KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Tamil Separatist Movement has tried to use the law courts to try and stop the revival work on Kurundi. They have used the Mullaitivu police and the Mullaitivu Magistrate court for the purpose.

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. We returned to Sapumalgaskada about 7 pm. 

On 2018.09.05 Oddusuddan police filed a case at Mullaitivu Magistrate court (AR-673/18) against Santhabodhi on the charge of disturbing the peace  .  Peace was broken by the Tamil Separatist Movement but they were not charged,   observed Santhabodhi . The event was presented as a clash between two parties.

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

The case was called on September 27, 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. Both sides state their cases. The Tamil side said that, the Police, Army, Archaeology Department and a Buddhist monk are trying to build a Buddhist temple at Kurundi. They say that they have got permission to set up a guard house, but no such bulling has come up.

Kurundi was in a majority Tamil area .There are no Buddhists in the area. There is a small kovil there where the Hindus worshipped. Buddhists are trying to erect a Buddhist temple here. This will obstruct the worship at the Hindu kovil. This was an attempt to erase the Hindu tradition and impose Buddhism here. This is a violation of the rights of the Hindus. The ruins at Kurundi are Hindu ruins. We agree that the ruins should be protected that there should be no new temple. That could create ethnic disharmony, concluded the Tamil lawyers. 

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.

In September  we  built the guardhouse with the assistance of 25th Singha Regiment, based at Alampil, Mullaitivu, continued Santhabodhi . The day before, Tamil Separatist Movement had gone to courts as they knew that the work on the guard house was starting the next day. Department of Archaeology told court that they were following a court order. Magistrate threw out the case. Thanks to the generosity of patrons, the  guard house and   well  were  built and  generator  installed.

The case AR-673/18  was next heard on 22October 2018. Ven. Panamura Tilakavansa of Tammankaduwa, who had set up Arisimale vihara attended. A delegation from ACBC led by its Vice President Wakista also attended the hearing. Afterwards  ACBC group went to see Kurundi.

The police  told court that the guard house had been built and there was no need to      continue with the case, also that the construction was legal. Order was given to proceed with the work at Kurundi on the basis of the plan submitted by the   Department of archaeology .

The Tamil lawyers then raised an objection. They said the plan was in Sinhala and wanted a Tamil or English translation. Magistrate agreed and  we  agreed to provide our report in English. The case was postponed but permission was given for Department of Archaeology to proceed.   An English translation was prepared by ACBC  subsequently and sent to courts. 

 The hearing ended with Court ordering  Department of Archaeology to proceed with the plan they  had  provided to court  but they must   inform the relevant local authorities. Also they must not create  an ethnic disturbance  or disturb the peace.

The order did not make any reference to the Santhabodhi group or to what they had said, observed Santhabodhi. And  all the documents we received were in Tamil including the court orders, he said. 

However, the Department of Archaeology was now free to  carry on with its work.  Santhabodhi asked Department of Archaeology to resume work and informed Secretary, Buddha Sasana Ministry as well.

On  February 2^nd 2021. Tamil Separatist Movement said that they intend to go to courts re Kurundi.

The Tamil Separatist Movement tried again July 2021. The Magistrate was told that a new stupa was coming up over the ruins. Without making proper inquiries’,  Magistrate gave a special order on 7 July 2021.   He said that  police must remove all new additions to the stupa. The Director, Archaeology  promptly ordered that  all work at Kurundi be stopped.  

The Magistrate’s ruling was publicized in the media . The media reported  that  courts had ordered  that the Kurundi stupa be broken down. There was an immediate   howl  from the public. Many contacted Santhabodhi.

Police told the Magistrate that this order could not be obeyed.  There would be a huge public   protest.  In the meantime,  Director of Archaeology  and the Solicitor General  met   the Chief Justice in Colombo.  On an  order from Chief Justice, the  case was recalled on July 19 at Mullaitivu. 

The Magistrate then went to Kurundi personally to  see for himself. He was met by Director of archaeology ,  Aruna Manatunga. Additional Solicitor General was also present on order of  chief justice . This inspection was shown on https://youtu.be/V2IrcOEzD-4 where  the  Magistrate could be heard speaking in fluent Sinhala.  On 2022.7.19    the Magistrate revoked his earlier order  and  told the Archaeology Department  that they could proceed with their work in Kurundi.  

M. A. Sumanthiran MP  filed a petition in the Supreme Court  in August 2021 against the commencement of excavations at the Kurundi  naming Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Minister of State Vidura Wickramanayake and Commissioner General of Archeology Prof. Anura Manatunga as respondents.. Buddha Sasana Minister Vidura Wickramanayake  stated  that their activities at Kurundi was governed by the Antiquities Ordinance.  

Case no AR-673/18 came up again in October 22, 2022. This case which had started as disturbing the peace now  became   an archaeology issue, observed Santhabodhi . I contacted lawyers and three including Nuwan agreed to come. They wanted transport and dayaka were ready to provide this, recalled Santhabodhi . Ven. Kiribbanwewa Upaneetha and Matugama Seneviruwan came  to support Santhabodhi . 

The Kurundi  lawyers took the position  that a Magistrates court cannot question a    decision of the Director of Archaeology. Court seems to have accepted this.

 The Kurundi lawyers said that they wished to speak in Sinhala and English. The Tamil lawyers objected. They wanted the discussion in Tamil only. The lawyers protested that they had the right to speak in  all three languages. But Magistrate upheld the objection of the Tamil lawyers. Since there were no translators present,  he ended the hearing . Work on Kurundi vihara was  stopped again.

The final order was given on 24.11.2022. The Order  said that Department of Archaeology was to continue with the order given  earlier on  19.7.2022.This meant  that conservation work on Kurundi could continue.  This was a victory for Kurundi and a defeat for the Tamil Separatist Movement .

But the legal  harassment is not over. Tamil protestors stormed a pinkama at Kurundi on 18.8.2023 and wanted to conduct a pongal there. They were turned away after one  pongal. Media then reported that  Mullaitivu politicians  had filed a case saying  this was a violation of Human rights and an obstruction of religious freedom.  Hindu devotees had been informed that a pongal festival was  being held at  this kovil.

on  22.8.23  Mullaitivu magistrate  ordered police to  submit  a report giving reasons for police and   officers of the Archaeology Department  turning away residents who had gone to attend the pongal festival at the Hindu  kovil located at  Kurundi. Case was to be taken up for hearing.  ( Continued)

MOD  Media Centre

Defence Secretary, General Kamal Gunaratne graced the 52^nd Bangladesh Armed Forces Day ceremony as the Chief Guest at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo last evening (Nov. 21).

The host, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka HE Tareq Md Ariful Islam received the Defence Secretary on his arrival at the venue.

Addressing the distinguished gathering the Defence Secretary praised the existing bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and also stressed the importance of maintaining the longstanding relations.

While mentioning the cooperation and camaraderie that have defined the relationship between the militaries of both nations he recalled the efforts to combat terrorism, piracy, other transnational threats that endanger collective security, collaboration in disaster relief operations, humanitarian assistance, bilateral knowledge exchange and fostering a culture of mutual learning and growth.

Defence Advisor at the Bangladesh HC Commodore M Moniruzzaman made the welcome address.

The Bangladesh High Commissioner presented a memento to the Defence Secretary during the occasion.

Members of the diplomatic corps including High Commissioners of India and Nepal, chargé d’affaires of Maldives, Navy Chief of Staff, Military Liaison Officer of the Ministry of Defence and many distinguished guests were present at the event

Sugath Kulatunga

The controversy on the activities of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLBDC) has gone viral. It is one issue which has involved all three pillars of the government, the executive, legislature and the judiciary. It has brought the warring political parties on common cause of saving the game of cricket. However, one aspect of this issue which is the role of the ICC is not revealed. It entails essential principles national sovereignty and good governance.

Although the ICC was London based the ICC memo And Articles were registered in the British Virgin Islands. Now the ICC headquarters are based in Dubai. The rationale for the location of organizations in Tax Havens does not need no amplification.

ICC deals only with a “National Governing Body” that is recognised by the ICC as the governing body responsible for the administration, management and development of Cricket in a Cricket Playing Country.

1. Among the Obligations of Members is to manage its affairs autonomously and ensure that there is no government (or other public or quasi-public body) interference in its governance, regulation and/or administration of Cricket in its Cricket Playing Country (including in operational matters, in the selection and management of teams, and in the appointment of coaches or support personnel); and
2. Adopt, implement and enforce within its Cricket Playing Country a set of regulations (including anti-doping and anti-corruption regulations) that are consistent with the Memorandum of Association, these Articles of Association, each Members’ Resolution that is passed, and the Regulations.

The consequences of any breach of these obligations are severe and if in the opinion of the Board of Directors of the ICC the membership of a member likely to be suspended with immediate effect where, in the opinion of the Board of Directors (in its absolute discretion), the Member is in serious breach of any of its obligations as a Member.

1.  Any suspension of a Member by the Board of Directors in accordance with Article 2.10(A) shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Board of Directors may determine, including terms and conditions that the Member must satisfy (in accordance with a deadline specified by the Board of Directors) in order to have its suspension lifted (‘Reinstatement Conditions’). (It is noted that in the FIFA, which is a much bigger organization A suspension of a member association by the Congress requires a three-quarter (3/4) majority of the member associations present and eligible to vote).
2. Any Member that has its membership suspended under this Article 2.10 shall, unless the Board of Directors decides otherwise in its absolute discretion, and for the period of such suspension, be deprived of all of its rights as a Member (whether set out in these Articles of Association or otherwise), including its right to receive distributions of surplus ICC revenues, its right to participate in Events sanctioned by the ICC and its right to attend and vote at Meetings. The Register of Members will be amended to record the suspension. Any contractual or other obligations owed by that Member to the ICC which have accrued prior to suspension or under clause 11 of the Memorandum of Association shall continue to remain legally valid, binding and in full force and effect.
3. During the period of such suspension, the Board of Directors may make such arrangements for the governance, regulation and administration of Cricket in the relevant Member’s Cricket Playing Country as it sees fit, including (without limitation) exercising (or delegating to another to exercise) the rights previously exercised by the suspended Member to sanction (or not sanction) Cricket events staged in that Cricket Playing Country.
4.  If the suspended Member does not meet the Reinstatement Conditions in full by the specified deadline, and/or where the Board of Directors otherwise deems it appropriate, the Board of Directors may pursue termination of the suspended Member’s membership in accordance with Article 2.11.

The obligation of a member to ensure the prevention of government interference is a tall order. It infringes on the sovereign authority of a national government. In Sri Lanka Sports are regulated under the Sports Law of the country which is administered by the Minister responsible for the subject. Lawful directions given by the Minister are valid and cannot be considered as interference. The present predicament arose with the Minister appointing of an Interim Committee on cricket headed by Arjuna Ranatunga was appointment. The SLBDC has challenged it before the courts and allegedly canvassing the ICC to suspend the SLBDC by resorting to misinformation on the action of the Minister.

On the appointment of Interim Committees to replace National Boards of Control of cricket it must be noted that in 2013 Pakistan’s Prime Minister appointed an interim management committee (IMC) to supersede the Pakistan Cricket Board in order to reorganise the country’s cricket structure.

in 2020 in the midst of administrative and governance failures by Cricket South Africa an Interim Board was mandated by the Minister of Sport to reform CSA’s governance structure, while providing the usual oversight function over CSA’s operations.

In 2017, the Supreme Court of India held the powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India to account and appointed a special Board to overhaul the Constitution of the BCI and debarred the BCI amending its constitution without the permission of the SC of India.

In these radical interventions the ICI has not attempted to prevent the interventions by the government and the judiciary.

The ICI seem to operate like a secret organization where confidentiality is given high priority and members are prohibited to give out information on its proceedings. Even meeting papers, the agenda and minutes of meetings have to be kept confidential by all members. There is no such confidentiality provision in the FIFA rules.

The ICI is committed to uphold, respect and advance the unique culture, ethic and spirit of Cricket. But it has failed to even to ensure that the SLBDC fulfil the obligation to adopt, implement and enforce a set of regulations (including anti-doping and anti-corruption regulations) that are consistent with the ICC Memorandum of Association, these Articles of Association, each Members’ Resolution that is passed, and the Regulations. Instead, ICI has closed its eyes on the corruption, mismanagement and waste exposed by the Auditor General and the report of the committee chaired by a retired judge of the supreme court.

It seems that the SLBDC has been playing Pandu.

by Arundathie Abeysinghe Courtesy PIME Asia News

Sri Lanka is increasingly tying its fragile economy to China. After the debt agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China, Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe said he was ready to expand the direct corridor with China bypassing India. Xi Jinping’s special envoy, State Counsellor Shen Yiqin, used her visit to the island to “lay out” China’s cards.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – Sri Lanka is set to launch Phase 2 of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with China, starting with the existing China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), to include the island.

Sri Lanka’s economic policy aims to have a direct route to China, bypassing current trade links involving Bangladesh, China, India, and Myanmar (BCIM), which are currently stalled due to political tensions between China and India.

In Colombo Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special envoy, State Counsellor Shen Yiqin, met with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday to lay out” China’s cards.

Shen’s visit follows the recent tête-à-tête between Wickremesinghe and Xi in Beijing, aimed at consolidating bilateral relations.

Analysts believe that this visit is of utmost importance for the country’s economic future.

On 12 October, Sri Lanka reached an agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China to cover about US$ 4.2 billion of the country’s outstanding debt.

Sri Lanka is currently trying to finalise a plan with its creditors to secure additional aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to pursue its economic recovery.

Although China has decided to remain an observer during debt restructuring talks, it will be one of the crucial players for the future of the country’s economy.

During his meeting with Shen, President Wickremesinghe expressed Sri Lanka’s aspiration to increase cooperation with China in other fields, like tourism, agriculture, and sports, stressing that the Hambantota international port – under a 99-year lease to China – and Colombo Port are currently ready to expand business between the two countries.

For its part, China is prioritising” the extension of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) to Sri Lanka. Indeed, Mr Wickremesinghe noted that his country is prepared to embark on the second phase of the initiative, which is expected to make a more substantial economic contribution.”

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena also met with State Councillor Shen, highlighting the vast potential to expand China-Sri Lanka economic cooperation. He also noted that Sri Lanka values China’s investments in agriculture, renewable energy, education, and infrastructure.

During the meeting, the president stressed the need to maintain the Indian Ocean as a freely navigable and peaceful region, free from global geopolitical rivalries,” political analysts Sachintha Tennakoon and Medhavi Attygalle told AsiaNews. Yet, the development of the BRI points instead to China’s intention to strengthen its influence in South Asia.”

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, yesterday said that Parliament like other institutions should bear responsibility for the unprecedented economic crisis caused during President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration.

Minister Sabry said so when The Island sought his response as regards the responsibility of Parliament for the developing situation against the backdrop of the country being bankrupted mainly due to overall mismanagement of the economy.

At the time of the eruption of public protests in early 2022, Minister Sabry served as the Foreign Minister of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government.

Addressing the media at the President’s Media Centre (PMC), the SLPP National List MP dealt with the 2024 Budget presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Finance Minister.

Having compared the period leading to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ouster with the significant improvements made under incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s resolute leadership, the top lawyer explained how successive governments ruined the economy by resorting to utterly irresponsible strategies.

The first time entrant to Parliament, following the last general election held in Aug. 2020, Minister Sabry emphasized how flawed tax strategies over the years caused the economic ruination. The Minister questioned the rationale in 80:20 ratio in indirect and direct taxes when the acceptable radio was 60:40 world over. The Minister went on to highlight the circumstances that led to the drop in revenue to just over 8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 23% to 25% ahead of 2019/2020 crash.

Asked whether he had been present in the parliamentary chamber when a section of the ruling SLPP went berserk over a statement made by SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa in respect of the landmark Supreme Court judgment on economic crisis and what was his response to such unruly behaviour, the Minister said that he was there.

The SC on Nov 14 in a 4 to 1 verdict declared that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former Finance Ministers Mahinda Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa, ex-Governors of the Central Bank Prof. W.D. Lakshman and Ajith Nivad Cabraal, ex-Finance Secretary S.R. Attygalle, Presidential Secretary Dr. P.B.J. Jayasundera and the then Monetary Board were responsible for the economic collapse.

They were directed to pay Rs 150,000 each to those who filed fundamental rights applications.

The Minister emphasized that he never condoned such conduct and he never behaved that way or intended to do so in the future. That was one side of the issue. We see various interested parties interpret the SC ruling the way they want. I read this judgment entirely. The ruling doesn’t say there had been fraud and money robbed. Funds had been sent overseas and measures should put in place to recover the money. It doesn’t say so. The SC found fault with the respondents for their failure to take timely action to avert the crisis. One specific issue artificial measures to control Rupees. I have pointed this out even last year. The other issue was the tax cut. They were policy decisions. The third issue was the timing of the IMF intervention. The fallout of those decisions should be political.”

The Minister said that there was no harm in prosecuting if there were fraud and robbery. But the Rajapaksas had already taken responsibility for those decisions, Minister Sabry said, pointing out that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who won a five-year term, had to quit, and the Prime Minister, too, had to go. The entire government had to be handed over. They have to face the people, the Minister said.

We genuinely believed the government should have sought the IMF intervention at that time, the depreciation of the Rupee should have been allowed to some extent. Perhaps those who decide on policy may have felt they were right,” Minister Sabry, said reminding that Sri Lanka sought IMF interventions on 16 previous occasions.

Minister Sabry insisted that no one would come into politics if those who had been found fault for lapses on their part in respect of policy decisions were dealt with in terms of criminal liability. Reiterating that the fallout should be solely political, the Foreign Minister said, adding that in case someone engaged in fraud, corruption and crime he should bear criminal responsibility.

BY YOHAN PERERA AND AJITH SIRIWARDANA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

PARLIAMENT (Daily Mirror)- A special parliamentary Caucus will be appointed to revive cricket in Sri Lanka, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced today.

He told Parliament that it will be appointed following a request by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa.

BY YOHAN PERERA AND AJITH SIRIWARDANA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

PARLIAMENT (Daily Mirror)- A sum of USD 50,000 donated by Asian Cricket Council chief Jay Shah and USD 5,000 given by Indian cricket star Siraj for the ground staff of Pallekele and R. Premadasa stadiums have not been paid yet, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa told Parliament today.

“The ground staff have not been paid to date. What has become of this money,” he asked.

BY AJITH SIRIWARDANA AND YOHAN PERERA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

PARLIAMENT (Daily Mirror)- President Ranil Wickremesinghe said today that he will look into the three letters that were sent by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The President requested Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa to send him the three letters and assured to look into them.

He said this in response to a statement by the Opposition Leader that the SLC had sent three letters dated November 6, 7 and 9 to the ICC requesting it to suspend the SLC, alleging that there was undue interference in the activities of the SLC.

Premadasa said he had tabled the three letters in Parliament.

“Send me the three letters. I will follow up on them,” the President told Premadasa.

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera

Claiming that he was saddened by the verbal attack on Ariya Rekawa and his son in Parliament, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said Rekawa was a UNP stalwart since 1970.

He told Parliament that Ariya Rekawa and his son were good people and that he never think that Rekawa’s son would be involved in any bad practices even though he was connected to the SLC.

“Who is Rekawa? He has worked with us in the UNP since the 1970s. Ranasinghe Premadasa requested him to contest the election and he was elected to Parliament. Why should we attack him? He is someone who has won the faith of me and Ranasinghe Premadasa. I even appointed him as the Ambassador to Vietnam,” he said.

Referring to a photograph shown by Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe in the House showing that Ariya Rekawa and Bandula Karunaratne were there, the President said it was he who was there in the middle of that photograph.

“It is not a secret. It is I who was there in the middle of that photograph, asked Rekawa to come to President’s House when Bandula Karunaratne came to take oath as the President of the Appeal Court,” he said.

The President said criticizing the order given by the Court of Appeal staying the Interim Committee of the SLC was wrong and that Bandula Karunaratne was criticized as he was handling MP Diana Gamage’s case as well.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

KATUNAYAKA (Daily Mirror) – Darshani, a Sri Lankan maid who returned from Saudi Arabia said she was forced to swallow screw nails with water by her employer which resulted in her being hospitalized.

Making an emotional statement at the Katunayake airport upon her arrival, the housemaid said she was continuously abused and assaulted by her employer. The victim, a resident of Mathugama is a mother of three children.

Coming to her rescue, Marimuthu Nilantha Kumara, the husband of the victim, who earns a living as a coconut plucker in the vicinity, came to Katunayake airport to receive Darshani. 

The housemaid also said that when she had complained to the recruitment agency in Sri Lanka, the agency had verbally abused her.

I slipped and fell after stepping on shampoo in a bathroom, causing injury to my back and head. Then, the woman of the house physically assaulted me and locked me in a room,” she said.

Furthermore, the victim revealed that she was forcibly taken to a washing machine room where she was confined and subjected to further abuse.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

COLOMBO (Daily Mirror) – More than Rs. 8.6 million in revenue has been earned as expressway toll by 3 p.m. today after the tri-forces were deployed for operations at ticket counters since the launch of a strike by the Expressway Worker’s Union.

The All-Island Expressway Workers’ Union initiated the strike today, citing various demands, including concerns about the privatization of the highway network.

In response to the 24-hour token strike, tri-force personnel were deployed to manage ticket counters and provide security on the expressways.

Accordingly, the Sri Lanka Army which had been deployed for the Southern Expressway operations collected  Rs. 1,635,940 while Sri Lanka Air Force personnel on the Katunayake Expressway collected Rs.  5,951,090 and the Sri Lanka Navy on the Central Expressway (Kurunegala) collected Rs. 1,022 900 despite the challenges such as the union membere taking away the ticket issuing machines and not handing over cards.

By YOHAN PERERA Courtesy The Daily Mirror 

PARLIAMENT (Daily Mirror) – Referring to the recent judgment given by the Supreme Court where former Presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Mahinda Rajapaksa former Minister Basil Rajapaksa and others were held responsible for the economic crisis, President Ranil Wickremesinghe today said one has to look into whether others are also responsible for the economic debacle and have engaged in a breach of public trust.  

One must note that even the opposition has engaged in a breach of trust. It is the duty of the main opposition to take over the government once those in the existing government resign. However, the current leader of the opposition and the main opposition had engaged in a breach of public trust by failing to form a new government in 2022. We can also probe these matters,” he said.

He also referred to an error in the court case number in the question submitted by Opposition Leader MP Sajith Premadasa. The number of cases  which the Opposition Leader referred to a case in Trinomalee,” he said in a lighter vein.

Mr. Premadasa said error in the case number was not a major issue and accused the President of dodging his question.

SLPP MP Gevindu Kumaratunga who spoke later said the President should not have taken a question with regard to the economic crisis in a lighter vein. ‘ President should not have come up with dirty jokes,” he said.

 By CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

COLOMBO (Daily Mirror) – Using antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription could cause the death of necessary bacteria that are needed for the survival of the body, and the diseases caused by the creation of resistant bacteria in the body spreading throughout society could cause death for everyone within about 50 years, Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH) Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Deepal Perera said.

Commenting on the ‘World Antibiotic Awareness Week’ from November 18 to 24, he further said that the world’s antimicrobial experts have discovered this through research.

Dr. Perera points out that antibiotics weaken and kill bacteria, and in excess, beneficial bacteria too are killed.

He requested parents not to give antibiotics to children unnecessarily other than in the most required situation. Giving antibiotics unnecessarily to children will create resistance to antibiotics in their bodies.

Antibiotics should be used only if necessary in cases of bacterial infections. Doctors recommend this while taking into consideration many factors, including the age and weight of the person concerned.

“Antibiotics are not necessary for viral fevers and diarrhea. For coughs, colds, and minor injuries, antibiotics should be taken only on a doctor’s prescription,” Dr. Perera said.

It is necessary to take the prescribed dose of antibiotic during the particular period.

He further mentioned that due to the high cost of antibiotics, research on antibiotics worldwide is minimal.

If we are unable to find new antibiotics in the future, everyone will die due to bacterial infections, he added.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe says that the Presidential Election and the Parliamentary Election will both be held next year and that neither of the elections will be postponed.

He stated this while delivering a special statement in the Parliament today (22) regarding several matters including the existing cricket crisis. 

We have established democracy in this country. So, now how can you say that we are afraid of an election? We will hold the elections. The Presidential Election and the Parliamentary Election will both be held next year. None of them will be postponed.” 

The year after that, we can hold the Provincial Council and Local Government elections all that. There is no problem,” he said.

Meanwhile the State Minister for Plantations, Enterprise Reforms and Finance, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, had announced that a dedicated allocation of Rs. 10 billion has been reserved for potential future elections. 

This provision, while not explicitly outlined in the budget proposals, has been included in the estimates, he said during a press briefing held at the Presidential Media Centre (PMC) on Tuesday (21).

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Foreign Affairs President’s Counsel Ali Sabry has emphasised the imperative need for a comprehensive, long-term targeted program as the primary solution to address the economic crisis facing the country.

Minister Ali Sabry underscored the complexity of the economic challenges and stressed that short-term fixes would not suffice, highlighting the necessity for strategic planning and sustained efforts to achieve economic stability.

The Minister also noted the imperative of trapping tax evaders in the tax net to ensure the country’s continued status as a welfare state. In this regard, a program is slated for implementation this year to enhance tax compliance.

The Minister made these remarks during a press briefing held at the Presidential Media Centre (PMC) today (22 Nov.), under the theme ‘One Way to a Stable Country’.

Minister Ali Sabry provided an overview of positive economic progress. Notable achievements include a substantial reduction in inflation from 70% to -2.5% and a 100% increase in tourist arrivals. These indicators, according to the Minister, affirm that the country is moving in the right direction economically.

The Minister stressed that as politicians, they have the authority to make diverse decisions. Nonetheless, it is the citizens of this country who must shoulder the resulting burdens. To propel the nation beyond its current challenges, it must attract new investments and foster job creation. It is imperative to integrate the creative youth community into the job market. It is noteworthy that this year’s budget has been formulated with these objectives in mind, particularly with a forward-looking perspective. Furthermore, the 2024 budget is designed to set the country on a course toward a new economic paradigm.

Additionally, Minister Ali Sabry highlighted substantial funds have been allocated for digitization, the modernization of agriculture, and education. In the execution of these initiatives, it is imperative to steer clear of bureaucratic obstacles and promote collaborative efforts. Key decisions include granting rights to individuals in flats and rented houses, as well as providing land rights to farmers.

Emphasizing fiscal responsibility, Minister Ali Sabry noted that 70% of this year’s budget has been earmarked for loan instalments and interest payments. He drew attention to Sri Lanka’s position as the 8th country with the lowest taxes globally, emphasizing the need to focus on bringing tax evaders into the system. Among the countries above us are Haiti, Somalia, Sudan, Iran, Venezuela and Nigeria.

To address this, the focus should be on identifying and apprehending those attempting to evade taxes, with an emphasis on restoring transparency. The implementation of a dedicated program for this purpose is planned to commence this year. These measures are essential not only to ensure free education, healthcare and other facilities at an elevated standard but also to alleviate the burdens on the people.

It is crucial to recognize that there are no quick fixes for the economic crisis in the country. A viable way forward involves the implementation of a comprehensive, long-term targeted program.

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardena has slammed the token strike launched by the expressway employees this morning (Nov.22) as a deliberate attempt at incurring a loss to the government.

This is not a trade union action, but a subversive move,” the lawmaker said addressing the parliamentary session earlier today.

The All-Island Expressway Workers’ Union resorted to a token strike at 7 a.m. today by calling in sick.

The trade union action is based on 3 key issues: the alleged attempts by the Finance Ministry and Road Development Authority (RDA) to privatize the country’s expressway network, delayed payments for unused sick leave for the year 2022 and the delayed approval for the System for Optimized Recruitment (SOR) which deferred the grade-to-grade promotions of all employees.

Gunawardena claimed that employees on strike have taken the ticketing machines with them, in a bid to disrupt the expressway operations.

Resorting to such moves against the backdrop of an economic crisis is a ‘serious crime’, he said, while commending the efforts of the security forces to keep expressway operation uninterrupted amidst the trade union action.

Soon after the expressway employees launched their token strike, tri-forces and police personnel were dispatched to ensure the security and issue tickets.

Dilrook Kannangara

Facts are stranger than fiction! Can Sri Lankans handle the truth?

Team Sri Lanka won the ICC Cricket World Cup Final in 1996, were Finalists in 2007 and 2011 and Semi-Finalists in 2003.

A careful look at the scorecards of all the above Final and one Semi-Final (2003) matches reveals that Murali and Arnold took just one wicket in total (that is Shane Warne who is not a dangerous batsman). Absolutely no catches and no runouts by them. Just 3 runs scored by them in total.

Emphasis is only the Final (1996, 2007 and 2011) and 2003 Semi-Final matches only. They did perform better in matches to the lead up to these matches. However, in the most crucial matches SL played in all these World Cups, they were not useful.

I don’t infer that they deliberately underperformed. They didn’t. I only say replacing them for all these crucial matches would have yielded better results.

They could have been replaced in the 1996, 2007 and 2011 Finals and in the 2003 Semi-Final (and the Final after winning that). Instead of them, Sri Lanka had other spinners and batsmen who could have taken their place in these crucial matches with potentially better outcomes.

In 1996 Final Sri Lanka could have played Upul Chandana who’s also a spinner and a much better bat than Murali. Since Murali took just one wicket in the Final with unremarkable bowling, Upul could have easily bettered him.

For the 2003 Semi Final Sri Lanka could have played Avishka Gunawardane and Jehan Mubarak or Rangana Herath (not in the squad) instead of Arnold and Murali.

For the 2007 Final Sri Lanka could have played Upul Chandana or Rangana Herath (not included in the squad) and Mohommad Maharoof instead of Murali and Arnold. In fact, Arjuna did say he was surprised for the selection of Arnold instead of Upul.

As for the 2011 Final Sri Lanka could have won it had it replaced Murali with Rangana Herath.

Playing for so many curial matches and ending up with just 1 unremarkable wicket, no catches, no runouts and just 3 runs is telling.

Cricketing fortunes are cyclical. No one can expect a national team to perform well across years. There was a time when India could be easily beaten by Sri Lanka, West Indies was a feared team, New Zealand was a beatable team for Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was a guaranteed win for Sri Lanka. Things have changed and will change again. The important thing is to grab opportunities when they come and win it. The difference between the winner and the other finalist is not just the gap in runs or wickets. There is a world of difference.

Scorecards of those crucial matches can be found in the following links.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/wills-world-cup-1995-96-60981/australia-vs-sri-lanka-final-65192/full-scorecard

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-world-cup-2002-03-61124/australia-vs-sri-lanka-1st-semi-final-65284/full-scorecard

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-world-cup-2006-07-125929/australia-vs-sri-lanka-final-247507/full-scorecard

IND vs SL, ICC Cricket World Cup 2010/11, Final at Mumbai, April 02, 2011 – Full Scorecard

IND vs SL, ICC Cricket World Cup 2010/11, Final at Mumbai, April 02, 201… Get cricket scorecard of Final, IND vs SL, ICC Cricket World Cup 2010/11 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai dated Apri…

Chanaka Bandarage, International Lawyer

There is much debate in the country about our cricket.

There is no doubt that the Cricket Board and the Selection Committee should bear major responsibility for the debacle.

But, what about the recent and current Cricketers? The writer states they too must bear responsibility.

It is the players who play on the field, not the officials.

The players have shown a very bad attitude in representing the country.

They may be talented cricketers, but their lack of discipline has brought forth not only their own downfall but also of the country.

Our players do not realise the importance of team play. They do not think they are playing for the country. For many, they play for themselves.

For them, it is their own performance that matters. That is one reason why the country has suffered so badly (the selfish attitude of some, especially key players).

It is in such instances that the Cricket Board must intervene. But, it has not done so. Rather than reprimanding bad cricketers, they went on their own jaunts.

We have a number of expensive foreign coaches; do they teach our players good traits? Unlikely.

Why employ foreign coaches at such extraordinarily high cost? We have lots of our own excellent local coaches. Mahela Jayewardene, Duleep Mendis, Hashan Thilakarathne, Sanath Jayasuriya come to mind. There may be excellent hidden coaches at club and school levels.  

Employing few foreigners as Specialists in areas such as PT, physiotherapy, batting/bowling/fielding is ok. The importance is that we must have our own head coach. They have patriotism that the foreign coaches lack.

Patriotism is important to bring-in victory for the mother country.

In Australia and New Zealand if one does not show team work and tries to play selfishly, they will receive  the immediate sack.

We should not be surprised about this as our entire nation is like this – utterly selfish.

In effect, the cricket team reflects the society that we live in.

This has not been the case before. Say prior to 1977, Sri Lanka has been a pious society.

We have politicians who have done deals even with the LTTE.

In 2022 we became a failed state; officially we became Bankrupt. There were long queues for petrol, diesel and kerosene. They are now gone. Not a single  vehicle has been imported to this country for over 3+ years. Our best talent is leaving the country in droves. Never have we seen a brain drain of this magnitude. Families are struggling to keep the home fires burning.

In the olden age children were taught about patriotism at school. This is not happening now.

Some patriotic songs like ‘මේ සිංහල අපගේ රටයි’, ‘පිට දීප දේශ ජයගත්තා’ are banned in the SLBC and රූපවාහිනී? The situation in local FM radios/private TV channels is worse. Rather than preserving our traditional values, good ethics most of them promote (intentionally or un-intentionally) Thamilnadu and Western cultures.

In the developed countries, school children are taught patriotism daily like a Mantra (directly/indirectly). It is a very important aspect of their school curricula.

ANZAC Day is an Australian National Holiday.  It is an occasion to commemorate the thousands of Australian soldiers who died in WW1. Many people, especially children, actively take part in events held throughout the country on that day.

Even the Captains of our test cricket and T20 teams have demonstrated alleged bad behavior. They have been accused of drunk driving, even a hit and run accident.

National players should be role models for the younger generation. Unfortunately, our players of late have not been so.

Even when overseas, players have behaved badly. When the team was in England, some leading players were accused of breaching the team’s Corona Virus rules. While on tour a cricketer faced criminal charges for sexual misconduct (he was later acquitted). The fact that he may have focused on online dating than playing cricket does not go to his good credit. One player was caught playing video games when the World Cup was on.

Glen Maxwell recently played a magnificent innings. This shows how players play for their country. It was his sheer determination/patriotism that brought victory for Australia against Afghanistan.

Why cannot our players learn from the likes of Maxwell, Travis Head, Kholi, Warner, De Kock, Azmatullah, Zampa and Coetzee?

We too used to have players of that calibre, unfortunately, not now. Sanath Jayasuriya, Thilkarathne Dilshan, Aravinda De Silva, Arjuna Ranathunga, Hashan Thilakarathne, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayewardene come to mind. They gave 100% for the country.

Madhushanka is a great player.

We definitely have some good players in our team with talent. But some are useless.  There are some players that should not be in our national team, they should have been sacked long time ago.

There are players that are bad in both playing and discipline. Some are simply un-talented. There may be schoolboy cricketers that are better than some of the current players.

Some players are in the team solely due to their strong connection with the cricket board officials and selection committee members. Some time ago it was reported that some players had paid a portion of their match fee to a certain selection committee member, to remain in the team.

It is well known that those who practice the Born-Again religion have a good chance of playing for the national team, be they good or bad. This may be the secret why so many Born Again players  have been in the team. The COPE committee must have the guts to investigate this.

Due to favouritsm some senior players think they can stay in the team ‘forever’. They know they have the constant backing of the Cricket Board officials.

A higher order batsman who also has bad discipline  is well known for scoring zeros repeatedly. But, because he occasionally scores a 50 or a 100 (that is also mostly against weak teams), he continues to keep his place in the team.

It is a crafty thing by recent captains to become the team’s wicket keeper. They know that even if they fail in bat their place is secured. They know only  a very few in the team that can do wicket keeping.

Some players like Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Janith Perera have been very badly treated with. The former is our ‘Ricky Ponting’. If he played for Australia or New Zealand he would still be playing for them. Why was he removed from the National World Cup team, the selection committee must provide answers to the nation.

The moment that Kusal Janith Perera fails to score he gets dropped. He does not get the benefit that the Board gives to their favourite players.

At least now, Dinesh Chandimal should be brought back to both teams – the test and T 20, preferably as the Captain.

Recently a veteran cricketer took too much time to commence his innings on the pitch. When the opposing team appealed, he was adjudged out.

It was clearly his fault.

But he started playing antics on the field.

Rather than obeying the umpire’s verdict, he argued with the umpires. He even spoke to the opposing team’s Captain that appealed for his dismissal! This is something unheard of in cricket.

The player’s behavior was  totally un-gentlemanly in the gentlemen’s game.

The other team had every right to appeal for his dismissal.  What they did was in accordance with the rules book.

After the match (which Sri Lank lost) this player vigorously attacked the entire opposition team using international media.  What right did he have? He was just a player.

The manner he spoke could have caused a serious diplomatic row between the two very friendly countries.

Some players are arrogant because they know they have the blessing of the Cricket Board, no matter what gimmick they have been up to.

In countries like England, Australia and New Zealand players are picked solely on merit. That is why they do comparatively well than other countries (true England performed miserably this time, this is due to their lack of cricketing talent. In England, young men prefer to play Soccer than Cricket).

In Australia it is only the Captain that makes on-field decisions. He changes bowlers and sets the field.  But in our team? There are about 4 or 5 senior players doing the Captain’s work.  The saying – too many cooks spoil the soup.

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම, LL.B., Ph.D 

(784) නීතීඥ වටගල හා ලාල්කාන්තගේ පුතාලා ගැන සමන් කියූ කතාව-සෞඛ්‍ය\ගුරු ප්‍රශ්න දකින විදිහ – YouTube

හෘද ශාක්ෂිය හා අධ්‍යාත්මය අතර වෙනසක් තිබේද?

අනුර කුමාර මහතා විසින් නොබෝදා කල <JVP එක විසින් ජාතික ජන බලවේගයට (NPP) <අධ්‍යාත්මය>  සපයනවා [පිඹිනවා],> යන  ගාම්භීර ප්‍රකාශය නිසා මෙම කෙටි සටහනට මා විසින් කලින් යොදාගන්නට සිතූ, <JVP නායකයින්ගේ හෘදය ශක්ෂිය > යන මාතෘකාව ඉවත් කිරීමට තීරණය කළෙමි.  මෙම හෘද ශාක්ෂි කතාව රට තුල පුන පුනා කියන්නේ නාගානන්ද කොඩිතුවක්කු මහතාය. මුන් 225 ම එපා, අවුරුදු 75 ක්ම මුන් රට කෑවා, යන පද වෙනුවට, <අනුර කුමාරලා, සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාසලා හෘදය ශාක්ෂියක් නැති මිනිසුන්> යයි කීමෙන්, ශ්‍රී සද්ධර්මය ආශ්‍රිත සංකල්පයක් හරහා ඔහු පොදුවේ මේ රටේ දේශපාලන පංචස්කන්ධවලට අභියෝගයක් එල්ල කරයි.  අනුර කුමාරගේ  අධ්‍යාත්ම කතාව මෙම අභියෝගයට දෙන්නට හැදූ පිළිතුරක් වැනිය. මෙම පිළිතුර කෙතරම් දුරට පිලිගත හැකිද?

ගමේ ගොඩේ භාෂාවෙන් හෘදය ශාක්ෂියක් නැති මිනිසුන් යයි කියන්නේ ඩබල් ගේම් කාරයින්ටය. රට ජාතියේ අභිවෘධිය වෙනුවට පුද්ගලික වාසිය සඳහා ක්‍රියාකරණ දේශපාලක පංචස්කන්ධ ඩබල්ගේම් කාරයින්ය. මේ අනුව සිතන විට D.S. සේනානායකගේ සිට රටේ අගමැති-ජනාධිපතිවූ හැමදෙනාම මෙවැනි ඩබල්-ට්‍රෙබල් ගේම් මාස්ටර්ලා බව පෙන්වන්නට ශාක්ෂි බුසල් ගණනින් තිබේ. එසේ නොවු කෙනෙක් වශයෙන් මේ මොහොතේ මට මතක් වෙන්නේ  CWW කන්නන්ගර අධ්‍යාපන  ඇමති පමණය. තමන්ගේ මිනිබිරිය විශාඛා විද්‍යාලයට දාගන්නට පාරේ පෝලිමේ සිටීමට සිදුවූ ඔහු, අවසාන කාලයේදී තමන්ට බෙහෙත් ගන්නට ආධාර මුදලක් ඉල්ලා කතානායකට ලියුමක් ලිව්වේය.

හිතක්-පපුවක්, තෙතමනයක් (හෘදයශාක්ෂියක්) නැති මිනිහෙක් යයි කියනවාට වඩා දාර්ශණික අර්ථයක් අධ්‍යාත්මය යන වචනයෙන් ද්වනිතවේ. මෙය සජිත් විසින් වරක් සිය < ශ්‍රී මුඛය> ගැන කිව් කතාවට සමාන නැත. මේ නිසා මෙම සටහනේ අරමුණ මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් JVP නායකයින්ට කාරණා පහදා දීමය. ඊට හේතුව ඔවුන් කියන දෙය හා කරණ දෙය අතර තිබෙන ඔවුන්ට නොපෙනෙන පරස්පරය (walk the talk) අවංකවම විසඳාගත්තොත්  ජනාධිපති තරඟය කෙසේ වෙතත් පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආසන 50 ක් වත් ලේසියෙන්ම දිනාගන්නට ඔවුන්ට මෙවර ඉඩක් පෑදී ඇති නිසාය.

සාදුකින් පෙලෙනවුන්

යම් රටක, සමාජයක නිතැතින් පවතින එහි කොටසකගේ දුගීකම ලෝකයේ මාක්ස්වාදීන්ගේ පැවැත්ම සඳහා ලැබී ඇති ආර්ථික-දේශපාලන අල්ලසය. එය ශ්‍රමය සූරාකෑමේ හා පන්ති සටන ලෙස හැඳින්වේ. මෙම න්‍යායධර්මය ජේසුතුමා විසින් සිය අවසාන භෝජන අවස්ථාවේදීත්, බුදු දහමේදී <බඩගින්න>  වශයෙනුත් පෙන්වාදී ඇත. සාදුකින් පෙලෙනවුන් දැන් ඉතින් නැඟිටියව් යනුවෙන් 1930 ගණන්වල සිට ප්‍රචලිතවූ පාඨයෙන් උපරිම ලෙස ප්‍රයෝජන ගන්නට, ලංකාවේ දැන් ඇති දුෂ්ට, විෂම පාලනක්‍රමය මඟින් JVP ට අවස්ථාවක් ලබාදී ඇත. 2024 අයවැය යෝජනා මේ සඳහා පාරක්ද කපාදී තිබේ. මේ නිසා මාක්ස්වාදයෙන් නොව, බෞද්ධ සමාජ ආර්ථික විද්‍යාවෙන් (Buddhist Economics) ක්‍රියාකලොත් 1930 ගණන්වල සිටම අසාර්ථකවු වාමාංශික දේශපාලනයට පාලන බලය ලබා ගැනීමට ඉඩක් පෑදී ඇත. ඒ සඳහා අවශ්‍යවන්නේ ඩබල්ගේම් නොගැසීමය. බෞද්ධ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදාව අමතක කර ලබාගත හැකි <අධ්‍යාත්මයක්> නැත.

මට හිතෙන හැටියට, කිසිවෙක් ඉදිරි ජනාධිපති තරඟයෙන් සියේට 30 කට වඩා ගන්නේ නැත. ඔමල්පේ සෝභිත හිමියන් කුමන්ත්‍රණ අරගලයේ පින්ඩපාතේ යමින්, <මින් පසු රටේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ බලවේගය  විනාශයි> කියා  කිව්වත්, සිංහල බෞද්ධ චන්ද නැතිව සියේට 51 ක් ගන්නට නොහැකිය. මෑත ලෝක ඉතිහාසය අනුව කල්පනාකරණ විට ලංකාවේ කලබගෑනියක් ඇතිකර UNO සාම හමුදා (ඉන්දියන්/ඇමෙරිකන්) ගොඩබස්සවා  ගැනීම  රනිල් මහතාගේ/ජූලි චං මැතිණියගේ උපාය වීමටද ඉඩක් ඇත. අනුර කුමාරව ඇමෙරිකාවට යැවීම, ගෝඨාභය ඉදිරියේ දෙවියන්ට යාඥා කිරීම වැනි දිරච්ච ලණුවක් විය නොහැකිද?

මීට පෙර කාලයක රංජන් රාමනායක හාමුදුරුවරුන්ට අපහාසකලේ ඇමෙරිකන් තානාපති කාර්යාලයේ නිලධාරියෙකුගේ බිස්නස්කාඩ් එකක් තම පර්ස් එකෙන් ගෙන පෙන්වමින්ය. පානදුරේ ලාල් විසින් අනුර කුමාරලාට ජූලි චං කල ආරාධනය වාර්තාකලේ JVP එකට ලැබුණ ගෞරවයක්, පිළිගැනීමක් ලෙසය. වෙන අයට එසේ ආරාධනා කරනවාද කියා ඔහු ඔච්චම් කරයි! මෙවැනි ලණු ගැන ඔහුට දැනුමක් නැත. අනුර ජනාධිපති වුනත් ඇමෙරිකාව ඔහුව පාලනය කරණ බව, පකිස්ථානයේ හමුදාව තුල ඇති ඩොලර් අල්ලස් බලය ගැන නොදන්නා ලාල්ට වැටහීමක් නැත.

චේතනාව හා අධ්‍යාත්මය

දේශපාලකයින් විසින් බුද්ධාගමේ වචන  හා සූත්‍ර ගැන  දැන් දැන් වැඩි වැඩියෙන් දියවන්නා හෝටලයේදී මෙන්ම ඉන් පිටත්  කතා කිරීම තරඟයක් වැනිය. 2024 අයවැය කතාව පවා ආරම්භවන්නේ ත්‍රිපිටකයේ සූත්‍රයකිනි. චේතනාව හා අධ්‍යාත්මය යනු එකම කාසියේ දෙපැත්ත වැනිය. මාක්ස්වාදය අත් නොහළ පිරිසක් වශයෙන් JVP විසින් තමන් සිංහල බෞද්ධයයි කීම (NM පෙරේරලා, කොල්වින්ලා, ඩියු ගුණසේකරලා නම් කවදාවත් එසේ කිව්වේ නැත) බැරෑරුම් වගකීමකි. හඳුන්නෙත්ති විසින් බෞද්ධ රාජ්‍ය පාලන ක්‍රමයක් ගැන කතා කලේය.  විජිත හේරත් ගමේ විහාරයක කොත් පැළඳවීමේ උත්සවයකට ගොස් එය කඩා වැටී අනූනමයෙන් බේරුණේය. මේ අස්සේ JVP ට නිලනොලත් ලෙස කඩේ යන සේපාල් අමරසිංහ නිරාගමික ආගම අබිං මතයක් ඉස්සරහට දමමින් සිටී. 20,000 ක් පමණ නිරා බලකායක් JVP වෙනුවෙන් ෆේස්බුක්, යු ටියුබ් අල්ලාගෙන පිනුම් ගසමින් (යකා නටමින්) සිටිනවා යයි අසන්නට ලැබේ. සේපාල් සමඟ බොදු බල සේනාවේ ඥානසාර හිමියන්ගේ පිරිත් නූල ගැනත්, ඩලස් අලහප්පෙරුමලා සමඟ පැවති සාකච්චාව ගැනත් ලාල්කාන්ත කල ප්‍රකාශ බලය ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා ඕනෑම කෙනෙක් භාවිතා කරණවා යන හිට්ලර්ගේ ගිවිසුම් ක්‍රමයට සමානය. මෙවැනි ක්‍රියා බුදු දහමේ අධ්‍යාත්මයට පටහැණිය.

නිරාගමික සේපාල් JVP පක්ෂයට කරණ හානිය

උමංදාවේ හාමුදුරුවන් හා අම්පිටියේ සුමනරතන හිමියන් රටට කරණ සේවය අනුව සිතන විට සේපාල් නිකම්ම් පඹයෙක් පමණය (සේපාල් විසින් යම් සුළු සේවයක්වත් නොකරණවා යයි මම නොකියමි). එහෙත් ඔහුගේ දාර්ශනික තර්ක ඔස්සේ ඔහුද ඩබල්ගේම්කාරයෙක් හෙවත් තමන් තමන්වම රවටා ගන්නා අවලංගු පංචස්කන්ධයක් නොවේද කියා ඔහුට නොපෙනේ. වාරණ ආනන්ද ජයකොඩි නම් මහතා සමඟ ඔහු කරණ කතා අනුව  1971/88-89 JVP යනු ශාන්ත දාන්ත තීන්ත කූඩුය. පන්ති සටන යනු මැයි දින පෙලපාලි වලදී යූනියන් ප්ලේස් සාප්පුවල වීදුරුවලට ගල් ගසනවාට වඩා වැඩි දෙයකි. වාරණ-සේපාල් සංවාද අනුව JVP ඝාතන, සතුරා විසින් කල ඝාතනවලට දැක්වූ ප්‍රතිචාරය. JR මරමු යයි තාප්පවල ලිව්වේ JVP අය නොව රාජිත සේනාරත්න වැනි JVP එකේ සතුරන් විසින්ය! මෙය ගැලපෙන්නේ කොණ්ඩේ වවාගෙන පෙලපාලි යන අන්තරේ  කහසිවුරු පොරවාගත් තරුණයින්ටය. ගමේ පන්සලක හාමුදුරුවරු JR පන්නමු, එලවා දමමු, යන්නට වැඩි දෙයක් එදත් අදත් කියන්නේ නැත.

1969-70 කාලයේදී පානදුරේ තරුණයින්, රෑට රෑට හරියට දොර අඟුල්වත් නැති දුගී ගෙවල්වල කුස්සිවලට රිංගා බත් මුට්ටි හොරකම් කලේ සටන් පුහුණුවේ කොටසක් වශයෙනි (මීට සම්බන්ධව සිටි JVP තරුණයින්ගේ නම් දෙකක් මා විසින් සේපාල්ට ඊමේල් කර යවන ලදී). මේ නිසා අධ්‍යාත්ම කතාවක් කීමට පන්ති සටනක් දියත් කරණ අයට නොහැකිය.  JVP නායකයින් දැන් 2023 නොවැම්බර් මාසේ මැදදීත් කියන්නේ පාරේ අරගලයකින් බලය අල්ලා ගන්නා බවය. ඉදිරි එවැනි උත්සාහයකදී හමුදාවට හා පොලීසියට ඔවුන්ගේ පැත්තට එන ලෙස ඔවුන් දන්වා සිටී. විශ්‍රාම ගිය හමුදාකාරයින් විශාල වශයෙන් NPP සමඟ බද්ධවී ඇති බවද අනුර කුමාරලා මහත් උජාරුවෙන් කියාපායි.

අවි ගත්තෝ අවියෙන්ම නසී යනු බෞද්ධ කියමනක් නොවේ. නමුත් 1930 ස් ගණන් වලදී මාක්ස්වාදීන් ධර්මපාලතුමාගේ අදහස් සළකා බැලුවා නම්, සමහර හාමුදුරුවරු ඔවුන්ට පෙන්වා දීමට සැදූ බෞද්ධ මාර්ගය අනුගමනය කලා නම් දැන් 2023 දී හඳුන්නෙත්තිට අළුතෙන් බෞද්ධ රාජ්‍ය ප්‍රතිපත්ති ගැන කතාකරන්නට අවශ්‍යවන්නේ නැත. මැලේරියා ගම්වලට ලොරිවලින් බඩු ගෙනගිය සූරියමල් මාක්ස්වාදීන් 1940 දශකයේදී කළුකොඳයාවේ ප්‍රඥාශෙඛර නාහිමියන් විසින් දියත්කල අපරාධ මර්දන හා ග්‍රාම ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ දීපව්‍යාප්ත ව්‍යාපාරයට හවුල්වුනා නම් ඔවුන් ලංකාවේ හෝචිමිංලා වෙන්නේය (එයට D.B ජයතිලක, D.S සේනානායක හා SWRD බණ්ඩාරනායක යන ඩොනමෝර් ඇමතිවරු සහාය නොදීම තේරුම් ගත හැකිය. ඔවුන්ට ධර්මපාලතුමාගේ ආර්ථික දර්ශණයද අරහං විය). පුදුමයට කරුණ නම් හඳුන්නෙත්තිලා, අනුර කුමාරලා මෙසේ නිකමටවත් <බෞද්ධ කතා> කරද්දී, JVP ට බලෙන්ම කඩේ යන සේපාල් බෞද්ධයින්ට කරණ පහරදීමය. නිදසුණක් වශයෙන් ගුණදාස අමරසේකර උපන්දින සැමරුවේදි නලින් ද සිල්වා විසින් ලංකාව සිංහල බෞද්ධ රාජ්‍යයක් වියයුතු කුමක් නිසාදැයි පෙන්වා දුන්නත්, සේපාල් විසින් එය බඩගෝස්තරයින්ගේ සමුළුවක් ලෙස ඔහුගේ යූටියුබ් සහචරයින්ට වාර්තා කලේය.

1994 දී චන්ද්‍රිකාව ලන්ඩන් වලින් කොළඹට උස්සාගෙන ඒමට ක්‍රියාකලේ වික්ටර් අයිවන්, රාජිත සේනාරත්න, පානදුරේ රෙජිනෝල්ඩ් කුරේ යනාදි පිරිසක් බවත් ඇගේ 1995 රටකඩන පැකේජ්ඩීල් එක ඔවුන්ගේ අරමුණවූ බවත් නලින් පෙන්වා දුන්නේය. මීට විරුද්ධව බෙංගමුවේ නාලක හා ඔමාරේ කස්සප යන හාමුදුරුවරු කළුතර බෝධිය ලඟ සිට කතරගම දක්වා පා ගමනක් ගියේය. 2000 දී මේ පැකේජ්ඩීල් එක පැරදුනේ අනූනමයෙනි. සේපාල් වැනි සිංහල බෞද්ධ විරෝධීන්ට මේවා වැදගත් නැත. නලින්ට අනුව මුනිදාස කුමාරණතුංග රට ජාතියේ ඓතිහාසික වීරයෙකි. සේපාල්ට අනුව සීයා අනුව යන ඔහුගේ මුණුපුරා බඩජහරියෙකි (සේපාල් ගෙවිඳුගේ කෑම පිඟානද ඔහුගේ වීඩියෝවේ පෙන්වයි).

LankaWeb – සජිත්-රනිල්-චන්ද්‍රිකාගේ රට කැබලිකිරීමේ ප්ලෑන  ( 2019/11/05)

හෘදය ශාක්ෂිය

(A). පුද්ගලික වාසිය සඳහා සමාජයට හානියක් නොවන ආකාරයේ ඩබල්ගේම් ගැසීමට උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් ඉහතින් ඇති වීඩියෝව බලන්න. ඒ අනුව වටගල කොතලාවල ආරක්ෂක විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය පිහිටුවනවාට විරුද්ධව පෙලපාලි සංවිධානය කල JVP කාරයෙකි. නමුත් ඔහුගේ පුතා පසුව ඒ ආයතනයෙන් උපාධියක් ලබාගත්තේය. JVP නායාචාරියෙක් වන ලාල් කාන්තගේ පුතා පුද්ගලික ආයතනයකින් උපාධියක් ලබාගත්තේය. මෙය ප්‍රභාකරන් තම දරුවන් පිටරට ඉගෙනගන්නට යවා යාපනේ වෙල්ලාල නොවන දුගී දරුවන් යුද්ධයට හොරකම් කරගත්තාට වඩා වෙනස්ද? මෙවැනි නිදසුන් තවත් බොහෝ ඇතිබව නිසැකය. ලුමුම්බා සරසවියට විජේවීර ශිෂ්‍යා ගියේද කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂයේ නම් ලැයිස්තුව  (ඔහුගේ පියා) නිසාය!

(B). දේශපාලන වාසිය තකා වංක ලෙස ක්‍රියාකරණවා යයි JVP ට (අනුර කුමාරට) නාගානන්ද කොඩිතුවක්කු විසින් කරණ චෝදනා, දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් වශයෙන් ඔවුන් රටේ දේශපාලන ක්‍රමයට කල ද්‍රෝහී ක්‍රියා ලෙස හුවා දැක්වේ.

(C). අනුර කුමාර විසින් ඇමෙරිකාවේ සංචාරය කරමින් කල ප්‍රකාශණ දෙකකින් මතුවූයේ ඔවුන්ගේ සිංහල බෞද්ධකම පිළිඹද අර්බුදයකි. අධ්‍යත්මික ප්‍රශ්ණයකි. මේ ප්‍රකාශණ දෙක රටේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනයාගේ චන්ද ඔහුට නොලැබීමට හේතුවනවා නිසැකය. තම මත සාධාරණ කිරීමට ඔහු ගේනා තර්ක පදනම් රහිතය. රෝහණ විජේවීරගේ මෙන්ම ඔහුගේ පුත් උවිඳුගේ අදහස් වලටද පටහැනිය. මෙය සුළු ජන වර්ගවල චන්ද ලබාගැනීමට සෙසු දේශපාලකයින් කරණ මගඩියට  සමානය. විමල් වීරවංශ මෙන්ම සෝමවංශ අමරසිංහද පක්ෂය හැරදා ගියේ මේ නිසාය.

*1. ඇමෙරිකාවේ සුදු ජනයාගේ අයිතිය පිළිගනිමින් ලංකාවේ හා අනිකුත් රටවල ජනවර්ග සිය නිදහස භුක්තිවිඳිමින් සිටියත්, ලංකාවේදී සිංහල මහජාතියට උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර ජීවත්වන්නට ඉඩක් නැත්තේ ඇයිදැයි ඇසු ප්‍රශ්ණයකට අනුර කුමාර දුන්නේ වික්ෂිප්ත පිළිතුරකි. <…මිහිඳු හාමුදුරුවන්ගේ ආගමනයත් සමඟ ඇතිවූ සිංහල බෞද්ධ ශිෂ්ටාචාරය අතීතයේ සිට ලංකාව  ගොඩනැඟුවේය. ඒ වුනත් මේ වනවිට රටේ ඇත්තේ බහු ජාතික සමාජයක් නිසා ලංකාව සිංහල බෞද්ධ රටක් යයි හැඳින්විය නොහැකියයි අනුර කියා සිටියේය.> මෙය මංගල සමරවීර-විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂ-ඩලස්-ඩිලාන්- SB දිසානායක-GL පීරිස්-රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ-සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස වැන්නන්ගේ හා මාක්ස්වාදීන්ගේ අරටු බැසගත් පොදු මතයය.

සිංහල බෞද්ධ රාජ්‍යයක් තුල දෙමළ හා මුස්ලිම් ජනයා සහජීවනයෙන් ජීවත්වු අතර එය කඩා බිඳ දැම්මේ සුද්දා විසින්ය. බෞද්ධයින් ආගමික යුද්ධ කර නැත. අද වනවිට ගැටුම් ඇතිවී තිබෙන්නේ සිංහලයින් විසින් ඔවුන්ට අහිමිකල අයිතීන් ආපසු ලබා දෙන ලෙස කල ඉල්ලීම නිසා පමණක් නොවේ. (1). 1917 දී මැඩ්‍රාස් ප්‍රාන්තයේ බිහිවූ ද්‍රවිඩස්ථාන් ව්‍යාපාරයේ අභාෂයෙන්, 1923 සිට අරුණාචලම් ආරම්භකල දමිළ ජාතිවාදය හා 1949 සිට චෙල්වනායගම් ගෙනා කොසොවෝ ඊළම්වාදය, (2) ආසියාව ක්‍රිස්තියානි කිරීමේ වතිකානුවේ හා ක්‍රිස්තියානි මූලධර්මවාදී අයථා අන්‍යාගමීකරණ ඩොලර් ව්‍යාපාරය (3) ශාරියා-වහාබි මුස්ලිම් ව්‍යාප්තවාදය හා (4) රට තුලින්ම සේපාල්ලා, රංජන් රාමනායකලා වැන්නන් විසින් උල්පන්දම් දෙන බුද්ධාගමට පහරදීමේ  NGO ශූක්ෂම ඩොලර් කුමන්ත්‍රණ යන දේශීය හා විදේශීය බලවේග  අනුර කුමාර විසින් අමතක කර ඇත.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් නොයෙක් ශාස්ත්‍රීය ලිපි ලංකා වෙබ් වෙබ් අඩවියේ එමටය. 1551 න් පසු 2016 (?) මැල්කම් රංජිත් කාදිනල්තුමා විසින් ප්‍රථම වරට මෙම කාරණය පැහැදිලි කර දෙනලදී. ලංකාවේ සෙසු ජාතීන් හා ලබ්ධීන් සිංහල බෞද්ධ වෘක්ෂයෙ සෙවනැල්ල යටතේ පෝෂණය වූ බව එතුමා පැවසුවේය. යුද හමුදාපතිව සිටියදී සරත් ෆොන්සේකා කියා සිටියේද <සෙසු ජනවර්ග වලට සමාන අයිතිවාසිකම් සහිතව සිංහල මහසමාජය තුල සාමයෙන්, සතුටින් ජීවත් විය හැකි බවත්, එහෙත් ඔවුන් විසින් අසාධාරණ ඉල්ලීම් ඉදිරිපත් නොකල යුතු බවත්ය>.

ලංකාවේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ පදනම බිඳ දැමිය යුතුයයි මිසිස් චන්ද්‍රිකා හා රෝසි සේනානායක යුවල කරණ ප්‍රකාශය අනුර කුමාරගේ ප්‍රකාශයේ අක්කාය. ලංකාව සිංහල බෞද්ධයින්ගේ රට යයි කියන්නට දැනුමක්, අවභෝධයක් නැති, ඒ සඳහා ලැජ්ජාවෙන හෝ ආත්ම ශක්තියක් නැති අයෙකුට ලංකාවේ ජනාධිපතිවීමට අයිතියක් නැත.

*2. මේ හා බැඳුණ ඊලඟ ප්‍රකාශය වන්නේ 13-A සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඔහු දුන්  වහෙන් ඔරෝ උත්තරයය. බිම්මට්ටමේ යථාර්ථයට පටහැනි, හැමෝටම සක්සුදක්සේ පැහැදිලි වන සංසිද්ධියක් ඔහුට නොවැටෙන්නේ කෙසේද? <..පලාත් සභා දැන් දෙමළ ජනයාගේ අයිතීන් බවට පත්වී ඇති නිසා ඒවා අහෝසිකල නොහැකියයි ඔහු කියා සිටියේය.> මෙහිදී ඔහු දෙන්නේ ඔහු රනිල්ගේ මල්ලී යයි සිතා දෙන පිලිතුරකි. මෝඩි, රාසමානික්කම්, සුමන්තිරන්, විග්නේශ්වරන් හා පොන්නම්බලම් හැරෙන විට යාපනේ දෙමළ ජනයාට පලාත් සභා අමතකය. මේ දෙමළ කොටින්ගේ යාපනේ චන්ද පදනම සෝදා පාලුවකට අසුවී ඇති බව අනුර කුමාර නොදනීද? මෙය සෙසු දකුණේ දේශපාලකයින් මෙන් දෙමළ චන්ද පෙරේතකමට කරණ ආත්ම වංචාවක් නොවේද? යාපනේ චේ ගුවේරා වන අරුන් සිද්ධාර්ථ් ගැන  අනුර අසා නැද්ද?

ලෝකයේ කිසිම රටක යම් ජන කොටසකට වෙන අයෙක් විසින් බලෙන් පැටවූ <අයිතීන්> තිබිය නොහැක. පලාත් සභා යනු ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ සිට ලංකාවේ හැම දෙනාම ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කල ඉන්දියන් මගඩියකි. යාපනේ වසන 60% ක් වන වෙල්ලාල නොවන ජනයාට අනුව පලාත් සභාව යනු වෙල්ලාල කොටින් විසින් ඔවුන්ව තවදුරටත් අර්ධ වහල් භාවයේ තබා ගැනීමේ උප්පරවැට්ටියකි. කුරුන්දි විහාර සිද්ධියේදී හා අම්පිටියේ සුමනරතන හිමියන් විසින් අවුරුදු 30 ක් පුරා රටට පෙන්වා දුන් යථාර්ථය නම් නැඟනහිර පලාත් සභාව, එහි නිලධාරීන් හා උසාවි ක්‍රමය එහි සිටින සිංහල ජනයා එලවා දැමීමේ කුමණ්ත්‍රනයක් කරගෙන යන බවය. යාපනේ තිස්ස රජමහා විහාරය, මුලතිව් විහාරය ට විරුද්ධව පෙලපාලි මෙහෙයවන්නේ ක්‍රිස්තියානි පාස්ටර්ලා මිස හින්දු ජනයා නොවේ. හින්දු-බෞද්ධ මිත්‍රත්වය හා යුද හමුදා-දමිළ ජන මිත්‍රත්වය ඉහළ තලයකින් පවතී.

එක රටක්-එක නීතියක් වාර්තාව (2022)

යාපනේ ඇති ඉන්දියන් තානාපති (ඉන්දියන් රෝ ඔත්තු සේවය( කාර්යාලයෙන් අරුන් ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ යාපනේ ජනයාට හින්දි භාෂාව උගන්වන  පන්ති වෙනුවට, ඔවුන්ට (හා යුද හමුදාවට හා පොලිසියට) සිංහල හා දෙමළ උගන්වන්නට උදව් කරණ ලෙසය. එපමණක් නොව යාපනේ වෙල්ලාලයින්ගේ තේසවලම් නීතියෙන් පීඩා විඳින කුලහීන යයි සැළකෙන දෙමළ ජනතාව  බොදු බල සේනාවේ ඥානසාර හිමියන් මූලිකවූ  එක රටක්-එක නීතියක් වාර්තාව (One country-One law report) ක්‍රියාත්මක කරණු ඇතැයි  බලාගෙන සිටී. 1956 චන්දයෙන් පසු බණ්ඩාරනායක ආණ්ඩුව විසින් පැනවූ උතුරේ දෙමළ ජනයාට සිදුවන සමාජ අසාධරණකම් වැලැක්වීමේ නීතිය (Prevention of Social Disabilities Act, No. 21 of 1957) අකර්මණ්‍යවූ නීතියක් බවද මෙහිදී සඳහන් කල යුතුය. JVP විසින් උතුරේ කුලහීන යයි සළකණ ජනයාගේ ප්‍රශ්ණ අමතක කරන්නේ කුමක් නිසාදැයි සැකයක් මතුවන්නේ එහි නැඟී එන නායකයා වන අරුණ් බෞද්ධයෙක් නිසාද?

ජන සභා සංකල්පය: ලංකාවේ/ලෝකයේ අර්බුදවලට මුහුණදීම

දූෂණයෙන්, වංචාවෙන්, හොරකමින් මුළු රටම පීඩා විඳිමින් සිටින බව මුව හමට තලනවා මෙන් නැවත නැවත රැස්වීම් වලට එන ජනයා කුල්මත් කිරීමට අමතරව රට වලෙන් ගොඩ ගැනීමේලා පැහැදිලි සැලැස්මක් JVP-NPP මඟින් ඉදිරිපතකර තිබේද? සමස්ත සිස්ටම් සියල්ලම උඩු යටිකුරු කර ගම්මට්ටමින් ජනයාතුල විනයනුකූල හැසිරීමක් හා අයිතීන් හා වගකීම් (rights and duties) යන දෙකම ඔවුන්ට උගන්වා මිස ලංකා සමාජය ගොඩ ගැනීමට නොහැකිය. මේ සඳහා නිවැරදිම විසඳුම පක්ෂ දේශපාලනයෙන් තොර ජන සභා ක්‍රමයක් ක්‍රියත්මක කිරීමය.

එවැනි ක්‍රමයක් මිස JVP-NPP ක්‍රියාකාරීන්ට ගම් භාරදුන්නොත් සිදුවිය හැකිදේ පිළිඹඳව මහජනයාට අත්දැකීම් එමටය. දෑකැත්ත හා මිටිය සහිත බස් හොල්ට් එක මෙන් JVP බල ඇණි තරඟයට මෙන් ගම්වල යකා නටන්නට ඉඩ තිබේ. 1971 දී හා 1988/89 කාලවලදී නායකයින්ට පාලනය කරගත නොහැකිවූ වියවුල් තත්වයක් රටපුරා බිහිවුනේ නැද්ද? මහජන චන්දයෙන් ගම්වල ජන සභා පිහිටුවිය යුත්තේ ඒ නිසාය. මෙම විසඳුම මෙම සටහනේ දෙවන කොටසින් ඉදිරිපත් කරමි. මෙම සටහන අනුර කුමාර  මහතාට හා JVP පක්ෂ කාර්යාලයට ඊමේල් කර යවමි.

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අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය 

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා සහ  චීන ජනාධිපති ෂී ජින් පිං මහතාගේ විශේෂ නියෝජිත, රාජ්‍ය මන්ත්‍රී ෂෙන් යිකින් (Shen Yiqin) මහත්මිය අතර හමුවක් අද (2023.11.20) අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී පැවැත්විණි.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වෙත චීනය ලබා දෙන අඛණ්ඩ සහයෝගය ඉතා ඉහළින් අගය කරන බවත්, චීනය සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අතර ආර්ථික සහයෝගීතාව තවදුරටත් පුළුල් කර ගැනීමේ විශාල හැකියාවක් පවතින බවත්   මෑත කාලීන ණය අර්බුදයෙන් පසු ආර්ථිකය යථා තත්ත්වයට පත්කිරීම සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලබා දුන් සහයට ස්තූතිවන්ත වන බවත් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මෙහිදී පැවසීය.

සෘජු පෞද්ගලික ආයෝජන මෙන්ම කෘෂිකාර්මික ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ආයෝජන සහ  අපනයනය, පුනර්ජනනීය බලශක්තිය, තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ, අධ්‍යාපනය ආදී ක්ෂේත්‍ර සඳහා ආයෝජන මෙන්ම, පවතින ආර්ථික ප්‍රශ්නවලට දිගුකාලීන විසඳුම් ලබාදීම වෙනුවෙන් යටිතල පහසුකම් සංවර්ධනයට චීනයෙන් ලැබෙන්නා වූ සහයෝගය ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සාදරයෙන් පිළිගන්නා බවද අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා සඳහන් කළේය. 

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පමණක් නොව අනෙකුත් ණය දෙන රටවලට සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර නියෝජිත ආයතනවලට චීනයේ සහයෝගය ලැබීම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමේ ක්‍රියාවලියට සහාය වීම සඳහා විශ්වාසයක් ලබා දී ඇති බවද අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මෙහිදී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.  

සමස්ත චීන කාන්තා සම්මේලනයේ සභාපතිනිය ද වන විශේෂ නියෝජිත ෂෙන් යිකින් මහත්මිය පැවසුවේ, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව චීනයේ සමීපතම මිතුරෙකු ලෙස සලකන බවත්, සහයෝගීතාව මෙන්ම නව ව්‍යාපෘති සඳහා ආයෝජනය කිරීමටත්, කොළඹ වරාය නගරය, හම්බන්තොට වරාය, දිළිඳුකම පිටුදැකීමේ වැඩසටහන්, අධ්‍යාපනය සහ කෘෂිකර්ම යන ක්ෂේත්‍ර පුළුල් කිරීමටත් බලාපොරොත්තු වන බවත්ය.

දුෂ්කරතා මඟහරවා ගැනීම සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ලබා ඇති ප්‍රගතිය දැකීමෙන් චීනය සතුටට පත්වන බව පැවසූ චීන රාජ්‍ය මන්ත්‍රීවරිය ආර්ථික අභියෝගවලට මුහුණ දීමේ ප්‍රයත්නයන් සඳහා චීනයේ අඛණ්ඩ සහයෝගය සහතික කළාය.

ජාත්‍යන්තර සමුළුවලදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ස්වෛරීභාවයට සහය දැක්වීමේ චීන ස්ථාවරය පිළිබඳව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මෙහිදී විශේෂ සඳහනක් කළ අතර ඊට ප්‍රතිචාර දක්වමින් ෂෙන් යිකින් (Shen Yiqin) මහත්මිය සඳහන් කළේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නිදහස සහ       ස්වාධීනත්වය, ස්වෛරීභාවය සහ භෞමික අඛණ්ඩතාව වෙනුවෙන් චීනය සැමවිටම පෙනී සිටින බවයි.

මෙම හමුවේදී දීර්ඝකාලීන සංස්කෘතික සබඳතා තවදුරටත් ශක්තිමත් කර ගැනීමේ වැදගත්කම අවධාරණය කළ චීන තානාපති කිව් ෂෙන් හොං (Qi Zhenhong) මහතා ආගමික බැඳීම්වල කල්පවත්නා සංකේතයක් ලෙස ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විශාලතම බුද්ධ ප්‍රතිමාව ළඟදීම ඉදිකිරීමට චීනය යෝජනා කරන බව සඳහන් කළේය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට චීන ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නිලධාරීන්, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන ජානක වක්කුඹුර, අශෝක ප්‍රියන්ත, ගීතා කුමාරසිංහ, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් වන සුදර්ශන දෙණිපිටිය, යදාමිණි ගුණවර්ධන, රාජිකා වික්‍රමසිංහ, මුදිතා ද සොයිසා, මංජුලා දිසානායක, කෝකිලා ගුණවර්ධන, සහ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක යන අය එක්ව සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය 

Courtesy PIME Asia News

On the occasion of the World Day celebrated by the UN on 19 November in Sri Lanka, the Public Health Inspectors Association released some data on the scarcity of these essential facilities for the protection of people’s health and dignity.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – Yesterday, 19 November, marked the “World Toilet Day” called for by the UN to focus on the issue of accessibility and availability of public toilets, an issue that is far from insignificant in Sri Lanka as pointed out by Public Health Inspectors Association member W. D. Roshan Kumara. Only one in 20 homes in the country has a ‘sanitary toilet’, explains a research conducted by the association.

The theme of this year’s World Sanitation Day is ‘Valuing Sanitation’, emphasising the intrinsic value of these facilities in improving health, ensuring dignity and also facilitating economic development. Despite the progress made around the world in recent years, according to the United Nations, some 4.2 billion people still lack access to safely managed sanitation, leading to the spread of disease and compromising overall well-being.

In Sri Lanka in recent years, the proposal to ‘reinstate the system of aid given to low-income people for the construction of toilets, and to intervene to guarantee this service in every school, had come back into vogue,’ explains Roshan Kumara.

He adds: ‘The people of Sri Lanka, whose need for sanitation has not been met, have an urgent need for it and attention to the issue is essential because we have found that only one in 20 homes in Sri Lanka has a sanitary facility and this leads to disease and pollution of the groundwater by sewage, especially in rural areas.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday 15 November, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha warned that 74 school buildings across the island were found to be ‘unsafe’ for students. The reasons include a lack of sanitation, as well as structural weaknesses, as in the case of a school in the Wellampitiya suburb of Colombo, where a 6-year-old girl was killed and several others were injured after a wall collapsed on Wednesday 15 November.

In spite of everything, the UN figures say that the situation in Sri Lanka is not among the worst in South Asia; in some areas, as much as 90 per cent of the population does not have access to these services.

Source: Xinhua

COLOMBO, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) — Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe met here on Monday with visiting Chinese State Councilor Shen Yiqin, with both sides pledging to deepen cooperation and friendship between the two countries.

Wickremesinghe thanked China for its long-term valuable support and assistance to Sri Lanka, saying that Sri Lanka firmly supports the joint Belt and Road construction, and encourages Chinese enterprises to invest in the country to promote the construction of Port City Colombo and Hambantota International Port.

Sri Lanka strictly adheres to the one-China policy and hopes to deepen friendly exchanges and cooperation with China to promote Sri Lanka’s socio-economic development, the president added.

For her part, Shen said China attaches great importance to its relations with Sri Lanka, and is willing to work with the Sri Lankan side to earnestly implement the consensus reached between leaders of the two countries.

Both sides should support each other on issues concerning their respective core interests, jointly promote high-quality Belt and Road construction, and work together to push for new progress in developing the China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership based on sincere mutual assistance and ever-lasting friendship, she said.

Shen also met with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, respectively, on Monday.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

COLOMBO (Daily Mirror) – The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) will initiate a probe into incidents in which stocks of coal imported for the Norochcholai thermal power plant have been under-invoiced for the evasion of due amount of Value Added Tax (VAT), an official said.

COPA Chairman Lasantha Alagiyawanna told Daily Mirror that the COPA examined the audit reports of Sri Lanka Customs for 2019, 2020 and 2021. He said the COPA ordered a further probe into this matter.

Coal imports have been under-invoiced to avoid VAT payment,” he said.

Asserting that there are numerous administrative shortcomings and irregularities in the process, he said

Meanwhile, a statement from the parliamentary media unit said as much as Rs.187 million has been undercharged in this manner.

COPA drew attention to the financial advantage provided to the concerned institution by presenting fake local information during the release of warehouses brought by a private institution for the water development project in the Eastern Province. Accordingly, during the release of the goods which the concerned private company had warehoused as USD 5,139,621, locally prepared forged documents were used to pave the way and obtain USD 1,210,743 in excess for the concerned company when the value shown was USD 6,350,364. Thus, COPA recommended that a report in this regard be given within a month. The status of the introduction of new technology by Customs was also discussed at the Committee meeting held. Accordingly, the officers who were present pointed out that currently a system called “ASYCUDA” is being used to maintain data, and it is connected to the Ramis system. Furthermore, a new technology system will be introduced in the future. Furthermore, attention was also directed to the measures taken regarding the amendment of the Customs Ordinance Act and the officials mentioned that the amendments in this regard will be submitted to Parliament in January 2024,” the statement said.

BY MEERA SRINIVASAN Courtesy The Hindu Businessline

Special envoy of the Chinese President Shen Yiqin with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo on Monday.

China is prioritising” the extension of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) to Sri Lanka, the country’s Special Envoy told President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday, in an indication that China is looking to scale up the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project in South Asia.  

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Paying a courtesy call on the Sri Lankan President, Special envoy of the Chinese President, State councillor Shen Yiqin, said China is prioritising the extension of the Corridor to the island nation, according to a press statement issued by Wickremesinghe’s office on Monday. Additionally, both parties agreed to expedite the implementation of the China-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement,” the statement said.   

The CMEC is the newest of the six land corridors under the BRI and has assumed prominence in place of the Bangladesh China India Myanmar (BCIM) corridor which has largely stalled. India and Bhutan are the only countries in South Asia that have stayed out of the BRI and China’s more recent Global Development Initiative, which Sri Lanka has also backed. Wickremesinghe noted that countries such as Sri Lanka, which are participants in the BRI, are prepared to embark on the second phase of the initiative, which is expected to make a more substantial economic contribution.” 

Joint statement

Shen is in Sri Lanka after participating in President Mohamed Muizzu’s inaugural ceremony in neighbouring Maldives on November 17. Her visit comes a month after President Wickremesinghe met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, on the sidelines of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. A joint statement issued by the two governments at the time said Sri Lanka reiterated it would continue to actively participate” in the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China.  

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In Monday’s meeting, President Wickremesinghe expressed gratitude for China’s support to Sri Lanka, notably acknowledging their assistance in the country’s debt restructuring programme,” his office said.  

Sri Lanka is attempting to finalise a debt treatment plan with its official creditors, so it can receive the second tranche of the International Monetary Fund’s nearly $3 billion package for economic recovery, following last year’s crisis. China has decided to stay out of the official creditors’ platform and remains an observer in deliberations with India and Paris Club members, including Japan, that have sought creditor parity. Last month, the IMF said that securing an agreement with official creditors is a critical next step” for Sri Lanka.   

Courtesy The Island

Opposition and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday called on Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to remove parliamentary committee chairmen who had conflicts of interest.

Premadasa demanded to know from the Speaker what moral right a person had to chair a committee investigating Sri Lanka Cricket after providing consultancy services and getting paid for those services from the SLC.

I call upon the Speaker to conduct an investigation and inform the House who the proprietor of the Business Management School of Colombo is and the names of public institutions that obtained his services. Various public institutions are summoned before the committee and are questioned whether they have a business plan. If the institution being questioned does not have a business plan then the committee orders it to prepare a business plan immediately. Thereafter, that institution is approached by the Business Management School of Colombo and it gives consultancy services to prepare the business plan. I have evidence to prove this, he alleged.

For example, the Speaker could check this by inspecting how the Vocational Training Authority got its business plan. Does it mean that the committee chairman post is given to the MPs to promote their private businesses? There are many examples to prove this. The chairmen with conflicts of interest should be removed immediately,” Premadasa said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Committee on Parliamentary Business has agreement to appoint a Special Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the irregularities in Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC), under a co-chairmanship of the ruling parties and the opposition.

This was decided on during the meeting of the Committee on Parliamentary Business this evening (20) chaired by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.

The Secretary General of the Parliament, Kushani Rohanadeera, said that during the meeting attention had been focused on the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the irregularities in Sri Lankan cricket. 

The General Secretary said that it was agreed to establish this committee under a co-chairmanship of the ruling parties and the opposition and under an equal number of committee members.

The Secretary General of the Parliament said that it was also decided that the Parliament will convene from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm on December 10 (Sunday). 

Thus, it has been decided to hold the debate on the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill and the Second Reading of Appropriation BIll on that day.

In addition to this, some amendments were made in the parliamentary proceedings on the 22nd and 24th of November.

Also, it has been discussed to continue to hold meetings of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) regarding Sri Lanka Cricket and other institutions and also that if steps are taken regarding the chairmanship of the committee, it should be done according to the decision of the committee members.

Courtesy Hiru News

Colombo, November 20, 2023 – The ongoing crisis within Sri Lanka Cricket took center stage in Parliament today as Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe tabled three letters sent by Cricket President Shammi Silva to the International Cricket Council (ICC). These letters, requesting the suspension of Sri Lanka Cricket’s membership, have sparked a public outcry and raised concerns about the future of cricket in the country.

In a press conference held yesterday, Minister Ranasinghe unveiled the contents of the letters, shedding light on the internal turmoil within the Sri Lanka Cricket Board. The Board, in response, emphasized the obligation of the Cricket President to disclose all relevant information concerning cricket in the country under ICC regulations.

During today’s parliamentary session, Minister Ranasinghe called upon the Attorney General to initiate legal action against those responsible for jeopardizing the state of cricket in Sri Lanka. This move signals a significant step towards addressing the accountability of individuals involved in the crisis.

In related developments, Minister Manusha Nanayakkara, a member of the special sub-committee appointed by the President to address issues within Sri Lankan cricket, assured the media that the committee’s report would be promptly provided. The fate of the ban imposed on Sri Lankan cricket will be determined at an upcoming ICC meeting in India, where discussions will be led by ICC members.

As the nation awaits crucial decisions on the future of its cricketing landscape, an online petition has already gained momentum, calling for the removal of corrupt cricket officials. Simultaneously, a demonstration organized by Samagi Janabalawegaya was held in front of the Galle-Karapitiya Teaching Hospital, urging decisive action to eradicate corruption and safeguard Sri Lankan cricket.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Revised 24.11.23

The Tamil Separatist Movement continued to obstruct and harass the Kurundi project.   On 3rd October 2018 a group of MPs from Colombo visited Kurundi. A group of Tamils confronted them  and there was an argument with Tamil MPs and residents.  

On February 4^th 2022 Ven. Santhabodhi had planned to hold a pinkama at Kurundi with 40 monks reciting Seth pirit. But that morning a group led by MPs Sumanthiran and   Rasamanickam came to Kurundi together with a media team and challenged them. They announced over the media that work on Kurundi must stop immediately at it was affecting their independence. They said that  there is a historic kovil at Kurundi and the restoration work on Kurundi vihara was obstructing kovil worship. They will go to courts and Sumanthiran will appear for them. The pinkama was held that evening.  

 Ven.  Santhabodhi was informed that Raviharan had planned to hold a Kovil puja at Kurundi on June 22, 2022 but   had decided against it .

 In July 2022 Ven. Kirulapone Dhammavijaya was planning to hold a pinkama as well as a dharma desanaya at Kurundi for Esala but they were told that Tamil protestors were planning to turn up on that day and security was not keen on the event. The pinkama was therefore held at Sapumalgaskada. Two busloads of worshippers turned up having heard about this.    20 monks also came and the bana was broadcast on media.  Many got to know about Kurundi this way. It was a very successful Poya day celebration, said Santhabodhi.  

EVENT NO 5

Tamil Separatist Movement strongly opposed any surveying of the Kurundi land. They tried to stop all surveying of Kurundi. The description given in the book ‘Kurundi Vihara Vamsaya” on the survey work is confusing.  This is what it said.

 The first account is as follows: The boundary stones were set in August 2022 without any fuss or opposition, said Santhabodhi.  On September 18, 2022 MP Charles Nirmalanathan had come to Kurundi to inspect the boundary stones. He told the media that Kurundi had grabbed 600 acres belong to Tamil farmers.  Three was opposition brewing against the boundary stones, said Santhabodhi.

Survey Department team was due to arrive at Kurundi for further surveying. The Tamil Separatist Movement with the support of the Tamil officers in Mullaitivu had planned a demonstration for September 22 when the Survey Department officers were due to arrive to survey the land.

The second account says that while the surveying was going on, Department of Archaeology informed Santhabodhi on 2022. 9. 20 to stop the surveying of the Kurundi reserve. A Tamil MP had informed Minister for Buddha Sasana, Vidura Wickramanayake that the Archaeology Department was     trying to seize paddy lands which belonged to the Tamil farmers.

 Minister ordered D/Archaeology to stop the survey immediately.  Work done for two years over the boundary was halted, said Santhabodhi .     Santhabodhi  criticized the  Minister’s action. The Minister should have investigated the matter  first. We had worked hard for two years on this matter. Minister   has simply accepted the Tamil complaint.  Minister Vidura Wickramanayake was earlier  with us, why  this change, asked Santhabodhi . 

The third account is as follows:  The Tamil Separatist Movement had taken the Kurundi matter to Supreme Court. Supreme Court had therefore  asked the Survey Department to send them a map of the Kurundi ruins. On September 6, 2022,  the survey team arrived under police protection. They were met  by a  set of aggressive Tamil protestors. The police  said that  they cannot offer protection and  told the  survey  team  to   go back without doing the survey.  So I undertook to see to their safety, said Santhabodhi  .We went to where the survey officers were staying and asked them to somehow do this. They did  the work and I dropped them off on the main road in  my    vehicle.  

EVENT NO 6

On  September 21, 2022 at about 10am  Tamil political leaders with 20 others came to the foot of Kurundi hill and started their protests.   They were followed by about 100 other Tamils who came in vehicles and tractors, holding placards  and shouting  aggressive slogans  . They ordered the army team engaged in conservation work to leave. They left.

Some Tamil protestors climbed onto the stupa and spoke obscenely to the officer in charge of the archaeology work,  and demanded to know  on whose authority   he was doing his work.   They uttered death threats and asked him to leave immediately.  An onlooker who attempted to video this incident was scolded in obscene language . There was no one stop  them. Mullaitivu police were not to be seen..  They were drunk and if they had attacked us there was no one to come to our rescue, recalled Santhabodhi . 

 At the request of the army, Santhabodhi  and anther monk hid in the guardhouse. From there Santhabodhi rang Ven. Medagoda Abeyatissa  and  Ven. Medill Pagnaloka and they informed  Prime Minister, Sectary/ Defense,  and  the IGP. Santhabodhi also  informed Jagath Sumathipala,  Sarath Weerasekera and Channa  Jayasumana. Later the  police arrested   Raviharan and one other. The Tamil  protestors then demonstrated asking for their release.  They were released on  bail. 

EVENT NO 7

There was another disturbance on July 14, 2023 Ama Wanniarachchi interivewed Ven Santhabodhi .  She wrote as follows: On 4 July, The Mullaitivu Magistrate visited Kurundi Temple to examine the site as there is an on-going court case. During this was happening a large team of Tamil ministers, politicians and their supporters and kurukkals arrived. Buddhist monks and devotees were also at the temple on this day.

This court case was filed in 2018 and it goes on as a ‘Breach of Peace’. However, now the focus was on how the conservation work at the site has been done, especially the archaeological work. But it was proved that all the conservation work was done strictly following archaeological conservation laws and policies by the Department of Archaeology (DoA). Therefore, the lawyers of the other party focused on the signboard that has been fixed on the site by the DoA. Therefore, I was told that I should go to the Police and give a statement about this Board.

While all this was happening, a group of monks visited the temple and worshiped the stupa by offering flowers. Then we were informed that as an examination is going on and that we should leave the place and therefore, we left. But, when we were going toward the stupa we met Police officers, but at that time we were not told not to go there. It all happened after we started to worship and offer flowers.

On the same day evening, a former Member of the Provincial Council, Raviharan, and his team arrived with the media and gave a statement and shared it on social media. When the Magistrate was about to leave, Raviharan requested from him for permission to worship the place; replying to him the Magistrate said that there is no restriction to worship so devotees can worship. Then Raviharan requested permission to conduct a Pongal festival on the 14 July at  Kurundi.

Later that week, we came to know that their intention was not innocent as conducting a Pongal festival but clearly political. We also came to know that they were planning to fix a Thrishul at the place, as they did fix a Siva Linga at Vaddamana Pabbata. Today, the ancient Vaddamana Pabbata Vihara is a kovil, completely destroyed and vandalised, despite the pleas of devotees, activists, media, and officials.”

 Considering all that has been and is happening in the North and East at ancient sites, I logged a complaint on 10 July, presenting all facts and our concerns. As the Chief Incumbent of the Kurundi Temple, it is my duty and responsibility to protect the place. The DoA (Department of Archaeology) also lodged a complaint about this incident and has requested to intervene in order to prevent any conflict or damage that will be caused to the site.

This is a site that has been gazetted as an archaeological reserve and a protected monument. Therefore, according to the law, without the permission of the Director General of the DoA, no one can perform any sort of activities that will harm the site and monuments at the Kurundi ancient site. No activity can be conducted that will harm the site and monuments nor can perform any activities that will hurt Buddhist devotees who venerate this ancient Buddhist monastery. Also, acts that will breach the peace and activities such as placing new objects that will distort and violate the original structure and purpose of this archaeological and Buddhist site should not happen.

We thought that considering our concerns and the points we presented, an order will be given to stop the pooja on 14 July. However, on 13 we came to know that permission was given to go on with the pooja on 14 inside the site.

On the morning of 14, we held a Buddha Wandanawa, and around 9.30 a.m., Raviharan and a team arrived at the temple with utensils, bricks, stones, and so on. They came near the ancient image house and were preparing to light a fire to cook. Then we asked to not light a fire near the image house as it will damage it. One senior Police officer called and said us to leave the temple and let them do the pooja and come back after they leave. I refused to leave as I know and have experience with such things; especially after what happened in Vaddamana Pabbata Vihara. Vaddamana Pabbata was vandalised while the Police were there. I have a responsibility and duty to protect this ancient temple, so I decided not to go.

We know how these extremists vandalise and destroy ancient temples in these areas. While they were about to light the fire, we requested not to do so and explained why. We said that this is a Buddhist temple and an ancient archaeological site, and no activity should be done that will damage its authenticity. Also, the group that arrived here, under the pretext of cooking Pongal rice were not villagers and devotees of the surrounding villagers; they were all henchmen of politicians and a priest from Jaffna who is also a political henchman. Although we discussed it, they ardently disagreed to come to a middle ground. They were adamant about cooking Pongal rice near the image house.

We wonder why such things happen only in Buddhist temples. Is it ethical to conduct religious festivals of another religion inside a religious place of some other religion? Do we go to Nallur Kovil and perform Buddhist pooja? Why these people do not respect the sentiments of Buddhists? Why chose Kurundi when there are hundreds of kovils to cook Pongal rice?

We told them to cook outside the premises and bring the cooked rice here since that is what we also do. We cook milk rice outside and bring the cooked rice to offer. They did not agree. Meanwhile, the Police asked us to leave the premises and we did. Afterward, they poured milk all over the place and cracked coconut inside the temple. The cooking of Pongal rice was stopped because the Buddhist monks and devotees protested against it. Thus, the destruction and vandalising is temporarily stopped concluded Santhabodhi .

EVENT NO 8

A three day Poya festival was planned at Kurundi starting  on 18.8.2023. It started well, with 29 bhikkhus from all over the island and nearly 500 members of the public who arrived by 9 am and started to recite the Ratana sutra. Television news on the evening of 18.8.23 showed this

Two Tamil MPs, S Sridharan and  Gajendran Ponnambalam with others, including undergrads from University of  Jaffna, arrived  at the same time, saying the Magistrate had given permission for a pongal to be conducted at Kurundi. They wanted to have the pongal in front of the pilimage. They did the pongal. Television news showed   a fire lit for preparing the pongal rice.

The Hindus wanted to place a statue   on the stupa .Santhabodhi objected. Tamil shouted at him and police persuaded Santhabodhi to leave saying they will handle the situation.  Santhabodhi reluctantly went. https://youtu.be/XkInlXpKoRg  shows Santhabodhi telling the police, this is highly irregular and the police pleading with him to leave.  No issue has been created yet.

Tamils wanted to light a second fire. The Archaeology department official objected.  He said according to the law, they cannot light any fire, but we permitted you to light the first lipa, isn’t that enough.  Ponnambalam said we want to light the second one also there. I have got an order from the courts to do this. 

The Archaeology Department officer replied that he cannot allow that. There were regulations against it. If you try to light another fire I shall have to inform the security forces. The Tamil group replied  rudely that the Archaeology Department was also part of the Kurundi plot.  You cannot give us orders.  If we have broken your rules then go to courts..  The officer became angry and did not give in.

After the Tamil team left, the Buddhists went to the   Pilimage and worshipped.  After that anther  Tamil group led by a Hindu sadhu in orange robes came and chanted hymns.  Then there was an argument between the  Hindus and the Buddhists. By 2 pm both group had left Kurundi.  Television news showed the deseted stupa with   the army stationed  around it.

The news report on the event said as follows: On august 18.2023 a tense situation arose when a group led by Tamil National People’s Front leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam entered the Kurundi temple and conducted a Pongal Pooja.

A group, including MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, had gone to perform a Pongal Pooja at the Kurundi temple having got a court order to do so. There were objections, saying it was illegal to  do so. Resulting in a heated exchange of words between the two parties. .

 The situation was brought under control by the police. The Mullaitivu police arrived and diffused the situation. They also contacted officials of the Archaeological Department, who designated an appropriate area for the Pongal pooja. The participating individuals conducted the Pongal pooja and then had left . (end of news report..)

On august 21^st, bhikkhus went  to Parliament to complain about the conduct of its  MPs at Kurundi. The spokesman told   the media that  Ponnambalam and his group had  violated Archaeology , Forest,  and Wildlife   regulations.. Gajan Ponnambalam  was trying to destroy Buddhism . This could turn into an explosive situation later.. He wanted  Gajan  Ponnambalam expelled from Parliament  before that happened. He requested the government to take action against   Gajan.         https://youtu.be/Q1c7sbysMPM  

Sarath Weerasekera said in Parliament that the group brought by Ponnambalam were not from the area, they were from Jaffna, Kilinochchi,   and Mannar. ‘.Do not treat the ‘ivaseema’ and ‘anukampava’ of the Buddhist as  ‘nivatakama’, he warned.. 

 MP Dharmalingam Siddharthan responded to  Weerasekera. He said that    Buddhism arose from Hinduism.  There were Tamil Buddhists in   Sri Lanka before the Sinhala Buddhists. There is enough evidence to prove this. While it is  necessary to protect ancient Buddhist monuments, in the  north, it is not possible to permit new temples to be erected there, because that  will lead to settlement of Sinhalese in  that area.  (Hansard reference is    vol 293 no 5 2022.6. 21. P 1055 but I have taken this from  Kurundi vihara vamsaya” and not  directly from Hansard.)

Udaya Gammanpila  went to Gajan Ponnambalam’s  home in Colombo accompanied by a group on 25.8.23  to  complain over his interference in the Kurundi matter. Udaya announced, that Gajan had disturbed a pinkama at Tissa vihara, and disrupted a  pirit pinkama at Kurundi .The  STF, air force  and police  were present to protect  the Ponnambalam residence. (Derana 6.55  news 26.8.23)  CONTINUED)