An Australian Federal Court judge has slammed the Home Affairs Department for failing to properly scrutinise a Sri Lankan diplomat who confiscated a staffer’s passport and gave her just two days leave in three years, Australian media reported today.
Sri Lanka’s former deputy high commissioner to Australia has been ordered to pay $543,000 in unpaid wages and interest to a domestic worker and now faces a large fine for breaches of employment laws.
Himalee Arunatilaka, who served in Canberra from 2015 to 2018, denied her employee, Priyanka Danaratna, minimum pay and conditions during time in Australia, the court found.
Justice Elizabeth Raper found Ms Danaratna worked from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week and was only allowed two days off in that time after she burnt her hand with cooking oil.
Over the period, she was paid just $11,200 – around 75¢ an hour – which was sent to Sri Lanka. Ms Danaratna also was denied permission to leave the Canberra residence alone, and had her passport confiscated.
In addition to handing down a damning judgment for Ms Arunatilaka, Justice Raper suggested that if the Home Affairs Department had taken a closer look, Ms Danaratna’s employment may have been very different”.
It is not without concern that it would have been clear to [Home Affairs], by reason of the materials provided … that Ms Danaratna was not going to [be] paid nor enjoy the protections under the Award or the FW Act,” she wrote.
There was no apparent attempt to conceal the arrangement by Ms Arunatilaka. It is perplexing that the department, in the circumstances, did nothing and granted the visa in the circumstances.”
Himalee Arunatilaka currently serves as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva.
The case is one of several recent examples where diplomats from countries with poor employment practices have been caught failing to comply with employment laws and have been hit with big penalties in Australia.
The Australian Federal Court last year ordered India’s high commissioner between 2015 and 2016 Navdeep Suri Singh to pay $189,000 in unpaid wages and interest to Seema Shergill, who was found to be working in slave-like” conditions in the chief diplomat’s residence.
Justice Raper also ordered Mr Suri to pay a $97,200 fine for wage theft, the maximum amount allowed.
Mr Suri brought Seema Shergill to Australia when he started in 2015. When they arrived in Australia, he confiscated Ms Shergill’s passport and confined her to the family’s Canberra residence.
Neither Ms Arunatilaka nor Mr Suri defended the legal actions against them, and it is not clear whether the claimants in either case will ever see a cent of the amounts awarded.
The cases were only possible because the Federal Court recognised that the residual immunity granted former diplomats does not extend to employees in their direct employment, who are covered by Australian fair work laws.
Clayton Utz pro bono Partner David Hillard, who led both matters along with Canberra barrister Prue Bindon, said these were not isolated cases.
It is the second Federal Court matter in less than a year involving domestic workers at diplomatic residences in Canberra,” Mr Hillard said. Domestic workers in foreign diplomatic residences are among the most vulnerable and isolated workers in Australia.
It is hard to conceive of someone in 21st century Australia literally being trapped in a job for three years and earning 75 cents an hour.
This decision … confirms clearly that these workers have rights in Australia, and that senior diplomats cannot hide behind diplomatic immunity when it comes to keeping their servants under slave-like arrangements.”
Ms Arunatilaka was in 2023 appointed Sri Lanka’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva.
The Election Commission of Sri Lanka says it has accepted the nominations of all 39 presidential candidates who submitted their nominations today (15) for the 2024 Presidential Election.
The Election Commission Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake announced that the three objections presented following the nomination submission, were rejected.
Addressing the candidates, signatories and others present at the Election Secretariat, he said that 39 candidates had submitted nominations during the allocated period from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. today. This includes 22 candidates from recognized political parties, 1 from other parties and 16 independent candidates.
He added that three objections had been submitted during the period allocated for the presenting of objections which ended at 11.30 a.m.
He stated that the members of the Election Commission decided to reject all three objections which had been submitted concerning the candidates Janaka Priyantha Kumara Ratnayake, Ven. Battaramulle Seelarathana Thero and Oshala Lakmal Anil Herath.
Accordingly, the nominations of all 39 presidential candidates who submitted nominations have been accepted, the Election Commission Chairman declared.
The allocation of symbols to independent candidates is expected to follow shortly.
Following is the full list of the nominations accepted;
Colombo, August (Daily Mirror) – The new Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, has sought Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremeisnghe’s assistance to stabilise his country, sources close to President Wickremesinghe said today.
Prime Minister Yunus had informed that he needed Wickremesinghe’s assistance to stabilise Bangladesh when the latter telephoned him to congratulate him.
President Wickremeisnghe has told Premier Yunus that Sri Lanka will do its best to support Bangladesh.
He has also told Prime Minister Yunus that he had informed the Sri Lankan businessmen who had invested in Bangladesh to remain there and continue their businesses.
Violent student-led, Islamist-backed protests in Bangladesh have toppled Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, and mob attacks targeting those viewed as supporters of her secular Awami League party — in particular, the country’s dwindling Hindu minority — are proliferating. At a time when neighboring Myanmar is engulfed in violence and the Pakistan-Afghanistan belt remains fertile ground for cross-border terrorism, political upheaval in Bangladesh, two years after the overthrow of Sri Lanka’s government, is the last thing India, the regional power, needs.
Achieving lasting political stability in South Asia would require entrenching democracy. However, this is no easy feat. India notwithstanding, the region remains in thrall to longstanding autocratic traditions and centralization of power. For example, Hasina had become autocratic during her more than 15 years in office. In this context, popular demands for democracy are far more likely to lead to violence and political chaos than to smooth political transitions.
As Hasina has shown, autocratic leaders do not necessarily survive popular challenges to their rule. Consider the chaos that engulfed Sri Lanka in 2022, when a severe economic crisis triggered mass protests against the Rajapaksa brothers’ dynastic, undemocratic regime. Though former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, like Hasina, initially unleashed a violent crackdown, his opponents proved too powerful. Like Hasina, he gave up and fled the country, without even formally resigning. Sri Lankan protesters then occupied the presidential palace, much as Bangladeshi mobs have ransacked Hasina’s sprawling official residence.
However, when an autocrat is toppled, it is often the military — not a democratic government — that takes over, even if behind a civilian facade. Bangladesh is no exception. The military has attempted at least two dozen coups since the country’s violent birth in 1971, and ruled for a number of extended periods since its 1975 assassination of Bangladesh founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Hasina, Rahman’s daughter, stood out for her success at keeping the military (and Islamists) in check, at least until last week, when the Bangladeshi army chief refused to continue supporting her crackdown on rampaging protesters. The military then facilitated her escape to India and established an interim government of civilian advisers” who have little experience with national issues.
To be sure, some South Asian countries have made some progress toward democracy. In particular, Bhutan’s democratic transition is proceeding apace, thanks to a benevolent king who has supported the transition from a traditional monarchy to a parliamentary system. Earlier this year, the country’s fourth national election brought an opposition party to power.
However, elections alone — even if competitive — do not guarantee popular empowerment or adherence to constitutional rules, especially when the military holds decisive power. Consider Pakistan, which held elections earlier this year. The military’s preferred candidate, Shehbaz Sharif, returned as prime minister, but his government would survive only at the pleasure of the country’s effective ruler, the army chief. Until the rule of law is firmly entrenched and those wielding extra-constitutional power are unequivocally reined in, democratic progress would remain limited and reversible.
Myanmar learned this the hard way. Though the military had called the shots in the country since independence in 1948, it began ceding power to a nascent civilian government in 2015, filling the country with hope for a democratic future. However, in February 2021 — barely six years later — it staged a coup. However, this time resistance has proved intense, and heavily armed insurgent groups — some receiving non-lethal aid” from the US — are managing to expand their territorial control. In response, the military junta has stepped up punitive air strikes and artillery barrages.
The violence and deepening humanitarian crisis are fueling instability beyond Myanmar’s borders. Already, more than 32,000 ethnic Chin have sought refuge in India’s Mizoram State, and thousands more have fled to Manipur, where their arrival has stoked violent ethnic conflict. It is not just the Chin: India is also home to millions of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, whose ranks are set to grow as desperate Hindus flee Islamist attacks against them.
When it comes to security risks, immigration is just the beginning. Political turbulence in the Maldives — which began in 2012, when Islamist radicals forced the country’s democratically elected president to resign at gunpoint — has enabled China to gain a foothold in India’s maritime backyard. This year, China signed a military pact with the Maldives and docked a giant marine research ship in a Maldivian port. Meanwhile, Muslim radicals are expanding their grassroots base, establishing Islamic State and al-Qaeda cells on the archipelago.
Mounting economic pressures compound the security risks. Pakistan has repeatedly sought IMF bailouts in recent years. Hasina’s overthrow could usher in hard times for the once-booming Bangladeshi economy, as the country’s foreign reserves dwindle rapidly. None of this is conducive to regional prosperity. As long as South Asian countries remain plagued by political instability, strong and sustainable economic growth would remain elusive.
The difficulty of maintaining political stability and advancing democratization can also be seen in Nepal — a country with which India has close cultural and historical ties. Last month, the country swore in its 14th government in just 16 years, led by four-time Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist). Oli, who spent years in jail in the 1970s and 1980s for waging war against the state, is Nepal’s fifth head of government in five years, having replaced another former communist guerrilla, Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
All of this puts India, the world’s largest democracy and South Asia’s geographical hub, in a difficult situation. It must minimize the spillover effects of political and economic instability in its neighborhood, even as it continues to seek economic and strategic partnerships far beyond its troubled region.
Brahma Chellaney, professor emeritus of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Center for Policy Research and fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, is the author of Water, Peace, and War: Confronting the Global Water Crisis.
The Adani Group is hit with fresh corruption allegations as newly revealed documents link India’s market regulator chairperson to Adani offshore companies.
India’s second-richest man Gautam Adani is at the center of a new corruption scandal, with the accusations coming from a familiar source.
On Monday, investment firm Hindenburg Research released excerpts of what it described as whistleblower documents proving that the head of India’s market regulator had undisclosed investments in offshore funds used by Adani Group associates for fraudulent purposes.
The deadline for the placing of deposits for the candidates contesting the 2024 Presidential Election has concluded at 12 noon today (14).
Four candidates have placed deposits within today, the final day for the placing of bonds, including MP Namal Rajapaksa from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Janaka Ratnayake from the ‘United Lanka Podujana Party’, Lalith De Silva of the ‘United National Freedom Party’ and independent candidate Sarath Kumara Gunarathne.
The Election Commission has stated that in total 40 individuals have placed deposits to contest the upcoming presidential election.
This includes 22 candidates from recognized political parties, 01 from other political parties and 17 independent candidates nominated by a voter.
The placing of deposits related to the presidential election commenced on July 26 and concluded at 12 noon today.
The acceptance of nominations for the upcoming presidential election is scheduled to begin tomorrow (15) from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Sri Lanka says that a total of 42 complaints have been received within the last 24 hours, pertaining to the 2024 Presidential Election.
Accordingly, 37 complaints related to election law violations and 03 other complaints were reported.
Among them, 20 complaints were filed with the National Election Complaint Management Centre, and 22 were reported to the District Election Complaint Management Centre.
In a telephone conversation, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has offered his warm congratulations to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who was recently sworn in as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government.
The President has also reportedly stated that he is confident that Dr. Yunus will be able to maintain law and order in Bangladesh.
President Wickremesinghe has informed the new Chief Adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh that he will request the Sri Lankan investors in Bangladesh to continue to stay there and carry on with investment activities.
The President has also pledged that Sri Lanka will provide assistance in every possible way for Bangladesh to develop economically.
Chief Adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, who has expressed his gratitude for the Sri Lankan President’s greetings, has requested President Wickremesinghe to visit Bangladesh at the earliest opportunity and to provide the necessary guidance for the recovery of the country.
Muhammad Yunus, 84, is heading an interim government following the ousting of Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who resigned earlier this month and fled the country, and the dissolution of parliament.
Yunus is a social entrepreneur and banker who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering microfinance work that helped alleviate poverty in Bangladesh and was widely adopted around the world.
Wrapped in history and legend, on the northern end of the village called Meemure in , in Sri Lanka, rising adobe the surroundings like a colossal giant rock is the world famous Lakegala perhaps the highest bare rock outcrop in the world. NAmed by different names in history Lanka pabbata, Lankagiri, Lakgala, (meaning resplendent rock), Thrikuta pabbata,Samudra Malaya, is also known as the legendary abode of Ravaana the Great’
At first sight, no one will believe that this is a natural phenomenon. It is so breathtaking and so unbelievable that it portrays more a painting by a maestro artist than a mere creation of nature,-an epic poem Mother nature has created for men ,all over he world to adore, as long as the sun and the moon shall last. It’s mesmerizing that beauty is unmatched anywhere in the world.It towers majestically over the secluded ancient village of meemure situated in the eastern border of the Kandy district. It is also the only rock in the whole world which has been named after the country. It is also the most elegant rock one can see anywhere in the world. Where else do you get a country named after a mountain and a mountain named after a country. One has to see it with his own eyes to believe this wonder, for him to believe this miraculous panorama created by mother nature to admire and get imbibed with its beauty for all those who are blessed with eyes.
I recommend for all interested to read Under the Shadow of Lakegala for further details.
The MMBL-Pathfinder Group joint-venture portfolio of investments is expected to yield nearly US$ 425 million in foreign exchange to Sri Lanka in 2024, a significant increase from the US$ 250 million it earned in 2023.
The MMBL-Pathfinder Group’s joint-venture investment portfolio consists of partnerships and strategic alliances with a wide network of globally reputed companies. These operate in niche markets dealing in financial and remittance services, export logistics, petroleum support services, pioneering ventures in tourism and leisure, and technology and innovation-related activities. Sri Lanka will face new and unforeseen challenges as the international economic environment becomes increasingly complicated and global supply chains fall under continuous stress, especially with emerging geopolitical tensions, multiple wars, and social conflicts. Against this backdrop, MMBL-Pathfinder is committed to a proactive investment strategy that will focus on identifying new sectors that will bring in the maximum possible foreign exchange to the country. MMBL-Pathfinder will continue to support the Pathfinder Foundation, which has emerged as a highly regarded regional strategic studies centre
With the blessing of the Maha Sangha, the Satyakriya and Adhistana Pooja, organized annually for the purpose if protecting the unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of the motherland, was held for the thirtieth time on 10.08.2024 at the historic Kataragama Kiri Vehera Temple under the patronage of Mahajana Eksath Peramuna(MEP) leader Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
Ven. Kobawaka Dhamminda Thera, Chief Incumbent of Kiri Vehera Rajamaha Viharaya, Chief Sangha Nayaka of Ruhunu Magampattu, speaking at this event stated that –
“Today, on this evening, a valuable historical religious activity is being performed at the historic Kiri Vehera Temple. During the time of our late Ven. Dr. Aluthwewa Soratha Thera, this noble act with the aim of blessing all the people of the country was started under the patronage of Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena. Our Nayaka Thera provided guidance for conducting this religious activity for two decades. We were also able contribute to it.
We all know that our Prime Minister, who is loved by the people of this country, has done a yeomen service to our Sambuddha Sasana.
This activity that started thirty years ago has become a great religious activity that is being performed at the Kiri Vehera Temple for a long time…”
MEP leader Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena speaking at the event stated that –
“This religious activity has been performed consecutively for 30 years for the protection of the Sambuddha Sasana in our country and unity of the motherland. We remember with respect all those who contributed in giving the blessings of the Maha Sangha to the public and the nation through this event. We remember with great respect the late Ven. Aluthwala Soratha Nayaka Thera.
The Kiri Vehera sacred land has illuminated our nation with the strength of determination for centuries amidst the continuous faith and devotions of all the hundred thousands of people who worship Kataragama.
Therefore, we were able to continue this devotion for thirty years.
To continue this series of devotions through sad and easy moments, the blessings shown by the Maha Sangha, with the various national organizations of the country, is for committing to the intention of achieving victory, creating new confidence, and for building a country.
In spite of all the troubles and obstacles, we performed this great devotion consecutively for thirty years. We will never forget the efforts made by the country’s former leaders to protect the motherland during the difficult times of our country.
The series of devotions held around this sacred land happened in the same way from village to village all over the country.
Even today, we remember the noble war heroes who sacrificed their lives to create unity in the motherland.
Even today, the country is united because of the achievements of great sacrifices.
The public is obliged to protect the situation created by all our Presidents, especially the former Presidents who faced a difficult period.
We resolve to transform the future of farmers, working people, and youths, students and women of our country into a more reliable one as per the pledge given today.
May this great meritorious act give us the strength and courage to succeed in the unity and efforts to transform a collapsed country in such a way…”
Maha Sangha including Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera, Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Chief Sangha Nayaka of Western Province, Ven. Kapugama Saranathissa Thera, Chief Incumbent of Kataragama Abhinavaramaya, Chief Judicial Sanghanayaka of Ruhunu Magampattu, Ven. Aththudave Dhammarama Thera, Chief Incumbent of Sankhapala Rajamaha Viharaya, Ven. Elkaduwe Nagitha Thera, Chief Incumbent of Kirulapana Pushparamaya, Ven. Kotahene Narada Thera, Viharadhikari of Kotte Naga Vihara, and former Speaker, Member of Parliament, Chamal Rajapaksa who every year participated in this event, General Secretary of the MEP Tissa Yapa Jayawardena, State Ministers Sisira Jayakodi, Jagath Pushpa Kumara, Ashoka Priyantha, Deputy Secretary of MEP, Member of Parliament, Yadamini Gunawardena, Basnayaka Nilame of Ruhunu Kataragama Maha Devalaya Dishan Gunasekara, trade union representatives, national organizations, intellectual organizations, who participate annually in this meritorious act, and many devotees participated in this event.
The SLPP is hoping its strategy of fielding Namal will save the party from decimation in the parliamentary election that is due to follow.
Namal Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka Podujana Party greets his supporters while campaigning in the upcoming presidential election at Rathgama, Sri Lanka, Aug. 4, 2024.Credit: X/Namal Rajapaksa
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the party of the Rajapaksas, has nominated Namal Rajapaksa as its candidate for the September 21 presidential election. Namal is the son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The SLPP nominated Namal on August 7 after businessman Dhammika Perera, who was expected to be the party’s presidential candidate, informed the SLPP General Secretary that he didn’t want to run due to personal reasons.
Few in Sri Lanka believe that Perera withdrew entirely of his own accord.
It is unlikely that Perera would have expressed his desire to contest in the first place had he not received a green light from the Rajapaksas, who control the SLPP with an iron fist. The SLPP is a political party by the Rajapaksas for the Rajapaksas.
There are four main candidates in the fray for the upcoming presidential election. They are Anura Kumara Dissanayake representing the National People’s Power (NPP), President Ranil Wickremesinghe contesting as an independent candidate, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Sandanaya (SJS), and Namal of the SLPP. Opinion polls indicate that Dissanayake and Premadasa are the frontrunners, followed by Wickremesinghe and then Rajapaksa as a distant fourth.
Most Sri Lankans believe that the Rajapaksas are the cause of their current economic ills, and hence Namal’s electoral prospects are weak. He has taken a substantial gamble with his political future by throwing his hat in the ring.
Namal, who is 38, probably has a long career ahead of him as a politician. Being the face of a disastrous presidential election would deal a severe blow to his credentials.
Consequently, many Sri Lankans believed the SLPP would field Perera for the presidential election, let him be the fall guy, and slowly rebuild under the leadership of Namal.
So, why did the Rajapaksas change their mind at the eleventh hour? Why are they risking the political career of Namal Rajapaksa?
Probably the decision to field Namal was taken after over 90 SLPP parliamentarians abandoned ship and joined Wickremesinghe. These MPs were SLPP district leaders, and they took along with them most of the remaining grassroots-level activists. At best, the party now has a few MPs and grassroots organizers, and these numbers will further dwindle as more people cross over to Wickremesinghe or Premadasa.
The NPP has insisted it will not entertain horse-trading. Thus, the SLPP no longer has an established network on the ground to carry out an effective political campaign. There are only five weeks before the presidential election.
Perera has little political experience. He is not a charismatic leader. He doesn’t have name recognition and he has plenty of skeletons in his closet. The remaining Rajapaksa voters, having no loyalty or bond to him, might explore other possibilities. Without an established political network on the ground to do the heavy lifting, Perera would have been decimated at the September presidential election.
Although 38, Namal Rajapaksa has been a parliamentarian since 2010, making this his third stint in Parliament. This makes him one of the most experienced politicians left in the SLPP. A third-generation politician, he knows the intricacies of Sri Lankan politics. He has name recognition and is probably the only man, apart from his ailing father, who can gather the votes of Rajapaksa loyalists.
Whoever wins the presidential election would dissolve Parliament immediately and, to capitalize on the political momentum, will call a snap parliamentary election. Therefore, the parties also need to think about securing as many seats as possible in the coming parliamentary election, which in turn depends on their performance in the presidential election.
In the 2020 general election, the SLPP secured 145 seats in the 225-member Parliament. However, within four years, it faces the threat of a whitewash akin to the disastrous showing by its parent party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in 1977. A young Mahinda Rajapaksa witnessed the decimation of the party and a subsequent 17-year stint in the opposition.
As SLPP leader, he would want to avoid the fate that befell the SLFP and ensure his party maintains a foothold in Parliament. In a highly competitive, fragmented Parliament, 10-12 seats can give the SLPP significant power as a tiebreaker.
After considering everything at stake and all the options available, the Rajapaksa family has decided to stake Namal’s reputation for a final throw of political dice.
We will know in the next few weeks whether this gambit works, or whether Namal along with the SLPP will be relegated to the political wilderness for the foreseeable future.
MP Wimal Weerawansa has filed a case against two officers of the Immigration and Emigration Department before the Colombo District Court seeking Rs. 1,000 million as compensation for alleged defamation.
The former minister says he was arrested under the Immigration and Emigration Act for no reason during the previous ‘Yahapalana’ (good governance) government and a case was filed before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court, and that this had harmed his reputation.
In this case which was filed today (12), the authorized officer of the Immigration and Emigration Department Eranga Rambukwella, senior authorized officer Sujeewa Rathnayake and the Attorney General have been named as respondents.
In 2015, Weerawansa was accused of using an expired passport to fly abroad while the MP was preparing to travel to Europe for a series of lectures, following an invitation from Sri Lankan expatriates in Dubai and Italy.
However, the MP had claimed that upon arriving at the airport he realized that the passport in his possession was one that he had lost and later found after obtaining a new passport.
Weerawansa claims he was arrested by the officers of the Criminal Investigation Department without any reasonable cause and was released on bail after being produced before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court.
In relation to that, the MP pointed out that the court acquitted him of all charges after nearly 09 years of hearing the case filed against him under the Immigration and Emigration Act.
Accordingly, he has filed this case demanding a compensation of Rs. 1, 000 million from the respondents for the defamation caused by maliciously arresting him and prosecuting him without conducting a fair investigation.
Gilbert Doctorow is a professional Russia watcher and actor in Russian affairs going back to 1965. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College (1967), a past Fulbright scholar, and holder of a Ph.D. with honors in history from Columbia University (1975). After completing his studies, Mr. Doctorow pursued a business career focused on the USSR and Eastern Europe. For twenty-five years he worked for US and European multinationals in marketing and general management with regional responsibility. From 1998-2002, Doctorow served as the Chairman of the Russian Booker Literary Prize in Moscow. During the 2010-2011 academic year, he was a Visiting scholar of the Harriman Institute, Columbia University. Since 2008, Mr. Doctorow has been regularly publishing analytical articles about international affairs on the portal of the Belgian daily La Libre Belgique. From this material he produced four collections of essays, the most recent of which appeared in October 2017: “Does the United States Have a Future?” Mr. Doctorow’s next project will be a memoir of his corporate service in Moscow in the wild 1990s. Mr. Doctorow is an American citizen and a long-time resident of Brussels, Belgium.
‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’
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e-Con e-News 04-10 August 2024
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‘5 Ways to Make a Billionaire: 1) Exploit a monopoly.
2) Exploit inside information. 3) Buy off politicians.
4) Defraud investors. 5) Get money from rich relatives.
– Robert Reich, former US Labor Secretary (see ee Economists)
Reich has forgotten his name (Reich is German for empire!), and his old portfolio! – Labor. Billionaires have to in utero ensure the exploitation of workers. He also forgets workers are truly indispensable to robbing the world. He would also like us to forget that it’s workers who ultimately can wield the tools to ‘make’ a truly better world!
Anyway, aren’t billionaires a dime-a-dozen these days? Aren’t trillionaires & zillionaires where it’s at? Or are they mere celebrity-fied mirages of the real powers that be, the actual anonymous, who rarely appear on TV?
‘What do the Rich Think Rich Means?’ – was one of SBD de Silva’s pithiest aphorisms. ‘How long can this go on?’, he’d add, grimly laughing at the raucous reveling of Colombo’s wannabe classes in hotels & casinos & clubs, malls & luxury cars (the German envoy in Colombo is a used-Mercedes salesman! The Japanese envoy a used-Toyota shill!) with an ostentatious yen for bodacious bling. Indeed, some people consider an impoverished beggar carrying constantly devalued money, as rich. Some even measure the wealth of nations too, by money. Au contraire, Sri Lanka with its fertile soil (including the ocean floor!) & latent talents, has been declared ‘bankrupt’, even as the government admits it has not taken an inventory of the country’s ‘assets’ (see ee Random Notes).
Our economists blame our mentality, ‘race’ (‘The Sinhala are a lazy people’), climate, religion, culture, society, geography, and politics. They cite polls, surveys & indices (GDP, Rule of Law, Happiness) that confirm our pathology as if these measures fall from the skies, and not off a desk in Washington or London.
This ee looks at how truly advanced countries measure the wealth of nations: modern industry.
And the most important modern industry is the machine-making industry, ie, the machine tool industry. Economists published in the media in Sri Lanka never mention such mundane words: machine tools. They can’t afford to. Then again, they have absolutely no idea what ‘machine tools’ even are, and their indispensable role in a modern economy. They also refuse to admit that the imperialist countries have no interest in our such advance, and that only socialist solidarity can rebuild our world that keeps being shattered to prolong capitalism (see ee Quotes, Industry & Socialism).
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• The USA is escalating war in Myanmar & Bangladesh to further fracture Asia and thwart links between India & China & Africa, even as they escalate genocide in West Asia & East Africa. Meanwhile like heroin addicts demanding their fix, the merchants, their media & their economists in Sri Lanka keep demanding ‘exports’ even as they lament, ‘Exports under threat as tensions mount in West Asia.’
And look how all the virtuous democratsof yesteryear (lavishly funded by cutting-edge genocidaires) warn that elections (if held, & the ‘wrong’ parties & leaders win) must not change the IMF’s 17th panacea (see ee Economy, IMF benchmarks cannot be changed – President). Or else? The IMF seeks to reinforce imperialism’s usual strategy: to prevent modern industrialization. Hobbling any attempt at modern industrialization is the true history of non-settler colonialism.
Meanwhile, we have to appear dazzled by the various ‘visions’ – short-sighted economic policy documents (like Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Regaining Sri Lanka in 2004 & Vision 2020in 2017, and the Chamber of Commerce’s Vision 2030), that have been drafted and handed down by the US Treasury’s Sri Lanka Division: their gunpowder gospel, which has no use for so-called Sri Lankan experts, economists and thinktanks, who are only supposed to twitter and parrot their talking points.
Last ee examined the USA’s ‘Tonya Harding’ (cripple your competitor) school of sabotage to block the emergence of any such industrialization in our countries. This ee Focus looks at the success of China’s industrialization and the disastrous (some may say crippling) record of industrialization in Africa. eealso looks at the emergence of this stage of capitalism – Imperialism, 1899-1900. ee does not subscribe to ‘neoliberalism’ – a confusing trope, which bribed scholars promote, which wishes us to say goodbye to overthrowing imperialism by strengthening the historic role of the working class, while offering Keynesian fixes (which, in truth, means war!) to prolong capitalism
ee’s muse SBD de Silva noted how our University Economics Departments and the Ministry of Education studiously ignore the examples of industrialization from Japan to China. They have to, or they will lose funding and scholarships to white havens. In this ee Focus, Zambia’s Grieve Chelwa duly notes therefore, ‘the paucity of comparative scholarly work that seeks to draw out China’s lessons for Africa’s industrialization.’ He notes, ‘rather than place the blame at the feet of Africans, as many, especially Western scholars, are wont to do, [China] sees this history of lacklustre industrial performance as largely the result of the ‘failure of Western development prescriptions’. He also notes the ‘total dominance of Western intellectuals & experts in the policy process in Africa.’ Chelwa looks at China’s ‘alternative, state-led development model as opposed to the private sector-led, market-centric approach that is the staple of the World Bank & International Monetary Fund.’ He stresses the failure (again, thwarting?) of ‘integrating various [production] elements into a system’.
Indeed, ee constantly points to the media’s incessant faking in Sri Lanka about what true industrialization means. Industrialized countries hide their true nature. Many of our ‘educated’ do not even know that colonized Singapore is far more industrialized than most Asian countries. The colonial media therefore loves to romanticize handicraft and the fake ‘apparel industry’, confuse assembly & manufacture, and claim tourism & plantations as industries.This ee therefore pinpoints very specifically at the ‘machine tool industry’, which we are denied. These ‘mother machines’ enable ‘the production of other machines & equipment’ and ‘are at the very core of the manufacturing engine’. Countries’ ‘manufacturing development trajectories’ have been ‘driven mainly by their machine tools industry, which have ‘introduced and spread technical change’!
ee profoundly disagrees however with Chelwa’s analysis of China’s modern industrialization. Capitalist media & their economists love to (have to!) whiteout the real basis of China’s rise. Not only do they ignore what happened right after 1949, they totally malign what actually happened 1964-76, during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR). The current leader of China, Xi Jinping, during the GPCR was a student sent to the countryside, and his account of his experiences there have become a bestseller in China[ (& recently translated into English). Here is what China had to do to survive the second and third decade of its independence:
‘…the high cost of fighting the ‘paper tigers’ of imperialism. During those years when both superpowers were China’s enemies, China gave the Vietnamese US$20billion to fight the US invasion and they supported liberation movements elsewhere, especially in Africa (Tanzam railway, etc) to the tune of several billion. In addition, the relocation of industry to the interior of China for defence purposes took up half the national capital construction funds for the decade after 1964…
‘No estimates or published statistics exist for the billions of labor days invested in basic farmland capital construction from one end of the country to the other during the Cultural Revolution. If such calculations are ever made, it is safe to say they will dwarf the Pyramids, the Great Wall or any other previous human construction in scale and social purpose many times over. The policy decision of Mao and his Central Committee put a heavy burden on the peasants, did not raise their immediate disposable income, but did create the debt-free infrastructure (irrigation works, roads, railways, mines, oil wells, hydropower etc) that have become the basis for China’s later advances and her ability to turn to consumer production. In addition it must not be forgotten that the People’s Communes supported social income policies that provided healthcare, educational & other services at a level never before reached in the countryside.’ (Stephen Endicott, Socialist Development in Rural China, Reflections on the Experience of the People’s Commune, 1989)
*
• Indeed, another world war (did the last one ever end?), despite its attendant horrors, will only force the birth of new socialist countries:
Industry & Socialism – ‘The imperialist framework & the capitalist form of appropriationstrangle the productive forces, prevent them from developing. The only way out is to organize world economy on the basis of economic co-operation between the advanced (industrial) and backward (fuel & raw material supplying) countries (and not on the basis of the plunder of the latter by the former). It is precisely for this purpose that the international proletarian revolution is needed. Without this revolution it is useless thinking of the organization and normal development of world economy…
But in order to be able to start (at least to start) organizing world economy on proper lines, the proletariat must triumph at least in several advanced countries. So long as that is not the case, our Party must seek roundabout ways of co-operation with capitalist groups in the economic field…
That is why the Party, which has overthrown the bourgeoisie in our country and has raised the banner of the proletarian revolution, nevertheless considers it expedient to ‘untie’ small production and small industry in our country, to permit the partial revival of capitalism, although making it dependent upon the state authority, to attract leaseholders and shareholders, etc, etc, until the Party’s policy of doing the utmost possible in one country for the development, support and awakening of the revolution in all countries” produces real results.’ – JV Stalin, The Party Before & After Taking Power (see ee Economists)
Since he entered active politics almost 50 years ago, Ranil only had very short-term plans targeting elections. These plans subsequently turned sour and caused long term destruction. He simply bolted when their disastrous long-term consequences emerged. Catastrophic austerity measures have been agreed to with the IMF that will decimate the economies of the poor, middle class and even sections of the investing upper class people if Ranil wins the election. These have been cunningly delayed until 2025 March to be implemented knowing very well there are important elections before that. If Ranil becomes president, it will be too late for the people of Sri Lanka and for the nation itself.
Ranil’s Short-Term Plans – An Early Sign of Disaster
The UN declared 1985 as the year of the youth and JR used it to promote his nephew Ranil; appointed him as the youth services minister and generously dished out money for his short-term popularity gimmicks. These gimmicks were popular in the short term during the year 1985 and propelled Ranil to stardom at the same level of Premadasa, Lalith and Gamini, however, these short-term measures did not target youth unemployment, unrest and other real problems which boiled over just 2 years later by 1987! Other countries used the international year of the youth in 1985 to invest in their youth, diffuse youth unrest and empowerment. Not in Sri Lanka. That’s why the youth of Sri Lanka turned against the regime just two years later. This rebellion lasted until 1989 where violence was used against unarmed civilians to quell it. Ranil who promoted the youth in 1985 was supervising their killing in 1987, 1988 and 1989 just two years later in Biyagama, Batalanda and Sapugaskanda. This is a case in point for anyone to understand Ranil’s plans – they are based on short-term fun, disastrous in the long term.
Other Plans are Just as Bad
Ranil’s other plans are as bad. In 1993 he became Prime Minister and had a number of short-term programs to appease voters with the intention of winning the 1994 election. His money-wasting programs fizzled out and his UNP crashed to massive election defeats.
In 2002 he signed a sham ceasefire agreement (CFA) with the LTTE when the whole world declared war against terrorism! A totally unwise decision targeting upcoming elections. That too caused immense destruction to the nation, killed scores of top intelligence offices and the iconic foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar. It made subsequent national security measures very difficult as terrorists had infiltrated into every nook and corner during the sham ceasefire agreement.
His other short-term popular programs including Regain Sri Lanka, 100-day program and other hilarious initiatives were just as bad that left the nation in ruin without any long-term benefit.
His most disastrous economic plan led to borrowing $12.5 billion from expensive International Sovereign Bonds markets from 2015 to 2019. But the nation didn’t benefit at all. Most of it went into loan repayment, appeasement of various political groups (a very large number of political groups helped him win the election in 2015) and recover astronomical loss of the 2015 Bond Scams (2 of them). Nothing was invested. This foolish move landed Sri Lanka in economic bankruptcy in 2022 and negative GDP growth from 2020 when those bonds started maturing. They were 5-year bonds.
His other short-term plans include leasing out the Hambantota Port for 99 years to China instead of investing in it to turn it to the next Colombo port which has reached full capacity. By the time he sold off the Hambantota port, it was making a modest profit. After he sold it to China, mainly Chinese vessels patronize it and Sri Lanka lost its potential and even bunkering profits. The Treasury is yet to receive the full amount of funds of its sale!
What Sri Lanka is going through currently is a period of clam before the storm. The IMF program is set to destroy Sri Lanka’s local industries by opening up local labor, professional and manufacturing markets to global competition. It also exposes Sri Lanka’s resources, profitable corporations and the finance sector to international auctions. Their assets will be stripped and sold by their buyers as they have no plans to run them. Part of the proceeds will go to repay loans including the $3 billion new IMF loan. But Sri Lanka’s economy will crash due to lack of local industries that employ locals, pay taxes to the government and contribute to the GDP.
Those who followed Ranil in his short-term fun projects also suffered. In 2010 Ranil used Fonseka to do his bidding and Fonseka essentially ended his political career as a result. In 2015 Ranil used Sirisena who also ended his and his clan’s political future as a result. The JVP also joined these Ranil tricks and paid a very heavy price crashing from 39 seats in Parliament in 2010 to just a handful by today. Ranil’s closest politicians including Range Bandana, Ravi K, Dianna, Harin and Manusha crashed out of parliament. The fate of Ranil’s former elections organizers is nothing short of tragic. His appointees to the Central Bank and state institutions including the Bribery and Corruption Commission also proved poor choices to say the very least. They too crashed out, untimely.
For these reasons, Ranil must be defeated at the election. However, the next leader will have to be smart enough to untangle and fix the mess created by Ranil for short-term election-oriented fun and diffuse multiple economic time-bombs Ranil has already left behind.
The above news based on a letter written by Paffarel to the EC published and circulated in the media on or around 09.08.2024 is completely false.
This year, the 30th annual Maha Satyaya Kriya and Adhisthana Pooja was held at the Kataragama Kirivehera to protect the country and the people. It is always performed at this time of the year.
During those three decades, respected Mahasangha , national organizations, academics, national movements, and religious organizations participate in this event either invited or uninvited as this is open to public.
It is neither to bless the Prime Minister or any political authority or any person, but for the blessing of the entire country, this Adhisthana Pooja and satyakriya was not and will not be used for any narrow purpose, and many people participate in it voluntarily.
This religious event continued not only until the separatist terrorism was defeated and won, but also to bless the war heroes of the country as well as for the wellbeing of the countrymen.
Referring to the misleading letter sent to the Election Commissioner by the Paffarel Organization, we wish to categorically state neither the , the Prime Minister’s Office nor the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government, issued any instruction for any official to participate in this and wish to affirm that no official has participated.
Appreciate if you correct the false news you have published.
Image courtesy of Central Bangla Desk of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat
Bangladesh is currently engulfed in widespread political turmoil, with Ahmadi Muslims also finding themselves in an increasingly precarious situation. Disturbing images and horrifying reports from the general public are circulating on social media platforms revealing a grim picture of the crisis.
One Ahmadi witness writes on social media: They are inside Jamia with 40 other students. Rioters attempted to break down the Jamia gate using a gas cylinder and set the gate on fire.” The account continues, The army eventually arrived, causing the rioters to leave the area.”
Background
For those unfamiliar with the current crisis, the question may arise: How did the situation deteriorate to this point, and what exactly is transpiring?
The current crisis has its roots in a June 2024 decision by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to reinstate a controversial quota system. This system reserved 30% of government jobs for descendants of those who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence. The decision was met with widespread dissatisfaction among students, who viewed it as unjust. Their discontent with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Bangladesh Awami League government quickly escalated into a nationwide anti-government reform movement, spearheaded primarily by university students.
As the protests intensified, violent clashes erupted between demonstrators and the student wing of the ruling party. The situation further escalated when police attempted to quell the unrest, ultimately spiralling beyond the government’s control. The scale of the violence and its impact on the country became increasingly apparent, as evidenced by recent media reports.
Just two days ago, Al Jazeera reported:
At least 91 people have been killed, including 13 police officers, and dozens more injured in a new round of violence in Bangladesh as police fired tear gas and lobbed stun grenades to disperse tens of thousands of protesters who returned to the streets to ask Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign.” (At least 90 killed as Bangladesh protesters renew call for Hasina to quit”,www.aljazeera.com)
The crisis reached a critical point on 5 August 2024, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had founded in 1971. The rapid escalation of events was further illustrated by another Al Jazeera report:
Hasina resigned after weeks of protests against quotas for government jobs flared into nationwide unrest. At least 280 people were killed and thousands injured as the government cracked down on the demonstrations.” (Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina forced to resign: What happened and what’s next?”, www.aljazeera.com)
With the death toll nearly tripling and a sudden leadership vacuum, Bangladesh found itself plunged into anarchy, leaving communities, including Ahmadi Muslims, particularly vulnerable.
Image courtesy of Central Bangla Desk of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat
Impact on Ahmadi Muslims of Bangladesh
In the ensuing chaos, individuals and groups perceived to have any connection to or sympathy for the former government became targets of violence. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, an already persecuted minority community in Bangladesh, found itself particularly vulnerable in this volatile environment.
To gain insight into the current situation facing Ahmadi Muslims, Al Hakam spoke with Feroz Alam Sahib, In-charge Central Bangla Desk of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. He provided a sobering account of recent events:
In the last 24 hours alone, over 80 Ahmadi homes in Ahmednagar have been burned and demolished,” Feroz Alam Sahib reports. Our local mosque, including its prayer hall, guesthouse, and entire ground floor was also razed to the ground.”
He continues, The jalsa gah of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Bangladesh has been severely damaged. Its perimeter and stores were set ablaze, destroying numerous valuable items. Jamia Ahmadiyya, our educational institution, came under attack, resulting in injuries to many students. Fortunately, the attackers were unable to breach the building before the army intervened.”
Further detailing the extent of the damage, he said: Thus far, 22 khuddam have been injured, with two in critical condition. Additionally, five mosques and several mu‘allim quarters have been burned and demolished.”
Highlighting the gravity of the situation he adds: It is rather unfortunate to note that there is no functional government; no one is at the helm to control the situation in our beloved homeland.”
Image courtesy of Central Bangla Desk of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat
Hope for the future
When asked about the future prospects for Ahmadis in Bangladesh, Feroz Alam Sahib said
The situation remains extremely tense. Our Community is small, and we remain vulnerable against potential attacks; there’s no law and order. Our members are watching their homes burn and are understandably very anxious. However, our spiritual leader, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa, has provided guidance and encouraged us to seek solace in prayer.”
Despite the immediate challenges, Feroz Alam Sahib maintains a sense of long-term optimism, stating:
The Promised Messiahas has prophesied that our Jamaats’s future is divinely secured, even in the face of hostility and adversity. While we may face temporary setbacks, as all divinely guided communities do, we believe we will ultimately progress. Our Community in Bangladesh accepts that we may have to make sacrifices. However, we maintain faith that, by Allah’s grace, something positive will emerge from this crisis.”
Image courtesy of Central Bangla Desk of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat
The plight of the Ahmadi Muslims in Bangladesh highlights the broader challenges facing various groups amidst political upheaval. As the country grapples with a leadership vacuum and widespread unrest, it serves as yet another example of the global leadership crisis. Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih Vaa has consistently warned about the spread of such unrest worldwide. We hope and pray that the situation calms down for not only Ahmadis but all citizens of Bangladesh.
Colombo, August 11: Reproduced below is the speech of Adm. Prof. Jayanath Colombage, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Indonesia, former Navy Chief and Foreign Secretary at the round table on Indian Ocean Security organized by the Pathfinder Foundation at Colombo on July 31, 2024:
The topic given to me was ‘Regional Architecture with Maritime Security Remit’. In preparation for this talk I checked through some of the presentations that I have done on a similar topic over the years: I found that I have to repeat most of the areas that I have spoken earlier. Then the question came to my mind as to why so and what does it mean? To me it means despite many discussions we have not achieved expected results.
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The Indian Ocean is not rich only in shipping and marine resources as a warm water, somewhat closed ocean. It is very rich in maritime strategies with practically every major maritime user having a strategy for this region. These strategies show how important this ocean region not only for Indian Ocean littorals but for the global maritime commerce is.
However, it is necessary to examine what these maritime strategies have done to the Indian Ocean. The question is: As having these strategies really improved maritime security in the Indian Ocean?
Usually, when we discuss this topic, we start with the maritime security threats and come up with suggestions. We have many regional security organizations. We conduct many summits, forums, seminars, conferences and discussions. It is necessary to study what has happened to the outcome documents and policy recommendations of a number of initiatives such as IORA, Colombo Security Conclave, Galle Dialogue, Indian Ocean Conference, Indo Pacific Regional Dialogue, and Goa Maritime Conclave, to name a few and a plethora of think tank and research centre work.
Has these really contributed to enhancing maritime security in the IOR? Without answering these questions, I feel this conference will also be just another discussion forum.
The major immediate threat is the unpredictability of mainly the response of non-state actors. Then there are unintended consequences. Of course, major and emerging power competition is a grave concern to ocean governance and the freedom of global maritime commerce.
A few years ago, I used to describe the emerging situation in the IOR in six words: Strategic Competition, Strategic Convergence, and Strategic Dilemma. But now I need six more words to describe and those six are: Strategic Ambiguity, Strategic Chaos and Strategic confusion.
Securitization and militarization of every issue is another problem for the IOR. We also have witnessed that insecurity of one country gives rise to insecurity of other countries and results in an arms race, and this goes to prove that ‘Indivisible security’ -security of any state is inseparable from others in the region
How can we measure the increase in militarization in the IOR? We can find out the increased defence expenditure of the Indian Ocean littorals and other major maritime users. Definitely we can see a substantial increase in this area.
I have one set of figures: visits by warships and research vessels to Sri Lankan ports from 2008 to date: 662 from 29 different navies. Some years more than one ship per week had visited ports in Sri Lanka. We do not know how many submarines carrying nuclear weapons are in this region. I only hope, wish and pray that no country will initiate a war in this ocean. Smaller economies and developing countries cannot withstand another conflict in the IO
We are all aware of the threat posed by the Houthi rebels in the Horn of Africa, Gulf of Eden and Red Sea. In 2009 and following years, Somali pirates took the world merchant shipping for ransom. But this time it is much grave. These events have resulted in destruction of ships, loss of lives, increased shipping cost and congestion in many major ports. Have we been able to counter this threat?
The answer is no, we have not. The Houthis have used suicide boats which is a human guided, sea skimming, low silhouette, anti-ship missile, which is very difficult to detect. Preventing their launching is the best response. The Sri Lanka Navy and shipping around the country suffered many attacks by suicide boats, unmanned suicide boats and underwater saboteurs and submersibles during the conflict.
Did the world lean anything from these asymmetric tactics by a non-state actor used in the conflict in Sri Lanka? Not much, I guess, because it happened in Sri Lanka. But now that the entire world shipping is threatened and we are trying to respond.
Some analysts call this the 5th Generation warfare. This can contribute to the strategic competition-influencing the thinking of states. Some of the threats in the IO are perception or interpolated threats and not necessarily real threats.
If the opponents’ intentions are read incorrectly military actions taken can take a wrong turn. AI generated deep fakes could be a real threat to safety on maritime navigation, and can create havoc
In 2004, the IMO came up with ISPS Code to enhance maritime security. Security in the ports have improved drastically but not in territorial waters. Unstable or failed states provide a breeding ground for violent non-state actors
We need to look at reasons why we are not succeeding in our efforts. The threat is common and the best way is to act collaboratively. But our hidden agendas are preventing us from working together.
International or even regional mechanisms have not worked so well in the IOR. Bi-laterals or mini-laterals are working better. The best example is the Joint Working Group between Australia and Sri Lanka on countering irregular migration by sea. Working together with a joint spirit and collaboration we brought the number of boats leaving Sri Lanka to Australia to a near zero. The Colombo Security Conclave is working well sharing information on white shipping through MDA and focusing on regional security.
We have a fragile freedom of ocean trade across the IOR. Some security event can trigger a collapse very easily. We should not always look at the issues through the political and military lens. We need to look at economic, development needs and impact of marine environment very seriously. We need to evaluate the progress made by each regional architecture.
The IORA is now 27 years old and has 23 members and number of dialogue partners. However, one major flaw is that Pakistan is not a member and Pakistan occupies a major strategic location in the Arabian Sea. So is Myanmar not included.
We need to evaluate the implementation of recommendations of policies and projects made by the working groups, forums of officials, businesses and academics. We should not only focus on holding summits every year and meetings. We need to act and act fact together.
The IO is the third largest Ocean in the world. But I feel it is still too big to handle as one entity. The Western Indian Ocean is having many flash points”. The Bay of Bengal is relatively peaceful. Only Myanmar is the flash point.
BIMSTEC is of late focusing on maritime security. We need to develop consensus, we need collaboration, we need to act fast
I recall that the Centre for the Law of the Sea at the Pathfinder Foundation put forward a Code of Conduct for enhancing maritime security in the Indian Ocean on 2nd January 2018. However, this was not taken seriously. There were arguments against the COC and it was shot down.
Conclusion
The world is facing a new era of crisis, the greatest since the end of World War II. We need peace, stability and international rules based maritime order. We don’t need a single hegemonic power. In any case we have heard that no single country can be a net-security provider in the IO.
The need of the hour is a strong political leadership which can look beyond its own territory. Unfortunately, most of our leaders are compelled to focus their energy on domestic situations. We need balanced neutral foreign policies- balanced engagement with all major powers even as the pressure to choose continues to mount.
We need leaders to have a long-term vision and work together for common maritime security and prosperity for the region. We need results oriented focused leadership and not mere ceremonials. We need to take ownership and responsibility for our region. We need collaborative efforts to maintain the sanctity of the Indian Ocean and to keep it free for maritime commerce and other maritime use.
A key suspect in a Sri Lankan human trafficking case that came to light in 2021 was arrested in Tamil Nadu on Saturday. He has been on the run for the past three years.
The investigation revealed that Aabulkhan, along with his associates, was involved in confining trafficked victims on a boat before sending them to Mangaluru for further confinement. (Photo: India Today)
In Short
NIA arrested key suspect Seeni Aabulkhan in Sri Lankan trafficking case
Aabulkhan was absconding for the last three years
Traffickers confined victims on a boat before sending them to Mangaluru
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday arrested a key suspect in the Sri Lankan human trafficking case from Tamil Nadu. The accused, Seeni Aabulkhan, had been on the run for the past three years.
The investigation revealed that Aabulkhan, along with his associates, was involved in confining trafficked victims on a boat before sending them to Mangaluru for further confinement. The case began in June 2021 when the Mangaluru Police rescued 13 Sri Lankan nationals from traffickers. The NIA took over the investigation and re-registered the case.
The probe uncovered that a Sri Lankan national named Eesan, believed to be the kingpin of the racket with links to the terror outfit LTTE, collaborated with Aabulkhan to illegally transport 38 Sri Lankan nationals to various parts of Tamil Nadu. The victims were falsely promised employment opportunities in Canada besides assurances to obtain legitimate documents for migration to the country.
The NIA has filed chargesheets against 10 accused between October 2021 and January 2024. The investigation is ongoing as the agency continues its efforts to apprehend the remaining three suspects, who are still at large.
A similar incident occurred in July as the NIA arrested four key accused in Delhi suspected of being involved in luring and trafficking young Indians to foreign countries on the pretext of offering them lucrative jobs.
In an open letter released on Friday, the five signatories — two each from Bangladesh and Nepal and one from Sri Lanka — said: ‘Over the decades, intervention by New Delhi’s political, bureaucratic and intelligence operatives in Colombo, Dhaka and Kathmandu, has contributed to the unending political instability in our countries and has empowered autocratic regimes’
Five prominent citizens of Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka have urged India to refrain from interfering in the domestic politics of their countries, averring that “New Delhi can contribute to stable polities and long-lasting peace in South Asia by abandoning its overt and covert interference in the internal affairs of its neighbours”.
In an open letter released on Friday, the five signatories — two each from Bangladesh and Nepal and one from Sri Lanka — said: “Over the decades, intervention by New Delhi’s political, bureaucratic and intelligence operatives in Colombo, Dhaka and Kathmandu, has contributed to the unending political instability in our countries and has empowered autocratic regimes.”
The immediate trigger for this letter is the situation in Bangladesh. The five signatories to the letter are Firdous Azim, English professor and member of Naripokkho (a feminist organisation), and Manzoor Hasan of the Centre for Peace and Justice at BRAC University in Bangladesh; Kanak Mani Dixit, founding editor of Himal Southasian, andSushil Pyakurel, former commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal; and Sri Lankan journalist Lakshman Gunasekara.
While acknowledging India’s role in the liberation, the instances of interference in Bangladesh flagged in the letter include the diversion of river waters as the upper riparian state, access to the Indian Northeast through Bangladeshi territory, and the use of Bangladesh as a sizeable market for Indian goods. “New Delhi actively worked to prop up the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina over the last decade and received political and economic concessions in return,” the letter noted.
As for Sri Lanka, “New Delhi’s interventionism peaked with the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in the late 1980s, meant first and foremost to protect India’s ‘national interest’ amidst the Tamil insurgency”.
Stating that Colombo has had to wrestle “with New Delhi’s encroachment in its politics” before and since then, the letter underscores that “lately New Delhi authorities have been actively pushing Indian business conglomerates onto the island”.
And, in the case of Nepal, it was pointed out that now the Indian intervention is not only through politicians and diplomats but also intelligence agencies and “Hindutva activists of the RSS”.
New Delhi, according to the letter, has been “engaged in manufacturing consent within Nepal’s polity to maintain control over Nepal’s water resources”. There is also a mention of the blockade imposed on Nepal in 2015 soon after the earthquake “following the promulgation of the Constitution that was not to New Delhi’s liking”.
About India’s apprehension of China’s growing influence in the region, they argue that “New Delhi must accept the sovereign right of each neighbour to deal with Beijing on its own accord, much as New Delhi does. We find it incongruous that China has become India’s largest trading partner even as New Delhi seeks to prevent the neighbours’ links with Beijing. We insist that Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are not and should not be in the sphere of influence of China, India or any other power, and that the alarm in New Delhi is misplaced. We recognise that the Maldives and Bhutan too suffer from New Delhi’s efforts to be the decisive player in their internal and external affairs’’.
The Commonwealth Journalists Association has written to Bangladesh’s interim leader Mohammad Yunus urging him to ensure the physical safety of journalists in the country and provide them a secure working environment. This comes in the wake of several media outlets coming under attack over the past week.
The association’s vice-president and general secretary of the Bangladesh National Press Club, Shyamal Dutta, has been targeted in these attacks on the media, it was pointed out, adding that he and his family have also been barred from leaving the country.
Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam discussed in a meeting with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry ways of fostering cooperation between Dar al Iftaa and Sri Lanka in training Muftis and countering extremism.
In a statement released on Friday 9/8/2024, the Mufti said that Dar al Iftaa established in 2014 the Observatory of Takfiri Fatwas and Extremist Views that has been developed into Salam Center for Extremism Studies, with a view to combating the extremist thought through a disciplined scientific methodology.
The Mufti briefed Sabry on a reference guide to confronting and combating extremism, which was prepared by Dar al Iftaa. The guide offers a comprehensive vision of the concept of extremism and includes effective strategies to confront it on the intellectual, social and cultural levels.
Allam indicated that Dar al Iftaa launched a multi-language app FatwaPro”, which provides correct and moderate religious fatwas to Muslims around the world, with a special focus on Muslim communities in Western countries.
The Mufti expressed Dar al Iftaa’s readiness to train Sri Lankan scholars and Muftis on issuing Fatwas and fighting against the extremism thought.
On his part, the Sri Lankan foreign minister hailed Dar al-Iftaa as being an importance reference source for Muslims around the world, thanks to its experience and its moderate approach.
Sabry said Sri Lanka looks forward to benefiting from Dar al Iftaa’s pioneering expertise in countering extremism, through dispatching a number of Sri Lankan scholars to receive training at the Egyptian Islamic advisory body.
Colombo, August 11 (Daily Mirror) – United Republican Front (URF) leader MP Patali Champika Ranawaka said that no room should be left for the fate that befell Bangladesh to befall Sri Lanka, no matter what.
Making his remarks at a public meeting, he said Bangladesh is heading towards destabilization, further reversing its economic momentum.
He said Sri Lanka would have ended up as a country like Bangladesh today had the Aragalaya activists laid siege to Parliament and ransacked the building.
Before she resigned as Bangladesh Prime Minister and fled her Dhaka residence, Sheikh Hasina wanted to address the nation, especially the protesters whose agitation forced her to quit the top job. That speech was never delivered as the protesters reached her doorstep and the country’s top security officers advised to leave at the earliest.
Now in India, the 76-year-old has spoken to her close associates about the undelivered speech, accessed by NDTV. In the letter, Sheikh Hasina has accused the US for plotting a regime change in the country and would have said this in her speech if she got a chance.
“I resigned so that I did not have to see the procession of dead bodies. They wanted to come to power over the dead bodies of students, but I did not allow it. I resigned from premiership. I could have remained in power if I had surrendered the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island and allowed America to hold sway over the Bay of Bengal. I beseech to the people of my land, please do not be manipulated by radicals,” her undelivered speech says.
The Saint Martin island has an area of just 3 square kilometres and is located in the northeastern part of Bay of Bengal. It is the southernmost part of Bangladesh.
“Maybe, if I had stayed in the country, more lives would have been lost. I have removed myself. You were my strength, you did not want me, so I have left,” it adds.
In her message to her party members, she has said Awami League has always bounced back. “Don’t lose hope. I will return soon. I have lost but the people of Bangladesh have won, the people for whom my father, my family died,” the speech adds.
The Awami League leader had to resign and flee the country amid violent protests by students that started as an agitation against reservation and snowballed into a stand-off with the Sheikh Hasina government. Over 400 protesters were killed as the veteran leader tried to crush the protests.
“If I had remained in the country, more lives would have been lost more resources would have been destroyed. I made the extremely difficult decision to exit. I became your leader because you chose me, you were my strength,” the undelivered speech says.
It adds that she is pained by the targeting of Awami League leaders and that she “will return soon”. “Awami League has stood up again and again. I shall forever pray for the future of Bangladesh.”
She also clarified that she never called the protesting students Razakars.
In one of the statements during the protests, Sheikh Hasina had said, “If not the grandchildren of the freedom fighters, then who will get quota benefits? The grandchildren of the ‘Razakars’?” The word, used to refer to a paramilitary force recruited by the Pakistani army during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, sparked a massive backlash and the protests intensified. In her undelivered address to the nation, the Awami League leader has said, “I have never called you Razakars. Rather my words were distorted to incite you. I request you to watch the full video.”
Relations between the US and Bangladesh had nosedived during Sheikh Hasina’s term so much so that Washington DC had said the January elections in which Awami League returned to power were not free or fair.
Months before her exit, Sheikh Hasina had claimed that “conspiracies” were being hatched to topple her government and alleged a “white man’s” plot to carve a new “Christian country” out of Bangladesh and Myanmar. “If I allowed a certain country to build an airbase in Bangladesh, then I would have had no problem,” she had said in May.
Following her resignation and escape, the US said, “The United States has long called for respecting democratic rights in Bangladesh, and we urge that the interim government formation be democratic and inclusive.” Washington DC also said that the US greatly values its relationship with the people of Bangladesh.
Earlier, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller had condemned the violence against protesters. “We condemn any violence against peaceful protesters. We’ve been watching this matter very closely, both from our embassy and officials here in Washington. (We) have been monitoring the protests, have seen the reports of people dying, being killed in the protests. And we again, call on the government to uphold individual’s rights to protest peacefully,” he had said.
With Sheikh Hasina gone, an interim government under Nobel peace prize winner and Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. Amid reports of attacks on minorities, he has asked students leading the protests to ensure that they their efforts are sabotaged.
“There are many standing by to make your efforts futile. Don’t fail this time,” he said, urging them to protect Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist families from harm. “Are they not the people of this country? You have been able to save the country; can’t you save some families?…You must say – no one can harm them. They are my brothers; we fought together, and we will stay together,” he has said.
In a major development, Bangladesh’s Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and five other top judges on Saturday were forced to resign amid massive student protests demanding a revamp of the judiciary.
Several other top officials, including Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Maksud Kamal, have also quit after protests.
Bangladesh’s proximity towards China and deepening bilateral military cooperation had raised red flags in New Delhi and Washington.
New Delhi: While Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Khaleda Zia has justified Islamist murderous fury against minority Hindus and Indian establishments as anger against India for giving refuge to Sheikh Hasina, fact is that it was ousted PM’s leanings towards China and antipathy towards the west that caused her political downfall.
Ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Even though west has been able to install Muhammad Yunus as chief advisor of Bangladesh interim government, the country is facing economic crisis and a challenge from rabid Islamist forces of Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam. With Bangladesh police on a strike, Army Chief General Waker-us-Zaman will have to take on the extremist forces who have already radicalised the youth and are using political Islam to gain power.
While the Narendra Modi government tried its best to reconcile Sheikh Hasina with US and UK, its proxy in Indian sub-continent, the Indian national security establishment knew that Sheikh Hasina and US had mutual dislike for each other. The American adverse reaction to Sheikh Hasina was more because of her allowing China to build a submarine base in Pekua, Cox’s Bazaar and buying two Ming class submarines from Beijing rather than her adherence to multi-party democracy. Built by Chinese company, the naval base is aptly called BNS Sheikh Hasina.
Given that Bangladesh juts into the sensitive Siliguri corridor, New Delhi was also not happy with its credit line being used by Dhaka for buying military equipment for countries like China and Turkey and nothing from India. Before she was ousted out of power, visiting Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Tripathi offered to build frigates for Bangladesh.
Sheikh Hasina’s ties with China
While Bangladesh, under Sheikh Hasina, was opposed to Pakistan, its proximity towards China and deepening bilateral military cooperation had raised red flags in New Delhi and Washington. Fact is that Bangladesh Army is powered by Chinese military equipment from artillery guns to main battle tanks to missiles to submarines and fighters. The Chinese access to Bangladesh armed forces poses a serious challenge to QUAD’s Indo-Pacific strategy with China already having bases in Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Iran.
To add to this pro-China tilt of Sheikh Hasina was evidence that Bangladesh civilian military bureaucracy had been comprised by Beijing just like in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Myanmar. Fact is that it is only after India informed Sheikh Hasina did Bangladesh refuse permission to Chinese built frigate for Pakistan Navy, PNS Taimur, to dock at Chattogram Port from August 7-10 while on way to Karachi via Colombo. Much to Sheikh Hasina’s surprise, her bureaucracy had already cleared the docking of PNS Taimur without informing her.
Even though adversaries of India are celebrating the exit of Sheikh Hasina and labelling it as a diplomatic defeat of Modi, Dhaka will have to seek Indian support as the country is staring at a loan default and looming economic crisis. Just like Sri Lanka and Pakistan, economic crisis will fuel political unrest and in turn pan-Islamic forces in Bangladesh will gain an upper hand. With Chinese capability limited and transactional, the ball is firmly in Yunus and Waker-us-Zaman court as BNP and Khaleda Zia are no answer to Bangladesh.
