The Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday (June 13) strongly denied the claims published in multiple media reports asserting that 7.5 million Sri Lankans were lacking adequate meals.
Speaking on the matter, the Additional Secretary of Presidential Secretariat Dr. Sulakshana Jayawardena noted that contrary to these reports, the Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) indicate an improvement in food security across all provinces of Sri Lanka.
According to a statement issued by the government, Dr. Jayawardena, who is also the Director-General of the Partnership Secretariat for WFP Cooperation (PSWFPC), has emphasized the credibility of the CFSAM report released on May 24, 2023, clarifying that it is accessible to the public on the FAO website.
It is regrettable that the summarized accounts in various media reports did not align with the comprehensive findings of the CFSAM report, which can be easily cross-referenced with the report available on the relevant websites, he has said.
The CFSAM survey reveals that an estimated 3.9 million people, equivalent to 17 per cent of the population, are moderately acutely food insecure, the government said adding that this figure represents a notable decrease of nearly 40 per cent compared to the previous year’s figures recorded in June/July.
Moreover, the severe acute food insecurity rate has declined from 66,000 individuals to approximately 10,000, the government emphasized.
Stressing that the improvement in food security can be attributed to an increase in food consumption, which may be influenced by lower food expenses and higher incomes among agricultural communities during the assessment period coinciding with the harvest season, the government said the purpose of a CFSAM is to provide an accurate and comprehensive overview of the extent and severity of food insecurity, enabling the government and the international community to promptly and appropriately respond to the crisis and mitigate its impact on the affected populations.
CFSAMs conduct a thorough analysis of the food security situation at both macro and micro levels, encompassing the overall economic climate, agricultural production, market conditions, and the supply-demand dynamics of staple foods, predominantly cereals. The result is the generation of a national cereal/staple food balance sheet (NFBS) and an estimation of any unmet requirement for staple food imports in the upcoming marketing year.”
The report compiled by the Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on National Security pertaining to the risks involved in the privatisation of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) did not involve any inquiry with the relevant authorities responsible for national security, the President’s Media Division (PMD) stated.
The matter was revealed during today’s (13 June) Security Council meeting, the PMD said.
Meanwhile, speaking during the ‘101 Katha’ talk show hosted by the PMD, former Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) Professor Rohan Samarajeewa assured that the privatisation of SLT does not pose a threat to national security.
Expressing his opinion regarding the Sectorial Oversight Committee’s report on National Security, stating that it relies on assumptions and has turned national security” into a mere slogan. He further said the report lacks a professional study and contradicts the standards set by the Sectorial Oversight Committee.
Expanding on the subject, Prof. Samarajeeva highlighted the main reasons behind his stance. He pointed out the ignorance of both the present and the past, emphasizing that during the 1990s, Sri Lanka invited numerous firms, including Sri Lanka Telecom, which, at that time, did not possess a mobile phone network.
Despite Mobitel being owned by an Australian company, the management rights were retained by an Australian company, and Mobitel had a history of serving the government due to the telecom firm’s ownership. Additionally, the operations of Mobitel were overseen by Telstra Corporation, a Japanese business was responsible for telecommunications, and the majority of decisions were made by Japanese CEOs, even though the chairman of Telecom was Sri Lankan.
In the midst of the conflict, Sri Lanka had four mobile phone providers and three fixed phone businesses, with Dialog being the only corporation with a Sri Lankan CEO, although it was fully owned by Malaysia.
Prof. Samarajeeva said the repetition of the phrase national security” without proper examination, suggesting that it had become a mere mantra or slogan. He emphasized that when the government solely owned the telecom firm, all foreign calls were routed through the telecom headquarters in Colombo, and any harm to it would isolate Sri Lanka from the international community.
Furthermore, he explained that even with cables and satellites, if the software system failed, the entire network would be disrupted, as there was no alternative system in place. He cited two bomb attacks by the LTTE that occurred on the same day to underscore the national security threat faced by the government-controlled telecom.
Following privatization, Prof. Samarajeeva recommended that a Japanese corporation develop a backup system, which was promptly implemented, thanks to their investment.
Prof. Samarajeeva noted that a government agency could not have achieved what the Japanese firm did, as most government organizations do not prioritize infrastructure security due to limited funds. He suggested that privatization, with appropriate controls, allows for investment and urged authorities to consider their recommendations seriously.
As an example, he mentioned a case where Telecom and the Japanese corporation faced a one-million-dollar loss due to a mistake, but the customer was refunded. He also pointed out that during the 1990s, there was a monopoly on international calls, but now international connections are no longer solely dependent on telecom. He highlighted the use of Gmail for government communication and emphasized that the majority of government information is transmitted through the Gmail domain, which is foreign-owned.
Additionally, politicians and government officials use WhatsApp, which is also owned by a foreign entity, to communicate.
Prof. Samarajeeva argued that privatization does not mean government data is being compromised since data centres in Sri Lanka, including those of the telecom company and Dialog, are rented to store government data. He used the analogy of renting a part of a safety deposit box in a bank, where the control lies with the individual who leases the safe, not the bank.
Thus, only the authorized personnel have access to government databases, and having a copy of the data stored outside Sri Lanka enhances security.
He cautioned against the appointment of individuals with political connections to government institutions, as malpractice tends to occur in such cases. He stressed the importance of including knowledgeable individuals in Sectorial committees and encouraged other nations to adopt similar practices.
Prof. Samarajeeva expressed disappointment over the submission of the report to Parliament, suggesting that it was influenced by the ideas of the Sectorial committees rather than relying on expert opinions.
On 09 June, the SOC on National Security issued recommendations against the privatisation of SLT in a report titled The Effects of Privatization of Sri Lanka Telecom on National Security”, citing the possible leakage of matters sensitive to national security.
An easy-maintenance water plant gifted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences commenced operations on Monday (12) in Methiakka, Matale, the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka revealed.
Accordingly, the Embassy noted that through the project, 120,000 litres of ground water will be converted to drinking water, sufficing for a total of 800 villagers in the area on a daily basis.
The government has decided to draft a new Bill, titled Elections (Special Provisions) Act, containing amendments made to several elections Acts and Ordinances.
The proposal tabled by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in this regard was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday (June 12).
Thereby, the new legislation will comprise the amendments to the Parliamentary Elections Act No. 01 of 1981, the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, the Presidential Elections (Special Provisions) Act and the Provincial Councils Elections Act.
In December 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers gave the nod to amend the Parliamentary Elections Act No. 01 of 1981 in a bid to introduce necessary provisions to take legal action against contesting political parties, independence groups, or candidates who violate the code of conduct, and to set up special polling centres for recognized voters who are unable to arrive at their respective polling centres on the day of the election.
The Cabinet had also given the nod to amend the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, the Presidential Elections (Special Provisions) Act, the Parliamentary Elections Act and the Provincial Councils Elections Act in order to introduce election guidelines for media institutions and to take legal actions in the event the guidelines are violated.
The government has thus decided to introduce a new draft Bill – Elections (Special Provisions) Act – which contains all the relevant amendments, instead of revising each Act and Ordinance mentioned above.
Sufian Siddique Independent researcher and freelance columnist, Dhaka
Freedom, Independence and Sovereignty. Words are considered as fundamental rights for individuals, nations and countries in various ways. Obtaining these rights is an absolute honor, through which a sense of self-esteem is created. And self-respect establishes the identity of a person, a nation and a country. Bangladesh is an independent country. However, the time has come to assess how strong our sense of independence and sovereignty as citizens of independent countries and as a distinct nation has come. In addition, the extent to which we have become a self-respecting nation also needs to be monitored. Because after fifty-two years of independence we have to decide. We will accept the opinions, decisions and interference of foreign countries in the internal affairs of Bangladesh up to any limit. We have to be clear about this, is the responsibility of establishing the self-esteem of the country only the government or political parties? Or the people have some duty? Because of this, the questions arise, since the pre-independence period, why has Bangladesh occasionally become a negative target of the United States and some of its allied countries and international organizations and associations under its full control? How much does the United States follow international conventions in the case of Bangladesh? Because, a review of US secret documents on Bangladesh shows that they consider our great liberation war and independence as a result of their diplomatic failure. The foreign policy interaction between Bangladesh and the United States is such that the United States always tries to put Bangladesh in a delicate situation whenever it gets a chance. However, Bangladesh faced the setbacks with extreme defensive tactics and patience.
If the role and activities of the United States are monitored from the beginning of the birth of Bangladesh, the US foreign policy regarding Bangladesh is clearly visible. As history witnesses, the then US President Richard M. Nixon and his National Security Adviser Henry A. Kissinger acted as direct opponents in our Great Liberation War. However, the country’s public, newspapers, FBI, CIA, some intelligence officers of the NCC, the majority of members of the Senate and Congress took a stand in favor of the Bengali freedom struggle. But the US president ignores those views in his one-liners. Recently, the leaked documents from the secret vault of the Maryland National Archives have revealed various information about the Nixon administration’s Sheer Stubborn Diplomacy in the case of Bangladesh. According to those sources, Henry A. Kissinger implemented Plan-A, B, C to stop the rise of Bangladesh. It was in his plan. Mr. US Ambassador to the United Nations. Embarrassing India at the UN through George Bush Sr., our best friend in the Liberation War; Presenting the Great War of Liberation to the world as an India-Pakistan war. Kissinger had a Plan-B. If Pakistan’s defeat becomes inevitable, the Security Council calls for an international declaration of ceasefire by the United Nations, so that the birth of the Bangladesh state is nipped in the bud. But in case Plan-A and B failed, Mr. Kissinger had Plan-C. Deploying the 7th Fleet off the coast of Bangladesh and putting an end to the Pakistani aggression. In this case, his strategy was to bring forward the defense agreement concluded with Pakistan in 1959 as a pretext.
But by resisting and countering all the regional and international adversities and the military aggression of the Pakistani invading forces, under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, independence of Bengal was achieved in return for the sacrifice of three million martyrs and two hundred thousand brave men. However, Bangladesh had to start a new multi-dimensional struggle after ending the struggle for independence. One of them is obtaining UN recognition; There, too, the strategic opposition of the United States and its allies became apparent. According to economist Amartya Sen, ‘Whatever the cause of the Bangladesh famine of 1974, it was not caused by a shortage of food. However, the US administration’s policy of not giving food to Bangladesh at that time cannot be denied (Poverty and Famines. Oxford, Clarendon Press). Later, the biggest blow from America came through the direct plot and support to kill Bangabandhu. To kill a world leader like Bangabandhu they used their highest intelligence techniques; Gives courage and shelter to murderers.
However, Bangladesh started to turn around from 1996. Gradually began to promote their independence, sovereignty. Considering the geographical location of India, Myanmar and China, Bangladesh’s position is internationally important in terms of geopolitics, geostrategy and geosecurity and Bangladesh has been able to convey that. By sheltering 1.4 million Rohingya, Bangladesh has created the most shining example of world humanity. Conquest of sea boundaries, conquest of land boundaries through signing of Instrument of Ratification and Letter of Modalities, successful launch of Bangabandhu-1 satellites into space, construction of Padma bridge with own funding, formation of ‘Climate Change Trust Fund’ with own funding, restoration of democracy with establishment of nuclear power plants, successful achievement of MDGs and SDGs, policies and strategies to combat covid have elevated Bangladesh to unique heights. Bangladesh has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism and regional drug smuggling.
Many steps have been taken to establish a COUNTRY OF COMMUNAL HARMONY. Moreover, Bangladesh has its own development philosophy and theory. Digital Bangladesh, Vision 2021, Vision 2041, Smart Bangladesh and Delta Plan have brought international fame and recognition. Many international honors including Champions of the Earth, South-South Visionary Award, Peace Tree Medal, United Nations Award have been added to Bangladesh’s crown of glory.
In the last decade and a half, Bangladesh has been trying to integrate democratically. However, the main crisis is that the country is still directly opposed to the liberation war, sectarian and terrorist forces are doing politics. They also want to sit in power through political parties and for the sake of democracy; As it has been in the past. The United States wants to ensure the participation of these parties in its democracy formula. And for that purpose, the United States has been applying various diplomatic pressures. Imposing sanctions undemocratically, imposing visa policy non-negotiation.
In fact, it was the wrong diplomatic philosophy and decision of the US to adopt Pakistan’s side in 1971. Cultivating enemies of humanity in the name of democracy and trying to block their justice is making the United States increasingly unacceptable. It is necessary to practice democratic values in the bilateral relationship between the state and the state; But does the United States follow a liberal-democratic foreign policy in relation to many weaker countries? Data from the last 50-60 years show that the United States unilaterally imposes or accepts decisions or opinions in the case of these countries. This is their Double Standard of Morality; Propaganda Dependency is an unsmart US approach to foreign policy. They also take into account unsupported sources, unacceptable individuals, institutions or groups if it fits their policy and strategy. Another observation about the country is that they are very good at practicing Backdoor Game. They always try to put their loyal third power or party in power through the back door in a stable country; So that the country cannot become self-sufficient. One-Eleven Dr. Their efforts to make Muhammad Yunus the puppet head of the country is a revelation to us. We saw Dr. Failing to make Yunus the Prime Minister, the United States did not burn less wood to retain the post of MD of Grameen Bank. In this case too, they are defeated by the existing laws and rigid foreign policy of Bangladesh. Finally, the United States. In retaliation for not giving Muhammad Yunus the coveted MD post, the World Bank stopped funding the Padma Bridge project. This is America’s old weapon, they think. I will prefer to be first on the wrong track if I am last on the right track. As it did in 1974 by blocking a food grain ship, as it did in 1975 by participating in the conspiracy to kill the Father of the Nation.
At present, the foreign policy of Bangladesh is Self-respecting diplomacy. friendship with all, enmity with none and bowing to none; This is the beauty of Bangladesh’s foreign policy. The newly announced US visa policy hurts our ethnic self-esteem. Because we have a stake, a role in the stability of the world system. It should be noted that no country in the world is sheltering the Rohingyas, only crying and talking about human rights; Bangladesh gave them shelter; Guaranteed their fundamental rights even in the midst of the pandemic; rehabilitated them. Today, the contribution and sacrifice of Bangladesh in the peacekeeping mission led by the United Nations is the highest. So we have earned glory and honor through hard work, merit, sacrifice and merit. As a nation and state, no one has the right to interfere with our freedom, independence, sovereignty as well as glory and honor. As the saying goes – protecting freedom is harder than achieving freedom. It also applies to rights, sovereignty, glory and honor. And to protect these we must unite; The power of Bengali nationalism should be tempered. We have to remember that in this era of globalization, every person is a Global Citizen. So no one can stop someone’s speech and movement. Although the end of colonialism was largely due to the nationalistic awakening after World War II, the United States and its allies began to practice colonialism in a new equation. It has today taken on an intense and radical form which can be called neo-colonialism; To whom the constitution, laws of a free country are all secondary. The question arises, what is the boundary of this neo-colonialist US aggression, where is the end? Does the US administration really like democratic continuity in the third world countries and integrated democracy? Or democratic instability is their favorite? I left the question.
The situation of human rights violations is no doubt worst at present. Teachers, writers, intellectuals and journalists who do not support Prime Minister Hasina’s illegal actions are being continuously harassed. No media person is allowed to point out the atrocities carried on under the government-umbrella and if anyone tries to do so, he is detained under the charges of sedition and treason. Between January 2020 and February 2022, at least 2244 individuals were accused of treason and detained. For the purpose of suppressing people’s voices the Digital Security Act-2018 (DSA) is being enforced. Amnesty International and other Human Right Watchdogs including international media bodies have been raising their voice against atrocities committed by Hasina Wajid government against the right wing political parties but these raised voices always remained unheard.
Bangladesh’s Dr. Mohammad Yunus is the worst victim to Hasina government’s aggression and hostility against her opponents. Why is Hasina hostile to Dr. Yunus; this in itself is a very important question. The story of conflict and confrontation between Sheikh Hasina and Dr. Yunus started when Dr. Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006 for their work to create economic and social development from below”. BZ Khasru from New Delhi, penned down an article in the Statesman on 5th April, 2019 which said, Two popular explanations have been swirling around the world as to why Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh declared war on Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. First, Yunus conspired with the powerful military to exile the nation’s top two politicians, while prepping himself to join politics; second, Hasina felt jealous because Yunus won the Nobel Prize that she believed she deserved for her role in ending a decades-old tribal insurgency.” On March 24, 2011, a write up of Dr. Muinul Islam was published in the Daily Star. The title was ‘Stop Yunus-bashing: He is our national icon’. The writer said, Sheikh Hasina’s first public outburst against Prof Yunus started in February 2007, right after he announced his intention to float a political party, by terming him a loan shark.”
The climax of Hasina’s hostility against the Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus resulted in his removal from the post of managing director of the microfinance pioneer Grameen Bank in 2011. After that he was fixed in several court cases. Ultimately he had to leave Bangladesh and settled there in USA. Recently, in the month of March 2023, 40 global leaders wrote an open letter to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in which they expressed deep concern” for the well-being of Bangladesh’s Nobel Peace prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. The letter was published as a full-page ad in The Washington Post a few weeks back. It is not only Dr. Mohammad Yunus who is facing the personal rage and anger of Sheikh Hasina; there are countless others too including the opposition leader Ms. Khalida Zia and the senior Vice Chairman Bangladesh National Party Tariq Rahman. Ms. Khalida Zia is off and on pushed behind the bars and Tariq Rahman had fled to UK and living there in exile.
It is something very astonishing that on one hand the Hasina government is involved in ever worst kind of human rights violation of its own people and on the other hand it is busy in lobbying against Pakistan in The UN Human Rights Council. Reports say that in its coming 53rd session, the UN Human Rights Council has included the demand for international recognition of so-called ‘genocide’ committed by the Pakistani forces and their associates against the Bengalese during the Liberation War of Bangladesh. The session is going to start on June 19, 2023. Experts on the issue are of the opinion that Sheikh Hasina has ignited this matter just for her personal political motives as the General Elections are expected to be held in January 2024.
Analysts say that today the situation with reference to the human right violations in Bangladesh is more horrible even than the situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). The worst example of it is misuse of Information &. Communication Technology (ICT) Act 2006 and Digital Security Act 2018 (DSA). A report prepared by the Human Rights Watch says that from 2013 to 2018 Bangladesh police filed nearly 1,300 charges under the ICT Act, 2006. The ICT Act had been under harsh criticism as it was widely used to arrest and persecute individuals for expressing their views online. Unwillingly, under international pressure, Sheikh Hasina government had to replace it with DSA in 2018. ‘Overly broad and vague provisions in the DSA have granted Hasina’s government enormous punitive powers to initiate investigations against anyone suspected of being engaged in political activities which could prove a threat to the government.’ The report pointed out that from 1st Jan 2020 to 31st Oct 2021, more than 754 cases were filed under DSA. The list of the accused included almost 29.5% politicians and 25.6% journalists. The rest of the accused came from a variety of professions, including businesspeople, students and teachers.
Same pathetic situation was pointed out in a report prepared by another research group of Bangladesh the Centre for Governance Studies. According to that report, between October 2018 and August 2022, almost 1,029 cases were registered under the DSA against 301 politicians and 280 journalists. It is the adamant and stubborn temperament of Sheikh Hasina which is compelling her to dig the past and waste her time on ‘refurbishing the history’. It would have been much better if she had utilized her talent and skill in making today’s Bangladesh society free of human rights violations. Her effort of restarting the stale blame game against Pakistan is nothing but a desperate attempt to win political sympathies of her nation. She is detracted by her misconception that by restarting a blame-game against Pakistan, she would succeed in sustaining the ‘kind favours’ of Mr. Modi, the Prime Minister of India; the same Mr. Modi who is dreaming of changing his country into a Minority Free India; these minorities include the Christians, the Buddhists, the Sikhs, the low-caste Hindus and no doubt the Muslims too. Hasina is ignoring the reality that she herself belongs to that religious section which is considered by Mr. Modi the most ‘precarious minority’ in India.
The Attorney General has filed cases before the Gampaha High Court against 42 individuals accused over the killing of former MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala and his security officer on 09 May last year, Ada Derana reporter said.
The Polonnaruwa District parliamentarian and his security officer, a Police Constable, were reported dead amidst the unrest in the Nittambuwa area during the nationwide incidents of violence on May 09, 2022.
A shooting incident was reported in the Nittambuwa that evening, following which a total of six injured people were rushed to the Wathupitiwala Base Hospital.
Hospital sources later confirmed that three of them had sustained gunshot wounds, whereas a 27-year-old who was in critical condition had later succumbed to injuries.
According to reports, the parliamentarian and his assistant had opened fire at an angry mob of protesters and critically injured two people while they were blocking his vehicle. The MP and his security officer were later found dead while hiding inside a nearby building.
Footage secured from a nearby CCTV camera showed MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala fleeing the scene with his security officer, who was armed with a gun.
However, several suspects were subsequently arrested on several occasions on suspicion of the MP’s murder.
Food security in Sri Lanka is improving across all provinces, according to the Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) report jointly carried out in February/March 2023 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
The report estimates 3.9 million people or 17 percent of the population is in moderate acute food insecurity which is nearly a 40 percent decrease from June/July last year. Nearly 10,000 people are severely acute food-insecure, down from 66,000 people last year.
The improvement in food security stems from better food consumption, which could be attributed to reduced food prices and improved incomes among farming communities during the harvesting period when the mission was carried out.
Despite this positive trend, food insecurity remains high in certain districts, especially Kilinochchi, Nuwara Eliya, Mannar, Batticaloa, Vavuniya, and Jaffna. The highest level of acute food insecurity was found within the tea plantation communities in the Estate sector and among daily wage labourers and households who rely on social assistance programmes, such as Samurdhi, as their main source of income.
Production of cereal, including rice and maize, across the two main cropping seasons in 2022/23 is forecast at 4.1 million tonnes, 14 percent below the past five-year average, mainly due to poor plant nutrition caused by an inadequate supply of fertilizer and unaffordability of essential material inputs.
However, essential fertilizers distributed to smallholder farmers by the Government, facilitated by funds received from multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, has significantly impacted production, marking an improvement in the yield with productivity in the recently harvested 2022/23 ”Maha” season, 12% higher than the 2022 Yala” season.
Representative of FAO to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Mr. Vimlendra Sharan speaking on CFSAM Report findings said, The Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) report is an eye-opener on the continuing vulnerabilities and challenges that exist within the food systems of Sri Lanka. This report and its findings will no doubt serve as a guiding light for policymakers and stakeholders to collectively work towards ensuring food security, strengthening agricultural resilience and mitigating risks faced by farmers and rural communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the economic crisis. FAO remains committed to supporting Sri Lanka in their efforts towards achieving sustainable food systems, food security and zero hunger.”
After many months of challenges, we are finally witnessing an improvement to the country’s food security,” said Abdur Rahim Siddiqui, WFP Sri Lanka’s Representative and Country Director. But there is more to be done. A high number of households — more than 60 percent — are adopting negative measures to put food on the table, including borrowing money and purchasing food on credit. WFP will extend its emergency operation, which commenced last year, to provide food rations and cash assistance to people identified as food insecure.”
Mission recommendations
The joint FAO/WFP Mission recommends providing immediate support to farmers, particularly by releasing available fertilizer stocks to enhance production and productivity in the ongoing Yala” season and make urgent policy decisions to import fertilizers in time for the 2023/24 Maha” cultivation season. The report also recommends any move for reducing or removing fertiliser subsidy to be in a gradual and phased manner, giving adequate time to the farming community to adapt.
Other recommendations include the establishment of a Fertilizer Task Force” to streamline fertilizer procurement and distributions as well as to strengthen adaptive research on climate smart agriculture and sustainable farming practices to improve fertiliser use efficiency. Further, to minimize the impact on the livestock and fisheries sectors, the mission recommends providing adequate support to increase fodder and feed crop production.
Further recommendations include continuing food and/or cash assistance to facilitate access to food among households most vulnerable to food insecurity. In the long-term, increased livelihood support to food-insecure households and resilience-building initiatives are also recommended to prevent them from compromising on productivity and their capacity to cope with future shocks.
The Director General of the Department of Archeology Prof. Anura Manatunga has tendered his letter of resignation from his post to the Ministry Secretary, the Minister for Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, Vidura Wickramanayaka said.
Prof. Manatuga had been appointed as the Director General of the Department of Archaeology with effect from the 1st of January 2021, in the wake of former Director General Dr. Senarath Dissanayake retiring from the service.
Professor Manatunga previously served as the Director at the Centre for Heritage Studies of the University of Kelaniya and was the former Head of the Department.
He also served as the Archaeological Director of the Polonnaruwa Project of the Central Cultural Fund during 1999-2013.
He was the General Secretary of the International Association for Asian Heritage (IAAH) and a Fellow of the Sri Lanka Council of Archaeologists, and a former Joint Secretary and Vice President of the Council.
He has been a member of the Advisory Committee of the Department of Archaeology for several decades. His areas of expertise are History of Archaeology, Archaeology Theory and Methods, Indian Pre and Proto History, and Archaeology Law and Ethics.
Most of his important discoveries at Sigiriya and other sites are pioneering work in Sri Lankan archaeology.
This is the same story with respect to the Decision Review System (DRS) which is the invention of a Sri Lankan Lawyer ( under the concept of ‘Player Referral’ conceived and published for the first time in the ‘Australian’ Newspaper dated March 25, 1997, calling for a Right of Appeal for Dissatisfied players to the Third Umpire against the decision of the on-field or Ground Umpire).
Wikipedia and Google among other reputed International institutions recognize this invention of Senaka Weeraratna. But unfortunately not in his own country of birth. A Prophet is never honoured at home is a truism that is clearly demonstrated in the total unwillingness of the Cricket Establishment in Sri Lanka to give due recognition to one of its own sons.
ICC behaves like the British Raj. Despite not being able to disclose a single name as the source of the highly
innovative concept i.e., DRS, and not being prepared to recognize the only claimant in the whole world who has strong supporting evidence to establish his claim as the inventor of the DRS, ICC carries on regardless
on the presumption that whatever decision the ICC decision-makers take on the origins of the DRS, will never be challenged by the rest of the members of the ICC who are drawn mostly from former British colonies.
This presumptuous behaviour is a form of contempt toward those who from the time of birth in British colonies have an inferiority complex.
The minds of the representatives of former colonies i.e., in the Indian sub-continent, Africa, and Caribbean Islands, sitting at the High Table of the Lords and MCC are so colonized and deformed that they cannot still comprehend that a Non – White man ( Sri Lankan ) can beat a White Man in turning the game of Cricket on its head. DRS has done exactly that.
The world must applaud people like the EMAIL Inventor Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai for speaking out against racism
in the world of acknowledgment of invention.
Credit must be given where it is due. That is what is called fair play. A synonym for cricket.
What the ICC is doing today is that both the ICC and its affiliates are using the intellectual property i.e., DRS, of someone else without the consent of the true owner and making huge sums of profit at the expense of the true inventor and laughing all the way to the Bank. Not a cent is flowing back to the pocket of the inventor.
This is Colonialism in its ugliest form congealed in one of the proudest achievements of the English Race – the game of Cricket.
The Cricket World must produce not only great players but also outspoken men like the email inventor
‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’
e-Con e-News June 2023 Part 2
‘Walk the pavement.
Observe what is the being sold,
and where, and how, it is made.
You don’t need an economics degree
To know what is going on…’’
– SBD de Silva
*
This ee records the 5th anniversary of the passing of SBD de Silva, to whom this weekly blog eCon eNews is dedicated.
When illumination could not be gleaned from Sri Lanka or the current times, SB would scour and scan the world and history to seek glimpses and foreshadows of the mechanisms of underdevelopment, to fathom resonance in unearthing the roots of Sri Lanka’s discontent – which he identified in the ‘merchant & moneylender’ system.
SBD, as evident in his singular classic The Political Economy of Underdevelopment, was particularly intrigued by the experiences of the settler colonies imposed on Africa, the Americas and the Pacific, to which he contrasted the practices imposed on such non-settler colonies as Sri Lanka.
Yet it is from within Sri Lanka that he could focus himself, on the country and the world, reminding that most of all: ‘We know so little of ourselves.’
Indeed!
Know thy self. Know thy enemy.
*
‘Sri Lanka’s economy is being ‘supervised’
by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
while big power dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region
have brought the country under the radar
of foreign listening posts monitoring its every move.
Sri Lanka is truly walking on eggshells.’
– The Sunday Times (see ee Focus, Sri Lanka on Eggshells)
*
Switzerland’s Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD) hosted the 3rd Bay of Bengal Maritime Dialogue in Colombo on 23-24 May, with the Pathfinder Foundation. Pathfinder has been funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, and is fronted by Milinda Moragoda, failed merchant, which has made him the ideal SL envoy to India. Which he is.
The Bay of Bengal Maritime Dialogue is most concerned with ‘marine environmental protection, opportunities and challenges for marine and scientific research’, etc. Who isn’t!? The closing statement at the Maritime Dialogue was delivered by the (white South African?) CHD South Asia Coordinator Willem Punt, about whom there is very little on the internet.
As for the ‘Swiss’ CHD, Wiki says it was launched in 1999 by career English Foreign Officer Martin Griffiths. Griffiths is presently a UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, under UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The CHD says it ‘works to prevent and resolve armed conflicts around the world through mediation and discreet diplomacy’. Yet, this ‘Swiss’ CHD’s Griffiths and the United Nations stand accused of gaming the war on the Ukraine and Russia, and the ongoing blockade of Black Sea grain and fertilizer, consequently sending prices soaring since January 2022! The UN’s Griffiths & Guterres were exposed this week of being behind this ‘manufacture of scarcity’.
‘Food is the cash of cash’, observed VI Lenin. Indeed, starting March 2022, food, fuel, fertilizer, pharma & finance would be ’vanished’ from before our very eyes.
In 2020-21, for example, Russia & Ukraine, together,exported 56.5 million tons of wheat – more than the 3rd & 4th largest wheat exports of the USA & Canada combined.
The withdrawal of such volumes of grain from the market
inevitably led to an increase in food prices. Wheat futures on Western exchanges have risen by about one and a half times since January 2022.
(see ee Random Notes).
• Women & men may be currently forced to work 15 hours a day – sometimes more – for instance in supermarkets sporting the glossiest global brands, promising diversity, inclusion & equality (DIE!). Sri Lanka’s labor laws however limit the legal working day to 8 hours. With exceptions. Employers however are now trying to weaken labor laws, by ‘legalizing’ – de-jure-fying – this de-facto state of temporal affairs, of unlimited hours, under the pretext of giving women ‘equality’. They are also deploying such fancy tropes as ‘flexibility’. The will of the USA’s IMF, to change labor laws, is being done. (see ee Random Notes)
• The US Envoy Julie Chung, whose rootings about the political real estate are prognosticated as mischief foretold, was found this week twittering of religious love, standing afore the Anglican ‘Christ Church Warleigh’ midst regimented foliage in yonder plantation Dickoya.
How could a ‘manager of the Governor’s Mansion’ afford to build that church? And why? And in 1878? The year the English imposed the infamous Grain Tax that led to mass starvation and land theft, in Nuwara Eliya and elsewhere. Of such, Chung manifests cluelessness.
1792: English expedition after expedition was sent to St Domingue
to attack first the French, and then the Africans,
who drove out the English! ‘1,000s of men and 1,000s of pounds!’
English army historian Fortescue lamented the useless ‘sacrifice’.
Sri Lanka has a very rich history alongside Haiti. We are sites of the greatest liberation struggles in world history. Spain’s Columbus landed in Haiti in 1492. Portugal’s Almeida in Sri Lanka in 1505. We have endured. But how. Now, like Sri Lanka, Haiti too has a white ‘Core Group’ overseeing our every move. Haiti too is also constantly threatened by military invasion and internal subversion by ‘gangs’ linked to the country’s multinational corporation (MNC) distribution networks.
The plantation system in Sri Lanka also has a long umbilical link to Haiti (Recall PJ Laborie’s Coffee Planter of Santo Domingo, 1798, reprinted in Ceylon in 1842, advocating anti-worker terrorism). After the English army suffered one of its greatest defeats, in Haiti, it is to Sri Lanka they turned their guns and pens, from 1796, where they had to place more stress on espionage and intrigue, after repeated defeats, here and there.
US Envoy Chung, by the way, is linked to the planning of the murder of the previous President of Haiti, before which, she was transferred here. Chung’s sighting and twittering could also be a diversion from their more ‘easterly’ interests, in that same tradition of daily duplicity (see ee Random Notes).
• There are other rumblings in them-there hills. And it’s not just related to Indo-Australian tectonics (see ee Industry)! Workers are pointing to the costs of living and loving. Others worry about the still unresolved imposition of settler plantation enclaves with loyalties & royalties enriching stashes elsewhere. No wonder the central provinces – and central they are and always been – have come to be known as ‘India’s Kashmir in Central Sri Lanka’ (see ee Sovereignty).
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s media is quiet about happenings just across the oceanic pond in Kenya and Somalia. These events portend further tectonic grating for Sri Lanka. In Kenya, the media is reporting ‘violence’, while the tea MNCs are involved in exploiting tea workers further under a limited mechanization, which fails to transform Kenya into a modern industrial economy. In Somalia, the US and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are said to be financing the fragmentation of the country (ee Focus).
‘SI leading raid on illicit liquor brewer bitten by snake;
sergeant set upon by ganja dealer’s dog’
(see ee Security)
Such headlines as this, are classic. They advertize the media’s ability to go to any lengths to hide the real ‘white-collar’ merchants staging the fraud of this import-export non-settler-colonial plantation economy. No blasphemy is greater than naming the ‘import-exporters’, especially those involved in the tea fraud, whose main crime beyond stashing surpluses abroad is the monopolization and misuse of vast resources, insistently failing to invest in a modern production economy.
Their headlines, posing as learned, prefer pointing to easier targets: ‘Only 40% poor among 1.7 million Samurdhi beneficiaries: LIRNEasia’. The moral police are worried, affecting a Malthusian zeal, about the undeserving acquiring benefits meant for the deserving poor.
The distinguished ‘LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager Gayani Hurulle, Welfare Benefits Board Chairman B Wijayaratne, US Advocata Institute CEO Dhananath Fernando, CEPA Sustainable Development Team Leader Karin Fernando and LIRNEasia Statistician Tharaka Amarasinghe’ – all agree. The thing is this inquisitor LIRNEasia, which claims to be ‘Pro Poor, Pro Market’, stands accused of facilitating the privatization of SLTelecom for a song, and the dominance of US Microsoft in Sri Lanka. This is the real steal. The literacy we learn desperately needs a value-added export-quality numeracy.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization ceased to be a functional entity in Sri Lanka after being militarily defeated by the armed forces in May 2009. The LTTE known widely as the Tigers was a powerful armed militant group which ruled over swathes of land in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of the Island for several years.
In its heyday, the LTTE exercised autocratic control over Tamil public life in Sri Lanka and even amidst the global Tamil Diaspora. The tigers brooked no political dissent or criticism among Tamils. Those who did not toe the LTTE line or dared to defy tiger diktat were ruthlessly dealt with. Many Tamil politicians who offended” the tigers at different times were assassinated. This resulted in most Tamil political leaders of yore becoming subservient to the LTTE in those days.
Nevertheless, there were a few honourable exceptions to this norm too. These courageous politicians of principle not only challenged the LTTE openly but also managed to survive physically. Due to their refusal to kowtow before the tigers, they suffered politically and were reduced to being powerless politicians.. Their only consolation was the courage of their convictions and the satisfaction of retaining their self-respect by not bowing before tyrannical power.
One such democratic Tamil leader who refused to kowtow before the tigers is an octogenarian who will soon become a nonagenarian. Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Secretary-General and former Kilinochchi and Jaffna Parliamentarian Veerasingham Anandasangaree will turn 90 on June 15, 2023. A grand 90th Birthday celebration will be held at Kanakapuram in Kilinochchi on the same day. It is being organized by party members, supporters and well-wishers.
The TULF formed on May 14, 1976, swept the polls in the Northern and Eastern Provinces at the July 1977 Parliamentary Elections by winning 18 out of 19 Tamil majority seats. Of these 18 MPs, only 3 are among the living now. The first is former Batticaloa MP Chelliah Rajadurai who is retired from politics now. The second is the present Trincomalee district MP Rajavarothayam Sampanthan. The third is Anandasangaree elected from Kilinochchi then. The first two are nonagenarians while the third will join their ranks next Thursday.
This column focuses on Veerasingham Anandasangaree this week to denote the 90th birth anniversary of the TULF leader. I have written extensively about Anandasangaree known as Sangaree in the past. This article will draw from such writings.
His first experience in running for electoral office was in 1959 when he contested the Colombo Municipal Council on the LSSP ticket. His opponent was none other than the uncrowned king of Colombo Municipal politics V. A. Sugathadasa
June 15, 1933
Born in Point Pedro on June 15, 1933, Anandasangaree grew up in Atchuvely as his father was a school principal at Sri Somaskanda College in neighbouring Puthur. Sangaree himself studied at Sri Somaskanda, Christian College Atchuvely, Hartley College, Point Pedro and also Zahira College, Colombo.
Before taking up law, Sangaree was a pedagogue teaching at Hindu College Jaffna, Poonakari MMV, Kotalawela GTM School, Ratmalana and Christ King College Ja-Ela.
He passed out as a lawyer in 1967 and kept practising law till 1983 when the TULF leaders refused to take oaths under the 6th amendment to the constitution. He has not worn the black coat ever since.
Those who did not toe the LTTE line or dared to defy tiger diktat were ruthlessly dealt with. Many Tamil politicians who offended” the tigers at different times were assassinated……………………………….He passed out as a lawyer in 1967 and kept practising law till 1983 when the TULF leaders refused to take oaths under the 6th amendment to the constitution. He has not worn the black coat ever since……………………………….Sangaree has always been a brave and intrepid fighter. Contesting as a 26-year-old man from Jaffna against UNP Colombo Mayor V.A. Sugathadasa in 1959……………………………….The 1983 violence and the Sixth Constitutional Amendment saw the TULF out in the political wilderness. Sangaree like many other TULF figures relocated to Madras but kept shuttling between India and Sri Lanka
Lanka Sama Samaja Party
Like many political leaders on both sides of the ethnic divide, Sangaree too began his politics as an ardent Trotskyite. He was an active member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) Youth League from 1955 to 1965.
His first experience in running for electoral office was in 1959 when he contested the Colombo Municipal Council on the LSSP ticket. His opponent was none other than the uncrowned king of Colombo Municipal politics V. A. Sugathadasa who was also mayor then. It was a baptism of fire in Colombo for the 25-year-old Jaffna youth.
Kilinochchi Candidate
The March 1960 elections saw the LSSP under Dr. N. M. Perera make a determined bid for political power through electoral politics. The party contested 101 seats in all parts of the island and NM himself was projected as the future Prime Minister of the country. NM asked Sangaree to contest the newly carved rural constituency of Kilinochchi as an LSSP candidate. Anandasangaree having no links to Kilinochchi was reluctant.
NM encouraged him to plunge in saying that even if the unknown” Sangaree lost then he would win the seat in 10 years’ time. NM’s words in 1960 were prophetic and in 1970 Anandasangaree was elected for the first time to parliament from Kilinochchi. Only he was no longer a Trotskyite but a Tamil Congress candidate having embraced Tamil nationalism.
The LSSP however fared poorly in March 1960 winning only 10 seats. Sangaree contested the March 1960, July 1960 and March 1965 elections in Kilinochchi under the key symbol of the LSSP. He got 1,114, 2,011 and 1,804 votes respectively. He lost both times in 1960 to S. Sivasundaram and in 1965 to K. P. Ratnam who were of the Federal Party (FP).
In 1966, the LSSP now aligned with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) adopted the communal Dudleyge bade masala vadai” line and opposed the reasonable use of Tamil as an official language in 1966. Sangaree like many Tamil LSSPers quit the party.
All Ceylon Tamil Congress
He joined the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) led by G. G. Ponnambalam Snr. in May 1966. Earlier, he contested and won the Kilinochchi town ward in the Karaichi Village Council.
He became its chairman from 1965 to 1968. In 1968, it was elevated to Town Council status. Sangaree contested, won and became the first Kilinochchi TC Chairman. He functioned in that capacity till the end of 1969.
January 1970 saw Sangaree become Youth Front President of the Tamil Congress. In May 1970, he won Kilinochchi on the cycle symbol of the ACTC and defeated Alalasundaram of the FP by 657 votes. The ACTC got 9,049 to the FP’s 8,392.
The Tamil United Front (TUF) was formed in May 1972. This became the TULF in May 1976. This period saw Anandasangaree’s stock rising in Tamil politics. The Tamil Congress had three MPs in 1970. They were Arulampalam of Nallur, Thiyagarajah of Vaddukkoddai and Anandasangaree of Kilinochchi.
Arulampalam and Thiyagarajah opted to join the United Front government. Sangaree despite his left leanings and respect for NM refused to cross over and remained in the ranks of the Tamil nationalists. His stature increased greatly because of this.
Tamil United Liberation Front
In 1977, the Tamil United Liberation Front swept the elections riding the crest of a Tamil Eelam wave. Sangaree contested Kilinochchi again and polled 15,607 votes obtaining a majority of 11,601.
The 1983 violence and the Sixth Constitutional Amendment saw the TULF out in the political wilderness. Sangaree like many other TULF figures relocated to Madras but kept shuttling between India and Sri Lanka.
In 1989, the TULF re-entered the political mainstream. Sangaree contested the Jaffna electoral district in 1989 and the Wanni District in 1994 on behalf of the TULF and lost in both.
In 2000, Anandasangaree was the chief candidate on the TULF ticket again in Jaffna. The TULF got three seats and Sangaree got the highest amount of preferences. In 2001, the TULF contested as part of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) under the party symbol of sun. Again Sangaree topped the list gaining over 36,000 preferences.
Fell Foul of the LTTE
The situation changed when the TULF leader fell foul of the LTTE. Sangaree’s problems with the LTTE began because he stood up for the party and discouraged the Tigers from interfering too much in TULF matters. When Anton Balasingham made insulting remarks about the TULF, it was Sangaree then in Canada who issued an effective rejoinder. The TULF rank and file was overjoyed by Sangaree’s defiance.
The late Raviraj stated publicly at the TULF meeting that it was Sangaree who salvaged the self-respect of the party. This was the beginning of the dispute between the LTTE and Sangaree. Yet when the LTTE exerted pressure, the TULF bigwigs shamelessly threw Sangaree to the wolves, or in this case the Tigers.
After Anandasangaree was first elected Senior Vice President of the TULF in 1993, he proved to be a tower of strength to the party when it was at the receiving end of systematic violence by the Tigers. He was instrumental in reviving the flagging fortunes of the TULF in Jaffna by taking over the Jaffna Municipal Council election campaign in 1998.
At a time when the TULF was under grave threat from the LTTE, it was Sangaree who rallied the party around and provided moral strength to withstand the pressure. He planted himself in Jaffna and spearheaded the Jaffna Municipal poll campaign. It was this success which helped the TULF restore lost prestige and regain a firm footing in Jaffna politics again.
Yet the very same TULF which owed its renaissance to this man’s courage and dedication turned against Sangaree when the LTTE wanted him out. Sangaree did not give in and went to court. He succeeded and continued to remain leader of the TULF. The TULF sun symbol under which the TNA contested was retained by Sangaree. The TNA then revived the dormant Ilankai Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK) and contested the 2004 polls under the House symbol. Sangaree was ousted from the TNA and contested separately as TULF but was roundly defeated in an election that was neither free nor fair.
Fighting Ability
The man displayed a rare fighting ability after his defeat. Instead of slinking into political oblivion with their tucked between hind legs or going out to pasture with his children in Britain, Canada or Denmark, Anandasangaree chose to remain in Sri Lanka and fight it out. Instead of keeping mum or adopting the path of least resistance, Sangaree opted to take the bull by its horns or the tiger by its jaws.
Sangaree has always been a brave and intrepid fighter. Contesting as a 26-year-old man from Jaffna against UNP Colombo Mayor V.A. Sugathadasa in 1959; parachuting as an unknown outsider into the unknown Kilinochchi in 1960 as LSSP candidate; going against his two Tamil Congress parliamentary colleagues and voting against the 1972 Constitution; combatting the powerful” campaign of SLFP Tamil cabinet minister Chelliah Kumarasuriar in 1977; engaging in bitter acrimony with fellow TULF members over his demand to carve out Kilinochchi as a separate district from that of Jaffna; defying the LTTE during Jaffna municipal elections and its aftermath; resisting his ouster from TULF boldly instead of caving into tiger pressure are all indicators of his courage and determination.
Sangaree has struggled to keep the TULF alive amidst great adversity. He sold his jeep, lands and some other personal assets to keep the party afloat. Some loyal TULF members, supporters and personal admirers chipped in to provide additional finances. He also fought many legal battles relating to politics. Recently the veteran leader thwarted a plot by vested interests to take control of the party. The TULF is now a caricature of its former self but it is yet independent like its leader.
Unspeakable Theme
What is remarkable about Sangaree was his dogged determination to articulate his viewpoint independently during the war years when the LTTE was ruling the Tamil roost. While there were many voices within the Tamil nationalist spectrum and among the human rights community to condemn the State and its minions, there were comparatively few voices among Tamils who were critical of the LTTE. The Tigers were a holy cow for most Tamils and few Tamils dared to differ let alone criticise it. It became in the words of famed Tamil poet Subramania Bharathi the Paesaap Porul” or unspeakable theme.
But not for Sangaree. He waded into those dangerous waters without hesitation. He was branded a traitor and a knave and as a man who sold out and as one who has sold his soul, etc. Yet he firmly stood his ground, continuing to do what he thought was right. By doing so he touched upon many issues that were untouchable” among Tamil political and media circles. Sangaree also succeeded in giving voice to the unexpressed sentiments of the silenced Tamil majority during the war. He was often the voice of the voiceless Tamils under the tiger jackboot.
Remained Steadfast
Despite the overwhelming odds, Sangaree has remained steadfast to his political mission. The tigerish elements and their fellow travellers have slandered and condemned him as a traitor but all right-thinking people with a proper understanding of what had been going on in Sri Lanka have only praise for this man’s dedication and courage.
This column wishes Sangaree Annan” well as he celebrates his magical 90th Birthday.
A total number of 73 police officers have been found to have failed in their duty to prevent the violence on May 9 2022, the Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles told Parliament today.
Responding to an oral question raised by MP Jagath Kumara Sumithrarachchi in the House, the Minister said some 35 OICs have been transferred so that inquiries carried out against them will not be affected.
As per the information revealed by the Minister, inquiries are being carried out against 62 sub-inspectors and 6 inspectors who have been identified to have failed in their duty.
In response to a question raised by MP Sumithrarachchi on inquiries carried out on those who staged attacks on MPs and other politicians on May 9 last year, the Minster said separate investigations are carried out against them. We have also found out that some of the attackers have been found to have committed other offences such as running brothels and separate investigations are carried out on those,” he said. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)
Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) National Organiser Tissa Attanayake said the current economic stability in the country is a temporary situation due to the imposition of restrictions on the import of goods and the suspension of foreign debt repayments.
While speaking to the media at Hanwella on Saturday, he said he does not believe that the current situation in the country is stable.
https://youtu.be/Utu4RQ5_u5E
“Once the debt repayment resumes and import restrictions are relaxed, the Sri Lankan Rupee is likely to depreciate again,” he said.
Meanwhile, the MP said if the government is working towards cancelling the nominations already given for local government elections, the it would an anti-democratic move.
He said if, for whatever reasons, the government decides to hold even the Provincial council elections, his party is ready for such en event.
Commenting on the Broadcasting Authority Act, the MP said they would not bring any such Broadcasting Authority Acts under an SJB rule as it is not necessary to introduce such bills at the moment.
“Self-censorship can be established to strengthen the regulation on some matters instead of introducing such acts,” he said.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that the standards of Sri Lankan universities were high on the list of Asian universities, the President’s Media Division reported.
The standard and reputation of the universities should be restored and improved once again in the country’s university system to attract students overseas, he said, adding that this would also help to improve the development of the country’s economy.
The president stressed that he is satisfied with the education received during his era compared to the present day. He said that for many of the people during his time, the United Kingdom was a second choice, if not the first, after the University of Ceylon. However, when asked by the young generation today about the satisfaction of today’s education system, the answer would be negative. Even if they are selected for a university, they are trying to go abroad, he said.
The President highlighted the need for fixing the issues with the educational system in this nation and added that conditions should be put in place so that everyone can complete their education at the appropriate age and move on.
President Wickremesinghe stressed the importance of being attentive to the South Asian population. In 2050, India will have about another 3–400 million, rising to 1.7 billion. The poverty level will decrease, while the better income number will increase. He anticipated that this change may occur in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, and the East African nations.
They alone can’t be building universities. India will have nothing else to do if they are going to provide education for all of them, so they will either use other techniques. Therefore, Sri Lanka must be vigilant in these areas. If Sri Lanka has a sufficient number of universities, it would help to cater to some of them from those areas.”
These remarks were made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe while addressing the ‘CVCD Excellence Awards’ held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo on Friday (9).
President Ranil Wickremesinghe attended the ‘CVCD Excellence Awards’ ceremony as the Chief Guest and was welcomed by the Chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Directors Sri Lanka (CVCD), Professor Sujeeva Amarasena, the Vice Chancellor of Ruhunu University.
Prof. Nilanthi De Silva, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, introduced the award ceremony in detail.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe was appreciated by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Directors (CVCD), Sri Lanka, for his excellent leadership and commitment in establishing an innovative research culture within the university system.
Organized biennially by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Directors Sri Lanka (CVCD), the CVCD Excellence Awards” recognize and honor outstanding contributions and achievements in research, innovation, and invention by scholars in the Sri Lankan university system. The awards are presented in three categories: Most Outstanding Senior Researcher, Most Outstanding Young Researcher, and Most Outstanding Inventor.
In this year’s awards ceremony, the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher and Most Outstanding Young Researcher Awards for the year 2022, Allied Health Sciences and Indigenous Medicine, Engineering, Architecture, and Technology, Humanities, Life Sciences, Management Studies, Medicine, and Dentistry, were awarded for eight fields of study: natural sciences, social sciences, and legal studies.
Accordingly, Prof. B. it. K. S. Perera (University of Moratuwa), Prof. D. M. Deepti Yakandawala (University of Peradeniya), Prof. Arosha Sarangi Adikaram (University of Colombo), Prof. Shaman Rajindrajith (University of Colombo), L. B. D. R. P. Wijesundara (University of Kelaniya), and Prof S. Mr. P. Karunanayake (Open University) received the Most Outstanding Senior Researcher Award.
Dr. A. N. Madushanka (University of Peradeniya), Dr. K. K. Asanka Sanjeeva (Sri Jayawardenepura University), Dr. W. H. M. Sanjeeva Samaratunga (Rajarata University), Dr. M. B. Kavinda Chandimal Dayasiri (University of Kelaniya), and Prof. A. Mr. Sandaruwan Ratnayake (University of Uva Wellassa) received the Most Outstanding Young Researcher Award.
University of Moratuwa Professor Rangika Umesh Halwathura won the Most Outstanding Inventor Award.
Vavuniya University Vice Chancellor Professor T. Mangaleswaran delivered the speech of thanks, and members of the committee of Sri Lanka Vice Chancellors and Directors, family members of award-winning scholars, and others attended this event.
Following is the full speech made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe:
Seated here, I was thinking back to the time that I had finished A-levels and sat for the exam. My father also insisted that I take the London A-level, which was held in Madras. So, I flew to Madras and sat for the London A-Level. But at the same time, I received the results of the Sri Lankan, as you called it, Ceylon A-levels, and I found that I had gotten into the university and had been selected.
It was a simple system then. In none of these marking systems, all those who got four subject passes went in first, followed by those who got three subjects. I also got my A-level results from London A-level. I applied through UCCA, and there was one university that was prepared to take me based on Sri Lankan A-level results.
And others certainly considered me based on my London A-level results. So, I had to make a decision whether I was going to stay here or go to the UK. I really thought of staying in Sri Lanka. My mother was insisting I go to the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, because of my grandfather’s connections, but I had made up my mind. I felt that if I am to do law, it has to be in Colombo. Otherwise, I have to go on to another subject, like economics or history. So, I am telling you, I never studied economics.
When I look back, I think that at that time, a lot of people told me this was a good degree. This is well accepted. The dean of that time, the professor of law, Professor Nadarajah, was the leading exponent of Roman Dutch law after Professor Lee died. We had a number of lecturers, the youngest, of course, being a young temporary assistant lecturer called G.L. Peiris.
I passed out, and I’m quite happy with my education here. But when I speak to young people today, I ask them, Would you like to stay in Sri Lanka? The answer to many of them is no. Even if selected by a university. For many of us in the UK, it was a second choice if you were not selected for the University of Ceylon.
But it is not, so today, having spoken to them and listened to their views, I don’t know what I would do if I came to making a selection today. So, this is a crisis in the university system. It’s a part of the larger crisis in Sri Lanka itself and how we face the future. So we have to look at the university system and what the role of education is first, then look at the local issues.
As I asked the chairman, we have about 170,000 qualifying for the A-levels; of that, 40,000 get into universities here, and another 30, 000 to 40,000 go to universities abroad.
So that’s the difference. What’s the difference? So that another 40,000, of which I would say 25000 to 30000, would be prepared to enter Sri Lankan universities. We don’t have the resources, so that’s the first one. Are we going to have a system of universities coming under the UGC and universities outside the UGC, some for profit and others not for profit?
Three systems are functioning, or should we gradually look at building up one system of universities? So that’s the first one.
Secondly, the government makes money available to fund students’ higher education. But then we find that another group of students equal to the number in the universities is going outside and paying money. So, is this the best way we have? We must preserve one right, which is in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: universal access to education. But different countries have different ways of doing it. Some give student loans; some help students who have economic issues but allow the others to go ahead. So, are we to study? I think we have to study all these systems and then ensure the government makes the funding available.
Look at the best system available for the maximum number to get their education. That’s the first item I think we have to go into if we can’t run away from the issue, because we will need a large number of engineers, a large number of doctors, and a large number of scientists. If we are to develop and go ahead, where are we going to get them? Who is going to educate them? That’s, I would say, the main issue we have.
Secondly, one of the standards is: where are we now? When I went to university, our universities were high up on the list of Asian universities. I am not talking about the world’s list of Asian universities. We are not so today; let’s be frank about it. How are you going to improve our performance? How are we going to ensure that these universities have a good reputation and standing?
Then you’ll attract students from other parts of the world, making your funding that much easier. How do the state universities function with disruptions and vice chancellors getting assaulted? That cannot happen. I think at some point we have to face these issues and resolve them. There’s no other way to do it. We must ensure that everyone studies so they can get ahead.
We have a big problem in the education system; people don’t sit for A-levels until they are about 20, and you’re about 24 when you pass out. I was 21 when I sat for my degree, 22 when I got the results, and we were not awarded degrees because they were from 1971, and 23 when I became an advocate of the Supreme Court.
I don’t think anyone I know now has touched that. That means the best part of your life You spend time at the university, then go to find a job. So these issues had to be resolved. Then you will find the non-UGC universities coming up, and then they get students because the job market is there.
Now, this is a problem not only for the UGC universities here but also for many universities abroad. But we had to find our own solution and not wait to see what others were going to do with regard to the universities. Then comes the issue of remuneration. Your main issue has been the present taxation, but another one that has been raised in universities is how you would pay your academic staff. In Western universities, each one is judged to be worth something in the market, and given that, are we to do that? Or are we going to carry on with this same system? As far as the non-UGC universities are concerned, I have no doubt that they will decide what the pay should be for each individual.
These are the issues that we have to face. And then the research that is being done: how are the peer reviews? What are the standards? There are allegations regarding some of the research items that have been made, and all that has to be cleared. I mentioned to the chairman and some of the VCs that we don’t have sufficient postgraduate studies in this country.
What are the postgraduate studies you have done?
The single University of Ceylon changed the culture of Ceylon with two plays Maname” and Sinhabaahu”. With that came the change. They produced the University of Ceylon History in four volumes. Some are maybe out of date, nevertheless, look at all the rest of it that they produced at the University of Ceylon. Have we all together in any way equalled that? I’m not asking about overtaking equalled that; that’s a question mark.
So, these are serious issues that we have to think about. If you don’t tackle these issues, you are going to face serious problems with the university education provided by the UGC University. Outside of that, there is the question that every university has to face today. What is a university? How do you educate? You had social media; you had it online.
You have AI, and you have chat GBT, which people use for exams and some for their postgraduate research. So, can these brick-and-mortar institutes suffice? Or are we to use the technology? This is another issue that we have to take up. So, my effort is to ensure that you are focused on this and come up with solutions.
If you look at the population of South Asia in 2050, India will have about another 3–400 million, maybe going up to 1.7 billion. And that poverty level will decrease, and better income numbers will increase. This will happen in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, and the East African nations. Now all of them can’t build universities. India will have nothing else to do if they are going to provide education for all of them, so they will either use other techniques. So, we have to be sure of that. But if we have a sufficient number of universities, we can cater to some of them from those areas. Now they are catering to our needs. But there may come a time when we have to cater to their needs.
So, these are the issues we have to think of because the structure of the universities will no longer be the same. There was a big debate originally about the first university in Ceylon, whether it was to be residential or not. They took the Oxford and Cambridge Model, and that’s the structure of Peradeniya University. But if you look at the newer universities, all the residents are no longer there.
Now, the question is not whether they are going to be halls of residence. Will there be halls for lectures?
So, we have to address these issues and find solutions because we have appointed a Cabinet Committee on Education, which is going into all the issues. So, I thought I’d mention to you all: what are the questions that we will be posing to you? So, I don’t want to take any more of your time, but I must congratulate all those who got the awards here.
What you have done is to raise the reputation of Sri Lankan universities for research, and taking that into account, we will make more money available for research. But how are we going to do it? We haven’t determined yet. I thought I would put about a billion aside for a year. I don’t know if you can use it for the other subjects as well.
And by then, we’ll have the Institute of History for History and Archaeology to carry on. So, thank you again for inviting me, and all the best to the award winners.”
The Department of Meteorology has issued an advisory for multi-day boats in the deep Arabian Sea.
The very severe cyclonic storm BIPARJOY” over the East-Central Arabian Sea has intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm, the Met. Department warned.
The cyclonic storm, which was located near latitude 18.2°N and longitude 67.7°E at 11.30 a.m. on June 11, would move nearly northwards during the next 24 hours, the advisory said.
Accordingly, wind speeds will be 155-165 kmph and can increase up to 170-180 kmph in sea areas bounded by (13N – 23N) and (62E – 70E) during the next 24 hours due to this system, the department warned.
Meanwhile, heavy showers or thundershowers, high and at times very high seas can also be expected in above-sea areas, according to the Met. Department.
The Department of Meteorology also advised naval and fishing communities not to venture into the sea areas bounded by (13N – 23N) and between (62E – 70E) until further notice, owing to the aforementioned conditions.
Those who are out in the aforementioned sea regions are advised to return to coasts or moved to safer areas immediately, while the fishing and naval community are requested to be attentive to future forecasts issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regard.
Geneva diplomatic protocols appear not to apply to US envoys and Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister/Ministry is little bothered to remind diplomats that there are protocols to their movements. Having said that, it is interesting how the US is aggressively entering the Hill Country wooing the Hill Country populace who are Indian Tamils brought in as slave labor during colonial rule. It is said that a call from India was enough to decide who the Hill Country Tamils would vote for at any election but will the calls from D.C make the new difference?
US envoy was hosted by the Hayleys Plantations in March 2023 (the Japanese envoy was invited the previous year)
Clearly the focus of her visit was the needsof the plantation workers”. How this need” will be defined is the question.
In June, the US envoy visited Nuwara Eliya – and we should know social media was used for regime change. How far India reads this scenario is interesting particularly as USAID is involved in Central Province & working with a group called PREDO Sri Lanka.
She met Hill Country families & her twitter post took pains to claim they were in the region going back 200 years” – of course, they were imported by the colonial invaders and dumped in Sri Lanka to work as slaves of the colonials. She went all the way to the Hill Country to ‘hear directly about the economic & political obstacles they face”. Key words that India should take note of.
The US solution is to create English Access Microscholarship” program – 2 years of free after-school English language to you. Will this end up ending the estate plantation economy!
She also met T-Field Child Development Federation. What is the food security” she is referring to?
USDA & USAID are providing meals for 241 schools in Nuwara Eliya as well as cash assistance” to pregnant mothers.
How an Estate Tamil was nominated to be Governor of the East and how caste-conscious Tamils are willing to accept this appointment is interesting, but clearly the Governor is keen to impress the US and how will this impact India’s influence over the estate community in time to come is also worthy of consideration.
In October 2022, following the revolutionary exit” of an elected President, the take-over President appoints a Committee to seek how best to integrate Tamils of Hill Country origin into society. Wait – does this mean they were all this time not living as part of Sri Lankan society?
While the President has disallowed Temples to fund Buddhist Temple development, a consignment of medicines from Pondicherry in India is gifted to only the Ceylon Workers Congress that too at the Presidential Secretariat.
The US envoy was also guest at the World Water Day event & it emerges that the Minister is Jeevan Thondaman from the Central Province & US is partnering to improve water management. USAID is working with Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum since 2012 to bring good” drinking water to Sri Lankans following US 2023 theme Accelerate Change” – quite a lot of accelerations” for change” are taking place. As per her speech the US has helped bring drinking water to 100,000 people via 1600 rainwater harvesting tanks in Central Province (since 2012 – isn’t this too small a number)
Equally interesting is how World Bank has been partnering Sri Lanka since 1998 to provide drinking water & sanitation to Sri Lankan citizens and its now 25 years and still water issue prevails or is said to prevail. Are these programs being monitored or do foreign entities use themes simply to get access to resources & people?
Its not only the US envoy interested in the Central Province of late, the USAID Deputy Mission Director Debra Mosel even addressed the Malaiyaha Tamil community reminding them of structural exclusion, discrimination, frequent violence’ and their long ‘peaceful struggle for full citizenship’. She seems to have forgotten that none of these Indian Tamils wanted to leave their South Indian homes but were forcibly dumped in Sri Lanka to be used as slave labor by colonials. If anyone should be held accountable it is the former colonials who dumped them in Sri Lanka. So when US says they support the aspirations” to become a distinct political voice” not only India, but Sri Lanka must start to worry what the proposed plan is.
No surprise, on 24 May 2023 D B S Jeyraj’s article Hill Country Tamils aspire to a non-territorial community council” to be enshrined in the constitutionconfirmed all doubts, where these aspirations” were heading. So now we enter a new sing song of another unique ethnic community” for the close to 900,000 Indian origin Tamils (2012 census) though the figure doesn’t tally with the voting numbers. https://www.ft.lk/columns/Hill-Country-Tamils-aspire-to-a-Non-Territorial-Community-Council/4-748676
The fact that US funded Verite Research to do a report on the Hill Country Tamils is equally interesting
It was in 2017 that Indian PM Modi visited the Hill Country Tamils, the first by an Indian PM. However, nothing has been happening since though clearly the US & its associates are making much headways amongst a segment of people whose origins are in India. In fact, any aspirations of these people, should be directed to the colonials for acknowledgement, apology and reparations for all that they had been subject to, simply for the colonials to become rich. This is certainly an avenue that Hill Country Tamils must consider or demand citizenship in these western countries.
What is clear is that the US is now wooing the Hill Country Tamils, is this part of a QUAD exercise with the nod of approval of India, or does US think that it does not require permission from India to meet Hill Country Tamils and discuss aspirations” with them.
What we perceive is nothing but looming trouble & it is for India to wake up to ground realities.
With India purchasing oil from Russia & alliance with BRICS, is it not strange that the Khalistan movement suddenly emerged with even pulling down the National Flag in the Indian High Commission in London & pro-Khalistan parades in Canada. Incidentally, quite a number are linked to the LTTE fronts as well. Rahul Gandhi is now in US and he may not have got a huge hug but there are developments taking shape.
Afterall, there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.
Merrill decided early on that someday he would develop ‘my own brand of tea and deliver to the customer genuine pure Ceylon tea at a reasonable price and also transfer those profits to the betterment of the people here.’ It took him four decades to achieve this.
When he first spoke about it, those he discussed it with were discouraging, skeptical and scornful. Merrill found that the local tea industry was designed to assist British and multinational interests and not the local entrepreneur. There has never been a nationally articulated marking plan for Ceylon Tea to place its image before the world using its unique selling points, observed Merrill.
Merrill believed strongly in Ceylon tea. Pure Ceylon tea is this country’s greatest asset. It is our primary homegrown product and indentifies Ceylon globally.There is no other tea in the world which is recognized internationally by the country of origin like Ceylon tea. Not is any other country globally identified by the tea it produces, he said.
In Pure Ceylon Tea the country has a product which can stand alone and compete successfully against any tea grown in any other country. It is the artisanal aspect of our manufacture that separates Pure Ceylon Tea from the herd, he said.
We were producing a wonderful tea, envied for its character, flavor, quality and taste by all other producers, none of whom could match any of these features. Its value had been ignored by successive governments and local traders but was fully exploited by the multinationals who under stood it actual worth.
For over a century we have allowed Ceylon tea, a valuable and attractive product with enormous potential to be exported by multinational companies to other country as a raw material. The importing country debased its natural quality by blending with inferior teas, which reduced it cost and then sold it as Ceylon tea concluded Merrill.
Merrill’s journey to promote pure Ceylon tea was not an easy one. He faced criticism including damaging allegations on his style of operations. Overseas, he had to fight alone, on their own turf, the limitlessly funded and empowered multinationals.
But Merrill was a very experienced tea marketer with much experience selling abroad. His first visit was to Japan, his employer had sent him. He was so successful there that Lipton who had the monopoly in Japan had asked him never to visit Japan again.
He had excellent trade relations with Russia. He had made a good impression on the first Russian ambassador to Ceylon, who asked him to take over the sale of Ceylon tea to Russia. Merrill also traded in the Middle East. He had visited Libya, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. The decades of trading activity all over the world helped Merrill to develop many useful contacts and trading partners. This was helpful when Merrill decided to launch Dilmah.
Dilmah is possibly the one internationally marketed tea brand which buys it product only from the country where it is grown. It is owned, packed and marketed in that country, by one family, with revenue flowing back to the country of origin, said Merrill proudly.
Merrill Fernando launched Dilmah in Australia, very successfully in 1985. I was presenting garden fresh, unblended pure Ceylon tea of singular origin. It was packed where it was grown. This was the unique selling point in Australia.
Dilmah then made a successful debut in New Zealand. Dilmah became a popular brand in Russia around 1988. This helped its subsequent successes in other countries. Eventually, Dilmah tea was selling in over 100 countries.
The advertisements for Dilmah focused heavily on Merrill .The advertisements consisted of a photograph of Merrill and a statement from him, about Dilmah, urging buyers ‘Do try it’. The concept of the founder promoting his brand on TV, radio, and magazines, also talking to prospective buyers through posters, was an unusual marketing strategy and attracted consumers. These advertisements were a hit and Merrill was often called Mr. Dilmah.
Merrill stated that Dilmah was the first major tea brand marketing project undertaken by the Sri Lanka Tea Board. It was also the maiden initiative to promote a totally Sri Lanka owned brand in an overseas market.
The Sri Lanka Tea Board was agreeable to Merrill‘s request that it should launch Dilmah in Australia. But there was opposition. The request went before the SLTB Secretariat, consisting of government nominees, 21 times before it was approved. It was then grudgingly approved by the Funding committee. Even after that, the project faced delays and active opposition by key member of the secretariat, said Merrill.
Another problem for Merrill was shipping. This was controlled by the foreign Conference Lines. The Conference Lines was essentially a cartel, created to ensure that the commodities were transported in British vessels. There was a Conference line to every destination and only they could carry cargo even if there where quicker sailing ships. Conference lines were represented in Sri Lanka by local agents.
It was a tightly controlled operation. Large multinationals booked shipping space and held it till the last minute thus denying the local exporter the opportunity of booking space to ship his produce. After dropping off the tea, the ships returned with fertilizer, machinery and other good destined for the plantations.
I had to fight tooth and nail for an allocation of just 30-40 tonnes, recalled Merrill. Merrill had also managed to get permission for Messageries Maritimes to carry 250 tonnes of his cargo, but this was taken by Brooke Bond.
Ceylon had her own ships, operating under Ceylon Shipping lines, but these ships were not permitted to carry any tea to the UK. The entire volume of tea exported annually to UK had to be carried on ships owned by the UK- Ceylon Shipping Conference.
Thanks to Merrill, Ceylon Shipping was granted membership of Ceylon-UK conference lines. However the two Chairmen of Aitken Spence and Carsons did not like this as it affected the interests of the Conference lines they were representing.
Merrill spoke highly of PB Karandawela then Permanent Secretary to Minister of Tourism and Shipping. Karandawela had introduced innovative strategies to counter the strong arm tactics of the Conference lines. (Continued)
Like most business men, Merrill also faced problems with unreliable business partners. He has described one partnership with a Sinhala family firm, that of the Fernandos, as a ‘prickly partnership’
Merrill was full of praise for Victor Santiapillai, the first Chairman of Export Development Board. Merrill said he was the only person in a dismal array of ignorant government servants, who understood what Merrill was trying to do.
Santiapillai was Trade Commissioner for Ceylon for four years in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. He was the Head of the International Commercial Relations Division of the Ministry of Commerce in Colombo, after which he joined ITC, so he knew trade. He had done much to develop the EDB.
As a schoolboy Merrill had spend holidays on the estates in the Punduluoya and Kotmale districts belonging to KR Mathavan and his brothers and uncle S. Thondaman.While training as a tea taster in 1950 Merrill bought tea from Medetenne and Meddeloya estates in Kotmale owned by the Thondaman/Mathavan family and sold bulk tea to shops and restaurants in Negombo . Merrill also speaks of a friendship with a Mr. Murugiah who owned Kelaniya and Braemar estates in Maskeliya.
Merrill’s business relations with several other Tamils was not so pleasant. Merrill was working in the tea trading firm of A F Jones, a small family business owned by father and two sons. The Jones family decided in 1962 to leave Ceylon. They offered the firm to Merrill for 6 lakhs. Since he did not have so much money, Merrill asked Sarath Wijesinghe and S. Nadesan to join for a third each of the shares.
Both were well known personalities in Sri Lanka. Sarath Wijesinghe came from a family of wealthy planters and graphite mine owners. He was Chairman of several companies. He was Cabinet Minister of Nationalized Services of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Government and was a member of the Senate of Ceylon from 1956 to 1965.
S. Nadesan was a leading lawyer, civil rights activist and member of the Senate. He was a founding member of the Civil Rights Movement. The Nadesan Centre for Human rights through Law was set up in 1987 to perpetuate his memory.
The transfer was made and Merrill took over the running of the company. The AF Jones tea business went well, under Merrill with support from the bankers, National and Grind lays, whose Managing Director, W.I. Gash supported Merrill to the hilt with loan after loan.
Before the Jones family finally departed, they had offered Merrill the balance 5000 shares they still held in the company. Gash agreed to loan money ,at a very low interest to purchase these shares .Instead Nadesan offered to buy the shares and hold them in trust for Merrill to be sold to Merrill at a future date. Gash advised against this. Gash had pointed out that the additional shares would increase Merrill’s clout in the company. But Merrill agreed to Nadesan’s suggestion and the shares were transferred to Nadesan.
Then, said Merrill , Nadesan brought his son and brother on the Board and also prevailed on me to employ more of his relatives. His son, somewhat arrogant and confrontational tried to impose his will in business matters he did not know much about. At a board meeting in 1962 the son had presented suggestions which Merrill thought were not in the interest of the company.
At this point Merrill had asked Nadesan to transfer to him, on payment, the shares Nadesan was holding in trust for Merrill . Nadesan then stated that he had purchased the shares in his son’s name and the son was refusing to part with them. I realized that I had been deceived by a man I trusted, respected and looked on as a mentor, said Merrill .
Things got unpleasant at AF Jones and Merrill decided to resign from the Board. He asked that the flat that he had leased out to the company and transferred to company be transferred back to him, also the motor car he was using. He then received a letter giving him just 7 days to leave the apartment and send the car for valuation. He got the lease of the apartment re- transferred to him but was told that the car would not be sold to him.
The Nadesans transferred the Eastern Agencies division of the AF Jones firm, to the Satyendra family , from where it went to Maharaja Group. This deprived A.F.Jones of a valuable asset at no great benefit to the shareholders observed Merrill . My first exposure of the modus operandi of supposedly reputed legal luminaries was an eye opener, he said. ( p 87-90)
Later, Merrill got another shock. Inland Revenue department sent him a charge for Rs 50,000 in additional taxes and also impounded his passport saying that Merrill had illegally invested in GBP 600 in UK shares. Merrill knew how this had happened.
An American tenant of his was paying rent in dollars which Merrill had invested in Ceylon tea estate company shares in UK stock exchange. An employee, Joe Silva who had created many problems at A F Jones had , apparently on the instruction of Nadesan, sent an anonymous letter to the Exchange Controller, some time ago, alleging that Merrill had overseas investments.
When the Exchange controller requested me to submit details of such investment, I showed the documents to Nadesan, who drafted a reply on my behalf. He also kept in his custody the related file of documents for safekeeping, he said. That was the file that had found its way to the Inland Revenue.. That matter had ended satisfactorily. The Inland Revenue officials who inquire into the matter accepted Merrill’s explanation and helped to get Merrill back the monies due to him. (p 95)
Merrill had more to say. There was an executive named Chuck Wijenathan in the Eastern Agencies division of the import arm of A.F.Jones, said Merrill , who was to outward appearances, a very nice man. When Merrill was appointed Managing Director of AF Jones Merrill had propose that Chuck be appointed a director. When I left the firm, Chuck was the first person to call up various people and announce that I had been fired from the company, stated Merrill (p 91)
In 1979, Merrill and some others decided to set up a tea trading and supply centre in Singapore, the company was called TECOF. They appointed Ganendra Balasingham, as Head of Operations. He was quite unsuitable for the job, and four years later when they terminated the operation, he had lost quite a lot of our money including USD 25,000 from the business that I had asked him to bank on my behalf. But because he was unemployed Merrill had recommended him to another company, he was soon removed from there.
Merrill then had another brush with investors. Two long standing friends”, Teuton Soysa and Subhodini Tambiaiyah, among others, persuaded him to return to the tea trade. So, Merrill in 1976 launched a new company MJF Exports Ltd. Subhodini and Teuton invested in the company and served as directors.
Teuton offered to look after Merrill estate, Melton, and persuaded Merrill to give him work in his office where he was made Supervisor of the Accounts Department. Sometime later Teuton had filed action against Merrill claiming that Merrill was defrauding the company and depriving Teuton of his rightful share of the profits. Merrill was asked to settle the matter to avoid embarrassment but Merrill decided to let the matter go to Courts. The case collapse in court.
Merrill had later come to know that Teuton had been persuaded to institute this action by Nadaraja , Merrill’s accountant and Lakshman Jayawardene, one of the tea buyers. Merrill thought Teuton was a decent man who had been mislead. Merrill bought Teuton’s shares in the company at Rs 50 though they had been valued at Rs 10. Merrill had then given a loan to the Jayawardenas to start a business .
It also appears that Nadaraja had appealed to Merrill for protection during the 1983 riots and protection which was readily given. That is my inference. The text says during the 1983 riots a key person in the episode had been in danger and sought Merrill protection”. ( P 156-158)
Meanwhile, continued Merrill , my friend and fellow director of MJF Exports, Subhodhini had purchased some shares in the name of her son Dhiren. Dhiren sued Merrill demanding a huge sum for his shares on the grounds that Merrill was mismanaging the company. Merrill allowed the matter to come to court. As matters dragged on in the courts, Merrill bought back the shares held by mother and son and got them out of the firm. (p 159)
The information given in this essay can be found at pages 87-92,94-95,114, 156-159 of The story of Ceylon tea maker Merrill J Fernando. ( concluded)
On a private members motion in the Parliament last Wednesday there was a debate on the damage done to the agricultural crops done by monkeys (Toque macaque}. There was unanimity across the party divide that crop damage by monkeys has increased very rapidly and now is in a crisis proportion. It was mentioned that the monkey population has multiplied to around 3.6million. The damage caused by animals, mainly monkeys is estimated as close to Rs 8 billion. While the government is urging the farmers to produce more food, they are destroying around 40% of the crop, mainly the coconut crop. No wonder that there is a shortage of coconuts and the prices have shot up to over Rs 100 per nut. Members pressed the government to take immediate and effective action to control animal damage menace. Both the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister for Environment explained at length the efforts made by their ministries to find a lasting solution. Minister for Environment lamented that it has been a difficult task and explained that the behavior patterns of the animal makes it a tough task. Everybody agreed that it has become a serious problem and a threat to food production and even defense of children from the marauding monkeys.
The loss to food production is estimated to be over 40%. But nobody suggested a practical solution. It was again plenty of talk and with no outcome on effective and immediate action.
It must be stressed that there is no Buddhist or environment-friendly solution to this problem. One cannot scramble an egg without breaking it. It is useful to go back a few years when this problem was not there. It started with the removal of shotguns from farmers after the JVP uprising in the late 80s. After that there was an illegal circular from a former secretary of Defense to the Police that persons over 50 years of age should not be given gun licenses. This prevented older generation of farmers who are the majority among farmers obtaining licenses. In addition, there was a strict procedure involving the approval of the local Police and the ASP of the area before the GA issuing the license. This procedure which could take a minimum of 6 days had to be gone through by a farmer to obtain the license which costs him Rs 250/ but the opportunity cost of loss of work during the period would be at least Rs 9000 at Rs 1500 per day.
The solution is to give back the shot guns to all farmers irrespective of age. If they can handle a mammootty they should be able to handle a shot gun. The objection that there is an increase of crime with the use of guns is not valid as such crimes are caused with the use of T56 weapons or 9mm pistols. At the same time legal protection of monkeys and other wild animals like wild boar, peafowl, giant squirrels should be lifted.
Another solution is to capture the male animals and sterilize them.
Besides the urgent problem of protection of food crops and self-defense culling of animal herds is a standard practice followed in many countries to sustain the health of the herd. In South Africa there is ruthless shooting of elephants to maintain the capacity of the habitat sustain the herd in the longer term. Culling of even seals and deer is done with the same objective. A selective culling of male animals could be a more acceptable solution.
Animal lovers and pseudo environmentalists would raise strident objections to culling. They seem to love animals more than human beings.
Cynics would claim that they should also be culled.
Merrill Fernando (b.1930) said that he decided to write his biography, titled ‘The story of Ceylon tea maker, Merrill J Fernando” (2023) because he wanted to draw attention to the potential of pure Ceylon Tea. Fernando is known for his unique role in branding and marketing pure Ceylon tea through Dilmah. Sri Lanka‘s tea, spices and other produce could transform our economy if they are marketed correctly, he said.
Merrill Fernando entered the tea trade as a tea taster. Merrill was one of the few who in the 1950s, entered the closely guarded British preserve of tea taster. The British did not want locals in that department. They said that locals did not have the palate to make good tea tasters as they ate spicy food. During the war there were four Sinhala tea tasters, but this was temporary and ended with the war. Those four had been subjected to open resentment by the British, said Merrill.
After independence, there was pressure from the government to recruit locals as tea tasters. The Tea commissioner, P. Saravanamuttu had exerted much pressure on the tea companies for this. The decision to train locals was therefore a reluctant response by the British tea firms then operating in Colombo to numerous requests made to them over several years by the Government of Ceylon to open their closely guarded field to locals.
Merrill heard that the Tea Controller was proposing to take in a few local young men for training in tea tasting under the Government Tea Taster, O.P. Rust, Managing Director of Darley Butler and Co. Merrill applied and was accepted. He did well in the training and O.P.Rust was pleased. This was in 1950.
While training as a tea taster Merrill had started a side business, supplying bulk tea to shops and restaurants around Negombo. He bought from a few estates known to him and also from private auctions. He selected the tea carefully and made sure it was of good quality. Clients switched from their regular suppliers to Merrill , the business thrived and Merrill was able to put down a deposit on his first car, a brand new Morris Minor. Merrill was fast turning into a successful tea taster and a successful vendor, the two qualities needed for creating Dilmah later on.
In 1954, Merrill went to London as his firm AF Jones wanted him to learn about the branding and marketing of tea. Around 90% of Ceylon tea was exported and most of it was sold in London at the Tea Auction held at Mincing Lane.
What I saw and experienced during my training in London gave me a completely contrary view to my previous belief in the integrity of the British business style, said Merrill. He had developed a great respect for the British employers he had met in Sri Lanka. That was shaken when he saw what they were doing to our tea in London.
Firstly, the tea was sold at prices which were 15-20 times higher than what they paid for it in Ceylon. This, it appears, was something new for Merrill. Experienced tea traders would have known this for a long time.
Secondly, Ceylon tea completely lost its identity in London. It was absorbed into a commercial chain which had no link with Ceylon, complained Merrill. Ceylon tea was blended with cheaper teas and then passed off as Ceylon Tea. The other two tea blending centers, Rotterdam and Hamburg did the same. Merrill was shocked. On his return to the island in 1956, he broached the idea of exporting value added tea. Answer was the best place for that is London.
Back home, Merrill found that the tea trade was still controlled by London. From growing, to broking, selling, shipping and distribution, including retail marketing overseas, the British continued to control Ceylon tea. UK had retained its vertical control over tea.
The prominent tea exporters in the country were representatives of foreign brands like Brooke Bond and Lipton. They had to protect these foreign brands. There was not one voice to promote Sri Lanka interests, said Merrill.
Merrill found that the state regulatory and supervisory bodies for tea were also fiercely protective of British and multinational interests. Colombo Tea Traders Association (CTTA) dominated the tea auctions in Colombo. CTTA was run by a committee of five buyers and five sellers, all loyal to British interests. The same firms were appointed to the committee year after year.However, in 1968 the Europeans in the buyer segment were ousted and replaced by five local companies.
Merrill was openly critical of the activities of the various statutory tea agencies. Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) was helping the tea trade in other countries. SLTB had funded and promoted Lipton tea at the Moscow Olympics in 1980. SLTB had spent around Rs. 50 million between 1983 and 1988, promoting Rabea Tea, which was owned by a company in Saudi Arabia. The money channeled to Rabea should have been spent on the development of fully owned Sri Lanka brands, said Merrill.
Merrill had a poor opinion of the Ceylon Tea Centers, set up in various capital cities. The Ceylon Tea Centers had no impact on tea sales, but its restaurants were very popular for rice and curry. An Egyptian with no experience in tea was appointed to the tea center in Egypt and girls from Kenya were employed at the London Tea Center. Ernest Jesudason head of Ceylon Tea Centre, London was a British national with minimal links to Ceylon. He had little knowledge of tea or tea marketing, said Merrill. Merrill suggested that the Tea Centers should be closed down.
The members of the Sri Lanka Tea Promotion Board and the Sri Lanka Tea Board knew nothing about selling tea. They knew nothing of market strategy. The officials on these Boards had neither the talent nor the personnel who could understand the intricacies and dynamics of international tea marketing, said Merrill.They were unable, and reluctant to respond to market changes.
Appointees to these organizations did not come from the mercantile world. Ceylon Tea Promotion Board consisted of ex- officio appointments, such as representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, the CTTA and TRI. None of them had any idea of the tea trade, its marketing, branding or advertising so the Secretariat could do whatever they wished.
The first Director General of the Sri Lanka Tea Board was the head of Tea Research Institute. He did not know anything about the international tea trade. Merrill said that Clarence Cooray when Head of the Tea Promotions Board, was entirely dependent on British tea interests in Ceylon for advice on the promotion of Ceylon tea, owing to a lack of local persons with sound overseas tea marketing knowledge.
When the Sri Lanka Tea Board Act was in preparation, in the 1970s, Merrill had advised to appoint people with the required knowledge and experience.
Merrill stated that his observations on Tea Propaganda Board and the Tea Board were confined to the 1970s and 1980s. SLTB showed sound judgment in respect of tea, in the decades that followed, he added.
Tea agencies, both private and state, were unable to identify and push promotional opportunities and exploit them at the correct time, said Merrill. There is ignorance of market realities. They showed a submissive, over cautious and uninformed mindset.
We needed a strong tea secretariat, convinced of the importance of Ceylon tea in the national economy and knowledgeable about global tea marketing. The money from the Tea Cess should be used to promote Ceylon owned brands instead of foreign owned brands, Merrill said.
Sri Lanka missed several market opportunities, said Merrill. Sri Lanka failed to move into the tea bag segment. Indonesia secured it.Sri Lanka also failed to enter the Middle East market and the Russian market at the right time.
Though the Middle East was one of Sri Lanka’s strongest markets, the popular brands there did not belong to Sri Lanka. Lipton dominated in the Middle East, both in tea bags and bulk supplies. Lipton had in place a very professional managed marketing and promotional infrastructure in the region.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab emirates came into existence in 1981. Merrill had pointed out that this was an excellent opportunity to consolidate Sri Lanka‘s hold on the Middle Eastern market, and that we should move fast and establish a monopoly there. Had we established a common marketing initiative of Ceylon tea at the time that the Gulf Cooperation Council came into being, Ceylon tea would have benefited.
Merrill’s interest in creating a local brand of value added Ceylon tea was opposed by vested interests. When Merrill was on the Ceylon Tea Propaganda Board he suggested that they should export value added locally owned brands. The Sri Lankan members of the Board were supportive, but the Chairman of Brooke Bond, strongly opposed the idea. It was not a practical idea, he said, as we would need to blend from multiple regions.
There was opposition also from local officers. In the 1980s, the Sri Lanka Tea Board was sympathetic to Merrill’s ideas. In 1980 SLTB had pointed an Advisory committee on the Promotion and Marketing of Ceylon Tea. But implementation was stifled by the bureaucrats of the SLTB, said Merrill.
Thanks to his insistence on creating a local product, Merrill was seen as a disruptive influence. CTTA representatives had been instructed by their British masters to oppose all his initiatives and proposals at the CTTA. When Merrill was appointed to the Sri Lanka Tea Board, there was opposition saying he was a disruptor. Members of the Tea Propaganda Board also did not want Merrill appointed for a second term.
Merrill Fernando was, from the start, highly critical of the British control of the tea industry. But others, who were dependant on the industry, avoided the subject. Most were careful not to anger the British owners, for obvious reasons. Also, they did not care what happened to Ceylon tea once it had left the island. (Continued)
Edwin Arnold belonged to the group of Western intellectuals living at different times of the British Raj, who represented for us Sri Lankan islanders and Indian sub-continentals the mellowed humane face of British colonialism. They rendered yeoman service to both nations by stimulating historical and cultural awareness about themselves, which contributed to their eventual achievement of independence from foreign rule. German philologist, orientalist and great Buddhist scholar Frederick Max Muller (1823-1900), former American military officer, journalist, lawyer and theosophist Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907), British Pali and Oriental scholar T.W. Rhys Davids (1843-1922), German orientalist and historian Wilhelm Geiger (1856-1943), German educationist Marie Museus Higgins (1855-1926), and a number of other noble men and women similarly inspired by a selfless love of humanity were of particular importance to us Sri Lankans.
Edwin Arnold, who was of the same age as Olcott, was born at Gravesend, Gravesham, Kent, England on June 10, 1832. As an undergraduate of Oxford University, he won the Newdigate prize for poetry in 1852. Having earned an MA, he left Oxford to become a school teacher at King Edwards School, Birmingham. Then, Arnold went to India in 1856 as Principal of Deccan College at Poona (Pune, today). While working in India, he learned Sanskrit. Having lived a constantly active life of just over seventy years as poet, scholar, author, educator, and journalist, he died on March 24, 1904, in London England. Though he remained loyal to the British Empire throughout his life, he was free from the entrenched patronising or worse attitude of the average colonialist of the time towards the native imperial subjects including the Ceylonese (Sri Lankans) and treated them as equals.
The poem about ‘the life and teaching of Gautama’ (Buddha) ‘The Light of Asia or The Great Renunciation (Mahabhinishkramana)’ that Arnold composed was first published in July 1879. In his Preface to the book, he wrote that it …”is inspired by an abiding desire to aid in the better mutual knowledge of East and West. The time may come, I hope, when this book and my Indian Song of Songs”, and Indian Idylls”, will preserve the memory of one who loved India and the Indian peoples.” The Indian Song of Songs” is the English translation of the 12th century CE Sanskrit poet Jayadeva’s epic poem Gita Govinda”. Though supercharged with eroticism and replete with sensuous imagery, it is religious in terms of its central theme of Bhakti-yoga of Hinduism. (‘Bhakti-yoga/pure devotional service to Lord Krishna as the highest and most expedient means for attaining pure love for Krishna, which is the highest end of spiritual existence’ in Hinduism, as Swami Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada explains in his 1984 English interpretation of the Hindu sacred text the Gita: ‘Bhagavad-gita As It Is’.) Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda describes the amorous relationship between Krishna in the form of young Govinda and the beautiful cowherdess Radha. Krishna is the eighth incarnation of Vishnu (the Preserver and the Protector of the universe in the Hindu religion), so Govinda is another name for Vishnu. Hindus venerate Buddha as the ninth avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu. Arnold did his translation of the Gita Govinda in 1875, that is, four years before he wrote and published The Light of Asia. He also translated the Bhagavad-Gita” as The Song Celestial” (1885), which he dedicated to India at the opening, having written it, as he claimed, For England, O our India! as dear to me as She!”
This digression about Jayadeva is because I believe that Arnold’s experience with the Gita Govinda had a strong bearing on the literary quality of his own English epic poem The Light of Asia. I happened to read both The Light of Asia and the Sinhala version of the Gita Govinda entitled ‘Govingu Geeya’ done by Sinhala scholar Arisen Ahubudu about the same time during my adolescent years. At the time I didn’t know that Arnold had translated the Sanskrit poem into English (as ‘The Indian Song of Songs’) before he crafted the English poem about the life and philosophy of the Buddha. Ahubudu provided each Sanskrit stanza in Sinhala transliteration with the Sinhala interpretation following it. Jayadeva’s poem is rich in sensuous imagery; his frequent use of alliteration and assonance enhances its enchanting musicality. Through his rarely matched mastery of the Sinhala language Ahubudu produces an authentic translation of the original Sanskrit text. That Arnold’s familiarity with Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda influenced his composition of The Light of Asia, was something I was able to discern as a mature reader of the English poem years later. (As I write this, I have open before me a copy of The Light of Asia locally published in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) by the M.D. Gunasena & Co. Ltd, Colombo in 1954, which my father bought for me in Kandy for two rupees in 1962. It is the very copy that I read at 15+) that I am using here now after sixty-one years!
It carries an introductory essay under the title ‘The Buddha and His Teaching’ written by Dr G.P. Malalasekera of the University of Peradeniya. But it says nothing about the story of Buddha’s life except that he ‘was a human being who found supreme Enlightenment…’. I noticed its lopsidedness as an introduction to the book even at that young age. Obviously, the professor had not written it for The Light of Asia, but the publishers must have added it to make the publication seem more appealing and more accessible to the local reader. The whole essay is about Buddha’s teaching according to the Theravada tradition. This was what we were taught at school for the Buddhism subject in the Sinhala medium. As we were learning English as a second language then, it was a big thing for me to be able to read Dr Malalasekera’s learned writing about Buddhism and understand it just as much as Arnold’s poem. However, the phrase ‘The Buddha and his teaching’ well describes the subject of Arnold’s The Light of Asia, which is mentioned in different words in several places in the text, including the final passage of the poem quoted at the opening of this essay: ‘Touching the Teacher and the Ways of Peace’; he lived and died ‘Even as a man ‘mongst men’. Arnold says as much of the Buddha’s life as of his teaching, as truthfully as he managed to understand it, shifting through the inevitable hyperbole that traditionally embellishes the historical narration of his life story, and the deliberate mystification that distorts the meaning of his profound doctrinal concepts.
The same edition contains Arnold’s own original Preface to his poem, which starts: ‘In the following Poem I have sought, by the medium of an imaginary Buddhist votary, to depict the life and character and indicate the philosophy of that noble hero and reformer, Prince Gautama of India, the founder of Buddhism.’ According to him, though little or nothing was known in Europe of ‘this great faith of Asia’ it had existed during twenty-four centuries, and at his time, surpassed in the number of its followers and the area of its prevalence, any other form of creed. Though Buddhism had for the most part had disappeared from India, the land of its birth, ‘the mark of Gautama’s sublime teaching is stamped ineffaceably upon modern Brahmanism, and the most characteristic habits and convictions of the Hindus are clearly due to the benign influence of Buddha’s precepts’.
‘More than a third of mankind… owe their moral and religious ideas to this illustrious prince; whose personality, though imperfectly revealed in the existing sources of information, cannot but appear the highest, gentlest, holiest, and most beneficent, with one exception, in the history of Thought….’ (I could infer who Arnold meant by this exception, but I thought that in his heart of hearts, he would have avoided that reservation, for his assertion sounded like nothing more than a concession to the dominant Christian sensitivities of his society.) Arnold quite rightly points out that though Gautama has been accorded superhuman status, he disapproved of ritual and ‘declared himself, even when on the threshold of Nirvana, to be only what all other men might become – the love and gratitude of Asia, disobeying his mandate, have given him fervent worship’. (The phrase ‘on the threshold of Nirvana’ means, in more mundane words, ‘on his deathbed’; ‘on the threshold of Parinirvana’ is the usual way to put it. To put what Arnold hints at here differently: Siddhartha Gautama did not preach a religious system of ritual worship.) But ‘Forests of flowers are daily laid upon his stainless shrines, and countless millions of lips daily repeat the formula ‘I take refuge in the Buddha!’ Arnold observes with quiet adoration for the Sage whose memory still induces feelings of such pious devotion in the hearts of his followers.
Arnold stresses the historicity of the Buddha: ‘The Buddha of this poem – if, as need not be doubted, he really existed – was born on the borders of Nepaul about 620 B.C., and died about 543 B.C. at Kusinagara in Oudh.’ (These place names respectively are: Nepal, Kushinagar and Awadh or Avadh, today.) About the timeless relevance of Buddha’s teaching, he says: ‘… this venerable religion … has in it the eternity of a universal hope, the immortality of a boundless love, an indestructible element of faith in final good, and the proudest assertion ever made of human freedom.’
What Arnold next says in his original Preface has a message of vital importance to those who are concerned about the survival of the Buddha Sasana in Sri Lanka: ‘The extravaganzas which disfigure the record and practice of Buddhism are to be referred to that inevitable degradation which priesthoods always inflict upon great ideas committed to their charge. The power and sublimity of Gautama’s original doctrines should be estimated by their influence, not by their interpreters; nor by that innocent but lazy and ceremonious church which has arisen on the foundations of the Buddhistic Brotherhood or Sangha”.’ Incidentally, it would be timely to consider whether or not ‘innocent but lazy and ceremonious’ is a good description of the present day Buddhist church (= the clerical officialdom/the Mahanayake, Anunatake, Adhikarana Sangha Nayake, ……system) in Sri Lanka.
Arnold has put his poem into the mouth of an imaginary Buddhist devotee ‘because, to appreciate the spirit of Asiatic thoughts, they should be regarded from the Oriental point of view; and neither miracles which consecrate this record, nor the philosophy which it embodies could have been otherwise so naturally reproduced. The doctrine of Transmigration, for instance – startling to modern minds – was established and thoroughly accepted by the Hindus of Buddha’s time…..’ (Arnold is here referring to the then prevalent Western attitude to the idea of reincarnation or rebirth, which Hindus of the pre-Christian Buddha’s time took for granted, as Hindus and Buddhists still do.) He confesses that his exposition of the Buddha’s ancient doctrine is necessarily incomplete, since, in conformity with rules of poetic art, he has to pass by many philosophically most important matters developed over Gautama’s long ministry. But he would consider his purpose achieved, if he succeeded in communicating ‘any just conception ……of the lofty character of this noble prince, and of the general purport of his doctrines…’
Carnival of Cultures is a mega event held every spring in Berlin attracting over 1 Million live spectators and several Millions on TV. Country wise, cultural organisations display their cultural heritage with traditional music and dance following a parade of decorated floats highlighting their cultural themes and mottos.
Representing Sri Lanka at this years event on 28th May, The Sri Lanka Association Berlin e.V. presented a pageant led by a Dance Group formed by the association consisting of girls and boys from Sri Lanka living in Berlin and other parts of Germany, a truck decorated in traditional Sri Lankan design, Musicians including drummers followed by members of the Sri Lankan community, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burghrs, dressed in traditional Sri lankan costumes or colorful batiks.
With this colourful and impressive formation the association was able to make a great contribution to promote Sri Lankas attractivity as a tourist destination and a international hub for business, social and cultural activities.
our senses or sensory systems are conditioned to capture waves emit (අංශු කම්පනය) from a present phenomenon/incident only. This is the ‘default’ condition of our sensory system. But waves emitted from a past phenomenon or an incident exist for a long time in the space. Only waves from a present phenomenon/incident are captured in a conditioned/defaulted sensory system or so called mind.
But in some persons sensory systems can be ‘faulted’ that it can capture waves from a past event (phenomenon/incident). Though this fauly sensory systems are very rare it can happen to certain individuals. The read/capture of waves from a past event will happen through faulty sensory system untill the sensory system get corrected itself in time eg. when growing old etc., When that happens a person is no longer has the ability of doing so.
This is how some children read past events though we think that incident is related to child’s previous birth. The past incident may be a ‘birth old’ for that child but it is a past incident for ‘a living’. Whatever the time it relates it is a wave form emitted from a past event which exists in the space. In nature, some of these wave froms will dissipate or dampened with time so that they are no longer receptive to ‘a faulted’ mind. But some wave forms from a past event do exists in the spaces for a longer time some of which can be captured by a faulty sensory system.
Accoding to Buddha there is ‘no person’ (අනාත්ම) in this existance so that there is ‘no person’ to be born after – Anuradha Sutta). The above is the only explaination within the ‘Dhamma’ can be provided for ‘reading of a past incident/phenomenon by a child’.
Further, the wave forms related to the present or past incidents/phenomenon consists of vibrating atoms (අංශු කම්පන) which are described in Dhamma as ශුද්ධාශ්ඨක or in particle physics as quantum packets. Whatever the names they are called these vibrating atoms consists of total characteristics of the elements reprenting the incident ie. Total Knowledge of the incident. While capturing the wave forms representing past events by ‘faulted sensory system’ captures the ‘total knowledge’ of such incident. Therefore whoever is having a faulted sensory system capable of capturing a past event captures the total charactor/knowledge of the event enabling to describe the incident fully as it happened.
This is how a child reads about some incidents alleged happend in their previous birth even such previous births are not in existance in accordance with Buddha’s teaching.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization ceased to be a functional entity in Sri Lanka after being militarily defeated by the armed forces in May 2009. The LTTE known widely as the Tigers was a powerful armed militant group which ruled over swathes of land in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of the Island for several years. 
Nevertheless, there were a few honourable exceptions to this norm too. These courageous politicians of principle not only challenged the LTTE openly but also managed to survive physically. Due to their refusal to kowtow before the tigers, they suffered politically and were reduced to being powerless politicians.. Their only consolation was the courage of their convictions and the satisfaction of retaining their self-respect by not bowing before tyrannical power. 
How an Estate Tamil was nominated to be Governor of the East and how caste-conscious Tamils are willing to accept this appointment is interesting, but clearly the Governor is keen to impress the US and how will this impact India’s influence over the estate community in time to come is also worthy of consideration.
In October 2022, following the revolutionary exit” of an elected President, the take-over President appoints a Committee to seek how best to integrate Tamils of Hill Country origin into society. Wait – does this mean they were all this time not living as part of Sri Lankan society?
