Ira de Silva Canada

It is incredible that the Australian High Commission has either denied or claims a visa for Maj. General C. Gallage is “under assessment” – diplomatic jargon to cover the denial of a visa.  Australia considers the Major General as a  “Potential Controversial Visitor” citing war crimes  and crimes against humanity as reason for denying Gallege a visa. Australia found fault with the Maj. Gen. for commanding the 59 Division on the Vanni east front. 

The Maj.Gen. is  considered a “controversial visitor” by Australia because he commanded a division in the military which defeated the Tamil terrorists, known as the LTTE, who had terrorised Sri Lanka for thirty years. Australia recognised the LTTE as a terrorist group and is supposedly against terrorism. Does Australia now have a policy of supporting terrorists and finding fault with those who fight terrorism? Should other countries consider  Australian military personnel who are fighting terrorists as “controversial” and refuse them entry into their countries?

Australia has already found the Maj. General guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Is it possible for Australia to provide the basis for this judgement? No other country or international body has made such a judgement because so far there have been only allegations, mainly by the supporters of the LTTE outside of Sri Lanka, but absolutely no proof of any such crimes. Does Australia pass judgements on allegations without proof in Australia? If so, it is a sad indcitment on the legal system in Australia which is supposed to be a democratic country where a person is considered innocent until proven guilty.  This action equates Australia to countries where there is no legal process available to determine whether accused are judged on credible evidence, mere hearsay or a whim.   

Australia is known in the world to have kangaroos – it now seems to also have kangaroo courts instead of a judicial system based on recognised legal principles.

Yours truly,

Ira de Silva

Canada

සමන් ගමගේ උපුටා ගැන්ම දිවයින

නව රජය බලයට ආ දිනයේ සිට රටට යළි “මිලේනියම් සිටි” පාවා දීම සිහිගන්වමින් බුද්ධි අංශ රණවිරුවන්ට එරෙහි විමර්ශන ආරම්භ කළ රහස්‌ පොලිසිය ඉකුත් සතියේ ඇමැති සරත් ෆොන්සේකා පැවසූ බව කියමින් ආන්දොaලනාත්මක කතාවක්‌ ගල්කිස්‌ස අධිකරණයට වාර්තා කළේය.

සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මෙසේ සීඅයිඩීයට කී කතාව වන්නේ කුමක්‌ද? ඉකුත් 2008 – 2009 වර්ෂයන්හිදී සිදුවූ මාධ්‍යවේදී ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග ඝාතනය, මාධ්‍යවේදී කීත් නොයාර්ට සහ රිවිර කර්තෘව සිටි උපාලි තෙන්නකෝන්ට එල්ල වූ ප්‍රහාරයන් සහ ප්‍රගීත් එක්‌නැලිගොඩ සිද්ධිය ආදී වශයෙන් පසුගිය කාලයේ සිදුවූ සියලු අපරාධවලට වගකිව යුත්තේ හිටපු ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්‍ෂ හා හිටපු බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානී මේජර් ජෙනරාල් කපිල හෙන්දාවිතාරණ යන්නය.

මේ කතාව කියනුයේ යුද හමුදාපතිව සිට එල්ටීටීඊය පරාජය කිරීමෙන් පසු ආරක්‍ෂක මාණ්‌ඩලික ප්‍රධානී ලෙස වැඩ භාරගත් මොහොතේ “දේශපාලනයට පැමිණ සොල්දාදුවකු ලෙස දිනාගත් කීර්ති නාමය වනසා ගන්නට කිසි දිනකත් තමන් සූදානම් නැතැයි” මාධ්‍ය ඉදිරියේ සපථ කළ සරත් ෆොන්සේකා බවද මෙහිදී විශේෂයෙන් සඳහන් කළ යුතුය.

සීඅයිඩීයේ විමර්ශනවලදී තමන්ටද ඇඟිල්ල දික්‌වීමට පටන් ගැනීමත් සමඟ ඒ පිළිබඳ ප්‍රකාශයක්‌ ලබා දීමට පැමිණි අවස්‌ථාවක ඔහු මේ කතාව කියා ඇත. ඒ නොකර බැරි තැන කෙරුණු කැඳවීමකට අනුවය

අදාළ පහරදීම් සහ ඝාතන සිදුවන කාලයේ යුද හමුදාපතිව සිටි තමන් උතුරු නැගෙනහිර යුද්ධය මෙහෙයවූවා මිස දකුණ ඇතුළු කොළඹ සිදුවන දේ පිළිබඳ කිසිදු සොයා බැලීමක්‌ නොකළ බවද එහිදී ප්‍රකාශ කර ඇති සරත් ෆොන්සේකා හිටපු ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්‍ෂ සහ හිටපු බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානී මේජර් ජෙනරාල් කපිල හෙන්දාවිතාරණ විසින් විශේෂ හමුදා කණ්‌ඩායමක්‌ යොදාගෙන ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග ඝාතනය සහ මාධ්‍යවේදීන්ට පහරදීම ඇතුළු අපරාධ සිදු කළ බව තමන් දැන සිටියේ යෑයි ද සඳහන් කර ඇත.

ඔහුගේ මේ කතාව ඇසෙද්දී අපට මතුවන ගැටලුව වන්නේ ඇත්තටම සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මේ රටේ හමුදාපති වූයේද යන්නය. ඔහු හමුදාපතිව සිටියේ නම් මේ කියන අන්දමට එක්‌කෝ නිසි ලෙස හමුදාවට නායකත්වය දී නැත. එය තවත් විදියකට කියතොත් සරත් ෆොන්සේකා ඒ දිනවල සිට ඇත්තේ හමුදාපතිකම ළමයකුට දීය.

සරත් ෆොන්සේකාගේ බිරිඳ අනෝමා ෆොන්සේකාම වරක්‌ කී පරිදි මහ රෑ ජාමෙට ඇගේ සිරුර මත සිතියම දිගහැරගෙන යුද්ධය මෙහෙයවූ සරත් ෆොන්සේකා කොළඹ යුද හමුදා මූලස්‌ථානය තුළදීම මරාගෙන මැරෙන කොටි කාන්තාවකගේ ප්‍රහාරයකට ගොදුරු වූයේ මෙසේ කොළඹ පිළිබඳ සොයා නොබැලීම නිසාද විය හැකිය. පුදුමයට කරුණ වන්නේ තමන්ට බෝම්බ ගැහුවේත් ගෝඨාභය සහ හෙන්දාවිතාරණ බව මෙහිදී සරත් ෆොන්සේකා කියා නොතිබීමය.

ඇත්තෙන්ම සරත් ෆොන්සේකා සාධකය තුළ සිට මෙසේ කතා කිරීමට වේ යෑයි අපි කිසි දිනක නොසිතුවෙමු. මෙලෙස සටහන් කිරීමට සිදුවීම අපේ සිතටද වේදනාකාරීය. එහෙත් වීරයා මඩේ නාද්දී ගඳයි කියනු හැර අපට කියන්නට වෙන දෙයක්‌ ද නැත.

සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මහතා හිටපු ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම් සහ බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානියා සම්බන්ධයෙන් මෙවැන්නක්‌ පවසද්දී සීඅයිඩීයේ විමර්ශකයන් කරනු ලැබුවේ කුමක්‌ද? කිසිදු වගවිභාගයකින් තොරව ඒ කතාව අධිකරණයට වාර්තා කිරීමය. එහෙත් රහස්‌ පොලිසිය තිබෙන්නේ එසේ කටයුතු කිරීමටද?

අද සරත් ෆොන්සේකා කුමක්‌ කීවද ඔහුද රාජකාරී කළ යුද හමුදාවේ කටයුතු සිදුවන නිසි පටිපාටියක්‌ ඇත. සාමාන්‍යයෙන් යුද හමුදාවේ ඕනෑම නිලධාරියකු හෝ සෙබළකු ස්‌ථානගත කර සිටින්නේ කොතැනකදැයි යන්න නියත වශයෙන්ම යුද හමුදා මෙහෙයුම් අධ්‍යක්‍ෂ දැන සිටින්නේය. ඔහුට හොරෙන් කිසිවක්‌ සිදු කළ නොහැකිය. එසේම එකී නිලධාරියාට හෝ සෙබළාට වැටුප් ගෙවීමක්‌ සිදු වන නිසා ඔහු කරන රාජකාරිය කුමක්‌දැයි අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම වැටුප් හා ලේඛන අධ්‍යක්‍ෂ මණ්‌ඩලයට වාර්තා වන්නේය.

මෙකී කාල සීමාවේදී මේජර් ජෙනරාල් උදය පෙරේරා යුද හමුදා මෙහෙයුම් අධ්‍යක්‍ෂ විය. වැටුප් හා ලේඛන අධ්‍යක්‍ෂ වූයේ බ්‍රිගේඩියර් සුනිල් වන්නිආරච්චිය. රහස්‌ පොලිසිය මෙහිදී අදාළ සිද්ධීන් පිළිබඳ නිවැරදි විමර්ශනයක්‌ සිදු කළේ නම් විය යුතුව තිබුණේ සරත් ෆොන්සේකා කී කතාව ගැන මේජර් ජෙනරාල් උදය පෙරේරා සහ බ්‍රිගේඩියර් සුනිල් වන්නිආරච්චි කැඳවා විමසීමක්‌ කිරීමය.

එහෙත් එවැන්ක්‌ සිදුව නැත. ලසන්ත ඝාතනය වැනි රටම හෙල්ලුම් කෑ විමර්ශනයක්‌ හමුවේ රහස්‌ පොලිසිය එසේ නොසැලකිලිමත් ලෙස කටයුතු කළේ කුමක්‌ නිසාද? සීඅයිඩීය එවන් විමසීමක්‌ සිදු කළේa නම් සරත් ෆොන්සේකා කියන අන්දමේ අභිරහස්‌ හමුදා කණ්‌ඩායමක්‌ හිටපු ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම්වරයා සහ බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානියා යටතේ සිටියේද සහ ඔවුන් කවුරුන්ද යන්න පිළිබඳ පැහැදිලිව අනාවරණය කර ගැනීමට ද අවස්‌ථාව තිබිණ.

එහෙත් ඔවුන් කරනු ලැබුවේ සරත් ෆොන්සේකා කී කතාව ගෙඩිය පිටින් ගෙන ගොස්‌ හිටපු බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානී මේජර් ජෙනරාල් කපිල හෙන්දාවිතාරණගේ නමද සඳහන් කර ගල්කිස්‌ස අධිකරණය හමුවේ දිග හැරීමය.

අඩුම තරමේ සරත් ෆොන්සේකා කියන කණ්‌ඩායම පිළිබඳවවත් සොයා බැලීමක්‌ නොකෙරිණි. කිසිදු විධිමත් විමර්ශනයකින් තොරව මේ අන්දමට අධිකරණයට බී වාර්තා ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නට නම් රහස්‌ පොලිසියක්‌ අවශ්‍ය නැත. ලිවීමේ සහ කියවීමේ හැකියාව පමණක්‌ ඇති පොඩිවුන් ටිකකට වැඩේ පැවරුවොත් ඔවුන්ද මේ ටික කරනු ඇත.

රහස්‌ පොලිස්‌ විමර්ශකයන් මේ අන්දමට කටයුතු කළේ කුමක්‌ නිසාද? එය මෙහිදී මතුවන ඉතාම වැදගත් ප්‍රශ්නය වන්නේය. එහෙත් ඊට පෙර කියන්නට කතාවක්‌ද අපට ඇත. ඒ හිටපු බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානී මේජර් ජෙනරාල් කපිල හෙන්දාවිතාරණ පිළිබඳවය.

හෙන්දාවිතාරණ යනු කවරෙක්‌ද? මෙය කියවන මිනිසුනේ දැන ගන්න. ඔබත් මාත් මේ මොහොතේත් ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ බෝම්බයක ගොදුරක්‌ නොවී හුස්‌ම ගනිමින් ජීවත් වන්නේ නම් එසේ වී තිබෙන්නේ මේජර් ජෙනරාල් කපිල හෙන්දාවිතාරණලා වැනි උපන් බිමට සහ ජනතාවට හදවතින් ආදරය කරමින් දිවි පරදුවට තබා මේ රට වෙනුවෙන් දහසක්‌ කැපකිරීම් කළ වීරයන් නිසාය.

අද මෙන්ම හමුදා බුද්ධි අංශ සාමාජිකයන් ඉලක්‌ක කර ඉකුත් 2002 වසරේ සිදුවූ “මිලේනියම් සිටි” මහා පාවදීම දීම සිදු වෙද්දී “මිලේනියම් සිටි” නිවස්‌නය ඇතුළුව දිගුදුර විහිදුම් බළකායේ බුද්ධි රණවිරුවන්ට අණ දුන් බුද්ධි අංශ නායකයා වූයේ කපිල හෙන්දාවිතාරණය.

“මිලේනියම් සිටි” පාවා දීම හමුවේ මේ රට වෙනුවෙන් දිවිහිමියෙන් වැඩ කළ මේජර් මුතාලිµa ඇතුළු බුද්ධි අංශ රණවිරුවන් සහ ඔත්තුකරුවන් එකා පිට එකා එල්ටීටීඊයේ ගොදුරු වෙද්දී ඉන් දිවි ගලවා ගත් අතලොස්‌සෙන් කෙනකු ලෙසද මේජර් ජෙනරාල් හෙන්දාවිතාරණ හඳුන්වා දිය හැකිය.

එවකට යුද හමුදා බුද්ධි අධ්‍යක්‍ෂ වූ හෙන්දාවිතාරණ කර්නල් නිලයේ පසුවූ අතර ඔහුගේ දෙවැනියා ලෙස යුද හමුදා බුද්ධි බළකාය සහ “මිලේනියම් සිටි” කණ්‌ඩායම පසුපස සිටියේ යහපාලනයට පෙර යුද හමුදා බුද්ධි අධ්‍යක්‍ෂ වූ බ්‍රිගේඩියර් සලේ හෙවත් එවකට මේජර් සලේය.

යුද හමුදා මහසොහොන් බළකායට ඉකුත් 2000 වසරේ සිට බුද්ධි නායකත්වය දුන්නේද මේජර් ජෙනරාල් කපිල හෙන්දාවිතාරණය. එසේම හිටපු ආරක්‍ෂක ලේකම්වරයාගේ අදහසකට අනුව මහසොහොන් බළකායට අටේ කණ්‌ඩායම් ක්‍රමය හඳුන්වා දෙමින් කොටි නායකයන් එල්ටීටීඊ බලප්‍රදේශයන් තුළදීම අවසන් ගමන් යවන්නට කටයුතු කළේද ඔහුය.

මෙසේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වීම හමුවේ පසුගිය කාලයේ ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ ඝාතන ලැයිස්‌තුවේ හතරවැනි ස්‌ථානයේ සිටින්නටද මේජර් ජෙනරාල් කපිල හෙන්දාවිතාරණට සිදු විය.

ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ අවසානයත් සමඟ මෙරට ඉතිහාසයේ පළමු වතාවට හමුදා කණ්‌ඩායමක්‌ මැලේසියාවට යවා ඊශ්‍රායලයේ මොසාඩ් ක්‍රමයට අනුව යමින් කිසිදු ලේ වැගිරීමකින් තොරව එල්ටීටීඊයේ කුමරන් පද්මනාදන් හෙවත් කේ.පී. ව අත්අඩංගුව ගැනීමට සිදු කළ අතිවිශිෂ්ට මෙහෙයුමේ මහ මොළකරු වන්නේද ඔහුය.

සත්‍ය එය වුවත් මේ වන විට බුද්ධි අංශවලට එරෙහිව විමර්ශන සිදු කරමින් නින්දිත දඩයමක යෙදී සිටින රහස්‌ පොලිසිය කපිල හෙන්දාවිතාරණ නම් වූ රට වෙනුවෙන් දහසක්‌ දේ කළ කිර්තිධර බුද්ධි නිලධාරියාටද ලබන සතියේ සීඅයිඩීයට පැමිණෙන ලෙස දැනුම් දී තිබෙන වගක්‌ද මේ සටනහ තබන මොහොතේ දැනගැනීමට ලැබිණ.

සීඅයිඩීය අද මේ අන්දමට රඟමින් සිටින්නේ කුමක්‌ නිසාද? දැන් අප එන්නේ මේජර් ජෙනරාල් හෙන්දාවිතාරණ පිළිබඳ කතා කරන්නට පෙර මේ කතාව නතර කළ තැනටය.

ඉකුත් 2015 ජනවාරි අටවැනිදා යහපාලනය බිහිවීමත් සමඟ සීඅයිඩීය ඇරඹූ විමර්ශන ගණනාවක්‌ම ඇත. ප්‍රගීත් එක්‌නැලිගොඩ විමර්ශනය, මාධ්‍යවේදී ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග ඝාතන විමර්ශනය, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රි නඩරාජා රවිරාඡ් ඝාතන විමර්ශනය, ප්‍රවීණ මාධ්‍යවේදීන් වන උපාලි තෙන්නකෝන්ට සහ කීත් නොයාර්ට පහරදීමේ විමර්ශන ආදිය ඒ අතර ප්‍රධානම තැනක තිබිණ.

මේවා පිළිබඳ විමර්ශන සිදුවිය යුතුය. එසේම අපරාධකරුවන් සිටීනම් ඔවුනට එරෙහිව නීතියද ක්‍රියාත්මක විය යුතුය. එහි කතා දෙකක්‌ නැත. එහෙත් මේ සියලු සිද්ධීන් ගත් කල පෙනී යන එක්‌ පැහැදිලි ලක්‍ෂණයක්‌ද ඇත. එය වන්නේ එන්ජීඕ නඩ ඇතුළු මේ රටට ෙද්‍රdaහීවූ සියලු පාර්ශ්ව පසුගියට රජයට ඇඟිලි දිගු කරමින් හන්දියක්‌ හන්දියක්‌ ගානේ මොරදුන් සිදුවීම් බවට පසුගිය කාලයේ මේවා පත්ව තිබීමය.

එසේම මේ සියලු සිද්ධීන් යහපාලන දේශපාලන වේදිකාවන්හිද ප්‍රබල මාතෘකා බවට පත්වූ ඒවාද විය. යහපාලනයත් සමඟ රහස්‌ පොලිසිය මෙම සිද්ධීන් පිළිබඳ කඩිනම් විමර්ශන අරඹන්නේ එවන් වූ දේශපාලන පසුබිමක්‌ද එකී ඝාතන සහ පහරදීම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගොඩනැගී තිබියදීය.

අප නම් හැමදාමත් කීවේ මේ විමර්ශනවලදී හරි දේ හරි විදිහට සිදු විය යුතුයෑයි කියාය. එසේ නැතිව ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂාව බිල්ලට දෙමින් මේ හරහා බුද්ධි අංශ දඩයමක්‌ සිදුවන්නේ නම් ඒ දෙස ගොළුවන් බිහිරන් සේ බලා සිටින්නටද අපට නොහැකිය.

මෙසේ සීඅයිඩීය ආරම්භ කළ විමර්ශන මාලාවට අනුව ඔවුන් මුලින්ම කරළියට ගෙන ආ කතාව වූයේ ප්‍රගීත් එක්‌නැලිගොඩ විමර්¨ශනය ය. එහෙත් මෙහිදී සිදු කෙරුණේ කුමක්‌ද? කිසිදු පදනමකින් තොරව විවිධ පුද්ගලයන් ගෙන රජයේ සාක්‍ෂි මත යෑපෙන්නට ගිය රහස්‌ පොලිසිය අවසානයේ සිදුකළේ එල්ටීටීඊයේ පරාජයෙන් පසු ඉකුත් 2015 ජනවාරි 8 වැනිදා දක්‌වාම කොටින්ගේ යළි පිබිදීම වැළැක්‌වීම සඳහා ඉතාම රහසේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වූ “ඔපරේෂන් ඩබල් එඡ්” නමැති අතිසාර්ථක බුද්ධි මෙහෙයුම සහමුලින්ම විනාශ කර දැමීමය.

එකී විමර්ශනයට අනුව අදටත් එක්‌නැලිගොඩ මැරුවාද, මැරුණාද යන්න පිළිබඳව නිශ්චිත ලෙස අනාවරණය කර ගැනීමට සීඅයිඩීය සමත්ව නැත. මේ වන විට වසර දෙකක්‌ ගතවී ඇතත්a එක්‌නැලිගොඩට මොකද වුණේ කියා කිසිවකුත් දන්නේද නැත.

එහෙත් ඉතිහාසයේ කිසිදු දිනක සිදු නොවූ අයුරින් “ඔපරේෂන් ඩබල් එඡ්” මෙහෙයුම ඇතුළුව මේ රට වෙනුවෙන් සුවිශේෂි මෙහෙවරක්‌ කළා වූ යුද හමුදා සන්නද්ධ බුද්ධි බළකායේ නිලධාරීන් නව දෙනකුට එරෙහිව දණ්‌ඩ නීති සංග්‍රහයේ 296 වගන්තිය යටතේ මිනී මැරුම් චෝදනා එල්ල කර ඔවුන් බන්ධනාගාරගත කරවන්නට පසුගිය කාලයේ කටයුතු කෙරිණ.

මේ අතරේ විවිධ දේ පවසා අධිකරණයට කරුණු වාර්තා කරමින් යුද හමුදාව සතුව තිබූ ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂාවට අතිශය වැදගත් වන්නා වූ ඉතාම සංවේදී තොරතුරු පවා තමන් භාරයට ගන්නටද විමර්ශකයෝ පියවර ගත්හ. එම තත්ත්වය තුළ අද වන විට එක්‌නැලිගොඩ විමර්ශනය හමුවේ සිදු වූ එකම දෙය වී තිබෙන්නේ හමුදා බුද්ධි අංශ රහස්‌ අනාවරණය වෙමින් ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂාවට පැහැදිලි තර්ජනයක්‌ එල්ල වීම බවද සඳහන් කළ යුතුය.

පසුගිය කාලයේ සිදු කළ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී නඩරාජා රවිරාඡ් ඝාතන විමර්ශනයද එවැන්නකි. එහිදී රවිරාඡ්ට වෙඩි තැබීම සඳහා ඝාතකයා යතුරු පැදියක නංවාගෙන ගිය ප්‍රීතිවිරාඡ් මනම්පේරි නම් වූ පොලිස්‌කාරයා රජයේ සාක්‌කිකරුවකු කරමින් නාවික හමුදා බුද්ධි නිලධාරීන් තිදෙනකු දංගෙඩියට යවන්නට රහස්‌ පොලිසිය දැඩි ලෙස උත්සාහ ගත්තේය.

එහෙත් කොළඹ මහාධිකරණය මගින් එකී නාවික හමුදා බුද්ධි නිලධාරීන් නිදොස්‌ කොට නිදහස්‌ කරනු ලැබීම නිසා එම උත්සාහය ව්‍යර්ථ විය.

රවිරාඡ් නඩුව විභාග වෙමින් තිබියදීම සීඅයිඩීය සිය විමර්ශන මාලාවට අනුව ඊළඟට සමාජය අතරට ගෙනා කතාව වූයේ මාධ්‍යවේදී ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග ඝාතනය ය. එහිදී ලසන්තගේ රියෑදුරා පැහැරගත් බව කියමින් “මිලේනියම් සිටි” පාවා දීමේදී පාවා ජීවිතය බේරාගෙන රටට සේවය කළ සුවිශේෂී බුද්ධි නිලධාරියකු වූ ප්‍රේමානන්ද උදලාගමව අත්අඩංගුවට ගත් ඔවුන් ඔහුව බන්ධනාගාරගත කළේය. එසේ බන්ධනාගාරගත කර සිටියදී මාධ්‍යවේදී උපාලි තෙන්නකෝන්ට පහර දීමේ සිද්ධියටද උදලාගමව සම්බන්ධ කෙරිණ.

මේ සියල්ල සිදු වන්නේ එවකට රිවිර පුවත්පතේ කර්තෘ වූ උපාලි තෙන්නකොන් මහතා තමන්ට සිදුවූ පහර දීම පසුපස සිටිනුයේ සරත් ෆොන්සේකා බව පැහැදිලිවම රහස්‌ පොලිසියට ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබියදී ය. එහෙත් ලසන්ත ඝාතන විමර්ශනයේදී කිසිම අවස්‌ථාවක සරත් ෆොන්සේකා කැඳවා ප්‍රකාශයක්‌ ගන්නට සීඅයිඩීය කටයුතු නොකළේය. ඒ ගැන අහන්නට සරත් ෆොන්සේකා කැඳවූයේ මීට සති දෙකකට පමණ ඉහතදීය.

මේ අන්දමට අද බුද්ධි අංශවලට එරෙහිව සිදු කෙරෙන විමර්ශනවල ඇති ගැටලු සහගත තැන් බොහෝය. ඒවායෙහි කිසිම විනිවිදභාවයක්‌ද පෙනෙන්නට නැත. යුද හමුදා සහ නාවික හමුදා බුද්ධි අංශ රණවිරුවන්ට එරෙහිව සිදු කරන විමර්ශනවලදී දකින්නට ලැබෙන එකම විශේෂත්වය වන්නේ බොහෝ විට රට වෙනුවෙන් විශාල කැපකිරීම් කරමින් කටයුතු කළාවූ බුද්ධි නිලධාරීන් තෝර තෝරා සිරගත කිරීම සීඅයිඩීයේa ඉලක්‌කය වී තිබෙන බවය?

වැල්ලවත්තේදී ළමුන් පස්‌දෙනකු පැහැර ගත්තේ යෑයි කියමින් දැනට සිරගත කර සිටින නාවික හමුදා බුද්ධි අංශයේ කමාණ්‌ඩර් රණසිංහ ඇතුළු පිරිස මෙන්ම ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් දෙදෙනකු පැහැරගත් බව කියමින් සිරගත කර සිටින නාවික හමුදා බුද්ධි බළකායේ ලුතිනන් කමාණ්‌ඩර් ධම්මික අනිල් මාපාත් කීත් නොයාර්ට පහර දුන්නේ යෑයි කියමින් බන්ධනාගාරගත කර සිටින යුද හමුදා සන්නද්ධ බුද්ධි බළකායේ මේජර් බුලත්වත්ත ඇතුළු රණවිරුවන් පිරිසත් මේ රට වෙනුවෙන් ඉටු කර ඇති සේවය දෙස බැලීමේදී එය මනාව පැහැදිලි වන්නකි.

එක්‌නැලිගොඩ සිද්ධියේ සිට මේ දක්‌වා සීඅයිඩීය මගින් විවිධ චෝදනා යටතේ අත්අඩංගුවට ගනු ලැබූ සියලුම බුද්ධි නිලධාරීහු ඉකුත් යුද සමයේ එල්ටීටීඊය පරාජය කිරීම සඳහා දිවි පරදුවට තබා දැඩි කැපවීමකින් කටුයුතු කළෝම වන්නාහ.

රහස්‌ පොලිසියේ විමර්ශනවල යථාර්ථවාදී කතාව එසේ වෙද්දී කීත් නොයාර්ට පහර දීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන සිරගත කර සිටින මේජර් බුලත්වත්ත ඇතුළු යුද හමුදා සන්නද්ධ බුද්ධි බළකායේ රණවිරුවන් පිරිසට ලබන තිස්‌ වැනිදා ඇප ලැබෙන තත්ත්වයක්‌ ද මේ වන විට නිර්මාණය වී ඇත.

ඒ ඔවුන්ට එරෙහිව සාක්‍ෂි දීම සඳහා දැනට ඔස්‌ටේ්‍රලියාවේ පදිංචිව සිටින මාධ්‍යවේදී කීත් නොයාර් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ඒම ප්‍රතික්‍ෂෙප කර ඇති නිසාය. මේ කරුණ හමුවේ මේජර් බුලත්වත්ත ඇතුළු පිරිස ඇප මත නිදහස්‌ වුවහොත් අනෙකුත් සියලු විමර්ශන සේම සීඅයිඩීයේ විමර්ශකයෝ කීත් නොයාර් විමර්ශනයේදීත් අසමත්හු වන්නාහ. එය ඔවුන්ට වදින ප්‍රබල කනේ පහරකි.

එහෙයින් බුලත්වත්ත ඇතුළු පිරිසට ඇප ලැබීම කෙසේ හෝ වළකා ගැනීම සිදු කළ යුතුය. රහස්‌ පොලිසියේ විමර්ශකයෝ අද කඩිමුඩියේම සරත් ෆොන්සේකාගේ කතාව අධිකරණයට රැගෙන යන්නේ මෙන්න මේ හෙතුaව මුල්කරගෙනය. එමගින් මේජර් බුලත්වත්ත ඇතුළු පිරිස මාධ්‍යවේදී ලසන්ත ඝාතනයටද සම්බන්ධ කර තවදුරටත් රක්‍ෂිත බන්ධනාගාරගත කිරීම ඔවුන්ගේ ඉලක්‌කය බව ඉතාම පැහැදිලිය.

මේ අන්දමට බුද්ධි අංශ කෙරෙහි වෛරී විමර්ශන සිදු කරන විමර්කයෝ අද මෙකී ඝාතන සහ පහරදීම් හමුවේ කළ යුතු දේ කොතෙක්‌ නොකර සිටින්නාහුද? ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංගගේ සිරුර යළි ගොඩගෙන සිදු කළ දෙවන වෛද්‍ය පරීක්‍ෂණයට අනුව ඔහුගේ ඝාතනය සිදුව ඇත්තේ විශේෂිත අවියකින් කළ පහරදීමකින් බව මේ වන විට අනාවරණය වී තිබෙන්නකි.

එහෙත් මේ අවිය කුමක්‌ද සහ ලසන්ත ඝාතනය සිදුවන කාලසීමාවේ එකී අවිය තිබුණේ කොතැනකදැයි යන්න පිළිබඳ සීඅයිඩීයේ විමර්ශකයන් තවමත් සොයා බැලීමක්‌ කර තිබේද? එසේ කටයුතු කර නැතිනම් ඒ අතපසු වීම සිදුව ඇත්තේ කුමක්‌ නිසාද? ඒ පිළිබඳ මෙතෙක්‌ යුද හමුදාවෙන් විමසීමක්‌ කළ බවක්‌ ද දැන ගැනීමට නැත.

පසුගිය යුද සමයේ මෙවන් අවි පහක්‌ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ආනයනය කෙරුණු බව එකල අපට වාර්තා විය. ඒවා ගෙන්වා තිබුණේ යුද හමුදාවටය. එසේ නම් යුද හමුදාවට අවි සැපයූ සමාගම් වෙත ගොස්‌ ඒ පිළිබඳ විමර්ශන කිරීමට සීඅයිඩීය කටයුතු නොකරන්නේ මොන හේතුවක්‌ නිසාද? එසේ කළහොත් මේ අවියේ රහස හෙළිවෙතැයි වැනි බියක්‌ ඔවුන් ඇතිවී තිබේද?

ලසන්ත ඝාතන විමර්ශනය සිදුවන අතරේ විශ්‍රාමික මේජර් ජෙනරාල් කුමා හේරත් පසුගිය දිනවල රහස්‌ පොලිසියට ගොස්‌ ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග ඝාතනයට අදාළව එක්‌ විශේෂ පැමිණිල්ලක්‌ කර තිබිණි. එහිදී ඔහු බුද්ධි අංශ පිළිබඳව නොව යුද සමයේ කොළඹ සිට ක්‍රියාත්මක වූ යුද හමුදා 112 බ්‍රිගේඩය පිළිබඳ විශේෂ හෙළිදරව්වක්‌ සිදු කළ බවද දැනගැනීමට ලැබිණ.

එහෙත් අදටත් සීඅයිඩීය ඒ පිළිබඳ විමර්ශන කළ බවක්‌ ද දැන ගැනීමට නැත. එසේ වන්නේ කුමක්‌ නිසාද? අප දන්නා පරිදි 2008-2009 කාලසීමාවේදී මේ 112 බ්‍රිගේඩයේ ප්‍රධානියා ලෙස එක්‌තරා යුද හමුදා බ්‍රිගේඩියර්වරයකු පත්ව ආවේය. හෙතෙම එහි ප්‍රධානියා ලෙස කටයුතු කරනු ලැබුවේ හරියටම මාස තුනක පමණ කාලයකි. ඒ 2008 සැප්තැම්බර් 16 වැනිදා සිට 2009 ජනවාරි 19 දක්‌වාය. පසුව ඔහු යුද හමුදා මූලස්‌ථානයට ස්‌ථාන මාරු විය.

යුද හමුදා ඉතිහාසයේ කිසි විටෙකත් බළසේනාවක හෙවත් බ්‍රිගේඩයක ප්‍රධානියකු මෙසේ මාස තුනකින් ඉවත්ව නොයන්නේය. එසේ නම් මේ බ්‍රිගේඩියර්වරයා එසේ ඉවත්ව ගියේ කුමක්‌ නිසාද? ඒ ගැන මෙතෙක්‌ සීඅයිඩීය සොයා බැලීමක්‌ කර තිබේද? මේ පිළිබඳ හිටපු යුද හමුදාපති සරත් ෆොන්සේකාගෙන් ඇසුවොත් තමන් ඒ ගැන නොදන්නේ යෑයි ඔහු කියනු ඇත. එහෙත් එවැන්නක්‌ එදා සිදු විය.

මෙකී 112 බ්‍රිගේඩයට අනුයුක්‌තව එදා යතුරු පැදිවලින් ගමන් ගන්නා ප්‍රහාරක කණ්‌ඩායමක්‌ද සිටියහ. කොළඹ කොල්ලුපිටියේ ස්‌ථානගතව තිබූ මේ බළසේනාවෙන් සිදුකළේ ද කොළඹ ඇතුළු තදාසන්න ප්‍රදේශවල ආරක්‍ෂක කටයුතු සොයා බැලීමය. එසේ නම් මේ බ්‍රිගේඩය ගැන සොයා බැලීමක්‌ නොකර සීඅයිඩීය අද බුද්ධි අංශ නැට්‌ටේම එල්ලෙන්නේ මොන අහේතුවකටද?

අද විමර්ශන මුවාවෙන් මේ ඉටු කෙරෙමින් තිබෙන්නේ බුද්ධි අංශ දියකර දමා රට අරාජික කර වෙනත් පාර්ශ්වයක මනදොළ පිනවීමේ වැඩපිළිවෙළක්‌a වීම එයට හේතු වී තිබෙන්නේද? අප ඒ ප්‍රශ්නය මෙහිදී නඟන්නේ ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රිපාල සිරිසේන මහතාගේ අවධානය මේ කෙරෙහි දැඩිව යොමු කරනු පිණිසය.

බුද්ධි අංශ දඩයම හමුවේ සිදුවන විනාශයෙන් මේ රට ගලවා ගැනීමට ජනාධිපතිවරයා හැර අන් කිසිවකුත් නැති බව අපේ එකම විශ්වාසය වී තිබෙන්නකි. එහෙයින් ඔහුට මේ අවනඩුව දෙස බලන්නැයි කියනු හැර අපට අද වෙන කියන්නට දෙයක්‌ ඉතිරිව නැත.

සාකච්ඡා කළේ – මනෝඡ් අබයදීර උපුටා ගැන්ම දිවයින

දිනෙන් දින ඉහළ යන ආරක්‌ෂක බුද්ධි අංශ සාමාජිකයන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම සම්බන්ධව සමාජයේ ඇතිවී තිබෙන කතාබහ පිළිබඳ සංවාදය සඳහා හිටපු ආරක්‌ෂක ලේකම් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්‌ෂ මහතා සමග ‘දිවයින ඉරිදා සංග්‍රහය’ කරන සාකච්ඡාවයි මේ.

පිළිතුර – එතුමා සමඟ මගේ තිබුණ සම්බන්ධතාව කලින් ආණ්‌ඩුවේ සිටමයි තිබුණේ. ඇමැතිවරයෙක්‌ ලෙස එතුමා කටයුතු කරන කාලයේ මම ළඟින්ම ආශ්‍රය කළෙත් නැහැ. ඒ වගේම එතුමාට කිසිම අවස්‌ථාවක විරුද්ධ වුණෙත් නැහැ. එතුමා අගමැති ලෙස පත් කරන්න කියලා, මහින්ද රාජපක්‌ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමාගෙන් මම කිහිපවතාවක්‌ම ඉල්ලීම් කළා. මෛත්‍රිපාල ජනාධිපතිතුමා වැඩ කරන්නේ එජාපයත් එක්‌ක… ඒක එතුමාටත් අපහසුතාවක්‌ වෙන්න ඇති. ඒ නිසා දැන් එතුමා සමඟ තිබෙන සම්බන්ධය අඩුයි. දැන් එතුමාට අපි ගැන එක එක දේවල්, කේලම් කියනවා ඇති… ගෝඨා කුමන්ත්‍රණ කරනවා කියලා කියනවා ඇති… එතුමා ජනාධිපතිතුමානේ… මම නිකං ඉන්න මිනිහෙක්‌නේ… බුද්ධි අංශ නිලධාරීන් පිළිබඳව, ජාතික ආරක්‌ෂාව පිළිබඳව එතුමා මගෙන් මොකක්‌ හරි ඇහැව්වොත් මම එතුමා සමග කතා කරනවා. මේ රටේ හැටි දන්නවනේ… අපි කුමන්ත්‍රණකාරයෝ විදිහට එතුමාට කියලා ඇතිනේ… ඒ නිසා එතුමත් කැමති නැතුව ඇති අපි සමග මේ දේවල් කතා කරන්න… බලයේ සිටින විට කියන කේලම් ගැන අපි දන්නවනේ… ගෝඨාගේ මිනිස්‌සු ඉන්නවා… ගෝඨාගේ අය කුමන්ත්‍රණ කරනවා කියලා කිව්වහම එතුමා අපිත් එක්‌ක කතා කරන්නේ නැහැනේ…

Joint Opposition holds anti-govt rally in Galle ආණ්ඩුවට එරෙහිව පෙරළියක පෙරමග ගාල්ලෙන්

By Yusuf Ariff  Courtesy Adaderana

March 25, 2017  07:54 pm

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says that the reason for soaring rice prices and cost of living is due to the ‘stupid’ decisions and carelessness of the government.

– See more at: http://www.adaderana.lk/news/39826/the-law-is-helpless-today-mahinda-rajapaksa#sthash.v9fslXAC.dpuf

රට වෙනුවෙන් යුධ බිමේ මෙන්ම පිටරටදීද සටන් වැදීමට සූදානම් රියර් අද්මිරාල් සරත් වීරසේකර කොටි ඩයස් පෝරාවට සහ පාට කණ්නාඩි දමාගත් එක්සත් ජාතීන්ට නිවරදිව ප්‍රතිඋත්තර ලබාදුන් නමුත් ඒ පිළිබඳව නිවරදිව අවබෝධයක් නොමැතිව එතුමන්ව විවේචනය කිරීමට සිරිසේන ජනපතිවරයාගේ හම්බන්තොට ගෝලයා වන මහින්ද අමරවීර කටයුතු කළේය.

රට වෙනුවෙන් යුධ බිමේ මෙන්ම පිටරටදීද සටන් වැදීමට සූදානම් රියර් අද්මිරාල් සරත් වීරසේකර කොටි ඩයස් පෝරාවට සහ පාට කණ්නාඩි දමාගත් එක්සත් ජාතීන්ට නිවරදිව ප්‍රතිඋත්තර ලබාදුන් නමුත් ඒ පිළිබඳව නිවරදිව අවබෝධයක් නොමැතිව එතුමන්ව විවේචනය කිරීමට සිරිසේන ජනපතිවරයාගේ හම්බන්තොට ගෝලයා වන මහින්ද අමරවීර කටයුතු කළේය.

By The Nation

The saga over the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) continues. It has already seen the good and the bad. Now it is seeing the ugly.

This week police alleged that the reported shooting of the Chief Executive Officer of SAITM was apparently stage managed. A Pradeshiya Sabha member, police claim, was involved in the incident. SAITM has already announced that the CEO has been stood down, pending further inquiries.

While the CEO is entitled to his presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the findings of the Police investigation does not augur well for him and more importantly for SAITM. This incident, if indeed was stage managed as the police now say, gives credence to the claims of the many opponents of SAITM who accuse the institution of bulldozing their way through alleged fraud and deception.

The danger is that it could have an impact in ultimately deciding the fate of the hundreds of SAITM students who entered that institution with the hope of becoming a doctor.

It must be remembered that these are two separate issues. If the CEO of SAITM acted in a fraudulent manner to stage a mock shooting, so he could generate public sympathy, he must be dealt with according to the law for what appears to be an attempt to pervert the course of justice.

This should not be confused with the other issue of granting recognition for SAITM’s students. That must be assessed on its merit. While stringent standards should be maintained at all cost, there are two questions that need clear and definitive answers. Firstly, does the government, and indeed the country, as a policy endorse private medical education? This query needs to be posed because some of those who have joined the vocal bandwagon against SAITM are those opposed to private medical education, no matter what standards are maintained.

Opposing private medical education does not sound like a sensible option in this day and age, especially when the country is losing vital foreign exchange as hundreds of locals seek medical education overseas. Besides, privately funded higher education is available in every other discipline, so why should medical education be the exception? Nevertheless, this is a decision the government must take as a matter of policy.

Secondly, if the government does support private medical education, where does SAITM fit into the equation? What are its deficiencies? How best can they be rectified? What loopholes in the law need to be closed, so that institutions- and hundreds of aspiring medical graduates- do not find themselves in the plight that SAITM and its students are faced with today?

These are greater, broader decisions that will impact on the higher education of generations to come. Therefore, they need to be taken carefully and those making these vital choices should not be jaundiced against SAITM, just because its CEO allegedly staged a publicity stunt.

There is also another side of the coin to being ugly about the SAITM issue: its sworn foes, the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) are also resorting to ugly tactics by staging staggered strikes across the country, one province at a time.

From a strategic point of view, this maybe an astute ploy, if the idea is to educate the masses about SAITM and its purported shortcomings, as the GMOA perceives them. Whenever the health services of a province grinds to a halt and the people ask why, they will learn of SAITM. However, is it moral or ethical on the part of the GMOA to indulge in this type of action?

Ask the GMOA why they say that medical education is over and above everything else and they will tell you that doctors deal with patients’ lives and that this is therefore a profession where no chances can be taken. So, they argue, it is too serious a matter to be left to the private sector alone. They are, of course, correct.

However, how come they do not apply the same stringent standard when they stage strikes? Have they ever witnessed the aftermath of what happens when their doctors go on strike, whether it is over the SAITM issue, or worse still, over duty free vehicle permits or schools for their children?

Hapless patients then turn to the next best alternative- the private sector! On the days that the GMOA is on strike, private hospitals are bursting at the seams with big business as doctors in the private sector move in to fill the void- and in the course of doing so, save a few lives.

Of course, as much as the GMOA is against private medical education and wants it regulated stringently, it hasn’t, if memory serves us right, uttered a word against private practice by its membership.

This is not to say that private practice is evil. In fact, if private practice was banned, all those patients who now utilise the private sector would spill over to the state health system which would then collapse under that unsustainable burden.

However, it is also well known that private practice (or, to use the popular word, ‘channelling’) is also a much abused system. Specialists literally see hundreds of patients within a few hours, spending only a few minutes per patient. Is the GMOA, which argues for strict standards in medical education, telling us that this is good practice and that this does not place patients’ lives at risk? Ah, as far double standards go, this must surely take the cake!

Moreover, GMOA is not a regulator of the medical profession, it is another trade union. So, as far as the average citizen such as yours truly is concerned, yes, if the CEO of SAITM did what he is alleged to have done, then that is ugly and he should suffer the consequences for that, especially for misleading an entire country.

But, by the same token, the game the GMOA is playing it is equally ugly, toying with patients’ lives whenever they feel like it. As the GMOA is demanding, by all means medical education should be very strictly monitored but so should the practice of doctors after they graduate and specialise especially in the private sector.

After all, patients’ lives are too serious a matter to be left in the hands of doctors alone.

The govt. requested for international intervention – G.L. Peiris

අමරවීර ඇමතිතුමා වැරදියට තේරුම් අරන්

Courtesy  Daily Mirror

Courtesy Adaderana

Five years ago, Sri Lanka’s government imposed stricter rules on visa requirements. This happened as part of an on-going process to improve administrative procedures following the end of the war in 2009. Since the new visa laws were proposed, a new government has come into power. What impact do the new visa requirements and this new government’s enforcement of the rules have on real estate investment on the island? Leading property portal Lamudi finds out,

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA

The 1970 UF government carried out a tremendous volume of work to make Sri Lanka a sovereign State, towards making the country self sufficient in food items and establishment of industries and State institutions covering major fields of activities.  When many countries in the East African region called the Sahel rehion and other parts of the world faced a severe food crisis and people in those countries were suffering from malnutrition and scores of people died due to lack of food, people in Sri Lanka were saved from this calamity due to the extensive food production programme launched by the government to make the country self sufficient in food items.  Imports of chillies and onion were banned and the farmers in the North were provided facilities and incentives to grow these items and they became rich overnight. The World Food Programme (WFP) in due recognition of the food production programme of the government issued a Gold Medal with Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s photograph.

The Parliament forming into a Constitutional Assembly extensively discussed on adopting a new constitution for the country and thereby remove all vestiges of the imperialist domination and made Sri Lanka a free, independent and a sovereign State and restored the sovereignty of the people ending more than 5 centuries of foreign domination of the country. It also made Buddhism the State religion with due recognition for the religions worshipped by other communities in the country and thereby guaranteeing the religious freedom in the country.

Sri Lanka which was a prominent leader in the non-aligned world held the 5^th non-aligned summit of the Heads of States in September 1976 with the participation of 96 leaders of the non-aligned countries and this Summit accorded a massive recognition to Sri Lanka all over the world. During this time, the despicable opposition led by the UNP and supported by the west launched a massive disinformation campaign totally obscuring the progressive measures taken by the government and overtly highlighting the hardships faced by the people which was mainly due to the oil and food crises that prevailed all over the world at that time.

It was under these circumstances the UNP under the leadership of authoritarian J.R.Jayawardene launched its campaign of blatant lies, and illusory promises which included provision of 8 kilograms of cereals per person per week, establishment of a job bank to provide employments for everyone, etc, and a promise to establish a Dharmishta Rajya.

It created the most repressive regime in the country’s history, disenfranchised the citizenship rights of the Opposition Leader Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike and some others on concocted charges despite a huge opposition from the people of the country, unilaterally amended the constitution without any consent from the people and created an Executive Presidential Systen and the President claimed that he then posses all the powers except the power to change a man to a woman and vice versa.

The despicable J.R.Jayawardene destroying the whole demographic picture of Sri Lanka and shamelessly submitting to the request of CWC leader S.Thondman halted the repatriation of 625,000 Estate Tamils to India as it was agreed under the Sirima-Shastri agreement and granted all of them Sri Lanka citizenships.  This short sighted measure will deny the Sinhala MPs getting elected from the Badulla and Nuwara Eliya districts and from certain electorates in the Colombo, Kandy, Matale and Moneragala districts in the future.   The self appointed Indian Origin Tamils leader Mano Ganeshan has claimed that they should have 14 IOT MPs, and they will secure this number very soon. There is all possibility that they will also claim for an autonomous IOT enclave in the hill country in the near future thereby further compounding the horrendous ethnic problem.

Subsequently the government then held a bogus referendum to extend the term of Parliament and it was extensively rigged. For the first time in the history of Sri Lanka this repressive autocratic regime obtained undated resignation letters from all the government MPs to prevent any dissension and made the MPs subject to the dictates of the President.  Even the judiciary was subjected to high handed activities of the pro-government thugs such as Gonawila Sunil, Kalu Lucky, and several others having names of mammals, reptiles, and sea monsters as adjectives of their names.  The house of a judge who gave a ruling acquitting Mrs. Vivienne Gunawardene, the veteran LSSP politician from a case filed against her on an spurious charge was stoned by a mob led by Ranil Wickremasinghe’s chum Gonawila Sunil who was rewarded by making him an all island JP. Similarly other thugs and scoundrels who carried out filthy work for the government and the government politicians were rewarded with handsome gifts and privileges.

Parallel to the mob rule, Police repression were also rampant and widespread. People were unable to seek justice from the Police and the government MPs and their cronies ruled the areas and the Police officers who aided and abetted these activities were rewarded with promotions and other perks.

In the economic sphere, an open economic policy detrimental to the country was adopted, the value of Sri Lankan Rupee was floated against U.S.Dollar and other currencies, imports were liberalised thereby allowing imports of all any goods and material destroying all local industries established during 1960 – 1965 and 1970 – 1977 periods and most of the state industries and Corporations were privatised selling them to political cronies.

In 1983 following an ambush carried out by the tiger terrorists in the North 13 soldiers were brutally killed and this led to a pogrom against the Tamils, in which hundreds of Tamil civilians including women and children were killed, their residences, properties, business establishments and places of worship in Colombo and its suburbs were torched. These activities were carried out under the leadership of several government Ministers mainly assisted by the Minister of Industries Cyril Mathew with the connivance of JR who did not take any action to quell these riots for almost one week.

These atrocities forced many Tamils to flee the country to India, Britain, Canada, U.S.A, Switzerland, Norway, Australia and several other European countries in which they received immediate asylum.  This scenario led to their settlement in those countries and they became a staunch anti Sri Lankan community known as Tamil diaspora who are carrying out horrendous activities against Sri Lanka and are determined to destroy the Sri Lankan nation.  They have no intention to return to Sri Lanka leaving behind their luxurious lives in those countries and it is they who financed the LTTE war against Sri Lanka and partly financed the steps taken to depose Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse from power as he was responsible for vanquishing the LTTE militarily. They have already become powerful vote blocks for the Conservative and Labour parties in Britain and they have several elected members in the Canadian Parliament including Gary Anandasangaree, the son of former Kilinochchi MP V. Anandasangaree.

By 1987 our gallant security forces were successfully battling in the war front to liberate the country from the tiger terrorists under the Wadamarachchi operation with the wholehearted backing of the National Security Minister Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali and the tiger terrorists were on the verge of facing their waterloo under this operation.  It was at this crucial juncture J.R.Jayawardene ordered to halt the Wadamarachchi operation due to the threat posed by hegemonic India with their so-called ‘Parippu’ invasion.

JR with greediness to save his Presidency and remain in power consented to hold negotiations with the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, being totally unmoved by the sit-in protests held in Pettah against these negotiations under the leadership of Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike and joined by leaders of all political parties and people of all walks of life and the Maha Sangha.  The negotiations ended with the introduction of the despicable 13^th amendment to the constitution which paved the way for temporarily merging the Northern and Eastern provinces and for the establishment of the white elephant Provincial Councils under which Police and land powers can be granted to these Councils and enable them to function as independent federal units uncontrollable by the central government.  The negotiations also paved the way for sending several thousand Indian forces to Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern provinces as ‘Peace Keeping Forces’ to function independently under total Indian command.` Even some Ministers of the government such as Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Jayasuriya opposed these measures and  Mr. Jayasuriya being a patriotic politician relinquished his Ministerial portfolio and quit from politics.

(Continued on Part III)

චාල්ස් එස් පෙරේරා විසින්

ලංකාවෙ  යුක්තියක් හා සාධාරණයක් තියෙනවද? යහපාලනය කරනවුන්ට මනුස්සකමක් තියෙනවද ?

නීතිය ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට බැඳීසිටින නඩු කාරයෝ උන්ගේ හිතට එකඟවද නැත්නම් යහපාලකයන්ට බයේද නීතිය පනවන්නේ ?

පුංචි දරුවෙකුත් දන්නවා මහදවල් හොරකමක් කරපු මහබැංකුවේ ලොක්කවසිටි අර්ජුන මහේන්ද්‍රන් හොරෙක් කියලා. ඔහු  ලංකාවට රුපියල් බිලියන ගානක වංචාවක් කරලත් ඔහු නිදහස් මහන්තත්ත ජීවිතයක්   රනිල් වික්රමසිංහගේ විශ්වාසකයකු ලෙස ගෙනියනවා, මේ හොරාට උගේම හොරකමගැන හොයාබලන කොමිෂන් සභාවේ පරීක්ෂණය ට  සම්බන්දවී එහි රැඳීසිටීමට පවා කොමිෂන් සභාවේ  සාමාජික නඩුකාරවරයා අවසර  දී තිබෙනවා. මේ හොරුන්ටත් ගෞරවකරන කොඳු නාරටි නැති උන්ද  වාහන අවිභාවිතය කියල කිසිම හොරකමකට සම්බන්ධ නැති  විමල් වීරවංස  මාස දෙකකටත් වැඩි කාලයක් හිරබාරයෙ තියන්නේ.

මේක සම්පුර්නයෙන්ම දේශපාලන පලිගැනීමක් මිසක නීතිය සම්භන්ද දෙයක් නොවේ. මේ ක්‍රියාවෙන් ලංකාවේ නිතිය  පිලිබඳ ගෞරවය තවත් පහලවැටෙනවාමිස වෙන කිසි යහපතක් වෙන්නේ නැ.  මේවා ගැන මොලය යොදවලා කල්පනාකරලා වැරැද්දට වැරැද්ද කියන්න ලංකාවේ නඩුකාරයෝ  උන්ගේ කොඳු නාරටි කෙලින් කරගන්න කාලය පැමිණ තිබෙනවා.

දැන් ලංකාවේ උසාවිවල කරන්නේ   මහින්ද රාජපක්ස මහතා හා එතුමාගේ  පාක්ෂිකයන් වරද කලත් නොකලත් වරද කාරයන් හැටියට ලංකාවේ උසාවි කීපයක නඩුකාරයෝ හා නඩුකාරවරියෝයි  රනිල් වික්රමසින්හගේ  ඇෆ්සීඩි පොලිසියයි එක්වෙලා කරන තීන්දු දීමක්.

මේ අසාධාරණය කොච්චාරකාලයක් පවතියිද ? සිරිසෙන ජනාධිපති කතාකරනව රට හදනවා කියල නමුත් රට හදනබවක් පේන්නේ නැ. රටහදන්ටනම් නිකම් පුරසාරම් කතා නතරකරලා ක්‍රියාකරන්න ඕනෑ. පළමුව රනිල් වික්රමසින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ධුරයෙන් අස්කරල එයාගේ ගෝලයෝ වන මංගල සමරවීර, රවී කරුනානායක, ලක්ෂ්මන් කිරිඇල්ල, රාජිත සේනාරත්න, සරත් පොන්සේකා ආදී නපුංසකයෝ ටිකත් එලවන්න ඕනේ නැතුව මේ යහපාලනය  රාජපක්සලාට  බැන බැන ගෙනියන්න බැ. නමුත් එකට කොන්දක් තියෙන මිනිහෙක් ඕනෑ. සිරිසේනට කොඳු ඇටයත් නැ. රනිල් ට බයේ ඉන්නේ . ඉතින් මේ රට අගාදියට මිසක දියුණුවකට යන එකක් පේන මානයකවත් නැ. සිරිසේන බැංකු හොරකම ගැන හොයන්න පත්කරපු කොමිසන්  වාර්තාවෙනුවෙන්වත් සාධාරණ තීරණයක් ගනීදැයි විශ්වාස කරන්න බැ.

විමල් වීරවංස ගේ කට වහල උන්ට ඕනෑ හැටියේ වැඩකරන්න මහජනතාව ඉඩ තියන එකක් නැ. ඒ නිසා ඔය විමල්  හිරගත කරන නඩුකාරියගේ  ඔළුවට නුවණක් ඇවිල්ල නඩුතීන්දු දෙනවිට , මනුස්ස  කමයි  රට ජාතියට ආදරයයි ඉස්මතුවෙලා මේ යමපාලකයන් කියන කියන දේ කරන්නේ නැතිව විමල්ව හිරෙන් මුදාහරින්ට නුවන ලැබේවායි  ප්‍රාර්ත්තනා කරනවා. නැත්නම් ජානතාව උන්ටත් ශාපකරාවී.

ඇම්  ඩී පී  දිසානායක

සිරිලක් දේශපාලන භූමිකාවේ සැරිසරන දුෂ්ඨයන් දෙදෙනෙක් වෙති. එකියක් බද‍්‍රකාලී චන්ද‍රිකාය  අනිකා මේආත්මයේදි දරුසැපක් නැති රනිල්‍  ය . සිංහල නායකයින් එක එකා නැතිකරදැමීම මුන්ගේ අරමුණය.

කිසියම් හේතුවකින් උපවාසය නිසා වීරවංශ මහතා ගේ ජීවිතයට හානියක් සිදුවුවහොත් රනිල් චන්ද‍රිකාවන් කොක්භඬළා සතුටු වෙනු ඇත .

ඔබ තුමා අවශ‍්‍ය අපටය. ඔබතුමා නිභඬ වීම සිංහලයාගේ මළගමේ ආරම්භයය. ඔබතුමා දුර්ලභ ගනයේ උතුම් මිනිසෙකි.  ඔබතුමා නැතිව සිංහළ ජාතික සටන අඩපන වනුඇත.

සියලූම වීරයන් මළවුන් අතරය.  වීරවංශ සිටියයුත්තේ අප අතරය. ඔබතුමා මළබෙර නළා පිටුපස සුදුවැලි හලා පාවඩ මත නොයායුතුය .

ඔබතුමා යා යුත්තේ අභීත සිංහළ යෝධයින් සමග රතු පළස මතය.

ඔබතුමා ගේ උපවාසය අපට බිය හා දුක ගෙනදේ.  අපට බිය භා දුකදීමට අප ඔබට කල වැරද්ද කවරේද?

දුෂ්ටයින්, ලේපිපාසයෙන් වියරුවැටී නටන භද‍්ධකාලීන්,    අම්බපාලීන්, කොක්හඬලා ඔල්වරසන් දීමට ඔවුන් ඔබට කල මගපෙන්වීම කුමක්ද ?

උපවාසය අතහැර ජාතික සටන ට පෙරමුණ දෙන්න ඔබතුමාගේ භාභුවට වඩවඩා ශක්තිය ලබේවා!

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Media keeps our mind boggling about an impending change of the ministers ,who have failed miserably .

Tell me about any ,minister except the one in charge of health who has done something and yet the Saitm issue has suppressed his popularity .Minister of finance during night raids in customs has been nominated an award for handling bond matter .Transport and Rail minister is sleeping all the time .Road minister in going nowhere .Trade minister accused of land grab in a national park .Sports minister being accused of ruining sports,Port minister who should have been the S(ports) minister playing the ball all over ,( we call it slogging ) about all the ports ,Tourist Minister washing his hands off Sigiriya Fiasco, Education minister trying to undress the traditional white uniform ,Megapolis is still not showing much colours other than creating a short lived bus lane  and who else??

There are so many of them and we do not know what the other portfolios are !

At least for the Sinhala New Year we want to hear good news where the non performing ministers are shuffled and we in Sri Lanka can celebrate our new year with a new feeling

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග 

බෝධිනී සමරතුංග ගේ අනිත් කොන කෘතිය වෛද්‍ය වෘත්තිය පිලිබඳ සාක්‍ෂාත්කරයකි. එය කතුවරියගේ ආත්මකථනයකි. වෛද්‍ය උපාධිය ලබා ඇය මුලින්ම සේවය සඳහා යන්නේ යුද ගැටුම් වලින් පීඩා ලැබූ උතුරුකරයේ රෝහලකටය​. සිංහල වෛද්‍යවරියක ලෙස ඇයට මෙම ප්‍රදේශය නුහුරුය​. ඇය දෙමල බස නොදන්නීය​. දමිල රෝගීන් බහුතරය වන රෝහලක කෙලෙස තම රැකියාව කිරීමට හැකි වෙත්ද යන දෙගිඩියාවෙන් ඇය රෝහලට පැමිනෙන්නීය​. එහෙත් ඇය සතුව අපූරු මෙවලමක් තිබේ. එනම් මානව දයාවයි. මෙම මෙවළම බොහෝ උගත් සහ කුසලතාවයන් ගෙන් යුක්ත වූ වෛද්‍යවරු අමතක කර දැමූවද කතා නායිකාව එය නැති කර ගන්නේ නැත​. එය උපයෝගී කර ගෙන ඇය තම රෝගීන් අමතන්නීය​. එම නිසා භාෂා සහ සංස්කෘතික සීමා අවහිරයන් ඇය කෙරෙහි බල නොපත්වයි.

උතුරේ මෙන්ම දකුනේ දුගී ජනතාව  ප්‍රතිකාර සඳහා පැමිනෙන සෞඛ්‍යය අමාත්‍යාංශයේ උසස් නිලධාරීන් විසින් අමතක කර දමන ලද පහසුකම් අඩු රෝහල් වල සේවය කිරීම පහසු නැත​. මම එය අත්දැකීමෙන් දනිමි. දුප්පත් මිනිසුන් ගේ දහඩිය ගඳ , වාට්ටු වල අසූචි   මුත්‍රා සහ පයිනෝල් මිශ්‍රිත ගඳ , තොග වශයෙන් සැරි සරන මැස්සන් මෙන්ම රාත්‍රියේ එන මදුරුවන් , ඉවසීමට අපහසු රස්නය වෛද්‍ය වෘත්තිය යනු මල් යහනාවක් නොවන බව පසක් කරවයි. එසේම රෝගී ප්‍රතිකාරයේදී අවශ්‍ය කරන ඖෂධ හිඟකම , යල් පැන ගිය උපකරණ, රසායණාගාර පහසුකම් නැති බව​, සමහරක් රෝහල් සේවකයන් ගේ මන්දෝහීත්සාභාවයන් මෙන්ම  රෝගීන් විශයෙහි නොසැලකිල්ල අභිප්‍රේරිත  තරුණ වෛද්‍යවරු වෛද්‍යවරියන් වල්මත් කරවයි. 

මේ නිසා බොහෝ වෛද්‍යවරු පත්වීම් ගෙන ආ මුල් දිනයේ සිට පහසුකම් තිබෙන රෝහල් කරා  යාමට උත්සහ දරති. සමහරු  විදේශ ගත වෙති. තවත් සමහරු මෙම බාධකයන් සියල්ල තම වාසියට හරවා ගෙන රෝහලට යාබදව තම පුද්ගලික දිස්පැන්සරිය ආරම්භ කොට දුගී රෝගීන් හූරාගෙන කා වාහන මන්දිර මිලදී ගනිති. රෝහලේ පහසුකම් අඩුවීම​; බෙහෙත් නැතිවීම මෙම මුදලාලි වෛද්‍යවරුන්ට ප්‍රීතිය උපදවයි. එම නිසා තව තවත් රෝගීන් තමන් ගේ පුද්ගලික වෛද්‍ය මධ්‍යස්ථානයට  ඇදී එති. රෝහලේ සම්පත් දියුණු කිරීමට ඔවුන් උත්සහ නොගනිති. මෙම අම්බලම් වැනි රෝහල් විවෘත කල දිනයේ සිටම මේ දක්වාම මුස්පේන්තු ආකාරයෙන් කිසිදු වෙනසකින් තොරව පවතී. 

එහෙත් අපගේ කතා නායිකාව සහමුලින්ම වෙනස් චරිතයකි. ඇය  දැණුමෙන් මෙන්ම ආකල්ප වලින්ද පොහොසත් ය​. ඇය  බාධක බිඳගෙන වැඩ කරන අයුරු අපූරුය​. මුලින්ම ඇය දමිළ බස ඉගෙන ගන්නීය​. ද්‍රවිඩ හෙදියන් , ද්‍රවිඩ ඇටෙන්ඩන්වරියන්  ඇයගේ ගුරුවරු වෙති. ක්‍රමක් ක්‍රමයෙන් ඉගෙන ගන්නා දමිළ බස හරහා ඇය තම රෝගීන් සමග සංවාදයේ යෙදෙමින් ඔවුන් ගේ රෝගී තත්වයන් අඳුනා ගන්නීය​. ඔවුනට දයාවෙන් ප්‍රතිකාර කරන්නීය​. කල් යත්ම කිසිදු උච්චාරණ  දෝෂයකින් තොරව දෙමල බස කතා කිරීමේ කුසළතාව මෙම සිංහල වෛද්‍යවරිය ලබා ගනී. සිංහලයන් කෙරෙහි අවිශ්වාසයකින් බලන ප්‍රජාවක් තුල තම සිංහල අනන්‍යතාවය රඳවා ගනිමින් ඔවුන් ගේ විශ්වාසය දිනා ගැනීමට ඇය සමත් වූවාය​. එය සුවිසල් ජයග්‍රහනයකි. මනුෂ්‍යත්වය තවමත් නොමල බව ඇය ඔවුනට පසක් කෙරුවාය​. 

මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ මිනිසුන් විවිධ රෝග වලින් පෙලෙති. එසේම දරිද්‍රතාවයේ ව්‍යාධි වන නීරක්තය , මන්දපෝෂණය  මෙම ප්‍රජාව පීඩාවට පත් කොට තිබේ. එසේම නූගත්කම , ස්වථාවය පිළිබඳ දැණුම අඩු බව , මිත්‍යා මත නිසා ඔවුන් ගේ කායික මානසික සෞඛ්‍යය බිඳ වැටෙමින් පවතී.  එහෙත් මෙම වෛද්‍යවරිය අධිෂ්ඨාන පූර්වකව රෝගීන් ගේ සෞඛ්‍යය තත්වය ඉහල නැංවීමට කටයුතු කරන්නීය​. 

කායික රෝගී තත්වයන්ට අමතරව යුද ගැටුම් නිසා මේ කළාපයේ ජීවත් වන ජනයා යුද ආතතියේ ලක්‍ෂණ වන කාංසාව සහ විශාදියේ  රෝග ලක්‍ෂණ පෙන්වති. ඇය කායික රෝග පමණක් නොව මෙවැනි මානසික රෝග පිලිබඳව පවා වෛඥානිකය​. හෘධ ශබ්දයට සවන් දීමේන් හෘධ ආකූලතා හඳුනා ගත හැකි එහෙත් විශාදයේ ලක්‍ෂණ නොහඳුනන යාන්ත්‍රික වෛද්‍යවරුන්ට ඇයගෙන් බොහෝ දේවල් ඉගන ගත හැකි බව මම සිතමි. 

 සමහරක් වෛද්‍යවරුන් ගේ අසංවේදීතාවන් නිසා සමස්ථ වෛද්‍යවරු කෙරෙහි ජනතා කෝපය එල්ල වන යුගයක ; කාන්තාවන් ගේ සම්මුතියකින් තොරව ඔවුනට බලෙන් පවුල් සැලසුම් කරවන වෛද්‍යවරියන් සිටින රටක   මනුෂ්‍යත්වය හඳුනන වෛද්‍ය  බෝධිනී සමරතුංග වැනි චරිත පිළිබඳව ලියවිය යුතුය​.

වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග 

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM, Spokesperson,United Sri Lanka Association, Wellington, New Zealand

To.
Rt. Hon. Bill English MP,
Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Dear Mr.English,

We write  to convey the congratulations and delight of the Sri Lankan community in NZ,  at your announcing your decision to establish a High Commission in Sri Lanka.

We have no doubt this will be mutually beneficial in improving trade and good will  between our two countries that share a similar outlook on many matters including trade, sport, travel and tourism, and our  democratic and secular way of life.

We are also confident, the establishment of High Commissions between our two countries will enhance  activity in all of these areas for the good of both countries.

We would like to take this opportunity to highlight that improving air access between our two countries  will significantly enhance the prospect of achieving all of these goals ,particularly trade and travel.

Right now air access from New Zealand to Sri Lanka is via  Singapore, Malaysia or Hong Kong adding unnecessary distance  and time. The irony is that there are  five flights, four by Emirates air line and one by Qatar airlines that leave Auckland every night and flies over Sri Lanka and Colombo,on their way to their respective Middle East destinations. If  at least one of them could be persuaded to stop in Sri Lanka, this unnecessary time and distance  could be avoided at little additional cost, while also enhancing the returns for the airline.

We urge you to explore achieving this as a part of your efforts to improve activity between our two countries.

With our thanks and best wishes once again,

Yours Sincerely,

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM

Spokesperson,

United Sri Lanka Association,

Wellington,

New Zealand

ALI SUKHANVER

‘Mr. Modi cannot wash his hands off. This is a Fascist ideology, supported by the BJP and Narendra Modi. He is carrying forward the agenda of RSS. The political agenda of the RSS is to divide the nation and to remain in power and to seek power and I think he is badly exposed,’ these are the words of Rita Bahuguna Joshi in response to a question asked by someone from the ANI.

The question was; how would you clarify the difference between Mr. Modi and the RSS’. Rita Bahuguna Joshi belongs to the Congress party and is ranked high among mild and moderate Indian politicians. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh commonly known as the RSS is an organization which claims to struggle for giving India back its ‘lost identity’ as a Hindu state.

The RSS was founded in 1925 as an anti-colonial organization. It claims to promote a fundamentally different vision that draws on a mixture of Hindu legends and ancient Indian history.

The philosophy followed by the RSS and Mr. Modi is known as the Hindutva philosophy but the modern and moderate members of the Indian society name this philosophy as the Hindutva Terror; a philosophy which has simply become a serious threat to all those who are not Hindus by creed. While discussing RSS and BJP and their linkage with Mr. Modi, it must be kept in mind that Hindutva is something altogether different from Hinduism. It was Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who first time coined the term Hindutva. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was an Indian pro-independence activist, lawyer, politician, poet, writer and playwright. He advocated dismantling the system of caste in Hindu culture, and reconversion of the converted Hindus back to Hindu religion. His concepts of the Hindutva are narrated in his book ‘Essentials of Hindutva’. RSS General Secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji once explained the Hindutva philosophy for common people in very simple words, Hindustan means land of Hindus; so anyone living here is automatically a Hindu first.”

A report published in the Reuters titled ‘Battling for India’s soul’ says, An ascendant Hindu nationalist group wants minority Muslims and Christians to accept that India is a nation of Hindus, and is pushing some of them to convert. The move against the Muslim and Christian minorities in India is being fully supported and supervised by the RSS.” In short the joint agenda of the RSS, the BJP and of Mr. Modi is just to push India into a hell of a civil war against the minorities in India including the Muslims and the Christians. No one knows what would be the end-state of this war against minorities but one thing is very much clear that RSS, BJP and Mr. Modi; all are dreaming of changing the secular society of India into a Hindu extremist society.

‘RSS is not just antithetical to Muslims’ is the title of an article written by Shamsul Islam and published in the Daily Indian Express a few month back. He is a world-known scholarly figure and teaches political science at the University of Delhi. In this article he said giving reference to the Organiser of 14^th August, 1947, Just on the eve of Independence when Indians were celebrating the newly freedom, the paper denigrated the choice of our National Flag in the following words, ‘The people who have come to power by the kick of fate may give in our hands the Tricolour but it never be respected and owned by Hindus.

The word three is in itself an evil, and a flag having three colours will certainly produce a very bad psychological effect and is injurious to a country.’ RSS hated every symbol of democratic-secular Indian polity.” Shamsul Islam further says, The animosity of RSS towards the Muslims proceeds long before Godhra/Gujarat 2000 carnage had happened. Both Savarkar (Hindutva 1923) and Golwalkar (We or Our Nationhood Defined 1935) had declared Muslims and Christians foreigners to be thrown out of the Hindu Nation and denied Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism as independent religions.”

A very detailed report was published in The Hindustan Times a few months back on the ideology followed by the RSS. The report said, The RSS is the ideological parent of the BJP. The Modi government has appointed RSS sympathizers to prominent positions in recent months. This includes the chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India, the chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research and a board member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India. BJP president Amit Shah and seven members of Modi’s cabinet also joined the RSS in their youth.

Home minister Rajnath Singh, who was once an RSS official and went on to lead the BJP, is now pushing for a nationwide ban on cow slaughter.” According to different Indian analysts, most of the ministers in the cabinet had their political consciousness shaped by the RSS and its affiliates. Modi spent his formative years as a full-time volunteer in the group, which he credits for his work ethic, discipline and success. Hostility to the minorities has never been the part of any religious philosophy. Even Hinduism does not support maltreatment with the minorities. From where do the Hindu extremist elements like the RSS, the BJP and honorable Mr. Modi get this dirty food for thought, certainly a difficult question.

Embassy of Sri Lanka Washington D.C.

March 24, 2017

In the month of February, two congressional delegations of U.S. House of Representatives visited Sri Lanka.  The first was a bipartisan four-member delegation of the House Democracy Partnership (HDP) Committee led by Chairman Peter Roskam and Ranking Member David Price.  An eight-member bipartisan delegation led by the House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte immediately followed.

Following up on the manifest greater engagement by the members of the U.S. Congress with Sri Lanka, Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam met with several leading members of the U.S. Congress in the past week.

The Ambassador had fruitful discussions with the leadership of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce and Chairman Ted Yoho of the House Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee. He met with Congressman David Price, the Ranking Member of the House Democracy Partnership, in follow up to his visit to Sri Lanka for promoting deeper partnership with the HDP.  The Ambassador also called on the Senator Chris Van Hollen, the newly appointed Senator for Maryland.

The Ambassador briefed the members of Congress on the progress made by the Unity Government in advancing good governance, the rule of law, political and economic reforms and reconciliation. Discussions centered on working towards expanding the partnership between the two countries in multiple spheres of cooperation.

Dr Hector Perera       London

I was living in a room only boarding house near Punchi Borella, not too from The All Saints Church when I had to study for Science Advanced Level. Then I had to depend on hotel takeaways than cooking. At the start I had to cycle or walk all the way to hotels to bring in or eat in hotels. Even when it rains, I had to get something to eat from hotels because I didn’t cook anything at the start, not because I didn’t know basic cooking but I didn’t start until a little later.  For one reason or the other, I didn’t like those kinds of food and one of the reasons is that maybe they are not quite hygienic. Who knows if the chefs washed the vegetables properly to get rid of some mud, sand, fertilizers sticking on to them, also there could have been pesticides on them. Have you seen mukunuwenna” sold near Kelani Bridge? They were grown just near the bridge at an area called Orugoda watta. That area usually get flooded and all the mud, sludge and all other dirty water covers these plants from time to time. There are open sewage from the shanty areas that means night soil” around that area and oils spilling from garages as well. That was in Sri Lanka how about this story in London. Thames Water has been fined a record £20m after pumping nearly 1.5 billion litres of untreated sewage into the River Thames. Water for household uses are mainly from river Thames but there is pollution from raw sewage. If I describe any more, one might lose the taste of those very healthy mukunuwenna”, so let me cut it off here.

   My cooking was no better than kussi amma” at the start

Then I tried to cook something at the boarding house and by trial and error I found the way to cook simple things such as rice and curries. There was no technique, just added some spices to things such as chicken and fish and cooked on a kerosene cooker. A man on a bullock cart home delivered kerosene oil just for one rupee a gallon. Those days there were no liquid petroleum gas cookers or LPG at our place. Those days most people depended on firewood stoves for cooking. This is a still a very common method in remote villages in Sri Lanka and those kerosene cookers also have disappeared. This is how I started my cooking but now I have improved and found a scientific energy and smell saving method of cooking by sheer chance. Fortunately I had the company of three other friends in the boarding house to share these works. I must say they all got through to medicine and I didn’t get into anywhere near other than passing two subjects in Advanced level. When I found a teaching post in the same private college we studied, I found the way to come over to England for further studies then only I discovered how to cook and save energy.

Many inventions have been made by sheer accident and my discovery was no better

Sir Isaac Newton — The Discoverer of Gravity! Sir Isaac Newton was an English mathematician and mathematician and physicist who lived from 1642-1727. The legend is that Newton discovered Gravity when he saw a falling apple while thinking about the forces of nature. To begin with he didn’t do any research in a laboratory but sat under an apple tree during the summer then an apple fell on his head then only he discovered the theory of gravity again by sheer accident.

Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming’ returning from holiday on September 3, 1928, Fleming began to sort through petri dishes containing colonies of Staphylococcus, bacteria that cause boils, sore throats and abscesses. He noticed something unusual on one dish. It was dotted with colonies, save for one area where a blob of mould was growing. The zone immediately around the mould—later identified as a rare strain of Penicillium notatum was clear, as if the mould had secreted something that inhibited bacterial growth.

Archimedes ran fully naked on his discovery

Archimedes was born in Syracuse on the eastern coast of Sicily and educated in Alexandria in Egypt. He then returned to Syracuse, where he spent most of the rest of his life, devoting his time to research and experimentation in many fields.

The King of Syracuse wanted to check if the crown was made out of pure gold so he contacted the famous Archimedes. He knew that he is not allowed to break the crown to find out if any cheap metals are added. He was taken with this problem, day and night he was thinking very hard to solve it. Even while he had a bath he was thinking about the problem. Then one day, as he got into a bath tub full of water, he realised, the weight of a body immersed in a liquid, called after him as Archimedes’ Principle that a body immersed in a fluid is subject to an upward force (buoyancy) equal in magnitude to the weight of fluid is displaces. He was so excited with his discovery that he hopped out of the bath and rushed naked into the street yelling triumphantly, Eureka, Eureka!” that means, I found it”.

Galileo was imprisoned for his invention

Galileo Galilei was charged with heresy because of his Copernican heliocentric writings, which claimed that the Earth revolved around the sun and not vice-versa. During the 15th century, the Catholic Church used Biblical passages to maintain that the Earth was a fixed body at the centre of the universe.

Galileo was first accused of heresy in 1613, when he wrote a letter to a student defending the Copernican theory that the Earth revolves around the sun. Research and telescopic observations had convinced him that Copernicus’s ideas did not contradict the Bible. He explained that the Biblical passages in question were written from the perspective of Earth and could not be taken literally. Officials of the Roman Inquisition declared that Copernican beliefs were heretical and ordered Galileo not to defend them either orally or in writing.

Galileo was ordered to turn himself in to the Holy Office to begin trial for holding the belief that the Earth revolves around the Sun, which was deemed heretical by the Catholic Church. Standard practice demanded that the accused be imprisoned and secluded during the trial. Now the people respect even by naming the long distance flying objects under his name, never mind they realised much later.

Study, sleep and cook in one room

When I came to England I had to study, sleep and cook in a single room unlike in Sri Lanka. Back home I was fortunate to see that my mum had a seven bedroomed detached house in two acres of coconut land but in England I had to start in a single room. When I discovered scientific method of saving 60% energy and stopping cooking aroma depositing while cooking, I didn’t run naked on the streets to yell at the people but contacted The Sustainable Energy Authority and The Invention Commission in Sri Lanka. A whole team of them visited our apartment in Colombo to investigate my claim and they approved the technique. That was no ordinary cooking but application of science in cooking. The Invention Commission even filmed my cooking demonstration and added to their official web site and it is still found under Google search under my name. Fortunately, the day after the work was demonstrated to The Sustainable Energy Authority, I was invited to a live cooking demonstration by Sirasa TV authorities. Even though my work was approved there was no certificate to show the TV authorities because it was just on the previous day I demonstrated the work to the energy authorities. I got my certificate a few days later.

Have my doubts if any British TV chef can cook like me

Far too many chefs appear in many British TV programmes cooking far too many things but I have my doubts if they cook and save any energy. As far as I could understand they usually shower themselves with cooking aroma and waste energy as well. I would like to get an opportunity to educate the general public about my scientific energy saving cooking and also to let them know how to avoid any cooking aroma getting on them while cooking. If I was disproved I will give them £50,000 yes fifty thousand. I am waiting any right authority to contact about my work then take it from there. Your comments are welcomed perera6@hotmail.co.uk

By A. Abdul Aziz.

 Saturday 23rd March 1889 was the momentous day when Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, accepted the hands of forty faithful servants in allegiance to the 10 conditions of Bai’at (initiation) and founded the community which he called ‘The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at’. The Promised Messiah^, peace be on him, took this oath of allegiance at the house of a spiritual preceptor Hazrat Sufi Ahmad Jan in the city of Ludhiana (Punjab, India). Hazrat Moulavi Hakim Nooruddin was the first person to have the honor of taking the first Bai’at. This was a revolutionary yet a very modest beginning to a new chapter in the history of Islam.

 128 years after this day, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is spread across the world in 209 countries, with worldwide membership exceeding tens of millions. The current headquarters are in the United Kingdom.

 The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic organization to believe that the long-awaited Messiah has come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that God sent Ahmad, peace be on him, like Prophet Isa to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace. Ahmad’s advent has brought about an unprecedented era of Islamic revival. He divested Islam of fanatical beliefs and practices by vigorously championing Islam’s true and essential teachings. He also recognized the noble teachings of the great religious founders and saints, including Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu and Guru Nanak (peace be on all of them), and explained how such teachings converged into the one true Islam.

 The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form. Over a century ago, Hazrat Ahmad emphatically declared that an aggressive Jihad by the sword’ has no place in Islam. In its place, he taught his followers to wage a bloodless, intellectual Jihad of the pen” to defend Islam. To this end, Hazrat Ahmad penned over 90 books and tens of thousands of letters, delivered hundreds of lectures, and engaged in scores of public debates. His rigorous and rational defenses of Islam unsettled conventional Muslim thinking. As part of its effort to revive Islam, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continues to spread Hazrat Ahmad’s teachings of moderation and restraint in the face of bitter opposition from parts of the Muslim world.

 Similarly, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic organization to endorse a separation of mosque and state. Over a century ago, Hazrat Ahmad taught his followers to protect the sanctity of both religion and government by becoming righteous souls as well as loyal citizens. He cautioned against irrational interpretations of Quranic pronouncements and misapplications of Islamic law. He continually voiced his concerns over protecting the rights of God’s creatures. Today, it continues to be an advocate for universal human rights and protections for religious and other minorities. It champions the empowerment and education of women. Its members are among the most law-abiding, educated, and engaged Muslims in the world.

 The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the foremost Islamic organization with a central spiritual leader, known as the Khalifa of Islam. Over a century ago, Hazrat Ahmad reminded his followers of God’s promise to safeguard the message of Islam through Khilafat  (the spiritual institution of successorship to prophethood). The Community believes that only spiritual successorship of Khilafat can uphold the true values of Islam and unite humanity. Five spiritual leaders have succeeded Hazrat Ahmad since his demise in 1908. It’s fifth and current spiritual head, His Holiness the Khalifa of Islam Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, resides in the United Kingdom.

 Under the leadership of Islamic Khilafat, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has now built over 16,000 mosques, over 500 schools, and over 30 hospitals. It has translated the Holy Qur’an  into over 75 languages. It propagates the true teachings of Islam and the message of peace and tolerance through a twenty-four hour satellite television channel (MTA) the Internet www.alislam.org and print (Islam International Publications). The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has been at the forefront of worldwide disaster relief through an independent charitable organization,

Humanity First

To mark the Founder’s Day, special events are organized in Ahmadiyya Centers Island-wide on Sunday, March 26.

LOVE FOR ALL: HATRED FOR NONE.

By NJ Thakuria

Guwahati: Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) expresses happiness and gratefulness over the recent Gauhati High Court directive to the management of Janasadharan, an Assamese daily newspaper  to clear all the unpaid wages of the employees till January and also make an endeavour to pay the current wages accordingly.

The court also asked the management  of Janasadharan Printing and Publication Ltd to restart publishing the newspaper, which has already been honoured by the proprietor with full cooperation of the employees.

Janasadharan, owned by Congress leader Rockybul Hussain and then edited by Left intellectual Dr Shivnath Barman, was suddenly stopped from publication by the management in last November, following which the employees lodged a complaint in the legal authority.

Few employees had already left with the newspaper with some financial benefits offered by the management but many did not resign and vowed to fight legally against the shut down. The agitating employees also continued attending the office of Janasadharan without any salary from the management since December.

We  hope that the renewed initiative to publish Janasadharan regularly will be fruitful for the dedicated employees of the newspaper in particular and thousands of its committed readers in general,” said a statement issued by JFA president  Rupam Barua and secretary Nava Thakuria.

The statement argues that many newspaper house-owners in northeast India started closing their outlets fearing of the Supreme Court’s verdict over the implementation of Majithia Wage Board recommendations for the benefit of the print media employees with affect from November 2011.

According to the apex court of the country, each and every newspaper & news agency in India must hike the salary & other benefits to their employees under the new wage board recommendations. As the media houses in the region, except the Assam Tribune group, have not implemented the recommendations, every employee can claim over 60 months’ outstanding payments from their respective managements, added the statement.

By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary.

 According to media reports, Algerian Government has continued to crackdown on members of the Ahmadi Muslims in the country. The Ahmadiyya Community in the country has expressed concern over the religiously motivated arrests.

From June 2016, onwards, the authorities in Algeria targeted members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, arresting at least 70 in Blida and Skikda provinces and other parts of the country on account of their faith. Mass arrests of Ahmadis seem to have commenced in early 2016, but took a more intense turn in July 2016 when Algerian authorities commenced a dismantling procedure” of the group’s offices in Blida. According to some sources this resulted in the arrest of hundreds of people.

Algerian newspaper EnNahar revealed that the crackdown against the Ahmadis in Algeria started in the first week of June, the investigation was spread over three states and during the course of the investigation the security forces raided the Ahmadiyya headquarters in the state of Blida. During the month-long crackdown dozens of Ahmadis were arrested and charged with violating social peace, and the under-construction community centre in the state of Blida was also demolished by the local Municipality.

On November, 20 Ahmadis were sentenced to prison in Skikda, and the following month 33 individuals were arrested in Sétif. Media reports indicate, on Friday, November 25th Algerian security forces raided a house in the coastal town of Béni Saf and arrested six Ahmadis while they were performing Friday Prayer. In late February, there were reports of arrests of National President and the General Secretary of the Ahmadiyya Community in Algeria. On 2 March the High Islamic Council of Algeria issued a Fatwa calling for an end to Ahmadi activities,” and on 13 March another 15 Ahmadis were arrested in Bejaïa.

 Media reports indicate, Ahmadis in Algeria have experienced a number of social problems, including expulsion from work, social boycotts and breaking up of families. The religious clergy have issued edicts against Ahmadis and in some cases ordered the wives of Ahmadis to separate from their husbands or vice versa. By way of example this has been seen in the Ain Sefra and Ghardaya cities.

 We urge the international community to take note of the worsening situation of Ahmadis in Algeria and to intervene to put an end to this persecution. We also urge the Government of Algeria to free the Ahmadis who have been imprisoned and to stop this current state of harassment and persecution of Ahmadis.

No point telling Parliament, must go to Geneva – Rajapaksa

The Street Walk By Bandula Jayasekara Courtesy The Island

Sri Lanka is the best country in the world. It is a land like no other. Incredible! That is why there is a song and people always say ‘Loken Uthum Rata Sri Lankawai’ (Sri Lanka is the best country in the world). We have the best Finance Minister in the world and he wins awards no one really knows about and it happens all the time. Some publish advertisements and felicitate him. But, the US dollar continues to rise against the poor Sri Lankan rupee. Still, the United States is our best friend and he is still the best Finance Minister in the world. Aren’t we proud? However, no banks in Sri Lanka come under him. Some say he got just the blood bank. But, he is no Dracula. Dracula is much thinner than him. He sure can give blood to the needy. He is a lucky man because he gets to sign all the currency notes, even though he got no control over the Central Bank. He truly is a lucky hurly burly fellow. Our Best in the world Finance Minister, who says there is no Bond scam when there is a GOPE report and a special presidential commission appointed by the President himself. He is a jolly good fellow.

Sri Lanka also got the best former Central Bank Governor of the world. He is the most talked about man may be in the history, present and even in the future of Sri Lanka. Newspapers, Radio stations, Television Channels are full of him. He looks larger than himself and sometimes thoughtful. He is the only person Sri Lankans know of. He might be soon voted as the Man of the Century and all those centuries scored by Duleep, Sidath, Roy , Aravinda, Arjuna, Sanath, Mahela and Sangakkara will be in vain. Many say he is the most powerful person in Sri Lanka. More powerful than the President, Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and the Joint Opposition. He got honourable mention in a parliament committee and he is also the founder of the footnote brigade a new division in Sri Lanka (US Marines, please take note). There is also a special presidential commission in his honour. I think he is lucky to be living in the best country in the world. Where else would one get this type of publicity and protection? Yes. We are the best.

Sri Lanka is also very fortunate to have the best minister in the world. He has gone wild. At times he hates wild animals. Then he will clear land in wildlife sanctuaries and resettle people, according to his whims and fancies. He doesn’t care a damn for the former President, current President or even the all powerful Prime Minister. He always says he is very innocent and gives the slip to the media and even to himself. He is a champion crossover man, a former cross country champion and owns a cross bench. The only thing we wouldn’t know is if he is a cross dresser. Last week I saw photos of him and another Minister, a classmate type in London. I am sure they met the Queen of Scotland in London.

Sri Lankans are also a lucky bunch. This is the only country that could boast of a proposition, opposition cum no opposition and a joint opposition and confusion. They all have mastered the art of stage drama, tele drama and cinema. They are excellent method actors and actresses, who are hell bent in achieving the same objectives which are Power and Perks. They work very hard towards it with no expense to them, but to the poor people of Sri Lanka. Aren’t we lucky man? They travel on rural roads where even a bullock cart cannot go, in brand new Land Cruisers. Some have sold those luxury vehicles and donated money to ‘charity’ – after all charity begins and ends at home.

Our best country in the world is the only country in the world which has two former Presidents in politics. They belong to one party, but are poles apart and most of the time they put ‘part’ to each other. Many Sri Lankans wonder if they ever belonged to the same party. They both want the limelight until the very end, or they both think that end will never come. They both have a great vocabulary. They both go to Temples and consider themselves as Buddhists. But, their war of words does not end, which makes us the greatest country in the world. Another reason Sri Lanka earned the reputation as the best country in the world is… we have a Prime Minister who is not at his prime anymore. Its beyond him and he has become like an old broken record player. He is also a record holder when it comes to elections and selections. Lately he has developed a dry sense of humour. School children refer to it as Dry Jokes. A colleague said he should be sent to the dry zone permanently. He is also like Jack in the Box at times. At times he is Bombay, going Kolkata. His answers in parliament are like Parangiya Kotte giya wage (How the Portuguese went to Kotte) He is well aware that the parliament is in Kotte, though you and I think it’s still in Colombo.

These are only few reasons Sri Lanka is the best country in the world and now you know why Americans, Chinese, Indians, Australians, Spanish, Canadians, Somalis, Puntalands are moving to Sri Lanka lock stock and barrel. Hip Hip Hurrah.

by PROFESSOR G.L. PEIRIS

March 23, 2017, 9:31 pm
What is evident for all to see is that Yahapalanaya has deteriorated today into the expression of a totally autocratic culture, in Parliament as well as in the country at large. Across the country vital elections at grassroots level are postponed indefinitely on the flimsiest of pretexts, while the situation in the nation’s highest legislature represents a caricature of the basic norms of a robust democracy.

Parliamentary proceedings in the first week of March were marred by several developments, all of them significant and some unique.

The Leader of the Joint Opposition in Parliament was suspended by the Speaker from the sittings of the House for a week. Police officers were brought into the Chamber to assist in his expulsion. During tenure of the Speakership of Chamal Rajapaksa and W.J.M. Loku Bandara, there was turmoil in Parliament on many occasions, involving not only verbal abuse but fisticuffs, repeated interruption of proceedings, invasion of the well of Parliament followed by sit-ins extending throughout the night, removal of the Mace and display of posters within the Chamber of the House. Regrettable as these events certainly were, not on a single occasion was any Member of Parliament, let alone an occupant of the Front Bench and the leader of a political party and Parliamentary leader of the group of parties comprising the Joint Opposition, suspended from sittings of the House. A police presence in the Chamber was not contemplated for a moment.

With no parallel whatever in Parliamentary history, in this or any other country, the government of the day walked out of the Chamber, signifying complete abdication of its responsibilities in the Legislature.

The following circumstances, presented with no embellishment, indicate the depth and gravity of the developing crisis with regard to fundamental democratic values.

I. Constitutional Role of the Leader of the Opposition

It is taken for granted in Parliamentary tradition and practice all over the world that the Leader of the Opposition must be seen as the head of an alternative government, an Administration in waiting, to replace the government currently in power. Not even the most extravagant imagination could credit Mr. R. Sampanthan, for all his sterling qualities, with this potential.

He leads a Party which counts no more than 16 Members in a Parliament of 225. The Tamil National Alliance, of which he is the head, polled a mere 4.6% of the national vote at the last Parliamentary elections. It is difficult to recall any instance when Mr. Sampanthan raised his voice effectively in Parliament against government policy, in respect of any national issue transcending matters pertaining to the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Having played an indispensable role in installing the present government in office, he is regarded by a wide spectrum of the public as an essential component of the government, resolutely committed to its continuation in power.

It is, therefore, hardly surprising that Mr. Sampanthan should turn out to be the only Leader of the Opposition, in any country at any time, to vote for a Government Budget, unreservedly and without moving any material Amendment to its contents. He also cut an incongruous figure when, as Leader of the Opposition, he voted in Parliament this month for the suspension from Parliamentary sittings of a senior colleague sitting with him on the Opposition Front Bench, who had persevered in his attempts to resist encroachment by the Government on the collective rights of the Opposition.

By contrast, the Joint Opposition, consisting of a broad coalition of parties stridently critical of the core policies of the incumbent administration, has demonstrably secured acceptance in the public mind as the authentic voice of the Opposition. Public exposure of Parliamentary debates provides ample testimony to this. And yet, the incongruous reality is that the leaders of these parties are denied facilities even in terms of office equipment, secretarial assistance and logistical support, all of which are essential for them to perform adequately the duties cast upon them by the voting public. It is surely repulsive to observe them in a position of dependence on the present Leader of the Opposition for access to these basic facilities.

II. Dimensions of the Nineteenth Amendment

The Speaker’s recognition of Mr. Sampanthan as Leader of the Opposition, flawed at its very root, assumes an even more serious dimension on account of a perspective relevant to the Nineteenth Amendment. Indeed, it would seem that his appointment was an initiative to subvert the principal objectives of this landmark legislation.

One of its much trumpeted accomplishments is the creation of a Constitutional Council, the composition of which is governed by the provisions of the Nineteenth Amendment. The Constitutional Council – which is entrusted with functions of the highest importance, including recommendation for the appointment of such key personnel as the Chief Justice, the Attorney-General, the Inspector-General of Police and Chairmen of the “independent” Commissions – consists of 10 members, with the Speaker as Chairman.

The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, who are members ex officio, are vested with responsibility for identifying 5 other persons to be appointed members of the Constitutional Council. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, together with their 5 nominees, therefore comprise a group of 7 persons, making up an overwhelming majority of the total membership of the Constitutional Council.

The Speaker’s recognition of Mr. Sampanthan as Leader of the Opposition ensures that the government is comfortably able to have its nominees appointed to crucial positions in the public life of the nation. The country has seen the disastrous consequences of this state of affairs during the last 2 years.

The situation is further aggravated by the deliberate failure on the part of the Constitutional Council to comply with seminal requirements of the Nineteenth Amendment – for example, stipulation of criteria for the recommending of appointments (an obligation which the Council is compulsorily called upon to perform within 3 months, but has inexcusably gone by default upto now). The contrived absence of any norms or yardstick has enabled the government, acting through a pliable and accommodative Constitutional Council, to overlook when expediency demands considerations such as seniority without the assignment of any intelligible reason for a seemingly arbitrary choice. This has happened repeatedly, giving rise to growing cynicism and rapid erosion of public confidence.

III. Arithmetic of the Situation

The bizarre character of contemporary events is underscored by this factor. It is established principle in India that no political Party is entitled to the position of Leader of the Opposition unless that Party commands a minimum of 10% of the total number of seats in the House. The numerical strength of the Tamil National Alliance in Parliament is, of course, well below this threshold.

The absurdity of Mr. Sampanthan’s appointment is seen in sharp relief in the context of refusal by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, upon formation of the Narendra Modi Government, to concede the post of Leader of the Opposition to the Congress, on the ground that the latter did not satisfy the mandatory criterion as to strength. By the same token, no Leader of the Opposition was named when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was sworn in as the first Prime Minister of independent India.

IV. Incapacitation of the Joint Opposition

By its very nature, the Joint Opposition is an umbrella political grouping which embraces within it a range of parties which, while subscribing to a common outlook and convictions in respect of major issues, advisedly retain their distinct identity. Sustained denial of their right to articulate their separate points of view on the floor of Parliament smacks of a stubborn affront to highly visible political reality.

The result of this attitude has been the unwarranted withholding from these Parties, and their leaders, of their due entitlement to adequate opportunity for participation in debates and in the work of Parliamentary Committees, as well as their right to raise urgent issues in the public interest under Standing Order 23(2), in adjournment debates and other contexts. The public were recently treated to the farcical spectacle of leaders of the Joint Opposition being compelled to hold a media conference in the Members’ car park.

The thrust of these circumstances goes well beyond deprivation of the legitimate rights and privileges, as such, of Members of Parliament: it impinges crucially on the aspirations of voters who returned them to Parliament and debilitates, in vital respects, the functioning of a vibrant representative democracy.

V An Unconvincing Policy Rationale

The argument repeatedly resorted to by the Speaker to explain and justify this state of things is the circumstance that all the parties comprising the JO contested the Parliamentary elections under the common symbol of the betel leaf. It is claimed that this results in their necessarily having to be looked upon as an inseparable entity governed by the hierarchy of the UPFA. The SLFP is the largest component of it, and more than one-half of its Members elected to Parliament on the UPFA ticket sit and vote in Parliament as the JO. The President of the country, who is also the leader of the SLFP, has fully acquiesced in these Members functioning in Opposition and voting against salient government measures including the Budget. Notwithstanding all this, it is contended that the SLFP hierarchy, which has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the UNP, has the unqualified right to exercise effective control over the decisions and actions of SLFP MPs forming part of the JO.

The anomaly to which this gives rise, is manifestly incompatible with established precedent in this country as well as overseas. In 1981, during a period of intense crisis within the SLFP, the elections authority determined that Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike had legitimate control over the Party machinery. When action was sought to be taken, on the basis of this ruling, against Maithripala Senanayake and others who constituted the rival faction, the Speaker at the time, holding that the decision by the elections authority in this regard was not binding on Parliament, insisted on appointing a Parliamentary Committee to make its own assessment. Moreover, the course of events in India during the conflict between the two wings of the Congress, one led by Indira Gandhi and the other by Kamraj and Morarji Desai, is unmistakably at variance with the reasoning underpinning the decision by the Speaker.

VI Inspiration Derived from Precedent

The cardinal principle in this context is that the Speaker, as custodian of the rights of all Members of the House, should not only be entirely impartial but that his objectivity should be unhesitatingly perceived and acknowledged. The perception is just as important as the reality.

This essential attribute of the Speaker is firmly anchored in hallowed tradition, associated as it is with the iconic figure of Speaker Lenthall. During the civil war between King Charles I and his Parliament, the monarch, in his relentless pursuit of the leaders of the Parliamentary Party opposed to him, went with his armed entourage, demanded entry into the Chamber of the House of Commons and insisted that the Speaker should surrender his adversaries to him. The memorable words of Speaker Lenthall have reverberated through the annals of British and Commonwealth Parliamentary history. The Speaker, addressing the indignant King, declared: “Sire, I have neither eyes to see, nor ears to hear, nor tongue to speak, except that which this House commands”. Decisively rebuffed, the King could do no more than observe prior to his ignominious retreat: “The birds have flown”. The Speaker’s words, signifying the need for explicit manifestation of absolute independence of the Speaker of Parliament from any tinge of Executive patronage and influence, as a necessary condition for the integrity of Parliament itself, have clear resonance in our own country today.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

When I see the TV and the photos in the paper where President Putin who is in an immaculate Physical and mental state witting with President Maithriplala Sirisena ,I felt nostalgic about the time I spent in Soviet Union which was then a socialists country .It was a country with moral values ,with a nation of multinational society with social values ,respect to each other .Whole country was proud of their achievements through  years from Lenin,Stalin and Breshnew .

The transformation which took place under Garbachov,who I think was a planted  agent by the western capitalist world brought end to a country where people lived  in harmony .All foreigners were treated with dignity and respect which has left fond memories of the country and the people .

I remember a an incident where I was suspected of a Russian Spy by my British Colleagues after I visited Russia on the way to Sri Lanka from  United Kingdom where I worked in Oil and Gas business after graduation. I was received with open arms in the State University of Petroleum and Gas where I studied ,and I gave a lecture about modern systems of Oil and Gas Exploration to my fellow  teachers and professors ,who really wanted develop the teaching of the technology in Oil and Gas Exploration. Somehow or rather the British thought that I was a spy trying to steal their technology .

Russians  were really advanced in their field of technology .and I am proud to stay that one of the professors who taught me was the one who designed the mobility mechanism of Lunahod” which was the vehicle moved around on the moon.

Computer applications which were quite primitive was used in Russia like in the west where punch card system was used in a mammoth machine in the university premises .I wrote a thesis where I invented a formula to pre diagnose the condition of the bearings of large compressors used to compress Gas which was pumped into a natural gas storage in underground,formed in a lime deposit

Of course I had to study in Russian ,and at the end of my study my Jewish Professor asked me to lecture about compressors in Russian ,and the students who were in Third Year were so disciplined and took notes down with respect.

There was a shortage of beer ,but plenty of Vodka at 3.62 Roubles per bottle which we consumed during the weekends and the link between by 39 Russian colleagues out of which ,three Jews ,two Kazaks,one Azerbajani  and one Gruzin ( Georgian) and an Armanian and 50 % females !

They may be in very high positions today, but I lost all my contacts

It was a country of many republics which grew at an enormous speed and the top leaders knew that strict regime was the need of the hour for the growth .

Whenever I meet a Russian today I feel brother hood with appreciation for what they have done to us and today I am a capitalist in every sense exploiting people and workers  ,but I have a socialist inner mind of which I am proud of .

We can get much out of Russians than Chinese or Indians or even Americans and we should allow them to come freely to our country and contribute to our development.

One area they can develop is fishing industry as the Russians love fish and we can collect and export to Russia and develop the wellbeing of poor fishermen in this country.

After reaching the pinnacle of my engineering management carrier, I am always proud to stay that I was educated by Russians though they expect me to say they I studies in the West .

I never lie and my wife who is also a Russian  Educated Doctor never lie where we had our education

Our president should take this opportunity to work with Russians because they can make Kings in any country like what they did to poor ( stupid )  Americans !

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Sputnik

A deputy chief of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said that Russia has proposed to set up a service center for Russian-made helicopters in Sri Lanka.

© SPUTNIK/ MAKSIM BOGOVID

Russia, Sri Lanka Discuss Delivery Contract of Gepard 3.9 Frigates

LANGKAWI (Sputnik) – Russia has proposed to set up a service center for Russian-made helicopters in Sri Lanka, a deputy chief of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation told Sputnik on Friday.

“We’ve submitted our proposals to equip a helicopter maintenance center and provide spare parts for armored hardware to the Sri Lankan side,” the agency’s Mikhail Petukhov said at the LIMA 2017 military show in Malaysia.

Sri Lanka has 12 Mi-8/17 military transport helicopters, six Mi-24P attack helicopters, 36 BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, and around 50 BTR-80 amphibious armored personnel carriers.

Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we’ll keep you up to speed!

https://sputniknews.com/world/201703241051913671-russia-sri-lanka-helicopters/

Courtesy nasdaq.com

COLOMBO, March 24 (Reuters) – The Sri Lankan rupee traded weaker on Friday on importer dollar demand despite the central bank’s decision to raise key rates by 25 basis points in a move to ease the pressure on the currency.

The central bank raised its benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points before the markets open on Friday for the first time in eight months to contain high inflationary expectations and a possible acceleration of demand side inflationary pressures.

[nL3N1H11OX] Rupee forwards <SLKR> were active, with two-week forwards trading at 152.50/60 per dollar 0531 GMT, compared with Thursday’s close of 152.45/55. “I have seen some importer dollar demand. But it is the bond market which is active at the moment after the rate hike,” said a currency dealer, requesting anonymity.

Analysts said the rate hike could help stabilise the rupee as rising imports and outflows due to rupee bond sales by foreign investors exert pressure on the currency.

The central bank raised the spot rupee reference rate by 25 cents to 151.60 on Monday. Dealers said the banking regulator had been preventing spot rupee <LKR=LK> trades below 151.35 per dollar since March 8. Central bank officials were not available for comment.

Foreign investors net sold government securities worth 1.41 billion rupees ($9.3 million) in the week ended March 15, after two weeks of net inflows.

They have net sold 63.3 billion rupees of such instruments so far this year. Sri Lankan shares <.CSE> were down 0.03 percent at 5,978.63, as of 0547 GMT. Turnover stood at 688.4 million rupees ($4.54 million). ($1 = 151.6000 Sri Lankan rupees)

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) ((ranga.sirilal@thomsonreuters.com; +94-11-232-5540; Reuters Messaging: ranga.sirilal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net ; www.twitter.com/rangaba))

Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/sri-lankan-rupee-weaker-despite-cenbank-rate-hike-20170324-00037#ixzz4cFaZA5Lg