යුතුකම සංවාද කවය මගින් සංවිධානය කළ ‘පනස් හයේ අවසානයද?’ සම්මන්ත්‍රණයේදී මොහාන් සමරනායක මහතා පළ කළ අදහස් :

https://youtu.be/0hWj4EGi8jg

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Due to heavy rains in Colombo and in areas  upstream of Kelani River ,area where Garbage is dumped in Meethotamulle is flooded and inaccessible

Daily garbage collections is stranded with no place to dump

 Alternative dumping locations in Madampitya ,Karadiyana  and other places cannot be considered due to heavy public pressure

Alternative land and a methodology to be identified for above purpose

2.    Solution

All the stranded garbage should be transported to the 200 acre land in Muthurajawela .which is cleared by CEA for reclamation using Sea Sand

Immediate action should be taken to use all the machinery available in SLLRDC and fill  2-3 acres of existing marsh to fill about 1-2 feet with sea sand lying in Muthurajawela

Garbage Lorries can have access to the filled area and  dump the garbage on part filled land ,simultaneously and immediately covered with Sea sand

Excavators should dredged a wider peripheral canal isolating the dumpsite

To solve the problem of transportation may be caused by the people along the route .

cept 

Army and Navy should be deployed to handle the public

Access to Muthurajawela site is only via Gunasekera Mawatha from Negombo –Colombo Road which is quite narrow ,and the residents will start throwing stones to lorries .It happened earlier when containers were transported thru that road.

Other access is via Alakanda Road along Hamilton Canal ,which is also quite narrow and another hail of stones may follow by residents as few hundred truck load carrying raw wet garbage will stink unless they are bailed and covered.

3.    Emergency action plan

His excellency President should call following officers for a meeting to issue instructions to carry out the emergency plan detailed ABOBVE

·        Army commander

·        Navy Commander

·        IGP

·        Secretary to Ministry of  Megapolis

·        Minister of Megapolis

·        Chief Minister /WP

·        The Mayor of Colombo

·        Division secretary Wattala

·        Hon John Amaratunge

·        Chairman CEA

·        Chairman RDA

·        Chairman SLLRDC

·        Chairman UDA

·        Director Waste disposal /WP

·        Attorney General –AG

·        Director –State TV stations

H E President may have to declare partial emergency to cover emergency action required to overcome the problems due to floods ( AG  should advise )

An Officer from the Sri Lanka Army should be appointed to manage the procedure detailed above .

CEA chairman should approve the procedure under emergency and nominate a monitoring committee

Executing agency should be SLLRDC  and use Sri Lanka Army trucks and drivers to carry out transportation 

CONCEPT PAPER  INTERMEDIATE SOLUTION FOR SOLVING CRISIS IN MEETHOTAMULLE COLOMBO  MUNICIPAL DIPSOSAL SITE

Prepared by Dr Sarath Obeysekera ( Ex-Chairman SLLRCDC )CEO Colombo Dockyard Ltd

1.     Purpose

Meethotamulle in Kollonawa area is being used by Colombo Municipal Council           ( CMC)  as a garbage dumping ground ,which has created an extremely hazardous environment ,which led to mass scale protests by the residents in the area .The matter has been taken to courts by some people seeking legal redress due to the fact the authorities have not been able to find a long lasting solution.

A company with majority shareholding held by Western Power ( a subsidiary of Aitken Spence ) has mooted a project to segregate garbage  to compost and dry burnable material with plans for generating electricity. The project is on stand still due to non-availability of an investor

.Many other private investors are trying to find an economically viable solution and unfortunately none has come with a viable plan.

1.     Immediate Requirement

It is ESSENTIAL to find an alternative site to dump almost 1200 tons garbage  delivered daily by CMC to at least calm the public down ,but neither UDA nor CMC has been able to find a land for above .

Over 2-3 million tons of old and new garbage are lying in Meethotatamulle and the immediate requirement is get rid of part or the whole heap to some other place in close vicinity.

It is not advisable to carry raw wet garbage to any land nearby  to dump as it may not be cost effective but also it may generate public outcry

Hence solution below will be the most suitable option providing that the Government and the Authorities who have a land bank and the resources agree with the plan proposed

2.     Intermediate Solution

Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation ( SLLDC) –holds a land bank near Colombo.

In Muthrajawela SLLRDC developed a 400 acres as am Industrial park ,by reclaiming a marsh with Sea sand in 1996 after obtaining Environment Clearance .and now fully occupied by various companies as fuel and gas storage ,ware housing and power generation etc .

SLLRDC lately obtain environment clearance to reclaim 200 more acres between the buffer zone and the 400 acre developed plot and now ready to offer to investors for various industries.

SLLRDC has also pumped over 2.5 million Cu M of Sea sand which is now stock piled next to the 200 acre plot and being sold   to retail buyers .

This stock pile of sand can be used to reclaim the 200 acres and offer to investors, and SLLRDC has advertised the land calling for offers.

Government can initiate a action plan to remove the OLD garbage which has already being party composted lying in the southern part of the Meethotamulle Dump using trucks to the 200 acre plot for reclamation .

It is advisable to use part of the available sand to lay a 1-2 feet layer in the marshy layer  of 200 acres prior to dumping of the OLD GARBAGE and fresh layer of either sand or earth ( being excavated in many building sites in Colombo) can be used to cover the garbage payers one by one .

SLLRDC has a large fleet of equipment and trucks  which are idling and the workforce can undertake this work .

Government via Treasury and also from CMC coffers funds should be made available to SLLRDC to carry out above work

It is anticipated that removal of the OLD GARBAGE can be completed within 3- 4 months.

Land which is cleared in Meethotmualle dump may be used to install a Garbage sorting ware house and compacting unit  for further transportation either for incineration or  degasifying else where

Residents in the area can have employment for segregation of the garbage, which is now being practiced in Karadiyana Site in Moratuwa

Part of the 200 acre land can be used for installation of the incineration plant which can be the source to generate steam for power generation .

The land reclaimed by above means can be offered to Investors who may come with a investment plan to generate power using the raw garbage which can be transported after compacting and bailing

3.     Executing Agencies

 CMC ,UDA ,SLLRDC and a Treasury Representative shall form a committee headed by a high powered authoritative person  who shall report to Prime Minister for speedy execution of the project .

Government shall appoint a high powered officer  who can undertake to manage and  above task providing absolute authority is given to  executing above, subject to agreement by all three agencies above

Treasury Representative shall provide avenues to source funds for the above project 

LAND IN MUTHURAWELA

2.     Conclusion

During a reason visit to Maldive Island .the writer has witnessed how garbage is carried by landing crafts to an area closed to the city ,and over 500 acres has been reclaimed by du ping garbage and covering with sea sand .

This newly generated land is now a Industrial Estate in Male

Maldives has vey stringent environment rules and yet they opted to do above to solve the problem

Therefore reclaiming the land observing proper guidelines not to pollute the area for Industrial Purpose is the ideal short term solution for above problem

RECLAIMED LAND IN MALE USING GARBAGE

Prepared by Dr Sarath Obeysekera ( Ex-Chairman SLLRCDC

CEO Colombo Dockyard Ltd

05/05/15

3.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Tsunmai came and went taking many lives and destroying houses built along the   coastal belt , cleared of all unauthorized houses

Government hurriedly imposed a 100 m rule not allowing any construction within the reservation

Moratuwa, Pandaura ,Galle beaches were cleared of shanties and buildings and disturbed the livelihood of the people

It is over 10 years and we are back to square one as all the beaches have again being encroached

When sea erosion starts due to development in western beach front and Colombo ,it will  and start destroying these houses again due to the aftereffects .

politicians will start pondering into the cause of the problem ,make some adhoc decisions and forget about the whole episode with no follow up

Have we  learnt any lesson ?

I wrote many articles and opinions regarding the current rain water flood situation and remedies as well as suggestions to control the situation.

I do not think any of the bureaucrats and law makers ever read and try to find a solution and root course.

It is like a cold and virus flu   you get every year and you take some drugs to cure and it comes back every year  .

In England they investigate these new vector  deceases every year and  derive a new injection to all the citizens call it Flu Jab” and provide free of charge

Similarly when flood comes all of us provide food and shelter and soothing words and then forget the root course

Filling of Marshy  lands and paddy lands started during the boom after 1977 with reclamation and construction of new parliament and employing Dutch companies to carry our dredging and filling, is the beginning of the Colombo Floods

1000 acres left for retention  in Colombo is now reduced to 600 acres and obviously Colombo has to get flooded and there is no way out

We just have to live with it and now stop filling of marshy lands with strict rules and laws imposed to deter the culprits ( most of them are politically affiliated )

Water level of  Kelani River level rising and flooding the downstream due to heavy rain upstream ,is causing floods which is taking over 4 to 5 days to subside ,caused by the inability of rain water to fall into the sea thru the river outfall .

We have our shipyard near the Kelani outfall and I was watching the wave pattern at the outfall  from the breakwater and noticed that waves bypassing or pushed along the new  south break water of the harbour is causing  10-15 high waves and blocks the water out fall from the river and sand banks are formed ,preventing water outflow into the sea.

I noted that tons of muck and debris flowing along  Kelani river ( Bamboos ,trees banana trees etc)  falling into the sea were not taken away to mid sea but ended up in the shipyard  ( previously Modera Fishery Harbour)  and covered our shipyard harbour basin !

High waves caused by wind  guided along new south harbour breakwater was violently  diverted and  pass Kelani out fall ( blocking the water outflow of the Kelani River)  and hit our break water ,and almost washed away the slipway where we are building a big barge

I had to secure the barge firmly to prevent sinking as the base slipway was being washed away

If and when the Port City is completed ,situation along on North side of Harbour will worsen .

I am confident that such flooding will happen due to high waves and sand bank formation blocking   storm water outlets of Kotte and Colombo at Wellawatta ,Dehiwala ,Panadura and Kaluthara .

During every heavy SW monsoon we will be facing his problems forever not only in North Colombo but also south of the Colombo including Kotte area .

It is high time that state acquires all the lands within 50 meters  south bank  of Kelani river towards Kaduwela and build a dam with flood gates

OR

We let the SW monsoon every year washes the sins” we have committed and keep blessing the whole country.

OR

As the PM mentioned in a speech recently that breaking coconuts by JO may have caused the floods .

Suggest to impose a new law to make breaking coconuts illegal !!!!!

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

on: May 21, 2016In: Colombo Today Local New

ජලගැලීමෙන් අපාදාවට ලක්ව කොටු වී සිටින කොළඹ නාගරික ප්‍රදේශවල ජනතාවට සහන සැලසීම සදහා විවිධ රාජ්‍ය නොවන සංවිධාන මගින් සහන සේවා ක්‍රියාත්මක කර තිබුණු අතර තව්හීද් ජමාත් නම් වූ ඉස්ලාමීය ආගමික සංවිධානයද බෝට්ටු සේවාවක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කර තිබිණි.

සහන සේවාවල නිරත වූ සියළු කණ්ඩායම් ජාති ආගම් සියළු බේදයන් පසෙකලා එකසේ අපාදාවල පත්වූවන් ගලවා ගැනීමට සහ සහනාධාර සැපයීමට කටයුතු කළත් ඉහත ඉස්ලාමීය සංවිධානය මුස්ලිම් ජාතිකයන් පමණක් තොරාබේරාගෙන සිය ආපදා බෝට්ටු සේවාව ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට කටුයුතු කර තිබිණි.

මේ පිළිබදව සෙසු සහන කණ්ඩායම් සහ සහන සේවාවලට උරදී කටයුතු කළ මාධ්‍ය ආයනවල නියෝජිතයන්ද සදහන් කර තිබුණු අතර ඔවුන්ගේ ජාතිවාදි ක්‍රියාකාළාපය නිසා පොලීසිය සහ නාවික හමුදාව විසින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ ගලවාගැනීමේ මෙහෙයුම් කලමනාකරණයටද බාධා එල්ලවී තිබිණි.

මේ හේතුවෙන් ‘වැඩේ හරියට කරන්න බැරිනම් පැත්තකට වෙලා ඉන්න.. අපිම කරගන්නම්‘ යැයි නාවික හමුදා නිලධාරීන් විසින් තව්හීද් ජමාත් සංවිධනයේ කණ්ඩායමට පවසා ඇත.

මේ අතර ඊයේ පෙරවරුවේ වැල්ලම්පිටිය ප්‍රදේශයේ සහන සේවාවල යෙදී සිටි අදාල සංවිධානයේ ආපදා බෝට්ටු කණ්ඩායම ගංවතුරට කොටුව සහය ඉල්ලා සිටි සිංහල පවුල් කිහිපයක් පෙනි පෙනී ඔවුන් අතරමග දමා පැමිණ ඇති අතර පසුව පොලිසිය මැදිහත්වී එම පිරිස බේරාගැනීමට කටයුතු කර ඇත.

මෙවැනි සිදුවීම් පිළිබදව දිගින් දිගටම පැමිණිළි ලැබීම හේතුවෙන් වැල්ලම්පිටිය පොලීසියේ නිලධාරීන් විසින් මෙහෙයවූ සහන කණ්ඩායම තව්හිද් ජමාත් සංවිධානයේ බොට්ටු සිය භාරයට ගෙන ඇති අතර පසුව පොලිසියේ අධීක්ෂණය යටතේ සහන සේවාවල යෙදවීමට කටයුතු කර ඇත.

lanka C news

ගං වතුරෙන් අවතැන් වූ ජනතාවගේ සූවදුක් බැලීම සඳහා වැල්ලම්පිටියට ගිය ආණ්ඩුවේ ඇමතිවරුන් කිහිප දෙනෙකුට එම ජනතාවගෙන් දැඩි විරෝධයක් එල්ල විය.

ජනතාවට බෝට්ටු නොදී පින්තූර ගැනීම සඳහා ඇමතිවරුන් සිය පවුල් පිටින් බෝට්ටු සවාරියේ යෙදීම ගැන ජනතාව දැඩි විරෝධය පල කලහ.

https://youtu.be/yFsqPWs7Yw8

Ven. Walpola Piyananda

Dear Temple Members and Friends,

I am sure that you are all aware of the flooding and mudslide disaster taking place in Sri Lanka.  As of the time of this writing, 64 people have been reported dead, over 135 people are still missing, and thousands are homeless.  We have a long tradition at Dharma Vijaya for coming to the aid of disaster victims:  2004 tsunami, Myanmar typhoon, Nepal earthquake, and others.

We have established a fund here at our temple in Los Angeles for the people in the danger zone.  Please send your donations to Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara as soon as possible.  Make checks payable to same, and send to 1847 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA  90019.  If you have any questions you can contact us by phone at 323-737-5084.  We will not be collecting any physical items – only money.

I am leaving for Sri Lanka on Friday, May 27th, and I will personally distribute whatever funds we have collected those who are most in need.

Anyone who wishes to contribute to this fund after I leave on the 27th, is invited to do so.  Please contact Ven. Dr. Seelaratana or any other staff, and we will make sure your donations reach the victims.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.  May you have the blessings of the Triple Gem.

Sincerely,

Ven. Walpola Piyananda

Abbot

By Senaka Weeraratna

Buddhism has shaped the lives of our people, the identity, and the direction of our society in a way unmatched by any other religion. Buddhism has been the national faith for over two millennia and the bedrock of the culture and civilization of the Sinhalese people. Sri Lanka is the oldest Buddhist nation in the world. If not for the continuance of the Dhamma, through the study and practice of it in this country, it is unlikely that there would even be a semblance of pure Sasana in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, or Cambodia all of which countries have borrowed heavily from Sri Lanka.

It is in Sri Lanka that the Wheel of the Buddha’s law was truly set in motion with the arrival of Arahant Mahinda with the blessings of that great universal monarch, Emperor Asoka. If this event did not take place in Sri Lanka, the Pali Canon may not have got recorded and the noble doctrine of the Buddha, recited and accepted by the Arahats, at Rajagaha, Vesali and Pataliputta, i.e. three Great Councils of the Arya Sangha, would have disappeared into thin air long ago.

Arahant Mahinda not only introduced the Dhamma but he also taught it in such a manner that it soon became the overriding element in all the activities of our people in the past, enthused them to develop an altogether new culture and  Social Order relying heavily on the teachings of the Buddha. It also became the basis of the social outlook of the vast majority of our people even to this day. Such is the hold of the Dhamma so ingrained in almost every facet of this country that the Buddhist public very rightly feel that it is something they cannot do without as it is now representative of their life blood, more or less.

In the pre-colonial period the Sinhalese Monarch protected the Buddha Sasana and maintained its purity as one of his primary duties. He exercised his power and authority over the religion to prevent schisms and heretical interpretations of the Dhamma.   He invoked the dasa raja dhamma” as a basis of governance. He developed an Animal Friendly Cultural Heritage. The protection and promotion of the Buddha Sasana was a primary obligation of the Sovereign. He was called the Sasanadikara (promoter of the faith).

It is indisputable that during 450 years of European colonial rule, Buddhism was displaced and degraded and Buddhists were subjected to all kinds of harsh treatment and discrimination while Christianity which was introduced by the Colonial West, became the religion of a small minority that received state patronage and was treated as the state religion in those parts of the country under colonial domination.

The British as a contracting party to the Kandyan Convention in 1815, (Article 5) granted Buddhism an inviolable status  – in acceptance of the unique status that Buddhism enjoyed under the Sinhalese Kings. This pledge was however honoured in the breach by the British colonial Govt. no sooner the ink was dry after signing the Convention. Governor Robert Browning himself admits that he signed the Convention allowing Buddhism to be regarded as inviolate as a ploy to induce the Kandyan Chiefs to sign the Treaty without which it would have not been possible to clinch the deal with the Kandyans.

Buddhism was not taught in Government schools, disregarded as idolatry under missionary influence, and Vesak was not given any special significance until 1885 when it was a declared a public holiday, in response to a sustained campaign of agitation by the Buddhist Public and the Sangha.

Section 29 – devise to prevent rectification of historical injustices caused to Buddhists in the colonial era

Having demoted Buddhism in schools, public life and employment, and in a manner totally inconsistent with the way Buddhism was treated by the Sinhalese Kings in the pre- Portuguese Era, and with a view to preventing Buddhism from regaining its lost status and due place in an independent Sri Lanka the British colonial Government inserted what became known as Section 29 into the Soulbury Constitution.

This Section 29 enshrined a principle that even the British did not necessarily uphold in practice either in Britain or in any of its colonies, despite public declarations of a commitment to the ideal of a secular state. For example, in England the British monarchy i.e. the Queen, is officially declared as the defender of the faith i.e. Christian faith, and in spite of Britain being a multi – religious society, the laws against Blasphemy operate only when the Christian religion is denigrated or ridiculed. Only days of Religious significance to Christians have been made public holidays in Britain. Compare the situation in Sri Lanka where all four religions Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam have public holidays on days of religious significance. Sri Lanka issues commemorative postage stamps in respect of all four religions which are officially recognized. In contrast Britain has not recognized like the vast majority of European countries (except Russia and Austria), Buddhism as an official religion. Also, neither the Buddha nor Buddhism has been honoured by way of issue of a commemorative postage stamp in Britain. Members of religious and ethnic minorities of coloured backgrounds are never honoured in Britain as worthy subjects in commemorative postage stamps.  In these respects Sri Lanka is far ahead of both Britain and the rest of Europe. They have a lot to learn from Sri Lanka.

While a huge international campaign is being mounted to shame and demonise Sri Lanka on ground of alleged  lack of equality of status of religion in Sri Lanka’s Constitution on account of Article 9 which grants foremost place to Buddhism while affording protection to all other religions, what these campaigners do not say and what much of the world does not know is that Buddhism has never been granted a parity of status as a religion in the Constitution of any Christian or Muslim majority country. Leave alone parity of status Buddhism is fighting hard to gain official recognition as a religion in several Abrahamic countries despite the recognition granted by the United Nations to Buddhism as a global religion. In some of these Islamic and Christian countries Buddhism is even denied simple recognition as a religion because it rejects the notion of a creator God. According to these views, a belief becomes validated as a religion only when it subscribes to the belief in a God. In that sense Buddhism fails the test of a religion.

There are other reasons why the Church and the Vatican are opposed to Buddhism being accorded official recognition as a religion in Europe, namely to prevent the accrual of benefits from the State to non – Christian religions and organizations. In some Western countries it is not possible to register a Society as a Buddhist organization because Buddhism is not officially recognized as a religion. The alternative then is to have such a Buddhist Society registered as a Charitable Society where membership is open to people of all faiths.

While almost every Buddhist country in Asia has declared Christmas as a public holiday not a single Christian country has declared Vesak as a public holiday despite a significance presence of Buddhists in these countries. So much for reciprocity of obligations.

The Constitutional primacy of one religion is not something unique to Sri Lanka. Almost all Muslim majority countries have declared Islam as the State Religion in their Constitutions.  In most South American countries Catholicism has been declared the State Religion and treated accordingly. In Philippines where the majority are Roman Catholics, Catholicism enjoys State patronage and protection over and above all other religions. In Israel, Judaism is the State Religion. In both Burma and Thailand Buddhism enjoys state patronage because of the large presence of Buddhists in these countries.

In the making or reform of a National Constitution an obsession with the ideal of the principle of equality of status of religions, while disregarding the overwhelming and virtually matchless contribution of one religion to the creation and structuring of a country’s civilization i.e. Buddhism in the history of Sri Lanka,  can only lead to producing a document which will not have roots either in our history or our traditions, and like several other recent Constitutions it will be disowned by the majority of the people of Sri Lanka.

Inter – dependence and close nexus between the State and Buddha Sasana in Lanka’s History

Concepts that are bandied about by the West and their acolytes in Buddhist Asia such as Secularism, Pluralism, Multi-culturalism, Multi – religion and the like with a view to having Buddhism removed from the School, public life and influence on state policy, have their origin in Europe and are more appropriate to Societies and Cultures that spawned them to distance the State from the all powerful Church which was competing with the traditional Monarch to rule the State in Europe. There was no such threat to the King or the State in Asia particularly in Sri Lanka from the Order of the Buddhist Sangha. The Buddhist monks unlike the Christian Clergy in Europe never competed with the King to rule a country in Asia. In the pre – Portuguese era the question of separating the influence of Buddhism on the ethical and moral direction of the society and policy making and policy direction of the State was unthinkable. Buddhism since the time of arrival of Arahant Mahinda in 300 BC and until the entry of Portuguese in 1505, has been the main spring of our civilisation, culture, law and customs. The challenge for the Buddhists of the current generation is to consolidate this position and reclaim the Buddhist heritage as a living force in Sri Lanka. ‘Secularism’ is a concept totally alien to the character and foundations of Sri Lanka’s civilization which is essentially Buddhist.

The greatest challenge to Buddhism as the national religion of Sri Lanka arose with the arrival of the Portuguese in 1505. In fact all three western colonial powers namely the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British that governed Sri Lanka in varying degrees during the period 1505 – 1948, had as the cornerstone of their imperial policy the conversion of the Sinhala Buddhists and the Tamil Hindus into Christianity. This enterprise had the blessings of the highest strata of people of the imperial countries including the Crown, the State and the Church. The avowed political objective in converting the colonized was to transfer their allegiance from the local sovereign to the foreign sovereign, and alienate the converted from identification with their traditional religion, culture, language and sense of self-determination. This diabolical plan invariably required the use of manipulative methods of conversion e.g. force, fraud and allurement, and the repression of indigenous religions i.e. Buddhism and Hinduism, by both overt and covert means. It is pertinent to note that even the local sovereign was not spared from pressure by missionaries to change religion. The assassination of King Buwaneka Bahu the VII by a Portuguese Soldier in Kelaniya in 1552 A.D. is now seen increasingly by astute observers as a punishment meted out by the Portuguese because of King Buvaneka Bahu’s steadfast refusal to abandon the religion of his convictions i.e. Buddhism.  

Unfortunately, this long term objective of displacing Buddhism from public life in Sri Lanka and even Hinduism as a mainstream religion in India continues unabated though the methods employed today by the rival camps are more subtle and deep seated than during the colonial era.

If Secularism was an essential part of State policy right from the dawn of state governance in history (Maha Sammatha), Buddhism may have never got off the ground despite the indisputable truths in the Buddha’s teachings. The State patronage Buddhism received from such Kings as Bimbisara and Ajasattu (Bimbisara’s son) of the Kingdom of Magadha, and King Pasenadi of Kosala, during the Buddha’s time played a critical role in alerting the public to the Buddha’s teachings. Within 200 years of the passing away of the Buddha, Buddhism got the biggest promotion when Emperor Asoka embraced Buddhism and sponsored Buddhist missionaries to travel to the four corners of the then known world. Asoka sent his beloved son Mahinda and daughter Sangamitta to Sri Lanka, to be openly welcomed by the reigning King Devanampiyatissa. The rest is history.

There were significant Buddhist Councils in India following the death of the Buddha. All of these great Buddhist Councils had the patronage of the reigning Kings and the respective Government of their States. In the Buddhist Social Order the King was also known as the Sasanadikara – Protector and  promoter of the Buddha Sasana.   Here is an outline of the support given by the Kings of India and Sri Lanka to the great Buddhist Councils of the past:

The First Council

King Ajātasattu sponsored the First Council. It was convened in 544 B.C. in the Sattapannī Cave situated outside Rājagaha three months after the Buddha had passed away. A detailed account of this historic meeting can be found in the Cūllavagga of the Vinaya Piṭaka.  

The Second Council   

King Kāḷāsoka was the Second Council’s patron and the meeting took place at Vesāli. The Second Council was called one hundred years after the Buddha’s Parinibbāṇa in order to settle a serious dispute over `ten points’. This is a reference to some monks breaking of ten minor rules. Their infringements became an issue of discussion and caused a major dispute as a breach of these rules was thought to depart from the Buddha’s original teachings. This historic council is also named as the Yasatthera Sangīti because of the critical role played in it by the Elder Yasa and his unreserved keenness for safeguarding the Vinaya. The Vajjian monks however refused to accept the Council’s decision and in defiance called a council of their own which was called the Mahāsaṅgiti.

The Third Council 

The Third Council was convened under the patronage of Emperor Asoka at Asokārāma in Paṭaliputta in 326 B.C. It was presided over by the Elder Moggaliputta Tissa and one thousand monks participated in this Council. It was held primarily to cleanse the order of the Saṅgha of corruption and discard delinquent monks who held heretical views.

This Council also achieved a number of other important objectives.  The Elder Moggaliputta Tissa, with a view to refuting heretical views and ensuring the Dhamma was kept pure, began compiling a book during the council. It was called the Kathāvatthu. This book comprises twenty-three chapters, and contains a series of discussions (kathā) and rejection of the heretical views held by various groups on matters philosophical. This Kathāvatthu is the fifth of the seven books of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. The Third Council was also instrumental in giving a royal seal of approval to the doctrine of the Buddha, by declaring it the ‘Vibhajjavāda’, the Doctrine of Analysis. Its content is identical with the Theravāda doctrine. One of the most significant outcomes of this Third Council and one which had far reaching effects for all time, was the Emperor Asoka’s visionary decision to send forth monks, well versed in the Buddha’s Dhamma and Vinaya and able to recite all of it by heart, and preach it in nine different countries. These Dhammadūta monks included the Venerable Majjhantika Thera who went to Kashmir and Gandhāra. The Venerable Mahādeva who was sent to Mahinsakamaṇḍaḷa (modern Mysore) and the Venerable Rakkhita Thera who was sent to Vanavāsī (northern Kanara in the south of India.) The Ven. Yonaka Dhammarakkhita Thera was assigned to proceed to Upper Aparantaka (northern Gujarat, Kathiawar, Kutch and Sindh].

The Ven. Mahārakkhita Thera was sent to Yonaka-loka (the land of the lonians, Bactrians and the Greeks.) The Ven. Majjhima Thera went to Himavanta (the region adjoining the Himalayas.) The Venerable Soṇa and the Ven. Uttara were sent to Suvaṇṇabhūmi [now Myanmar]. The Venerables Mahinda Thera, Ittiya Thera, Uttiya Thera, Sambala Thera and Bhaddasāla Thera were sent to Tambapaṇṇi (now called Sri Lanka). The Dhamma missions of some of these monks succeeded beyond measure and changed the course of history in Asia. It bore great fruits in the course of time and contributed in a large way in ennobling the peoples of these lands with the sublime doctrine of the Dhamma and moulding their civilizations and cultures. As a result of the spread of the Dhamma based on the words of the Buddha, in due course of time India’s stature grew as a country of philosophical wisdom that no other country could match. Correspondingly it became known and respected throughout the length and breadth of Asia and beyond, as Visvaguru, the teacher of the world.

The Fourth Council

The Fourth Council was held in Sri Lanka in 29 B.C. under the patronage of King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi. The main purpose of this Council was to have the entire body of the Buddha’s teaching which was until then passed down from generation to generation by oral transmission written down so that the genuine Dhamma might be preserved for a longer period in its pristine purity. Ven. Mahārakhita and five hundred monks recited the words of the Buddha and then wrote them down on palm leaves. This remarkable project was executed in a cave called, the Āloka lena, located in the cleft of an ancient landslip near Matale.  The success of the Fourth Council is one of Sri Lanka’s greatest achievements in history.  It ensured the preservation in writing of the authentic Dhamma and enabled Sri Lanka many centuries later to share it with the rest of the world, particularly with Scholars and Colonial Administrators from the West in the 19^th and 20^th Century.

The Fifth Council

The Fifth Council took place in Māndalay, Burma now known as Myanmar in 1871 A.D. in the reign of King Mindon. The chief purpose of this Council was to recite all the teachings of the Buddha and examine them in minute detail to ascertain if any of them had been altered, distorted or dropped.

The Sixth Council

The Sixth Council was convened at Kaba Aye in Yangon, formerly Rangoon in 1954. It was sponsored by the Burmese Government led by the Prime Minister, U Nu. Under U Nu’s leadership and watch a huge cave called the Mahā Pāsāna Gūhā, was built from the ground up, to serve as the gathering place much like the Sattapānni Cave outside Rājagaha in India –the site of the first Dhamma Council. The Sixth Council met on the 17th of May, 1954. Its chief objective as in previous Councils, was to recite, affirm and preserve the genuine wording of the Vinaya, Suttas and Abhidhamma–the pariyatti–as related by the Buddha and his principal disciples.

However the unique feature in this Council in so far as the monks who took part in it came from eight countries. These two thousand five hundred learned Theravāda monks were drawn from Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Mahayana monks and representatives from all Buddhist countries also attended it. There were two German monks present at this Council meeting, namely Ven. Nyanatiloka Maha Thera and his disciple Ven. Nyanaponika Thera.

The traditional recitation of the Dhamma Scriptures took two years during which period the Tipiṭaka and its related literature in all the scripts were carefully examined.  Their work came to an end in May, 1956. This Council’s work was undoubtedly an unique achievement of representatives from the entire Buddhist world. The version of the Tipiṭaka which it finally produced has been recognized as being true to the pristine teachings of the Buddha (Shakyamuni) and the most authoritative and authentic rendering of them to date.

The Mandate of the State

Buddhism has been the most powerful single factor in the development of Sri Lanka’s civilization. For more than 2, 300 years, Sri Lanka developed and projected a country image that was predominantly Buddhist. Though this pre-disposition was held back during the period of 450 years of western colonial rule, no sooner an opportunity arose after the grant of independence in 1948, the majority of the people again turned to Buddhism as expressive of their national identity and gave a mandate to a newly elected Government to restore Buddhism to its rightful place and make it an unifying and integrative force in the nation.

Today, the State has a mandate to perform its historic public duty, as enshrined in the National Constitution, to extend patronage, protection and foster Buddhism both within and outside the country.

The Presidential Buddha Sasana Commission Report (2002) observed ‘ that the constitutional obligation accorded by the Constitution of Sri Lanka to give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana devolves on the Government of Sri Lanka, all state institutions, other organisations, and all its citizens”.

The Report further declared:

Sri Lanka is the centre of Theravada Buddhism. It is the duty and responsibility of everyone to preserve it for the future generations. The Government, the bhikkus, the Buddhist societies and organizations, and the Buddhist people should work for this because preserving Buddhism in Sri Lanka leads to the development of worldwide Buddhism. Further, the Commission believes that its recommendations do not disturb the constitutional rights of the followers of other religions, while it improves the harmony rather than animosity among people who follow various religions”

Sri Lanka – Civilizational State

It may well be said that Sri Lanka is more than a mere nation state as defined and understood in International law. It is also a civilizational state given the heavy underpinning of Buddhism and Buddhist culture in almost every aspect of life in this country, lasting for more than 2000 years.

The Presidential Buddha Sasana Commission Report (2002) dealing with the responsibilities of the Government of Sri Lanka, further said:

   It is seen that the religion of the majority of the people in a country becomes the state religion. Bhutan, Nepal, United Kingdom, certain European countries, and Arabic countries are examples of this. In the Sri Lankan society, this condition prevailed until 1815. In Malaysia, even though its Islamic population is 52%, the state religion has become Islam. From the Devanam Piya Tissa era to 1815, the state religion had been Buddhism”.  

Religious Tolerance in Sri Lanka

Buddhist societies are also tolerant of other religions much more than societies belonging to the Abrahamic fold. Despite the heavy pre-dominance of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, other religions also flourish in the country and are officially recognized. They are also protected under the Constitution. Populated townships in the country would show places of worship and presence of adherents belonging to all four religions.

In Sri Lanka, the number of Public Holidays in a calendar year granted to the various religions is further illustrative of this accommodative and tolerant attitude of the State.  For example:

1. a) Christianity – Good Friday, Christmas (and 52 Sundays)
2. b) Hinduism – Tamil Thai Pongal day, Maha Shivarathri and Deepavali Festival Day
3. c) Islam – Milad – un Nabi ( Birthday of the Prophet), Id –UI –Fitr ( Ramazan Festival Day) and Id – UI- Alha ( Hadji Festival Day)

Mahawamsa

In Sri Lanka, as narrated in the Mahawamsa (ancient Chronicle) and supported by epigraphy (stone inscriptions), among others, a significant number of pre-colonial Buddhist Kings donated large tracts of lands to the Buddhist Temples for the sustenance of the Maha Sangha. For example, King Devanampiyatissa, upon embracing Buddhism, made a gift of the Maha Megha Vana (Maha Mevuna Uyana) in Anuradhapura to the Maha Sangha. It is a sacred area for the Buddhists and belongs to the Buddha Sasana which was established by Arahat Maha Mahinda Thera.

These sacred areas of the Buddhists which belong to the Buddha Sasana can be established by evidence, not necessarily legislation. As much as people of non – Buddhist religions expect their sacred areas in the holy lands to be respected ( some areas in the Middle East are out of bounds for non – Muslims) and not used for building places of worship of other religions, Buddhists of Sri Lanka too expect similar respect and courtesy from non – Buddhists. It would be grossly unfair to make indefensible claims and attempt to multi – culturalise the historic sacred sites that are exclusively meant for Buddhist veneration.    

What is the “Buddha Sasana?”

The Report of the Presidential Buddha Sasana Commission (2002) defines it “as the Buddha, the nine super-mundane (navalokuttara) Dhamma, the Sangha, the Buddhist temples (viharas) with their ancillary structures, forest hermitages (aranya senasana) and meditation centres, Bo trees, stupas, image houses, relic chambers, dhamma books and libraries, designated buildings for performance of vinaya acts by the sangha (uposathagara), fields, gardens and properties belonging to the Buddhist temples, Buddhist education, devalas, nuns and nunneries, the laity who had taken refuge in the Triple Gem, Buddhist literature, culture and civilisation, Buddhist festivals and processions (peraharas), Buddhist customs and traditions, Buddhist principles and values and all that are required for its perpetuity “. 

This Report also deals extensively with the question of Lands belonging to Buddhist Religious Places (Siddhasthana) and Temples (Viharas) in Sri Lanka in Chapter 5.

The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka categorically says that It shall be the responsibility of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana in terms of Chapter II of the Constitution. The Government, all institutions and the citizens are bound by the Constitution of this country.

Official Recognition of Buddhism in Europe

It is estimated that there are now altogether between 1 and 4 million Buddhists in Europe, the majority being in Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom.

Despite the highly publicized commitment to ‘religious pluralism’ and ‘multi – culturalism’ of European nations, the official recognition of Buddhism is confined only to two states.

Russia and Austria are the only two European states today that recognize Buddhism as an official”, though not necessarily state religion” in their respective countries.

Even UK denies Official Recognition to Buddhism. It does not allow the construction of new Buddhist Temples. But allows Buddhists to occupy existing Buildings and use them for their religious functions. This is also true of several other West European countries.

However, despite restrictive laws, there is public acceptance and accommodation of Buddhism in several European countries including UK, France and Germany. 

State Recognition of Religion – What does it mean?

Official State Recognition in the West would enable Buddhists to secure a place and standing in each country and also avoid being subject to derogatory treatment as members of ‘sects’ and ‘cults’, among other things. It would also allow them certain rights such as access to the media, financial support, legal standing, and recognition equal to those of Christian churches, and right to teach in a school. It would allow them the legal right to form voluntary societies as Buddhist Societies with membership restricted only to Buddhists.

The absence of State recognition to Buddhism in almost all European countries bar Russia and Austria functions as an impediment to the proper practice and development of Buddhism in Europe. 

There are no public holidays for Buddhism or any other non – Christian religion in the Public Holiday calendar of European nations i.e. with a Christian heritage.

Conclusion

1) Buddhism lacks influence and clout in the international arena to the extent that Christianity and Islam enjoy.

2) Buddhists do not have the equivalent of a World Council of Churches to raise issues concerning Buddhists in International fora to create World Public Opinion.

3) Predominant Buddhist Countries e.g. Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam etc.  which were comfortable with their traditional Buddhist identity in the past are now being approached by powerful western countries and NGO lobbies to drop their ‘Buddhist’ identity and embrace a ‘secular’ and ‘multi-cultural’ image.

4) It is unthinkable for any majority Muslim nation to drop its ‘Islamic’ identity and embrace a ‘Secular’ Image.  Malaysia is the closest to a Multi-Cultural country with a predominantly Muslim population, but it has not dropped its Islamic tag.  Nevertheless, Vesak is a national holiday and there is official acceptance of Buddhism being the second largest Religion in Malaysia.  India, Bangladesh and Indonesia have all declared a Public Holiday for Vesak (also called the Buddha’s Birthday).

5) Multi-culturalism is no longer treated as a panacea for ensuring harmony and cordial relations between ethnic communities in an increasing number of countries. The leaders of UK, France, Netherlands and Germany among other western nations have spoken out against multi-culturalism. It is no longer promoted as an instrument of State Policy. It is in Sri Lanka’s interest to learn appropriate lessons from the rejection of Multi-culturalism by leading Western European countries and devise policies that promote social, ethnic and religious harmony without diluting Sri Lanka’s overriding Buddhist identity.

Senaka Weeraratna

Senaka Weeraratna is an Attorney at Law. Holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (University of Sri Lanka), and Master of Laws (Monash University, Australia). Holds a Diploma (Buddhist Studies) and Master of Arts (Buddhist Studies) obtained from the Post – Graduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Kelaniya.

The death toll in torrential rains in Sri Lanka rose to 58 on Thursday as search and rescue operations for survivors continued, especially in the central region that was hit by landslides leaving more than hundred missing.

ආපදා තත්ත්වය හේතුවෙන් ‍රටේ මේවන විට මරණ 58ක් වාර්තාවී ඇති බවත්,හාරලක්ෂ විසි දහස් අනූ හතක් අවතැන්ව ඇති බවත් ආපදා කළමනාකරණ මධ්‍යස්ථානය පවසයි.

https://youtu.be/d7jYmocPdIs

ධර්මන් වික්‍රමරත්න

මේ දිග හැරෙන්නේ රිවිර සිකුරාදා පුවත්පතේ මුරගල දේශපාලන විග්‍රහයේ 150වන ලිපියයි. මුරගල ලිපිය ඇරඹුණේ 2013 මාර්තු 22වැනිදාය. පිටදෙනවා වෙන්නේ යමකට උරදීමය. ගෙවී ගිය වසර 3තුළ මුරගල පෙනී සිටියේ මෙරට ප්‍රගතිශීලි ව්‍යාපාරය වෙනුවෙන්ය. මව්බිමට අදරැති අය වෙනුවෙනි. මුරගල, සර්පයාට පොල්ලෙන්ය. අලියාට හෙණ්ඩුවෙන්ය. පෙරේතයාට ගොටුවෙන්ය. යකාට මන්ත්‍රරයෙන්ය. ඇතැමුන් ඇතිදේ කියවා සිනාසෙති. මුණ බෙරි කරගන්නෝද සිටිති. තක්කඩිකම් කලවුන් දත්මිටි කන සැටිද සිතිය හැකිය.

හරියට මෙයට වසර 7කට පෙර එනම් 2009 මැයි 18වැනිදා ජාතියේ විජයග්‍රහණයද සිදුවිය. ඒ මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ආණ්ඩුව 30 වසරක දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදී ත්‍රස්තවාදය අවසන් කරමින් ජාතියේ දුක් අඳෝනාව අවසන් කල දිනය විය. පරාජය කළේ දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදයයි. විනාශකළේ දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදී ත්‍රස්තයින්ය. නිදහස ලැබුණේ මුළු රටටමය.  එම ජයග්‍රහණය යළි යළිත් සිහිපත් කල යුතුය. ඒ කුරිරු මේලේච්ඡත්වය මතු පරපුරට කියාදීමටය. දිනූ දේශය රැකගැනීමටය. එදා අලිමංකඩ පාමංකඩය. තොප්පිගල කැලයකි. කීවේ ඕන ගොනෙකුට යුද්ධ කලහැකි බවකි. වර්තමානයේ යාපනය සරසවියේ පමණක් නොව උතුරේ ස්ථාන කිහිපයක කොටි නායක සැමරුම පවා නතරකිරීමට නොහැකිවීම දෛවයේ සරදමකි.

රටපුරාම ගංවතුරය. කැගල්ල – අරණායක- එළඟපිටිය ගම්මානයන් සාමසර කන්ද නායයෑමෙන් බරපතල හානියකි. මිනිසුන් පණපිටින්ම මිහිදන් විය. ගම්මාන 3ක පවුල් ආගිය අතක් නැත. රටපුරාම ගංවතුරෙන් සිදුවූ ජීවිත හානි 50කට අධිකය. ලක්ෂ ගණනක් අවතැන්ය. ගංවතුරෙන් අවතැන්වූ ජනයාට සහන සැලසීමට රජය මගින් දැනට වෙන්කර ඇති මුළු මුදල රුපියල් මිලියන 150කි. එය එක පාරිසරික අනාථයින් ලක්ෂ 3කටකෑම වේල් කිහිපයක් බැගින් දුන්නාම මුදල් ඉවරය. එයට කැපවන නිලධාරින්ගේ අතිකාල දීමනා සහ ඉන්ධන වියදම් වැනිදෑද කපාහැරිය විට තවත් මුදලත් අහවරය. කොළඹ ඇතුළු බස්නාහිර පළාත් කිරියෙන් පැණියෙන් උතුරුවන මෙගා පොලිස් වැඩසටහන් මෙගා වරුසාවෙන් දැන් වැනීසිය මෙන්ය. සන්ධාන ආණ්ඩුව කාලේ කොළඹ සංවර්ධනය යටතේ ගංවතුර අවම විය. කාණු සුද්ධ පවිත්‍ර විය. ඇළ වේලි ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය විය. ඇවිදින මංතීරු සකස්වූයේ ගංවතුර උවදුර පාලනය කිරීමේ ක්‍රමෝපායන්ද එයට එක්කරමිනි.

අරයාගේ වෙඩි නොවදින බෙන්ස් කාර් දෙකට වෙන්කලබව කියන මුදල රුපියල් මිලියන 600කි. ශ්‍රිලනිප මහලේකම් ඇමති දුමින්ද දිසානායකගේ අමාත්‍යාංශය සිනමා නිලියගෙන් අවුරුදු 5කට කුලියට ගත් බිල්ඩිමේ බදු මුදල රුපියල් මිලියන 1,370කි. දැනටමත් ඉන් අත්තිකාරමක් වශයෙන් රුපියල් මිලියන 570ක් එයට ලබාදී ඇත. ඇමති ෆොන්සේකාගේ කන්තෝරුවට මාසික කුලිය රුපියල් කෝටියකි. ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණ ඇමති හරේන් ප්‍රනාන්දුගේ නිවස අලුත්වැඩියාවට ලක්ෂ 43කි. ඇමති හරීන් ‘යහපාලන’ ආණ්ඩුව යටතේ අම්මාට කරන අලුත් වැඩක්ද දියවන්නාවේ පාඩමක් වශයෙන් කියා දුන්නේ ගූගල් ඇප් එකෙන්ය. මහ ජල කඳ ඇවිත් ලක්ෂ 3ක ජනතාව වටකරන්ය. ගංවතුර අනාථයෝ ඉන්නේ හිරවෙලාය. පොඩි එවුන් ගුලිකරගෙනය. බඩගින්නේ නිදිමරන්ය. තනිවෙලා දැන් දින ගණන්ය. ගංවතුර සමඟ එක දෙයක් පැහැදිලි විය. සහනාධාර මල්ලක්වත් හරියට බෙදාදෙන්නට බැරි බවය. රටකට ඕනෑ අපමණ අගයක්ය.

ගංවතුර අනාථයෝ දැන් 1919 දුරකථනය අමතා කිව යුතුය. ගංවතුර පැතිවල විදුලිය විසන්ධිය. ස්ථාවර දුරකථන රැහැන් ඇද වැටී ඇත. ඇම්ඩා ගෙන් ටීචර් මෙසේ ප්‍රශ්ණයක් ඇසුවාලු. ඒ ‘පාළු ලිඳකට වැටුනොත් ඇම්ඩා ඔයා මොකද කරන්නේ කියාය’. ඇම්ඩා කීවේ ‘නිවසට දුවගොස් ඉනිමග ගෙනවිත් ලිඳට තියා ගොඩවන බවය’. ගංවතුර හොට් ලයින් එකත් ඇම්ඩාගේ ටිකිරි මොළේ වැඩක් වාගේය. ආපදාවකදී සිදුවිය යුත්තේ රජය සහ ස්වෙච්ඡා සේවකයෝ එම ස්ථානයට ගොස් ඔවුන්ට පිහිටුවීමය. ‘අපි වෙනුවෙන් අපි’ කිවේ එදාය. දැන් කිව හැක්කේ අපි වෙනුවෙන් 1919 කියාය.

ගංවතුරේ ප්‍රතිඵලයෙන් වැට් බදු විරෝධය යට ගියේය. හොරකම්, දූෂණ, ටොන් පච සියල්ල අමතකය. හෙට සිට වෙසක්ය. හුරේ.. ආණ්ඩුව ගොඩේ ගොඩය. ගංවතුරෙන් අනාථවූ ජනයාටත් වඩා ‘යහපාලන’ ආණ්ඩුව පරිපාලනයෙන් අනාථය. වසර 7කට පෙර ධාරනීපාත වැසි නොතකමින් උතුරේ එදා අවසාන සටන කළේ සාමාන්‍ය වැසියන් මුදා ගැනීමටය. ඒ එදාය. මෙදා වසර 7කට පසු ධාරානිපාත වැසි නොතකමින් ගංවතුරෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව යටවෙන එක නවත්වා ගැනීමට වැලි කොට්ට ගොඩ ගසනු ලැබුවේය.

ජාතික ඖෂධ නියාමන පනතක් සම්මතකර අධිකාරියක් පිහිටුවා වසරක් ගෙවී ගියද ඖෂධ ප්‍රතිපත්තියේ ප්‍රතිඵල රෝගීන්ට තවමත් නැත. එපමණක් නොව උපදේශන කමිටුව තවමත් වැඩ නැත. ඖෂධ මිල සියයට 40කින් ඉහළය. ඇන්දුනු ඇන්දිල්ලට ඇඬෙනවාය. බඩුමිල වැඩිය. පතාලය වැඩය. රාජ්‍ය සේවය දුර්වල කරමින් පවති. ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහකරණයට මුවාවී රාජ්‍ය ආයතන විකිණීමට පිඹුරුපත් සැකසේ. ගොවියා කපෝතිය. විරුවා දංගෙඩියටය.

ආණ්ඩුවට සල්ලි නැත. කොළඹ මහජන පුස්තකාලයට පාඩම් කරන්නට ගියද, රැස්වීමක් බලන්නට එහි ශ්‍රවණාගාරයට ගියද හදිසියකට සුළුදිය පහකිරීමට වැසිකිලියට ගියහොත් එක්වරකට චූ බද්ද රුපියල් 10කි. මසකට මහජන පුස්තකාල වැසිකිලියෙන්ද ලක්ෂ 3ක් පමණ එක්කෝ ආණ්ඩුවටය. නැතහොත් කාගේ හෝ අතටය. බලු බද්ද ලබාගැනීම සඳහා බල්ලන් ලයිසන් කිරීම අකුරටමය. සුනඛයින් වාර්ෂිකව ලියාපදිංචිය පැහැර හැරියොත් දඩය රුපියල් 10,000කි. මළ සිරුරක් මිහිදන් කිරීමට පවා කළුතර නගර සභාව අයකර රුපියල් 300ක මුදල රුපියල් 2,000 දක්වා ඉහළ දමා ඇත. චූ බද්ද, බලු බද්ද, මළ සිරුරු බද්ද මෙකී නොකී තවත් අමතර බදු රැසකි. ඇති හැකි අය හුරතලේය. පොදු ජනතාව මරු තුරුලේය. ‘යහපාලන’ ආණ්ඩුව පවසන පරිදි බදු ගසන්නේ රාජපක්ෂ සමයේ කල වියදම් පියවා ගැනීමටය. එහෙත් දියවන්නාවේ මෙම්බර්ලාගේ ඩොලර් 62,500 සැප වාහන පර්මිට් එකට අයකරන්නේ රේගු ගාස්තුව පමණක් වන අතර එය රුපියල් 1,050කි. පිනට කෑම, හිඟාකෑම, ණයට කෑම, සැපට කෑම, බදාගෙන කෑම, ජරාව කෑම ඇතුළු එකී නොකී සියලුම කෑම වර්තමානයේ උරුමක්කාරයන් වන්නේ දේශපාලුවන්ය. ජනතාවට සදා උරුම ලෙවකෑම පමණක්ය. අනේ කාලේ වනේ වාසේ කියන්නේ මේවාටය.

වැට් එකෙන්ද ගැසූ බද්ද දැන් බඩටම වැදී ඇත. වෙනස රටටමය. රටේ අනාගතයටම කියා මුදල් අමාත්‍යාංශයේ අනුග්‍රහයෙන් මාධ්‍ය මගින් ගොබෙල්ස් තියරිය ක්‍රියාවට නැගුවාට වැඩක් නැත. අද පෙට්ට්‍රල් ලීටරයක් රුපියල් 117ක් වන විට ලෝක වෙළෙඳ පොළෙන් ශ්‍රි ලංකාව පෙට්ට්‍රල් බැරලයක් මිලදී ගන්නේ ඇමරිකන් ඩොලර් 48කටය. එදා 2014 ඔක්තෝබර් ආණ්ඩුව පෙට්ට්‍රල් ලීටරයක් රුපියල් 162කට අළෙවි කරන විට ලෝක වෙළෙඳ පොළේ ප්‍රෙට්ටර් බැරලයක මිල ඇමරිකන් ඩොලර් 120කි. වර්තමානයේ ප්‍රෙට්ට්‍රල් ලීටරයක මිල 117ක් වන අතර ඉන් රුපියල් 65ක්ම ආණ්ඩුවේ බදුය. නිසි ලෙසට බැලුවොත් රුපියල් 3ක පරිපාලන ලාභයක් තබාගෙන වර්තමානයේදී ප්‍රෙට්ටල් ලීටරයක් රුපියල් 55ට ලබාදිය හැකිය. බදු බරද මහින්දගේ ඇඟේ ගසා ආණ්ඩුව තමන්ගේ නොහැකියාව හංගාගැනීමට විකල්ප සොයයි. ‘යහපාලන’ ආණ්ඩුවේ උපන්ගෙයි ගතිය බලි ඇරියත් නොයති.

දඹුල්ල තොග වෙළඳ පොළේ එළවළු තොග මිල ඊයේ වනවිට සියයට 25කින් ඉහළටය. අයහපත් කාලගුණය එයට හේතුව බව කීවද අතරමැදියාගෙන් පාරිභෝගිකයා බේරාගැනිමට වැඩපිළිවෙලක් ආණ්ඩුවෙන් අවැසිය. රුපියල් 360 නූඩ්ලස් එකට වැට් බද්ද රුපියල් 54කි. සුපිරි වෙ‍ෙළඳ සැලකින් රෝස්පාන් ගෙඩි දෙකක් ගත්විට වියදම 101කි. එයට අමතරව රුපියල් 15.66ක වැඩ එකක්ද ගෙවිය යුතුය. පාන් ගෙඩියේ බද්දත් එහෙමය. වැඩිකල බදුවලින් දුරකථන ගාස්තු බදු සියයට 50කින් ඉහළ ගියේය. දැන් විදුලි සංදේශ බද්ධ සියයට 26.04කි. එයට ජාතිය ගොඩනැගීමේ බද්ද ඇතුළුව රජයේ බදු සියයට 4.16 මෙන්ම වැඩ් බද්දද ඇතුළත් වේ. තරුණ පරපුරටනම් ෆී වයිෆයි නම් තවත් එපාය. පරණ විදිහටම ඉන්න දුන්නොත් හොදටම ඇතිය. හොරා හොරා කියා තුන් වේලම මතුර මතුර සිටියාට ගොඩ එන්නේ නැත. ඉකුත් මැතිවරණයන්හිදී ජනයාට පාර වැරදුනේය. දැන් වංගු වැඩිය. පල්ලම් ගොඩකි. බ්‍රේක් නැත.  

අවසානයේදී නටපු නැටුමකුත් නැත. බෙරේ පළුවකුත් නැත. හොරා ලෙස චෝදනා ලැබූ අය වීරයා විය. අවංකයා වංකයා විය. මොළයක් යැයි කීවද එය අලයක් විය. සියල්ල මව්බිමට අදරැති ජනයාට දැන් ප්‍රත්‍යක්ෂ වී හමාරය. ඒකාබද්ධ විපක්ෂයේ ගමන අසීරු බව ඇත්තය. දැන් එය ස්වාධීනව දේශපාලන ගමන සැලසුම් කළයුතු මාර්ගයකට පිවිස තිබේ. එය සජීව ක්‍රියාවලියකි. හැම දෙයකම පටන්ගැනීම අමාරුය. ද්‍රෝහීහු පාවා දෙති. දුර්වලයෝ යටත් වෙති. වීරයෝ අරගල කරති. කිතුල් ගහේ උවද මුලින් එන්නේ කොට ගොබයක්ය. කොට ගොබය හෙවත් පොඩි අත්ත ආවාට පසු මුදුන් මල එන බව ගැමියෝ දනී.

ධර්මන් වික්‍රමරත්න

ejournalists@gmail.com

Lankaweb Weekly Editorial

May 21st, 2016

Perhaps it should not only be the joint opposition that needs slamming Minister Harin Fernando for his un-parliamentary behaviour over some of the words he used in Parliament this week and it needs to be said sadly that the quality of Parliamentary debates of late leaves much to be desired as the unwarranted shouting matches continue unabated during many sessions.

It also makes one wonder what the Speaker of the House seems to be doing to maintain and restore order in the House whilst not using his authority towards the ejection of such unruly perpetrators of the breach of law which is what it appears to be tantamount to and maintaining order in a place called the Legislature or has it now become a shambles where there is no decorum or the adherence to respect  and orderliness and the Seargeant at Arms a mere figurehead and the Legislature a mere joke?.

There have been many responses by decent and civilised parliamentarians without having to name them who have been outraged that the words used by Fernando was unparliamentary and a distinct flavour of gutter language to it and there seems to be a felt need to castigate the member concerned and anu otheres who lower themselves to the ignominy where punitive action needs to be taken perhaps so that such disgraceful behaviour will not be repeated in a place that upholds the highest legalities if one were to call it the Legislature where bull in a chinashop types in the guise of members of Parliament seem to be running amok with scant respect to the decorums  and respects required to maintain its Status which in fact is the status quo in Parliamentary terms.

Gone are the days of the the great debators of yore who  as parliamentarians added so much colour and class to the quality of what transpired within Parliament and today it seems to have been transformed into a jungle of abuse spitting individuals who need to be caught by the scruffs of their necks and sent to a place of banishment for desecrating what, is a place which demands respect and orderly behaviour.

Bearing in mind that there have been – in the long history of the Sri Lankan Legislature, altercations which are not uncommon inasmuch as it is in other parts of the world and the resultant unruly behaviour involving name calling etc. where order and sanity have always prevailed in the end but in recent times there seems to be a breakdown of these which is a display of apathy and ignorance combined in certain cases of parliamentarians and for the record the sooner this is set right the better it would be for all concerned, partiularly the legislative personnel of Parliament who take it upon themselves to create, establish and maintain the Laws of the Land and order within the Houses of Parliament.

Ira de Silva

Hon. Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario.

Dear Sir:

Your statement on the seventh anniversary of the end of Tamil terrorism clearly indicates that Canada is continuing it’s support of Tamil terrorism as it has done in the past. I would like to remind you that funding for Tamil terrorism in Sri Lanka was made by Canadians. Canadian politicians helped Canadian citizens and supported fund raising for this terrorism for decades so your statement that  “it is time to honour, remember and reflect on the victims of this 26 year war” reminds Sri Lankans that Canada was responsible for the death and destruction in Sri Lanka because they openly supported the Tamil Tiger terrorists. If there is a question of setting up an accountability mechanism, why do you not set up an accountability mechanism  in Canada to investigate Canada’s role in terrorism in Sri Lanka? Use the international judges you are trying to foist on Sri Lanka to achieve this goal.

I would like to bring to your attention that although the terrorism was solely by the Tamil terrorists called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the victims of the terrorist war were not only the Tamils of Sri Lanka but all communities.  Also, there are victims of the war from other communities living in Canada. They do not appreciate your continued ignorance of this fact and your callous disregard for them who were the victims of LTTE terrorism, funded and supported by Canadians. It is well known that Canadian politicians including you, who claim that it was only Tamils who were victims, do so to pander to the Tamils in Canada to get their votes at elections.

Accountability in Sri Lanka should include an investigation of the Tamil terrorist leaders and their support groups overseas, which includes Canadian Tamils. Canada’s security forces has ample evidence. Sri Lankans are aware that Canada has no genuine care for the people of Sri Lanka. Your statements are to get the votes of Canadians who are the same groups who supported LTTE terrorism and are now convincing you that Sri Lanka must be punished for defeating one of the foremost terrorist groups in the world, an accomplishment that has not happened in all the other countries that are at present plagued by terrorism. I would also remind you that Canada is supposed to be against international terrorism, yet made no effort to curb funding to the LTTE.  Even cabinet ministers of the Liberal party assisted in raising funds to kill civilians in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans who suffered because of Canada’s support of terrorism do not need your help or international judges from the very countries that were responsible for supporting terrorism in Sri Lanka. Since Sri Lanka ended the war without your help, they do not have any need of your interference at present as any investigation should remain Sri Lankan. Your attitude may buy you votes in Sri Lanka, but to the Sri Lankan victims of the war, your ignorant, judgmental, biased statement evokes disgust and contempt.

You state that “Tamil Canadians are an integral part of our country and have overcome much adversity”. Are you stating that the members of the other communities are not an “integral part” of Canada. Your attitude is demeaning and offensive to these other Sri Lankans now living in Canada. Obviously you have met only the Tamil victims because they lobby you to make this type of ignorant, biased, anti-Sri Lanka statements because they still support the division of Sri Lanka and are using you as an advocate for this cause. Just as Canada supported LTTE terrorism during the war, after the war, those who supported the LTTE from Canada are continuing to get Canada to support this goal. I would like to remind you once again that all the people of Sri Lanka suffered trauma and loss because of Canadian supported Tamil terrorism.

You are correct that much work lies ahead to achieve long-term peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. However, your statement and pro-LTTE attitude, merely promotes and supports the continued push to divide Sri Lanka and in no way helps long term peace and reconciliation. Sri Lankans who have suffered for decades and finally got peace, do not thank you for supporting the divisive forces from outside Sri Lanka. They know that Canada was responsible for their suffering and do not welcome your “assistance” at another attempt.

Yours truly,

Ira de Silva

Canada

Janaka Perera

A group calling itself Vavuniya Citizens Group is planning to erect a memorial minaret at Mullivayikal for what it calls victims of ‘Tamil killing.’   The term almost sounds like successive Sri Lankan governments were – as a matter of state policy – engaged in hunting members of this community over the years as if they were some wild animals.

To the majority of Sri Lankans May 18 marked the seventh anniversary of the defeat of LTTE terrorism which claimed the lives of Tamils, Sinhalas, Muslims and others for over 30 years but the VCG remembered the day as the seventh year since the end of ‘killing Tamils’.

Instead of the ‘end’ the VCG needs to be reminded of how the killing began in the 1970s with the emergence of separatist violence. Its first prominent Tamil victim was Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappah whom Prabhakaran and his gang gunned down in 1975.

In later years many other Tamil victims of LTTE terrorism included TULF General Secretary Appapillai Amirthalingam, TULF stalwart Vettivelu Yogeswaran, PLOTE  Leader Uma Maheswaran (who entered the political mainstream), Neelan Thiruchelvam, Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, Ketish Loganathan, EPRLF Leader Padmanabha and 12 of his party members, TELO Leader Sri Sabharatnam and his men numbering about 400, Jaffna Mayor Sarojini Yogeswaran, Sivakuraj Kurukkal, Chief  Priest of Koneswaran Hindu Kovil and Minister Jeyeraj Fernandopulle.

But does the VCG want to remember them?   Does the group wish to remind itself who pushed Tamils in the name of liberation from a perceived frying pan into a fire that raged for three decades? The answers to both questions are not difficult to guess.

In addition to the clashes between the Tigers and security forces, the disputes among Tamil militant outfits led to the loss of lives in thousands within two decades.

We know the Tiger Leadership repeatedly stressed that they were the sole and authentic representatives of the Tamil people.” Therefore any Tamil who rejected this claim was not considered a true Tamil in the eyes of Tiger sympathisers.

On August 10, 2007 the press reported Batticaloa District TNA MP S. Jeyanandamoorthy as saying there is absolutely no difference between the LTTE and the Tamil people.

The LTTE is the people and the people are the LTTE,” he insisted.

It recalls Hitler saying all true Germans are Nazis.

States the VCG’s media release:

The guards of the Tamil people who also were the liberators, LTTE, took forward the freedom fight for the Tamils, fight to live, and fight to free the Eelam Tamils grew up at various periods, which was historical.”

We wonder why members of this group call themselves Vavuniya Citizens instead of citizens of the LTTE’s mythical Tamil Eelam which is committed to wage ‘a war of resistance’ against Sri Lanka.

The VCG’s ‘remembrance’ clearly reflects Velupillai Prabhakaran’s hackneyed rhetoric about the ‘genocidal Sinhala State’ on which he used to focus on during his so-called ‘Maveer’ (Great Heroes) Day speeches.  The correct term should have been auto-genocide since many young Tamils who followed him ended up as suicide bombers in addition to those who died in combat.   The LTTE invented suicide belts and pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks.

They were among the sacrificial goats who helped the pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora to keep the pot boiling so that the latter and their children and their children could prosper in Western Europe, North America and Australia – but ironically not in Tamil Nadu the leaders of which continues to keep the Tamil Eelam myth alive.

The LTTE was the only terrorist outfit to assassinate two heads of state – former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 both of whom were killed by suicide bombers in the month of May. In 1994 Sri Lankan Presidential Candidate Gamini Dissanayake met the same fate.

On May 21st falls the 25^th Anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. On that day 1991 Gandhi was campaigning for the upcoming parliamentary elections. After successfully campaigning in Visakhapatnam, his next stop was Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. About two hours after arriving in Chennai, Rajiv Gandhi was driven by motorcade to Sriperumbudur stopping along the way at a few other election campaigning venues. When he reached a campaign rally in Sriperumbudur, he got out of his car and began to walk towards the dais where he would deliver a speech. Along the way, many well-wishers, including Congress Party workers and school children, garlanded him.  Then the LTTE assassin, Thenmozhi Rajaratnam alias Dhanu, approached and greeted him. She then bent down to touch his feet and detonated an explosive laden belt tucked below her dress. Gandhi, his assassin and 14 others were killed in the explosion that followed. The assassination was caught on film by a local photographer, whose camera and film was found at the site though the photographer also died in the blast.

The killing of Rajiv Gandhi was the biggest blunder the LTTE made.

According to a report in the ‘Hindu’ April 20 Rajiv Gandhi’s killers will not be released on New Delhi’s orders. On this issue Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi were trying to score points in view of Tamil Nadu elections but failed.

If the Sri Lankan Government imagines that it can achieve so-called reconciliation – whatever it means – by allowing VCG types to construct memorials it is only wishful thinking.

Dr Sudath Gunasekara 20.5.2016

I want all of you to read the following news item on a message issued by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn UK

Why not all Sinhala organizations round up the British Embassy immediately in Sri Lanka protest and condemn this idiot’s anti Sinhala despicable statement and demand him and the British Government to apologize to the Sinhala people all over the world and ask the Bloody British Embassy to wind up and go home.

Also request Sri Lanka Embassy in London to lodge the strongest protest of the entire Sinhala  Nation, against this behavior of LTTE rump Jeremy  Corbyn

Also ask him first to take back all South Indian Labourers in the Sri Lankan up country tea estates whom they have planted here to suck our resources and establish a Tamil Kingdom in Sri Lanka on the advice of their ancestor Governor Torrington in 1847. And then he can take all his Tamil Brethren in Sri Lanka and give them a portion of his country for them to have a separate Tamil State there and claim self determination rand any damn thing they want without trying to F…. us so that they will vote the Labour Party at the next election-a sure way to send Gordon Brown home.

Isn’t it not enough this idiot’s ancestors have robbed us and plundered our resources for 133  years to build their empire and gave us enough headache by importing millions of Malabar Tamils and settling them all over the country including the Heartland of the nation.

Why can’t these ba….ds mind their own business without madly interfering in matters of innocent people of other countries.

I am making this appeal to you ALL as there is no President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister/Ministry or a Government in this country, or at least, ONE SINHALA PEOPLE’S REPRESENTATIVE IN OUR MOST IN-AUGUST ‘MONKEY CAGE’, to protest against this type of unsavory, unethical and barbarous pronouncement by a son of a Viking.

Over to you the brave patriotic Sons and Daughters of Sinhale

To ask this man to go and fly a kite!

Colombo Gazette May 20 2016

UK’s main opposition backs self-determination for Tamils

Britain’s main opposition Labour Party says it supports the right to self-determination for Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn vowed to stand with the Tamil community in the search for truth, justice, accountability and reconciliation.

In a video message and written statement released to coincide with Mullivaikal Remembrance Day, the leader of the Labour Party also reiterated his support for the implementation, in full, of the UN Human Rights Council’s resolution on Sri Lanka.

Paying tribute to how the wider Tamil community had shouldered injustice for decades” Corbyn offered his thanks for the enormous contribution” Tamils have made to life in Britain.

Meanwhile Sen Kandiah, Chair of Tamils for Labour, said the Tamil community is deeply grateful for Jeremy’s message of solidarity.

There has been no better friend to the Tamil people, and to the causes of truth and accountability in Sri Lanka, than the UK Labour Party,” he said.

Kandiah said that with the on-going support from Jeremy and his fellow Labour MPs, Tamils in the UK will redouble their efforts to ensure that justice is secured for the tens of thousands of Tamils who were slaughtered on the beaches at Mullivaikal, and elsewhere, in the final days and weeks of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict. (Colombo Gazette)

UK’s main opposition backs self-determination fo

Ramanie de Zoysa

Sri Lanka’s President and Prime Minister together with the so-called ‘Executive Council’ where the ‘minority is majority’ passed down the moronic phrase for public consumption- and the Foreign Secretary stated it publicly- They are our people too- so we should not celebrate!!!” – In other words we don’t know how to celebrate that ‘thing’ that happened on 19th May, seven years ago. Every diplomat, every (honour!?)ary consul or lackey around the globe must have reiterated this glib idiocy at a ceremony of some sort yesterday, the day of Remembrance of Our Heroes and Grand Victory, organised by just a few who do remember what that ‘thing’ actually was and what exactly those who achieved that ‘thing’ on our behalf did for our country, the Sinhale

According to this Global Tamil-phobic, lame excuse to undermine the victory earned by our heroes paid for by with their lives on this day seven years ago, we should not celebrate victory, as the warfare was between the ‘same people’. You know, in Colombo speak- even if the claymore split your head into many pieces or the bus bomb sent pieces of your beloved son/ daughter strewn across the green paddy fields, it was thrown by OUR” people, no?!!! Had the miserable sods that have usurped power from the legitimate rulers by whatever means been blown to smithereens by some nasty device set in motion by Our People- that would have been ok then? The fact is that THEY WERE NOT OUR PEOPLE! ‘They’ were the global Tamils of some 80-90 million who want so desperately a Tamil country. ‘They’ were the Indian government and the RAW that aspires to pushing the Tamil nationhood problem very much native to India further south to make it a Sri Lankan problem. Unless India sacrifices part of (or the whole of) Sri Lanka to the Tamil nationhood devil the devil comes after India. That is a fact that our pansies in Colombo and their lackeys in overseas representative posts can not seem to comprehend. None of these rogues who want to rob our country are ‘our people’- our people do not rob ‘our country’. Ponnambalams, Balasinghams were not our people! They were Malaysian born members of the Global Tamil Nationhood Gang. Prabhakaran himself was a smuggler – probably smuggled himself into the country too!

The RAW installed, Global Tamil gang funded government that is in Colombo wants to belittle or erase our great victory by firstly turning the whole thing into a ‘remembrance’ orgy of ‘all those who died as a result of the war’, and that includes even those who pressed the button to explode the device that killed everyone. Colombo remembered all and sundry quietly while they saved up the money ‘not spent on a grand victory celebration’ to pay lolly money for ‘those who suffered in the war’ while in Nathikadal lamps were lit to remember the heinous gang that terrorised the country for thirty years. What our so-called government did not make too clear was that the money not spent on the celebration were going as consolation handouts for the LTTE cadres and their families.

What troubles is that the majority of Sinhala people are now with their tails between their legs; putting up with every indignity the power usurpers of Sri Lanka are dishing out. We did that for 30 years under LTTE reign of terror until the few individuals who took the fight to the LTTE, came forward – alas only to finish off the job and be thrown to the wolves an ungrateful nation.

Sinhale is a great nation that decimated many an evil invading force and redeemed itself to remain the great sovereign nation she always was. In the same lionised manner she delivered herself from the Tamil terrorist menace that plagued itself for thirty bloody years. Yes, it was the Tamil terrorist menace; they themselves gave it that name. It was not the ‘Liberation Tigers of Sri Lankan Eelam’ or the ‘Liberation Tigers of the multi-national Eelam’; they called themselves the Liberation Tigers of the TAMIL Eelam! So, we were liberated from Tamil terror by the 27,000 young lions and lionesses and scores of now permanently disabled soldiers on the 19^th of May just seven years ago. That day was a dream- a vivid, heart warming, tear-gathering, absolutely beautiful dream!

The nightmare was soon to follow. We started getting conned by every cat’s paw that the Global Tamil menace decided to use to unruffle, dismember and decimate what the Sinhale so gallantly won. First, the cat’s paws set one against the other the handful of Sinhala leaders with a back bone who put a stop to the blood flow. That divided the Sinhala of the Sinhale. Then the cat’s paws found the very trump card they were searching for the occasion -right amongst the political pebbles of Colombo. They found the Team that has been carrying a chip on their shoulders all their lives, voted as losers many a times, permanent residents of the Nation’s dustbin and the Team was installed by hook or crook as the Executives of the country.  The rest as they is history!

Ramanie de Zoysa

ධර්මසිරි සෙනෙවිරත්න

අම්මා මලා මම පුරුවේ කල පව           ට
නිම්මා නැති දුකකි උහුලනු බැරිය ම     ට
පෙම්මා සිතින් හත් දවසේ දානය           ට
සෙ ව් වා  නොකළ යුතු  කලයුතු දේ  හෙ ට         ට

දානෙට කියා ගෙන ආ අමු මස් ගොඩ            කි
මේ දැක මගේ හිත තුල නැගුන පැ නය            කි
දෙවියනි තවම ගතවුයේ දින හත                           කි
වළ  තුල දැමු මිනිය  තව අමු මස් ගොඩ            කි

මවගේ  මිනිය  ඇතිවිට අමු මස් ලෙසි                      නී
දානෙට කපන්නේ අමු මස් මොන හිති           නී
පවපින නොවේ මිනිසත් කම ගැන හිතු         නී
විසදා දෙන්න මෙය බගවත්  හිමි සඳු              නී
——–                                 —–
කුසතුල සොහොන් හදනා වියරු මිනිසු        නී
දන්වන තෙක් නැවත දානය කල් දැ මු           නී

The government of the United States has issued messages at the highest level marking the celebration of Vesak. 

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have conveyed the following Vesak greetings:

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

ISSUES: Extrajudicial killing; impunity; rule of law; justice
——————————————————

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Mannikkuge Sumith Dayaratne of Madhuwa, in Katunayake, has been extrajudicially killed by officers attached to the Negombo Law Enforcement Unit and the Special Task Force (STF). The fact that no proper investigation has been carried out yet is a denial of justice to the victim and his family. The case illustrates the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in the country and that the State’s policy of combating crime by killing suspects has encouraged police officers to kill with impunity.

CASE NARRATIVE:

According to the information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Mr. Mannikkuge Sumith Dayaratne, hailed from Madhuwa, Katunayake in the Gampaha District. He was extrajudicially killed by police officers attached to the Negombo Law Enforcement Unit and Police Special Task Force (STF) after being arrested on 22 April 2016 at around 10 p.m. at his wife’s house at Kumbukkete, Pahala Madagama, Gokarella in Kurunegala District.

The police officers attached to the Negombo Law Enforcement Unit and the STF apprehended him and took him away to a vehicle parked on the road. His family members state that at the time of arrest neither he nor other family members of the victim were given any arrest warrant nor any reason for his arrest.

In early hours of the next day, family members were informed by the police officers that Sumith succumbed to gunshot injuries that turned out to be fatal. Later, the family members learned from mass media about the media communique issued by the police spokesman, which stated that Sumith committed suicide by shooting himself twice in the head. The communique further mentioned that Sumith was a member of a group committed to carrying out organized crimes such as extortions, murders, and robberies.

The relatives have questioned how Sumith could shoot himself in the head twice, while in police custody, and that there was no evidence whatsoever of the weapon with which he shot himself. The relatives vehemently deny the police allegations that he was engaged in a criminal syndicate. They reiterate the fact that police have entirely fabricated this story in order to cover up the extrajudicial killing of Sumith in their custody. The family is seeking justice against the actions of the law enforcement officers.

The Kurunegala Chief Magistrate Geethani Wijesinghe visited the scene of crime as indicated by the police officers and ordered the police to send the body to the Kurunegala Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) for a post-mortem inquiry.

The relatives of Sumith maintain that Sumith was illegally arrested and extrajudicially killed by the police officers. Indications suggest this is yet another example of Sri Lankan police’s adoption of the systematic practice of extra judicially killing suspects, often innocent, in the guise of crime prevention. All such innocent victims have been killed after arrest in police custody.

The prevention of crime is one of the paramount duties in any civilized state. According to the Constitution of the country, the law enforcement authorities are bound to protect the right to life of its citizens and their constitutionally enshrined rights. Sri Lanka, being a country governed under a democratic framework is bound to support the Judiciary and impose the rule of law and protect the civil liberties of all its citizens. Extrajudicial killing of its citizens by police officers has become a peremptory norm in the country.

Any incident in which a policeman kills a person should be investigated promptly, efficiently, and without delay. However, in this instance, the State has not shown any interest in investigating the killing and bringing the responsible police officers before the court. For many years now there has been no command responsibility in the Sri Lankan police and it is the supervisory officers that should be held primarily responsible for the killings perpetrated by officers under their command.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The Asian Human Rights Commission has reported numerous cases of arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and extrajudicial killings cases of citizens at the hands of the police, something that is illegal under international and local law and something that has been taking place at different police stations in the country over the past few years. The Asian Human Rights Commission has observed that the Sri Lankan police have used torture as an instrument to terrorize innocent persons and harass the public. Further, the country’s police are implementing a policy of eliminating criminals by killing them after arresting them without producing them in a court of law.

The Constitution of Sri Lanka has guaranteed the right to freedom from torture. According to Article 11 of the Constitution, No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Also, Article 13(4) states, “No person shall be punished with death or imprisonment except by order of a competent court, made in accordance with procedure established by law. The arrest, holding in custody, detention or other deprivation of personal liberty of a person, pending investigation or trial, shall not constitute punishment.” Further Article 13 (5) guarantees the right of presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Furthermore, Sri Lanka has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Nevertheless, the lack of protection offered to those who are willing to take up cases against abusive police officers and State authorities, means that the law continues to be employed as a tool by the police to harass people. This not only takes a long-term toll on the victim and his or her family, but on society as a whole, by the undermining of civilian respect for the law and encouraging impunity.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has also continuously exposed the way witnesses and the victims are being harassed and, on some occasions, even killed to suppress justice. Furthermore, the AHRC has urged the State of Sri Lanka to adopt a law for the protection of witness protection.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities listed below expressing your concern about this case and requesting an immediate investigation into the allegations of extrajudicial killings by police perpetrators, and the prosecution of those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country. The officers involved must also be subject to internal investigations for breach of Police Department orders.
The AHRC will also write a separate letter to the Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions in this regard.
To support this case, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ________,

SRI LANKA: Man killed by police officers in Gokarella

Name of Victim: Mr. Mannikkuge Sumith Dayaratne of Bodhiraja Mawatha, Madhuwa, Katunayake in Gampaha District
Alleged perpetrators: Officers attached to the Negombo Law Enforcement Unit and the Special Task Force (STF) of Sri Lanka Police Department
Date of incident: 22 April 2016
Place of incident: Gokarella Police Division

According to the information I have received, Mr. Mannikkuge Sumith Dayaratne of Madhuwa, in Katunayake, has been extra judicially killed by officers attached to the Negombo Law Enforcement Unit and the Special Task Force (STF). The fact that no proper investigation has been carried out yet is a denial of justice to the victim and his family. The case illustrates the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in the country and that the State’s policy of combating crime by killing suspects has encouraged police officers to kill with impunity.

According to the information received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Mr. Mannikkuge Sumith Dayaratne, hailed from Madhuwa, Katunayake in the Gampaha District. He was extrajudicially killed by police officers attached to the Negombo Law Enforcement Unit and Police Special Task Force (STF) after being arrested on 22 April 2016 at around 10 p.m. at his wife’s house at Kumbukkete, Pahala Madagama, Gokarella in Kurunegala District.

The police officers attached to the Negombo Law Enforcement Unit and the STF apprehended him and took him away to a vehicle parked on the road. His family members state that at the time of arrest neither he nor other family members of the victim were given any arrest warrant nor any reason for his arrest.

In early hours of the next day, family members were informed by the police officers that Sumith succumbed to gunshot injuries that turned out to be fatal. Later, the family members learned from mass media about the media communique issued by the police spokesman, which stated that Sumith committed suicide by shooting himself twice in the head. The communique further mentioned that Sumith was a member of a group committed to carrying out organized crimes such as extortions, murders, and robberies.

The relatives have questioned how Sumith could shoot himself in the head twice, while in police custody, and that there was no evidence whatsoever of the weapon with which he shot himself. The relatives vehemently deny the police allegations that he was engaged in a criminal syndicate. They reiterate the fact that police have entirely fabricated this story in order to cover up the extrajudicial killing of Sumith in their custody. The family is seeking justice against the actions of the law enforcement officers.

The Kurunegala Chief Magistrate Geethani Wijesinghe visited the scene of crime as indicated by the police officers and ordered the police to send the body to the Kurunegala Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) for a post-mortem inquiry.

The relatives of Sumith maintain that Sumith was illegally arrested and extrajudicially killed by the police officers. Indications suggest this is yet another example of Sri Lankan police’s adoption of the systematic practice of extra judicially killing suspects, often innocent, in the guise of crime prevention. All such innocent victims have been killed after arrest in police custody.

The prevention of crime is one of the paramount duties in any civilized state. According to the Constitution of the country, the law enforcement authorities are bound to protect the right to life of its citizens and their constitutionally enshrined rights. Sri Lanka, being a country governed under a democratic framework is bound to support the Judiciary and impose the rule of law and protect the civil liberties of all its citizens. Extrajudicial killing of its citizens by police officers has become a peremptory norm in the country.

Any incident in which a policeman kills a person should be investigated promptly, efficiently, and without delay. However, in this instance, the State has not shown any interest in investigating the killing and bringing the responsible police officers before the court. For many years now there has been no command responsibility in the Sri Lankan police and it is the supervisory officers that should be held primarily responsible for the killings perpetrated by officers under their command.

I request the intervention of your good offices to ensure that the authorities listed below instigate an immediate investigation into the allegations of the extrajudicial killing of the victim. The officers involved must also be subjected to internal investigations for the breach of Department orders as issued by the Police Department.

Yours Sincerely,

———————
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

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

Thank you.

By Mahinda Weerasinghe, the author of Origin of Species According to the Buddha” And Mission to Oslo”

 When the Clinton-Lewinsky Saga at its hottest we hear this famous one liner concerning Mr. Clinton’s sexual antics;

’I never asked her to lie, but simply requested her to lie down’?   Indeed he fought this battle alone and we never hear any opinion by Mrs. Clinton. As if she has vanished into thin air and never existed.  She was never seen or heard of those dreadful days, but extraordinarily enough she is now ready and willing to aid all needy people; how gracious of her?

In fact so democratic she has never been, for curiously enough it seems Hillary Clinton has wanted to be president since she was a 17-year-old “Goldwater girl”. In the 1964 presidential election the young Mrs. Clinton backed the most conservative of candidate in the Republican Party ever nominated. Trounced by Democrat Lyndon Johnson, Barry Goldwater’s campaign has been described as a “glorious disaster”. They say “we live and learn” and being so young we can let her off the hook at the time! But people have to learn to let off such flamboyant dreams. Especially if they are as incapable as she is!

But the point is, would she stand by the democratic ideals as a nomine when she was missing from sight when her husband needed her most?  I doubt very much!

As Russia Today (RT) ankerman, max kiser EXPLAINED in THE GOLD counter THE DOLLER ASSESSMENT; he informed without EXPLAINING THE whole gambit that, (FOR HIS BOSSES WOULD have warned him of the consequences) if USA’s economy faluters then chinese goventment proping up USA’s economy will also lose out?

Indeed he never went all out and explained to the public what shape the next revolution is going to take!

Under the circumstances, Hussain Obama’s PERSONAL pilligrimage to mekka, in order TO PUSUADE THE sOUDI rOYALS and disalude them from doing anything drastic was a necessary EVIL AS far as President of USA is concerned?

Now we know for a fact that; their is AN over hanging theat which would be impossible to sweep under the carpet!  And the next president would need to take this bull by its horns for sure and before long?

In the meantime what amarican govenment is doing is simply priting money which is paper ink, but nothing to back up with gold?

Concrete question, in this connection is; would she be strong enough stand up to Saudi Arabia’s intimidating threat of cashing in 75 billion dollars worth of asserts which in such a way they would destroy the economic survival of the western civilization! Indeed they would’nt be satisfied simply by GETTING SOME printed $ papers; but demand to have THEIR POUND of flesh”, TRANSLATED IT would mean they would WISH TO be paid in gold and in full!

I am afraid she is not up to it and will come back to elaborate later on in this essay as to why I think so!

 Iraq, already hostile to the United States following Desert Storm, demanded the right to sell their oil for Euros in 2000 and in 2002 the United Nations agreed to allow it under the Oil for food” program instituted following Desert Storm. One year later the United States re-invaded Iraq,  and lynched Saddam Hussein, and placed Iraq’s oil back on the world market only to be sold for, and you  guessed it; in US dollars. 

Meanwhile over in Libya, Muammar Gaddafi had instituted a state-owned central bank and a value based trade currency, the Gold Dinar. Gaddafi announced that Libya’s oil was for sale, but only in Gold Dinar. Other African nations, seeing the rise of the Gold Dinar and the Euro, even as the US dollar continued its inflation-driven decline, flocked to the new Libyan currency for trade. This move had the potential to seriously undermine the global hegemony of the dollar. French President Nicolas Sarcoxie reportedly went so far as to call Libya a threat to the financial security of the world. So, the United States invaded Libya, and brutally murdered Qaddafi (the object lesson of Saddam’s lynching seems lost on him), imposed a private central bank, and returned Libya’s oil output to be sold in dollars only. The boodle that was to have been made into the Gold Dinars is, as of last report, unaccounted for. Thus went to dogs the prosperous and well governed Libyan nation!

So what are the future prospect of $ contra Gold situation?  Any time soon the bubble will burst; and if USA cannot pay in Gold for the papers they have printed the world go into a tail spin? Luckily the world is full of suckers without any historical sense!  The story of how it all came about is fascinating. And behind every such story there is an English brain which, being a part of a nation of shop keepers” with their special mental agility?

one year after Mayer Amsteel Rothschild had uttered his infamous Let me issue and control a nation’s money and I care not who makes the laws”, the bankers succeeded in setting up a new Private Central Bank called the First Bank of the United States, largely through the efforts of the Rothschild’s chief US supporter,  Alexander Hamilton. Founded in 1791, by the end of its twenty year charter the First Bank of the United States had almost ruined the nation’s economy, while enriching the bankers. Congress refused to renew the charter and signalled their intention to go back to a state issued value based currency on which the people paid no interest at all to any banker. This resulted in a threat from Nathan Mayer Rothschild against the US Government, Either the application for renewal of the charter is granted, or the United States will find itself involved in a most disastrous war.”  Congress still refused to renew the charter for the First Bank of the United States, whereupon Nathan Mayer Rothschild railed, Teach those impudent Americans a lesson! Bring them back to colonial status!” The British Prime Minister at the time, Spencer Perceval was adamantly opposed to war with the United States, primarily because the majority of England’s military might was occupied with the ongoing Napoleonic wars. Spencer Perceval was concerned that Britain might not prevail in a new American war, a concern shared by many in the British government. Then, Spencer Perceval was assassinated (the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated in office) and replaced by Robert Banks Jenkinson, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool, who was fully supportive of a war to recapture the (American) colonies.

Financed at virtually no interest by the Rothschild controlled Bank of England, Britain then provoked the war of 1812 to reach debt they would be forced to accept a new private central bank. And the plan worked. Even though the War of 1812 was won by the United States, Congress was forced to grant a new charter for yet another private bank issuing the public currency as loans at interest, the Second Bank of the United States. Once again, private bankers were in control of the nation’s money supply and cared not who made the laws or how many British and American soldiers had to die for it.

Shortly after President Jackson (the only American President to actually pay off the National Debt) ended the Second Bank of the United States, there was an attempted assassination which failed when both pistols used by the assassin, Richard Lawrence, failed to fire. Lawrence later said that with Jackson dead, Money would be more plenty.”

President Zachary Taylor opposed the creation of a new Private Central Bank, owing to the historical abuses of the First and Second Banks of the United States.

The idea of a national bank is dead, and will not be revived in my time.” — Zachary Taylor died on July 9, 1850 after eating a bowl of cherries and milk rumoured to have been poisoned. The symptoms displayed are consistent with acute arsenic poisoning.

President James Buchanan also opposed a private central bank. During the panic of 1857 he attempted to set limits on banks issuing more loans than they had actual funds, and to require all issued bank notes to be backed by Federal Government assets. He was poisoned with arsenic and survived, although 38 other people at the dinner died.

When the Confederacy seceded from the United States, the bankers once again saw the opportunity for a rich harvest of debt, and offered to fund Lincoln’s efforts to bring the south back into the union, but at 30% interest. Lincoln remarked that he would not free the black man by enslaving the white man to the bankers and using his authority as President, issued a new government currency, the greenback. This was a direct threat to the wealth and power of the central bankers in England, who quickly responded.

If this mischievous financial policy, which has its origin in North America, shall become educated down to a fixture, then that Government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off debts and be without debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous without precedent in the history of the world. The brains and wealth of all countries will go to North America. That country must be destroyed or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe.” — The London Times responding to Lincoln’s decision to issue government Greenbacks to finance the Civil War,

In 1872 New York bankers sent a letter to every bank in the United States, urging them to fund newspapers that opposed government-issued money (Lincoln’s greenbacks).

Goaded by the private bankers, much of Europe supported the Confederacy against the Union, with the expectation that victory over Lincoln would mean the end of the Greenback. France and Britain considered an outright attack on the United States to aid the confederacy, but were held at bay by Russia, which had just ended the serfdom system and had a state central bank similar to the system the United States had been founded on. Left free of European intervention, the Union won the war, and Lincoln announced his intention to go on issuing greenback. Following Lincoln’s assassination, the Greenbacks were pulled from circulation and the American people forced to go back to an economy based on bank notes borrowed at interest from the private bankers. Tsar Alexander II, who authorized Russian military assistance to Lincoln, was subsequently the victim of multiple attempts on his life in 1866, 1879, and 1880, until his assassination in 1881.

James A. Garfield was elected President in 1880 on a platform of government control of the money supply.

He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation. — James Garfield

Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881 and died of his wounds several weeks later. Chester A. Arthur succeeded Garfield as President.

In 1896, William McKinley was elected President in the middle of a depression-driven debate over gold-backed government currency versus bank notes borrowed at interest from private banks. McKinley favoured gold-backed currencies and a balanced government budget which would free the public from accumulating debt.

McKinley was shot by an out-of-work anarchist on September 14, 1901, in Buffalo, NY, succumbing to his wounds a few days later. He was succeeded in office by Theodore Roosevelt.

Finally, in 1913, the Private Central Bankers of Europe, in particular the Rothschilds of Great Britain and the Warburgs of Germany, met with their American financial collaborators on Jekyll Island, Georgia to form a new banking cartel with the express purpose of forming the Third Bank of the United States, with the aim of placing complete control of the United States money supply once again under the control of private bankers. Owing to hostility over the previous banks, the name was changed to The Federal Reserve” system in order to grant the new bank a quasi-governmental image, but in fact it is a privately owned bank, no more Federal” than Federal Express. Indeed, in 2012, the Federal Reserve attempted to rebuff a Freedom of Information Lawsuit by Bloomberg News on the grounds that as a private banking corporation and not actually a part of the government, the Freedom of Information Act did not apply to the trade secret” operations of the Federal Reserve.

When you or I write a check, there must be sufficient funds in our account to cover the check; but when the Federal Reserve writes a check, there is no bank deposit on which that check is drawn. When the Federal Reserve writes a check, it is creating money.” — From the Boston Federal Reserve Bank pamphlet, Putting it simply.”

Neither paper currency nor deposits have value as commodities. Intrinsically, a ‘dollar’ bill is just a piece of paper. Deposits are merely book entries.” — Modern Money Mechanics Workbook”? Federal Reserve of Chicago, 1975

I am afraid the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that the banks can and do create money. And they who control the credit of the nation direct the policy of Governments and hold in the hollow of their hand the destiny of the people.” — Reginald McKenna, as Chairman of the Midland Bank, addressing stockholders in 1924

States, most especially the large hegemonic ones, such as the United States and Great Britain, are controlled by the international central banking system, working through secret agreements at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and operating through national central banks (such as the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve)… The same international banking cartel that controls the United States today previously controlled Great Britain and held it up as the international hegemony. When the British order faded, and was replaced by the United States, the US ran the global economy. However, the same interests are served. States will be used and discarded at will by the international banking cartel; they are simply tools.” — Andrew Gavin Marshall

World War One started between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, but quickly shifted to focus on Germany, whose industrial capacity was seen as an economic threat to Great Britain, who saw the decline of the British Pound as a result of too much emphasis on financial activity to the neglect of agriculture, industrial development, and infrastructure (not unlike the present day United States). Although pre-war Germany had a private central bank, it was heavily restricted and inflation kept to reasonable levels. Under government control, investment was guaranteed to internal economic development, and Germany was seen as a major power. So, in the media of the day, Germany was portrayed as the prime opponent of World War One, and not just defeated, but its industrial base flattened. Following the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was ordered to pay the war costs of all the participating nations, even though Germany had not actually started the war.

Should Germany merchandise (do business) again in the next 50 years we have led this war (WW1) in vain.” – Winston Churchill in The Times (1919)
We will force this war upon Hitler, if he wants it or not.” – Winston Churchill (1936 broadcast)
Germany becomes too powerful. We have to crush it.” – Winston Churchill (November 1936 speaking to US – General Robert E. Wood)

Germany’s state-issued value based currency was also
This war is an English war and its goal is the destruction of Germany.” – Winston Churchill (- autumn 1939 broadcast) a direct threat to the wealth and power of the private central banks, and as early as 1933 they started to organize a global boycott against Germany to strangle this upstart ruler who thought he could break free of private central bankers!

As had been the case in World War One, Great Britain and other nations threatened by Germany’s economic power looked for an excuse to go to war, and as public anger in Germany grew over the boycott, Hitler foolishly gave them that excuse. Years later, in a spirit of candour, the real reasons for that war were made clear.

The war wasn’t only about abolishing fascism, but to conquer sales markets. We could have, if we had intended so, prevented this war from breaking out without doing one shot, but we didn’t want to.”- Winston Churchill to Truman (Fulton, USA March 1946)

Germany’s unforgivable crime before WW2 was its attempt to loosen its economy out of the world trade system and to build up an independent exchange system from which the world-finance couldn’t profit anymore. …We butchered the wrong pig.” -Winston Churchill (The Second World War – Bern, 1960)

As a side note, we need to step back before WW2 and recall Marine Major General Smedley Butler. In 1933, Wall Street bankers and financiers had bankrolled the successful coups by both Hitler and Mussolini. Brown Brothers Harriman in New York was financing Hitler right up to the day war was declared with Germany. And they decided that a fascist dictatorship in the United States based on the one on Italy would be far better for their business interests than Roosevelt’s New Deal” which threatened massive wealth re-distribution to recapitalize the working and middle class of America. So the Wall Street tycoons recruited General Butler to lead the overthrow of the US Government and install a Secretary of General Affairs” who would be answerable to Wall Street and not the people, would crush social unrest and shut down all labour unions. General Butler pretended to go along with the scheme but then exposed the plot to Congress. Congress, then as now in the pocket of the Wall Street bankers, refused to act. When Roosevelt learned of the planned coup he demanded the arrest of the plotters, but the plotters simply reminded Roosevelt that if any one of them were sent to prison, their friends on Wall Street would deliberately collapse the still-fragile economy and blame Roosevelt for it. Roosevelt was thus unable to act until the start of WW2, at which time he prosecuted many of the plotters under the Trading with the Enemy act. The Congressional minutes into the coup were finally released in 1967 and became the inspiration for the movie, Seven Days in May” but with the true financial villains erased from the script.

I spent 33 years and four months in active military service as a member of our country’s most agile military force — the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from second lieutenant to Major General. And during that period I spent more of my time being a high–class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I suspected I was just a part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all members of the military profession I never had an original thought until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of the higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service. Thus I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-12. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that the Standard Oil went its way unmolested. During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. I was rewarded with honours, medals and promotion. Looking back on it, I feel I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three city districts. I operated on three continents.” — General Smedley Butler, former US Marine Corps Commandant, 1935

As President, John F. Kennedy understood the predatory nature of private central banking. He understood why Andrew Jackson fought so hard to end the Second Bank of the United States. So Kennedy wrote and signed Executive Order 11110 which ordered the US Treasury to issue a new public currency, the United States Note.

Kennedy’s United States Notes were not borrowed from the Federal Reserve but created by the US Government and backed by the silver stockpiles held by the US Government. It represented a return to the system of economics the United States had been founded on, and was perfectly legal for Kennedy to do. All told, some four and one half billion dollars went into public circulation, eroding interest payments to the Federal Reserve and loosening their control over the nation. Five months later John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Texas, and the United States Notes pulled from circulation and destroyed (except for samples held by collectors). John J. McCloy, President of the Chase Manhattan Bank, and President of the World Bank, was named to the Warren Commission, presumably to make certain the banking dimensions behind the assassination were concealed from the public.

As we enter the eleventh year of what future history will most certainly describe as World War Three, we need to examine the financial dimensions behind the wars.

Towards the end of World War Two, when it became obvious that the allies were going to win and dictate the post war environment, the major world economic powers met at Bretton Woods, a luxury resort in New Hampshire in July of 1944, and hammered out the Bretton Woods agreement for international finance. The British Pound lost its position as the global trade and reserve currency to the US dollar (part of the price demanded by Roosevelt in exchange for the US entry into the war). Absent the economic advantages of being the world’s go-to” currency, Britain was forced to nationalize the Bank of England in 1946. The Bretton Woods agreement, ratified in 1945, in addition to making the dollar the global reserve and trade currency, obligated the signatory nations to tie their currencies to the dollar. The nations that ratified Bretton Woods did so, on two conditions. The first was that the Federal Reserve would refrain from over-printing the dollar as a means to loot real products and produce from other nations in exchange for ink and paper; basically an imperial tax. That assurance was backed up by the second requirement, which was that the US dollar would always be convertible to gold at $35 per ounce.

But as America’s manufacturing and agriculture has declined, the oil producing nations faced a dilemma. Those piles of US Federal Reserve notes were not able to purchase much from the United States because the United States had little (other than real estate) anyone wanted to buy. Europe’s cars and aircraft were superior and less costly, while experiments with GMO food crops led to nations refusing to buy US food exports. Israel’s constant belligerence against its neighbours caused them to wonder if the US could actually keep their end of the petrodollar arrangement.

Saddam Hussein, and, Muammar Gaddafi paid with their life for an idea which time has not come? But be sure it’s fast approaching the year of consent.

As we speak the bankers’ gun sights are on Iran, which dares to have a government central bank and sell their oil for whatever currency they choose. The war agenda is, as always, to force Iran’s oil to be sold only in dollars and to force them to accept a privately owned central bank. Malaysia, one of the new nations without a Rothschild central bank, is now being invaded by a force claimed to be Al Qaeda”, and with the death of President Hugo Chavez, plans to impose a US and banker friendly regime on Venezuela are clearly being implemented.

We have been raised by a public school system and media that constantly assures us that the reasons for all these wars and assassinations are many and varied. The US claims to bring democracy to the conquered lands (is this a fact; the usual result of a US overthrow is the imposition of a dictatorship, such as the 1953 CIA overthrow of Iran’s democratically elected government of Mohammad Mosaddegh and the imposition of the Shah, or the 1973 CIA overthrow of Chile’s democratically elected government of President Salvador Allende, and the imposition of Augusto Pinochet), or to save a people from a cruel oppressor, revenge for 9-11, or that tired worn-out catch all excuse for invasion, weapons of mass destruction. Assassinations are always passed off as crazed lone nuts” to obscure the real agenda.

The real agenda is simple. It is enslavement of the people by creation of a false sense of obligation. That obligation is false because the Private Central Banking system, by design, always creates more debt than money with which to pay that debt. Private Central Banking is not science, it is a religion; a set of arbitrary rules created to benefit the priesthood, meaning the Private Central Banks.

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK IS A PRIVATE COMPANY.
Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power to coin (create) money and regulate the value thereof. Today however, the FED, which is a privately owned company, controls and profits by printing money through the Treasury, and regulating its value.

The FED began with approximately 300 people or banks that became owners (stockholders purchasing stock at $100 per share – the stock is not publicly traded) in the Federal Reserve Banking System. They make up an international banking cartel of wealth beyond comparison (Reference 1, 14). The FED banking system collects billions of dollars (Reference 8, 17) in interest annually and distributes the profits to its shareholders. The Congress illegally gave the FED the right to print money (through the Treasury) at no interest to the FED. The FED creates money from nothing, and loans it back to us through banks, and charges interest on our currency. The FED also buys Government debt with money printed on a printing press nod charges U.S. taxpayer’s interest. Many Congressmen and Presidents say this is fraud.

Who actually owns the Federal Reserve Central Banks? The ownership of the 12 Central banks, a very well kept secret, has been revealed:

These bankers are connected to London Banking Houses which ultimately control the FED. When England lost the Revolutionary War with America (our forefathers were fighting their own government), they planned to control us by controlling our banking system, the printing of our money, and our debt

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-federal-reserve-cartel-the-eight-families/25080

Adam Smith declared that Britain was ‘a nation that is governed by shopkeepers’, in the first edition of his classic Wealth of Nations (1776).

The influence ˜This nation of shop keeper extended in the west to the American continent, in the east to the ends of Asia, and in the south to the Australian continent, mainly places in which spices, cotton, tobacco and opium were either produced or sold

Indeed they control the Opium, oil, banks and nations.

Keeping in mind above said we can clearly recognize his strategy. With a campaign to win rights for Indians in South Africa behind him, Mohandas Gandhi returns to his native India in 1915 to find a country growing increasingly restless under the century-long colonial rule called the raj.” While the British do not resort to the brutality used by most occupying forces, they limit basic liberties wherever the power of the raj was threatened. And, although Britain has granted self-rule to Canada and Australia, it drags its heels on self-rule for India. British viceroy Lord Irwin ignores most of the demands of the Indian National Congress.

By 1930, Gandhi decides that the time is right for civil disobedience directed at the heart of British interests. Recognizing the need for a unifying issue that speaks to all Indians, he finds one in the colony’s Salt Act, which forbids citizens from collecting or selling the vital mineral. The colonizers, he argues, are stealing a dietary staple from the people and then making them pay to get it back. By processing their own salt, millions of Indians can readily flout British rule.

In a shrewd pre-emptive move, Gandhi sends a public letter to Lord Irwin announcing his intent to break the British salt monopoly at the conclusion of a long people’s march to the sea where ordinary citizens will collect salt. At the same time, he implores Indian local officials to resign their posts, to drive a wedge between the raj and one of its key supports. He further advocates a boycott of imported British cloth in favour of homespun cotton a strategy that is of added significance for Indians who have been thrown out of work by Britain’s machine-manufactured textile industry.

These actions invite brutal reprisals. A mass of demonstrators approaching a salt depot in Dharasana was viciously beaten; thousands are arrested, the number of participant’s swells and resistance stiffens. Overcrowding the country’s jails is part of Gandhi’s strategy to put a strain on British civil services, and the barbarism at Dharasana elicits worldwide support for the Indian cause. With India’s infrastructure under strain, and world opinion turning against the Crown, Lord Irwin agrees to one-on-one negotiations with Gandhi by February 1931. While the social and legal concessions that he grants (i.e., withdrawal of repressive laws and promises not to prosecute resisters) are more symbolic than concrete, the great Indian resistance of 1930-31 mobilizes the nation as never before to pursue independence, which it finally achieves in 1947.

How English managed to cheat the world for the past 200 years show the world that the English in the Dark is more perilous.  Yet the dream of giving Sri Lanka to Jaffna Tamil Catholics is impossibility now.  My findings go to show how many nations lost their identity and suzerainty because they passively sat by. Earlier British controlled the League of Nations and divided up Palestine; Now people of Sri Lanka is claver than Jaffna Catholic and their helpers English together; and they never can control UN now. I say get rid of Catholic agents controlling news media in Lanka and we can SAFLY SAIL THROUGH ANY CRISIS.

Getting back to Madame Clinton it seems;

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton through her Office in Washington D C announced that they have already rejected the election campaign funds sent by the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) proscribed as an arm of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. A New Jersey resident in U S A, allegedly connected to TRO had sent in the funds. This was revealed to Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona and Bernard Goonatilake, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Washington? Unlike the good old days a few thousand $ wouldn’t do any good to appease Hillary, she must be gifted with a few million $!

In fact Hilary recognized two type of terrorist; the really bad terrorist was the Islamic ones? And the decent terrorists are the Jaffna Tamil catholic terrorist?

 Hillary Clinton’s problem isn’t Bernie Sanders. It’s Hillary Clinton?

There are two Democratic visions for regulating Wall Street,” Sanders opens in his new 30-second ad airing in Iowa and New Hampshire. One says it’s okay to take millions from big banks and then tell them what to do. My plan: break up the big banks, close the tax loopholes, and make them pay their fair share.” This is not pleasant news to banker so wall steet flooded Mrs.C election cofferers.

Today there is no more doubts that Assad is the main target and not ISIL.

 But how in the world DID Assad ascended to become such a big bad wolf in the western nexuses?

  After angle Sadam Hussein wanted to sell oil not in dollars but in Euros! And that is an unacceptable as anything they knew?

Ditto Kaddafi who became such an unwavering  enemy USA’s Oil for printed $ that he could not see whets in front of his face and just pressed on sell his oil for gold diners?

But what has Assad comparison to offer in comparison Sadam a g Kaddafi to get such atrocious treatment

In fact Syrian Civil War has been described as an “intensely sectarian conflict”. The focus of the conflict has been identified as a ruling minority Alawite government (with Alawites being a largely synergetic Shiite Muslim offshoot from which President Assad’s most senior political and military associates are drawn) and allied governments such as Iran, and  pitted against the country’s Sunni Muslim majority who are aligned with the Syrian opposition and their Sunni Turkish and Persian Gulf State backers! The conflict had drawn in other ethno-religious minorities  in the subcontinent  including  Armenians,Assyrians, Druze, Palestinians, Kurds, Yazidi, Mhallami, Arab Christians, Mandaeans, Turkmens and Greeks.

Alawites were mostly tolerant and hardly discriminates females. Having historically kept their beliefs secret from outsiders and non-initiated Alawites, so buzz and innuendo about them have cropped up.

Most people don’t know what this sect stands for and they care less!

So why should Osama be such a blatantly anti Assad and would wish to get rid of him at any price? Or is he a Sunni at heart? The answer is staring in ones face!

Let us assess the information provided in this essay earlier; and we can easily isolate some basic fact that I tried to hammer in with such lucidity?  So what are vital points which must be considered in this connection?

1. We recognize the fact that; Saudi royals are no longer are speaking of the 75billion they would wish to chip in?

2. Undoubtedly there must be some sort of secret deals they must have hit upon!

3. USA is currently printing notes like the devil so important exactly now and why so?

4. And why such a zing sag policy concerning Assad!

5. Why has a Silence descended in the Saudis camp!

And now one considers the above outlined points logically then one is bound to get a clearer prospective! US Administration took the easy way out thus hoodwinking the world and gave into Saudi demands! Not only Osama manipulated the world but deceived the American citizens as well. The reason why this left-right turn which is puzzling most everyone. Obama would have requested the Saudi wahabis to lie low and he would attend to Assad?

Why is Assad such a torn in USA’s butt?  Obama must have agreed that Assad is practicing another religion and not the one what prophet Mahmud preached as Islam? So he need to taken off the equation and weighted against 750 billons is a ransom just cannot be ignored?  In that sense just his toe nails must be costing a few billions!  

If Mrs. C is the president would have the tenacity and the guts to take a decision against such chauvinistic bunch? I doubt very much!       

Just saw in the internet the breaking news? This is unbelievable news the last thing I expected!! According to a press release:
Families of victims killed in the 2001 September 11 terror attacks may soon be able to sue Saudi Arabia’s government for damages after the US Senate passed legislation on Tuesday.

His would mean the next president will have to run through mine fields of terror supporting Islamic states! And strong blackmailing Saudis with 750 Billion $ WILLL BE AT THE FORFRANT?                                        

This might be the last nail in the house of sound and perhaps the fall of the mighty Dollar AS WELL?

Above all Assad will survive the onslaught and threat hanging over his head for so long!  The fall of the royal hose of said will be vicious!

Buddhist massacres along the Silk Road should be taken up! If Assad is wise he should propose and build a Buddhist temple in Damascus to show his tolerance to a creed which never took revenge for centuries and century’s mindless destruction done to them!

Sad to say if Mrs. Linton come to power in the white house then it would be business as usual, and would be worse than Osama years. They would shun that power mad woman and go for the intellectual; Bernie Sanders I believe that’s the only alternative left for Americans?

By Mahinda Weerasinghe

20.05.2016

Shenali D Waduge

 Some very interesting and bizarre developments have taken place leading to the celebration of the military victory over LTTE and the rescue of some 300,000 Tamils that took place in May 2009. The Government through the Defense Secretary has conveyed to the people that ‘LTTE are our own’ that ‘there is nothing to celebrate’ and downgraded the victory to a sham cultural event that excluded inviting the former President without whom LTTE would not have been annihilated. Sri Lankans were told not to celebrate what was a common celebration over terrorism while the Defense Minister for State Ruwan Wijewardena declared the Government would not allow commemoration of LTTE. However, commemorations did take place in the North with red & yellow flags of the LTTE, Eelam Flag and Eelam Map led by the TNA that declared in its election manifesto of 2004 that ‘LTTE was the sole representative of the Tamils’ and Ananthi whose husband Elilan was a key leader of the LTTE and who shot dead a Tamil woman pleading to escape to government controlled areas to feed her baby some milk. We really have to ask what the Ranil-Maithri Government propose to do about this especially with the discovery of arms, ammunition and suicide vests and arrests of over 64 LTTE cadres while TNA has upped the ante with demands for self-autonomy all part of the separatist program developing since 1949 with the formation of the ITAK and the 1976 Vaddukoddai Resolution. TNA, LTTE, ITAK are all making the same demands in different language.

The laughable thing is that the TNA’s Sumanthiran told The Island that the cancellation of Victory Day Parade would certainly help post-war national reconciliation process while the TNA are commemorating LTTE dead.

Moreover what business does countries like Canada have in pushing to cancel Victory Day when white Canadians continue to discriminate the indigenous natives of Canada what does the high commissioner have to say about these LTTE commemorations can she use the same jargon on reconciliation to the TNA passing resolutions of genocide, demanding confederalism and going round the world claiming our soldiers have killed civilians when they can’t even name 100 people after 7 years. She needs to be shown the Victors Justice after World War 2 … no German could even complain against the way Allies treated them and millions of Germans were killed after the war ended. These crimes have never been investigated. Can the Canadian High Commissioner reprimand the Queen for wiping tears off her eyes during memorial for fallen heroes?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3594633/The-Queen-attends-service-National-Memorial-Arboretum.html

Photos from the commemoration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBZ_8tcvqBY

At the Jaffna University where previously after 2009 many attempts had been made to have vigils for LTTE.

What does Eelam map have to do with mourning civilians?

http://colombogazette.com/2016/05/18/eelam-map-used-as-victims-of-mullivaikal-were-remembered-in-north/

On 13^th May 2016 Sivajilingam brother in law of Prabakaran also held commemoration – for civilians or dead LTTE? What was noteworthy about this memorial was that there were hardly any people. Sivajilingam and TNA claim was that lakhs of people were killed if so at least half of these killed people’s relatives should have attended.. we could hardly count 20 at this event!

http://varunamultimedia.com/videos/btv/vmtube/news-specials/sivajilingam-holds-war-commemoration-in_-13-05-16/play.html#p_sel

In 2014 the Jaffna University commemorated Maaveerar Naal with posters that said Our tearful respect to our martyrs who sacrificed their lives for our nation to bloom and to our people killed by state terrorism,” ….Our fallen martyrs’ dream will come true, Tamil Eelam will be born tomorrow.” http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articleid=12918

http://www.dailymirror.lk/96811/pro-ltte-posters-in-jaffna-uni-premises

so we repeat the question again – is it civilians or LTTE being mourned??

The Jaffna university is said to have a permanent post on the wall that states nobody can enter the university area if they do not subscribe to the (fictional) Tamil traditional homeland.

TNA-LTTE links

Quoting from the 2004 TNA Manifesto

https://www.tamilnet.com/img/publish/2010/03/TNA_Election_Manifesto_2004pdf.pdf

• Accepting LTTE’s leadership as the national leadership of the Tamil Eelam Tamils and the Liberation Tigers as the sole and authentic representatives of the Tamil people, let us devote our full cooperation for the ideals of the Liberation Tigers’ struggle with honesty and steadfastness”
• Let us work side by side with the LTTE, who are fighting for the protection and autonomous life of the Tamil speaking people, for the political initiatives under their leadership”
• TNA demands Find a political solution to the Tamil national problem based on the acceptance of the fundamental proposals regarding (Tamil Nation’s) Tamil homeland, Tamil Nation, Tamils’ right to self-government (autonomy).”
• Ranga Jayasuriya on 18 February 2004 says After meeting TNA parliamentarians in Kilinochchi, LTTE political chief S. P. Tamilselvam told the press that his movement won’t hinder the freedom of political parties campaigning in the LTTE held areas. Quoting Tamilselvan “We (LTTE) decided to appeal to the Tamil people to vote for the policy of the TNA. We urge the Tamil people to unite,” http://archives.dailynews.lk/2004/02/18/pol03.html

DBS Jeyraj himself writes on the 2004 elections The LTTE had done its part in doing propaganda, ensuring a large turn out of voters and  rigging votes on a mammoth scale. The TNA virtually swept the polls among Tamil voters in the North and East” elaborating further Jeyraj writes LTTE also reduced the TNA to political servitude and ensured that such bondage was well publicised. The TNA was summoned frequently to Kilinochchi where the tiger political commissar Suppiah Paramu Thamilselvan would issue orders and instructions. At LTTE oriented functions some of these MP’s would wear LTTE badges and sing paeans of praise to Prabakharan and the tigers”

http://www.dailymirror.lk/49301/birth-and-growth-of-nexus-between-the-tna-and-the-ltte#sthash.s81Ln4yY.dpuf

Wigneswaran’s pro-LTTE stand

C V Wigneswaran living all his life in Colombo amongst Sinhalese, educated at Royal College, was so discriminated by the Sinhalese that he became a Supreme Court judge went to the North only in 2013 to contest as India’s choice for the Chief Minister of the Northern Province. DBS Jeyraj points to Wigneswaran’s LTTE links Many including myself hoped that the TNA would make a clean break from the past after the LTTE was decimated in 2009.That however has not happened. In perhaps the greatest disappointment of all former Supreme court Judge CV Wigneswaran started singing the Pulippaattu” (Tiger song)after being nominated as TNA chief ministerial candidate for the Northern provincial council  

Justice Wigneswaran on 16 February 2008 at a speech given by him says Killing Prabhakaran Will Not Silence the Tamils”

A strong message was issued by Venerable Dr. Keppetiyagoda Siriwimala Nayake Thera, chief incumbent of Rajopawanaramaya, Getambe, Peradeniya against TNA, Wigneswaran, Sivajilingam and Sambanthan “While chief minister Wigneswaran promotes the move for a federal unit, TNA leader Sampanthan has justified the 30 year old war led by LTTE leader Prabakaran.The trio comprising Wigneswaran Sampanthan Sivajilingam have launched a fresh campaign under the umbrella of the present government for a separate administration. In addition to the move by the trio some Sinhala leaders in connivance with certain NGOs are supportive of the move for a separate administration for the north and east on the pretext of a solving ethnic differences. It is a pity that Wigneswaran, Sivajilingam and Sampathan have forgotten the fate of Tamil national leaders Doraiappa and Amirthaligam.”

Sambanthan’s LTTE links are shown in these photos with LTTE leader Prabakaran

Is LTTE Leader Ezhilan”‘s Wife Anandhi Sasitharan a Voice of the Victims Or of the Perpetrators of Injustice? Asks DBS Jeyraj in 2014 as her husband senior LTTE leader Ezhilan committed many atrocities against Tamil civilians of Wanni in 2009.

Elilan played a role in planning and blocking the water supply via Mavil Aru in Trincomalee in 2006 which was a crime against humanity. After Tamilselvans death Elilan was put in charge of recruitment of civilians and together with Thamilini the head of the women’s wing of the LTTE they forcibly recruited men, women and children in 2008-2009

Jeyraj points out that Elilan when ICRC vessel berthed in Puthumathalan to transport injured persons for medical treatment, the LTTE would give priority to injured cadres, supporters and Tiger families first. When relates of the seriously injured made attempts to get close to ICRC officials to seek priority for the real civilians Elilan and LTTE used swords, knives and poles to hack and assault them and blocked them from meeting ICRC. Elilan himself was seen using his sword and later LTTE was to use gun fire to quell the people. Jeyraj relates another incident at the ‘Our Lady of the Rosary’ church in Valainjarmadam where 900 men, women and children had taken refuge. Elilan, Ilamparithi and Malaimahal came and dragged them out and anyone who resisted was shot at. 500 of these refugees were forcibly taken and sent to battle. How many of these died in battle and if they did die whose fault was it? Jeyraj next brings out an incident at Crucifix Junction when Elilan and Thangan were questioning people who had tried to flee. A young woman with an infant and 2 small children responded by saying her children had no milk and that was why she was trying to escape and when she asked ‘are you people not human’ (Neengal Manisar Illaya) Elilan the husband of Anandi Sasitharan took out his pistol and fired twice into her forehead killing her in cold blood.

So you have to ask whether Ananthi was mourning these civilians that her husband cut, chopped and killed? Is Ananthi the voice of the victims or the perpetrators! That question is never answered!

http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/27579

Then in June 2014 a strange incident happened. Ananthi, some TNA members, Catholic clergy and with some 20 people were protesting against their ‘missing’ when they were confronted with over 300 people holding placards demanding their missing children from Ananthi causing the TNA and Ananthi to flee. What was strange is that neither UNHRC nor well-funded NGOs wanted to have anything to do with these people who had no fancy placards, no foreign envoy wanted to take up their case, none of their stories have made it to any UN report.

http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2014/06/15/fea01.asp Ananthi Sasiatharan faces protests by Tamils

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:hSPalRUUBjMJ:www.defence.lk/new.asp%3Ffname%3DParents_of_Missing_Tamil_Children_demand_answers_from_TNA_Ananthi_Sasitharan_20140722_05&num=1&hl=en&gl=lk&strip=1&vwsrc=0

DBS Jeyraj himself a victim of LTTE when in 1993 in Canada he was attacked by LTTE supporters who broke his leg and injured his head using metal rods and poles. He says Sadly this sorry tale of the TNA toeing the tiger line continues even after the fall of the tigers. The TNA is unable to break away from its pro-tiger past and is generally adopting  the extremist line propagated by LTTE and pro-LTTE elements in the global Tamil Diaspora. The perception that the TNA is aligned to the LTTE is one that seems to gaining ground mainly due to the party’s woeful conduct in the post – May 2009 phase. – See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/49301/birth-and-growth-of-nexus-between-the-tna-and-the-ltte#sthash.s81Ln4yY.dpuf

Do we have one occasion to showcase of Jaffna University, TNA, ITAK, Wigneswaran coming out against the LTTE demanding that they stop child recruitment, enforced recruitment of adults or even unjustified killing of Tamils for going against LTTE dogma? No… that tells all where we are heading having these being the ‘mouthpieces of the ‘Tamil people’.

So who is fooling whom we ask?

Shenali D Waduge

• http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=2016/05/13/local/81586 No Tiger commemoration ceremonies: Ruwan Wijewardena
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuwTPXnvaK8 Commemorating victims of war allowed, LTTE not allowed – Govt

Shenali D Waduge

 It is getting tedious to be countering lies that are being publicized globally by well-funded campaigns generated from criminal syndicates that continue to function and were part of the LTTE international criminal network. Whatever attempts being made to downplay the victory achieved in May 2009, that accomplishment cannot be allowed to be subtly removed from our memories by those who were either promoters of the ‘unwinnable war’ theory or those too cowardly to call LTTE as terrorists. These attempts to curb the war victory is only leading people to forget a 30 year terrible past but are also causing people to forget individuals, parties, organizations and even countries that created, supported and promoted LTTE terror so much so that there is a strong likelihood of a revival of LTTE taking place under the same patronage of people. Therefore, it is an opportune time to set up a museum that would display all of the crimes committed by the LTTE over 3 decades and should be under the stewardship of only patriots with no one remotely connected to LTTE involved in its administration or design. People who were promoters of LTTE are today shamelessly holding symposiums about crimes against Tamils when LTTE has killed more Tamils than any other non-Tamil community.

Every country celebrates War Victories. These are gallant events marked to showcase a period of the past that people must remember and take lessons from. Countries continue to celebrate World War victories since 1945. Germany & Japan never oppose these ceremonies putting across atrocities and war crimes committed by the Allies against their people. These war crimes by Allies run into millions of post-war deaths by starvation as a policy.

Vietnam’s museum is a good example for Sri Lanka to use to come out with our own memories of a cruel and frightening past. People are already forgetting the years of fear, sorrow, tears and misery we went through.

It is not just the LTTE that terrorised us. We have undergone over 400 years of colonial crimes (ideally we need to have a separate museum for colonial crimes committed by Portuguese, the Dutch and the British), we had 2 insurrections by the JVP that killed a lot of innocent people. We had 30 years of LTTE terror. It was not just a group of people being armed and trained by India, the nation and its military had to deal with scores of other inter-connected challenges. We had foreign nations molly-coddling the LTTE, we had missionaries and faith-based organizations that posed as charities entering as relief and humanitarian aid providers but with a bigger intention of enlarging their flocks (the rise in conversions in the North including those within the LTTE is a good example of their success story), we had very powerful nations adopting the LTTE and using it to fast forward their own agendas for the region and continent, we had the UN using Sri Lanka as a guinea pig for its diabolical new world order programs testing various ideas that would enable nation-states to be dissolved and all law & order brought under the auspices of the UN. The minority-rights placard used by both UN and powerful western nations has nothing to do with concern for minorities but are meant to only test out their plans and ploys to make more profit and vest power of nations in the hands of a handful.

These challenges were no small challenges and no leader was able to take the bulls by their horns. One leader did and today he is the target of attack for doing what others were told not to do. Leaving aside his own mistakes, follies and mismanagement after steering the forces to a magnificent and memorable victory, his place in history cannot be diminished or removed because of other faults. We need to give credit where credit is due. He and the defense secretary need to be protected by the State forever. No nation should remove their security and make them cannon fodder for killers.

What is clear is that we have elements that were part of the LTTE network today roaming freely still because foreign nations did not take action when in 2014 the GOSL used the UNSC Resolution 1373 to declare 16 organizations as LTTE fronts and declared over 400 individuals as having direct links to LTTE terror. Some of these entities by their sheer influence have got themselves deproscribed without anyone even making a whimper of objection.

Had the foreign nations where these individuals are living taken action by at least investigating them we would not have to be facing a virtual resurgence of LTTE and its separatism? Anyone studying LTTE and all those connected with the LTTE since inception would realize that there is a history to separatism. On the premise that countries cannot be separated on bogus lies and mythical stories it should have warranted a connection in parties and individuals that were trying to separate Sri Lanka (pulling out every name and terminology in the dictionary to hide their ultimate goal) to the LTTE that hijacked the idea for its own sustenance and as a placard to use to entice combatants.

If we are to draw any lessons we need to have these crimes very clearly displayed for all to see. Therefore from the manner LTTE was created, who helped fund, train, arm and supported the LTTE, to the individuals, organizations and even countries that had been linked to the LTTE needs to be very clearly established in this museum.

Ideally like the Vietnam Museum the State should patronize it but the board tasked to design and administer it should be patriots with no links to LTTE or separatist elements.

An entrance fee will help maintain and upgrade the museum and visitors arriving will be able to see for themselves the truth against the lies that are being promoted globally on the strength of the LTTE kitty and the ability to buy over people including foreign MPs and influential officials.

Vietnam War Remnants Museum or The human rights violations and war crimes atrocities American and French forces committed in Vietnam

This museum is meant to save the heroic remnants of the Vietnamese people’s struggle against invading forces. In 1975 it was called The Gallery of American Crime, then the American Crime Gallery, in 1990 it was renamed War Crimes of Aggression Gallery and in 1995 it was called the War Remnants Museum.

The museum is under the Department of Culture, Sports & Tourism.

The museum contains display of material, photographs, artefacts on evidence of the crimes committed. These are meant to educate the public especially the younger generation of the struggle that went to gain independence and freedom, it also hopes to create the desire to protect peace and solidarity, friendship between peoples of the world.

The museum has over 20,000 documents, exhibits, films along 8 themes. It has drawn over 15million visitors from Vietnam and Abroad. An estimated 500,000 visitors arrive annually. The museum is one of the key cultural sites in Vietnam that no one misses to visit when they arrive in Vietnam. The museum has received many global medals/awards.
War Remnants Museum was awarded the title of one of five typical museum, 8/2012

http://warremnantsmuseum.com/posts/introduction-general

http://www.downtheroad.org/Asia/Photo/3Vietnam_Pictures/3War_Remnants_Museum.htm (please view this to see the extent of crimes committed by human rights crusader America!)

During Vietnam War, U.S. military sprayed approximately 20 million gallons of herbicides (AGENT ORANGE) across 5.5 million acres of Vietnamese jungle and countryside. Over 50 years after the War people are still suffering as you can see from the photos. The Vietnam Red Cross estimates Agent Orange affected as many as 3 million Vietnamese. Children in areas where Agent Orange was used have been affected with hydrocephalus (brain swelling), cleft palates, mental disabilities, hernias, extra fingers and toes, spina bifida, and various genetic diseases 

Sri Lanka has 30 years of terror to showcase. LTTE crimes against Tamils, LTTE crimes against villages/villagers, LTTE ethnic cleansing of Sinhalese & Muslims from North Sri Lanka, LTTE assassinations of politicians, public officials, clergy, unarmed military, unarmed soldiers who were sick, foreigners including a former Indian Prime Minister, LTTE denying freedoms and fundamental rights to their own people, LTTE creation of child soldiers and suicide missions, LTTE killing of its own cadres are just some of the crimes that need to be displayed for all to see. People were either victims of LTTE terror and there were people who benefitted by LTTE terror. The museum has to be for all the victims of LTTE terror. 

It is only in remembering our past we can shape our future. It is only in learning lessons from the past that we resolve not to repeat them.

Shenali D Waduge

Dr Sudath Gunasekara 18..5.2016

I want all Sinhala people to read the following news item that appeared in Times of India on May 17^th.

Sri Lanka agrees to provide land to Madya Pradesh for Sita temple

Deshdeep Saxena| TNN | May 17, 2016, 10.01 AM IST

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government will soon start the construction of a grand temple of Sita, wife of Lord Rama, in Sri Lanka at the place where she underwent agni pariksha (an ordeal of fire). The island nation has agreed to provide a piece of land for the purpose.

An ambitious project of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, it has been hanging fire for the last five years. In the past, Chouhan himself had visited the places in the island nation associated with mythological characters of Rama and Sita. In the last week of April, a top bureaucrat of MP government visited Sri Lanka to finalise various issues related to the temple, including its architectural design among others. RSS leader Ram Madhav has also been evincing keen interest in the project, government sources claimed. Chouhan had first proposed the project in September 2012 when the then Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Sanchi to inaugurate University of Buddhist-Indic Studies.

The temple is likely to be constructed at Divurumpola, a place which the Sri Lankan government claims to be the site where Sita underwent the agni pariksha. During the recent visit of Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena to Simhastha in Ujjain and later to Sanchi on May 14, the chief minister discussed the issue again. “The government is still working on various issues like who would maintain the temple after its construction is over. It is likely to be maintained by India Foundation, an organisation with which RSS leader Ram Madhav is involved,” sources claimed”.

My comments

This news doesn’t say that the President Sirisena has agreed to release the land to the Indian Minister. But the headline implies that he has agreed. If that is true the President should immediately rescind that decision. Because no he or any other man or woman has no authority to sell the country to a foreign country like that. Even to give a land on lease he should first get the approval from the Parliament. Every inch of this country belongs to the entire nation. Even if it is a private property I don’t think one can sells it to a foreigner without the permission from the legitimate authorities. This applies to every citizen including the President of the country. Any decision going contrary to this I suppose is illegal.

I am issuing this alarm note for the benefit of every Sinhala man and woman who has a concern for the country, irrespective of political affiliation to rise against this betrayal and force the authorities to rescind their decision immediately before it is too late.

RSS (Rara Sevak Sangam) of India where PM Modi is also a key player is an extremist Indian Hindutva organization. As such Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan cannot be a saint either. This could be another step in establishing the Malayanadu in Central Sri Lanka. Now that the Modi Government has already started the first step towards this goal by putting up 4000 houses for Indian estate labour there. Only last week Indian High Commissoner laid the foundation for this plan where Minister of new villages and Infrastructure Development for Tamils Sidambaran has declared that they will be putting up a house for every man and woman It is rather ironical as to why they put up houses for Tamil people in Sri Lanka while millions of people in India ware suffering for lack of houses. This itself is enough proof of their hidden agenda of Indian expansionism.  In that context it is not difficult to understand their motive. But what I cant understand is the attitude of our politicians including the President openly supporting the establishment of the Malayanadu in the central highlands not realizing the betrayal they are doing to this country and its people.

Systematic Indian invasion is seen everywhere. It is getting established in every field, political, economic and cultural, Even the distribution of fuel, More than 70% is in their hands by now. The funny thing in this field is the sheds are ours, Fuel is also ours, Staff ours even the fuel transporting vehicles are ours. Only the profit is theirs Already they have four diplomatic stations ,eg Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna and Hambantota through which they have spread their RAW network. This means they have already established their administrative network all over the Island. In this back drop what I can’t understand is as to what the hell the Sri Lankan Government is doing

Where the hell these mad Sri Lankan politicians are taking this country? Why isn’t there at least a single Mahanayaka Thera who head the Sangha fraternity in this country and who are called the ‘Jatiye muradevatavo’ of the nation or a social leader or a Civil Organization like the ‘Sadharana Samajayak Sandaha” take up these national issue with the President, whom they have elected. People will have to rise up soon and do something before these politicians sell the whole country to India leaving all of us at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

By Charles.S.Perera

To-day on the day that marks another anniversary  of the end of a thirty years of ruthless terrorism, we remember with gratitude our former President Mahinda Rajapakse, Gotabhaya Rajapakse and all those who were around them and those live to tell the tale, and the valiant soldiers some who gave their lives , others who gave their limb and blood, and  those soldiers of ours who have become our heroes –the fountain of life for  thousands of lives which would have been victims of terrorism if not for them.

We are also grateful to those  mothers who gave to the armed Forces to fight against terrorism their sons or daughters, and to those widows who sacrificed their husbands, and those children who lost their fathers  in the fight against terrorisms to liberate our motherland and to assure that it remains an undivided united country, and above all for bringing peace and security to all our people Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala.  They gave us hope to live, they protected our religion and culture. We shall always remain grateful to our Armed Forces under the great leadership given to them by Gotabhaya Rajapakse and the Political leadersip given by our great leader the former President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapakse.

We also remember the then Commander of Armed Forces Sarath Fonceka for the part he played in the military operations against terrorism, despite his turning his back on those who made a Military victory possible over terrorism, and his inability blinded through anger, forgetful of good breeding to control his language, and be worthy of the role he played to save mother Lanka from terrorism.

We also think of political leaders, Ministers, Officers of the Armed Services, Police officers, constables and others who died being victims of terrorist Suicide bombs, claymore bombs, snipers and grenade throwers.

We also think of thousands of innocent men ,women, children, and also unknown numbers of  Buddhist monks who were murdered by the terrorists, being shot, hacked to death, blasted in bombs, or burnt alive by the terrorists.

We also think with  pride and gratitude  our armed forces for having  rescued 300 thousand  Tamil civilians kept as human shield  by the terrorists under most difficult conditions  carrying only small arms against the heavy Guns turned on them by the ruthless terrorists who cared little for the lives of the Tamil civilians.

We think with gratitude our young  mostly Buddhist Sinhala Soldiers, who fought for their motherland  with dedication  to save every one of the people of Sri Lanka without discrimination against the Sinhala, Tamil, or Muslims.

Unfortunately a Government calling itself Yahapalanaya has come to power today and they seem to have forgotten our valiant Soldiers, their officers and the political leadership given to them by our former President Mahinda Rajapakse, who gave us all a breath of life when our innocent people saw and heard of deaths of  compatriots, kith or kin practically every day for nearly thirty long years, without hope that there would be an end to that ruthless terrorism.

This Government led by Maithripala Sirisen and Ranil Wickramasinghe has said  no to celebrate this day of commemoration of the end of a thirty year war of terrorirsm which brought  happiness to every man, woman and child who were freed from living in fear of death under terrorism, the day Sri Lanka was saved from forced division, and continued death to those who were fighting and those who were innocent.

Maithripala Sirisena  elected  as President of Sri Lanka thanks to the Tamil and Muslim votes, and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe appointed Prime Minister by him and their Government,  have decided today to sympathise with the terrorists that killed and maimed our people,  rather than remember gratefully the Armed Forces that gave their lives, limbs, and blood to save Mother Lanka and allow the  Tamils, Muslims and Sinhala to live peacefully.

Maithripala Sirisena, Ranil Wickramasinghe and their Government  have sold their birth right to please the Tamil Politicians, the Tamil Diaspora that financed and supported terrorism, USA, and the West working under instructions from the Tamil Diaspora for the strength of their votes for political support.

Dr Sudath Gunasekara President and convener Udarata Sinhala Urumaya Surekime Sanvidhanaya 18.5.2016

This is exactly what will happen if the current plan of the present Government lead by Sirisena-Ranil- Chandrika Trio remains in power for another six months. Kiriella and all other MPP supposed to be ‘representing Kandyan areas’ will form the Funeral Band of the Sinhala nation. Digambaran, Vignesvaran together with Sidambaram will throw the last shovel of earth to the mass grave while  Sirisena-Ranil- Chandrika Government will invite the Mahanayaka Theras of the Tun Nikaya to perform the Pansakula ritual of the Sinhala nation. I have no doubt that they will also silently participate in this crime as they fear losing the privileges lavishly conferred upon them by the Government.

Rev Sirs, though with much reluctance, I am compelled to tell you that by keeping mum and remaining deaf, dumb and blind on these treacherous betrayals of the present Government and if you don’t intervene and stop this betrayal immediately you too will be responsible for the nation for all the betrayals and sins they do.  Starting from late nineteen eighties the Tamils in the north and East destroyed and vandalized most of the Buddhists archaeological monuments reaching a peak during the LTTE mayhem days. It was followed by Muslims in areas like Kuragala, Katarangala, Lankapatuna, Diigawapi and some parts in the east. The latest is the removal of the Divurum wela Bo tree in Welimanda, the last bastion of the Kandyan patriots who fought against the British murderers. Already the historic Bo tree has been cut and removed as it was reported in the media. Pl see the link for details www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fonwGoqTGc

https://youtu.be/6fonwGoqTGc

බදුල්ල වැලිමඩ දිව්රන්ගල බෝධීන් වහන්සේ යනු ඉතා ඈත අතීතයක් දක්වා දිවයන එනම් මහින්දාගමණය දක්වා දිවයන අතීතයක් ඇති ස්ථානයකි. මෙය සිංහල බෞද්ධ ශාසනික උරුමයක් වන්නේ දේවානම් පිය තිස්ස රජු තම දොතින්ම රෝපනය කල බොධීන්වහන්සේ නමක් යන්නටත් වඩා මෙතෙක් කල් කිසිම අක්‍රමණයක් හමුවේ විනාෂ නොවී පැවති බෝදින් වහන්සේ නමක් වීමයි. එහෙත් මේ වන විට එය විනාෂ කර ඇත්තේ අපේම චීවර ධාරියෙක් වීම ඉතා කණගාටුවක කරුණකි. එම චීවරධාරීයාටි්සහ දමිල, මුස්ලිම් අන්තවාදීන්ට එරෙහිව සිංහලේ ජාතික සංවිධානය සිය ජාතික මෙහෙවර ඉටු කරන්නට සුදානම්. එහි මුල් පියවර ලෙස ඉයේ (2016 මැයි මස 14) සිදුවිය.
ඒ වෙනුවෙන් සංවිධානය කළ විරෝධතාවය බදුල්ල නුවරඑළිය මාර්ගයේ ගමන් කරමින් සාප්පුකඩේ මංසන්ධියට පැමිණ පසුව නැවත හැරී නුගතලාව මංසන්ධියට ගමන් ගත්තේය. අනතුරුව නුගතලාව මංසන්ධියේ පැවැත්වූ විරෝධතාවයෙන් පසු විරෝධතාවය නිමා විය.
මහ වැසිද නොතකා විශාල පිරිසක් සහභාගී වී සිටි මෙම විරෝධතාවයේදී විරෝධතා කරුවන් ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටියේ වර්ෂ සිය ගණනක් තමන් වැදුම් පිදුම් කල බෝධිය කපා කෝවිලක් සෑදීමට කටයුතු කරන විහාරාධිපති හිමියන් හට කිසිසේත් විහාරස්ථානයට නැවත පැමිණීමට ඉඩ නොතබන බවත් දිවි පරදුවට තබා හෝ තමන් මෙම සටන ගෙන යන බවත්ය. මේ අවස්ථාවට අප සිංහලේ ජාතික සංවිධානයේ සභාපති අති පූජ්‍ය යක්කලමුල්ල‍ේ පවර, අරඹේප‍ොල රතනසාර, දෙහිගස්පෙ ප්‍රේමරතන හිමිවරු සහ ජාතික සංවීධායක සාලිය ටී රණවක, ලේකම් නුවන් සෙනෙවිරත්න ඇතුලු ගිහි පැවදි පිරිසක් සහභාගී විය.
2013 වසරේදී මෙම ස්ථානයේ සීතා දේවිය වෙනුවෙන් දේවාලයක් ඉදි කරන බවට ඉන්දියාව ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබිණ. ඒ පුවත පහතින් දක්වා ඇත. එසේම මෙම විරොධතාවය සදහා උප සභාපති තැනපත් අරඹේපොළ රතනසාර හිමියන් මුල් විය.
මෙම ජාතික කර්තව්‍ය වෙනුවෙන් සහ එහි වෙසෙන සිංහලයන් වෙනුවෙන් ජාතික සංවිධනය නොබියව පෙරට එන බව කිව යුතුමය.

The difference between vandalism by the Tamils in the North and East and by Muslim gehadists in other parts of the Island and this incident is   that it is done by the Estate Tamils and their agents to not only consolidate their position in the central Sri Lanka but also claim the presence of historical evidence of presence of Hindutva traditions, in Sri Lanka. Thereafter they might even say the history of this area goes even beyond as the biggest river in the area is also named as Uma oya after the wife of Vishnu Uma. Thus they might even argue for the presence of prehistoric evidence in support of Indian claim on this Island. As such allowing Madya Pradesh Chief Minister (an extremist espouser of Hindutva RSS man) to built a Sita temple with Indian money and to be maintained by India in central Sri Lanka area is far more dangerous than the claim of the Tamils in the north and the east as it extends even beyond historical times.

Even with late Thondaman running the hill country nearly for half century, thanks to our political eunuchs, this type of demolition of Buddhist monuments never took place in the past. This is the first time that such a thing has happened right at the centre of the country. We are informed that this historic Bo tree which is supposed to be a historical and archeological monument of the Kandyan kingdom that was used as a swearing spot during the Kandyan period. Now the Government has given permission to build a Hindu monument on this Buddhist archaeological site. I wonder as to what the Archaeological Commissioner is doing about this. It is to be converted to a Sita Shrine by the Madhya Pradesh Government of India.

While the Government is going all out to support the cause of Indian estate laboures who were brought here by the British in late 19^th century to work on their states and who are conspiring to create a Malayanadu on the hill country and who never consider this country as their Motherland and dream to live as Indian Tamils in this country  in this manner, I ask as to what has been done or being done for the rehabilitation of the sons of the soil-Kandyan Sinhala peasants who has sacrificed so much and lost everything on earth they had to the British and tens of thousands have died in battle against the invaders to protect their motherland, where their ancestors had lived for millennia.

It is your historic and bounden responsibility and sacred duty to get out of your cloisters, open your closed eyes and save the Sinhala nation as ‘Jatiye Muradevatavo’ as you have always done throughout history of this Island nation.  The Sambuddha Sasana is yours more than ours. It is your onus duty to protect it as its disappearance will result in the disappearance of all monks including you all. Because the Sinhala Buddhist Dayakas who feed you all and keep the entire dispensation sustained want be there to look after you people, if this betrayal by the present Government is no stopped forthwith. Moreover I will vouch for certain that the Mahanayayaka posts will also become extinct and whoever is lucky to survive will end up as Pusaris in Hindu temple on the hills if they opt to take you.

It is a tragedy and a grievous pity that these idiotic Sinhala politicians including Presidents, Prime Ministers and Ministers, who don’t have any feeling for the people or their country but for power and privileges only, don’t realize that they too want be there to enjoy the luxuries of life at the expense of foolish Sinhala Buddhists voters if the Sinhala nation is destroyed. Look at what happened after the fall of Polonnaruwa Kingdom that was destroyed by Kalinga Magha invaders. Isn’t it that destruction and devastation we as a nation are still struggling to overcome?

So at least now please rise from this deep slumber and hibernation and come forward to save this nation lest these selfish, idiotic and power crazy mad politicians completely ruin all what we have inherited from the past including our beloved Motherland” the only place on this earth where we and our posterity have to live.

Awake, arise and lead the masses for liberation lest all of us, together with you all, are extinct and gone forever as a Nation?

We are making this appeal to you Rev Sirs as the last resort as we haven’t got a single patriotic national Leader in this country on whom we could have any trust to do this job. Look at the way how these people have ruined the most prosperous country in Asia when we got independence in 1948. Look at the wonders countries like India, Singapore, Korea and even Japan that were far behind us then have done now. Look at Singapore today who sent a delegation in 1957 to see the wonder that was Sri Lanka then as Li quan yu wanted to emulate us and openly declared that he wanted to make Singapore a Sri Lanka. Where are we today compared to them. Who is responsible for this mess, if not the politicians of the day? Have they being able to get at least the correct historical name of the country restored for 68 years and get rid of the Indian labour force brought by the British to work on their estates and restore the ownership of the motherland to its original owners So what bullshit are our politicians talking. What the hell they have done to make this our own land and our own country. Has anyone being able to put the minority groups, in their correct places. Instead of doing that what have they done other than running after minority votes and thereby betraying the country. What are they doing today. Isn’t it the same betrayal they are alternatively continuing while dancing to the tune of the same western colonial exploiters.

This is why I call upon a group of selfless, patriotic and intellectual national leaders guided and advised by erudite Buddhist monks to come forward to save this nation before the match is over.

May 17, 2016

Updated: May 17, 2016 01:42 IST

A house for every hill-country Tamil

The problems of hill-country Tamils have not received much attention in Sri Lanka and India, especially when compared to the Sri Lankan Tamils.

A housing project for hill-country Tamils of Sri Lanka, launched recently, has come not a day too soon. Envisaging the construction of 4,000 houses, the project was cleared by the Indian government over four years ago. It is a component of the larger housing programme funded by New Delhi in the Northern and Eastern provinces, hit hard by the civil war that went on for over 25 years.

Of the planned 46,000 houses in the north and the east, 45,000 have come up. Even as thousands of houses were being built in the two provinces in the last four or five years, not a brick was laid in the Central and Uva provinces, where the hill-country Tamils live in large numbers. A number of reasons — political and administrative — were cited, but the project’s slow progress symbolises the plight of hill-country Tamils in the overall scheme of things in Sri Lanka. This, despite the community remaining the labour backbone of the tea industry, which records export earnings of around $1.5 billion annually, about 15 per cent of the country’s total export earnings.

A marginalised community

Called by different names — Estate Tamils or upcountry Tamils or Tamils of recent Indian origin — the community traces its roots to Tamil Nadu, from where people of southern districts, largely Dalits, were brought in as indentured labour during the 19th and early 20th centuries to work in coffee plantations and later tea and rubber. As per the 2012 Census, the population of Indian Tamils”, which is how the official records call them, is about 8,40,000, around 4 per cent of the total population, even though this figure is contested. The community is concentrated in the districts of Nuwara Eliya, Kandy (both in Central Province) and Badulla (Uva Province) while it is thinly spread in Matale (Central Province), Ratnapura, Kegalle (both in Sabaragamuwa) and Galle (Southern Province).

Immediately after Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948, the hill-country Tamils were placed in political isolation” and disenfranchised through the Ceylon Citizenship Act. Only in the late 1980s was the issue of statelessness” resolved, with the government agreeing to provide citizenship. Denied access to State programmes and schemes for long, the community’s needs and problems are manifold — beginning with something as elementary as housing, epitomised by the 200-sq.-ft. line rooms”, and access to water and sanitation. Other markers such as a high poverty headcount ratio of 10.9 per cent as against the national average of 6.7 per cent, lower literacy rate of 86.1 per cent compared to the national rate of 95.7 per cent, high infant mortality rate of 29 per 1,000 live births while Sri Lanka’s overall figure is 9.7 per 1,000 live births combine to make the community one of the country’s most backward ones.

Yet, the problems of this category of Tamils have not received much attention both in Sri Lanka and India, especially when compared to the Sri Lankan Tamils who were at the centre stage of the Lankan civil war. Rarely do self-appointed leaders of the world Tamil community or political leaders of Tamils in the Northern and Eastern provinces champion the cause of the other Tamils” of Sri Lanka.

Slow winds of change

There is a school of thought that the resolution of the problem of housing is a prerequisite to addressing other issues, given the social stigma still attached to line rooms”. Recognising this, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government, within a few months of coming to power in January 2015, decided to allot seven perches of land (equivalent to 1,925 sq. ft.) to each plantation family. The Indian government has, on cue, revived its proposal for a housing project costing 4.2 billion Sri Lankan rupees (LKR) in the Central and Uva provinces. New Delhi will give LKR 9.5 lakh to each beneficiary, with the Sri Lankan government pitching in for amenities such as water and power supply, land-filling and building of approach roads.

Four thousand houses, however, are just a fraction of what is required: at least 1.6 million houses. In March, the Hill Country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development Ministry, headed by Palani Thigambaram of Nuwara Eliya, announced an action plan for investment of around $690 million in various sectors over the next five years. Housing alone accounts for about $575 million, with the ministry fixing a target of constructing 56,500 houses by 2020.

Despite their overall backwardness, the hill-country Tamils have in recent times experienced improvement on various economic and social indicators. The younger generation, no longer interested in working in the plantations where their parents and grandparents toiled, are increasingly leaving the estates despite facing, as stated by the World Bank, stigmatisation and discrimination due to their Indian Tamil ethnicity and estate worker identity”. Empirical evidence points to the falling share of the youth population in the estates and the increasing number of senior citizens.

The plantation industry of Sri Lanka is also in the midst of a multiplicity of challenges due to widening gap between the cost of production and revenue, declining profitability, falling prices of tea and rubber, growing labour shortage and stiff competition from tea-growing countries such as Kenya and India.

The country, as a whole, is also at a crossroads, after a regime widely perceived as repressive got voted out and the new government adopts a more inclusive approach to end the political isolation” Sri Lanka suffered at the international level in the wake of charges of human rights violations during the civil war. Reaching out to the hill-country Tamils is perhaps an apt starting point.

ramakrishnan.t@thehindu.co.in

Keywords: Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Tamils, Sri Lankan civil war

Asoka Weerasinghe  Ottawa, Canada

19 May 2016

Hon. Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka
Hon. Ranil Wickramasinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
Honorable Gentlemen of the Republic of Sri Lanka:

It is with absolute glee that I share with you my personal celebration of the 7th Anniversary Victory of the Eelam War in my home.

1. Time:  6:00 AM on 19th May 2016;
2. Pinned the Sri Lankan National Flag on to the wall of my home library;
3. Stood at attention with my right palm in salute for the brave men and women in military uniform who gave back 21 million Sri Lankans  their right-to-life, which had been hijacked by the Tamil Tigers for 27 bloody years, and saved the Yahapalana leaders and politicians from being blown to smithereens  with Tamil Tiger claymore mines and suicide bombs sending them home in plywood boxes in  puzzles of heads, arms and limbs wrapped in  ketchup red bloodied torn flesh;
4. while a CD played the Rana-bera, the daula and the tammattama the uniformed War Heroes Return March having won the war;
5. And for those sons and daughters who gave their lives to win this war who were not with the rest of the marching heroes who marched back  home with honour and pride, some hobbling because of blown-off limbs helped by crutches, having vanquished the Tamil Tigers;
6. And said POX to all the Yahapalanayas for insulting these war heroes, especially my personal hero,  Hasalaka Veeraya, for dishonouring them by cancelling the Victory Day celebrations.
7. I concluded my personal Victory Day celebration by singing my personal National Anthem with apologies  to the authors of “O Canada’ and “This land is Your Land’.

‘This land is your land, and this land is my land,

from Point Pedro to south coast Dondra 

from the surrounding Indian Ocean waters

and bathed by the the Mahaveli waters,

as this land was meant for you and me.

The sun came shining, when I was strolling

and the paddy fields were swaying

and the blue-cotton clouds rolling,

I could hear the voices sounding

no one should insult my war heroes

and no one should dissect this island in to two

as this land is for you and me.

And O! Sri Lanka, my home and native land,

I shall stand on guard for thee in Canada 

even though the Tamil Diaspora try causing me fear

as I have stood tall for you for the last 30 long years.

Sincerely

Asoka Weerasinghe

Ottawa, Canada

වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග 

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ උසස් අධ්‍යාපන ආයතනයන් හී බොහෝ විට කනිෂ්ඨ සිසුන් වෙත වාචිකව, ලිඛිතව සිදුකරනු ලබන සරදමක්, ශාරීරිකව සිදු කරනු ලබන පරුෂ සැලකීමක් හෝ ඔවුන් තුල මානසික අස්ථාවරත්වය, බිය හා චකිතය ඇතිකරවන සුලු, සාමාන්‍ය අවස්ථාවේදී පුද්ගලයෙකු විසින් සිදුනොකරන්නාවූ ක්‍රියාවන් කිරීමටයැයි සිදු කරනු ලබන බලකිරීමක් නවක වදය අර්ථ දැක්වෙයි. අනෙකුත් රටවල් සමග සැළකීමේදී, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවද ලෝකයේ නවක වදය දරුණු ලෙස මුල් බැසගත් රටක් ලෙස සැළකෙයි.  (රැගිං: හිස්ට්‍රි ඇන්ඩි ඉවොලූෂන්).

ශ්‍රී ලාංකික විශ්වවිද්‍යාල වල  නවකයන් නිරුවත් කරවීම, අසභ්‍ය ඉරියව් අනුකරණයට බල කිරීම, සිසුවියන්ට කුණුහර්ප කීමට බල කිරීම , අසභ්‍ය කතා සහ සින්දු ලියා දී ඒවා සමුහය ඉදිරියේදී කියවීමට බල කිරීම, සිසු සිසුවියන් තනි තනිවම ගෙන ඉතා අසභ්‍ය වචන වලින් බැන තර්ජනය කිරීම, බලහත්කාරයෙන් වියායාම කරවීම , කුණු වතුර බකට් කිරීම , පහර දීම , බලහත්කාරයෙන් (සිසුන්ට) සාමූහික ස්වයංවින්දනය  කරවීම , ලිංගික අපයෝජනය , පිළුණු වූ බත් වැලි සහ පරවූ මල් සමග අනුභව කිරීමට බල කිරීම , වැසිකිලි වතුර පෙවීම​, හිස අසූචි පිරවූ කොමොඩයක එබ්බවීම  වැනි හිංසක ක්‍රියා වාර්තාවී තිබේ.

ලාංකික විශ්වවිද්‍යාල වල සෑම වසරකම නවක වදය ලෙසින් ලෙස මිනිස් අයිතිවාසිකම් උල්ලංඝනය වීම බරපතල ප්‍රශ්නයක් වෙමින් පවතියි. මේ හැර ජගත් විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ශ්‍රේනිගත කිරීම අනුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සියලුම විශ්ව විද්‍යාල  අප්‍රිකාවේ  අසාර්ථක රාජ්‍යන් ලෙස සැලකෙන උගන්ඩාවේ,  , සුඩානයේ සහ ඉතියෝපියාවේ ජාතික විශ්වවිද්‍යාල වලට වඩා පහත් දර්ශකයක් දරණ අතර අධ්‍යාපන ගුණාත්මක භාවය අවම වීමට නවක වදය ද එක් හේතු කාරනාවක් වේ.   නවක වදය ලාංකික විශ්වවිද්‍යාල වල කළු පැල්ලමකි.

2011 වර්‍ෂයේ පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයට ඇතුළත්ව එහිදී අති අමානුෂික ලෙස නවක වදයට බඳුන් වූ ශිෂ්‍යයකු වෙනුවෙන් ගොනු කරන ලද නඩු වාර්තාවක කොටසක මෙසේ දැක්වේ : “මෙම අපරාධය සිදුකර ඇත්තේ නූගත්, බුද්ධි මට්‌ටමින් පහත් තලයක සිටින අය නොවේ. පළමු ශ්‍රේණියේ සිට අධ්‍යයන පොදු සහතික පත්‍ර උසස්‌ පෙළ දක්‌වාම මහජනයාගේ මුදලින් අධ්‍යාපනය ලබා තව දුරටත් මහජන මුදලින් අධ්‍යාපනය ලබන උගත් බුද්ධිමත් යෑයි සලකනු ලබන, ඉහළ සමාජ ස්‌ථරයකට ඔසවා තබන ලද පුද්ගලයන් පිරිසක්‌ බව අනාවරණය වෙයි.”

රූපා රත්නසීලී, වරප්‍රකාශ් , දික්‌ඕවිට කංකානම්ගේ නිශාන්ත , එස්.එස්. අමාලි චතුරිකා  නවක වදය විසින් මරා දමන ලද ප්‍රක​ට සිසු සිසුවියන් වෙති. උසස්  අධ්‍යාපන  අමාත්යාංශය පෙන්වා දෙන පරිදි මේ වන විට නවක වධය නිසා නවකයන් 20 ක් මරු  දැක   27000 ක් සරසවි හැර ගොසිනි.

නවක වදය විශ්වවිද්‍යාල උපසංස්කෘතියට හෝ සාමූහික බව වෙනුවෙන් පවත්නා දෙයක් ලෙස සමහරක් විසින් පැවසූවද එහි පරපීඩක කාමුකත්වය , ගෝත්‍රිකවාදී මානසිකත්වය, කාන්තා හිංසනය , ග්‍රාමීය පසුගාමීත්වය වැනි අගතීන් දක්නට තිබේ. තවද නවක වදය යනු සාපරාධි අපරාධයක් බව ලංකාවේ  විශ්ව විද්‍යාල ආචාර්‍යවරුන්ගෙන් වැඩි ප්‍රතිශතයක් පවා විශ්වාස නොකරති. එවැනි පසුබිමක නවක වදය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයෙන් තුරන් කිරීම අපහසු කරුණකි.

සිසුන් නවක වදයට යොමු වන්නේ මන්ද ? මේ සඳහා බහුවිධ කාරනා තිබේ. මූලික වශයෙන් නවක වද වධකයන් සතු පොදු ලක්‍ෂණ කීපයක් තිබේ.  මේ හේතූන් නිසා නිරායාසයෙන්ම ඔවුන් අන්‍යන්ට වධ දීමෙත් තෘප්තියක් ලබා ගැනීමට පෙලඹෙති.

1) හීනමානය (හීනමානය මතුවන්නේ  කුල පීඩනය / දරිද්‍රතාව / සමාජ අවස්ථා අඩු බව / ශරීරගේ  අඩුපාඩු නිසා මතු වන ඩිස්මෝර්ෆික් තත්වය Body dysmorphic  conditions)

2) පෞරුෂ අක්‍රමතා (anti social personality / borderline personality)

3) ළමා කාලයේ කාංසාමය තත්වයන්ට යොමු වී තිබීම. ​ මාතෘ / පීතෘ දුර්ස්ථකරණයට ලක් වීම (maternal or paternal deprivation)  ,  අපයෝජනයන්ට ලක්වී තිබීම

4) බාහිර ක්‍රියාකාරකම් නිර්මානශීලීතාව වැනි දක්‍ෂතා අඩු බව, අව  ආත්ම සම්මානය ( poor self-esteem)

5) කන්ඩායම් තත්ව වලදී ඉස්මතුවීම සඳහා දරන ප්‍රයත්නය කැපී පෙනීම​ට අන් අයගේ අවධානයට ලක් වීම සඳහා ඕනෑම අවධානමක් කර ගැසීම.  කැපී පෙනීම සඳහා ඇති අත්‍යන්ත යොමුව

6) තමන් කෙරෙහි (self loathing) මෙන්ම සමාජය කෙරෙහි ඇති වෛරය

7) සාමාජීය හුදකලභාවය සහ එය වසන් කිරීමට දරන අධි ප්‍රයත්නය

8) අන්තවාදීබව සහ ධ්‍රැවගත චින්තනය ( සියල්ල කලු සුදු ලෙස දැකීම​) (polarized thinking)

9) අඩු සහනුභූතිය (lack of empathy)

10) පරපීඩා  කාමුකත්වය (sadism)

නවක වදය සංකීර්ණ ක්‍රියාවලියකි. වින්දිතයා නවක වදයට පත් කිරීමෙන් බලය සහ ආධ්‍යපත්‍ය පැතිරවීම​, වින් දිතයාගේ පූර්ණ එකඟතාව අපේක්‍ෂාව , වින්දිතයාඅවමන් සහගත පත් කිරීම  සිදු කෙරෙන අතර මෙයින් වධකයා තම හීනමානතා සංකීර්ණය සන්තර්පන කර ගැනීමත් බිඳී තිබෙන තමන් ගේ අහංභාවය (Ego ) ප්‍රතිසමාධානය කර ගැනීමටත් උත්සුක වෙයි. මේ හැර මූලික වශයෙන් වින්දිතයා නවක වදයට පත් කිරීමෙන් වධකයෝ  අවිඥානික මෙන්ම බොහෝ විට සවිඥානිකව ලිංගික තෘප්තිය ලබති. නවක වදයට ලක් වීමෙන් පසු වින් දිතයා තුල කෝපය , අපේක්‍ෂා භංගත්වය ,  ආකූලතාව , බිය , ආත්ම ගෞරවය කෙලසීගිය ස්වභාවය , යටත් වීමේ මානසිකත්වය , වධකයා සමග ක්‍රෝධය මෙන්ම අවනත බවද පහළ විය හැක​.

සමහර විට නවක වදයට ලක්වූ වින්දිතයන්  නවක වදය කෙරෙහි මෙන් ම තමන්ව වධයට පත් කල වධකයන් කෙරෙහි ආශක්තවීම මෙන්ම නවක වදය සොඳුරු අත්දැකීමක් ලෙසට අර්ථ කතනය කිරීමත් දක්නට ලැබේ. මෙම සංසිද්ධිය ස්ටොක්හෝම් සින්ඩ්‍රෝමය  ලෙස හැඳින් වේ.  (Stockholm syndrome (also known as “terror bonding” and “traumatic bonding”) is a psychological tendency of a hostage to bond with, identify with, or sympathize with his or her captor. This syndrome can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding).  සංක්‍ෂිප්තව දැක්වීමේදී  ස්ටොක්හෝම් සින්ඩ්‍රෝමය  යනු පීඩිතයා විසින් පීඩකයා කෙරෙහි ඇති කර ගන්නා අසාමාන්‍ය බැඳීමයි. ස්වයං වධ බන්ධන ලැදියාව මෙන්ම තම වධකයන් කෙරෙහි ඇතිවන  අවිඥානික  ලිංගිකව ඇල්මද මේ සඳහා හේතු කාරක වේ.

නවක වදය නීරෝගී චරියාවක් නොවේ. නවක වදය කායික මානසික රෝග ඇති කරවයි. නවක වදය නිසා විශාදය (Depression)  , භීතිකාවන් (phobias)  , පශ්චාත් ක්ලමථ  ව්‍යසන අක්‍රමතාව (PTSD) , සමායෝගී ආබාධ (Adjustment Disorder) වැනි මානසික ආබාධ ඇති විය හැකිය​. එසේම අතුරු ආබාධ බොහෝ කාලයක් පවතියි. මේ හැර භංගුර (vulnerable) පුද්ගලයන් අතර මනෝ ව්‍යාධික (psychotic)  තත්ව එනම් භින්නෝන්මාදය (Schizophrenia) , අධි තීව්‍ර මනෝ ව්‍යාධි (Acute Transient Psychotic Disorders)  වැනි මානසික රෝග වලට ලක්වීමේ ප්‍රවනතාවන් ද නිරීක්‍ෂණය කොට තිබේ.

නවක වදය ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ නීතිය යටතේ අපරාධ වරදක් වන අතර නවක වදය ලබාදීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් වරදකරුවෙක් වන්නකුට වසර 10ක් දක්වා සිර දඩුවමක් වුවද නියම කළ හැක. නමුත් නීතිය මගින් පමණක් නවක වදයට තිත තැබීම අසීරු කරුණකි. ඒ සඳහා සිසුන් මෙන්ම සරසවි ආචාර්‍යවරුන් තුල ආකල්පමය වෙනසක් ඇති කල යුතුය​.  නවක වදයව්‍යාධිජනක සංසිද්ධියක් බව   සහ වින් දිතයන්ට මෙන්ම වධකයන්ටද මනෝ ප්‍රතිකාර අවශ්‍ය බව සමාජය විසින් තේරුම් ගත යුතුය​.

වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග 

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM  Spokeperson, USLA

It is my privilege once again to contribute to this meeting , for the seventh year in succession reaffirming our eternal gratitude to the Ranaviru, the brave members  of the  security force for  the sacrifice of their , life , limb and efforts devoted to the successful liberation of Sri Lanka from three decades of Tiger Terror, seven years ago to the day, that has made it possible for all people of Sri Lanka to live in freedom and harmony and for the likes of us to visit at our will and pleasure without fear of Tiger Terror.

The importance  of reaffirming this sense of gratitude was once again driven home to me watching ANZAC commemorations in NZ  a few weeks  ago where Kiwi’s reaffirmed their gratitude to soldiers who paid the price one hundred years ago for the freedom & prosperity they enjoy today.

Ladies & gentleman I would like with you to reaffirm this gratitude to all of the Ranaviru that contributed to this liberation, starting from 13 soldiers ambushed by the Tigers in 1983 that signaled the beginning of this war to the many who paid the heavy price during the many successful and unsuccessful campaigns to the several thousand that paid this price in the final campaign in Mulativu.

It is a fact acknowledged by even the US embassy that the security forces casualties in the final operation at Mulativu would have been significantly less but for the care they were taking to minimize civilian casualties. The irony however is that, the moment the war was lost ,one of the first allegations that was leveled by the Tiger diaspora to detract from the honor and glory of this achievement  of the Ranaviru was that it was achieved and an unacceptably high civilian casualty numbers amounting  war crimes. It was my privilege on your behalf to submit a lengthy submission to the UNHCR commission inquiring into this allegation , showing the absolute lack of any credibility in this allegation and the completely illogical nature of this allegation. Thank fully, the drum beats of this allegation are now less loud and less frequent.

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that it s our sacred duty to counter any allegation that would detract from the honor and glory of the Ranaviru ‘s  achievements.

Another such allegation that comes to mind is the Tiger diaspora response to the spontaneous joyous celebrations that erupted seven years ago to   the day today when the news of the end of the war was announced.  Immediately , the Tiger Diaspora was denigrating this spontaneous expression as Triumphalism , causing  aspersions on the outcome of the Ranaviru’ s sacrifices. The media too lapped this up with glee.

The absurdity and fallacy of this claim was driven home to me strongly, when a few months ago I viewed the film, Royal night out. This showed similar spontaneous joyous celebrations in the streets of London by some half a million people who similarly took to the streets to celebrate , on the day the Second World War ended. A day when Buckingham palace took the unprecedented step of allowing Princess Elizabeth  the present queen, and sister Margaret to mingle with these celebrating people un announced.

No one accused  them of Triumphalism or of being offensive to the defeated Germans. But when little Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans do the same this is triumphalism! It is a pity that neither media nor politician was there to point this out then. But we know now, how to respond if the charge resurfaces.

Ladies and gentlemen, I recently   had the privilege of defending the glory of the Raanaviru’s achievements in another event. This was when I was shown , two weeks ago the photograph of a car on the roads of Wellington boldly displaying  the personalized plate LTTE”” . I was shocked and horrified at seeing this.

That very night I emailed Prime Minister John Key, the NZTA and media pointing out that this personalized plate was a brazen declaration of support to a terrorist group , labeled the most brutal by the FBI in US, were the group that invented the suicide bombers vest that is used today, and from whose terror in Sri Lanka many of us had fled. This therefore was  an expression of support for terrorism on New Zealand roads  & I posed the question of whether a personalized plate Al Qaeda” or ISIS” would be permitted. The PM’s office responded with  the PM acknowledging my concerns and referred it to MFAT as the ministry responsible for the subject to make due inquiries.

A few days  later, I along with Mr. Rudra de Zoysa made a formal complaint and a written submission at the Lower Hutt police station to two detectives from the Wellington Crime Squad  , showing a picture of the LTTE” plate and pointed out that it was a declaration  of support in NZ to a brutal terrorist group and hence to terrorism, that it was very offensive to the likes of us who had been victims of their terror or knew someone near and dear who was affected by their terror , and so was provocative and hence threatened the peace of NZ and threatened ethnic harmony in NZ.

These detectives were quite receptive to our concerns and our request to have the plate withdrawn and the owner, of the plate who we explained had a Sri Lankan Tamil name,  placed under surveillance for supporting terrorism. They undertook to explore achieving our requests. That evening I received a call from them explaining that there was already a file on the owner and felt that he was  not a terrorist threat but undertook to speak to him to see if he would be agreeable to surrendering these plates. Two days later I received another call informing that they had a chat to the owner of the plate and managed to get his agreement to surrender the plate but wanted a  few days to a week to secure a replacement number plate. The detectives undertook to follow up to see weather he has kept his word. This morning I had a call from NZ plates, an arm of  the NZTA  that the matter was progressing as we speak and that letters LTTE” would be entered into the computer  as unavailable” so that nobody could use this again in the future too.

Ladies & Gentleman, it I my belief that we owe it to the Ranaviru, that when any attempt are made to detract from the honor of what they sacrificed so much to achieve , we should do our best to counter such attempts.

Ladies & Gentlemen we  owe this to the Ranaviru,. We,  that means  me , you and you.

Thank  You

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM

Spokeperson, USLA

19.5.16

Ratanapala

19  May 2016

Soon after the LTTE was decimated on 19 May 2009, the then Indian High Commissioner created the rift between the overly ambitious Army Commander and  MR ( by then a newly born Maha Rajano). India achieved their objective with the killing of Prabhakaran. They wanted him out because of their shame after the IPKF debacle and Rajiv Gandhi assassination. Immediately afterwards their next objective was to weaken the Sri Lankan military. Fonseka rightly wanted the Armed forces manpower to be increased to 300,000 to consolidate the gains over terrorism, but MR relented.

Behind these scenes, it is said that it is the Indian High Commissioner who cautioned” MR that his army was getting too big for their shoes, instilling in his mind doubts and suspicion of his own Army Commander. Fonseka didn’t help the situation either by going amok in Colombo in preparation for a big army-do and this helped to sustain MR’s fears even more so.

No country in the world dismantled her armed forces and war gains so quickly the way Sri Lanka did. And this happened soon after the longest war in Asia as if nothing happened during the previous 30 year! ! All this happened while there was much to be learned from the way how other victorious powers handled post war situations.

Only if things were different, combined team of MR, Gotabhaya  and Fonseka would have crystalized the nation to take a different and more pragmatic path towards eliminating the terrorist threat for ever and to establish a practical reconciliation with the Tamils. If this happened, they would be revered heroes and still in power. Fonseka could have made a career for himself in politics under MR and made Sri Lanka secure and great. By now there would have been statues erected in his honour all over Sri Lanka for being one of the architects of the victory over terrorism. Both MR, Gotabhaya and Fonseka would have entered the long history of Sri Lanka as unblemished war heroes who united the divided motherland and brought peace to our Motherland.

Sri Lanka should have allowed limited political freedom in the North and East knowing very well the Eelamist forces still simmering under the veneer of asking for more rights and that there still exist a large number of LTTE activists masquerading as innocent civilians. Even during the war there was no clear demarcation between the LTTE and the civilian population. Even today after nearly 7 years after the demise of Prabhakaran the people in the North and East are not ready for democracy. Ordinary man has no choice and their votes are decided by their Vellala Racist Tamil  masters. The last two elections for Presidency and for the Parliament were clear indications of these. The end result –  LTTE is raising its head in the North and East as a re-emergent force, while our Armed forces are busy dismantling their bases  and hard won ground with no knowledge of what the potential security threats are.

See for yourself who  the LTTE are ?   –  https://youtu.be/7mrJ6k5vxy4?t=10

Today as Chief Minister Vigneshwaran is leading the movement to revive the LTTE in collusion with the so called diaspora Tamils. Just yesterday he commemorated the demise of the Terrorist Prabhakaran at Mullivaikkal beach where he died. This whole area should have been under Armed Forces control, let alone left as memorial for a terrorist.

We could have gone onto provide security for the seas around Sri Lanka as a responsible maritime nation giving protection to the shipping lanes South of Sri Lanka and against piracy and other threats.  We could have profited from this exercise as it was done under the previous regime. All our problems are today because we did not manage the post war situation properly.

Greats of the world who changed world history – the likes of Marshall Stalin, and Chairman Mao Ze Dong went onto consolidate their gains after revolutions and wars in their countries and those countries are making great strides in progress and development in the world much to the envy of the rest of the world!

MR’s administration did a lot in terms of infrastructure development but did not market the results to the people. They even failed to tell the people the what they intend to do with Hambantota Port and Mattala Airport nor of the motorways and expressways. Obviously they were not stand alone projects and had second phase plans, but these were not marketed to the people as precursors to further development and job creation.

Today traitorous Catholic Administration of Don Juan Ranil  is trying take credit for the continuation of the Port City, Hambantota second phase now forced on him by the Chinese and for the Mattala Airport. It is a fact that infrastructure projects do not yield immediate financial benefits. They form the background to a country’s economic development.

The architect of modern South Korea,  Gen Park Jung He’s  first works to get South Korea out of poverty were similar infrastructure projects to what MR initiated in Sri Lanka. Only difference was he knew what he was doing and had the courage to put those projects to reality and within his life time and made South Korea a force to reckon with in the world. By 1988 as almost a first world nation, they held Olympics Games in Seoul. This was no mean achievement. South Koreans suffered immensely to bring about those changes, but they have a country to be proud of today!

Today under Yahapalanaya which came to power by constitutional fraud has brought Sri Lanka to its weakest in recent history. Sri Lanka has become a vassal state of India for all practical purposes and open to further meddling by the Christian West and Jihadist countries in the Middle East. Catholic Tigers in the South, Tamil Tigers in the North and East and Jihadist everywhere are taking control of Sri Lanka. Majority Sinhala Buddhists remain divided like lambs to slaughter!

Had we managed a strong Army,  pragmatic diplomacy with world powers and got our affairs under control, Sri Lanka would have been  a respected nation by all – just like Singapore in the world today. World respect strong nations and not those out of control. The very sense of instability brings outside forces, like vultures and hyenas to a wounded animal. We had all the necessary ingredients for a great beginning for Sri Lanka but all were squandered for empty vanity, greed, nepotism and sheer foolishness.

The nation  and the Ranviruwoes who sacrificed all they could for over 30 years with life and limb and untold privations can only sigh in disbelief, anger and abandonment, thinking – If only things were different after 19 May 2009!

සිළුමිණ පුවත් පතෙනි

මේ දවස උදා වනතෙක් අපි බලා සිටින්නෙමු. මේ අභිමානනීය දවස උදාවන තෙක් අප පමණක් නොව ශ‍්‍රී ලාංකේය ඉතිහාසයම තිස් වසරක් පුරා බලා සිටියේ ය.

කළු අන්ධකාරය මැද තාරකා පෙළක් දිස්වන්නට පටන් ගත්තේ මින් තෙවසරකට පෙර එක් අභියෝගාත්මක දිනයක දී ය. ඒ තාරකා පෙරහර හෙට වීදි බසිනු නිසැක ය. එය ත‍්‍රස්තවාදයේ කළු අන්ධකාරය නියත වශයෙන් ම අවසාන කරනු ඇත.
පියා අහිමිව බිළිඳුන් හැඬූ යුගය අවසාන වනු ඇත. බිරින්දන් කනවැන්දුම් වූ යුගය අවසාන වනු ඇත. පෙම්වතියන් හුදෙකලා වූ යුගය අවසාන වනු ඇත.
විස්සෝපය පළවා හැර සන්තුෂ්ඨියට දොරගුළු විවර වන මොහොතට තුරු මුදුන්හි මල් පිපෙනු ඇත. සියොතුන් සැහැල්ලුවෙන් ගී ගයනු ඇත. ඒ ගී හඬත් බිළිඳුන්ගේ කිරි සිනා හඬත් ශ‍්‍රී ලාංකේය වාතලයේදී එකට මුසුවනු ඇත.
හිරුගේ නව අරුනැල්ල සමඟින් නව ප‍්‍රාර්ථනාවන්හි රශ්මි කදම්බයන් අපේ ජීවිත මතට පතිතවනු නිසැකය.
තිස් වසරක් පුරා හෙලූ කඳුළු… හෙලූ සුසුම්… ඇසුණු අඳෙ¤නා සහ විලාපයන්… නිමා වී සැහැල්ලුවට එන්නට පාර කියාදෙනු ඇත.
ලේ පිපාසිත පිරිබාහරන් ගේ කාලය අවසාන විය. අපේ මවු බිම ලේ වලින් තෙත් කළ සාපය ආත්මයෙන් ආත්මයට ඔහු පසුපසින් ලුහුබඳිනු ඇත.
ප‍්‍රීතියේ දූපත අෙඳ¤නාවේ දූපත බවට පත් කළ ඔහු සහ ඔහුගේ ම්ලේච්ඡ සගයන්ට නියමිත ඉරණම ඔවුන්ගේ හිසමතට කඩා පාත්වී ඇත.
රණවිරුවනි… ඔබ අන්ධකාරය මැද පෑයූ තාරකා පෙළය…
හමුදාපතිවරුනි ඔබ තාරකා පෙළ මැද දිලුණු පහන් තාරකාවන් ය.
ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්තුමනි ඔබ තාරකා පෙළ ඉස්මත්තෙන් පායා ආ සඳු ය.
සේනාධිනායක ජනාධිපතිතුමනි ඔබ අහස් කුස ඒකාලෝක කළ හිරු ය.
ඉතිහාසයේ පිටු තිබෙන්නේ ඔබගේ නම් ලිවීමට ය.
යුද මුක්ත කලාපයේ සිට පලා ආ මිනිසුන්ගේ කර මතින් පැමිණි කුඩා දරුවන්ගේ සතුටු කඳුළු වලින් ඒ නම් පෙළ ඉතිහාසයේ ලියැවෙනු ඇත. ඔවුන්ගේ සිනා මල් වලින් විහිදෙන සිනා සුවඳ ඔබ ගේ ජීවිතයට ආශිර්වාදයක් වනු ඇත.
ඔවුන් ගේ හදවත් සියල්ලම එකම සෙල් ලිපියක් වනු ඇත. ඒ සෙල් ලිපියේ අභීත සේනාධිනායකයාගේ සිත වීරෝදාර රණවිරුවා දක්වා වූ නම් පෙළක් සදා නොමැකෙන සේ සටහන් වනු ඇත. ඒ නම් පෙළට යටින් මෙවන් වදන් පෙළක් ද සටහන් වනු ඇත.
ඉතිහාසය විසින් ඔබට පවරන ලද වගකීම සහ යුතුකම ඔබ ඉටු කරන ලද්දෙහිය. මාතෘ භූමිය අපේ ප‍්‍රාණයයි. මාතෘ භූමිය රැක ගැනීමේ වගකීම ඉතිහාසය විසින් ඔබට පවරන ලද්දේ ඔබේ ආත්ම ශක්තිය, ආත්ම විශ්වාසය මෙන් ම අදීනත්වය සහ කැපකිරීම් ගැන අචල විශ්වාසයක් තැබූ හෙයිනි.
සේනාධිනායකයාණනි, ආරක්ෂක ලේකම් තුමනි, සෙන්පතිවරුනි, රණවිරුවනි මේ මවුබිම ඔබට සදා ණය ගැති ය. මතු උපදින දරුවන් ඔබට නමස්කාර කරනු ඇත. ඔවුන්ගේ ආත්මය ඉදිරියේ ඔබ පූජනීයත්වයට පත්ව ඇත.
මන්ද ඔබ ඔවුන්ට ජීවත්වීම සඳහා දේශයක් ඉතිරි කළ බැවිනි.
සේනාධිනායකයාණනි, ඔබ සියලු රැළි දරා ගනිමින් වෙරළක් සේ නොසැලී සිටියෙහි ය. ඉතිහාසයේ අන්ධකාරය මැද ඔබ හිරු සේ සිටියෙහි ය. ඉන්ද්‍රඛීලයක් සේ නොසැළුණු ඔබේ හදවතට ස්තුති වේවා! ඔබේ ආත්ම ශක්තිය හා ආත්ම විශ්වාසය අපේ ඉතිහාසය යළි නිර්මාණය කෙළේය.
මතු පරපුරට දායාද කරන්නට නිදහස් ඒකීය රටක් ඔබ ඉතිරි කෙළෙහිය. ශී‍්‍ර ලාංකේය ඉතිහාසය ඔබට ආචාර කරනු නිසැකය.
සිළුමිණ පුවත් පතෙනි

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana Courtesy The Island

May 19, 2016, 11:35 pm
Victory days are celebrated all over the world to ensure memories of just struggles do not fade away with time,despite attempts by some for personal and selfish reasons,to rewrite history belittling battles won at tremendous cost of lives, limbs and wealth.Though the Second World War was over a long time ago, and most who were lucky enough to survive it are fast dwindling in numbers, Victory days are still held, not one but many. When you talk of the Allied victories over Nazi Germany and Imperialist Japan many infer, quite erroneously, that it was the USA that was instrumental in winning the war though there is no doubt that USA joining the war effort, though late and after a great deal of persuasion, ensured victory. Of around 75 million soldiers and civilians who were killed and died due to starvation, the greatest human slaughter ever recorded, only 419,400 were Americans.

When Russia celebrated Victory Day on 9th May, 71 years after the signing of the act of military surrender by the Flensburg Government of Germany, with a massive parade in Red Square, Putin had a dig at Western Powers for double standards. Though he referred to modern day politics, in a way historically too, it is a fact. Though the Soviet Union paid the highest price of all participants,the role it played and the sacrifices it madeis often underestimated. Of a population of around 188 million, it is estimated that around 26 to 27 million died as a direct result of the war. 10 million Russian soldiers sacrificed their lives, half of all the soldiers that died in the war. Those who started the war lost less,combined; the number of German soldiers who were killed being around 5 million and Japanese being around 2.2 million. Therefore, Putin hailing the Soviet Union for having brought freedom to other people is no hollow claim.

Victory in Europe or VE day is celebrated on 8 May in other countries that contributed to the Allied forces, to mark the unconditional surrender of German forces, ending the war in Europe.Victory over Japan or V J day is celebrated on August 15, the day Japan surrendered, in UK and on September 2, the day on which the surrender documents were signed, in USA. Though they are largely days of remembrance, the continued use the term ‘Victory’ is to stress the defeat of evil.

Hindus have been celebrating the victory of good over evil, from time immemorial, based on the religious epic, Ramayana written by the poet Valmiki. Some maintain that Valmiki was a contemporary of Rama though when exactly Ramayana was written is not established. The play Ramlila is staged annually, depicting the life of Rama and his battle to free Seetha from the grasp of Ravana. Performances last for days culminating in a procession to burn effigies of Ravana, Khumbkharna and Meganath, followed by the crowning of Rama as the king of Ayodhya. UNESCO has proclaimed the tradition of Ramlila ‘a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’. Deepavali, a celebration of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and wife of Vishnu, is a festival of light, the lighting of lamps signifying the lights lit by the people of Ayodhya, to show Rama the way to the palace on his triumphal return. These victory parades are still going on after centuries.

We concluded a bloody war, the Fourth Eelam war, thanks to the leadership given by Mahinda Rajapaksa, in May 2009. It is only 7 years and is it wrong to celebrate that victory? It looks as if the so called Yahapalanaya government has adopted a policy to make us forget that there was an Eelam War which we all, peace loving Sri Lankans irrespective of race or religion, won crushing (but not eradicating as recent events suggest) a terrorist group that decimated a generation of youth,did ethnic cleansing of both Sinhala and Muslims and set back progress of our Motherland by over three decades.

These thoughts came to my mind when I read the front-page headline in ‘The Island’ of 16 May: No military parade to mark end of Eelam War”. Together with the piece titled Two days of LTTE terror at Sri Lanka Festival in Toronto” by Bandula Jayasekara makes interesting reading. It clearly shows how brutally the appendages of the terrorist outfits operated abroad. When LTTE supporters protested in London, outside Westminster costing the British tax-payer millions of Pounds, they waved the Eelam flag. When it was pointed out to the Metropolitan Police that it is the flag of a banned terrorist organization, their response was that it was the terrorist organization that was banned, not the flag! I did not think I would ever say this but I have to: I agree with Putin, the so-called Western Democracies are rife with double standards.Will the Metropolitan Police in London or the Ontario Provincial Police in Toronto allow the Daish (so called Islamic State) flags to be waved in protest gatherings?

Various self-appointed authorities and commentators try to make the war we won an ethnic conflict or a civil war but it was neither; it was simply a war against terrorism. In contrast to the war against terrorism started by George W Bush which is a failure, this was a war started by LTTE which we, Sri Lankans, won. It was not a fight between Sinhala and Tamil though, even after the defeat, some try to make it so, to give ammunition to the terrorist rump left, mostly overseas, to continue with false propaganda. Let us not fall prey to their tactics.

LTTE, though it claimed to represent Tamils at times but enlarged the definition to Tamil speaking people at other times with some scared but crafty politicians endorsing the idea, it never had a mandate from the people. It killed moderate Tamil politicians, eliminated other terrorist groups that was a threat to them, assassinated Sinhala politicians and killed Tamil and Sinhala civilians alike, mercilessly. They recruited youth under the barrel of a gun and brain-washed them. Their mandate was obtained nothing but through terror. They tried every terror tactic possible including an attempt to provoke Sinhala Buddhists to repeat the pogrom of 1983 by bombing Sri Maha Bodhi and Dalada Maligawa but they did not fall into that trap.

Big-wigs of the LTTE living abroad enjoyed the good life out of proceeds squeezed from the poor, hardworking Tamils as well as ill-gotten wealth from drug trafficking and people trafficking which LTTE was well known for. A General Practitioner from the South of England, who is now in an American Jail, tried to worm his way into the security services with the bribe of a million dollars. In the front of his luxury house were parked two luxury vehicles including a Rolls-Royce, not the sort of thing affordable on a NHS salary, however generous it is. They spread terror through misinformation. Selfish and vulnerable politicians like David Miliband and Erik Solheim helped them but they could not salvage the terrorist Prabakharan nor his mission; Milliband having failed in UK is now an international charity-peddler whereas Solheim having failed in Norway but successful in dividing Sudan is now awaiting the plum-job of the executive director of United Nations Environment Programme. Wonder what his qualifications are but, whatever it is, hope he will purify the environment and stop meddling in our internal affairs.

This is the definition that comes up when you ‘Google’ (what most of us do to get information) LTTE:

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is the only terrorist group which once possessed its own ‘Military’ – Tigers (infantry), Sea Tigers (sea wing) and Air Tigers (Air Wing), in the world, began its armed campaign in Sri Lanka for a separate Tamil homeland in 1983”

Thus, there is no doubt that LTTE was a terrorist organization and what happened in Nandikadal Lagoon in May 2009 was the climax of defeat of evil. For proper reconciliation to occur we all have to acknowledge this fact as well as the fact that, in addition to the much talked of minority rights, there are minority responsibilities too. While the majority have responsibilities their rights should not be ignored. Without understanding there is no true reconciliation and let not the do-gooders, who try to pull wool over our eyes, delay the progress.

A gutless government prostrating before the so-called exporters of good governance, who incidentally are the biggest exporters of arms and ammunition in the world, are toning down our victory to appease the rump of the terrorists. Last year they changed Victory Day to Day of Remembrance and this year they have stopped the military parade. If any in the military committed any offences let them be punished after proper investigations but let us not allow the government to tarnish the image of our war heroes.

The government cannot control our thoughts. Let us thank our war heroes for their efforts and sacrifices which has allowed us to live in Sri Lanka without fear. Let us also remember the thousands of lives lost due to acts of terrorism and not forget the misguided youth who laid their lives for the whims of a megalomaniac.