Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Former Minister and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna National Organizer Basil Rajapaksa said that he is ready to give up his US citizenship if the dual citizenship was an obstacle to his future political activities.

He told a television political program that not only the dual citizenship, but he is also ready to remove any other legal obstacle to work for the people.

He said the people of the country should decide whether he succeeded or failed.

He said he has a great responsibility at this time, in the backdrop of a President who obtained 6.9 million votes being removed and a parliamentarian killed and violence unleashed against a large number of government politicians.

Basil said they were unable to step outside of their houses and several properties of politicians were attacked and burnt down by the public due to the Aragalaya. 

However, Ranil Wickremesinghe who they chose has changed that situation, he said.

Basil said Ranil Wickremesinghe was able to resolve the key issues of gas explosions, fuel queues, and over 10 hours of power cuts.

At present, we are not facing any of those social issues. We believed he is an individual who has the capacity to resolve such issues and he has proven so,” he said. (Darshana Sanjeewa Balasooriya)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Claiming that the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has granted special electricity tariff reduction to Housing Apartment Complexes than normal domestic units, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said today that electricity could be provided to normal domestic units at concessionary rates if the special relief granted to Housing Apartments was withdrawn.

The Minister told Parliament that the eletricity tariff charged from Housing Apartment complexes were 50% lesser than the tariffs charged from normal housing units and raised doubts as to why the PUCSL has allowed such special relief to the Housing Apartments.

The Minister said he expected the PUCSL would change that special relief granted to Housing Apartment Complexes and added that if that was done, domestic consumers could be provided with electricity at concessionary rates.

The Minister also said he was positive that the PUCSL would give the approval to the proposal of electricity tariff revision on February 15 as promised by the Commission.

“The PUCSL promised to the Cabinet and the National Council that it will amend the tariff proposals and give its approval on February 15. We hope they will keep their word,” he said.

He said the power crisis had aggravated due to the delay caused by PUCSL’s approval to tariff hike. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken a torch which is burning from both side by trying to fully implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, Former President Maithripala Sirisena said today.

He said he wondered why Ranil Wickremesinghe was trying to implement this controversial 13A when the country was facing serious issues.

Mr. Sirisena said none of the former Presidents such as JR Jayawardane who introduced the 13A, Ranasinghe Premadasa, D.B. Wijetunge, Chandrika Bandaranaike, Mahinda Rajapaksa, or himself  ever attempted  to implement it.

He said it was not an easy task as majority of Sinhalese Buddhists are against it.

“13th Amendment has to be dealt with care,” he said. ( Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)

Courtesy Adaderana

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has urged all persons to be vigilant of the security of the details of their bank cards, owing to the recent rise in financial scams.

Accordingly, CBSL warned all persons to refrain from sharing their usernames, passwords, PIN numbers, One Time Passwords (OTP), Card Verification Values (CVV) and other details related to their bank accounts, with any other third parties.

Courtesy Adaderana

Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Country Representative for Sri Lanka, Dr. Nadeem Ul Haque says that the Sri Lankan government needs to take steps to ensure efficiency when it plots the way forward for the country and cut down on the number of subsidies given to the public as well.

He made these remarks while speaking during a panel discussion ‘At HydePark on Ada Derena 24’.

Joining the panel discussion, Economist Dr. Tissa Jayaweera added that even though economic experts like to call for ‘debt forgiveness’ it is not something that will be done by countries giving out money generated by their people to countries that have misappropriated such funds.

In response to a question raised, during the discussion whether Sri Lanka is on track to get the IMF assistance, the former IMF resident coordinator to the island emphasized that the addiction of obtaining debts must stop and that Sri Lanka needs serious policy planning. 

IMF programme will not lift you from your issues”, he said.

Speaking further, Dr. Nadeem Ul Haque questioned as to why would the world forgive a country for wasting money, highlighting that this requires a large global consensus.

If debt forgiveness is given, question is how you will prevent it. We have a debt issue because we wasted the money,” he added.

World doesn’t give subsidies to the extent Sri Lanka does,” Dr. Ul Haque claimed.

Shenali D Waduge

Sri Lanka’s Tamils are dreaming if they think India will help create Tamil Eelam with 13A land & police powers. It is time that Sri Lanka’s Tamils wake up to reality. At the time of India’s independence, Tamil Nadu sought self-determination, Indian leaders refused, subsequently even Bangladesh was given independence but not Tamil Nadu. Indian leaders squashed every movement in Tamil Nadu for separatism culminating in 16^thamendment in 1963 to prevent Tamil Nadu from seceding. Inspite of 72million Tamils, not a word of Tamil is in the Indian National anthem though Tamil is both a National & Official language in India. When India denies 72million Tamils self-determination in India, will India allow Tamils self-determination in Sri Lanka unless India can use the quest to annex Sri Lanka to India! Therefore, Tamils must realize that they are unlikely to have a homeland” in either Tamil Nadu or Sri Lanka. Ironically the West/Church are also using Tamils for their own agenda but here too, Tamils are unlikely to have what they deem their Homeland”. These realities should dawn on Tamils in both Tamil Nadu & Sri Lanka as well as the Tamil Diaspora overseas. They are all being used as pawns in a greater game of politics. All they will be allowed to achieve is limited personal gains & lucrative lifestyles for those engaged in a futile quest & they know it too!

Both Indo-Lanka Accord & 13A had no inputs of Tamils or LTTE. They were drafted by India for India’s advantage.  TULF letter to Rajiv Gandhi on 28 Oct 1987 shows how 13a/PC system were all conceptualized by India & not by Tamil politicians or LTTE.

The text of the Accord did not mention devolution” even in the exchange of letters between JR Jayawardena & PM Rajiv Gandhi.

The merger of North East was not a request by Tamils or LTTE but a geopolitical design of India in 1984.

Even the Norwegian brokered 2002 Cease Fire Agreement would not have been signed if not for the nod of approval by India.

LTTE emerged the more powerful of the militants that India trained while India did not blink an eye to order the assassination of Prabakaran. At the same time, India even saved Prabakaran from being captured primarily because India needed him to wrest more control over Sri Lanka for India, diplomatically. This was why Prabakaran was whisked off to Delhi, but kept there till the Accord was signed & PM Rajiv returned. Unfortunately, Prabakaran did not like the treatment given & just 4 years later former PM Rajiv was assassinated.

The quest for separatism may have been promoted in Sri Lanka since 1949, but it would have not got anywhere without India’s tacit approval. Sri Lankan Tamils & LTTE Diaspora must realize that separatism or Eelaam will be allowed only so far as it suits India’s advantage & administered by India.

India that took constitutional measures to prevent separatist quests in India, could have easily taken action to eliminate LTTE after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, why didn’t India do so? While the demise of a PM was a dent to India, it was too premature to eliminate LTTE as India had bigger plans for Sri Lanka, not Tamils. That order eventually came on 15 Sept 1987 to the IPKF commander by Dixit to eliminate Prabakaran. The decision came as a result of India preparing another armed group to take over Prabakaran/LTTE & to come under the India propped merged NEPC Chief Minister Varatharaja Perumal. Note how every decision & action was from India.  It was on 8 Oct 1987 that IPKF declared war on LTTE. Eventually, India sacrificed over 1000 of its soldiers who were killed by LTTE.

The Indo-Lanka Accord was factually incorrect & if Tamil politicians & LTTE did not have any say in its drafting, we can only conclude that the insertion of historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil speaking people” was a ruse to merge North East simply because India’s eye was on Trinco harbor & Trinco Oil tanks which was in the East. Both the habor & oil tanks had nothing to do with the conflict or were even part of LTTE demands. This was a strategic asset India wanted to acquire using their we are for Tamils” song.

The inclusion of Tamil speaking people” was another ruse to get Muslims to agree following an agreement signed in Madras that Muslims could continue to live in the North. It would be interesting to see if India manipulated LTTE to chase Sinhalese & Muslims out of the North as well.

It is noteworthy that Tamils were known as Malabars & the term Ceylon Tamils was coined in 1911 which turned to Sri Lankan Tamils in 1972.

All that Tamils got from India was the official language status with the Indo-Lanka Accord & 13^th amendment.

In the exchange of letters, Indian PM made 5 demands. These letters are not binding, because they were not annexed to the Accord & so are not part of the Accord. But it clearly shows, not a word was mentioned about Tamils

1. To ensure territories of both India & Sri Lanka is not used for activities prejudicial to each other’s unity, territorial integrity & security – nothing to do with Tamils
2. To ensure no foreign military/intel personnel were prejudicial to Indo-Lanka relations – nothing to do with Tamils
3. Trincomalee or any other Port in Sri Lanka not to be made available for any military use by any country in a manner prejudicial to India’s interests (while India was anti-US in 1990s no US port or VOA could be set up but now that India is friends with US, Sri Lanka has to allow any US ship to land in Sri Lanka) – nothing to do with Tamils
4. Joint venture to operate Trinco Oil Tanks – nothing to do with Tamils
5. Sri Lanka’s agreements with foreign broadcasting organizations to be reviewed by India – nothing to do with Tamils

Indian envoys may be flying in & out of Sri Lanka, we can be certain that discussions are not to please or be of advantage to Tamils, Tamil political parties or LTTE Diaspora. The LTTE Diaspora may be able to fool foreign Govts but it has no chance with India. Sambanthan, Wigneswaran may be disappointed by Sumanthiran tied to West/Church may have other surprises to shock India.

Sri Lanka & even India must take stock of new developments – the West’s honeymoon with Modi is slowly coming to an end, that means Tamils are unlikely to get anything & this is a clue for Sri Lanka to play its cards right.

Shenali D Waduge

By Rohana R. Wasala

Two stalwarts of the JVP-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, Dr Harini Amarasuriya MP and Mr Tilvin Silva, JVP General Secretary, as reported in the media early February 2023, have made more or less clear the alliance’s stand on the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution (suggested by the president): the NPP is broadly for it. But both Amarasuriya and Silva are not convinced of president Ranil Wickremasinghe’s actual commitment to his decision to fully implement the controversial amendment. They both express misgivings about president Wickremasinghe’s real intentions in bringing up the issue at this critical juncture.

Amarasuriya says he didn’t do it when he had ‘opportunities’ to do it in the past. Well, actually, to be fair by Wickremasinghe, he didn’t have any opportunity to make the decisive move. He neither became executive president nor got sufficient parliamentary power to do so  before he ultimately got kicked out of parliament altogether for pursuing policies that tended towards the full implementation of 13A. But for the Rajapaksas’ perfidious betrayal of the nearly seven million patriotic Sri Lankans who voted in Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president and 140+ MPs on the SLPP ticket to defeat the yahapalanaya that he had controlled under Sirisena’s lame executive presidency. (The Rajapaksas’ treachery is a different matter.)

Tilvin Silva sees the main parties (presumably, the UNP and SLFP rumps and their utterly disoriented new manifestations) as arousing communal passions through the debate on 13A. Those that he calls ‘diehard racists…’ (who, according to him, had been hiding these few months) are coming out of the woodwork. Who are these so-called ‘racists’? They are, of course, those who are opposed to 13A, the patriots who are opposed to the division of the country into nine virtually independent units, resulting in the disintegration of the unitary state.   

Tilvin Silva said that what people in the North and the South are asking for are food, fuel and medicine and so on; but the Northerners have problems. We do not think that any other party except a government of the JVP-led NPP can give real solutions to the problems of people in the North. We would form an NPP government and bring in a new constitution with a mechanism to solve the problems of Tamil people. We get it passed with people’s approval and provide solutions for the problems of the Northerner. Until such times, provincial councils will have their existence,” Silva said, as reported in one national English daily.

It is not clear how the NPP is going to deal with the 13A issue. But if it is hoping to wangle the support of the Sinhala Buddhist masses, who are always at the receiving end, while horse-trading with the federalists, Anura’s chances of becoming president will evaporate soon. As he has already apparently indicated that his prime minister will be Sumanthiran (I am not sure of the authenticity of this piece of information, though) in case he becomes president, the voters in the South will be even more sceptical about voting for him. Sumanthiran is the exact opposite of Lakshman Kadirgamar, whom the Sinhalese universally loved and honoured above all other politicians, but whom the LTTE assassinated as a traitor to the separatist cause.

The truth is that the majority of ordinary Tamils in Jaffna do not want to live in a separate state. They want to live in peace with the other communities of the country. According to Arun Siddharthan, the convener of the Jaffna Civil Society Centre, the proposed full implementation of 13A is a conspiracy of the casteist TNA. People in the North actually suffer from casteism, not from any political discrimination or human rights violations by the Sinhalese majority. Tamils deemed to belong to low castes like himself (but he doesn’t accept casteism; he is a much more honourable man than his racist, casteist opponents) have no human rights.  He says he is not allowed to have a press conference in Jaffna. Hence he holds his news briefings in Colombo. At this briefing, Arun Siddharthan refers to the non-implementation in Jaffna of the Prevention of Social Disabilities Act No. 21 of 1957 adopted by the S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike government of the day amidst opposition from casteist Tamil MPs. Arun Siddharthan warns that if the government tries to implement 13A, there will be a communal uprising against it in Jaffna, which, though, in my opinion will be counterproductive. It might provide an opportunity for India to intervene militarily, and make matters worse.

Leaders of the NPP, please stop being misled by your ‘friends’ certain Colombo-based crafty Tamil lawyers and moribund political counsellors who, unlike you, are out and out  misanthropic,  racists. Trust young Tamil leaders like Arun to befriend the Tamil polity in the North as well as in the South. To increase your appeal among the Sinhalese, please enlist the support of JVP founder Rohana Wijeweera’s son Uvindu wherever he is and young grassroots level nationalist activists like Amith Weerasinghe, who is already doing much to relieve the suffering of the poor of all communities around Kandy in central Sri Lanka (hence disliked by traditional politicians as a threat to their political existence). 

What is the point of your insisting on the holding of local government elections? There is no meaning in having elections at this time. Even if they are held, you will not stand to win. You hardly won any seats at the last local government election in 2018, don’t you remember? You will not do better this time if you stick to your purblind policy of cozying up to the casteist elite of the Tamil society in the North, while ignoring the populace suffering at their hands, and while taking the support of the Sinhalese majority for granted. As it is clear to the intelligent voters that you have swallowed the TNA cajolery hook, line, and sinker, people will not trust you enough to vote for you. What you can do instead is to use the next two years to educate the young people of today about the JVP’s heroic past, with a genuine analysis of its costly errors (Uvindu has an idea about that) and organise the multiethnic electorate (dominated by the lower middle and working classes) across the country for a resounding victory at the next presidential and parliamentary elections. Until then, try to help prevent Ranil Wickremasinghe from doing anything really detrimental to the country that is irreversible.

As I wrote in my previous writeup Cynical irony of……….” (Lankaweb/February 2, 2023) We need statesmen/women, not mere politicians. People are fed up with the latter. Anura is not likely to turn out to be a real statesman, even if he gets the chance to do so one day, if he pursues his proven hypocrisy. However, compared to the leading buffoons of the two traditional parties (the UNP and the SLFP/or their ghostly modern reincarnations), Anura Dissanayake would be someone that the people can look towards as an alternative leader, provided he does not forfeit the trust of the majority Sinhala Buddhists in his attempt to win the loyalty of the traditional minority leaders, who will never ever change their spots, though they may change their hunting grounds”.

Let me end this piece with the last paragraph of an essay I wrote four years ago (‘JVP at a crossroads’/Lankaweb//March 6, 2018): 

The JVP must take a good hard look at its wasteful past and subject itself to serious reform as a party. It must get rid of its outdated ideologies and outmoded leaders. It must not condemn the voters as idiots for not voting for them. Most important, the JVP’ers must find political allies with whom they can coexist and serve the nation.”

By Dr Tilak S Fernando

After Harin Fernando, Minister of Tourism and Lands took over the portfolio, he appointed a new team to improve tourism. The new team’s efforts have paid off. Sri Lanka Tourism Board is confident that the estimated 1.55 million tourists will arrive in Sri Lanka, adding an income of 2.8 billion dollars to government coffers by the end of 2023.

Sri Lanka Tourism Board and Tourism Promotions Board should take into a video how a lady and gentleman explained in detail which are listed below.

Valid points

The immigration and emigration department needs to set up a help desk to establish to answer any queries on entry visas and passports etc., thereby cutting down tourists’ time in minimising their valuable time and money instead of wasting in immigration offices in long queues,

Embarkation tax on tourists, including Sri Lankans living abroad, is crazy. It should be abolished.

Duty-Free outlets should have a good selection of wine, foreign liquor, and many brands of cigarettes available for tourists.

Local liquor (such as various types of arrack, all kinds of local Gin and cyder) should be available duty-free in wine shops and supermarkets for passengers coming into the country and leaving. Shop owners and Management staff may check their passports to ensure Sri Lankans abroad, or Asians are living abroad.

All levels of service at all the airport complexes need improvement.

All airports should have an Ambulance service, including ‘Para Medics”. Ministry of Health conducts para medics courses on a two-year full-time basis, similar to Medical Laboratory Technology.

Most of the drivers of tuk-tuk drivers are ‘undesirable’ characters, and they are a danger in the first degree, especially in transporting tourists. They are not concerned about the passengers they carry, and the writer is still determining whether they have insurance coverage! They have a habit of creeping through every space available in traffic jams.

Beggars must be removed from the tourist areas to make tourists feel safe to travel within the country.

English-speaking and courteous guides and specially trained police must be deployed in various parts of the country for tourist assistance.

Ditches and drains should be clean and in a good state of repair.

Finally, private beaches are a must to keep the ‘peeping Toms’ and thieves away from tourists.

The second crucial point comes from the gentleman about the excessive charges on tourists who visit prominent places like the Lotus Tower in Colombo, the Gampola Tower in the Centre of the country or Sigiriya, Lion Rock, where tourists are charged significantly more than the locals. “This is the first country we have seen.” Laments the gentleman. “We have noticed that charges are considerably higher in certain places than the locals. Some groups have commented that “charging structures go up to 25% for tourists more than the locals!

“We have no issue in paying more than the locals, but it should be up to a specific limit. “We are not saying we should voluntarily go for it. It is what we have found amongst a lot of ‘chat groups’. Tourists are unhappy about this, which could be a more pleasant experience. If this trend continues, tourists will look for other destinations. We wish to bring out this point as our ambition is to help the Sri Lankan tourist industry. We know how Sri Lanka is going through a difficult economic period.

Bus Drivers and excessive speeds

The lady spoke about the local traffic. She laments how bus drivers travel at astronomical speeds, and the pedestrians have to walk on the roads where there are no sidewalks (pavements), especially in tourist areas such as Unawatuna and Hikkaduwa. The buses travel so fast and attempt to overtake – when one bus tries to overtake, another bus arrives in the opposite direction, and the passing bus’s wind itself is sufficient to knock someone down. ‘We have heard of near misses often’, she grumbled on the video. It boils down to ‘no one wants to go on holiday and get trapped under a bus in a foreign land!

The gentleman’s conscams”. “When the locals see foreigners, many locals will approach visitors and try to be friendly with them with ulterior motives of taking the foreigners for a ride. Local men will volunteer to assist the tourists by directing them to the local market or showing how fishermen are seated on silts at the seaside in the south of Sri Lanka. When photographs of fishermen are taken instantly, many locals will surround the tourist(s) and ask for significant amounts of money from visitors for photographing the stilt fishermen. They are known as ‘scammers.’ The gentleman said such scammers are found mainly in two cities where scammers operate in earnestness – Colombo and Kandy.

land

Warning to female Tourists.

The lady tourist warns single female tourists not to walk alone to a supermarket, to a cash machine or on the road on their own, as there are men who whistle at female tourists and make funny noises from their mouths. So, she tells female tourists to only walk alone in Sri Lanka if they can tackle them. She explained how a male followed her to a supermarket to seek her attention. He had entered the supermarket, and the guy crawled behind her like her shadow, making funny noises with his mouth, but ultimately she had to tell him “to get lost.”

A female and male give substantial hints to improve Sri Lanka’s tourist industry. The female starts the video in the following manner.

“Our first negative point is, especially in tourist areas, aggressive tuk, tuk drivers tend to harass tourists. She noted tourists would like to walk freely and enjoy the environment, but it was irritating when confronted by ‘aggressive’ tuk-tuk drivers. Tourists would like to walk freely and get familiarised with whatever attracts them, but when tuk-tuk drivers, every five to ten meters, approach tourists and disturb, tourists experience of being peacefully in a relaxed mood and enjoying themselves is lost. She named the worst areas of the three extreme places Sigiriya, Hikkaduwa and Unawatuna.

A male tourist explained that tourists who go to a place of attraction, for example, the Lotus Tower in Colombo, the Gampola tower in the Centre of the country, or Sigiriya – ‘Lion rock, are asked to pay significantly more than the locals. He said, “This is the first country we have visited where that was the case. Tourists are OK with slightly paying a higher amount than the locals, but it does not mean to say we should go and see attractions at will and pay extensive charges. We don’t say tourists should not visit these places, but we are trying to help Sri Lanka’s tourist industry. It is not a pleasant experience at all, and we have found that many groups and tourists are not very happy about this. Tourists are charged up to 25 times higher than the locals in certain places. It means tourists may turn around and seek other tourist destinations at the end of the day.

The lady complains.

‘Many bus drivers manipulate buses so fast on roads that there aren’t sidewalks in tourist areas such as Unawatuna and Hikkaduwa. (pavements). Due to this, pedestrians and tourists have to walk on the street. When one bus tries to overtake another bus in the opposite direction, the wind of the buses can knock down anyone! It boils down to no one wanting to go on holiday and get trapped under a bus in a foreign land.

The other factor is scammers. The gentleman explains how locals get friendly with tourists with ulterior motives of pretending to guide tourists to a local market or the seabeach where fishermen sit on silts. Tourists would like to take pictures of anglers sitting on a pole as souvenirs of Sri Lanka. Suddenly tourists would be surrounded by a crowd of locals demanding money for taking photographs. According to the tourist couple, scamming occurs in Colombo and Kandy, the two major towns.

People Struggle for existence.

According to the gentleman in the video, the saddest part was how difficult life was for the poor villagers in Sri Lanka. People are affected by the country’s present economic situation and begging for food.

The female in the video pointed out that on January 23rd, 2023, how she experienced a ‘power cut’. She must have been out in the town because every hotel should have a generator.

tilakfernando@gmail.com

Shenali D Waduge

It is important to understand that terrorism was only part of the problem. The bigger problem is the issue of attempts to separate Sri Lanka, a quest started by ITAK from 1949 onwards. ITAK or Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi translated meant Tamil State party but camouflaged quest as federal. Its aims & objectives & the use of shamasthi” was promoted as federal. Yet, in 2008, ITAK changed shamasthi” to innaipachchi” & we connote that to mean confederal. Also at the same convention in 2008, ITAK went on to endorse the 1976 Vaddokoddai Resolution for a separate sovereign Eelam State. This clearly showcases, ITAK quest is not federal but confederal. It is why ITAK is eternally demanding Land & Police powers to advance their confederal agenda & come closer to UDI where if a Kosovo-type UDI is declared; the West will support it as they did to Kosovo. The pro-LTTE units have been busy promoting bogus Tamil Nadu & Tamil Homeland bids & falsifying history for this purpose.

The govt must challenge the ITAK to clarify its aims & objectives, the meaning of innaipachchi”, whether it is seeking federal or confederal system.

Legally too ITAK must be challenged. Why is the 6^th amendment not being used if the aims & objectives of the ITAK is the goal of establishing a separate state in Sri Lanka.

No legal action can be taken against a party seeking a federal solution – this is why ITAK claims itself to be federal party though its statements and demands are confederal in nature & not federal. Everyone must turn their attention to the ITAK constitution. Have it translated & have it analysed & debated legally.

ITAK must be made to explain why it changed shamashti” to innaipachchi” in 2008.

If shamashti meant federal in 1949, what does innaipachchi” mean in 2008?

ITAK must be made to answer this question. Tamil translators must seek the meaning of these 2 words which will reveal ITAK’s true objective.

Is ITAK’s aim to create a confederation? If so, ITAK is craftily vying for a separate state.

What is CONFEDERACY/CONFEDERATION or CONFEDERAL?

It is a union of independent & sovereign States (this is why land & police powers with full autonomy is being demanded using discrimination” as justification

It is formed with intention to create independent & sovereign States.

According to West’s Encyclopedia of American Law

A Confederation is a union of states in which each member retains some independent control over internal & external affairs, Thus for international purposes, there are separate states, not just one state”

A Federation in contrast is a union of states in which external affairs are controlled by a unified, Central Government”

Obviously, there is a problem. The 2 terminologies clash, while the majority are of the view that Sri Lanka must retain its unitary status and many view federalism as conflicting with the unitary status of Sri Lanka, primarily because it was imposed forcibly on Sri Lanka.

The 6^th amendment may not suffice to take legal action against ITAK’s 2008 endorsing of Vaddukoddai Resolution, but if ITAK is vying for a confederal solution, there is scope for legal action especially when ITAK is building its demands for that ultimate UDI goal.

WHAT IS ITAK’S GAMEPLAN DEMANDING 13A LAND & POLICE POWERS?

A Federal system of government

• Central Govt can reach direct to the citizens in a province
• Federal form of Govt does not allow an unilateral secession – as was seen when President Premadasa annulled the merged NE Province & imposed direct rule

A Confederal/Confederation system of government

• Central Govt can reach ONLY upto the govt of the respective province that form the confederacy (ie. the Chief Minister of each Province)
• Central Govt CANNOT directly reach the citizens
• The most alarming factor is that the govt of a confederation can WITHDRAW from the union – the UDI of 1990 was an experiment in this quest.
• The reason for ITAK to change from federalism to confederal in 2008 was to avert the 1990 UDI foiled attempt

ITAK’s journey to separatism

• 1949 ITAK name denotes as Tamil State Party (usage of Federal Party a ruse)
• Aims & objectives of ITAK need to be legally looked at against 2008 endorsement of Vaddukoddai Resolution seeking a separate sovereign state.
• Replacing shamashti” (federal in 1949) with innaipachchi” (confederal in 2008)
• ITAK reference to self-determination” Tamil Nation” Tamil Homeland” UNITED SRI LANKA” are aligned with confederal form of system & not federal.
• ITAK claims to guarantee fundamental rights (right to religion, language, culture etc) aligns with confederal/confederation system. In a federal system, fundamental rights are given by the Central Govt. In a confederal system, fundamental rights are given by the Provincial Govt.

The other key argument that Sinhalese must use is that the Tamils may claim a homeland” but they cannot claim exclusivity” to it when Sinhalese had also been living in these areas & have archaeological & historical proof (isn’t this why there are attempts to destroy this heritage & history as well as the new claim that Tamils were also Buddhists) This is the newest argument.

People should not fall prey to ITAK’s verbal statements. They must take the ITAK constitution, translated it & make it public, analyze it & debate its demands.

ITAK’s constitution says that once it has created a Homeland” for Tamils, it would co-exist & collaborate with the Sinhalese provinces. There are no Sinhalese, Tamil or Muslim provinces in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankans are living all over the island. LTTE Tamils chased Sinhalese & Muslims out of the North. After chasing Sinhalese & Muslims out of the North, LTTE & pro-separatist Tamils cannot claim only Tamils live in the North. Sinhalese who have been living in the North have every right to stake claim to the North as well.

ITAK pretends to plead for a federal set up, then why is ITAK referring to Tamil & Sinhala provinces?

Such a form of ethnic provinces do not exist in a federal set up because it is the Central Govt with a Central Govt Constitution that rules the island not provinces.

It is time that the nationalist organizations take out the ITAK constitution & demand answers from ITAK.

The US experiment with confederacy was a failure. Co-existence & Collaboration were used & are the same words used by ITAK. The moment a member of the confederacy decides they do not wish to live in co-existence or collaboration, they can declare to separate. This is what ITAK is eyeing & is a one step beyond UDI to prevent Sri Lanka Govt from annulling the province & declaring direct rule. This is why ITAK is using UNITED SRI LANKA with Co-Existence & Collaboration & trying to tweak the constitution to ensure the Centre does not repeat the outcome of the 1990 UDI.

Obviously external parties are weighing these demands against their own geopolitical aspirations.

The Govt & legal luminaries in Sri Lanka as well as patriotic organizations must realize that the neocolonial West agenda is to dismember nations.

• Pakistan was created out of India
• Bangladesh was created out of Pakistan
• Soviet Union was balkanized
• Yugoslavia was balkanized
• Eritrea was created out of Ethiopia
• South Sudan was created out of Sudan
• Kosovo was created out of Serbia
• Kurdish ‘self-determination’ on the cards
• India is on target to be balkanized as well

Self-determination was originally used during de-colonization but has been turned into a political tool to advance western neocolonial agendas & grab resources under transnational control.

Sri Lanka is faced with 2 forms of threats – Global & Local. Before meeting the global threats, its best we identify the local threats first.

Shenali D Waduge

චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ විසිනි

කාලෙකට පෙර මෙරට ජනතාව හදුනාගෙන සිටි ප්‍රථම ඝනයේ ජාතික සතුරා රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහයන් විය. ඔහුගෙන් රට බේරා ගැනීම සඳහා මෙරට දේශප්‍රේමී ජනතාව මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂයන්ව බලයට පත්කළහ. ඒ වර්ෂ 2005දිය. බලය ලබාගත් මහින්ද මෙරට තිබුන බලවත්ම ගැටලුව වූ ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ සන්නද්ධ ව්‍යාපාරය විනාශ කොට උතුර හා දකුණ ඒකාබද්ධ කොට නව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවක් ගොඩනංවන ලදී.

රනිල් පිටුපස සිට රනිල්ව මෙරට ජනතාවට එරෙහිව මෙහෙයවූ බලවේග රනිල්ව මදකට නවතා එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ සහය ඇතුළුව සියලුම බටහිර වන්දනා කරමින් ඒ මත යපෙන සියලුම දේශපාලන සංවිධානවල සහය රටේ කීර්තිමත් චරිතයක්වූ සරත් ෆොන්සේකා මහතාට ලබාදෙමින්, මහින්ද හා සටන මෙහෙයවුහ.

සරත් ෆොන්සේකා පරාජයට පත්වුයේ, ඔහුට ජනතාවගේ ඇති අප්‍රසාදය නිසා නොව ඔහුව මෙහෙයවන්නේ, රනිල් පිටුපස සිටි ඒ දේශද්‍රෝහී බලවේගම බව ජනතාව හදුනාගත් බැවිනි. ඒ 2010 වසරේදීය.

සතුරා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය අගය කරන්නෙක් නොවන බැවින්, 2015දී මැතිවරණ කුමන්ත්‍රණයකින් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂයන්ව පරාජය කරන ලද්දේ ඔහුගේම ඇමති මණ්ඩලයේ ප්‍රබලක්වූ මෛත්‍රිපාල සිරිසේන මහතාව උපයෝගී කරගෙනය.

සතුරාගේ පඹ ජනාධිපති පසෙකින් සිටියදී, රනිල් නිල නොලත් විධායක බලය හොබවන අගමැති බවට 2002 වසරේදී ක්‍රියාකළ  ආකාරයටම කටයුතු කළහ. ඒ සතුරා රනිල්ව ඔවුන්ගේ අවශ්‍යතාවයන් අරමුණු කරගෙන මෙහෙයවූ ආකාරයයි.

දේශප්‍රේමී ජනතාව සතුරාවත් රනිල්වත් මැනවින් තේරුම්ගෙන සිටි බැවින්, 2019 දී අතිවිශිෂ්ඨ ලෙස ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂයන්ව බලයට ගෙන ආහ. 2/3 බලයකින් යුත් පාර්ලිමෙන්තුවක්ද ලබාදුන්හ.

පාර්ලිමේන්තු චන්දයෙන්,මෙරට ජනතාව රනිල්ට ලබාදෙන ලද්දේ,චන්ද 249,435ක් පමණි. එය 2.15%ක් තරම් අඩු චන්ද ප්‍රතිශතයක් විය.

ජනතාව විසින් මේ සිදුකල දෙය, නිවැරදිව තේරුම් ගත්තේ නම්, රනිල්ට යලිත් නිවැරදිව  රටට අවැසි දේශපාලඥයෙක් බවට වුවද පත්වීමේ හැකියාව තිබුණි. එසේ වුවාදැයි අපි නොදනිමු. නමුත්, රනිල් ලද මේ අන්ත පරාජයත් සමග ඔහුවටා සිටි ජාත්‍යන්තර ප්‍රතිගාමී බලවේග විසින් ඔහුව සම්පුර්ණයෙන්ම නොසලකා හැර ඔහුව එදා බලය අහිමිව පරංගි කොටුව තුල සිටි දොන් ජවන් ධර්මපාලයන්ට සලකු ආකාරයෙන්ම නොසලකා හරින ලදී.

ප්‍රභල දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක නායෙකුව සිටි ඔහුට මෙරට ජනතා බලයත්, ජාත්‍යන්තර හිතමිතුරන්යයි කිවූ පරදෙශින්ගේ සහයත් අහිමි විය.

ඔහු මෙරට දේශපාලන පිටියේ සිටින  උගත්කමත්, පරිනත බුද්ධියත්  මෙරට දේශපාලන පිටිය විදේශිකයින් හසුරුවන ආකාරය මැනවින්ම දන්නා ප්‍රභලම පුද්ගලයෙකු බැවින් සිය ප්‍රඥාව මෙහෙයවා, පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුලට විත්, 59% ජනතාව බලය ලබාදුන් ඒ රාජ්‍ය බලය 2.15% චන්ද ප්‍රතිශතයක් ලබාගත් ඔහු අතට ලබා ගැනීමට සමත්වීම දෙස අප බලා සිටිය යුත්තේ මහත්වූ සුපරික්ශාවකින් යුතුවය.

අද එදා අපේ අංක එකේ සතුරා, දේශප්‍රේමී බලවේගයන් ඉහලින්ම ආදරය කල මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂයන් සමග එක්ව දේශපාලන දහරාව මෙහෙයවන විට, අපට හැරෙන්නට හෝ දකින්නට අපිට පෙනෙන ප්‍රබල ජාතික බලවේගයක් නැත. නමුත් ඈත අහසේ  දීප්තිමත්  තරුවක් උදාවෙමින් පැවතීමයි. ඒ යුක්රේන යුද්ධයේදී; එදා ප්‍රභාකරන්ව රනිල්ව, සරත් ෆොන්සේකාව හා මෛත්‍රිපාල සිරිසේනව මෙරට ජනතාවට එරෙහිව මෙහෙයවූ බටහිර අධිරාජ්‍යයේ, බිඳ වැටීම ඉතා පැහැදිලිව සනිටුහන්ව පවතින බැවිනි.

Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel, Ambassador to UAE and Israel, President Ambassador’s Forum Solicitor in England and Wales

NHS in the United Kingdom- a wonderful system

NHS is the health system in the United Kingdom provided free to the citizens with a network of General Physicians to every citizen with a support staff, including the improvement and protection of health in the areas covered by the general physicians spread in the country. It is provided free to every citizen free medicine to those who are on  income support, aged, low income groups and those declared by the social security department as unable to pay – yet those who could afford will be paying a very moderate amount for drugs. Expenditure in hospitals and the rest of the treatments in the clinics by the hospitals and GP practices too are free for every citizen chose to be treated by NHS. This wonderful system in available in the United Kingdome and similar systems in some EU, and commonwealth countries with some variations. There is no free health service in the United States where citizen is expected to be insured for treatment especially in emergencies, where insurance cover is demanded before treatment.

Private medical system

The private medical system exists in UK at a price to cater those who could afford and who chose to elect it in pace of NHS. This system was introduced just after the war and continued by public demand and support. It promoted high quality of health services to every citizen, all of whom  is in the NHS plan covering the entire country spreading GP (general physician) practices all funded by the NHS  excellent and ideal system exemplary to other parts of the world. Health is a main issue in USA political system considering to follow the UK model with variations. GP is the advisor and leader in the health system in the village or a cluster of citizens demarcated by the system in practice. It is a good idea for Sri Lanka to adopt a method of a personal private trained career with proper training covering the entire country who will be acting as a health worker who also will be in a position to act as a caregiver worldwide to bring much needed foreign exchange and exchange of knowledge and experiences. Personal care worker can work as a health worker as on voluntary basis in self-funded establishments which is an ideal model to introduce in Sri Lanka. Caregivers are in demand world over like physicians that could be utilized locally as well as worldwide .The state in UK spends 53 million pounds from tax payers money for NHS network with 122000 doctors a with 36622 fully qualified GP practices all strictly monitored paid by the NHS fund as the legal aid fund that funds the legal aid scheme generally managed through legal aid by lawyers and NHS by doctors. The main theme of NHS is patients benefit and patient care includes health care of the community through clusters of GPs hospitals and other organization catering many other diseases and sicknesses. It is given free to the citizen who pays a contribution and tax on the income proportionately who carries a cared called NHS card with a unique number and recognition that gives all his information which is an ideal system to be followed by any other country. NHS strictly considers information confidential which could be accessed only by a General Physician, Hospital, or an authorized medical personal only for the purpose of treating a patient with the consent of the patient. The most important wonder of the system is the ability to access of the notes by any Physician or a hospital only with the permission of the patient will all the medical history with the test results could be accessed from any corner of the country with the NHS reference number easy to carry.

Access to medical health/treatment

A citizen in the extreme end of the country can register with a GP and be treated with access and any hospital in the country can have access to the documents with the permission of the patients o 6733 million population all qualifies to NHS funded by the tax payer costing 600 million pounds. Sri Lankan government spends $ 161 million which is 4.08 of GDP which is substantial for a country like Sri Lanka and a proper caregiving system will save on preventive care as well when a substantial amount of the income is spent on drug prevention and other preventive measures on health sector. The service has to equality and the Physician and Hospital Trusts are responsible for mistakes heavily contested in courts funded and assisted by legal aid. Hospitals, equipment, and services aer of highest quality supervised by governmental and non-governmental organizations and powerful consumer groups led by famous WHICH pressure group. A system akin to NHS was introduced to Sri Lanka by the British Colonial powers but the GP services and the standers that continues to be in operation in Sri Lanka with Hospitals with free services. Out of 25600 MBBS doctors registered 70% are employed in the government service with freedom to be on private practice with. ‘’Ayuradic’’ doctors spread countrywide in all villages the community depends on combined health services practices both western and traditional systems taking the place of the general practitioner and adviser to the community on health and safety supported by the ‘’Public Health inspectors’’, ‘’mid Wife’s, and ‘’health worker’’ of the health department all of whom are in the group of health workers to the community in the health system offered free to the community in addition to the private doctors 9 western and traditional) which is a combination of both systems. Hospitals are free for the citizen with a network of private hospitals which are expensive for the ordinary citizen offering ‘’Channel Services’ ‘by specialized doctors at a price and the drugs are purchased through the network of private pharmacies where the quality is in doubt.

Shortage of drugs and substandard health system

Currently there is a severe shortage of drugs due to the financial crisis in the country. There are reports that there are over 10,000 private hospitals not up to the standards of the expected standards when there are numerous complaints about state hospitals on various grounds. .  In UK system it is not necessary to carry his medical file within the country in a emergency or an urgent need- Regional teams are located with regional care through GP and hospitals managed by separate trusts with access to the patient according to the needs- for example when some hospitals are specializes on cancer the patient could be referred to that hospital by the GP generally with the recommendations of the consultant physicians. The system is organized rooted and patient friendly. Patients are treated to ordinary caught to heart surgery free to any citizen refereed by the GP and the consultant Physician. Specialized centres and institutions treats NHS patients from referrals from the GP and consultants channelling through the channels – all free of charge on NHS unless they chose to be private which is very costly yet some choose to go private.  Everything is free to all citizens except for the medicine in UK but the system is changed in Sri Lanka due to the economic crisis.

Caregivers and monitoring system

Caregivers should be trained as mini doctors able to treat in emergencies and to work closely with doctors and hospitals on a properly programmed system. Substandard of Pharmacies, drugs and private hospitals are a great hindrance to the health services that has to be looked into as a matter of urgency with the introduction of a proper supervisory mechanism as in UK. Though the Health department is expected to supervise and monitor the isolated health, private hospitals Pharmacies and the health care it is doubtful they perform their duties at all. In overall Sri Lanka needs new life and rejuvenation for the entire health sector and they need not be shy to learn from others when USA is looking into the ways and means of following the UK model in the ‘’United States’’. Will caregiver is a proper model for a mini doctor is a matter left to the leaders of Sri Lanka to implement after a proper extensive research and studies. Sarath7@hotmail.co.uk

In this episode of The Source, we talk with Professor Emeritus of Economics (University of Massachusetts) and founder of Democracy at Work, Richard Wolff, about the economic impact of the Ukraine war. We assess the impact of Western sanctions on Russia as well as how the war has affected the West economically. Interview topics: 0:00 Introduction 0:32 “Economic War” with Russia? 12:01 Moral significance of Western sanctions 14:20 Economic impact on the United States 21:07 Economic impact of military spending 32:21 Economic impact on Ukraine ABOUT RICHARD D. WOLFF: Richard D. Wolff is the founder of Democracy at Work and host the show Economic Update. He is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he taught economics from 1973 to 2008. Earlier he taught economics at Yale University and at the City College of the City University of New York. Wolff was also a regular lecturer at the Brecht Forum in New York City. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University in New York City.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මේ බව  සඳහන් කළේ 2023.02.08 දින  කොළඹ ටාජ් සමුද්‍රා හෝටලයේ දී ඉන්දියානු අලෙවි නියෝජිතවරුන් පන්සියය පනස්  දෙනෙකුගේ සහභාගිත්වයෙන් පැවැති tata steel සහ tata tiscon ගනුදෙනුකරුවන්ගේ වාර්ෂික සමුළුවේ සමාරම්භක අවස්ථාවට එක්වෙමිනි.
 ඉන්දියානු සාගරය හරහා වැටී ඇති ගෝලීය මුහුදු වෙළෙඳ මාර්ග ඔස්සේ යුරෝපය උතුරු ඇමරිකාව සහ අග්නිදිග ආසියාව වෙත බොරතෙල් මෙන්ම වෙළඳ භාණ්ඩ ප්‍රවාහනය කරන අතර එමගින් තවත් බොහෝ ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිලාභ අත්වන බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මෙහිදී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.
 පෘථිවියෙන් 7% ක ප්‍රමාණයක් ආවරණය කෙරෙන ඉන්දියානු සාගරය ලෝකයේ තෙවන විශාලතම සාගරය  බැවින් ඉන්දියානු සාගර කලාපීය මිත්‍ර රටවල් දෙකක් වශයෙන් එහි ප්‍රතිලාභ රටවල් දෙක විසින්ම ලබා ගත යුතු බව   අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.
 රාජ්‍ය පෞද්ගලික හවුල්කාරිත්ව සහ ඒකාබද්ධ ව්‍යාපෘතීන් පිළිබඳව සොයා බලන ලෙසත්  භූ කම්පන මෙන්ම අනෙකුත් ස්වභාවික ආපදාවලදී ඔරොත්තු දිය හැකි වානේ ආකෘතීන් නිපදවන ලෙසත් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා tata steel සමාගමෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටියේය.
 මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගි වූ ඉන්දියානු මහා කොමසාරිස්   ගෝපාල් බාග්ලේ මහතා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉන්දියානු ආයෝජන තවදුරටත් ක්‍රියාත්මක වන අතර   තොරතුරු හා සන්නිවේදන තාක්ෂණය කර්මාන්ත, සංචාරක, භාණ්ඩ ප්‍රවාහන බලශක්ති සහ අනෙකුත් ක්ෂේත්‍රයන්හි ආයෝජන සිදු කිරීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වන බව ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.
අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයාගේ පියා වන  පිලිප් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා කෘතවේදීව සිහිපත් කළ ඉන්දීය මහකොමසාරිස් ගෝපාල් බාග්ලේ 1940 දී ඉන්දියාවේ නිදහස වෙනුවෙන් එතුමා සටන් කළා පමණක් නොව බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයන් විසින් සිරගත කරන ලද බවද සඳහන් කළේය. “ඉන්දියාව සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව බැඳී සිටින්නේ ශිෂ්ටාචාරය සහ උරුමයන්, සාරධර්ම, විවිධත්වය සහ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය අතින් පමණක් නොව අපගේ අභිලාෂයන් සහ යටත්විජිතවාදයට එරෙහිව එම අභිලාෂයන් සාක්ෂාත් කර ගැනීමට අප උත්සාහ කළ ආකාරයේ සමාන භාවය නිසායැයි”, ඔහු අවධාරණය කළේය.
tata steel long products limited හී කළමනාකාර අධ්‍යක්ෂ ashish anupa මහතා, TATA TISCON  කළමනාකාර අධ්‍යක්ෂ සී. බාස්කර්, මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගී වූහ.
 
 
අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

High Commission of Sri Lanka New Delhi

Sri Lanka and New Zealand explored ways and means to further strengthen and deepen cooperation between the two countries. The discussions took place when Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in New Delhi Milinda Moragoda met with the Foreign Minister of New Zealand Nanaia Mahuta who is on an official bilateral visit to India.

The meeting between the visiting Foreign Minister of New Zealand and the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India was held today at the High Commission of New Zealand in New Delhi.

The discussion focussed on conceptual contours for a cooperation model for smaller countries in the Indian Ocean region. Further, collaboration in the dairy sector was discussed, including possible trilateral arrangements involving Indian investors. Foreign Minister Mahuta and High Commissioner Moragoda also discussed as to how New Zealand’s experience in public financial management and public sector reform could be shared with Sri Lanka.

High Commissioner of New Zealand to Sri Lanka Michael Appleton, senior officials of the New Zealand Foreign Ministry and Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in New Delhi Niluka Kadurugamuwa also attended these discussions.

Minister Nanaia Mahuta is a tribal member of Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Manu and her parliamentary experience has enabled her to contribute to the collective aspirations of Māori and all New Zealanders. In 2020, she became the first woman to hold the Foreign Affairs portfolio in New Zealand. Previously, she had also been Minister of Local Government, and Associate Minister for Māori Development.

High Commission of Sri Lanka
New Delhi

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

භූතානයේ අධ්‍යාපන හා නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍ය ජායි බීර් රායි මහතා 2023.02.07 දින අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේදී අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා හමුවී ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සබඳතා, ආයෝජන හැකියාව සහ කලාපීය ගැටලු පිළිබඳව සාකච්ඡා කළේය.

දෙරට අතර ඓතිහාසික ආගමික සහ සංස්කෘතික සබඳතා ගැන සඳහන් කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා වෙළෙඳ, ආයෝජන සහ සංචාරක ව්‍යාපාරය වැඩිදියුණු කිරීමේ අවශ්‍යතාව අවධාරණය කළේය.

ප්‍රමුඛ පෙළේ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවල වෛද්‍ය, ඉංජිනේරු, තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණ සහ අනෙකුත් පාඨමාලා හැදෑරීමට භූතාන සිසුන්ට ශිෂ්‍යත්ව ලබා දීම සම්බන්ධයෙන්  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ස්තුතිය පුද කළ අමාත්‍යවරයා යුනෙස්කෝ ආධාර ඇතිව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පිහිටුවා ඇති දකුණු ආසියාතික ගුරු අධ්‍යාපන සංවර්ධන මධ්‍යස්ථානය වෙත භූතාන ගුරුවරුන් සහ අධ්‍යාපනඥයන් යොමුකිරීමට ද කැමැත්ත පළ කළේය.

දේශගුණික විපර්යාස අධ්‍යයනය සඳහා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පිහිටුවීමට ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා කළ යෝජනාව පිළිබඳව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මෙහි දී භූතාන අමාත්‍යවරයා දැනුවත් කළ අතර එය දකුණු ආසියාවේ මෙන්ම අනෙකුත් රටවලට ද ප්‍රතිලාභ අත්වන විශිෂ්ට පියවරක් වනු ඇතැයි ඇමැතිවරයා සිය ප්‍රසාදය පළ කළේය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ 75 වැනි නිදහස් සැමරුම් උත්සවයට සහභාගි වීම සඳහා කොළඹට පැමිණි අවස්ථාවේ තමා හමුවූ දකුණු ආසියාතික අමාත්‍යවරුන් සියලු දෙනාම මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ප්‍රසාදය පළ කළ බව සිහිපත් කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ගුණවර්ධන මහතා දේශගුණික විපර්යාස විශ්ව විද්‍යාලය පිහිටුවීම සඳහා එම සියලු රටවල පූර්ණ සහයෝගය ලබා දෙන බව පැවසීය.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක සහ භූතාන තානාපති රින්චෙන් කුයින්සිල් යන මහත්වරු ද මෙම සාකච්ඡාවට සහභාගී වූහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

A circular has been issued by the Inland Revenue Department exempting employees from paying PAYE tax on non-cash benefits such as for vehicles, fuel allowances, housing and medical benefits which have been provided to employees at their places of employment.

This circular has been issued by the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue Department on the instruction of the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies yesterday.

The circular calculates an employee’s gains and profits from January 01, 2023 and below is the full list of details.

https://www.scribd.com/embeds/624542779/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-b4KNZHELGRvY1KwR6xyP

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Courtesy Ceylon Today

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said an Anti-Corruption Bill will be introduced and the Government is taking steps to include the ‘Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative (StAR)’ in this Bill, together with the World Bank and the United Nations.

The strategy of the government should be to guide the private sector in business activities, while being in the background. Government should intervene only in areas such as monitoring functions, public facilities and maintenance of law and order. The private sector should be used as the driving force of the economy.”

He ceremonially commenced the Fourth Session of Ninth Parliament today (7) morning.

Delivering the Government’s Policy Statement, the President acknowledged that there are still unresolved issues related to land in the North.

In the Jaffna District, there are 3300 acres of state land including security camps. The extent of 100 acres that had been taken over for the Palali Camp was recently released. A decision has to be made regarding more land to be released for which discussions are being held with the Army and other parties. Discussions have also been initiated regarding the lands around other security camps,” he said.

Speaking further, the President said the Government is streamlining and expediting the process of tracing missing persons.

The mechanism of the Office on Missing Persons will be strengthened and attention has been focused on the people who have been imprisoned for being involved in terrorist activities. They have been imprisoned for many years without trial, he said, adding that measures are being taken to systematically release these prisoners, he noted.

Courtesy Ceylon Today

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said new laws will be introduced for the implementation of powers of the Provincial Councils in the fields of education and health.

It is alleged that due to certain practices of the Central Government, the powers of the Provincial Councils have been reduced in the fields of education and health. Therefore, we envision bringing new laws regarding the implementation of powers of the Provincial Councils in these fields.”

President Ranil Wickremesinghe ceremonially commenced the Fourth Session of Ninth Parliament this morning.

Delivering the Government’s Policy Statement, the President said the Kankasanthurai Port is being modernized and expanded.

He said Trincomalee is being developed as a modern international city and a special development plan is also being launched for the Eastern and North-Central provinces that have suffered economic and social setbacks during the conflict. He also said that special attention is being paid to the Upcountry Tamil community, who were first brought to Sri Lanka 200 years ago, to develop the plantation industry in Sri Lanka.

Change should begin from within ourselves. We all should change and that too should be for the betterment. As politicians we should change for the better. Political parties, the Parliament, the executive, the judiciary and the public service should change for the better.”

The President also said there is a question whether the role of the media has been properly fulfilled. Therefore, he said media reforms are needed & a national policy on mass media needs to be considered. He said that it is important for the government and the media industry to take care of a collective self-regulation system.

All are bound to protect the State of Sri Lanka. Any citizen has the opportunity to democratically change Governments through the elections, but no one has the right to create anarchy in Sri Lanka. Not any political party. Not any group. The country cannot be allowed to become an economic or social colony. Anarchy cannot be allowed,” he stressed.

උපුටාගැණීම  මව්බිම

9 වන පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සිව්වන සභා වාරය මීට සුළු මොහොතකට පෙර උත්සවාකාරයෙන් ආරම්භ විය.

ඒ, ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙනි.

9 වන පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ තුන්වන සභා වාරය අවසන් කරමින් ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ අතිවිශේෂ ගැසට් නිවේදනය නිකුත් කළේ ඉකුත් ජනවාරි 27 වන දා ය.

ඒ අනුව, මේ වන විට ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් ආණ්ඩුවේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශය ඉදිරිපත් කරනු ලබමින් සිටියි.

එහි සජීවී දර්ශන පහතින් නරඹන්න…

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, delivering the government’s policy statement in parliament today, said he is ready to make politically unpopular decisions, such as introducing new tax policies, to put the country back on track.

I am not here to be popular. I am ready to make unpopular decisions for the sake of the country. People will realize the importance of these decisions in two to three years.”

The Head of State, who arrived in Parliament earlier this morning, inaugurated the Fourth Session of the Ninth Parliament at 10:00 a.m. After he delivered the government’s policy statement, the parliament was adjourned until 9.30 a.m. tomorrow (Feb. 09).

Mentioning that due to the excessive tax reliefs granted in late 2019, tax revenue dropped drastically, the President pointed out that those who issued a clarion call for tax policy revision are now taking issue with it.

As at December 31, 2019, a total of 1.6 million businesses, companies, and individuals were paying taxes. But the number of tax payers dropped to 500,000 by December 2021 leading to a decline in the government tax revenue to an all-time low.”

Some people are urging the government to increase the income tax threshold from Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 200,000, while some want the PAYE tax abolished, the President continued, explaining that the country will incur a loss of Rs. 100 billion if the PAYE tax is scrapped. If the income tax threshold is brought down to Rs. 200,000, the economy will lose Rs. 63 billion. The country cannot afford to lose income tax revenue to the tune of Rs. 163 billion, he added.

In his policy statement, the President highlighted the importance of taking necessary action to rectify the tax divergence noting that in comparison to the other countries in the world, Sri Lanka’s direct taxes are low. All Sri Lankans pay huge sums of money as indirect taxes. In other countries, most of the taxes are collected from a higher income bracket […] The situation in our country is different. In 2021, our direct tax was 21% while indirect was 79%. We should take action to rectify this tax divergence.”

President Wickremesinghe also appreciated the migrant workers for being extremely supportive of the motherland at this critical juncture. By the end of 2022, workers’ remittances reached USD 4 billion in foreign exchange.”

Entrepreneurs and migrant workers made this commitment in the context of political parties and groups influencing them on diverse fronts, proving that they increase export revenues and remit money to Sri Lanka not because of a political party in power but for the sake of the country, the President said further. All of them deserve our respect.”

He said the government envisions bringing new laws pertaining to the implementation of powers of Provincial Councils in the fields of education and health as it is alleged that due to certain practices of the Central Government, the powers of the Provincial Councils have been reduced in these two sectors.

Despite being challenged with difficulties, the Head of State said the government has taken measures to protect the vulnerable groups suffering due to the economic crisis. Meanwhile, preparations are afoot to implement a program to finance them directly through a welfare bank account.

The welfare system in our country is distorted. Even those with higher incomes are subsidized. We are taking measures to change this situation,” President said further, pledging to identify those in absolute poverty and to finance them through a welfare bank account.

President Wickremesinghe, who noted that he would never promise what cannot be delivered, said he is currently implementing all the pledges given in his budget speech, adding that Sri Lanka is now moving from a negative economy towards a positive one. It is clear to many that the future cannot be built on falsehood.”

He also expressed confidence that by the end of 2023, Sri Lanka can achieve economic growth, stating that the country is now moving from a negative economy towards a positive one. 

The Head of State, who is hopeful that Sri Lanka can rise out of bankruptcy by 2026, said the country would be able to extricate from this crisis even earlier if all the parties in the parliament join the rebuilding process.

Speaking on the government’s efforts to revive tourism sector hit hard by the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and the economic crisis, President Wickremesinghe said tourist arrivals saw a record high in January this year even in the midst of street protests. He also mentioned that Sri Lanka managed to rank among the top 10 tourist destinations in the world despite the ongoing crisis situation.

With regard to the IMF bailout plan of USD 2.9 billion for Sri Lanka, the President said the government has reached the final stage of negotiations with the global lender. Speaking on the financial assurances from Sri Lanka’s creditors, he mentioned the positive affirmations received from China, India and Paris Club to restructure the island’s debt.

President Wickremesinghe went on to assure that the government is taking steps to put more weight on developing the North and the East, adding that a general plan is being implemented in this regard.

A separate plan is being implemented for the development of the North, which was the most damaged due to the conflict. Malwatu Oya development project will be commenced. Necessary measures will be taken for the river and water management in the Eastern Province, restoration of Vadamarachchi lake and lagoon, and accordingly, which will provide water for drinking and agricultural purposes. The electricity requirement in these areas is expected to be generated through renewable energy. Solar and green hydrogen power are also used for this purpose.”

He also stated that special attention is being paid to the Upcountry Tamil community, who were first brought to Sri Lanka 200 years ago, to develop plantation industry in Sri Lanka.

While reiterating that there will be no division of the country, the President noted that the government expects to devolve power within a Unitary State. I don’t have a political group in this Parliament. The Party I represent has only one MP. However, as the President, I do not represent that Party. I represent the entire nation. Therefore, I do not engage in party politics.”

He vowed to take steps to streamline and expedite the process of tracing missing persons, adding that the mechanism of the Office on Missing Persons would be strengthened.

The attention of the government has also been focused on the people who have been imprisoned for being involved in terrorist activities, President said further in his policy statement. They have been imprisoned for many years without trial. We are taking measures to systematically release these prisoners.”

Recalling the peak of the crisis situation last year during which severe shortages of essential items, long queues for domestic gas and fuel and daily power cuts of more than 10 hours were experienced, the President said the pressure people felt back then is now eased as a result of the measures taken in the recent past.

Noting that the country’s economic stability has been restored to a certain extent, he said, however, this journey, which is yet to come to an end, has not been easy. President Wickremesinghe reiterated that the government has been able to safely guide the country a long way across a challenging course.

While urging everyone to keep working to steer the country towards a brighter future, President Wickremesinghe underscored that it is the responsibility of every citizen to build a country where the children can live freely.

Courtesy Adaderana

Several teams of military personnel have been deployed within the Colombo Fort area, to help control the prevailing situation in the wake of various groups taking to the streets this morning (08 Feb.) to stage protest marches and rallies.
 
A number of protests kicked off this morning, with different groups, including trade union activists, employees of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), the Maha Sangha and Government Executives, taking to the streets based on several issues including the new tax policy and the 13th Amendment.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policy, has instructed the Treasury Secretary to provide provisions only for essential government services. 

The directive was issued in an attempt to maintain public services until the state revenue situation improves. 

Accordingly, the list of expenditure to be funded includes salaries, debt servicing, pensions, medical supplies for hospitals, subsidies for low-income groups, scholarships, farmers’ pensions, school nutrition programs, payments for war heroes and disabled soldiers, utility payments, food supplies for hospitals and prisons, and others. 

This move is expected to have a significant impact on the economy, as it will prioritize the most important needs of the people while also preventing the misuse of funds.

Emphasising on the need to abide by the provided categories of expenditure deemed essential, the Treasury noted that releasing funds for any other purpose could negatively impact the people, and thereby slow down the country’s economic recovery. 

The decision to only provide funds for essential expenditure is being widely welcomed as a step in the right direction, the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported, adding that it is expected to play a crucial role in restoring stability and growth to the nation’s economy.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Attorney General (AG) has informed the Court of Appeal that the Cabinet of Ministers has decided not to implement the recommendations of the Political Victimisation Commission, which was chaired by former Justice Upali Abeyratne.

AG Sanjay Rajaratnam had informed the court of this, when the petitions filed by a group of individuals including President Ranil Wickremesinghe and MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake were taken up today (Feb. 08).

The petitions had been filed requesting the court to issue a writ order quashing the panel’s recommendations against them and also seeking an interim order preventing the implementation of the recommendations until the hearing of the petition is concluded.

The three-member Presidential Commission of Inquiry chaired by retired Supreme Court Judge Upali Abeyratne was appointed by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on January 20, 2020. The other two members of the commission are retired Court of Appeal Judge Daya Chandrasiri Jayathilake and retired IGP Chandra Fernando.

The Commission was entrusted with the task of inquiring into political victimization and associated background took place in the wake of investigations conducted by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, FCID, CID and the Special Investigation Unit of the Police from January 8, 2015 to November 16, 2019.

The Commission was also instructed to conduct an in-depth investigation into serious fraud, corruption, abuse of state resources, privileges, power and authority.

As per a newspaper advertisement, the Commission had received 1971 complaints for investigation. 

The report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry was handed over to then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in December 2020. The report consists of 3 volumes and 2,043 pages.

Later, the former President had formed a special commission of Inquiry to create a suitable mechanism to implement the recommendations of the final report compiled by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Political Victimization.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

KS Sivakumaran in his book Sri Lankan Tamil literature and culture” (2019) wrote of the evolution of an indigenous Tamil literature of Sri Lanka.    Prior to this, in 2015, the Annasi and Kadalagotu festival”   had a session Tamil footprint in Sri Lanka literature”, focusing on Tamil writers writing in Sri Lanka. In 1990, LeRoy Robinson   interviewed Sivakumaran on Tamil writing for   Nagasaki University.” Mavata”, a Sinhala literary magazine, published in the 1970s and 80s, edited by Piyal Somaratne, had dedicated a whole issue, its 46th, to Tamil literature in Sri Lanka.

Sivakumaran said that in 1891 S. Innacitamby of Trincomalee adapted into Tamil a Portuguese novella called Orzon and Valentine”. This was the first Tamil novel written in Ceylon. Siddique Lebbe had written Asenbae sarithiram” in 1888. In 1895 T. Saravanamuttu Pillai of Trincomalee wrote Mohanangi.

Things improved in the 20^th century. The Cultural Council of Sri Lanka had an advisory panel on Tamil literature.  From 1948-1970 there were a total of 71 novels, 57 collection of short stories, 98 anthologies of poetry and 49 plays published in Tamil by Ceylonese. There were 10 novels in the period 1943-1955, 35 between 1956- 1965 and 26 between 1966- 1970. The period 1965-1970 had two important writers, S Ponnuthurai and M. Thalayasingham. There were several good poets, such as Cheran, continued Sivakumaran.

Sivakumaran speaks of a novel by S Balamanoharan. S Yoganathan wrote five novellas. K Daniel wrote short stories and a novel. Arul Subramaniam also wrote novels. Zubair a Jaffna Muslim, who had also lived in Malaysia and South India wrote a novel and published a short lived magazine. Kohila Mahendran, a trained science teacher wrote short stories and also a novel, said Sivakumaran.

Initially most Tamil novels written in Sri Lanka were either adaptations or translations. Serious novels came to be written after 1956. There was a new political consciousness after 1956. Between 1956 and 1963 a progressive literary movement in Tamil came into full force, said Sivakumaran. S Ganeshalingam,  in his novel ‘Tharaiyum Tarakaiyum’ uses the 1958 riots as the background. K Rasathurai wrote a novel where there is reference to a rapacious Sinhala landlord.

One has to go a long way to change conservative thinking in Jaffna. Despite some beneficial material changes, there are areas in Jaffna society where the basic orientation towards an egalitarian society is still lacking. Many Tamil writers deal with this problem, said Sivakumaran.

In the period 1948-1955 there was only one collection of short stories, but there were 40 in 1956-1965, and 16 between 1966-1970. In 1988, that there were more than 200 Tamil short story writers in Sri Lanka, said Sivakumaran.

Short story writers included N Sivaganasundram, a DRO. There was Pathukai by Dominic Jeeva. M. Kanagarasan was a fairly well known writer said Sivakumaran. Poetry, fiction, drama, criticism – he does them all. Also he has translated short stories from Sinhala to Tamil. He is one of the most important Tamil short story writers in Sri Lanka. Absolute mastery of form with a deep concern for the people, said Sivakumaran. There were    short story collections such as ‘Eelathu parisuk kathaigal’ and Pottik Kathaikal’. In 1982 Sivakumaran published Sivakumaran Kathaihal, a collection of his short stories previously published in Tamil newspapers. 

Some short stories were modeled on the south Indian magazine stories of the 1960s.These were mediocre, romantic escapist pieces. There were other short stories which carried social comment.  They depicted the actual situation of the Tamils and were gloomy, said Sivakumaran.

In one short story, by S Yogarasa, a person collecting funds for rehabilitation of Tamils refuses to release the funds to a low caste community. Some stories depict the Eelam war from the eyes of ordinary people who have not taken part in the war.  One story is about how these people manage interrogation and attack by armed forces who suspect them all of being terrorist which they aren’t.

M. Kanagarasan’s Bagavanin Pathangalil is on Buddhism. In Colombo, a teenage Tamil girl living in an upstairs flat looks at a Bo-tree through her window. Under the tree a statue of Lord Buddha is enshrined. A little girl near the tree has a piece of bread in her hand. A crow snatches the bread out of her hand. The child’s mother beats her. That was the only food they had for the day. Then the child’s father beats the mother.

The teenage girl comes downstairs with a ten rupee note to give to the poor family. On her way, a passerby steals the bill out of her hand and she returns to her room. Then from her window she sees a father and child come to the Bo tree to offer flowers to the Buddha. The child who was beaten watches them. They see her. They put a few cents in the till and pay their tributes to the Buddha and go away, ignoring the child.

Sivakumaran makes special mention of short stories written by Tamil writers from the estate sector (Malaiha). He reported that Anthony Jeeva, a Catholic, from hill country, ran a small publishing house and started a literary journal edited by him, on the subject of hill country life.

The estate Tamil writers identify themselves according to their hometowns. Somu and Vadivelan were from Matale and indentified as such. Thotta Kaddinalai was published by the Matale Tamil Writers Union.

N. S. M. Ramiah began his career in the late 1950s when a conscious effort was made to evolve Tamil writing based on Sri Lankan life. In his Oru Koodaik Kolunthu (A Basket of Budding Tea Leaves) Ramiah tried to depict plantation life of that era.

There were others. In Dharmikam”, Malaranpan shows how an old estate woman and a Sinhala kangany, a line foreman, help people in adversity regardless of their ethnic connections. During an inter-communal disturbance a mob tries to attack Tamil families in a line. The Sinhala kangany defends them. The old Tamil woman goes out to help deliver the new baby of the leader of the mob, who is a Sinhalese. This situation may seem contrived, but such incidents have actually occurred in real life, said Sivakumaran.

Somu’s story He Is Not Just Another” is about the attempt of a young man to educate his family in a very backward estate. In “Dogs Do Not Become Men” Somu shows that dogs do not show distinctions, unlike human beings who are caste and class conscious. “The Fellow from the Lines” describes distinctions between two old friends who become conscious of their class differences. These are common themes in local Tamil fiction, said Sivakumaran.

In his interview with LeRoy Robinson, Sivakumaran focuses on estate poetry. He spoke of the poet Kurinchi Thennavan, unusual among the writers in that he did not have much formal education. Yet his familiarity with poetic language is surprisingly good. So is his ability to express ideas in a compact manner. Most of his poems are descriptions of the actual hardships of the plantation workers in the hill country.

Tamil creative writing in Sri Lanka was not profitable, said Sivakumaran. The local writer had to bear the cost themselves and also had to see to the sale and distribution of the books. Local Tamil literature did not sell well. There was heavy competition from India.   Books printed in South India were less expensive.    The local writings were not popular either. Readers preferred the books from South India. Also, very few local books were recommended as Tamil texts for schools.  Libraries also did not display books by local Tamil writers, complained Sivakumaran. 

Tamil literary journals fared no better. Magazines such as Marumalarchi  and “Kalaichelvi” were short lived. The south Indian magazines such as Kumudam,” and Kalki” were avidly read by the middle class Tamils in Ceylon. The only people who read the Tamil magazines published in Sri Lanka are its authors, observed Sivakumaran.

The main emphasis in Tamil theatre was on Tamil folk plays. Nine folk plays were published between 1948 and 1966, on the initiative of S Vithianandan, with the help of Arts Council.  Vithiananthan was chair of Tamil drama panel of National Arts Council in 1950. Vithiananthan, backed by the Arts Council, also went to Chilaw, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee and other districts and put on drama festivals there. He held seminar and workshops on Tamil folk drama in Jaffna with the support of the Jaffna Cultural Council.

The Folk arts Panel of the Jaffna Cultural Council published Kattavarayan naatakan” edited by E. Balasunderam.This was a religious play in the oral tradition, on a minor god, Kaathavarayar, performed in Batticaloa   , Jaffna, and Trincomalee. Balasunderam had gathered scripts from all three places. He said that Sri Lanka Tamils can be distinguished by the regions they live in; they have their own cultural traditions.

Tamil plays, in modern style were written and performed in the universities, especially in University of Jaffna said Sivakumaran, giving examples. Students of Chundikuli Girls School wrote and published seven plays staged by them.  Two plays were performed at in St John’s Bosco school in Jaffna  under the direction of D.S.Maunaguru, a teacher in Department of Fine arts, University of Jaffna. He was also a skilled performer, recorded Sivakumaran.

 There were 50 Tamil schools participating in the Tamil medium Schools short Drama Competition organized by Tower Hall Theatre Foundation and sponsored by the Education ministry, in 2016. The Sinhala division had 300 schools.

Sri Lanka Tamil cinema was a late starter, unlike Sinhala cinema which started in 1948. Tamil cinema failed to win much attention in Sri Lanka and none at all in Tamilnadu.   Tamil films from Tamil Nadu were more popular in Sri Lanka, too.

The first locally made Tamil film appeared in 1951. Titled Kusumalatha, it was a dubbed version of Sangavunu Pilithura.  In 1962 came  the first original Tamil film, “Samathayam’ ,an adaptation of C.N. Annadurai’s  Velaikkari , made in 16 mm and Technicolor, produced by Henry Chandrawansa. Samathayam’ was shown for 7 days at the YMBA, Borella.

Thottakkari, released on 28 March 1962, was the first Sri Lankan Tamil film in 35 mm format. It included speeches by the trade unionists  S. Thondaman and Azeez and was directed by Krishnakumar who also played the film’s male lead.Krishnakumar had trained under Sirisena Wimalaweera.

1952-1982 saw nearly 50 Tamil films but only about 36 were actually screened said Sivakumaran.  Only 28 films were made between 1962-1993. Many of these films were in 16mI and they lad very short runs, some less than week. Some were not shown in commercial theatres at all, said Sinesith. Yasapalitha Nanayakkara, Wilfred Silva, Dharmasena Pathiraja and Sunilsoma Peries had directed some of these Tamil films.

The most remembered Tamil film is Ponmani’ (1977) a Tamil language film   made by Dharmasena Pathiraja when Pathiraja was attached to the Sinhala Department of the Jaffna University.  This is his only Tamil language film. Set in Jaffna, it traces the fortunes and concerns of an economically depleted upper caste but lower middle class family. The film was produced by Muttiah Rajasingham and the screenplay written by Kavaloor Rajadurai.

The film journal ‘Sinesith’ had an issue celebrating 50 years of Sri Lankan cinema. ( No 34/35, 1997) it did not have an article on Sinhala cinema. Instead it had alengthy article of21 pages on the rise and fall of Tamil cinema in Sri Lanka, followed by a comprehensive list of Tamil films produced in Sri Lanka.

C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D

Balkanization of India (plan since 1800s)

Source: Malhotra and Neelakandan (2012)

ඉතිහාසය කන්නද?

ජනවාරි 27 දා ගෙවිඳු කුමාරතුංග මන්ත්‍රීවරයා වීසින් කල අභියෝගය නිසා පරලවූ රනිල් ජනාධිපතිතුමා නොසිතූවිරූ ලෙස දේශපාලන පඹගාලක පැටලී සිටී. ඔහුගේ තර්ක පුස්ස බින්ඳාක් වැනි දෙඩවිලි  විය. සිංහල නායක කළු සුද්දන් විසින් කරන්න පොරොන්දුවී නොකරපු (නීතිපොතේ ඇති අකර්මණ්‍ය/මිය ගිය නීති) දේවල් කෙතරම්ද? 13-A+ ගැන නහයෙන් අඬන ජනාධිපතිට 9 වගන්තියට යන කලදසාව ගැන බොරුවටවත් මතක් වුනාද? මේ කඩිමුඩියේ දැන් දිනේෂ් අගමැතිටත් බුද්ධ ශාසන කොමිෂන් වාර්තා (1955->) හා උඩරට ගැමි පුනරුත්ථාපන  කොමිෂන් වාර්තාව (1951) මතක්වී ඇත.

1955/6 දී යාපනේ ඩෙල්ෆ් දූපතේ බාල් නැටුමකදී භාෂා ප්‍රශ්නය ගැන කට වරද්දාගෙන සර් ජෝන් අගමැති පක්ෂය අටට බස්සා ගත්තේය. දයාන් ජයතිලක කියන අන්දමට එවකට සර් ජෝන්ගේ උපදේශකව සිටියේ රනිල්ගේ පියා එස්මන්ඩ් වික්‍රමසිංහය. 1965 UNP-ITAK සභාග ආණ්ඩුකාලයේදී ඩඩ්ලි අගමැති බෝම්බ ප්‍රහාරයකින් බේරුණේ එස්මන්ඩ්ගේ නිවසෙන් පිටත්ව යද්දී‍ය. ජනාධිපති සිරිසේන, කුමාර් සංගක්කාරට හිටි හැටියේ ලන්ඩන් තානාපතිකම ඔෆර් කලා වගේ, ජාතික ගීය දෙමළෙන් ගයන්නට නියෝගකර තිබුණ සංහිඳියාවත් බකල් කලා වගේ (දැන් දකුණේ එය භාෂා දෙකෙන්ම ගැයුවත් උතුරේ එය ගයන්නේ දෙමළෙන් පමණය), රනිල් මැතිඳුන්ද තයිපොංගල් සඳහා යාපනේට ගොස් කොළඹ ඉන්නා දෙමළ හා මුස්ලිම් පක්ෂ නායකයින් හා ඉන්දියන් හා ඇමෙරිකන් තානාපතිලා සතුටු කරන්නට 13-A+ ජරමරයක් ගැන දොඩවා දේශපාලන පඹගාලක පැටලී සිටී.

මේ දුර්භික්ෂයක් වැනි අවස්ථාවක 13-A නමැති නයා සිය කලිසම් සාක්කුවේ දමා ගන්නේ රට තුල මහා ජන වියවුලක් ඇතිකර විදේශ හමුදා රටට ගොඩබස්සවා ගැනීමේ අරමුණෙන්ද යන මට ඇති සැකය දයාන් ජයතිලකටද ඇත. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් වර්ෂ 37 ක කාලය තුලම නිහඬව සිටි රනිල් ඔහුට කිසිම මහජන චන්ද වරමක් නැති අවස්ථාවක පරණ පිනකට හෝ කුවේණීගේ සාපය හෝ නිසා ලැබුණ විධායක බලයක් ගැන කතා කරයි. වර්ෂ 37 තුල සිදුවූ දේ දයාන් ජයතිලක වාර්තා කරන්නේ මෙසේය ((Daily FT, 2/2/2023).

Main reasons for non-implementation/partial implementation of 13-A are:

1. The LTTE waged all-out war which made implementation of 13A by President Jayewardene and Premadasa (the latter had introduced it in Parliament) impossible on the ground.

2.    President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga by-passed 13A and moved in a federal direction with her ‘union of regions’ package.   

3.    The Tamil parties rejected 13A even as start-line for talks and disdained pushing for its implementation.

4.    President Mahinda Rajapaksa was undecided about full implementation and inclined against it.

5.    President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was opposed to the 13th Amendment and provincial/territorial devolution.

රනිල් මැතිඳුන්ගේ මුග්ධ හා ව්‍යාජ උපදේශකයින්ගේ දැනගැනීම උදෙසා ලියන මෙම ලිපි තුනේ මෙම දෙවන කොටසින්, අප අසන තුන්වන ප්‍රශ්ණයට පිළිතුරු සැපයේ. රටේ ඉතිහාසය නොදන්නා මෙම බාල මහළු දේශපාලකයින්ට පෙන්වා දිය යුතුව ඇත්තේ දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදය 1923 දී පමණ ආරම්භවූ රේල් පාරේ හෙමින් හෙමින් නොනැවතී ගමනාන්තය බලා යන කෝච්චියක් බවත් එය නැවැත්විය හැක්කේ නිවැරදි මතවාදයකින් බවත්ය.  උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර දෙමළ නිජ භූමියක් තිබෙනවාය යනුවෙන් 1940 දශකයේදී චෙල්වනායගම් (දෙමළ ජනයාගේ මෝසස්!) විසින්  ගෙතූ මිථ්‍යා මතය පරාජය කිරීමය. රටේ දේශපාලනය කල ක්‍රිස්තියානි හා ඕ මයිගෝඩ් බෞද්ධයින් (කළු සුද්දන්) තම හැසිරීමෙන් ඊළම් මතවාදයට සක්ක ගසා දුන්නේය.

මෙම ඊළම් ගමනේ (ඉතිහාසයේ) ලක්ෂණ කීපයක් මෙසේය:

1. එය යටත් විජිත වාදයේ බෙදා පාලනය කිරීමේ උපක්‍රමය හා බැඳී ඇත.

2. එය ලෝක ක්‍රිස්තියානි ව්‍යාපාරය මඟින් පෝෂණය විය.

3. එය ඉන්දියාවේ ද්‍රවිඩ දේශපාලනය හා බැඳී ඇත.

4. 1935 සිට එය සිංහල මාක්ස්වාදීන්ගේ කර උඩ ලැග සිටියේය.

5. සිංහල ආණ්ඩු සමඟ සහයෝගයෙන් ක්‍රියාකල ද්‍රවිඩ නායකයින් ටැමිල් ට්‍රේටර්ස්ලා ලෙස හංවඩු ගසනු ලැබීය.

6.1931 සිටම සිංහල දේශපාලකයින් බෞද්ධ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදාව අනුව යමින් ද්‍රවිඩ නායකයින්ගේ අධිමානය හෝ හීනමානය දමණය කිරීමට නොසිතුවේය.

7.යාපනේ වෙල්ලාල කුලය විසින් සියේට 60 ක් පමණවන කුලහීන යයි ඔවුන් සිතන ජනයා අර්ධ වහළුන්සේ යටපත්කර තබා ගැනීම වැලැක්වීමට ලංකා රජයට තිබූ වගකීම දකුණේ සිංහල දේශපාලකයින් විසින් මඟහැරියේය. එය දකුණේ තිබූ කුලභේදය මෙන් පුද්ගලික ගණුදෙණුවක් නොව මුළු යාපන සමාජයම වසාගත් එලිපිටම ක්‍රියාත්මකවූ පොදු ව්‍යසනයක් විය.

8. දැනට ටිකක්, පසුවට ගොඩක් (little now, more later) යන රීතිය ඔවුන්ගේ මාර්ගෝපදේශක තේමාව (motto) විය. මේ නිසා මුග්ධ හා වංක සිංහල දේශපාලයින් පිළිකාවක් කිරිපෙවීමෙන් සුවකල හැකියයි සිතා ඇලවූ පැලැස්තර ඊළමට ඇටවූ ඉනිමං පොලු වැනි  විය.

9. දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදය යනු දිවයිනේ භූගෝල විද්‍යාවට හා ඉතිහාසයට (ඉතිහාසය යනු අතීත භූගෝල විද්‍යාවය) පටහැනි මතවාදයක් බව අදටත් සිංහල ඕ මයිගෝඩ් බොරු බෞද්ධයින් විසින් වටහාගෙන නැත.

10. මැලේරියා මදුරුවා විසින් අනුරාධපුර හා පොලොන්නරු රාජධානි දෙමළ හා මුස්ලිම් ජනාවාස වීමෙන් වැලැක්වූයේය. සිංහලීකරණය, බුදු පිළිම ආක්‍රමණය, ආදී දෙමළ බෞද්ධයා,  යන කතා පෙඩරල් බෙදුම්වාදීන්ගේ ඇස්බැන්දුම් උපක්‍රමය.

World Christian plan to balkanize India

එකිනෙක හා බැඳී ඇති මෙම කාරණා 10 එකින් එක විග්‍රහ කිරීමට යෑමෙන් මෙම ලිපිය දීර්ග වෙන්නේය. ඒ නිසා ඒවා සියල්ල සමස්ථයක් වශයෙන් සළකා බලමි. ඉහත සඳහන් 1, 2, 3 යන කරුණු එක කරුණක පැති තුනක් වැනිය. බටහිර යටත් විජිත වාදයේ ලක්ෂණ වූයේ යටත් විජිත වාසීන් බෙදා පාලනය කිරීම, ඔවුන්ගේ සිත් තුලට හීනමානය රිංගවීම, දෙවියන් හරහා අශීලාචාර මිනිසුන් ශීලාචාර කීරීම හා ඔවුන් බේබද්දන් කිරීමත්ය. 1551 දොන් ජුවන් ධර්මපාලගේ සිට රටේ බිහිවූ ක්‍රිස්තියානි පිරිස හැම විටම සුද්දන්ගේ දරදිය අදින්නන් විය. පන්සල හා ගම අතර තිබූ ගහට පොත්ත වැනි සම්බන්ධය කැඩීම නෝත් ආණ්ඩුකාරයාගේ සිටම ගෙනගිය තවත් බෙදීමේ ක්‍රමයකි. ඒ අස්සේ <බුද්ධාගම කියන්නේ බොරුවක්> යන ප්‍රොජෙක්ට් එක භාරගත්තේ සිංහල ක්‍රිස්තියානි පාදිලිවරුන්ය. 1873 දී පානදුරා මහාවාදයෙන් එය අවසාන විය. සේපාල් අමරසිංග, රන්ජන් රාමනායකලා අදටත් කරන්නේ එයය.

පොදුවේ යටත් විජිතවල ගෙනගිය මෙම බෙදීමේ ක්‍රමය ඉන්දියාවේදී ක්‍රියාත්මකවූ ආකාරය Rajiv Malhotra හා Aravindan Neelakandan යන දෙදෙනා විසින් ලියනලද Breaking India: Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines (2012) නමැති පොතේ විස්තරකර ඇත. එය ක්‍රිස්තියානි ව්‍යාපරයක් විය. මෙම ව්‍යාපාරය බෝන් අගේන් හා ක්‍රිස්තියානි මූලධර්මවාදය යනුවෙන් අද ලංකාවට බලවත් තර්ජනයක් නොවේද?

පකිස්ථානය මෙන් දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේද ද්‍රවිඩස්ථානයක්, වෙනම රටක්, පිහිටුවා ගැනීමේ ව්‍යාපාරය, 1917 සිට නේරු විසින් එය 1963 දී ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන යකින් තහනම් කරණ තුරුම ක්‍රියාත්මක විය. ඩඩ්ලි-පෙඩරල් පක්ෂ සභාග ආණ්ඩු කාලයේදී (1965-70) කඳුකරයේ DMK වශයෙන් ව්‍යාප්තවූයේ මෙසේ ඉන්දියාවේ තහනම්වූ ඉන්දියන් බෙදුම්වාදයය (එසේ වුවත් තෙන්මෝලි නම් සඟරාව හරහා ස්වාධීන ටැමිල්නාඩු ව්‍යාපාරයක් ආරම්භකල පෙරුන්චිත්ති තිරනාර් නිහඬකරලීමට 1985 දී රජිව් ගාන්ධි ගත් උත්සාහය අසාර්ථක විය.

Chronology of the Separatist Paradigm (Dravidasthan)

මෙහි පහතින් දක්වෙන්නේ රොබට් හාඩ්ග්‍රේව්  යන දකුණු ඉන්දියා ඉතිහාසය පිළිඹඳ විද්වතාගෙන් උපුටාගත්  කරුණුය (Chapter10: Religion, politics and the DMK by Robert L. Hardgrave in South Asia Politics and Religion, edited by Donald E. Smith,1966).

පොන්නම්බලම් අරුණාචලම්ගේ 1921/23 ටැමිලක්කම් ව්‍යාපාරය හා ද්‍රවිඩස්ථාන් අතර තිබූ න්‍යායාත්මක සම්බන්ධය මෙහිදී පැහැදිලිවේ. ඉන්දියාවේ ද්‍රවිඩ බෙදුම්වාදය හා ලංකාවේ දෙමළ (මලබාර් වැසියන්ගේ) බෙදුම්වාදය අතර තිබුණේ එකම මූලාශ්‍රයකින් ආරම්භවී සමාන්තරව ගලනා ගංඟා දෙකක වැනි බැඳීමකි.

,,, E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker, born in 1879, married at the age of 13, became a sannyasi 6 years later, started the Dravidian Federation (DK) party in 1944, as a militant (DK members wear black shirts), anti-religious (philosophy of Hinduism is false and an opiate), anti-Sanskrit (need to de-Sanskritize Tamil language, Ramayanaya is false, destroy the images of sacred Hindu deities such as Rama and Ganesha) movement.

(A) 1917-1963 (legal phase)

*1.1917 August – South India Liberation Front founded (Justice Party)

It was then anti-Brahmin not anti-Hindi (power of Tamil Nadu was in the hands of the Brahmin 2%)

** (**= incident in Sri Lanka)- 1911Arunachalama Ponnambalam got the designation, Malabar Inhabitant changed to Ceylon Tamils at the first census in Ceylon)

**-1921-1924 – Agreement in Ceylon between Tamil and Sinhala politicians for a ratio of 1 Tamil for 2 Sinhala representatives

*2.1925 – Self-Respect Movement began

*3.1931 – Naicker’s trip to Russia

** -1936-1937 – Balanced representation (fifty-fifty demand by GG Ponnambalam (a Christian) in Ceylon.

*4.1937 – Hindi introduced as a compulsory subject in schools (Rajagopalachari of the Congress Party was in control)

Anti-Hindi campaign began, Hindi language changed to an optional subject.

*5.1938 December – Justice Party Convention asked for a separate Tamilnad operating directly under London

*6.1939 – Dravida Nadu Conference asked for a separate and independent Dravidasthan

*7.1940 – Muslims League’s Lahore resolution demanding a Pakistan, mutual support for separate states

**-1940s – C. Sundaralingam, MP for Vavniya spoke of Tamil state in Northern and Eastern Provinces in Ceylon.

*8.1944 – Justice Party reorganized as DK- Dravida Federation (remained a quasi-military organization).

**-1944 –1945 – Soulbury Commission rejected discrimination complaint by GG Ponnambalam.

*9.1947 – Jinna refused to help Naicker to help create a Dravidasthan

**-July 1947 – SJV Chelvanayagam proposed merger of Tamil Nad and Tamil state in Ceylon.

**-Nov 1947 – Chelvanayagam’s speech at Trincomalee; promised to snatch Trincomalee from the Sinhala enemies and deliver it to Nehru for India’s security if Nehru so asked.

*10.1949 – DMK formed by C. N. Annadurai. Reasons: Naicker was a dictator, hadno faith in democracy, refused to honor the national flag, boycotted Independence Day celebrations, rejected Indian constitution; married a 28 year old girl when he was 72 and made her heir to the party leadership.

**-Dec. 1949 – Tamil state party (ITAK) was formed in Ceylon by SJV Chelvanayagam wowing for a separate Tamil state.

*11.1952 Indian General Election. Anna said DMK was genuinely communist.” burned Hindi books, painted tar over Hindi signs, burned the flag, burned pictures of Gandhi. (DMK has a tribal mentality-Nehru) Independence demand at the election.

*12.1955 – Hindi became the National (official) language of India

*13.1956 – Reorganization of states on language basis (Naicker abandoned Dravidasthan goal to a smaller Tamilnadu separatism goal)

*14.1957 Tamilnadu election – Independence demand

*15.1962 – DMK Election manifesto (long-range goal was the creation of a Dravidasthan Socialist Federation) Independence demand. Kamraj of the Congress Party won but DMK won 50 seats in the state legislature. In Feb. 1962 Kamraj changed the state name from Madras to Tamilnad. He wanted Madurai (Pandyan capital) as state capital.

*16.1963 – Separatism proscribed from Indian politics(not from people or writers). 1962 දී චීනය ඉන්දියන් දේශසීමා ප්‍රදේශ අල්ලා ගැනීමෙන් පසු මතුවූ දේශාණුරාගය ඉදිරියේ මෙම තහනම ගෙන ඒමට නේරුට ශක්තිය ලැබුණත් ඉන්පසු බෙදුම්වාදි අරගලය, ඉන්දියා විරෝධී ව්‍යාපාරයකින් හින්දි විරෝධී සටනක් බවට පෙරලුනේය.

*17.1985 – RajivG failed in his request from Perunchiththiranar (who started the magazine Thenmoli) to stop the Independent Tamilnadu movement.

දෙමළ නායකයින්ගේ අධිමානය/හීනමානය

මන්නාරමේ මුතුපර කැඩීමේ කොන්ත්‍රාත්තුව කල කුමාර්සූරියර්ලා ඇතුළු පිරිස හා සුදුහම ඇති අය අතර අවාහ-විවාහ මඟින් ඇතිවූ සම්බන්ධය දකුණේ සිංහල පවුල් සමඟ සිදුනොවීය. මෙයත් ඇමෙරිකන් මිෂනාරී සමාගම් යාපනේ පාසැල් ආරම්භ කිරීමත් නිසා ඉන්ගිරිස් අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබූ පිරිසක් 1820 සිට පමණම බිහිවිය. දකුණේ සිංහල බෞද්ධයින්ට මෙය ලැබුණේ 1880 න් පසු කර්නල් ඕල්කොට්ගේ ආගමනයෙන් පසුවය.

සුද්දන් විසින් තනතුරු දීම නිසා උද්දාමයට පත්වූ මේ ඉන්ගිරිස් උගත් මලබාර් නේවාසික (Malabar Inhabitants) පිරිස තමන්ට රටේ නායකත්වය ලැබේ යයි විශ්වාස කලේය. එය පසුකලෙක රුවන්ඩාවේ ටුට්සි සුළු ජනවර්ගය හුති මහ ජාතිය දෙස බැලූ ආකාරයට සමාන විය (ටුට්සි ජන සංහාරය 1994 අප්‍රේල්-ජූලි). සිංහල නායකයින් මෝඩයින් යයි පොන්නම්බලම් හා චෙල්වනායගම් යන දෙන්නාම ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ පවසුවේය.

වන්නි ප්‍රදේශයේ හීස් ඉඩම් වල දෙමළ ජනයා පදිංචිකරවීමට ඉන්ග්‍රීසි පාලකයින් ගත් උත්සාහ අසාර්ථකවූයේ මැලේරියා මඳුරුවා නිසාත්, දකුණට ඒමට යාපනේ ජනයා අකමැති වීමත් නිසාය. 1970 දශකයේදී පවා කන්කසන්තුරේ සිමෙන්ති පැක්ටේරියේ දෙමළ සේවකයින් උසස්වීම් ලබා හෝ පුත්තලම කම්හලට ඒමට අකමැති විය. අනිත් අතට කඳුකරයේ තේ වගාව නිසා මිරිකී ගිය සිංහල ජනයා මෙම ප්‍රදේශ වල පදිංචිකරවීම <සිංහලීකරණය> යනුවෙන් බෙදුම්වාදීන් විසින් හංවඩු ගසන ලදී.

පුරාණ සිංහල ගම්වල ජනයා මැලේරියා මඳුරුවා සමඟ ගෙවූ දුෂ්කර ජීවිතය බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය සිවිල් නිලධාරීන් විසින් වාර්තාකර ඇත. පසුකාලීන ජනපද ව්‍යාපාර යටතේ දෙමළ ජනාවාස වලට හානියක් නොවු අන්දම ක්ෂෙත්‍ර පර්යේෂණ මඟින්, භූගෝල විද්‍යා මහාචාර්ය G. H. පීරිස් මහතා විසින් පෙන්වා දී ඇත.

1948 දක්වා ඊළම් ගමනේ සිදුවීම්

*1. 1833 – කෝල්බෲක් ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාවේ සිංහල-දමිළ සම නියෝජනය (වර්ෂ 60 ක් පමණම සිංහල නියෝජිතයා එක ඥාති පවුලකින් ආ ක්‍රිස්තියානි කළු සුද්දෙක් විය).

*2. 1921 – පොන්නම්බලම් අරුණාචලම් සිලෝන් කොන්ග්‍රස් එකෙන් කැඩී දකුණු ඉන්දියාවද සහිත ටැමිලක්කම් සංවිධානය පිහිටුවා ගැනීම

*3. 1921-24 කාලය තුල ඇතිවු සමබර නියෝජන උණ (මැනිං ආණ්ඩුකාරයාගේ උසි ගැන්වීම (balanced representation, all minorities = Sinhala majority)

There was also no shift in the thinking pattern of the small Tamil separatist cell in Sri Lanka operating from Colombo since the separatist fever reached Ceylon in 1918 from Tamil Nadu. With the governor Manning actively behind it during 1921-24, this became an official fever via a concept of balanced representation” supported by both Tamil and Sinhala Colombo politicians (ref. Communalism and language in the politics of Ceylon, by Robert Kearney, 1967, page 37). In 1928 and in 1944 two royal commissions rejected it but it was resurrected in 1949 as the Tamil state party (ITAK).

*4.1928-44- ඩොනමෝර්-සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන්. චන්ද බලය ව්‍යාප්තවීමත් සමඟ වැඩිවන සිංහල නියෝජනය ඉදිරියේ දමිළ නායකයින් සර්ව ජන චන්ද බලය දෙනවාට විරුද්ධවීම හා පනහට-පනහ ව්‍යාපාරයක් දියත් කිරීම

*5.1935 සිට පොදුවේ මාක්ස්වාදීන්ගෙන් දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදයට ලැබුණ රුකුල. චෙල්වනායගම් මැලේසියාවේ සිට දකුණු ඉන්දියනු පල්ලිය හරහා කොළඹට ආවේ මේ සමසමාජ මාක්වාදීන් විසින් සපයන තෝතැන්නෙන් පල නෙලා ගැනීමට තිබෙන වාසියද නිසාය. අදටත් ක්‍රිස්ත්‍රියානි පල්ලිය හා මහළු හා තරුණ මාක්ස්වාදීන් බෙදුම්වාදය පැත්තේ නොවේද?

*6. 1910 පමණ සිට අනාගාරික ධර්මපාලතුමා සිංහල ක්‍රිස්තියානීන් සමඟ සහයෝගයෙන් ක්‍රියාකරන්නට උත්සාහ කලත් එය අසාර්ථක විය. එතුමා දෙමළ හෝ වෙනත් ජනවර්ගයක් පහත් කොට සැලකුවේ නැත. සිංහල ජාතිය සතුරු බලවේග වලින් රැක ගැනීමට ක්‍රියාකිරීම ජාතික වාදය මිස ජාති වාදය නොවේ. හීනමානයෙන් හා අපේක්ෂා බංගත්වයෙන් සිටි (ඩොනමෝර් හා සෝල්බරි කොමිෂම් නිර්දේශ ඉදිරියේ) දමිළ බෙදුම්වාදීන් ඩොනමෝර් ව්‍යවස්ථාව ප්‍රතික්ෂේපකර 1931 චන්දය වර්ජනයකර, අමාරුවේ වැටී, 1936 දී මන්ත්‍රණ සභාවට පැමිණිවිට ඔවුන්ට කිසිම ඇමතිකමක් නොදීමේ සුත්‍රයක් මැත් ප්‍රොපෙසර් සුන්දරලිංගම් ලවා සිංහල නායකයින් සදාගත්තේය. මෙය බෞද්ධ විරෝධී ක්‍රියාවකි.

*7. 1944 à ගාන්ධිට, හිට්ලර්ට, සුබාස් චන්ද්‍ර බෝෂ්ට හා රුසවේල්ට් ඇමරිකන් ජනාධිපතිට පින්සිදු වන්නට පෙත්සම් ගසා නිදහස ලබා ගැනීමේ <සටනේදී>, මාක්ස්වාදීන්ගේ තර්ජනය ඉදිරියේ, දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් අටවා ගැනීම, ඒ වනවිට සර් D. B ජයතිලකව ලංකාවෙන් ඉන්දියාවට තල්ලුකරගෙන සිටි D. S. සේනානායක/ඔලිවර් ගුණතිලක කල්ලියේ අවශ්‍යතාවය විය. 

UNP= එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය යනු වැල්ලේ අටවා ගත් අට්ටාලයක් මිස ජාතික සමඟිය උදෙසා කැපවුණු බෞද්ධ දර්ශනය මත ගොඩ නැඟුණු සමාජ දේශපාලන ප්‍රවාහයක් නොවීය. එය 1815 නින්දිත ගිවිසුම, 29 වගන්තිය මඟින් නැවතත් තහවුරුකල, ධර්මපාලතුමා විසින් කල්තියාම පෙන්වා දුන්, සුද්දා විසින් කළු සුද්දන් පිරිසකට මාරුකරදී ගිය බෙහෙවින්ම ක්‍රිස්තියානිකරණයවූ ආණ්ඩු තන්ත්‍රයක් විය.

1948 න් පසු මෙම කළුසුද්දන්/මාක්ස්වාදීන් දෙමළ බෙදුම් වාදයට අසාධාරණ (unreasonable) ලෙස, රටේ ඉතිහාසයට හා භූගෝල විද්‍යාවට (රටක් ඉතිහාසය යනු ඒ රටේ අතීත භූගෝල විද්‍යාවය) ද්‍රෝහී වෙමින්, දැන හෝ නොදැන, හවුල්වූ, මුක්කුගැසූ ආකාරය මෙම ලිපි පෙලේ 3 වන කොටසින් විමසමු.

චානක බණ්ඩාරගේ

මන්නාරම මුරුන්කන්හි නරි කාඩු සිංහල ගම්මානය සිංහල වැසියන් ජීවත්වෙන ගම්මානයකි, මෙහි බොහෝ සිංහල අය පාරම්පරිකව එම ප්‍රදේශයේ ජීවත් වූ අයයි.  ඒ අය දෙමල කථා කරති.  දෙමළ නොදන්නා සිංහලයෝද මේ ගමේ ජීවත් වෙති.

ප්‍රභාකරන් විසින් උතුරෙන් සිංහලයන් එළවීමේ ත්‍රස්‌තවාදී වැඩපිළිවෙල යටතේ මෙම ගමේ බොහෝ දෙනෙක් උතුර අත් හැර උතුරු මැද පලාතට ගියහ. 2009 යුද්ධය අවසන් වීමෙන් පසු මේ සිංහලයන්ගෙන් සමහරෙක් ආපසු නරි කාඩු ගම්මානය වෙත ආහ.

මෙම ගමට වැදුණු තදබල පහරක් වුයේ ගමේ ළමුන් පාසැල් ගිය මඩු පාර සිංහල මහා විද්‍යාලය විග්නේස්වරන්ගේ උතුරු පළාත් සභාව විසින් 2018දී වසා දැමීමයි. එය වසර ගණනාවක් පැරණි, සියළු පහසුකම් වලින් හෙබි උසස් විදුහලක් විය.

කිසි හිතක් පපුවක් නොමැතිව මේ අගනා විදුහල වසා දමන ලදී.

මේ අසාධාරණ වසා දැමීම පිළිබඳව අප එවකට වූ යහපාලන රජය දැනුවත් කළෙමු. නමුත් කිසිත් සිදුවුයේ නැත.

තම දරුවන්ට සිංහලෙන් අධ්‍යාපනය ලබා දීමේ හැකියාව නොමැති නිසා නරි කාඩු, මඩු පාර වැනි සිංහල ගම්වල සිංහලයන් සමහරෙක් ආපසු උතුරු මැද පළාත බලා ගියහ. මිනිසුනට වගා කිරීමට ඉඩම් නොමැති කම නිසාද මේ ගම් අත් හැර දකුණට ආපසු ගිය සිංහලයෝ වුහ.

මේ පහසුකම් දෙන්නේනම් ආපසු තම ගම බලා ඒමට සිංහල වැසියෝ සුදානම්ය.

තත්ත්වය මෙසේ තිබියදී නිවාස සංගණනයක් ය කියා නරි කාඩු අයත් වෙන නානාත්තාන් දිස්ත්‍රික් සහකාර ලේකම් ආයතනයේ නිලධාරින් මෑතකදී මෙම ගමට පැමිණ එහි වැසියන්ගෙන් වසා තබා ඇති නිවාස පිළිබඳව නොයෙක් ප්‍රශ්ණ අසා ඇත. මේ ගෙවල් අපරාධේ, අනිත් අයට (දෙමළ) ගෙවල් නෑ, මේක මහ අපරාධයක්” වැනි දේ ඔවුන් කියා ඇත.

වසා තිබෙන නිවෙස් හැර, ඒවායේ දෙමල ජනයා පදිංචි කරාවිද යන බිය සිංහල ගම් වැසියන් තුල ඇත.

නිවාස සංගණනයක් රජය විසින් රටේ කිසිම පලාතක නොපවත්වන මේ සමයේ මෙම නරි කාඩු ගමට මෙවන් රජයේ නිලධාරීන් පැමිණ කරන මේ සංගණනය කුමක්ද?

ඉඩම්, පොලිස් බලතල මේ පලාතට දීමටත් කලින් මේ අය හැසිරෙන්නේ මෙසේ නම් ඒවා දුන් පසු තත්ත්වය ගැන තවත් කුමන කථාද?

මෙම කාරණය ගැන මෙම ලියුම්කරු වාර්ථා කරන්නේ ඔහුට ගම්වැසියන් විසින් පවසන ලද කථාවය.

මෙම ලියුම්කරු මෙම  ගම්මානවල බොහෝ කාලයක සිට ප්‍රජා සංවර්ධන වැඩ කටයුතු සිදු කර ඇත.

අද උතුරේ පදිංචි සිංහලයාට තම ප්‍රශ්ණ කීමට කිසිම සිංහල නිලධාරියෙක් නොමැත.  මේ ප්‍රදේශවල, රජයේ ආයතනවල සිංහලෙන් කිසිම වැඩක් නොකරයි.

1987 සිට 2018 දක්වා එක් දිගට (වසර 31ක්), සැමදාම උතුරේ ආණ්ඩුකාරයා වුයේ සිංහල අයෙකි. මේ තත්ත්වය වෙනස් කලේ ජනාධිපති මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේනයි – 2018දීය. ඉන්පසු පැමිණි සියළු ආණ්ඩුකාරයන් වුයේ දෙමළ අයයි.

උතුරේ ආණ්ඩුකාරයා දෙමළ විය යුතු බවට නව සම්ප්‍රදායක් බිහි වෙලාද?

ඉදින්, මේ සිංහල රටේ සිංහලයාට දෙවියන්ගේම පිහිටයි!

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

බංග්ලාදේශයේ සහ නේපාලයේ විදේශ අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන ආචාර්ය ඒ.කේ. අබ්දුල් මොමන් සහ ආචාර්ය බිමලා රායි පෞද්‍යාල් 75 වැනි නිදහස් සංවත්සරයට සහභාගි වීම සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණ සිටින අතරවාරයේ දී අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේදී හමුවිය.
දකුණු ආසියාවේ කලාපීය සහයෝගීතාවයේ වැදගත්කම අමාත්‍යවරුන් දෙදෙනාම මෙහිදි  අවධාරණය කළේය. දකුණු ආසියාතික රටවලට එකිනෙකාගේ අත්දැකීම්වලින් පාඩම් ඉගෙන ගත හැකි බව පෙන්වා දුන් ඔවුහු දකුණු ආසියානු කලාපීය සහයෝගීතා සංගමයේ (සාර්ක්) දැනට පවතින අවහිරතා සමීප සහයෝගීතාවයට බාධා පමුණුවන බව පෙන්වා දුන්හ.
නේපාල විදේශ අමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය පෞද්‍යාල් දෙරට අතර ඓතිහාසික ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික සබඳතා ගැන සඳහන් කළ අතර, බුදුන් උපන් ස්ථානයට පැමිණෙන බෞද්ධයන් විශාල සංඛ්‍යාවකට පහසුකම් සැලසීම සඳහා කොළඹට සහ කත්මණ්ඩුවට සීමා වී ඇති ගුවන් සම්බන්ධතාවයට ලුම්බිණියේ ගෞතම බුද්ධ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ ඇතුළත් කර පුළුල් කළ යුතු බව පැවසීය.  නේපාලයට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ අධ්‍යාපන හා සෞඛ්‍ය ක්‍රමවලින් බොහෝ දේ ඉගෙන ගත හැකි බව පෙන්වා දුන් ඇය සමීප සහයෝගීතාවක අවශ්‍යතාව අවධාරණය කළාය. දකුණු ආසියාවේ කුඩා රටවල් එකට නැගී සිටිය යුතු බව ඇය පැවසුවාය.
බංග්ලාදේශ විදේශ අමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය ඒ.කේ. අබ්දුල් මොමන් දකුණු ආසියානු අසල්වැසියන අතර පවතින ආංශික සහයෝගීතාව තවදුරටත් වැඩිදියුණු කිරීමේ වැදගත්කම ද අවධාරණය කළේය.
අමාත්‍යවරුන් දෙදෙනාගේ සංචාරය පිළිබඳව ස්තූතිය පළ කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ගුණවර්ධන මහතා, මෙවැනි ඉහළ මට්ටමේ හුවමාරු කිරීම් ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සබඳතා සහ කලාපීය සහයෝගීතාව තවදුරටත් ශක්තිමත් කිරීමට හේතු වනු ඇති බව පෙන්වා දුන්නේය. වෙළෙඳ පහසුකම්, ව්‍යාපාර සහ ආයෝජන, සංචාරක ව්‍යාපාරයේ සහයෝගීතාව සහ සම්බන්ධතා පිළිබඳව මෙම සාකච්ඡාවේදී වැඩි අවධානයක් යොමු කෙරිණී.
සාර්ක් මහලේකම් ඇසල වීරකෝන් මහතාගේ වත්මන් ධූර කාලය ලබන මස අවසන් වන විට සාර්ක් සංවිධානයේ අනාගතය සහ නව සාර්ක් මහලේකම්වරයෙකු පත්කිරීමේ ක්‍රියා පටිපාටිය පිළිබඳව ද මෙහිදී සාකච්ඡා කෙරිණි.
අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක, නේපාලයේ සහ බංග්ලාදේශයේ විදේශ අමාත්‍යාංශවල ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නිලධාරීන්, නේපාල තානාපති බාෂු දේව් මිශ්‍රා සහ බංග්ලාදේශ මහ කොමසාරිස් Tareq Md Ariful Islam යන මහත්වරු ද මෙම සාකච්ඡා සඳහා සහභාගි වූහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka has the potential to establish the green economy, specially by way of renewable energy, said President Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing a High-Level event on Strategies and Actions to Accelerate Sri Lanka’s Transition to a Green Growth Pathway.

He said further that the Sri Lankan Government prepared a Natural Adaption Plan and National Environment Action Plan to ensure a green economy and a better world by 2050.

The event, held at the Hilton Colombo this morning (06), was organized by the Ministry of Environment and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).

A new Climate Change Act will be formulated while a new Environment Act will be drafted to replace the old one which will cover reforestation, forest cover and tree cover.

He also added that Sri Lanka is to be the first one in the region to recognize some of its assets as living entities. The Knuckles Range, Horton Plains, Peak Wilderness, the Sinharaja Forest, the Mahaweli River and Adams Bridge will be hence identified as living entities.

Former Secretary General of the UN and the President of the Assembly and Chair of the Council of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Ban Ki-moon addressing the gathering said that he learnt about those changes that took place during the last six and a half years since his last visit and added that he was confident that democracy and sustainable economic development in the country could be achieved under the wise leadership of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Environment Minister Naseer Ahamed addressing the occasion explained in detail the steps that the government is planning to take in regard to a green economy and meeting the climate change targets for 2050.

Secretary to the Ministry of Environment Dr Anil Jasinghe and Asia Regional Director and Head of Programs, GGGI Dr Achala Abeysinghe also addressed the event.

The Panel Discussion included panelists Director (Climate Change) Ministry of Environment Ms. Kumudini Vidyalankara, Chief Executive Officer Dilmah Tea and chair of Biodiversity Sri Lanka Dilhan Fernando, Chief Executive Officer of the National Development Bank Dimantha Seneviratne, Senior Research Professional of the Center for Poverty Analysis Ms. Karin Fernando and Senior Professor of the University of Peradeniya Prof. Buddhi Marambe.

Ambassador of Korea to Sri Lanka Santhush W. Jeong, Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry, Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief of Staff to the President Sagala Rathnayake and, Senior Advisor to the President on Climate Change Ruwan Wijewardena also participated in this event.

The statement made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe is as follows,

The signing of the Host Country Agreement with the Global Green Growth Initiative tomorrow, will be the first steps that we will be taking to establish a green economy and meet climate change goals.

I welcome the eighth Secretary General of the United Nations and the President of the Assembly and Chair of the Council of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Ban Ki-moon for the signing of the Host Country Agreement with the Global Green Growth Initiative. Hence, Ban Ki-Moon will be associated with two historic agreements signed in Sri Lanka in which the first paved the way for reconciliation.

We are seriously concerned of the situation on climate change and the actions taken. What has happened so far is insufficient and the last conference of parties did not achieve the results that we desired.

The low-income countries and the middle-income countries are striving for economic development while protecting living standards with insufficient funding. So, these countries are committed to a call for action by the developed countries to deliver their funding pledges by doubling their funding which is essential.

I realize that some developed countries are experiencing a recession this year, but nevertheless the targets had not been met earlier. So there has to be a full commitment of how we are going to meet the targets and what assistance is required. The other issue is the need for compensation for the developing countries where the emissions so far were not the responsibility of our countries.

The third issue is how to address the loss and damages. This is not the issue of asking the developed countries to spend a lot of money for further development of the developing countries. Let us work out a sort of list, combine the money that is needed and then see how we are going to raise it. There has to be a contribution by them, as well as a contribution by us. But let’s agree on what we have to do.

The fact is that the achievements of the last COP26 meeting had not been fulfilled so far, worries us. Glasgow was a good turning point. The initiative taken by former Prime Minister of the UK Boris Johnson was important, but it was not followed up.

We must ensure that those targets are met. Therefore, the Government of Sri Lanka instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Environment to sound out other developing countries with whom they spoke last time on how a joint action plan could be made. Perhaps, a meeting of the heads of government, of the concerned countries could be convened in the UAE, prior to the next conference.

That is the only way that we can achieve results and we must go hard on it as there is no halfway house. We have to insist that these are goals and these are our minimal demands. It’s either the minimum demands or it is far better to call it a day if we are not going to achieve this result.

Sri Lanka is in the process to decrease carbon emissions by 14.5 percent by 2030 and more thereafter. We are creating the Climate Change Office operating under the Presidential Secretariat to coordinate all actions in regard to climate change. Then we have prepared our natural adaption plan and their national environment Action Plan.

All of this is being taken as the initiative by our government so that we ensure a green economy and a better world by 2050. We are developing the net zero 2050 plan that aims for carbon neutrality. We will not increase further energy capacity via coal power.

We will phase out the fossil fuel subsidies. We are already doing that and we have come under attack from the Opposition for phasing it out. And we will aim for 70 per cent of renewable energy for power generation by 2030.

There are many initiatives that we will be taking for this period. Firstly, a new Climate Change Act, which will incorporate the Climate Change Office, will be formulated. Then a new Environment Act will be formulated to replace the old one, which was enacted in the early 1980s, and one which will cover reforestation forest cover and tree cover.

The last one is to recognize some of our assets as living entities. The Knuckles Range, Horton plains, peak wilderness, the Sinharaja Forest, the Mahaweli river and Adams Bridge will be identified as living entities and that will be the first in the region to do so.

Final is the setting up of the International Climate Change University. We want to start it as a Postgraduate University and a university for training officials in all regions in the Indian Ocean, and in Africa to prepare the world for meeting the climate change goals and a new climate change and new green economy.

Now we are grappling with the issue of a green economy. That’s where we want to go. We find that we have the potential, especially on renewable energy, with the help of the Asian Development Bank we are assessing what our capacity for renewable energy and green hydrogen would be. Some say we will have an excess capacity of about 30 Giga-watts, but, some say 40, some say 50.

But we want to have the assessment made by the Asian Development Bank. So, we have already called for investment in this region. This is one area that we can prosper.

With regard to our economic base, we are looking at the new technologies, which certainly will not be involved with fossil fuel and to have new manufacturing and service industries based on industry for technology to modernize agriculture. Accordingly, we will be moving towards the green economy. But we are going to face difficulties. One is the lack of capacity.

And we also need great access to international financing. We will also be able to financially engineer the debt. By using the green financial instrument we could reduce the present debt load. Our domestic policy will be geared to our climate prosperity plan. So, this is the path that Sri Lanka wishes to follow, and I have no doubt that the GGGI will help us to achieve this. The agreement we will sign tomorrow will be the first in the steps that we will take.”

–PMD

By Sena Thoradeniya

On January 8 supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil invaded and pillaged Brazil’s Presidential Palace known as Planalto Palace regarded as a national treasure, designed by a modernist architect, along with the Congress building and Supreme Federal Courts. Protester’s shattered glass and burnt iconic furniture, ripped floors, broke windows and doors, vandalised priceless paintings and other art works, defaced portraits, decapacitated sculptures, all pieces of national heritage, scrawled graffiti across facades of buildings calling for a military intervention to remove the elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, popularly known as Lula.

All these monumental buildings held rich collections of art representing an important chapter in Brazil’s national history. One painting alone which was punctured in several places is worth at least $ 1.5 million. Rioters had flooded the floors and soaked carpets using fire hydrants and sprinkler systems.  As Galle Face protesters urinated into the swimming pool at the Presidential House, Brasilia’s protesters did not forget to urinate over the valuable carpets.  One fellow draped with the Brazilian flag from his neck to his feet sat in Senate President’s chair. Our fellows were far ahead than the Brazilian rioters as they held a Cabinet Meeting” at the Presidential Secretariat.

Although the Sri Lankan protesters were able to oust the elected President, Lula stands firm against the vandalisers and the security personnel who were in complicity with the protesters and Bolsonaro.  It was reported that Brazilian riots itself were unpopular with the majority of the Brazilians and as a result enhanced Lula’s popularity.

Our lethargic investigators, police, security forces, mandarins of the defense establishment and the judiciary still grope in darkness to assess what had actually happened in Colombo. Our curators and archaeologists still have not valued the damage done to government buildings by Sri Lankan rioters even after six months. Earlier there was a talk that artworks (forgetting the famous Mulkirigala painting allegedly pilfered by a son-in-law of a President and brother-in-law of a President in waiting”), colonial furniture and gifts presented by foreign dignitaries to Sri Lankan Heads of State were not catalogued and Sri Lanka’s Department of Archeology has no authority to carry out any investigation regarding the destroyed or vandalised artifacts. 

But Brazil’s National Artistic Heritage Institute within a few days, following a painstaking survey of ruins had prepared a 40-page report with a photographic catalogue of the damages.  Craftsmen at Senate Museum commenced restoration of priceless damaged treasures, paintings, sculptures, vases and furniture and within two weeks managed to restore more than 60% of the damaged objects.

Bolsonaro fled to Florida; US government granted him refuge; at the same time Biden tweeted condemning what had happened in Brazil.

Bolsonaro flew to Florida two days before Lula was inaugurated without officially handing over power. His absence marked a break with traditions as he was expected to handover the Presidential sash to President-elect Lula. As he was still officially President when he arrived in US his diplomatic status guaranteed his entry to US, a right reserved for Heads of State. He was actively involved in the riots.  Now Bolsonaro has applied for a 6-month visitor visa to stay in the US. There will be no denial. Recent reports confirm that Bolsonaro had addressed a group of right-wing activists at a Trump resort in Miami.

Why Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was denied this privilege as he was still the incumbent President when he left Sri Lanka? Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s fate was well known. It was reported that the US ambassador in Sri Lanka had refused him an entry permit to US, his adopted country before renouncing his US citizenship. Later Julie Chung found fault with Sri Lankan authorities for evacuating Galle Face merry men and women.

What the US authorities should understand is that the blueprint for attacks in Brasilia was provided by the Trump supporters’ coup attempt at Capitol Hill in January 6, 2001.  Supporters of Trump and Bolsonaro both alleged that the election was a fraud. Trump and Bolsonaro whose backers are known as Trump of Tropics”, both did not accept their defeats and challenged the validity of most of the electronic voting machines.

Riots erupted after Bolsanaro had posted a video questioning the validity of last years’ Presidential Elections. He refused to concede his defeat to Lula, accused against electronic voting machines and argued that the military should conduct its own audit of the result.

As Lula’s inauguration approached Bolsanaro’s supporters set up camps outside Brasilia’s main military compound and urged the military to restore Bolsanaro’s Presidency. But their main expectation was seizure of power by the military deposing Lula. It was thought that to stage a coup was easy as Lula lacked support inside the army.   

Sri Lankans should remember how JVPers cried computer jillmart” after the defeat of Sarath Fonseka whom they have supported at the 2020 Presidential elections. The then leader of the JVP, Somawansa Amerasinghe shamelessly embraced (wearing a three-piece suit) Ranil and Fonseka at a Presidential election meeting forgetting that Fonseka, the former Army Commander represented an instrument for the exploitation of the oppressed class” as Lenin taught. Had a Trump” invaded the Capitol Hill by that time definitely the JVPers would have run berserk, thanking the American imperialists for exporting” a novel method of insurrection”.  

Brazil rioters wore Brazil’s iconic yellow and green jerseys. Sri Lankan rioters wrapped themselves with the National Flags.    

Brazil rioters had camped outside a military headquarters in Brasilia since Bolsonaro lost the October 30 Presidential election. Sri Lankan rioters camped outside the Presidential Secretariat for months before storming the Presidential Secretariat, Presidential House and other government buildings.

Other rioters traveled to Brasilia in busses; in Sri Lanka train loads of rioters came from Kandy and Galle and others entered the City from the five main entry points; Security forces did not know what was happening; or were they in complicity with the rioters who thronged the city? In my previous essays I have dealt about the security lapses from the day the rioters besieged GR’s private residence at Mirihana. 

Brazilian rioters, who were extreme rightists alleged that Lula taking the country into Communism while in Sri Lanka, some rioters paid lip service to socialism”. We should not be alarmed by the word socialism” as Marx and Engels had outlined different types of socialism in their Manifesto of the CommunistParty” in 1847-48. The word Socialist” was scorned by JRJ naming Sri Lanka as a Democratic Socialist Republic”.

Like at Galle Face, Bolsonaro supporters had funded alternative media outlets. Now Brazilian authorities are tracking financial movements undertaken via online banking apps including Brazil’s Central Bank Pix which allows free of charge instant money transfers. It is said that Pix is used by 133 million Individuals as well as 12 million companies across Brazil. It has outpaced debit and credit card payments. Pix was used by blogs and YouTube channels supporting Bolsonaro.  

Sri Lankan protest leaders” and pro-Galle Face Youtubers received millions of rupees from dubious sources but our law enforcement officers failed to take action although the names of men and women leaders” who received such funds, the amounts they received and the banks in which funds were remitted were revealed during the height of the Galle Face Carnival. MNCs, oligarchical business conglomerates, communication giants and media moguls which funded the protesters were exposed but no action was taken against these funders.

But Brazilian authorities had identified the financiers of Brasilia riots. They had planned to take action against top management of more than 100 companies who fed the protesters and provided shelter and financial assistance to them. 

 Within a few days the authorities commenced a criminal probe into the insurrection” and more than 1300 were arrested, accused of crimes including terrorism and attempting a coup. Federal police had identified people who participated, funded and fostered the riots. They were investigated for violent abrogation of the rule of law, coup d’état, criminal association, damage, incitement and destruction of protected property. 

Sri Lankan security establishment should learn from Brazil how they conducted investigations immediately after the rampage. It won’t happen here as there were many intentional lapses in security that allowed the protesters in Sri Lanka to run berserk.

The slogans reverberated in Brasilia spewed venom and hatred against Lula as happened at Gall Face ghetto.

Still we have no direct evidence to say that the US was behind this rampage as in Peru which ousted Castillo. But Trump allies in the US have played a role in stoking riots, helping to map out plans and financing violence. Indirectly WhatsApp and Meta are responsible for social media disinformation and fomenting violence. Face Book repeatedly approved ads promoting deaththreats and violent anti-democratic ads. The threats were against Lula and the children of his supporters. Some ads encouraged people to storm government buildings and arm themselves. Misinformation about how the election was stolen circulated freely.  The same happened at Galle Face. Social media played a pivotal role in Sri Lankan riots and arson.

Biden administration had distanced from Brazil’s riots. Biden has invited Lula for a meeting on February 10. US used countries in Latin America as a testing ground of neoliberalism. Lula had rejected German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s appeal to send ammunition to German -made anti-aircraft guns used in Ukraine. We will have to wait and see what will happen next.

Before Bolsonaro lost the election to Lula, Le Monde” suggested that Brazil was going to see Bolsonarism without Bolsonaro”. It is evident that the plot was hatched beforehand.

Bolsonaro became President as a result of attacks against Lula and his successor Dilma Rousseff coordinated by the US. Three days after Dilma Rousseff was deposed arbitrarily in 2016 Vice President Joe Biden met with illegitimate President Michel Termer. Several Latin American countries refused to recognise Termer. Biden told Termer that he had the full support of Obama administration.

After Trump took office during 2018 elections Lula was arbitrarily imprisoned when he was leading over Bolsanaro. Lula was illegally prohibited of running for office from behind bars. Bolsanaro visited CIA headquarters immediately after taking office. After Biden took office National Security advisor flew to Brazil to meet Bolsanaro and his top Generals. CIA Director also paid a visit to Brazil.  

It was reported that on the day Mirihana private residence of GR was besieged Julie Chung visited GR’s Mirihana residence, got down on her knees and raised her hands to the sky. Saying that she is a Roman Catholic she prayed to her God to invoke relief to the President. She had apologised for what had happened that day and had prevented GR from evacuating protesters claiming that it would stall the IMF loan negotiations. After the protesters stormed his official residence, she denied him a visa to enter US.

There are many similarities between US funded coup in Peru and Sri Lanka’s protests. US Defense attaché in Lima (Peru) Alvarodo gave greenlight to Peru’s generals to arrest President Pedro Castillo in December. The last telephone call Castillo received before he left Presidential Palace came from the US Embassy. He was warned that he will be arrested or killed and told to flee to a friendly Embassy.  One day before the coup US Ambassador met with Peru’s Defense Minister and told the military to turn against Castillo. Castillo was arrested by the military when he and his family was rushing towards the Mexican Embassy.

It should be noted that Castillo was the first Peruvian President from a poor rural Andean background. He is a son of peasant farmers and a champion of poor and indigenous people. He defeated right-wing Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of Peru’s imprisoned former President at the presidential elections. 

Due to pressure from the Peruvian oligarchy Castillo thought of temporarily dissolving the Congress and establishing an emergency government. Castillo had formed four different cabinets to appease the business sector conceding to right wing demands to remove left wing ministers. Same thing happened in Sri Lanka. GR had to shuffle the pack several times. He was openly challenged by his own palanquin bearers”. His plans in removing MR and BR and some other unpopular Pohottuwa Ministers and appointing RW as the Prime Minister all had failed.  

Castillo was imprisoned for 18 months without trial as instigated by CIA Agent Lisa Kenna, the US Ambassador in Lima. Lisa was regularly meeting with top Peruvian government officials, Dina Boluarte and her Ministers like Julie Chang.

It will be interesting to list down the people Julie Chung met before ousting GR and afterwards, politicians including AKD, Harini Amarasuriya, Dayasiri Jayasekera, Sajith P and many more, civil society” men and women, media menand women and free lancers. Some posed with Samantha Power. The list is too long. The latest was with Abraham Sumanthiran, Hakeem, Mano Ganeshan,Badiutheen and two more TULFers with Victoria Nuland, the ace international plotter who first visited Sri Lanka before the ouster of GR in attendance.

Peru is a mineral rich country. Its large resources of copper, gold, zinc, silver, lead, iron and natural gas have induced imperialists to grab Peru’s mineral resources. Europe is importing Peruvian LNG to replace Russian supplies. Soon after the overthrow of Castillo, US Ambassador met with Peru’s Mining and Energy Minister for talks on investment”.

Peru’s economy relies on mining which is controlled by biggest MNCs. Mining represents more than half of national exports and over 10% of its GDP. It is the second biggest copper producer in the world. Peru is rich with lithium considered by investment bankers as the new oil” important in global shift toward renewable energy technologies. To obtain Bolivia’s lithium in 2019 US staged a coup against Evo Morales.

Castillo wanted Peru’s natural resources to directly benefit Peruvians.  Castillo, a leftist union leader who campaigned wearing a farmer’s hat promised,no morepoor people in a rich country”; we want our natural resources to directly benefit the people”. He called to renegotiate mining contracts to ensure 70% of all proceeds from mining went to the State for social programmes. He said, let us be clear; those decades of betrayals, corruption and cynicism are the symptoms of this neoliberal system dedicated exclusively to the exploitation of our people and natural resources for the benefit of a few scoundrels”. Does this sound as utterings of an inexperienced political novice” as the Western press disparaged Castillo?

Western media belittled Castillo as a primary school teacher in the Andean highlands as a political novice, with no experience. Same tune was played against GR saying he was an inexperienced non-politician.

Castillo’s successor Dina Boluarte Peru’s 6 th President in 7 years and the first woman President of Peru was working at a regional office that issues identity cards.

Peru’s oligarchy called him a donkey”; made fun of his country accent.  They smashed Pinatas made to resemble Castillo at their high-end parties; a decorated figure of an animal containing toys and sweets suspended from a height and broken by blindfolded children, like our own Kana Muttiya Bindeema.

In our earlier writings we have given a detailed account of how GR was vilified by Galle Face protesters.

Also, in our earlier essays we have elaborated the various segments who participated in Galle Face protests. Peru’s oligarchy opposed Castillo. Peru’s protests are basically against the wealthy elite in the capital Lima.

Ironically Sri Lankan elite was in the forefront in ousting GR with the rest of the commoners” at the Galle Face ghetto. In contrast to Sri Lanka, Peru’s protests are in the countryside and the Andes Mountains.

Now Castillo is facing criminal charges against him after he tried to dissolve the legislature.

Since Castillo’s election to office his opponent in the Presidential election Fujimori and her cohorts tried to block his ascension. This was repeated in Brazil by Bolsonaro supporters, what Trumpists” exported from Capitol Hill.  Fujimori had close ties with the US government and its intelligence agencies. Before the Presidential Elections in 2021 US sent a CIA agent Lisa Kenna as its ambassador toLima.She met Peru’s Defense Minister and tweeted against Castillo’s decision to dissolve the Congress. This reminds us how Julie Chung was installed in Sri Lanka before the ouster of GR, her innumerable tweets meddling with internal affairs of Sri Lanka and finally ouster of GR. Kenna recognised Peru’s new government after Castillo’s removal.

Now Peru is in turmoil. Violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police had led to a death toll of around 60 people.  Castillo’s successor former Vice President, Dina Boluarte declared a state of emergency. Massive protests rocked Peru, demanding resignation of Boluarte and to advance elections due to be held in 2026. She refuses to resign amid political crisis.

Sri Lanka’s problems have become more severe despite ease in fuel and cooking gas supplies. Now dormant elements from time to time call for a repetition of the incidents that took place on the ninth day of the month. (May 9; July 9).

We do not know what Julie Chung had told GR when the Presidential House was stormed. He was given wrong information by his own Generals about the numbers who had besieged the Presidential House. Few hundred” the security top brass had told him. If he had not left the Presidential House at the right time either he would have been lynched by the protesters or arrested by his own security top brass. Truth with Chamuditha” blog interviewing an ex-army officer revealed recently that Chief of Defense Staff wished to replace GR as the President, that senior officers of the army were in complicity with Galle Face protesters, that the army did not carry out Commander-in-Chief’s orders.  Up to now nobody has challenged this or taken any legal action against the interviewee.  

The million-dollar question is why the autocratic” President, armed Dharmapala” as alleged by his erstwhile Viyathamaga” grandees was unable to protect himself and command his own security top brass!

Lula had dismissed over 50 military officers who were guarding the Presidential Palace and the National Security advisors Office, expressing his distrust in the military for failing to act against the protesters who ransacked government buildings. He said that security forces members were complicit in letting the protesters. Investigators had found intentional lapses in the security that allowed it to occur. 

Brazil police raided Brasilia’s Federal District Governor Rocha ’s house and offices, who was under investigations for failing to prevent the storming of Government buildings and other violent acts.  Rocha and Torres, the Secretary of Public Security of the Federal District who are staunch supporters of Bolsanaro were the two men responsible for public safety in Brasilia. Civil and military forces are controlled by the Governor and the Public Security Secretary. It was revealed that Brasilia’s military police opened the gates for the rioters. It is interesting to state that this man was the head of Brazilian Bar Association before becoming Governor. Remember that some informal leaders” of Galle Face ghetto wanted our own President of Bar Association to succeed GR! Torres was dismissed and Rocha has been suspended.

Two weeks after the rioting Lula sacked army commander. Lula said that he suspects members of the armed forces colluded with the protesters as the protesters stormed government buildings after marching unchallenged through the city. In Sri Lanka train loads of protesters came to the city commandeering trains unchallenged with the connivance of railway employees and courtesy of UNP politicians. 

Authorities in Brazil have investigated the role played by Bolsonaro in Brasilia’s riots. Have the Sri Lankan authorities investigated the role played by UNP, SJB, JVP, IUSF and other individuals such as Fonseka, Omalpe and Cardinal who were the godfathers of Sri Lankan protesters?

In Sri Lanka security lapses occurred from the day private residence of GR at Mirihana was besieged by the protesters on March 31, 2022. Security lapses continued on May 9 when hundreds of private residences of government politicians were torched by the protesters. Its culmination was July 9, when the security forces allowed the protesters to enter government buildings. Had GR and security forces took action at any one of these incidents GR would have remained as the President of Sri Lanka. During his presidency he was betrayed by his advisors. At the crucial stage he was betrayed by his own security establishment.

In Sri Lanka the government had no will to crackdown the rioters as the government tried to appease the western governments and NGOs. The government itself was responsible for the massive convergence of protesters later turned into rioters. 

If someone files action against the lapses of the security forces on these days all the top brass of the security establishment will have to answer at the highest court of law in Sri Lanka. Punishments meted out to ex-President Sirisena, ex-Defense Secretary, ex-IGP and another top-level officer had set up a successful case to follow.    

Lula said there are a lot of people who were complicit in this among the military police and armed forces. I am convinced that the door to the Presidential Palace was opened to allow these people in because I did not see that the door was broken”. Same thing happened in Sri Lanka. Police officers were seen mingling with those who stormed the public institutions and taking selfies.

Some police officers were not ashamed to play the piano at the Presidential House. We do not know any one of these officers were charged for complicity.

Lula said intelligence services failed ahead of riots. My intelligence did not exist that day. We have many intelligence services, Air Force intelligence, Brazil’s Intelligence Agency. None of them warned me.” I think that Lula had spoken on behalf of GR too. No politician in Sri Lanka has a spine to say this. Lula further said,” those who want to be involved in politics should take off the uniform, resign from office and then enter politics”.

Lula also criticised the army for not doing anything to stop a two-month old encampment of Bolsonaro supporters outside army headquarters where they clamoured for the military to overturn the election results. The attack was expected since the invaders had been staging demonstrations for days using social media. Galle Face protesters set up an urban ghetto at Galle Face Green and camped there for nearly three months.

GR should be blamed for this, for demarcating a protest site”, may be to appease the so-called international community and the NGO cabal, in front of his Secretariat.  We knew that the Galle Face protesters were ready to storm government buildings at any moment and the protest erupting into a violent uprising as protesters cannot remain in one place for a prolonged period of time; either fatigue, exhaustion, frustration or overenthusiasm will compel them to burst out. Military top brass should know this better than the laypersons.

Brazilian Government had ordered the arrest of top officials in the security forces including the former commander of the military police, former public security chief and others for acts of omission. Later police commander was dismissed. Bolsonaro’s ex-Justice Minister was arrested who was in charge of public security on suspicion of omission and connivance.  Lula purged Bolsonaro loyalists from Brazil’s security forces. Brazil’s supreme Courts had agreed to investigate whether Bolsonaro had incited the rioters.

Sri Lankan Justice Minister declared that he was a supporter of the so-called Aragalaya although he was physically not present at Galle Face. Many godfathers of Galle Face Protesters including Asu Marasinghe (now shamed), Sunil Ratnapriya, Sudharshana Gunawardena, Tennakone et al got top government positions when Ranil Wickremasinghe was elevated as the President. 

In Sri Lanka those armed personnel who witnessed torching of hundreds of houses belonging to government politicians and Ranil Wickremasinghe’s private residence, those who were mere onlookers when the rioters stormed the public institutions and occupied them for several days went scot free without facing any investigation.

Government MPs seeking a probe against security top brass should be given priority. It should be treated as how the judiciary had handled the Easter Sunday attack case. The Government should table in Parliament the Report of the Committee headed by Admiral of the Fleet (retd.) Wasantha Karannagoda    investigating May 9 violence.

But July 9 rampage will be buried in the sand unless the former President GR writes his Memoirs. No other person is privy to what had happened since that fair lady from Kolonnawa, daughter of a local baron”, staged a demonstration at Mirihana a few days before March 31.

 Sugath Kulatunga

The obnoxious 13^th Amendment to the Constitution has surfaced again with the announcement by the President that 13A should be fully implemented, which also implies the remerger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. His argument is that the provisions on police and land powers have been in the Constitution for the last 37 years and should be either implemented or taken off. The President should explain why this controversial issue is being raised at a time when the nation is desperately fighting an economic crisis. He did not take up this subject for over 3 decades, not even when he was Prime Minister. Is this off his own bat or a stipulation imposed by the IMF or the Western powers? India has been repeating this condition for over many years but would not be inclined to create political turmoil in Sri Lanka at this moment which could impact on the Tamil Community. It is opportune that policy makers visit not only the devolution of Police and Land powers but the vexed issue of the 13A as a whole.

History

Sri Lanka was divided into 9 Provinces on the recommendation of the Colebrook Commission of 1833 with the evil objective of dismantling the Kandyan Kingdom. But with experience in the administration of the country, and increase  of population and the demand for additional services at the periphery the Provinces were subdivided in stages into Districts. The British abandoned the Provinces because the Provincial administration was unwieldy and inefficient. The Present Provincial Council System hastily enforced by India has the same and more disadvantages. The previous Provincial Administration under the British was ably supervised by the Center. But the new animal is both a wild ass and a white elephant.

Up to the time of the enforcement of the 13th Amendment , the District was the first level of decentralized administration. At present, there are 25 Districts responsible for administrative and development activities at a local level”. Most of the major departments of the government were represented at the District level and the Government Agent as head of the District public service coordinated the functions of the Departments through the District Coordinating Committee(DCC). The important task of agriculture was supervised by the District Agricultural Committee(DAC) . The decentralized District Administration functioned smoothly and effectively through many natural disasters and civil turmoil.

13^th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka was forced on the political leadership of the country as a consequence of the Indo- Sri Lanka Accord of 1987. The bonafides of the Indian Government in the naked intervention in the domestic politics of Sri Lanka have been widely questioned. A solution to the issue of power sharing in Sri Lanka was not the primary objective of the Indian intervention. It was an unwarranted intrusion aimed at imposing Indian hegemony in South Asia. Most of the conditions, which were to prevent US influence in Sri Lanka, have no relevance today. India is now a most favored nation of the USA and a conniving member of the QUAD. The Accord itself became a dead letter when India failed to make the LTTE accept it. Most importantly, it was also not an agreement between the Tamil community and the government of Sri Lanka.

13A was not a demand of any community in Sri Lanka. It was rejected outright by the Cabinet. It was hatched by two ministers of the Rajiv Gandhi government without discussion with a broader sample of the Sri Lankan polity. The most recent progressive Constitution that of South Africa, which is considered a model, took two years of discussion and deliberation. Even Prabhakaran saw the duplicity of the proposal when he said on August 4, 1987, This agreement did not concern only the problems of the Tamils. This is primarily concerned with Indo-Sri Lankan relations. It also contains within itself the principles; the requirements for making Sri Lanka accede to India’s strategic sphere of influence. It works out a way for preventing the disruptionist and hostile foreign forces from gaining footholds in Sri Lanka. This is why the Indian government showed such an extraordinary keenness in concluding this agreement.”

A subsequent statement of former CJ, Sarath N Silva confirmed the problems of hastily grafting certain provisions in an alien Constitution into a totally different local situation. The 13th amendment is not a document that was formulated with much thought. It is one that was put together in haste to go with the Indo-Lanka accord. This amendment compiled by taking parts of the Indian constitution doesn’t suit Sri Lanka at all. As India is a large county they have to decentralize power. However, practically, it is not possible in our country. Especially, devolving police and land powers is not practical at all.”

On the statement of the former CJ on the size of India, It must be noted that the average population and the average geographical area of a State of India are more than 18 times the population and the physical area of a Province in Sri Lanka.

Advantages of The District as the focal point

Sri Lanka has had a tradition of local government from the days of King Pandukabhaya 2000 years ago. Most of the activities devolved on the Provinces were efficiently carried out at the District level prior to the 13th Amendment. To impose an intermediate level between the District and the Center is a violation of the principle of Subsidiarity and has led to a proliferation of political and bureaucratic positions.

A distinct advantage of District level decentralization is that issues typical to individual Districts in a Province can be addressed with special emphasis. For example, in the Eastern Province, the ethnic composition, level of development, and resources in the Batticaloa and Ampara, and Trincomalee Districts are different. Even in the Western Province where Colombo has a plethora of issues in urbanization the problems of the Kalutara District are very much more of rural nature. In the Northern Province, the distinction in economic, social, and cultural milieu between the Jaffna District and other Districts are striking.

Even from a power-sharing between communities is concerned a District system provides a marked advantage to minorities to participate in governance in Ampare, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Nuwaraeliya and the 5 Districts of the Northern Province which is in nine out of 25 Districts of the country or in 36% of the Districts.

The imposition of an echelon above the District is a gross violation of the principles of subsidiarity and proximity. The shift of administration from the Province to the District was a milestone in the progressive decentralization of power from the Center closer to the citizen. The Districts were well endowed with the required technical capacity. There was no economic efficiency gained from reverting to the Province.

Sri Lanka had made several attempts to establish District Councils. In 1968 White Paper presented by Minister for Local Government, Mr.M.Thiruchelvam was withdrawn due to the violent protest by the opposition. In 1979 a commission with the participation of Tamil intellectuals like A. J. Wilson and  Neelan Tiruchelvam made proposals on District Development Councils. It was the only set of proposals accepted by the Tamil political parties. Tragically, at the DDC elections in the Jaffna District in 1980 the election process was deliberately disrupted by the UNP the governig party which made the Tamil parties disillusioned with the DDC process.

Subsidiarity principle

In the devolution/decentralization of power the universally accepted principle is that of subsidiarity. This is effectively practiced in the European Union and clearly spelled out in the UNITED NATIONS CENTRE FOR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS (Habitat) in its Policy Statement titled TOWARDS A WORLD CHARTER OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT as the basis of the Charter should reside in the principles of subsidiarity and proximity, whereby decisions should be taken at the level closest to the citizens (municipality or town) and that only those tasks which the local level cannot effectively carry out alone should be referred to higher levels. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, public responsibilities shall generally be exercised by those authorities which are closest to the citizen. In the same spirit, any allocation of responsibility to another authority must be based only on the requirements of superior technical or economic efficiency.”

Governance structures should be citizen-centered and the commonality of interest of a community should be a prime consideration in deciding on the territory of a unit of governance. The District is the more homogenous unit with a higher commonality of interest of the inhabitants. Agro-climatic factors, resource endowments, and ethnic compositions are generally less varied within a District than in a larger unit of the Province. Even in the Western Province, in the Districts of Gampaha and Kalutara, the ethnic composition, level of industrialization, agricultural patterns and the overall level of infrastructure development are different. Gampaha is in the coconut triangle and is a fast-industrializing District with a good road network and fast developing infrastructure with an Investment Promotion Zone and an international airport. The economy of the Kalutara District is based mainly on agriculture with smallholder rubber making a substantial contribution to income and employment generation.

The smaller unit also favors direct democracy, higher participation of citizens in decision making, and good governance. Economic activities and social relationships bind the inhabitants of the District. Their problems are similar. The District center is the hub of road networks and communication facilities. In many cases, Districts have had a closer relationship with adjoining districts of different Provinces. Batticaloa and Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee and Anuradhapura are good examples. It does not make sense for a citizen in Ampara to be governed from a provincial capital in Trincomalee, or a Hambantota farmer to be governed by an authority located in Galle when the task could be performed better in the same District with less cost and inconvenience to the citizen.

Although the country has achieved reasonable targets in most millennium development goals, widespread disparities exist at District levels. It is only by a District-based strategy that such disparities can be addressed effectively and without delay. There is more scope for the development of harmonious relationships and the integration of the different communities within a District than in a larger space of a Province.

At present, there are two indeterminate positions held by India and Sri Lanka on the Provincial Councils. The Indian position articulated by the Indian Minister Jaishankar and the Indian representative in the UNHRC is that the 13th Amendment to the constitution should be implemented fully. This means that in addition to the Police and Land Powers given in full to the Provincial Councils, the Northern and Eastern Province should be amalgamated. This condition of India is to create a land area and a population that could demand self-rule and also has the strategic port of Trincomalee under its control. It is ironic that India is calling for more power to the Provinces while withdrawing the application of Article 370 of the Constitution of India to Kashmir which allowed the state a certain amount of autonomy. If India does not have ulterior motives and is concerned about the Tamil people enjoying greater opportunities for them to participate effectively in the decision-making process relating to administrative and development activities at a local level” India should ensure that the proposal for District Councils are accepted. This will be going much beyond the 13th Amendment in power sharing.

Sri Lanka has a mixed population and that is its greatest strength. The character and priorities of districts varied and when clumped together in one Province the weaker districts get submerged. There is a marked difference between Galle and Hambantota or between Jaffna and Mannar. Certainly, there is no commonality between Jaffna and Amparai or Trincomalee. With district self-government, each district will get parity with the others. The units being small will also make them manageable for efficient administration. Management is one of the major deficits in our present system. Communication, mobility and decision making would be considerably faster than in the framework of cumbersome provincial bureaucracies.

The smaller units would additionally enable linguistic, cultural and economic uniformity within their jurisdiction. Development and progress too could be monitored, evaluated and implemented much faster. The commitment and self-reliance of people within the unit would tend to be greater than within a large provincial unit.

Failure of Provincial Councils

The  Conversation with the Village” Gama Samaga Pilisandara’program of President Gotabaya revealed the utter failure of the Provincial Councils to address the existential problems faced by the people in underprivileged villages. All problems that were presented to the President at these meetings were problems within the ambit of the devolved powers of the Provincial Councils. If Provincial Councils were the solution to better serve the people, the President’s meetings with the people clearly demonstrated that it was a not so. Concerned citizens are surprised why such a proven failed structure is to be encumbered on the people at an enormous cost.

National Security

 In any arrangement for power-sharing, which disregards the overarching concerns of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country is an invitation to disaster. Devolution of powers to the District rather than to a Province is less likely to become a threat to the territorial integrity and national security of Sri Lanka. It is relevant to mention that even India has expressed fears of the notion of Eelam as a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India. A relevant excerpt of the Gazette Notice of the Indian Government declaring the LTTE as an unlawful association is produced as follows:

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 14th of May 2019 S.O. 1730(E).

WHEREAS the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (hereinafter referred to as the LTTE), is an association based in Sri Lanka but having its supporters, sympathizers and agents in the territory of India.

AND WHEREAS the LTTE’s objective for a separate homeland (Tamil Eelam) for all Tamils threatens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India and amounts to cession and secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union and thus falls within the ambit of unlawful activities.

AND WHEREAS the LTTE, even after its military defeat in May 2009 in Sri Lanka, has not abandoned the concept of ‘Eelam’ and has been clandestinely working towards the ‘Eelam’ cause by undertaking fund raising and propaganda activities and the remnant LTTE leaders or cadres have also initiated efforts to regroup the scattered activists and resurrect the outfit locally and internationally”.

It is appalling that when India which nurtured the LTTE considers the LTTE to be a secessionist threat, Sri Lanka is attempting to give the separatist a base to continue their subversive activities. In the current context of an ISIS threat, a separate Eastern Province could become a cradle of Islamic extremism.In this context Presidents proposal to give Police and Land powers to the Provincial Councils would be like letting the fox into the hen house. In countries with histories of communal tensions the center retains such key powers in the national interest.

In South Africa there is only one National Commissioner of Police. The Constitution stipulates at Article 207. (1) The President as head of the national executive must appoint a woman or a man as the National Commissioner of the police service, to control and manage the police service.

(2) The National Commissioner must exercise control over and manage the police service in accordance with the national policing policy and the directions of the Cabinet member responsible for policing.

(3) The National Commissioner, with the concurrence of the provincial executive, must appoint a woman or a man as the provincial commissioner for that province, but if the National Commissioner and the provincial executive are unable to agree on the appointment, the Cabinet member responsible for policing must mediate between the parties.

(4) The provincial commissioners are responsible for policing in their respective provinces ­ 1) as prescribed by national legislation; and subject to the power of the National Commissioner to exercise control over and manage the police service in terms of subsection (2) above.

 The transfer of Police powers to the Provinces would end up in Chief Ministers making the police force their private armies. Even today the nexus between provincial politicians and the drug, kasippu and organized crime mafia is well known. Police functions should never be politicised.

The transfer of land powers to provinces is disastrous. Even without land powers the subterfuges employed to abuse land alienation rules by interested parties in Districts like Trincomalee, including illegal encroachment and even setting fire to the land office are on record. In the Northern Province where Thesawalami law prevails the poor sections Of the community and the underprivileged castes would be discriminated against.

Malay majority in Malaysia is 69% and Malay Reserve Land can only be owned and controlled by Malays and it is impossible to be legally released to non-Malays. All Malays are Muslims.

It is high time that in the national interest the government and the opposition revisit this alien enforced 13A and establish District Councils with increase decentralized power with the restriction that districts cannot merge with other districts.

Paul Harris, International journalist and specialist contributor to Jane’s Intelligence in a speech on April 23, 2002 referred to the MOU between the Government and the LTTE and the aftermath as the The Greatest Giveaway in History.” I only hope that the President’s proposal will not turn out to be as bad.

 Sugath Kulatunga