අධ්යාපන ඇමති අකිල විරාජ්ට එරෙහිව දූෂණ මර්ධන කාර්යාලයට පැමිණිල්ලක්
March 1st, 2016National Trade Union Center
වර්තමාන අධ්යාපන ඇමති අකිල විරාජ් කාරියවසම් මහතා විසින් තම දේශපාලන උවමනාවන් මත සිදු කරන ලද පත්වීම් ලබාදීමට එරෙහිව ලංකා ගුරු සේවා සංගමය මගින් දූෂණ මර්ධන ලේකම් කාර්යාලයට පැමිණිල්ලක් ඉදිරිපත් කෙරිණි. දිවයින පුරා 2000 කට ආසන්න පිරිසක් මෙලෙස අධ්යාපන ඇමතිවරයා විසින් පත්වීම් ලබාදී ඇති බව මෙහිදී එම සංගමයේ ප්රධාන ලේකම් මහින්ද ජයසිංහ සහෝදරයා හෙළිකරන ලදී. එහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ ඔහු
‘‘ජාතික පාසල් සඳහා රටපුරාම කුරුණෑගලින්, කුලියාපිටිය වැනි ප්රදේශවලින් සියළු නීති රීති උල්ලංඝනය කරමින් විශාල ලෙස පත්වීම් ලබාදෙමින් තිබෙනවා. මේ සඳහා කිසිදු නීතියක් පිළිඅරගෙන නෑ. විධිමත් ලෙස ගැසට් කරල නෑ. සම්මුඛ පරීක්ෂණ තියල නෑ. ආයතන සංග්රහයට පටහැනි ලෙස මෙම පත්වීම් ලබාදීල තියෙන්නෙ. එජාපය විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කරපු පසුගිය අයවැයෙන් රාජ්ය සේවක විශ්රාම වැටුප අහිමි කරල දායක විශ්රාම වැටුපක් ගෙන එන්න යෝජනා කරල තියෙන්නෙ. ඒ නිසාම මේ පත්වීම් බොහොමයක් කරල තියෙන්නෙ පසුගිය දෙසැ. 31 දිනට අදාලව. මේ හරහා විශාල මූල්ය වංචාවක් සිදුවෙලා තියෙනවා. මේ වගේ නීති විරෝධී, සදාචාර විරෝධී පත්වීම් කරල තියෙන්නෙ තමන්ගෙ දේශපාලන හිතවත් කම් මත. අධ්යාපන සුදුසුකම් සහිත විශාල පිරිසක් ඉන්දැද්දි තමයි මේ විදියට නුසුදුකම් සහිත පුද්ගලයන්හට පත්විම් ලබාදීල තියෙන්නෙ. මේ නිසා මේ හරහා සිදු කරන ලද මූල්ය වංචාවට එරෙහිව දූෂණ මර්ධන කමිටු ලේකම් කාර්යාලයට පැමිණිල්ලක් අද දින ඉදිරිපත් කරා. අපි හිතනවා මොහු වර්තමාන ආණ්ඩුවෙ ඉන්න නිසාම මේ පිළිබඳව විධිමත් පරීක්ෂණයක් පවත්වල අවශ්ය ක්රියාමාර්ග ගනීවි කියල. මොකද පසුගිය රාජපක්ෂ පාලනය පරාජය කරන්න මූලික හේතුවක් වුනෙත් දැවැන්ත මූල්ය වංචා, දූෂණ සිදු කිරීමට එම පාලනය කටයුතු කළ නිසයි. ඊට එරෙහි ජනවරමකින් බලයට පත්වුණු වර්තමාන ආණ්ඩුව නැවත වරක් දූෂණ, වංචා සිදු කිරීමට කටයුතු කරනවානම් ඊට එරෙහිවද සියළුම ජනතාව පෙළගැස්වීමට කටයුතු කිරීමට සූදානම්’’ යනුවෙන්ද පැවසීය.
AN INTRODUCTION TO SEPARATION OF POWERS DOCTRINE
March 1st, 2016DHARSHAN WEERASEKERA
A Constitution is not a wish-list of everyone’s favorite goodies. It is the Supreme Law of the Land, and the framework around which all other laws are to operate. So, the most important thing to consider when generating a new Constitution is the underlying principles that are to animate it.
Unfortunately, there is very little discussion of Constitutional principles today, even though the public is being asked to suggest possible provisions that ought to be included in the new Constitution. The purpose of this article is to discuss a fundamental Constitutional principle—Separation of Powers—in the hope that it will be useful in the coming days and weeks as the Constitution-making process gathers steam.
What is the fundamental principle underlying the present Sri Lanka Constitution? I think most people will agree it is the principle enshrined in Article 3 of the Constitution, which says that Sovereignty is in the People and inalienable, and explains how that Sovereignty is to be exercised.
If the People are Sovereign, but of necessity must be governed through representatives, then the fundamental problem is ensuring that the representatives stay true to their mandate. What are the safeguards, implied or explicit, that exist under the present Constitution to ensure that the representatives of the people stay true to their mandate?
In my view, they are as follows: one, it is presumed that there will be a strong Opposition, so that it will provide an internal check on Parliament; two, it is presumed that the ‘Public Trust Doctrine’ operates, i.e. public officials exercise power in trust for the People, and can be held accountable if they violate that trust;
Three, the National List, which is supposed to introduce to Parliament persons of high integrity and professional competence, who will enlighten the proceedings of the House with their wisdom and knowledge; and finally, the Constitutional Council, which is to de-politicize appointments to high office.
Each of the aforesaid safeguards has obviously failed. The concept of a ‘National Government’ has made a mockery of the notion of an ‘Opposition’; the ‘Public Trust Doctrine’ is in tatters, with the Government co-sponsoring an international resolution that more or less compels the Government to admit that the State committed war crimes
I need not discuss what has happened with the National List; finally, it appears the Constitutional Council has become nothing but a Rubber Stamp for the executive, as evidenced by its conduct with regard to the recent appointment of the Attorney General.
So, that’s where we are. I have no doubt that the new Constitution will also proclaim in grand terms that ‘Sovereignty is in the People’ or some such thing. But the question is whether we have learnt anything to avoid the awful mistakes of the past.
Whether one likes it or not, other than new elections, the only effective way to ensure that representatives stay true to their mandate is ‘separation of powers.’ It is generally agreed that the exemplar of ‘separation of powers’ doctrine is the U. S. Constitution.
Meanwhile, The Federalist Papers, a series of essays by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, written between 1787 and 1788 to persuade Americans to approve the Constitution, is universally regarded as the best commentary on the U. S. Constitution. Thomas Jefferson even called it The best commentary on the principles of government which ever was written.”[1]
To turn to Sri Lanka, in my view, the last substantive discussion of Constitutional reform in this country, if we understand that to mean published work, is to be found in Ideas for Constitutional Reform, ed. Chanaka Amaratunga, (Council for Liberal Democracy, 1989). That collection essays includes essays by Professor G. L. Peiris, Dr. Colvin R. De Silva, H. L. De Silva, and others, generally considered Sri Lanka’s leading Constitutional experts from the 70’s to the present.
As far as I’m aware, there’s no essay on separation of powers in that book, and neither is there a reference to The Federalist Papers, which is a tragedy to say the least. Under the circumstances, it seems to me this is as good a time as any to discuss American separation of powers doctrine, and in the process to also introduce The Federalist Papers into the Constitutional discourse of this country.
In the discussion below, I summarize the American separation of powers doctrine and then discuss in some detail the role the American Founding Fathers envisioned for each branch of government.
American Separation of Powers Doctrine
Because one of the primary purposes of this article is to introduce The Federalist Papers to readers who may be unfamiliar with that work, my approach is to quote as much as possible from the original, and to provide a little commentary where necessary. My intent is to sketch the basic tenets of the American system of Government more or less through the words of the American Founding Fathers themselves.
Before I proceed to the discussion proper, however, I must reply to an objection since I’m in essence recommending that Sri Lankans learn from American Constitutional principles. Certain critics may say something like this: Even a former American President has said that the United States is now no longer a democracy but an oligarchy[2]; if this is what has happened under the vaunted American Constitutional principles, of what use are they to us?”
I have two replies. First, I am not interested here in what the Americans have done with or to their Constitution in the 200-plus years since its enactment. The fact that Americans may have made mistakes in the course of putting their Constitution into practice does not mean that ideas contained in that document are unsuitable to solving the particular problem to which I want to apply them in the case of Sri Lanka.
Second, in the 200-plus years since its enactment, the U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times. In contrast, in the 60 or so years since independence, Sri Lanka has had three Constitutions, which comes to an average of about 20 years per Constitution. Meanwhile, the present Sri Lanka Constitution, enacted in 1978, has been amended 19 times, with the last amendment running to nearly 60 pages, roughly 1/3 the length of the entire Constitution! And now a new Constitution is being contemplated.
Generally speaking, in matters of law, longevity is a sign of substance and merit. Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo of the U. S. Supreme Court once said of judgments, Those that cannot prove their worth by the test of experience are sacrificed mercilessly and thrown into the void.”[3]
I believe the same can be said of Constitutions: those that cannot prove their worth by the test of experience are invariably thrown into the void. Reciprocally, those that last for a considerable length of time, bespeak a certain substance and merit in their underlying principles.
In my view, it doesn’t hurt for the citizens of a country that has had to change Constitutions once every 20 years or so, where the present Constitution has been amended 19 times, to presume they have something to learn from a Constitution that has lasted over 200 years with just 27 amendments. If there’s nothing to learn, so be it, but it cannot hurt to start with the presumption. I shall now turn to the discussion proper.
The key point to remember about American separation of powers doctrine is that, though the word separation” is used, there is no separation per se, meaning a pulling apart or isolating of each branch of government from the others: what the system actually does is juxtapose or pit the three branches of government against each other in such a way that they naturally impose checks and balances on each other.
The classic passage that discusses this system is in Federalist 51, by James Madison. He says:
But the great security against the gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist the encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature. If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is no doubt the primary control on government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions. [4]
I draw the reader’s attention to two points in the above passage. First, the reason for separation of powers is that the primary check on government, i.e. the People, is inadequate, because, for one thing, if elected officials become uncontrollable between elections, the people have no direct way to get rid of them, that is, until the next election. So, an auxiliary precaution is needed.
Second, the way the system is supposed to work is by exploiting the self-interest of the officers of each branch, to wit: by investing the officers of each branch with requisite powers and privileges so that when they see the officers of another branch trying to encroach on those powers, they naturally resist such efforts.
A necessary inference that follows from the above is that the system runs on a certain tension between the branches, in the sense that the officers of each branch regard the officers of the other branches as adversaries: the stronger the tension, the more vibrant the system; the more the tension relaxes, to that extent the system starts to break down. In short, separation of powers” is actually a binding together of the three branches of government in a certain special way.
The next question is, ‘What is the specific role that the Founding Fathers expected the officers of each branch of government to inhabit within the aforesaid system?’ As far as I understand it, the theory of government that informed the Founding Fathers when they formulated those roles, is as follows.
The Founding Fathers considered that the well-spring of all legislative power is the will of the people, but the people tend to be gripped by prejudices, impulses, and sentiments—in a word ‘passions’—that in their primitive form and intensity are inimical to good government.
So, the real task in setting up a proper scheme of government is to insulate the decision-making processes that go on within the institutions of government from those elemental passions animating the masses, but at the same time to ensure that the said ‘passions’ provide the raw-material for legislation. As Madison put it,
But it is the reason alone of the public that ought to control and regulate the government. The passions ought to be controlled and regulated by the government.[5]
In short, according to the theory above, the three branches of government act as a series of filters, each helping to reduce the irrational component of the original raw-material of legislation, and gradually making it more susceptible to reason. We can now look at each branch in a little more detail, to see how the said ‘filters’ are supposed to work.
- i) The Legislature
The American legislature has two components: The House of Representatives and the Senate. I’ll start with the former. The Founding Fathers had three goals when they designed the House: first, to capture within it as wide a range as possible of the ‘passions’ animating the populous; second, to make it the most powerful branch of government, reflective of the fact that it was the closest to the people; and finally, to impose an internal safeguard to prevent it from abusing that power.
The Founding Fathers sought to achieve the first goal above by making the qualifications necessary for being a Representative the lowest relative to the other branches of government. I quote below some of Madison’s thoughts on the type of person he wanted as a Representative, from which one can also gain an idea of the type of place Madison wanted the House to be:
A representative of the United States must be of the age of twenty-five years; must have been seven years a citizen of the United States; must, at the time of his election, be an inhabitant of the State he is to represent; and, during the time of his service, must be in no office under the United States. Under these reasonable limitations, the door to this part of the federal government is open to merit of every description, whether native or adoptive, whether young or old, and without regard to poverty or wealth, or to any particular profession of religious faith.[6]
It is clear from the above that Madison expected the House to be a veritable microcosm of society at large, a forum where, just as in society at large, various interests and the factions representing them constantly clash. As such, it was to be rambunctious and combative place.
The Founding Fathers sought to achieve the second goal mentioned earlier—i.e. to make the House the most powerful of the three branches of government—primarily by giving the House control over the public finances, which naturally ensures that the other branches have to always pay heed, at some level or other, to the wishes of the House.
They sought to achieve the third goal by limiting the term of office of Representatives to two years, under the maxim: the greater the power, the shorter ought to be its duration, and conversely, the smaller the power, the more safely may its duration be protracted,”[7] That way, if a Representative made a mess of things once he got into office, his constituents could get rid of him as soon as possible.
I shall now turn to the Senate. The Founding Fathers designed the Senate with two goals in mind: first, to supply the country with certain things that the House couldn’t supply; and second, to act as a check on the House.
With respect to the first goal, Madison discusses six specific benefits of the Senate, including the stability and a sense of gravitas it provides a legislature, its utility in helping build a sense of national character, and so on. I quote below two sets of passages in order to give the reader an idea of what Madison had in mind with respect to the above topics.
On the utility of the Senate in providing competent legislators, Madison says:
Another defect to be supplied by a senate lies in a want of due acquaintance with the objects and principles of legislation. It is not possible that an assembly of men called for the most part from pursuits of a private nature, continued in appointment for a short time and led by no permanent motive to devote the intervals of public occupation to a study of the laws, the affairs, and the comprehensive interests of their country, should, if left wholly to themselves, escape a variety of important errors in the exercise of their legislative trust. It may be affirmed, on the best grounds, that no small share of the present embarrassments of America is to be charged on the blunders of our governments; and that these have proceeded from the heads rather than the hearts of most of the authors of them.
A good government implies two things: first, fidelity to the object of government, which is the happiness of the people; secondly, a knowledge of the means by which that object can be best attained. Some governments are deficient in both these qualities; most governments are deficient in the first. I scruple not to assert that in American governments too little attention has been paid to the last. The federal constitution avoids this error; and what merits particular notice, it provides for the last in a mode that increases the security for the first. [8]
On the value of the Senate in building national character, Madison says:
A fifth desideratum, illustrating the utility of a senate, is the want of a sense of national character. Without a select and stable member of the government, the esteem of foreign powers will not only be forfeited by an unenlightened and variable policy, proceeding from the causes already mentioned, but the national councils will not possess that sensibility to the opinion of the world which is perhaps not less necessary in order to merit than it is to obtain its respect and confidence….Yet however requisite a sense of national character may be, it is evident that it can never be sufficiently possessed by a numerous and changeable body. It can only be found in a number so small that a sensible degree of the praise and blame of public measures may be the portion of each individual; or in an assembly so durably invested with public trust that the pride and consequence of its members may be sensibly incorporated with the reputation and prosperity of the community.[9]
I shall now turn to the second function the Founding Fathers had for the Senate, which as I said earlier was to act as a check on the House. Here’s how Madison discusses the matter:
To a people as little blinded by prejudice or corrupted by flattery as those whom I address, I shall not scruple to add that such an institution may be sometimes necessary as a defense to a people against their own temporary errors and delusions. As the cool and deliberate sense of the community ought, in all governments, and actually will, in all free governments, ultimately prevail over the views of its rulers; so there are moments in public affairs when the people, stimulated by some irregular passion, or some illicit advantage, or misled by the artful misrepresentations of interested men, may call for measures which they themselves will afterwards be most ready to lament and condemn. In these critical moments, how salutary will be the interference of some temperate and respectable body of citizens, in order to check the misguided career and to suspend the blow meditated by the people against themselves, until reason, justice, and truth can regain their authority over the public mind? What bitter anguish would not the people of Athens have often escaped if their government had contained so provident a safeguard against the tyranny of their own passions? Popular liberty might then have escaped the indelible reproach of decreeing to the same citizens the hemlock on one day and statues on the next.[10]
To summarize, the roles the Founding Fathers envisioned for the House and the Senate are as follows: the House was to capture as wide a range as possible of the ‘passions’ animating the masses; the Senate was to provide balance and stability, and also to combat a particular danger, namely, provide a cooling influence on the House, on those occasions where the People, which is to say the Majority, contemplated some act destructive to themselves. So much, then, for the Legislature. Let’s turn to the Executive.
- ii) The Executive
The Founding Fathers saw both the importance of the executive office as well as its danger. The importance of the office is that without a strong executive it is impossible to have a good administration, and without a good administration it is impossible for the people to enjoy the benefits of good government. The danger is that a strong executive can turn into a monarch, or a dictator.
In designing the executive office, the Founding Fathers had two goals in mind: first, to make sure that office was always filled by the right type of person, and second, to prevent those persons from trying to turn themselves into veritable monarchs. They thought they could accomplish the first by the process of election they set in place, and the second by making the executive share all of his powers with the legislature.
I present below two passages—this time by Alexander Hamilton—where he discusses the aforesaid matters. First, here’s Hamilton discussing the principal role he expected the President to play in the overall scheme of government, and how he expected to obtain the right type of person for the job:
The process of election affords a moral certainty that the office of President will seldom fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of the President of the United States. It will not be too strong to say that there will be a constant probability of seeing the station filled by characters pre-eminent for ability and virtue. And this will be thought no inconsiderable recommendation of the Constitution by those who are able to estimate the share which the executive in every government must necessarily have in its good or ill administration. Though we cannot acquiesce in the political heresy of the poet who says:
‘For forms of government let fools contest
That which is best administered is best’
Yet we may safely pronounce that the true test of a good government is its aptitude and tendency to produce a good administration.[11]
I am not saying that the thinking of the Founding Fathers on the efficacy of the election process to ensure that the right type of person would always occupy the executive office is necessarily correct (judging for instance by some of the Presidents the Americans have in fact elected to office over the years). The point, however, is this: the idea of the Founding Fathers was that only a person preeminent in virtue and ability ought to occupy the office of the President.
I shall now turn to the other side of the coin, namely, the potential danger in the executive office. Even if the Founding Fathers may have been a bit idealistic in their formulation of the method to ensure that the right type of person would occupy the office of President, they were very practical in the measures they imposed to prevent any mischief, in case the wrong type of person were to become President.
Hamilton discusses the above matter in an interesting passage where he contrasts the powers of the proposed President with that of the British Monarch, (one of the main accusations against the Federalists was that they were trying to impose a monarchy on the Americans). I quote below the entire passage, because it sets out very clearly all of the powers of the proposed executive, as well as the controls on those powers.
The President of the United States would be an officer elected by the people for four years; the king of Great Britain is a perpetual and hereditary prince. The one would be amenable to personal punishment and disgrace; the person of the other is sacred and inviolable. The one would have a qualified negative upon the acts of the legislative body; the other has an absolute negative. The one would have a right to command the military and naval forces of the nation; the other, in addition to this right, possesses that of declaring war, and of raising and regulating fleets and armies by his own authority. The one would have a concurrent power with a branch of the legislature in the formation of treaties; the other is the sole possessor of the power of making treaties. The one would have a like concurrent authority in appointing offices; the other is the sole author of all appointments. The one can confer no privileges whatsoever; the other can make denizens of aliens, noblemen of commoners; can erect corporations with all the rights incident to corporate bodies. The one can prescribe no rules concerning the commerce or currency of the nation; the other is in several aspects the arbiter of commerce, and in this capacity can establish markets and fairs, can regulate weights and measures, can lay embargoes for a limited time, can coin money, can authorize or prohibit the circulation of foreign coin. The one has no particle of spiritual jurisdiction; the other is the supreme head and governor of the national church![12]
It is possible to gather from the above that the powers the Founding Fathers wanted the President to have four principal powers: to have a qualified negative on the legislature, to command the armed forces, to appoint officers to the key departments of government, and to handle foreign policy, including negotiating treaties.
The important point is that in each of these areas the President’s had to share his powers with the legislature: or, to be more accurate, he was given only half the powers necessary to carry out his functions in each area, the other half being reposed in the House or the Senate. So much, then, for the executive branch. Let’s turn to the judiciary.
iii) The Judicial Branch
The primary function of the judicial branch in any constitutional system is to interpret the laws. The Founding Fathers started from this premise also, but they went a bit further, in two respects. First, they explicitly set out that the Court could strike down any law that violated the Constitution. Second, they had in mind that the courts would be a sort of special protector of minorities in two specific situations.[13]
I present below two sets of quotes. The first and shorter one relates to the first function mentioned above, and is self-explanatory; the second and longer relates to the second, and I will make a brief comment on it. Alexander Hamilton is the speaker on both occasions.
First,
The interpretation of the laws is the proper and peculiar province of the courts. A constitution is, in fact, and must be regarded by the judges as, a fundamental law. It therefore belongs to them to ascertain its meaning as well as the meaning of any particular act proceeding from the legislative body. If there should happen to be an irreconcilable variance between the two, that which has the superior obligation and validity ought, of course, to be preferred; or, in other words, the Constitution ought to be preferred to the statute, the intention of the people to the intention of their agents.[14]
Second,
This independence of the judges is equally requisite to guard the Constitution and the rights of individuals from the effects of those ill humors which the arts of designing men, or the influence of particular conjunctures, sometimes disseminate among the people themselves, and which, though they speedily give place to better information, and more deliberate reflection, have a tendency, in the meantime, to occasion dangerous innovations in the government, and serious oppressions of the minor party in the community. Though I trust the friends of the proposed constitution will never concur with its enemies in questioning that fundamental principle of republican government which admits the right of the people to alter or abolish the established Constitution whenever they find it inconsistent with their happiness; yet it is not to be inferred from this principle that the representatives of the people, whenever a momentary inclination happens to lay hold of a majority of their constituents incompatible with the provisions in the existing Constitution, would, on that account, be justifiable in a violation of those provisions; or that the courts would be under a greater obligation to connive at infractions in this shape than when they had proceeded wholly from the cabals of the representative body. Until the people have, by some solemn and authoritative act, annulled or changed the established form, it is binding upon themselves collectively and individually; and no presumption or even knowledge, of their sentiment can warrant their representatives in a departure from it prior to such an act. But it is easy to see that it would require an uncommon portion of fortitude in the judges to do their duty as faithful guardians of the Constitution, where legislative invasions of it had been instigated by the major voice of the community.
But it is not with a view to infractions of the Constitution only that the independence of the judges may be an essential safeguard against the occasional ill humors in the society. These sometimes extend no further than to the injury of the private rights of particular classes of citizens, by unjust and partial laws. Here also the firmness of the judicial magistracy is of vast importance in mitigating the severity and confining the operation of such laws. It not only serves to moderate the immediate mischiefs of those which may have been passed but it operates as a check upon the legislative body in passing them; who, perceiving that obstacles to the success of an iniquitous intention are to be expected from the scruples of the court, are in a manner compelled, by the very motives of the injustice they meditate, to qualify their attempts. This is a circumstance calculated to have more influence upon the character of our governments than but few may be aware of.[15]
As I mentioned earlier, the last set of quotes indicates that the Founding Fathers expected the courts to function as a special protector of minorities in two specific situations. In my view, those two situations are as follows. First, there may arise occasions where some ‘ill humor’ grips the populace so powerfully that it sweeps not just the House, but the Senate and the Executive also.
In other words, the traditional check on the House expected of the Senate, as well as from the President, fails, and there is an attempt to amend the Constitution to accommodate the ‘ill humor’ in question. Naturally, such an attempt will be challenged in the courts.
Since, however, both the legislature and the executive are behind the amendment, and (let us presume) a majority of the population is also behind it, the argument is put to the court that the amendment is what the people really want, and therefore the court should not get in the way.
More insidious, since the legislature and the executive are behind the change in question, either one or the other, or both, introduce some dangerous innovation”, i.e. they exploit a loophole, or devise some technical manipulation, to try to give the change a semblance of constitutionality. Thus, when the argument is made that the impugned change is what the people really want, (and it may in fact be what the people want), it becomes tempting for the judges to go along with the ‘innovation.’
In my view, what Hamilton is saying is that in those circumstances, the Founding Fathers expected the judges to stand firm, and to say something to the effect, ‘We don’t care how many people support this amendment, or how clever a trick you’ve devised to get around the Constitution, it’s wrong and illegal, and we’re not going to tolerate it!’
Hamilton’s second passage relates to Statutes other than the Constitution, and is even more interesting. It appears he is recommending an extraordinary extension of judicial discretion. He seems to be saying that the courts have the power, not just to strike down laws that violate or conflict with the Constitution, but to mitigate the severity and confine the operation of laws” that, though compatible with the Constitution, nevertheless are unjust or partial.
Hamilton is saying that in deciding whether a particular law is unjust and partial, the court is to consider whether the law in question proceeds from iniquitous motives on the part of the legislature. His contention seems to be that the courts, when interpreting legislation, can consider not just the intention of the legislature, but the motives: as I said, an extraordinary extension of judicial discretion.
Hamilton no doubt recognized the grave danger in allowing the aforementioned type of extension. He must have hoped that matters would never come to a point where the courts will actually have to exercise the discretion he had in mind, i.e. that the legislature will be discouraged from pursuing the type of law in question out of the knowledge that the latter will eventually have to contend with the ‘scruples of the court.’
Nevertheless, in my view, it is clear Hamilton intended the courts to be able to overturn the aforementioned types of laws if and when the need arose: otherwise, why would the legislature fear the scruples of the court” in the first place? In any event, my point is that it is reasonable to suppose that the Founding Fathers wanted the courts to have the aforementioned extended discretion.
To sum up, the Founding Fathers intended the Judicial Branch to perform two primary functions: first, the traditional function of interpreting the law and the Constitution, and of striking down any law that conflicted with the Constitution.
Second, the courts were to be a special protector of minorities on those occasions where the checks expected from the Senate as well as the President fail, and there is a possibility of an innovation” being introduced to justify or rationalize a Constitutional amendment, and second, on occasions where an unjust or partial law, but one nevertheless compatible with the Constitution, is being contemplated. So much, then, for the judicial branch.
To summarize the discussion so far, the Founding Fathers fashioned their overall plan of government to accomplish two things: On the one hand, to capture, at the very starting-point of the legislative process, as wide a range of the interests, sentiments and passions animating society at large, and on the other, to provide filters that could reduce the intensity of the aforesaid elements when it came to generating policy and law.
As I mentioned at the very start, I hope some of the ideas discussed above will be useful in the coming days and weeks.
Dharshan Weerasekera is an Attorney-at-Law. He is the author of two books: The UN’s Relentless Pursuit of Sri Lanka (2013), and, The UN’s Subversion of International Law: The Sri Lanka Story (2015)
[1] Jefferson to Madison, November 18, 1788, Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. A. Koch and W. Paden, New York, 1944, p. 452.
[2] See, Paul Craig Roberts, ‘Bring Back Jimmy Carter,’ www.counterpunch,org, 27 October 2015
[3] Benjanmin N. Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process, Yale, p. 22
[4] All references are to, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, The Federalist Papers, (ed. Isaac Kramnick), Penguin, London, 1987, p. 320
[5] Ibid, p. 315
[6] Ibid, p. 323
[7] Ibid, p. 326
[8] Ibid, p. 367
[9] Ibid, p. 369
[10] Ibid, p. 371
[11] Ibid, p.395
[12] Ibid, p. 401
[13] I am aware that when Hamilton refers to minorities” he means economic minorities and not ethnic or other minorities. But I believe the principle can be applied to those other categories also.
[14] Ibid, p. 439
[15] Ibid, p. 440-441
[1] Jefferson to Madison, November 18, 1788, Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. A. Koch and W. Paden, New York, 1944, p. 452.
[2] See, Paul Craig Roberts, ‘Bring Back Jimmy Carter,’ www.counterpunch,org, 27 October 2015
[3] Benjanmin N. Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process, Yale, p. 22
[4] All references are to, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, The Federalist Papers, (ed. Isaac Kramnick), Penguin, London, 1987, p. 320
[5] Ibid, p. 315
[6] Ibid, p. 323
[7] Ibid, p. 326
[8] Ibid, p. 367
[9] Ibid, p. 369
[10] Ibid, p. 371
[11] Ibid, p.395
[12] Ibid, p. 401
[13] I am aware that when Hamilton refers to minorities” he means economic minorities and not ethnic or other minorities. But I believe the principle can be applied to those other categories also.
[14] Ibid, p. 439
[15] Ibid, p. 440-441
[1] Jefferson to Madison, November 18, 1788, Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. A. Koch and W. Paden, New York, 1944, p. 452.
[2] See, Paul Craig Roberts, ‘Bring Back Jimmy Carter,’ www.counterpunch,org, 27 October 2015
[3] Benjanmin N. Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process, Yale, p. 22
[4] All references are to, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, The Federalist Papers, (ed. Isaac Kramnick), Penguin, London, 1987, p. 320
[5] Ibid, p. 315
[6] Ibid, p. 323
[7] Ibid, p. 326
[8] Ibid, p. 367
[9] Ibid, p. 369
[10] Ibid, p. 371
[11] Ibid, p.395
[12] Ibid, p. 401
[13] I am aware that when Hamilton refers to minorities” he means economic minorities and not ethnic or other minorities. But I believe the principle can be applied to those other categories also.
[14] Ibid, p. 439
[15] Ibid, p. 440-441
‘Govenor General’ Hussein Departs Leaving Wickramasinghe and sirisena With Egg On Their Face and Treachery on their Hands – (Part 1)
February 29th, 2016By Gandara John
In the follow up to the R-s junta’s disgraceful surrender in Geneva of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty on 01 Oct 15, Sri Lanka’s new ‘Governor General’ Hussein, visited the island on a 4 day inspection tour to survey and report on the work done by the ‘yahapalanaya’ Government in the preceding four months; his visit in February came in the immediate aftermath of some devious drivel by the sirisena arm of the junta naively attempting to cover up the Geneva betrayal which the junta had not revealed to the people.
Hussein, himself harbouring delusions ,pretending to be an heir to a long extinct throne of a bestial Bedouin monarchy, was visibly irked by sirisena’s duplicity and fired a warning volley against a purely domestic court.
Reacting immediately from Geneva to sirisena’s comments re the import of judges and prosecutors, Hussein warned, A purely domestic court procedure will have no chance of overcoming widespread and justifiable suspicions fuelled by decades of violations, malpractice and broken promises.”
Hussein came and Hussein went. He issued a statement before he left. He has not budged an inch from his original position. He said that Sri Lanka is at liberty to have any type of investigation but that without international judges and prosecutors it would lack credibility and would be contrary to what Sri Lanka pledged in Geneva.
All this began on 01st October 2015, a black letter day in the history of the country. This was the day of the Great Betrayal when the US spawned R-s junta surrendered in Geneva the country’s sovereignty
This day is reminiscent of that shameful day in 1815 when the Sri Lankan Feudal classes betrayed their monarch to the British, prostrated themselves before the British Monarch and handed over the entire country on a platter to the perfidious Albion who ruled unchallenged for the next 133 years.
During those years the British ripped the country of its wealth, robbed the peasants of their lands, reduced them to poverty and deprived them of education. sirisena with his professed penchant for reading and his decided peasant background could not have been unaware of the implications of that betrayal two hundred years ago.
Back at home our two quisling heroes, Uncle Tom and aappa sira, living in a fool’s paradise and believing that they could bamboozle the people by threatening the media to refrain from revealing the truth about Geneva, crowed that they had achieved a great victory in Geneva; they conveyed the idea to the people that the White Western Community (WWC) were delighted with their conduct and that the WWC were now virtually competing with each other to tousle their hair, shake their hands with gloves removed and bending over backwards to host them .
The White Western Community would perhaps do even more given that our pair of lickspittles has totally undone the great victory the Sri Lankan people achieved against the terrorists and their backers on 19 May 2009.
Reuters covering the UNHRC sessions from Geneva in 2015 at the time of the Betrayal, reported, Sri Lanka signaled on Thursday that it aims to establish a credible judicial process involving foreign judges and prosecutors to investigate alleged war crimes, in line with UN recommendations”.
The 47 member States of the UNHRC adopted by consensus, the draft resolution tabled by US and Britain that accused Sri Lanka of ‘the very likely probability’ of committing war crimes and mass killing of civilians, during the 26 year anti terrorist operation.
The R–s junta co – sponsored this diabolic anti- Sri Lanka Resolution in Geneva.
Samaraweera, called upon to speak on the Resolution, ingratiatingly whined in a manner that virtually said, ‘Aye Aye sir, we wholeheartedly agree with you; we think it very probable that the Army deliberately slaughtered thousands of civilians; we, like you sir, think that our judges and our prosecutors are incompetent and biased and like you, we do not have any confidence in our judges and prosecutors working by themselves; we need therefore to bring in international judges and prosecutors selected by you, to try our soldiers as war criminals; we agree with you sir that, then only can there be credible justice that will satisfy you and the terrorists; we humbly beg of you to be pleased and gratified with our conduct ; we will feel proud if we know that you are happy that we are joining you in tabling together, this resolution against Sri Lanka’.
The Resolution vilified Sri Lankan State Institutions like the Army, the Judiciary and the professionals in the justice and Police departments to name just a few.
According to the report, the country’s criminal justice system is not competent or capable of handling by itself, the investigation of war crimes and, ah yes, the prosecution of war criminals. The wording appears to presuppose that the matter has already been pre- judged.
Said Ambassador Ariyasinha, Sri Lanka is pleased to join as a co sponsor of this resolution to implement the provisions …. in a manner that our objectives are shared by … all stakeholders in the country .”
The wording in the resolution the R- s junta sponsored with the US, is crystal clear; we have accepted the position that the Sri Lankan Army which routed the US backed terrorists need to be hanged/ jailed/incarcerated to ensure that the Sri Lankan people and its Army would never ever again in the future have the crass impudence to challenge the authority of the US in Sri Lanka.
The only way the brave soldiers could be incarcerated and condemned is by establishing kangaroo courts staffed with US picked (international) judges and prosecutors to investigate them, try them and fry them.
The R-s junta publicly pledged therefore to establish a judicial process with foreign judges and prosecutors.
The word ‘credible’ was crucial to the resolution; any investigation would be deemed credible to the terrorists and their backers only if ‘international’ judges and prosecutors were included; as long as international judges and prosecutors are not included the terrorists and their international backers in the West would cry themselves hoarse that the investigation is not credible and is not acceptable to them.
With the word ‘credible’ included in that resolution, the US ensured that ‘international’ judges and prosecutors will be on those kangaroo courts to ensure the lynching of our soldiers.
It was only natural that the UN called it a historic day and said ‘it is now time to act’.
In New York as a reward, they sat the servant at the head table with the master, to break bread. The servant sat on the edge and did what he comfortably does, beam; there were no hoppers on the table.
They allowed the idiot son to sit with the Sri Lankan delegation at the General Assembly. Space being at a premium in the Sri Lankan stall, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the UN decided to take a toilet break.
A jubilant Keith Harper, US ambassador to the UN, announced to the forum in Geneva, This resolution seeks to support Sri Lanka’s path, to a lasting peace built on a foundation of justice and accountability.”
Samaraweera chortled, Sri Lanka managed to shed its negative image; there is a complete shift in the way Sri Lanka is now being perceived among the members of the ‘international’ community.”
Sri Lanka’s performance in Geneva has no parallel in recent history; it cannot be described in any other way but as ‘the greatest betrayal the country has witnessed in the two centuries gone by’. The junta surrendered the sovereignty of Sri Lanka and her people.
It appears to have never occurred to the yahapalanaya government that as long as international judges and prosecutors are brought into the country the ‘process’ is not credible as per the Resolution to the majority of Sri Lankans -the prime stakeholders – and that this will become an issue that will cause irreparable damage to the hyped cause of reconcilliation.
The Sri Lankan Feudal Classes frightened out of their wits to take up arms to fight for their motherland in the deadly thirty year terrorist conflict have now consorted with the defeated enemy to betray the brave soldiers who unquestioningly put their lives on the line to save our country; the Feudalists have, with no sense of shame, disgracefully prostrated themselves before the White Western Community swearing allegiance to their authority and proffering on a platter our beloved mother Lanka
A brief history of Tamils persecuting and killing Tamils
February 29th, 2016H. L. D. Mahindapala
In 1968 Jaffna was facing an internal caste war which was threatening to tear it apart. The simmering caste conflict in Jaffna exploded with the low-castes, spurred by N. Shanmugathasan, head of the Peking-wing of the Communist Party, threatening to enter the Maviddipuram Temple – the segregated religious domain preserved exclusively for the high-caste Vellahlas from feudal and colonial times. It was, in a distant way, similar to the storming of the Bastille : the decadent and dying ancien regime of the feudal Vellahlas resisting with all their might the rising forces of modernity. Prof. C. Sunderalingam, a Vellahla caste fanatic, was threatening to attack any low-caste who dared to cross the threshold of this Hindu Temple. The Vellahala casteists, including the leadership of the Federal Party dominated by the Vellahlas, were behind him, either overtly or covertly, but mostly covertly.
Dudley Senanayake, the Prime Minister, had given instructions to the head of the Jaffna Police, Deputy Inspector General, R. Sunderalingam, to open the temple for the low-castes. The battle lines were drawn clearly and the battle of the two Sunderalingams” was at boiling point. The champion of the Tamils, S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, who was crying from roof tops about the alleged discriminations by the Sinhala governments, never lifted a finger to help the oppressed the Tamil untouchables / dalits, other than paying lip service to abolish the caste system. His deputy, Appapillai Amirthalingam, dodged the issue by saying that the Federal Party did not want to take sides to avoid bringing politics into the temple.
The vicious caste system of Jaffna was a form of fascist rule imposed by the ruling Vellahla caste on the untouchables / dalits to maintain their purity” and supremacy. Caste fascism stripped the dalits of human dignity in every sphere of their life. Even the right to drink water from the wells was forbidden. One of the lowest of the low-castes, the turumbas, for instance, were forbidden to walk in the daylight lest they should pollute the purity of Vellahla eyes. Beneath the serene surface of the Jaffna landscape casteism slithered into every nook and corner like a poisonous snake, ready to strike at anyone that came within hissing distance of the territorial and social borders of the upper caste. The cadjan curtain that fenced off the other” (outcastes) demarcated their separate territory to prevent pollution from the outsiders” which included the Tamils low-castes.
The ubiquitous cadjan curtain of Jaffna symbolised the separatist line of the Vellahlas who drew artificial and arbitrary borders to keep the other” out. In the minds of the supremacist Vellahlas the other” included the Batticoloa Tamils, the estate Tamils, the Sinhalese and even the Tamil-speaking Muslims. The Vellahlas were obsessed with separatism as a means of retaining their purity and superiority, both inside and outside the peninsula. The separatist ideology began with the Vellahlas excluding their own people out of their supremacist circle.
Separatism was a means of protecting and preserving their feudal and colonial powers, perks, positions and privileges. Any intrusions to pollute the sanctity of the Vellahla inner circles, either by Tamil low-castes or the Tamil-speaking and non-Tamil outsiders were strictly forbidden. Some intrusions were punished with death. Whether it is the secular Thesavalami law, (law of the land), Saivite religious laws as restructured by Arumuka Navalar, the caste fanatic, the Catholic Church practices of reserving the front pews for the upper caste and last pews for the low-castes, the ruling political ideology, the approved traditions of the social order, all coalesced to keep the other” (particularly the untouchables /dalits) out of Vellahla properties, Hindu temples, schools, wells, buses, and all other social amenities necessary for living as equal human beings with dignity.
The roots of Tamil violence and its subhuman culture can be found in the embedded casteist forces that pursued only purity, exclusivity and supremacy. The Vellahlas never hesitated to use violence to retain their purity, exclusivity and supremacy even at the cost of oppressing and suppressing their own people. Vellarlars,” wrote Prof. Bryan Pfaffenberger, had long considered the Jaffna Peninsula a private preserve for their interests……In the fifties, for instance, many Minority Tamils ( Vellahla euphemism for their untouchables / dalits ) still lived in Vellarlar – owned palmyrah groves or wasteland; if they did not submit to Vellarlar labour demands, they could be threatened with expulsion. The economic compulsions were paired with informal political controls : Minority Tamils who attempted to raise their position would find their communities victimised by Vellarlar- organised gangs of thugs, who burned down huts and poisoned wells.” (p. 81 — The Political Construction of Defensive Nationalism: The 1968 Temple-Entry Crisis in Northern Sri Lanka, The Journal of Asia Studies, 49, No. 1, February 1990).
The caste system was legitimized and maintained as a divinely ordained and immutable religious order of the chosen people, the Vellahlas. The low-castes were destined, according to their karma, to remain in the condition into which they were born. They had no alternative in this life except to accept the supremacy of the God-given Vellahlas”. Consequently, it became more than a religion. It became a political cult to keep the Vellahla caste/class in power on a fascist theology, manufactured and sanctioned by the Father of the Vellahlas, Arumuka Navalar,(1822 – 1879), the leading caste fanatic of Jaffna. Saivism, as doctored by Navalar, was essentially a religious cover to legitimise the supremacy of the Vellahlas – the lowest category in the hierarchy of the classical caste system in India. The highest caste was that of the Brahmins. But there were no Brahmins, the priestly caste, in Jaffna, except for the few who crossed over from India. Crossing the seas was a taboo to preserve the purity of the priests who are likely to be polluted by foreign influences. This posed a problem for the imported caste system in Jaffna : the caste hierarchy in Jaffna had no substitute for the Brahmins at the apex. It was Arumuka Navalar who stepped in and anointed the Vellahlas as the divinely ordained substitute for the Brahmins. In a show of gratitude the Vellahlas have worshipped him since then as their demi-god.
Navalar was himself a Vellahla and he imposed all the religio-social restrictions to keep the low-castes condemned as victims of their karmic past. He is the evil genius of Jaffna who perverted the Jaffna culture into a rigid, fascist gulag of the Vellahla supremacists. The Vellahlas owe everything to him because he used religion as a political tool to enthrone the Vellahlas as the supreme authority of Jaffna. Thanks to Navalar the Vellahlas gained the religious sanction to be the overlords of Jaffna. From the time of the Dutch, when the Vellahlas rose in rebellion against the appointment of a Madapalli (an extinct caste now) as a Canakepulle to the Dutch administration, the Vellahlas gained the upperhand of being the subalterns to the colonial masters. They brooked no opposition to their power in Jaffna from any internal rival castes. Though they were the unacknowledged subalterns under colonial masters they lacked the religio-social authority to be in command. Navalar filled this vacuum by anointing the Vellahlas as the supreme caste divinely ordained to rule the other castes. After Navalar’s blessings the Vellahlas assumed that they were born to rule and any challenge to their authority was put down with violent force, if necessary. Navalar’s politicised Saivism turned Jaffna into casteist / racist enclave. His Saivism dehumanised Hinduism and pushed the low-castes into a hell hole of casteist / racist fascism.
Navalar took the lead in setting the precedent for the denial of basic human rights to the low-caste Tamils. He was one of the first to exclude the low-castes entering his schools. Navalar’s Saivisim, therefore, was more than a reformed religion. It was a political cult manufactured by him to deny the oppressed Tamils of Jaffna their dignity, their liberty and their right to live as human beings. Some were condemned as slaves for life until the British abolished slavery in 1844. Neither the British nor the radical Prevention of Social Disabilities Act of 1957 passed by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike – the only comprehensive legislative/political step taken by any administration to combat the caste fascism of Jaffna – worked because Vellahlaism was an entrenched force, like Saivism, that could not be eradicated overnight. It became a part of the DNA of Jaffna culture.
Only the explosive force of Prabhakaranism had some impact on the caste establishment. But that too seemed to have been short-lived. Latest research reveal that Vellahlaism is raising its ugly head again in Jaffna. Thanges Paramsothy, PhD Research Student in Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, University of East London, United Kingdom wrote in his latest article : The LTTE movement, which was in power, to some extent had destroyed this political domination within its movement giving leaderships to all caste groups. Thamilchelvan, for example, who was from one of the oppressed caste groups, Ampattar, became as a leader of the political wings in the LTTE movement. Apart from the debate on success, failure and problems in the political mobilisation of the LTTE, it had the negotiating power where people from different social and caste backgrounds became as participants. Soon after the LTTE was defeated, the Tamil politics is once again been dominated by the Vellalar caste in Jaffna. The oppressed castes have a little or no space to become as potential leaders. The criticism against the TNA is that they appoint one person from the oppressed castes as a candidate at every parliamentary election in order to show that they are ‘casteless’ in their selection process of the candidates. However, the past experience shows that the person who was selected as a contesting candidate in the TNA would be as a potential loser than a winner.” (Colombo Telegraph – November. 24, 2016).
Saivite Vellahalism was a well-knit and organized political force, wrapped in the revised text of Saivism, to protect, promote and preserve, at any cost, its feudal and colonial powers, privileges. properties, positions and perks of the Vellahlas. Its collective and concerted socio-political objective was initially to keep the low-castes as a subhuman species to do their dirty work, if necessary by thuggery and inhuman force, including killing. It was no doubt a prickly issue for the Vellahlas who were fighting a losing battle to preserve their feudal and colonial privileges in the 20th century. Losing their supremacy over the low-castes was an unthinkable proposition for the Vellahlas. Peninsular politics depended essentially on the supremacy of the English-educated, Saivite, Jaffna Vellahlas (ESJVs) over the rest. They derived their authority and legitimacy in feudal/colonial times from the distorted theology of Arumuka Navalar who elevated them to the peak of power. But in the 20th century the religious authority, as defined by Navalar, was losing its validity. Vellahlaism as a ruling ideology was so powerful that even Ponnambalam Ramanathan went to London before he died in 1930 to convince the imperial masters that the caste system should be kept at any cost for the stability and progress of the Tamils. However, creeping modernity, universal franchise, market forces, free education, liberal and socialist ideologies were undermining thedivine” authority legitimised by the caste fanatic Arumuka Navalar.
By the 60s the traditional authority of Saivite casteism was coming apart at the seams and threatening to unseat the Vellahlas from their precarious perch located in the highest peak of the caste hierarchy. The persecuted Minorities”were rising, slowly but surely, from the ashes of vicious casteism. It was at this juncture that the threatened Vellahlas nominally dropped casteism and turned to racism/nationalism to unite the divided Jaffna society. The cover of nationalism” was the last ploy of the Vellahlas adopted,mark you, not to serve the Tamils of all layers, from the top to the bottom, but to retain the power, privileges, positions, properties and perks of the Vellahlas. To achieve this they had to establish an administration of the Vellahlas, by the Vellahlas, for the Vellahlas. Under the British they were almost there, holding a commanding position in the legislature, public administration, professions and the private sector. Their concentration of power was in the public sector holding a disproportionate share of jobs in the British administration. This kept them quiet and satisfied, enjoying the most favoured status with English as the official language. It is the command of the English language that lifted them from the rest of the low-caste Tamils and the other communities as a power elite. This gave the English-educated, Saivite, Jaffna Vellahlas the upperhand, both inside and outside Jaffna.
There was a marked shift from casteism to racism in the post-Donoughmore period when the arrogant and uppity Vellahalas were forced to depend on electoral votes of the low-caste to retain power in the legislature. Jane Russell in her masterly study of racism in the post-Donoughmore period, Communal Politics under the Donoughmore Constitution, 1931 – 1947. (Tissara Publication, 1982). reveals the pure anti-Sinhala-Buddhist racist ideology spearheaded by Ponnambalam in the thirties without being motivated by any traces of nationalism”. Her book gives an insight into how the Tamil racist casteists manipulated northern politics to retain Vellahla supremacy, both inside and outside Jaffna. Clearly, Tamil nationalism” was a latter-day construction. Even Prof. A. J. Wilson, the leading authority on Tamil politics of this period, wrote : Ceylon Tamils lacked clearly defined objectives during this phase. It was based on the mistaken belief that the British presence would continue and that Ceylon would be granted restricted self-government and not complete independence….” ( p. 14 – S. J. V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947 – 1977, A Political Biogrpahy, (Lake House Bookshop. 1993). In a more direct and perceptive analysis, Prof. Asoka Bandarage of George Town University, Washington, USA, in her scholarly text, says: As Benedict Anderson suggests, many of the primordial identities, nations and traditional homelands espoused by various ethno-nationalist groups are only ‘imagined communities’ formulated in response to modern circumstances rather than primordial entities based on historical facts. The traditional Tamil homeland thesis manufactured by Sri Lankan Tamil elites is a case in point.” (p. 10 – The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka, Terrorism, ethinicity, political economy, (IUniverse, New York.)
Obviously, the Tamil Vellahla elite was leading a racist movement against the Sinhala-Buddhist majority purely to protect their socio-political interests. Tamil nationalism was not even in their vocabulary at the time though nationalism was the popular flavour of all politics in the early 20th century. Initially, Tamils were not moved by nationalism in which the masses rallied behind a Nehru or a Gandhi. It was primarily a movement of the Vellahla elite at the top to protect their powers, positions, properties, perks and privileges more than a mass movement for nationalism. Even the issues raised by Ponnambalam in thirties and Chelvanayakam in the forties related to concerns of the Vellahla elite and not the Tamils masses. The language issue, for instance, was essentially an economic issue that concerned the Tamil public servants and professionals and not the Tamil masses who negotiated their commercial and private transactions comfortably, from Sea Street jewellers to barbers and thosai-kadays in Kandy in Sinhala.
In the thirties the Tamil leadership opposed universal franchise because it threatened their elitist and privileged position. It was not only a political leveller but also a direct challenge to Vellahla supremacy. Under feudal and colonial times they used the religious ideology to retain their power. Under the new democratised dispensation of the post-Donoughmore period they could no longer use the outdated authority of Saivite casteism to sustain their power. Under the new political realities the Vellahlas were forced to abandon casteism as a means to win votes in the peninsula. They had to look for an alternative ideology to keep the reins of power in their hands and it was in this phase that the Vellahla elite turned to virulent racism with G. G. Ponnambalam, the new kid in political bloc, going hell-for-leather, with his racist attacks on the Mahavamsa and the Sinhalese. Ponnambalam used his anti-Sinhala-Buddhist campaigns as naked and blunt racist attacks. He did not argue his case on Tamil nationalism at any stage. The thirties was the time when nationalism was moving like a tidal wave across the British empire. Ponnambalam did not base it on anti-colonial nationalism. It was pure and simple anti-Sinhala racism. It was later camouflaged as nationalism by Chelvanayakam because Ponnambalam’s 50 – 50” campaign lacked the populist aura of nationalism that could include the excluded low-castes.
There are several dates picked to define the birth of Tamil racism. It is possible to go back as far as 1921 to identify the origins of racism as a political force. It was the year in which Sir, Ponnambalam Arunachalam broke away from the Ceylon National Congress, based on the multi-ethnic model of Indian National Congress, and established the first racist organisation, the Tamil Maha Jana Sabhai. But racism, as decisive political forces, was forged by G. G. Ponnambalam in the thirties. He injected virulent racism into mainstream politics for the first time in the thirties when his crude attack on the Sinhalese sparked off communal riots in Nawalapitiya, Matale and Passara.
Historian Dr. G. C. Mendis commented that the communal harmony that prevailed for centuries was broken by the communalism that erupted in the thirties and the forties. Focussing on this aspect he wrote : This (Sinhala-Tamil) communalism seen in 1943 was undoubtedly a new development. European writers such as the Portuguese Jesuit Fernao de Queyroz and the Englishman Robert Knox of the seventeenth century and James Cordiner and other English writers of the nineteenth century have left us pictures of Ceylon with its various divisions of society but in none of their works does one come across communal conflicts of the type we saw then.” ( p. 127, Ceylon Today and Yesterday, Main Currents of Ceylon History, Associated Newspaper of Ceylon Ltd., 1957).
It was in response to the rising racism of the north that S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike countered by establishing his defensive Sinhala Maha Jana Sabha in 1936. Ponnambalam raised the stakes of racism in thirties by raising the unsubstantiated cry of discrimination” in the thirties, mark you, and demanded 50 –50” for 12 % of the Tamils. Though he claimed that it was for all the other minorities as well, neither the estate Tamils nor the Muslims were a part of his 50 – 50” bandwagon. The racist slide from 50 – 50”, to federalism to Eelam was inevitable, particularly with the little now and more later” politics of S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, the Father of Separatism. So it is clear that by the thirties – long before the Sinhala Only Act (1956) or even 1983” – the Tamils had started galloping on their racist horses dragging the nation into a Tamil-Sinhala conflagration.
After the failure of casteism to hold Jaffna together the Vellahla elite was jumping desperately from one slogan to another to retain their feudal and colonial powers. The panic-stricken Vellahla elite could only find anti-Sinhala-Buddhist racism as a political tool to defend their decadent and antiquated ancien regime. Their worst fear was that of losing power which they held as subalterns during the colonial period. While the Sinhala south embraced a multitude of ideologies – practically all the isms” that were floating around in the post-War II period – Jaffna stuck to racism aimed at targeting the Sinhalese of the south. With casteism the English-educated, Saivite, Jaffna Vellahlas (ESJVs) rose to be the sole power inside the peninsula during the feudal and colonial times. With racism they became the key player outside Jaffna in the post-independent period – the period in which Jaffna took to self-destructive politics of extreme racism. Under the British rule the ESJVs had risen to become a powerful block outside Jaffna. By the time the British left they were in a commanding position to be key players in centre of politics in Colombo.
By 1948 the ESJVs of the north felt strong enough to mount a challenge using the racist/nationalist card. Please note I have used the acronym ESJVs and not the Tamils as having mounted the challenge to the centre playing the racist card. I shall explain why in the next article. For the present, I shall end this article by noting that S. J. V. Chelvanayakam launched his Illankai Thamil Arasu Kachchi urging a separate state on Decembe r 18, 1949 – just one year after independence. It was in the halcyon days when practically nothing significant had changed from the British administration except the colour of the faces of the new rulers : the Brown Sahibs had taken over from the White Sahibs.
Chelvanyakam’s cry for separatism had no other basis other than racism because it was not based on the Sinhala Only Act (1956), or `1983”, or any of the other issues that exacerbated the North-South relations later. Tamil racism was already in motion in 1948 determined to carve its own way to towards its inevitable end in Nandikadal (2009). Chelvanayakam severed his links with his leader, Ponnamabalam, on the spurious issue of citizenship to the Indian estate workers in August 1949. It is not because he was concerned about the plight of the estate workers. It was only because he feared that the electoral power of the Tamils as a whole would weaken should the Indians estate workers lose their voting rights. Once again it proved to be a bogus issue because the astute leader of the estate workers, S. Thondaman, resolved it without resorting to violence, or aligning himself with the Jaffna Tamil leaders. He suspected that they were trying to muscle in to his patch under a pan-Tamil movement, the Iyakkum (movement) of the Thamil Payasoom Makkal (Tamil-speaking people) and rejected their advances.
In this very sketchy outline I have tried to trace how northern events had escalated incrementally from a lower level of racism to a higher racist plane without the help of the Sinhala-Buddhists who are usually accused of being the cause of Tamil extremism. Chelvanayakam launched separatism long before long before S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike ever dreamt of breaking away from the UNP and launching his SLFP, long before the Sinhala Only Act, long before 1983”, etc., revealing the fact that initially there was no correlation between the rise of Tamil extremism and the politics of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Mono-ethnic extremism had its roots in the internal dynamics of Jaffna politics without any contributions to its rise and growth in its formative stages in the 30s and 40s. Besides, separatism and violence are inseparable. One follows the other automatically and inescapably. This inevitability was acknowledged and expressed clearly in the Vadukoddai Resolution when the Vellahla leaders urged the youth to take up arms and never cease until they attain Eelam. The Tamil leadership knew that they could break away to form a separate state only through violence. It gave the Tamils the official licence to kill. And killing they did without any restraint. The Tamil youth took to killing like duck to water. There was no stopping them after the Vadukoddai Resolution.
They targeted the Sinhalese saying that they were merely retaliating to the violence inflicted on them earlier. Then they killed the Indians who came as peace-keepers. Here too the Tamils claimed that they fired back at the Indians because they were raping their women and torturing and killing them. Then they started killing Muslims. Why? There was no rationale for this. Was this necessary at all? What had the Muslims done to the Tamils to kill them? Worst of all, the Tamils turned their guns on Tamils. Why? What had the Tamils done to the Tamils? In the end, the Tamils were facing the horror of Tamils killing Tamils ruthlessly in the name of Tamil nationalism” which lacked the power to force the Sri Lankan government to grant Eelam.
The indiscriminate killing of Tamils by Tamils reinforces the fact that the Tamils did not need a reason for killing. They were happy to kill anyone who dared to cross their path. They have got away with blaming the Sinhalese for every thing that went wrong in the north-south relations, including the rise of Prabhakaran. But the facts contradict this fabrication. If the Sinhalese were responsible for Tamil violence why didn’t Prabhakaran, who was supposed to have been created by the Sinhalese, stop at killing only Sinhalese? If the Sinhalese created Prabhakaran, the most cruel and biggest killer of Tamils in their history, shouldn’t he have targeted only the Sinhalese? Why did he go all out to kill the Muslims and the Tamils? What had the Muslims done to the Tamils? The fiction that the Tamil took to violence because of the Sinhalese is demolished by the fact that it is Prabhakaran’s violence that had killed more Tamils than all the other violence put together. So are the Sinhalese responsible for the Prabhakaran killing Tamils?
As a Sinhalese I can always dismiss the Tamils killing Sinhalese, without rancour, saying that it is a part of the brutal Sankili trait that runs through Jaffna culture. (Sankili marched down to Manner and massacred 600 Tamil Catholics on the Christmas eve of 1544 because they owed allegiance to the King of Portugal and not to the sole representative of Jaffna” – the perennial ambition of Tamil leaders). Second, though I cannot condone the killing of Muslims I can always pretend that the Tamils had their own reasons for killing the Muslims without, of course, accepting anyone one of those reasons as being valid. But what I can never accept or forgive is the Tamils killing Tamils. It reduces Jaffna to a barbaric enclave of a prehistoric age. What is the culture of Jaffna if its leaders gave the silent nod to Tamils killing Tamils? What is worse, the so-called cultured Jaffnaites and their cohorts in NGOs diverted attention away from inhuman cruelties and injustices inflicted on the Tamils by the Tamils by accusing the Sri Lankan and Indian forces – both of whom never reached the scale of Tamils persecuting and killing Tamils throughout their history.
The ESJVs and their fellow-travellers, justified Tamils killing Tamils in the name of a bogus nationalism” that was not there to move the Jaffna Tamils to rise against the Sinhalese as one mass movement. If the Sri Lankan forces were a genocidal occupation army”, as claimed by some Tamils, how come they succeeded not only in driving out Prabhakaran, their nationalist hero”, and hold Jaffna, the heartland of the Tamils, even when Prabhakaran was at the peak of his power? It was possible to throw out the Indian occupation army with the solid backing of the Sri Lankan government because it was a genocidal occupation army”. But the Tamil Tigers, who claimed that they defeated the fourth largest army in the world, could not survive against the nationalist forces that annihilated them on the banks of Nandikadal.
Tamil history records that the Tamils have been the primary victimisers of the Tamils and yet they continue to pose as victims of the Sinhalese. How long are they going to wallow blindly in their political humbuggery?
There is, no doubt, that something is rotten in the state of Jaffna and that something is the basic inability of the Tamils to face reality and, more importantly, the lack of elementary morality which leads them to worship Tamils killing Tamils as their heroes.
The saintly pose of Tamil political purity and victimology stinks to high heaven in the peninsula and in Radhika Coomaraswamy’s ICES – the Incestuous Cabal of Eelamist Sycophants – that has been manufacturing bogus theories, distorting historical facts, to back up victimological fictions of the most privileged community in Sri Lanka.
Do not play politics with Our Ranaviru
February 29th, 2016Shenali D Waduge
It was no easy task to end 30 years of terrorism by a terrorist outfit created by India which happily became a surrogate-proxy to the West’s geopolitical plan and an entity of convenience for the livelihoods of many from politician to local/foreign players. Those that said the war was unwinnable and promoted ceasefires and peace talks are now enjoying the dividends of peace that they failed to secure with their ideologies. Those that laughed and scoffed at the military victories now control governance. Is it then a surprise at the manner how the men that won the war are now being humiliated by sudden transfers of spite and vengeance? Should those that saved the nation not have a voice to decide the fate of our country? Is it not because of them that we even have a country and a peaceful environment without bombs, suicide bombings and assassinations? Was it not our soldiers who delivered this peace?
When a war veteran who was one of the key commanders to give us that peace speaks his mind, should that be taken as an offence and have him punished as if he was a Montessori child speaking out of turn against the teacher?
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/160228/editorial/capitulating-to-india-on-fishing-issue-184744.html
How many in Parliament are truly qualified to be parliamentarians to point fingers and find fault with political correctness. Can those that said lets wine and dine with the tigers be mentally capable of discussing the UNHRC resolution and how the Army felt when the government co-sponsors a UNHRC resolution naming commanders & their units as war criminals? Are these men not human not to feel shock at having served the nation, sacrificing the lives of 30,000 men with a similar number injured for life while some 5000 are still missing and now being sidelined and treated with disdain. Another shocking development is to see growing numbers put into prison while teams are told to search for evidence against them! Is this how a country, that too the only country that can boast of militarily defeating a terrorist movement banned by 32 nations should treat our war heroes? If so, we are a shameful and shameless nation. We have been turned into a nation that shows no gratitude to our war heroes.
Did this government not come into power claiming to uphold good governance at all levels, transparency, end cronyism & nepotism, stop corruption, interference in the running of the judiciary, police and bring law & order. Have these promises been delivered to the people?
Is good governance equated to mean put up and shut up and anyone who dares question are slapped with transfers for ‘insubordination’? Is this the liberal laissey-faire system that we the people have to now get used to? Voices of dissent emerge when something is wrong or perceived as being wrong is taking place. It takes a real gentlemen to have the ability to answer with tact. Those that don’t only end up displaying their own discomfort in being put on the spot having no means to answer and their only response ends up by punishing the person asking the questions.
We have noticed that even the Prime Minister has lost his cool and is playing diversionary politics just to keep certain sectors fixated to his tantrums and everyone opposing him and his government are declared traitors. A statement like this from the former President would have resulted in statements and pandemonium from UN, UNSG, UNHRC head to foreign envoys and their governments. Now none of them will even utter a word against their poodles now in power. What a sham of a democracy taking place.
The sudden agreements taking place leave the public clueless. We have yet to see the original draft of the 2002 CFA which was another paper humiliating our soldiers. The new venture comes in a service agreement with India likely to lead to detrimental repercussions for the country and our children in particular. Just imagine a flood of Indians coming to live and work in Sri Lanka have we not learnt lessons from the lakhs the British brought from Tamil Nadu and left behind for us to give citizenship to!
Since we seem to be copying everything the West does…Is the new government following the US method in its treatment of war veterans?
- 200,000 Military Veterans Sleeping On The Streets Of America (Los Angeles Times)
- A war veteran has to wait 7 months to be given an appointment at a Veteran Administration facility
- Investigation by ABC news found that a typical VA facility
- Bathrooms filthy with what appeared to be human excrement
- Dirty linens from some patients mixed in with clean supplies
- Examining tables that had dried blood and medications still on them
- Equipment used to sterilize surgical instruments that had broken down
- Some patients were forced to beg for food and water
- Veterans that were neglected so badly that they developed horrific bedsores and dangerous infections
- This is the kind of thing you would expect in a third world country, not the United States of America.
- Department of Homeland Security has labelled military veterans as potential terrorists.
- Now we are actually starting to see military veterans rounded up and shipped off to mental institutions for evaluation” if they express views that the government does not like.
- Brandon Raub is a 26-year-old military veteran who was forcibly detained by the local police, the FBI and the Secret Service on August 16th. He was shipped off to a psychiatric facility because of song lyrics and political views that he had posted on his Facebook page.
- Once a military vet is determined to be mentally ill”, he or she can be rounded up by the authorities at any time.
- And tons of vets are being labelled as mentally ill these days. In fact, one study discovered that approximately one-third of all military veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq were officially determined to be mentally ill.
- It is very dangerous to be a military veteran these days.
- It has become abundantly clear that the federal government is not on the side of veterans.
- The federal government wants lots of warm bodies to throw into battle, but when those bodies get broken the government is not there to pick up the pieces.
- How we treat our veterans is a national disgrace.
- Wake up America. (http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/why-does-the-u-s-government-treat-military-veterans-like-human-garbage)
And America’s war veterans emerge from bogus military interventions that young men and women are being sent to without any of these nations even antagonizing or threatening the US.
Our scenario is incomparable. Our ranaviruwos were defending our nation against separatism. Our men were not been sent to take over other nations so that big businesses and profiteers could tap into the natural resources of these nations.
Such behaviour takes us back to times when a handful of our own chose to become proud servants of invaders and fought against the men defending the nation by becoming lascoreens and sepoys. These lackeys have now been reborn it appears manifesting the same traits of those sepoys collaborating with the foreign enemies. Funnily enough those that some refer to as ‘heroes’ descends from the very lackeys that betrayed the nation and the monarch and were vested with titles, lands, jobs and education enabling them to become the elite of post-independence society. The two forces (The Maha Sangha and Our Soldiers) that stood up to and against the nation and the people are today being hounded and locked up in prison and legislation being introduced to gag them from speaking on behalf of the nation. We are slowly moving ourselves from upholding any form of democracy and degenerating into a virtual vassal state prostituting our independence to satisfy the imperial neo-colonial agenda of those propping up those now in power.
Democracy in future will be like in the US – anyone with money can only contest and everyone with money will put forward a proxy to emerge as their chosen victor with handouts given to the electorates buying over the voters in a legalized voting rigged system where the next leader is already decided but a sham show is dramatized via media owned by those that control the nation just to show the people that it is they who are electing their leaders!
Yet, there are still people who feel for the nation, who know who the enemies are and those who still honor and feel gratitude to our war heroes and not the terrorists who strove to separate the nation.
We can only say ‘hands off our ranaviruvos’ – let the place reserved for them not be hijacked or usurped. Their place in history for the fait they accomplished can never be taken away from our minds or hearts and certainly not from the history books by foreign payrolled people.
Those that played no role in defending the nation have no right to ridicule those that did.
Shenali D Waduge
Sri Lanka cannot be victim of Multicultural Experiments: The countries that will not change their national anthem are telling Sri Lanka to change theirs!
February 29th, 2016Shenali D. Waduge
Our mistake has always been to be in a hurry to copy and adopt what is not ours. Must we always imitate other countries? Just because the British had an anthem, or India was to have one did Sri Lanka also need to be in a hurry to have an anthem ignoring that for thousands of years though we didn’t have an anthem but we had enough of patriots to defend the country. If we do not have an anthem that can inspire nationalism there is little point in wasting time and energy over creating one or singing it in different languages just to make a statement. We cannot agree to change the anthem when those that are seeking change have shown by example that their agendas are not to keep the country undivided and their responses to the recent NGO surveys on new constitutional changes are evidence of what they want.
The Tamils now making unreasonable demands and others agreeing to these unreasonable demands must first realize that Tamils had always been referred to as Malabar Tamils (originating from Tamil Nadu) and the usage of the term Ceylon Tamils came only in 1911. Therefore, these demands of rights for Tamils are based from 1911 onwards only and does not give any basis to threaten any bargaining whatsoever leave alone put forward ‘traditional homeland’ theories.
India sings the national anthem in one language though there are officially 22 languages used throughout the states. India has over 1.3billion people. We in Sri Lanka with 20million are agreeing to sing the national anthem in 2 languages just to please whom if most of the time they don’t sing it or even hoist the national flag during Independence Day!
The reason for this obviously is that Sri Lanka did not have a freedom struggle. We never fought for freedom, there were no battle cries. Our independence did not come through bloodshed. The brave men that fought in 1818 and 1848 battles and those that fought against all 3 colonial rulers did not exist after the British began governing the country. Instead lackeys to the Crown were created through education, jobs, disbursement of lands and titles.
Let us also not forget that just as the Provincial Council system was imposed upon us, the notion of historical traditional homelands theory was also created by the Indians for their own political agenda and it was the Indians that insisted Tamil be made an official language in par with Sinhala. All these came under vile threats. We gave into these bogus demands and now we are finding difficulty in removing it. We should not make another similar mistake.
Germany’s population is just over 80million. 74million are German citizens. 9.9million (12.3%) of the German population are immigrants. Yet, Christianity is the largest religion and German leaders are not shy to say Germany is a Christian country. There are 2.1million adherents of Islam. Yet German is the official language. Will Germany agree if 9.9million immigrants started demanding their language be incorporated into the German national anthem or national flag? We think not. Would the Tamils now living in Germany refuse to learn German or sing the national anthem in German? Most certainly not.
In the case of Canada which has a population of 35million it was invading forces that took over from the natives and gave them second citizenship status. There are 6.2million minorities in Canada making 19% of the total population. Of these minorities 31% were born in Canada while 65% were born outside and came to live in Canada as immigrants. Will Canada’s government agree to make changes to Canada’s national anthem or flag if the 19% immigrants start making demands based on the need to have their rights incorporated? We think not. With a very large Tamil diaspora population in Canada who are not shy to put up nameboards in Tamil, would they demand the country’s national anthem be in Tamil or refuse to sing the national anthem? Most certainly not.
The United Kingdom comprises Great Britain and Northern Ireland and has a total population of 63million of which 4.3million are Asians and 1.9m are Blacks. David Cameron proudly declares Britain is a Christian country, but he also brags that it is a secular country. English is the official language of Great Britain. The Union Jack created in 1606 is the national flag though Scotland & Wales also have their own flags but the national anthem remains ‘God Save the King/Queen’. If the 4.3million Asians started demanding that the national flag or the national anthem be changed to incorporate their rights would the British Government agree to do so? We think not. Why are the Tamil Diaspora who exert influence over British MPs not demanding why Tamil is not incorporated into the British national anthem or Tamil be made a national language in Britain?
France has a population of 63million. La Marseillaise is the national anthem of France. There are 5.3million foreign-born immigrants and 6.5 million direct descendants of immigrants (born in France). Would France agree if 5.3million immigrants start making demands to change the French national anthem & national flag? Certainly not. Would Tamils living in France demand Tamil be made a national language or refuse to learn French?
The oldest national anthem ‘Wilhelmus’ in 1574 sung by the Dutch is in words no one understands but Netherlands will not hear of changing the words and Netherlands with a population of 16.9million has 1.8million immigrants.
Will the Australians agree to sing an Aboriginal song alongside Waltzing Matilda or declare a dual national day?
Do the Tamils in Tamil Nadu refuse to sing the Indian National anthem in Bengali and there are 72million Tamils in India? If they refuse will the Indian Central Government allow such nonsense?
If David Cameron can say Muslim immigrants must learn English or leave why does it become a problem when we say Sinhalese should be the only national language and everyone must learn Sinhalese first.
While none of these countries would think of changing their national flag because of political correctness Sri Lanka foolishly did by adding 2 colors to incorporate Tamils and Muslims, but obviously that has served no purpose because now both Tamils and Muslims who can show no indigenous roots to Sri Lanka are demanding separate mono-ethnic areas in such a small country while reserving the right to live all over the island. This means only Sinhalese are out of bounds in the North and East while Tamils and Muslims have an area for themselves and can start coming and settling in areas Sinhalese are confined to (7 out of 10 persons in Sri Lanka are Sinhalese) If the Sinhalese politicians are agreeing to such a set up they are worse than any enemy.
The following countries incorporate their religion into the national flag (1 in 3 countries have a religious symbol on their national flag) so much for the claims of separating the Church & the State!
| Christianity
32 nations |
Armenia, Andorra, Australia, Columbia, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Tongo, Tuvalu, Vatican City, United Kingdom |
| Islam
22 nations |
Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Comoros, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan |
| Hindu | India |
| Buddhist | Bhutan, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, |
National Anthems upholding a specific religion (as much as they say their nations are secular the core identity of the nation remains intact & unchanged though political statements say something else)
Pew Research declares that 64 countries have religious symbols on their national flags of which 48% are Christian. This shows that these Christian nations ensure the framework of Christianity in their country does not change.
| Christianity
|
Antigua & Barbuda, Austria, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Burundi, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, DR Congo, Ecuador, El Salvador Estonia, Fiji, Franc, Ghana, Georgia, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papau New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, Romania, Russia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uruguay, UK, US, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe
|
| Islam
|
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Brunei, Chad, Comoros, Egypt, Gambia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, Uzbekistan, Yemen
|
Western politicians in the US, Australia, UK and Canada often use phrases ‘Christian values’ and ‘family values’ in reference to censorship of sexual content, laws against induced abortion, sexual abstinence outside marriage, laws against same-sex marriage, against homosexuality, supporting culture of Christian compassion, protection of environment being that of God’s creation, promoting Render unto Caesar
A quick-fix in changing the words Namo Namo to ‘Sri Lanka’ without the consent of the author led to his suicide. Therefore, Sri Lankan authorities are warned not to repeat by hurrying making another mistake.
It is not the communities that are demanding the change to the national anthem/flag. It is always the same players who are responsible for the countries woes – they are the politicians, political parties, rebel movements, foreign funded individuals/organizations on foreign payroll and following foreign orders and all their supporters who do not rationalize their thinking on what is best for the nation and not just one community.
Knowing that a violation of the constitution took place in singing the national anthem recently the defense has been to say that the national anthem was sung in 1948 in Tamil too. If by singing the national anthem in Tamil a gesture of goodwill and unity was created when in 1948 the Ceylon Tamils were less than the Tamils brought in by the British from Tamil Nadu, why did Chelvanayagam and clan create the Illankai Arasu Katchchi party in 1949 seeking a separate state?
That 1949 quest remains in tact because inspite of singing the national anthem in Tamil in 2016, the TNA and the Opposition Leader are demanding ‘homelands’ and endorsing their right to secede while the Northern Province Chief Minister from the TNA is saying that Sinhalese cannot live in the North or East and Tamils cannot marry Sinhalese (while his own two sons are married to Sinhalese and Wigneswaran and Vasudeva Nanayakkara are the two father-in-laws)
Also the present national anthem was officially chosen only on 22nd November 1951. The national anthem was given due status in the 1978 constitution where it is very clear on how the anthem should be sung.
Now the devil is playing advocate and there are new calls to even change the national flag. Let it be reminded that it was A Sinnalebbe MP for Batticoloa who on 16 January 1948 tabled a motion in the House suggesting that the Lion Flag of the last Kandyan King Sri Vickrema Rajasinghe be made the national flag as that was the flag that the British took down in 1815.
“That this House is of opinion that the Royal Standard of King Sri Vikrema Rajasinghe, depicting a yellow lion passant, holding a sword in its right paw, on a red background, which was removed to England after the Convention of 1815, should once again be adopted as the Official Flag of Free Lanka.”
It took another Muslim leader Dr M C M Kaleel the President of the All Ceylon Muslim League to declare that Muslims would be happy to retain the Lion Flag as the flag of independent Lanka. Thankfully there were no Hakeems, Bathurdeens, A Salleys, Mustaphers, Ashroffs at that time and unfortunately no Sinhalese politician to think of the logic of replacing the Lion flag as Mr. Sinnalebbe did.
If the Muslims can say they have no issue with the Lion flag being used what is the problem that the Tamil politicians & foreign passport holding Tamil Diaspora are having?
For those unaware of the history (because politicians have chosen not to instil patriotism or nationalism in the education syllabus) many are unaware of the rich history of Sri Lanka. The Lion symbol was used by the Lankan monarchs and is even recorded in the Mahavansa and Chulavamsa. Historian and eminent poet/writer Arisen Ahubudu described this flag as the symbol of heroism.
“The Lion with the sword raised in its right hand denotes the onward march of the people without any fear for the enemies of the nation. The colour yellow denotes righteousness and peaceful way of life. The red in the background of the heraldic lion with the sword denotes the defeating of the evil forces of oppression. The nation and the people guided by the message of the flag will never resort to provoke others. The four bo-leaves on the four corners indicate exactly the truism of non-aggression. The people of the Lion Flag never regress from their onward march until victory is achieved
Gold: represents intelligence, peace, non-violence and truth.
Crimson: represents immortality.
Four Bo-leaves: loving kindness, compassion enjoying the joy of others happiness and equanimity.
The Lion: signifies heroism, strength, and discipline of the nation. Head-ruler (shape of a crown); Eye – watches the rulers performance, Tongue: the rulers statements should be honest and truthful, Head and Tail: equality between ruler and the citizens, Hairy-heaps: denote strength, The Sword: is an indication that the country should be ruled righteously meting out justice to all.
Singing the national anthem in Tamil has not changed the demands for separatism by Tamil leaders.
Changing the national flag to incorporate Tamils and Muslims using 2 colors has not changed demands for mono-ethnic/lingual enclaves.
The question is why should the Sinhalese cede more of what holds the country together when quarters are hell-bent on creating separate states?
Is political correctness defined as the majority ceding and forfeiting their historical hold on Sri Lanka to gain the mirage of confidence of the minorities?
It is not our fault that the countries promoting multiculturalism are those that do not have rich cultures or heritage to boast of. We have man-made reservoirs, tanks, ancient architecture, our arts and crafts have even been sent overseas, we have built massive ships on orders….there is so much that our own do not know about to value.
What needs to be made clear is that anything copied from examples of other countries does not connote the national identity of our country.
All these new calls are meant to de-legitimize a national culture, remove historical links and supplant new living styles that are alien and have no roots in the predominant culture or ancient civilization that laid the foundation of this nation.
These foolhardy experiments with the national anthem and national flag should stop forthwith. The world must be laughing at us for they will not change theirs but we are bending backwards to agree to change ours and in so doing committing grave hara-kiris all of which are perfect for the realization of their agendas.
Shenali D. Waduge
Urgent Petition – President Maithripala Sirisena
February 29th, 2016BY: Sri Lankan Solidarity Movement
TARGET: President Maitripala Sirisena-President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
- Urgent Petition – President Maithripala Sirisena
Dear President Sirisena,
Written below are urgent concerns that Sri Lankans living overseas (as well as within Sri Lanka) would like you to implement with immediate effect for the greater benefit of Sri Lanka.
- A total rejection of the report of the OHCHR as presented by the UNHRC High Commissioner in which sentence after sentence (or in its entirety) is supposition, innuendo and downright lies.
- A total rejection of the US resolution in its entirety that was forced upon Sri Lanka at the UNHRC.
- Absolute no to setting up of an office of the OHCHR in Sri Lanka to implement the US resolution which should be rejected in total.
- Absolutely no to hybrid courts, foreign judges, foreign defence lawyers, foreign prosecutors, foreign investigators or foreign technical assistance (whose salaries will be paid by the OHCHR which in turn is paid by the US).
- Absolute no to any domestic court either (whose salaries will be paid by the OHCHR which in turn is paid by the US). We can have a commission of inquiry only into any outstanding issues (not a judicial process) if at all necessary (we have already had many commissions of inquiry).
- Absolute no to new Acts of Parliament which if approved will enable courts of law in Sri Lanka to accept ‘evidence’ provided by anonymous witnesses whose identities will only be revealed after twenty years (these so called witnesses are in fact LTTE terrorists or their supporters and their ‘evidence’ is all bogus lies). At present, a witness has to appear in person in a court of law so that the defendant’s lawyer can cross examine any witness to figure out if the witness is lying. Not being able to do so is a grave injustice, not justice.
- Absolute no to any new Acts of Parliament containing new sets of laws which were not around when the war was conducted. However if approved, the Armed Forces will be judged under these news sets of laws which were not around when the war was conducted. This is a grave injustice, not justice.
- Demand from the OHCHR why the massive number of war crimes committed by the LTTE terrorists at the behest of their leader Prabhakaran, such as massacre of civilians in their own villages, at places of worship, in their agricultural fields; bombs, IED devices, claymore mines used against civilians and civilian modes of transport and massacring them; massive bomb blasts conducted in cities, shops, oil storage facilities, airports, buses, trains, hotels, temples; ethnic cleaning of the entire North of its Sinhala and Muslim peoples; massacring of prisoners of war (PoWs) on many occasions; recruitment of child soldiers; killing of politicians, journalists and other professionals not to the LTTE leader Prabhakaran’s liking to name but a few crimes, are not even considered for investigation.
- A Unitary State should be guaranteed.
- No to Land, Police, Fiscal or any other additional powers to Provincial Councils than they have at present.
- No to merger of any two provinces.
- No to non-existent ‘homelands’. Sri Lanka is the owner of a history of over 2,600 years of Sinhala Buddhist Civilization. Therefore, the island in total is the ‘homeland’ of all its peoples who live there at present and no bit part of it is therefore an exclusive ‘homeland’ of any exclusive group of people.
- The state religion should be Buddhism as at present. Buddhism should be taught as a subject at school as at present (students of other religions should be taught their own religions at school as at present).
- One national anthem, one national flag, one national bird, one national flower, one national tree etc.
- No to the abolition of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Abolition of this Act means all those who are in prison or in detention due to carrying out grave acts of terrorism (there are only some 200 plus persons in prison due to this Act at present) will automatically be released. If it has any shortcomings, it can be amended. There is no need to abolish it.
- No to the amendment of the Public Security Ordinance. If this Ordinance is amended, the President will have no powers to take over the running of a Provincial Council, if the Provincial Council acts out of line and demanded federal states, separate states and the like.
- No to reducing of the High Security Zones (HSZs). The HSZs exist due to security reasons. It is up to the Army, Navy or Air Force to decide if HSZs should be reduced. Those persons whose lands have been taken over due to HSZs can be provided alternative lands. Sri Lankan law states that any land can be taken over by the state for national purposes as long as the affected persons are provided adequate compensation or alternative lands.
- No to removal of any Army, Navy or Air Force Camps from the North or anywhere else. The other seven or eight provinces are not demanding that Army, Navy or Air Force Camps within their provinces be removed. So why should there be any special considerations for the North?
- No to converting the Palali Air Force Base into a civilian airport. Palali is one of the most important Air Force Bases belonging to the Sri Lankan Air Force. It should not be converted into a civilian airport as India wants.
- Immediately release all of the Sri Lankan Army, Navy and Army Intelligence personnel detained in prison without any evidence whatsoever to justify such a detention in any of the individual detention cases that have taken place so far. Are these personnel detained for no reason whatsoever to please the US, EU, UK, Norway, India, the OHCHR and the LTTE diaspora?
- Immediately reinstate the Naval Cordon around the Northern and the Eastern Seas in order to immediately stop the massive amounts of illegal fishing conducted using illegal fishing methods such as bottom trawling by Indian fishermen thus devastating our marine eco system. Illegal fishing by Indian fishermen deprives local fishermen of their incomes and livelihoods. Another reason to reinstate the Naval Cordon is due to arrival of illegal immigrants, contra brand, illegal drugs etc.
- No to the proposed Bridge or the ‘Hanuman Bridge’ and Tunnel between India and Sri Lanka, since this will only encourage a massive number, possibly millions, of desperate Indians of very low income status to rush to live in Sri Lanka, a much better place to live socio economically than India, which will only end up making Sri Lanka an Indian colony.
- No to signing of the ETCA Agreement or any other FTA with India under any other name. We already have an FTA with India which is more than sufficient. If the ETCA or any other agreement is signed with India, it will only encourage all the millions of desperate, unemployed Indians to rush to work in Sri Lanka and make our labourers and professionals unemployed since Indians will work for very low salaries and even for board and lodging. This will convert Sri Lanka into an Indian colony.
- Immediately resettle in the North the over 65,000 Sinhala people ethnically cleansed from the North by the LTTE terrorists and their leader Prabhakaran. Similarly, immediately resettle the over 75,000 Muslims ethnically cleansed from the North.
- Preserve and ensure the security of the over 273 important Buddhist archaeological sites present especially in the North and in the East and in particular the over 21 Buddhist archaeological sites in Jaffna.
Go to the web page and sign
- http://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/440/491/456/urgent-petition-president-maithripala-sirisena/
හුසේන් ගෙනා සීනි තැවරූ වෙඩි උණ්ඩ
February 29th, 2016~දයාන් ජයතිලක~
එක්සත් ජාතීන් ගේ මානව හිමිකම් මහ කොමසාරිස් සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් කුමරා සිය ශ්රී ලංකා සංචාරය නිමා කළේ වැදගත් මාධ්ය හමුවක් ද පවත්වමිනි. එහිදි කී දේ මෙන්ම ඒ තුළ වූ යටි අරුත් පිළිබඳ ආන්දෝලනාත්මක මතවාදයක් මේ වන විට රටතුළ ඇති ව තිබේ. අතිශය බුද්ධිමත් හා අනුහස් සහිත නායකයෙකු වු හිටපු ඇමරිකානු ජනාධිපති ජෝන් එෆ් කෙනඩි මහතා වරක් කී කතාවක් වන්නේ යමෙක් කටින් කියන දේ නොව ඔහු ඔහුගේ දැතින් කරන දේ දෙස හොඳින් බලා සිටින්න යන්නයි. ඒ අනුව වැදගත් වන්නේ සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් කුමරා කටින් කී දෙය නොව ආණ්ඩුව ජිනිවා යෝජනාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් දැතින් කරන්නට හදන දේ පිළිබඳව සළකා බැලීමයි. එහිදී පැහැදිලිවම කටින් කියන දේත් දෑතින් කරන දේත් අතර වෙනස අපට හඳුනාගත හැකිය.
ඉකුත් සති අන්ත ඉංග්රිසි පුවත්පතක පළවු ප්රධාන දේශපාලන ලිපියක් වැදගත් අනාවරණයක් කර තිබුණි. එම ලිපියේ සිරස්තලය වූයේ ජිනිවා යෝජනාව ක්රියාත්මක කිරීමට ආණ්ඩුව කාර්ය සාධක මණ්ඩලයක් පත් කරයි යන්නය. එම ලිපියේ විස්තර වූ ආකාරයට විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්යවරයා විසින් ඇමරිකාව, ඉන්දියාව සහ තවත් සමහර රටවලට ලියවිල්ලක් ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබේ. එම ලියවිල්ල මෛත්රිපාල සිරිසේන ජනාධිපතිවරයාට හෝ කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයට ඉදිරිපත් වූ බවක් දැනගන්නට නැත. එමෙන්ම එම ලියවිල්ල පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට යොමු කොටද නැත. එම ලියවිල්ලේ සඳහන් වන්නේ ජිනිවා ඇමරිකානු යෝජනාව ක්රියාත්මක කිරීම සහතික කිරීම සඳහා එකොලොස් දෙනෙකුගෙන් සමන්විත කාර්ය සාධක මණ්ඩලයක් පිහිටුවනු ලබන බවයි. මෙම කාර්ය සාධක මණ්ඩලයේ එකොලොස් දෙනාගේ නම්ද සඳහන් ව ඇත. එම නම් දෙස බලන විට සභාපතිත්වයට පත් කර ඇත්තේ සැහෙන සමාජ ගෞරවයක් හිමි නිතිඥ මනෝරි මුත්තෙට්ටුවේගම මහත්මියයි. එහෙත් ජිනිවා යෝජනා ක්රියාවට නැංවීම එම කාර්යය සහතික කිරීමේ කාර්ය සාධක මණ්ඩලයේ ලේකම්වරයා වන්නේ ආචාර්ය පාක්ය සෝත් සරවනමුත්තු මහතායි. මේ වැදගත් කාර්ය සාධක මණ්ඩලයේ එකොළොස් දෙනාගෙන් පස් දෙනෙකු පමණක් සිංහලයෝ වෙති. මෙහි සාමාජිකයන් තෝරාගනු ලැබුවේ කවර මිනුම් දඬු අනුවදැයි අපි නොදනිමු. එහි කිසිදු පාරදෘශ්යභාවයක් නැත. එහි පාරදෘශ්යභාවයක් තිබුණේ නම් එහි බහුතරය කුමන ජනවර්ගයකින් පැමිණියත් කමක් නැත. මෙම මණ්ඩලය සුදුසුකම් සහිතව පත්වූ මණ්ඩලයක් නොව එය තෝරා පත්කර ගන්නා ලද්දකි.
මෙහි කාර්යභාරය වන්නේ ජිනීවා යෝජනාව ක්රියාත්මක කිරීම සහතික කිරීම පමණක් නොව එම කටයුත්ත සඳහා ලංකාවට එන්නට නියමිත එක්සත් ජාතින්ගේ විශේෂ වාර්තාකරුවකු වන පබ්ලෝ ඩි ග්රීෆ් සමඟ සම්බන්ධීකරණ කටයුතු සිදු කිරීමයි. යුද්ධය පිළිබඳ විවේචනාත්මක යෝජනාවක් වන ජිනිවා යෝජනාව මෙරට ක්රියාත්මක කිරීම සඳහා ආණ්ඩුව විසින් පත් කරනු ලබන මණ්ඩලයේ සංයුතියෙන් පෙනෙන්නේ ජි.ජි.පොන්නම්බලම් මහතාගේ පනහට පනහ සුත්රයටත් ඔබ්බට යමින් රටේ බහුතරය සුළු තරයක් වන ලෙසත් කටයුතු කර ඇති බවයි. මෙමගින් සාධාරණයක් සිදුවේද යන්න අප විසින් ඇසිය යුතුම ප්රශ්නයකි.
එමෙන්ම මෙම පත් කරන්නට යන කාර්ය සාධක මණ්ඩලයේ අනෙක් ගුණාංග ලක්ෂණය වන්නේ කුමන ජනවර්ගයකින් හෝ වේවා රාජ්ය නිලධාරියෙකු ලෙස හෝ හමුදා නිලධාරියෙකු ලෙස කටයුතු කළ කිසිදු අයෙකු නොමැති වීමයි. මෙම කාර්ය සාධක මණ්ඩලයේ සියලු දෙනා රටේ විමුක්ති යුද්ධයට එරෙහිව කොටි සංවිධානය සන්තර්පනය කිරීමේ සටන් විරාම ගිවිසුමට පක්ෂව කටයුතු කළ සහ විදේශ තානාපති කාර්යාලවලට වඩාත් කිට්ටු ඊනියා සිවිල් සමාජ බුද්ධිමතුන් හෙවත් රාජ්ය නොවන සංවිධාන (NGO) සාමාජිකයන් බව කිව යුතුය. මෙයින් අපට පෙනෙන්නේ ශ්රී ලංකා රාජ්ය හා හමුදාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් කටයුතු කිරීමේදි සාධාරණ ක්රියාවලියක් මෙවැනි මණ්ඩලයකින් බලාපොරොත්තු විය නොහැකි බවයි. ඒ අනුව මෙම ප්රායෝගික භාවිතය තුළ සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් ගේ කථිකාව අපට
මැනවින් තේරුම් ගත හැකියි. සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් මහතා මාධ්ය හමුවේදි කි කරුණු වලින් බොහොමයක් පැවසීමට ඔහුට නිල අයිතියක් නැත. ඔහු මානව හිමිකම් පිළිබඳ එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මහ කොමසාරිස්වරයා පමණි. ඔහුට කතා කරන්නට තිබෙන්නේ එක්සත් ජාතින්ගේ විශ්ව මානව හිමිකම් ප්රඥප්තිය රටක ක්රියාත්මක වන්නේද නැද්ද එය කරන්නේ කෙසේද යන්න ගැනයි.
මෙහිදි ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් වුවද ඔහු කියන සියල්ල පිළිගත යුතු නැතත් ඔහුට ඒ පිළිබඳව කතා කරන්නට අයිතියක් ඇත. එහෙත් සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් කතා කර ඇත්තේ මොනවා ගැනද?
ලංකාවේ ප්රශ්නය වි ඇත්තේ අන්තවාදය යැයි ඔහු සඳහන් කර ඇත. උතුරු නැගෙනහිර ජනතාවට කොළඹ ජනතාව තරම් දියුණු ජිවන මට්ටමක් නැතැයිද පවසා තිබේ. යුද්ධයට පසුකාලීනව මුල් අවුරුදු කීපය තුළ ගත යුතු පියවර හා අනුගමනය කළයුතු ආකල්පයන් ගැන කතා කර තිබේ. යුද්ධයට පසු අනුගමනය නොකළ යුතු දේ ගැනත් හෙතෙම කතා කර ඇත.
ශ්රී ලංකාවේ අධිකරණ පද්ධිතිය ගැන ඔහු දක්වා ඇති අදහස් ඉතාමත්ම නිශේධනාත්මකය. ජාත්යන්තර ප්රජාව ශ්රී ලංකාව වැලඳගැනීමට ලැහැස්ති බවත් ත්රිවිධ හමුදාව උතුරු නැගෙනහිර ඉවත් කිරීමේ හැකියාව හා වුවමනාව ගැනත් පවසා ඇත. මේ කිසිවක් ගැන කතා කරන්නට ඔහුට අයිතියක් නැත. ඒ මක් නිසාද යත් ඔහු විසින් කියන ලද සියලු කාරණා අදාළ වන්නේ දේශපාලන කේෂ්ත්රයට බැවිනි. මෙහිදී ලංකාව හැර වෙනත් රටකට ගොස් ත්රස්තවාදය පරාජය කළ පසු රටක් ලෙසින් ගතයුතුය තිබූ පුළුල් ප්රතිපත්ති මාලාව ගැන කතා කළා නම් ඔහුට ලැබෙන්නේ අතුල් පහරකි. නමුත් ශ්රී ලංකාවේ වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුවේ වන දීනත්වය නිසාම රටේ සියලු මාතෘකා සම්බන්ධයෙන් විවෘතවම ඔහුට අදහස් දැක්වීමට ඉඩකඩ ලැබුණි. මේවා මානව හිමිකම් වලින් පරිබාහිර වු අභ්යන්තර කටයුතුය. රටේ දිසාව පිළිබඳ හා ආයතන පිළිබඳ විනිශ්චයන්ය. මේ කිසිවක් කිරීමට ඔහුට අයිතියක් නැත. සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන්ට එවැනි ප්රකාශයක් සිදු කිරීමට අයිතියක් නැතැයි දන්නා විදේශ අමාත්යවරයෙක් හෝ කැබිනට් අමාත්යවරයෙකුද අවාසනාවට මෙන් රටතුළ අද නැති බව පෙනේ.
තවද ජාත්යන්තර ප්රජාව ලංකාවට සලකන්නේ කෙසේද යන්න පිළිබඳ කතා කිරීමට ඔහුට කිසිදු අයිතියක් නැත. ඒ එය රාජ්ය තාන්ත්රික කටයුත්තක් බැවිනි. මෙහිදී ඔහු ජාත්යන්තර ප්රජාව ලෙස අදහස් දක්වන්නේ කවරෙක්ද? රටේ විදේශ ප්රතිපත්තියේ අසාර්ථකම අවස්ථාවල පවා ලෝකයේ සැහෙන
ජනගහනයක් නියෝජනය කළ රටවල සහයෝගය අපට ලැබුණි. එහිදී ජාත්යන්තර ප්රජාව ලෙසින් මොවුන් ඉඟිකරන්නේ බටහිර රටවල්ය. සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් යනු එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මහ ලේකම්වරයා නොවේ. මහ ලේකම් වරයා එවන් කතාවක් කළේ නම් ඊට අර්ධ වශයෙන් හෝ අයිතියක් ඔහුට ඇතැයි කිව හැකිය. මෙහිදී මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලය ගැන පවා කතා කරන්නට සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන්ට අයිතියක් නැත.
ඔහුට හිමිකම් ඇත්තේ තමාගේ මානව හිමිකම් මහ කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලය ගැන පමණක් වගකීමක් හා බලයක් සහිතව කතා කිරීමට පමණි.
සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් කළ ප්රකාශ සළකා බැලීමේදි එහි අර්ධ සත්යයක් හා ව්යංගයෙන් සිදු කරන ලද ප්රකාශයක් ද තිබුණි. ඔහු කියා සිටියේ තමාගේ වාර්තාව යුධ අපරාධ පිළිබඳ වූ වාර්තාවක් නොවන බවයි. එහෙත් එම වාර්තාව මඟින් සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් පවසා සිටියේ සහ වාර්තාව ඉදිරිපත් කළ අවස්ථාවේ දී වාචිකව ඔහු පවසා සිටියේ යුධ අපරාධ පමණක් නොව මානව වර්ගයාට එරෙහිව අපරාධ පවා ශ්රී ලංකාව තුළ සිදුවූ යුද්ධයේ අවසන් කාල පරිච්ඡේදයේ සිදුවු බවට විශ්වාස කළ හැකි සාක්ෂි ඇති බවයි.
එමෙන්ම මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලයේ සම්මත වූ ඇමරිකානු යෝජනාව ආරම්භ වූයේ සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් ගේ එම කියමන කේන්ද්රගත කරගත් වාර්තාව පිළිගනිමිනි. ඒ අනුව මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලයේ යෝජනාව සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් වාර්තාවේ ගර්භාෂයෙන් එළියට පැමිණි යෝජනාවයි.
සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් සිය වාර්තාවෙන් ජාත්යන්තර උසාවියට ලාංකික නායකයින් හෝ හමුදා නායකයින් ගෙන යා යුතු බවට සඳහන් නොකළ බව පැවසීය. එහි ඇත්තේ ද අර්ධ සත්යයකි. ඒ සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් ගේ වාර්තාවල ඇති නිර්දේශයක් වන්නේ එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයේ රටවල් 193ම විශ්ව අධිකරණ බල සීමා න්යාය යටතේ ලංකාවේ යුධ අපරාධ සිදු කළා යයි විශ්වාසනීයව සැකකළ හැකි පුද්ගලයන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් තම තමන්ගේ රටවල නඩු පැවරිය යුතු බවයි. ඒ අනුව ලාංකිකයන්ට එරෙහිව ලෝකයේ සියළු රටවල උසාවි වල නඩු පැවරිය යුතු යැයි කීම ජාත්යන්තර උසාවියට ගෙන යාම තරම්ම බරපතළ නිර්දේශයකි.
සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් ගේ මාධ්ය සාකච්ඡාවේදී ශ්රී ලංකාවේ අධිකරණය ගැන දරුණු විවේචන එල්ල විය. ඔහු කියන ලද්දේ ලංකාවේ අධිකරණය තුළ සතිපතා අර්බුදකාරී හා අසතුටුදායක දේ පැන නගින බවයි. අධිකරණ කටයුතු වලට බාධා සිදුවන ආකාරයට නොයෙකුත් පිරිස් කඩා පනින බවද ඔහු කීය. එහිදී ප්රශ්න දෙකක් මතු වේ. පළමු ප්රශ්නය වන්නේ විශේෂ අධිකරණයක් පිහිටෙව්වත් කලහකාරීන් එය වටකරනු ලැබීම වැළැක්විය නොහැකි නිසා මෙහිදී ඔවුන් අදහස් කරන ලද්දේ කුමක් ද යන්නයි. දෙවන ප්රශ්නය වන්නේ මෑතකදී උසාවිය අසළ ඇති වූ කලහකාරී සිද්ධිය සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන්ට එවන් ප්රකාශයක් කිරීමට තරම් මහෝපකාරී වන ලෙස කෘතිම වශයෙන් නිර්මාණය කරන ලැබු සිදුවීමක් ද යන්නයි.
කෙසේ නමුත් සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් කියන්නට උත්සාහ දරන්නේ මෙරට අධිකරණ පද්ධතිය හරහා යුද්ධය පිළිබඳ වගවීමේ ක්රියාවලිය විභාග කළ නොහැකි බව නොවේද? මින් අනාවරණය වන්නේ කුමක් ද?
මෙහිදි කිසිදු රටක නීති පද්ධතිය හා අධිකරණ පද්ධතිය ගැන විවේචනාත්මකය කතා කිරීමට එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයේ හුදු නිලධාරියෙකුට අයිතියක් නොමැති බවයි. ඉහළ නිලධාරියෙකුට වුවද එම අයිතිය නැත. එම අයිතිය උල්ලංඝනය කරන විට ශ්රී ලංකා ආණ්ඩුවේ කිසිවෙකු ඊට එරෙහිව කට නොඇරීම ඉතාම දුක්ඛිත තත්ත්වයකි.
එම කාරණයටත් වඩා වැදගත් කාරණාව වන්නේ සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් ගේ පණිවිඩය කුමක් ද යන්නයි. ඔහුගේ පණිවුඩය වන්නේ ලංකා අධිකරණයේ නුසුදුසු කම නිසා විදේශ සහභාගිත්වයක් සහතිව අධිකරණ පද්ධතියට පරිභාහිරව විශේෂ අධිකරණයකින් හා විශේෂ ආයතන මඟින් වගවීම පිළිබඳ සොයා බැලිය යුතු බවයි. මෙය අතිශය භයානක කතාවකි. ඒ මක්නිසාද යත් රටේ ස්වෛරීභාවය හා ස්වෛරී තීරණ ගැන කුමක් කටින් කීවත් ඔහුගේ ප්රකාශනය මඟින් පැහැදිලිව පෙනෙන දෙයක් තිබේ. ඒ රටේ රාජ්ය ආයතන පිළිබඳ අවලාදාත්මක අවප්රමාණයක් සිදු කිරීම මඟින් රටේ ස්වෛරීත්වයට විශාල හානියක් සිදුවන පරිදි විදේශ සහභාගිත්වයක් සහිත විශේෂ උසාවියක් පිහිටුවන්නට ඔහු මාන බලනු ලබන බවයි.
මෙහිදී යෙදෙන ක්රමවේදය අප හොඳින් හඳුනාගත යුතුය. යටත් විජිතවාදී කාල පරිච්ඡේදයේදී අපේ රටවල පාලන කටයුතු මෙන්ම පරිපාලන කටයුතු වලට හා අධිකරණ කටයුතු වලට නායකත්වය දුන්නේ විදේශිකයන්ය. එහෙත් පැරණි යටත් විජිතවාදයේ සිට නව යටත් විජිතවාදයට හෙවත් නව අධිරාජ්යවාදයට පැමිණි පසු සිදුවන්නේ දුඹුරු හෝ කළු පැහැති වෙස් මුහුණු පැළඳ ගෙන විදේශිය මෙහෙයවීමක් සහිතව එම කටයුතු කරවීමයි. සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් ගේ සූත්රය වන්නේ
දේශිය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවෙන් සම්මත කරගත් විදේශිය සහභාගීත්වයක් සහිත විශේෂ අධිකරණයක් පිහිටුවා එහි දේශපාලන අවදානම ලංකා ආණ්ඩුව විසින් රැගෙන බටහිරට අවශ්ය පරිදි දඩයමක් ක්රියාත්මක කිරීමයි.
මෙහදී සෙයිද් ගේ කතාවෙන් මට සිහිවන්නේ ඇමරිකාවේ යමෙකු විදුලි පුටුවට යවන විට එන්නත් කරනු ලබන එන්නත් තුන පිළිබඳවයි. එහි පළමු එන්නතකින් සිදු කරන්නේ සිහිමුර්ඡා කිරීමයි. එම සිහි නැති කිරීමෙන් පසුව චූදිතයා මරණයට පත් කිරීමේ එන්නත් දෙක්ක දෙනු ලබයි. සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් ගේ කතාව මෙරට වැසියන් ගේ විඥාණය නිද්රාවට පත් කරන ආකාරයේ පළමු එන්නතයි. ඉතිරි එන්නත් දෙක ලබා දීමේ වගකීම පවරා ඇත්තේ ශ්රී ලංකාව ආණ්ඩුවටයි.
මේ ගැන ලංකා ආණ්ඩුව පැහැදිලි ප්රකාශයක් සිදු කළ යුතුය. එවැනි පැහැදිලි ප්රකාශයක් රටේ විපක්ෂය විසින්ද බලකර ඉල්ලා සිටිය යුතුය. එම ප්රකාශය විය යුත්තේ ඊනියා වගවීම පිළිබඳව රටේ
පවතින ව්යවස්ථාව සංශෝධනයකින් තොරව ක්රියාත්මක කරනු ලැබෙන්නේද? රටේ පවතින නීති රටාව සංශෝධනය කරනු ලබන්නේද? එමෙන්ම රටේ පවතින ආයතන අලුත් ආයතන වලින් තොරව ක්රියාත්මක වීමට ඉඩ දෙනු ලබන්නේ ද? මෙම ක්රියාවලිය පරිපූර්ණ වශයෙන් දේශිය වූ ජාතික ක්රියාවලියක් වන්නේද එසේත් නැත්තම් විවිධ නම් හා විවිධ වෙස් මුහුණු බැඳගත් විදේශිකයින් වද්දා ගන්නා වූ ක්රියාවලියක් වන්නේද? යන්නයි. ආණ්ඩුව විසින් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී මේ පිළිබඳ නිල ප්රකාශයක් කළ යුතුයි.
සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් කුමාරයා පවසන්නේ අධිකරණ ක්රියාවලිය ගැන තීන්දු ගැනීම හා විශේෂයෙන් ම හයිබ්රිඩ් උසාවියක් ද නැද්ද යන්න පිළිබඳ තීන්දු ගැනීම ලංකාවේ ස්වෛරී අයිතියක් බවය. එහෙත් ඊටත් වඩා ලංකාවේ ස්වෛරිත්වය සම්බන්ධ කාරණාවක් තිබේ. එනම් තම රට තිස් අවුරුදු යුද්ධයකින් මුදවා අතිශය භයානක ත්රස්තවාදී රකුසෙකුගෙන් රට මුදවාගෙන පුරවැසියන්ට සාමය හා අනාගත පරම්පරාව ට ජීවත් වීමේ අයිතිය තහවුරු කරදුන් හමුදාවක් සහ දේශපාලන නායකත්වයක් ගැන සය අවුරුද්දක් ගිය තැන හාරා අවුස්සා බලන්නේද නැද්ද යන්න පිළිබඳව තීන්දුවයි.
ලෝකයේ මෙවැනි තත්ත්වයක් ඇති වූ වෙනත් රටක් සම්බන්ධයෙන් මා අසා නැත. භයානක ත්රස්තවාදයකින් රට මුදවා දුන් නීත්යානුකුල හමුදාවක් හා ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදි නායකත්වයක් ගැන පරීක්ෂණ කරන්නට විදේශිකයන් වද්දවා ගෙන විශේෂ අධිකරණ පිහිටුවා නඩු විභාග කරන කිසිදු රටක් මිහිපිට නැත. මෙවැන්නක් කරනවාද නැද්ද යන්න පිළිබඳ මූලික තීන්දුව ගැනීම ලංකාවේ ස්වෛරී අයිතියකි.
මෙම කාරණයේදී මට කිව හැක්කේ ආණ්ඩු හා දේශපාලනඥයින් සම්බන්ධයෙන් මගේ විශ්වාසය අල්ප බවයි. එහිදී ආණ්ඩු හා දේශපාලනඥයන් ගේ අවධානයට යමක් යොමුවන්නේ ඡන්ද හිමිවීමෙන් හෝ අහිමි වීමෙන් ඔවුන්ට අත්වන පලාපල අනුව බව කිවහැකියත ඒ අනුව බලද්දී දැන් කළ යුතුව ඇත්තේ ලංකා හමුදාවේ තිස් අවුරුදු යුද්ධයට අනුගාමීව එහි සේවය කළාවූ සියලු රණවිරුවන් හා එම පවුල්වල සාමාජිකයන් එක්කර ගන්නා වූ ජාතික ව්යාපාරයක් ගම්මට්ටමින් ඇරඹීමයි.
කොටි සංවිධානය තම පැත්තෙන් පරිත්යාග සිදුකළ අයට කියනු ලැබුවේ මහ විරු පවුල් කියායි. ඒ අනුව තිස් අවුරුදු යුද්ධයකට දායක වූ හමුදාවේ වීර පවුල් ලංකාවේ සෑම ගමකම සිටිති. මොවුන්ගෙන් සැදුම්ලත් දැවැන්ත ජාතීක ව්යාපාරයක් සන්නද්ධ හමුදා සුරක්ෂිත කිරීම සඳහා පිහිටුවන්නේ නම් එතැන විශාල ඡන්ද ප්රමාණයක් රැඳෙනු ඇත. එම විශාල ඡන්ද ප්රමාණය තමන්ට අහිමි වෙතැයි ආණ්ඩුව බිය වන්නේ නම් පමණක් සෙයිද් අල් හුසේන් ගේ සීනි තැවරූ වෙඩි උණ්ඩ හමුදාවට සහ යුද්ධය ජයග්රහණය කළ දේශපාලන නායකත්වයට වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුව විසින් එල්ල නොකරනු ඇත.
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ETCA -ලංකාවට එන ආයෝජකයා ඉන්දියාවට ගෙන්වා ගන්නා ඉන්දියානු උගුලකි -SITP
February 29th, 2016තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්රය
මෙරට ඉතා ඉහළ වර්ධනයකට අවශ්ය ස්වාභාවික විභවයක් ඇති තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්රය ඉන්දියාවට විවෘත්ත කිරීම හරහා එහි වර්ධනයට බලපාන සාධක අහිමිවීම නිසා අනාගතයේ දරුණු කඩා වැටීමට ලක් වනු ඇති බවත් , ඒ හරහා දැනට මෙරටට ලැබිය හැකි තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්රයට අදාළ ආයෝජන පවා ඉන්දියාවට ගලා යාමේ දැඩි අවධානමක් ඇති බවත් තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණික වෘත්තිකයන්ගේ සංසදය පෙන්වා දෙයි.
IT වනසන ETCA යන මැයෙන් කොළඹදී පැවති මාධ්ය හමුවකට එහි වෙමින් එහි ලේකම් ලසන්ත වික්රමසිංහ මහතා මේ බව පෙන්වා දෙයි.
මීට පෙර නියෝජ්ය අමාත්ය ආචාර්ය හර්ෂ ද සිල්වා මහතා පවසා තිබුණේ මේ ගිවිසුම හරහා මැදපෙරදිග කාන්තා ශ්රමිකයන්ගෙන් යැපීම නවතා ගත හැකි වනු ඇති බවයි. නමුත් තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණික වෘත්තිකයන් වෙනුවෙන් ලසන්ත වික්රමසිංහ මහතා මේ මාධ්ය හමුවේදී පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ එහි සත්යතාවයක් නොමැති බවත් සැබෑවටම සිදු වෙමින් යන්නේ එහි විලෝමය බවයි. මේ ගිවිසුම හරහා අපට අනාගතයේ දිනක මැද පෙරදිග වහල් සේවයෙන් යැපෙනවා වෙනුවට තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ශේත්රයෙන් ලැබෙන වර්ධනය හරහා මැදපෙරදිග වහල් සේවය නවතා ගැනීමට පවා ඇති අනගි අවස්ථාව නැති වෙමින් ඇති බවයි ඔහු සාධක සහිතව අවධාරණය කරන්නේ..
ඒ මාධ්ය හමුවේ තවදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ ලසන්ත වික්රමසිංහ මහතා …
තොරතුරු තාක්ෂ්ණ ක්ෂේත්රය ETCA ගිවිසුම සඳහා මුලින්ම තෝරා ගැනීම පිටිපස ප්රබල හේතුවක් තිබෙනවා. එය අපගේ රැකියා ඉන්දියානුවන් විසින් ඩැහැ ගැනිමට ලඝු කොට නොතැකිය යුතුයි. මෙරට සිටිනා මෙම ගිවිසුමට සහය පළ කරන අසාර්ථක ආර්ථික උපදේශකයනට එම කූඨෝපාය ගැන අවබෝධයක් තිබෙන බවක් පෙනෙන්නට නෑ.ඔවුන් වෙළඳ ගිවිසුම් ගැන දන්න අය වෙන්න පුළුවන්, නමුත් ඔවුන් මේ තොරතුරු තාක්ෂන ක්ෂේත්රය ගැන තියෙන අවබෝධය ඉතා අඩු බව පේනවා.
ලංකාවේ තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ අංශයේ වත්මන් තත්වය ගැන අවබෝධයක් අප මුලින්ම ලබා ගතයුතුයි. ලංකාවේ තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්රය පසුවන්නේ සීග්රයෙන් වර්ධනය වන තත්වයක. තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්රයට අදාලව සැළකුවහොත්;
2007 දී අපනයන ආදායම ඇ. ඩො. මිලියන 200යි. 2103 වෙනකොට එය ඇ. ඩො. මිලියන 700 ඉක්මවා තිබෙනවා. වසර 6ක් ඇතුලත තුන්ගුණයකට වඩා අපනයන ආදායම වැඩි වී තිබෙනවා.
· 2007 දී ,මෙම ක්ෂේත්ර්යේ අපනයන ආදායම ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 200 ක් විතර. 2013 වසර වන විට එය ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 700 ඉක්මවා යනවා. වසර 6ක් තුළ තුන් ගුණයකට වඩා වර්ධනය වී තිබෙනවා.
· 2007 දී මෙම ක්ෂේත්ර්යේ රැකියා 33,000 ක් පමණ වුනා. 2013 වන විට රැකියා අවස්තා 75,000 ඉක්මවනවා. වසර 6ක් ඇතුලත රැකියා ප්රමණය දෙගුණයකට වඩා වර්ධනය වී තිබෙනවා..
ඒ වගේම අන්තර්ජාතික සමීක්ෂණ වාර්තාවලට අනුව ලොව පුරා තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්ර්යේ ආයෝජනය සදහා සුදුසුම ස්ථාන 25 තුළට ලංකාව ඇතුලත් වෙලා තියෙනවා.
· 2013 වසරේදී එක්සත් රාජධානියේ National Outsourcing Association විසින් Outsourcing Destination of the Year ලෙස ලංකාව හඳුනා ගත්තා.
අප විසින් ලංකාවේ නිපදවන ම්රුදුකාංග ලෝකයේ දැවැන්ත සමාගම් විසින් භාවිතා කරනවා . ඒ අතර ලන්ඩන් කොටස් වෙළදපල, මයික්රොසොෆ්ට්, එමිරේට්ස්, කටාර් එයාවේස්, ජේපී මෝගන් සහ ගූගල් වැනි ලෝ පතළ සමාගම් තිබෙනවා.
ඒ නිසා මේ කරුණු ස්වල්පය සලකා බැලුවත් පේන්න ඕනා ලංකාවේ තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්රය ඉතා දිගු ගමනක් යා හැකි තවමත් වර්ධනය වෙමින් පවතින ඉහළ විභවයක් ඇති ක්ෂේත්ර්යක් බව.
SLASSCOM සංවිධානය සිය වාර්තාවකින් 2014 දි කියනවා මෙම ක්ෂේත්ර්යේ පාර්ශව කරුවන්, රජය සහ අධ්යාපනඥයින් එක්ව යා යුතු ගමනක පැහැදිලි ඉලක්ක තුනක් ගැන.
1. 2022 වන විට ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 5ක ආදායමක්. 2013 වනකොට තිබ්බේ මිලියන 700ක්. ඒක බිලියන 5 දක්වා යන්න තමයි ඉලක්කය.
2. සෘජු රැකියා ලක්ෂ 2 ක්
3. අළුතෙන් ආයතන 1000 ක් ආරම්භ කරන්න.
ඒකෙන් පේනවා මේ ක්ෂේත්රයේ තියෙන විභවය. මේ රටේ ව්යවසාකයන්ට සහ අනාගත රැකියා ලබා ගන්න ඉන්නත තරුණ තරුණියන්ට තිබෙන සුවිශාල අවස්ථා ප්රමාණය.
· SLASSCOM සංවිධානය සිය වාර්තාවකින් 2014 දි කියනවා 2022 වන විට ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 5ක ආදායමක් දක්වා ඉලක්කගත කළ යුතුයි කියලා
· ඒ වගේම අන්තර්ජාතික සමීක්ෂණ වාර්තාවලට අනුව ලොව පුරා තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්ර්යේ ආයෝජනය සදහා සුදුසුම ස්ථාන 25 තුළට ලංකාව ඇතුලත් වෙලා තියෙනවා.
වර්ධනයට හේතුව
පසුගිය වසර කිහිපය පුරාම ලංකාවේ තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්ර්යේ දැවැන්ත වර්ධනයක් පෙන්නුම් කරනවා. එහෙම වෙන්නේ තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්ර්යේ නව ආයෝජනයන් සිද්ධ වෙන නිසා. විශාල ඉන්දියාව ආසන්නයේ තමයි මේ පුංචි අපේ ලංකාව පිහිටලා තිබෙන්නේ. එතකොට අපි කල්පනා කරලා බලන්න ඕනා තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්ර්යේ ආයෝජනය කරන ආයෝජකයෙක් අර විශාල ඉන්දියාවට නොගොස් මේ පුංචි ලංකාවට එන්නේ ඇයි කියලා. එහෙම එනවා දැන්. හේතුව තමයි ලංකාවේ උසස් කුසලතාව සහ සාපේක්ෂව අඩු පිරිවැය. දැන් තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්රයේ පිරිවැයෙන් වැඩි ප්රමාණයක් වැටුප්. එතකොට අපට පේනවා දැන් ඔහුගේ අවශ්යතා දෙකම සම්පූර්ණ කෙරෙන්වා. ඉහළ කුසලතාවය සහ අඩු පිරිවැය. වැටුප කියන සාධකය නිෂ්පාදන පිරිවැයට සහ මේ ක්ෂේත්රය තුල ඉහළ කුසලතාවයක් රදවා ගන්නවා. දැන් මේ වැටුප හරියට සමතුලිත වෙලා තියෙන්නේ. ආයොජකයා කියනවා නිෂ්පාදන පිරිවැය අඩුයි කියලා. ලංකාවේ තරුණ තරුණියන්ව ක්ෂේත්ර්යට ආකර්ෂණය කරන්නත් මේ වැටුපටම පුලුවන් වෙලා තියෙනවා. එතකොට ආයෝජකයෙකු ඉන්දියාවට නොගොස් ලංකාවට එන්න හේතුව තමයි පිරිවැය සහ කුසලතාවය අතර සමතුලිතතාවක් ඇති කරන්න මේ වැටුප සමත් වෙලා තියෙනවා.
ගිවිසුමෙන් පසුව ඇතිවන තත්වය.
මේ ගිවිසුමෙන් පසු අර පිරිවැය සහ කුසලතාව අතර සම්තුලිතතාවය බෙදෙනවා. කොහොමද ඒක වෙන්නේ?
මේ ගිවිසුමෙන් පසු ලංකාවේ රැකියාවෙළදපල ඉන්දියානුවන්ට විවෘත්ත වීම තුළ ලංකාවේ වැටුප් පහල යනවා. එතකොට අර තරුණයන්ගේ මේ ක්ෂේත්ර්යට තියෙන ආකර්ෂණය නැති වෙලා යනවා. දක්ෂයින් එන්නේ නෑ මේ ක්ෂේත්ර්යට. තරුණයන්ගේ දායකත්වය වැඩියෙන්ම වැදගත් අංශයක් තමයි තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්ර්ය. මොකද මේ දැනුම නිතර අළුත් විය යුතු නිසා. දැන් මේ ආකර්ෂණය අඩුවීම තුල අර ආයොජකයා කලින් දැක්ක කුසලතාවය කියන සාධකය ඉක්මණින්ම මිය යනවා. ඔහුට ඉන්දියාවට නොගොස් ලංකාවට පැමිණීමට තිබුනු සුවිශේෂී හේතුව තව දුරටත් වලංගු වෙන්නේ නෑ. ඔහු පුංචි ලංකාව වෙනුවට ඕනෑ තරම් විරැකියාවෙන් පෙළෙන තරුණයන් සිටින ඉන්දියාවටම යනවා.
මේකෙන් වෙන්නේ තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්ර්යේ තිබුනු සීග්ර වර්ධනය සහමුලින්ම ඇණහිටීමයි. එවිට අර ඉහළ විභවය වෙත ළඟා වීමක් සිදු වන්නේ නෑ. ලක්ෂ සංඛ්යාත වශයෙන් දැයේ දරුවන්ට ලබා ගත හැකිව තිබූ රැකියා ප්රමාණය නැතිවෙනවා. මේ ක්ෂේත්ර්ය ලංකාව තුළ එක තැන පල්වෙවි තිබෙන ක්ෂේත්ර්යක් බවට පත්වෙනවා.
අප බොහෝ දෙනා දුක් වෙනවා මැදපෙරදිගට යන කාන්තා සේවිකාවන් ගැන. අපට එය එකවර නවතා ගත නොහැක්කේ අපේ රටට බලපා ඇති ගෙවුම් හිඟයේ ප්රශ්නය නිසා කියලනේ කියන්නේ. හැබැයි ඒ හිඟය පියවන්න පුළුවන් ඉතාම ඉහළ විභවයක් තියෙන ක්ෂේත්රය තමයි මේ තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්රය. මැදපෙරදිග යන කාන්තාවන්ගෙන් යැපෙනවා වෙනුවට අනාගතයේදී මේ හරහා අපට රටක් ලෙස නැගිටීමට තිබෙන අවස්ථාවයි මේ යෝජිත ගිවිසුම හරහා අහොසි වෙමින් යන්නේ.
එනිසා ඉතාම පැහැදිලියි මේ ගිවිසුම තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ ක්ෂේත්ර්යේ ආයෝජකයා ලංකාවෙන් ඉන්දියාවටම රැගෙන යන්න ඉදිකරන පාලමක්. මේක රටට අහිතකරයි. රටේ ආර්ථිකයට අහිතකරයි. අනාගත දුවා දරුවන්ට අහිතකරයි. වත්මන් වෘත්තිකයට අහිතකරයි. අපි කියන්නේ ඔය ගිවිසුමේ වගන්තියක් දෙකක් වෙනස් කළා කියලා මේ උවදුරෙන් ගැලවෙන්න බෑ. ඕක අත්සන් කරන්න එපා කියලා.
සටහන :යටියන ප්රදීප් කුමාර
යුතුකම සංවාද කවය
Fitch Downgrades Sri Lanka to ‘B+’; Outlook Negative
February 29th, 2016Courtesy Adaderana
Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong-29 February 2016: Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to ‘B+’ from ‘BB-’. A Negative Outlook has been assigned to the IDRs. The issue ratings on Sri Lanka’s senior unsecured foreign- and local-currency bonds are also downgraded to ‘B+’ from ‘BB-’. The Country Ceiling is downgraded to ‘B+’ from ‘BB-’ and the Short-Term Foreign-Currency IDR is affirmed at ‘B’.
KEY RATING DRIVERS
The rating action reflects the following key rating drivers:
– Increasing refinancing risks. The Sri Lankan sovereign faces increased refinancing risks on account of high upcoming external debt maturities. Further, the sovereign’s external liquidity position remains strained, reflecting pressure on foreign exchange reserves. In Fitch’s view, this partly reflects a weakening in policy coherence that increases the likelihood of Sri Lanka requiring external liquidity support from the IMF and other multilateral institutions. Sri Lanka’s external liquidity ratio, as measured by Fitch at the end of 2015, was 70.9%, which is far below the median of ‘B’-rated peers’ of 171.9% and the ‘BB’ median of 152.4%.
– Significant debt maturities. Sri Lanka faces significant debt maturities in 2016 amid the country’s vulnerability to a shift in investor sentiment. Fitch estimates the sovereign’s external debt service to be close to USD4bn for the rest of 2016, compared with FX reserves of USD6.3bn (end-January 2016). Sri Lanka’s vulnerability to a shift in investor sentiment was evident when investors sold-off the equivalent of nearly USD2bn in local-currency government securities in 2015. A further outflow from treasury bills and treasury bonds, which account for about 31% of the country’s FX reserves, could put more pressure on reserves. However, prevailing low oil prices will continue to support Sri Lanka’s current-account deficit in the near term. Fitch
expects the current-account deficit to remain manageable at about 3% of GDP over 2016-17.
– Weaker public finances. The deterioration in Sri Lanka’s fiscal finances is driven partly by consistently low general government revenues. At an estimated 13% of GDP, Sri Lanka’s gross general government revenues remain far below the ‘B’ median of 25.4% and the ‘BB’ median of 26%. The 2016 budget did little to address this issue directly and absent any significant fiscal consolidation, Fitch expects continued fiscal slippage over 2016-17. Sri Lanka’s gross general government debt (GGGD) burden is estimated to have increased to more than 75% of GDP by the end of 2015, up from 71% at the end of 2014 and much higher than the ‘B’ median of 52% of GDP and ‘BB’ median of 43.6%.
– Decline in foreign-exchange reserves. Fitch has revised downwards its forecast for foreignexchange reserves,
with reserve coverage of current external payments now forecast to decline to 2.9 months in 2016 from an estimated 3.4 months in 2015. This forecast compares unfavourably with Fitch’s earlier forecast of 3.9 months for 2016 and is well below the ‘BB’ median of 4.2 months. While the authorities have undertaken certain measures to support external finances, including entering into bilateral swaps with other central banks, Fitch does not view this to be a sustainable way to improve the stability of the external finances.
– Foreign-currency debt portion remains high. Sri Lanka has also increased its issuance of foreign-currency debt, which Fitch estimates now makes up close to 46% of total public debt, up from nearly 42% at the end of 2014. This has increased vulnerability of Sri Lanka’s public debt to a significant depreciation of the exchange rate, which would increase the debt burden in local currency terms.
– Favourable economic growth. Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic performance remains stronger than some of its peers’ in the ‘B’ and ‘BB’ range with real GDP growth for the five-year period ending 2015 averaging close to 6%, compared with the ‘B’ median of 4.6% and ‘BB’ median of 3.9%. Sri Lanka also continues to score highly, compared with the ‘B’ median, on basic human development indicators, such as education, health and literacy, which is indicated by its favourable ranking in the UN’s Human Development Index. These relative structural strengths, combined with a clean external debt service record and smooth transition of power during the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2015 indicates a basic level of political stability, which supports the rating at ‘B+’.
RATING SENSITIVITIES
The Negative Outlook reflects the following risk factors that could, individually or collectively, result in a downgrade of the ratings:
– A further increase in external vulnerability driven by a sustained decline in FX reserves reflecting, for instance, reduced international market access and/or a sudden reversal in portfolio inflows.
– A further deterioration in policy coherence and credibility that widens macroeconomic imbalances and/or heightens external vulnerabilities.
– Continued fiscal slippage resulting in a failure to stabilise the general government debt ratio.
The main factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to a revision of the Outlook to Stable are:
– Implementation of a predictable and robust policy framework leading to a reduction in risks to basic economic and financial stability.
-Improvement in Sri Lanka’s public finances underpinned by a credible medium-term fiscal consolidation strategy, including a broadening of the general government revenue base.
-Sustained smaller current-account deficits with higher levels of non-debt capital inflows (FDI) and an increase in foreign exchange reserves.
KEY ASSUMPTIONS
– There is no renewal in the civil conflict that previously lasted 26 years and ended in 2009.
– Global economic assumptions are consistent with Fitch’s latest Global Economic Outlook.
ETCA AND SHIP BUILDING –INDIAN CONTRIBUTION …………ලංකාවේදී නැව් හදන්න ඉන්දියාවටත් දෙයි…
February 29th, 2016Dr Sarath Obeysekera
ලංකාවේදී නැව් හදන්න ඉන්දියාවටත් දෙයි… News Items in Sinhala Paper . Where and how ? Trinco is ideal for ship building and only area in along the coastal belt towards Sampur Hambantota already promised to Chinese and they are doing a feasibility study Government should elaborate their plans so that we can advise
I am a ship builder hence I am convinced that despite being an Island with costal belt right around we have not been able to capitalize on ship building.
Neil Marine,Blue star ( now owned by an Indian Company based in Dubai-Solas) north west ,Danushska etc are small scale fibre glass fishing boat builders who service fishing community
We also have a Belgian person who is fighting for survival in building Yachts in MIrissa
Government is not giving any support to them except milking them by way of custom duty and vat etc
Solar has got a large order from Indian Coast Guard to build 85 numbers coast guard boats and recently signed an agreement with Maldivian Coat Guard for three more
They hardly build anything for Sri Lanka
Then we have Colombo Dockyard which has moved to build larger vessels for Oil Industry and now no more for Sri Lankan Customers .They had an expert team of Naval Architects who were forced to retire at 55 (which is the peak of all expertise knowledge) .They all went to Dubai Dry Docks /Bahrain Ashrae Shipyard in Bahraib,Oman and Qatar and few to Singapore
These experts have spent over 10 years and Middle East .They do not keep them after 65 and some of them migrated Canada Australia and most want to return to Sri Lanka
I meet them often and they are eagerly waiting for Sri Lanka to re commence marine industry and ship building so that they can return home.
I am not talking about welders and fitters as after 65 they may not be that productive who return and start three wheeler business ,grocery stores and even running rice mills .What a waste !
Colombo Dockyard does not want to re-invest in the ship building industry even though they were asked to invest in Hambantota which they declined
Now Chinese are quite keen to open a ship yard in Hamabantota and I have decided to extent my fullest support and input ,
Now Japanese want to build harbour cranes for Japanese and to make money but not to develop our ship building Industry ,They import designs from Singapore ,and sadly our Naval Architecture is not developing
Sri Lanka Navy is going to retire many naval rating in next few years on retirement after over 20 year service ,we need to employ them
Otherwise they may tend to get involved in various activities not very good for the society .
I personally like to hire ex-navy ratings as they are quite disciplined and hard working .
Then the North has many able women and men –ex tigers who need some work hence developing ship building Industry is timely
What government can do is get down Indian managers, marking experts and expert welders and fitters under ETCA to Sri Lanka, providing that we open up small scale shipyards right around the Island and train our boys by working with them
We have over 20 fishery harbours now very productive, can be ideal locations to base ship building Industry
Sad situation is people like ourselves and Ex Marine experts are not be even consulted how to develop the Industry except that, they want to open our labour market to Indians for Ship Building without having any plans ,We wanted to develop Beruwala as a location and CEA is blocking with no tangible reason
We have to give Pioneer Status” to ship building Industry and allow importation of raw materials duty free and VAT free Then with cheap labour we can be competitive
We can build multi day fishing boats with Cold Room and freezing facilities ,catch Tuna and export .Now Chinese ,Thaiwanese and Japanse catch our Tuna and export
FINALLY ,I WANT ELBAORATE THE FACT THAT ,RATHER THAN CREATING FEAR psychosis we should indentfy what labour we want from india ,we should have forum of experts in the field and disucss what we lack and allow the selected experts to come
One industralist who is quite nationlistic, SAID once that under etca we will have har dressors and their wives and kids and even butchers
ප්රවාද නැතිව බැටකන සිංහලයෝ
February 29th, 2016නලින් ද සිල්වා
ඊනියා නිජබිම් සංකල්පය ගැන අප සාකච්ඡා කෙළේ අවුරුදු විසිපහකට පමණ පෙර ය. දෙමළ ජනයාගේ ව්යාජ ඉතිහාසය, බුදුදහම පාවාදීම, ජාතික කොඩිය, ජාතික ගීය සහ තවත් නොයෙකුත් දේ අපේ සාකච්ඡාවට භාජනය විය. දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය පිළිබඳ අපේ ප්රවාදයක් විය. ඒ අනුව එහි ආරම්භය ලන්දේසි කාලය දක්වා දික් විය. 1650න් පසු දුම්කොළ වගාවට ලන්දේසීන් අද දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ තමිල්නාඩුව නමින් හැඳින්වෙන වෙල්ලාලයන් ගෙන ඒම මෙහි ආරම්භය වෙයි. ලන්දේසිහු ඔවුන් දකුණු අප්රිකාවට ද ගෙන ගියහ. ලන්දේසීන්ගෙන් ලංකාවට හා දකුණු අප්රිකාවට වෙල්ලාලයන් ද රෝම ලන්දේසි නීතිය ද ලැබිණි. සිංහලයෝ ඒ දෙකෙන් ම පීඩාවට පත්වූහ, පත්වෙති. උගත්තු අපේ ප්රවාදය තුට්ටුවකටවත් මායිම් නො කළහ. අද නන්දිකඩාල් ජයග්රහණයෙන් පසුව ද සිංහලයන්ට නැවතත් දෙමළ නිජබිම් ගැන කතාකිරීමට සිදු වී ඇත. එපමණක් නොව බටහිර ග්රීක යුදෙවු ක්රිස්තියානි චින්තනයේ ද ඉන්දිය හින්දු (වෛදික) චින්තනයේ ද ආධිපත්යයට අප යට වී ඇත. කොළඹින් නුවරට ගොස් දළදා මාළිගාව ඉදිරිපිට පාර විවෘත කරන ලෙස උද්ඝෝෂණය කරන්නේත්, කිෂානි ජයසිංහගේ ඔපෙරා ගායනය අප මත පටවන්නේත්, භික්ෂූන්වහන්සේට අඩත්තේට්ටම් කරන්නේත් මේ ආධිපත්යය හේතුකොටගෙන ය. වාසනාවකට සිංහල සංස්කෘතියේ මහා පොදු සාධකයෙන් ඒ සියල්ලට ප්රතිරෝධයක් එල්ල කෙරෙයි. එහෙත් ඒ ඒ අවස්ථාව අනුව ඕල්කට් බෞද්ධයෝ ඒවාට විරුද්ධ වෙති. ඕල්කට් බෞද්ධයන් නොවුණ ද ඇතැම්හු තම්බයියා බෞද්ධයෝ වෙති. ඔවුහු බැළලියකට ගැසීමට ගල්කැටයක් ගැනීමට ද විරුද්ධ වෙති. මොවුන් තම්බයියා අනුව ආයුධ අතට ගැනීම ගැන හමුදාවට ද විරුද්ධ වන්නට ඇත.
ඇතැම් පුවත්පතක කතුවරයකුට අනුව අප ලියන්නේ එදා වේල ලිපි ය. එයින් ඔහු අදහස් කරන්නේ අප මොකක් නමුත් ලිපියක් ලියා කීයක් හරි සොයාගැනීම ද එසේත් නැත්නම් අපේ ලිපිවල හරයක් නැති කම ද යන්න පැහැදිලි නැත. කෙසේ වෙතත් ඔහු පුවත්පත් කතුවරයෙකි,ජනමාධ්යවේදියෙකි. දේශපාලනඥයන්ගෙන් බලු බැනුම් අසා නිහඬ ව සිටින ජනමාධ්යවේදීන්ගෙන් කෙනෙකි. තම පුවත්පතේ සගයන් නම් කරද්දී නෑසු කන් සහිත ව දෛනික කටයුතුවල යෙදෙන්නෙකි. ඒ කුමක් වුවත් දශක ගණනාවකට ඉහත දී ද අප ප්රශ්නයේ ඉතිහාසයට යද්දී ඇතැම් ජනමාධ්යවේදියකු පැවසුවේ වර්තමානයේ ප්රශ්න ගැන කතාකළ යුතු බව ය. එහෙත් වර්තමානය යනු අතීතයේ ප්රතිඵලයක් බව බොහෝ සිංහලයන්ට අමතක වෙයි. මේ සියල්ල නැවතත් මතක් කරගැනීමට සිදු වී ඇත. දැන්වත් සිංහලයන් එදිනෙදා සිද්ධිවලට පමණක් ප්රතිචාර නොදක්වා ප්රවාද අනුව සිතන්නට පුරුදු විය යුතු ය. අපි ප්රභාකරන් ඔහුගේ සීයලා බාප්පලා කෘතියෙන් දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය පිළිබඳ ප්රවාදයක් ඉදිරිපත් කෙළෙමු. සිංහලයෝ ඒ සාකච්ඡා නො කළහ. පොත් මිළ දී නො ගත් හ. එහි තුන්වැනි හා හතරවැනි මුද්රණවල පෙරවදන්වල මෙසේ ද සඳහන් විය.
2000 ජූනි මස තුන්වැනි මුද්රණයට ලියූ පෙරවදනෙන් උපුටා දක්වමු. එකල කොටි සංවිධානය පරාජය කර නො තබිණි. එහෙත් අපි මෙසේ කීවෙමු. කොටි සංවිධානය බිහිවූයේ දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය නිසා ය. කොටි සංවිධානය හමුදා මෙහෙයුම්වලින් පරාජය කිරීමෙන් පමණක් සෑහීමකට පත්වුවහොත් දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය විසින් තවත් කොටි සංවිධානයක් බිහිකරනු ලැබීමට ඉඩ ඇත. එබැවින් දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය දේශපාලනිකව ද පරාජය කිරීමට අප ඉටාගත යුතු ය….. .. ..අපි අද ප්රශ්නය තේරුම් ගෙන සිටිමු. එබැවින් විසඳුම ද පැහැදිලි ය. ප්රශ්නය දෙමළ ජාතිවාදයයි. බටහිරින් පෝෂණය වන දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය සිංහලත්වයට හිමි තැන අහිමි කිරීමට වෑයම් කරයි.” එහෙත් සිංහලයන් අදත් ප්රශ්නය තේරුම් ගත් බවක් පෙනෙන්නට නැත! අපට වැරදිණි.
2013 ජූලි පෙරවදනෙහි මෙසේ කීවෙමු.මෙරට දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය ලන්දේසීන්ගේ හා ඉංගිරිසින්ගේ නිර්මාණයකි. ලන්දේසීහු දුම්කොළ වගාව සඳහා දෙමළ ජනයා වත්මන් ඉන්දියාවේ කෝරමණ්ඩල වෙරළෙන් ගෙන්වූහ. එසේ ගෙන්වන ලද්දවුනට ව්යාජ ඉතිහාසයක් ලිවීමට ලන්දේසීහු අනුබල දුන්හ. සිංහල රජවරුන්ට නැගෙනහිර වෙරළේ අයිතිය අහිමි කිරීම ලන්දේසීන්ගේ අවශ්යතාව විය. මේ ව්යාජ ඉතිහාසය කවි පොතකට වඩා වැඩි යමක් නොවූ යාල්පානම් වෛපව මාලෙයි කෘතියෙන් ප්රථම වතාවට එළිදැක්විණි. ….. .. එසේ ගෙන්වනු ලැබූ දෙමළ ජනයා වෙල්ලාලයෝ වූහ. වෙල්ලාලයෝ කෘෂිකාර්මික කම්කරුවෝ වූහ. භාරතීය කුල ක්රමයට අනුව ඔවුහු ශුද්රයෝ වරහ. ලන්දේසීහු වෙල්ලායන් දකුණු අප්රිකාවේ නැටෝල් ප්රදේශයට ද ගෙන ගියහ. ඔවුන්ගෙන් පැවත එන්නෝ අද ද එහි ජීවත් වෙති. වෛදික කුල ක්රමයෙහි ශුද්රයන් වූ වෙල්ලාල හෙවත් කෘෂි කම්කරුවෝ ලංකාවේ දී දෙමළ සමාජයෙහි ඉහළම කුලය වීමෙන් ම පෙන්නුම් කරන්නේ මෙරට භාරතීය ක්රමයේ දෙමළ සමාජයක් ලන්දේසීන්ට පෙර හෝ පසුව හෝ තිබී නොමැති බව ය. ලන්දේසීහු මෙරටට බ්රාහ්මණයන් රැගෙන නො ආවෝ ය. එබැවින් භාරතයේ (ඉන්දියාවේ) මෙන් නොව මෙරට දෙමළ සමාජයේ පූජකයෝ ද වෙල්ලාලයන්ගෙන් ම පිරිසක් වූහ. භාරතයෙහි ශුද්රයන් පූජකයන් නොවන බව අපි දනිමු….. ..යුද්ධය, දේශපාලනය, ආගම, රාජ්යය ආදිය එකිනෙකින් වෙන්විය යුතු යැයි කියන්නෝ බටහිර පඬියෝ ය. ඒ ඔවුන්ගේ ග්රීක යූදෙවු ක්රිස්තියානි චින්තනය අනුව ය. එහෙත් බටහිර කිසිම රටක ක්රියාත්මක ව එවැනි වෙන්වීමක් දැකිය නො හැකි ය. යුද්ධය යනු ද දේශපාලනය මිස අන්කිසිවක් නො වේ. අප අදහස් කරන අයුරින් නම් ආර්ථිකය, දේශපාලනය හා සංස්කෘතිය එකිනෙක සමග බැඳුණේ වෙයි. ඒ කරුණු තුන හේතුකොටගෙන ඉතිහාසයේ යුද්ධ ඇති වී තිබේ. යුද්ධය යනු අවශ්යයෙන් ම දේශපාලන බලය අවියෙන් යෙදීම ය. සංස්කෘතික ප්රශ්නවලදී ද ආර්ථික ප්රශ්නවලදී ද යුද්ධ ඇතිවිය හැකි ය. එහෙත් එකී අවස්ථාවලදී ද දේශපාලන සංරචකය ඉස්මතු වෙයි. එයට හේතුව යුද්ධ ශක්තිය දේශපාලන ශක්තිය සමග බැඳී තිබිම ය.
එසේ වුවත් මෙහි දී අවධාරණය කළ යුතු කරුණක් වෙයි. ඒ කොටින් සමග යුද්ධයක් නොවූ බව ය. කොටි සංවිධානය රට දෙකඩ කිරීම සඳහා ආයුධ අතට ගත්තේ ය. එය රාජ්යාරක්ෂාවට තර්ජනයක් විය. අවශ්යයෙන් ම කළයුතු කාර්යය වූයේ හමුදා බලය යොදා කොටි වැනසීම ය. එය යුද්ධයක් නො වී ය. ඒ යුද්ධයක් නම් 1971 දී හා 1987 -– 90 කාලයේ දී ජ වි පෙරමුණට එරෙහිව කරන ලද හමුදා මෙහෙයුම් ද යුද්ධ විය යුතු ය. ඒ එකක්වත් රටවල් දෙකක් අතර යුද්ධවත් සිවිල් යුද්ධවත් නො වී ය. කොටින්ට එරෙහිව සිදුකරන ලද හමුදා මෙහෙයුම් යුද්ධ ලෙස හැඳින්වීමටත් ජ වි පෙරමුණට එරෙහිව කරන ලද මෙහෙයුම් යුද්ධ ලෙස නොහැඳින්වීමටත් හේතුව කුමක් ද?
එය බටහිරයන්ගේ අර්ථකථනයක් බව පැහැදිලි ය. එය ලංකාවේ ප්රචලිත කෙළේ කලක් ඩේලිනිවුස් පත්රයෙහි කතුවරයකු වූ ද සිංහල බෞද්ධ විරෝධී ලංකා ගාඩියන් සඟරාවෙහි සංස්කාරක වූ ද මර්වින් සිල්වා ය. මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ඔහුගේ පුතා වූ ෆෙඩරල්වාදී දයාන් ජයතිලක (වර්ධරාජා පෙරුමාල්ගේ ඇමති) වැන්නන් ලංකර ගෙන සිටීමෙන් සිංහලයන්ට වන යහපතක් නැත. යම් සංවිධානයකට එරෙහිව හමුදා මෙහෙයුම් කෙරෙන්නේ අභ්යන්තර කාර්යයක් ලෙස ය. එහෙත් යුද්ධ එසේ නො වේ. සිවිල් යුද්ධයක් වේවා රටවල් දෙකක් අතර කෙරෙන යුද්ධයක් වේවා විදේශවලට ද යම් බලපෑම් කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවක් ලැබෙයි. අභ්යන්තර හමුදා මෙහෙයුමක දී විදේශ රටක් අදාළ රාජ්යයට සහාය ලෙස ඇතැම් ක්රියාවල නිරත වනු දැකිය හැකි ය. එවැනි අවස්ථාවක දී විදේශීය රාජ්යය අදාළ රාජ්යයට එරෙහිව කටයුතු නො කරයි. ….. .. එහෙත් යුද්ධයක දී විදේශීය රාජ්යයකට අදාළ රාජ්යයට එරෙහිව පවා මැදිහත් වීමේ අවස්ථාව ලැබෙයි. ජ වි පෙරමුණට එරෙහිව බටහිර රටවල් මෙන් ම ඉන්දියාව ද ලංකාවට විවිධ අංශවලින් ආධාර කළේ ය. එහි දී කිසිම විදේශීය රාජ්යයක් ජ වි පෙරමුණේ සාමාජිකයන්ගේ මානව අයිතිවාසිකම් ගැන කතාකළ බවක් අපි නො දනිමු. එහෙත් කොටින්ට විරුද්ධව කළ හමුදා මෙහෙයුම් යුද්ධ ලෙස හැඳින්වූ බටහිර රටවල් හා ඉන්දියාව කොටින්ගේ ඊනියා මානව අයිතිවාසිකම් පිළිබඳ ව මහා උද්ඝෝෂණයක් කළේ ය. ඔවුහු අදත් ඒ උද්ඝෝෂණය දිගට ම කරගෙන යති. ඔවුන්ට අවශ්ය කිසියම් ක්රමයකින් හමුදාව ලබාගත් ජයග්රහණය ආපසු හැරවීම ය. එයට හරස්වන්නේ බහුතර සිංහල ජනමතය ය….. ..
දෙමළ ජාතිවාදයේ හතරවැනි යුගයේ බටහිර ප්රධාන කාර්යය වනුයේ අප හමුදා මෙහෙයුම්වලින් ලබාගත් ජයග්රහණය ආපසු හැරවීම හා මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ආණ්ඩුව පෙරළීම ය. එහි දී ඔවුන් විවිධ ක්රියා මාර්ග අනුගමනය කරනු ඇත. මෙතෙක් ඔවුන් සංවිධානය කළ වසන්ත සියල්ල අසාර්ථකවීම හේතුවෙන් ඔවුන් දැන් සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් ම ආණ්ඩුවට විරුද්ධව යොදා ගැනීමේ ක්රියාමාර්ගවලට එළඹීමට ඉඩ ඇත. එහි දී බටහිර ඔත්තු සේවා හා රෝ සංවිධානය එකට ක්රියාකරනු ඇත. .. ..නන්දිකඩාල් ජයග්රහණයෙන් පසු දෙමළ ජාතිවාදය දේශපාලනික ව පරාජය කිරීමට පියවර ගැනීමට නොහැකිවීම හේතුවෙන් දෙමළ ජාතිවාදයේ හතරවැනි යුගය පැන නැගී ඇත. මේ ඉතා තීරණාත්මක යුගයකි. අප එයට නිවැරදිව මුහුණ නොදුන්නහෙත් ලංකාව අවසානයේ දී සන්ධීය (සහසන්ධීය) රාජ්යයක්, ඊළමක් ඔස්සේ ඉන්දියාවේ ප්රාන්තයක් වී බුදුසසුන ද මෙරටින් තුරන් වී යෑමේ අනතුර ඇත….. .. .. දෙමළ ජාතිවාදයේ හතරවැනි යුගයේ දී බටහිරයන්ගේ අනුග්රහයෙන් ඉන්දියාව කටයුතු කරනු ඇත්තේ නන්දිකඩාල් ජයග්රහණය ආපසු හැරවීමට ය. නන්දිකඩාල් ජයග්රහණයෙන් පසු දහතුන්වැනි සංශෝධනය ද ඇතුළු සියළු දේශපාලන ගිවිසුම් අහෝසි විය. එහෙත් ඒ දේශපාලනික ජයග්රහණය නෛතිකව තහවුරු කරගැනීමට අපට නොහැකි විය.””
අපේ ප්රවාදය අනුව අප කළ පුරෝකථනවලින් කිහිපයක් පමණක් ඉහත සඳහන් වෙයි. ඒ සිදු වී ඇත. කිහිප දෙනකු හැරෙන්නට දේශපාලනඥයෝ, උගත්තු හා ජනමාධ්යවේදීහු අප ප්රතික්ෂෙප කරති. එහෙත් අප කරන්නේ මෙරට සිංහල බෞද්ධ සංස්කෘතියේ මහා පොදු සාධකයේ (එහි ජාත්යන්තර බෞද්ධයන් වූ ඕල්කට් බෞද්ධයන් හෝ මද කිපී කෑගසන බැළලලියකට එළවීමට ගඩොල් බාගයක් අතට නොගන්නා අහිංසාවාදී තම්බයියා බෞද්ධයන් හෝ නැත) සිතුම් පැතුම් වචනවලට පෙරළා බටහිර ග්රීක යුදෙවු ක්රිස්තියානි චින්තනයෙහි නොව සිංහල බෞද්ධ චින්තනයෙහි ප්රවාද සංස්කරණය කිරීම ය. ඕල්කට් බෞද්ධයෝ ද තම්බයියා බෞද්ධයෝ ද (බුදුදහම පාවාදීම Buddhism Betrayed පොත ලියූ බටහිර සමාජ විද්යාඥයකු වූ ස්ටැන්ලි තම්බයියා නමින් ඔවුහු තම්බයියා බෞද්ධයන් ලෙස හැඳින්වෙති.) සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් තම්බති. එදිනෙදා සිද්ධිවලට පමණක් ප්රතිචාර දැක්වීම ප්රමාණවත් නො වේ. එහෙත් දේශපාලඥයන්ද, උගතුන් ද ජනමාධ්යවේදීන් ද කරන්නේ එපමණ ය. අපට සමස්තය දැකිය හැකි විය යුතු ය. දළදා මාළිගාව ඉදිරිපිට පාර පමණක් නොව බොහෝ බෞද්ධ සිද්ධස්ථාන හා පුරාවිද්යාත්මක වටිනාකමක් ඇති ස්ථාන ඉදිරිපිට ඇති පාර ද වැසිිය යුතු ය. ඒ ඉතිහාසය හා සංස්කෘතිය වාහන විෂ දුමෙන් ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට ය. පාර විවෘත කිරීම, කිෂානිගේ ගායනය, භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේට අඩත්තේට්ටම් කිරීම, කතිකාවත් පණත, එක්ටා ගිවිසුම, රණවිරුවන්ට මානව හිමිකම් චෝදනා නැගීම, රාජපක්ෂ එළවීම ආදිය බටහිර- ඉන්දීය සංස්කෘතික, ආර්ථික හා දේශපාලන ආධිපත්යය යටතේ සිදුවෙයි. ඒ එකම සමස්තයකි!
නලින් ද සිල්වා
2016 පෙබරවාරි 25
මෙන්න මෝදි
February 29th, 2016නලින් ද සිල්වා
නවසීලන්්ත අගමැති ජෝන් කී ලංකාවට පැමිණ ආපසු ගියේ ය. ඔහු ලංකාවේ සිටි කාලයේ දී දළදා මාළිගාවට ද ගියේ ය. දැන් දැන් ලංකාවට පැමිණෙන සිංහල බෞද්ධ විරෝධීන් දළදා මාළිගාවට යෑම සිරිතක් කරගෙන ඇත. ජෝන් කී පමණක් නොව මානව අයිතිවාසිකම් කුමරු හුසේන් ද දළදා මාළිගාව නැරඹීමට ගියේ ය. මෙය හුදෙක් සිංහල බෞද්ධ සංස්කෘතිය ඇගයීමක් යැයි අපි නො සිතමු. මොවුන් එසේ යන්නේ එක්කෝ සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් රැවටීමට ය. එසේත් නැත්නම් දළදා මාළිගාව වෙනත් සංස්කෘතියකට ගැනීමට ය. අපි විමසිල්ලෙන් සිටිමු.
කෙසේ වෙතත් ජෝන් කී ලංකාවට පැමිණියේ දළදා වැඳීමට නො වේ. ඔහු පැමිණියේ ඊනියා ජාත්යන්තර ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදී සංගමයේ විධායක සභා රැස්වීමකට ය. ජනමාධ්යවේදීන්ට ඒ තේරුමක් නො වී ය. ඔවුහු කී සමග දළදා මාළිගාව නැරඹීමට ගීියහ! ඉහත කී ඉහත කීගේ සංගමයේ සාමාජිකයන් වනුයේ ලෝකයේ විවිධ රටවල ඇති දක්ෂිණාංශීක, බටහිර යටත්විජිත ගැති දේශපාලන පක්ෂ ය. ඇතැම් විට මේ පක්ෂ ලිබරල්, නව ලිබරල්, සාම්ප්රදායික ආදී විශේ’ෂණ පදවලින් ද හඳුන්වනු ලැබෙයි. මොන නම්වලින් හැඳීන්වුවත් මේ පක්ෂ ග්රීක යුදෙවු ක්රිස්තියානි චින්තනයේ හා යුදෙවු ක්රිස්තියානි චින්තනයේ පක්ෂ ය. එ ජා ප මේ සංගමයේ සාමාජිකයකු පමණක් නො වේ. රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ සංගමයේ ආසියානු ශාන්තිකර කලාපයේ සභාපති ය.
මේ විධායක සභාවේ දී ඉන්දියාවේ භාරතීය ජනතා පක්ෂයට සංවිධානයේ සාමාජිකත්වය දීමට තීරණය විය. වෙනත් අයුරකින් කියන්නේ නම් දේශපාලනය, සංස්කෘතිය හා ආර්ථිකය ලෙස බැලූ කල, ප්රතිපත්තිමය වශයෙන් එ ජා පක්ෂය හා භාරතීය ජනතා පක්ෂය අතර විශාල වෙනසක් නැත. 1980 දී පමණ බිහි වූ භාරතීය ජනතා පක්ෂය අද වන විට තම මුල් ප්රතිපත්තිවල විකාශය වූ අවස්ථාවකට පැමිණ ඇත. හින්දුත්වය ගැන කතා කළ ද අද භාරතීය ජනතා පක්ෂය සඵල වශයෙන් ගත්කල යුදෙවු ක්රිස්තියානි සංස්කෘතියේ පක්ෂයකි.
අපට ඇතැම් විට කල්පනා වනුයේ භාරතීය ජනතා පක්ෂය වඩා සමීප ශ්රී ල නි පක්ෂයට කියා ය. එහෙත් ශ්රී ල නි පක්ෂය ඒ මරා දැමීමට පෙර ඉහත කී සංගමයේ සාමාජිකයකු වීමට ඉල්ලුම් කළ බවක් දැනගැනීමට නැත. චන්ද්රිකා කාලයෙහි දී ශ්රී ල නි පක්ෂය පීළි පැන්නවීමට වික්ටර් අයිවන්ලා, රාජීිතලා, රෙජිනෝල්ඩ් කුරේලා ආදීන් උත්සාහ කළ ද එය සාර්ථක නො වී ය. ශ්රී ල නි පක්ෂය හා භාරතීය ජනතා පක්ෂය අතර වෙනසක් වෙයි. ශ්රී ල නි පක්ෂයේ යටත්විජිත විරෝධයක් වෙයි. සිංහලයන්ගේ මුස්ලිම්වරුන්ට දෙමළ ජනයාට එරෙහිව ජනවාර්ගික විරෝධයක් නැත. සිංහලයන්ට ඒ ජනවර්ග ගැන ඇත්තේ මූලික වශයෙන් ඔවුන් බටහිරයන්ගේ හා ඉනදියානුවන්ගේ ඒජන්තයන් ලෙස ක්රියාකිරමින් මෙරට සිංහල බෞද්ධ සංස්කෘතිය විශේෂිත සංස්කෘතිය ලෙස නොපිළිගැනීම පිළිබඳ විරෝධයකි.
එහෙත් භාරතීය ජනතා පක්ෂය එරට මුස්ලිමුන්ට විරුද්ධ වන්නේ මූලික වශයෙන් යටත්විජිතවාදී ස්ථාවරයක සිට ජනවාර්ගික පදනමකිනි. ශ්රී ල නි පක්ෂයට චන්ද්රිකා සමයේදීවත්, ඇය බටහිරයන් විසින් පුම්බනු ලැබ තිබියදීත්, යටත්විජ්තවාදී පක්ෂයක් වීමට නොහැකි විය. මේ වෙනස ඉතා වැදගත් ය. මෝදී එදත් අදත් යටත්විජිතවාදයෙකි. ඔහුගේ මුස්ලිම් විරොධය හා බටහිරයනගේ මුස්ලිම් විරෝධය අතර වෙනසක් නැත. මෝදී යටත්විජිතවාදීව හින්දුත්වය ගැන කතා කරයි. රනිල් හා මෝදී අතර මොන මොන වෙනස්කම් තිබුණත් ඔවුහු මූලික වශයෙන් යටත්විජිතවාදීහු වෙති. අද මෛත්රිපපාලට වඩා රනිල් ඉන්දියාවට සමීපවීම පුදුමයක් නො වේ. එක්ටා ගිවිසුම ගැන පන්නන්නේ මෛත්රිපාලට වඩා රනිල් ය. බර්ලින් තාප්පය වැටීමෙන් පසු ඉන්දියාවේ සිදු වූ වෙනස්කම් සිංහලයන් විසින් නිසි අධ්යයනයකට භාජනය කර නොතිබීම සිංහලයන්ගේ කරුමයකි.
නලින් ද සිල්වා
2016 පෙබරවාරි 27
GMOA හෙවත් රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමය ගැන වෛද්යවරයෙකුගේ ඇසකින්
February 29th, 2016වෛද්ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
මම 1995 – 2009 අතර කාලය තුල රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමයේ සක්රිය සාමාජිකයෙකු වූයෙමි. මේ කාලය අතරතුර රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමයේ වෘත්තීය ක්රියා මාර්ගයන්ට සාමූහිකත්වය ගිලිහෙන්නට නොදී සහාය දුනිමි. එසේම 1997-1999 යන කාල වල රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමයේ මීගමුව රෝහල් ශාකාවේ නිලයක් ද දැරුවෙමි. එසේම 2009 වසරේ රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමයේ ගොඩනැගිල්ල සඳහා වේතනයෙන් රුපියල් 6000 ආසන්න මුදලක් කපා ගැනීමටද අනුමැතිය දුනිමි. මේ නිසා රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමය ගැන කතා කිරීමට මට අයිතියක් තිබෙන බව සිතමි.
මගේ අදහස අනුව GMOA හෙවත් රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමය ලංකාවේ තිබෙන බලවත් වෘත්තීය සමිතියකි. එම නිසා රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමයේ කේවල් කිරීමේ හැකියාව ඉහලය. මේ බලය භාවිතා කල යුත්තේ වෘත්තිකයන්ගේ වෘත්තීයභාවය ආරක්ෂාකර ගැනීම සඳහා මෙන්ම රෝහල් වල ගුණාත්මක භාවය ඉහල දැමීම සඳහා රෝගියා කේන්ද්ර කරගත් ක්රියා මාර්ගයකිනි.
ලංකාව වැනි රටක උගත් බුද්ධිමත් වෘත්තිකයන්ට තැනක් නැත. එය කටුක සත්යයකි. අසීරුවෙන් ඉගනගෙන සමාජයට බුද්ධිමත් දායකත්වයක් දෙන වෘත්තිකයාට වඩා දේශපාලනයට අවතීර්ණ වූ නූගත් හරක් හොරුන් වරප්රසාද අතින් ඉහලින් සිටිති. දේශපාලනීකරණය දසත පැතිරී තිබේ. ලංකාව යනු නූගතුන් විසින් බුද්ධි මතුන්ව අඩන්තේට්ටම් කරමින් පාලනය කරන රටකි. එම නිසා බොහෝ වෘත්තිකයන්ට සිදුව ඇත්තේ රට හැර යාම හෝ අකමැත්තෙන් වූවද මජර ක්රමයට අනුගත වීම හෝ ඊට එරෙහිව පොදු ජනයා අතර ජනප්රිය නොවන ක්රම වේදයකින් තම වෘත්තීය සටන ගෙන යාමටය.
අප සීමාවාසික සේවාව කල කාලයටත් වඩා රෝහල් අද දේශපාලනීකරණය වී තිබේ. අප සීමාවාසික සේවාව කල කාලයේ ඇලික් අළුවිහාරේ වැනි බලවත් මැර දේශපාලකයන්ට පවා රෝහල් වලට අනවශ්ය ලෙස ඇගිලි ගැසීමට අප ඉඩ නොදුන්නෙමු. 1994 මැතිවරණ කාලයේ මම මාතලේ රෝහලේ ශල්ය වාට්ටුවේ රෝගීන් බලමින් සිටි අවස්ථාවක වාට්ටුවට ඇතුළු වීමට ගිය ඇලික් අළුවිහාරේ ගේ පුතෙකුද එළියට යැවූ අයුරු මට සිහිපත් වේ. නමුත් අද කාලයේ දේශපාලකයෙකු එන විට වෛද්යවරයා නලාවත් ගෙන ඔහුගේ දෙපතුල ලඟට යයි. ඔහු ඉදිරියේ කොන්ද කෙලින් තබාගෙන නොසිටී. මේ හැර රෝහල් වල ගුණාත්මකභාවයන් ඉහල දැමීමට රෝගී සත්කාරයේ ගුණාත්මක භාවය නංවාලීමට ප්රබල බාධකයක් ලෙස මෙම රෝහල් දේශපාලනීකරණය හඳුනාගත හැකිය.
ලංකාවේ සියළු වෘත්තිකයන් අතුරෙන් වෛද්යවරු ලංකාවට කැපී පෙනෙන සේවාවක් කොට තිබේ. එය නම් සංවර්ධිත රටවල් වල සෞඛ්යය දර්ශකයන්ට ආසන්නයට යන අන්දමට අපගේ බොහෝ සෞඛ්යය දර්ශකයන් ඉහල නග්වා තිබේ. එසේම බෝවන රෝග ගනනාවක් ලංකාවෙන් තුරන් කොට තිබේ. මෙම සාර්ථකත්වය ලබා ගැනීමට සෞඛ්ය සේවයේ අනෙකුත් පාර්ශවද උපකාරී වී තිබෙන බවද මෙහිදී කිව යුතුය.
රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමයට රජයක් දණ ගැස්සවීමට සමත් බලයක් තිබේ. මේ බලය භාවිතා කල යුත්තේ කෙසේද ? යම් කිසි රජයක් ප්රජාතාන්ත්රවාදී මාර්ගයක නොයමින් මානව අයිතිවාසිකම් උල්ලංඝනය කරන විට එම රජය නිසි මගට ගැනීමේ ලා රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමයට හැකියාවක් තිබේ. රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමය තම බලය භාවිතා කල යුත්තේ එවැනි අවශ්තා වලදීය. එහෙත් සමහර විට පටු දේශපාලන අභිමතාර්ථයන් සඳහා රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමය භාවිතා කිරීම අනුමත කල නොහැක.
අතීතයේ රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමය වෙනුවෙන් අභීතව සටන් වැදුනු සෙන්පතියන් පසු කාලයක දේශපාලකයන් ගේ අවශ්යතා මත තම වෘත්තීය අභිමානය පාවා දුන් අයුරු තාජුඩීන් සිද්ධියේ දී අප දුටුවෙමු. එම නිසා රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමයට තම ජීව ගුණයන් දිය කර නොගන්නා සහ ජීව ගුණයන් විකුණා නොදමන නායකයන් අවශ්ය කෙරේ. මේ සඳහා ආත්මාර්ථකාමීත්වයෙන් තොර එලෝත්පාදක නායකත්වයක් සෑම කාලයකදීම තිබිය යුතුය.
රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමය විසින් අතීතයේදී දියත් කරන ලද සමහරක් වර්ජන අසාධාරන බව මම සිතමි. පුද්ගලික හේතූන් නිසා , වෘත්තීය කුහක භාවය මත ,පුද්ගල බ්ලැක්මේල් කිරීම් මත , සමහර දේශපාලකයන්ට කඩේ සඳහා අාදී වශයෙන් රෝගීන් ගේ දිවි තර්ජනයට ලක් කිරීමෙන් කරන වර්ජන නොමනා බව මම තරයේ අදහමි. අතීතයේ මෙවැනි වර්ජන වලදී අපගේ රෝහල් වල හදිසි සේවා අප පවත්වාගෙන ගියෙමු.
ලංකාවේ සෞඛ්යය සේවයේ වෘත්තිකයන් අතර බලපතළ ලෙස පැතිරී ගිය වෘත්තීය කුහකත්වය , ඉරිසියාව තිබේ. මේ නිසා සෞඛ්යය සේවයට ඉතා හිතකර වූ තීරණ ගනනාවක් හමස් පෙට්ටියට යැවීමට මෙම කුහක ඉරිසියා මානසිකත්වය සමත් වී ඇත. මේ කුහක මානසිකත්වයට එරෙහිව යාම වෙනුවට සමහර අවස්ථා වලදී රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමය විසින් ඊට අනුගතවී තිබේ. එය සිදු නොවිය යුතු තත්වයකි.
එසේම වෛද්ය සේවයේ වැරදි කරන ලද පුද්ගලයන් , පශ්චාත් උපාධි ආයතන වල තම හිතවතුන් , ඤාතීන් විභාග වලින් සමත් කරවන දූෂිත පුද්ගලයන් , විශ්ව විද්යාල වල සුදුසුකම් ඇත්තන් කපා දමමින් තම හිතවතුන් බඳවා ගන්නන් , ස්ථාන මාරු කිරීම් වලදී අයථා ක්රියා කරන්නන් වැන්නවුන් ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමය ඉදිරිපත් නොවිය යුතුය. අතීතයේ මෙවැන්නවුන් ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සඳහා රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමය ඉදිරිපත් වූ අවස්ථා කීපයක් තිබේ.
රජයේ වෛද්ය නිලධාරීන් ගේ සංගමය යනු උගත් වෘත්තිකයන් පිරිසකගෙන් සැදුම් ලද සංගමයකි. එම නිසා එකී සංගමය විසින් ගන්නා තීරණ සදාචාරාත්මක මෙන්ම ප්රජාතාන්ත්රවාදීද වීම වැදගත් වේ.
ECTA hush-hush a typical UNP/Ranil preference?
February 29th, 2016MALINDA SENEVIRATNE
“And there’s history. A history of India meddling in the affairs of Sri Lanka. There’s the whole story of supporting terrorism with arms, money and training (before the idea backfired). Then there’s the Indo-Lanka Agreement. That’s important and relevant because it was thrust down Sri Lanka’s throat. No discussion. No entertainment of query. The then government submitted meekly. The people had to pay a heavy price.
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s involvement in that hush-hush affair was damning. He presented the bill in part to Parliament. His preference for the hush-hush was more openly demonstrated on February 22, 2002, when he signed the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) with the terrorist leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran.But what is so wrong (and so relevant in these ECTA-talking times) is the hush-hush nature in which the CFA was signed”
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was spot on when chided those who are raising a hue and cry about the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperative Agreement (ETCA) with India. His point was simple: how can you object to something that does not exist? Correct. There’s no ETCA. Yet.
That’s the catch. Yet. And it works both ways. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Harsha de Silva responding to those who have expressed various concerns about ECTA has affirmed his Prime Minister’s position. However, he has thought fit to comment on possible content. De Silva chose to focus on the issue of whether or not Indian IT professionals could open up businesses in Sri Lanka and thereby post a threat to local IT professionals. He points out that three of the four modes of the international service trade are already in operation in Sri Lanka but that the fourth, ‘the presence of a natural person’ is not under discussion.
All good. But all beside the point. And this holds for all the lovely ‘don’t-worry’ statements coming from Government spokespersons on matters relating to trade and other relations between India and Sri Lanka.
First of all, if objection, as the Prime Minister correctly points out, is out of order considering the (as yet) non-existence of an agreement, then defense is as silly. Now as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and one who has told us that the thrust of foreign policy as far as this government is concerned is ‘economic diplomacy,’ De Silva certain should be privy to what’s being discussed. However, if free and fair discussion is important, then you can’t have some people tossing stones from behind a wall at others who are by definition unarmed.
It’s the secrecy of the whole thing that is of immense concern. As of now, it’s all hush-hush. We cannot have a situation where on the one hand the government talks of a democratic climate of discussion and consensus building while it keeps deals with foreign governments under cover. We were told, after all, that the Rajapaksa-past of mega-deals behind closed-doors was buried once and for all. We would love to believe that it was not all empty rhetoric for purposes of securing political power, despite the cynicism that this government has invited due to many acts of omission and commission.
The other problem is the fact that this is an agreement with India. India, a relatively new nation that came into being only in 1858 courtesy the Government of India Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom (21 & 22 Vict. C. 106), is essentially a nation-wannabe political entity that poses off as a superpower-wannabe one. India claims to be ‘shining’, but on all counts India is dull. It is a struggling nation. Sri Lanka is certainly not ‘shining’, this is true, but if we are beggarly, it is silly to thrust hand out at a fellow mendicant.
Yes, the option is China, but that’s another story. Related, but different. Suffice to say that for all the anti-Rajapaksa noises made by India, the USA, UK and other ‘big countries’ on account of the previous regime’s alleged China-leanings, some of them would sink if not for China. India’s debt is not owned by China, unlike the debts of the USA and UK, but India is not doing great either.
And there’s history. A history of India meddling in the affairs of Sri Lanka. There’s the whole story of supporting terrorism with arms, money and training (before the idea backfired). Then there’s the Indo-Lanka Agreement. That’s important and relevant because it was thrust down Sri Lanka’s throat. No discussion. No entertainment of query. The then government submitted meekly. The people had to pay a heavy price.
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s involvement in that hush-hush affair was damning. He presented the bill in part to Parliament. His preference for the hush-hush was more openly demonstrated on February 22, 2002, when he signed the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) with the terrorist leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran. It is amusing that some people still argue that the CFA was the catalyst for the split in the LTTE (Karuna-Faction breaking away) and on the basis of this claim that Ranil paved the way for the defeat of the LTTE. Only the half-blind and diehard loyalist would indulge in that kind of reductionism. What ensued was not amusing. The LTTE regrouped, recruited, re-trained and re-armed. The people had to pay for Ranil’s ‘innocence’ (let’s be kind here).
But what is so wrong (and so relevant in these ECTA-talking times) is the hush-hush nature in which the CFA was signed. Ranil’s cabinet hadn’t seen the document. The then President hadn’t seen it. It was not ‘up for discussion’. Its constitutionality was not raised. It was hush-hush.
ECTA is not an agreement like the Indo-Lanka Accord or the CFA of course, but the secrecy of the affair does nothing to alleviate doubts about claims about benefits to Sri Lanka. What we know is that India hasn’t been Sri Lanka’s best friend. We saw India’s ‘friendship’ in the eighties. We saw India’s ‘friendship’ at the UNHRC sessions. India offers aid, but it has always come with a price tag. And it’s paltry compared to what the country has received from China and Japan. Of course, bilateral agreements are not about love but about business, this we know. However, when there are conditions that clearly seek to tinker with constitution, it’s even more difficult to digest. India is like that. Give a little, take a lot; build a few kilometers of road, build a few houses, and expect us to go overboard with gratitude. Take China out of the equation, replace with India, and it will take India centuries to help us ‘develop’.
The Prime Minister knows what the last secret deal with India cost us. To be fair, this ECTA thing might do us a whole lot of good, but keeping it hush and worse, getting the likes of De Silva to offer convoluted defense, is bad.
The other pertinent issue is the history of such hush-hush agreements.
Perhaps the Prime Minister could sort it all out by saying something on the following lines.
Don’t worry. Once the draft is ready, we will put it before the people for scrutiny. Let the criticism be comprehensive. Let the discussions be lengthy. A quick signing will not take place. We will be transparent. We will be patient. We will in thought, word and action, affirm all the principles of good governance. There is no ECTA, but there could be. However, we are open to the possibility that we may err and as such we might never have an ECTA or its equivalent.”
http://malindawords.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/ecta-hush-hush-typical-unpranil.html
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පොලිස් අධිකාරි රොනී ගුණසිංහ
February 29th, 2016වෛද්ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග
මීට වසර 15 පමණ පෙර මගේ රෝගියෙකු වූ විශ්රාමික පොලිස් කොස්තාපල්වරයෙක් මට අපූරු කතාවක් කීවේය. පේරාදෙනියේ වීරසූරිය ශිෂ්යයා මිය ගිය අවස්ථාවේ ඔහුද අනෙකුත් පොලිස් නිලධාරීන් සමග පේරාදෙනිය විශ්ව විද්යාල භූමියේ සිටි බවය. එහිදී සිදුවූ ගැටුමකින් වීරසූරිය නම් සරසවි සිසුවා පොලිස් වෙඩි පහරකින් මිය යන ලදි. මෙම පොලිස් කොස්තාපල්වරයා කියූ පරිදි වීරසූරියට වෙඩි තබන ලද්දේ මාතලේ මූලස්ථාන පෙලිස් පරීක්ෂක රොනී ගුණසිංහයි. මෙම කතාවේ සත්ය අසත්යතාව මම නොදනිමි. මට මේ කතාව කියූ විශ්රාමික පොලිස් කොස්තාපල්වරයාද වර්තමානයේ ජීවතුන් අතර නැත.
එහෙත් මේ වෙඩි තැබීම ගැන වරක් මාධ්යවේදියෙකු පොලිස් පරීක්ෂක රොනී ගුණසිංහ ගෙන් විමසූ ඔහු මෙසේ කියා තිබේ. මම යනකොට දවස් දෙකක් රාළහාමිලා එකම යුනිෆෝම් ඇඳගෙන හිටියේ. ඩියුටි මාරු වෙන්න විදියක් නැහැ. ඔවුන්ට කන්නත් නැහැ. තිබුණේ වතුර විතරයි. ඉහළ නිලධාරීන් බලා සිටියා පමණයි. අපේ කිසි කෙනෙක් තීරණ ගන්නේ නැහැ. විශ්ව විද්යාලය ඇතුලේ නිසා බයෙන් හිටියේ. හිස් පරිසරයට ‘ඕපන් ෆයර්‘ කරලා මොකද වෙන්නේ කියලා බලන්න මම තීරණයක් ගත්තා. මම එහෙම කළේ පොලීසිය පැත්තෙන් කල්පනා කරලා. පොලිසියේ ඉන්නේත් මිනිස්සු. මේ කියන වෙලාවේ සමහර සිසුන් ශාලාවල නිදි. එළියට ඇවිත් නැහැ. අපේ ඇක්ෂන් එකට සිසුන්ගෙන් ලැබෙන රිඇක්ෂන් අධ්යයනය කරන්න මම බලා පොරොත්තු වුනා. ඒත් ඒ සාධාරණ ක්රියාව අවාසනාවන්ත විදියට කනපිට හැරුණා” ( මූලාශ්රය – පොල් වික්කා, වීරසූරිය, රොනී ගුණසිංහ, පබා, කොණ්ඩයා, ලහිරු සහ සසිනි සංදීපනී සමග සරසවි විප්පලවාදය – චඳ්රගුප්තයන්ගේ සටහන)
රූපවාහිනි නිවේදකයකු වූ රිචඩ් ද සොයිසාව 1990 පෙබරවාරි 18 දා රාත්රියේ පැහැරගෙන ගොස් මරා දමන්නේ කොළඹ පොලිස් අධිකාරි රොනී ගුණසිංහ බවටද මතයක් තිබේ. රිචඩ් සොයිසාගේ මව මනෝරානි සරවනමුත්තු මහත්මිය තම පුතා පැහැරගෙන පුද්ගලයා ලෙස පොලිස් අධිකාරි රොනී ගුණසිංහව හඳුනා ගනු ලැබුවාය. මේ හැර රෝහණ විජේවීරට වෙඩි තබන ලද්දේ පොලිස් අධිකාරි රොනී ගුණසිංහ බවත් පැවසේ. කෙසේ නමුත් 1991 මැයි 1 දා ආමර් වීදියේදී කොටි බෝම්බකරු බාබුගේ බෝම්බයට පොලිස් අධිකාරි රොනී ගුණසිංහ බිළිවිය.
මහින්ද යන ගුවන් යානයට මිසයිල ගහන්න එක්නැලිගොඩ කොටි හා කුමන්ත්රණ කල හඬ පට මෙන්න..
February 29th, 2016lanka C news
මාධ්යවේදියෙකු බව කියන ප්රගීත් එක්නැලිගොඩ හා කොටි ත්රස්තයෙකු අතර මෙම සාකච්චාව සිදුව ඇතැයිද පවසන එම වාර්තා අපරාධ පරීක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව වෙතද මෙම හඬ පටය ලබා දී ඇතැයිද දැක්වෙයි.
හිටපු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඇතුළු එවක රජයේ බලධාරීන් විදෙස් ගත වෙද්දී මීගමුව ප්රදේශයේ නිවසක සිට එම ගුවන් යානාවට මිසයිල ප්රහාරයක් එල්ල කරන සැලසුමක් අඩංගු හඬ පටයක් අන්තර්ජාලයේ හුවමාරු වෙමින් තිබේ.
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Asia’s debt to Japan
February 29th, 2016Senaka Weeraratna
Sri Lanka gained Independence in February 1948 almost effortlessly (without blood letting) when compared to what other countries had to face.
There was no mass based independence struggle or armed rebellion in Sri Lanka after 1848 akin to that in India, Burma, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam. Except for Anagarika Dharmapala, Sri Lanka has not produced a single iconic global figure comparable to the stature of Ho Chi Minh, Gandhi, Nehru, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sukarno, Aung San, Mandela, Jomo Kenyata or even Robert Mugabe.
Lackeys of the colonial west are unqualified to be given the exalted status of a national hero. Yet, in the absence of true heroes with a background of suffering, sacrifice and good fight, pen pushers parading colonial titles are occupying that venerated space with the support of an enslaved press.
This is very unfortunate. Though we in Sri Lanka live under a self – styled grand delusion that independence was won from Britain exclusively by our own local efforts through an exchange of correspondence and political negotiations without any supportive foreign factor, it is factually unsustainable and a big lie.
We were extremely lucky. Had the Axis powers particularly Japan not fought the major European powers beginning with Russia (1905), and then global colonial powers in Asia such as USA, Britain, Dutch, French, Portuguese in heroic battles in the the second world war the destiny of Sri Lanka together with several other South Asian and South East Asian nations would have been altogether very different.
It is time that we re-asses our contemporary history and attribute credit to those who have truly earned it.
Sri Lanka was resplendent under President Mahinda Rajapakse.
February 29th, 2016By Charles.S.Perera
Sri Lanka a resplendent Island, became cancerous and mutilated as its population changed and other cultures crept into it. The worst was the advent of Tamils in to the Island. They came as invaders, plunderers, and marauders. They eventually settled down, but never wanted to mix with the indigenous population the Sinhala. They maintained the foreign invader- marauder mentality. Hundreds of years of living together with the Sinhala have failed to change the Tamil mentality of separateness.
All these talk about reconciliation, giving into all the demands of the Tamils, settling them in their own lands closing down the military camps, developing the North and east where the Tamils live in numbers , or give them political rights, police powers and power over lands, will not change the Tamil mentality. Even the latest gimmick of marriages between Tamil and Sinhala will have the least impact of stubborn Tamil marauder mentality of taking the loot and runaway to enrich oneself and the tribe.
If the inter marriage helps reconciliation it would not have made Wigneswaran the Chief Minister of Northern Provincial Council such a virulent racist. Because one would expect of him to be linked to Sinhala by the marriage of his two sons to two Sinhala women. Now Wigneshawaran says he is opposed to intermarriages. Can he be credited with any intelligence for making such a statement ?
Giving into Tamil demands will never help reconciliation of the Tamils with the Sinhala accepting to live in cordiality with the Sinhala. They will never be satisfied until part of the country is given for them as a Tamil Eelam. This the yahapalanya leadership of Maithripala-Raniil has failed to grasp. They do not know that giving into India with ETCA and other such agreements will only enhance and strengthen the separatist mentality of the Tamils and their insistence for a separate Eelam State.
The worst is that the ordinary Tamils have no voice, and the freedom to speak for themselves. Hence they move with the political leadership. And unfortunately when we speak of Tamils in political terms we take every one of the Tamils under the umbrella of the Tamil political leadership.
President Mahinda Rajapakse, too failed to understand this basic mental make up of the Tamils and took considerable pain to develop the North and East where the Tamils live and were affected by the Terrorism of their own people. President Mahinda Rajapakse expected an eventual demonstration of human gratitude by the Tamils, accepting that President Rajapakse is a friend, of the people and that he did not differentiate one community from another accepting every one of all Communities as the people of Sri Lanka.
Mahinda Rajapakse was not an enemy of the Tamil people. His enmity was towards the terrorists. He said there are no majority and minority but good or bad Sri Lankans
The Tamils do not understand to what extent the Sinhala people have given into their unjust and unfair demands. Tamils are all over the world in different countries. But they do not ask for equal rights with the majority community of those countries as they do in Sri Lanka. The Yahapalanaya continues to say that Malaysia and Singapore has developed far better than Sri Lanka, but they do not understand that neither Malaysia nor Singapore had a problem with the Tamil Communities in their countries and they did not have to suffer under terrorism as Sri Lanka did. The Tamils in Singapore and Malaysia have become a part of the people of Malaysian and Singapore.
We should understand friends and enemies, otherwise Sri Lanka will fall again into what it had been before. That is the greatness of Mahinda Rajapakse which the power crazy yahapalanaya crowd fail to see. Certain people pretend they are friends but they have hidden motives behind their friendship. America and the Western countries are such pseudo friends. America will never give financial or technical aid for the development of poor countries. But they on the other hand would willingly get their United Fruit Companies to invest to buy or lease thousands of fertile land to cultivate fruits or sugar cane as they cultivated pine apples in Philipines , banana in Central Africa, Sugar cane in Dominican Republic etc. After that the Fruit Companies will control the finance and the political system of the countries.
The wise leader Mahinda Rajapaksa did not fall into that trap of the West. The Ministers of Yahapalanaya Government are completely unaffected by these historical facts of how developing nations in Latin America and Africa were financially and politically controlled by American Fruit Companies. Mahinda Rajapakse did not want to antaganise the West, but he knew which countries could be trusted as political friends and which not.
It is hilarious to hear John Kelly the Secretary of State of USA telling visiting Mangala Samaraweera with his yes Sir” mentality , that USA hails the reconciliations attempts of Sri Lanka government and its efforts to address the regional issues and make peace in their own country as significant. Kerry says USA will further strengthen and broaden the relation ship between the two countries.
The people of Sri Lanka unfortunately has not seen these significant developments USA speaks of taking place in the interest of the people since 9th January,2015.
What people of Sri Lanka have seen happening in Sri Lanka is a decadence of the splendour of Sri Lanka which was built under the former President Mahinda Rajapakse. John Kerry speaking in superlatives of the significant achievements are in gfact the benefits coming to America from the break away from the past economic and social developments of Sri Lanka independent of Western interference.
It was China that helped Sri Lanka in development process after the elimination of terrorism and not USA now with its fine talk complementing the present Yahapalanaya crowd in its destruction of all that Mahinda Rajapakse built to make Sri Lanka a resplendent Island which it had never been since Colonization.
It is easy for USA to shower their adulation on the present Yahapalanaya crowd of Ministers who have brought Sri Lanka under dictates of USA. The yahapalana Minsters Mangala Samaraweera basking in their flattery says the relation between our two countries alone has experienced a veritable renaissance since the visit of Assistant Secretary Biswal weeks after the Presidential elections and my visit to Washington… our relations have been strengthened to unprecedented heights.”
But what has USA given to Sri Lanka before or even today , other than passing vicious resolution accusing the Armed Forces for war crimes and help the separation of communities in Sri Lanka. JR Jayawardhana was nick named yankee Dicky for his strong support of USA. JR trusted in the friendship of USA to help him out from being bullied by India. But USA works according to its political agenda and turned away from JR when he needed USA the most. When Indian Air Force dropped dry ration to terrorists under siege and forced JR to come to an agreement with India to settle the terrorists issue, JR expected USA’s intervention, but USA dropped him like a hot brick.
Interest USA has in Sri Lanka is given in an evaluation report prepared for the US State Department, by the US Agency for International Development. It is called: Sri Lanka: The Impact of PL 480 Title I Food Assistance” dated October,1982. It is stated in this report that
two factors give Sri Lanka an international importance greater than its modest size and economic position might otherwise suggest: its strategic location and its influential role in both the nonaligned movement and the group of 77.
(http://pdf.usaid.govt/pdf docs/PNAAJ623.pdf)
USA has no other interest in Sri Lanka, other than its strategic position in the Indian Ocean. But Yahapalanaya big shots are highly taken up by John Kerry’s sweet words and think that every thing will be hunky-dory for Yahapalanaya, with USA at its side.
If Mahinda Rajapaksa had turned to USA, after elimination of terrorism, instead of to China. Sri Lanka would not have been what it was on the 8th January,2015. There would not have been that massive development within such a short time.
Even if Rajapaksas had swindled money, stolen gold , took bribes and laundered black money, the Rajapaksas had within five years after elimination of the ruthless terrorists developed Sri Lanka as no previous governments had done since Independence. They developed the country not only in the North and East but also in the South. They raised the standard of living of the people. They brought peace into the country and assured security. That period of President Mahinda Rajapakse was the golden period of Sri Lankan history after Independence.
But within one year of coming in to power, since 9th January,2015, the yahapalanaya has turned Sri Lanka upside down. Only thing the Yahapalanaya government has shown is capable of doing is to make Sri Lanka a Police State. Creating special police Investigations sections, Commissions of Investigations, appoint a Chief Justice, an Attorney General and a Bribery Commission and arrest every one who has the slightest connection to the Previous government. Their target is to arrest if possible the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa or failing that arrest and jail his sons, brothers , or even his wife to humiliate him and scandalise his period of Presidency.
The Yahapalanay from President to the cop in the street have gone absolutely mad” with power in their hand to do what they want. There is a yahapalanaya MP Nalin Bandara Jayamaha who says that Mahinda Rajapaksa has done nothing beneficial to Sri Lanka. They say any thing without taking facts into consideration…..they are sick in their minds.
They pay lip service to democracy, but to day democracy is doomed in Sri Lanka, it is the Dictatorship of the Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe that exists. If they want to sign agreements with India they do it without even consulting the people, they build bridges to connect Sri Lanka to South India without consulting the people. They praise USA and the West welcoming their resolution which condemns Sri Lanka and accuses its Armed Forces for war crimes . They not only welcome the resolution but sponsor it. The Yahapalanaya leaders and Ministers should not be in a government but in a mad house to have their heads examined.
Sri Lanka that was a resplendent Island under Mahinda Rajapakse is today a mis managed , ruined derelict, shabby and ugly floating like boat without direction as to which way to float.
“Urgent Need for a National Policy on Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements”
February 29th, 2016Sarath Wijesinghe – former Ambassador to UAE and Israel-Solicitor/Attorney-at-law-
Implementation of international Agreements
Agreements entered into with States, International Organizations including UN subsidiary bodies (such as WTO IMF), and multinational companies (such as Google) are binding and tested by the World Court or by way of arbitrations or goodwill of the parties as there is no Executive body for the United Nations for the implementation of agreements by member states other than indirect methods such as Sanctions. Being a small Nation depending on Major powers and world and economic powers, Sri Lanka will have to be extremely cautious in this dangerous maize with traps and bombs laid down under the floor of the international arena. Equal parties will settle disputes by flexing muscles, but the small Nations will be subjected to the law of the jungle- survival of the fittest! States consist of human beings. Human beings are full of selfishness and jealousy. Every nation will promote and protest themselves at the expense of the other!
Nicaraguan Government in 1986 filed a case in the International Court of Justice which ruled against USA in breach of customary international law. USA refused to participate and blocked enforcement forcing Nicaragua to withdraw the complaint in 1992.This is a classic example on complications in the implementation and enforceability of agreements between unequal parties under international law. India is a regional power closely aligned with USA expecting to look after their interests in the Indian Ocean against China and other competitors/regional/world powers. Now that we are forced to enter into the skeleton of the proposed unseen draft called ECTA the danger deepens on Sri Lanka being a weaker less knowledgeable and less organized party of the agreement. Indians are veterans in International Affairs, UN and the system of the world court jurisdiction having got involved in litigation. Honestly we are not- It is the reality! If we are knowledgeable this is the time to seek the jurisdiction of the World Court for raping, poaching and destroying our most valuable sea bed day in and out possibly, leaving us a valueless dead sea in few years. Sri Lankan Government looks the other way, out of fear respect or unconcerned despite frequent visits of Indian politicians of all levels and diplomatic statements on all the areas other than the main threat to Sri Lanka – dispute on encroachment and illegal and forceful perching an invading our sea-. There is a clear and a strong case against India on this continuous and forcible destruction of our valuable historical natural resources of great scientific and business significance and value. With 1987 India Sri Lanka Accord which is still in force, and the political involvements on the success of the current government to come into power, whether we have a will and competency is a matter only unseen powers and proctors of our nation can help the citizen entrusted the Nation to the current trustees expected to rule the country on trust, because world is not going to help us against mighty and powerful India. There is lot of unfinished contentious issues with India including CEPA, SAFTA, 1987 Indu Sri Lanka Accord and the international law implementations, to be discussed and sorted out before entering into ECTA which few privileged have seen or read. According to an interview by the President Sirisena with the GMOA President Even President of Sri Lanka has not seen the drift scheduled to be signed in mid-year despite any protests or resistance from any corner. It is reported Indian delegation is due with the Indian proposals. We have a long history of hurriedly signed and ill drafted international Agreements from 1815 onwards including the Indu Sri Lanka Accord that has introduced provincial councils the white elephants eating into a major share of the national income and the income of the sweat of the Sri Lankans employed abroad. India invaded Goa then a part of Portugal after afraid and ground offensive and capture the area forcefully. There was a protest by the UN and the member states the mighty India managed it suing their skills and enormity. When India forced Army to Sri Lanka she managed the international arena well suing their craft and experiences. In the event there is a situation on ECTA it will possible be another fishing issue.
Competency to draft international agreements
Our competency on drafting international agreements is limited. The truth and the reality is that Nether the AG’s Department no the Foreign Ministry is fully competent to prepare complicated agreements in a hurry. Let us not be shy and face facts. Let us turn on our Sri Lankan academics and international civil servants worldwide for our assistance with our resources. We have Sri Lankan intellectuals all over the world as retired world court judges, leading academics in universities and leaders in international organisations prepared to help Sri Lanka with the local professionals. Any such international document should be approved by the Parliament and a body appointed to discuss with the professionals before ratified. President, Prime Minister and other Ministers sign international agreements frequently without realizing that the Sri Lankan citizen and the future generations bound by the agreements. But given time and space we will be able to prepare documents of high standard.
National Policy for bilateral and multi-lateral agreements
Treaty is an agreement under international law entered into actions on international law, in the form of agreements, protocols, covenants, conventions, or exchange of letters, which are legally binding until changed or dissolved. Bilateral agreements are with two nations and multilateral are more than one nation with international organisations. These instruments are provided by the Vienna Convention adopted on 22nd may 69 and implemented from 27th January 1980. Judicial organ of the UN is the International Court of Justice with the jurisdiction to the member nations in the resolution of disputes.
Even in the United States should follow the procedure for a treaty to become law/binding by obtaining the approval from the senate seeking giving advice and consent it with 2/3rd majority. This is the State policy and the procedure in the formulation of international agreements in the USA, UK and many Western Nations. EU has a common foreign policy and ratification of an instrument is still difficult. Historically we have blundered on the process and procedure on international agreements and it is a necessity to formulate a policy and a procedure on this issue approved by all the member Nations. Why do we need an agreement in a hurry when the BOI is functioning so well inviting investors? How could the agreement generate jobs om entering into the controversial agreements in a hurry? For the jobs to generate investors should invest and generate employments and export markets which is currently taking place successfully. Why only India suspicious on each other and why not other SARC nations to enter into agreements in order to work with. Therefore, the best remedy and the course of action is to introduce a national policy and a procedure to approve the agreements by a committee of experts.
Way forward
Though Sri Lanka is a senior member of the United Nations it lacks experience in the formulation and drafting of contentious international instruments. We are currently paying heavy prices for hurriedly prepared agreements on many areas. Notorious Hedging deal during Rajapaksa regime, many WTO agreements, Indo Sri Lanka Accord – connected to 13th Amendment India is harping on to implement-, CEPA, SFTA, are some of many including the recently introduced” Ambulance Saga” initiated promoted and presented to the Cabinet by the Prime Minister personally by- passing the line minister. Indu Sri Lanka Accord by JR and CEPA signed by Chandrika 2002 horrendous agreement signed with separatist leader” was hurriedly prepared and forced on us and we are paying heavy prices now. Even now President, Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign affairs sign various ad hoc” agreements hurriedly prepared that are binding on Sri Lanka and the citizens including the future generation. Foreign Minister has no faith on the Ministry of foreign affairs and appointed an Apex body to advise him. We were fortunate with highly learned and reputed international civil servants in the international arena in the past such as Shirly Amarasinghe, Dr R S S Gunawardena, Laxman Kadigamer and many including Justice G. Weeramanthry and Desmond De Silve QC, still alive and ready to serve the nation. It is not fair and dangerous to politicize this national issue and to terrorize the opponents, media, and the citizens to force and bulldoze it on the people.
ECTA agreement for some unknown reason only known to some. It should have been made public for the people not to be suspicious- if it is genuine and putting forward for genuine reasons with no ulterior motives. Today statesmanship and patience is lacking in the legislature and politicians behaving like pre-programmed DOLLS” naming media persons and attacking everybody in this most respected house of legislature in a most unbecoming of statesmanship, tarnishing great customs, conventions and democratic norms we have been used to. We need a full scale public discussion on this most controversial and many other issues based on the principles of KING LICHCHAVE as proposed by the proponents of the current policies. It is argued that this agreement will generate jobs for Sri Lankans. It is hard to believe this as it has to be worked out with a long-term strategy on political and economic sphere. Has the other agreements India entered with the neighbours successful and generating jobs? She has eternal disputes with all the neighbours, especially landlocked Nepal and tiny Bhutan. Issues with Pakistan and Balderdash is eternal. We were safe for thousands of years because we were an Island separated from the sea – yet dealt with the world successfully not being isolated. Is it good to expose ourselves to the world vis agreements but it has to be done with due care and caution in this selfish world. Apparently government fear India, Professionals , people and hiding the facts unnecessarily. What is the difficulty and fear in making the skeleton draft public for the public to know and to make contributions and suggestions to the proposals if it is done to the benefit of the citizen. We propose as concerned citizens and professionals for the Government acting as a Trustee to the Nation to be calm, patient, giving space and time to all parties concerned and worried including members f the legislature and the general public to participate in the debates as there is no hurry and there is all the time in the world to prepare a better and a safe instrument to the worried and disturbed nation.
Animal Welfare Bill approved by Cabinet Sri Lanka’s first monumental step towards the protection of its animals
February 29th, 2016Courtesy: The Sunday Island
The Otara Foundation has welcomed the approval of the Animal Welfare Bill by the Cabinet of Ministers as a step in the right direction and pledged to continue its advocacy in order to ensure the enactment of the Bill as law.
The Foundation thanked the President, Prime Minister and the Minister of Rural Economic Affairs for their political will in supporting the Bill and the relevant government officials for their consideration and assistance in getting the Animal Welfare Bill thus far. The Foundation said it hopes for their continued assistance in getting the Bill passed and implemented expeditiously.
The Foundation also commended the Law Commission of Sri Lanka for preparing the Bill and recommending it to the Government in 2006.
“We extend our thanks to the long serving advocates of the appeal who have been striving for this change, including Ven. Athureliye Rathana Thera, M.P., who presented the Bill in Parliament in 2010 as a Private Member’s Bill”, the Foundation noted.
The Otara Foundation applauded the petitioners in the animal welfare writ application, who since 2012, consistently lobbied for its enactment, as well as the 28,000 people that endorsed its appeal for the passage of the Bill.
Their commitment and dedication towards the approval of the Bill has been central to its success thus far. The Foundation also made mention of the international organisations that supported the cause such as Animal Nepal, PETA Asia and Foundation Brigitte Bardot.
It noted that the draft legislation has a long process to follow to become law. “We urge compassionate citizens of Sri Lanka to continue to follow the progress of the Bill and to continue to support our efforts to bring about change,” the Foundation said in a statement. “The Bill has passed step one of a multi-step process and therefore has a long way to go before it is implemented.”
The Animal Welfare Bill is proposed in place of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance of 1907, which is insufficient when dealing with the types of cruelty animals face today.
While many countries in the West have established effective animal welfare legislation, some countries in Asia such as India, Singapore and Malaysia have also updated and strengthened their animal welfare legislation. In comparison, Sri Lanka is lagging far behind with regard to animal cruelty despite the country’s heritage of compassion.
On October 4, 2015, the Otara Foundation launched a signature campaign to mark World Animal Day, urging the Government of Sri Lanka to pass the proposed Animal Welfare Bill. The appeal has so received over 28,000 signatures and has garnered much public support. While 90 per cent of signatures are from Sri Lanka, there is much support for the Bill overseas as well.
“Signatories to the appeal include a large cross section of the public, from many areas ranging from Colombo to remote areas such as Padiyatalawa and Ampara. I thank everyone who was a part of pushing the Bill thus far and encourage more people to join and support the much needed implementation of the Animal Welfare Bill. The support from the private corporate sector and government institutions was also admirable,” said Otara Gunewardene, CEO of the Foundation.
The objective of the Bill is to strengthen the law on the prevention of cruelty towards animals and secure the welfare of all animals, by clearly defining offences and introducing stringent penalties, while also establishing a National Animal Welfare Authority with comprehensive powers to address all cruelty issues.
The Bill also widens the definition of ‘animal’ to “any living being other than a human-being” as the current law applies only to animals in captivity or domestic animals, leaving particularly important sectors such as wildlife without the protection required. Welfare issues related to animals in pet shops, animal experimentation, animal performance and the live transport of animals, currently not included in Sri Lankan legislation, are also included in the new Animal Welfare Bill.
Courtesy: The Sunday Island
See also
Proposed Animal Welfare Legislation for Sri Lanka
http://www.fercsl.net/ws3p5.pdf
PETITION URGING PASSAGE OF SRI LANKA’S ANIMAL WELFARE BILL
http://dharmavoicesforanimals.org/petitions/
Daily Mirror EDITORIAL – Enact the Animal Welfare Bill of the Law Commission –
http://www.dailymirror.lk/53308/editorial-enact-the-animal-welfare-bill-of-the-law-commission
Buddhist Values Saves Lives
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=20465
The planet belongs to all living creatures, not just to us – EDITORIAL
February 29th, 2016Daily Mirror EDITORIAL
Amid the growing incidence of cruelty to animals including the latest multi-million rupee rackets on the capture of a baby elephant, the cabinet has approved the long-delayed Animal Welfare Bill and sent it to the Legal Draftsman’s Department to include the provisions proposed by animal welfare movements also.
As for the existing laws against cruelty to animals, the last amendments were made in 1955. The prevention of cruelty to animals Ordinance — under which the welfare of animals is taken into consideration — is more than a hundred years old.The Animal Welfare Coalition of Sri Lanka (AWCSL) and other civil society movements working on animal welfare have highlighted the need for major reforms to this law.
Earlier, a Bill for this purpose was presented to Parliament in October 2010 by the Ven. Athuruliye Rathana Thera. This legislation underlined the duty for persons in charge of animals to treat them (the animals) humanely, to prevent cruelty to animals, to secure the protection and welfare of animals, to establish a National Animal Welfare Authority which would implement regulations and codes of practice to raise awareness on animal welfare.
The AWASL has welcomed the new Bill as a positive move towards creating a better environment where animals are not subjected to cruelty. The Coalition says it will closely monitor the implementation of the new laws.In this context, we also need to reflect on some issues brought up by the movement the Dharma Voices for Animal (DVA). It says that as human being we all should join in opposing cruelty to animals, because this planet belongs to all living creatures not only to us.
The DVA, after years of research and scientific investigations, explain why meat and meat products are unhealthy. It says there is no doubt that eating meat is bad for our health. Diseases more common among meat eaters include anaemia, appendicitis, arthritis, breast cancer, cancer of the colon, cancer of the prostate, constipation, diabetes, gall stones, gout, high blood pressure, indigestion, obesity, piles, strokes and varicose veins. It is a shame and a sign of ignorance that most people still don’t know about these dangers.
A leading author T. Colin Campbell PhD. says excessive animal protein could cause the growth of cancer. In multiple, peer-reviewed animal studies, researchers discovered that they could actually turn the growth of cancer cells on and off by raising and lowering doses of animal protein. The huge population studies called The China Study” showed correlations between amount of animal products eaten and the number of cases of cancers, heart disease and other serious health conditions.
A lessons from ‘The China Study’ is that breast cancer is associated with consumption of animal fat, but not plant fat. Heart disease is associated with eating animal protein. When we stop eating it — most heart diseases are gradually healed, type 2 diabetes is associated with increased fat intake. Colon cancer is associated with meat consumption.
Kidney stones are also associated with animal protein intake. Macular degeneration and cataracts occur through lack of eating highly coloured fruits or vegetables, the author says.Cognitive impairment, memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease are also associated with an animal-based diet.The message is simple: Eat plants for health. People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic diseases. People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest.” Heart disease can be reversed through nutrition says Caldwell B. Esselstyn M.D., a physician and researcher at the best cardiac centre in the United States.
With a whole foods, plant-based diet, not only did it stop the progression of the disease, but 70 percent of patients saw an opening of their clogged arteries. It’s not just cancer and heart disease that respond to a whole foods, plant-based diet. It may also help protect us from diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases, bone, kidney, eye, and brain diseases, the specialist says. Gradually the people of Sri Lanka need to reconsider not only whether it is good but also whether it is right for us to carry out mass-scale slaughter of cattle, goats, pigs, chickens and other creatures.
– See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/106067/The-planet-belongs-to-all-living-creatures-not-just-to-us-EDITORIAL#sthash.6Kvs1YRk.dpuf
Capitulating to India on fishing issue
February 28th, 2016Editorial Courtesy The Sunday Times
Last week, our INSIGHT team went to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) that separates Sri Lanka from India to follow up on an earlier investigation into the continuing rape of the country’s sea resources — the fish and the environment — by illegal Indian fishing expeditions.
This was hardly three weeks after the Indian External Affairs Minister came to Sri Lanka for what was the Joint Commission meeting and where, as this newspaper reported, the Indian delegation cajoled their counterparts in Colombo to not even minute Sri Lanka’s opposition to what the Indian fishermen were doing in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters other than to say the Joint Commission noted the intricacies of the fishermen issue on both sides and the need to put forward innovative solutions”. Intricacies. Innovative solutions. How about that. This was a capitulation by the Sri Lankans as never before.
Even in the case of the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord there was some resistance offered in the face of unprecedented Indian pressure which included the flexing of its military muscle. Sri Lanka managed to put in some provisions like calling for a referendum following the merger of the North and East provinces, but in this instance, the Sri Lanka Foreign Minister going to shower praise on his counterpart at every turn just buckled down to please her on this issue which even she concedes is an irritant’ in bi-lateral relations.
What quid pro quo, if any, was there to this surrender, one does not know. Those familiar with the work of the Joint Commission say there was no fair exchange and it was a total let-down by the Sri Lankan side.
In fact, the INSIGHT team reported last week that the intensity of the rape of our seas has increased, not waned. The marauding Indian fishermen have now begun ‘pair trawling’ i.e. dragging a huge wider net, sweeping the sea from top to bottom. The team says that when the Sri Lanka Navy boat, on which they were, approached the intruders, the intruders swung their steel hull boats aggressively towards the naval craft with the intention of damaging it. Such is the audacity with which they operate – because they know that the Sri Lanka Navy has been ordered to cover their guns with canvas sheets and that if and when arrested, the Indian missions in Colombo and Jaffna aid and abet in the whole exercise by telephoning the Sri Lankan political leadership to facilitate their release after just a brief stint in remand prison. The treatment meted out to the Sri Lankan fishermen who stray into Indian waters is quite the opposite.
The Sri Lanka Navy and the Northern fishermen of Sri Lanka are crying out for deterrent action. The Navy says that it should at least be allowed to fire warning salvos to ward off the Indian boats. Cutting their ropes is another option but that is fraught with some danger as the rope can get entangled in the naval craft. The political will in Colombo is sub-zero to this irritant” even though the Prime Minister once told a Chennai-based TV channel that poachers can be shot.
When the President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister go to the North, they must take a boat ride to the IMBL on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday to see for themselves the carnage that is taking place inside the waters they are expected to protect. They have taken an oath to protect the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and to protect the environment. The Finance Minister who says he is running after every dollar will know from the statistics the Fisheries Ministry has presented to Parliament more than US Dollars 50 million is lost annually to his otherwise barren coffers as a result of this. To the people of Sri Lanka they have to pay in higher prices for fish because these seas provide some 45% of the local fish produce in this country.
At least, as an initial step, bottom trawling by steel hull trawlers (which is banned in India as well) must be stopped with immediate effect. The European Union must stop importing Indian fish products garnered from such illegal fishing practices. Asking Sri Lanka to take India to a World Court is going to embarrass the Sri Lankan leaders more than the Indians given their servility towards India’s impunity on this score.
It is in this backdrop that one has genuine concerns over Sri Lanka’s eagerness to enter into an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India. If this Government does not have what it takes to challenge India on a blatant infringement of this country’s sovereignty, how on earth does one expect it to challenge India if an economic pact turns out to be one-sided in its implementation?
Govt. intolerance on the rise
The sudden transfer of the Commander of an important Division of the Sri Lanka Army stationed in the North after he engaged the visiting Foreign Minister in a verbal challenge while on a consultation process, is worrying.
The front-line officer has a creditable track record on the battlefield. Political correctness might not be quite his forte and he may not have the diplomatic finesse, but his loyalty to his country is unquestionable. Moreover, he was invited to discuss the fall-out of the UNHRC Resolution so that the visiting Minister could feel the pulse of the Armed Forces.
Sometime not all that long ago, this Foreign Minister’s immediate predecessor recalled a seasoned diplomat from Kuala Lumpur because he dared ask an awkward question from the Minister during a workshop at Diyatalawa. Unaccustomed as he was to be questioned, and only used to giving lectures, the then Minister could not stomach this insubordination”. One however, expected the incumbent Foreign Minister to fare better, the liberal he is.
There is a creeping sense that the still fairly new Government (of only 14 months) is fast losing its patience with dissenting voices. We are witnessing the Prime Minister firing from all cylinders, or hitting round the wicket to use cricketing parlance during this T20 World Cup time.
This Government likes to look to the US and the West. Look then, at how the US Presidential debate is unfolding. Look at Britain and the fact that while the British Prime Minister is supporting his country remaining in the European Union at a referendum in four months’ time, five of his Cabinet Ministers and the Mayor of London, also from his party are opposing it. Heated are the debates but no one is being called a traitor” for taking an opposite view, a word much maligned during the last regime in Sri Lanka and used often against the very politicians now in Government who were critical of certain aspects of that Administration.
In contrast, in Sri Lanka, there are threats that the debate on the pact with India, ETCA is to be taken to the streets. Not many still have a clue on the exact details of this agreement which is still at a framework’ stage (please see Minister Malik Samarawickrama’s interview on Page 15); not least Government politicians, but the Government says it can double the number of people the anti- ETCA lobby can bring on to the streets and can pass the ETCA come what may. That is surely not in the spirit of ‘Yahapalanaya’. We hope the new Constitution that is in the offing will eventually not have to be decided on the streets as well, at a future date.
American presidential election and Sri Lanka’s international investigation
February 28th, 2016Dr. S. I. Keethaponcalan is Chair of the Conflict Resolution Department, Salisbury University, Maryland
Courtesy: www.eurasiareview.com
The traffic from Washington, D.C to Colombo has increased dramatically in 2015. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Sri Lanka in May. The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power was in the country in November. Ambassador Thomas Shannon, Counselor of the Department of State and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal were in Colombo in December. For Biswal this was her second visit to Sri Lanka within five months. These constant visits of high ranking officials from the United States to Sri Lanka have raised many eyebrows. Why are so many high ranking American officials visiting Sri Lanka suddenly? This is a legitimate question.
The nationalist fringe of the Sri Lankan polity is obviously threatened by these persistent visits, and some suggested that these visits are a part of the American call for an international investigation into human rights violations, which allegedly took place during the last phase of the war in 2009. Some of these groups might view and/or depict these heightened interactions between Colombo and Washington as an indication of the present government succumbing to the pressure from America on the issue of an international investigation. It is possible that these visits have less to do with the violence of the last phase of the war and the proposed investigative mechanism. The reason, perhaps, is some of the recent foreign policy changes introduced in the U.S. by the Obama administration.
Pivot to Asia
President Barack Obama, in the early days of his first term in office wanted to make a fundamental change to the American foreign policy. The idea is to pivot” to Asia. The desire to pivoting to Asia had two integrated elements: (1) moving away to a certain extent from the traditional policy focus, which emphasized Europe and the Middle East, and (2) providing top priority to Asia. Asia always figured prominently in the American foreign policy orientation, but it never received the highest priority. The decision to provide top most prominence to Asia was the significance of the pivot to Asia policy. Accordingly, the region would receive top priority in defense policy planning, diplomacy and investment. The end of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq enabled the Obama administration to focus more on Asia.
The American foreign policy shift was influenced by enormous growth, potential and some of the problems that stem from the states of Asia. Currently, some of the major rising powers are in Asia. For example, China and India are emerging as major international actors. These are also nuclear powers. China could potentially challenge the U.S. in terms of economic power and military strength. Also, for example, some of the major greenhouse gas emitters are in Asia. As Hillary Clinton stated the Asia-Pacific has become a key driver of global politics.” This reality obviously influenced the Obama administration’s decision to pivot to Asia. Containing and engaging China are the two cornerstones of the pivot to Asia policy.
Pivoting to Asia however, was not easy. There was internal resistance from the more traditional and conservative section of the American foreign policy apparatus and analysts. This forced Obama administration to repackage the pivot to Asia policy as rebalancing.” Also, the intensified violence, especially terrorism of the ISIS, forced the administration to return to the Middle-East centered foreign policy. However, the significance of Asia to the present American administration remains very high.
Asia
Pacific and South Asia are two major sub-regions of Asia. The American position in the Pacific region has been more than satisfactory because the U.S. has military and nonmilitary facilities in several countries in this region including Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Singapore and Australia. South Asia however was problematic because in the early days of the Obama administration’s policy shift, India and Sri Lanka remained out of the American sphere of influence. The Manmohan Singh Government in India hesitated to forge full partnership with the U.S. However, Narendra Modi’s ascendency to the office of the Prime Minister has brought India and the U.S. much closer as partnership in several areas has strengthened.
In Sri Lanka the Rajapaksa government was leaning drastically toward China, which in turn weakened the American power and influence in the country. The American sponsored United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on Sri Lanka, to a certain extent, allowed the Americans to have a say in the affairs of Sri Lanka under Rajapaksa administration. The U.S. in Sri Lanka could have been completely isolated without the involvement in the Sri Lankan human rights issue.
However, one may argue that America’s Sri Lanka problem was resolved with the regime change in Sri Lanka in 2015. The new government not only demonstrated willingness to work with the West in general and the U.S. in particular, but also co-sponsored the UNHRC resolution. When there is a friendly government in Colombo that could be of assistance to achieve its regional and global strategic objectives, the U.S. does not have to be imposing in their approach and damage the remerging cordiality between the two states. The constant visits of American officials to Sri Lanka are part of the effort to strengthen the U.S-Sri Lanka relations. An important element of the current American schemes in Sri Lanka (and India) would be containing China in South Asia.
As a result, one may assume that: (1) the American demand for an international investigation into the human rights violations would fade way, and (2) the ongoing engagement and visits would intensify. This however, is a short-term prospect because there will be a new administration in Washington, D.C, next year.
Presidential Election
The results of the American presidential election would certainly have implications for Sri Lanka. Therefore, ideally, Sri Lanka should be closely watching the on-going primaries taking place to elect the nominees for the general election, which will take place in November 2016. Who is the best option for Sri Lanka?
The field has been really crowded. The Democratic Party contest has already been narrowed to two person race. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are the two candidates competing for the Democratic Party nomination. Sanders is a self-proclaimed socialist promising free public education and healthcare in addition to a revolution,” which has been attracting a large number of young voters. Hillary Clinton, a former first lady, served as the Secretary of State in the Obama administration. She was one of the architects of the American policy of pivot to Asia and played a major role in the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka. Therefore, if Hillary is elected president, one may assume, that the current American interest in and engagement with Sri Lanka would continue; they may even intensify.
Sanders is a novice in international affairs and so far, has demonstrated ignorance about developments taking place outside of the Middle-Eastern region. He is too much into internal revolution, hence, he may pay less attention to Asia and Sri Lanka. At this point in time, however, it seems, even if he wins the democratic nomination, he would find it extremely difficult to win the general election with his socialist mantra.
The Republican Party started with seventeen candidates and has been reduced to five, currently. All of the leading candidates are foreign policy hardliners, who would carpet bomb” the ISIS and other Islamic radical groups. Some, for example, Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, wants no rules in war. According to him, winning the war should be the only rule, which should be applied to warring parties. Donald Trump, the real-estate businessman, who probably would win the republican nomination, has similar views about foreign policy and war. Therefore, all Republican Party candidates would be sympathetic toward states that have to deal with terrorist threat and would probably understand human rights violations of state parties. Also, all Republican Party candidates, in terms of foreign policy, are excessively Middle-East oriented. Therefore, a Republican president in the Oval Office in January, would pay very little attention to Sri Lanka, which would work well for the government in power in Colombo.
Of Traitors and Dictators
February 28th, 2016Mahadenamutta Courtesy The Nation
These days Prime Minister RanilWickremesinghe is an angry man. He is particularly piqued at those who criticise the proposed Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India. He takes every opportunity to take a swipe at them, even calling them ‘traitors’. A trade union representing doctors and some media outlets have been in the line of fire.
Anyone feels a sense of déjà vu?
Take your mind back a few years. Mahinda Rajapaksa was President. WimalWeerawansa and the like were running a well-oiled propaganda machine. Practically anyone and everyone who dared to oppose the Rajapaksa regime were labelled traitors and even worse, ‘terrorists’, or, to use the more popular vernacular, ‘koti’.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe knows this only too well. He entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in good faith, hoping the Tigers would reciprocate. They initially did and Wickremesinghe was hailed as the man who brought peace to the country.
Then the Tigers reneged on their word after a couple of years. That is when Rajapaksa’s propagandists took over. Overnight, Wickremesinghe was a traitor and a ‘kotiya’ who tried to hand over Eelam to the LTTE on a platter.
That label stuck and it took Wickremesinghe more than a decade to recover from that and return to power. Even then, it was not on his own steam but by using Maithripala Sirisena as a proxy for the presidential election because there was a belief that had Wickremesinghe contested, the ‘koti’ issue would be raised again.
We can understand the Prime Minister’s anger with the media and the trade unions. He has got the reins of office after a long wait in the opposition. He wants to do a sincere job of work and he believes he is taking the country forward. Then, he has to deal with forces who are standing in his way who, he believes are crying wolf at the mere mention of India. So, he lets off steam, labelling them as traitors.
There are a couple of issues that the PM can deal with, before does that. First, the details about ETCA are not very clear and we keep getting mixed messages. Some ministers are claiming that the agreement is only a ‘framework’ for co-operation between the two countries and nothing is set in stone just yet. Other ministers are trying to explain the small print and assuring us that even if it is implemented, there is nothing to fear. And with so many ministers to go around, everyone is naturally confused!
Second, is it not possible to have a mature debate about ETCA, without all the name calling? Those who oppose anything the government does will of course oppose it. The Weerawansas and the Vasudevas can have their say. That is politics in this country and that is their right too.
But some of the opposition comes from professionals who have genuine concerns that they will be swamped by hordes of Indians offering cheap labour. It is all about having concerns about your future prospects, not just about being ‘traitors’.
When Rajapaksa and his cohorts called everyone else traitors, he could afford to do so. He had been re-elected with a massive mandate and enjoyed a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Having just won the war, he was the uncrowned King of the country and MR stood for ‘Maha Rajaaneni’.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has none of these advantages. He is not the President and in fact, the President is from a rival party. He barely has a working majority in Parliament and if it comes to a contest, will need the support of other parties to stay in power. So, he needs friends more than he needs enemies. Right now though, he is making more enemies than friends. Just a few months into your term of office, that is not a sensible thing to do.
So, it is in the Prime Minister’s own interest to have a decent dialogue about this instead of getting hot under the collar and seeing a red under every bed. Because the PM is lashing out at so-called ‘traitors’ now, all that is happening is that he is being accused of threatening the media and being a dictator. The sooner he realises this, the better it is, for his own sake!
President, Premier, Finance Minister to hold crisis talks tomorrow over fertilizer issue
February 28th, 2016By Kasun Warakapiriya Courtesy The Sunday Times
Government leaders, including President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, will hold a crisis meeting tomorrow to find an urgent solution to the fertilizer issue, Agriculture Minister Duminda Dissanayake said.
He said his ministry arranged the meeting as farmers from several parts of the country were complaining about a fertilizer shortage. The minister said the shortage was artificially created by traders who had hoarded stocks, expecting a price increase.
These traders make farmers pay more for subsidised fertilizer,” he said.
The minister urged farmers to inform the ministry and Consumer Affairs Authority if any trader was hoarding fertilizer stocks and warned that tough action would be taken against the offenders.Meanwhile paddy and vegetable farmers said they were badly affected by the shortage of fertilizer and the Government’s policy decision to stop subsidising fertilizer.
Vegetable farmer W. Rupasinghe said many famers had to share or borrow fertilizer to cultivate their crops. He accused the Government of resorting to various ruses to force the farmers to give up cultivation and sell their land to companies.
GURU ( TEACHERS) ,GOVI (FARMERS) ,WEDA ( DOCTORS) ,SANGA ( BUDDHIST PRIESTS) – ARE WE ANTOGONIZING ALL OF THEM????
February 28th, 2016Dr Sarath Obeysekera
S W R D Bandaranayake rode on all above four horses and won the election and came to power despite the fact that his life was commuted prematurely by a member of Sangha .
Today there may not be danger that Sangha will commit such heinous crime ,though
Sinha- Le might plan something bad in time to come .
Government has antagonized Weda ( doctors), and in a war path against Govi ( Farmers) on fertiliser subsidy and against Sangha ( Buddhist Priests) on Thervasa Kathikawa ( Buddhist code of discipline ) .
What is left in Guru ( teachers ) and Mt Starlin may resort some action which may bring Guru to have a dispute with the government .
Aren’t we on a war path against all under Yahaplanaya ,though state is not repressive unlike previous regime ?
Let us practice Maithree ( compassion ) without resorting to violence get together round the table and avoid a mayhem
We need to be united and Maithreepala can surely take action before it is too late
We must have some scientific ideas about the food we eat such as chicken, pork and beef
February 28th, 2016Dr Hector Perera London
The bacteria campylobacter contaminated 70 per cent of fresh shop-bought chickens stocked by major retailers. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said the cumulative results from the first two quarters of its year-long survey of fresh chickens found 70 per cent tested positive for the presence of campylobacter, up from 59 per cent in August. According to the study, 69% of pork chops and ground pork samples tested positive for Yersinia enterocolitica, a bug known to cause infections in about 100,000 Americans a year, especially kids. Other bacteria found in pork samples included enterococcus, staph, salmonella, and listeria. The pig is a mass of worms. Each mouthful you eat is not a nutritious food but a mass of small worms the naked eye cannot detect. Worms thrive in the hog. When these worms are digested into your system, they cause a high birth rate to hundreds of new worms called larvae which travels the blood stream of your system and lodge in your muscles. These worms even enter your brain, lungs or your spinal fluid. They cause muscular aches, fever and many other symptoms of sickness. The worm has an amazing ability to go undetected in your system for many years. The scientific name for the ill-causing worm found in all pork is Trichinella spiralis which causes trichinosis.
In cooking one must have some idea about the ingredients then about the food they are going to cook. I have seen most British TV chefs cook sausages, pork, beef, lamb and chicken without knowing some most important things that might affect the health. Like any other food they need to be handled properly, cooked properly to avoid any serious health issues. For the time being just a few things are mentioned as follows such as sausages, hot dogs, pork and chicken.
Sausages
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat, often pork, beef or veal, along with salt, spices and breadcrumbs, with a skin around it. Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made from intestine, but sometimes synthetic. Sausages that are sold uncooked are cooked in many ways, including pan-frying, broiling and barbecuing. Some sausages are cooked during processing and the casing may then be removed.
Sausage making is a traditional food preservation technique. Sausages may be preserved by curing, drying (often in association with fermentation or culturing, which can contribute to preservation), smoking or freezing.
There is a huge range of national and regional varieties of sausages, which differ by their flavouring or spicing ingredients, the meat(s) used in them and their manner of preparation.
Traditionally, sausage casings were made of the cleaned intestines, or stomachs in the case of haggis and other traditional puddings. Today, however, natural casings are often replaced by collagen, cellulose, or even plastic casings, especially in the case of industrially manufactured sausages. Some forms of sausage, such as sliced sausage, are prepared without a casing. Additionally, luncheon meat and sausage meat are now available without casings in tin cans and jars.
Want to lose your appetite for hot dogs?
Then visit a frankfurter factory. It’s an unpleasant business.
In vast metal vats, tons of pork trimmings are mixed with the pink slurry formed when chicken carcasses are squeezed through metal grates and blasted with water.
The mush is mixed with powdered preservatives, flavourings, red colouring and drenched in water before being squeezed into plastic tubes to be cooked and packaged.
It is a disgusting process, for the hot dog is arguably the ultimate in processed, industrial food. In response to the pink, flabby tubes of paste we serve our children, foodies have launched a movement for real frankfurters or ‘haute dogs’.
What about Pork?
Did you know that pigs carry a variety of parasites in their bodies and meat? Some of these parasites are difficult to kill even when cooking. This is the reason there are so many warnings out there about eating undercooked pork. Some times in the TV some British TV chefs, just keep on tossing a piece of pork on a cooking pan for few minutes do not cook it properly. Some people have no idea about the health issues about the undercooked pork. When cut to eat, the inside is still red that means it is undercooked. Germs, bacteria and the rest still thrive inside the food which they called ready to eat. Do you think it is right?
Pigs carry many viruses and parasites with them. Whether by coming in direct contact with them through farms or by eating their meat we put ourselves at higher risk of getting one of these painful, often debilitating diseases (not to mention put our bodies on toxic overload.)
Pigs are primary carriers of: Taenia solium tapeworm, Hepatitis E virus (HEV), PRRS (Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome) Nipah virus, Menangle virus. Each of these parasites and viruses can lead to serious health problems that can last for years to come.
Taenia solium is the pork tapeworm belonging to cyclophyllid cestodes in the family Taeniidae. One of the biggest concerns with eating pork meat is trichinellosis or trichinosis. This is an infection that humans get from eating undercooked or uncooked pork that contains the larvae of the trichinella worm.
This worm parasite is very commonly found in pork. When the worm, most often living in cysts in the stomach, opens through stomach acids, its larvae are released into the body of the pig. These new worms make their homes in the muscles of the pig. The unknowing human body who consumes this infected meat flesh.
And while no one particularly wants to consume worms, trichinellosis is a serious illness that you should do virtually anything to avoid.
Common Symptoms of Trichinellosis:
Nausea, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Headache, Fever, Chills, Cough, swollen eyes, Muscle pain, Aching joints, Coordination problems, Heart issues, Breathing problems.These symptoms of trichinellosis can really put you out of the game for quite a while. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) these symptoms can last for weeks and in more serious cases months on end.
Honestly to my surprise those kussi ammas” or kitchen servant women didn’t know any science the way they should know but they cooked very tasty food due to years of hard work. The spices and ingredients get absorbed into food to give a better taste and additionally they destroy the germs and bacteria in the food.
Chicken is a good protein source, with a 3 oz. serving providing 50 percent of the Daily Value for protein. Chicken is also a good source of niacin, vitamin B-6, phosphorus, zinc and riboflavin. It also contains some dietary cholesterol and saturated fat. However, steps can be taken to minimize the fat content of your chicken and blunt its effect on your cholesterol levels.
Chicken and Cholesterol
The American Heart Association recommends you limit your cholesterol intake to 300 mg per day. If you have high cholesterol already, limit your cholesterol intake to 200 mg per day. A 3 oz. serving of skinless roasted chicken contains between 70 mg and 80 mg of dietary cholesterol, depending on whether it is dark meat or light meat. This is about 25 percent of your recommended cholesterol for the day.
Chicken and Saturated Fat
Saturated fat affects cholesterol levels more than dietary cholesterol. The American Heart Association recommends limiting your saturated fat intake to less than 7 percent of your calories for the day. A 3 oz. serving of skinless roasted white-meat chicken contains only 1 g of saturated fat, and the same size serving of skinless roasted dark-meat chicken contains only 2 g of saturated fat.
Cooking for Lower Cholesterol
Choose chicken breasts with no skin or low-fat ground chicken. Cut off any visible fat from your chicken and cook it using methods that don’t require added fat. Baking, broiling, grilling, roasting and sauteing are healthy cooking methods but energy cannot be saved in that kinds of cooking. Drain any fat that comes off your meat while it is cooking. Finally, make meat a smaller part of your meals while increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables.
Why Are Chicken, Fish and Beans Better Than Red Meat?
In general, red meats (beef, pork and lamb) have more cholesterol and saturated (bad) fat than chicken, fish and vegetable proteins such as beans. Cholesterol and saturated fat can raise your blood cholesterol and make heart disease worse. Chicken and fish have less saturated fat than most red meat. The unsaturated fats in fish, such as salmon, actually have health benefits. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish and some plant sources, may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Beans don’t contain cholesterol, only animal products do. There are many types of beans – pinto, kidney, garbanzo, soybeans, etc. – and they’re all good for you. Put lentils, split peas and black-eyed peas on the list, too! None of them have cholesterol unless they’re prepared with meat (such as pork and beans) or with lard. It’s OK to eat red meat as long as you limit the amount. The American Heart Association recommends that people limit lean meat, skinless chicken and fish to less than six ounces per day, total. Fish (3.5 oz./serving) should be eaten at least twice per week, preferably fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, trout and herring. Use the tips below to lower the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol you get when you eat meat. One portion of meat is about the size of a deck of cards or three ounces. Choose lean cuts of meat. Lean cuts usually contain the words round,” loin” or sirloin” on the package. Trim off as much fat as you can before cooking, and pour off the melted fat after cooking. Use healthier cooking methods: bake, broil, stew and grill. Your comments are welcomed perera6@hotmail.co.uk
Remembering Bodhi (Dr. Buddhadasa Bodhinayake)
February 28th, 2016
By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando Courtesy The Island
One year has passed since your demise on the 4th of March 2015, yet it is just like yesterday! Your friends and old contemporaries in the medical faculty still remember how you campaigned against sadistic ragging practices by senior students at the University. Subsequently you formed The Sinhala Students Union (Three Sinhala Siswa Sanvidhanaya) to fight against university ragging, under the guidance of Ven. Baddegama Wimalawansa thero at Ode Temple Maradana.
During your internship you fell ill; President of the Ceylon Medical Council extended your internship on medical grounds, but a blooper on the part of a staff member nearly endangered your chances of practicing as a doctor! You became defiant when asked to repeat your internship and referred to your superiors, Dr. P.R. Anthonis, and Prof. M.H. Hamza, to vouch for your performances, yet the President (CMC) took a conclusive stance.
Your reaction at that moment may have stunned the President when you firmly intimated to him that, ‘even if you had to beg on Colombo streets you wouldn’t repeat the internship’ again! The issue blew up out of proportion; hit the newspapers while the judiciary spoke in your favour. Dr. R.B. Lenora offered to meet all the legal expenses for you should the matter ended up in High Court! Queen’s Council S. Nadesan agreed to give free legal advice.
This incident drove you towards backroom politics and to form a youth organisation called ‘Sinhala Tharuna Sanvidhanaya. Dr. Sivali Ratwatte, Ven. Elle Gunawansa and a few other eminent personalities supported you to bring the SLFP to power during 1970 elections.
Dr. Sivali Ratwatte arranged your first meeting with Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Mrs. B. asked you a single question – whether you could ‘galvanize the youth into action in such a short period of time? You unhesitatingly gave an affirmative answer and immediately sought support from the youth, liaised with the national newspapers, contacted some of the Buddhist clergy and other Sinhala Organisations and launched an effective campaign through the Sinhala Taruna Sanvidhanaya (STS). Your prime aim was to make Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike the Prime Minister after SLFP winning the 1970 elections.
When your efforts bore fruit Mrs. Bandaranaike gave you an open choice to work for her Government. Bodhi, You could have ended up as the Minister of Youth Affairs in her Cabinet, but your humility had no bounds; you made a modest request to her to regularise your internship and to get your name registered in the Ceylon Medical Register. Mrs. B willingly acceded to your request through the Minister of Health, Mr. W.P.G.Ariyadasa.
You soon became a popular paediatrician and very much interested in Anorexia Nervosa. With your research you published the first book on psychology in Ceylon called ‘Daruwage Heti Therum Ganna (Get to know about your child), which was akin to the Western doctor Dr. Benjamin Spock’s book on Baby and Child Care.
Dr. Arthur C. Clarke was your friend in Sri Lanka. Both you and Sir Arthur jointly authored the first book on space in Sinhala titled ‘OBA Vannek Handata Yai in 1961. Subsequently Sir Arthur persuaded you to go to the UK to further your medical knowledge and even offered you and Karuni his house at Nightingale Rod in London to reside where you and Karuni finally became the proud owners of Arthur C Clark’s historic residence in the UK.
Your training on Anorexia Nervosa at the Royal Free University Hospital in London, under Professor Gerald Russell, managed to upgrade yourself within one year to the position of a Registrar. Subsequently you became a Senior Registrar at St. Bartholomew’s North Middlesex Rotation under the NHS.
Bodhi, you proved your mettle in no time, diversified your field into psychiatry and rose up to the position of Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Tutor at Barking & Brentwood to train postgraduate psychiatrists. You managed to train over 120 graduates during a period of 12 years and conducted over nine annual symposia in psychiatry before earning the Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 1990.
You were a man of immense talent. Apart from your medical knowledge and experience tentacles of your literal talents started to stretch both in Sinhala and English writing. Your very first article at the age of 7, published in the ‘Sinhala Jathiya’ newspaper under the caption Paropakaraya (helping fellow human beings) acted as a self-portrait of your character during whole of your life’s sojourn.
Karunarathne Abeysekera molded you into a junior broadcaster from his children’s programme Lama Mandapaya. That experience led you to handle more than one thousand broadcasts at the Radio Ceylon over a period of 25 long years, and also to become the first ever radio announcer to give ball-by-ball cricket commentary in Sinhala, from the Oval Cricket Grounds, while Mr. Ronnie De Mel was the Director of Broadcasting.
Despite all your meritorious deeds of saving thousands of human lives and being a humble and sympathetic doctor, it may have been a long outstanding debt from your previous birth that you had to repay in the form of Karma, according to the Buddhist beliefs, that affected your health and made you retire compulsorily due to ill health long before it was due, immediately after being conferred on you the Emeritus Status by the North East London Mental Heath Trust. You were the only Sri Lankan on medical records in the UK to have served on the Editorial Board of the internationally famed health journal, ‘Hospital Medicine’ (British Journal of Hospital Medicine).
Looking back at your life and the rapid progress you made, especially in the medical field, it was rather inexplicable to understand why the eminent Professors at the Temple of Neurology were unable to diagnose your ailment properly with sophisticated scans and numerous tests but decided to treat you continuously for ‘atypical-parkinsonism’.
Bodhi, my good friend, you could have lived much longer for the wellbeing of many a patient and for the society as a whole, but there comes a time that we all have to leave everything and bid adios to everything. However, you have left your medical legacy behind with your son Nuwan and youngest daughter Janani Bodhinayake, who continue to carry forward your name attached to the National Health Service in the UK as medical doctors, while Anuski Bodhinayake has turned into a business mogul as a Real Estate Agent in Canada.
We all miss and remember you on your first death anniversary in Sri Lanka. Most of your colleagues and old friends will be attending an all night Pirith Sangayana on the 4th night followed by a Sangika Dana on 5th of March in Colombo, organised by Karuni Bodhinayake
tilakfernando@gmail.com