MEDIA RELEASE GLOBAL SRI LANKAN FORUM – LONDON INITIATIVE.

The Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR), Victoria Australia, along with like-minded organizations in Australia, England and the Middle East, write to register our protest with regards to the decision of President Ranil Wickramasinghe of Sri Lanka, to offer pardon to the former LTTE cadres who participated in killing 91  innocent civilians and injuring over 1400 people in the 1996 Central Bank bombing.  This dastardly act also resulted in over 100 victims losing their eye sight, when a 440 pound bomb was detonated by LTTE terrorists. After a lengthy court hearing, the offenders were sentenced to 200 years of imprisonment for the heinous crimes they committed.

In addition, the blow to the country’s economy was substantial with the crippling of functions at the Central Bank. The tourism industry too which sustained colossal damage took many years to recover.

Eleven LTTE members were charged with the bombing of the Central Bank, ten of them were indicted on a total of 712 counts, including intention to cause death and committing murder and the destruction of state property. In 2002,  Judge Sarath Ambepitiya issued an open warrant to arrest LTTE’s illusive leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran in connection with the 1996 Central Bank Bombing. The judge found the terrorist leader guilty on 51 counts and sentenced him in absentia to 200 years in prison.

We are aware that the Presidential pardoning arrangements in Sri Lanka have been misused on many occasions and we unreservedly condemned all those decisions. To use the executive powers and offer pardon to criminals who were found guilty of causing the death of 91 persons cannot be justified by any rational Sri Lankan.

We call upon all patriotic Sri Lankan legislators and organizations, both local and global to register their protests and request the President with respect to revoke this irrational and tainted political decision, soon after returning from his visit to India.

It is believed that this poor decision has been made primarily  to appease India and the SrI Lankan Tamil political leaders, totally disregarding the impact it has on the kith and kin of those that lost their lives or the hurt it would cause to those maimed in perpetuity.

We urge the President not to proceed with the decision to release LTTE murderers who are serving prison sentences for their crimes..

RANJITH SOYSA

SPOKESPERSON

SPUR –  Victoria

SPUR –  N.S.W.

SPUR –  QUEENSLAND

GLOBAL SRI LANKAN FORUM -EX.COMITTEE

LONDON INITIATIVE.

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

මෝඩි මෝඩද? අපි හරි මෝඩයි-වික්ටර් අයිවන්

මෝඩි විසින් ලංකාවේ දෙමළ ජනයාගේ dignity  හා respect ගැන රනිල් ජනාධිපතිට දෙහි කපද්දී, කවුරුන්හෝ මෝඩිටත්, රනිල්ලාටත්, රට වැසි සිංහල කතාකරණ ජනයාටත් ලංකාවේ ඉතිහාසය හා භූගෝල විද්‍යාව කියා දියයුතුව තිබෙනවා නොවේද යනුවෙන් සිතමින් සිටින විට, ක්‍රිස්තියානි, මාක්ස්වාදී වික්ටර් අයිවන් විසින් <අපි හරි මෝඩයි> යනුවෙන් කල යූ ටියුබ් කතාව දැක  මෙම ලිපි මාලාව ලිවිය යුතුයයි මම තීරණය කලෙමි. මර්වින් සිල්වා පවා දර්ශන් හඳුන්ගොඩ ඉදිරියේ < මට මොළේ නෑ> යයි කියයි!

ගුජරාත් මහ ඇමති වශයෙන්  ඇමෙරිකාවට ඒමට විසා එකක්වත් නොදුන් මෝඩි දැන් ඇමෙරිකාව හා එකතුවී චීනය දමණය කරන්නට ක්‍රියාකරන්නේ විශාල බලාපොරොත්තු ඇතිවය. ඉන්දියාව බෙදාවෙන්කර සුද්දා විසින් කල විනාශය ඉදිරියේ, <හින්දියාවක්> යළි ගොඩනඟා ගන්නට ඔහු කැපවීමෙන් ක්‍රියාකරමින් සිටී. විශාල මධ්‍යම පන්තියක් ඉන්දියාවේ (චීනයේ මෙන්ම) වර්ධනය වෙමින් පවතී. එහෙත් මිලියන තුන් හාරසීයක ජනතාවක් අන්තදුගී භාවයේ සිටිනා බව (තාමත් පාරේ කැතකරණ, සාංචි විහාර බිම් ප්‍රදේශය අවට පවා කැතකරණ) අමතක කල යුතු නැත. මෙම ජන කොටස යුරෝපයේ මුළු ජනගහනයට (රුසියාව හැර) සමානය කියා මා අසා ඇත.

මෝඩි මෝඩද, වික්ටර් අයිවන් මෝඩද, රනිල් කපටි මෝඩයෙක්ද නැද්ද යන්න ගැන කතා කිරීමට කලින් දෙමළ බෙදුම් වාදීන් විසින් ගේනා අළුත්ම තුරුම්පුව ගැන ලිවිය යුතුය. 1923 සිටම ඉන්දියාවේ ද්‍රවිඩස්ථාන් රටක් යන ව්‍යාපාරය හා සම්බන්ධ ක්‍රියා පොන්නම්බලම් අරුණාචලම් විසින් ආරම්භ කලත්, දෙමළ ක්‍රිස්තියානී චෙල්වනායගම් 1948 සිට අනුගමණය කලේ, දැන් චුට්ටක්, පසුව ගොඩක්, යන උපක්‍රමයය (little now and more later).

ඔල්මාදයෙන් පෙලෙන විග්නේශ්වරන්

SJV චෙල්වනායගම් ඔල්මාදයෙන් පෙලෙන, තමන් අවට සිටින ජනයාද ඔල්මාදකාරයින් කරවන අයෙක් යයි අගමැති SWRD පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී ප්‍රකාශකලේය (1958?). අන්තිමෙදී SJVC සිය ගාන්ධි හැව ගලවා දමා මිනිමරුවෙකුගේ පිළිරුවකට (සිවරාම්?) මල්මාලයක් දමා, ප්‍රභාකරන්ට සටන භාරදී  මිය ගියේය (1977). ඔහු දෙමළ මෝසස් යයි කුරුණාගල බිෂොප් ලක්ෂ්මන් වික්‍රමසිංහ (ජනාධිපති රනිල්ගේ ඥාති) ගුණ ගැයුවේය.

දකුණේ, කොළඹ ජීවත්වෙමින් සිංහල ජනයාට නොලැබෙන නොයෙක් පහසුකම්, වරදාන ලබාගනිමින්, සමසමාජකාරයෙක් යයි  සම්බන්ධතා සදාගත් විග්නේශ්වරන්, ප්‍රභාකරන් මළාට පසුව නොයෙක් ආකාරයේ කතා මවමින් ලංකාවේ දෙමළ නිජබිම් මිථ්‍යාවට කර ගසමින් සිටියේය. සිංහල ආණ්ඩු දෙමළ ජන සංහාරයක් කරනවා යයි මොහු කිව්වේ තමන්ගේ පුත්තු දෙන්නාම සිංහල ස්ත්‍රීන් දෙන්නෙක් විසින් රවටා ගත්තායයි සිතා ඒ ගැන ඇති හිත්වේදනාව නිසාද කියාත් සිතේ. මේ රැවටිල්ලට සුමන්තිරන්ගේ පුතාත් අහුවීම පුදුමයට කරුණක් වන්නේ ලස්සන දෙමළ කෙල්ලන්/ළමිස්සියන් ඇතිතරම් රටේ ඉන්නා නිසාය.

මිහිඳු හිමිඳුන්ට පෙර ලංකාවේ දෙමළ බෞද්ධයින් සිටියාය, මුළු දිවයිනම ශිව ලිංග පහකින් බ්ලෙස්කරලාය (blessed), දේවානම් පියතිස්සගේ නම දේවානම් තීසන්ය, යන මනස්ගාත දෙඩවූ මොහු නුවර මහානායක හිමිවරුන්ට ඉතිහාස පාඩම් දෙන්නට පවා ගියේ දන්නා හැම දහංගැටයක්ම ගසා සුමන්තිරන්-පොන්නම්බලම්-රාසමානික්කම් කොල්ලා යනාදීන් අභිභවා ඊළම් සටනේ ඉදිරියෙන් සිටීමටය. මේ සියල්ලම ඔහුගේ මරණයට පෙර කරගත නොහැකි බව දැනගත් විග්නේශ් දැන් අළුත්ම කතාවක් රනිල්ට ඉදිරිපත් කරයි. චෙල්වා ප්‍රභාකරන්ට භාරදී ගියා මෙන් විග්නේශ් රනිල් ජනාධිපතිට හා මෝඩි අගමැතිට මේ කොටිවලිගය භාර දෙන්නට සිතන්නේ රනිල් හදිසියේම පුදුම අන්දමේ 13-A++ කැසිල්ලක් හැදී දඟලන නිසා ඒ මඟින් ගොඩ ඒමට පුළුවන් යයි සිතාගෙනය.

නීලන් තිරුචෙල්වම්ගේ පොන්ඩිචේරි පරණ කතාව

මේ වේලාවේ හොඳම ඊළම් තුරුම්පුව පොන්ඩිචේරි පොලිස් පොල්ල යයි පොන්නම්බලම් හැර අනිත් දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදීන් සිතයි. කොළඹින් චන්දය ඉල්ලන මනෝ ගනේෂන් පවා මේ වලිගය අල්ලාගෙන සිටින්නේ එය නියම පොලිස් නොව බොරු පොලිස් යයි දකුණේ සිංහල ජනයා රැවටේවිය කියා සිතාය. තැටිය රත්වූ වෙලාවේ රොටිය පුච්චා ගන්නට ගොස් මාදුළුවාවේ සෝභිත හිමියන් අකාලයේ පරලොව ගියා මෙන් මේ රට විපතට පත්වී සිටින අවස්ථාවේ විග්නේශ් හදන්නේ ඔහු විසින් රටට අළුත් විසඳුමක් හොයාගත්තා යයි මුදුනෙක් වීමටය. මෙම පොන්ඩිචේරි කතාව මීට කලින් නීලන් තිරුචෙල්වම් විසින් චන්ද්‍රිකාගේ නීලන්-GL පැකේජ් ඩීල් කාලයේදී  (1995-2000) නීලන් විසින් ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරණ ලද්දකි.

චන්ද්‍රිකා විසින් නීලන්, GL, ජයම්පති වික්‍රමරත්න යන අයවළුන් සමඟ රට කෑලි 12 කට පමණ කැබලි කරන්නට ගත්  උත්සාහය බකල්වූයේ ඊට පක්ෂව සිටි රනිල් අන්තිම මොහොතේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුල එම අළුත් ව්‍යවස්ථා කෙටුම්පත ගිනි තැබීම නිසාය. චන්ද්‍රිකා දිගටම අළුත් විධායක අගමැති ලෙස සිටීමට තීරණය කල නිසා එය තමන්ට නොලැබෙන බව දැනගත් විට රනිල් ඊට විරුද්ධවිය.

දැන් උපාසක බළලෙක් මෙන් හැසිරෙන G. L. පීරිස් ඒ කාලයේ (ව්‍යවස්ථා ඇමති) මේ union of regions කුමන්ත්‍රණයේ නායකයෙක් විය. මෙම ප්ලෑනේ අරමුණ වුයේ රට කැබලි කරණ ගමන්, උතුර හා නැඟෙනහිර තනිකර දෙමළ  යෝධ රීජන් එකක් සාදා දීමය. ඒ අවස්ථාවේ පොන්ඩිචේරි මොඩල් එකක් ගැන කතාවුනත් තම දෙමළ ප්‍රදේශයේ කාවුන් කාවා වැනි පොන්ඩිචේරි ඒකක බිහිවෙනවාට තිරුචෙල්වම් විරුද්ධවිය. මෙම කතාව පැහැදිළි කරමින් මා ලියූ ලිපියක් 2006 ඔක්තෝබර් 24 දින අයිලන්ඩ් පත්‍රයේ පලවිය. එහි මුල් පිටුවේ ඇති සිතියම්වල චායා කොපියක් මෙහි පහතින් ඇත.

රාවුෆ් හකිම් හා ආනන්ද සංගාරී

දෙමළ නිජබිමක් සඳහා නීලන්ට හා ආනන්ද සංගාරීට අවශ්‍යවුයේ ඉන්දියන් මොඩලය වුවත්, එම මොඩලයේම කොටසක් වන පොන්ඩිචේරි කොටසට ඔවුන් එකඟ වූයේ නැත. එහෙත් 2006 ඔක්තෝබර් මාසයේදී  මෙම පොන්ඩිචේරි මොඩල් කොටස ඉල්ලා සිටියේ මුස්ලිම් පක්ෂයේ රාවුෆ් හකීම් විසින්ය. මෙහි ඇති සිතියම (අංක 2) රතු තිත් වලින් පෙන්වන්නේ ඉන්දියාවේ ඇති පොන්ඩිචේරි ඒකක හතරය. ඒවා නම්, P-1 පොන්ඩිචෙරි නගරය, P-2 කරයිකාල්, P-3 යනම් හා P-4 මහේ යනුය. ඒවා තිබෙන්නේ ටැමිල්නාඩ්, කේරල හා ආන්ද්‍ර ප්‍රදේශ් යන ජනපදවලය.

සිතියම් අංක 3 ටැමිල්නාඩ් වල ඇති පොන්ඩිචේරි ප්‍රදේශයේ පැතිරීම පෙන්වයි. නීලන් තිරුචෙල්වම් කාවුන් කෑවා වැනි යයි කියන්නේ මෙවැනි භූමි ව්‍යප්තියකටය. හකීම්ගේ බලාපොරොත්තුව වූයේ නැඟෙනහිර පලාතේත්, බේරුවල, අකුරණ, පුත්තලම , මන්නාරම යන බිම් කොටසුත් සහිත පොන්ඩිචේරි මොඩලයක් වියයුතුය.

විග්නේශ්වරන්ගේ කූට උපාය

මෙම ඉතිහාස කතාව නොදන්නා පිරිසට විග්නේෂ් විසින් රිංග වන්නේ අමුතු විජ්ජාවකි. පොලිස් බලතල ලබාගැනීම ඔහුගේ අරමුණය. මේ සඳහා ඔහු කියන්නේ පොන්ඩිචෙරි ප්‍රදේශ හතරේ පොලිසිවලට දී තිබෙන්නේ බැටන් පොලු පමණක් බවය. මුළු ඉන්දියාව පුරාම අපි දකින්නේ පොලු වලින් මිනිසුන්ට තඩිබාන පොලිස්කාරයින්ය. එංගලන්තයේ ලන්ඩන් වල පවා පොලිසිය ඇවිදින්නේ තුවක්කු නැතිවය. කොමියුනිටි පොලිස් සංකල්පය හා පිස්තෝල අතර සම්න්බන්ධයක් නැත. එය පොලිස් නිලධාරියා හා ජනයා අතර ඇතිවන මානසික බැඳීමකි. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් යුද හමුදාව හා උතුරේ ජනතාව අතර ඇතිවූ බැඳීම පිස්තෝල ඇති-නැති කාරණය හා සම්බන්ධ නැත. කර්නල් රත්නප්‍රිය මාරුවී යන විට දෙමළ ජනයා වැළපුණේ ඔහු පිස්තෝලයක් නැතිව සිටියාද නැද්ද යනු සළකා බලා නොවේ.

ඉන්දියාවේ භාෂා අනුව ප්‍රාන්ත බෙදීම සමඟ පොන්ඩිචෙරි මොඩලයක්ද අවශ්‍ය වූයේ ඉන්දියාවේ තිබු ප්‍රංශ පාලන ප්‍රදේශ හා ඉංග්‍රීසි පාලන ප්‍රදේශ අතර තිබූ  වෙනස්කම් නිසාය. එහිදී අවශ්‍යවූයේ පරිපාලන ප්‍රශ්ණයකට විසඳුමක් දීමය.  ඒ මිසක් පොන්ඩිචෙරි ප්‍රදේශ වෙනම රටක්, ඊළමක් සඳහා නිජබිම් සටනක් ගෙන යන ඒකක නොවීය. ඉන්දියාව පෘතුගීසීන්ගෙන් බලෙන් ගෝව අල්ලාගත්තා වැනි ප්‍රශ්ණයක් ප්‍රංශ ප්‍රදේශවල නොවීය.

මේ නිසා මෙම පොන්ඩිචෙරි බැටන් පොලු කතාව දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදීන් විසින් උඩයවන අළුත්ම බැළුමක් පමණය. මනෝ ගනේෂ්ලා පවා බුරන්නේ මෙලෝ හසරක් නොදැන ඒ කාලයේ උතුරට ගොස් ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ පිහිනුම් තටාකයේ පීනලා කොළඹට ආවා මෙන්ය.

මෙවැනි ඔල්මාද කතා වෙනුවට ගතයුතු සරල විසඳුම් මොනවාද?

1. උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර  සේවයට  යන සිංහල පොලිස් නිලධාරීන්ට දෙමළ ඉගැන්වීම

2.පාසැල්වල සිංහල හා දෙමළ භාෂා ඉගැන්වීම අනිවාර්ය කිරීම

3. අරුන් සිද්ධාර්ථන් වැනි වෙල්ලාල නොවන කුලවලට සිදුවන පීඩනය ගැන  ක්‍රියාකරණ තරුණයින් ඉන්දියන් රෝ ඔත්තු සේවයෙන් බේරා ගෙන සමාජයේ යහපත සඳහා යොදා ගැනීම.

ඔහු දැනටමත් සිංහල-දෙමළ ඉගැන්වීමේ පන්ති ආරම්භකර ඇත.

4. මේ වනවිට යුද හමුදාව හා පොලිසිය වසී (දපණය?) කරගෙන ඉන්නා බ්‍රදර් චාල්ස් සිංහල පොලිස් නිලධාරීන්ට දෙමළ ඉගැන්වීමට තම හැකියාව යෙදවීම

5. යාපනේ ඉන්දියන් තානාපති කාර්යාලය යාපනේ ජනයාට හින්දි ඉගැන්වීමට ක්‍රියාකිරීම වෙනුවට ඊට කලින් යාපනේ සිංහල-දෙමළ ඉගැන්වීමේ ව්‍යපෘතියක් සඳහා මුදල් ආධාර සැපයීම.

6. පලාත් සභා මර උඟුල වෙනුවට ජන සභා සංකල්පය හරහා ජනතාව බලවත් කිරීම (empowerment of people not separatist politicians).

සෙනාලි වඩුගේ විසින් දීර්ග වශයෙන් පෙන්වා දී ඇති අයුරු ප්‍රභාකරන් දශක දෙකකටත් වඩා පොලිස් බලතල සහිතව සිටියේය. එහෙත් උතුරේ පහත්කුලවලයයි කියන ජනයාට මේ නිසා ලැබුණ සෙතක් නැති බව අරුන් සිද්ධාර්ථන් හෙවත් යාපනේ දෙමළ චේගුවේරා විසින් පෙන්වා දී ඇත.

බැටන් පොලු පොලිස් හෙවත් බොරු පොලිස් කතාවෙන් විග්නේශ්වරන්ලා බලාපොරොත්තු වන්නේ නියම පොලිස් වලට පාර කපා ගැනීමය. නියම පොලිස් සහිතව සිටින ඉන්දියාවේ ටැමිල්නාඩ් ප්‍රාන්තයේ පොලිස් කෙරුවාව ගැන මීට පෙර ලියූ ලිපියකින් උපුටා ගත් කරුණු, එසේ පොලිස් බලතල දීමේ භායනක කම ගැන, මීලඟ ලිපියෙන් වාර්තා කරමි.

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13 වන සංශොධනයේ පොලිස් බලතල: ඉන්‌දියාවෙන් අපූරු පාඩමක්!
Posted on November 7th, 2020

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම, LL.B., Ph.D.

LankaWeb – 13 වන සංශොධනයේ පොලිස් බලතල: ඉන්‌දියාවෙන් අපූරු පාඩමක්!

මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශය

පොලිස් නිලධාරීන් හා සිවිල් පුද්ගලයන් විසින් සිදු කරන ලද යහපත් ක්‍රියාවන් අගයමින් ඔවුනට ත්‍යාග හා ප්‍රශංසා පිරිනැමීම අද (31) දින මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය ටිරාන් අලස් මැතිතුමාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශයේදී පැවැත්විණි.

මෙහිදී අදහස් දක්වමින් මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය ටිරාන් අලස් මහතා, අල්ලස් නොගෙන රාජකාරිය අකුරටම ඉටු කරන මෙවැනි පොලිස් නිළධාරීන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොලිසියට ආදර්ශයක් බව ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවේදී මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය ටිරාන් අලස් මහතා සිවිල් පුරවැසියන් දෙදෙනාට ත්‍යාග මුදල් සහා ප්‍රශංසා පිරිනැමීය.තවද අපරාධ මැඩලීමට මහජනතාවගේ සහායෝගය ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොලිස් දෙපාර්තුමේන්තුව අඛණ්ඩව බලාපොරොත්තු වන බවද පැවසීය.

මහමග යතුරු පැදිවලින් පැමිණ වෙඩිතැබීම් සිද්ධීන් පිළිබඳව මාධ්‍යවේදියෙකු නැගූ ප්‍රශ්නයකට පිළිතුරු වශයෙන් ටිරාන් අලස් මහතා,පසුගිය කාලයේ විශේෂයෙන්  දකුණු පළාතේ දිනපතා මෙවැනි සිද්ධීන් වාර්තා වූ බවත් ගනු ලැබූ යම් ක්‍රියාමාර්ග නිසා අපරාධවල අඩුවක් වී ඇති බවත් මෙවැනි අපරාධ මැඩපැවැත්වීමට තවදුරටත් ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගෙන ඇති බවත් වැඩි විස්තර මාධ්‍ය හමුවේ ප්‍රකාශ කළ නොහැකි බවද පැවසීය.

ඇගයීමට ලක් වූ පොලිස් නිළධාරීන් දෙදෙනා සහ සිවිල් පුද්ගලයින් දෙදෙනා පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු පහත සඳහන් වේ.

2023.07.17 වන දින දොරටියාව පොලිස් ස්ථානයේ නිලධාරීන් දෙදෙනෙකු විසින් දඹුල්ල දෙස සිට කුරුණෑගල දෙසට සත්ව හිංසාව ඇති වන ආකාරයට ලොරි රථයකින් ගවයින් 10 දෙනෙකු ප්‍රවාහනය කරන ලද සැකකරුවන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගැනීමට යාමේදී ඔවුන් විසින් නිලධාරීන් වෙත ලබා දීමට උත්සාහ කල රු.100,000/= ක අල්ලස් මුදලක් ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කර නිසි පරිදි රාජකාරී ඉටු කිරීම 

01. පො.සැ.39301 ඩී.එම්.එස්.කේ. දිසානායක 

02. පො.සැ.72248 එල්.ඒ.අයි.ජී.එච්.ලියනආරච්චි 

2023.07.23 වන දින දිවුලපිටිය පොලිස් වසමේ කාන්තාවකගේ ගෙල බැඳි රන් මාලයක් කොල්ලකා යතුරුපැදියකින් පලා යමින් සිටි සැකකරුවෙකු, මෝටර් රථයකින් පැමිණි සිවිල් පුද්ගලයින් දෙදෙනෙකු විසින් යතුරුපැදියේ මග හරස්කර සැකකරු අල්ලා පොලිස් නිලධාරීන් වෙත භාර දීමට කටයුතු ක ිරීම. 

01. එච්.ඒ.දිලීප් සමන්කුමාර 

02. ආර්.ඒ.සීලර

 Lanka Lead News

Referring to the brouhaha over the video circulating on social media in which a popular singer Umara Sinhawansa was mispronouncing a key lyric whilst performing the National Anthem at the 2023 LPL opening ceremony, Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Minister Vidura Wickramanayake warned legal action against the incident.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, the Minister said, No one can distort the National Anthem of any country as it represents the county’s identity and culture. Therefore, such incidents where the National Anthem is distorted can’t be condoned. 

A national anthem can’t be remixed or performed as a rap music. Hence, the Ministry is contemplating taking action against the recent incident. In addition, we will also take steps to inform the relevant parties in this regard,” he said.    

There is a standard way of singing the National Anthem and the standard version is available on YouTube. With this trend, I am not surprised if the National Anthem is performed while being naked in the future,” the Minister added.

Popular singer, Umara Sinhawansa ruffled feathers on social media after mispronouncing a key lyric whilst singing the National Anthem at the 2023 LPL opening ceremony. 

In the video she is repeatedly heard singing the anthem as ‘Namo Namo Mahatha’ instead of ‘Namo Namo Matha’ thus sparking a controversy amongst netizens online, which has also resulted in the current trending hashtag Mahatha across all social media platforms. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Referring to the brouhaha over the video circulating on social media in which a popular singer Umara Sinhawansa was mispronouncing a key lyric whilst performing the National Anthem at the 2023 LPL opening ceremony, Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Minister Vidura Wickramanayake warned legal action against the incident.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, the Minister said, No one can distort the National Anthem of any country as it represents the county’s identity and culture. Therefore, such incidents where the National Anthem is distorted can’t be condoned. 

A national anthem can’t be remixed or performed as a rap music. Hence, the Ministry is contemplating taking action against the recent incident. In addition, we will also take steps to inform the relevant parties in this regard,” he said.    

There is a standard way of singing the National Anthem and the standard version is available on YouTube. With this trend, I am not surprised if the National Anthem is performed while being naked in the future,” the Minister added.

Popular singer, Umara Sinhawansa ruffled feathers on social media after mispronouncing a key lyric whilst singing the National Anthem at the 2023 LPL opening ceremony. 

In the video she is repeatedly heard singing the anthem as ‘Namo Namo Mahatha’ instead of ‘Namo Namo Matha’ thus sparking a controversy amongst netizens online, which has also resulted in the current trending hashtag Mahatha across all social media platforms. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s headline inflation, as measured by the change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI), has further decreased to 6.3% in July, compared to the previous month. 

The CCPI-based inflation was calculated as 12.0% for the month of June 2023.

According to the latest report issued by the Department of Census & Statistics (DCS), the inflation of Food Group dropped to -1.4% in July from 4.1% in June 2023.

The CCPI for all items for the month of July 2023 was 190.2 and it records a decrease of 2.1 index points that is -1.12 percentage change compared to the month of June 2023 on an expenditure value basis for which the index was 192.3. 

This represents a decrease of expenditure value by Rs 1973.38 in the Market Basket”.

The overall rate of inflation as measured by the CCPI on Y-on-Y basis is 6.396 in July 2023 and Y-on-Y inflation calculated for the month of June 2023 was 12.0%. 

The Y-on-Y inflation of Food Group decreased to -1.4% in July 2023 from 4.1% in June 2023 and the Y-on-Y inflation of Non Food Group decreased to 10.5% in July 2023 from 16.2% in June 2023.

The CCPI is an economic indicator constructed to measure inflation which is defined as percentage change in CCPI over the year. There are two measures of inflation in general use. One measure is Year on Year base or Point to Point inflation (The percentage change in the CPI during the last 12 months). The other measure is Moving Average Inflation (The percentage difference between the average Price Index of last 12 months & the average Price Index of previous 12 months).

Dr Sudath Gunasekara Secretary of former Prime MInister Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranayaka

To The Canadian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Eric Walsh

Yes Mr. High Commissioner, the whole world knows that there was large-scale genocide done by your ancestors of Europe during the period 1400 -1850, not only in Canada but all over the world in continents like NA, SA, and Australia where your ancestors have annihilated the natives and concord those lands in the process of those dark Western colonial invasions in world history and also committed large scale genocide in Islands like Sri Lanka and other Asian countries like India but failed to annihilate the natives completely due to their bravery and deeper civilizations.

However, I am thankful to you for honestly admitting the fact that your ancestors had committed genocide long before you try to preach to us not od repeat what your ancestors did. Also for your information, I must tell you that we Sinhala Buddhists of Sri Lanka had never committed genocide as you know it in known history, besides reconquering others’ land like your ancestors. It is true that our Kings have chased out all invaders from South India from the 2nd Century BC  upto 12th century Ad and all your barbaric colonial ancestors from 1505-1948 in defense of our motherland following the first duty of a ruler as laid down by Kautilya, that is Raksha. Of course, in the process, many people have died. But that is not genocide. Even in recent history, many have died when the LTTE Tamil terrorists waged a war against the democratically elected government in the country. But that is also not genocide as you people interpret and see it for political convenience at home in your own countries..   

Could you please read the following article in the Lankaweb before you try to advise us?

Also please remember that Sri Lanka is not Canada. We are two different countries with entirely two different Histories and two different cultures which are poles apart from yours.

Also, we shall be thankful to you people if you confine your duties to your jobs as Ambassadors representing your countries only in terms of the Geneva Convention without unnecessarily trying to meddle with our domestic affairs at least in the future. Also please remember that our civilizations are much older than yours. Hope you know that your Canadian dominion was founded only on July 1, 1867, whereas ours goes back at least to the 6th Century BC. As such I don’t think I need further elaborations, apart from saying the following article will be an eye opener not only to you but to all others with similar attitudes, including particularly to those like the Ambassadors of the USA, UK, and India to correct and control their mistakes both in their arrogant actions and their words at least in future.

Please note that I am addressing this note to you as a vocal diplomat on behalf of the entire Diplomatic community, as a duty-bound citizen of Mother Lanka as there is no politician who has the guts to say so. unfortunately.

Dr Atle Pearson

Every day, our mentality becomes more convoluted and twisted. We are all like exact copies of one another. toast with fruit mash. Put a lovely veil over the biting bitterness. It is the pinnacle of civilization’s crisis. It is incorporating morals. The venomous sting of this dualism is biting our society and state. Our values, ethics, and ideals are moving in the wrong direction. People from a variety of professions, besides politicians, social reformers, educators, writers, doctors, and cultural workers, are developing dualistic ethical standards.

Many actors had doubts about their sincerity. Many philosophers did not act upon the ideas they held. That inclination is shared by many scientists. With time, this pattern has become increasingly evident. We have reached the pinnacle of civilization. Our lifestyle has been lavish. Consumption has risen. Compared to abandonment, competition for adoption has increased. At all costs, we want nothing to give except what we can receive.

The double standard treatment is one of our biggest issues. I don’t act or speak as I would like to. I never again consider what I say or do. They are neither stupid nor cunning opportunists who shamelessly ignore my presence for their own convenience, but rather people who live in this dualism. This advantage comes in many forms. government, social, political, and financial. We have long been utilizing these advantages. doing still.

The rights of the individual are considered to be the most significant human rights in the eyes of Western supporters. Freedom of expression and the right to vote are frequently presented as the safeguards that protect the individual from the tyranny of the State.

Let’s say I pass a family of hungry street people clothed in rags and I ask them, “What do you need most?” What will they say in response? Everybody with a sense of logic understands that they will respond with, “We need a roof over our heads. We are covered with clothing. On the table is food. The phrase “We need political rights — freedom of speech and the right to choose our leader” won’t be used by them.

Advocates of Western human rights will rapidly lose sight of the value of the individual when faced with this conundrum. They will say, “This analogy is oversimplified.” Only by exercising collective political rights can a huge number of individuals effect social change.

Housing, clothing, and food can only be provided for the masses once their political rights have been secured. That or an equivalent phrase.

It is simple to show that this is also a fallacious argument. Millions of people live in vast cardboard slumdog shanty communities that surround many of India’s main cities. They don’t all have decent homes. They are hungry and many of them are clad in tatters. Since India is a Western-style democracy and these individuals have Western-style political rights, Western logic dictates that they must enjoy living in these circumstances. So, if they didn’t like living in this way, they could merely “vote for something else” with their votes.

A harsh truth lies beneath this thinking. Numerous issues are up for election, but prosperity is not one of them. Marking an X in a box won’t bring you wealth. Behind this fact, however, lies a far more sobering reality—one that is usually disregarded by Western proponents of liberty, democracy, and human rights. In the entire history of the world, there has never been a single instance of a developing nation that became a democracy in the Western tradition and then went on to experience prosperity and success.

For example, the US suddenly became aware that human rights were being abused in some developing countries like Bangladesh and that democracy was not operating as it should.

If the answer is no, and the US was fully aware that there were indeed violations occurring in this nation from the beginning, why did the US authorities choose to turn a blind eye and refrain from warning the Bangladeshi government earlier that continued disregard or violations of these rights would result in consequences? On the other side, the US could be charged with involvement if they were aware of these events and did nothing about them. The question of why this diplomatic snub suddenly arises is only natural. Is it truly intended to help Bangladesh achieve democracy and human rights, or is there another purpose at play?

Dr Atle Pearson is a Norwegian professor at South Asian Studies in the University of Toronto, Canada. This writer is a senior Norwegian analyst with experience in South Asian affairs research, diplomacy, and geopolitics.

Dilrook Kannangara

Provincial Councils are again in the news. These useless, money-guzzling and inefficient white elephants must be put to rest to reduce governance costs, corruption and bring Sri Lanka out of bankruptcy. However, India and Indian minorities want provincial councils to continue so that the island nation will be economically doomed forever.

Instead of one, Sri Lanka has 10 health ministers, education ministers, etc. That is 10 times the administrative cost of education, healthcare, etc. On top of that, it is 10 times corruption, waste and salaries for staff. Approvals have to go through an additional layer of governance which costs more money and time. Even if the 225 MPs are not corrupt, there is nothing to ensure the 450 provincial councilors shun corruption. Fair to say that corruption increased 10-fold since the introduction of provincial councils.

This partly explains why Sri Lanka had a real annual GDP growth rate of 4.49% before provincial councils (before 1988) and after provincial councils it fell to 4.34%. Over a number of years the impact of this drop is tremendous.

If India and Indian minorities in Sri Lanka want power devolution it can be achieved by devolving power to the northern province and eastern province. There is no requirement to create seven other provinces. The other seven provinces can be merged into one province. The current structure of 9 provinces divides the majority into 7 parts and weakens it.

Administrative costs, corruption and waste can be reduced by a third.

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

         අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය නරේන්ද්‍ර මෝදි හමු වී මෙරටේ ආර්ථික දේශපාලනික ව්‍යුහයට  ඉන්දීය මැදිහත් වීම තහවුරු කළ රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා ලංකාවට පැමිණි විගසම සිදු කරන ලද්දේ අනුරාධපුරයට ගොස් අටමස්ථාන නායක ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේලා මුණ ගැසී සංස්කෘතික සාකච්ඡාවකට මුල පිරීමයි.ඉන්දීය බලහත්කාරය ඔස්සේ බලය බෙදීම හරහා රට දෙකඩ වන තත්වයකට තල්ලු විය හැකි බව හොඳින්ම දැන දැන ගිවිසුම් කීපයක් අත්සන් කළ ජනපතිවරයාට වහාම මහා විහාරය මතක් වූ යේ ඇයි. මීට කලින් කුරුන්දි විහාර ප්‍රශ්ණය සහ ඉඩම් ප්‍රශ්ණය ඇද ගත් අවස්ථාවේ දීද මහා විහාරයට වඩා කුරුන්දි වෙහෙර  ඉඩම් ලොකුද යන්න ගැන විවාදයක් ඇති කල බව කවුරුත් දනී.එම කතාව මගින් කියැවෙන්නේ  මහා විහාර සීමාවේ පවතින ස්ථාන කැණීම් කොට සංරක්ෂණය කරනවා විනා  රටේ විවිධ ස්ථාන වල පවතින ‌ෙඑතිහාසික නටබුන් කැණීම් කොට සංරක්ෂණය කිරීම ට හදිසි නොවිය යුතු බවයි.

            මිහිඳු මහ රහතන් වහන්සේ මිස්සක පව්වට වැඩම කොට ලක් බුදු සසුන ස්ථාපිත කළ පසු දේවානම්පියතිස්ස රජතුමා අලි ඇතුන් ඈදා රන් නගුලින් අනුරාධපුර මහා  සීමාව ලකුණු කළ  හැටි මහා වංශ ගත ඉතිහාසයෙන් දැන ගත හැකිය.මහා වංශයේ දැක්වෙන පරිදි පණ්ඩුකාභය රජතුමා පැරණි අනුරාධ ගමෙහි වෙසෙමින් නව අනුරාධ නාගරය නිර්මාණය කර තිබේ. මේ නගරයට අදාල වැදගත් ස්ථාන විසි අටක් ගැන සඳහන් වේ. ඒ අතරින් අභය වැව ජය වැව කාලවේල දෙවොල චිත්‍රරාජ දෙවොල වාලමුඛී නිවස්නය නීච සූසානය සැඩොල් ගම් ආදිය ගැන වෙසෙසින් සඳහන් කරයි.පූර්ව අනුරාධපුර සමයේ පැරණි අනුරාධ ගම දැනට තිබෙන පස් තට්ටු වලින් යට අඩි ගණනාවක් ගැඹුරින් පිහිටා තිබූ බව ඇතුලු නුවර කැණීමෙන් සනාථ වී ඇත. අබි අනුරදිය යනුවෙන් සඳහන් වළන් කැබැල්ලක් හමු වීමෙන් පසු ස්ඵුට වූයේ බ්‍රාහ්මී අක්ෂර වල පරිණාමය මහින්දාගමනයට ප්‍රථම සිදු වූ බවයි.

        දෙවන පෑතිස් රජු   මිහිඳු මහ රහතන් වහන්සේගේ උපදෙස් පරිදි මහා සීමාව පිහිටුවාලූයේ පැරණි අනුරාධපුර නගරයේ පැරණි ස්ථානයන් අසු වන පරිද්දෙනි.මහා සීමාව කොලොම්හොයේ පහණ තොටින් ඇරඹී දක්ෂීණා වෘත්තව ගමන් ගෙන දක්ෂිණ ස්ථූපයට දකුණෙන් ගමන් කර විජයාරාමඋයන පසු කර අභය වැවේ බටහිර පැත්තේ වූ කොක්ගල අසළින් උතුරට හැරී මහා සූසානයට ඇතුළු වී තිබේ.ඉන්පසු  මහා සූසානය මැදින් ගමන් කර නැගෙනහිරට බරව ගොස්  පුර දොවොල් පසු කරමින් පසු බැස නැවත දකුණු දිශාමුඛව ගමන් කර ඇත. එහිදී හමු වන්නේ දිගු ගල් විල නොහොත් දීඝ පාෂාණයයි. මෙය වත්මන් බුලන් කුලම යයි මහාචාර්ය ඒ .ඇස් හොට්ටි ආරච්චි මහතා පවසයි. අනතුරුව කම්මාර දේවතාවගේ දොවොල් හමු වෙයි.ඉන්පසු නීච සූසානයයි. එයද පසු කළ කල්හි මස්තොටු පිරිවෙනයි.පසුව පරිභ්‍රාජකයන් සිටි තැන පියමන් කරමින් ගොස් කොලොම් නදියේ දී මහා සීමාව සම්පූර්ණ කර තිබේ.අනුරාධපුර මහා සීමාවේ එක් පර්ශවයක් තනිකරම කොළොම් නදියෙන් ආවරණය වන්නේය.

      දේවානම් පියතිස්ස රජු ගෙන් පසුව අනුරාධපුර නගරය බෞද්ධ කේන්ද්‍රස්ථානයක් වශයෙන් ක්‍රමානුකූලව ගොඩ නැන්වෙයි.රුවන් මැලි සෑය ජය ශ්‍රී මහා බෝධිය ථූපාරාමය ජේතවනය  මිරිසවැටිය ඉසුරු මුණිය ආදී වශයෙන් සංඝාරාම උපෝසථ ශාලා දන් ගෙවල් පිරිවෙන් භෛෂජ්ජ ශාලා රජ මාළීගා වැව් අමුණු තැනවේ.නමුත් මෙරට වාසීන් තුළ බෞද්ධ සංකල්ප බිහිවන්නේ මහින්දාගමනයටත් පෙර සිටය.

 මහා වංශයෙන් ඊට ලැබෙන ආලෝකය මද වුවද බුදුන් වහන්සේගේ ඥාති පරම්පරාව සමග තිබූ අඛණ්ඩ සම්බන්ධතාවය මත අනුරාධපුරයත් දිවයිනේ නැගෙනහිර පළාතත් සංවර්ධනය වූ බව පැහැදිලි කරගත හැකිය.අනුරාධපුර ශිෂ්ටාචාරය සතුරු ආක්‍රමණ හමුවේ බිඳ වැටීමෙන් පසුව සිංහල රාජධානිය ක්‍රමයෙන් පොලොන්නරුවටත් අනතුරුව දඹදෙණිය යාපහුව කුරුණෑගල ගම්පළ කොට්ටේ සීතාවක සහ මහනුවර වශයෙන් විතැන් වීම සිදු වෙයි. මෙහිදී මහා විහාර වාසී භික්ෂුන් වහන්සේලා සිය රැකවරණය උදෙසා රජුන් සමිපයේ ද දිඹුලාගල වැනි වනපත්‍ය ආරණ්‍ය වලද අච්ඡගිරි නොහොත් වලස්ගලද පැවැතුණු බව ශාසන ඉතිහාසය දක්වයි. අවසාන වශයෙන් සෙංකඩගල මහනුවර අස්ගිරියටත්  පුෂ්පාරමයටත් වර්ධනය වී වත්මන් මහා විහාරය නිර්මාණය වෙයි.

          රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ජනපතිවරයා මහා විහාරය පිළිබඳ පුරාවිද්‍යා අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල්වරියටත් මධ්‍යම සංස්කෘතික අරමුදලේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ වරයාටත් පාඩම් කියාදෙන තත්වයට වැටී තිබෙන බව පෙනේ. ජනපතිවරයාගේ ඉතිහාස කීයවීම තුළ ඔහු දෙමළ නිජබිම පිළිගනී. ඒ අනුව නොර්වේ ඇමරිකා මෙන්ම ඉන්දියාව සමගද අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම් අත්සන් කරයි. උතුර සහ නැගෙනහිරට ස්වයං පාලනයක් දීමටද ඉඩම් බලතල දේශපාලඥයන්ටද දීමට උත්සුක වන්නේ මේ මිථ්‍යා අදහස් වලින් ඔහු තරව බැඳී ඇති බැවිනි. මෙලෙසම ඔහු මහා විහාරය ගැන හිතලු මවාගෙන සිටින්නේ යැයි මට සිතේ.මහාවංශය, මහා සම්මත මනු වංශය, මහා විහාර ආදී වදන් වල මහා යන්නෙන් නැගෙන අදහස විවිධය.මහා වංශය යනු උභයකුල පාරිශුද්ධ සූර්යවංශ රාජ පරම්පරාවයි.  බුදුන් වහන්සේ ගේ ශ්‍රාවකයන් ගෙන් පැවතෙන භික්ෂුන් වහන්සේලාගෙන් මහා විහාර පරම්පරාව සමන්විත වේ. .අනුරාධපුර යුගයේ සිට අඛණ්ඩව මෙම පරම්පරාවන් සීතාවක යුගය දක්වා පැවත පැමිණ ඇත. නමුත් සතුරු ආක්‍රමණ හමුවේ ශාසනික පැවැත්ම අභියෝගයට ලක් වීමෙන් පසු උපසම්පදාවට භික්ෂූන් නොමැති විය. කීප වරක්ම උත්සාහ කොට සියම් දේශයට හසුන් පත් සමග දූතයන් පිටත් කර සියම් උපාලි හිමියන් මෙහි වඩම්මවා නැවත මහා විහාර පරම්පරාව ස්ථාපිත කර ඇත.

             රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා අනුරාධපුරයේ වැඩ සිටින මහා විහාර වංශික භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේලා අභීමුවේහිදී මහා විහාරය ලෝක පූජිත තැනක් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය කැණීම් සංරක්ෂණ කටයුතු යෝජනා කරයි.ඒ සඳහා පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයන් කොපමණ සිටින්නේ දැයි ප්‍රශ්න කරයි.මෙම ප්‍රශ්ණයට පිළිතුර  කල්තියා බුද්ධ ශාසන අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම් වරයාගෙන් ලැබ ගත හැකිව තිබුණි. නමුත් මාධ්‍ය ඉදිරියේ ඔහු එය ප්‍රකාශ කරනු ලබන්නේ වෙනත් අදහසක් ඇතිව යැයි සිතේ. ඒ අතර ලුම්බිණයේ කැණීම් වලින් මතු කරගත් දේ ගැනද දක්වයි. ඒ කැණීම් කරන ලද්දේ  රොබින් කණින්හැම් නම් පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයෙකි.ලංකාවේ පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තු නිළධාරීන් පැත්තකට දමා විදෙස් රටකින් පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයෙකු ගෙන්වා පර්යේෂණ කිරීම රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ජනපතිවරයාට නම්බුවකි.මහාචාර්ය ශිරාන් දැරණියගල ද එසේ කර ඇත.ඒ නිසා සමනල වැව යකඩ උදුන්ද අපට අහිමි විය.මෙවැනි විදෙස් විද්වතුන් පර්යේෂණයන් කරන විට ජාත්‍යන්තර න්‍යාය පත්‍රයක් ක්‍රියාත්මක වේ. මහාවිහාර සීමාවේ පවතින පැරණි පිරිවෙන්  යටින් මේ විදේශීය විද්වතාට කෝවිල් වල නටබුන්ද සොයා ගන්නට වුවමනාවක් ඇති වේ නම් එයද සිදු විය හැකිය.පොලොන්නරුවේ ශිව දේවාල පරිශ්‍රයේ පර්යේෂණ අගල් කීපයක් ඇති කලේ ඒ සඳහාය. නමුත් එහිදී බෞද්ධ පිළිමගෙයක නටබුන් මතු වූ බැවින් ඒ පර්යේෂණය නවතා දමා ඇතැයි කියති.මෙරට වර්තමාන ඉතිහාසය දෙමළ ඊලාම් ඉතිහාසයක් බවට පත් කිරීමට වලි කන පිරිසකට උඩගෙඩි දෙන ජනපතිවරයා මහා විහාරය ගැන කතා කරමින් උතුර සහ නැගෙනහිර පෙදෙස් වල බෞද්ධ නටබුන් සුන්නත්දූලි කිරීමට විදේශීය සමාගම් වලට අවසර දේ.

මේ වන විට ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ සාම්පූර් පෙදෙසේ අක්කර පන්සීයක භූමි කඩක සුළං බල ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ඇති කිරීමට අදානි සමාගමට අවසර දී ඇත. මොවුන් සුළං ජනන යන්ත්‍ර සවි කිරීමට යන තැන් අතර ගල්ලෙන් ආරාම සංකීර්ණ සහිත කඳු මුදුන්ද හමුවේ.පුරාවිද්‍යා හානි අගැයුම් වාර්තාවක්ද නොමැතිව මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතීන්ට අවසර දීමට උත්සාහ කරන අතර  ඉන්දියාවට ගොස් මෙවැනි ව්‍යාපෘති කීපයකට අවශ්‍ය ගිවිසුම් වලට අත්සන් තබා තිබේ.මහා විහාර භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේලා ගේ අවධානය අනුරාධපුරයේ තබා රට වටා තිබෙන ජාතික උරුමය ඩෝසර කිරීමට සහ ඉඩම් මංකොල්ලයට  පසුබිම සකසන නූතන නිදහස් ආර්ථික පිළිවෙත මගින් කියැවෙන්නේ බෞද්ධයනි නුඹලා වැඩි වශයෙන් දඹදිව වන්දනාවට පැමිණෙත්වා. නුඹලාගේ බෞද්ධ ස්මාරක කෝවිල් බවට පත් කර ඉන්දීය සංචාරකයන් ලංකාවට පැමිණෙන්නට මග සලසමි යන්නයි. ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ වැදගත්ම බෞද්ධ ස්මාරකය වන ගෝකණ්නය අද හින්දු කෝවිලකි. එම භූමිය තුළ ඉන්දීය සංචාරකයන්ට විශ්‍රාම ශාලාවක් සෑදීමට නැගෙනහිර ආණ්ඩුකාරවර සෙන්දිල් තොන්ඩමන් වලිකයි.ලංකාව ඉන්දියාවේ ආර්ථික දේශපාලනික ප්‍රාන්තයක් බවට පත් කිරීමට මෙම මෙහෙයුම ප්‍රමාණවත්ය.

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

Top Spin By Suni for LankaWeb

 It is sad and disgusting to watch our National Cricket Team get beaten to a pulp by a team of Pakistanis who are pretty good players nonetheless but not that powerful albeit with many new players who have beaten the Sri Lankans comprehensively on their own turf which is all the more distressing and somewhat unfathomable.

 The match was played on a familiar home ground the SSC. All  or most  members of the Sri Lanka national cricket team are familiar with the  quality of the SSC wicket, having over the years played innumerable  times during local tournaments before being picked to the national  squad.

 It is a temperamental wicket indeed which has a few early terrors but  eases off as the game progresses.You play out the first session with  the devil in it and the wicket plays perfectly thereafter favouring  the team that probably bowls first by all accounts as was the case  here but no excuse for the hosts to get bowled out for a paltry first  innings score and then get bundled out a second time in similar  fashion while allowing the Pakistanis to pile  up a huge total with  missed chances and lose by innings and over 200 runs which is truly a  pathetic display by a side with many brilliant players now hanging  their heads in shame and ruefully viewing the debacle of missed  chances, woeful batting and the humiliation of it all.

 Having won the toss the captain elected to bat first  followed by a  veritable disaster where players like Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis and  Dinesh Chandimal woefully fell to the Pakistani swing and spin attack,  We could not but recall the feats of Kumar Sangakkara. Mahela  Jayawardena, Arjuna Ranatunga, Marvan Atapattu, Hashan Tillakaratne,  Aravinda De Silva, Muttiah Muralidaran and Co. the payers of yore who  tamed attacks similar to the present Pakistanis and sent them packing  instead of which it was the Sri Lankans who were wrapped up and  bundled out before a disbelieving packed house of spectators>  It was probably a myth that  we the spectators  were not afraid or> disillusioned that such an event would ever take place on home turf  despite the eventuality and that our bowlers would be able to exploit  the conditions much better than the Pakistanis had done. Soon we would  expect  see a procession of Pakistani batsmen walk from the pavilion  to the center and back again to the pavilion! Really? Guess it was Vice Versa!!

 Instead, we witnessed the Pakistani batsmen treat our bowlers with  complete disdain. A rookie Pakistani batsman scored an unbeaten double  century, another a century, and two others, half-centuries. The  Pakistani skipper was so sure he could wrap up the series despite  threatening rain, that he did not even bother to declare the innings> closed until his fourth batsman reached his half-century.

 That really was rubbing it  in was it not ? one might ask

 An exasperated quote by a writer said “They played our bowlers with  such ease, one would have believed they were playing against, perhaps  one of our weaker school elevens. Our fielding did not help either.

 When we saw a bowler drop a catch off his own bowling, in our mind’s  eye we were taken back, to the fielding exploits of Muttiah  Muralitharan catching off his own bowling or the brilliance of a  Roshan Mahanama in any part of the field.

 We hung our heads in sadness for days gone by  Not too long ago at the ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of our  World Cup triumph- our World Cup-winning captain spoke of corruption  in cricket. He urged the then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, that  unless action was taken to address burning issues in the sport,  cricket would suffer further.

 Sadly, it appears we have kept our date with destiny.” end of quote

It may interest you to know that the issue of alleged corruption at  the highest level in cricket was  recently raised in Parliament.The  cricketing hierarchy days later, called a press conference to ‘clear’

 its name.

 However, the very next day the media reported that the Auditor General  himself speaking on Sri Lanka Cricket’s claimed its hands were clean,  saying the National Audit Office stood by its draft report on Sri  Lanka’s tour of Australia for the 2022 T-20 World Cup.Is this some  kind of joke or a cover up?

 Whatever the charges, there are also questions over selection to the  national team and why particular players of international repute fail  to find a selection to the national team.

 One such player who keeps failing to get selected to the national team  is one who had scored a test hundred on debut and has scored five more  half-centuries in nine tests, according to media reports.

 Could it be that not belonging to a particular cricket club or not having ‘the right connections’ plays an important role in the eyes of  national selectors? Or is it sheer favoritism,cronyism and jingoism or  could  it be all of these!!You make your pick!

 The alarming reality based on all the shortcomings of Sri Lanka  Cricket – the administrative body is that if alleged corruption and  the ungainly mess it is in presently are not referred to a more  capable body of administrators and cleaned up quickly through very  stringent corrective measures, Sri Lanka Cricket may be in danger of  a similar fate as some of our other sporting groups like Rugby and  Soccer who were suspended by International Governing Bodies and the  glory of Sri Lanka Cricket could sadly be a thing of the past.

 It would indeed be a sad case of Sri Lanka Cricket being in danger of  crumbling!!

MOD  Media Centre

• Turkish Defence Minister praises Sri Lanka’s role in cracking down of FETO terrorists 

State Minster of Defence Hon. Premitha Bandara Tennakoon said that Sri Lanka practices a zero tolerance for terrorism and acts of any nature that supports terrorist activities will be strictly dealt with. Minister Tennakoon made these remarks when he met the Turkish Defence Minister Yaser Guler during his visit to Turkey.

The Turkish Defence Minister highly admired Sri Lankan Government especially the intelligence agencies and the security forces for their contribution in cracking down on Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) led by Fetullah Gulen, elements in the island.

During the meeting State Minister Tennakoon and Minister Guler had fruitful discussions to further improve potential mutual bilateral assistance in multiple platforms and improve existing ties between both countries.

State Minister Tennakoon met his Turkish counterpart during the sidelines of the International Defence Exhibition. 

Sri Lanka Ambassador to Turkey, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy and Turkish defence officials were also present during the meeting.

Courtesy Teheran Times

TEHRAN – After years of unsuccessful diplomatic efforts, the Iranian government has decided to initiate legal proceedings against South Korea over Iran’s blocked assets in the East Asian nation. 

In a letter dated July 22, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi referred a government bill to the Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf for the purpose of observing the legal formalities. 

The bill, officially called the Referral of Dispute between the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Government of the Korean Republic for Arbitration,” was ratified by the cabinet of ministers on July 5, according to Tasnim. 

The financial dispute between Iran and South Korea dates back to 2018, when the United States unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and started slapping economic sanctions on Iran. Before 2018, South Korea had been the third-largest buyer of Iranian oil and the top customer of Iranian condensates. The oil trade between Tehran and Seoul resulted in the accumulation of some $7 billion in Iranian oil revenues in South Korean banks. 

With tensions between Tehran and Washington exacerbating, Seoul moved to block the Iranian funds for fear of falling afoul of U.S. sanctions on Iran.

The move irked Iran, which continued to demand that South Korea release the frozen funds. In a bid to get its funds, Iran held several rounds of talks with South Korea some of which were within the framework of the broader talks between Iran and the West.

In late May, officials from the United States and South Korea held talks over unfreezing Iranian funds held in South Korean banks, according to a South Korean daily. The talks were focused on releasing the $7 billion Iranian funds that have long been blocked in South Korean banks due to U.S. sanctions. Citing diplomatic and government sources, The Korea Economic Daily said at the time, Korean and U.S. government officials are involved in working-level discussions under Washington’s leadership to unfreeze the Iranian funds.”

The talks seem to have failed to yield concrete results, which led Oman to offer mediation in this regard. In June, Iranian lawmaker Shahriar Heidari, who is the deputy chairman of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said the Omani initiative struck a responsive chord with South Korea. 

With the apparent failure of the Omani initiative, Iran seems to have lost any hope of getting its funds through diplomatic channels. Therefore, the legal proceedings initiated by the Iranian government could be a departure from the diplomatic efforts.

Over the last few weeks, Oman has been actively involved in mediatory efforts between Iran and the U.S. to secure an unwritten agreement between the two sides. The kernel of the Omani initiative was for Iran and the U.S. to exchange prisoners and secure the release of the Iranian frozen funds in Iraq and South Korea. 

In late June and early July, Iran and the U.S. were on the cusp of making a deal on swapping prisoners in Oman. Iran was supposed to release three American prisoners. But the U.S. conditioned the deal on releasing a fourth prisoner, named Shahab Dalili, something that stymied the whole bargain.

Dr. Farhad Chowdhury 

More than 1.1 million Rohingya refugees are living in Bangladesh, and the UNHCR’s most recent news item, “Rohingya refugees face hunger and loss of hope after latest ration cuts,” raises questions regarding their nutritional status and food security.

At the beginning of the year 2023, the World Food Program (WFP) shockingly lowered the amount of ration per person twice in the course of just three months.

The WFP cut the value of monthly food vouchers from USD 12 to USD 10 per person in March and further reduced it to USD 8 per person in June 2023, highlighting the financing shortfall.

Therefore, a Rohingya refugee’s daily budget for food and nutrition must not exceed 27 cents. Even the UN was had to reduce food rations for Rohingya refugees by 17%, which made the already dire situation worse.

The WFP, on the other hand, is adamant that it needs an immediate USD 125 million to avoid further rationing.

Are 27 cents enough for a Rohingya? is a million-dollar question. Morjina, a 27-year-old mother of three young children who is a single parent, said, “I had to cut the size of my children’s meals, but for how long? My family does not have access to enough food, and I am truly unsure of our future. (UNHCR, July 19 2023)

Ironically, funders have already turned their focus to the crisis in Europe (Ukraine). They had previously issued a warning that 20 to 30 percent of financing will be cut in 2022, including funds for the UN.

We are aware that geopolitics affects how much money is distributed for aid by bilateral and international donors.

However, it is amazing how they came up with the idea of reducing the ration when you take into account all political and nonpolitical issues. Without food, it is possible to survive without shelter, clothing, or education, but it is difficult to battle hunger.

One might infer from their strategy that they lack the foresight to recognize the disastrous effects of their choice.

Rohingyas may resort to sex slavery, underage marriage, or the perilous boat passage to neighboring countries to feed their hunger, which may result in crime and gender-based violence. There is evidence that Rohingyas are considering joining armed organizations because they can earn Tk 5,000 per month.

The decision will ultimately worsen the current situation of being trapped. The Bangladeshi people will also suffer as a result of their geopolitical choice, in addition to the Rohingya refugees.

Nearly a million Rohingyas are already living in Bangladesh. Only to house the Rohingya, the nation sacrificed its environment and natural beauty, and Bangladesh’s motives were solely humanitarian.

The Rohingya population will be forced to engage in criminal activity as a result of the lower ration, which will negatively impact Cox’s Bazar residents in the area.

Local media reports that several Bangladeshis were slain by Rohingyas in the Cox’s Bazar region, and that this trend is likely to continue.

The moment has come for the international community to reconsider its approach to the Rohingya refugee catastrophe. They were not to blame for their destiny, nor was the crisis brought on by the Bangladeshi administration or the state itself. They shouldn’t have to suffer as a result of something they did not do.

The UN and the international community, who support human rights, ought to take the initiative to find a solution. Either they (the international community) provide sufficient financial contributions to support a sizable number of refugees in Bangladesh, or they take decisive action against Myanmar to put an immediate end to the issue.

It’s time to eliminate their prejudice against the West. Both Ukrainians and Rohingyas are human beings. Thus, on a humanitarian level, these crises should receive equal attention. We cannot kill one in order to feed the other.

In actuality, the media, particularly the international media, has a tremendous impact on raising money for the Rohingya refugees. For instance, the Washington Post’s lead item from March 15, 2023, “Aid dwindles for Rohingya refugees as money goes to Ukraine, other crises,” is important in gaining support for the Rohingya cause internationally.

As a result, the international community’s resource allocation to the Rohingya refugees is decreasing, and local, regional, and international media outlets must broadcast more articles on this.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Another strategy of the Tamil Separatist Movement when dealing with Buddhist ruins in North is to try and surround the Buddhist ruins with Tamil settlements, so that the archaeological reserve cannot expand, also access to the Buddhist monument can be controlled.

In order to do so, Tamil Separatist Movement has brought the residents living close to Kurundi, into the Kurundi issue. Sunday Times reported that attempts to survey the land had been blocked by the locals who alleged that their farming and residential lands were included in the proposed acquisition, they demanded immediate access to those lands. The locals had opposed any new surveys and protests were held demanding a stop to construction work at Kurundi, said Sunday Times.

There was no such action by the locals said Kurundi viharadhipathi Santhabodhi. The protests were artificial ones, conducted by the TNA. The local residents were sympathetic to Buddhism. They had given dane to the monks who had resided at Kurundi earlier. The officials of the Department of Archaeology working at Kurundi said the same thing. We have not had any opposition from those around, they said.

There is no farming going on around Kurundi and the land does not belong to them. The disputed area is pure forest reserve. Aerial views of the Nagacholai Forest   confirm this. There is no long history of cultivation by farmers in the disputed area, either. No evidence of cultivation at all,   said Santhabodhi.  

There are no paddy lands here, and people have not been farming here for hundreds of years.  The nearest village is 6 kms away.The ‘paddy land’ referring to is illegally cleared forest land .    No paddy cultivation was carried out there. Instead in 2020 we saw bulldozers parked there, he said.    

Despite this, it was reported that that the government was planning to distribute the land around Kurundi site to villagers.  Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said In the Kurundi Vihara temple issue, there is an opinion that the relevant archaeological area should be demarcated, and the area beyond it should be given for the people for normal use.

The media reported on March 24. 2023  that President Ranil Wickremasinghe had instructed officials from the Archaeology Department to release 229 acres in Thannimuruppu, Mullaitivu that the department had taken over from farmers of the area.

Udaya Gammanpila, when he visited Kurundi in June 2023, told the media that the government had apparently decided to distribute land belonging to the Kurundi vihara among the people living in the area.

Ven. Ellawala Medhananda had written to President saying that he had heard that the President had instructed that lands belonging to the Kurundi Vihara be transferred to the villagers.

 President’s Secretary, wrote to Ven Ellawala Medhananda on Jun 15.2023, saying that no decision had been made to transfer lands associated with Kurundi temple to others. Lands categorized as forests and wildlife zones prior to 1985 would continue to be protected. An investigation had been initiated concerning certain paddy lands surrounding Kurundi Vihara, and a report would be submitted to the District Secretary of Mullaitivu. The Director General of Archaeology had also been notified.

In July 2023, former Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Jagath Dias,   Brigadier Athula Hemachandra de Silva and Lt. Col. Anil Amarasekera have petitioned the Court of Appeal against the government’s decision to release state land around the historical Kurundi temple in Mullaitivu District.

The petitioners have sought to prevent the government from removing the boundary stones already planted by the Presidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province.

Declaring that over 300 acres has been now identified to be of archaeological value that needs excavation and gazetting under the provisions of the Antiquities Ordinance No. 09 of 1940, the petitioners alleged that a survey of the area was stopped by Vidura Wickramanayake last September following interference by separatist elements.

 Subsequently the then Director General of Archaeology, Prof. Anura Manatunga  resumed the survey and was proceeding according to a plan when President Ranil Wickremasinghe intervened  and a meeting was  held in the Presidential Secretariat on June 08, 2023.

Subsequent to that meeting, a directive has been issued to alienate land, surrounding the Kurundi temple, to cultivators, who were cultivating the surrounding lands, and to remove the existing boundary stones and to replace the stones after the identifying the archaeological sites.

The petitioners have submitted to Court of Appeal a letter, dated January 11, 2023, sent by the Secretary to the President to the Director General of the Archaeological Department, directing that he obtain the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers before declaring any site to be an archaeological site or monument.

The petitioners pointed out that the power to declare an archaeological site or monument is a power granted to the DG, Archaeology under section 33 of the Antiquities Ordinance No. 09 of 1940. Therefore, the directive issued by the Secretary to the President is an unlawful encroachment of the powers conferred by an Act of Parliament to the Director General of Archaeology. The case is pending.

The Department of Archaeology found in 2020 that the most number of Buddhist ruins in the Northern province were in Mullaitivu and Mannar. Both are coastal districts and the positioning is significant. Mannar has Mantota. Mullativu is on the eastern seaboard .

Tamil Separatist Movement is very concerned about Buddhist control of this coast, which directly faces the Bay of Bengal. They plan to strangle the Buddhist monasteries along the east coast. They plan to do this systematically, starting with Kurundi in Mullaitivu and Tiriyaya below. Mullaitivu to Tiriyaya is a two hour drive by car. The Tamil Separatist Movement is campaigning against the lands allocated to both Tiriyaya and Kurundi. They have complained about both to the President.

There is evidence that the Kurundi monastery is spread across more than 400 acres. Objections have been raised by the Tamil Separatist Movement to the size of Kurundi. Kurundi is clearly the leading monastery in Mullativu but it is not the only huge monastery in Mullativu. The Department of Archaeology found 44 huge (‘visala’) monasteries in Mullaitivu in their 2010 investigation. They found evidence of huge monasteries at Kokavil, Mutiankattikulam and Kurundi. There was evidence of huge monastic complexes at Kumbakarna malai, Janakapura and Komalamunai.

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

Tamil Separatist Movement says Tamils have been living in Mullaitivu for centuries and have historic rights in the area. That is not so. The British administration settled Tamils in Mullaitivu only in the mid- 19th century.”The 19th century saw the settlement of Tamils along the coastline in Mullativu, Trincomalee   and Batticaloa districts” said historian DGB de Silva.  

It is useful at this point to look at the population density in Mullaitivu today and see whether there is land hunger there. The total land area of the Mullativu District is 261,690 ha. Population was 98,000 at 2020.  Mullaitivu population density in 2021 was 37.45/km. Mullativu has the lowest population density in Sri Lanka. (continued)

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි

ආයුර්වේද සංශෝධනයේ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීරණය සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු හැන්සාඩ් වාර්තාවට ඇතුළත් කර ගන්නේ කෙසේද?
නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි පැහැදිලි කරයි…

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

උතුරේ සිටින අන්තවාදී පිරිස් විසින් මුලතිව් කුරුන්දි විහාරයෙන් තමන් වහන්සේව පන්නා දමා එහි අයිතිය ලබා ගැනීමට උත්සහ දරමින් සිටින බවට කුරුන්දි විහාරාධිපති උතුරු පළාතේ ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක පූජ්‍ය ගල්ගමුවේ ශාන්තබෝධි හිමියන් පවසති.

එම අන්තවාදී පිරිස් තමන් වහන්සේට නින්දා අපහාස සිදු කරමින් ජීවිත තර්ජන එල්ල කරමින් සිටින බවට ශාන්තබෝධී හිමියන් සඳහන් කරති.

සිංහල ජනතාව උතුරු පළාතේන් පන්නා දැමීමට අන්තවාදී දේශපාලකයන් විසින් මේ වන විට මෙහෙයුමක් දියත් කරමින් සිටින බවටද උන්වහන්සේ චෝදනා කරති.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena thanked Japan for continuous assistance to Sri Lanka and said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on JDS human resource development scholarship scheme is yet another landmark in bilateral cooperation.
The MoU was signed by Japanese Ambassador  Mizukoshi Hideaki, and the Secretary to Ministry of Finance, Mahinda Siriwardene in the presence of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and the visiting Foreign Minister of japan Yoshimasa Hayashi at the Temple Trees today.
The Prime Minister said the high level visit from Japan to Sri Lanka was very useful in order to explore potential projects on ports, airports, railways, renewable energy, maritime cooperation and mutual efforts to heighten private sector tie ups as important areas.
He discussed with Japanese Foreign Minister on the ongoing debt restructuring process, which is co-chaired by the Japanese government, and supported by India, France and other donor countries.
The Prime Minister recalling that the previous government made a mistake in suspending the proposed Light Rail Transit (LRT) project and urged Japan to have further discussion on resuming the project and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi agreed to consider to impotent it as a Private-Public-Partnership (PPP) project.
Under the MoU on JDS signed by the two countries, Japan will provide additional scholarships to Sri Lankan public servants, academics and scholars for higher studies in Japan. The programme will continue until 2025 and this year a sum of Rs 611 million has been allocated by Japan for these scholarships.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi was accompanied by a 22-member delegation that included Director General International Cooperation Kazuya Endo, Director General Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Yutaka Arima, Director, Southwest Asian Affairs, Taro Tstutsami, Senior Foreign Policy Coordinator Manabu Murakami, Principal Foreign Policy Coordinator, Manabu Murakami.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Taraka Balasuriya, MP Yadamini Gunawardena, Secretary to the Prime Minister, Anura Dissanayake Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs, Ranjith Ashoka were also present at this meeting.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

by A. Abdul Aziz

According to reports available from U.K. based International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) fanatic mullahs are planning to demolish minarets of Ahmadi Muslim Mosques in Jhelum, Pakistan, in a planned march this weekend. 

This comes after police destroyed the minarets of an Ahmadi Mosque in Kala Gujran, Jhelum District on the order of the extremist clerics. The radical clerics forced the police to destroy minarets, threatening repercussions if they did not. 

The demands of the group are: 

1. All the Minarets and the Mehrabs (prayer niche at the front of a Mosque) should be removed from the Ahmadiyya Places of Worship in district Jhelum. 

2. A Strict and complete ban should be imposed on the activities of the Qadianis and on the usage of Rituals of Islam by them. 

This is a continuance of decades-long persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan. 

This year, 10 Mosques have already been attacked by both vigilante mobs and authorities, including arson and desecration of minarets. Since 1984, their Mosques have been demolished, set on fire, forcibly occupied and sealed by authorities. 

This is the latest in a long line of violation of basic religious freedom enshrined in international human rights laws. 

Human rights groups have repeatedly expressed their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community.

Moreover, Graves of Ahmadi Muslims have once again been desecrated and vandalised in a malicious and senseless attack by vigilantes’ elements in Pakistan. 

The grievous attack took place on 16th July 2023 in Mehmoodabad, a town near Jhelum city. 

 Unknown assailants attacked the tombstones of two graves in a combine graveyard. The tombstones were smashed into pieces and splashed with black paint obscuring the writing on the tombstone. 

The graves belong to two senior elders of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. There was a protective boundary constructed around these graves, but even that was damaged. 

We once again urge the international community to pressure the Government of Pakistan to honor its responsibility to provide protection to all its citizens, ensure freedom of religious practice to Ahmadis, and bring perpetrators of such vicious attacks to justice.

Persecution against Ahmadis as of reports, almost daily incidents against the minority group. Graveyard vandalism has been a favoured tactic of the anti-Ahmadi element in Pakistan for years. This shameful tactic means Ahmadis are not free from persecution even after their death.

Moreover, we once again strongly urge the international community to impress upon the Government of Pakistan the need to discharge any absurd cases against Ahmadis and release all held in custody and thus honor its responsibility to provide effective protection and freedom of religious practice to Ahmadis, and ensure that perpetrators of such vicious actions should be brought to justice.

Media Centre – MOD

•        KDU strengthens its wings to cater upcoming higher educational needs

•        Opens fully-fledged Cadets’ Mess and accommodation facilities at Southern Campus

•        ‘KDU Journal of Built Environment’ and Industrial Magazine ‘QUALITY- for Sustainable Future’ launched

Work in progress to set up another KDU Wing at the Kurunagala District, Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne reiterated today (28 Jul).

This expansion will offer students of our nation an unparalleled opportunity to experience a world-class, time-bound, and disciplined education, coupled with guaranteed job opportunities”, he also said addressing a gathering at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University’s (KDU) Southern Campus in Sooriyawewa. 

Though the Southern Campus has a brief history of only eight years, its impact on our nation has been profound, General Gunaratne added while recalling his last visit to the venue.

He expressed these remarks during a ceremony organized to open the newly constructed Officer Cadets’ Mess, Male and Female Accommodation Complexes and the launching of a Research Journal and a Magazine at the Campus today.

The Chief Guest of the day, Gen. Gunaratne was received by the KDU Chancellor Gen. Shantha Kottegoda (Retd) together with Vice Chancellor Maj. Gen. Milinda Peiris upon his arrival at the venue and accompanied to witness the new amenities following respective opening ceremonies held at the auspicious time.

Emeritus Prof. Lalith De Silva conducted the Keynote Address for the launch of the ‘KDU Journal of Built Environment’ (KDU-J-BE) and Prof. Saman Yapa delivered the Keynote Speech for the launch of the Industrial Magazine ‘QUALITY- for Sustainable Future’ during the session. The e-versions of  the same were also launched afterward.

Defence Secretary during his speech appreciating the services of the KDU academic staff went on saying Your commitment to fostering a research culture and intellectual curiosity is truly commendable.”

As we continue to develop and nurture the minds of our youth through quality education, we also reaffirm our commitment to producing professional officers who will serve Sri Lanka with dedication and integrity he said These Officer Cadets will be the driving force behind our nation’s progress, contributing to a brighter and safer future for all”.

Urging students to seize this opportunity to expand their horizons, he remarked that Education is not merely a means to secure a job; it is a lifelong journey of growth and self-discovery”.

Navy Commander Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera, Army’s Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Sanjaya Wanasinghe, Ministry of Defence Additional Secretary (Defence) Dhammika Wijayasinghe, Additional Secretary (Parliamentary Affairs) Indika Wijegunawardena, Rector of the KDU Southern Campus Maj. Gen. Robin Jayasuriya, senior state and military officers, members of the KDU academic and administrative staffs and distinguished invitees were present at the occasion.

CHAPA on Geopolitics!

අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc (Col), PGDC(Col) නීතීඥ   – සමායෝජක, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන.

1. 1972 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව පළමු ස්වස්ථානික ව්‍යවස්ථාව එනම් පළමු ජනරජ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව වෙයි.

2. එහි 10.1 ව්‍යවස්ථාව මෙසේය.
10. (1) All written laws, including subordinate legislation in force immediately prior to the
commencement of the Constitution, shall be published
in the Gazette in Sinhala and in Tamil translation as
expeditiously as possible under the authority of the
Minister in charge of the subject of Justice.

3. ඒ අනුව 1972 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව පැනවීමට පෙර බලාත්මක වූ සියලු නීති සහ අනුනීති හැකිතාක් ඉක්මණින් සිංහල සහ දෙමළ භාෂාවෙන් ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ පළ කළ යුතු විය.

4. 1972 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවට ගෙන එනු ලැබූ 2වන සංශෝධනය වන 1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 24.3 ව්‍යවස්ථාවේද ඉහත 1972 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 10.1 ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ දක්වා ඇති විධිවිධානය කාලීනව දක්වා ඇත.

5. එය මෙසේය.
23. 4. All laws and subordinate legislation in force
immediately prior to the commencement of the Constitution, shall be published in the Gazette in the Sinhala and Tamil Language as expeditiously as possible.

6. ඒ අනුව 1946 සෝල්බරි ව්‍යවස්ථාවට පෙර පනවා ඇති ආඥාපනත්, සෝල්බරි ව්‍යවස්ථාව යටතේ පනවා ඇති පනත් 1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව ක්‍රියාත්මක වීමෙන් පසු සංශෝධනය කිරීමට යන අවස්ථාවල 23.4 ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඇති මව් ආඥාපනත – පනත/ මුල් ආඥාපනත – පනත සිංහල සහ දෙමළ භාෂාවෙන් ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ පළ කිරීම ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව අත්‍යවශ්‍ය කාර්යයක් වෙයි.

7. එසේ නොමැතිව 1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව ක්‍රියාත්මක වීමෙන් පසු සංශෝධනය කර ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනුකූලයැයි දක්වා ඇති සිංහල සහ දෙමළ භාෂාවෙන් ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ පළ කර නැති මව් ආඥාපනතට – පනතර/ මුල් ආඥාපනතට – පනතට කර ඇති සියලුම සංශෝධන 1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනනුකූල සංශෝධන වෙයි.

8. ඒ අනුව 1978 සිට මේ දක්වා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 23.4 අනුව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනනුකූල පනත් කෙටුම්පත් කීයක් නීතියක් බවට පත්වී තිබේද? යන්න ගණනය කිරීම රටේ නීතියේ පාලනය පිළිබඳව සහ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව ආරක්ෂා කොට අනුගමනය කිරීමේ යුතුකම පිළිබඳ තත්ත්වයකි.

http://neethiyalk.blogspot.com/2023/07/1978-234.html?m=1

අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc (Col), PGDC(Col) නීතීඥ   – සමායෝජක, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන. දුරකථන 0712063394

e-Con e-News

‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!”

e-Con e-News August 2023 Part 1

‘The shortest route to London from Paris is through Calcutta’

– Napoleon Bonaparte

India’s Defence Acquisition Council bought for its Navy: 26 more Rafale fighter jets & 3 more Scorpene submarines ‘worth 1000s of crores’, from France, just as Indian PM N Modi landed in Paris on July 13. The Indian Navy says it needs at least 18 submarines to carry out its ‘full spectrum of operations’. France is India’s 2^nd-largest arms supplier.

     Then the French President suddenly appears in Colombo, with a large contingent of bureaucratic foreign legionnaires. Not quite Napoleon invading Egypt in 1798 with an eye on England’s jambu in Sri Lanka and India. But then the Japan’s FM arrives, also with an ample retinue. India’s Tata Chair Natarajan Chandrasekaran had already arrived in Colombo to do some SoE shopping and left. The sky appears filled with a plague of fleas. (see ee Random Notes)

     Earlier this year, France started violently evicting Comoros people from Mayotte, whose strategic spread between Mozambique & Madagascar, blocks access to the Mozambique channel (ee April 2023 P2). When Comoros declared independence in 1974, France grabbed Mayotte from Comoros, and assassinated their socialist leader.

     So, instead of arresting French President E Macron who arrived in Sri Lanka after casing France’s colonized territories in the Indian & Pacific Oceans (isn’t colonialism illegal yet, Mr & Ms International Criminal Court? And you, Mr & Ms UN Human Rights Commission?), an obsequious media, clearly franchised by some francs (oops, euros) unanimously headlined his arrival: ‘historic’ – as if a colonized EU could protect us from their colonial master, the USA, and from a colonial-era Himalayan outpost!

     Macron was apparently fleeing sparked workers in France itself, after stealing their pensions. The so-called ‘riots’ are perhaps a fire wall (erected by those people who gave us the French word, agent-provocateur!). Maybe Macron passed on some advice to Sri Lanka’s President, who is also clawing at workers’ pensions. France has been assigned the role of ‘good cop’, as opposed to the USA’s bad cop, a role earlier played by Scandinavians (Norway) and other Arcticians (Canada), etc.

*

• The World Bank’s Country Director for Sri Lanka, with a fancy double-barrel name, got together with the Sri Lanka Press Institute at the Hilton Colombo (which is about to be sold off) to tell us that economic recovery is on its way. The World Bank is also providing $200million (is it cash or more expensive US goods?) to win friends, beat off enemies and buy off the rest, while cutting of any social safety net and smoothing the IMF’s way to their 17^th false panacea (see ee Economy, Cabinet Nod).

     ee also draws attention to the goings on at SLTelecom, which is yet to respond to reports of being bribed to abandon Asian plans for submarine internet cables. The World Bank has been put in charge of selling off this purportedly profitable national enterprise. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s new Data Protection Authority has put into operation by President Ranil Wickremesinghe as Minister of Technology.

     This ee Focus therefore continues our recall of the entry of the English & the USA into the Indian & Pacific oceans, through their lucrative trade in opium, and more interestingly, where the US chose to invest such loot (training workers, railways, telegraph, telecoms, etc). Therefore also providing a micro history of telegraphy and underwater cabling, linking Sri Lanka.

*

‘The IMF does not want to hear the word industrialization

within the walls of their IMF building’

– see ee Focus

• This ee, in response to the IMF ban, reproduces some of the very absorbing contributions at a recent Gamani Corea Foundation’s Innovators Forum on Industrial Development, with recently deposed Central Banker governor WD Lakshman, policy analyst Vagisha Gunasekera, former CEO of Ceylon Development Engineering Co Sunil Abhayawardhana, and Dhammika Fernando, chair of the Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association. Led by economists Bram and Howard Nicholas, the Forum dealt with the heights and lows of Sri Lanka’s industrial possibilities and policies most vital – if we do not wish to kneel before the IMF for an 18^th time… (see ee Focus)

     SBD de Silva, to whom this blog is dedicated, always called for a national conversation on the real meaning of industrialization – quite aware that the colonized media would never allow such a discussion.

     ee was therefore excited that the Forum sought to flesh out, what exactly industrialization is, and even better, examined the paths through the inevitable obstructions. The challenges in building real industry are indeed fearsome, yet all this could be overcome: For what is most lacking is not financing, etc. – as is usually trotted out along with a plethora of negatives, small market, etc. – but a lack of will!

     Even more, as pointed out by some participants, our permanent government (no, not politicians, but bureaucrats & related importer-exporters) has little idea about real industrialization and see the world like petty traders through just ‘money’ rather than ‘capital’…

     The most interesting revelations at the Forum are the IMF’s vicious opposition to modern industrialization in Sri Lanka, and how industrialized capitalist countries have always blocked industrial up-and-comers.

     The Forum focused on Export-Oriented Industrialization, of which ee has repeatedly been critical. External trade is dominated by imperialist nation-state promoted multinational corporations, and not just because the leading capitalist nation, the USA, and their EU poodles are weaponizing access to their markets. The Forum was however a clear beginning, and we hope that the Gamani Corea Foundation, etc, despite the glittering inducements available to economists who toe the IMF line, will with others, continue and widen this crucial conversation.

     There is clearly great need to do so. There is much confusion, not only because the powers that be have media machines that pump out heavy fog on the clearest of days…

අද කොළඹදී ආරම්භ වූ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රිමියර් ලීග් තරඟාවලියේ ආරම්භක උළෙලේ දී ජාතික ගීය ගායනා කළ ආකාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් සමාජ ජාලයන්හි දැඩි විවේචන එල්ල වෙමින් තිබේ.

උමාරා සිංහවංශ විසින් මෙම ගායනය සිදු කළ අතර එය ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතික ගීය මෙතෙක් ගායනා කළ ආකාරයට වෙනස් ආකාරයකින් ගැයීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් මෙම විවේචනයන් එල්ල වෙමින් ඇත.

ක්‍රිකට් ආයතනයටත්, තරගාවලිය සංවිධායකයන්ටත්, ගැයූ ගායිකාවටත් මේ ගැන චෝදනා එල්ලවෙමින් තිබේ.

https://fb.watch/m6x6JjVnPS/

By Kanishka Singharia Courtesy The Hindustan Times

The Chittoor district police issued a notice to Vigneshwari, instructing her to either leave the country before the visa’s expiration.

In yet another cross-border love story, a Sri Lankan woman travelled to India to marry her six-year-old Facebook friend, who hails from Andhra Pradesh. According to Hindustan Times’s sister publication, Live Hindustan, Shivakumari Vigneshwari, a 25-year-old woman from Sri Lanka, tied the knot with her Facebook friend, Laxman, 28, at a temple in V Kota on July 20.

The couple’s journey to matrimony began when they first connected on Facebook back in 2017. After years of online friendship, Vigneshwari, who arrived in India on a tourist visa, decided to travel to Andhra Pradesh on July 8 to meet Laxman in person.

Overwhelmed with joy, Laxman received her in Chennai and later brought her to his home. With the blessings of Laxman’s family, the couple solemnized their love in a beautiful ceremony.

The news of their marriage quickly went viral on social media, prompting authorities to take legal action against the couple. Acting in accordance with immigration regulations, the Chittoor district police issued a notice to Vigneshwari, instructing her to either leave the country before the visa’s expiration or apply for an extension. Vigneshwari’s tourist visa is set to expire on August 15.

Undeterred by the hurdles before her, Vigneshwari expressed her desire to remain in India permanently and live with her husband. Seeking Indian citizenship, she appealed to the Indian government for assistance in making her wish come true.

The district superintendent of police, Y Rishanth Reddy, shared that Vigneshwari had been informed about the procedure and criteria for obtaining Indian citizenship. He stated that she is likely to receive an extension on her visa based on her marriage to an Indian citizen.

In light of potential legal complexities that might arise in the future, the police offered some advice to the couple. They encouraged Shivakumari Vigneshwari and Laxman to formally register their marriage.

Courtesy The Daily Star

Japan  pressed bankrupt Sri Lanka on Saturday to expedite its debt restructuring, including with its biggest creditor China, to stabilise the island nation’s economy after an unprecedented crisis.

Tokyo’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi welcomed economic reforms under the auspices of an International Monetary Fund bailout but said Sri Lanka needed to pick up the pace in its negotiations with creditors.

“I conveyed my expectations for further progress in the debt restructuring process,” Hayashi told reporters after his one-day visit.

China holds about 52 per cent of Sri Lanka’s bilateral credit, with Japan and India the next biggest lenders.

All bilateral creditors except China have pledged to support a plan to delay repayments on loans.

Beijing has been reluctant to agree to a debt deferral and instead initially offered more loans to pay off older debt, a move unacceptable under IMF bailout rules.

China’s delay held up a $2.9 billion IMF bailout which was finally granted in March, almost a year after Colombo defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt.

Sri Lanka must secure agreement from all official creditors and a majority of private bondholders to draw down its second IMF instalment of $330 million in September.

Japanese foreign ministry spokeswoman Yukiko Okano told reporters that resolving Sri Lanka’s debt burden remained an urgent priority to unlock further funding for the island.

“For us now the important thing is this debt restructuring process will go as quickly as possible, as smoothly as possible,” Okano said.

She said Japan had been assured that all bilateral creditors will be offered “comparable treatment”.

There have been fears among Sri Lanka’s creditor nations that China may ask for more favourable terms, leaving others to carry a bigger share of the restructure’s burden.

Under Colombo’s proposal, bilateral lenders are spared a haircut on loans but will be asked to extend maturity by up to 15 years at an annual fixed interest rate of 1.5 per cent, with a nine-year moratorium on interest payments.

Okano added that Japan was concerned about China’s big infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka and elsewhere in the region as they did not meet international finance standards.

Unable to repay a huge loan taken from China in 2017 to build a deep sea port in southern Hambantota, Sri Lanka handed it over to a Chinese firm for $1.12 billion on a 99-year lease.

Sri Lanka ran out of cash to pay for even the most essential imports last year, leading to chronic shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

Then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who faced allegations of mismanagement, was forced to flee the country and resign in July 2022 after months of protests.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

As a large creditor to Sri Lanka, China is welcome to join the effort steered by Japan, India and France to help the island nation cope with its debt distress, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. She also called upon the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to speed up relief measures for countries facing debt vulnerabilities.

Terming multilateral development banks’ (MDBs) reforms and debt-relief measures for many stressed economies as the top two finance track priorities for India during its G-20 Presidency, Ms. Sitharaman said that a comprehensive, better and quicker approach is required to address the problem within the common framework of the IMF and World Bank, as well as outside” it.

I quote the ‘outside of it’ equally as much as within the framework, as we have the example of Sri Lanka, a middle-income country which got into distress because its earnings were limited to tourism and some other areas like export of tea… Sri Lanka required a quick redressal, although outside of the framework because they are a middle-income country,” she noted in a discussion at the India Japan Forum.

In Sri Lanka’s case, Japan, which holds the G-7 Presidency currently, quickly took the lead to address the distress, she pointed out. Japan came up, along with France and India, with a quick committee of creditors group, which started addressing the issue. And of course, it was an open forum, it wasn’t limited to just to the three countries, China is welcome to participate as one of the big creditors,” Ms. Sitharaman said.

Japan’s leadership in such cases with a constructive approach to address debt distress” has been well-received, the Minister said, adding that this is an indicator that the G-7 and G-20 together would come up with solutions to the problem.

While the MDBs are acting to alleviate debt distress, they need to be more nimble”, the Minister said, noting that we are looking at situations where countries are waiting for more than three or four years after the application seeking some redressal, to get the actual resolution of the issues”.(The Hindu)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Canadian High Commissioner Eric Walsh yesterday said that there was genocide in Canada and its now trying to bring about reconciliation with its indigenous people, and Sri Lanka also has potential for the same.

Sri Lanka can achieve much like Canada, which has presented itself as a bilingual nation both domestically and internationally. Canadian life is in bilingual nature with English and French and Tamil to some extent. This is how Canada has presented itself domestically and internationally. this is what we are focusing on when it comes to our relationship with Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka can also do it with its positive aspects and advantages,” Mr. Walsh told a media conference organized by the Canadian Tamil Congress to announce its assistance to
Sri Lanka.

Canada is trying to bring about reconciliation with its indigenous people. It has been acknowledged that there has been genocide in Canada. It is a long process and dif­ficult, ”he added.

Mr. Walsh praised the Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada stating that they have played a great contribution to the well-being of that nation. We have a large number of Canadian professionals such as doctors and others. There are also two Tamil origin Cabinet members in Canada, ” he said in this regard.

He said there were a number of Canadian organizations working in Sri Lanka undertaking many projects such as setting up a Thalassemia Centre in Kurunegala. He also praised the Canadian Tamil Congress, which has raised Rs 250 million through the recent project Canadian Tamil Walk.

Tamil Progressive Alliance and Member of Parliament Mano Ganesan said Canada has been a long-standing friend of Sri Lanka. He recalled that Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake had gained recognition as an international airport with Canadian assistance.it was Canada which assisted Sri Lanka to construct a 11,000 feet runway at the Katunayake Airport during the 1960s,” he said.(Yohan Perera)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister of Japan Hayashi Yoshimasa discussed several Japanese-funded projects such as the Light Rail Transit (LRT), the East Terminal, the Kandy Development Plan, Central Highway, and the expansion of the Bandaranaike International Airport.

Both parties expressed the importance of expediting the implementation of these projects, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

They delved into bilateral, regional, and global issues, emphasizing their shared commitment to maintaining the region as a peaceful and stable area. 

President Wickremesinghe also highlighted the investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s high-tech industries, envisioning a transformation from a labour market-oriented economy to one that caters to cutting-edge technological advancements. This strategic move is expected to present significant prospects for Japanese investors.

President Wickremesinghe expressed his gratitude to the Japanese Government for their support in the debt restructuring process and shared details of French President Emmanuel Macron’s offer, aiming to play a pivotal role in enhancing the common platform for debt restructuring and expediting the process.

Visiting Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, arrived in Sri Lanka on July 28 on a two-day official visit. During his stay, he will engage in discussions on bilateral relations with President Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, and his Sri Lankan counterpart, Minister Ali Sabry.

Courtesy Adaderana

State Minister of Higher Education, Suren Raghavan, says President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal to implement the 13th Amendment of the Constitution without police powers as a measure to foster national harmony may not be popular, but it is a forward-looking decision for the future of the country.

Additionally, Minister Raghavan, highlighted that this decision was taken despite the considerable risk involved, in order to pave the way for a new political journey anticipated by the young people who have been actively engaged in the ‘Aragalaya’.

He conveyed these perspectives while addressing a Press briefing themed ‘Collective Path to a Stable Country’ at the Presidential Media Centre (PMC) yesterday (July 28).

During his remarks, the state minister asserted that a national dialogue has once again emerged regarding the 13th Amendment of the Constitution. He clarified misconceptions about the current president’s approach to this matter, emphasizing that all former presidents have previously discussed the issue. He pointed out that the country is now transitioning into a post-war phase.

Raghavan made it clear that while he does not consider himself a participant in any on-going struggle, the essence of the struggle is evident. He stressed the significance of renewing the agreement between the citizens and the state, a sentiment echoed by the people of the country and the younger generation poised to shape its future. Emphasizing the state’s responsibility, he underscored the need to address the aspirations and social needs of all citizens in order to revitalize the nation.

At present, President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s actions may not be widely supported, as it is a known fact that elections are on the horizon. Typically, popular decisions are made during such times to garner public favour.” State Minister of Higher Education, Mr. Suren Raghavan, suggested that providing essential necessities like free bread, dal, gas, and electricity, or making promises to do so, could be a favourable approach during this period.

Despite the potential risks involved, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has shown boldness in initiating this discourse during his political tenure. It is evident that the President holds a deep belief in democracy and firmly believes that even if a decision is not popular, it must be the right thing to do. The President embarked on this task with the hope of resolving the issue without burdening future generations.

During a discussion with party leaders and opposition ministers in parliament, President Ranil Wickremesinghe raised the question of whether they support the 13th Constitutional Amendment. It was pointed out that this amendment has been a part of the constitution for several decades, and significant funds, around Rs. 300 billion per year, are allocated to the Northern Provincial Council alone. This has led to a crucial question regarding the meaningfulness of maintaining the provincial council at such a substantial financial cost.

Furthermore, the President made it clear that if the 13th Amendment is not accepted politically, Parliament should step in and take action to abolish it. The Tamil political elite also face internal disunity, with varying opinions and stances on the matter. Some members are abstaining from the discussion and refuse to accept any solution that does not involve federalism. On the other hand, when others request a solution, they do not actively work towards finding one. This lack of consensus and commitment from certain factions within the Tamil political elite poses a challenge to the nation’s progress on this issue.

In light of the situation, adopting a dialogical democracy appears to be the most suitable approach. The enforcement of the 13th Constitutional Amendment, as proposed, should not be further delayed. Moreover, some parties advocate for 13+, as discussed with Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, and given the prolonged postponement of provincial council elections for nearly seven years, resolving the underlying issues is essential before holding the election.

One critical matter raised is whether all the powers outlined in the 13th Constitutional Amendment will be granted. Specifically, there is an on-going discussion regarding the granting of police powers. While the amendment mentions police powers, it has not been implemented due to mutual suspicions. Hence, there is a pressing need for a constructive dialogue to establish a new consensus between the state and its citizens, particularly concerning the Tamil people.

‘As a former governor, I have observed that 95% of the Tamil-speaking population faces daily struggles for survival, encompassing essential aspects like access to clean drinking water, healthcare, education, transportation, security, and economic opportunities. It is imperative to address these challenges promptly’.

It is equally important not to exploit the existing differences among Tamil leaders for political gains. Instead, we must focus on genuine efforts to win the hearts of the Tamil people and foster a unified approach towards building a prosperous and inclusive future for all citizens.