Sri Lankan High Commission in India

Continuing his efforts to enhance dialogue with Heads of Mission of Islamic countries concurrently accredited to Sri Lanka from New Delhi, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Milinda Moragoda presented copies of the Sinhala translation of the Holy Quran to the Ambassador of Morocco to India Mohamed Maliki.

The impressive Sinhala translation of the Holy Quran, published by the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU) of Sri Lanka, was presented to the Moroccan Ambassador at the High Commission of Sri Lanka.

Ambassador Maliki highly appreciated this gesture of goodwill and stated that a copy of the Sinhala translation will be sent to Morocco to be kept in the Quran collection of the University of Al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, one of the leading spiritual and educational centres of the Islamic Golden Age and the oldest continuously operating, degree-granting university in the world.

The High Commission is planning to present copies of this Sinhala translation of the Holy Quran to other Heads of Mission of Islamic countries who are accredited to Colombo from New Delhi as well.

Previously, the High Commission had presented copies of the Sinhala Quran to the Jama Masjid of Delhi and the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (Council of Muslim Theologians of India).

In keeping with the “Integrated Country Strategy for Sri Lanka Diplomatic Missions in India”, the policy roadmap of High Commissioner Moragoda, the High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi has been promoting dialogue with all major religions in India.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් Slave Island ලෙස හැදින්වූ  කොම්පඤ්ඤවීදිය සිංහල, දෙමළ, ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා ත්‍රිත්වයෙන්ම කොම්පඤ්ඤවීදිය” ලෙස භාවිතා කිරීමට අදාලව නිසි සංශෝධනයන් කිරීමට කඩිනමින් පියවර ගන්නා ලෙස අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක මහතා රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලන ස්වදේශ කටයුතු, පළාත් සභා හා පළාත් පාලන අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම්වරයාට උපදෙස් දී ඇත.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතාගේ උපදෙස් පරිදි හැත්තෑපස් වෙනි නිදහස් දිනයට සමගාමීව ගෙන ඇති මෙම තීරණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් තැපැල්පතිවරයා හා කොලඹ මහ නගර සහාවේ නාගරික කොමසාරිස්වරයා ද දැනුම්වත් කර තිබේ.

සිංහල හා දෙමළ භාෂාවෙන් කොම්පඤ්ඤ වීදිය ලෙස භාවිතා කළ ද යටත් විජිත සමයේ එම පෙදෙස හැදින්විමට යොදාගත්  Slave Island යන නාමකරණය මේ දක්වා ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් භාවිතා කෙරේ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

“නීතියේ සිංහල නුගමුල” ෆීනික්ස් නීති සාර සංග්‍රහය

මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණ, දිසා අධිකරණ, මහාධිකරණ, වාණිජ මහාධිකරණ, සුලු හිමිකම් අධිකරණ මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණ ලෙස හැදින්වේ.

රටේ පවතින නඩු වලින් වැඩිම නඩු සංඛ්‍යාවක් කැදවෙන්නේ මෙම අධිකරණවලය. ජනතාව වැඩි වශයෙන් නීතියේ පිළිසරණ පතා එන්නේත්, වැඩි සේවකයන් සංඛ්‍යාවක් ඉන්නේත් මෙම අධිකරණ වලය.

මෙම අධිකරණවල සේවකයන් සමබන්ධ තීරණ ගනු ලබන්නේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව මගින් පිහිටුවා ඇති අධිකරණ සේවා කොමිෂන් සභාව විසිනි.

මෙකී මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණ වල සහතික පිටපත් ලබා ගැනීම, ඇප මුදල් තැබීම, ඇප මුදල් ආපසු ගැනීම සම්බන්ධ කටයුතු වලදී නඩු කියන්නන් සහ ඔවුන්ගේ පවුල්වල අය වැඩි වශයෙන් ප්‍රමාදයට, කළකිරීමට, අයුතු මුදල් වැය කිරීමවලට, සම්බන්ධතා නැති අය නොසැලකිල්ලට හසුවන බව නොරහසකි.

අකාර්යක්ෂම ආයතන අතර මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණ රෙජිස්ට්‍රාර් කාර්යාල රජයේ වෙනත් සාමාන්‍ය ආයතනයකට දෙවැනි වන්නේ නැත.

මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණවල රෙජිස්ට්‍රාර් කාර්යාලවල ප්‍රමාදයන් සහ අයථා ක්‍රියාවන් සිදුවන්නේ අධිකරණ සේවා කොමිෂන් සභාව සුදුසුකම් සහ හැකියාව ඇති අය රෙජිස්ට්‍රාර් කාර්යාලවල සේවයට තෝරා නොගැනීම නිසා වීම එක් හේතුවකි.

කාර්යක්ෂමතාවය ඉහළ පුරවැසියන් අධිකරණ රෙජිස්ට්‍රාර් කාර්යාලවලට තෝරා ගැනීමට අධිකරණ සේවා කොමිෂන් සභාවට නොහැකි වීම රටේම සමාජ ප්‍රශ්නයේ කොටසක් විය හැකිය.

අධිකරණ රෙජිස්ට්‍රාර් කාර්යාලවලට සේවකයන් තෝරාගැනීම් සඳහා අධිකරණ සේවා කොමිෂන් සභාවද සහිත වෙනත් වැඩපිළිවෙලක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට පාර්ලිමේන්තුව නීති පැනවිය යුතුය.

පුද්ගලයන් ලියාපදිංචි කිරීමේ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, ආගමන විගමන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව සහ මෝටර් රථවාහන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ පැවති දූෂණ, නාස්තිය,  අකාර්යක්ෂමතාවය සහ සම්බන්ධතා වැළැක්වූ ආකාරයට මුල් අවස්ථා අධිකරණ රෙජිස්ට්‍රාර් කාර්යාලවත් අකාර්යක්‍ෂමතාවය අවම කළ හැකිය.

අධිකරණ සේවා කොමිෂන් සභා ලේකම් කාර්යාලයට පමණක් තනිව එය කළ නොහැකි බව දිගින් දිගටම පෙන්වා දී ඇත.

පළාත්බද සිවිල් අභියාචනා මහාධිකරණවල,
අභියාචනාධිකරණයේ සහ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ රෙජිස්ට්‍රාර් කාර්යාල ඉහළ මට්ටමකින් කාර්යක්ෂමව, අයුතු ක්‍රියාවන්ගෙන් තොරව පවත්වාගෙන යාම එම අධිකරණ වල සහාය පතා යන අය පිළිගනු ඇත.

අධිකරණ සේවා කොමිෂන් සභාව ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන්ද  සළකා බැලිය යුතුය.

“නීතියේ සිංහල නුගමුල”
ෆීනික්ස් නීති සාර සංග්‍රහය
(2023.0

Courtesy ANI

Beijing [China], February 2 (ANI): After US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland during her visit to Sri Lanka said that the terms extended by China to Colombo for IMF debt relief are not enough, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has now retaliated saying that rather than commenting upon Beijing’s ties with Sri Lanka, US must show some sincerity and actually do something for the island nation.
In a regular press conference on Thursday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said, “What was said by the US side does not reflect the truth. The Export-Import Bank of China has already provided Sri Lanka with a letter to express support for its debt sustainability. Sri Lanka has responded positively and thanked China for that.”
The Chinese spokesperson warned Washington to stop jabbing fingers at China‘s close cooperation with Sri Lanka and stated that US should also help Sri Lanka overcome difficulties.
“As a friendly neighbour and true friend, China has been closely following the difficulties and challenges facing Sri Lanka and providing assistance for its economic and social development to the best of our capabilities. As to Sri Lanka’s debt to the Chinese side, China supports relevant financial institutions in having consultations with Sri Lanka to seek a proper settlement. China stands ready to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions and continue to play a positive role in helping Sri Lanka navigate the situation, easing its debt burden and helping it achieve sustainable development,” Mao Ning said in the regular press conference.
China‘s offer to Sri Lanka of a two-year moratorium on its debt is not adequate to clear the way for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to allow a funding program, Daily Mirror reported citing diplomatic sources.
Citing sources, the news report said that the IMF needs more assurances from China to secure IMF board approval for the bailout package for Sri Lanka. Earlier, China‘s Foreign Ministry said that the Export-import Bank of China (EXIM) has extended debt to Sri Lanka.
In the early weeks of January, the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka slammed the US after an American diplomat called China a ‘spoiler’ to Sri Lanka’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a recent interview.
Notably, Julie Chung, the US Ambassador to China took a jibe at Beijing in an interview with UK-based television network, BBC Newsnight and said that the US is hopeful that China would not delay extending support for Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process, as the island nation does not have time to delay, Colombo Gazette reported.
“For the sake of the Sri Lankan people, we certainly hope China is not a spoiler as they proceed to attain this IMF agreement,” Chung had said further.
In a press release on Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka retaliated at Chung’s remarks and called them as “baseless accusing and lecturing.” It further lashed the US envoy for putting the blame on China for being the “spoiler” to Sri Lanka’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Instead of sowing discord between Sri Lanka and China, China questioned in its release why the US did not take decisive action in the IMF for a more comfortable solution for Sri Lanka. (ANI)

Lanka Lead News

පසුගිය දා රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ජනාධිපතිවරයා 13 සම්පූර්ණයෙන් බලාත්මක කරන බව පවසා එමගින් රට නොබෙදෙන බව ප්‍රකාශ කළ ද එය සිදුවන්නේ කෙසේදැයි නොපැවසූ බව ආචාර්ය ගුණදාස අමරසේකර මහතා පවසයි.

ලබන 08 වැනිදා ජනාධිපතිවරයා 13 සම්පූර්ණයෙන් බලාත්මක කිරීමේ යෝජනාව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කරන  බව කියා ඇති බවත්, ඔහු මෙයින් විශාල ප්‍රයෝගයක් කිරීමට උත්සාහ දරන බවත් ගුණදාස අමරසේකර මහතා සදහන් කරයි.

ඒ මහතා මේ බව පැවසුවේ ජාතික සංවිධාන එකමුතුව විසින් අද(02) පැවැත්වූ මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ඡාවකට එක්වෙමිනි.

කලකට ඉහත මාක්ස්වාදීන් බොහෝ දෙනෙකු මෙම 13 වැනි සංශෝධනය බලාත්මක කළාට රට බෙදීමක් සිදු නොවන බව හේතු දෙකක් උඩ පළිගත් බව ඔහු සදහන් කරයි. එනම් උතුරට බලතල ලබාදී වෙනම රාජ්‍යක් බවට පත් කළ ද ඔවුන්ට එය පවත්වාගෙන යාම සදහා ආර්ථික ශක්තියක් නොමැති බව හා ඉන්දියාව කිසිසේත්ම උතුරේ වෙනම රාජ්‍යයක් ඇති කිරීමට කැමැත්තක් නොදැක්වීම යන කාරණා දෙක උඩ එකල මාක්ස්වාදීන් මෙම කාරණය නොපිළි ගන්නා ලද බව ඒ මහතා පවසයි.

එහෙත් මෙම මත දෙකම අද වන විට මිත්‍යාවක් බවට පත්වී ඇති බව ඉන්දියාව හැසිරෙන ආකාරයෙන් සනාථ වන බවයි අමරසේකර මහතා පවසන්නේ.

13 සංශෝධනය හරහා බෙදී වෙන්වී ගිය පසුව උතුරේ වෙනම රාජ්‍යයක් පාවත්වාගෙන යාමට අද ඔවුන්ට ආර්ථික ශක්තියක් ඇති බවද, ඉන්දියාව විසින් උතුරේ විවිධ ව්‍යාපෘති මේවන විට ආරම්භකර ඇත්තේ තමන්ට වාසි අත්වන ආකාරයටම බවද ගුණදාස අමරසේකර මහතා සදහන් කරයි.

උතුරේ ඊළාම් ආර්ථිකය ශක්තිමත්කර ගැනීම සදහා කන්කසන්තුරේ හා ත්‍රිකුණාමල වරායන් ඔවුන් මේ සදහා අනිවාර්යයයෙන්ම යොදාගන්නා බවත්, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දකුණට සියලු ආර්ථික සම්පත් මේ නිසා අහිමිවන බවත් ඒ මහතා මෙහිදී පෙන්වා දෙයි.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

-Millions continue to be allocated for past heads of state in 2023 with a bulk of it going towards the maintenance of their state homes and vehicles

-The state has to allocate for 4 past Presidents, namely Chandrika Kumaratunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Hema Premadasa, wife of the late Ranasinghe Premadasa also gets a budget allocation under this category

With 2022 bringing on an economic disaster for Sri Lankan citizens, one would expect the Treasury to reduce its budget allocations for 2023 in almost all areas where it can.

However, according to figures released by the Treasury exposing the budget allocations for 2023, little has been reduced from last year and in some instances the allocations have only increased since 2022.

One such area is the facilities offered to former Presidents. According to official figures, millions continue to be allocated for the past heads of state in 2023 with a bulk of it going towards the maintenance of their state homes and vehicles.

Currently, the state has to allocate for 4 past Presidents, namely Chandrika Kumaratunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Hema Premadasa, wife of the late Ranasinghe Premadasa also gets a budget allocation under this category.

Chandrika Kumaratunga –

Official figures show that for 2023, the Treasury has allocated Rs.1 million 170,000 as retirement benefits for Chandrika Kumaratunga, which is the same figure allocated for 2022. Under an area titled ‘Other’, Kumaratunga has been allocated a further Rs.3 million 500,000 for 2023 which is an increase compared to the Rs.3 million allocated for 2022 and Rs.1.4 million allocated for 2021. Under the capital expenditure, Kumaratunga has been allocated Rs.1 million under ‘Buildings and Structures’ which is the same amount allocated for 2022.

A massive Rs.10 million has been allocated for vehicles in 2023 compared to the Rs.2 million allocated for 2022.

Mahinda Rajapaksa

Official figures show that for 2023, the Treasury has allocated Rs.1 million 170,000 as retirement benefits for Mahinda Rajapaksa, which is the same figure allocated for 2022. Under an area titled ‘Other’, Mahinda Rajapaksa has been allocated a further Rs.11 million for 2023 which is an increase compared to the Rs.10 million allocated for 2022 and Rs.6.8 million allocated for 2021. Under the capital expenditure, Mahinda Rajapaksa has been allocated Rs.1 million under ‘Buildings and Structures’ which is the same amount allocated for 2022.

A massive Rs.10 million has been allocated for vehicles in 2023 compared to the Rs.2 million allocated for 2022.

Mahinda Rajapaksa also recently shifted back to the Wijerama Road Residence in Colombo 7 offered by the state which was repaired at a whopping Rs.800 million, even amidst the economic crisis. The state residence in which he had temporarily shifted into along the Bauddhaloka Mawatha while the Wijerama residence was being uplifted has now been allocated to his brother, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was forced to leave office in July 2022 due to his mismanagement. In fact, experts say the economic crisis spiraled further out of control under his presidency with people having to stand for hours in queues for their basics including medicines and food. He now lives in a luxurious state bungalow provided by the state.

In 2022, the Treasury had allocated Rs.70 million for the Office of the Prime Minister when Mahinda Rajapaksa was the Premier under ‘Overtime and Holiday Payments’, a reduction from the Rs.74 million allocated in 2021. For ‘travel expenses both domestic and foreign’, the Treasury allocated Rs.12 million in 2022, a reduction from the Rs.37 million allocated for 2021.

Under ‘maintenance expenditure’ for 2022, Rs.229 million was allocated by the Treasury to maintain the office of the Prime Minister compared to the Rs.213 million allocated for 2021.

Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as the Prime Minister in May 2022 following nationwide protests against Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the government.

Maithripala Sirisena

Official figures show that for 2023, the Treasury has allocated Rs.1 million 170,000 as retirement benefits for Maithripala Sirisena, which is the same figure allocated for 2022. Under an area titled ‘Other’, Sirisena has been allocated a further Rs.11 million for 2023 which is an increase compared to the Rs.10 million allocated for 2022 and Rs.7.9 million allocated for 2021. Under the capital expenditure, Sirisena has been allocated Rs.1 million under ‘Buildings and Structures’ which is the same amount allocated for 2022.

A massive Rs.10 million has been allocated for vehicles in 2023 compared to the Rs.2 million allocated for 2022.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Official figures show that for 2023, the Treasury has allocated Rs.1 million 170,000 as retirement benefits for Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Under an area titled ‘Other’, Gotabaya has been allocated a further Rs.10 million for 2023. Under the capital expenditure, Gotabaya has been allocated Rs.1 million under ‘Buildings and Structures’. Rs.2 million has been allocated for vehicles in 2023.

Hema Premadasa

Official figures show that for 2023, the Treasury has allocated Rs.780,000 as retirement benefits for Hema Premadasa, the wife of Ranasinghe Premadasa, which is the same figure allocated for 2022. Under an area titled ‘Other’, Hema has been allocated a further Rs.1 million 500,000 for 2023 which is an increase compared to the Rs.1 million 300,000 allocated for 2022 and Rs.770,000 allocated for 2021. Under the capital expenditure, Hema has been allocated Rs.1 million under ‘Buildings and Structures’ which is the same amount allocated for 2022.

A massive Rs.5 million has been allocated for vehicles in 2023 compared to the Rs.800,000 allocated for 2022.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Chief Prelates of the Three Chapters have accused President Ranil Wickremesinghe of confusing the country following his statement on the implementation of the 13th Amendment.

In a letter addressed to the Head of State today (02 Feb.), the religious leaders deemed the 13th Amendment as a piece of legislation that gives rise to serious concerns pertaining to the country’s national security, territorial integrity and its independence.

They further noted that by implementing the 13th Amendment, police and land powers too, will be devolved to Provincial Councils, and thus asserted that the Amendment should not be enforced at all.

Last month, President Wickremesinghe expressed the Cabinet’s willingness pertaining to the full implementation of the 13th Amendment.

Accordingly, he stated that the 13th Amendment will be implemented, in full, unless it is decided by the Party Leaders as to whether or not the Amendment should be abolished.

Attached below is the relevant letter received by Wickremesinghe from the Chief Prelates;

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka Police have decided to file an appeal against the recent release of Wasantha Mudalige, convener of the Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF),  from the charges filed against him under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

Accordingly, Police Spokesman Nihal Thalduwa stated that the Police Headquarters today (02 Feb.) requested the Attorney General to submit an appeal, in accordance with all relevant legal provisions, against the recent judgment given by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court.

Meanwhile, Mudalige today held a special press conference, during which he claimed that several high-ranking police officers attempted to kill him while he was in custody, adding that it was all part of a pre-meditated plan.

Mudalige was arrested on 22 August 2022, on charges filed under the PTA, and was released from these charges after being detained for 162 days under the PTA, by Colombo Chief Magistrate Prasanna Alwis, on the grounds that the accused was not found to have committed any offices under the PTA.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Paris Club of creditor nations is ready to provide financing assurances to Sri Lanka, a key step needed to unlock a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The group of bilateral lenders is set to soon” announce its support to the crisis-hit nation on a debt overhaul, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because talks are private.

Sri Lanka entered into a staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last September, but needs financing assurances from key bilateral lenders before the fund’s executive board approves the programme.

China and India, both not permanent Paris Club members, are top bilateral lenders to the crisis-hit country.

India previously committed to help ease the debt burden of neighbour Sri Lanka as part of the IMF programme, while China’s Eximbank offered a two-year moratorium in a letter sent to the island nation in January.

While the IMF has not yet provided any guidance on where the lender stands regarding China’s assurances to Sri Lanka, a U.S. official visiting Colombo said on Wednesday that Beijing has not done enough.

What China has offered so far is not enough. We need to see credible and specific assurances that they will meet the IMF standard of debt relief,” U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told reporters. The U.S. is the largest IMF member.

Source: Reuters

Shenali D Waduge

The Indo-Lanka Accord was signed to end the ethnic conflict”.

The 13^th amendment was to constitutionally end the ethnic conflict”.

Both were failures because the solutions became the problem. The solutions had vested interests & agendas in mind & became political footballs that were never meant to be solved. It is for this reason that both Indian Govt & Sri Lankan Govt must agree to bury the Indo-Lanka Accord & 13A for good. Relations must look at future as scenarios have changed.

Contrary to what is being promoted. The Indo-Lanka Accord does not even mention the word devolution” or even constitutional changes. All that the Indo-Lanka Accord mentions is merging the North & Eastern into one provincial council (NEPC), having an election one later in that merged unit via a referendum to decide if the East wished to remain merged or not. Indo-Lanka Accord does not mention 7 other provinces or even elections in them.

The 13^th amendment was passed in November 1987. It contained 3 lists.

List 1 – Powers to be devolved to the Provinces

List 2 – Powers to be retained by the Centre (Reserved List)

List 3 – Powers to be shared (Concurrent List) but controlled by Parliament.

The 13^thA gave powers to the Centre to control, reduce or even abolish provincial councils.

Given that both Indo-Lanka Accord & 13^th amendment were forced upon Sri Lanka, no one can take offence when the general public demands its removal or non-enactment especially when India failed to fulfill its end of the bargain.  

What is also noteworthy is that the Indo-Lanka Accord & the 13^th amendment was denounced by not only the general public but Prabakaran, the LTTE, pro-LTTE Tamil political parties as well as even the JVP & even MPs of the UNP including R Premadasa who became President a month after passing of the 13^th amendment. It clearly showed, that at the time of implementation only India & pro-Indian lobbies hailed it. Therefore, when initially the majority of the key players denounced the 13^th amendment, why are their stooges demanding its implementation now? JVP even re-launched its terror & carried out an anti-India movement. Even women were forbidden from wearing Indian sarees & Indian products were banned by JVP.

The 13A was passed in November 1987 with an election to be held in the merged NE in 1988. LTTE called for the boycotting of elections, but with Indian-help EPRLF won securing 41 of the 71 seats in the NEPC. Varatharaja Perumal became NEPC’s one & only Chief Minister.

Elections were eventually held 20 years later in 2008 after the East was liberated by Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces.

President Premadasa struck a deal with the LTTE to force IPKF withdrawal in 1990 while the armed forces were tasked to deal with the JVP. LTTE eventually killed off a generation of Tamils while the JVP eliminated a generation of Sinhalese. One of the key reasons for LTTE to object to the 13A and merger of NE was that India had decided to create its own militant force & a group of pro-Indian loyalists. Varatharaja Perumal was the Indian-selected Chief Minister while Dayan Jayatilake was an Indian-selected Minister in the merged NEPC. DayanJ was well aware that the Tamil National Army created under Perumal was funded & trained by RAW to eventually replace LTTE. Perumal, Dayan Jayatilake & other Ministers all fled to India. Dayan J has jumped from EPRLF, UNP, PA, UPFA and now to SJB.

EPRLF was created in 1981 by Pathmanabha, Douglas Devananda, Varathaja Perumal & Suresh Premachandran. LTTE & EPRLF clashed. LTTE has killed over 600 EPRLF members.

Clashes between LTTE & IPKF intensified. By March 1990 President Premadasa requested IPKF to exit Sri Lanka. It is noteworthy that at the time of IPKF being asked to exit, Perumal declared an independent eelam on 1 March 1990.  President Premadasa imposed direct rule on 25 March 1990. Pathmanabha was flown from Trinco to India in an Indian military craft but on 19 June 1990 EPRLF office in Chennai was attacked by LTTE – Pathmanabha & 8 others were killed.

Perumal, Dayan Jayatilake & other Ministers all fled to India. Dayan J has jumped from EPRLF, UNP, PA, UPFA and now to SJB.

President Premadasa will be remembered for 2 key decisions – declaring the British envoy Gladstone persona non grata for interfering in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs & nullifying the UDI by Perumal & taking the NE Province under the control of the Centre. 

Clearly the Indo-Lanka Accord & 13A were influenced by India & promoted by Indian bootlickers. Basically, India held control over the NEPC via Perumal & his key Ministers. Therefore, NEPC was never created for the benefit of the Tamils nor did it ever benefit the Tamils as even the key Members were towing what India wanted. Therefore, if anyone has a grievance over the annulment of the NEPC by the Centre in 1990 it is only India & the Sri Lankans who were members of the NEPC at the time. 

It is poignant that the 45 member Mangala Moonesinghe Committee appointed to look into the 13A & requested public submissions did not have proposals by the UNP, the SLFP or the LTTE. The interim report was released in January 1993 but it was not endorsed by the Tamil parties. 

Noteworthy are the dates that coincided with the proposals & explains eventual outcomes. 

·      August 1994 Peoples Alliance wins General Elections. 

·      October 1994 LTTE-PA talks. UNP Presidential Candidate Gamini Dissanayake assassinated. November 1994 PM Chandrika wins Presidential Election. Talks collapse between LTTE & Eelam War III commences in April 1995. 

·      Devolution proposals in Aug 1995 – keywords plural society” united Sri Lanka” union of regions” spearheaded by GLPieris & Neelan Tiruchelvan. 

·      January 1997 a British legal firm drafted a constitutional model proposed by Tamils on the Thimpu talks. It was clearly an attempt to constitutionally carve out what militarily LTTE was trying to do.

While the UN Charter enshrines sovereignty & territorial integrity of Member States, the UNSC Resolution 1244 of June 1999 reaffirms commitment to sovereignty & territorial integrity of all States. Thus, the Kosovo UDI undermines these 2 key provisions & sets a bad precedent. Ironically, DayanJ who was a Minister under Perumal who called for UDI in NEPC was Sri Lanka’s representative in Geneva at time of Kosovo UDI.

In February 1990 – PM V P Singh informed Indian HC to Colombo Mehrothra to inform Perumal to dissolve the NEPC. Mehrotra passed the task to his deputy S Jaishankar, the First Secretary who met Perumal on 28 Feb 1990. Perumal said India had no business telling him what to do. Perumal & Pathmanabha decided on a UDI of Tamil Eelam.

If Prabakaran knew that India would never allow the formation of a Tamil Eelam as it would run counter to India’s interest, why is the TNA and LTTE fronts insisting on Tamil Eelam?

If India was not interested in a Tamil Eelam why was India spending Rs.2.5m per month to administer Perumal’s NEPC & maintain a Tamil National Army to replace LTTE?

If India created the merged NE & created provincial govt in the NE with its puppet Chief Minister, why did India simply dump Perumal & the EPRLF? The moment that happened, LTTE began taking over areas vacated by IPKF, EPRLF members were slaughtered, pro-LTTE Tamil Nadu Chief Minister exerted power to dissolve the NEPC which Perumal refused & the last straw came with Congress losing elections in India & RAW removing all equipment handed by India, thus leaving Perumal to sort out a problem India had created & dumped on him & departed. 

With India no longer molly-cuddling EPRLF, Perumal & his men were left at the mercy of the LTTE. LTTE had its own convention about the same time that Perumal declared UDI.

Premadasa adverturism, arming LTTE to chase IPKF, Tamil Nadu favoring LTTE & undermining EPRLF, Indian Central Govt initially supporting EPRLF & then leaving it to fend for itself are some of the reasons for the skirmishes that have resulted as all entities ventured into 13A with other agendas & thus it was bound to fail & did fail & should not be revived for the wrong reasons & agendas again. 

Lessons that Sri Lanka must take & not negotiate on are – never to withdraw armed forces in any part of the territory of Sri Lanka, never permit a foreign presence on Sri Lankan soil.

Shenali D Waduge

Dilrook Kannangara

In 1971 there were more than 20,000 ethnic Sinhalas were living in the Jaffna District alone. None of them lived on rent. They had their own properties as with everyone else in Jaffna. However, after the TULF election win in July 1977, Tamils attacked Sinhala people in the north during Black August 1977, evicted them permanently and grabbed their properties which Tamils occupy to this date.

Having robbed Sinhala property, Tamils repeated the same act of robbery against Muslims in August 1990. It is also called Black August 1990. The number of Muslims evicted is estimated to be 100,000. Their movable and immovable property was looted by Tamils. None has been returned still.

Although LTTE was blamed for terrorizing Sinhalas and Muslims, LTTE holds no land. LTTE simply hold no land today! These Sinhala and Muslim land in the north are illegitimately occupied by Tamils today. Not the LTTE.

Before demanding 13A land powers, Tamils must hand back these looted properties to Sinhalas and Muslims from whom they were looted. If not, 13A land powers will reward the looters and make this land robbery permanent.

What’s worse is the same template may be used by Tamils against Sinhalas in Colombo, Nuwara Eliya, Negombo, etc. in time to come.

The government has no mandate to fully implement 13A. It must get a fresh mandate for the purpose. If Tamil tribal demands continue, the day Sinhalas will also demand their own Sinhala Only nation cannot be too far away. What is good for the goose must be good for the gander.

Shenali D Waduge

first published in 2019
A Framework for the Constitution of the Union of Ceylon” prepared in 1994 by a firm of British solicitors (Bates, Wells and Braithwaite) for the Sri Lanka Peace Support Group an entity within the Centre of Policy Alternatives.

Constitution. Illustration: Ratna Sagar Shrestha.THT

What is interesting about this proposal is that it lays out the nuts and bolts of a confederate structure; a concept that many are unfamiliar with but elements which are being peddled through the present constitution giving rise to the reality that this new constitution is certainly not drafted in Sri Lanka by the people whom the government claims to have appointed and none of the proposals that were requested by the public have been taken into consideration. A careful reading of the 1994 proposal compared with the clauses being presently promoted and the slogans used will clearly reveal that these documents have been kept ready until their ‘men’ have been brought into power by regime change. For these reasons and more the citizens of Sri Lanka must reject this new constitution.

The letter sent by the British solicitors to both President Kumaratunga & Prabakaran is enclosed

http://www.sangam.org/FB_HIST_DOCS/UKLetters.htm

Cover letter http://www.sangam.org/FB_HIST_DOCS/UKMessage.htm

The full text of the proposal

http://www.sangam.org/FB_HIST_DOCS/UKProposal.htm

The proposal by the British firm was on the request of an entity known as Sri Lanka Peace Support Group formed within the Centre for Policy Alternatives. Guess who members of this group consisted

• Radhika Coomaraswamy
• Sunila Abeysekera
• Sunil Bastian
• Sunanda Deshapriya
• Rohan Edrisinha
• Kethesh Loganathan
• Jehan Perera
• Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
• Jeevan  Thiagarajah
• Joe William
• Javed Yusuf

http://www.uthr.org/Peace/PSG_on%20_peace_talks.htm

Their statements from 2000 to 2006 are available on the CPA website – http://www.cpalanka.org/peace-support-group-psg-statements-2000-to-2006/

The Group issued an open letter for the 2001 elections http://www.island.lk/2001/11/04/featur09.html and the proposals they make clearly indicate where their allegiance lies.

In 2002 Daily News featured an article by Centre of Policy Alternatives Director Rohan Edrisinha titled Meeting Tamil aspirations within a united Lanka”. http://archives.dailynews.lk/2002/06/24/fea01.html

Salient points covered in his article is important to understanding who is peddling the new constitution and what the real gameplan is.

Edirsinha makes reference to the banned LTTE front leader of Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, Rudrakumaran who was also the lawyer for LTTE referring to the need for Tamil self-determination as part of a political solution. Edirisinha agrees to that right.

Interesting is the quote maximum devolution within a united country seemed to be the philosophy behind a proposal submitted to President Kumaratunga and Prabakaran” on 20 December 1995 prepared by a British law firm Bates, Wells & Braithwaite on request of Sri Lanka Peace Support Group.

Don’t know where era Edirisinha was living in as he claims the ‘proposal basically provided for a confederation the Union of Ceylon consisting of two internally autonomous states, one for the Tamil area (north east of the country) and the other for the mainly Sinhalese areas’.

The other areas that the proposal covered were

Apart from foreign affairs, external defence and security monetary policy and currency, maintenance of relations between the states and a few other matters, each state would have the power to adopt its own constitution which would have to endorse certain core principles set out in the Preamble to the Constitution and entrenched clauses on human rights, while setting out its own structure of government, have its own Prime Minister and exercise complete autonomy in all other areas.”

It provided for a Central Council of the Union to exercise power with respect to the reserved subjects and to provide a channel of communication and co-ordination between the two states consisting of an equal number of representatives from the states. The Council would appoint a President and Deputy President of the Union from amongst its members for a specified time with agreed alternation between representatives of each state.”

The citizens of the union would share a common nationality and have the freedom of movement and the right to reside and work in any part of the union.”

The proposal provided for a Constitutional Court consisting of an equal number of judges from each state and a suggestion that one or more non-Ceylonese judges of international repute be included as well. The main function of the Court would be to interpret the Constitution and to ensure state compliance with the provisions of the preamble and the human rights provisions of the Constitution.”

Under a provision titled ‘Referendum & Guarantees’ the proposal provides each state to conduct a referendum to ‘modify the powers of the Union affecting that State’. Is this not another means for UDI?

What is bizarre is that it also included provision in implementing the Constitution and maintenance of peace between the 2 States guaranteed by the United Nations!

This law firm was suggesting to create two independent & sovereign entities confirmed in the Preamble that relations between the 2 States would be governed according to the ‘applicable principles of international law & justice’.

It is shocking that a British law firm would continue to refer to Sri Lanka as ‘Ceylon’ and questions which era they are living in. However, the elements proposed clearly tally with the present elements of the new constitution putting those who come before us as being the persons drafting the constitution to ridicule!

Shenali D Waduge

first published in 2019

RADHIKA DESAI: Hi everyone, and welcome to this Geopolitical Economy Hour. I’m Radhika Desai.

MICHAEL HUDSON: And I’m Michael Hudson.

RADHIKA DESAI: Every fortnight we are going to meet for an hour to discuss major development in the fast-changing geopolitical economy of our 21st-century world.

We’ll discuss international developments. We’ll discuss their roots in individual countries and regions. We will try to uncover the reality beneath the usually distorting representation of these developments in the dominant Western media.

We plan to discuss many subjects: inflation, oil prices, de-dollarization, the outcome of the war over Ukraine which is going to determine so many things, the threats the U.S. is making against China about Taiwan, China’s increasingly prominent role in the world, how China’s Belt and Road Initiative is going to reshape it, how Western alliances and the Western-dominated world that was built over the past couple of centuries is so rapidly fracturing.

We’ll discuss financialization, the West’s productive decline. Many important things. Michael, am I leaving any important things out?

MICHAEL HUDSON: Well we have been talking about this for many decades. Already in 1978 I wrote a book, Global Fracture, about how the world is dividing into two parts. But that time, other countries were trying to break free so they could follow their own developments.

මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශය

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නව ප්‍රංශ තානාපති ජොංෆ්‍රැන්සුවා පැක්තෙ මහතා අද(1දා)දින සුහද හමුවක්  සඳහා  මහජන  ආරක්ෂක ඇමති ටිරාන් අලස් මහතා හමුවීමට මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශයට පැමිණියේය.

ප්‍රංශ – ශ්‍රි ලංකා රාජතාන්ත්‍රික සබඳතා පිළිබඳව මෙම හමුවේදී සාකච්ඡා වූ අතර තවදුරටත් එම සම්බන්ධතා ශක්තිමත් කරගැනීම සඳහා සිය පූර්ණ සහය ලබා දෙන බව ප්‍රංශ තානාපති ජොංෆ්‍රැන්සුවා පැක්තෙ මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

එහිදී ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් නීති විරෝධී සංක්‍රමණිකයන් ලෙස ප්‍රංශයේ දූපත් වලට ඇතුලුවීම වැලැක්වීම සඳහා ගත හැකි ක්‍රියාමාර්ග පිළිබඳවද මෙහිදී සාකච්ඡා කළේය.

මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය ටිරාන් අලස් මහතාගේ ඉල්ලීම පරිදි ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොලිස් නිළධාරීන් සඳහා පුහුණු වැඩමුළුවක් සංවිධානය කිරීමට සහයෝගය දැක්වීමට ප්‍රංශ තානාපති ජොංෆ්‍රැන්සුවා පැක්තෙ මහතා මෙහිදී එකඟ විය.

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

හිට්ලර් කෙනෙක්වී හෝ රට නොකඩන්න

ජනවාරි 27 දා පක්ෂ නායක රැස්වීමේදී රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ ජනාධිපතිතුමා  විසින් ගෙවිඳු කුමාරතුංග මන්ත්‍රීවරයා ඔහුට කල තියුණු අභියෝගයට (confrontation not challenge) දැක්වූ ප්‍රතිචාරය, ලංකාවේ නූතන මැකියාවේලි කෙනෙකුගේ දේශණයක් (lecture) නොව යමෙකු ඔල්මාදයෙන් (delusion) කල හැසිරීමක් වැනිය කියා මට සිතුනි.  13-A මර උඟුල (death trap) ගැන දශක දෙකක සිටම විමසිල්ලෙන් සිටින අයෙකු වශයෙන් මට සිතේ. 

මේ පිළිඹඳව විග්‍රහයක් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම අපගේ යුතුකමය.  රනිල් ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ මනස ගවේශණය කිරීමට හෝ පෙබරවාරි 4 දා ඔහු මොන අන්ඩර දෙමළයක් කියාවිදැයි  අනුමාණ කිරීමට නොහැකි හෙයින් ඔහුගේ කතාව ප්‍රශ්ණ තුනක් වශයෙන් හඳුනාගෙන සළකා බැලීම යෝග්‍ය සේ පෙනේ:

(1). ඔහු ගේන තර්ක පොදුවේ පොලොව මත දැනටමත් ඔප්පුවී ඇති යථාර්ථයට පටහැනි මනස්ගාත නොවේද?

(2). රනිල් නම් පංචස්කන්ධය අතීතයේදී 13-A මර උඟුල නමැති විෂයට අදාලව පුද්ගලිකව ක්‍රියාකර ඇති ආකාරය පිළිඹඳව පොදු ලියකියවිලි වල වාර්තා ගතව තිබෙන ශාක්ෂි මොනවාද? (තොප්පිගල කියන්නේ කැලයක්, සල්ලි තියෙනවා නම් ඕනෑම ගොනෙකුට යුද්ධකරන්න පුළුවන් (ලක්ෂ්මන් කිරිඇල්ල) වැනි කතා මතක් කර ගැනීම)

(3). 13-A+ යනු 1923 සිට යන ඊළම් ගමනේදී ගන්නට ඉතිරිව තිබෙන අන්තිම පියවර නොවේද? (රාජා වනසුන්දර නඩුකාරතුමාගේ වචනවලින් කියනවා නම් 13-A වනාහි ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට උඩින් එල්ලා තිබෙන කඩු තුඩකි. එම කඩු තුඩ එල්ලා තිබෙන්නේ නූල් පොටවල් කිහිපයකිනි)

මෙම ලිපියේ 1 කොටස 1 වෙනි ප්‍රශ්ණයට පිළිතුරකි.

ගෝඨාභය-රනිල්-දිනේෂ් සුසංයෝගය

සිය ප්‍රතිවාදියා මෙන් දිගටම වහල් ක්‍රමය පවත්වා ගන්නට ජනාධිපති චන්දයේදී පොරොන්දුවූ ඒබ්‍රහම් ලින්කන් පසුව වහල් ක්‍රමය නැතිකරන්නට දරුණු යුද්ධයක් කලා මෙන්, පලස්තීනයේ යුදෙව් ජනාවාස ඇතිකල ඒරියල් ෂැරෝන් පසුව එම ජනාවාස බලෙන් ඉවත් කර යුදෙව්වන්ගෙන් මරණ තර්ජනයට ලක්වූවා මෙන්, ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ නිලලත් හා නොලත් භාරකාරයෙක් සේ උඩින් හා යටින් ක්‍රියාකල රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා, ගෝඨාභයගේ අගමැතිවූ විට, මා සිතුවේ, ඔහුද සිය පරණ පව් සෝදාගෙන, සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනයාගේ මිත්‍රයෙක් වේය කියාය. ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ හාමුදුරුවන් විසින් පෙන්වා දුන් අන්දමේ, යම් ජීවිත අවදානමකදී  ඕ මයිගෝඩ් යයි ඉබේටම කටින් පණින වර්ගයේ (තෙම්පරාදු/ඩොනමෝර්) බෞද්ධයෙක් වෙනුවට, <බුදු අම්මෝ බෞද්ධයෙක්> බවට පරිවර්තනය වෙනු ඇත කියාය.

වෙස්වලාගත් භාග්‍යය – ජන සභා සංකල්පය

මෙම අදහස තවත් තහවුරුවූයේ හිටපු කතානායක කරු ජයසූරිය (හා වික්ටර් අයිවන්) යටතේ ජන සභා ක්‍රමයක් පිහිටුවනවා යයි ඇමෙරිකාවේ සමන්තා පවර් ඉදිරියේ ඔහු දුන් ප්‍රතිඥාව නිසාය (එය ගෝල්පේස් අරගලයේ <නිර්පාක්ෂික>, jvp හා පෙරටුගාමී යන කොටස් තුනේම ඉල්ලීමක්ද විය). ඊට හේතුව රට වට්ටවා ඇති, රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලන, ආර්ථික, සමාජීය/සදාචාරත්මක අඝාධයෙන් ගොඩ ගැනීමට මූලික පියවරක් වන්නේ ජන සභා සංකල්පය වන නිසාය. නියමාකාරයට (meaningful) ජනයාට ගම් මට්ටමින් බලය පවරා දීමෙන් (empowerment of people not separatist politicians) දැනට වල දමා ඇති (buried, not dead) ද්‍රවිඩ බෙදුම්වාදීන්ට හා දකුණේ සිංහල හොරුන්ට රන් ආකරයක්වී (gold mine) තිබෙන  පලාත් සභා නමැති සුදු අලියා මරා දැමිය හැකිවන නිසාය.

Emperor’s new clothes (රජ්ජුරුවන්ගේ යට ඇඳුම)

ඉහත සඳහන් කල ප්‍රතිචාරයෙන් සිදුවූයේ තම ව්‍යාජ දේශපාලන රඟපෑම රටටම එලිදරව්වීම බව ජනාධිපති රනිල්ට නොතේරුනු බව නිසැකය. රැස්වීමේ සිටි, තමන්ට මොහම්ඩ් රාජිත යයි කියනවාට කැමතියි යනුවෙන් වරක් ඇමෙරිකාවේ බොස්ටන් නගරයේදී කිව් රාජිත හා චන්ද්‍රිකාට වඳින කුමාර වෙල්ගමට අමතරව, ජීනීවා වලට පැන ගිය යහපාලන ඔරුමිත්තනාඩුකාරයෙක්වූ මාක්ස්වාදී ජයම්පති වික්‍රමරත්න හා ක්‍රිස්තියානි ඩොලර් ngoකාරයෙක් වන  ජෙහාන් පෙරේරා  (මේ දෙන්නාම අයිලන්ඩ් පුවත් පතේ රනිල්ට ප්‍රශස්ති ගායනා කිරීමට ඉදිරිපත් විය) හැරුණුවිට, අනිත් හැමෝම රනිල් රජ්ජුරුවන්ගේ යට ඇඳුම දුටුවේය. එහෙත් ඉදිරි චන්ද භීතිය ඔවුන්ව ගොළුවන්/ මීයන් කලේය.

රනිල් ගේ කෙස් පැලෙන තර්ක (පැස්බරා වැල්ලේ හිස සඟවා ගැනීම)

*මම විධායකය;

*නීති පොතේ ඇති නීතිය මම ක්‍රියාත්මක කල යුතුය;

*එසේ නැත්නම් එය අහෝසි කල යුතුය, ඒමිසක් අපිට මැද ඉන්නට නොහැකිය;

*අපි ඉන්නේ ඒකීය රාජ්‍යයකයි;

*මම පෙඩරල් රාජ්‍යයකට විරුද්ධයි, බලතල බෙදා දෙන එකට කමක් නැහැ;

* ලන්ඩන් කවුන්ටි කවුන්සිලයට අපේ පලාත් සභාවට වඩා බලය තිබෙනවා;

*මේ රට බෙදන්න මම ලෑස්ති නෑ;

*අපි සිංහලයෝ, අපිට සිංහල ජාතිය පාවා දෙන්න බෑ.

සෙනාලි වඩුගේ ඉදිරිපත්කල අභියෝගය

නීති විද්‍යාව හෝ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය හෝ ද්‍රවිඩ ජනයාට යුක්තිය ඉෂ්ට කරන්නේ කෙසේද යන්න ගැන හෝ ඔහුට දැණුමක් හෝ අවභෝධයක් නැතිබව පෙන්වා දීමට රටවැසියන් දෙදෙනෙක් සමත් විය. රට දැය වෙනුවෙන් කැපවී ක්‍රියාකරණ සෙනාලි වඩුගේ  රනිල් නම් නීතිවේදි ශාන්තුවරයාට  පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ 13-A ට පෙර 1976 වඩ්ඩුකෝඩ්ඩෙයි ප්‍රකාශණය හා 1949 ද්‍රවිඩ  රාජ්‍ය පක්ෂයේ ව්‍යවස්ථාවට (ITAK) 2008 දී කල බොරු සංශෝධනය ඉවත් කරණ ලෙස ඔහුගේ දෙමළ සගයින්ට දන්වන ලෙසය. පෙබරවාරි 4 දාට බැංකි මූන් හා යුක්‍රේනය අවුල්කල ඇමෙරිකන් නිලධාරිනියද කොළඹට පාත්වන නිසා ඒ දෙන්නා ඉදිරියේ රනිල්ට එය කලහැකිය. ලෝකයේ දරුණුම පාවාදීමයයි ස්කොට් ජාතික පෝල් හැරිස්  විසින් පෙන්වාදුන් 2002 සටන් විරාම ගිවිසුමේ කපුවාවූ එරික් සොල්හයිම් නම් දැනටමත් රජගෙදර පරෙයියෙකි (1).

අරුන් සිද්ධාර්ථන්ගේ අභියෝගය

ඔවුන් දෙදෙනාට අමතරව  ඔහුගේ නිදහස් උත්සවයට එන දෙමළ කොටි ඩයස්පොරා හා අනිකුත්  නොයෙක් අයටත් ඔහු විසින් පෙන්වා දිය යුතු වන්නේ අරුන් සිද්ධාර්ථන් නම් යාපනේ චේ ගුවාරා වැනි තරුණයාගේ ප්‍රකාශයය. සියේට 60 ක් පමණවන පහත් කුල යයි, වෙල්ලාලයින් විසින්  වෙනස්කම් කරණ  යාපනේ ජනයාට පොලිස් හා ඉඩම් බලතල අවශ්‍ය නැති බවත් ඔවුන්ට අවශ්‍ය කුල පීඩනය නැතිකර, කොළඹට දෙන දේ අපිටත් දෙන්න (give us what Colombo gets) යන කර්නල් කරුණා මීට කලකට පෙර කරන ලද ඉල්ලීම වැන්නක් බවත්ය. උතුරේ හැම ගෙදරකටම වැසිකිලියක් දෙන්න යන සටන් පාඨය දැනටමත් ඔවුන් රාසමානික්කම් මන්ත්‍රී කොල්ලාට යවා ඇත.

තේසවලාමෙයි ඉඩම් නීතිය නිසා යාපනෙන් පිට අයට පමණක් නොව යාපනේ වෙල්ලාල නොවන දෙමළ ජනයාටද ඉඩම් මිලදී ගැනීමට නොහැකි බව අරූන් පෙන්වා දේ. එකම රටක්-එකම දැයක්-එකම නීතියක් යන තේමාව යටතේ විනිවිද පදනමේ නාගානන්ද කොඩිතුවක්කුගේ ව්‍යවස්ථා කෙටුම්පතට අනුව මෙම තේවසලම නීතිය අහෝසි වන්නේය. ඥානසාර හිමියන්ගේ එක රටක්, එක නීතියක් වාර්තාව ක්‍රියාත්මක කල යුතු මේ නිසාය (මේ පහත් කුල යයි සළකන ජනයා උතුරේ සිටි සිංහල ජනයා යයිද කතාවක් ඇත. මෙය විග්නේශ්වරන්ගේ ආදි වාසී දෙමළ බෞද්ධයා තියොරි එක සමඟද පෑහේ).

Law is (not) an ass.

ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ හිමියන්ට අනුව ව්‍යවස්ථාව කියන්නේ අකුරු ගොඩකි. නීති පොතේ ඇති බොහෝ නීති මළ නීතීය (dead laws). 1957 දී උතුරේ කුල පීඩනය වැලැක්වීම සඳහා පැනවූ නීතිය උදාහරණයක් ලෙස අරුන් පෙන්වා දෙයි (Prevention of social disabilities Act). 2022 දී වඩ්ඩුකෝඩ්ඩේ වල සිදුවු මිනිස් ඝාතනය කුල ප්‍රශ්ණයක් නිසා සිදුවූවක් යයි පොලිස් බී වාර්තාවේ සඳහන් වුවත්, 1957 නීතිය වඩා කාර්යක්ෂම වුවත්, නඩු දැම්මේ ඒ නීතිය යටතේ නොව රටේ සාමාන්‍ය නීතිය යටතේය. මැත් ප්‍රොපෙසර් සුන්දරලිංගම් සිය කෝවිල් පහත් කුලවල ජනයා ඒමෙන් අපවිත්‍රවීම වලක්වන්නට ක්‍රියාකරද්දී මෙම 1957 නීතිය ගෙනාවේ මෙම කුල සංග්‍රාමය නතර කිරීමට විශේෂ බලවත් නීතියක් අවශ්‍යවූ නිසාය. මෙවැනි මළ නීති දුසිම් ගණනින් නීතීඥ රනිල්ට සොයාගත හැකිය. පොතේ නීතිය හා ක්‍රියාත්මකවන නීතිය (law in book and law in action) යයි නීති දෙකොටසක් ලෝකයේ තිබේ.

මේ යුද්ධය නම් කවදාවත්ම දිණන්න බෑ – නිදන කාමරයෙන් එන හඬ

1957 බණ්ඩා-චෙල්වා ගිවිසුම හා 1965 ඩඩ්ලි (JRJ)-චෙල්වා ගිවිසුමේ සිටම ලංකාවේ අගමැතිලා හා ජනාධිපතිලා (විජේතුංග ජනාධිපති හැර) දෙමළ බෙදුම් වාදයට උඩගෙඩි දුන්නේය. බොදු බල සේනාවේ ඥානසාර හිමිඳුන් පෙන්වා දුන් කාරණයක් නම් සිංහල දේශපාලන නායකයින්ගේ නිවෙස්තුල සිංහල බෞද්ධ නොවන ලඟ සාමාජිකයින් සිටීම  නිසා ඔවුන්ට බුදු අම්මෝ බෞධයින්ගේ දුක නොතේරෙනවා යන්නය. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් රනිල්ගේ පියාගේ සහෝදරයාවූ ලක්ෂ්මන් වික්‍රමසිංහ කුරුණෑගල බිෂොප්තුමා චෙල්වනායගම්ගේ අවමඟුලේදී,  චෙල්වා දෙමළ ජනයා මුදාගැනීමට ආ දෙමළ මෝසස් කෙනෙක් යයි  පැවසුවේය. රනිල්ගේ මව බෞද්ධ වුවත් පියා ක්‍රිස්තියානි මාක්ස්වාදියෙක් විය. මේ නිසා රනිල් මැතිඳු වෙල මැද තනිවූ එකම  පව්කාරය නොවේ.  එම ඉතිහාසය නොහොත්, ඩී. ඇස්. සේනානායකගේ සිටම දැන හෝ නොදැන, මෝඩකමට හෝ පුද්ගලික වාසියට මොවුන් සුළු ජනවර්ග වල අතකොළු වූ ආකාරය මීලඟ ලිපියකින් ඉදිරිපත් කරමි.

*1. 13-A අවුරුදු 37 ක්ම නීති පොතේ පණ ඇදිමින් සිටීමට හේතුව කුමක්ද?

JRJ ගේ අනුවණ ක්‍රියාකලාපය නිසා ඉන්දිරා ගාන්ධි හා පසුව ඇගේ පුතා අමිර්තලිංගම්ගේ දෙමළ බෝයිස්ලාට ඉන්දියාවේ යුද පුහුණුව ලබාදී, ආයුධ මිසයිල් පවා ලබාදී අන්තිමේදී JRJ ව දණ ගස්වා ගිවිසුමක් අත්සන් කර ගත්තේය. මේ ගිවිසුම ජාත්‍යන්තර නීතිය කෙසේ වුනත් ලංකාවේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනයාට අනුව අසාධාරණ  අපරාධ වරදකි. 1987 ජූලි 30 දා විජිත රෝහණ නම් නාවික භටයා රජිව් ඝාතනයට තැත්කලේ ඒ නිසාය. එපමණක් නොව ඉන් පසුව ඉන්දියාවේ 1935 ඉන්දියානු ආණ්ඩු පණතට (Government of India Act) අනුව යමින් ඩික්ෂිට්ලා මැදිහත්ව සැදූ 13-A පාස්කර ගත්තේ මන්ත්‍රීලා හෝටලයක සිරකර තබා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට දක්කගෙන ගොස් චන්දය ලබාගෙනය. ඊට විරුද්ධවූ හා දින රහිත ඉල්ලා අස්වීමේ ලිපියට අත්සන් නොකල එකම පංචකන්ධයවූයේ ගාමිණී ජයසූරිය මහතා පමණය.

ඒ මදිවාට ගිවිසුමේ ඉන්දියන් කොටසක්වූ ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ කොටි නිරායුද කිරීමට ඉන්දියාව අසමත් විය. උතුර නැඟෙනහිර එකතු කිරීමට ජනමත විචාරණය සිදුවූයේද නැත. වර්ධරාජා පෙරුමාල් දයාන් ජයතිලකලා සමඟ පිස්සු නැටුවේ ඒනිසාය. ස්වභාව ධර්මය විසින් ඉන්දිරා හා රජිව් බිලිගත්තේය. මේ සියළු ජරමර අස්සේ ගම්වල සිංහල කොල්ලන්, කෙල්ලන්ගේ ජීවිත පූජාවෙන් ලෝකයේ දරුණුම ත්‍රස්තවාදය ගෝඨාභය නමැති සාධකය නිසා අවසාන විය. සරත් ෆොන්සේකා ක්‍රියාවට නැඟුවේ ලලිත් ඇතුලත් මුදලිගේ ප්ලෑනය.

ඉන් පසුව සිදුවූයේ දෙමළ අන්තවාදියෙක් නොවේ යයි සිතූ විග්නේශ්වරන්ට මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ විසින් බන්දේසියක් තබා උතුරු පලාත පූජා කිරීමය. මෙම අඥාන ක්‍රියාව යුද පරාදවලදී සිදු නොවන දෙයකි. යුද තුවාල සුවවීමට කාලයක් අවශ්‍යය (give war a chance!). පාරවල් වෙනුවට පාසැල්, ලිං, ගෙවල් දොරවල් හා මානව සංවර්ධනය කලයුතුව තිබිණ. 13-A වනාහි සාමයක්, සමඟියක් නොව මර උඟුලක් බව විග්නේශ්වරන් විසින් ඔප්පු කලේය.  එය හරියට ඔහුගේ පුත්තු දෙන්නාවම කොළඹ සිංහල ස්ත්‍රීන් දෙන්නෙක් විසින් ඩැහැ ගත්තානේද යයි සිතා සිංහලයින්ගෙන් පලිගන්නවා සේ දිස්විය!

මීට වඩා දීර්ග වශයෙන් මෙම කරුණු ජාතික ඒකාබද්ධ කොමිටියේ සමසභාපති කර්නල් අමරසේකර විසින් ලංකා වෙබ් වෙබ් අඩවියට ලියූ ලිපියකින් පෙන්වා දී ඇත (ජනවාරි 30).  රනිල් විසින් හිතාමතාම 5/4 සුප්‍රිම් උසාවි 13-A තීරණය වැරදි ලෙස  අර්ථකථනය  කිරීම (interpret) එම ලිපියේ වාර්තා කර ඇත. නඩු තීන්දුව O.L/A.L ශිෂ්‍යයෙකුට වුවද තේරෙන භාෂාවෙන් ලියා ඇත.

හිඟමනට වැටුණ රට

මේ කරුණු අනුව මෙම 13-A ගැන හදිසියේ කුලප්පුවීමට නීතිමය හෝ  සදාචාරාත්මක හෝ අයිතියක් රනිල්ට නැත. වහා කලයුතුව ඇති මිනිසුන් ජීවත්කරවීමේ වගකීම වෙනුවට ඔහු මේ කරන්නේ ඔහුගේ පුද්ගලික අභිප්‍රාය වන රට කැබලි කිරීම ඉෂ්ට කරගැනීමටය. ඉන්දියාව හා IMF හරහා ඇමෙරිකාව විසින් ඔහුව හිරකාරයෙක් කිරීම සමානකල හැක්කේ ජර්මණිය හා ජපානයට බෝම්බ දැමීමටය. හිඟාකන රටකින් දෙමළ රටක් කඩාගැනීමේ කාරිය සඳහා රත්වූ තැටියෙන් රොටිය පුච්චා ගැනීමය. විමල් වීරවංශ විසින් පෙන්වා දුන් කතාවය. 1978 සිට ණයට කෑමට පුරුදු කල රටේ, පී. බී ජයසුන්දර ප්‍රමුඛ ආර්ථික ඝාතකයින් කල විනාශය අනුව රනිල්ගේ පිට උඩ බෝම්බයක් පටවා ඇත. මේ නිසා ඔහු කල යුතු 13-A ගැන ජනමත විචාරණයක් තැබීම හෝ ඔහු ජනාධිපති චන්දයක් තියා  එයට ජනතා අනුමැතිය ලබා ගැනීමය.

*2. 13-A නිසා ලංකාව තවදුරටත් ඒකීය රාජ්‍යයක් නොවන බව, සුප්‍රීම් උසාවිය විසින් 2017 අගෝස්තු 4 දා දී ඇති තීරණයකින් නොකියා කියනබව රනිල් දන්නේ නැද්ද? මේ අනුව අපි ඉන්නේ ඒකීය රාජ්‍යයක යන රනිල්ගේ ප්‍රකාශය ඔහු මුලාවී රටත් මුලා කිරීමකි.

තවද එම තීන්දුව,  යුනයිටඩ් (ඒකීය නොව එක්සත්) රටක් තුල බලය තව තවත් ලබාගැනීම (devolve not delegation) සඳහා ITKA 2008 ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනුව ක්‍රියාකීරීම හෙවත් පෙඩරල් රාජ්‍යයක් ඉල්ලා සිටීම, රට බෙදන (separation) ලෙස කරණ ඉල්ලීමක් නොවන බව සටහන් කර ඇත (federalism is not separatism). මේ නිසා පෙඩරල් ක්‍රමයට තමන් විරුද්ධය යන රනිල්ගේ ප්‍රකාශය බොරු නිෂ්ඵල ස්වයංමුලාවක් පමණය. සිය ගැටවර කාලයේ සිට ITAK ක්‍රියාකාරිකයෙක්වූ දැන් කැනඩාවේ වාසයකරණ DSB ජෙයරාජ් විසින් මෙම <ජයග්‍රහණය> ගැන නැවත නැවතත් ලියමින් උදම් අනිමින් සිටින්නේ  එහෙයිනි. 1954 දී ඇමෙරිකන් සුප්‍රිම් උසාවියේ තීරණයකින් (Brown vs. Board of education of Topeka (347 U.S. 483)) හුදෙක් නීති පොත හා පරණ නඩුතීන්දු පමණක් වෙනුවට, ඉන් බාහිර සමාජ විද්‍යා කරුණුද (extralegal evidence) සළකා බැලිය යුතුයයි ගත් ඓතිහාසික තීරණය වැන්නක් ලංකාවේ නඩුකාරයින් අනුගමණය නොකිරීම රටේ අවාසනාවය. මේ සිස්ටම් එක වෙනස් විය යුතුය.

*3. ලන්ඩන් කවුන්ටි කවුන්සිලය ගැන සඳහන් කිරීමේ තේරුමක් තිබේද? එය ඇපල් හා දොඩම් සමාන කිරීමක් නොවේද?

*4. අපි සිංහල යන කතාවද මෙම විෂයට නොගැලපේ. සිංහල සංවර්ධන සංවිධානයේ සභාපති  චානක බණ්ඩාරගේ විසින් ලංකාවෙබ් වෙබ් අඩවියේ පෙන්වා දී ඇති අයුරු (ජනවාරි 30) සිංහලයා මුළුමණින්ම ක්ෂය නොවෙනු ඇතිමුත්, ඔවුන් දැනට සිටින සියේට හැටේ සිට 20-30 දක්වා වඳවී/ අඩුවී යාමට එතරම් කාලයක් ගත නොවෙනු ඇත. කොළඹ නගරය හොඳ නිදසුණකි.

මෙහිදී වැදගත් සිංහල බෞද්ධයින් කිසිම හෝ ජනවර්ගයකට හෝ පංචස්කන්ධයකට හානියක්, වෙනස්කමක් නොකිරීමය. එහෙත් ඊලම් ව්‍යාපාරයෙන් හෝ ශාරියා ව්‍යාප්තවාදයෙන් හෝ බෝන් අගේන් ආක්‍රමණයෙන් සිය ජාතිය ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීම ජාතිවාදය නොවේ. රටේ දකුණු පලාත් හතේ හැමතැනම සෑම ජනවර්ගයක්ම බිත්තර ඔම්ලට් එකක් මෙන් විසිරී මිශ්‍රව සිටියත්, උතුරේ හා නැඟෙනහිර පින්තූරය ඊට වෙනස්ය. 13-A අරමුණ වූයේ මෙවැනි බෙදීමක් කිරීමය.

චන්ද්‍රිකාගේ පැකේජ් ඩීල් කාලයේ නීලන් තිරුචෙල්වම්ට ඕනෑ වූයේ තනිකරම දෙමළ බිමක් වෙන්කර ගැනීමය. උතුරේ හා නැඟෙනහිර බිම්මටටමින් සිංහලයාට දැනටමත් සිදුවන හිරිහැරවලට උදාහරණ එමටය. මඩකලපුවේ මංගලාරාමයේ අම්පිටියේ සුමනරතන හිමියන් තනිවම කරගෙන යන සටන,   මුලතිව් භික්ෂු ආදාහනය (2019), කුරුන්දි (2022), මුහුදු මහා විහාර අර්බුද 13-A+ යටතේ අනාගතයේදී සිදුවෙන දේට සංඥාය. ඒවා නැවැත්වීමට බලයක් වයෝවෘධ රනිල්, මහින්ද, දිනේෂ්ලාගේ හොල්මන් වලට ලැබෙන්නේ නැත.

•  LankaWeb – Crimes and sins of the Englishman Paul Harris

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

“බෞද්ධ කොමිෂන් සභා වාර්තා  සහ උඩරට ගැමි පුනරුත්ථාපන කොමිෂන් සභාවේ වාර්තාවල, අධිරාජ්‍යවාදීන්  ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට කළ හානිය ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති අතර මෙතෙක් සිදුවී නොමැති නමුත් ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන්  කටයුතු කිරීම විය යුතු වගකීමක්” බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පවසයි.

මහාචාර්ය සී. එම්. මද්දුමබණ්ඩාර මහතා රචිත,  FREEDOM STRUGGLES OF SRI LANKA – Lessons Learned and the Way Forward (ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විමුක්ති අරගල – උගත හැකි පාඩම් සහ ජාතියේ ඉදිරි ගමන) යන ග්‍රන්ථය,   2023.02.01 දින අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලයේදී  පිරිනමනු ලැබූ  අවස්ථාවේදී අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා  ද මේ බව  සදහන් කළේය.

මෙම කෘතිය, බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය යටත් විජිත පාලනයට එරෙහිව 1818 ඌව තුළින් පැන නැඟි මහා අරගලය සිදු වී වසර 200 ක් පිරීම නිමිත්තෙන් නිමවූවක් වන අතර, අධිරාජ්‍යවාදීන් විසින් කරන ලද මර්දනය නිසා වසර 2000කට අධික කාලයක් ස්වාධීන රජයක් ලෙස පැවති ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නිදහස් කිරුළ  අහිමි වූ ආකාරය පෙන්වා දෙයි. මේ නිසා මිනිස් සංහතියටම එරෙහිව සිදුකෙරුණු බිහිසුණු අපරාධ සඳහා වන්දි ගෙවිය යුතු යුතු බවට ප්‍රබල තර්කනයක් මෙම කෘතියෙන් ඉස්මතු කොට දක්වයි. 

මහාචාර්ය මද්දුමබණ්ඩාරයන්ගේ මෙම කෘතිය තුළින් මෙතෙක් නොකෙරුන කාර්යයක් ආරම්භයක් සපයා ඇති බවත් නිදහසේ 75 වන සමරුව, 2023 වසර පුරා සැමරීමට කටයුතු සංවිධාන කරන බවත් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මෙහිදී   සඳහන් කළේය.

කෘතිය පිරිනැමීමේ අවස්ථාවට, පූජ්‍ය ඕමල්පේ සෝභිත හිමි, පූජ්‍ය විටියල කවිධජ හිමි,ඇතුළු මහා සංඝරත්නය, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී යදාමිණි  ගුණවර්ධන, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක, නවීන් ගුණරත්න, නීතීඥ සේනක වීරරත්න, රේණුකා ඩී නාගොඩවිතාන, ක්ෂමේන්ද්‍ර තිලකසිරි, ධවල මුතුකුඩඅරච්චි, ගමික ගුණවර්ධන යන මහත්ම මහත්මීහු සහභාගි වූහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Feb 1 (AdaDerana) – Sri Lanka has been listed amongst the ‘50 Most Instagrammable Places in the World 2023’ on travel website ‘Big 7 Travel’.

The island nation made it to the Top 10 of the list, ranking ninth, amongst Italy, England, France and USA.

The list is developed via a comprehensive scoring system that analyses the number of hashtags and TikTok views per destination, while sample surveys from the Big 7 Media’s 1.5 million audiences and their global editorial team is also taken into account.

The final results are then subsequently ranked in order of their visual allure and popularity on social media.

This is the fifth year that Big 7 Travel has revealed the world’s most Instagrammable destinations; Sydney came in at No.1 for both 2019 and 2020, Japan took the No.1 spot for 2021, while Singapore claimed the No.1 spot in 2022. 

Listed below are the Top 10 Most Instagrammable Places in the World for 2023, while the full list is available here.

TOP 10 MOST INSTAGRAMMABLE PLACES WORLD 2023

1. Milan, Italy
2. London, England
3. Paris, France
4. Istanbul, Turkey
5. New York, USA
6. Nepal
7. Chicago, USA
8. Bali, Indonesia
9. Sri Lanka
10. Sydney, Australia

By: Mohnish Singh Courtesy Eastern Eye

US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who arrived on a one-day visit to Sri Lanka last night, called on Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and also met the representatives of Tamil political parties on Wednesday.

The US is keen to see the ongoing talks between the Sri Lankan government and the minority Tamil leaders produce real results”, a top official from the Biden administration said here on Wednesday.

US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who arrived on a one-day visit to Sri Lanka last night, called on Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and also met the representatives of Tamil political parties on Wednesday.

I felt in general that these minority leaders were glad that they were in consultations with the government,” she said.

The Tamil leaders and the government have been engaged in talks since December last year.

Nuland said the US was eager to see that those consultations produce real results” for people on the ground.

We obviously encouraged that dialogue to continue and for the minority group to work together to offer concrete solutions that will meet the needs of their community so that talks could become a little more concrete,” she said.

President Wickremesinghe has underlined the need to fully implement the India-backed 13th Amendment to the Constitution to grant political autonomy to the minority Tamils in the country.

Last week, he offered the full implementation of the 13th Amendment as a solution to the long-standing demand for political autonomy by the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.

The 13A provides for the devolution of power to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. India has been pressing Sri Lanka to implement the 13A which was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement of 1987.

Wickremesinghe, who took over as the president last year amidst the unprecedented economic crisis and political turmoil, said last month that as the head of the nation, it was his duty to implement the prevailing laws.

As the president, I am duty bound to implement the prevailing law of the country,” he said at an all-party meeting on January 27.

Stating that the 13A would be fully implemented on the same basis as it was already a part of the country’s Constitution, he said: If not, Parliament must take steps to abolish the 13A”.

Wickremesinghe is expected to make a statement on this next week following his all-party talks.

On Sri Lanka’s much-awaited IMF bailout package, Nuland said: all eyes are on China to do what the IMF wants”.

As the largest bilateral creditor of Sri Lanka, we expect that China will provide credible and specific assurances regarding its readiness to join the rest of us in meeting IMF standards regarding debt restructuring,” she said.

Nuland said the US would release a further USD 30 million in assistance to Sri Lanka towards food security in the ongoing economic crisis.

This is in addition to the USD 240 million worth of assistance already extended since last year.

We want to see an IMF agreement as quickly as possible, that is what Sri Lanka deserves and needs. The US is prepared to do our part, our Paris Club partners are prepared to do their part, India has made strong commitments that it will provide credible assurances that the IMF is looking for, what China has offered so far is not enough,” Nuland said.

India’s finance ministry last month issued a letter to the IMF to confirm its support to Sri Lanka on the issue of debt restructuring.

Sri Lanka is eagerly waiting for the USD 2.9 billion facility from the global tender which has been stalled by the slow nature of debt restructuring negotiations.

Courtesy The Telegraph Online

The minority Tamil leaders have been in talks with the new government over their long standing demand of political autonomy under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution

The US is keen to see the ongoing talks between the Sri Lankan government and the minority Tamil leaders produce “real results”, a top official from the Biden administration said here on Wednesday.

US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who arrived on a one-day visit to Sri Lanka last night, called on Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and also met the representatives of Tamil political parties on Wednesday.

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I felt in general that these minority leaders were glad that they were in consultations with the government,” she said. The Tamil leaders and the government have been engaged in talks since December last year.

Nuland said the US was eager to see that those consultations produce “real results” for people on the ground. We obviously encouraged that dialogue to continue and for the minority group to work together to offer concrete solutions that will meet the needs of their community so that talks could become a little more concrete,” she said.

President Wickremesinghe has underlined the need to fully implement the India-backed 13th Amendment to the Constitution to grant political autonomy to the minority Tamils in the country.

Last week, he offered the full implementation of the 13th Amendment as a solution to the long-standing demand for political autonomy by the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.

The 13A provides for the devolution of power to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka. India has been pressing Sri Lanka to implement the 13A which was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement of 1987.

Wickremesinghe, who took over as the president last year amidst the unprecedented economic crisis and political turmoil, said last month that as the head of the nation, it was his duty to implement the prevailing laws.

As the president, I am duty bound to implement the prevailing law of the country,” he said at an all-party meeting on January 27.

Stating that the 13A would be fully implemented on the same basis as it was already a part of the country’s Constitution, he said: If not, Parliament must take steps to abolish the 13A”.

Wickremesinghe is expected to make a statement on this next week following his all-party talks. On Sri Lanka’s much-awaited IMF bailout package, Nuland said: all eyes are on China to do what the IMF wants”.

As the largest bilateral creditor of Sri Lanka, we expect that China will provide credible and specific assurances regarding its readiness to join the rest of us in meeting IMF standards regarding debt restructuring,” she said.

Nuland said the US would release a further USD 30 million in assistance to Sri Lanka towards food security in the ongoing economic crisis. This is in addition to the USD 240 million worth of assistance already extended since last year.

We want to see an IMF agreement as quickly as possible, that is what Sri Lanka deserves and needs. The US is prepared to do our part, our Paris Club partners are prepared to do their part, India has made strong commitments that it will provide credible assurances that the IMF is looking for, what China has offered so far is not enough,” Nuland said.

India’s finance ministry last month issued a letter to the IMF to confirm its support to Sri Lanka on the issue of debt restructuring. Sri Lanka is eagerly waiting for the USD 2.9 billion facility from the global tender which has been stalled by the slow nature of debt restructuring negotiations.

Courtesy Star (Kenya)

Sri Lankan investors have employed over 20, 000 Kenyans at Export Processing Zone in Athi River

• Kananathan said Sri Lanka, a country in South Asia, was committed to supporting the Kenyan government in its quest of creating jobs for citizens in a bid of solving the challenge of unemployment in the country.

Sri Lanka ambassador Dr. Kana Kananathan, EPZA acting CEO Hussein Mohamed and board chairman Ben Olunya during tree plantation exercise at the zone in Athi River, Machakos County on February 1.
Image: GEORGE OWITI

Over 40, 000 Kenyans have been employed by companies with their roots in Sri Lanka, the country’s envoy to Kenya, Ambassador Kana Kananathan has said.

Kananathan said Sri Lanka, a country in South Asia, was committed to supporting the Kenyan government in its quest of creating jobs for citizens in a bid of solving the challenge of unemployment in the country.

Our brothers and sisters from Sri Lanka have done an amazing job setting up factories in the Export Processing Zone. Sri Lanka companies have employed 20, 000 Kenyans at the zone and they are expanding,” Kananathan said.

He spoke when he officiated the launching of the one million tree planting exercise initiative at EPZ, Athi River in Machakos County on February 1.

The convoy said 100,000 trees will be planted in the zone, while 900, 000 others will be planted in the Karura forest.

The trees were donated to the Kenyan government by three Sri Lankan companies located in the zone.

The three companies are the first ones in EPZ to take the challenge given by President William Ruto to plant trees so as to improve the environment. So, we must commend and thank them for the initiative that they have taken,” Kananathan said.

They have started today with 100,000 trees and they are giving out a further 900, 000 trees to be planted in Karura forest,” he said.

Kananathan said the initiative was in line with the president’s nationwide campaign to plant 15 billion trees by the end of 2032.

So, we want to support the Sri Lankan community in Kenya. We want to support this initiative to make EPZ green and increase forest cover,” Kananathan said.

He said the Sri Lankan investors at the zone had pledged to donate the trees in one to two weeks’ time. 

Kananathan said the good business environment at EPZ had attracted Sri Lanka investors to Kenya.

He said there was good infrastructure development and a young, skilled and highly educated Kenyan workforce that investors from Sri Lanka find beneficial to their investments at EPZ and generally in the country.

The envoy said Sri Lanka was also collaborating with the Kenyan government to improve the coffee industry.

He said they were committed to improving the quality and quantity of coffee that was being exported from Kenya to the global market.

This he said was intended to improve the country’s economy and the livelihoods of the coffee farmers.

EPZA Board Chairman Ben Oluoch Olunya lauded Sri Lanka for its investors’ continuous support to help the Kenyan government find jobs for the unemployed populace.

Olunya affirmed that more than 40,000 Kenyans had been employed by investors from Sri Lanka across the country.

He said EPZ had a population of over 70,000 employees currently.

There are investors from other parts of the world who have invested at the EPZ,” Olunya said.

He said the EPZ program was good and one of the president’s key cornerstones in the country’s development and employment.

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

One-time Surveyor General Michael de Silva, who served as Sri Lanka High Commissioner in Australia (2004-2007) says in spite of begging for medicine and medical equipment, the health ministry sabotaged ongoing Australian Medical Aid Programme meant to assist state-run hospitals.

Declaring that under the programme launched 15 years ago, 102 forty foot container loads of medical equipment worth over Rs. 2,000 mn had been provided to government hospitals, an irate De Silva alleged that the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) brazenly undermined the project by failing to clear a 40 foot container sent last May.

The philanthropist who had donated a three storey building to Maharagama ‘Apeksha’ hospital over a decade ago in addition to an OPD for the Eye Hospital, Colombo and an additional ward for Anuradhapura hospital said he lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) as the failure on the part of the MSD was deliberate.

De Silva, who had served as Sri Lanka Ambassador to China before being moved to Canberra said that in a letter dated Sept. 14, 2022, he informed Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella of how the MSD hindered the project implemented at no cost to bankrupt Sri Lanka.

Minister Rambukwella said that he was aware of the issues raised by the former High Commissioner. According to him, soon after he received the health portfolio, 52 beds were received under this programme. There had been some defects in some of them, Minister Rambukwella said, adding that they were rectified and the entire lot was made available to the hospitals in the Kandy region. The minister assured he would look into the matter.

The retired non-career diplomat and Vice President of Federation of Sri Lanka Organizations in Australia William Deutrom, also involved in the project told The Island how the MSD worked overtime to discourage those who voluntarily helped the country. We didn’t expect anything in return,” Deutrom said, alleging the clearing of the container carrying 48 special beds had been delayed deliberately to cause heavy demurrage.

According to them, Minister Rambukwella didn’t respond to the issues at hand raised in De Silva’s letter dated Sept. 14, 2022. Minister Rambukwella didn’t answer calls to his phone yesterday morning.

De Silva warned unless tangible measures were taken to clear the cargo and punish those responsible for deliberate holding up of it, Australian authorities would terminate the project. Referring to Indian credit lines and a range of bilateral donations provided by the international community and ongoing talks on USD 2.9 bn IMF loan facility, the former diplomat emphasized the responsibility on the part of the government to clean up the public service.

Messrs De Silva and Deutrom recalled how the Australian Aid Programme facilitated Police Department to obtain 180 beds for Narahenpita Police Hospital during Pujith Jayasundera’s tenure as the Inspector General of Police.

They said a thorough inquiry was needed to identify the culprits. The MSD owed the country an explanation why the second lot that arrived at the Colombo port on May 30 last year was yet to be cleared, they said. De Silva said that the health sector seemed to be in the grip of utterly corrupt lot hell bent of making money at the expense of poor patients.

Pointing out that electrical components in medical equipment invariably get spoilt due to sea breeze, De Silva said that a senior MSD official asked him why he donated beds when they could procure them directly. De Silva said: I mentioned this in my letter to Minister Rambukwella. The reasons are obvious.”

De Silva said that crippling of the Australian Medical Aid Programme would have far reaching consequences as donor countries would take note of corrupt practices at the health ministry.

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

The National Freedom Front (NFF), a constituent member of Nidahas Janatha Sandhanaya (NJS), has declared that it would oppose President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s bid to fully implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The patriotic people were ready to defeat such plans, even at the expense of their lives, the party has vowed.

The breakaway JVP faction consists of six MPs, including former minister Wimal Weerawansa. The NJS is contesting the Local Government polls, scheduled for March 09, under the ‘Helicopter’ symbol.

NFF spokesperson, MP Jayantha Samaraweera, on Monday (30), told the media that his party was ready to lead a campaign against the UNP leader’s move to do away with constitutional safeguards meant to ensure Sri Lanka’s unitary status. The Lawmaker addressed the media at the NFF main office, at Pitakotte.

Having declared his intention to fully implement the controversial constitutional amendment at the Thai Pongal celebrations, in Jaffna, on January 15, President Wickremesinghe reiterated his commitment to the Eelam project during the party leaders’ meeting at the Presidential Secretariat, the former State Minister said.

Lawmaker Samaraweera asked Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, and twice President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had flanked President Wickremesinghe, at the party leaders’ meeting, to disclose their stand on 13th Amendment.

The Nidahas Janatha Sandhanaya, consisting of NFF, Democratic Left Front, Communist Party, Lanka Samasamaja Pakshaya, Pivuthuru Hela Urumaya, Vijayadharani Jathika Sabhawa, Yuthukama, Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Nidahasa Janatha Sabhawa, Jana Jaya Peramuna, Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya and Nidahas Janatha Peramuna, has yet to disclose its position on this issue.

MP Samaraweera attacked the President, close on the heels of NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa, who is also the Chairman of the Uththara Lanka Sabhagaya (ULS), questioning the legitimacy of the move. Lawmaker Weerawansa addressed this issue at a meeting held at the BMICH, on January 26, to discuss ways and means to thwart the move to privatize the CEB.

The ULS consisting of seven political parties, and groups, is aligned with the NJS.

Referring to the circumstances UNP leader Wickremesinghe re-entered Parliament, through the National List, nearly a year after the last General Election, former Minister Weerawansa emphasized the President didn’t have a mandate to fully implement the 13th Amendment. How could the UNP leader abolish Sri Lanka’s unitary status, having received an opportunity to complete Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s remainder of five-year term, won at the Nov. 2019 Presidential Election.

The MP challenged their erstwhile comrades, in the JVP, to state their position on the 13th Amendment. Alleging that the JVP had been conveniently silent on the issue at hand, MP Samaraweera asked whether the current leadership would take up Wickremesinghe’s challenge.

In addition to Weerawansa and Samaraweera, Yuthukama leader Gevindu Cumaratunga, MP, has declared opposition to the President’s move, at the party leaders’ meeting.

Of the SLPP parliamentary group, retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera is the only MP to publicly oppose Wickremesinghe’s proposal.

Political sources said that the NJS, as a group contesting the forthcoming LG polls, was yet to deliberate this issue and take a stand. They said that consensus was required without further delay as the President’s proposal would be a major issue at the forthcoming election.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Some 46 people die of cancer every day in Sri Lanka out of the 105 cancer patients who are detected daily, the National Cancer Control Unit (NCCU) Director Dr. Ishani Fernando said today.

She told a news conference at the Health Promotion Bureau in line with the World Cancer Day which falls on February 4, a total of 38,229 new cancer patients were detected in 2020 and 16,691 out of them died due to the disease.

She said it was observed that females were prone to get cancer whereas the mortality was high among the males.

A total of 20,395 females and 17,834 males were diagnosed with cancer in 2020. 50 percent of the patients who are diagnosed with cancer die,” she said.

When asked about the drug shortage for cancer patients, the Director said there was a shortage of drugs and added that a mechanism was in place to obtain the drugs where drugs are purchased through the World Health Organization (WHO). That process also takes about six months,” she said.

Dr. Prasad Abeysinghe, Oncologist and Cancer specialist of the National Cancer Institute said there was a tendency of specialists including radiologists who migrate for foreign training to remain in those countries without returning to Sri Lanka for practice.

He said it was a serious concern which should be addressed soon and added that the government should have a plan to encourage them to return and practice here. (Ajith Siriwardana)

Courtesy Adaderana

US Under-Secretary for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, has stated that the United States would also like to see an agreement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Sri Lanka as quickly as possible. 

Speaking on the matter, however, the visiting US official noted that China’s offer pertaining to their financial assurances thus far remain insufficient, adding that the IMF needs to see credible and specific assurance that matches their standard on debt restructuring prior to moving forward with an agreement. 

Sri Lanka is currently awaiting board approval from the IMF pertaining to the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of USD 2.9 billion.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka has seen a significant increase in the number of tourist arrivals for the month of January 2023, compared to the numbers seen in January 2022.

A summary report issued by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed an increase of over 20,000 tourist arrivals, with a total of 102,545 arrivals reported within the first month of 2023.

January 2022 saw a total of 82,327 tourist arrivals into the island.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando took to Twitter, reaffirming that the growth seen in the number of inbound travellers was ‘encouraging’.

Shenali D Waduge

She maybe the highest ranking American official but most Americans do not even know her name. However, she is visiting Sri Lanka twice in one year & that should mean something. Why is she visiting Sri Lanka is however more important. She first visited Sri Lanka days before riots started resulted in the resignation of the former President. Naturally, all eyes are fixed on what is likely to emerge after her forthcoming visit. Over the years, there is no doubt the US has created local agents” covering all spectrums of society.

While UK held position of might during colonial rule, the western world have had to move over to allow US to dictate world affairs. US bullying tactics was seen in the leaked call between Nuland & US envoy to Ukraine in 2014, berating the EU. This got her a thumbs up from both Republicans & Democrats.

It is no surprise she has been in the forefront of most of US incursions. Nuland was Deputy Chief of US mission to NATO in Brussels during the unilateral attack on Afghanistan after 9/11.

Nuland & ambassador Nicholas Burns strategized to get Allies involved. He & Samantha Power are on the Board of the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School in which Nuland is a Senior Fellow.

While she claims Russia has invaded” Ukraine, she is mum on all of US invasions. Afghanistan remains illegally occupied since 2001. Nuland was the foreign policy advisor to Dick Cheney during that invasion.

She rose to fame with her Fuck the EU” 2014 February leaked tape which part of US effort to replace Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych – which succeeded in a matter of 3 weeks. Attention was diverted from the abusive rhetoric towards the EU by an American official to blaming the Russians for taping her! US involvement in Ukraine has resulted in 13,000 lost lives & Ukraine is the poorest country in Europe – so what is the cost of this war for Ukraine?

While she could declare ‘Fuck the EU’ & expected the EU not to respond, when the Turkish may referred to a State Dept spokeswoman as a ‘stupid blonde’ after her comments regarding how Turkey handled a demonstration in 2013, Nuland in 2015 took issue with Turkey for the ‘inappropriate comment’ by the Turkish mayor. This was followed by the US ambassador to Turkey posting a picture of himself on instragram with his brunette hair photoshopped to appear blonde with caption American diplomats: we’re all blonde”. They lengths they go to, to defend each other.

Nuland’s husband Robert Kagan is the co-founder of the Project for a New American Century which is a neoconservative policy think tank.

However, the Politico Magazine in 2014 released top 50 influential people in Washington & Brookings Senior Fellow Robert Kagan & Victoria Nuland was described as the ultimate American power couple”.

The manner that Nulands’ husband Kagan’s neocon lobby exerted pressure on even President Obama was seen in the manner Obama was eventually attacked as a ‘weak leader’ by them & Nuland even advocates permanent NATO bases along the eastern border. It is said that Obama learned too late what a wrong person, in the wrong place, at the wrong time & with a wrong direction can do – Sri Lanka, saw that after her visit to Sri Lanka days after which a riot started, she is returning again & that return should not be taken lightly. She is obviously arriving to see if the plans she has set are in order & to decide how & when to turn the switch.

Also in 2015 Nuland was at the receiving end of Egypts Muslim Brotherhood which accused her of unreserved audacity” when she criticized the Egyptian government of stifling freedom of expression.  Her comments on the detention & interrogation of Bassem Yousself means she will certainly be making a comment on Wasantha Mudalige, the hero of the Sri Lankan aragala movement supported heavily by the US embassy in Colombo & its pawns across the board. She may also pop in a word for Sepala Amarasinghe in prison for insulting Buddhism, which is similar to the offense for which Bassem Youssef was imprisoned (insulting Islam). Youssef was eventually released.

In April 2022 Nuland visited Bangladesh. Not beating about the bush, Bangladesh was told to support US-NATO war against Russia. She visited India & Sri Lanka too & China was on that list. Her visits were infamous for what ensued after her departure. The 2014 Ukraine coup that overthrew Viktor Yanukovich was followed with the overthrowing of Sri Lanka’s President in July 2022. Her trip to Bangladesh, resulted in Bangladesh voting with 139 countries in a resolution that demanded ‘aid access & civilian protection in Ukraine’ accusing Russia of creating a ‘dire humanitarian situation’. Bangladesh had previously voted with India, Pakistan & China & abstained from UN resolution reprimanding Russia. Interestingly like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh’s major share of exports goes to US & EU while Russia supplies wheat, fertilizer, machinery, fresh & dried fruit to Bangladesh. Russia is also constructing Bangladesh’s biggest power plant. The best way US knows to deal with such situations is to pluck the human rights topic & accuse Bangladesh & threaten sanctions, which US did. Any nation that US aligns with & commits human rights violations are however omitted from US statements or sanctions. Such is the hypocrisy.

Exactly who holds power & decision in USA? Is it the President, the Congress or groups of think tanks & secret societies who promote neocon ideology disadvantageous mostly to the American citizens. They bear all the costs of the wars that US enters. The backers of the wars walk away with all the deals & profits. Unfortunately, this reality has not dawned on the American people & the few that understands are often neutralized by other means.

If Nuland was the mastermind behind the February 2014 regime change” was she also behind the riots that ensued from March 2022 in Sri Lanka leading to the resignation of the Sri Lankan President in July 2022. US overthrew 2 democratically elected Presidents. Of course, both were hailed as victory for democracy” & echoes Prince Charles ‘whatever love means’. In the case of Ukraine, anyone speaking against the US regime change were dubbed pro-Russian, while anyone speaking against the undemocratic ouster in Sri Lanka was equally dubbed with all sorts of names.

Ukraine is in a mess, with no nation likely to come to the rescue of the Ukrainian people, while US pawns have declared default, devalued Sri Lanka’s currency & saddled Sri Lanka with the IMF with a likely cut & paste of the Jamaican tragedy likely to happen to Sri Lanka. All that the US-local promoters will end up doing is sing hosanahs about ‘democracy’ & ‘good governance’ though none of them will feel the pinch as the IMF only punches the poor & middle class.

What we need to realize is that the decisions on regime change are coming out of policy plans of the think tanks that reign the US. Most of the top officials are serving on this think tanks & what they decide the President & Congress require to parrot. We see some of these think tanks heavily involved with youth, civil society, religious entities, legal fraternity, academia, media & even politicians funding numerous programs to align them to the US think tank goals & objectives.

The question Sri Lankans must answer – who is the US regime-change heart throb for 2024 Presidential Election? Prior to that we must all wonder what her arrival in Sri Lanka is likely to result in the moment she leaves Sri Lanka. Riots have been a corner stone of every visit, therefore Sri Lanka’s intel should be on alert even room for a possible foreign troop invasion”.

Shenali D Waduge

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

Macroeconomic issues strongly associate with living condition of ordinary people in Sri Lanka. Population, unemployment, economic growth, budget deficit, terms of trade, trade balance, investment such as many others could be given as examples and the pathetic situation in the country is macroeconomic issues and the influence of them to ordinary people has clearly not identified for policy making purpose, and the way these issues influence on the living condition of ordinary people have not studied and developed policies consistent with the issues giving benefits to ordinary people. The macroeconomy is directly associated with day to day living and people are sticked to them. Especially prices of goods and services that associate with the living condition of people have been less considered by policy makers and it has become a major managerial issue of the economy.

Poor people in Sri Lanka subject to many suffering because of macroeconomic management and rich community can tackle own problems without difficulties. The nature of macroeconomic problems is they are linked to each other and policy makers need to identify the links and the mathematical relation of the links for policy making purpose. Such mathematical relation could be quantified the policy priorities. In Sri Lanka policy priorities based on research are weak and despite the government spending for research policy supports do not generate from the research activities.   

According to IMF forecast for 2023, economic growth would be limited and within these limits the productivity improvement will be the most critical and vital areas for the country. In other words, within available resources government policy must attempt to gain maximum benefits to the community. Other regrettable development shows that promoting wars and spending more funds for wars have become actual priority in Europe and America and many people silently thinking that the world might become like an era of Vietnam war.  

In Sri Lanka illicit drug business influences the general business of the country forcing to increase the expenditure level that could be reduced by 7% if the illegal business controls effectively and the saving from such controls should freely allow to invest in normal business and production process.

Economic advisors in Sri Lanka either don’t know what to do or otherwise self-centred people attempting to gain unfair advantages from the policy making process and the president needs to direct intervention to policy makers for considering macroeconomic problems. The specific nature compared to people in other countries Sri Lanka without difference in ethnic, religious and cultural diversity they love to talk politics and ignore the role of them.

The following major macroeconomic problems and requirements must be considered by the president.

• Higher population has created many economic problems to the country and economic indicators are comparatively lower because higher population. Economic outcomes are divided by population for per capital situation and although Sri Lanka has good outcomes, they show comparatively small volume as the higher population in the country. When considering this issue, the aging of population its impact to workforce needs to consider.  Therefore, Sri Lanka needs an aggregate plan for population control rejecting narrow thinking of people. When calculate per capita statistics, Sri Lanka gets lower values because higher population. The contributing factor for higher population is weak preventive check in population control. Preventive Check should apply among all communities and within next ten years it needs to develop to maintain 15 million to total population in the country.
• Investment barriers and shortage of capital.  Less savings in the country has caused to create investment problems. The gap between saving and investment has been a problem since 1950s but no effective solution has so considered, in addition, there are regulatory issues and competition among other countries to attract investment has negatively influenced for attracting investments.
• Import and export related problems.  Sri Lanka should allow import of essential items for continuing domestic production. Modernization and improvement of export quality are vital points that should be considered.
• Competency (Outcome) based education must be the education policy and from secondary education competency-based training should be applied and literacy-based education for primary level and early childhood education.
• Providing education in three media such as Sinhala, Tamil and English and Hindi and Chinese should be the second languages. Three media means one student should complete education in three languages which empower students to gain knowledge, skills and values broadly using different languages.
• Creating jobs in rural area transferring population from urban area to rural area require to country. The current nature is transferring from rural to urban and this nature should completely reverse changing the current system.
• Creating mega cities in regional areas was a vital policy development but it was died at the birthplace because they were for just talking rather than implementing purpose.
• Banning political parties based on vicious motives

Prof. N.A.de S. Amaratunga DSc

Tamil is one of the languages in the Dravidian family of languages which include Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and also several minor languages numbering more than twenty. Dravidian languages have been spoken through out India from North to South and East to West for centuries long before the arrival of Aryans. It is beleived that the language in use in the Harappan period (3300 – 1300 BCE) of the Indus Valley Civilization was Dravidian. Dravidians were the major inhabitants even in the North-West regions.

With the decline of the Indus Valley culture due to a long drought, and arrival of Aryans in the later period, Dravidians may have migrated to the South. Indus Valley Civilization is beleived to have been built not by people who came there from outside but by the indigenous people. Similarly the Dravidian languages were not brought from outside but had developed indigenously though some scholars say there was at least contributions from Southern Iranian farming communities. Dravidian place names along the Arabian Sea Coast and Dravidian grammatical influence in the Indo-Aryan languages namely Maruthi, Gujarat, Marwari and Sindhi suggest that Dravidian languages were spoken more widely across the Indian subcontinent before the spread of the Indo-Aryan languages. Further Dravidian languages cannot easily be connected to any other language family and they could well be indigenous to India (Steven RF 2004, Dhevendra K, 2004).

Arrival of Aryans resulted in major changes in the demography of the Northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. Aryans, a group of people who spoke Indo-Aryan languages,  came from the Northern and North-Western regions like Persia, South Russia, Austria and Hungary during the period from 2400 to 1500 BCE as part of the Eastern migration of people from the Eurasian Steppe Sintashta culture (2200 – 1800 BCE) and the subsequent Central Asian Andronovo culture (2000 – 400 BCE) and also the Bactrean-Margiana Archaelogical Complex (2250 – 1700 BCE) (ref. Reich D et al 2009, Metspalu M et al 2011, Moorjani P et al 2013).  Corded Ware culture which had existed in Nothern, Central and Eastern Europe had been the origin of these cultures. Sintashta culture is a late Middle Bronze Age archaelogical culture located east of Southern Urals within the Northern Eurasian Steppe on the borders of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Sintashta people had spoken a Proto-Indo-Aryan language.  These migrants when they arrived in the Indian subcontinent had settled first in the regions of Kabul River valley and in Panjab. These Aryans may have undertaken the task of developing the Vedic culture and the family of Indo-Aryan languages. The latter, also called Indic languages, is a major subgroup of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family (Allentoft, 2015).

Modern Indo-Aryan languages descend from Old Indo-Aryan languages such as early Vedic Sanskrit, through Middle Indo-Aryan languages (or Prakrits). The largest such languages in terms of first-speakers are Hindi–Urdu (c. 329 million), Bengali (242 million), Punjabi (about 120 million), Marathi (112 million), Gujarati (60 million), Rajasthani (58 million), Bhojpuri (51 million), Odia (35 million), Maithili (about 34 million), Sindhi (25 million), Nepali (16 million), Assamese (15 million), Chhattisgarhi (18 million), Sinhala (17 million), and Romani (c. 3.5 million). A 2005 estimate placed the total number of native speakers of the Indo-Aryan languages at nearly 900 million people. These languages are mainly spoken in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives (Encyclopaedia Britanica).

How could the umbilical connection between Indo-Aryan languages and Sinhala language be established? Indo-Aryan language family is a branch of Indo-European family of languages native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent.  Today, the individual Indo-European languages with the most native speakers are English, Hindi–Urdu, Spanish, Bengali, French, Russian, Portuguese, German, and Punjabi.

Sinhala language is believed to have arisen from Mid-Prakrit languages which belong to the Mid-Indo-Aryan language family. Prakrit was the term used to identify the vernacular languages that were different from Sanskrit.   There were more than ten Mid-Prakrit languages that included Maghadi, Ghandari, Elu and Pali,  Elu is considered as the precursor of Sinhala and Dhivehi languages. The latter is spoken in Maldives and Minicoy islands. This explains the close resemblance of Sinhala and Maldivian languages. Elu in its development into Sinhala has boorowed heavily from Pali which was the language of the Buddha. It had borrowed from Sanscrit and later from Tamil and also from Portuguese, Dutch, and English. Sinhala language has the closest similarities with Maldivian and Sri Lankan Vedda languages.

Sanscrit was a classical Indo-Aryan language that arose in South Asia. RgVeda the earliest of the Vedic texts and one of the oldest texts in the indo-Aryan language family is written in Sanscrit and date from about 1500 BCE. Sanscrit was the language of Hinduism and Later Buddhist Philosophy and also Jainism. It had influenced the development of several South Asian and East Asian languages including Sinhala.

Sanscrit has had a significant influence on Sinhala. If we look at the words for mother in Sanscrit and formal Tamil and Sinhala we would see the relationship between these languages. The Sanscrit word for mother is mathru” and the formal Sinhala word is mava” while the formal Tamil word is thai”. There is resemblance between Sanscrit and Sinhala but the Tamil word is different. Sanscrit therefore has had an influence on Sinhala or to be precise on Elu but not so much on Tamil.  However the colloquial word in both Sinhala and Tamil for mother is amma” which points to the close association of Sinhala and Tamil people.

The earliest inscriptions in Sinhalese written on rock date from about 200 BCE. The Sinhala script was not developed at that time and the Sinhalese inscriptions were written in Brahmi script and these were called Sinhala Brahmi. Though the script is Brahmi the words could be identified as Elu. From about 1200 CE the literary language of Sinhala had taken form and had not undergone significant change since then.

Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions belonging to the BCE period have been found in Jaffna and also in Tissamaharama though whether they are early Tamil or early Sinhala has been contested by various scholars (Somadeva, 2021). After the Chola invasion in 1700 CE there had been several inscriptions including in Abhayagiriya in Anuradapura that could clearly be identified as Tamil.

Earliest Tamil Brahmi Script belonging to the 200 BCE could be seen inscribed on the cave walls in the Madurai and Tirunelveli districts in Tamil Nadu. There is no resemblance between these and the script of the alleged Tamil inscriptions found in Jaffna and Tissamaharama belonging to the BCE period. However Tamil inscriptions belonging to the post Chola invasion period bear close resemblance to those found in Tamil Nadu.

It is significant that there were early Sinhala inscriptions on caves in Sri Lanka and early Tamil inscriptions in Tamil Nadu belonging more or less to the same time period, 200 BCE. The difference between these two could clearly be detected. It is quite clear that the two languages were developing independently in two geographically separated places. This would not have happened if the Dravidians, who migrated to the furthest South with the arrival of Aryans, had moved further south into the island of Sri Lanka. That obviously had not happened. For some reason or other the Dravidians had not gone across the Palk Strait until the first invasion by them in 230 BCE. Well before that colonists from North India had arrived in the Island begining in 500 BCE and established themselves and had begun the development of their civilization including the language they had brought with them. Further development was boosted by the arrival of Buddhism in 300 BCE. Pali which was the language of Early Buddhism had also influenced the development of Sinhala to a significant degree.

If the Dravidians in their southward migration which happened in 2400 – 1500 BCE had crossed the Palk Strait the Island of Sri Lanka would have a different language, a different religion and an altogether different culture to what we find today. It is obvious that arrival of Tamils has happened with the South Indian invasions of the Island which had been fiercely resisted by the Sinhalese.

Prof. N.A.de S. Amaratunga DSc

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

Since its Independence in 1948, Sri Lanka had been a peaceful crime-free country until 1971, when the country became a republic. Since LTTE gave birth, Law & Order, Crimes have been on the accent. In some sectors LTTE maintained discipline, however, they were involved in killing civilians In Jaffna and the South, specially Anuradhapura etc. The Tamil terrorist groups attempted to kill themselves and between groups tensions were on the rise. LTTE attempted to kill Hon Douglas Devananda several times and failed. What was the reason for this attempt, which no one can give a good reason for? LTTE carried out massacres among themselves, like Mathaya and others. Therefore the killing culture was developed by the LTTE group in the name of liberation. Not only in SL, however, but in Thamizhaham also they massacred each other. Specially TELO massacred more than 40 of their cadre in Chennai.

What the writer is trying to state is that the killing culture started with the formation of the so-called liberation (terrorist) groups.

Sambanthar and the other political parties should be embarrassed, horrified, and chagrined of themselves along with the Tamil populace because they formed the Tamil National Alliance on the order of the LTTE Command. TNA although they formed as a unit, had no vision and mission. Each party member was interested in their party manifesto and party growth. Each party states that they have its vision. For example, can any of the group members other than Sambanthar come forward and state that they did not kill anyone or they were not responsible for killing another Sinhalese or Tamil? Tamils although they formed several groups did not have the vision and mission for what they were fighting for. Further, they did not do intensive research on the viability and sustainability of a separate country called Tamil Eelam. Tamil Eelam is not at all viable and sustainable both economically and technologically as a separate country. Most of the Tamils will migrate to the South of Sri Lanka if that happens. Sambanthar also should be ashamed of himself for holding the chair of Leader of the Opposition (LOP), which was an appointment rather than an election unconstitutionally.

Rowdism among Tamils

Today, the North has become an area of worst culture with rowdyism, prostitution, where the father rapes the daughter, the teacher rapes the student, boys have sex with girls in the bush in Kilinochai and other areas, drug trafficking, drug transportation and distribution by college students in the North, and AVA group embarked on Sword culture in robbing and killing civilians. Tamil Diaspora flies in for the Nallur and Sannathi festivals with no knowledge of the events and the change of cruel and dirty culture. What is the pureness of Tamils in going to temples? Recently several events have occurred, one in Cunnakam. The key question is; what are the police doing in the North?

The Chunnnakam incident is horrific. Several incidents have occurred in the North. What is the objective of this terrorism, and what is the goal? Political MPs should have educated them by going through villages and speaking to them. Tamil Politicians are busy promoting their party politics. The politicians themselves were terrorists and killers one time anyway. Carrying the name TELO”, PLOTE etc.

The intimidation and terrorism are extended to foreign countries like the UK, Canada etc wherever Tamils are living.

The army units shall not be withdrawn from the North, particularly, Palaly, Karainagar, VVT, and other vital nodal cities. The Sri Lankan government has the right to protect its borders. The lands can be given back but the army shall not be moved out of the North.

Principals’ seat has become vacant in some areas like Kilinochi, Vavuniya etc. Why have these positions not been filled? Some teachers in Jaffna have been transferred, however, they have not moved out of Jaffna, holding onto some MPs and /or applying nepotism/favouritism etc.

Tourists in the South have been robbed.

Is SL moving towards, some countries like in  Africa?

A Tamil guy in Australia called Varatharajah Yogarajah is threatening and intimidating Tamils who do not support Tamil Eelam and the LTTE. He was supposed to have been with the LTTE armed unit. Now he has moved out to Wellington, New Zealand. He threatened MA Sumanthiran when MAS came to Sydney in 2019. He has been posting threatening comments on my articles. He is only an example. There are several Tamil rowdy people overseas. The shortfall is that these clowns do not think about what they are and why they moved out of SL. A very low IQ.

Ref: https://neuronmind.blogspot.com/

It is to be considered that a decent lot of Tamils are living overseas under threat. I may inform the intelligence units overseas. The SL high commissions should give them a hand in identifying these culprits.

It is considered that the Police hierarchy takes these incidents seriously and maintains action to restore Law & Order in SL. People are not living in the jungle. Jaffna has become a jungle. Tamils who moved out overseas are trying to convert their domiciled places into jungles.

I like to make a comment: It is considered that Hon Douglas Devananda is the only politician who Is very much interested in the growth of Sri Lanka and is working hard to develop and unite the country and the people.

Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel, former Ambassador to UAE and Israel and President Ambassador’s Forum

Bribery and Corruption spread as air

This is a current and a hot topic that will not be stale anytime anywhere as the issue continues worldwide in different degrees in different eras. Bribery is current with historical significance prevalent in all generations due to excessive greed of the human that defines in various ways with no clear definition today due to the complex nature in today’s context, most simple definition for bribery being the ‘’gift offered to influence a person to act in favour of the giver’’ is not as simple as it reads. It is rampant, cancerous and has spread country and worldwide as air. Almost all nations and institutions worldwide are finding difficult to eradicate if not minimize this menace that has retarded the growth of nations and retarded developments of countries, institutions including the world body charged on corruption and extravagance which amounts to corruption. It is prevalent all over including the United Nation organization, governments and other organizations in some scale but not at the magnitude unbearable as in Sri Lanka.  This timely topic was broached by His Excellency ‘’Mizukoshi Hideaki’’ the Ambassador of Japan in Sri Lanka in an article published on Daily News on 27^th January 2023 in which he says that the Sri Lankan Executive must take measures to curb bribery and corruption as a prerequisite to development and recover from the economic crisis the country is faced with today. We thank the Ambassador representing an    economically sound developed nation of a member of the world family that has successfully emerged victorious after the unpleasant memories of the world war that shattered Japan during the war. We thank him for bringing this to the notice of the Executive branch of the Sri Lankan government as a friend who has quite correctly and diplomatically put it across due to long and close friendly connections historically as economically for a long time. It is nice of him to think of Sri Lanka and this timely topic as a friendly advice to the donor country in grave danger and we are sure the Sri Lankan executive will take serious note of.

Executive of Sri Lanka international relations and diplomacy

Executive of Sri Lanka consists of the President, Cabinet of ministers and the administrative machinery. They face allegations and counter allegations of bribery corruption and nepotism in different degrees. Sri Lanka is under the microscopic eye  of the World Bank demanding transparency as a pre requisite to give the much needed IMF loan to Sri Lanka  debt ridden in the crisis. Whether the Ambassador has a right to comment on bribery and corruption a matters which is compactly confined to Sri Lanka is interesting to note in terms of the Geneva Convention on Diplomatic Relations both countries are bound by is an interesting issue when the Ambassador making such remarks in good faith as a friend representative of a friendly that has close and long friendly ties when Japan is a main contributor to Sri Lanka in various ways. ‘’Rupavahani’’ is such a gift by the Japanese government that has helped immensely financially varies occasions. Having said on the issues pertaining to international law diplomacy and international relations the Ambassador’s statement has to be taken seriously in the correct context as in fact Sri Lanka is a corruption full nation going through economic and political hardships may be mainly due to bribery corruption and mismanagement of successive government for a long time. But right thinking Sri Lankans are grateful to the Ambassador for pointing out the truth many including the media has not touched on. Ruwanda has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that if Executive has done it by raising a poorest country struggling with poverty and ethnic was for years have now become the economic tiger of Africa with fast developments, reforms, in all areas and sectors as a pride and an example to the African continent realising an impossibility with the correct, honest and strong and powerful leadership with an aim as the current leader of Ruwanda. Therefore it is  easier to achieve this in Sri Lanka better with the resources, education and the resources and it is only needed a  proper leadership as the Japanese Ambassador kindly reminded us politely and diplomatically.

Most corrupted Institutions functioning freely in the firing line today

Having admitted that we have a problem as a country infested with bribery and corruptions what do we do to curb and prevent for the benefit and betterment of the people suffering from many ways due to bribery and corruption. This writer has raised this topic previously on Colombo Telegraph on 26^th October   2004, Lanka Web on 10/3/2018, Daily Mirror on 6/5/17 and Sunday Observer on 10/1/2021 on the grave danger of the crisis and a possible and a viable solution before we are immersed in the troubled ocean of debts in today. Unfortunately the situation today is precarious and uncontrollable many institutions have become institutionalised bribe taking centres and corruption centres openly functioning with no fear with the assistance of corrupt officials and funds they accumulate illegally. Let us find few institutions naming in the public eye as main targets in action in the public office today obtaining information from media web and the social media. Court offices and the system in extremely correct due to congestion of mainly in district and Magistrates courts and it should be misunderstood on the judges who are responsible for the conduct of cases when the court registers are responsible for the management of the office with the custody of productions which includes drugs, firearms, money and others in the court custody with lot of responsibilities’. This applies to District Courts with the custody of vehicles, property, act with a limited staff and assistants exposing them to danger and corruption picking from the media that court officers ( not court houses to be specific and for our protection) Then comes the motor traffic and identity card offices and the staff pointing at with the categories  of customs, police ( especially drug related matters) district council offices and it must be stated that we have missed a lot as it is so rampant going over our heads which is a sad state known to the public and governance unable to control the menace spread like wide power. What do we do to destroy the known and see enemy a most everywhere omnipresent with no fear which is the main enemy which is no exaggeration at all. The nation as one must give priority to this matter as prevention corruption and bribery will definitely a solution for all the ills that has ruined the nation to this extent today. These are only few institutions listed amongst many dis functioning as bribery dens and brought daylight despite the existence of a sound legal system on paper that is not properly utilized for obvious reasons as cancer has spread all over. We boast of a strong judiciary, legal system with excellent lawyer’s bribery law not second to any other system yet the bribe takers are acquitted so frequent on technical and slimy grounds that we hear so often on media. It may be an interesting topic for the Universities to compute the loss and the damages to the nation on corruption and d bribery to ascertain the loss and as an incentive for steps on eradication of this menace. The list goes on and on endless until it is clamped down jointly with the government with the direct participation of the citizen out of realization of the extent of the menace.

The law on bribery and corruption in Sri Lanka

The law and procedure on bribery and corruption in Sri Lanka is strong, straight, and powerful on paper though the implementation is slow ineffective with inefficient agency and the network. The main agency today is (CIABOC) a product set up with the amendment to the Constitution as 19^th and 20 th3 amendment to set up independent commissions including Bribery and Corruption mails senior judges on the top. Prior to independence during Kings Rule King is the head of the judiciary who is expected to rule the country subject to ‘’Dasaraja Dharma’’ –Ten Royal Virtues in practice by the king – the ultimate ruler who ruled and made judgments on the issues before him to resolve, based on [‘’Dhana’’ Generality, ‘’Sila’’ Morality, Comfort – ‘’Pariccage’’ making sacreficies Ajjive Honesty Maddave Kindness Tapa Restraint ‘’Akroada’’,  Non hatred, ‘’Avihansa’’ Nonviolence , Kanthi kindness, ‘’Aviorada’’ Non Enmity,] The subject ruled by the ruler by the virtues mentioned will be treated properly and impartially when bribery and corruption is banned and  punishable with severe punishments. Citizen ruled by the above virtues may be definitely safe from arbitrary rules and this kind of rule is welcomed.

Law on bribery and corruption in in brief

As at today the catalogue of legislation on the subject is  given here as penal Code 2/1882- Bribery Act 11/1954- 1/75- 2/94- 19^th and 20 the amendment that created (CIABOC) the main anti-bribery agency with the Bribery Commissioners and the Bribery Commissioner the CEO of the agency. The legislative structure is intact and as powerful as any other jurisdiction yet appear to be ineffective with bribery and corruption increasing at a terrible rate. The laws are straight and the issue is the incompetence or lack of will of the applicability to the last word which is the need of the hour. It is worrying that the rate of acquittals and failing conditions on technical issues despite the powerful legal system and learned judges legal experts and professionals. What is needed is to strengthen the procedure and implementation process forthwith.

Way forward and plan of actions

Who is responsible and who should initiate and work on the implementation process of cleaning up of bribery and corruption?  Is in the hands of the citizen activists and social organizations sponsored by the governance with a genuine deed out of realization of the danger and need of the hour. It is a difficult task as those in power including   the Executive may not be willing to sacrifice shedding the excessive benefits power and greed in all areas and sectors. Could this be possible on realising g the danger? Or some kind of compulsion is a matter to the citizen to decide on a plan of action for a better developed and prosperous new Sri Lanka to emerge. Sarath28dw@gmail.com sarath7@hotmail.co.uk