Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

Given the critique of Odious debt accumulated as a result of private capital market borrowing and corrupt and opaque bond trading attempts are ongoing to simultaneously greenwash the bond business and deepen debt traps  in the name of environment conservation, Debt for Nature Swaps (DFNS), Green and Blue Bonds or Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) bondscams.

What the President’s green policy speech did not mention was that the island is already in a Eurobond debt trap with the IMF compelling more borrowing from predatory bondtraders as part of its bailout business” in Sri Lanka, which entail blue and green or ESG bonds. This would in the name of ‘environmental conservation’ that entails what the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam has termed Ocean Grabbing” ‘Land grabbing” and the denial of access to indigenous communities, local farmers and fishers to their forests and fisheries areas or Marine Protection Areas (MPAs), denying them livelihoods in the name of ‘environmental conservation”.

As the financialization, datafication and weaponization of Mother Nature via carbon trading for asset stripping Global South countries like Sri Lanka, caught in Eurobond debt traps and the IMF and colonial Club de Paris bailout business appears to gathering steam in the name of environment conservation, a fundamental question arises: Should an expensive green transition be a policy priority for a debt trapped country whose citizens are reeling from the IMF and colonial Club de Paris Eurobond holders debt treatment, which seems designed to deepen the county’s Eurobond debt trap, this time with ESG bonds and scams?

After, all Climate Justice entails debt cancellation not further Euro debt bondage under the guise of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) bond scams. Green and blue debt bondage is a clear violation of the principles of Climate Justice which require the G7 Industrialized countries that put much of the pollution into the atmosphere compensate the countries of the global south that may be victims of climate change.

The Organic Fertilizer and Electric Vehicle Policy Debacle

Climate crisis narratives and related policy debacles are not new to Sri Lanka.  A couple of years ago there was a rush to switch to ban the use of chemical fertilizer and switch to organic fertilizer without a transition plan. The result was the destruction of crops and farmers’ livelihoods and corruption in organic fertilizer purchases all in the name of environment conservation by the Gotabaya Rajapakse regime—a policy which devastated crops, farmers’ livelihoods and raised fears of famine in a lush tropical country.

However, such policy mistakes do not appear to have moderated the much hyped push to a ‘green transition’ that Sri Lanka does not need and cannot afford at this time by local politicians and UN policy makers. 

Recently, the Minister of Transport has been advertising expensive electric vehicles (EVs), although the price of electricity has gone through the roof!  This means that poor people who consume electricity would be forced to subsidize the wealthy folk who buy expensive EVs. This in turn, would further drain the island’s foreign reserves and deepen the debt trap!

Form Covid-19 to Climate Catastrophe: Globalist narratives and Local Policy debacles

The President who presents himself as an economic wiz clearly has little regard for the human cost of accumulating more odious debt and exacerbating poverty at the behest of his IMF handlers and Economic Hit men who are also driving the ESG  bonds and green transition vanity project with a price tag of $100 billion, which would be passed on to hapless citizens.

Ranil Rajapakse is in thrall of UN climate experts, the IMF, colonial Club de Paris and Eurobond traders. However, there is an urgent need to de-link debt restructuring from predatory bond trading, and the odious neocolonial debt bondage program carefully choreographed by France’s President Macron who paid a midnight visit to Sri Lanka earlier year to ensure that the Eurobond creditors of the colonial Club de Paris would be bailed out once again –with green and blue bond scams masked by opaque Carbon credit calculations.

Many parts of the Global South are increasingly hostage to globalist grand narratives and totalizing fear inducing policies – from Climate Catastrophe stories and images, sans local and geopolitical context to the Covid-19 panicdemic lockdowns and mass ‘vaccination’ campaigns promoted by the WHO and other United Nations agencies increasingly focused on humanitarian Disaster Capitalism that causes more harm than good in Global South countries.

Increasingly, we seem to live in an AI contoured virtual reality of poly crises resulting from compounding policy mistakes based on big data analytics with constructed algorithms that game outcomes and turn science into fiction, while cannibalizing local realities and home truths that are now hostage to the Globalist agenda and metanarratives.

Finally, there is need to de-link Sri Lanka’s Eurobond debt restructuring from corrupt, criminal and predatory bond trading through shadowy off shore banking networks and tax heavens – a practice that is being greenwashed at this time, rather than compound the debt trap with ESG bonds and scams.

Epilogue: Bond crimes, Odious Debt and Partial Justice

With remarkable timing, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court this week issued a symbolic ruling that the  Rajapaksa brothers – including two ex-presidents – were guilty of triggering the island’s worst financial crisis by mishandling the economy.

The case was filed by corruption watchdog Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) and another four activists against top former officials, including former presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa. According to TISL the court found that the actions of the respondents had directly contributed to the economic crisis. The court emphasized that the authorities should have been aware of and taken measures to address issues that negatively impacted the economy instead of exacerbating them. The judgment underscored that public officials hold a responsibility to act in the best interests of the public and are entrusted with significant powers to uphold public trust, requiring them to adhere to the directives of the constitution.

The respondents’ attempts to attribute their actions to policy decisions were dismissed, as the court emphasised that they possessed the authority and knowledge to prevent such an outcome but failed to act in the public interest. The cumulative actions and inactions of the respondents were identified as key contributors to the economic debacle.[iii]

However, what was missing from view is the external actors that forced the staging of default, principally the, Odious Eurobond Debt that triggered the Default accumulated during the Ranil Wickramasinghe regime, especially when the notorious Central Bank Bondscams of 2015 that saw the debilitation of the county’s highest financial institution, the CBSL. and sent a message to predatory bond traders that Sri Lanka was open for corrupt bond trading.

The bench ruled by a majority of 4-1, saying that the respondents were responsible for Sri Lanka’s economic crisis between 2019-2022. The ruling stated, This situation brought in a total breakdown of economic and social life of the entire society. Such breakdown ultimately led to the collapse of the public order and the complete undermining of the rule of law.”

However, it is well established that the largest proportion of Odious debt was accumulated due to borrowing from predatory hedge funds like BlackRock and J.P Morgan, that caused the island’s first sovereign default was during the United National Party regimes and Ranil Wickrasinghe was Finance Minister and Prime Minister.

Moreover, Sri Lanka’s first ever Sovereign default was in large part STAGED last year amid distracting Aragalaya protests remote controlled through foreign internet platforms and caused by the shadowy Hamiliton Researve Bank’s court case in New York.

The Odious debt and reputation damage to the CBSL, the island’s highest financial institution by the 2015 Eurobond scams on the watch of then Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe are not addressed in the case.

The case is clearly politically motivated although and hence the outcome biased. While it is certainly true that the Rajapakse brothers, 2 out of four being past and present US citizens are significantly responsible for the crisis, they were only half of the corruption. The other half was the United National Party.

However, there was no mention of the 2015 Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Bondscams the worst financial crime in the country, that occurred under the current President Ranil Wickramasinghe, with Ravi Karunaratne, Kabir Haseem Arjuna Mahendran and the burying of the Forensic Audit Report by economic hit men Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswarmy. Nor the fact that Dr. Harsha de Silva wrote foot notes in a report on the bondscam to justify it.

This means that the root cause of the crisis in Sri Lanka the bi-partisan, global-local networks of corruption and financial crime that are intrinsic in the neocolonial Eurpbond business that has caste much of the Global South into economic crisis remains hidden from view and scrutiny of the practice of the accumulation of Odious Debt, debt trapping of countries leading to Default.

Nor was there mention of the killing of the Primary Material Witness in the 2015 CBSL bond scam case that has since been buried after the assassination of Dinesh Shaffter. Indeed, the powers that be went to great lengths to deny the murder of Mr. Shaffter, while promoting a fake narrative that his death was a suicide.

Thus the IMF is free to continue to compel Sri Lanka which is a test case for many other Eurobond debt trapped countries in the Global South, to again borrow billions this year alone from predatory lenders and deepen the Eurobond debt trap while compounding the county’s loss of economic sovereignty, poverty and inequality at this time.

[i] http://www.colombopage.com/archive_23B/Nov03_1699020814CH.php

[ii] https://debtjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Sri-Lanka-debt-statement.pdf

[iii] https://www.jurist.org/news/2023/11/sri-lanka-supreme-court-rules-government-officials-breached-public-trust-in-management-of-the-economy/

Ministry of Defence  – Media Centre

A cash donation of 4 million rupees for the renovations of Deegawapiya Stupa was handed over on 17^th Nov to Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne who is the ‘Author of the Deeghawapi Aruna Trust’ and ‘First Trustee’. Ms. Chandra Silva made the donation at the Ministry of Defence located at Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte.

Ms. Silva had donated 2 million rupees previously in March 2022 for the renovations of Deegawapiya Stupa.

Mr. Janaka Silva and Ms. Manojika de Silva were also present at the occasion.

by A. Abdul Aziz Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Sri Lanka.

In last Friday Sermon (17^th November 2023) delivered at ‘Masjid Mubarak’, Islamabad, Tilford, United Kingdom, Supreme Head of the world wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad reiterate Ahmadis to Continue their prayers for Palestinians,

His Holiness said:

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (Fifth Khalifa of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community)   while urging for continuous prayers for Palestinians, said in today’s (17 November 2023) Friday Sermon:

As I have been mentioning in my recent sermons about praying for the Palestinians, I wish to reiterate the same today. Continue your prayers.

Now, the extent of oppression has reached its limits. Innocent children, women, the elderly, and the sick are being killed under the pretext of war with Hamas. All norms and rules of warfare have been disregarded by this so-called civilized world. May Allah grant wisdom to Muslim countries as well.

The Second Khalifa of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad warned over 72 or 73 years ago that ‘Muslims need to unite’; they have to decide whether they want to die one by one or maintain their existence and survive as a united entity. If only these people (Muslims) could understand this now and unite as one.

The situation is such that I have been informed that those going to Umrah (in Arabic, a visit to the Holy Kaaba in Mecca – the Sacred House of God), are being told not to discuss the Palestine-Israel conflict. This directive comes from the government issuing the visas. If this is true, it reflects extreme cowardice on the part of that Muslim government.

Nevertheless, one should duly observe the sanctity of Umrah, and during it, such matters are not to be discussed, but prayers for the oppressed Palestinians must be offered, and those going for Umrah should remember to do so.

The voices of Muslim governments are very weak nowadays. Occasionally, they do raise their voices, but stronger voices are being raised by some non-Muslim people, politicians, and governments. May Allah grant courage and wisdom to the Muslims.

The UN Secretary-General is speaking well these days, but it seems his words carry no weight.

It appears that if this conflict escalates further and acquires the form of a World War, then, after its conclusion, the UN might also come to an end.

May Allah grant wisdom to the world.

It seems the world is drawing closer to its destruction. And after this destruction, may those who survive turn towards Allah and pay heed to Him. We must pray a lot in this regard. May Allah have mercy on the world.”

Source: Al Hakam, London.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Nov 18 (DailyMirror) – Foreign intelligence agencies have alerted Sri Lanka that a video clip is being prepared to be disseminated around the world on November 27, using artificial intelligence to indicate that Dwaraka Prabhakaran, the daughter of late LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, is still alive, informed sources said.

November 27 is the day the LTTE had declared Ma Veerar Naal or Great Heroes Day and it was customary for Prabhakaran to make a special speech on that day.

It has also been revealed that the International LTTE network based in Norway is planning to raise funds in foreign countries by using this video clip.

It has also been revealed that the consent of the relatives of late LTTE leader Prabhakaran in Norway has been obtained for this purpose.

Perimpanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan had tried several times to revive the LTTE from Norway but the intelligence agencies managed to foil it.

Courtesy The Hindu

The Sri Lankan Navy personnel had detained the fishermen under charges of poaching into their waters.

The Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department said that the country boat fishermen were arrested for allegedly fishing at Parithithurai, which falls under Sri Lankan waters.

In yet another fresh incident, the Sri Lankan Navy personnel arrested 22 fishermen from Pamban and Thangachimadam in Ramanathapuram district on charges of poaching and impounded two country boats, on Saturday.

According to official sources in the Fisheries Department, the Sri Lankan Navy personnel had detained the fishermen under charges of poaching into their waters. It is said that the country boat fishermen were allegedly fishing at Parithithurai, which falls under Sri Lankan waters.

Denying it, fishermen leader Rayappan, who is also the president of country boat fishermen association, told media persons that the Sri Lankan Navy had been arresting mechanised boat fishermen. Now, even the country boats, which cannot go beyond five or 10 nautical miles, were also being held.

The fishermen associations have condemned the arrest and claimed that it was factually incorrect to say that the country boat fishermen had crossed the IMBL, they said.

According to reports available here, the detained fishermen were being taken to Jaffna Port and handed over to the Sri Lankan Fisheries Department authorities for further legal action, official sources said.

Appeal to Centre

At a time, when the mechanised boat fishermen have been pleading with the Union government to help bring back the arrested fishermen from Sri Lanka, the fresh arrest of 22 more fishermen had come as a rude shock, said P Jesu Raja, fishermen association leader. We are hoping for a permanent solution as our livelihood is deeply hit,” he added.

Apart from the unsafe” conditions in the Palk Bay, the fishermen said that due to weather conditions too, they have been advised not to venture into the sea. After the deepavali festival, when fishermen had set into the sea, such arrests had dampened the spirits and the families/dependents are under continued threat.

Last month, a delegation of fishermen led by DMK MP T. R. Baalu met the Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan in New Delhi on instructions from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. They had urged the Centre to seek to free the 64 arrested fishermen in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the courts released 63 fishermen on bail. One fisherman, ‘a second-time offender’, was sentenced to two-year imprisonment.

Condemning the jail term, the fishermen had appealed to the Union government to intervene and help the community to venture into the sea in a safe environment.

 By AJITH SIRIWARDANA  Courtesy The Daily Mirror

PARLIAMENT (Daily Mirror)- Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa today revealed that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president Shammi Silva had sent a letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) alleging that the Sports Ministry had made undue interferences in its activities and claimed that this had paved the way for the ICC ban on Sri Lanka Cricket.

The Opposition Leader told Parliament that the communique which contained five serious allegations with an additional point had been sent to ICC Chairman Greg Barclay on August 28, 2023, and he tabled the letter in Parliament.

Premadasa said the letter had levelled allegations against the Sports Ministry claiming that the Director of Sports had unduly influenced cricket tournaments in the country, that the Sports Ministry secretary had requested salaries paid to the office bearers of the SLC, that the Sports Minister had influenced the SLC to obtain permission to hold the LPL tournament, that the Sports Minister had influenced to draft the SLC Constitution and that the draft audit report had been leaked.

He said the letter contained one additional point which said the Sports Minister influenced the SLC to contribute 20 percent of the SLC funds to the National Sports Fund.

The Opposition Leader said these allegations had been made on August 28, 2023 and another communique sent earlier had created the atmosphere for the ICC to impose the ban on Sri Lanka Cricket.

He said this is a betrayal of Sri Lanka Cricket by its president and demanded action against it.

Chief Government Whip Prasanna Ranatunga said it is serious when the Opposition Leader had revealed it with written evidence and requested the Speaker to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee to look into the allegations.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

COLOMBO (Daily Mirror) – The Constitutional Council (CC) appears to be divided, with the majority of members declining to approve the reappointment of Mr. C.D. Wickramaratne as the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Daily Mirror learns.

The government has failed to make a permanent appointment since March this year because of differences between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Public Security Minister Tiran Alles on the next police officer to be picked for the post. 

Mr. Alles is insistent on the appointment of senior DIG (Deputy Inspector General) Deshabandu Tennakoon whereas the President is opposed to it.

It resulted in Mr. Wickramaratne being recalled for service after retirement. He has been given extensions for four times now. The latest extension for three weeks was given on November 3.

However, the CC was unable to reach a consensus yesterday to approve the extension granted by the President in his capacity as the appointing authority.

Daily Mirror learns that all three civil society members, backed by a few others, were opposed to the extension. As a result, the CC will meet today for the second time to decide finally on
the matter.

Also, there is a legal ambiguity as to whether the service extension granted by the President is valid without CC approval or not in terms of the Constitution.

The CC is a ten-member body. Its members are Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, MP Sagara Kariyawasam, Dr. Prathap Ramanujam, Dr. (Mrs) Dilkushi Anula Wijesundere, Dr. (Mrs) Dinesha Samararatne and MP Kabir Hasheem. One post still remains vacant.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

COLOMBO (Daily Mirror) – Sri Lanka is expected to make further headway with regard to restructuring its foreign debt and securing the second tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, as the government has disclosed the terms of the US $ 4.2 billion debt deal with China Exim Bank to the country’s other creditors.

Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe confirmed this key development to Bloomberg this week but refused to disclose the terms of the debt deal to the media.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Dr. Weerasinghe said he hopes the official creditors committee, which is led by Japan, India and the Paris Club of Nations, will move forward in agreeing
to restructure the island nation’s debt.

Following this, the IMF is expected to approve the release of US $ 330 million second tranche of the US $ 3 billion Extended Fund Facility before the end of the year.

Sri Lanka was successful in striking a debt deal with China Exit Bank this October. In a statement to the media, the Finance Ministry expressed confidence in the indicative terms agreed, providing the necessary fiscal space for Sri Lanka to implement its ambitious reform agenda.

While the development was welcome, concerns were raised by other creditors and the IMF on the lack of transparency surrounding the deal.

Sri Lanka’s official creditors’ committee is led by Japan, with the members being India and the Paris Club of Nations. China is not part of this committee.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt obligation in April 2022, after the country completely ran out of its reserves, primarily due to the mismanagement of the economy by the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Courtesy Adaderana

During the key note address at the ‘YPO Colombo Experience: Rediscover the Pearl’ conference held today (18) at the Shangri La hotel Colombo, President Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed his vision for transforming the economic landscape of the region. The President, who held discussions with the new Maldivian President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, yesterday (17), expressed a desire for closer collaboration between Sri Lanka and the Maldives, envisioning a unified Tourist area.

The president highlighted the economic shift towards Asia, emphasizing the need for South Asian nations to work together to harness the growing economic power in the region. While acknowledging the individualistic nature of South Asian countries, he proposed a model where selective integration in certain sectors could pave the way for effective collaboration.

Turning the spotlight on Sri Lanka’s economic plans, the President unveiled a series of proposals focused on restructuring and modernization. The key objectives include establishing a competitive economy, embracing digital transformation, energy transition and fostering a green economy. The president emphasized the importance of becoming a regional logistic hub and outlined plans for promoting upmarket tourism, modernizing agriculture and introducing reforms in land ownership.

A significant announcement was the decision to grant freehold rights to farmers holding approximately 2 million acres of land, marking a significant step towards agricultural reform. The president also disclosed plans for large-scale modern agricultural enterprises, combining government and private sector efforts to drive economic growth. In the realm of technology, the president allocated funds to promote advancements, including venturing into Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The president outlined the potential industrialization of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring regions, creating a major economic centre. Additionally, the president encouraged Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to invest in neighbouring countries, emphasizing the country’s role in the development of Bangladesh and the exploration of opportunities in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and East and West Africa.

In the context of tourism, the president proposed the idea of a unified tourist area involving Sri Lanka, India, and the Maldives, expanding the scope to include Nepal. He also stressed plans for a Bay of Bengal cruise area, positioning it as a larger alternative to the Caribbean.

Concluding his address, the President highlighted on-going trade negotiations and agreements, including Sri Lanka’s application to enter the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the pursuit of comprehensive economic partnerships with India and Bangladesh. The president expressed optimism about the region’s economic potential and urged young entrepreneurs to actively contribute to the envisioned regional economy.

Regional YPO members participated at this occasion.

–PMD–

Courtesy Adaderana

November 18, 2023   10:34 pm

Samagi Jana Balawegaya’s (SJB) has drawn attention to bringing up a no-confidence motion against the Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprise (COPE) Prof. Ranjith Bandara.

SJB Parliamentarian Lakshman Kiriella stated that discussions pertaining to the matter are currently in progress.

COPE chairman Prof. Ranjith Bandara came under fire for his conduct at the latest committee meeting, for which the officials of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) were summoned. This prompted Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to announce on Friday (17) the suspension of COPE meetings until further notice.

The Speaker revealed this in response to a question raised by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa during Day 4 of the ongoing debate on the Second Reading of 2024 Appropriation Bill (78th Budget Speech) regarding the presence of Prof. Bandara’s son, Kanishka Bandara at the said COPE meeting, which had also become a controversy.  

However, the COPE chairman defended his actions in a clarification issued, saying that his son serves as his coordinating secretary. Prof. Bandara said his son was permitted to attend the meeting by the assistant sergeant-at-arms at his request.

However, the Speaker told the parliament on Thursday (Nov.16) that an investigation would be conducted into the matter.

In addition, the COPE chairman also found himself in hot water after the Opposition Leader revealed some documents in parliament, evidencing that Prof. Bandara served as a consultant for SLC on the Kandy Cricket Campus project, apart from another consultancy firm owned by him which provides services to the cricket body.

The Opposition Leader hit out at Prof. Bandara for not disclosing his connection to SLC beforehand and continuing to act as the COPE chairman despite this possible conflict of interest.

In a clarification, the SLC said Prof. Bandara does not have any connections to the current administration of the cricket body as his services were obtained from 2017 to 2018 when Thilanga Sumathipala was in office as the SLC president.

In the wake of the controversy concerning his ‘hand gesture’ made during the COPE meeting with SLC officials, Prof. Bandara explained that this was just a tactical maneuver to manage a challenging situation as multiple participants were trying to speak simultaneously.

චානක බණ්ඩාරගේ

දැන් දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ රාමේශ්වරන් සිට උතුරේ කන්කසන්තුරේ දක්වා නාවික මගී ප්‍රවහාන සේවයක් ආරම්භ කර තිබේ.  දැනට පවත්නා අයහපත් මෝසම් කාලගුණ තත්ත්වය නිසා එය නවත්වා ඇතත් ලබන ජනවාරි මස සිට එය නැවත ආරම්භ වන බව ඉන්දියාව පවසයි.

මෙවැනි නාවික ප්‍රවාහන සේවයක් ඇරම්හීම ඉතාම හොඳ දෙයක් බව බොහෝ දෙනා පවසයි. ඉන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ආර්ථික වාසි ලැබෙන බව නොරහසකි.

මෙම ලිපියෙන් අදහස් කරන්නේ මෙකී නාවික ප්‍රවහාන සේවයක් නිසා ජාතික ආරක්ෂාවට සහ රටේ භෞමික අඛණ්ඩතාවයට ඇති විය හැකි විපත් ගැන සාකච්චා කිරීමයි.

20 වෙනි ශත වර්ෂය පුරාවටම – 1964 සිරිමා – ශාස්ත්‍රී ගිවුසුම අත්සන් කරන තුරු පමණ, විශාල වශයෙන් කල්ලතෝනින් (තමිල්නාඩුවේ සිට හොරට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ආ සංක්‍රමනිකයෝ) ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට  පැමිණියහ. ඔවුන්ගෙන් සමහරෙක් කොළඹ ඉතා දක්ෂ දක්ෂ, නම ගිය ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් බවට පත් වුහ.  ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ පියාත් කල්ලතෝනියෙක් ලෙස බෝට්ටුවෙන් විත්, පීනා, මෙරටට පැමිණියෙකු  බව පැවසේ.  ඔහු පැමිණියේ කේරලයේ සිටය. ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ පියාගේ සොහොයුරියක් සහ ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ සොහොයුරියක්/වෙනත් වීවිධ ඥාතීන් අදත් කේරලයේ ජීවත්වන බවට වන කථා ඇත.  

යුද්ධයෙන් පසු ඉන්දීය ධීවරයන් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ උතුරු මුහුදේ ධීවර සම්පත් කොල්ල කෑමට පටන් ගතී. ඔවුන් මුහුද පත්ලද හාරා මෙන් අපේ ධීවර සම්පත් රැගෙන ගියහ.

මේවා අදද සිදුවේ?

ඉන්දීය ධීවරයන් විලාශයෙන් කල්ලතෝනින් අදත් උතුරෙන් මෙරටට ගොඩ බසින බවට ප්‍රවෘති වාර්ථා පලවී තිබණි. සිංහල වචනයක් වත් කථා කල නොහැකි ද්‍රවිඩ අය කොළඹ පිටකොටුව, වැල්ලවත්හ, දෙහිවල, කොටහේන, මට්ටක්කුලිය, මෝදර  වැනි ප්‍රදේශවල ඇති බවට පවසන්නෝ වෙත්. මේ අය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ උපන් අය නම් මෙසේ වීම ඉතා උගහටය. මේ අය අතර කල්ලතෝනින් සිටිය නොහැකිද?

දැනට විසා නොමතිව හොරෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිටින ඉන්දියානුවන් (වැඩි දෙනෙක් තම්ල්නාඩුවෙන් පැමිණී අය) ගණන කීයද? මේ සම්බන්ධ නිවැරදි සංඛ්‍යා ලේඛන රජය නොසතු බවයි අපගේ මතය.

යුද්ධය නිසා උතුරේ වැසියන් බොහෝ දෙනෙක් මිය ගියහ. බොහෝ දෙනෙක් මෙරට අත්හැර ගියහ – විදේශගත වූ ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ද්‍රවිඩ ඩයස්පෝරා ප්‍රජාව ලක්ෂ 20ක් පමණ වේ යයි අනුමාන වේ. මේ නිසා මේ රටේ ද්‍රවිඩ ජාතීන්ගේ අඩුවක් තිබිය යුතුය. නමුත් අදත්, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ද්‍රවිඩ ජනගහනය මුළු ජනගහනයෙන්  20%ක් හෝ ඊට වැඩි  ප්‍රමාණයක් ඉක්මවා පවතින බව සතුටින් දක්වමු (ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ද්‍රවිඩ සහ ඉන්දීය ද්‍රවිඩ).

මෙකී නව ඉන්දියානු මගී ප්‍රවාහන සේවය නිසා කල්ලතෝනින්ට පහසුවෙන් මෙරටට ඒමට අවස්ථාවන් උදා වේද?

අද ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ආර්ථික අතින් පහලටම වැටී ඇති නිසාත් ඉන්දියාව, තමිල්නාඩුවද ඇතුළුව, ඒ අංශයෙන් උසස් දියුණුවක් ලබා තිබෙන නිසාත්, කල්ලතෝනින් දැන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණේය යන කථාවේ පලයක් නැතැයි කෙනෙකුට තර්ක කල හැක. නමුත්, ඉන්දියාව වැනි ඉතාම අධි ජනගහනයක් ඇති රටක (බිලියන 1.4) මායිමේ සිටින අප වැනි සුන්දර රටකට මේ අනීතික ආගමන තර්ජනය සැමදා බලපානු ඇත. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මුළු ජනගහනය තවමත් කෝටි 2.2කි. තමිල්නාඩුවේ ජනගහනය කෝටි 7කට ආසන්නය; කේරලයේ ජනගහනය කෝටි 2ට ආසන්නය.

ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ද්‍රවිඩයන්ගේ ඥාතීන්/මිතුරන්  විශාල පමණින් දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ සිටිත්.

එස් තොන්ඩමන් මහතා උපන්නේද තමිල්නාඩුවේය (1913දී  චෙන්නායි නගරය ආසන්නයේ  පිහිටී M පුදූර්  ගමේය). අද අපේ  නැගෙනහිර ආණ්ඩුකාරතුමා උපත ලබා ඇත්තෙත් තමිල්නාඩුවේ යයි කියත්.

තමිල්නාඩුවේ/කේරලයේ ඇතැමෙකුට බෝට්ටුවක නැගී මෙහි ඒම සුළු දෙයකි.  ඒවාට උඩ ගෙඩි දෙන බෙදුම්වාදීන් ඕනෑ තරම් මෙහි ඇත.

දැන් රජයන් මඟින් බෝට්ටු සේවයක් පවත්වා ගෙන යන බැවින් මේ කාර්යය ‘ නිත්‍යානුකූල’ලෙස සිදු කර ගැනීමට පුළුවණ. කන්කසන්තුරේ වරායේ ආගමන නිලධාරින් සිටියද දෙරටම කූට, වංචා, අසත්‍ය ලිපි ලේඛන සෑදීම පිළිබඳව නම් දැරූ රටවල් බව අප අමතක නොකළ යුතුය.

තත්ත්වය වඩාත් භයානක වනුයේ ඉන්දියානුවන්ට විසා නොමැතිව මෙරටට පැමිණීමට (‘ඔන් අරයිවල්’ ක්‍රමයට) ක්‍රමවේදයක් ඉතා මෑතක සිට රජය සලසා දීමට යන බවට වාර්ථා තිබුණි.  මේ නිසා කල්ලතෝනීන්ට ‘වක්කඩ කැඩුවාක් මෙන්’  මෙහි ඒමට වාතාවරණයක් අප සලසා දීද?

මෙසේ එන අය ආපසු ඉන්දියාවට යන්නේද යන්න සොයා බැලීම පරිගණක තාක්ෂණයෙන් ඉතා පහසුවෙන් පිරික්සිය හැක. හොරෙන් මෙහි රැඳී සිටින්නන් ඇල්ලීමට සහ  මෙරටින් පිටුවහල් කිරීමට ක්‍රමවත් ක්‍රියාමාර්ගයන් තිබිය යුතුය.

නැවතත්, අද ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විසා නැතුව සිටින ඉන්දියානුවන් (සහ චීන ජාතිකයන්) සංඛ්‍යාව කවරේද? මේ අය අල්ලා නැවත ඉන්දියාවට, (චීනයට) පිටත් කර යැවීමට රජයන් ගෙන ඇති ක්‍රියාමාර්ග කවරේද?

ඉන්දීය සංචාරකයන් මෙහි ගෙන්වා ගැනීමේ උවමනාව රජයට බොහෝ තිබුනත් ඒ නිසා රටේ ආරක්ෂාවට අහිතකර වූ ක්‍රියාමාර්ග වැළකීම වස් සියලු ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගැනීම රජයේ වගකීමයි.

මේ රටේ කෙනෙකුට ඉන්දියාවට යාමට විසාවක් ලබා ගැනීම ඉතා අපහසු කාර්යයකි. බොහෝ දෙනෙකුගේ විසා අයදුම්පත් නිෂ්ප්‍රභා වේ. මේ ගැන රජය ඉන්දියාව සමඟ සාකච්චා කළ යුතු නොවේද?

විශේෂයෙන්ම ඉන්දියානුවන් සඳහා ද ඇමරිකානුවන්, එංගලන්ත ජාතිකයන්, ඕස්ත්‍රේලියානුවන් වෙනුවන් ලබාදී තිබෙන අති සුවිශේෂී, උසස්ම  ‘ඔන් අරයිවල්’ විසා ක්‍රමය ලබාදීම හෝ ලබාදීමට යාම නිසා.

ETA විසාවට අයැදුම් කර එය සම්මත වූ පසු ඉන්දියානුවන් මේ රටට පැමිණිය යුතුය. ‘වක්කඩ’ නොකඩා එය ආරක්ෂා කරගැනීම රජයේ යුතුකමයි.

කන්කසන්තුරේ වරාය විවෘත කිරීම මඳක් ප්‍රමාද වනවිට ගරු රාසමානික්කම් මන්ත්‍රීවරයා පාර්ලිමෙන්තුව්දී ඒ ගැන රජයට තදින් දොස් නැගීය. ඔහු පැවසුවේ තමිල්නාඩුවේ අනාථ කඳවුරු වල ශ්‍රී ලාංකික දෙමළ සරණාගතයන් ලක්ෂ 1 ½ක්  සිටින බවත් ඒ අයට ඉක්මනින් නැවත ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණීම සඳහා මෙම බෝට්ටු ප්‍රවාහන සේවය පටන් ගත යුතු බවත්ය. මෙපමණ කාලයක් ඔවුහු එහි පොල් ගෑහද?

එම කථාව සිදු කර දින කිහිපයක් ඇතුලත ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය කන්කසන්තුරේ වරාය උත්සවශ්‍රීයෙන් විවෘත කල අතර  ඉන්දියාව සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව එක්වී මෙම නව බෝට්ටු ප්‍රවාහන සේවය 14/10/23 දින ආරම්භ කරන ලදී.

මේ බෝට්ටු ඉන්දීය ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් සතු බව අප අමතක නොකළ යුතුය. මේ නිසා බෝට්ටු ටිකට් පත් අලෙවියන් එන  ආදායම යනුයේ ඉන්දියාවටයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට කුමක් ලැබේද?

ඇත්තටම අද තමිල්නාඩුවේ ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ද්‍රවිඩ අනාථයන් ලක්ෂ 1 ½ ක් කඳවුරු වල වේද?  මේ ඉතා අධික සංඛ්‍යාව පිළිගත නොහැකි සත්‍යයකි.

උතුරෙන් ද්‍රවිඩයන් අනාථයන් ලෙස තමිල්නාඩුවට බෙහෙවින්ම ගියේ IPKF සමයේදීය. අවසන් ඊලම් යුද්ධය කාලයේදීද යම් ප්‍රමාණයක් යාමට ඇත. නමුත්, බොහෝ දෙනෙක් නැවත ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ආහ. යුද්ධය අවසන් වී වසර 15ට ආසන්න මේ සමයේ තමිල්නාඩුවේ අදත් ශ්‍රී ලාංකික සරණාගතයන් ලක්ෂ 1 ½ක් සිටීය යන රාසමානික්කම් මහතාගේ ප්‍රකාශය තදින් විමර්ශනය කර බැලිය යුත්තකි.

ඔහුගේ සත්‍යය චේතනාව කුමක්ද?

මේ සංඛ්‍යාව සත්‍යයද?

ද්‍රවිඩ බෙදුම්වාදීන් උත්සහ දරන්නේ ශ්‍රී ලාංකික සරණාගතයන් ලෙස පෙන්වා  කල්ලතෝනින් තමිල්නාඩුවෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට මේ බෝට්ටු සේවය මඟින් ආගමයන කිරීමද? ඒ මඟින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ද්‍රවිඩ ජනගහන වැඩි කර ගැනීම ඔවුනගේ අභිප්‍රාය විය නොහැකිද?

මෙවිට, රට කැඩීමේ ඔවුන්ගේ අභිප්‍රාය පහසු වේ.

හුදු ආර්ථික සංවර්ධනය කියා රටේ ආරක්ෂාව, භෞමික අඛන්ඩතාවනට එරෙහි දේට රජය ඉඩ නොදිය යුතුය.

රජය විසින් කළ යුතුව තිබුනේ රාමේශ්වරන් සිට කොළඹ දක්වා බෝට්ටු සේවයකට ඉඩ දීමයි – උතුරට නොවේ. මෙයින් සංචාරක සේවයට වඩාත් හොඳ සුභාවාදිත්වයක් ලැබේ.  

දැන් KKS සිට ත්‍රිකුණාමලය දක්වා වන නව බෝට්ටු සේවයකට පිරිසක් අර අඳිති. සියල්ලට දකුණ අමතකය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට වැඩියෙන්ම එන්නේ උතුරු ඉන්දීය සංචාරකයන්ය. ඔවුන් ඉතා හොඳ සංචාරකයෝය. මේ අය වඩා කැමති ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ උතුර නොව දකුණ බැලීමටය.

KKS වලින් බෝට්ටුවෙන් ගොඩ බැස, යාපනයට විත්, කොළඹ බලා යන බසයක හෝ දුම්රියක නැගී කොළඹ ඒමට පෙලම්භවීම  විදෙස් සංචාරකයන්ට අපහසු කාර්යයකි, හිරිහැරයකි. ඔවුනට අවශ්‍ය ඉන්දියාවේ සිට කෙලින්ම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දකුණට (කොළඹට) එන බෝට්ටු සේවයකි.

මෙම බෝට්ටු සේවය සඳහා කන්කසන්තුරේ වරාය පිළිසකර කිරීම පිණිස රජය කෝටි ගණනින් මෙරට බදු ගෙවන්නන්ගේ මුදල් වැය කරන ලදී. එසේ තිබියදී දැන් රාමෙස්වරන් සිට තලේමන්නාරම් තොට දක්වාද බෝට්ටු සේවයක් ආරම්භ කිරීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වන බව රජය පවසයි. මේ සඳහා තවත් රුපියල් කෝටි කීයක් රජය වැය කරයිද?

රජයට පිස්සු වැහීද?

අද දකුණේ එක වේලක්වත් කෑමට නොහැකිව බඩගින්නේ සිටිනා දරු පවුල් රාශියකි. ජනතාවගේ මුදල් ඉතා ප්‍රවේශමින් පරිහරණය කිරීමට රජය දත යුතුයි.

එසේ කරන බවක් නොපෙනේ.

රජය මෙය කළ යුතුම නම් (ඉන්දීය බෝට්ටු සේවය) කළ යුතුව තිබුනේ කන්කසන්තුරේ  නොව තලේමන්නාරමේ වරාය ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කිරීමයි. එහි බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයන් විසින් ඉදිකරන ලද ජැටියක් දැනටත් ඇත. යුද්ධයට පෙර ඉන්දීය – ශ්‍රී ලංකා බෝට්ටු සේවය ක්‍රියාත්මක වුයේ මේ මාර්ගයේය. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිට ඉන්දියාවට ඇති කෙටිම දුර ඇත්තේ තලේමන්නාරමේ සිටයි.

තලේමන්නාරමේ විශාල නාවික හමුදා බල ඇනීන් කාලාන්තරයක් තිස්සේ ස්ථාපිත කර ඇත (බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය යුගයේ සිට). එය රටේ ආරක්ෂාවට වඩාත් හිතකාරී පරිසරයකි.

මෙවන් වාතාවරණයක් යටතේ කන්කසන්තුරේ නව වරායක් ඉතා අධික මුදලින් ඉදි කල යුතුයයි රජයට යෝජනා කළේ කවුරුන්ද? ඒ මඟින්, කිනම් නම් සැඟවනු අභිමතාර්ථයන් ඉෂ්ට කර ගැනීමටද?

කන්කසන්තුරේ, පේදුරු තුඩුව, වැල්වැටිතුරේ  ප්‍රදේශ මුහුදු මංකොල්ලකරුවන්, කුඩු/කේරළ ගංජා ආදි මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය  ගෙනෙන්නන්, හොර බඩු ජාවාරම්කරුවන්ගේ පාරාදීසයි. ප්‍රභාකරන් උපන් බිම ඇත්තේද මේ ප්‍රදේශයේයි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට තමිල්නාඩු/කේරළ ප්‍රදේශවලින් කේරළ ගංජා වැඩිපුරම පැමිණෙන්නේ KKS, පේදුරු තුඩුව ආශ්‍රිත ප්‍රදේශවලිනි. හෙරොයින් වැනි කුඩු ද පැමිණේ.

මේ බෝට්ටු මගීන්ට කිලෝ 50ක බඩු මෙහි රැගෙන ආ හැක. මෙයින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට මත් ද්‍රව්‍ය  ගෙන ඒම වැඩි විය නොහැකිද? ඒ පිළිබඳව රේගුව සහ වෙනත් අදාළ ආයතන ගෙන ඇති ක්‍රියාපිළිවෙත් කවරේද? අපේ ළමා, තරුණ පරපුර මත් රකුසාගෙන් ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීම රජයේ පරම වගකීමයි.

කන්කසන්තුරේ තිබු දැවැන්ත සිමෙන්ති කර්මාන්තශාලාව දැන් වැසී ගොසිනි. පොහොට්ටු රජය විසින් (මේ රටේ බදු ගෙවන්නන්ගේ මුදලින්) එහි සාදා නිම කරන ලද අධි සුඛෝපභෝගී, දැවැන්ත නව ජනාධිපති මන්දිරය මේ රජය පුද්ගලික ව්‍යාවසායෙකුට බන්දේසියක තබා පිරිනැමීමට යයි?

දැන් ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙන රාමේශ්වරන් – කන්කසන්තුරේ බෝට්ටු සේවයෙන් රටේ ආරක්ෂාවට හානියක් නොවීමට ගත යුතු සෑම ක්‍රියාමාර්ගයක්ම රජය විසින් ගත යුතුය.

2019දී යහපාලන රජය වසර ගණනාවක් තිස්සේ හමුදා භාරයේ තිබුණු පළාලි ගුවන් තොටුපළ ඉන් ඉවත් කර ජාත්‍යාන්තර ගුවන් තොටුපොළක් බවට පත් කල බව අප සැමට නොරහසකි. පසුගිය මාසයේ පමණ දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ සිට කුඩු රජෙක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට නැවත පැමිණීමට උත්සහ ගෙන ඇත්තේ මෙම පළාලි ජාත්‍යාන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපල හරහායි.

Prof. Hudson McLean

Why Does the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Send a Bucket Load of Military Officers as Diplomats?

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Read the following article to recap on history!

The Powerful Rajapaksa Dynasty Bankrupted Sri Lanka in Just 30 Months – Bloomberg.27 Apr 2022

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-04-27/the-powerful-rajapaksa-dynasty-bankrupted-sri-lanka-in-just-30-months

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Fawz Mohammed  (Dinamina)  Courtesy:  ‘Silumina’ December 17, 2022

ඔහු නමින් සේනක වීරරත්නය. ‍හෙතෙම ප්‍රවීණ නීතිඥයෙකි. ලේඛකයෙකි. චින්තනවාදියෙකි.

ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් පිටියේ දැඩි අවධානයට ලක් වූ ලිපියක් වසර 1997 මාර්තු මාසයේ 25 වැනිදා ‘දි ඔස්ට්‍රේලියන්‘ පුවත්පතේ පළ විය. ‘third umpire should perform role of appeal judge‘ ශීර්ෂ පාඨය යටතේ පළ වූ එම ලිපියෙහි සඳහන් වූයේ ඒ වන විට ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් තරගවලදී පිටියේ විනිසුරුවරුන් අතින් සිදුවන වැරදි තීන්දු තීරණ සම්බන්ධවය. එවැනි වැරදි තීන්දු තීරණ පසුව රූපවාහිනී පුනරූපණ මඟින් තහවුරු වීම නිසා ක්‍රීඩාලෝලීන්ගේ නළල්තල රැලි ගැන්වීමට තරම් විමතිය දනවන්නක් ද විය. අදාළ වැරදි තීන්දුවකින් කඩුල්ල රැකගන්නා පිතිකරුවා පසුව බොහෝ විට දීර්ඝ ඉනිමක් ක්‍රීඩා කරමින් සිය කණ්ඩායම ජයග්‍රහණය දක්වා රැගෙන යෑමෙන්ද, විනිසුරුගේ වැරදි තීන්දුවකින් දැවී යෑම ඇතැම් විට පරාජයට තුඩු දෙන සිදුවීමක් බවට පත්වීමෙන් ද තරග උඩුයටිකුරු වූ අවස්ථා එමට වාර්තා විය. එහෙත් තාක්ෂණය එතරම් දියුණු මට්ටමක නොපැවති බැවින් එවකට එවැනි තීන්දු සම්බන්ධව ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් කවුන්සිලයට පවා කිසිදු විකල්පයක් නොතිබිණි. ‘දි ඔස්ට්‍රේලියන් පුවත්පතෙහි පළවූ ලිපියට හේතු වී තිබුණේ එම කරුණුය. අනෙක් අතට එවකට රූපවාහිනි විනිසුරු හෝ තුන්වැනි විනිසුරුවරයකු තරගයට හඳුන්වා දී තිබුණේ පිටියේ විනිසුරුවරයාට දුවද්දී දැවී යෑම්, උඩපන්දු රැකීම් වැනි ඇතැම් සිදුවීම්වලට සහාය ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා පමණකි. ලියුම්කරුගේ යෝජනාව වූයේ තුන්වැනි විනිසුරුවරයා අභියාචනා විනිසුරුවරයාගේ කාර්යභාරය සිදු කළ යුතුය යන්නය. ඒ සඳහා නිදසුන් ද ගෙනහැර පාමින් එම ලිපිය සටහන් කරනු ලැබුවේ ඉහත කී සේනක වීරරත්න විසිනි. පළපුරුදු ජ්‍යේෂ්ඨ නීතිඥවරයකු වූ හෙතෙම ඒ සඳහා සිය නීතිඥ දැනුම ද මනාව භාවිත කරමින් ලියන ලද එම ලිපිය පසුකාලීනව ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් කවුන්සිලය මඟින් ක්‍රිකට් පිටියට හඳුන්වා දුන් විනිසුරු තීරණ යළි විමසීමේ රෙෆරල් ක්‍රමවේදය දක්වා ඇදී ගියේය.

‘මේ සංකල්පය මගේ හිතට ආවේ මම එවකට ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ ඩාවින් කියන නුවර පදිංචිව සිටියදියි.‘

වසර 1997 සිට 2000 දක්වා උතුරු ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ නීතිඥවරයකු ලෙස කටයුතු කළ උග්‍ර ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාලෝලීයකු ද වූ සේනක වීරරත්න මේ අදහස් පළ කළේ ‘සිළුමිණ‘ සමඟ සාකච්ඡාවකට එක්වෙමිනි.

‘හැමදාම ලොකු ප්‍රශ්නයක් තිබ්බා විනිසුරු තීරණ ගැන. පිටියේ විනිසුරුවරුන්ගේ දුර්වල තීරණ සම්බන්ධව මිනිස්සු දොස් කියමිනුයි හිටියේ. ඇතැම් අවස්ථාවල ඔවුන් ‘හොර අම්පයර්ස්ලා‘ කියලා ලේබල්ගත කරලයි තිබුණේ. ඉතින් මම හිතුවා මගේ නීතිඥ වෘත්තීයේ අත්දැකීම් භාවිත කරමින් මේ ගැටලුවට විසඳුමක් යෝජනා කළ යුතුයි කියලා. අනික තාක්ෂණයත් දියුණු වෙමින් පැවැතුණු කාලයනේ. අපි පොඩි කාලේ එහෙම තාක්ෂණයක් තිබුණේ නෑ. අවසන් තීරණය දෙන්නේ විනිසුරුවරයා. තාක්ෂණය ආවට පස්සේ රූපවාහිනි පුනරූපන මඟින් පෙන්නන්නට පටන් ගත්තා විනිසුරුගේ වැරදි. විනිසුරුට වැරදුණේ කොතැනද කියලා. විනිසුරුවරුන්ට ඒක හරිම අගෞරවයක්. ලජ්ජාවක්.‘ ඔහු කීවේය.

‘මගේ ලිපියෙන් මම මතු කර පෙන්නුවේ තාක්ෂණය තියෙනවා නම් විනිසුරුගේ වැරදි පෙන්නන්න, ඇයි ඒ තාක්ෂණයම පාවිච්චි කරන්නේ නැත්තේ විනිසුරුගේ වැරදි තීන්දුව නිවැරදි කරන්න කියන එකයි. ඊට පස්සේ මම කිව්වා මේකට තියෙනවා විසඳුමක්. නිවැරදි තීරණ දෙන්න නම් මුලින්ම විනිසුරුගේ තීරණය අවසන් තීරණය කියන සිද්ධාන්තය ඉවත් කරන්න ඕනා. හරියට අධිකරණ ක්‍රියාවලිය වගේ. නඩුව අහන උසාවියක් තියෙනවානේ. ඊට පස්සේ අභියාචානාධිකරණයක් තියෙනවා. ඊටත් පස්සේ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයක් තියෙනවා චූදිතයකුට පුළුවනි උසාවියකින් ඔහුට දෙන දඬුවම හෝ තීරණයට එරෙහිව අභියාචනාධිකරණයට යන්න. ඉන් ඔබ්බට ගිහින් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ පිහිට පතන්නත් හැකියාව තිබෙනවා. ඒ තර්කයම තමයි ක්‍රිකට් පිටියේ විනිසුරු වැරදි විනිසුරු තීරණ සම්බන්ධව භාවිත වෙන්නේ.‘ඔහු පැහැදිලි කළේය.

‘එහෙම වුණා කියලා මුලින්ම තීන්දුව දුන්නු විනිසුරුවරයාට කිසිම අගෞරවයක් වෙන්නේ නෑ. ඒක සාමාන්‍ය කාරණාවක්. ඉතින් එහෙම නම් අධිකරණයේදී නිවැරැදි තීන්දුව ගන්න අභියාචනා කරන්න පුළුවන් නම් ඇයි ඒ නිදහස, අයිතිය දෙන්න බැරි ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩකයෙක්ට. මම කියන්නේ සෙල්ලම් කරන දෙපාර්ශ්වයක් ඉන්නවානේ. ඉතින් එගොල්ලෝ අසතුටු නම් පිටියේ විනිසුරුවරයා දුන්නු තීරණයට, තාක්ෂණයක් තියෙනවානේ වැරදුණු තැන හොයා ගන්න. අන්න ඒ යන්ත්‍රණය, උපක්‍රමය තමයි මම මගේ ලිපියෙන් හඳුන්වා දුන්නේ. ක්‍රීඩකයන්ගේ තීරණ යළි විමසීමේ රෙෆරල් ක්‍රමය කියලා මගේම සංකල්පයක් විදිහට. අතීතයේදී නව තාක්ෂණය නොතිබුණු නිසා ක්‍රීඩකයෙක්ට මොකුත් කරන්න බෑ පිටියේ විනිසුරුවරයාගේ තීරණයට එරෙහිව. ඒත් දැන් වෙනත් කෙනකුට පුළුවනි කැමරා පාවිච්චි කරලා හොයා ගන්න විනිසුරු වැරැද්දක් කරලා තියෙනවද නැද්ද කියලා. ඒ අනුව තුන්වැනි විනිසුරුවරයාට ආයාචනා කරන්න ක්‍රීඩකයෙක්ට නිදහස තියෙන්න ඕනා. එතකොට තුන්වැනි විනිසුරුවරයාට පුළුවනි කැමරා කෝණවලින් බලල නිවැරැදි තීන්දුවක් දෙන්න. අන්න ඒ සංකල්පය තමයි මම දුන්නේ. ඊට පෙර එවැනි සංකල්පයක් ක්‍රිකට් ලෝකයේ කිසිම කෙනකු හඳුන්වා දීලා තිබුණේ නෑ. පළමු වතාවට මමයි ඒක හඳුන්වලා දුන්නේ. ඒක තමයි පසුකාලීනව අයිසීසීය ක්‍රියාත්මක කළේ.‘ ඔහු සිය ලිපියෙහි අඩංගු තොරතුරුවලට පාදක වූ කරුණු එකින් එක එසේ පැහැදිලි කළේය.

පසුකාලීනව 2008 වසරේ ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් කවුන්සිලය මේ අපූරු විනිසුරු ක්‍රමවේදය ක්‍රිකට් පිටියට හඳුන්වා දුන් අතර, එය පළමුවරට එම වසරේ ජූලි මාසයේ 23 වැනිදා සංචාරක ඉන්දීය කණ්ඩායම සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායම අතර කොළඹ එස්එස්සී ක්‍රීඩාංගණයේ ආරම්භ වූ ටෙස්ට් තරගමාලාවට ඇතුළත් කෙරිණි. එම සංකල්පය හඳුන්වා දුන් ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයාගේ මව්බිමේදීම එය පළමුවරට ක්‍රීඩාවට එක්වීමත් අපූරු සිදුවීමකි.

එස්එස්සී පිටියේ පැවැති එම ටෙස්ට් තරගයේදී කණ්ඩායම් දෙකම හරි හරියට ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදයේ පිහිට පැතූවේ තරගයේ පළමු දිනයේ සිටමය. ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදයේ පිහිට පැතූ ලොව පළමු ක්‍රීඩකයා බවට පත් වූයේ ඉන්දීය පිලේ දඟපන්දු යවන ක්‍රීඩක හර්බජන් සිං ය. ශ්‍රී ලංකා පිලේ ආරම්භක පිතිකරු මලින්ද වර්ණපුර කඩුල්ල මුවා කිරීමේ වරදට දැවී ගිය පිතිකරුවකු බවට ඔහු කළ ඉල්ලීම පිටියේ විනිසුරු ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කළ විට ඔහු ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමය ඉල්ලා ‘ටී අකුර‘ සංඥා කළේය. අවසානයේ හර්බජන්ට සාධාරණය ඉටු විය. මලින්ද කඩුල්ල මුවා කළ බවට තුන්වැනි විනිසුරු තීරණය කළේය. එම තරගයේදීම ඉන්දීය පිලේ ආරම්භක පිතිකරු විරෙන්දර් ෂෙවාග් ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදයෙන් දැවී ගිය ලොව පළමු පිතිකරු බවට පත් වූයේ ඔහුගේ දැවී යෑම පිටියේ විනිසුරුවරයා විසින් ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරනු ලැබීමෙන් පසු ශ්‍රී ලංකා පිල ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදයේ පිහිට පැතීම නිසාය. එපමණක් නොව එම තරගයේදීම පිටියේ විනිසුරුවරයා දුන් දැවීයෑම අභියෝගයට ලක් කරමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකා පිලේ තිලකරත්න ඩිල්ෂාන් ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදයේ පිහිටෙන් කඩුල්ල රැක ගැනීමට සමත් වූ ලොව පළමු පිතිකරුවා බවට පත් විය. අනතුරුව ඔහු නොදැවී ලකුණු 125ක්ම රැස් කළේය. ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදය වැඩි කාර්යභාරයක් ඉටු කළ එම ටෙස්ට් තරගයෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා පිල ඉනිමකින් සහ ලකුණු 239කින් ජය ගත්තේය. ඒ අනුව ක්‍රිකට් පිටියේ පළමු අවතීර්ණයේදිම ඩීආර්එස් අතිසාර්ථක විය. අනතුරුව එම ක්‍රමවේදය 2011 වසරේදී එක්දින ක්‍රිකට් පිටියටත්, 2017 වසරේදී විස්සයි20 ක්‍රිකට් පිටියටත් හඳුන්වා දීමට ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් කවුන්සිලය කටයුතු කළේය.

මේ වන විට ක්‍රිකට් පිටියේ ගුණාත්මකභාවය සහ තරගකාරීත්වය ඉහළ යෑමටත්, ක්‍රීඩාලෝලීන් අතර තවදුරටත් ජනප්‍රියත්වය රඳවා තබාගැනීමටත් ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදය සුවිශේෂී කාර්යභාරයක් ඉටු කරමින් සිටින බව නොරහසකි. එහෙත් එම අපූරු සංකල්පය ලොවට හඳුන්වා දුන් ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයාට මෙතෙක් අයිසීසීයෙන් කිසිදු පිළිගැනීමක් නොලැබීම කනගාටුදායක තත්ත්වයකි. එවැනි තත්ත්වයක් උද්ගත වූයේ මෙරට ක්‍රිකට් බලධාරීන්ගේ නොසැලකිල්ල සහ දුර්වලත්වය හේතුවෙන් බව සේනක වීරරත්න කීවේය.

‘1997දීම මම ක්‍රිකට් ආයතනයට (එවකට ක්‍රිකට් පාලක මණ්ඩලය) මේ බව ලියා යැව්වා. ඒ වෙද්දී මම ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ පදිංචිව සිටි නිසා කොළඹ සිටි මගේ සමීපතම මිතුරකු මගින් මම මේ යෝජනාව එවකට සිටි ක්‍රිකට් සභාපතිවරයාට මගේ මිතුරාගේ අතින්ම බාර දෙන්න කටයුතු කළා. ඒ එක්කම මම පණිවුඩයක් දුන්නා ඊළඟට තියෙන අයිසීසීයේ වාර්ෂික මහ සභා රැස්වීමේදී මේ යෝජනාව ඉදිරිපත් කරන්න කියලා. අයිසීසීයේ වාර්ෂික මහ සභා රැස්වීම ඒ වසරේ ජූලි මාසයේ පැවැත්වුණා. අවාසනාවකට ඒ යෝජනාව අපේ රටේ ක්‍රිකට් බලධාරීන් අයිසීසීයට ඉදිරිපත් කළෙත් නෑ. ඒක සාකච්ඡාවට ලක් වුණෙත් නෑ.‘සේනක වීරරත්න දැඩි කනගාටුවකින් යුතුව එසේ කීවේය.

‘ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට කීර්තියක් අත්කර ගන්නට තිබුණු හොඳම අවස්ථාවක් තමයි ඔය විදිහට මඟ හැරුණේ. අදටත් මම මේ සම්බන්ධව මගේ අයිතිය බලාපොරොත්තුවෙන් ඉන්නේ. මගේ සංකල්පයේ අයිතිවාසිකම් දිනා ගන්න මම තවදුරටත් සටන් කරනවා‘ ඔහු පැවැසීය.

සැබැවින්ම ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදයේ නිර්මාතෘ සේනක වීරරත්න බව එම ක්‍රමවේදය පිළිබඳ අන්තර්ජාලයේ විකිපීඩියා වෙබ් අඩවියේ පැහැදිලිව සඳහන් වේ. එපමණක් නොව ලොව පුරා ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවේ නිරතව සිටින රටවල් රැසක පුවත්පත්වල ඒ පිළිබඳ වාර්තා පළ වී තිබිණි.

සේනක වීරරත්න ට අයිසීසීයෙන් එවැනි පිළිගැනීමක් නොලැබුණ ද, ඩක්වර්ත් ලුයිස් වර්ෂා නීතියට අයිසීසීය උපරිම සාධාරණය ඉටු කිරීම කැපී පෙනේ. එංගලන්ත ජාතික දත්ත සැකසුම්කරුවන් දෙදෙනකු වන ෆ්‍රෑන්ක් ඩක්වර්ත් සහ ටෝනි ලුවිස් එක්ව තැනූ ගණිතමය ආකෘතිය අයිසීසීය පිළිගත්තේ ක්‍රිකට් තරගයක් වර්ෂාව හේතුවෙන් අතරමඟ නතර කිරීමට සිදුවන අවස්ථාවලදී ප්‍රතිවාදී පිලට ලබාදෙන ජයග්‍රාහී ඉලක්කය සම්බන්ධ විවේචන රැසක් එල්ල වූ කාලයකය. එය ක්‍රිකට් පිටියට හඳුන්වා දීමේදී එම සංකල්පයේ නිර්මාතෘවරුන්ට සිදු කරන ගෞරවයක් ලෙස‘ඩක්වර්ත්- ලුවිස් න්‍යාය ලෙස පිළිගැනීමට සහ හඳුන්වාදීමට පියවර ගෙන තිබිණි. එහෙත් සේනක වීරරත්නගේ ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදයට මෙතෙක් එවැනි තත්ත්වයක් නොලැබීම අවාසනාවන්ත සිදුවීමකි.

‘ක්‍රිකට් බලධාරීන් හෝ හිටපු ක්‍රීඩකයන් කවුරුවත් අදටත් මගේ ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමය ගැන හඬක් නඟා නැහැ. දැන් මේ සිදුවීමට අවුරුදු 25ක් වෙනවා. අඩු ගාණේ මේක ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයකුගේ සංකල්පයක්, ඒක යෝජනා කළේ ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයෙක් කියල කියන්නවත් ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවට සම්බන්ධ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කිසිම පුද්ගලයෙක් ඉදිරිපත් වුණේ නෑ. වතාවක් ටෝනි ග්‍රෙග් මට කිව්වේ ඔබේ ක්‍රිකට් බලධාරීන් ඔබ වෙනුවෙන් ඉදිරිපත් වෙන්නේ නැතිනම් අපි කොහොමද ඔබට උදව් කරන්නේ කියලා‘ සේනක වීරරත්න වැඩිදුරටත් කීවේය. ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදය හේතුවෙන් මේ වන විට ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවේ ගුණාත්මකභාවය ආරක්ෂා වී ඇති අතර, තරග විනිසුරුවන්ට විවේචන එල්ල වීම ද අවම තත්ත්වයකට පත්ව ඇති බැවින් එහි සාර්ථකත්වය පවතින්නේ ද ඉහළ මට්ටමකය.

‘වතාවක් එවකට අයිසීසීයේ ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී ලෙස කටයුතු කළ ඩේවිඩ් රිචර්ඩ්සන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණි අවස්ථාවකදී ඔහු අමතා ‘මම තමයි ඩීආර්එස් සංකල්පයේ පියා. වෙන කවුරුවත් එවැනි ඉදිරිපත් වීමක් සිදු නොකිරීමෙන්ම එය මගේ සංකල්පයක් බව තහවුරු වෙනවා. මම නැත්තම් වෙන කවුද‘ කියා ඇසූ විට ඔහු නිරුත්තර වූ බව සේනක වීරරත්න කීවේය.

දිය යට එබූ රබර් බෝලයක් මෙන් වරින් වර ඉහළට මතුවන ඔහුගේ ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදය පිළිබඳ නැවත කතාබහට ලක්වී ඇත්තේ පසුගියදා ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ සිඩ්නි නුවර ප්‍රකට නීති සමාගමක් හරහා ඔහු අයිසීසීයට නැවත ඒ පිළිබඳ සිහිපත් කිරීම නිසාය. එය සිදු වූයේ පසුගිය කාලයේ එංගලන්ත සංචාරයක් අතරතුර මෙරට ක්‍රිකට් ප්‍රධානින් කිහිපදෙනකු අයිසීසීයේ ඉහළ මට්ටමේ නිලධාරීන් සමඟ සිදු කළ සාකච්ඡාවක ප්‍රතිඵලයක් ලෙසිනි. ඒ අනුව සිඩ්නි නුවර නීති සමාගම හරහා ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රිකට් කවුන්සිලයේ සභාපතිවරයාට ලිපියක් යොමු කරමින් තමාට හිමි අයිතිය ලබා දෙන ලෙස සේනක වීරරත්න නැවත ඉල්ලා සිටියේය.

හර්ෂ කබ්රාල් සහ කුෂාන් ඉලංගකෝන් නීතිඥවරු දෙදෙනා එක්ව මේ පිළිබඳ නීතිමය වශයෙන් අයිසීසීයට දන්වා යවා තිබේ. අයිසීසීය මගින් ස්ථාපිත කළ ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදයේ ප්‍රධානම කරුණු 4 වසර 1997 දී සේනක වීරරත්න විසින් ‘දි ඔස්ට්‍රේලියන්‘ පුවත්පතට ලියන ලද ලිපියෙහි සටහන්ව ඇති බව යළි පෙන්වා දී තිබේ.

එම කරුණු හතර මෙසේය. පිටියේ විනිසුරුගේ තීරණයට එකඟ නොවන්නේ නම් ඊට එරෙහිව අභියාචනා කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවක් දිය යුතුය. එම ඉල්ලීම පන්දු රැකීමේ කණ්ඩායමේ නායකයා හරහා සිදු කළ හැකිය. එම අභියාචනාව තුන්වැනි විනිසුරුට යොමු කළ යුතුය. පිටියේ විනිසුරුගේ තීරණවලට එරෙහිව අභියාචනා කිරීමේ වාර ගණන ඉනිමකට යම් නිශ්චිත ප්‍රමාණයකින් සීමා කළ යුතුය. එම කරුණු සියල්ල මේ වනවිට ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමවේදයට ඇතුළත් බව පැහැදිලිව පෙනේ.

සේනක වීරරත්න මහතා කොළඹ රාජකීය විදුහලේ ආදි සිසුවෙකි. හෙතෙම 70 දශකයේදී කොළඹ නීති පීඨයට ඇතුළත් වී ඇති අතර, පසුකාලීනව ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ මොනෑෂ් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ වැඩිදුරටත් අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබුවෙකි.

‘ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයෝ කියන්නේ ක්‍රීඩා පිටියේදී විතරක් නෙවෙයි පිටියෙන් පිටතත් දස්කම් පෙන්වන ජාතියක්. මගේ ඩීආර්එස් ක්‍රමයෙන් ඒ බව අපි ලෝකයට ඔප්පු කළා. යම්කිසි විදිහකින් යම්කිසි සංකල්පයකින් ආර්ථික වාසියක් ලබනවා නම් ඉන් කොටසක් නිර්මාණකරුට නිර්මාතෘට දිය යුතුයි. මම ඉල්ලන්නේ ඒ අයිතියයි. මගේ සංකල්පය ලොවට ඉදිරිපත් කරද්දී කිසිම ක්‍රීඩාවක ඒ වගේ සංකල්ප තිබුණේ නෑ. ටෙනිස්, හොකී, රග්බි, පාපන්දු වගේ ලොව ජනප්‍රිය ක්‍රීඩාවලටත් මේ සංකල්පය ඇතුළත් වුණේ මා නිසයි.මට ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවට තවත් සංකල්ප හඳුන්වා දෙන්න පුළුවනි. ඒත් මෙවැනි සංකල්පවලට පිළිගැනීමක් සිදු කරන්නේ නැතිනම් අලුත් සංකල්ප මගෙන් විතරක් නෙවෙයි වෙන කාගෙන්වත් බිහිවන එකක් නෑ.‘ සේනක වීරරත්න අවසන් වශයෙන් කියා

Courtesy:  ‘Silumina’

December 17, 2022

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Daily News Editorial ( Feb. 11, 2010}

In 1997 a Sri Lankan lawyer Senaka Weeraratna proposed the use of a
Third Umpire in an appellate capacity with powers to entertain and
decide upon appeals from a player dissatisfied with the decision of an
on-field umpire.

Twelve years later after much debate and discussion in the cricket
world, the ICC accommodated Weeraratne’s proposal in the Umpire
Decision Review System (UDRS). The rule became applicable in Test
Cricket from October 1, 2009.

Even though the key mechanism of the UDRS is Weeraratne’s proposal the
ICC has still not recognized his authorship. Though Sri Lanka
Cricket (SLC) has accepted his authorship it has also shown a lukewarm
attitude and has not been canvassed vigorously to get it accepted by the ICC.

Even the international media remain silent on the question of
authorship in this case. This is in contrast to the established
practice in the ICC where two Englishmen, for example, Frank
Duckworth and Tony Lewis were projected as authors of the Duckworth
Lewis rule applicable to rain-affected one-day matches.

We cannot understand the logic of the ICC’s unwillingness to give credit
to Senaka Weeraratna. The only reason we could surmise is that it is yet
another instance of racial prejudice.

The ICC must realize that the West has lost its hold on the cricketing
world as more Asian, African, and Latin American nations are taking up
the game. It is high time that the ICC got down from its colonial
ivory tower and recognizes talent wherever it is found. ICC’s reluctance
to give in is just not cricket.

Courtesy: Daily News

KAMALIKA PIERIS

REVISED 18.11.23

The Sarasavi publication Kurundi vihara vamsaya” (2023) provides a systematic account of the difficulties faced by Kurundi in the present period. The account is often in the first person, from the experience of the chief priest of Kurundi, Ven. Galgamuwe Santhabodhi.

 In this book, Ven. Santhabodhi relates his experience in trying to revitalize Kurundi. When he was residing at Sapumalgastenne aramaya at Weli Oya, he had met a team from the Department of Archaeology who had come to report on the destruction of Buddhist ruins in the area. They had gifted Santhabodhi three booklets prepared by the Department of Archaeology, Vavuniya Regional office, on the Buddhist ruins at Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu.

Santhabodhi also read Ellawela Medhananda’s writings on the subject. He had received a copy of Cyril Matthew’s report from Kosala Pattinige as well.

Santhabodhi and others were thinking of creating a pilgrim site at Weli Oya, which would attract the pilgrims who came to Anuradhapura.  He realized that at Kurundi, there was a very significant Buddhist monument that could be converted to a valuable place of worship. This would also help develop the area around it.

He   informed the Regional director of Archaeology at Vavuniya of his idea and said he wished to visit Kurundi.  He visited Kurundi in 16th May 2018 accompanied by officials of the Department of Archaeology and one other monk. There was no clear access to Kurundi, he recalled. They had to follow animal tracks up the hill. The hillside was thick with trees and undergrowth. There were huge holes dug all over the place at Kurundi.    Photographs of this first visit are given in Kurundi vihara vamsaya” on p 323.

 On 17. May 2018, Ven. Santhabodhi wrote to the Director, Department of Archaeology, to Director, Forest Department and to the President of Sri Lanka saying that he would like to restore Kurundi.

Santhabodhi went to Dubai in May 2018 for a religious event and there too, he discussed the matter with interested Buddhist devotees who assured him of their support.  He also spoke to Raj Somadeva whom he met there.

On 8th   May 2018 Santhabodhi wrote again to Director, Department of Archaeology   and met him too. The result was positive.  On 2018.8.9 the Vavuniya Regional office of the Department of Archaeology was instructed to help Ven. Santhabodhi’ in his work at Kurundi. Vavuniya asked Mullaitivu police, army, and Forest department, to provide security to Santhabodhi.

 On 2018.8.15 there was a discussion on Kurundi at the home of Dharmasiri Perera in Maharagama. The group decided to form an association for the restoration of Kurundi,’ Kurundashoka vihara   Sanrakshana Sangamaya. Mahanayaka of the Amarapura Sri Kalyanawansa order would be its Patron, with Ven. Santhabodhi as advisor,  SMP Kumarasiri  as President , LB Dayananda as  Vice President   Nimal K Pathirana, Secretary  MVD Henry, Assistant secretary  , GP Perera   Treasurer  and  Varuna Chamikara as organizer.

 Santhabodhi wished to set up a   residence for the Sangha at Kurundi which would also be a religious centre. (Senasanayak).He planned to use the cabinet approval given in Cyril Mathew’s time for setting up such a residence at Kurundi. He went to Colombo many times to get permission, also to Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi offices.   Mullaitivu authorities agreed but Kilinochchi did not give permission so I forgot this and turned my attention to the restoration of the Kurundi archaeology site”, said Santhabodhi.

Matugama Seneviruvan gave him many relevant documents on Kurundi including a speech by ELB Hurulle in Hansard. This referred to the 1933 Gazette on Kurundi. Santhabodhi then went to the National Archives and got a copy of the Gazette.  He also went to the Survey Department and obtained the survey plans listed in the Gazette. He got certified copies of all these and gave them to Department of Archaeology.  Until then the Department had not known about any of this.

The first discussion on the conservation of Kurundi was held on 30.9.2020. The Secretary, Buddha Sasana Ministry, Director of the Department of Archaeology, Jagath Sumathipala and Chandra Wakista were present. It was decided to hand the conservation work to Department of Archaeology, Rajarata University. Rajarata was asked to provide a plan and estimate. Santhabodhi and others went to Rajarata and had had a discussion on 28.10.20.

 Rajarata sent in a plan. A team from Department of Archaeology was also to work on Kurundi with them. The estimate was 10 million. Santhabodhi decided to solicit donations as he thought the Archaeology Department won’t have enough money.

On 23.12.2020 Kurundi was registered as a temple with Santhabodhi as it chief monk. Excavation work was launched at an auspicious time on January 18, 2021. Buddha Sasana Minister Vidura Wickramanayake,  All Ceylon Buddhist Congress President Jagath Sumathipala,   Government Agent, Vavuniya ,  Director, Department of  Archaeology , officers of the  Department of Archaeology ,Commander of the Mullaitivu division of the  Sri Lanka army,  soldiers from that Division, members of   Bauddhaloka Foundation  and  some  Buddhist devotees, including  Ranil Sampath of Kuliyapitiya, participated in the ceremony.

Excavation work of stupa was started on January 26, 2021 and was completed in two months. Conservation started with Seth pirit on 12^th May 21.  We constructed an attractive pirit mandapaya, 29 bhikkhus from Gosinha Aramaya came and chanted seth pirit from 6 to 10 pm. The stupa was well lit up recalled Santhabodhi.

The next day they started conservation. There were two teams, one for stupa, and one for pilimage. Santhabodhi got the conservation team at Sapumalgaskada transferred to Kurundi as they were a better team, very keen.

During excavation they found an important inscription which showed   that Kurundi was a Buddhist site. It was the inscription by Udaya VI, seen by Sirimal Ranwella. It further confirmed the status of Kurundi. They found another inscription but it was too faint to be read.  In the pilimage they found many Buddha statues.

Santhabodhi observed that the army and the Archaeology Department    teams had worked with much enthusiasm and dedication at Kurundi, unshaken by obstacles. The Archaeology Department team stayed at Kurundi for a continuous three months. Air force helped with shramadana. Northern Province Department of Road development had helped to keep the approach road in good repair.

Buddhist devotees had also wanted to contribute to the conservation through shramadana. but Director,   Archaeology had    refused   permission. Therefore there was a limited amount of shramadana. Sakyaputra Foundation members did shramadana on several occasions.  In October 2021 the young members of   Sakyaputhra came and did shramadana. They carried sand and bricks up to the stupa.  Ranil Sampath group from Kuliyapitiya also did shramadana.

Kurundi was turned into a place of worship long before the Department of Archaeology     had completed its work. Santhabodhi organized several pinkamas, while the work was going on. One was a Seth pirit attended by Ministers Channa Jayasumana and CB Ratnayake and their group on May   2, 2022.

Santhabodhi said   that even if there is no regular religious service at Kurundi, there is a limited amount of religious observances going on. if Buddhists wish to come on pilgrimage facilities can be made available for about 20 persons in a place near the tank.

 On February 13.2023 they finished consecration of   the stupa. Conservation formally ended on 17^th March with a ceremony.  The ceremony was to have taken place in the Prime Minister Office in Colombo with participation of World Buddhist Fellowship, but the   Prime Minister’s office refused to allow this. Minister Vidura Wickramanayake said he couldn’t attend either.  So we had the celebration ourselves at Kurundi on March 17, said Santhabodhi.  

The Tamil Separatist Movement obstructed the public ceremony for the enshrinement of the relics planned for June 12^th, 2022. The relics were enshrined in a quiet ceremony later, on 7^th August .22. Santhabodhi then went from place to place” regarding the boundary stones. They were set down on 24.August 22.

The work of 5 years came to an end, recalled Santhabodhi, with deep feeling. Santhabodhi said that he has spent hours and hours during those four years hanging around departments and offices, to get this project completed.

However, Ven. Santhabodhi initiative had been recognized. Santhabodhi was invited to the Presidential Buddhist Advisory Committee meeting on 24. July.2020.He took along his plan for conservation of 10 temples in the Vavuniya and Mullaitivu area and a plan for securing the many Buddhist   ruins in the whole of the north.

The Amarapura Kalyanawansa Nikaya also recognized his work. He was made the   Sanganayake of the Kalyanavansa order for the Northern Province. The head of the order visited Kurundi to see for himself . The other two nikayas also supported Santhabodhi .Ven. Medagoda Abayatissa of Siam Nikaya spoke up for Santhabodhi   and his work at Kurundi. . Ven. Mukaleve Wimala of  Ramanna Nikaya  wrote to  the President regarding Kurundi  on 19.10.2022 

The Sangha  recognized Santhabodhi’s work at Kurundi. Various senior monks came to see  Kurundi. Ven. Dodampahala Chandasiri  had written to the President on  22.09.22  regard Kurundi and the difficulties faced by Santhabodhi. Ven.  Kiriibbanwewa Upanitha,  UssapitIye Negroda and  Ussapitiya Assaji  had helped  obtain drone pictures  of Kurundi.

The Sangha has supported Santhabodhi  throughout, realizing that he was young and badly needed such support. They did so individually, not en masse. Santhabodhi  mentions by name and with much appreciation, the  many monks who supported him .I will give just  two arbitrarily selected  names, Ven. Medille Pannaloka  and  the  viharadhipathi of Kiriibbanwewa Pirivena.

A considerable  number of  the    public  were interested in Kurundi and came to see, said Santhabodhi. Supporters set up a Whatsapp group for Kurundi,  also a Face book page Rakimu Mullaitivu Kurundi vihara”’. There was much publicity in the media about Kurundi. Journalist Taranga Ratnavira wrote a widely read    piece in Irida Divaina of  October 10, 2018.  Ama Wanniarachchi  wrote to the English  papers. Bauddhaloka Foundation held a Kurunda loka sambhashanaya on May 23, 2019. 

 On February 3^rd, 2021   there was a media presentation via Zoom, with the participation of   Department of Information, Department of Archaeology , and Buddha Sasana Ministry, about the excavations going on at Kurundi. Ellawela Medhananda, Director, Department of  Archaeology and Secretary ,Buddha Sasana Ministry spoke. The false    statements by the Tamil Separatist Movement were exposed, also their howlers. Tamil Separatist Movement has said that the  yupa gala discovered at Kurundi was a Siva lingam.

Ven. Santhabodhi encountered the usual opposition. Secretary, Buddha Sasana Commission had told him that he had been told not to give Santhabodhi prominence in this matter. He had also received letters from other Nikayas telling him not to help Santhabodhi. Ven. Medagoda Abayatissa who was with Santhabodhi at the time replied that there was no Nikaya bedha as popularly supposed. He was from the Siam Nikaya. But if other Nikayas wished, there were another 500 or so Buddhist ruins which they could work on.   

Santhabodhi met both Gotabhaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa when each briefly held the position of President of Sri Lanka.  Santhabodhi had written to Gotabhaya when he became President about the importance of Kurundi.  He subsequently met President Gotabhaya.

 Ven. Santhabodhi had met President Mahinda and shown him his (Santhabodhi’s) plan for protecting Buddhist ruins and his plans for conservation of 10 selected Buddhist ruins in north.  Mahinda Rajapaksa had said that in order to protect a   Buddhist ruin a member of the Sangha must be stationed there.  Wimal Weerawansa    had   spoken to Santhabodhi  and   written to  Tiran Alles. 

Santhabodhi openly said that he did not receive any acknowledgment or assistance from Maitripala Sirisena or Sajith Premadasa.  Sirisena came to Mullaitivu for a meeting and members of ACBC and I tried to meet him but he did not give us an opportunity. Sajith spends millions on temples in south.  But not even one rupee for us, observed Santhabodhi .When Gurukanda chef priest fell ill, I tried to contact them and get their assistance but there was no response.

Bauddhaloka Foundation was the major sponsor for Kurundi. Bauddhaloka Foundation signed an  agreement  with Department of Archaeology on January  13, 2022. Ven. Santhabodhi received considerable financial support from others too. BA Mahipala of Sinhala Veera Vidana gave 3 million.  Central Cultural Fund gave materials for the guard house and it was erected by the army 

Sri Sakyaputra Foundation helped me greatly with   money   and for my writings, said Santhabodhi. They set up a fund for Kurundi. This is the only  Buddhist NGO in the north and east. The head of this NGO, Gayathri Dangampola who lives in UJK, has greatly helped with schools supplies and health equipment at Weli Oya and Bogaswewa as well, added Santhabodhi.

Asiri Perera of Dubai had also helped. Santhabodhi built a temporary guard house with the   4 lakhs sent by Asiri Perera’s group from Dubai. The Helabima Sanvidhanaya based in the Middle East had promised money for 10,000 bricks. The Mallawaratchchi family from Palugashandiya helped. Sasun Ketha Asveddamu group led by Isuru Arendra Jayatilleke helped to improve the shelter at Kurundi. We transported the sand and cement from Weli Oya in Asela mahatha’s   lorry. 

Solar power to light up Kurundi was financed by several groups. They were the dayaka sabha of Ganemulla, a group of devotees led by Dr Gamini Jayaweera of  Central Hospital, Colombo, and the  Tilakawardene group of companies led by Chameera Sampath, HGG Dharmasiri,  AG Ananda,  and Sarath Kumara,

Jagath Sumathipala  saw to the comforts of the Archaeology Department  and army stationed at Kurundi. He roped in his family and friends for this. Matugama Seneviruwan deserves special mention. His has made a valuable contribution to the reviving of  Kurundi. As described earlier, he  provided Santhabodhi with the critical documents regarding Kurundi. He also  went to Mullaitivu courts when the  Kurundi case was heard on Oct 13, 2022 to give support to Santhabodhi .

I do not usually mention names, for obvious reasons, but in this case I thought I would include names to show readers the response Santhabodhi received from the public. I decided to mention the names of lay devotees only and leave out the rest. I trust that I have not made any serious omissions in the above list. The names are taken from Kurundi vihara vamsaya”.

The book Kurundi vihara vamsaya” carries many more names. It is a catalogue of names. The book has a comprehensive list of all those who helped in the Kurundi project. It mentions all those who came from the Department of Archaeology, the Sri Lanka Armed forces, and the relevant ministries, particularly Buddha Sasana and National Heritage. Photographs accompany the names. The various bhikkhus who to came to see Santhabodhi at Kurundi to offer moral support are also gratefully remembered and individually named in the book.    (Continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

REV 21.11.23

Ven. Santhabodhi met with continuous opposition from the Tamil Separatist Movement in his attempt to conserve Kurundi. The Tamil Separatist Movement had been observing what was going on in Kurundi from the very start and moved in on important occasions.

EVENT NO 1

 On 4. September 2018. Santhabodhi accompanied by Department of Archaeology officers from Vavuniya and Colombo set off for Kurundi,   to make arrangements to set up a guard house at Kurundi, They were not allowed to proceed to Kurundi. 

The police stopped them halfway and told them that they did not have permission to erect any new structures. There was a police post at the Norochcholai tank and a Tamil police officer had come and questioned them. He was also was in conversation with someone by phone, in Tamil recalled Santhabodhi.

They   turned back to go to Sapumalgaskada. On the way, a group of   Tamil demonstrators on scooters blocked the vehicle, scolded in strong language   and    tried to pull Santhabodhi out. They assaulted the driver and ordered him to turn the van round and follow the demonstrators. They were taken to the tank bund where a waiting media team filmed them. Also waiting were about 100 Tamils on scooters. Santhabodhi and his group were taken before their leaders, who Santhabodhi thought were Tamil MPs and Tamil separatists.

The Archaeology Department staff   informed the police and army. After several hours trapped with this group, Oddusuddan police came and took us to the police station for a statement.  Archaeology   officers showed documents and said they came on legitimate business. This had been reported later in Tamil media that it was a plan to built Buddhist temples in their homeland and settle Sinhalese. We returned to Sapumalgaskada about 7 pm.  We got many phone calls from concerned persons because the media reported this.

This was the first of the many obstructions carried out by the Tamil Separatist Movement against the revival of Kurundi. This event received much publicity locally and abroad, resulting in increased support for Kurundi from Sangha and laity. Photographs of this incident appear on p 328 in the book Kurundi vihara vamsaya”.

On 2018.09.05 Oddusuddan police filed a case at Mullaitivu Magistrate court against Santhabodhi on the charge of disturbing the peace  by attempting to install a Buddha statue.  The event was presented as a clash between two parties.

It appears that there was also a second complaint made by a group of Tamil persons asking that that the excavation be stopped.  The complainants were N Ruchikka,   T Radhika, A Nirojini,   Subha Viduran, and K. Ganeshwaran.

They complained that a Buddhist monk has come and tried to install a Buddha statue in Kurundi. Kurundi was in a majority Tamil area .There are no Buddhists in the area. The ruins at Kurundi are Hindu ruins. There is a small kovil there where they worshipped. Buddhists are trying to erect a Buddhist temple here. This was an attempt to erase the Hindu tradition and impose Buddhism here. This is a violation of the rights of the Hindus.

Santhabodhi was advised to make a statement to the Police in Colombo, giving his side of the story. He appears to have gone there without a lawyer and the result was that the complaint,   made on 2018.9.14,   was recorded as   a complaint by Santhabodhi against Oddusuddan police. Santhabodhi then made a fresh complaint at  Oddusuddan  on  30^th September, 2018 saying that he  had been was obstructed  while on  a    legitimate journey, threatened and harassed.

In the meantime, All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) took an interest in the matter. Santhabodhi was invited to present his case before the Buddhist Rights Commission of the ACBC.  Ten senior monks also attended the session.  Santhabodhi was able to convince the ACBC of his stand on the Kurundi matter and ACBC lawyers offered to appear for Santhabodhi in court.    

The case was called on September 17 2018. at Mullaitivu Magistrate court. Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka   accompanied Santhabodhi. ACBC had sent lawyer Samith Kalhara.  A husband and wife team of lawyers   Nuwan Ballantudawe and his wife Piyumi also appeared for him. Case was called again on October 1.2018. Magistrate ordered Department of Archaeology, Vavuniya to make a report within 3 weeks, as to what exactly they were doing at Kurundi. 

By October 16th     a three month archaeology plan for Kurundi was ready. The Vavuniya office worked round the clock with much dedication to complete this. They treated it not as a religious smatter but as a national matter, said Santhabodhi.

 EVENT NO 2.

Date for starting work at Kurundi was set for January 18, 2021.  On 2021.1.17 MP Gajendran Ponnambalam and his group arrived at Kurundi and raised objections.  They were taken to the site and shown what was going to be done.  

The ceremony for starting excavation took place as scheduled. Department of Archaeology team came and got the place ready for the    ceremony, with the assistance of the army team, recalled Santhabodhi. Minster for Buddha Sasana and the Government Agent, Mullaitivu were invited.   Vavuniya Civil Defense Force Hevisi troupe was in   attendance.

However, Secretary Buddha Sasana Ministry phoned Santhabodhi and asked him to stay away from the ceremony since his presence would be misunderstood by the Tamils. Pansil and pirit would be relayed by tape.     Santhabodhi complied and stayed in the army camp.

EVENT NO 3

We had planned to have a pinkama on February 4^th 2022 with about 20 monks. But in the morning MPs Sumanthiran and Rasamanickam came to Kurundi and behaved aggressively.  They held a media conference and said that the conservation of Kurundi vihara should be stopped.   There is a Hindu kovil here and the Department of Archaeology had prevented them from coming to worship.   They will be going to courts and MP Sumanthiran will appear. However we held the pinkama that evening as planned, concluded Santhabodhi.  

EVENT NO 4

The major event of the newly revived Kurundi vihara was the enshrining of relics. This was planned for June 12^th 2022.  However, the event was disrupted by a group of Tamil demonstrators led by Tamil politicians. They came, blocked the entrance to stupa, shouted, and created a disturbance.  This was shown on television news. The plan to install relics was abandoned.

Santhabodhi recalled: we planned a simple yet majestic relic enshrinement. The relics were obtained by Ven.   Mirigama Upavana   and Iresh Devinda. Over 100 monks were invited including leading monks of Amarapura, and Siyam Nikaya. The Mahayanake of Asgiri vihara was invited. The Tri Nikaya would be represented by Ven. Dodampola Chandrasiri.

We invited all government officials in the north together as well as other dignitaries.   Invitations were sent out by the Ministry of Buddha Sasana. Lay devotees were coming from Maharagama in two busloads.

In the evening Jagath Sumathipala and I inspected the area. Where to place the temporary lavatories, flags, decorations, mandapaya for relics, display platform, seats for the monks, for the laity, water, also publicity for the event. Bus loads from Maharagama was expected.  Bauddhaloka Foundation was doing the Dane and a group from Kuliyapitiya led by Ranil Sampath had undertaken the rest of the food and drink. Everything was going well.

The day before we heard that Tamil Separatist Movement   was going to obstruct the ceremony.  But I did not worry since the army and police were attending to   security.  What we were doing was lawful. Police, Special Forces, and army   had worked out a special security plan which they did not want publicized.  

The vehicle carrying the relics left Sapumalgaskada the day before, going through Bogaswewa, Padaviya, Sri Pura and Weli Oya for settlers to worship on the way, it would be left for the night at 24 Sinha regiment camp.  Since the decorations were not ready we were not able to take the relics to the stupa   the next day, as we  had planned , which actually was a good thing, taking into account what happened.

At 9.30 on 22.6.12 just before the ceremony was to start and the invitees were coming in, a group of demonstrators led by Tamil Parliament MPs, and Tamil Provincial Councilors accompanied by a media outfit, came in carrying placards objecting to the ceremony. There were about 40 of them. They were from Oddusuddan, Mannar and Puthudurikuppu. Since security said that they would go away, we continued with our preparations.   We did not inform the Secretary, Defense or the IGP.

But the Tamil protestors did not go away. They stayed. They said that we had violated an order. Not one asked what the order was, said Santhabodhi. With the police and security watching, the Tamil protestors removed the bhikkhus seated in the stupa area and stopped the rest from coming in. Monks were taken away to the dana salawa.  The Tamil protesters insulted the Gosinha monks arriving at the venue.  They halted the buses that were bringing worshippers. They tore down the decorations. They sat down on the stupa premises and prevented the ceremony from taking place. 

Security asked us not to confront the demonstrators, said Santhabodhi. Santhabodhi was then asked to postpone the event, he was told that security had requested. D/Archaeology was also of the same mind. Police wanted the pinkama stopped but we did not agree, recalled Santhabodhi.    This was a legitimate activity done with state patronage. 

Santhabodhi thought it was a  very wrong request. This was a legitimate event and there should have been a charge against the Tamils for disturbing it. Tamils should have been told that this was a  pinkama under state patronage, and that they were disturbing an official ceremony.

  I could not understand how they could ask for this postponement, when worshipers had come from far spending money,   as well as the Maha Sangha who came very willingly.  The dane and other food had been prepared with much difficulty.  It is not right to ask that the pinkama be postponed because of the actions of an unlawful extremist group.

The cancellation of the event did not satisfy the Tamil protestors. They said that till all the Sinhalese left they were not leaving.  So the Sinhalese were led away. But Tamil protestors did not leave. They ate all the food laid out.

 Director, Archaeology came at 2 pm with other officials and spoke to the Tamil demonstrators. the Tamil Separatist Movement issued a statement to the media afterwards.  Then I left the place and on the way saw groups of Tamils standing around, recalled Santhabodhi. 

Santhabodhi returned to Kurundi at 4 pm and found the Tamil protestors still there. A busload had come from Jaffna and had    surrounded the stupa and were demonstrating. They   tried to challenge Ven. Kassapa who had come from UK.

The Tamil protestors were happy.  Director of Archaeology    had    told them that the work on Kurundi will be stopped. So they became even more confident and refused to leave till the last Buddhist flag was removed.   The police removed all the decorations including flags and the Tamils left at 6.30. They showed on media the removal of the Buddhist flag.  The Tamil Separatist Movement broadcast this on all their channels as a victory.  Despite my opposition the relics were taken back to Sapumalgaskada, lamented Santhabodhi. 

Tamil media was full of this event, but very few Buddhists knew of this. Only two local newspapers recorded this. However, the protest was shown at length on television news and the public were alerted, though Santhabodhi may not have known this.

I did not see the Buddhist media and the Maha Sangha object to this event, said Santhabodhi. The majority of Buddhist and Sangha did not seem to be concerned about it. I spoke to a selected few by phone.  In 2019 they were very vocal and said that we must protect the Buddhist heritage of north but now they were silent, he lamented.

Santhabodhi also expressed his disappointment with the police and security forces. We had discussed security arrangements with army, police, civil defense, air, navy Special Forces earlier.   The army and police said they had a secret security plan which they were not divulging. Therefore when we heard on the 11^th that the Tamil Separatist Movement was getting ready to disturb the function we were not worried.   We thought security would step in. 

Instead, the Police simply watched in silence and did nothing to stop the protest. Vehicles bringing in Tamil demonstrators were not stopped and sent back. Police answer was that Archaeology Department had not informed them of this ceremony and they were not instructed to remove the demonstrators.

A different explanation was offered later by security.  That   on that day there was  to be a huge Hindu puja at Mullaitivu and  Hindus were coming in huge numbers, about 50,000 for it, and if they broke into to Kurundi, there will be a serious clash. They said that they had mentioned this at the start to Santhabodhi. If so why did they let us proceed with this? They said they had a secret security plan, said Santhabodhi.

The relic chamber could not be kept open indefinitely, it had to be closed.  Therefore the relics were installed in a quiet ceremony on   August 7^th 2022. The stupa was ready for worship. (continued)

Dilrook Kannangara

Presenting the budget in parliament, President Wickramasinghe repeatedly mentioned that his budget is not an election budget. However, the substance of his budget is a complete election budget. It is aimed at reviving the UNP as a viable political party once again at the expense of rural masses and national interests.

The budget proposes a small salary increase of 10,000 rupees for selected public sector employees. However, what is given is robbed via increases in consumption taxes (VAT). This worsens inflation, budget deficit and debt trap. The other plan is to show how expensive the public sector is to the IMF and easily justify privatization plans. This salary hike increases public sector salary bill by over 100 billion rupees. This budget gives enough rope to public sector workers to hang themselves via the IMF agreement.

Rural masses have been totally disregarded by the budget. They have nothing to gain from this budget. In fact, this is the only budget in 20 years that has totally disregarded and downplayed rural masses of the country.

Lower middle class and middle class will also be worse off from this budget.

How can Ranil get away with this? Simple; he knows that most SLPP MPs must support his budget no matter how disastrous it is because otherwise the parliament will be dissolved and a fresh election must be held where most of them will be defeated. Self before country.

MPs supporting this budget are anti-people and anti-national. This budget must be defeated to save people and the nation. This will allow the parliamentary majority to replace Ranil with a more pro-people finance minister at a time when the nation cries for a people-centered approach to resolve problems. Voting for this budget is a sure guarantee of election disaster for those who vote for it in addition to causing another national disaster.

Manusha Media

මනුෂ්‍යත්වය අන් සියල්ලට ඉහළින් අගය කරන ජනතාවක් ලෙස සියලු භේද පසෙකලා, සහෝදරත්වයෙන් සහ අන්‍යෝන්‍ය අවබෝධයෙන් යුතුව එකිනෙකා වෙනුවෙන් යුතුකම් ඉටුකරන ජනසමාජයක් ගොඩනැගීමට දායකත්වය සැපයීමේ අරමුණ ඇතිව ‘’අපිට ඉන්නෙ අපි විතරයි’’ යන තේමාව ඔස්සේ සැලසුම් කරන ලද සංහිදියාවේ මනුසත්කාරය වැඩසටහන් පෙළේ ආරම්භක දැනුවත්කිරීම් සැසිය සර්ව ආගමික පූජකවරුන් සහ කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය ගරු මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මැතිතුමා ප්‍රමුඛ විශේෂ අමුත්තන්ගේ සහභාගිත්වය සහිතව 2023 නොවැම්බර් 16 වැනි බ්‍රහස්පතින්දා උදෑසන 10.30ට කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍යාංශ ශ්‍රවණාගාරයේදී පැවැත්විණි. උතුම් මනුසත්කම පෙරදැරි කරගත් මනුදම්, ගුණදම් සහ යහපත්කම් රැකගනිමින් ස්වාර්ථයට වඩා පරාර්ථය වෙනුවෙන් කටයුතු කරන සියලුදෙනාගේ දායකත්වය ලබාගනිමින් ඉදිරි කාලයේදී ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට නියමිත සංහිදියා වැඩසටහන් මාලාවක සමාරම්භක දැනුවත්කිරීම් සැසිය වූ මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගි වූ අෂ්-ශේක් අම්හර් හකම් දීන් මුස්ලිම් පූජකතුමා, විශ්ව ආනන්ද සිව ගුරුකුලම් හි ලේකම්, ජනතා සංගම් උප සභාපති / දර්ශනය පිළිබඳ දේශක සිවා ශ්‍රී සිවා, දර්ශක ශර්මා කුරුක්කල් හින්දු පූජකතුමා, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මෙතොදිස්ත සභාවේ අනුනායක අනුර පෙරේරා පියතුමා සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා අමරපුර හා රාමඤ්ඤ නිකායේ හිටපු මහා ලේඛකාධිකාරී, රුසියානු භාෂා කථිකාචාර්ය, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රුසියානු මිත්‍ර සංගමයේ සභාපති පූජ්‍ය පල්ලේකන්දේ රතනසාර නාහිමි ඇතුළු සර්ව ආගමික නියෝජිතයින් විසින් මෙවැනි සංහිදියා වැඩසටහනක කාලීන වැදගත්කම පිළිබඳව අදහස් දක්වනු ලැබිණි.

දුප්පත් – පොහොසත්, උගත් – නූගත්, උස් – මිටි, ගැහැනු – පිරිමි වැනි විවිධ වෙනස්කම් හෝ ජාති, කුල-මල, ආගම් ඇතුළු වාර්ගික භේද නොසලකා මිනිස්කම නමැති එකම හැඟීමෙන් බැඳී අප සැමවිටම කටයුතු කළ යුතු බව සියලු ආගමික නියෝජිතයින්ගේ අදහස්වලින් කියැවිණි. සිතුම් පැතුම්, හැඟීම් දැනීම් සහ ආකල්ප විකල්ප වැනි විවිධ කරුණු කාරණා සම්බන්ධයෙන් එකිනෙකා අතර කොපමණ විෂමතා තිබිය හැකි වුවද, අප සියල්ලන් මනුෂ්‍යයින්ය යන පදනමෙහි පිහිටා කටයුතු කිරීම ඉතා වැදගත් වන බවද, කිසියම් ජන සමාජයක සාමූහිකව ජීවත් වන පිරිසක් ලෙස අප සියල්ලන් අතර අන්‍යොන්‍ය අවබෝධය, එකිනෙකාට ගරුකිරීම සහ පරෝපකාරී අන්තර් සබඳතා පවත්වා ගත යුතු වන්නේද උතුම් මනුසත්කම් සහ ගුණ යහපත්කම් පදනම් කර ගනිමින් වන බවද එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අවධාරණය කරනු ලැබිණි. සමාජයක ඉදිරි ගමනට අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වන සාමූහික සහජීවනය මඟින් වඩාත් ඵලදායී අනාගතයක් උදාකර ගැනීමේ හැකියාව පවතින බවද ඔවුන් විසින් පෙන්වාදෙනු ලැබිණි. අනපේක්ෂිත අතුරු ආන්තරා, විපත් හෝ අර්බුදකාරී තත්ත්වයන් හමුවේ පවා සියලු සහෝදර ජන ප්‍රජාවන් එකට එක්ව සහයෝගයෙන් සහ සහෝදරත්වයෙන් කටයුතු කිරීමෙන් සියලු අභියෝග ජයගත හැකි බව මෙහිදී අදහස් පළ කළ සර්ව ආගමික නියෝජිත පූජක, පූජ්‍ය පාර්ශ්වයන් මෙන්ම කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය ගරු මනූෂ නානායක්කාර මැතිතුමා විසින්ද සඳහන් කරනු ලැබිණි.

සැබැවින්ම, මනුසත්කමෙන් සහ සහෝදරාත්මක හැඟීමෙන් බැඳී සිටින ජන සමූහයකට ඕනෑම අභියෝගයක් ජයගැනීමේ හැකියාවද ඇත. කවර තත්ත්වයක් යටතේ වුවද අප එකිනෙකා වෙනුවෙන් ඉදිරිපත් වන්නේ අපම පමණකි. දුකක් කරදරයක්, ලෙඩක් දුකක් හෝ හදිසි අනතුරක් සිදු වූ විටෙකදී සැමවිටම පිහිටට එන්නේ අප සමඟ ජීවත් වන සහෝදර ජනතාවමය. එහිදී අන් සියලු කරුණුවලට වඩා මතු වන්නේ මනුසත්කම නමැති උදාර ගුණාංගය බව පැහැදිලිය. මේ සියලු කරුණු කාරණා සැලකිල්ලට ගනිමින් පොදු සමාජයේ වැඩකටයුතු කරන විට නිතර සඳහන් වන ‘’අපිට ඉන්නෙ අපි විතරයි’’ යන වචන සමූහය සමස්ත ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේම ජනවහරට එක්ව ඇත්තේ සදාතනික සත්‍යයක් වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටින වැකියක් ලෙසය. සැබැවින්ම කවර තත්ත්වයක් යටතේ වුවද ‘’අපිට ඉන්නෙ අපි විතරයි’’ යන ප්‍රකාශය සෑම ජන සමූහයකටම අදාළ වන්නකි. සැබෑ සංහිදියාව සහ සහජීවනය පිළිබඳ සංකල්පය මෙම සරල වචන කිහිපය තුළ ඉතා අපූරුවට ගැබ්ව ඇත. මෙය සියලු ජනකොටස් වෙත සමීපකිරීමේ අරමුණ ඇතිව, ‘’අපිට ඉන්නෙ අපි විතරය’’ යන තේමාව සංහිදියාවේ මනුසත්කාරය පිළිබඳ පුළුල් වැඩසටහන් මාලාවේ මූලික සංදේශ පාඨය ලෙස යොදාගෙන ඇත.

අන්‍යෝන්‍ය අවබෝධය, හිතමිතුරු බැඳීම සහ ගෞරවය මුසු මනුසත් හැඟීමෙන් යුතුව දිගු කලක් තිස්සේ සාමූහික සහජීවනයෙන් දිවි ගෙවන සිංහල, මුස්ලිම් සහ දෙමළ ඇතුළු විවිධ ජන ප්‍රජාවන්ගේ විවිධ අවශ්‍යතා හඳුනා ගනිමින්, එකිනෙකා අතර පවතින සුහදත්වය වඩාත් වර්ධනය වන පරිදි කටයුතු කරන මෙරට සමස්ත ජනතාව සංහිදියාවේ මනුසත්කාරය වැඩසටහන සඳහා එක් වනු ඇත්තේ සැබෑ සහෝදර හැඟීමෙන් යුතුවය. තමන් සමඟ එකට ජීවත් වන සහෝදර ජන කොට්ඨාසයක් වෙනුවෙන් අවස්ථානුකූලව සපුරාලිය යුතු අවශ්‍යතා මොනවාදැයි සොයා බලා ඒ වෙනුවෙන් කළ හැකි සහ කළ යුතු සෑම සියලු දෙයක්ම ඉටුකර දීමට ඔවුන් සැමවිටම පෙරමුණ ගනු ඇත්තේ ‘’අපිට ඉන්නෙ අපි විතරයි’’ යන තේමාව පාදක කරගනිමිනි. සංහිදියාවේ මනුසත්කාරය වැඩසටහන් පෙළේ ආරම්භක පියවර සමඟ එක්වෙමින් සංහිදියාව, සහජීවනය සහ එකමුතුකම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සමස්ත ජන ප්‍රජාවන්ටම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය මෙවැනි උදාර කටයුත්තකට දායක වන්නට ලැබීම පිළිබඳව සැබැවින්ම සතුටු වන බව මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගි වූ සියලුදෙනාගේ අදහස විය. මෙය වඩා යහපත් හෙට දවසක් උදෙසා වූ සමස්ත ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ජනතා බලාපොරොත්තු ඉටුකරලීමට සුවිසල් දායකත්වයක් සපයන සුවිශේෂ සංහිදියා ව්‍යායාමයක් වනු ඇතැයි අපේක්ෂිතය.

Bandaranaike Video Archive Tube

Sugath Kulatunga

In his budget speech 2024 President RW waxed eloquent on his proposal to give legal ownership of land to 2 million families who are now owning them under a license system. He has tried to give the proposal an undeserving anti-colonial nationalist flavor by referring to this land as lands acquired by the British under the Waste Lands Ordinance of 1897. Professor G.H. Peris has pointed out that most of these lands went under plantations. These lands were not redistributed among farmers under the Land Development Ordinance of 1935. His statement is given in the Budget Speech under the heading Urumaya” Programme as Waste Land Ordinance was passed in 1897. The British government acquired thousands of acres of rural land across the country under that Ordinance.

Afterwards, in 1935, under the Land Development Ordinance, those land slots were distributed among farmers under the license system. But although around hundred years have passed, the ownership of these farmlands has not been handed back to the farmers who own them. As mentioned in the drama Chalk Circle”, farmers with good conduct; should win the land and villages” We are handing over the lands to farmers who lost the ownership of their traditional lands during the British colonial era. We expect to commence this task in 2024 and complete it within another few years. Two million (2,000,000) families will get the ownership of land and farmland. I allocate Rs. 2 billion for this purpose.”

On the surface this scheme appears to be a farmer friendly plan to give the farmer the legal right to the land and allow him to use it as a disposable asset where the owner is given the right to dispossess the property which was restricted by the Land Development Ordinance of 1933.

This was precisely the proposal in the MCC Compact which was rejected. It was worded as The goal of the Land Project is to increase the availability of information on private land and underutilized state lands or all land in Sri Lanka to which the Government is lawfully entitled or which may be disposed of by the Government (State Lands) in order to increase land market activity.

The Land Grants Registration and Deed Conversion Activity aims to strengthen tenure security by supporting the conversion of State Lands to the private domain, creating a marketable and bankable title to this land in the name of the landholder. The Government will register the absolute land grants in the title registration system, allowing the use of land as collateral for loans and the free transfer of this land without excessive government restrictions”.

This was completely contrary to the objectives of the 1933 Ordinance of which the key principles were to:-

1. Prevent the disposal of Crown land by outright sale.

2. Land to be alienated by a system of selection and not by auction.

3. Prevent land alienated to a particular class passing into the hands of other classes.

4. Prevent the fragmentation of land.

5. Ensure succession and keep the new owners out of courts of law in that aspect.

The Ordinance encompassing these principles was the brainchild of D.S. Senanayake, the Father of the Nation and was presented to the State Council by another stalwart of the UNP John Kothalawala. It was the intimate knowledge of the repercussions of giving legal ownership to allottees of land, that D.S. and team did not open them to dispossession and litigation.

We had patriots among rulers in 1933.

In that context it is ironical that RW is surreptitiously bringing back the rejected proposals on land policy as described under the Land Project in the MCC Agreement.

In introducing the Land Development Bill in the State Council Sir John said that In the past, the disposal of land was done by public auction, and there were many disadvantages in this system. It gave a distinct advantage to the capitalist class in buying up land as against the less fortunate individual.”

“We must not forget that we have very few acres left and if we do not introduce some sort of Ordinance to prevent the wholesale alienation of land we will have to migrate to other countries in search of land.”

Sir John was concerned with the local capitalist class buying up the land from poor landowners but in the present context there is the grave danger of the local money lender, the rich mudalali who would convert a mortgage to an outright sale. There will be more desperate landowners who are drug and alcohol addicts who would readily sell their lands for a pittance. With the LKR at 360 to a dollar and 396 to an Indian Rupee it would be a bonanza for foreign buyers to buy up cheap land in Sri Lanka. What happened in Palestine when the Jews backed by financial institutions dispossessed the land of Palestinians and the aftermath that followed is not a flight of imagination. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sursock_Purchases

In addition, outright sale of landholdings resulting in fragmenting of farmland among dependents would be a serious disadvantage to mechanization and modernization of the already stamp size farmlands. Fragmentation even among relatives is bound to increased litigation. In the rural areas disharmony among neighbors and crime has its root mainly in land disputes.

Sri Lanka consist of 6.55 million ha of land area where only about 50% is arable. Per capita availability of arable land is only 0.15 hectares (approximately 60 perches). Land is a precious national asset and should be protected.

Budget 2024 has several positive proposals which should be pursued. But to revive the rejected MMC proposal should be condemned and rejected. It is unfortunate that this vital issue has not yet been widely exposed.

The proposed allocation of Rs. 2 billion could be spent on the better utilization of these lands.

Sugath Kulatunga

Media Release Sri Lanka High Commission Canberra

Sri Lanka High Commissioner in Australia Chitrangani Wagiswara paid an official call on the Minister for Multiculturalism, Small Business, Lands and Property and Sport of New South Wales (NSW) Steve Kamper on 7 November 2023 at his office.

The minister spoke of the large number of Sri Lankan expatriates who have made their mark in NSW and noted that most of the Sri Lankans are very well educated and well integrated into the Australian Society. The minister has been closely involved with most of the activities which are organized by Sri Lankan associations in Sydney. The High Commissioner stated that she was pleased to note the encouraging sentiments expressed by the minister.

The two sides discussed avenues for further cooperation and the need for the State government’s assistance in promoting links between Australia and Sri Lanka especially in the trade sector. It was agreed that the High Commission and the State Minister’s Office would keep in close contact to facilitate and promote further links that would be mutually beneficial.

During the visit to Sydney, the President of the Sri Lanka Australia Chamber of Commerce Kalum de Silva organised a Business Round Table on 8 November 2023. Members from the Australia-Sri Lanka Business Council also attended the Round Table.

In his introductory remarks, Kalum de Silva highlighted the ongoing activities and programmes that are in place between Sri Lanka and Australia. He also spoke of the visit to Sri Lanka by a business delegation organized in partnership with the Victoria State Government, the Aboriginal Economic Development Group (AEDG) and other stakeholders. Meetings were held in Sri Lanka with Export Development Board, National Chamber of Commerce, SLASSCom and other stakeholders as well as visits to places of interest.

 In addressing the participants at the Round Table, the High Commissioner outlined the areas of cooperation and potential that could be looked into by those interested in business and the investment sectors. Some of those present at the Round Table raised issues that need to be addressed in promoting trade and investment links and made suggestions on areas that could be pursued.

The High Commissioner invited the members of the chambers and other interested parties to be in touch with the High Commission as well as the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Melbourne so that any assistance sought and networking opportunities could be arranged.

Sri Lanka High Commission

Canberra

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera Courtesy The Daily Mirror

PARLIAMENT (Daily Mirror) – The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) will not be convened until issues pertaining to its chairman is resolved, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced today.

The Speaker’s announcement came after opposition MPs requested him to remove COPE Chairman Prof. Ranjith Bandara from his post. 

“COPE members should resolve the issue pertaining to Professor Bandara as per the Standing Orders,” the Speaker said. 

The COPE meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. today was also cancelled, the speaker announced.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa said a report submitted by the Sri Lanka Audit Services Association revealed that the COPE chairman had failed in his duty by refraining from issuing recommendations.

It has also been found that the Colombo Business School, headed by Professor Bandara, has reached a business deal with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Premadasa said.

National Peoples Power (NPP) MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake also requested the Speaker to remove Professor Bandara from his post.

“Professor Bandara should be kept away from at least the probe into Sri Lankan cricket,” he said.

BY YOHAN PERERA AND AJITH SIRIWARDANA

COLOMBO (Daily Mirror)- President Ranil Wickremesinghe had a discussion with Asian Cricket Council president Jay Shah on Thursday to discuss the cricket crisis in Sri Lanka, Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said today.

He told this in Parliament while responding to a claim by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa alleging that Jay Shah’s father is the right-hand man of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

“One must not politicise the cricket crisis using parliamentary privileges. Sri Lankan cricketers will not be able to play even division 1 cricket as a result of Sri Lanka’s suspension from ICC,” he said. 

Minister Harin Fernando said even ground boys cannot be paid their salaries because of the ICC suspension. Sri Lanka will lose the opportunity of hosting the Under 19 World Cup in January next year, he said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Committee on High Posts has approved the appointment of former Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama as the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

He had served as the Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs from 28 January 2007 until he was defeated in the General Elections held on 8 April 2010, losing his seat in parliament.

Bogollagama also briefly served as the Governor of the Eastern Province from July 2017 to December 2018.

Further, the High Posts Committee also approved the following appointments:

• Mrs. K.D. Seneviratne – High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India

• Mr. D.D.M.S.B Dissanayake – High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the Republic of Singapore

• Mr. W.K.C. Weerasena – Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union

• Mr. K.D.N.R. Asoka – Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government

• Dr. B.K.J. K Perera – Chairman of Ceylon Fertilizer Company Ltd.

The Committee on High Posts met in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov.15) under the chairmanship of Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva and Vidura Wickramanayake, MPs John Seneviratne, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Rishad Bathiudeen and Udaya Gammanpila were present at this committee meeting.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Sri Lankan government, expressing its regret, has condemned the statements targeting the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah, ICC officials and other ICC member countries. 

Taking into X (formerly Twitter), Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said the government is committed to hosting and facilitating the 2024 Under-19 Cricket World Cup as previously planned and vowed to work with the ICC to resolve the suspension of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). 

Furthermore, he highlighted that after the conclusion of discussions with the stakeholders, the Cabinet sub-committee would submit the recommendations and proposals on the path to resolving the suspension, administration and legal structure, good governance, transparency, accountability and development of the sport across all levels.

Wijesekera told the parliament today that President Ranil Wickremesinghe had telephoned the ACC President and expressed regret over the remarks blaming him for the collapse of Sri Lankan cricket.

We cannot point fingers at him, or other countries, for the shortcomings of our institutions. It is a wrong assumption,” he commented further.

Earlier this week, former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga slammed the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Jay Shah for ruining the Sri Lankan cricket, following the debacle over Sri Lanka’s miserable World Cup campaign.

Because of the connection between SLC officials and Jay Shah they (the BCCI) are under the impression that they can trample and control SLC,” Arjuna Ranatunga was quoted by local media.

Jay Shah is running Sri Lanka Cricket. SLC is being ruined because of pressure from Jay Shah. One man in India is ruining Sri Lankan cricket,” Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup winning captain had said.

Sri Lankan finished 9th on the Cricket World Cup points table winning 2 matches and losing 7 games. After the team’s poor run in the World Cup, the Sri Lankan cricket board was suspended by the International Cricket Council with immediate effect because of extensive government interference in the board’s administration.

-with inputs from agencies