පියසිරි අමරකෝන්

1796දී මුහුදුබඩ ප කාලයක සිට දිවයිනේ අයිතිය දෙකට බෙදාගෙන සිටි බවක්ද කියා තිබුනි.9 මෙය සැබෑ ඉතිහාසය නොව සැබෑ අනාගත සැලැස්මබව පෙනේ.
නෝර්ත් ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයා යටතේ යටත් විජිත පාලනය අරඹා මදුරාසී පාලනය අහෝසි කොතනයට ලක්විය13. ඉන් ජයෙන් ඔද වැඩුණු උඩරට හමුදාව විසින් පහතරට බි‍්‍රතාන්‍ය බලකොටුවලට පහරදෙන ලදී.14 මෙයින් පසු නෝර්ත් ආන්ඩුකාරවරයා විසින් පලිගැනීමේ ආක‍්‍රමණ මාලාවක් ක‍්‍රියාත්මක කරන ලදී15. 1805 දී නෝර්ත්ගේ පාලනය නිමාවිය.
ඉන්පසු පැමිණියේ තෝමස් මේට්ලන්ඞ් ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයාය.16 ඔහු උඩරට සමග යුද්ධ කිරිම වෙනුවට ලාබ උපක‍්‍රම මගින් උඩරට අල්ලා ගැනීමට කල්පනා කළේය.17 ඒ සදහා උඩරට සමග සුහද ලිපි හුවමාරුවක් ආරම්භ කරන ලදී.

1. Rathnajeevan H. Hoole, The Exile Returned, page 11, HERITAGE HISTORIES, PAGE 52
2. Professor K.M. de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka page, 277
3. Ibid 279
4. Ibid 280
5. Ibid 280
6. K.M. De Silva, Separatist Ideology in Sri lanka: A Historical Appraisal THE TRADITIONAL HOMELANDS” OF THE TAMILS
7. Google Wikipedia of Alexander Jonston (1775-1849)
8. RALPH PIERIS, Adminitration of justice and of revenue on the Island of Ceylon Under Ducth Government (The Cleghorn Minute) J.R.A.S.(CEYLON) VOL.III(New Series) 1953 page 126
9. Ibid
10. K.M. De Silva, A History of Sri Lanka page 280
11. Ibid 283
12. අධිනීඥ ආචාර්ය කොල්වින් ආර්. ද සිල්වා , බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යයින් යටතේ පැවති ලංකාව page 126
13. Ibid 123
14. Ibid 126
15. Ibid 127
16. John h. Martyn, Note on Jaffna , page 363
17. British Governors of Ceylon , H.A.J. Hulugalle, සි.ඒ. විජෙසේකර අනුවාදය පිටුව 43
18. Ibid
    ඊළඟ පියවර වූයේ නව නීති සම්පාදනය මගින් සුළු ජන කොටස් වෙත මෙතෙක් නොතිබූ නීතිමය හිමිකම් ලබාදීමයි19. මේට්ලන්ඞ් ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයා, ඇලෙක්සැන්ඩර් ජොන්ස්ටන් නැමති පිස්කල් අද්වකාත් සමග මාස හයක් මුහුදුබඩ පාතනයකින් ඌවවෙල්ලස්ස මර්ධනය කලේය30. ඉක්බිතිව 1819 දී ගාල්ලට මිෂනාරීන් රැුස්කරවා ලංකාව දෙමළ සිංහල ලෙස දෙකට බෙදිමට තීන්දු කර ඇත31. එලෙසින් රොබට් බ‍්‍රවුන්රිග් පාලනය නිමාවීමට පත්විය. මෙහිදීද ක්ලේගෝන් මොඩලය ක‍්‍රියාත්මක වී ඇත.මීළඟට ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයා පැජට් වූ අතර කෙටි කලකින් බාන්ස් එම තනතුරට පත්විය32. මේ යුගයේදී ක`දුකරය හරහා පාරවල් කපා යා කරගත් උඩරට රාජ්‍යයේ සැපයුම් මාර්ග ශක්තිමත් කළේය. එහි අතුරුපලය උඩරට ඉඩම් වෙන්දේසි කරමින් කෝපි වගාවට අනුබල ලබාදීමයි33. මේ අලකලංචි අස්සේ 1824දී ජෝන් ඩොයිලි34 සියදිවි හානි කරගත්තේය. පාර්සිවාල් ආර්ක්ලන්ඞ් ඩයික් සිවිල් නිලධාරියකු ලෙස යාපනයට සිය පලමු පත්වීම ලැබීය35. සයිමන් කාසිචෙට්ටි කල්පිටියේ තෝල්ක මුදලි කෙනෙකු ලෙස පත්වන්නේද මේ වර්ෂයේදීමය36.
19. John H. Martyn, Notes on Jaffna page 10
20. Alexander Johnston’s, Letter sent to the secretary of the R.A.S. ON july 18, 1827, http://dot.org/10.10117/50950473700000380published online by Cambrige university press
21. ඇල්ලේපොල එච්.එම්. සෝමරත්න,ජෝන් ඩොයිලි සිංහලේ ආණ්ඩු ක‍්‍රමය පිලිබද ලූහුඬු සටහන් xv පිටුව
22. එම xiii
23. S. Ratnajeewan H. hoole, The Exile Returned page 23
24. අධිනීතිඥ ආචාර්ය කොල්වින් ආර්. ද සිල්වා, බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යයින් යටතේ ලංකාව පිටුව 175
25. කුමාර සිරිවර්ධන පරිවර්තනය, චරපුරුෂ ජෝන් ඩොයිලි ගේ දිනපොත, පිටුව 33
26. JOHN H. MARTYN, NOTES ON JAFFNA PAGE 12
27. K.M. De Silva, Sri Lanka’s Troubled Inheritance, page129
28. කුමාර සිරිවර්ධන පරිවර්තනය, චරපුරුෂ ජෝන් ඩොයිලිගේ දින පොත පිටුව 33
29. බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යයින් යටතේ පැවති ලංකාව, අධිනීතිඥ ආචාර්ය කොල්වින් ආර්ද සිල්වා, පිටුව 202
30. එම 204
31. John H. Martyn, Notes on Jaffna, note 53, page 162,163
32. Ibid Page 13
33. සී.ඒ. විෙජේෙස්කර අනුවාදය, British Governors of Ceylon by H.A.J.Hulugalle page 72,73
34. කුමාර සිරිවර්ධන, පරිවර්තනය, චරපුරුෂ ජෝන් ඩොයිලි ගේ දින පොත පිටුව 39
35. John H. Martyn, NOTES ON JAFFNA ,PAGE 14
36. D.P.E. HETTIARACHCHI, SOME LITERARY UNDERTAKINGS OF MR. Simon Casie chitty,R.A.S.Journal volxxx 1927
    1823 දී ආසියාතික යටත් විජිතවල සේවය කල විශ‍්‍රාමික නිලධාරීන් විසින් බි‍්‍රතාන්‍යයේ දි ”එංගලන්තයේ හා අයර්ලන්තයේ ආසියාතික සංගමය” නමින් සංගමයක් අරඹා 1824දී එය ‘‘රාජකීය ආසියාතික සංගමය’’ බවට පත් කරන ලදී37 එහි පුස්තකාලයට38 අපේ මහවංශය හා වෙනත් පුස්කොල පොත් රැුසක් ගෙනගොස් ඇත. ඔවුන් නොයෙක් පර්යේෂණ පවත්වමින් ලංකා ඉතිහාසය පිළිබද සැක පහල කරවන අදහස් නිර්මාණය කළේය.39 මෙලෙසින් ඉතිහාසය විකෘති කිරීම ඇරඹුනි. අද කියාපාන දෙමළ ජාතිවාදී ඉතිහාසයේ තිඹිරිගෙය එතැනවිය. මේයද ක්ලේගෝන් මොඩලයට පණදීමකි. මෙලෙස ලංකාවට ඉතිහාස දෙකක් නිර්මාණය කළේය. මීලඟට විල්මට් හෝර්ටන් ආණ්ඩුකාරයා 1831 පැමිනි අතර ඔහු හමුදා නිලධාරියකු නොව සාහිත්‍යධරයෙකි.40 පුවත්පත්, සඟරා, පොත් පත් පළවන්නට විය. මේ කාලයේ සයිමන් කාසිචෙට්ටි පොත් 13 ක් ද ලිපි 29 ක්ද ලියා පලකර ඇත.41 මේ යුගයේ සිංහල ජාතිය හෙලාදකින නාට්‍යයක් මන්නාරමේ ක‍්‍රිස්තු භක්තිකයින් විසින් ලියා, අනතුරුව නාඩගමක්42 ලෙස වෙදිකා ගතකර ඇත. එමගින් සිංහල දෙමළ වෛරයක් සමාජ ගත කළේය. විකෘති ඉතිහාසයද මෙලෙස සමාජ ගත කළේය. ඊටත් වඩා කෝල්බෲක් කොමිසමේ ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරණ වැදගත්වේ. එය 1799ලියූ ක්ලේගෝන් මොඩලයේ තවත් පියවරකි.43 (පලමුව 1819 මිශනාරීන් රැුස්වී ලංකාව දෙකට බෙදීමට තීන්දු කිරීමයි* කෝල්බෲක් කොමිසම ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාවක් ඇති කර රට පළාත් 5 කට බෙදන ලදී. 1837 සිට අන්ත ක‍්‍රිස්තියානි ආණ්ඩුකාරවරු පැමිණෙමින් (ස්ටුවර්ට්, කොලින්කැම්බල්, වෛකවුන්ට් ටොරිංටන් හා ඇන්ඩර්සන් යන අය* බෞද්ධ සාසනයට නොයෙක් හිරි හැර පිඩා ඇති කරන ලදී44. ඉංග‍්‍රීසීන් ගෙනගිය යාපනේ ක‍්‍රිස්තියානි කිරීමේ ප‍්‍රයත්නය අසාර්ථක බව ඔවුන් සමාලෝචනය කර ඇත.45 1848 මාතලේ කැරැුල්ල46 පැනනැගුණු අතර ඉංග‍්‍රීසීන් 1849 සිට ආරුමුග නාවලර් ලවා හින්¥ ආගම ප‍්‍රචලිත කිරීම ආරම්භකළේය. ලංකාවේ ජාතිවාදය නිර්මාණය කිරීමට ඍජුවම දායක වූ හිටපු අගවිනිසුරු ඇලෙක්සැන්ඩර් ජොන්ස්ටන් 1849 දී මිය ගොස් ඇත.47 ආරුමුගනාවලර් ආරම්භ කළ ව්‍යාපාරය48, ක්ලේගෝන් මොඩලය අනුව උතුරු නැගෙනහිර දෙමළ කිරීමේ තවත් ශක්තිමත් පියවරක් විය. නාවලර් 1879 දී මිය ගොස් ඇත. එතැන් සිට පොන්නම්බලම් රාමනාදන් ව්‍යවස්තාදායක සභාවේ පළමු හින්දු නියෝජිතයා විය.49 දෙමළ ජාතිවාදී දේශපාලනය ඇරඹුනේ එලෙසිනි. මෙකල ඇමෙරිකානු මිශනාරීන් යාල්පාන චරිත්ත‍්‍රම්50 නමින්ද ඇන්ග්ලිකන් මිශනාරින් යාල්පාන වෛපවමාලය නමින්51 ද පොත් දෙකක් පලකරමින් විකෘති ඉතිහාස දෙමළ දේශපාලනයට එකතු කළේය.
37. Google, Royal Asia􀆟c Society of England
38. Ralph Pieris, The Cleghorn Minute, R.A.S Journal Vol.iii (new series) 1953
39. Sir Alexande Johnston, leter witen to the R.A.S. JOURNAL, htp://dot.org/10.10117/50950473700000410published online by Cambrige university press
40. Bri􀆟sh Governors of Ceylon, H.A.J. Hulugalle, C.A. wijeseekara අනුවාදය, පිටුව 91
41. D.P.E. He􀆫arachchi, SOME LITERARY UNDERTAKINGS OF Late Mr Simon Casie chiity R.A.S.(Ceylon) JOURNAL, Vol. xxx, Page 455
42. C. Brito, Yalpana vaipava-malai, Page xxxiv,
43. Bertram Bas􀆟ampillai, North Ceylon (Sri Lanka ) in the 19th Century Pagexiii
44. Bri􀆟sh Governors of Ceylon by H.A.J. Hulugalle සී.ඒ.විෙ◌ෙජස්කර අනුවාදය පිටු94-126
45. S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole, The Exile Returned, page 11
46. Professor K.M. De Silva , A HISTORY OF SRI LANKA 357
47. Google, Alexander Johnston, former chief Jus􀆟ce
48. John H. Martyn, notes on Jaffna, page 193 note 93
49. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole, HERITAGE HISTORIES, PAGE 27
50. JOHN H. MARTYN, Notes on Jaffna, page xxv,
51. C. Brito, YALPANA-VAIPAVA- MALAI , 1879
    මේ අතර බෞද්ධයින්ට සිදුවන පීඩා නිමක් නොවූයෙන්, ක‍්‍රිස්තියානි අභියෝගය පිළිගනිමින් බෞද්ධ භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේලා ක‍්‍රිස්තියානීන් සමග වාද විවාද වලට එලඹුණි.52 ඉන් ක‍්‍රිස්තියානි පාර්ශවය නින්දා සහගත ලෙස පරාජයට පත් විය53. ඉන්පසු එංගලන්තයේ යටත් විජිත පරිපාලනයේ් නියමය අනුව ලංකාවේ ආණ්ඩුකාරවරුන් බෞද්ධයින් සම්බන්දයෙන් එතෙක් අනුගමනය කල රළු ප‍්‍රතිපත්තිය වෙනස්විය54. මෙම විවාද 1899 දක්වා පැවැත්වුනි. අනගාරික ධර්මපල තුමා පෙරට එන්නෙ මේ පසුබිම තුලනි54. එතුමා විසින් බෞද්ධ පාඨශාලා පද්ධතියක් ඕල්කොට්තුමාගේ අනුග‍්‍රහයෙන් ආරම්භ කලේය56.20 වැනි සියවසේ කෝල්බෲක් ආන්ඩුක‍්‍රමය 188954 න් පසුව කීපවරක් සංශෝදනය විය. ඒ 1912,1921 හා1924 යන වර්ෂවල දීය57. 1920 දී යාපනේ කුල ප‍්‍රශ්නය විසදීමට සම අධ්‍යාපනය අවස්තා උපයෝගී කර ගැනීමට ඉංග‍්‍රීසින් උත්සාහ කළත් එයින් මහත් ව්‍යසනයක් යාපනේ ඇතිවුනි58. 1931 ඩොන්මෝර් කොමිසම යෝජනා කළ ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරණ මගින් සර්වජන චන්ද බලය හිමිකර දීමට එරෙහිව යාපනේ විශාල විරෝධතා ව්‍යාපරයක් ඇති විය59. පොන්නම්බලම් ඇතුළු පිරිස යෝජනා කලේ වෙල්ලාල වංශයට පමණක් ඡුන්දබලය ලබා දෙන ලෙසටයි61. ආරුමුග නාවලර්ගේ කුලවාදයේ උග‍්‍රම අවස්ථාව මෙය විය. 1947 දී සෝල්බරි ව්‍යවස්තා ප‍්‍රතිසංස්කරන අවස්තාවේ සමස්ත ලංකා දෙමළ කොන්ග‍්‍රසය ආරම්භ කරමින් 50ට 50 ඉල්ලා සිටියේය62. කෙසේ වුවද සර්වජන ඡුන්ද බලය වෙල්ලාල වංශිකයින්ට මහත් හිසරදය ක් විය.ඊළගට ඉන්දු පකිස්ථාන් පුරවැසි පනත නිසා දෙමළ දේශපාලනයේ විශාල පිපිරිමක් ඇතිවිය63. 1948 නිදහස ලැබුනු අතර 1949 දී පෙඩරල් පක්ෂය ආරම්භ කරමින් දෙමළ රාජ්‍ය මතය කරලියට ගෙනාවේය64. උතුරු නැගෙනහිර දෙමළ භූමිය කියමිනි. 1953 දී ප‍්‍රථම වතාවට හියු ක්ලෙගෝන් වාර්තාව රාජකීය ආසියාතික සංගමයේ ජ‘නලයේ පලකිරීමෙන් පසු ඉන් එක් වාක්‍යයක්65 උපයෝගී කරගෙන දෙමළ නිජභූමියක කථාව ඇරඹුනි.66 අදත් උත්සාහ කරන්නේ ක්ලෝගෝන් මොඩලය සාක්ෂාත් කරන්නයි. දෙමළ ජාතිවාදයේ අභිලාෂය එයයි. 1949 පිහිට වූ පෙඩරල් පක්ෂයේ නායකයා ඒ.චෙල්වනායගම් දෙමළ ජනයාට පොරොන්දු දේශය ලබා දෙන මෝසෙස් ලෙස හදුන්වා ඇත.67 මෙයින් ජාතිවාදයේ ආරක්ෂා කර පෝෂණය කිරීම මිෂනාරීන් විසින් කරගෙන යනු ලබන බව පෙනේ.
52. K.M. De Silva, Sri Lanka Troubled Inheritance, Page 136
53. Ibid , page 137
54. K.M. De Silva, Sri Lanka Troubled Inheritance page 144
55. Ibid 141
56. K.M.De Silva, Sri Lanka Troubled inheritance, page 141
57. අධ්‍යාපන ප‍්‍රකාශන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, ඉතිහාසය 11,හයවන මුද්‍රනය 1997, 17 පිටුව
58. එම
59. JANE RUSSELL, Communal Politics under the Donoughmore Constitution 1931-1947 page 16
60. Ibid
61. Ibid
62. Ibid page243
63. S.J.V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947-1977 A.J,WILSON Page17
64. සිංහල හඬ ප‍්‍රකාශනයක් ”දෙමළ ඊලාම් නිජබිම් ප‍්‍රශ්නය” පිටුව 05
65. Administration of Justice and revenue on the Island of Ceylon Under the Dutch Government (‘the Cleghorn minute’) Journal, R.A.S. (Ceylon ) Vol. iii (New series), 1953
66. ආචාර්ය පී. අතුකෝරළ ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ වාර්ගික ගැටළුව, ප‍්‍රභවය හා වර්ධනය. පිටුව 110
67. A. Jeyaratnam Wilson S.J.V. Chelvanayakam and the crisis Lankan tamil Nationalism, 1947-1977. page 8
    පියසිරි අමරකෝන්

KAMALIKA PIERIS

In 2010, with the end of the Eelam war, the Department of Archaeology initiated a survey of the Buddhist sites in the north.  The Department sent a team to the North, to map out the Buddhist remains in Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna. 

Their task was to find and list all the Buddhist monuments they found    and bring those areas under the authority of the Department of Archaeology. The purpose was to protect these archaeological sites from possible damage by the development projects planned for the Northern Province. The project was completed in 2015.

In July 2020, Vasana Premachandra of the Department of Archaeology together with Kalpa Asanga gave a talk to the Institute of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, (IAHS) Colombo on the findings from this project. That  talk can be viewed on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNeaiDsTBoY.

 The Department had   obtained a grant from UNDP for this project.  The grant ended in 2014,  but the project continued to 2015. The team   paid 14 visits to the Northern Province, staying   10 days per month.

We were unable to walk the full area of a site, as we should, said Vasana. The army did not allow us to do so. We were confined to the areas the army permitted us to go, but this included high security forested areas as well. However, they were able to cover 80% of Mullaitivu area and 60% of Vavuniya.

The team first looked at the 44 known sites, but more sites emerged and the project went on to discover a total of 379 sites. They found 48 in Jaffna, 16 in Kilinochchi, 175 in Mullaitivu, 60 in Mannar and 80 in Vavuniya.

We were the first civil unit to go into these areas after the war, Vasana said. It was very difficult. There were no local informants. Also the Department of Archaeology had not been active there for the last 30 years. But the army was very helpful in the actual search. ’They would call us to come and look at the things they had found.’ The Buddhist sites found in Mullaitivu and Mannar were mainly Anuradhapura period, some were early Anuradhapura, some middle Anuradhapura.

Vasana said, in answer to a question from the audience, that the Department did not take the Sangha along to inspect sites. If we took them that could have created problems”. The only bhikkhu who had explored the area successfully was Ellawela Medhananda

The team prepared maps containing the location of these sites. The locations were also put on the Department   website https://archaeologysl.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html..  These maps were given to the other Departments to be included in their maps of the north.   In addition, the Integrated Strategic Environment Assessment for the Northern Province of Sri Lanka (ISEA-North) 2016-2017 prepared a map of the Buddhist remains in the north, based on the Archaeology Department  project. 

 Wont these ruins disappear in ten years, now that they have been identified,” asked the audience   at the IAHS talk. Vasana replied ‘that is why we have put them on the website, so now they cannot do away with them’.

The team obtained   GPS positions for all the sites.  The team was asked, when you give GPS locators won’t that help people to destroy these places.  The team replied that most of these places are in  high security forests or high security zones, also we have not publicized the GPS locations.

 In Mullaitivu the team found 175 archaeological sites, mostly Buddhist . The team found 44 huge ( ‘visala’) monasteries , 34 sites where the Buddhist ruins could be identified and another 55 where they could not identify what the function of the Buddhist   ruins was.  The ruins spread over  large areas In Mullaitivu, .

Here are some of the findings at Mullaitivu. Ambakamun ruins had a standing Buddha statue, stupa mound and ruins of monastery. At Andankulam the team found Buddhist ruins in 4 places there was a stupa 6 meters tall circumference 20 meters, a Buddha statue and asanaya. There was a monastic complex at Janakapura.

Mutiankattikulam  has been a huge monastery. The  team found a korawakgala and  asana there.  A stupa  had emerged  in the wewa when the water went down. The Oddusuddan area had lots of Buddhist ruins spread about the area,  as at Keridamadu, Kachchilamadu, and Muniyan Kaddikulama. Materials from Buddhist ruins were used for the Oddusuddan kovil.

Buddhist pillars  were seen beside the Sivapuram Sri Malai Kovil also stone edict dated to 8 to 10 AD which has been published. .‘Vannammaduva had a complete Buddhist statue in Samadhi, the army took it and it is now kept in the  army camp.

Buddhist sites were found in several places in Mannar. Maligapitti had lots of ruins with a  stupa mound. Place is surrounded by houses. A Buddha statue was  found near Murungan,  also  a stupa in a banana plantation. Buddhist ruins were found near Murungan hospital including siripatula, an inscription and stone columns. The inscription  and siripatula were used for  patients to sit on.  There were  Buddhist sites at Mardamadu  Pudalpitti,  Neeravi kulam and Pokkaravanni  .A. Buddha statue was found at Koviyamadu. The army had placed it inside a hut and were looking after it.

The team found 6  firmly established monasteries in Mannar. They were monastic complexes. They belonged to the Anuradhapura period,  but the team  did not have the time  to accurately identify which Anuradhapura period they belonged to. The large complexes were always  near water. 

  The team also found a vast number of inscriptions in Mannar which were not known earlier. The script  used in the northern inscriptions was the same as  the script found in the southern inscriptions.

Following on the Archaeology Department project, in 2013  the National Heritage Ministry  gazetted 83 ancient monuments in north and east, many of them  ruins of Buddhist temples situated in villages in Mannar, Mullativu, Jaffna and Vavuniya districts. There are nearly 30 such monuments in comparison with 7 Hindu ones on the list. Majority are in the Mullativu district with one in Jaffna district, said  the media  ( Continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Sinhala Buddhist lobby must now reverse this process of Tamilisation and re-establish the North and East as Sinhala and Buddhist. There are two stages in this venture. (i) Firstly   recognition of the north and east as part of the ancient Sinhala Buddhist civilization. (ii) Re-establishing a Sinhala Buddhist civilization in the north and east.

In ancient times, the Northern Province and the Eastern province were Sinhala and Buddhist. They were part of the ancient Sinhala Buddhist civilization. There is plenty of evidence to support this. That evidence is well known and accepted. It is repeated here.

The Northern Province was an integral part of the Rajarata of the Anuradhapura kingdom. The Rajarata was divided into uttara passa (north) dakkhina, (south) pacina, (east) and pajjima (west). Uttara passa consisted of today’s Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Mannar, and Jaffna. Each division was ruled by officer appointed by king.  

The North was a part of the   Buddhist civilization of the Anuradhapura kingdom.   Inscriptions show that Abhayagiri had monasteries outside Anuradhapura. Abhayagiri had monasteries at Kantarodai in Jaffna, and at Nedunkerni and Ottimalai in Vanni, said historian TG Kulatunge.   Maha vihara also had monasteries in the north. The Kurundi attakatha was written at Kurundi vihara located in Mullaitivu.

The Northern Province was under the Sinhala king in the ancient and medieval periods. Periyakulam inscription says that during the time of Devanam Piyatissa, Vavuniya was ruled by ‘Naga’ and ‘Uti’ and Mannar was ruled by ‘Kana’.  During the time of the Sinhala attakatha, the ruler of Nagadipa was under the   Sinhala king, as diparaja.

In Vasabha’s time ((67-111 AD) Jaffna was ruled by Vasabha’s Minister Isigiri. Nelugala inscription indicated that a minister, also named, Asgiri administered the north under Bhatiya Tissa II   (143-167) and Kanitta Tissa (167-186).  The inscriptions in Ichchalampaththai (date not provided) show that these were Sinhala villages.  

Sigiri Gee (5th-8th century) contains   verses written by ‘Uturupasa vasi Samanal bati’ and ‘Uturupasa vasi Agalabati’. They wrote in Sinhala.   Inscription of Kassapa IV ((898-914) at Kadurugoda said Kassapa was the ruler of the south as well as the north.  Mannar pillar inscription of Kassapa IV has the term Mahaputu Laddan, which denotes officers attached to sea port. Amenities given to some villages are also mentioned .

The North continued to be under the Sinhala king   after the Anuradhapura period ended. The capital moved to other places, such as Polonnaruwa, Gampola and Kotte but the Sinhala king kept the north under him, at least ceremonially, but also in practice.

 The north and east was under the Sinhala king during the Portuguese and Dutch occupation. The Portuguese and Dutch possessions could not match the size of the Sitawaka kingdom. Mannar was a part of the Sitawaka kingdom.  Kokila sandesaya (15^th century) gives a route from Kotte to Jaffna via   Mannar.   During the time of Rajasinha I, (1581-93) Manamperi Mohottala administered Mannar.  

 The north and east continued to stay under the Sinhala king during the rule of the Udarata kings. The Udarata kingdom was much larger than Sitawaka kingdom. It was about three times the size of the Portuguese and Dutch possessions. Baldeus (1632-72) writing during the Dutch occupation, gave a list of places under the Sinhala king. It included Trincomalee, Mannar, Batticaloa and Jaffna.  

Jaffna later went to the Dutch, but Trincomalee and Batticaloa   harbors stayed with the Sinhala king. They were in use during the Udarata period. The emissaries from Britain, France and Denmark, coming to meet the Udarata king, arrived at the ports of Trincomalee and Batticaloa. In one instance, the Udarata king had sent pilots to guide the ships into Batticaloa harbor.

The Northern Province remained with Udarata until the kingdom came to an end in 1815. The north then went under British rule.  The British administration announced that there had been a Buddhist civilization in the north. E.B.Denham said that around 1902, Buddhist images were unearthed at Kottiyawatta near Chunnakam. Buddha statues had been found in Mannar district.

Three researchers  J. P. Lewis,(1895)  Paul E. Pieris  (1913) and B. Horsburgh  (1916) who   did archaeological investigations in the north, during the British administration, stated  that the  north had been   Buddhist and Sinhala.  Buddha statues   had emerged all over the Jaffna peninsula. One was found in the village of Vallipuram in 1903, another in Chunnakam.  In 1916, Horsburgh wrote ‘that the Sinhalese occupied the north portion of the mainland, which is now Tamil country, there is ample evidence carried in stone all over Mannar and Mullaitivu district to confirm this.  

P.E.Pieris in 1913 investigated a mound at Chunnakam and found it to be a dagoba. It was the first dagoba to be found in Jaffna. Pieris then excavated at Kantarodai (Kadurugoda,) six miles southwest of Kankesanturai, adjoining Uduvil. He found a vast area containing mounds of dagobas.

“Kantarodai appeared to be a miniature Anuradhapura buried in Tamil country.”The site had been in use from about the 2nd century BC to about the 13th century AD. Pieris said that that Kantarodai, Uduvil and Chunnakam are in the centre of an extensive Buddhist ‘chunk’ located in the Valikamam division.

There was evidence of a huge building complex at Kantarodai. It had extended on to the adjoining lands as well. One building had a floor area of 56 feet by 36. A religious establishment of great importance had been established here, said Pieris. The complex was within a shout’s distance of Uduppili tank.

Pieris found several badly destroyed Buddha images at Kantarodai. A Buddha image of ‘heroic size’ was found abandoned, in sections, in a field. Another large Buddha statue measured nearly five and a half feet across the shoulders and weighed nearly three quarters of a ton. The size indicated ‘the high degree of sanctity once attached to this place’. Pieris renovated some of the dagobas at Kantarodai. . Total cost was Rs 100. Three acres of this complex were later declared an archaeological reserve and excavated further. 

D.G.B de Silva (2002) stated that the complex would have extended well beyond the three acres of the reserve. The available stupas, which have not been precisely recorded, are clearly only a part of the total number of stupas in the original complex. The stupas are different to the usual stupas and merit closer examination, he   said.    

John M Senaveratne (1917) said that Vallipuram should also be investigated. There seems to be another centre of Buddhism there. Vallipuram had sand heaps with masses of broken blocks extending three miles in length. A beautiful Buddha image found at Vallipuram had been donated to the King of Siam by the British Governor in 1906.

 Ceylon Observer of 14 October 1949 said that several images of the Buddha have also been found in the Mannar District. There is ample evidence carved in stone all over the Mannar and Mullaitivu districts that the Sinhalese had occupied these districts. Inside the Fort gateway at Mannar, for instance, was disinterred a stone which had for modern Mannar, where there are no Buddhists, a strange device, two hansa with interlocked necks-a Buddhist emblem. Mr. Lewis found Buddhist ruins at Vavuniya as well said this writer.

Evidence of Sinhala occupation extends beyond Buddhism to Sinhala settlements. The place names in the north also showed evidence of Sinhala occupation. B. Horsburgh published an essay on Sinhalese place names in the Jaffna Peninsula”, in the Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register, 1916.

 In Jaffna the evidence is in the place names,’ he said. At least thirty of the place names in Jaffna were Sinhala in origin. He pointed out that Tamil place names which ended in ‘kalappu’, ‘vattei’, ‘palai’, ‘kam’, ‘pai’ and ‘vil’ were meaningless in Tamil. ‘Vil’ is bow in Tamil, ‘pai’ is net or sail. 

However the names made sense when they were seen as translation of Sinhala names. Valikamam and Vimankam have no meaning in Tamil but made sense as the Tamilised versions of Weligama and Vimangama. Chunnakam was Hunugama, Kokkuvil was Kokavila, Uduvil was Uduvila, Tanankalapu was Tanankalapuwa, Saravattai was Sarawatte and Manipai was Mampe.

 P.E.Pieris agreed. He said in 1917 that a chain of Sinhala place names, like Tellipalam, Vimankam, Chunnakam .Valikamam and Kokuvil can be seen in the  Jaffna division, going up to Kankesanturai.

The north also showed evidence of Sinhala occupation in the way cattle were branded. The system of branding cattle so that the position and the family of the owner could be traced is peculiarly Sinhala, said C Rasanayagam in Ancient Ceylon (1926.)

Another way of showing that the North and East was ruled by the Sinhala king was by comparing the language and script in northern inscription and those elsewhere in the island, said Ven. Ellawela Medhananda. The language and script were the same in the Mailagastota,    Kallampattuva and Tunukai inscriptions   .  Mailagastota was in the   south, Kallampattuva in the east and Tunukai in the north of Sri Lanka.   

Medhananda found 2 inscriptions dated to 2nd century AD at Kandakudichchi Aru ruins. The script and language resembled inscriptions at Ritigala, Vessagiriya, and Mihintale.    Inscriptions of Kassapa IV (898-914) were found in south, east and northwest of the island. The script and language was the same, said Medhananda. 

Tamil colonization of the north and east started with Dutch rule in the 17^th century .The first Tamil immigrants came in Dutch times to work in the tobacco farms in Jaffna. Tobacco farming has been introduced to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese.The number of Tamils increased as the tobacco forms prospered under the Dutch. These Tamils were firmly settled in Jaffna when the British arrived.

These Tamil settlers did not look after the Buddhist monuments still standing in the north. In 1917 when Sir Paul E. Pieris examined some of the ruins of the former Buddhist places of worship, he said they were still being progressively obliterated but they were identifiable from what remained as well as from some of the place names. As he observed, several cart-loads of bricks were removed from Putur Kovil Adi [Buddha temple] in the village of Puloli near Point Pedro for a building in the adjoining land! Many images had been destroyed beyond recognition.

  At Kantarodai Pieris found that no attention had been paid to this complex and instead it was getting systematically erased. The villagers were regularly removing stones from the site to use for other purposes. The materials and images were used as doorsteps, stepping stones, aids for washing at wells and for Hindu worship.

D.G.B. de Silva (2002) said that even after Kantarodai was declared an archeological reserve, some stupas disappeared and others are in ruins. He said the extensive ruins at Chunnakam, with stupa, monastery and several large Buddha images were not there now. Ven. S Dhammika (2007) said that nearly all the Buddhist remains in the Jaffna peninsula have now disappeared, due to neglect, pilfering or deliberate destruction.

The British rulers settled Jaffna people” in Mullativu and Trincomalee districtsas well as in the Batticaloa district. These settlements were along the coastline.Tamils in Mullaitivu started to erase the Buddhist civilization of Mullativu as soon as they settled in.

  JP Lewis  Government agent for North, said in his  Manual of Vanni ( 1895) There are several  damaged ruins on the  Kurundi  hill and  the  tank bund.  The damage seems to have been caused through willful defacement by the Tamil occupants than by the action of time.

Lewis  continued,  The  Tamil residents built a temple  in Kurundi, and they demolished the vihara built by king Sanghabodhi and other buildings and removed nearly all the bricks and the stoneworks .Stones were removed from Kuruntunmalai in 1858 I believe, to build the Mullivaikkal temple. The doorway of that temple is constructed of carved stones from Kuruntunmalai. ( continued)

Sasanka De Silva Pannipitiya

Most Get-rich-quick scams often prey on people’s desires, for quick and easy wealth, promising substantial returns with minimal effort.

While the tactics used by scammers can vary, here are some telltale signs to watch out for:

Unrealistic Promises:

Scammers often promise unbelievably high returns in an unrealistically short period.

If an opportunity sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Pressure to Act Quickly:

Scammers create a sense of urgency to prevent you from thinking things through or conducting proper research.

They might say the opportunity is available for a limited time or that you must act immediately.

Lack of Transparency:

Legitimate investment opportunities provide clear information about the investment, the risks involved, and how your money will be used. Scammers avoid providing detailed information and often use vague or complex terms to confuse potential victims.

No Track Record or History:

Legitimate investment opportunities can often be researched online to verify their credibility.

Scammers, on the other hand, may lack a legitimate online presence or history.

Secret or Proprietary Information:

Scammers might claim to have access to secret or exclusive information that they’re willing to share with you for a fee.

Be cautious if someone is asking for payment upfront for such information.

Unsolicited Offers:

Be wary of unsolicited emails, messages, or phone calls that promise quick riches.

Scammers often cold-call or contact people out of the blue.

Request for Personal Information:

Scammers might ask for sensitive personal information like your Social Security number, bank account details, or credit card information. Never provide this information to unsolicited contacts.

High Fees:

Scammers might ask for significant upfront fees, claiming they’re necessary to unlock the promised riches.

Legitimate investments typically have lower fees or fees that are clearly outlined.

Pyramid or Ponzi Structure:

Some scams involve recruiting others to invest in the scheme, with the promise of earning commissions from their investments.

These schemes rely on constant recruitment and often collapse when new recruits become scarce.

No Genuine Product or Service:

In many cases, the focus of the scam is on recruiting new investors rather than selling a genuine product or service.

Legitimate businesses have clear offerings beyond just recruiting.

Guaranteed Returns:

Be cautious of anyone who guarantees that you’ll make a specific amount of money from your investment.

All investments carry some level of risk, and no one can guarantee returns.

Lack of Regulation or Registration:

Genuine investment opportunities and financial professionals are usually registered with relevant regulatory bodies.

Scammers may avoid registration to evade oversight.

Overly Complex Strategies:

Scammers often present convoluted investments. strategies that are difficult to understand.

They do this to discourage questions and create an aura of expertise.

Refusal to Provide Documentation:

Legitimate investments provide prospectuses, legal documents, and detailed information.

Scammers might be hesitant to provide any documentation for their scheme.

Always remember that due diligence and Research is essential before making any financial decisions.

If something feels off or too good to be true, it’s best to walk away and consult with a trusted financial advisor or do your own research to verify the legitimacy of the opportunity.

Sasanka De Silva

Pannipitya.

Auslanka TV – Ausලංකා TV

https://youtu.be/_pw1I-oYYaY

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, ඉන්දියාව සහ නේපාලයේ ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදාවන් සහ තරුණ තරුණියන්ගේ සහභාගිත්වයෙන් බුදුන් උපන් ලුම්බිණියේ සිට කොළඹ දක්වා පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත ප්‍රදර්ශනාත්මක යතුරුපැදි  සවාරිය පිළීබඳ මූලික සාකච්ඡාවක් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් 2023.09.01 දින අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේදී පැවැත්විණී.

නේපාලයේ ලුම්බිණියේ සිට ඉන්දීය දේශසීමාවට ඇතුල් වී බුද්ධගයාව, නාලන්දාව, කුසිනාරා, ශාවස්ත්‍රී, සාරානාත් සංකස්ස යන ප්‍රදේශ හරහා පැමිණෙන යතුරුපැදි සවාරිය දකුණු ඉන්දියාවට පැමිණ රාමේෂ්වරම් හරහා කංකසන්තුරයෙන් මෙරටට ඇතුල්වීමට නියමිතය. ජනවාරි මස 15 වන දින මෙරට දී ආරම්භ කෙරෙන යතුරුපැදි සවාරිය කංකසන්තුරයේ සිට අනුරාධපුර, දඹුල්ල, මාතලේ, මහියංගනය, බදුල්ල, ඇල්ල, කතරගම, මාතර යන ප්‍රදේශවල බෞද්ධ සිද්ධස්ථාන සහ සංචාරක ආකර්ශනීය ස්ථාන ආවරණය කරමින් කොළඹට පැමිණීමට නියමිතව තිබේ. ඊට සමගාමීව කොළඹ දී රටවල් තුනේ කළාකරුවන්ගේ සහභාගීත්වයෙන් සංස්කෘතික සංදර්ශනයක් පැවැත්වීමටද නියමිතව තිබේ. 

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, නේපාලය, ඉන්දියාව යන රටවල් තුන අතර ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික සම්බන්ධතා අගය කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා යතුරුපැදි සවාරිය සඳහා රජයේ පූර්ණ සහයෝගය ලබාදෙන බවට සහතික විය. ලුම්බිණියේ සිට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව දක්වා යෝජිත  දිගු  යතරු පැදි සවාරිය  අපගේ රටවල් අතර සබඳතාව සහ සමීප සහයෝගීතාවය ශක්තිමත් කිරීමට අවස්ථාවක් උදාකරනු ඇති අතර මෙම යතරු පැදි සවාරියේදී ස්ත්‍රී පුරුෂ භේදයකින් තොරව සමාන අවස්ථා ලබාදිය යුතු බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මෙහිදී සඳහන් කළේය. 

අමාත්‍ය  රොෂාන් රණසිංහ, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන රෝහණ දිසානායක, ශෙහාන් සේමසිංහ, ශාන්ත බණ්ඩාර, ඩයනා ගමගේ, ජානක වක්කුඹුර  පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී යදාමිණී ගුණවර්ධන මෙහිදී අදහස් දැක් වූ අතර ඒ ඒ අමාත්‍යාංශ වලින් යතුරුපැදි සවාරියට අවශ්‍ය සහයෝගය ලබාදෙන බවට සහතික විය.

නේපාල ඉන්දීය තානාපති නිළධාරීන් සහ සම්බන්දීකාරක රාහුල් පටේල්, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක ඇතුළු අමාත්‍යාංශ ලේකම්වරුන්, ත්‍රිවිධහමුදා නිළධාරීන්, ඒකීය විශ්ව සංවිධානයේ (One universe organization ) පියල් දර්ශන ඇතුළු පිරිසක් මෙම සාකච්ඡාවට සහභාගී වූහ. 

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ජපානය සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අතර ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සහයෝගීතාව සහ ජනතාව අතර සබඳතා තවදුරටත් ශක්තිමත් කිරීම පිළිබඳව සාකච්ඡා කිරීම සඳහා ජපානයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු නියෝජිත පිරිසක් අද (2023.09.01) අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේදී අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන හමුවිය.

දූත පිරිස පිළිගත් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා ප්‍රකාශ කළේ යටිතල පහසුකම් සංවර්ධනය, බලශක්තිය, දුම්රිය, සෞඛ්‍ය, අධ්‍යාපනය සහ තරුණ නිපුණතා සංවර්ධනය වැනි ක්ෂේත්‍ර රැසකට ජපානය නිරතුරුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට සහය ලබාදී ඇති බවයි.

නිල සංවර්ධන සහය පිළිබඳ විශේෂ පාර්ලිමේන්තු කමිටුවේ සාමාජික පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී නකානිෂි යුසුකේ ප්‍රකාශ කළේ ජපානය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සමීපතම මිතුරෙකු වන අතර කඩිනම් සංවර්ධනය සඳහා තවදුරටත් ආධාර ලබාදෙන බවයි. ජපානයේ රැකියා සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලාංකික තරුණ තරුණියන්ට ඇති හැකියාව ගැන සඳහන් කරමින් ඔහු කියා සිටියේ ජපානයට තරුණ නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන සහ අධ්‍යාපන ක්ෂේත්‍ර සඳහා සහය විය හැකි බවයි.

ශ්‍රී ලාංකික තරුණ තරුණියන් වැඩි වශයෙන් ජපන් භාෂාව හදාරන බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මෙහිදී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

දූත පිරිසට ජපාන පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් වන Imai Eriko සහ Ozawa Masahito, ජපාන තානාපති Mizukoshi Hideaki සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තු  ස්ථාවර කමිටුවේ ප්‍රධාන පර්යේෂණ නිලධාරී, Mingawa Kenichi ඇතුළත් විය.

රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන ජානක වක්කුඹුර සහ රෝහණ දිසානායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී යදාමිණි ගුණවර්ධන, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක යන මහත්වරු ද මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගි වූහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

 Lanka Lead News

රට දෙකඩ වීම නවතා දැමීමට, 30 වසරක යුද්ධයේ දී ජීවිත පරිත්‍යාගයෙන් කටයුතු කළ වීරෝධාර රණවිරුවන්ගේ හා ජාතිමාමක ජනතාවගේ සියලු උත්සාහයන් විනාශ කරමින් ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා සහ දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදී නායකයන් එක්ව 13 වැනි ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය පූර්ණ ලෙස බලාත්මක කිරීමට දරන උත්සාහය පරාජය කිරීම සඳහා ජනතාව දැනුවත් කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයක් ඊයේ (31) සවස මහරගම දී පැවැත්විණි.

එය සංවිධානය කර තිබුනේ දේශප්‍රේමී ජාතික පෙරමුණේ මධ්‍යම මණ්ඩල සභික, ගෝලීය සංසදයේ මෙරට නිත්‍ය නියෝජිත නීතිඥ නුවන් බැල්ලන්තුඩාව මහතා ප්‍රමුඛ පිරිසක් විසිනි.

එහිදී ජනතාව දැනුවත් කිරීම සඳහා අත්පත්‍රිකා බෙදාහැරීම ද සිදුවිය.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Since Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malclom Ranjith had slammed the government authorities to name the group which supported the Easter Sunday bombers, Minister of Public security Tiran Allas invited him and the Church to go through the investigations and outline any shortcomings.

We have already informed the Church authorities to go through the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks. The Church is welcome to show any shortcomings with regard to the investigations which are almost completed. The Church should cooperate with us and should go through the investigations and show us if there are any shortcomings,” he said.

“Let us finish this ongoing confrontation over the Easter Sunday attacks,” he added.

Cardinal Ranjith who was speaking during a service at the Katuwapitiya Church said the present government had failed to reveal the truth on the Easter Sunday attacks.

The present government has not kept its promise to reveal the truth on the Easter Sunday attacks. Neither the President nor the Attorney General or any Member of Parliament had done their duty. No member of Parliament had called for an impartial investigation into the Easter Sunday attacks,” the Cardinal said.

We want the government to name the group which had supported the Easter Sunday bombers,” he added. (Yohan Perera)

Prime Minister’s Media Division

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena called upon all policy-makers, as well as the private sector and civil society, to use the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) formulated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to understand and implement measures to help move Sri Lanka away from vulnerability and poverty in the future.
He said this when UNDP Resident Representative Azusa Kubota called on him at the Temple Trees today (Aug 31) together with the members of the UNDP experts team Dr Sabina Alkire, Director, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford and Prof Siri Hettige,  Professor in Sociology to hand over the UNDP MVI MPI Reports.
The Prime Minister thanked the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, the UNDP SURGE Data Hub, and the Citra Social Innovation Lab, which is anchored within the Prime Minister’s Office in Sri Lanka for the preparation of the data base which will be of extremely useful to effectively design national policies for these vulnerable groups.
Ms Kubota explained that the data for the report was collected from a national level survey capturing insights from 25,000 households covering the issues related to nutrition, education, household debt or risks of disasters.
Dr Alkire said the MVI MPI offer a robust evidence base to better understand the challenges faced by vulnerable groups and to assist policymakers in formulating targeted and effective policies.
Prof Hettige said the data base on poverty and vulnerability will be useful for the government to effectively plan its policy programmes to bring Sri Lanka back on track and onto a more sustainable development pathway.
Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake, Advisor (Media) Sugeeswara Senadhira and UNDP Team Leader Fadhil Bakeer Markar were also present on this occasion.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

With the rise of the Tamil Separatist Movement, the Buddhist realized that the Buddhist sites in the north and east were in danger.  The Tamil Separatist Movement intended to ruthlessly eliminate all evidence of a Sinhala Buddhist civilization in the north and east.

Therefore, the Sinhala Buddhist lobby wanted the ancient Buddhist monuments in the north and east identified, given a map location and, where possible, gazetted as protected areas. 

M. H. Sirisoma, Asst. Archaeological Commissioner prepared a map of Buddhist sites in 1962. This was much valued and greatly used. It is   still cited as a pioneer contribution.  His map lists 21 places   in Jaffna, 4 in Mannar, 105 in Vavuniya and Mullaitivu, 81 in Trincomalee, 22 in Batticaloa, 64 in Ampara.

In 1983, Cyril Mathew prepared a 167 page document, titled An appeal to UNESCO to safeguard and preserve the cultural property in Sri Lanka endangered by racial prejudice, unlawful occupation or willful destruction.”  It is a valuable historical document which should be made available in research collections.

It is a privately published monograph, carrying the address. Barnes Place, Colombo 7.” Cyril Mathew acknowledged the support of several others in preparing this document. He speaks of the support and cooperation he received from colleagues, friends and well wishers. (See last page)

The book starts with Sirisoma’s map, greatly enlarged. The book also contains information on 24 selected sites, with supporting documents, showing the damage done to the monuments on these sites.

 Mathew provides supporting documents   to show that these Buddhist monuments had been damaged. They include   reports from the GA and surveys by the Department of Archaeology. Some are facsimiles of handwritten reports.  The handwritten report on   Nelukkulam in Vavuniya runs to 7 pages and contains many drawing and measurements.   The relevant Gazette notices are also included.

The 24 sites are:  Ettama-Pottuvil,  Gokanna,   Kanchikudichchi, Kavudugala,Kiliveddy,   Kirimetti aru,  Kottadicholai,  Kuchchaveli,  Kurundanmalai,Mohantankulam,Nedunkerni, Nelugala, Nelukkalam, Nilaveli,  Pulukunawa,  Samalankulam, Samudragiri, Sangamankanda, Santimalai, Sembimalai,  Sunethrawewa, Tadikulam,   Taravakulam, Vilankulam.

Among the monuments destroyed he lists Kurundanmalai where in 1981 there was an attempt to turn the image house into a Hindu kovil. A siripatula found there was used as a base to light camphor.

Mathew also stated that the stupa at Nellikulam in Vavuniya had been leveled and cemented and a trident placed there.  A Hindu kovil has been constructed in the vihara premises at Mohantankulam in Vavuniya. The entire area, including ruins has been fenced in and turned into a large cattle shed, said Cyril Mathew.  A Hindu kovil was to be set up at Samalankulam in Vavuniya said Mathew in his book.

Cyril Mathew’s book ends with a set of photographs showing the damage caused to several Buddhist monuments in the north and east. The photographs include a wantonly damaged Buddha image from Etambagaskada.

Cyril Mathews appeal to UNESCO was forgotten, until the Kurundi issue came up. When discussion started in 2023 on social media about Kurundi vihara, commentators started to recall Mathew’s contribution and made reference to the UNESCO document.

Cyril Mathew and E.L.B. Hurulle took an active interest in controlling the damage done to Buddhist monuments. ..Their role in the matter should not be forgotten, said commentators.  Cyril Mathew was Minister of Industry and Scientific Affairs  (1977–1986).Hurulle was Minister of Cultural affairs at that time.

Cyril Mathew set up Buddhist societies in the industrial corporations and Boards under his Ministry and brought them together as the State Corporations Buddhist Congress.

This Congress passed 5 resolutions at the first meeting.

1.  That the ruins now under forest cover b e discovered and protected through Gazette orders. Buddhists should settle there and also the Maha sangha.

2. Renovations should maintain the original style of the building.

3. There should be an increase in the staff of the Department of Archaeology. There should be more trained archaeologists. An Assistant Commissioner of archaeology should be assigned to each Kachcheri. Priority should be given to archaeological restoration in all districts.

4. The work done at present to identify and label sacred areas is commended. 

 5. Station the Maha sangha in sensitive areas.

 This Congress appears to have commenced work enthusiastically. Mathew reported that they had found some 239 Buddhist ruins and conserved 70. Five puja nagara were planned, one was Kurundi.  Each religious site was assigned to a specific corporation, which set up a samiti for the work. Kurundi was assigned to the   Ceramic Corporation.   

Cyril Mathew understood the importance of the Eastern province .He focused on three sites in the east,   Kurundi, Tiriyaya, Seruwila.  State Corporations Buddhist Congress started excavation at Kurundi in 1980.

In 1981, the Congress wrote to the Department of Archaeology and other relevant bodies, saying that they had set up an avasa for a monk there, having obtained permission to do so. They reported that the padmasana and statue in the pilimage have been broken, the pieces are lying there.

The Tamils have set up a kovil on the pilimage. They have made a concrete platform and set up a trisula on it. They have set up a second trisula elsewhere on Kurundi. Get these items out of Kurundi, requested the Congress.

Mathew found that there was no police station to protect Kurundi. He got a police station set up at Oddusuddan for the purpose. The archaeological conservation project of the State Corporations Buddhist Congress ended in 1982, with the start of LTTE      activity.

E.T. Kannangara published Jaffna and the Sinhala heritage” in 1984. In this book he provided a list of the places in the Jaffna peninsula where Buddhist remains have been found in the 1980s.

Several Buddha images were found at Puttur. Some were in Dhiyana mudra, one was eight ft tall.

Remains of a dagoba and Buddha statue were found at Mahiyapiti. Buddha images, shrine and yantra gala were found at Mallakam Buddha image, moonstone, door frame, pillars and three mounds of earth were found at Vavunikulam. A Buddha image and dagoba was found at Koddiyawattai, a hamlet in Chunnakam. Buddha image was found in the village of Navakiri at Nilavarai.

A Buddha footprint was found at Puloli, two miles from Point Pedro. Remains of dagobas have been found at Nilavarai, Tellipali, Uduvil and Uruthirupuram. There is evidence of a Buddhist vihara in Keerimalai. Vallipuram contained old bricks, foundations of buildings, damaged Buddha images, ruins of a Buddhist vihara and a place named ‘sakkawattai’.  Buddhist ruins were also found at Anakottai, Chulipuram, Uruthirupuram and at Delft.

 Kannangara has   drawn attention to Buddhist remains outside the Jaffna peninsula. A standing Buddha statue 7 ½ feet in height was found at Mannar.  The Kurundi vihara built by Aggabodhi I in Mullativu ((Muladipa) is now in ruins. He noted that report of the Commissioner of Archaeology 1982, refers to Buddhist ruins in the Vanni.

Kannangara says that there were Buddhist temples on the sites of some present day kovils. Kandasamy kovil at Nallur, built by Sapumal Kumaraya, was earlier a Buddhist shrine with an altar for Skanda. Buddha images were found quarter mile from this kovil. The Hindu kovil at Mawatupuram, a village near Kankesanturai, was earlier Mawatupura vihara. An ancient Buddhist vihara near the 9th mile post along Jaffna-Karaingar road across Manipay is now a Hindu kovil.

Kannangara stated that place names also showed that Jaffna had been Buddhist. There is ‘Pinwatte’ and ‘Buddhawattai’ close to Kantarodai. . Places named Sakkavattai (sangha watta) are found at Kankesanturai, Mawatapuram and the adjacent villages. Until the 1980s a hamlet close to Tellippalai was known as ‘Buddha Walauwwa’. Puttur is ‘Budugama’. ‘Ur’ means village in Tamil. There is ‘Gothamaluwawatta’ about a quarter mile from Ponnalai. (continued)

Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D.

71 කැරැල්ල ආරම්භයේ සිට අවසානය දක්වා පුර්ණ සමාලෝචනයක් – කර්තෘ වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම්. ජයතුංග

(මේ පොත දැන් මිලදී ගත හැකියි ; දුශෙයින් පොත් හළ 271 A හයිලෙවල් පාර නුගේගොඩ)

වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම්. ජයතුංග විසින් 71 කැරැල්ල පිළිබඳව අධ්‍යයනයක් කොට කැරළිකරුවන් සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවලට ලක් කරමින් ඉතිහාසයේ සැඟව පැවති සාධකයන් ඉස්මතු කරමින් ඉතා අගනා සමාජ විද්‍යාත්මක හා ඓතිහාසික වශයෙන් වටිනා කෘතියක් පාඨකයාට ලබා දීම ප්‍රශස්ත කරුණක් ලෙස මම දකිමි. – ආචාර්ය ලීල් ගුණසේකර 71 කැරැල්ලේ පුනරුත්ථාපනය පිළිබඳ අතිරේක ලේකම්

71 කැරැල්ලේ ඉතිහාසයෙන් වැළළී ගිය සිද්ධීන් වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග විසින් මෙම කෘතිය හරහා හෙළිදරව් කරයි – මහාචාර්‍ය කාලෝ ෆොන්සේකා

1971 කැරැල්ල සුවිශේෂිව සලකා බලනවිට, ඒ පිළිබඳව මේ වන විට සැලකිය යුතු ලිඛිත සාහිත්‍යයක් දැකිය හැකිය. වෛද්‍ය රුවන් ජයතුංග විසින් රචිත මෙම ග්‍රන්ථය ඊට එක්කළ තවත් සැලකිය යුතු ප්‍රකාශනයක් වන අතර, 1971 කැරැල්ල පිළබඳව පාඨකයාට ඒ මගින් සැලකිය යුතු අවබෝධයක් ලබා දෙනවාට සැක නැත. -මහාචාර්ය සිරි හෙට්ටිගේ සමාජ විද්‍යාව පිළිබද සම්මානිත මහාචාර්ය කොළඹ විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය

1971 තරුණ නැගී සිටීම (කැරැල්ල?) නිදහස් ලංකාවේ සමාජ අසමමිතියන් හා විසමතා පුපුරා ගිය පළමු අවස්ථාවයි. එය ලක් සමාජය දැඩි කම්පනයකට පත් කළත් එයින් නිසි පාඩම් නූගත් නිසා තවත් තරුණ ප්‍රචණ්ඩත්වයන් දෙකක් මතු විය. විනිශ්චයකින් තොරව 1971 සිදුවීම් හා විපාක ගැන වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග මෙනෙහි කරන්නේ උපේක්‍ෂා සහගතවය. –නාලක ගුනවර්ධන – ජේෂ්ඨ මාධ්‍යවේදී

By Dr. S. I. Keethaponcalan  Courtesy Eurasia Review

One of the highlights of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s India visit last month was the agreement to establish land connectivity between Sri Lanka and India.” Land connectivity between India and Sri Lanka means building a bridge from the Ramanathapuram region to Mannar, a modern Ramsethu. The parties are also discussing a tunnel. The two countries agreed to undertake a feasibility study” for land connectivity at an early date.” 

This is not the only agreement reached between the two countries during the president’s visit. For example, the leaders agreed to resume flights between Jaffna and Chennai, resume passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam and Kankesanthurai, and establish a high-capacity power grid between the two countries. The decision to develop land connectivity is controversial compared to the other agreements. This article argues that the envisioned modern Ramsethu would not be built for political reasons. 

Premature Enthusiasm 

President Wickremesinghe’s visit and the agreements reached created a lot of enthusiasm in India about an intensified partnership between the two countries. For example, an official of the Center for Social and Economic Progress declared that the outcome of the visit shows that India will be the most important partner for Sri Lanka to reset its economy, its bureaucracy, its decision-making system for future economic partnerships” (Aljazeera, July 21, 2023). 

A notable factor is that Wickremesingh’s visit to New Delhi and the agreements reached did not generate the same enthusiasm in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan commentators have approached the possible close partnership idea with either caution or from a critical perspective. 

The Indian hope of becoming the most significant partner of Sri Lanka is premature, and it fails to appreciate Sri Lanka’s domestic and regional realities. During the last phase of the war with the LTTE, India offered considerable assistance to Sri Lanka. For example, based on intelligence provided by India, the (Sri Lanka) navy destroyed several LTTE ships, curtailing arms supplies to the Tamil rebels. India joined the troika,” a three-person committee formed to speed up war-related decisions. In other words, India extensively helped Sri Lanka finish the LTTE, believing that Sri Lanka would cater to its national interest and security needs in a post-LTTE environment. India was disappointed. 

The Rajapaksa government sidelined India as it leaned drastically towards China. China became the darling of Sri Lanka. Consequently, India lost the battle with China in Sri Lanka after the end of the war. It was the economic crisis of 2022 that (temporarily) halted China’s buildup in Sri Lanka and allowed India to reenter the competition. India returned by providing about four billion dollars in financial and humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka during the crisis. Therefore, India is back in the game but has not won the battle as some Indians presume. Therefore, the Indian enthusiasm about forging the most important partnership with Sri Lanka is premature. It could be sidelined again.  

One of the reasons why India was almost wholly sidelined was China’s economic capabilities. It is a twenty trillion-dollar economy and the world’s largest by purchasing power parity. Although substantial, the Indian economy is worth only about four trillion dollars. Therefore, India could not compete with China in terms of catering to Sri Lanka’s post-war needs and ambitions. However, the most significant reason India was sidelined was fears of the Sinhala people in general and the Rajapaksa government in particular. These two factors would once again make the envisioned bridge an unlikely project.    

The Bridge 

Indian media reports suggested that Ranil Wickremesinghe proposed the land bridge project. For example, according to Nikkei Asian Online (July 21, 2023), Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra claimed that the land connectivity idea was proposed by the Sri Lankan president and both leaders agreed to take this forward.” I doubt that Ranil Wickremesinghe proposed the idea because he had never enthusiastically discussed the bridge project. He also knows there is no enthusiasm about the bridge on this side of the Palk Strait. 

On the other hand, Indians are very excited about the bridge (or a tunnel), especially the Narendra Modi government, which is keen to build the bridge as a greater South Asian integration project. For example, in a 2015 (December 16) report, The Economic Times stated, keen on promoting connectivity in the South Asian region, India is set to build a sea bridge and tunnel connecting Sri Lanka.” The report also quoted India’s Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari saying that the land connection project was also discussed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his counterpart during the latter’s recent visit.” The bridge is an Indian idea. 

The vision statement issued after Wickremesinghe’s visit claimed that the land connectivity is proposed to propel economic growth and prosperity in both Sri Lanka and India.” However, the reality is different. India is keen to build the bridge because it would easily bring the small island nation into India’s sphere of influence. India could also send its military and reinforcement to Sri Lanka easily in a crisis. For example, when foreign powers try to station their military in Sri Lanka. One cannot rule out the possibility of full or semi-stationing of Chinese or the U.S. forces in Sri Lanka. Therefore, from an Indian perspective, the proposed bridge is more of a strategic military instrument than an economic propeller.  

An Indian Dream? 

As I have already pointed out, the bridge cannot be built in the near future. Three significant factors could halt this project. They are (1) the Southern, especially Sinhala fears, (2) Ranil Wickremesinghe’s realities, and (3) China. The Sri Lankan fear of a land connection with India could be divided into three categories: (1) fear of Indian dominance, (2) fear of Eelam, and (3) concerns about the possible economic impact. 

Sinhala nationalists, not without reason, believe that a land connection with India would undermine Sri Lanka’s freedom and independence. It is possible that Sri Lanka remained an independent state partly due to its isolation from the Indian Subcontinent. Currently, the parties have only agreed to undertake a feasibility study. No concrete steps have been taken. Sinhala nationalist critics are already out with condemnation. For example, Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith recently accused the government of selling the country to India by agreeing to the bridge idea. According to a recent news report, the bishop claimed that by selling parts of our nation, Sri Lanka is bowing to other nations. The authorities are making various stupid decisions leading the country towards destruction. Having gained freedom, we now have to lose freedom” (Newswire, August 28, 2023). The bishop insisted on a national referendum to decide on the proposed bridge. Bishop Ranjith is an intelligent activist. He insists on a referendum because he knows well that the bridge project will not pass the referendum test.  

Some Sinhala commentators also believe the bridge could promote separatism in Sri Lanka. Dayan Jayatilleka, calling the proposed land connection a danger to Sri Lanka’s collective existence,” argued that it should not be built because the North and East of the island of Sri Lanka will always be predominantly Tamil-speaking” (The Island, August 6, 2023). The proposed bridge also creates economic anxiety, especially in the North and East. Some Tamils believe that they will not be able to compete with the enormous and dynamic Indian economy. Similar economic anxieties may also exist in the South. Therefore, the Sri Lankan government will have to deal with severe resistance if and when concrete actions are introduced to build the bridge. The Southern resistance will have the power to shut down the proposed project. 

President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political realities will also operate as a hindrance. First, I do not believe he likes the land connectivity idea. He is no less nationalist than J. R. Jayewardene. I believe that the agreement to undertake a feasibility study is a delaying tactic. He knows that he cannot antagonize India. Moreover, Wickremesinghe does not have a government of his own. He heads a government of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). Like many Sinhala nationalists, Mahinda Rajapaksa also has concerns about Indian hegemony and control. As a young politician, he believed India was coming to take the Sinhala land. Therefore, a political party headed by Mahinda Rajapaksa would not support a land bridge from India. The Sinhala resistance to the proposed land bridge can also potentially destroy Wickremesinghe’s electoral political ambitions. Therefore, as an astute politician, he will be cautious about the proposed bridge. 

A significant player in this whole scenario is China. Despite Indian pressure, China had always maintained cordial relations with Sri Lanka and had invested heavily to bring Sri Lanka into its domain. It succeeded in this endeavor. The economic crisis weakened China’s image and its grip on Sri Lanka to a certain degree. However, the Asian giant remains a powerful player in Sri Lanka. China also knows that the proposed land bridge would strengthen India’s control while weakening China’s influence in Sri Lanka. Therefore, China will use its power and influence to halt the land connection project. A recent case in point was the Colombo Port’s East Terminal project. The India (and Japan) funded project was believed to be canceled in 2021 due to Chinese pressure. The canceled project was transferred to China’s state-run China Harbor Engineering Corporation. Therefore, the modern Ramsethu bridge would remain a mere dream. The bridge will not happen without fundamental shifts in regional geopolitics.  

Courtesy AdaDeran

මෙරට අමෙරිකානු තානාපතිනිය වන ජූලි චංග් මහත්මිය විසින් හැසිරෙනු ලබන්නේ විදේශ තානාපතිවරියක් ලෙස නොවන බවත්, ඇය මෙරට ස්වෛරීභාවට දැඩි තර්ජනයක් එල්ල කරන බවත් පෙන්වා දෙමින් ජාතික සංවිධාන එකමුතුව අද(31) විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යවරයාට ඇය පිළිබඳව චෝදනා සහිත ලිපියක් භාර දීමට විදේශකටයුතු අමාත්‍යංශයට පැමිණියහ.

එහිදී එම සංවිධාන එකමුතුව වෙනුවෙන් අදහස් දැක්වූ වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා මාධ්‍යවේදීන් හමුවේ පැවසුවේ ගෝල්ෆේස් අරගල සමයේ සිටම ඇමරිකානු තානාපතිනිය මෙරට අභ්‍යන්තර කටයුතුවලට බරපතළ ලෙස බලපෑම් කළ බවත්, ඇය විසින් වියානා සම්මුතිය අමු අමුවේ උල්ලංඝණය කර ඇති බවත් ය.

ඇයට එරෙහිව චෝදනා විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් තිබුණ ද විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යංශය හා විදේශ ඇමැතිවරයා ඇයට එරෙහිව කිසිඳු පියවරක් ගෙන නොමැති බවද ඒ මහතා මෙහිදී පැවසීය.

ඇමරිකානු තානාපතිනිය කටයුතු කරන්නේ මෙරට යටත් විජිත ලේකම්වරිය ලෙසින් බවත්, ජනාධිපතිවරයා කටයුතු කරන්නේ ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයා ලෙසින් බවත් පවසන වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා, වහාම ඇයව කැඳවා මේ පිළිබඳව ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගැනීමට විදේශ ඇමැති අලි සබ්රි මහතා කටයුතු කළ යුතුව ඇති බවත් සඳහන් කළේය.

මෙම අවස්ථාව නියෝජනය කරමින් ආචාර්ය ගුණදාස අමරසේකර, වෛද්‍ය අනුලා විජේසුන්දර, නීතිඥ නුවන් බැල්ලන්තුඩාව, අනුරාධ තෙන්නකෝන් යන මහත්ම මහත්මීහු මාධ්‍යවේදීන් හමුවේ අදහස් පළ කරන ලදී.

සවිස්තරාත්මක වීඩියෝව නරඹන්න…

Courtesy AdaDerana

Sinopec, a Beijing-based leading international petroleum company, has officially kicked off its business operations in Sri Lanka, by supplying fuel at its first filing station on the island established in Mattegoda, Colombo.

Sinopec Fuel Oil Lanka, the local subsidiary of the Chinese petroleum giant began its retail operations on Wednesday (Aug. 30), with a market promotion campaign. Accordingly, petrol and diesel are pumped at a discount of Rs. 3.00 per liter.

Last year, the Sri Lankan government decided to open up Sri Lanka’s fuel import and retail sales market to companies from oil-producing nations in a bid to address the foreign exchange crisis. The Petroleum Products (Special Provisions) Bill also received the approval of ministerial consultative committee on power & energy, paving way for the new suppliers to enter the local fuel market as importers, distributers, and retail operators for petroleum products.

In March 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers gave the nod to award licenses to China’s Sinopec, Australia’s United Petroleum and RM Parks of the USA, in collaboration with multinational oil and gas company – Shell PLC, to enter the fuel retail market in Sri Lanka.

Subsequently, negotiations were completed with Sinopec Fuel Oil Lanka and its parent company for a long-term contract on the importation, storage, distribution and sale of petroleum products across the island nation. 

Later in May 2023, a contract agreement was inked between Sri Lankan and Sinopec representatives, marking a crucial step in ensuring a steady and uninterrupted fuel supply in the country.

Under this deal, Sinopec is granted a 20-year license to operate 150 filling stations in Sri Lanka, and will also be able to invest in 50 new filling stations.

Sri Lanka’s fuel retail market remained a state monopoly under the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) until 2003 when the Indian Company (IOC) commenced operations here.

Courtesy AdaDerana

Sri Lanka’s Department of Census and Statistics says that headline inflation based on the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) has further reduced to 4% in August, compared to 6.3% in July 2023. 

According to its latest report, Colombo’s food Inflation has decreased to -4.8% in August, from -1.4% in July 2023.

The CCPI for all items for the month of August 2023 was 190.1 and it records a decrease of 0.1 in index points. Meanwhile the overall rate of inflation as measured by CCPI on Y-on-Y basis is 4.0% in August 2023. 

The CCPI for all items for the month of August 2023 was 190.1 and it records a decrease of 0.1 index points that is 0.02 percentage change compared to the month of July 2023 on an expenditure value basis for which the index was 190.2. This represents a decrease of expenditure value by Rs 39.08 in the Market Basket”. 

The month-on-month change was contributed by decrease in Food items by 0.41% and increase in Non Food items by 0.39%.

The overall rate of inflation as measured by the CCPI on Y-on-Y basis is 4.0% in August 2023 and Y-on-Y inflation calculated for the month of July 2023 was 6.396. 

The Y-on-Y inflation of Food Group decreased to 4.8% in August 2023 from -1.4% in July 2023 and the Y-on-Y inflation of Non Food Group decreased to 8.7% in August 2023 from 10.5% in July 2023.

Courtesy AdaDerana

Sri Lanka saw a notable increase in workers’ remittances and a boost in tourist arrivals in July 2023, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) says.

In its latest report on the external sector performance, the CBSL said the workers’ remittances recorded in July 2023 climbed to USD 541 million from USD 279 million in the corresponding month in 2022.

Meanwhile, tourist arrivals amounted to 143,039 as opposed to the figure recorded in June 2023, which stood at 100,388.

The cumulative tourist arrivals during January-July 2023 reached 767,913, compared to 458,670 arrivals recorded during the corresponding period in 2022.

Earnings from tourism in July 2023 were estimated at USD 219 million, in comparison to USD 123 million in June 2023 and USD 85 million in the corresponding month in the previous year.

Consequently, earnings from tourism during January-July 2023 amounted to USD 1,094 million, compared to USD 765 million in the corresponding period in 2022. India, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France were the main source countries for tourist arrivals during this period.

The report also said the merchandise trade deficit widened in July 2023 due to the combined impact of relatively low export earnings and high import expenditure, compared to July 2022. The deficit in the merchandise trade account increased in July 2023 to USD 367 million from USD 122 million in July 2022.

However, the cumulative trade deficit during January-July 2023 remained significantly low at USD 2,657 million, compared to the corresponding period in 2022 which stood at USD 3,628 million.

Courtesy AdaDerana

A fundamental rights (FR) petition was filed before the Supreme Court today (Aug. 31) seeking the appointment of a five-member committee of specialist doctors led by the Director-General of Health Services (DGHS) to conduct a transparent probe into the deaths of patients and complications caused by ‘substandard’ drugs imported to Sri Lanka.

Main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs Kavinda Jayawardhana and Harshana Rajakaruna put forward the petition, naming Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, DGHS Dr. Asela Gunawardena, National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) and its chairman Prof. S.D. Jayaratne and several others as its respondents.

Noting that the NMRA is responsible for registration, cancellation of registration, granting permission for manufacture, ensuring the quality, stipulating the prices and granting permission for storage of medicinal drugs used in the country, the petitioners pointed out that the use of two imported anesthetic drugs and an eye drop resulted in complications and even the deaths of some patients.

Although the use of these drugs was suspended, a comprehensive investigation into these incidents is yet to be conducted, the petitioners emphasized.

The SJB MPs, in their petition, further said that reports are rife that the proper procedure has not been followed when importing these drugs into the country.

The petitioners also sought a Supreme Court order ruling that the complications and the deaths of patients caused by these imported ‘substandard’ drugs are a violation of fundamental rights.

They also requested the Supreme Court to appoint a committee of specialist doctors headed by the DGHS to probe the matter impartially.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The North and East of Sri Lanka was Sinhala and Buddhist   till the British took power in 1815. The North and East of Sri Lanka was never the area of historical habitation of the Tamil speaking peoples”.  The North and East of Sri Lanka never was the homeland” of the Tamil people”.

The North and East of Sri Lanka was a part of the Sinhala kingdom from Anuradhapura period to Udarata period. The North and East was a part of the Rajarata of the Anuradhapura kingdom. The Raja rata was divided into uttara passa (north) dakkhina, (south) pacina, (east) and pajjima (west). Uttara passa consisted of today’s Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Mannar, and Jaffna. The pacina passa consisted of the east, probably ending somewhere between Trincomalee and Batticaloa. That is my guess .Each quarter was ruled by an officer appointed by king.  

 Jaffna was an island named Nagadipa. In Vasabha’s time ((67-111 AD) Jaffna was ruled by Vasabha’s minister Isigiri. Nelugala inscription indicated that a minister, also named, Isigiri administered the north under Bhatiya Tissa II   (143-167) and Kanitta Tissa (167-186).  Inscription of Kassapa IV ((898-914) at Kadurugoda said Kassapa was the ruler of the south as well as the north. Jaffna was joined to the mainland during British rule.

Rajarata had important ports on the east and the west. There were many ports in the east to choose from and the west had the double moated port of Mantota. Dennis. N. Fernando said that ports on the north western coast, particularly Mantota, would have been used to unload goods which were then transferred through Anuradhapura to the ports at Jambukola and Seruwila in the east. It is possible that Anuradhapura became a capital due to its central position between the dominant ports on the north western and north eastern seaboard, he said. 

 Dennis N Fernando, a surveyor by profession, stated that in his view, Jambukola patuna was not in the north, it was on the east. He suggests a location close to Tiriyaya and Kuchchaveli.  Sanghamitta would have arrived at a harbor in the east he said. She woud not have disembarked at Jaffna and trudged all the way to Anuradhapura.

 Anuradhapura is only 60 miles from Jambukola (also known at Palavakki in ancient times) which is five days travel time, walking both morning and   evening.  Jaffna peninsula on the other hand is nearly 200 kms away from Anuradhapura. The journey would have taken three times longer and would have included crossing the lagoon and walking through uninhabited terrain as well.

The north and east continued to remain under the Sinhala king after the Polonnaruwa period. The capital city moved from place to place and finally came to roost at Kotte. Kokila Sandesaya (15^th century) gives a route from Kotte to Jaffna via   Mannar.   Mannar was a part of the Sitawaka kingdom.  During the time of Rajasinha I, (1581-93) Manamperi Mohottala administered Mannar.  

The Sinhala kingdom then moved to the central hills. Baldeus (1632-72) writing during the Dutch occupation, gave a list of places under the Udarata king. It included Trincomalee, Mannar, Batticaloa, and Jaffna.   

Another way of showing that the North was ruled by the Sinhala king was by comparing the language and script in northern inscription and those elsewhere. Ven. Ellawela Medhananda found that the language and script were the same in the Mailagastota,    Kallampattuva and Tunukai inscriptions.  Mailagastota was in the   south, Kallampattuva in the east and Tunukai in the north. 

 Medhananda said that inscriptions of Kassapa IV were found in south, east and northwest of the island. The script and language was the same.   He found 2 inscriptions dated to 2 century AD at Kandakudichchi Aru ruins (Eastern province). The script and language resembled inscriptions at Ritigala, Vessagiriya, and Mihintale.  

The Sinhala Buddhist environment of the North and East was recognized by researchers of the British period. Horsburgh declared in 1916 that there is ample evidence carved in stone all over the Mannar and Mullaitivu Districts to show that the Sinhalese occupied the Northern portion of the mainland, which is now Tamil country.

S.0. Canagaretnam stated in 1921 that at one time Batticaloa district had flourishing and populous Sinhala villages as evidenced by the ruins and remains dotted about there. Batticaloa district had very old stone inscriptions. One was the Nuwaragala inscription dated 4 BC found in Bintenne.

The north and east became Tamil and Hindu, after the Dutch arrived in   Sri Lanka in the 17^th century.  The history of the present day Tamils does not go beyond 1650, observed Nalin de Silva.  Tamil labourers were brought in by the Dutch to      work on their tobacco plantations. The Dutch had also taken Tamil agricultural labourers to Natal in South Africa.

The present day Tamils in the north are descendants of the low caste, landless, agriculture laborers who were brought in by the Dutch to work on the tobacco plantations in the north. The Dutch wished to expand their tobacco cultivation, said historian Bandu de Silva. The immigrant Tamils were Sudra, the lowest of the four caste groups.

In the eighteenth century, there was an active tobacco trade between Jaffna and Kerala. The tobacco which thrived in Jaffna was in great demand in Travancore.  Tobacco was paid for in gold by the ruler of Travancore who held the monopoly. The Tamils used the ‘Jaffna gold ‘brought in from Travancore tobacco market to entrench themselves in Jaffna said Bandu.

However, according to Bandu de Silva, there has also been another migration of Tamils into the north. He said The Dutch encouraged through the sale of vacant and other lands the immigration of large number of Tamils from south India.  The original owners became a landless class of serfs under these Tamils who become the new landowning class.They also introduced their own landholding system which the Dutch codified as Thesaawalami later on. (Bandu de Silva.   Tobacco gold that made Jaffna assertive. Island Sat Mag. 1.4.2006 p 1)

These Tamil arrivals were initially considered foreigners. Robert Knox met them when he was escaping to England via Mannar in 1679 and   spoke of them as the Malabars, who came from another country.’ R.Percival in his book ‘Account of the island of Ceylon” (1803) spoke of the Tamils in the Jaffna peninsula as foreigners”.

Tamil historians said that the Tamils were in the north and east from the beginning of time. They also say that there was a Kingdom of Jaffna in the 15th century .That is not so.There never was a Kingdom of Jaffna. There is no evidence of such a kingdom, such as inscriptions, monuments and historical references.

Instead, when the Pandya rulers of Tamilnadu, left Sri Lanka in 1323 after the last Pandya invasion, they left a military outpost in Jaffna, with an officer known as Ariyachakravarti in charge. Ariyachakravarti managed to annexe some of the adjoining lands and made periodic incursions into Sinhala territory. He was always defeated and sent back to Jaffna.

This Pandya outpost was taken over by the Vijayanagara kingdom of Karnataka in the 14th century as a part of Vijayanagara’s annexation of   the Tamil kingdom in south India. So there could not have been any Kingdom of Jaffna. After that, the Jaffna peninsula went under the Portuguese, (1591) Dutch (1658)   British (1795) and back to government of Ceylon in 1948. (Continued)

RANJITH SOYSA

With reference to the reports published in many news sources  and Sunday Island, The US ambassador had met a senior Army Officer and discussed “the need to build trust with the minorities to ensure lasting peace”. US ambassador’s blatant interference in domestic issues and her audacity to convey her proposal how to ensure lasting peace is an attempt to twist a person around one’s small finger. The proper forum for US Ambassador is to express her wishes should be with the President or the Prime Minister who executes policy for the country. Army Officers and other senior officials are there to conduct the policy decisions of the Government and should never be told by foreign personnel how to run the security establishment. US Ambassador who encouraging the Aragalya participants to resort to violence and rise against the establishment is now seen extending her hand to selected  minority groups discussing their issues. The President and the PM should make note of the overtures made by her as she can motivate the extreme factions among the minorities to cause another Aragalya

The Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, article 41 says.

Article 41 1. Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State. They also have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State. 2.All official business with the receiving State entrusted to the mission by the sending State shall be conducted with or through the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the receiving State or such other ministry as may be agreed. 3.The premises of the mission must not be used in any manner incompatible with the functions of the mission as laid down in the present Convention ….

The US Ambassador’s discussion with the senior army officer and with the minority groups or Aragalaya representatives vitiate the article 41 .1 of the Vienna Convention as she MUST conduct her activities preferably with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or such other Ministry.

Let me also draw the attention of the Ambassador to the marginalized minorities in the USA who were revolting against the US Govt’s policies as we can remember the activities of Black Lives Matter and recent demonstrations staged to commemorate 60^th anniversary of late Martin Luther King. The horrible treatment of the Latin American migrants held in Florida too is another sore factor. As they say, Charity begins at home. So, Dear Ambassador, try to devise methods to help the minorities in the USA before shedding crocodile tears for Sri Lanka.

RANJITH SOYSA

by Professor Daya Somasundaram and Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wC8a6cHRHuW-uRfoE6ZJ1uSwv5RxiJEZ/view?ts=64eb310e&pli=1

 Lanka Lead News

පොතුවිල් ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කාර්යාලය විසින් මුදල් වලට තමන්ගේ ඉඩම් අනීතික ලෙස වෙනත් පාර්ශව වලට පවරාදෙන බව පවසමින් පොතුවිල් කනගර් ප්‍රදේශයේ  සිංහල, දෙමළ ජනතාව උද්ඝෝෂණයක නිරත විය.

එම ජනතාව පවසන්නේ 1980 ගණන් වල සිට තමන් මෙම ඉඩම්වල පදිංචි වී සිටි බවත්, යුද්ධයෙන් අවතැන්වී අනාත කඳවුරුවල සිටිය දී නැවත මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ පදිංචි කළ බවත්, ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කාර්යාලයට පැමිණි බොහෝ නිලධාරීන් තමන්ට මෙම ස්ථානයේ ජීවත් වීමට ඉඩ නොදෙන බවත්ය.

මෙම මහා ඉඩම් මංකොල්ලය පිටුපස ඉඩම් විකුණන කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන් පිරිසක් ද සිටින බවත්, අදාළ නිලධාරීන් මුදල්වලට ඔවුන් සමග එක්වී කටයුතු කරන බවත් ජනතාව පවසති.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said the need for a national transport policy was always emphasized by Anil Moonesinghe. He said this at the book launch of “The Golden Mark of Honest Politics, Philanthropist Anil Moonesinghe” written by Mahinda Ariyawansa held at the Matugama Pradeshiya Sabha Auditorium on August 27.

Speaking on the occasion the Prime Minister stated that;

Anil Moonesinghe saw the need for a national transport policy integrated with railways, buses, passengers and services related to transportation. He stood for it as the Chairman of Ceylon Transport Board (CTB) and as the Minister of Transport.

There was a time when CTB was no longer a government agency. At that time Mr. Anil Moonesinghe was abroad serving as an ambassador. As the Minister of Transport, I requested him to return Sri Lanka for a week to discuss the ensuing steps on the transport sector. At that time, he assisted in preparing the second draft of the CTB Act, which was presenting to the parliament and passed.

Why was there a need for such a second Act for the CTB? If the economy collapses completely, the country and the people will not be able to endure it. When transportation is disrupted, the entire economy is influenced with its impact. In those days, people brought their harvest to the market through CTB. This bus service never stopped even at night.

Anil Moonesinghe tried several times to manufacture vehicles in this country. Even though the vehicles were manufactured and displayed, that procedure was later stopped. Mr. Anil Moonesinghe pointed out the need to choose a goal that the country needs and take serious economic decisions for it.

Most capable individuals are sent diplomatic postings to perform a unique role on behalf of the country. Anil Moonasinghe was appointed as Deputy Speaker without making him a minister. When it was done, I expressed my protest to Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

We should have the ability to identify the good things that make a nation great and the bad things that destroy a nation. Anil Moonesinghe was a person who was capable of contributing to the greatness of the country. He was a politician of the left camp who represented the lineage of Anagarika Dharmapala the National Hero. He was an unforgettable politician who always protected the rights of the people and fulfilled his duty.

Professor Induragare Dhammarathana Thera said;

Children need to have contemporary characters to choose as role models for future. The biographies are essential for disciplinary based education. A child who goes to sleep after reading and listening  to a biography of an ideal character, wakes up in  the next day as an ideal child.

Any country should have a dream to move forward. A country will move forward if it dreams of tomorrow. Anil Moonesinghe is someone who has seen such dreams of tomorrow.

State Minister Mr. Piyal Nishantha said;

If history and the present match together, Anil Moonasinghe was a unique political figure that the country has lost. An honest and humble political figure who developed the transport sector as a renowned transport minister of the country.

Member of Parliament Vasudeva Nanayakkara;

Anil Moonesinghe was an intelligent figure in the same social movement that started under the leadership of Philip Gunawardena. A politician with such a conscience, as an anti-imperialist national movement in this country, he managed to address the people by using sensitive words to touch people’s hearts in a better way.

Member of Parliament Mr. Kumara Welgama;

Anil Moonasinghe was a very calm person who could face anything. He fought with aristocrats. Contemporary young politicians can take him as an example.

Member of Parliament, Dr. Tissa Witharana;

Anil Moonesinghe was a giant in the left-wing political movement. An exemplary character who shined positions without being shining in positions.

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, Mr. D E W Gunasekara;

He used to enter the parliament early in the morning and leaves the parliament only at the end of the session. Today, at a time of crisis in national leadership, the character of Anil Moonesinghe is highlighted.

State Minister  Anupama Pascual, MP Yadamini Gunawardena, Deputy Secretary of the People’s United Front, MP Channa Jayasumana, public representatives, Anil Moonesinghe’s son Vinod Moonesinghe and family members and the public attended the event.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ නෙදර්ලන්තය අතර හවුල් අතීතයක් ඇති බවත්, කෞතුකාගාර එකතු කළමණාකරණය, පර්යේෂණ දැනුම හා විශේෂඥ දැනුම හුවමාරු කර ගැනීම යන ක්ෂේත්‍රවල සමීප සහයෝගීතාවයෙන් පොදු අනාගතයක් ගොඩනගා ගැනීමට එය ඉවහල් වනු ඇති බවත් නෙදර්ලන්ත සංස්කෘතික හා මාධ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ගුනේ උස්ලු (Gunay Uslu ) පැවසීය.

ඇය මේ බව පැවසුවේ අද (2023.08.29) අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේදී අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා හමුවූ අවස්ථාවේදීය.

නෙදර්ලන්ත අමාත්‍ය ගුනේ උස්ලු සහ සංස්කෘතික අමාත්‍ය විදුර වික්‍රමනායක 2023.08.28 දින ශතවර්ෂ දෙකහමාරකට පෙර ලන්දේසි පාලන සමයේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් ලබාගත් වටිනා කෞතුක වස්තු හුවමාරු කිරීම සඳහා පුරාවස්තු හුවමාරු ගිවිසුමකට අත්සන් කරන   ලදී. නිදහස් සටන්කාමී ලෙව්කේ දිසාවේගේ සුප්‍රසිද්ධ කාලතුවක්කුව, රන් කස්තාන දෙකක් (උත්සාහක කඩුව), සිංහල පිහි, රිදී කස්තාන් සහ තුවක්කු දෙකක් මෙලෙස හුවමාරු කෙරෙන වස්තූන් අතර වේ.

කෞතුක වස්තු හුවමාරු කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා අමාත්‍ය ගුනේ උස්ලු මහත්මියට ස්තූතිය පළ කළ අතර  ලන්දේසි ගෘහ නිර්මාණ ශිල්පය, ඇළ මාර්ග පද්ධතිය, බලකොටු සහ අනෙකුත් ස්මාරක පිළිබඳ පර්යේෂණ සඳහා දෙරට සහයෝගීතාවයෙන් කටයුතු කළ යුතු බව පැවසීය.

ලෙව්කේ දිසාවට අයත්ව තිබූ කාලතුවක්කුව ගැන සඳහන් කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මෙම වටිනා නිධානය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට යළි හිමිවීම පිළිබඳව සතුටට පත්වන බවත් ලෙව්කේ තම උපන් ගම වන සීතාවකට ආසන්න ස්ථානයක් බවත් මුළු රටම වීර ලෙව්කේ දිසාවට  ජාතික ගෞරවය පුද කරන බවත් නෙදර්ලන්ත නියෝජිත පිරිසට ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

ජාතික කෞතුකාගාරයේ අලුතින් ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කරන ලද කුටියක කෞතුක වස්තු සංරක්ෂණය කිරීම සඳහා සංස්කෘතික අමාත්‍යාංශය සහ ජාතික කෞතුකාගාර දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව විසින් සිදු කරනු ලබන කාර්යයට පහසුකම් සැලසීමට නෙදර්ලන්තයෙන් මූල්‍ය  ප්‍රදානයක් ලබා දෙන බව අමාත්‍ය ගුනේ උස්ලු සඳහන් කළාය. ඇය 1751 දී බල්ටස් ජාක්වාස් වැන් ලියර් (Baltus Jaquaez Van Lier) විසින් අඳින ලද පැරණි ලංකා සිතියමක් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයාට  ඉදිරිපත් කළාය.

නෙදර්ලන්ත තානාපති Bonnie Horbach, නෙදර්ලන්තයේ සංස්කෘතික හා මාධ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් Barbera Wolfensberger, Dutch Colonial Collections කමිටු සභාපති Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You සහ කමිටු සාමාජික ආචාර්ය Alicia Schrikker, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී යදාමිණී ගුණවර්ධන, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්ව සිටියහ. 

An Article by the Asian Human Rights Commission

This story is about Junious. Please do not think that I made a mistake in naming the hero and misspelling Junious for genius. I quite understand some people’s misunderstanding of that sort because an impression has been created and kept for a long time that Junious was in fact the genius. That is far from the truth. A Junious is rightly called Junious, as you will see when you read this story.

The Junious was a practical “trickster”. And, being a successful trickster far beyond what the people of that trade has achieved, he even created the impression of being a great statesman, a great politician and you can add whatever other titles to his acclaimed greatness.

A “Junious” belongs to a generation of people who came by big fortune, which they could have never expected or even in the latter time, grasp. They were overwhelmed by the enormous fortunes that fell on them. That such people will lose their minds in such a process, is quite normal. They should not be blamed for imagining themselves to be what they never were and never could be. 

A good parable about how fortunate they were could be explained from an example from a different place. That place is known as Cambodia. From about 1975 – 1978, a big fortune fell on a man who was mostly unknown and could never have achieved anything worthwhile due to some political leaders in the United States taking to their heads to bomb Cambodia, and to bomb most mercilessly. To put it shortly, hundreds and thousands of people who were killed due to these bombings also produced another vast population, which fled their villages and rushed to the only place which could be called a City in their country, called Phnom Penh. All of a sudden, the whole City became filled with a far far bigger population than it could ever accommodate, and the result of such a situation is unrest of all sorts. 

This brought a great fortune to a group of people who were in the jungles, living miserable lives and even afraid of some big massacre, which may all destroy them, like millions of people were destroyed just few years earlier in Indonesia when due to a great misconception that Indonesia may become Communist and add to the strength of Communism in the region. The American establishment, with the help of the some military leaders who were looking for some big fortune to come their way, massacred millions of people who had any sort of connection to the Indonesian Communist Party. The people who went underground in Cambodia were expecting a similar catastrophe to fall on them, and that was one of the reasons why they have left their cities where they were earlier working as social democrats and are now working as militant guerrillas in the forest. 

But, when an old upsurge of people was taking place in the Capital of their City, they saw that the fortune was beckoning them. They walked to their Capital from their hiding places and as they expected, they were received with overwhelming enthusiasm by the people who were wholly desperate and were looking for some form of hope. They thought that this significant group of guerrillas emerging from the jungles to be much more mightier than they ever were and embraced them with great enthusiasm.

Suddenly, a ruling “elite” was formed just overnight. They had the control or their hope for the entire country. And, they did what many who go crazy would do and try to realise the wildest dreams they had about achieving what they thought was a new world of new Cambodian people, without the intelligentsia who would tell them what to do and without any King to give them orders. So, there began to be unleashed the fortune of this small group of people which brought about the greatest misfortune that is ever known, in the history, not only of their country, but also one of the greatest misfortunes, that a humanity has experienced in the world. 

Three years went by this way, and during that time, over one seventh of the population of Cambodia vanished, which meant that they were killed due to starvation and other physical misfortunes, as well as political misfortunes of being suspected and killed as possible spies or traitors. 

In order to make the story short, we may tell the next stage when the whole country collapsed under the weight of such a huge misfortune. And when with the invasion led by foreign powers with the people from Cambodia itself who had fled for security to the neighbouring country, the Pol Pot Regime fell and whoever that remained of that regime fled into the jungle. And people, for their part, not realising that the worst nightmare of their lives is over, and still fearing for their lives, fled as refuges to neighbouring countries such as Thailand. Whatever and whoever, that remained out of the more educated classes, also fled to other countries which welcomed them, like for example, the United States and also many countries in Europe. 

As for the main cities of Cambodia, they remained completely abandoned and as one well known journalist described, “Cambodian cities look like places which had been hit by a nuclear bomb.”  Everything had come to a standstill. If a car was left somewhere in 1975, it was there at the same place even by the early 1980s. That was the situation of all buildings, including all houses in these cities of Cambodia, particularly to the only really worthwhile place to be called a livable place, Phnom Penh.

People who have fled their villages and whatever place they stayed, and also had lost many of their family members, still did not have the will to return.  However, as it always happens, few adventurous ones migrated slowly to the city, and found the empty houses and empty spaces everywhere. Some of them just stayed for a short rest, but then they found that there was nobody to object to their presence and gradually they realised that these houses had no occupants, and that therefore, they could occupy them. So they began a period of slow migration, from refugee centres to the country, which had no organised way of life, but had empty spaces where they could settle and remain undisturbed. 

This part of the Cambodian story is merely told in order to illustrate how great misfortunes bring about sub-fortunes for some people at certain times. 

That was the situation of a small group of people that began to emerge from out of the depth of the miseries,which was a part of the Sri Lankan way of life (we call it the “Sri Lankan way” only in terms of present day references). Out of the colonial takeover of Cambodia, gradually there emerges a small number of people who having leant to be providing services to the new colonial power, were able to get certain advantages which were far beyond what the rest of the population could aspire for. They became landlords of large lands and there emerges a few families which would dominate whole areas. The only significant people of a particular area will be the particular dominant family, while the rest were nobodies and knew that they were nobodies.

The colonial power that came, did not stay for a very long time. They stayed only for about 130 years or so, and by the latter part, they had begun to realise that they have to leave. That provided the fortunes for those small groups of families, which had built the links with the colonial power. However, the fortunes were far bigger than what they expected, if they had any expectations at all thatcould be achieved within a short time. The colonial power was not merely giving them properties and other benefits. They were in fact giving the whole country to the charge of “these people.” Political power itself was given to them. They became Jupiter, Apollo and Zeus, just overnight. And this sense of enormous wonder of a big fortune that has fallen on them, that conditioned the mind, soul and all expectations of this small group of people.

In short, they went mad.  They went mad with the kind of fortunes that they had begin to enjoy and to collect fortunes for their families.

The mind and the soul of Junious was formed within the framework of those fortunes that came from their colonial patrons, who could not keep these fortunes for themselves, any more. Essentially, from the very beginning, it carried the elements of madness.

It is natural for mad people to make a mess of things. That is what the country has been experiencing all this time. The fall of the economy and everything else is merely the result of such madness, that for all purposes seems incurable.

Sasanka De Silva Pannipitiya.

Analog forestry is a sustainable land management approach that draws inspiration from natural forests to design and manage diverse and productive ecosystems.

The concept was developed by the Mesoamerican Forests in Peril project (known by its Spanish acronym, MAAP) in the 1980s.

Analog forestry seeks to mimic the structure, composition, and function of natural forests, taking into consideration the specific ecological conditions of a given area, while also integrating local social and economic needs.

The main goals of analog forestry include:

Biodiversity Conservation:

Analog forestry aims to create diverse ecosystems that support a wide variety of plant and animal species.

By emulating the complexity of natural forests, these systems can provide habitat for numerous species and help conserve biodiversity.

Ecosystem Restoration:

Analog forestry is often used to restore degraded lands, such as abandoned agricultural fields or logged areas. By establishing self-sustaining ecosystems that closely resemble natural forests, analog forestry can aid in soil restoration, water retention, and other ecological functions.

Sustainable Livelihoods:

The approach also considers the needs of local communities.

By promoting the cultivation of a diverse array of native plants and potentially incorporating food crops, analog forestry can provide a sustainable source of income and nutrition for local people.

Climate Change Mitigation:

The Analog forestry can contribute to climate change mitigation by sequestering carbon dioxide through the growth of trees and vegetation.

Well-designed analog forestry systems can act as carbon sinks, helping to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

Analog forestry involves careful planning and management, including selecting appropriate trees and plant species, considering their interactions, and mimicking the natural succession and ecological processes found in natural forests.

It can be adapted to different climatic and soil conditions, making it applicable in a variety of regions around the world.

Overall, analog forestry offers an integrative approach to land management that strives to balance ecological, social, and economic considerations while promoting sustainability and resilience.

Analog forestry has been successfully implemented in various countries around the world, particularly in regions where there is a need for ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable livelihoods.

Some of the countries where analog forestry practices have been adopted and achieved positive results include:

Costa Rica:

Analog forestry originated in Mesoamerica, and Costa Rica has been a pioneer in implementing and promoting this approach.

Various projects and organizations in Costa Rica have successfully utilized analog forestry principles to restore degraded lands, conserve biodiversity, and support local communities.

Sri Lanka:

Analog forestry has gained traction in Sri Lanka as a way to restore deforested and degraded areas.

It has been used to establish productive and biodiverse agroforestry systems that contribute to local livelihoods and ecosystem health.

India:

In India, analog forestry has been employed to restore degraded landscapes and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for local communities.

Projects have been undertaken in different states to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.

Dominican Republic:

Analog forestry has been applied in the Dominican Republic to restore degraded lands, improve water management, and provide habitat for wildlife and has contributed to local communities’ resilience and livelihoods.

Ecuador:

The method has been used in Ecuador to restore abandoned farmlands and degraded areas in the Andes and Amazon regions and has helped to rehabilitate soil, increase biodiversity, and provide alternative income sources for local people.

Jamaica:

It has been adopted in Jamaica as a method to combat deforestation, enhance ecosystem services, and improve land use practices and is highly successful in promoting sustainable land management in smallholder farming systems.

Ghana:

Once more, it has been employed in Ghana to restore degraded forests and provide opportunities for sustainable livelihoods for local communities and used to address issues related to deforestation and land degradation.

Honduras:

The Analog forestry practices have been integrated into reforestation and restoration efforts in Honduras, contributing to ecological rehabilitation and community development.

These are just a few examples of countries where analog forestry has been used successfully.

The approach’s adaptability to different ecological and socio-economic contexts makes it applicable in various parts of the world, where it can contribute to the restoration of ecosystems, conservation of biodiversity, and improvement of local livelihoods.

While analog forestry is primarily focused on land-based ecosystems and mimicking natural forest systems, there are similar approaches and concepts that have been developed to improve and restore marine and aquatic ecosystems.

These approaches are designed to emulate natural processes and promote the health and biodiversity of marine life.

Some of these concepts include:

Marine Permaculture:

Marine permaculture involves the cultivation of underwater ecosystems in a way that mimics the principles of land-based permaculture.

This approach aims to restore and enhance marine habitats by creating artificial structures that provide substrates for marine life to attach and grow, which can in turn support larger marine ecosystems.

Artificial Reefs:

Artificial reefs are human-made structures placed in the ocean to provide habitat and substrate for marine organisms.

These structures can be created from a variety of materials, such as concrete, steel, or even sunken ships. They serve as gathering points for various marine species, helping to boost local biodiversity and potentially support fisheries.

Seagrass Restoration:

Seagrass meadows are important marine ecosystems that provide habitat for various marine species, contribute to nutrient cycling, and help stabilize coastlines.

Restoration efforts involve planting seagrass seeds or transplanting seagrass plants to areas where they have been depleted due to human activities.

Coral Reef Restoration:

Coral reefs are highly diverse marine ecosystems that are under threat from factors like coral bleaching and pollution.

Restoration efforts involve techniques such as coral gardening, where fragments of healthy coral are grown and then transplanted onto degraded reefs to help them recover.

Aquaculture and Mariculture:

While not exactly analogous to analog forestry, aquaculture and mariculture involve the cultivation of aquatic organisms for food, conservation, or research purposes.

These practices aim to mimic natural ecosystems while also providing sustainable sources of seafood and supporting local economies.

Mimicking Marine Protected Areas (MPAs):

Marine Protected Areas are designated areas in the ocean where human activity is restricted to protect marine ecosystems and species.

By emulating the protection and management strategies used in Marine Protected Areas, conservation efforts can help restore and improve marine life. 

Restorative Aquatic Farming:

This approach combines aquaculture with habitat restoration.

It involves farming aquatic organisms in ways that mimic natural ecological processes, creating conditions that support both commercial production and the recovery of native species and ecosystems.

While these approaches are not identical to analog forestry, they share the common principle of emulating natural processes and structures to restore and improve ecosystems.

Each approach is tailored to the specific characteristics of marine environments and aims to promote the health and biodiversity of marine life in different ways.

Sasanka De Silva

Pannipitiya.

Sugath kulatunga.

A few days back the media reported that the Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Paul Stephens revealed that the Australian government has put forward a new proposal to establish Sri Lanka as a key international education center. He had stated that by launching of Sri Lanka as an international educational center, the country will be able to attract a large number of foreign students from many neighbouring countries including India, Maldives, Indonesia, Nepal and Bangladesh. We are not aware the role of Australia will play in this project. However, Sri Lanka is grateful to Australia for taking an initiative in this most welcome venture. The authorities here should feel ashamed for not initiating such a project for so many years in the past at least for the benefit of Sri Lankan students going abroad for education.
The dire need for international universities to be invited to the country had been keenly felt and discussed by policy makers for so many decades. It was December last year when this sensitive subject was discussed in Parliament that State Minister of Higher Education Dr.Raghavan said that nearly 11,000 Sri Lankan students go to foreign universities for studies every year. President Wickremasinghe claimed that US$ 3 billion goes out of Sri Lanka annually to other countries because Sri Lankan students go abroad for higher education. 
A leading entrepreneur Dhammika Perera estimated that at a given time there are over 100,000 of our students in foreign universities following higher studies. The President said that by setting up foreign university branches in Sri Lanka, the country could earn US$ 10 billion in foreign exchange annually by attracting international students. This would be in addition to saving valuable foreign exchange going out. Most opposition members hailed the Government’s plans to set up branches of foreign universities in Sri Lanka.
There seems to be two distinct issues under discussion which should receive different focus. The immediate problem is saving the funds remitted out of the country on higher studies abroad by Sri Lankan children. This involves not only the foreign exchange issue but also social issues. Some of these children are unlikely to return and serve the country. In Sri Lanka where families are closely knit separating a child from the family can create psychological problems for both parents and the children. Sending a child abroad for higher studies would cost the family a colossal cost which they can hardly bear. But the traditional high value given to education and the expected benefits drive the parents to make intolerable sacrifices. Neither the state minister nor the President gave any indication of the fields of higher studies that these children go abroad for. A reasonable guess is that the majority seek medical studies. The solution to that is to encourage private medical colleges. There should be some rethinking of the healthcare staffing. It has been suggested that the previous Assistant Medical Officers service be restored. The new cadre could be staffed with a Diploma level task related training given to graduates from the biology stream. A detailed article with links to relevant research appears on the website of LBN -at https://www.lankaweb.com/…/02/revamp-the-health-service/
The other issue of making Sri Lanka an education hub is a more ambitious but pragmatic proposal. Sri Lanka enjoys a number of competitive advantages such as a strategic location for travel, acceptable socio-cultural background, a conducive climate and ease of communication. The major advantage is that we should be able to compete on cost. The fact that while the per capita GDP is about 3500 USD its PPP value on an average has been around 8400 USD indicates that the Dollar goes a long way in Sri Lanka, and it is advantageous for foreign students to study in Sri Lanka.
Previous attempts to establish a private medical university in Colombo North was aborted due to political pressure. The opposition to the Nevil Fernando Teaching Hospital established in collaboration with Russia Friendship Teaching Hospital of Moscow Medical institution was from both the medical profession and bankrupt political parties.
Whatever the cost of foreign education estimated by the President is somewhat exaggerated (it cannot be as high as 20% of our export earnings),  the cost funds taken out of the country for education has been enormous. The sad situation is that this and allied cost advantages of establishing international universities in the country did not drive the Sri Lanka governments to make a positive decision on this crucial issue.
The pathetic excuse has been the opposition from extremist parties that it is a commercialization of Free Education. The truth is that politicians did not care as their children had access to foreign education.
Our policy makers should hide their faces in shame (if they have any sense of shame) that a foreign country had to initiate this laudable proposal.

It is hoped that our authorities have the cojones to implement it. 

Sugath kulatunga.

Press Release 2023.08.30 Pathfinder Foundation

The Eighth Research Institute for Indian Ocean (RIIO) International Conference, which focused on the Challenges and Prospectus for Blue Economy Cooperation in the Indian Ocean, was held in Kunming, China.  The event held from the perspective of security and development was attended by policymakers and academia representing think tanks in South Asia and Southeast Asia, including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand etc.  

The discussions were held under four main themes, namely Strategic Competition and Cooperation among Great Powers in the IOR, Geopolitical Changes and Challenges for Maritime Security in the IOR, Cooperative Mechanism and Building Blue Economy Partnership in the IOR, and the Problems, Challenges, and Prospects for Cooperation in the IOR.

The deliberations on the above themes are important to Sri Lanka to enable the country to exploit numerous blue economic development opportunities. In particular, building blue economic partnerships within the region will be a key subject area of discussion, as Sri Lanka assumes Chairmanship of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) in the latter half of this year and develops a deeper understanding of geopolitical sensitivities in developing national policies for the country.  

During the discussion on ‘Strategic Competition and Cooperation among Great Powers in the IOR’, Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman Pathfinder Foundation, addressed the conference on the topic of ‘Indian Ocean power rivalry and the dilemma of small states’.  In his presentation, he focused on” the resurgence of great power rivalry in the 21^st century and the plight of the small states, which are forced to take sides or face consequences.

A significant highlight of the event was signing several Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) by participating think tanks to establish a network for cooperation and undertake independent research work.  During the MOU signing ceremony, Pathfinder renewed its bilateral MOU with RIIO and signed a Letter of Intent to enter into the MOU to establish a network of think tanks.

Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman, and Dr. Dayaratna Silva, Executive Director of Pathfinder Foundation, participated at the Eighth RIIO International Conference on Common Development of China and Indian Ocean region’.

Picture 1  (Left to Right)  Khalid Rahman, Chairman, Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad, Pakistan Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman, Pathfinder Foundation  and Fu Xiaoqiang, Vice President of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations

2. Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman of Pathfinder Foundation, addressed the conference on the topic of ‘Indian Ocean power rivalry and the dilemma of small states’.

3. Paricepent of the Eighth Research Institute of Indian Ocean, which focused on the Challenges and Prospectus for Blue Economy Cooperation

4 (Left to Right) Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director of Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh, Khalid Rahman, Chairman, Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad, Pakistan, Zhu Cuiping, Director, Research Institute for Indian Ocean Economies. Srikanth Kondapalli, Dean, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University  U Zaw Oo, Executive Director of Center for Economic and Social Development,  Dr. Dayaratna Silva, Executive Director, Pathfinder Foundation  

5 . Zhu Cuiping, Director, of the Research Institute for Indian Ocean Economies, and Dr. Dayaratna Silva, Executive Director, of Pathfinder Foundation,  establish a network for cooperation and undertake independent research work.

Sasanka De Silva Pannipitiya

A binary option contract is a type of financial derivative that offers two possible outcomes: a fixed payout or nothing at all.

It is called a “binary” option because there are only two possible outcomes.

Traders or investors speculate on whether an underlying asset’s price will be above or below a predetermined strike price at a specific expiration time.

Here’s how it works:

Outcome Number One

In the Money:

If the trader’s prediction about the price movement of the underlying asset is correct at the time of expiration, they receive a fixed payout.

This payout is predetermined when the binary option contract is created.

Outcome Number Two

Out of the Money:

If the trader’s prediction is incorrect at the time of expiration, they receive nothing.

They lose the initial investment made to purchase the binary option.

The classification of binary options as either an investment or gambling is a topic of debate and often depends on local regulations, the trader’s approach, and the specific context.

Investment Perspective:

Some proponents argue that binary options can be seen as a form of investment because they involve analyzing market trends, making predictions, and managing risk.

Traders who use research, analysis, and well-thought-out strategies might consider themselves as investors, seeking to profit from their expertise.

Gambling Perspective:

On the other hand, binary options have been criticized for their similarities to gambling.

The outcome is based on chance, as the price of the underlying asset can be influenced by various unpredictable factors.

Additionally, the fixed payout structure resembles a bet more than a traditional investment.

In some cases, binary options have been associated with unregulated or fraudulent schemes, which further blurs the line between investment and gambling.

Regulators in various jurisdictions have taken different stances on how to classify binary options.

Some countries consider them as legitimate financial instruments, subjecting them to financial regulations.

Others view them as a form of gambling and have restricted or prohibited their trading due to concerns about consumer protection and fraud.

It’s important for individuals interested in binary options to understand the risks involved and to be aware of the regulatory environment in their country.

If you’re considering trading binary options, it’s advisable to do thorough research, understand the potential outcomes and risks, and only use reputable and regulated platforms.

Submitted by,

Sasanka De Silva

Pannipitiya.

lanka C news

හිටපු ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ජනාධිපති ධුරයෙන් ඉවත් කරවීම සඳහා ‘ගෝඨා හෝම් අරගලය’ ආරම්භ කරන ලද්දේ රාජපක්ෂ පවුල තුලින්ම බව ජාතික සංවිධාන එකමුතුවේ ලේකම් වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

හිටපු ඇමති බැසිල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතාද ඒ සඳහා තීරණාත්මක කාර්යභාරයක් ඉටු කරන ලද බවද ඔහු පෙන්වා

ඔහු මේ බව සඳහන් කරන්නේ අන්තර්ජාල නාලිකාවක සාකච්ඡාවකට එක්වෙමිනි.

මෙරට මීළඟ අරගලය පන්ති සටනක් ලෙස ආහාර අර්බුදය සමග ඇතිවන බවද හෙතෙම පවසයි.

එහිදී දරුවන්ට ආහාර දීගත නොහැකිව සැබෑවටම පීඩාවට පත්වුණු මිනිස්සු එම අරගලය සඳහා එක්වනු ඇති බවද හෙතෙම සඳහන් කළේය.

පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ පක්ෂ විපක්ෂ සියළු දෙනාම ඇමෙරිකානු තානාපතිගේ පදයට නටන බව ද ඔහු චෝදනා කරයි.

හිටපු හමුදාපති සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මහතාද මේ පිටුපස සිටින බවත් ඔහුට යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා නැත්තේ ඔහු ඇමරිකානු රූකඩයක් නිසා බවත් ඒ මහතා එහිදී කියා සිටියි.