National Development Bank PLC

Highlights

• Profit after taxes reach an all-time high of LKR 11.0 billion (2024: LKR 9.0 billion). Excluding the one-off impact of the ISB debt-restructure in 2024, which represents close to a two-fold growth on a comparable basis

• Net loans and deposits expand by 26.7% and 10.4% respectively on a normalised basis, outperforming industry averages on an all currency basis across both local currency and foreign currency

• Credit granted to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises expands by over 25.0% showcasing the Bank’s continued commitment to support the country’s economic revival

• Full year ROE and ROA (pre-tax) improves to 13.5% and 2.5%, respectively, supported by strong momentum in the second half of 2025, where ROE and ROA was at 16.4% and 2.8% respectively for the period

• Growth driven primarily by core banking operations

• FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

National Development Bank PLC (hereinafter ‘the Bank’) announced its results for the financial year ended December 31, 2025 to the Colombo Stock Exchange recently. Full year results tabled by the Bank showcase a strong growth across all business lines with Net Banking Revenue increasing by a 45.2% on a comparable basis. Like most other peers, the Bank’s 2024 financial performance was positively impacted following the successful conclusion of the ISB debt restructure with a one-off impact on interest income, fee income and net impairments amounting to LKR 1.4 billion, LKR 0.7 billion and LKR 9.4 billion, respectively for the said year.

• Fund based income

Net interest income (NII), which accounts for close to 75.0% of Bank’s total operating income, grew by 6.5% on a normalised basis. Despite pressure on interest-earning assets arising from the lower interest rate environment, the Bank’s disciplined margin management helped stabilise Net Interest Margin (NIM) at 4.0% for the year. On a comparable basis, excluding one-off exceptional items, NIM stood at 4.2%, compared to 4.3% for both scenarios in 2024. By the end of the year, the Bank had close to LKR 29.3 billion in Loans and Deposits under a special arrangement with its customer(s) with a netting-off feature (end 2024: LKR 19.6 billion).

• Non-fund based income

Net fee and commission income reached LKR 8.1 billion for the year – representing a growth of 14.3% from LKR 7.1 billion in 2024 excluding ISB restructuring related fees. Key growth drivers for the current year were trade finance, credit and lending, digital banking and credit and debit cards.

• Credit and operating costs

Credit costs for the year amounted to LKR 5.7 billion, reflecting a substantial reduction of 57.1% compared to LKR 13.2 billion in 2024, a testament to the Bank’s strong credit underwriting practices and focused efforts on collections and recoveries. The Bank’s success on account of the latter is best reflected in notably improved stage 2 and 3 loan stock which stood at 7.9% and 10.8% respectively at end 2025 as compared with 16.6% and 14.0% at end 2024. Stage 3 provision coverage also saw further improvement to 59.1% from 54.5% during 2024 showcasing the Bank’s prudent management of credit risk.

Operating expenses closed at LKR 19.0 billion for the year, marking a 13.1% YoY increase. This increase was primarily driven by routine staff-related increments and necessary market realignments, along with higher investments in IT infrastructure and business development undertaken during the year.

• Investor key performance indicators

Return on average equity (ROE) was 13.5% – improved notably when compared with 12.2% in 2024 on an all-inclusive basis and 7.7% excluding the one-off income reported from the ISB debt restructure. Looking at the second half of 2025 alone, ROE was close to 16.4% indicating strong improvement from the first half of the year. Similarly, the Bank’s pre-tax return on average assets was 2.5% for the full year and 2.8% for the second half of 2025 (2024: with and without ISB one-off gains 3.1% and 1.5%, respectively).

Earnings per share was LKR 25.90 for the full year 2025 as compared with LKR 21.25 in 2024 on as is basis and LKR 13.30 excluding the impact of the ISB debt restructure. Group level ROEs and EPS, respectively, were 13.6% (2024: 12.5%) and LKR 27.83 (2024: LKR 23.05). Net asset value per share was LKR 201.51 (2024: LKR 186.91) and compared with a closing share price of LKR 141.25, which posted a 24.7% appreciation since end 2024. Group Net asset value per share was LKR 215.45 (2024: LKR 199.13).

• FINANCIAL POSITION

By year-end, the Bank’s total deposits increased to LKR 707.2 billion, reflecting an 11.9% growth from LKR 631.7 billion at end-2024. Meanwhile, net loans expanded more strongly to LKR 593.6 billion, marking a 28.8% increase from LKR 460.7 billion in the previous year.

However, excluding transactions of a one-off and special nature, this represented a normalised absolute net growth of 26.7% and 10.4% over end 2024, respectively. The Bank’s CASA ratio on a normalised basis stood at 23.9% by year end 2025 having improved from 22.5% at end 2024 in line with the Bank’s ongoing efforts to improve its low cost funding from current levels.

• LIQUIDITY AND SOLVENCY

Liquidity levels also remained strong with the Bank’s Liquidity coverage ratios, across both Rupee and All currency, closing at 257.3% and 208.5%, respectively at end 2025 (end 2024: 358.1% and 308.3%) while the Net stable funding ratio was 129.7% (end 2024: 152.4%) – all of which were well above the minimum regulatory requirements of 100.0% and comparing well with industry averages. The Bank’s solvency levels as measured by CET1/ Tier I and Total CAR were 12.4% and 15.9%, respectively representing more than adequate buffers over its regulatory minimums (2024: 13.7% and 19.1%).

Commenting on the financial results of the Bank for the financial year 2025, the Bank’s Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kelum Edirisinghe, stated:

We are very pleased with the Bank’s performance during the year. This achievement is not the end result of one-off gains but purely the outcome of focused execution in our fundamental banking businesses, disciplined credit growth, prudent risk management, a strong deposit franchise, sustained net interest margins, and the continuing efforts to improve our overall operating efficiencies on a consistent basis. Our core banking operations have performed exceptionally well, despite the pressure stemming from lower interest rates, reinforcing the sustainability and quality of our earnings.

Importantly, this performance also equally reflects the trust our customers place in us and the dedication of our employees who strive to deliver excellence every day. Their commitment has strengthened our franchise and deepened relationships across retail, SME, and corporate banking segments. Amongst others, one of our standout achievements during the year was the strong growth reported in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) loan book, which grew by over 25.0% year-on-year, clear evidence of our deep and ongoing commitment to advancing the SME sector, a critical engine of national economic growth. This performance is both a milestone and a reflection of the strength of our foundation and our trajectory, plans and ambitions going forward.

While we celebrate these results, we remain focused on our future. Our 2030 strategy aims to further strengthen our core banking operations, enhance digital capabilities, optimise cost efficiency, and grow responsibly. We are confident that the momentum generated this year positions us for sustained long-term value creation.

I take the opportunity to thank the Chairman and the Board of Directors for their unwavering guidance and strategic foresight, to my senior leadership team for their relentless drive and commitment and to our staff at all levels for their hard work and dedication – if not for which none of this is possible.I wish to also extend my gratitude to all our stakeholders including our Regulators, Customers, and Shareholders for their continued trust and confidence placed in us. Your collaboration and confidence will enable NDB to innovate, grow, and create long lasting value for the benefit of its stakeholders and the nation. We look forward to the future with a great degree of hope and optimism!

Gamini Goonetilleke

The first mortar screamed just after dawn on 10 June 1990. It tore through the coral-stone ramparts of Jaffna fort, the blast rattling every window in the city. Inside the pentagonal walls, 130 men- soldiers of the Sinha Regiment and young police recruits- looked at one another and knew: this was no skirmish. This was a siege.

For 107 days, the old Portuguese-Dutch-British fortress became the eye of a storm that swallowed the peninsula, Outside, LTTE snipers hid in the public library, mortars thundered from behind the post office, and a home-built monster called the Pasilan 2000 prowled the streets. Inside, the defenders rationed rice, drank brackish well water, and buried their dead between crumbling colonial walls.

LTTE Invention – Pasilan 2000

I wasn’t behind those ramparts, but I treated the men who were there. At Palaly Base Hospital, we waited for helicopters that came in low over the lagoon, carrying boys with limbs shredded by shrapnel and policeman who hadn’t seen their families in hundred days.

Walk today along those same ramparts. Beneath the grass lie the bunkers where men prayed, the corners where fourteen soldiers were buried, and the echoes of a siege that still whispers through Jaffna’s wind.

Jaffna Fort: The Fortress That Became a Battlefield

Jaffna Fort stands as one of Sri Lanka’s most imposing reminders of the island’s turbulent past. Situated on fifty-five acres in the heart of Jaffna city and overlooking the shallow lagoon, its massive coral and stone ramparts dominate the landscape. The pentagonal, star-shaped design reflects seventeenth-century European coastal fortification principles, while the complex once housed administrative buildings, barracks, chapels, warehouses, and defensive bastions.

Built in 1618 by the Portuguese under Phillipe de Oliveira to consolidate control over the peninsula, the fort later fell to the Dutch East India Company in 1658. The Dutch expanded and strengthened it, transforming the site into a major centre of administration, trade, and defence. In 1795, the United Kingdom assumed control, and the fort subsequently served as a military base, logistics hub, and medical facility. After independence in 1948, it remained an important garrison of the Sri Lankan armed forces.

For decades the structure existed largely as a historical monument. However, the outbreak of civil war in the early 1980s turned it into a heavily militarised stronghold. Between 1983 and 1995 the fort witnessed repeated battles, sieges, and changes of control. The 107-day siege from June to September 1990, fought between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, became particularly significant. It highlighted the strategic and symbolic value of the fort, the resilience of the besieged garrison, and the broader military and political realities of the conflict in northern Sri Lanka.

This essay explores the context, course, and implications of that siege within the wider trajectory of the war

Symbolic Value to Both Sides

During the civil war, the fort assumed enormous symbolic importance. For the Sri Lankan state, retaining control over Jaffna Fort demonstrated governmental authority in the Tamil-majority North. The national flag flying above its ramparts signified sovereignty in an area increasingly contested by separatist forces.

For the LTTE, capturing the fort meant much more than holding territory. It represented psychological victory, control of the heart of Jaffna city, and a step toward legitimizing their claim of liberation.” Thus, when battle finally engulfed the fort, both sides fought with extraordinary determination.

Several Key Dates, Framed the Events Leading to the 1990 Siege:

Sri Lanka’s civil war escalated dramatically after the events of 23 July 1983, when a landmine attack in Jaffna triggered nationwide anti-Tamil riots known as Black July, pushing the country into full-scale conflict. The Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 brought the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka on 30 July, leading soon after to Operation Pawan on 10 October 1987, a major and bloody confrontation with the LTTE in Jaffna. After a controversial mission marked by heavy casualties and political tension, the IPKF completely withdrew by the end of March 1990, creating a power vacuum in the North. A tenuous ceasefire from March to June 1990 collapsed as trust eroded and both sides quietly prepared for renewed hostilities, culminating in police personnel retreating to the fortified Jaffna Fort on 8–9 June amid escalating threats. Full-scale fighting exploded on 10 June 1990, marking the start of Eelam War II and setting the immediate conditions for the impending siege of Jaffna Fort.

Preparation for Battle after the Departure of the IPKF

During the Indian intervention (1987–1990), both the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE underwent dramatic expansion. The Sri Lankan military modernized rapidly, increasing manpower, acquiring new weapon systems, and receiving training in counter-insurgency tactics. Simultaneously, the LTTE gained extensive experience confronting a large conventional army and emerged from the conflict more confident, organized, and battle-hardened.

By the time the IPKF withdrew, both sides had renewed their focus on strategic targets. The Jaffna Fort became an obvious flashpoint, being centrally located and easily identifiable from any direction in the city.

LTTE Deployment and Preparations

During the ceasefire period, the LTTE carefully positioned itself for a large-scale assault. Fighters occupied or fortified major buildings surrounding the fort, including the Telecommunication Department building, the Jaffna Public Library, the Post Office, Duraiappa Stadium, Regal Theatre, and several adjoining streets and houses.

The group consisting of both male and female LTTE fighters constructed robust underground bunkers, dug trenches, and concealed heavy weapons. Anti-aircraft guns were moved into place to threaten helicopter-borne resupply. Simultaneously, Palaly Military Base—the lifeline of the peninsula—was surrounded to impede troop movement and logistical support. The LTTE understood that if they captured Jaffna Fort, they could isolate large segments of government control and dramatically weaken state presence in the peninsula.

Composition of the Fort Garrison

When fighting broke out in June 1990, approximately 200 personnel were stationed inside the fort. Of these, 84 belonged to the Sixth Battalion of the Sinha Regiment, and the rest comprised young policemen, many newly trained and on their first major posting. A sizable number hailed from the Eastern Province. Their lack of combat experience would later magnify the difficulties of resisting a seasoned and well-armed insurgency.

Among them were two policemen described here under pseudonyms—Omar and Abdullah—whose injuries and survival would not only become emblematic of the siege’s human cost but were also able to provide me with an eye witness account of the siege after their miraculous recovery from serious injury.

LTTE Fires the First Shots

On 10 June 1990, LTTE units opened fire on the fort. The following day, a large explosive charge detonated close to the lagoon-side entrance, shattering wooden gates but failing to breach defensive positions. Intense small-arms fire raked the walls, and sporadic mortar bombardment continued for days. As snipers moved into adjacent buildings, the garrison found itself under constant threat. Attempts by the military to break the siege began almost immediately.

Operation Eagle 1 – 3 July 1990

In early July, the Sri Lanka Air Force initiated a daring aerial resupply mission. A Bell 212 helicopter gunship, flying under heavy fire, landed on the narrow road outside the fort near the lagoon—the only possible landing zone. Supplies, ammunition, and additional weapons were rapidly unloaded, while injured personnel were evacuated.

Close air support from other Bell 212 gunships armed with .50-caliber machine guns and rockets, as well as bombing runs by SIAI-Marchetti jets, helped suppress LTTE fire long enough for the helicopter to escape safely. This operation temporarily bolstered morale, but the respite was brief.

Deteriorating Conditions within the Fort

As weeks passed, conditions inside the fort worsened dramatically. Ammunition stocks dwindled. Food supplies were nearly exhausted. Water and electricity supply were cut. Only a single well within the fort provided brackish, salty water. Medical supplies were nonexistent. The daily diet consisted of rice and lentils, cooked over makeshift fires. When those ran out, soldiers resorted to eating fish caught from the moat.

Injured personnel were kept in bunkers to avoid further harm, but without antibiotics, dressings, saline, or transfusion facilities, wounds became infected. Fourteen soldiers eventually died from injuries that would otherwise have been survivable. They were buried within the compound.

Air-dropped supplies often missed their target, landing in LTTE territory or the lagoon. Rice bags that did reach the interior burst open on impact, became contaminated with debris, and scattered across the fort floor. One policeman recalled, It was stinking to glory,” describing decaying bodies, shrapnel-embedded walls, and filth.

Improvised Weapons: Pasilan 2000 and Baba Mortar

The LTTE employed grim ingenuity in weaponry. Two notable systems included the Pasilan 2000 – a large mortar launched from a modified tractor, devastating at close range and Baba mortars – improvised heavy-caliber launchers designed to lob explosive payloads irregularly but effectively. Rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) were also fired repeatedly. Although inaccurate, their psychological impact was severe.

Air Force Bombardment of LTTE Positions

Recognizing the severity of the situation, the Sri Lanka Air Force launched systematic bombardment of suspected LTTE positions. Helicopter gunships, light fighters, and transport aircraft modified to drop improvised 200kg barrel bombs” targeted buildings surrounding the fort. Artillery fire from land and naval assets further intensified.

Much of central Jaffna was reduced to rubble. Civilian casualties likely occurred in significant numbers, though precise figures remain unknown. Paradoxically, LTTE fighters benefited from deep underground bunkers, while the open interior of the fort made its defenders vulnerable to falling debris and shockwaves—even from friendly fire. Several soldiers suffered injuries from their own side’s ordnance.

Meanwhile, wounded LTTE cadres were treated openly at Jaffna General Hospital, funded by the state—a surreal and troubling paradox of war.

A Suicidal Offensive by Female Cadres

On 5 August 1990, the LTTE launched a bold infantry assault on the fort’s entrance. This attack was led by an all-female unit commanded by the cadre known as Lt. Sangitha.” During this intense battle, four female fighters, including the commander, were killed. Their action showcased the LTTE’s willingness to deploy women in frontline combat and suicide missions—an unusual feature among insurgencies worldwide. Although repelled, the attack further strained the fort’s defenders, who had to expend precious ammunition.

Medical Duty at Palaly Base Hospital

During this period, simultaneous fighting erupted around Palaly Army Camp. On 23 August 1990, a civilian surgical team—including an anaesthetist and assistant doctor—was flown to Palaly aboard a Y-8 transport aircraft. The mission was to strengthen the surgical team already there to treat casualties arriving from across the peninsula, including from Jaffna Fort. The medical officers worked around the clock with limited facilities, witnessing firsthand the grim toll of the siege.

Injuries to Policemen Inside the Fort

On 25 August, a mortar blast struck the entrance to the fort, killing one policeman instantly and severely wounding Omar. A large section of his left buttock was torn away. Bleeding heavily and terrified, he believed he was facing certain death. As a devout Muslim, he recited the Holy Quran while comrades wrapped him in cloth and carried him to a bunker.

Helicopter evacuation that evening proved impossible due to enemy fire. He remained untreated for nearly 48 hours. Another policeman, Abdullah, had already waited two weeks with a chest wound from shrapnel, blood accumulating dangerously in his pleural cavity—an injury ordinarily fatal without drainage. Both men desperately needed evacuation.

Operation Eagle 2 – 26 August 1990

On 26 August, the Air Force launched another daring rescue attempt. Flying low over the lagoon to avoid radar and gunfire, a helicopter gunship briefly hovered near the fort’s entrance. There was no possibility of landing. Under sustained covering fire, troops hoisted and pushed the wounded inside the aircraft.

As the helicopter climbed, the door gunner held on to the casualties with one hand while firing with the other. Hot spent shells rained onto their bodies, adding burns to their existing injuries. The helicopter landed on Mandativu Island, where preliminary first aid was administered before transferring both casualties to Palaly Hospital by ambulance. Against all odds, they had survived.

Emergency Treatment at Palaly Hospital

At the hospital, Abdullah received the following treatment. A rubber tube was inserted to the chest to drain the blood in the chest cavity. Intravenous fluid, antibiotics were administered followed by blood transfusion.

                         A Victim Being Treated at the Palaly Hospital for a Chest injury

Omar required urgent debridement of gangrenous tissue on his buttocks, blood transfusion, and strong antibiotics to control infection. After five days, both men were stable enough to be flown to Colombo aboard a Y-12 transport plane. The patients and the attending surgeon lay on the floor of the aircraft during the flight—a testament to wartime improvisation.

Further treatment at the Military Hospital and Colombo General Hospital resulted in full recovery.

Continuation of the Battle

Meanwhile, conditions inside the fort deteriorated further. Ammunition was nearly exhausted, food was scarce, and morale sank. Outside, LTTE forces tightened their ring around the compound. As collapse appeared imminent, the Sri Lankan military planned a massive combined assault to break the siege.

Massive Counter-Operation from Mandativu Island

On 13 September 1990, approximately 4,000 soldiers launched an amphibious operation from Mandativu Island, supported by naval gunboats and Air Force aircraft. Artillery thundered from both land and sea. Civilian areas around Jaffna city shook under relentless bombardment.

As troops attempted to land across the lagoon, LTTE fighters entrenched along the coastline poured fire into approaching craft, destroying several vessels and killing numerous soldiers. A SIAI-Marchetti bomber was shot down over the water, its wreckage visible for days.

Mounting casualties forced suspension of the offensive. The trapped garrison was once again isolated.

Withdrawal from Jaffna Fort

By late September 1990, the government concluded that further attempts to hold the fort would result in unnecessary loss of life. On 26 September, the order was given to withdraw. This coincided with the LTTE commemoration of Thileepan’s death anniversary.

Before evacuating, troops destroyed weapons, ammunition stockpiles, and vehicles to prevent capture. The surviving soldiers slipped out under cover of darkness.

For the LTTE, raising the Tamil Eelam” flag over the fort was a moment of immense symbolic triumph. They held the fort for nearly five years.

Recapture During Operation Riviresa (1995)

In late 1995, Sri Lankan forces mounted their largest offensive of the war: Operation Riviresa (Sunshine”). After fifty days of intense fighting, government troops re-entered Jaffna city. On 5 December 1995, the national flag was once again hoisted atop the battered ramparts of Jaffna Fort.

The pendulum had swung back.

Legacy and Aftermath

The siege left deep scars. Buildings inside the fort were extensively damaged. Vast areas of Jaffna town were reduced to rubble. Civilian displacement continued for years. Psychological trauma affected soldiers and civilians alike.

Today, the fort has been partially restored as a historical monument. Visitors walk across the same ramparts once struck by artillery, unaware that beneath their feet lie remnants of bunkers, graves, and battle debris.

Conclusion

The siege of Jaffna Fort in 1990 represents one of the most dramatic episodes of Sri Lanka’s civil war. It encapsulates many of the conflict’s defining features. intense competition for symbolic space, improvisation from both sides, enormous human suffering, blurred lines between soldiers and civilians.

The stubborn defense mounted by a small, under-resourced garrison demonstrated remarkable endurance. Equally, the LTTE’s determination to capture the fort reflected their broader strategy of staged territorial legitimacy.

Ultimately, the fort’s repeated change of hands—Portuguese to Dutch, Dutch to British, British to Sri Lankan state, Sri Lankan state to LTTE, and back again—reflects the shifting tides of history in the Jaffna peninsula. Today, its walls stand silent, bearing witness to centuries of conflict.

However, beyond strategic analyses and tactical evaluations, the siege reminds us of something more enduring: the human dimension of war. The surgeon, the anaesthetist, the young policemen on their first posting, the female cadre leading a suicidal charge—all were bound together in the crucible of Jaffna’s entropy.

In hindsight, the fort’s battered ramparts offer not only a military lesson but also a solemn plea for peace. When seen not as a fortress but as a monument to resilience, loss, and recovery, Jaffna Fort becomes more than a relic—it becomes part of Sri Lanka’s collective memory.

Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke, FRCS is a senior consultant surgeon from Sri Lanka with over four decades of distinguished service. His career spans a wide range of hospitals across the country, including extended service in conflict-affected zones during Sri Lanka’s civil war, where he gained extensive experience in managing complex battle-related injuries. He is a Past President of The College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka and the author of three books: In the Line of Duty: the life and times of a surgeon in war and peace”, The Extra Mile: a surgeon’s experiences”, The Healing Cut: extraordinary surgical triumphs”.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, Feb. 25 (Daily Mirror) – Former Minister Ali Sabry has expressed concern over the arrest of former State Intelligence Chief Suresh Sallay, describing it as a troubling development for the Sri Lanka Army and its Intelligence Corps.

In a statement posted on social media, Sabry said the arrest of Major General Sallay—an officer he noted was associated with operations that dismantled the LTTE’s intelligence network and targeted senior leadership figures including Tamilchelvan, as well as efforts linked to the apprehension of Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP)—raises serious concerns about the direction of the national discourse.

“These were officers who once placed their lives on the line to protect the nation during its most dangerous years. Today, many feel that those same individuals are being drawn into a political battlefield shaped less by evidence and more by competing narratives. Accountability under the law is essential in any democracy, but it must be pursued with fairness, restraint, and respect for institutional integrity.

The Easter Sunday tragedy deserved a professional, evidence based inquiry focused on justice for victims and national security. Instead, what we increasingly witness is the transformation of a complex investigation into a public spectacle. International cooperation, including the extensive involvement of the FBI and U.S. authorities, has already taken place with investigations, prosecutions, and assistance provided. When even external partners indicate that further probes may not yield meaningful new outcomes, continuing to weaponise the issue for partisan gain risks damaging Sri Lanka’s credibility and long-term security interests.

National security institutions cannot become collateral damage in political contests. Undermining officers who once safeguarded the country may offer temporary political advantage, but it weakens morale within the armed forces and sends a troubling signal to those tasked with protecting the nation.

Sri Lanka must pursue truth and justice, but through law, evidence, and responsible leadership, not through theatrics designed to mislead or divide. History will judge not only those who served in difficult times, but also those who chose to politicise matters that demanded unity and maturity,” Sabry said.

Courtesy Daily Mirror

Colombo, Feb. 25 (Daily Mirror) – The Colombo High Court today ordered that Daisy Forrest, the grandmother of Yoshitha Rajapaksa, be released from the case filed against her under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Deputy Solicitor General Janaka Bandara today presented to court a special psychiatric report obtained through the Colombo Judicial Medical Officer to determine whether the accused, Daisy Forrest, was mentally fit to stand trial. He informed the court that medical recommendations had concluded that the accused was not in a suitable mental condition to face trial.

Courtesy HiruNews

රාජ්‍ය බුද්ධි සේවයේ හිටපු ප්‍රධානී, විශ්‍රාමික මේජර් ජෙනරල් සුරේෂ් සලේ අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීමේ සිද්ධිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් ජාත්‍යන්තර ත්‍රස්තවාදය සහ ආරක්ෂාව පිළිබඳ විශේෂඥයෙකු වන මහාචාර්ය රොහාන් ගුණරත්න සඳහන් කර ඇත්තේ මෙම අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම දේශපාලනික ක්‍රියාවලියක් ලෙස පෙනෙන බවයි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වඩාත්ම ගෞරවනීය ජාතික ආරක්ෂක වෘත්තිකයෙකු වන ජෙනරාල් සුරේෂ් සලේ මුළු ජීවිතයම ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සඳහා කැප කළ අයෙක් බවයි ඔහු සඳහන් කරන්නේ

ජෙනරාල් සලේ කිසිදු වරදක් කළ අයෙකු නොවන අතර 2019 වසරේ සිදු වූ පාස්කු ඉරිදා ප්‍රහාරයට ද ඔහුගේ කිසිදු සම්බන්ධයක් නොමැති බව මහාචාර්යවරයා පවසනවා.

ප්‍රහාරය සිදුවන අවස්ථාවේ මැලේසියාවේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලයේ සේවය කරමින් සිටි සුරේෂ් සලේ අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම දේශපාලනික වශයෙන් සිදුකළ කටයුත්තක් ලෙස පෙනී යන බවයි මහාචාර්ය රොහාන් ගුණරත්න වැඩි දුරටත් පවසන්නේ.

මේ අනුව පාස්කු ඉරිදා ප්‍රහාරයට හේතු වූ නොසැලකිලිමත්කම සම්බන්ධයෙන් සුරේෂ් සලේ අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම පිටුපස සිටින අය ගැනද විමර්ශනය කළ යුතු බවද ඔහු පවසනවා.

ජෙනරාල් සලෙයි අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීම කණ්ඩායම් දෙකක් විසින් සමරන බව පෙන්වා දෙන ඔහු පවසන්නේ ඉන් පළමු කණ්ඩායම පාස්කු ඉරිදා සංහාරය සිදු කළ ත්‍රස්තවාදීන් සහ අන්තවාදීන් බවත්, දෙවැනි කණ්ඩායම පාස්කු සංහාරය පිළිබඳ ව්‍යාජ ආඛ්‍යාන සහ කුමන්ත්‍රණ න්‍යායන් ගොතමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආරක්ෂක හමුදාවන්ට දොස් පවරන දේශපාලන රැඩිකල්වාදීන් බවයි.

මහාචාර්යවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් පවසන්නේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පාස්කු ඉරිදා සංහාරය – ජාත්‍යන්තර ප්‍රජාවට පාඩම්” යන ග්‍රන්ථයේ කතුවරයා ලෙස තමා එම ප්‍රහාරය පිළිබඳව ගැඹුරින් විමර්ශනය කර අපරාධකරුවන් හඳුනාගෙන ඇති බවයි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නායකයින් ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව සමඟ සෙල්ලම් නොකළ යුතු බවත් ජාතියක් සුරක්ෂිත කිරීම සඳහා ද්විපාර්ශ්වික ප්‍රවේශයක් තිබිය යුතු බවත් පෙන්වා දෙන මහාචාර්ය රොහාන් ගුණරත්න පවසන්නේ පරිණත පාලනයක ස්වභාවය එය බවයි.

SL Leaders

Udaya Gammanpila

German Dharmaduta Society

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many German intellectuals and seekers viewed British

occupied Ceylon  (modern-day Sri Lanka) as the “Mecca of Buddhism”. This fascination was driven by several key factors: 

• Purity of Doctrine: German scholars, influenced by the writings of Arthur Schopenhauer and Hermann Oldenberg, believed Ceylon preserved the “purest” form of Theravada Buddhism and the original Pali Canon.
• Ven. Nyanatiloka
• The Island Hermitage at Polgasduwa: Founded in 1911 by the German monk (born Anton Gueth), the Island Hermitage became the primary center for German-Buddhist migration and study.
• Intellectual Infrastructure: Germany was home to pioneering Buddhist scholarship, with professorial chairs for Pali and Sinhalese established at Universities like Berlin and Heidelberg by the mid-19th century.
• Ven. Nyanaponika , a German-born monk who became a leading authority on Theravada, solidified the spiritual bridge between the two nations.
• Leading Personalities: Figures like Dr. Paul Dahlke , who founded Das Buddhistische Haus in Berlin, and
• the German Dharmaduta Society, founded by Asoka Weeraratna in 1952, continued this legacy by sending Buddhist missions from Sri Lanka to Germany to satisfy a “spiritual hunger” in the post-war era.
• Das Buddhistische Haus celebrated its 100th anniversary (1924 – 2024) on a grand scale in both Sri Lanka and Germany. 
• In Sri Lanka, the celebrations were conducted at Temple Trees (Official Residence of the Prime Minister ) on August 03, 2024 with full State Patronage. Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, Prime Minister was the Chief Guest and Dr. Felix Neumann, Ambassador of Germany was the Guest of Honour, both of whom spoke at the function which had a large gathering comprising over 620 persons including over 70 Buddhist monks, foreign envoys representing China(Ambassador  Qi Zhenhong), European Union ( Ambassador Ms. Carmen Moreno), New Zealand ( High Commissioner  David Pine), India ( Deputy High Commissioner Dr. 
•  Satyanjal Pandey), Vietnam (Deputy Ambassador Le Van Huong), and several other distinguished Guests including the Speaker of the Parliament Mr. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. A large number of school children from across the country were also present. Ven. Olande Ananda Thero spoke of his visits to Das Buddhistische Haus in the 1980s and thereafter, and its influence and the support it gives to the maintenance of Buddhism in Germany.  Venerable Panadure Chandaratana Thero, the Deputy Abbot of the Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya Monastery administered Pansil and delivered a short Anusasnava. General Sardha Abeyratne( President of the German Dharmaduta Society) delivered the vote of thanks. 
• In Germany the Celebrations were conducted at Das Buddhistisches Haus (Open Day for Visitors) spread over two days, August 3-4, 2024. An Exhibition about the history, founders and mission of DBH was held.  The festivities ended with an International Buddhist Conference held at Zehlendorf Community Hall, Berlin on August 04, 2024. The keynote speaker was Professor (Dr.) Martin Baumann, (Professor for the study of religions at the University of Lucerne, Switzerland).  He obtained his Ph.D. with a thesis on the history of Buddhism in Germany (1993). He concluded his keynote address by specifically naming Dr. Paul Dahlke as the Pioneer and Asoka Weeraratna as the Saviour of Das Buddhistische Haus. 
• A noteworthy feature of the celebrations was the issue of a Commemorative Postage Stamp in Sri Lanka and the release of a Book titled ‘ 100 years Das Buddhistische Haus’.  The architect of this rare volume was a German national, Dr. Winfrid Liebrich who served as the Chief Editor together with Senaka Weeraratna and Tissa Weeraratna as Co – Editors. This volume was released in both Colombo and Berlin during the celebrations. The publication was financed by a Vietnamese born Philanthropic Buddhist Nun. 
• Bhikkhuni Elizabeth Sujata is also known by her Vietnamese name,

Bhiksuni Dr. Bich Lien. A former beauty queen ordained in 2006, she is recognized for supporting the Berlin Vihara and several other meritorious projects in Sri Lanka.

• Dr. Winfrid Liebrich was also instrumental in releasing a Book in German to commemorate the 100th year anniversary of DBH. Its title ‘100 Jahre gelebter und gelehrter Buddhismus im Buddhistischen Haus Berlin-Frohnau’. Edited by Dr. Winfrid Liebrich, Senaka Weeraratna, Tissa Weeraratna

Tectum, 1. Edition 2024, 380 Pages. Book Review –    ‘Insights into the beginnings of Buddhism in Germany’ 

• https://www.sundaytimes.lk/251102/plus/insights-into-the-beginnings-of-buddhism-in-germany-618192.html

• Ven. Pelane Dhamma Kusala Thera based at Das Buddhistische Haus together with Mr. Tissa Weeraratna (Manager, DBH) played a pivotal role in organizing and co – ordinating the preparatory activities spread over a year. They were supported by the staff of the Embassy of Sri Lanka led by the Ambassador Ms. Varuni Mutukumarana, Members of the Sri Lanka Association of Berlin e.V. (Mr. Lankananda Perera), Mr. Tobias Siesmayer ( Präsident, Buddhistisches Haus Förderverein e.V.), and several other volunteers and patrons of Das Buddhistisches Haus.
• Over 40 leading Buddhist Monks drawn from Buddhist Temples across Europe and beyond attended the Conference, alongside prominent academics and dignitaries comprising the Ambassador Varuni Mutukumarana (Sri Lanka), Thai Ambassador Nadhavathna Krishnamra and his wife, and envoys from India, Pakistan, Cambodia, and several other Buddhist countries. Several monks delivered talks on the significance of the event and the leading role that Das Buddhistische Haus has played as the seat of Theravada Buddhism in Germany and other western countries, with growing emphasis in its aims on Mindfulness and Meditation. Mr. Lankananda Perera compered the whole proceedings. 

German Dharmaduta Society

National Development Bank PLC

NDB Bank recently spearheaded a large-scale environmental clean-up initiative at the Negombo Lagoon, reinforcing its long-term commitment to environmental sustainability through its ongoing Adopt a Lagoon” programme in partnership with Clean Ocean Force .

The initiative brought together over 200 participants, including NDB Bank staff volunteers, the Hon. Mayor and representatives of the Negombo Municipal Council, the Sri Vimukthi Women Association, the Negombo Divisional Secretariat, the Department of Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management (CCD), the Sri Lanka Air Force, and the Sri Lanka Police Environmental Division. United by a shared mission to protect and preserve one of Sri Lanka’s most sensitive coastal ecosystems, the collective effort stood as a powerful example of a Public-Private-People Partnership (PPPP) in action.

During the clean-up, teams cleared lagoon edges and surrounding mangrove islands, removing more than 3,000 kilograms of non-biodegradable waste from the fragile environment. The collected waste included 359 kg of PET bottles, 514 kg of glass, and over 2,300 kg of mixed waste comprising polythene, yogurt cups, rigifoam, food wrappers, e-waste, and metal. Approximately 50–60% of the mixed waste will be directed to the Kerawalapitiya Waste-to-Energy Power Plant, while PET bottles will be sent for recycling, ensuring responsible post-collection waste management.

The Negombo Lagoon, a shallow basin estuary connected to the ocean by a single narrow channel, plays a vital ecological and economic role in Sri Lanka’s coastal landscape. Despite its biodiversity and importance to surrounding communities, it remains highly vulnerable to pollution and environmental degradation. Cleaning and maintaining the lagoon is therefore critical not only for environmental conservation, but also for public health, fisheries, tourism, and local livelihoods.

Through its Adopt a Lagoon” programme, NDB Bank is committed to supporting continuous, structured clean-up operations to create sustained environmental impact rather than one-off interventions. By working closely with local authorities, environmental agencies, community groups, and volunteers, the Bank ensures that conservation efforts translate into long-term ecological resilience.

Commenting on the initiative, Lasantha Dasanayaka – Vice President, Human Resources stated, At NDB, sustainability is embedded in our corporate philosophy. Protecting ecosystems such as the Negombo Lagoon is not only an environmental responsibility but a national imperative. By fostering collaboration across public institutions, private sector stakeholders, and community groups, we are creating meaningful, measurable change that will benefit future generations.”

As the Bank continues to integrate environmental stewardship into its broader ESG agenda, initiatives such as the Negombo Lagoon clean-up reflect the Bank’s enduring commitment to empowering communities while safeguarding Sri Lanka’s natural heritage.

NDB Bank is the fourth-largest listed commercial bank in Sri Lanka. NDB was named Sri Lanka’s Best Digital Bank for SMEs at Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2025 and was awarded awards Domestic Retail Bank of the Year – Sri Lanka and Islamic Banking Initiative of the Year – Sri Lanka at the Asian Banking & Finance Retail Banking Awards 2025. NDB is the parent company of the NDB Group, comprising capital market subsidiary companies, together forming a unique banking and capital market services group. The Bank is committed to empowering the nation and its people through meaningful financial and advisory services powered by digital banking solutions.

Courtesy:  AI Overview

https://share.google/aimode/ULnAIYYnmjZK0eOd1

AI Overview

Demographic shifts are placing Islam on a trajectory to potentially become the world’s most populous religion by the end of the 21st century

. Current data from Pew Research Center suggests that while the world is adjusting, significant social and political challenges remain. 

Global Growth and Parity

• Rapid Expansion: The global Muslim population is projected to grow by 73% between 2010 and 2050, compared to a 35% increase for Christians.
• Near Parity by 2050: By mid-century, Muslims are expected to reach near parity with Christians, with each group making up roughly 30-31% of the global population.
• Drivers: This growth is primarily fueled by a younger median age (24 vs. 30 for the global average) and higher fertility rates (3.1 children per woman vs. 2.5 globally). 

Shifts in Non-Muslim Countries

• Sweden

Europe: The Muslim share of Europe’s population is projected to rise from roughly 6% in 2010 to 10% by 2050. In high-migration scenarios, some countries like could see shares reach as high as 30%.

• United States

: Islam is expected to surpass Judaism as the second-largest religion in the U.S. by 2050.

• India

: Despite remaining a Hindu-majority nation,India is projected to have the largest Muslim population in the world by 2050, surpassing Indonesia.. 

Readiness and Challenges

• Social Friction: Research indicates that in some Western societies, information about these demographic shifts can increase perceptions of threat and negative sentiments among majority groups.
• Political Response: Some experts argue that short electoral cycles in Western democracies may prevent governments from effectively addressing the long-term social and political implications of these shifts.
• Economic Opportunity: Conversely, the “youth dividend” in Muslim-majority regions offers a massive potential for labor and innovation, provided there is adequate investment in education and development.
• Changing Majorities: Countries like the

United Kingdom

,

France

, and the

Netherlands

are projected to no longer have a Christian majority by 2050, though the largest single group in some may be the “religiously unaffiliated”

Courtesy:  AI Overview

e-Con e-News

blog: https://eesrilanka.wordpress.com

Before you study the economics, study the economists!”

e-Con e-News 15-21 February 2026

The capitalist media keeps saying that the Jeffrey Epstein exposé is the ‘worst sex abuse scandal in US history’. Really? Strange then, how very few corporate ‘executives’ in the US seem to have been indicted for these crimes. But, but… ‘the worst’?  The USA (& their European sponsors) has been waging genocidal wars from their very birth, involving all manner of abuse & mutilation & desecration of bodies, alive & dead. Scalping was an English invention for acounting purposes. And several US states were involved in the business of slave breeding (to supply the southern US plantations), which involved the systematic organization of rape, of women & children. The US government’s own disclosures at the recent Munich Conference in Europe make it plain that they aim to keep waging war on our countries (see ee Quotes, Rubio). They insist they have nothing to be ashamed of – which is why they’re better called the United States of Amnesia. So what exactly is the media diverting from?

     The headlined arrest (& immediate release) of an Englishman named Andrew (formerly known as their Prince) diverts from the depredations of his older brother Charles (now known as their King, parading as a heterosexual in a ‘marriage blanc’, i.e., in holy matrimony for show), whose relatives & ‘peers’ (‘Lord’ Louis Mountbatten, etc) were well known for their outré sexual proclivities in ‘their’ colonies & other resorts around the world. Less publicized are the actions of Epstein’s financier Les Wexner, the owner of Victoria’s Secret, a top brand, related to a ‘leading’ rag trader in Sri Lanka, the Brandix Group.

     The English Queen Victoria’s real ‘secret’ were the lengths that history books have gone, to hide the immense famines her majesty’s government policies engendered around the world to institutionalize the great divergence (between ‘east’ and ‘west’, or ‘north’ and ‘south’ or whatever euphemisms one uses to contrast oppressor and oppressed, exploiter and exploited). There is more written about her Belgian first cousin ‘King’ Leopold’s depredations in the Congo, but more important is Leopold’s sponsor, the plantation owner William Lever, who originated what is now the multinational, Unilever).

     The media in Sri Lanka seems to have rather too quickly shrugged off further investigation into the Epstein-Wexner link involving our merchants, especially since these are employers of large numbers of young women & men (see ee Random Notes). The media claim instead there is little in the infamous Epstein’s files relating to the predilections of this country’s ‘private’ sector. Perhaps they have been too busy facilitating (lubricating?) our links to the ‘leading’ importers & exporters of this world, who are afforded a type of princely teflon treatment in the media. Organized crime is apparently just the province of rube villagers, whose village names are prefixed onto their gang monikers.

     The arrival in Sri Lanka this week of England’s Secretary of State for Justice David Lammy, amidst all the hyper judicial frippery in England, any questions about those matters, were diplomatically avoided by our local ‘free media’. He was, we are told, here to ‘reinforce investor confidence’. This ‘Afro-Saxon’ of Guyanese origin, has supposedly been a veritable ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ in pursuing accusations of ‘war crimes’ against Sri Lanka’s armed forces personnel, rather than England’s own international war crimes recent & historic (see ee Quotes). This same gentleman recently cut off journalists’ digital access to English court records. ‘English media are kept ignorant of most trials, and only certain trials are publicized’ (see last week’s ee). So now we know only certain criminals get chosen to be perp-walked before flashing cameras – for English justice is a staged script of a different literary genre.

*

The head of the USA’s International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, also arrived in Sri Lanka from 16^–18^th February. Then the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet Steve Koehler arrived from the 19^th-21^st. It was then announced, ‘A Sri Lankan-made food & travel series will premiere [on Feb 20^th] across South Asia on National Geographic – a platform synonymous with global storytelling.’Platform? They’ve long been much more than a magazine – linked to US Naval Intelligence, using ‘exotic’ stories, ‘nature’, ‘anthropology’, etc., as a cover (‘Have camera, will travel! Bang! Bang!’). All these characters, from IMF to Navy, are now to be followed by the USA’s Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Sri Lanka) hosting ‘its flagship CEO Forum 2026’. ‘Accelerating Sri Lanka’s Rebuild’ on 25 February (see ee Who’s Who), which will ‘bring together over 250 C-level executives, policymakers, development partners, & global thought leaders’. Whoa! Rebuild, indeed (like Gaza!). And so begins a season ushering in our own April new year, preceded by Ramadan and Lent and the start of the Chinese zodiac’s New Year of the Horse.

     So, is this all ‘strategic sequencing’? We may be forgiven for likening this trail of visitors to another episode in the US foreign policy version of their World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where one hulking grappler follows another into a blood and tomato-sauce-encrusted ring to battle another grappler – tag wrestling, which usually ends in a free-for-all. IMF Georgieva’s visit was set to coincide with ‘the 75^th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s IMF membership & the 75^th anniversary of Central Bank of Sri Lanka’. Well, how auspicious is this! Does she do this with every country? That’s a huge travel bill!

     The IMF head’s arrival was heralded with the usual blizzard of adulatory (more accurately: ‘obsequious’ aka ‘ass-kissing’) news items. She is quoted uttering various jargons & indices, arranging photo-ops with hostage children whose names are not given. Her meeting with the country’s President was described as a ‘rare high-level engagement’. The news headlines began with her hailing their IMF program as a ‘success story’ (talk about MPHOT – Monkey Praising Her Own Tail?), and as she exited, the stories were back to the old whining about Sri Lanka’s need to sell more national assets (privatization!) & weaken labour laws (‘flexibility’!), more ‘discipline’, etc. 

     Amidst the swishing of her invisible fiscal whip (try not to picture: the Central Bank governor happily bending over, with his pants down?), the US Pacific Commander then arrived, bedecked in white uniform, shirt pocket bespeckled with colored ribbons (we imagine as souvenirs for bombing fishing boats! Oh wait, there was a story this week about another ‘drug-trafficking boat’ with 11 un-named ‘male narco-terrorists’ being bombed both in the Caribbean & ‘Eastern Pacific’, wherever that is). The news blizzard accompanying Georgieva was reduced to a flurry with the Navy Commander’s clipped verbiage. He chirped about‘shared values’ and then it was quickly back to those euphemisms (Ahem! Ahem!) about ‘transnational threats’ & ‘defence’. Having changed the title of its military department from the Department of Defense to Department of War, it follows that whenever the US speaks of ‘defense’, they mean war! And we must assume by ‘transnational’ he doesn’t mean the dangers posed by transnational or multinational corporations (MNCs) like Rockefeller’s Exxon or Citibank… or Unilever!

     This US Navy Commander apparently even ‘commanded’ news items – the Wijeya Group’s Daily Mirror just reproduced the US embassy’s press release as a DM news story: ‘The US Pacific Fleet – the largest naval fleet command in the world – operates across half the globe, protecting vital sea lanes and connecting partners throughout the Indo-Pacific.’ OK! Then this item (minus quote marks) parading as ‘news’, referred to ‘our confidence’… ‘our partners’ and claimed his ‘second visit… underscores our shared long-term commitment to a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific’. ‘Our’ may refer to the Daily Mirror & the US government. Really! Does the local media charge ad rates for such reprints? They’d be really rich if they did. Well, they probably do, but it is undeclared.

     In the background, in other BBC news item parading as ‘international news’, we heard the head of Koehler’s government, President Don Trump, cursing the English government for ‘leasing’ from Mauritius, the island Diego Garcia, on which the US has a military base. There is no mention that England just leased Diego Garcia again to the USA for 100 years. England claims the ‘lease’ from Mauritius is for ‘legal’ reasons. Is this what ‘free & open’ means? Behind all this ‘free & open’ chatter, is the gathering yet again of another killer US fleet to bomb Iran, including from Diego Garcia. Midst all this we assume the next US envoy to Sri Lanka, Eric Meyer, much heralded but not arrived yet, will show up at Kollupitiya Junction in a puff of smoke, with archangels or B52s adding to the divine spectacle of gloom, doom and boom (for more, see ee Sovereignty).

     There is much evidence to suggest that a more horrific spectacle will be staged to divert us from their ‘always dying yet still not dead’ capitalism. It is long past its ‘expiry date’. The Indian Coast Guard has also joined in their game, and deployed ‘55 ships & 10-12 aircraft for round-the-clock surveillance in its maritime zones’ (which apparently includes us), and seized ‘Iran-linked US-sanctioned tankers’. While there are many headlines to praise India’s largess towards our country, none of these Indian coast guard vessels seem to be able to apprehend the piratical Indian fishing & other fleets that keep robbing Sri Lanka of its marine resources.

*

‘More than one million households have

 been pushed off the electrical grid.’

• Not everyone is amused: ‘A bitter irony’ is how the Yukthi Collective greeted the IMF head’s visit, while calling for ‘debt suspension’ instead of mere tinkering (see ee Focus). Georgieva has apparently promised to build ‘a more resilient future’. The IMF’s 61 years in Sri Lanka have, instead, says Yukthi, ‘eroded resilience, dismantled state capacity, and locked the country into a debt-dependent future’. Yukthi catalogues a litany of further deadly measures, the IMF is demanding to be enacted. Yukthi says the IMF policies ‘ensure the next crisis is already in motion’. The IMF has directed investment away from health & education, for which Sri Lanka has so far been famous for. Instead, the IMF has prioritized paying off Wall Street! While the IMF & World Bank cry about the cyclone, the government is only allowed to dedicate a fraction of its budget to relief. And so-called green bonds & blue bonds turn out to be mere financial chicanery.

     Yukthi calls for the ‘auditing for illegitimate debt, curbing illicit financial flows, and closing tax loopholes for the corporate sector’. They say the ‘best sympathy’ Kristalina Georgieva can give the people of Sri Lanka is for the IMF to take its hands off our future. By the way, the Yukthi polemic was carried in the Financial Times, but somehow did not feature in their online columns section. Ahem!

*

‘If you look at Sri Lanka’s debt crisis…

it is not because of China or India or Japan.

The main culprits are the [ISB] bond markets…’

‘There is a lot of financing for green energy. But

Often… a lot of that is ‘green washing’…’

(see ee Focus)

*

Also in this ee Focus, the economist Ahilan Kadirgamar insists in The Daily Mirror, that we ‘Don’t Count on the IMF or World Bank’. Kadirgamar details how the global order (imperialism?) has undermined our state institutions, turning them into puppets of the private sector. Isn’t this the very epitome of ‘corruption’? He details the various ‘crises’ – 1997, 2008, etc. – caused by the ‘global system of free trade, & the free flow of finance’. ‘Half of the countries in the developing [sic!] world, are facing some kind of debt problem.’ With all these ’restructurings’, the Sri Lankan economy will in 2034 go back to the lower poverty levels of 2017-18! Instead of rebuilding the historic irrigation system, or the public transportation system (The media, beholden to the private car import mafia, is also not decrying the shocking fact that the Colombo-Kandy railway, a commuter & tourism lifeline, may not be repaired til year end!  Instead, the government is importing luxuries, including more cars! He also points to how the burden of rectifying so-called climate change has been cast onto our shoulders. Our debts are mostly paying off bonds to Wall Street, and our ‘total interest payment is almost equal to the principal!’

     Liberals want Sri Lanka’s unjustly calculated debt to take capricious ‘climate change’ into account. The merchants & moneylenders wish to game the climate into the equation with their fake green & blue bonds. But what about global warring & global whitening? Their arbitrary wars & sanctions have made an import-export dependent economy subject to the whims of imperialism. Should these events too be calculated into the mix, of who really owes who?

     One other matter: Kadirgamar implies that the first international sovereign bond (ISB) was taken during Mahinda Rajapakse’s reign. This is true, but most ISBs were post-2017, during the reign of the US-funded Yahapalana regime. He uses this to argue that the second wave of liberalization happened under Mahinda. No, after JR in 1977, the second wave began in 1994 under President CB Kumaratunga. Among the liberal economists it is widely recognized that the ‘liberalization’ process actually stalled under MR! Perhaps it is this, more than the ending of the war, that incurred the wrath of the merchant media against the Rajapakses,

*

• After decades of over-the-top threats and rhetoric to impose ‘free trade’ on our countries, the hysteric protectionist policies pursued by the imperialist powers today, resemble those of the 1930s during ‘depression’, especially with regard to ‘raw materials’. Witness the recent ‘Buy European Only’ policy (see ee Quotes). Back then too, between their world wars, they began to systematically cut off supplies, even to each other. This was evident in the battles between England, which controlled production of raw rubber, and US manufacturers using rubber.

     Such matters are discussed in ee’s conclusion of Chapter 7 of SBD de Silva’s classic The Political Economy of Underdevelopment. Focusing on ‘Plantations & their Metropolitan Orientation’, de Silva also discusses the impact of technological improvements such as the substitution of inorganic materials, reducing the need for organic goods supplied by plantation economies. This matter of substitution by multinational corporations should concern us greatly as they are now removing their fingerprints from directly administering plantations (in terms of labor & environmental impact & responsibility, in particular) and microfinance, etc.

     The other important insight in this SBD de Silva excerpt is: There are 2 kinds of technological improvements: those that ‘raise the yield per hectare without a basic change in capital-labour ratios or in the organic composition of capital … The 2nd type of improvement is the substitution of capital for labour, with a concomitant rise in labour productivity and a decline in the unit cost of output… Such technology is characteristic of production in the developed economies, both in manufacturing industry & in agriculture, and it differs qualitatively from that adopted by the plantations’ (see ee Focus).

*

• The Wijeya Group’s Financial Times (FT) published a column, ‘Environmental Impact Quotient of Pesticides: Catalyst for sustainable agricultural futures’, on 20 February, by Professor Buddhi Marambe, who FT describes as ‘attached to the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya’. However, Marambe is also a director of the English multinational ICI, known as CIC in Sri Lanka, which has more than anyone drenched this country in dangerous chemistries. Should not this crucial information on his ‘private’ affiliations be included in his attached biography with the article? Only listed as Professor, working in a state-funded university, may suggest he is speaking on behalf of the public good. Let it be recalled, Marambe, on behalf of chemical importers like ICI-CIC, also led the assault on & the sabotage of the attempts by the Gotabaya Rajapakse government to introduce ‘organic’ fertilizer, half-baked & ill-conceived a policy though it may have been. Next time a beloved, relative or friend falls ill, gets a malignant cancer, it may behoove the media owners to reflect on such subterfuge practised by those who sometimes claim to be guardians of the public right to know. Jayavayvaa!

*

_________

Contents:

IMF Head Visits to Inspect the Damage It’s Doing to Sri Lanka; US Pacific Commander Visits Too – What Outrages Await Us?

Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge 

The shocking murder of former Sri Lankan parliamentarian Amarakirthi Athukorala, along with his security officer, during ARAGALAYA in 2022,  raises profound questions regarding human behaviour and the darker aspects of human nature. According to the reports, the mob attacked the two men with poles and clubs. The post-mortem examination revealed that MP Athukorala died from multiple injuries, severe fractures, and internal bleeding. This tragic incident was not perpetrated by professional assassins but rather by ordinary individuals. In light of this tragic event, it is imperative to pose a critical question. What drives an average individual to commit murder? 

During ARAGALAYA, we observed that certain radical politicians, celebrities, intellectuals from universities, community leaders, and even some members of the clergy not only endorsed violence but also subtly encouraged the public to target those they deemed enemies of the people. This prompts us to an important inquiry: what led ordinary civilians to engage in such acts of brutality?

Reflecting on our recent history reveals a series of shocking incidents, including brutal acts of violence perpetrated by ordinary individuals. One particularly shocking event occurred in 1956 during the racial riots in Panadura, where a Hindu Poosari was tragically burned alive by a mob. This act of savagery was not carried out by seasoned criminals but rather by everyday people who succumbed to the chaos and hatred of the moment. 

In 1971, Rohana Wijewwera led an uprising and formed a group of child soldiers known as RATHU GATAV, or Red Youngsters. During the peak of this rebellion, a gruesome incident occurred involving a 16-year-old student from Tholangamuwa Madya Maha Vidyalaya, who brutally murdered an elderly man named Pabilis from the Kegalle District. The young school boy first struck the victim’s head with a mamotee before burying him alive. Analyzing this incident, we ought to question how a schoolboy could exhibit such brutal behaviour.

On August 28, 1977, in Vavunikulam a group of 20 to 25 Tamils attacked a lorry transporting 15 Sinhalese fishermen and a police constable who had returned to collect their belongings. This violent incident resulted in the deaths of five fishermen and the constable, with their bodies later found inside the burned lorry. It is important to note that those responsible for this act were not the members of the LTTE but were Tamil civilians.

In 1983, a group of Lumpenproletariat in Wellawatta poured petrol onto a vehicle and ignited it during racial riots, resulting in the tragic deaths of several passengers who were trapped inside and burned alive. Notably, the individuals responsible for this heinous act had no prior history of barbarous violence. Some of them were street vendors.

During the Eelam war, a group of child soldiers from the LTTE launched an attack on a Sinhala village, murdering unarmed civilians. In a particularly horrific act, infants were brutally killed by the child soldiers, holding the babies by their legs and striking their heads against a wall. Many of these young child soldiers were schoolboys who had been indoctrinated into the ideology of Prabhakaran’s racial separation.

This raises the question: how did these everyday people become capable of such abominable acts? The phenomenon of group dynamics/mob mentality plays a crucial role in this transformation, as it can strip away individual moral compasses and replace them with a collective impulse that often leads to violence and chaos.

In moments of heightened emotion and group dynamics, individuals may find themselves swept up in a tide of aggression, abandoning their personal ethics in favour of the group’s actions. This unsettling reality compels us to examine the underlying psychological mechanisms that can turn ordinary citizens into participants in brutality, challenging our understanding of morality and the potential for savagery that exists within us all. This aspect was particularly significant in the case of Amarakirthi Athukorala.

The primary process that facilitates this transformation is deindividuation, a state where individuals lose their sense of self-awareness and personal responsibility while immersed in a group. Being part of a large crowd creates a “veil of anonymity”. Individuals feel their personal identity is hidden, which reduces their fear of negative consequences or judgment, emboldening them to break social norms they would normally follow alone. 

Diffusion of Responsibility is another key factor. In a mob, the feeling of personal responsibility for an act is shared across the entire group. Emotions such as rage, fear, and excitement spread rapidly through a group, often bypassing rational thought. This “contagion” can create a hypnotic state or a crowd frenzy, in which individuals mimic the aggressive behaviours they observe.  

Dehumanization of the Victim make easy for them to unleash violence against them.  Mobs often justify violence by placing the victim “outside” the community’s moral boundaries. By labelling a target as an enemy or a “criminal,” the group neutralizes normal moral restraints against harming others. Group Norms and Peer Pressure too affect the mob mentality. 

Upon the announcement of the verdict in the case of Amarakirthi Athukorala and the murder of his bodyguards, many of the twelve convicted individuals were overcome with emotion, breaking into tears and wailing as the death sentences were pronounced. Some of the defendants protested loudly, asserting that they were innocent bystanders caught up in the chaos of the crowd. No one accepted accountability for the situation.

We will now examine the dynamics involved in mob violence. Charles-Marie Gustave Le Bon, a French polymath, indicated that crowds lose their personality and adopt a “collective mind” characterized by anonymity, contagion, and suggestibility. He believed that the dynamics of group behaviour can lead to a significant alteration in personal judgment and decision-making, often overriding individual rationality in favour of the prevailing sentiments of the crowd. 

In his influential work, The Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War, the English neurosurgeon Wilfred Trotter provides a profound analysis of how collective psychology can overshadow individual ethical principles. Trotter argues that when individuals become part of a crowd, their personal moral compass is often diminished, leading to behaviours that may contradict their own values. 

In 1922, Sigmund Freud introduced the concept of a “herd instinct,” which describes a psychological phenomenon where individuals tend to follow a leader or a collective group without critical examination or skepticism.

Freud’s concept of the “herd instinct” provides a compelling framework for understanding the psychological underpinnings of mob violence. This instinct refers to the innate tendency of individuals to conform to the behaviours and emotions of a larger group, often leading to a loss of personal identity and moral judgment. In a mob setting, individuals may feel a sense of anonymity and diminished personal responsibility, which can result in aggressive and irrational behaviour that they might not exhibit in isolation. The collective energy of the group can amplify emotions such as fear, anger, or excitement, creating a volatile environment where rational thought is overshadowed by primal instincts.

Despite the existence of various theories, an elusive element remains linked to group violence. Based on my discussions with the esteemed Stanford Professor Philip Zimbardo, I encountered a different perspective. He emphasizes the Lucifer Effect, which illustrates how ordinary individuals, typically seen as good, can become agents of evil when subjected to particular situational and systemic influences. Zimbardo defines deindividuation as a state where individuals lose their sense of personal identity and self-awareness within a group.

Our final task – how do we prevent mob mentality and turning ordinary people into perpetrators of violence? Preventing mob mentality and the radicalization of everyday people requires a multi-layered approach that addresses individual psychology, group dynamics, and systemic failures. Its important to educate people about how they are carried away by mass hysteria in mob events. One critical objective is to dismantle the prevailing “culture of impunity” that frequently encourages mob behaviour. Also its important to be proactive bystanders who involve standing up for victims and confronting aggressive behaviour instead of succumbing to group mentality.

සමායෝජක වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන

2026.02.21 “ජාත්‍යන්තර මව් භාෂා දිනය වෙනුවෙන් වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන විසින් පවත්වන පවත්වන ලද නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහනේදි
කැළණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ සංස්කෘත අධ්‍යානාංශයේ මහාචාර්ය පූජ්‍ය ඉඳුරාගාරේ ධම්මරතන හිමි, 
නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන මහතා සහ නීතීඥ අජිත් බන්දුල මහතා කොළඹ මහජන පුස්තකාලයේ ප්‍රවේශාගාරයේදී දේශන පැවැත්වීමට සහභාගී වූ අතර එම නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහනේ සජීවී විකාශයේ පටිගත දර්ශන සඳහා පහත අන්තර්ජාල සැබැඳිවලින් යොමු වන්න.

අදාල කරගත් මාතෘකා

1. 1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (සිංහල) සහ ඉංග්‍රීසි ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා පිටපතේ තිබෙන භාෂා වෙනස්කම්

2. ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83.ආ (සිංහල)/ 83.b (ඉංග්‍රීසි) ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ වෙනසක් නිවැරදි කිරීමට මැතිවරණ කොමිසමේ සභාපති ජනාධිපති ලේකම්ට කළ දැනුම් දීම

3. විවෘත අධිකරණයේදී විනිසුරු ලබා දෙන නියෝග, පාර්ශවයන් කියන කරුණු ලඝු ලේඛිකාව සටහන් නොකරන්නේනම් කළ යුත්තේ කුමක්ද?

4. නඩුවක පාර්ශවයක් නොවන අයෙක්ට නඩුවකට මැදිහත්වීමට ඇති නීතිමය ප්‍රතිපාදන

5. නොදන්නා භාෂාවකින් ඇති අධිකරණ නීති කෘත්‍යන් සිංහල හෝ දෙමළ භාෂාවෙන් ලබා ගන්නේ කෙසේද?

විවේකයට පෙර
https://www.youtube.com/live/hkOJGl13FOE?si=VTWcK0Jusias9GcV

විවේකයෙන් පසු
https://www.youtube.com/live/ss_-DL68_Lo?si=Xb7s8_olllzmddAO

ඉදිරි නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන 2026 මාර්තු 15 (ඉරිදා) පෙ.ව. 9ට
කොළඹ මහජන පුස්තකාල වායුසමණය කළ සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවේදී පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත අතර, එයට සහභාගීවන අයට සහතිකයක්/ නීති සටහන් / දිවා ආහාරය ලබා දෙයි.

මාධ්‍ය – සිංහල / ආසන සීමිතයි

(නීතීඥයන්ට / නීති ශිෂ්‍යයන්ට / අධිකරණ රෙජිස්ට්‍රාර්
කාර්යාල වල සේවය කරන අයට / විශ්ව විද්‍යාල
ශිෂ්‍යයන්ට / නීති ක්‍රියාකාරකයන්ට / පොලිසියේ සහ
සන්නද්ධ හමුදා සාමාජිකයන්ට ප්‍රමුඛත්වය දෙනු ලැබේ. )

අන්තර්ගතය

1. පනත් කෙටුම්පතකට එරෙහිව
ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ නඩු පවරන ආකාරය

2. ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83. (ආ) ඡේදය සහ එහි ඉංග්‍රීසි ඡේදයේ (83.b) ඡේදයේ භාෂා පාඨ අතර ඇති වෙනස්කම් නිවැරදි කිරීමට 2025 දී මැතිවරණ කොමිසමේ සභාපති ජනාධිපති ලේකම්ට දැනුම් දීම තුළ ඉදිරි ජනාධිපතිවරණය සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණය වසර 6 කින් වන ආකාරය

3. ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 9වන
උපලේඛනයේ 1වන ලැයිස්තුවේ ( පළාත්
සභා ලැයිස්තුවේ) විෂයන් ඉවත් වන ලෙස / පරිච්චින්න වන ලෙස 1972 අංක 7 දරන ගෙවල් කුලී පනත ඉවත් කිරීමේ පනත් කෙටුම්පත පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට එද්දී පළාත් සභා ප්‍රේමින් නෛතික විරෝධය නොදැක්වීම තුළ පළාත් සභා නෛතිකව බිඳවැටීම

4. සේපාල ඒකනායක “අලිතාලියා” ගුවන් යානා පැහැර ගැනීම, අතීතයට බලපාන නීති පැනවීම, ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 105.4 අනුව්‍යවස්ථාවේ පිහිටුවන බුද්ධ සාසන උත්තරීතර අධිකරණය සහ විහාරස්ථාන නඩු කටයුතු සම්බන්ධ මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණයට අධිකරණ බලය අහිමි වීම.

5. ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය මුල් වරට සිරදඬුවීම නියම කරන තැනැත්තන්ට සිවිල් හා දේශපාලනික අයිතිවාසිකම් පිළිබද ජාත්‍යන්තර සම්මුතිය පනතේ (ICCPR) හිමි විය යුතු අභියාවනා අවස්ථාව ලබා ගන්නේ කෙසේද?

වැඩි විස්තර ස‍ඳහා සමායෝජක වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන – දුරකථන 0712063394

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

New Ports Authority chairman may have a daunting task to suppress bureaucracy in the Port 

Port authority  deployed ADB  Asiandevelopment Bank to carry  out  a master plan to develop .Trincomalee Harbour

So far no action had been taken implement the ADB suggested proposals 

Recent submission  by EDB to obtain green light to develop offshore industry in Clapoenburg area of Trincomalee harbour was not supported by SLPA  citing  rejection by CEA

This issue has surfaced when EDB presented the proposal to EDCM   ( Export Development Committee of Ministers)

CEA does not reject s proposal until an EIA is submitted

Why port is not supportive 

IAsian Development Bank prepared or funded a Master Plan for Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) for Trincomalee:

• A Master Plan is a strategic document

• It identifies long-term development zones

• It does not automatically trigger implementation

Very often:

• Plans are prepared

• Approved at concept level

• Then shelved due to political or institutional changes

This is unfortunately common in Sri Lanka.

On the CEA Argument

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA):

• Does not reject a project before an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is formally submitted.

• Normally issues:

• Terms of Reference (ToR)

• Requires Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) or EIA

• Then evaluates based on data

So if SLPA says: CEA rejected it”

Without a formal EIA process,

that statement is procedurally weak

Possible Reasons SLPA Is Not Supportive

A  .Institutional Risk Aversion

Offshore industry is:

• Capital intensive

• Politically sensitive

• Environmentally scrutinized

SLPA may prefer conventional port activities over offshore engineering hubs.

B. Control Over Strategic Assets

Trincomalee is:

• Geopolitically sensitive

• Monitored by defence and foreign stakeholders

Large offshore industrial proposals may require:

• Cabinet approval

• Defence clearance

• Strategic review

SLPA may not want to trigger that complexity.

C. Inter-Agency Rivalry

You mentioned EDB submission.

The Sri Lanka Export Development Board promoting a project inside SLPA-controlled land can create:

• Jurisdictional tension

• Who leads?” conflicts

• Turf protection behaviour

This is common in multi-agency systems.

D. Fear of Environmental Controversy

Past controversies involving CEA decisions (especially high-profile officers) may make SLPA cautious.

They may be using:

CEA issue” as a safe administrative shield.

E. Lack of Political Directive

LIn Sri Lanka, major port developments move only when:

• There is strong Cabinet-level direction

• Or Treasury/Presidential push

Without that, institutions tend to stall.

Strategic Observation (Important)

ADB advisory board have long experience in:

• Offshore

• Shipbuilding

• Welding industry

• Marine infrastructure

Trincomalee offshore engineering hub is high-value FDI, not a low-value cargo expansion.

If SLPA does not see:

• Immediate revenue

• Or direct control

They may not prioritize it.

what  Can Be Done Strategically

Instead of confronting SLPA, one could:

1. Request written clarification:

• Has CEA officially rejected?

• Was ToR issued?

• Was EIA submitted?

2. Escalate to:

• Ministry of Ports

• Ministry of Industries

• National Planning Department

3. Frame project as:

• National energy security

• Offshore wind / oil & gas servicing

• Defence logistics support

That changes narrative.

This issue is administrative, not environmental.

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

නොරොච්චෝල ලක්විජය බලාගාරය සඳහා මෙරටට ගෙන්වන ලද මුල් ගල්අඟුරු නැව් හයේම අඩංගු ගල්අඟුරු, අනුමත ටෙන්ඩර් ප්‍රමිතීන්ට වඩා බෙහෙවින් පහත් මට්ටමක පවතින බව රසායනාගාර වාර්තා මගින් තහවුරු වී ඇතැයි බලශක්ති විශේෂඥ විදුර රලපනාව මහතා පවසයි.

අදාළ ටෙන්ඩර් කොන්දේසි අනුව ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කළ යුතු මට්ටමේ (Reject levels) පවතින ගල්අඟුරු මෙලෙස දිගින් දිගටම බලාගාරය වෙත භාරගෙන ඇති බව හෙළිදරව් වී තිබේ. 

රලපනාව මහතා පෙන්වා දෙන පරිදි, ගල්අඟුරු ප්‍රමිතිය මැන බලන ප්‍රධාන පරාමිතීන් තුනම මෙම නැව් හයේදී අසමත් වී ඇත.  

ටෙන්ඩර් කොන්දේසි අනුව මෙය 5900 kCal/kg ට වඩා වැඩි විය යුතුය. නමුත් වාර්තා වලට අනුව නැව් හයේම වාර්තා වී ඇත්තේ 5078 kCal/kg සිට 5689 kCal/kg දක්වා වූ ඉතා අඩු අගයන්ය. 

අවම වශයෙන් 25% ක මට්ටමක පැවතිය යුතු වුවද, පරීක්ෂාවට ලක් කළ නැව් හයේම එම අගය 22% ත් 25.4% ත් අතර පරාසයක පවතී. 

උපරිම සීමාව 16% ලෙස නියම කර තිබුණද, මෙම ගල්අඟුරු වල අළු ප්‍රමාණය 21% සිට 26.9% දක්වා ඉතා ඉහළ මට්ටමක පවතී.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

• If you look at Sri Lanka’s debt crisis, I have argued it is not because of China or India or Japan. The main culprit are the bond markets
• The IMF programme puts a lot of constraints on spending
• The Rajapaksas might have thought they can play China against India, but that doesn’t work
• There is a lot of financing for green energy. But often, I would say a lot of that is ‘green washing’

As a response to Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, saying, while on a visit to Sri Lanka, as to how government discussions with the IMF can help recover from the impact of Cyclone Ditwah-which had disastrous effect on ailing economy- internationally renowned political economist and senior academic Ahilan Kadirgamar is of the view that this country cannot count on either IMF or the World Bank. Despite Georgieva’s assertion that economically devastated Sri Lanka can count on the support of the Washington based international organization with the assurance that Sri Lanka’s arrangement with the IMF under the Extended Fund Facility is not rigid—it can and will be adapted to the new post-Ditwah reality, the economist is of the view that Sri Lanka needs a comprehensive plan to fight the present and future shocks. A Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Jaffna, Ahilan holds a PhD in Anthropology from the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and a Master of Arts in Economics from the New School for Social Research. He is also a member of the International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs). 

Excerpts of an interview Kadirgamar had with the Daily Mirror: 

• And the way forward I would suggest we have to start with where we are most vulnerable that is with the food and agriculture systems. We have to strengthen it because you have to feed your people. I think it was the great British playwright George Bernard Shaw who said Every country is only three meals away from a revolution”
• The World Bank and IMF were also supported by the Americans. I’m not sure what Mr. Trump would do to them next year or the year after. So don’t count on them being around for the long haul
• We know that we should be building a different kind of economy and a different kind of infrastructure. Because who gets affected by these crises? It’s not the wealthy people in this country. The economic crisis also, who got affected? Ordinary workers, farmers and fisher folk. Their incomes are still low, but their cost of living has gone up

QShould a nation have expected a disaster like this at any point by any country like Sri Lanka?

Now, if we look at the global situation, I would say over the past 4-5 decades, we are faced with two major challenges. One is how our global order has changed due to what we call neoliberalism. It is a project which undermined our state institutions, dependent completely on the market and the private sector. And what we have seen around the world is repeated crisis.

 Now, Sri Lanka was the first country in South Asia to liberalise its economy, with the so-called open economy reforms under J R Jayewardene. But many countries followed in the 1980s, India by 1991, and since then we are seeing repeated crisis around the world. In the 1980s, the Latin American countries went into a crisis.

In the late 1990s, East Asia crisis, where Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia were severely affected. And then in the late 2000s, in 2008, the North Atlantic crisis, where Western countries experienced a financial crisis. So, the global system of free trade, and the free flow of finance, has made every country extremely vulnerable. In some cases a debt related problem and sometimes a trade related shock!

And of course, we have over last four years been in a deep economic crisis. From 2020 the COVID pandemic and then the economic collapse in 2022, which is also a debt crisis. And not only Sri Lanka, about half of the countries in the developing world, are facing some kind of debt problem. 

So, on the one hand, we have this kind of very fragile economic systems around the world with the onslaught of what we call neoliberal reforms. And neoliberalism really is, ultimately, a class project. It’s a class project of finance capital. Because who gains, even though a lot of destruction, a lot of crisis, some people are making huge amounts of wealth. Mainly using finance. So, money is making money. But actual production is not happening. People are not benefiting.

QWhen you say crisis, it could be war, disaster, anything? 

I’m focusing mostly on economic crisis. But sometimes economic problems also aggravate wars and other social disasters.  So, with economic policies, we have to think about how the global order has changed, how capitalism has changed in the last four to five decades. Now, another big problem we have been facing during the last many decades is climate change, which is also man-made in the sense from the impact of the industrial revolution.

We have been destroying our environment and we are facing the consequences. Now, in 2016-17, we faced a drought. Almost every year we are having some floods. But sometimes, like this time, it’s maybe once in a 100 years or once in a 500 years type of massive cyclone. And it’s very hard to prepare for such a big, once in a many century, event.

 But we know that these kinds of crises are happening and they are going to happen again. So, we need to both rethink the economic order and approach both globally and in our country.

We need to change what I would call the built environment. That is  the kind of infrastructure that we build, the kind of financial system that we have. So, both in terms of the economic system and in terms of our built environment, we have to change.

And I think now we’ve been through both types of crises. We’ve been through an economic crisis and now a climate-oriented crisis. So, we really should rethink where we want our country to go. What kind of system we want to build. I see this as much bigger than even the National People’s Power (NPP) government’s challenge. I’m saying this is a national challenge for all of us. This is something we have to think about for the next generations.

So, the causes of what has happened now, I don’t trace it to one year’s preparedness or even three years. We know that we should be building a different kind of economy and a different kind of infrastructure. Because who gets affected by these crises? It’s not the wealthy people in this country. The economic crisis also, who got affected? Ordinary workers, farmers and fisher folk. Their incomes are still low, but their cost of living has gone up.

 Malnutrition is on the rise. Even according to the World Bank, poverty has more than doubled. The World Bank says we will only return to pre-crisis poverty level, say the poverty level in 2017-18, only in 2034. So, we’ve lost two decades in terms of poverty alleviation. Our GDP growth according to the World Bank, we will only go back to the same size of our GDP that we were in 2018, only in 2026. Almost a decade, no growth.

 Whereas a developing country in that period, I would say, should have grown by 50 or 60%. If you take China, they doubled their GDP in that time frame, that is when they were going through their high growth period. So, this is a huge loss. This has to be a wake-up call that we need to change our economic system.

Also, who are the people who have been most affected by this climate shock? It is the Malaiyaha Tamil people and the working class. Of course, everybody gets affected, but now even the Malaiyaha Tamils children’s future is going to be affected.

So, this is should make us rethink how we should be building and whatever investment that we can make. Should we be building big highways for the tourists and the wealthy to travel on? Or should we be building rural roads, public transport systems? Should we be rehabilitating our tanks and ponds which can absorb this kind of flooding? 

QAnd we should have been concerned about the environment as well. Isn’t it?

Environment and again, I don’t see environment as separate from people.  It is very much intertwined. I’ll give you an example. Now, one serious concern we have is, of course, globally they have set certain benchmarks. The climate crisis is caused by the western countries and their industrialization. But they of course put the pressure on countries like us (Sri Lanka) to make the changes to reach certain targets.

 So, Sri Lanka is to have 30% forest coverage, because that will reduce greenhouse gases.

 Now, what has happened? As a country, should we blindly consider such targets? And they may even give us some so-called incentives to get into green energy.  There is a lot of financing for green energy. But often, I would say a lot of that is ‘green washing’. 

So what happened? Here is a concrete example I can give you. If you take the Mullaitivu district, after the war, Mullaitivu district’s forest coverage has gone up from something like 34% to 72%. 

 Now, the government, the Wildlife Department, Forest Department have taken steps and gazetted forests, just using satellite imagest. Now, there were villages there, there were tanks there, there were people living there before the war. They were displaced. So, there has been some overgrowth.  Now, people can’t resume their agriculture there. But why did the previous government push for that? This all happened after the war from 2012 onwards. This is so we can reach that 30% forest coverage national target. But then, who is getting affected? It is the farmers, fisher folk and ordinary people. So, we have to be concerned about the environment, we have to reduce pollution, we have to and all that is good.

But we have to realize that the environment is there for the people and people’s livelihoods are also important. So again, the most marginal people, the farmers and so on, were asked to pay the cost. Why aren’t we reducing the number of private vehicles on the road? Why don’t we build a better public transport system? That is also environmentally friendly. We should be investing in bus transport and railway transport. But that we are not doing enough of. So, the environment has to be thought in, along with people’s lives and livelihoods. 

QAnd you said about green washing. Can you please explain?

So, now there is all kinds of talk, right? Now they say, billions of dollars is not enough to address environmental challenges. We need trillions of dollars. And that is the global discourse. And they say, that this trillions of dollars, governments cannot supply. But that we can get it from the private markets and capital markets. Now, if you look at Sri Lanka’s debt crisis, I have argued it is not because of China or India or Japan. The main culprits are the bond markets. Sri Lanka started floating what is called international sovereign bonds. Starting in 2007 and by the time we defaulted, about 52% of our debt was commercial debts and commercial borrowings. Not bilateral borrowing or multilateral borrowing, but all kinds of commercial borrowing of which 40% amounted to these international sovereign bonds. 

They charge very high interest. They charge, Sri Lanka high interest for these, and these are 10-year bonds. Sometimes 6%, 7%, it even went up to 9%.  Now, if you do the compound interest on a 10-year bond, 6, 7%, the total interest payment is almost equal to the principal.

We will never get such returns. Our GDP growth is 3%, 5%, but we are borrowing in dollars for 6%, 7%, 8%. So, obviously, we are going to default because of those private actors and their extraction, that’s the power of finance. They proved large loans and they extract huge profits. 

QWhen we come to the disaster, do we have an estimate of what is the cost this recent disaster?

A: It’s hard to say.  Now, I think the government is working with the World Bank assessment of 4.1 billion US dollars of the destruction. And how much investment will be necessary and what different donors can contribute. 

My opinion is, we would need a few trillion rupees in investment. What does few trillion rupees mean? Now, our GDP is about 35 trillion rupees. So, when we say a few trillion rupees, it is about 5 to 10 percent of our GDP in investment. Anyway that investment was necessary to even get out of the economic crisis. But we were not doing that the last few years. Why? Because of the IMF programme, because the IMF programme puts a lot of constraints on spending. So, now our economy has been hammered by the economic crisis. We have not recovered. 

 And, you know, John Maynard Keynes, the famous economist was a crucial thinker of this idea of why governments need to spend after a crisis, because only if the government start spending, the demand will be created for the private sector to come in. 

QCan we get support from the international agencies for this kind of projects as well? 

We can and we should. But, now they don’t give grants. The World Bank and IMF now only provide  commercial interest loans.  Not concessionary loans. Now we are considered a middle-income country. 

The IMF says they will have a special fund for 200 million US Dollars. The World Bank has said, and World Bank ADB together, something like another 200 or 250 million US Dollars. Let’s say if you put all of it together, 500 million US Dollars, it’s only 150 billion rupees.  Now, as I mentioned, we need trillions of rupees. 

 The government, has put forward a proposal for an additional 500 billion rupees. So, if you compare it with the 150 billion, that 500 billion is more than thrice. I would say, the government has to take the responsibility because we don’t need US Dollars to build rural roads. We can do it with rupees.

They say you can’t spend more than about 12.8% of GDP. Now, 12.8% of GDP is hardly enough to just pay our salaries. So, then there’s no investment. Right? So, that is a big constraint for us, but the government has to figure out a way. In my view, in a crisis like this, we can’t be listening to the IMF.  Our people are most important. So, the government, if necessary, has to say, no, we are going to have to spend and the IMF can decide if they want to keep the IMF programme or not. 

 But there are, again, another problem. The Central Bank has kept our interest rates very high. Policy rate at 7.75%.  Last year, our inflation was negative, minus 4%. Now, it is coming to a little above zero. So, they should be bringing down the interest rates. Because if they bring down the interest rates only, banks will lend at lower interest rates. Then, private actors will borrow and invest. If you keep interest rates so high, by the time an enterprise goes and borrows from a bank, it will be like 11-12%.  Now, the government has said 9% for lending as a cap, but then what will happen if banks just won’t lend.  Because at 9%, if they can earn almost the same amount in treasury bonds, why do they need to take the risk to lend to a business? There is risk, right? But if you put in a treasury bond, it is safe.

So, this is a trap that we are in. So, the Central Bank needs to bring the interest rates down.

In my view, this government soon or later has to change the Central Bank Act and the Public Finance Management Act. They have the two thirds majority in the parliament they can very easily do that. Of course when they do that the IMF won’t be happy, but that is the reality. These laws were rushed through by an unelected President and an undemocratic Government before the NPP Government assumed power. Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Rajapaksas passed these laws to keep the IMF and the World Bank happy. Now we have to undo all the damage if we as a country are going to move forward. There are powerful countries, and there are vulnerable countries like ours, and the powerful dictate to us what to do through the IMF and institutions like the World Bank. But we have to take the responsibility, and there may be political costs, but that is a reality of the system. 

And the way forward I would suggest we have to start with where we are most vulnerable that is with the food and agriculture systems. We have to strengthen it because you have to feed your people. I think it was the great British playwright George Bernard Shaw who said Every country is only three meals away from a revolution”. If you don’t have food on the table you don’t care which government is there! So we have to focus on our food system and agriculture. You know, during the last 40-50 years with neo-liberalism, they said if you can’t produce something you can get it from the global market cheaper. So what was present in the 1970s called the import substitution became a bad word. You can export as much as you want and you can import what you need. But in the 1930s when the global system was going through a major crisis, the great depression even John Maynard Keynes, he is not a Marxist, he is the one who set the system for the global order. It is in his vision that the World Bank and the IMF were started. Anyway, amidst the depression he said every country should focus on self-sufficiency. 

You see we have destroyed all our systems. So we need strong food systems, and agriculture systems. We need self-sufficiency, or I would say an import substitution programme, and then we need a proper financial system. Not a financial system that is going into villages giving micro finance and extracting what little people are producing. But a financial system that will support a production economy with development banks. Our commercial banks should be given proper directions. But everybody is thinking about profits. Over the last year, all our commercial banks are making record profits. The economy is not recovering but the banking sector is making huge profits and why? Because the interest rates are high. 

Lot of diseases surface because people are experiencing malnutrition. That’s why I said every crisis affects the marginalised and in our case marginalised is bottom 60 percent of our population. 

So we need to change the strategy. The Noble prize winning economist Prof. Amartya Sen said ‘Famines are not caused by scarcity, famines are caused by lack of democracy’.  I think the government should learn from that. Unless our economic policies are democratically decided in terms of what people’s needs are that is what can lead us into even more serious crisis. Listening to the technocrats from the IMF and the World Bank; that is not democracy. That is the Washington perspective. We need to listen to the people. This government has got a huge mandate from the people and they have to do what the people need, so that we don’t end up in famines, and we don’t end up in crisis that cripples our people. 

QWhat about the imports and how are we doing right now?

We need to prioritise our imports and have a control over our imports. If there’s an external trade shock like what Mr. Trump suddenly said, 44% or 20%, and you know next month he might wake up and now decide on something else, we have to manage our import bill. 

QWhen you say prioritising imports now, for example a huge rush to get new vehicles. Are these priorities?

In my view this government’s move to import vehicles was a bad idea. I think we have to save every dollar of foreign exchange possible because we know there will be more shocks. There are certain things we can produce more. We need machinery that makes sense. If we need certain transport facilities for public transport we need to import them, but we shouldn’t be importing luxury vehicles for the country’s wealthy.

Q Our economy is so vulnerable that once it rained and there’s another landslide happening so it’s very uncertain how our economy is going forward.  We don’t have excess budgets in our hands. How can we come out of this difficult situation? 

I think it’s very important that we have a long-term vision and work backwards, knowing that there will be many shocks. We can’t be reactive.  Right now, for example, I would say our higher education system has really declined because successive governments have not invested in the education system. Sri Lanka has one of the lowest investment in education.  We’ve been down to I think 1.3% now it’s about 2% of GDP.  This is how much the government is investing in the education system. This government has said that they will work towards 6% of GDP target. Now I know that in the next five years, 6% is difficult, but how about10 years. What I mean by working back is that right now we don’t have excess funds, but the government owns land,  the government owns buildings, some of them are sitting idle. They can contribute that to the education system in the form of assets; they might have some excess transport facilities they can use that in rural areas to transport children.  So we have to be creative. 

Q: As an economist what should be our targets for this year and the next year, 2027?

I think 2026 has to be a year of recovery and reconstruction. I don’t think we can just suddenly rebuild, but it should be our priority. We should have as much funds as possible. Now in 2027 March, the IMF programme comes to an end.  And at least by then we have to have a strategy. Now how are we going to move forward after that? We can’t wait till 2027. 

We have to start now. Borrowing in the capital markets is a dead end, interest rates are going to be so high, so we have to find other financing options. We should be able to live within our means in terms of our balance of payments, but internally we have to use all our resources. 

Having said that I am very concerned about two things; one, globally as we are seeing racism is on the rise, and tensions all over with wars. Every country is now for itself, and the global order itself I would say is unravelling. 

The World Trade Organization, which was what the Americans, were championing. Now Mr. Trump has killed it. Now this idea of free trade, it’s become a joke.  

The World Bank and IMF were also supported by the Americans. I’m not sure what Mr. Trump would do to them next year or the year after. So don’t count on them being around for the long haul.  So we have to understand the global order is changing and we have to prepare for that, we have to be very clear about having a non-aligned policy. We cannot get caught in these tussles because a small country like ours will always be the loser. 

The Rajapaksas might have thought they can play China against India, but that doesn’t work. So we have to realise it is very dangerous times and the global order itself is unraveling. 

The second concern I have is when these kinds of crises happen, internally also all kinds of nasty chauvinist forces emerge from all sections of society, it can be Sinhala, it can be Tamil. 

They will see this as an opportunity to deflect people to polarise communities because they want to make political capital, so we have to be very careful, and we have to you know build stronger relations between communities. 

We have to support each other we have to look out for the most marginalised communities. My real concern is that you know after 200 years, the people who built the wealth of this country, the Malaiyaha people, they have been the most affected by this crisis again. So I think we have to have a special programme to support them and to support the next generation of them in terms of education employment, building housing and giving them their land rights. This crisis is again a wake-up call. 

These climate shocks also affect the most marginalised people and we should ensure that they don’t have to keep facing these kinds of crisis. 

QYou mentioned how the Rajapaksas were playing against the India and China.  So as a sovereign country where should we stand because we need China, India, Japan and US. So where should we place ourself?

I think we should stay very principled and say our policy is non-alignment. We are not going to align with anyone. We will work with everyone, but we will also work in a very principled way. 

If an unfair project for Sri Lanka is being pushed on us we have to say sorry we can’t take this; it’s not because you are China or India. 

We won’t accept projects that undermine our country because in these kinds of times that will also happen. 

These powerful actors will use this as an opportunity, when our country is vulnerable to push their interests. So we have to be politically strong. For all this we have to stand on strong principles of democracy.

Courtesy Adaderana

Arab and Muslim governments have condemned remarks made by the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who suggested Israel would be justified in taking over a vast stretch of the Middle East on Biblical grounds.

In an interview with conservative US commentator Tucker Carlson, Huckabee was asked whether Israel had a right to an area which the host said was, according to the Bible, essentially the entire Middle East”.

The ambassador said it would be fine if it took it all”. But he added Israel was not seeking to do so, rather it is asking to at least take the land that they now occupy” and protect its people.

In a joint statement, more than a dozen governments including Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates called the comments dangerous and inflammatory”, and a threat to efforts to end the war in Gaza.

In the interview, released on Friday, Carlson pressed the ambassador on his interpretation of a Bible verse which the host claimed suggested Israel had a right to the land between the River Nile in Egypt and the Euphrates in Syria and Iraq.

Huckabee said it would be a big piece of land” but stressed that I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about here today”.

He later added: They’re not asking to go back to take all of that, but they are asking to at least take the land that they now occupy, they now live in, they now own legitimately, and it is a safe haven for them.”

He also said his earlier remark that Israel could take it all” had been somewhat hyperbolic”.

Following the interview’s release, the UAE’s foreign ministry released the statement on behalf of various governments and other actors expressing strong condemnation and profound concern” regarding the comments.

The statement said Huckabee had indicated that it would be acceptable for Israel to exercise control over territories belonging to Arab states, including the occupied West Bank”.

It said the remarks violated international law and directly contradicted US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza, including efforts to create a political horizon for a comprehensive settlement that ensures the Palestinian people have their own independent state”.

The statement continued: The ministries reaffirmed that Israel has no sovereignty whatsoever over the Occupied Palestinian Territory or any other occupied Arab lands.”

They reiterated their firm rejection of any attempts to annex the West Bank or separate it from the Gaza Strip, their strong opposition to the expansion of settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and their categorical rejection of any threat to the sovereignty of Arab states.”

The statement said it was signed by the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria and the State of Palestine, as well as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Huckabee has frequently expressed his support for Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank, contradicting decades of US policy.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem – land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a hoped-for future state – during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

The settlements are illegal under international law – a position supported by an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in 2024.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time that the court had made a decision of lies” and insisted that the Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land”.

Successive Israeli governments have allowed settlements to grow. However, expansion has risen sharply since Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022 at the head of a right-wing, pro-settler coalition, as well as the start of the Gaza war, triggered by Hamas’s deadly 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

More than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s subsequent military offensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Source: BBC

– Agencies

Courtesy Adaderana

A lawyer who was arrested by the Keselwatta Police while allegedly using crystal methamphetamine (commonly known as Ice”) in a dark and abandoned building in the Sanchiarachchi Watta area of Keselwatta, has been remanded until February 26 after being produced before the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court.

The suspect was found in possession of 130 milligrams of ice, various utensils used in the consumption of ‘Ice’, and a lawyer’s identity card.

Based on information received, a team including the OIC of the Keselwatta Police Crime Division had entered the dark, deserted building and searched it where they found the suspect using ‘Ice’. 

Police say that upon examining the lawyer’s identity card in the suspect’s possession, it was revealed that he was an individual who had taken the oath of office as a lawyer in 1996, and that investigations revealed that he was a practicing lawyer at the Aluthkade Magistrate’s Court and the High Court.

The arrested suspect is a 54-year-old resident of Saranankara Road, Kalubowila.

රජය රටේ අනන්‍ය ලක්ෂණ නොසලකා හැරීම අදියර 2 –
ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ භාෂා වෙනස්කම් 2026.02.21 ජාත්‍යන්තර මව් භාෂා දින නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන

History Undug

Ancient Sri Lanka was not just an island kingdom — It was one of the greatest maritime trading powers of the ancient world. 

For over 2,000 years, Sri Lankan ships sailed across the Indian Ocean, connecting Rome, Arabia, India, Southeast Asia, and China. Ancient Chinese records describe Sinhalese manned Sri Lankan vessels as the largest ships to ever enter Chinese ports, towering above all others. Monks, traders, and imperial envoys wrote in awe of their size, engineering, and navigational skill. 

This documentary explores Sri Lanka’s lost maritime empire — from its legendary ports like Mantai, Galle, and Trincomalee, to its mastery of monsoon winds, star navigation, and oceanic trade routes. We uncover how Sri Lanka became the central hub of the ancient Indian Ocean world, exporting spices, gemstones, elephants, and luxury goods across continents. Furthermore, Sri Lanka was respected as the seat of Theravada Buddhism. It still continues to have the longest unbroken record of Buddhist History (2300 years), more than any other country in the world. Drawing from archaeology, Chinese chronicles, Roman texts, and ancient travel accounts, this film reveals the forgotten naval dominance of one of history’s greatest maritime civilizations.

Shenali D Waduge

Sri Lanka’s media has reported on the application by the Muslim Left Front for registration with the Election Commission. A careful review of historical, regional, and global patterns shows that political parties — when built on religious identity fused with ideological activism — can become vehicles for external influence, social polarization, and long-term destabilization. This is not a path Sri Lanka should legally permit if it is serious about safeguarding national unity, electoral integrity, and long-term national security.

https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/First-Muslim-left-party-seeks-recognition-from-Election-Commission/108-333262

Recognition sought for first Muslim left party

This analysis does not target Islam or Muslim communities. It examines political engineering models, not religious belief. Across history ethno-nationalist political movements have similarly been weaponized when identity-based mobilization is fused with ideological activism. The issue is political structuring, not faith.

This analysis must not be mischaracterized as Islamophobia or conspiracy theory; such labels are routinely used to silence legitimate debate on national security, governance, and sovereignty.

Democracies collapse not when debate occurs, but when legitimate concerns are silenced through ideological intimidation.

Identity Politics and Global Lessons

Across South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, the fusion of religious identity with political ideology has repeatedly been exploited to serve foreign or extremist agendas.

Historically, this transformation does not occur suddenly. It follows a predictable progression:
community identity → political mobilization → ideological consolidation → foreign patronage → parallel power structures → eventual radicalization or external manipulation.

Many organizations that are today designated as extremist or terrorist began as legitimate social, religious, or political movements claiming to protect community rights. Their later proscription was not arbitrary — it was the outcome of documented ideological radicalization, political capture, external funding, and operational extremism

A textbook example of this political evolution is the trajectory of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood which began as a social and religious reform movement but evolved into a political powerhouse, later spawning militant offshoots and ideological affiliates, including Hamas.

Similarly, in Africa, movements like Boko Haram in Nigeria and AQIM in the Sahel used local grievances and religious identity as a launchpad for extremist activity.

In Southeast Asia, regions such as Aceh in Indonesia and Mindanao in the Philippines show how ethno-religious identity-based political movements can later provide cover for violent actors.

These cases demonstrate a recurring pattern: communities seeking political representation on the basis of religion or ethnicity, especially when organized under ideological frameworks, often become tools for foreign leverage or internal destabilization, even when initially presented as peaceful or rights-based movements.

The likely outcome in Sri Lanka is what this warning is about.

South Asia: The Historical Context

South Asia is particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon.

Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have all witnessed the rise of Islamic political parties and community-based organizations. While some genuinely represent minority interests, many have been exploited by external networks to advance political, strategic, or economic influence.

Groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and splinter Taliban-affiliated networks in the region illustrate how extremist cells often emerge from communities mobilized under the guise of rights protection.

In Sri Lanka, Muslims constitute around 10% of the population, concentrated in the Eastern Province and urban centers. While their political participation is constitutionally guaranteed, forming a party explicitly built on religious identity can create vulnerabilities, especially when considering external funding sources and international advocacy networks that have historically been aligned with similar identity-based movements.

Particularly noteworthy is the strategic use of the leftist” ideological label — a framework historically used to mobilize grievance politics, generate international advocacy leverage, and attract NGO-driven political patronage, while simultaneously cultivating grassroots antagonism toward Western geopolitical structures.

Demographics and Strategic Leverage

Demographic trends amplify this risk. Globally, Muslim populations are among the fastest-growing groups in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Africa.

In Sri Lanka, the growth of urban and Eastern Province Muslim communities creates potentially influential electoral blocs. While demographic expansion is natural, history shows that small communities with concentrated populations and political mobilization can exert disproportionate influence on policy, governance, and national narratives — particularly when connected to external actors.

This is compounded by the fact that international organizations, foreign-funded NGOs, and diplomatic networks often legitimize minority-centric political movements, sometimes inadvertently shielding radical elements while projecting an image of minority empowerment.

This pattern has repeated in countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia, and the Philippines, where political recognition of identity-based movements created safe platforms for foreign interference and radicalization.

Patterns of Exploitation

These patterns are not speculative. They are documented across multiple geopolitical theatres through declassified intelligence records, international security assessments, UN counterterrorism reports, and academic conflict studies.

The recurrence of identical political structures across continents demonstrates systemic design rather than coincidence.

Historically, there are five key mechanisms through which identity-based political parties have been exploited:

1. Political identity framing:By positioning the party as a protector of a community, movements gain legitimacy, even for agendas that may ultimately undermine national cohesion.
2. Foreign funding channels:NGOs, religious foundations, and overseas donors often provide financial support, which can indirectly advance external interests.
3. Electoral participation as shield:Participation in elections creates a protective veneer, making intervention or scrutiny more difficult.
4. International advocacy leverage:Alignment with international bodies and human rights campaigns often provides narrative protection, even if the party engages in divisive or destabilizing activities.
5. Demographic leverage:Concentrated populations can translate into strong voting blocs, policy influence, and social narrative shaping, giving parties outsized leverage relative to their numbers.

In Sri Lanka, introducing a religious identity-based political party, particularly one aligned with leftist ideological principles, risks embedding these mechanisms domestically.

The potential consequences include electoral fragmentation, weakening of national cohesion, and vulnerability to foreign influence in critical policy areas.

What many forget is that both minority groups (Tamils & Muslims) have voted not for political parties representing their ethnicity but the mainstream political parties. This clearly shows they prefer to be part of national consensus rather than exclusive. Therefore, registering ethno-religious parties is only inviting unwanted trouble and does not cater to their own people.

Historical electoral evidence shows that Muslim voters in Sri Lanka do not consistently back exclusively Muslim ethnic parties.

In the 2012 Eastern Provincial Council election, the SLMC secured only about 37% of the Muslim vote.

In the 2014 Western Provincial Council election, Muslim‑identified parties captured only about 17% of the vote, with the rest going to mainstream national parties.

At the national level, Muslim political parties have never come close to commanding a vote share proportional to the Muslim population, and no Muslim candidate has succeeded in winning the presidency on an exclusively ethnic ticket. These trends demonstrate that most Muslim voters favour inclusive, mainstream political participation rather than narrow ethno‑religious alignment.”

Ethical and National Security Considerations

Communities have legitimate rights to political representation, and Sri Lanka’s constitutional framework protects these rights. However, when parties are explicitly organized along religious lines and combined with ideological agendas, they introduce a risk of exploitation, as external actors and transnational networks can leverage these platforms for their own agendas.

Sri Lanka’s post-war context, with lingering vulnerabilities from past conflicts, makes the timing of such political developments particularly concerning.

The nation is strategically positioned in the Indian Ocean, a region of high geopolitical competition. Parties that can be influenced externally or that entrench communal identity in politics may provide leverage points for foreign actors, increasing long-term strategic risk especially following the failure of the Eelam – Ethno-terror project.

Global Context: Asia, Africa, and the Middle East

In the Middle East, identity politics has historically been a vehicle for both social reform and violent mobilization.

In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political and charitable networks provided both social services and ideological influence, later branching into more radical agendas. Similarly, in Africa, Islamist groups in Nigeria, Mali, and Algeria exploited historical marginalization, religious identity, and foreign support to advance violent campaigns. In Asia, minority-focused movements in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Pakistan have demonstrated how localized identity demands can escalate into broader security challenges when combined with external ideology and resources.

The common thread is clear: identity-based political movements, if not carefully monitored, can serve as strategic platforms for extremism, foreign leverage, and domestic destabilization leading to terror (the kind we witnessed in 2019 – Easter Sunday).

Muslim Left & Sarwajana Ihkwaan- Dilith Jayaweera Factor: Unethical Exploitation of Identity Politics

While there is no claim of coordination between these initiatives, their simultaneous emergence reflects a broader and troubling shift toward the normalization of ethno-religious political structuring — a trajectory that historical evidence suffices to show how such can polarize society & be prone to external manipulation.

Dilith Jayaweera’s, recently commenced new venture leverages ethnic exclusivity within his political party – Sarwajana Ikhwaan (using the Arabic term for Brotherhood,” a phrase globally associated with the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which has been designated extremist or terrorist by multiple states including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Russia, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria and Austria.

Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt, Saudi, UAE, Jordan, Russia, Bahrain, Syria, Austria, while France, Germany view it as a threat. It has support of Qatar & Turkey.

If so, what due diligence was conducted before using term? If not, what does this reveal about the ideological vetting and geopolitical awareness shaping this political strategy?

This concern does not imply that the use of Arabic terminology itself is extremist, but rather highlights the responsibility of political leaders to ensure that terminology with globally politicized and securitized associations is not deployed carelessly in fragile multi-ethnic societies.

No political justification — however framed — can ethically or democratically legitimize the deliberate creation of an exclusive ethno-religious unit within a political party, because doing so institutionalizes division, violates the principle of national unity, and reduces governance to narrow identity politics rather than striving to serve all citizens equally.

By institutionalizing ethnic and religious identity in political mobilization, this approach invites international patterns of identity exploitation, raising ethical and national security concerns.

The strategy is deeply unethical because it prioritizes narrow identity agendas and personal power accumulation over national unity, democratic fairness, and social cohesion. By aligning with transnational ideological frameworks, it risks introducing foreign influence into domestic politics, further fragmenting Sri Lanka’s political landscape. The creation of a party along these lines is not simply a political exercise; it is a potential platform for strategic manipulation, with far-reaching consequences for the country’s security, social harmony, and governance integrity.

The application of the Muslim Left Front for registration should not be viewed in isolation. Historical and global patterns demonstrate the risks of identity-based, ideologically-driven political parties: they can become channels for foreign influence, platforms for extremist narratives, and instruments of societal division.

Sri Lanka’s demographic realities, strategic location, and post-war vulnerabilities amplify these risks when combined with a weak government.

In light of these concerns, it is imperative that the Election Commission apply strict constitutional scrutiny, national security risk assessment, and long-term societal impact evaluation, and reject registration of this party to prevent institutionalizing ethnic political fragmentation.

Beyond the specific case of the Muslim Left Front, the Election Commission itself carries a broader responsibility to the nation. It must ensure that its decisions do not institutionalize the creation of additional ethno-religious parties, which could fracture national cohesion, embolden exclusive identity politics, and create grounds for future conflict. Upholding constitutional principles, safeguarding electoral integrity, and preventing the formalization of communal divisions are obligations that rest squarely with the Commission.

Sri Lanka’s constitutional recognition of Sinhala and thereafter Tamil (from 1987 as a result of the Indo-Lanka Accord) as official languages, with English as the link language, already provides a balanced framework for inclusion, administrative efficiency, and national unity. There is no constitutional, governance, or national necessity for introducing a fourth official or administrative language. Governments & political parties should desist from encouraging such for votes.

Globally, the expansion of official language recognition has often been used as a tool of identity politics, institutional fragmentation, and long-term political segmentation. Language policy is not merely cultural; it shapes administrative power, identity alignment, and political leverage.

In Sri Lanka’s post-war and geopolitically sensitive context, any attempt to institutionalize additional official languages must be viewed as a strategic risk, capable of entrenching communal divisions and weakening national cohesion. Preserving a unified administrative framework is essential to safeguarding sovereignty, social harmony, and long-term stability.

Furthermore, domestic actors exploiting ethnic or religious identity for personal political gain must be held to account. Upholding national unity, ethical politics, and democratic fairness is paramount to preserving Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and social stability.

There can never be unity if ethno-religious exclusivity is formalized for personal political votes.

Political parties carry a responsibility to the nation. If their stated aim is to promote unity, peaceful coexistence, and inclusive governance, then organizing along exclusive ethno-religious lines directly contradicts that mandate.

While representing community interests is legitimate, institutionalizing identity-based exclusivity fosters division, weakens national cohesion, and undermines the very values of inclusivity and democracy that all parties claim to uphold.

Shenali D Waduge

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Eelam wars (1983-2009)  between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), arose over the issue of self-determination for Sri Lankan Tamils and the separation of the Northern and Eastern provinces from the rest of the country. The goal was a separate state.

 The Eelam war was not a guerilla or terrorist war, it was  a Civil War. Civil War takes  place when  a group of citizens take up arms against the government to obtain exclusive control of a part of  the land. The fighting takes place inside the state, in the territory which is to be separated from the rest of the state. It is  war between  the  state  and a group of  citizens  who  want to secede from the state, taking a slice of territory with them.  A civil war is  therefore an internal war. A civil war can become  a high-intensity conflict   if  the    state army  faces  a  well equipped rebel army. Civil war  could  be caused by  outside forces manipulating a separatist tendency within the  targeted territory.

The Geneva Conventions do not provide a definition of Civil War. The Final Record of the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva of 1949 (Volume II-B, 121)  instead  introduced the concept “Non-international armed conflict” .    Geneva  Conference said that for  “Non-international armed conflict”     the party in revolt must be in possession of a part of the national territory. The insurgents  must exercise de facto authority there .The insurgents must be  belligerent and the legal government  must  conduct  military action   against the insurgents.

Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Convention  also   used the term “Non-international Armed conflict”   instead of Civil War,  when speaking of  an  armed conflict between the state and non-state  groups  .The term “non-international armed conflict”   was   widely used  thereafter to refer to  Civil War because   it is the term used in Common Article 3 .

International Committee of the Red Cross, however,  recognized ‘Civil War’ and said that  for a civil war to take place, the party that is opposing the government  must possess an organized military force, it must have a central authority ,it must be in possession of  territory and  be waging war from inside it.

 Analysts and commentators studying the Eelam War use both  Civil War” and “Non-international armed conflict”   to describe the Eelam War. Legal commentators   take the position that  the  Eelam war is a non –international armed conflict.”  The conflict in Sri Lanka is a non –international armed conflict,   they  said.   

Others call it a Civil War. S.I. Keethaponcalan  in Post war dilemmas of Sri Lanka  (2019) said  Eelam war is a civil war it is between a sovereign state and a non-state armed group. It was a domestic war.    Nithyani Anandakugan  titled her essay in   Harvard International Review . August, 2020 as The Sri Lankan Civil War and Its History Revisited”.  

However, some  commentators reject the notion that the Eelam War was   Civil war. They argue that this was Non-International Armed Conflict  certainly ,but not amounting to Civil War .The reason was that  the  LTTE  killed  its own kind. LTTE killed many  Tamils. Does that qualify for the war   to be called civil”,  asked one observer. The answer is that   LTTE killed in  order to gain power and thereafter to  retain power. There was no protracted internecine war.

 This  anti-Civil war  attitude is based on the romantic notion that Civil War is between two  deeply united  factions spontaneously  opposing each other. They are thinking of  the  American Civil War  where the pro slavery ‘Union ^‘  and the  anti slavery ‘Confederacy ‘ fought each other, we imagine, in deep unity.

The separatist  intention is clearly shown in  Tamil politics. Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi, established in 1949 ( ITAK)  indicated through its name that   it was set up for the creation of an independent state. IIllankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi, means  Lanka Tamil State Party.” The word  ‘Arasu ‘ can be interpreted as ‘king,” “ruler,” “monarch,” or “sovereign”, said the dictionary. The word carries connotations of authority . Kadchi means ‘party’ . ITAK said that its name in English was ‘Federal Party’. That was to  hide its separatist  strategy. The Tamil word for federal is Kūṭṭāṭci” .

 The    militant groups  formed in the north in the  1970s were also separatist .  They   all wanted Eelam. The names   of the  five leading  groups were: Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP).Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF),  Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS)  Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)  People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE),  and Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO). 

However,  the Government of  Sri Lanka    did not  officially declare the Eelam war as  Civil war or  Non international Armed Conflict.   The  Government    called  the war a ‘terrorist’ war. Government  says there is no ethnic problem but only a terrorist problem, noted Ben Bavinck. [1]

The Military also spoke of the  enemy as terrorists.  Ours was a war waged against a terrorist outfit by a legitimate government, said  Sarath Weerasekera.[2]  The  memoirs written by the miliary leaders, such as the memoir by Kamal  Gunaratne,   always  spoke of  ‘terrorists’. The soldiers were also told that they were fighting terrorists, whom they called  ‘terra”.

When the War ended in 2009, President Mahinda Rajapaksa  went to Jaffna, spoke in Tamil and  said the war was against ‘Terrorism’ and not the ‘Tamil people.’  In 2019, Sri Lanka‘s High Commissioner for UK, said the conflict in Sri Lanka was not with the Tamil community, but against terrorism by the LTTE.[3]  

In 2020, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN,  speaking at the Security Council Open Debate on Peace building, said that action by the Sri Lankan security forces during the conflict was against a group designated as a terrorist organization . It  was not aimed at any community in the country.[4]

However, Shenali Waduge  observed that the UN   never officially designated the LTTE as a terrorist organization  . UN declared  Al Quaida and Taliban terrorist organizations  through Resolutions 1267 and 1373,[5] but not LTTE .

There is no  agreed definition of terrorism.  Violent and criminal acts planned for a political or ideological purpose are  considered ‘terrorism’.    Terrorism    thrives on the creation of fear  and intimidating the public.   

The Tamil Separatist Movement did not like the label of ‘terrorist.’ When  Anne Abeysekera visited Jaffna in 1994   she was asked,  Why  does your President say there is no ethnic problem , only a terrorist one. [6] LTTE also  objected.  LTTE  has said repeatedly that they were not terrorists. LTTE  was not interested in  merely  frightening  the public. LTTE never limited itself to hit and run tactics.  LTTE‘s mission was Eelam, nothing less.  They were fighting a separatist war.

 LTTE has continued to say this. The European Political Sub division of the LTTE ,  based in Denmark, appealed in January 2019  to  the European Union   asking the EU to lift the proscription of the  LTTE as an international terrorist organization.

LTTE stated that  it  had  participated in a legitimate armed conflict with the aim of ensuring the right of the Tamil people to self-determination. They were not a terrorist organization . EU agreed. The way LTTE’s armed forces were organized and their manner of conducting operations, met all the requirements laid down by international law for recognition as ‘combatants’, said EU, while extending the proscription.

The Eelam war was never  a terrorist war.   LTTE   engaged in regular  military warfare using modern weapons. It had a trained army, dressed  in uniform. It attacked the state army where ever it could and concentrated on taking  territory.       Dayan Jayatilleke  observed  that  LTTE was not a terrorist cell, or a branch of an international terrorist network,  It was a secessionist army. [7]

In his   Heroes Day speech of November 2002, Prabhakaran said If self-determination is denied and the demand for self-rule is rejected, the Tamil people will have no alternative other than to secede and form an independent state.

HL de Silva  in  his book Sri Lanka a Nation in conflict” , discussed  the issue of secession. He stated that  two UN  declarations, Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations”(1970) and  ‘World Conference on Human Rights,’ Vienna, 1993  confirmed  that a state whose government represents the whole people, is entitled to the protection of its territorial integrity. Sri Lanka conforms to this and therefore Sri Lanka can resist secession, he said.

H.L. de Silva  stated that Sri Lanka could not entertain secession in any form. Sovereignty of the people is inalienable.  Any surrender of   an inalienable right is an act that is legally null and void. The people of Sri Lanka do not have the freedom to decide on separation.  They  cannot consider secession either.  A sovereign  people cannot pass laws  affecting sovereignty.   

They cannot break up a country through a referendum  either, they do not have that right, continued H.L .de Silva.   Nor can they do so through Parliament  or a Constituent assembly.  These two bodies do not have the legal power to tamper with   Sovereignty. They  cannot support the truncation of a state.

H.L.  de Silva  stated that the Constitution of Sri Lanka  does  not permit separatism.   The first five articles of the Constitution are basic political values which are not created or conferred by the Constitution. They are pre-existing values which precede and transcend the Constitution. The  Constitution does not permit any ethnic group to declare that they no longer owed allegiance to state either ,  he said.

The five articles of the Constitution are: 1 Sri Lanka (Ceylon) is a Free, Sovereign, Independent and Democratic Socialist Republic 2 The Republic of Sri Lanka is a Unitary State. 3  Sovereignty  is  in  the People and is inalienable. 4 Sovereignty of the People shall be exercised as follows legislative-  Parliament,  executive – President ,  judicial  -courts. 5 The territory of the Republic of Sri Lanka shall consist of the 25 administrative districts set out in the First Schedule and   its    territorial waters. 

HL de Silva said these matters are declared in the Constitution to enable the Constitution to be under stood as a legal document   and to ensure that what follows does not violate these basic principles. And that they are interpreted in the light of these principles. They are eternal , they cannot be disputed and cannot be compromised by understanding reached by negotiators or anybody else.  

H.L. de  Silva  stated that Section 27/3 of the Constitution says the State shall safeguard the independence, sovereignty, unity and the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. Section  157A says (1) No person shall, directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.(2) No political party or other association or organization shall have as one of its aims or objects the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.

Further, the 6^th amendment  to the Constitution expressly prohibits  a  person or political party  from promoting  a separate state within Sri Lanka . [8]  The 6^th amendment states (1) No person shall, directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.2) No political party or other association or organization shall have as one of its aims or objects the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka.

 The Penal Code  is  also very  clear on this matter. Whoever wages war against the Republic, shall be punished with death, or imprisonment said   Section 114. It  is an offense to deprive the People of the Republic of Sri Lanka of their Sovereignty  or  conspires to overawe by means of criminal force any of the organs of Government said  Section 115 . It is  an offense  to collects men, arms, ammunition, or otherwise prepare to wage war against the Republic ( Section 116),  to conceal the existence of a design to wage war against the Republic ( Section 117) or attempt to excite feelings of disaffection to the Government  (Section 120).

LTTE   was attempting to  overthrow a  legitimate   government which  had a strong presence in the north and east. An  attempt to overthrow  a government is  considered ‘treason.’ Taking arms against the state   is  considered ‘high treason’,   a criminal act of the highest order. The demand for the creation of a separate state should   be treated as high treason with penal sanctions, said anti-Eelamists.  The demand for self determination must also be made a criminal offence. It is intended to lay the foundation for a separate state they said.   Tamil Separatist Movement ‘s    declaration  that it is also for an undivided Sri Lanka is  made  to avoid the charge of treason.

This brings us to the  matter  of Sedition. Any conduct or  speech   inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state  is considered sedition. Any   party demanding self determination or separation can also  be treated as sedition.

Critics wants to know why there is no law against sedition in Sri Lanka. In the west, countries  have enacted  laws against sedition.   The government should pass a Sedition act to charge and prosecute any one supporting separatism, said Rohan Guneratne. [9]   Sri Lanka  Parliament must pass legislation spelling out what would constitute sedition. 

On May 21, 1976  ITAK leader A.  Amirthalingam, along with Federal Party MPs  V.N.Navaratnam, K.P.Ratnam, K.Thurairatnam  were delivering leaflets in Jaffna , regarding a political event, when  they were  arrested by the Jaffna police on the charge of possessing and distributing seditious literature. Sivasithamparam was released but the others were taken to Colombo  to be tried for sedition.

When the case came up on  December 10, 1976, Attorney General Siva Pasupati   said that  the Government will not be proceeding  with the case against the four FP leaders relating to the possession and distribution of seditious literature.  After retirement, Pasupati moved to Australia and served as a legal advisor for the LTTE .[10]

Separatism has to take into account the provisions of International law. International law does not support separatism. There is no legal right in international law for a sub national group of a sovereign state to   achieve unilateral secession by wresting territory from the state, said HL de Silva.In  the case of Quebec the law courts ruled that    Quebec did not enjoy a right in international law to secede from Canada unilaterally.  

But it is possible  for the separatist state to obtain recognition if the government concerned does not  fight the secessionists successfully, observed HL de Silva.    Once a secessionist movement  succeeds in defeating the armed forces of a state and is in occupation and control of territory, leaving no room for government to operate inside it,   there comes into existence a de facto  separate state ,  which can then advance to becoming a  de jure state, with help of other countries.

 UN is extremely reluctant to admit a seceding entity to membership against the wishes of the government of that state. But it can  be achieved by a  friendly country nominating the new state to the UN General Assembly, said analysts.

Since the  first step toward the creation of statehood  is   control of territory by a rebel group, itis up to the  government   to make  sure that that does not happen. It is up to the state to ensure  that secession is not successful,  said HL de Silva.  Sri Lanka has a long tradition of achievement which would help provide enormous reserves of inner strength and moral courage to withstand Eelam, concluded HL de Silva. [11]

 The Eelam wars were defeated by the government of Sri Lanka in May 2009. Nirmala  Chandrahasan said that the Tamils must start all over again. I do not think that Tamil nationalism with secessionist aspirations, will die a natural death. Even if the LTTE is destroyed , it is possible that a new guerrilla war could emerge in a few years time. [12]

 A.K. Ragavan, a Tamil activist now in UK stated in an interview in 2009  ,  we need to look at this differently. This nationalist framework will only alienate people further. Tamils constitute only  12 % of Sri Lanka  population Without the support of the Sinhala progressives Tamils cannot take their struggle forward anymore. [13]

Sebastian Rasalingam said ‘Eelam program was doomed to failure within the confines of an island dominated by a majority which had always has a historic sense of its own identity, and ancient chronicles to give the needed patriotic cohesions. The Mahavamsa mind set. But the Eelam idea is too big and too potent to be confined to the shores of Sri Lanka. So it may be transferred to Tamilnadu.[14]

 Sri Lanka is quite the last place in the world to strive for Eelam  or an approximation because the game here is zero-sum due to the uniqueness of the Sinhala situation. Here Tamil globalism meets Sinhala exceptionalism, said Dayan Jayatilleke in 2018.[15]Sri Lanka is  too small an  island  to have two separate governments, said Kanthar Balanathan in  2023. Jaffna has no river or water and 49% of Tamils live outside the North and East. [16]

Tamil diaspora should abandon its separatist ideas said Kumaran Pathmanathan   in 2021. I have tried to explain to them that the era led by Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman is no more. It is impossible to formulate another armed struggle in this country. Pursuing such an ideology is a waste of time.[17] There will never be a separate state in Sri Lanka. Even the most vociferous Tamil politicians in Sri Lanka too have categorically rejected the idea said  a Daily News  editorial in 2021 .[18]

LTTE was    engaging in  civil war in a country with a strong central government , firm  sovereign standing and strong historical recall. Sri Lanka, real name Sinhaladvipa, is a recognized sovereign state with clear boundaries, settled population, a seat in the UN and a well documented history. Sri Lanka is the oldest and longest running democracy in Asia, having had universal suffrage thrust on it, while it was still a British crown colony. The first election was held in 1931, l two decades before India.  Sri Lanka  is considered  a resilient  country.

In contrast to this, Eelamists argue, without any evidence, that  ancient Sri Lanka  consisted of  two nations, Tamil and Sinhala .They argue that   the sovereign state was a modern invention, introduced to Sri Lanka  during western rule,  due to the Westphalia treaty of 1648. That is incorrect ,  also it is a calculated distortion of the  well documented history of  Sri Lanka .( see note below)[19]

Sri Lanka  enjoyed continuous monarchical rule for a long unbroken period ending  in 1815. Monarchical  states are sovereign states. They pre-date the democratic state, but they are  nevertheless,  sovereign states. This means Sri Lanka has been a   sovereign state for many centuries.  The general public are not  familiar with the word ‘sovereignty,’ but they  are very proud of  ‘our ancient kings’ and ‘our ancient history’.    They   firmly oppose  Tamil separatism and    declare ‘rata beddana denna baha”.

International law supports this approach. The  sovereignty of a state is a status recognized and protected by international law. It cannot be easily overturned, said experts.  It  cannot be challenged by non-state actors such as LTTE ,said HL de Silva  . [20]   A sovereign state has full ,complete and exclusive authority to deal with its own territory and with its own nationals, said Nihal Jayawickrema. [21]

A  sovereign state   has control over its airspace, and its territorial sea as well as its land. According to UN Resolution 3171(28) December 1973, Sri Lanka holds permanent sovereignty of all its natural resources, whether on land or on sea.

 Further, International law places great importance on the ‘territorial integrity’ of  sovereign  states ‘Territorial integrity’  is a fundamental principle in international law  which  means the right of a  state to  protect its territorial boundaries and control  the  full territory ,without  interference from anybody.  ( continued)

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[1] Ben Bavinck Of Tamils and Tigers Pt 1 p  307

[2]  https://www.sundaytimes.lk/250406/sunday-times-2/sanctions-and-sri-lankas-failure-to-address-human-rights-allegations-a-self-inflicted-crisis-a-response-594264.html

[3] Island 1.12.19 p 1

[4] Island 15.2.20 p 4  .

[5]  Shenali Waduge https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2025/06/11/sri-lanka-2009-post-war-to-present-un-precedents-bias-international-injustice/

[6]  Anne Abayasekara Telling it like it is vol 1 p  51

[7] Dayan Jayatilleke Long war cold peace’  rev edition 2014 p 211

[8] HL de Silva. Sri Lanka A nation in conflict. p 41, 73,74,259, 268, 311

[9] Interview with Rohan Gunaratne, Daily News 10.12.13 p 9 

[10] https://sangam.org/g-g-ponnambalam-1902-1977-his-power-and-plight-as-a-tamil-leader/

[11] HL de Silva. Sri Lanka A nation in conflict. p 38, 41, 78, 80, 81, 82, 86

[12] Daily News 16.4.09 p 6.

[13] Daily News 16.4.09 p 6.

[14] Sebastian Rasalingam. The twilight of Tigers in Sri Lanka .Island. 5.1.2009 p 11

[15] Dayan J. Island 10.2.18 p 9  .

[16]  https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2023/06/08/open-letter-to-the-fp-tna-ggp-and-the-terrorist-political-parties/

[17] http://www.slguardian.org/2021/06/sri-lanka-selvarasa-pathmanathan-alias.html

[18] Daily News  22.9.21 p 4

[19] The treaty of Westphalia was very significant for Europe  because it ended the  Holy Roman Empire   The Holy Roman empire, headed by Charles V of Spain was described as neither Holy, Roman nor Empire.  Europe at the time was a hotch  potch of kingdoms, bishoprics, dukedoms   all  fighting with each other. There was Thirty Years War, 1618–1648  and  Eighty years War (1568–1648).These ended with the Treaty of Westphalia  of 1648. This treaty created the sovereign states of Europe as we know them today. The  modern states of Europe, with settled borders  and an agreement  to respect these  borders and not fight with each other started from this time. Italy and Germany however unified only in 1848. This treaty has no relevance whatsoever to Sri Lanka .But Westphalia is used in Sri Lanka by Eelamists  to argue that the present day sovereign state of Sri Lanka is  a recent creation  by western rulers,

[20] HL de Silva. Sri Lanka a Nation in conflict. p  247

[21] Nihal Jayawickrema. The myth of state sovereignty. Sunday Island .28.3.2010 p 10 .

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Revised 22.2.26

Anti Eelamists have   tried sporadically to  crush  the Tamil Separatist Movement by taking  the Tamil Separatist Movement  to court. The first recorded instance is in 1976.

1976

On May 21, 1976  ITAK leader A.  Amirthalingam, along with Federal Party MPs  V.N.Navaratnam, K.P.Ratnam, K.Thurairatnam  were delivering leaflets in Jaffna , regarding a political event, when  they were  arrested by the Jaffna police on the charge of possessing and distributing seditious literature. Sivasithamparam was released but the others were taken to Colombo  to be tried for sedition.

When the case came up on  December 10, 1976, Attorney General Siva Pasupati   said that  the Government will not be proceeding  with the case against the four FP leaders relating to the possession and distribution of seditious literature.  After retirement, Pasupati moved to Australia and served as a legal advisor for the LTTE .[1]

 1995

 The Nallaratnam Singarasa v. The Attorney General  case, popularly known as the Singarasa case. In 1995 Nallaratnam Singarasa was convicted by the High Court on five charges that he, between 1 May 1990 and 31 December 1991 together with LTTE leaders like Sornam and Pottu Amman, conspired to overthrow the lawfully elected government   by attacking Army camps in Jaffna Fort, Palaly and Kankesanturai.  Five Supreme Court judges heard the case. Singarasa was sentenced to 50 years  rigorous imprisonment. 

Singarasa appealed against his conviction to the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his case ,but they reduced his sentence to 35 years rigorous imprisonment. Singarasa then sought special leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal .Supreme Court refused  leave to appeal .

Then  Singarasa went to  the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) in Geneva.   Sri Lanka had acceded to  Optional Protocol  1 of the  International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)  which permits individuals to submit communications to the UNHRC regarding  violations of the Covenant by a State Party. Therefore he was eligible.

 Singarasa claimed that Article 14(1) of the ICCPR which guarantees the right of persons facing criminal charges to a fair hearing  had been infringed because he had been convicted on the sole basis of his alleged confession, which had not been made voluntarily.     Singarasa  also argued that reliance on his confession, amounts to a violation of his rights under Article 14(3)(g) of the ICCPR which said that accused must ‘not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt’.  

On 30 July 2004  UNHRC held in favor of the petitioner and recommended that the Sri Lankan state should provide Singarasa with ‘an effective and appropriate remedy, including release or retrial and compensation’.

 Armed with this ruling, Singarasa’s lawyers filed an application in the Supreme Court on 16 August 2005 for revision of the SC judgment of 28 January 2000 ,to  dismiss the conviction and sentence imposed on him.

  The case was heard in 2006 before a five-member bench  consisting of  Chief Justice Sarath N Silva , Justices Nihal Jayasinghe, N.K. Udalagama, N.E. Dissanayake and Gamini Amaratunga.  The case was thrown out on the grounds that the laws of Sri Lanka did not recognize the authority of the UNHRC and  also that   the signing of the Optional  Protocol was illegal.

Supreme Court  said international treaties entered into by the Government of Sri Lanka,  had to be passed into  law by the Sri Lanka Parliament  before they could  come into effect. There is no automatic incorporation of UN declarations.

Court added that Article 2(2) of the ICCPR  recognizes this and  calls on  the states joining the Covenant to pass laws in its legislature, to give effect to the rights recognized in the ICCPR.    Sri Lanka has not passed  such a law therefore  rulings of the  UNHRC have no legal standing in Sri Lanka.

Supreme Court   observed that though President Chandrika Kumaratunga had signed the Optional Protocol of the ICCPR in 1997 ,  the President   did not have the power to do so. That power was vested in Parliament and the people at a referendum. 

 When Sri Lanka signed the ICCPR in 1980, the government deliberately refrained from signing Optional Protocol No 1,  said Sarath Silva. But  President Chandrika   signed the Optional Protocol  in 1997  on the advice of a Human Rights  Group. The Attorney General was not consulted. We should never have signed  Optional Protocol, concluded Sarath Silva .[2]

The media reported In  2016    that the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) planned to  file papers in the Supreme Court, seeking a revision  of the judgment   in  Singarasa case. C.A. Chandraprema commented on this move.  it is not possible to overturn the judgment delivered on 15 September 2006   in the Singarasa case without very serious and far reaching constitutional implications, he said.

Any attempt on the part of the BASL to move the Supreme Court to accept the ruling of the  UNHRC will undermine the legislative authority of Parliament and also the authority of the Supreme Court as the highest court in the land.  

Instead of asking the government to pass the necessary laws to give legal effect to the Optional Protocol of the ICCPR , why is the BASL trying to get the Supreme Court  to overturn the judgment given in the Singarasa case, he asked. [3]  

2013

In 2013 Five organizations, namely  Patriotic National Movement, Patriotic Buddhist  Forum, Swarna Hansa Foundation, Buddhist  Way Organization and Jaffna Buddhist Association[4] went to court  against Illankai Thamil Arasu Kachchi   (ITAK) and Tamil National Alliance (TNA)   election manifestos  for the Northern Provincial Council election of 2013. [5]

The Patriotic National Movement filed a petition in Supreme Court seeking the annulment of  the TNA manifesto.  The   manifesto said the Tamils were a distinct people who had been in Sri Lanka since time immemorial. They  needed   control over land, police and fiscal matters.    The North and East must be merged.[6] There must be shared sovereignty . Ven Bengamuwe Nalaka  and Gunadasa Amarasekera were associated with this petition.[7]

 Swarnahansa padanama  petitioned Supreme Court that the TNA, TULF, TELO and EPRF  were all aimed at establishing   a separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka.  This is against the sovereignty of Sri Lanka.[8]

Petitioners  said that during the NPC elections the ITAK and TNA distributed election manifestos among voters  that said that  ITAK and TNA are planning to form a separate state in Sri Lanka.[9]The manifesto spoke of   the  ‘Tamil speaking North-East’ ,  and the need for a  merged north east province based on a federal structure. [10]

2014a

In 2014, Hikkadu Koralalage Don Chandrasoma, a resident of Kelaniya, filed a petition in the Supreme Court  claiming that the “aims” and “objects” of ITAK  was to establish a separate state. Hikkadu Koralalage Don Chandrasoma vs. Mawai S. Senathirajah  (SC  no. 03/2014)

 The petitioners said  that in the absence of an explicit statement in the ITAK constitution that it did not have the goal of carving out a separate state, it could be inferred that  ITAK wanted a separate state. Supreme Court was  asked to confirm this.[11]  ITAK in reply said that they are not trying to set up a separate state in Sri Lanka. [12]They want a federal state. [13]

The  three-Judge Bench, including Chief Justice Priyasath Dep, said in their determination    that advocating for a federal form of government by devolving more powers to the provinces within the framework of a unitary state  could not be seen as advocating separatism”. [14]  These parties did not support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka,” they said.[15]

 The petitioner    had focused on a section of the party’s constitution to build up his case. The petitioner pointed out that the  English translation of the ITAK constitution reads: The objective of this party is to establish political, economic and cultural liberation among the Tamil speaking people by way of forming an autonomous Tamil Government as part of the united federal Sri Lanka in accordance with the principles of self – determination.”

In 2008 the word ‘federal’ was replaced with ‘confederation,’ which means an alliance between separate and sovereign states. ITAK  said that  the petitioner had misunderstood the Tamil word in question. In 2008, the Party  had replace the Sanskritized samashdi” with the pure Tamil inaippadchi.”  The Official Languages Commission agreed with  this.

The petitioner acknowledged that the  Tamil word did not meant confederation  but stated that that the  very act of advocating for self-determination in itself involved attaining an independent state.

The court sided with ITAK. It is clear that the right to self-determination has had an internal dimension, in that, it could be exercised within the country to the benefit of a ‘people,’ inside the country,” the judges said. The judges dismissed Chandrasoma’s petition .

Tamil Separatist Movement called this a landmark judgment. The court had no necessity to go  so far in this particular case,” they said. But they did[16] . This landmark judgment has removed the suspicion that the very word federal seemed to evoke .It is, therefore, a  fortuitous and welcome decision said Nirmala Chandrahasan .[17]

The significance of the judgement is that it says it is not illegal,  unlawful or unconstitutional to claim to have a system of government based on a federal form, based on the principle of right to self-determination and shared sovereignty,” said  M.A.Sumanthiran.[18]

Professor K. Guruparan, head of the Department of Law at the University of Jaffna, thought otherwise. He thought it  is was humiliating  for a political party  to have to go to   Supreme Court  and say they are not advocating  secession,  instead of  proudly asserting their right to self determination.Further Court had taken great pains to make sure the ITAK was promoting a federal” form of government, rather than a confederation.”    We need to be careful,”  he said.[19]

Rajan Philips observed  that  Appeal Court has  reversed judgments  of original court decisions . They did so  in the case of citizenship of the Tamils of Indian origin (the Kodakan Pillai case of the early 1950s), and the linguistic status of Tamil public servants ( Kodeswaran case of the 1960s).  There is also the dissenting Supreme Court judges in the 13th Amendment constitutional case, and the  decision in the North-East merger case .[20]

Neville Ladduwahetty  said that  this judgment ,  should be  scrutinized otherwise it may be used as a precedent. He observed  that the section of the manifesto cited in the judgment does not contain the term “federal” to start with.  Article 2 of the Sri Lankan Constitution states that Sri Lanka is a unitary state and Article 3 states that sovereignty is inalienable, If so, how could sovereignty be shared.  Therefore it is a contradiction to speak of a federal form of government  existing within a unitary state .[21]

 2014b

In 2014, P G Ravindra Nirosha of Nugegoda went  to courts regarding a letter sent by the Tamil Separatist Movement   to  Geneva. He filed a case in the Court of Appeal in September 2014, Polwatta Gallage Niroshan v. Inspector General of Police, Members of the Northern Provincial Council and others, CA/writ/332/2014.

The petitioner sought a writ of mandamus to compel the Attorney General to take action against members of the then Northern Provincial Council who had signed a letter, forwarded to the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, alleging genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka..[22]

Petitioner said that on  17^th August 2014   28 Members of the Northern Provincial Council and 5 members of the Eastern Provincial Council had sent a letter  to  Navaneethan Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights   alleging ‘genocide’ and ‘colonization’ by the Sinhalese.

He said that The 3^rd – 35^th Respondents, 28 of whom are members of the Northern Provincial Council and five are members of the Eastern Provincial Council, are signatories to a letter sent to the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navinetham Pillay, titled, Joint letter by members of the Northern Provincial Council and Eastern Provincial Council, 17 August 2014.

In the said letter the 3^rd – 35^th Respondents request the former UN Human Rights High Commissioner to acquaint her successor, as well as the investigating panel presently investigating Sri Lanka, with the matters contained in the letter.

The letter saidThe Tamil people strongly believe that they have been, and continue to be subject to Genocide by Sri Lanka. The Tamils were massacred in groups, their temples and churches were bombed. Systematic Sinhalese settlements and demographic changes with the intent to destroy the Tamil Nation are taking place. We request the OHCHR investigative team to look into the pattern of all the atrocities against the Tamil people and to determine if Genocide has taken place”.

Ravindra Nirosh has complained to Court of Appeal regarding this letter.  He says  that the IGP and the Attorney General have failed to enforce the provisions of the Penal Code against   this group. He has filed a petition requesting a court to issue  a Writ of Mandamus to compel action by the Sri Lankan authorities on this matter.

 A fuller account of the complaint and the argument challenging the  letter  to Geneva can be found at https://island.lk/ontarios-bill-104-tamil-genocide-education-or-miseducation-week/

 the Court declined to take up the case on technical grounds, namely, that the petitioner had failed to file a police complaint. The petitioner, a humble three-wheeler driver, did not have the financial wherewithal to pursue the matter further observed Darshan  Weerasekera who  was the counsel in the case..[23]

 P G Ravindra Nirosha has come forward to bravely ask questions that  the public want to ask but the media and international propagandists have made them to feel they are in the wrong. When the authorities do not take action  on these false accusations of ‘genocide’ and ‘colonization’ the rest of the world will  believe these  lies. We must congratulate and commend Ravindra Nirosha for his brave action,  said Shenali Waduge.[24]

2016

In 2016  five petitions were made to  Supreme Court challenging the legality of the 2013 election manifesto present by ITAK and TNA during the previous North Provincial Councils elections. Petitioners also said that during the NPC elections the ITAK and TNA distributed election manifestos among voters indicating that ITAK and TNA are in the process of planning to form a separate state in Sri Lanka

ITAK and TNA have in reply said that they are not trying to set up a separate state in Sri Lanka. Both parties have publicly said that they want federalism. TNA has stated in the manifesto ’we as a people would thus be concerned about our historical habitats, our option to determine what is best for us to ensure self government  in the Tamil speaking north and east of  Sri Lanka within a united Sri Lanka  . [25] ( continued)

---

[1] https://sangam.org/g-g-ponnambalam-1902-1977-his-power-and-plight-as-a-tamil-leader/

[2] Interview with Sarath Silva. Sunday Island .11.10.15 p 11  https://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/?p=43453

[3]  CA Chandraprema island  13.9.16 p  8   https://srilankatwo.wordpress.com/2016/09/17/basls-attempt-to-undermine-the-supreme-court-and-parliament/

[4] Island 18.9.13 p 1  

[5] Daily News 22.11.16  p 11 .

[6] Daily News 5.9.13 p 1  .

[7] Island 11.12. 13 p 1 .

[8] Island 22.9.12 p 1  .

[9] Daily News 22.11.16  p 11  .

[10] Daily News 19.2.16 p 2  .

[11] Island 19.2.16 p 3 .

[12] Daily News 22.11.16  p 11  .

[13] Daily News 19.2.16 p 2  .

[14] Neville Ladduwahetty Island 25.8.17 p 10  .

[15] Daily News 20.9.17 p 4  .

[16] Daily News 20.9.17 p 4 .

[17] Nirmala Chandrahasan Island 28.9.17 p 9  .

[18] Daily News 20.9.17 p 4  .

[19] Daily News 20.9.17 p 4 .

[20] Rajan Philips Sunday Island 20.8.17 p 10

[21] Neville Ladduwahetty Island 25.8.17 p 10 .

[22] darshan Weerasekera  9.12.21 https://island.lk/ontarios-bill-104-tamil-genocide-education-or-miseducation-week/

[23] darshan Weerasekera  9.12.21 https://island.lk/ontarios-bill-104-tamil-genocide-education-or-miseducation-week/

[24]   https://www.onlanka.com/news/sri-lanka-public-litigation-case-filed-against-tna-for-genocide-colonization-claim.html

[25] Daily News 22.11.16  p 11  .

Dr Gamini Goonetilleke at Elephant Pass, 11^th August 1991

A Defining Moment in Sri Lanka’s Modern Military History

Elephant Pass—known locally as Alimankada—occupies one of the most strategically decisive locations in Sri Lanka’s geography and history. It is a narrow land corridor, barely a few kilometres wide at its most constricted point, yet it serves as the sole terrestrial gateway linking the Jaffna Peninsula to the Northern mainland. Whoever controls Elephant Pass controls access to Jaffna, its people, its economy, and its military lifelines. For centuries, invading armies, colonial powers, and modern militaries alike understood its value. In 1991, that understanding was tested in blood.

By mid-1991, Sri Lanka was deep into Eelam War II, a phase of the protracted conflict marked by increasing intensity and escalating ambitions. The Sri Lankan military’s footprint in the Jaffna Peninsula had shrunk dramatically following its withdrawal from Jaffna Fort in September 1990. After that retreat, the Army retained control over only two critical enclaves: The High Security Zone at Palaly and the Elephant Pass military complex. The latter was not merely a base; it was a linchpin. Its fall would have effectively severed the peninsula from the rest of the island and handed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) a decisive psychological and strategic victory.

The Elephant Pass military base was a sprawling complex defensive system rather than a single installation. It consisted of one main camp supported by four satellite camps, spread across a vast area approximately 10 kilometres wide and 23 kilometres long. Trenches, bunkers, minefields, forward defence lines, and artillery positions formed concentric layers of defence, designed to withstand infiltration rather than a full-scale conventional assault.

Yet, by 1991, the LTTE had transformed. No longer content with guerrilla tactics alone, it sought to demonstrate its ability to fight and win conventional battles. Elephant Pass would become the proving ground for this ambition.

On 10^th July 1991, the calm of the arid northern landscape was shattered. At dawn, the LTTE launched what would become the largest offensive operation in its history up to that point. Elephant Pass came under a coordinated, multi-directional siege. The base was commanded by Sanath Karunaratne, then a Major and later to rise to the rank of Major General. Under his command were approximately 800 Sri Lankan soldiers, who would soon find themselves completely encircled.

The LTTE leadership, under Velupillai Prabhakaran, had grand expectations. Prabhakaran publicly proclaimed the offensive as the Mother of All Battles”, confident that the fall of Elephant Pass was inevitable. It was not mere bravado; the LTTE had mobilised thousands of fighters—both male and female cadres—supported by heavy mortars, machine guns, rocket launchers, and a range of improvised armoured vehicles.

The initial assault came from the southern axis, advancing from Paranthan. The attack opened with intense mortar and artillery fire directed at the outer defence lines, followed by wave after wave of infantry assaults. In fact, on the very first day the LTTE captured a few bunkers held by the troops. Troops fell back to the second line of defence. What shocked defenders most, however, was the appearance of a massive armour-plated bulldozer advancing relentlessly toward the forward defences.

This bulldozer was thought to have been captured earlier from the cement factory at Kankesanthurai (KKS) and later modified in LTTE workshops in the Wanni. Thick iron plates had been welded onto its exterior, transforming it into a crude but formidable armoured vehicle. Inside were four LTTE cadres, protected from small arms fire and even anti-tank weapons to a remarkable degree.

Armour plated bulldozer used in the assault on the Elephant Pass (EPS) camp defences

Missiles and rocket-propelled grenades fired at the vehicle failed to halt its advance. As the ‘suicide’ vehicle crushed through obstacles and earthworks, the threat became existential. If the armoured vehicle breached the inner defences, it would have opened the camp to catastrophic assault by the advancing fighters of the LTTE.

At that critical moment, one soldier made a decision that would forever alter the course of the battle and Sri Lankan military history, an act of supreme sacrifice.

Gamini Kularatne, a Lance Corporal of the 6th Battalion, Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment, recognised the danger with chilling clarity. Acting entirely on his own initiative, and with full knowledge that it would almost certainly cost him his life, he ran toward the advancing bulldozer.

Under heavy enemy fire, he reached the rear of the vehicle, climbed the ladder affixed to its armoured body, and dropped a grenade into the interior compartment. The explosion killed all four LTTE cadres inside. The bulldozer veered off course, crashed into a structure within the camp perimeter, and came to a halt. In the fierce crossfire that followed, Lance Corporal Kularatne was killed.

His action saved Elephant Pass at its most vulnerable moment. Had the bulldozer broken through, the base might well have fallen within hours. From that day onward, he became immortalised as Hasalaka Gamini”, a symbol of self-sacrifice and courage beyond measure.

Later, he would be posthumously promoted and awarded the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya, the highest award for gallantry in Sri Lanka. He was the first recipient of this honour and was officially declared a National Hero.

Hasalaka Gamini

Almost simultaneously with the southern thrust, two smaller armoured vehicles attempted to breach the defences from the northern axis. This time, Sri Lankan soldiers managed to destroy them using rocket-propelled grenades, halting the advance at the forward defence line. Despite these setbacks, the LTTE intensified its assault. Mortar fire rained down relentlessly. Eventually, the Rest House camp in the southern sector fell to the LTTE. Sri Lankan troops were forced to withdraw to secondary defensive positions, sustaining heavy casualties in the process. The noose tightened.

LTTE armoured vehicles that advanced from the southern axis during the assault on

Elephant Pass camp

Attempts by the Sri Lanka Air Force to land helicopters inside the base were repeatedly aborted due to heavy anti-aircraft fire. Aerial resupply became the only lifeline, and even then, only about 60 percent of airdropped supplies landed within the camp perimeter. Food, ammunition, and medical supplies ran dangerously low. Wounded soldiers accumulated, and medical evacuation was sporadic at best. Yet, morale within the camp held—anchored by the knowledge that losing Elephant Pass was not an option.

By mid-July, the situation had become critical. The loss of Elephant Pass would have been disastrous—not only militarily, but politically and psychologically. The immediate priority was clear, the besieged garrison had to be relieved. The only feasible approach route lay from the East, through Vettilaikerni 12 km away from EPS, as all land routes were heavily mined or controlled by the LTTE. What followed was the most ambitious amphibious operation in the history of the Sri Lanka Army.

The rescue mission was codenamed Operation Balavegaya, literally, Operation Force of Strength.”. The operation was commanded by Denzil Kobbekaduwa, the General Officer Commanding the 2nd Division, with Vijaya Wimalaratne serving as the Amphibious Task Force Commander. Together, they coordinated a joint operation involving the Army, Navy, and Air Force, mobilising nearly 10,000 troops.

Participating units included seasoned battalions from the Sri Lanka Light Infantry, Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment, Gemunu Watch, Gajaba Regiment, supported by the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps and Sri Lanka Artillery. The Sri Lanka Navy assembled a flotilla of landing craft, gunboats, and fast attack vessels. The flagship SLNS Wickrama carried Major General Kobbekaduwa, while Brigadier Wimalaratne coordinated naval and air operations from SLNS Edithara.

Anticipating a sea- borne offensive the LTTE had already deployed a substantial fighting force consisting of male and female cadres along the beaches of Vettilaikerni and Kaddaikadu. Several fighting units engaged in the fighting at the Elephant Pass base were also despatched to the new front.

The first seaborne landing attempt at Vettilaikerni on 15 July 1991 at 14:30 hours met fierce resistance. Recognising the risk of unacceptable casualties, Brigadier Wimalaratne made the crucial decision to delay the landing. A second attempt was launched at 18:00 hours, under cover of darkness, with naval gunfire and close air support from SIAI-Marchetti SF-260 aircraft. This time, the first wave successfully established a beachhead, though at heavy cost. Within 24 hours, the remaining troops had landed.

12 Km stretch from Vettilaikerni to EPS

What followed was eighteen days of brutal, grinding combat. The terrain between Vettilaikerni and Elephant Pass—sand dunes, thorny scrub, and Palmyrah palms—offered little cover. Minefields, ambushes, and sniper fire slowed every advance. The LTTE employed deception tactics, including plaster-of-Paris dummy fighters positioned to draw fire and confuse advancing troops.

Plaster-of-Paris dummy figures used by the LTTE to confuse advancing military troops

Near Mulliyan Kovil, northwest of Vettilaikerni, fighting reached exceptional intensity. According to Sarath Munasinghe, the military spokesman at that time, who later documented the battle in A Soldier’s Version, the LTTE mounted repeated counterattacks to recover a hidden cache of gold near the temple—succeeding briefly before withdrawing with the valuables.

In the third week, armoured elements—including Alvis Saladin armoured cars, Saracen and Buffel APCs—finally broke through enemy lines despite suffering mine losses. On 4 August 1991, forward elements of the task force reached the beleaguered Elephant Pass garrison, singing Hela Jathika Abhimane.

The siege was broken.

By 9 August 1991, the LTTE had withdrawn tactically, having suffered devastating losses. According to multiple sources, including Australian born Adele Ann Balasingham, one-time leader of the Women Fighters of the LTTE, 573 LTTE cadres, including 123 women fighters, were killed. She praises the heroic role played by the The Women Fighters of the Liberation Tigers in her book published in Jaffna in 1993 and also mentions that over a thousand armed forces personnel died in battle, a claim denied by the Defence Forces. Sri Lanka Army lost 202 soldiers, including several senior officers as reported in A Soldiers Version” by Major General Munasinghe who later describes the moment of victory as the biggest defeat inflicted on the LTTE up to that time.” Across the country, civilians sent food, sweets, and messages of support to frontline troops. Banners praising the soldiers appeared in towns and villages nationwide.

At the time, I was one of the surgeons on duty at the hospital at the Palaly Military Base. Casualties arrived in relentless waves—blast injuries, gunshot wounds, traumatic amputations, burns, and bodies riddled with shrapnel driven deep into muscle and bone. The operating theatre in a resource limited hospital functioned without pause; exhaustion was constant, urgency absolute.

I vividly recall a phone call from the commanding officer, Sanath Karunaratne, seeking immediate advice. A soldier lay critically wounded in the field, his limb mangled beyond salvage. Massive bleeding threatened his life, yet evacuation was impossible—the skies were unsafe, and no aircraft could be deployed.

With time running out, I advised that an emergency field amputation be performed. It was a stark, last-resort decision, made not to save a limb, but to save a life. The limb was removed under the harshest conditions imaginable, haemorrhage was controlled, and the soldier survived. When conditions later permitted, he was transported to the base hospital, where a formal surgical revision was carried out under controlled conditions.

Some casualties were airlifted directly to Anuradhapura General Hospital when their injuries exceeded our capacity for care. In those moments, medicine was stripped to its essentials—decisions were immediate, imperfect, and irreversible, yet guided always by one overriding purpose: to keep the wounded alive long enough to give them a chance at recovery.

Remnants of a shell on the road

After the battle, I accompanied the two commanding officers on a helicopter flight back to Elephant Pass. The silence after weeks of combat was eerie. The ground was littered with shell fragments, bullet casings, and the remains of shattered structures. At the site where the armoured bulldozer had crashed, I climbed the ladder at the rear of the vehicle and looked inside. The four bodies of the LTTE cadres were still there—a stark, unforgettable testament to the moment when the battle turned. The photographs I took during that visit of the wreckage, the terrain, and the remnants of war, are, I believe, of genuine historical value.

Today, a memorial museum stands at Paranthan displaying the wreckage of the armour plated bulldozer and a statue of Gamini Kularatne visible to all who travel the A9 highway, commemorating the Lance Corporal, posthumously promoted Corporal. A statue also stands in his hometown of Hasalaka, reminding future generations of the price paid for duty.

The Battle for Elephant Pass, 1991, remains one of the most significant military engagements in Sri Lanka’s modern history—a battle defined not only by strategy and firepower, but by courage, sacrifice, and resilience.

It is, undeniably, a part of the history of Sri Lanka.

Dr. Gamini Goonetilleke, FRCS is a senior consultant surgeon from Sri Lanka with over four decades of distinguished service. His career spans a wide range of hospitals across the country, including extended service in conflict-affected zones during Sri Lanka’s civil war, where he gained extensive experience in managing complex battle-related injuries. He is a Past President of The College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka and the author of three books: In the Line of Duty: the life and times of a surgeon in war and peace”, The Extra Mile: a surgeon’s experiences”, The Healing Cut: extraordinary surgical triumphs”.

By Atilio A. Boron

February 16, 2026

A few days ago, the Cuban government informed airlines operating in the country that the supply of aviation fuel would be suspended as of midnight on Tuesday, February 10. Obediently, the empire’s powerful propaganda machine got to work and began to spread misinformation in a coordinated manner, attributing the situation to the energy crisis” in Cuba. Its exponents in various countries—from El País in Spain to La Nación and Clarín in Argentina and El Mercurio in Chile, to mention only the best known—bombarded their readers, viewers, or whoever else was the victim of their information attack with a single message: Cuba’s energy crisis is the predictable and inevitable result of bad government, yet another example of the failure” of the Cuban Revolution.

The fact is reported, but its causes are hidden; no mention is made of the fact that the energy crisis is a consequence of the criminal comprehensive blockade to which Cuba has been progressively subjected since the very dawn of the Revolution, claiming thousands of victims over seven decades. That policy, initiated by Dwight Eisenhower and strengthened by John F. Kennedy and his successors, had, and still has today, the objective of sabotaging the revolutionary process and demonstrating to the peoples of Our America that socialism inexorably leads to economic chaos and widespread poverty.

Let us remember that the first sanctions” that affected the normal functioning of the Cuban economy were imposed by Eisenhower in July 1960 (reduction of the sugar quota) and in October of that same year, prohibiting U.S. exports to the island, with the exception of food and medicine. Since those distant days, the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed on Cuba has only expanded and hardened, building a monstrous global network that—through the illegal extraterritoriality of U.S. laws—not only sanctions the island but also those who dare to defy Washington’s mandates and maintain economic relations with the island from third countries.

In 1962, President Kennedy decreed a total trade embargo, citing the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 in support. Trade agreements with the Soviet Union largely mitigated the tremendous impact of the US blockade, but the disintegration of the USSR in December 1991 left Cuba in a situation of extreme vulnerability. Seeing its prey weakened, the US Congress wasted no time in pouncing on it and, in October 1992, the Torricelli Act—misleadingly called the Cuban Democracy Act”—which prohibited US companies located in third countries from trading with Cuba and even limited the autonomy of ships engaged in commercial maritime transport by stipulating that any ship calling at a Cuban port during the following 180 days would not be allowed to call at any US port. For an island like Cuba, this restriction has devastating effects, restricting access to imported goods, hindering exports, and greatly increasing the cost of freight.

A few years later, in 1996, another law with a name as pompous as it is deceitful was added: the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act. It was proposed by arch-conservative Republican Senator Jesse Helms and anti-vaccine activist and Republican Representative Dan Burton. This legal monstrosity established new restrictions on foreign investment in Cuba, further internationalized the persecution of companies or individuals who trade with it, and, above all, in Title III, allows U.S. citizens to file lawsuits in U.S. federal courts against companies (including non-U.S. companies) that have economic relations of any kind with properties confiscated in Cuba since 1959. Even more seriously, this piece of legislation—enacted by Bill Clinton in 1996—eliminates the president’s ability to override sanctions without congressional approval, turning what had previously been a presidential executive order” into a law of the land that only Congress can modify.

In addition to all this, there are restrictions on travel by Cuban nationals, discrimination against remittances that can be sent by relatives residing in the United States, prohibitions on U.S. citizens visiting the island and staying in Cuban state-owned hotels—and also in private residences!—as well as on cruise ships arriving on the island, among a myriad of limitations of all kinds that no economy can withstand without a significant decline in its ability to function. If the United States had been subjected to a tenth of the measures of the anti-Cuban blockade—which the mainstream press refers to with the kinder and more misleading term embargo”—that country would have completely disintegrated and become a huge garbage dump where gangs of human debris —the kind we see every day wandering like zombies through the streets of some American cities—would be killing each other to get something to survive on, in the style of Ridley Scott’s remarkable film Blade Runner. But such an outcome did not occur in Cuba because the moral fiber of the island is infinitely healthier and stronger than that of American society.

With Trump in his first term, and even more so now, discriminatory measures have reached unprecedented extremes. The embargo and sanctions imposed on those who supply oil to Cuba are an act of war of the utmost gravity. The collective punishment of a country is genocide. There is no other word for it. The cumulative cost of seven decades of blockade amounts to $1.5 trillion in gold-indexed dollars, a figure that far exceeds the GDP of Argentina and other countries in the region such as Colombia, Peru, Chile, and almost all other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. That figure is also equivalent to about seven times the cost of the Marshall Plan, which enabled the reconstruction of some European countries after the devastation of World War II. Today, a much larger amount is being spent to punish Cuba for its Revolution, despite which this country has maintained for decades levels of social, educational, health, and cultural development that in many cases were better than those of several developed countries. For example, the infant mortality rate. Despite this, the empire’s parrots insist on characterizing Cuba as a failed state” when, in reality, having managed to maintain the quality of medical care for its population for so long amid the turmoil of the blockade indicates precisely the opposite. Something that, for example, the United States has not yet achieved.

Which is the failed state” in this case? Cuba stands out in this world ruled by capitalist selfishness for its international solidarity and militant humanism. Operation Miracle has restored sight to hundreds of thousands of people in El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Guyana, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and the Dominican Republic.

Its doctors, nurses, and health personnel in general traveled to contain the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, especially in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea, places that never saw an American or European doctor. When Milan and the entire Lombardy region were overwhelmed by the advance of COVID-19, it was the doctors and nurses of the Henry Reeve Medical Brigade who came to the aid of the Italians, doing remarkable work that has been unanimously recognized throughout the peninsula. This spirit of Martí and Fidel that characterizes Cuba was manifested not only in the field of medicine and literacy campaigns. It was also evident in the aid provided to nations such as Angola, which was attacked in 1975 by a racist coalition led by the South African government, and in playing a crucial role in defeating the invaders and, moreover, in putting an end to apartheid in South Africa.

No less important was the aid provided since the beginning of the Cuban Revolution to Algerian patriots fighting against French colonialism. This was publicly acknowledged by Ahmed Ben Bella, Algeria’s first president, at an international seminar held at the Convention Center in Havana. On that occasion, Ben Bella once again publicly thanked Fidel for the shipments of weapons, ammunition, and military supplies concealed in sugar shipments bound for Europe. Angola and Algeria are two oil-exporting countries.

A strong show of gratitude for all that Cuba did for their independence would be to commit to sending shipments of oil to Cuba. Are they afraid of the emperor’s retaliation, of higher tariffs? Then they should pay him back in kind, because the tariff war is destroying the US economy. Besides, Trump is going to attack them sooner rather than later to steal their oil. They had better be prepared for battle. Brazil could also do the same with its flagship company, Petrobras, and send oil tankers to Cuba, especially if the South American giant wants to definitively enter the big leagues of the international system. Will this anger Trump and trigger his tariff sanctions? Yes, but Brazil has the backing to withstand such retaliation, and according to Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico is about to resume its shipments to Cuba despite Washington’s extortion. If these two countries of Our America take a step forward, others will follow suit.

We cannot remain indifferent to the destruction of Cuban society by depriving it of fuel, electricity, and everything that in one way or another depends on oil supplies. Without electricity, without the Internet, without transportation, Cubans will be victims of new and increasingly intense suffering. But they will not be broken. It is therefore imperative to strengthen solidarity with Cuba and actively support it so that it can face this new aggression. It is urgent and necessary to organize a global boycott of merchant ships coming from or going to the United States. They should not be loaded or unloaded. And we, for our part, should boycott all US products and companies. This boycott was very effective in the fight against South African apartheid, and the one that exists today, especially in Europe, against the racist Israeli regime has also had some effectiveness. In short, we must stop this global dictatorship that Donald Trump and his cronies inside and outside the United States are trying to establish. We still have time to do so, but we must act now. Source: Pagina 12, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English

by Dave DeCamp

Just like Sri Lanka during the NED-funded Aragalaya for Regime Change and staged Bankruptcy

Speaking to reporters on Monday night, President Trump boasted of his ramped-up embargo on Cuba, which has involved cutting off Venezuelan oil shipments and pressuring Mexico to end its oil exports, causing major fuel shortages in the country.

Cuba is right now a failed nation, and they don’t even have jet fuel for airplanes to take off, clogging up their runway,” he said during a flight on Air Force One.

Sri Lanka faced a fuel embargo to the island of Cuba in 2022, during the USAID, NED and Soros funded Aragalaya protests for Regime Change in order to declare South Asia’s wealthiest country bankrupt’ and stage a first ever Sovereign Default to enable the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to upend national economic sovereignty. That was during Biden’s time in the White House. There is no difference between the Democrat and Republican parties in America.

Trump said his administration was talking with the Cuban government, though, according to a report from Drop Site News, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is blocking those talks while telling the president they are happening.

A source in the administration told Drop Site that the idea is for Rubio to be able to say in a few months that diplomacy with the Cuban government is futile and push for the US to pursue regime change.

We’re talking to Cuba right now, we have Marco Rubio talking to Cuba right now,” Trump said on Monday night. But they should absolutely make a deal because it’s really a humanitarian threat.”

Even if diplomatic talks were taking place, it’s unclear what sort of agreement the US wants, as Trump has not spelled out his demands of Havana. The president told reporters that as long as a deal isn’t reached, the embargo will continue. In the meantime, there’s an embargo. There’s no oil, there’s no money, there’s no anything,” he said.

Responding to Trump’s comments, a Cuban official pointed out that US officials typically deny the humanitarian damage that US sanctions cause. It is frequent for US officials and diplomats to claim that US aggression is not responsible for difficulties in Cuba, It seems they don’t listen to their President, including the chief diplomat in Havana,” Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos F. de Cossio wrote on X.

Trump was asked if he would consider carrying out an operation in Cuba similar to the attack on Venezuela, which resulted in the US kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro. I don’t want to answer that. Why would I answer that if I was? It wouldn’t be a very tough operation, as you can figure, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” he said.
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