We have creative writers among us who can amaze the world…
• An attractive language is like a continuously flowing river…
• It is a pleasure to see a book launch with maximum participation by readers…
– Prime Minister
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that we have various creative writers among us who can amaze the world and further he stated that an attractive language is like a continuously flowing river. Actually it is a pleasure to see a book launch with the participation of maximum number of book lovers, he said.
He expressed these views at the event held at the Colombo Public Library recently (29.02.2024) on the book launch of “Tharu Yathura” written by the Prime Minister’s Media Secretary Lalith Rohana Liyanage.
Speaking on this occasion the Prime Minister stated;
It is a pleasure to see so much readers’ participation nowadays for a work that enriches poetry. You are together today to represent our heritage, which is full of high human qualities that can revive the nation, that can make the nation live, and ensure our identity. History can be revised again and again through these events. There are many creative people among us who can surprise the world. Our language is an example for that. The natives of the country were able to nurture it as a noble language, make it more interesting and maintain it continuously. The Sinhala language is a fascinating language that never stops and continuously flowing like a river.
Our creators did not have radio and television at that time. After harvesting, the villagers performed all the rituals and went on pilgrimage. On those occasions, they enjoyed work while singing folk songs. This is how the countrymen nurtured our creations for centuries. The marvels about the rich heritages of Kala wewa , Sigiriya, the amazing irrigation works of Yoda Canal, etc., have been bequeathed from generation to generation, which can be recollected with respect and pride even today, and today it has been preserved for the future generations.
I am happy that Rohana’s wealth of knowledge, experience and creativity have been presented to the country in this way. When we think of the “Tharu Yathura” poems, we remember the great freedom struggle that our poets evoked through poetry. The great language battle that awakened by our poets. A language does not exist in statistics. The Sinhala language survived through the continued national responsibilities of our forefathers. Mahasangha gave leadership to that great national responsibility.
A platform was created for scholarly comments on Tharu Yathura” and Ven Prof. Pathegama Gnanissara Thera, Prof. Kamal Waleboda, Prof. Gamini Ranasinghe, Literary veteran Sunil Sarath Perera, Leader of Hela Haula, Srinath Ganewatta, Additional Secretary Anusha Gokula, Amy Young of China Phi nix Media Group, the author K. M. I. Swarnasinghe, Lecturer Manisha Dukgannarala, gave brief comments on selected poems.
The mahasangha including, Chief Incumbent of Aukana Rajamaha Vihara, Member of Parliament Yadamini Gunawardena, Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake, government officials, journalists, artistes and a large number of people participated in this event.
Sarath Weerasekera once angrily invited the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) to visit the North and observe how the Buddhist ruins are destroyed and Chaithyas razed to the ground. The archaeological officers are threatened with death. Court cases are filed, and in the case of Kurundi, they obtained the help of Mullaitivu lawyers to delay renovations and destroy what has been already done, he told the lawyers.
The Buddhist lobby is well aware that Buddhist places of worship have been attacked and vandalized .A Buddhist shrine room erected by the army in its camp at Kanagarayakulam, Mankulam, was vandalized in 2016 and Buddha statue broken into pieces. This was not an isolated incident, the Buddhist lobby said.
The Buddhist lobby also knows that Buddhist ruins in the northeast are in need of protection. Panama pattu forest range is full of archaeological ruins. There is no protectionfor any of it, Ven. Ellawela Medhananda said.
Selected Buddhist ruins in the north and east are protected by the Sri Lanka army. The army is looking after the Buddhist ruins at Kantarodai. Kalladi puda bima, in Batticaloa was discovered and protected by the armed forces during the Eelam war, reported Medhananda. A Buddha statue has come up in Sambaltheevu with police protection, complained the Tamil Separatist Movement. Delft has Buddhist ruins including a chaitya. As long as the navy is in Delft these ruins will be safe, said analysts..
Many Buddhist ruins are not registered in the Department of Archaeology as archaeological monuments. Medhananda said that most of the ruins discovered by him are not registered by the Department. Thottama, Manthottama, Pannala oya and Ambalan oya in Eastern province has archaeological remains which are not registered, he said.
The Buddhist lobby is aware of this. Surveyor General Ariyaratne Dissanayake said in February 2022 that a total of 484 requests have been received for surveying of archeological sites in the Eastern Province. Surveys of 64 sites have been completed and plans are being prepared for 22 sites.
At the Kurundi vihara demonstration, in Colombo in 2023, a member of the public accosted the demonstrators and said that issues like Kurundi would not arise, if Department of Archaeology did its job efficiently and gazetted these ruins. His observation was a valuable one, but he was pushed aside. This was shown on television news.
The Archaeology Department holds records for the many sites it has inspected over the years. Like the ruins, the records are also in danger. They vanish. There were 11 cave inscriptions near Kundikudichchi Aru. The Ampara Kachcheri held the file on this. This file is now missing, said Medhananda. The records held in the Department of Archaeology of Buddhist ruins converted to Kovils went missing.
The Buddhist lobby reacted strongly to the Tamil Separatist attacks on Buddhist ruins in the north and east. A Fundamental Rights application was lodged in 2016 challenging the vandalizing of Buddhist statues in north. The Buddhist archaeological sites in Northern Province are under threat said the petitioner. There was specific reference to the shrine room at Mankulam but the petitioner stated that this was not an isolated instance. Over the past few months there have been constant demands for the removal of Buddhist statues from Northern Province.
In October 2019 Attorney-at-Law Dharshana Weraduwage filed a Fundamental Rights petition, in the Supreme Court, seeking an order directing authorities to investigate the imminent danger to the Buddhist religious sites and several archaeological sites situated in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
The petitioner states that he was shocked and dismayed to hear the news that a certain group had bulldozed an area in Maligai, Omanthai, Vavuniya, which had contained archaeological memorials and ruins that belonged to the Anuradhapura period. The petitioner further sought an order declaring that fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution under Articles 10, 11, 12 (1), 12(2), 14(1) (e) and 14(1) (f) have been violated by the respondents owing to their inaction.
In May2023 The Union of Organizations for the Protection of National Heritage handed over to Prime Minister DineshGunawardena its report on destruction of northern and eastern archaeological sites and interference with conservation activities. Ven. Maduru oye Dhammissara , Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekara, Kalyananda Thiranagama and others participated in this event on behalf of the Union.
In June 2023, four Members of Parliament, Udaya Gammanpila, Channa Jayasumana, Jayantha Samaraweera and Sarath Weerasekera, sent a letter to President asking him to appoint a Presidential committee to study and report on the destroying of Buddhist ruins, now going on in the north and east.
They also handed over a letter to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to investigate and report to Parliament on the destruction of archaeological monuments in the North and East.
Large scale destruction of archaeological monuments is taking place in the North and East, said Samaraweera, speaking to the press. We are requesting the PSC to investigate the matter and submit a report to Parliament within six months of the Committee’s first meeting.
The Buddhists did not tolerate intimidation. Here is one example. In 2018 five Students of the faculty of Business studies of the University of Jaffna, four Sinhalese, one Tamil, made a complaint to Supreme Court. Five Writ applications were filed by them.
The petitioner students said they were prevented from entering the campus premises because they had attempted to install an enclosure to house a Buddha statue in their hostel premises. They had been suspended. The authorities claimed permission had not been obtained.
The petitioners have alleged arbitrary treatment and a denial of their right to abide by the religion of their choice and asserted a violation of Article 12(1), 12(1), and 14(1) (a) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
They have requested the Court to direct the VC to allow them to enter the university premises and to declare that their fundamental rights have been violated. They requested the Court to issue a writ to quash the decision of the university authorities to prevent them from attending lectures.
The Supreme Court in October 2018 issued notice on the Vice Chancellor and several other officials of the Jaffna University. In February 2020, Manohara de Silva, PC, who appeared for the students, told the Court of Appeal, that the students had been prevented from entering the university premises from April 18, 2018. It was without basis and was unlawful. Attorney General then informed the Court that the Jaffna Campus authorities would not hold a disciplinary inquiry against five undergraduates who were involved in the matter.
Tamil Separatist Movement is desperate to stop work on Buddhist remains in the north and east. They use various strategies. Department of Archaeology staff working on Buddhist ruins were harassed and obstructed. Chinthaka Sandaruwan, an official of the Department of Archaeology, said on You Tube We have problems all over the island over ruins. We have these problems all over not only in Kurundi.
When they find that they cannot chase the Department of Archaeology away from a site, the Tamil Separatist Movement then turns to the two law enforcement agencies, the police and the magistrate courts. Kurundi excavation was charged with disturbing the peace.
The Tamil Separatist Movement has the advantage there. The police, the lawyers and the Magistrate are all Tamil. The proceedings in court were exclusively in Tamil with no provision for Sinhala. The court order was also given in Tamil.
This was accepted without protest by Kurundi group. There was no protest about this, when they spoke to television cameras. There was no insistence that the Kurundi matter must be discussed in Sinhala, at Mullaitivu Magistrate court. The Magistrate knew Sinhala. The Buddhist lobby seems to have accepted that the law courts in the north and east are entitled to be Tamil only.
Their solution was to get this subject transferred to Colombo. In July 2020 it was reported that Buddhist clergy has asked that land disputes in the North-East connected to Buddhist matters be transferred to courts in the South.
The Maha Sangha met President Gotabhaya in July 2020 and requested the President to reassign Northern and Eastern matters involving historical sites to the law courts in Colombo. President Gotabhaya decided that the Antiquities Ordinance should be amended, so that land disputes in the North-East connected to Buddhist colonization be transferred to courts in the South, as requested by the Maha Sangha.
President Gotabhaya set up an all-Sinhala committee comprising Maha Sangha and experts in the field to study how the amendments should take place. This amendment, which would seek to strengthen the protection of heritage sites, is seen by the Tamil Separatist Movement as a step towards Sinhalisation, Tamil Guardian said.
At the meeting President gave orders to the Archaeology Department to punctually respond to the Maha Sangha’s wishes to protect historical and archaeology locations.” President also looked at increasing funding to the Department of Archaeology. Also whether to use the Civil Defense Force to help conserve archaeological sites. President said that proposals by the Maha Sangha on antiquities and archeological sites will be forwarded to the Presidential Task Force’.
IN June 2020 President Gotabhaya appointed a Task Force on Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province (PTF) this was a landmark event.
This Task Force was asked to i) Identify sites with archaeological importance in the Eastern province. ii) Identify and implement and appropriate program for the management of archaeological heritage by conserving and restoring such identified sites and antiquities.iii) Identify the extent of the land that should be allocated for such archeological sites and take necessary measures to allocate them properly and legally . iv) Preserve the culture value of sites of archaeological importance and promote the uniqueness of Sri Lanka, both locally and internationally, and make recommendations for the promotion of such heritages.
According to the statement issued by the President’s Office, Ven. Ellawela Medhananda was appointed as the Chairperson of the Task Force. The Chief Prelate for the Northern and Eastern provinces, Chief Sanganayake of Thamankaduwa Direction, and Chief Incumbent of Arisimalai Aranya Ven. Panamure Thilakawansha Thero, Major General (Retired) Kamal Gunaratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Dr. Senarath Bandara Dissanayake, Director-General of Archaeology, Ms. Chandra Herath, Land Commissioner General, Ms. A.L.S.C. Perera, Surveyor General, Prof. Raj Kumar Somadeva, Senior Lecturer, University of Kelaniya, Prof. Kapila Gunawardena, Medical Faculty, University of Peradeniya, Deshabandu Thennakoon, Senior DIG, Western Province, H.E.M.W.G. Dissanayake, Provincial Land Commissioner, Eastern Province, Dilith Jayaweera, Chairman of Derana Media Network have been appointed as other members.
In 2021 two other members were appointed, lecturer Mufhisal Abubakkar and retired Northern Province Chief Secretary A. Pathinathan. Pathinathan said that he had not given his consent and that he would not accept the appointment since he did not know the subject.
There was strong opposition to this Task force form the Tamil Separatist Movement. An all Sinhala Buddhist task force including military personnel has been set up, they complained. The Task Force contains racists, Buddhist monks and alleged war criminals . No members from either the Tamil or Muslim community have been included, even though they collectively make up over 70% of the Eastern Province’s population.
Tamils fear that their land will be appropriated by the Task Force. Tamils have voiced fears about further appropriation of land by the state through the Task Force, as they are empowered to identify the extent of land that should be allocated for archaeological sites and take necessary measures to allocate them properly and legally.
Rajan Philips commented on the Task Force. The appointment of a Presidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province, with its oddly mixed composition, has created political ripples not only in Sri Lanka but also outside the country, he said. The Task Force excludes not only Tamil and Muslim archaeologists but also renowned Sinhalese archaeologists, said Philips.
There is the question of whether a Task Force on archaeology is needed at the moment in the midst of a global pandemic and whether aPresidential Task Force is a suitable cultural mechanism for preserving cultural heritage.
The matter could have been left to the Department of Archaeology, one of the oldest and well-respected government departments. It has a professional reputation that extends beyond Sri Lanka. It has a well-established Exploration and Documentation Division that mandates Archaeological Impact Assessments to be undertaken for any development project on a parcel of land exceeding 0.25 hectares. If the Department is well funded and if there is no interference from politicians there should not be any danger to Sri Lanka’s heritage resources, concluded Philips.
Tamil National Cultural Federation expressed strong opposition and dissatisfaction over this Task Force. Forming a Presidential Task Force led by Military Officials, under the direction of Maha Sangha, by the President, will lead to expelling Tamils from these areas, under the guise of being Buddhist sites, to Buddhistize these areas, and to undertake massive Sinhala colonization, said TNCF. This should be stopped. All Tamil people should express their strong opposition to the President’s statement.
In 2021, the Tamil Separatist Movement wrote to Hindu organizations in UK saying that the appointment of the Archeological Heritage Management Task Force has energized Sinhala nationalists and they are on spree to hurriedly fence archaeological sites . (Continued)
Colombo, March 3: In the aftermath of the five-day Indian visit of Anura Kumara Dissanayake(AKD) of the National Peoples’ Power (NPP) and his comrades, there has been an intense campaign against that party in South Sri Lanka. Politicians of major political parties, political observers and the mainstream media are in the forefront of this campaign.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, who could not stomach the official invitation given by the Indian government to the NPP leader, requested New Delhi to do the same to him also. It is not known whether Indian government has sent any such invitation to him so far.
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It is well known that the Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) (which is the lead group in the NPP) has an anti-Indian political history. Allegations are being made by hard-line Sinhala nationalist politicians like Wimal Weerawansa and Sarath Weerasekara that NPP leaders had been bought over by India.
Central to their criticism is the allegation that AKD’s team has its willingness to support plans to sell national assets to Indian investors. They tell the Sinhalese majority that the NPP has changed its policy towards India to the detriment of Sri Lanka’s national interests.
As for the hard-line Sinhalese nationalist forces, their political existence rests on policies that are anti-India and anti- minority communities. As they never fail to exploit any opportunity to espousing those policies, they are now taking advantage of AKD’s visit to India.
One is at a loss to understand why some politicians and observers in Sri Lanka worried about JVP’s anti-Indian past when Modi government itself is not bothered about it.
Although NPP leaders say that they too have changed like India, they are wary of the campaign intended to insulate them from the Sinhalese nationalist electorate. This is amply reflected in their comments after their visit to India.
When reporters asked about the current position of the JVP regarding Indian investments in Sri Lanka, one of the party’s senior leaders, Vijitha Herath MP, said that they welcome investments from many countries including China and India. Until recently, they had strongly opposed many projects with Indian investment.
Although the leaders of the NPP claim that they are concerned about India’s security interests, they are very much keen not to be seen as a political force that is turning pro -India.
One cannot help but ask the politicians and observers who have repeatedly been reminding the anti -India past of the JVP as to whether they wish the latter not to change its wrong policies.
The leaders of the NPP who claim to have changed their policies and strategies to suit the current international political situation and the needs of the country, have requested the people not to judge them based on their past policies.
It seems that the leaders of the NPP are striving very hard to counter the propaganda of their political opponents who are hell bent on creating panic among the public about NPP’s intentions. AKD has time and again vehemently denied the propaganda that is being carried out that privately – owned properties will be taken over and the private sector throttled, if an NPP government is formed. Even last week, while addressing a group of business leaders in Colombo. AKD took pains to convince them that the JVP has changed.
Meanwhile, JVP’s past violent politics is also being heavily talked about again. Not only politicians but also the media, especially newspapers, are busy in this. In the past few weeks, they have published editorials more than once on the killings by the JVP during the armed insurgency.
The JVP staged two failed armed insurgencies in the latter half of the last century, but later it entered democratic politics and has been contesting elections engaging representative politics for more than three decades.
When a movement which waged an armed struggle for a political cause changes course over time and enters democratic politics and is able to gain the support of the people, campaigns by other political forces with sinister political motives only by recalling its past is akin to ignoring the positive change that has taken place for the good.
If an armed movement takes a democratic path, it should be welcomed and supported. But reminding the past for the sake of electoral political gains will have negative consequences.
At a public meeting two weeks back in Colombo in support of President Ranil Wickramasinghe, some politicians argued that even today JVP politburo comprised of seniors who were responsible for the party’s past crimes.
The current propaganda about the violent politics of the past should be viewed against the backdrop of the increasing support of NPP among the masses. AKD is seen as a frontline candidate in the coming Presidential election due in less than eight months.
Many political observers are of the opinion that if President Wickremesinghe contests the election, the main contest will be between him and AKD.
They also say that the contest between Wickramasinghe and Anura Kumara will be very much different compared to past Presidential elections.
The NPP which had started preparing itself for the next national elections with great enthusiasm several months in advance, is carrying out a campaign among the people in an organized manner. But the mainstream political parties are in deep confusion.
Rajapaksas’ Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has split into several factions. The United National Party (UNP), which suffered a historic defeat in the last parliamentary elections failing to win even a single seat, is particularly weak. It is evident that the party is unable to reorganize itself in an effective way at the grass roots level.
President Wickremesinghe, who has nearly half a century of political experience, is looking to other parties to form a broad coalition to support him in the Presidential election.
Some politicians who broke away from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna are now organizing rallies in support of Wickremesinghe.
Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa’s Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) is also in a quandary where its chairman former army commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka has been openly critical of Premadasa’s way of doing politics. Infuriating Fonseka, Premadasa is inducting ex-service commanders who were at loggerheads in the past with the former party chairman.
Observers say that all these developments are creating a favourable political climate for NPP in the elections.
Be that as it may, the important question is whether Anura Kumara, who got just three percent of the votes in the last Presidential election, will take a massive leap to win the next Presidential election with 50 percent plus votes.
Anyway, it is a fact that the future electoral prospects of the NPP can no longer be judged on the basis of JVP’s electoral record thus far.
Whether other parties like it or not, it is the reality that not only India, but the leading powers of the international community, including the United States and the European Union, see NPP as a political force in Sri Lanka’s future politics.
The views expressed in this column are not intended to endorse all the policies and actions of the NPP. But the intention is to point out that the campaigns being intensified against the NPP after its leader’s visit to India are indicative of the political tactics that other political forces, especially the mainstream political parties, may devise against the NPP in the days to come.
Whether AKD becomes President or not is another matter. But if he can win the presidential election, a very important question is whether the traditional political establishment and the state machinery built to serve it will allow an ‘outsider’ with a revolutionary past to come power.
Colombo, March 3: Bites of venomous snakes cause significant morbidity and mortality in the rural areas of tropical countries. Despite this, until recently, snakebites did not receive the attention they deserved as a public health problem.
The main reason for this was the paucity of robust epidemiological data on the disease burden associated with snakebite.
World-wide, an estimated 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes each year and 1.8 to 2.7 million are envenomed” or poisoned. Around 81,410 to 137, 880 persons die each year because of snake bites. Around three times as many amputations and other permanent disabilities are caused by snakebites annually. The situation is grim indeed.
Snakebites are an enormous problem in India which records one million snakebites and 58,000 deaths due to these annually. This means that half the deaths due to snakebites in the world occur in India. Cases of disabilities created by snakebites in India are said to be four times the number of deaths.
Hospital statistics in the countries of the Global South underestimate the number of snakebites because a significant proportion of victims in these tropical countries seek traditional treatments outside hospitals. Because of this there is a gross under-estimation of deaths because of snakebites also.
Aanya Wipulasena said in her article in Daily Express that in 2019, as per the Sri Lankan Health Ministry, there were 34,239 cases of snakebites reported to State hospitals. But according to a doctor attached to the Expert Committee on Snakebites (ECS) of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, the annual snakebite incidence was as high as 61,000. The two institutions had different statistics on deaths due to snakebite also. According to the Health Ministry, 50 had died of snakebite in 2019, but the doctor from the ECS said it was 200.
Karnataka’s Lead
It is because of the lack of data that the government of the State of Karnataka in South India, made snakebite a notifiable disease”. On February 12, the Karnataka government issued directives to all hospitals and medical colleges in the State to mandatorily record snakebite cases and deaths in the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP), which is a common Central government portal for national disease surveillance. The directive was given under the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases Act, 2020. Snakebite is of epidemic proportion.
This step will help the government not only get the numbers right but also region-wise incidence of snakebites and deaths, to enable an effective response.
Productive Age Group Affected
It’s a big first step,” said cardiologist Dr Jaideep C. Menon, who is currently leading an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study on snakebite incidence and mortality in India. According to Dr. Menon, 70% of snakebite victims are in the productive age group of 20-65 and is therefore a major economic problem too.
The other noteworthy feature is that 80% of the patients still depend on alternate sources of treatment before reaching a modern medical facility. Part of the reason for this scenario is that most snakebite cases occur in rural areas and many primary health centres lack the trained human resources and facilities to admit and treat patients with snakebite in India.
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Sri Lankan researcher Dileepa Senajith Ediriweera and colleagues had mapped the risk of snakebite in Sri Lanka through a national survey with geospatial analysis conducted in all the nine provinces of the country. Data relating to 165,665 individuals (0.8% of the population of Sri Lanka) living in 44,136 households in 1,118 clusters were collected.
695 snakebites, 323 envenomings (poisonings) and 5 deaths (four of them male) were reported in the sample population in the 12 months preceding the survey. The incidence of snakebites, envenoming and deaths in the complete sample population was 398, 151, and 2.3 per 100,000 population respectively.
Extrapolating this to the population of the whole of Sri Lanka, the estimated national numbers of snakebites, envenoming and deaths were 80,514, 30,543 and 464 respectively.
These figures were much more than claimed by official statistics, the researchers point out. There was variation in numbers of bites and envenomings in different parts of the country and, using the data from the survey, the researchers were able to develop snakebite risk maps to identify snakebite hotspots and cold spots in the country.
To encourage others studying the problem, the researchers used free and open source software and replicable methods, which could be adopted to other regions where snakebite is a public health problem.
Seyed Shahmy and his colleagues in their research paper (BMC Medical Education Volume 23, Article number: 390 (2023) say that differences in rainfall have led to much diversity in the flora and fauna, and in land use in Sri Lanka, leading to differences in snakebite patterns.
A country-wide community based cross sectional survey between August 2012 and June 2013 to sample approximately 1% of the population of Sri Lanka. The researchers found that there were over 80,000 bites, 30000 envenomings, and 400 deaths per year in Sri Lanka. Hospital data underestimated deaths due to snakebite by as much as 60%.
Regional Variations
The highest rates of bites and envenoming were seen in the rural and agricultural North Central and North Eastern regions of the country.
In keeping with other parts of the world, the highest disease burden due to venomous snakebite affects areas with the population groups that are most under-served in terms of healthcare and infrastructure. This re-emphasizes the need for an equitable distribution of resources to address the problem of snakebites.
As in India, in Sri Lanka too, rural males of working age were at high risk of snakebites due to high exposure levels associated with their lifestyle and occupation, mainly farming.
The research also showed that the incidence of snakebite and envenoming gradually decreased with increasing population density. This may be due to the more densely populated areas being less suitable as habitats for sakes.
Coastal Areas Safer
Snakebite incidence increased with increasing elevation up to 160 meters and thereafter dropped with increasing elevation, likely reflecting the fact that coastal areas are not generally suitable for snake habitats.
Snakebite incidence is dramatically lower in non-agricultural communities (less than 9% involved in agriculture. The incidence of snakebite is higher in both the intermediate and wet zones than in the dry climatic zone.
However, the overall incidence of envenoming is higher in the dry zone. This is likely to reflect variation in species and again shows the importance of capturing data on the incidence of both snakebite and envenoming.
Russell’s viper is the most widely distributed snake in Sri Lanka, and can be found up to an elevation of 1800 meters. Saw-scaled vipers are largely confined to the arid dry zones of the country including Northern and Eastern Provinces extending up to eastern parts of the Southern Province. Cobras are also widely distributed in the country and are found up to 1500 meters. Common Kraits are mainly found in the dry zone. Hump-nosed vipers are found all over the country, but mostly in the wet and intermediate zones.
Need for Treatment in Primary Hospitals
Researchers have noticed that even in the case of medically minor snakebites, the majority of patients who come to the primary hospitals are subsequently transferred to hospitals at the higher level for further management. Perhaps doctors in primary care hospitals feel that their reputation will be at stake if a death occurred under their care. This adds to the cost of the treatment.
But given the high quality of overall management in the primary hospitals in Sri Lanka, such transfers are unnecessary. As over 80% of snakebites in Sri Lanka are treated in primary hospitals, steps could be taken to discourage transfer of patients to higher hospitals, the researchers say.
Production of Anti-Venom
The urgent necessity of safe and specific anti-venom for Sri Lankan snakes has been recognized by the Ministry of Health. Setting up a production facility in Sri Lanka itself will cost US$ 4 million. Therefore, venom from Sri Lankan snakes are collected and sent abroad for the production of a suitable anti-venom, according to the National Research Council.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa has vowed to convert all schools in the country into smart-schools if he is elected as the President in the upcoming elections.
Speaking at a ceremony held at a school in Tissamaharama, the Samagai Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader stated that if the people of Sri Lanka make the correct decision this year, the SJB will revolutionise the country’s education system.
The Western media showed extreme bias by de-politicizing the fatal protest of US airman Aaron Bushnell, who set himself on fire outside Israel’s embassy in Washington, DC while shouting “Free Palestine!” and “I will no longer be complicit in genocide!”. Ben Norton contrasts the press’ coverage of Russia, illustrating clear double standards.
Ministers from four Asian countries spoke about the necessity of steering the so-called global south away from a bipolar discourse in which the world is perceived solely through the prism of the US or China.
OTHERSFrom the impact of climate crisis to new security challenges and economic opportunities, the ministers underscored the importance of engaging with both China and the United States without becoming pawns of either of the two players. /Photo: AA
As panellists at the distinguished Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2024, top ministers from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Vietnam spoke in favour of a multilateral world order, emphasising the need to find a middle path with the common aim of achieving economic prosperity.
The panel, titled “Building Asia-Pacific Regional Architectures: The Challenges of Unmatching Interests,” comprised Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud, Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang, and Malaysia’s Minister of Higher Education Zambry Abd Kadir.
From the impact of climate crisis to new security challenges and economic opportunities, the ministers underscored the importance of engaging with both China and the United States without becoming pawns of either of the two players.
We should not promote China phobia in Asia. We should not let anyone impose the Cold War mentality on us,” Zambry Abd Kadir said, explaining how China has become a significant trading partner in ASEAN countries.
Sri Lankan foreign minister Balasuriya praised both China and India for their assistance to the island nation in times of crisis.
During Covid we got so many vaccines from China that saved thousands of lives in Sri Lanka. Another example is when we had an economic crisis in Sri Lanka, who helped us? It was India that helped us. Again it was India which helped us secure $2.9 billion at the International Monetary Fund after New Delhi gave financial assurances,” Balasuriya said.
The panellists spoke in line with the long-standing position of Türkiye’s, which has repeatedly argued for UN reforms, with its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stating that “effective multilateralism requires effective multilateral institutions.”
Over the years, several developing countries have invested more time and effort in strengthening alternative forums and institutions such as BRICS, the African Union, ASEAN, and SAARC, constantly seeking platforms to promote cooperation on economic and security fronts.
Balasuriya believes that in the coming years, more regional organisations will emerge to assist South Asian and Southeast Asian countries, specifically in forging alliances in various fields.
Aligning itself with these changing dynamics, Sri Lanka has made some crucial moves to ensure that all its eggs are not in one basket.
Sri Lanka is trying to open up, re-looking at the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Accord and trying to expand it into other areas. We have just concluded signing a Free Trade Agreement with Thailand. We are negotiating with Bangladesh. We are signing a Bilateral Trade Agreement with Indonesia and also we are looking at a Free Trade Agreement with China,” Balasuriya told TRT World on the sidelines of the Forum.
TRT WORLDSri Lanka’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya spoke to TRT World on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Photo/ TRT World
UNSC reform
On the world’s financial architecture and the structural imbalance of the United Nations, Balasuriya said Sri Lanka’s position complements Türkiye’s stance.
Pitching for the UN reforms, he said at the time the organisation was formed in 1945, the United Kingdom had 10 percent of the world’s GDP share, thanks to India.
But now, the United Kingdom doesnt control that much of the GDP and in terms of the population it is not significant. [Yet] the world order at this moment is an all boys club. It’s the victors of the Second World War,” Balasuriya said.
So we certainly believe that a country like India for example, which already has the world’s largest population, doesn’t have a permanent seat in the UNSC – that’s absurd. If you look at the African nations, none of them have a permanent seat. None of the Latin American countries have a permanent seat.”
Balasuriya said that in the absence of such reforms, the regional powers are left with no choice but to find new avenues to work together outside of the traditional international institutions that are skewed in favour of the Big Five – the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia.
Giving the example of the ongoing Israeli violence in Gaza, Balasuriya took a dig at the Rules-Based Order, which is generally perceived as a US-led international order.
Whose rules are we talking about? Are these consensual rules? Or are these rules organised by certain countries and the rest of the countries have to follow?” he said, adding that the stakeholders in the Gaza war should take a cue from the Türkiye-brokered grain deal and try to bring an end to the violence and suffering Palestinians are facing.
SOURCE: TRT WORLD
Mehboob Jeelani
Mehboob Jeelani is a senior producer at TRT World.
COLOMBO (XINHUA) – Sri Lanka recorded its highest monthly income from tourism in four years in January, according to the latest data issued by Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
The central bank’s Economic Research Department said in a report released on Friday that in January, the South Asian country earned USD342 million from tourism, a record in the four years since January 2020 when the South Asian country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The January figure is also compared to the USD154 million in monthly income from tourism a year earlier.
The government’s decision to cancel a free visa facility granted to Russians and Ukrainians who have remained in Sri Lanka since February 2022 has not been reversed, Public Security Minister Tiran Alles confirmed this week.
Either they apply for a visa or they go back,” he told the Sunday Times. They will not receive free visas anymore.”
In March 2022, Sri Lanka’s cabinet approved a proposal by the Tourism Minister to permit free visa extensions to Ukrainian and Russian tourists who were holidaying in the country when the war broke out back home. At the time, there were 11,463 Russians and 3,993 Ukrainians, according to published reports.
In 2023, this facility was extended for another year—till February 22, 2024. As it was about to expire, Sri Lanka’s Department of Immigration and Emigration wrote separately to the Tourism Ministry, the Public Security Ministry, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their opinions on whether the privilege should be further extended. These letters were dated February 1, 2024.
There was no objection from the ministries for the free visas to be discontinued as, although the conflict was continuing, there were flights to and from Russia and Ukraine, with tourists from these countries entering and departing Sri Lanka regularly.
As a result, the Immigration Department wrote to the Tourism Ministry Secretary this week, requesting that he notify the relevant Ukrainian and Russian tourists about the new rule. The letter stated that it was no longer necessary to keep extending their visas without the requisite fees or penalties for overstaying.
Therefore, Russian and Ukrainian tourists belonging to the above categories have been given 14 days from 2024/02/23 to 2024/03/07 to leave this country, and it is kindly notified that this period will no longer be extended,” it said.
However, President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office reacted when the news was published in the Sunday Times by claiming there had been no official decision to cancel this facility and that the President had ordered an investigation into the notification issued to Russian and Ukrainian tourists without prior Cabinet approval, requiring them to leave within 14 days”.
Yesterday, Minister Alles said, The President didn’t say it (the free visa facility) was withdrawn. The President’s Office asked for an inquiry into why they were asked to leave in 14 days. That was wrong. We can’t tell them to leave the country in 14 days. They can either leave or apply for a visa
By Damith Wickremasekara Courtesy The Sunday Times
Justice Minister will present a bill to Parliament, transferring financial powers to the Treasury and Parliament
Financial powers of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including the Central Bank, will be curtailed in terms of a bill the Justice Minister will present to Parliament this month.
The move would remove the power of the Central Bank to determine its staff’s salaries, and that power would be vested with the Finance Ministry and Parliament, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told the Sunday Times.
He said that accordingly, the Central Bank’s recently proposed salary hike for its staff would be revoked, but a reasonable salary increase would be considered in consultation with the Finance Ministry.
Under the proposed bill, the SOEs would be given only administrative powers and financial policy decision-making powers, while the
powers to increase their salaries would not be given to the institutions, the minister said.
He said that in terms of the bill, which is to be presented this month, the SOEs would not be allowed to exceed the parliamentary financial powers.
He said one of the existing issues was that there was no proper interpretation of the financial powers of SOEs, and thereby many of them were trying to bypass parliamentary powers.
The party leaders in Parliament will be briefed about the proposed bill on Tuesday, while other ministers will also be submitting proposals on maintaining parliamentary financial powers.
Minister Rajapakshe said the move to increase the salaries of the Central Bank staff had come while issues of exporters retaining funds overseas, measures to stop illegal micro-finance company businesses, issues over leasing, and pawning centres were pending.
Meanwhile, Opposition Chief Whip Lakshman Kiriella told the Sunday Times that they would extend support for maintaining parliamentary financial powers, as they have been campaigning all along to preserve these financial powers.
He said the timing and proportion of the salary increase by the Central Bank were wrong, and therefore they were opposed to it.
Sri Lanka has told the UN Human Rights Council that double standards, which contribute to the politicisation of human rights, cannot be condoned.
Himalee Arunatilaka, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva, addressing the 55th session of the Human Rights Council on Friday, drawing attention to the plight of the people in Gaza, questioned, Where are the resolutions and where are the accountability projects?” We cannot condone the continuing double standards of some sectors that provide no tangible relief to the grievances of people but only contribute to the politicisation of human rights.”
The Ambassador, during her statement to the Council, also responded to a string of allegations made by UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk earlier during the session.
She explained that during his address, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Ali Sabry, elaborated on the recent engagements with several working methods of the Council.
The government, to overcome the challenges of the recent past, prioritised economic recovery and reconciliation objectives while ensuring that the country’s democratic traditions and institutions remained stable at all times. Being sensitive to the economic hardships faced by the people, social safety nets have been strengthened to help cushion the impact of the challenges on the poor and vulnerable,” she said.
Despite severe constraints, our objectives remain steadfast and unwavering towards expediting the ongoing efforts to strengthen the foundation of national unity, post-conflict reconciliation, and human rights. Sri Lanka is committed to pursuing progress through already established domestic mechanisms,” she said.
She explained that consultations on the draft Truth, Unity and Reconciliation Commission bill were ongoing with the participation of the government, civil society, religious leaders, and legal experts. The draft bill was gazetted on January 1, 2024, and would be tabled in Parliament after providing sufficient time for the people to express their views on the draft. An interim-Secretariat, to lay the foundation for the commission, has already been established since May 2023 and continues its work.
The work of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) is ongoing. Demonstrating significant public trust in the OMP, 5,221 out of 6,025 phase 1 complainants have met with the OMP, and inquiries held. Progress was made in tracing missing persons in 2023 as the OMP’s Tracing Unit found 16 persons alive, and confirmed three deceased. 1,313 families received Certificate of Absence (CoA) and steps have been taken to extend the validity period until 2028, she said.
During the past year, despite the financial situation in the country, the Office for Reparations (OR) had granted Rs. 41.2 million to the families of the missing. With the financial and technical assistance of the IOM, the OR continues to implement several projects to provide psychosocial support for aggrieved communities, she added.
The Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) has been further strengthened by an Act of Parliament, whereby it now functions as an independent institution, like the OMP and OR. The ONUR conducts training programmes to promote religious coexistence and conflict transformation workshops, providing opportunities for interfaith and intercultural dialogue,” she said.
Sri Lanka reiterates its categorical rejection of Resolutions 46/1 and 51/1 and the external evidence-gathering mechanism that stems from these two divisive and intrusive resolutions. Both of these resolutions, that do not have the consent of the country concerned, have wide-ranging legal and political implications for all countries. The establishment of such unhelpful mechanisms, utilising the funds of Member States at a time when the UN is facing a liquidity crisis for dire humanitarian needs, for a purpose and end result that is vague and ambiguous, contravenes the very founding principles of this Council. Its sole purpose seems to cater to the aspirations of a few and does not in any way help the people of Sri Lanka,” she said.
She noted that the Online Safety Bill, a domestic legislation that the Government is now in the process of amending in good faith, taking into consideration the additional proposals presented by civil society and other stakeholders.
After reviewing petitions following the tabling of the revised Anti-Terrorism Bill in Parliament on January 10, 2024, the Supreme Court has provided its determination on the said Bill. The Government has taken cognizance of the Supreme Court determination, and the bill will be appropriately amended prior to being passed into law. Six rounds of consultations with civil society organisations had taken place regarding the draft NGO Act (NGO Registration and Supervision Bill) in Sri Lanka. It is emphasised that there is a necessity of incorporating provisions in the bill to tackle concerns such as terrorism financing and money laundering, while all concerns raised by civil society organisations have been considered and integrated into the draft bill,” she said.
Notwithstanding our position on the HRC Resolutions, as a responsible member of the international community, Sri Lanka will continue to engage constructively with the UN and its agencies, in keeping with domestic priorities and policies as well as the international obligations voluntarily undertaken,” she added.
Earlier, UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk urged the Sri Lankan government to immediately undertake credible accountability measures to investigate and prosecute past and present human rights violations and economic crimes.
Sustainable peace and reconciliation will not be achieved in Sri Lanka with regressive laws and authoritarian approaches, which will only serve to perpetuate the human rights concerns of the past,” the High Commissioner said.
I urge the Government immediately reverse this trend and undertake credible accountability measures to investigate and prosecute past and present human rights violations and economic crimes. I also urge Member States to continue to reinforce these efforts, including through appropriate use of universal and extra-territorial jurisdiction and targeted measures against credibly-alleged perpetrators of serious human rights violations and abuses,” the High Commissioner added.
He said that it was through addressing the root causes of the country’s conflict and economic crisis, and ensuring accountability, that Sri Lanka would be able to enhance its prospects of achieving genuine reconciliation and sustainable peace and development.
He said there was great hope that the country would embark upon a long-overdue transformation that would benefit all its communities.
The High Commissioner expressed concern about new and proposed laws, which he said include the Online Safety Act, the Anti-Terrorism Bill, the Electronic Media Broadcasting Authority Bill, and the NGO Supervision and Registration Bill.
The High Commissioner also referred to the consequences of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, saying it continued to bite deeply, particularly for the most marginalised.
Poverty rose further to an estimated 27.9% last year. Nearly two-thirds of households across the country have seen their monthly incomes decrease since March 2022, while food, transportation, health, and education costs continue to rise. Despite the government’s efforts, social protection remains overstretched, and the government’s largest budget expenditure this year will go towards servicing its debt,” he said.
While the government has introduced a draft legislation for a Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation, the environment for a credible truth-seeking process remains absent. My Office continues to receive allegations of surveillance, harassment, and arrests by security forces of civil society representatives, journalists, and victims, as well as of people who have been involved in organising commemoration events for war victims,” the High Commissioner said.
I remain deeply concerned about recurring, credible accounts received by my Office of abductions, unlawful detention and torture, including sexual violence, by the Sri Lankan police and security forces, some of which allegedly took place in 2023, mainly in the north and east of the country. Last week, the appointment of a new Inspector General of Police was confirmed, despite the Supreme Court’s finding that he was responsible for the torture of an individual in 2010. These cases highlight the need for comprehensive security sector reform,” he said.
He said his office continued to work to advance accountability in Sri Lanka. It is providing support to several jurisdictions undertaking criminal justice investigations, and is deepening its information and evidence based on specific incidents of human rights concern. It has also been carrying out research on enforced disappearance and conducting consultations with victims.
Human rights have a skin colour, and the darker you are, the less human rights you have. These exact words by Swedish MP Abir Al-Sahlani, when speaking at the European Parliament on 27 February, couldn’t have put it any way better. She said this when she stood up for Gaza, expressing that the hypocrisy is obvious and that our collective humane has failed.
Enshrined as the cornerstone of contemporary civilisation, human rights aim to safeguard the inherent equality and dignity of every person. However, underneath the seeming universality is a brutal reality: skin colour clearly shapes how these fundamental rights are accessed and enjoyed. Here, we set out to disentangle the complex web of historical legacies, systematic biases and societal constructions that link skin colour to human rights. We explore the core of this complicated subject, from centuries-old hierarchy to modern prejudice, in an effort to shed light on the ongoing fight for justice and equality.
One must first face the lingering effects of racism and colonialism to comprehend the connection between skin colour and human rights. Global civilisation has been shaped by ideas of racial superiority and inferiority from the time of European conquest to the transatlantic slave trade. Ibram X. Kendi in his book titled, ‘Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America’ shows that by dehumanising indigenous peoples based only on their physical attributes, colonial powers were able to justify their exploitation and subjugation of these groups, establishing the groundwork for long-lasting oppressive institutions. The wounds from this past are still felt today, feeding the vicious cycles of injustice and inequality.
The underlying cause of the problem is structural racism and institutional inequality, which work together to maintain differences in treatment based on skin colour. People with darker skin tones face systemic marginalisation and discrimination in countries all over the world, as well as obstacles to housing, healthcare, work and education. Social and economic institutions have been profoundly impacted by centuries of discrimination, resulting in deeply ingrained systems of privilege and disadvantage that disproportionately impact marginalised populations. The effects of systemic racism are
long-lasting and widespread, affecting everything from the criminal justice system to the healthcare industry.
The issue of colourism, which favours those with lighter complexion over those with darker skin, widens the gap among groups of colour. Colourism fosters ideas of beauty, worth and attractiveness based on skin tone. It has its roots in colonial hierarchies and is supported by media portrayals and societal standards, as described in Toni Morrison’s book, The Bluest Eye. This type of prejudice marginalises people who straddle many identities even more by intersecting with other axes of oppression including gender, class and ethnicity in addition to maintaining intragroup disparities.
Over continents, colonialism’s echoes may be heard, leaving a legacy of oppression, exploitation and dispossession in its wake. This is particularly noticeable in areas where the effects of colonial control are still felt, such as Palestine, Africa, the Congo, Asia and the Middle East. Palestinians are still being oppressed and massacred and displaced from their homes, and now worse, forced starvation and famine in Palestine by the Israeli occupation, and Western nations are complicit in this by continuing to give, and in some cases now actively involved on the grounds, in the apartheid criminal nation unflinching military and diplomatic backing. Comparably, the Continent of Africa struggles with the long-lasting effects of colonial exploitation as Western businesses continue to pillage its abundant resources, causing poverty and instability to persist. Millions of civilians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been left homeless and displaced as a result of resource-driven wars that are supported by Western interests.
Influence of the media
It is impossible to overestimate the influence of the media on stories and attitudes. Sadly, sensationalism, prejudice and misinformation too frequently overshadow the experiences of marginalised populations. Western nations reporting on wars in places like Yemen, Syria and Myanmar, and the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestine, frequently repeat oversimplified narratives that fall short of expressing the complexities of the underlying problems, and moreover, they continue to lie, deceive and change narratives. Rather, by reinforcing preexisting assumptions and misconceptions, these narratives contribute to maintaining a narrative of superiority and further entrench inequality. Further, nations with a history of horrific human rights violations continue to have strategic relationships with Western powers, demonstrating the preference for geopolitical objectives over concerns for human rights.
Human rights certainly have a skin colour. And, sadly those in the West think that the East or the Global South has so much violence and brutalities that they need to come here to teach what human rights is. Rather, it is they who should really learn what those two words are. The universality of human dignity is undermined and inequality is perpetuated by the hypocrisy of human rights, which is highlighted by systematic racism, colonial legacies and media misinformation. It is critical that we address these differences head-on as we negotiate the complexity of a globalised society, working for justice, equality and human rights for everyone, regardless of background or skin colour.
A diversified strategy that both acknowledges historical injustices and aggressively tackles systematic inequality is needed to address the hypocrisy of human rights. Holding governments and companies responsible for their acts, amplifying the voices of the marginalised and increasing awareness are all made possible via advocacy, education and grassroots activity. Additionally, establishing intercultural communication and solidarity is crucial to tearing down long-standing oppressive structures and creating new ones. For this, the Global South or the East should rise, tall and strong. And in time, it will.
A Spanish tourist has suffered a group sexual assault in the Dumka district while traveling around the world with her husband.
Seven men have raped me, recalled the Spanish woman who was gang-raped in Jharkhand’s Dumka, around 300 km from state capital Ranchi, on Friday night. The woman, with bruises all over her face, shared the horror in an Instagram post: “Something has happened to us that we would not wish on anyone. Seven men have raped me.”
“They have beaten us and robbed us although not many things because what they wanted was to rape me,” she said.
The tourist who was travelling on a motor bicycle with her husband was allegedly gang-raped overnight from 1 to 2 March in the Dumka district of India’s Jharkhand state – a well-known tourist destination.<br /><br />The victim was on a motor cycling trip with her husband to Nepal via Bhagalpur, they had stopped at Dumka when the assault took place.
According to her statement, the couple had pitched their tent in a secluded spot near Hansdiha market.
While she was asleep, several youths from the area broke into the tent and took turns to rape her. They also used physical violence, she reportedly said in her complaint to local police.
Officers arrived on the scene in the early hours of the morning and arrested three people.
Another official mentioned the involvement of seven to eight youths.
Following the assault, the woman was admitted to the Saraiyahat Community Health Centre for medical treatment.
The authorities have opened an investigation into the matter.
Officers say she is undergoing medical examinations at the Phulo Jhano Medical College Hospital in Dumka.
The Spanish embassy in India has contacted the authorities and has sent personnel to consult in the region.
As per a PTI report, Dumka Superintendent of Police Pitambar Singh Kherwar said Hansdiha police patrolling team found two people on the side of the road around 11 pm on Friday.
“The patrolling team sensed that something had happened to them. Since they were speaking in Spanish, the police could not understand what they were saying. However, the policemen brought them to a local hospital assuming they needed some treatment,” he said.
The Spanish couple told doctors about the incident of sexual assault, he said.
Despite all the consumer items going up in prices on a daily basis, so are the channeling services in private hospitals. It varies from hospital to hospital! For example , especially in Colombo hospitals, there are rumors floating about that the Nawaloka hospital is facing the brink of bankruptcy, but once one enters the hospital , it could be seen full of patients in every corner all the time!
In Nawaloka there is a particular charge at the rate of Rs.4000.00 ( for a professor of Nephrologist (the one who deals with one’s kidneys) where the Hospitals charges vary from 1300 to for other specialists. This exorbitant amount is known as the ‘Professor’ , a distinguished title which is known for the specialists for this discipline.
This extra charge of Rs.4000, (hospital charge for channelizing extra and a service charge a service booking for the Professor is added to my travelling. What happened to me was that I left home, Thalawathugoda, at 3.00 pm to be at the hospital by 4.30 pm . The receipt mentions that the session commences at ‘estimated’ time of 4.33 pm. I was waiting for nearly two more hours, but the professor did not appear at all! I became furious and changed it to Monday 19-02-2024! I went again on the 19th Monday, and waited for more than one hour but the nurse assigned to the Professor advised me that she could not confirm at what time the professor would come to see the patients.
What doctors should do
Basically, the doctors should be punctual and keep up to the schedule. This is how I feel about it! It will become no sense at all, by keeping the patients until all odd hours for the specialist to arrive!
Patients believe in a specialist, as they are being recommended by someone. The patients have implicit faith in the specialist and by delaying consultation, in the manner displaced above will certainly have a much more effect on the hospital itself . But on the receipt ,the hospitals do state very craftily how to get out with grace!
Also, there is no point in getting ready for the nurse (allocated to the specialist) by taking blood pressure and collecting all records with patients ( in my case various tests were done by a laboratory and was referred to, in readiness with anxiety about my Cardiologist by the Cardiologist. Generally, from my personal experience. Until I retired from the National Health Services in the UK (from the MCA- Medicines Controlled Agency), it depends on Sri Lanka by the specialist to show arrogance by pretending to be the God?
It is also health hazard, for instance those patients who are suffering from Angina or some kind of a heart problem to have to wait continuously until the specialist arrives, because the patient would be stressed to such an extent b and they expect be on time the as the patient has paid what is expected to pay before seeing the specialist! The patient (her stress factor would increase tremendously about the time one has to wait) .It will be a disaster if the specialist does not appear at all, like I have waited for the professor just not to be at the appropriate time!
In Exceptional Circumstances
There are cases where the special the excuse is thrown at every instance. In such cases, it’s the sole responsibility of the specialist to advise the hospital nurses, rather than keeping it to himself. Equally, the Department of Health may be able to put a ‘stop’ to specialists, who want to be ‘money earners’ in order to maintain their day-do-day activities of the so-called doctors extravagantly.
In the UK, all specialists are sincere in their attitude towards their patients and there is the possibility one (patient) could say ‘ it is my body after all, that you are dealing with body because they take an oath (oath of Hippocrates) to serve on all patients in a humanitarian manner!
There should be love and devotion being a doctor in the first place. That
They tell the doctors that they are a ‘ superior lot’ just because they (doctors) generally wear a collar and a tie! It does not make them superior in their vocation but in simple terms but it boils to be that specialists are disrespected by the public as they are bound by the oath they take when they qualify as doctors .
I knew of a surgeon ( Sri Lankan) ,who was nominated several times for the ‘Golden Scalpel Award’ throughout the UK. He decided to operate on a ninety-year-old patient, as he felt that the patient would survive the operation, despite all comments by his colleagues. After the operation he thought he should be successful in a better social life!
Well! A few months later the patient (in Wales) came to see the surgeon with an ‘alarm clock’. All he had to say was that you gave the time for me doctor and personally him and said I shall in return with the same smilie– Please have much more time for operations of that nature.”
Is it not clear how humanity works in Wales in the UK?
by Daya Gamage Foreign Service National Political Specialist (rtd.) US Department of State Courtesy The Island
India’s security needs consolidate US manoeuvring strategy in Indo-Pacific:
Aware or unaware of the intricacies of big power play in the Indo-Pacific region to the emerging political entity in Sri Lanka, JVP-led National People’s Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared that he and his political party are (now) alive to India’s security concerns after his return from India having had discourses with External Affairs Minister and other leading Modi administration officials needs serious scrutiny.
In an interview with Sri Lanka’s Sirasa TV on February 15, Dissanayake reiterated that the ‘incoming’ National People’s Power administration will not do anything that undermines Indian security”.
If Dissanayake had been aware that ‘India’s national security’ was somewhat beyond her ‘control’ and connected to the larger Indo-Pacific or Asia-Pacific region with ‘outside forces’ deeply embedded in, he would have made a ‘measured statement’ about India’s national security.
Before examining how India is tied to ‘a foreign military and technological force’ connected to the Asia-Pacific Region and that India’s national security cannot be isolated from ‘outside forces’ engaged in the region, it should be found out how Sri Lanka is connected to the overall regional security, an issue that Dissanayake doesn’t seem to have paid much attention to. The eight-page, 2007 (disclosed) US-Sri Lanka signed Acquisition and Cross-Services Agreement (ACSA) and the 83-page, 2017 ACSA (still kept classified by both Washington and Colombo) have much relevance to the overall Indo-Pacific region.
US Code Title 10 Section 2342: Cross-Servicing Agreement, under which a long process of US government assessment takes effect, how useful a non-NATO country, such as Sri Lanka could be to the national interest of the United States is vital to the understanding of Sri Lankan policy.
The US Code declares (Quote) (a)(1) Subject to section 2343 of this title and to the availability of appropriations, and after consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense may enter into an agreement described in paragraph (2) with any of the following: (Among others)
(D) The government of a country not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization but which is designated by the Secretary of Defense, subject to the limitations prescribed in subsection (b), as a government with which the Secretary may enter into agreements under this section. (End Quote)
Before scrutinising other Sub-Sections, Sub-Section (D) is well connected to a ‘declaration’ of a diplomatic cable that reached Washington from the American Embassy in Colombo: 20 February 2007 diplomatic cable sent under the signature of Ambassador Robert Blake made it very clear (Quote) Since this agreement primarily benefits US forces, we think there are strong arguments to proceed with the signing the agreement (End Quote) referring to the 2007 ACSA. It is not difficult to understand why the 2007 agreement was expanded to 83 pages in 2017 and why it is still kept a secret.
Now to Sub-Section (b) of the U.S. Code Title 10 Section 2342: Cross-Servicing Agreement:
(Quote) (b) (which is well connected to the signing of both the 2007 and 2017 ACSA) The Secretary of Defense may not designate a country for an agreement under this section unless –
(1) the Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of State, determines that the designation of such country for such purpose is in the interest of the national security of the United States; and
(2) in the case of a country which is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Secretary submits to the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives notice of the intended designation at least 30 days before the date on which such country is designated by the Secretary under subsection (a). (End Quote)
The Pentagon, the State Department and Armed Services and International Committees of the US Senate and House of Representatives are very much involved in the process of using feed backs and assessments from the US diplomatic post in the host nation.
This writer, who was knowledgeable about this process during his engagement with the State Department for more than two decades, was aware of the manner in which the US diplomatic mission in Sri Lanka played that role.
To enter into an ACSA treaty, the designated country – in this case, Sri Lanka, which entered into the agreement in March 2007 and 2017– Washington has to determine (Quote) the designation of such country for such purpose is in the interest of the national security of the United States . (End Quote)
Sri Lanka occupies some very important real estate in the Indo-Pacific region, and it’s a country of increasing strategic importance in the Indian Ocean region”, declared Alice Wells, US State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary addressing the foreign media at the department’s Washington Media Center on 24 January 2020—three weeks before she was in Colombo meeting newly-elected President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
The 2018 National Defense Strategy guides the Department of Defense to support the (US) National Security Strategy – the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 – specifically calls for expanding cooperation with democratic partners in South Asia, including Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.”
This 2018 document – declassified in January 2021 – evinces a special interest in Sri Lanka’s survival in the Indo-Pacific region, the formulation of its foreign policy, and its relations with India, the United States and China.
It should be mentioned here that the writer along with another (retired) Senior Foreign Service/Intelligence Officer (American) is currently developing a manuscript (for publication) exploring Washington’s foreign policy manipulations and discharges toward Sri Lanka and India, and the manner in which Sri Lanka and India were (and are) playing their roles in response to Washington’s excessive and (almost) hegemonic role in the Indo-Pacific region.
It is in this context that India’s national security can in no way be isolated from Washington’s military/defense and intelligence approaches and activities in the Asia-Pacific region and its foreign policy discharges that this writer and his co-author discovered through their extensive research and investigations.
Some of the salient policy determinations and projections in the now-declassified 2018 National Security Strategy – the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act document of the US government are as follows:
· A strong India, in cooperation with like-minded countries, would act as a counterbalance to China.
· India remains preeminent in South Asia and takes the leading role in maintaining Indian Ocean security, increased engagement with Southeast Asia, and expands its economic, defense, and diplomatic cooperation with other US allies and partners in the region.
· US Objective: Accelerate India’s rise and capacity to serve as a net provider of security and Major Defense Partner; solidify an enduring strategic partnership with India underpinned by a strong Indian military able to effectively collaborate with the United States and her partners in the region to address shared interests.
· US Actions: Build a stronger foundation for defense cooperation and interoperability; expand US defense trade ability to transfer defense technology to enhance India’s status as a Major Defense Partner.
· US Objective: Strengthen the capacity of emerging partners in South Asia, including the Maldives, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, to contribute to a free and open order. US Action: Establish a new initiative with South Asian partners modeled on the Maritime Security Initiative.
· National Security Challenges: How to maintain US strategic primacy in the Indo-Pacific region while preventing China from establishing new illiberal spheres of influence.
· US Action: Enhance combat-credible US military presence and posture in the Indo-Pacific region to uphold US interests and security commitments.
Now, let’s see how ‘Indian National Security’ that Anura Kumara Dissanayake has referred to, and aspires to safeguard under a JVP-led NPP government he is hoping to form, is tied to the Indo-Pacific Region that Washington is playing a dominant role in.
US-India Relationship: Critical to Indo-Pacific
A shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific bolsters the US-India relationship as the two countries continue to strengthen defense ties, a senior Pentagon official said on Sept. 19, 2023.
Siddharth Iyer, the Director for South Asia policy in the Office of (US) Secretary of Defense, said the defense partnership had experienced an incredible and unprecedented amount of momentum” as evidenced by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin twice traveling to India recently and the warmth and familiarity” between the two countries.
This relationship is one of the top priorities for the department,” Iyer said. Our belief is that getting the US and India relationship right is not just necessary, it’s essential to achieving our strategy in the Indo-Pacific.”
What he meant by our strategy” is the United States’ strategy.
I think one of the ways in which we think about the roadmap is really a manifestation of Secretary Austin’s commitment to accelerating India’s military modernization, and for him, putting the department on the hook to find targeted opportunities to propose to advance India’s indigenous defense production capabilities,” Iyer said during a discussion on furthering US-India security cooperation hosted by the Hudson Institute in Washington.
department on the hook”, meaning the United States on the hook.
India’s Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar engaged with (US) Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin for the fifth US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi on November 10, 2023.
They reaffirmed the importance of the US-India Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership in ensuring international peace and security. The Ministers also underlined their strong commitment to safeguarding a free, open, and an inclusive Indo-Pacific.
The Joint Statement released November 10, 2023 on the Fifth Annual India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue reaffirmed the US-India”commitment to further deepen the multifaceted defense partnership through wide-ranging dialogues and military exercises of increasing complexity and sophistication, accelerated joint projects initiated under the June 2023 Roadmap for US-India Defense Industrial Cooperation and expanded collaboration in emerging domains, such as space and artificial intelligence. They expressed satisfaction with the pace of cooperation in Maritime Domain Awareness and looked forward to identifying pathways to promote stronger service-to-service ties and share technologies to address an array of maritime challenges, including in the undersea domain.”
These discourses, dialogues and rapport have prompted steps to deepen and diversify” the two countries’ so-called Major Defense Partnership.
The two (US and India) militaries signed their second Master Ship Repair Agreement, with the US Navy and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd., in August 2023, recommitting themselves to advancing India’s emergence as a hub for the maintenance and repair of forward-deployed US Navy assets and other aircraft and vessels, according to the White House. The countries also made further commitments to the US companies investing more in India’s maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities and facilities for aircraft.
In late September 2023, Ely Ratner, the US Department of Defense’s Assistant Secretary for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, Donald Lu, State Department’s assistant secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Vani Rao, a secretary in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and Vishwesh Negi, the Joint Secretary of Indian Ministry of Defense engaged in a wide range of ambitious initiatives” dialogue between the two nations.
According to a US Defense Department statement The officials also discussed regional security developments and strategic priorities across the Indo-Pacific region. A strong US-India partnership is essential to upholding security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.”
India having entered into a military partnership with the United States, and Sri Lanka’s close proximity to India in political and economic spheres, Sri Lanka is at a crossroads surrounded by Washington, New Delhi and Beijing.
As an emerging leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake could have made a ‘measured statement’ on the official policy of the government he is planning to form towards ‘India’s security’ as data given above show the manner in which Washington has tied up with New Delhi, and the strategy the United States has adopted to forge a strong defense ties with India; contrary to what Dissanayake believes, India is not developing an ‘isolated national security policy’. New Delhi has been formulating her national security policy in collaboration with Washington, and that security policy – to which JVP-NPP has undertaken to protect and safeguard – provides for a dominant role for Washington in the Indo-Pacific (or Asia-Pacific) region. Sri Lanka is unable to escape Washington’s machinations in the Indo-Pacific region as noted at the outset.
Isn’t Dissanayake aware of the US-India defense collaboration? If so, is he concealing that fact, or if not so, isn’t he capable of strategic thinking?
As a footnote, it is necessary to refer to Dissanayake’s pronouncement about foreign nations and their diplomatic agents’ special interest in communicating with him and his political entity, according to him in an interview with SIRASA TV on February 15 (Quote) Anyone who can think logically can understand that states engage with political actors that have power. India, China, the US, and many others are now engaging with us because they think we will win elections (Unquote).
The writer finds it very unusual for the (US) Chief of Mission to entertain the notion that she should maintain close rapport and contact with a non-ruling political party leader. The US diplomats were expected to maintain contacts with (about) two national political parties that alternately exchanged power; they established contacts with ‘non-national’ political parties and their leaders to fulfill ‘diplomatic niceties’ and obtain alternative interpretations to that of what main political leaders and their national parties express.
In the case of JVP-NPP, undoubtedly, they are emerging as a national entity, and foreign diplomats, including the American ambassador Julie Chung, have taken note of the emerging political reality to maintain relations with it. Whether Ambassador Chung believes, in a confused political atmosphere, the JVP-NPP could form the next administration is another matter.
Two questions emerge from Dissanayake’s belief that foreign nations and their diplomats ‘suddenly’ reach out to his political alliance because they strongly believe that its rise to power is imminent: (1) Is it because the reconciliation between the JVP-NPP and India and Dissanayake’s undertaking not to obstruct that nation’s national security interests suits Washington and if JVP-NPP ever captures power or reaches the level of an influential and formidable opposition power Washington (and/or Julie Chung) will have tamed the once anti-American/anti-Indian JVP? (2) Shouldn’t JVP- NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake declare his policy towards the US; the defense collaboration between Washington and New Delhi; and that Ambassador Chung is aware that JVP-NPP has conveniently ignored India’s defence collaboration with the US? Is this a diplomatic achievement of Washington?
As much as JVP-NPP owes the Sri Lankan public an explanation, elucidating its undertaking to safeguard the national security interests, Sri Lankan policymakers and lawmakers need to have a comprehensive understanding of where Sri Lanka stands in this complex foreign policy issue.
(The writer is a retired Foreign Service National Political Specialist of the U.S. Department of State accredited to the Political Section of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Sri Lanka)
The Netherlands has returned six artefacts taken by force from Sri Lanka during the colonial era. This is the first batch of treasures to be returned.
Comment
The artifacts that were stolen from Ceylon rightfully belong to Ceylon (now renamed as Sri Lanka). Additionally, Sri Lanka has a strong claim under the Law of Unjust Enrichment to part of the revenue collected by the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam by selling tickets to visitors over the last 150 years. That money must be repatriated to Sri Lanka. We are shareholders and co-owners of our artifacts illegally seized and taken abroad.
This principle of sharing profits with the victims of Western Colonialism in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean islands through repatriation of revenue collected over 200 years or more by exhibiting stolen goods taken from the Colonies, is a universal principle that is applicable in any part of the world.
I call on the Govt. of Sri Lanka to pursue this matter as a matter of urgency within the framework of Public International Law.
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena handed over laptops to software engineering students at a function held at the Temple Trees yesterday (February 29).
Japanese IT University has provided free laptops to software engineering students of newly-established Lanka Nippon BizTech Institute (LNBTI), with the contribution of funds from Japan.
The Prime Minister attended the ceremony and handed over laptops to several students marking the importance of this significance gesture to bridge the digital gap and his LNBTI’s unwavering commitment to enhancing student access to technology.
Acting Japanese ambassador, Katsuki Kotaro and the Secretary to the Prime Minister, Anura Dissanayake handed over laptops to another group of students. The Acting Ambassador said Japan is committed to support Sri Lanka’s digital development and urged the students to make best use of state of art technology available to them to successfully navigate their future careers.
These cutting-edge devices, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, are poised to empower LNBTI students pursuing their Software Engineering Degree Program. LNBTI, a collaboration between “hSenid Ventures” of Sri Lanka and “Metatechno Inc.” of Japan, stands as the first and only Japanese higher education institute with degree-awarding status in South Asia.
Director LNBTI said several free laptops are available for students from rural areas who wish to join the Institute.
The event culminated with the Prime Minister encouraging LNBTI students to harness the power of technology for innovation, education, and socio-economic development. This ceremony stands as a beacon of progress, epitomizing LNBTI’s commitment to unleashing the potential of technology to uplift forthcoming graduates and serving as an inspiration for future initiatives dedicated to bringing the two nations closer through the contribution of professionals in the IT industry. LNBTI Directors Saman Kumara and Ravinder Perera, academic staff, students and parents attended this function.
New Delhi had objected to a Chinese energy project in the location, instead offering a grant for the initiative
The initiative is the third India-backed energy project coming up in Sri Lanka’s north and east. The National Thermal Power Corporation is spearheading a solar venture in the eastern Sampur town, while the Adani Group is setting up renewable energy projects in Mannar and Pooneryn in the north | Photo Credit: ANI
Three years after objecting to a Chinese energy project in northern Sri Lanka, barely 50 km off Tamil Nadu’s coast, India is set to implement a hybrid power project in three islands off the Jaffna peninsula with a $11-million grant.
Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, the Government of Sri Lanka, and Indian company U-Solar Clean Energy Solutions on Friday signed the contract for building Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems” in Delft or Neduntheevu, Nainativu and Analaitivu islands off Jaffna peninsula in the island’s north.
The project, which is aimed at addressing energy needs of the people of the three islands, is being executed through grant assistance from Government of India. The hybrid project combines various forms of energy including both solar and wind, towards optimising capacities,” a press release from the Indian High Commission in Colombo said.
In a post on social media platform ‘X’ thanking the Government of India, Sri Lanka’s Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said: The project with 530 kw Wind power, 1,700 kw Solar power, 2,400 kwh Battery power and 2,500 kw of stand by diesel power system will be constructed at the 3 Islands by U-SOLAR.” The Bangalore-based company was chosen through a competitive bidding process conducted by the Sri Lankan government for Indian firms, officials said.
The initiative is the third India-backed energy project coming up in Sri Lanka’s north and east. The National Thermal Power Corporation is spearheading a solar venture in the eastern Sampur town, while the Adani Group is setting up renewable energy projects in Mannar and Pooneryn in the north.
India’s offer
The Sri Lankan Cabinet first cleared Sinosoar-Etechwin Joint Venture in China, to execute renewable energy projects in the three islands. The company was chosen through a competitive bid backed by the Asian Development Bank. Concerned by the prospect of a Chinese project very close to India’s southern coastline, India offered to implement the same project with a grant instead of a loan, and Sri Lanka took it up.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in March 2022, during External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Sri Lanka. China’s displeasure at the turn of events is no secret. The Chinese Ambassador in Colombo voiced rare criticism of Sri Lankan authorities for suspending the original projects for unknown reasons” and sending out the wrong message” to potential investors.
Meanwhile, Sino Solar Hybrid Technology, whose energy project was suspended in Sri Lanka, in December 2021, signed a deal to implement a similar project in the Maldives.
Sri Lanka awards solar and wind power projects to Indian company, signaling strategic shift amid concerns over Chinese influence. India boosts bilateral energy partnership
Sri Lanka on Friday awarded the construction of three solar and wind hybrid power generation facilities to an Indian company after cancelling a tender won by a Chinese firm. This decision follows the temporary shelving of the project, initially financed by an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan, two years ago.
This came amid strategic competition for major infrastructure projects in the island nation, which is currently emerging from its worst economic crisis since independence. Beijing, which is also Sri Lanka’s single largest bilateral creditor, accounted for around 10 percent of the island nation’s $46 billion foreign debt at the time of a government default at the peak of the crisis in 2022.
India’s assistance for the energy deal underscored the significance New Delhi attached to bilateral energy partnership”, the Indian embassy said in a statement. India: a committed partner! HC @santjha & Hon.State Minister Indika Anuruddha witnessed contract signing of the Hybrid Renewable Energy Project in Nainativu, Analaitivu & Delft islands, off Jaffna. This grant project by India addresses energy needs of the people of the 3 islands,” the Indian mission in Sri Lanka said in a post on X.
The project will consist of work to construct 530 kw of wind power, 1,700 kw of solar power, 2,400 kWh of battery power and a 2,500 kw diesel power system for Delft, Analativu and Nainativu islets, Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said in a statement. Sri Lanka’s energy ministry said Friday that the project had been revived and was now fully funded by an $11 million Indian government grant. It added that renewables firm U-Solar from India’s tech hub of Bengaluru had been awarded the building contract.
The Indian envoy in Colombo Santosh Jha was present at the ceremony. The Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, the Government of India and the U Solar Clean Energy Systems, a Bengaluru-based company signed the agreement. India’s assistance to the project for the people of the three islands, which are not connected to the national grid, underscores the significance attached by GOI to bilateral energy partnership as well as the human-centric nature of development partnership, officials said.
Several landmark initiatives such as the power grid connectivity, multi-product two-way oil pipeline are currently under discussion between India and Sri Lanka in the energy sphere, according to a report in NewsFirst.lk, a Sri Lankan news portal. India’s overall development partnership portfolio stands at USD 5 billion with almost USD 600 million being in grants alone, it said.
භික්ෂු ශාසනයෙන් නෙරපා හැර ඇති මීවනපලානේ සිරි ධම්මාලංකාර නමින් පෙනී සිටිමින් බුද්ධ දර්ශනය විකෘති කරමින් උතුම් බුදු දහමට නිගා කරමින් ශාසන විනාශකාරී කටයුත්තක නියැලී සිටින සිරිසේන සපුතන්ත්රි නැමැත්තාට එරෙහිව වහාම නීතිය ක්රියාත්මක කරන ලෙස ත්රෛයිනිකායික මහා නා හිමිවරුන්ගේ අත්සනින් යුතුව ජනාධිපතිවරයාට ලිපියක් යවා ඇත.
