Since March 1997, Senaka Weeraratna has waged one of the most persistent, solitary intellectual justice campaigns in modern sport — appealing locally and internationally for recognition as the author of the ‘Player – Referral’ system, today globally known as the Decision Review System (DRS). It began with a letter to the ‘Australian’ (National Newspaper of Australia) dated March 25, 1997. First adopted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2008 as the Decision Review System (DRS), it replaced the “umpire’s decision is final” rule with a system allowing players to challenge on-field calls using technology.
For nearly three decades, his appeals crossed continents, institutions, cricket boards, editors, officials, and administrators. They were supported by documented evidence, first publication records, and formal submissions. Yet, despite the strength of the claim and the clarity of proof, institutional silence prevailed.
As a result, a revolutionary idea that transformed cricket adjudication forever — restoring fairness, accuracy, and justice — was allowed to circulate globally without its creator receiving an iota of rightful recognition or due compensation in the royalties.
This silence did not arise from absence of merit. It arose from institutional inertia, personal jealousy, and systemic resistance to acknowledging authorship outside traditional Western power centres. In South Asian terms, this can only be described as eersiyaawa” — envy-driven obstruction, a cultural malaise that prevents collective advancement by suppressing individual excellence.
As a result, a revolutionary idea that transformed cricket adjudication forever — restoring fairness, accuracy, and justice — was allowed to circulate globally without its creator receiving rightful recognition. Even umpires have failed to acknowledge its merit.
A lone struggle against institutional walls
Weeraratna’s campaign was extraordinary not only for its intellectual depth, but for its longevity and moral clarity. Alone, without institutional backing, he wrote to cricket boards, journalists, administrators, lawyers, international bodies, and governments. His writings appeared in leading international newspapers, and formal representations were submitted to Sri Lanka Cricket and the ICC.
Yet decision-makers remained unmoved. Sympathy replaced action. Praise replaced recognition. Polite acknowledgement replaced justice. Even
This reveals a deeper problem: the inability of institutions to honour intellectual originality when it originates from outside entrenched power structures.
Why this moment is different — and urgent
Today, Senaka Weeraratna approaches 80 years of age.
The world of cricket, meanwhile, is undergoing a profound power shift:
· South Asia now dominates global cricket revenues
· Asian audiences drive broadcast markets
· Asian teams define competitive standards
· Asian players dominate performance metrics
Cricket’s economic, cultural, and moral centre of gravity has shifted East.
Yet intellectual recognition remains locked in old colonial hierarchies.
This contradiction can no longer be sustained.
From a Sri Lankan claim to a South Asian responsibility
This is no longer a private grievance or a national claim.
It is now a South Asian civilisational responsibility.
South Asia must spearhead this recognition because:
· The innovation originated here
· The beneficiaries are global
· The denial reflects historical power imbalance
· The silence enables continued intellectual marginalisation
To allow this injustice to persist is to accept a subordinate intellectual identity, where South Asian innovation is consumed but not credited.
Why recognition matters beyond One Man
This campaign is not about personal glorification.
It is about:
· Restoring truth to cricket history
· Correcting global intellectual records
· Establishing ethical norms of authorship
· Ensuring future Asian innovators are not erased
If Senaka Weeraratna’s authorship is denied despite documented evidence and international publication, what hope remains for the next South Asian innovator?
The DRS was not merely a technical adjustment.
It was a moral innovation — introducing justice, accountability, and transparency into a sport governed for over a century by unchallengeable authority.
This ethical architecture originated in Sri Lanka, from a legal mind trained in justice, fairness, and moral responsibility.
To deny that origin is to deny cricket’s own ethical foundation.
A Call to South Asian Leaders
This moment demands leadership.
Political leaders, cricket boards, legal communities, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals across India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Nepal must now jointly act.
They must:
· Demand formal ICC recognition
· Insist on historical correction
· Mobilize public opinion
· Restore intellectual justice
Time must not be allowed to become another instrument of denial.
History Still Awaits Correction
Almost three decades ago, one Sri Lankan gave cricket its most transformative innovation which is now used across all sports.
Today, almost three decades later, South Asia must give him what institutions denied — truth, recognition, and justice.
If South Asia cannot protect its own intellectual pioneers, it forfeits its moral right to global leadership in cricket.
The time for hesitation is over.
The time for collective action is now.
Shenali D Waduge
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This paper seeks to highlight a critical strategic omission in the draft National Export Development Plan (NEDP 2025–2029):
The absence of a clearly defined high-value offshore engineering and marine industrial development strategy centered in Trincomalee, specifically the proposed development of the Clappenburg area as an Offshore Engineering Hub.
This project has the potential to:
Attract substantial Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Reverse brain drain
Position Sri Lanka as an Indian Ocean offshore engineering center
Generate high-value export earnings
Support energy security and maritime industrialization
2. Strategic Gap in the NEDP
The NEDP identifies:
Marine-based industries (including boatbuilding)
Logistics and transshipment development
Port-led industrial growth
Knowledge-intensive exports
FDI-linked export expansion
However, it does not explicitly address:
Offshore oil & gas engineering services
Offshore renewable energy fabrication
FPSO conversion and repair
Subsea engineering services
Offshore rig repair and marine heavy engineering
While Sri Lanka Ports Authority and port expansion initiatives are mentioned, there is no targeted strategy to leverage Trincomalee’s natural deep-water advantage for high-value offshore engineering activities.
3. Why Trincomalee is Strategically Unique
3.1 Natural Deep-Water Advantage
Trincomalee Harbour is one of the finest natural deep-water harbours in the world. It offers:
Deep draft suitable for offshore rigs and heavy marine structures
Calm waters ideal for fabrication and floating dock operations
Large available land bank for industrial estate development
Strategic proximity to Bay of Bengal energy routes
Unlike Colombo, which is primarily a transshipment hub, Trincomalee can become a production-based maritime industrial cluster.
have leveraged offshore engineering to move from low-value manufacturing to high-value marine industrialization.
Sri Lanka can follow a similar pathway.
5.2 Brain Drain Reversal
Sri Lanka produces:
Naval architects
Marine engineers
Welding technologists
Offshore structural engineers
NDT specialists
Many migrate due to lack of high-value domestic projects.
Establishing an offshore engineering hub would:
Retain skilled engineers
Create high-paying technical jobs
Encourage diaspora return
Strengthen NVQ and TVET marine specialization
5.3 Export Revenue
Offshore engineering services generate:
Project-based USD inflows
Long-term service contracts
Regional Bay of Bengal energy support services
This aligns with NEDP’s goal of reaching USD 36 billion exports by 2030.
6. Geopolitical and Strategic Relevance
The Bay of Bengal is emerging as a major energy and maritime zone.
India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and ASEAN countries are expanding:
Offshore gas exploration
Floating LNG
Offshore wind
Sri Lanka must strategically position Trincomalee before regional competitors dominate this niche.
Failure to act will leave Sri Lanka limited to low-margin transshipment activities.
7. Policy Recommendations
1. Immediate Inclusion in NEDP
Explicitly identify:
Trincomalee Offshore Engineering & Marine Industrial Hub” as a flagship project.
2. Call for International RFP
Through EDB and BOI, issue a global RFP for:
Strategic marine engineering partners
Offshore yard developers
Energy EPC firms
3. Establish Special Marine SEZ
Designate Clappenburg as:
Marine & Offshore SEZ
With tax and duty facilitation
Simplified customs regime
Fast-track approvals
4. Institutional Coordination
Create a Joint Task Force involving:
Ministry of Industries
EDB
BOI
SLPA
Ministry of Energy
8. Conclusion
The NEDP rightly emphasizes logistics, digital exports, and diversification. However, it underestimates Sri Lanka’s potential to move into high-value offshore engineering and marine heavy industry.
Developing Clappenburg in Trincomalee is not merely a regional development project.
In February 2026, the Sri Lankan government officially withdrew its support for a campaign aimed at promoting the country as an inclusive destination for LGBTQ+ tourists. This reversal followed intense pressure from influential religious leaders, including senior Buddhist monks and the head of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka.
The decision impacted the following areas:
Policy Withdrawal: The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) rescinded a letter of support for a project proposed by the advocacy group Equal Ground, which sought to market the island as a safe and welcoming destination for diverse travellers.
Religious Opposition: Prominent figures, such as Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and leaders of the three main Buddhist monastic chapters, argued that promoting such tourism undermined the nation’s moral and cultural heritage.
Legal Context: The Attorney General confirmed the withdrawal during a court hearing for a writ petition filed by citizens who claimed the initiative was unconstitutional and encouraged “unethical” behaviour.
Impact on Image: While tourism officials originally viewed the project as a way to diversify markets and boost foreign exchange, the government ultimately prioritised alignment with national traditional values.
Would you like more details on the current safety advisories for travelers or information on Sri Lanka’s general tourism targets for 2026?
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In 1984, I returned to Sri Lanka after working in Norway’s oil and gas industry, bringing with me experience in advanced welding technologies and offshore engineering. I joined the then state-controlled Colombo Dockyard PLC as a consulting engineer with one objective: to upgrade our industrial capability to international standards.
During that period, we introduced modern welding systems, supported hydropower projects, constructed oil storage tanks, and strengthened fabrication standards. In 1989, I was invited to head the Civil Engineering Corporation, where I further modernized operational systems.
When the Japanese took over Colombo Dockyard, I was reappointed as expatriate CEO. From 1994 to 2001, we elevated Sri Lanka’s shipbuilding technology to a new level before I returned to the UK and Norway to rejoin the oil and gas sector.
But my heart was always in Sri Lanka.
The Galle Harbour Opportunity That Slipped Away
In 2013, I returned to find Galle Harbour idling—an underutilized national asset with immense potential. I proposed developing a yacht building and repair yard. After obtaining Cabinet approval, a Saudi investor commenced development.
However, due to unforeseen religious concerns, the investor withdrew. Subsequently, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority cancelled our agreement and evicted us. A strategic maritime development initiative collapsed—not due to lack of vision or funding, but due to institutional rigidity.
More than 13 years later, Galle Harbour continues to idle.
Mutwal: A Shipyard Born, Then Abandoned
Determined not to give up, I shifted focus to Mutwal (Modera), reviving an idle shipyard with Malaysian investment under MTD Walkers. Thus was born Walkers Colombo Shipyard. We provided a USD 750,000 bond to SLPA and again sought to redevelop Galle.
The proposal was rejected. Years of effort were neutralized. During the economic depression, delayed lease payments led the Ceylon Fishery Harbours Corporation to terminate our lease. Today, the Mutwal yard is silent. Equipment rusts where opportunity once stood.
Trincomalee: Another Vision in Limbo
Later, I was appointed Advisor by the Export Development Board to develop Sri Lanka’s offshore industry. I identified Trincomalee as a strategic maritime and offshore hub. After extensive groundwork, a Cabinet paper was prepared and presented to the Committee of Development Ministers.
Months have passed. No decision.
Investors and professionals who bring international experience are left in a perpetual state of uncertainty.
The Real Crisis: Implementation Failure
Sri Lanka does not lack talent.
Sri Lanka does not lack strategic location.
Sri Lanka does not lack presidential vision.
What it lacks is coordinated execution.
Ministries operate in silos. Approvals move from pillar to post. Agencies such as YDA and CEA take years to grant permissions for initiatives that could generate employment, foreign direct investment (FDI), and technology transfer.
For the past two years, I have been attempting to establish an Advanced Welding Academy in Galle—a center that could transform vocational training and equip our youth with globally competitive skills in welding, fabrication, and offshore construction.
Yet, approvals remain pending.
A Call for Industrial Reform
If Sri Lanka is serious about attracting FDI and developing high-value industries, we must:
Fast-track strategic industrial approvals.
Protect investors who bring technology and global markets.
Establish a single-window clearance system.
Empower technically competent leadership within ministries.
Recognize vocational training as a national priority.
Shipbuilding, offshore engineering, and advanced fabrication are not small industries. They are strategic national assets. Countries like Norway, Singapore, and South Korea built prosperity through maritime and industrial excellence.
Sri Lanka has the geography. It has the talent. What it lacks is decisive execution.
After four decades of contributing locally and internationally, I remain committed to building industrial capacity in my motherland. But frustration grows when national assets lie idle while investors and professionals are driven away.
It is time for Sri Lanka to decide:
Will we continue to let opportunity rust — or will we build the future?
Regards
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
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After weeks of uncertainty, the first-round match between India and Pakistan of the 2026 T20 will be played today at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
The match is among the most-watched sporting events in the world, attracting hundreds of millions of viewers globally. Past high-profile matches (such as ICC World Cup or T20 World Cup clashes) have also drawn over 300–400 million viewers worldwide, making this rivalry one of the most watched in cricket history. Consequently, it exceeds many other global sporting events.
There was political controversy and reports that Pakistan’s government initially instructed its team to boycott the match against India. This caused major uncertainty over whether the classic rivalry fixture would take place.
The controversy began when Bangladesh withdrew from the World Cup earlier, citing safety concerns about playing in India. Instead of addressing their concerns, the ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland. Pakistan’s government and cricket leadership believed this move was unfair. As a show of support and solidarity with Bangladesh, and accusing the ICC of double standards, Pakistan refused to play India.
Sri Lanka faced a similar situation when some countries refused or hesitated to tour Sri Lanka, citing security concerns during the 1996 Cricket World Cup. However, they were not removed from the tournament. The ICC sent an independent security delegation to Sri Lanka, conducted risk assessments of venues, hotels, and transportation routes, and consulted with local authorities and foreign security experts.
After several days of negotiations involving the ICC, PCB, Bangladesh Cricket Board, and government officials—including Sri Lanka’s—Pakistan reversed the boycott decision. The main reason for this change was ICC assurances that Bangladesh would face no penalties for withdrawing.
Additionally, Sri Lanka’s president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, played a visible diplomatic role in encouraging Pakistan to reverse its boycott and play the India match in Colombo. It is reported that he personally called Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and urged him to reconsider Pakistan’s boycott decision, stressing the importance of the match going ahead. It is also reported that the Sri Lankan president has reminded the Pakistani prime minister that when Australia and the West Indies refused to travel to Colombo, citing security risks during the 1996 World Cup, the two arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, agreed to play an exhibition match in Colombo, affirming their trust in Sri Lanka and offering a lifeline to its tournament ambitions.
Pakistan then changed their stance and agreed to play the match, ensuring the fixture would proceed.
When Pakistan Team Wanted To Pull Out Of First Sri Lanka-Pakistan Test Series
Pakistan’s first tour of Sri Lanka after Sri Lanka achieved Test status was in February 1986. The first test was at Asgiriya, where Sri Lanka lost by innings. Before the second test on March 14 at CCC, the President of the Board of Control, Gamini Dissanayake, was determined to secure a series victory. He called a meeting with officials and players to share his ambition.
The second test began at the CCC grounds. Pakistan was bowled out for 132 in the first innings, while Sri Lanka scored 273. In the second innings, Pakistan scored 172, and Sri Lanka needed only 33 runs to win. Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets.
Pakistan players, led by Imran Khan, were unhappy with many umpiring decisions. At the time, there was no neutral umpiring, and Sri Lankan umpires officiated. There was also no Decision Review System (DRS). After the second test, Pakistani players and the captain asked officials to cancel the series. The Pakistan manager contacted their Board of Control officials, who sent a senior official to discuss with Sri Lankan officials and diplomatically withdraw the team.
The Pakistani official first spoke with the vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket, Ian Pieris (former Sri Lanka cricketer and Cambridge blue), then with the president.
Nearly two hours of talks yielded no favourable outcome. Gamini Dissanayake then called President J.R. Jayewardene, briefed him on the situation, and JRJ, a cricket fan, invited them to his residence at Ward Place.”
JRJ listened to both sides and then quietly walked to his land phone and dialled. When someone answered, he said, Your Excellency, these 22 fools in flannels are trying to disrupt the good relations between our countries. Therefore, I am ordering the Pakistan team to stay and continue the game.”
The Pakistani president at the time, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, spoke to the Pakistan official over the phone. He assured President J.R. Jayewardene that they would continue the tour.
The third test was played at The Oval and resulted in a draw, marking Sri Lanka’s first series draw. Thus Sri Lanka drew a series for the first time after attaining test status.
Pakistan won the 5 match ODI series 2 – 0.
If J.R. Jayewardene were living today, he would have called the limited-over and T20 teams these twenty-two fools in multi-coloured pyjamas.”
Sri Lankans Contribution to World of Cricket, on Field and Off the Field.
Sri Lankans have made significant contributions to the world of cricket. In the 1996 World Cup matches, Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana transformed the first 15 overs from a survival phase” into a weapon with their ultra-aggressive opening batting.
Sri Lankan world cup winning Captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who challenged umpiring norms and player authority, helped create the world’s best spinner – the great Muttiah Muralitharan, who redefined what spin bowling could be. He is widely considered the greatest spinner of all time, holding the record for the most Test wickets (800) and 534 ODI wickets.
Off the field, the Sri Lankan fan contribution to cricket culture includes the famous high-energy brass band style Papare” music.
Most notably, Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratne proposed the concept of the Player Referral System (now commonly called the Decision Review System – DRS) in 1997. This system was introduced to review controversial decisions made by on-field umpires regarding whether the batsman was correctly dismissed.
Senaka Weeraratne, known as the father of UDRS or DRS, has yet to receive adequate recognition from the ICC. I appeal to all cricket fans to pressure the ICC to be fair and avoid any double standards.
Rohan Abeygunawardena
(Writer could be contacted on abeyrohan@gmail.com)
Billboard in front of the US Interest Section in Havana. Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0
Born in crisis, strengthened by rejection, Cuba once again faces economic asphyxiation by Washington, which is moving in for the kill after sixty-seven years of attacking the island.*
Since the triumph of their revolution in 1959, Cubans have infuriated U.S. leaders with their specialized genius in overcoming catastrophe, whether it take the form of a hurricane, flood, invasion, hijacking, chemical attack, biological attack, or economic warfare.
In the same year, 1959 another geostrategic island in the Indian Ocean, Ceylon saw her first Socialist Prime Minister, S.W.R.D Bandaranaike assassinated in Operation Colombo as the Cold War escalated between the West and the de-colonizing Global South escalated against Leftists.
Between disasters, they eat, drink, dance, and make merry in Cuba.
Today with the second coming of Trump, the abduction of Nicolas Maduro, and the cutting off of Venezuelan oil to Havana, they face a very familiar ratcheting up of imperial sadism to make them beg for relief. Bus stops stand empty and fewer cars and pedestrians circulate in the street. Lack of fuel is palpable, and many gas stations have shut down. Air Canada is suspending service to the island.
Families turn to wood and coal for cooking amidst the constant power outages. Emergency restrictions mandate a four-day work week, reduced transport between provinces, the closing of main tourist facilities, shorter school days, and reduced in-person attendance requirements at universities. But somehow life flows on in Havana, and there’s plenty to do. Near the train station on the boardwalk, people fish. When night falls, neighborhoods fill with young people engaged in cultural projects, or playing soccer or basketball.
A 32-year-old Cuban woman named Yadira expressed a key part of the national psychology well to journalist Louis Hernandez Navarro recently in the Mexican daily La Jornada. Two years ago, she left the island hoping to reach the United States, leaving her nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son with their grandparents. She never made it to the U.S. and had to stay in Mexico City, working in a fish shop in the Nonoalco market. Now she’s back in Havana.
However far from home I may be,” she says, there’s a little piece of me still in Cuba, and I don’t just mean my children . . .. I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to my country. I don’t like politics, but what we are experiencing with Trump goes beyond politics. How come someone who isn’t even Cuban has to come and decide how we have to live?”
Navarro observes that those now counting on precipitating a regime change” by strangling the life of Cuba, forget how intimate the bonds with one’s native country are, how quickly even the apolitical like Yadira can be provoked into fierce resistance. It is a foolish but frequent forgetting.
He goes on to note that now is not the first time that the end of the Cuban revolution was said to be at hand. In 1991, Argentine journalist Andres Oppenheimer published the book, Castro’s Final Hour,” the product of a six-month stay in Cuba and five-hundred interviews with high officials and government opponents.
A contributor to the Miami Herald and CNN, Oppenheimer lives in the United States and enjoys close ties to the Cuban exile community in Miami. According to Navarro, the book describes what the author took to be the imminent collapse of Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution after three decades in power.
But the much yearned-for outcome quickly evaporated. Confident forecasts of the prompt and inevitable disintegration of the Cuban government, written as the Iron Curtain” was falling and the USSR vanishing, turned out to be a mirage. Promiscuously spread as a kind of Gospel in newspapers and on TV, the predictions remained unfulfilled. Fidel Castro stubbornly lived another 25 years, was succeeded in power by his brother Raul, who, in turn, was succeeded by Miguel Diaz-Canel.
Thirty-five years later, U.S. military aggression against Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Maduro have revived the prophecy of impending doom for the Cuban revolution. The fantasy feeds on extrapolations from the importance that Chavismo” had for the survival of revolutionary politics on the island, leaping to easy conclusions that Communist rule will abruptly collapse.
It is certainly true that in Hugo Chavez’s time, up to a hundred thousand barrels of Venezuelan oil a day were distributed to Cuba, and after the economic siege against the Maduro government was imposed (2021-2025), the figure plummeted to thirty thousand barrels a day, a severe blow to the island’s economy. Today, Havana only has about 40,000 of the 100,000 daily barrels it needs, while implementation of its plan to promote renewable forms of energy so as to rely less on fossil fuels advances at a slower pace than the country’s growing needs.
To make matters worse, Trump has tightened the energy blockade, threatening to charge tariffs on countries daring to supply Cuba with fuel. This has profoundly negative consequences for public health, food, and, of course, daily life. Cubans were already suffering frequent power outages, as well as scarcity and deprivation on a scale not seen since the special period” of economic crisis after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, but now must withstand almost constant shut-downs. On many parts of the island outages last more than half the day.
But does that mean that the collapse of the Cuban government is imminent or that regime change” is about to occur? Cuba’s Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga says absolutely not: This is an opportunity and a challenge that we have no doubt we will overcome. We are not going to collapse.”
Pointing to the determination of so many resisting Cubans and the social cohesion born of rejecting Trump’s crude interventionism, Navarro claims announcements of the end of the Cuban revolution are no more than a phantom born of the yearnings of Cuba-haters for redemption and of Trump to win votes for the upcoming mid-term elections.
In order to breathe life into the idea that regime change has legs, various news platforms in the Washington orbit have recently spread the message that Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel called the United States to request a serious dialogue, which, so it was said, represented a change of stance by the Cuban government towards the United States, provoked by Trump’s absurd January 29 declaration** proclaiming tiny Cuba a threat to the national security of the United States, and warning of retaliation
But in reality there was no change of stance, just the umpteenth invitation for dialogue and understanding to prevail between the two countries, on a base of equality and mutual respect, which Cuba has always insisted on.
From Cuba’s point of view, the latest phase of U.S. attacks on the island started with the extermination campaign in Gaza and the world paralysis that let it proceed, which encouraged delusions of omnipotence in Washington.
Now Donald Trump wants to impose hunger on Cubans to make them renounce socialism, which is not at all a new idea. Like his predecessors in the Oval Office, he doesn’t want there to be a base for anti-imperial politics anywhere in the world, much less just ninety miles away from the U.S.
Cuba, after all, once sent hundreds of thousands of its troops thousands of miles from home to humiliate white South Africa on the battlefield. Its withering advance in southwestern Angola and electrifying defeat of apartheid forces at Cuito Cuanavale featuring Cuban mastery of the skies were key events in bringing down the loathesome regime. Nelson Mandela said the Cuban victory at Cuito Cuanavale destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the white oppressor [and] inspired the fighting masses of South Africa . . . Cuito Cuanavale was the turning point for the liberation of our continent – and of my people – from the scourge of apartheid.”
On his first trip outside Africa Mandela made a point of visiting Havana in July, 1991 to deliver a message of gratitude in person to the Cuban people: We come here with a sense of the great debt that is owed the Cuban people. What other country can point to a record of greater selflessness than Cuba has displayed in its relations to Africa?”
The U.S. defined Mandela as a terrorist until 2008, and regards Havana as a terrorist regime right now.
Madness. Meanwhile, on the ground in Cuba, against the wind and a rising reactionary tide, a proud and resilient people, survivors of a thousand betrayals and besieged by a vile blockade, defiantly survives.
Notes.
*This imperial arrogance dates as far back as Thomas Jefferson, who wanted to annex Cuba.
** Addressing Threats To The United States By The Government Of Cuba” www.whitehouse.gov
Sources
Luis Hernandez Navarro, Cuba: a society forged in crises: we have endured them all” La Jornada, February 7, 2026 (Spanish)
Gabriela Vera Lopes, A Solidarity That Takes Risks and Puts Our Bodies On The Line is Indispensable,” February 6, 2026, www.rebelion.org (Spanish)
From blackouts to food shortages: How U.S. blockade is crippling life in Cuba,” Al Jazeera, February 8, 2026
Ignacio Ramonet & Fidel Castro, Fidel Castro – My Life (Scribner, 2006) pps. 316-25
Piero Gleijeses, Visions of Freedom – Havana, Washington, Pretoria, and the Struggle for Southern Africa 1976-1991, (University of North Carolina, 2013, pps. 519, 526
Colombo, Feb. 14 (Daily Mirror) – In Sri Lanka, tea and coffee are not lifestyle accessories. They are part of who we are. The first cup at dawn steadies the morning. The mid-afternoon brew carries conversations across office tables and village verandas. The evening cup slows the day down. So when global headlines began declaring that two or three cups a day could lower the risk of dementia, it was never going to be ignored here.
The renewed attention comes from one of the largest long-term investigations into caffeine and brain health ever conducted. Researchers analysing data from 131,821 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study in the United States tracked volunteers for up to 43 years. The findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggest that people who regularly consumed caffeinated coffee or tea had a 15 to 20 per cent lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who rarely drank either beverage.
The numbers are striking. Participants who consumed the highest amounts of caffeinated coffee showed an 18 per cent lower dementia risk. Those who drank one to two cups of caffeinated tea daily also demonstrated a meaningful reduction in risk. The most consistent benefit appeared among individuals drinking two to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day or one to two cups of tea. Importantly, decaffeinated coffee showed no significant association with lower dementia risk, pointing to caffeine as a possible key factor.
Beyond diagnosis alone, habitual coffee drinkers in the study performed better on objective cognitive tests and reported less subjective cognitive decline over time. These details matter because dementia is not a single event but a gradual process that unfolds over years.
Another major body of evidence from the United Kingdom strengthens the conversation. Data from the UK Biobank, which followed more than 365,000 adults aged 50 to 74 for an average of 11 years, found that moderate tea and coffee consumption was associated with lower risks of dementia and stroke. Taken together, these large-scale cohort studies have pushed caffeine and cognitive health into the global spotlight.
Why Tea and Coffee may support brain health
Scientists believe the explanation lies in the chemistry of the cup. Tea and coffee contain polyphenols and antioxidants that may reduce inflammation and combat oxidative stress, both of which contribute to brain ageing. Caffeine itself has been linked to improved vascular function and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, a condition strongly associated with increased dementia risk.
Healthy blood vessels are essential for a healthy brain. When circulation is compromised, cognitive decline often follows. The possibility that moderate caffeine intake may support vascular health offers one biological pathway that could explain the observed associations.
However, it is crucial to be clear. These are observational studies. They show correlation, not proof of cause and effect. Researchers cannot say that drinking coffee or tea directly prevents dementia. Other lifestyle factors may influence the results. For example, individuals who avoid caffeine sometimes do so because of existing health issues such as hypertension, which itself increases dementia risk. Separating these variables completely is challenging.
Dementia in Sri Lanka: A growing concern
For Sri Lanka, the conversation is urgent. An estimated 200,000 Sri Lankans are currently living with dementia, and that number is expected to rise significantly as the population ages. Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders already account for thousands of deaths annually. Yet dementia often remains hidden behind closed doors, quietly managed by families who view memory loss as an inevitable part of ageing rather than a medical condition requiring structured care.
This is why the global research resonates locally. We are one of the world’s most recognised tea-producing nations. Tea is woven into our identity. Coffee culture is expanding rapidly in urban centres. But our context is unique. Sri Lankan tea is often strong, sweet and prepared with milk. Dietary patterns, genetics, healthcare access and lifestyle behaviours differ from the Western populations studied.
At present, Sri Lanka does not have large-scale national research specifically examining tea or coffee consumption and dementia risk within our own communities. That gap highlights the need for local scientific inquiry before drawing firm conclusions tailored to our population.
The Real takeaway for Sri Lankans
So should Sri Lankans start counting cups as a form of brain insurance? Not quite. The evidence suggests moderation is key. Two to three cups of caffeinated coffee or one to two cups of tea per day appears to be the range associated with lower dementia risk in international studies. More is not necessarily better. Excess caffeine can disrupt sleep and increase anxiety, both of which negatively affect cognitive health.
Brain protection does not come from a single habit. It comes from a pattern of living. Regular physical activity, quality sleep, controlling blood pressure and diabetes, maintaining social connections and keeping the mind intellectually active all play powerful roles in reducing dementia risk. A cup of tea shared with friends may support brain health not only because of its antioxidants, but because of the conversation and connection that accompany it.
The global research has not delivered a miracle cure. What it has delivered is a reminder. Everyday habits matter. Lifestyle choices accumulate over decades. And sometimes the rituals we cherish may carry benefits beyond comfort.
In Sri Lanka, the kettle will continue to boil. The real question is whether we use these moments to talk openly about dementia, support ageing parents with dignity, and invest in healthier futures. If a simple cup of tea or coffee sparks that awareness, then it may already be contributing more to brain health than any headline alone can capture.
For a clearer understanding of what the research really means, explore our concise 2-minute AI explainer. Click here
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) National Organizer and Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa, stated that a Presidential Commission should be appointed to investigate the ‘Aragalaya’ protest movement and the foreign funding it allegedly received.
He made these remarks while addressing the media at the SLPP party headquarters in Nelum Mawatha yesterday (13).
Expressing his views on this further, Namal Rajapaksa claimed:
Certain individuals sacrificed a life to achieve their own political objectives under the guise of the ‘Aragalaya’. A group of youth were sent to the gallows. Those who appeared on mainstream media giving advice and inciting people—urging them to take to the streets and attack while promising to take care of the consequences—are now in power, while those young people have ended up at the gallows.”
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Why is it important to go back in time to understand the root causes of every country unable to rise from its colonial past? Why have these nations that have self-sustained themselves for centuries during times when there were no imports or exports, dollar transactions now crippled in debt? While modern conflicts preach about accountability & acknowledgment, there is little or no such by the very entities that engineered, institutionalized, politicized selective and privileged policies that constitute the symptoms behind most of today’s global conflicts. Without understanding this background, people are made to believe the Sinhalese & Tamils have been enemies. Sri Lanka’s civilization is far beyond the 443 years western colonials occupied the island or the over 200 years of South Indian invader rule.
Portuguese Period (1505–1658) – Malabars as Foreign Settlers
Portuguese chroniclers consistently labeled Tamil-speaking populations as Malabares”, migrants from South India, not indigenous.
Fernao de Queiroz (1687):
The Chingalas are the natural inhabitants and ancient possessors of the island.”
The Malabars are foreigners who came from the coast of India, settling principally in the northern parts.”
The kingdom of Jaffnapatam was formed by Malabars who crossed over from the Coromandel coast.”
João Ribeiro (1685):
The Chingalas are the true natives of the land.”
The Malabars came from the Coromandel coast and settled in Jaffna.”
Key point: No Portuguese source ever recognizes Tamils as indigenous.
Dutch Period (1658–1796) – Consolidating Migrant Status
Philippus Baldaeus (1672):
The Chingalese are the proper natives of the island.”
The Malabars crossed over from the coast of India and established settlements in the north.”
Francois Valentyn (1726):
The Sinhalese have inhabited the island from the most ancient times.”
The Malabars are immigrants from South India who formed colonies in Jaffna.”
Dutch records confirm importation of thousands of Malabars, and explicitly did not recognize them as natives.
British Period (1796–1948) – Institutionalizing Artificial Identities
Robert Knox (1681):
These people are the native inhabitants of the island.” (Sinhalese)
Captain Robert Percival (1803):
The Malabars are foreign settlers, differing in every respect from the native inhabitants.”
Sir James Emerson Tennent (1859):
The Sinhalese constitute the aboriginal population of the island.”
The Malabars derive their origin from Southern India.”
Casie Chitty (1834):
The Tamils of Ceylon are descendants of Malabars who migrated from Southern India.”
George Turnour (1837):
The Sinhalese monarchy and civilization existed centuries before South Indian invasions.”
Creation of Ceylon Tamil” – 20th Century Administrative Rebranding
Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam (1901):
The term ‘Malabar’ gave the impression that they were foreigners.”
1911 Census (E.B. Denham, British Administration):
For the first time:
Ceylon Tamils (localized identity)
Indian Tamils (indentured laborers)
Before 1911, Tamils were Malabars, classified by occupation, caste, or origin, with no political or territorial identity.
After 1911, administrative labels → political identity → communal consciousness → territorial claims → separatist ideology.
British policies imported over 1 million Indian Tamils as plantation laborers, officially Indian Tamils,” temporary and stateless.
Questioning the Colonial Census – The Ceylon Tamil” Construct
Understanding how artificial ethnic identities were created requires examining the timeline of censuses in Ceylon and the emergence of Ceylon Tamil”.
Pre-1911 Censuses – No Ceylon Tamil” Category
Census Year
Classification of Tamils
Notes
1824
Malabars, Sinhalese, Moors, Europeans
Earliest British population survey; Tamils called Malabars, no political identity
First scientific census; Tamils grouped as a single category
1881
Sinhalese, Tamils, Moors, Europeans
Tamils not subdivided; identity based on language/caste, not political or territorial claim
1891
Sinhalese, Tamils, Moors, Europeans
No separate Ceylon Tamil” or territorial identity
1901
Sinhalese, Tamils, Moors, Europeans
Classification remained consistent; census purely descriptive
Observation: Until 1911, there was no administrative distinction between local Tamil settlers (Malabars) and other groups.
There was no Ceylon Tamil” identity, no political or territorial implication, only linguistic/caste-based categorization.
Census of 1911 – The Turning Point
Compiler: E. B. Denham, Census Superintendent
Publication: Census of Ceylon, 1911, Volume I – General Report (Government Press, Colombo, 1912)
Racial Classification Introduced for the First Time:
Ceylon Tamils(local Tamil-speaking population)
Indian Tamils(indentured plantation laborers from South India)
Significance: This was a completely new political-racial construct. Administrative convenience became a political identity, laying the foundation for communal consciousness, representation, and eventual territorial claims.
Questions Raised by the 1911 Census
Why did the British suddenly create Ceylon Tamil” in 1911?
Previous censuses did not distinguish between Malabars and other Tamil-speaking populations.
The label had no historical or indigenous basis.
Was this merely administrative, or intentionally political?
Census categories are often neutral, but here the creation of a separate racial-political identityenabled later communal representation and territorial claims.
Impact on subsequent politics and separatism:
This administrative act directly influenced the formation of:
Federal Party (ITAK)
TULF political platform
Vaddukoddai Resolution
LTTE separatist ideology
Historical legitimacy and public perception:
Can a 20th-century colonial administrative categoryoverride centuries of historical, social, and cultural realities?
How did the census reframe the narrativeof Sinhalese-Tamil relations, presenting artificial divisions as natural or historical?
Key Observations
Before 1911: Tamils were classified as Malabars — migrants from South India, not a politically or territorially distinct population.
1911 Census: Introduced Ceylon Tamil” for the first time — a politically engineered identity.
Takeaway: The very foundation of the Ceylon Tamil” identity used in later political movements originates in a single colonial census, not in historical continuity or indigenous ethnicity.
From Ceylon Tamil” to Separatist Politics: The Colonial Roots of Secessionist Demands
Step
Action
Outcome
1911 Census
Created Ceylon Tamil”
Admin → Political identity
1949 ITAK
Federal Party
Territorial claims
1976 TULF
Vaddukoddai Resolution
Sovereign Tamil Eelam claim
1987 Accord
Provincial autonomy
Partial political legitimacy
LTTE
Armed secession
Northern/Eastern provinces claimed
Diaspora
Global advocacy
International lobbying citing artificial identity
Artificial Identity: Ceylon Tamil” (1911 Census)
Pre-1911: Tamils wereMalabars, migrants from South India; no political or territorial identity.
1911 Census:British created Ceylon Tamil” and Indian Tamil” as separate categories.
This act institutionalized division, setting the stage for ethnic mobilization.
ITAK & TULF – Political Consolidation of Identity
Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK, 1949)– Federal Party
Directlybuilt upon the Ceylon Tamil” administrative identity.
Political goal:federal state for Ceylon Tamils.
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF, 1976)
Adopted ITAK’s platform.
Vaddukoddai Resolution (1976):
Called for a sovereign Tamil Eelam, claiming the northern and eastern provinces based on Tamil majority populations.
The Tamil-speaking people of the North and East have a right to self-determination and to establish a sovereign Tamil Eelam.” – Vaddukoddai Resolution, 1976
Observation: The legal/administrative recognition of Ceylon Tamils in 1911 was the first step in creating a population category that later justified claims for territorial self-determination.
Indo-Lanka Accord (1987) – State Recognition of Tamil Political Identity
Accord wording emphasizedTamil-speaking population of the north and east” and provincial devolution.
Intended as a compromise: provincial autonomy for areas dominated byCeylon Tamils.
Consequence: Even limited devolutionrecognized a politically distinct Tamil entity, echoing the 1911 census’s artificial separation.
The Tamil-speaking population of the Northern and Eastern provinces shall have devolved powers, and their distinct identity shall be recognized.” – Indo-Lanka Accord, 1987
LTTE Demands – Militarization of Artificial Identity
LTTE used theCeylon Tamil identity to claim:
Entirenorthern and eastern provinces as a Tamil homeland.
Exclusive rights based on ethnic majority,” ignoring historical Sinhalese presence.
Territorial claims inVaddukoddai Resolution and later LTTE manifestosdirectly trace back to the recognition of Ceylon Tamils as a separate group.
Without the 1911 administrative identity, the ideological foundation for such territorial demands would have lacked legitimacy.
Diaspora Advocacy – Global Amplification
Diaspora groups (Europe, North America, Australia) continue to:
Claim rights forCeylon Tamils
Lobby UN, EU, and human rights forums using thehistorical political identity of Ceylon Tamil”.
Examples of demands:
Recognition of Tamil Eelam.
Autonomy or federal guarantees fornorthern and eastern provinces.
International intervention citingCeylon Tamil oppression”, framing Sinhalese as the majority oppressor.
This demonstrates colonial administrative classification → local political identity → militant claims → global diaspora advocacy.
Summary – The Causal Chain
Step
Description
Effect
1911 Census
Creation of Ceylon Tamil” identity
Administrative identity → Political identity
ITAK (1949) & TULF (1976)
Federalist political platform
Territorial claims, Vaddukoddai Resolution
Indo-Lanka Accord (1987)
Limited devolution
State-level recognition of distinct political Tamil identity
LTTE (1980s–2009)
Armed separatist demands
Northern & Eastern provinces claimed as Tamil homeland
Diaspora Groups
International advocacy
Global lobbying, human rights campaigns
Diaspora Statements on Self‑Determination and Tamil Eelam
From a public Tamil diaspora press release calling for recognition of Tamil self‑determination and political solutions:
We Tamils have been fighting for over seventy years for self‑determination. We are a nation of people living in the merged North and East in the island of Ceylon. We have our right to determine our own destiny… successively suppressed… amounting to genocide.” — Statement by Tamil diaspora advocacy groups, urging UN recognition, an internationally monitored referendum for people in northern/eastern provinces and their descendants, and recognition of Tamil territories not governed by Tamils.
The State of Tamil Eelam shall consist of the people of the Northern and Eastern provinces… and ensure full and equal rights of citizenship… Tamil shall be the language of the State…”
— Translated extracts from TULF political platform.
The North was under South Indian invader rule but that ruler never extended to present East.
Invader rule does not constitute ethnic homeland” and if invaders never ruled Eastern Province, how can this so-called Tamil Eelam include entire Eastern Province too.
The entire separatist and territorial movement, from ITAK/TULF to LTTE and diaspora activism, originates from a 20th-century colonial administrative act — the artificial categorization of Ceylon Tamil” in 1911.
International Law
Territorial Integrity:UN Charter Article 2(4) prohibits secession without consent.
Right to Self-Determination:Only applies to historically oppressed or indigenous people, not administrative constructs.
Colonial Responsibility:Shows colonial census categories led to long-term conflicts.
Understanding these roots is essential to seeing through modern narratives of ancient ethnic enmity” and recognizing how colonial and neocolonial policies engineered divisions for administrative convenience and political control.
Shenali D Waduge
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My wife and I recently arrived in Colombo from Singapore on a late-night flight. As dual citizens, I hold both a Sri Lankan passport and a British passport. As is my usual practice, I presented both passports to the immigration officer, since officers typically request to see them.
To my surprise, the officer stated that his system did not show that I was a dual citizen. He was holding my British passport and said, Your dual citizenship is not indicated, and you cannot enter.” I immediately informed him that I had also handed over my Sri Lankan passport, where my dual citizenship status is clearly mentioned.
He appeared hesitant to proceed with stamping the passports. My wife and I were already very tired due to a delayed UL flight and it was well past midnight. Despite my natural frustration in such situations, I remained calm and asked him what needed to be done. He responded that this was a system problem.”
I explained that I am a citizen of this country, holding a valid Sri Lankan passport, and that I have traveled in and out of Sri Lanka many times over the years without facing such an issue. This was the first time I encountered such difficulty.
Fortunately, the lady officer seated next to him, wearing a headscarf, intervened and advised him to allow us to enter. Eventually, he said he would enter into the system” that I am a dual citizen. I remarked that if there was a system requirement, immigration authorities should have updated such records 10–15 years ago, given that my dual citizenship is long-standing.
After some further processing, he finally stamped both passports and allowed us to enter.
This experience raises some questions: • Why was a valid Sri Lankan passport not sufficient proof of citizenship? • Why was dual citizenship information apparently missing from the system? • Are dual citizens at risk of unnecessary inconvenience due to database gaps? • Was this simply inexperience, or something else?
As senior citizens arriving late at night, we did not expect to face uncertainty about entry into our own country.
I sincerely hope the relevant authorities review such procedures to ensure that dual citizens are treated with clarity, efficiency, and respect.
I repatriated back for to my own motherland and getting my foreign pension in Sri Lanka and contributing to our national coffers I expect better treatment
— Sarath Obeysekera
Regards
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
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පෘතුගීසීන් විසින් සොරකම් කරන ලදැයි කියන, අවුරුදු 500කට අධික කාලයක් නොදිරා පවතින තොටගමුවේ ශ්රී රාහුල හිමියන්ගේ අභිරහස් දේහය පිළිබඳව ඔබ විශ්වාස කරනවාද? ලංකාවේ ස්වර්ණමය කෝට්ටේ යුගයේ බැබලුණු ෂඩ් භාෂා පරමේශ්වර, මහා පඬිවර තොටගමුවේ ශ්රී රාහුල හාමුදුරුවන්ගේ දේහය අදටත් ඉන්දියාවේ ගෝවේ පෞරාණික දේවස්ථානයක සුරක්ෂිතව ඇති බවට ජනප්රවාදයක් පවතිනවා. මේ නොදිරන දේහයේ රහස සහ එහි ඇති සිංහල කවිය පිටුපස සැඟවුණු සත්යය කුමක්ද? ගුප්ත විද්යාඥ රොෂාන් චානක තිසේරා මහතා සහ අංගම්පොර ශිල්පී අජන්ත මහන්තාරච්චි මහතා මේ අභිරහස හෙළි කර ගැනීම සඳහා ගෝවේ බලා පිටත්ව ගියා. දස වසරකට වරක් ප්රදර්ශනය කෙරෙන මෙම දේහය ඔවුන් දැක බලාගත් ආකාරය, ඔවුන් දුටු සත්යය සහ ඒ පිළිබඳව ඔවුන් කළ පර්යේෂණ මේ වීඩියෝවෙන් ඔබට ඉදිරිපත් කරනවා. ශ්රී රාහුල හිමියන්ට මහා දැනුමක් ලැබුණු සරස්වතී තෛලය, උන්වහන්සේගේ නොදිරන දේහය සහ පෘතුගීසීන් විසින් එය ගෝවේට ගෙන ගිය ආකාරය පිළිබඳ පුදුම සහගත තොරතුරු මෙහි අන්තර්ගතයි. දකුණු අතේ ඇති සිංහල කවියේ අභිරහස, දේහයේ කොටස් ලෝකයේ විවිධ ප්රදේශවලට යැවූ ආකාරය සහ ඊළඟට දේහය ප්රදර්ශනය කරන්නේ කවදාද යන්න පිළිබඳව සියලු තොරතුරු දැන ගැනීමට මේ වීඩියෝව නරඹන්න! මෙය හුදෙක් ජනප්රවාදයක් පමණක්ද? නැතිනම් සත්යයක්ද? ඔබේ අදහස් පහතින් Comment කරන්න! අපේ Channel එක Subscribe කරන්නත් අමතක කරන්න එපා! Do you believe in the mysterious, undecayed body of Thotagamuve Sri Rahula Thera, said to have been stolen by the Portuguese over 500 years ago? Legend has it that the body of the revered scholar Thotagamuve Sri Rahula Thera, who shone brightly during Sri Lanka’s golden Kotte era, is still preserved in an ancient church in Goa, India. What is the truth behind this undecayed body and the Sinhala poem found on it? Mystic and entrepreneur Roshan Chanaka Thisera, along with Angampora martial artist Ajantha Mahantharachchi, embarked on a journey to Goa to uncover this mystery. This video presents their experience of witnessing the body, which is displayed once every ten years, the truths they discovered, and their ongoing research. This video contains astonishing information about the Saraswathi oil that bestowed immense knowledge upon Sri Rahula Thera, the enigma of his undecayed body, and how the Portuguese allegedly took it to Goa. Watch this video to learn all about the mystery of the Sinhala poem on his right hand, how parts of the body were sent to various parts of the world, and when the body will next be exhibited! Is this merely a legend, or is there a truth to it?
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The Vietnamese Buddhist Monk Ven. Pannakara Thero is on the Global centre stage today. His Walk for Peace in the USA lasting 108 Days across 8 States has raised the stature of Vietnam in the Buddhist World to an unparalleled high level. He has brought world attention to a cause of Buddhism –
in the USA – ‘ Declare Vesak a National Holiday ‘ without firing a single bullet without using a gun without an iota of violence.
He has created a new dimension for peaceful protests in the USA like what Mahatma Gandhi did in India in his day about 100 years ago when demanding freedom and independence from Britain by use of non – violence and satyagraha.
All strength to the elbow of Ven. Pannakara and his travelling band of 19 Monks. He has given leadership to the cause of Buddhism at a time when the term ‘leadership’ and ‘outspokenness’ for any cause of Buddhism are virtually non – existent and conspicuous by their absence.
Ven. Pannakara has the potential of being idolized worldwide like a Rock Star but for noble worthy causes. He has done for Buddhism with his simplicity and directness which no other Buddhist figure has done in recent times. He has become the rage that is sweeping the entire globe and touching the hearts of both Buddhists and Non – Buddhists alike.
Being the country that has the longest history of uninterrupted Sri Lanka must unhesitatingly invite Ven. Pannakara and his band of 19 Theravada monks visit Sri Lanka to a warm welcome and as part of the oncoming Vesak Celebration. Let us Buddhists tell Ven. Pannakara and his gallant band that ‘ We and them are One’
Let us also use this occasion to remind the Vietnamese Buddhists that 63 years ago both the Govt. of Sri Lanka and the Buddhist Public stood by them in their hour of crisis.
R. S. S. Gunawardena to raise concerns about the repression in South Vietnam.
UN Intervention: Sri Lanka’s appeals contributed to the UN General Assembly adopting a motion on October 8, 1963, to send a fact-finding mission to investigate the situation.
Public Demonstrations: Organizations like the Bauddha Jatika Balavegaya (BJB) led by L.H. Mettananda organized large public protests in Colombo.
Lasting Connection: Sri Lanka established strong ties with Vietnamese Buddhist leaders, a relationship that continues to this day through mutual support and cultural exchange.
……………..
In 1963,
both the government and the people of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) provided significant moral, public, and diplomatic support to Vietnamese Buddhists during their crisis against the Ngo Dinh Diem regime. The support was driven by solidarity with fellow Buddhists facing discrimination and religious repression.
Sri Lanka’s assistance included various actions.
The Bauddha Jatika Balavegaya (BJB) organized public protests, including a massive rally at Ananda College, Colombo in October 1963
directed Sri Lanka’s UN Ambassador to raise the issue internationally. These efforts, along with those of other nations, led to the UN General Assembly adopting a motion on October 8, 1963, to send a fact-finding mission to South Vietnam. A few days after the arrival of the Sri Lanka instigated UN fact – finding mission in Saigon the dictator Ngo Dinh Diem and his Government were overthrown on November 2, 1963
Religious leaders in Sri Lanka, such as Venerable
Narada Maha Thera , also expressed support. Sri Lanka also acknowledged the sacrifices of Vietnamese monks who protested the regime. This support played a role in the international response to the 1963 Buddhist Crisis.
See also
Shenali Waduge
Remembering the martyrdom of Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc on its 50th Anniversary (1963 – 2013)
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Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation, Anura Karunatilaka, has resigned from the Special Parliamentary Select Committee appointed to look into the release of 323 containers from the Colombo Port without being subjected to mandatory physical inspection.
The Parliamentary Select Committee, appointed to investigate and report on the release of the 323 containers without mandatory physical inspection and to submit its proposals and recommendations, convened for the third consecutive day on 11 February 2026 in Parliament under the chairmanship of Minister of Justice and National Integration, Attorney-at-Law Harshana Nanayakkara.
At the outset of the proceedings, the chair informed the Committee that Minister Karunatilaka had informed of his resignation from the membership of the committee.
He further stated that another member would be appointed in due course.
A group of officials from Sri Lanka Customs, including Director General Seevali Arukgoda, were summoned before the Committee, and evidence relating to the incident was recorded.
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The leader of the Sarvajana Balaya and Member of Parliament, Dilith Jayaweera, today (13) claimed that the recent incident involving a Buddha statue in Trincomalee was deliberately used by the government to create unrest in the country.
Speaking at a press briefing in Colombo, he said, We intervened to condemn this organized cultural attack being unleashed on the country. The Trincomalee incident is just one example. In reality, there have been many more serious incidents.
It is clear that this is a tool used by the government to deliberately create instability and disrupt harmony among communities. This is evident to us,” he added.
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The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington DC welcomed the ‘Walk for Peace’ on 10 February 2026, a walk by a group of Buddhist monks throughout the United States advocating world peace which was attracted by the people of the United States and around the world. By offering traditional Sri Lankan cuisine, the Embassy joined the Dana organized by the Sri Lankan community in the DMV area held at the National United Methodist Church which was attended by over 200 Buddhist monks. The Ambassador, upon invitation by Secretary of District of Columbia Ms. Kimberly A. Basset attended the interfaith ceremony held at the Washington National Cathedral. Thousands of people were gathered around the Cathedral showing their support for the Walk for Peace. Ambassador Mahinda Samarasinghe was joined by Deputy Head of Mission Mr. Madhuka Wickramarachchi. The Head Priest and the monks stopped momentarily at the Embassy where the Ambassador offered Atapirikara and pinned the Sri Lankan flag on the robe of Ven.Pannakara. The staff of the Embassy and the Sri Lankan community offered flowers and greeted the Walk. The Embassy distributed water bottles to all the devotees on the Walk which was highly appreciated. The Ambassador, staff of the Embassy and the members of the Sri Lankan community then walked with the monks.
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(2024), Dr. Sarath Hemachandra explores the intersection of traditional Buddhist teachings and modern scientific views. The work provides a detailed examination of the eternal cycle of life energy and the spiritual laws governing existence
Core Philosophical Themes
Dr. Hemachandra’s work focuses on the mechanisms of the “eternal cycle” and how practitioners can transcend it:
Human Existence & Life Energy: The book details the “eternal cycle of life energy,” framing human existence within a continuous loop of birth and death.
Consciousness & Rebirth: It explores the nature of consciousness as it relates to the process of rebirth, explaining how life transitions through different states of being.
The Path to Enlightenment: Following the Noble Eightfold Path and practicing Meditation are presented as the primary means to achieve Enlightenment and cease the cycle of suffering.
Psychic and Supernormal Phenomena
A distinct aspect of Dr. Hemachandra’s writing is the discussion of supramundane skills that arise from advanced spiritual practice:
Supernormal Abilities: According to the author, high levels of spiritual and intellectual development can lead to abilities such as telepathy and clairvoyance.
Scientific Integration: The book is noted for its attempt to amalgamate these “Spiritual Laws” with contemporary scientific views, offering a unique perspective on how psychic phenomena might be understood today.
Publication Details
Full Title: Concepts in Buddhism and Buddhist Philosophy: On Human Existence, Consciousness, Psychic Phenomena and Rebirth.
Author: Sarath Hemachandra, M.D..
Release Date: The book was released in mid-2024 (various sources cite July and August 2024).
Publisher: Published by Mindstir Media.
Format: Available as a 206-page hardcover.
Name of the Book:
Concepts in Buddhism and Buddhist Philosophy
on Human Existence, Consciousness, Psychic Phenomena, and Rebirth
Author:Sarath Hemachandra M.D.
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Ancient Innovations (3rd Century BC – 12th Century AD)
Ancient Sinhalese civilization is most renowned for its “Hydraulic Civilization,” featuring engineering feats that remained unmatched in the West for nearly 2,000 years.
Biso Kotuwa (Valve Tower): Invented in the 3rd century BC, this is the ancient equivalent of the modern valve-pit. It allowed for the regulation of water flow from massive reservoirs without the high pressure destroying the embankment.
Jaya Ganga (Giant Canal): Built by King Dhatusena in the 5th century AD, this 87 km canal maintains an incredible gradient of just 6 inches per mile (1:10,000), a feat of precision surveying that challenges even modern engineers.
Tank Cascade System (Ellangawa): A sustainable water management network that connected series of small and large tanks to manage silt, toxins, and water distribution, recognized today as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System.
Wind-Powered Steel Production: As early as 300 BC, Sinhalese engineers used monsoon winds to power furnaces, producing high-quality steel exported to the Islamic world for making famous swords.
World’s First Hospitals: Literary evidence from the 4th century BC during King Pandukabhaya’s reign marks the earliest recorded institutions dedicated specifically to the care of the sick.
Innovations in Cricket
Sri Lanka has played a pivotal role in modernizing the sport through both technological concepts and tactical revolutions.
Decision Review System (DRS) Concept: The “Player Referral” concept, which is the foundation of the modern DRS, was conceived by Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratna to make umpiring fairer.
ODI Batting Revolution: In the mid-1990s, Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana revolutionized One Day International (ODI) cricket by introducing an aggressive strategy of hitting over the infield during the first 15 overs, a tactic that led to their 1996 World Cup victory and is now a global standard.
Bowling Techniques: Unique “slinging” actions, such as those of
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Some years ago, in the early nineties, when I was working for a manufacturing company, I was part of a team tasked with expanding and modernizing one of the factories. I met a technocrat from a Taiwanese company that quoted for the machinery needed for our project. I had some reservations about their ability to deliver high-quality machinery compared to a European company that also submitted a quote. However, Taiwan offer was much more attractive in terms of price. Along with my managing director, I had the opportunity to discuss the credentials of the Taiwanese company.
When I mentioned that our perception was that European machinery was superior, he replied it might have been true about ten years ago, but now they can compete with any product in the world. In the end, we chose their machinery mainly because of the price. Although I left that manufacturing company a few years later, I understood they continued working with the Taiwanese company for machinery procurement.
This particular company was German origin (FDI) and later had been given to Taiwanese CEO through a share transfer agreement.
Taiwan’s development history is very interesting. Unfortunately, they built the country during a different geopolitical environment. Sri Lanka can learn some lessons from their experience.
History of Taiwan
I only knew that Taiwan was established by the former rulers of mainland China after Chinese civil war, and Mao Zedong was at odds with them at the time. When Sri Lanka recognised the People’s Republic of China in 1950, the official diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan) were severed.
However since opening of Sri Lanka’s economy in 1977, trade between the two countries increased.
Taiwan is a small island nation located about 160 km off the south-eastern coast of mainland China, separated by the Taiwan Strait. It has a total land area of approximately 36,197 km2. The main island is roughly 394 km (245 miles) long and 144 km (89 miles) wide. Sri Lanka is also a small island nation but has a land area 67,240 km2.
Although Chinese records date back to the 3rd century CE, the island was mostly ungoverned prior to the 17th century. Portuguese sailors in 1544 were the first Europeans to record the island, naming it Ilha Formosa (“Beautiful Island”).
The Dutch took control and colonized it from 1624 to 1662. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) used Taiwan as a trading hub connecting Japan, China, and Southeast Asia, trading silk for silver and exporting local products like deer hides, sugar, and rice. They also developed the island, encouraging Chinese immigration to work on plantations and building infrastructure such as Fort Provintia.
The Spanish established a separate colony in northern Taiwan between 1626 and 1642, but the Dutch expanded their control by ousting the Spanish. Ming loyalist Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) defeated the Dutch forces, ending their 38-year rule in 1662.
During World War II, the Japanese colonized the island and developed its infrastructure, economy, public health, and education system. They initiated a railway system in 1899, improving transportation and connectivity between the northern and southern parts of the island. Both Taiwan and Sri Lanka have similar colonial history.
On December 10, 1949, Chiang Kai-shek the leader of Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT), who ruled mainland China, arrived in Taiwan. This was following his government’s defeat by the Chinese Communist Party in the Civil War. This, and the subsequent days, represented the culmination of a massive retreat that saw a substantial portion of the then Republic of China (ROC) military, government officials, and civilians relocate to Taiwan to establish it as a base for an intended retaking of the mainland. Taiwan became ROC and mainland became People’s Republic of China (PROC) under Mao Zedong.
Since then Taiwan had been facing external threats from mainland communist China.
The Kuomintang (KMT) government ruled Taiwan under martial law since 1949 restricting civil liberties, banning new political parties, and suppressing dissent for nearly 38 years.
First major turning point toward democratization took place when the martial law was lifted on 15 July 1987. This ended many political restrictions, allowed opposition parties to organize, and opened space for civil liberties.
By 1991–1992, laws such as the Temporary Provisions Effective during the Period of Communist Rebellion were repealed, eliminating much of the legal basis for one-party authoritarian rule.
A crucial milestone came when Taiwan held its first direct presidential election on 23 March 1996.
The democratic process was further solidified in 2000, when the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidency, marking the first peaceful transfer of power between political parties after decades of KMT dominance.
Comparison of Taiwan and Sri Lanka’s Economic Development
Many Sri Lankans tend to compare Sri Lanka with Singapore, a tiny city-state, when discussing the success and failures of national development. But in my opinion, Taiwan makes the right benchmark for Sri Lanka’s missed opportunity.
Taiwan and Sri Lanka looked remarkably similar in the fifties. Both were agrarian societies with large rural population and had comparable population sizes. In 1960, Sri Lanka’s per capita GDP was $ 152, and Taiwan’s was $ 149. Like Sri Lanka, Taiwan too was highly dependent on a few exports with a limited industrial base. Both had large rural populations.
Taiwan Miracle
Export-led industrialization
Like in Sri Lanka from 1956 to 1977, Taiwan also pursued a system of import-substitution industrialization in the early to mid-1950s. This led to a chronic shortage of foreign exchange and stagnant growth.
The main focus sectors during this period were textiles, footwear, food processing, and simple household goods. These products were primarily made for the local market.
Premier Chen Cheng, widely regarded as a key architect of the Taiwan Miracle, brought in several technocrats to decide on policy changes while remaining the ultimate decision-maker in economic policy. K.Y. Yin was one of them and became the main architect of Taiwan’s economic policy in the 1950s. He was one of the few Taiwanese officials during that period who consistently promoted free trade.
Yin introduced a dual-rate system for the Taiwan dollar, devaluing the currency to make exports more competitive. The government began reducing import controls, simplifying procedures, and offering tax rebates on raw materials, mainly to encourage exports. By 1962, this new strategy started to show results, with manufacturing production increasing and exports of manufactured goods rising significantly.
Afterwards, the country shifted to export-led industrialization, mainly focusing on manufacturing for global markets. The first Export Processing Zone (EPZ) was established in Kaohsiung in 1965, offering infrastructure and tax benefits to export-oriented firms. This attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for establishing factories in garments, electronics assembly, toys, and machinery. It enabled local managers and workers to learn new technologies and upgrade their skills. It also created numerous jobs, rapid productivity improvements, and integration into global markets.
Several more EPZs followed.
This process supported the growth of indigenous entrepreneurship, resulting in thousands of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and strong subcontracting networks.
The Taiwanese government guided industry without suffocation, protected emerging industries, but required them to export and compete—”export or perish.” Unlike Korea, Taiwan did not rely solely on large conglomerates.
Between the 1980s and early 1990s, Taiwan undertook a phase of technological upgrades. Major government initiatives included founding the ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute), similar to the CISIR (Ceylon Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research) established in 1955; creating Hsinchu Science Park in 1980; and promoting government-supported R&D mainly applied, not fundamental research.
They also encouraged overseas Taiwanese to return.
Education and skills
Taiwan aligned education with industry and made heavy investment in science and engineering. They linked universities directly to industry needs and established technical colleges and science parks (Hsinchu).
Sri Lanka too expanded its university system, but courses were mainly to increase arts graduates. There was no mechanism to provide higher education or technical education to youths who could not be absorbed into the state university system, creating frustration among them. Weak education policies in Sri Lanka also led to the creation of educated youth including university graduates without relevant skills who became unemployable, creating unrest.
In other words Sri Lanka produced degree holders whereas Taiwan produced engineers and technologists.
Institutions and governance quality
A strong, disciplined bureaucracy was created by the Taiwan government with merit-based promotion in civil service and controlled corruption (not eliminated, but contained). The officials selected were mainly technocrats and they were knowledgeable and capable of advising the government on planning of economy in terms of short-term, mid-term and long-term.
In Sri Lanka appointments were made based on loyalty, not competence, and gradually politicised public service undermining the technocrats. The frequent policy reversals also affected the national development, and after the 1970s, corruption became systemic. Over decades, this destroyed investor confidence.
Treatment of the private sector
The Taiwan government partnered with private firms and supported SMEs to become exporters. Institutions were created to help companies to access credit, technology and foreign markets. Firms like TSMC, Acer, and Foxconn emerged from this ecosystem. Taiwan imposed a simple rule: if you receive state support, you must export and compete internationally.
In Sri Lanka the private sector was often treated with suspicion, and nationalisations destroyed investor confidence (1960s–70s); even after liberalisation (1977), policy inconsistency remained.
Export culture vs import culture
Taiwan used a brutal but effective rule, i.e., firms that failed were allowed to die.
Sri Lanka adopted a completely opposite strategic industrial policy and protected firms behind tariffs and continued to protect them even if firms stayed inefficient. A typical example is loss-making state enterprises that were kept alive for politics by pumping taxpayers’ money.
Taiwanese government conditioned the mind-set of the people to ask How can we sell to the world?” On the other hand Sri Lankan mind-set created by local politicians was How can we protect our market and distribute benefits?”
That difference alone explains much of the divergence.
Taiwan commenced developing tourism in a planned, national way in 1966, with the creation of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau to increase foreign exchange earnings. In 2025 Taiwan received 8.57 million Tourists. Sri Lanka also commenced developing this sector almost at the same time.
Internal and External Security
Economic development cannot occur in an environment of chaos. Taiwan understood this early. Before rapid industrialisation even began, Taiwan ensured domestic stability. The government crushed armed insurgencies and criminal militias after 1949 and established tight control over armed groups. They maintained central state authority nationwide by building a disciplined police and intelligence services. They strictly enforced law and order. This created predictability, safety for investors, confidence for citizens and ability to plan long-term.
Taiwan faced a serious existential threat from Communist China. Instead of militarising the whole economy, Taiwan made a strategic choice and signed a defence alliance with the United States (1954 Mutual Defense Treaty). They hosted US military support in the region and received military aid and training. They also relied on US naval power to deter invasion.
This meant they did not need to devote all resources to the military and kept defence spending relatively stable (not crippling the economy). As a result Taiwan leaders could concentrate on economic growth.
Disaster Management
Since Taiwan sits on the collision zone of the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates, thousands of earthquakes occur every year. While some are minor, seven major ones have happened between 1949 and 2024. The most recent major earthquake was the 2024 Hualien earthquake, which caused significant damage across Hualien County and beyond. The worst was the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, which killed 2,415 people and injured 11,305. That quake resulted in NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) worth of damage.
Taiwan also faced eight major typhoons during the same period.
Instead of treating disasters as bad luck,” Taiwan plans its entire development assuming disasters will happen regularly, since the country sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire (earthquakes) and the typhoon belt (cyclones), and is prone to landslides and floods due to steep mountains.
Taiwan learnt from Japan and strict building codes such as base isolation, shock absorbers etc., and enforced nationwide when high-rise buildings are constructed. They use.
Result is even strong earthquakes today cause limited casualties, not mass collapse.
The Taiwan High Speed Railway, which started operation on January 5, 2007, and reaches speeds of up to 300 km/h, also includes an automatic safety system to stop all trains safely if a significant earthquake is detected.
Conclusion:
The above analysis shows that Taiwan didn’t succeed because it started rich, but because it forced itself to become globally competitive. Sri Lanka didn’t fail because it started poor, but because it prioritized political comfort over economic progress.
As a result, Sri Lanka faced a severe debt crisis and economic collapse, requiring deep structural reforms to rebuild credibility.
Sri Lanka can still follow the Taiwan Model” or development logic—not its exact historical path—but only if it accepts three hard truths:
1. Development isn’t about slogans or mega-projects.
2. Discipline matters more than democracy-driven populism.
3. Export performance must dominate domestic politics.
Taiwan’s rapid growth happened in an era with fewer competitors. Despite facing a highly competitive global market now, Sri Lanka can develop its economy to a satisfactory level within a few years if it follows these principles.
The bottom line is Taiwan currently has a per capita GDP of about US $34,000—placing it among the higher-income economies worldwide—while for Sri Lanka it’s about US $4,500 (2024 estimate).
Rohan Abeygunawardena ACMA, CGMA
(Writer could be contacted on abeyrohan@gmail.com)
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Across Sri Lanka and worldwide, a clear mismatch exists between academic qualifications and industry expectations. Universities and technical institutions produce thousands of graduates every year, yet employers—especially in engineering, shipbuilding, oil & gas, and heavy industry—continue to struggle to find job-ready professionals. The gap is not intelligence or theoretical knowledge; it is hands-on vocational competence.
Theory Alone Is No Longer Enough
Modern industries demand engineers and technical professionals who can translate drawings into reality. Welding, steel fabrication, piping fabrication, and Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) are not skills that can be mastered in lecture halls alone. They require:
Physical familiarity with tools and materials
Understanding of real-world tolerances and defects
Safety discipline learned on the shop floor
Confidence gained through practice, not exams
Graduates without exposure to actual fabrication environments often struggle in their first employment, even though they may excel academically.
A vocational training certificate—especially in areas such as welding technology, fabrication, piping, and NDT—acts as a bridge between academia and industry. When a graduate applies for their first job with both a degree and a recognized vocational certificate, employers see:
Reduced training costs
Faster onboarding
Lower safety risks
Higher productivity from day one
This is particularly critical in sectors where errors are costly, such as shipbuilding, oil and gas, power plants, and large infrastructure projects.
Real Outcomes: Proof from Industry
Our own experience clearly demonstrates this value. Several university graduates who underwent structured welding and fabrication training at our campus were issued vocational certificates after completing both theoretical and practical components.
As a direct result:
Sri Lanka’s main shipyard absorbed them into its permanent cadre, recognizing their readiness for real work.
Some graduates were invited to work in the Middle East oil and gas industry, where hands-on competence is non-negotiable.
These outcomes did not occur because of additional degrees—but because of practical skill validation.
Global Demand for Engineers with Hands”
Worldwide, employers are actively seeking engineers who can:
Read and modify fabrication drawings
Supervise and perform welding operations
Understand weld defects and inspection methods
Work alongside technicians with credibility
An engineer who understands welding and NDT from direct experience commands higher respect, faster promotions, and greater international mobility.
The Paradox of Vocational Training in Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan government actively promotes vocational training, yet struggles to attract students. One key reason is perception: vocational training is wrongly seen as a second option” rather than a career accelerator.
In reality, combining:
University education + vocational certification
creates a powerful professional profile—especially for final-year students and fresh graduates.
Why Training During Final Year Makes Sense
The ideal time for vocational training is:
During the final year, or
Immediately after graduation, before applying for the first job
At this stage, students:
Still have learning momentum
Are flexible in time
Can align training directly with career goals
Most importantly, they enter the job market already differentiated from their peers.
Our Role: Industry-Ready Training in the South
Our welding training campus in the Southern Province is specifically geared to:
Deliver industry-aligned welding and fabrication training
Integrate theory with hands-on practice
Prepare graduates for immediate employment
Support both local and overseas job placement readiness
We do not merely issue certificates—we prepare work-ready professionals.
Conclusion
In today’s competitive environment, the question is no longer Do you have a degree?”
It is Can you perform?”
For university and technical school graduates, acquiring a vocational training certificate before their first job is not an extra—it is a strategic necessity. It shortens the path to employment, opens global opportunities, and transforms academic knowledge into real economic value
Regards
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
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මේ “පරිවර්තනය” කෙතරම් දුරදිග ගොස් තිබේද?
එදා ආගමික වතාවත් ප්රතික්ෂේප කළ පිරිස අද නිතරම පන්සල් යති.
මහජන මතය කුමක්ද?
ඇත්තම අනතුර රංගනයට එපිටින්!
“අපේ නෙවෙයි – පෙර ආණ්ඩුවල ඒව!”
මේ ප්රකාශය පිටුපස ඇති ඇත්තම කතාව කුමක්ද?
IMF වැඩපිළිවෙළ: රනිල්ටත් වඩා තදින් ජනතාව මත!
මොකක්ද මේ India Connectivity Plan එක?
මේ දක්වා පැමිණි ගමන් මඟ:-
මාලිමාවේ සහ අනුරගේ “පරිවර්තනය”
සාක්ෂි සහිතව සත්යය දැනගන්න!
2025 ඉන්දු-ලංකා ගිවිසුම් සහ ජාතික භෞතික සැලැස්ම (විශේෂ විමර්ශන වාර්තාව)
ඉතිහාසය සහ සැඟවුණු අතීතය
“විකෘති අධ්යාපන ප්රතිසංස්කරණ වලට එරෙහිව ඇයි කවුරුත් ශ්රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයට
ව්යාපෘතියේ ආරම්භය සහ “පෙළ ගැසීම”
2019 ජුනි 12: නම වෙනස් කළ “ගැසට්” මෙහෙයුම
නිහඬ ආරම්භය: සැලසුම පිළිබඳව ප්රසිද්ධියේ කතා නොකර, පදනම සකස් කරමින් ව්යාපෘතිය නිහඬව ඉදිරියට රැගෙන යාම.
නිල එකඟතාව: ජාත්යන්තර මට්ටමින් සහ ප්රතිපත්තිමය මට්ටමින් ඇති කරගත් එකඟතාවන් තවදුරටත් ස්ථාවර කරමින් ශක්තිමත් කිරීම.
පූර්ණ ක්රියාත්මක කිරීම: පෙර ආණ්ඩු විසින් සැකසූ සියලුම සැලසුම් ඒ ආකාරයෙන්ම, කිසිදු වෙනසකින් තොරව බිම මට්ටමින් ක්රියාවට නැංවීම.
මුහුද, 
ගුවන සහ 
ගොඩබිම යන සමස්ත ක්ෂේත්රයන් ඇමරිකානු හමුදාවන්ගේ ඕනෑම මෙහෙයුමකට විවෘතව තැබීමයි.
වැඩිදුර විමර්ශනය සඳහා
[Video සාක්ෂි මෙතැනින් බලන්න 
2024 බල පෙරළිය පිටුපස ඇති සැබෑ “රසායනිකය” සහ මිලින්ද මොරගොඩගේ මෙහෙයුම!
ඒකාබද්ධ මෙහෙයුමක “නළුවන්” සහ “අධ්යක්ෂවරයා”
ඉන්දීය ආශිර්වාදය පිටුපස සැඟවුණු “ඉන්දු-ලංකා” රහස් ගිවිසුම්!
ඡන්දයට පෙර වූ “ඉන්දීය කැඳවීම”
මාලිමා පාක්ෂිකයන්ගේ “මුළාව”
මෙය හුදෙක් බල හුවමාරුවක් නොව, පූර්ව සැලසුම් කරන ලද ජාත්යන්තර න්යාය පත්රයකට අනුව සිදුවන ක්රියාවලියකි. ජනතාව “වෙනසක්” බලාපොරොත්තු වුවද, සිදුව ඇත්තේ පැරණි වැඩපිළිවෙළටම නව “මාලිමා” මුහුණුවරක් ලබා දීම පමණි.
මාලිමාව: “විශේෂ මෙහෙයුමක්” සඳහා වූ තේරීම
විජාතික අදහස් සහ ආකල්ප.
2015: 
[ආරම්භය] — සිරිසේන – රනිල් හවුල