Unique features of the 2024 Lankan Presidential poll

August 17th, 2024

By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, August 17:  A total of 39 candidates are contesting Sri Lanka’s 9th Presidential election scheduled to be held on 21 September.

For the first time in the history of Presidential elections in Sri Lanka, one of the leading candidates is an Independent”. Serving President Ranil Wickremesinghe is contesting, not as a candidate of his United National Party, of which he is the Leader, but as an Independent.

The so-called common Tamil candidate” Ariyanenthiran has said that his fight is only symbolic”. And lastly, the election has a record number of candidates with 39 in the fray.  

Another interesting feature of the Presidential election this time is that it will be between three top candidates and not two as in the past. The trio are: President Ranil Wickramasinghe; the leader of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB ) Sajith Premadasa; and the  leader of the National Peple’s Power (NPP ) Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Some political think that Namal Rajapaksa, the national organiser of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP ), will be the fourth leading candidate as he is the eldest son and political heir of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

This time, the Presidential election is taking place in an entirely different situation. Two years ago the severe economic crisis during the reign of the Rajapaksas sparked an unprecedented popular uprising in Sri Lanka’s history. Now Sri Lankan voters are going to get an opportunity to exercise their right to vote for the first time since the uprising that ousted the Rajapaksas from power. If there has been any perceptible change in the political thinking of the people as a result of the uprising, this election should definitely reflect that.

Unlike the previous Presidential elections, this time the campaigns started several months before the formal announcement of the election date by the Election Commission. Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara announced their candidature last year and started  campaigning vigorously.

But as for President Wickremesinghe, he announced only late last month that he would contest the election. With his UNP severely weakened, he had to focus on building a broader alliance that could support him in the election. He is contesting not as a candidate of his party but as an independent with the support of a peculiar alliance comprising defectors from various political parties.

 An agreement on the alliance comprising 32 political parties and  groups was signed last Friday.

This is the first ever time that a leader of a main political party in Sri Lanka, the United National Party (UNP) is running as an Independent” candidate in a Presidential election.

Namal Rajapaksa

After the Rajapaksas decided to field a separate candidate on behalf of the SLPP, most of the parliamentarians of that party abandoned them and came to the side of the President. So even if the President is happy about the developments, he needs to really think about the number of votes each of them can bring to him.

Some observers say that because of the growing support for the President among the people in their constituencies, those members of parliament are abandoning the Rajapaksas and scrambling to support him. Even politicians who were staunch Rajapaksa loyalists say publicly that they have decided to back Wickremesinghe at the behest of their supporters who are increasingly turning towards him.

It seems that the President is conducting his campaign with an entirely different strategy declaring that he will campaign among the people by promoting the nation and not himself.

He says that he is not contesting the election against anyone and unlike other candidates, he is not contesting for his own political future but for the future of the country. He has announced that he is ready to work with all parties if he wins the election.

Earlier I invited Premadasa and Anura Kumara to come forward to work with me. But they turned it down. They may be worried about that now. Next time I will bring them into the government.  Not only them, but also Namal Rajapaksa, the candidate of the SLPP,” he told newspaper editors and heads of media houses  last week.

It seems certain that he is not going to attack any candidate in the election platform. Saying that the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF ) is the only way to bring  (IMF) Sri Lanka out of the economic crisis and lead it towards prosperity, he asks people to give him a mandate for the next five years to continue with the economic restructuring measures that his government has been taking forward  for the last  two years.

The President also points out that the other main candidates are also  not opposed to the agreement with the IMF. They have openly said they would continue with it. He is not making any new promises and is seeking the mandate of the people to continue the same economic restructuring programme.

In addition, Wickramasinghe, who has presented himself as an independent candidate who can be supported by all parties without showing  interest in party politics as the past, portrays himself as a new ‘avatar beyond party politics.’

If he Wickremesinghe wins he may be the first non-party President in Sri Lanka. But an important question is what impact the President’s current approach will have on Sri Lankan society, which has a political culture characterized deep party political rivalries and ethnic animosity.

After submitting their nomination papers at the Election Commission office last Thursday, the three main candidates made remarks to supporters and the media.

I seek the people’s mandate to create a bright future for the people of Sri Lanka. We took charge of the country and brought stability. You now have access to food, fuel and other essentials. This is just the beginning. There is a lot of work to be done to make Sri Lanka a stable nation. I request people to give me a mandate to carry out these tasks.”

When asked to take charge of the country at a time of crisis, members of the opposition ran away. Decide whether you are going to hand over the country to such people or not,” Wickremesinghe said.

The SJB leader Sajith Premadasa said that he will usher in an era in which the common masses will get priority as they did when his father, late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, was in-charge.

 I promise to create an era of the common masses. I will create a situation where everyone living in the country can enjoy the benefits of development. I call upon the people to rally behind me,” he stated.

NPP leader Anura Kumara said that the people need a change and said that only their camp has the ability to bring about such a change.

He said: Despite the  number of elections held in the past, the people suffered untold hardships for years. We can win this election. People want a change in the situation of suffering. We can turn this election to rescue people and the country from hardships. Only our camp can achieve that goal.”

Namal Rajapaksa is contesting in an attempt to rebuild the SLPP with his political future in mind. A significant aspect of Namal Rajapaksa’s entry is that a prominent member of the Rajapaksa family has entered the electoral fray after a popular uprising which ousted it from power.

No other member of the Rajapaksa family has any intention of contesting the Presidential election this time. At one point it was widely believed that supporting President Wickremesinghe was their best option. But after the President flatly refused to comply with their demands or conditions to secure their future political prospects, they decided to field a separate candidate.  

Pakiyaselvam Arianenthiran

Before falling out with the President, it seemed that the Rajapaksas were subtly intimidating  the President by the prospect of  nominating the casino owner and leading businessman  Dhammika Perera as their party’s candidate. The Rajapaksas’ attempt to use Dhammika and his money as a touchstone to test their current support  among the people ultimately proved futile. He announced at the last minute that he did not want to contest due to personal reasons.

So the Rajapaksas were forced to field Namal Rajapaksa without any other option. Fearing that the SLPP’s vote base will be scattered if they do not contest the elections, the Rajapaksas have nominated Namal Rajapaksa to protect the party. But are the people going to vote to elect a new President or are they going to vote to protect  the Rajapaksas’ party?

The Rajapaksas have a perverse idea that the Sinhalese people should be forever loyal to them regardless of their mistakes for ending the war.

At the same time, there is no doubt that the Rajapaksas will be inclined to repeat majoritarian mobilization against the political rights and aspirations of minority communities in order to garner as many votes as possible. But while all three main candidates, though may be for electoral purpose, are interested in reaching out to minority communities, it seems that the Rajapaksas’ communal rhetoric is unlikely to gain much traction with the Sinhalese this time around.

If Namal Rajapaksa, a young political leader who is nursing an ambition to lead the country in the future choses a non-communal path unlike the elders of his family, it will augur well for him. Will he be willing to change? At least he can show a change in his thinking on ethnic relations by announcing in his election manifesto a progressive stance on the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

Candidates of 23 political parties and 16 independent candidates are contesting the presidential election. Among them are leading politicians like former army chief Sarath Fonaseka, former Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe and new comer to politics Dilith Jayaweera, a leading media moghul. There is no doubt that they are contesting for other purposes than to be elected as President. Same is the case with most of the Independent candidates.

It also noteworthy that Nuwan Bobage, a lawyer, is contesting on behalf of the ‘People’s Struggle Alliance’, a movement formed by a faction of activists who were in the forefront of the ‘Aragalaya’ people’s uprising.

Meanwhile, some of the fundamental issues that usually dominate Presidential elections seem unlikely to get the attention of the main candidates this time around. In particular, it is not known whether the long-standing popular demand to abolish the Executive Presidential system will find a place in their election manifestos.

Regarding the Tamil problem, nothing else can be expected in the manifestos of the main candidates except for the  declarations on implementing the 13 th  Amendment  to the constitution with vague positions on important powers such as police and land.

There are also politicians in the North who say that they can consider supporting any candidate from the South if they promise that they are ready to accept the Sri Lankan Tamil people’s right to self-determination and finding a solution to the ethnic problem based on a federal system. So much for their understanding of today’s political situation around them.

On the North and East political front , Pakiyaselvam Arianethiran, a former Batticaloa District Member of Parliament of the Tamil National Alliance is contesting  as a common Tamil candidate put up by some Tamil parties and a newly formed civil body the Tamil National General Council .

But his appointment was contrary to all the criteria defined by the Tamil National General Council. Those who nominated Arianethiran say that he is a symbol of Tamil nationalistic political aspirations. He says that it is a symbolic duty which will end with election day. So there is no point in talking about him here.

It seems that hereafter Tamil people will not have leaders but only symbols if and when elections come.

මා ජනාධිපති වුනාම ඉන්ධන, විදුලි ගාස්තු අඩු කරනවා..ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක

August 17th, 2024

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ජාතික ජන බලවේගය ආණ්ඩුවක් යටතේ ඉන්ධන හා විදුලි ගාස්තු අඩු කරන බව එම අපක්ෂයේ නායක ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂක අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

මේ වන විටත් ඊට අදාළ සැලසුම් සකස් කර අවසන් බවද බවද ඔහු කියා සිටියේය.

ගුණාත්මක ඖෂධ අඩු මිලකට ලබාදෙන සැලැස්මක්ද සකසා ඇති බවත් පැවසූ තම ආණ්ඩුවක් යටතේ පාසල් උපකරණ සඳහා පනවා ඇති භාණ්ඩ හා සේවා බද්ධ ඉවත් කර දමන බවද කියා සිටී.

ඉන් අහිමිවන බදු ආදායම උපයා ගැනීම සඳහා බදු ඉතාමත් සරල කර ඊට අදාළ බදු සැලැස්මක් සකස් කරන බවද හෙතෙම තවදුරටත් කියා පැවසුවේය.

ජාතික ජන බලවේගය විසින් තංගල්ල නගරයේදී සංවිධානය කර තිබූ ජනරැුලියක් අමතමින් ඔහු මෙම අදහස් පළ කරන ලදී.

අනුර දින්නාම විධායක ජනාධිපතිකම අහෝසියි.. විධායක බලය අරන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට..

ජාතික ජනබලවේග ආණ්ඩුවක් යටතේ විධායක ජනාධිපති ධුරය අහෝසි කිරීමට තීරණය කර තිබේ.

එයද අතුලත්වය ජාතික ජන බලවේගය ඉදිරි ජනාධිපතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් කරන ක්ෂේත්‍ර හතළිහක් ආවරණය වන ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනය එළඹෙන 26 වැනිදා එළිදක්වන බව ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ ප්‍රධාන ලේකම් ටිල්වින් සිල්වා මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට විධායක බලතල පවරමින් සියලුම ජාතීන්ට සමාන අයිතිවාසිකම් ලබා දෙන ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය තහවුරු කරන නව ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් නව ආණ්ඩුව යටතේ බිහි කරන බවද හෙතෙම කියා සිටියි.

‘පොහොසත් රටක් ලස්සන ජීවිතයක්’ යන තේමාව යටතේ මෙම ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනය ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට සැලසුම් කර ඇතැයි ද පැවසූ ඔහු යහපත් රාජ්‍ය පාලනය, වංචා දූෂණ නතර කිරීම හා ජාතිවාදය නතර කිරීම ඇතුළු කරුණුවලට මෙහි ප්‍රමුඛකත්වය ලබා දී ඇතැයිද කියා සිටියේය.

රටේ ආර්ථිකය මුළුමනින්ම යථාවත් කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් මෙම ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනයෙන් අවධානය යොමු කර ඇති බවත් කෘෂිකර්මය, කර්මාන්ත, ධීවර, වැවිලි හා ආයෝජනය අාදී ක්‍ෂෙත‍්‍රවලින් ආර්ථිකය දියුණු කරන්නේ කෙසේද යන්නද එහිදී අවධාරණය කරන බවද කියා සිටියේය.

මාලිමා ඇමතිලාට උපදේශක මණ්ඩලයකුත් පත් කරනවා…

ඉදිරියේ පිහිටවනු ලබන ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ආණ්ඩුවක කැබිනට් අමාත්‍ය දුර සංඛ්‍යාව විසි පස්දෙනකුට සීමා කරන බව එම පක්ෂයේ ජාතික විධායක සභික හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී වෛද්‍ය නලින්ද ජයතිස්ස මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

එම අමාත්‍යවරුන් සඳහා උපදෙස් ලබා දීමට වෙනම උපදේශක මණ්ඩලයක් පත්කරන බවද ඔහු සදහන් කරයි.

එම උපදේශකයන් අදාළ විෂයන් සම්බන්ධයෙන් විෂය ප්‍රවීණයන් වනු ඇති අතර එම අමාත්‍යංශයෙන් ඉදිරියේදී ගනු ගතයුතු ක්‍රියාමාර්ග සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඔවුන් විසින් උපදේශ ලබා දෙනු ඇතැයි ද කියා සිටියේය.

කොළඹදී එම පක්ෂය විසින් සංවිධානය කරන ලද සම්මන්ත්‍රණයකදී ඔහු මේ බව පැවසුවේය.

අනුර දැනටමත් දිනලා ඉවරයි.. ජනාධිපති කියන ලියුම ගන්න විතරයි තියෙන්නේ..

August 17th, 2024

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

සැප්තැම්බර් 21 වෙනිදා පැවැත්වෙන ජනාධිපතිවරණය සඳහා නාම යෝජනා භාර දෙන අවස්ථාව වන විටම තම පක්ෂයේ අපේක්ෂක අනුර දිසානායක මහතා ජයග්‍රහණය කර අවසන් බව ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ ප්‍රධාන ලේකම් ටිල්වින් සිල්වා මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

සැප්තැම්බර් 21 වනදා සිදුකිරීමට ඇත්තේ අනුර දිසානායක මහතා ජනාධිපතිවරයා බවට පත්වන ලිපිය මැතිවරණ කොමිසම අතින් ලබා ගැනීම පමණක් බවද ඔහු සඳහන් කළේය.

ඉදිරි ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී තම පක්ෂයේ ජයග්‍රහණය එතරම්ම ස්ථිර බවද ඔහු තවදුරටත් කියා සිටියේය.

ඒ මහතා මේ බව පැවසුවේ ජාතික ජන බලවේගය විසින් සංවිධානය කරන ලද තංගල්‍්ලේ ජනරැළිය අමතමිනි.

Mono ethmic villages

August 17th, 2024

Sugath Kulatunga

The attention of readers with national interst is invted to the article on LBN by Dr.Sudath Gunasekera on the very important issue of the proposal to establish mono-ehnic villages in the Plantation sector. Relevant excerpts of the report are produced below.

What is worse is that while this Government treats the natives in this manner the same government has created a new Ministry called Ministry of Upcountry New Villages, Estate Infrastructure & Community Development only for estate Tamils and appointed P. Digambaram as its Minister, introducing a new type of Villages to this country called ‘Upcountry New Villages’ unheard in the annals of history in this country since the dawn of history. I also would like to point out at this stage that these were the very lands denied to the native Sinhala people who were evacuated in thousands from Kotmale and other landslide affected areas in the past to satisfy Thondaman. They were sent to the LTTE infested Dry Zone then. How come the present Government is generously handing over land denied to the sons of the soil to the Indian Tamils who should have been sent to India in order to create Tamil villages in the heart land of the Sinhale.

I am sure these Villages will be the future mono-Tamil villages referred to by Ra nil Wickramasingha and Kiriella during the pre-election period when they were handing over outright ownership of lands to estate Tamils. The ultimate result of this programme is the establishment of a separate Tamil country on the central Sri Lanka comprising Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya and Badulla which will be extended to parts of Kegalla, Ratnapura and Monaragala districts in the near future. This is travesty and blatant violation and betrayal of the birth rights of the native Kandyan peasants. I am lost to understand as to why the Kandyan politicians and leaders, if there are any, do not protest against this selective discrimination against their own people.”

It is obvious that this is a political manoeuvre to win over planatation votes. It can turn into a misadventue similar to the failed MOU signed with the LTTE by RW as the then Prime Minister. The creation of mono ethnic Bantustans* will discourage ethnic integration which is a vital need for communal harmony in the region. The Government is adivised to learn from the policies of Singapore to achieve communal intergration in that country. An outstanding strength in the Singapore society is its communal solidarity which was deliberately promoted by the State. Minister for National Development in Singapore S. Dhanabalan warned that it would be unthinkable” for Singapore to regress to the days before independence, when a certain place was seen as belonging to a certain ethnic or dialect group.

Singapore established population based ratios for different ethnic groups in the allocation of flats. This policy has encouraged better understanding and harmony amongst communities. Such a rigid population ratio may not be appropriate in the proposed villages. But it is necessary that at least there is a fifty-fifty mix of communities in them.If this is not done these villages could become enclaves of seedbeds for communal agitation” and lead to a demand for an autonomus Malayanadu.

Sugath Kulatunga

*Bantustans = exclusive settlements for black Africans created by the Apartheid regime

Sri Lanka strongly object to construction of ‘Tamil Genocide Monument’ in Canada

August 17th, 2024

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry summoned the Canadian High Commissioner on Friday (16) to reiterate Sri Lanka’s strong objections conveyed on several occasions previously to the laying of foundation stone for the construction of a so–called Tamil Genocide Monument” at the Chinguacousy Park in Brampton, Canada on 14 August 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Issuing a statement, the ministry stated that Foreign Minister Sabry emphasized that the Government of Sri Lanka categorically rejects this outrageously false narrative, which is being perpetuated for vote bank politics within Canada.  

Minister Sabry noted that ill-advised action by the City Council of Brampton is offensive to all peace-loving people in Canada and Sri Lanka. The so-called allegation of a genocide in Sri Lanka is a fabrication based on malicious disinformation and is not substantiated by any responsible authority, nationally or internationally, the statement highlighted.

The Government of Sri Lanka has consistently engaged in efforts to foster reconciliation and build lasting peace following the end of the conflict despite the economic crisis in the country for the last two years, and such divisive action undermines those efforts by glorifying terrorism and sowing discord and mistrust which democratic countries, including Sri Lanka and Canada, cannot endorse, it added.

The Foreign Minister requested the Government of Canada to intervene and take action to prevent the construction of this monument in recognizing the damaging impact of this narrative on bilateral relations and to take immediate action to prevent further harm, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

INTERVIEW: Iranian retaliation is inevitable

August 17th, 2024

George Galloway

If Iran does not respond the Israeli regime will only become more aggressive, says Prof Seyed Marandi. It’s a regime that only understands force.

මුල් වරට ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේදී ආරම්භ වන නඩු කටයුත්තකදී නියම කරන සිරභාරයට ගැනීමකට, දඩ සහ නඩු ගාස්තු නියෝගවලට එරෙහිව අභියාචනා කිරීමට “විශේෂ අභියාචනා ව්‍යවස්ථා සභාව” පිහිටුවන ලෙස ඉල්ලීමක්.

August 17th, 2024

මාධ්‍ය අංශය, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන.

මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණයක් ලෙස ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේදී පළමු වරට ආරම්භ වන නඩු කටයුත්තකදී නියම කරන දණ්ඩනයකට, සිරභාරයට ගැනීමකට, අත් අඩංගුවේ තබා ගැනීමකට, රඳවා ගැනීමකට හෝ අන්‍යාකාරයකින් පෞද්ගලික නිදහස අහිමි කිරීමකට, දඩ මුදලකට හෝ නඩු ගාස්තුවකට එරෙහිව අභියාචනා කිරිමට “විශේෂ අභියාචනා ව්‍යවස්ථා සභාව” පිහිටුවීමට අවශ්‍ය පියවර ගන්නා ලෙස නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන මහතා විසින් ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතාගෙන්, අධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාංශය ලේකම් එම්. එන්. රණසිංහ මහතාගෙන් සහ නීතිපති ජනාධිපති නීතීඥ පාරින්ද රණසිංහ මහතාගෙන් අද දින (2024.08.16) ඉල්ලීමක් කර ඇත.

වර්තමානයේ පවතින නීති යටතේ මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණයක් ලෙස ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේදී පළමු  වරට ආරම්භ වන නඩු ප්‍රමාණය වැඩි වී ඇති අතර එසේම එම නඩු වලදී තැනැත්තන්ට එරෙහිව මුල් වරට දණ්ඩනයකට, සිරභාරයට ගැනීමකට, අත් අඩංගුවේ තබා ගැනීමකට, රඳවා ගැනීමකට හෝ අන්‍යාකාරයකින් පෞද්ගලික නිදහස අහිමි කිරීමකට, දඩ මුදල් හෝ නඩු ගාස්තු නියම කිරීමටද ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණට අධිකරණ බලය හිමි වී ඇති බවත් එම ඉල්ලීමෙන් පෙන්වා දී ඇත.

එසේම පළමු වරට ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේදී ආරම්භ වන නඩු කටයුත්තකදී නියම කරන දණ්ඩනයකට, සිරභාරයට ගැනීමකට, අත් අඩංගුවේ තබා ගැනීමකට, රඳවා ගැනීමකට හෝ අන්‍යාකාරයකින් පෞද්ගලික නිදහස අහිමි කිරීමකට, දඩ මුදලකට හෝ නඩු ගාස්තුවකට එරෙහිව අභියාචනා කිරිමට අවස්ථාවක් මේ දක්වා නීතියෙන් ප්‍රතිපාදන සළස්වා දී නැති බවත්, මේ හේතුවෙන් ඇතැම් අවස්ථාවල විදෙස් අධිකරණ යාන්ත්‍රණ වල පිහිට පැතීමටද ඇතැම් තැනැත්තන් පෙළඹෙන තත්ත්ව ඇති අතර එය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ස්වෛරීත්වයට, ස්වාධීනත්වයට, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කීර්තියට සහ ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්‍යයට අහිතකර තත්ත්වයක් බවත් ජනාධිපතිවරයාට, අධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම්ට සහ නීතිපතිවරයාට පෙන්වා දී ඇත.

එම ඉල්ලීමේ කරුණු සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර සම්මුති සහ මෙරට පවතින නීති සළකා බලා දැනට වසර 02කට පෙර සිට ඇතුළුව මුල් වරට ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේදී ආරම්භ වන නඩු කටයුත්තකදී නියම කරන ලද දණ්ඩනයකට, සිරභාරයට ගැනීමකට, අත් අඩංගුවේ තබා ගැනීමකට, රඳවා ගැනීමකට හෝ අන්‍යාකාරයකින් පෞද්ගලික නිදහස අහිමි කිරීමකට, දඩ මුදලකට හෝ නඩු ගාස්තුවකට එරෙහිව අභියාචනා කිරීමට “විශේෂ අභියාචනා ව්‍යවස්ථා සභාව” පිහිටුවන ලෙසත් ඒ සඳහා නීති කෙටුම්පත් කර පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට කඩිනමින් පියවර ගන්නා ලෙසත් නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන මහතා ජනාධිපතිවරයාගෙන්, අධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම්ගෙන් සහ නීතිපතිවරයාගෙන් ඉල්ලා ඇත.

http://neethiyalk.blogspot.com/2024/08/blog-post.html?m=1

මාධ්‍ය අංශය, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන.

Government addresses key issues of the Civil Security Personnel

August 17th, 2024

Ministry of Defence  – Media Centre

The Civil Security Department (CSD), operating under the Ministry of Defence, has significantly contributed to ending the three-decade-long war and continues to play a vital role in ongoing development projects and society’s overall well-being.

Marking another leap forward, the government, under the direct intervention of State Minister of Defence Hon. Premitha Bandara Tennakoon, has decided, to provide labour support from the CSD for the construction of houses for the CSD members who do not currently own a house and for the repair works of existing houses.

Accordingly, during the initial stage, 100 CSD members will benefit from this initiative. In a press conference held at his office in Colombo yesterday (Aug 15), the State Minister announced this initiative and further stated that CSD members have been instructed to submit detailed applications to the Director General of the CSD. Arrangements will be made to provide the necessary facilities to members selected through specific criteria.

Furthermore, in response to the request from the CSD, the government has decided to increase the daily ration allowance from Rs. 350 to Rs. 500. Minister Tennakoon further stated that the above increase is implemented after considering the current economic climate in the country and that it will, to some extent, help the CSD members to stabilize their living conditions.

සිවිල් ආරක්‍ෂක බලකායේ සාමාජිකයන්ට රජයෙන් අත්වැලක්

August 17th, 2024

Ministry of Defence  – Media Centre

ආරක්‍ෂක අමාත්‍යංශය යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන සිවිල් ආරක්‍ෂක බලකාය පසුගිය තිස් වසරක කුරිරු යුද්ධය අවසන් කිරීමට සුවිශේෂී දායකත්වයක් දැක්වූ වර්තමානයේ මෙරට ක්‍රියාත්මක කෙරෙන සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘති සහ සමාජයේ යහ පැවැත්ම උදෙසා අතිශය වැදගත් කාර්‍යභාරයක් සිදු කරනු ලබයි.

ඒ පිළිබඳ සැලකිල්ලට ගනිමින් සිවිල් ආරක්‍ෂක බලකායට අයත් සාමාජිකයන්ගේ සුභසාධනය වෙනුවෙන් රජය විසින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කෙරෙන වැඩසටහන් මාලාවේ තවත් සුවිසල් ඉදිරි පියවරක් සනිටුහන් කරමින් නිවසක් නොමැති සාමාජිකයන් හට නිවසක් ඉදිකර ගැනිමටත්, පවතින නිවාසවල අලුත්වැඩියා කටයුතු සිදුකර ගැනීමටත්, අවශ්‍ය කරන ශ්‍රම දායකත්වය සිවිල් ආරක්‍ෂක බලකාය වෙතින් ලබා දීමට රජය තීන්දු කොට ඇත. මෙහිදී පලමු අධියර යටතේ සාමාජිකයන් 100 දෙනෙකු සඳහා මෙම වැඩපිලිවෙල යටතේ සහන සැලසෙනු ඇති බව ආරක්‍ෂක රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරයා ප්‍රකාශ කලේය.

තවද, වසර ගණනාවක සිට සිවිල් ආරක්‍ෂක බලකා සාමාජිකයන් විසින් සිදු කල ඉල්ලීමකට ප්‍රතිචාර වශයෙන් ඔවුන් සදහා දැනට රු. 350ක් ලෙස ලැබෙන දෛනික සලාක දිමනාව රු. 500ක් දක්වා ඉහල නැංවීමට රජය තීන්දු කොට ඇත. රටේ පවතින ආර්ථික තත්වය හමුවේ ඔවුනට ලැබෙන දෛනික සලාක දීමනාව ප්‍රමාණවත් නොමැති බව සලකා බැලීමෙන් අනතුරුව මෙම සලාක දීමනා අගය වැඩිකිරීමට රජය තිරණය කර ඇති අතර, එමගින් යම් මට්ටමකට ඔවුන්ගේ ජිවන තත්වය ස්ථායි කර ගැනිමට පිටුවහලක් වනු ඇති බවද රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය තෙන්නකෝන් මෙහිදී තවදුරටත් ප්‍රකාශ කලේය.

NASA cannot ensure the safe return of astronauts from the ISS

August 17th, 2024

Lyubov Stepushova Courtesy Pravda

Russia can return stranded astronauts from the ISS, but a political solution is needed

NASA has postponed until the end of August a decision on when and how to return home two astronauts who are stuck on the ISS. The only safe option is on the Soyuz.Russia can return stranded astronauts from the ISS, but a political solution is needed

Photo: flickr.com by NASA Robert Markowitz is licensed under In the public domain in the United States

Boeing’s shame – Starliner engines failed to dock with the ISS

The problem arose with the Boeing Starliner carrier spacecraft, on which astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suny Williams launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in early June. Their expedition was supposed to be completed in a week, but has been going on for more than two months.

According to NBC news. com, this was the first flight of the Starliner, and if it had been successful, then the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) would have been able to certify Boeing to perform regular flights to the ISS.

But five Starliner engines failed during docking. There was also a helium leak from the propulsion system during the flight – a problem that NASA was aware of, but Boeing did not finalize.

On top of that, a moratorium was imposed on astronauts on spacewalks – their spacesuits failed. According to reports, they live in conditions that are far from ideal: they lack places to sleep, they experience increasing psychological stress and health risks.

NASA is considering two options for rescuing astronauts

Two options for returning are considered:

  1. Solve problems with Starliner. NASA said that together with Boeing engineers, they disassembled and are testing the ship’s engine, similar to those in orbit. They are also trying to deal with the helium leak. For this, the laboratory also dismantled the service module. However, there is a risk – faulty Starliner engines can lead to a loss of control of the spacecraft immediately after undocking from the ISS, which can end in an accident.
  2. Use the Dragon spacecraft of rival Boeing company SpaceX, which is supposed to deliver new astronauts to the orbital station in September as part of the Crew-9 project. NASA said it could send two astronauts instead of the planned four, and land Wilmore and Williams on the empty two seats on the way back at the end of the Crew-9 expedition in February.

According to NASA, in this case, the Starliner will return to Earth without a crew. The main problem in this case is to ensure the life process of the astronauts and the equipment of the spacecraft.

The launch of the Dragon carrier to the ISS is scheduled for August 18, but there is no certainty that the launch will take place, since there are also technical problems.

The third option for saving the astronauts is to ask Russia

There is also a third option – to ask Russia to pick up the astronauts on the Soyuz. The head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, during a speech at the Terra Scientia forum, said that space should be out of politics, so the Russian side is careful about maintaining interaction within the framework of the international ISS project.

“Today, American colleagues have problems with the Starliner, they do not know how to lower the crew. We are in constant dialogue with them,” Borisov said.

However, a political solution is needed in Washington. The National Space Council is headed by Vice President and now US presidential candidate Kamala Harris. She fears negative press coverage of the space disaster, so the decision will be postponed until after the election in November.

“The return of Williams and Wilmore aboard the malfunctioning Starliner would be too risky for her presidential prospects,” the New York Post believes.

In 2014, Boeing and SpaceX were awarded multibillion-dollar contracts to provide the U.S. space agency with flights to the ISS after the end of the space shuttle program in 2011. But so far they have not created a reliable carrier ship. The problems, as we can see, are with the engines. As a result, the United States had to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets for a long time to deliver crews. Now Dragon flies with a high degree of risk.

Related story: NASA Explained SpaceX’s Choice to Drop the ISS into the Ocean

NASA wants to abandon the use of Russian Progress transport spacecraft for cargo delivery

A decision was made on the controlled descent of the ISS from its orbit to Earth
Читайте больше на https://www.pravda.ru/science/2083974-nasa-starliner/

Capitalism, Mass Anger, and the 2024 Elections

August 15th, 2024

by Richard D. Wolff Courtesy counterpunch

In the wake of his huge defeat on June 30, 2024, when 80 percent of voters rejected French centrist” President Emmanuel Macron, he said he understood the French people’s anger. In the UK, Conservative loser Rishi Sunak said the same about the British people’s anger, as Labor leader Starmer now says as the anger explodes. Of course, such phrases from such politicians usually mean little or nothing and accomplish less. Such leaders and their parties just keep calculating how best to regain power when they lose it. In that, they are like the U.S. Democrats after Biden’s performance in his debate with Trump and like the U.S. Republicans after Trump’s loss in 2020. In both parties, a small group of top leaders and top donors made all the key decisions and then organized the political theater to ratify those decisions. Even surprises like Harris replacing Biden are temporary departures from resuming politics as usual.

However, unlike Trump, the others missed opportunities to identify with an already organized mass base of angry people. Trump stumbled into that identification by saying loudly and crudely what traditional politicians treated as publicly unspeakable about immigrants, women, NATO, and traditional political taboos. That set the tone for Trump then doubling down by insisting he had won the 2020 election but had been cheated out of it. The mass anger of populations feeling victimized in their workaday lives found a spokesperson loudly claiming parallel victimizations. Trump and base grasped that together they might victimize their victimizers.

Whether or not they can politically exploit voters’ anger, no mainstream leader in the collective West, including Trump, seems actually to understand” it. They mostly see only as far as what they can plausibly blame on their opponents in the next election. Biden blamed Trump for a bad” economy in 2020, while Trump reversed the same blame over the last year and will shortly adjust to blaming Harris. Presidential opponents blame the other for the immigration crisis,” for inadequately protecting U.S. industry from Chinese competition, government budget deficits, and job exports.

No mainstream leader understands” (or dares to hint or suggest) that mass anger these days might be something more and different from any collection of specific complaints and demands (about guns, abortion, taxes, and wars). Even the demagogues who like to speak about culture wars” dare not ask why such wars” are hot now. Angry Make America Great Again” (MAGA) folks are notably vague and poorly informed as their critics enjoy exposing. Rarely do those critics offer persuasive alternative explanations for MAGA anger (explanations that are neither vague nor poorly informed).

In particular, we ask, might the anger that the MAGA movement enrolls express a genuine mass suffering that has not yet understood its cause? Might that cause be nothing less than the decline of Western capitalism and all it represents? If ideological taboos and blinders preclude admitting it, might that decline’s results—anxiety, despair, and anger—focus instead on suitable scapegoats? Are Trump and Biden, Macron and Sunak, and so many others competitively choosing scapegoats to mobilize an anger they misunderstand and dare not explore?

After all, Western capitalism is no longer the world’s colonial master. The American empire that succeeded the European empires has now followed them into decline. The next empire will be Chinese or else the era of empires will give way to genuine global multipolarity. Western capitalism is likewise no longer the world’s dynamic growth center as that has moved eastward. Western capitalism is clearly losing its former position as the self-confident, unified, ultimate power behind the World Bank, United Nations, International Monetary Fund, and the U.S. dollar as world currency.

In terms of global economic footprints as measured by national GDPs, the United States and its major allies (G7) comprise a total, aggregated GDP now that is already significantly less than the comparable aggregated GDPs of China and its major allies (BRICS). The footprints of the two global economic power blocs were roughly equal in 2020. The difference between the two footprints has been widening ever since and continues to do so. China and its BRICS allies are increasingly the world economy’s richest bloc. Nothing prepared the populations of Western capitalism for this changed reality or its effects. Especially the sections of those populations already forced to absorb the costly burdens of Western capitalism’s decline feel betrayed, abandoned, and angry. Elections are merely one way for some of them to express those feelings.

Western capitalism’s rich, powerful, and small minority practices a combination of denial and adjustment to its decline. Prevailing politicians, mainstream media, and academics continue to orate, write, and act as if the collective West were still globally dominant. For them and their ways of thinking, their global dominance in the second half of the last century never ended. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza testify to that denial and exemplify the costly strategic mistakes it produces.

When not denying the new reality, significant portions of Western capitalism’s corporate rich and powerful are adjusting their preferred economic policies away from neoliberalism toward economic nationalism. The chief rationale for that adjustment is that it serves national security” because it may at least slow China’s aggressiveness.” Domestically, the rich and powerful in each country use their positions and resources to shift the costs of Western capitalism’s decline onto the mass of their middle-income and poorer fellow citizens. They worsen income and wealth inequalities, cut governmental social services, and harden police behaviors and prison conditions.

Denial facilitates the continued decline of Western capitalism. Too little is done too late against problems not yet admitted. Deteriorating social conditions flowing from that decline, especially for the middle income and the poor, provide opportunities for the usual right-wing demagogues. They proceed to blame the decline on immigrants, foreigners, excessive state power, the Democrats, China, secularism, abortion, and culture war enemies, hoping thereby to assemble a winning electoral constituency. Sadly, left-wing commentary focuses on refuting the right’s claims about its chosen scapegoats. While its refutations are often well-documented and effective in media combat against right-wing Republicans, the left too rarely invokes explicit, sustained arguments about mass anger’s links to declining capitalism. The left fails sufficiently to stress that government regulators, however well-intentioned, have been captured by and subordinated to specifically private capitalist profiteers.

The mass of people therefore became deeply skeptical about relying on the government to correct or offset the failings of private capitalism. People grasp, often just intuitively, that today’s problem is the merger of capitalists and government. Left and right increasingly feel betrayed by all the promises of center-left and center-right politicians. More or less government intervention has changed too little in the trajectory of modern capitalism. To growing numbers, politicians of the center-left and center-right seem equally docile servants of the capitalist-government merger that constitutes modern capitalism with all its failures and flaws. Thus today’s right succeeds if, when, and where it can portray itself as not centrist, its candidates explicitly anti-centrist. The left is weaker because too many of its programs seem still linked to the idea that government interventions will correct or offset capitalism’s shortcomings.

In short, mass anger is disconnected from declining capitalism in part because left, right and center deny, avoid, or neglect their link. Mass anger does not translate into or yet move to explicit anti-capitalist politics in part because too few organized political movements lead in that way.

Thus, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Britain’s new Labour Party government—its top financial officer—blithely announces, There is not a lot of money there.” She prepares the public—and preemptively excuses the new government—for how little the new government will even try to do. She goes further and defines her key goal as unlocking private investment.” Even the words she chooses mirror what the old Conservatives want to hear and would themselves say. In declining capitalisms, electoral changes can and often do serve to avoid or at least postpone real change.

Chancellor Reeves’s words assure major corporations and the 1 percent they enrich that Starmer’s Labour Party will not heavily tax them. This matters since it is precisely in major corporations and the rich that a lot of money” is located. The wealth of the top 1 percent could easily fund a genuinely democratic rebuilding of a seriously depleted post-2008 UK economy. In stark contrast, the typical Conservative programs prioritizing private investment are what got the UK to its present sad state. They were the problem; they are not the solution.

The Labour Party was once socialist. Socialism once meant a thoroughgoing critique of the capitalist system and advocacy of something totally different. Socialists sought electoral victories to win government power and use it to transition society to a post-capitalist order. But today’s Labour Party has thrown that history away. It wants to administer contemporary British capitalism just a bit less harshly than Conservatives do. It works to persuade the British working class that less harsh” is the best they can hope and vote for. And British Conservatives can indeed smile and condescendingly approve such a Labour Party or else quibble with it over how much harshness today’s capitalism needs.”

Macron, also once a socialist, plays a similar role in France.  Indeed, so do Biden and Trump in the United States, Justin Trudeau in Canada, and Olaf Scholz in Germany. All offer administrations of their contemporary capitalisms. None have programs aimed at solving modern capitalisms’ basic, accumulated, and persistently unsolved problems. Solutions would require first admitting what those problems are: cyclically recurring instability, increasingly unequal distributions of income and wealth, monied corruption of politics, mass media, and culture, and increasingly oppressive foreign policies that fail to offset a declining Western capitalism. Insistent denial across the collective West precludes admitting those problems, let alone fashioning solutions to them woven into programs for real change. Alternative governments administer; they dare not lead. Would a Kamala Harris-Tim Walz regime break with this pattern?

Their administrations will experiment with and perhaps oscillate between free-trade and protectionist policies—as past capitalist governments often did. In the United States, recent GOP and Democrat steps toward economic nationalism remain vote-seeking exceptions to still widespread commitments to neoliberal globalization. Western megacorporations, including many based in the United States, welcome China’s new role as the global champion of free trade (even as it retaliates moderately against tariffs and trade wars initiated by the collective West). Support remains strong for negotiations to shape generally acceptable global divisions of trade and investment flows. The latter are seen as profitable as well as a means to avoid dangerous wars. Elections will continue to include clashes between capitalism’s free-trade and protectionist tendencies.

But the more fundamental issue of 2024 elections is mass anger in the collective West aroused by its historic decline and the effects of that decline on the mass of average citizens. How will that anger shape the elections?

The more extreme right wing recognizes and rides the deeper anger without, of course, grasping its relationship to capitalism. Marine Le Pen, Nigel Farage, and Trump are all examples. They all mock and deride the center-left and center-right governments that merely administer what they depict as a sinking ship that needs new, different leadership. But their donor base (capitalist) and long-standing ideology (pro-capitalist) block them from going beyond extreme scapegoating (of immigrants, ethnic minorities, heterodox sexualities, and foreign demons).

The mainstream media likewise cannot grasp the relationship of mass anger to capitalism. Thus they dismiss the anger as irrational or caused by inadequate messaging” from mainstream influencers. For many months, mainstream economic pundits have bemoaned the strange” coexistence of a great economy” and polls showing mass disappointment at the bad” economy. By strange” they mean stupid” or ignorant” or politically-motivated/dishonest”: sets of words often condensed into populist.”

The left is jealous of the extreme right’s significant mass base now in working-class areas. In most countries, the left has spent the last many decades trying to hold on to its working-class base as the mainstream’s center-left movement pulled it away. That meant a greater or lesser shift from communist and anarchist to ever more moderate” socialist and democratic affiliations. That shift included downplaying the goal of a comprehensively different post-capitalism in favor of the immediate goal of a state-fostered softer, humane capitalism where wages and benefits were greater, taxes more progressive, cycles more regulated, and minorities less oppressed. For that left, what mass anger it could recognize flowed from failures to achieve such a state-fostered softer capitalism, not from Western capitalism’s decline.

As capitalism’s dynamic center moved to Asia and elsewhere in the global South, decline set in among its old, more-or-less abandoned centers. Old center capitalists participated in and profited greatly as the system relocated its dynamic center. Capitalists, both state and private, in the new centers profited even more. In the old centers, the rich and powerful shifted the burdens of decline onto the masses. In the new centers, the rich and powerful gathered the new capitalist wealth there mostly into their hands but with enough trickling down to satisfy large portions of their working classes. That’s how capitalism works and always has. For the mass of employees, however, the ride upwards when capitalism’s dynamic center is where they work and live is far more pleasant and hopeful than when decline sets in. The ride down provokes depression and traumas. When they fester without admission or discussion, they often morph into anger.

Richard Wolff is the author of Capitalism Hits the Fan and Capitalism’s Crisis Deepens. He is founder of Democracy at Work.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/08/14/capitalism-mass-anger-and-the-2024-elections/

Sri Lanka is Not Bangladesh: Why Bangladesh Aragalaya is Nine (9) Times More Violent Than Sri Lanka?

August 15th, 2024

Dilrook Kannangara

Comparing Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is wrong. The level of violence and ethnic composition are totally different in the two nations. Sri Lanka was economically bankrupt, had given up repaying loans and had 2 years and 1 quarter of negative economic growth when Aragalaya commenced. On the other hand, the Bangladeshi economy was doing far better when its people rose. However, there is one key similarity between violent sections of both countries during their struggles.

A disproportionately large number of violent people in Sri Lanka’s Aragalaya belonged to a certain creed and they are the ones causing all violence in Bangladesh too. The brutal decapitation and killing of a MP while chanting extremist religious chants, burning buses and beating rival people in Slave Island, burning some houses and businesses belonging to certain politicians and assaulting state television employees were carried out by this group of people. Among the arrested for violence in 2022 there is a disproportionately large group of people belonging to this particular creed. Over 90% of Bangladesh is made up of them too. That’s the main reason for Bangladesh’s extreme violence.

Sri Lanka gained Independence without bloodshed and violence where Bangladeshi Independence was marked by extreme violence by all sides. Since Independence a number of leaders were killed and the military took over power in Bangladesh further expanding its violent past.

What is most concerning is the violent future of Bangladesh. Extremist groups have already targeted ethnic Hindus and they have made it clear they will contest planned elections. If free and fair elections are held, extremists will make a grand entry into Bangladeshi parliament. The difference in the scale of violence in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh is of a factor of 10% to 90% for this reason. That is nine (9) times. Fortunately, Sri Lanka is not that unfortunate as Bangladesh which led to a peaceful transition of power once the three main slogans of Aragalaya people were met

COVID 19 POLICY – THE BREACH OF SOCIAL CONTRACT BETWEEN MAN AND STATE 

August 15th, 2024

Manuka Wijesinghe.

Quo vadis domine? ‘Where are you going, Lord?’, Peter asks the risen Christ whom he meets along the Appian way. ‘Romam eo iterum crucifigi’, Christ replies. ‘I am going to Rome in order to be crucified again.

While Christ sacrificed his life for the love of man, we live for the love of man. We live for the fulfillment of executing the simple rites and duties of the human family to which we belong. We are glad when life offers us the opportunity of caring for parents, children, spouses, siblings and community. The pinnacle of our Asian human experience is the fulfillment of duty according to the values embedded in our tradition. We are able to identify and differentiate between the roles of kinship. We are not free-floating individuals soaring on the wings of self-centred hedonism, rather, are born to live a specified life. We are deeply interconnecting to the unit of the family which is fortified and sustained from the happiness we give others and get from others. The units of family, community are not based on written constitutions; but founded on generations of trust. And, it is that trust we extend to our elected governments and public institutions. We humans do not need government or institutions to exist, but institutions and government need us.

It is this trust which was abused when the Covid narrative unfolded.   

It is because of misplaced trust that most citizens, (even the rural Sinhalese and all Tamil, despite a post independent history of being deceived, tortured, killed and disappeared by the hands of state authorities) believed the narrative told by the same authorities and collectively, without least objection, obeyed the inhuman and perverse commands of social distancing, masking, testing and finally, having obeyed the ludicrous, unscientific and irrational commands of political and institutional authority, flocked to parks, temples and schools to get themselves injected with a substance, whose efficacy was uncertain but worse still, whose toxicity was unknown.

Trust is the Achilles heel of the human animal.

It was trust that made these people believe that the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test method was the gold standard for disease. The word wide web had sufficient material indicating otherwise, where even the inventor of the PCR test, Kerry Mullis says, ‘The PCR test doesn’t tell you are sick. These tests cannot detect free infection viruses at all’.  Nonetheless, the majority did not inquire. They assumed that public authorities were of the same human family.

One cannot expect a populace with no medical knowledge to inform themselves on the questionable safety of this new technology using lipid nano particles containing synthetic RNA, for the purpose of herd immunity, for an uncomplicated viral infection, projected as an apocalypse, by an unelected non-governmental international organization; the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO, since its inception has succeeded, not in bettering human health, but transforming the healable acute into a progressive chronic. Thus, while making man more diseased it has escalated the profits of pharmaceutical giants whose objective is the generation of profit through new diseases whose management requires new drugs which, in eventuality, will destroy vital organs and the mind.

When death does come, one is long dead, in body, mind and spirit, through drug poisoning.

For whom do our health institutions work? For the public or for drug cartels? Well, the last years have proven that it has not been for the public. Instead, like good pied pipers; politicians, public institutions and health officials have parroted the number theories and mortality conjectures materialized by the WHO and its collaborators.

Yet, is this something new?

A recent film by Martin Scorsese, (coincidentally or intentionally, it was released immediately post covid vaccine rollout) ‘Killers of the flower moon’, is about the cruel fate of the native American Osage community of Oklahoma in the Americas.  Having had their native lands seized by white settlers, they were driven into a rocky reservation around Oklahoma with the assurance that they could reap the profit of this assumed wasteland. But this wasteland proved to have oil. Soon, the plan for the acquisition of Osage terrain was hatched. First, they began poisoning them with a diet that was toxic to the Osage, causing the tribe’s youth to develop diabetes. Then, the same white settlers who caused the disease, gave them the medicine that killed them. It was a master plan to acquire the land and its oil. Coincidentally, it is the same people who are now trying to acquire the earth from all of us. With wars, regime changes, coups, sanctions and poisons marketed as drugs and preventives.

For example, why is it, that in the Kandy hospital, there has been a sudden surge of extremely malignant, rapidly proliferating turbo cancers* amongst its doctors? 

Could its cause be the fact that Kandy hospital’s doctors and medical students were given the Moderna vaccine?  Moderna was the most lethal of vaccines in the Covid market, its lipid nano particle content more than treble than that of Pfizer and has been categorized as the most lethal of all vaccines.

Why do the young and healthy suddenly fall down dead with cardiac arrest? Why is there a surge in blindness, deafness, sepsis, myocarditis, turbo cancers, thrombosis, strokes etcetera? Is the vaccine not the only common denominator of the last four years? Why is there a hush instead questions? Where are the voices of those lock down and vaccine advocates, doctors, virologist and pharmaceutical ombudsmen now, in the light of the immense proliferation of strange and inexplicable disease without known aetiology? Why are they silent? Should they not, instead, be holding a public inquiry regarding all the Covid 19 policies, both preventive (social distancing, testing and masks) and curative (vaccines)?

Are they answerable to us, or to international drug cartels?

What is Long Covid? Have those who seem reaffirmed pronouncing their sufferance through ‘Long Covid’ ever inquired if such a disease does exist? There is no scientific paper written by any serious scientist proving the existence of ‘Long Covid’ caused by a natural virus. ‘Long Covid’ is a placating name given to a collection of symptoms caused by vaccine side effect. It is only the vaccinated who can claim it.

Due to the sudden appearance of heart ailments in children, today, in the nation’s schools, children are instructed to take an ECG test prior to sports events.  Indeed, it is good to take precautions, but how often does a child not run outside of sports events? Would he not run to catch a bus, a ball, run between wickets in a neighborhood cricket match? Is he expected to do an ECG prior to play? Or, has the current smart digitalized parenthood which permitted politicians to mask and imprison their children think play is no longer a child’s prerogative?

I recollect the sinister prophecy of Somalatha Subasinghe’s famous play ‘Vikurti’. The drama of a talented young girl whose passion was dance and drama. Her mother forbade her from doing what she loved for the want of having a daughter who would make her proud by becoming a doctor. For that, she wanted her to study, not sing, dance and act. ‘Vikurti’ ends with the girl’s mental derangement.

Is play not a child’s nature? Is it our preferred choice that they go mad?

Would it not be far more advisable to create a medical task force to understand the impact of the damage caused by vaccines and find a synthesis with our traditional medical systems to ameliorate the dangers to the nation’s youth? Are they not our future?

Alas, that is not of interest to the person prescribing the ECG. The ECG is far more profitable to the minister recommending it, the agent selling it and perhaps the school bureaucracy recommending it. For it is this institution; the school, which has been most evil in the last years. We had no vaccine mandate, yet schools refused entry to unvaccinated children. That is inexcusable and an unpardonable crime and every one of those principles who forced it must be held accountable. They have committed a crime against our children.

Children did not die of Covid. It was never a threat to them. But, they were injected with the genetic manipulating Pfizer vaccine.  Studies have to be done over generations to understand what mutations genetic engineering may cause and how fertility may be affected. While parents received the comparatively non-dangerous Chinese and Russian vaccine, all our children were given the most dangerous western product; Pfizer. Not once, but twice; in adult doses.

Our children were forcibly inoculated by the orders of principals, teachers and the teacher’s unions for the fear that children could infect them. Had our grandmothers been afraid when a child came home with infectious diseases? No. It was they who looked after children while mothers went to work. When in human history has man sacrificed children to save himself? Today, children suffer, not only from heart diseases, but also from cancers, neurological disorders and infertility. The list of young girls whose menstruation has stopped is countless. And not to mention inflammation of testicles. Have our children been rendered sterile?

Naomi Woolf, in her book ‘Facing he Beast’, written after studying the Pfizer documents writes, ‘Reproduction itself is targeted by the mRNA vaccines, and babies and foetuses are harmed at a scale which everyone at Pfizer and the FDA (Food and Drug administration), who read these documents knew’.

That the vaccine was ‘safe and effective’ for the pregnant was pronounced after a study of forty four French rats.  The scientist who ran the study were shareholders and employees of BioNTech Pfizer.   

Will our children ever have the simple human joys, like we did, in having children? Most unlikely.

Was this vaccine another euphemism for birth control? An African leader is attributed to saying, ‘They (meaning the white colonial settlers) came to our lands, put the bible into our hands and taught us to close our eyes and pray. When we opened our eyes, we had the bible, they had the land’

Is this not happening again, or, has it ever stopped happening?

If not, which sublime idiot (WHO) orders medical intervention on children with products whose toxicity has not been tested, especially for the ridiculous ideal of preventing an airborne virus which is easily conquered by the essential genius of the human immune system.  In the zeal of obliging colonial masters (who compromise the WHO) we have injected our children with irreversible damage and instead of holding an inquiry or conferring liability upon those who enforced these new technologies we move from one crisis to another, distracting ourselves from the foundational ingredient of human life; Health, and the highest of human virtue; Truth .

Khalil Gibran, the Lebanese poet wrote in his poem titled ‘On Children’,

‘Your children are not your children; they are the sons and daughters of life longing for itself.  You may give them your love, but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls will dwell in the house of tomorrow’

We have taken from our children their tomorrow. Do we have no more ethical or moral demeanor? Do we truly not care? Children have been entrusted to a society for care.  Is it not our joint responsibility to ensure their safety, both physically and mentally?

Instead of doing so we have merely followed imperial orders. We shut their schools and muzzled them with carcinogenous masks. Do not believe that we are free from colonial yoke. We are as enslaved as we have always been. Our minds captured by their myths for their economic empowerment is founded upon the enslaved native. Despite grand education and the triumph of Independence, we are still that native.

This killer virus narrative has been tried for several years, with AIDS, Mad cow, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Ebola, Zika and many more, but it was only by 2019, with Covid that all the actors and collaborators, like building blocks, were in the right places and the integrity of every public institution and media station had been forsaken.

The false narratives were boosted by the media. Sick bodies in crowded wards, throats slit to fix ventilators, military trucks transporting bodies to crematoriums. Like a still life painting limited to the boundaries of its frame, reality was compressed into newspaper headlines and television announcements.  Truth, existing out of the picture frame was excluded. It did not say that those hanging on ventilators were the aged with multiple drug related co morbidities and suffering terminal cancers, emphysemas, pneumonias and other chronic pathologies. Nor did it convey the verity of the military trucks. Nor did it say that medical doctors had been given new Covid treatment guide lines that were contra indicated to viral infection treatment and drugs and remedies that were known to ameliorate viral pathologies had been delisted and forbidden.

That was the fate of Ivermectin and Hydro chloroquine. The WHO orchestrated a narrative through a flawed scientific publication that indicated its lethality. The lethality was caused, not for the toxicity of the drug, but for WHO scientist giving a lethal dose of 3000 mg.  There were plenty of scientific papers, since decades, indicating success by treatment of a regular doses of 50 or 60 milligrams. But the WHO did not want an old drug, it wanted a new technologies to render populations impotent and diseased. In our country, our children were made its first victims.

Yet, all this is not new, it had been tried over and over again, since the birth of microbe theory, but its prologue was AIDS.

The death of emaciated homosexuals was a god given chance to the drug cartels of the United States of America; a settler colony like Israel, which creates nation through the decimation of indigenous population.

One of their scientist prophets, targeting the Nobel prize (a prize that is more sensational than of intrinsic value to the human race) came up with a fabricated theory that the virus HIV was the cause of AIDS. Furthermore, although there was no evidence of AIDS being transmitted sexually it was proclaimed to be a sexual disease, contracted through touch, kiss, exchange of semen or even use of toilet seats.   

But what was AIDS?

Did AIDS have a specific symptom that differentiated it from other diseases?

Had the modern microbe hunters (scientist) discovered a specific AIDS virus?

Negative. AIDS was not a particular disease but a name given to a series of symptoms that appeared simultaneously in the homosexual milieu.  The symptoms that corroborated to become AIDS was Kaposi’s sarcoma, pneumonia (caused by Pneumocystis Carinii), tuberculosis and shingles.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS, as it became commonly known, was a range of symptoms that one would find in chemotherapy patients. It was only in the 1970’s, that these symptoms were seen in another population group; homosexual men without cancers. Though many commonalities existed between these men, like the consumption of recreational drugs, only sexual promiscuity was taken as a common denominator and a test was devised (like the PCR of today) to identify their microbes. HIV won the race.

Though HIV negatives had all had all symptoms of AIDS too, it was delisted. The sensation was greater with a ‘one disease, one virus’ marketing campaign. In this marketing campaign, HIV positives were given the death sentence. The campaign did not end with homosexuals, it was proclaimed that they would pass it to heterosexual lovers who would pass it onto their female lovers, wives and prostitutes. Eventually, all of humanity would be dead. In the meantime, the scramble for a drug that could be marketed as a dual pack (HIV positive equals AIDS) began.

Yet, that what was the world was not informed of was that these homosexuals were those who used the recreational drug known as ‘Poppers’, made from nitro glycerides that dilated the anal sphincter, thereby making sexual pleasure easier and longer. ‘Poppers’ was a recreational drug among the US homosexuals. The damage and degeneration caused to the capillaries by the uninhibited usage of ‘Poppers’ became evident in the appearance of Kaposi’s sarcoma lesions on their skin. This and the regular appearance of a strain of pneumonia which afflicted only on the severely immune compromised, (which happened with the use of Poppers) were summed together and called AIDS. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Immune deficiency was uncommon to the majority which lived within prescribed behavioral norms. That it was not anal sex but the use of sexual stimulators which caused AIDS was not divulged to the masses.  Instead, they were mentally tortured with the lie that HIV positive was the prerequisite for AIDS, emaciation, and gradual death after an incubation period of zero years to ten or more.

The Long incubation theory was good for drug profits.  A highly toxic drug, Azidothymidine (AZT) developed by the head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious disease (NIAID) Anthony Fauci (who was the prophet of the covid narrative too), at exorbitant cost, was administered to all HIV positives, even if they were perfectly healthy.  (like PCR positive and Corona)

AZT could not have cured AIDS for AIDS was not a disease. AIDS was caused by lifestyle choices, not by nature.  AZT should have landed in the dustbin of pharmaceutical discoveries, but it was hyped (like the Covid vaccines) and sold to thousands of healthy HIV positives.  Every one of them who was given AZT is now dead, killed by leukemia like morbidities caused by drug toxicity. Those who survived, such as Magic Johnson, discontinued the drug. Rock Hudson, who gave AIDS a face, was a heavy ‘Popper’ user. And, it was never made public that his longtime sexual partner had no AIDS. AIDS was never a sexually transmitted disease. It was a creation of recreational and pharmaceutical drugs.

Then, a WHO led public smear campaign, associating Africa with promiscuity, sexual savagery and excess hedonism, took AIDS to Africa. When the then Sunday Times medical correspondent flew to Africa to study AIDS, the answer he got from all, to nature of their disease was the one word, ‘AIDS’ But, when he studied the nature of African Aids, what he found was tuberculosis, chronic diarrhea, malaria, leprosy, malnutrition etc. He concluded the article saying, ‘all these diseases had been known in Africa for ages. But, in the new hype of pharmaceutical scramble preceded by fear mongering, every disease that had existed since the birth of human time was called ‘AIDS’

AIDS was not a new disease; it was merely rebranding of old disease. It was the same with Corona. A cough, a cold, the loss of taste was called Corona. And, the positive PCR established the lie. PCR’s efficacy in detecting infection was notoriously fallacious, even its founder, the Nobel laureate Kerry Mullis stated, ‘To get some big numbers for HIV positive cases in Africa before they realized that antibodies to malaria – which everyone in Africa has – show up as PCR positive tests’.

And, it is happening, in our country, again. Open the daily newspapers, ‘AIDS on the rise’, is a favourite front page headline. It is not AIDS that is one the rise, it is testing that is one the rise for obviously someone somewhere is trying to make a quick buck as long as virus mania is rampant. 

The harm caused by vaccines are unsurmountable and can no longer be misinterpreted. Yet, many still love to use the euphemism of ‘Long covid’ to rationalize side effects of post covid jab.  Why is man so reluctant to articulate the truth? I was recently was in the company of a couple, both Covid jabbed for the purpose of foreign travel where the husband, since the jabs suffers regular respiratory disease symptoms. Knowing their vaccination history, I pointed to the vaccination cause of this chronic malady and was about to suggest a path of amelioration when his wife attacked my hypothesis and manifested her own. ‘He gets these coughs because he doesn’t wear a mask when he takes the lift to his office’. 

This person is 64 years old. He has gone in many lifts. Until the age of Covid, the lift has not caused respiratory disease in him or any other.  

Few understand science as few understood God. God was created for the purpose of men becoming better through transcendental truth and science was created for men to near empirical truth. But, the supposed science of today is not truth, it is dogma. Scientific standards and jargon are used to deceive a public long disinterested in the pursuit of truth, but embroiled in the pursuit of digital sensationalism, identity politics and fake social justice theories that separate the ‘I’ from the world in which it lives.

Man is no longer a pilgrim upon a spiritual journey called life, but a puppet on a string in the Age of Disinformation.   

Have we ever bothered to inquire as to why mankind suffers from disease that were rarely a topic before the emergence of the free market economy in our country? Then, except for acutes, we barely had chronic disease. Today, we are animated textbooks of chronic disease. Be it diabetes, asthmas, allergies, autism, auto immune diseases and cancers. Doctors and health care pundits claim that these have been caused by life style changes, but is it not equally probable that they have been caused by drugs?

For many in our country, popping a Panadol for painless sleep is like a faithful saying a prayer at night. But, while prayer does not damage the liver, Panadol does. Why do so many women suffer fatty livers? We are not a nation female alcohol consumerism. Why are so many children on brain changing psychiatric drugs? What is this child’s prognosis in five, ten, fifteen years when his liver cannot cope with detoxification and his brain gets the sluggishness and senility of a liver cirrhotic? Have parents ever question the damages they cause to their children by giving them Ritalin?

A friend recently said to me that his grandfather had little wound on his ankle that always opened. When he asked him why he did nothing about it, the grandfather’s repones was, If I close it here it will come out somewhere else, here I can see it and manage it, if it goes elsewhere, it can be fatal’.

Had men of yesteryear greater wisdom than men to today, even without universal education and access to prestigious foreign universities? ‘They put the bible into our hands and taught us how to pray, when we opened our eyes, we had the bible, they had the land?’ Is that what has happened to us?

We have learned their methods and lost our insight and common sense? Do we know what medicines we get when are treated for cancer? Do we know what drugs are sold to our free national health care system? Do we know what commissions are gifted to authorities for passing drugs which have never been approved? Have we ever asked if nature or allopathic drugs cause the need for kidney dialysis? Have we ever asked young mothers, what vaccine caused the personality change of their children, which was gladly diagnosed as Autism?

As Ivan IIlich writes in his book, the ‘Medical Nemesis’, ‘Before, he who got sick could still find in the eyes of the doctor a reflection of his own anguish and some recognition for the uniqueness of his suffering. Now, what he meets is the gaze of a biological accountant engaged in the input/output calculations.’

Quo vadis Domine?

Kanthi returned to be crucified the second time. With the first vaccine she got a turbo cancer. Its medical cure caused epileptic seizure. They killed her. Jesus fortunately left no children; he had the freedom to return to Rome to be crucified the second time. Kanthi could not. She had two young sons. A poor widow of 45 years from Obeysekera town in Colombo. Her mother wailed as the cortege was carried for cremation.  Kanthi was her only daughter.

A human life is not born from artificial intelligence, it is born into the unit of the family; the hearth of trust, loyalty, reverence and duty. Kanthi was unable to fulfill her duty, either to her children or to her mother. She died crying, not for the sorrow of death, but the sorrow of unfulfilled duty. Her husband met an equal fate. He died from a sepsis that was left untreated until PCR test clearance. It was negative. By then, his organs had packed up and he died.

‘Death caused outside hospital waiting for PCR result’, which journalist dared to write such an article? Which newspaper cared to publish such an article?  And why not?   

It is not silence we need; it is a public inquiry and policy that makes every public official accountable to the crimes he commits against the human race. The WHO is in the wings, preparing for its ‘One Health’ plan; a power grab in the form of a ‘Pandemic Preparedness Treaty’. To abort that, we must be prepared, vociferous and brave. For should our representatives ratify it, the WHO would transition us from dictatorship to totalitarianism; the Ideology made up of Lies.

Manuka Wijesinghe.

August 13th 2024

*turbo cancers is a word created to describe the rapid proliferation of malignant cells, seen after Covid’s mRNA vaccines.

PAKISTAN: Tehreek-er-Lebbaik (TLP) Extremists Openly Threaten Ahmadis.

August 15th, 2024

by A. Abdul Aziz

Reports reaching us indicate, the London based International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) is again calling the attention of International Community to intensifying threats against the Ahmadi citizens in Pakistan. Enjoying virtual immunity from official sanction, and magnified by viral social media posts, hatred for Ahmadis has become a form of mass hysteria.

An example of illegal; incitement to violence may be found in the following speech now widely circulated in a video.

Whoever feels sympathy for Qadianis should take them to their home. If Chief Justice feels sympathy for them, he should take them to their home. If anyone from the administration has sympathy, he should take them to his home. You talk of preaching, By the God of Holy Kaba, we will make life hell for them in District Okaraa.

Why are you feeling so sympathetic towards Qadianis?

Preaching aside, we are compiling their data wherever the Qadianis are living and soon we will tell them how we allow them to preach.!

They will be forced to leave their, let aside do preaching.

We are Ahl e Sunnat, we made Pakistan.

We made the English run to England.

We held the flag of moon and star.”

The IHRC is receiving many heartbreaking appeals for assistance from Ahmadis in Pakistan who fear for their safety and lives and have concluded that the police and other state officials are either in different to their vulnerability, or complicit in their persecution.

The IHRC thus again appeals to governments and international organizations to insist that Pakistani authorities take immediate steps to punish any who threaten or harm others on the basis of their religion or ethnic background, and thius reduce the specter of massacres at the hands of extremist forces that now haunts the country.

The incitement to violence in the viral social media posts and videos are inconsistent with international norms and values concerning freedom of religion and belief, as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), on the freedom of religion, and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which was ratified by Pakistan in 2008. Three other UN Human Rights treaties as well as numerous General Assembly Resolutions and Human Rights Committee comments, prohibit religious  discrimination. This viral social media posts and videos also violate Pakistan’s own National Action Plan as well as the recently enacted cybercrime laws because it fuels hatred, discrimination and persecution against members of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan.

Nonetheless the Pakistani Government authorities who continue to bring frivolous cases against Ahmadi Muslims under anti-Ahmadiyya, blasphemy, cybercrime laws, turn a blind eye towards systematic and country-wide efforts by Islamic extremists to fan hatred and ignite violence against Ahmadi Muslims. Instead of prosecuting the makers of these social media posts and videos under cybercrime laws and the Natiional Action Plan, the government authorities continue to protect and support extremists and target innocent Ahmaadis.

This comes just weeks after a group of top UN  Human Rights experts including UN Special Rapporteurs urge an immediate end to discrimination and violation against Ahmadis in Pakistan, citing documented evidence of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, attacks on places of worships and curtainmentof free expression, peaceful assembly and association”. Apparently their pleas  fell on deaf ears.

We call upon the Pakistani Authorities to honor their International human rights commitments to protect religious freedom and promote religious tolerance towards the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

We respectfully request all members of the international community to urge the government of Pakistan to take urgent steps to bring its laws and practices in conformity with international standards as ordained by UDHR and ICCPR.

Chennai District Ahmadiyya Elders’Association (Majlis Ansarullah) – Annual Gathering.

August 15th, 2024

by A. Abdul Aziz reporting from Chennai.

The Second Khalifa of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (Community) in Islam H Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, may Allah be pleased with him, formed Auxiliary Organizations in the J   ama’at to serve the needs of both genders according to different age groups:

In 1922: Majlis Lajna Ima’illah for women.

In 1928: Majlis Nasirat-ul-Ahmadiyya for girls ages 7 – 15.

In 1938:  Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya for men ages 15 – 40.

In 1940: Majlis Ansarullah for men age 40 and above.

On Sunday the 4th  August 2024, at Masjid Hadi, St. Thomas Mount, Chennai, District (Zilla) Ahmadiyya Elders Association Annual Gathering (Ijtima) was held. Previous day,the Sports Event taken place. 

It is worthy to mention here that this Mosque Masjid Hadi was inaugurated by His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Fifth Khalifa and the Supreme Head of the World-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Islam, during his visit in the year 2008.

In this event, members from Chennai, St. Thomas Mount, Pondichery, Cuddalore, Panrutti and Thittacheri participated.

The main event started at 9.30 am with Flag Hoisting followed by silent prayer by Mr. A. M. Zahir Hussain (Amir – Present, Coimbatore, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community). He was the Representative of President, Ahmadiyya Elders Association, India. Program further continued with Holy Qur’an recitation by S. Ramzan Ali followed by translations.  

Mr. A. M. Zahir Hussain read out the Pledge of Association and the audience repeated. An Urdu poem composed by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi was recited followed by Welcome Address by Mr. Sultan Ahmad, Officer-in-Charge, Ahmadiyya Elders Association, Chennai District.

Annual Reports was read out by Mr. M.S. Waseem Ahmad.

In his inaugural Address, Chair Person Mr. Zahir Hussain emphasized the importance of strong bandage with Khilafat and its blessings.

The event included academic competitions such as Holy Qur’an recitation, Urdu Poem, short speech etc. and the prize distribution was also part of the event. 

Acting Amir (President) Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Chennai Mr. Zafarullah Ahmad and President, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community St. Thomas Mount, Chennai Mr. H. Shafik Ahmad also addressed the event.

Vote of Thanks by Mr. M. S. Waseem Ahmad, Chairman, Ijtima Committee and the daylong event concluded with closing address by the Chair Person of the event followed by silent prayer. 

Message from Ahmadiyya Khalifa was read out. The gist of the message reads: 

 I am pleased to know about this event. May Allah bless this event and May He brings good effects.  You have accepted  the Promised Messiah, peace be on him. It is a fortunate and a great blessing as well. You have to be gratitude to Allah, it is your duty indeed. The best way to show gratitude would be, after you have accepted Ahmadiyyat, there should be pious changes in you. You must prove the best examples in action to others. 

 What are the expectations from us, by the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, you know that: He says: ‘Wake up during the night and duplicate before Allah. Close the door and pray.you will be shown Mercy’. 

 Promised Messiah, peace be on him, continues: it is essential to do efforts to fulfill the real purpose of Baiat (oath of allegiance). Recite the Holy Qur’an attentively. Ponder over that, then act accordingly’. 

 As Promised Messiah, peace be on him, said, do supplication, observe daily prayers and seeking His blessings. Ahmadiyya Khalifa added that, another important advice is, you should have strong bondage with Khilafat. You should also keep on advising this to your children as well.”

Economic Update: How Deficits and Debts Rip Us Off

August 15th, 2024

On this week’s Economic Update, Professor Wolff devotes the entire program to explaining clearly and accessibly what government deficits are, why they occur, and who benefits from them. We show how deficits and debts reward corporations and the rich at the expense of the mass of employees. This show will equip our audience to see through the misuse of deficits and debts in the 2024 election campaigns. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our channel, follow us on social media and of course be sure to sign up on our website: www.democracyatwork.info As always, we thank you for your attention, support, and solidarity.

සතර සතිපට්ඨානය හෙවත් සතර විපස්සනාව

August 15th, 2024

තිස්ස ගුණතිලක

පසුගිය ධර්ම සාකච්ඡාවලදී සාකච්ඡාවට භාජනයවූ කරුනු සද්ධර්මය තුල හමුවන ආර්ය ප්‍රතිපදාවට අනුකූලව සකස්කරගන්න, ගලපාගන්න බලමු. ප්‍රතිපදාව යනු නිවන් මාර්ගයට අනුගතවන ප්‍රතිපදාවයි.

  1. නිවන පවතින්නේ ස්වභාවධර්මය හෙවත් reality එක තුල එනම් අසංඛතය තුල බව දැන් අපි දනිමු.
  2. අසංඛතය, ස්වභාවධර්මය තුල පවතින නිවන අවබෝධවීමට, නිවනට කිට්ටු වීමට ස්වභාවධර්මය තේරුම්ගත යුතු බවත් අපි දනිමු.
  3. ස්වභාවධර්මය යනු ආශ්වාදයක් හෝ වෛරයක් නැති, රාගයක් හෝ ද්වේශයක් නැති, කාමචන්දයක් හෝ ව්‍යාපාදයක් නොපවතින – විනෙය්‍ය ලොකෙ අභිජ්ඣාදොමනස්සං, නන්දියක් නැති, ගින්නක් නැති, අගයක් නැති ස්වභාවයේ පවතින්නකි.
  4. ස්වභාවධර්මයේ පවතින ඉහත සඳහන්  ස්වභාවය ශුන්‍යත, අනිමිත්ත ස්වභාවයක් ලෙස හඳුන්වමු.
  5. ස්වභාවධර්මගත වීමට නැතහොත් නිවන් දැකීමට මෙම ශුන්‍යත අනිමිත්ත ස්වභාවය දැකිය යුතුය, අවබෝධ කරගත යුතුය. එම ශුන්‍යත අනිමිත්ත ස්වභාවය හා බද්ධ විය යුතුය. එම ස්වභාවය අවබෝධ කිරීමට ඇති එකම මාර්ගය සතරසතිපට්ඨානයයි.
  6. සතර සතිපට්ඨානය අවශ්‍යවන්නේ: ‘ආතාපී සම්පජානො සතිමා විනෙය්‍ය ලොකෙ අභිජ්ඣාදොමනස්සං – භාහිර ලෝකයේ, ස්වභාවධර්මය තුල (in reality) ආශ්වාදයක් (අභිජ්ඣා-කාමචන්ද) හෝ වෛරයක් (දොමනස්සං-ව්‍යාපාද) නැතිබව සිහියට හසුකරගන්නා (යෝනිසෝමනසිකාරය) වීර්ය’ ඇතිකරගැනීමටයි. 
  7. කුමක්ද මේ සතර ආකාරයට (චත්තාරෝ) සිහියට හසුකරගැනීම (සතිපට්ඨානා)?
  8. කායෙ කායානුපස්සී විහරති, වෙදනාසු වෙදනානුපස්සී විහරති, චිත්තෙ චිත්තානුපස්සී විහරති, ධම්මෙසු ධම්මානුපස්සී විහරති.

සෑම සිතුවිල්ලක් හරහාම භාහිර ලෝකය අපට ග්‍රහනය වන්නේ අපගේ පංචේන්ද්‍රිය හා සයවන ඉංද්‍රියවන මනේන්ද්‍රිය හරහාය.

  1. චක්ඛු, සෝත, ජිව්හා සහ ඝාණ ඉංද්‍රිය සතර හරහා භාහිර ලෝකයේ පවතින වර්ණ රූප, ශබ්ද රූප, රස රූප හා ඝණ්ධ රූප අපට ග්‍රහනය වී ස්කන්ධ-පට්ච්චසමුප්පාද ක්‍රියාවලිය ඇතිකරයි. භාහිරයෙන් එන වර්ණ, ශබ්ධ, රස හා ඝණ්ධ රූප ආශ්වාදයක් හෝ වෛරයක් ඇති සේ process වී භවය සකස්කරයි. එහි කෙලවර සත්වයා (ආත්මය, ආත්ම දෘශ්ඨිය, ඉත්ථභාවය – ego, සක්කාය) ඇතිකරයි. එනම් අප ජීවත්ව සිටිනා බවක් දැනෙයි.
  2. පොට්ඨබ්බ ඉංද්‍රිය හරහා අපට සීතල, උනුසුම, තදගතිය හා ගලනා ගතිය (flowing effect) ආදී වේදනා ග්‍රහනයවී ස්කන්ධ-පට්ච්චසමුප්පාද ක්‍රියාවලිය ඇතිකරයි. භාහිරයෙන් එන පොට්ඨබ්බ රූප ආශ්වාදයක් හෝ වෛරයක් ඇති සේ process වී භවය සකස්කරයි. එහි කෙලවර සත්වයා (ආත්මය, ආත්ම දෘශ්ඨිය, ඉත්ථභාවය – ego, සක්කාය) ඇතිකරයි. එනම් අප ජීවත්ව සිටිනා බවක් දැනෙයි.
  3. මන ඉංද්‍රිය හරහා නොයෙකුත් මනෝමය සංකල්පනා සකස් කරගෙන ඒවා ග්‍රහනය වී ස්කන්ධ-පට්ච්චසමුප්පාද ක්‍රියාවලිය ඇතිකරයි. භාහිරයෙන් එන මන රූප ආශ්වාදයක් හෝ වෛරයක් ඇති සේ process වී භවය සකස්කරයි. එහි කෙලවර සත්වයා (ආත්මය, ආත්ම දෘශ්ඨිය, ඉත්ථභාවය – ego, සක්කාය) ඇතිකරයි. එනම් අප ජීවත්ව සිටිනා බවක් දැනෙයි.

බුදුන්වහන්සේ සත්වයා අර්ථ දැක්වූයේ ඉහත ක්‍රියාවලින්ට අදාල ‘ස්කන්ධයට’ අනුකූලවයි. සත්වයා ඇතිවීම යනු ‘සමුදය-උදය’ හෙවත් දුක ඇතිවීමයි. ස්කන්ධ ක්‍රියාවලියට විෂයවූ භාහිරයේ (ස්වභාවධර්මයේ, in reality) පවතින රූපය පවතින්නේ ආශ්වාදයක් නැති ‘වය’ ස්වභාවයෙනි.

මෙසේ සංඛතයේ සකස්කරන උදය හා අසංඛතයේ පවතින වය ස්වභාවයන් දැකීම සතර සතිපට්ඨාන ප්‍රතිපදාවේ මූලිකම සංසිද්ධියයි.

සතිපට්ඨාන ප්‍රතිපදාවන් සතර (කාය, වේදනා, චිත්ත හා ධම්ම) apply වන්නේ ඉහත සඳහන් සත්වයා ඇතිකරන ස්කන්ධ-පටිච්චසමුප්පාද ක්‍රියාවලින්ට අනුකූලව different විවිධ අයුරිනි.

එනම්;

1.කායානුපස්සනාව හරහා උදය-වය දැකීමෙන් නිරුද්ධ (ශුන්‍යත, අනිමිත්ත) කලහැකි වන්නේ චක්ඛු, සෝත, ජිව්හා සහ ඝාණ ඉංද්‍රියන් හරහා ස්පර්ශවී සකස්වන භවය හා අදාල සත්වයයි.

2.වේදානුපස්සනාව හරහා උදය-වය දැකීමෙන් නිරුද්ධ (ශුන්‍යත, අනිමිත්ත) කලහැකි වන්නේ පොට්ඨබ්බ ඉංද්‍රිය හරහා ස්පර්ශවී සකස්වන භවය හා අදාල සත්වයයි.

3. චිත්තානුපස්සනාව හරහා උදය-වය දැකීමෙන් නිරුද්ධ (ශුන්‍යත, අනිමිත්ත) කලහැකි වන්නේ මන ඉංද්‍රිය හරහා ස්පර්ශවී සකස්වන භවය හා අදාල සත්වයයි.

4. ධම්මානුපස්සනාව හරහා උදය-වය දැකීමෙන් නිරුද්ධ (ශුන්‍යත, අනිමිත්ත) කලහැකි වන්නේ ඉහත සඳහන් සය ඉංද්‍රියන්ට හසු නොවන භාහිරය තුල පවතින අනෙකුත් සංසිද්ධීන් නිසා සකස්වන භවය හා අදාල සත්වයයි.

පංච නීවරණ හා එහි ස්වභාවය

ඉහත සඳහන් 1-3 දක්වා ඇති කාය, වේදනා, චිත්ත ක්‍රියාවලින් ඔබට පහසුවෙන් තේරූම්ගත හැකියයි සිතමි. නමුත් කුමක්ද මේ ධම්මානුපස්සනාවට පමනක් හසුවන එහෙත් ඉහත සඳහන්‍ මුළු සයේන්ද්‍රියටම හසුනොවන සංසිද්ධීන්? මුළු සද්ධර්මයේම අවසන් ඵලය එනම් ශරීරයට බලපාන ක්‍රියාවලිය ඇතිවන්නේ මෙම අවස්ථාව තුලයි.

කායානුපස්සනාව, වේදානුපස්සනාව හා චිත්තානුපස්සනාව යන විපස්සනා වඩා ලෝක සංඥාව (ග්‍රාම සංඥාව, ආරණ්‍ය සංඥාව සහ පෘතුවි සංඥාව තුල පවතින සියළුම දේ වල ශුන්‍යත අනිමිත්ත ස්වභාවය පසක්කරනා ඔබට දැන් ඉතිරිවන්නේ අවකාශය තුල පවතින එහෙත් සයේන්ද්‍රියන්ටම පටිච්ච නොවනා (හසු නොවනා) ධර්මතාවයන් පමනයි. මෙම ධර්මතාවයන් කිරණ හා ශක්තීන් ලෙස අවකාශය තුල පවතියි. අවකාශය තුල පවත්නා කිරණ හා ශක්තීන් වල සිදුවන විපර්යාශ නිසාශරීරය තුල ඇති ලේ ධාතුව ඇතුළු සියළුම ධාතුවල (රසායනික ධාතුව) සිදුවන වෙනස්කම් වලට අනුරූපව සත්වයා තුල ඇතිවන ‘සත්ව ස්වභාවය’ එනම් ‘ස්කන්ධය’ වෙනස් වීමකට භාජනය වෙයි. ශරීරය තුල සිදුවන මෙම රසායනික වෙනස්වීමට අනුකූලව වරෙක සත්වයා (ඔබ) තුල ‘ආශ්වාදත්මක’ ස්වභාවයක්ද (කාමචන්දය-අභිජ්ඣා), වරෙක ‘වෛරී’ ස්වභාවයක්ද (ව්‍යාපාදය-දොමනස්ස), වරෙක ‘ශක්තිය මද ස්වභාවයක්ද lethargic (ථීනමිද්ධ), වරෙක ව්‍යාකුල ස්වභාවයක්ද (උද්ධච්ච – කුක්කුච්ච), වරෙක අතරමංවූ වැනි ස්වභාවයක්ද (විචිකිච්ඡා) ඇතිවෙයි. මේ ස්කන්ධ- පටිච්චසමුප්පාද ක්‍රියාවලියට භාජනයවූ අවකාශයේ පවතින ‘කිරණ හා ශක්තීන්‍’ වල වෙනස්වීම ඔබගේ ශරීරයට බලපාන ආකාරයයි.

බුදුන්වහන්සේ ඉහතසඳහන් රසායනික ක්‍රියාවලින් හැදින්වූයේ ‘නිවන වසනා පංචනීවරණ ධර්මතා’ ලෙසයි. ඔබ අවසානයේදී ප්‍රහානය කිරීමට නැතහොත් ශුන්‍යතාවය හෝ අනිමිත්ත බව දැකිය යුතුවන්නේ මෙම පංචනීවරණ ධර්මතාවලට මූලිකවන අවකාශයේ පවතින කිරණ හා ශක්තීන්වලයි. ධම්මානුපස්සනාව නැමති සතරවන විපස්සනාවෙන් මෙය සිඳුකල හැකිබව සතර සතිපට්ඨානයේ ‘පංචනීවරණ පබ්බයේ’ සඳහන් කරුනයි.

අනිමිත්ත චේතොවිමුක්තිය

දැන් ඔබ ලෝක සංඥාවද ආකාශ හෙවත් අවකාශ සංඥාවද අනිමිත්ත කොට විපස්සනාවතුල දෙවන ධ්‍යානය වන ‘ආකාසානඤ්චායතන’ ස්කන්ධ ස්වභාවයට පත්වී හමාරය. දැන් ඔබට මේ විශ්වය තුල පවතින එකම නිමිත්ත ඔබගේම ‘විඤ්ඤාණය’ පමනි. එයද සතර සතිපට්ඨානය තුල ඇති ‘ස්කන්ධ හා ආයතන’ පබ්බ වල දැක්වෙන ආකාරයට ධම්මානුපස්සනාව වැඩීමෙන් ශුන්‍යත, අනිමිත්ත කල තැන ‘විඤ්ඤාණඤ්චායතන’ නැමති ස්කන්ධ ස්වභාවය අත්කර ගනියි. ලෝක ධාතුව තුල පවත්නා සියල්ලම අනිමිත්ත කල තැන අත්විදින්නේ ‘අනිමිත්ත චේතොවිමුක්තිය’ හෙවත් අභිසංඛතය වන නිවනයි.

මෙම ලිපියේ අඩංගු කරුනු හා එම කරුනුවල දිගුවකට ඔබට ‘විපස්සනාව, සතර සතිපට්ඨානය හා සෝතාපන්නය’නැමති  YouTube ධර්ම සාකච්ඡාව තුලින් සවන්දිය හැකිය. එයට පිවිසීමට පහත සඳහන් link එක භාවිතා කරන්න.

ඔබට තෙරුවන් සරණයි

තිස්ස ගුණතිලක

tgunite@tpg.com.au

2024 අගෝස්තු මස 16 වනදා

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Neuroscience of Chanting — Dr. Sweta Adatia

August 15th, 2024

Chinfo Channel

Dr. Sweta Adatia, renowned neurologist, author, and TED-X speaker, in this captivating session recorded on April 9, 2024, at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Powai, Mumbai. Dr Adatia delves into the fascinating realm of neuroscience, exploring the profound impact of chanting on brain functions. Dr. Adatia specialises in treating strokes and migraine and has conducted extensive research on neuroscience-based exploration of career options. In this session, she expounds on how chanting influences various aspects of brain functions such as attention, memory, executive function and emotional stability. Listeners will understand the influence of chanting OM and other specific Vedic Mantras on the brain.

හොදට සල්ලි තියෙන අමාත්‍යංශයක් බදියුදීන්ට පොරොන්දු වෙලා..

August 15th, 2024

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

යහමින් මුදල් හම්බ කරගත හැකි අමාත්‍යංශයක් ලබාදීම සඳහා රිෂාඩ් බදියුදීන් මහතා සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතාට කොන්දේසි දමා ඇතැයි පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ඉෂාක් රහුමාන් මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

රිෂාඩ් බදියුදීන් මහතගේ නායකත්වයෙන් යුතු සමස්ත ලංකා මහජන කොංග්‍රසයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙකු වන ඔහු කියා සිටියේ බදියුදීන් මහතා සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස මහතා සමග එක්ව සිටින්නේ ඊළඟ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී කැබිනට් අමාත්‍ය ධූර, හා නියෝජ්‍ය ඇමති ධුර සම්බන්ධයෙන් කොන්දේසි රැසක් ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් බවයි.

අදාළ අමාත්‍යංශය සඳහා ලබාදෙන ආයතන සඳහා කොන්දේසි පනවා ඇතැයිද කී ඔහු එම අමාත්‍යංශ හොඳින් මුදල් හම්බකර හැකි වන ඒවා විය යුතු බව දන්වා ඇතැයි කියා සිටියේය.

එම පක්‍ෂයේ මන්ත‍්‍රිවරුන් තිදෙනෙක් ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතාට සහාය දීම සඳහා කොළඹ පවත්වන ලද මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී එම මන්ත්‍රීවරුම මේ බව කියා සිටියේය.

Rishad’s ACMC inks agreement to support Sajith

August 15th, 2024

Courtesy Adaderana

The All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), led by MP Rishad Bathiudeen, has signed an agreement with the ‘Samagi Jana Sandhanaya’ to support Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa in the upcoming Presidential Election.

The agreement was signed by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader and presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa and ACMC leader, former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, at the Cinnamon Lake Hotel in Colombo.

SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara, National Organiser Tissa Attanayake and other party members were also present at the occasion. 

Sri Lankan diplomat ordered to pay over $500,000 in unpaid wages to domestic worker

August 15th, 2024

Courtesy Adaderana

An Australian Federal Court judge has slammed the Home Affairs Department for failing to properly scrutinise a Sri Lankan diplomat who confiscated a staffer’s passport and gave her just two days leave in three years, Australian media reported today.

Sri Lanka’s former deputy high commissioner to Australia has been ordered to pay $543,000 in unpaid wages and interest to a domestic worker and now faces a large fine for breaches of employment laws.

Himalee Arunatilaka, who served in Canberra from 2015 to 2018, denied her employee, Priyanka Danaratna, minimum pay and conditions during time in Australia, the court found.

Justice Elizabeth Raper found Ms Danaratna worked from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week and was only allowed two days off in that time after she burnt her hand with cooking oil.

Over the period, she was paid just $11,200 – around 75¢ an hour – which was sent to Sri Lanka. Ms Danaratna also was denied permission to leave the Canberra residence alone, and had her passport confiscated.

In addition to handing down a damning judgment for Ms Arunatilaka, Justice Raper suggested that if the Home Affairs Department had taken a closer look, Ms Danaratna’s employment may have been very different”.

It is not without concern that it would have been clear to [Home Affairs], by reason of the materials provided … that Ms Danaratna was not going to [be] paid nor enjoy the protections under the Award or the FW Act,” she wrote.

There was no apparent attempt to conceal the arrangement by Ms Arunatilaka. It is perplexing that the department, in the circumstances, did nothing and granted the visa in the circumstances.”

Himalee Arunatilaka currently serves as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva. 

The case is one of several recent examples where diplomats from countries with poor employment practices have been caught failing to comply with employment laws and have been hit with big penalties in Australia.

The Australian Federal Court last year ordered India’s high commissioner between 2015 and 2016 Navdeep Suri Singh to pay $189,000 in unpaid wages and interest to Seema Shergill, who was found to be working in slave-like” conditions in the chief diplomat’s residence.

Justice Raper also ordered Mr Suri to pay a $97,200 fine for wage theft, the maximum amount allowed.

Mr Suri brought Seema Shergill to Australia when he started in 2015. When they arrived in Australia, he confiscated Ms Shergill’s passport and confined her to the family’s Canberra residence.

Neither Ms Arunatilaka nor Mr Suri defended the legal actions against them, and it is not clear whether the claimants in either case will ever see a cent of the amounts awarded.

The cases were only possible because the Federal Court recognised that the residual immunity granted former diplomats does not extend to employees in their direct employment, who are covered by Australian fair work laws.

Clayton Utz pro bono Partner David Hillard, who led both matters along with Canberra barrister Prue Bindon, said these were not isolated cases.

It is the second Federal Court matter in less than a year involving domestic workers at diplomatic residences in Canberra,” Mr Hillard said. Domestic workers in foreign diplomatic residences are among the most vulnerable and isolated workers in Australia.

It is hard to conceive of someone in 21st century Australia literally being trapped in a job for three years and earning 75 cents an hour.

This decision … confirms clearly that these workers have rights in Australia, and that senior diplomats cannot hide behind diplomatic immunity when it comes to keeping their servants under slave-like arrangements.”

Ms Arunatilaka was in 2023 appointed Sri Lanka’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

Source: Australian Financial Review 

EC accepts nominations of all 39 presidential candidates

August 15th, 2024

Courtesy Ada Derana

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka says it has accepted the nominations of all 39 presidential candidates who submitted their nominations today (15) for the 2024 Presidential Election.

The Election Commission Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake announced that the three objections presented following the nomination submission, were rejected.

Addressing the candidates, signatories and others present at the Election Secretariat, he said that 39 candidates had submitted nominations during the allocated period from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. today. This includes 22 candidates from recognized political parties, 1 from other parties and 16 independent candidates.

He added that three objections had been submitted during the period allocated for the presenting of objections which ended at 11.30 a.m. 

He stated that the members of the Election Commission decided to reject all three objections which had been submitted concerning the candidates Janaka Priyantha Kumara Ratnayake, Ven. Battaramulle Seelarathana Thero and Oshala Lakmal Anil Herath.

Accordingly, the nominations of all 39 presidential candidates who submitted nominations have been accepted, the Election Commission Chairman declared.

The allocation of symbols to independent candidates is expected to follow shortly. 

 Following is the full list of the nominations accepted;

1. Dilith Jayaweera

2. Sarath Manamendra

3. Abubakar Mohamed Infaz

4. A.S.P. Liyanage

5. Pani Wijesiriwardena

6. Priyantha Pushpakumara Wickremesinghe

7. Ajantha de Soyza

8. Ven. Battaramulle Seelarathana Thero

9. Sarath Fonseka

10. Nuwan Sanjeewa Bopage

11. Oshala Herath

12. Janaka Ratnayake

13. K.K. Piyadasa

14. Mailawanagam Thilakaraja

15. Siripala Amarasinghe

16. Pakkiya Selvam Ariyanethiran

17. Sarath Keerthirathne

18. K. Ananda Kularatne

19. Namal Rajapakshe

20. Akmeemana Dayarathana Thero

21. K.R. Kishan

22. Chaminda Anuruddha

23. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe

24. Anura Sidney Jayarathne

25. Sirithunga Jayasuriya

26. Mahinda Dewage

27. Mohamed Ilyaz

28. Lakshman Namal Rajapakse

29. Antony Victor Perera

30. Keerthi Wickremeratne

31. Sajith Premadasa

32. Ranil Wickremesinghe

33. Marakkalamanage Premasiri

34. Lalith de Silva

35. P.W.S.K. Bandaranaike

36. D.M. Bandaranaike

37. Anura Kumara Dissanayake

38. Agampodi Prasanga Suranjeewa Anoj de Silva

39. Roshan Ranasinghe

එක් එක් අපේක්ෂකයා නාමයෝජනා භාරදුන් හැටි

August 15th, 2024

Bangladesh’s new Prime Minister seeks Lankan President’s assistance

August 14th, 2024

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, August (Daily Mirror) – The new Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, has sought Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremeisnghe’s assistance to stabilise his country, sources close to President Wickremesinghe said today.

Prime Minister Yunus had informed that he needed Wickremesinghe’s assistance to stabilise Bangladesh when the latter telephoned him to congratulate him.

President Wickremeisnghe has told Premier Yunus that Sri Lanka will do its best to support Bangladesh.

He has also told Prime Minister Yunus that he had informed the Sri Lankan businessmen who had invested in Bangladesh to remain there and continue their businesses.

South Asia’s deepening political turmoil

August 14th, 2024

By Brahma Chellaney Courtesy Taipei Times

Violent student-led, Islamist-backed protests in Bangladesh have toppled Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, and mob attacks targeting those viewed as supporters of her secular Awami League party — in particular, the country’s dwindling Hindu minority — are proliferating. At a time when neighboring Myanmar is engulfed in violence and the Pakistan-Afghanistan belt remains fertile ground for cross-border terrorism, political upheaval in Bangladesh, two years after the overthrow of Sri Lanka’s government, is the last thing India, the regional power, needs.

Achieving lasting political stability in South Asia would require entrenching democracy. However, this is no easy feat. India notwithstanding, the region remains in thrall to longstanding autocratic traditions and centralization of power. For example, Hasina had become autocratic during her more than 15 years in office. In this context, popular demands for democracy are far more likely to lead to violence and political chaos than to smooth political transitions.

As Hasina has shown, autocratic leaders do not necessarily survive popular challenges to their rule. Consider the chaos that engulfed Sri Lanka in 2022, when a severe economic crisis triggered mass protests against the Rajapaksa brothers’ dynastic, undemocratic regime. Though former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, like Hasina, initially unleashed a violent crackdown, his opponents proved too powerful. Like Hasina, he gave up and fled the country, without even formally resigning. Sri Lankan protesters then occupied the presidential palace, much as Bangladeshi mobs have ransacked Hasina’s sprawling official residence.

However, when an autocrat is toppled, it is often the military — not a democratic government — that takes over, even if behind a civilian facade. Bangladesh is no exception. The military has attempted at least two dozen coups since the country’s violent birth in 1971, and ruled for a number of extended periods since its 1975 assassination of Bangladesh founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Hasina, Rahman’s daughter, stood out for her success at keeping the military (and Islamists) in check, at least until last week, when the Bangladeshi army chief refused to continue supporting her crackdown on rampaging protesters. The military then facilitated her escape to India and established an interim government of civilian advisers” who have little experience with national issues.

To be sure, some South Asian countries have made some progress toward democracy. In particular, Bhutan’s democratic transition is proceeding apace, thanks to a benevolent king who has supported the transition from a traditional monarchy to a parliamentary system. Earlier this year, the country’s fourth national election brought an opposition party to power.

However, elections alone — even if competitive — do not guarantee popular empowerment or adherence to constitutional rules, especially when the military holds decisive power. Consider Pakistan, which held elections earlier this year. The military’s preferred candidate, Shehbaz Sharif, returned as prime minister, but his government would survive only at the pleasure of the country’s effective ruler, the army chief. Until the rule of law is firmly entrenched and those wielding extra-constitutional power are unequivocally reined in, democratic progress would remain limited and reversible.

Myanmar learned this the hard way. Though the military had called the shots in the country since independence in 1948, it began ceding power to a nascent civilian government in 2015, filling the country with hope for a democratic future. However, in February 2021 — barely six years later — it staged a coup. However, this time resistance has proved intense, and heavily armed insurgent groups — some receiving non-lethal aid” from the US — are managing to expand their territorial control. In response, the military junta has stepped up punitive air strikes and artillery barrages.

The violence and deepening humanitarian crisis are fueling instability beyond Myanmar’s borders. Already, more than 32,000 ethnic Chin have sought refuge in India’s Mizoram State, and thousands more have fled to Manipur, where their arrival has stoked violent ethnic conflict. It is not just the Chin: India is also home to millions of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, whose ranks are set to grow as desperate Hindus flee Islamist attacks against them.

When it comes to security risks, immigration is just the beginning. Political turbulence in the Maldives — which began in 2012, when Islamist radicals forced the country’s democratically elected president to resign at gunpoint — has enabled China to gain a foothold in India’s maritime backyard. This year, China signed a military pact with the Maldives and docked a giant marine research ship in a Maldivian port. Meanwhile, Muslim radicals are expanding their grassroots base, establishing Islamic State and al-Qaeda cells on the archipelago.

Mounting economic pressures compound the security risks. Pakistan has repeatedly sought IMF bailouts in recent years. Hasina’s overthrow could usher in hard times for the once-booming Bangladeshi economy, as the country’s foreign reserves dwindle rapidly. None of this is conducive to regional prosperity. As long as South Asian countries remain plagued by political instability, strong and sustainable economic growth would remain elusive.

The difficulty of maintaining political stability and advancing democratization can also be seen in Nepal — a country with which India has close cultural and historical ties. Last month, the country swore in its 14th government in just 16 years, led by four-time Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist). Oli, who spent years in jail in the 1970s and 1980s for waging war against the state, is Nepal’s fifth head of government in five years, having replaced another former communist guerrilla, Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

All of this puts India, the world’s largest democracy and South Asia’s geographical hub, in a difficult situation. It must minimize the spillover effects of political and economic instability in its neighborhood, even as it continues to seek economic and strategic partnerships far beyond its troubled region.

Brahma Chellaney, professor emeritus of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research and fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, is the author of Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis.

Adani Group Hit With New Corruption Allegations

August 14th, 2024

By Arif Rafiq Courtesy GlobelyNews

The Adani Group is hit with fresh corruption allegations as newly revealed documents link India’s market regulator chairperson to Adani offshore companies.

India’s second-richest man Gautam Adani is at the center of a new corruption scandal, with the accusations coming from a familiar source.

On Monday, investment firm Hindenburg Research released excerpts of what it described as whistleblower documents proving that the head of India’s market regulator had undisclosed investments in offshore funds used by Adani Group associates for fraudulent purposes.

https://globelynews.com/south-asia/adani-group-hit-with-new-corruption-allegations/

40 candidates place deposits for 2024 Presidential Election as deadline ends

August 14th, 2024

Courtesy Adaderana

The deadline for the placing of deposits for the candidates contesting the 2024 Presidential Election has concluded at 12 noon today (14).

Four candidates have placed deposits within today, the final day for the placing of bonds, including MP Namal Rajapaksa from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Janaka Ratnayake from the ‘United Lanka Podujana Party’, Lalith De Silva of the ‘United National Freedom Party’ and independent candidate Sarath Kumara Gunarathne.

The Election Commission has stated that in total 40 individuals have placed deposits to contest the upcoming presidential election.

This includes 22 candidates from recognized political parties, 01 from other political parties and 17 independent candidates nominated by a voter.

The placing of deposits related to the presidential election commenced on July 26 and concluded at 12 noon today.

The acceptance of nominations for the upcoming presidential election is scheduled to begin tomorrow (15) from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Sri Lanka says that a total of 42 complaints have been received within the last 24 hours, pertaining to the 2024 Presidential Election.

Accordingly, 37 complaints related to election law violations and 03 other complaints were reported.

Among them, 20 complaints were filed with the National Election Complaint Management Centre, and 22 were reported to the District Election Complaint Management Centre.

40 candidates place deposits for 2024 Presidential Election as deadline ends by Adaderana Online on Scribd

President phones Dr. Yunus, pledges Sri Lanka’s support to Bangladesh’s recovery

August 14th, 2024

Courtesy Adaderana

In a telephone conversation, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has offered his warm congratulations to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who was recently sworn in as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government.

The President has also reportedly stated that he is confident that Dr. Yunus will be able to maintain law and order in Bangladesh.

President Wickremesinghe has informed the new Chief Adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh that he will request the Sri Lankan investors in Bangladesh to continue to stay there and carry on with investment activities. 

The President has also pledged that Sri Lanka will provide assistance in every possible way for Bangladesh to develop economically.

Chief Adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, who has expressed his gratitude for the Sri Lankan President’s greetings, has requested President Wickremesinghe to visit Bangladesh at the earliest opportunity and to provide the necessary guidance for the recovery of the country.

Muhammad Yunus, 84, is heading an interim government following the ousting of Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who resigned earlier this month and fled the country, and the dissolution of parliament.

Yunus is a social entrepreneur and banker who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering microfinance work that helped alleviate poverty in Bangladesh and was widely adopted around the world.

The Wonder that is Lakegala in Sri Lanka (Lanka Pabbata)

August 13th, 2024

Dr Sudath Gunasekaa

Wrapped in history and legend, on the northern end of the village called Meemure in , in Sri Lanka, rising adobe the surroundings like a colossal giant rock is the world famous Lakegala perhaps the highest bare rock outcrop in the world. NAmed by different names in history Lanka pabbata, Lankagiri, Lakgala, (meaning resplendent rock), Thrikuta pabbata,Samudra Malaya, is also known as the legendary abode of Ravaana the Great’

At first sight, no one will believe that this is a natural phenomenon. It is so breathtaking and so unbelievable that   it portrays more a painting by a maestro artist than a mere creation of nature,-an epic poem Mother nature has created for men ,all over he world to adore, as long as the sun and the moon shall last. It’s mesmerizing that beauty is unmatched anywhere in the world.It towers majestically over the secluded ancient village of meemure situated in the eastern border of the Kandy district. It is also the only rock in the whole world which has been named after the country. It is also the most elegant rock one can see anywhere in the world. Where else do you get a country  named after a mountain and a mountain named after a country. One has to see it with his own eyes to believe this wonder, for him to believe this miraculous panorama created by mother nature to admire and get imbibed with its beauty for all those who are blessed with eyes.

I recommend for all interested to read Under the Shadow of Lakegala for further details.

මේ ගතවන්නේ පක්ෂ දේශපාලනයේ අවසාන සමය ද?

August 13th, 2024

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

         ජනපතිවරණ සමය එළඹී ඇත.රටේ නායකයා තේරීම ට ජනතා රැළි ගොඩනන්වමින් තිබේ.ඉන් විශාලතම ව ඉහළට එසැවුණු රැල්ලෙන් නව ජනපතිවරයා පත් විය හැකිය.මේ රැළි බිහි කරනුයේ මුදල් යහමින් විසි කරමීනි.රැළි වලට එකතු වන ජනතාවට නිශ්චිත අරමුණක් ඇතැයි සිතිය හැකි නොවේ.රැළි බීහි කරන්නේ පක්ෂ විසින් බැවින් ඇතැම් විට පක්ෂයේ අරමුණ ජනතාවට ඇතැයි සිතිය හැකිය.නමුත් දැන් එයද වෙනස් වෙමින් පවතී.පොහොට්ටු පක්ෂ මානසිකත්වයේ සිටි බොහෝ පිරිසක් රනිල් ගේ බෝට්ටුවට එකතු වී සිටිති.පක්ෂයක් ගොඩ නැගෙනුයේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති සහ අරමුණු අනුව වුවද මෙතනදී ප්‍රතිපත්ති පසෙකින් තබා බලය පැවැත්ම සහ මුදල් වෙනුවෙන් එක පිළකට ‌ෙගානු වී සිටිති.

    1917 දී ලංකා ජාතික සංගමය පිහිටුවා ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණවාදී දේශපාලනයට නැඹුරු වූවද ලංකාවේ ප්‍රථම පක්ෂය වශයෙන් පිළිගනු ලබනුයේ 1935 දී බිහිවූ ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂයයි.එවකට ඉන්දියාවේ බිහිවූ ස්වාධීනතා සහයෝගිතා ව්‍යාපරයෙන් ද රුසියාවේ ට්‍රොස්කි ප්‍රමුඛ සතරවන ජාත්‍යන්තරයේ ආශ්වාදයෙන් මෙරටට පැමිණි පිලිප් ගුණවර්ධන සහ කොල්වින් ආර්.ද සිල්වා වැනි විදෙස් ආයතන වල ඉගෙනුම ලැබූ විද්වතුන්ගේ නායකත්වයෙන්ද මේ පක්ෂය බිහි විය.1934 දී වැල්ලවත්ත රෙදිමෝල තුළ සිදු වූ වැඩ වර්ජනයට මූලිකත්වය දෙමින් වාත්තීය සමිති නායකයෙකු වූ ඒ.ඊ.ගුණසිංහ මහතාට අභීයෝගයක් එල්ල කිරීමට සමසමාජ නායකයන්ට හැකි විය.

    ලංකාවේ පක්ෂ දේශපලනයේ ආරම්භයේම ඇත්තේ විදෙස් අභාෂයෙන් ලැබූ ප්‍රතිපත්ති සහ අරමුණු බව මෙයින් පැහැදිලි වනු ඇත.1947 දී මුල්ම මැතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් වූ එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය ට අයත් වූවෝ නම් මිනිරන් අරක්කු රේන්ද සහ රජයේ ඨානාන්තර සහ ඉඩම් හිමියන්ගෙන් සමන්විත ජන බල‌ෙව්ගයකි.ඒ පක්ෂය මෙහයවීමට  මුල් තැන් ගත් ඩී.එස්. මිනිරන් වෙළෙදාමෙන් ඉදිරියෙට පැමිණ අමද්‍යප ජාතික සටන මෙහය වූ එෆ්.ආර්. ‌ෙග් අනුප්‍රාප්තියා විය.විදෙස් අධ්‍යාපනය නිසාවෙන්ද බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයන් සමග කළ ගනුදෙනු නිසාවෙන් ද ඔවුන්ගේ පක්ෂ ප්‍රතිපත්ති සහ අරමුණු ද පෙළ ගැසුනේ ජාත්‍යන්තතර ප්‍රතිපත්තීන්ට අනුකූලවයි.අනතතුරුව බිහිවූ වාමාංශික පක්ෂ ද එ.ජා.ප. ය වනුවට ඉදිරියට පැමිණි ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය ද මෙහයවූවන් බොහෝ පිරිසක් වි‌‌ෙදස් අධ්‍යාපනයෙන් පෝෂණය වී ඒ මත අදහන්නන් වූහ.

      1815 වසරේ ලංකාව ගිවිසුමකින් බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයන්ට රට පවා දුන් පසු 1818 දී සිදුවූ පරාජය නිසා ද 1848 අසාර්ථක කෑල්ල නිසාවෙන්ද ලංකාවට යටත් විජිතයක් බවට පත් වන්නට සිදු විය. මෙයට එරෙහිව පැන නැගුණු පානදුරාවාදය සහ අමද්‍යප ව්‍යාපාරය නියෝජනය කරන ලද්දේ මෙරට ග්‍රාමීය ප්‍රභූ පන්තියයි. අනගාරික ධර්මපාලයන් විසින් කුළු ගන්වනු ලැබූ මේ පිරිස ඔහුගේ අභාවයෙන් පසුව ක්‍රමානුකූලව යට කී පක්ෂ තුන මත ‌ෙගානු විය.මේ පක්ෂ විසින් වරින් වර රාජ්‍ය බලය ලබා ගනිමින් සිය පාක්ෂිකයන් සැනසීමට උත්සාහ දරා ඇත. අනගාරික ධර්මපාල තුමා අනුදත් මතවාදී ප්‍රවේශය ‌‌හෝ වසර දෙදහස් පන්සීයයක ඉතිහාසයෙන් ලැබුණු පන්නරය මේ පක්ෂ වලට ඇතුළත් කර ගන්නා ලද්දේ යම් කිසි පමණකින් හෝ සිරිමා බණ්ඩාරනායක යුගයේ දී පමණකි.‌නූතන යුගයේ තාක්ෂණික දියුණුව සංනිවේදන මාර්ග වල දියුණුව නිසා ඇති වූ ගෝලීය ප්‍රවණතා මීට හේතු වන්නට ඇති නමුත් දේශපාලන ප්‍රගමනයට හෝ සමාජ ප්‍රගමනයට මේ පක්ෂ කිසිසේත්ම උපයෝගී නොවීය.මූලික පක්ෂ තුන බිහි වීමෙන් පසු සෑම මැතිවරණ අවස්ථාවකදීම නව පක්ෂ බිහි වීම නිසා පුද්ගලවාදී කල්ලි කණ්ඩායම් වල ග්‍රහණයට දේශපාලනය නතු විය.නූතන ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ධාරාව තුල මෙම පක්ෂ ක්‍රමය නිසිලෙස හැඩ ගස්වා ගැනීමටවත් සංවාදයක් ඇති නොවීම ඛෙදවාචකයකි.ඒ වෙනුවට විධායක ජනපති ක්‍රමයේ අඩුපාඩු පිළිබඳව සිදුවන නිරන්තර සාකච්ඡා වල ප්‍රතිඵලය වූයේ සියලු ප්‍රශ්ණ වලට මුල එම ක්‍රමයේ ආඥාදායකත්වයයි මතයක් සමාජය තුළ පැතිර වීමයි.

   මෙරට අතීත සමාජය කුල වශයෙන් බොදී සිටියහ.ගම්වසම් යටතේ ශිල්ප ශ්‍රේණි වලට සිය සේවා රාජකාරි ඉටු කිරීමට සිදු විය.ඒ සමාජ බෙඳීම රාජ්‍ය ඒකීයත්වයට සහ සමාජ ඒකාග්‍රතාවයට බාධාවක් නොවීය.සමාජයේ ජීවත් වූ කොයි තරාතිරමකම කණ්ඩායමක් හෝ අනෙක් ජන කොටස් සමග සමගියෙන් වීසීමට අවශ්‍ය සහිඳියාව බිහි කරන ලද්දේ බුදු දහම විසිනි. ‌බුදුදහමේ ඉගැන්වීම් පදනම් කරගෙන රජු විසින් නීති පනවන ලදහ. සතරවන මිහිඳු රජු කළ අනුරාධපුර ශිලා ‌ෙල්ඛනය මගින් ගම්වාසීන් බෙදා හදාගෙන ජීවත් විය යුතු යැයි ආඥා පනවා තිබුණි.වර්තමාන පක්ෂ දේශපාලනය තුල පෙර පැවතී කුල ක්‍රමය පදනම්ව සහ විවිධ ජන කොටස් පදනම්ව බෙදීම් වර්ධනය විය. පක්ෂයේ අනුගාමිකයන් විශ්වාස කරන ප්‍රතිපත්ති  වෙනත් කණ්ඩායමක් අනුගමනය නොකරන්නේ නම් එතැන ගැටීමක් වර්ධනය විය.වාමාංශික පක්ෂ වල පවතින මාක්ස්වාදී මූල ධර්මයන් තුළ හැඩ ගැ‌සෙන්නවුන් ඇතැම් විට සමාජ වෛරකක්කාරයන් බවට පත් විය. ඔවුහු ධනවාදයට එරෙහි වුවද යම් කිසි අවස්ථාවක දී තමන් වෙත ධනය එක් රැස් වූ විගස ධනවාදියෙකු බවට පත් විය.ඉඩම් හිමි ධනවතුන් සහ විවිධ ව්‍යාපාර පන්තීන් අනුගමනය කරන පක්ෂ තුල වර්නය වූයේ වංචනික බලාපොරොත්තු පුද්ගල කේන්ද්‍රීය බල ආධිපත්‍ය සහ තක්කඩි කමයි.මෙවැනි තත්වයක් යටතේ පක්ෂ සාමාජිකත්වය දරන මතය ද එයම විය. කොමිස් දේශපාලනය අල්ලස් ගැනීම් වෙළෙඳ පළ ක්‍රමයේ අයථා ගනුදෙනුතුල ඇති වූ තරඟය නිසා රටේ සාමයට විශාල බාධාක් ජනිත වී ඇත. ජාතියක් වශයෙන් රට දියුණට ගෙන යෑමට තිබුණ ප්‍රධාන බාධාව වශයෙන් මේ පක්ෂ දේහපාලනය හඳුනාගන්නට හැකි වනුයේ ඒ නිසාය.

     වසර අනූවකට ආසන්න කාලයක් තුල පක්ෂ විසින් රටේ බිහි කළ චින්තන දරිද්‍රතාවය සුළු පටු නොවේ.මේ වන විට ප්‍රධාන පක්ෂ සියල්ල යැ‌පෙනුයේ විදෙස් මුදල් වලිනි. මහා පරිමාණ රැස්වීම් පැවැත්වීමට එවැනි මුදල් ගලා යෑමක් නැතිව කළ නොහැකිය.පක්ෂ වල අනුගාමිකයන් ගේ රැළි බිහිවන්නේ මේ මුදල් පොම්ප කිරීමේ සීඝ්‍රතාවය අනුවයි.රටේ මුදල් වංචනික ලෙසට අත්පත් කර ගැනීම මුදල් විශුද්ධ කරණය පාතාල සමාජිකයන් විසින් ඩුබායි වැනි ආර්ථික කලාප වල පවත්වාගෙන යන මාෆියා ව්‍යාපාර ආදී බෝහෝ දේ වලින් රට ආපස්සට ගොස් තිබේ.එහි අවසාන ප්‍රතිඵලය නම් ස්වදේශීය දේශපාලකයන්ට රට කරවීමට හැකියාවක් නැතැයි යන ආකල්ප වර්ධන වීමයි.ඉන්දීය දේශපාලනය සහ ඇමරිකන් යටත් විජිත දේශපාලනය රටේ අරක්ගෙන තිබෙන්නේ මේ නිසාය.මෙවර ජනපතිවරණයේ දී වෙනසක් ඇති කරන්නේයැයි පාරම්බාන සියලුම පක්ෂ මේ ඛේදවාචකයට ගොදුරුවී අවසන්ය.ජනතාවට පක්ෂ ක්‍රමය තිත්ත වී ඇත.රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා ඒ අවිනිශ්චිත මානසික තත්වය සිය බල ‌දේශපාලනයට යොදා ගනිමින් සිටී.ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදයේ සියළුම යහපාලන මූල ධර්මයන් උල්ලංඝණය කරමින් ඔහු යෙදී සිටින රංගනය කුමන විපතකින් ‌ෙකළවර වන්‌ෙන් දැයි කිසිවෙකුත් නොදනිති.වසර දෙදහස් පන්සීයක ඉතිහාසයක් ති‌බෙන ‌ෙප්‍රෟඩ ජාතියකට ‌ෙමවැනි අභාග්‍ය සම්පන්න කාල පරිඡේදයකට මුහුණ දීමට සිදු වීම සමකළ  හැක්කේ සීතාවක යුගයේ සිදුවූ සිදුවීම් වලට පමණකි.නමුත් මේ අවසානය නොවේ. බුදුදහ‌ෙම් චිර පැවැත්ම උදෙසා රට වෙනස් විය යුතුය. පක්ෂ දේශපාලනයද ඒ නිසාම අවසන් විය යුතුය.පක්ෂ වල අනුගාමිකයන් නොවී මේ පිළිබඳව සබුද්ධිකව කල්පනා කරන පිරිසක් රට තුළ බිහි විය යුතුය.

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