. Thilaka acknowledged that salt production has declined significantly this year, attributing the issue to long-standing neglect of the Jaffna salt pans.

Since the end of the civil war in 2009, no government has taken steps to rehabilitate and utilize the salt pans in the Jaffna region for production,” he explained. 

However, the chairman announced that development activities for the Jaffna salt pans are set to commence by mid-January, with production expected to begin by March 2025. 

He urged the public to remain calm and avoid creating unnecessary demand due to fear, assuring that all measures are being taken to maintain an adequate salt supply in the country.

Kaarige Channel Eka | Dharmasri Kariyawasam

Divaina Online

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

              මේ දිනවල ජාතික රූපවාහිනියෙන් ප්‍රචාරය වන දැනට අතිශයින් ජනප්‍රිය වී තිබෙන අමුතු දොස්තර ටෙලි නාටකය පිළිබඳ සමාජයේ සිදු වන කතා බහ යොමුව තිබෙන්නේ ඉන් ලබන අමුතු රසාස්වාදනය සාකච්ඡා කරමින්. රසය තීව්ර කිරීම, ගැටුම් නිර්මණය මගින් කතාව උච්චස්ථානයකට පත් කර කුතුහලය ඇවිස්සීම ඒ මගින් නව රසයන් මතු කිරීම නාටකීය ස්වරූපයකි.අමුතු දොස්තර දේශපාලනමය තිර රචනයක් සහිත ටෙලිනාටකයක් බව පැවසිය යුතුය.මීට පෙරද බොහෝ අවස්ථාවල දේශපාලනය පිළිබඳ සාකච්ඡා කරන ටෙලි නාටක බිහිව ඇති නමුදු මෙම නාටකය ඊට වඩා වෙනස් මගක ගමන් ගන්නා බව පෙනේ.

       කලපු ඉස්පිරිතාලය පසුබිම් කොට දිග හැරෙන රූප රාමු තුළ සමාජයෙන් වියුක්ත අමුතු පුද්ගලයෙකු දකින්නට ලැබෙන නමුදු ඒ චරිතය යම් කිසි අරමුණකින් හසුරුවා ඇති බව දක්නට ලැබේ.ඉස්පිරිතාලය පුරාම දක්නට ලබෙනුයේ අබලි දුව්‍ය පිරුණු ,වංචා දූෂණය ඉහවහා ගිය ,සියලු මානව සබඳතා වානිජ බලවේ විසින් හසුරුවන වැසෙන්නට නියමිත රාජ්‍ය ආයතනයකි. පෙනුමෙන් ගමනින් සහ චර්යාවෙන් අමුතු පුද්ගලයෙකු එතනට පැමිණෙන්නේ එහි කාර්ය භාර නිළධරයා වශයෙනි. එතැන් සිට මේ කතාව කුතුහලයෙන් පිරුණු නමුත් ක්‍රමයෙන් තිර රචකයාගේ අරමුණ හෙළි කරන අමුතු ගණයේ කතා මාලාවක් ලෙසට ඉදිරියට යයි.අමුතු දොස්තර කතා වස්තුව තුළ සමාජයේ දකින්නට තිබෙන දුබලකම් වංචා සහ දූෂණ යන කාරණා අපූරුවට විග්‍රහ කරන්නට  උත්සාහ කර තිබේ. ඒ එක්කම නාටකයට සිංහල දෙමළ සහ ඉංග්‍රීසි කතා කරන ඉහළ මධ්‍යම පන්තියත් ආකර්ෂණය කර ගැනීමට උපක්‍රම භාවිතා කිරීමට උත්සාහ දරා ඇත. තවද ඉතා සියුම්ව මෙරට සංස්කෘතියට පහර දීමටත් යම් අවස්ථා යොදා  ගැනීම දක්නට හැකියි.ඇතැම් නළුවන්ට නම් යෙදීමේ දී ඒ ගැන සැළකිල්ලක් යොමු කළ බව පැහැදිලියි. නාටකය ඉදිරියට ඇදී යන කල්හි මෙකී නළුවන් හට තමන්ගේ වැරදි ස්මරණය කිරීමටද ඒ තුළ සහ කම්පනයක් ඇති කිරීමට සැලැස්වීමද අගය කළ යුතු කරුණක්. එහෙත් මෙරටේ සෑම ජන කොටසක සතු මෙවැනි ගුණාංග ජානගතව පවතින්නේ මෙරට පවතින සිංහල බෞද්ධ සංස්කෘතිය නිසා බව ඇඟවෙන්නට සමත් රූප රාමු මුදා නොහැරීමට වග බලා ගෙන ඇති බවද පැහැදිලියි. හින්දි රිදී තීරයේ කලකට ඉහත ප්‍රදර්ශනය කළ අමීර් ඛාන් රඟ පෑ ඩෝබි ඝාට් සිතුවම් පටයේ ශෛලියෙන් මෙහි නිර්මාණ කරුවන් ආභාශය ලබා ඇත්දෝ  කියා මදකට කල්පනාවට පැමිණි බව සටහන් කල යුතුයි.කෙසේ වෙතත් වර්තමානයේ බලයට පත්ව සිටින අමුතු ආණ්ඩුවේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති හා සමපාත වී මෙහි රූප රාමු සකස් කරගෙන යන්නේ ජාතික රූපවාහිනියේ විකාශනය වන නිසා වන්නට ඇත.

      අමුතු දොස්තර චරිතය ආක්‍රමණශීලී නැත. ඔහු වංචාවට දූෂණයට අකාර්යක්ෂමතාවයට තිත තබන්නේ උපාය උපක්‍රම යොදා ගනිමිනි. කලපු ඉස්පිරිතාලේ සැම සිදු වීමක්ම හොඳින් අධ්‍යනය කිරීමත් සේවක මණ්ඩලයේ මනෝභාවයන් හොඳින් විශ්ලේෂණය කිරීමත් දූෂණයට වැට බැඳීම පිණිස සියළුම දේ ලිඛිතව පවත්වාගෙන යෑම ආරම්භ කිරීමත් සමගම ගැටළුව නිරාකරණය කිරීමට අවස්ථාව උදා කර ගැනීම විශිෂ්ටයි. නීතිය ඉදිරියේ අදාළ පුද්ගලයන් ප්‍රශ්න කරනුයේ ඉන් අනතුරුව බව දැක්වීම තුළ අප වටහා ගත යුත්තේ මානව සාර ධර්මයන්ට පසු පස්සෙන් නීතිය අවශ්‍ය බවයි.

        ලංකාවට නිදහස ලැබුණු කාල වකවානුවෙන් පසුව අමුතු ආණ්ඩුවක්ද බලයට පත් වී තිබේ.ඔවුන් විපක්ෂයේ සිටියදී වංචාව දූෂණය අරභයා නොයෙකුත් කතා ගෙතූහ. උද්ඝෝෂණය කළහ. අරගල කළහ. නමුත් රටේ ව්‍යුහයේ වෙනස් කමක් සිදු නොවීය.එයට හේතු ගණනාවක් තිබුණද ජනතාව අමුතු පිරිසකට බලය අත්පත් කර දුන්නේ යම් පැහැදිලි වෙනසක් බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමිනි.එම ක්‍රියාවේ පැහැදිලි එල්ලයක් නොතිබුණි. නමුත් අමුතු ආණ්ඩුවෙන් තවමත් අමුතු දේවල් සිදු වුණේ නැත.වෙළඳ පළ සහල් ගැටළුවේ දී ඔවුහු වරද්ද වරද්දා ගොඩ යන්නට උත්සාහ දරමින් සිටී.කාලයක් තිස්සේ විපක්ෂයේ ඉඳිමින් වංචා දූෂණයන්ට එල්ල කළ ආක්‍රමණශීලී ප්‍රහාරයන් තවමත් එහෙමමයි. ඉතා සියුම්ව සමාජය විශ්ලේෂණය කරමින් ගැටළු විසඳා ගැනීමට තවමත් අසමත්. ජනතාවගේ මනෝභවයන් සහ විපක්ෂයේ මනෝභාවයන් තේරුම් ගෙන යා යුතු අතුරේ ගමනට සූදානම් වනවා වෙනුවට විපක්ෂයත් අවුස්සා ගනිමින් ජනතාවත් කළකිරීමකට පත් කරමින් යෑමට උත්සාහ කරන ගමන් මග නිසා මෙතෙක් නොතිබුණු ගැටලු මතු වන්නට තිබෙන ඉඩකඩ වැඩියි. රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ අටවා ගිය උගුල නැතිනම් ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලට ගැට ගැසීම, මහ බැංකුව ස්වාධීන කිරිම ,විදේශ විනිමය පාලන පනත සංශෝධනය ආදී කරුණු ගැන විපක්ෂයේ සිටියදී කරන ලද චෝදනා අනුව සියුම්ව ක්‍රියා කිරීම වෙනුවට උගුලේ තව දුරටත් අසුවන සෙයක් දකින්නට ඇත. අමුතු දොස්තර අත්හරින්නට කැමතිය. ඔහුට හොඳ අභිලාහයක් පවතී. ස්වකීය අරමුණ වෙත ඔහු ළඟා වන්නේ යම් පිටපතක් සිතේ තබා ගෙනයි. ආදර්ශය සැමට වඩා උතුම්.

    එහෙත් අමුතු ආණ්ඩුව අත් හරින්නට සූදානම් නැත.තමන්ගේ උද්දච්චකම් මුග්ධකම් අතහරින්න කැමති නැත. රට වෙනුවෙන් ආණ්ඩුවට අභිලාහයක් නොතිබෙන බව පැහැදලියි. එහෙත් පක්ෂයේ අනාගතය ගැන අබිලාශයන් ඇත.ඉන්දියාවේ  ගිය ගමනෙන් සිදු වුණේ මේ රටේ රාජ්‍ය සේවකයන් ඉන්දීය ක්‍රමයට හැඩ ගැස්වීමට මගක් පාදා දීමයි. එය තවත් අනතුරක් .රටේ ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව ගැන හෝ උතුරේ ධීවර ගැටලුව ගැන පෙර ඉන්දිරා ගාන්ධි සමයේ ඇති කරගත් එකඟතා ගැන එතනදී සඳහන් කිරීම හානියක් නොවෙයි.ගෝව ප්‍රාන්තය ගැන ඉන්දියාව අනුගමනය කළ පියවරයන් පිලීබඳව මෝදි අගමැති එක්ක කතා කරන්න තාම කල් වැඩියි. හැබැයි බුද්ධ ගයාවට වඳින්න ගියාම ඔහුට මතක් වන්නට ඕනෑ ලක්ෂ හතරක් පමණ වන්දනා කරුවන් ලංකාවේ සිට ඉන්දියාවට පැමිණෙන වග. ඔවුන්ගේ පහසුකම් ගැන, විශ්‍රාම ශාලා ගැන දෙරට අතර එකඟතා ඇති කර ගන්නට ඉඩ කඩ තිබුණි.ජනාධිපතිවරයා තවම ආධුනිකයි.ඔහුගේ විෂය ජාතික ආරක්ෂාවට මුල් තැන් දීම නමුත් ඉන්දියාවේ ආරක්ෂාව වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටීම තුලින් පෙනෙන්නේ රට වෙනුවෙන් තිරසර අභිලාශයක් අධිෂ්ඨානයක් නොමැති බවයි.අමුතු දොස්තර බලා හෝ මේ වැරදි හදා ගත යුත්තේ දොස්තර වරුන් පමණක් නොවේ. මේ රටේ දේශපාලඥයන්ද නීතියට වඩා ඉදිරියෙන් සාරධර්ම තබා පුද්ගල සබඳතාවන්ට මානව ගුණ ධර්මයන්ට මුල් තැන දෙන්නේ නම් බෙහෙවින් වටිනා බව මතක් කළ යුතුයි.

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

Prof. Hudson McLean

Finland – The Happiest Country in the World  in 2024, Made a Drastic Mistake!   

Offering Visa to Many Young Asian Immigrants with High Education, and with Families to Finland in 2024, Currently Unemployed, due to Lack of Finnish Language Skills Causing Severe Psychological Distress!

Either Offer Language Training in their Home Country Prior to Departure, or Ensure Employment based on Their Skills when they Arrive!

Furthermore Finland Authorities Did Not Offer Pre-induction Cross-Cultural Sensitivity Education!

Apart from the Cultural Differences, Language Barrier, the Extreme Weather, Many Differences with Central European & the British Culture. are Causing Severe Psychological  Distress!

However, There is a Solution to this Human Problem!

Express Your Opinion – Read What Others Say!
The Independent Interactive Voice of Sri Lanka on the Internet.

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By Nalliah Thayabharan

The Israeli regime has failed in Gaza. It’s been almost 15 months and they fail to take Gaza. Slaughtering thousands of children and women is not a victory. We see Israeli operations taking place daily in Gaza and a number of Israelis have been killed over the past few days. So Gaza is still not a victory for the Israeli regime. In fact that’s a major defeat because the world has been exposed to the brutality of the Israeli regime.
 
The world has been exposed to the brutality of the Israeli regime in Lebanon as well. We saw how they murdered senior commanders of Hezbollah and that is a success but Israeli forces have also been fighting Hezbollah for almost 15 months now.  During the last two months of heavy fighting uh the Israeli regime failed to make any meaningful inroads into Lebanon – that’s a failure again. The Israeli regime succeeded in slaughtering thousands of innocent Lebanese children and women.

The only place the Israeli regime has scored a victory is Syria. Along with the Americans, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, family rich dictatorships, oil rich dictatorships and gas-rich dictatorships, Israeli regime have succeeded in destroying Syria, because Syrians were brought to their knees since the Syrian economy is crushed due American sanctions, and the terrorism that was being imposed upon the Syrian people through Turkey and Jordan and also through the no man’s land in Iraq between Iraq and Syria. The Americans occupied the oil rich areas of Syria along with the agriculturally important areas of Syria so Americans kept the Syrian people starving and stole Syrian assets. It doesn’t take a genius to understand why Syria collapsed, but this is a tactical defeat for Russia and Iran.

But it will not necessarily a long-term success story since Syria is a very complicated country with significant minorities including Kurds (Sunni, Yazidi), Turkmen Alawis, Sunni and Alevi Turkmens, Sunni Chechens, Sunni Circassians, Syrian Bosniaks, Sunni Muslim Greeks, Muslim Ossetians, Black people of Yarmouk Basin, Assyrians, Armenians, Greeks, Italians, Romani people of various creeds, Mizrahi Jews, Mandeans, and Arameans.

Huge segments of Sunnis in Syria do not support the extremists of al-Qaeda.  Syrian jihadist leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani was the deputy for ISIS. He was al-Qaeda leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s deputy for Syria. The present split between Jolani’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and al-Qaeda is not an ideological split. It is based on mutual consensus since both sides believe that the split should take place for PR purposes.  Jolani always praised al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda also praised Jolani. There’s no difference between ISIS, al-Qaeda and Jolani’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and that is why Iran opposed these extremists in Syria and went to defend the legitimate government in Damascus.

The Syrian government had major shortcomings and it was no more despotic than other Arab dictatorships in the region but it had one positive aspect to it and that was it asserted independence and it stood up to the Israeli regime in addition to its adversaries who were extremist terrorists. That is why Iran went to Syria to help the Syrians to defend the country against the extremist terrorists.

The current situation in Syria is a short-term tactical victory for the Israeli regime, Americans, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, family rich dictatorships, oil rich dictatorships and gas-rich dictatorships. But this is not an easy ride for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.  Erdoğan did not anticipate owning Syria. He only wanted a bigger peace outside of Idlib to use at the negotiating table. The sudden collapse of Syria was not expected by anyone. Now Erdoğan has to take care of Syria and the political and economical burden is simply too much for Erdoğan.

The situation in Syria is going to complicate the situation across the region including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey and Qatar which are most vulnerable to the spread of al-Qaeda ideology.

Iranian oil is no longer going to Syria. Russian oil and Iraqi oil are no longer going to Syria. The countries in the US camp, Turkey and Qatar will obviously be funding Jolani’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and al-Qaeda in Syria but how much and how long are they going to help Syria is a big question.

Here comes the question of the importance of the role of Israel in this whole situation. The Israeli regime was incapable of defeating Hamas and Hezbollah. Even with those interactions direct fight between Iran and Israel without the United States, United Kingdom, France and Jordan all of these countries together helping Israel, Israeli regime  was not capable to defend themselves and right now Israeli regime is trying to brag about what has happened in Syria and without Turkey and the West being part of this operation. Attack on the Syrian Government was a collective operation of NATO led by the United States which has been pursuing this for since 2011. The Israelis have always been supporting al-Qaeda and ISIS alongside the border with Syria or at least along the occupied Golan Heights. Al-Qaeda and ISIS were funded by the Israeli regime, wounded Al-Qaeda and ISIS were treated by the Israeli regime and that they had air support from the Israeli regime whenever the Syrian government would attack them – so the relationship between Al-Qaeda and ISIS is not new – the cooperation with these terrorists existed in Jordan, Israel and in Turkey and they facilitated the aid that came from the Persian Gulf, Europe and North America.

Tens of thousands of foreign fighters enter mostly from Turkey; and from across the world and Western intelligence agencies were key to the movement of all those people and Western intelligence agencies and the Israelis are always on the same page the foreign fighters will never do anything that runs against the interests of the Israeli regime.

Hezbollah had to withdraw its troops from Syria to fight the war or at least to protect Lebanon from the Israeli regime and the Syrian government did not replace them adequately and that was a part of the problem.

As soon as the ceasefire took place in Lebanon Turkish intelligence and Israeli intelligence cooperated very closely and the Israelis have now taken key areas in southern Syria.

What would be the future of Syria right now? Are they going to divide Syria in different parts or as Erdogan and his foreign minister are talking about the sovereignty of Syria should be respected. It’s very ironic that Turkish leaders are now speaking about Syrian sovereignty but they were the first to violate that Syrian sovereignty since 2011.

Serena Ali Suhaim- A Lebanese American journalist with two kids was on the Syrian Turkish border when she reported in 2014 that Turkish intelligence was using World Food Organization trucks to supply ammunition and troops for ISIS. The Turkish government said that she’s a spy and on that same day as soon as she heard that she went on TV live and said they’re calling me a spy I’m not a spy I’m a journalist I’m just reporting and then hours later she was killed. Obviously Turkish intelligence wanted to silence her and that’s not how you preserve a country’s sovereignty.

Now in different cities Syrians themselves are setting up militias to protect themselves and their towns from both the extremists but also thugs, thieves, gangs and Mafia groups.  

Syria has fallen apart, the Israelis have destroyed the Syrian infrastructure,  and the economy is broken.

The Americans and the Europeans are in an interesting position: if they remove the sanctions against Syria, they will empower the same people who, according to their narrative, carried out 9/11.

Lebanon is now surrounded by Israel and al-Qaeda. However the burden of Syria is no longer on the shoulders of Hezbollah. Also Syria has been a burden for Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and Iraq and that burden no longer exists.  Hezbollah had to protect citizens from the extremists. Iranians, Iraqis and Russians played their own role, and provided fuel and significant financial support to preserve Syria and that burden has been removed from  them.

Hezbollah is very resourceful and very powerful and willingly sacrificed themselves for the people of Gaza.  The image of the stature of Hezbollah has grown immensely of course they paid a heavy price. Hezbollah is too powerful and it’s too influential and it’s too popular for the French to do a great deal about it.

The war in Ukraine will continue to deplete the energy and resources and capabilities of Western Powers. The relative power of France, Germany, the USA and the British is very different from what it was three years ago and they have many challenges at home and abroad.

It is not Hezbollah that’s weakened, the Israeli regime is also severely weakened. The Israeli regime is constantly violating the ceasefire in Lebanon.  Netanyahu wants to be seen as a conqueror at home and a powerful figure in order to remain in power but what he’s doing is that he’s humiliating Erdogan and Jolani. Israel is now making a new alliance with Saudi Arabia and UAE, against Yemen. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are making the grave mistake of entering an alliance against Ansar Allah – the Houthi movement which will destroy their oil assets and that would wreck their economies.  

Ansar Allah – the Houthi movement is a very powerful force,  survived a genocidal war where the collective West was supporting Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. Saudi Arabia and the Emirates spent hundreds of billions of dollars to undermine Ansar Allah – the Houthi movement in Yemen but they couldn’t. Today Ansar Allah is much more powerful than what it was. Today we see the missiles that they’re firing at the Israeli regime. Ansar Allah has been defending the Palestinians and the people of Gaza during this period of time whereas no one else was doing anything.

Yemen is different from Syria. The demonization of Syria has been going on for 14 years and it has been more successful because these oil and gas dictatorships in the Persian Gulf region have tried very hard to make this sectarian issue from the very beginning and to use sectarian hatred and religious hatred in order to demonize the Syrian government and to
turn ISIS and al-Qaeda into heroes.

During the 30 year war in Sri Lanka, LTTE killed more Tamils than anyone else. Similarly ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorists killed more Sunnis in Syria and Iraq than anyone else.

The Sunni areas of Iraq were targeted and destroyed by ISIS. Syria was economically broke since it failed to stand up economically because it was demonized so thoroughly. Anyone who joins a coalition against Ansar Allah will definitely be seen in a negative light by the people of their own countries.

There is a new agreement between Iran and Russia going to be signed in Moscow on January 20, 2025.

Erdogan, the Americans and the Israeli state in Syria only serve to strengthen Iranian and Russian ties further and in fact it serves to create more concern in China about the actions of NATO.  We know that thousands of Uyghur speaking Chinese Nationals from Xinjiang, as well as Uyghur speaking Uzbekistan Nationals have been trained by Turkish intelligence and many thousands of Central Asians have also been trained and that is a threat to China and countries in Central Asia. It is also a threat to the Taliban because the past couple of years these terrorists tried to challenge the Taliban in certain areas.

The current situation is Syria will strengthen the cooperation among Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries and it’s going to be a further challenge to Erdoğan and those who are supporting these terrorist groups.

 
United States is not going to be able to create space between Iran and its friendly countries,  that’s just simply not possible whether Russia or China or any other country that has treated Iran with respect at a time when the Americans and the Europeans were trying to undermine Iran that’s something that Iranians will remember and there’s no chance that the Iranians are going to come to trust Trump or anyone else in the United States or European capitals anytime soon after all they’ve done to Iran after all the harm they’ve caused.

The Iranians made huge concessions in the nuclear deal enormous concessions it’s still being argued in Iran, but the Americans and the Europeans never intended to abide by the commitments they never intended to do so from the very beginning under Obama – they violated the deal just like the Minsk Accords- they were never serious and and that’s because of their exceptionalism that’s because they consider themselves to be superior they consider themselves to have exceptional rights. So when you’re dealing with countries that believe they have exceptional rights which believe that they can violate their commitments yet they expect the other side to abide by their commitments how can you ever trust them? How can you ever move close to them? You have to treat them with great caution and that is one of the reasons why the West is on the decline because no one trusts them anymore since they support genocide; they create and promote never ending wars; and their behavior towards the global South.

Trump is more crude in his language when he speaks about Greenland or Panama but the mentality of the United States has always been that the whole of Latin America is their backyard. The whole notion of having a backyard is outrageous but Trump is basically saying explicitly what the collective mentality of the Elites in the west are and the United States in particular.

Iranians will continue to improve their relations with Russia, China and India. If Iran is able to come to terms with the West, if it’s able to have an agreement with the West that is Meaningful, it will do it.

The collective west couldn’t overthrow Cuba or Venezuela but the west is dreaming about overthrowing Iran and Russia.

Iranian’s culture is very similar to the Sufi culture of Turkey, and that’s why if you travel back and forth from Turkey and Iran you’ll feel very much at home because of the similarities.

Ever since 2011 we’ve had the rise of Salafism in Turkey and this is going to be increasingly a serious problem.

Biden said himself very explicitly that he’s a Zionist and two closest people to him with regards to foreign policy were Jake Sullivan and Antony Blinken who are Zionists.

Iranians don’t like Trump, since he murdered Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, his Companions and his Iraqi allies. However, what Biden did to Gaza; to Lebanon. to the region; to Syria; and to Yemen is far worse than anything Trump has done during his tenure.

The genocide, the holocaust, the slaughter, the destruction, the devastation, the ruin of so much of Western Asia was carried out by Biden. Without Biden it wouldn’t have happened; without Jake Sullivan; without Antony Blinken; none of this could have happened. The dislike for the Biden regime is much greater than the dislike for Trump.

Western leaders should not take the wishful thinking of Western media and Western think tanks too seriously as these media and think tanks were informing how the Russian ruble will be turned into rubble and how the Russians are devastated in Ukraine.

The world that we live in today is very different from the world that Trump was dealing with during his first term as a President. Since then, things have changed enormously. 

Vijay Prasad Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

Pain shudders through the arteries of global society. Day after day passes by as the genocide against the Palestinian people continues and the conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa and Sudan escalate. More and more people slip into absolute poverty as arms companies’ profits soar. These realities have hardened society, allowing people to bury their heads and ignore the horrors unfolding across the world. Ferocious disregard for the pain of others has become a way to protect oneself from the inflation of suffering. What can one do with the wretchedness that has come to define life across the planet? What can I do? What can you do?

In 2015, the Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour wrote Qawim ya sha’abi, qawimhum (Resist, My People, Resist Them), for which she was arrested and imprisoned by the Israeli state. A poem that can send you to prison is a powerful poem. A state threatened by a poem is an immoral state.

Resist, my people, resist them.
In Jerusalem, I dressed my wounds and breathed my sorrows to God.
I carried the soul in my palm
for an Arab Palestine.
I will not succumb to the ‘peaceful solution’,
never lower my flags
until I evict them from my homeland
and make them kneel for a time to come.
Resist, my people, resist them.
Resist the settler’s robbery
and follow the caravan of martyrs.
Shred the disgraceful constitution
that has imposed relentless humiliation
and stopped us from restoring our rights.
They burned blameless children;
As for Hadeel, they sniped her in public,
killed her in broad daylight.
Resist, my people, resist them.
Resist the colonialist’s onslaught.
Pay no mind to his agents among us
who shackle us with illusions of peace.
Do not fear the Merkava [Israeli army tanks];
the truth in your heart is stronger,
as long as you resist in a land
that has lived through raids and victory.
Ali called from his grave:
resist, my rebellious people,
write me as prose on the agarwood,
for you have become the answer to my remains.
Resist, my people, resist them.
Resist, my people, resist them.

 ‘Hadeel’ in the poem refers to Hadeel al-Hashlamoun (age 18), who was shot dead by an Israeli soldier on 22 September 2015. This murder took place alongside a wave of shootings – many fatal – against Palestinians by Israeli soldiers at checkpoints in the West Bank. On that day, Hadeel came to Checkpoint 56 on al-Shuhada Street in Hebron (Occupied Palestinian Territory). The metal detector beeped, and the soldiers told her to open her bag, which she did. Inside was a phone, a blue Pilot pen, a brown pencil case, and other personal belongings. A soldier yelled at her in Hebrew, which she did not understand. Thirty-four-year-old Fawaz Abu Aisheh, who was nearby, intervened and told her what was being said. More soldiers arrived and aimed their guns at both Hadeel and Fawaz. One soldier fired a warning shot and then shot Hadeel in the left leg.

At this point, a soldier, claiming he saw a knife, fired several shots into Hadeel’s chest, who was photographed standing still moments before. After being left on the ground for some time, she was taken to a hospital, where she died of blood loss and multi-system failure resulting from the gunshot wounds. Human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and B’Tselem said that the question of the knife was moot since Hadeel had been the subject of an ‘extrajudicial execution’ (let alone the fact that testimonies about the knife were inconsistent). Tatour’s depiction of Hadeel’s execution in broad daylight is a powerful reminder of the waves of violence that structure the daily lives of Palestinians.

A month after Hadeel was killed, I met a group of teenagers in a refugee camp near Ramallah. They told me that they see no outlet for their frustrations and anger. What they do see is the daily humiliation of their families and friends by the Occupation, which drives them to desperation. ‘We have to do something’, Nabil says. His eyes are tired. He looks older than his teenage years. He has lost friends to Israeli violence. ‘We marched to Qalandiya last year in a peaceful protest’, Nabil tells me. ‘They fired at us. My friend died’. Colonial violence bears down on his spirit. Around him young children are executed with impunity by the Israeli military. Nabil’s body twitches with anxiety and fear.

I have thought about those teenagers often, especially over the last year, which has been defined by the escalation of the US-Israeli genocide against Palestinians. I think of them because of the barrage of stories about young people like Hadeel and Nabil’s friend being killed by Israeli troops not just in Gaza, but in the West Bank.

On 3 November 2024, fourteen-year-old Naji al-Baba from Halhul, north of Hebron, came home from school with his father Nidal Abdel Moti al-Baba. They ate molokhia, his favourite, for lunch, and then Naji told his father he was going to play football. Naji and his friends played next to his grandfather’s shop. Israeli soldiers arrived and shot at the boys, hitting Naji in the pelvis, foot, heart, and shoulder. After the funeral, Nasser Merib, the manager of the Halhul Sports Club, where Naji practised, said that he had a strong right foot. ‘He was ambitious and dreamed of becoming international like Ronaldo’. That dream was destroyed by the Israeli occupation.

The death of a young person is an unforgivable act. The death of a child is particularly hard to fathom. Naji could have captained the Palestinian football team. Hadeel could have become an extraordinary scientist. Their families look at the photographs that remain and weep. In Gaza, other families sit in tents with no way to remember their lost children, their bodies obliterated or missing and their pictures turned to ash in the rubble. So much death. So much inhumanity.

If time and struggle allow us, we will be able to properly awaken the dreams of humanity. But the night before dawn will be long and hard. We crave humanity, but we do not expect it to arrive easily. Small voices call out for a new world, and many feet march to build it. To get there will require putting an end to war and occupation and to the ugliness of capitalism and imperialism. We know that we live in pre-history, in the era before true human history will begin. How we long for that socialist world, where Naji and Hadeel will have a future before them and not just a brief interlude in our world.

Happy New Year. May it bring us closer to humanity.

By: Patrick J. Kiger Courtesy History.com

Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. There is a long history of research experiments to generate earthquakes, tsunamis and climate disasters. As Partick J. Kiger wrote Between 1946 and 1958 the United States detonated 23 nuclear weapons on the tiny, remote ring of islands that make up Bikini Atoll. Marshal Islands.

(History Com: https://www.history.com/news/nuclear-bomb-tests-bikini-atoll-facts )

https://www.history.com/news/nuclear-bomb-tests-bikini-atoll-facts

This week, twenty years later the Indian Ocean World commemorate the massive 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami Boxing Day or Christmas day disaster — depending on which time zone one lived in.

2004 was the year that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), expressions of concerns about China’s String of Pearls” across the Indian Ocean, including Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port reached a crescendo.

On December 26, 2004 huge explosions were heard in Banda Aceh on the coast of North Sumatra and Nias Islands, Indonesia, which became Ground Zero just before the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis hit and killed and injured hundreds of thousands. The BLACK waters of the Tsunamis then hit Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and the east coast of Africa devastating coastal communities and fisheries livelihoods.

After the disaster the World Economic Forum (WEF) mantra Build Back Better” was promoted by President Bill Clinton along with what Naomi Klein termed Disaster Capitalism” in her book titled: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism”. Klein visiting Sri Lanka and other stricken countries. Many valuable Indian Ocean coastal lands were grabbed by ‘investors’.

With the wisdom of hindsight and new information, as a new Cold War escalates across Asia and the Indian Ocean it may be possible to connect some dots to the Tsunami tragedy of 2004- twenty years ago this week.

By: Patrick J. Kiger

Published: May 12, 2022

Universal History Archive/Getty Images

In November 1945, just a few months after atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, U.S. military leaders began planning additional nuclear weapons tests. The first location that they picked to stage a blast was a remote place that probably few Americans even knew existed. Bikini Atoll, a tiny ring of small coral islands with a total land mass of only about two square miles, was part of the larger Marshall Islands chain in the central Pacific Ocean.

Bikini atoll met the military’s criteria, as detailed in a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council. It was under U.S. control, and it was far from shipping lanes, yet within 1,000 miles of a base from which bombers could take off. Furthermore, the lagoon that the atoll encircled provided a protected harbor for Navy ships, including vessels that would be used as targets. And it had only a tiny population—by one account, just 167 people—who could be relocated by the military.

In February 1946, Commodore Ben H. Wyatt, military governor of the Marshall Islands, went to Bikini Atoll and met with an assembly of residents to break the news that they had to leave, at least temporarily. According to Jack Niedenthal’s 2001 history of the Bikini Atoll, For the Good of Mankind, Wyatt told them the tests were necessary to prevent future wars. The residents reacted with confusion and sadness. Finally, their leader, King Juda, stood up and announced, We will go, believing that everything is in the hands of God.”

The small atoll would soon become one of the most famous places on the planet, such a recognizable name that a French designer named a swimsuit after it. Between 1946 and 1958, the United States detonated 23 nuclear devices at Bikini Atoll, including 20 hydrogen bombs. Among those was the March 1, 1954 Castle Bravo H-bomb test, which reached a yield of 15 megatons, 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Nagasaki in 1945.

Here are some seven facts about the nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll.

1. The First Atomic bomb dropped at Bikini Atoll Missed the Target

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

A mushroom cloud seen from Eneu Island, resulting from an atomic explosion of “Able” during Operation Crossroads, July 1, 1946.

The atoll was picked as the location for Operation Crossroads, a program to investigate the effects of nuclear blasts on Navy vessels. On July 1, 1946, Test Able was staged. A target fleet of 95 ships was positioned in Bikini Atoll’s lagoon, with laboratory animals—pigs, goats and mice—on board so that scientists could study the potential effects of radiation on ship crews. A support fleet of another 150 ships withdrew to a position 10 nautical miles from the Atoll, and waited.

At 9 a.m., a B-29 bomber flew over the lagoon and dropped an atomic bomb, which exploded 520 feet from the surface and missed the target ship in the middle of the lagoon by 1,500 to 2,000 feet, according to an account from the Atomic Heritage Foundation. The bomb only sunk five of the ships, but the force of the blast and radiation killed about a third of the lab animals.

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2. The Second Atomic Bomb Test at Bikini Atoll Created a Tsunami

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The Baker test during Operation Crossroads, a series of two nuclear weapons tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll.

In Test Baker on July 25, 1946, the U.S. military tried a different approach, exploding a bomb 90 feet beneath the water surface of the lagoon. It was the first underwater test of a nuclear weapon, and resulted in all sorts of startling phenomena, according to the Atomic Heritage Foundation. The blast generated a massive bubble of hot gas that simultaneously expanded downward and upward. 

At the bottom, it carved a 30-foot-deep, 2,000-foot-wide crater in the surface of the sea floor. On the surface, it burst through like a geyser and created an enormous dome of water that eventually reached more than a mile in height. The blast triggered a tsunami with a 94-foot-high wave, so powerful that it lifted up the Arkansas, a 27,000-ton ship. The surge of water swept over many of the target ships, coating them with radioactivity. Eight of the ships were sunk, according to a U.S. Navy account.

3. The Soviets Watched the Tests, But Weren’t Impressed

The U.S. allowed international observers at the tests, and Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria, who was both head of the Soviet atomic program and chief of the Stalin regime’s secret police, sent a physicist and a geologist, according to Richard Rhodes’ 1995 book Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb.

Apparently, they weren’t impressed. One of the observers Simon Peter Alexandrov, who was in charge of uranium for the Soviet’s own nuclear effort, told a U.S. scientist there that if the purpose of the test was to frighten the Soviets, it hadn’t worked, because the Soviets had bombers that could reach U.S. cities, according to the National Security Archive. The Soviet newspaper Pravda subsequently criticized the U.S. tests as common blackmail” and said that other than a few obsolete warships, the only thing the United States had blown up was belief in the seriousness of American talk about atomic disarmament.”

4. A Third Atomic Bomb Test at Bikini Was Called Off

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

An aerial view of a target outline on Namu Island of Bikini Atoll.

The U.S. nuclear weapons program had a problem in 1946, because it didn’t yet have that many bombs. The Able and Baker tests used up two of the only three nuclear cores in the U.S. stockpile, according to Rhodes. Even though production of new bombs soon picked up, the U.S. military remained concerned about squandering resources. Operation Crossroads originally was to have included a third test, Charlie, scheduled for April 1947, in which researchers planned to explode an atomic bomb even deeper in the water. But senior officials at the Manhattan Project and the Pentagon argued that it had no military value, and that providing another bomb would hinder the efforts to produce a lighter and smaller atomic weapon, according to the National Security Archive’s account. The test was postponed and eventually canceled. Officials apparently were also unhappy with the atoll’s lack of land to create a support base and the inability to build an airstrip there. After the 1946 tests, Bikini Atoll wasn’t used again as a site until 1954, when the U.S. began to test hydrogen bombs.

5. A Hydrogen Bomb Test Produced a Bigger Blast Than Planned

The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images

Crew members of a Japanese tuna fishing boat attend a press conference at the Tokyo University Hospital on March 16, 1954. All 23 crew members were exposed to nuclear fallout from the U.S. Castle Bravo nuclear test while fishing tuna near Bikini Atoll of the Marshall Island on March 1, 1954.

The Bravo test wasn’t the first H-bomb that the US. detonated—that distinction belonged to Ivy Mike, a device exploded in November 1952 in the Enewak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. But it was the first thermonuclear weapon that was small enough to be utilized as a weapon. While its designers had achieved a technological first, they also made a critical mistake, by drastically underestimating the size of the yield that would be created by its fusion fuel. 

When the 23,500-pound device was detonated on March 1, 1954, it produced a 15-megaton blast—three times as big as planned, according to a Brookings Institution report. The explosion was so powerful that it vaporized three of the islands in the atoll, and tore a mile-wide crater in the bottom of the lagoon. 

Stanford University biology professor Stephen Palumbi, who visited the atoll in 2017 as part of a TV documentary, estimated that the bomb blast hurled debris in the air that was the equivalent of 216 Empire State Buildings, according to Stanford Magazine.

The radioactive debris spewed by the blast contaminated 23 crew members aboard a Japanese fishing boat located 80 miles away, as well as residents of Rongelap and Utirik atolls. Kuboyama Aikichi, a crew member from the Japanese boat died six months later at age 40. Japanese physicians who performed an autopsy on Aikichi cited radiation sickness as the cause of death, although that determination remained disputed.

6. H-Bombs Tested at Bikini in the 1950s Had Odd Nicknames

The Bravo test’s nuclear device was nicknamed Shrimp,” even though it weighed 23,500 pounds. The Romeo test, conducted a few weeks after Bravo, used an even bigger bomb dubbed Runt I.” Other bombs had nicknames such as Morgenstern” and Alarm Clock,” according to the NRDC report.

7. The Bikini Atoll Still Isn’t Fit for Habitation

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Residents of Bikini Atoll carrying their belongings down to the beach as they prepare to evacuate the atoll. In 1946 the atoll’s population was moved to Rongerik Atoll, 109 miles away.

When the Bikini Atoll’s inhabitants were relocated in 1946, it was promised that they eventually could return. Instead, they were relocated to other islands in the Marshalls. Starting in the late 1960s, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission declared Bikini Atoll finally to be safe again for human habitation, and allowed some former residents to return. But that experiment was cut short a decade later, when a study showed that the levels of Cesium-137 in returnees’ bodies had increased by 75 percent.

The Bikini inhabitants were relocated once again, this time to Kili Island, 450 miles away. Scientists say it’s still not safe to return. Probably the most robust finding from our research is that Bikini Island must be cleaned up if people are to live there again,” says Ivana Nikolic Hughes, a senior lecturer in chemistry at Columbia University and Director of the K-1 Project Center for Nuclear Studies This is based on levels of Cesium-137 in the food, background gamma radiation, and presence of various isotopes in soil and ocean sediment.”

In 2010, UNESCO declared Bikini Atoll a World Heritage Site as a reminder of the fearsome power of nuclear weapons and their influence on modern civilization. 

Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel, former Ambassador to UAE and ISRAEL, President Ambassador’s Forum

Tourism world’s fastest and most popular and productive industry

Tourism is an industry which is one of the global and easily managed with available resources of a nation, a world industry that fetches 10% GDP and provides 10% employment to Sri Lanka’s economy. Sri Lanka is a compact nation ideally suited for tourism which is not properly utilized to the maximum capacity compared to extreme beauty and the geographical situation in the Indian Ocean along the famous and historical ‘silk route’. It is managed easily and many nations depend on tourism for their GDP employment and foreign exchange. Many countries compete with Sri Lanka including Immediate newghbour India, friendly China, Maldive Islands and many as every country depends on the income on tourism easy to fetch with least effort and investment.

Natural compact workshop

It is Richerd ‘’Dawkine’’ a world-renowned biologist who said that islands such as Sri Lanka which is extremely rare are natural workshops of evolution which is extremely rare to come across on the globe. Sri Lanka is considered another world considering the requirements to be a paradise in a small compact area with a distance of few miles with varied climatic conditions and different vegetations, unparallel. Commander Alexender Fleet said ‘Taprobane’ ‘‘’ under the name of the land of the autochthones, was long considered to be another world but the epoch and the achievement’s of Alexender the Great supplied  clear proof of its being an island. It is indeed another world considering everything available in massive India in one compact island with excellent network of roads and beautiful rivers starting from the hills speeding right round the island expecting to utilize every drop of water utilized for agriculture a construction and development.

A small universe

It is world renowned scientist ‘’Sir Arther C Cllarke’’  a visionary scientist who made Sri Lanka  his written  wrote  in the view from Serendib  Sri Lanka is a small universe; it contains as many variations of culture scenery  and climate as many countries dozen time of its size’’ and his view is shared with many world over with pleased experiences followed by number of awards, and prizes by number of international organizations conducted globally by professional organizations.

Productive and dynamic?

Tourism is productive and dynamic to a country in need to deal with the world on international affairs and the best mode of communication is a proper foreign policy and a stable tourism machinery Sri Lanka is geared, suited and ready for with the inherent infrastructure and educated and pleased community that needs bit more training and encouragement in addition to their inherent friendly nature famous for and known to the world. Tourists are defined as visitors Wisit another destination over 24 hours mainly pleasure, leisure, general visit, business or any other purpose which is a requirement for the visitor as well as the host country. Income generated from visitors are enormous from many countries led by Frence the most visited country and USA a leader on tourism followed by China and many other western nations adopting themselves for the requirements of the visitors and their needs. Tourist is a visitor mainly look for safety, affordability, good food, places to visit based on needs, mainly led by softy comfort and food with conveniences and variations from the original living conditions. It appears Sri Lanka meets all or most of these requirements at an affordable prizes and variations of different levels.

Our Duty

It is our duty to make tourism productive and dynamic for the benefit of the economy and prosperity of the country in need of foreign currency and obtain the best use and the benefit to the nation when the world has comet know of us reaching 20 lacks of tourists today and it is timely to ascertain the productivity of the tourists to the country not being parasites who misuse the goodwill and friendly nature of the host country, when other tourist nations take necessary precautions before permitted them to enter as a tourists. It is a requirement in tourist nations to compel tourists to prove the ability to bear expenditure and to shoe they are genuine tourists entering the hist country with ulterior motives. It is in news some tourists are using the host country for illegal and unlawful dealings resulting loss of revenue, income to the citizens and the state on shady and illegal dealings during their stay and it is advisable for us to lead from the experiences of other countries such as UAE and Singapore who enforces the rules to the last word. In Singapore as a visitor enters the country, He/She is educated on the legal system, states of consumer law and practices with strict enforcement of immigration law and rules. Sri Lanka do not seem to enforce the law strictly giving excessive freedom to the tourists expecting them to be genuine tourists when everybody is not genuine and some tend to rough out in temples and engage in odd jobs to earn a living, and sometimes engage in businesses, that will damage the tourist trade and have adverse effects on the industry picking up fast today. Sri Lanka earned 3.2trillion in 2017 and 2018 have been the peak year with a drop due to Covid-19 that affected the entire world and fortunately Sri Lanka emerged victorious despite the downturn due the drop on business, which is picking up fast today despite drawbacks on the management and the forward planning that needs lot of improvements and it is somewhat good news that the tourism authority is making genuine and professional efforts in the right direction, with right steps taken. These are mattering the community as a whole have to work together as one unit understating the need and gravity to make visitors happy and feel at home, and the vision and steps taken on clean Sri Lanka appear to be in the right direction, as cleanliness is a pre requisite and explorerse in tourism, when our genet neighbor India competing with us is behind us in the field of cluelessness and sanatory situations.

Smile cost nothing but attracts tourists

Sri Lankans are famous to be with a pleasant smile unlike many other nationals as observed by tourists, which is inherent in them that you do not get in many other nationals who are inherently reserved and minds their own business as their nature, that attracts tourists and villages ae famous for. Tourists will like a smiling and a feignedly nation in addition to the inherent beauty and the compact nature of the intact universe on the silk route and a comfortable stay in the new destination enjoying the ne experiences and explorations on varied areas.

Availabilities and room for improvement

Availabilities and opportunities are immense and countless. It is a heaven for historians, archeologists, sociologists, educationalists, and explores of all kinds backed by academics and great history running back to ‘’Balangoda Man’’ 150,000 years ago and Ravana story some say nor an epic yet a realiaty connected to Ramayanaya in India. Being the main Teravada Buddist country with ‘’Tripitika a world hesitates’’ and Buddhism being the fastest religion in Europe which is intact in Sri Lanka, with freedom for any religion to thrive having given free access to other religions by kings and protected constitutionally to date shows the world that Sri Lanka is a free country that world citizens could enjoy as visitors protected constitutionally all the time. It is the duty of the governance to give the tourists a sense of protection all the time maintaining law and order and rule of law in the country, for the tourists to feel free, and reinforcement the tourist police will be a good idea and some directions to the social media may be helpful with the assistance of the tourist authority appear to be doing fairly well.

(Sigiriya Rock-only a small part of our treasure intact in the compact universe)

Is so well known to the tourists as one of the main important places to visit which is most used despite to large number of places of historical and archeological importance right round the island in addition to the natural beauty and varied climatic conditions with access via the excellent network of roads connected to highways of international standard3333333333.

Way forward and future of tourism in Sri Lanka and our aim

Future of tourism depends on the vision mission and the conduct of the Minister and his strategy on the further for tourism in Sri Lanka for Sri Lanka. It is an easy process as there is a compact universe to be presented to the world with few adjustments and adopt annotations to suit the modern world and trends, which is a par strategy to be the best tourist destination in the world, which is possible when compared to the other best destinations world over. Let us have the target for it which is possible with some effort and strategy. Sarath28dw@ gmail.com to reach the editor and I suggest you to browse the net for other articles published on the internet

Sri Lanka News

මාෆියා ජනසතු කර සහල් ප‍්‍රශ්ණය විසදනවා..- නියෝජ්‍ය ඇමති

{උපුටා ගැන්මලංකා සී නිව්ස් } මාෆියාකාරයන් ටිකක් තවදුරටත් සමහර තැන් වෙලාගෙන තිබෙන බවත් ඒවා ජනසතු කිරීමක් කර ගත යුතු බවත් ජනතාව සමග බද්ධ වුනු ව්‍යාපාර බවට පත් කළ යුතු බවත් ධීවර නියෝජ්‍ය ඇමති රත්න ගමගේ මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.මෙම ගැටළු තේරුම් ගෙන ඇති බවත් ජනාධිපතිතුමාද අදාල තීන්දුව අදාළ ලෙස අරගෙන ඇති බවත් ඔහු කියා සිටී.සහල් ගැටලුව නිසා පුංචි කාල සීමාවක් අපහසුතාවයට පත්ව සිටින බව තමන් දන්නා බවද පැවසූ ඔහු ඉදිරියේදී මේ මෙම ගැටලුව ස්ථිර විසඳුමක් ගෙන එන බවද පැවසුවේය.සාකච්චාවකින් අනතුරුව මාධ්‍ය වෙත අදහස් පළ කරමින් ඔහු මේ බව පැවසීය.

බාල බෙහෙත් කියලා වර්ගයක් ලෝකයේ කොහෙවත් නැහැ – SPC සභාපති

{උපුටා ගැන්මලංකා සී නිව්ස් } බීමත් බීමතින් රිය පැදවීමේ වරදට අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්නා රියදුරන්ගේ රියදුරු බලපත්‍රය වසරක කාලයකට අත්හිටීමට හෝ අවලංගු කිරීමට අධිකරණයෙන් අවසර ඉල්ලා සිටීමට පොලිසිය කටයුතු කරමින් සිටියි.බාල බෙහෙත් කියලා ලෝකයේ කොහෙවත් නැහැ’ යයි රාජ්‍ය ඖෂධ නිෂ්පාදන සංස්ථා සභාපති විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය මනුජ් වීරසිංහ මහතා පවසයි.කොළඹදී පැවති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී ඔහු මෙම අදහස් පල කලේය.බොහෝ දෙනෙක් කියනවා රටට බාල බෙහෙත් ගේනවා කියලා. බාල බෙහෙත් කියලා ලෝකයේ කොහෙවත් නැහැ. ඒක සම්පුර්ණ මිත්‍යාවක්. ඒක විශාල ලෙස සමාජගත කරලා තියෙනවා. ඖෂධ කර්මාන්තය කියන්නේ සිවිල් ගුවන් යානා කර්මාන්තයට දෙවැනි වන තත්ත්ව පාලන සහතික සහිත ආයතන.කවුරු හරි සැපයුම්කරුවෙක් මෙහෙ ලියාපදිංචි වෙලා නැත්තම් ඒකටත් වෙනම ක්‍රමවේදයක් තියෙනවා. අපිට ඖෂධ සැපයුම්කරුවන්ගෙන් බලහත්කාරයෙන් ලියාපදිංචිය ගන්න බැහැ. ඒ වගේම ඖෂධ 150ක් 200ක් නැහැ කිව්වා පමණින් හිඟයක් ඇති බවට නිගමනය කිරීම වැරදියි. මොකද යම් ඖෂධයක් රජයේ රෝහලක නොමැති නම් විවෘත වෙළෙඳපොළ හරහා මිලදී ගැනීමේ ක්‍රමවේදයක් තිබෙනවා.”

ඉතිහාසයේ අඩුම බිත්තර මිල මේ නත්තලටයි..- මාලිමා මන්ත‍්‍රීනී
{උපුටා ගැන්මලංකා සී නිව්ස් }

ජාතික ජනබලවේගයේ නාවලපිටිය ආසනයේ මහජන සම්බන්ධීකරණ කාර්යාලය (25) දින මහනුවර දිස්ත්‍රික් පා.ම තුෂාරි ජයසිංහ මහත්මියගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් විවෘත කෙරිණ.

නාවලපිටිය ගම්පොල මාර්ගයේ නගර මධ්‍යයේ පිහිටි පෞද්ගලික ගොඩනැගිල්ලක නව සම්බන්ධිකරණ කාර්යාලය ස්ථානපය කර ඇත.

සෑම මසකම දෙවන හා හතරවන සිකුරාදා දිනයන්හි මෙම කාර්යාලයෙන් ජනතා ගැටලු සම්බන්ධයෙන් තොරතුරු ලබා ගන්නා බව තුෂාරි ජයසිංහ මහත්මිය පැවසිය.

ඉතිහාසයේ නත්තල් සමයකදී  බිත්තරයක අඩුම මිල තම ආණ්ඩුව යටතේ ලබා දී ඇති බවත් රිලා ගැටලුවට විසදුම් ලබාදිමේ නියමු ව්‍යාපෘතිය මේ වන විට ආරම්භ කර ඇති බවයි තුෂාරි ජයසිංහ මහත්මිය වැඩිදුරටත් කියා සිටියේ.

– රංජිත් රාජපක්ෂ

බීමත් රියදුරන්ගේ රියදුරු බලපත‍්‍රය අහෝසි කරන්න යයි..

{උපුටා ගැන්මලංකා සී නිව්ස් } බීමත් බීමතින් රිය පැදවීමේ වරදට අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්නා රියදුරන්ගේ රියදුරු බලපත්‍රය වසරක කාලයකට අත්හිටීමට හෝ අවලංගු කිරීමට අධිකරණයෙන් අවසර ඉල්ලා සිටීමට පොලිසිය කටයුතු කරමින් සිටියි.

බීමතින් රිය පැදවීම බහුලව දැක්විය හැකිවී ඇති බවත් ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් දඬුවම් වැඩ වැඩි කළහොත් මෙම තත්ත්වය පාලනය කළ හැකි බවත් පොලිසියේ අදහසයි.

ඒ අනුව ඉදිරියේදී මෙම ඉල්ලීම කිරීමට පොලිසිය සූදානමින් සිටී.

රිලවුන් අල්ලා රන්දෙණිගල, වික්ටෝරියා ජලාශ මැද දූපත්වලට..

{උපුටා ගැන්මලංකා සී නිව්ස් }

රට පුරා වගා හානි කරන රිලවුන් අල්ලා දූපතකට ගෙන ගොස් දැමීමේ නියමු ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ආරම්භ කිරීමට රජය කටයුතු කර තිබේ.

ඒ අනුව රන්දෙණිගල හා වික්ටෝරියා ජලාශවල ඇති දූපත් වෙත මෙම රිලවුන් මුදාහරිණ බව පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රනි තුෂාරි ජයරත්න මහත්මිය සඳහන් කරයි.

එහිදී එම රිලවුන්ට වනධ්‍යකරණම සැත්කම් ආදී බෝවීම පාලනය කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය කරන කටයුතු සිදු කිරීමට සැලසුම් කර ඇති බවද ඇය කියා සිටියාය.

ඉදිරියේදී මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතිය තවත් ප‍්‍රදේශවලද ආරම්භ කරන බවත් ඇය පැවසුවාය.

ඊළග සුනාමිය රාජ්‍ය සේවයට එරෙහිවයි… අපට එය නිර්මාණය කල හැකියි..- ලාල් කාන්ත

{උපුටා ගැන්මලංකා සී නිව්ස් } පසුගිය මැතිවරණයේදී මහජන සුනාමියකින් පැවති දේශපාලඥයන් එලවා දැමූ බව කෘෂිකර්ම ඇමැති කේ.ඩී. ලාල් කාන්ත මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

ඊළඟ සුනාමිය පැමිණෙන්නේ ස්ථිර වශයෙන්ම රාජ්‍ය සේවයට බවද පැවසූ ඔහු රාජ්‍ය සේවය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජනතාවගෙන් පැමිණිලි රැසක් ලැබෙමින් ඇති බවද පැවසුවේය.

අවශ්‍ය නම් රාජ්‍ය සේවයට එරෙහි දේශපාලන සුනාමින් නිර්මාණය කිරීමේ හැකියාවක් තමන්ට ඇති බව ඔහු කියා සිටියි.

නමුත් තාම එසේ සිතන්නේ නැති බවද හෙතෙම කියා සිටියේ උත්සව සභාවක් අමතමිනි.

Courtesy Adaderana

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has affirmed the government’s commitment to creating a suitable environment for all individuals to live a happy and quality life, free from discrimination.

Prime Minister Dr. Amarasuriya made this statement today (December 27), during a ceremony held in Batariwatta, Moratuwa, to inaugurate the first phase of a housing project funded by Chinese financial assistance amounting to Rs. 22 billion. This initiative aims to enhance the living standards of low-income families, the PM’s Media Division reported.

The project envisions the construction of 1,996 houses under Chinese financial assistance. The phase inaugurated in the Batariwatta area, Moratuwa, will provide 575 houses for low-income earners, while the housing project in Kottawa will include 108 houses designated for veteran artists.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated: We extend our thanks to the Chinese government for supporting this housing project in Sri Lanka. A home is not merely a shelter; it is a space essential for a good, quality life and the security every citizen deserves.”

Beyond housing, the government is dedicated to stimiulating strong families and communities, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of women and children by addressing their specific needs.”

Low-income earners in the suburbs face challenges, often living in unsafe and insecure conditions. The government’s vision is to provide an environment where all citizens can lead happy and quality lives, without any form of discrimination based on race, religion, gender, or other factors. We appreciate the financial assistance and support extended by the Chinese government to Sri Lanka.”

The event was attended by the Minister of Urban Development, Construction and Housing, Anura Karunathilaka; Deputy Minister T.B. Sarath; Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi ZhenHong; Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy, Tang Yan Di; the Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing, along with other government officials and representatives of the Chinese government.

Prof. Hudson McLean

Greenland and the Panama Canal aren’t for sale. 

Why is Trump threatening to take them?

This is Typical Donald Trump BS CONFUSION Before He Gives Away Ukraine ProBono to Putin Russia on 21st January 2025!

Greenland and the Panama Canal aren’t for sale.

Why is Trump threatening to take them?

He is Planning to Give away Ukraine ProBono to Russia!

One day he says one thing. 

The second day it is the opposite.

Trump Cannot be trusted!

This means-;  Russia takes Ukraine

China can take Taiwan.

India can take Sri Lanka.

The USA Voters selected Trump because the old Joe(ker) Biden was suffering from Dimentia. Could not Walk or Talk!

And the Voters had No Choice!

It was The Frying Pan or the Fire!

Me thinks that Putin has got Trump by his Ankers!

The World Has a Great Live TV Soap Opera  Show for Four Years!

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KAMALIKA PIERIS

In ‘Pin Eti Sarasavi Waramak Denne’, Sarachchandra described an incident he faced on the second or the third night at the Wendt. He was seated in the foyer while the play was in progress and all of a sudden a limousine came to a halt at the entrance and a well dressed woman walked in. She asked What is being staged here today?” and being told that it was a Sinhala play wanted to know when it was going to be over. When Sarachchandra told her that it would be over in two hours she was not prepared to believe him. What! A Sinhala play being over in two hours? I am sure it will go on till about 9 or 10PM”

Sarachchandra told her that he was pretty sure of the duration of the play and if she was keen to see it she could get in without any payment and leave whenever she wanted. The lady looked disdainfully at Sarachchandra and declared Shih! I don’t want to see these Sinhala plays. I only wanted to send my servant woman and she cannot be allowed to waste three four hours here” and walked away. [1]

One would have expected therefore that Maname’s   debut at the Lionel Wendt theatre in Colombo’s poshest district would also have been its last performance there.  But the opposite happened. ‘Wendt’ decided eventually   to accommodate   Sinhala plays and Maname   shows regularly there. Maname is a perennial at Lionel Wendt.   

Maname changed the attitude of the nation to Sinhala drama. D.C. Ranatunge wrote,   I bought a ticket for two rupees (given in a neat little envelope, both of which I still treasure after 58 years) [2] and was at the Lionel Wendt early that Saturday evening for the first show. To be exact it was Saturday, 3 November 1956. The hall was about half empty. I was among just a handful, possibly around 50 , attending.

Lights are switched off. A single spotlight falls on an actor who appears in a long garb, a ‘talappawa’ and a beard in a corner of the unlit stage. He starts a chant ‘sakala brahma suranaramastakayehi…’ the traditional appeal to the gods for the success of a new venture. He is the ‘pothe guru’, the narrator who acts as the link in relating the story of what the audience was going to see.  It was a totally new experience.

The Sinhala press did not show much enthusiasm. They were basically anti-university and biased against Sarachchandra. The Dinamina Editor, M.A. de Silva, thought otherwise. He invited his university friend Charles Abeysekera, a CCS (Ceylon Civil Service) high ranking official in the public service to review the play. Regi Siriwardena, Features Editor of the Daily News, reviewed it for his paper. Both reviews changed the initial response and Maname began to attract crowds, said Ranatunga.

Maname never looked back after that first show. Crowds flocked to see the play. It has   been regularly performed in  the past   seventy years to  enthusiastic audiences. Maname has played to  several generations  and held  hundreds of performances, since 1956. [3] It  was   in demand all over the island.   What  began as an experiment came to be a resounding success, observed  KNO Dharmadasa.

Maname was  highly regarded artistically. This is well known and much emphasized. What is not emphasized, but taken for granted is the fact that the  Sinhala play-going public, who   wanted quality entertainment,  also took an immediate  liking to Maname. Maname became a hit.

Maname’s appeal,  was not, I think,   limited to its  lovely songs, but also  to the complex story, with its  theme of  conflicting loyalties and  sexual attraction. There was deep emotion  and the audience liked that. Also the  way  the story unfolded. If the story had not appealed to the public,the play would have disappeared and the songs  alone would have survived, as part of the popular  song repertoire.

Maname  appealed to the rural segment , not only the urban. When Maname was shown  in the University at Peradeniya , in its ‘wala’  in 1958, people from nearby villages,   Hindagala and  Mahakanda came, sat with the undergrads and watched the show. Sarachchandra was very happy about this, said Amunugama. [4]

The Maname songs have now become   a  part of our Sinhala culture. They are ours, not just Maname’s. Ranjini Obeyesekera recalls, years later when  I was teaching at the Peradeniya University, I remember attending again a performance of Maname. 

 It was at the open air theatre, grass tiered seating under towering Tabibuia trees that shed their delicate pink blossoms on a packed audience of students, teachers, monks, government bureaucrats, workers, and villagers from the surrounding area. Then, in the scene where the lovers walk in the forest and the now familiar song ‘prēmeyen maṇa ranjita vey’ was being sung, a student voice spontaneously joined in, and instantly the entire audience burst into the song.  It was an unforgettable magical moment.

When the cast were still studying at University ,the play was performed  exclusively by the original cast. Shyamon Jayasinghe recalled,  our focus was on the enjoyment we derived when we got on to the “Maname bus” and toured the island. There was Trilicia, Edmund, Ben, Lionel, Nanda , Trixie, Indrani, Ramya, Pastor, Adikaram, Edirie  Arthur, KDP, Wimal and the host of other jolly persons doing the trek. [5]

We were often played out by the organizers who told us that it was a loss, when  it was full house! That  did not matter. Shyamon said he sang  during  his full stay at University. And also performed sporadically after that.  He must have performed his role about 300 times.

But Maname did not result in a spate of similar plays. The only play I can recall which  came after  Maname was Galapaththy’s Sanda   kinduru. There was a third play also but I cannot recall its name. I do not consider this surprising.

In my view, this type of theater demanded  a versatility which most aspiring dramatists simply could not muster. The writer  had  to be good, very good, at music, lyrics, movement as well as  dialogue and plot.  This was too much for the average playwright.

Sarachchandra however, had another explanation. Sarachchandra said, I expected that Maname would be followed by several plays in the same style and that before long we would possess a body of plays that would reflect our national genius like the Kabuki and Noh of the Japanese or the Beijing opera of the Chinese. But the social pressures began to bear on the playwrights and the demand for the theatre to have relevance to the day to day problems that people were facing became strong.  Since stylized drama could not deal with such problems , the theatre has gone to the naturalistic mode, and is today largely a theatre of protest, critical of the establishment”. [6]( CONTINUED)

---

[1] KNO Dharmadasa,  Island, 4 and 5 June 2013

Maname in Retrospect: Homage to the Pioneers of 1956

[2] https://www.ft.lk/ft-lite/in-sinhala-at-the-wendt/6-365259

[3] Ranjini Obeysekera https://thuppahis.com/2014/06/10/ediriweera-sarachchandra-a-renaisance-man/

[4] Sarath amunugama Maname mathak vee p .116

[5] https://www.sundaytimes.lk/990509/plus5.html

[6] https://www.sundaytimes.lk/161113/plus/that-unforgettable-maname-moment-216433.html

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Revised 26.12.24

The theatre enthusiasts, who saw Maname in its maiden presentation in Colombo and before that at rehearsals in Peradeniya, saw its significance and artistic value. Many years later, this group wrote up their recollections for Sunday newspapers. They also provided contributions to publications issued to mark Maname anniversaries, such as the Silver Jubilee of Maname” (1981). Sarath Amunugama wrote Maname mathak vee” was for Sarachchandra’s 100th birth anniversary.

These writings are informative and perceptive. They should be brought together. I have therefore added further essays to this series on Maname,   in order to present extracts from these writings with a few observations of mine. There is repetition. That could not be avoided.

I was taken to see Maname at Pushpadana School hall in Kandy. My father, who had seen theatre in London in his student days, was very enthusiastic. I was intrigued by the actors going round and round in a circle, but that was all. I saw no significance in Maname. I went home and forgot about Maname.

Sarath Amunugama has also gone to the same performance. He was then an Advanced Level student at Trinity College. His reaction was different. He saw the value of Maname. Maname made a permanent impact on me, said Sarath. [1] Maname showed that we could develop a creative modern Sinhala culture.

The Pushpadana performance would have been the second performance of Maname and the first for Kandy and Peradeniya. Sarath Amunugama says there was a large audience, mainly of university academics.  Their Volkswagen cars were parked in a row by the school.     Kandy intelligentsia, it appears, was also informed and they too had turned up to see Maname. That is why I was there.

Commentators have pointed out that the year in which Maname appeared was a significant one. The year was 1956.  Bandaranaike’s electoral triumph of 1956 brought about a political transformation which heralded the common man’s era, the birth of linguistic nationalism and a social and cultural revival of unprecedented magnitude, said K.H.J. Wijedasa.

1956 was also the year which marked the birth of three classical landmark artistic creations in the fields of Sinhala drama, cinema and fiction namely Ediriweera Sarachchandra’s ‘Maname’, Lester James Peiris’s ‘Rekhawa’ and Martin Wickremasinghe’s ‘Viragaya,’ he said.[2]

Ralph Pieris ‘Sinhala Social Organization’ was also published in 1956. This dry academic tome was enthusiastically received and eagerly read. It was translated to Sinhala as ‘Sinhala samaja sanvidanaya’. That increased the readership for the book.

Why Maname was such a huge success sixty years ago and why is it so popular even today asked K.H.J. Wijedasa. Maname gripped the imagination of both the westernized urban audience as well as the traditionalists. It introduced a new genre to the Sinhala theatre. Its lyrics, music, choreography, costumes and make up heralded a new trend in theatre, he said. The musicality of Maname is undoubtedly a major factor in its artistic success. The new stylized dramatic medium with beautiful melodies and choreographed dances was intriguing.

Maname conjured up a special world that our audiences had not seen before. Larger than life players in unusual costumes and distinctive make-up walking the stage in a mild dance like manner (gamana) talking in an unfamiliar way and telling the story in melody, rhythm and drum, all beautifully integrated, gave the audience an uncanny feeling,  concluded  Wijedasa.

I remember vividly the first night performance of Maname. As the curtain rose and the rich chant of the Pothegura (narrator) filled the auditorium, I sat spellbound at what seemed to me a theatrical miracle. Sarachchandra’s total transformation of theatrical aspects he had taken from the traditional rituals and folk plays, into a sophisticated modern drama, the bare stage emblazoned with colourful costumes by the artist Siri Gunasinghe, the sheer poetry of the verse enhanced by Sarachchandra’s creative use of music and dance, left me and the audience stunned”, said Ranjini Obeyesekere, in an oration she delivered in 2014 to mark the birth centenary of Sarachchandra. [3]

Here was something new, exciting, and different from anything seen in the Sinhala theatre so far, breaking away from the western influenced fourth wall proscenium dramas and opening new directions for the Sinhala theatre.  As I walked out, dazed and excited I remember meeting Regi Siriwardene, at the time the leading critic for the English newspapers, and he was equally transfixed. We talked briefly, at a loss for words to express our excitement, Ranjini concluded.

Amaradasa Gunawardena who was at the first performance, as a member of the Maname team recalled that as the concluding song ‘Mangalam suba mangalam wewa jayasiri mangalam’ came to an end, a great applause arose and continued without ceasing. There was a  call for the dramatist.

Those days there was no curtain call and Sarachchandra was reluctant to appear.  What need is there for the people who came to see the play to see me,” he said. Gunasena Galappatti, Arthur Silva and  I  pushed him  on to the stage . He stood  there to receive  applause, which he had  never expected, said Amaradasa.[4]

Lionel Fernando who played the role of Chief of the Foresters in the original castrecalled  It was around July 1956 when Sarachchandra held a couple of auditions for those who were willing to help him in this new venture. I was among those who were keen to join it. [5] Several months of rehearsals followed.

Years later, Indrani Wijesinghe reminisces:After the annual vacation, we returned to the campus, for the second academic year, there was good news awaiting us that Dr. Sarachchandra was going to produce a drama and anyone interested could meet him at an audition. Once inside the audition room I was at completely at  ease, when I discovered that all who had gathered there were in the same boat, Trilicia, Hemamali, Trixie, Swarna, Lionel,.”

Hemamali  tells us how she entered the world of Maname in that historic year, 1956:So one damp and drizzly Saturday afternoon, Piyaseeli Sirisena and I walked up Sangamitta Hill, past Sangamitta Hall, to the secluded B Bungalow that was the Sarachchandra residence. It is funny how little details retained in your memory suddenly spring to mind when you try to reminisce.

My most vivid image of that rather hesitant walk up to the Sarachchandra door is of a rain-drenched Thumbergia creeper, its few remaining blossoms, beaten down but bravely glistening with raindrops trembling upon the velvety petals like dew. Even with  the drizzle outside, the door was open. Shaking the raindrops off our hair and clothes, we entered a world of chaos and buzzing activity”, concluded Hemamali.

I  have always wondered how the University suddenly  produced  such fine singing undergrads , who  were able to launch Maname so successfully with a few months of rehearsals. It appears that they had been performing under  Sarachchandra for  several years before  and understood each other.

The first University departments to move to Peradeniya from Colombo in 1952   were the Oriental and Arts faculties. There was plenty of  cultural activity in Peradeniya  for them,  all of it  centered on Sarachchandra, noted Sarath Amunugama. Sarachchandra connected each year with the dozen or so talented students  newly arrived into these two faculties. He had no use for the rest . He had a talent for  associating with the young undergrads, said Amunugama.

There were enough good singers  in each batch  and Sarachchandra   organized ‘singing groups.’ They sang so well that  when Sarachchandra  had musical evenings at his house in Sanghamitta hill, students  at Sanghamitta Hall used to listen  at their balconies.’

Sarachchandra  also made  his singers perform before an audience. Sarachchandra  organized song recitals at the University . He would select the songs, roneo them and  train the singers at his home.  We practiced every evening.”  Amaradeva and others who were visiting him also took an interest in these rehearsals, reported Amunugama.  After training for 2 weeks they would  give  a musical evening at the Arts theatre. 

Sarachchandra also started a carol group which sang bhakthi gee at Wesak. He never had to look for students for these projects.  The  undergrads, specially the girls, ran to join when they  heard that Sarachchandra was  planning a musical  evening or bhakthi gee performance , said Amunugama.

Amunugama’s information can be accepted. He was close enough  . He  entered University  in 1957 , the year after Maname  and gained almost immediate access to that magic circle which surrounded Sarachchandra, noted Ajit Samaranayake..[6] Practically every evening  students used to gather at Sarachchandra’s house, Amunugama recalled  They  included Gunadasa Amarasekera, Gunasena Galappaththy,  Dayananda Gunawardena as well as visitors such as  Amaradeva.  This was in the 1950s, the first decade at Peradeniya . By the time I, (Kamalika Pieris),  entered University, Sarachchandra had left Sanghamitta Hill. As far as I know, there were no singing groups  either.1961 was spent rehearsing Sinhabahu.

We must  recognize the special talents of the original  cast  of Maname, noted Sarath Amunugama. Those who entered Peradeniya in the 50s and 60s came from central schools. They had been taught by clever dedicated teachers and were the best products of the school.  

 They  came from schools which had encouraged   song, dance and music. Classical music was in the syllabus, so  they could play tabla, sitar as well as sing.   The music for Maname came from those who had studied at Horana Central, where they had learned to play oriental instruments. HL Seneviratne, Hemapala Wijewardene, Kithsiri Amaratunge came from Horana. Their background helped the cast to adapt to the Nadagam style and benefit from the teaching of  Gunasinghe Gurunnanse.

The young undergraduates who took part in Maname were unaware that they were creating history. When we read the reminiscences of those pioneering actors and actresses we begin to feel the youthful ebullience with which they undertook the task, said  Dharmadasa.

Despite the exultant praise of the very small but distinguished first audience of scholars, journalists and critics who gathered that night, it didn’t occur to any of us that we had placed our own humble footprints in  a notable venture, said  Shyamon Jayasinghe.

Shyamon recalled, it was simply an innocent collective enjoyment that we experienced. To me and our team of actors and organizers it meant simply the culmination of a six month period of sheer fun and camaraderie in rehearsing the play, nothing more. We did  it  for the enjoyment.

At the auditions Sarachchandra tested their singing, not acting ability, said Shyamon. We  rehearsed for about five months. Sarachchandra allowed us to perform as we wished and only corrected our mistakes. He did not instruct us. He drew out our abilities and creativeness.

Those were, perhaps, the best of our times. The days when Maname was created and the immediate aftermath, continued Shyamon. Rehearsals in the Arts block at Peradeniya campus, the great Sarachchandra by our side, guiding us along. The venerable Charles Silva Gunasinghe Gurunnanse, Nadagam expert from Ambalangoda, teaching the dance steps.

 I remember Trilicia singing “Lapa nomavan sanda se somi gunena” with  a  subtle erotic movement of her body. We hardly realized then we were in the process of creating history,[7] but there was commitment all round. That was one reason for the high quality of the show, concluded Shyamon.

The play was a success because   the two  leading male roles were played by mature men and not by twenty year old undergrads . If the characters had been played by  young undergrads, the  response would have been very different. Maname would have been a flop.

Certainly, Sinhabahu (1961)  was  performed by undergrads, some actors were weak and the first performance was   like a dress rehearsal  but by then the audience  knew to spot the potential in a Sarachchandra  play and ignore  the  natural limitations  of a University  production.

But Maname was different. Maname was vitally important.   Although he auditioned several persons to take the role of the Veddha King no one was able to sing in the tone Sarachchandra wanted the Veddha king to sing. Sarachchandra was thinking of abandoning the play. Then Edmund Wijesinghe came along.

When  Edmund  sang the very walls of the Junior Common Room seemed to listen in hushed silence to the rich timbre of his voice that resonated with a suppressed violence that was also right for the role of the Vedda King. In fact the very awkwardness of his stance and movements fit the image of the feral character perfectly, said KNO Dharmadasa.

Hemamali Gunasekera recalls how Edmund Wijesinghe’s voice contrasted dramatically with the mellow richness of Ben Sirimanne’s voice. Ben was  Prince Maname, a mature student who had entered Peradeniya as a school-teacher and was reading for the Diploma in Education. He had some experience in singing and playing an instrument.[8] Hemamali found him mature, unflappable and gentlemanly, with his pleasant mellifluous voice and gentle ways” , putting her completely at ease during the rehearsals.

Shyamon who gave a memorable performance as Poteguru  recalled that the  role of  Potegura  was new to the Sinhala theatre  of the  time. Sarachchandra did not know how  to present this character, neither did  Shyamon.

But at the first performance as the curtain was about to rise, when he saw Hemamali and others costumed and ready, and   in my opinion, probably  heard the rustle of the audience, and realized this was it , Shyamon had a moment of epiphany. He saw the  significance of his role. He must  introduce the  play in a dynamic manner. He recalled in a video interview with Boston Lanka in 2013 that his  first speech got a terrific response from the audience. [9]

Sarachchandra was always  at the performance, with sitar or tempura, said Shyamon. Sarachchandra  was always present at a performance, agreed Sarath Amunugama. That was probably because the actors were amateurs and not professionals. They  were students with other things on their minds, tutorials to write and  exams to prepare for.

Sarachchandra seems to have followed this policy for his other plays too. Pushpamala Iriyagolle who was in the chorus  of Sinhabahu told me one day at Sanghamitta, ‘we sang flat  yesterday, Kamalika, and Professor Sarachchandra was furious.  He was glaring at us from the wings. But we could not help it, we went more and more flat.” I did not know till then that  Sarachchandra was present in the wings at every performance.

The Maname  actors concentrated on their performances. The adults saw the potential and the national  impact  the play would  make. At least two senior lecturers were actively helping, Ananda Kulasuriya and Siri Gunasinghe.  The costumes and make up provided by Siri Gunasinghe  differed for each character. The  costumes of Poteguru, Maname, princess, Veddah king, veddhas, all differed in style and colour, said Amunugama .

The  rest of the Department  of Sinhala  also knew about the play. Academics from other Departments were also supportive. Ralph Pieris  I am told was also there, helping.”  He was a friend of Sarachchandra. Ralph  told me that he was one of the persons who  had   advised the reluctant Sarachchandra  that the play must open at the Lionel Wendt.

 Aphotograph of the original cast, crew,  producers and the Association that was responsible for  creating Maname, the Sinhala Drama Circle   has been reproduced by Liyanage Amarakeerthi in his essay Maname Day: A Nostalgic Note On That Distant November Day” published in Colombo Telegraph, November 4, 2020. [10]  The year would probably have  been   1957. It is  a formal photograph,  probably framed and hung at University of Peradeniya .  The photograph is a historical one. When I took my copy of the photograph to a print shop to get it enlarged and sharpened,  the shop refused to accept  payment, saying it took very little time  and cost nothing. I  think they were showing  respect for Maname.( continued)  .

---

[1] Sarath Amunugama.  Maname mathak vee. p 9.

[2] https://www.sundaytimes.lk/161113/plus/that-unforgettable-maname-moment-216433.html

[3] Ranjini Obeysekera https://thuppahis.com/2014/06/10/ediriweera-sarachchandra-a-renaisance-man/

[4] KNO Dharmadasa,   Island, 4 and 5 June 2013

https://thuppahis.com/2013/06/28/maname-in-retrospect-homage-to-the-pioneers-of-1956/.

[5] Chandani kirinde https://www.sundaytimes.lk/161023/plus/remembering-sarachchandras-maname-60-years-after-213018.html

[6] Ajith samaranayake https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2003/11/02/fea03.html

[7] https://www.sundaytimes.lk/990509/plus5.html  shyamon jayasinghe

[8] DC Ranatunga https://www.ft.lk/ft-lite/in-sinhala-at-the-wendt/6-365259

[9] https://youtu.be/RTaiqGp4PrU

[10] https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/maname-day-a-nostalgic-note-on-that-distant-november-day/

Professor Daya Somasundaram / Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge

Prolonged armed conflict in Sri Lanka has created higher rates of mental ailments among the Army personal and members of the LTTE. A significant number of people have been diagnosed with complex forms of PTSD aka Malignant PTSD. These individuals with malignant forms of anxiety have a wider range of clinical symptomatology with severe psychosocial impairments. These people would fit into the diagnostic category of DESNOS (Disorders of extreme stress not otherwise specified) or Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) / Malignant PTSD that was described by Dr. Judith Herman in 1992.  Complex PTSD has been recognised as a new diagnosis in the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11).  

According to Herman (1992), Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) is a psychological injury that results from protracted exposure to prolonged social and/or interpersonal trauma in the context of either captivity or entrapment that results in the lack or loss of control, helplessness, and deformations of identity and sense of self. C-PTSD is distinct from but similar to, PTSD, somatization disorder, dissociative identity disorder, and borderline personality disorder. (DESNOS), characterised by alterations in regulating affective arousal with difficulty in modulating anger, self-destructive and suicidal behaviour and impulsive and risk-taking behaviour.

They have chronic characterological changes with alterations in self-perception: chronic guilt and shame; feelings of self-blame or ineffectiveness and of being permanently damaged; a tendency to victimize others and alterations in systems of meaning such as despair and hopelessness or loss of previously sustaining beliefs (Jong, 1997).

Sri Lanka’s Armed Conflict and Its Impact on the Victims

A three-decade-long armed conflict in Sri Lanka has created higher rates of psychological problems among the victims.  They were at high risk of developing war-related psychopathology. The armed conflict between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has resulted PTSD and DESNOS (C- PTSD). DESNOS has caused considerable impairments in psycho-social functioning among the affected individuals. These people often experience multiple mental health problems. Most of the victims have not received adequate treatment and some cases are still undiagnosed. Lack of availability of mental health services is one of the barriers to treat war victims and ameliorating their distress. 

C- PTSD Among the Sri Lankan Combat Veterans

A significant number of Sri Lankan soldiers suffered severe war trauma during the Eelam War that lasted from 1983 to 2009. It changed the psychological makeup of soldiers. A large number of combatants underwent traumatic battle events outside the range of usual human experience. These experiences include constantly living in a hostile battle-ravaged environment, seeing fellow soldiers being killed or wounded and sight of unburied decomposing bodies, handling human remains, hearing screams for help from the wounded, and helplessly watching the wounded die without the possibility of being rescued etc. The affected combatants with war trauma experience problems in their living, working, learning, and social environments. War trauma has drastically impacted their mental health and long-term functioning. Some of the Sri Lankan combatants with full blown PTSD showed a wider range of clinical symptomatology with sever psychosocial impairments and these veterans would fit in to the diagnostic category of DESNOS (Disorders of extreme stress not otherwise specified) or Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD).

C- PTSD Among the ex LTTE Carders

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – a Tamil militant organization and they attacked the Sri Lankan armed forces with modern weapons. The LTTE used numerous unconventional methods to fight the Sri Lankan Forces using child soldiers and suicide bombers. Many surviving members of the former LTTE either now live in Sri Lanka or live abroad. Most of these ex-militants joined the movement as children and throughout the war, they underwent the harsh realities of war trauma. A significant numbers of ex LTTE members suffer from malignant PTSD. These victims live with rage, guilt, alienation and suicidal ideation. They lack social skills and unable to form families due to a lack of parental skills and intimacy. Some affected by addiction problems.

Case Studies

1)    Rifleman Sn34 became psychologically wounded after facing traumatic battle events in Operation Yale Devi which was launched in 1993 to destroy the LTTE Sea Tiger strongholds at Kilali.  The enemy launched a surprise attack on the advancing column resulting in the deaths of hundreds of soldiers. The LTTE attacked them with mortars and Rocket Propelled Grenades. Rifleman Sn34 saw the deaths of a number of his fellow soldiers. The enemy captured some of the wounded men.  After this dreaded battle, Rifleman Sn34 had a pessimistic outlook on the future. He had ruminations about the battle events. He relived these experiences. Startle reactions troubled him significantly. He had no way of receiving treatment or no way of explaining to anyone his psychological anguish. For a long period, he lived with his posttraumatic symptoms. Over the years he felt that he was unable to trust people or the system. He became extremely vigilant during the presence of unknown people. He stopped associating with people and became socially isolated. He was demotivated to initiate new events and felt lethargic and withdrawn. He became an extremely fearful person. Prior to the traumatic event, he was decorated for bravery but after the battle trauma, the sound of a firecracker could make him excessively frightened

2)    Private SXXT31 served in the operational area for 9 years and firsthand experienced combat trauma. He witnessed how his unit members got killed following enemy fire, mortar blasts, artillery attacks etc. and became severally overwhelmed while handling human remains. After experiencing these events over a long period, he suffered severe transient headaches and loss of memory. By 2002 he was diagnosed with full-blown symptoms of PTSD. He was frequently troubled by nightmares and flashbacks. When he experienced flashbacks, he used to re live the traumatic event and often became disconnected from reality. Once Private SXXT31 went into a dissociate flashback and he had squeezed the neck of his five-year old daughter. When the little girl was suffocating, his wife accidentally noticed the dreadful event, alerted the neighbors and saved the little girl from Private SXXT31’s strong grip. The girl was immediately hospitalized and later recovered. Private SXXT31 became extremely distressed and felt guilty after realizing that he tried to strangle his own daughter. He had no memory of the incident and did not realize how he grabbed the daughter’s neck.

3)    Bombardier AXTX36’s self-perception changed drastically with the onset of symptoms. He lost his self-esteem and viewed himself as a sinner and a perpetrator who deserved to be punished by the Karmic forces. I am a villain he openly said and he wished all the blasphemes to fall upon him. He frequently said that he is not a human anymore and the human part of him had gone a long time ago. He urged other people to call him derogatory names. He started to reveal his past interrogative work even to unknown people on the street and never expected a word of sympathy from them. When people sympathized with him he became extremely annoyed and sometimes tried to assault them.  Bombardier AXTX36 became aggressive and emotionally numbed. He lost the ability to trust anyone.  Sometimes he blamed his senior officers, his parents, and sometimes, even himself, for his anguish and suffering.  He had no hopes for the future and several times planned to commit suicide.

4)       A 23-year-old male presented at the psychiatric clinic at the Teaching Hospital Jaffna, with complaints of insomnia, numbness of the head, and flashbacks of dead friends. He had joined the militant group at the age of 14 and underwent extensive training. As he lost his friends one by one on missions, he became more withdrawn and preoccupied with thoughts of his dead friends. He also led a very tense life during active duty. He developed a hatred for people whom he was led to believe were traitors and who passed information to his enemies. He caught 3 people whom he considered informants and tortured them by slowly cutting them to pieces while they screamed. He then threw these pieces onto the nearby road. After this, he began to be obsessed with the sight of blood and hearing his victims screaming in pain. He also had nightmares of dead comrades being blown to bits. His insomnia worsened, and he began to take Diazepam. He became addicted and started taking up to 40 mg at a time. He introduced this to the other boys. He also had a severe headache accompanied by numbness of the head. His drug abuse habit was detected by his superiors, who put him on punishment, where he was physically beaten and kept in detention. He is obsessed with the urge to torture and to see blood. When he was asked to draw a picture, he chose a dark red crayon and drew blood drops, a hanging man, a knife stained with blood, a grave and ghosts.

Treatment Measures

The main treatments for DESNOS (C- PTSD) are psychotherapy and medication. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) are highly recommended as psychological therapies. Studies recommend multicomponent therapies starting with a focus on safety, psychoeducation, and patient-provider collaboration, and treatment components that include self-regulatory strategies and trauma-focused interventions (Maercker et.al.,2022).  These interventions are alleviating the patient’s distress in several psychological and physical domains.

Psychological interventions improve C- PTSD symptoms. It is essential to provide more efficient and comprehensive therapies to the individuals with war trauma, and the psychiatric and rehabilitation services should work in collaboration to achieve success. The victims with war trauma need psychosocial rehabilitation to recover. Warren (2002) is of the view that addressing the broader emotional, social and economic needs of survivors is a critical aspect of the rehabilitation process.

 The Health Ministry should provide sufficient training to the doctors to identify war trauma symptoms and do referrals effectively. Psychosocial Rehabilitation should be incorporated to help traumatized combat veterans to achieve recovery.   Psychosocial Rehabilitation practices help war veterans re-establish normal roles in the community, independence, and reintegration into community life. These interventions help to manage behaviors, perceptions, and reactions and give the opportunity to the victims to live a full and meaningful life.

By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary – AMJSL.

Ahmadiyya Muslims from over 50 countries including Sri Lanka are expected to participate in the 129th annual congregation of the community to be held from December 27-29 at Qadian in Punjab, India.
In 1891, the founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim community, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, had initiated the spiritual event to promote inter-religious peace and harmony. The event will be marked by a ‘world religions’ session in which people from different faiths will suggest solutions to the problems faced by world,
On the last day, a televised address will be given by worldwide head of Ahmadiyya Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who is based in London.
The objective of this Convention (Jalsa Salana) is to present pure, pristine and peaceful teachings of Islam. Likewise to call people towards their creator, to develop love, affection and compassion among the creations of God, and promote brotherhood, are also its objectives.
At the convention, religious leaders of the community from around the country will address people on the tenets of Islam and its power to promote peace and harmony in the world.
Ahmadiyya Jama’at is a Community of Islam which is widely perceived to be different from the mainstream form of the religion as they believe that the advent of a Messiah, as promised by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), has already happened. They believe, unlike the mainstream believers of Islam, that the Messiah was incarnated in 1835 in the form of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
Under Divine Command, in 1889, Ahmad proclaimed himself under the Divine Command, awaited Messiah, and was widely subscribed to be so by Muslims from around the world. The followers of Ahmad thus came to be called ‘Ahmadis’ or ‘Ahmadiyyas’.
We are completely same as the other mainstream followers of Islam but for our belief in the advent of a Messiah, which they believe is yet to take place.
In Sri Lanka, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (Jama’at) was established in 1915 and the Community celebrated its Centenary in the year 2015. To mark the event, the Community launched the Holy Qur’an
Sinhala Translation, whereas, this scripture has been translated into 76 world languages by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at in Islam.
Qadian is the birth-place of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – Founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community