e-Con e-News

So why did a US Navy spy and expert in their ‘Integrated Undersea Surveillance System’ meet our frangible fungible finance minister? What fortunes fee-fi-fo-fum are being sniffed under the sea lanes? Is it coincidence that Sri Lanka this week announced it had finalized ‘oil exploration rules, earmarking 900 offshore blocks’ in the Mannar Basin in northwest Sri Lanka, which ‘may’ hold around $260billion worth of oil & gas resources? The US Navy Sopy appears just as the US is escalating war games in the region (see Random Notes, Japan).

     State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe apparently met ‘Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher, the US National Security Council (NSC)’s South Asia Senior Director’, for matters more mundane: 

the US ‘enjoys effective veto power’ at the IMF….

And the beast must be soothed…

     ‘Any country seeking support from IMF will have to tackle the pressure exerted by the US with regard to the economic reforms,’ editorializes the Daily Mirror. So Semasinghe promised the US Navy spy Laubacher (‘Love’s Baker?’), that Sri Lanka is working ‘to implement IMF-agreed economic and financial reforms’. The US National Security Council Director then sang of the US government’s ‘shared values of democracy’. (Semasinghe was accompanied by Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardhane, and Deputy Treasury Secretaries AK Senevirathne & RMP Rathnayake to assure bureaucratic fealty). Thus it came to pass:

‘Sri Lanka began a fresh austerity drive Monday,
freezing Government recruitment as new taxes
and higher electricity prices kicked in
with authorities trying to secure an IMF bailout…
The IMF has also asked Colombo to trim
its 1.5million-strong public service,
sharply raise taxes
and sell off loss-making State enterprises’.

     The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has also demanded – their IMF loan must fulfill 3 preconditions: making the Central Bank independent, observing the rule of law, and setting an effective anti-corruption machinery.

     Despite all such US threats, the English media can merrily prattle over and over again that it is somehow China, which is blocking the IMF pittance. Then again, this is their job…

• England’s Standard Chartered Bank’s latest ‘global’ report on Sri Lanka sweeps away any pettifoggery about democracy: While declaring ‘Polls could delay IMF deal progress, but won’t cause large deviation from current policies’ they insist: ‘Polls or no polls, the risk of political unrest remains high in 2023.’ They also accused the government of ‘pussyfooting on State-owned Enterprise & other institutional sector reforms’ (Random Notes). So let’s recall: Standard Chartered’s origins are in the Indian opium forced on China, in slavery, in apartheid…

• US Undersea spy Laubacher also met President Ranil Wickremesinghe on January 12. Here again, Laubacher was eager to hear the President elocute correctly in Royal College accents: the US government’s IMF mantra, maritime matters, the narcotics trade… (Ranil may not have mentioned that the flooding of drugs is largely a high-net-worth product of US wars in the region, raging from Afghanistan to their infamous Southeast Asian ‘golden triangle’).

     Laubacher met Minister of Energy Kanchana Wijesekera as well, who sang those global icing tunes of ‘energy & climate goals’, and Foreign Minister Ali Sabry who sang ‘preserve human rights & promote reconciliation’.

     Laubacher was provided cover by US envoy Julie Chung, NSC Director for South Asia Regional Affairs Brian Luti, State Department Director of the Office of Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh Scott Urbom, Embassy Notetaker Daniel Moon, and USAID Acting Country Director Debra Mosel.

• Rear Admiral Laubacher surfaced her submarine in Colombo after dipping into Dhaka for a 4-day visit.

     In Bangladesh, media asked her about the US ‘shifting to democracy & human rights from its war on terror policy.’ Laubacher and other NSC representatives duly visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. The US has provided ~$1.9billion in ‘humanitarian assistance’ to support refugees, blaming ‘the Burmese military’ for ‘this humanitarian crisis’. Rohingya refugee camps are famed recruiting grounds for US mercenaries (recall the USA’s initial covert war on Afghanistan).

England’s Standard Chartered Bank Blames Lanka for Pussyfooting on Selling National Assets

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy and the officials that took part in the discussion with Human Rights Commission were pressurized over the matter with regard to proving continuous electricity supply during the A/L examination, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said.

The Minister said in a twitter post that the Secretary and the officials have informed him that they had been pressurized by two members of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to sign two documents that they did not agree.

The Minister tweeted that the Secretary and the officials were threatened with jail sentences.

He said the officials have already consulted legal opinions on the steps to be taken against the HRC members and has submitted in writing on the events that had taken place.

I have informed the President, yesterday morning and will inform the Constitutional council in writing,” he said.

The CEB officials and Public Utility Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Chairman were summed before the HRCSL and instructed them not to have power cuts until the A/L examination is over.

The Human Rights Commission announced following the meeting that the CEB and PUCSL agreed not have power cuts until the A/L examination is over on February 17.(Ajith Siriwardana)

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has expressed the Cabinet’s willingness to the full implementation of the 13th Amendment.

Speaking at the all-party conference held yesterday (26 Jan.), Wickremesinghe stated that the Cabinet was agreeable to fully implementing the 13th Amendment, unless it is decided by the Party Leaders as to whether or not the Amendment should be abolished.

He noted that he is bound to implement the existing law, as per the Executive powers vested with the President.

Accordingly, the Head of State stated that the 13th Amendment will be implemented, in full, adding that any Member of Parliament has the right to file a private member’s proposal pertaining to the abolishment of the 13th Amendment.

Courtesy Adaderana

The officials who took part in the recent discussion with the Human Rights Council of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) pertaining to the uninterrupted supply of electricity during the 2022 GCE Advanced Level Examination, intend on taking legal action against officials of HRCSL, following the incident where the group was coerced into signing certain documents.

Accordingly, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera stated that the officials who took part in the discussion have already sought legal opinions pertaining to the steps required to be taken against the HRCSL members in question.

Wijesekera added that President Ranil Wickremesinghe too, has been informed of the incident, adding that written submissions of the event that transpired have also been handed over.

Meanwhile, the Minister himself is due to inform the Constitutional Council, in writing, of the incident.

Wijesekera was informed by the Secretary to the Ministry yesterday (26 Jan.) of the incident in which the officials in question, who had taken part in the discussion, had been pressurized into signing two documents by two officials of the HRCSL, after having been threatened with jail sentences.

On Wednesday evening (25 Jan.), the HRCSL convened an urgent meeting with the top officials of the CEB, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) ,the Ministry of Power & Energy and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), during which an agreement was reached not to impose power cuts during this period in order to minimize the inconvenience caused to the students sitting for the exam.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has decided to file a defamation complaint against recent claims made following the inquiry into the uninterrupted supply of electricity during the 2022 GCE Advanced Level Examination.

The complaint was also filed on the grounds of neglect, a statement issued by the HRCSL read, as scheduled power cuts of two hours and 20 minutes continued, despite the agreement decided upon by all parties at the said inquiry – to refrain from imposing power cuts during the period in which the exam will be held.

Accordingly, all relevant documents and certificates were also submitted to the Supreme Court today (27 Jan.), the statement confirmed.

The Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, M. P. D. U. K Mapa, Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), M. S. Illangakoon and the Attorney General have been named as respondents in the complaint.

Earlier today, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijeskera claimed that officials who took part in the discussion intend on taking legal action against officials of HRCSL, following the incident where the group was allegedly coerced into signing certain documents.

He noted that the group have already sought legal opinions pertaining to the steps required to be taken against the HRCSL members in question.

Wijesekera was informed by the Secretary to the Ministry yesterday (26 Jan.) of the incident in which the officials in question, who had taken part in the discussion, had been pressurized into signing two documents by two officials of the HRCSL, after having been threatened with jail sentences.

On Wednesday evening (25 Jan.), the HRCSL convened an urgent meeting with the top officials of the CEB, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) ,the Ministry of Power & Energy and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), during which an agreement was reached not to impose power cuts during period in which the Advanced Level examination is being held, in order to minimize the inconvenience caused to the students sitting for the exam.

The 2022 GCE Advanced Level examination began on 23 January, and is scheduled to go on until 17 February.

Courtesy Adaderana

The gazette notification on the prorogation of the 3rd session of the 9th Parliament has been issued by President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, and will be effective from midnight today (27 Jan.).

Accordingly, President Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to ceremonially inaugurate the 4th session of the 9th Parliament at 10.00 am on 08 February.

It is a tradition for the President to deliver his Government’s Policy Statement at the commencement of a new session of Parliament.

Accordingly, the Policy Statement to be implemented in the country from the 75th Independence celebration in 2023 until the Centenary celebration in 2048, consisting of new policies, new laws and acts proposed to be implemented for the betterment of the country, irrespective of party, colour or caste discrimination, will be presented to Parliament.

Sugath Kulatunga

India is using the carrot and the stick formula to insist on the pound of flesh of the 13^th Amendment to the Sri Lanka Constitution. Big brother turned good samaritan has again raised their persistent demand for the full Implementation of the 13^th Amendment. It is noted that India does not now invoke the infamous Accord as they realize that it is now a dead letter.

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. The Accord was a covert intrusion to impose outrageous conditions on Sri Lanka, which was done through the Exchange of Letters” to coerce a small country to submit to the strategic objectives of India. It was an unwarranted intervention 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 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.

The Book by former High Commissioner of India J. N. Dixit titled ‘Assignment Colombo’ reveals the pressures, threats and the coercion used to get President Jayawardhane to accept the Agreement and its byproduct, the 13^th Amendment. Dixit, who was also a prime mover in this despicable intervention, records the almost unanimous and intense opposition to the Indian proposals by the Cabinet of Ministers. Dixit recounts how the final draft of the Accord was hatched at the India House (Residence of the Indian High Commissioner) between himself and one minister of the Jayawardhane cabinet. When the draft was discussed with the rest of the Cabinet the Cabinet members raised their strong doubts and vehement objections, which were haughtily dismissed by Dixit. He describes with glee how he bludgeoned the Sri Lankan Ministers to submission. He reveals that there was no approval of the Cabinet, which left the decision on it solely to the President.

A few days after the signing of the Accord, in the first public statement made by Prabhakaran on August 4, 1987, he stated very clearly 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.”

Rodney Tasker; Far Eastern Economic Review, Hong Kong, August 13, 1987, pp.8-9, under the caption Rajiv’s gunboat peace”, reported that” Jayewardene has allowed Gandhi to extend Indian hegemony beyond its shores. In an exchange of letters between the two leaders attached to the accord, Jayewardene has granted New Delhi the right to vet his country’s strategic stance – including any foreign military presence on the island.”

This Accord, in the words of the opposition washatched under a veil of secrecy and signed in haste under a nationwide curfew followed by tight press censorship, a ban on meetings and a military presence which prevents people affected by it from expressing their views publicly.” [Far Eastern Economic Review, Aug.13, 1987]. Where is the morality and the justification of the Accord and its derivative the 13^th Amendment. 

Accord was thereafter, approved by the Parliament, which was itself not one elected by a popular vote but continued in power through the device of a highly questionable referendum.

JR used the threat of dissolving the Parliament if the Accord was not accepted.The public opposition to the Accord and the 13^th Amendment was violent and widespread. It is estimated that over 40,000 lives were lost in the government efforts to control the violence in the ensuing years. It cannot be over-stressed here that the LTTE and the major Tamil political parties rejected it outright.

When the 13^th Amendment was challenged in the Supreme Court four out of nine Judges of the Supreme Court, held that the provisions of the 13th amendment were inconsistent with Articles 2, 3, 4 or 9 of the Constitution.

A subsequent statement of a later 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. Specially, 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.

There is no doubt that the inspiration for the 13^th Amendment was derived from the Indian Constitution and under the unequivocal and inauspices intervention of the Indian government. Most Articles and the Schedules so transposed, are identical with those found in the Indian Constitution. According to Dixit (Page 181-‘Assignment Colombo’) the authors of the proposals in the 13^th Amendment were the Indian Ministers Natwar Singh and Chidambaram. There were no discussions with a broad section of the Sri Lanka stakeholders in the formulation of these proposals. The conclusion can only be that the India had a predetermined ‘made in India package’ and was bent on ramming it down the throat of a distraught government of Sri Lanka.

Legal luminaries like H.L.de Silva and R. S. Wanasundera have pointed out that the 13 th Amendment violates the unitary status of the Constitution. Although Tamil parties consider that the 13^th Amendment does not meet Tamil aspirations for self-government it is on record that Rajiv Gandhi, who was the chief architect of the Indo- Sri Lank Accord, had given an assurance to Prabhakaran that ‘the newly-created North-Eastern Province for Tamils will enjoy as much powers as Tamil Nadu enjoys in India.” (Triumph of Truth: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination-Investigation by Kaarthikeyan and Radhavinod Raju Karthikeyan)

The following is an attempt to show that the ‘13^th Amendment goes well beyond the  Indian Constitution.

Some important provisions of the Indian Constitution relating to central government power have been omitted in the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

1. The key provisions of the Indian Constitution on the Center- State relations have been watered down in favor of the Provinces in Sri Lanka.
2. There is more power devolved to the Provinces in Sri Lanka than the power enjoyed by the States of India.

(In the following text, 13^th Amendment refers to the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. The sequence of the comparisons is based on the order of the Articles in the Indian Constitution.)

1.In terms of Article 3 of Indian Constitution the Parliament of India may

(a) Form a new State by separation of territory from any State or by uniting two or more States or parts of States or by uniting any territory to a part of any State;

(b) increase the area of any State;

(c) diminish the area of any State;

(d) alter the boundaries of any State;

(e) alter the name of any State:

This can be done with a simple majority of votes in the Parliament provided that the President seeks the views of the States on the proposal.

2.In the case of Article 154(A) of the 13 ^th Amendment it is mandatory on Sri Lanka to establish a Provincial Council for every Province. The Parliament of Sri Lanka can join one or more Provinces but cannot resort to other options as provided for in the Indian Constitution. For example boundaries of a Province cannot be altered even with the concurrence of the Provinces affected.

3.Article 44 of the Indian Constitution requires the (Indian) State to endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India. The 13^th Amendment to the Sri Lanka Constitution has no such requirement, the absence of which could lead to many legal tangles.

4.Article 76 (3) of the Indian Constitution gives the Attorney General of India, the right of audience in the performance of his duties in all courts of India.

The 13A Amendment has no such provisiArticle

• 136 of the Indian Constitution enables the Supreme Court, in its discretion, to grant special leave to appeal from any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order in any cause or matter passed or made by any court or tribunal in the territory of India.

 In 13 A (Article 154 P (6) the right of appeal is to the Court     of Appeal.

6. Article 139 A of the Indian Constitution empowers the Supreme Court, in cases where questions of substantial and general importance are involved to withdraw cases pending before High Courts and dispose of the cases by itself.

The Supreme Court may, transfer any case, appeal or other proceedings pending before any High Court to any other High Court.

13^th Amendment does not have any such provisions.

7. Article 141 of the Indian Constitution stipulates that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India.

 There is no parallel provision in the 13^th Amendment.

8. Article 141 (1) of the Indian Constitution enables the Supreme Court to pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, and any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India.

There is no parallel provision in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

9. Power of the Central Government under the Constitutions of both India and Sri Lanka are vested in the post of Governor and exercised by him where necessary in consultation with the President.

As per Article 156. (1) of the Indian Constitution, the Governor appointed to an Indian State shall hold office during the pleasure of the President.

In the 13th Amendment, Under Article 154B (4) (a) a Provincial Council, with the approval of a two thirds majority of the members of the Council, may present an address to the President advising the removal of the Governor on the ground that the Governor

• Has intentionally violated the provisions of the Constitution.
• (ii) is guilty of misconduct or corruption involving the abuse of the powers of his office; or
• (iii) is guilty of bribery of an offence involving moral turpitude.

This power vested with a Provincial is not conducive to independent action by the Governor, particularly as an offence of misconduct and abuse of power are subject to wide interpretation. 

Sarkaria Commission on Centre State Relations, appointed by the Government of India, chaired by Justice R. S. Sarkaria, published in the year 1988, states that While discharging his role as a constitutional sentinel and a vital link between the Union and the State, the Governor may have incurred the displeasure of the political executive in the State. Therefore, the removal of a Governor through the process of impeachment by the State Legislature or in pursuance of a written request from the Chief Minister, following a resolution of the Legislative Assembly, may not ensure objectivity and impartiality”.

10. Article 165. (1) of the Indian Constitution requires that the Governor of each State shall appoint a person who is qualified to be appointed a Judge of a High Court to be Advocate-General for the State.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Advocate-General to give advice to the Government of the State upon legal matters. Article 177 empowers the Advocate-General for a State the right to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, the Legislative Assembly of the State.

There is no parallel provision in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

11. By Article 192 (1) of the Indian Constitution the Governor is vested with the power of deciding on whether a member of a House of the Legislature of a State has become subject to any disqualifications mentioned in clause (1) of article 191 and his decision on the matter shall be final.

There is no parallel provision in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

12. Reference Article 203 (3) of the Indian Constitution a Legislative Assembly in a Province cannot demand a money grant except on the recommendation of the Governor.

There is no such role for the Governor in a Province in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka but has been introduced by Article 26 (3) of the Provincial Council Act No 42 of 1987.

13. Article 205 of the Indian Constitution requires that the Governor present Supplementary Budgets to the Legislative Assembly.

There is no parallel provision in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, but has been introduced by Article 26 (3) of the Provincial Council Act No 42 of 1987.

14.  Reference Article 207 of the Indian Constitution a Money Bill cannot be introduced in a Legislative Assembly without the recommendation of the Governor.

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka does not give such a power to the Governor but has been introduced by Article 26 (3) of the Provincial Council Act No 42 of 1987.

15. Reference Article 211 of the Indian Constitution, no discussion shall take place in the Legislature of a State with respect to the conduct of any Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court in the discharge of his duties.

There is no such provision in the 13^th Amendment. 

16. Reference Article 213 of the Indian Constitution the Governor, under certain circumstances is empowered to promulgate ordinances.

There is no parallel provision in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

17. Under Article 222 of the Indian Constitution 222 it is the President who may, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, transfer a Judge from one High Court to any other High Court.

Reference Article 154P (2) of the 13^th Amendment the transfer of Judges is vested in the Chief Justice.

18 Article 6[239AA of the Indian Constitution provides for the creation of a Capital Territory which does not come under any State.

There is no parallel provision in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

19. Reference Article 243 of the Indian Constitution, a number of institutions for the empowerment of the people at sub State level shall be constituted in every State. These are

i). Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels.

ii) Finance Commission to review the financial position of the Panchayats and Municipalities,

iii) Nagar Panchayats

iv) Wards Committees, within Municipalities.

v) District Planning Committee to consolidate the plans prepared by the Panchayats and Municipalities.

Under the Indian constitution it is a mandatory requirement that the States establish the village level Panchayats for people’s participation in governance. The Indian Constitution devotes a whole chapter to the subject of Panchayats. In the 13^th Amendment it is relegated to a mere subject in the Provincial Council List, thus vitiating the very rationale of empowerment of the people.

In the 13^th Amendment, there is provision in Item 4.4 in the List of Subjects in the Provincial Council List, for the establishment of Gramodaya Mandalayas, with the powers vested in them under existing law. It will be open to a Provincial Council to confer additional powers on Gramodaya Mandalayas.

There is no constitutional compulsion on the Provincial Councils to implement even the current dubious Gramodaya Mandala Scheme.

The wording of Item 4.4 does not allow any change in the form and the structure of the village level institution. It is on record that no Gramodaya Mandala in the country is active at present. 

20. Residual Powers

Reference Article 248 (1) of the Indian Constitution, Parliament has exclusive power to make any law with respect to any matter not enumerated in the Concurrent List or State List and such power shall include the power of making any law imposing a tax not mentioned in either of those Lists.

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka has the following vague provision.

154 G (10) Nothing in this Article shall be read or construed as derogating from the powers conferred on Parliament by the Constitution to make laws, in accordance with the Provisions of the Constitution (inclusive of this Chapter), with respect to any matter, for the whole of Sri Lanka or any part thereof.

21. Under Article 249 (1) of the Indian Constitution 249. (1) if the Council of States has declared by resolution supported by not less than two thirds of the members present, that in the national interest it is necessary that Parliament should make laws with respect to any matter in the State List it shall be lawful for Parliament to make laws for the whole or any part of the territory of India with respect to that matter, while the resolution remains in force and shall remain in force for such period not exceeding one year as may be specified therein:

22. In terms of Article 154 G (2) of the 13^th Amendment even if one Provincial Council does not (b) agree to an amendment or repeal of the provisions of the 13^th Amendment or the Ninth Schedule (Provincial Council List) such a Bill has to be passed in Parliament by the special majority required by Article 82 of the Constitution.

23. Article 250. (1 of the Indian Constitution) vests the power in the Parliament, while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, to make laws for the whole or any part of the territory of India with respect to any of the matters enumerated in the State List. Such law would be valid for a period of six months after the Proclamation has ceased to operate and any law made by a State repugnant to the extent to the law made by Parliament shall be inoperative.

There is no provision in the 13th Amendment on vesting in the Parliament the power to make laws on matters in the State List when a Proclamation is made under the Public Security Ordinance.

 However, during the continuance in force of a Proclamation issued in the event of Failure of administrative machinery under paragraph (1) of Article 154L of the 13^th Amendment, laws can be made by Parliament or the President or other authority referred to in sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (1) of, Article 154 M (2) but they can be amended or repealed by the Provincial Council without a time bar.

24. Article 254 of the Indian Constitution empowers the Parliament to enact at any time any law with respect to a law made by a State on the same matter including a law adding to, amending, varying or repealing the law so made by the Legislature of the State.

In terms of 154G(5)(a) of the 13^th Amendment, Parliament may make laws with respect to any matter set out in “the Concurrent List”) only after such consultation with all Provincial Councils as Parliament may consider appropriate in the circumstances of each case. In the case of India there is no requirement for consultation with the States.

25. Under Article 257 of the Indian Constitution, the executive power of the Union shall also extend to the giving of directions to a State as to the construction and maintenance of means of communication declared in the direction to be of national or military importance:

There is no parallel provision in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

26. Under Article 258 (1) of the Indian Constitution the President may, with the consent of the Government of a State, entrust either to that Government or to its officers, functions to which the executive power of the Union extends.

Neither the President nor the Parliament of Sri Lanka has parallel powers under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

27. Under Article 258 A of the Indian Constitution the Governor of a State may, with the consent of the Government of India, entrust to that Government or to its officers functions to which the executive power of the State extends.]

The Governor of a Province in Sri Lanka has no parallel power.

28. Reference Article 263 of the Indian Constitution, the President may establish a Council to inquire into and advise upon disputes between States and also recommend better co-ordination of policy and action in respect to that subject,

There is no parallel provision in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

29. Under Article 280 (2) of the Indian Constitution it is left to the Parliament  to determine by law the qualifications which shall be requisite for appointment as members of the Finance Commission and the manner in which they shall be selected.

30. Under Article 154 R of the 13th Amendment there is the requirement that the three unofficial members should represent the three major communities.

31. Reference Article 302 of the Indian Constitution, Parliament may impose such restrictions on the freedom of trade, commerce or intercourse between one State and another or within any part of the territory of India as may be required in the public interest.

In the 13th Amendment, inter Province Trade and Commerce is a Subject in the Reserved List, but no specific power is given to impose restrictions on the freedom trade within any part of Sri Lanka. For example the Center may not impose restrictions on inter District trade or commerce within a Province.

32. Under Article 312 of the Indian Constitution, Parliament may create all India services [(including an all-India judicial service)] common to the Union and the States.

At present the All India Services are the Judicial Service, Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and the Indian Forest Service. The officers of the All India Services are recruited and trained by the Union Government (“the Centre”).

There is no parallel provision in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

The objective of the framers of the Indian Constitution in providing for the Scheme of All India Services was:

1. facilitating liaison between the Union and the States,
2. ensuring a certain uniformity in administration,
3. enabling the administrative machinery at the Union level to keep in touch with the realities at the field in the States,
4. helping the State administrative machinery to acquire a wide outlook and obtain the best possible training and experience for its senior post holders.
5. ensuring that political considerations either in recruitment or in discipline and control are reduced to the minimum, if not eliminated altogether.

     (Sarkaria Commission Report Part I-page 219, section 8.9.07)

With reference to the All India Services, the Administrative Reforms Commission of India, (1969), confirmed that:

1. All India recruitment makes possible minimum and uniform standards of administration throughout the country. It enables the induction of the best available talent to these services.
2. With personnel drawn form different States, each State cadre gets a leavening of senior officers from outside, whose vision and outlook transcend local horizons.
3. Systemic deputation from the State to the Union broadens the vision of the officers so deputed and brings to the Union an experience of closeness to actual realities.

In response to requests by a few States to do away with the All India Services, the Sarkaria Commission observed that it would be retrograde step for a State to opt out of the All India Service Scheme and it will be harmful to the larger interest of the country. Such a step is sure to encourage parochial tendencies and undermine the integrity, cohesion, efficiency, and coordination of the country as a whole”.

33. Under Article 315 (4) of the Indian Constitution, the Public Service Commission for the Union, if requested to do so by the Governor of a State, may, with the approval of the President, agree to serve all or any of the needs of the State.

34. Reference Article 315 (1) of the Indian Constitution there shall be a Public Service Commission for the Union and a Public Service Commission for each State.

There is no provision in the 13th Amendment for the establishment of Provincial Public Service Commissions. However under Article 33 of the Provincial Act No 47 of 1987 there is the following provision.

(1) There shall be a Provincial Public Service Commission for each Province which shall consist of not less than three persons appointed by the Governor of that Province. The Governor shall nominate one of the members of the Commission to be the Chairman.

Moreover, unlike in the Indian Constitution there is no stipulation on the qualifications of the members of the Commission.

Under Article 315 (4) of the Indian Constitution the Public Service Commission for the Union, if requested so to do by the Governor of a State, may, with the approval of the President, agree to serve all or any of the needs of the State.

There is no parallel provision even in the Provincial Act of 1987.

35. Article 316. (1) of the Indian Constitution stipulates that one-half of the members of every Public Service Commission shall be persons who should, at the dates of their respective appointments held office for at least ten years either under the Government of India or under the Government of a State.

The Provincial Act of 1987 does not specify such a qualification for members of Provincial Councils.

36. Under Article 345 of the Indian Constitution Legislature of a State may by law adopt any one or more of the languages in use in the State or Hindi as the language or languages to be used for all or any of the official purposes of that State: and in terms of Article  347,on a demand being made in that behalf the President may, if he is satisfied that a substantial proportion of the population of a State desire the use of any language spoken by them to be recognized by that State, direct that such language shall also be officially recognized throughout that State or any part thereof for such purpose as he may specify.

But in terms of the Indo- Sri Lanka Accord, Article 18 of the Constitution was amended to make Tamil also an official language for the whole of the Island.

 37.  Under Emergency Provisions, Article 352 of the Indian Constitution, the President is empowered to make a Proclamation which remains valid for one month unless before the expiration of that period, it has been approved by resolutions of both Houses of Parliament:

Under Article 154 L (3) of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka such a Proclamation under the Public Security Act will cease to operate at the expiration of fourteen days, unless before the expiration of that period it has been approved by a resolution of Parliament:

36. Under Article 356 of the Indian Constitution, in a situation where the Government of a State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution, The President may (a) assume to himself all or any of the functions of the Government of the State and all or any of the powers vested in or exercisable by the Governor or any body or authority in the State other than the Legislature of the State;

(b) declare that the powers of the Legislature of the State shall be exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament;

(c) make such incidental and consequential provisions as appear to the President to be necessary or desirable for giving effect to the objects of the Proclamation, including provisions for suspending in whole or in part, the operation of any provisions of this Constitution relating to any body or authority in the State:

Under 154(L) in the 13th Amendment of the SL Constitution under a similar situation the President may by Proclamation –

(a) assume to himself all or any of the functions of the administration of the Province and all or any of the powers vested in, or exercisable by, the Governor or any body or authority in the Province other than the Provincial Council;

(b) declare that the powers of the Provincial Council shall be exercisable by, or under the authority of Parliament;

But the 13^th Amendment does not empower the President to suspend the operation of provisions of the Constitution relating to any body or authority in the State, which the President of India can do under Article 356 sub section (1c) quoted above.

Moreover a Proclamation made by the President of Sri Lanka unless approved by the Parliament is valid only for 14 days whereas, such a Proclamation made by the President of India is valid for two months before it is submitted to Parliament. 

While adopting verbatim certain relevant Articles of the Indian Constitution the authors of the 13^th Amendment have ignored not only the non compatibility of the scales of the population and physical areas between the peripheral units of the sub continent and the island, but also ignored the fundamental differences in the structure of government in India and Sri Lanka.

It is clear that the effort of the ghost writers of the13th Amendment was to provide self government in the areas of historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil speaking peoples” and not for the devolving of power to the people of the whole of Sri Lanka.

The fact that Sri Lanka has an Executive President elected by the popular vote of all citizens of the land has not been taken into account in the imposition of these extraneous constitutional provisions. While the President of Sri Lanka can dissolve the Parliament after one year, without adducing reasons he cannot dissolve a Provincial Council! It can be done by the Governor of the Province and only on the advice of the Chief Minister of the Province. This is a clear derogation of the powers of the Sri Lanka President vis a vis the powers enjoyed by the Indian President under that Constitution.

The bicameral structure of the Legislature of the Indian State provides a desirable check on hasty legislation and promotes good governance. In the absence of a second chamber, a Provincial Council becomes the sole governing power in the Province.    

Parties which advocate the case for more powers than now enjoyed under the 13^th Amendment to Provincial Councils, especially to the North and East, argue that the Tamil Community has agitated for self government for a prolonged period and made immense sacrifices including thousands of lives. The same argument, multiplied several fold, can be adduced by the majority community which was immensely traumatized during three decades of brutal terrorism, which needlessly crippled the economic and social development of the country as a whole for an extended period of time.

 The pertinent and valid question that is being posed by concerned citizens at this critical juncture is the rationale for devolving more power to the Provinces when the powers now enjoyed by them transcend by far the powers given to the States in India under the Indian Constitution. The pressing need is to re-examine the whole issue of power sharing in the context of the current radically changed social and political environment of the country, focusing on empowering the people of the entirety of Sri Lanka on the basis of principles of subsidiarity, rather than succumbing to importunate external pressures promoting fantastic mythical claims to territorial exclusivity and hegemonic governance.

The 13^th Amendment was an Indian solution intended to appease the LTTE and Tamilnadu. As stated by Dixit it addressed the security concerns of India and to suppress the revival of Tamil secessionism in India. Dixit admits that India was also concerned with the LTTE ideology of Greater Eelam” including Tamil Nadu, of which India had documentary evidence (Page 335,Assignment -Colombo).

The Indian solution was riveted on the issues of the North and the East. The unit of devolution was made the Province and a combined Northeast Province was created to correspond to the ‘traditional homeland. From the time of British rule when the number of Provinces was increased and thereafter when the functions of Provincial Administration were redistributed to Districts, and when the number of Districts was increased there was a progressive commitment to make the District the unit of decentralized administration. Key institutions such as the District Coordination Committee, District Agriculture Committee were based at the District as the center. The concept of Provincial Councils smuggled into the country through the Accord was not based on the principals of subsidiarity, nor with a view to catalyze development. The only purpose was to justify the homeland concept.   

The impact of its application island wide was not taken into account and today the Provincial Council system has become a white elephant. It has not brought democracy closer to the people. There is no further need to explain the utter disillusion of the people with the Provincial Councils when they cannot even ensure an error free question paper for a term test in schools under them.

Finding a lasting solution to the national problem should not be beyond the ingenuity of the Sri Lankan nation, which amply displayed an incomparable leadership, resourcefulness and determination to win the war against the brutal terrorism, which held the nation to ransom for over three decades. Such a solution’ needs to avoid the stereotyped solutions oversold by conflict resolution” experts. It should also not be a short- term knee-jerk response like the Indian solution. It should be based on a long -term vision, have legitimacy and meet the aspirations of all Sri Lankans and ensure nation building and be geared to transform the Sri Lanka State to deal with the contemporary challenges of rapid social and economic development.

The past transgressions of India should not be a constraint on renewing a dialogue with India on the 13A. At present one aspect to the advantage of Sri Lanka is that this tendentious proposal was an imperious act of the Gandhi era. The other is that BJP is not dependent too much on Tamil Nadu for power.

Sugath Kulatunga

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

මෑත කාලයේ සමාජ ජාල වල අවස්ථා කිහිපයකදී ම මත ගැටුම් ඇතිකරගත් පූජ්‍ය සිරි සමන්තභද්‍ර හිමියන් සහ කිරුලපන ධම්ම විජය හිමියන් අතර විවාදාත්මක සාකච්ඡාවක් අන්තර්ජාල නාලිකාවක පැවැත්විය.

සංගීත ශිල්පී ඉරාජ් වීරරත්න මහතා විසින් තම අන්තර්ජාල නාලිකාව ඔස්සේ එයා සංවිධානය කර තිබින.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

මහරගම තළපත්පිටියේ ස්ථාපිත කළ කෘෂිකර්ම පර්යේෂණ නිලධාරීන්ගේ ජාතික සංගමයේ මූලස්ථාන ගොඩනැගිල්ල වීවෘත කිරීමට 2023.01.25 දින  එක් වෙමින්  අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය වරයා මේ බව සඳහන් කළේය.

මෙහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක් වූ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය වරයා –

 මිනිස්සු ඉන්න රටක අප කාගේත් කෘතවේදිත්වය කෘෂිකර්ම පර්යේෂණ නිලධාරීන්ට  පළකළ යුතු වෙනවා.  අපේ රට ආහාරයෙන් ස්වයංපෝෂිත වීමට, සහලින් ස්වයංපෝෂිත වීමට කෘෂිකර්ම පර්යේෂණ නිලධාරීන්  රටපුරා  ගම් දනවු   හරහා ගමන් කරමින් අපේ රටට ලබා දෙන ශක්තිය සහයෝගය අගය කරනවා. අළුත් දෑ එකතු කරන්න, අළුත් අත්දැකීම් හඳුනාගන්න, අළුතින් ඇතිවන  ගැටලු හඳුනාගෙන ඒවාට  ලබා දෙන විසඳුම් පිළිබඳව ගොවි ජනතාව සමග ක්‍රියා කරන්නට පුළුවන්කම ඔවුන් ඇති කළා.  

 1983 දී මේ අවට තිබුණ ඔක්කොම ඉඩම් එක ගැසට් එකකින් රජයට අරගත්තා. ගැසට් හතර පහක් පාවිච්චි කළේ නැහැ. අද පරම්පරාව දන්නෙ නැති උණත් මෙතන ඉන්න පැරණි අයට මතකයි මේ ඔක්කොම ඉඩම් ගත්තා එහා පැත්තේ තිබෙන පාර්ලිමේන්තුව හදන්න.  මේ වෙල්යාය රජ දවසේ ඉඳලා ඉතිහාස කතාවක් තියෙන වෙල් යායක්. මේ වෙල්යාය මෙතන ඉඳලා එහා පැත්තේ කැලණි ගඟ දක්වා පැතිරෙනවා. එහෙම වෙල්යාය ගොඩවී පුරන් වී තිබුණු කාලයක් තිබුණා. ඒ වගේම ජලය එකතු වෙන්නෙත් නැතුව තිබුණු පුරන් වූ භූමි යළි අස්වද්දන්න ඔබතුමාලා සහයෝගය දැක්වූවා. නව සංවර්ධන සංකීර්ණයන් මේ අවට ඉදිවුනා. ඒ නිසා විශාල සම්පත් ප්‍රමාණයක් එකතු වුණා.

දෙවෙනි ලෝක යුද්ධයේදී ජපානය  ඇති කළ ගැටුම් සමනය කිරීම පිළිබඳව ඇමරිකාවේ සැන්ෆ්‍රැන්සිස්කෝ නුවර සමුළුවක් තිබ්බා. ඒ සමුළුවට සහභාගී වූ  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ   මුදල් අමාත්‍ය  ජේ. ආර්. ජයවර්ධන මහතා  ලෝකයට කියා සිටියේ ″අපට කිසිවෙකුගෙන් පළි ගන්නට අවශ්‍ය නෑ. දෙවන ලෝක යුද්ධය අවසානයි.   සියලු දෙනා සමගියෙන් අපේ රටවල් ගොඩනගනිමු” කියලා. මේක තමයි ජපානය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට දක්වන විදේශ ප්‍රතිපත්තියේ තියෙන පළවෙනි සාධකය.

ඒ අනුව ජේ ආර් ජයවර්ධන මැතිතුමා ජනාධිපති උණාට පස්සේ ජපන් ආණ්ඩුව කිව්වා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට විතරක් නෙවෙයි ජපානයටත් සහයෝගය දැක්වූ ඔබතුමා වෙනුවෙන් අපි ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලබා දිය හැකි සෑම සහයෝගයක්ම ලබා දෙනවා කියලා. මේ එහා පැත්තේ තියෙන ජපන් රෝහල  ඉදිවුණේ ඒ අනුවයි.

 ඒ වෙනකොට මම මහරගම මන්ත්‍රීවරයා ලෙස විවෘත කිරීමේ උත්සවයට සහභාගි වුණා.  ජපන් අගමැතිතුමා ජේ. ආර් ජයවර්ධන ජනාධිපති තුමාගෙන් ඇහුවා   රෝහලේ කොයිතරම් ඇඳන් තිබිය යුතුයි ද කියලා. ඔබලාගේ ලොකුම රෝහලේ තියෙන ඇඳන් ප්‍රමාණය කොපමණද කියලා ජනාධිපතිතුමා ඇහුවා. ඔහු කිව්වේ 1000 කියලා. එහෙනම්  ඇඳන්1001ක් කරන්න කියලා කිව්වා. ඒ නිසා ඇදන් 1001 ක් තියෙන රෝහලක්  ජපානය ලංකාවට ලබා දුන්නා. ඇයි එකක් ජපාන අගමැති තුමාගේ ප්‍රශ්නයට ජනාධිපතිතුමා කිව්වේ ඒක මට කියලයි. කොයිතරම් විශ්වාසයෙන් අපේ රටට අත හිත දෙන දියුණු රටවල් තියෙනවද. පසුව මේ ප්‍රදේශයේ තරුණ සේවා සභාව ඇතුළු ව්‍යාපෘති රාශියකට ජපානය ඒකාබද්ධ වුණා.

ජපානය කියන රට සහල් ගොවිතැන අතහරින්නෙ නෑහැ.   ජාතික ආර්ථිකයේ ආඩම්බරය හැටියට වැඩි වියදමක් ගියත් ජපන් ගොවියා ආරක්ෂා කරනවා. ජපානය ගොවියාව ආරක්ෂා  කරන්න දියුණු වගා ක්‍රම මෙන්ම  සුරක්ෂිත ක්‍රම භාවිතා කරනවා. ඒ නිසා ජපානය කෘෂිකර්මාන්තය අතින් ඉතාම දියුණු අවස්ථාවකට  පැමිණ තිබෙනවා.

රජය හැටියට ගොවි  ජනතාව සමඟ සමීප මතයක් තිබෙන නිසා ගෙන ඇති තීරණය  රට  ආහාරයෙන් ස්වයංපෝෂිත කිරීමයි. ගොඩනැගිලි, වෙන වෙන යාන වාහන ගැන කතා කරත් ඒ හැම දෙයක්ම නවත්තලා ගොවි ජනතාව කෙරෙහි විස්වාසය තබා තිබෙන්නේ.  අපේ රටේ කොඳු නාරටිය යළි ගොඩනගමින්   ආහාරයෙන් ස්වයංපෝෂිත වන දේශයක් කරා ගමන් කිරීමට රට පුරා විසිරී සිටින  සියළු  නිලධාරීන් එකතු වී සිටිනවා. ගොවි බැංකු පන්සියයකට අධික ප්‍රමාණයක් රටේ තිබෙනවා. එයට ලබා දියහැකි සහයෝගය ගැන රජයේ අයවැය ලේඛනය වෙලාවෙත් විශේෂ සාකච්ඡාවක් පවත්වා ඔබතුමාලගේ අදහස් විමසුවා.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට ගොවිජන සේවා කොමසාරිස් ජනරාල් ඒ. එච්. එම්. එල් අබේරත්න මහතා ඇතුළු නිලධාරීන් රැසක් සහභාගී වූහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

 ආර්ථිකය පුනර්ජීවනය කිරීම සඳහා සිදු කරන ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ කඩිනම් කිරීමට සහ දුෂ්කර අවස්ථාවන්  හිදී සිදු කරන බදු වැඩිකිරීම් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට ශ්‍රී ලාංකේය නායකත්වය විසින් ප්‍රදර්ශනය කරන දේශපාලන අධිෂ්ඨානය ඉතා අගය කළ යුතු බව ජ්‍යාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ (IMF) විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂ ආචාර්ය ක්‍රිෂ්ණමූර්ති සුබ්‍රමනියන් පවසයි.

 2023.01.26 දින කොළඹ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලයේ දී අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා හමුවූ ආචාර්ය සුබ්‍රමනියන් මහතා පැවසුවේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සඳහා වන ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල් සහන පැකේජයට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව විසින් සපුරාලිය යුතු අවශ්‍යතා සියල්ලම පාහේ සම්පූර්ණකර ඇති අතර ප්‍රධාන ණය දෙන රටවල අවසාන සහතික කිරීම් සිදු කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව අදාල  ක්‍රියාවලිය අවසන් වනු ඇති බවයි.

 2018 සිට 2021 දක්වා ඉන්දීය රජයේ ප්‍රධාන ආර්ථික උපදේශක ලෙස කටයුතු කළේ ආචාර්ය සුබ්‍රමනියන් මහතායි.  අපි ඔබ වෙනුවෙන් සෘජුව ඉදිරියට ක්‍රීඩා කරන අතර අවශ්‍ය විටෙක, අපි කවර් ඩ්‍රයිව් ද ක්‍රීඩා කරනනෙමු යැයි ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාව ආශ්‍රිත වාග් මාලාවෙන් ඒ මහතා මෙහිදී සඳහන් කළේය.

රට මුහුණ දී ඇති පෙර නොවූ විරූ ආර්ථික අභියෝගවලට මුහුණ දීම සඳහා  දේශීය ඉල්ලුමට සරිලන පරිදි සහ අපනයනය වෙනුවෙන් කෘෂිකාර්මික නිෂ්පාදන ඉහළ නැංවීමට රජය  ගෙන ඇති පියවර පිළිබඳව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා  මෙහිදී IMF නියෝජිත පිරිස දැනුවත් කළේය.

අත්‍යවශ්‍ය නොවන ආනයන අඩු කිරීමට සහ අපනයන නිෂ්පාදන ඉහළ නැංවීමට ගෙන ඇති ක්‍රියාමාර්ග  මෙන්ම සමාජයේ දුප්පත්ම කොටස් සඳහා සුබසාධනයේ අවශ්‍යතාවය අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා අවධාරණය කළේය.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා පෙන්වා දුන් පරිදි  ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමට සහ ආර්ථිකය පුනර්ජීවනය කිරීමට සැලසුම් සකස් කිරීමේදී ආර්ථික වශයෙන් අවදානමට ලක්විය හැකි කණ්ඩායම් සඳහා ආරක්‍ෂිත දැලක් අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වන බව ද ආචාර්ය සුබ්‍රමනියන් මහතා පැවසීය. කෙසේ වෙතත්, රාජ්‍ය අංශයට අවම වශයෙන් වැටුප් සහතික කර ඇති නමුත් තවත් බොහෝ දෙනෙකුට ආදායම් මාර්ග අහිමි වී ඇති බැවින් කැපකිරීම් කිරීමට සූදානම් විය යුතු බව ද ඔහු අවධාරණය කළේය.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක, ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ විකල්ප විධායක අධ්‍යක්ෂවරයා වන මහ බැංකුවේ නියෝජ්‍ය අධිපති ආචාර්ය චන්ද්‍රනාත් අමරසේකර, අධ්‍යක්ෂ ආචාර්ය පී. කේ. ජී. හරිස්චන්ද්‍ර සහ මහ බැංකුවේ ආර්ථික පර්යේෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ නියෝජ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂ ආචාර්ය වී. ඩී වික්‍රමාරච්චි යන මහත්වරු ද මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගි වූහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, January 26 (Prime Minister’s office): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Director Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian has said that the political will displayed by the Sri Lankan leadership to speed up reforms and implement difficult tax increases in order to revive the economy deserves appreciation.

Dr Subramanian, who called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo on Thursday said that almost all the requirements for the IMF relief package for Sri Lanka have been completed and the moment the final assurances from major lending countries is completed, the process would be finalized.

We will bat for you,” the IMF Executive Director said using cricket jargon. We play forward with a straight drive for you and whenever necessary, we play cover drives too,” said Dr Subramanian who was Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India from 2018 to 2021.

The Prime Minister briefed the IMF delegation about the steps taken by the government to face the unprecedented economic challenges faced by the country and to enhance agricultural production to meet local demand and also for export.

While elaborating the measures taken to reduce non-essential imports and increase export production, he stressed the need for ensuring the welfare of the poorest segments of the society.

Dr Subramanian said as the Prime Minister pointed out a safety net for economically vulnerable groups is an essential requirement when plans are formulated to restructure debts and revive the economy.

However, he emphasized that the public sector should be ready to make sacrifices as they are at least assured of salaries, while many others have lost their sources of income.

Secretary to the Prime Minister, Anura Dissanayake, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Dr Chandranath Amarasekara, who is an IMF Alternate Executive Director, Dr. P K G Harischandra, Director and Dr. V D Wickramarachchi, Deputy Director of Economic Research Department of the Central Bank also took part in the discussion.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani who has his businesses in several countries including investments in Sri Lanka’s wind and renewable energy sector, has been accused of pulling off the ‘largest con in corporate history’ through the Indian-based Adani Group Corporation. 

US investor Hindenburg Research, which has begun short selling the conglomerate through bonds, conducted a two-year probe against head Gautam Adani, who is worth $125 billion. 

The firm alleges that Adani and his family controlled a web of offshore shell accounts that it used to carry out corruption, money laundering and taxpayer theft, all while siphoning money from the companies they owned. 
Adani has pulled off this gargantuan feat with the help of enablers in government and a cottage industry of international companies that facilitate these activities,’ the firm wrote in its report published Tuesday. 

The Adani Group immediately denied the claims and expressed their shock at the allegations which cost the company $12billion in market value and saw its flagship firm Adani Enterprises fall nearly 4 percent on Wednesday.
In its scathing report, Hindenburg questioned how the Adani Group used its offshore entities in tax havens like Mauritius, the Caribbean Islands, and the United Arab Emirates, adding that certain offshore funds and shell companies tied to the group ‘surreptitiously’ own stock in Adani-listed firms, according to UK’s Daily Mail.

The short seller alleged that at least 28 of the shell entities were operated by Adani’s older brother, Vinod, or his ‘close associates,’ as Hindenburg highlighted Indian officials’ investigation into fraud allegations against the group. 
According to the officials in those investigations, Vinod would move money from offshore entities into private offshore trusts and companies owned by the family. That money would then go to the entities in Mauritius before being used to invest in Adani Group stocks.

‘If the Adani Group secretly controls significant amounts of publicly traded stock without disclosure, the resultant share price of Adani listed companies could be easily manipulated to meet the immediate needs of the Adani Group,’ Hindenburg concluded. 

The alleged money laundering would not only allow the conglomerate to manipulate stock, but it would also allow its companies to ‘maintain the appearance of financial health and solvency’ despite their debt, the short seller added.  

Hindenburg said that key listed Adani companies had ‘substantial debt,’ which has put the entire group on a ‘precarious financial footing.’

The short seller asserted that shares in seven Adani listed companies have an 85 percent downside on a fundamental basis due to what it called ‘sky-high valuations’.

The report also highlighted that the Adani Group has been the subject of four government investigations, alleging that the conglomerate illegally benefited from government tax credit programs.   

The research report, Hindenburg said, was based on an investigation over two years that involved speaking with dozens of individuals, including former Adani Group executives as well as a review of documents.

The Adani Group dismissed the US short-seller’s claims as baseless, saying it was timed to damage its reputation ahead of a large share offering.

Adani Enterprises is set to launch India’s biggest public secondary share offering on Friday, aiming to raise $2.5billion to fund capital expenditure and pay off some debt. 

Adani Group’s Chief Financial Officer, Jugeshinder Singh, said in a statement the company was shocked by the report, calling it a ‘malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations.’

‘The Group has always been in compliance with all laws,’ the company said, without addressing specific allegations made by Hindenburg.

‘The timing of the report’s publication clearly betrays a brazen, mala fide intention to undermine the Adani Group’s reputation with the principal objective of damaging the upcoming follow-on Public Offering from Adani Enterprises,’ it added.

Along with the dip in Adani Enterprises, shares in Adani Transmission fell 9 percent, Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone slipped 6.3 percent. Adani’s fledgling ACC cement firm fell by more than 8 percent. 

On bond markets, US dollar-denominated bonds issued by Adani Green Energy dropped nearly 15 cents to just under 80 cents on the dollar, Tradeweb data showed. 

International bonds issued by Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone, Adani Transmission and Adani Electricity Mumbai saw similar declines.

The dips reflected Hindenburg’s findings. The short-seller is a prominent research firm best known for its report taking down electric car maker Nikola.  

Hindenburg described the company as being built on ‘dozens of lies,’ leading to Nikola founder Trevor Milton stepping down as chairman and found guilty of securities fraud. 

Nitin Chanduka, a Singapore-based analyst told Bloomberg: ‘These are renowned short sellers. Their track record has been strong, with recent allegations against Nikola Corp. leading to a 40 percent drop in share prices.’

Chanduka said if the allegations pan out, it could result in ‘more regulatory oversight and a deeper scrutiny given Adani Group’s systemic importance’ in Asia. 

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed all relevant authorities to minimize expenses incurred within ministries when celebrating the 75th Independence Anniversary without burdening the Treasury.

The Head of State said this while speaking at a pre-discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (26 Jan.), the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported.

Courtesy Adaderana

An individual is under arrest for uploading threatening posts on Facebook against the attendees of the 75th Independence Day celebration, Ada Derana correspondent says.

The officers of the police cybercrimes division arrested the suspect following an investigation into a complaint received in this regard.

During its investigations, the cybercrimes division uncovered that the man in question had uploaded multiple intimidating posts on his personal Facebook account pertaining to the upcoming Independence Day celebrations, inciting public disturbances.

Accordingly, the 40-year-old was placed under arrest in the area of Maharagama. He will be produced before the Gangodawila Magistrate’s Court in Nugegoda later.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has pointed out that the industrial education and training opportunities in Sri Lanka should be improved by introducing modern technology required to surpass the new industrial technology and digital economy of the fourth and fifth industrial revolutions.

The President made this observation on January 25, during a preliminary discussion on the International Conference and Exhibition on the New Digital Economy” scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in the last quarter of this year. The discussion was held under the patronage of the President at the Presidential Secretariat.

This international exhibition aims to utilize technology to improve productivity and efficiency to overcome the current crisis. It is to be done by recognizing means to accelerate various industries in this country from the current technological level to the technologies in the digital economy at times of new industrial revolutions.

It is also expected to make Sri Lanka an export hub infused with modern technology, able to support the government by promoting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in service and export sectors, bring the best international practices to local industries and network with industry leaders.

This exhibition will also introduce modern technology tools to the industrial sector of Sri Lanka to achieve this new digital economy by focusing on technical methodologies such as Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), Internet of Things (IoT), Internet Services (IoS), Robotics, Big Data, Cloud Computing and Manufacturing and Advanced Augmented Reality Artificial Intelligence.

During this discussion, attention was drawn to passing the dividends of the digital economy which would be developed in various fields, among the people of different social strata across the island.

The exhibition is to be organized by a steering committee consisting of representatives of 13 line ministries including Finance, Foreign Affairs, Industry, Education, Transport, Trade, and Agriculture under the leadership of State Minister of Technology Hon. Kanaka Herath.

State Minister of Technology Hon. Kanaka Herath, secretaries of line ministries, representatives from the Export Development Board (EDB), Sri Lanka Board of Investment (BOI), Chamber of Commerce and Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Agency, and private sector representatives attended the discussion.

-PMD

Shenali D Waduge

An unknown virus initially dubbed Wuhan virus, later on became known as Covid-19. It caused the deaths of 6.7million (6,746,906) people the world over & affected 673,382,625 people globally. India lost 530,735 lives. India approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that was manufactured under license by Serum Institute of India (Covisheld) and Covaxin (a vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biotech). India did not approve Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. The bottom line was that India chose indigenous vaccine over the high profile Big Pharma products. The reason behind this was that Pfizer & Moderna had demanded indemnity clause which means that a person dying after taking the vaccine cannot be held accountable & prosecuted under Indian law. The Indian Government thought this unwise & refused to comply with Pfizer & Moderna. We applaud the stand taken by the Indian government despite the pressures to stand firm & protect the people of India. Given the recent court case findings against Pfizer, Indians must be proud of its Govt.

When Pfizer proposed vaccines to be given to a hugely lucrative market in India, India requested local clinical trials.

Pfizer refused local clinical trials

India refused Pfizer indemnity clause

Pfizer next went on to lobby locals in a bid to change the local laws. Which implies changing the laws advantageous to the Pharma companies – US, Australia, EU and most of the major countries worldwide are using Pfizer with that immunity clause in place. US has given vaccine manufacturers immunity since 1980s. US govts have always protected pharmaceutical companies by creating vaccine courts where trials took place under closed doors. Compensation eventually ended up being paid by the taxpayer not the pharmaceutical company. This same scenario was envisaged for India with the indemnity clause request.

Thought leaders were roped in to promote Pfizer – author & journalist Chetan Bhagat (no different to how Sri Lanka’s civil society & NGOs are the first to promote anything foreign)

Even Rajiv Gandhis’ only son came in support.

Fast forward to January 2023 – Pfizer is on world stage. People who had voluntarily taken their vaccine & people who were forced to take the vaccine by respective governments are worried. Rightly so. However, their governments have signed immunity clause, so nothing will happen to Pfizer.

India is proud that it is the only large market in the world where Big Pharma does not have legal immunity.

Pfizer CEO is being questioned about not feeling ashamed for what the company has done – https://www.facebook.com/100000597769076/videos/681964300327469/

As Anu Lall says, Indians may hate Indian laws, but not having the law at times is a good thing!

https://www.facebook.com/589292737/videos/689834519448368/

We are really proud of India’s stand – to protect the health of its citizens.

We cannot expect such from any of Sri Lanka’s leaders and that is unfortunate.

Shenali D Waduge

By Rohana R. Wasala Courtesy The Island

First of all, let me express my sincere respects to Mr D.L. Sirimanne, the writer of the interesting article entitled ‘Celebrating 75th Anniversary of Independence’ (The Island/Opinion/January 18, 2023). He struck me as a venerable old man, who, at 103 years of age, still thinks about the welfare of his fellow Sri Lankans. It is rare for a person of that age to be so clear-headed and lucid in his writing. His generous spirit and his literary activity may be one reason for his healthy longevity, I think. His mention of retired aviator turned writer Elmo Jayawardana, whom  I highly admire for the same altruistism of character and the same literary gifts that Mr Sirimanne displays, made me check out whatever other information is available about him online. Actually, I had never come across the name D.L. Sirimanne before I read his Sat Mag feature in The Island ‘An epic Air Ceylon charter flight…….’ on October 24, 2020, which I re-visited today and which enabled me to relive the delightful experience of reading it. I also watched an old TV interview uploaded to the You Tube, featuring him. We have very few unsung heroes like Mr Sirimanne. It was time well spent, I thought, although I do not share his views about the history of Sri Lanka, the hallowed and historic homeland of the Sinhalese, their inalienable Motherland, or his opinion about the primary cause of the economic mess that Sri Lanka is currently undergoing. But the old ghosts he recalls in the otherwise excellent essay that he’s written had better be exorcized once and for all, for denigrating the majority Sinhalese community and belittling their history which is synonymous with that of their island home, based entirely on wrong assumptions, will definitely undermine all attempts to bring political stability, economic prosperity, and intercommunal harmony to Sri Lanka.

Please rest assured, Mr Sirimanne, my writing this will not detract in the least from my deepest admiration for you. You are not wrong in holding the views that you are sharing with the readers, given the time that you spent your youth, the most vibrant years of your life. It is only that times have changed, new discoveries have been made in science leading to the emergence of new technologies, and corresponding advances in the ever expanding universe of human knowledge, including such domains as astronomy, psychology, social sciences, art, culture, politics, history and archaeology and so on, in the light of which we are developing a better, more accurate idea of our past among other things. Something that has not changed, though, as far as our country is concerned, is the interfering ghost of departed Western colonialism, that is largely responsible for our problems. 

The fact that we are surrounded by the ocean has determined the nature of our evolution as an independent civilization, and the character of our commercial, cultural and political/diplomatic relations we have had with the outside world. As island dwellers, quite naturally, we have always been wary of foreigners though we have always treated them hospitably; we have been always independent spirited, and protective of our land, and our Buddhist culture. Before the depredations of European occupation, we, as an island nation had an extensive global reach on account of trade and our Buddhist spiritual culture. Groups of people and individuals travelled into as well as out of the island in connection with the last mentioned. The main body of the original inhabitants of the island were saved from being numerically overwhelmed by the influx of large numbers of immigrants from the relatively less hospitable or less inhabitable lands around, due to the sea barrier. Foreign commercial-cum-military powers that made incursions into the island from the legendary Vijaya to the British mercantile/imperial power at the end of the 18th century had first come as traders, attracted by the natural riches of the country. (According to new scientific findings in historiography and archaeology, the legendary Vijaya and the later invader Elara who ruled at Anuradhapura (205-161 BCE) were actually connected with trade.)

Mr Sirimanne seems to come from the minuscule Westernized,English speaking, Christian ‘elite’ society, the comprador class of the native population, that lived in relative comfort and  probably didn’t worry too much about independence from the British.They were akin to the ‘mimic men’ in Trinidad-born English novelist V.S. Naivpaul’s novel by that name, who tried to be what the imperial British did not allow them to be. But this was at the expense of the vast mass of the downtrodden  colonized ‘natives’, who were subjected to flagrant exploitation and relentless dehumanization, something that reminds me of what journalist and novelist Robert McCrum says about the lack of moral justification for the comfortable lifestyle of the rich upper crust of the Anglo-American society today: No one dwelling in comfort on the higher ground of Anglo-American society should ever forget that a brutal trade in human lives was a motor of the British and American economies throughout the eighteenth and part of the nineteenth century….”. (Globish, Viking, 2010). McCrum, of course, is referring to the slave trade.

In the case of Sri Lanka and its large northern neighbour India, this period of European imperial exploitation became most virulent for the two centuries from around the mid-18th to the mid-20th century. (It looks as if, in the West dominated global media, this history is being fast sanitized.)  Former Indian diplomat and writer Dr Shashi Tharoor (who served at the UN for twenty-nine years, ending his stint there as Under Secretary General), in his ‘INGLORIOUS EMPIRE: What the British did to India’ (Scribe, Melbourne and London, 2018) tells the thoroughly researched true story of the British in India – from the arrival of the East India Company to the end of the Raj – and reveals how Britain’s rise was built upon its plunder of India. However, the careful reader understands that Tharoor’s purpose is not to narrate a sequence of events and tell a story as such, but to critically study the legacy the British left in India and to demolish arguments that try to support claims for alleged benefits of colonial rule. (However, Tharoor does not deny that the British did leave, incidentally though, a few treasures, such as a democratic form of government, and the English language.) Delhi-based historian William Dalrymple’s ‘THE ANARCHY: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company’ (Bloomsbury Publishing Company, London, 2019) is a riveting narrative that tells the story of how the (British) East India Company transformed itself from an international trading corporation into something quite different: an aggressive colonial power in the guise of a multinational business run by English merchants collecting taxes from the impoverished natives using a ruthless private army. 

Sri Lanka is very small compared to India in terms of area. India is roughly 46 times the size of Sri Lanka and its population roughly 64 times. But internationally, we are accepted as an independent sovereign state similar to India that enjoys full fledged membership of the United Nations. There is nothing unusual about this. There are dozens of countries with even smaller populations than ours, such as Burkino Faso, Chile, Malavi, Mali, Romania, Zambia, etc., that stand as independent sovereign states. We are not, by any means, inferior to India as a sovereign nation.     

To liken Ceylon (or Sri Lanka) to ‘a brilliant emerald on the beautiful pendant of Mother India’ is to imply that our country is/was an appendage of India! It never was, but present day Indian politicians appear to wish it was, and even to behave as if it already is, and some of our own worthless unpatriotic politicians seem to agree! How can a Sri Lankan celebrate a ‘Mother India’, instead of Mother Lanka? To be colonized by foreign invaders is not an experience that can be or should be forgotten with glib talk. No self-respecting nation in the world will relish that humiliating experience. We are a people with an honourable history. Our country has been called Sihele or Sivhela or Sinhale or Sinhaladipa (the europeanized ‘Ceylon’ is a derivative of Sihele), or Lanka, as it is often referred to in the 5th century CE Mahavansa or the Great Chronicle and as it is usually called in colloquial Sinhala even today, and Tamilized as Ilankei. (Incidentally, all the quotations from the Mahavansa and its continuation the Cuavansa found in this essay are from Mudaliyar L. C. Wijesinghe’s translation of 1889.) 

Sri Lanka had survived 17 invasions from South India before the European phase of colonization actually started at the beginning of the 17th century (1602), though the fortuitous arrival of the Portuguese happened almost a century earlier in 1505. The Portuguese were in Sri Lanka till they were driven away in 1658 by the Dutch, who in their turn gave way to the British in 1796. The British helped themselves to the maritime provinces of the country previously occupied by the other two European powers. All these invasions and occupations met with the fiercest resistance from the native Sinhalese  population. They did not bring Tamils from South India to fight these wars. Jayantha Somasundaram claimed in an article published in The Island a couple of months ago that the Sinhalese did not go to war against invaders because as Buddhists they did not want to kill. This is a deliberate falsehood. Of course, it is true that when there was internecine strife, Sinhalese kings sometimes brought in mercenaries from South India as when Mugalan did in order to challenge his half-brother Kasyapa of Sigiriya in the 5th century CE. Invader Magha of Kalinga brought an army of Kerala mercenaries (according to Chapter 80 of the Mahavansa (in the form of Culavansa written in the 13th century CE by a Buddhist Bhikkhu named Dhammakitti) to fight against the ruler of Lanka at the time Parakrama Pandyan of Polonnaruwa in 1215 CE. By the time of the British advent at the end of the 18th century, the interior part of the island formed the Kandyan kingdom or the diminished kingdom of Sinhale hemmed in all sides by occupied territories; but it had itself repeatedly and heroically foiled European military occupation. It was only through subtle diplomatic intrigue that it was annexed to the British Empire in 1815.  

Even my father (who was of Mr D.L. Sirimanne’s generation), though he was no historian, scoffed at the implausibility of the Mahavansa story about prince Vijaya. How could we be descendants of a lion, an animal, and still be humans?” he used to say. He also ridiculed the Aryan claim in the Hitlerian sense. He only believed in the word ‘Arya’ as it is used in Buddhism, that is, to refer to a spiritually advanced person. But Mr Sirimanne seems to have no issue with the ‘Aryan’ identity of the Sinhalese, who had allegedly come from Sinhapura in North India.  Mr Sirimanne believes that the tribes that inhabited the place when prince Vijaya landed at Tambapanni, known as Yakkas and Nagas, were ‘probably Hindus from South India’. He has left out the Devas and the Rakshas, the other two of the four indigenous tribes who are believed to have inhabited the island then. 

However, the Vijaya legend must have a nucleus of historical truth in it. It might be based on an actual invasion by a north Indian prince, who initiated a dynasty that imported princes from the mythical Sinhapura to rule at Tambapanni. The subject Yakkas’ Sinhalese identity must have derived from the natural admixture at that stage of the native Yakkas with the members of the invading north indian ‘Aryan’ clan. There definitely had developed a struggle between the invaders and the local elite over sovereignty by the time of the death of king Panduvasudeva (who reigned at Tambapanni from 504 to 474 BCE). In fact, Pandukabhaya (born in 474 BCE, the year his grandfather died) who ascended the throne at Anuradhapura after a protracted military struggle against his uncles is considered the first truly Lankan monarch (but the 6th king overall) since Vijaya. The Mahavansa story (found in Ch. 10) about the emergence of Pandukabhaya features a number of real Yakkhas and Yakkhinis, who are shown to be as much human as those who had come from Sinhapura (though they are presented with a supernatural touch.) 

But today we know for sure that the Yakkas were the real ancestors of the Sinhalese (Kuveni was a Yakka princess), and that they were also contemporaneous with the Veddas. The fake classification of the Veddas as ‘aadivasin’ (aborigines) by Western anthropologists was probably meant to deny the Sinhalese their autochthonous origin in this island.  Yakka language inscriptions have been found and deciphered, one of which, according to archaeology Professor Raj Somadeva, declares api yakku” we are yakkas. The Mahavansa says that the missionary Mahinda Thera preached Buddhism ‘in the language of the islanders’, which was undoubtedly, the Yakka language, the ancient version of Sinhala, that was in circulation then. 

The most powerful factor, next to genetics, that distinguishes one race from another is its language. In the case of the Sinhalese it is the Sinhala language with its unique vocal sound system, its own grammar and vocabulary. (Words like vatura for water, vee for rice paddy, haal/sahal for(rice, bath for cooked rice, kamata for threshing floor, gala  for rock, and so on are original Sinhala words, not borrowed from any other language; another original Sinhala word is ‘wewa’ (turned into Pali form in the chronicles as waapi)), meaning an artificial water reservoir constructed by building a dam across a valley for storing water for agricultural irrigation during rainless months. However, down the ages, contact with the North Indian languages of Pali or Magadi and Sanskrit has heavily hybridized the Sinhala vocabulary. This is the reason why Sanskrit-derived Hindi and Bengali languages sound more familiar and are more easily intelligible to the Sinhalese than the Dravidian languages of South India such as Tamil or Malayalam (a few elements from the last two can also be detected, particularly in spoken (non-formal, non-literary) Sinhala……

Continued   

Shenali D Waduge

The Tamil politicians and the LTTE Diaspora may blow hot & cold, spend lavishly on propaganda projecting Sinhalese as discriminating them, committing war crimes & stoop so low as to claim genocide, but the truth of the matter is that divisions and discriminations amongst Tamils is such that Tamils will not even donate blood because of their caste. Tamil caste system is such that Tamils do not donate blood lest their high caste” blood gets mixed with low caste” blood. Such is the psyche that prevails. If anyone is awestruck by this, verify for yourself & accept the truth humbly & then question the unfair charges being leveled against Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces.

How many are aware that it is the Sinhala Soldiers” of Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces that supply blood to the Tamils in the North? 

Imagine a separate North without blood? Imagine a separate North where their own don’t want to donate blood because of their caste differences. Imagine to want a separate state for an ethnic group but not want to give each other their own blood! Such is the caste scenario in North Sri Lanka. That vacuum has to be filled by Sri Lanka’s Sinhala soldiers”.

This aspect has been kept well hidden & out of international domain. Tamil youth took to arms in reality to go against the caste oppression. The propaganda mechanism is such that the caste factor is nicely hidden by bringing the theme of discrimination by Sinhalese.

How many Sinhalese did Prabakaran know to hate!

Though much hype is given to the 1956 Official Language Act – not many like to admit that 8 years after independence though English was in use, less than 6% Tamils were fluent in English though 50% of clerical positions in railways, postal, customs & 60% of all doctors, engineers, lawyers & 40% of other labor force was held by only Tamils. Is this the status quo that people wanted to continue marginalizing everyone else?

The Tamil high castes/class even sailed to UK to prevent the Prevention of Social Disabilities Act of 1957 – a year after the Official Language Act. This Act enabled low caste Tamils to enter schools, kovils that had been denied to Tamils by Tamils. The caste factor is the reason to object to the 1973 Standardization Act which enabled low caste Tamils to enter university.

There have been more caste riots amongst Tamils than the 3 examples of riots that are cited by Tamil politicians & LTTE Diaspora.

Even post-2009 every time there is a shortage of blood, several divisions of the Armed Forces sent volunteer soldiers to donate their blood.

The 55 Division (165 officers & ranks), Sri Lanka Signal Corp 6 SLSC & Gajaba Regiment (180 officers & ranks) 4 Artillery Troops (130 officers & ranks), 6 Sri Lanka Corps (31 officers & ranks), 55 Division (237 officers & ranks), 64 Division (206 officers & ranks), 23 Gajaba Regiment (332 pints of blood), 52 Division (104 officers & ranks) had donated blood & they regularly do so.

Let’s look at another angle.

Attorney Prashantha Lal De Alwis’s Human Rights: Right vs Duty an analysis of the Humanitarian Operation in Sri Lanka – a Buddhist Perspective brings out facets of Buddhism that many of the anti-Buddhist promoters are advised to refer to.

Attorney Prashantha Lal has presented quotes from Buddha’s teachings:

• Wasala Sutta – Buddha defined as ‘most demeaning’ ‘whoever destroys & besiege villages & hamlets and becomes notorious as an oppressor”. – this aligns to genocide in international law. Deliberate killing was condemned by Buddhist philosophy before it came into international law.

• Ambalattika-Rahulovada Sutta – Provides guidelines to decide one’s actions, its consequences (action is painful or pleasant to oneself) LTTE intentionally took civilians with them. LTTE intentionally subjected them to danger. LTTE selfishly used them as hostages & human shields. LTTE did not feed them. LTTE did not even consider to allow the weak & aged to flee to safety. The Armed Forces on the other hand gave their own meal packet to hungry Tamil civilians, carried them to safety & gave them medical treatment.
• Angulimala Piritha – Angulimala killed many but was ordained as a Buddhist monk & became arhat. The same logic was applied by the Sri Lankan Army in the rehabilitation process – they were given education, returned to their families & given livelihood too. However, UN/UNHRC apparatus has been post 2009 calling for retributive justice for the armed forces of Sri Lanka while appealing for restorative justice for a terrorist movement. This highlights the hypocrisy of people in power.

As he correctly states, the Sri Lanka Armed Forces were opposing an armed LTTE who were holding hostage/human shields Tamil civilians. Those that attempted to flee LTTE were shot dead, those that fled LTTE & came to Sri Lankan Army were given shelter, food & medicines & the injured were treated.

How many countries where their armies are waging wars, provide food & essentials to the civilians that were held in enemy controlled areas? Sri Lanka’s Govts did & this highlighted the Buddhas principles of Karuna & Metta (kindness & compassion)

Contrary to what most people think, Buddhist philosophy allows self-defense.

The right of self-defense encompasses the right to defend another as well.

It is prudent to recall an incident at a shelter where a LTTE terrorist disguised as a civilian blew herself up killing armed forces personnel & even Tamil civilians. Aerial footage also showed LTTE using guns to prevent Tamil civilians escaping LTTE. It was to protect these Tamil civilians that over 6000 soldiers perished during the final phase of the war.

The LTTE Diaspora are screaming rights – but why have they forgotten DUTY? What did LTTE do to safeguard the lives of Tamil civilians. They claimed to be the sole representative of the Tamil people – it was therefore LTTE’s duty to safeguard them instead LTTE used Tamils as hostages & human shields or even force them to use arms & ammunition with little or no training. LTTE failed to fulfill its duty under natural law. It was the Armed Forces that brought to safety some 300,000 Tamils. Let no one forget this.

Attorney Prashantha Lal claims the Armed Forces used their legal right to private defense & this fits into the ‘proportionality’ principle in international humanitarian law.

The Sri Lanka Armed Forces have been consistent in their humanity. They not only saved Tamil civilians from terrorists but post-2009 did a yeomen service rebuilding the North & East as well as came to the forefront during natural disasters.

The Tamil politicians & LTTE Diaspora watched as the Armed Forces built railway lines that LTTE blew up & destroyed, built houses & toilets for their people & after these were done, they came out berating them. How shallow can people stoop to.

When Jaffna was devastated by floods in November 2015, it was not the LTTE diaspora or the Tamil politicians who assisted the civilians by providing food, medical essentials but the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. They cleared wells, drains and came to the rescue of Tamil civilians.

Donation of blood is not in the job profile of the soldiers, but their humanity & compassion is such that they are ever ready to defend the nation & its people, no matter what.

Giving blood is giving life – this completely negates the allegation of genocide unfairly attributed to Sri Lanka’s National Army.

Shenali D Waduge

By Engr. Kanthar Balanathan DipEE (UK), GradCert (RelEng-Monash), DipBus&Adm (Finance-Massey), C.Eng., MIEE, Former Director of Power Engineering Solutions Pty Ltd, Consulting Electrical Engineers

There are two levels of conventional systems of governance in any small country. (i) Central government taking responsibility for foreign affairs, financial, defence and territorial protection, (ii) Local Government who takes control of the local area. A small country like Sri Lanka cannot have several split administrations due to economic constraints as a result of natural and produced exportable resources. With Provincial Councils, the governing will be split into (i) Central Government (ii) Provincial Council, and (iii) Municipal Councils. Three levels of governance. A small country like SL is not wealthy and prosperous enough to have several levels of administration. With Bribery and Corruption, the three levels of governance will procreate 3 times the total of individual corrupt practices.

In the last 75 years of post-independence governance, the country faced insurrection, terrorism, the destruction of billions of dollars worth of assets, and the killing of people on both sides. Since 2004, the country faced a high level of bribery and corruption. Investments were carried out without proper planning and cost-benefit analysis. Most luxury investments are on collaterals. E.g. (i) Hambantota port and harbour, (ii) Port City, (iii) Lotus Tower etc. Probably these were constructed on the assumption that tourism will bring in more FOREX. The investments were a total economic failure. In the last 75 years, the country had faced an economic regression due to incompetent governance and political terrorism.

Politicians in SL have become quite greedy for power and wealth which is a symbol of third-world politics. Inter rivalry and racism inflicted a significant volume of economic disaster. The Planning division in the Treasury may not have done its job thoroughly and carefully, but executed to the Minister’s order. FOREX may have been siphoned on the order of politicians.

On the other hand, the Tamils of the North did not do their job properly but demanded a federal form of government. It’s quite clear that the Jaffna is a region of several islands locked tother. There is no way of generating income. In a way, the Tamils were a LIABILITY to the country apart from the upcountry Tamils. Tamil demand for equal rights was unreasonable and unfair from economics and income generation perspectives.

GOSL should, by an act of parliament revoke the 13^th amendment. Purely because of economic disaster and there is no necessity for a different level of administration/governance.

GOSL should set up a council to address the issues and recommend a better way to govern the country.

A small nation’s conventional system of governance is the Central and Local governments. There are 24 Municipal Councils in SL which are the legislative bodies that preside over the largest cities and first-tier municipalities in the country. Quote, A municipal council is the governing body of a municipality. It has the authority to make decisions and act for the municipal corporation (the municipality), consistent with the purposes of a municipality and its authority and requirements under legislation, bylaws and policies. Most important of such powers are passing of resolutions, enacting of bye-laws and regulations, deliberations on local problems etc. In the council meeting the councillors move resolutions on a matter relating to municipal functions.

Maybe the GOSL parliament could review the powers invested in the MCs, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor and the Councillors. The GOSL could also review the number of MCs and reduce it to a possible number by merging.

GOSL should give thoughts on the Banda-Chelva(BC) pact regarding the number of District Councils and the current proposal. The BC pact was a fool’s paradise. It is beyond the economic practicability of having Provincial Councils, several Ministers, Cars, staff etc. This is based on the people’s (politicians’) maturity and SL does not need several levels of governance.

As far as Tamils are concerned, the village people who vote think that only attorneys in the North are fit to enter politics, which is an unenlightened, ill-informed and unconscious part of human psychology.

The MCs are already in active service, and what is required is to review the powers and the number of MCs by an act of parliament. The two levels of governance are already present with a few reviews on powers.

Tamils can only talk about theory, however, not address the practicality and feasibility. Our culture is selfish-oriented and has a draconian dowry system for hoarding gold pieces of jewellery. Uneducated politicians in the GOSL parliament may not understand the gravity of the situation SL is going through but explain the difficulties, please.

GOSL could invite leading Professors at UOM, and UOC and discuss the alternative possibility of such MCs.

Recommend that the University of Moratuwa kick up a research project for a PhD or MPhil degree, on the option of solving the issues. That’s what the Universities are for.

Provincial Councils are a NO-GO for a small nation like SL.

Tamils are a Liability to SL.

May God save Sri Lanka.

Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel, former Ambassador to UAE and Israel and former Chairman of Consumer Affairs Authority

Egg Poultry Crisis is deep

No doubt the Egg Crisis and Poultry industry is in deep crisis that has shattered the government already in trouble. Egg prises are skyrocketing with price increases that cannot be controlled and shortages of items in the market. The government and the CAA is working together to bring down or stabilize prices with no success aggravating the situation on indirect price control namely the maximum price mechanism found in the CAA when the Minister of the view on shortages he may advice the CAA to publish the maximum prize of the items after the research study and the gazette notification, (Section 18 of the CAA Act no 9 of 2003) challenged before the Supreme Court giving an order to reverse the steps taken by CAA  forthwith. Maximum price (MRP) was prised as rs 44 and 46 directing the trader to sell the prise nominated the traders did not or unable to oblige for reasons given by them in public via media, when egg was sold at high prices in the market ignoring the directions by the CAA. CAA in return rounded up the trader through the network of the officers in a losing battle due to the shortage of the staff and difficulties in covering the entire country with a merge staff. EGG is not the only consumer item in short supply and high prices as the prises have gone up due to inflation and increase of the consumer items in all sectors which is the world trend and mainly due to mismanagement of economy by all previous governments continuously. Egg issue in fact is an issue brewing which is the tip of the iceberg when the consumer was importantly demanding price stabilization due to high cost of living the consumer says unbearable. Egg issue is only one of the issues faced by the Sri Lankan consumer. Prices of every consumer item has gone up drastically with no increase of the income or salaries in the private and public sector. Prices of gas, food items, household and any and many items to be sold have gone up in prices with no control to the government miserably facing the citizen and media helplessly. Let us now take the egg issue in isolation on the steps taken by the ministry trade and the relevant organizations headed by the Consumer Affairs Authority the main regulator of prices of consumer items and services. Egg prices and as a result the poultry product and cost of living is fast increasing pointing at the state as responsible and the government has taken all measures to curtail it as early as possible.

Current turmoil

As a result of the current turmoil the sale of eggs have come down to 86000 from one million a blow on the poultry industry and egg industry in particular, both lucrative and a productive products locally produced for the consumer going through many hardships. Yet he price of eggs were under no control despite the Gazette notifications and the rounding up of traders by CAA officers that proved futile due to lack of staff and the ineffective network of the institution. There is opposition for import of eggs and poultry items by the local traders and the health sector fearing spread of diseases especially from India and other countries where the disease re prevalent. It is the duty f the CAA as the regulator on consumer matters to monitor the quality and price to be affordable and suited to the consumer already pressed with shortages other food items, drugs and shortages of money due to economic clampdown due to the mismanagement of all previous regimes. MRP appear to be not a solution as the price nominated has not been done with a proper research and to make any changes or adjustments the Minister has to make subsequent gazetteer notifications indication MRP not a solution for the  current issue even as a temporary measure. It seems the government will have to look for other avenues to bring about a permanent solution that is being discussed highest starters with experts and senior politicians. The relevant Ministers, Ministry secretaries with the President’s adviser has correctly planned out a collective plan with all the parties responsible such as the producers of row materials, small and major producers, options to import aiming at bringing the prices of egg down to the consumer already pressed with price increase and cost of living as a result from all corners. It is also proved that litigation and the punishment of the trader too is not a solution as it has been fruitless rounding up the traders.

What about going back to price control until a permanent solution is sought?

It is s long procedure as the current at no 9 of 2003 has replaced the price control act and two others which is still in practice in UK with changes very successfully with DTI department of trade and industry and the battery of consumer organizations led by WHICH and the only option left is to change the entire CAA replaced by a new act incorporation all the modern needs and aspirations meeting the targets and needs of the modern digital age and the existence of new platforms and online business when CAA is not ready for new changes to keep pace with the changes. The proposals made by the previous Chairman s in the legal department of the CAA and it is high time to use all the available resources and the experts on consumer law who are willing to help the process. Going back to the main topic the solution do not lie on MRP price control or any but to do drastic changes and introduce a new consumer act to meet the current /future needs and aspirations I compatible with the digital age and new inventions and practices.

Way out from the egg issue and the current turmoil of the escalation of process with no control

This issue is only the tip of the iceberg as the real issues are brewing and following fast expecting the worst. A solution is needed looking into all the areas such as the producers, relevant departments, As an interim measure a committee is appointed consisting all stallholders with a Expert representative from the president’s office which is a sensible measure as a temporary solution until the CAA act is amended and economic reforms and public policy matters are placed in place for a permanent solution to bran down the prize of all consumer items as a whole which is an impossible task considering the economic downturn and the debuts daily mounting fast with no solutions. Interim measure is sensible and MRP and price control may not be the solution to the crisis.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මේ බව ප්‍රකාශ කළේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංවර්ධන පරිපාලන ආයතනය (SLIDA)  අද (2023.01.25) බණ්ඩාරනායක සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවේ පැවැත්වූ රාජ්‍ය කළමණාකරණ පශ්චාත් උපාධි ප්‍රදානෝත්සවයේ ප්‍රධාන ආරාධිතයා වශයෙන් එක්වෙමිණි.

එහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා

අද දිනය ඔබේ වෘත්තීය සහ ශාස්ත්‍රීය ජීවිතයේ සන්ධිස්ථානයක් වන බවට සැක නැත. එබැවින් ඔබගේ සාර්ථකත්වය ජාතියේ ජයග්‍රහණයක් බවට පත්වන්නේ කෙසේදැයි සාකච්ඡා කිරීම යෝග්‍ය වේ. ජාතියක අනාගතය එහි පාලන තන්ත්‍රය මත රඳා පවතී. රාජ්‍ය කළමනාකරුවන්ගේ දැනුම, කුසලතා සහ ආකල්ප ජාතියක වර්ධනය, තිරසාර බව සහ අවදානම් අවස්ථාවන්ට ඔරොත්තු දීමේ හැකියාව සඳහා බෙහෙවින් ඉවහල් වේ. ආර්ථික අර්බුදයෙන් මිදීමට උත්සාහ කරන ජාතියකට එය විශේෂයෙන් වැදගත් වේ.

ආර්ථික අර්බුදය විසින් සමාජයේ පවතින අසමානතාවයන් තවත් පුළුල්කොට ඇති අතර පවතින ඛේදනීය තත්වය තවත් උග්‍ර කර ඇත. කඩාවැටුණු ආර්ථිකයක කටුක යථාර්ථයන්ට අප සියල්ලන්ම ගොදුරු වී සිටියදී, අවදානමකට ලක් වූ මිනිසුන් හට දරුණු ප්‍රතිඵලවලට මුහුණපෑමට සිදුවිය.

වර්තමානයේ ඇතැම් රාජ්‍ය සේවකයන් තුළ උදාසීනත්වයක් දක්නට ලැබෙන්නේ දක්‍ෂතා නොමැතිකම නිසා නොව කාලයක් තිස්සේ රාජ්‍ය සේවය පිළිබඳ ඇති වූ ආකල්ප වෙනස්වීම සහ තෘප්තිමත් භාවය හීනවීමයි.

රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන්ගේ කාර්යක්‍ෂමතාවය පහත වැටීමට හේතු වන කරුණු අප අවබෝධ කර ගත යුතු අතර, ඔවුන්ගේ  අඛණ්ඩ සංවර්ධනය මෙන්ම ගුණාත්මක නිමැවුම් ලබාදෙන බවට සහතික කිරීම සඳහා පුහුණු වැඩසටහන් නිරන්තර වෙනස් කම්වලට භාජනය කළ යුතුය.

තරුණ නිලධාරීන්ට මගේ උපදෙස නම් ඔබ අලුතින් ලබාගත් දැනුම රටේ සංකීර්ණ සංවර්ධන ගැටලු විසඳීමට  යොදා ගතයුතු බවයි. මෙම උපාධිධාරීන් ප්‍රාදේශීය පරිපාලනයේ සිට සෞඛ්‍ය සහ ජාතික ආරක්‍ෂාව දක්වා විවිධ ක්ෂේත්‍රවලට අදාළ වීම ගැන මම සතුටු වෙමි. අනාගත අභියෝගවලට මුහුණ දීමේදී ඔබේ වගකීම් ඉටුකරන ලෙස මම ඔබෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිමි.  පුරෝගාමී  අදහස් සෑම විටම නවකයන්ගෙන් පැමිණ ඇති බව සිහි තබා ගන්න.

ඔබ ශාස්ත්‍රපති උපාධිය සහ පශ්චාත් උපාධි ඩිප්ලෝමාව සඳහා සූදානම්වන අතරතුර පර්යේෂණ අධ්‍යයන සහ පැවරුම් රාශියක් සම්පූර්ණ කර ඇත. අද අප අත්විඳින බොහෝ සංකීර්ණ සංවර්ධන ගැටළු සඳහා ඔබ සංවේදී ප්‍රතිචාර දක්වනු ඇති බව මට විශ්වාසයි. ඔබගේ සියලු පර්යේෂණ සොයාගැනීම් ක්‍රියාවට නැංවීමට දැන් ඔබට කාලයයි.

ඇත්ත වශයෙන්ම, අභියෝගයකින් තොරව ජයග්‍රහණ ලබාගෙන නොමැත. රාජ්‍ය කළමනාකරණයේ නැවුම් උපාධිධාරීන් ලෙස ඔබට මුහුණපෑමට වන අභියෝග පෙරට වඩා දෙගුණයක් වි ඇත. පළමුව, නායකයින් වශයෙන්, ආර්ථිකය ශක්තිමත් කිරීමට සහ ජීවන තත්ත්වය වැඩිදියුණු කිරීමට  ඔබ වෙහෙස මහන්සි වී වැඩකළ යුතුය . ඊට සමගාමීව, ක්‍රියාවලිය, මානව සම්පත් සහ ආයතනික පරිවර්තනය හරහා රාජ්‍ය අංශය සුමටව ක්‍රියාත්මක වන බවට ඔබ විසින් සහතික  කළ යුතුය. උත්සාහවත් නොවුවන්ට කිසිදු වැඩක් සාර්ථකව සිදු කළ නොහැක. එහෙත් මම ඔබ ගැන විශ්වාස කරමි. ශාස්ත්‍රීය හා වෘත්තීය දැනුමෙන් සන්නද්ධ වූ ඔබ සියලු අභියෝග ජය ගන්නා බවට සැක නැත.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක, රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලන අමාත්‍යාංශ ලේකම්  එච්.කේ.ඩී.ඩබ්. හපුහින්න, අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යාංශ ලේකම් එම්. එන්. රණසිංහ, SLIDA අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් පී. ජී.ඩී. ප්‍රදීපා සේරසිංහ මහත්මිය ඇතුළු පිරිස මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක් වූහ.

මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය තුමාගේ,මාධ්‍ය ලේකම්.

දීපව්‍යාප්ත පොලිස් ස්ථානාධිපතිවරුන්ගේ සම්මන්ත්‍රණය මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය ටිරාන් අලස් මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් පසුගිය සඳුදා දින (23) සුහුරු පාය ප්‍රධාන ශ්‍රවණාගාරයේදී පැවැත්වීණි.

මෙම සම්මන්ත්‍රණය සඳහා මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් වියානි ගුණතිලක මහතා,පොලිස්පති සී.ඩී.වික්‍රමරත්න මහතා, රාජ්‍ය බුද්ධි සේවයේ ප්‍රධානී සුරේශ් සලේ මහතා සහ පොලිස් ස්තානාධිපතිවරුන් සහ රාජ්‍ය නිවේදිත නිළධාරීන් 509 දෙනෙක් සහාභාගී වූ අතර මාර්ගගත ක්‍රමය ඔස්සේ ස්ථාන 250 කදී පොලිස් ස්ථානාධිපතිවරුන් හා රාජ්‍ය නිවේදිත නිළධාරීන් සම්බන්ධ විය.

රාජ්‍ය බුද්ධි අංශ ප්‍රධානී සුරේශ් සලේ මහතා ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව පිළිබඳව දත්ත ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් අදහස් දැක්වුයේය.

මහජන ආරක්ෂක ඇමැති ටිරාන් අලස් මහතා සම්මන්ත්‍රණය අමතමින් ගෙවුණු මාස 8 ක කාලයේදී සියලු පොලිස් නිළධාරීන් වෙනුවෙන් විසඳුම් රාශියක් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට ලැබුනු බවද,මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය පාලනය,පාතාල මර්දනය සඳහා සියලුම පොලිස් නිළධාරීන් උපරිම කැපවීමෙන් හා අවංකව වැඩ කිරීම බලාපොරොත්තු වන බවද මෙම සම්මන්ත්‍රණයේ අදහස් දක්වමින් ටිරාන් අලස් මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටියේය. ඇමති තුමා විසින් සමන්ත්‍රණයේදී කළ සම්පූර්ණ කතාවෙහි පිටපත මේ සමග ඇත

අප අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම්තුමනි,අතිරේක ලේකම්තුමියනි,පොලිස්පතිතුමා ඇතුළු ජේෂ්ඨ නියෝජ්‍ය පොලිස්පතිවරුනි,ජෙනරල් සුරේෂ් සලේ මැතිතුමනි,ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ පොලිස් නිලධාරීන් ඇතුළු පොලිස් ස්ථානාධිපතිවරුනි,

මම පළමුවෙන්ම සුබ පතන්න කැමතියි ප්‍රථම වතාවට ස්ථානාධිපති ධූරයක් ලබපු සියලු දෙනාට.ඒ වගේම මම ජෙනරල් සුරේෂ් සලේ මැතිතුමාට ස්තුතිවන්ත වෙනවා අපි සමග අද එකතු වෙලා මේ ඔහු ළඟ තියෙන දත්ත අප සමග බෙදා ගැනීම ගැන.

අපි මේ වගේ හමු වීමක් පවත්වන්න ඕනෙ කියලා තීරණය කළේ සියලු දෙනා ළඟ තියෙන දත්ත හුවමාරු කරගෙන ඒ මගින් අලුත් ස්ථානාධිපතිවරු,ජේෂ්ඨ පොලිස් නිලධාරීන් යම් කිසි දෙයක් ලබාගෙන ඒවා තම තමන්ගේ පළාත්වල ඒ ලබාගත්තු දැනුම ප්‍රයෝජනයට ගනී කියලා.ඉතිං මං කියන්නේ මේ වගේ දේකට ආවම කරුණාකරලා හොඳට අහගෙන ඉඳලා තේරුම් අරගෙන ඒවාගෙන් ප්‍රයෝජනයක් ගන්න.ඒ මොකෝ මං දැක්කා සමහර නිලධාරීන් නිදාගෙන ඉන්නවා.මං හොඳටම බලාගත්තා කවුද කියලත්,ඉතින් මේ වගේ දෙයක් අපි සල්ලි වියදම් කරලා සියලු දෙනාම මෙතැනට ගෙන්නලා,මේ ඔක්කොම කරන්නේ තමුන්ට හොඳක් වෙයි කියලා අපිට වඩා,ඒ අදහසින් තමයි කරන්නේ.දැන් පොලිස්පතිතුමාත් පොලිසියේ නිලධාරීන් කටයුතු කළ යුතු ආකාරය මං හිතන්නේ ඉතා පැහැදිලිව කියලා දුන්නා.

ඔබ සියලු දෙනා දන්නවා මං මෙම අමාත්‍යාංශය භාරගත්තේ මොන වගේ වාතාවරණයක් තියෙන වෙලාවකද  කියලා.මැයි 9 වෙනිදා වෙන්න තිබුණු සියලු ප්‍රශ්න ඇතිවෙලා ඊට පස්සෙ මම බාර අරගෙන මං ඇවිල්ලා මාස 8 යි.මේ මාස 8 තුළ අපි ඉස්සෙල්ලම තීරණය කෙරුවේ,එකක් තමයි අපි පොලිසිය වැටිලා තිබුණ තත්ත්වයෙන් ගොඩ ගන්න.

ඒක තමයි මගේ පළවෙනිම අරමුණ වුණේ.ඒ මොකද මං මේ අමාත්‍යාංශය භාර ගන්න ඉස්සෙල්ලා මම ටීවී එකේ දැක්කේ,පොලිසියේ අයට ගහන ඒවා බනින ඒවා යුනිෆෝම් එකෙන් ඇදගෙන යන ඒවා,ඊළඟට නිකං හරක් බල්ලො එලවනව වගේ  එලවන ඒවා,ඒව තමයි මම දැක්කේ.

ඉතින් පොලිසියේ ආත්ම ගෞරවය එහෙම්මම නැති වෙලා තිබුනේ.නමුත් මම සන්තෝසයි ජනාධිපතිතුමයි මමයි ගත්ත තීරණ නිසා අපිට පුළුවන් වුණා නැවත ඒ ආත්ම ගෞරවය පොලිසියට ලබා දෙන්න.

 ඒක තමයි අපි ඉස්සෙල්ලාම කරපු දේ මේ මාස අටේ.නමුත් ඊට පස්සෙ මම කල්පනා කෙරුවා අපි පොලිස් නිලධාරීන්ගෙන් බලාපොරොත්තු වෙන දේවල් කරගන්න නම් ඉස්සෙල්ලා අපි ඔවුන්ට තියෙන ප්‍රශ්නත් බලලා විසඳන්න ඕනි කියලා.

ඉතින් පොලිස්පතිතුමත් මා එක්ක කතා කෙරුවා,ගොඩක් දැවෙන ප්‍රශ්ණයක් තමයි 2019 ඉඳන් බලාපොරොත්තුව හිටිය ආහාර දීමනාව එක.නමුත් ඒක කරගන්න බැරි වෙලා තිබුණා.හැබැයි අපිට ඒ වෙනුවට බටා එක දින 14 ඉඳන් 21 දක්වා වැඩි කරගන්න පුළුවන් වුණා මේ කාලේ.

එතකොට තව ප්‍රශ්නයක් තිබුණා නඩු වලට රාජකාරි කරන්න ගිහිල්ලා නඩු වලට පැටලෙන එක. ඊට පස්සෙ නඩු වැටුනහම තමන්ගෙ සල්ලි වියදම් කරගෙන නඩු කියන්න ඕනේ.මට මතකයි කවුද මට ඇවිල්ල කිව්වා ගෙදර තියෙන බඩුත් සමහර වෙලාවට විකුණන්න වුණා කියලා නඩු කියන්න.ඉතින් ඒක නිසා අපි කතා කරලා නීති සහන අරමුදලක් පටන් ගත්තා.රජයෙන් මිලියන සීයක් දීල  ඒකෙන් අපි පටන් ගත්තෙ මට මතක විදිහට,  පොලිසියේ අරමුදලකින්  පොලිස්පතිතුමා මිලියන සීයක් දීලා පටන් ගත්තේ ඒක රජයෙන් අපිට නැවත ලැබෙන විදිහට.ඊට පස්සේ අපි ඒ දේ කර ගත්තා.මේ මං මේ මාස 8 ඇතුළත දී කරගත්තු දේවල්.

එතකොට මං හිතන්නේ අවුරුදු ගාණක් තිස්සේ පොලිස් නිලධාරීන්ට උපාධියක් ගන්න එක පිළිබඳ කතා කර කර තිබිලා පොලිස්පතිතුමායි මැදවත්ත මහත්තයයි එකතු වෙලා මේ ගැන ගොඩක් බලලා තිබුණා නමුත් අපිට පුළුවන් වුණා ජයවර්ධනපුර විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයත් එක්ක ඒ දේ කරගන්න.අපි ඒකට අවශ්‍ය එකඟතාවයක්  හදාගත්තා.

ඊට පස්සෙ තිබුණා වාහන ප්‍රශ්නයක් පොලිසියට.ඒකත් අවුරුදු 5ක් තිස්සේ ගන්න හදලා බැරුව තිබුන. අපි කොහොම හරි දැන් ජීප් පන්සීයක් ගත්තා.ඒකේ පළවෙනි එකසිය ගාන ආවා.

ඊට පස්සේ තිබුණු ප්‍රශ්නෙ තමයි bulk ප්‍රමෝෂන් එක 9400 ගානකට.ඒකත් ඇදි ඇදී තිබිලා පොලිස්පතිතුමාටත් හරි ඕන කමක් තිබුණා අපේ කණිෂ්ඨ නිලධාරීන් ල, මේ පොඩි මිනිස්සු ඇත්තටම ඒගොල්ලන්ගෙ උසස්වීම බලන් හිටියා.මං කොහොමහරි ඒකත් කැබිනට් අනුමැතිය ගත්තහම මට මතකයි පොලිස්පතිතුමාට කෝල් කරල කිව්වා මේ අනුමත වුණා කියලා.පොලිස්පතිතුමා එකපාරටම කිව්වේ අනේ සර් thank you.සර්ට ලොකු පිනක්,සර් නැත්නම් මේක කරගන්න බැරිවෙනවා” කිව්වා.ඉතිං ඒ වචන ටිකෙන් මම දැනගත්තා එතුමාටත් කොච්චර උවමනාවක් තිබුනද මේක කරගන්න කියලා.

ඊට පස්සේ අපිට තිබුන ලොකුම ප්‍රශ්නය තමයි ඕ.අයි.සී ලා පත් කරන එක.මම වැඩිය ඕක ගැන කියන්න ඕනේ නෑ.ඔබතුමන්ලා දන්නවා මෙතෙක් කල් ඕ.අයි.සී ලා පත්වුණේ කොහොමද,ඕ.අයි.සී ලගෙ (ට්‍රාන්සර්) උනේ කොහොමද හොඳටම දන්නවා පහුගිය වසර වල.නමුත් මේ පාර අපි කාගෙවත් බලපෑමක් නැතිව සම්මුඛ පරීක්ෂණ මණ්ඩලයක් තියලා සම්මුඛ පරීක්ෂණ තියලා ඊළඟට අපි අභියාචනා කරන්නත් කාලයක් දීලා දින 14ක් අපි අභියාචනා මණ්ඩලයක් තියලා ඒකෙනුත් තව 64 ක් අරගෙන තමයි ලිස්ට් එක හදලා එතනින් පස්සේ ඕඅයිසී පත්වීම් කෙරුවෙ.ඉතින් මේ වෙලාවේ සමහරවිට මා එක්කම ඉන්න කට්ටිය මා එක්ක හිත් අමනාප වුණා.ඒගොල්ලන්ට ඕනෑ අයව දාගන්න බැරි වුණා,ඒගොල්ලන්ට ඕන විදියට කරගන්න බැරි වුණා කියලා නමුත් මම ඒ සියලු දේ ඒ විදිහට විය යුතුයි කියන මතයේ හිටියා.ඉතින් ඒක හින්දා සියලු දෙනාම දන්නවා,විශේෂයෙන් පත්වෙච්ච ඕඅයිසී ලා දන්නවා ඔබතුමන්ලා කොහොමද පත්වුණේ කියලා.කාගෙවත් ලියුම් අරගෙන ඇවිල්ලද,නැත්තං හරි විදියට ඉන්ටවිව් එක face කරලා ඒකෙන් ලකුණු අරගෙන ජ්‍යේශ්ඨ නියෝජ්‍ය පොලිස්පති වරුන්ගෙ වාර්ථාත් අරන් කාර්‍ය සාධනයත්  බලලා,අන්න එහෙම තමයි පත්වුණේ.

ඉතිං මේ දේවල් ටික අපි කොහොමහරි කෙරුවා.දැන් ඔය ඕඅයිසී ලා කතාව මං දන්නවා මේ පොලිසිය ඇතුළෙම සමහර අය අන්තිමේට කතාවක් අරින්න ගියා සමහර ඕඅයිසී ලා පත් කෙරුවේ එක එක්කෙනා සල්ලි අරන්.මට නම් චෝදනා කෙරුවෙ නැහැ. එහෙම කතාවක් ඇරියා.ඉතින් මම අද මෙතන කියන්න කැමතියි කවුරුහරි තමන්ගේ ඕඅයිසී කම ගන්න බිස්කට් පැකට් එක් හරි කාටහරි දීලා තියෙනවා නම්,මට දන්වන්න ඕනේ.මගේ ටෙලිෆෝන් නම්බර් එක තියෙනවා.මට දන්වන්න ඕනේ.එහෙම දැන්වූවේ නැත්තං මං එකක් කියන්නං ඕගොල්ලන්ගෙ ඕඅයිසී කමේ වැඩ වත් හරියන්නේ නෑ එහෙම කරලා මට කියන්නේ නැත්තං ඔය ඕඅයිසී කමේ කරන වැඩ හරියන්නේ නෑ.ඉතිං ඒක හින්දා අද මං කියන්නේ කරුණාකරලා මට ඒ ටික කියන්න. එහෙම දෙයක් වෙලා තියනවනම්.

එතකොට මේ සියලු දේවල් මේ මාස අටක් ඇතුලතදී අපිට  කරගන්න පුළුවන් උනේ විශේෂයෙන් අපි ස්තූතිවන්ත වෙන්න ඕනේ ජනාධිපතිතුමාට.ඒ මොකෝ එතුමා මට දීපු සහාය මේ අමාත්‍යංශය කරගෙන යන්නයි මේ සියලු දේ එතුමාගේ සහාය නැතුව mata  කවදාවත් කරගන්න හම්බ වෙන්නේ නෑ.විශේෂයෙන් මේ මුදල් වැය වෙන ඒවා බටා එක,නීති සහන අරමුදල මේ සියලු දේ මේ දවස්වල සත පහක්වත් මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශයෙන් ගන්න බැරි කාලේ මේවා අපි කරගත්තේ.

ඉතින් දැන් මේ ටික ඔක්කොම කරලා දීලා ,මං හිතන්නෙ මේ කෙටි කාලයේ පොලිස් නිලධාරීන්ට කරන්න තියෙන දේ කරලා තියෙන්නේ.ඊට පස්සේ අපි දැන් බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා ඔබතුමන්ලගෙන් වැඩ කොටසක්.ඒක තමයි දැන් ඔබතුමාලගේ පළාත්වල අපිට තියෙන ලොකුම ප්‍රශ්නය තමයි මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය උවදුර.ඒක කොහොම හරි අපි නවත්තගන්න ඕනේ.තමන්ගෙ නිලධාරීන් සියලු දෙනාම දැනුවත් කරන්න ඕනේ.දැනුවත් කරලා අපි පැය 24 ම ගත කරන්න ඕනි මේක නවත්තන්න.

ඒ මොකෝ මේ රටේ අපේ දූ දරුවන්ගේ සියලු දෙනාම නැති කරන ප්‍රශ්නයක් තමයි මේක.එතකොට දැන් මේකෙදි,මම සලකන්නේ මේ ඔක්කොම අපේම අය අපේම පවුල වගේ ඒක හින්ද මම කියන්න තියෙන ටික කියනවා.මම දන්නවා මේ සමහර පොලිස් නිලධාරිනුත් මේවට සම්බන්ධයි.අපි දන්නවා මේ මෑත කාලෙක වෙච්ච සිද්ධියි,පොලිස් නිලධාරීන්ට විරුද්ධව අපිට ගන්න වුන ක්‍රියාමාර්ග අපි සියලු දෙනාම දන්නවා.ඉතිං මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය නැති කරන එකේ මුල්ම එක තමයි මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය විකුණන අය එක්ක සම්බන්ධකම් පවත්වන්න එපා.

මම දන්නවා එහෙම අය සමහර ඕඅයිසී ලට සමහර පොලිස් නිලධාරීන්ට ගෙදෙට්ට මස් මාළු ටික එවනවා,එළවළු ටික එවනවා.ඉතිං ඒවා වහාම නවත්වන්න.ඒ මොකෝ මං එකක් කියන්නං ඒ වගේ අයගෙන් එවැනි දේවල් තමන්ගේ ළමයින්ට කන්න දුන්නොත් එය ළමයින්ට හරියන්නෙත් නෑ.ඉතිං ඒක හොඳට ඔලුවට ගන්න.ඒ මිනිසුන්ගේ විදිහ තමයි මොනවා හරි එවලා යාළුවෙලා ඒ මිනිස්සුන්ගෙ වැඩපිළිවෙළ කරගෙන යන එක.ඉතින් මම අලුතින් පත් වෙච්ච ඕඅයිසී ලටයි,අනිත් හිටපු අයටයි,සියලු දෙනාට ජේෂ්ඨ නිලධාරින් සියලු දෙනාටම කියන්නේ කවුරු හරි හැම්පර් එකක් එව්වොත් මේක ඉස්සෙල්ලම එන්නේ කාගෙන්ද කියල බලන්න.ගන්න එපා.ඕවා අරගෙන ඕවා කාල බීල හරියන්නේ නෑ.

එතකොට අන්ඩවර්ල්ඩ් එක,දැන් පාතාලයත් මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය වලට සම්බන්ධයි.දැන් හරියට මේ දවස්වල පාතාලය,විශේෂයෙන් බස්නාහිර පළාත,දකුණු පළාත මේ සියලු දෙනාම දන්නවා. අපි මේවා හැමතිස්සේම සාකච්ඡා කරනවා.අපි මොන ක්‍රමයකින් හරි මේක නවත්වන්න ඕනේ.

ජනාධිපතිතුමා කියලා තියෙන්නේ ගන්න තියෙන ඕනම පියවරක් ගන්න,අරගෙන මේක නවත්තන්න කියලා.ඉතින් අපිට ඔය සියලු දෙනාගේම සහයෝගය ඕනේ මේ වැඩේට.

ලංකාවේ ඉන්නවා ඕඅයිසී ලා හයසිය ගානක් විතර . ඩිවිශන් ලා ඩී.අයි.ජී  ලා.සියලු දෙනාම එකට එකතු වෙන්න ඕනේ අද ඉඳලා මේක තමයි අපේ ටාර්ගට් එක මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය සහ පාතාලය , ඒක ඇතුළෙ ම තමයි අපරාධත් එන්නේ.අනිත් අපරාධ ත්  ඔව්වට ඔක්කොටම සම්බන්ධයි.ඉතින් ඒක හින්දා කරුණාකරලා මම කියන්නේ ඒ කුඩු විකුණන මිනිස්සු එක්ක කිසිම සම්බන්ධයක් තියාගන්න එපා.එහෙම තියා ගත්තොත් මට දැනගන්න ලැබෙනවා.මම මේ සියලු දේට බුද්ධි අංශ වල සහාය ලබා ගන්නවා ලබාගෙන හැම එකම හොයනවා.ඒක හින්දා කරුණාකරලා අද ඉඳන් අපි හරි වැඩේට එකතු වෙමු.

වැරැදි විදිහට මුකුත් හම්බ කරන්න යන්න එපා.ඒ මොකෝ මම  නම් විශ්වාසය කරන්නේ මං මොකක් හරි වැරදි වැඩක් කෙරුවොත් ඒක මට වැදුන් නැත්නම් මගේ ළමයින්ට වදිනවා.ඉතින් තමන්ගේ ළමයින්ට තමන් ආදරයක් තියෙනවා නම් කරන්න එපා වැරදියට සල්ලි හොයන්න යන්න එපා.මම මේ සමහරවිට කියන්නේ පොලිසියේ අතළොස්සක් කරන වැඩ වෙන්න පුළුවන්.

නමුත් මම ඒ දේ සියලු දෙනාටම ඒ දේ කියන්න ඕනේ.පොලිස්පතිතුමා හැමතිස්සෙම කියනවා පළාත්භාර ජ්‍යේශ්ඨ නියෝජ්‍ය පොලිස්පතිවරු තමයි ඒ පළාතේ පොලිස්පති කියලා.

ඒ වගේම මම හිතනවා පොලිස්පතිතුමා,  හරිද දන්නේ නෑ.තමන්ගෙ පොලිස් ස්ථානයට අයිති ඒරියා එකේ පොලිස්පති තමයි ඕඅයිසී.ඉතින් අන්න එහෙම හිතන්න.ඒ මොකෝ අපි ඕඅයිසී ලයි,ඊට ඉහල නිලධාරීනුයි හරියට හිටියොත් හරියට වැඩ කළොත් තමයි පහළ නිලධාරීන් ඒක අනුගමනය කරන්නේ.තමන් මොනා හරි වැරදියට කරනවා නම් පහල අයත් හිතනවා “සර්ත් ඕකමනෙ  කරන්නේ ඉතින් අපිත් කෙරුවාම මොකද කියලා”.

ඉතින් මම කියන්නේ ඒ දේවල් කරන්න එපා.

එතකොට මං ජ්‍යේශ්ඨ නිලධාරීන්ටත් කියන්නේ ඔය පරීක්ෂා කිරීම් වලට( inspection ) ගියාම පාටි දාන්න වැඩක් නෑ.ඕඅයිසී ලාගෙන් වටේ ඉන්න අය සල්ලි එකතු කරගෙන පාටි එකක් කරලා වැඩක් නෑ.එතකොට පරීක්ෂාකිරීම් ( inspection )  වෙන්නෙත් නෑ පාටි එක වෙන්නෙත් නෑ.ඉතින් ඒ වගේ දේවල් නවත්තන්න.දැන් මට තියෙන පැමිණිලි තමයි,මෙස් බිලට දානවා,ඒකෙන් කපනවා,ඒකෙන් ගන්නවා.ඒකයි මම හිතුවේ මේ ටික ඔක්කොම අද කතා කරනවා කියලා.

අදින් පස්සේ මට මොන හරි ආවොත් එහෙම ඊට පස්සේ අඬාගෙන එන්න එපා.ඒ මොකෝ මම හැම එකම චෙක් කරනවා.කොයි පොලිසියද, කොයි ඒරියා එකේද,හැම එකම චෙක් කරනවා මං.ඉතිං එහෙම කරලා අපි ඔක්කොම එකතු වුණොත් අපිට මීට වඩා හොඳ පොලීසියක් රටට පෙන්නන්න පුළුවන්.දැන් සමහරවිට මෙහෙම කරන්නෙ නැති අයට ලැජ්ජත් ඇති.ඕගොල්ලන්ටම ඇහෙනවා ඇතිනේ සමහර මිනිස්සු කියනවා “වැඩිම හොරු ඉන්න පොලිසියේ පගා ගහන්නේ පොලිසිය ” එහෙමනේ කියන්නේ මිනිස්සු.

ඉතිං අපි ඒක නැති කරගන්න ඕනෙ. ඔය අනිත් එක තමයි අපි ඔය ඉස්සෙල්ලා මං කිව්වා වගේ අපි එකා වගේ ඉන්න ඕනේ.එක්කෙනාට එක්කෙනා කප කප ගොඩක් පොලිසියේ මං දකින ඒවා මම මේ කියන්නේ.එක්කෙනාට එක්කෙනෙක් නෑ.අරයව කපලා මම උඩට එන්න කොහොමද.අන්න ඕවා තමයි වැඩ කරන්නෙ ඔළුවේ.

ඉතිං ඒවා නවත්තන්න.ඔක්කොම එකට වැඩ කරන්න.ඔය අනිත් එක පොලිසියේ අය හැසිරෙන විදිහෙන්ම තමයි මහජනයාගේ ගෞරවය ලැබෙන්නේ.ඉතින් ඒ විදිහට හැසිරෙන්න.අපි දැන් මේ කියපු ටික හොඳට හිතට අරගෙන අපි අද ඉඳන් සියලු දෙනාම එකතුවෙලා, මම ඕනේ වෙලාවක ඉන්නවා ඕනම නිලධාරියෙකුට  කතා කරන්න පුළුවන් මගේ ටෙලිෆෝන් එකට හැම එක්කෙනාම කතා කරනවා.

මොනවා හරි ප්‍රශ්නයක් වුණොත් මට වුණත් කෙළින්ම කතා කරන්න.පොලිස්පති තුමා ඉන්නවා.ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නියෝජ්‍ය පොලිස්පතිවරු ඉන්නවා.අපි එක ප්ලෑන් එකකට අද ඉඳලා යන්.මම ජූලි තිස් වෙනිදා වෙනකොට මම ඔක්කොම ඕඅයිසී ලගේ අලුතින් ඇගයීමක් කරනවා මාස හයක් තියෙනවා.මම මේ මාස 6 හැම පොලිසියේම වෙන ඒවා බලලා ඇගයීමක් කරනවා.ඒ ඇගයීම වෙද්දි මට හොඳ රිපෝට් එකක් ආවෙ නැත්නම් මම ඒ ඕඅයිසී ව තියන්නෑ එතන.මං එතකොට හිතා ගන්නේ මෙතුමාට ඕඅයිසී කමක් කරන්න බෑ.ඉතිං ඒ තීරණය ගන්නවා.

ඉතිං මං අද කියන්නේ ඒකයි.ජූලි 30 වෙනකොට ඇගයීමක් කරනවා සියලුම ඕඅයිසී ලා.එහෙම කරලා තීරණයක් ගන්න වෙනවා තමන්ගේ වැඩ ගැන.ඉතින් මං අවසාන වශයෙන් වැඩිය කතා කරන්නේ නෑ.මං හිතන්නේ මං ඔක්කොම කියන්න තියෙන ටිකයි,අපි පොලිස් නිලධාරීන්ට කරපු ටික මේ මාස අටේ .දැන් අපි පොලිස් නිලධාරීන්ගෙන් බලාපොරොත්තු වෙන්නේ මොකක්ද කියන එක මං හිතන්නේ මං තේරුම් කරලා දුන්නා.

ඒක හින්දා අපි සියලු දෙනාම එක පවුලක් වගේ  ඉඳගෙන වැඩකරලා මේ රටේ තියෙන මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය, පාතාලය ඒ වගේම අනිත් අපරාධ, මට අමතක උන විශේශ දෙයක් තමයි අන්තවාදී ක්‍රියාකාරකම්,  මම හිතන්නේ සුරේශ් සලේ මැතිතුමා ඒක හොඳට කරුණු පැහැදිලි කෙරුවා. මේ සියලු දේම මතක තියාගන්න ඒ මොකෝ එක ඕඅයිසී කෙනෙක්ටවත් බැහැ කියන්න මොනව හරි සිද්ධියක් උනොත් අපිට දැන්වූවෙ නැහැ කියල, ඩිවිශන් කිව්වෙ නෑ , ඩී.අයි.ජී  කිව්වෙ නැහැ කියල කියන්න එපා.

තමන් දැනගෙන තියෙන්න ඕනෙ තමන්ගෙ පොලිස් ඒරියා එකේ වෙන හැම දෙයක්ම, වෙන්න යන හැම දෙයක්ම. තමන් හරියට ජොබ් එක කරනවනම් තමන් යටතේ ඉන්න නිලධාරීන්ව යොදවල ඒ පොලිස් වසමෙ වෙච්ච, වෙන හැම දෙයක්ම දැනගන්න ඕනෙ.

සමහර විට හෙට බෝම්බයක් ගියොත් ඒක අපි දැනගෙන හිටියෙ නෑ, සමහර විට ඒක හොයල බලල තිබ්බනම් දැනගන්න තිබ්බ මෙවැනි දේවල් වෙනව පොලිස් ඒරියා එකේ කියල. ඒක හින්ද තමන් බලාගන්න ඕනෙ තමන්ගෙ පොලිස් වසම. ඉතිං අද ඉඳල අපි සියළු දෙනා එකට එකතු වෙලා මේ රටට හොඳක් වෙන දෙයක් කරන්න හිත හදාගමු, ඒකට ඔබ සියළු දෙනාගෙම සහය මම බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනව.

ස්තූතියි…

Courtesy Fox News

India has extended $4.4 billion in official credit to Sri Lanka

Debt-stricken Sri Lanka’s Central Bank chief said Wednesday that the country is making good progress in talks with its creditors to obtain financial assurances for debt restructuring, an important step toward finalizing an International Monetary Fund rescue plan.

Sri Lanka is bankrupt and has suspended repayment of its $51 billion foreign debt, of which $28 billion must be repaid by 2027.

It has reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a $2.9 billion rescue package over four years. Its completion hinges on assurances on debt restructuring from creditors that include China, India and the Paris Club, a grouping of major creditor nations.

India announced last week that it has given its assurance to the IMF to facilitate the bailout plan. India has extended $4.4 billion in official credit to Sri Lanka, excluding other forms of lending.

SRI LANKA PRESIDENT FLEES COUNTRY, PROTESTERS STORM PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE AS STATE OF EMERGENCY IS DECLARED

“Other bilateral creditors, Paris Club, China and small bilateral creditors are in the process of issuing financial assurances,” Sri Lankan Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said.

The “process is making very good progress,” Weerasinghe told reporters at his office, saying the country hopes to receive “the necessary financial assurances from all our creditors in a very short period.”

Sri Lanka borrowed heavily from China over the past decade for infrastructure projects that include a seaport, airport and a city being built on reclaimed land. The projects failed to earn enough revenue to pay for the loans, a factor in Sri Lanka’s economic woes.

The governor of Sri Lankan Central Bank Nandalal Weerasinghe speaks during a media briefing in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Apr. 8, 2022. Sri Lanka’s Central Bank chief said on Jan. 25, 2023, that the country is making good progress in talks regarding debt restructuring. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

China accounts for about 10% of Sri Lanka’s loans after Japan and the Asian Development Bank. However, its assent for restructuring its loans is crucial.

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis and resultant shortages of food, medicine, fuel and cooking gas sparked riots last year, forcing the president to flee the country and later resign.

Sri Lanka has since shown some signs of progress, with shortages reduced and day-to-day functions restored. However, daily power cuts continue due to fuel shortages and the government is struggling to find money to pay government employees’ salaries and conduct other administrative functions.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

රජය විසින් මෙම ජනවාරි මාසයේ සිට අය කිරීම ආරම්භ කර ඇති නව ආදායම් බද්ද සම්බන්ධයෙන් විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්යවරුන්ගේ සංගමයේ හිටපු සභාපති නිර්මාල් දේවසිරි මහතා අදහස් පල කරයි.

තම මාසික වැටුප් සටහනක්ද සහිතව ඔහු විසින් සමාජ ජාල ගිණුමේ තබා ඇති සටහන මෙසේය.

බදු පිළිබද මගේ මතය!!!
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මේ තියෙන්නෙ ගිය මාසෙ මට ගෙදර ගෙනියන්න ලැබුණු වැටුප. මේක මටනං ඉහටත් උඩිං. ලබන මාසෙ මෙකෙන් 75000ක් විතර අඩු වෙයි. ඒත් මට ෂේප් වෙන්න පුළුවන්. බදු ප්‍රශ්නෙ ගැන මාත් එක්ක පැටලෙන්න එන Upali Kohomban එක පාරක් මගෙන් ඇහුව ණය ගන්නෙ නැතුව ජීවත් වෙන හැටි කියන්න කියල. මට බැංකු ණය නැති නිසා රුපියල් ලක්ෂ එකහමාරකින් විතර ජීවත් වෙන්න පුළුවන්. අම්මයි තාත්තයි නැති වුන දාට ඒක ලක්ෂෙ දක්වා අඩු කරන්නත් පුළුවන්. ප්‍රශ්නෙ තියෙන්නෙ මං වගේ කසඩ ලොතරැයි මාහාචාරියෙකුට එහෙම වුනාට නියම මහාචාර්යවරු ඊට වඩා වැටුප් බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනව. ඒ අයට ඉන්න හොද ගෙයක් අවශ්‍යයි. ටිකක් හොදට අදින්න පළදින්න ඕනෙ. ළමයින්ට යන වියදම වැඩියි. ටිකක් මධ්‍යම පංතික මට්ටමට ජීවත් වෙන්න ඕනෙ. දැන් සාමාන්‍යෙයන් කාර් එකක් තියාගෙන හොද ගෙයක් හදාගෙන ළමයි තුන්දෙනෙක් එක්ක සාමාන්‍ය මධ්‍යම පංතික ජීවිතයක් ගෙවන්න මාසෙකට රුපියල් ලක්ෂ තුන හතරක්වත් ඕනෙ.

අනිත් එක මට හම්බවෙන පඩිය හම්බවෙන්න මහාචාර්ය වෙනකල් ඉන්න ඕනෙ. මම මහාචාර්ය වුනේ වයස 53දි විතර වුනත් දක්ෂයෙකුට 40න් විතර මහාචාර්ය වෙන්න පුළුවන් බව ඇත්ත. නමුත් අනිත් අයගෙ පඩිය මීට අඩුයි.

මේ නිසා උද්ධමනය වැඩි වීමත් එක්ක මේ බදු හරහා පඩිය අඩු වුනහම එවැනි මධ්‍යම පංතික ජීවිතයක් ගත කරන්න අමාරු වෙනව. එතකොට විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්යවරු නං එක්කෝ ආණ්ඩුවට කඩේ ගිහින් තනතුරක් අරගන්න ඕනෙ. එහෙම නැත්නං ඔය එක්ස්ටර්නල් ඩිග්රි, පෝස්ට් ග්‍රැජුවෙට් ප්‍රෝග්‍රෑම් වගේ බොරු වැඩ වලින් ගාණක් කපා ගන්න ඕනෙ. එහෙම නැත්නං එන්ජීඕ එකක් අල්ලගෙන කීයක් හරි ලැබෙන කන්සල්ටන්සි එකක් වගේ දෙයක් කරන්න ඕනෙ. ඒත් ඒවට හැමොටම චාන්ස් නැහැ.

ඒ නිසා ඒ අය කළ යුත්තේ රටින් පිටවීම. මං වගේ අයට රටින් පිට ගියා කියල මේ ලැබෙන පඩිය වගේ පඩියක් ගන්න ජොබ් එකක් ගන්න හිතන්නවත් බැහැ. ඒ නිසා මං නං මේ බදු ප්‍රමාණය දෙගුණ කළත් මේ රස්සාවෙන් මළාට අයින් වෙන්නෙ නැහැ. නමුත් දැන් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවල ඉන්න සැලකිය යුතු පිරිසකට පිටරට විශ්වවිද්‍යාලෙක මොකක් හරි හොයාගන්න පුළුවන්. ඒ අය දැනටම යනව. ඒක මං හිතන්නෙ හොද තත්වයක්.

ලංකාවට ඇත්ත වශයෙන්ම විශ්වවිද්‍යාල අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. අවශ්‍ය වුනත් මෙච්චර ගාණක් අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. ඒ නිසා මේ තියන ඒව වහල දාන්න බැරිනං මේවගෙ කොලිටි තවත් අඩුවෙලා ඒවට තියෙන සමාජ පිළිගැනීම තවත් අඩු වෙලා යන එක හොදයි. රාජ්‍ය විශ්වවිද්‍යාල වෙනුවට පුද්ගලික විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ඇති වීම ආර්ථික වශයෙන් ඵලදායී යි. මොකද එතකොට ඉන්දියාවෙන් චීනෙන් වගේ රටවලින් සිසුන් ගෙන්නගෙන බිස්නස් මට්ටමින් විශ්වවිද්‍යාල පවත්වාගෙන යාමට පුළුවන්. දැන් රාජ්‍ය විශ්වවිද්‍යාල වලට සමාජ ඉල්ලුමක් තියෙන්නෙ පහළ සමාජ පංතීන්වල තිබෙන ඉහළ යාමේ උන්නතිකාමය නිසා. ඒ අය සදහා වෘත්තීය පුහුණු ආයතන ඇති කොට ඒ සමාජ ඉල්ලුම පාලනය කරන්න පුළුවන්.

මම විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්ය සංගමයක සාමාජිකයෙක් ලෙස සාමූහිකව මේ බදු ප්‍රතිපත්තිය විවේචනය කළත් පුද්ගලිකව මේකට කැමතියි. මං ප්‍රසිද්ධ සභාවල සමූහයේ මතය නියෝජනය කළත් මේක තමයි මගේ පුද්ගලික මතය.

මේ බදු ගැසීමට පක්ෂ කෙලෙස් නැසූ අල්පේච්ඡ ජීවිත ගත කරන උපාසක උපාසිකාවන් වගේ නෙවෙයි විශ්වවිද්‍යාලවල වැඩකරන බහුතරය. ඒ අය මේ පරිබෝජනවාදී සමාජයේ ගොදුරු වෙලා තියෙන්නෙ. ඒ නිසා ඒ අය හැකි ඉක්මනින් පිටරට රැකියා සොයාගැනීමට උත්සාහ කිරීම මේ රටට විශාල සේවයත්.

Courtesy Adaderana

Members of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) stated before the National Council that they unanimously agreed to send documents to the Attorney General requesting for advice regarding the possibility of increasing the electricity charges retrospectively and requesting for prompt approval for the increase in the electricity charges. 

Accordingly, the members of the commission said that they hope to forward the relevant documents to the Attorney General today (25).

The proposal to raise electricity charges were discussed accordingly when the National Council met in Parliament on January 24, under the chairmanship of the Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana along with the participation of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

Addressing the Council meeting, the Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera mentioned that the electricity charges were revised in 2014 to apply retrospectively. The Minister stated that he can provide the documents to the commission if necessary. He also requested to get the opinion of the Attorney General in this regard as soon as possible.

The officials of the Electricity Board pointed out that the operating costs of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) have reached an unsustainable level.

Ministers Naseer Ahmed, Kanchana Wijesekera, Tiran Alas, State Ministers Indika Anuruddha, D. V. Chanaka, Members of Parliament Sagara Kariyawasam were present at the Council meeting held.

Chief of Staff and Deputy Secretary General of Parliament Ms. Kushani Rohanadeera was also present at the Council meeting held. The members of the Public Utilities Commission, the Ministry of Power and Energy and the Ceylon Electricity Board were also present before the National Council.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Constitutional Council met for the first time today (25 Jan.), and has decided to call for applications from those interested and qualified to be appointed as members of the Independent Commissions.

Accordingly, a newspaper advertisement will be published in this regard, after which two weeks will be given from the date of advertisement to furnish all related applications, the Communication Department of the Sri Lanka Parliament confirmed, adding that more details about the application process will be notified through the newspaper advertisement.

The advertisement is due to be published, calling for new members to the Election Commission, Delimitation Commission, National Police Commission, Audit Service Commission, Human Rights Commission, National Procurement Commission, Finance Commission and Bribery Commission after the Constitutional Council gives the go-ahead to the recommendations made by the President for the positions of chairpersons and members of several independent commissions.

While the meeting also focused on the future activities of the Council along with the mandate of the Constitutional Council stipulated in the Constitution and the other laws, the Constitutional Council unanimously agreed to discharge duties and functions of the Council in an independent, accountable and transparent manner.

The meeting was presided by Council Chairman, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, with newly-appointed members Dr. Pratap Ramanujam, Dr. (Mrs) Dilkushi Anula Wijesundere, Dr. (Mrs) Weligama Vidana Arachchige Dinesha Samararatne also present, along with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, MP Sagara Kariyawasam, Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake and Chief of Staff and Deputy Secretary General Kushani Rohanadeera.

Shenali D Waduge

Ben Norton’s Geopolitical Economy Report reveals some interesting facts. The US-backed coup on 7 December 2022  against President Pedro Castillo (immediately after the ousting of Sri Lanka’s President via a well-funded protest) The Peruvian President has been imprisoned for 18 months without trial & due process. Massive protests are a hallmark in both Sri Lanka & Peru. The US-back coup regime went on to kill 50 protestors & the country has been in chaos since December 2022 but the US Govt is strongly supporting the coup.  The ouster was primarily to prevent the elected President from negating neoliberal policies & his ouster was instigated by CIA veteran US ambassador to Peru Lisa Kenna. Peru became the 2^nd victim of geopolitical resource grab after Bolivia became victim in 2019 ousting Eva Morales to grab its lithium.

Peru is home to mineral resources as well as gas reserves which are reasons that lure US & multinationals to Peru.  It was no surprise that US would lead actions to oust any national leader.

Thus on 6 December 2022, a day before the coup the US ambassador had met with the Peruvian Defense Minister to advise that the military disobey orders of the Peruvian President. Did the US envoy to Sri Lanka do the same? We know she was at the forefront of the aragalaya, meeting every important person who were part & parcel of the aragalaya.

After overthrowing the elected Peruvian President, the US envoy met the Peruvian Minister of Mining & Energy to discuss ‘investments” on 18 Jan 2023. Not surprisingly, the Peruvian Energy Minister issued a statement of how Peru was going to move forward with US assistance.

Did a similar scenario take place in Sri Lanka?

Like the US ambassador to Sri Lanka who is regularly visiting not only government ministers, the opposition, public officials, private sector, civil society & even individuals who have a hold on society, US envoy to Peru was also meeting top officials including unelected President Dina Boluarte & her ministers. It is interesting to know whether the US envoy to Sri Lanka proposed to place the current President or did she have another person in mind to take over! If so, how or why did US plans change?

The puzzling aspect of the Sri Lankan Presidents overthrow was that inspite of embracing US lobbies going so far as to accept proposals from US-backed entities & appointing pro-US individuals to key roles, why would the US consider an unceremonious removal of the sitting Sri Lankan President, going so far as to even chase him out of the country.  He even stopped the Chinese vaccine & brought in Pfizer vaccines which even India had refused.

The Peruvian elected leader was eventually arrested & imprisoned. The Peruvian people are protesting for the release of their president while Sri Lanka’s citizens are baffled why the sitting President resigned, fled the nation without even addressing the nation.

Sri Lanka is home to natural resources in addition to being strategically placed geographically

Peru’s natural reserves include copper, gold, zinc, silver, lead, iron & natural gas. Both nations are thus susceptible to more than it can chew & has lacked leaders who have been able to understand geopolitics & distinguish the dynamics & political will matched with political cunning needed to balance the covert & overt onslaughts.

Peru relies heavily on its mining sector. The world’s largest transnational mining corporations have invested in Peru (BHP, Rio Tinto & Glencore) Canada, Brazil, Switzerland, Britain, US, Japan & Australia are also involved in mining in Peru. Most of the local mining companies in Peru are owned by foreign corporates no different to the manner foreigners are using locals as fronts in Sri Lanka. The name of the game is the competition to grab natural resources. Sadly, Sri Lanka’s leaders & even the educated do not understand the importance of the assets that we have and all are more than ready to hand over these treasures to foreigners & strike a deal where they function as the local front. Sadly, this lack of sincerity & integrity is one of the primary reasons that Sri Lanka has no leaders & have very few trustworthy academics/intellectuals or policy advisors.

Peru is the world’s 2^nd largest copper producer attracting renewable energy players. When Goldman Sachs in 2022 declared that copper was the new oil it gave a clue as to what Peru was in store for.

Europe even began importing LNG from Peru in 2022 without Russia. Peru’s LNG exports are overseen by foreign companies like Shell.

However, when President Castillo declared we want our natural resources to directly benefit the people” it spelt his fate.

He condemned foreign companies for pillaging” Peru & proposed to renegotiate contracts to ensure 70% of all proceeds from mining went to the State to fund social programs.

we want our natural resources to directly benefit the people”

we are rescuing the resources of the country for all Peruvians”.

This was not what foreign governments or multinationals had in mind & wanted to hear. They determined he had to go.

Another noteworthy feature was the ‘agrarian reform’ declared by the Peruvian President echoing the fertilizer fiasco by Sri Lanka’s president. We have to wonder whether these themes had been intentionally introduced with the outcome in mind. They look good themes at the surface level but the real purpose is often hidden by those introducing the theme.

Sri Lanka’s ousted President did not make similar utterances like the Peruvian President, but his manifesto moved along the same lines. Unlike Castillo, the Sri Lankan President did not periodically appeal to the people & share with them his vision. Where did the President of Sri Lanka go wrong?

The similarities in Peru & Sri Lanka was the right-wing opposition being hellbent on destabilizing & removing Presidents of both nations. Corruption in the judiciary was also a factor shared by both nations. As we can see part of the destabilizing process was to violate & disobey law & order rendering the police & armed forces helpless.

Ousting Peru’s President meant return to neoliberal economic model drafted by the Washington Consensus giving priority to foreign corporates – is this not what has taken place in Sri Lanka as well. Can the party that promoted Sri Lanka’s President to power be happy to continue what they promised not to do?

Like Sri Lanka’s President, the Peruvian President came to power on the vote of rural communities, the only difference is that while the protests in Sri Lanka were organized & supported by the educated, professional groups & business community” Peru’s protests have come demanding the release of the arrested former President, demands to hold new elections & replace the constitution that was formed by US-backed former dictator Alberto Fujimori.

In Sri Lanka, even members of the aragalay are slowly beginning to understand that many of them had been used” & their ego prevents them from admitting so & there is little point in saying we told you so” -the damage has been done. Many of the supporters in the opposition were part & parcel o f that ouster & they are now vying for key places in the local government elections. This spells dangers as they have all been compromised to foreign agenda & have been used to destabilize Sri Lanka.

Shenali D Waduge

By Engr. Kanthar Balanathan DipEE (UK), GradCert (RelEng-Monash),DipBus&Adm(Finance-Massey), C.Eng., MIEE, Former Director of Power Engineering Solutions Pty Ltd, Consulting Electrical Engineers

General

Residents and diaspora should be aware of the economic situation and development in Sri Lanka. We cannot just sit and close our eyes (like the cock-eyed chicken) assuming that the Sri Lankan administration is doing well in the financial system management. The difference between the third world and the developed world is that the third world’s economic deceleration is must faster than that of the developed world. As SL is our mother country, wherever we are, we have a responsibility to make our observations, comments, and suggestions for changes. Politicians do not own SL. They are there to serve the people.

E.g., India that matter has improved very much and very rapidly in the economic environment, purely because it invested in agriculture, science, and technology and currently leading in digital technology. The Brahmins have shown their colour in intelligence and knowledge and the capacity to acquire such advanced technical knowledge.

The country has no racial violence or discrimination. Intelligence people have been given the proper place in society. The shortfall of the Tamil Nadu state is that they claim of Dravidian” origin. Humans shall assess in terms of reality, not assumptions. Every political party in Tamil Nadu has the word Dravida” mingled in their party name. Similarly in Sri Lanka, the Tamils have the word Tamil” associated in the political party name.

This drives for the conclusion that the Tamils do not consider Economics and Finance” for development and survival.

Therefore, India is a well-known intellectual country.

The country is so large and to manage its finances, and administration, it is divided into financially manageable states and given adequate powers for development. However, SL being a small poor nation, first, has not got the economic and financial wealth, and power to operate several states and Councils. This is the pure and only reason for not being a federal state administration. If so, the British would have given autonomous state power in 1948. We, the Tamils should understand this and build the nation and the N&E with wealth, then request power. Tamils have eager to show that they are politicians and ministers. During the PCs period every politician like garlanding and presenting for photographs and publishing the photos. What did they achieve? NOTHING.

The day Srimavo signed contracts with China for Cement kiln bricks and BMICH which exhibited close ties with China, problems gave birth in SL. After all she is a well-known unqualified IDIOT. Today under the Rajapaksas, SL went down, and Pakistan, although has nuclear capability, focussed on Kashmir and India, and not their sustainability, was driven down to poverty because of rivalry on both sides. (Afghanistan + India).

Today with the current president (RW) who has a revolutionary mind in economics can boost up the finance and elevate Sri Lankan economy. Within a short period, the president + the Central Bank (CB) have shown credibility and we can see the improvement in the economy. Although as the foolish people, who do not want to work, and expect everything free, and do not understand economics and finances in society. People shall understand this concept.

Analysis

Today the inflation rate stands at 65%.

Nominal interest rate = (real risk-free interest + Inflation + default risk premium + liquidity premium + maturity risk premium)

Inflation impacts on interest rate and commodity prices. If the Bank prints money, the country will have too many notes, however, less products. The price shoots up because of too many buyers with liquid cash. This is where supply and demand come into play.

The country should maintain its productivity to keep the prices low. This is exactly what’s happening in SL today. GOSL should generate revenue for its local expenses and salaries. This where taxes play an important part. Every citizen shall oblige the country by paying its dues to the government. For example: Several politicians did not pay their water bills and electricity bills for donkeys’ years. How do they expect the business to pay salaries and meet its development/augmentation of plant and equipment costs.

Although System demand studies may have been conducted by the appropriate business/industries, they may not be able to augment the plants due to lack of funds.

Treasury (CB)

How do government get its money if taxes are not paid?

What is the difference between T-bills and Treasury bonds?

• Bonds are generally for 30 years.
• Notes between 1-10 years at 3.5%.
• Bills are between 6 months to one year.

CB is trading the following on the 18^{th of} January 2023.

Quote: Excerpt from CB Web page: https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/

Rs. 95,000 million (Rs 95 Billon) Treasury bills are to be issued through an auction on 18^th January 2023.  The details of Treasury bill issues are as follows. 

Maturity Period                           91 Days	182 Days                  364 Days              Total
ISIN*                                  LKA09123D219	LKA18223G219     LKA36424A198
Amount Offered (Rs. Mn.)           55,000		20,000                      20,000               95,000
Date of Auction	:	18th January 2023
Date of Settlement	:	20th January 2023
Date of Issue	:	20th January 2023
Closing date and time of bid submission	:	Wednesday 18th January 2023, at 11.00 a.m.
Minimum amount of a bid	:	Rupees five million (Rs. 5,000,000/-) and multiples of Rupees one million (Rs. 1,000,000/-) there onwards.

It is assumed that this money is required by GOSL for its local expenses. May be to pay salaries. It is hoped that the GOSL/CB would have completed (i) a preliminary study on this project as to how they propose to use this fund (ii) how they will generate to pay back the bond money. Governments should not go and buy money in the market without doing a proper study. If so, this government would be assumed as operating in a jungle.

Citizens who have internet facilities should visit the following web page and check frequently to acquire more knowledge and or public awareness. https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/

Governments shall operate with openness and transparency.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Human Rights have taken root in Sri Lanka and are peddled by Human Rights devotees with great enthusiasm and little critical inquiry. When I suggested that a mentally retarded girl, who had been successfully integrated into the community, should be sterilized, I received the reply ‘but that is a Right. ’

Human Rights have been used for various purposes in Sri Lanka, some of which are totally unrelated to the well being of Sri Lanka .The media reported in 2014 that Human Rights activists have gone to the Supreme Court to stop the government from sending back Afghan, Iranian and Pakistani refugees.

But Human Rights have also been used in Sri Lanka   for political purposes. Human Rights were used to help the Eelam war. The government complained that when they arrested persons involved in the Eelam war,   Human Rights defenders and their organizations intervened and got them released.

Human Rights was used to ‘punish’ the war winning army. In 2019, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has taken upon itself the task of vetting security personnel for United Nation’s Peace Keeping Missions. In doing so, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka had exceeded its mandate.

There were complaints to the President about the problems created by Human Rights Council in this matter by delaying clearance. Since 2004, Sri Lanka had been sending troops on UN missions and at present a large contingent from Sri Lanka is serving in different parts of the world. Our forces are in high demand due to their discipline and valor, said the President. Sri Lanka will be at a loss when there is an undue delay in deploying Sri Lanka officers to UN missions, and it will not only have a negative impact on the economy but also damage the trust and faith the UN had placed on Sri Lanka. 

Human Rights defenders have intervened in police work. The Police force is responsible for the maintenance of law and order and is empowered to carry out arrests of criminals. But on several occasions police prosecutions have been obstructed by Human Rights defenders, on the grounds that they are infringing on Human Rights, said Tassie Seneviratne, former Senior Superintendent of Police. This deterred effective police action. Police are confronted with diverse interpretations of their actions under Human Rights law, he said. Arrests considered a violation in Fundamental rights, is accepted when the same case is entered under criminal law.

In October 2015 students engaged in the protest march organized by the Inter Student Collective for the Protection of Higher National Diploma in Accountancy were brutally attacked by the police. The students were on their way to the University Grants Commission to ask that the HNDA be given degree status.

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) inquired into the incident and had recommended that the police pay compensation to the students injured in the incident. HRCSL recommended that a female student injured in the incident be paid Rs. 25,000 as compensation and eight other students who were also injured be paid Rs. 15,000 each. HRCSL said that those who gave orders for the police to act in the manner they did on the day of the protest should also be held accountable and action taken against them.

But the police did not accept this. They took Human Rights Commission to courts, challenging the charge that the Police must pay compensation. I am unable to find out what happened thereafter in this landmark case.

Human Rights   devotees in Sri Lanka have used Human Rights   in ways which violate the main principle of Human Rights, which is the value of ordinary human lives. Human Rights devotees agreed that drug addiction was bad and it is important to curb drug trafficking, but declared that policies for controlling drug trafficking must adhere to Human Rights standards.

Lawyers protested over the deaths of three criminals, Tinkering Lasantha, Makandure Madush and Uru Juwa who had died in Police custody.  In 2020, Bar Association drew attention to the fact that that Samarasinghe Arachchige Madush Lakshitha alias Makandure Madush was killed in what the police claimed a shootout between them and the underworld at Applewatte Housing scheme in Oct 2020.

Madush is accused of numerous crimes, including the killing of other underworld figures, such as ‘Kos Malli’ and ‘Samayan’ and an attempt at killing Police Narcotics Bureau’s Neomal Rangajeewa. While in prison, Madush had had got Southern Provincial Council Member Danny Hiththetiya killed through an accomplice. He had carried out a number of armed robberies as well. His main activity was smuggling drugs from Iran and Afghanistan by sea to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives.

However, lawyers representing the underworld figures wrote to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka asking the Association to condemn the death and to take up the matter with the authorities.The Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners called upon the Human Rights Commission to hold an impartial inquiry into Madush’s death.   It said that that the killing of persons arrested by the Police and prisoners had been going on in Sri Lanka for many years.

Other underworld figures    who were in prison thought the same would happen to them. Janith Madhusanka alias Podi Lassie , a notorious underworld drug kingpin, filed a writ petition in the Court of Appeal, seeking an order from the court to provide him with adequate protection. He was detained in the Boossa High Security prison over several criminal offences.

 Podi Lassie claimed to have received threats to his life and has requested the Court to order prison officials to take measures to ensure his personal safety. They are duty bound to ensure the safety of inmates who are held in prison custody. Court of Appeal decided to issue notices on the respondents, including the Boossa Prison Superintendent, the Chief Jailor of the Boossa prison, the Prison Commissioner General and the Attorney General.

H. L. Lasantha alias Tinkering Lasantha was killed while in police custody n 2021. He was involved in multiple criminal activities. Tinkering Lasantha’s lawyer had notified the Bar Association that .he has information that his client who had been arrested by Kalutara police will be killed in custody by the police under the pretext of it happening during a shoot-out whilst being taken to show weapons. The lawyer pointed out that Tinkering hadn’t been produced before a magistrate either.

Bar Association had promptly informed IGP, Human Rights Commission, and the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA). However, on 26th November  Tinkering Lasantha had been shot dead while being taken to recover hidden weapons.

Dinithi Melan alias Uru Juwa   was arrested by the Nawagamuwa Police on May 2021. Uru Juwa’ had been wanted in connection with at least four killings, about 20 cases of  ransom  and other offences, including arson, committed between 2015 and 2019 in  the Nawagamuwa and Hanwella Police Divisions. ‘ Lawyers questioned the circumstances in which Uru Juwa died of gunshot injuries on the following day.

The death of persons taken into custody by the police cannot be justified under any circumstances, said lawyers. Responsibility for these killings must lie not only with the persons who carried out the killings but also all those who command them and those who failed to ensure the safety and security of the suspect. The BASL calls upon the IGP to explain his failure to protect the suspect who was in police custody.

Human Rights are now getting extended to animals too. Animals are increasingly recognized as non-human persons” with feelings. In 2022 Basel-Stadt canton in Switzerland voted on whether primates, (apes, chimpanzees, monkeys) should enjoy some of the same basic fundamental rights as humans do. The vote will decide whether to give primates the right to life and the right to “mental and physical integrity”. The animal right group Sentience said primates are highly intelligent and maintain an active social life. They feel pain, grief and compassion.

Switzerland’s Supreme Court  allowed the vote.. The proposal would not extend fundamental rights to all animals, only to primates and it would only apply to cantons and municipalities in Switzerland not to  private persons. This will mark the first time worldwide that people can vote on fundamental rights for non-humans, said the media.

In 2017, The Indian Supreme Court directed Indian States to sterilize every stray dog, allowing only irretrievably ill or rabid dogs to be destroyed. Sterilization is the answer for dog population control not killing, said Delhi High Court, observing that there is no law prohibiting street dog feeding and stating that those who do so show compassion to all living creatures. It  directed India’s Animal Welfare Board to earmark appropriate sites  to establish stray dog feeding stations and ordered the police to protect those feeding street dogs. However, animal lovers observed that when sterilized and vaccinated dogs are removed to shelters, others neither sterilized nor vaccinated take over. Vaccinated dogs living in groups create herd immunity” preventing other dogs coming into their territory.

In Sri Lanka  there is an  emphasis on protecting stray dogs. A  stray  doggie’s right to life was now  getting protected. It is no longer a ‘dog’s life’.  There was a complaint some years ago that stray dogs living in the Peradeniya Gardens and dogs   living in the Kandy Hospital compound had been removed. Dog lovers said that    the occupancy rights of these dogs had been violated. It was argued that these dogs had a sort of prescriptive right to be in these two places. They did not however provide any useful service to either institution.

In 2017, there was a similar protest regarding the dogs at University of Sri Jayewardenepura. The university stands on a large property which does not have a wall surrounding it. As a result, dogs of the neighboring areas enter and move about in it freely, some even living there, said    Sathva Mithra, an NGO.

However, thanks to caring students these dogs have not been allowed to run wild, be disease ridden, and multiply their numbers freely. Succeeding batches of students have taken on themselves the task of caring for these dogs, not only providing them with food but also vaccinating them regularly against rabies, and sterilizing/neutering them, thereby preventing reproduction. They have been getting the support of their parents and even some of the teaching staff for this compassionate task, continued Sathva Mithra,

In fact, a recently retired Vice Chancellor too, had while in office, contributed food for these animals on a few occasions which was a great inspiration to the students. So much love the students had for these for these humble, friendly animals that each one of them was given names to which they promptly respond. With so much loving care and attention, these dogs have always been human-friendly and moved about the university peacefully without harming anyone.   

Sathva Mithra complained that without any prior warning to the students, the Acting VC on the advice of the VC decided to send out all the dogs from the university premises,  caring nothing about the tragic fate that will befall the animals by such hasty unplanned removal and the anguish it would cause the concerned students. It is a pity the VC lacked the humility to discuss with his students this issue of the dogs said the NGO.

Innocent dogs, lovingly cared for by students, were handed over to cruel unethical pest control people for disposal in some other place, or even their destruction. No sooner the students learned of this removal of the dogs, they informed the police and asked the pest control people to return them concluded Sathva Mithra.

The Collective of Citizens Organizations also joined in. it accused Sri Jayewardenepura University administration of hiring a private pets control firm to remove at least 30 dogs ahead of a free sterilization project. They suspected that the dogs had been buried after being made unconscious. The private company admitted receiving a payment amounting to Rs 350,000 for the operation. The NGO wanted to know whether University administration could spend taxpayer’s money to get rid of dogs.

Vice Chancellor of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura  said stray dogs had become a nuisance  on university premises. There were more than 130 stray dogs living inside the university premises and they were a threat to students, academic and non academic staff members. They had bitten 18 students and non academic staff members during the last two months. Following repeated requests made by the students, teachers, non-academic staff members and welfare organizations, the university administration had decided to remove the stray dogs from the campus premises. The university administration had outsourced the task to a private company but some parties with vested interests had spread rumors that the animals were being killed. He said those groups had done nothing for the dogs.

To conclude, Human Rights” does not appear to be concerned about the average citizen’s right to safety and the good life. Human Rights show an utter indifference to pressing social issues such as poverty, social mobility, economic development. Roald Dahl’s  Big Friendly Giant observed Human beans is killing each other. Human beans is the only animal that is killing their own.’ Human Rights does nothing to stop this either.  (Concluded)

Malinda Seneviratne

Towards the end of the last millennium with some  countries worrying about glitches associated with Y2K or the year 2000, a magazine, maybe ‘Time’ or ‘Newsweek,’ asked world renowned people a simple question along the following lines: ‘what would make the world a better place in the next millennium?’  Maybe it was ‘next century,’ I can’t really remember. What I remember is the only response that struck me when reading through what scientists, artists, writers, statesmen and stateswomen, sports stars etc. had to say.  

‘The only idea that could save us is for women to run the affairs of the world.’  

That’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who in his biography ‘Living to tell the tale,’ writes at length about the women in his household, grandmother, grand aunts, mother, aunts, cousins and others, the things they did and did not do, the assertions and dismissals, idiosyncrasies and convictions, based on which he concludes, ‘they (women) are the ones who maintain the world while we men throw it into disarray with our historic brutality.’

Not just brutality, though. A fascination with the grand, the monumental, the ‘all-encompassing.’ They are gamblers, wagering on the ‘all’ and typically obtaining the ‘nothing,’ with women typically having to suffer the consequences of poor investment.  Women would no doubt add to this list.

But we are talking of ‘running the affairs of the world’ here. And reflecting on this, almost a quarter century later, I remembered a book my wife told me about around the time she was a postgraduate student: ‘The fish don’t complain about the water: Gender transformation, power and resistance among women in Sri Lanka,’ by Carla Risseeuw published in 1988. Couldn’t get my hands on it but my search did yield her ‘Gender, Kinship and State Formation: Case of Sri Lanka under Colonial Rule,’ an article published in the Economic and Political Weekly in 1992 which does cover the material my wife and I discussed.

While there is evidence that the position of women, strong from the 5th Century BC to the 4th Century AD, had declined through the middle ages, Risseeuw contends that the traditional forms of family and marriage were largely independent of religion and the state or, if you will, administrative concerns.

It was the British who messed things up, she argues. Between 1795 and 1947, the British systematically brought the traditional forms of family and marriage under state control. An acting district judge named Berwick foresaw in 1869 that changes envisaged would lead to increased violence as well as women and children becoming even more insecure. He said that neither the uncertainty of paternity (in the existing system) nor women owning land and property were related to instability in the unions between men and women. He called the new laws ‘a bitter gift of bastardy.’

It was all about access to land, not just for the British but local ‘elites.’ All men, by the way. It was not about some moral indignation regarding relations between men and women, but a fundamental inability to understand the complex culture of inheritance (matrilineal and protective of women) and moreover a need to wrest control of property. The marriage and divorce legislation in effect complemented the draconian Waste Land Act (1840) and other ordinances that followed (1841 to 1907).

The British not only ensured the considerable downgrading of the status of women in marital unions but also enabled men to take control of property. In the new social and economic order women were paid less than the (underpaid) local workers. They were forced into an entrenched in certain employment categories, further concretising the gender-based division of labor.

Risseeuw summarises thus: ‘Both sexes were confronted with immensely harder work conditions. There were advantageous opportunities for a minority, which was predominantly but not exclusively male, with a tendency for males to take over female domains if they became lucrative. Thus slowly women found themselves in the least beneficial sectors of paid labour and trade.’

[By the way, those Kolombians and Kolombian Wannabes who lament that the British ‘left’ (they did not, as even a cursory consideration of political economy would show or, simply, an acknowledgement of the fact that the US Ambassador operates as though she’s some colonial Viceroy) would navel-gaze if they read Risseeau, never mind looking around and reflecting on what the British gave and took].

Despite all this, in conditions of violence, humiliation and insecurity that were largely non-existent before Dutch and the British hordes imposed their religions, their morality and their laws to facilitate plunder, women still ‘maintained’ their respective worlds. Then and now. In this island and in other lands where such impositions were similarly executed or were home-grown as the case may be.

Now it can be argued that it is not prudent to extrapolate from household to community or beyond, to country and a global order, even though the affairs of the world, especially things economic, is exactly that. The word economy is derived after all from the Greek words ‘oikos (house)’ and ‘nemein (manage),’ But more than all this, considering the historic disarray that male arrogance, ignorance and unforgivable brutality has caused, it almost seems silly not to consider very seriously the proposition articulated by Marquez.

We can blame the invaders. Sure. They plundered. They perpetrated genocide. They did their best to erase culture. They drenched our lands with blood. They burnt libraries. They razed temples and kovils to the ground to build churches. They enslaved bodies and minds. They put in place systems that could ensure continued extraction of value that fed their economies and people.

We have not corrected all that. Men, in particular, have continued to exploit laws and institutional arrangements the invaders put in place to further strengthen inequalities and obtain advantages.

We are in a social, economic, political and environment crisis that cannot be fully blamed on others. A key part of it is patriarchy manifested in multiple ways in the society we live in, the institutions we swear by and do nothing to rehabilitate, and the ridiculous laws we uphold. There’s a yoke of bastardy we have yet to unburden ourselves from. Indeed, we swear by it and leave it out of discussions on system change. Our daughters pay the price. Our sons too. 

[‘The Morning Inspection’ is the title of a column I wrote for the Daily News from 2009 to 2011, one article a day, Monday through Saturday. This is a new series. Links to previous articles in this new series are given below]