K G Courtesy:  Sunday Island

September 13, 2015
I had written no less than three times requesting that the road named after the butcher of Uva-Wellassa, Brownrigg, be changed and it was appropriately changed subsequently to Keppetipola Mawatha.

Many Brits and other western countries at the behest of the non-resident Sri Lanka Tamils now living in their countries, have been promoting attacks on our country claiming gross HR violations. Our HR record certainly is not what it should have been but who is Britain in particular to point a finger at us —- for when they point a finger at us they should know that there are three pointing at them. After Blair, of Iraq mass murder fame, came for his holiday of sorts, I decided to recall what they did here when they ruled our country and cite  just one instance alone to make my point.

“Slaughter every man, woman, and child (including babes suckling at the breast)” were the orders given by Governor Robert Brownrigg (third British Governor of Ceylon from 1813 – 1820) to Maj. Gen. Hay MacDowell in 1818. It is the edict that left the people in the agriculturally rich grain growing region of Uva-Wellassa of then Ceylon in a state of famine and starvation. Uva-Wellassa region was the granary of the Kingdom of Kandy before it was annexed by the British in 1815 under the ‘Kandyan Convention’ entered into with the Traditional Chiefs of the Kandyan Kingdom. No sooner was the ink  dry, after the signing of this Treaty, that the British Colonial Government began to dishonour it in both spirit and substance; that  it was that led to a popular uprising of the people, led by the Kandyan Chiefs in 1818 that nearly brought the collapse of the British Colonial Government in Ceylon.

The British used a scorched earth policy including mass murder and genocide of innocent Sinhala civilians to crush this rebellion. A scorched earth policy is a military strategy which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area. It is a military strategy where all of the assets that are used or can be used by the enemy are targeted, such as food sources, transportation, communications, industrial resources, and even the people in the area.

Kandy was occupied by February 14, 1815 using only 3,744 British troops. The King of Kandy Sri Wickrama Rajasinha was taken prisoner on February 18 at Gallehewatte in Dumbara and deported to Vellore, South India and he died in 1832 while his only son born in exile died in 1843. That Sri Lanka was not conquered is proved in the Act of Settlement read at the Convention on March 2, 1815, stipulating the conditions under which the British Crown would administer the annexed Kingdom. The ceding of Kandy ended Sinhalese independence of 2,357 years.

In recognition of his ‘achievement’ of helping Britain to annex the Kandyan Kingdom, Brownrigg was made a Baron in 1816. D’Oyly was rewarded by making him the ‘Resident of Kandy’.

The genocide committed by the British to quell the uprisings between 1818 and 1822 by slaughtering every man, woman and child including babies suckling at the breast, in the Uva Province (Badulla and Moneragala districts) goes down as notable examples of British crimes against humanity. Uva occupies a prominent place in Sri Lanka’s history for the first recorded visit of The Buddha to Sri Lanka was to Mahiyangana, South of Uva.

British human rights campaigners now pointing accusing fingers at Sri Lanka have forgotten the Madulla Massacre that led to razing and annihilating of entire villages. In the entire Uva region the male population above the age of 18 were killed in revenge for resisting British imperial occupation under Governor Brownrigg. No paddy or chena cultivation could be done for 10 years due to lack of man power. Davy’s records reveal that during an inspection of the Uva region with Governor Brownrigg they had not seen a single person or house for seven days.

Britain’s shame

The Britain that today preaches human rights and demands accountability and upholding of universally accepted standards on human rights needs to recall some of the orders given by men Britain knighted in recognition of their services to Her Majesty the Queen during Imperial colonial rule.

The British that are now demanding demilitarization in Sri Lanka may like to note that the auxiliary force that was brought as reinforcements from India in 1818 only left Ceylon in 1920 – after 102 years and we wonder how many women were raped and were left with children!!! 10,000 Sinhalese Buddhists are said to have been killed in battle.

The people of Uva were very proud people as they had also fought against the Portuguese and the Dutch.

Britain  not releasing the Chilcott Report  which exposes the crimes of Blair and  Bush is no surprise.  The British human rights champions have conveniently avoided acknowledging how their troops killed all cattle, animals, burnt homes, property, burnt grain, cut down their coconut, jak and breadfruit trees, agricultural crops and fields and even salt that the people possessed? Simply said neither UN nor the Human Rights Council existed at the time is simply not an excuse. The Statute of Limitations does not apply to Crimes against Humanity. We demand Britain come clean on its crimes in all of the colonies.

British human rights preaching omit how the irrigation systems of Uva and Wellassa, the rice-bowl of Sri Lanka, were systematically destroyed under British Government orders. Wellassa which means ‘WelLakshsa’ – Lakh of paddy fields, was ruined by the British.

The British who preach now about honouring commitments made may like to ask how they betrayed the core terms of the Kandyan Convention in particular the assurance given to protect Buddhism as state religion (Article 5 of the Convention which refers to the inviolability of the Buddhist religion). Unfortunately, every post-independent leader continues to flout this key commitment.

Governor Robert Brownrigg who issued the gazette notification on January 1, 1818 condemned all 17 who rebelled against the British, termed them ‘traitors’, and confiscated their properties by Government declaration. They were declared ‘Rebels, Outlaws and Enemies of the British’. It took over 180 years for the Sri Lankan Government recognize them as ‘National Heroes’ and it is about time that the Government establishes an official memorial for them.

The people of Sri Lanka need to know who their true heroes are: they were:-

1 .Keppetipola, former Dissawe of Uva

2. Godagedara, former Adikaram of Uva
3. Ketakala Mohattala of Uva
4. Maha Betmerala of Kataragama in Uva
5. Kuda Betmerala of Kataragama in Uva
6. Palagolla Mohattala of Uva
7. Passerewatte Vidane of Uva
8. Kiwulegedera Mohottala of Walapane
9. Yalagomme Mohotalla of Walapane
10. Udamadure Mohottala of Walapane
11. Kohukumbure Rate Rala of Wellassa
12. Kohukumbura Walauwe Mohottala of Wellassa
13. Bootawe Rate Rala of Wellassa
14. Kohukumubura Gahawela Rate Rala of Wellassa
15. Maha Badullegammene Rate Rala of Wellassa
16. Bulupitiye Mohottala of Wellassa
17. Palle Malheyae Gametirale of Wallassa.

Monarawila Keppetipola Disawe

The British that now claim to stand for righteousness and seek the high moral ground wherever possible need to be reminded how they treated Madugalle Uda Bagada Nilame who was dismissed from office, arrested without being given the opportunity to bid farewell to his family (what today resembles extraordinary renditions), while his residence was publicly burnt on Governor Brownrigg’s orders, possessions confiscated and sold with proceeds going to a British pension fund.

What must also be mentioned here is that the British army in Ceylon comprised Europeans, Javanese, Malay, African troops, Indian sepoys. The 1818 rebellion was crushed by bringing Indian Tamils (Sepoys) from the Madras Presidency (Tamil Nadu).

The British Governments throughout its infamous colonial history had always  applied double standards. The duplicity of the British Government in calling for accountability in Sri Lanka is best illustrated by its own handling of the ‘Chilcot Inquiry’ which investigated the conduct of the UK government and military in relation for the invasion of Iraq. This inquiry ran from November 2009 until February 2011 and it cost approximately £7.5 million, but its Report is not yet made public for fear of the huge embarrassment it would cause to both the British Government and British military once its contents are released. What is Britain now preaching against Sri Lanka with blood on its hands?

Robert Brownrigg must be condemned for his crimes in Ceylon even at this late stage because that is a historic duty that posterity owes to our freedom fighters and national heroes who sacrificed their lives and liberty in the Uva-Wellassa based war of independence in 1818.

K G

Courtesy:  Sunday Island

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=131639

By Dayan Jayatilleka 

Makes me sick, motherf*****, how far we done fell.” – Detective ‘Bunk’ Moreland to Omar in ‘The Wire’

UN Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, referring to the Report on Sri Lanka which he plans to release on Wednesday, made comments which are dangerous, saying:

…Its findings are of the most serious nature. I welcome the vision shown by President Sirisena since his election in January 2015, and the commitments made by the new Government under his leadership. But this Council owes it to Sri Lankans – and to its own credibility – to ensure an accountability process that produces results, decisively moves beyond the failures of the past, and brings the deep institutional changes needed to guarantee non-recurrence”.

What Mangala Samaraweera and this government must remember is that the UN Human Rights Council is not the government or State of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is governed primarily by its own Constitution. In the absence of an international government, international law is subordinate and secondary to a country’s Constitution. The main duty and responsibility of the Sri Lankan government, state and armed forces were and are the defense of its citizens from an armed enemy and the defense of its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and unity—then, during the war, and now, in peacetime. That is the Social Contract. The UN Human Rights Council and most certainly the Office of the High Commissioner do not constitute a world government or state! There is no such entity! Therefore, neither the Council nor the Office of the High Commissioner have either a right or mandate to ensure an accountability process that produces results…and deep institutional changes” in any sovereign country. That is primarily an internal matter, and in a country like Sri Lanka which is at peace and does not constitute a threat to regional still less international peace, it is a purely internal matter.

Meanwhile Mr. Mangala Samaraweera seemed to forget where he was when he addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva today, September 14th. He seemed to have woken up and thought he was in the Sri Lankan parliament. I say this because he spoke so much about Sri Lanka’s domestic political and electoral events and processes in his address to the UN HRC, where no one, especially not distinguished visiting speakers at Ministerial level, talks at any length or any degree of concrete detail, about local politics and electoral outcomes.

In short, Mangala made a blatantly partisan political speech, which is in violation of the norms of discourse at the UN HRC. But that was the very least of his transgressions.

The word ‘Tamil” appears four times in Mangala’s speech. Now that in and of itself is unexceptionable, but a non-Sri Lankan child listening to his speech would think that there were only Tamil people in Sri Lanka, because he made no reference to any other community living here— the words Sinhala or Muslim never appear in Mangala’s discourse.

He talked twice in his speech of the necessity of reaching a political settlement that addresses the grievances of the Tamil people” (paragraph 6) and a political settlement that addresses the grievances of the Tamil people (paragraph 16). He pledged a new constitution through a constituent assembly, in the near future, in order to address the grievances of the Tamil people, which indicates that it is only the Tamil people who have grievances worth addressing; that Sri Lanka’s ethnic problem can be resolved by addressing only the grievances of the Tamil ethnic community; that it is not incumbent upon the Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim peoples to arrive at consensus through compromise (above all which reflects the demographic realities of the island). We seemed to have moved from the deplorable formula of Sinhala Only” to the no less deplorable one of Tamil Only”!

His pledge also reveals that the primary aim of the new constitution is to address Tamil political grievances, and that logically, the proposed solution would be one that cannot be accommodated within the existing Constitution, even by serious reform such as the 19th amendment. So what could be the change that requires a brand new constitution to address Tamil grievances and aspirations but one that goes qualitatively beyond the parameters of the existing solution, namely the 13th amendment?

I say ‘qualitatively’ because a mere adjustment to the 13th amendment would only require an amendment. Whatever lies beyond the 13th amendment, also resides—if one is to go by the Supreme Court’s determination of 1987 on the 13th amendment—outside the framework of the unitary state.

One must recall that the unitary state was deemed necessary for Sri Lanka by two stellar legal intellects during the Constitutional debate of 1972 with Mr. SJV Chelvanayakam, and none of the two were Sinhala Buddhist chauvinists: Dr. Colvin R de Silva and Mr. Felix Dias Bandaranaike. Dr. de Silva, a Marxist of Trotskyist persuasion, argued from his scholarly vantage point as the winner of the prize for the best results for the subject of History in the British Empire, that given Sri Lanka’s history and geography, a unitary state was imperative to maintain its unity.

For him, in other words, in the concrete case of Sri Lanka, there could be no daylight between ‘unitary’ and ‘ united’; united and unitary were coterminous; ‘unitary’ was the condition, indeed the precondition, of unity and territorial integrity.

Mr. Samaraweera made certain other dangerous promises with regard to accountability, a concept which he uncritically embraced. He indicated that there would be new laws to create new legal mechanisms, which he attempted to justify and cover up by a reference to the special legislation which set up the Criminal Justice Commission in the early 1970s.

This undemocratic piece of retroactive legislation was severely criticized at the time by the Civil Rights Movement and it led to a split initiated in the government’s ranks, by Dr. SA Wickramasinghe and Sarath Muttetuwegama of the Communist Party.

More importantly, Mangala is being manifestly dishonest because that new legislation was deemed necessary for a very simple reason—the JVP rebels of April 1971 had to be prosecuted for the offense of bearing arms against the Queen”, which was highly anomalous. There was no law on the books under which they could be prosecuted. Under such highly exceptional circumstances, exceptional laws were arguable necessary.

What on earth could be the need for such new laws and new mechanisms today, when there is manifestly no such exceptional situation? Any wrongdoing during or after the war can be investigated and prosecuted under existing laws and by existing institutions which have been rendered more independent by the 19th amendment. What is it that cannot be done under the normal law and by the existing framework? What is the need for new laws and institutional mechanisms, except to initiate a witch-hunt, with foreign involvement and participation?

Mangala also pledged a Truth and Reconciliation Commission with the involvement of South Africa. South Africa’s TRC was in lieu of punitive, lacerating prosecutions. It was itself an accountability mechanism, not an addition to another one. Mangala has just pledged a South African type TRC, not in lieu of but together with a new, special mechanism for accountability!

Sri Lanka’s Minister of External Affairs took a sideswipe in his speech at the concept of sovereignty”. It would have been alright to criticize an erroneous use or even an erroneous notion of sovereignty while simultaneously reiterating one’s own commitment to the concept and its defense, in keeping with the use of that concept in the founding Charter of the United Nations and the platform of the Non Aligned Movement to which Sri Lanka belongs. Significantly Mangala did no such thing.

Quite significant was the fact that the full text of Mangala written speech (doubtless distributed to the Council) contained pledges which his spoken address omitted. In it he pledges security sector reform”, the repeal of the PTA” and the review of the Public Security Ordnance– which dates back to 1947. The full text reads: Additionally, Mr. President, the Government is committed to … disengagement of the military from commercial activities; undertake security sector reform …review and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act and replace it with anti-terrorism legislation in line with contemporary international best practices; review the Public Security Ordinance Act…” (https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/sri-lankas-response-to-unhrc-the-full-text-of-foreign-affairs-ministers-speech-today/)

Listening to Zeid Al Hussein and Mangala Samaraweera, I was reminded of the Special Session of May 2009 in which Sri Lanka earned the support of a near two-thirds majority of the Council’s members for our defense of our sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. During the war years we had successfully fended off, with the support of the Council, two High Commissioners for Human Rights— Louise Arbour and Navi Pillay. Today I was struck by the difference between Sri Lanka—and Sri Lanka’s UN diplomacy– then and now. What immediately sprang to mind were the lines of the character Detective ‘Bunk’ Moreland (modeled on a real veteran of the Baltimore Police Force) talking to the criminal anti-hero Omar, the favorite character of President Obama, in what was his favorite TV series at that time, The Wire: …As rough as that neighborhood could be, we had us a community…Makes me sick, mother******, how far we done fell.”

*Dayan Jayatilleka, PhD, was Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Geneva 207-2009 and a vice President of the UN Human Rights Council 2007-2008

ALI SUKHANVER

In civilized societies neighbors are just like brothers but in uncivilized societies the situation is vice-versa. Since after 1965, the ever worst threat to the security and safety of Pakistan has been from its closest neighbor India. It is India which taught Pakistan that safeguarding independence is far difficult and far different from getting independence; and no doubt it is India which revealed upon Pakistan that one must always be careful of one’s neighbors. But there is a ‘credit’ that directly and solely goes to India; the credit of making Pakistan a nuclear power. If India were not so unfriendly and hostile to Pakistan; the resources Pakistan spent on its nuclear assets must have been spent on the projects of health, education and other schemes of public betterment. In other words India has tried its utmost to deprive the Pakistani nation of the better opportunities of health, education and employment. Fortunately the will and determination of the people of Pakistan very successfully defeated all these hostile intentions of India in the same way as the Pakistan Army had defeated the evil designs of the Indian Army in 1965 war. This year Pakistan is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of its war with India in 1965. For the whole of Pakistani nation this occasion is just like a national festival. The nation is paying marvelous tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for the security, peace and prosperity of their country. The Armed forces, the common public, the media and the political leadership, in short everyone is celebrating this Golden Jubilee of Pakistan’s success in the war of 1965. But on the other hand the situation in India is very much different rather disappointing regarding this Golden Jubilee. Some of the analysts are of the opinion that for Pakistan 1965 war is a mark of honour but for India this war is a blob of shame and insult; that is why we do not find any zeal and zest in the Indian public regarding the Golden Jubilee of 1965 war.

Shockingly it is not only the Indian public which is not interested in the Golden Jubilee celebrations but also the in-service and the retired officers and jawans of the Indian Army are not expressing any interests in these celebrations.  A report published in the Gujrat Info, an Indian e-paper says that the retired Indian Army personnel have threatened their government that they would strictly boycott the celebrations of 1965 war because the Indian government has not increased their pays and pensions for a long time. According to the details Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh had also held a meeting with the representatives of the veterans who have been protesting for the past 75 days demanding the implementation of the one rank one pension but no significant development could take place. Decorated veterans have in the past returned medals and signed petitions in blood to draw the government’s attention to the issue. This protest of the Indian Army veterans and the indifference of the Indian government to the issue have conveyed a very negative image of the Indian government throughout the world. Moreover the helplessness of the retired army officers is creating a lot of heart-burning among the in-service army personnel. They are afraid that in future they would also have to face the same helplessness. The retired Indian Army Officers are re-acting very aggressively on the silence and indifference of the Indian government to the issue of their pension matters. According to the India Today, Wing Commander (R) SD Karnik, who was awarded with nation’s third highest gallantry award, Vir Chakra cancelled his presence at a function in Pune where the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis were to felicitate him. Talking to the media men Wing Commander (R) SD Karnik said, ‘A soldier retires at 37 and a civil employee retires at 60. So while the Jawan has all responsibilities ahead of him after retiring whereas a civilian can fulfill all of them. Thus OROP (one rank one pension) is critical. When this invitation came I said of course I should go since it was the Defence Minister, but then I got a feeling that we are being short changed. So many assurances on one side but nothing is changing on ground. There is NATO (No Action Talk Only) from them.’ The situation is really very painful for the Indian army officers and Jawans and it would be very much unjust if we expect from them to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of 1965 war with the same zeal and zest with which Pakistani nation is celebrating it. Moreover it is also an important question; what does the Indian Army have to be proud of regarding 1965 war????

By NJ Thakuria

Guwahati: The Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is awarded by the United Nations ‘in recognition of Bangladesh’s far-reaching initiatives to address climate change’. Ms Hasina will receive the Champions of the Earth award in the Policy Leadership category at a ceremony scheduled for 27 September 2015 at New York.

A media statement, provided by the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan in New Delhi, said that the award ‘recognizes Bangladesh’s first-off-the-block initiatives under Prime Minister Hasina’s government to prepare the ecologically fragile country for the challenges it faces from climate change’.

With a population of more than 159 million, Bangladesh is one of the world’s most populated countries. It is also one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Cyclones, floods and droughts have long been part of the country’s history, but they have intensified in recent years,” said the statement.

Serving as Prime Minister of Bangladesh – one of the world’s least-developed countries – Sheikh Hasina has proven that investing in climate change is conducive to achieving social and economic development, added the statement.

The annual Champions of the Earth award is the highest environmental accolade that the United Nations can confer upon outstanding individuals and organizations. Previous laureates of this inclusive award range from leaders of nations to grassroots activists – all visionaries whose leadership and actions drive the world ever closer to its aspirations of environmental sustainability and a life of dignity for all. To date, the Champions of the Earth has recognized 67 laureates in the categories of policy, science, business and civil society.

The other winners named so far are the National Geographic Society (Science and Innovation); Brazilian cosmetics firm Natura (Entrepreneurial Vision); and South Africa’s Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit (Inspiration and Action). Other winners will be announced throughout September.

By Senaka Weeraratna

Mr. Charles Haviland
News
BBC

Dear Sir
In your capacity as a media scribe I thought you might be interested in at least noting alternate points of view and be prepared to stomach opinions different to what you fancy.

Large numbers of people particularly in non – European countries tolerate BBC reports and views which are largely euro-centric, pro- christian and unsympathetic to struggles of Asian and African peoples to de-colonise their societies and more importantly their minds.

These peoples find themselves force – fed with news and views day after day by powerful news media such as BBC and CNN which defend largely the interests and thinking of the policy makers of the Christian West, the Al – Jazeera which performs a similar service for the Islamic world while the voice of the Buddhists and Hindus remain largely unheard in the international arena due to lack of equivalent Broadcasting institutions.

It is the notable absence or relative silence of the Buddhist point of view ( almost all mainstream English language newspapers in Asia have Christian Editors or are in the pay of pro – West NGOs) that have spurred people like us to take up the challenge to give voice to Buddhist concerns, however enfeebled.

We have nothing against you personally and really wish you well in your life.

But until the inequities in the World Information Order are addressed and corrected we of the Buddhist world will have no choice but to use emails and web sites with limited scope to articulate the Buddhist point of view which are usually suppressed by the mainstream english language news papers both in Sri Lanka and overseas.

I will remove your name and email address from my list of email addresses at your request.

However I am copying this post to a few others who have an interest in the subject matter and are entitled to know why we are championing alternate points of view.

Thank you.

Kind Regards

Senaka Weeraratna

General Debate of the 30^th Session of the UN Human Rights Council Geneva, 14 September 2015

Mr. President
High Commissioner for Human Rights
Excellencies

Distinguished delegates

I would like to begin by thanking you, and the members of the Council for the trust reposed in Sri Lanka at the 28^th Session and agreeing to defer the release of the Report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka.

The time granted by the Council gave the Government much needed space to begin implementing its reform agenda, renew its engagement with the international community, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and his Office, and start taking steps aimed at achieving meaningful reconciliation, strengthening democratic institutions, good governance, the rule of law, and confidence building among communities affected by conflict for many years.

Mr. President,

The victory of the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) at the Parliamentary election last month, enabled President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to form a National Unity Government. Traditional rivals in Sri Lankan politics – the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) thus came together, heralding a new culture of consensual politics in the country and creating much needed political and policy stability.

An important feature in the August 17^th election was the return of centrists to power in the legislature and the resounding defeat of extremists on both sides of the divide. As a result, the moderates in Parliament have once again secured power which augers well for progressive reform. This includes ensuring that the universal values of equality, justice, and freedom are upheld by fostering reconciliation between communities and securing a political settlement.

Inaugurating the 8^th Parliament just two weeks ago on the 1^st of September, President Sirisena drew from the example of South Africa where the main political parties came together at a historic moment in that country. He affirmed that similarly, in the post-conflict context in Sri Lanka, the formation of a National Unity Government is essential to obtain the bipartisan consensus that is necessary to face the important challenges before our nation, which include reconciliation and peacebuilding.

Upholding good governance practices, the Parliament, on 1^st September, rightly appointed as the Leader of the Opposition, the head of the Tamil National Alliance, Mr. R. Sampanthan, who is the leader of the Party that obtained the third highest number of votes at the election.

The appointment of the Tamil National Alliance leader as Leader of the Opposition, as well as the appointment of the 44^th Chief Justice of Sri Lanka in January were clear messages that in the new Sri Lanka, extraneous considerations such as ethnicity, religion, class or gender would not be used to deny anyone their rightful place.

Mr. President,

From May 2009 post-conflict reconciliation eluded us as a result of the short-sighted policies and the triumphalist approach that was adopted immediately following the end of the conflict. The National Unity Government is now approaching reconciliation afresh as a matter of urgent priority.

As a Government that is responsible and accountable to her people, the National Unity Government remains firm in its resolve to do right by the people of the country, not in the least because of assurances given to the international community at any point in time, but because this is the only path available to ensure justice, remove the causes of terrorism and achieve a durable peace for the long-suffering people in our country.

Mr. President,

As you would agree, reconciliation is a process and it will take time. Many, I know are impatient. We understand their impatience and their right to be so. However, this process must be carefully planned. Our nation has faltered far too many times since Independence and we cannot afford to fail once again.

Mr. President,

The Government of Sri Lanka recognises fully that the process of reconciliation involves addressing the broad areas of truth seeking, justice, reparations and non-recurrence and for non-recurrence to become truly meaningful, the necessity of reaching a political settlement that addresses the grievances of the Tamil people.

With the mandate granted by the people, the President, Prime Minister, and the Government have already taken some important steps to create the conditions required for initiating a dialogue aimed at a political settlement.

As you are aware, Mr President, item 93 of President Sirisena’s manifesto in the lead up to the January 2015 election expressed the intention of the common candidate, if elected, to address issues of accountability through national independent judicial mechanisms.

Accountability is essential to uphold the rule of law and build confidence in the people of all communities of our country, in the justice system. We also recognise fully, the importance of judicial and administrative reform in this process. These are essential factors that must be addressed for the culture of accountability and the rule of law which have eroded through years of violence to once again be ingrained in our society. We recognise how important this is to prevent impunity not only for violations of human rights but corruption and other crimes; and how vital these processes are for the long-term development of our country and for the peace dividend to be felt by all our citizens including generations to come. These are lessons we have not only learnt from the experiences of other countries, but also from our own history and recent past.

The ideas that the Government has evolved for setting up independent, credible and empowered mechanisms for truth seeking, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence within the framework of the Constitution include the following:

-For truth seeking, the establishment by statute, of two mechanisms:

(i) a Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence to be evolved in consultation with the relevant authorities of South Africa. This mechanism is envisaged as having a dual structure: a ‘Compassionate Council’ composed of religious dignitaries from all major religions in the country and a structure composed of Commissioners. For many victims of human rights abuses, from whichever community, where the perpetrators are unclear for a judicial mechanism to handle, or where the practices of the state and society have resulted in discrimination, this Commission will allow them to discover the truth, understand what happened and help remedy any sense of injustice.

(ii) an Office on Missing Persons based on the principle of the families’ right to know, to be set up by Statute with expertise from the ICRC, and in line with internationally accepted standards.

-On the Right to Justice, what is being proposed is for a Judicial Mechanism with a Special Counsel to be set up by Statute. This takes into account the right of victims to a fair remedy and aims to address the problem of impunity for human rights violations suffered by all communities. There have been previous instances as well in Sri Lanka when criminal justice mechanisms of different kinds have been set up. This, therefore, is not at all an alien concept. Neither is it aimed at a particularly group of persons, but something that is essential in terms of upholding the rule of law, and creating a society that respects the rule of law.

-On the Right to Reparations, an Office for Reparations to be set up by Statute to facilitate the implementation of recommendations relating to reparations made by the proposed Commission on Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence, the Office of the Missing Persons, the LLRC and any other entity;

Mr President,

In order to guarantee non-recurrence, it is proposed that a series of measures would be undertaken including administrative and judicial reform, and the adoption of a new Constitution. A series of measures including amending the penal code to criminalise hate speech and enforced disappearances are also in process. The best guarantee for non-recurrence is of course a political settlement that addresses the grievances of the Tamil people. We hope that we can achieve this through the adoption of a new Constitution. A Constituent Assembly of Parliament will be set up for this purpose shortly.

Mr. President,

These mechanisms will be evolved and designed through a wide process of consultations involving all stakeholders, including victims. Moreover, each mechanism is envisaged to have the freedom to obtain assistance, both financial, material and technical from our international partners including the OHCHR.

Additionally, Mr. President, the Government is committed to strengthening the National Human Rights Commission in line with the Paris Principles; sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances without delay; maintain the moratorium on the death penalty with a view to its ultimate abolition; release previous Presidential Commission Reports such as Udalagama and Paranagama by the end of this month; begin issuing Certificates of Absence to the families of the missing as a temporary measure of relief; disengagement of the military from commercial activities; undertake security sector reform; invite a series of Special Rapporteurs to undertake visits to Sri Lanka in 2015 and  beyond; issue instructions clearly to all branches of the security forces that torture, rape, sexual violence and other human rights violations are prohibited and that those responsible will be investigated and punished; review and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act and replace it with anti-terrorism legislation in line with contemporary international best practices; review the Public Security Ordinance Act; and review the Victim and Witness Protection Act which was enacted this year. Steps are also being taken by the Office of National Unity and Reconciliation to extend psychosocial support to communities and individuals that are in need of such care. The pursuit of engagement of Sri Lankans living overseas belonging to all communities, and inviting them to assist in the Government’s peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts is another undertaking that we take seriously. In this context, the review of the listing of 16 organisations and 424 individuals last year, under the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1373, is currently nearing completion.

Mr. President,

Defeating terrorism in Sri Lanka was a necessity. Today, we have greater freedom to deal with the causes of terrorism and engage in nation-building and peacebuilding as a result of the cessation of hostilities. The armed forces of our country have been hailed in the past for their discipline and professionalism. However, the reputation of the vast majority of the armed forces was tarnished because of the system and culture created by a few in positions of responsibility.

Therefore, to all those who have doubts about a process of accountability, I would like to say, please don’t fear. Maintain your confidence that a process of this nature would impartially observe due process and, in fact, help restore the good name of the armed forces.

As we restore the credibility of the armed forces, we look forward to further contributing to peace and stability in the world through significantly greater engagement in peacekeeping and humanitarian activities. In fact Sri Lanka recently signed on to the Kigali Principles on the Protection of Civilians.

Mr. President,

Today, we have a Government in place which acknowledges the suffering of victims across Sri Lanka’s communities; a Government which recognizes the mistakes of the past; and is all too aware of the weaknesses of our institutions. A Government that does not seek to take cover by distorting concepts and principles such as sovereignty for its own selfish ends, but instead remains firmly committed to the welfare of all its citizens, remains open to dialogue, and to address difficulties and deficiencies with help and assistance from the international community where required.

Those who are sceptical about Sri Lanka’s ability to transform as a nation, and address all these issues, are many. They claim that there can never be justice in Sri Lanka; that there can never be recognition of all communities as equals. All I have to say to them is: look at what the people achieved on the 8^th of January. The world had given up hope on Sri Lanka to such an extent that very few believed that what was achieved through democratic means on that day was within the realm of possibility in my country. This feat was repeated on the 17^th of August when extremists on both sides of the divide failed to secure seats in Parliament. Therefore, I say to the sceptics: don’t judge us by the broken promises, experiences and u-turns of the past. Let us design, define and create our future by our hopes and aspirations, and not be held back by the fears and prejudices of the past. Let us not be afraid to dream. Let us not be afraid to engage in meaningful dialogue aimed at finding solutions to problems as opposed to pointing fingers, heaping blame and scoring political points at the expense of future generations.

We are committed and we require the patient understanding not only of the international community but all the right-minded citizens of Sri Lanka in this endeavour; we seek their understanding and assistance in walking hand in hand with us on this journey.

This journey may not be as fast as some may want it to be. And for some, we may have already gone too far. But the Government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has the political will and the courage of their convictions to ensure that we take the country forward, breaking the barriers of ignorance, fear, prejudice and hate.

My plea to you Ladies and Gentlemen, is: trust us and join us to work together and create the momentum required to move forward and take progressive, meaningful and transformative steps to create a new Sri Lanka.

Thank you.

DHARSHAN WEERASEKERA

The report of the OHCHR- investigation is to be discussed by the Human Rights Council on 30th September, and also to be released to the public before that.  It is possible to predict what will be in it, because of the recent proposal by the United States, the chief-sponsor of the investigation, to introduce a ‘collaborative resolution’ with the Government agreeing to a domestic inquiry.

In my view, the proposal for a new domestic inquiry is a trap, far more dangerous than anything hitherto sprung on Sri Lanka in Geneva.  It is designed to pave the way for a ‘fishing expedition’ that will generate evidence to be used against this country at international venues, evidence that could not be generated by the present investigation.

In this article, I make two predictions about the upcoming report, explain the reason for the demand for a new domestic inquiry, and suggest some counter-measures.

a)  Predictions

The Report of the Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka (POE) released in 2011 set out three charges against the Government with respect to alleged violations of humanitarian law:  indiscriminate shelling, shelling of hospitals, and depriving civilians trapped in the conflict-zone of humanitarian assistance.  (POE, Pages 55-60.)

In February-2014, however, just two weeks before the Human Rights Council’s March- 2014 sessions, then High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navineethan Pillay, released a report where she introduced a new charge against the Government:  Deliberate killings.”

(Under international law, ‘Indiscriminate Killings’ and ‘Deliberate Killings’ are separate crimes, the first is where an attacker does not discriminate between civilian and military objects, and the second where an attacker deliberately targets civilians.)

The High Commissioner’s report had a section titled, ‘Emblematic cases,’ where she cited incidents such as the purported killing of Prabakarn’s son, the purported killing of LTTE ‘reporter’ Isaipriya, the White Flag’ incident, and so on.  Her primary source of evidence for these allegations was the Channel 4 videos.

To turn to the upcoming report, I predict the following:  with respect to the three older charges, the report will say there’s insufficient evidence to come to any definitive conclusions on any of them.  With respect to ‘Deliberate killings,’ the report will say there’s sufficient evidence to warrant trials against certain individuals.

In short, where the main thrust of the case for war crimes right up to March-2014 came from the three charges related to indiscriminate shelling, shelling of hospitals and denial of humanitarian assistance, from the upcoming report onwards, the main thrust of the case against Sri Lanka will be ‘Deliberate Killings.’

b) The reason for the demand for a new domestic inquiry

To understand the reason that the U.S. and other critics of Sri Lanka are calling for a new domestic inquiry, it is necessary to understand two things:  first, the legal grounds on which a case for war crimes can be made against the Government of a country, and second, the problem the U.S. and other critics of Sri Lanka have at present in establishing those grounds using the findings of the present report.

The only way to make a case for war crimes against the Government of a country—as opposed to individual soldiers who may be responsible for offences—is to make a case for ‘Command Responsibility.’ There are only two ways to do this:

One, show that persons high-up in the chain of command ordered the crimes in questions;

or two, that there were so many crimes that it was simply impossible for the higher-ups not to know of them, and, since they didn’t do anything to prevent the crimes in question, they are responsible for them.

The second principle mentioned above was established in a famous case, Yamashita v. Styer (1946),  and is called the Yamashita Doctrine.  In my view, this Yamashita Doctrine will become very important to Sri Lanka in the coming weeks and months, so it is worth digressing a moment to discuss the related case.  The facts and ruling in the case are as follows.

Tomoyuki Yamashita was the commander of Japanese forces in the Philippines during the Second World War.  He surrendered to the Americans at the end of the war, and was put on trial for war crimes.  The military tribunal that heard the case found him guilty, and sentenced him to death.  He appealed against this ruling to the U. S. Supreme Court.

His defence was that, although it was true that atrocities were committed by Japanese troops in various parts of the Philippines, at the time those atrocities were taking place, his lines of communication with the troops had been destroyed.  Therefore, he never ordered those troops to carry out any of the related atrocities, which means he cannot be held responsible for them.

The court did not buy this argument.  The court said that there was a duty on a commander to ensure that no atrocities were committed, and if he neglected that duty, he can be held personally responsible as if he ordered the acts himself.

The court said, inter alia:

‘It is urged that the charge does not allege that the petitioner either committed or directed the commission of such acts, and consequently that no violation is charged as against him.  But this overlooks the fact that the gist of the charge is an unlawful breach of duty by petitioner as an army commander to control the operations of the members of his command by ‘permitting them to commit’ the extensive and widespread atrocities specified…

The question is whether the law of war imposes on a commander a duty to take such appropriate measures as are within his power to control the troops under his command for prevention of the specified acts which are violations of the law of war and which are likely to attend the occupation of hostile territory by an uncontrolled soldiery, and whether he may be charged with personal responsibility for his failure to take such measures where violations result.’  (Yamashita v. Styer, 327 U.S. 1(1946))

To make a long story short, I think the U. S. and other critics of Sri Lanka are planning on arguing that a case for ‘deliberate killings’ can be made against the Government, because, one, there were so many such killings, and two, even if commanders did not directly sanction the killings, the fact they didn’t do anything to prevent them, makes the commanders liable under the Yamashita Doctrine above.

I shall now turn to the problem that the critics are facing at present.  In my view, the chief problem the critics are facing at present is that the upcoming report, if subjected to a proper assessment and evaluation, does not establish to any reasonable degree of certainty that a vast amount of deliberate killings took place.

(I suspect that the evidence the report has relied on to suggest that a vast amount of deliberate killings took place comes from sources such as the Channel 4 videos, the testimony of witnesses who have come forward after many years, hearsay, and so on, all of which can be challenged relatively easily in a court of law.)

The upcoming report is the sole official report produced by the Human Rights Council with regard to violations of human rights law and humanitarian law allegedly committed by the Government during the last phases of the war.  If such a report cannot establish that the alleged violations took place, then the international community has no right to continue making accusations against Sri Lanka, and the whole issue must end here.

So, the problem the critics are facing at present is this: one, to ensure that the upcoming report is not subjected to a thorough assessment and evaluation by members of the public or by independent experts, and two, to put in place a mechanism that will allow them to continue the ‘accountability’ campaign against Sri Lanka, even if, in the future, the report is released, and members of the public discover that in fact it fails to establish a credible case with respect to any of the related allegations.

The critics have accomplished the first of the tasks above by not releasing the report to the public even at this late date, though the Human Rights Sessions are set to begin on the 15th of September.  They plan on accomplishing the second, through the proposed ‘collaborative resolution,’ where the Government will agree to a domestic inquiry.

For instance, once the domestic inquiry gets underway, it will dig up information about purported ‘Deliberate killings’ independently of the information dug up (or generated) by the OHCHR  investigation.  The critics are then in a position to call for international tribunals by citing the new information.  In short, they can continue the ‘accountability’ campaign against Sri Lanka indefinitely, without being handicapped by the conclusions of the upcoming report, where those conclusions are inimical to their goals.

c) Counter-measures

If the Government becomes party to a ‘collaborative resolution’ and agrees to launch a domestic inquiry, the options for challenging the inquiry in the domestic courts diminish considerably.  This is because the Government will claim that it has a new mandate from the Human Rights Council to look into the related allegations.  Nevertheless, I believe challenges can, and must, be made.

I think the immediate need is to convince the Human Rights Council not to endorse a collaborative resolution’ or any other measure against Sri Lanka until the citizens of this country have had a chance to read and reflect on the upcoming report, and, at a minimum, to postpone any decision on Sri Lanka until the Council’s March-2015 sessions.

To that end, I suggest the following three measures:

a) Inform individual Members of the Human Rights Council who opposed the investigation in March-2014, that the citizens of Sri Lanka have not had a chance to read and reflect on the upcoming report, which is a gross injustice and a violation of their human rights, and to consider urging the Council to postpone any measures on Sri Lanka until at least the next sessions.

b) Petition the President of the U.N, General Assembly, acquainting him with the matters mentioned in the paragraph above, and asking him to initiate a  iscussion on those matters at the General Assembly.

c) Petition the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission to urge the Government not to pursue any ‘collaborative resolutions’ at the Human Rights Council until the citizens of the country have had a chance to read the upcoming report, and to properly assess and evaluate it.

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)

Shenali D Waduge

Sri Lanka’s terrorism was not homegrown. It was created and handled by by our neighbour India. That terror soon became surrogates in the hands of foster parents from the West who were happy to take refugees so long as they could buy time until the correct time. The collateral damage were killings (soldiers, civilians, even LTTE). These hidden realities show us that terrorism is truly created to forge geopolitical interests. In such a scenario the military defeat was calculated to move to phase two of an overall bigger geopolitical plan. The manner that the very nations that spurred terror are now engaging to play a bigger role through their chosen locals goes to show Prabakaran and the LTTE were just tools to camouflage. Now we see some precarious scenarios. LTTE-linked TNA head is the Opposition Leader. Groups internationally banned as LTTE fronts are openly collecting funds and star guests inside the UN and lobbying against Sri Lanka. LTTE banned propaganda are now re-emerging inside Sri Lanka. Where is it meant to all lead is what the people and the new leaders to wonder.

The mistake made at the end of the military victory over LTTE was not to denazify the LTTE. Wrong advisors and international political pressure brought to bear may have been part reason for this. The result invariably was to remove the Tiger leader and his ground troops but the main set of men that steered the LTTE Inc via legal and illegal fundraising networks continued unabated and were responsible for lobbying and derailing efforts at reconciliation. What has always escaped the attention of authorities was to highlight that the Tamils themselves would always be a divided race owing to the caste factor. The caste factor played and continues to play a role in how the Tamils live and function. These hometruths never get honourable mention even but a good look at how the Tamil groups are formed will reveal the case in point.

If anyone wants to understand why Mahinda Rajapakse was virtually put out of the way – read William Blum a former US state department official The United States strives for world domination, hegemony wherever possible, their main occupation for over a century, it’s what they do for a living. The United States, NATO and the European Union form The Holy Triumvirate. The Holy Triumvirate has subsidiaries, chiefly The International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization, International Criminal Court … all help to keep in line those governments lacking the Holy Triumvirate Seal Of Approval: the IMF, WB, and WTO impose market fundamentalism, while foreign leaders who act too independent are threatened with being handed over to the ICC for heavy punishment, as the United States imposes sanctions on governments and their leaders as only the King of Sanctions can, lacking any sense of hypocrisy or irony.” Now you surely must comprehend who is instrumental for the drama inside the UN/UNHRC and what a farce that is even the present OISL report on Sri Lanka.

16 LTTE fronts were named and banned in April 2014 alongside 400 names. These names and organizations remain valid. The leaders and their organizations are all operating in the very countries that continue to ban LTTE and questions what excuse they have not to even investigate them for material support under their own domestic laws in place. A handful of arrests are taking place with the Hague sentencing 5 LTTE supporters for fund raising. However, it becomes a farce when the leaders of the banned organizations are the VVIPs inside the halls of Geneva lobbying against a sovereign government using video clips which are probably funded by them. Source the panel discussions, reports, documentaries, research, witnesses and they invariably all end up linked to these LTTE banned elements making a mockery of justice and a laughing stock of the international players mouthing human rights, justice, accountability etc.

In the backdrop of these international players we need to realize that the Holy Triumvirate is preparing the grounds to enter Asia and to enter Asia the last battle station where the 2 superpowers (China and Russia) and the vassal India finds itself a whole new ballgame is at play. Obviously things are not as easy as overrunning Eastern Europe, Middle East or Africa. Thus, the role of the players on behalf of the Holy Triumvirate in the form of Church missionaries engaged as NGOs in development and other ‘educative’ roles are combining with local elements – re-emerge the LTTE fronts into the scene once more.

The mooting of the road/rail link with India is an idea in line with these overall objectives. The relaunch of Tamilnet to once again re-indoctrinate Tamils is another. Now TV stations are opening up steered by the very LTTE fronts remaining banned. Deepam TV is one such handled by Sri Balasundaram in Norway, another nation that sinned against Sri Lanka. This tv station is originally located in UK but has offices in Chennai and now in Colombo. The weekly ‘Theepam’ publication is actually given free of charge and 10 copies are distributed and seven issues have been printed so far. The runaway LTTE linked parties are also returned. Gopinath has returned from UK to head this Nallur office. We may be able to find some of the ‘missing’ may have been living overseas all this time. It’s another matter if authorities are concerned to track these names and match them against those claimed to have been killed!

Invariably what needs to be highlighted is that the LTTE or Eelam is not anything meant for the Tamils but a globally planned exercise using the Tamils for which Tamils have not minded as the cream of them are now living overseas and enable to help their families back home. The sufferers in the Vanni and the bulk of those that comprised the cadres and child soldiers were from povertystricken low caste Tamil homes and whether LTTE prevails, TNA prevails or Eelam prevails their sordid lives will not change a bit.

Eelam has become just a money spinning, ideological and geopolitical game hiding a bigger operation. The former government was hoodwinked probably using the very personnel that have now jumped ship and forming the new government.

The manner in which the new government have opened up Sri Lanka allowing all the cats and dogs to enter will decide how many rabid animals have entered to unleash another future of troubles for the country. When the men that defend the nation are also been hounding and ill-treated the new government must wonder who will defend them if they are pressed against the wall.

Should we not follow simply logic. War crimes they say. Prove it we say. Are there bodies or skeletons or do the dead have names, birth certificates etc if not can a documentary prove 40,000 dead! If soldiers have acted outside the orders given by their commanders Sri Lanka military courts should deal with these not tiger courts funding the UNHRC!

Those that say ‘engage the tiger’ should first go to the zoo and see what cohabitation they can find with an unpredictable tiger inside the cage and return and say ‘it worked’!

Shenali D Waduge

• https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2014/10/07/gosl-names-and-bans-ltte-fronts-tamil-rehabilitation-organization-tro/

• https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2014/10/08/gosl-names-and-bans-ltte-fronts-canadian-tamil-congress/

• http://www.onlanka.com/news/gosl-names-and-bans-ltte-fronts-nediyavan.html

• http://www.onlanka.com/news/gosl-names-and-bans-ltte-fronts-tamil-youth-organization.html

• https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2014/10/06/gosl-names-bans-ltte-fronts-australian-tamil-congress/

• http://www.mea.gov.lk/index.php/en/news-from-other-media/5547-the-un-investigative-panel-must-probe-tna-ltte-links-

• http://nation.lk/online/2015/06/13/engaging-with-ltte-fronts/

නව ආණ්ඩුවේ කිසියම් ප‍්‍රභූවරයෙකු ගමන් ගන්නා ආරක්‍ෂක රථ පෙලකි මේ. 

This is the new VIP security convoy.

කොළඹ කොල්ලා ෆේස්බුක් පිටුවේ එය පල කර තිබින.

‘මහින්දටවත් ඔච්චර හිටියෙ නෑ’ යයි පසුබිමින් කවුදෝ කියනු වීඩියෝවේ ඇසේ.

Cecil Atukorale

When we look around and brood over the situation in every corner of Sri Lanka, we do not find it difficult to conclude that in the restoration of Democracy, Good Governance and Rule of Law, educational reforms must occupy the very first place. Of the numerous problems of education, that of voter education is the most pressing one. Demagogy and deception by the ruling elements, over the years, have become a part and parcel of our political culture, much to the dismay of the civic conscious citizen. Typical politician’s behaviour is like that of a bull in a china shop. The manner in which the Cabinet of Ministers, National List MP’s and the Leader of the Opposition were appointed can, in no way, be reconciled with the accepted norms of parliamentary democracy. They are all bad precedents for the future. Steadily growing bureaucratization of our political system has led to the situation where the state changed from being the machinery serving the people into something positioned above. How was this possible?

The real driving force behind some of our major political parties is not the national interest, nor any idealistic consideration which are so frequently referred to, but something altogether different, a desire for profit, a totally selfish interest. Hence, duty free cars , enhanced pay packets , pensions, subsidised meals and overseas trips and the like, at the expense of the poor tax payer.

Political parties in this country, in fact, are instruments of power and privileges rather than that of public welfare. At the recent general election held they appeared on political platforms and addressed people as if there were living saints.

They promised many things like Good Governance, Transparency, Accountability and what not. Here the most ridiculous thing is not the qualities our politicians have, but those they claim to have .Today our voters are gullible and the shroud politicians are making undue gains out of this public ignorance of politics.

With the abolition of the teaching of Civics & Government in public schools in the early seventies by the then government, our school system ceased to produce politically enlightened citizens with civic consciousness. When that unwise measure was taken, not a single politician raised even a finger in parliament in protest. The democratic reversals that emerged from such failure of our political leaders to keep faith in the public had significant negative repercussions on our system of democratic government .Ability to read and write is not going to educate the citizen as to what he is to expect from any government. Unenlightened electorate is a blessing in disguise to political opportunists. Population in the masses men and women cannot be reformed by proxy. They must reform themselves. As such a citizen should always possess knowledge of the social sciences, of the functions of government in civics in general.

The remedy for this is to make our voters more informed of historical & current facts pertaining to politics. It is here that they need good reading materials to gather such knowledge. In this September we are celebrating the literary festival with book exhibitions and Seminars.

At the moment this country is badly in need of writers who can produce good political literature for the unenlightened   masses who have now fallen prey to false propaganda tactics of power & money crazy opportunist’s politicians

චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.

මිනිසුන්ට පෙනෙන දේ ලිවීමේ අයිතියක් ඇත. ඒ අනුව  චානක බණ්ඩාර  මහතා ඔහු දකිණ දේ නිර්භයව, ඉංග්රීසියෙන් ප්රකාශ කොට ඉන් නොනැවතී්‌  සිංහල පරිවර්තනයක්ද එලි දක්වා එතුමාගේ දර්ශණ පථයට හසුවෙනදේ සම්බන්ධව දීර්ඝ විස්තරයක් ඉදිරි පත් කරයි.

මෙරට සිටින ඉන්දීය ඇගිලි ගැසීම් වලට එරෙහිව සිටින කදවුරේ අයවන අප ඔහු ගෙන හැරපාන කරුණු ඉදිරියේ නිහඩව සිටියොත් ජාතික වශයෙන් අප සිදුකරන බලවත් වරදක් බැවින්, ඔහුගේ ලිපිය සම්බන්ධව මේ කරුණු පෙල ගැස්සවීමට තීරණය කලෙමු

මේ මහතා‌, ඕහුගේ ලිපියේ ආරම්භයේදීම දෙකොන පටලවා ගෙන කථා කරයි. චීනයේ ප්රාන්තයක දියුණුවට හේතුව, චීනය බව පවසන මේ මහතා.  හොං කොං  යනු වෙනම රටක් සේ දකින අයෙකි.  එසේ සිතමින් අපට  පවසන්නේ, ලංකාවටත් ඉන්දියාවේ ප්රාන්තයක  තත්වයට පත්වෙන්න යන යෝජනාවදැ?යි අපට එම මහතාගෙන් පලමුව ඇසීමට සිදුව තිබේ.

තවද මේ ලිපියට අනුව, හොංකොං යනු රටක් බව අපට කියා සිටී. එය චීනයේම කොටසකි.  කලකට පෙර මහා බ්රිතාන්යට බද්දට දුන්, චීනයේම කොටසකි. චීන භාෂාව චතුර ලෙස කථා කරන ජනතාවක් වාසය කරන ජනතාවක් සිටින චීනයේම කොටසකි. ඒ බව සනාථ කරමින්, මහා බ්රිතාන්යද, සිය බදු කාල සීමාව නිම වීමත් සමගම හොංකොං චීනයටම පවරා ඉවත් විය. ඒ සමගම චීන රජය මේ කලාපය තුල වෙනම දේශපාලන ව්යුහයකට අනුව පාලන කටයුතු මෙහෙය වමින්,” One country, two system” නම්වූ නවතම මුහුණුවරකට අනුව කටයුතු කරයි  එයින් හොංකොං යනු වෙනම රටක් යන්න ගම්ය නොවේ. හොං කොං දියුණුව චීනයේ දියුණුවේ පලයක් මිස, හොංකොං පාලකයින් චීනයේ පිටේ නැගී දියුණුවට ගියා නොවේ

ඉන්දියාව අද ලෝකයේ ආර්ථික බලවතෙකි. පලමු ස්ථානය චීනය ලබා ගන්නා විට ඉන්දියාව මේ වන විට සිව්වන  ස්ථානයේ පසුවෙන බව වර්තමාන දත්තයන් අපට පෙන්වා දෙයි. චීනය අභිබවා යෑමට නම්, ඉන්දියාවට සිව්වන ස්ථානයේ සිට තව රටවල් තුනක් පසුකර දිගු ගමනක් යෑමට සිදුව ඇත. ඒ අනුව සිව්වන ස්ථානයේ පසුවෙන ඉන්දියාවට, තුන්වන ස්ථානයේ පසුවෙන ඇමරිකානු ආර්ථිකය පසු කිරීමට තව බොහෝ කලක් ගතවෙනු ඇත.

පලමු වන ස්ථානයේ පසුවෙන චීනය, භාණ්ඩ මිලදී ගැනීමේ හැකියාව, GDP $ 17, 630,000,000,000 සටහන්වන මේ අවස්ථාවේදී, එය ඉන්දියාව සම්බන්ධව සටහන් වන්නේ, GDP $ 7, 277,000,000,000 කි. ඒ අනුව ඉන්දියාවට චීනයේ වත්මන් ආර්ථික තත්වයට ලගා වීමට නම් භාණ්ඩ මිලදී ගැනීමේ හැකියාව, 242% ක් වර්ධනය කිරීමට සිදුවේ. ඒ අනුව, චානක බණ්ඩාර මහතාගේ මේ ලිපියේ සදහන් කර ඇති ආකාරයට, “එය චීනය පසු කර යනු ඇතැයි ඇතැමෙක් පවසත්” යන්න ජාත්යන්තර මට්ටමේ පට්ට පල් බොරුවකි. එය මිත්යාවකි.

තවද මේ මහතා “ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ‘ඉන්දියාවේ හොංකොං ‘ බවට පත් වුයේ නැත.” යි, කණගාටුවට පත්වෙමින් අප රට ඉන්දියාවේ ප්රානතයක් විය යුතුමයයි යන මතයේ පිහිටා සිටී. ඉන් නොනැවතී කිසිදු පදනමකින් තොරව පසුගිය වසර 10 පුරා ඉන්දියාව 10%ක ට කිට්ටු ආර්ථික වර්ධනයක් ලබාගත් පවසමින්, අප එයින් නිසි ප්රයෝජනයක් ලබා නොගත් බව කියා චෝදනාවක්ද නගයි.ලෝක බැංකු දත්තයන්ට අනුව 2010දී ඉන්දියාව 10.3% ආර්ථික වර්ධනයක්ද ශ්‍රී ලංකාව   8% වර්ධකයක්ද දක්වා ඇත. ඒ අවුරුදු 30ක යුද්ධය නිම කොට වසරකට පසු ලබාගත් දත්තයන්ය. ඊට පසු 2011- 2014 දක්වාම අපේ ආර්ථික වර්ධනය සෑම වසරකම ඉන්දියාවට වඩා ඉහලින් සිටී. මේ දත්තයන් දෙන්නේ ලෝක බැංකුව බැවින් ඒ මහතාට ඒ දත්තයන් පිලි ගැනීමට සිදුවේ. එම දත්තයන්ට අනුව,

2011 වසර ඉන්දියාව 6.6%;ද ශ්‍රී ලංකාව 8.2%

2012 වසර ඉන්දියාව 5.1%;ද ශ්‍රී ලංකාව 6.3%

2013 වසර ඉන්දියාව 6.9%;ද ශ්‍රී ලංකාව 7.2%

2014 වසර ඉන්දියාව 7.4%;ද ශ්‍රී ලංකාව 7.4% GDP වර්ධනය වී ඇති බව පවසන විට ඔබතුමා මේ මුසාබස් තෙපලමින් සිදුකරන්නේ කවර ආකාරයේ කටයුත්තක ආරම්භයක්ද යන්න අපට ප්රශ්න කිරීමට සිදුවේ.

නමුත් ඔබතුමාගේ ලිපියේම ඔබතුමා කවරෙක්දැයි හෙලි කරන්නේ මෙසේය.

“පසුගිය දස වසර තුලදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සිය සියලුම බිජු (බිත්තර) චීනය නමැති කූඩයට පමණක් දමා ගත්තේය.  මෙය බුද්ධිමත් නොවූ ආර්ථික න්‍යාමයකි.”

ඔබ කියන්නේ සත්යයක් නම් අප රට තුල චීනය විසින් සිදුකල ව්යාපෘති වලට එරෙහිව කටයුතු කල ඉන්දියාව, පසුගිය මැයි මාසයේ චීනයේ සංචාරයක් සූදානම්කරගෙන US $ බිලියන 22ක ආයෝජනයන් සදහා චීනය පොළඹවා ගත්තේ ඇයි? දැන් ලංකාව වෙනුවට චීනය නැමති කූඩයට බිත්තර දමන්නේ ඉන්දියාවද?

ඔබ පවසන ආකාරයට අපට පලුදු කරන්න හොද හිතක් ඉන්දියාව මේ වනවිට ඉතිරි කර නැත. ඉන්දීය අගමැති රජිව් ගාන්ධිගේ ඝාතකයාව, ඝාතනය කිරීමට එරෙහිව අප රටට විරුද්ධව මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සලයේදී දෙවරක් චන්දය පාවිච්චි කල ඉන්දියාවහි රාජ්‍ය තාන්ත්‍රික මිත්‍රශීලි සම්බන්ධව මෙරට ජනතාව ඉතා හොද අවබෝධයකින් සිටින බව පැවසීමට සිදුව තිබේ.

තවද ධනය ගලා යන්නේ ධනය ඇති තැන සිටය. ලෝකයේ ධනවත්ම රාජ්ය චීනයයි. දකුණු ආසියාවේ සිටින හොදම අවංක මිතුරා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවයි. ඔබ යෝජනා කරන්නේ, ධනවත් වී‌‌‌ම සදහා, අපට සිටින ලෝකයේ ධනවත්ම අවංක මිතුරා හැර දමා, අප ආසන්නයේ සිටින, අපට එරෙහිව සෑම අවස්ථාවකදීම කටයුතු කරන දුෂඨ හිගන්නා සමග අත්වැල් බැද ගන්නආ ලෙසයි. ඉන්දියාව යනු ජාතික වශයෙන් හආ ජාත්යනතරව අපට වඩා හිගන්නෙකි. එසේ කියන්නේ අප නොව ජාත්යනඅතර තොරතුර් හා දත්තයන්ය.

ලෝකයේ රටක දුප්පත්කම හෝ, පොහොසත්කම මනිණ මිනුම් දණ්ඩක් වන්නේ; ඒක පුද්ගල දල දේශීය නිශ්පාදනයයි. ලෝක බැංකු දත් තයන්ට අනුව,

1. චීනය සිටින්නේ, 113 වෙනි ස්ථානයේ වන අතර,ඒක පුද්ගල දල දේශීය නිශ්පාදන වටිනාකම $ 12,900 කි.
2. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සිටින්නේ, 130 වෙනි ස්ථානයේ වන අතර,ඒක පුද්ගල දල දේශීය නිශ්පාදන වටිනාකම $ 10,400 කි.   
3. ඉන්දියාව සිටින්නේ, 160 වෙනි ස්ථානයේ වන අතර,ඒක පුද්ගල දල දේශීය නිශ්පාදන වටිනාකම $ 5,800 කි.

ධනය ඇත්තේ අප ලග මිස ඉන්දියාවේ නොවේ; ධනය ගලා යන්නේ අපෙන් ඉන්දියාවට මිස ඉන්දියාවෙන් අපට නොවේ.අප වෙතට ධනය ඇවැසි නම් අප ආර්ථික සම්බන්ධකම් පැවැත්විය යුත්තේ චීනය සමග මිස ඉන්දියාව සමග නොවේ. එබැවින් ජාතියක් වශයෙන් අප චීනය සමග අත්වැල් බැද ගනිමු. අපේ සැබෑ මිතුරා චීනය මිස ඉන්දියාව නොවේ. සත්යය එයයි.

චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම

(ලංකාවේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීන්/මන්ත්‍රිණීන්ගේ අවධානය පිණිස ලියනු ලබන ශාස්ත්‍රීය ලිපි පෙළක 2 කොටස)

1 කොටස: සම්බන්‌ධන් මහතා ඉල්ලන “ඔක්කොම එකතුවෙන්න පුළුවන් හොඳ තීන්‌දුව”

මෙම ලිපි මාලාවේ ප්‍රථම කොටසෙන් අප සළකා බැලුවේ 1832 දී කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක් කොමිසම විසින් දිවයිනේ භූගෝල විද්‍යාවට හා ඉතිහාසයට පටහැනිව යමින් රට කෘතිම පලාත් පහකට බෙදීමත්, ඉන්පසුව තවත් පලාත් හතරක් ඊට පෑස්සීමත්, මේ මායිම් සූත්‍රය වෙනස් කිරීමට හෝ එහි සුදුසු-නුසුදුසු බව සළකා බැලීමට 1948 න් පසුවවත් කාගේවත් අවධානය යොමු නොවීමත් ය (1960 දශකය අගදී එවකට තිබූ ඉන්ඩස්ට්‍රියල් ඩිවෙලොප්මන්ට් බෝඩ් එකේ සාමාන්‍යාධිකාරීව සිටි ලංකා සිවිල් සේවයේ ලැනරෝල් මහතා මේ ගැන පර්යේෂණ පත්‍රිකාවක් පිළියෙල කලාය කියා මා අසා ඇත. 1987 දී මේ සම්බන්‌ධයෙන් මුද්‍රිත රචනාවක් ප්‍රථම වරට ප්‍රසිද්ධවූයේ අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් සිංහල මාධ්‍යයෙන් පේරාදෙණිය විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයට ගොස් භූගෝල විද්‍යා මහාචාර්යවරයෙකුවූ සී එම් මද්දුමබණ්ඩාර ගෙන් ය).

ජල පාලනය හා කළමණාකරණය සම්බන්‌ධ රජයේ දෙපාර්තමේන්තු හා රාජ්‍ය සංස්ථා බොහෝ තිබුණු බවද මෙහිදී අමතක කල නොහැක. ඒ කෙසේ වෙතත් කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක් සූත්‍රය වෙනස් කිරීමට යෝජනා ආවේ ශාස්ත්‍රීය හෝ විද්‍යාත්මක අංශයකින් නොව දේශපාලන උවමනාවක් වශයෙනි. 1920 ගණන් වලදී ඔක්ස්ෆර්ඩ් සිට පැමිණි  බණ්ඩාරනායක මහතා ලංකාව පහතරට සිංහල, උඩරට සිංහල හා දෙමළ කතාකරන වශයෙන් පෙඩරල් කොටස් තුනකට බෙදන්නට යෝජනා කළේ රටේ ඉතිහාසය හා භූගෝල විද්‍යාව නොදත් තරුණයෙකු නිසාය. ඔහුත්, ඩී එස් සේනානායක මහතාත් උඩරට රදල පවුල් වලින් කසාඳ බැඳ ගැනීමත් සමඟ මේ යෝජනාවේ පදනමම නැතිව ගියේය. ඔහු විසින් පසු කාලයක දිවයිනේ අගනුවර අනුරාධපුරයට ගෙනයාමේ අදහසක් දැරූ බව වැදගත්‌ වන්නේ, 1869 අග සූවස් කැනෑල් එක විවෘත වීමත් සමඟ 1870 ගණන් වල ගාල්ලේ සිට කොළඹට පාලන කටයුතු මාරුවීමත් එතැන් සිට කොළඹට කිරි, අපිට කැකිරි නම් ක්‍රියාවලිය, කොළඹ ක්‍රමය (කලම්බු පැරඩයිම්) එක තදින්ම දියත්‌වූ නිසාය. හැම අතින්ම “දියුණු” කොළඹක් හා “නොදියුණු” පසුබිම් යනුවෙන් ලංකාවල් දෙකක්  බිහිවිය. දැන් 2015 දී මීගමුවේ සිට බේරුවලට මෙගා කොළඹක් හදන්නට යතත්, ගමට යෑම, ගම නඟා සිටුවීම හැම දේශපාලන පක්‍ෂයක්ම ජප කල මන්තරයක් විය.

1832 පළාත් පහ, පසුව පළාත් නවයක් වූයේ කොළඹ සිට නොව මුල් පලාත් පහේ දිසාපති කච්චේරියේ සිට තිබුණු දුර නිසාය. මේ පලාත් වලට පහලින් තිබූණේ පලාත බෙදූ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය. මෑතකදී ගම්පහ හා කිලිනොච්චිය මෙසේ බිහිවිය.  බස්නාහිර පලාතේ කොළඹ හා කළුතර දිස්ත්‍රික් දෙකෙන් කොළඹ දෙකට කඩා ගම්පහ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය සදන ලදී. මෙහිදී කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක් සූත්‍රය එසේම පැවතින. 1987 දී ජේ ආර් ජයවර්‍ධන ක්‍රමය මඟින් පලාත් නවය පලාත් අටකට අඩු වූයේ උතුරු හා නැඟෙනහිර පලාත් දෙක එක් කල නිසාය. එසේ වුවත් කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක් සූත්‍රයේ පලාත් මායිම් සැදීමේ පදනමේ වෙනසක් නොවීය.

එම පදනම කෘතිම පදනමක් වුවත්, මැලේසියාවේ භූමි පුත්‍ර ව්‍යාපාරය නිසා, මැලේසියාවේ උපන්නත්, ලංකාවට සංක්‍රමණය වූ චෙල්වනායගම් මහතා, උතුරේ යාපනය කොටසේ හා නැඟෙනහිර මුහුදුබඩ තීරයේ ඒකරාශීව සිටි දෙමළ කතාකරන ජනගහනය අනුව යමින් ඒ පලාත් දෙක ලංකාවේ දෙමළ නිජභූමිය යයි දේශපාලන උපාය මාර්‍ගයක් දියත් කල අන්දම ඔහුගේ දුවගේ සැමියාවූ ජයරත්නම් විල්සන් විසින් මාමණ්ඩියගේ දේශපාලන ජීවිත කතාව ගැන 1994 දී ලියා ඇති පොතේ උඩින් හා යටින් පෙන්වා දේ. වන්නියේ හිස් ඉඩම්වල දකුණු ඉන්දියාවෙන් මලබාර් ජනයා ගෙන්වා පදිංචි කරවීමේ බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය සැලැස්මත්, නැඟෙනහිර මුහුදු තීරයෙන් ඔබ්බට ගොඩබිමේ දෙමළ හෝ මුස්ලිම් ජනයා පදිංචිවීමත් වැළැක්‌වූයේ ඇනෝපිලිස් මැලේරියා මදුරුවා බව මේ ප්‍රදේශවල පුරාණ සිංහල ගම් ගැන ඇති ඉංග්‍රීසි සිවිල් නිලධාරීන්ගේ වාර්තා කියවා පර්යේෂණ කල භූගෝල විද්‍යා මාහාචාර්ය ජී එච් පීරිස් පෙන්වා දේ. මෙහිදී සඳහන් කළයුතු තවත් වැදගත් දෙයක් නම් 1800 ගණන් වලදීත් ඉංග්‍රීසි පාලකයින් ද්‍රවිඩ ජනයා හැඳින්වූයේ මලබාර් (දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ මලබාර්, කේරළ) කියා බවය. දෙමළ කියන නම ද්‍රවිඩයින්ට ලැබුණේ සිංහල මහාවංශයේ දමිළ යන වචනයෙනි. කලින් මැඩ්‍රාස් ප්‍රොවින්ස් මෑතකදී  ටැමිල් නාඩ්වී ඇත්තේ එසේය.

ශිරාණි බණ්ඩාරනායක මැතිණිය නඩුකාරවරියක් වීමට පෙර අවධියේදී ඇය විසින් ලියන ලද ලංකාව ප්‍රදේශ පහකට හෝ හයකට බෙදන්නට කල යෝජනාවක් මම දැක ඇත්තෙමි. මොන පදනම යටතේ එසේ බෙදනවාද කියා සාකච්චා කරන්නට තරම් ලංකාවේ ඉතිහාසය හෝ භූගෝල විද්‍යාව ගැන සෑහෙන දැනුමක් ඇයට තිබුණා යයි මම නොසිතමි.  දැන් අළුතින්ම, මාදුළුවාවේ සෝභිත හිමියන් පොදු අපේක්‍ෂකයා ලෙස මුලින්ම යෝජනා කල කුමාර් ඩේවිඩ් ලංකාව ප්‍රදේශ පහකට බෙදීමට යෝජනා කර ඇත (ද සන්ඩේ අයිලන්ඩ්, සැප්තැම්බර් 13, 2015). එසේ බෙදීම සඳහා මේ මාක්ස්වාදී විදුලි ඉංජිනේරුවරයා විසින්ද කිසිම විද්‍යාත්මක පදනමක් ඉදිරිපත් කර නැත. (1) උතුරු පලාත හා නැඟෙනහිර පලාතෙන් කොටසක් (නැෂනල් ක්‌වෙස්චන් හෙවත් තමන්ගේම කියා වෙනම ඒකකයක් ලබාගැනීමට දෙමළ ජනයාට ඇති ආශාව සපුරාලීමට) (2) දකුණු පලාත හා රත්නපුර, මොනරාගල දිස්ත්‍රික්ක (3) මධ්‍යම පලාත හා බදුල්ල, කෑගල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්ක (4) උතුරු මැද හා වයඹ පලාත් දෙක හා (5) බස්නාහිර පලාත යනුවෙනි. මෙහිදී ත්‍රිකුණාමල වරායට කරන දේ ගැන හා මුස්ලිම් ජනයාට ඉන්දියාවේ පොන්ඩිචෙරි මොඩලය මෙන් යමක් කරනවාද යන කාරණා දෙකක්ද ඔහු මතු කරයි.

කුමාර් ඩේවිඩ්ගේ යෝජනාවේ මූලික තර්‌කය වනුයේ “ජාතික ප්‍රශ්නය” විසඳිය හැක්කේ දෙමළ ජනයාට වෙනමම කොටසක් දීමෙන් බවය. මේ මූලික අරමුණ ඉෂ්ට කරගැනීම සඳහා ඔහු කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක් සූත්‍රයම යොදා ගනිමින් රට කොටස් පහකට කැබලි කරයි. හාමුදුරුවරු (බොදු බල සේනාව?) දේශපාලනයට එනවාට විරුද්ධවූ මාක්ස්වාදීන් හා ධනවත් ක්‍රිස්තියානීන් ගෙන් කෙනෙක් වූ ඔහු සෝභිත හාමුදුරුවන්ගේ සිවුරේ එල්ලුනා මෙන් (ඇමෙරිකානු තානාපතිනී මිචෙල් සිසන්ද අටපිරිකර රැගෙන නාග විහාරයට ගියාය), මේ කාරණයේදීද ඔහු හෙමින් සීරුවේ ලිස්සා යෑමක් කරයි. ඒ නැඟෙනහිර පලාතට කරන්නේ කුමක්ද යන ප්‍රශ්නයේදීය. ඔහු කියන “දෙමළ” පලාතට එකතු කරන නැඟෙනහිර පලාතේ කොටස කුමක්ද? එය ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, මඩකලපුව, අම්පාර යන දිස්ත්‍රික්වල මොන කොටස්ද යන්න ගැන ඔහු නිහඬය. ඇත්තවශයෙන්ම බලනවා නම් ඔහු කර තිබෙන්නේ, ලංකාවේ ඉතිරි කොටස හතරකට කඩා පරණ ඊලම් සිතියම නැවත ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමය!

කුමාර්ගේ මේ යෝජනාව 1990 හා 2000ස් ගණන් වල චන්ද්‍රිකා මැතිණියගේ නීලන්-ජී එල් පැකේජ් ඩීල්ස් සිහියට ගෙන එයි. යුනියන් ඔෆ් රීජන්ස් යනුවෙන් පෙඩරල් ක්‍රමයක් ඔවුන් තිදෙනාගේ ව්‍යවස්ථා කෙටුම්පත් වලින් ඉදිරිපත් කරණ ලදී. ප්‍රදේශ ගණන හතක් හෝ අටක්දැයි මට මතක නැත. එක දෙයක් නම් මට මතකය. එය නම් ඒ කාලයේ එකට එකතුකර තිබූ උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර පලාත් දෙක ඇතුලත සිංහල හෝ මුස්ලිම් ඒකක ඇතිකරනවාට නීලන් තිරුචෙල්වම් එකහෙලාම විරුද්ධවූ බවය. පොන්ඩිචෙරි මොඩල් කියන්නේ ටැමිල් නාඩ් තුල ඇති ස්වාධීන ඒකක කිහිපයටය.  පොන්ඩිචෙරි ඉන් එකකි. උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර මොනෝ දෙමළ කලාපය තුල ස්වාධීන සිංහල හා මුස්ලිම් සුළු කලාප ඇති කිරීම නිසා කාවුන් කෑවා වැනි හිල් සහිත සිතියමක් ඇතිවන බව ඔහුගේ අදහස විය. මෙම කතාව කුමාර් ඩේවිඩ් දන්නේ නැතැයි මම නොසිතමි. පැකේජ් ඩීල් ද කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක් සූත්‍රය එහෙට මෙහෙට තල්ලු කිරීමක් පමණක් මිස කිසි ශාස්ත්‍රීය හෝ විද්‍යාත්මක පදනමකින් තොර විය. දේශපාලකයින් විසින් තමන්ගේ වාසියට අටවන්නට සැදූ හුට පටයක් මිස, එය අඩුම තරමින් එක රටක් තුල රටවල් දෙකක් හෝ තුනක් බිහිවීමට ඇති අවකාශය ලොප් කරන්නක්වත් නොවීය.

හිතුවක්කාර කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක් පලාත් නවය ඉවත් කලයුත්තේ ඒ වෙනුවට විද්‍යාත්මක පදනමකින් යුත් ප්‍රදේශ බෙදීමක් ලංකා පොළොවට ආදේශ කිරීමකින් මිස, කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක් සාමි වටේ කැරකීමෙන් නොවේ. මෙම අළුත් බෙදීම මඟින්, කුමාර් ඩේවිඩ් ඉල්ලන ආකාරයේ දෙමළ ජනයාගේ ආශාවටද ඉඩ ලැබෙනවා නම් එය කදිමය. නමුත් ඔහු කියන අන්දමේ මායිම් සහිත පලාත් පහක් සදන්නේ ඒ ආශාව ඉෂ්ට කර දෙන්නේ කෙසේද යන්න මූලික කරගෙන නම් ඒ අරමුණ තරයේම ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කල යුතුය. අපේ අරමුණ වියයුත්තේ මේ ලිපි මාලාවේ පලවෙනි කොටසේ අග සඳහන් කලාවූ ප්‍රශ්නවලටද විසඳුම් සැපයෙන හා සිංහල-දෙමළ දේශපාලන නායකයින්ගේ බල තන්හා ගැටුමට විසඳුම් සැපයෙන පොළොව බෙදීමේ ක්‍රමයක් සොයා ගැනීමය. ලංකාවේ දෙමළ ජනයා වෙනම රටක් හෝ වෙනම ප්‍රදේශයක් ඉල්ලන්නේ නැත. එය මතුකර අහිංසක දෙමළ මිනිසුන් කුලප්පු කරමින් වැජඹෙන්නේ දෙමළ දේශපාලකයින් අත්ලොස්සක් ය.

1920 ගණන් වන විට කොළඹ දෙමළ දේශපාලකයින්ට පෙනී ගිය කරුණක් නම් වැඩිකල් නොගොස් කොළඹ නායක/පාලක පුටු වලින් තමන් තල්ලුවී යන නිසා, කොළඹ වෙනුවට යාපනයේ තමන්ටද නායකකම් ලබාගතහැකි මගක් පාදා ගතයුතුවන බවය. මේ නිසා ඔවුන් අසාධාරණ ලෙස සිංහල-දෙමළ ගැටුමක් මවා ගත්තේය. එසේ නැත්නම් අනුරාධපුරයේ පැරණි නඟරය ආරක්‍ෂා කිරීමට ආණ්ඩුවෙන් යම් සුළු මුදලක් වැයකිරීම දෙමළ ජනයාට වෙනස්කම් කිරීමක් ලෙස මේ දෙමළ දේශපාලකයින් සෝල්බරි කොමිසමට මැසිවිලි කරයිද? අවාසනාව නම් කොළඹ වංක සිංහල නායකයින්, ඔවුන්ට එය වවා ගන්නට ඉඩ ප්‍රස්ථා සලසා දීමය. පොරොවෙන් (කාලතුවක්කුවෙන්) කැපිය යුතු ගහක් වවාදීමය. ඒ මදිවාට අද තිබෙන පුදුමය නම් මේවාට විසඳුමක් අපේ ඇස් ඉදිරිපිටම තිබියදී එය නොදැක්කා සේ දේශපාලකයින් හැසිරීමය. මා විසින් මේ විසඳුම් ක්‍රමය අන්තර්‌ජාලය ඔස්සේ ලෝකයට ඉදිරිපත් කල විට කිසිදු දෙමළ පුද්ගලයෙක් ඊට විරුද්ධව මා සමඟ තර්‍ක නොකල අතර, ඊට විරුද්ධවූයේ රටේ ඓතිහාසික නම වූ සිංහලේ යන්නේ තේරුම වරදවා වටහාගත් උග්‍ර සිංහලයින් අතලොස්සක් පමණය.

කුමාර් ඩේවිඩ් විසින් දැන් කියන්නේ කුමාර් පොන්නම්බලම් විසින් කලකට පෙර කියා සිටි ටැමිල්ස් හෑව් ඇස්පිරේශන්ස් (දෙමළ ජනයාට ඔවුන්ගේ අභිලාශ ඇත) යන කතාවමය. අභිලාශ යනු පොදු ආශාය. අයිති‌වාසිකම් යනු පුද්ගලික ආශාය. යම් ජන වර්‍ගයකගේ පොදු ආශා, තවත් ජාතියකගේ පොදු ආශා සමඟ ගැටීම බොහෝ විට සිදුවන්නකි. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් යුරෝපා සංගමයට ඇතුල්වීමට බලවත් පොදු ආශාවක් තුර්කියට ඇත. එහෙත් යුරෝපා සංගමය සුදු ක්‍රිස්තියානි ඒකකයක් ලෙස තබා ගැනීමේ පොදු ආශාවක් ප්‍රංශයට ඇත. මේ නිසා අප විසින් කල යුත්තේ කුමාර්ලාගේ පොදු ආශා සඳහා සත්‍යය විකෘති කිරීම හෝ අවිද්‍යා පසු පස යෑම (රටේ ජන සංඛ්‍යා විද්‍යාව හෝ භූගෝල විද්‍යාවට පටහැනිව ක්‍රියා කිරීම) හෝ කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක්ගෙන් රටට වුන වරදට පැලැස්තර දැමීම හෝ නොව, බුද්ධාගමේ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදාව හා ඒ සඳහා බටහිර රටවල් භාවිතාකරණ රීසනබල්නස් නම් රීතිය අනුගමනය කිරීමය. මෙය අප කල යුත්තේ සාමාන්‍යයෙන් හා ස්වාභාවිකව මිනිසාගේ ක්‍රියා පථය සීමවන වන ගම, නගරය, ටවුම යන කුඩා ප්‍රදේශ (හියුමන් ස්කේල්) වලින් එය ආරම්භ කිරීමෙනි.

මේ සඳහා මුලින්ම අප විමසා බැලිය යුත්තේ ලංකාවේ ජනගහණ ව්‍යාප්තිය පෙන්වන සිතියමය. ජනගහණය අසම ලෙස විසිරී ඇත. නගර ජනාකීර්‌ණය. ගම් ප්‍රදේශවල ජනයා විසිරී ඇත. කර්‍මාන්ත හා කෘෂිකර්‍මය මගින් ඔවුන් ජීවත්වේ. එහෙත් මෙම සිතියමෙන් නොපෙනෙන දෙයක් නම් ආගම, භාෂාව හෝ ජාතිය අනුව බලනවිට මේ විවිධ මිනිසුන් කෙතරම් මිශ්‍රව ජීවත්‌වෙනවාද යන්නය. ලංකාවේ ජන වර්‍ග ව්‍යාප්තිය හොඳට මිශ්‍රකල බිත්තරයක් වගේ කියන්නේද මේ නිසාය. එය ආපසු සුදු හා කහමදය වශයෙන් වෙන් කර ගත නොහැකිය. මා මින් අදහස් කරන්නේ විග්නේශ්වරන් පුත්තු දෙන්නා කොළඹ සිංහල ස්ත්‍රීන් හා ලේ මිශ්‍ර කර ගැනීම නොවේ. 1815 න් 1848 න් පසු උඩරට ගම්වලට පහතරට මිනිසුන් වෙළදාමට ගොස් බින්න බැස්සා වගේය. වහාබි ශාරියාකරණයේ බලපෑමක් වශයෙන් මොනෝ මුස්ලිම් ගම්මාන ස්වාභාවිකව නොව යම් බලවේගවල මැදිහත්‌වීම නිසා පිහිටුවීම ගැන මිනිසුන් විරුද්ධ වන්නේ මේ නිසාය.

මෙම මිශ්‍රව ජීවත්‌වීම (අසල්වාසීන් ලෙස ජීවත්‌වීම) කෙතරම් ප්‍රචලිතද යත්, උතුරේ හා නැඟෙනහිර ජීවත්‌වන දෙමළ ජනයාට වඩා විශාල දෙමළ ජනකායක් ඉන් පිට පලාත්‌වල වාසය කරයි. මීට හේතුව එම ප්‍රදේශ භෞතික, ස්වාභාවික, පරිසර හා භූගෝලීය සාධක අතින් ජීවත්‌වීමට වඩා පහසු වාතාවරණයක් සැපයීමය.  ලංකාව වැනි කුඩා දිවයිනක දක්ණට ලැබෙන භෞතික පරිසරයේ විවිධත්‌වය එහි වැසියන්ට ලැබී ඇති අනගි දායාදකි. විවිධ විචිත්‍ර මධ්‍යම කඳුකරයක සිට වටේට රට පුරා ගලා යන ගංඟා, මුහුදුබඩ තැනිතලා හා ඒ අතරට මැදිවුන හෙල් කඳු වැටි නිසා ලංකාවේ හඳුනාගත් පරිසර කලාප (ඉකෝ ෂොන්ස්) 4- ම ඇත. බටහිර සංචාරකයින්ගේ පැත්තෙන් බලනවිට කොළඹ සිට හැතැම්ම 70 ක් යනවිට ඔවුන්ට පුරුදු සෞම්‍ය සිසිල් දේශගුණයක් හමුවේ. ලංකාවේ ඇත්තේ ගංඟා 103 ක් පමණක් වුවත් හා ඊට පහළින් ඇති ඇළ, දොළ, ඔය ආදියේ හා වැව් පොකුණු දිය ඇළි ආදියේ සංඛ්‍යාව අති විශාලය. අතීත ලංකාවේ ත්‍රිත්‌වය ගම-වැව-දාගැබ කියන්නේ මේ නිසාය. ජලය ආශ්‍රිත “මාකට් ගාර්‌ඩන්ස්” යාපන ප්‍රදේශයේත් රජරටත් තිබී ඇති හැටි හා ගංඟා හරහා බැමි බැඳ වැසි කාලයේදී උස් ගොඩබිම් ජලයෙන් යටකරගත් ආකාරය ඩී එල් ඕ මෙන්‌ඩිස් නම් අවුරුදු අනූවකට වඩා වයසැති සිවිල් ඉංජිනේරුවරයා විසින් පොත් ලියා පෙන්වාදී ඇත. ලෝකයේ වෙනත් රටවල මෙන් භූගත ජල ද්‍රෝණි හඳුන්වා දීමක් ලංකාවේ නැතත්, යාපනයේ පමණක් නොව රටේ බොහෝ ප්‍රදේශවල ලිං ජලය කර්‍මාන්ත හා ගොවිතැන සඳහා යොදා ගැනේ.

ජනගහණය හා භූමි පරිසරය පිළිඹද ඉහතින් කී කරුණු අනුව යමින්  සිතන විට කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක් ක්‍රමය මත කර ඇති පොළොව බෙදීම් දෙකක් ගැන සඳහන් කල හැකිය. එකක් නම් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව (ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය) සඳහා සදා ඇති මැතිවරණ බල ප්‍රදේශය (සීට්, කොට්ඨාශ).  මේ එක් එක් බල ප්‍රදේශයේ (පානදුර, මොරටුව, මුල්කිරිගල) චන්ද මධ්‍යස්ථාන (පොලින් ස්ටේෂන්ස්) ඇත. දැනට මුළු රටේම මේවා 12,314 ක් ඇත. අනිත් පොළොව බෙදීම නම් සිවිල් රාජ්‍ය පාලනයේ පහලම ඒකකය වන ග්‍රාම සේවක වසමය (විධායකය). කලින් 4,000 ක් පමණක්‌වූ මේවායේ සංඛ්‍යාව ආර් ප්‍රේමදාස අගමැති/ජනාධිපති කාලයේදී 14,000 දක්වා වැඩි කරණ ලදී. එසේ වැඩිකලේ කුමන පදනමක් මත දැයි විස්තර කෙරෙන ලිපියක්වත් මා දැක නැත.

මෙම ග්‍රාම සේවා වසම් 14,000 පරිසර නිර්‍ණායක අනුව, ජලය අනුව (ඉකොලොජි, හයිඩ්‍රොලොජි) මායිම් ලැබෙනසේ නැවත බෙදිය හැකිද? 4,000 සංඛ්‍යාව 14,000 කිරීම ආර් ප්‍රේමදාස යුගයේදී නිහඬව සිදුවුනාසේ, ගඟක් (ගංඟා), ඇළක්, ඔයක්, දිය උල්පතක්, භූගත ජලාශයක් හෝ වැවක්(වැව්) පදනම් කරගෙන නැවත බෙදීම සලකා බැලීම සඳහා ඊට අදාළ විශේෂඥයින්ගෙන් සමන්විත පර්යේෂණ කොමිටියක් පත් කිරීමට රටේ ජනාධිපතිතුමාට හැකිය (අවශ්‍යනම් මෙසේ අළුතින් මතුවන ග්‍රාම සේවා වසම් වලට අනුකූලව චන්ද මධ්‍යස්ථාන 12,314 ද නැවත හරිගැස්සීම ඉතා සුළු කාර්යයකි). මේ මඟින් රටට ලැබෙන්නේ රට, ජාතිය, ආගම හෝ භාෂාව අනුව නොව ස්වභාවික පරිසරය අනුව මායිම් සැදූ ග්‍රාම සේවක වසමක් ය. ලෝකයේ බොහෝ රටවල මෙසේ මතුපිට ජලය හෝ භූගත ජලය අනුව ඇතිකල පරිපාලන/කළමනාකරණ ඒකක (පොළොව බෙදීම්) ඇත. කුඩා දූපත් දෙකක් වන නිව්සීලන්තයේ කුඩා පරිපාලන ඒකක සදා තිබෙන්නේ ජල ද්‍රෝණි අනුවය. එය ඒ රටේ නීතියය.

මෙසේ අළුතින් මායිම්කල ග්‍රාම සේවක වසමකට ජන සභාවක් හෝ පංචයාත් සභාවක් හෝ දිවි නැඟුම හෝ සමෘධි ඒකකයක් හෝ කියා නම් කර ගන්නට හෝ නොගන්නට පුළුවන. වැදගත් වන්නේ ලංකාවේ තිරසර සංවර්‍ධනය සඳහා, මිනිසා, පරිසරය හා සංවර්‍ධනය යන කරුණු/සාධක තුනේ සමබරතාවයක් ලබාගැනීමට හේතු උපකාරවන, කෘතිම ඒකක නොවන, පරිසරයට අනුකූලවන ඒකක මේ මඟින් ලැබීමය. මෙම ඒකක අනුව, ලංකාවේ වනාන්තර, ජල, පස් යනාදී කාරණා භාර දෙපාර්තමේන්තු වලට පමණක් නොව පොලිස්, අධ්‍යාපන, සෞඛ්‍ය යනාදී දෙපාර්‌තමේන්තු වලටද ඒවායේ පරිපාලන ඒකක බෙදාගත හැකිය.

මෙවැනි ව්ද්‍යාත්මක බෙදීමක් කුමාර්ලා කියන ආකාරයේ දෙමළ ආශාවන් ඉටු කර ගැනීම සඳහාත් යොදාගත හැකිද? බුද්ධාගමේ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදාව හා සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මහතා යුද හමුදාපතිව සිටි කාලයේ පැහැදිළි කල “සුළු ජන වාර්ගික කොටස් අසාධාරණ ඉල්ලීම් (අන්‍රීසනබල් ඩිමාන්ඩ්ස්) නොකළ යුතුය” යන ප්‍රකාශයත් අනුව සිතා බැලීම මෙහිදී අත්‍යාවශ්‍යය. දෙමළ ජනයාට නොව දෙමළ දේශපාලකයින්ට ජීවන ක්‍රමයේ අවශ්‍යතාවයක් ඇත. වෙනම ප්‍රදේශයක්, ස්වයංපාලන අයිතියක් සහිත පෙඩරල් ක්‍රමයක් (මෙය ආනන්දසංගාරී මහතා ඒ කාලයේ කිව් ඉන්දියන් මොඩල් එක නොවේ, ඉන්දියාවේ ප්‍රාන්තවලට එවැනි අයිතියක් නැත)  ඉල්ලන්නේ මේ නිසාය. මේ හැරුණු විට ටැමිල් නාඩ් වලින් හා ලෝක දෙමළ සංවිධානවලින් ලෝක සිතියමේ දෙමළ රටක් සඳහා ගෙනයන ව්‍යාපාරය ඒ සඳහා හොඳම කෙටිම පාර ලංකවේ මරා ගන්නා සිංහල දේශපාලකයින් හා ඔවුන්ට හවුල්ව අන්ද මන්දව ක්‍රියා කරණා සමහර භික්‍ෂූන් හරහා වැටී ඇතැයි විශ්වාස කරයි.

මේ නිසා උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර පලාත් දෙක එකතු කර කුමාර් ඩේවිඩ් විසින් කරණ ලංකා පොළොව පහට කැඩීමේ යෝජනාව ඩබල් අනතුරක් ගෙන එන්නකි. එක අතකින් රටින් විශාල කොටසක් දිග මුහුදු තීරයක් සමඟ දෙමළ දේශපාලකයින්ට හිමිවේ. අනිත් අතට ඉතිරිවන දකුණු කොටස විකාරයක් වන හතරකට බෙදී යයි. ඔහු මධ්‍යම පලාත මායිම් කර ඇත්තේ වතුකරයේ දෙමළ ජනයා ගැන සිතේ තබා ගෙන මිස අඩු තරමින් මහවැලි ගඟ ගැනවත් සලකා නොවේ. ඔහු විසින් ඔහුගේ සිතියමේ, දෙමළ නිජ භූමිය, මලයනාඩු හා ඔළුවිල් ප්‍රකාශනය යන වචන එකක්වත් නොකියා ඒවා ඇති කරදී තිබේ! පාලමක් හෝ බිංගෙයක් ඇතුව හෝ නැතුව ලංකාව ටැමිල් නාඩ් දෙමළ සංක්‍රමණයකට ගොදුරුවී, සිංහලයාට ලෝකයේ ඇති එකම ඉඩමේ ඔවුන් හිරකාරයින් වේද, පලස්තීනයේ මෙන් වේද යන බිය නැතිකිරීමට කුමාර් කරන්නේ කුමක්ද?

මෙය උභතෝකෝටික ප්‍රශ්නයක් වන්නේ දේශපාලකයින්ගේ පටු හා ආත්මාර්‍ථකාමි ඇසෙන් මේ දෙස බැලුවොත් ය. ඉහතින් කී පරිසරය අනුව ලංකා බෙදීමෙන් නැති නැෂනල් ක්‌වෙෂ්චන් එකකට නොව දෙමළ ජනයාටත් දෙමළ සංස්කෘතිය නැතිවීයයිද යන බියක් නැතිව ජීවත් විය හැකිවන ඒකකයක් ඇතිකල හැකි වන්නේ පහලම ග්‍රාම සේවක වසම් මට්ටමෙන් කරණ බෙදීම ක්‍රමයෙන් ඉහළට ගෙන යාමෙන් ලංකාව ගංඟා ද්‍රෝණි හතකට බෙදිය හැකි නිසාය. මීට හේතුව ගංඟා වල් ඉහළ සිට (කන්ඳක සිට) පහළට (මුහුදට) ගලන්නේ හරියට ගහක අතු එකතුව ගහේ කඳ හා මුල හැදෙනවා වගේ වීම නිසාය. මේ නිසා අවශ්‍යතාවයට අනුව, ග්‍රාම සේවක වසම් එකතුකර දැන් පවතින පලාත්, දිස්ත්‍රික්, මැතිවරණ බල ප්‍රදේශ ආදිය වෙන් කරගත හැකිය. ඒ විශාල හැම ඒකකයක්ම ස්වාභාවික පරිසරයට එකඟ බිම් කොටස් වන්නේය. මෙහි පහතින් දැක්‌වෙන්නේ උගත් පාඩම් හා සංහිඳියා කොමිසමට ශාක්‍ෂි වශයෙන් ඉදිරිපත්කල ගංඟා ද්‍රෝණි හතේ සිතියමය.  මේ අනුව යාල්පානම් හා දීඝවාපී යනුවෙන් ද්‍රෝණි දෙකක් ඇත. නැඟෙනහිර පලාතේ මුහුදු තීරය කොටස් තුනකට කැඩේ. මේ නිසා උතුර හා නැඟෙනහිර එකතුවී ලංකාව දෙකඩ කරාවී යන බිය සිංහල මනසෙන් තුරන් වේ.  සෑම ඒකකයකටම මුහුදු වෙරළක් ලැබේ. ඒකක එකිනෙකට සමාන වන අන්දමේ භූමි ප්‍රමාණයක් සහිතය. එක ඒකකයකට ඉතාමත් විශාල මුහුදු තීරයක් නොලැබේ. මේ සියල්ලම  කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක් ක්‍රමය අතහැර, ග්‍රාම සේවා වසම් ඉකොලොජිකල් සාධක අනුව මායිම් කිරීමේ ඍජු ප්‍රතිඵලය.

1832 කෝල්බ්‍ර‌ෑක් කොමිසමත්, 1931 ඩොනමෝර් කොමිසමත් ලංකාවේ බලවත්, තීරණාත්මක වෙනස්කම් ඇතිකලේය. මෙවැනිම වෙනසක් ලංකාවේ ඇතිකිරිමේ ව්භවය  සංහිඳියා කොමිසමටද තිබුණේය. එය නම් මෙහි විස්තර කළ ක්‍රමය පැහැදිලි ලෙස නිර්දේශ කිරීමය. ඔවුන්ට එවැනි දෙයක් කිරීමට, දැනුමක්, ශක්තියක් හෝ කැපවීමක් නොවීය. ඔවුන්ට කල හැකිවූයේ ගම්මට්ටමින් මහජනතාවට බලය පවරා දෙන ලෙස කීම පමණය. මේ අරමුණින් ජන සභා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවක්ද පසුගිය රජයෙන් පිහිටුවන ලදී. එහෙත් අභාග්‍යයකට මෙන් හදිසියේම එය හකුලා දිවි නැඟුමක් පෙරට ආවේය.

මෙම ගංඟා ද්‍රෝණි අදහසට මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ ද අනුමැතිය ලැබුණත් ඔහු යටතේ සිටි දෙයාකාරයක “නිලධාරීන්” එය  යට ගැසුවේය. ඒ අය විසින් ගැමි දිරිය නම් මීට සමාන, සාර්‌ථක ලෙස දේශපාලකයින්ගේ ඇඟිලි ගැසීමෙන් තොරව ගම් මට්ටමින් ගෙන ගිය වැඩ සටහනද කඩාකප්පල් කර දැම්මේය. යාපනේ හා වන්නියේ ජනයාට මෙහි රස බලන්නට ඉඩ දුන්නා නම් චන්ද ප්‍රතිපල පවා වෙනස්වීමට ඉඩ තිබුණා කියා මට සිතේ. මෙම අදහස මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේන ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ අවධානයට යොමුවේයයි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමි. මේ මඟින් සිංහල, දෙමළ හා මුස්ලිම් සැමටම සාධාරණය හා යුක්තිය ඉෂ්ටවේ. අළුත් ග්‍රාම සේවා වසම් බිම් ප්‍රදේශ, ජන සභා ඒකක වශයෙන් නීතියෙන් හඳුනාගෙන, පක්‍ෂ දේශපාලනයෙන් තොරව මහජනයා විසින් තෝරා පත්කරගන්නා කමිටු පිහිටුවා, ඒවාට මහජනයාට බලපාන එදිනෙදා කටයුතු කර ගැනීමේ බලතල මාරුකිරීමෙන්, දැන් පවතින බොහෝ ප්‍රශ්න විසඳා ගැනීමට මධ්‍යම රජයට හැකිවේ. එය කරන ආකාරය මීළඟ ලිපියේ සාකච්චා කරමු.

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම
13-9-2015

Prof. Ivan Urlić, M.D., Ph.D., Neuropsychiatrist, group analyst, Medical School, University of Split, Croatia

Shell Shock to Palali Syndrome is an impressive endeavour to put together all experiences from different dramatic and tragic situations in war impacted society. This book is for me the monumental example of sufferings all kinds of disasters were tormenting people, leaving heavy consequences on actual and future generations. This takes the description and elaboration of all sufferings onto highest priority of mental health policy of Sri Lanka.

Comparing similar experiences from other countries, former Yugoslavia included, it can be seen that all sufferings are on common denominator of human condition. In that way we can be compassionate with other human beings regardless of their cultural characteristics. This is of outmost importance when we are planning and organising help for these psychologically traumatised people, and our experiences on a professional level become comparable.

Shell Shock to Palali Syndrome  is a very powerful  book on human suffering, either caused by man-made or natural disasters, that were overwhelming Sri Lanka during last several decades. The long shadows of traumatic experiences should be recognised and treated, because time proved not to be a general healer, it fails to heal all wounds. Dr Ruwan Jayatunge and his colleagues and teams are drawing upon their experience, knowledge and newly gained wisdom in helping traumatised people to mourn losses and to open up the processes of transformation from hatred and violence to empathy.

Prof. Ivan Urlić, M.D., Ph.D., Neuropsychiatrist, group analyst,

Medical School, University of Split, Croatia

The additional comments were made by the scholars around the globe about Shell Shock to Palali Syndrome

The author with his clinical experience in medicine and psychology has documented his thoughts about the subject in a simple and reader friendly manner.

Dr. Neil Fernando MBBS MD -Consultant Psychiatrist of the Sri Lanka Army

Drawing from the Author’s rich experiences in dealing with combatants with PTSD and other problems, as well as civilians caught in the war or after the tsunami, he gives us narrative accounts that bring the book to life.

Professor Daya Somasundaram -Clinical Associate Professor: University of Adelaide –Australia

Dr Ruwan M. Jayatunge has articulately analyzed the previous denial of PTSD in Sri Lanka

Prof. D.G. Harendra de Silva -Senior Professor of Paediatrics and Former (Founder) Chairman of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) of Sri Lank

The author concludes insightfully that although war ended in 2009, the psychological repercussions of the war have not.

Dr. Uri Bergmann- Past-President – EMDR International Association

This book is an important contribution to the literature on stress related anxiety disorders as it is rooted in a cultural and historical landscape that has received virtually no attention within the academic literature.

Professor Richard N. Lalonde -York University Canada

KUDOS to Dr . Ruwan M Jayatunge for his astute clinical descriptions of the impact of combat. His cultural sensitivity of combatrelated trauma is a welcomed contribution.

Professor Donald Meichenbaum -Research Director of the Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention: Miami US

In this fascinating book, Dr. Ruwan M. Jayatunge   develops a caleidoscopic perspective which clearly shows that PTSD is not a western culture-bound syndrome

Professor Onno van der Hart  –   Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

Dr. Ruwan M. Jayatunga persuasively describes the psychological wounds of war. His book is remarkable for its comprehensiveness and historical research. This is a significant contribution to the literature.

Professor Roger Brooke -Director, Military Psychological Services Duquesne University USA

Shenali D Waduge

Sadly a bunch of money-making pundits are claiming to be fighting for justice and truth. Gordon Weiss when a UN official says one thing and Gordon Weiss after leaving his job says something else. He is supposed to be unbiased but is frequently seen in the company of globally banned LTTE-fronts appearing as guest speaker too. Are these the people whose conflicting testimonies and contradictions are the basis with which our military is to be charged for war crimes when none of these fairy tales can be proved in a court of law? If the new Sri Lankan Government to appease the very nations that pooh-poohed the tiger for their geopolitical gains sacrifices its troops agreeing to do all that the West now suggests the people’s court of Sri Lanka will be more than disappointed for their lack of defending the nation and the armed forces who achieved what no military has been able to do. It was a clean fight and LTTE were given chances to lay down arms but refused.

The Truth

• His book ‘The Cage’ released shortly after the release of the Ban Ki Moon Panel of Expert Report (60 pages of notes & background material)
• During the course of research for this book, dozens of Tamils described the Sinhalese as inherently kind and gentle people. The front-line soldiers who received the first civilians as they escaped to government lines, those who guarded them in the camps and the civilian and military doctors who provided vital treatment distinguished themselves most commonly through their mercy and care.”
• Weiss gives examples of soldiers who tried their utmost to distinguish between LTTE combatants and civilians in incredibly confusing and stressful ground conditions, gave up their own rations to feed those who were dying of hunger
• stories of compassion and mercy towards injured Tamil civilians – mothers, children, infants and men
• Weiss confirms that the Sri Lankan government had continued to exercise its writ over Tiger-controlled territory by supplying a full range of government health and education services”
• When he was in Sri Lanka he put the figure at 7,000. After he left his UN job and went to Australia he jacked it up to 40,000 to sensationalize his book, The Cage. At a book launch held in Melbourne last week, he changed his figure again and came down to 10,000 under questioning by Chanaka Bandarage, a lawyer. Bandarage then asked why the brochure had mentioned 40,000. Weiss had disowned responsibility and passed the buck to the Deakin University which produced the brochure.
• This denial by Weiss blows up the fictitious figure of 40,000 mentioned in the report of the Advisory Panel of Experts (APEs) appointed by Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General. It also blasts the myths of the anti-Sri Lankan NGOs and pundits who went to town with Weiss’s figure of 40,000.

The Lies

• Weiss cannot refer to himself as a ‘close observer’ as he was nowhere near the conflict.
• In his book The Cage he says that Gotabaya Rajapakse was saved by a mercedez following the December 2006 suicide attack – it was actually armour plated BMW 7
• On page 6 he says there was little of the air of celebration one might have expected at the end of such an epoch”. People were celebrating lighting crackers just like how the world celebrated the announcement of Bin Laden’s death!
• On page 145 he says GL Peiris was the Attorney General – he never held this post! He was the Foreign Minister …how could Weiss make such a faux pas!
• When Weiss says this does not mean that soldiers did not directly kill thousands of civilians in the heat of combat” – what proof does he have to make such a statement! Was he there in the front lines to witness!
• Weiss ignores the influence LTTE would have exerted on the doctors in the conflict zone. the University Teachers for Human Rights  reports that Dr Weerakathipillai Shanmugarajah, one of the most prominent of the doctors, had tried to escape from LTTE control during the Vanni crisis, was apprehended by the LTTE, beaten and taken back to the nofire zone. The LTTE kept all the doctors under close watch. An armed guard was placed near them even when they did surgical operations.”
• UTHR also reports when the bodies of Tamil civilians who had been killed by the LTTE were brought to the hospital, despite the fact that they had clearly been killed by the LTTE, they were pronounced to have been killed by government forces
• Weiss uses false claims as Dr. Varatharajah denied claims made by AP’s Colombo bureau chief Ravi Nessman

Weiss on the LTTE

• ‘record of appalling violence’
• LTTE chief gave orders to ‘bomb buses full of women and children….murder monks and kill prisoners”
• children were slaughtered alongside the elderly in dozens of small-scale incidents”
• LTTE planted bombs on trains, aircrafts and buses, in 1987 a car-bomb exploded in Colombo’s Pettah killing 137 civilians’
• Weiss says that between 1983 and May 2009 ‘there were around 200 individual Tiger attacks on civilian targets in which between 3700 to 4100 were killed”
• This figure does not include the number of Tamils allegedly killed by the Tigers in the areas they controlled, nor the many hundreds of prisoners thought to have been killed in Tamil Tiger gulags”
• LTTE mounted…destructive and horrifically brutal attacks on the Sinhalese and Muslim populations of Sri Lanka.”
• LTTE’s record of duplicity and intransigence in negotiations”.
• Weiss acknowledges LTTE use of summary executions”
• the Tamil Tigers were placing mobile artillery pieces in areas…inundated with tens of thousands of people.” [D]issenting voices who opposed the Tigers faced assassination. In areas controlled by the Tigers, dissent was virtually impossible, whilst in peripheral areas such as the Jaffna peninsula or Trincomallee, Tamils who published pieces critical of the movement could expect to be reproached, threatened, beaten and otherwise intimidated, or killed.”
• Weiss says if a hospital is used as an artillery position, or a command bunker, then its status is potentially converted into that of a military objective.” Weiss also acknowledges that LTTE stationed mobile artillery batteries near hospitals.
• Weiss also confirms UN official accompanying a UN humanitarian convoy, sheltering in a compound opposite the main Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) hospital could see the barrel flashes from a Tiger heavy artillery piece just 300 metres from [the] hospital, quite apart from hearing its thumping reports. As the Tiger artillery sent outgoing rounds against the army’s advance, and then quickly shifted position, he could count off the seconds until an incoming barrage responded in an effort to destroy the guns.”
• Weiss says The Tamil Tigers were placing their guns dangerously close to our location, and were quite intentionally in my view drawing fire towards the hospital. Civilians were being killed.”  (let it be noted that the Ban Ki Moon report also mentions LTTE firing from the vicinity of the Puthukudurippu hospital/ Dr. Shanmugarajah one of the doctors during the final conflict also confirmed that LTTE used hospitals as cover and their camps were 100-200m away from the Mullaitivu hospital / UTHR reports that ICRC had even asked LTTE not to bring LTTE vehicles & weapons near the Puthukudurippu hospital-LTTE had not listened infact LTTE had even used the hospital ambulances!)
• there is good evidence that at least on some occasions the Tamil Tigers fired artillery into their own people. The terrible calculation was that with enough dead Tamils, a toll would eventually be reached that would lead to international outrage and intervention.”
• Weiss states with regard to Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital that it was hit by artillery fire on several occasions on 4 February 2009, and that a number of strikes appeared to be from Tamil Tiger positions” (UTHR report on the Puthukudurippu hospital on on 2 February 2009  notes that the people around were sure ‘it was the LTTE that attacked them” / 10 Feb 2009 communique by UN notes that LTTE shelled civilians to assign blame on the Sri Lanka Army)
• undoubtedly, the world is a better place without the Tamil Tigers”

Weiss on the SL Army

• [c]aught in the middle of competing military imperatives, some 10,000 to 40,000 civilians died and many more were seriously injured.”
• that [f]or the SLA, it made no tactical sense to kill civilians”
• for thirty-seven months [the army] had worked its way meticulously across the territory controlled by the Tigers, at great cost to young Sinhalese soldiers.”
• Up until the beginning of 2009, the army’s tactic of driving civilians away from the front lines had been relatively successful in limiting the propaganda advantage that the Tigers might gain from images of dead civilians.”
• [t]he SLA’s strategy…had limited the deaths of non-combatants for the previous two years.”
• the army probed the Tiger defences, and calculated how to separate civilians from cadres.” (this man is caught contradicting what he says! Didn’t he earlier imply that the soldiers killed civilians?)
• Weiss notes in the last few days [c]ommandos were fighting their way through a tent city, hurling grenades, trying to distinguish Tiger fighters from civilians…Thousands of people streamed across the lagoon to the safety of army lines as soldiers urged them on. Tiger cadres fired at both soldiers and civilians.”
• The front-line soldiers who received the first civilians as they escaped to government lines, those who guarded them in the camps and the civilian and military doctors who provided vital treatment distinguished themselves most commonly through their mercy and care.”
• He notes that: In Colombo, as television images appeared of those civilians who had escaped and were not in internment camps, many dozens of private individuals, schools, banks, religious institutions, department stores and newspapers began drives to raise money, food and clothing for the bedraggled ‘enemy’, to the considerable credit of a population that had lived in fear of random Tamil Tiger terrorism for three decades.

Weiss fails mission objectives

• Weiss does not address government deliberately killing civilians
• His quotes on civilian casualties flawed  – he first claims 10,000-40,000 civilians were killed then he says The sixteen-week siege led to the deaths of between 10,000 and 40,000 people.” In February 2010, Weiss upped his estimate: I think most likely it’s somewhere between 30,000 to 40,000.”
• He admits he is clueless about how he got the figures I have not dealt in close detail with the matter of figures of dead and wounded, how they are calculated and how reliable those sources might be. I make the point in the text that it is for others to get closer to that particular particle of truth.” Before he started out on his book as former UN spokesmen, he quoted 7000 civilian deaths as UN spokesman. So much so that in February 2010, the UN office in Sri Lanka stated that his views were his personal ones and that while the UN maintained internal estimates of casualties, circumstances did not permit us to independently verify them on the ground, and therefore we do not have verifiable figures of how many casualties there were.”
• The controversial ‘doctors’ in the Vanni – http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=features/dr-varatharaja-show-his-true-colours-geneva /
• Fails to answer why LTTE were deliberately killing civilians, placing them in danger by firing from/positioning artillery and mortars in their midst.

Observations by Rajiva Wijesingha – former Peace Secretariat Head

• http://www.peaceinsrilanka.lk/for-the-record/the-mysterious-colonel-harun
• https://rajivawijesinha.wordpress.com/tag/harun-khan/
• http://archives.dailynews.lk/2011/05/30/fea01.asp
• http://archives.dailynews.lk/2011/07/20/fea03.asp

Observations by Prof. Michael Roberts

• The Cage deliberately launched on 19^th May 2011 in Sydney Australia
• from late 2010 if not earlier, Gordon Weiss has been drawn increasingly closer to the networks of the Tamil Australian lobby associated with the LTTE in the past and with the politics of the Global Tamil Forum’s radical arms today.”
• In 2009 the US Defence Department sent him (Siri Hewavitharana) a copy of the first video deployed by Channel 4 that year. By an act of the gods this original video footage contained metadata which gave the game away and indicated, for one, that it was not generated by a mobile phone — it is for this reason that Channel 4 has never made its video footage public.”
• New improved versions of the open-air execution segment appeared in 2011, one reaching the UN via Journalists for Democracy and the other, with additional footage, being incorporated within Killing Fields. These versions too have been analysed to reveal defects. The availability of the original video with meta-data has been of critical importance in these acts of revelation. Killing Fields also contains other frames that are still-images stitched together in clever fashion, inclusive of one segment that is totally fake” in Hewavitharana’s words.”
• What these findings say of the morality guiding Channel Four and Jon Snow is beyond words. There is even some suggestion that elements of the British Foreign Office had a role in this ‘handiwork’ because Channel 4 had sought governmental aid in a situation of financial crisis in 2008/09”
• http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=42887
• http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/05/27/misrepresenting-the-sri-lankan-war-2009-2012-analysis/

Shenali D Waduge

Further reading

• http://www.defence.lk/news/pdf/20120105_AnUnreliableWitness.pdf
• Prof Michael Roberts – https://thuppahi.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/the-torture-scene-in-killing-fields-and-gordon-weiss/
• http://www.slideshare.net/abcbefair/technical-analysis-of-channel-4-killing-fields-documentary (a must watch video)
• http://asiantribune.com/news/2011/06/25/lalin%E2%80%99s-columnuk%E2%80%99s-goebbels-4-tv-bucks-sl%E2%80%99s-19-may-2009-verdict
• http://tamilmirrorcanada.blogspot.com/2011/09/exclusive-interview-with-gordon-weiss.html

චානක බණ්ඩාරගේ

6/9/2015 දින ලංකාවෙබ් හී පළවූ ‘Sri Lanka should be the Hong Kong of India යන ලිපියේ (සංශෝධන සහිත) සිංහල පරිවර්තනයයි

හොංකොං දේශය චීනයේ කරපිටින් ගොස් ධනවත්වු බව කිසිවෙක් විවාදයෙන් තොරව පිළිගන්නා  සත්‍යයකි (චීන විප්ලවයෙන් පසු 1940 අග භාගයේදී හොංකොං වේගවත් සහ සාර්ථක කාර්මිකත්වයට පත්ව, ධනවත් රටක් බවට පත් විය).

ඩේන් ෂියාඕ පෙන් විසින් 1970 දශකයේ අග භාගයේදී  චීන විවුර්ථ ආර්ථික ක්‍රමය (Open Door Policy)  හඳුන්වා දීමෙන් අනතුරුව හොංකොං දේශය, ඒ ලැබුණු මහඟු අවස්ථාවෙන් උපරිම ප්‍රයෝජනය ගෙන චීනයත් සමඟ ස්වකිය වෙළඳාම දස ගුණයකටත් වඩා වැඩි කරගතතේය. වසර කිහිපයක් ඇතුලතදී හොංකොංහි චීන අපනයන (exports) චීනයෙන් හොංකොංවෙත එන අපනයන වලට වඩා වැඩි විය.

බොහෝ දුරට චීනයට ස්තුතිවන්තව, 20වෙනි ශතවර්ෂය තුලදී, හොංකොං, ඉතා ධනවත් රටක් බවට පත්විය.

ඉන්දීයාව ආර්ථික වශයෙන් අද ලෝකයේ ඉතා බලවත් රටක් බවට පත්වී ඇත. එය චීනය පසු කර යනු ඇතැයි ඇතැමෙක් පවසත් (චීනයේ කඩිනමින්  වයසට යන සමාජය සහ උග්‍ර ස්ත්‍රී පුරුෂ වෙනස ආදිය නිසා (ස්ත්‍රී ඌනතාව).  ලෝකයේ ආර්ථික වශයෙන් බලවත්ම රට වීමටද ඉන්දියාවට හැකි බවට ඇතැම්හු අනාවැකි පල කරත්.

චීනය නිසා හොංකොං  ධනවත් වූවාක් මෙන් (හොංකොං චීනයට ඉතා ආසන්නයේම පිහිටා ඇත), ඉන්දියාව නිසා ලංකාවට ධනවත් වීමට මෙතෙක් පුළුවන් වුයේ නැත (ලංකාව ඉන්දියාවට ඉතා ආසන්නයේම පිහිටා ඇත).

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ‘ඉන්දියාවේ හොංකොං ‘ බවට පත් වුයේ නැත.

පසුගිය දස වසර තුලදී ඉන්දියාව වසරකට 10%ට කිට්ටු ආර්ථික වර්ධනයක් (GDP growth) පෙන්වුවත් එයින් නිසි ප්‍රයෝජන ලබා ගැනීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පුළුවන් වුයේ නැත.

පසුගිය දස වසර තුලදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සිය සියලුම බිජු (බිත්තර) චීනය නමැති කූඩයට පමණක් දමා ගත්තේය.  මෙය බුද්ධිමත් නොවූ ආර්ථික න්‍යාමයකි.

යුද්ධයෙන් පසු අප අවාසනාවකට මෙන් ඉන්දියාව සමඟ තිබු හොඳ හිත පලුදු කර ගත්තෙමු (මෙය හුදෙක් තමිල්නාඩු බලපෑම් නිසා සිදුවූ බව සැබවි, නමුත්, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුල ලොව වෙනත් රටවල් සමඟ ශක්ත්මත් වූ රාජ්‍ය තාන්ත්‍රික සහ තානාපති සභධතා ඇති කර ගැනීමේ හැකියාව අඩු බව පෙන්වූ නිදසුනකි මෙය.  රටවල් සමඟ මිත්‍රශීලි සභධතා නොපැවැත්වූවොත්  ඉන් අහිතකර පළ ඇතිවන්නේ එම එම දෙරටටමය).

චීනයේ කරපිටින් පමණක් ගොස් ධනවත් වීමට බැරි බව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අවබෝධ නොකරගෙන සිටියේය. ඉන්දියාවෙන් කරපිටින් ගොස් ඊට වඩා පහසුවෙන් ධනවත් විය හැකි බව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සැලකිල්ලට නොගත්තේය.

මෙයින් අදහස් කරන්නේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව චීනය, ඇමෙරිකාව, බ්‍රිතාන්‍යය, රුසියාව, ජපානය වැනි රටවල් සමඟ ආර්ථික සමභධතා ඇති කර ගත නොයුතු බව නොවේ.

චීනය වනාහි ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට සිටිනා ඉතා වටිනා, සමීපතම මිත්‍රයෙකි. එහි කිසුදු වාද විවාදයක්  නොමැත. චීනය වනාහි ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්‍රශ්නවලදී හැමදාම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලඟින්ම සිට උදවු කල මිත්‍රයෙකි. එහෙත් චීනය පිහිටියේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට බොහෝ ඈතිනි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සමග සැසදීමේදී චීනය ඉතා වෙනස්  වූ රටකි. නමුත්, ඉන්දියාව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ඉතා කිට්ටු සමානාකම් ඇති රටකි. සංස්කෘතික, ආහාර, වස්ත්‍ර,, භාෂාව (සිංහළ. සංස්කෘතික (sanskrit) සම්භවය ඇති භාෂාවක් වන අතර දෙමල ඉන්දීය භාෂාවකි), ක්‍රීඩා, ආගම්, ගති, සිරිත්, පැවතුම් සහ පුද්ගලික චරිත ලක්ෂණ ආදියෙන් ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයෝ සහ ඉන්දියයෝ ඉතා කිට්ටු සමීපකමක් දක්වති.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ ඉන්දියාව අතර ඇති දැඩි සම්බන්ධතාවට  පහත කරුණුද හේතුවේ:

• ශ්‍රී ලාංකික බෞද්ධයෝ විශ්වාස කරන්නේ බුදු රජාණන් වහන්සේමේ ලොව පහළ වූ ශ්‍රේෂ්ටතම පුද්ගලයාලෙසයි. උන්වහන්සේ ඉන්දීය (දඹදිව) ජාතිකයෙක් විය.
• ශ්‍රී ලංකා දේශය බිහි වූයේ බුදු රජාණන් වහන්සේගේ පරිනිර්වාණයත් සමග (මෙයට වසර 2498කට පෙර – ක්‍රි පු 498) උතුරු ඉන්දියාවේ සිංහපුර, වංග දේශයේ, ලාට රටේ (අද උතුරු බෙංගාලයේ)  සිටි විජය කුමරුගේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට (තම්බපන්නිය) වූ ආගමනයත් සමගිනි.  ‘සිංහළයේ’ ප්‍රාරම්භකයා, විජය, ඉන්දියානුවෙකි (බෙන්ගාලියෙකි).
• මහාවංශය සහ වෙනත් අටුවා පොත් අනුව සිංහලයන් බුදු බුදුරජානන් වහන්සේට ඥාති සම්බන්ධතාවක් ඇත. ලංකාවේ දෙවන රජ වූ පඬුවස්දේව (ඔහුට විජය කුමරු තම මාමණ්ඩිය විය) විවාහ වුයේ බුදු රජාණන් වහන්සේගේ  සමීපතම ලේ ඥාතියෙක් වූ බද්ධ කච්චානා (කපිලාවාස්තුහි, ශාක්‍ය වංශයේ) කුමරිය සමඟයි.
• ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ ඉන්දියාව වෙන් වන්නේ ඉතා පටු මුහුදු තිරයකිනිනි. තමිල්නාඩුවේ ඊලාම් වාදී ප්‍රතිපත්ති  හා කටයුතු හැරුණු කොට දෙරට අතර ඇත්තේ වසර දහස් ගණනක් දිව යන සහෝදරාත්මක සම්බන්ධතාවයකි, බැම්මකි.  ඉන්දියාව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට  කෙතරම් කිට්ටුව පිහිටියත් ඉන්දියාව කිසිදාක ශ්‍රී ලංකාව යුධමය වශයෙන් ආක්‍රමණය කර නොමැත.  මෑත කාලයේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පැත්තෙන්  අනගාරික ධර්මපාල, සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක, සනත් ජයසුරිය ආදීන් දෙරට අතර සම්බන්ධතාව ශක්තිමත් කිරීමට කටයුතු කල අය වශයෙන් නම් කළ හැකයි.

පසුගිය වකවානුවේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ඉන්දීය අපනයන දස ගුණයකින් පමණ වැඩි වෙද්දී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් ඉන්දියාවට අපනයන එවැනි වේගයකින් වැඩි වුයේ නැත.

මෑත කාලින ශ්‍රී ලාංකික රජයන් (පසුගිය වසර 20 ඇතුලත), ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නිෂ්පාදනමය සහ කර්මාන්ත කෙරෙහි නැඹුරුවූ  ආර්ථිකයක් (productivity and manufacturing based economy) තනනවාට වඩා උත්සුක වුයේ, වඩා පහසුවෙන් තැනිය හැකි සේවාමය ආර්ථිකයක් ( service based economy) ගොඩ නැගීමටයි.  මෙයින් රැකියා ප්‍රශ්නයට විසදුමක් ලැබීම යනු සත්‍යකි.  නමුත්, මෙහි මුලිකම අවාසිය වුයේ රට ආහාර සහ භාණ්ඩ අතින් ස්වයන්පෝෂිත නොවීමත්, විදේශ විනිමය (ඇමරිකන් ඩොලර් වැනි) රට තුලට නොපැමිනිවීමත්ය.

1950 සිට 1970 අග භාගය  දක්වා (නිදහසින් පසු) සැම රජයක්ම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඇතිකිරීමට උත්සහ ගත්තේ නිෂ්පාදනමය සහ කර්මාන්ත කෙරෙහි නැඹුරුවූ  ආර්ථිකයකි.  එකල ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විදුලි/ඉලෙක්ට්‍රොනික්  භාණ්ඩ, මහන මැෂින්, විදුලි පංකා, ශීතකරණ,  රේසර් බ්ලේඩ්, බයිසිකල්, චොකලට් සහ උසස් ගනයේ රසවත් ටොෆි වර්ග, උසස් ගනයේ බටහිර ඖෂධ, ටයර්, අත් ට්‍රැක්ටර් පමණක් නොව මෝටර් රථ පවා නිෂ්පාදනය කරන තත්වයක් විය.  ශ්‍රී ලංකාව බොහෝ ආහාර වර්ගවලින් ස්වයන්පෝෂිත විය. එකළ අප ලොවට ණය ගැති නොවීමු.  අද, අප කන සහල් පවා බොහෝ දුරට එන්නේ පිටරටෙනි. අල්පෙනෙත්ත, ඉඳිකටුව, නූල් බෝලය  පවා පිටරටෙන් එයි.  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කියා නිෂ්පාදනය වන තරම් දෙයක් නැති තරම්ය. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව චීනය, තායිවානය, කොරියාව, ඉන්දියාව වැනි රටවල්වලට ස්වකිය භාණ්ඩ මෙරට තුල දමා යන තෝතැන්නක් (dumping ground) බවට පත් කර දී ඇත.

පසුගිය කාලයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුල පැන නැගුනේ බොහෝසෙයින්ම සන්නිවේදන/රූපලාවන්‍ය මද්‍යස්ථාන,  ලොතරැයි/අශ්ව රේස් සුදු,  හෙරොයින් කුඩු/එක්ස්ටසි, කුඩා කැසිනෝ, ආයුර්වේද යන නමින් පවත්වාගෙන යන සම්භාහන මද්යස්ඨාන සහ ත්‍රී වීලර් ටැක්සි ආදිය මගින් දිවූ සේවාමය ආර්ථිකයකි (ත්‍රී වීලර්ම අද රටේ මිලියනයකටත් වැඩිය  ඇත; එමගින් බොහෝ තරුණ කොටස්  ත්‍රී වීලර් තුල, අලස වී සිටිත්) (සංචාරක අංශය වැඩි දියුණු වීමෙන් බොහෝ විදේශ විනිමය රටට ලැබුණි. මෙය සුබදායක දෙයක් විය).  මෙවැනි ආර්ථිකයකට අපනයන ඉල්ලුමක් නැත.  එවන් ආර්ථිකයකින් දේශීය බදු ආදායම් ලැබුනත්, විදේශ විනිමය රටට ගලා නොඑන හෙයින් රට ධනවත් කිරීමට එය එතරම් ඉවහල් නොවේ. රටේ වටිනාම සම්පතවන මිනිස් ශ්‍රමය හැකි තරම් පිටරට පැටවීමට 1976න් පසුව පාලකයෝ උත්සුක වුහ.  එමගින් රටේ රැකියා විරහිත ප්‍රශ්නය විසඳිය හැකියයි ඔවුහු විශ්වාස කළහ. අද වසරකට ලක්ෂ 3ක් ශ්‍රමිකයෝ රට හැර යත්. රටේ හොඳම මිනිස්  ශ්‍රමය (උගත්, තරුණ සහ බොහෝ විට ඉංග්‍රීසි කථා කරන), පිටරට පටවා (ඒ රටවල් ඉතා ධනවත් රටවල් බවට පත් කිරීමට),  අපේ පාලකයෝ කටයුතු කලේ, ශ්‍රමිකයන් එවන විදේශ මුදල් වලින් ඔවුනට ඉතා සුඛෝපභෝගී ජීවත ගත කල හැකි බව දත් නිසාය.  මැද පෙරදිග, ඔස්ත්‍රේලියාව,කොරියාව, කැනඩාව, ජපානය, ඉතාලිය,  එංගලන්තය, ඇමරිකාව ආදී රටවල් අපේ වටිනා මිනිස් ශ්‍රමයෙන් (තවත් අප වැනි 3වන ලෝකයේ රටවල මිනිස් ශ්‍රමයද ඇතුළුව) ඉතා ධනවත් වූ රටවල්ය.  රැකියා විරහිත භාවය තුරන් කිරීම පිණිස හැකි තරම් පාලක පක්ෂවලට හිතවත්වූ අයට (මැතිවරණවලදී උදවු කල අයට) රජයේ රැකියා ලබා දුනි.  මේවා සුදුසුකම් අනුව දුන් රැකියා නොවන නිසා බෙහවින් ආකාර්යක්ෂම සහ උදාසීන රාජ්‍ය සේවයක් බිහි විය. ආර්ථික සංවර්ධනයට මේවා මරු පහරවල් විය.

පසුගිය වසර 10 තුල රජයන් බොහෝ විදේශ ණයලබා ගෙන අප රට උග්‍ර ණය භරිත රටක් බවට පත් කළේය. ලබා ගත් ණය නිදහස් කිරීම නිසා ආර්ථික වර්ධනය 6 %ක් පමණ (GDP)  පමණ රඳවා ගත හැකි වුවත් ණය වලින් කොටසක්  වැය වුයේ ඒ මුදල් ගසා කෑම සහ අපතේ යන වැඩ සඳහාය. අද අපේ විදේශ ණය භරිතභාවය ඩොලර් බිලියන 25 ඉක්මවා ඇතයි  පැවසේ.  මිට අමතරව දේශීය බැංකු සහ රාජ්‍ය ආයාතනවලටද (EPF/ETF වැනි), පුද්ගලික සමාගම්වලටද ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය අධිකව ණය බරවී සිටීයි.  මෙය ශ්‍රී ලංකාව මෙන් කුඩා ආර්ථිකයක් ඇති රටකට ඉසිලිය නොහැකි තත්වයකි.

ලබා ගත් ණය මඟින් නියම ආර්ථික සංවර්ධනයක් සිදු වූවා නම් උද්ධමනය (inflation) අඩු විය යුතුය.  නමුත් ඇත්තටම සිදු වුයේ උද්ධමනය වැඩි වීමකි. අද ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ උද්ධමන අගය 10% කි.  දියුණු රටවල මේ අගය 2% හෝ 3% පමණ වේ.

නිදහස ලබන විටදී (1948)  අප ආසියාවේ දෙවන  හොඳම ආර්ථිකය තිබු රට විය (ජපානයට පසුව).  අද බොහෝ රටවල් අප පසු කර,  බොහෝ දුර ගොසිනි. කොරියාව, සිංගප්පුරුව, මලයාසියාව, තායිලන්තය, පිලිපීනය අපව පසු කර ගොස් ඇති  අප ජීවත්වන කලාපයේ ඇති සමහර රටවල්ය. අප තවමත් උග්‍ර 3වෙනි ලෝකයේ රටක් ලෙස ජීවත් වෙමු.

මෑතක සිට අංග සම්පුර්ණවූ ආර්ථික සහයෝගිතා ගිව්සුමකට (CEPA – Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) එළභෙන මෙන් ඉන්දියාව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට උදක්ම ඇරයුම් කර සිටීයි.  මෙවැනි ගිව්සුමකින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට සමස්ථ ඉන්දියාවටම විශේෂ සහනදායි ක්‍රම වේදයක් තුලින්  භාණ්ඩ අලෙවි කිරීමේ හැකියාව ලැබෙනු ඇත.  මෙය ඉතා සතුදායක පුවතකි. නමුත් ඉන්දියාවටද එවැනි මාර්ගයක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුල සැලසීමෙන්, ඉන්දියාවේ ලාභවූ බඩු භාණ්ඩ සීමාවක් නොමැතිව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ඒමට සැලස්වීමෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ අද පවත්නා කුඩා අපනයන ආරිථිකය සහ දේශීය ආර්ථීකය තවත් කඩා වැටීමකට ලක්වේදැයි සාධාරණ බියක් රට තුල පවතී.

CEPA ඇතුව හෝ නැතුව, වේගයෙන් සංවර්ධනය වන ඉන්දියාවට භාණ්ඩ සහ සේවා සැපයීමෙන් (හොංකොං  චීනයට සැපයුවා මෙන්) අපට ‘ඉන්දියාවේ හොංකොං’ බවට පත්විය හැක. නමුත් ඉන්දියාවට අප අපනයනය කරන්නේ මොනවාද?  ඔවුන්ට යැවීමට තරම් භාණ්ඩ සහ සේවා අපට තිබේද?

2011/12 කාලය තුල ඉන්දියාව ඩොලර් බිලියන 4.3 වටිනා භාණ්ඩ අප රටට අපනයනයකළ අතර එම කාලය තුල අප ඉන්දියාවට අපනයනය කලේ ඩොලර් මිලියන 721ක් පමණක් වටිනාවූ භාන්ඩයි.  නුදුරු අනාගතයේදී දෙරට අතර පවතින වෙළදාම ඩොලර් බිලියන දහය දක්වා ලඟා වෙනු ඇත. නමුත් අවාසනාවකට මින් බහුතර වෙළඳාම අත්වනුයේ ඉන්දියාවටයි – ඒ ඔවුන් අපට එවන මහා පරිමානයේ අපනයන භාණ්ඩ නිසායි.

අද පවත්නා තත්වය යටතේ අපට ඉන්දියාවට යැවිය හැකි භාණ්ඩ අතර ධීවර සම්පත්, කෘෂි නිෂ්පාදන, සහ ප්‍රති අපනයන භාණ්ඩ  (value added items imported from other countries) සඳහන් කළ හැකයි.  මේ භාණ්ඩ ඛාන්ඩ වැඩි කරගත හැක්කේ කෙසේදැයි මේ ලිපියේ අගට සලකා බැලේ.

අප CEPA අත්සන් නොකළ යුතුයයි මේ ලිපිකරු කිසිසේත් නොකියයි.  ඔහු කියනුයේ CEPA අත්සන් කිරීමට නම් අපට මීට වඩා වෙළඳ වාසි ලබා දිය යුතු යයි කියායි. කිසිදු  ඉන්දීය  තීරු බදු  (tariff) නොමැතිව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් ඉන්දියාවට ඕනෑම භාණ්ඩයක් අපනයනය කිරීමට හැකි වන්නේ නම් (ප්‍රති අපනයන භාණ්ඩ ද ඇතුළුව) එය මහඟු ජයග්‍රහණයකි. එවන් පසුබිමක CEPAඅත්සන් කලාට කමක් නැත. මන්ද,  බිලියන 1.2 ජනතාවකට (ලෝක ජනගහනයෙන් 1/6 ට කිට්ටු) භාණ්ඩ සහ සේවා  සපයන කේන්ද්‍රය බවට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව  පත්වුවහොත්,  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට එයින් කිසිවිටකත් අවාසියක් විය නොහැක. එය ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ‘ඉන්දියාවේ හොංකොං’ බවට පත් වීමට උදව් වීමකි.   ශ්‍රී ලංකාව මේ මඟින් පහසුවෙන් ධනවත් රටක් බවට පත් කර ගත හැක.

මෝඩි මහතා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට උසස් ආර්ථික අවස්ථා ලබා දීමට ඉතා කැමැත්තෙන් සිටී.  එතුමාගේ අව්‍යාජ මිත්‍රත්වය අප රටට මහත්වූ භාග්‍යයකි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ‘ඉන්දියාවේ හොංකොං’ බවට පත්වීමේ අවස්ථාව අප අහිමි කරගතහොත් එය අපට සදහටම අහිමි වීමක් විය හැක.  මන්ද, වෙනත් රටක්, උදාහරණ වශයෙන්, නේපාලය හෝ බංග්ලාදේශය ‘ඉන්දියාවේ හොංකොං  විය ’ හැකි බැවිනි.

CEPA හෝ එවැනි ගිවුසුමක් අත්සන් කිරීමට ප්‍රථම (කලින් කි පරිදි තවම එයට අවසන් අවස්ථාව මේ නොවේ) ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තමන්ට ඉතා වාසි සහගත කොන්දේසි එම ගිවුසුමට අඩංගු කර ගත යුතුය. මේ සඳහා ජාත්‍යන්තර නීති, ජාත්‍යන්තර වෙළඳ නීති පිළිබඳව කෘතහස්ත දැනුම ඇති නීතිඤයින්න්  උපදෙස් ලබා ගැනීම අනිවාර්යවේ.  මීට කලින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව එලෑභී ඇති ජාත්‍යන්තර ගිව්සුම් මඟින් පුදුමාකාර පාඩු අප රට ලබා තිබේ (එයා ලංකා, හෙජින්, ෂෙල්, කෑන්ස්, IOC, ක්‍රිෂ් වැනි).  උදාහරණයක් ලෙස ගතහොත්  එයා ලංකා ගිවුසුම ශ්‍රී  ලංකාවට කොයි තරම් අවාසිසහගත ලෙස එලභුනාද යත් කටුනායක ත්‍රස්ත බෝම්බ ප්‍රහාරයෙන් විනාශවූ  එයා ලංකා සතුව තිබු,  ගුවන් යානා සියල්ලටම ලැබුණු ඩොලර් බිලියන ගණනක්වූ රක්ෂණ වන්දි මුදල් ගියේ එයා ලංකා සමාගමට නොව එවකට එයා ලංකා පාලනය කල  එමිරේට්ස් සමාගමටයි.  අද එයා ලංකාවට අයිති එකදු ගුවන් යානයක්වත් අයිති නොමැත. හෙජින් ගිව්සුම නිසා ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ලැබූ පාඩුව ඩොලර් බිලියන 20ට ආසන්නයයි පැවසේ. මේ නඩු විභාගය තවම මුළු මනින්ම අවසන්ව  නැත. උසස් තත්ත්වයේ නීති උපදෙස් නොලබා, අධි වටිනාකමින් යුත් ජාත්‍යන්තර ගිව්සුම් අත්සන් කිරීමට යාමේ  ආදිනවයි මේ.  ශ්‍රී  ලංකා රජය මෙවැනි නීතී උපදෙස් ලබා ගැනීමට නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවෙන් පමණක් යොමුවීම නැණවත් කටයුත්තක් නොවේ.

CEPA අත්සන් කිරීමට ප්‍රථම අප රටේ දේශීය නිෂ්පාදන අරක්ෂා කර ගැනීමට බලපාන වගන්ති එහි අඩංගු කර ගත යුතුය.  CEPA  අත්සන් කිරීමට නම් ඉන්දියාව අපේ මුහුදේ කරන නීති විරෝධී මත්ස්‍ය ඇල්ලීම  (මේ මගින් වසරකට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට වන පාඩුව ඩොලර් බිලියනයකට වැඩිය) සම්පුර්ණයෙන්ම තහනම් කරන වගන්ති CEPAහි අඩංගු කර ගත යුතුය.  මේවා අමාරු කාර්යන් වුවත් දක්ෂ නීතිඤයන්ට/ සන්නිවේදකයන්ට අපහසු කාර්යයන් නොවේ.

දැනට, අප දෙරට අතර 1998 දී අත්සන් කල නිදහස් වෙළඳ ගිවුසුමේ (FTA- Free Trade Agreement) හි ඇති අඩුපාඩු,  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට අහිතකරවු වගන්ති  (බොහෝ වේ) CEPA හි අඩංගු නොවිමට අපගේ පාර්ශවය පැත්තෙන් අප වග බලා ගත යුතුවේ.

අද අප අපේ අසල්වැසි ඉන්දියාව සමග අප ඉතා හොඳ සමීප සම්බන්ධතා පවත්වමු.  2013 වසරේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ CHOGM සමුළුව වර්ජනය කලේ ඉන්දියාවයි. ඊට පෙර වසරේ ඉන්දියාව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට විරුද්ධව ජෙනිවාහිදී සම්බාධන යෝජනාවක් ගෙන ආවේය. එවන් තත්වයක් යටතේ අප දෙරට නැවත මෙවන් දැඩි මිතු දමක් ඇතිකරගැනීම ගැන ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ඇල්ම කරන්නෝ සතුටු විය යුතුයි.  ඉන්දීය අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය තුමෙක් මේ වසරේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණියේ (මෝඩි මහතා) වසර 28ට පසුවයි. අසල්වාසීන් හැටියට සතුරන් ලෙස වාසය කිරීමට දිගටම සිදු වුවහොත් එහි පාඩුව එම රටවල් දෙකටමය, විශේෂයෙන්ම  වැඩි අවාසිය කුඩා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවටය.  සතුරන් ලෙස නොවමිතුරන් ලෙසින් අසල්වාසීන්ට  විසිය හැකි නම් එය කෙතරම් අගේද (win/win situation)?

අද ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට වැඩියෙන්ම සංචාරකයන් පැමිණෙන්නේ ඉන්දියාවෙනි. කලින් කීවාක් මෙන් මෝඩි මහතා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට විශේස ඇල්මක් දක්වයි. එතුමා බෞධාගමට ඉමහත් ලෙස ගරු කරයි.  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංවර්ධන කටයුතු වෙනුවෙන් ඉන්දියාව බෙහෙවින් ආධාර කිරීමට ඉදිරිපත් වී සිටීම ඉතා හොඳ නිමිත්තකි.  දෙරට අතර සමබන්ධතා වර්ධනය කර ගන්නා අතරම අප රටට අහිතකර යමක් සිදු නොවීම සඳහා  අප සැමවිටම විමසිල්ලෙන් සිටිය  යුතුයි.  නමුත්, වරදක් නොකළ ඉන්දීය නව රජයට බැනීමෙන් වැලකි සිටිම අප තුල තිබිය යුතු වූ හොඳ ගතියකි.

තමන්ටම වූ ස්ථිරසාර දේශපාලන මතයක් තිබීම හොඳය.  නමුත්  උගත් දේශප්‍රේමීන්ගේ මුලිකම වගකීමවිය යුත්තේ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ/චරිත දිවිහිමියෙන් ආරක්ෂාකිරීමට වඩා තම මව් බිම වූ  ශ්‍රී ලංකා මෑණියන්ට යහපතක් වන දේ සඳහා සැමවිටම ඇප කැපවී වැඩකිරීමයි/කථා කිරීමයි/ලිවීමයි.  මෙය – ශ්‍රී ලංකා මාතාවට ඇළුම් කිරීම,  ඔවුන් සතු විය යුතු මුලිකම ගුණාංගය විය යුතුයි (හුදු දේශපාලන මතවාදයට වඩා).

ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදිව, මහජන වැඩි  චන්දයෙන් රජයක් බිහිවූ පසු ඒ රජයේ ක්‍රියා විවේචනය කල යුත්තේ සාධාරණ පදනමක සිටයි.  රට ඉදිරියට ගෙන ගොස් රටට හානියක් නොමැති, පොදු මහජනතාවට සේවා සපයන, විශේෂයෙන්ම  රටේ දුප්පත්කම තුරන් කරන (රටේ ස්වය්රිභාවය ආරක්ෂා කරන ගමන්) ප්‍රතිපත්ති සඳහා රජයට උපදෙස් දීම උගත් දේශප්‍රේමීන්ගේ මුලිකම වගකීමයි.  මැතිවරණයෙන් පරාජය වී ජනතාව ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කළ වුනට චිට් මන්ත්‍රී පදවි ලබාදී ඇමති පදවි වලින් පිදීම, ‘ජම්බෝ කැබිනට්’ එකක් බිහි කිරීම, නුසුදුසු ලෙස මුළු රටම දන්නා අයට ඇමති ධුර පිරිනැමිම මොනයම් රජයක් සිදු කලත් තරයේ හෙලා දැකිය යුතු ක්‍රියාවන් වේ. මේවා යහ පාලනය නොව අයහ පාලනයේ සාධක වෙත්.

වංචා, දුෂණ, අල්ලස් මොන රජයක් මඟින් සිදු කලත් එවැනි දේ පෙන්නා දීම, ඒ ගැන ලිවීම සහ විවේචනය කිරීම  උගත් දේශප්‍රේමීන්ගේ වගකීම විය යුතූයි.  එවන් දේශප්‍රේමීන්ව සෙසු  දේශප්‍රේමීන් විසින් (බොහෝවිට , දේශපාලන පක්ෂ/චරිත දිවිහිමියෙන් ආරක්ෂාකිරීමට කැපවී  වැඩ කරන දේශප්‍රේමින්) විවේචනය/චරිත ඝාතනයට ලක් කරන්නේ නම් එය සැබවින්ම කනගාටුවට කරුණකි. එයින් රටට, ජාතියට සෙතක් නොවේ. 1931දී අනගාරික ධර්මපාල තුමා රට අත් හැර යාමට එක් හේතුවක් වුයේ ඇතැම් උගත්  සිංහලයන් එතුමාව ඉතා දැඩිවූ, අසාධාරණ චරිත ඝාතනයට ලක් කීරීමයි. සෝම හෑමුදුරුවන් ජීවත්ව සිටියදී ලැබුනේද බොහෝ නින්දා අපහාසය.  මරණයට පත්වූ කාලයේ උන්වහන්සේව බොහෝ රූපවාහිණි නාලිකා මඟින් තහනම් කර තිබුණි.

ඉන්දියාවේ අද කෝටි 250ක්වු මද්‍යම පන්තික ප්‍රජාවක් වෙත්.  2025 වනවිට මේ ගණන කොටි 550 දක්වා ඉහල යනු ඇත. මෙවැනි ඉන්දියාවකින් (අපට ඉතාම සමීප රට) CEPA ඇතුව හෝ නැතුව,  අපට ලබා හැකි ආර්ථිකව වාසි කියා නිම කල නොහැක.  ශ්‍රී ලංකාව  ‘ඉන්දියාවේ හොංකොං’ බවට පත්වුවහොත් අප ඉතා දියුණු ධනවත්  රටක් බවට පත්වීම කිසිවෙකුට නතර කල නොහැකිය.  මේ සඳහා අප ඉන්දියාවේ වහලෙක් වීමට හෝ එහි ප්‍රාන්ත රාජ්‍යක් බවට පත් වීමට අවශ්‍ය නොවේ.  මේ යෝජනා කරන්නේ තනිකරම ආර්ථික සම්බන්ධතාවයක්  (economic arrangement) පමණි.  ඉන්දියාව හැරුණු විට අපට කරපිටින් ගොස් ධනවත් විය හැකි රටක් අප ජීවත්වන කලාපයේ නැත.

කලින් කීවාක් මෙන් අපට ඇති විශාලතම ප්‍රශ්නය වනුයේ ඉන්දියාවට සැපයීමට තරම් අපනයන භාණ්ඩ අප දැනට  නිෂ්පාදනය  නොකිරීමයි.  කලින් සඳහන් කලාක් මෙන්, පසු ගිය වසරවල නිෂ්පාදනමය සහ කර්මාන්ත කෙරෙහි නැඹුරුවූ  ආර්ථිකයක් (GDP growth economy) වෙනුවට සේවා සලසන ආර්ථිකයක් අප රටේ නිර්මාණය කිරීමේ පළ විපාකයිමේ.  කෙසේ වෙතත් කෘෂි නිෂ්පාදන, මල්, එළවළු, පලතුරු වර්ග, කළා ශිල්ප භාණ්ඩ, සුළු අපනයන නිෂ්පාදන, විශේෂයෙන්ම කුරුඳු, ගම්මිරිස් (spices) ආදිය අපට යම් ප්‍රමාණයෙන් ඉන්දියාවට  දැනටමත් යැවිය හැකියි.  ඉන්දියාව විශාල වශයෙන් තේ නිෂ්පාදනය කරන රටක් වුවත් එම රටෙහි අද විශාල අභ්‍යන්තර පාරිභෝගික තේ හිඟයක් පවතී. මේ අනුව ලොව විශිෂ්ටතම තේ නිපදවන රට වන  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ඉන්දියාවට තේ අපනයනය කල හැකි වනු ඇත (හොඳින්, ඒ පිලිබඳව අලෙවි පිලිබඳවූ  කාර්යයන් සිදු කළහොත්).  මේ වනතුරු අප ඉන්දියාවට තේ යවා නොමැත.

ඉන්දියාව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුල ඉන්දීය කර්මාන්ත ක්ෂේශ්ත්‍රයට අවශ්‍ය මුල් ද්‍රව්‍ය නිෂ්පාදනය කිරීමේ කම්හල් පිහිටුවීමට ආධාර කල යුතුයයි ශ්‍රී ලංකාව  ඉන්දියාවට පැවසිය යුතුයි (Sri Lanka to become a logistic hub to various production chains in India). මෙය CEPA ගිවුසුමේ අඩංගු කල යුතුයි.

ඔවුන් ඒ ඉල්ලීම භාර ගන්නවා ඇත. දැනටමත් ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ සහ උතුරේ එවැනි මද්‍යස්ථාන පිහිටවීමට  ඉන්දියාව  පොරොන්දු වී සිටි.  මේ වෙනුවෙන් ඉන්දීයරජයට අමතරව ඉන්දීය  පුද්ගලික අංශය ඩොලර් බිලියන 5ක් හෝ ඊටත් වඩා ආයෝජනය කිරීමට පොරොන්දු වී තිබේ. හම්බන්තොට වරාය ආශ්‍රිතවද එවැනි නව ඉන්දීය කර්මාන්ත පුරයක්  (Indian economic zone) බිහි කල යුතු යයි අප ඔවුනට කිව යුතුය.

මෙවැනි කර්මාන්ත පුර වලින්  ඉන්දීයාවේ පිහිටි මව් කර්මාන්ත ශාලා වලට අවශ්‍ය කොටස් (රථවාහන, පරිගණක, බෙහෙත් ද්‍රව්‍ය, ආහර වර්ග උදාහරණ කිහිපයක් පමණි ) නිපදවිය හැකිවේ. මේවායින් ලංකාවට අධික විදේශ විනිමය ගලා එනවාක් පමණක් නොව විශාල පරිමානයේ රැකියා අවස්ථා ඉපදෙනවා ඇත. ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් රැකියා සඳහා විදේශ ගතවීම නතරවීමෙන් පවුල් වල ඇතිවන පුද්ගලික/සමාජමය ගැටළු/ ප්‍රශ්ණ අඩු වෙනවා ඇත.  ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ‘ඉන්දියාවේ හොංකොං’ වීය යුතුයයි කිවේ මේ කරුණුද සලකා බලායි.  මෙය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ස්වය්රිභාවයට හෝ ආත්ම අභිමානය හින වීමේ ප්‍රශ්නයක් නොවේ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දුම්රිය සංවර්ධනය, විශාල පරිමානයේ නිවාස ව්‍යාපෘති (උතුරේ නිවාස 50,000ක්), සාම්පුර් ගල් අඟුරු බලාගාරය වෙනුවෙන් විශාල මුදල් පරිත්‍යාග කිරීමට ඉන්දියාව ඉදිරිපත්ව සිටියි.  ඉන්දීයාව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වෙනුවෙන් ඩොලර් බිලියනයකට අධික මහා බැංකු ණය අයිරා (line of credit), විනිමය හුවමාරුතා ගිවුසුමක්  (currency swap agreement) දැනටමත් ක්‍රියාත්මක වේ. 

මේ  ආධාර පිළිබඳව අප ඉන්දියාවට ස්තුති කළ යුතුයි (මේවා බොහොමයක් ණය නොව ඍජු ආධාරයි).

කෙසේ වෙතත්, ඉන්දියාව විසින් ආසියානු සංවර්ධන බැංකුවේ  ආධාර යටතේ, ඔවුන්ගේ වියදමින් ඉදිකිරීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වන, පෝක් සමුද්‍ර සන්ධිය ඔස්සේ ඉන්දියාවේ ධනුෂ්කොඩි සිට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ තලේමන්නාරම දක්වා ඉදි කිරීමට අදහස් කරන අධිවේගය සහ දුම්රිය මාර්ග යෝජනාවට අප දැන්මම අවසාන කැමැත්ත ප්‍රකාශ කල යුතු නොවේ. විශේෂයෙන්ම තමිල්නාඩුව නිසා තිබෙන ප්‍රශ්න/ හිරිහැර නිසා ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයෝ මේ නව මාර්ගය (පාලම)  ගැන විචික්සාවෙන් පසු වෙත්. ඔවුහු මේ ගැන බොහෝ සොයා බලමින් සිටිත්.

මෙවැනි පාලමක් නිසා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ඉමහත් ආර්ථික වාසි රැසක් ලැබෙන බව නම් නොරහසකි.  ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ‘ඉන්දියාවේ හොං කොං’ බවට පත්වීම  මේ නිසා වේගවත් වනු ඇත. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ඉන්දියාවේ සිට පැමිණෙන බටහිර සංචාරකයන් ගණනම (යුරෝපා, ඇමෙරිකා ආදී) මෙවැනි  පාලමක් නිසා දහස් ගණනින් ඉහල යනු ඇත.  ප්‍රවාහන ගාස්තු අඩු වීමෙන් ඉන්දියාවෙන් එන භාණ්ඩ මිල අඩු වෙනු ඇත.  අප ඉන්දියාවට යවන භාණ්ඩ මිලද අඩු වනු ඇත. බොහෝ පිරිසකට බුද්ධගයා වන්දනාව ඉතා  අඩු මිලකට කර ගැනීමට හැකිවනු ඇත. මෙවන් පාලමක් නිසා ලැබෙන  වෙනත් ආර්ථික සහ සමාජීය  වාසි බොහෝය.

නමුත්, මෙවැනි ව්‍යාපෘතියකට කැමැත්ත දීමට ප්‍රථමව එවන්නක් මඟින්  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ස්වයිරිභාවයට සහ භෞමික අඛන්ඩතාවයට බාධාවක් නොවන බවට ස්ථිරවම ශ්‍රී ලංකා වාසීන්ට එත්තුගැන්වීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය සමත් විය යුතුය.

අද දිනයේ ජනතාව තුල මෙවැනි ව්‍යාපෘතියකට  ඇත්තේ ඉමහත්  වූබියක් බව මෙහිලා කිව යුතුය.  මේ පාලම ඔස්සේ තමිල්නාඩුවේ සිට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ත්‍රස්තවාදයක් නැවත ඇති කිරීමට පාර කැපිය හැකිද (ආයුධ, උපකරණ, පිරිස්); තමිල්නාඩු ආක්‍රමණයක් මේ මඟින්  අපේ උතුරට -උතුරේ ඊළාම්වාදීන්  සමඟ එක්ව කල හැකි වේද, එවැනි තත්ත්ව මර්දනය කිරීමට අපේ ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදාව සහ බුද්ධි අංශ ශක්තිමත්ද/නැද්ද; මේ කරුණු පිළිබඳව මනා කථිකාවක්  රට තුළ ඇතිවීම අතයාවශ්‍යය (තමිල්නාඩුව කොතරම් තර්ජන ගර්ජන කලත් අපට අයත් කච්චතිව් දුපතට ආක්‍රමණයක් කිරීමට ඔවුනට නොහැකි වූ බවද අප අවධාරණය කරගත යුතුය.  ඒ, කච්චතිව්හි රඳවා සිටින අපේ එඩිතර නාවික භටයන් නිසාය, සහ ඉන්දීය මධ්‍යම රජයෙන් ඔවුනට ධෛයිරයක් ලබා නොදුන් නිසාය ).

මෙම  සිංහල පරිවර්තනය මුල් ඉංගිරිසි ලිපියේ කතුවරයා විසින්ම වේ

 Dr. Sudath Gunasekara Mahanuwara 11.9.2015.

Continued Part 11

12.9.2015 Lannkaweb

In my previous article I have already discussed the blunders done by Mahinda Rajapaksa and his cohort before and even after the Presidential election. The purpose of this essay is to ask these people as to why they are sleeping while the present regime is violating the Constitution of the Republic with impunity. Now that after the 19^th A Presidents immunity is no more, I am surprised as to why they don’t take action against all those who have breached the Constitution with stark nude for political expediency and made democracy a big mockery in this country.

All that is now done and dusted.  As the famous Sinhala adage goes ‘giya nuwana alin lavawath addanta be’. Therefore it is their duty by the 4.7 million patriotic people who voted them, and now disfranchised by President Sirisena by appointing Sambandan as Opposition Leader, to tender an open apology to them and take remedial measures at least now to relieve their frustration and pain of mind, lest they revolt against you stupid people. As any prudent man or even an idiot with a wee bit of mind would see it the best way now open for you or someone who wishes to do so is, to invoke the courts against all those culprits who are responsible for the following blunders. That is the only way available to bring justice and fair play by the 4.7 m people of this country who voted you with such high hopes to get this Pinbima liberated from the anti-Sri Lankan and anti-Sinhala clutches of western imperial remnants and their domestic agents

The following 15 instances, in chronological order, could be cited as cases of violating the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka since 8^th Jan 2015. They need to be rectified firstly to seek justice by the aggrieved parties. Secondly, to prevent violators going scotch free with impunity. Thirdly, to arrest these type of illegal decisions being taken in future. Fourthly, to prevent them being ugly and irreversible precedents and finally, to prevent this country being reduced to a banana republic of ignoble and uncivilized idiots who doesn’t know the ABCD of the rule of Law.

1 Re appointing of Shirani Bandaranayaka as CJ

2 Removal of the CJ Mohan Pieris just with a letter from the President’s Office

3 Appointing a New Prime Minister without a vacancy in the post of PM on Janu 8^th 2015

4 Appointing Ranil Wickramasinha as the PM on 8^th Jan through the back door

5 Appointing Nimal Siripala de Silva as Leader of the Opposition violating the procedure

6 Allowing National Anthem to be sung in Tamil

7 Appointing 9 men rejected by the people at elections to Parliament via national list

8 Accepting TNA as the Opposition in Parliament when there is a bigger group other than the TNA

9 Accepting TNA as the Opposition when they have openly violated the 6^th A and asking for Federalism, agitating for a separate State, remerging North and East and calling for Self determination.

10 Accepting Sambandan an avowed Separatist, EELAMIST and a Federalist and an ardent Tamil communalist who does not command the majority in Parliament as the Leader of the Opposition

11 Appointing Sambandan a Tamil, as the Leader of the Opposition by passing the legitimate and democratic procedure and violating the Constitution without realizing the damage done by Amirtalingama as the Leader of Opposition last time (1977-)

12 Violating the Election Law by My3

1. Removing the Secretary Generals of SLFP and UPFA just before the election
2. Writing a letter to MR  at the 11^th hour that had a tremendous negative impact on the electorate by confusing public opinion

13 Appointing two new Sec General to UPFA and SLFP.

14 For betraying the SLFP and UPFA by publicly declaring that he will never appoint MR as PM (His own Party’s nominee) even if he wins the elections.

15 Appointing Sambandan and thereby disenfranchising 4.7 m voters who voted against the Common candidate.

MR should Leave the Chandrika-Maitri trap at least now

As a patriot who love my country and the Sinahala Nation I appeal to MR to leave this Chandrika/My3/ vicious political circle immediately at least now with all his followers elected (whatever left before more frogs could jump), with people like DEW, Vitarana, GLP, Dinesh, Weerawansa and Gammanpila before he is finally sent to the guillotine or to a sausages factory close by.

Had he listened to the advice to do so by my good friend Prof Nalin de Silva before elections the story of the present Parliament would have been entirely different. He dint listen to good counseling for which he is paying back now with compound interest. At least now he should try to be sensible to listen to good counseling because the nation needs a man or woman of his caliber either a man or an iron woman to rescue and protect this 2500 year old heritage and the victory of 2009, ere it is lost in the Indian Ocean forever.  Because reconciliation with this party will never work. I would like to remind him the story of the fox that followed a goat for days hoping that something will fall at any time but never happened. Finally you know what happened. Again I would like to remind you the advice given by Nalin not to trust My3. He will never change. He has proved by now beyond all reasonable doubt that he is more a Vaireepaala than a Maitreepala. MR and all his followers should have understood this long time ago, if they had closely followed what My3 had been saying ever since he won the elections. Just think of what happened to Ven Sobita Thera the ‘Nandimitra’ of Jan 8^th battle who strived so hard to bring the common man to power.

Dear MR you must at least now realize that no one in this world knows everything, except Lord Buddha and no Leader in world history had won a battle or a war without being advised by an eminent adviser. Those who know history will tell you that Kurushestra war would never have been won by Arjuna if not for Krishna; Vedeha would never have won over Miyumlunuwara if not for Mahushada. Chandragupta would never have defeated Dhana Nanda and installed Chandragupta Dynasty, the forerunner of the Mauriya Empire if not for Kautilya. This is why all Kings of yore always had a set of eminent Purohitas lead by an Agrapurohita, not to be confused with the present day Presidential advisors.

Episode  11

Main Actor Maitripala Sirisena the President.

Mr. President Your visiting Sampoor, releasing some lands to Tamils and even closing down Omanthe check point is not bad. But at the same time why don’t you resettle the Sinhalese and Muslims who were chase out from their villages in the North, NW and East with the same enthusiasm. Surely they too would have voted you had they been alive in those areas.  If you do it now definitely they will vote you in 2020.

Thanks to you and having crowned by default as the Leader of Opposition Sambandan and his communal gang will definitely work forward relentlessly day and night now, to get the government to commit to grant their demands in their election manifesto for making you the Presidident.

විරුද්ධ පක්‍ෂයේ නායකකමට පත්කර තිබෙන පක්‍ෂයේ චන්ද ප්‍රකාශනයේ තියෙන කරුණු 4  කුමක්ද?

(1) දෙමළ ජනතාවට ස්වයංපාලන අයිතිය ඇත  Right of self determination for Tamils

(2) උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර පලාත් දෙක එක් කල යුතුය North and Eastern Provinces should be merged

(3) ඒකීය වෙනුවට පෙඩරල් ක්‍රමයක් ඇතිකල යුතුය Federal system instead of unitary system

(4) යුද අපරාධ ගැන ජාත්‍යන්තර විමර්‍ශනයක් කල යුතුය.There should be an International inquiry on war crimes

That is the time where President is going to get bogged. If he doesn’t agree then Sambandan will go to India UK and USA and get them to give a direction to Ranil and President. They have only two options in this game. That is either agree or disagree’ If they disagree then they will have to face the consequences. I for one strongly believe both will agree and take the first option and continue to be the President and PM in the rest of the country until the Hill Country is also attached to the North-East EELAM as a consequence of the ongoing 10 year Tamil village development programme deployed by this government

Lankaweb Weekly Editorial
September 12th 2015

The dust has hardly settled but the The Tamil National Alliance (TNA)  once an open arm of the LTTE says” they will be sending a lawyers’ team to the forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva” at which the UN Human Rights High Commissioner’s report on war crimes allegedly committed in Sri Lanka is to be presented and acted upon.

Given the fact that the TNA now heads the official opposition in Parliament ( something of an irony as well as controversial at best from a Sinhala perspective) to resort to such actions comprising of opposition to Sri Lankan Government policy is not a part of their mandate and neither is it in keeping with the allegiance they took making hollow sounds to the effect that they will make every endeavour to support the policies of the present government, yet at the first available opportunity are preparing to oppose the Government at the forthcomimg UNHRC summit in Geneva.
So what does this indicate beyond being a bunch of hypocrites who have always been panderers to their secessionist policies and its supportives where their main objective if one reads between the lines seems to point to that repulsive subject of Eelam and as long as they are around are bound to persist in attempting to acheive it which the present Government needs to be wary of.

These are times when both the UN as well as the USA amongst others appear to be leaning in favour of the issue of alleged war crimes being an internal domestic matter requiring an internal investigation and no more and the TNA in choosing to meddle in related matters has indicated their objectives of contributing in a very negative manner towards related proceedings which is a blatant attempt to contradict Government policy whilst pretending to want to co-operate with the present Government.

Here it needs to be said  somewhat whistfully and with gratitude that the previous Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa neither tolerated nor gave any leeway to TNA demands based on the cognizance of their collusion with the LTTE and now that scenario seems to have changed with the new government showing  tolerance of the TNA which could prove disastrous and have dire ramifications for the majority Sinhala Nation in the long term as the TNA could easily misuse this to their advantage in their inimitable style of attempting at every given opportunity to throw a spanner in the works of a smooth functioning Government having gained access to the opposition core of Parliament whether deservedly or not.

It seems high handed on the part of the TNA  to contemplate sending a  team headed by Supreme Court Senior Counsel, M.A.Sumanthiran, who is also a fellow MP from Jaffna, to the UNHCR proceeding which does not augur well for the Government  of Sri Lanka and as a matter of fact could hamper proceedings in disfavour of Sri Lanka as old skeletons from old closets will once again undoubtedly surface unnecxessarily and where the onus of the issue of war crimes rests heavily on the LTTE rather than the GOSL and the armed forces who realistically protected civilians during the LTTE onslaught.

Thus in essence the hogwash  proclaimed by the TNA in this respect that.

A TNA delegation, as such, might be sent after reading the High Commissioner’s report and the Sri Lankan government’s response to it. The task of Sumanthiran and his team of lawyers will be to examine the High Commissioner’s report and the Lankan government’s reply, and chalk out a line on which the TNA leadership will base its final decision,”  is neither in keeping with the porotocols of the UNHCR nor is it acceptable as the TNA have too many conflicts of interest as well as their blatant bias which shows against a Government which could easily have denied them the status of the leading opposition party as there are indications that proper procedure may not have been followed and may have been a mere conciliatory gesture to appease sources that may have demanded such a concession which is now turning out to be a Governmental faux pas.

It also seems an obstreperous statement  that TNA’ chief, R.Sampanthan,has said that his party’s stand on the UNHRC’s proceedings on Lanka will be based on the Tamils’ sentiments as well as the views of the International Community. with no consideration for Sinhala sentiment or the mood of the country while ramblng on that

While we have to go by the peoples’ sentiments, we cannot alienate the international community,” he said. and to use the international community towards the objectives of the TNA being somewhat of a joke.where he may have been better served had he cited the Tamil diaspora instead!

While he says that “there is an overwhelming demand from the Tamils that the TNA should reject the US-Lankan agreement to substitute the international investigation with a domestic probe” there is an equally intense or greater demand from the majority Sinhalese both locally and globally and their support from other minorities that an internal investigation not involving foreign adjudicators is sufficient and endorsed by sources that really matter beyond the TNA voices in the wilderness!

The Tamil sensationalism as usual continues where a certain. M.K.Shivajilingam, a TNA member of the Northern Provincial Council is currently leading a march from Kilinochchi to Jaffna seeking an international probe and an international judicial mechanism for the trial of the accused.

But the TNA’s leadership feels diffident about alienating the US and the Western world which also dominate the UNHRC which is what will surely be the only outcome of all the turbulence  the TNA are attempting to create and perhaps will be their undoing.They need to proceed with extreme caution in their best interests as well as that of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka News

National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ) Leader the Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera today reiterated his call to reduce the number of ministers in the new government calling it a massive burden on the tax paying public.

Appointing a large number of ministers is a payoff” and a farce, a visibly agitated Sobitha Thera who was in the forefront in galvanizing the civil society movement to bring down the former regime and usher social and economic reforms said .
Severely criticizing the move to appoint a large number of ministers for the purpose of accommodating a ‘National Government‘, the Thera said that those who criticised former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for appointing an unreasonable number of ministers was treading the same path in a shameless manner.
The so-called National Government” the Thera said had mastered the art of appointing ministers to such an extent in a short span of time even going on to eclipse Rajapaksa.

If this continues soon we will see all 225 parliamentarians become ministers” he added.
In the face of a large number of ministers been appointed the Thera said the 19th Amendment too has become a farce as it had specified that the government should not exceed 30 when it came to appointing cabinet ministers.

The case put forward by the present rulers that the 19A has not specified the exact number of ministers in case of a ‘National Government’ does not hold water as they cannot use the term National Government” as it does not have the support of all the parties in parliament” he added.
Meanwhile, according to government sources two more cabinet ministers and 5 deputy and state ministers will be appointed to further bolster the existing numbers.

So far the government has appointed 46 cabinet ministers and 40 deputy and state ministers.

Shenali D Waduge

Benjamin Dix has resurfaced in the newest anonymously funded C4 video prepared especially for the UNHRC sessions against Sri Lanka.

Benjamin Dix is the chief protagonist in promoting presumed wrongs committed by the armed forces of Sri Lanka and emerges every time there an international event using documentaries and films meant to devalue Sri Lanka’s military achievement – we have become accustomed to these theatrics just as we are well aware that the lady in charge of human rights impatiently awaits an incident to take place to issue a deregulatory statement against Sri Lanka. Dix spoke in 2012 as guest speaker on photographic journalism” at the Institute of Art and Ideas http://iai.tv/video/the-killing-fields and based on this presentation some lies and truths are now highlighted.

I went to Sri Lanka in 2004 as a photojournalist and managed to get up to the North of Sri Lanka which is the liberation of tamil tiger elam area in the North where I started working for the United Nations”

Benjamin Dix started as a Photographer for Berg Publishers (2002 – worked for 10months). He came to Sri Lanka from India in 2004 after the tsunami and went to Sri Lanka’s north. He joined Norwegian People’s Aid and worked as Project Manager from March 2005 to December 2006. NPA is an organization that is accused of links to Sudanese rebels. He joined the UN in January 2007 until December 2008. He is putting 22months of his knowledge to accuse Sri Lanka of war crimes.

I was based there for 4 years as the liason officer between the Tamil tigers and the Sri Lankan Government”.

Can the Government and the UN please confirm this statement because he does not appear in any of the names associated with the negotiations held between LTTE and GOSL and moreover many questions surfaces with regard to this role.

It’s a divided country. In the South you have the Buddhist Sinhalese who are also the Government of the country”

Perhaps Benjamin Dix is not aware that there are more Tamils living outside the North and amongst the Sinhalese.

Benjamin Dix should also look at Sri Lanka’s Government MPs and count the number of Tamil and Muslim MPs before making inaccurate statements.

North and the East predominantly Tamil”

Benjamin Dix is also unaware that the 2 provinces are now demerged and the Tamils no longer are the majority in the East.

It was the most impoverished district of the country”

The areas held by the LTTE were out of bounds for the GOSL and its military.

Inspite of LTTE making USD300m profits annually not a cent went towards uplifting the areas that they held within their control though that money was utilized to purchase arms and build sophisticated bunkers for the LTTE and homes for the LTTE families – this bit of information Benjamin Dix appears to leave out – which is confirmed by his statement. Kilinochchi where the UN was based and where LTTE had its political and military headquarters and by far the most built up area”

It was quite a vulnerable population” – at least he has said one thing right, because that was what LTTE tapped into and why the people feared to do anything against the LTTE for fear of their lives and that of their children. LTTE imposed taxes on all goods passing LTTE controlled areas, individual households were taxed and penalties were imposed on those who evaded payment. There was an LTTE ‘customs” located at Omanthai from which LTTE collected Rs.4-5m. Benjamin Dix was well aware of this – is his concern then for the Tamil people who were being illegally taxed? Tamil farmers had to pay taxes according to produce, even Tamil Government employees had to pay tax of 8% of their income. Then the fishermen that Benjamin Dix spoke of whose livelihoods were affected because of the conflict, well they had to pay Rs.5 per kill for transporting fish from Mannar to Colombo! Ltte had a more sophisticated network to collect money from Tamil businessmen based in Colombo and from the Diaspora.

 no electricity in the area”  

How can a Government take care of its people when LTTE was running a defacto state disallowing Government or troops to enter these areas.

Moreover, the LTTE did not want the people to have electricity or television because it would have meant the LTTE’s atrocities would have been exposed. The LTTE chose to keep the people blind to their atrocities. Moreover the LTTE had blown up the power grids. These are now being restored and Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu areas that had 0% electricity in May 2009 now have 29% and 23% respectively.

people had no links to the country”

Sri Lanka remains the only government that never stopped sending food, medical requirements and essential goods to the areas of the northern and eastern peninsula through the past 3 decades. If people had no links it was because the LTTE attempted to keep the people by force. The Tamil politicians have been fooling the people all through. The very MPs representing the TNA once claimed that LTTE was the sole representative of the Tamil people. The people with time will realize how the politicians have fooled the people just like the LTTE.

Today, the people of the North can freely travel throughout the country – there are no bombs. The former LTTE cadres are now employed and doing all that they were denied because the LTTE turned them into killers.

Ideally, the plight of these children whose formative years were held to ransom and women who could have done far more out of their lives than be turned into killers is what people like Benjamin Dix and Channel 4 should have made a documentary on – not the lies that are being relayed just to suit the sponsors.

from the beginning of 2007 a new President came into power, Mahinda Rajapakse a Sinhalese nationalist in the South in Colombo and he came on this wave of crushing tamil tigers and crushing terrorism”

Firstly Mahinda Rajapakse did not come into power in 2007, it was on 17 Nov 2005.

Mahinda Rajapakse was elected President of Sri Lanka and not the South only.

Benjamin Dix may have been a good friend of a terrorist organization but a terrorist organization is one that kills innocent people and after 30 years suffering and over 5 peace offerings and negotiations all of which the LTTE turned down, the decision to military take on the LTTE was when it closed the sluice gates in Mavil Aru.

The LTTE closed the sluice gates in July 2006 and only after numerous appeals did the army receive orders to open the sluice gates in August 2006.

Closure of the sluice gates meant that 9510 Muslims, 8013 Sinhalese and 4439 Tamils living in 20 villages did not have water for livelihood and domestic use.

Before the military operation the LTTE dominated an area of 15,000sq.km in the north and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.

LTTE was controlling 6792sq km & manning 11km long FDL from Kilaly to Nagarkovil via Muhamallai in the North & a 140km long FDL from Mannar to Kokkuthuduwai via Omanthai in the South.

It was in March 2007 that the land operations commenced in the Northern province

on the border they started an almost badminton match….artillery going backwards and forwards”

Benjamin gives himself away in this statement because he confirms that the LTTE was firing artillery.

army would put wayside bombs called claymore”

Another fictitious statement, the majority of claymore mines used was by the LTTE

The army cleared all landmines with the assistance of foreign land mine teams.

they got international fame when they killed the Indian President in 1990”.

Benjamin Dix needs to update his general knowledge. Rajiv Gandhi at the time of his death was the FORMER Indian Prime Minister (not the President) and he was killed in 1991 May 21 to be precise not 1990.

the distinction between the Tamil tigers and the Tamil civilians were blurred and it was difficult for us as the UN and for the army to distinguish between who was a rebel and who was a civilian”

The LTTE when it suited them wore military attire and posed as civilians too

Many would recall how some LTTE mingled with civilians coming to Government controlled areas and blew themselves up killing not only military personnel attending Tamil civilians providing them food and medical aid but Tamil civilians too. (Vishwamadu – 9 Feb 2009)

the mother became a sympathizer for the rebels by having a daughter for a rebel”

This statement is poignant and leaving aside the laws of international laws related to non-international armed conflicts and role of civilians, the people must think how a military should act when the rebels not only pose as civilians when it suits them and use their knowledge of military codes against the soldiers. Whose conduct is morally wrong?

tiger girls in the bunkers doing their hair in the morning” – together with his description of Prabakaran showing his cadres Bollywood movies depicts that Benjamin Dix was privy to where LTTE had their bunkers, had close links with the LTTE female cadres which really goes to show where his allegiance was. LTTE was a terrorist organization. It is not the duty of humanitarian organizations to be taking sides but to take the side of the humanitarian disaster – in this light is it now the duty of these humanitarian workers to at least inform their head offices what the LTTE were doing in terms of how they recruited children and turned women to killers?

training behind the battlefields in the jungles….training with the artillery…this is tigers putting landmines into the ground on the front lines….and the claymores where someone will hide in the bush and pull ” – didn’t Dix say earlier that the army was responsible for putting landmines!!!

His description of how the LTTE suicide boats operate is also noteworthy and shows how well he knew of the details.

Kilinochchi the capital of the tigers. This is our UN office on the other side of the hedge… this was a civilian compound…but the tigers had moved the civilians out (unknown to us”UN”) and put one of their intelligence units in their office and that was bombed by the SL Govt”….”the tigers were using us (UN) as shields and under international law gives the Sri Lanka legitimate rights to bomb the area”

This is an absolute lie as crater investigation has revealed that it was the LTTE who was in Kilinochchi at the time that the UN was evacuating who had bombed not the UN compound but an area close to it.

Hypothetically if 10 to 15 air attacks per day as Dix mentions did not hit the UN office or injure any of its officers including Dix that shows that Sri Lanka’s air force was never involved in indiscriminate bombing

Dix also says that they knew that the LTTE would loot their generators and scaffolding, we know that 40 vehicles belonging to the Norwegian Peoples Aid fell” into LTTE hands as well similarly LTTE would have been privy to much more.

Casualties started to arise in early 2008….mass graves started to appear in the jungles”

Can Dix please tell us where these jungle mass graves are since he is so conversant in the jungle areas

Kilinochchi – came under GOSL control only 2^nd January 2009 (by that time Dix was no longer in Sri Lanka). Kilinochchi was under LTTE control when the UN was told to move to safer locations (not evacuate). Thus when the film of supposed children begging UN officers to remain was taken, LTTE was very much present. It is left for the reader to imagine how such a film would have taken place under LTTE presence!

 On 17^th August 2008 the tigers put out a letter to the population saying we now officially going out to war”

It was after the LTTE bombed close to the UN compound in Kilinochchi that the Government asked the UN and other international agencies to RELOCATE to safer areas and not EVACUATE

Govt stopped us from importing materials we needed to make the bunkers …like concrete..like railway tracks” – how on earth can bunkers be built with materials like railway tracks!!

Benjamin Dix’s implication that the Tamil civilians were not provided food and that supplies to hospitals were affected is negated by these facts.

* January 2008-May 2009 58,393 metric tons of essential items were sent to Killinochchi and Mullaithivu districts in addition to 33,383 metric tons supplied to co-operative outlets during 2008 up to January 2009

* Every month, five to 600,000 litres of fuel was sent to each district despite fear that it may fall into LTTE hands.

* 900 government health staff in Mullaithivu and Killinochchi alone

* More than 20 litres of water per person per day was delivered and used.

* 175,000 personnel of the SLA have undergone local & international training to effectively be mentally & physically prepared to handle hostage rescue operations alongside a military operation against terrorism.

Yet LTTE attacked even the UN convoy carrying food and thereafter the military continued the supplies by sea. The numbers were purposely inflated so that the LTTE could stock the foods and essential items sent. Therefore, Sri Lanka becomes the only nation that continued to supply food, medicine and essential items despite knowing it may fall into LTTE hands but upholding its duty towards the citizens.

one of the saddest pictures I took…became like many of the schools because of the children been taken by the tigers to fight”

If this is one of the saddest pictures why has Benjamin Dix not got Channel 4 to do a documentary of the LTTE’s forcible recruitment of children if as he says education is everything to these people” and knowing that the LTTE was turning them into killers and denying them education or the joy of being with their parents and siblings?

Children grabbed from their homes, while studying and forcibly turned into killers all of which Dix and his colleagues would have seen as Dix himself is aware of the training camps in the jungles and that schools are empty as was told by his friend Pillai. Young females turned into suicide bombers or ordered to carryout suicide missions did Dix and others not care about the futures of these women? So please, enough of these double standards and emotional pep talks.

UNICEF has recorded 5956 abductions carried out by the LTTE for forced recruitment between January 2002 and December 2006, with 1012 of these being children under the age of 15 years

education became impossible” – now that has changed not only are there over 900 schools now functioning there is a student population of 260,582 with 13.967 teachers. No one is kidnapping children to make into killers and suicide cadres now!

 my job was to work with the tigers and understand where they were going to do their fighting and where we could move 3-400,000 civilians”

– If the safety of the civilians was priority (not that of the LTTE) why did Benjamin Dix not secure their release from LTTE. The world cannot forget these civilians were being dragged from one end to the other not by the armed forces but the LTTE. Why did the LTTE not listen to these humanitarian agencies or did these agencies not insist on their release?

Yes the UN failed Sri Lanka’s 20m by siding with a terrorist movement and allowing Sri Lanka’s conflict to continue for 3 decades.

this lady’s husband had been taken by the tigers to fight… if your fighting age is anything between 17 and 40 you are going to the front line to fight” – so do we classify these civilian fighters as civilians” or civilian combatants”.

You’re our witness” – another poignant statement because Benjamin Dix alongside a host of other UN, INGO, NGO officers were working and living in Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern areas were witness to a host of crimes that the LTTE were committing all of which were not humanitarian” and we demand to know what they did about these crimes because they should be standing trial for diminishing their role as humanitarian workers taking the side of a militant group over the Tamil civilians who were used and abused by the LTTE.

people were barricading us in and begging us not to leave and through that 4 day period and tigers were moving their hard ware and artillery around….”

This clearly shows that the LTTE orchestrated these demonstrations because they were very much around the UN compound and amongst the UN officers

That there was no aerial bombing during the clipping of supposed demonstration outside the gates of the UN compound goes to show that on the 16^th September 2008 the UN and LTTE were very much in Kilinochchi

40,000” civililans were killed” – can Dix kindly prove this number…. It seems he is always talking in figures that somehow does not fit in with the actual total population of Tamils in Sri Lanka and that population is 2.4million of which 1million are overseas and if one spends a bit of time doing some calculations it is really impossible to believe the 400,000 or 500,000 figures that these former officers enjoy throwing into the air as if they personally counted them!

when you remove the witness, when you don’t allow journalism the depths of war … but Sri Lanka was so much worse than Libya… its really bad”.

We are happy to do without witnesses” who are one-sided and as for journalists we can say that numerous private tv stations including foreign were allowed to move with the troops to witness every stage of the conflict and none of them have said anything that remotely shows us that our soldiers were committing any crimes, Dix can summarize all his fictions in a book and sell like Weiss. The people of Sri Lanka will remain indebted to our forces no matter what

Dix is implying in the closing lines of his presentation that since the army did not know who was a civilian and who was LTTE, loosing thousands of civilians did not matter and that the army would not have to deal with them post-conflict – yet he forgets that 294,000 civilians were actually saved at the cost of 5000 military lives during the last stages of the war. If orders were clearly to fire at anything that moved as the US soldiers had been ordered to do in Vietnam then none in Sri Lanka’s military would have lost their lives nor would there be 11770 LTTE combatants. The GOSL has spent Rs.500million to rehabilitate and reintegrate to society – now save a handful they have either continued studied, engaged in a livelihood, taking to vocations like modeling and dressmaking, joined the security services, functioning as teachers and some are even playing for the national team in sports..…we are far more intelligent than to buy these lies.

A democratic Government has every right to protect the sovereignty of its country especially from terrorists and let’s not forget that having listened to the formulas provided by the West and its humanitarian agencies which could not stop the LTTE’s mission to kill civilians and only after 30 years of enduring terror that Sri Lanka’s military defeated the LTTE – that should be nothing Sri Lanka deserves to be punished for – especially when the very countries pushing for punishment have failed to deal with terrorism and their crimes against humanity goes unpunished or even investigated and the lady in charge of human rights cares not to waste a letterhead on them! We will not allow our soldiers to be humiliated with lies and fabrications because they remain the only military to have eliminated a terrorist movement while saving hundreds of thousands of civilians and thereafter designing an indigenous rehabilitation and reintegration program that no country can match. It may not be perfect but it still far superior to what other countries are unable to match because they are still battling terrorism.

Shenali D Waduge

By Shelton A. Gunaratne

(11 September 2015)

Professor of communication emeritus, MSUM, and lead author of Mindful Journalism and News Ethics in the Digital Era: A Buddhist Approach (New York: Routledge, 2015)

MOORHEAD, MN — Considering the rapid flux of political imponderables in Sri Lanka over the last few weeks, I shall strictly follow Buddha’s insight on the three marks of cyclic existence (samsara) — dukkha (unsatisfactoriness), anatta (no-selfness), and anicca (inconstancy) — implicit in his Four Noble Truths to assess the positives and negatives of the current situation to see whether the country is following the Buddhist Middle Path (magga).

The magga is consistent with the Confucian doctrine of the mean centered on cultivating human-heartedness judged in terms of a cluster of related moral terms including the Five Relationships, the principle of reciprocity (the Golden Rule), and various forms of virtue;

 and also with the Aristotelian golden mean or the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency.

The power of Buddhist phenomenology lies in a person’s ability to verify the Four Noble Truths through his/her own psychophysical mechanism of concentration (samadhi) — a subjective approach in contrast to objective methods required by science. People who understand the nitty-gritty of Buddhism use samadhi to ascertain the truth of the three marks of cyclic existence, which form the vicious circle of feeding on one another to make samsara the equivalent of dukkha.

The most recent political events in Sri Lanka reinforce my suspicion that most politicians do not understand the crux of Buddhism though they claim to preserve it from the threats of Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. They do not appear to practice the principles of Buddhism. They use Buddhism as a convenient platform because of their craving and attachment for political power and material benefits. Such politicians invariably violate even the basic five precepts — not harming others, not lying, not stealing, non-adultery, and non-intoxication — let alone the other principles of the Middle Path. These are ethical/moral principles that Buddhism shares with other major world religions.

Buddhists believe that all sentient beings are composites of the Five Aggregates — physical form (kaya), feelings (vedana), perception (sanna), dispositions (sankhara), and consciousness (vinnana). The dependent co-origination (paticca samuppada) paradigm explains the dynamics of how these interdependent and interconnected aggregates continuously interact with one another to condition the level of dukkha as reflected in one’s becoming (bhava), birth (jati), decay and death (jaramarana) during each rotation of his/her bhavacakra  (wheel of becoming).  

Thus Buddhist phenomenology has convincingly proved that cyclic existence and unsatisfactoriness are one and the same — a truth that science is incapable of proving or disproving through its empirical methods. Both Buddhism and Hinduism agree that one has to extricate oneself from samsara to free oneself from unsatisfactoriness by attaining nibbana (the state of non-existence or non-becoming for Buddhists) or moksha (the state of one’s self/soul wit0h the Brahman’s). Both religions trace unsatisfactoriness to craving, attachment and related factors associated with ignorance.

However, most politicians in Sri Lanka apparently want to save Buddhism with no semblance of decreasing their craving and attachment. I have taken the trouble to acquaint the reader, as well as our politicians, on the crux of  Buddhism, which requires people to adopt its eightfold magga to discard the inevitable  state of unsatisfactoriness                                                              in cyclic existence until  they attain the supreme happiness of non-existence. In my view,                        Pope Francis, who wrote the 2015 encyclical on climate change, is a better practitioner of Buddhism than many monks and politicians in  Sri Lanka. In the light of the foregoing analysis, I have selected the following newsmakers in Sri Lanka for this week’s Prairie awards:
PRAIRIE ROSES: To President Sirisena for his inaugural address to parliament in which he reiterated his government’s  commitment to good governance, national reconciliation, eradication of corruption, a compassionate and egalitarian society and environment protection” (Sunday Times, 6    Sept. 2015).

The president has clarified that he is preparing the agenda of his government of consensus based on the foundation of his presidential election manifesto, ‘A compassionate governance, a stable country’ already approved by the people. Moreover, he has said that he will use that foundation to build on the plans and programs envisaged in the UNP’s manifesto ‘A New Country in 60 Months: Five Point Plan’; UPFA’s manifesto ‘A Certificate guaranteed for the future’; JVP’s manifesto ‘Accord of Conscientiousness’; and TNA’s election manifesto (Sri Lanka Guardian, 2 Sept. 2015). The president has promised to release the policy document of the government of consensus after finalizing comparative studies on those manifestos.

The placement of national integration and reconciliation as a high priority item is justified in terms of the moral/ethical codes of Buddhism and all other religions —  Hinduism, Christianity and Islam — practiced in the country. Perhaps the government should first appoint a ministerial committee comprising the following to draw up a plan, both short-term and long-term, to engender ethnic and religious amity and understanding through education and the mass media:

John Amaratunga – Minister of Tourism Development & Christian Affairs

Wijedasa Rajapakshe – Minister of Buddha Sasana

Gayantha Karunathilake – Minister of Parliamentary Reforms & Media

D.M. Swaminathan – Minister of Resettlement & Hindu Affairs

Mano Ganesan – Minister of National Dialog

Mohamed Hashim Abdul Haleem – Minister of Postal Service & Muslim Affairs  

This committee could pay special attention to implement an educational program emphasizing the similarities between religions and ethnic groups. An example would be a school textbook comparing the Dhammapada with the Bhagavad Gita.

 LEAFY SPURGE: To the National” Government of Sri Lanka headed by President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremasinghe for placing political expedience before good governance” by creating a bloated and unwieldy cabinet of 48 ministers. This is going to cost a tidy sum of public money rivaling the monster cabinet syndrome initiated by former President Rajapakse. The leadership of both UPFA and UNCGG violated Right Speech by lying to the electorate by promising  to limit the size of the Cabinet to 30. They violated the 19^th Amendment to accommodate defeated candidates to re-enter parliament by manipulating their National Lists, and rewarding former minsters known for wrong doing” with Cabinet portfolios. Instead of releasing dukkha, they have increased suffering by allowing these suspected culprits another opportunity to test their  tanha and upadana because they are ignorant of the operational dynamics of the three marks of cyclic existence.

Venerable Sobhita and associated civic groups should not allow the National” Government to get away with such blatant violations of the promised yahapalanaya. Other questions to ask:

• What size of entourage will accompany the president for his 30-minute speech to the United Nations?
• Will the president keep the promise of limiting his term to five years?

Courtesy The Nation

Nimal Lanza and Anura Yapa are both members of the spanking new Cabinet which is so large, it can only be convened at the Nelum Pokuna. But, Keheliya Rambukwella, Dullas Alahaperuma and Shashindra Rajapaksa have been brought before the Presidential Commission on financial crimes.

The size of the Cabinet is enormous and this is discounting the pleased as pink members of it, who find themselves being thus elevated, having been kicked out by the people at the elections
Join them, and yesterday’s scum transmogrifies into today’s poster boys. But dare oppose them, and you’ve bought your ticket to hell.

This is cynical slash and burn politics that reeks to the heavens, and makes anything that came before it look sublime by comparison.

Ask Ranjan Ramanayaka about Nimal Lanza. There is a video that is doing the rounds of Ramanayaka berating the drug barons who he said were granted impunity, when President Rajapaksa was ruling, and Ramanayaka was in the Opposition. Special mention was made of this man Nimal Lanza.

The Asipatha CutsI do not know if Nimal Lanza is a drug baron or not. But this much I can vouch for. Ranjan Ramanayaka was, with all cylinders firing, vouchsafing for the fact that Lanza is a drug running local mafia don, and from the then UNP opposition benches, loud cheers rang out in the House.

Now, this Lanza is a Deputy Minister.

Ranjan Ramanayake is also a Deputy Minister.

Lake House newspapers were on fire immediately after the General Elections on January 8, with all guns trained against Anura Yapa who was said to have been the mastermind behind the document produced by former UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, attesting to the alleged pact between the UNP Leader, and R. Sampandan of the TNA.
Anura Yapa now holds senior cabinet rank. Muttuhettigama is a Deputy Minister, the latter constantly vilified as a lout by the then Opposition UNP.

The list of rouges gallery notables — as per the UNP — now holding high Cabinet rank, goes on and on, but Keheliya Rambukwella, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and others are brought before the Presidential Commission regarding alleged financial crimes.

The message is clear. If you are on the inside pissing out, you are as pure as the driven snow. But you dare so much as keep one foot outside of the comfort zone, and you are the devil incarnate, and will be chased to the ends of the earth, vilified, demonized, and destroyed.

Cynical politics, partisanship and unprincipled skulduggery has never been so brazen, and the country is now ruled with impunity by the lawless, cynical and degenerate. The size of the Cabinet is enormous and this is discounting the pleased as pink members of it, who find themselves being thus elevated, having been kicked out by the people at the elections.

Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera, the mascot of Yahapalana and Wickremesinghe’s darling, offered that he is shocked by the losing elements being smuggled into Parliament by the president, and the latter and his joined at the hip twin responded by kicking Sobitha’s rump, and making a few of this kind, top ranking Cabinet ministers to boot.

The fig leaf is now gone as well, and the president is cavorting around in the buff, being cheered on by his minions. Tissa Jayatilleka and the kultur gentlemen of the Friday Forum nor the NGO set in their echo chambers are saying a word these days. Mouths sewed shut, we suppose they are watching the naked President and his equally debauched Prime Minister unable to decide whose instructions they should take before they make their next move.

The opposition leader is a pretender, but when the prime minister is a pretender given how the election victory was achieved, and when the president pretends he is the leader of the SLFP, Sambandan’s pretense is all in a day’s work.

It bears mention that there are people such as Wimal Weerawansa who seem to take the president at his word!

Attaboy! There are the notably gullible, but fool me once and shame on you, fool me ten times and shame on me, and a seven generations that are to follow?

Has Weerawansa ever heard of that?

Where is Mahinda Rajapaksa by the way?

For the forty two lakhs or so who voted for him, the fact that his son is being persecuted and his wife is being summoned to the FCID is, by way of explanation for the relative silence, small comfort.

The people, particularly the majority of the Sinhala people who voted for the UPFA in vast numbers, have been kicked in the shin and then kicked hard in the vitals, and been shoved into Mangala Samaraweera’s dustbin for the unbowed and upright.

Anybody who is a moral degenerate today, is in power. However, if there was a single person who even tangentially thought of justice, equity, gratitude and probity before self, he or she is in Mangala Samaraweera’s dustbin for the brave.

Those who say the opposition leader necessarily has to be a person who is not in the national government, have forgotten how easy it is to disenfranchise 42 million people, and they have neglected to tell you about how the president carried out the daylight robbery of their ballot by refusing to forward the letter requesting the Speaker to make Welgama the Opposition Leader, to Karu Jayasuriya.

The majority of the UPFA now in Parliament chose not to be part of the so called National Government. Even if they did, they have no right to be part of that fiasco as National Government was not part of the UPFA manifesto, and not part of the granted mandate, ergo.

Mahinda Rajapaksa has to answer to this. Why are the people who voted for you abandoned, and is Wimal Weerawansa a complete idiot to say that he believed, actually believed the President when he said that the Opposition members can choose their own Opposition leader? What are we taken for? Cattle?

And what is the vote of the people who voted for you folk, taken for? Cattle feed?
This much is certain. People who gave you 95 seats would strike back and when they return, it will not only be a swift swipe at the president who prances about naked with his joined at hip twin, the puerile Prime Minister, but also at anybody who belittles or ignores the wishes of the 42 lakhs who supplied 95 seats to empower Mahinda Rajapaksa’s UPFA in Parliament.

Do not trifle with the wishes of the people who refuse to be herded around like cattle. The Emperor may be naked, the former President may be overwhelmed and cowed, but truth is not on a lien.

This travesty of the people’s rights, this ugly, unabashed squashing of democracy underfoot, all in the name of good governance, will be avenged.

 Dr. Sudath Gunasekara Mahanuwara

 The above Sinhala Adage came to my mind as I was watching what is going on in the political field around us. What this famous saying connotes is once you have given your coconut estate on an outright lease there is no point in looking for a coconut from that place because you have disowned all your rights to have any claims on any fruits there. This is exactly what has already happened to Mahinda Rajapaksa and what will happen to President Sirisena as well very soon, though he boasts just now that he will not allow anyone to topple ‘His Government” till 2020.

Episode 1

Main Actor Mahinda Rajapaksa

Now let us first see as to who paved the way for the present political instability and confusion that prevails in this country at the moment. It was none other than Mahinda Rajapaksa (probably who was in the same frame of mind as MS is just now) who started it, knowingly or unknowingly, I do not know, when he first decided to have early Presidential Elections. I wrote to the Secretary to the President on 1.12.2014 and my first advice was not to have early Presidential elections. I strongly argued against it firstly as there were two more years in hand and as the ‘bird in hand is worth more than ten in the bush.’ Secondly there is no guarantee that it could be easily won as MR and his advisors think, as there is growing displeasure and opposition right round the country. I said the Government is heading for serious trouble unless it takes immediate remedial measures to arrest this situation. I also sent him a memorandum consisting 100 suggestions called Siya Panatha prepared by ‘Mahanuwara Jesta Puravesi Sanvidhanaya’ for him to implement, at least what was highlighted, before the next election. I suggested a series of corrective measures among which I list few important ones below.

Reduce the mega Cabinet to at least 25

If he cannot remove, at least distance all the bad eggs

Abolish the 13^th A and the Provincial Councils system and re-establish the Ruhunu, Pihiti and Maya Tun Rata so that not only the government can cut public expenditure and the number of politicians by 2/3 (from nearly 873 to 320 approx)

Abolish the Proportional Representation system and ensure a Mp for Every electorate System

Restore an independent Judiciary and Public service and meritocracy to be the hallmark of public service

Restore Law and order and Rule of Law

Abolish duty free Vehicle system for politician. Public servant and a selected few

Ban all ethnic & religious political parties

Ban religious dignitaries entering politics

Removal of Pensions for politicians and enormous privileges given to them and convert it to a service to people

Restore death penalty

Enactment of a strict code of ethics and discipline for politicians and state officers Going back to Traditional Village council system

Setting up a Senate of about 35Abolition of International Schools

Banning establishment of mono-ethnic settlement a n destabilizing mixed settlements under new schemes

Resettlement of all Sinahla and Muslim s displace by the LTTE  banning sending women slaves to Middle east and other countries and generating jobs within the country to save our women and the civilization

Implement the Recommendations of the Kandyan Peasantry Commission of 1951 by setting up the Special Development Authority recommended therein to ameliorate the problems of Kandyan Peasants. No one should forget that Kandyan areas have 1/3 the total voter strength of the country

Tax concession to development sector such as Agriculture, Industry, fisheries and tourism etc

Take corrective measures to build up a new image and people’s confidence before you go for the next election.

Take measures to reduce cost of living and measures for the people to feel this is a peoples Government and not a government of politicians and high officials.

But unfortunately I did not get even a reply

What you think would have happened if at least few of these major issues had been attended to?

This letter was re-published in the Lankaweb of 1^st Sept 2015. Anyone interested in details could read it there please.

I really do not know whether this was brought to the notice of MR in time. Anyway nothing happened as requested.THE Government decided to go ahead with the Election

Mahinda went ahead with his own plan

MR living in his own dream land did not care a cent. Unfortunately he miserably failed to make a proper assessment of the Sirisena factor. He ignored it as a subject not worth discussing at all Perhaps thanks to his intelligence network he didn’t know that a master conspiracy lead by Chandrika was going on in the background at least from 2012 to depose him and oust his government. Perhaps he may not have heard the saying Achintitampi Bhavati-Chintitampi vinassati”, which I included in my E mail of 1^st Dec 2014 to Lalith as well.

So in this backdrop he allowed My3 to contest Presidential elections as the common candidate while remaining as the General Secretary of the SLFP? MR being a Sinhala village based politician devoted to the SLFP may have had confidence in the majority rural electorate and may have thought like in 2010, MS also want be a threat. But if I were MR I would have never taken a chance and sacked MS immediately from the post of General Secretary and appointed someone else faithful to me and the Party to that post, not heeding to   Sumanadasa or any other sycophant Andare or Advisor around me, firstly for leaving and betraying the Party to contest under another Party and thus violating the Party Constitution and secondly as I know it for certain that he cannot be trusted for a Dime after that. Thirdly for he will be a bigger threat in future if he wins the elections and join with those who are against the SLFP and the UPFA. MR should also have been mindful of the Chandrika factor backed by her Western friends and India. But he did not do that either probably he thought he is invincible or trusted Ms as he sat with him at a now ‘famous and historic Hopper dinner’ at the Temple Trees the previous night as well. What I can’t understand is as to what the hell Rajapaksa’s private intelligence unit had been doing as now it been revealed that this coup had being going on for two long years.

Let bygones be bygones. Having failed to nip it in the bud he should have done it at least after elections to prevent the new President trying to take over the SLFP and the UPFA leadership as its leader and the SLFP Secretary. Then again when those acholites visited him at Medamulana after the elections and proposed that the leadership of the Party be given to Ms, he should have taken the stand that that can never be done and should not be done either as he has already ceased to be a SLFP or UPFA member the moment he left to be the common candidate. Further, he knows MS stands as the leader of a separate group. As such he has no claim at all under the SLFP Constitution to ask for it. Instead of that what did MR do? He went and handed over all that on a platter to the new President conferring him legitimacy to exercise full control over all matters under the Party Constitution. (This is like handing over the sword to the adversary in a battle whiles you hold on to the sheath).Had he not handed over the leadership of the Party President Sirisena would never have been able to touch anything within the SLFP or the UPFA.  Therefore things like appointing the two secretaries of UPFA and SLFP and taking control of their Central committees would have never happened. I am lost to understand as to in what part of their anatomy they have their brains, if they have one.

This in brief is how Mahinda Rajapaksa dug his own grave and paved the highway for the present disaster.

 They who persuaded MR to hand over the Leadership after the Election.

They were the next culprits who brought about this disaster.

Now not only MR but also all others who failed to see this danger in advance and advice MR in time or those who connived with that blunder, should take the whole responsibility for all what has happened to the Party since then and the damages and disasters that will befall this Nation in the near future. None will be excused and none will be spared. If they had an atom of brain they should have, using the majority in the CC, changed the Party Constitution and got MR appointed as the Leader of the Party and contested the elections under his Leadership. Had that been done they would have definitely got more than 115 or even more seats.

Looking at the whole episode    enacted               by           this         group    of politicians and advisers from the beginning up to now it remind me of the role                                                                                                     of Karataka and Damanaka who advised Pingalaka the Lion and Sanjeevala the righteous Bull, the two crafty foxes, in Mitrabhedaya coming in Pachatantaraya.

Then came the General election. Most SLFP and UPFA members again persuaded MR to contest for the Premiership, may be with good intensions, but for obvious reasons as well on their part.  Personally I do not see anything wrong in his decision to have agreed to their request particularly going by the massive crowds gathered at some of those meetings. But again he made a mistake by agreeing to contest under his arch rival and adversary. His love and devotion to the Party a may have convinced him to do so. But it was definitely the biggest blunder he made. As I remember there was only one solitary man. That is my good friend Prof Nalin Silva who said don’t do that. He also said never trust MS. Perhaps he knew better than the whole gang of SLFP and UPFA politicians some of whom included Professors as well.  Nalin has proved that he is a better intellectual and a genius when he refused to accept the slot offered to him in the UPFA National list.  Had MR contested from another Party the story of Government today would have been  entirely different.

Having watched the Speakers pronouncement last week on the Appointment of Sambandan that he is appointing Sambandan as the Leader of the Opposition as there is no request from the UPFA and Wimal Weerawansas grievance that 65 of them have requested the President in writing that they wanted Welgama to be appointed as Opposition leader one gets utterly confused. It also shows that there was a preplanned arrangement on the part of the anti-MR group, if you don’t call it a coup, firstly to settle a deal with the TNA for helping the President at the Presidential election by casting the entire North and East Tamil vote to him and secondly to stop any other person’s name been put forward as a division would have definitely prevented Sambandan getting elected. It looks a treacherous conspiracy than democracy to anyone having an atom of brain. I do not know as to why Weeravansa and group did not simultaneously hand over two more copies of the same letter given to the President to the Speaker and the Party secretary as well.’ Going even a little further they should have had a spare name in Anura Disanayaka or anyone else in their camp ready by mutual agreement submitted to all three persons. It is common sense that they should have known before hand what President is having in his mind and taken sufficient precautions to counter that mischief if they were smart.  In this context the President had out done all of them. What a shame?

To be continued: Episode 11; Why should we have a Constitution at all if that could be breached at will by one man with impunity, that is the head of the State?

By Uditha Devapriya Courtesy The Nation

Ideological orientation can divide those who preach the same thing. It is hence astounding how those who favor end bicker over process. It is also unbelievable that those who privilege certain (political) outcomes can debate with (and against) both colleague and foe. Federalists, hence, have a gripe with nationalists, but this does not preclude them from arguing with other federalists.

The likes of Wickramaratne hence, especially when tinkering with the Constitution, must note one point. Dayan Jayatilleka summed this up best: I stand for a nationalism that is compatible with internationalism. This is smart patriotism. Smart patriotism is perfectly compatible with cultural cosmopolitanism, though the latter is not a condition of the former

Jayampathy Wickramaratne authored the much praised and little understood 19th Amendment, along with two other experts. He claimed, rightly, that it would dilute the Executive Presidency, but not absolutely. So he offered a solution: Revamp the 1978 Constitution!” Puzzling, because if revamp” was what the doctor prescribed, then why on earth did he offer a painkiller” for the malady” through an amendment?

Among those who noted this was Dayan Jayatilleka. In a context where the likes of Wimal Weerawansa and Vasudeva Nanayakkara are together, never mind how strange that combination sounds, it is not surprising to see that both he and Wickramaratne are against one other here. Both are for the 13th Amendment. Both are for devolution. Logically therefore, that the one’s take on the 19th Amendment differs from the other must be owing more to disagreement over process than to differences over ideological bent.

Eight months before the Sirisena defection, Jayatilleka had this to say about Wickramaratne’s abolitionist-stance on the Executive Presidency:

Contrary to Dr Jayampathy Wickramaratne’s prognostication, President Rajapaksa will not abolish the Presidency in order to take the wind out of the sails of either a single issue common candidate or a rebellion in the UPFA ranks which has as its rallying cry the abolition of the Presidency. All he needs to do is to call a referendum on the issue, pitch it as a danger to the Sinhalese in the face of external and irredentist pressures, and he will win a crushing victory over the dissidents. He can then go into the presidential and parliamentary elections with an even stronger hand than he otherwise would.”

For Jayatilleka, the viability of a common candidate could be judged on whether or not that candidate pledged to do away with the Executive Presidency, a pledge Jayatilleka no doubt likened to political hara-kiri when he observed that no rational voter would support a candidate who promised to undo himself by un-strapping the presidency.

That was then though. Times have changed. The 19th Amendment was passed and it deliberately skewed clarity (as has been noted by political commentators), particularly to market appeal for a National Government (a perusal of Article 46, for instance, will leave one wondering why it limited a Cabinet to 30 or 40 when a coalition could double or triple that amount as per the parliament’s prerogative). It didn’t do away with the Executive Presidency, true. But that’s just one step away.

Wickramaratne is an ideologue. So is Jayatilleka. What differentiates the one from the other, when it comes to the Constitution that is, is the way each accounts for exogenous variables without which neither federalists nor nationalists can sustain ideology for long. That is why the latter, for the most, has been (more) able to critique not just federal-speak, but also attempts to dilute the Executive Presidency, even when that critique is at odds with his larger political stances, which are largely supportive of the 13th Amendment.
Nationalism. That’s another thing. Jayatilleka has shown again and again that, for all Wickramaratne’s political idealism, a get-your-pants-off approach to the J. R. Jayewardene Constitution cannot and will not work as long as it legitimises fears of the majority (social and ethnic), that is a stripping down of the security apparatus to a point where nationalist fears of outside intervention are realised.

The point is that without taking note of outside fears and addressing grievances, tinkering with the Constitution can yield fruit only at the cost of what Mahinda Rajapaksa implicitly instructed Maithripala Sirisena to improve on: a country rid of terrorism but not of the terrorist menace, one that is being manipulated by civil society in the name of plurality to affirm minoritarianism (which in no way justifies the Rajapaksa regime’s perceived majoritarianism, by the way).

Here’s why.No rational political democrat, unless s/he was Cartesian in outlook, would prefer democracy to security (or vice-versa, for that matter). This is where people like Wickramaratne have got it wrong. It must be said that even the likes of Jayatilleka and other likeminded liberals and moderates entertained this illusion. But that was long ago. They have since learnt their lesson and for this reason they have embraced pragmatism.
The likes of Wickramaratne hence, especially when tinkering with the Constitution, must note one point. Dayan Jayatilleka summed this up best: I stand for a nationalism that is compatible with internationalism. This is smart patriotism. Smart patriotism is perfectly compatible with cultural cosmopolitanism, though the latter is not a condition of the former.” What he meant by cultural cosmopolitanism is for another article.

For now, here’s what counts. Political reform, particularly with a National Government which robs legitimate opposition (barring the Tamil National Alliance) for the sake of consensual politicking, cannot privilege itself at the expense of weakening the centre and frilling the periphery.

This is not only because of nationalist concerns. This is also because, if experts and intellectuals like Jayampathy Wickramaratne are to get it right in one go, they MUST be aware of larger realities (geopolitical and otherwise) which implicitly determine the constitutional framework they are setting for this country.  Otherwise, to be quite frank, they’ll be building castles in the air. Not a very good start for a reformist era, you must admit.

By Sudat Pasqual  Courtesy The Nation

The August 17 election was called by President Maithripala Sirisena when it became obvious that the minority government imposed on the country as a result of an electoral pact between the President and the main opposition group UNP was no longer tenable.
The convoluted electoral arrangement between the President and Ranil Wickremasinhe had created a weird and dysfunctional political creature. At the time of dissolution, the majority of MPs in Parliament belonged to the President’s coalition, UPFA (not the UNP). Under normal circumstances, given the fact that the President was the Chairman of the UPFA, one would have expected the President to lead the UPFA at the election. Former President Rajapaksa’s decision to push the envelope by contesting the election under the UPFA banner forced President Sirisena to take a public stand on the issue. It is suffice to say that the President lost his sense of equanimity and became openly hostile to the candidacy of his predecessor.

President Sirisena was keen to get the ball rolling in a more definitive manner. Instead of settling for a simple majority to get through the day, Sirisena has forced his alliance to throw their support for a UNP led national government. We are starting to see the cost of this cohabitation

The election ended in a stalemate with the UNP ending up with 106 MP’s but short of a majority by 7. UPFA came in a close second with 95 seats.

Since the UNP was a mere 7 MPs shy of a majority, the easiest way forward (at least in the short term) would have been to get a commitment from 7 MPs from the other side of the aisle. The 19th amendment to the constitution prohibits the dissolution of the parliament till it has served a minimum of 4 ½ years. That is a fair amount of time to work the political angels. While technically the head of the UPFA, Sirisena had quite clearly indicated his preference to see the return of Ranil Wickramasinghe as Prime Minister prior to the vote on August 17.  Even if the overwhelming majority of the UPFA MPs were hostile to Sirisena, surely the President who is the Chairman of both the SLFP and the UPFA could count on the support of 7 out of the 95 to throw their lot with the UNP; the party of choice of their Chairman?

Well, it didn’t quite go that way. President Sirisena was keen to get the ball rolling in a more definitive manner. Instead of settling for a simple majority to get through the day, Sirisena has forced his alliance to throw their support for a UNP led national government. We are starting to see the cost of this cohabitation.

Sirisena who promised to do away with the cesspit of corrupt and undemocratic practices of the Rajapaksa regime has jumped headlong into that same cesspit. The man who got elected selling a deal made in heaven seems poised to take the country on a path of self-destruction and evil doing.

The cabinet is currently at 48, but the count is still on. That number does not include the State Ministers and Deputy Ministers. At this rate, we may have to rename the Parliament and call it the Assembly of Ministers and Deputies. Ranil Wickramasinghe is on course to becoming the Prime Minister of world’s first Dinosaur Cabinet.

The blame for this obnoxious state of affairs rests squarely at the feet of President Sirisena. Sirisena may have won the Presidential election in January, but has failed miserably at building a base to carry out his proclamations of good governance. Sirisena for all practical purposes is a man without a political party or more importantly, a loyal political base. Sirisena’s candidacy was manipulated into place by his political Dutch Aunt Chandrika Kumaratunga.  That was more than 7 months ago. A man of Sirisena’s experience should have realized the precariousness of his position when he took office. Sirisena must have known that he had to mend the political fences he had destroyed at the earliest.

Regrettably, that is not the path chosen by Sirisena. Instead of reaching out to his doubters, President Sirisena has chosen a path of subterfuge that was ill-thought out and ill executed.  Even worse, Sirisena seems to have handed the hatchet job to Kumaratunga; a woman consumed by her hatred of all things Rajapaksa and a person of dubious integrity and loyalties. Sirisena has given into the venal demands of political charlatans to prop up his Prime Minister and is getting dragged closer to the UNP vortex and his effectiveness is inextricably tied to a UNP led government.

Sirisena presidency has been marked by indecisions, poor decisions and the lack of personal courage. Sirisena has become a vassal of venality. Fortunately for Sirisena his Presidency is still in its infancy and he can reverse the downward spiral of his government if he finds the political and personal courage to take actions that are unpleasant, but are in the best interests of the country.

by Senaka Weeraratna

To a human being there is no greater treasure than freedom. The right to life and liberty are the most cherished fundamental rights guaranteed in our Constitution. In claiming our right to these freedoms we become morally obliged to recognize the rights to freedom in others: particularly in other non – human living beings. To do otherwise would be hypocritical and duplicitous. A two – faced morality that would be unsustainable despite our loud championing of human rights.

Unfortunately the structures we humans have created such as Zoos deny freedom to animals; in the most pitiless fashion.  To the extent that we allow Zoos to prevail we diminish ourselves morally and ethically.

In closing our eyes to the suffering of animals and disregarding their cries for help to gain freedom from man – made prisons called Zoos, we suppress some of the most noble impulses that human beings are capable of  cultivating and sharing  – that of sympathy and pity towards other living creatures—and by repressing our own feelings and even our children’s caring feelings towards animals in such fashion  we unwittingly become cruel and merciless and push our children to walk on that same  ignoble path.

In Zoos Animals are compelled to survive in unnatural, painful, and downright isolated conditions that are far removed from their natural habitats. They are forced  to occupy small, restrictive spaces that prevent them from being subject to any mental and physical stimulus. Though the management of zoos claim to be engaged in conservation, education, and entertainment, their primary goal is to exploit animals for profit with hardly any real concern for the animal’s true welfare.

It is time that people particularly in Sri Lanka take a strong stand against the establishment and maintenance of Zoos.

The news that a Rally and demonstration will be held in Colombo on Saturday September 12, 2015 to draw attention to the plight of the animals in the Dehiwala Zoo is most welcome news. A happening long overdue. Animals cannot articulate their suffering though they suffer continually due to man’s inhumanity. In taking up their cause not only are we doing the right thing but also joining some of the great figures in history such as the Buddha, Mahavira, Mahatma Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy, and Albert Schweitzer who were outspoken in the defense of animal rights. The Buddha in particular defined nobility (Arya) on the basis of a person’s compassion towards all living beings.

Phase out Zoos from Sri Lanka – What can you do? 

Avoid visiting zoos. We must not allow ourselves to be complicit in causing animal suffering.

Lobby and demand animal sanctuaries to be established in place of Zoos which should be non – exploitative and non – profit oriented.

Two countries Bhutan and Costa Rica have started an inspiring trend in phasing out Zoos. Bhutan has effectively closed down Zoos except for the protection of two endangered native species.Sri Lanka should join these two enlightened countries in following suit by phasing out Zoos.

Spread the word through newspaper articles, public talks, television programmes, internet YouTube, of the reality of Zoo life and the suffering of animals inside them.

Zoos belong to history not to the future. In fact it is a culturally inappropriate institution to Sri Lanka which had one of the finest Animal friendly cultural heritages in the world before the landing of foreigners in 1505.

Educate your children and others why Zoos are unnecessary and inhumane.

Reverence for life has been the foundation of SrI Lanka’s Buddhist civilization ever since that unique encounter between Arahant Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa at Mihintale over 2300 years ago when Arahant Mahanda declared as follows:

Oh! Great King, the birds of the air and the beasts have an equal right to live and move about in any part of this land as thou. The land belongs to the peoples and all other beings and thou art only the guardian of it”

The establishment and maintenance of Zoos in Sri Lanka is incompatible and run counter to Arahant Mahinda’s words of wisdom.

Senaka Weeraratna

චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.

සැබෑ ලෙසම මේ ගැටළුව මෙරට පැවතීම මහා විහිළුවකි. එලෙසම මෙවන් ගැටළුවක් මෙරට පැවතීමම මෙරට මුළු මහත් ජන සමාජයට බලවත් නින්දාවකි. 90% ක් බත් කන මිනිසුන් සිටින රටක වී ටික විකුණ ගන්න නොහැකිව ගොවියන් වහ බින්නේ නම්, තවත් තැනෙක සදහන් ආකාරයට කදුළු බොන්නේ නම්, ජාතියේ පරාධීනත්වය ඇත්තේ එතන බව සියළු දෙනාම අවබෝධ කරගත යුතුය.

සැබෑ ගැටළුවට අත නොගසා,
1 19 වෙනි සන්ශෝධ නය ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම,
2.විධායක ජනාධිපති බලතල ඉවත් කිරීම,
3.මැතිවරණ ක්රමය වෙනස් කිරීම,
4.ස්වාධීන කොමිෂන් සභා පත් කිරී‌ම වැනි
මෙරට ජනතාවට කිසිදු වැඩක් නැති දේ සම්බන්ධව නිතිපතා කථා කරන දේශපාලනය, අප නවතාලිය යුතුය. ජීවයේ මූලික පදනම වනුයේ, වාතය, ජලය හා ආහාරයි. ඕනෑම රජයක මූලික අරමුණ විය යුත්තේ, මේ ත්‍රිත්වය නොමිලයේ ලබාදීමේ ඉලක්කය වෙත ගමන් කිරීමයි. ගොවියා සිදුකරනුයේ, මිනිසාගේ පැවත්මට ඇවැසි වැදගත්ම දේ නිපදවීමයි. ඔහු මෙලොවටම සයනයිඩ් නිශ්පාදකයාට‌ වඩා පහල අඩියකට තල්ලු කිරීමට මේ සමාජයට කිසිදු අයිතියක් නැත. එබැවින් අන් සියළුම කරනු පසෙකලා  මේ කරුණ අගතැන්පත් කොට විසදාලීමට අරමුණු කර ගත යුතුය.

කෘෂිකර්මය යනු මෙලොව ඇති ඉතාම වටිනා විද්යාව වුවද එයට මෙරට තුල හිමිව ඇත්තේ කුඩම්මාගේ සැලකිල්ලකි. අගමැති ඩී.එස් සේනානායක ආරම්භ කොට, ඩඩ්ලි සේනානායක, එස්. ඩබ්ලිව්. ආර්.ඩී. බණ්ඩාරනායක, සිරිමා බණ්ඩාරනායකලා පෝෂණය කල එම විද්යාව, මහවැලිය තුලින් ජේ.ආර් ජයවර්ධන රජය තුලදී පණක් ලදද, ඒ කාලය තුලදීම; මීට වඩා හොදයි පිට රටින් හාල් ගෙනාවා නම් යන මතවාදයක්ද දියත් කර ගොවි ගෞරවයට හානිදායක දේ සිදු කරන ලදී.

මේ උපකාර‌ කිරීම් හා කෙනහිලිකම් මැද්දේ මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ යුගයේදී‌ද ගොවිතැනට විශේෂත්වයක් ලැබිණි. ඒ සියල්ලේම ඵලය වන්නේ සරු අස්වැන්නක් ලැබීමයි. ඉතා වැදගත් වන්නේ ඵලයයි. ඵලය කරදරයක් ලෙස දකින සමාජයක් ඵලය ලබන විට නිර්මාණය වී ඇත්නම් එය 1948 සිට 2015 දක්වා මෙරට කෘෂිකර්මය දියුණු කිරීම සදහා සිදුකල මහා මෙහෙවරට දායකවූ අයට සිදු කරන අගෞරවයකි. ඵලයට මහා ගෞරවයක් පුදකල යුතුය. මේ  වනවිට තුන් වේලටම බත් කෑමට සූදානම් සමාජයක් අපට ඇත. එබැවින් වී මිලදී ගැනීමට විද්යාත්මක ක්රම වේදයක් නිර්මාණය කල යුතුමය.ඒ සදහා කල යුත්තේ කුමක්ද?

මේ සදහා ස්වාධීන කොමිෂන් සභාවක් නිර්මාණය කල යුතුයයි කිසිවෙක් නොපවසන්නේ ඇයි? මෙය එතරම් වැදගත් ප්රශ්නයක් ලෙස මේ දේශපාලකයින් නොසලකා හරින නිසාද? මේ ගැටළුවට කිසිදු රජයක්වත් නිසි පිළියම ඉදිරිපත් නොකල බව පමණක් අපි දනිමු.‌මෙම ගැටළුව විසදීමේදී අපිට,
1. විකිණීමට ඇති වී තොග,
2. ඒ හිමි වී ගොව‌ියා,
3. වී මිලදී ගන්නා ආයතනය හා එහි නිලධාරී මඩුල්ල

යන ත්‍රිත්වය මෙම ගැටළුව නිරාකරණය කිරීම‌ට අත පෙවීමේදී මුණ ගැසේ. ම‌ෙහිදී නිර්මාණය කරන වී මිලදී ගැනීමේ ක්රියාවලියේදී, ගොවියාගේ වී සියල්ලක්ම විකිණිය යුතුය. දෙවනුව ගොවියා යනු වර්තමානයේ සිටින දීනත්වයට වැටුණු පුද්ගලයකු නොව බලවත් චරිතයක් බවට පත්විය යුතුය. එක්තරා පුද්ගලයකු, මෙවන් ක්රියාවලියක්ද ඇතැතිව, කෘෂිකර්ම ඇමතිතුමා‌‌ු මුණ ගැසී ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට ගියේ මීට වසර 11ක කාලයකට පෙරදීය, ඇමතිතුමා නොමැති බැවින්, එතුමාගේම පක්ෂයේ නියෝජ්ය ඇමතිතුමා මුණ ගැසී ඇත. ක්රමවේදයද ඔහුට ඉදිපත් කර ඇත. මේ සියල්ලම ඔහුට විස්තර කල පසු, එයට සාවධානව ඇහුම් කන් දුන් නියෝජ්ය ඇමතිතුමා අසා ඇති ප්රෂ්ණය වන්නේ,
“හොදයි මේ වැඩේ කරන්න සල්ලි හොයාගන්න ඔයා යෝජනා කරන්නේ කුමක්ද?” යන්නයි.

කෙසේ හෝ මේ පනය වැද ගත් සේ සලකා කටයුතු කරන මෙන් ගෞරවයෙන් අප ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.

චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි.

Chandrasena Pandithage

සීපා ගිවිසුම අත්සන් තැබීමට ආසන්නව ඇත. අප එයට විරුද්ධ වුවද එහි පලයන් හා අපට ජීවත් වීමට වර්තමාන පාලකයින් අපට ඉඩ සලසනු ඇත. එබැවින් දැන්ම සිට මේ ගීතය ගැයීමට මුලු ජාතියම එකතු වෙමු. දැන්මම පුහුණුවීම අරඹමු.

Song of the era

One little, two little, three little Indians

Four little, five little, six little,  Indians

Seven little, eight little, nine little, Indians

Ten little, Indian boys.

Ten little, twenty little, thirty little, Indians

Forty little, fifty little, sixty little Indians

Seventy little, eighty little, Ninety little Indians

Hundred little Indian Boys

Hundred little, Two hundred little, Three hundred little Indians

Four hundred little, Five hundred little, Six hundred little Indians

Seven hundred little, Eight hundred little, Nine hundred little Indians

One thousand little Indian boys.

One thousand little Two thousand little Three thousand little Indians

Four thousand little, Five thousand little, Six thousand little Indians

Seven thousand little, Eight thousand little, Nine thousand little Indians

Ten thousand little Indian boys

Ten thousand little, Twenty thousand little, Thirty thousand little Indians

Forty thousand little, Fifty thousand little, Sixty thousand little Indians

Seventy thousand little, Eighty thousand little, Ninety thousand little Indians

Hundred thousand little Indian boys.
One Hundred thousand little Two Hundred thousand little, Three Hundred thousand little Indians

Four Hundred thousand little, Five Hundred thousand little, Six Hundred thousand little Indians

Seven Hundred thousand little, Eight Hundred thousand little, Nine Hundred thousand little Indian

One Million little Indian boys

One Million little, Nine hundred thousand little, Eight hundred thousand little Indians

Seven hundred thousand little, Six hundred thousand little, Five Hundred thousand little Indians

Four Hundred thousand little, Three  Hundred thousand little, Two Hundred thousand little Indians

One Hundred thousand little Indians girls.

One hundred thousand little,  Ninety thousand little, Eighty thousand little Indians

Seventy thousand little, Sixty thousand little, Fifty thousand little Indians

Forty thousand little, Thirty thousand little, Twenty thousand little

Ten thousand little Indian girls.

Ten thousand little, Nine thousand little eight thousand little Indians

Seven thousand little, Six thousand little, Five thousand little Indians

Four thousand little, Three thousand little, Two thousand little Indians

One thousand little little Indian girls.

One thousand little, Nine hundred little, Eight hundred little Indians

Seven hundred little, Six hundred little, Five hundred little Indians,

Four hundred little, Three hundred little, Two hundred little Indians,

One hundred little Indian girls.

Hundred little, Ninety little, Eighty little Indian

Seventy little, Sixty little, Fifty little Indians
Forty little Thirty little, Twenty little Indians

Ten little Indian girls.

Ten little, Nine little, Eight little Indian

Seven little, Six little, Five little Indians

Four little, three little, Two little Indians,

One little Indian girl.

Hip Hip Hurray

Chandrasena Pandithage

Ranjit Wickremeratne

I am a voter with a broken heart because of ungrateful people whom I have to live with in this cruel society. I never ever thought in my life time that Prabakaran could be defeated because of many countries involved and helped Prabakaran and his ruthless murderous organization with money and weapons to eliminate the Sinhala race. Thanks to you Sir for ending the cruel war which killed and maimed thousands of our innocent souls in my homeland. You never thought of Sinhalese,Tamils,Muslims separately but as a whole nation and stopped the bloodshed  without any help from outside forces. We greatly appreciate your service to the nation during and after the war with great respect. You gave the strength and will power to our wounded war heroes and looked after them well for the amazement of many people around the world. It was great to be freed from barbarian LTTE killers. I was abroad at that victorious day when you landed and kissed our Sinhala soil after the elimination of LTTE vicious,ruthless murderers outfit. It was a day to remember. All celebrated as one nation and I was very proud to be a Sri Lankan and enjoyed the happy moments with my colleagues and others who some were even non Sri Lankans. You closed the war chapter in 2009 and started to build our beautiful nation with a vision. Mahinda is a name no one can forget so easily.

I was watching the progress with great enthusiasm and pride how our little nation got build up little by little after thirty years of destruction. You had a great vision and love for my country. You had that charisma which other leaders lack in their human body. You walked with the ordinary people in this country. You didn’t waste your time inside an Air Conditioned room but went round the country to see with your own eyes the progress and talked to the ordinary people. You carried children in your arms and showed love to them.You build Buddhist temples,Mosques,churches like Sinhala kings in the olden days. You did so many good things which no one can erase it although the current Govt traitors were trying to put their name on it. You build parks for the people to relax and have fun,you build schools for the children to learn more about the current world affairs etc and move forward,build Airports for easy transport inside and outside,Harbors for cargo,fishing etc,play grounds to the International standard and made our country beautiful for all races to live in harmony and in peace. What more you need? You showed us how to lead a country with pride. We thank you for all that Mr.President but unfortunately for your bad time and mine you took a very wrong decision to have early Presidential election before two years of your time in office and that’s the reason my heart is broken today. If you didn’t took that bold decision we wouldn’t be in this position suffering and living like second class citizens because of our stupid treacherous current leaders . You should have listened to the patriots and specially your family circle who advised not to do so as I was aware. That decision of yours changed the whole system and we as a nation and as citizens suffer today more than anytime in the past. Do not repeat the same mistakes again my dear Mr.President.

Through an International coup a traitor was born to lead our country. He was a man who was with you for so many years. He left you after having B’Fast with you in your own home. That very moment you should have investigated how it happened as many knew it was a coup orchestrated by outsiders and insiders together but you didn’t do anything. Police found lots of foreign money at Ratmalana but never heard anything after that. Foreign Embassies were involved and foreigners were visiting our land on daily basis to do what no one knew or investigated. They moved freely and visited the North and East to make movies against our homeland to show to the world and some talked about the murderer Parbakaran openly and attended their ceremonies in the North and had discussions with them freely without any interference from our law and order personal or the Govt. Foreign and local traitors had a free hand to work against you with all their might and they succeeded very easily. Our Sinhala stupids believed in their fairy-tale stories and unbelievable lies and made the back stabber traitor the President of my country by a small margin in the Presidential elections. It was unbearable and a dark day for us in our history. The traitors won while the leader who brought us freedom,peace,love and harmony lost. How much we cried,how many homes were in the dark on that day,how many were weeping openly because of a gentle man who lost the battle against a coward and a traitor.
We appreciate how you handled everything after that moment. You showed the world how Democracy works in my land.Your leadership qualities were great and many of the young Parliamentarians  have many things to learn from you Sir. We have never seen before what we saw after an election.People young and old in thousands flocked to greet their loving leader  at his home at Medamulana. I am one of them. No words to explain except tears on the eyes of millions who voted for you. We failed to convince the people the truth. Money and lies won the battle. Saddest day in my life was the election night. I have never seen older people men and woman even children cry openly like the way they cried after the election.All was because of you Sir.The name Mahinda is  very much close to our hearts and it won’t fade away so easily.

After you retire to your home, people never allowed you to stay idle but tried to pull you back to lead us again in the General election and you accept it after very long discussions and debates with some very good personalities ,patriots,family friends,politicians and your family circle. They all succeeded in getting you back to the political stage somehow but you never learned to understand the real friend and an enemy after all what happened through out the past years and days. We thought you planned well in your comeback trail with other patriot leaders Wimal,Wasu,Dinesh and Gamampila who did an immense service to bring you back to the stage. They are the true patriots in this country.They never left you but some cowards did and they enjoy their lives win or lose joining this treacherous Govt of traitors. Anyhow you faced the election and lost again for the second time after all the lies,mudslinging, harassment,Intimidation etc but upto some extent we are happy of the outcome of the election results. I am 100% sure it was rigged as many pundits have shown after the election. Now my question is for you Sir “Why don’t you leave the S.L.F.P and form a new party? Why are you staying on with the man who has done immense damage to your unblemished record and for yourself? Why are you become a servant of these evil clique? Millions in this country has accepted you as their sole leader who only can save my Motherland. We need you more than any other time Mr.President.You cannot look behind and leave us now.We are in great danger although our ordinary people do not understand because of one sided information they receive through Media and T.V.channels. Tamils and Muslims are day dreaming about their dreamlands and the International community and the Indians cunningly planning with our Sinhala traitors how to accommodate their wishes and make them happy. This is the time we think of you our great leader who said once to the International community to mind their own business when they came to interfere in our affairs during war time. We need a strong leader with love to our Motherland not a puppet of anyone. You are the most popular and favorite leader we have today therefore please leave S.L.F.P. and the wicked gang of two Sira and Choura Regina as soon as possible for the good of the nation and it’s people. This is the demand of the people who voted for you so do not delay your decision and make us cry again dear MR.President Mahinda Rajapaksa our hero.

one last sentence to remind you sincerely that if you do not leave S.L.F.P in the near future do not expect our vote in the coming municipal elections because we cannot trust anyone in the party. If you form a new party with your loyal MP’s then we know they are genuine Mahinda supporters who will be there to serve the people in this country. People like to see Mahinda,Wimal,Wasu,Dinesh,Gamampila combined unity party who will stand with ordinary people to counter any threat to our homeland. Do not take any traitor who left you and joined UNP Govt or faithful to Sira or Choura the two wicked souls in this land of paradise. Make young die hard supporters of yours like Prasanna Ranatunga, Roshan,Namal and others to become leaders in the future. Move away from corrupt people,drug lords,pretenders and thugs and make a clean party to face any election in the future. Don’t stay in silence.It breaks our hearts. We need you to save our Motherland from foreign and local conspirators and traitors. May Triple Gem be upon you and the Sinhala nation S R I L A N K A.

Give us hope for a better future. Make the nation smile again.

Ranjit Wickremeratne

By mahinda karunaratne

My tribute to those who dies at site, until I learnt that it was a CIA & US Govt. conspiracy to escape bankruptcy blame at home and justify attacking Iraq! 

After both Aircrafts were broken in to the two towers (file photo)

Although nostalgia to me after 12 years, but the fear, uncertainty and pain I had to endure by me in particular in my own situations I was in New York that time will never be forgotten. In fact that incident was the main candidate that destroyed my ambitions of going there to get out of my woos and difficulties due to which I left Sri Lanka. Simply to say my American Dream was broken and shattered by 9/11.

That day like several other days earlier, I left Jersey City room where I was temporarily staying by a fellow Sri Lankan and I left the room and got in to metro bus from University Boulevard to come to Port Authority bus stand in Manhatton. As I alighted from the bus there was some this fishy about, people rushing with unusual attitude. Only after coming out of the Port Authority bus terminal, I got know from asking few people that there had been an accident where an Air craft had hit one of the tower of WTC and its smoking. The  NYPD and NYFD are all running in rampage like mad dogs with full of siren sounds from all over, which resembled me the 1991 Gulf war time when I was working in Saudi Arabia at the time.

I anyway rushed to the 9^th avenue and beyond towards the WTC to see what has happened and I was closer to the location in direct view I witnessed huge smoke and fleeing people in a rush, some women weeping with tears and it was a real rampage out there. A security officer of a nearby shop smiled at me and identified as from Asia, he is an Indian told me see what has happened, he was so sorry to see the incident although he commented s an accident. As we were talking I spotted another Aircraft coming closer too low unusual for such large Aircrafts and I quickly started to think would this be not an accident but some kind of sabotage, before I concluded my thoughts the second Aircraft in my clean view blasted on the west tower and it started to blow up, I said the security guard that this is a sabotage or some kind of an attack he did not believe or did not have sense to understand, so I told him watch news later on and turned quickly and started running towards the port authority bus station to get back as soon as I can to jersey City to where I was staying, the reason is that if entry points were closed I will be caged up in New York city without food and water and no place to sleep.

The second aircraft was approaching west tower

After west tower was attacked

Horror during fire, people jumping from upper floor of 90’ties and 100’s

A man jumping from upper top

New York City has three entry points namely the Hudson underpass, Holland Bridge and Verrazano Bridge where all three entry points can be closed when necessary so none can come in or go out.

Street scene after attack

I noticed there were hundreds of ambulances plying amok and taking injured in a rush to hospitals, on the road side I came across some fallen, aged and young alike but unfortunately I was not in a position to help them since it was not my home country, and situations under which I was terrible. With sad feelings, I had to pass them leaving the task to NYFD rescuers of their duty.

NYPD with collected bodies

I did not posses more than 5 dollar which I brought only as return bus fare and had only my water bottle in the bag, should I get late to go I have no food, no cash to buy food.

While I was coming to the NY bus terminal, there were scores of chaos on the streets as well as in side the port authority train / bus terminal,  no metro buses were available, I was shivering and in fear but noticed a private bus operated by Hispanic was about to leave which runs a bit far away from where I stay, but I decided to board although I will have to walk a long distance from where I will have to get off.

Debris dumped at Staten Island, mixed with human remains too!

I was one of the last few passengers they boarded to stand and travel, but I noticed there were many who were unable to board the bus and the bus I boarded was the last the driver said. That means I knew the Authorities had already given instructions without panicking the public much, as the bus passed the Hudson underpass, the entry gate was closed while we passengers were watching. I could not understand what others say as many were Hispanic people, but their moods gave me the feeling they were worried much.

When I reached the Jersey City where I was staying and it had direct view of New York City over the Hudson River when I came to the verandah. I came and changed my clothes, came out to see what is happening and around 2 pm local time I was watching the WTC was collapsing just as some as spreads, a scene very rare and shocking.

From that time my heart was also in shock as I knew that big disaster could be nearer and these incidents will shatter my dream and just as I thought in few weeks I had to move out of New York to Texas and from there to LA and finally to DC looking for survival and work to live.

What happened and being happened in USA is history and its glory is gone, which I noticed by rapid declining economy, miles long abandoned factories, shops just out of cities, empty streets, medium and small business that closed almost on daily basis were all catalysts to ever declining glory of the USA of yester years.

It economy entangled in misery, there were no jobs for migrants, no proper scope, migration laws tightened, visa status cannot be changed due to the newly imposed Homeland security law and exactly six and half years later I decided to get out of USA and forget the American dream. It can never be recovered for both Americans and me alike!

The rest you all know about USA now!   

The world is entangled with same conflicts that entangled in the 19^th century as we are coming closer to 100^th anniversary of WWI.   Throughout the history it has proved that whenever the Imperialists encounter economic and own failures they went in to war with others, the only way they could straighten faults and overcome economic bankruptcy. They very badly need a war, that’s the truth. For that matter Verbal attacks on Russia and China goes on, some armed vehicles and Aircrafts being moved to the NATO front in Europe. 

The time is very much apt now and be prepared for a war!!!  It’s quiet obvious history repeats though may be in different form of structure and outfit, but by same integrity.  Attack on Iran is nearing as I am writing this which will set fire to a long conflict. This time it’s not just bombs, but Nukes. Hah…..ha………………………………!

Anyway, let’s pay tribute to those unsuspecting innocent who died on 9/11 in New York. The federal news says only 3000 + dead but at the time in that early morning there should have been over 20000  people of all walks inside the WTC the workers, customers and visitors and also one Sri Lankan kiosk shop keeper on the ground also perished.

May you be well and happy?