Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, Jan 06 (Daily Mirror) –  The government is in the process of evolving fresh legislation to curb or eliminate the distortion of core religious teachings by some individuals creating social tension, Buddhasasana, Religious, and Cultural Affairs Minister Vidura Wickramanayake said.  

The Minister made these remarks in response to a query about the controversial preacher who provoked some of his followers to commit suicide in his sermons. 

Wickramanayake said the Cabinet appointed a committee to look into such religious cults led by various individuals.  

We want to create an environment in which everybody can practice his or her religious within the legal framework of the country,” he told Daily Mirror.   

Ministry Secretary Somaratne Vidanapathirane said he instructed the committee members to expedite work on the report to be submitted as early as possible.  We are planning to work out the legal framework based on it,” he said. 

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, Jan 06 (Daily Mirror) –  The Health Ministry today commenced the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) Supplementary Immunization Activity across all immunization clinic centres in nine high-risk health districts.

The targeted areas include Colombo (including the CMC area), Gampaha, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Kandy, Jaffna, Kurunegala, and Kalmunai.

Running from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., this vaccination programme, led by the Epidemiology Unit, focuses on children born between April 7, 2023, and July 5, 2023. 

The decision to administer an additional vaccination dose against measles to infants aged 6 to 9 months comes in response to a surge in cases over the past year.

The second phase of the MMR vaccination drive is scheduled to commence on January 20, extending to other age groups nationwide. 

The health authorities emphasize that the MMR vaccination is considered an additional dose, and routine MMR vaccination should be administered to all children who have received the SIA-MMR vaccination upon completion of 9 months and 3 years of age.

Courtesy Hiru News

A student studying in the eleventh grade at a prominent school in Matara was arrested on January 4 for the possession of drugs. The sixteen-year-old student, residing in the Polhena area of Matara, was found with 60 mg of the drug ‘ice’ at the time of his arrest.

According to preliminary investigations by the police, the student claimed to have started using drugs six months ago after connecting with a friend in Kochchikade through Facebook. The arrested student allegedly confessed to requiring around fifty thousand rupees for his drug habit.

In an effort to fund his addiction, the student reportedly used his photographer father’s camera to capture pictures of couples and individuals in the city and at the beach. He then sold these photographs to generate the necessary funds for his drug use.

Hiru News

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera has issued a directive to the chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to suspend the services of employees participating in the ongoing strike and to initiate disciplinary action against them. The strike has led to disruptions in the supply of electricity, which is considered an essential service.

In a letter to the CEB chairman, Minister Wijesekera emphasized the critical nature of electricity services and urged swift action to address the disruptions caused by the striking employees. The Minister instructed the chairman to provide details of the involved employees to the Ministry of Power and Energy.

Over the past three days (January 3-5), the Ministry received numerous public complaints citing the adverse impact of the strike on essential services provided by the Electricity Board. The complaints highlighted disruptions in public services, including the closure of payment windows.

Responding to the situation, the Ministry of Power and Energy took the decision to cancel the leave of all electrical workers from previous Monday. The move aimed to ensure the continuity of services and minimize disruptions caused by the ongoing strike.

The demonstration, organized by the CEB Trade Union Alliance as part of their opposition to the restructuring program, took place in front of the Electricity Board’s main office on the last day of a series of protests.

Minister Wijesekara expressed disapproval of the protest, stating that even if the relevant bill is passed in parliament, they have reported that they will not allow them to be implemented. The Colombo Fort Magistrate Court had previously issued an order preventing protestors from entering key government premises.<

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Electricity and Energy Indika Anuruddha informed the public that data for reducing the electricity bill has been submitted to the Public Utilities Commission. He assured that the electricity bill would be revised by the first week of February, responding to the concerns raised by protestors and the general public regarding the recent increase in electricity tariffs.

By Sena Thoradeniya

Whilst making an address at the Shilpa Abhimani 2023” Awards Ceremony held at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre on 3 January 2024, RW had the audacity to say that he is considering to send a warship to Red Sea in support of a US – led operation. It is astounding that RW has chosen an event presenting awards to village-level humble craftsmen to disclose such an important strategic decision which has local and international overtones. Has he thought that local craftsperson’s problems and grievances are caused by Houthis who are attacking vessels in the Red Sea area? 

This writer heard this in a primetime news telecast but understood its gravity only after reading a news item.       

Shamindra Ferdinando in The Island of January 5 disclosed the possibility of Sri Lankan Navy sending a warship to the Red Sea in support of a US – led operation to thwart Houthi attacks on commercial shipping passing through the Red Sea. He further stated that the US has requested nearly two dozen countries including Sri Lanka to provide with warships and the US has declared that twenty countries have signed up for Operation Prosperity Guardian”, a new maritime task force meant to protect this shipping route.

Daily Mirror on 4 January 2024 going a little further reported that RW has said that a decision has been taken to deploy a ship from the Sri Lanka Navy on the Red Sea area contributing to the security of the region against Houthi activities.

Questions that should be posed to the President, his Cabinet of Ministers, his so-called National Security Advisor, Defense Secretary, Tri-forces Commanders and Pohottuwa supporters are:

(1) Whether Sri Lankan (if we have any) vessels are under threat of Houthi missile attacks?

(2) For what reason Sri Lanka join in a new maritime task force” with US, Israel, UK and France and other Western stooges?

(3) Has RW and his advisors calculated the cost involved in the deployment of a Navy warship?

(4) Under current economic situation in the country can Sri Lanka afford such a huge cost?

(5) Does RW really think that by sending a Navy warship he can stop increase of freight charges and delayed delivery, as ships are compelled to navigate around ancient sea route around Cape of Good Hope and reduce cost of imports to Sri Lanka and guarantee a constant supply of our essential imports without any disruption to supply chains?

(6) Is Sri Lanka bound to deploy Offshore Patrol Vessels such as the vessel commissioned by the US Coast Guard Courageous” and gifted” to Sri Lanka Navy (SLNS Samudura) by the US in a crisis like this?

(7) Is US and the new maritime task force” attempting to utilize Sri Lanka Navy’s capabilities on asymmetric naval warfare, amphibious and land operations gained through many years of engaging in counter- insurgency operations against the dreaded Sea Tigers, its capability in sea battles, surveillance, intercepting   and destroying floating arsenals, in short its blue water capability for their advantage?

(8) Can RW and Yahapalana grandees (including JVP) forget what they have done to Avant Guard and its key players supposed to have been deployed to counter Somalian sea pirates? 

(9) We pose the most pertinent question to Anura Kumara the newfound parlor boy of Chung: Will you oppose RW if he decides to send a warship to the Red Sea area at the behest of your ‘sister’ Julie Chung? Or sing, as an expression of solidarity, We are family; I got (all my sisters) my sister with me; We are family; Get up everybody and sing” to the tune of Sister Sledge?

Julie Chung US Ambassador to Sri Lanka on 4 January, only a day after RW’s statement has welcomed Sri Lanka Air Force Commander Air Marshall Udeni Rajapksa to the US embassy, to discuss ways we (they) can build on ongoing US and Sri Lankan Security Cooperation and support Sri Lanka’s goals for maritime security”.  Why does Julie Chung discuss about Sri Lankan Security Cooperation” and Sri Lanka’s goals for maritime security” with our security top brass soon after RW’s disclosure?   It seems that Chung has already begun to negotiate with our security high command about sending a warship to Red Sea area under the garb of Sri Lanka’s maritime security”. 

What are the dangers of sending a warship to Red Sea area? There are many. Sri Lanka (not only the SL Navy’s warship) can be an easy target. Remember how nearly 95 persons were killed recently at the fourth anniversary of the commemoration of Iran’s most powerful General Qassim Soleimani (slain by US in a drone attack in 2020) at his gravesite. A repetition of an Easter Sunday carnage cannot be ruled out here with external (American?) support. Are RW and Julie Chung jointly preparing the grounds for a postponement of elections?

Close on the heels of meeting Air Force Commander, Julie Chung on 5 January met Sirisena, exchanging views” on the political and economic landscape in the year to come, including the importance of engaging all sectors for inclusive political dialogue”. Is Chung harnessing support for Operation Prosperity Guardian”?  Next few days will be very crucial as we will be able to see who will be involved in her inclusive political dialogue”.

උපුටා ගැන්ම Lanka Lead News

‘හිමාලයා ප්‍රකාශනයේ’ යටි අරමුණ ගැන දේශහිතෛෂී ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරයෙන් හෙළිදරව්වක්

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ගෝලීය දෙමළ සංසදය හා රටේ බහුතර ජනතාවක් නොදන්නා අනුනායක ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේලා හත්නමක් අත්සන් තබා ප්‍රකාශයට පත්කළ ‘හිමාලයා ප්‍රකාශනය’ නම් ලියවිල්ල එළිදැක්වීම පිටුපස බෙදුම්වාදීන්ගේ න්‍යායපත්‍රය ක්‍රියාත්මක වන බවත්, එම ලියවිල්ල එළිදැක්වීම සිදුවන්නේ යම් මාර්ග සිතියමකට අනුව බවත් දේශහිතෛෂී ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරය හෙළිකරයි.

මේ පිළිබඳව එම ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරය සිදුකරන සවිස්තරාත්මක හෙළිදරව්ව පහළින්…

MONKS WHO WERE SIGNATORIES TO HAMALYAN SATAMENT PARTNERED BY GLOBAL TAMIL FORUM

These are the monks of Sangha for Peace in Sri Lanka who signed the Himalaya Declaration.

Ven Dr. Madampagama Assajo Tissa Thero, Anunayaka of the Ambagahapitiya Chapter of Amarapura Nikaya 

Ven Siyabalagaswewa Wimalasara Thero, Chief Sanganayaka of Northern and Eastern Provinces and Malwatte Chapter of Siam Nikaya 

Ven Kithalagama Hemasara Nayaka Thero, General Secretary of Siri Dharmarakshita Chapter and Chief Sanganayaka of Western Province

Ven Prof. Pallekande Rathnasara Thero, Acting Mahanayaka of Vajirawansa Chapter of Amarapura Nikaya 

Ven Kalupahana Piyaratana Thero, Former Member of SL Human Rights Council 2023 and Chairperson of Human Development Edification Centre

Ven Narampanawe Dhammaloka Thero, Chief Sanganayaka of Pathsthumbara of Central Province and Ashoriya Chapter of Siam Nikaya 

Ven Wadduwe Dhammawansa Thero, Deputy General Secretary Ramagngna Nikaya 

Dilrook Kannangara

Ranil is back to his true self again. He is doing the same grave mistake his uncle did in the late 1970s. Instead of maintaining strict neutrality in global conflicts, he teamed up with USA. This attracted a strong and violent response from India, the Soviet Union and China which dragged the nation into a long a protracted war and another insurrection. However, when faced with an Indian invasion in 1987 JRJ’s pleas to USA went unheard! By the time JRJ left power, the entire country was under foreign invasion, Tamil terrorism and JVP insurrection. That is a very bad report card.

USA is looking for more cannon fodder as they do in Ukraine.

Sri Lanka navy has no business in the Red Sea. No Sri Lankan ship should be sent to the Red Sea. USA invited 39 countries to join its military action in the Red Sea and 30 of them rejected it! Even far more powerful navies flatly refused to send any warship to the Red Sea. As the saying goes fools dare where even angels dire to tread. This insanity and slave mentality of Ranil will again condemn Sri Lanka to another round of war and violence.

The clumsy excuse given by Ranil is that Houthi activities in the Red Sea can potentially raise the cost of freight and goods. This is as stupid as it comes! Sri Lanka has very little imports from the West of the Red Sea. Almost all imports come from India, China, Saudi Arabia (east of the Red Sea) and Singapore. He has been careless as well as dishonest for making up a misleading excuse.

Any Sri Lankan military presence in the Red Sea will be seen as an anti-Muslim military action by the Muslim world given the broader context of the ongoing conflict where Sri Lanka has no direct stake. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, etc. although Islamic countries have a stake in petroleum shipping in the Red Sea and it are adjacent to it. Therefore, it is understandable that they have joined USA to attack Houthis. Sri Lanka has no such excuse and Colombo must keep out for its own sake.

By Raj Gonsalkorale

In an interview with the Daily Mirror in December 2023, Senior JVP member Dr Nalinda Jayatissa stated that in the latest opinion poll, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was leading among all the prospective presidential candidates and there was no need for the JVP to take up arms once again – https://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/JVP-led-NPP-believes-in-a-unique-Sri-Lankan-economic-model-based-on-socialist-principles-Nalinda-Jayatissa-former-MP/231-273197

In answer to a question posed by the interviewer Kelum Bandara from the Daily Mirror regarding a statement made by JVPs politburo member K.D. Lalkantha that the party is even ready for an armed struggle if the need arises, senior JVP member Dr Nalinda Jayatissa said, quote in the latest opinion poll, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is leading among all the prospective presidential candidates. Then, there is no need for us to take up arms once again. Are we mad to do it?  We believe in capturing power through electoral politics.  We need public support and international backing. If we win democratically, we can get support from both ends, unquote.

In the interview published in the Daily Mirror on the 14^th of December 2023, Dr Jayatissa periodically mentions how interpretations are made of statements. If one were to take a cue from his statements, readers could interpret his answer to the question posed by Kelum Bandara (quote, in the latest opinion poll, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is leading among all the prospective presidential candidates. Then, there is no need for us to take up arms once again) as an admission that the JVP has not ruled out an armed struggle to achieve their end objective of gaining power, if the JVP leader was not leading the poll of all the prospective presidential candidates.

In responding to a follow up question Then, are you denying what he (Mr Lalkantha) said? Dr Jayatissa responded by saying In his remarks, there is scope for one to interpret it in that way.  He said he was involved in the armed struggle in 1988/89.  He said he will not shy away from such action if the need arises in the future. This is interpreted in this manner. We completely rule out an armed struggle.  

Dr Jayatissa’s response to the question In your opinion is the 1988/89 struggle a past aberration? quote Whether an armed uprising is good or bad depends on its end result. In China, the government was formed in 1949 through an armed struggle. The armed struggles resulted in power capture in Vietnam and the United States.  If the struggle is won, it is hailed. If it is defeated, it is bashed” unquote, appears to leave doors open for an armed uprising, if in the opinion of the JVP, conditions exist for one as they feel it did in China and Vietnam.

The JVP stance is ambiguous at best as they seem to be qualifying their policy on a possible third armed struggle should conditions present themselves for them to launch one. The question then arises as to what may constitute as conditions that justify an armed struggle. Could it be their failure to win the Presidency and/or government by the ballot? Could it be their failure to achieve their governance objectives should they win government?

Dr Jayatissa stated in the interview that the JVP has and is mobilising ex-military personnel politically. While this is the democratic right of the JVP and the right of the ex-military personnel to make their choices and decisions, the ambiguity regarding their stance on an armed struggle and the statement of Dr Jayatissa that they resolved internally that they should not make any statement that leaves scope for any interpretations, leaves behind some concern that the JVP is more concerned about interpretations than unambiguity when it comes to their policy on an armed struggle and violence. Any ambiguity could encourage some to resort to violence as they could easily interpret such ambiguity as an endorsement of violence. In an environment of hardships, and loss of hope, patience could wear thin, and violence could escalate. This is where the JVP, with their history of violence as a means to topple democratically elected governments, has to be totally unambiguous on their policy on an armed struggle. They cannot leave room for interpretations and misinterpretations. If they do not do this, they will be complicit in any violence that may occur in response to government policies that may be unpopular, but what may be necessary for the country.

JVP is yet to apologise for their violent uprisings of 1971 and 1988/89

In an article written by the author and published in the Sri Lanka Guardian in April 2022 titled Lest we forget; JVP needs to apologise to the Nation for their two violent uprisings” (http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2022/04/lest-we-forget-jvp-needs-to-apologise.html the following was stated talking of the past, there are things that haunt many politicians and political parties.

The JVP too has some skeletons they have hidden in cupboards and what some people seem to have hidden from their minds as well. The country experienced two violent uprisings of the JVP in 1971 and in 1988/1989. In particular, the second uprising of the JVP in the late eighties was more violent and inhuman. Those who lived through that period knows how violent it was. No doubt, some measures taken by the then government to quell that uprising were equally inhuman. More than 40,000 people were reportedly killed during that uprising, killed by the JVP and/or by a State apparatus. Some politicians who were part of that administration are still around and some have risen to great heights in the political arena”. 

The article pointed out that the JVP needed to be remorseful and repentant about their violent campaigns to unseat the governments of the time and apologise to the Nation and the families of those killed during their two violent uprisings if they are to be treated with some regard and respect. The Sunday Observer of 1st June 2014 had reported that quote for the first time in its history, the JVP had tendered an apology to the people over 6,000 deaths that occurred due to JVP activities during the 88-89 insurrection. Addressing a meeting in London recently, JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake had expressed ‘regret’ over the killings for which his party was responsible during the 1988-89. However, he had also said that one had to understand that 1988-89 uprising was no coincidence and that there were developments that led to unfortunate incidents that occurred during the 88-89 period”. He added that the 88-89 uprising occurred due to oppressive behaviour of the then UNP government, led by the late President J.R. Jayewardene.

This feeble regret” is not an apology, and it did not display any remorse for the violent activities of the JVP. The caveat that the uprising was a consequence of the oppressive behaviour of President J R Jayewardene cannot be taken as any kind of justification for the consequential wanton killing of thousands of innocent people.

The article went on to say that the public had to be more discerning and question whether there are Wolves in Sheep’s clothing, and whether those who attempted to seize power by violent means, would do that again. Some could interpret the statement by JVP politburo member Mr K D Lalkantha, and the response from Dr Jayatissa as a possibility that there may be Wolves in Sheep’s clothing amongst the JVP.

Violence begets violence and neither the JVP nor any other political party or combine should directly or indirectly encourage. aid or abet violence to achieve their political objectives. It is well to remember the apostle of nonviolence, Mahatma Gandhi and the political and social strategies he adopted and promoted, to free India from the might of British colonialism.

The JVP no doubt has increased their following amongst the public. Some would opine that this has happened partly on account of their ability to articulate well and bring home hardship messages to a large section of the general public who are heavily burdened by the rising cost of living, rather than by articulating specific policies to address what they are criticizing. However, a general feeling that a change is needed in the political arena is quite palatable.

The selective law and order enforcement where some are, and have been, more equal than others, the skyrocketing corruption levels in the country, the failure to investigate alleged corrupt deals of very high level politicians and senior government officials, the unconscionable acts of some politicians and high officials in permitting substandard drugs to be procured and distributed to unsuspecting patients, are among the many issues that needs highlighting and the JVP has to be credited for keeping these issues in the limelight. If the NPP/JVP aims to win the Presidency and government at the oncoming elections, they have enough and more ballot ammunition to do so. However, the public needs to know specificities as to what changes they will introduce to arrest the situations they have articulated with great success and how they will do so and when they will do so.

The voters of the country are far more sophisticated and informed than what some may be assuming. They will spot that criticism without solutions is the same wine (or Arrack) in different bottles unless specificities are presented to them, not just voluble rhetoric. While many probably understand the difficult decisions that the current government has made, the doubt created in their minds by critics without specific solutions, and the hardships faced by them, could lead them to vote one way or the other by default rather than through an informed choice. The public probably are ready to heed what Einstein said; if the same thing is done repeatedly expecting different results, that is insanity”. The economic and social models of the past have not worked, and they have collectively landed the country in a state of bankruptcy. Continuing them and irresponsible pandering with short term populist measures will indeed be insanity.

PRESS RELEASE  All India Association of Industries (AIAI)

All India Association of Industries (AIAI) welcomes the decision of the Central Government to reconsider the proposed Hit and Run law under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and its provisions to be kept in abeyance till further orders as the proposed law may award imprisonment of upto 10 years along with fine of Rs. 7 lakhs if the driver escapes or fails to report the incident immediately says Dr. Vijay Kalantri, President, All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and Chairman, MVIRDC, World Trade Centre Mumbai.

Dr Kalantri further said that The government may reconsider this fine and imprisonment provision as it may result in unnecessary harassment of innocent cargo drivers, who may have been involved in an accident because of situation beyond their control. Any innocent driver may try to escape to safeguard his life from the violent mob on the spot of the accident. But this does not mean that the driver has committed the accident willfully.”

Dr Kalantri further added that there are existing laws to penalize rash driving or drunk driving whose provisions can be widened to address the menace of rash driving, instead of enacting a fresh law, which will increase the compliance burden. Dr. Kalantri believes that the government should encourage the road transport sector to set up a Protection and Indemnity (P&I) club to insure against loss of assets and lives from road accidents. Such a club may be modelled on the lines of P&l club of the marine insurance companies to indemnify the losses to ship owners and seafarers. Dr Kalantri offered his expertise and services in an advisory role to the road transportation sector for setting up such a club.

AIAI feels that the objective of any government should be to regulate the economy and not cause undue harassment by introducing draconian legal provisions that are open to misuse. Passing harsh legislations militate against the government’s goal of rationalizing laws, simplifying compliance burden and deregulating the economy. Concludes Dr Kalantri, Government may consult the stakeholders in the industry before introducing such stringent legislations keeping the motto of Ease of Doing Business intact.”

Courtesy People’s Daily Online

COLOMBO, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) — Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry has declared a countrywide dengue prevention week from Jan. 7 to Jan. 13, said the National Dengue Control Unit on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference in Colombo to announce the initiative, Sudath Samaraweera, the director of the National Dengue Control Unit, said mosquito breeding sites across the country will be targeted.

An awareness campaign will also be held in conjunction, he said, noting that there has been a surge in dengue cases in recent months.

The main focus of the dengue prevention campaign will be on 70 high-risk areas, and police, health officials and volunteers will take part in the campaign, he said.

Last year, 88,398 Dengue cases were reported in Sri Lanka with 57 deaths, according to the National Dengue Control Unit.

Courtesy NDTV

They were detained by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly being involved in illegal poaching in the Lankan waters.

At least 220 Indian fishermen were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy in 2023

Chennai: 

As many as 21 Indian fishermen were repatriated from Sri Lanka to Chennai on Friday, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka informed through a statement.

They were detained by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly being involved in illegal poaching in the Lankan waters.

At least 33 Indian trawlers and 220 Indian fishermen were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy in 2023, the Sri Lankan Navy said in a statement back in December, last year.

Six Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Lankan Navy in December.

Syed Mohammad Ali Courtesy The Express Tribune, 

Adani has emerged unscathed from a slew of alleged wrongdoings

The writer is an academic and researcher. He is also the author of Development, Poverty, and Power in Pakistan, available from Routledge

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The controversial Indian multibillionaire, Gautam Adani, has managed to secure a big boost of confidence by attracting over half a billion dollars for the Adani conglomerate backed Colombo seaport project in Sri Lanka.

This American deal with Adani seems compelled by growing great power competition across South Asia. The US government intends to use its International Development Finance Corporation to counter the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative in the Indo-Pacific, and its investment in Sri Lanka is part of that plan.

China has been forging closer ties with Sri Lanka for several years now. It backed the Sri Lankan government’s crushing defeat of the Tamil Tigers, and then strengthened ties with the victorious Rajapaksa regime, which also allowed China to build a strategic deep seaport in Hambantota.

Sri Lanka’s inability to pay back China for this port soon compelled the Sri Lankan government to ink a 99-year lease in 2017, giving China direct control of the port, which in turn raised alarm bells in neighboring India and in the US.

The US-backed Adani port project is thus meant to counterbalance the Chinese investment in Sri Lanka. To pursue this geostrategic objective, however, the US is now going to work with one of the most controversial businessmen in India, Gautam Adani. Adani, in turn, has very close ties with Narendra Modi, who is also a very polarising figure in his own right.

The American deal with Adani comes in the wake of a serious international scandal involving Adani. At the beginning of this year, Hindenburg Research, a reputable investigative investment research firm had accused the Adani group of major fraud, spanning over a period of decades.

This past October, The Financial Times also reviewed customs record to note how the Adani group, which is India’s largest coal importer, was allegedly using offshore middlemen based in Taiwan, Singapore and Dubai, to import coal at highly inflated prices, which at times were estimated to be more than double the prevailing market rate.

Such allegations did catch the attention of media outlets around the world given that Adani is one of the richest men in the world. These exposes also had a major adverse impact not only on Adani’s reputation but also on that of his companies. Adani’s personal wealth was reported to have nearly halved from $120 billion to $61 billion in a matter of a few months. Potentially these corruption revelations should have led to even more severe consequences for Adani. The Modi government could also have been implicated in this fiasco given its close alignment with Adani, which includes generous contributions to Modi’s electoral campaigns.

However, the US business deal with Adani will now help provide reassurances to the international financial sector and other private investors to continue engaging with Adani, despite the fraud allegations against him.

The Adani group has already been able to get major refinancing deals from large international banks. It has also begun to see the market price of its companies’ shares rebound. According to the latest estimates, the stocks of Adani’s varied companies have now regained $46 billion in value. Adani is now expanding his business empire within India as well by taking over India’s largest cement-maker and he is posed to make massive investments in green energy as well.

Like Modi, who is known as a ‘Teflon man’ for his political resilience despite having fueled and leveraged the politics of hated, Adani seems to have also become India’s Teflon business tycoon. Like Modi, Adani has emerged unscathed from a potentially devastating storm of alleged wrongdoings. And both these men have the US to thank for helping them not only survive but thrive, due to America’s own vested interests.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2024.

Noah Bovenizer Courtesy Railway Technology

The donation is the latest investment by India into its neighbouring country’s railway network following a loan funding upgrade to signalling systems in 2023.

The Indian Government will give 20 repurposed locomotives to Sri Lanka in a donation confirmed by the island nation’s national rail operator. 

The donation of engines that have been taken off India’s rail network in favour of electric alternatives was confirmed by Sri Lanka Railways’ General Manager H.M.K.W Bandara. 

Integration of the locomotives into Sri Lanka’s network will begin in February when two of the vehicles will be imported over before being joined by the other 18 later in the year. 

While the deal was originally announced in September 2023, it has only now been confirmed after Sri Lanka’s Department of Railways sent over a team of experts to assess the vehicles and decide whether they would be appropriate for the country’s own network. 

Confirmation of the donation marks another significant investment by India into the railway network of its neighbouring island nation, following a $15m investment agreed under the Indian Loan Scheme in late 2023 into the modernisation of signalling and communication systems of the incoming Mahave to Anuradhapura line. 

Speaking at the signing of the agreement outlining the investment, where the request for the 20 locomotives was also confirmed, the then acting Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Highways LH Thilakaratne described the Indian High Commissioner as a very close friend of Sri Lanka.” 

Thilakaratne thanked the Indian Government for its contributions, mentioning that the country’s railway department was in short supply of locomotives, and said: I believe that with all these relations, the long standing friendship between Sri Lanka and India will be further strengthened.” 

India’s investment into a foreign railway network joins significant work on its own rail infrastructure, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launching operations of the country’s first Regional Rapid Transit System in the state of Uttar Pradesh as part of a $4bn project connecting capital city Delhi to two major cities in the state.

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

The Navy was still studying the possibility of sending a warship to the Red Sea in support of a recently launched US-led operation to thwart Houthi attacks on commercial shipping, sources said.

Sources said that a thorough study was required before such a deployment could be made in a region prone to missile attacks.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday (3) disclosed the possibility of the Navy joining the high profile mission. Sri Lanka’s pledge to join the US led endeavour was revealed at an event held at the BMICH and it was relayed by at least one news broadcast. But several countries have disassociated from the task already.

Iranian backed Houthi units in Yemen have mounted attacks targeting commercial ships passing through the Red Sea in response to the continuing Israeli military action in Gaza. Israel launched operations against Hamas in the wake of the Oct 7 raid on the Jewish State.

The US has requested nearly two dozen countries, including Sri Lanka to contribute warships.The US has declared that 20 countries have signed up for ‘Operation Prosperity Guardian’, a new maritime task force meant to protect the vital shipping route.

The navies of the United States, UK and France have each shot down Houthi-launched drones or missiles, according to international news agencies.

Sources here said that the cost of the deployment of a warship in the Red Sea would be huge and the current economic situation too have to be considered. Sri Lanka has several Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessels (AOPVs) and Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) acquired during the war and after and were responsible for successful anti-drug operations.During the war, SLN hunted over a half a dozen floating arsenals of the LTTE on the high seas.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) says it commenced an investigation into the preacher named Ruwan Prasanna Gunaratna, who promoted ‘mass suicide’ through his distorted teachings and later died by suicide.

When the CID officers presented submissions in this regard, the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court also called for an investigation to determine if the deceased preacher had received funds from any organizations and how the money was spent.

Earlier this week, CID launched an investigation into the seven deaths that had recently occurred under similar suspicious circumstances, after the bodies of a young woman and a man were found by the police.

It was suspected that the duo had died after consuming a strange concoction.

The duo were said to have been the followers of a certain religious preacher who had committed suicide in the Homagama area days prior.

The body of the 21-year-old woman was recovered at her residence in the Yakkala area while the body of the 34-year-old man, who was residing in Ambalangoda, was found at a guest house in the Maharagama area where he was temporarily staying.

An individual identified as Ruwan Prasanna Gunaratne, who had engaged in religion-related preaching activities in various parts of the island, was found dead from poisoning and was believed to have committed suicide in December.

A few days later on December 31, his wife, 35, was reported to have committed suicide by consuming a concoction after feeding poison to her two sons and daughter at their home in Kahantota in Malabe, according to police. The woman’s two sons and daughter were reportedly aged 09, 08 and 07 years respectively.

Meanwhile, the 21-year-old woman and 34-year-old man in question were found to have attended the funeral of the religious preacher.

Investigators suspect that all seven deaths were the result of ingestion of the same type of poison.

Courtesy Adaderana

The State Minister of Indigenous Medicine, Sisira Jayakody announced on Thursday (Jan.04) that athe government has taken a significant step towards reducing healthcare costs by exempting Ayurvedic products, medicines and industries-related to indigenous medicine from Value Added Tax (VAT).

The decision aims to make traditional medicine more accessible to the public, he explained.

Additionally, the State Minister mentioned that the cabinet has granted approval for the establishment of a special bureau dedicated to addressing issues affecting native doctors and ensuring the sustainability of the indigenous medicine system.

Speaking at a media briefing held at the Presidential Media Centre (PMC), Jayakody highlighted the Ayurveda Corporation’s plan to introduce Ayurvedic healing centers, known as Body Mantras”, as part of a transformative change in the field of indigenous medicine.

State Minister Sisira Jayakody further commented:

Significant strides have been made in the realm of indigenous medicine, with the government opting to exempt Ayurvedic products, medicines and related industries from VAT. This decision aims to reduce healthcare costs.

The Cabinet has approved the establishment of a specialized bureau dedicated to preserving traditional medicine. Operating under the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine, this bureau is tasked with addressing issues affecting traditional medicine until a formal institution is established. Its objectives include granting proper recognition to registered and unregistered native doctors, conducting studies on the medical system, developing an appropriate framework and collecting information about the profession.

Following discussions, it has been recommended to the Cabinet to approve the establishment of a unit to safeguard traditional medicine, as outlined in Paragraph 03.1 of the Cabinet Memorandum, without being a burden to the Treasury.

The Ayurveda Corporation is introducing Ayurvedic health care centers, known as Body Mantra”, to the local medical field, with the aim of bringing transformative change to indigenous medicine. The establishment of physical healthcare services, supervised by graduate-trained massage therapists, will be implemented through Ayurvedic healthcare centers. This initiative extends both domestically and internationally and organizations in the hotel and tourism industry in the country are invited to register, with a newspaper advertisement set for release on the 10th of this month.

By the end of this year, efforts are underway to elevate the production and cultivation of indigenous medicines to a commercial industry level. Traditionally at a subsistence level, the focus now shifts to commercial cultivation, with plans to cultivate Long pepper (Thippili) plants alongside paddy cultivation. Long pepper plants can be harvested for four seasons, offering a significant economic advantage over traditional methods. The goal is not only to enhance domestic production but also to generate raw materials locally.

The Suwa Daruwo” program aims to provide a robust and advanced education for government employees involved in the indigenous medical field. Additionally, efforts are directed towards empowering Ayurveda councils. In the coming months, arrangements are being made to organize a program awarding the Presidential Gold Awards” to indigenous pharmaceutical manufacturers and individuals contributing to the field.”

Courtesy Adaderana

Approximately 245kg of heroin and crystal methamphetamine (‘Ice’) were recovered from the multi-day fishing trawler intercepted off the southern coast of the island, Sri Lanka Navy says.

A multi-day fishing trawler carrying a massive cache of drugs was intercepted on Thursday night (Jan.05) in a coordinated operation mounted by the Navy and the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB).

Six locals aboard the vessel, which was at sea about 28 nautical miles (50km) west of Hikkaduwa, were also apprehended during the operation.

The estimated value of the narcotics consignment stands above Rs. 3,190 million. It contained over 189kg of ‘Ice’ stuffed into 130 parcels and 48 packages with more than 55kg of heroin.

Upon being impounded, the trawler, along with the drug haul and the suspects, has been brought ashore to the Galle Harbour this morning (Jan.05).

The suspects, aged between 28 to 66 years, were identified as residents of Galle, Beruwala and Galgamuwa areas.

Further investigations into the incident are being carried out by the Navy and Police Narcotic Bureau.

චානක බණ්ඩාරගේ

ජාතික ආරක්ෂාවට පසු අන් සියළු දේට වඩා තමනට වැදගත් රටේ ඉතිහාසය යයි ඇමරිකානුවන් පවසයි. එය දැනුවත්ව විකෘති කිරීම එම රටේ සිරේ යන වැනි වැඩකි. බොහෝ දියුණු යුරෝපා රටවල්ද තම ඉතිහාසය විකෘති කිරීමට කිසිසේත්  ඉඩ නොදේ. උදාහරණයක් ලෙස 2වෙනි ලෝක මහා යුද්ධයේදී නාට්සි වරුන් විසින් යුදෙව් සංහාරයක් නොකළේය යයි කියන්නෙකුව සිර ගත කිරීමේ දැඩි නිතී යුරෝපයේ බොහෝ රටවල ඇත.

අප රටේ?

අවුරුදු දෙදහසකට වඩා පැරණි, ලෝක උරුමයන් වන, අදත් අළුතින් හමුවෙන, ඉතා වටිනා පුරා විද්‍යා ස්මාරඛ සුරක්ෂිත කිරීමේ උවමනාවක් රජයනට සහ රටවැසියනට නැත.

පුරාවස්තු  විනාශ කිරීමට, වෙනස් කිරීමට සහ සොරකම් කිරීමට සැදී පැහැදුණු අය නම් ඇත.

අද සිංහල ඉලෙක්ට්‍රොනික් සහ සමාජ මාධ්‍ය විශේෂයෙන්ම යු ටියුබ්, හිතු මතේ රටේ ඉතිහාසය විකෘති කරයි. සිංහල මුද්‍රිත මාධ්‍ය මඟින් මෙය සිදුවීම අඩුය.

මේවා මෙසේ සිදුවන්නේ රටේ වැසියාට තම ඉතිහාසය ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවය ගැන උවමනාවක් නැති නිසාය. රටට අවංකවම ආදරය කරන පුරවැසියන් අද ඉතා විරලය.

ඉතිහාසය ගැන උවමනාවක්/උනන්දුවක් නැතත් නාළිකා වල සුපර් ස්ටාර්, ඩ්‍රීම් ස්ටාර්, වටිනාකමක් නැති ටෙලි ඩ්රාමා  නම් ජනතාව නිදි මරමින් බලත්.

අප කාගේ කවුද, අප අද මේ තත්ත්වයේ සිටින්නේ කෙසේද වැනි දේ (ඉතිහාසය) නොවිමසන සමාජයකි දැන් නිර්මාණය වී ඇත්තේ.

‘ඔබ සියල්ලෝම ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයෝය, ඒ ඇති’ වැනි සංකල්පයකි මෑත රජයන් විසින් ජනතාවට දෙනු ලැබුවේ.  

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ තරම් ඉතිහාසය ඉතා හොඳින් ග්‍රන්ථාරූට කරන ලද වෙනත් කිසිම රටක් ලොව නැතැයි කිවේ 20වෙනි ශත වර්ෂයේ මුල් භාගයේදී පොන්නම්බලම් රාමනාදන් මහතාය.

නමුත්, අද මහාවංශය, විජයාගමනය, මහින්දාගමනය, බුදු රදුන් දඹදිව ඉපදීම, සීගිරි කාශ්‍යප ආදී සියල්ල බොරු යයි කියන භායනක ගණයේ පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයයෝ, ඉතිහාසඥයයෝ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පහළ වී ඇත. මොවුන් දැනුවත්ව (චේතනාන්විතව) මේ රටේ ඉතිහාසය විකෘති කරත්. මොවුන් තම බොරු ඉතා රසවත් ලෙස ජනතාව හමුවේ තබයි.

මේ අයට සමාජයේ ඉමහත් ගරු බුහුමන් ලැබේ. රාජ්‍යානුග්‍රහයද ලැබේ.

සිංහලයාගේ සම්භවය දෙමළ විය යුතු බවත්, සිංහලයාට ප්‍රථමව මේ රටේ ද්‍රවිඩයන් සිටී බවත්, කුවේණීය  දෙමළ බවත්, මහින්දාගමනයට පෙර මේ රටේ ‘දෙමළ බෞද්ධයන්’ සිටී බවත්, මහාවංශය/විජයාගමනය සත්‍ය නොවන බවත්, සැමදා යාපනයේ ස්ථිර දෙමළ රජුන් සිටී බවත්, පන්ඩුකාභය රජු දෙමළ බවත්, සීගිරිය කාශ්‍යප රජුගේ නිර්මාණයක් නොවිය හැකි බවත්  වැනි බොරු කරුණු බොහොමයක් සහිත කථා ජනතාවට කියා පාන එක් ප්‍රසිද්ධ පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයෙක් සිටී. මොහුගේ ‘නොනවතින ඉතිහාසය’ වැනි නමකින් හඳුන්වන යු ටියුබ් වැඩ සටහන රටේ ඉතාම ප්‍රචලිත යු ටියුබ් වැඩසටහනකි. මොහු කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයක පුරා විද්‍යා අංශයේ ප්‍රධානියාද වේ.

රටේ අවාසනාවට මොහු පාසැල් ළමුන්ගේ ඉතිහාසය පෙළ පොත් සැදීමේ සම්පාදක මණ්ඩලයේ ප්‍රමුඛ සාමාජිකයෙකි. මොහුට ස්තුතිවන්ත වෙන්න පාසැල් වල 6, 7, 10 ශ්‍රේණි වල පෙළ පොත් වල ඇත්තේ සිංහල බෞද්ධයා පහත හෙලන බොරු ඉතිහාසයකි (මොහු සම්බන්ධ නැති 8, 9 ශ්‍රේණි වල ඉතිහාසය පෙළ පොත් වල වැරදි ඉතිහාසයක් නොමැත).

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතිය ආරම්භ වුයේ මීට අවුරුදු ලක්ෂ ගණනකට උඩදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට යාලෙන් ගොඩ බට හෝමෝ සපියෙන් වරුන්ගෙන් බව කියන ඔහු ඒ නිසා සිංහලයා ඔවුන් අතරින් පසුව පැණ නැගුන ජාතියක්  බව නොකියා කියයි. එවිට, විජය සිංහලයාට අදාළ නොවේ. ඒ අනුසාරව පාසැල් ඉතිහාසය පෙළ පොත් වෙනස් කිරීමට හැකි වීම තමන්ගේ පුද්ගලික ජයග්‍රණයක් ලෙසට මොහු පාරම් බායි.

මොහු නොකියා කියනුයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දෙමළ අයද මේ හෝමෝ සපියෙන්ගෙන් මෙරට තුලම බිහිවූ ජාතියක් බවයි.

මෙතුවක් කල් තිබු පිළිගැනීම වුයේ අපේ දමිළ සහෝදරවරු සිංහලයාට බොහෝ පසුව තමිල්නාඩුවෙන් ආ අය බවයි.

අපේ දමිළ සහෝදරවරුන්ගේ නිජභිම තමිල්නාඩුව නම් (එහි දෙමළ ජනගහනය කෝටි 8ට එහාය), ඔවුනගේ නිජභිම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේද විය නොහැක.

කිසිම ජාතියකට සම්භවයන් (origin) දෙකක් තිබිය නොහැක.

උදා: ඇන්ග්ලෝ සැක්සන්වරුන්ගේ (ඉංග්‍රීසි කථා කරන ‘සුද්දන්’) සම්භවය ක්‍රි ව 5 සියවසේ එංගලන්තයයි. ඇන්ග්ලෝ සැක්සන්වරුන් දැන් ඔවුන් ජීවත් වන වෙනත් රටවල් – ඕස්ත්‍රේලියාව, නව සීලන්තය, කැනඩාව, ඇමරිකාව වැනි රටවල්ද තම නිජභිම (සම්භවය) යයි කියා කිව නොහැක. ඔවුන්ගේ (එකම) නිජභිම එංගලන්තයයි.

ස්කොට්ලන්ත, වේල්ස් සහ උතුරු අයිරිෂ් ජාතිකයන් මහා බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ජාතිකයන් වුවත් එංගලන්ත සම්භවය ඇති ඇන්ග්ලෝ සැක්සන්වරුන්  නොවේ.

දෙමළ අය සිංහලනුන්ට වඩා මේ රටේ පැරණි බව හෝ සමානව පැරණි බව හැඟවෙන බොහෝ කථා මෙම පුරා විද්‍යාඥ මහාචාර්යවරයා වෙනම කියා ඇත.

මොහුගේ ලොකුම බොරුවක් දෙස බලන්න – ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඉන්දියාවෙන් වෙන් වුනේ මීට වසර 7,000 ට පෙර බව කිහිප වරක් පවසා තිබු මොහු එය අමුලික බොරුවක් බව අප පෙන්වා දුන් පසු ඒ වෙන්වීම සිදු වුයේ මීට වසර ලක්ෂ 7ට පෙර යයි දැන් පවසයි. පිළිගත් පුරා විද්‍යාඥයෙකුට/මහාචාර්යවරයෙකුට මෙවන් වරදක් කර ගැලවී යා හැකිද?.

මීට වසර 7,000කට පෙර ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඉන්දියාවට ඇඳි තිබුණි නම් (මොහු කී පරිදී) සහ එවකට එහි ඔහු කියන අති ශ්‍රේෂ්ට, ලොව වෙන කොහේවත් නොතිබුනා වැනි  ශිෂ්ටාචාරයක් තිබුණි නම්, එය අයත් වන්නේ ඉන්දියාවටය (එකළ, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව දැවැන්ත ඉන්දියාවේ කොටසක් ව තිබු බැවින්).  එසේ නම්, එවිට අපද ඉන්දියානුවෝ විය යුතුයි.

මොහු වනාහි ඉතිහාස ෆැක්ටරියකි.

විශේෂත්වය නම් ඔහු අද කියන ඉතිහාසය නොවේ හෙට, අනිද්දා සහ ඊළඟ සතිවල/මාසවල කියනුයේ. 

මානව පරිනාමයේදී මීට වසර ලක්ෂ ගණනකට පෙර නියැන්ඩතල් (මනුෂ්‍යම නොවේ) හෝමෝ සපියෙන් බවට (මනුෂ්‍ය) පත්වුයේ නැගෙනහිර හෝ දකුණු අප්‍රිකාවේදීය. ඔවුහු ආසියා මහාදිවීපයටද, ඒ අයුරින් ලොව සෙසු රටවල් පුරාද පැතිර ගියහ.

හෝමෝ සපියෙන්වරු ජාතියක් (nationality) ලෙස ගණන් ගත නොහැක. ඇමීබා වැනි තනි  සෛලයකින් ජීවය සැදුනා නම් (පරිනාමවාදයට අදාලව) හෝමෝ සපියෙන්වරුන්ගෙන්  පුර්ණ මනුෂ්‍ය ප්‍රජාව බිහි විය.      

ලොව සැම මනුෂ්‍යයෙක්ම හෝමෝ සපියෙන්වරයෙකි (ඔබ, මම ඇතුළු).

ඉදින්, තමන්ගේ ජාතියේ ආරම්භකයා හෝමෝ සපියේන්වරු බව උජාරුවෙන් පවසන, තම රටේ දරුවන්ට ඉතිහාසය පාඩම් මඟින් ඒ බව කියාදෙන, ලොව එකම රට ශ්‍රී  ලංකාව විය යුතුයි. ඒ, මෙම මහාචාර්ය පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයාට ස්තුති වන්ත වෙන්නටය.

මීට කළින් මෙවැනි ඉතිහාසයක් කිසිම ඉතිහාසය පොතක සඳහන් නොවුණි.   

ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන්ගේ (දෙමළ සහ සිංහල) ස්මාරම්භාකයා හෝමෝ සපියෙන් බවත්, සියළු පාසැල් සිසුනට ඒ පරිදි දැන් ඉගැන්වීමත්, ඒ මඟින් විජයට (සිංහලයාගේ ස්මාරම්භාකයා) පෙළ පොත් මඟින් තැනක් නොදීම ගැනත් බෙදුම්වාදීන් – විශේෂයෙන්ම උතුරේ, ඉතා  සතුටින් සිටිනවා විය යුතුයි.

මෙම මහාචාර්ය පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයා (සහ ඔහුගේ අනුගාමික නුතන ඉතිහාසඥයන්/මාධ්‍යවේදීන්) උත්සහ දරන්නේ අපට ඇති පැහැදිලි ඉතිහාසය අවුල් ජාලාවක් බවට පත් කිරීමටය. එහිදී, අපේ දරුවන් නොමඟ යැවීමට තැත් කිරීම සමාව නොදිය හැකි වරදකි.

මෙවැනි බොරු විශ්වාස කරන සිංහලයාද උනන්දුවෙන්, ප්‍රීති ප්‍රමෝදයෙන් ඔහුට සවන් දෙත්. ඔහු ජාතියේ ගැලවුම්කරුවා ලෙස සිතයි. රජය විසින් ඔහුව සුවිශේෂ කමිටුවලට පත් කරයි.

මොහු පවසන්නේ ලොව සියල්ලන්ටම පෙර වාගේ – මීට වසර 49,000 පෙර වී වගාව පටන් ගත්තේ අපය කියායි (නැත, චීනයයි – ඒ ද, වසර 8,000 පෙරය); යකඩ සොයා ගැනීම කලේ අප යයි ඔහු කියයි (නැත, චීන හෝ  ඊජිප්තුවාසීන් විසින් මීට වසර 5,000 පෙර),  මීට වසර දස දහසකට පමණ පෙර ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයෝ හෝර්ටන් තැන්නේ බාර්ලි, ඕට්ස් වැවුහ යයි ඔහු කියයි (බාර්ලි ඊශ්‍රායල් (පලස්තීන) වරුන් සහ ඕට්ස් චීන වැසියන් විසින්  ආරම්භ කලේ, පිළිවෙලින් වසර 8,000 සහ 7,000ට පෙරය.

මේ මහාචාර්ය පුරාවිද්‍යඥයාගේ වැඩසටහන් වල ස්වභාවය නම් එකම කරුණ විවිධ අවස්ථාවලදී විවිධ ලෙස දැක්වීමයි. උදා: වසර 49,000 ට පෙර ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ලෝකයේ බාර්ලි, ඕට්ස් වැනි වගාවන් තිබුනේය (වී මෙන්), යනුවෙන් ඔහු කී දෙය වෙනත් වැඩසටහනක එය වසර 17,500කට පෙර වශයෙන් වෙනස් කර තිබුණි.  එය වසර දස දහසක් බවද කීය.

මේ මහාචාර්ය පුරාවිද්‍යඥයා කියන අන්දමට නම් ඉන්දුවැලි සහ  මොහෙන්ද ජාරෝ හරප්පා ශිෂ්ටාචාරයන්ටත් වඩා (මේවා මුළු ලොවම පිළිගත් ප්‍රථම උසස්ම කෘෂිකාර්මික ජීවන ක්‍රමයන්ය,  මේවාද මීට වසර  5,000ක් තරම් වත් පැරණි නැත) ඉපැරණි, ඉතාම සශ්‍රීක ශිෂ්ටාචාරයක් මේ රටේ මීට වසර 49,000ට ඉහතදී තිබී ඇත. මෙහි සිටී  කාන්තාවන් අද නූතන අය මෙන් ඇස් අවට පාට කිරීම වැනි උසස් රූපලාවන්‍ය කාර්යයන්හි නියැළුණු බවත්, අප පිටරටවලට තානාපති වරුන් පිටත් කර හැරීය බවත් මොහු පවසයි.  තානාපති සේවයන් ප්‍රාග්-ඓතිහාසික යුගවල තිබුණිද?

එකළ (වසර 49,000 ට පෙර), මුළු ලොවම තිබුනේ කෘෂිකාර්මික (agrarian) නොව ඉතාම ප්‍රාථමික දඩයම්කාර (hunter & gatherer) සමාජ ක්‍රමයක් නොවේද?

මේ මහාචාර්ය පුරාවිද්‍යඥයා දැන් කලක විට විදේශගත ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් මෙහි ගෙන්වා ඔවුනට සිගීරිය පිළිබඳව විශේෂ නේවාසික පන්ති (දින 14 ආදී) පවත්වයි (සීගිරිය කාශ්‍යප රජුගේ නිර්මාණයක් නොවේය යන බොරුව කීවේද මොහුය).  අප දන්නා තරමින්, මේ වෙනුවෙන් ඔහුට සිගීරියට පිවිසීමට වෙනම දොරටුවක් පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව විසින් ලබාදී තිබුණි.  රටට ඩොලර් ගෙන එනවා යයි කියා මොහු ආරම්භ කර ඇති මේ ව්‍යාපාරයෙන් කොතරම් ඩොලර් ප්‍රමාණයක් මොහු සහ මොහුගේ මාධ්‍ය සගයන් මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදලට බැර කරන ලදද?

මොනයම් අහේතුවකට වසර  2,500කට අසන්න අපේ පැරණි ඉතිහාසය දැන් මේ අයට මදී වී ඇත. ‘ ලොව  අන් සියළු රටවලට වඩා අප ශ්‍රේෂ්ට ව සිටියෙමු’ (‘අපි තමයි හොඳටම කලේ’ න්‍යාය), යන මිත්‍යාවක්  ජනතාව අතර පතුරවමින්,  අප මෙතෙක් වසර සිය/දහස් ගණනක් තිස්සේ පිළිගත් ඉතිහාසය කසළ ගොඩට දමමින් සිටිත්.  

මේ නිසා, මෙතෙක් මුළු ලොවම පිළිගත් අපේ ශ්‍රේෂ්ට ඉතිහාසයට අප විසින්ම පහර දෙන්නෙමු.

මෙයින් වන්නේ තියෙන ඉතිහාසයත් අපට නැතිවී යාමය.

ඉතිහාසය යනු විටින් විටින් විට වෙනස් කරමින් කිව හැකි දෙයක් නොවේ. අප කැමති වුවත් නැතත් අපට ඇති ඉතිහාසය අප පිළිගත යුතුය. අපට වුවමනා ලෙස විටින් විට වෙනස් කිරීමට ගියහොත් ලෝකයා ඉතිහාසය පිලිබඳ අපේ නිවැරදි ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම් පවා ගණන් නොගනු ඇත.

ප්‍රභාකරන්, ඇන්ටන් බාලසිංහම් හැකි තරම් උත්සහ කලේ මේ දේ කිරීමටය. අද දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදීන් උත්සහ කරන්නෙත් මේ දේමයි.

සිංහලයන් වශයෙන් අපගේ උරුමය අනන්‍යතාවය අපට ලැබී ඇත්තේ වසර 2,500කට අසන්න අපේ   ප්‍රෞඩ ඉතිහාසයෙනි.  මේ බොරු ඉතිහාස කථා නිසා අද එය ලෝක වාසීන්ගේ පවා සැකයට ලක්වීමට පුළුවන.

ඉතිහාසය/පුරාවිද්‍යාව පිළිබඳව නව සොයාගැනීම් ඇත්නම් ඒවා සනාථ කරන විධිමත් ක්‍රම වේද තිබේ. ‘Peer review’ නැමති සිද්ධාන්තය තුලින් ලෝකයේ පිළිගත් පුරාවිද්‍යා/ඉතිහාස සඟරා/ග්‍රන්ථ වල ඒවා පළ කල යුතුය. එවිට, ඒ අයගේ සමකාලිනයන් පිළිතුරු ලිපි/පර්යේෂණ මඟින් එම නව සොයා ගැනීම් පිලිගැනීම හෝ නොගැනීම කරත්.

අප දන්නා පරිදි මේ මහාචාර්ය පුරාවිද්‍යඥයාගේ නව/නුතන සොයාගැනීම් කිසිවක් ජාත්‍යාන්තරය විසින් පිලිගෙන නොමැත.

අප දන්නා පරිදි, අප හිතවාදී, අසල්වාසි ආසියානු රටක පවා පිළිගත් එක්  පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයෙක්/ඉතිහාසඥයෙක්වත්  මොහුගේ අති මහත් වූ මෙම නව සොයාගැනීම් කිසිවක් පිළිගෙන නැත.

විදේශ පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයන්, ඉතිහාසඥයන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණ පර්යේෂණ පැවැත්වීම අඩපන/දුර්මුක කරන ආචාර්ය ධර්ම පද්ධතියක් මොහු සකසා, දැන් නිතීගත කර ඇත.

හුදු මිත්‍යාවක් වන රාවණා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ රජ කෙනෙක් ව සිටී බව කියන උගත් බෞද්ධ භික්ෂුන්වහන්සේලා ද අද එමටය. එදා (1995න් පසු, යුද්ධය අවසානයෙන් පසු මෑතක් වන තුරු) බෙදුම්වාදයට හොරෙන් උදව් දෙනවා යයි චෝදනා ලැබු දෙමළ ආධිපත්‍ය ඇති රුපවාහිනි මාධ්‍යය (ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්‍රධානතම), සංකර FM නාළිකා ඉතා රසවත් වැඩසටහන් මඟින් මේ අදහස ජනතාව තුලට කාවද්දා ඇත. එසේ කරන ලද්දේ අප රටේ ඇති පැහැදිලි ඉතිහාසය අවුල් කිරීමටය. ද්‍රවිඩ බෙදුම්වාදීන්ට නව අත් වැලක් සැපයීමටය.

රාවණා ද්‍රවිඩ බව මුළු බටහිර ලොවම, දකුණු ඉන්දියාවම සහ උතුරු ඉන්දියාවේ ඇතැම් අය පිළිගන්නා බව රාවණා සංකල්පය උච්ච ලෙස ප්‍රචලිත කරන අපේ ගරුතර සංඝයාවහන්සේලා සැලකීමට නොගන්නේ මන්ද? 

ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ කෝනේෂ්වරන් (කලින් බෞද්ධ සිද්ධස්ථානයක්), නාගධීපයේ හින්දු  කෝවිල් දැන් උග්‍ර ලෙස රාවණා වෙනුවෙන් කැප වුනු හින්දු දේවාලයි. තවත් රාවණා හින්දු කෝවිල් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ බොහෝයි. ඉදිරියටත් ඉදි වෙනු ඇත. බෞද්ධ පන්සල්වල රාවණා ගැන සඳහන් නොවේ.

දැන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වතුකරයේ දෙමළ අයද මේ දේම කියති – රාවණා තමන්ගේ කෙනෙක්ය කියා. 

මේ නිසා ඇතිවිය හැක්කේ ඝට්ටනයකි, රාවණා ගේ අයිතිය උදෙසා – මේ රටේ ඉතා සමගිව ජීවත්වන  සිංහලයන් සහ ද්‍රවිඩයන් අතර. මෙවැනි ඝට්ටනයක් අපට අනවශ්‍යය.

වර්ෂ 1,000 එහා පමණ සිට මෑතක් දක්වා මේ රටේ පිළිගත් මතය වුයේ රාවණා යනු මහාභාරත ග්‍රන්ථයේ රාමායණය පරිච්චේදයේ එන හුදු කථාවක් පමණක් ලෙසිනි. අප කළ යුත්තේ එම පදනමේම සිටීමයි.

බලගතු ඉන්දියාව රාවණා ගැන මොන අර්කථන දුන්නත් අප ඔවුන් සමඟ යා යුතු නොවේ. අපටම ආවේනික වූ සිංහල බෞද්ධ ඉතිහාසයක් ඇත. අපේ ප්‍රාරම්භකයා විජයයි.

විජය රජු වැනි සල්ලාල, සෙල්ලක්කාරයෙක්ගෙන් සිංහලයා පැවතෙන්නේය යන්න පිළිගැනීම අපට මදි කමක් ලෙස බොහෝ සිංහලයෝ දැන් සලකත්. මේවා කලින් කී රුපවාහිනි මාධ්‍ය, සංකර FM නාළිකා විසින් අප තුලට දමන ලද විෂම අදහස්ය.

රටක ඉතිහාසය එක් එක් කෙනාට උවමනා විධියට වෙනස් කර ගත හැකි දෙයක් නොවේ.

නවීන සුදු ඕස්ත්‍රේලියාව බිහි කිරීමට පුරෝගාමී වුයේ මහා බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයෙන් එම රටට යවන ලද සිරකරුවෝය, 1788  පමණ සිට.  සිඩ්නි, මෙල්බර්න්, බ්‍රිස්බන් නගර තනිකරම  බිහි කලේ මේ අයයි.  ඔවුන් පැමිණීමෙන් වසර 50 ට පමණ පසුවය සිරකරුවන් නොවන බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය සංක්‍රමණිකයන්  ඕස්ත්‍රේලියාවට යවනු ලැබුවේ. නමුත්, තම රට ගොඩ නැගු මුතුන් මිත්තෝ බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයෙන් එවන ලද සිරකරුවන් බව සුදු ඕස්ත්‍රේලියානුවෝ අදත් සතුටින් සහ ආඩම්බරයෙන් පිළිගනිත්. සත්‍ය වසන් කිරීමට ඔවුනට නුවමනාය.

රාවණයෙක් මෙහි සිටියේ නම් එය විජය ඒමට වසර 2,000 ට පමණ පෙරය.

මේ නිසා, සිංහලයාට වඩා මේ රටේ ද්‍රවිඩයන් පැරණිය යන විග්නේස්වරන්, සිද්ධාර්ථන්ගේ  මතය ස්ථාපිත කිරීම සඳහා ද්‍රවිඩ අන්තවාදීහු රාවණාව භාවිතා කරති.

රාවණා ද්‍රවිඩය යන ලෝක මතය ඔවුනට වාසි බව ද්‍රවිඩ අන්තවාදීන් දනිත්.

බුදු රජාණන් වහන්සේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට වැඩම කරන විට මෙහි සිටියේ යක්ෂ, දේව, නාගයෝය (කුවේණි යක්ෂය). මේ තුන් කොටස හෙළයන්ය. වසර 40,000ට පෙර මෙහි සිටී බවට සාක්ෂි හමු වී ඇති බලන්ගොඩ මානවකයා ද හෙළයෙකි.

මේ හෙළයන් තම්බපන්නියෙන් මෙරටට ගොඩ බට විජයගේ සිංහ කාණ්ඩය (සිංහයෙකුග් මෙන් නිය වැඩි තිබු සිංහබාහු රජතුමාගේ පුතා) සමඟ මුසුවී සිංහල ජාතිය බිහි විය.

විජය සහ කුවේණිගේ දරු දෙදෙනා (ජීවහත්ත සහ දිසාලා) ගෙන් වැදී පරපුර පටන් ගැනිණ යයි මහාවංශය දක්වයි.  මේ දෙදෙනා විජයගෙන් පසු රාජ්‍ය බලය අල්ලා ගැනීම සඳහා සටන් නොකළහ; දරුවන් වැද, වැද්දන් ලෙසම දෙදෙනා මැරී ගියහ.

විග්නේස්වරන්, සිද්ධාර්ථන්  න්‍යායනට අනුව නම්  මේ සියල්ලෝ (හෙළයෝ + වැද්දෝ) ද්‍රවිඩ විය යුතුය.

සිංහලයා බිහිවුයේ විජයගෙන් නිසා රාවණා (විජයට පෙර සිටී) සිංහල නොව හෙළයෙක් බව අප කීවත් ජාත්‍යාන්තරය එය පිළි නොගනී.

ලොව පිළිගත් විකිපීඩියා වෙබ් අඩවිය මෑතකදී සඳහනක් යොමු කර ඇත්තේ ලොව මෙතෙක් සිටි භක්තිවන්තම ශිව භක්තිකයා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ රාවණා  රජු කියායි, එනම් රාවණා ද්‍රවිඩයෙක් බවයි. රාවණා විෂ්ණු දෙවියන්ගේ දොරටුපාලකයා බව ද වීකිපීඩීයා සඳහන් කරයි. BBC, Encyclopedia of World History, Oxford Dictionery ද මේ මතයම දරත්.

රාවණා ඇල්ල, රාවණා කන්ද, රාවණා දේවාල වැනි නම් වලින් ස්ථාන අප රටේ ඇත. මෙහි රාවණා යනුවෙන් අදහස් කරන්නේ රාවණා යන රජෙක් ගැන නොව ‘ශබ්ධ’ යන්නයි. රාවණා ඇල්ල ඉතා ශබ්ධය (‘ශබ්ධ ඇල්ල’).

සිතා එළියට ඒ නම ලැබුනේ රාමායනයේ එන සිතා නිසා නොව නුවරඑළිය දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ ඉතාම සීත ගමක් වීම නිසායි. ශ්‍රී පාදයේ ඇති සීත ගඟුලට ඒ නම ලැබුනේ එහි ඇති අධි ශීත වතුර  මිස රාමායණයේ එන සිතා නිසා නොවේ.

රාවණයෙක් මේ රටේ සිටියේය යන්න සනාථ කෙරෙන කිසිම පුරා විද්‍යා සාක්ෂියක් මේ දක්වා හමුවී නොමැත. ඒ නිසාය රාවණාවාදීන් කාශ්‍යප රජ විසින් තනන ලද සීගිරිය රාවණාගේ නිර්මාණයක්ය යන බොරුව ප්‍රචාරය කරනුයේ.

බුදුරාජාණන් වහන්සේ උපන්නේ දඹදිව නොව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේය යන අමූලික, අසත්‍ය මතයක් ගොඩ නඟමින් සිටින පිරිසක් ඇත (නැවතත්, ‘අපි තමයි හොඳටම කලේ’ න්‍යාය)

මෑත කාලයේදී මේ මිත්‍යාව ප්‍රචලිත කිරීම ඉතාම තීව්‍ර වී ඇත. මෙරටින් පමණක් නොව මුළු ලොවින්ම බුදු දහම විනාශ කිරීමේ කුමන්ත්‍රණයක්ද මේ?

මෙය, අප සම්බුදු අමා මෑණියන්ට ද කරන අපහාසයකි. ඉන්දියාව, නේපාලය වැනි මිත්‍ර රටවල් තරහ කර ගැනීමේ උත්සහයක්ද විය හැක.

ආදී දෙමළ බෞද්ධයන් සිටියාය කියා මතයක් බෙදුම්වාදීන් දැන් ගොඩ නගනුයේ උතුරෙන් සහ නැගෙනහිරෙන් හමුවූ සහ දිගටම හමුවෙන ශිලා/ටැම් ලිපි, සිංහල රජවරුන් ඉදි කල ඉපැරණි ගල් කුළුණු, සඳකඩ පහන් ආදියේ දෙමළ අක්ෂර නොමැති නිසා, සිංහල නොමැති, සංස්කෘතික (Sanskrit) අක්ෂර පමණක් ඇති ඒවා සිංහලයන් නොව ද්‍රවිඩයන් – ඊනියා ආදී ද්‍රවිඩ බෞද්ධයන්,  විසින් කරන ලද නිර්මාණ බව ලොවට වංක ලෙස පෙන්වීමටයි. මොවුන් කුරින්දිහි (මුලතිව් දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ කුරුඳුමලේ)  කරන්නේ මෙයයි.

සිංහලට සංස්කෘතික සම්භවයක් ඇතත් (හින්දි, උර්දු, බෙන්ගාලි මෙන්) දෙමළ භාෂාවට එසේ නැත. දෙමළ වනාහි ද්‍රවිඩියන් භාෂාවකි.

සිංහලයෝ හින්දි, උර්දු, බෙන්ගාලි, ඉරාන, ඇන්ග්ලෝ සැක්සන් (උදා: එංගලන්ත/ඇමරිකන්/නව සීලන්ත), ජර්මන්, ස්කෑන්ඩිනේවියන් වරුන් මෙන් ආර්යයෝය (Aryans). ද්‍රවිඩයෝ ආර්යයන් නොවන බවයි පිළි ගැනීම.

හිට්ලර් ඉන්දියානුවන් කෙරෙහි දැඩි මිත්‍රත්වයක් පෑවේ මේ නිසාද?

‘ආදී ද්‍රවිඩ බෞද්ධයන්’ යන ජන කොටසක් ගැන කිසිම ඉපැරණි ඉතිහාස පොතක සඳහන් නොවේ.

එසේ නම් දැන් මෑතක සිට මෙවැනි මතයක් ජනිත වන්නේ කෙසේද? නැවතත්, මෙය ද්‍රවිඩ බෙදුම්වාදය සාක්ෂාත් කර ගැනීම සඳහා ගෙන එන ලද නව සංකල්පයකි.

යුධ ජයග්‍රණයෙන් පසු උතුරේ සහ නැගෙනහිර සමහර සිංහල බෞද්ධ පුරාවස්තු භුමි වල හින්දු කෝවිල් අලුතින් ස්ථාපනය විණ. දැනුදු සිදුවේ, විශේෂයෙන්ම නැගෙනහිර.

ඉපැරණි ගල් කුළුණුවල (සිංහල රාජධානි යුගයේ – උදා: දෙවෙනි පෑතිස් රජ සමයේ) ත්‍රී ශුල කොටා ඒවායින්  නව හින්දු කෝවිල් සාදා, ඉපැරණි කෝවිල් ලෙස පෙන්වත්.  

මිහින්තලාවට දඹදීවින් වැඩම කළ මිහිඳු හිමියනට පෙර මෙහි බුදු දහම තිබුණු බවත්, රටෙහි සිටී රජතුමා සිංහල දේවානම් පියතිස්ස නොව දෙමළ දේවානම් පියතිස්සම් බවත් බෙදුම්වාදීහු පවසත්. මේ මතයට ඉහත කී පුරා විද්‍යා මහාචාර්ය පුරාවිද්‍යඥයාද යම් තරමින්  හූමිටි තබයි.  

අපේ ජාතියේ ප්‍රධානම ග්‍රන්ථය වන මහාවංශය හේතු නොපෙන්වා බැහැර කරන මෙම මහාචාර්ය පුරාවිද්‍යඥයා පෙන්වීමට උත්සහ කරන්නේ සිංහලයනට පෙර මෙම භුමියේ දෙමළ අය වාසය කළ බවයි. මේ බව ඔහු විසින් ප්‍රමුඛත්වය දී සම්පාදනය කරන ලද  පාසැල් පෙළ පොත් වල අනියම් ලෙසින් දක්වා ඇත.

මේ කරුණ පෙන්වා ජාත්‍යාන්තර නිතීය යටතේ ඊලාම දිනාගැනීමට විග්නේස්වරන්, සිද්ධාර්ථන්, සුමන්තිරන් වැන්නන් අනාගතයේදී උත්සහ දරනු ඇත.

මහාවංශය බොරු බව ප්‍රභාකරන් සෑම විටම කීය. මහාවංශය සම්බන්ධව  ඔහු තුල තිබුනේ තදබල තරහකි. LTTE න්‍යායාචාර්ය ඇන්ටන් බාලසිංහම් මහාවංශය බොරු බවට දැඩිව මත පල කළේය. ඔවුන් නික්ම ගිය පසු අද  TNA වැනි සහ වෙනත් ඊලාම්වාදී ද්‍රවිඩ සංවිධාන මේ අදහස තවදුරටත් ප්‍රවර්ධනය කරත්.

මෙම මහාචාර්යවාරය/පුරාවිද්‍යඥයා දේශන පවත්වන නාලිකාවේ වැඩ සටහන්වලට සවන් දීමේදී සිංහලයාගේ සම්භවය දකුණු ඉන්දියාව බව පෙන්වීමට ඔහු තදින් (සූක්ෂම ලෙස) උත්සහ දරන බවක් පෙනේ.  නමුත්, සිංහලයාගේ සම්භවය, විජය නිසා, උතුරු ඉන්දියාවයි (උතුරු ඉන්දියාවේ සිංහපුර, වංග දේශයේ, ලාට රටේ).   

බෙදුම්වාදීන්ගේ තර්කය වන්නේ පෘතුගීසින් එන විට යාපනයේ සිටියේ දෙමළ රජෙක් බවත් ඉංග්‍රීසින් යනවිට ඔවුන් විසින් උතුරේ දෙමළ පාලනයක් නැවත නොපිහිටුවීමත්, ඔවුනගේ දෙමළ රාජ්‍යයේ නොකැඩුනු පුරුක ගැලවීම සිදු කලේ යුරෝපා අධිරාජ්‍ය වාදීන් නිසා (1505 සිට 1948 දක්වා), එක්සත් ජාතින්ගේ සංවිධානය විසින් උතුර (සහ නැගෙනහිර) දැන් නැවතත් දෙමළ ජනයාගේ පාලනයට ලබා දිය යුතු බවයි.

නමුත් පැරණි ඉතිහාස ග්‍රන්ථ පවසන්නේ පෘතුගීසින් ඒමට පෙර කාලයේ උතුර සැමදා පාලනය කලේ සිංහල රජවරුන් බවයි – මහනුවර හෝ කෝට්ටේ රජවරු.  යාපනයේ යම් දෙමළ පාලනයක් වී නම් (සංකිලි වැනි) ඔවුහු මෙම සිංහල රජවරුන්ගේ යුව රජුන් වූ බවයි. 

ආර්ය චක්‍රවර්ති මෙසේ සිංහල රජුට යටත්වූ යුව රජෙක්ව සිටියාද නැද්ද යන්න පැහැදිලි නැත. කෙසේ වෙතත් සිංහල සපුමල් කුමරා ඔහුව පරාජය කළේය. මේ කුමරාගේ පියා 6වෙනි පරාක්‍රමබාහු රජද මව කීරවැල්ල පරම්පරාවේ කුමරියක් බවත් ඉතිහාස ග්‍රන්ථ දක්වයි.

නමුත්, මෙම මහාචාර්ය පුරාවිද්‍යඥයාට අනුව (සහ වෙනත් ඇතැම් ඉතිහාසඥයනට අනුව)  සපුමල් කුමරා දෙමළය.

කතරගම දෙවියන් දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ උපන් දෙමළ රජ කෙනෙක් බවට පෙන්වන ප්‍රබල මතයක් ඇත. මෙම  දෙවිඳුන් පිළිබඳව සැකසුනු මෑතක ප්‍රදර්ශණය වුනු ඉතා ජනප්‍රිය සිංහල චිත්‍රපටයක දැක්වෙන්නේද මෙයයි.

නමුත් ආදී සිංහලයා කතරගම දෙවිදුන් සැලකුවේ කතරගම ප්‍රදේශය පාලනය කල හෙළයෙකු වූ මහසෙන් (රජුගේ) පුනරුප්පත්තිය ලෙසයි (බුදු රජුන් කල මෙරට විසු).

බුදු රජාණන් වහන්සේ 3වෙනි වර ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට වැඩම කල අවස්ථාවේ (කැලණිය) උන් වහන්සේට මහසෙන් (රජු) හමුව ඇති බව ඉතිහාස ග්‍රන්ථ සඳහන් කරයි.

මහසෙන් (රජු) මේ හමුවීම සිහිපත් වීම වස් ස්ථුපයක් සාදා ඇත. එය වර්තමාන කතරගම කිරි වෙහෙර වේ.  

කතරගම දෙවිදුන්ට අමතරව සමන් (කුවේණිගේ මාමා?), දැඩි මුණ්ඩ, උපුල්වන්, අයියනායක ආදී විවිධ හෙළ (එනම්, සිංහල) දෙවිවරුන් ඇත.

කතරගම දෙවියන් පිළිබඳව තනා ඇති චිත්‍රපටයේ උන්වහන්සේගේ ජම්මය/ජාතකය පිළිබඳවූ සිංහල බෞද්ධ මතය පසෙකලා දෙමළ මතයට පමණක්  ස්ථානය ලබාදී තිබේ.

සිද්ධාර්ථ කුමරු,, කතරගම දෙවිඳුන් පිළිබඳව සාදන චිත්‍රපට වල ප්‍රධාන නළු සහ නිළි චරිත සඳහා අපේ අධ්‍යක්ෂක වරුන් උතුරු ඉන්දීය හින්දි නළුවන්/නිලියන්  රඟ පෑමට ගන්නේ ඇයි? අප රටේ මේ චරිත රඟ පාම සඳහා කඩවසම් නළුවන් සහ රුවැති නිළියන් නැතැයි යන වැරදි ආකල්පයක් නිසාද?

Ministry of Defence  – Media Centre

High Commissioner (HC) of New Zealand for Sri Lanka HE Mr. Michael Appleton who will be completing his tenure in Sri Lanka, paid a farewell call on the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gen. Kamal Gunaratne at the Defence Ministry, Defence Headquarters Complex, Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte today (Jan 04).

Gen. Gunaratne warmly received the High Commissioner on the arrival to the Defence Ministry.

During the cordial meeting held between the two high officials, New Zealand HC expressed his gratitude to the Defence Secretary for the cooperation extended by the Defence Ministry during his tenure.

Meanwhile, Gen. Gunaratne praised the outgoing HC for his cooperation extended to the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry and its staff while also commending for his assistance that led to further strengthening the existing ties between two countries.

Military Liaison Officer of the Defence Ministry Maj. Gen. Dhammika Welagedara was also present at the occasion.

Prime Minister’s Media Unit

United Nations Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Director for Asia and the Pacific, Kanni Wignaraja expressed appreciation for the reforms undertaken for sociopolitical development in Sri Lanka and assured continuous assistance under the UNDP.

When she called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Temple Trees today (January 4), she lauded the Prime Minister’s role in ensuring the empowerment of the downtrodden people of Sri Lanka. We highly appreciate your consistent policy to work for uplifting the marginalized people of the country that you have carried out that for the last 30 or 40 years,” she said.

She called on to discuss Sri Lanka’s development programmes related to policy reforms, digitalization, public sector modernization, climate change, green economy, water and other related development issues.

The Prime Minister briefed her on the steps taken for economic recovery and the programmes for long term infrastructure development. He explained the steps taken to broaden the tax base and said the new tax policy of registering all the citizens over 18 would boost digitalization plans and it would help to eradicate corruption and waste and enhance transparency. He said the tender and procurement system will also be digitalized under e-procurement platform which will come to effect in March this year for local procurements and in September for international biddings.

UNDP Resident Representative Azusa Kubota, Secretary to the Prime Minister, Anura Dissanayake and Chamindri Saparamadu, DG (SDG) Ministry of Finance also took part in the discussion.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

 My son came for a holiday from the UK  after 8 years and wanted to renew/obtain new dual passport which has expired.

We went to get one day service at 8 am to the passport office 

Handed over all the documents but the  NIC he had was issued several years later in 2015 hence they needed another letter from the NIC office that he did not have a NiC previously

He went abroad when he was 8 where he did not have a NIC 

 At counter 17, the passport officer wanted a letter from the NIC office in the same building indicating that my son did not have a NIC previously ( this was never mentioned  anywhere) 

 We went  to room 20 and handed over forms requesting the said letter to the officer  who  is handling the papers 

He left office for half an hour after taking over the dossier and all were lamenting and grieving). 

 Waited and waited and we were given another letter again by Room 20  to go to the legal division of the NIC office on a different floor to get a written confirmation

 I had  to limp and walk up again to get another  NIC copy to give to the legal Branch 

 The waiting time was four hours but a colleague promised to help to get it in one hour as we requested it asap 

The legal office promised to give the said letter in one hour and it never happened 

 We were waiting  and noted  that the  legal ladies walking in and out for tea may be for an early  lunch but our letter never came 

 After three hours  we got the letter after pestering  ( we thought that we would never get it) we had  to go back and hand over the documents again to receiving passport counter 17 and to pay 20000 whopping rupees 

Finally handed over papers by 12.30

Noon 

In the evening I went to collect the passport with an authorization letter from my son

At the counter, I was told to get a Controller to Approve despite my son has signed and given to me 

I told the clerk firmly How am I going to find a controller at 6 pm

He shouted and said to get it somehow ( 

 My son keeps telling me that he does not need a Dual passport! I told him that he should have one so that he can own some properties after we die!

 He said that he does not need any property because he may never come back 

The Crux of the matter is that our government servants   should work efficiently and serve the people rather than blaming some corrupt politicians  (like HE said)

Another incident 

My daughter wanted to get her dual

Passport extended in UK and visited UK High Commission in June 2023

They charged a whopping 140 £ and sent papers to Colombo on June 24 and the new passport never came 

When reminded the clerk at HC had told her       If you know anybody in Cololmbo get him

To follow up ) 

I had to go to the passport office with someone whom I knew 

 The passport office said that they were waiting for a copy of her British passport to include a statement that she is a dual citizen HC in London was keeping mum though

It was handed over I

 After that, I pushed the passport office in Colombo  and couriered back her passport

I physically visited the Passport office with my colleague to help

 I told her that it was  couriered 

 When she  inquired from HC she  was informed that it was still in Colombo, (it was already lying on the counselor’s table ) I found that it reached London  after I called the Counsellor from Colombo

I was informed that my passport was delivered after four months 

What a mess!

HE The High Commissioner should revamp the HC service in London where our own people get harassed all the time 

 Over to you JB sir

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ජාතික ජන බලවේගයට රජයක් පවත්වාගෙන යාම සම්බන්ධයෙන් කිසිදු අදහසක් නොමැති බව ඔවුනගේ ප්‍රධානතම ආර්ථික විශේෂඥයා වන සුනිල් හඳුන්නෙත්ති විසින් කරන ලද ප්‍රකාශයකින් පෙනී යන බව සමගි ජන බලවේග පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීය හර්ෂද සිල්වා මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

ජාත්‍යන්තර ස්වෛරීත්ව බැඳුම්කරණ ණයට ගරු නොකරන බවට හඳුන්නෙත්ති මහතා විසින් ප්‍රකාශ කර ඇති බවද පවසන ඔහු මීට පෙර ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ආර්ථික උපදේශකයෙකු වුන අනිල් ජයන්ත විසින්ද මේ ආකාරයේ ප්‍රකාශයක් කර ඇති බවද කියා සිටියේය.

මෙම ප්‍රකාශ වලින් ඔවුනට පැහැදිලිව රටක් පාලනය කරන්නේ කෙසේද යන්න ගැන කිසිදු අවබෝධයක් නොමැති බව මන්ත්‍රීවරයා තම සමාජ ජාල ගිණුමේ සටහනක් තබමින් කියා සිටී.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=892168922435101

Courtesy Adaderana

UNICEF, together with the World Health Organization (WHO), has planned to support the Health Ministry in implementing a supplementary measles immunization activity (SIA) in Sri Lanka aimed at controlling the ongoing measles outbreak, midst over 700 measles cases reported in the country since May 2023. 

The SIA will be launched in two phases; the first phase will commence on 6 January, targeting 69-month-olds in 9 identified districts with a high population density, where measles cases were reported including Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Kandy, Jaffna, Kurunegala and Kalmunai.

The second phase will be initiated on January 20 and extended to other age groups across the country. 

Speaking at a press briefing held in Colombo recently to announce the launch of the supplementary immunization activity, UN Children’s Fund Representative in Sri Lanka, Christian Skoog said, UNICEF, as well as WHO, has been closely associated partners with the Ministry of Health for many years in the implementation of the national immunization programme, which is a success story in Sri Lanka.  However, even with a high immunization coverage, measles outbreaks can occur among unvaccinated children, especially when there are outbreaks in the region. While the numbers are small with the recent measles outbreak, it is important to take it seriously and that is what the Ministry of Health is doing, in taking appropriate steps to control it.” 

He also added the assistance extended by UNICEF during COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 to maintain the quality of vaccines by addressing the gaps in the cold chain equipment system, will undoubtedly support in implementing this effective supplementary immunization activity.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Dr. Palitha Mahipala expressed confidence in the success of the vaccination drive, stating, There is no other country in the world which has reached over 99% immunization coverage. I can confidently state without any hesitation that Sri Lanka is the only country which reached a 99.9% immunization coverage. So, I am optimistic that with this supplementary immunization activity, the measles cases reported will be reduced.”

The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine was introduced into Sri Lanka’s immunization program in 1984. In 2001, a second dose of the vaccine was introduced to improve population level immunity and in 2019, the WHO declared Sri Lanka as a country free of Measles. However, a significant drop in global immunization coverage from 2020 to 2022 impacted many countries in the region, which has led to a rise in measles cases once again, including in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Alaka Singh, WHO Representative to Sri Lanka who also spoke at the presser said, The cases reported so far have been mild, and no deaths have been reported. However, measles can be a major childhood disease, which can and must be prevented.

Accordingly, Health Ministry has embarked on a rapid supplementary immunization activity in two phases through the strong primary healthcare system. We, as WHO, reiterate our full support for this program and overall recovery in Sri Lanka going forward.” 

Other experts in attendance at the media briefing included Dr. Asela Gunawardena, Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health; Dr. Vinod Kumar Bura, Coordinator, Immunization and Vaccine Development, Department of Communicable diseases, WHO South-East Asia Regional Office; the Chief Epidemiologist; Director, Health Promotion Bureau as well as other consultants and specialists from MoH.   

UNICEF and Health Ministry, through this latest SIA are committed to combating any possible measles outbreaks in Sri Lanka. While measles is highly infectious, past vaccination initiatives have shown success in controlling outbreaks when high coverage is achieved. Stakeholders noted that strategic public awareness and community engagement will be critical in conveying the urgency of vaccinations and ensuring the campaign’s success.

By DARSHANA SANJEEWA BALASURIYA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, Jan 04 (Daily Mirror) – President Ranil Wickremesinghe said a decision has been taken to deploy a ship from the Sri Lanka Navy on the Red Sea area, contributing to the security of the region against Houthi activities.

The decision comes amidst rising concerns among international shipping companies regarding attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in the Red Sea.

The Houthis claim to be retaliating against Israel’s military campaign in support of Hamas.

This ongoing disruption in the Red Sea has resulted in increased freight costs and delayed delivery times.

“Shipping has been disrupted due to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea area. To counter this, if ships reroute around South Africa instead of navigating the Red Sea, it will lead to increased cargo costs,” the President said addressing the ‘Shilpa Abhimani 2023’ held at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre in Colombo.

Courtesy Hiru News

In an extensive islandwide special operation conducted over the last 24 hours, law enforcement agencies arrested 1038 individuals. The operation, led by the Ministry of Public Security, aimed to curb criminal activities and maintain public safety.

Among the results of the operation were drug seizures, including 417 grams of Heroin, 205 grams of ICE (crystal methamphetamine), 2.8 kilograms of Cannabis, and a haul of 4 kilograms of Hashish. Additionally, authorities confiscated 722 pills during the operation.

Shenali D Waduge

Any truth & reconciliation commission that shies from exposing the true players who trained, armed and funded militancy in Sri Lanka as well as provide covert & overt support that led to the 3 decade bloodshed should be denounced, named & shamed. These players include foreign nations, foreign politicians including the Church who have openly and unabashedly supported terrorists as evidenced in their statements and actions as well as a plethora of photos to prove. 

Sri Lanka’s politicians wriggle & accept any proposal so long as it assures to keep them in power & protect their positions. Framing Sri Lanka’s TRC on the South African model is as bizarre as any could imagine. For starters, what Sri Lanka experienced has nothing to do with what South African’s experienced. There is absolutely no comparison between the two. Nevertheless the much hyped South African TRC is not without criticism. The Freedom Front declared South Africa’s TRC to be a waste of taxpayers’ money & advised it to close down. 37 ANC members were initially given amnesty which was regarded as unlawful while the TRC also undertook to pay the legal fees of the 37 ANC members. One can imagine what Sri Lanka’s TRC would end up doing too! 

The widow of late South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani too echoed that the South African TRC was a waste of tax payers money. 

The widow of the assassinated (10 April 1993) South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a waste of taxpayers’ money.

The South African TRC like Sri Lanka’s TRC is one mooted with hidden political goals. South Africa did not identify wrong doers & punish them to serve justice to the victims, instead the mechanism was to have everyone say sorry” and all to be forgiven & forgotten! This is ironically the Church-forgiveness system while ironically major players of the Church were complicit in LTTE’s crimes. While this was taking place at a public level, beneath the TRC reconciliation” was dabblig in political reform, which is what Sri Lanka’s TRC aims to do on the guise of reconciliation. We saw this happening when the LTTE got reparations for killing people! Most of you would remember who in Sri Lanka’s Parliament voted to give compensation to LTTE murderers. 

South Africa’s TRC failed to hear the land issues where blacks had their lands taken over, the TRC did not hear the issues related to the education system where blacks are discriminated in their own land, the TRC did not hear the role of foreign companies who were making merry from apartheid. What exactly was the justice when the core problems were not being heard? Is this not the going to be the same sop story for Sri Lankans! Will the Sri Lankan TRC question India & its role in training Tamil militancy? Will Sri Lanka’s TRC question the foreign governments & foreign politicians who provided material support to LTTE & even attended their functions? Will Sri Lanka’s TRC question the Church & its fathers/sisters for supporting LTTE over the years? Will Sri Lanka’s TRC question other prominent members of Sri Lankan society who also had liaisons with the LTTE? Will Sri Lanka’s TRC hold individual state officials (now retired) criminally responsible for helping LTTE? If this is not going to happen, we can determine the failure of Sri Lanka’s TRC even before it commences! 

For those who parrot that Sri Lanka needs a TRC like South Africa would like to take note that the 1996 South African TRC failed to give justice to the victims of apartheid while apartheid continues even in 2023. However, the LTTE was vanquished in 2009 and no LTTE attacks has taken place since 2009 without any western-TRC framework. 

The Social Justice Coalition claims that in black townships of South Africa there is only one policemen for every 1043 persons while in white towns there is a policemen for every 173 persons. If anyone claims there is discrimination in Sri Lanka, all they need to do is take a list of all the wholesale, retail, gem industry, communication, tea industry, garment industry, tile & toiletry, poultry and many other industries & look at its ownerships. This will reveal the startling truth as to the prominence of minorities in key places including their habitation in the capital Colombo. The minorities of Sri Lanka dominates most of the key trades & industries in Sri Lanka and this can be statistically proven. 

Sri Lankans must take further note of the costs involved. South Africa had appointed 7 commissions since 1995 which had cost R286million without producing ANY OUTPUT. 

Imagine Sri Lankans being further burdened on top of the tax increases and price hikes! 

Sri Lanka’s 30 years of terrorism cannot be compared to South Africa’s black-white apartheid rule. 

South African TRC created in 1996 by 2013 the Commission itself declared that the South African society is now more violent than it was under apartheid” – this was said by none other than Bishop Desmond Tutu. He was one of the key players who also played a significant pro-LTTE role being signatory to statements that were championed by those who were pro-LTTE.

South African blacks suffered apartheid from 1948-1990. Sri Lanka’s LTTE prevailed from late 1970s to May 2009, though the suit-bearing LTTE still remain to politically win the separate state that LTTE strove to do with the gun. What reconciliation without dealing with the attempt to separate Sri Lanka part! 

South Africans suffered institutionalized racism – there is no such in Sri Lanka. In fact the minorities call the shots in Sri Lanka more than the majority who are divided in every form thinkable. 

Nelson Mandela is deemed everyone’s hero, but did he change the status quo or did he come to power on an agreed compromise formula where status quo of the whites would remain untouched! The compromise Mandela had to agree to was giving amnesty to the white minority who had committed injustice. What is the use for a TRC that omits justice for apartheid crimes! This is no different to holding a TRC in Sri Lanka and forgiving LTTE for all its sins! 

The dark horses that moot the benevolence of a TRC is the usual culprits – the western funded faith-based organizations, NGOs and other civil society who look forward to getting positions and poking their noses into national systems on behalf of their paymasters. 

South Africa’s TRC was given 24 months to complete their task – international commissioners were not appointed, however Mandela’s appointees were unequal with whites being over represented. 

Whites some of whom were not participating in apartheid crimes were indirect beneficiaries – no different to how some Tamils benefitted from LTTE terror.

South Africa’s TRC failed to consult bulk of ordinary South Africans who were direct victims – it is highly likely Sri Lanka’s TRC will not reach out to the poor victims of LTTE too. South Africa’s Constitutional Council upheld the constitutionality of removing victims right to legal redress. An area that Sri Lanka needs to look at too.

Another key area is why the Church should determine the type of forgiveness, repentance, given the role taken by TRC Chairman Bishop Tutu? We have not forgotten that the same Tutu encouraged national leaders not to attend CHOGM summit in Colombo and questions his practice of love & forgiveness”.

Why should a TRC be structured around Christian confession system – confess to sins & be abolished of all sins. Even in a court – declare oneself guilty” and get a lighter sentence! White leaders Botha & de Klerk refused to admit they had done anything wrong. It is highly unlike LTTE would admit to anything either – given that Prabakaran is feets underground! 

What is laughable is that the South African TRC was empowered to grant amnesty to perpetrators who confessed their crimes truthfully” – a bit of rehearsals meant the worst offenders were let go. 

Other inconsistencies were the manner in which white victims were given disproportionate opportunity to speak at public hearings and no doubt Sri Lanka’s TRC is unlikely to hear victims of LTTE crimes too! Will Sri Lanka’s TRC give prominence to ordinary civilians who were victims of LTTE or as UNHRC did spend time wondering what happened to LTTE posing as civilians”.

South Africa’s TRC took testimony of 21,000 victims – 2000 appeared in public hearings, 7112 amnesty applications were received and amnesty was granted to 849. 

Who are we to reconcile with? Terrorists? Why should we reconcile with terrorists? We have no issues with Tamils and Tamils have no issues with Sinhalese. It is only the pro-separatist LTTE Tamils and paid or hired Sinhalese who have been tasked to drum there is a problem as it serves their paymasters to create a notion of a problem and on this guise infiltrate into the legislative, administrative national systems in Sri Lanka and make changes advantageous to them. It is a pity that even the learned politicians in parliament fail to see the modus operandi, or even if they see it, they prefer to compromise the nation to hang on to their political power.

So far, no one has been able to provide a list of the thousands of Tamils supposed to have been killed. The commemorations are all for dead LTTE and not Tamil civilians. It is laughable that foreign politicians are even attending these events and shedding crocodile tears. In the meanwhile, the LTTE romp has managed to creep into foreign systems and are also sitting in their parliaments. We do hope they carve out eelams in those respective countries sooner than later! 

Shenali D Waduge

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන්

ශාන් විජයලාල් සිල්වා සමගි ජනබලවේගයට එක්වීම, ගාල්ල දේශපාලනයේ චිත්‍රය මුළුමනින්ම වෙනස් කිරීමට හේතු වන්නේය.  

2020 මහා මැතිවරණයේ දී ගාල්ලේ වෙරළබඩ කලාපයේ එකම ආසනයකින්වත් (අම්බලන්ගොඩ, රත්ගම, බලපිටිය, හබරාදූව, බෙන්තර හා කරන්දෙණිය) සජබට 18% ඉක්මන ඡන්ද ප්‍රමාණයක් ලැබී නැත. අමු සිංහලෙන් කියන්නේ නම් ගාල්ලේ කරාව සහ සලාගම  කුල ඡන්දයක් සජබට තිබුණේම නැති තරම්ය.

පොහොට්ටුවෙන් ඡන්දය දිනා සජබයට ගිය ගාල්ලේ දෙවැනියා ශාන් ය.  පළමුවැනියා චන්දිම වීරක්කොඩි ය. මනාප ලැයිස්තුවේ ඊලඟට ඉන්න හබරාදූවේ දිල්ශාන් ගුණසේකර ට පාර්ලිමේන්තු යන්න වැඩි උනන්දුවක් නැති නිසා පක්ෂ මාරුව ගැන තවම අධිකරණයේ නඩු පවරා නැත.

ගාල්ලේ සජබ දේශපාලනය බලය තිබුණේ ගොවිගමට ය.  මනූෂ නානායක්කාර සජබ හැර දමා යාම නිසා දැන් ගයන්න කරුණාතිලක එහි එකම සජබ මන්ත්‍රීවරයා ය.  පක්ෂයේ ඊලඟ ප්‍රබලම සංවිධායකවරුන් තිදෙනා මඟුලට මරණයට හැමදා සිටින බන්දුලාල් බණ්ඩාරිගොඩ, පියසේන ගමගේ සහ විජේපාල හෙට්ටිආරච්චි ය. දැන් මේ සජබ ප්‍රධාන චරිත හතරට අමතරව ශාන් ද, චන්දිම ද සිටී. බද්දේගමින් ආනන්ද අබේවික්‍රම හා කනිෂ්ක ලැනරෝල් වන බැවින්, තරඟකරුවන් අටකි.

ලංකා දේශපාලනයේ කුලය තරම් බලවත් සාධකයක් තවත් නැත. 1946 සීමා නිර්ණයේ දී අම්බන්ගොඩ, බලපිටිය ආසන දෙක හැදුණේම  කරාව – සලාගම කුල පදනමිනි. සරළව ම,  සිල්වා ලා සහ සොයිසා ලා දෙන්නෙකුට පාර්ලිමේන්තු එන්නට ය. රත්ගම හා 1976 දී කරන්දෙණිය ආසනය ඇතිකරන්නේම කුල පදනමිනි. ගොවිගම කුලය පැත්තකට කළ විට, කරාව හා සලාගම කුල දෙක ගාල්ලේ හරි හරියට සිටී.  වහුම්පුර කුලයට දැන් ගාල්ලේ නායකයෙකු දැන් නැති තරම්ය.  මොහාන් සිල්වා සලාගම කුල ඡන්ද පදනමට බලපිටිය, රත්ගම, හබරාදූව හා කරන්දෙණියේ දී බලපැම් කරයි.

ගාල්ලේ කරාවේ නායකයින් අතර ශාන් විජයලාල් සිල්වාට දෙවන පෙල විකල්පයක් හෝ විය හැකිවන්නේ අම්බලන්ගොඩ අනුර ප්‍රදීප් හා පුෂ්පලාල් කුමාරසිංහ ය.  කරාව – සලාව (අම්බලන්ගොඩ – බලපිටිය) කුල නිර්ණායකයට විලියම් සිල්වා හා ආතර් සොයිසා (1947), ඉයන් ද සොයිසා හා විලියම් සිල්වා (1952), ඇම්.පී. ද සොයිසා හා විලියම් ද සිල්වා (1956), 1960 මාර්තු ලක්ෂ්මන් ද සිල්වා (බලපිටිය) හා විලියම් ද සිල්වා (අම්බලන්ගොඩ) උදාහරණය.

අම්බලන්ගොඩ පී. ද ඇස්.කුලරත්න 1960 ජූනි මැතිවරණයෙන් ද, ඇම්.එච්.සද්ධාසේන (1965), අජිත් සිල්වා ගේ මව වූ ඇල්.සී.ද සිල්වා (1970), රයිටර් තිලකසේකර (1977), බුද්ධික කුරුකුලරත්න (1989) සජින් වාස් ගුණවර්ධන (2010) හා ශාන් විජයලාල් ද සිල්වා (2020) කරාව කුලයෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආවේය. 

මනාප ක්‍රමය යටතේ 1989 සිට මේ දක්වාම කරාව කුලයෙන් ගාල්ලෙන් එජාපයට තේරී පත් වූවේ බුද්ධික කුරුකුලරත්න පමණී.  89 ජවිපෙ වෙඩි ප්‍රහාර මැද ඡන්දය කළ අම්බලන්ගොඩ බුද්ධික කරාවේ ඡන්ද ටික තමාට වැටෙන තැනට කළේ ඉතිහාසයේ ශුරතම කුල ඡන්ද මෙහෙයුමකි. 2010 දිනන්නට සජින් වාස් ගුණවර්ධන දිනන්නට මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂගේ බලය ද, යහමින් මුදල් ද තිබුනේ ය. වසර විස්සක් ශාන් ගාල්ල දේශපාලනයේ රැදෙන්නේ මෙවැනි පරිසරයක ය. (එවැනි බලයක් තිබූ අනෙක් පුද්ගලයා මෑතක දී නැසී ගිය විනී කාරියවසම් ය)

මේ තත්වයට ඓතිහාසික වූ හේතුවක් තිබේ. කරාව සහ සලාගම ඡන්ද ඉතිහාසය පුරා වැඩිපුරම වැටුනේ සම සමාජ හා කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂවලට ය.  නගර සභාවක පළමු සභාපතිනිය එල්.සී ද සිල්වා (ල.ස.ස.ප. 1969), ශ්‍රීලකොප යේ එම්.ජී.මෙන්ඩිස්, පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට පත් නොවූ විනී කාරියවසම් මෙයට උදාහරණ ය. ඉතිහාසය පුරාම කරාව නායකයින් සජබ/එජාපයෙන් ඉදිරිපත් කළ නමුත් මනාප ක්‍රමය යටතේ ඔවුන් දිනා නැත! මාගේ මතකය නිවැරදි නම්, එජාපයේ  නන්දිමිත්‍ර ද සොයියා ගෙන් පසුව සලාගම අයෙකු ද සජබ/එජාප මනාපයෙන් ගාල්ලෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආවේ නැත!!

මේ සියළු කතා කිවේ, ඊලඟ මහා මැතිවරණයේ ගාල්ලේ මනාප ප්‍රතිඑලය ගැන චිත්‍රයක් මවා ගැනීමට ය.

මෙය දේශපාලන කතාවක් මිස කුල කතාවක් නොවේ. සීමා නිර්ණය ගැන අශෝක පීරිස් අනු කමිටුව සමඟ මාගේ අත්දැකීම නැම්, ජාතිය ආගම තරමටම කුල සාධකය ද, ඡන්ද මැෂින් ය. ලංකාවේ දිස්ත්‍රික්ක නවයක (9) කුලය තීරණාත්මක දේශපාලන සාධකයයි.  එයට කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ද ඇතුලත් ය. වහුම්පුර කුලයට ලියාපදිංචි දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් තිබූ බවත්, එහි සලකුණ පවා එම කුල රස්සාවට සෘජුව බැඳී ඇත.

1977 දක්වා කේවල ඡන්ද ක්‍රමය යටතේ ගාල්ලේ ආසන 10 න් පහක් ගොවිගම වන විට ආසන පහක් ගොවිගම නොවන කුලයේ ය.  සමානුපාතික ක්‍රමයේ දී ආසන 8 ක් ගොවිගම කුලයට ලැබෙන විට ආසන දෙකක් පමණක් ගොවිගම නොවන කුලයට ලැබෙන්නේය. ගාල්ලේ කුල බලපෑමේ පරිමාව පරිනාමය වී ඇත්තේ එලෙසය!  (අශෝක පීරිස් සීමා නිර්ණය කමිටුවේ රජයේ හෝ දේශපාලන නියෝජිතයින් අතර එකම ගොවිගම නියෝජනයක් හෝ තිබුණේ නැත.  ගාල්ලේ සීමා නිර්ණයේ දී තමන්ට ගොවිගම කුලයෙන් සිදුවන පීඩා සිදුව ඇතැයි ග්‍රාමීය ප්‍රජා නායකයින් කරුණු ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබූ ආකාරය මා පුදුමයට පත් කළේය!)

චන්ද්‍රිකා සමයේ ජාතික ලැයිස්තු මන්ත්‍රී ධූර දුන්නේ ද කුලය අනුවය.  අජන්ත සොයිසා, මහින්ද අමරවීර, ලොකු අතුල හා ශාන් විජයලාල් සිල්වා පළමු ලැයිස්තුවේ සිටියේ ය.  දෙවැනි ලැයිස්තුවෙන් ශාන් ගේ නම වෙනුවට වී.පුත්‍රසිගාමනී ගේ නම ගැසට් විය.  

ගීතා, රමේෂ්, ඉසුරු දොඩංගොඩ, සම්පත් අතුකෝරල, මොහාන් සිල්වා දැන් එක කඳවුරකය.  එජාපයේ වජිර අබේවර්ධන හා මනූෂ නානායක්කාර දෙදෙනා ද ඒ කඳවුරේමය.  චන්දිම හා ශාන් දැන් ගයන්ත කරුණාතිලක සමඟ අනෙක් කඳවුරේ ය.

පොහොට්ටුවට ගාල්ලේ එකම මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙකු හෝ ඉතිරි නොවන්නේ නම් එය ද පුදුම විය යුතු නැත.

ගාල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්යේ මේ වසරේ පැවැත්වෙන මහා මැතිවරණයකින් තේරීපත්වන මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් නවය (9) කි. සජබ ජයගන්නා මැතිවරණයක වු ව සජබට බෝනස් ආසනයද ඇතුළුව ආසන හතකරට වඩා ලැබිය නොහැකිය.   ගයන්ත, හෙට්ටිආරච්චි, බන්දුලාල්, පියසේන ගමගේ, චන්දිම, අබේවික්‍රම හා ශාන්අතරින් හතරකි. ඉහළම සම්භාවිතාවය ඇත්තේ ආසන තුන (3) කි.  ප්‍රශ්නය ඇත්තේ මෙයින් කැපී යන්නේ කවුද කියන එකය!  ඔවුන්ගේ දේශපාලනය නතර වන්නේ කොතැනද කියන එකය!! (මෙම ගණනය ඔබට රුචි නොවේ නම්, ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ ගාල්ලේ ලැබෙන ආසන සංඛ්‍යාව ට නිසි බර තබා ඉතිරිය පක්ෂ අනුව බෙදීම අනුමාන කර ගණනයක් කමෙන්ට් කළ හැකිය) 

අනෙක් අතට, මුස්ලිම් ඡන්ද පදනමට වඩා ගාල්ලේ කුලයට බර තැබීමේ තාර්කික බවක් තිබේ ද? යන්න ජනාධිපතිවරණයකට වඩා මහා මැතිවරණයක දී තීරණාත්මක වේ.

කුලය මත ම නොවන නමුත්, පක්ෂ මාරුව නිසා කුරුණෑගල, මහනුවර, කොළඹ, ගම්පහ, රත්නපුර, අනුරාධපුර, මාතර දිස්ත්‍රික්කවල ද දේශපාලන චිත්‍රය වෙනස් විය හැකිය.  කුල සාධකය මත පක්ෂ මන්ත්‍රී ධූරයක් දිනා ගැනීමටම කොළඹ ද ඇතුළුව දිස්ත්‍රික්ක නවයක පිල් මාරුවීම් සිදුවන්නේය.  

ශාන් විජයලාල් සිල්වා පක්ෂ මාරුවෙන් දිනා ඇත. ජයග්‍රාහකයෙක් ඇති තැන පරාජිතයෙක්ද සිටිය යුතුය.  පරදින්නේ කවුද යන්න දකින්නට මහා මැතිවරණය එන තුරුම සිටිය යුතු නැත!

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන්

Shenali D Waduge

https://youtube.com/watch?v=R9c3jEQEFN4%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque

Hawaii was annexed by US in 1898. The reason for Hawaii to be annexed was the fear of Hawaii becoming part of European empire. US doesn’t want to see Sri Lanka tilt to China and is exerting tremendous pressure via Quad partners. Are we interested enough to protect our sovereignty? Before that do we understand the dangers lurking at our door. Didn’t the wise say don’t accept any gift horse that can be a Trojan Horse!

Hawaii was an independent state proved by the 2001 Permanent Court of Arbitration’s arbitral tribunal. By 1893 there were only 44 independent and sovereign States and Hawaii was one of them.

How much of Hawaii’s Polynesian history dating 200AD remains today? Hawaii’s first contact with white settlers was in 1778 with the arrival of Capt James Cook followed by traders, missionaries from Europe & US.

Hawai was made into a kingdom by uniting 8 main islands in 1810. British took over Hawaii briefly in 1843. The whites brought with them gifts of small pox, venereal disease & even mosquitos resulting in native population being reduced by 75%. Pearl Harbour was ceded to the US resulting in US sugar planters taking control of 4/5 of Hawaii’s arable land. 5 corporations wielded political power over Hawaii – Castle & Cook, Alexander & Baldwin, C. Brewer & Co, American Factors & Theo H. Davies & Co controlled 90% of the sugar business.

King Kalakaua’s ruled from 1874 to 1891 during whose time the Bayonet Constitution was introduced manipulating the corrupt King giving greater power to whites & diluting powers to the native Hawaiians. King was turned into a mere figurehead. At his death in 1891 his sister Queen Liliukalani took over. She set out to amend the Constitution returning power to the monarchy and restoring ONLY Hawaiians, the right to vote. The whites planned to overthrow her. The whites secured traitors to their fold. She was betrayed no different to present betrayals. Despite the backing of her countrymen, to avoid bloodshed the Queen stepped down. Signing MCC, ACSA, SOFA and having a formidable foreign presence in Sri Lanka, would this not eventually result in Sri Lanka’s leaders having to do a repeat of Kandyan Convention? Having put the country in a vulnerable and precarious position, they will quickly hand over the country & vacate to better climes!

17 January 1893, Hawaii’s monarchy was overthrown

Not all leaders are bad and President Cleveland certainly differed from other US Presidents. Having heard of the US covert coup he withdrew the annexation treaty and appointed a Special Commission. The report concluded that the Queen had been illegally overthrown & majority of Hawaiians opposed the coup. Though the report proposed the monarchy to be restored the US propped provisional government declared Hawaii a republic in July 1894. The Queen was forced to abdicate & placed in prison for 8 months. Doesn’t it recall the manner US masterminded the ouster of Gaddafi from Libya and all that the US leaders did in 2011 was to laugh and declare ‘we came, we conquered & he died’.

Hawaii came into prominence during the Spanish-American War in 1898 as a strategic position for US troops fighting in Philippines. President William McKinley was opposite to President Cleveland and annexation of Hawaii took place. President Bill Clinton in 1993 signed a Bill apologizing for the overthrow but an apology some 100 years later was really meaningless to Native Hawaiians who had lost their native cultures, traditions & sovereignty. the native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty.”was what Congress said. In 2009 the US Supreme Court declared that the apology did not include land rights that now belonged to the US Government.

Comparing Hawaii & Sri Lanka

You may want to know how Hawaii can be compared to Sri Lanka. The US Pivot to Asia partnered with US allies is nothing Sri Lanka can ignore altogether. Sri Lanka is America’s ‘real estate’ says US official Alice Wells. MCC is a US corporate arm proposing to give $480m over a 5 year period. Is it really a big deal? Sri Lankans working overseas sends remittances annually exceeding what MCC is giving over 5 years! In July 2019 Sri Lankan worker remittances was $702 million – MCC is giving $480m across 5 years! And some say we should be indebted to US for this gift J

MCC is not only the corporate arm of the US Govt, the money it is presumably ‘granting’ is given through a private bank and handled by a private company but the GoSL has to agree to take all responsibility of what this private company does. MCC agreement says US procurement procedures have to apply, Sri Lanka has to waive all taxes and duties for anything going out or coming in. MCC staff and contractors have to be given immunity, we have to change our constitution, land laws & land policies and international law will apply. So what is the sovereign and independent status Sri Lanka can boast about after signing MCC?

In Benin West Africa where MCC has an agreement it was not the Benin Government awarding a contract for a national high voltage substation but the MCC giving to a US company – General Electric.

MCC awards GE $47mn substation project

This is what politicians should feel cautious of.

Soon transnational companies will descend and take away all contracts leaving local companies and citizens with tuppence. Soon international personalities will be swooping all the jobs and Sri Lankans will have no choice but to work under them. Sri Lanka’s Politicians should be alert to how Queen of Hawaii was deposed by a group of businessmen & sugar planters and this was how Hawaii became part of US territory in 1898 and the 50^thstate of US in 1959.

Hawaii native language was banned in 1896. Majority of Hawaiians know to speak only English. MCC Sri Lanka is to also conduct affairs only in English. Hawaiian lands and waters have been taken for military bases, resorts, urbanization and plantation agriculture. Take a good look at the MCC Sri Lanka map — all of the areas it highlights will fall under their domain. Hordes of Tourists & Corporate Tourism has only resulted in cultural prostitution. The hula, which is an ancient form of dance with deep spiritual meaning, is today made into a form of exotica for the gaping tourist. Hawaii’s culture has been commodified – Sri Lanka’s culture will see same results.

There are similarities in Hawaiians & Sri Lankans

• Land-rich but capital poor landowners soon had lands converted to large resorts, golf courses and fancy restaurants sprang up near beaches & on conservation lands.
• Most beautiful land areas were grabbed by multinationals & became no-go areas for natives.
• 2million acres of land was taken over from Native Hawaiians.
• The natives had to make do with poorest agricultural lands situated in inaccessible areas and with no monies given to improve the lands.
• The US military controls over 30% of O’ahu island (most populated island in Hawaii)
• US military (100,000) make up 11% of Hawaii’s population 1.1million (that is almost the Muslim population in Sri Lanka) https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/nation-under-gun-militarism-and-resistance-hawaii
• Hawaii is the headquarters for the command in chief, U.S. Pacific Command.
• Hawai’i is the linchpin” of U.S. military strategy in the Asia-Pacific region
• The US military owns or controls more than 205,925 acres, or roughly 5% of the land.
• Hawai’i served to launch US wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

MCC Sri Lanka – Hawaii Torrens (Bim Saviya)

The Australian land title certificate introduced in 1858 known as Torrens Certificate of Title is applied in Hawaii (only 10 states in US follow Torrens system) The Torrens certificate replaces the deed and is the ultimate legal authority over title to a property. It erases the prescription details and history in a deed and has the details of only the owner possessing the title certificate. Torrens certificate comes with an Insurance policy sponsored & funded by the government to resolve title disputes. Land forged & registered unfortunately leaves the original owner to be satisfied with only compensation. He cannot obtain his land back.

Land grab – https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-faces-backlash-from-hawaiians-over-land-grabbing-lawsuits-2017-1

Zuri Aki: They Who Control the Land, Control Hawaii, Part 1

Zuri Aki: They Who Control the Land, Control Hawaii, Part 2

Zuri Aki: They Who Control The Land, Control Hawaii, Part 3

He who controls the land controls the sovereignty of the land.

He who vests that control in foreign hands is ceding the sovereignty of the land.

Let us learn from mistakes and not repeat those mistakes

පාලිත ආරියරත්න

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම වියවස්තාවේ 10 සහ 14(1)e වගන්තිවලින් සියළුම ආගම් වලට සිය අයිතිය ලඛා දිය යුත්තේ නමවැනි ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන් බැදී ඇති බුද්ධ ශාසනය ආරක්ෂාව සහ පෝෂණය සැලසෙන අයුරින්ය.

යම්කිසි තැනක කවර අන්දම හෝ ආගම් ප්‍රචාරයත් හෝ බෞද්ධයාට හිරිහැර වන අන්දමේ ආගම් ඇදහීමක් හෝ බුද්ධ ශාසනයට හානියක් වන ආගමික ක්‍රියාවක් හෝ ආගමට හරවා ගැනීමත් හෝ අනවසර පල්ලි ඉදිකිරීමක් හෝ සිදු වන්නේ නම් එය ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවට පටහැනි නීති විරෝධී ක්‍රියාවක්.

පාලිත ආරියරත්න