Courtesy The Island

President Ranil Wickremesinghe actively engaged in a pivotal business round table on Sri Lanka’s Economic Revival & Opportunities for Japanese Enterprise,” where he presented the nation’s commitment to stabilizing and liberalizing the economy while actively inviting new foreign ventures.

The event, jointly organized by JETRO, Japan-Sri Lanka Business Co-Operation, and the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Japan, aimed to strengthen economic ties between the two nations.

During the round table, President Wickremesinghe fervently outlined the ongoing efforts undertaken by Sri Lanka to restore stability and openness to its economy, presenting an inviting climate for foreign investment. With a clear vision to attract Japanese enterprise, he discussed the various measures and reforms being implemented to create a conducive business environment for potential investors.

Recognizing Japan’s significance as a vital economic partner, President Wickremesinghe emphasized the mutual benefits that can be derived from increased collaboration between the two nations. Sri Lanka’s strategic location and skilled workforce were highlighted as key advantages, providing a gateway for Japanese companies to expand their operations in the region and leverage the country’s emerging economic opportunities.

As Sri Lanka continues its journey toward economic revival, President Wickremesinghe’s active participation in the round table, underscores the government’s unwavering commitment to attracting foreign investment and driving sustainable economic progress.

Lanka Lead News

නතාෂා එදිරිසිංහ නම් කාන්තාව බෞද්ධාගමටත්, සිදුහත් උපතටත් විශාල අපහාසයක් සිදු කර ඇති බව ප්‍රකාශ කරමින් අස්ගිරි මහා විහාර පාර්ශ්වයේ පුත්තලම මහා දිසාවේ ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක පූජ්‍ය මිගෙට්ටුවත්තේ සුමිත්ත හිමියන් විසින් පොලිස්පති චන්දන වික්‍රමරත්න මහතා වෙත පැමිණිල්ලක් කර තිබේ.

අදාළ පැමිණිල්ල මෙසේ ය.

Courtesy Adaderana

Stand-up comedian Nathasha Edirisooriya, who found herself in hot water over her remarks on religions which stirred much controversy in the country, has been arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

She was taken into custody at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake while trying to fly out of the country, according to the police.

The CID on Saturday received a complaint pertaining to a woman who had allegedly insulted religions including Buddhism, and Christianity during a stand-up comedy show recently held at a leading school in Colombo.

The stand-up comedian in question, identified as Nathasha Edirisooriya and the individual who had posted the relevant video online later publicly apologised for the statements made.

Despite their apology, however, several parties severely criticised the insults made during Nathasha’s segment, adding that she had used ‘derogatory’ language.

Thus, a complaint had been filed with the CID, calling for the arrest of the youth, citing that she had insulted Buddhism.

This scenario comes against the rather controversial backdrop of Pastor Jerome’s recent statements during a sermon he had delivered, which was also accused of insulting Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.

by Professor Sunil J.  Wimalawansa

Consequences of IMF loans:

Under IMF-imposed policies, Sri Lanka has witnessed the dramatic deterioration of many local industries.  Sri Lanka had sold off its profitable public sector enterprises such as the Tire Corporation, Sugar Corporation, Milk-food Corporation, Air Lanka (which used to be Sri Lanka’s national airline), Ceylon Transport Board, and textile factories at Tulhiriya and Veyangoda.  Due to multiple reasons, the partnership of Air Lanka, Sri Lanka’s national airline with Emirates, miserably failed.  It did not economically affect Emirates, but Sri Lankan airline went down the drain—our assets.

It has been reported that these state-owned enterprises were sold to the local and foreign private sectors for a fraction of their value based on commissions earned.  Subsequently, in many cases, local and foreign owners have sold these valuable assets at large profits, made money, and left the country, leaving behind unpaid loans, wages and bills, and abandoned factories.  So, who did that to Sri Lanka?  Sri Lanka has also seen unreasonable price increases under privatisation.  For example, telephone charges, cooking gas, and gasoline (petrol) prices have increased by over 200-1,000%.  With the inability to service current loans, if other loans are taken, it will make the conditions much worse.

There is some rationale for selling those highly subsidised state-owned enterprises that lose money.  However, selling profitable assets such as the national airline, electricity board, telecom, petroleum corporation, etc., is another scandal.  While people can argue lending from the IMF and World Bank to developing countries further increases the debt burden, curtailing self-sufficiency and making developing countries even poorer in the long run.  It also makes it difficult to sell goods produced in developing countries to the industrialised countries.  

Unfortunately, these policies have resulted in increased debt, decreased local production, increased prices, higher inflation, increased unemployment, and a reduction in the value of the local currency.  It is time to break away from this vicious cycle of stagnation and mounting international debt.  However, open economies propagated by the World Bank and IMF—the West had benefited a handful of countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Ireland. Still, many developing countries have been unable to escape poverty. 

Conversely, a closed economy such as North Korea and Russia are apparent self-inflicted disasters.  However, most developing countries, including Sri Lanka, fall in between and continue to have problems lifting their heads above water.  Sri Lanka must develop methods to attract FDIC and have plans to pay off and get rid of loans speedily.  If opted to seek more loans (with the goal of more pilferage of funds) to pay off existing loans, or in the disguise of projects, it will further increase the debt burden, accumulation of interest payments, pushing to selling of our national assets—classic loan trap (i.e., stupidity).

Fundamental errors made by the Sri Lankan government

The government made several critical policy errors over the past three decades.  One such was abolishing grass-roots-based organisations, such as the Paddy Marketing Board, CWE, Marketing Department, etc., that helped millions of ordinary people.  It eliminated the opportunities for farmers to sell their products at a reasonable price and provided a formal opportunity for private businesspersons to exploit farmers.  These have resulted in further reductions in local production, increased consumer prices, and increased cheap imports.  Due to the pressure from intermediaries and traders (primary beneficiaries), and failure to sell their products at a reasonable price (manipulated by corrupt officials), many farmers have committed suicide over the past few years, adding insult to injury.  Does anyone take responsibility?

 Government must curtail corruption and break up of mentioned monopolies to minimize vicious cycles to protect its citizens.  For example, re-establishing the village-based cooperative organizations and cultivation officer positions that empower local people, enhancing their production (local selling-purchasing-bartering system, which also minimises transportation costs), and improving the supply chain and farmers’ income and living standards.  Bringing farmers out of the poverty trap needs a fool-proof economic revival system.

Adopting outward-looking policies

Without economic success, Sri Lanka will not be able to maintain peace, harmony, unity, and prosperity, or for that matter, national security.  Irrespective of political interferences -settlements, an improved economy will resolve many inherent social unrest and political stability and enhance the economic and social advancement of the country.  Social unrest, however, will disappear once the economy improves and people are not starving.  On the other hand, continuing loan traps, devaluation of rupees, and monetization add to inflation, increase the cost of living, and enhance poverty and misery for most Sri Lankans.

The above-mentioned is another reason the government must focus on sustainable macroeconomic improvements.  The government is not an employment agency for parliamentarians and ministers or a loan agency.  Instead, it must implement beneficial laws to facilitate growth and eliminate unnecessary and outdated regulations.  However, increasing subsidies is not the right approach, which would further increase the local debt burden.  A correct and balanced approach will help individuals and the business community prosper.  An improved economy and job opportunities created by the industries lead to increased governmental revenue, allowing paying off existing loans along the supply chain economics.  Such collective actions will lead to fair and sustainable economic and social advancement.

Compared to the rapidly developing neighbouring countries, the profit margins in most Sri Lankan export industries are small.  Rather than increasing the price of products, which will eventually phase one out of the market, firms should consider decreasing the cost of goods and production costs.  A significant reduction of overall production costs is achievable through reducing the cost of raw material, supply chain and process improvements, and minimising or eliminating non-value chains. 

Prioritising key areas, especially in manufacturing and development, is necessary before moving into less demanding or essential places.  In contrast to China and India, the market within Sri Lanka is petite.  Therefore, the strategic focus should be to produce high-quality goods, mainly branded products, for export to Asia and other foreign markets.

A broader macro-economic vision, incentives for local production (e.g., increase local availability of fertiliser at affordable cost, improve food storage facilities and transportation), and tax holidays to start new businesses and attract foreign investments are also necessary for economic growth.  This is precisely what Ireland successfully did a few years ago with their supply-side policies.  They became the Celtic tiger” quickly because substantial tax cuts for foreign investments led to a massive influx of foreign direct investment.

Although tax cuts stimulate growth (as illustrated in supply chain economics), they must be done cautiously and strategically: not for political reasons, to favour cronies, or to attract votes before an election.  Haphazard major tax cuts will likely increase budget deficits, inflation, job losses, and defaulting loan-interest payments. The above example illustrates the importance of FDIC in developing a country, rather than dependence on international loans that worsen the situation (supply chain economics—Regonomics).  Political uncertainty, weakening and/or unstable local currency, failure to develop infrastructure, outdated laws, and education system, destruction of forestry and the environment (social injustice), and ongoing corruption discourage foreign countries and firms from investing in Sri Lanka. 

Most of these problems can be dealt with relatively quickly with honest/ transparent, forward-looking governance and dedicated strong leadership willing to take bold, candid steps, including extraordinary measures.  Therefore, FDIC will go hand in hand with the honesty of government transparency and less legislative restriction, a lack of which has been a root problem in Sri Lanka and other developing countries.

One should also remember that foreign investors are not interested in developing Sri Lanka or any developing country.  Their sole interest is profits.  Business enterprises and investors will move in to take advantage of tax breaks, cheap labour, perhaps weaker labour laws, and ineffective environmental protection laws (see Truth of Capitalism).  But the government should harness its strength and efficiency to capitalize on these medium-term investments to tie into Sri Lanka’s long-term development plan while proactively minimizing potentially harmful influences and the need for loans.

Effects of globalization

With globalization and the expansion of tourism (especially the lower economic end), adverse social and foreign influences, such as illegal drugs and abusing children, are likely.  Over the past decades, these have increased in the southern coastal region of Sri Lanka.  These were associated with expanding uncontrolled adult entertainment, sexually transmitted diseases, drug abuse, alcoholism, misleading advertisements, unethical or culturally unacceptable programs, gambling, illegal activities, fraudulent businesses, alienating habits and distorting Hela history and Buddhism. 

Inefficient regulatory oversight, irresponsible mass media, and the lack of control of material published continue to harm innocent minds and psyches of children and youth.  These have led to dramatic negative changes in attitudes and mentality of some sectors in Sri Lanka.  The editorial staff of the national news media has direct responsibility to curtail such misinformation, prevent dissemination of harmful information, and safeguard the younger generation, who are the country’s future.  What warrants is not government censorship but self-censorship by the media? 

Despite the above, if these are getting out of control, the government should introduce legislation specifying the contents of all television channels and other mass media—a statute on the truth of advertising.  In addition, an introduction of a mandatory period for educational and patriotic programs on television, a limit on the duration and content of advertising, and elimination of untruthful advertising and false propaganda would be helpful to curtail s negative influences.  It might become necessary to enforce legislation with significant monetary damages and provisions to revoke media licenses if they repeat offences, but n must protect from political abuse.

For the past two decades, with the semi-Westernization of cities and suburban regions, there has been a significant increase in the sex-trade and adult entertainment, abuse of women and children, illegal drugs and alcoholism, expansion of casinos and gambling facilities, and other forms of underworld activities.  In addition, violence has seriously impacted the youth across the country, some of which politicians patronise.  In parallel, divorces, underage marriages, spousal and child abuse, illegal abortions, drug addiction, and other sins have also become commonplace.  If this trend and unsafe environment continue, would foreign investors continue to invest in Sri Lanka?  Such was seldom heard of in Sri Lanka four decades ago.  Why now?

Understandably, some of these are known as adverse outcomes of globalization.  The government is responsible for curtailing this vicious cycle of negative social and economic disruption and its repercussions.  These weaknesses led to the deterioration of the health of the country’s workforce with increased absenteeism and sickness, imposed an extra burden on healthcare and industry output, and caused an impact on the national security and economy.

What should be done?

Sri Lankan should not depend on loans or handouts to develop the economy: instead, it needs to expand the FDIC and endogenous development and associated exports to strengthen foreign reserves.  Following the tsunami disaster, the government of Sri Lanka had the golden opportunity to appeal to the West for debt cancellation or favourable restructuring of its existing loans (debt forgiveness or moratorium); but it failed to take this opportunity.

Instead of obtaining further loans, the government should negotiate to decrease or eliminate trade barriers, acquire favourable export status, and get preferential market access in industrialized countries.  Even though these may not immediately impact debt relief, the gains from the increased trade to Sri Lanka would substantially reduce the trade gap and facilitate a sustainable economy in the long run.  The government’s approach of dependence, begging for loans, and handouts is not the right approach for Sri Lanka.

The state must provide honest governance, a ‘safe capital’ environment, enforceable contracts, honour intellectual property rights, and incentivize foreign companies to invest in Sri Lanka.  It must market its new economic policies honestly to the world.  In contrast, selling a country and its assets is like selling soap or salt—one in water ends up with nothing.  All politicians, especially the President, Finance Minister, and Central Bank governors, must proactively engage to provide wide international publicity for the country’s new economic plan and incentives to attract FDIC.  The efforts have been haphazard and unconvincing to date, including from the Bureau of Investment (BOI).

To attract business, the government should offer incentives, like Ms. Ruth Richardson, the former Finance Minister of New Zealand, successfully did on her every visit to a foreign country.  We need to learn from these examples and act appropriately.  Every Sri Lankan politician or diplomat on each foreign trip must make at least one favourable trade deal for the country; otherwise, they should not be allowed to engage in similar travel in the future, representing Sri Lanka.  Does this happen now?  Instead, most foreign travels by ministers using taxpayer funds have become personal/family trade trips, including for prime ministers.

The BOI is the government organization that should champion foreign investments in Sri Lanka.  The BOI authorizes tax benefits—tax holidays, easing imports and exports, and allocating land to foreign investors in Sri Lanka.  However, the negative attitude of the leaders of this organization is hampering progress.  To achieve significant improvement, the BOI needs to have transparent leadership dedicated to the cause without taking bribery and commissions. 

Buercrtic delays should be eliminated

Politicians and senior bureaucrats in Sri Lanka have not been adhering to ethics and the fundamentals of a booming economy.  They have not come to grips with what needs to be done to develop and strengthen the economy.  To minimize social unrest, unethical and forceful religious conversions by I-NGOs and disparaging the main religions in Sri Lanka must be stopped.  Legal measures should be introduced with punitive punishments to prevent exploiting the innocent, children, women, and the poor.  Government must avoid the destruction of the rural economic base and cultural heritage, environmental destruction and deforestation, and converting our cities and urban communities into slums.

Flooding the local market with poor quality, cheap gimmickry imports from China and Taiwan, and food from India will hinder the local production of goods. Failure to curtail these would prevent local farmers from selling their products competitively.  Given their already low margins, local farmers and producers risk their enterprises and will likely go out of business.  Therefore, unwanted and unauthorized imports need to be restricted: if they arrive, either these should be returned or released slowly and systematically to minimise the harm to the local market.

In addition to Western markets, Sri Lanka should make tight alliances with emerging new economies in the Asian region, including India and China.  It is likely that within the next two to three decades, global power and capital markets will shift from the West (i.e., USA and Europe) to Asia, and US dollars may not remain the globally dominant currency.  Asian developments have begun to threaten the Western world, which has controlled global affairs and the world’s economy for two centuries.  This new Asian economic power block should open their markets, especially for developing countries helping each other.  Sri Lanka must be at the forefront of this new economic revolution and embrace the comparative advantages of these newly emerging economic opportunities.

Part six encompasses overcoming the stagnant GDP— reforming subsidies, energy, and taxes.  

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Premadasa set up the Koggala Free Trade Zone.The National Housing Development Authority, Urban Development Authority, Central Environmental Authority and the Institute for Construction Training and Development,  (ICTAD).  He started the Housing Development Finance Corporation in 1984.(Daily News./2023/05/01).  This later became HDFC Bank .

Premadasa  secured British funding for the construction of the Victoria Dam.    Premadasa set up Sevana fund which started as a fund to help build a new house for a poor family in Wellawaya. There arose the Sevana Lottery.He managed to secure support for Sevana Sarana Foster parents scheme when he was abroad, added Bradman Weerakoon. Premadasa role in these projects is  forgotten today.

In 1978, R. Premadasa, who was then the Minister of Local Government, ordered recruitment of GCE A.L. qualified youth as Health Wardens (at present called Health Instructors) to mainly uplift the public health of the people, living in marginalized lands in Colombo, said Pradeep Kariyawasam

150 Health Wardens were recruited and their task was to organize the communities and form Community Development societies, create children’s societies, improve hygiene practices and sanitation, provide basic amenities, look into the nutritional aspects and train the women in preparing nutritious, safe but cheaper food items, etc.

 During my period as the Colombo MOH, they helped me to control cholera and dengue and chikungunya epidemics, and eradicate polio from the city. They were the link to the poorer marginalized people in the flats and slums, continued Pradeep.

This service was only available at the Colombo Municipal Council and it suffered once the CMC came under provincial rule. Provincial Council said recruitment should be done by the CMC and CMC said it should be done by the PC. During the last 40 years, officers were recruited only twice, and with the retirement of officers, their numbers dwindled to around 25.

 Knowing the value of this service, I got the cadre increased to 185 before I left the service of the CMC, but on my return to the CMC, as a Councilor, to my utter dismay, I found that the cadre has been reduced to 75,said Pradeep Kariyawasam in 2020.

In 1990, Mrs. Moir was requested by President Premadasa to run a multimedia English language programme on television and radio to give the rural people an equal opportunity to learn the English language. She invited Barbara Goldsmith, a former Head of BBC English, to work with her. This team bought the hugely successful English language programme ‘Follow Me’ from the BBC and used this with introductions in Sinhala and Tamil on the state radio and television at prime time..

 They   had 80 language centers across the country from Jaffna in the North to Matara in the South, and held written and spoken English examinations set by the University of Warwick.The cost of sitting the exam was only Rs 100. Several teachers were sent abroad for training for Follow Me programme under Moir’s watchful eye. Almost all who got the Follow me certificate from Warwick, were able to get good jobs.

Follow me programme became so popular that the Department of Education found that more students were sitting for Follow Me than for their exams. It was a huge success. Premadasa was very satisfied, said Goolbhai Gunasekera. Truly what a president we lost when Mr. Premadasa was assassinated, she concluded.

Premadasa built the cricket stadium on Khettarama Road, Maligawatta, Colombo .It was built on swamp land previously used by monks ferrying across to the Khettarama temple. It is the largest stadium in Sri Lanka with a capacity of 35,000 spectators. It was Opened on 2 February 1986 with a match between a Sri Lanka ‘B’ side and an England ‘B’ team, and is today one of the main venues where the Sri Lankan cricket team play, having hosted more than 100 one day international matches.

Premadasa resuscitated the Tower Hall Foundation for drama and music, and rescued the old and now feeble artists who had performed there in the 1920s. He brought them on to the stage where they belted out songs. His father had loved Tower hall plays. Premadasa initiated a pension scheme for the senior Tower Hall artistes.

Jinadasa Vijayatunga who wrote Grass for my feet” was specially flown down from England in 1989 on the invitation of President Premadasa. He moved to his new home in Nugegoda that had been set up for him by President Premadasa – with two attendants to look after him since he had a heart ailment.Vijayatunga was to live in his new house for only a few weeks he passed away and was cremated at the General Cemetery, Kanatte, after which his ashes were interred in his beloved village of Urala where the grass had caressed his feet in his childhood. ( CONTINUED)

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලකසිරි උණවටුන

1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයට මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණ බල කිහිපයක් ලබා දී ඇත.

1972 ව්‍යවස්ථා සම්පාදකයන් විසින් ලබා නොදුන් මූලික අයිතිවාසිකම් මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණ බලය 1978 ව්‍යවස්ථා සම්පාදකයන් විසින් 1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයට ලබා දෙන ලදී. මේ මුල් අවස්ථා මූලික අයිතිවාසිකම් අධිකරණ බලය බලවතුන් විසින්  ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන් ක්‍රියාත්මක කර ගත්තේය.

මේ සඳහා කාර්ය පටිපාටියක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසින් හැදුවේ නැත.අපාරධ නඩු විධාන සංග්‍රහය, සිවිල් නඩු විධාන සංග්‍රහය වැනි කාර්ය පටිපාටි නීති, සහ සාක්ෂි ආඥා පනත වැනි නීති අදාල වන්නේ පහළ අධිකරණ වල මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණ බල කාර්ය පටිපාටිවලටය.

1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයට මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණ බල කිහිපයක්ම ලබා දුන්නත් කාර්ය පටිපාටියක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසින් හදුන්වා නොදීම නිසා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරුන්ගේ අභිමතය අනුව එකී කාර්ය පටිපාටිය සහ නඩු නිෂ්ප්‍රභ කිරීම සිදු විය.

පහළ අධිකරණ නඩුවක් නිෂ්ප්‍රභා කළ විට හේතු දැක්විය යුතු වුවත්, ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය නඩුවක් නිෂ්ප්‍රභ කළ විට හේතු දැක්වීමක් අවශ්‍ය නොවීය.ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරුන්ගේ අභිමතය මැන බලන මිනුම් දණ්ඩක් නොවීය. මේ හේතුවෙන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණ බලය ක්‍රියාත්මක කර ගැනීම ඉංග්‍රීසි දන්නා බලවතුන්ට පමණක් සීමා වීම දිගින් දිගටම සිඳුවන අතර එකී අධිකරණ බලය ක්‍රියාත්මක කර ගැනීම පොදු ජනතාවගෙන් ඈත් වී තිබේ. මෙය වෙනස් විය යුතුය.

1978 ට පෙර මෙන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය අභියාචනා සහ ප්‍රතිශෝධන අධිකරණ බලය හිමිකර දී පහළ අධිකරණ වල නීතිමය සහ සිද්ධිමය වැරදි නිවැරදි කරන අධිකරණයක් බවට පත් කරන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයක් ගෙන ඒමෙන් මෙය පාලනය කළ හැකිය.

මූලික අයිතිවාසිකම් වැනි මුල් අවස්ථා නඩු  මහධිකරණයට පැවරිය හැකිය. ඒ සදහා විධිමත් කාර්ය පටිපාටියක් එනම් අපරාධ නඩු විධාන සංග්‍රහය සහ සාක්ෂි ආඥා පනත දැනටමත් ඇත. එවිට අභියාචනා, ප්‍රතිශෝධනය සහ යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කිරීමේ අයිතියද රැකිය හැකිය.

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලකසිරි උණවටුන විසින් 2023.05.22 කොළඹ මහජන පුස්තකාල සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවේ දී පැවති ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ සහ අභියාචනාධිකරණයේ සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් නඩු පැවරීමේ වැඩසටහනේදී කළ දේශනයෙන්….(2023.05.22)

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe actively engaged in a pivotal business roundtable on Sri Lanka’s Economic Revival & Opportunities for Japanese Enterprise,” where he presented the nation’s commitment to stabilizing and liberalizing the economy while actively inviting new foreign ventures.

The event, jointly organized by JETRO, Japan-Sri Lanka Business Co-Operation, and the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Japan, aimed to strengthen economic ties between the two nations.

During the round table, President Wickremesinghe fervently outlined the ongoing efforts undertaken by Sri Lanka to restore stability and openness to its economy, presenting an inviting climate for foreign investment, the President’s Media Division (PMD) says.

With a clear vision to attract Japanese enterprises, he discussed the various measures and reforms being implemented to create a conducive business environment for potential investors.

Recognizing Japan’s significance as a vital economic partner, President Wickremesinghe emphasized the mutual benefits that can be derived from increased collaboration between the two nations.

Sri Lanka’s strategic location and skilled workforce were highlighted as key advantages, providing a gateway for Japanese companies to expand their operations in the region and leverage the country’s emerging economic opportunities.

As Sri Lanka continues its journey toward economic revival, President Wickremesinghe’s active participation in the round table, underscores the government’s unwavering commitment to attracting foreign investment and driving sustainable economic progress.

Meanwhile, President Ranil Wickremesinghe also joined a meeting with the Japan-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Association.

Meanwhile, a meeting took place in Tokyo between Japan’s Minister of Digitization, Mr. Taro Kono and President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

During the meeting, President Wickremesinghe provided a comprehensive overview of Sri Lanka’s program to advance towards a digital economy.

Furthermore, the discussion emphasized the importance of enhancing cooperation between Japan and Sri Lanka in their respective digital transformation endeavours.

Simultaneously, President Ranil Wickremesinghe also engaged in talks with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trần Lưu Quang in Tokyo. The discussions between the two leaders primarily focused on strengthening bilateral relations and fostering cultural cooperation between Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka has received the approval from an expert committee to embark on a pilot project to cultivate cannabis within a BOI zone.

This was revealed by Investment Promotion State Minister Dilum Amunugama during a media briefing at the BOI headquarters.

The pilot project is to kick-off soon in the Katunayake zone and discussions are underway with investors and experts to finalise the pilot project.

“We have been authorised as the experts committee report is out. It’s a ‘Yes’. We have got the instructions to go ahead with the pilot project,” said Dilum Amunugama.

“The investors who are interested in the project will have to grow the cannabis and manufacture a product out of it, which will be the income for the country,” he stated.

The State Minister proceeded to say that the Cabinet would have to be briefed as to how the project is to be implemented.

Meanwhile, he said the BOI has been able to attract investments worth USD 604 million during the period from January to May in 2023, with 22 new projects and six expansions.

By Rohana R. Wasala  Courtesy The Island

Some well meaning, erudite, but very naive and innocent,  young bhikkhus are challenging the pastor to a debate over his deprecatory remarks about Buddhism, which I think is ridiculously ingenuous and unnecessary, because that is giving this mocker of the sacred a measure of dignity that he doesn’t deserve, and also because he cannot be credited with a decent understanding even of Christianity, let alone anything additional outside that domain. These young monks are being eclipsed in their calm but determined attempt to react to Jerome’s disinformation and deception without any ill will. By whom? They are getting overshadowed by a few yellow-robed  imposters who are themselves Buddhist versions of pastor Jerome Fernando. Actually, those few false monks and the fake prophet are birds of a feather  probably fed by the same hands, as some say. 

It has also been observed that certain discredited politicians are exploiting the opportunity that came their way through this obviously well rehearsed Jerome Fernando episode to take a dig at each other for the heck of it, without utilising it to repair the damage it is causing to reconciliation.  Last but not least, where are the Ven Mahanayake theras? Their silence in crisis situations has often aggravated issues affecting the Buddha Sasana. The online media I normally consult have nothing in this regard. However, one can’t blame the Ven Mahanayakes because they avoid politics, as they have done down the centuries. They used to advise the monarch only in spiritual matters, and the monarch took responsibility for looking after the Shashanaya. The most senior monk or monks, close to the royalty, offered their opinion in succession matters on rare occasions, and also when the ruler failed in his duties or when there were foreign threats to the nation. The Sangha never took part in ruling, but remained above the ruler.  The Buddhist Sangha is a very democratic community, where one monk has no control over another. Times have changed. It is urgent that the Mahanayakes do more to save the Buddha Shasanaya including the Fourfold Assembly of Followers (Sivvanak Pirisa) of male and female lay Buddhists and bhikkhus and bhikshunis.  . 

Back to the topic. Meanwhile, a complaint was lodged with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) by the propaganda secretary of the political party, Pivituru Hela Urumaya (PHU), Iranga Vidvath Mendis, in connection with the relevant offensive statements made by Jerome Fernando who calls himself a prophet, which are derogatory to the Buddha, Buddhism, and other religions. This is the only meaningful reaction I have seen so far to Jerome Fernando’s outrage (up to the time of writing). The complainant demands that the law be applied to the (suspect) offender in this case in terms of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act No. 56 of 2007.  

The aforementioned petition to the CID was published in a news report in the online lanka c news.  It quoted the following fromJerome Fernando’s importunate harangue:

 This is what separates Christianity from Buddhism. Because for a Buddhist in their mind, it’s like, okay, අනුන්ට කලදේ තමන්ට පලදේ in a sense, it’s true, especially if you do something to a prophet. Anyways. Now, but in the Buddhist mind, they never hear the love of Buddha. Are you hearing this? Their focus is enlightenment. But to be enlightened, you need light. The Buddha himself, the name Buddha means enlightened one. Ladies and gentlemen, what is greater, light or enlightened? Jesus said, I’m the light of the world. so i tell you now, jesus didn’t said i’am the enlightened one, No, no, no, no. Jesus came from a different wavelength. Jesus said I’m the light. So I submit to you, the Buddha was looking for light. He was actually looking for Jesus. This is why every Buddhist needs Jesus.”

I came across a YouTube video clip of the relevant part of Jerome Fernando’s coercive religious rant against the Buddha, Buddhism and Buddhists that contained more. There was a singing part to it too, that ridicules such traditional curative and protective magical remedies as tying charmed threads, anointing charmed oil, etc usually found among rural folk, as superstitious practices based on Buddhist teachings. Those are cultural things and should not be confused with Buddhism. Buddha did not advocate such things. He himself visited a physician called Jeevaka when he fell ill, according to the known life of the Buddha. He preached no religion, and never prescribed blind-faith based devotional practices or mindless rituals. Even the most ignorant Buddhists know that magical cures like charmed threads, oils, and chants are not part of the doctrine they actually follow. Instead, those ritual performances are part and parcel of the established holistic native healing culture which maintains the vital balance between the physical and mental aspects of the patients’ health. These ancient healing arts have survived, particularly  among villagers, into modern times. Jerome also staged some faith healing episodes, not different from them. Such magical fake cures are daily performed in many hundreds of devales dedicated to local deities found across the country which are patronised not only by gullible villagers, but by superstitious city dwellers including politicians and businessmen among others of the same ilk seeking divine assistance with their often nefarious projects.  Why should a prophet demean his god by descending to the level of a village kapurala unless he was a genuine fake?

 In the letter to the CID referred to above, Mendis has left out (probably, as irrelevant to the point of his plaint) Fernando’s disparaging references to Hinduism and Islam and relevant sacred figures, which are equally outrageous, such as that Hindus venerate animals. A common allegation he raised against the leaders of all three non-Christian religions did not preach Love! But this fake prophet’s real target is the Buddha, his teaching and the Buddhists, his followers, whom he demeans, by implication, as a spiritually misguided lot. Though it is evident that Jerome is proficient enough in Sinhala for preaching to them, he speaks only in English and has himself interpreted in Sinhala. That, I think, is just an act he puts on to further impress his apparently mesmerised audience, whose awed gazes were fixed on his constantly beaming beatific smile. 

What is Jerome Fernando saying in the snatch of speech quoted above? Simply, nonsense. He appears to be ignorant of his own religion of Christianity and its truly great founder Jesus Christ. Christianity came five or six hundred years after Buddhism. The latter is definitely beyond pastor Fernando’s power of understanding. What did Buddhists do to him (if he means himself by ‘prophet’) for him to say anunta kala de tamanta pala de” (which would be equivalent to the English proverb ‘Curses come home to roost’)? (When he said this, though, he seemed to be mocking his own ‘prophet’ act!) This idea of ‘retaliatory justice’ is not part of the Buddhist concept of karmic causation. People from different cultural backgrounds accept the idea that bad deeds earn you bad results and that good deeds bring you good results, as a self-evident truth. The Karma concept taught in Buddhism is much more profound and complex than ‘Curses come home to roost’. 

A word about the idea of love that Jerome finds missing in Buddhism. Buddhism is nothing if it is not about wisdom and compassion. Buddha does uphold love as a positive emotion,  but says that it is ultimately based on selfishness/the illusion of ‘self’. Buddha’s teaching recognizes a difference between love (that you feel for a person) and unconditional universal compassion or loving-kindness (maitri, friendliness) towards all sentient beings, something that is completely selfless. I think Christian love is also very close to or identical with the Buddhist concept of loving-kindness. To me it looks like the highly intelligent Jerome Fernando has not so far cared to grasp at least a faint idea of the Buddha’s profound dhamma. He has no sense of history, for he doesn’t know that the Buddha lived five to six centuries before Jesus was born. Otherwise, if he is in his right senses at least temporarily, how can he say that the Buddha was looking for Jesus? What do you know about the Enlightenment concept taught in Buddhism, Jerome? Obviously, NOTHING! You equate enlightenment to lighting up or illuminating something. That is stupid. An Australian YouTuber of Sri Lankan origin says that he had some slight acquaintance with Jerome as a young Burgher with a different name doing modelling work for commercial firms about twenty years back. It’s plausible information. He uses both Sinhala and English equally fluently. Oops! I almost forgot. At the end or thereabouts of his Buddha bashing, quite paradoxically, like a true Christian preacher  or a genuine Buddhist monk for that matter, he admonishes his congregation: Never persecute anybody, never shame another person’s faith”.

I will wind up with a reference to the Buddha’s famous Kalama Sutta discourse. The Buddha advised his disciples to question and examine even the Tathagata (Buddha) himself to find the trustworthiness, the authenticity, of the teacher they  chose to follow. A group of young men called the Kalamas came to the Buddha with a question. They wanted to learn from him how they could separate truths from falsehoods uttered by the various venerable recluses and brahmanas who visited their village of Kesaputta from time to time and preached their different doctrines that disagreed with each other. Obviously, the young men had heard of the fame of the Buddha who himself had studied under the most famous teachers of the time and exhaustively analysed their teachings, and dissatisfied, had embarked on his own long and assiduous search for the Truth and  eventually attained Enlightenment. The Buddha’s advice to them was: Kalamas, do not be led by reports, or tradition, or hearsay. Be not led by the authority of religious texts, nor by mere logic and inference, nor by considering appearances, nor by the delight in speculative opinions, nor by seeming possibilities, nor by the idea: ‘this is our teacher’. But…when you know for yourselves that certain things are unwholesome (akusala), and wrong, and bad, then give them up… and when you know for yourselves that certain things are wholesome (kusala) and good, then accept them and follow them”. (I am quoting here from Ven Walpola Rahula thera’s classic dhamma compendium ‘What the Buddha Taught’ first published in London in 1959, and reprinted many times since, which Jerome Fernando may profitably read and still remain, or learn to become, a pious and virtuous Christian (which, I am afraid, he is not at present.)

I can easily answer your criticisms of Hinduism and Islam, but it is better for you to learn by yourself their moral essence that is as noble and as ennobling as Christianity. 

(Concluded)

by Professor Sunil J.  Wimalawansa

Would taking excessive (unnecessary) loans by Sri Lanka lead to bankruptcy?

In 2002, Sri Lanka paid more than US $320 million as import duties to affluent countries.  While some European countries exported three to five times more than Sri Lanka, Norway paid only $125 million, and Switzerland paid $245 million in the same year.  Why such a discrepancy?  Such data illustrates how Sri Lanka is trapped in increasing its debt and widening its trade gap, partly due to the Western agenda but primarily due to greed, lack of familiarity with macroeconomics and proactive actions by lazy politicians. 

 Irrespective of the political party in power, the government must have a long-term, viable and sustainable national policy to develop the country, protect its sovereignty and unitary status, and maintain security, law and order.  The general development strategies carefully mapped out for the government should continue, regardless of changing the political party in power or the ideas.  Legislations imposing severe punishments for anyone attempting to derail the country’s progress, irrespective of party politics, must create deterrents: this seems a reality only with a replacement of the constitution. 

Dangers of depending solely on the traditional economy

In an economy based solely on exporting raw materials, low-quality, easily manufactured products are highly vulnerable to fluctuating currency and competition from cheaper suppliers such as China and Taiwan.  A similar was observed recently in the tea and rubber markets.  In these situations, the country’s economy can take a downturn overnight, as happened during the Asian currency crisis a few years ago.  In the long run, Sri Lanka must develop its brand names and identity (such as Ceylon Tea, Sri Lanka Tourism, Sri Lankan Eco-Tourism, etc.), especially in high-margin industries, to sustain fierce competition from under-cutting countries like China, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Sri Lanka must consider augmenting the traditional raw material export markets with value-adding to raw materials before exporting, as with the manufacturing industry and export of finished goods.  It would not make economic sense to ship raw materials cheaply to industrialised countries, and import finished products from the same raw materials at a much higher cost.  It is also necessary to consider exporting non-traditional and refined products like titanium and thorium extracted from sand, which provides a larger profit margin.  Similarly, instead of exporting cardamom, cloves, and other spices, Sri Lankan must remove essential oils and aromas and ship these spices at a significantly higher price.

NGO involvement and the need to avoid spending traps

Sri Lanka does not have the luxury of importing everything just because the mass media induce fantasy markets or the consumption of luxury items (e.g., luxury cars).  Irrespective of who imports them, such irresponsible imports drain the country’s foreign exchange for the benefit of a handful.  Similarly, the trap of spending money from international donors or expatriates on importing non-essential items in developing countries, like Sri Lanka, is detrimental to the recipient country’s economy: this leads to repetitions of the poverty cycle.  Furthermore, international aid agencies as well as I-NGO’s must be made accountable to their governments, philanthropic donors, and the recipient countries for (im)proper utilisation of funds, poor outcomes, and the lack of cost-effective use of donated funds. 

There are other issues associated with grants, donations, and loans.  By scrutinising the projects over the past two decades, it is apparent that no government agency is responsible for monitoring progress, finances, and outcomes.  Consequently, there is no accountability for how money was spent (e.g., competitive bidding or allocated underhand to political cronies) or the quality of outcomes.  Donors should ensure more cost-effective utilisation of funds if they identify focused projects created by motivated local organisations or individuals, oversee contractors’ work and progress, and find creative ways to solve locally relevant problems.  The local talent must take that challenge and use the most cost effective and suitable way and material for the job.  Sri Lanka experienced these scenarios during the recent post-tsunami era, where little work was accomplished by the large I-NGOs versus the progressive and cost-beneficial work done by the grass-root small organisations.

Organisations and independent auditors must monitor, oversee, and scrutinise these projects in the field to document the progress and outcomes—emphasising pros and cons and the cost-effectiveness as an audit process and for the benefit of future projects.  Unfortunately, Sri Lanka does not have such authorities independent of politicians and government bureaucrats, with legal control to monitor operations and take firm actions, including exposing the organisations that do not deliver or do inappropriate or unethical work locally and internationally.  Auditing, internal policing, and punitive measures are necessary to minimise fraud and pilferage of funds and wrongdoing.

Government responsibilities for economic development

Governments are not expected to act as job agencies.  Instead, they should facilitate the environment and business opportunities to create jobs for the country’s benefit.  Other than maintaining sovereignty, law, and order, the government’s position is to identify potential and strengths for economic growth and identify and facilitate international markets for exports.  Especially in high-intense economic activities such as communication centres, high-tech industries, propagating brand names, export of highly skilled labour to the West, export of value-added finished products, and systematic development of credible tourism.  Critical barriers to these include widespread corruption, bribery, lack of proper infrastructure, and destructive/ negative behaviour of specific sectors, including unacceptable driving habits. 

The government should earmark essential development resources that increase revenue generation and stop constructing roads to ‘nowhere’ (i.e., dismiss unnecessary and wasteful projects).  It is also crucial to ethical business and marketing; training that includes compliance and adherence to ethics is essential.  These sectors must have comparative advantages for Sri Lanka and strategically position the country for recurring revenue.

However, these should not be at the expense or compromise other sectors like agriculture, education, peace, or the country’s sovereignty (e.g., division of the country or setting up any foreign military bases in Sri Lanka).  All sectors must be modernised, supported, and expanded without political interference.  In addition, the Sri Lankan government must assist and nurture local industries and businesses, identify new export markets, and facilitate export products via its foreign missions/ambassadors.  There is little effort in these vital areas essential for economic growth.

These will boost local industries and enhance job opportunities, help recover from the current economic downturn, and decrease future debt, assuming politicians would not seek unnecessary loans, yet again, from creditors.  The Chinese government has been doing this efficiently for the past three decades, and the Indian government has begun to adopt this process, but it is yet to happen in Sri Lanka.  Another area that needs strengthening and diversification is the positioning and bolstering of high-margin, low-risk industries such as assembly or manufacturing, production of essential items, and some high-tech products.

As a country endogenously moves through its product life cycle, this will likely happen eventually but letting it for decades is unacceptable—respective governments have not leveraged or taken steps to expedite this cycle.  For example, Singapore and Hong Kong began with petrochemicals, plastics, and textiles: with their maturity, they moved to more stable industries like shipping, electronics, and banking.  They eventually established themselves as the shipping and financial capital in the region, accelerating their growth and advancing social welfare.

Reliance on international loans

Historically, Sri Lanka has been a wealthy country; it has even given loans to Great Britain and supported Japan immediately after the second world war.  However, since independence in 1948, forward-looking things and projects, use of brain-power, and accountability systematically deteriorated to the extent that the country now relies on foreign aid and loans.  Consequently, each year, Sri Lanka became economically poor.  All those who govern Sri Lanka are responsible for this failure.  

Successive governments and their political leaders failed to deliver what the country needed.  While, except for prime minister Dudley Senanayake, all others fattened their pockets, while the country became poo.  They must bear responsibility for the economic and social deterioration of the land, but to date, none of them has been made accountable.  Sri Lanka has not yet seen the bottom: thus, it is up to the public to prevent further destruction of the country and its economy by politicians.  Since there is no mechanism to recall and replace” politicians who failed and/or engaged in criminal activities available in the USA, constituents must vote them out from elected positions.

The dependency on loans was created by politicians and converted into a perfect situation for them to siphon funds and appoint unqualified and uneducated persons like themselves into high positions in the government, adding to inefficiency and over-burdening taxpayers.  They have developed skills to use others to get their dirty work done with false promises at the expense of the public.  At the same time, the West is exploiting the situation to its advantage: imposing its failed culture and policies” (disguised as human rights and democracy) and gaining control over the local decision-making process.  They use secret services organisations, like the CIA and RAW, to entice local folks to achieve their goals, including regime changes.

The involvement of the International Monetary (IMF) and the World Bank are designed to impose the Third World Structural Adjustment Policies/Programs” in developing countries, including Sri Lanka.  The end-game includes marketing their unwanted products (dumping), spreading religion (i.e., unethical conversions by gimmicks and false promises), and eroding the traditional culture food and drinking habits (illegal drugs, night-clubs, larger-scale gambling, alcohol parties, etc.).  The expansion of such economic traps began after the dreadful 1977 constitution that opened the doors for globalisation and opening the markets.

In their attempts to assist Sri Lanka, IMF, and the World Bank, plan to provide credit liberally, which inevitably became massive burdens to developing countries like Sri Lanka.  However, the negativity we see is only the tip of the iceberg.  As with several other developing countries, the debt trap will continue to increase with the cumulation of interest payments and will eventually lead (with the greed of politicians) to default.  That will likely happen to Sri Lanka—the question is when?  In specific cases, temporary/ short-term financial assistance for restructuring (structural reforms) could be helpful to come out of the mess; however, not under some of the conditions imposed by organisations like the IMF with hidden agendas.

Unfortunately, those countries that shortsightedly accepted the new ‘generosity’ of the IMF and World Bank would not consider the negative consequences of enforcing full-fledged free trade and liberalisation as lenders advocated.  Doing so without drastically reducing government spending with austerity measures will significantly erode local production of agriculture and other products and increase import dependency, further draining precious foreign exchange.  It will also pave the path to dumping shiploads of cheaper products, including food, preventing the local production and sustainability of local farming that cause some families and small businesses to go bankrupt.

Loan traps increased the misery of constituents

There is no free lunch.  Even though lending organisations are forcing their austerity policies, the governments of affected developing countries must be responsible for accepting these.  Loan traps are destructive for the recipient country.  Printing money, significantly increasing taxes, and over-regulation invariably led to inflation that would mostly hurt ordinary people, and small businesses may not survive this threat.  While a few of these policies are good, like reducing government spending, developing countries must implement these gradually to prevent chaos, increasing unemployment and threatening security.  But that is contrary to what the donors like the IMF are demanding as conditions of loans.

Unsurprisingly, many Western countries control the IMF and the World Bank.  The Blackrock and Vanguard corporations control these global lending agencies.  This octopus-like arrangement makes it easy for the West to exploit developing countries politically, economically, and socially.  The system is designed to use lines of credit to infiltrate and spread the Western agenda, not rescue developing countries from poverty.  If these counties with higher economic growth become self-sufficient and come out of poverty, the existence of the IMF and World Bank becomes redundant.  They will lose the power to control developing countries and impose Western economic agendas on them.  Supply chains for importing raw materials and exporting unwanted commodities to them are lost.  They do not want to see that happen.  As a result, there is a massive conflict of interest inherent to these lending organisations.

Consequently, the mentioned organisations will prevent developing countries from becoming developed.  So, those controlling countries in the West can continue exploiting developing countries and maintaining the raw materials supply chain cheaply.  Therefore, the surest way to ensure their goals and marketing agenda is to keep an economic grip on developing countries.  For example, since accepting the conditions associated with these loans, the Sri Lankan currency has continued to devalue, particularly against the US dollar, the lending currency and inflation skyrocketed.  This resulted in an increased cost of living and associated impoverishment of its citizens and poverty—70% of the population in the country.  This vicious cycle will repeat and worsen if the government borrows more funds.  The only way to prevent this is to maintain vigilance, transparency, good governance, and a balanced budget and oust the unpatriotic, evil politicians.

Loans provided by the IMF under the Structural Adjustment Program are contingent upon allowing an open free economy with no import restrictions so that wealthy, industrialised nations can flood markets in developing countries, dumping their (un)wanted products and curtailing local products.  Lifting foreign exchange restrictions will allow citizens (and foreigners) to drain the remaining foreign exchange out of the country.  Eliminating limits on individual borrowing will lead to escalation of debt, loan defaulting, bankruptcy, social unrest, and suicides.  How come these are good for Sri Lanka?  Does this what ordinary Sri Lankan want?

Besides, untimely deregulation increases the country’s budget deficit while keeping the interest rate high, harming small industries and ordinary people.  Entrepreneurs and enterprises will have to borrow capital at higher rates, increasing the risk of bank failures and bankruptcy.  Encouraging imports and reducing tariffs will eliminate the competitiveness of local products.  This would further increase imports and decrease exports leading to an increase in the budget deficit—creating a vicious cycle of unemployment and poverty in the recipient (developing) country—a classic poverty trap.

Could Sri Lanka head for bankruptcy?

Due to the bad loans taken by politicians on behalf of the country but without the approval of constituents, Sri Lanka’s foreign debt rose from US $750 million in 1977 to over $12 billion in 2005.  Ironically, even Sri Lanka cannot service its current debts without austerity.  Yet, further expensive projects and loan initiatives are planned.  The latter includes an additional $4.5 billion US$ loan (under the disguise of ‘reconstruction’: sheer insanity)—a dangerous slippery slope which may eventually lead the country to bankruptcy.

Against any common sense and internationally accepted norms, even as we speak, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the IMF negotiate directly with the known terrorist group in Sri Lanka before handing over a loan to the government.  Ironically, as pushed by the Norwegians and biased Western I-NGOs, loan organisations have expressed interest in directly providing part of the loans to this terrorist group.  Despite that, this extremist group is labelled a terrorist organisation and banned by many countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and Europe.  With this backdrop, why are international lone-givers negotiating with a terrorist group in Sri Lanka—and for whose benefit?  Why are they trying to bypass the country’s legitimate financial institute—Central Bank, and the government?

If these loans are granted to named terrorist organisations, against common sense and violating international law, more innocent people will die.  The ordinary taxpayers in the country will have to pay back these loans to the creditors.  Thus, such arrangements are insane.  One should notice that these are neither donations nor interest-free loans: they will increase the country’s debt by 38%.  Who will be paying this back?—certainly not the current politicians or the government.  These demonstrated the sheer lack of responsibility of politicians.  

Part five discusses errors of judgement by successive governments, the International Monetary Fund, and potential solutions to prevent bankruptcy.

Mahinda Gunasekera Agincourt, Ontario

Honourable Political Party Leaders, Please see the article by the Indian Journalist, N. Sathiya Moorthy published in the Colombo Telegraph where he writes about the final stages of the nilitary action taken by the Sri Lankan authorities to eliminate the internationally designated (including Canada) terrorist group known as the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), after a period of over 33 years of blood letting and killings and war crimes in 2009, which action is being deliberately misrepresented by the political leaders of Canada for none other than to woo the Tamil community resident here for their votes to gain power for short parliamentary terms.

The UN’s resident representative in Sri Lanka estimated a total 7721 deaths without distinguishing between LTTE combatants and Tamil civilians after a process of verification conducted by them which the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts headed by Marsuki Darussman, together with Steven Ratner and the pro-LTTE campaigner Yasmin Sooka sitting in New York and not visiting Sri Lanka came up with an unverified number of 40,000 deaths, which report also recommended that the one sided submissions received by the Panel be witheld for a period of 20 years till April 2031.  The American Association for the Advancement of Science commissioned by Amnesty and HRW to study the satellite images relating to the latter stages of the conflict were only able to come up with a figure of 1362 graves in the area of the battleground in Mullivaikkal.  The Tamilnet website which was a pro-LTTE propaganda organ reported a total of 7398 deaths during the period January 1 to May 19, 2009, which was less than the Sri Lanka government’s census figure of  7,437 deaths during the related period using 15,000 enumerators comprised of teachers and government officials from the Tamil community.

The number of deaths are inflated by the pro-LTTE groups, ranging from 7398 to 140,000 which latter number was contained in Bill 104 presented by LTTE supporter and MPP Vijay Thanigasalam, adopted by the Ontario Provincial Legislature without conducting a fact check, or hearing Objections submitted for review by the Standing Committee as is the normal procedure. It has been established that the LTTE fired on Tamil civilians that attempted to flee their area of control, and even blew up busloads of their disabled cadres.  Even the UNSG’s panel reported that the LTTE held the civilian population of around 310,000 as a human shield and would not release them despite two 48 hour ceasefires declared by Sri Lanka, nor would they accede to the request to surrender, as they expected the USA to mount a rescue and  take the terror leaders to Eritrea or other African country from where they could continue their terrorist warfare to break up the unitary state of Sri Lanka.  They fired their long range weapons on the Sri Lankan armed forces who had ceased the use of such weapons to save lives placing their guns in the midst of the civilians, or near schools/hospitals, so that retaliatory fire would certainly kill the civilian population.  The Sri Lanka armed forces succeeded in eliminating the terror leaders and bringing the armed conflict to an end on May 19, 2009, and at the same time rescue the civilians numbering 295,873 held as a human shield to safety, house them in welfare camps, feed and provide them with special training to lead independent lives after demining the area and resettling the rescued civilians including 594 Child Soldiers and 12,000 LTTE fighting cadre that surrendered.

It is indeed a gross violation by Canada’s political leadership to speak of unsubstantiated numbers of civilian deaths without any valid reasons or verification of the facts, purely for political gain to win the support of the large Tamil community resident in Scarborough, Markham and other areas of the GTA. Their actions will only contribute to cause ugly racial rivalry and disharmony within Canada’s ethnic people.

Those forgotten final days | Colombo Gazette
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Press Release Pathfinder Foundation

The 3^rd Bay of Bengal Maritime Dialogue hosted by the Pathfinder Foundation, Sri Lanka and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue of Switzerland was held on 23 – 24 May in Colombo.  The event was attended by over fifty delegates at the senior government level, regional organizations leading think tanks, universities independent experts in the region from Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka.  The keynote address on the theme of global sustainability” was delivered by Nobel Laureate Professor Mohan Munasinghe. 

Held annually, the Bay of Bengal Maritime Dialogue explores issues of critical concern to the region, such as the promotion of cooperation on marine environmental protection, opportunities and challenges for marine and scientific research, the prevention and mitigation of illegal unreported and unregulated fishing, regional approaches for managing interactions between (foreign) fishing vessels and maritime law enforcement agencies.  

Of particular interest were discussions relating to the need for intra-regional cooperation in dealing with oil spills, chemical spills and firefighting in ships.  These are areas of importance, especially for Sri Lanka, following recent maritime accidents.  The opening ceremony was attended by the High Commissioner of India and Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh and Ambassadors from Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand.

The opening address was delivered by Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman of Pathfinder Foundation and Venu Rajamony, Senior Advisor, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.  Ahmed A. Jawad, Director of Pathfinder Foundation and Willem Punt, South Asia Coordinator, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, made the closing statements.  

Lanka Lead News

දෙමළ ජන සංහාරයක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිදුවූවා යැයි පවසමින් කැනඩා අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ජස්ටින් ටෘඩර් මහතා කළ ප්‍රකාශයට පිළිතුරු සැපයීම සඳහා ගෝලීය ශ්‍රී ලාංකික සංසදය විසින් කැනඩා අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයාට ලිපියක් යොමු කොට තිබේ.

නොමග යවන සුළු බලපෑමක් මත, අනවබෝධයෙන් කැනඩා අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා සිදුකර ඇති මෙම ප්‍රකාශය නිවැරදි කරගැනීම සඳහා එම සංසදය විසින් මෙරට සිදුවූ මානුෂීය මෙහෙයුමේ සැබෑ පසුබිම සඳහන් කරමින් මෙම ලිපිය යොමුකර තිබීම විශේෂත්වයකි.

අදාළ ලිපිය පහළින්…

2023 මැයි 21
නුවන් බැල්ලන්තුඩාව මහතා,
415/34, හයිලෙවල් පාර,
ගංගොඩවිල,
නුගේගොඩ,
ශ්‍රී ලංකාව.
ගරු ජස්ටින් ටෘඩර් මැතිතුමා,
කැනඩා රාජ්‍යයේ අගමැති,
කැනඩාව

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිදු වූවා යැයි පැවසෙන දෙමළ ජන සංහාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් වන ඔබගේ වැරදි වැටහීමට පිළිතුරු සැපයීම සහ කැනඩාවේ නේවාසික පාසල්වල සිදුවූ සංස්කෘතික ජන සංහාරයට වන්දි ගෙවීමට මැදිහත්වී ඔබ පෙන්වූ අවංකභාවයට ස්තූතිය පල කිරීම සඳහායි

හිතවත් මහතාණෙනි,

ගෝලීය ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංසදයේ – විධායක කමිටුව වන අපි, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිදුවී ඇතැයි පැවසෙන දෙමළ ජන සංහාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඇති ඔබේ අනවබෝධය පිළිබඳව ඔබව දැනුවත් කිරීමට සිදුවීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් කනගාටු වෙමු. ඔබ විසින් මෙවැනි වාර්ගික වශයෙන් වෙනස්කම් වලට ලක්කරන ප්‍රකාශයක් පිළිගත හැකි සාක්ෂි නොමැතිව නිකුත් කර ඇත්තේ කිසියම් නොමග යවන සුළු මග පෙන්වීමක බලපෑම් මත බවය යන්න අපගේ පිළිගැනීමයි. ඇත්ත වශයෙන්ම, ඔබ සත්‍යය දන්නේ නම්, වැරදි පිළිගැනීමට ඔබ තුළ ධෛර්යයක් ඇති බවත්, සත්‍යය දැනගත් විට වන්දි ගෙවීමට ඔබ නිර්ලෝභී බවත් අපි කිසිදු සැකයකින් තොරව විශ්වාස කරමු. අපි මෙම ලිපිය ඔබ වෙත යොමු කරන්නේ නේවාසික පාසල්වල සංස්කෘතික ජන සංහාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඔබේ අතීත ඥාතීන්ගේ වැරදි පිළිගෙන කැනේඩියානු ඩොලර් බිලියන දෙකක වන්දියක් ගෙවීමට ඔබ දැක්වූ අවංකකම නිසයි.

ඇත්ත වශයෙන්ම, 2009 මැයි 18 වන දින නන්දිකඩාල්හිදී අවසන් වූ වසර 30 ක් පැරණි ත්‍රස්තවාදීන්ට එරෙහි සටන ලෝකයේ කුරිරුතම ත්‍රස්තවාදී සංවිධානය සටන් බිමේදී පරාජය කිරීම අරමුණු කරගත් එකක් වූවා පමණක් නොව,එල්ටීටීඊ ත්‍රස්තවාදී කණ්ඩායම විසින් මිනිස් පලිහක් ලෙසින් යොදාගත් ප්‍රාණ ඇපකරුවන් 255,000 කට අධික දෙමළ සිවිල් වැසියන් නිදහස් කර ගැනීමේ මානුෂීය මෙහෙයුමක්ද වූවාය. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිදු වූවා යැයි පැවසෙන ඊනියා දෙමළ ජන සංහාරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඔබ තුළ වන උද්යෝගය අවුලුවාලීම සඳහාත් ඔබගේ විවේක කාලයේදී ඔබගේ වැඩිදුර අධ්‍යයන කටයුතු සඳහාත් මූලික තොරතුරු කිහිපයක් අපි ඔබ වෙත යොමු කරමු.නායකයෙකු විසින් කැනඩාවේ වෙසෙන ශිෂ්ට සම්පන්න නිහතමානී සිංහලයෙකුට මෙන්ම ලොව පුරා වෙසෙන එවැන්නන්ට වේදනාවක් ගෙන දෙමින් නොදැනුවත්ව කළ ප්‍රකාශයකට ප්‍රතිචාර දැක්වීම පුද්ගලිකව වරදක් වන්නේ නැතයි අපි විශ්වාස කරන්නෙමු.
ඔබේ අවධානයට පහත දැක්වෙන තොරතුරු අපි ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නෙමු:

1) 2015 ඔක්තෝම්බර් මාසයේදී, එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලයේ අනුග්‍රහය යටතේ ඇමරිකාව, ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාව, එංගලන්තය, ජර්මනිය, ග්‍රීසිය සහ තවත් රටවල් හයක දායකත්වයෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මූලික අනුග්‍රහය ඇතිව ඡන්දයකින් තොරව 2015 ඔක්තෝබර් 1 වන දින මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලය විසින් සම්මත කරන ලද 30/1 යෝජනාව ඉදිරිපත් කර සම්මත කර ගන්නා ලද්දේය. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තුළ සංහිඳියාව, වගවීම සහ මානව හිමිකම් ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීම (A/HRC/RES/30/1) යනු ත්‍රස්තවාදය පරාජය කළ රටකට හෝ වෙනත් වචනවලින් කිවහොත් සන්නද්ධ ගැටුමකට එරෙහිව UNHRC විසින් සම්මත කරන ලද ඉහළම භයානක යෝජනාව වන්නේය.

2) මෙම A/HRC/RES/30/1 යෝජනාවේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිදු වූවා යැයි කියන දෙමළ ජන සංහාරයේ තත්ත්වය ගැන කිසිදු සඳහනක් කර නොමැත.

3) A/HRC/RES/30/1 යෝජනාව පදනම් වන්නේ මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලයේ තිස්වන සැසිවාරයේ න්‍යාය පත්‍රයේ අයිතම අංක 2, එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් පිළිබඳ මහ කොමසාරිස්ගේ වාර්ෂික වාර්තාව සහ මහ කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලයේ වාර්තා සහ මහ ලේකම්වරයාගේ යොමු අංක A/HRC/30/CRP.2 මත පදනම්වය .(OHCHR ශ්‍රී ලංකාව පිළිබඳ විමර්ශන වාර්තාව (OISL)).

4) OISL වාර්තාවේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට එරෙහිව චෝදනා එකොළහක් ඇති අතර ඒවායෙන් කිසිවක් දෙමළ ජන සංහාරයක් සිදු වූවා යැයි කියා පවසන්නේ නැත. ඔබගේ අධ්‍යනය පහසු කිරීම පිණිස OISL වාර්තාවේ සොයා ගැනීම් පහත වගුවෙන් දක්වා සිටිමු.

(වර්ෂ 2015 දී එවකට පැවැති ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය ඊනියා යුධ අපරාධ චෝදනාවලට එරෙහිව ඔවුන්ගේ පුරවැසියන් සහ සන්නද්ධ හමුදා ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට ඉදිරිපත් නොවන අවස්ථාවක, අපි, ගෝලීය ශ්‍රී ලංකා සංසදය සන්නද්ධ හමුදාවන්ගේ ආරක්ෂාව තහවුරු කිරීමට සහාය වූ බව ඔබට දන්වා සිටිමු (නිෂ්ප්‍රභ කිරීමේ” වාර්තාව ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම මගින් ). සන්නද්ධ ගැටුම් පිළිබඳ ජාත්‍යන්තර විශේෂඥයින්ගේ සහය ඇතිව අප විසින් මෙම වාර්තාව සකස් කළෙමු. OISL වාර්තාවේ 2 වන කොටසේ තේමා පරිච්ඡේද” එකොළහෙන් 6, 7 සහ 9 පරිච්ඡේද එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ. සංවිධානයට අදාළව සකස් කෙරුණු ඒවා වේ. ඉතිරිය ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජයට විරුද්ධව ඇති ඒවා වේ. නමුත් නිෂ්ප්‍රභ කිරීමේ” වාර්තාව සකස් කරන අවස්ථාව වන විට 11වන පරිච්ඡේදයේ දැක්වෙන අවතැන් වූවන් නැවත පදිංචි කර තිබූ බැවින් අවතැන් කඳවුරු අදාළ නොවීය. ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජයට එරෙහිව එල්ල වූ අනෙකුත් චෝදනා සියල්ල මුළුමනින්ම ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරන ලදී. නිෂ්ප්‍රභ කිරීමේ” වාර්තාවේ පළමු වෙළුම ඔබේ අධ්‍යනය සඳහා මෙහි අමුණා ඇත.නිෂ්ප්‍රභ කිරීමේ” සම්පූර්ණ වාර්තාව එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලයේ සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ හැන්සාඩ්ගත කර තිබේ. නිෂ්ප්‍රභ කිරීමේ” වාර්තාව පදනම් වී ඇත්තේ ශ්‍රීමත් ඩෙස්මන්ඩ් ද සිල්වා (රැජිනගේ නීතිඥ ), මහාචාර්ය ඩී එම් ක්‍රේන්, ශ්‍රීමත් ජෙෆ්‍රි නයිස් (රැජිනගේ නීතිඥ ) , රොඩ්නි ඩික්සන් (රැජිනගේ නීතිඥ), මහාචාර්ය මයිකල් නිව්ටන් සහ මේජර් ජෙනරාල් ජෝන් හෝම්ස් ( DSO OBE MC) විසින් සම්පාදනය කරන ලද වාර්තා මතය.)

5) ජන සංහාරය සහ ජන සංහාරය වැලැක්වීම පිළිබඳව අධ්‍යයනය කරන කීර්තිමත් සංවිධාන සහ ආයතන සිය ගණනකට වඩා ලොව ඇත. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිදු වූ බව කියන දෙමළ ජන සංහාරය පිළිබඳව එම පිළිගත් ආයතන එකක් හෝ කිසිවක් හෙළි කර නැත.

6) 2017 ඔක්තෝම්බර් මාසයේදී, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී නේස්බි සාමිවරයා ප්‍රකාශ කළේ බටහිර, විශේෂයෙන් එක්සත් ජනපදය සහ එක්සත් රාජධානිය, සියලුම ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන්, විශේෂයෙන් ඔවුන්ගේ නායකයින් අභිබවා යන සහ අතිච්ඡායනය කරන යුද අපරාධ චෝදනා සහ විදේශීය විනිසුරුවරුන්ගේ තර්ජනය ඉවත් කළ යුතු බවයි. තවද, 40,000ක් නොව 7,000 ත් 8,000 ත් අතර සිවිල් මරණ ප්‍රමානයක් සිදුවූ බව පිළිගැනීමට එක්සත් රාජධානිය ජිනීවාහි එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය සහ සහ අවතැන් වූවන් පිළිබඳ එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මහ කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලය (UNHCR) වෙත යායුතු බව නේස්බි සාමිවරයා පැවසීය. ඊට අමතරව, මෙය ත්‍රස්තවාදයට එරෙහි යුද්ධයක් බව එක්සත් රාජධානිය හඳුනාගත යුතුය. ඒ අනුව ප්‍රතිඥාත නීති පදනම් වී ඇත්තේ මානව හිමිකම් පිළිබඳ යුරෝපීය සම්මුතිය මත නොව ජාත්‍යන්තර මානුෂීය නීතිය මත ය. (නේස්බි සාමිවරයාගේ සිවිල් මරණ මට්ටම සම්බන්ධයෙන් වන ප්‍රකාශය තහවුරු කිරීම සඳහා අපගේ නිරීක්ෂණයන්හි පිටපතක් ඇමිනීමට අපි කටයුතු කරමු. එල්ටීටීඊ හිතවාදී ටැමිල් නෙට්” වෙබ් අඩවියේ දැක්වූ සිවිල් මරණ සම්බන්ධයෙන් වන වාර්තා ඒ සඳහා අපි පාදක කර ගත්තෙමු.)

7) ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ හිටපු කැනේඩියානු මහ කොමසාරිස්වරයෙකු වූ මාර්ටින් කොලොකොට් මහතා ඔහුගේ සුප්‍රසිද්ධ Slow down you’re granting asylum too fast” යන ප්‍රසිද්ධ ලිපියේ ඔහුගේ නිරීක්‍ෂණය මෙසේ දක්වා ඇත: කැනේඩියානු ත්‍යාගශීලීභාවය සහ ලිහිල් බව පිළිබඳ එක් ඇඟවීමක් සහ සරණාගත හිමිකම් ඇත්තවුන්ට අප තුල වන ත්‍යාගශීලීභාවය මෙසේ ඉදිරිපත් කරමි.සරණාගත හිමිකම සාර්ථක වීමට නම්, තම උපන් බිමේ රැඳී සිටීම ආරක්ෂිත නොවන නිසා ඔවුන් තම උපන් රටවලින් පලා ගිය බව ඒත්තු ගන්වා සරණාගතභාවයට හිමිකම් පෑමට හැකි විය යුතුය. එහෙත් වසරක් තුළ පමණක් කැනඩාවේ සරණාගත හිමිකම් ඇති ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් 8600ක් සංචාරක ලියකියවිලි ලබාගැනීම සඳහා ඔටාවා හි ඇති ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලයට ඉල්ලුම් කළ අතර ඔවුන්ට නැවත සංචාරය සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට යාමට හැකි විය.”

8) කැනේඩියානු මාධ්‍යවේදියෙකු වන Barry O’Regan මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කළේ කැනඩාවේ සරණාගත තත්ත්වයට හිමිකම් කියූ දෙමළ ජනතාවගෙන් 70%ක ප්‍රමානයක් දෙමළ ජාතිකයන් සමූලඝාතනය කරන බව ඔවුන් ප්‍රකාශ කරන රටක් වන ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දිගටම නිවාඩු ගත කරන බව අභ්‍යන්තර රජයේ ලේඛනවල සටහන්ව තිබෙනවා” යනුවෙනි. තවද, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය විසින් සිදු කරන ලද මානුෂීය මෙහෙයුමට අදාළව කීර්තිමත් සහ විශ්වාසනීය පුද්ගලයන් විසින් කරන ලද අදහස් සහ ප්‍රකාශ කිහිපයක් ඔබ වෙත ලබා දීමට අපි කැමැත්තෙමු.

• එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය 2009 දී අවසන් කරන ලද රාජ්‍යන් පිළිබඳ වාර්තාවේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට අදාලව දක්වා ඇත්තේ, ගැටුම තුළ, 2008 අගෝස්තු සිට 2009 මැයි 13 දක්වා කාලය තුළ මියගිය පුද්ගලයින්ගේ සංඛ්‍යාව 7,721 ලෙස තක්සේරු කරන බවයි. ඒ අනුව, සරණාගත තත්වය ඉල්ලා සිටින අය විසින් පවසා සිටින 40,000 හෝ 100,000 සත්‍ය අගයක් නොවේ.

• සටන් පැවති උච්චතම අවස්ථාවේදී, ගුවන් ඡායාරූප පිළිබඳ වූ ඇමරිකානු සංගමය විසින් ගැටුම් කලාපයේ කරන ලද අධ්‍යයනයකින් තහවුරු වූයේ සොහොන් බිම්වල ප්‍රසාරණයක් හෝ සමූහ මිනී වළවල් පිළිබඳ සාක්ෂි නොමැති බවයි.

• එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ සංවිධානය විසින් සිවිල් වැසියන් යුධ රංග ශාලාවේ මිනිස් පලිහක් ලෙස යොදා ගනිමින් ඇති කළ මානුෂීය අර්බුදය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය කටයුතු කළ ආකාරය ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සෙසු ලෝකයට ආදර්ශයක් සැපයූ බව එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලයේ නියෝජිත අමීන් අවාඩ් මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබුණි.

• එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ නේවාසික සහ මානුෂීය සම්බන්ධීකාරක නීල් බුහ්නේ මහතා, එවැනි සංක්‍රමණවලදී අවතැන් වූවන්ට සහන සැලසීම සහ ආධාර සැපයීම සඳහා දිසාපති ව්‍යුහයන් හරහා සිදු කරන ලද යහපත් ක්‍රියාව අගය කළ අතර ඔවුන් කරන ලද කාර්යය සඳහා රන් පදක්කමක් පිරිනැමිය යුතු බව සඳහන් කළේය.

ඉහත දැක්වෙන්නේ ඔබ විසින් කරන ලද ම්ලේච්ඡ අපරාධ පිළිබඳව ඔබට දැනගැනීමට ලැබුණු එල්ටීටීඊ දෙමළ ත්‍රස්තවාදී අධ්‍යයනෙහි සැබෑ සංක්ෂිප්තය විය යුතු නමුත් එල්ටීටීඊය පිළිබඳ ඔබේ ප්‍රකාශයේ සමතුලිත බව සලකා බලා ස්වයං අධ්‍යයනය ආරම්භ කිරීමට උපයෝගී වන උදාහරණ කිහිපයකි. තවත් විදියකින් පවසන්නේ නම් දෙමළ-කැනේඩියානුවන්ගේ අනුග්‍රහය යටතේ එල්ටීටීඊ දෙමළ ත්‍රස්තවාදී අධ්‍යාපනය යනුවෙන් පවසා යටපත් කර ඇති තිරස්චීන අපරාධ මාලාවයි.

ඔබගේ අධ්‍යනය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඔබ සමාලෝචනය කරන්නේ නම් එල් ටී ටී ඊ ත්‍රස්ත කණ්ඩායම විසින් හිටපු ඉන්දීය අගමැති රජිව් ගාන්ධි, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ හිටපු ජනාධිපති රණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ විපක්ෂ නායක ලෙස දශකයකට වඩා වැඩි කාලයක් කටයුතු කළ අප්පාපිල්ලේ අමිර්තලිංගම්, ඔක්ස්ෆර්ඩ් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ කීර්තිමත් ආදි සිසුවෙකු වූ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ හිටපු විදේශ අමාත්‍ය ලක්ෂ්මන් කදිරගාමර් ඇතුළු දේශපාලනඥයන් ඝාතනය කර ඇති ආකාරය මෙන්ම අරන්තලාවේදී බෞද්ධ භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේලා 32ක් ඝාතනය කිරීම, අනුරාධපුරයේදි පුර පසළොස්වක පොහෝ දිනක ආගමික කටයුතු වල නියැළුනු බෞද්ධයන් 132ක් ඝාතනය කිරීම, කාතන්කුඩියේ මුස්ලිම් පල්ලියක කරමින් සිටි මුස්ලිම් බැතිමතුන් 196ක් ඝාතනය කිරීම, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ උතුරේ සහ නැගෙනහිර ජීවත් වූ ලක්ෂ සංඛ්‍යාත අහිංසක සිවිල් වැසියන් ඝාතනය කිරීම, ගැබිනි කාන්තාවන්ගේ උදරය පොරොවෙන් පලා විවෘත කිරීම සහ ලී කොටවල ගසා ළදරුවන්ගේ හිස් කඩා දැමීම, ප්‍රසිද්ධ ස්ථානවල සහ මගීන් ගැවසෙන පොදු ප්‍රවාහන මධ්‍යස්ථානවල මරාගෙන මැරෙන බෝම්බ පිපරවීම සහ ළමා සොල්දාදුවන් ආදිය පිළිබඳව ඔබට තහවුරු කරගත හැකි වනු ඇති බව අපට විශ්වාසය. ඔබ සිංහල-කැනේඩියානුවන් කෙරෙහි එවැනි වාර්ගික වෙනස්කම් කිරීමේ ආකල්පයක් ප්‍රකාශ කිරීමට උත්සුකවීමේ චෝදනාවලට ගොදුරු වී ඇති අතර, ඔබ ඉක්මනින් සත්‍යය අවබෝධ කර ගැනීමටත්, සිංහල-කැනේඩියානුවන්ට ගෞරව කිරීමටත්, ස්වභාවික යුක්තිය ප්‍රතිෂ්ඨාපනය කිරීමටත් අවශ්‍ය ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගනු ඇතැයි අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමු.

ගෝලීය ශ්‍රී ලාංකික සංවිධානය – විධායක කමිටුව

අත්සන් කළේ,
යසස් ධර්මදාස- ලේකම් විධායක කමිටුව, එරික් මාකේවිට- සභාපති ස්විට්සර්ලන්ත ශාඛාව
සේනක රාජපක්ෂ- සභාපති පෝලන්ත ශාඛාව, ජගත් චන්ද්‍රවංශ සභාපති රුසියානු ශාඛාව,
ලලිත් ප්‍රේමලාල් සභාපති අයර්ලන්ත ශාඛාව,ප්‍රසංග ජයමාන්න සභාපති එක්සත් රාජධානියේ ශාඛාව,
නුවන් බැල්ලන්තුඩාව නේවාසික ඒජන්ත ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ,ජෙයරාජ් පලිහවඩන ලේකම් එක්සත් රාජධානි ශාඛාව,
රාජා ප්‍රනාන්දු පුල්ලේ සභාපති ස්වීඩ්න් ශාඛාව,සමන්ත වීරමන්ත්‍රී ලේකම් එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යය,
ප්‍රිමාල් ප්‍රනාන්දු ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ක්‍රිස්තියානු කටයුතු පිළිබඳ සම්බන්ධීකාරක,චානක කුරේරා සභාපති කැනඩා ශාඛාව

Prime Minister’s Media Division

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena thanked the Saemaul Foundation of Korea for expanding its rural infrastructure and livelihood development projects after the successful implementation of two pilot projects in Sabaragamuwa district. These efforts have inspired our villagers to speed up their drive to uplift the rural economy,” he said.

The President of Saemaul Foundation Lee Seung Jong, Governor, Gyeongsangbuk-do province, the head of the grant aid supporting body, Korea and the President of Gyambuk Art & Cultural Foundation, Koo Yum Cheol and senior officials of the two Foundation called on Prime Minister at the PM’s Office in Temple Trees today.

A Memorandum of Understanding for expansion of Saemaul Foundation projects in Sri Lanka was signed by the Foundation and the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government. It was signed by the , Koo Yum Cheol, Secretary K D N Ranjith Asoka and Director General of External Resources Department of Finance Ministry, Ajith Abeysekara in the presence of the Prime Minister and Foundation President Lee Seung Jong at the Temple Trees.

Prime Minister praised the Saemaul Undong New Village Movement for its tremendous service to uplift Korea to be a developed nation and said Sri Lanka could use its experiences for its rural development plans.

Saemaul President said based on the combination of global interest in Saemaul Undong and the passion of the Korean government for transferring the approach as the core contents for rural development ODA to developing countries, it has expanded its support to Sri Lanka.

Further Saemaul Projects will implement in border scale in Sri Lanka in future with these initiatives and will uplift the rural communities, reform mind-set towards Self-help, Cooperation and Diligence as a catalyst to economic development plan in Sri Lanka to discuss future projects of Saemaul in Sri Lanka, he said.

Secretary to the Prime Minister Anura Dissanayake, Acting Korean Ambassador Jung Sohnyee and senior officials were present on this occasion.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena  advised the Governors to take urgent measures to prevent the spread of dengue with the intervention of all the relevant authorities at a discussion held at Temple Trees today (25) to discuss the progress of dengue control programs.

The discussion was held with the participation of Governors, Provincial Council Secretaries, Provincial Government Commissioners and Provincial Health Service Directors through Zoom technology and the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of collecting information about the spread of dengue in their jurisdictions and taking measures to control the disease since priority should be given to preventing the spread of the disease through the continuous implementation of programs carried out by the regional medical offices of health.

The governors commented on the measures taken so far in the respective provinces to control the dengue disease and its progress. They mentioned that as there is a tendency for dengue mosquitoes to breed around construction sites, schools and places of religious importance, more attention will be paid to keep such places clean with the contribution of health and security sectors.

State Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government Janaka Wakkambura, State Minister of Home Affairs Ashoka Priyantha, Prime Minister’s Secretary Anura Dissanayake, Ministry of Public Administration Secretary Ranjith Ashoka and many other officials participated in this event.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

Nandita Roy

Had PM Hasina any other intention, she would not have requested the Commonwealth, international community to send election observation teams

A short introduction New US visa policy for Bangladesh:

US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken on Wednesday announced a new visa policy for Bangladeshi individuals believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process. The individuals who fall under this policy include current and former Bangladeshi officials, members of pro-government and opposition political parties, and members of law enforcement, the judiciary, and security services, Blinken said in a statement.

The actions to be treated as disqualification for a US visa include vote rigging, voter intimidation, the use of violence to prevent people from exercising their right to freedoms of association and peaceful assembly, and the use of measures designed to prevent political parties, voters, civil society, or the media from disseminating their views.

The US Embassy in Dhaka also gave clarification on the issues related to the new announcement. The embassy says it is a general practice to notify individuals whose visas are revoked or cancelled. It states that the US does not support any particular political party. Restrictions under this new policy target individuals engaging in behaviour that undermines the democratic election process, regardless of affiliation.

The United States supports free and fair elections everywhere. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government have committed to supporting free and fair elections in Bangladesh. We welcome the Prime Minister’s expressed commitment to holding free and fair elections.” This policy is designed to support these efforts and the Bangladeshi people, so they may hold elections to choose their leaders.”

Even if individuals commit offences after following orders from higher levels and it is difficult to link higher-level decision-makers to those carrying out orders, the policy will apply to anyone undermining the democratic election process.

Bangladesh’s stance towards the new US visa policy

On the new visa policy of the United States, Bangladesh says that due to this policy, undemocratic forces will stay away from violence. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to this in a statement on the visa policy on Thursday (May 25) morning.

Apart from the statement, Bangladesh also praised the support given by the whole world, including the United States, to Sheikh Hasina’s commitment regarding fair elections. The Bangladesh government has taken note of the US Secretary of State’s announcement regarding the visa restriction policy under the so-called 3(c) provision of the US Immigration Act, the statement said.

Bangladesh wishes to see this announcement in the larger context of the government’s unequivocal commitment to conduct free and fair elections at all levels to uphold the country’s democratic process. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh is a democratic and politically stable nation with experience of holding consecutive elections at the national and local levels. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the people of Bangladesh are very aware of their democratic and voting rights.

There is no precedent of any government staying in power by taking away the verdict given by the people through vote rigging. The right of the people to vote is considered by the Awami League government as a national sanctity for which there is a political legacy of relentless struggle and sacrifice. The government attaches importance to freedom of assembly and assembly for all peaceful and legitimate democratic processes. The electoral reform process in Bangladesh is being conducted in a consultative manner with all stakeholders involved. Photo-based voter ID cards were issued as part of the process. Transparent ballot boxes are being used to instill confidence among voters as well as polling officers and agents. The National Election Commission is structured to perform its functions with full independence, credibility and efficiency. The present government for the first time took the initiative of enacting the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners Act-2022. According to this law, a new election commission has been formed. As mandated by the Constitution of Bangladesh and the Representation of the People Order, 1972, the entire executive structure will be under the control of the Election Commission to help it discharge its duties.

In view of that, government structures will take necessary measures to prevent and counter interference by any person, group or entity in the fair and participatory conduct of elections, the statement said. The electoral process will be closely monitored by the International Observers accredited by the Election Commission. The government hopes that the local undemocratic forces who indulge in violence, arson and destruction will remain vigilant and desist from their misguided attempts to jeopardize the constitutionally mandated electoral process. It is entirely up to the people of Bangladesh to sustain the hard-earned democratic process, political stability and development achieved in the country. The government appreciates that the international community, including the United States, stands firmly behind the Prime Minister’s sustained commitment to ensure free and fair elections.

International strategy to developing countries

However, even though we are trying hard for peace in the world, for a long time, wars, killing people, oppression, women and children torture, human trafficking, loss of life in immigration are making us worried. Developed countries have not calmed down by erecting walls across national boundaries, they are trying to make the poor and oppressed people more civil by adopting various international strategies. The developed world, which worships democracy, does not exert pressure on rich countries in the process of civilizing them in the same way as it has a strong position on poor countries. Our freedom is not being undermined by the way diplomats are active in the case of Bangladesh? Are this responsibility only oppressed people?

Doesn’t government believe in free and fair election?

Election is the strongest pillar of democracy. In a democratic polity, people run the state through their representatives. Only elections can make these happen. In case there is no election and no elected representatives of the people, there will be none to serve the interest of the masses. Without a system of election, there can be no true democracy. Election is the only way to come to power or bring change as the politics of terror and violence in the name of movement can never be beneficial for the country, society and economy; rather, it makes the political atmosphere chaotic.

Negative politics of some political parties during election period

People now understand that the negative politics of some political parties. Countrymen also know who carried out bomb, grenade and bullet attacks, smuggled in 10-truck arms and misappropriated the money of the public and the orphans.  Perhaps, the question of a ‘free and fair election has the least to do with the process considering the legal boundary and constitutional binding. The existing perception may take that only a party wants a free and fair election and hence demands a caretaker. But it is a wrong perception politically considering that AL as a political party also echoes the same. The debate among these largest parties is therefore only on the process.

India Example

‘Free and Fair Election’ takes place under incumbent governments all over the world. Even Bangladesh’s closest neighbor, India also follows it whose internal politics are similar to Bangladesh’s.  But there is no debate about such. Hence, it has nothing to do with fairness. Unfair and irregularities can also take place under the caretaker system if the caretaker decides to side with any political party.  At this moment, politicians and their parties know very well that the only path towards breaking the deadlock is through negotiation that benefits the nation and the common people. The demands and capabilities regarding elections are bargaining chips in this negotiation.

Bangladesh’s efforts to organize a free and fair election

Thus, a deadlock exists in the political arena. Election under an unelected government is impossible without amending the Constitution. The majority in parliament sees no reason for constitutional amendment and are not willing to entertain such an idea. Under the circumstances, there is a strong possibility that forces favouring election under poll-time administration will boycott elections, which is not desirable at all in a democratic system of governance. We expect that they will shun the path of election boycott and take part in it to make democracy meaningful. And without participation of all – a free, fair and participatory election will remain a chimera. 

The political forces that demand elections under a poll-time administration clearly apprehend that the likely elections will not be free and fair under the incumbent government. But our reading is that there is no ground for such an apprehension. Actually, nothing less than a fair poll is acceptable to the people. The Election Commission is independent and strong enough to ensure voting rights of the people. It has the requisite power to hold elections without interference from the incumbent.

Had PM Hasina any other intention, she would not have requested the Commonwealth to send election observation teams:

Moreover, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has on several occasions reiterated her commitment for fair polls. During talks with the UK Foreign Minister, Hasina expressed her belief in Westminster type of democracy and made it clear that her government is determined to hold fair polls. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said the next general election in Bangladesh will be held in a free and fair manner upholding democracy and voting rights of the people. So, under government, definitely election will be free and fair, she told a session titled in conversation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Qatar Economic Forum (QEF) at the Raffles Hotel here. Had she any other intention, she would not have requested the Commonwealth to send election observation teams comprising of representatives of its member countries. We are hopeful about an end to the culture of election boycott, once and for all.

Why Continuous pressure of the USA!

Since its establishment in 1971, Bangladesh has faced various international pressures. The pressure was reduced for some time. But it is being pressed again. What can be the way to get rid of this? Those in the opposition coalition will say – hold an election with a caretaker government, the problem will come down to near zero.  Many commented that the government must be worried about the new US visa policy. Rather, all political parties should be concerned about this. The new visa policy announced by the United States wouldn’t not disturbing the Bangladesh government at all, as the government is committed to giving the people a free and fair election. The parties who violated the election law and vandalized properties should be concerned about this. Any kind of violence before or after the elections will rather hinder their visas.

A positive outlook at the new US visa policy for Bangladeshi citizens

We should look positively at the new US visa policy for Bangladeshi citizens. The US government’s visa policy can help Bangladesh in its efforts to ensure that no one can undermine the commitment and position on fair elections through incitement.

Vested interest at the Bangladesh case!

 No one cares whether the government of Bangladesh is elected or unelected. If elections were the main issue, they would be focused on ending the existing monarchies in the Arab states. The statements of those who wrote in the inquiry why attention is not paid to the people are convincing.

The contribution of developed countries to the fact that Bangladesh is moving forward is undeniable. After those imposing restrictions on us one after the other is a matter of deep thought. It may be wrong to think that this is a result of lobbying or lobbying by the opposition parties in the country. Fair, free and peaceful election is the only reason for imposing all those restrictions? Is a free, fair and peaceful election enough for the development of Bangladesh? However, Bangladesh is always committed to hold free, fair election. However, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she also wants fair elections and the next elections will be held under the ruling government as elections are held all over the world.

Bangladesh might be able to thwart conspiracy

It appears to me that no one can come to power by creating suffering for the people. If the caretaker government is to achieve the freedom of vote and rice, it is possible only by standing by the suffering of the people. Bangladesh hopes that the United States will remain a true friend of Bangladesh. I want to think about my problem and try to solve it instead of spending time trying to figure out why the restrictions are imposed by them. The aim of politics should be people-oriented – not diplomat-oriented. We need to be more tolerant and have a unity among honest people.

It is the dream of all of us that Bangladesh will move forward and Bangladesh will stand tall in the court of the world. The onus is on the government to come out of the way foreign diplomats are engaging.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

• We condemn all kinds of attempts to interfere with the domestic affairs of independent countries   
• America and some other Western countries like to pressurize other countries   
• Vows to continue to fight with Ukraine   
• Appreciates Sri Lanka’s neutral position on the war  
• We are against military bases in the Indian Ocean. They are against whom? Does China pose any threat to you? I don’t think so. China does not pose any threat to anybody. China is focusing on economic cooperation and helping other countries. They help a lot. That is why we appreciate our relationship with Beijing   
• We did not talk about transactions in Russian Rouble. We discussed the possibility to implement the Russian payment system card called Mir. It was not accepted by Sri Lanka. 
• We understand it because Americans are pressurizing the countries using this payment system. The countries that will use this payment system will be subjected to secondary sanctions. You have a lot of Russian tourists coming here

Russian Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan takes questions from Daily Mirror in an interview on bilateral ties and the current position of his country on the war with Ukraine. He spells out the importance of nuclear energy cooperation with Sri Lanka. Excerpts: 

QThere are reports about the energy sector cooperation between Russia and Sri Lanka, particularly in the development of nuclear energy. What is the current status?

I made the proposal last year when I came here. I met some high-ranking officials- first of all, the Minister of Energy, and my colleagues in the Foreign Ministry. Before I came here, I had talks with top-ranking officials of Rosatom (Russian State–run Atomic Energy Corporation). Initially, my idea is to set up a small nuclear power plant of 110 megawatts- two blocks each with 55 megawatts. Of course, the number of blocks can be increased to two, four or six. It depends. But, frankly speaking, I am not authorized to go into details. Details should be discussed by specialists. My job is to pave the way for negotiations. I would like the Russian delegation to come here to start talking about conditions, financial, technical matters or which kind of nuclear power plant you need. After my proposal, the local media had very controversial articles- pro and contra. Some people are against this cooperation. I understand whose interests they represent. They always indicate negative experiences- Fukushima in Japan and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Russia. It was not in Russia but in Soviet Ukraine. We have very good examples of our international cooperation with many countries – for example, your close neighour India’s Kudankulam nuclear power plant in the Tamil Nadu State, Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh, and the power plants in Turkey and Iran. Recently we signed a very good agreement with Myanmar to set up a small nuclear power station. Now the ball’s in your court. It is up to you. If you need it, let us know.   

QIs it practically possible to set up a plant in Sri Lanka?

I am not a specialist. Specialists should decide. Before you face shortages of electricity, it is better to have alternative sources of electricity- not only to rely on coal or thermal. It is very important to have solar, wind, and green energy, but they are not reliable. Climate change is doing its job. Therefore, it is very important to have alternative sources.   

QThere were discussions about possible transactions with the Russian currency. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka did not agree to that. Did it affect bilateral ties?

No. We did not talk about transactions in Russian Rouble. We discussed the possibility to implement the Russian payment system card called Mir. It was not accepted by Sri Lanka. We understand it because Americans are pressurizing the countries using this payment system. The countries that will use this payment system will be subjected to secondary sanctions. You have a lot of Russian tourists coming here. We were number one. Now I don’t know because the season is now over. So far we did not hear that the Russian tourists faced some problems when coming here. Anyway, they have cash. They have payment cards from other countries. So, it is not a big problem. If you are not ready to accept it, it is your sovereign right. We don’t pressure, unlike other countries. We respect your decisions.   

QWill there be fresh engagements with the government led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe with some high-profile visits as happened during the time of the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa?

Right now, we are very busy, to be frank, during our special military operation in Ukraine. It does not mean that we stop our activities in other directions. Recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited South Africa and the Latin American countries. In August, I will go to Moscow for vacation and ask my colleagues in the Foreign Ministry about the possibility to resume consultations and talks. But we are ready to cooperate with the governments of friendly countries. Let me stress the friendly countries! Sri Lanka is among them. We have no problem with the Government or the President elected by the people. Mr Wickremesinghe is a very respected President. We have no problem.   

QSri Lanka-Russia bilateral trade volume is way below the potential. What blocks the unleashing of the full potential?

We have the Inter-Governmental Economic Commission. We are talking about the date it can be conducted in virtual mode. The Sri Lankan side recently suggested July. From your side, it is Mr Atapattu, the Secretary of the Trade Ministry. From our side, it is Federal Agency for Fishery. Our proposal is to organize a meeting between the chiefs of these organizations. From the fisheries sector here, it is Mr Fernando. Mr Fernando is planning to go to Russia in June to participate in the St Petersburg Economic Forum. I just conveyed the message to Moscow. We are waiting for the response. It is quite high time to have the session of the Joint Economic Commission in virtual mode. It is very important. The last session was held in 2019.   

QThere was a proposal from the Sri Lankan side to purchase oil from Russia. The Sri Lankan ambassador to Russia initiated some action. What is the progress?

It is a private business. When they are engaged in negotiations with their private partners here for coal or other items, they sometimes don’t inform the embassy. It is a private business. We don’t interfere.   

QBut, oil trading sometimes has a strategic component. Then, there is diplomatic involvement. What is your comment?

As they don’t inform us, we don’t ask questions from private companies. I just only follow the issues which are just proposed by the State bodies like Rosatom.   

QAs the ambassador, what can you tell us about the profitability of oil trading with Russia?

It is profitable because many countries, despite sanctions imposed by European Union and America, continue to buy. They just increase the purchases from the Russian Federation. For India, China and some other countries, it is not a problem. These sanctions don’t work.

   
QWith India, you do a lot of oil business?

Yes, we do it with pleasure. We are very grateful to our Indian friends. Despite sanctions, they are buying Russian oil. It is profitable for both countries.   

QThe United States designated Sri Lanka’s wartime Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda. You openly criticized it. What prompted you to do it?

I did it with pleasure. I criticized it because we condemn all kinds of attempts to interfere with the domestic affairs of independent countries. Sri Lanka is an independent country. America and some other Western countries like to pressurize other countries by saying what to do and what not to do. We criticize them for double standards. My message was that they have no right to criticize anybody including Mr Karannagoda. I have got a letter from him. He sent his regards to me. It was my pleasure. Sanctions are illegitimate.   

QThe Russian war with Ukraine is still going on. How long can Russia sustain it?

We have goals designated by the President. That is the deNazification and demilitarization of Ukraine and it is neutral and non-proliferated to any bloc status. It is a Fascist, Terrorist regime. We want Ukraine not to join NATO, not to threaten us and not to create problems for us. They must admit that new regions are parts of Russia. They historically belong to Russia.   

QWith China stepping in, is there any effort now being undertaken to end the war? 

China has just appointed an envoy. He will be travelling there. High-ranking officials in Europe, including the NATO Secretary-General, Chancellor of Germany and PM Rishi Sunak of the UK aim at defeating Russia. They don’t talk about negotiations. The regime in Ukraine is their puppet. The puppet cannot be independent. The puppet cannot adopt any decision. How can we negotiate with puppets?   

There was a good chance in Istanbul last year. They had good chances. But, the British government told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop negotiations.   

QYou mean to say that the ball is in their court to end the war?

Yes of course. But, they are pumping Ukraine with weapons. Ukraine is now in Europe begging for money.   

QStill, it is Russia that started the war?

We demanded guarantees for our security. If we had not started the Special Military Operation, they would have started a full-scale war to massacre Russians.   

The war has been launched by them in 2014 right after the illegal coup d’etat. Inspired by Anglo-Saxons. After this overturn the Nazis came to power in our neighbouring country, the people of which we have designated as our brothers. As my President said, in fact, we are the one people.   

Since 2014 Kiev’s junta launched numerous military operations in the regions, which didn’t accept the new Nazi order in their capital. In Odessa, dozens of oppositionists were burnt alive in the House of Trade Unions.   
In Zaporizhzhia, Nazis blamed dissidents and using deterrence urged them to leave the country. In Donbas, people managed to and successfully resist the Nazis. But the price was numerous brutal, inhuman bombings of the civil population, conducted by Kiev forces, extrajudicial punishments, waves of plunders and rapes by Nazis that tried to eliminate Russians who have been living there even before entire Ukraine was established.   

In 2022 it was a reality that Ukraine can join NATO. After Ukraine had become a part of the Alliance, Western nuclear weapons could be deployed on that territory, and Ukraine would start the aggression against Russian Federation with the usage of all deployed arsenal.   

That’s why on February 24, 2022, we started the Special Military Operation to deNazify, demilitarize and assure the neutral status of Ukraine.   

QIt means you are ready to continue to fight?

If they are not ready for talks but want to continue fighting, we will fight.   

QHow has this impacted economic relations with Sri Lanka?

I don’t think there is any impact. Several times I have expressed my gratitude to Sri Lanka for your balanced position. We know that you are under pressure. For us, Sri Lanka is very important for its neutral position. Russia is important for Sri Lanka. Russian tourists are coming here. They are bringing in a lot of money.   

It was my message to Russian tourists. Don’t go to Europe! Come to friendly countries including Sri Lanka! Spend your money here! 

 
QSri Lanka has become a country relevant to most world powers because of its strategic positioning. They talk about the Indo-Pacific. They talk about the rules–based order. What is your view?

Who invented these rules? Where are the rules? We are speaking about international law. We are not going to commit to any rule other than that. They want to neglect international law. We don’t accept it.   

QWhat is Russia’s perspective?

We would like to see the Indian Ocean peaceful and cooperative based on open equal rights without militarization, without threatening independent countries, without sanctions and so on.   

QBut, the Western powers also say equal rights. Aren’t ’they?

But they have military bases. Why? Their military infrastructure is very close to the Russian Federation. Can you imagine Russian missiles in Mexico? Can you imagine the American reaction? We installed them in Cuba in 1962, America was about to start World War III. They can install missiles close to Russia. But, they don’t allow you to deploy it close to them. Double standards and hypocrisy! It is totally unacceptable.   

We are against military bases in the Indian Ocean. They are against whom? Does China pose any threat to you? I don’t think so. China does not pose any threat to anybody. China is focusing on economic cooperation and helping other countries. They help a lot. That is why we appreciate our relationship with Beijing.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

රටේ මීළඟ ජනාධිපතිවරයා නියත වශයෙන්ම තමන් බවත් එ් බව විශ්වයේ විශ්ව ශක්තිය විසින් තමාට දැනුම් දී ඇති බවත් මහජන උපයෝගිතා කොමිෂන් සභාවේ හිටපු සභාපති ජනක රත්නායක මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

ඇතැමකුට මේය සිනහසීමට කාරණයක් වුවත් එය පරම සත්‍ය බවත් ඔහු කියා සිටී.

ඉන්දියානු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය නරේන්ද්‍ර මෝදි මහතා තමාගේ ඇඳුමට සමාන ඇඳුම් අඳින බවත් නරේන්ද්‍ර මෝදිට පෙර තමන් එම ඇඳුම් ඇඳි බවත් රත්නායක මහතා සඳහන් කලේය.

ඔහු මේ බව සදහන් කරන්නේ අන්තර්ජාල නාලිකාවක සාකච්චාවකට එක්වෙමිනි.

තමන් රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහට, ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂට, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂට, මෛත්‍රීපාල සිරිසේනට කිසිදු දිනක ‘සර්’ කියා අමතා නොමැති බව ද ජනක රත්නායක මහතා එහිදී කියා සිටී.

අද වන විට තමන් සතුව බිලියන 4ක වත්කම් ඇති බව ද ජනක රත්නායක තව දුරටත් එහිදී සදහන් කර ඇත.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

A large group of women who gathered in Colombo in support of Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa’s wife, Jalani Premadasa said they had no idea as to why they had gathered in Colombo.

The women representing Colombo North said they had gathered to protest against a mud-slinging campaign against Mrs Premadasa.

However, most elderly women in the group appeared to be clueless as to why they had gathered in Colombo.  “I don’t know why I’m here. They asked us to come, we came,” one woman said when questioned by reporters.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The sudden shift to organic farming in 2021 by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resulted in a drop of more than 50 percent in paddy yield in the 2021/2022 Maha season, according to a research.

The then government enacted the Import and Export Regulations No. 7 of 2021 which banned the import of chemical fertilizers and other agrochemicals. The government later revoked the gazette notification. The Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute (HARTI) conducted a survey from August to September 2022, comparing the 2020/21 and 2021/22 Maha seasons to identify the effects and consequences of the fertilizer policy changes on rice production, household economy and food security.

The study has found that only three percent of paddy farmers were in support of a complete shift to organic farming, while 46 percent believed only chemical inputs are suitable.

Yield reduction of paddy in the 2021/22 Maha season was more than half when compared to the previous season, a much higher yield loss than expected. Therefore, moving towards complete organic cultivation was not desirable or sustainable. The yield penalties and unmatched price premiums of farm inputs can be multiple threats to food security. There is a need for more environmentally and economically sustainable fertilizer policies but extreme solutions such as a complete ban or restrictive licensing might not be feasible in the short run,” the research paper says.

The move also resulted in five percent reduction in paddy extent cultivated. Besides, 53 percent average yield loss of paddy per acre was reported during the same Maha season.

This study compares the two main paddy cultivating seasons (2020/21 and 2021/22), before and after the import ban, among 625 paddy farmers from 11 districts representing major, Mahaweli, minor and rain-fed irrigation systems. (Kelum Bandara)

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ගෝලීය භූ දේශපාලන හැසිරීම හමුවේ කලාපයේ භූමිකාව හැඩගැස්වීම සඳහා ආසියානු රාජ්‍යයන් හඬක් නැඟීමේ වැදගත්කම ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා අවධාරණය කළේය.

සිංගප්පූරුවේ සහ වියට්නාමයේ නියෝජ්‍ය අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරුන් ඇතුළු ලෝක නායකයන් හමුවේ ජනාධිපතිවරයා මේ බව අවධාරණය කළේ ජපානයේ ටෝකියෝ නුවරදී (25) ආරම්භ වූ ආසියාවේ අනාගතය පිළිබඳ 28 වන ජාත්‍යන්තර සමුළුව (Nikkei Forum) අමතා සිය විශේෂ දේශනය සිදු කරමිනි.

ජපානයේ නික්කෙයි” (Nikkei) පුවත්පත වාර්ෂිකව සංවිධානය කරන මෙම සමුළුව අද (25) සහ හෙට (26) ටෝකියෝ නුවරදී පැවැත්වේ.

ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා මෙහිදී අවධාරණය කළේ ආසියාවේ විවිධත්වය කලාපයේ ආර්ථික වර්ධනයට දායක වන සාධකයක් වන අතර එය සැළකිය යුතු ගෝලීය බලවේගයක් බවයි.

එසේම, ආසියා-පැසිෆික් කලාපය සහ ඉන්දියන් සාගරය අතර වෙනස පිළිබඳව පැහැදිළි කළ ජනාධිපතිවරයා ආසියා-පැසිෆික් කලාපය ව්‍යුහගත කලාපීය සංවිධානයක් වන අතර ඉන්දියන් සාගර කලාපය නැගී එන අවකාශයක් බව ද සඳහන් කළේය.

1955 බැන්ඩුං නුවර පැවති ආසියානු අප්‍රිකානු සමුළුවේ දි සහ ඉන්දියන් සාගරය පිළිබඳ එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ප්‍රකාශනය ඉන්දියන් සාගර කලාපය සාම කලාපයක් ලෙස නම් කර තිබෙන බව සඳහන් කළ ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඉන්දු පැසිෆික් කලාපයේ සබඳතා පෝෂණය කිරීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කැපවීම යළි තහවුරු කර සිටියේය.

ජපාන අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ෆුමියෝ කිෂිඩා මහතාගේ සාමය සඳහා වූ මූලධර්ම සහ සෞභාග්‍යය සඳහා වූ නීති” ප්‍රතිපත්තියට තම පූර්ණ සහාය පළ කරන බව මෙහිදී පැවසු ජනාධිපතිවරයා බොහෝ දෙනා ආසියාවේ ප්‍රගතියට සහ සංවර්ධනයට ප්‍රමුඛත්වය දීමට තීරණය කර ඇති බැවින්, ගෝලීය මහා බලවතුන්ගේ එදිරිවාදිකම්වලදී පක්ෂග්‍රාහීව කටයුතු කිරිමෙන් ආසියානු ජාතීන් වැළකී සිටින බව ද පැවසීය.

චීනය සමඟ ස්ථාවර සබඳතාවක් ගොඩනගා ගැනීම සඳහා ජපානයේ G7 සහයෝගීතා ප්‍රවේශයේ වැදගත්කම පිළිගත් ජනාධිපතිවරයා නිදහස් සහ විවෘත ඉන්දු පැසිෆික්” කලාපයක් සඳහා ජපානයේ දැක්මට සහාය පළ කළ අතර කලාපයේ සාමය සහ සහයෝගීතාව පෝෂණය කිරීම සඳහා ආසියානු ජාතීන් අතර විවෘත සංවාදයක් ද ඉල්ලා සිටියේය.

ගෝලීය ආර්ථිකය තුළ ආසියාවේ සුවිශේෂී කාර්යභාරය සහ කලාපය මුහුණ දෙන අභියෝග ජනාධිපතිවරයා මෙහිදී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

පෘථිවියේ භූමි ප්‍රමාණයෙන් 30%කට ආසන්න ප්‍රමාණයක් සහ බිලියන 4.75 ක් එනම් ගෝලීය ජනගහණයෙන් 60%ක් සිටින ආසියාව ලොව විශාලතම ආර්ථිකය බවට පත්ව ඇත.

ජපානය සහ දකුණු කොරියාව වැනි දියුණු ආර්ථිකයන්ගෙන් ලැබෙන දායකත්වයත් සමඟ චීනයේ දියුණුව සහ ඉන්දියාවේ වර්ධනය වන දේශීය ඉල්ලුම කලාපයේ දියුණුවට දායක වනු ඇති බව ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.

2050 දී ලෝකය” ප්‍රයිස්වෝටර්හවුස් කූපර්ස් වාර්තාව උපුටා දක්වමින් ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා පැවසුවේ ලෝකයේ හොඳම ආර්ථිකයන් 10 තුළ ආසියානු රටවල්, ආධිපත්‍යය දරනු ඇතැයි පුරෝකථනය කර ඇති බවත් ඉන් හතරක් පළමු ස්ථාන දෙකේ සිටිනු ඇති බවත්ය.

මීට අමතරව, වියට්නාමය සහ පිලිපීනය ඉහළම රටවල් 20 අතර සැලකිය යුතු ප්‍රගතියක් ලබා ගනු ඇති බව සඳහන් කළ ජනාධිපතිවරයා යුරෝපයේ සහ උතුරු අමෙරිකාවේ ආර්ථිකයන් සමඟ දැනටමත් සංසන්දනය කළ හැකි ආර්ථිකයක් සහිත ආසියාව, ගෝලීය ආර්ථික බල කේන්ද්‍රස්ථානය සහ වඩාත් ක්‍රියාශීලී කලාපය බවට පත්ව ඇති බව ද පැවසීය.

මෙහිදී ආසියාවේ විවිධත්වය පැහැදිළි කළ ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා සඳහන් කළේ ධනවත් සහ දිළිඳු ආර්ථිකයන්, විශාල උප මහාද්වීපික බලවතුන් සහ කුඩා රාජ්‍යයන් ද ආසියාවට ඇතුළත් බවයි. මෙම විවිධත්වය ගෝලීය වශයෙන් කලාපයේ පිහිටීම ශක්තිමත් කර ඇති බව ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.

කෙසේ වෙතත්, චීනයේ වේගවත් පිබිදීම සහ ජාත්‍යන්තරය තුළ චීනයේ භූමිකාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් එක්සත් ජනපදයට සහ චීනයට එකඟ වීමට නොහැකි වීම හේතුවෙන් උණුසුම් තත්ත්වයක් සහ එදිරිවාදිකම් මතු වී ඇති බව ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා පැවසීය.

පවතින අභියෝග පිළිබඳ අවධානය යොමු කරමින් ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා ප්‍රධාන කරුණු දෙකක් අවධාරණය කළේය. එයින් පළමුවැන්න ලෙස, ආසියාවේ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී වටිනාකම් සහ මානව හිමිකම් පිළිබඳ ඇති ව්‍යාකූලත්වය පිළිබඳව අදහස් දැක්වූ ජනාධිපතිවරයා දේශපාලන ක්‍රමවල වෙනස්කම් සහ මානව හිමිකම් පිළිබඳ එකිනෙකා තුළ තිබෙන අවබෝධයේ විවිධත්වය පිළිබඳව ද පැහැදිළි කළේය.

මූලික දේශපාලන වටිනාකම් පිළිබඳ සම්මුතියකට එළැඹිමේදී ජාතීන්ට අයත් විවිධ පසුබිම් සලකා බැලීමේ වැදගත්කම අවධාරණය කළ ජනාධිපතිවරයා නීති මත පදනම් වූ වැඩපිළිවෙළක් සදහා නීතිරීති පිළිපැදීමේ අවශ්‍යතාව ද අවධාරණය කළ අතර මෙම නීතිරීති අඛණ්ඩව අනුගමනය කරන ලෙස බටහිර රටවලින් ඉල්ලා සිටියේය.

ජනාධිපති වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා විසින් පෙන්වා දුන් දෙවන ප්‍රධාන අභියෝගය වූයේ ආසියාවට සැලකිය යුතු තර්ජනයක් වන දේශගුණික විපර්යාසයයි. ආසියානු කලාපයේ උෂ්ණත්වය ඉහළ යාම හේතුවෙන් දරුණු කාලගුණික වෙනස්වීම් සහ මුහුදු මට්ටම ඉහළ යාම, ආසියානු රටවල ජීවනෝපාය, ආහාර සුරක්ෂිතතාව සහ අපනයන කෙරෙහි බලපෑම් ඇති කරයි. දේශගුණික විපර්යාස හේතුවෙන් බලපෑමට ලක් වූ රටවල් පහළොවෙන් අටක්ම අයත් වන්නේ ආසියාව වන අතර මාලදිවයින, බංග්ලාදේශය, චීනය, ඉන්දියාව, ඉන්දුනීසියාව, මියන්මාරය, පාකිස්තානය, පිලිපීනය සහ වියට්නාමය ඊට අයත් වේ.

ගෝලීය කාබන් විමෝචනය සඳහා ආසියාව සැලකිය යුතු දායකත්වයක් සපයයි. ආසියාව ලෝකයේ කාබන් විමෝචනයෙන් අඩක් පමණ නිපදවන අතර විශාලතම හරිතාගාර වායු විමෝචනය කරන රටවල් 5 කින් සමන්විත වේ. දේශගුණික විපර්යාසවල අභියෝග අවම කිරීම සඳහා කලාපයේ බොහෝ රටවල් දැනටමත් පැරිස් ගිවිසුම සමග අනුගත වී සිටී.

ඒ සඳහා එම සියලුම රටවල් කැපකිරීම් සිදුකර ඇති අතර කලාපයේ ඇතැම් කාර්මික රටවල් විසින් අනුමත කරන ලද කෙටි කාලසීමාවන් මත පදනම්ව කාබන් මධ්‍යස්ථතාවය සාක්ෂාත් කර ගැනීම සඳහා ආසියාව ද පොදු කාල රාමුවකට එකඟ විය යුතු බව ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා යෝජනා කළේය.

ප්‍රමාණවත් අරමුදල් නොමැතිකම නිසා උග්‍ර වී ඇති දේශගුණික විපර්යාස හේතුවෙන් කලාපයේ සිදුවන පාඩු සහ හානියේ බලපෑම සැලකිල්ලට ගනිමින් දේශගුණික විපර්යාසවලට විසඳුම් සෙවීම සඳහා සියලුම ආසියානු රටවල් අතර සහයෝගීතාවයේ අවශ්‍යතාවය අවධාරණය කළ ජනාධිපතිවරයා අනාගත සමුළුවලදී ඒකාබද්ධ ආසියානු හඬක අවශ්‍යතාව ද පෙන්වා දුන්නේය. ප්‍රධාන ආසියාතික රටවල් එකඟතාවකට පැමිණීමේ හැකියාව මත සමුළුවේ සාර්ථකත්වය රඳා පවතින බව ජනාධිපතිවරයා පැවසීය.

COVID-19 අනතුරුව ණය තිරසාරභාවය පිළිබඳ අර්බුදයකට ආසියාතික රටවල් කිහිපයක් මුහුණ දී ඇති අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඉන් වැඩි බලපෑමකට ලක්වූ රටකි. මධ්‍යම ආදායම් ලබන රටක් ලෙස, ණය තිරසාරභාවය පිළිබඳ ගැටළු විසඳීම සඳහා කාලයේ වැදගත්කම ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා අවධාරණය කළේය.

එහිදී ජනාධිපතිවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කර සිටියේ අවදානමට ලක්විය හැකි මධ්‍යම ආදායම් ලබන රටවලට ඇති එකම විකල්පය වන්නේ ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමේදී බහුපාර්ශ්වික සම්බන්ධීකරණය සහ සහයෝගීතාව සහතික කිරීම සඳහා ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලෙ හි සහාය ලබා ගැනීම බවයි.

ඒ අනුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල සමඟ මාණ්ඩලික මට්ටමේ ගිවිසුමකට එළැඹුණු අතර 2023 මාර්තු මාසයේදී විස්තීරණ අරමුදල් පහසුකම යටතේ ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 3 ක ණයක් ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලෙහි විධායක මණ්ඩලය අනුමත කර තිබෙන බව පැවසූ ජනාධිපතිවරයා ශ්‍රී ලංකාව මේ වන විට ණය හිමියන් සමඟ සාකච්ඡා ආරම්භ කර තිබෙන බවත් 2023 අවසන් වීමට පෙර එම සාකච්ඡා සාර්ථකව අවසන් කර ගැනීමට අපේක්ෂා කරන බවත් පැවසීය.

මෙම ක්‍රියාවලියට බහුපාර්ශ්වික නියෝජිතායතන, පැරිස් සමාජ සාමාජිකයින්, ඉන්දියාව, චීනය සහ පෞද්ගලික ණය හිමියන් සම්බන්ධ වන බව ජනාධිපතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව මෙම කටයුත්ත සාර්ථක කර ගැනීම මධ්‍යම ආදායම් ලබන රටවලට ණය සහන සඳහා බහු පාර්ශ්වික සම්බන්ධීකරණය සහතික කර ගැනීමට ජාත්‍යන්තර මුල්‍ය අරමුදල භාවිතා කිරීමට අත්දැකීමක් කරගත හැකි බව ද ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා පැවසීය.

සියලු ආකාරයේ ආර්ථික බලපෑම් ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරමින් ලෝක වෙළඳ සංවිධානයේ හරය වූ නීතිරීති මත පදනම් වූ බහුපාර්ශ්වික වෙළඳ ක්‍රමය ආරක්ෂා කිරීමේ වැදගත්කම ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

බෙදීම් ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කිරීමටත් ආර්ථිකය ඔරොත්තුදීම් සහ සුරක්ෂිතතාවය සඳහා උපාය මාර්ග වෙනුවෙන් හිරෝෂිමා හිදී ජී7 නායකයන් ගත් තීරණ පිළිබඳ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සිය ප්‍රසාදය පළ කර සිටියි. ඒ අනුව ජනාධිපතිවරයා කියා සිටියේ ජී7 කණ්ඩායම, සංවර්ධනය වෙමින් පවතින රටවල් ඇතුළු ගෝලීය හවුල්කරුවන් සමඟ සංවාදයේ යෙදීමට සහ සහයෝගීතා ප්‍රවේශයක් අනුගමනය කිරීමට තීරණය කර ඇති බවයි.

යුක්‍රේන යුද්ධයේ සංකීර්ණ ප්‍රශ්නය පිළිබඳව ද අවධානය යොමු කළ ජනාධිපතිවරයා, එම ගැටුම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ආසියානු ජාතීන් විවිධ මත දරණ බව සඳහන් කළේය.

ඇතැමුන් එය එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ප්‍රඥප්තිය සෘජු ආක්‍රමණය කිරීමක් සහ උල්ලංඝණය කිරීමක් ලෙස සලකන අතර, තවත් පිරිසක් එය සෝවියට් සංගමය බිඳී යාම සහ එම ගැටලුව විසඳීමට යුරෝපයට ඇති නොහැකියාව නිසා පැන නගින වඩාත් සංකීර්ණ ගැටලුවක් ලෙස සළකන බවත්, කෙසේ වෙතත් මෙම ගැටුම අවසන් කිරීම සඳහා පොදු එකඟතාවයක් වෙනුවෙන් අවබෝධාත්මක සංවාදයක් අවශ්‍ය බව ජනාධිපතිවරයා පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

එක්සත් ජනපද-චීන එදිරිවාදිකම් සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් දැක්වූ ජනාධිපති වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා අවධාරණය කළේ ආසියාව එක්සත් ජනපද – චීන එදිරිවාදිකමේ තීරණාත්මක සාධකය බවට පත්ව ඇති බවයි.

මෑත කාලයේ එම එදිරිවාදිකම තීව්‍ර වීම නිසා එක් අතකින් QUAD (ඇමරිකා එක්සත් ජනපදය, ඉන්දියාව, ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාව සහ ජපානය අතර) කලාපයත්, අනෙක් පසින් ඉන්දු-පැසිෆික් කලාපය සහ (BRI) එක තීරයක් – එක මාවතක් ඇති විය.

එක්සත් ජනපද-චීන එදිරිවාදිකම් සම්බන්ධයෙන්, ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා අවධාරණය කළේ මේ බලවත් රාජ්‍යන් දෙකෙන් එකක් තෝරා ගැනීමට ආසියාතික රටවලට බල කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය නොවන බවයි. එසේම ආසියාන් රටවල් සහ චීනය අතර ආර්ථික අන්තර් රඳා පැවැත්ම ඉස්මතු කළ ජනාධිපතිවරයා ආසියාව දෙකඩ කිරීමට විරුද්ධත්වය ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

ආසියානු කලාපයට අවශ්‍යව ඇත්තේ ඉන්දු පැසිෆික්, BRI (එක තීරයක් – එක මාවතක්) සහ ආසියාන් දැක්ම උකාහගත හැකි ආසියාවක් බවද ජනාධිපතිවරයා පැවසීය.

ඉන්දියානු සාගර රාජ්‍යයන් මෙහෙයවන එකම මූලධර්ම වන්නේ 1955 බැන්ග්ඩුන්ග් හි පැවති ආසියානු අප්‍රිකානු සමුළුවේ ප්‍රතිඵලයක් වන ඉන්දියන් සාගරය සාම කලාපයක් ලෙස නම් කිරීමේ එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ප්‍රකාශනයයි. 2017 වසරේ පැවති IORA නායක සමුළුවේදී මෙය නැවත ප්‍රකාශ කරන ලදී. එබැවින්, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඉන්දියානු සාගරය – අපගේ අනාගතය නිර්වචනය කිරීම” 2018 සමුළුව කැඳවූ අතර යාත්‍රා කිරීමේ නිදහස, ගුවනේ පියාසර කිරීම සහ මුහුද යට කේබල් පිළිබඳ ගිවිසුමක අවශ්‍යතාවය එහිදී ඉස්මතු කළේය.

ඉන්දු-පැසිෆික් කලාපයේ බහු ස්ථර සම්බන්ධතාවයක් සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාව කැපවී සිටින බවත්, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ෆුමියෝ කිෂිඩාගේ සාමය සඳහා වූ මූලධර්ම සහ සෞභාග්‍යය සඳහා වූ නීති” ප්‍රතිපත්තියට ජනාධිපතිවරයා පූර්ණ සහය පළ කරන බවත් ජනාධිපති වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා පැවසීයසෞභාග්‍යය සඳහා වන රීතිවලට අනුකූලව, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ආර්ථික ලිහිල්කරණයේ ඉහළ මට්ටමක් සාක්ෂාත් කර ගැනීමේ අරමුණින් කලාපීය විස්තීරණ ආර්ථික හවුල්කාරිත්ව ගිවිසුම (RCEP) හි සාමාජිකත්වය සඳහා ඉල්ලුම් කරන බව ඔහු පැවසීය.

චීනය සමඟ ස්ථාවර සහ ඵලදායී සබඳතාවක් ගොඩනඟා ගැනීමට ගෙන ඇති G7 ස්ථාවරය ශ්‍රී ලංකාව පිළිගන්නා බව පැවසූ ජනාධිපතිවරයා, එයට ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ පූර්ණ සහයෝගය ලබාදීමට සූදානම් බවත්, එය සාමකාමී වාතාවරණයක් උදාකර ගැනීමට ඉවහල් වන බව ද ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

ජපානයේ සහයෝගී ප්‍රවේශය අගය කළ ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා ජපානය, චීනය, ඉන්දියාව සහ ආසියාන් රටවල් අතර විවෘත සංවාදයක් සඳහා ඇරැයුම් කළ අතර එය සාමකාමී සහ සමෘද්ධිමත් ආසියානු කලාපයක් බිහිවීම සඳහා තීරණාත්මක සාධකයක් වනු ඇති බව ද පැවසීය.

– ජනාධිපති මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

In his address at the Nikkei Forum on the Future of Asia in Tokyo, President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that Asia has become the global economic powerhouse and the most dynamic region, with its economy already comparable in size to those of Europe and North America.

President Wickremesinghe highlighted Asia’s significance as the world’s largest economy, home to 60% of the global population and a major contributor to global growth. He emphasized the region’s potential for continued growth, supported by China’s recovery, India’s domestic demand, and the contributions of advanced economies like Japan and South Korea.

President Wickremesinghe also focused on trade integration, debt sustainability and the risks faced by Asian countries, emphasizing the importance of upholding the rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, rejecting economic coercion and decoupling. 

As such, the President underscored three major challenges faced by Asia as democratic values and human rights, climate change, and trade integration. 

“It is regrettable that as many as eight of the fifteen countries affected by climate change are from Asia,” he added.

Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe emphasized that Asian countries should not be forced to choose between big powers highlighting the economic interdependence between ASEAN countries and China.

President Wickremesinghe, addressing the Nikkei Forum also supported a cooperative approach by Japan and called for open-ended dialogues among Japan, China, India and ASEAN, adding that it is crucial for the emergence of a peaceful and prosperous Asian region.

Courtesy Adaderana

Addressing the Nikkei Forum on the Future of Asia in Tokyo, a short while ago, President Ranil Wickremesinghe highlighted Asia’s significance as the world’s largest economy, home to 60% of the global population, and a major contributor to global growth. 

He emphasized the region’s potential for continued growth, supported by China’s recovery, India’s domestic demand, and the contributions of advanced economies like Japan and South Korea.

President Wickremesinghe also highlighted three major challenges facing Asia in his address at the Nikkei Forum in Tokyo, the President’s Media Division reported. 

He said democratic values and human rights, climate change, and trade integration are key challenges and emphasized the importance of respecting the diverse political systems and definitions of human rights across Asian countries.

President Wickremesinghe emphasized that Asia has become the global economic powerhouse and the most dynamic region, with its economy already comparable in size to Europe and North America’s economies.

In his address, he also stressed on climate change, which poses significant threats to Asia, adding that rising temperatures in the region, leading to severe weather events and rising sea levels, are impacting the livelihoods, food security and exports of Asian countries.

President Wickremesinghe’s speech focused on trade integration and debt sustainability and highlighted the risks faced by Asian countries, emphasizing the importance of upholding the rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core, rejecting economic coercion and decoupling.

He emphasized that Asian countries do not want to be forced to choose between big powers and highlighted the economic interdependence between ASEAN countries and China and expressed opposition to the bifurcation of Asia.

President Wickremesinghe supported a cooperative approach by Japan and called for open-ended dialogues among Japan, China, India, and ASEAN, adding that it is crucial for the emergence of a peaceful and prosperous Asian region.

A single Asian voice devoid of disharmony needs to be present at COP 28. The success of this conference will depend on the ability of the key Asian nations to come to an agreement,” he said.

Sri Lanka welcomes the pledge made at the G7 Hiroshima Leader’s Communique to reject decoupling and its strategies in favour of economic resilience and economic security. To this end, the G7 has undertaken to engage in dialogue and follow a cooperative approach within the group as well as with global partners – including developing countries,” said President Wickremesinghe, adding that it is appropriate that the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core be upheld.

The President said that by mid-century, rising waters will impact nearly a billion people in the Asia-Pacific region. He told the Nikkei Forum, It is regrettable that as many as eight of the fifteen countries affected by climate change are from Asia.”

Courtesy Adaderana

Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe says that collective policy measures are painful for businesses and households and that such measures are imperative to prevent devastative impacts of the soaring inflation and economic instability, and to restore economic conditions that are essential for economic stakeholders.

Speaking at the National Policy Symposium for promoting investments and entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka in Colombo this morning (25), Weerasinghe mentioned that the recent economic crises resulted in numerous uncertainties and instability in the country, which directly affected investments and business sentiments.

The CBSL chief, who pointed out that the sharp rise in inflation eroded the profitability of the entrepreneurs, also emphasized that it hampered new investment due to lower investable profits.

Sharp rise in inflation, which is a key interest of businesses, eroded the profitability of the entrepreneurs and hampered new investment due to lower investable profits.”

Inflation is the number one enemy for any economy, as we experienced. Now it’s coming down gradually”, he added.

The CBSL recognized the need to restore price stability interest of low inflation to ensure macroeconomic stability, he said, added that it is the key objective to decisive measures to control the rise in inflation, and also balance of payments.

Speaking further, Dr. Weerasinghe stated that two of the issues that the country had, were the rise in inflation and the foreign exchange crisis, noting that the CBSL has taken very decisive measures to curtail and prevent inflation from rising further.

We have taken very decisive measures to curtail and prevent inflation rising, going out of control and went to the peak of 70%, now it’s under 30% that certainly will be a single digit by the fourth quarter of this year with the measures that we have implemented.”

Collective policy measures are painful for businesses and households. In the short run, such measures are imperative to prevent devastative impact of rising inflation and economic instability to restore economic conditions that are essential for economic stakeholders including the businesses and entrepreneurs”, he added.

The CBSL chief also highlighted that it is important to understand that short-term painful measures are necessary to restore long-term economic stability.

Dr, Weerasinghe, commenting on the businesses, mentioned that the restrictions on imports are gradually being relaxed, and some restrictions on capital transactions will also be relaxed and that both will facilitate businesses in the near future. 

He also emphasized that they have already removed margin deposit requirements on imports adding that there will be further relaxations with the situation improving both stable exchange rates and also low inflation.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Ranil Wickremesinghe today (May 25) expressed his appreciation for the support extended by Japan to Sri Lanka for the economic recovery process.

He conveyed this during the bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo.

We have made remarkable headway as far as the debt restructuring talks are concerned,” Reuters quoted President Wickremesinghe as saying.

He has also expressed confidence that the island nation should be able to conclude the newly-launched debt restructuring talks by September, or November at the latest.

Citing a Japanese official, Reuters said the meeting between the two leaders, their first since last September, is unlikely to generate a new initiative but both sides would take a stock of the efforts to restructure debt.

President Wickremesinghe also met with former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga this morning and invited Japanese investments while outlining the economic recovery in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan leader also attended a breakfast meeting hosted by former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and the Japan-Sri Lanka Association in Tokyo earlier today, the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported.

President Wickremesinghe’s meeting comes after Japan, India and France jointly unveiled a common platform for talks among bilateral creditors to co-ordinate debt restructuring.

The island nation defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time in its history in April last year as the worst financial crisis since independence from Britain in 1948 crushed its economy.

The IMF called this week for timely restructuring pacts with the country’s creditors. The global lender said Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic situation was improving, although earlier it had predicted the economy would contract this year.

-with inputs from Reuters

By Rohana R. Wasala Courtesy The Island

The Jerome Fernando escapade, if rightly handled, will provide a golden opportunity to neutralise external threats to the prevailing peaceful religious coexistence in the Sinhalese Buddhist majority Sri Lanka. I hope that the fair minded reader will not immediately condemn me as a Sinhalese racist and a Buddhist extremist for stating a rational expectation in those terms based on facts. I am proud of my Sinhalese race, as an individual born to parents considered racially Sinhalese, but I never hold myself as superior or inferior to people of other races, but only as equal to them as humans. I outgrew religion at the young age of sixteen and now, in my sunset years, I still remain firm in those my early convictions. I have always tried to follow the secular moral principles intrinsic to Buddhism which inspires the ethical culture into which I was born. 

Over the past many days, a maverick Christian pastor (rumoured to be of the Born Again sect) by the name of Jerome Fernando, a self-styled prophet, has been hogging the attention of the media, especially the social media, for insulting the Buddha and Buddhism, as well as Hindu and Islamic religions by making certain derogatory remarks about them during a sermon or service that he conducted. About the Buddha he asserted that Jesus was the Light that he sought. Unfortunately, hardly anyone among the vociferous critics seems to understand, like I do, that Jerome Fernando is bringing disgrace and disrepute to the noble religion he claims to profess, through what Buddhists are likely to consider his blatant lies, delusional beliefs, and deceptive stratagems. Kirthi Ratnayake (former air force officer turned investigative journalist) said, during an interview with YouTuber Chamuditha Samarawickrema, that Jerome Fernando once before uttered something worse in Sinhala: ‘budun ettha, namuth satyaya nowei/Buddha is true, but not the Truth’. If he is rash enough to judge the Buddha, one can guess how impervious he is to the sensitivities of ordinary Buddhists. Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you (Matthew 7: Verses 1 and 2, NKJV). This is almost identical with Buddhism. Galatians 6: Verse 7 has this: …whatever a man sows, that he will also reap…, which, needless to say, like the above, agrees exactly with the kamma/karma concept of Buddhism.

For the information of Jerome Fernando and the people whom he was trying to mislead, (particularly for the benefit of the latter) I offer the following facts: Gautama Buddha used the metaphor of light for  the Enlightenment he achieved: Declaring aloko udapadi” Light arose”, he rejoiced soon after his Enlightenment. He visited his five  former closest colleagues and co-seekers to share with them what he had discovered: There arose in  me vision, knowledge, wisdom, true knowledge, and light”. That is, light came to him with his Enlightenment. (Incidentally, the traditional Vesak illuminations that you saw in Sri Lanka around May 5 and 6 were for commemorating the Buddha’s Enlightenment, the Arising of the Light.) The Buddha dedicated his life to teaching and guiding people towards seeing the Supreme Truth of Nibbana. Never did he force anyone to accept his teaching and follow it unless they saw for themselves its potential for enabling them to realise the ultimate truth through their own unaided individual efforts. If you are ill, you must take medicines. No one else can take medicines for your illness. You are your own saviour. In the last analysis, this is pretty much what all religions teach their followers (I don’t include Buddhism among religions). Each individual is responsible for their own emancipation (from the unsatisfactory state of earthly existence). ‘Atta deepo bhava/Be a light or lamp unto yourself’ is the essence of the Kalama Sutta to which I will refer later in this essay.

But let’s begin from the beginning. According to news reports published in online sources that I usually access, Vidura Wickremanayake, the minister for Buddhashasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs stated that he was going to take stern action against this person; and president Ranil Wickremasinghe instructed Sagala Ratnayake, presidential advisor and head of the Presidential Task Force to initiate an immediate investigation into pastor Jerome Fernando saying that his irresponsible statements could lead to conflicts that would be detrimental to religious reconciliation. Their assurances ring hollow, though, to say the least. 

Knowledgeable critics such as Dr Wasantha Bandara, spokesperson for the Federation of National Organisations (FNO), says that Wickremasinghe (if he was really serious) should have assigned the task mentioned to the DIG who is equipped with the knowledge, competence and capacity, and has  the necessary personnel to do it,  instead of his close buddy greenhorn Sagala Ratnayake.  As for Vidura Wickremanayake, when he visited the eastern province as minister a couple of years ago, he didn’t care to listen to the grievances of the well known Madakalapuwe Hamuduruwo. (This monk is still conducting his lone struggle against corrupt and inefficient government servants of his area who,  under the influence of the local racist and casteist MPs, neglect to perform their duties properly to relieve the hardships of the innocent poverty-stricken rural residents of a couple of isolated villages there belonging to all three communities; but the minister, on that occasion, did not forget to exchange pleasantries with the very Tamil MPs or their stooges he was complaining against waiting not far from where he was standing to urge the visiting dignitary to look into his legitimate petitions on behalf of those suffering people. Obviously, political considerations prevented the minister from attending to the monk, who later showed the episode in one of his YouTube videos. I derived this information from that video. 

Having said that, in my humble opinion as a genuinely concerned, but not unduly worried, ordinary Sri Lankan, the president’s or the minister’s involvement in this case is not necessary (which, I am sure, is their attitude as well) beyond the point where they  leave the law enforcement authorities to deal with the matter without any improper interference from any quarter in or with the due legal processes.

Father Cyril Gamini of the Catholic Church has told the media that Jerome Fernando has no connection with his church. Some prominent Buddhist monks, Hindu kurukkals, and Muslim maulvis have also roundly condemned the man, while pointing at the existing inter-religious amity in the Buddhist-majority country. However, Jerome Fernando’s proselytising utterances and activities as a born again Christian pastor have different implications for the adherents of the four main religious faiths of Sri Lanka, Christians and Muslims on the one hand, and Buddhists and Hindus on the other. Therefore, they are bound to create distrust and disharmony between the diverse communities. To preserve the unity in diversity that we have enjoyed for many centuries and still cherish, Jerome Fernando must be exposed for what he is, and the poison he has begun spreading must be immediately counteracted.

Although there is no one single definition of religion universally accepted by scholars of religious systems around the world, the most commonly accepted one (particularly, in the West) is what the Oxford Dictionary defines as ‘the belief in and/or a superhuman controlling power, especially a god or gods’. Hinduism and Buddhism cannot be classified as religions according to this definition, though they also have certain specific spiritual concepts and practices considered sacred that inform long established cultural traditions involving ritual observances, shrines, and objects of worship. Emeritus professor of Princeton Theological Seminary Max Lynn Stackhouse provides a definition  of religion that I think might roughly accommodate Buddhism and Hinduism: (a religion is) “a comprehensive worldview or ‘metaphysical moral vision’ that is accepted as binding because it is held to be in itself basically true and just even if all dimensions of it cannot be either fully confirmed or refuted.”

Now the problem is that in less enlightened times believers in religions covered by the Oxford Dictionary definition given above were required to dismiss other religious belief systems that didn’t come within that identification, as ‘heresies’. That term used to be applied to the Dharmic religions of Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. But Abrahamic religions (Christianity and Islam, not to mention Judaism) have moderated that extremist attitude since. Only a few extremists today would hold on to mediaeval ideas which usually led to violence against people of other spiritual traditions whom they considered ‘infidels’. Jerome Fernando may be harking back to that outdated mentality, which was behind zealous, self-righteous conversion movements targeting unbelievers or non-believers who were deemed to be in need of being saved in so-called pagan lands; such proselytising attempts were not always nonviolent. 

In Sri Lanka, freedom of religion is constitutionally guaranteed to all the citizens. A citizen can profess any religion, practise it, teach it, and disseminate its message among others, but through legitimate means. The sort of blatant abuse of Sri Lanka’s most liberal institution of freedom of religious belief and practice that Jerome Fernando is being accused of cannot be expected of a pastor who claims to have been inspired by Jesus’ answer to a question by Nicodemus the Pharisee (a prominent Jew of the time credited with thorough knowledge of the scriptures and great saintliness): Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” in the Gospel according to John 3:3 (NKJV), where this means ‘born again in spirit, not in flesh’. For the Christian believer this is deeply meaningful. A believer who has ‘seen the kingdom of God’ cannot be thought to be guilty of such outrageous conduct as Jerome Fernando is displaying.  By the way, this ‘born again’ idea is akin to the ‘twice born’ (Sanskrit: dvija) sacrament of initiation of a young Brahman’s spiritual journey in terms of Hinduism. Buddhism and the more ancient Hinduism have much in common, and are almost identical in their Dharmic aspect, except that Buddhism has no belief in the existence of an eternal soul (Atman) unlike Hinduism.

(to be continued)

INSIGHT BY SUNIL KUMAR

The aggravating news from Canada is  that the Sri Lankan High Commission in Canada has raised objections to the erection of a monument to commemorate what the Tamil community living there calls “genocide” of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka during the Tamil Tiger insurrection

This follows in the heels of the Media Report about the Canadian Prime Minister’s speech on the 14th of May calling the nearly 4 decade long insurgent uprising by Tamil Tiger Terrorists a Genocide which has raised anger and objections over the Canadian PM’s words from a a vast majority of Sri Lankans both globally and within Sri Lanka as the term Genocide has been wrongly applied to  defensive actions taken by the Government of Sri Lanka against an internal armed insurrection by Tamil Terrorists backed by some of the Tamil Community in a quest for separation and a break up of Sovereign Sri Lanka violating her territorial integrity where there were lives lost in a very intense war of wasted effects by the insurgents and huge losses of life and property where Terrorists inflicted nation destructive damage and the losses were reflected on both sides of the conflict which cannot be termed a Genocide. beyond being an internal armed insurrection which was put down legitimately by a Sovereign Nation in defense of people, territory and property.

The construction of this memorial in the municipal area called ‘Brampton’ in the greater Toronto area has taken place recently although incomplete  but the principle of it seems to rest on the assent of a misguided Mayor of Brampton as well as the Prime Minister who should never have consented to this memorial in the name of Genocide which seems to suggest that it was an act based on the appeasing of the Tamil community in Canada whose voter allegiances are for the ruling Liberal Party where a vast database of Tamil constituents exists, consequently securing their votes for the next election perhaps as the case appears to be.

Despite Sri Lanka’s objection,it appears that Brampton mayor Patrick Brown has granted permission to build this monument to commemorate the lives lost in the Sri Lankan Civil War. It is an area with a large concentration of Sri Lankan Tamils but somewhat myopic and misguided on the part of all concerned authorizing it on the basis of Genocide.

A top official of the Sri Lankan mission in Ottawa has acknowledged that a request for a similar monument had been made to another municipal council, but the mayor had turned it down probably being in possession of his sensibilities and cognizance relative to legality and definition.

The LTTE remains a banned organization in Canada. Therefore, extremist activists don’t use the word ‘LTTE’ in any of their activities  where they indulge in their covert activities underground and are not tolerated in any capacity as a recognized  organization.

by Professor Sunil J.  Wimalawansa

Pre-requisites for economic development and the need for a new constitution

The stagnation of the Sri Lankan economy since gaining independence from the British is striking.  This is due to selfish politicians lacking: a vision for the country, forward-looking policies, and long-term national development plans (e.g., for clean water).  The failure to address social and economic issues and plan and implement future needs via education, agriculture, land reforms, infrastructure development, and judicial system has been a disaster for the county.  

It is disturbing to see the trend of focusing only on short-term policies/projects that provide self-gain for politicians at taxpayers’ expense.  In conjunction with rotten amendments, adding to the flawed 1977 constitution, opened doors for prevailing widespread corruption at each level of the government.  No wonder the country is not progressing.  To achieve success, each of these factors must be addressed candidly, especially replacing the constitution with the abolition of the executive presidency, without loopholes, and assuring the full independence of the judiciary from the executive branch. 

In addition, it is essential to replace outdated laws to improve the social condition and prevent further deterioration of values and the Hela culture.  Politicians are eager to expand the alcohol and tobacco industries and dish out liquor licenses like new year’s gifts to their cronies.  These will not only fatten the pockets of politicians but also increase businesses/profits for hospitals and undertakers.  Such unscrupulous activities by ministers dramatically increase criminal activities and ill health and erode the country’s culture, social, and economic status.  Instead of expanding licenses, it should curtail importing alcohol, enact a law to stop issuing new liquor licenses and revoke 500 licenses each month.  This would allow a gradual reduction of legitimate and controlled outlets to what it had in 1970.

Adverse effects and increasing healthcare costs due to poor decision-making

As described above, a new vision for Sri Lanka and proper decision-making and implementation of projects will lead to major economic and social benefits.  Besides, the positive impacts of seemingly such measures would tremendously impact the well-being of families and the country, reduce healthcare costs, improve law and order, and lessen prison burdens.  Government must have the courage to implement these—if it cannot, it should declare a general election and let others do it.  It must implement what is best for most constituents, despite the objections from conflicted officials, individuals, and groups—influential stakeholders.  The loss of revenue from the loss of liquor licenses and tobacco promotions/advertisements will be more than offset by healthcare savings, less absenteeism and increased productivity, and improved law and order.

Another critical area is the significant harmful effects on the population’s health from the mushrooming of the fast-food (junk food) industry.  Adverse impacts of this mainly affect children from the upper-middle class.  The grossly unwise decision by the government to approve to copy of the failed disastrous junk food system in Sri Lank is a sad story.  A few years ago, the author directly warned the government authorities and via local television discussions about the impending harmful effects of approving multi-national companies selling unhealthy fast food in Sri Lanka (and other developing countries).  These unwholesome foods contain empty calories (loaded with high-fructose and pork fat/lard) with no nutritional value, having a major impact on causing childhood obesity and diabetes. 

These harmful fast-food ingredients include fructose-corn syrup, fried in cheap oil used often, lard (saturated fats), and refried cooking oils (extremely unhealthy) containing trans fat.  These not only increase cancer risks but also obesity, diabetes, reduced immunity, and poor educational performance.  Based on the evidence, the author predicts that mentioned harmful effects will double” every five years.  Deviating from the traditional healthy, Sri Lankan balanced diet by the gullible younger generation, provided by their parents, will be a healthcare nightmare for the country.  Children are carried away (i.e., brainwashed) by falsified television and billboard advertisements.  Parents unknowingly or knowingly feed their children into this disaster: partly to show off their status to peers and to satisfy children’s naïve demands.

Unfortunately, the government and the media support this to generate revenue for themselves but accelerate the impending disaster due to short-term financial gains.  This is conflicted by the taking commissions and bribes with the disguise of generating tax revenue.  Politicians focused on these short-term gains by compromising our children’s and grandchildren’s health—this is not the first time the government failed to put the country first. 

It is time to think about the longer-term negative public health consequences, especially regarding childhood obesity, diabetes and associated mental and physical medical disorders, escalating healthcare costs, loss of productivity, and a significant increase in morbidity and mortality and premature deaths.  With the approval of fast-food industry licenses, the government imposed harmful effects on our children.  It was a dangerous and short-sighted measure to increase revenue and bribes—an act against the health of our children.  One should not copy and blindly implement such harmful measures that will increase the cost of healthcare, which costs more than ten times the expected tax revenue.  The detrimental effects of this poor policy will start manifesting in our society within five years.

It is not too late for the government to reverse this unthoughtful, damaging, and dangerous miscalculation, albeit a profitable short-term business.  Government should consider replacing the fast-food promotions with a campaign to educate the public on using local nutritious food and promote home gardening, as the author’s family foundation (Wimalawansa Foundation) and others have been doing for a while.  Taking the proper actions will prevent billions of rupees from being wasted in years to come.  Emphasis must be on preventative health, not expanding and funding acute care by building hospitals.

Instead of cheap labour, the country should export high-skill jobs

The country should not depend on loans from the World Bank, IMF, or any other lender.  In comparison, expanding the exportation of tea, rubber, coconut, gems, and skilled labour, alone.  It must develop tourism and diversify exports by small and large businesses, especially the manufacturing sector and new ventures to earn more foreign exchange.  Similarly, the country should not depend on remittance from Middle Eastern jobs and reliance on fossil fuels for its energy.  Both these sectors have major uncertainties—sudden changes could lead to a significant punch to the economy.  Unemployment is rising with stagnant entrepreneurs and a lack of creating new jobs.  Consequently, many professionals and skilled workers take their expertise to other countries—Sri Lanka is losing talent.

The government provides little or no assistance or guidance and neglects the welfare and safety of persons going and already serving in Middle-Eastern countries.  Instead, it boasts about the millions of USD remittances it receives.  It has miserably failed to consider the significant negative impact of such labour exports.  These include but are not limited to abuses of men and women, mutilation, deaths, particularly of women, and the significant destruction of their families left behind.  No government organisation, including foreign embassies, are properly monitoring this vulnerable group and taking any tangible actions to prevent destructive practices (e.g., destruction of family units and social destruction) and protect against the abuse of our citizens.  However, while doing nothing to protect this workforce, the government is happy to enjoy the benefits from remittances, disregarding the victimisation of these families.

Many people who had gone for these low-paid jobs in the Middle East had been harassed and abused (physically, sexually, and mentally) and were not fed properly or paid their salaries before returning home.  Despite thousands of complaints, none of the successive governments addressed these serious irregularities and crimes against humanity.  Despite not being paid the agreed amounts for slavery, many had to buy their way out of the misery to come home alive.  Despite these miseries, agents and go-betweens continue exploiting these poor folks to the maximum without protecting them.  What justice!

People who go to Middle East countries under such difficult conditions risk their lives and let their families at home get devastated.  As discussed above, the Sri Lankan government should create skills training opportunities and let the industry generate suitable jobs within Sri Lanka for their employment with reasonable wages.  That will eventually negate the urge to go to the Middle East.  The government has the moral, ethical, and legal responsibility to take substantive steps to do the above, monitor these ill fates, and fix this tremendous problem harming our society.

Exporting higher paid jobs—e.g., allied health to the West

New ways of thinking are necessary to break the vicious cycle of slavery mentality and dependence.  For example, instead of exporting low-wage unskilled (i.e., domestic help and construction work) and semi-skilled labour to middle-east as described above, Sri Lanka should establish training highly skilled labour centres as described across the country.  Highly trained nurses are one example of great demand in Western countries.

Creating specific programs to properly train nurses, a few thousand per year, with high-end skills, like intensive care units and emergency room (ER) experience, so that they can be employed in these counties with over ten times guaranteed salaries than otherwise received in the Middle East.  These higher-paying jobs also come with much respect and safety.  For example, the US alone is currently short of 130,000 trained nurses required annually—the demand continues to increase.  Such training with high-end nursing skills can be accomplished between two to four years of structured, standardised training programs.  This concept is not different from the value-added exports of commodities.

In contrast, the current unskilled labour export to the Middle East with high risks and meagre wages only benefits the intermediaries and the government, not their families.  The above-mentioned proactive measures will provide a window of opportunity for the transition from the current misery to success, minimising social disruptions, improving safety, and overcoming poverty with marked improvement of earning capacities (i.e., over 10-fold higher guaranteed salaries).  These would also benefit the foreign exchange inflow, reduce the deficits, and allow debt servicing without taking additional loans.

Why is Sri Lanka not progressing as expected?

Apart from cheap labour, good weather, and a reasonable percentage of the population’s ability to communicate in English or another foreign language, the Sri Lankan government offers nothing unique to attract FDIC—foreign firms to invest in Sri Lanka.  Despite this, more wealth” and resources are available in Sri Lanka that have not been realised and marketed.  Consequently, investors are hearing only rampant red tape and corruption at a high level, lack of appropriate infrastructure, bureaucratic delays, etc., that reduce the enthusiasm of potential investors.  The Sri Lankan approach had been backward, and must change the negative attitudes and be proactive in messages and offerings to attract FDIC.  These would eventually result in higher-end jobs and more taxes.

Achieving long-term benefits would not come automatically (i.e., no free lunch).  Ad-hoc measures to solve problems will not work for a better future for Sri Lanka.  The country must carefully plan and implement reasonable measures and sustainable and income-generating programs propagated by its foreign missions.  One example in the recent past is the protracted delays and inefficiency (and pilferage) in implementing the post-tsunami reconstructions in Sri Lanka and the lack of accountability for donated funds.  Anyone visiting the affected areas (even now, after 16 months) realises that the small NGOs, charities, and individuals genuinely contribute to the recovery process, housing, job creation, and rehabilitation.  However, the government and large NGOs are taking credit with self-publicity but providing minimal assistance to needy people (No Action, Talking Only—like NATO).

Status of the tsunami funds

Most tsunami relief funds went to the government or international organisations (I-NGOs) like the Red Cross.  Both groups did little work, and the remaining money failed to reach the intended destinations.  Furthermore, some economically-advanced (large) donor countries like the USA, which pledged financial assistance for tsunami relief, never made that promise a reality.  Even after 16 months, it has been estimated that approximately 20% of the needed tsunami reconstruction has been achieved.  Individual donors and small local charities accomplished more than two-thirds of it.  Meanwhile, the government received more than USD 100 million in donations—what happened to that fund is unclear.

Furthermore, the recent exposure of several scandals and investigations highlighted large-scale corruption at high levels of administration—government organisations and large NGOs.  Unfortunately, they failed to implement a practical, cost-effective tsunami reconstruction plan in the country.  This conflicted and unwise decision led to a significant loss of opportunity for the country to construct a series of brand new model cities—e.g., constructing energy-efficient clean cities that Prof PA de Silva and we proposed immediately after the tsunami.  We provided the government with specific ideas and drawings with cost estimates: it did nothing.  Although committees were appointed, little was achieved due to ego-centred thinking, inexperienced committee members, and political bickering and giving construction contracts to cronies without bidding or following.

We estimated that with the money pledged for tsunami reconstruction (assuming it was used correctly), entire tsunami-affected southern and eastern coastal regions would have been rebuilt with energy-efficient, environment-friendly, planned cities by now, without accessing governmental funds.  Yet the governmental organisations failed to consider any of these out-of-the-box, highly cost-effective novel alternative development plans—since there were no commissions, they buried them.  

Instead, the current government opted to do nothing.  It relies on individuals and charities to rebuild homes and villages in the exact locations without future expansion plans, modernisations, or embedding any safety considerations.  In contrast, a well-planned semi-urban development approach that we proposed would have provided comprehensive housing structures and all needs for these self-sufficient mini-cities (including power), given long-term self-sustainable employment, and improved the livelihood and economy.  So, why aren’t these happening and what happened to tsunami funds?

What kind of economy are we referring to?

Sri Lanka must develop more innovative ways of improving its economy.  The hard fact is that many big lenders are not interested in developing the country but focus on the return for themselves.  Their motives for lending money to Sri Lanka and other developing countries contradict what one would expect from them—there is no compassion or philanthropy in lending money.  The condition the IMF is imposing is to push their masters’ globalisation and marketing agenda and ensure they can get the money back.

Ironically, due to heavy pilferage and high overhead costs, only a tiny proportion of the loans or donated funds reach the earmarked projects or go to the intended beneficiaries.  Sometimes, the donor country takes back more than a third of the funds donated or a grant to cover their expert consultation.  Another third is wasted on commissions, luxury travel, and hotel costs for them and their paid consultants.  The situation is similar with most international non-governmental organisations (I-NGOs) that are supposed to help developing countries—many of these are scams to enrich themselves with donated funds. 

Sri Lanka is not different: it has been estimated that these NGOs, less than 20% of the donated funds and 40% of the grant funding used for the intended purposes.  The rest goes into their expenses, administrative and overhead costs (including business class flights and hotel bills for their officials, acquiring expensive high-consumption vehicles and other luxury items, air-conditioned travel, etc.), and for unaccounted itemised as ‘other costs’.  In some instances, money raised from the public was siphoned to do unrelated and unapproved activities like unethical religious conversions.  One example is some I-NGOs’ widespread, ongoing efforts on forceful religious conversion.

Part four addresses loan traps, the inability to service loans, and the possibility of future bankruptcy in Sri Lanka.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

 President Premadasa‘s outrageous attitude to the Eelam war has not received the critical attention it deserves. He did not understand his duty in the matter. As Head of State, his first duty was to protect the territory and sovereignty of the country of which he is the leader.  Instead he took no interest at all in winning the war.

He gave no support to the army and the police, but leant over backward to accommodate the LTTE. The reason is obvious. Premadasa did not want a strong army, he feared a military coup.  LTTE, Premadasa thought, could be used to bolster his position as President. The LTTE strategists knew this and played the game accordingly.

President Premadasa had initially refused to take over the Defence portfolio, saying he disliked getting involved in wars. It was pointed out to him, that under the Constitution the President was also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and it was mandatory for the Defence portfolio to be under him. President Premadasa agreed reluctantly to take over the Defence portfolio, but   did not chair meetings of the National Security Council. Prime Minister D.B. Wijetunge chaired them.  My guess is that he did not attend them at all.

Premadasa’s unilateral decisions, in respect of the LTTE, caused immense harm, said one critic. Premadasa’s blunders caused irreparable losses, said another.  Critics have observed that such outrageous mishandling of a vital national issue would have been grounds for impeachment elsewhere in the world.  

Premadasa’s handling of the Eelam issue was disgraceful. He did not know how to deal with the LTTE and was completely out of his depth. He thought the LTTE was invincible and that the only course of action was to appease them.  He believed whatever the LTTE told him, including their false assurances, and he did exactly as they asked. His chief negotiator A.C.S. Hameed also     supported the LTTE.  LTTE was able to attack and eliminate all rival Tamil groups, during the time of Premadasa.

As soon as he became President, Premadasa released a large number of insurgents from prison. In the process he released a large group of LTTE terrorists, from prison,   including a known bomber.  This was a devastating setback to counter insurgency operations. The military top brass realized the stupidity of this move but did not dare say so.

 In 1989 the LTTE was registered as a political party under the name People’s Front of Liberation Tigers (PFLT) though it was an armed outfit.  Local and foreign journalists were invited by Anton Balasingham to the Colombo Hilton where he announced the emergence of the new political party, reported Shamindra Ferdinando. Balasingham declared proudly that their emblem would be a Tiger in a red flag of rectangular shape,   a few months later, LTTE resumed Eelam War II.

In May 1989 Premadasa started three rounds of talks with the LTTE .Anton Balasingham came from London.  LTTE leaders were brought by helicopter from their hideout in Vanni by the army and accommodated on 8^th floor of the five star Hilton. The army deeply resented this.

 Mahattaya, who was directly       responsible for the attacks on Sinhala border villages and army camps killing so many, attended the third set of talks, dressed in white with broad smile on his face.  Premadasa was highly impressedby Mahattaya. Premadasa had said Mahattaya is a real gentleman, reported Kamal Guneratne.

When Premadasa took over as president, The IPKF was giving LTTE a sound beating. IPKF was winning and would soon rout the LTTE. LTTE used Premadasa to get rid of the IPKF. At the request of the LTTE, President Premadasa asked the Indian Peace Keeping Force, which was giving the LTTE a beating, to withdraw.  This gave the LTTE, who were reeling under the IPKF, a new lease of life.   Premadasa had saved the LTTE

As soon as the IPKF pulled out in 1990, LTTE took control of the north.   In 1990 the LTTE took control of the overland Kandy- Jaffna route used by the military.  This was a great blow to the armed forces. With this route blocked, the government had to send supplies to the army by sea and air.  This placed a great burden on the Navy and added to the costs of the war.

For instance, when the north east monsoon was on, supplies for the army in the east had to be brought to Comar, and then moved overland to Nagathevanthurai and ferried to the east in boats. The Kandy-Jaffna route stayed under LTTE control for the next 17 years.

Premadasa’s other contribution to the ongoing war was to declare a unilateral ceasefire from June 16, 1990. The LTTE used the ceasefire to consolidate their position and continue fighting.  LTTE launched major attacks on Jaffna and Vanni theatres. LTTE overran Kokavil, army abandoned its base at Kilinochchi, and LTTE then got the army to vacate Mankulam.  The largest number of amputees were from the 1991 Akunu Pahara.  

During the ceasefire, LTTE built bunkers within firing range of security establishments.  Premadasa lifted restrictions on a range of materials, including cement, and LTTE use this to fortify their bases.   

They continuously provoked and humiliated the army knowing that the army could not retaliate. Premadasa had instructed the army not to do anything that could be considered hostile.   LTTE imposed restrictions on the military, detained officers who defied their diktat, and said that all movement between security forces in the Jaffna peninsula should first be approved by them.  

LTTE did not care much for Premadasa either. When Hameed went to negotiate with the LTTE on behalf of Premadasa, in the 1989-90 period, on his return, the LTTE had been firing indiscriminately at Palaly airfield, while he was walking towards his plane.

Premadasa actually ordered the Sri Lanka army to give a large stock of arms, ammunition and equipment to LTTE, ignoring the pleadings of the military. This is unbelievable but true, it is mind boggling, but it happened.

In April 1989, truck loads of brand new weapons and ammunition imported from China still wrapped in polythene, were handed over to the LTTE. The transfer took place deep in the jungles of Vanni  , in the Weli oya region close to Mullativu jungles.  This was done secretly and no one knew until the media broke the news. Bradman Weerakoon has learnt about it from the Island newspaper.     Gotabhaya Rajapakse, Tassie Seneviratne and Cyril Ranatunge independently confirm that this weapons transfer took place.  

Senior officers at Weli Oya handed over weapons, while soldiers watched with deep resentment. LTTE took  the weapons with greetings, warm hugs and arrogant smiles. But we knew that these weapons would be   used against us later, said Kamal Guneratne.  These   weapons were indeed used against the Sri Lanka army later.

 Some soldiers had tried to steal a few weapons and ‘honest soldiers who did not approve of this untrustworthy and un- officer like behavior’ had informed the authorities and the culprits were punished severely.

The army in the meanwhile received step motherly treatment from Premadasa. Instead of beefing up the military presence in the north Premadasa   restricted the military presence in Jaffna and Vanni to two battalions. The LTTE acquired   arms and ammunition supplied by the Premadasa government, but the state military received nothing, observed critics. 

Had Premadasa allowed the military to strengthen itself during the 14 month long truce, the LTTE would not have been able to seize the north at the onset of Eelam War II. In 1990 they lost the A9 main supply route. LTTE also took Kokavil in 1990 Army vacated Kilinochchi and Mankulam in 1990 thereafter.  The Sri Lanka Army lacked the strength to oppose. It did not even have adequate transport to move troops from the south to the north and east.

Premadasa allowed the LTTE to execute 600 police officers. This was a shameful episode and should never be forgotten. This is how it happened.

While ‘peace talks’ were going on in Colombo in 1990 and the LTTE  delegation  was housed in five star hotels under the protection of the STF, LTTE cadres had surrounded the police stations at  Batticaloa, Kalmunai, Vellaveli, Valachenai, Kalavanchikudi, Eravur, Samanthurai, Akkaraipattu  and ordered the police to surrender.

LTTE had assured Premadasa that the policemen would not be harmed, they would be taken to Ampara and released.   Premadasa ordered IGP Earnest Pereira to direct the policemen to surrender.  The policemen surrendered.  LTTE took them to Tirukkovil jungle and killed them. They were made to lie face down, blindfolded with hands tied, then bullets were sprayed into them.   A farmer who had been ordered to bury the bodies had seen this.

At Kalmunai Ivan Boteju, ASP refused to follow the Presidential directive.  Botejue had by then, completed his compulsory spell in the operational area but had volunteered to carry on as no one was willing to take his place.   His unit had already successfully fought off the LTTE in November 1989.  He and his men opted to face that LTTE, saying that if they surrendered they would be tortured and killed.  

Botejue ordered his men to take up positions  and requested air and military support.The LTTE attacked Kalmunai police station and policeman returned fire in defense. Volleys of fire and defiant words were exchanged.  There were more causalities on the LTTE  side even though the LTTE had more sophisticated weapons, gifted them by President Premadasa.

When the police were ordered to surrender, Botejue walked out of the police station with his men, sobbing and obeying. Tassie Seneviratne suggests that Ivan Botejue be honored posthumously.   He would have risen to be DIG, because if he had left the area, he would have got his promotion.  

Seneviratne   observed that there is no official record of this event.  If an inquiry had been launched immediately after President Premadasa died, then the story would have come out, he said,  but successive governments  had not inquired into this matter.. It was unlawful to issue an order to surrender when death was imminent.

These police officers should be considered war heroes and their families duly compensated   and their names publicized.The families have so far not received the compensation due to them. Seneviratne points out that it is it is not too late even now to conduct an inquiry.

 Seneviratne also said that Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan (Karuna) had been directly involved in the massacre of these 600 police men. Karuna had denied this. Seneviratne alleged that there was evidence to show that Karuna was involved.   Presidential commission to investigate missing persons has been asked in 2014, to look into this matter. Particularly whether compensation, salaries, pensions were paid to the families and whether these policemen have been honored posthumously.  ( Continued)

Shenali D Waduge

There are several aspects to this issue that need to be understood. Firstly, is the need to ascertain whether Eelam is a quest originating from Tamils or handed to them to use as a political ploy, if so do these external elements continue to control that project. Secondly, are other external players also involved in piggybacking on the same project for their objectives. Thirdly, can the Eelamists in reality hold sovereign control over the terrain they seek, having been heavily dependent on external players for support. Fourthly, has the Eelamists weighed these odds but continue the project not to control the aspired Eelam but agreeing to carry out the project of the external players. So the question to be answered is are the Eelamists seeking Eelam as a project of their own/for their own or are they being outsourced to demand an Eelam to be ruled eventually by non-Eelamists.  

To answer the first, it is important to realize that the term Dravidian was coined not by any South Indian but the British missionaries in 1838. It was part of the Church divide and rule policy. It was a movement controlled by the Church and later handed to converted Hindus. Bishop Robert Caldwell is the architect of the term Dravida Naadu. Dravida Nadu for Dravians was launched in 1939 & a map released in 1940. Eventually Dravida Nadu was dropped & We Tamil Movement” for a separate state in Tamil Nadu commenced. Exactly 100 years after the Dravidian term was coined the Justice Party in India sought a separate Tamil state in 1968.

A Malaysian Christian imported the same separatism to Sri Lanka & spearheaded the Church agenda. This clearly shows that all of the slogans and claims by Tamil politicians vis a vis separatism was spoonfed to them by the Church. Therefore, naturally we need to ask, whether the current demands continue to be spoonfed by the same sources and is their goal the same? To answer this both Tamil Nadu & Sri Lanka must acknowledge the heavy presence of Church-funded organizations/individuals and movements who are the mouthpieces of the current eelam” demand & ensure the project goes as planned.

The all-important unanswered question is was LTTE outsourced this Church project or did the Church take over it at some point in time? However, the historical background from the Dravidian movement proves that the Church was heavily involved in every separatist” demand whether in India or Sri Lanka. They either directly promoted it or indirectly fanned it.

The Church is a subsidiary of the Western neo-colonial agenda – which means the Eelam project is part of the Western geopolitical agenda and does not seek to fulfil any Tamil aspirations except use it to forward their plan.

Rev. Jegath Gaspar Raj the Catholic priest is accused of secularizing Hindu folklore.

The other external player is India.

India’s involvement came having trained Tamil militants, though it is anyone’s guess as to why India did so, but the manner India forced the Indo-Lanka Accord & 13a with clauses advantageous to India & not Tamils, revealed a second player into the scene riding on the Eelam quest to secure India’s geopolitical goals, on the mantra India’s security concerns” and strengthened by protecting our Tamil brothers & sisters”. Slogans that were of self-interest but secured diplomatic & political pressure over Sri Lanka. Using the slogan, India has exerted and vested control over vast terrains across Sri Lanka and currently influences every sphere of industry & polity. The removal of the former Eastern governor & the appointment of an inexperienced pro-Indian estate Tamil who rushed to the Indian High Commissioner immediately after appointment signals the control India now exerts. With India placing its agents in key spots while also exerting influence over economy, industry, culture & even education, we now see an influx of Hindu radicals claiming Buddhist heritage sites in the North & commencing a bogus Ramayana Trail/placing siva lingams & Ram Centres across the country as another means of vesting control over the terrain. It is only a matter of time that the demand for implementation of 13a in ful,l will re-emerge having placed their people in positions that would declare defacto Eelam” under Indian control.

How many follow India’s foreign policy objectives vis a vis Chanakya/Kautilya and now the Arkhand Bharath/Hindustan (Greater India encompassing Sri Lanka) promoted by RSS yogi tipped to succeed present Indian PM.

How this will gel with the West-Church agenda is yet to be seen. Both both parties are using the QUAD partnership to penetrate into Sri Lanka’s every nook & corner & secure control for themselves. This agenda does not intend to fulfil any Tamil aspirations too.

Let us presume that the West & India genuinely wish to give Tamils their Eelam? Do Tamils think that they will stop their interventions & incursions & allow Eelam lobbyists to rule in peace? Have Tamils not taken stock of the magnitude of interferences and interventions that the GoSL has to put up with? Does the Eelam Government” think they can run a sovereign state without similar interferences? If they too are confronted with the same or worse interventions, how are they to deal with them? Have the Eelam Politicians” thought about this scenario? Can they really rule an Eelam without falling prey to the same pressures that GoSL faces?

The 4^th scenario, we guess, is an outcome of the realization of the 3^rdscenario by the Eelam lobbyists, who are all living in foreign climes and promoting Eelam while happily domiciled on western shores. Given that the original separatist project was orchestrated by the West, passed pillows over the decades to various movements & players, it is natural that a project fostered over 170 years was eliminated by Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces in just 3 years. It was a major blow not only to their overall plan but to their psyche too. This should explain the revenge coming in the form of UN Resolutions & Western sanctions & bizarre allegations like genocide”. Only those who know the background to this story understands the rationale behind these attacks.

The eelam lobbyists can decide to adopt 2 options. Eelam lobbyists know too well that the West/India can take action against them instantly so the counter measure is to adopt a you scratch our backs, we will scratch yours” approach. All the above players take turns or together screw Sri Lanka. The Eelam lobbysts are thus functioning in an outsourced role on behalf of West/India while also gaining grounds for themselves. In the meanwhile, the Eelam lobbyists have been smart enough to infiltrate the upper echelons of their countries & holding key decision making positions while the West/India are making inroads into Sri Lanka. This is what is taking place post-2009. If you notice, its now a competition between all 3 players.

The terrain is now reducing. This makes the stakes higher. However, Sri Lanka’s Parliament & police advisors are clueless about any of these manoeverings & little bothered so long as they can siphon Sri Lanka daydreaming to be in power thereafter.

Or wlll the Nationalists win back all that has been taken & rule over entire Sri Lanka without hindrance?

Shenali D Waduge