Sufian Siddique Independent researcher and freelance columnist, Dhaka

On March 20, the  State Department released a global report titled “2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices”.  The report is based on the human rights situation in 198 countries and territories.  The section on Bangladesh in the report highlights the issues of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture, prison conditions, arrest, detention, or arrest process, and treatment of prisoners; the judiciary; threats to human rights activists, civil society, and government critics; harassment; torture; freedom of expression; and respect for civil rights. Apart from this, restrictions on the media, right to peaceful assembly and organization, religious freedom, protection of ‘refugees’, access to basic services, freedom of participation in the political process, corruption, lack of transparency in government activities, discrimination and social oppression, human trafficking, workers’ rights are mentioned.

Analysis showed that the US human rights report has “fundamental weaknesses” and “errors.” There is no qualitative difference between the 2021 and 2022 reports. The report incorporated data from open sources. It reveals a contradictory position.  Many times it is said from the American side that freedom of media and freedom of speech are being curtailed. But the report contains many examples of open source and proves that the government does not stifle the creation of news.

Another observation is that the report makes reference to some NGOs, INGOs, and organizations representing civil society, one of which is Odhikar. It is clearly found that Odhikar has no valid papers or license to work. The application they made to renew their license was rejected.  There is no opportunity to look at any civil organization or non-governmental aid organization that has a political history or political identity from the point of view of neutrality. If such weaknesses persist, the report loses its acceptability.

They collected the information from various anti-government and biased sources. Collecting information from organizations that are not registered is illegal or unethical. Bangladesh should request that not only the United States but other states stay away from these organizations and take them into consideration as per the laws of the country.

A prime minister has only as much power as he needs to have. A friendly state has no moral right to doubt or question its degree of application or otherwise.  In a presidential-based government, he can have many things at his command. It is part of the constitution and how their government is run. So can we say that the president is the only powerful person in that country? But that is not the case. Everyone knows how laws are made in the parliamentary democracy of Bangladesh. There is an unfortunate tendency to limit the constitutional office to a single term.

The report  on the abuse of power by the country’s security forces has led to a data breach.  The number of missing persons is listed here as 81. This number will be 76. In this regard, it is very vaguely stated in 76 that Bangladesh has claimed to identify 10 persons. The matter was mentioned in the report as if it had not been addressed. But here  It is unequivocally true that after receiving the information about those 10 people, the United Nations did their own verification, and already 10 people have been removed from the list of 76. So it is not that Bangladesh is making a claim on the matter.

Looking at extrajudicial killings in the United States, it can be seen that from 2013 to 2019, 7,666 people were killed by police, 996 in 2020, and 1,000 in 2021-22.  In a country where an average of 1,000 people are killed by the police every year, the question is how much moral right there is to question other countries.

Although the report released by the US State Department states that incidents of disappearances decreased in Bangladesh last year, But there is no mention of the authority taking action on the disappearances or the return of many missing persons, and all these disappearances are filled with rights reports. The US human rights report’s allegation that the government has impunity for abuse of power and corruption by the security forces is not true. If someone is killed in a gunfight by the security forces, if the security forces fire in self-defense, an inquiry is arranged by an executive magistrate in every case. They are investigated and punishment is also prescribed depending on the investigation.  If the Executive Magistrate feels that the incident has been done with injustice or carelessness, it is referred to the Judicial Department.

At the beginning of the report, it is said that the Awami League won for the third time in the 2018 elections in Bangladesh. It is said that this election is not free and fair. But no major objection was ever made in the international arena about this election. If Washington is worried about Bangladesh, why did they express this opinion so late and when the elections are ahead? Such news is not pleasant after four years of elections. It is considered such efforts only in US interest. Thus, the entire report is riddled with inconsistencies, confusion, and misinformation.

There are many questions about the US election. Donald Trump has not yet accepted defeat in the election. In view of that, the attack on Capitol Hill under the leadership of Donald Trump has never happened in our country. So before questioning the election, they need to look at the questions they have about their own electoral system or the attacks on Capitol Hill after their election.

When a report is made on a friendly country, it should be given an opportunity to defend itself before it is published. The United States has made such promises at various times. But as usual, this time they did not keep their promises.

By making and publishing the reports, the USA always tries to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. Human rights are a universally accepted term. Bangladesh is also working to promote human rights, law, peace, and harmony in the country. Bangladesh has its own human rights commission. The legal codes of Bangladesh ensure the protection of human rights in Bangladesh.

දිනසේන රතුගමගේ Lanka Lead News

කුරුන්දි අට්ඨකථා ලේඛණය කළ ලාංකේය ඉතිහාසයේ වැදගත්ම ඓතිහාසික පුදබිමක් වූ මුලතිව් කුරුඳුමලේ විහාරස්ථානයට කෙලවර වූ බටහිර මායිමේ පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව විසින් අත්පත් කරගෙන තිබූ ඉඩම් අක්කර 229ක් වහාම නිදහස් කොට ඒවායේ අයිතිකරුවන් වෙත බාරදෙන ලෙස ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඊයේ(22) දැනුම් දී තිබේ.

මෙම ඉඩම් පිහිටා ඇත්තේ මුලතිව් තන්නිමුරුප්පු ප්‍රදේශයේ වන අතර, මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ලිපියක් ජනාධිපති ලේකම් කාර්යාලය විසින් මුලතිව් දිසාපතිවරයාටත් පළාතේ පුරාවිද්‍යා සහකාර කොමසාරිස්වරයා වෙතත් එවා ඇත.

පුරාවිද්‍යා ගවේෂණයකින් අනතුරුව පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව විසින් පවරාගෙන තිබූ එම අක්කර 229ක භූමිය මැණුම් කටයුතු සිදුකිරීම සඳහා පුරාවිද්‍යා නිලධාරීන් විසින් මිනින්දෝරු නිලධාරීන් කැඳවා තිබූ අතර එම මැනුම් නියෝගය ද ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් නවතා දමන ලෙස නියෝග කොට තිබේ.

පුරාවිද්‍යා නිලධාරීන් විසින් කාර්යාලයක් පිහිටුවා බුදු මැදුරක් ස්ථාපිත කිරීම පිණිස බුදු පිළිමයක් රැගෙන ගිය අවස්ථාවේ දෙමළ දේශපාලන පක්ෂ නියෝජිතයෝ ඊට එරෙහිව විරෝධය පළකිරීම නිසා පිළිමය පොලිසියේ තැන්පත් කිරීමට ද සිදුවී තිබේ.

දිනසේන රතුගමගේ

ජනාධිපති මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය

දකුණු ආසියාවේ හොඳම දූෂණ මර්දන පනත නුදුරේදීම ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ දී සම්මත කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය පියවර ගන්නා බව ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා පැවසීය.

එම පනතට අදාළ කැබිනට් අනුමැතිය මේ වන විටත් ලබාදී ඇති බව අනාවරණය කළ ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඉදිරියේදී විපක්ෂ නියෝජිතයන් සමඟ සාකච්ඡා කර එය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කරන බව ද පැවසීය.

ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා මේ බව සඳහන් කළේ මාධ්‍ය ආයතන ප්‍රධානීන් සමඟ ජනාධිපති කාර්යාලයේ පැවති සාකච්ඡාවට එක්වෙමිනි.

එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා මෙසේද කියා සිටියේය.

‘මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගීවීම පිළිබඳ සියලු මාධ්‍ය හිතවතුන්ට මම ස්තූතිවන්ත වෙනවා. ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල සමග ඇතිකරගත් ගිවිසුම පිළිබඳ ඔබව දැනුවත් කිරීමට මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්වන ලෙස මම ඔබගෙන් ඉලීමක් කළා.

අපි මීට වසරකට පෙර බංකොලොත් රටක් බවට පත් වුණා. ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ සහ අපේ ණය හිමියන්ගේ සහයෝගය ඇතිව අපගේ ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමට අපට සිදු වූ පළමු අවස්ථාව මෙයයි. මෙය ආරම්භය පමණයි. IMF සහයෝගය පිළිබඳ මූල්‍ය සහතිකය ලැබීමෙන් පසු අපේ රට තවදුරටත් බංකොලොත් රාජ්‍යයක් ලෙස සලකන්නේ නැහැ. දැන් අපි මීළඟ අදියරට යා යුතුයි. ඒ අපගේ සියලුම ණය හිමියන් එනම් බහුපාර්ශ්වික ණය හිමියන් සහ ද්විපාර්ශ්වික ණය හිමියන් සමඟ සාකච්ඡා කිරීමයි. පුද්ගලික ණය හිමියන් සමඟ සාකච්ඡා කිරීම වඩාත් දුෂ්කරයි. නමුත් අපි ආපසු හැරී නොබලා විශ්වාසයෙන් යුතුව ඉදිරියට යා යුතුයි. එබැවින් මෙය අවසානය නොවෙයි. එක් අතකින් ආරම්භය පමණයි. අපි ඊළඟට ණය දෙන්නන් සමඟ ද සාකච්ඡා කළයුතුයි.

ණය හිමියන් සමඟ සාකච්ඡා කරන අතරම, අපට වසර හතරක වැඩසටහනක් ද තිබෙනවා. ඒ නිසා තමයි මම පාර්ලිමේන්තුවෙන් ඉල්ලුවේ මේ ගිවිසුම සඳහා මට අනුමැතිය ලබා දෙන්න කියලා. එය නීතියෙන් කිරීමට මට අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. නමුත් මෙම ගිවිසුම සඳහා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ඡන්දය ප්‍රකාශ කිරීම අපිව තවත් ශක්තිමත් කරනවා. ජනතාව ඒ සඳහා දැනටමත් ඡන්දය ලබා දී තිබෙනවා.

ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ මෙම ගිවිසුමේ ඇතුළත් මූලධර්මය රට පිළිගෙන ඇති බව ණය හිමියන්ට පෙන්වීමට අවශ්‍ය වෙනවා.

එබැවින් පළමුව, එය ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමක් වන නමුත් ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමට පමණක් සීමා නොවී එය අපගේ ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමක් බවට පත්කරගත යුතුයි.

පළමුව, අපට මූල්‍ය ස්ථාවරත්වයක් තිබෙනවා. අපි මෙම ක්‍රියාවලිය හරහා අපගේ ආදායම වැඩිකරගත යුතුයි. මෙය ඉතා දුෂ්කර යුගයක් වන අතර අපි රජයේ වියදම් ස්ථාවර කරගත යුතුයි. මන්ද එය රජයේ වියදම්වල ස්වභාවය සහ අපට ඇති ආදායම විස්තර කරන නිසයි

අපේ ඉලක්කය වන්නේ රජයේ අයවැය වඩාත් හොඳින් පාලනය කිරීමයි. නමුත් මෙය අපට ප්‍රාථමික අයවැය අතිරික්තයක් ඇති කිරීම හා ආදායම් වැඩි කිරීමක් තහවුරු කරනවා. අප විසින් සිදු කරන ව්‍යුහාත්මක ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ මගින් අපට ආර්ථික වර්ධනයක් ඇති කර ගැනීමට හැකි වන බව අප මතක තබා ගත යුතුයි.

අපි විවිධ ආයෝජන ක්ෂේත්‍ර, නිෂ්පාදන සඳහා අමතර විදේශ ආයෝජන පිළිබඳව ද සොයා බලමින් සිටිනවා. එයින් අදහස් වන්නේ අප ඉදිරියටම යා යුතු බවයි.

දෙවනුව කෘෂිකර්මාන්තය සහ ධීවර කර්මාන්තය නවීකරණය කිරීම සිදු කළයුතුයි. තෙවනුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව කලාපීය සැපයුම් මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් බවට පත් කිරීමට කටයුතු කළයුතුයි. සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය, ඩිජිටල් ආර්ථිකය, හරිත ආර්ථිකය නිසැකවම වැඩිදියුණු කිරීම සහ පුළුල් කිරීම සිදු කළ යුතුයි. ඒ තුළින් අපිට නව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවක් ගොඩනැඟීමට හැකි වෙනවා.

මගේ අරමුණ තවත් වසර 25කින් ඒ කියන්නේ 2048 වන විට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඉහළ මැදි ආදායම් ලබන රටක් බවට පත් කිරීමයි. එකතැන පල් වූ ආර්ථිකයක් සමඟ අපට ඉදිරියට යා නොහැකියි. අපේ රටේ සිදු වූ සියලු ගැටලු මේ ප්‍රශ්නයට සම්බන්ධ බව අප සිහිතබා ගත යුතුයි.

1971 දී විරැකියාව සම්බන්ධව මතු වූ ගැටලුව මෙන්ම, 1983 භාෂාව පමණක් නොව, දෙමළ තරුණයින්ට රැකියාවක් නොතිබීම නිසා

ගැටලු මතු වුණා. 1989 දී ද සිදු වුයේ එයයි. අපට ඕනෑවට වඩා ප්‍රශ්න තිබුණා. ආර්ථික වර්ධනයක් නොමැතිකම හා අස්ථාවරත්වය හමුවේ ලේ වැගිරීම් සිදු වුණා. දැන් අපිට අලුතින් පටන් ගැනීමට අවස්ථාව තිබෙනවා.

එය ඓතිහාසික ක්‍රියාවලියක්. මම ඒ සඳහා ඔබ සියලුදෙනාගේ සහාය අපේක්ෂා කරනවා. මෙම ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ ක්‍රියාවලිය පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු ඕනෑම අවස්ථාවක නිලධාරින් සමග කතා කර දැනගැනීමට මාධ්‍යවේදීන්ට අවස්ථාව තිබෙනවා.

නමුත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉදිරි ගමන තීරණය වන්නේ මෙම ගිවිසුම සමග අප ඉදිරියට යනවාද, නැද්ද කියන කරුණ සමග බව අමතක නොකළ යුතුයි. අප එසේ නොකළහොත් අනාගත පරපුර අපට ශාප කරාවි. එබැවින් අපගේ ආර්ථිකය තුළ මෙම දීර්ඝකාලීන වෙනස්කම් සිදු කරමින් සියලුදෙනාගේ ජීවිත පහසු කර ගැනීමට සහයෝගය ලබාදෙන ලෙස මම ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා.

අපි පළමු කාර්යය ලෙස මෙම ගිවිසුම අනුමත කරලා, ඊළඟට ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමට යමු. ණය ගෙවන විදිහ දැන ගන්න පුළුවන් වෙන්නෙ ඊට පසුව තමයි. අපේ වැඩසටහන් අවසන් කරලා නැහැ. ඇයි අවසන් කළේ නැත්තෙ? ඒක දේශපාලනයට යටවුණා. එහෙම නැත්නම් ජනමතයට යට වුණා. ජනමතය ඇති කළේ ජනමාධ්‍යයයි. මේ වතාවේ මෙම වැඩසටහන සාර්ථක කර ගන්න මාධ්‍යයේ සහාය ලබා දෙන්න.

එපමණක් නොවෙයි එම්සීසී ප්‍රදානය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලබා ගැනීමට යන විට ඇතැම් පාර්ශ්ව එමගින් රට බෙදන බවට චෝදනා කළා. අයිඑම්එෆ් එන විට කිව්වා අපි බටහිරට යටත් වෙනවා කියලා. ඉතිං මේ විදියට කරගෙන යන්න අමාරුයි. ඒ නිසයි ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල සමග 17 වැනි වැඩසටහන සාර්ථක කර ගැනීමට එක් වෙන්න කියලා මාධ්‍යවලින් ඉල්ලා සිටියේ. මේ ක්‍රියාවලිය ඉතාම දුෂ්කරයි. අපි හැම දෙනාටම එය දැනෙනවා. මෙය අවුරුදු හතරක ක්‍රියාවලියක්. එය 2026 දී අවසන් වෙනවා. මගෙත් එක්ක ගොඩක් දුරගිය අය, මගේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති හරි කිව්ව අයත් දැන් මට විරුද්ධව කතා කරනවා.

ඉතිං විරුද්ධව හිටපු අය එකතු වෙන එක පුදුම විය යුතු දෙයක් නොවෙයි. අපි එකක් මතක තියා ගත යුතුයි. අපි දැන් අමාරු තැනක ඉන්නෙ. පරණ සෙල්ලම් ආයේ කරන්න බැහැ. පරණ සෙල්ලම් දැම්මොත් ආයෙත් වැටෙනවා. ඒ නිසා අතීතය අමතක කර අපි ඉදිරියට යමු.

අපි හැමෝම වැරදි කළා. දැන්වත් මේ සමඟ එකඟ වෙලා අපට සහාය ලබා දෙන්න. මේ ලැබුණු මුදල් අරගෙන මේ මාසේ පඩි ගෙවනවා. ඒක හොරකම් කිරීමක් නෙමෙයි. හොරකම් කියන කතාව නිසානෙ මේවා නැති වුණේ. එවැනි කතා පතුරවන්න එපා. ඔය කියන අය මීට වඩා හොරකම් කරනවා. ඔය ඉන්න අයට වඩා මගේ වැටුප අඩුයි. අපි ආකල්ප වෙනස් කරගත යුතුයි.

මං ආවේ හොරු ආරක්ෂා කරන්නයි කියලා චෝදනා කළා. නමුත් අපි අයිඑම්එෆ් සමඟ සාකච්ඡා කර දකුණු ආසියාවේ හොඳම දූෂණ මර්දන පනත ගෙන එනවා. විපක්ෂය කෑ ගැහුවට කිසිවක් ගෙනාවේ නැහැ. අධිකරණ ඇමැති මේ ගැන විපක්ෂය සමගත් සාකච්ඡා කරයි.

අප මෙය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළේ සෑම පක්ෂයකම සහාය ලබා ගන්නයි. කාටවත්ම මේකට විරුද්ධ වෙන්නත් බැහැ. අලුත් නීති කිහිපක් ගෙන ඒමටත් තිබෙනවා. නව පියවර ගණනාවක් අපි අරන් තිබෙනවා.

මාධ්‍ය මර්දනය කරන්න අපට වුවමනා නැහැ. මාධ්‍යයෙන් වැඩියෙන්ම බැනුම් අහන්නෙත් මම. මාධ්‍යය නැති වුණෙත් මටයි. මාධ්‍ය සඳහා පනවා තිබූ අපරාධ නීතිය ඉවත් කළෙත් මමයි. තොරතුරු දැන ගැනීමේ අයිතිය ලබා දුන්නෙත් මමයි. ස්වාධීන කොමිෂන් සභා තුන් වතාවක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ගෙනාවා. ඉතිං කොහොමද මම මාධ්‍ය මර්දනය කරන්නෙ.

ජාතික ප්‍රශ්නය විසඳන්න කියනවා. නමුත් මම ඒ කටයුතු සිදු කරද්දි සුමන්තිරන් මන්ත්‍රීතුමා සමඟ එකතු වෙලා අනික් ප්‍රශ්න නැති කරන්න හදනවා කියලා චෝදනා කරනවා. එසේ චෝදනා කිරීම සුදුසු නැහැ කියා මාධ්‍යවල කවුරුත් කිව්වෙ නැහැ. ජාතික ප්‍රශ්නය විසඳීමට කටයුතු කරන බව මම කලින් කියලා තිබෙනවා. ඒකට කිසිම මාධ්‍යයක් විරුද්ධ වුණේ නැහැ. ඒ සඳහා සියලුම දෙනා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී එකඟ වුණා. ඒක මුවාවෙන් ජාතිවාදය ඇති කරන්න එපා. එක් මාධ්‍ය ආයතනයක් ජාතිවාදී වැඩපිළිවෙළක් ගෙන යනවා. එකම දේ දවස් හතරක් විකාශය කළා. ඒ අතරතුර එක ද්‍රවිඩ වැසියෙකුට කවුරුන් හෝ පහර දුන්නා නම් මොකද වෙන්නේ.

ආණ්ඩුවට විරුද්ධ උද්ඝෝෂණ පෙන්නුවට කමක් නෑ, නමුත් එහි තව පැත්තකුත් තිබෙනවා කියලා පෙන්විය යුතුයි. උද්ඝෝෂණ පෙන්වන්න එපා කියා හෝ මට හොඳ කියන ඒවා විතරක් දාන්න කියා මම කියන්නේ නැහැ.

මෙහිදී මාධ්‍යවේදියෙකු විමසා සිටියේ පාඩු ලබන රාජ්‍ය ව්‍යවසාය පමණක් නොව ලාභ ලබන රාජ්‍ය ව්‍යවසාය ද ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමට රජය තීරණය කර ඇත්ද කියාය.

ඊට ප්‍රතිචාර දක්වමින් ජනාධිපතිවරයා මෙසේ පැවසීය.

ඇයි රජය ව්‍යාපාර වල ඉන්නෙ. ඒක රජයේ වැඩක් නොවෙයි. ඩී එස් සේනානායක මැතිතුමාගේ කාලයෙ ඔය වගේ වැඩ තිබුනේ නැහැ. ඒත් රටේ සල්ලි තිබුණා. එදා එංගලන්තයටත් ණය දීලා ගල්ඔය ව්‍යාපාරය හදන්නත් රටේ සල්ලි තිබුණා.

දැන් අපි චීනයෙන් සල්ලි ඉල්ලා ගන්නවා මොරගහකන්ද හදන්න. රාජ්‍ය ආයතන ව්‍යාපාර කළ යුතුයි කියලා කුමන රටේද නීතියක් තිබෙන්නේ. අපි යන්නේ රටක් හැටියට සීග්‍රයෙන් දියුණු වෙන්න. අපි විතරයි රටක් හැටියට මේ රාජ්‍යය ව්‍යාපාර කරන්න ඕන කියලා කියන්නේ.

රජය තිබෙන්නේ නීතිය හා සාමය ආරක්ෂා කරන්න සහ ජනතාවගේ ප්‍රශ්න විසඳන්නයි. අද හොඳ අධ්‍යාපන ක්‍රමයක් තියෙනවද? අපි අධ්‍යාපනයට වඩා ගිය අවුරුද්දෙ ඛනිජ තෙල් සංස්ථාවට ගෙවලා තියෙනවා. අධ්‍යාපනයට වඩා විදුලි බල මණ්ඩලයට ගෙවලා තියෙනවා. ඩී එස් සේනානායක අගමැතිවරයා කාලයෙ මේ එකක් වත් තිබුනේ නැහැ. පෞද්ගලික අංශය විසින් ව්‍යාපාර කරනකොට එකේ බදු රජය ලබාගන්නවා.එංගලන්තෙ ටෙලිකොම් එක අයිති කාටද. පෞද්ගලික අංශයට. ප්‍රංශයේත් ඇමරිකාවේත් එහෙමයි. අපිත් එලෙස දියුණු විය යුතුයි. නැත්තම් උතුරු කොරියාව වගේ වැටෙන්න ඕනේ. ඒ දෙකෙන් මොකක්ද කැමති කියලා මට කියන්න.

මෙහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන මහතා

ජනාධිපතිතුමා අගමැතිවරයා වශයෙන් සිටියදී 2002 වසරේදී රාජ්‍ය මූල්‍ය කළමනාකරණ විනය සකස් කිරීම සඳහා 2003 අංක 3 දරණ මූල්‍ය විනය කළමනාකරණ පනත ඉදිරිපත් කළා. මෙම පනතේ ප්‍රධාන අරමුණු තුනක් තිබුණා. 2006 වන විට අයවැය පරතරය දළ දේශීය නිෂ්පාදිතයෙන් ප්‍රතිශතයක් ලෙස 5% දක්වා අඩු කිරීමටත් ඉන්පසුව බලයට පත්වන රජයන් මේ 5% මට්ටම ඉදිරියටත් පවත්වාගෙන යාමටත් මෙම පනත මගින් ප්‍රතිපාදන සැලසී තිබුණා.

2013දී රාජ්‍ය නොපියවූ ණය ප්‍රමාණය දළ දේශීය නිෂ්පාදිතයෙන් 65% දක්වා අඩු කර එතැන් සිට හැටපහේ සීමාවේ පවත්වාගෙන යාම, තුන්වන කරුණ රජය ණය වන විට ණය විය හැක්කේ දළ දේශීය නිෂ්පාදිතයෙන් 4.5% පමණක් විය යුතුය යන්නයි. මේ කරුණු තුන ඇතුලත් කරලා එතුමා අගමැතිවරයා වශයෙන් එය ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සම්මත කළා. නමුත් අවාසනාවට 2004දී ජනතාව තීරණය කළා එම ආණ්ඩුව හොඳ නැහැ කියා, ඒ වෙනුවට වෙනත් ආණ්ඩුවක් පත්කරගත යුතුයි කියලා . එදා පත්‍ වූ ආර්ථික උපදේශකවරුන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට කියලා පනත නැවත සංශෝධනය කළා. එම නිසා එම ආර්ථික ඉලක්ක වලට යාමට අපට නොහැකි වුණා

රජය ගන්න තීන්දු ජනප්‍රිය නොවෙන්න පුළුවන්. අසීරු තීන්දු නොගත්තොත් රටක් හෝ අනාගතයක් නැහැ කියලා ජනාධිපතිතුමා නිරන්තරයෙන්ම කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයට ප්‍රකාශ කළා. මේ සියලුම ගිවිසුම් කිසිවක් සඟවන්නේ නොමැතිව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කළා. මේ හැර වෙන විකල්පයක් තිබෙනවා නම් කවුරුන් හෝ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ඉදිරිපත් කරන්න. එයිනුත් රජයට විශාල මුදලක් ඉතිරි වෙනවා. එහෙම වුණොත් ප්‍රංශයේ ලසාඩ් සමාගමට ගෙවන්න තිබෙන මුදල් ගෙවන්න අවශ්‍ය නැහැ. ණයබරින් බේරෙන්න වෙන ක්‍රමයක් කියන්න පුළුවන් කෙනෙක් ඉන්නවා නම්, එය අපට ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්න පුළුවන්. අපි හිතනවාට වඩා මෙය සංකීර්ණ ගැටලුවක්. මෙම ගැටලුව සාධාරණ ලෙස සමාජගත කරන්න උදව් කරන්න.

මෙහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ මහබැංකු අධිපති ආචාර්ය නන්දලාල් වීරසිංහ මහතා

ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත නොකලානම් වසරකට ඩොලර් බිලියන 06 බැගින් වසර ගණනක් යනතුරු විදේශ ණය බරක් අප මත තිබුණා. එය ගෙවීමට අපහසු නිසා තමයි ණය ගෙවීම තාවකාලිකව නවතා ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කරගැනීමට මේ ක්‍රියාවලයේ යෙදෙන්නේ. එහිදී අපට මේ තිබෙන ආකාරයට ගෙවීමට නොහැකි නිසා අපට ණය ලබා දුන් වාණිජ ආයතන සහ පුද්ගලික අංශ සහ ඒ ඒ රජයයන් ගෙන් අප ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා අපට මේ සඳහා සහනයක් ලබා දෙන ලෙස.

එම ක්‍රියාවලියේ පළමු පියවර තමයි ණය හිමියන් ලබාදුන් මූලය සහතිකය. අපේ ණය තිරසාර කිරීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය ඉලක්ක ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදලේ ලේඛනයේ තිබෙනවා. ඒ තිරසාර මට්ටමට ළඟා කර ගැනීම වෙනුවෙන් ඒ ඒ රටවල් සහයෝගය දෙන බවට සහතිකයක් දී තිබෙනවා.

ඊළඟ පියවර වන්නේ ඒ සහතිකය අනුව සාකච්ඡා කර අපට වසරකට බිලියන 06 බැගින් ගෙවීමට තිබෙන ණය මේ කාලයේ ගෙවිය නොහැකියි නමුත් යම්කිසි සහනයක් ඇතිව දීර්ඝ කාලීනව ගෙවීමට අවස්ථාව ලබා දෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටිමයි.

මෙතන තිබෙන්නේ අප නැවත ණය ගන්නේවත් ගෙවන්නේවත් නෑ කියන කාරණය නොවෙයි. ණයක් ලබා ගත් විට එය ගෙවීමට අපට වගකීමක් තිබෙනවා. එසේ නොවුනහොත් නැවත කිසිවෙක් ණය ලබා දෙන්නේ නෑ. මෙහිදී සිදු වන්නේ ණය ගෙවීමට අපට හැකියාවක් නොමැති නිසා ගෙවීම පැහැර හැරීම වෙනුවට සහන ක්‍රමයකට ගෙවීමට අවස්ථාවක් දෙන්න කියා ඉල්ලා සිටිමයි.

උදාහරණයක් ලෙස දැනට අපට බිලියන 50ක් වසර දහයෙන් ගෙවීමට තිබෙනවා නම් අපි කියනවා ඊට අවුරුදු විස්සක, තිහක හෝ ඊට වැඩි කාලයක් ලබා දෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා.

වසරකට ගෙවීමට ඇති විදේශ ණය වාරිකය දළ දේශීය නිෂ්පාදිතයෙන් 4.5%කට වඩා අපට ගෙවීමට හැකියාවක් නෑ. ඒ අනුව එම ගණනට අඩු කර දෙන ලෙසයි ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ. ඉතුරිය දීර්ඝ කාලීනව ගෙවීම සඳහා තමයි දැන් සාකච්ඡා පවත්වන්නේ.

මුදල් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය රංජිත් සියඹලාපිටිය, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය දිලුම් අමුණුගම, ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව පිළිබඳ ජනාධිපති ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ උපදේශක සහ ජනාධිපති කාර්ය මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානි සාගල රත්නායක ,ජනාධිපති ලේකම් සමන් ඒකනායක, මුදල් අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම් ආචාර්ය මහින්ද සිරිවර්ධන, ජනමාධ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම් අනූෂ පැල්පිට, මහ බැංකු අධිපති ආචාර්ය නන්දලාල් වීරසිංහ, ජනාධිපති මාධ්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් ධනුෂ්ක රාමනායක , රජයේ ප්‍රවෘත්ති අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් දිනිත් චින්තක කරුණාරත්න මහත්වරු හා ජනමාධ්‍ය ආයතන ප්‍රධානීන් ඇතුළු පිරිසක් මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්ව සිටියහ.

– ජනාධිපති මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says that 121 million US dollars out of 333 million US dollars, the first tranche that was extended to Sri Lanka by the IMF, was used to pay the installment of the Indian credit line.

He said the relevant installment of 121 million US dollars was paid yesterday.  

” Usually the loans given by the International Monetary Fund are credited to the Central Bank account.  But this time, the relevant loan amount has been credited to the account by the Treasury Deputy Secretary. Therefore it can be used for debt stabilization,” he said.

On March 20, the IMF Board approved a 48-month extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of SDR 2.286 billion (about US$3 billion) to support Sri Lanka’s economic policies and reforms.(Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya)

Courtesy Adaderana

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout will help bring Sri Lanka’s depleted foreign exchange reserve to pre-crisis levels in four years, said the country’s central bank governor.

On Tuesday, the IMF extended a long-awaited US$3 billion (S$4 billion) loan to the island nation, which has been reeling since 2021 from its worst economic crisis since independence.

The bailout comes with a structured four-year programme that requires Sri Lanka to achieve debt sustainability, shore up more foreign exchange to create a healthy reserve, and improve state revenue by raising taxes and slashing utility subsidies.

Sri Lanka owes around US$51 billion to external lenders, the repayment of which was suspended when its government declared bankruptcy in July 2022.

During the programme period of four years, we are committed to bringing foreign exchange reserves back to levels we had before the crisis, which is about US$8 billion to US$9 billion – this is not comfortable, but it will be sufficient,” Central Bank of Sri Lanka governor Nandalal Weerasinghe told The Straits Times on Thursday.

The most Sri Lanka has ever had in reserve is US$10 billion, he said. 

Among the sources of US dollars will be concessional loans of up to US$7 billion from the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and other financial institutions, private investments, and export earnings, the governor added.

We will also engage in good faith with our foreign creditors through a debt-restructuring process to reduce our annual debt service payments, which is now a significant US$6 billion per year,” said Mr Weerasinghe. 

The import-dependent country’s reserves had dipped dangerously to US$500 million in 2021, but improved to US$2.2 billion in February 2023 after Sri Lanka stopped interest payouts and some countries such as India extended fuel on credit. 

Blaming previous governments for borrowing excessively from the global markets at commercial interest rates to finance fiscal deficit, Mr Weerasinghe said Sri Lanka would have access to borrow from the international market only after the four-year programme.

I would advise the government that even if we have access to the commercial market, our borrowings will have to be much more carefully evaluated, and properly invested in areas that can generate enough foreign exchange to service the debt,” he added. 

From 2010 to 2021, the share of such commercial borrowings – called sovereign bonds – in Sri Lanka’s external debt tripled, from 12 per cent to 36 per cent.

In 2021, they accounted for 70 per cent of the government’s annual interest payments.

Mr Weerasinghe took over the central bank in April 2022 from his much-criticised predecessor, Mr Ajith Nivard Cabraal.

Mr Cabraal was known to be close to former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, and had served as his economic adviser when the latter was prime minister.

Mr Cabraal had opposed an IMF bailout in favour of a domestic solution to the economic crisis.

But as dollar reserves dipped, the island could not afford to import food, medicine, fertiliser and fuel, triggering grave shortages. 

Struggling Sri Lankans launched massive protests across the nation in April 2022, forcing then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, to resign.

The Parliament then appointed Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe as president and he is now leading the economic recovery.

Source: Strait Times
-Agencies

Courtesy Adaderana

The Supreme Court is due to deliver the verdict on the petitions filed against the Central Bank (Amendment) Bill confidentially to the Speaker of the Parliament.

The second hearing of the Bill took place today (24 March), before a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, during which the presentation of the petitioner’s arguments concluded.

Presenting his argument in court, Additional Solicitor General Viraj Dayaratne highlighted that through the Bill in question, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) will be allowed to implement its monetary policy more independently, improving its accountability and also permitting the CBSL Governor to act on his own accord, without being influenced by any external parties.

The petitioners countered, however, that the Central Bank (Amendment) Bill would allow for the Central Bank to deviate from the powers of the Executive, thereby posing an issue.

The Additional Solicitor General argued, however, that this was not the case, and even under the proposed Bill, the CBSL will still be answerable to the Parliament.

Following the conclusion of the hearing, the court ordered both parties to file their written submissions, if any, by Monday (27 March).

CBSL Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe was also present at today’s hearings, for which the court expressed its gratitude.

A total of seven petitions have been filed against the Central Bank (Amendment) Bill, by a group of persons including Udaya Gammanpila, Athuraliye Rathana Thero and Lt Col (Retd.) Anil Amarasekera.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka will hold a virtual presentation next week to update its commercial creditors and investors following the receipt of IMF Executive Board approval for the bailout package.

The investor and creditor presentation will commence at 8.30 a.m. on March 30, chaired by Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe and Finance Ministry’s Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on March 20 green-lighted a 48-month extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program of SDR 2.286 billion (approximately USD 3 billion) for Sri Lanka.

The EFF program will allow Sri Lanka to access financing of up to USD 7 billion from the IMF, International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and multilateral organizations.

After receiving the IMF’s board approval, Sri Lanka immediately received an initial disbursement of USD 333 million (amounting to SDR 254 million) from the EFF arrangement. The first tranche of the IMF bailout package is expected to catalyze new external financing including from the ADB and the World Bank.

The planned presentation will outline the EFF-supported program’s objectives, as well as the next steps with regard to engagement with creditors, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization & National Policies explained in a press release.

The ministry reiterated that Sri Lanka is fully committed to successfully completing its IMF program, adding that the government has embarked on an ambitious reform agenda” to ensure fiscal consolidation, boost tax revenues, rebuild its foreign reserves, improve economic governance, and strengthen the Central Bank’s independence.

Sri Lanka will continue to engage with all its creditors in good faith with full transparency and looks forward to constructive discussions for a swift resolution of the public debt situation, the statement read further.

Speaking in this regard, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana said: The IMF Executive Board approval is an important milestone towards Sri Lanka’s debt sustainability and economic recovery, unlocking up to $7 billion in funding from the IMF and other IFIs. These funds will help address Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic challenges, reconstitute financial buffers, and restart the country’s economic growth engines. Moving onto the next phase, we remain committed to progressing engagement with all our creditors to achieve an efficient, transparent, and equitable implementation of the debt treatment required to restore debt sustainability.”

Meanwhile, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said: The IMF program is crucial to stabilise our economy and we are strongly committed to successfully complete the IMF program by implementing ambitious reforms. We can already see positive signs of recovery; the headline inflation rate has eased for five consecutive months and our foreign currency reserves have increased to $2.2 billion in February 2023. We are on the right path, but we still have a long way to go. I am confident that we will successfully complete the IMF program and restore Sri Lanka’s economy.”

Hiru News

Courtesy Hiru News

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that due to the public sector engaging in business activities, the money that was available for the construction of 100 projects similar to the Mahaweli during the past decades, has been destroyed.

He noted that in the future, the public sector will stop engaging in business and open it to the private sector to create a free and productive economy.

President Wickremesinghe mentioned this at the 71st commemoration ceremony of the late Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake at Independence Square yesterday.

Recalling that D.S. Senanayake’s vision was to create a free economy, the President said that business should be done by the private sector and that the country could be developed with the tax revenue obtained from them.

However, due to the nationalization in 1956, the Government started engaging in business and that is why the tax revenue was inadequate for the development of the country, the President pointed out.

He stated that the country has distanced itself from D.S. Senanayake’s vision, but following his vision, Singapore has become a developed country today and said that despite our politicians dreaming of making Sri Lanka a Singapore, the destruction caused to Sri Lanka in the last 75 years due to the decisions of certain political movements is immense.

Therefore, the President further mentioned that Senanayake’s legacy should be carried forward to build a strong and powerful Sri Lanka.

By Raj Gonsalkorale

The IMF agreement is much more than the USD 3 billion that accompanies it. In the overall scheme of the country’s foreign debt (now estimated at around USD 48 Billion) and overall debt at 115% of GDP, with no funds for foreign debt repayments and no foreign exchange to purchase essentials, the USD 3 Billion is relatively miniscule in the face of the mammoth task before the country. In this context, it is the four-year plan that accompanies this agreement that matters. This plan may drive the country more towards the Western world led by the USA, and even more hardship as contended by some. This contention is however based on a hypothesis and without an appreciation of the political, social, and economic circumstances in other country’s that obtained similar bail out packages, and who reportedly were driven further into an economic and social abyss as a consequence of IMF bail outs.

The question to be asked is whether Sri Lanka has any other choice other than this assistance package from the IMF, and if there is, what that choice is. Criticising the overall thrust of this plan is like refusing to hold on to a tube thrown at an individual struggling in mid sea saying one needs to know more about the tube before grabbing it.

Sri Lankans are divided in their opinion whether to regard the IMF agreement as a lifeline or a cunning plan. They hover between the two phrases Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” and Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”.

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth is an admonishment to be grateful when receiving a present and not to find fault with that present. A horse’s teeth change as it ages, and looking in its mouth is a good way to judge the health and value of a horse. To question the value of a gift is an insult. The oldest example of this proverb in English dates back to the mid-1500s, where the equine in question is called a given horse. However, St. Jerome sent a Letter to the Ephesians in the year 400, with the admonishment Noli equi dentes inspicere donati” which translates as Never inspect the teeth of a given horse”. It is astonishing to consider how old this proverb truly is. https://grammarist.com/usage/dont-look-a-gift-horse-in-the-mouth/

The adage “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts is heard often and is normally used to refer to an act of charity that masks a hidden destructive or hostile agenda. But it’s not widely known that the phrase originates with a story from Greek mythology–specifically the story of the Trojan War, in which the Greeks, led by Agamemnon, sought to rescue Helen, who had been taken to Troy after falling in love with Paris. This tale forms the core of Homer’s famous epic poem, The Illiad (https://www.thoughtco.com/beware-of-greeks-bearing-gifts-origin-121368 

Sri Lankans are good at looking for scapegoats. They are a nation of experts who think they know everything and are good at talking about these but not doing as much to put their opinions into action.  All Opposition parties have been guilty of this, as the current Opposition is. People have consistently voted for political parties and elected them to power by not looking beyond their noses. Although no doubt said figuratively, a leader once said on a political platform to loud cheers from a mammoth audience that if need be, I will bring rice even from the Moon”. Short term agendas rather than longer term policies have been the determinants since independence. Family and personality politics have dominated the political landscape. Allegations of corruption are rife although no politician or a high-ranking official has been indicted on corruption charges. Billions of dollars of ill-gotten money said to be stashed away in other countries are still stashed away, if indeed such funds are there. No serious effort has been made to uncover these although there are international agencies including a UN body (The Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR), a partnership between the World Bank Group and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that supports international efforts to end safe havens for corrupt funds. StAR works with developing countries and financial centers to prevent the laundering of the proceeds of corruption and to facilitate more systematic and timely return of stolen assets- see https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/corruption/StAR.html)

Many excel in hindsight analysis and criticism, but few learn lessons from mistakes. This writer and many others are no exceptions. We have all collectively led the country to where it is now. It is time to learn from mistakes and move on and look towards the future and stop scapegoat hunting.

The IMF bailout plan is not a gift. So, there is no horse nor a Greek to consider here. It is an economic strategy and an economic plan for a bankrupt country drowning in a debt vortex created by itself. It has been the only lifeline thrown at the country.

What can and should be done by political parties, organisations and individuals is to support this plan, but, if it is to be opposed, to come up with an alternate plan that would assure the country’s creditors that their loans will be repaid, how the country would generate enough foreign income to do so, how the country would generate enough foreign currency to purchase essentials like oil, coal, medicines etc, how the country would meet its domestic expenditure with domestic income and borrow only for development projects that will yield a return on investment. These critics must also spell out what they will do to stop the massive haemorrhaging that is going on subsidising entities like Sri Lankan Airlines, the Petroleum Corporation, the electricity board among others. They must either put up or shut up. What is desperately needed now is not political point scoring to continue duping the voters with no alternate plans but short-term political hyperbole.

If indeed some countries who received similar IMF packages met with the an unfortunate fate as alleged, it is more than likely that they themselves were the cause of it. Sri Lanka too could face a similar fate if the stakeholders in the country do not own this plan and work together to make it a success. As suspected by some, if the IMF is playing a game as in Homer’s famous epic poem, The Illiad, the country needs an Odysseus to overcome such a challenge. While not suggesting or imputing that the IMF has any kind of a cunning plan, the challenge for Sri Lanka would be to demonstrate their ability to manage its economy well and do so with the assistance of all other development agencies and via bi lateral agreements but within the terms and conditions of the IMF agreement it has signed.

The IMF agreement is a four year agreement and neither the current President nor the government has four more years in office unless they are re-elected. It is imperative that a party or parties in Opposition who could well form a government at the next general election, and a future President, if the current President either does not stand for election or is defeated, works with the IMF over the next four years. An abrogation of this agreement will be the ultimate death sentence for the country. If the Opposition has contentious issues in the agreement, they should highlight these now, and work with the government to address them collectively with the IMF now, and not later. If they are opposing the agreement, they should submit an alternate plan to save the country from its current disastrous situation. Failure to demonstrate their concern for the country by not teaming with the government on this specific issue or not presenting an alternate plan to save the country from its economic abyss may even test Democracy itself and possibly the sovereignty of the country as well.

MALINDA SENEVIRATN​E



If the head of any organisation is a crook, it amounts to a licence for theft down the line, all the way to the bottom. If there’s a crook at any level of an organisation, it implies that the head of that institution is either a crook or is incompetent. 

Organization, here, could mean all kinds of collectives, for example teams, schools, state institutions, companies, clubs, societies, ministries, councils, judicial apparatuses and even countries.  Hold on to this thought for a while.  



We are talking here about the energy sector. We are talking about petroleum. About crude oil. Refined petroleum fuels and products. Refineries.. Supply side issues. Demand side issues. Margins. Contracts. Hidden costs that are eventually reflected in the Consumer Price Index. Domestic fuel-need security or rather insecurity. Dollar costs. Tender procedures. Foot dragging. Tripartite agreements sat upon. We are talking of the Ministry of Power and Energy. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). The Bank of Ceylon (BoC). Relevant officials. Tier One traders who produce oil, have their own wells and extracting and refining equipment and run their own trading operations. Tier Two traders are, well, just traders.



First, let’s consider how the CPC does and does not do business. The CPC has always shown a preference to purchase from relatively small-time, second-tier players who in reality procure from the top-tier and markup in an ungodly manner. Whether or not there are hidden costs, pocket-lining etc. included in the markup, the high-ups in the Ministry of Power and Energy and the CPC would know. Suffice to say, this is typical. Of course such deals would include politicians, officials and of course such second-tier suppliers. In cahoots. Who picks up the bill though? The consumer!



The mismanagement and corruption (yes!) is perhaps best evidenced by the options that the CPC does not consider, despite cogent proposals with terms far more favourable not just to the CPC but the country economy, the industries and the general public as a whole.  



Let’s consider an alternative scenario. Suppose there is a top Middle-Eastern oil producing company that is owned by that particular government, with trading offices in the UK, Singapore and Dubai.  Suppose this company proposes to supply the entire crude oil requirement of the Sapugaskanda Refinery with a, say, six month credit period, and pledges to off-take all refined products leftover after providing for domestic demand. It would not only sort out the country’s energy issues and provide domestic fuel-need security but also turn Sri Lanka into a regional petroleum, oils and fuel export hub. At zero-dollar cost to the nation.



Consider capacities. As of now the full rated capacity of the Refinery is 55,000 barrels per day. Historically, the facility processes just 22-25,000 barrels per day due to technical, maintenance, procurement, and other management” issues. The reason is well known.  The output of heavy refined products like the various grades of furnace oils and marine fuels even from high grade light crude oil is around 50-60% and Sri Lanka just doesn’t have sufficient domestic capacity to absorb anything more above a 22-25,000 barrels per day refining operation. Now, considering that a top tier player who is a producer, refiner and trader can off-take anything and everything produced, the Refinery can operate close to capacity without having to worry about shipping out the excess products once domestic demand is satisfied. Sri Lanka would get at least the processing margin and, if the banking system is stable, it is not inconceivable that the entire transaction be channeled through it. It would obviously make the banking system dollar-rich and infuse much needed dollars into the float

.

Such an arrangement would earn Sri Lanka between 10-20% of its GDP in dollars and remove the cost of crude oil procurement altogether. Now suppose this top-tier player has a market capitalisation approximate to 2 trillion US dollars which is greater than the sum of the next three players, and doesn’t demand upfront payment? Does it even make sense to play with relatively two-bit traders? If it does, does it not mean that either there’s corruption or absolute incompetence?

Just for context, consider that countries like Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia prefer such arrangements, i.e. agreements with the top player who is reliable, reputed and don’t have to impose markups simply because oil need not be purchased. As is, even India, which has its own oil reserves, does good business with this company which operates as co-owner of refining facilities.



Let’s talk numbers. Let’s for simplicity assume a barrel of crude oil costs 100 US dollars. Considering yield margins of 30-35% on refined products, a barrel of crude refined will produce 130-135 dollars of refined products. That would amount to at minimum a processing margin yield of 7-10 dollars per barrel of refined products. If the banking system is stable, the balance 20-25 (or 23-27) dollars can be routed through it. That’s 153 million dollars at the margin and 655 million dollars at the yield margin.



Now what if another refinery is added using the free space at Sapugaskanda, as has been proposed? It would mean 110,000 barrels of additional capacity. Per day.  What if someone proposes that this asset, worth around 1.2 billion US dollars will be built by a top-tier player but will be fully owned by Sri Lanka?



Consider also that the Ministry of Energy has solicited an expression of interest to set up a refining complex in BoI controlled land in Hambantota. Apparently 400 acres with the possibility of adding another 190 acres. Of course this doesn’t necessarily translate into a capacity to refine 650,000 barrels per day overnight considering technical requirements which, one assumes, the experts of the CPC, BoI and the Ministry are aware of. While it does pose the issue of creating unnecessary inbred competition (with Sapugaskanda), if a technically sound and experienced partner who does not fear the market is involved, it does make sense. As long as the CPC moves out of what appears to be a lining-pockets culture of dealing with suppliers.



There’s more on that. An example would make things clear. In July 2022 a tender was called for the supply of JetA1 fuel. Although it could have been supplied at 10 USD per barrel, the suggested price was 13.95. It was eventually awarded at 21.95 dollars per barrel after delaying the awardee’s ability to supply at 13.95. That’s for 40,000 metric tonnes per month, roughly 250,000 barrels. That’s some 35 million dollars lost a year. Why was this done, does Kanchana Wijesekera know? Can the MD of CPC provide an answer? Do they believe that Sri Lanka can be turned into a jet aviation fuel hub? At that price? Is it not true that the CPC came up with bizarre technical objections which the industry would guffaw at in order to ensure that the supplier quoting the higher price would be awarded the tender? Was there pocket-lining?



In June 2022, when Sri Lanka was unable to pay in dollar upfront and wanted credit for the supply of crude oil, one supplier was ready to give six months credit. However, the mechanism that exists requires a tripartite Non Resident Rupee Account agreement between the CPC, the supplier and the Bank of Ceylon. The BoC is required to do the dollar conversion and send the money to the supplier. In this instance, the BoC signed two NRRA agreements with two parties offering less favourable terms. The BoC not only refused to sign the NRRA with the supplier offering the best terms, but refused to communicate with this party which, mind you, is a BoC account holder, as to what their specific grievance was. Who at the BoC is responsible for this? Is he or she in cahoots with some CPC and Ministry officials? The Minister could investigate.



As mentioned there is a possibility of an arrangement where the CPC does not have to pay any money upfront. In fact no money would be required. There would be investment in a new refinery at no cost to CPC or Sri Lanka, no NRRA accounts, no markups, no corruption. The supplier takes on the conversion risks, provides the crude oil and off-takes the excess refined products. Sri Lanka gets dollars into the banking system and the CPC gets both Rupee and Dollar profits from the Sapugaskada Refinery. No energy security issues. The CPC can supply to the CEB without interruption. And yet, Sri Lanka refuses to buy into this. Add to refining capacity by setting up refineries in Hambantota and it’s all simple arithmetic. Is the CPC incapable of doing simple addition and subtraction? Is Kanchana arithmetically challenged?  



There seems to be hanky-panky in all this. Where, is the question. Somewhere down the line? If so, the buck floats up to the Minister and the Government, Head of State included, and on it is written the following words: ‘incompetent and/or corrupt’, noting that incompetence at this level amounts to corruption as per Carlson M.M. etal  (2018): corruption signifies a failure to conform to some standard, the inducement to wrong by improper and unlawful means, or a departure from what is pure or correct.”

Inefficient. Losses. Wrong Decisions. Corruption. These are words associated with entities such as the CPC and CEB. They are used to prop proposals for privatisation. Does not follow. Houses need to be and can be put into order. There’s nothing to stop state-entities playing according to market rules and making profits. Except corrupt officials.  The CPC still can turn things around. Kanchana Wijesekera can step in if he wants to. Sri Lanka does not need to depend on the alleged largesse of the IMF. Good business sense and integrity. That’s what is needed. Does the CPC have these qualities? Does the Minister?

And now, scroll back to the first paragraph of this essay:

 ‘If the head of any organisation is a crook, it amounts to a licence for theft down the line, all the way to the bottom. If there’s a crook at any level of an organisation, it implies that the head of that institution is either a crook or is incompetent.’

Senaka Weeraratna

Dasis Manchanayake scored both a stunning century and half-century and then stunned the entire country by leading his team to a splendid victory over their rivals, which will remain etched in the memory of all those who were privileged to watch this unforgettable 144^th Royal Thomian encounter.

However, there is another story equally interesting lurking in Dasis background. The story of his closely-knit family.

His father Tissa, a gentle unassuming man was educated at the Veyangoda Central School. So too were his four brothers in a family of eight children. Veyangoda Central College” also known as Bandaranayake Central College, Veyangoda, is a National school in Sri Lanka.

Dasis loving mother Ms. Nilmini Manchanayake has written an endearing article published in this year’s beautiful Royal Thomian souvenir (Royal College) under the caption ‘ The experiences of Cricket Captain’s Mother’.

Dasis Kaveeja Manchanayake was born on October 08, 2003.

His mother Nilmini says Seeing this chubby and pretty boy for the first time was one of the happiest moments of my life. Later, when I was passing by Royal College and seeing the little boys dressed in blue shorts there, I was always telling my husband that we should try and get our son admitted to Royal College. It was one of my dreams then and I became so happy when I could fulfill my first dream for my son”. 

She further says that when his father, an ardent cricket lover was watching international cricket matches on Television, Dasis used to join his father and many a time had tried to imitate world-class cricketers. His father Tissa had used to encourage the little boy to play cricket even before he started schooling.  

At the age of eight Dasis was selected for training at the Royal College Cricket Academy. There he progressed by leaps and bounds. Dasis was first selected to play in the 2020^th Big Match at the age of fifteen and a half years and he validated the trust and confidence of the Selectors by displaying his remarkable hidden talent with a match-saving 53 runs not out which was the highest score for his side.

His father Tissa was the man behind the scene of Dasis remarkable success in cricket. After years of sustained support to his son Dasis via a veritable balancing exercise of both work and play, Tissa had to finally give up his job in a leading Bank i.e., retiring prematurely, to enable him to devote full time to help his son to make progress in cricket.

The Manchanayake Family

The family comprises unassuming humble folk. They belong to the category of folk that generally uses public transport for travel, speak in the vernacular languages, read mainly indigenous i.e., Sinhala, language newspapers, interact humbly with others, and more importantly, are rooted in patriotism and undivided loyalty to their country.

Here are some interesting details supplied by one of Dasis close relatives i.e., an uncle.

Tissa Manchanayake had four brothers and three sisters altogether eight (8) in the family. His father (grandfather of Dasis) the late Subasinghe Manchanayake was a teacher who ended his career as the Principal of Magalegoda Maha Vidyalaya in Veyangoda.

Tissa is a Mechanical Engineer. A graduate of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Katubedda Campus. He has worked on Mahaweli development projects, the Airport and finally ended as the Area Manager (Transport) Peoples Bank in Mirigama (Watumulla).

Dasis mother is a housewife. Dasis sister is a student at the University of Moratuwa ( Katubedda)

There were no silver spoons in their mouths. Despite a lack of privilege at birth and upbringing they have broken through the glass ceiling and invisible barriers and made entry into the big picture. Dasis will take them higher as Sachin Tendulkar did in India. He is the ‘Pin Putha’. A gift from the heavens.  Dasis sensational achievements at the Royal Thomian constitute the stuff of dreams.

There were others in the team who gave a helping hand, especially fresher Ramiru Perera who together with Dasis broke the Royal Thomian 5^th wicket partnership record with aplomb. A graceful 229-run partnership. Ramiru scored 128 runs in the first innings and an unbeaten 46 runs in the second innings falling four runs short of emulating Dasis who scored a century (137) and half-century (57), the first Captain to do so. Ramiru is a smart 15-year-old lad with a world to conquer in the future.  

Dasis bats like Arjuna Ranatunga. An attacking left-handed batsman who can put to flight any savage bowling attack on his day. Remember Sanath Jayasuriya, Pathum Nissanka, and a host of others with origins outside the metropolis in the last 30 years or so who have taken Sri Lanka to unbelievable heights in World Cricket.

Dasis is in that mould. He has spoken with the bat and the ball and captured our hearts. The World salutes true heroes, not artificial ones. Sri Lanka needs heroes desperately – for every generation. Role Models inspire others within and outside the playing field. Cricket needs not only the Braun but also the Brains i.e., ‘Cricket thinkers’, even beyond the boundary line. This is the new vision that must guide the SLC.

Credit

Now the last question.

Who should be allocated credit for this massive turnaround in the fortunes of ordinary folk now trying their luck in cricket?

The answer is not blowing in the wind. 

Free Education introduced by the Minister of Education C.W.W. Kannangara in the pre-independence era and the 1956 Bandaranaike Revolution of the Common Man were the turning points. 

‘ The Panas Haye Daruwo’ (children of 1956) using the sobriquet coined by the writer Nalin de Silva, is now turning tables in almost every aspect of life in Sri Lanka. 

Cricket is uniting people in a way unimaginable decades ago, irrespective of their social backgrounds. Cricket has brought even the most politically irreconcilable parties together.

We should be happy about these changes.

Senaka Weeraratna

Priyantha Hettige.

You are living in particularly significant times. The rise of Russia and its Federation of States is confronting the world’s most powerful and brutal-minded country in the world – the United States. The USA can be said to be poorly led by Joe Biden. It is a failing world power, old corrupt and decrepit like its leader. It is being challenged by a rising power with a highly competent leader, who is energetic, determined, well informed and well educated – Mr. Putin no less! He is a fully qualified Russian lawyer as well as having trained in the KGB training college – where he learned about politics and war strategy and espionage techniques, guns, etc., useful during his period in East Germany before the fall and collapse of the Soviet Union, which he thought was an unmitigated calamity. 

The old Biden and his demented Democrat party have poked the Russian Bear. Now, it is fully awake and is on the march, with its guns blazing. What a foolish mistake – a disaster for the west (The European Union and the USA) Russian armour is very modern, effective and unmatched by the weapons of the west – NATO. Russia is on the march and has serious grievances to settle with the west in case you have not noticed. (e.g., The seizure of Russia’s assets at the World Bank, the cruel, unjustified bombing of Serbia and the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline – which is considered an act of war by some.)

Outcomes of war are quite unpredictable and who can foretell where this one will lead. Mr. Putin started his Special Operation expecting to be able to negotiate with sound, reliable, trustworthy counterparts on the other side. But after the Minsk Accords debacle, (the Minsk Hoax on Russia – admitted to by Angela Merkel), this and the aborted negotiations for a peace in Turkey in March 2022,

(where Boris Johnson of the UK instructed Ukraine to cancel them), Mr. Putin has concluded that there is no-one reliable and trustworthy to negotiate with.

That means Russia has to win the entire Ukraine in order to be sure to put an end to their hostilities. That is, the Russian Bear is on the move and furthermore, it has no obligation to recognize historical borders, as it moves west. It certainly wants to strengthen its enclave, Kaliningrad. Putin’s army may stray into Europe as NATO armaments have been seriously depleted by handing them to Ukraine to use against Russia!

Also, Russia has put its nuclear arsenal on maximum level, high alert last month. That should tell you things are heating up and are becoming quite dangerous for everyone including little Sri Lanka. A nuclear exchange is being openly talked about by irresponsible people in the west. This increases the possibility of nuclear exchange. This also raises the likelihood that the ancient stones of the British parliament may be re-arranged by Russia!

Russia is mobilized and has a great army with impressive weaponry. They are standing eye to eye and toe to toe with the USA. Who will blink first and defer – or are we sliding into a nuclear exchange?

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the organizer and controller of the highly successful Wagner group, has pitched his cap into the ring and said that he wants to be the next president of Ukraine. Well! He will oversee a country in utter ruins. If he does take over the reconstruction of the country, his association with top Russian officials will form a powerful alliance! Not only has the Biden administration pushed Russia and China closer together in partnership, he has provoked a complete re-arrangement of alliances in Eastern Europe. Historians and strategists of all stripes and colours have warned for many years against this. This is another calamity for the United States. These are momentous times, indeed!

Priyantha Hettige. 16^th. March, 2023

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

 අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මේ බව අවධාරණය කළේ ලංකා වැසි ජලය රැස්කරන්නන්ගේ සංසදය (LRWHF) විසින් බත්තරමුල්ල වෝටර්ස් එජ් පරිශ්‍රයේ දී 2023.03.22 දින සංවිධානය කරන ලද ලෝක ජල දින සැමරුම් උත්සවයේදීය.

 2005 වසරේ   තමා ජල හා ජලාපවහන අමාත්‍යවරයාව සිටියදී ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය විසින් සම්මත කරන ලද වැසි ජලය රැස්කිරීමේ ප්‍රතිපත්තිය මගින් ජල ප්‍රභවය ආසන්නයේ වෙසෙන ප්‍රජාවන් ජලය ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීම කෙරෙහි උනන්දු කිරීම අරමුණු කරගත් බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයාමෙහිදී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.  

එහිදී වැඩදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා –

 ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මධ්‍යම කඳුකරයේ සිට ආරම්භවන ගංඟා 106 හරහා මුහුදට ගලා යන වැසි ජලයෙන් 65% ක් ආරක්‍ෂා කිරීමට අපට බොහෝ දේ කළ හැකියි. අපගේ කර්මාන්ත සහ වැවිලි අංශය ඉහළ මට්ටමේ කාර්මික ජල පරිභෝජකයින් වන අතර, ජාතික ජල සම්පාදන හා ජලාපවහන මණ්ඩලය විසින් ඉහළ බලශක්ති පිරිවැයක් දරා පිරිපහදු කළ ජලය සැලකිය යුතු ප්‍රමාණයක් ඔවුන් වෙත සපයනවා. පිරිපහදු කළ ජලයට අමතරව වර්ෂා ජලය සැපයීමෙන් මෙම අධික ජල පිරිවැය අවම කර ගැනීමට පුළුවන්.

ශත වර්ෂ ගණනාවක් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වැසි ජලය රැස්කිරීම ක්‍රියාත්මක වුණා. අහසින් වැටෙන එක දිය බිඳක්වත් මිනිසාගේ ප්‍රයෝජනයට නොගෙන මුහුදට යා නොදෙන්න” යනුවෙන් මහා පරාක්‍රමබාහු රජතුමා කළ ප්‍රකාශය වැසි ජලය සුරැකීමට අපේ පැරණි රජදරුවන් කළ කැපවීම පිළිබඳ සාක්ෂියක්. වැසි ජලය රැස් කිරීම මහා විජ්ජාවක් නොවෙයි. එය සෑම කෙනෙකුටම සිදු කළ හැකි ඉතා සරල වගේම ප්‍රායෝගික තාක්‍ෂණයක්.

වැවිලි කර්මාන්තයේ දී විශේෂයෙන්ම ඇල්පිටිය වැවිලි සමාගම වැසි ජලය භාවිතා කරමින් සිදුකරන ලද විශිෂ්ට මෙහෙවර ප්‍රශංසනියයි. ජල පෝෂක මට්ටමින්, පස, වෘක්ෂලතා සහ ජලාශ ආදී මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ වැසි ජලය රැස් කිරීම තුළින් තිරසර සම්පත් කළමනාකරණ පිළිවෙත් ප්‍රවර්ධනය කරන අතරම, ගෘහස්ථ, කෘෂිකාර්මික, කාර්මික සහ පාරිසරික නඩත්තුව සඳහා අවශ්‍ය ජලය සැපයීම සිදු වෙනවා.

සෑම රටකම, විශේෂයෙන් ජලය හිඟ රටවල වැසි ජලය රැස් කිරීම තුළින් තිරසර සංවර්ධන ඉලක්ක ළඟා කර ගැනීමට දැනුම, විශේෂඥතාව, තාක්‍ෂණය සහ මූල්‍ය සම්පත් එක්තැන් කිරීමට සහ හුවමාරුකර ගැනීමට ගෝලීය හවුල්කාරිත්වයන් වැඩි දියුණු කිරීම අවශ්‍යයයි. මේවන විට පැවැත්වෙන එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ජල සමුළුවට සමගාමීව ලිපියක් පළ කළ එක්සත් රාජධානියේ ගාඩියන් පුවත්පතේ දැක්වෙන පරිදි 2030 වන විට ගෝලීය පානීය ජල ඉල්ලුම එහි සැපයුමට වඩා 40% කින් වැඩිවනු ඇතැයි විශේෂඥයින් අනාවැකි පළ කරනවා. ජල අර්බුදයක් ඉතාම ආසන්නයේ තිබෙන බව එයින් පෙනෙන්නට තිබෙනවා.

තිරසර සංවර්ධනයේ කුළුණු තුනෙන් ජලය වෙන් කළ නොහැකි සාධකයක් වන අතර එය සමාජ, සංස්කෘතික, ආර්ථික සහ දේශපාලන වටිනාකම්වලින් සමන්විත වෙනවා. එය දේශගුණය, බලශක්තිය, නගර, පරිසරය, ආහාර සුරක්ෂිතතාව, දරිද්‍රතාවය, ස්ත්‍රී පුරුෂ සමානාත්මතාවය සහ සෞඛ්‍යය යනාදිය සමඟ සමීප සබඳතාවයක් දැක්වීම තුළින් තිරසාර සංවර්ධන ඉලක්ක (SDG) බොහෝමයක් සාක්ෂාත් කර ගැනීම සඳහා උපකාරී වෙනවා. දේශගුණික විපර්යාස අපගේ ආර්ථිකයට, සමාජයට සහ පරිසරයට ප්‍රමුඛ බලපෑමක් එල්ල කරන අතර, තිරසර සංවර්ධනය සඳහා වූ 2030 න්‍යාය පත්‍රයේ අඩංගු ජාත්‍යන්තරව පිළිගත් ජල සම්පත ආශ්‍රිත ඉලක්ක සපුරා ගැනීම සඳහා ඕනෑම රටකට තිබිය යුතු ප්‍රධානතම සම්පත ජලයයි.

  පසුගිය වසර 10ක කාලය තුළ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වැසි ජලය රැස්කිරීමේ වැඩසටහන් සඳහා එක්සත් ජනපද සංවර්ධන නියෝජිත ආයතනයේ සහාය ලබාදීම පිළිබඳව මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගි වූ ඇමෙරිකානු තානාපතිනි ජූලි චන්ග් මහත්මිය වෙත සිය ස්තූතිය පුද කරනවා.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ජීවන් තොණ්ඩමාන්, එක්සත් ජනපද තානාපතිනී ජුලී චන්ග්, ලංකා වැසි ජලය රැස්කරන්නන්ගේ සංසදයේ සභාපති එම්.එම්.එම්. අහීයාර්, එහි ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී වෛද්‍ය තනුජා ආරියනන්ද, ඇල්පිටිය වැවිලි සමාගමේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ සාමාන්‍යාධිකාරී එම්.අයි. ඉසාදින් ඇතුළු නිලධාරීන් පිරිසක් එක්ව  සිටියහ.

හිරාන්

ප්‍රබල පාතාල කල්ලි නායක හරක් කටා වෙනුවෙන් අධිකරණයේ පෙනී සිටියේ ජනාධිපති නීතිඥ සාලිය පීරිස් ය. එපමණක් නොවේ, මැඩගස්කරයේ අත්අඩංගුවට පත්වූ හරක් කටා නැවතත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ගෙන ඒමට මැඩගස්කරය බලා පිටත්ව ගියේ සාලිය පීරිස් යටතේ කටයුතු කරනා කණිෂ්ඨ නීතිඥයන් දෙදෙනෙකි.

හරක් කටා වෙනුවෙන් අධිකරණයේ සාලි පිරීස් පෙනී සිටින්නේ ඒ වෙනුවෙන් ලැබෙනා මිලියන ගණනක මුදල් කප්පම මත පමණක් නොවේ. මේ ගණුදෙනුව පසුපස ඉන් එහා ගිය කතාවක් තිබේ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ජාතික රාජ්‍යයක් වශයෙන් ස්ථාවරව පවත්වා ගන්නා කුළුණු තුනකි. මේ කුළුණු තුන නම් විධායකය, ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය සහ අධිකරණයයි.

මේ කුළුණු තුනෙහි සමබරතාවය, යහපැවැත්ම සහ සම්බන්ධතාවය බිඳ දැමූ පසු ජාතික රාජ්‍යය බිඳ වැටේ. ජාතික රාජ්‍යය බිඳ දැමූ පසු මේ රට ඕනෑම ගෝලීය බලවතෙකු රිසිසේ පිනුම් ගැසිය හැකි, හමුදා කඳවුරු සෑදිය හැකි, ඔවුන්ට භාවිතා කළ හැකි මුඩු බිමකි.

සාලිය පීරිස්ලා සිදු කළේ ඒ කොන්ත්‍රාත්තුවයි.

ගෝල්ෆේස් අරගලය මෙහි තීරණාත්මක මංසන්ධියකි. එමගින් මේ රටේ ජනතාවට අත්‍යවශ්‍ය බොහෝ දේ ආර්ථික අර්බුධයකින් නැති කොට ඔවුන් පාරට දැම්මේය. පාරට දැමූ ජනතාව ප්‍රචන්ඩ වීමට දිරිමත් කළේ සාලීය පීරිස් ය. ඔවුන්ගේ අරමුණ වූයේ ගෝල්ෆේස් අරගලය මගින් ජාතික රාජ්‍යයේ අක්මුල් වලට පහර දීමයි.

අවසානයේ විධායකය රටින් පලා ගියේය. ජාතික රාජ්‍යය වෙනුවෙන් සැමදා පෙනී සිටි භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේලා, දේශප්‍රේමී බලවේග සියල්ල බියෙන් ත්‍රස්ත කර මුලුගැන්වීමට අරගලය සමත් වූයේය. ඇමෙරිකාව හෝ වෙනත් ඕනෑම රටක් ශ්‍රී ලංකා භූමියේ පිනුම් ගැසුවාත් යළිත් කරලියට පැමිණීමට ඔවුන්ට නොහැකි කරවීමට අරගලය සමත් විය.

කොටින්ම රට වෙනුවෙන් කතා කිරීම, දේශප්‍රේමීත්වය විහිලු සහගත සංකල්ප කරවීමට අරගලය සමත් විය. මෙරට සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් අතර පවා මහනායක හිමිවරු කොනකට තල්ලු කර, කවදත් බෙදුම්වාදී කාදිනල් මහා පොරක් කරවීමට අරගලය සමත් විය.

අරගල සමයේත් හරක් කටාලාගේ ගෝලයන් ගෙවල් ගිනි තැබුවේය. වාහන ගිනි තැබුවේය. එළිපිටම මිනිසුන්ට තර්ජනය කළේය. මේ ප්‍රචන්ඩකාරී ත්‍රස්තයන් අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන අධිකරණයට ඉදිරිපත් කරන විට සාලිය පීරිස්ලා නොමිලයේම අධිකරණය හමුවේ පෙනී සිටියේය. නමුත් නීතිඥයන් එදා මේ ත්‍රස්තයන් වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටියේ නොමිලයේ නොවේ. එදාත් විදෙස් තානාපති කාර්යාල මෙන්ම විදෙස් ගතව සිටි හරක්කටාලා ඇති පදමෙට සාලිය පීරිස්ලාට මුදල් විසි කළේය.

එලෙසට ඔවුන් ජාතික රාජ්‍යයේ ප්‍රථම කුළුණ සහ එය වටා පිහිටි මුරගල් අක්‍රීය කළේය.

ඉන්පසුව ඔවුන් ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකයටත් අත තැබුවේය. දැන් පොලිස්පතිවරයා පත් කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් සාලීය පීරිස් ජනපතිවරයාට ලිපියක් යවා තිබේ. පොලිස්පතිවරයා පත් කිරීම විධායකය සහ ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය සතු රාජකාරියකි. හරක් කටාගේ නීතිඥවරයා ලිපියක් යවමින් වක්‍රව කියා සිටින්නේ පාතාලය මර්ධනයට සම්බන්ධ නැති නිළධාරියෙක් පොලිස්පතිවරයා කරන ලෙසය. මේ සෘජුව හරක් කටා වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටිමකි. තවද ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය දුර්වල කිරීමකි.

හරක් කටාගේ නීතිඥයාට අවශ්‍ය හරක් කටාට නිදහසේ කුඩු විකිණිය හැකි, කප්පම් ගත හැකි පොලිස්පතිවරයෙකි. හරක් කටාගෙන් සාලිය පීරිස්ට මුදල් කුට්ටිය හිමිවන්නේ ඒ කුඩු සල්ලිය, මිනිසුන්ගේ රුධිරය උරා බිව් කප්පම් සල්ලිය.

මේ වනවිට සාලිය පීරිස්ලා මෙරට අධිකරණය බිඳ වැට්ටවීමේ ක්‍රියාවලියකද නිරත වෙමින් සිටියි. එනම් විධායකය – ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය අතර අධිකරණයේ සම්බන්ධතාවය සහ සමතුලිතතාවය බිඳ දමමිනි. මෙරට අධිකරණය සිය විෂය සීමා වලින් එහා ගොස් රාජ්‍යයේ සෑම දෙයකටම මැදිහත් වෙමින් පවති.

රටේ ආර්ථික පාලනය විධායකයේ සහ ව්‍යවස්තාදායකයේ වගකීමකි. නමුත් පනවන නව බද්ධක් පිලිබඳව අවසන් තීරණය අධිකරණයෙනි.

රටේ විදුලි බලය සහ බලශක්තිය විධායකයෙ, ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකයේ සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදුලි බල මණ්ඩලයේ වගකීමකි. නමුත් විදුලි කප්පාදුව පිළිබදව අවසන් තීරණය ගන්නේ අධිකරණයයි.

රටේ ආර්ථිකය හැසිරවීමේ සිට සියලූම වගකීම් අධිකරණය විසින් දරනවා නම්, ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදීව ජනතාව ඡන්දය භාවිතා කර විධායකයක් සහ ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකයක් තෝරා ගන්නේ කුමකටද ? ඒ වගකීමත් අධිකරණයටම ලබා දිය හැකි.

ඉතින් මේ සාලිය පීරිස්ලා සිදු කරන්නේ මහා කුමන්ත්‍රණයකි.

මේ යළිත් ගෝලීය දේශපලනයේ සීත යුද්ධයක් පවතින කාලසීමාවකි. ඉන්දීය සාගරයේ සියලූම නෞකාගමනාන්තයන් ආශ්‍රිතව පවතින මේ ක්ෂේමභූමිය යුද්ධයකදි අතිශය වැදගත් ය.

ඉතින් තුන්වන ලෝක යුද්ධයකදි ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පාලනය පවතින කණ්ඩායමට ආසියාවේදි විශේෂ වාසියක් හිමිවේ. ඒ වාසිය හිමිකර ගැනීමට මෙරට ජාතික රාජ්‍ය බිඳ දැමීමට තීරණාත්මක කුමන්ත්‍රණයක් පාතී. සාලිය පීරිස් නොහොත් හරක් කටාගේ නීතිඥයා එහි පළමුපෙල කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවෙකි.

Courtesy Ceylon Today

The International Monetary Fund has emphasised the importance of anti-corruption and governance reforms as a central pillar of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF)-supported programme as they are indispensable to ensure the hard-won gains from the reforms benefit the Sri Lankan people.

In a statement issued ahead of the IMF press briefing on Tuesday (21) morning, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Peter Breuer and Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Masahiro Nozaki noted that Sri Lankan authorities have committed to fundamentally improve public financial management and strengthen the anti-corruption legal framework in line with the United Nations Convention against Corruption.

The reform programme supported under the EFF arrangement is built on strong policy measures and prioritises:

1. An ambitious revenue-based fiscal consolidation, accompanied by stronger social safety nets, fiscal institutional reforms, and cost-recovery based energy pricing to ensure the State’s ability to support all its essential expenditures.
2. Restoration of public debt sustainability, including through a debt restructuring to ensure stable financing of the Government’s operations.
3. A multi-pronged strategy to restore price stability and rebuild reserves under greater exchange rate flexibility in order to alleviate the burden of inflation, particularly on the poor, to foster an environment of investment and growth, and to ensure Sri Lanka’s ability to purchase essential goods from abroad.
4. Policies to safeguard financial sector stability to ensure that the financial sector can play its key role in supporting economic growth.
5. Structural reforms to address corruption vulnerabilities and enhance growth.

It is now essential to continue the reform momentum under strong ownership by the authorities and the Sri Lankan people more broadly, said the IMF.

It added that the economic impact of the reforms on the poor and vulnerable needs to be mitigated with appropriate measures.

The IMF added that Tax reforms under the programme are designed to be progressive, that is, ensuring greater contributions from high-income earners. Efforts to increase tax revenues should be pursued in a growth-friendly manner while protecting the poor and most vulnerable.

In addition, the IMF is conducting an in-depth governance diagnostic exercise, which will assess corruption and governance vulnerabilities in Sri Lanka and provide prioritised and sequenced recommendations, it added.

The statement went on to note that Sri Lanka will be the first country in Asia to undergo a governance diagnostic exercise by the IMF.

It is now important for the Sri Lankan authorities and creditors to closely coordinate and make swift progress towards a debt treatment that restores debt sustainability under the EFF-supported programme, said the IMF.

On Monday (20), the IMF Executive Board approved a 48-month extended arrangement under the EFF of SDR 2.286 billion (about US$3 billion) to support Sri Lanka’s economic policies and reforms.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

President Ranil Wickremesinghe today said that he would not allow school children to be taken hostage by various groups and he would declare schools as an essential service if the teacher issues are not solved soon.

Addressing a national ceremony of the distribution of free textbooks and uniforms to schoolchildren held at the Colombo Sanghamitta Girls’ College this morning, Wickremesinghe said education had the same importance as the economy of the country and he would not allow any groups to misuse it. 

The parents are trying to give their children a better future. Those effort must be the government’s first priority,” Wickremesinghe said. 

The main responsibility of providing education in schools lies with the school principal. They are being trained by the Education Ministry. As a result, the government must develop a genuine educational procedure, which will be provided in schools,” Wickremesinghe said.

The IMF plans were presented yesterday to create a new economy in the country. That economy will create jobs for the future, and it will be done by the Treasury and the Finance Ministry. Education is a model that should come from the school. The principals and teachers of the school should be an example,” the President said.

A school cannot be separated from the actions of its principal and teachers, the President said.(Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

President Ranil Wickremesinghe today said that he would get the approval and assistance of Parliament to implement the IMF agreement although it is not required by law. 

Speaking to Editors of media organizations, Wickremesinghe said that the IMF agreement was a restructuring of the economy and not only of the country’s debt and the future of Sri Lanka rests with whether the country will implement this agreement or not. 

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Parliamentary, Presidential and Local Government Elections should be held together on the same day, former Minister Navin Dissanayake said today.

He said that all three elections should be held together to save money.

During his remarks, he emphasized that local government reforms would be enacted soon.

“The country cannot afford to look after 8,000 Local Government members at the moment and these reforms will be introduced soon,” he said.

“The policy of President Ranil Wickremesinghe is to take on political and economic reforms together,” he added.

Also he charged that some members of SJB tried to sabotage IMF assistance.

They wanted to use the Local Government Election results for this and show the world that the present Government did not have a mandate,” he said. (Yohan Perera)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Sri Lanka is expected to introduce a property tax and a gift and inheritance tax by the beginning of 2025, under the International Monetary Fund programme.
In particular, we will introduce a nationwide real property tax and adjust the system of transfers between the central and provincial governments.
We will also introduce a gift and inheritance tax with a tax-free allowance and minimal exemptions,” the IMF programme documents made public this week said.
The preparatory work for these tax reforms will commence by mid-2023, supported by the IMF technical assistance.
Sri Lanka is expected to achieve a primary fiscal surplus of 2.3 percent of GDP by 2025.
Also, Sri Lanka needs to raise the tax-to-GDP ratio to least 14 percent by 2026 by implementing a sequenced package of tax measures.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Supreme Court today announced that the travel ban imposed on former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa would not be effective any further in connection with the Fundamental Rights petitions filed over financial irregularities and mismanagement of the Sri Lanka economy.  (Lakmal Sooriyagoda )

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR) has appreciated further against the US Dollar (USD) today, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, today’s buying rate of USD is Rs. 312.61 while the selling rate of USD is Rs. 330.16

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Some political parties today informed the Election Commission that conducting the Local Government polls on April 25, considering the present situation was not possible. 

In a statement, the Election Commission said following a discussion with the secretaries of the political parties, some of the parties proposed the LG Polls be held at a later date. 

However, during the discussions, some opposition political parties present said the Polls should not be postponed further in any way due to the Supreme Court ruling. 

The parties proposed that if a new date is being considered, all parties, the Legislature and the Executive should be in agreement. 

The Election Commission further said it had decided not to hold postal voting for the Local Government Elections scheduled for March 28, 29, 30, 31 & April 03 and the new date for the elections will be decided later. (Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya)

Courtesy Adaderana

The Government of Japan provided USD 1.6 million to UN Women in support of humanitarian assistance for women most affected by the socio-economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

The funding is part of a new project Empowering women in crisis”, running from February 2023 to December 2023, which will support at least 1,200 women, including their children who have faced sexual and gender-based violence.

It will further support 500 women-led micro-enterprises at risk of collapse and over 2,000 individuals at risk of poverty and malnutrition.

Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka, Mizukoshi Hidaki stressed: Our goal is to ensure that women and girls who are most vulnerable to the ongoing crisis are not left behind in response and recovery efforts, and to ensure that their safety and security are prioritized during this time.”

As reports on the ground reflect a continuing increase in cases of sexual and gender-based violence, the ongoing crisis and economic instability have hindered access to state services such as safe houses and shelters resulting in devastating implications for women and girls.

Through this project, UN Women will provide safe houses with continued access to commodities including food and other essential items.

Additionally, it will ensure that shelters and safe houses where facilities were improved and refurbished continue to function rather than face closure due to inadequate funding and support. This will ensure that more safe houses are available for women and girls fleeing abusive circumstances.

Moreover, due to a lack of access to viable employment opportunities and soaring food inflation, there is an urgent need to ensure that households – particularly those already vulnerable and marginalized – have access to basic food and necessities to support their survival.

We are grateful for the contribution provided by the Government of Japan to address the urgent needs of women and girls”, said Prashani Dias, Head of Office a.i. at UN Women Sri Lanka. This will provide income-generating resources and life-saving support to vulnerable women, and ensure that the status of women and girls in the country does not regress further”.

To support these efforts, this project will work with women-led enterprises to strengthen their business resilience and livelihoods through the provision of in-kind support and business development trainings, in the districts of Ampara, Colombo, Monaragala, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu.

Courtesy Adaderana

A State-Owned Enterprise Restructuring Unit (SRU) has been set up by the Government, under the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies, in an attempt to implement structural reforms to accelerate growth so that the country can emerge out of the current economic crisis. 

The decision was taken in view of the fact that the State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) sector has been a severe burden on the country’s economy for several years.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved, in principle, the divestiture of various companies, including SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering, Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC), Canwill Holdings (Grand Hyatt Colombo), Hotel Developers Lanka (Hilton Hotel Colombo), Litro Gas Lanka, Litro Gas Terminals and Lanka Hospitals.

The SRU will appoint reputed, qualified and experienced consultancy firms and development financial institutions to provide transaction advisory services to assist with the divestitures, while the process of selecting such transaction advisors is due to commence shortly.

The transaction advisors will, inter-alia, assist the SRU with sell-side due diligence, valuation, data room creation, transaction strategy and marketing of the entities to be divested.

The divestiture program will be carried out by the SRU in a transparent and credible manner and investor selection will commence with an EOI / RFP process to be published in the local and international press.

Issuing a statement in this regard, the Finance Ministry noted that these reforms are expected to contribute towards higher economic productivity by reducing market distortions, increasing organizational efficiency and improving the quality of service to the public.

Courtesy Adaderana

China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called on all related parties, in particular Western commercial creditors and multilateral financial institutions, to make contributions to alleviating the debt pressure of developing countries amid the tightening international financial environment.

The remarks were made by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, after outgoing World Bank chief David Malpass reportedly called on China to be more active” in restructuring discussions for developing countries in debt crises.

The US has raised interest rates at an unprecedented pace since last year, leading to a tightening international financial environment, and has made the debt problem of some countries even worse, Wang said at a press conference, when asked about the World Bank chief’s remarks.

The truth is China has been attaching great importance to the debt issue of certain developing countries and has made contributions to easing their burdens and promoting sustainable development, Wang said, noting that China was the largest contributor to the implementation of the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative, Wang noted.

The Export-Import Bank of China has provided financing support documents to Sri Lanka to help it address debt issues swiftly and effectively, which fully speaks to China’s sincerity and effort to support Sri Lanka in achieving debt sustainability, Wang said. 

The spokesperson called on commercial and multilateral creditors to take part in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring under the principle of fair burden-sharing.

Over 80 percent of the sovereign debt of 121 developing countries comes from multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors, making them the main lenders who bring repayment pressures to developing countries, Wang said, citing World Bank statistics.

African governments owe three times more debt to Western banks, asset managers and oil traders than to China, and are charged double the interest, according to research released by British NGO Debt Justice in July 2022.

Western creditors, on the pretext of protecting their credit ratings, have consistently refused to participate in debt reduction efforts, Wang said.

Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that China has taken a responsible attitude over the debt issue of developing countries and regions, and it has never attached any political strings to its loans, unlike Western developed countries.

Some Western financial institutions have been lending to developing countries based on their own interests instead of the actual needs and situations of the borrowers, Dong said, urging them to redress the unreasonable patterns of lending so as to help the people of the developing countries.

Source: Global Times

Courtesy Adaderana

Central Bank governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe is optimistic that Sri Lanka will be able to achieve debt sustainability before the dates envisaged through the IMF program currently underway.

Joining ‘At HydePark’ on Ada Derana 24, the governor said he believes Sri Lanka has entered a new era, given that the government has now taken proactive steps to implement unpopular reforms required by of the IMF bailout package.

Nevertheless, he reassured that the situation of the country would get better over the coming months, given that the government will only have the option of easing some of the toughest policies that have been taken in the recent past.

By Citizen Perera

Feigning grief at ‘Laws–Delays’ and making snide comments about Sri Lanka’s judiciary was Julie Chung, the yankee ambassador, an embodiment of diplomatic impropriety.

Chung made a spectacle of herself whilst addressing a gathering of lawyers, at an event organised by that branch of the Bar Association which is funded by the US State Department and which tends to act almost like Washington’s mouthpiece.

Chung intoned some trite comments about Sri Lanka’s judicial system in dispensing justice while casting blanket aspersions on the members of the judiciary, insinuating that they were not independent.

Embarrassed, but yet compelled to look on benignly was Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice, an invitee to the event.

In a normal self-respecting country, Chung would have been summoned to the Foreign Ministry and summarily warned for overstepping the mark, as a mere ambassador in a country; continued flagrancy would result in her being declared persona-non grata.

It is ironic that Jung’s allocution was made in the backdrop of the American intervention of Sri Lanka; 144 + layers of the country’s sovereignty is being stripped off with the mandatory conditions of compliance demanded by the IMF. Serious in-roads are being made into the country’s constitution, legislature and the Judiciary.

A question posed is, Was Chung putting her money to where her mouth was when she went on that hubristic outburst?”

One of the main American players in the Sri Lankan geo-political scene is Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Delhi, Milinda Moragoda. This high-profile businessman, politician and alleged racketeer, was a key economic advisor to the Nandasena Government and contributed in a big way to the destruction of the country’s economy.

Jung’s eruption adds a complexity to what is said about Moragoda in the Wikipedia; the relevant extracts about Moragoda in the Wikipedia, are given below for greater clarity 

In 2007 Moragoda’s party was in the opposition having lost the 2005 elections to the UPFA. As the UPFA Government sought to expose corruption during the UNP regime the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) released a report accusing Moragoda of widespread corruption and abuse of power.

Mercantile Credit Ltd, a subsidiary of Mercantile Merchant Bank, founded by Moragoda was found to defaulted on loans of 4.7 Billion Rupees (which had been obtained by providing false information) while Moragoda was Minister for Economic Reform. COPE conducted three inquiries into these loans and their defaulting but on each occasion the investigations were never allowed to reach the final stages due to political pressure.

In 2002 Lanka Marine Service (Pvt) Limited owned by state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation which sat on an 8.5-acre plot in the Colombo harbour was sold to the Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings. The Supreme Court ruled that as then PERC chairman, Dr. P.B. Jayasundera and Executive Director of JKH Susantha Ratnayake had acted with dishonest intent in the sale of LMSL shares. The Bribery Commission also began investigations into criminal charges against Dr. Jayasundera, former Ministers Milinda Moragoda (PERC was under him) and Karu Jayasuriya (CPC was under him) on the charge of abusing public property in connection with this deal.

Before the investigation could reach conclude both Moragoda and Jayasuriya crossed over to the government. Reporting on the privatization of Lanka Marine Service COPE stated that by his actions Moragoda had at the very least incurred a loss of 1.7 Bn rupees for the government.

The COPE report also alleged severe irregularities in the privatization of Sri Lanka Insurance which happened under the tenure of Moragoda. The report stated that Moragoda created a loss of over 3 Bn Rupees for the government solely through non-compliance with the 4th term of the contract. These investigations too were not concluded before Moragoda crossed over to the government”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milinda_Moragoda

It is coincidental perhaps that Moragoda’s bother-in-law, Krishan Balendran, is the current Chairperson of John Keells Holdings PLC. He joined JKH in 2002.

In Sep 2021, when Moragoda was in Delhi, a controversial agreement was signed between the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), Adani Group and John Keells Holdings to jointly develop the Colombo West International Container Terminal (CWICT) of the Port of Colombo (POC).

The   Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement, is worth more than USD 700 million.

Judging by his past performance, Moragoda is not a person to be trusted, at least not until he is investigated and given a clean bill of health. 

Moragoda holds a sensitive geo-political appointment and given his alleged record of  financial misconduct, he would be easy meat for corrupt operators, or if not, for geopolitical blackmail. 

It certainly would help Jung’s credibility if she lends her voice for a public and transparent inquiry into all of Moragoda’s activities, including the $700 Million Port deal.

Dr. Abantika Kumari Assistant Professor at History Department of Allahabad College, Uttar Pradesh, India

The United States’ “2022 Nation Reports on Human Rights Practices” were published on March 20, 2023 and have rekindled old wounds caused by the US’s continued attempts to serve as the world’s policeman. The solemn report is essentially a list of human misery spanning 198 nations and territories. Yes, aside from the United States itself. The U.S. State Department published its “2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” at the same time as the whole world is plagued by the Russia-Ukraine war, while promoting itself as the bulwark of human rights and defaming nations it views as competitors.

The United States lacks the wisdom of reflection, which causes it to continue moving forward even when it is obviously off the rails. The report is missing information about how the superpower has indirectly or directly contributed to global inequalities. For example, it does not explain how the West even US’s failure to stop Russia-Ukraine war. Ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is the worst example of the human rights violation case. Western failure to stop this war has endangered people worldwide and, in a way, have violated human rights

The Biden administration, according to the report, has placed human rights “at the core” of both domestic and foreign policy. Has it? The report ignored the number of Americans who died as a result of COVID-19, mass shootings, police brutality, and racial discrimination while covering hundreds of pages on how other governments had “unjustly incarcerated, tortured, or even killed” dissidents.

Domestically, according to Gun Violence Archive, the self-declared democratic nation experienced a record-breaking 691 mass shootings in 2021, which resulted in 44,750 fatalities. According to data from the non-profit research organization Mapping Police Violence, as of March 24 this year, there had been 249 fatalities caused by law enforcement in the United States, or an average of three per day.

Regrettably, it appears that the UN has abandoned its duty to uphold human rights, which was delegated to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The organization is in charge of advancing and defending human rights all around the world. The body investigates complaints of human rights violations in UN member states, as indicated in its mandate, and deals with topical human rights problems such freedom of association and assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of belief and religion, etc. Did The UN assign the US to meet this responsibility. Who gave them the assignment of compiling reports about other nations? What is the legal situation here? Their own set of regulations apply. In the eyes of the international community, is this report reliable? No nation, not Pakistan, Bangladesh, not India, nor China, has given them this responsibility.

The United States consistently seeks to meddle in some domestic issues of other nations by producing and publicizing reports. The concept of human rights is widely acknowledged. For example, Bangladesh is also making an effort to advance the rule of law, peace, and unity throughout the nation. There is a human rights commission in Bangladesh. Human rights are protected in Bangladesh by the country’s legal system.

US police kill people without due process. On average, there are about 1,000 similar incidents in the USA each year. The Black Lives Matter movement was also present. In actuality, hate crimes affect students from the entire Indian subcontinent, not only those from Bangladesh.

On February 26, UN human rights experts urged the US government to put an end to racial discrimination and police torture in the country. There are major human rights violations in the USA, according to reporting from Western media organizations like The Guardian and the BBC. Shouldn’t the USA start by examining the state of human rights on its own soil? In recent years, the USA has done studies similar to this one before. Between those and the most recent report, there aren’t many differences.

Let’s discuss the state of human rights in the USA. In the USA, police have shot and killed 918 people in the last 12 months. This data is not mine. The data from The Washington Post are as follows. The unlawful assassination of George Floyd by three Minneapolis police officers looked to have reignited the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, which at the time seemed to be the biggest in US history. The US should assess the state of human rights on its own.

Despite widespread demonstrations against George Floyd’s death, Kennan Anderson, Bangladesh origin Faisal, it appears that the United States has not done much to implement its promises of structural changes in police enforcement.

Given these concerning numbers, Washington asserts that its ongoing “commitment to enhance human rights” “best honors the generations of Americans.” Under the influence of consortiums, Washington shouts slogans of freedom and rights but lacks the motivation to confront its own human rights issues.

After all, strong gun regulation, and law enforcement changes will certainly involve moving the cheese of some interest groups that fund Congress’ decision-makers. The State Department’s annual report, of course, purposefully left out the horrifying number of impoverished American lives lost in the political games.

Globally, the term “human right” serves as the ideal mask for Washington’s hegemonic ambitions. In the United States, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” have been a tradition for more than 40 years. It’s interesting to note that the nations the United States considers to be rivals—such as China and Russia—are always those that are accused of repression, coercion, arbitrary detention, and inhumane treatment. Despite widespread domestic demonstrations, Washington’s allies have consistently been portrayed as upholding human rights.

Every state that refuses to submit to Washington’s dictates is governed by an authoritarian regime that mistreats its people and imperils democracy, according to the U.S. State Department’s criteria for compiling the list. The annual report serves as a tool to malign adversaries and force other nations to be Washington’s puppy rather than to advance human rights, all in the sake of American hegemony.

The United States has been at war for more than 200 of its 246 years of existence while placing human rights “at the forefront” of its foreign policy. To mention a few, the so-called “liberation” of Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Afghanistan resulted in the murder of innocent populations, the catastrophic damage of infrastructure in the war-torn nations, and their protracted democratic decline. The American military-industrial complex, which has relied on wars for revenue, is the opposite side of the coin. Indeed, the United States cares about rights, but never the rights of common Americans or innocent civilians in other nations.

The United States continues to engage in using the human rights argument for its own personal gain even while the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war are sweeping the globe and calling for international cooperation. If Washington genuinely cares about human rights, the first step is to focus on saving lives both at home and abroad rather than writing the voluminous report. The UNHRC should conduct its own investigations for the 2022 human rights report with an open mind and free of predetermined notions. It should steer clear of the dismissive stereotypes that the West has about other societies, which are frequently utterly untrue. There is a distinction between presenting a problem as a fault-finding exercise and as a fact-finding expedition. Whereas the latter looks for information and facts, the former looks for errors and flaws.

The annual U.S. human rights report essentially serves as a smokescreen to absolve the superpower of responsibility for a world gone wrong. The U.S. administration has been utilizing the so-called human rights reports to disparage other nations every year in order to depict itself as a human rights benchmark.

The United States must demonstrate to the rest of the world how well or equally it treats its minorities and other vulnerable groups if it wants the rest of the world to believe these findings in the future. It must not use the reports as “fig leaves” to hide its appalling domestic human rights record.