In 2022 Sri Lanka faced its deepest ever economic and political crisis. The country’s descent into chaos accelerated from March, sweeping away high-level bureaucrats and political leaders held culpable for implementing the misguided economic policies at the heart of the country’s problems. The political casualties failed to allay public disaffection with prolonged power outages, queues and shortages of essential commodities.
The primary target of public unrest was Sri Lanka’s elected president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. His ouster in July was achieved amid outbreaks of violence and the occupation of key government buildings by protesters. For a while, there were real concerns that Sri Lanka would descend into a state of anarchy. The fact that it was averted — with a transfer of power to a new president elected by a majority of votes in parliament — speaks not only to the country’s tradition of democracy but also a desire to avoid repeating past experience of violent upheavals.
The parliament’s appointment of Ranil Wickremasinghe as Sri Lanka’s eighth president was not without controversy. Wickremasinghe, the nominated candidate of the departing Rajapaksas, and his party had also been roundly defeated at the parliamentary polls in August 2020. Yet he was still seen as the safest pair of hands to carry Sri Lanka through what promises to be its toughest economic setback since independence. Complex negotiations with creditors on debt restructuring following a sovereign foreign debt default in April, and an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout program, demanded a sound grasp of global economic forces and geopolitical relations. A seasoned politician who has held the post of prime minister on numerous occasions, this was territory familiar to the new president.
Wickremasinghe lacks an assured parliamentary majority to carry through painful reforms — as well as the legitimacy of having been elected by the people to do so. These could prove serious drawbacks as Sri Lanka struggles to regain its footing in 2023 and beyond.
A cost-of-living squeeze — that placed Sri Lanka in the top five countries with the highest food price inflation for much of 2022 — tipped many vulnerable Sri Lankans into poverty. Poverty is set to swell, even as job and income losses signal the country’s plunge into a prolonged recession. In 2022, GDP is expected contract by close to 9 per cent and the latest estimates suggest that the economy will contract by 3–4 per cent in 2023.
With few policy choices, Sri Lanka is banking on an IMF bailout to facilitate access to bilateral and multilateral financial support to get the economy back on track. The IMF’s four-year US$2.9 billion program provides limited provision of liquidity. What matters is the program’s ability to catalyse other official lenders, private investors and creditors confidence in coming to the party. But the standard IMF policy prescription that demands stringent financial discipline means that adjustment costs will be front-loaded, preventing the government from spending its way out of recession. Accordingly, taxes are being hiked and expenditures are being cut.
Even at the best of times — with a strong and stable government at the start of an electoral cycle — this kind of reform agenda is politically fraught. An economic crisis can sometimes be the catalyst of a major economic overhaul, but in the absence of political stability the downside risks are significant. Governments have far fewer resources in hand to compensate those who are bound to lose out from reforms. The loss of faith in political leaders and institutions, with the Sri Lankan public having clearly demonstrated its readiness to punish those who have failed to deliver, amplifies the perils.
The best hope for Sri Lanka is a swift conclusion to the debt restructuring negotiations. The evidence is sobering in today’s complex creditor landscape. For Sri Lanka, having China, India and Japan as its largest bilateral creditors alongside primarily US-based private bond holders adds a layer of complexity in working out treatment that is comparable and acceptable to all. China has been unwilling so far to take a cut in principal repayments, preferring to refinance payments with fresh loans. Sri Lanka will have to call on all its diplomatic skills to persuade creditors to arrive at a mutually agreeable formula in 2023.
Even if everything goes according to plan, it will be another two or three years before the Sri Lankan public feels any real improvement in economic conditions. The erosion of real wages and the introduction of higher taxes are squeezing disposable incomes, prompting exit by many to seek better living standards overseas.
With Sri Lanka’s economic progress set back by years by the debt crisis, the government can only hope that people will have enough patience to wait until painful austerity-inducing reforms start to work. With all the uncertainties, next year will be crucial for Sri Lanka as it gears up for the all-important presidential elections in 2024. Meanwhile, containing public disaffection amid calls for early elections — while ensuring that political uncertainty does not delay economic decision-making — is set to test the skills of even the most hardened and experienced political leader.
Dr Dushni Weerakoon is Executive Director and Head of Macroeconomic Policy Research at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka.
(Bloomberg) — Sri Lanka’s bondholders aren’t living up to their obligations and should cancel debt to allow the country to get out of its economic crisis, a group of international academics said in a letter.
Private creditors own almost 40% of the country’s external debt, mostly in the form of International Sovereign Bonds, but higher interest rates mean they receive more than half of debt payments, the group said in the letter, which was signed by more than 180 professors from around the world.
Such lenders charged a premium to lend to Sri Lanka to cover their risks, which accrued them massive profits and contributed to Sri Lanka’s first ever default in April 2022,” said the group, which includes University of Massachusetts professor Jayati Ghosh as well as Thomas Piketty of the Paris School of Economics. Lenders who benefited from higher returns because of the ‘risk premium’ must be willing to take the consequences of that risk.”
The island nation fell into default in May, the first sovereign debt default by the country since it gained independence from Britain in 1948. The government last month held a third round of talks with creditors as it seeks a deal that’s key to unlocking a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout and other financing to bolster reserves that have been languishing below $2 billion.
The nation’s commercial creditors favor recasting both foreign- and local-currency liabilities to achieve debt sustainability and foster economic growth. The talks are at a crucial stage, the academics said, and all lenders should share in the burden of restructuring” with the assurance of additional near-term financing.
Sri Lanka on its own cannot ensure this; it requires much greater international support,” the group said. Instead of geopolitical manoeuvring, all of Sri Lanka’s creditors must ensure debt cancellation sufficient to provide a way out of the current crisis.”
Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe says that strong, independent institutions are the foundation for sustainable, inclusive and steady growth for a long period.
Speaking during a panel discussion on the topic ‘South Asia’s path to resilient growth’ organised by the International Monetary fund (IMF), Dr. Weerasinghe said that Sri Lanka has moved backwards in all its social indicators due to the lack of strong institutions in the country.
In response to a question raised by Krishna Srinivasan, the Director of IMF’s Asia & Pacific Department on how Sri Lanka can avoid getting trapped by fragmentation, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe emphasized that the countries like Sri Lanka are affected the most due to fragmentation.
The CBSL chief, who mentioned that the only refinery in the country is operated from Iranian oil further added that Sri Lanka had to stop operations following the sanctions on Iran by the U.S.
Sri Lanka was affected due to the inability to do trade settlement, he added, expressing that the country pays high prices for fuel due to the inability to make direct purchases from Russia, owing to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Measures are underway to introduce a law similar to the Social Media Regulation Act of Singapore to regulate social media, such as YouTube and Facebook, in Sri Lanka, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Friday (06).
According to Hiru News, President Wickremesinghe pointed out that Sri Lanka has laws pertaining to newspaper and broadcasting media, but does not contain laws pertaining to social media.
The President further said that thereby, he has received a copy of Singapore’s Social Media Regulation Act and will enforce a similar bill consisting of laws suitable for Sri Lanka in the near future.
He made the remarks during a meeting with the heads of various media platforms yesterday.
The Global Research article titled Historical analysis of the Global Elites: ransacking the world economy until you’ll own nothing” by Robert I Burrowes is not only worth reading but worth thinking about too.
Robert Burrowes lays out the Great Reset outlined by the World Economic Forum in 2016.
Their plan – to ensure we owned nothing by 2030 (just 7 years) & redistribute global wealth into global elite ownership.
Their plan – initiated in Jan 2020 via depopulation agenda (Covid-20 vaccinations)
From Neolithic Revolution to the emergency of civilizations some 5000 years ago, to societies, to emergence of elites (pharaohs, emperors, kings, Popes, economic elites) the people have been divided as rich & poor with unequal distribution of wealth & resources. These have not been natural but manmade control of systems. If man has created rich-poor, he is equally able to remove poverty by re-distributing the wealth that is unfairly in the hands of global elite who pass it down to their generations having ensured their families inter-marry to continue the legacy.
The article enables us to understand that we may elect governments, we may think sovereignty is in the hands of the people, we may think we delegate our powers to an elected government but in reality even the governments have no power & are controlled by a group of elite families who own every global decision making apparatus & every influencer the world has.
Citizens of the world must finally understand & accept his reality.
The global elite have claimed control of global economy incrementally & hold the world’s wealth in their power.
The process of power has shifted from local elites to national elites to international elites & now global elites control the world while people are happily blaming governments. It is these elite who gather key players from politicians to global personalities & dictate to them their role at the annual World Economic Forums
Who are the Global Elite & its agents?
They are a group of families that have provided the framework for other ultra rich to emerge. Their agents are a network of corporations, institutions, other families & individuals who are controlled by them.
What is money?
Money is that which is created & given as loans & condition that the money loaned has to be repaid with interest.
Bank of England became the world’s first privately owned bank (with anonymous investors) issuing money that they didn’t have at interest. The interest became their money. The bank gave British politicians any sum they asked so long as debt was paid by direct taxation of the British public. This is what continues to happen.
The IMF & World Bank follows this same function & are nothing but Global Poli Mudalilis.
The govt needs money – they go to the bank which issues the money with interest & that is taxed to the people. Thus, the banks control a nation’s economy not a government. Bankers create the money not the government. This means in reality, bankers control the world leaving nations & people in debt. Debt is a form of slavery. Money is used to enslave people & nations. The IMF is nothing but an enslavement system – creating inflation to grab people’s savings.
Govts should issue money. Govts can create money debt-free & interest-free as was done & no one was taxed on income.
History of Banking
Began in 18th century with Mayer Amschel extending credit to clients which with time, divested to state, merchant banking both local & international. The policy was to take profit from interest as well as seek trade concessions using political ties, salaried agents in financial markets & increase clientele with parallel booking keeping with one for official purposes. Amschel’s 5 sons replicated this & thus the Rothschild dynasty model was established in Europe. Smuggling became a key component during the Napoleonic wars that led to hoarding of gold coins through France to England. Thus when Napoleon was defeated in Waterloo in 1815 the Rothschilds profited.
The truth about wars – bankers loan both sides to go to wars
While wars financially ruin nations the banks that provide the loans profit. This is the hard truth. Where some lose – some gain. However, the issue here is that wars are created with explicit intent for gain.
The US in reality is governed not by the US Congress but by a privately-owned central bank. The American Revolution came after the unfair taxing of the US colonies by privately-owned British Central Bank – the Bank of England (1694) Though US Govt wished to control US money, eventually privately owned US Federal Reserve System & Bank was created in 1913 having the powers to issue money. These private money changers controlled issuing of money in both England & US & also owned the media & made sure people read & heard what they wanted them to read & hear.
Is it a surprise to hear President Thomas Jefferson, ‘I sincerely believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs.’
Banks have always funded both sides of wars.
They do so because war begets debt – both sides need money & both sides end up in debt.
The elite & manipulating governments into wars
The British Govt was manipulated into Boer War 1899-1902 by Cecil Rhodes’s secret society in which Rothschild was a member. The British public was fooled using the media claiming the war was needed to defend & consolidate goldmining interests which fell into their hands after 32,000 deaths in concentration camps of whom 26,000 were women & children, 22000 British troops killed & 23,000 British troops injured, 32,000 Boer deaths and 14,000 Africans killed just to secure the gold into the hands of the rich. Post 2000 wars all had the people manipulated by media.
Role of Bonds in Wars
Rothschild began selling British government bonds signaling to investors that Napoleon had won. Investors too began selling their bonds & Rothschild began secretly buying the bonds using agents for pittance & that was how they built their initial fortune & how they ventured into international bonds.
Bankers Elite Clients
Elite clients were royals, aristocrats, rich individuals who were offered personal banking services (large personal loans, private postal service (Queen Victoria)
Bankers investments
Bank of England’s biggest export became money. The centre was the City of London Corporation which was a square mile in London from which the London Stock Exchange, Lloyds of London & Bank of England emerged. This area is said to not be part of the British nation & have their own laws, rules & taxing. These offshore havens are not necessarily for the British as in the case of people living in Cayman islands. The havens are for the wealthy where their laws are above democratic societies.
British govts have taken loans from City in exchange for privileges & freedoms that do not apply to the British. The City has also raised funds for foreign govts & companies.
More wealthy families emerged with time – Rockefellers, Carnegies, Morgans, Vanderbilts. They all knew each other. They created their own secret groups. Rothschilds was also associated with the creation of the Royal Dutch Shell, their Paribas Bank controlled news agency Havas which owned advertising agency in France.
By late 19th century Rothschilds invested in armament companies & related industries.
The elite & their manipulation of people
The elite influence people in positions – either to place them in position or influencing people who have reached positions.
The Royal Family’s Balmoral & Sandringham estate was paid for by the Rothschilds. These gifts” are never called bribes”.
Banks dominating US
2008 saw the banking crisis resulting in 4 giant banks dominating US economy – JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America & Wells Fargo.
These along with Deutsche Bank, Banque Paribas, Barclays & other European cartels own the 4 oil giants & are the top 10 holders of every Fortune 500 corporation. This gives them control over the global economy.
The Banks are owned by the major families Rothschilds, Morgans, Rockefellers Warburgs – together 13 families. They control the New York City banks which hold the controlling stock of the Federal Reserve Bank.
In 1857 US bank Peabody Morgan & Company was in trouble but was saved by intervention of Bank of England via influence of Rothschild. When Peabody retired in 1864, Junius Morgan father of J P Morgan took over.
Rothschild-Barings Bank
Nathaniel Rothschild who headed Bank of England committee rescued Barings Bank in 1890. Rothschild also saved Kuhn Loeb, MM Warburg Bank.
The Rothschild, Rockefellers & other elite families agree to disagree but agree to remain elite rulers of the world & their intermarriages seal the unity. The kept the façade of disunity to keep public from discovering their objectives.
The families agreed on 5 objectives:
Stop competition from nation’s new banks
Obtain franchise to create money out of nothing to lend
Control reserves of all banks so reckless ones would not be exposed
Get taxpayers to pick up their inevitable losses
Convince Congress their purpose was to protect public
They promoted the need for bankers to become partners with politicians using the Central Bank to issue money.
Clearly the bankers expected the govt to pass its losses on the taxpayers. This is exactly what we see happening. The manner that Govts have bailed out banks & companies heaping the burden of the bail out on the taxpayers shows the objective at play.
Prof Anthony Sutton detailed the links between Wall Street & US President Roosevelts family.
U.S. Congressman Louis Thomas McFadden, chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency, in 1932:
‘When the Federal Reserve Act was passed, the people of the United States did not perceive that… this country was to supply financial power to an international superstate – a superstate controlled by international bankers and international industrialists acting together to enslave the world for their own pleasure.’
The handful who created the Federal Reserve also ignited the Boer War in South Africa & the 2 Great Wars. World War 1 lost 20million lives & World War 2 lost 75million lives.
US Federal Reserve Bank
This private bank governs banking in the US.
7 men who represented Wall Street met in 1910 at the private resort of J P Morgan to create the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. These 7 men held ¼ of total wealth of the entire world.
Nelson W Aldrich (Republican Whip / Chair of National Monetary Commission & father in law of John Rockefeller Jr
Henry P Davison (Senior Partner J P Morgan)
Charled D Norton (President of 1st National Bank of New York)
Piatt Andrew (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
Frank A Vanderlip (President National City Bank of New York representing William Rockefeller)
Benjamin Strong (head of J P Morgan’s Bankers Trust Company)
Paul M Warburg (partner in Kuhn, Loeb & Company representing Rothschild & Warburgs in Europe)
US Federal Reserve is owned by Goldman Sachs, Rockefellers, Lehmans, Kuhn Loebs of New York, Rothschilds of Paris & London, Warburgs of Hamburg, Lazards of Paris, Israel Moses Seifs of Rome (Dean Henderson 2010)
Bank for International Settlements
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) located in Basel, Switzerland, became the Central Bank of the Central Banks in 1930where financial control of the world financial system was put into private hands. These hands controlled the political system of every country & every economy. This meant these few who controlled the BIS ruled the world.
The Bank of International Settlements was mooted by Montagu Norman (Bank of England) & Benjamin Strong (Federal Reserve Bank) – they deemed that international finance would be dictated by central banks without interference from governments.
Bank of International Settlements is a private bank owned & controlled by the world’s chief central banks which are private corporations.
They controlled the Treasury of every govt – the loans govts take, they manipulated foreign exchange, they influenced economic activity of every nation, they influenced politicians by rewards in the business world (as seen by the manner politicians join international corporates upon retirement)
These investment bankers conversant in flows of credit & investment funds in own countries & across the world knew how to dominate the financial & industrial systems in their countries as they knew how to influence flow of current funds through bank loans, discount rate & re-discounting of commercial debts. Thus, they help create financial coups in their own nations. They do so on behalf of their masters who are not accountable to anyone. The BIS Agreement afford a range of privileges & immunities & BIS Board & their representatives in Central Banks are also immune from arrest or imprisonment (Swiss Federal Council & Bank for International Settlements legal status in Switzerland)
This means the BIS & its members are immune from any form of legal action by governments, international agencies & rule of law.
They keep politicians, academics & others in line by either rewards or penalties.
US Major General Smedly Butler describes his role in his 1935 book
‘War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious…. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives…. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.’
World War 2
Prof Anthony Sutton claims Wall Street banks & US businesses supported Hitlers rise to power by financing & trading with Nazi Germany. This meant the War profited financial insiders – J P Morgan, T W Lamont, Rockefellers, General Electric, Standard Oil & National City, Chase & Manhattan banks, Kuhn Loeb & Co, General Motors, Ford Motor & others (Wall Street & the rise of Hitler)
US business collaboration with Nazis is revealed in I G Farben (German chemical complex out of 6 German companies) banker Max Warburg (brother of Paul of US Federal Reserve) was created by the Wall Street financier Hermann Schmitz a prominent Nazi who used I G Farben to fund Hitler in 1933. Though I G Farben was critical of Nazi war it was producing 95% of the gas used to exterminate people.
Oil Cartel
Dean Henderson revealed that the world’s oil cartel was in the hands of not 7 but 4 horsemen – Exxon Mobil, Chevron Texaco, BP Amoco & Royal Dutch/Shell. He highlighted how oil was the main source of capital for international mega banks. The Gulf Cooperation Council sheiks are given 30 year treasury bonds at 5% interest, they loan the sheiks oil money out of Third World Govts & western consumers at 15-20% interest & use debt to leverage consolidating control of the global economy.
Transfer of powers from Nation State Elites to Transnational Elites
Prof Peter Philips in his 2018 Giants: The Global Power Elite shows transfer of power from nation state elites to transnational elites to control the global capital around the world. The Global Power Elite function as a NGO network.
Philipps identifies worlds top 17 asset management firms including – BlackRock, J P Morgan Chase that manage more than $50trillion in self-invested network of interlocking capital
Philipps identifies 199 individual directors of 17 global financial giants & their role in transnational institutions like World Bank, IMF, G20, G7, WTO, WEF, Trilateral Commission (55 members), Bilderberg Group. Bank for International Settlements, Council of Foreign Relations, the Group of Thirty (32 members)
How does the global elite defend its power, its profits & its privileges against rebellion by ‘unruly exploited masses” (Philipps)
NATO
US military empire
Concentration of wealth & the greed to keep control of it has resulted in
Poverty
Wars
Starvation
Mass alienation
Media lies
Environmental hazards
Solution:
Redistribution of wealth from the Global Elite to the Global Masses
Take the world’s largest corporations/industries – note how the corporate ownership is interlocked & owned by the same small group of giant asset management corporations – Vanguard, BlackRock & State Street. Behind all of these asset management firms, corporations, private funds & nonprofit organizations are the same families that rule the world. The inclusion of Chinese & Russian oligarchs/elites are also listed
Ironically, the data used by the Chinese govt are controlled by IT corporations that report to billionaires (through Israel & US) which bypass the Chinese govt.
Covid in China is driven by elite intelligence & finance corporations no different to the Opium War
Prof Sutton claims the Trilateral Commission (Zbigniew] Brzezinski) orchestrated transfer of technology to China making it a technocracy.
Russia’s post-covid economic restructuring embraced WEF’s 4thindustrial revolution in Oct 2021. Russia has agreed to allow corporations & institutions to deploy Artificial Intelligence & robots into the economy without red tape. Russia’s central bank is ready to test-run a digital ruble that can restrict purchases. Russia’s external management is by Big Tech, social global platforms & Big Pharma through WHO.
Elite & Tax Havens
The elite, its agents, organizations & those in China & Russia hold their wealth in tax globally located havens. Others also enjoying tax haven privileges include wealthy individuals, criminals, terrorists, govt agencies, banks, corporations, hedge funds, Vatican, crime syndicates that include cash, gold, artworks, racehorses etc – how much is this wealth accumulated?
They are protected by government legislation & legal systems. They have elite agents (accountants, auditors, bankers, business people, lawyers & politicians) to protect their interest. This wealth has been acquired from sex trafficiking, gun running, endangered species trafficking, conflict diamonds, drug trafficking)
If you have money – the law does not exist.
The power of the banking families over Global Economy is shrouded in secrecy
Their corporate media quick to discredit anyone or any information exposing them or their powers as conspiracy theories”.
People presenting valid views & arguments are branded as insane” or conspiracy theorists” & excluded from public debate.
(Eight Families & their Global Intelligence)
Prof Sutton says
the political power of the US is not in the US constitution but in New Yorks financial establishment, the private international bankers & financial houses of J P Morgan, Rockefeller-controlled Chase Manhattan Bank & the Warburgs.
The US Congress has no control over the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Reserve Bank
US Federal Reserve is unaudited
US Federal Reserve has powers to print money & create credit at will
US Federal Reserve has monopoly over the US economy.
Council of Foreign Relations determines US foreign policy
Robert I Burrowes claims post World War 2 aims to
Transforms World Order
Destroy the World Economy
Capture all wealth into the hands of the Global Elite
How does he claim the aims are to be achieved
Using institutions such as UN, World Bank, IMF, US Sustainable Development Goals (imposing global governance on global population), global financial governance system. Note none of UN’s sustainable goals have taken any nation out of debt except continue debt imperialism.
World Economic Forum’s RESET using Covid-19 pandemic meant to impact political, economic, technological measures on nations.
How will they achieve these aims?
World Bank & IMF to use debt to force countries to adopt policies that redistribute wealth via banks, corporations institutions (to the elite)
Corporations to use own ‘economic hit men’ to do same thing
Persuading leaders not to develop nations by using false economic projections & bribes to even military threats & assassinations.
Persuade leaders to accept enormous ‘development loans’ for projects which are contracted to western corporations – this makes countries trapped in debt
Once countries are trapped in debt – get govts to implement unpopular austerity measures, deregulate financial markets & privatize state assets (aim to erode national sovereignty) – Read New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man – John Perkins.
Global Public-Private Partnership (presented by Klaus Schwab & Peter Vanham) on behalf of WEF (Stakeholder Capitalism – capitalists & their partners: the BIS, Central Banks, Global Corporations including media, philanthropic organizations, foundations of multibillionaires, policy think tanks, govts & their agencies, key NGOs & global charities, selected academic institutions, labor unions & their thought leaders” – this is the network identified by Iain Davis & Whitney Webb. This network controls world economy & global finance by setting world, national & local policy & promotes them using their media channels. Their policy is distributed through IMF, WB, WHO, WTO & govts are used to transform the Global PPP into hard policy legislation & law at national level. This way using GPPP nations are controlled without changes to national legislation & escapes legal challenges difficult too. People already notice the global governance overriding national sovereignty of states – national govts are quickly creating Global PPPs by taxing people & increasing govt borrowing – debt.
Global PPP is to determine future state of global relations & national economies & management of global people. People have no participatory role. Global Governance system will order elected govts to do as they wish, govts have no choice but to follow not the people’s wishes but the global governors.
New but same tactic – COP26 launched Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero which is UN-convened alliance of private banking/financial institutions claiming to overhaul global/regional financial institutions (WB/IMF) – but it will use multilateral development banks include WB, IBDB, ADB, African Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction & Development to facilitate climate & environmental friendly investments. It comprises Net Zero Asset Managers/ Alliance & Bank Alliance & include CEOs of BlackRock, Citi, Bank of American, Banco Santander & HSBC, CEO of LSEG & Chair of Rockefeller Fund. Whitney Webb claims the new initiative sets to use multilateral development banks to impose deregulation on developing nations using decarbonization drive (using ‘saving the planet rhetoric)
Elite taking control of Nature – Sept 2021 launched a new asset class developed by Intrinsic Exchange Group & Rockefeller Foundation for Natural Asset Companies. Claiming sustainable enterprises hold rights to ecosystem services, that natural asset owners can convert nature’s value into financial capital. They are including life supporting services – food, water, timber, genetic resources, regulating services for climate, floods, disease, water quality, cultural services that provide aesthetic, spiritual benefit & supporting services such as soil formation, photosynethesis & nutrient cycling. WEB’s Global Future Council on Nature-Based Solutions urged investors, corporations & govts to create market-based mechanisms to value nature. This clearly shows the transfer of natural habitat into corporate hands.
The new asset class is to be put on the NYSE for investments in nature to finance sustainable development for communities, companies & countries.
Corporations are involved in land & resource grab – this enables Elite to own the ecosystem – waterfalls, lagoons, lakes, rivers, caves, wetland, coral reefs, fresh water, food, medicines, biodiversity, nature, fauna, flora – it will also means the indigenous will be displaced. Whatever commonly” used by commoners” will be in hands of Elite corporates. Nature will be reduced to a profit-making commodity. Who will watch Mother Nature’s Ecosystem be monetized & in control of only a handful. These are the very companies who have destroyed natural environments by exploiting fossil fuels, minerals, rainforest products & forcing indigenous people off their land.
We must appreciate the work of Robert J Burrowes for awakening people to realities of who rules the world
Diocesan priests promise to be celibate, preach the truth, and obey the bishop Picture koheda Aleteia.org
Evidence of tactful proselytizing activity goes through marriage life in Sri Lanka, where Buddhist secretly convert to become slaves of another religion. When we screen through actual incidents in our society, we can clearly find out that church propagandists plant early seeds in their community to convince another religious partner to convert to God-based religion. In general, Buddhists and Hindus never demand that a couple must belong to the same religion before a marriage can be solemnized, but many others tend to take advantage of this tolerance as a weakness of our culture. Also, them and all, specially church gores victim Buddhist partner and church helped their church member for unethically convert beloved partner to Christianity. (Keep in heart Islamics people also doing the same. In short we can say all Abrahamic Religious authority’s practice the same) Contrary to what many romantic novels say, marriage does not mean the total and absolute merging of two people or that either person will lose or extend his or her own identity. When a religion (especially the God doctrine) demands that both partners have the same religious label, (Be a baptize or Go to hell). As per the intelligence community, it denies the basic human right of an individual to believe what he or she wants. We Buddhists maintain the freedom of the individual to choose. We never asked our partner or friends to convert to the Buddhist way. That’s a civilized way of living. So then, this principle should be respected by all. When young people are in love, they are prepared to make many sacrifices as long as they can get married. So this faithfulness is victimized by God Religious people are a shame. And they are insane.
Key points for the Christian community :
Please look around your church and count the number of new priests. How many of them are direct descendants of Buddhist families? Why do bishops and pastors give them the Chris Crown” (master preacher position) rather than giving it to a humble, 500-year-old traditional Christian family? What they hunt for is that a hidden dollar? Or they’re are the one whose choosed by God to be in the heaven not you? Or is This a New world order?
Think twice…be intelligence…be wise…
Don’t be fooled by a covert Ajenda…
Triple Gem bless you always!
Analyst of Buddhist affairs, Desha Abhimani Surya Vansa Ratna Vibhushan Palitha Ariyarathna from Senkadagala Sinha Dwara… TCFBI PEC President Unethical Conversion of Buddhist TCFBI International Co-ordinator JBB Convenor and President Author Publisher and Journalist
A Youtube video (uploaded December 27, 2022) with the alarmist caption බුදුන් ඉපදුණු මේ ලංකාවට සිදු වු අපරාදෙ අපිත් දැන ගනිමුද
(Let’s be aware of the enormity of the injustice perpetrated on Sri Lanka where the Buddha was born) captured my attention this morning (January 1, 2023), both because of the sensationalism of the title and its association with the popular youtuber Harindra Jayalal who presents its content as an important news bulletin from a so-called ‘We Rectify Our History’ organization (presumably based in the UK). Five days after uploading, the video has got about 8,500 views, and only 301 subscribers. Though Harindra Jayalal presents it as a newsflash under ‘Breaking News’, the maker of the video is someone who chooses to obscure their identity by describing it as a DANAPALA VIDEO. While watching the video, though, I felt that Harindra himself made this video as a strong believer in the controversial new hypothesis that the Buddha was born in Sri Lanka. But again, I thought ‘could a person like Harindra subscribe to such an improbable concoction’? In terms of my experience, Harindra is far too rational, educated, cultured and knowledgeable to embrace such a harebrained ideology. I believe that he is too honest to prostitute his journalism for mercenary ends.
Lucidity, idiomaticity, and precision of expression characterize Harindra Jayalal’s Sinhala. Such linguistic elegance is not common among ordinary Sinhala language Youtubers. His professionalism and sophistication as a journalist are hard to match. However, the emphatic positive tone of voice that he adopts right through to the end of the presentation cannot be due to any real personal commitment to the authenticity of the ‘Buddha was born in Sri Lanka’ claim. Instead, by lending his patronage to this video, he may be helping out a struggling new youtuber through his own established fame. Yet, Harindra seems to be here overdoing his generosity because, his apparent espousal of that extremely anti-national heresy, might only provide some justification for the insidious process of cultural genocide that is being carried out, unknown to most ordinary Sri Lankans of diverse ethnicities, against the country’s innocent Sinhala Buddhist majority, something that has been going for decades now.
Be that as it may, according to this ’news flash’, …. The Ariya Kammattahna Sanvidhanaya/Ariya Kammattahna Organization led by a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk named Ariyamagga, resident in Europe, is going to sue the British government. He has taken steps to institute legal action against government officials who served during British colonial times. He charges that Britain has distorted historical information relating to the subcontinent of India and that his fundamental rights are being violated by officials serving today in their place by intentionally failing to rectify those distortions. ……. The case names the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth affairs, the State Secretary for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports, Secretary of State for Tourism Zones and National Heritage, and the Secretary of State for Education as respondents……the court action will go ahead as the violations are continuing……”. (This is from the opening of the spoken text of the video as roughly translated by me from Sinhala as other relevant parts of the same spoken script found in the rest of this essay; details such as names of ministries may not exactly tally with the real ones. – RRW)
The ‘We Rectify Our History’ organization argues that Britain has violated provisions of various legal statutes that it cites such as Britain’s 1998 Human Rights Act, the 1988 Copyrights, Designs, and Patents Act, and the 1907 Hague Convention. It demands that at least certified photocopies of the ancient ola leaf books stashed away in British libraries and museums be made available (to it on behalf of Sri Lankans) free of charge without reserving copyrights and that steps be taken to provide funds for new archaeological excavations needed to correct those (deliberately introduced) errors in our country’s history.
The plaintiff organization pleads that (the British government) acknowledge that the school education system established under the colonial administration disseminated for public consumption false information without any foundation in Sri Lankans’ (collective) national and religious identity, and also that (the British government) tender an apology to the general public of the world for the crimes committed.
In Sri Lanka’s ancient chronicles, Buddhist literature and even in colloquial parlance in Buddhist religious contexts today the name Jambudipa (Pali) or Dambadiva (Sinhala) refers to the subcontinent of India. But according to the ‘Buddha was born in Sri Lanka’ theorists, Jambudeepa was in the eastern part of Sri Lanka (if we imagine the map of the country as vertically divided with a line into east and west). A central claim made in the aforementioned plea for justice is that the true location of the Jambudipa where the founder of Theravada Buddhism, Gotama Samana, was born and lived and the locations of its cities and Buddhist holy sites were conspiratorially concealed from the world and that these venues were substituted by those in India by deliberately altering the maps of Sri Lanka and India. This is alleged to have misled the Theravada Buddhist adherents and deprived them of their right to know the truth about their spiritual master. (By ‘Theravada Buddhists’ the petitioner ‘We Rectify Our History’ organization means Sinhalese Buddhists.) What does it aim to achieve for them by asserting the following harmful falsehood?
Having been misled (by false information) as explained above, the Buddhists of today mistake Hindu and Jain holy places to be Buddhist ones and go to worship at them. This is a tragic state of affairs” according to the plaint. But we know it is not. What is there tragic about it, even if the alleged fraudulent deed actually happened? On the contrary, it would be a happy state of affairs. Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists have much in common (tolerance, nonviolence, compassion, humility, mind culture, inner search for truth, etc.) and have no problem visiting each other’s shrines without being challenged as impure infidels or non-believers. Community of basics makes for intercommunal peace and peaceful coexistence, as has always been the case in Sri Lanka between Hindus and Buddhists. However, this ludicrous complaint lets the cat out of the bag.
The ‘Buddha was born in Sri Lanka’ idea is obviously a piece of fiction carefully thought up by some evil minded individual or group to confuse the credulous unsophisticated, grievously ill informed (embarrassingly large) section of the Sinhalese Buddhist community about their religion as well as their history for some political and/or religious advantage. Those who stand to gain by this may be having a field day at present. They must be laughing their heads off in private at the silliness of those Buddhists who have swallowed this and other similar fabrications (such as the mythical Ravana being their progenitor) hook line and sinker.
Believers in the ‘Buddha was born in Sri Lanka’ myth might be induced to sever even their sentimental links with places that they correctly believed to be historic Buddhist places of worship in Sri Lanka later built over by invaders. The misguided adherents of the fiction will forget the Sacred Buddha Gaya/Bodh Gaya in India, which our indefatigable Anagarika Dharmapala did much to reclaim for the world Buddhists as he knew it was his historic responsibility as a ‘Sinhale’ Buddhist to do so. (This is because after the missionary Mahinda Thera introduced Theravada Buddhism to Sri Lanka, its scriptures that had been until then transmitted orally was committed to writing there in the 1st century BCE and was preserved for posterity, making the island the repository of Theravada Buddhism. By the end of the 19th century CE, Buddhism had almost entirely disappeared from India due to Muslim invasions and anti-Buddhism Hinduist influence.) Dharmapala met with limited success, no doubt, but it was a great achievement, even an epoch making one, considering his smallness when pitted against the powerful opponents he had to face in that Hindu dominated religious environment during the British Raj at the turn of the 20th century. Anagarika Dharmapala, in association with activists like journalist and poet Sir Edwin Arnold from the British intelligentsia, laid the foundation for the current Buddhist revival in India. Today India is rediscovering and restoring its lost Buddhist heritage, for example in the form of rebuilding the ancient Buddhist monastic University of Nalanda (427-1197 CE) burned down by Muslim invaders in the 12th century. This made it possible for Prime Minister Modi to shout out to the world not long ago: India gave to the world the Buddha, not yuddha (war)”. India honoured Anagarika Dharmapala by issuing a postage stamp commemorating him in 2014.
I came across a book written in Sinhala about this ‘Buddha was born in Sri Lanka’ argument. Its title translates as Evidence to prove that the land of the Buddhas is none other than this ‘Heladiva’ or Sri Lanka: Debunking myths” (2018) by a writer named S. Ariyaratne. It is full of information drawn from authentic sources, but garbled by him through misinterpretation. The book contains a lot of interesting but, scientifically unauthenticated details both about the dhamma and history, but without any serious supporting evidence or rational elucidation. In some instances Ariyaratne quotes from the Mahavansa, which he seems to modify in his interpretation to suit his thesis that the Buddha was born, lived, and died in Sri Lanka. One example: in Mudaliyar L.C. Wijesinghe’s translation (1889) of the Mahavansa the last verse of Chapter VI is as follows: This prince named Vijaya, who had then attained the wisdom of experience, landed in the division Tambapanni of this land Lanka, on the day that the successor (of former Buddhas) reclined in the arbour of the two delightful sal trees, to attain nibbana”. Ariyaratne interprets the same Pali verse in Sinhala; his version can be rendered into English thus: Prince Vijaya of steady wisdom arrived the day that the Tathagata lay down to attain nibbana (in the shade) between two sal trees in Lanka or Tamraparni whose branches were intertwined” (Page 210 of Ariyaratne’s book).
Between pages 112-132, Ariyaratne looks at Anagarika Dharmapala’s work in India from his own uninformed jaundiced point of view. His unconvincing, idiosyncratic argument is that the Lankan Buddhist missionary, misled by the suddas (Whites/Europeans), mistakenly identified Bodh Gaya in India as the birthplace of the Buddha, but that towards the end of his life, he showed signs that he realized his mistake. But it is only an unsubstantiated assumption on Ariyaratne’s part. He points out that the Bodhi tree found there is not the Bodhi tree under which ascetic Gotama attained enlightenment, which should true for the original probably disappeared during foreign invasions. He thinks Alexander Cunningham (the pioneer of what later became the Archaeological Survey of India) planted the extant Bodhi tree in 1870. Concerning this he mentions ‘Relighting the Lamp’ by Australian monk Bhante S. Dhammika (no stranger to English language newspaper readers in Sri Lanka). But Ariyaratne doesn’t seem to have carefully read what he makes reference to. Actually, ‘Relighting the Lamp’ is only the last (or 4th) section of that monk’s 241 page book ‘The Navel of the Earth: The History and Significance of Bodh Gaya’ (BPS, Kandy, 1996)’ between pp. 119-171. In that part of the book, Bhante Dhammika has included a fairly detailed account of Dharmapala’s legitimate heroic struggle to acquire the sacred place for Buddhists. Dharmapala played a key role in ‘relighting the lamp’ in India.
Bhante Shravasti Dhammika outlines the historical importance of Bodh Gaya in his preface to ‘The Navel of the Earth…..’:
…..Bodh Gayā’s historical significance is due to it having a longer and more complete history than almost any other place in the subcontinent, a history supplemented by epigraphical and literary sources from China and Tibet, Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Nor is this history merely an outline of events or a list of doubtful dates, as so often encountered in the study of India’s past. Rather, it includes detailed descriptions of Bodh Gayā’s now vanished temples and shrines, accounts of the elaborate ceremonies and doctrinal disputes that once took place there, and even details of how time was kept in its monasteries. This history is also made more interesting by the participation of some of Asia’s greatest personalities, from Asoka to Curzon, from Xuanzang to Anāgārika Dharmapāla…..”
The book also supplies information about the conspicuous presence of Buddhist monks from Simhale (Sri Lanka) and the construction of religious buildings in Jambudipa including Bodh Gaya under Sinhalese royal patronage. In the 4th century, Sinhalese king Meghavanne (304-332 CE) built a special monastery at the place of Buddha’s Enlightenment – the Bodh Gaya Monastery. It survived there for a millennium, functioning as a major monastic university complex. It operated along with two other Buddhist universities,the famous Nalanda and Vikramashila monastic universities, which came into existence later.
The author of The Navel of the Earth…” is an extremely more reliable authority on the history of the Buddha’s birthplace than Ariyaratne. In fact, the erudite Bhante S. Dhammika, who is additionally an alumnus of the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, has devoted many years of his life for researching the subject, even traveling on foot where Buddha walked across that part of north India to and fro, preaching his message. He has written and published over a dozen books. A book by Bhante Dhammika published last year (2022) is ‘Lumbini’, which gives a short history of Lumbini the first of the four major holy places of Buddhism, being where the person who was born to become Buddha was born”.
The truth is that, in my opinion, Ariyaratne is not at all worthy of comparison with Bhante Dhammika in this context. He has had no worthwhile academic training in either Buddhism or the history of Buddhism, not to speak about anything else that is ancillary such as the secular history of Sri Lanka and India. What may be taken as an autobiographical note on pp. 12-14 of Ariyaratne’s book mentioned above says that he was born in a small impoverished village in Nivitigala in 1972. At age 14, he was admitted to the Sangha order as a novice. He studied at a pirivena in Ratnapura, where he became a kind of loner allegedly trying to learn the dhamma in an unorthodox way, which meant that he read material outside the prescribed syllabuses. Disgusted with the Sangha order at age 19 (i.e., before higher ordination), he disrobed, and became a layman again, reverting to his birth name Ariyaratne. But he claims that he continued his search in which he followed in the footsteps of such ‘Arya utuman’ (Arhants) as the infamous and totally ignorant Waharaka (Abhayarathanalankara) and Meewanapalane (Siri Dhammalankara)!! Meewanapalane has been officially excommunicated by the Malwatte Nikaya, but he continues to preach to a dwindled audience. Waharaka died in 2017 and his death was described as ‘Parinibbana’!, a term used only in the case of the passing away of an Arhant, most usually in referring to the death of the Buddha. It is an abomination to abuse that terminology to apply to the death of a sinful fake Arhant. (There is a great possibility, nay probability, that these are plants intended to destroy the Buddha Sasanaya, which is the breath and being of our over 2500 year old Lankan/Heladiva civilization. Those who bristle at this, please listen to the advice of the Buddha in the Kalama Sutta, and independently find out their hollowness by studying samples of their preachings.)
Ariyamagga Thera who is the main motivator of the ‘We Rectify Our History’ project as well as the leader of the so-called Ariya Kammattahna Organization may belong to the same group of rogues in robes. (I googled the name Ariyamagga Thero, but failed to find any monk by that name or an organization he heads, except the name in Sinhala characters ‘Pujya K. Ariyamagga’.) The theme ‘We Rectify Our History’ probably comes from Ariyaratne’s book, p. 116, where the author writes Let’s rectify mistakes in our history by ourselves”. Isn’t it possible that some eccentric uneducated zealots have also been recruited or are simply being used as ownerless donkeys by the prime movers of a global conspiracy against the Sinhalese and their Buddhist culture?
It is true that the British stole many archaeological treasures including ola leaf manuscripts of inestimable value from Sri Lanka. At least some of them are being preserved in British libraries and museums. They are waiting to be reclaimed by us through proper channels. This is not the time to get them, as we can understand, given the debilitating economic and political difficulties Sri Lanka is experiencing. This task should actually be left to present and future young generations. Ariyamagga’s silly move could be a preemptive strike meant to foil such an attempt being made by young Sri Lankans even before it is initiated.
Harindra’s video ends with a glowing eulogy to Ariyamagga: The intrepid step that this monk has taken, daring Britain’s ‘White Crown’ is a courageous and heroic move made against the British Empire by a citizen of Sihale ever since the defeat of the (armed) liberation struggle of Uva Wellassa of 1818”. I hear the chuckle of the conspirators behind this mock tribute to Pujya K. Ariyamagga. (END)
Postscript:
Although I searched the internet for some information about this so-called Ariyamagga Thero before I started writing this article, I couldn’t find any. This was probably because the search terms I used were incorrect or because the robed rogue might have been careful to leave no trace of his presence in cyberspace. Then this morning (6/1/23) quite by fluke I found a You Tube video already over one year old that reveals Ariyamagga as a former LTTE Tamil who, having left Sri Lanka as a refugee, now poses as a Sinhalese Buddhist monk, embarked on a mission to destroy the Sinhalese Buddhist history and cultural heritage of the country: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07GJwztSDD0&t=252s Interested readers may check this out.
Sarath Wijesinghe President’s Counsel Former Ambassador to UAE and Israel. [1]Chairman Consumer Affairs Authority, President Ambassador’s forum
Domestic Workers
Domestic workers are those employed in households or personal level of private individuals or families, prevalent worldwide. Rules for domestic workers are not properly regularized in Sri Lanka or in many countries though attempts have been made to prepare international conventions and legal systems in some parts of the world. 100th sessions of ILO on 16th June 2011 agreed and ratified the domestic workers convention which is only on paper as it is only an international convention not properly effective in all the countries in the world family. The convention is not enforceable and effective as a nonstarter. Domestic servant’s ordinance 28 of 1871 is one of the oldest acts passed on this subject which has not taken forward for implementation. It defines domestic servants are those hired by the employer on payment of wages and generally they are given accommodation and duties are given by the employer at his/her discretion. Above definition can be considered as universal in the absence of any other by any activist groups on employment or human rights groups.
Local and International Legal structure
Article c 180 of ILO is the most frequently used Convention on domestic employees which is also a nonstarter and an ineffective international instrument. Domestic workers are fully under the control of the employer at his mercy somewhat akin to slavery where the workers from villages (in Asian and African countries) are at the mercy of the employer with no legal or procedural safeguards as in developed countries where domestic servants are scarce and expensive except migrant workers. Domestic servants are maids, gardeners, Chaffers, gardeners, or providing general assistance for the household and/or their trade and vocation. In Pakistan and India ‘Samindaers’ (richest rich and landlords/landowners ) take families in lifetime impressment/ransom for labor due to their poverty and landlessness which is well known and in Sri Lanka domestics are mainly taken from vulnerable groups opt to be domestics due to poverty which is fortunately despairing today due to the advancement of the attitudes, education life style and existence of laws ( though not effective) such as Child protection, Protection for Women, Labor laws which are not properly and powerfully enforced.
Legislation in Sri Lanka
Shop and office ordinance on employment of 19/54 gives some guidelines for good government servants and the judiciary to act fairly with sympathy on given opportunities. Wages Ordinance 43/1941 and provident fund ordinance 15/58 workmen compansation19/43 47/56 young person’s payment of gratuity establishment of labor department and labor tribunals and active participation of Policy and the legal structure are good signs on the right direction. In the United Kingdom domestic workers enjoy some freedom and a reasonable pay and protection. It is only rich families who can afford to employ domestic workers and rich and aristocratic families ‘’Butlers’’ are well paid and enjoys some kind of freedom. Historical domestics employed in highest strata of the society rose up to high positions in UK as even slaves during dark era/ages rose up to leading positions. In the west the lifestyle is different to be self-sufficient and able to attend to personal affairs by themselves without domestics and can be satisfied with part-time workers for cleaning and such assistance only without fulltime domestic servants who are expensive and difficult to find. Article 1 of C189 defines the term domestic worker as work performed on or for a household or households.
Domestic workers oversees
Currently majority of domestic workers worldwide are females. Most Sri Lankan female domestic workers are employed in the Middle East as domestic workers, namely housemaids in vulnerable and unfortunate situations with no safety protection and control or supervision of third party to look after them though the Embassies and the representatives of Bureau of Labor is expected to protect them. The treatment to the domestic labor in Middle East and such countries are pathetic and sad as they are subjected to ill-treatment and even torture by the employer and agents. Local International media and social media is full of such news on horrific incidents apparently with no solutions in the sight. Domestic workers are under to control of the agents/employers[Ma1] who are supposed to be protected by the Embassies and the representatives of the Employment bureau, generally known to be inefficient and ineffective. Middle East is a new oil rich country who can afford domestic labor supplied by Asian and African countries through job agents.
Caregivers a category of domestic workers?
Caregivers are employed world over looking after the sick and elderly in many countries with a substantial salary expected to stay indoors. Caregivers are trained para medics trained to look after elderly and sick mainly in economically advanced countries. Israel and Japan with long life expectancy and has a demand for foreign caregivers who too are somewhat domestic workers of high salaries and protection followed by many countries. Sri Lanka is in need of foreign exchange and the best way is to send labor to countries where they can afford to domestic and other workers at a high cost of losing mothers for children and labor force for the development of the nation. Domestic workers in Sri Lanka are not properly looked after or covered by the labor laws of the said countries. The organization that supervises the interest for the Sri Lankan labor overseas labor in Sri Lanka is Sri Lanka Bureau of Labor which is established for the betterment for labor in Sri Lanka and abroad. Employers seeking employment overseas are bound to obtain permission approval and guidance from this institution. Apparently. Not functioning as expected, thereby those employed in foreign countries especially in the Middle East are not protected, thus exposed. Respective embassies in those countries are expected to work together with foreign employment bureau, but the response from those countries is sad, pathetic and unfortunate. In the Middle East, one in every three are domestic workers are females. Domestic workers are highly vulnerable in destination countries. Training and education play a major role in this context. In the Philippines 30% of the population depends on foreign employment and to their advantage they are trained by the state foreign employment for the job as public policy and their knowledge of English is comparably high. Therefore, they are successful in their respective trades and employment over many other foreign labor in the Middle East and world over. For an instance in world and western countries Philippines are employed in technical domestic and other fields that brings revenue to their country.
Encourage and improve Sri Lankan domestic labor to be professional and international
Though Sri Lankans are supposed to be educational, foreign languages are limited thereby the exposure is also limited. These are areas either the state or private enterprises must take over training English and other languages for respective jobs. Therefore, it is the time for the governance for the private sector to train Sri Lankans locally for skills languages to be exported to countries as skilled employees. There should be a transparent public policy and schemes to compete with Philippines and other successful countries to train Sri Lankan labor to lift from unskilled to skilled. In the domestic field too, the government and private sector must take steps to train languages to uplift themselves which will bring foreign exchange and enhance the development of the country. The news we receive from the countries where Sri Lankan labor is employed is pathetic and there are no signs proper steps are being taken, either by the government or Employment Bureau which is unfortunately connected to and influences by politics and politicians, thus bribery and corruption that is available like air. We presume this summary of this essay will be an eye opener for the government, labor organizations and non-government organizations agitating consistently for up liftmen of less privileged. Sarath Wijesinghe sarath7@hotmail.co.uk
Replacing provincial councils with District councils worsens the problems of separatism, corruption and waste. It must never be attempted. If provincial councils are bad, the system must be retracted. Replacing it with a worse system is unwise (Mahadenamutta could not have done it better in the case of palm sugar cubes).
There are 9 provincial councils each with ministers for devolved subjects, a place to meet, staff for the same functions (repeated 9 times) and provincial tax is collected by 9 different groups. If district councils are to be established, there will be 25 instead of 9! That will triple running costs doing the same thing 25 times instead of 9 and triple corruption than now.
District councils will fuel new separatism never seen before. Nuwara Eliya district council with devolved power will officially declare Malaya Nadu. All northern districts will be Tamil majority and so will be Batticaloa district. So there is nothing to be gained from there. Trincomalee and Ampara districts will spin off as Safistan and Nazarstan as declared in 2001 by the most senior Muslim MP in parliament. Puttlam district will also move towards separatism as the Christian population is significant and a definite vote winner in the district council. At the moment these moves are not possible as these districts are part and parcel of a wider provincial council system that balances out ethnic divergence.
Another reason is the utter irrelevance of the district as a devolution unit because the district is already consulted (except Vanni where election districts are different to administrative districts) for the election of parliamentarians! Why elect a second set of politicians from the same unit for the same unit? It is complete insanity and a mockery of democracy.
Further, it will be an impossible task to implement government policy as it has to be consulted with 25 different and divergent district councils! Nothing will get done.
A small island like Sri Lanka does not need any of these. A centralized unitary structure without any district or provincial council can save money, lessen the governance distance between the parliament and the people, reduce layers of corruption and the savings can go into better education and healthcare.
Instead of wasting time on pondering how to chop the island into smaller chops, it is worth the while to think of how to unify the island through unity and not division. Only unity can unite a nation; division begets division.
By Dr Tilak S. Fernando – Ceylon Today, January 6– 2023.
Chiromancy or palmistry is a skill of evaluating a person’s character or future by reading” the palm of an individual’s hand. The heart line, head line, lifeline, etc., and the mounds immediately appearing under the base of each finger suggest elucidations by their relative sizes, qualities, and intersections. Some palm readers observe the characteristics of the fingers, fingernails, fingerprints, skin patterns, skin texture and colour, the palm’s shape and the hand’s flexibility.
Basic palmistry is entrenched in Greek mythology, where every area of the palm is related to a god or goddess. Those who dabble in palmistry without proper knowledge of the subject tend to accuse the entire Science. Different schools of thought indicate that the right hand predicts the future, whilst the left is considered the one which is inborn with, or what karma gives.
Highly developed Science
Palmistry is a highly developed science which has caught up in the Western world to such an extent that many people have begun to read their ‘stars column’ in the newspapers, akin to some belief in Rahu Kalaya in the orient.
Various theories among palmists differ in diverse forms. Some consider the right-hand dominant because it is believed to be the most frequently used hand by the average person. It represents the conscious mind, as opposed to the other hand relating to a past life or karmic conditions. Some palmists read men’s right hand, while others read the left, especially females.
The writer became enthusiastic about learning to read palms from a good old friend, a former Captain of the Army whom his friends called ‘Captain Fonseka’ in London. Despite ‘Captain’ possessing a good flock of silvery white hair, his interest in reading palms, especially on young females, at residential parties had been a flirtatious ploy.
He was pretty accurate in reading some individuals’ palms, which made the writer wonder whether he had any psychic influence other than the fundamental knowledge of palmistry! To the writer’s amazement, he accurately predicted the death of a young man in Sri Lanka when his mother approached him (Captain) in London.
Once, at a house party, the writer noticed Captain’s eyes becoming wide and his silky white hair standing on end as he was holding the soft hand of a beautiful young Indian girl in London. That made the writer delve into an area to ask him later about the secret behind such excitement. His answer came back swiftly like a bolt from the blue: He said it’s simple, my dear! Never forget that love life between men and women is a common factor.”
Royal Palms
Many years ago, the world-renowned Palmist Ernie James did a public reading of five Royal palms and published them in the Sunday Magazine of ‘News of the World newspaper in the UK, exposing what was hidden in the Royal hands in 1988. Ernie James exposed Prince Charles’s (then) marriage to Princess Diana in 1988 was not as strong as many would have imagined. Referring to the (present King– Charles III), his ‘thick palm’ revealed that the Prince could have been an excellent farmer. His curved little finger indicated his deep frustrations. The rounded fingertips told that he could be secretive and intelligent.’ Earnie James revealed how an unexpected factor was going to affect Prince Charles’s (then) private life. He elaborated to the Prince: I am not sure if it is with another government, but if it were to come out, then it would be dynamite”! The newspaper revealed that he had an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, which led to a Royal scandal but later, the Prince was able to marry her. Prince was said to be very possessive in character with an inventive brain and could be a ‘great flirt’ – both with women and ideas.
Princess Diana
Referring to the late Princess Diana’s hand, Ernie James had to say about her split personality. Timid character and full of self-doubt.’ She was identified as a workaholic but would not find true happiness for at least two years” (till 1990). Her head ruled her heart! ‘ She could have been a flirt than on a physical level, and she certainly had not the courage to follow it through”.
Her love life was not as good as she would have imagined. Consequently, she was lonely and used to weep immediately. Princess Diana’s intuition was second to none because her previous life experiences carried forward to this birth. Ernie James predicted that her life would change when she was about 35. In 1989, ‘Princess Diana’ was warned about some problems ahead. She had much energy to burn off and was warned of a second marriage, and becoming pregnant was possible! However, on 31 August 1997, Princess Diana met with a severe motor car accident at the Pont de l’Alma road tunnel in Paris when she was being driven to her hotel with Dodi Fayed, 41, the son of Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed. Both lives were extinguished in the motor car accident amidst rumours and speculations that she would marry millionaire Dodi once they got back to London. Since their deaths, Al-Fayed maintained in 1998 that MI6 orchestrated the accident on the instructions of the late Prince Philip, the late queen Elizabeth II’s husband (prince Philip), because the Royal family could not tolerate Princess Diana marrying a Muslim!
In 2001, during an interview with UK Daily Express,’ Al-Fayed claimed that ‘the Princess had been pregnant at the time of the accident!’However, all his claims (175 in number) were dismissed by a Metropolitan Police enquiry in 2006. The jury verdict, given on 7 April 2008, was that Diana and Dodi had been unlawfully killed” through the grossly negligent driving of the chauffeur, who was intoxicated.
Duke of York
Prince Andrew’s square hand was a tell-tale sign, and he had to be the best in whatever he took part in. Referring to his bent first finger, Ernie James was much shrewder than the public thought. The third straight finger showed how he could not control his ego! He was the type to overpower with superior strength and frightened his wife. James stated that he and Fergie ‘might have a fiery marriage ‘, but it will never be boring. On his birthday in 1988, Ernie predicted the Duchess of York to be pregnant according to her planetary formation.
Many Gaps between the bases of all Fergie’s ( Duchess of York) hands meant she could get through her money as if money didn’t exist. She was compassionate and a psychic – though she doubted her powers”! Underneath, she is empathetic and easily hurt, but she was born with a vile tongue that helped her cover up anything by losing her temper and swearing. From an early age, she learnt how to manipulate other people. James declared, I will be surprised if Andrew doesn’t want to wring her neck at some time”!
She was a chatterbox with incredible energy enough to keep several men happy. She wouldn’t hesitate to go out and get whatever she fancied.’ Her broken line between the fourth finger and little finger showed she was destined to be robust and in a high position.”
Prince Edward
A deep dot at the Centre of Prince Edward’s palm meant he would be wealthy indeed, not because he is a Royal, but Ernie James put it boldly by saying, even if he was my son, he could not lose on a financial level, not with that hand”. His love life will be a bit of a letdown. He is more sensitive and psychic than the rest of them put together. He needs to get away from his mother’s influence. His headline shows he has much courage.
Earnie James finally declared that the lines in palms change might change every six months, so whatever was predicted during a particular reading was not going to be as bad as it sounded.
Image: The disputed structure in Srinagar Photographs: Umar Ganai
Look at the picture carefully. This nondescript Muslim shrine in Kashmir has shot into the international limelight after many believers claimed it was where Jesus Christ was laid to rest. Inquisitive visitors– mostly Westerners–have started flocking to the shrine, forcing the caretakers to close down the religious structure. Rediff.com‘s Mukhtar Ahmad travels to Khanyar in Srinagar, in search of some spiritual answers.
Where did Jesus spend his last days? Had he been to India? Had he been buried in Kashmir?
There are several versions on Jesus’ India sojourn. Some books argue Jesus did spend as many as 16 years in India, becoming a disciple of Buddhism. But many dispute the entire version, saying there has never been conclusive evidence on Jesus’ visit to India.
The old debate or controversy resurfaced after Rozabal shrine of Sufi saint Yuz Asaf at Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir banned visitors and believers alike from entering the sanctum sanctorum. It was at the Rozabal shrine, many believe, Jesus was laid to rest. However, there has not been any conclusive proof to substantiate the claim.
The shrine’s move comes after some believers wanted to exhume the remains to obtain carbon dating and get a DNA done.
“Some Christians claim it is the grave of Jesus and they had approached us with a request to exhume the remains for DNA testing. But, we refused,” Mohammad Amin Ringshawl, the shrine’s caretaker, told rediff.com.
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No entry now to the shrine
Image: What is embossed on the wall Photographs: Umar Ganai
As always in such cases, the ban has had a domino effect. The shrine had a mention in The Lonely Planet, a worldwide guide for travellers. As the word spread, inquisitive visitors started flocking the shrine.
Angered by the sudden “interest” being shown by foreigners in the shrine, the authorities banned people from entering the shrine.
Incidentally, the man — Aziz Kashmiri, senior journalist– who first wrote that Jesus was buried in Kashmir– passed away recently, rekindling memories of the controversy and interest associated with the grave in the Khanyar locality.
Aziz Kashmiri, the editor of a local Urdu daily Roshini, was the first to advance the theory in his book Christ In Kashmir published in 1973.
The shrine shot into limelight following the publication of the book underpinning the theory “that Jesus survived crucifixion and migrated to Kashmir’.
‘It hurt Muslims’ sentiments’
Image: The book’s cover. Inset: Aziz Kashmiri, the author Photographs: Umar Ganai
The claim is strongly contested by local Muslims who say the Rozabal shrine is the final resting place of two famous Muslim saints, Youza Asaf and Syed Naseer-ud-Din, who came here centuries ago.
Ringshawl says the controversy started in 2002 when an American researcher, Suzzane Marie, had met him and other members of the shrine committee and wanted to carry out the digging to exhume the remains for DNA testing.
“It is un-Islamic. Further the Holy Quran clearly mentions that Jesus did not die on the cross, but was lifted to heavens by Allah.”
“Following our strong protests, the American lady had to leave the valley and we even filed a complaint against her in the local police station.”
Ringshawl said following this episode ‘the entry of tourists in the shrine was banned by committee’. “We have locked the shrine and we don’t even allow any photography even from outside it. They were hurting the feelings of the local Muslims.”
‘The tomb predates Islam’
Image: Another view of the shrine Photographs: Umar Ganai
The graves of saints are covered with green cloth embroidered with verses from the Holy Quran and local Muslims often stop at the shrine to say prayers.
In his book, Aziz Kashmiri writes, “Kashmiri history books tell us that Yus Asaf came from abroad. He was a prophet and a messenger. He came from Israel. He came to spread his teachings. He lived and died here. Yus Asaf was Issa. He was Jesus.”
“The meaning of Yus Asaf is, The Healer. Another meaning is The Shepherd the one who teaches others. Our history confirms that Issa was known as Yus Assaf, here in Kashmir.”
“The footprints were carved as a sign. The scars are clearly visible, sustained as he was nailed to the cross. They show that this is the same person who came here from Israel.
“And that he lived and died here. You won’t find any footprints like these anywhere else in Kashmir.”
Meanwhile, in an interview to Times of India recently, Suzanne refuted allegations that she had attempted to remove anything from the tomb, or dig it up.
“I can’t imagine who started those rumours or why,” she said and maintained that the belief that there is a Muslim saint in the same tomb is untrue. “The tomb predates Islam and could never be a Muslim tomb,”she was quoted as saying.
For decades, the idea of dismantling the Soviet Union and Russia has been constantly cultivated in Western countries. Unfortunately, at some point, the idea of using Ukraine to achieve this goal was conceived. In fact, to prevent such a development, we launched the special military operation (SMO). This is precisely what some western countries –led by the United States– strive for; to create an anti-Russian enclave and then threaten us from this direction. Preventing this from happening is our primary goal. Vladimir Putin
Here’s your geopolitical quiz for the day: What did Angela Merkel mean when she said that the Cold War never really ended, because ultimately Russia was never pacified”?
Merkel was referring to the fact that Russia has never accepted its subordinate role in the Rules-based Order.”
Merkel was referring to the fact that Russia’s economic collapse did not produce the ‘compliant state’ western elites had hoped for.
Merkel is suggesting that the Cold War was never really a struggle between democracy and communism, but a 45 year-long effort to pacify” Russia.
What Merkel meant was that the western states –particularly the United States– do not want a strong, prosperous and independent Russia but a servile lackey that does as it is told.
All of the above.
If you chose (5), then pat yourself on the back. That is the right answer.
Colombo, January 6 (Daily News): A few years ago, government employees in Sri Lanka became a laughing stock in the world when a trade union struck work in protest against the installation of fingerprint machines to mark attendance in their offices.
Sri Lanka is among the top rankers in the list of countries with too many holidays. And in spite of enjoying all the holidays, half-day leave, short leave and other facilities to abstain from work, Sri Lankan trade unions have brazenly resisted all attempts by the authorities to at least get government servants to report to work on time and to prevent their departure from office before the closing time.
Many studies, surveys and evaluations have found that the vast majority of government servants are inefficient and lethargic. The analyses say that the output of public servants is as low as 25% of the required services. Roughly, the total output of the 1.6 million public servants is equal to the output of just 400,000 workers.
Hence, there was no reason to be shocked when President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and some courageous ministry secretaries spoke bluntly about the expected duties and services of government servants.
Without mincing words President Wickremesinghe said that public service is not an eight-hour job. He urged public servants to work extra hours to make the cash-strapped country a prosperous nation this year.
A person’s duties cannot be limited to eight hours a day and five days a week. Let’s all work with commitment. By the end of 2023, I hope to take this country forward with the support of all of you and restore normalcy,” he said.
The people are well aware that the country was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis last year due to a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves that also sparked political turmoil. The President said no public servant can shirk his responsibility as 2023 is going to be a critical year for the country’s economy.
Speaking on current needs, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena urged public servants to work together to put the country on the path to a bright future. Speaking at the commencement of duties in the new year at the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo, he said: This is the moment to announce the pledge and resolve to work with commitment for the betterment of the nation.”
He said that the government led by President Wickremesinghe is committed to achieving targets in the next 25 years on behalf of all Sri Lankans to ensure that the country reaches its goal by the 100 th. year of independence.
While making this pledge today, the only wish of the President’s Office including all other ministries, departments and public service institutions spread across the country that represent thousands of government employees as well as private sector employees who join us, is to build a proud future for the country and the people.”
In fact, a larger responsibility is assigned to the public service. We are dedicated to the process of bringing efficiency, orderliness and effectiveness of the public service to the people and to the entire country,” the Prime Minister said.
As a country that has experienced setbacks and resurgence throughout its history amid various challenges, Sri Lanka can transform itself into a proud nation once again, Gunawardena said.
We are currently going through one of the most challenging times in history. As the Prime Minister, I appeal to you to extend your hand and help fulfill all the duties of the public service to make Sri Lanka a developed, modern and self-sufficient country and to build a new generation that will embrace new developments in various fields,” the Premier said.
Public complaints against government officers directly dealing with the people include: coming late to work, spending a lot of time over breakfast, and gossiping with each other without any concern for the waiting public. The public also say that some officers do not attend to work with seriousness but spend time talking on their mobile phones or browsing the internet on their phones.
One of the new ministerial secretaries, Public Administration Ministry Secretary Neel Bandara Hapuhinna, took the bull by the horns when he said that he would act tough on the use of mobile phones by State officials during office hours. He added that he had seen in some places public offices navigating Facebook and WhatsApp the first thing on coming to work without attending to people who had come to obtain services.
He said he is wondering if a circular should be issued on the use of mobile phones during office hours. He pointed out that in some private sector offices, employees have to place their mobile phones in a locker on arrival and take them out only after the day’s work.
Considering the need to reduce the number of public servants, the government took several actions. One was to offer public servants no-pay leave for two years for them to work abroad without breaking their service seniority. Already more than 125,000 requests have been received from public servants eager to avail this opportunity.
Another step was compulsory retirement for those who attain the age of 60. More than 60,000 have already retired. But some trade unions have come up with the threat of a strike against this regulation. Trade unions that had always demanded that elders must not be given service extensions depriving jobs for the youth, now say that elderly employees must be retained!
Public sector employees started work in the New Year on January 2, amidst the cancellation of at least 15 office trains. The reason for the cancellations was the go-slow action of railway workers who wanted the government to extend the services of retiring railway workers. The trade unions should have asked those who were retiring to train replacement staff before they retire instead of making such absurd demands.
It is time public servants took the warnings given by the President, Prime Minister and the Ministry Secretary seriously and realize that they are public servants and that their primary duty is to serve the public.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe says that the government expects to receive India’s response regarding Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring at the end of this month.
The President stated that the negotiations with China regarding debt restructuring have recommenced.
The President revealed this during a discussion held today (06) with newspaper editors and electronic media news directors at the Presidential Secretariat.
In the discussion held, the President further stated that the government expects the extended fund facility of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be received in the first half of this year.
The President mentioned that India will announce its response regarding Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring before the end of this month, and another round of discussions with China regarding debt restructuring has started these days and those discussions will also be concluded effectively.
Mr. Wickramasinghe said that there has been no request to China to write off the loans given to Sri Lanka, but that they have requested to be given time to repay the loans within a period of 20 years.
The President also mentioned that it is expected that there will be a good response from China.
The President also said that after receiving the extended credit facility from the International Monetary Fund, international financial institutions including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have already responded positively to the financial support provided to Sri Lanka.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe says that the government expects to receive India’s response regarding the country’s debt restructuring at the end of this month.
The President mentioned that he has restarted negotiations with China regarding debt restructuring
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will be among 20 world leaders who will participate in the Voice of the Global South Summit” (VGSS) next week hosted by India virtually, Indian media reported.
The summit will take place on January 12 and January 13 and will be chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to a report on WION.
Other than leaders from the neighbourhood, leaders from five countries from Africa (Angola, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Senegal), three countries from the ASEAN grouping (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam) will be present, along with leaders of Uzbekistan, Mongolia, UAE, Papua New Guinea.
Senegal’s Macky Sall is the head of the African Union while Thailand is the chair of BIMSTEC grouping. The summit will have 10 sessions, with the opening and closing leaders’ session chaired by PM Modi and the remaining eight at the ministerial level.
The ministerial sessions will be at Finance, Environment, Foreign, Energy, Health, Education, and Trade levels. The theme of the Inaugural Leaders’ session is Voice of Global South – for Human-Centric Development” and that of the Concluding Leaders’ session is Unity of Voice-Unity of Purpose”.
Four sessions would be held on 12th January, and six sessions on 13th January. All in all, New Delhi has extended invites to 120 countries.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra in a presser on Friday said that the summit will bring together countries of the global south and share perspectives and priorities” amid Covid pandemic fallout, global price rise when it comes to food, fuel, fertilisers due to Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The summit feeds into the G20 Summit which India will be hosting later this year in September. The foreign secretary highlighted, The valuable inputs generated from the partner countries receive due cognizance globally and India’s ongoing Presidency of the G20 provides us with a special and strong opportunity to channelise these inputs into the deliberation and discourse of G20.”
India took over the Presidency of the grouping on December 1, 2022, and will host the summit for the first time since the emergence of the grouping after the 2008 financial crisis.
Speaking with regards to the upcoming Local Government (LG) elections that are due to be held, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has stated that in the event an LG election is held amidst Sri Lanka’s current situation, it will be a ‘world record’.
Reasoning as to why he deemed the election as such, Siyambalapitiya explained that holding such an election would require for money to be printed, which is a rather difficult task amidst the ongoing economic crisis.
We can hold the election, and also create a world record. What is the world record? A country with world’s worst economic crisis printing money to hold an election”, Siyambalapitiya stated in this regard.
Sri Lanka will restart negotiations on trade pacts with India, China and Thailand after a four-hear hiatus, an official said on Thursday, as the crisis-hit country races to seal deals to help it rebuild its economy.
The island of 22 million is in the midst of its worst financial crisis in over seven decades, triggered by a severe shortage of foreign exchange that has left the country struggling to pay for fuel, food and medicine.
Officials from Thailand are scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on Monday to start the third round of talks after negotiations were suspended in 2018, said K.J. Weerasinghe, Sri Lanka’s Chief Negotiator of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
Negotiations with India and China, Sri Lanka’s biggest trading partners accounting for about $5 billion each in bilateral trade in 2021, are expected to begin in February and March.
The focus is on improving economic cooperation and attracting investment, which is crucial for Sri Lanka to emerge for this economic crisis,” Weerasinghe told Reuters.
My main goal is to have all these deals completed by the end of 2023 or early 2024.”
Auramon Supthaweethum, Director General of Thailand’s Department of Trade Negotiations, said talks had been delayed because of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are heading there to continue the discussion,” Supthaweethum said.
Bilateral trade between Thailand and Sri Lanka totaled around $460 million in 2021, according to Sri Lanka’s central bank data.
Sri Lanka is aiming to deepen an existing FTA with its northern neighbor India into a Economic and Technology Agreement after talks stalled in 2018. It is looking to add services and investment to the current agreement that primarily covers trade in goods.
FTA discussions with China, the island’s largest bilateral lender, also stalled in 2018 over disagreements about the pace of liberalizing of Sri Lanka’s economy, Weerasinghe said.
Both countries have responded positively to resuming talks but specific dates are yet to be finalised, Weerasinghe added.
India’s trade ministry and China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Sri Lanka’s economy is projected to have contracted by 8.7% in 2022, but a recovery is expected in the second half of 2023, the central bank said.
The country signed a preliminary agreement for a $2.9 billion bailout package with the International Monetary Fund last September but has to put its debt on track before disbursements can begin.
The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today (06 Jan.) ordered Sepal Amarasinghe, a social media activist arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department, to be remanded until the 10th.
Colombo Additional Magistrate Tharanga Mahawatta issued the relevant order after considering the facts presented by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Amarasinghe was arrested by the CID last evening (05 Jan.) after recently making several controversial statements about the much-venerated Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy.
The YouTuber’s recent claims have led to chaotic uproar amongst Sri Lanka’s predominantly Buddhist society, officials of the CID highlighted, while the Director General of Department of Archaeology also asserted that the slanderous statements in question were a grave wrongdoing.
The Chief Prelates of the Malwatta and Asgiriya chapters have also informed the CID that they are ready to provide statements pertaining to the matter, the CID informed the court.
Investigations have also revealed that Amarasinghe had received funds from persons overseas, regarding which the CID are conducting further probes under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, and the Act pertaining to providing financial aid to terrorists.
The CID have requested that the accused be remanded till 19 January under the the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights.
This request was, however, rejected.
Appearing on behalf of Amarasinghe, Namal Rajapaksa stated that his client has only attempted to shield the religion from myths and other harmful statement through the countless number of videos posted on his YouTube channel, affirming that the accused had no intention of insulting Buddhism.
Rajapaksa also levelled a serious accusation that Amarasinghe had been arrested for the purpose of gaining political revenge, stating that the controversial statements had only shed light on the fact that the Government was attempting to overshadow the ongoing economic crisis by readying to hold an exhibition of the Tooth Relic.
The CID initiated investigations into the statements made by Amarasinghe after Inspector-General of Police (IGP) C.D. Wickramaratne received written complaints in this regard, which lead to Amarasinghe’s arrest.
The chief prelates of Malwatta and Asgiriya chapters, Most Ven. Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero and Most Ven. Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thero also wrote to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, raising concerns about the offensive statements made by Amarasinghe, and urged the government to take necessary measures to nip the matter in the bud.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, speaking in parliament yesterday, vowed legal action against Amarasinghe, stressing that the religious harmony in the country cannot be allowed to be disrupted.
Pursuant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act, No. 56 of 2007, propagating war or advocating national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence is a punishable offense with rigorous imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe says that the government is working to introduce an Act similar to the Telecommunications and Social Media Act currently used in Singapore to regulate social media platforms including YouTube and Facebook.
The President made this observation during a discussion held today (06) with newspaper editors and news directors of electronic media at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.
Responding to a question about the programmes being followed by the government regarding the activities of certain social media activists, the President stated that although there are laws in Sri Lanka for newspapers and electronic media, there is no such legal framework for the regulation of social media in the country.
The President stated that as a result he has brought down the Telecommunications and Social Media Act currently in use in Singapore and hopes to study it and prepare a legal framework suitable for Sri Lanka in the future.
The country is at a critical juncture not because of economic woes but because of the lack of a suitable leader for the majority, the Sinhala Buddhists.
Elections did come and go in the past but there was then always the case of choosing a SLFP or an UNP government.
SLPP has been sort of an extension of SLFP.
Though no party had a long-term vision people were able to choose a leader of their preference.
However, it is not the case at this juncture.
Who can we choose, come the election in a month or in a year?
Sajith stands as the prime person to take control of the country as he is the main opposition leader.
However is he suitable for the post of our supreme leader?
The notoriety he has gained as a thick-headed person or his alleged frauds ransacking the cultural fund could be discounted
as most of our politicians are in the same breed.
However, in a country with a Sinhala Buddhist majority should a person masquerading as a Buddhist be accepted as its leader?
There are multiple reports that he has become a born again which he has never denied.
The country knows that his sister & mother belong to born again group and Sajith were alleged to have crept into a church in Kirillapone during election time.
And his conversion to the born-again cult is not the issue if it is so but what angers the majority is his futile attempts to conceal it.
The fact that President Wickremasinghe chose to respond to Sajith’s quotation from the Prabhava Sutta by quoting a line from the same sutra itself looks like the coup de grace.
President Wickremasinghe did retort pointing at Sajith what Buddha said in that Sutra was that anyone seeking refuge in the creed of the wicked would have his downfall!
Why did he choose to tell it to Sajith that line is crystal clear to all?
JVP with an alliance with or without FSP surfaced as a force to lead the country during the Aragalaya period.
In fact, Anura Dissanayake clearly did miss a golden opportunity to be our PM or even climb to the post of President but his fate was cruelly against him.
The subsequent arson, looting & murder that gripped the country frightened the mass so much JVP may not do much better than their 3% , come to an election.
Anura’s & JVP’s rising star Harshini Amarasuriya’s anti-Buddhist stance is a pointer to their collaboration with NGOs to attack the Buddhist foundation of the country.
His party supporter Sepala Amerasinghe’s latest insulting attacks on Dalada Maligawa cannot be taken lightly.
In a recent Salakuna program, Duminda Nagamuwa admitted that he is non Buddhist & a Marxist only.
Along with his FSP leader, Gunaratna M Buddhists can anticipate what is to come if those are elected to office.
The fate of UNP is not rosy at all.
There is nobody beyond aging Ranil to be accepted as having any substance to lead our country.
Unless a forged partnership with the SLPP, an immediate comeback is impossible.
Surprisingly SLFP seems to have a clear advantage here keeping its Sinhala Buddhist stance with MS as its leader as long as
ex-President Chandrika can be kept outside its framework.
On the other hand, SLFP has lost a golden chance to be the leading party to claim the reins because of its lack of competent & efficient leadership.
MS or Dayasiri do not fit into that category clearly.
SLPP & Rajapakshas would be right on the card surely whatever mishaps have happened to them.
I would also have thought so having been a Rajapaksha follower ever since winning the war whatever the alleged corruption & economic downfalls happened
under them.
But I will not support any Rajapakshas anymore in the future.
Why?
Not because they caused the economic collapse but because of the incidents that happened during the Aragalaya time.
It clearly showed Gota was hands bound & acting under orders, no doubt from the US.
He could not deploy the army because Aragalaya was a US system change scheme.
It was shocking for the country to see horrible events unfolding at GalleFace day by day with utter silence from sleeping Gota’s regime.
We may have had pseudo-satisfaction that an Arab Spring did not happen in our country with the usual bloodshed but this foreign-led movement brought the desired system change in our country.
The US & India were right behind it.
This was not a struggle by the so-called innocent masses.
The most noteworthy master stroke taken by these foreign perpetrators stare at your face.
What was that?
Involve a prominent Buddhist monk in this protest or the system change.
They got hold of Ven Madoluwawe Sobitha Thero for the yahapalanaya struggle to topple MR regime then.
And this time it was the other Ven Sobhitha.
Omalpe Sobhitha Thero who led the Aragalaya showed it was a Buddhist-led movement.
Tamil diaspora & the cardinal played their major roles upfront to draw the masses with the cardinal going all the way to the Vatican to set the ball rolling.
It was mostly Christian & Tamil & Muslim masses in the downtrodden areas in Colombo that filled the ground with the selected NGO-funded leaders.
Tamil diaspora & Muslim elements gave the financial backup.
Many popular Christian personalities,Yeheli Sangakkara,,Mahela’s first wife,Christina,Appuhamy ,Damitha Abeyratna & Christian cricketers were there to give their full backing.
Born again duo Sangakkara & Mahela gave theirs on social media.
No wonder RAW & US created incidents in the country funding those protests & rallies.
The most important lesson to the country from this system change is Never ever again elect a President having any connection to the US.
Whatever antagonism they may show against the US during their political campaign won’t hold any water if those with dual citizenship or close relatives in the US have been elected as the President of the country.
US know then how to apply pressure on them with their families & children’s future in the US clearly in the US hands.
No parent would jeopardize their children’s future.
The US is the master of maneuvering.
What does this say?
Never again a Rajapaksha, Be Gota, Basil or Namal be our leader in the future.
Namal though not a US citizen can be easily maneuvered by the US through his connections to the US with Basil & Gota & their families in the US.
Namal’s fate is doomed.
If Namal becomes our President the country no doubt will face again the calamity through the interference of the US as happened to Gota.
None of MR’s sons have a particular appeal to the Buddhist majority.
They all look like a spoilt westernized bunch and all of them marrying into powerful Christian families too may be a factor here.
This should be the end of the Rajapaksha dynasty as much as happened to Bandranayaka’s though they may have pseudo hopes.
Rajapakshas should be a history in the past.
Do not forget there are other current prominent political leaders who fall Into this group with connections to the US such as Dallas Allapperuma & Sarath Fonseka.
Both are known to have their families & children living in the US.and no parent would like to jeopardize their children’s future by going against the US.
Here one striking fact that stands out is a number of our prominent political figures surprisingly hold US citizenship or green cards.
If not at least their children are having some sort of education or training in the US and with potential citizenship in the US.
This should alarm bells in our country.
What comes to light now is whether the US has a secret scheme to offer to our prospective political leaders or their families green cards or citizenship purposely to get them under their grip.
This is a very important issue the country and our aspiring leaders should take note of. How come several prominent political figures have been lucky to obtain it?
Therefore we only have a few now to choose to cast our votes to come to the election.
We need new heads & new leaders with some experience in politics and you cannot look beyond them.
The best hope is a unity of a few scattered good individuals in the current parliament who have a clean record though may not be absolute.
My best bet for the Sinhala Buddhist interests is a coalition party of individuals consisting of Prof Channa Jayasumana, Prof Charith Herath, Prof Gunapala Ratnasekera,
They can come together with shared leadership like what happened in Ireland where coalition leaders changed hands in the mid-term.
They should stay clear of SLPP ( Namal & Basil), SJB, JVP, or UNP.
However, an alliance with the SLFP looks possible that will give such a coalition a country-wide platform through the SLFP ‘s established groundwork, however, MS should not be the leader of the Alliance.
A social media activist has lost his bearings and ventured into the territory of hate speech. Calling politically active Buddhist monks by insulting names is fair game as they have entered the political fray. However, religious symbols are beyond political insults. Associating a religious symbol with a sexual object is an offence and the offender must be punished as per many laws in the country. According to existing laws, he could be punished with a jail term of up to 10 years if found guilty.
However, turning the matter into a political windfall by certain politicians and unpopular and tribal political organizations is not acceptable either. The need of the hour is to punish the individual so similar acts of hate speech will not be made and more importantly, it will not become a trend.
The social media activist was a supporter of the former president in 2019 and then he changed his party to the JVP and Aragalaya. The JVP must declare its connection with the man or distance itself from him.
Over the years not only Buddhists, but also Christians, Hindus and Muslims have showed their respect to the Temple of the Tooth. It has been the subject of a terrorist attack in 1998 and it must not be the object of vilification almost exactly 25 years later. Sadly, the terrorist masterminds behind the attack and the bodyguard of one of them are in active politics today and they have not been punished for political reasons.
Did the British ‘civilize’ India? Tucker Carlson (Fox News host) talks about the British leaving behind ‘an entire civilization’ in India, and how according to him, Indians, till today, haven’t been able to build even a single building as beautiful as the Bombay train station. Karolina Goswami responds.
Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife Ayoma Rajapaksa arrived at Bandaranaike International Airport from Dubai this morning, the Airport Duty manager and the spokesperson of the Airport Immigration Department confirmed.
They had arrived on an Emirates flight EK-650 from Dubai.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed the IGP to initiate an immediate and comprehensive investigation regarding the construction of a fake Dalada Maligawa in Pothuhera, Kurunegala.
The instruction was given after the Ven. Mahanayaka Theras had reported it to the President, Presidential Media Division said.
The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court today ordered the CID to expeditiously obtain relevant documents pertaining to State Minister Diana Gamage’s alleged citizenship issue from the British High Commission in order to carry out a comprehensive investigation.
Colombo Chief Magistrate Prasanna Alwis observed that it would not be appropriate to issue orders including an order of arrest, until court receives relevant documents from the British High Commission.
The court had earlier imposed a travel ban against State Minister Diana Gamage in connection with a magisterial inquiry into a complaint that she had obtained a Sri Lankan passport after furnishing false information to the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration.
In 2021, the CID had filed a B report in the Chief Magistrate’s Court against Diana Gamage over a complaint that she is a British citizen residing in Sri Lanka without a dual citizenship status.
The CID had commenced investigations into this incident subsequent to a complaint lodged by social activist Oshala Herath.
According to the B report filed before court, the CID alleged that investigations would be carried out against parliamentarian Diana Gamage under section 175 of Penal Code for furnishing false information and under sections 45(1)(a) and 45(1)(c) of the Immigrants and Emigrants Act (IEA) for remaining in Sri Lanka in contravention of the provision of the IEA and making a false representation.(Lakmal Sooriyagoda)
A Gazette Notification has been issued restricting the import of gold above 22 carats as jewellery, State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.
He said in a twitter post that the decision was taken to prevent gold smuggling.
When anything is difficult to introduce, the tactic used is to camouflage the insidious objective & sugar coat it in a manner that can win over people’s approval. Thus, the name Gender Equality” – it becomes something people cannot refuse & do not pay much attention to reading the hidden clauses attempted to be passed using this camouflage. It shows the architects of these names have mentally assessed how weak the majority of Sri Lanka’s populace are in believing anything sugar coated.
Yep good one. Also dont forget Women Empowerement Bill ” Gender Equality Bill” & National Women Commission” are on the pipeline with NGO support & probably foreign funding which might even be strapped to aid & other humanitarian gifts given only on the condition that the government passes these Bills. This is how western nations inflict damage culturally on countries by pretending to give goodies which come with dangerous outcomes.
The insidious plan is to legalize Transgender / influence warped sexual ideology – in short it has nothing whatsoever to do with women except to turn men into something other than a man & turn a woman into something other than a woman.
The crux of the matter is that individuals can go about doing what they like in private but what is done in private does not require to be drummed and promoted & forced upon others by legal acts. If a person wants to be gay so be it. If a person wants to be a lesbian so be it. But gays and lesbians and people of any other name have no right to force their ideology upon others through legal Acts. People have a right to live the way they want too.
The documents being prepared are the Gender Equality Bill. How can women’s rights be protected via a Bill that gives equal place to homosexuality & transgenders?
The LGBT madness in US is nothing that majority of Americans agree to but have to put up with the nonsense at it was introduced with insidious plans in mind where ultimately big pharma bags a bunch of zombies into their medicinal kitty for therapy medications and depression following operations to change sex and other mental instabilities they begin to suffer as they age. It becomes a fad for those in teen who can easily be pumped up by paid NGOs to embrace anything that gets promoted as the in thing” but with time they feel in a state of anxiety & require medications. This means clients for the pharmaceutical industry who must be one of the promoters of these equality” Bills.
The Gender Equality Bill is proposing to create a Women’s Commission which will hardly look into the needs of women but concentrate on the lesbians and promoting lesbians across Sri Lanka’s girls. This is all part of the depopulation agenda. These are all part of the liberal agenda being transported and imported to countries as another means of dividing society & culturally destroying them. Countries that have no culture or no culture to boast about are going out of their way to destroy ancient cultures & keep them only as coffee table books. https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok listen to how libtards destroyed America with LGBT ideology.
The newest is the drag queen ideology – where young boys are being dressed like girls & sent on mardi gras like concerts. Would any mother or father wish to have their sons dressed as women? What right does a bunch of people have to introduce an ideology changing natural character (interior and exterior) of people? If they wish to, that is their individual choice – but do they have a right to force their will on others? Every persons freedoms and rights ends where they trespass on the freedoms & rights of others. This remains the golden rule.
Look at the number of AIDS victims as a result of abnormal sexual behavior in Africa promoted by NGOs from West? Do we want such in Sri Lanka? We saw how the wayward behavior promoted during the aragala gave rise to rise in HIV cases. Do we want to be an AIDS infected nation like the countries of Africa?
What the National Commission on Women’s Bill is cunningly attempting to do is to give legitimacy to LGBT under Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment.
Isn’t it ironic that the promoters of all these movements were at the forefront of intentionally displaying a black Vesak and mocking Buddha on the grounds of the Galle Face where they claimed they were protesting against an economic situation.
It is no secret that the 3 colonial invaders saw Buddhist philosophy as a threat and wished to vanquish it – their policies were directly aimed at destroying not only Buddhism but the Buddhist identity of Sri Lanka. The Catholic Action post-independence remains active & their goal is to destroy Buddhism from within as well – their pawn the JVP are doing a great job of robing men in Buddhist robes and making them run amok to give Buddhism a bad name. Imagine when they send gays and trans as Buddhist theros! With the legality given to them, their actions will be protected in Courts & this is what they are aiming to do. It is no different to trying to remove the PTA so that the same funding bodies can spread terror once more. By now, a supposed literate Sri Lanka should have understood these insidious plans.
The players are the very same that carry out colored revolutions and their footsoldiers are these its they have created since they do not wish to be called women or men!
What good is any Bill when inspite of many Bills – women still get beaten by men more than men get beaten by women, women & girls are trafficked more than men, a woman is raped more than men, more girls are out of school than boys, even those that boast of equality” pay less to women, best jobs are never given to women, and those women that are lucky to go to the top are only ceremonial roles, While countries claim to have legalized transgender/homosexuality – half of all transgenders are sexually abused, there are more cases of suicides by men as they are unlikely to seek help due to their ego.
It is the female who gets pregnant & carries child for 9 months – should the father get the same leave as this mother who has to breastfeed the baby? Is this the equality that is being promoted?
We agree men are physically more powerful than women & it would be unfair to give equal status for a woman as that of a man who is carrying more heavy objects.
Moreover the ones screaming equal rights are also beating for women’s rights & feminist rights – so what happens to equal rights. How many women would say no to a male opening the door for them! How many females would refuse a male paying the restaurant bill!
The feminist movement became vogue only because it was introduced as a socio-political movement similar to the LGBT movement – there are politics behind these initiatives with organizations and governments heavily backing people promoting it.
Lets take a step back in time. Sri Lanka belongs to the Eastern Civilization, where our nations were called motherland because the head of the home was the mother, who looked after every affair in the house while the father brought food & kept the home safe. This was the role that was passed down from generations and it was a revered role one in which the mother did not try to boast her position was superior to that of the father & vice versa. Then came the macho men – the colonial explorers with their big guns who showed their physical powers enhanced via weapons. Soon, they infused their brand of ideology that pitted people against each other. The caste factor was never looked with degradation but it was turned into a class structure by colonials, men & women were placed against each other, women were turned into slavery and sex objects. The biggest damage was the psychological influence making people think themselves as superior or inferior and building anger and bad will against each other. This psyche continues and is what is being rebranded via various well funded initiatives – all to break up the home..
The colonials followed the rule divide the house” – this is what they are doing now, they are dividing the home – getting children hooked on to drugs, getting children to adopt bizarre sexual norms which are being presented as fashionable, getting children to not respect their elders and teachers, getting elders involved in equally illicit activities preparing the grounds to justify children not respecting them … a major psychological operation is at play. These are all well-funded & well organized with NGOs and locals coopted to roll out the efforts. Natural biology cannot be tampered & tweaked. Attempts to do so result in trauma to the person forced to experience such changes not to those promoting it. People should not be turned into guineapigs and politicians in Sri Lanka should stop playing further games with people’s lives by plugging every imported headache to Sri Lanka.
What should happen is legally men & women should be treated equally & professionally depending on the job – women & men should get paid equally too. All other areas, legislation should not be allowed to force people to adopt any socio-politically motivated & funded initiatives that are being unfairly plugged to foreign aid with diplomatic arm-twisting. Culturally corrupt nations are attempting to corrupt the cultures of nations that embrace proud civilizational traditions, heritage & customs.
Sri Lankans – Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims must object to changing their children into socio-political guineapigs & destroying their natural physique & turning them into a facade that is unnatural & likely to lead to psychological trauma in later years for themselves & their families.
