Courtesy Adaderana

Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne says that a total of 735 persons have been taken into custody so far over the Easter Sunday attacks. 

He said 27 cases have been filed against 79 of them under 25,653 charges.

The Defence Secretary revealed this during a press briefing held today at the Department of Government Information to brief the media on the progress of investigations into the terrorist attacks. 

The Defence Secretary stated that various individuals are making various statements regarding the Easter Sunday attacks and that as responsible public officials it is their responsibility to inform the public on the true facts.

He rejected the claims that the investigations into the attacks are not being carried out properly. 

Detailing the progress that authorities have made with regard to the attacks, Gunaratne said that 735 individuals have been arrested in connection and that 196 of them are currently in remand custody. 

He said cases have been filed before various High Courts in the country against 81 of the suspects. 

He said that another 29 suspects are being held under detention order by the police and the CID while 493 of the arrested have been released on bail this far. 

The Defence Secretary said the number of arrests made in connection with the attacks since the incumbent government came to power is 170 out of which 45 have been remanded, 13 are currently under detention orders while indictments have been filed against 06.  

A total of 30 accused have been granted bail by the courts, he said. 

The Defence Secretary said that this goes to show that the officers of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Terrorist Investigations Division (TID) have not been simply sitting idly by. 

Courtesy Hiru News

The first consignment of 11,000 tonnes of rice from a total of 40,000 metric tonnes imported under the Indian loan scheme targeting the Sinhala and Tamil New Year arrived today (12). This includes 7,000 tons of Nadu, 2,000 tons of Samba & 2,000 tons of raw rice.

Accordingly, a kilo of Samba rice will be sold at Rs. 130 / =, Nadu rice at Rs. 110 / = and a kilo of raw rice at Rs. 110 / = through Lanka Sathosa outlets and Co-operatives island wide. 

Another consignment of rice is due to arrive in the country in the coming days under this credit line and that consignment will also be made available to consumers at the lowest possible prices through the government outlet chain.

An Anguished Citizen

Recently Ranil has been going around the country doing Pooja’s and celebrating his 40 years in politics. As far as I can see he was a miserable failure as a politician. It was like 40 years of mayhem. He failed to win elections 29 times, tried to win in 2010 with Sarath Fonseka in front and failed. Then in 2014 he and CBK started a campaign of lies via social media against incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa with funding from foreign NGOs. He promised cars for all, WiFi for the youth and free cell phones. Our idiotic voters fell for it and elected My3 the SLFP traitor who had hoppers with MR and then left him to contest as President of a joint front. They had secret talks with TNA and the Tamil diaspora attended by Mangala Samaraweera in Singapore and at the elections had 94% turn out of Tamils for the joint party. In spite of all these efforts, they won by a very small margin (449,072 votes). There was a lot of cheating as was shown by Dilrook Kanangara and Ravi Randeniya. 

See: https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2015/08/14/cheating-at-the-election/

See Maithripala then and now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvntVXWtoII

My3 broke the law when he appointed RW as the Prime Minister while the Parliament already had D. M. Jayaratna. The reason he gave was that “the West wanted it so”. I assume the West was Britain/USA nexus. In turn, Ranil changed the Cabinet when there was an existing cabinet and appointed his own henchmen. He brought the Finance Ministry under his control and then appointed Arjun Mahendran as head of Central Bank while he was still a Singaporean citizen. He also appointed Paskaralingam whose bad reputation is well known by all Sri Lankans, as head of Treasury. Arjun then did the Rs. 5,000 Million insider trading bond scam. Very little has been done to investigate this matter and bring the miscreants to justice. Ranil is the chief perpetrator since he appointed Arjun Mahendran. My3 could have prevented the gigantic second bond scam that took place in 2016 if he had removed Arjun Mahendran. He is too weak to say no to Ranil.

See: https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2017/02/07/bond-scam/

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd43BclpYWo

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogefGxwseWg

See: https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/arjuna-mahendran-is-innocent-another-betrayal-by-yahapalanaya/

Even in the August Parliamentary election, My3 broke the law. First, My3 brought a court action to prevent the CC of UPFA from a meeting. Then he got information from National Intelligence that UPFA is going to win 113 seats. According to his own words in order to prevent his own party SLFP/UPFA from winning and to ensure that UNP wins, he wrote a 5-page letter to MR telling him that he will not be appointed as Prime Minister under any circumstances. He then went on tv and read it out to the public to reinforce his letter. He then removed the General Secretaries of both parties (UPFA & SLFP) and appointed his own. He removed the 13 members of the CC and appoints his own. All this was done during the period where the Election commissioner has said there should be no electioneering.  Was this not electioneering by My3 for the UNP during that period? All these actions confused our voting public. On top of that many have pointed out false ballot papers, counting errors etc. Democracy is a laugh in Sri Lanka. Nowhere else in the world will the party leader work for the opposition so strenuously. The election in January was flawed due to an unbelievable number of voter increase in North, East and Nuwara Eliya. As far as I can see both elections have been cheated. After the elections, the members of the gazetted National List were removed and My3 appointed people who had lost the vote to the National List. 

See:  https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2015/08/25/i-wrote-that-letters-sacked-secretaries-because-i-received-intelligence-reports-that-upfa-is-on-the-verge-of-winning-president-%E0%B6%BD%E0%B7%92%E0%B6%BA%E0%B7%94%E0%B6%B8%E0%B7%8A-%E0%B6%BD/

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX_RF6_jQzw

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Z2fwfgC8s

Prof. Nalin de Silva proves that My3 only got 40% of the Sinhala vote. See:  https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/01/14/press-conference-of-chinthana-parshadaya-held-on-13th-january-2016-on-the-new-constitution-and-theravada-kathikavatha/

Some of the crimes against the Sinhalese committed by CBK, My3 and Ranil are as follows:

• When 1000 soldiers were cut off without water at Elephant Pass, CBK and her nephew Rohan Daluwatte who was the army commander, did nothing to help those men who died of thirst. She could have done so many things to help these men. Instead as Chief Commander, she did nothing !! When the LTTE blew up 11 air Lanka planes the insurance money is supposed to have gone straight into her personal account. This is unforgivable. Also read about CBK’s robbery. http://www.sundaytimes.lk/081012/News/sundaytimesnews_20.html With all this money she gathered she was able to go abroad and live in U.K. for 10 years and educate her children. She is a member of Club de Madrid which is an international group with ex-leaders from all over the world. You can read a full account of her crooked activities in Victor Ivans brilliant book “Rogue Queen”.
• RW kept trying to hand over the North and East to appease Prabhakaran. He even stopped a crucial military operation in 2001 where the army knew the exact location of Prabhakaran and was ready to take him out. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZWO5fWDikQ  See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjmw8kxbMPU
• Between him and CBK they prolonged the war by listening to the so called mediators from Norway who were brought in by CBK. The Norwegians were more interested in making the LTTE win than bringing a peaceful resolution. Under their direction container loads of equipment and may be even armaments were brought in through the customs without inspection on Ranils instructions and send directly to the LTTE. Ranil demoralized the army be limiting them to the barracks and ensuring that they were not given enough money to even maintain the vehicles and munitions. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxbGojMb1xc
• Ranil tried to give 2/3 of the land to LTTE along with the Norwegians on a bogus Peace deal which was used by the LTTE to strengthen their defense systems. Entire container loads of equipment were allowed to go to the Wanni to LTTE on Ranil’s instructions. See: http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=1146733. 
• He was involved in the release of the names of the 80 odd long range Military Intelligence group to the Parliament which resulted in the names going public. The LTTE then hunted them down and killed every one of them. Some of them were captured and tortured by them to get more names. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_City_incident
• Gonawela Sunil was in jail for 10 years for rape of a doctor’s daughter. As soon as JR came into power, on the advice of RW, he released G’Sunil. After that wherever RW went Gonawela Sunil went too as his “body guard”. Sunil was collecting “kappam” from the bagging plant operators at the Fertilizer manufacturing plant. Was he sharing this with RW? Since he was protected by RW he must have, at least to buy voters? Gonawela Sunil also managed to drill into a pipeline from the refinery which was sending gasoline to Kolonnawa. He was sucking it up and selling it on the black market. Again who protected him from prosecution? !!  Finally, a rival gang member shot him. That was the end of the strange relationship between Gonawela Sunil and RW. 
•  During the uprising of the JVP both in the 1970’s and the 1988-90 period it is estimated at almost 80-90,000 youth was killed most of them who were innocent. Most of the killing was done by the UNP regime while Ranil was one of the Ministers who was in charge of bringing the JVP uprising under control. He is supposed to have set up the Batalanda torture chamber under one Douglas Pieris. It is estimated that at least 15,000 youth were tortured in the most bestial manner and then killed supposedly under the direction of Ranil Wickremasinghe. The commission which was set up to inquire into these crimes recommended that Ranil’s civic rights be removed. This was not implemented by CBK. Why? All these innocent Sinhala children are crying out for justice. There are no UNHRC officials to inquire into these crimes by the UNP and Ranil. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9t4Tv9cy60
• He was also involved with Batalanda murders of mostly JVP lawyers, I believe, from what I heard. At the Fertilizer plant housing scheme one of the houses was acquired by RW for interrogating suspected JVP members. Many people apparently heard the screams from this house in the middle of the night when people were tortured. People also used to see bodies floating down Kelani river. The Batalanda Commission report recommended that RW’s civil rights be removed. As usual, in Sri Lanka, nothing happens to Colombians and those with memberships in International Organizations like the International Democratic Union of which Ranil is a member. 

See Maithri talking against RW in 1994:  https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/01/10/batalanda/

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqSW3cKNb7k

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Av-d2qJ0Ys

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV6_o9txURc

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgVyaHJGhc45. 

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9t4Tv9cy60

• Ranil has been insulting to Buddhism. He pretends to be Buddhist but is actually neither Buddhist or Christian when one looks at his actions at Batalanda. Anyone with an iota of humanity would not have what he is supposed to have done. 

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RddXfSU0aSE

• Ranil has always been trying to sell Sri Lanka to foreigners. Every time he got some power into his hands he set about trying to convert our economy to a capitalist economy not withstanding the fact that Sri Lanka is designated as a Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. When he was elected as the PM he started privatizing almost 991 profit making state enterprises. Some places like the Sevanagala Sugar factory was privatized and the new owners removed the assets and ran it to the ground. Then when MR came into power he brought most of them back to being state enterprises. Now before Ranil leaves he wants to sell the most important strategically important ports to Chinese and Indians. As soon as he came into power the first step he took was to change the law which prohibited the sale of land to foreigners so that foreigners could buy large acreages of land. 
• Pure Capitalism does not work. There are many top economists who have written on the topic. One of the most outspoken has been Dr. Richard Wolf. His famous talk Capitalism hits the fan is given below. His solution for ills of pure capitalism is to have democracy in the work place. The Mondragon Corporation in Spain is actually a large number of Co-operatives under the umbrella of Mondragon. This was set up with the blessings of the Catholic Church. In the USA there are many companies which are run as co-operatives where the employees participate in the decision making of the company affairs by being on the board. In Germany which has been very successful any company with over 2000 employees have to have at least 50% of employees on the board. This is why unlike USA Germany is very successful. In 2008 when the recession hit many companies in the USA laid off people in millions. In Germany, the Govt informed the companies not to lay off any one. They suggested that they can reduce the number of hours of employees but keep all employed. In return, the German Govt paid the wages of the companies who had reduced the number of hours of employees so that no one lost any money. The net result was that the people had money in the pocket and were spending it thereby keeping the economy rolling. They hardly felt the recession, unlike the stupid USA Corporations.

Please watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZU3wfjtIJY ( Capitalism Hits the Fan – Richard Wolff)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WhZXhRS3F4 ( Austerity and Neoliberalism in Greece with Richard Wolff and Barry Herman | The New School)

• Ranil is supposed to have agreed to a bridge to Sri Lanka from India in 2002. We can be sure it is on his agenda if he remains as PM. In an export-oriented economy which is what Ranil wants one of the main requirements is cheap labor. In order to do that, he has destroyed the agrarian economy and impoverished the rural folk. MR was trying to make the country self-sufficient in food and most commodities. In fact, before the Yahapalanaya came into power Sri Lanka was self-sufficient in rice. Now we are importing rice from Thailand, Burma, and even Bangladesh. How pathetic. 

See:http://www.atimes.com/article/sri-lankans-oppose-bridge-with-india/

• The UN has become just a puppet of powerful countries to bully small defenseless countries. Sri Lanka has been pummelled by the UN and the UNHRC on bogus War crimes charges without any proof. Please see this excellent article on this subject: https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/09/06/who-monitors-the-monitors-iii/ On his instructions presumably, Mangla Samaraweera co-sponsored a resolution against Sri Lanka. 
• It is very obvious that Ranil Wickremasinghe has no love for the country or the people. He has been a stooge of the powerful countries right from the beginning. He came into power as the PM illegally on Jan 8’15 after the Presidential election when the spineless My3 was elected as President and he then appointed RW as PM when there were an existing PM and a Parliament with a cabinet. 
• Ranil then caused the Central Bank bond scam by appointing a foreigner as the Governor of Central Bank who proceeded to do a bond scam which has cost Sri Lanka a massive amount of money. Part of this money was used by him for the General Election in Aug 2015 which the UNP won only narrowly. Again the spineless My3 created a so-called National Govt as a coalition of the UNP and all the MPs who were rejected by the people who were brought in under the National List by the spineless My3. 
•  The current Parliament is a comedy since the TNA which got only 16 seats is the Opposition while the 52 SLFP members who did not join the coalition are in the wilderness without any official recognition. All the JO group members are harassed at every turn by another illegal group called the FCID created by RW. He seems to get all these brilliant ideas which are obviously coming from the think tanks of the powerful countries. 
•  Ranil is supposed to be trying to bankrupt the country so that we are helpless like Greece and he is also supposed to be trying to lease out 5000 acre lots of land to foreigners for 100-year leases. This will enable the Tamil diaspora to lease out most of the North and East for exclusive use by the Tamils thereby creating a separate state. He has already given 15,000 acres on a 99-year lease to a Chinese company based in Hong Kong presumably with British interests. This is a great crime against the country since if it was managed the way MR was doing it would have paid for itself in about 5 years. In the days of the King of Kandy traitors like this were pulled apart to pieces by elephants which is what he deserves.

The biggest problem Sri Lanka has is that the entire Colombo group is more or less very Westernized. They are so Westernized that they are more Western than the Westerners themselves! They talk with a big accent and if you go to any of the clubs you find the men and the women are like from another age of the West. They drink only whiskey, brandy, and imported liquor. You see girls dancing and with girls and kissing each other trying to emulate the West. They travel in luxury limousines like BMWs and Benzes. The children are sent to International Schools, as a result, they are completely divorced from the realities of Sri Lanka. The poor go to the middle east to make the foreign exchange which is used by these Colombians to maintain their lifestyle at the expense of the development in the country. If you look at the number of luxury vehicles you cannot imagine that the country is paying 94% of its earning to pay the foreign debts. These parasites are the biggest supporters of the UNP and Ranil. 

The other groups are the Christian Catholic groups who want to convert the entire island to their religion (which is mythology) as has been done in South Korea, etc. The foreign companies who have now put deep roots in Sri Lanka also want to make sure they are secure so they support the UNP and Ranil. One of these days the dominoes will fall and when that happens there will be a massive upheaval hopefully for the better for all who are truly patriotic and love Sri Lanka. 

Any other Govt which comes into power after this ridiculous puppet Govt must carry out a plan to correct all the mistakes that have been done over the years by successive Govts. We must rename the country as “Sinhale” which was the name of the country in the Treaty the British signed with the Chieftains of Sri Lanka in 1815 when they handed over the country to them.  They must have an inquiry into the activities of Ranil Wickremasinghe over the years and prosecute him. When the Batalanda commission found him guilty and removed his civic rights how did he manage to run for PM? Why is that no one raised any arguments against him? 

ජයන්ත හේරත්

ගවයා පූජනීය වස්තුවකි.

ඉන්දියානුවන් ගරු බුහුමන් කරයි.

සරසයි.

වඳියි.

ගස්

පර්වත

ගෞරවණිය

පුජණිය වස්තු බවට හරවා

අපිත්

බිම පෙරලි පෙරලී

වඳින්නෙමු.  

ජපානයේ

ආචාරය

දෙපාර්ශවයම

ඔලුව සමාන දුරක් පහත්  කිරීම පමණි.

ආචාරයට සමාචාරයය.

කිසිම ගවයකු

තවකෙකුට වඩා

උසස් හෝ පහත් නැත.

ඇඳ සිටින ඇඳුමින්

කෙනෙකු

උසස් හෝ

පහත වන්නේ නැත.

ගවයින් රැලක්

එක ගව දක්කන්නෙකුට

cow boy

කෙනෙකුට

දක්කා ගෙන යා හැක.

ඕනා කෙවිටය.

කසයය.

සමාජ ජාලා

තොරතුරු

ඉතා වේගවත්ව

සම්ප්රේෂණය කරයි.

සමහරක්

දේශපාලනික වැරදි තොරතුරු

මතවාදී නැඹුරු තොරතුරු

හිතාමතා වෙනස් කල තොරතුරු

ප්රති සම්ප්රේෂණය කරයි.

අන්තර් ජාලයට

ඇබ්බැහි වීම

මතට සමානය.

අනතුරුදායකය.

කවුරුන් හෝ

කී පලියට

අන්ධානුකරණයෙන්

internet තිබුන පලියට

e-mail forwarding කල යුතු නැත.

ජීවිතයේ

විපිරියාස

සඳහා සූදානම් වී

සිටිය යුතුය.

තවමත්

නොමැති නම්,

දැන් කාලයයි.

වැස්ස

පටන් ගෙන ඇත.

කැළණි-මහවැලි

ගංඟා පද්ධති

වැව්

ජලාශ පිරී ගොස්

ජල විදුලි බලාගාර සක්රීය වූ

සැනින්

අඳුරු මුහුණු ආලෝකමත් වනු ඇත.

air conditioning  වැඩ කරනු ඇත.

මුළු රටම

විදුලි ආලෝකයෙන්

ආලෝකමත් වනු ඇත.

විමලසුරේන්ද්‍ර

එහා ලෝකයේ

සිට

සිනහවනු පෙනේ.

Go Gota Go

කියන්නේ

තව දුරටත්

කර ගෙන යන්න කියන එකය.

Gota Go Home කියා

යම්කිසි

දේශපාලන

ගවයකු කී පලියට

අනෙක් ගවයින්

පුනරුච්චාරණ

කිරීම අවශ්ය නැත.

Gota ඉන්නේ

ගෙදරය.

ත්රස්තවාදය

සුන්නත්දුලි

කල නොහැකි යයි

කිවූ අය

නොකරන්න

අවවාද කල අය

බොහෝය.

අනපේක්ෂිත දේ

බලාපොරොත්තු වන්න.

අපිට ඕන ගෝඨා දැන්ය.

වෙන කවරදාටත් වඩා.

අපිට ඕන නියම

Original Military Gota ය.

OMG ය.

ශක්තිමත් නායකයෙක්ය.

ප්‍රජාතන්ත්රයෙන් වැඩක් නැත.

74ක් වැඩ කලේ නැත

ඉස්සරහට

තව 74ක්

වැඩ කරන්නෙත් නැත.

71

මිලිටරිය දිනුවේය

89ත්

මිලිටරිය දිනුවේය

2009ත්

දිනුවේ මිලිටරියය.

ඇමරිකාව

මිලිටරි ප්‍රජාතන්ත්රය.

සමහරකට ඇමරිකාව

අප්පිරියය

ඇසූ පමණින්

කලිසන් තෙත් වන්නේය

මුනුත් එකයි උනුත් එකය.

තායිලන්තය මිලිටරිය.

බුරුමයත් මිලිටරිය.

අපිටත් ඕනා one-man show එකය.

Long-Term solutions ය.

Short ඒවා නැත.

ක්ෂණික ත් නැත.

විසඳුම Xi Jinpin ය.

මිලිටරිය ය.

චීනයය.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ජනාධිපතිවරයාට ධුරයෙන් ඉල්ලා අස්වන ලෙස බල කරමින් ජනාධිපති ලේකම් කාර්යාලය අසළ විරෝධතාවයේ යෙදෙන විරෝධතාකරුවන් අතර ආධාර මුදල් සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගැටලූකාරී තත්ත්වයක් ඇතිවී තිබේ.

මෙම මිලියනයේ විරෝධතාවයට ආධාර සදහා විදේශයන් මගින් ලැබෙන මුදල් යූ ටියුබ් ක‍්‍රියාකරුවන් විසින් වංචනික ආකාරයෙන් භාවිතා කරන්නේ යැයි ඔවුන් එකිනෙකා චෝදනා කරමින් සිටිති.

විරෝධතාවයේ ප‍්‍රමුඛ සාමාජිකයෙක් වන උපුල් ශාන්ත සන්නස්ගල මහතා ද තම සමාජ ජාල ගිණුමේ එම තත්ත්වය අවවාදාත්මකව සටමනක් පල කර ඇති අතර පසුව එය ඉවත් කර තිබේ.

ඇතැම් යූටියුබ්කරුවන් දන්සැල් මුවාවෙන් දන්සැල් මංකොල්ල කන බවටද සන්නස්ගල විසින් චෝදනා කර තිබේ.

යූ ටියුබ්කරුවන් තවත් දෙතුන් දෙනෙකුම් මෙන්ම විරෝධතාවට සහාය දෙන ෆේස්බුක් පිටු කිහිපයක් විසින්ද මෙම අනතුරු අගැවීම කර ඇත්තේ මුදල් ආධාර ලබා දෙන්නේ නම් විශ්වාසවන්ත අයෙකුට පමණක් ලබා දෙන ලෙසයි.

මේ අතර විරෝධතා ස්ථානයට ආධාර ලෙස ලැබුණු ජලබෝතල් විකිණීමක් සිදුව ඇති බවත් ඒ ගැනද ගැටලුකාරී තත්ත්වයක් පැන නැගී ඇති බවත් දැනගන්නට ඇත.

මෙම මිලියනයේ විරෝධතා කරුවන්ගේ ලෙස ප්‍රධාන සටන් පාඨයක් වනුයේ හොරු එලවිය යුතු බවත් සොරකම් කල මුදල් ආපසු ලබා ගත යුතු බවත්ය.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජයේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය

ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන්ගේ ප්‍රෞඩ උරුමයක් වන සිංහල හා දෙමළ අලුත් අවුරුදු උදාව නිමිත්තෙන් සුභාශිංසන පළ කරනුයේ ඉමහත් සතුටිනි.

දුක්ඛ දෝමනස්සයන් පහ කොට සතුට ළඟාවීමේ අපේක්ෂාව සංකේතවත් වන සිංහල හා දෙමළ අලුත් අවුරුද්ද අප සියලු දෙනාගේ මහා සංස්කෘතික මංගල්‍යයයි.

කෘෂිකර්මය පදනම් කරගත් ඓතිහාසික සමාජ සංස්කෘතික වටිනාකම් පරපුරෙන් පරපුරට දායාද වන අලුත් අවුරුදු උත්සවය සිංහල දෙමළ ජනතාවගේ අතීත සබැඳියාව  සිහිගන්වයි.

නැකත් චාරිත්‍රයන්ට මුල් තැන දෙමින් අප සියලු දෙනාගේ අපේක්ෂාව අලුත් අවුරුද්දේ යහපත් බලාපොරොත්තු ඉටුකර ගැනීමයි.

පවතින දුෂ්කර කාලය පසුකර යෑමට වුවද අප සියලු දෙනා එක්ව, එක් ජාතියක් ලෙස සමගි සම්පන්නව ක්‍රියා කළ යුතු වේ.

අභියෝගාත්මක කාලයේ අනපේක්ෂිතව ඔබ අප මුහුණ දුන් පීඩාවන් එකිනෙක මගහැරලීමට අවශ්‍ය අනාගත සැලසුම් රජය දැනටමත් ක්‍රියාවට නංවමින් සිටියි.

ඔබට, ඔබේ පවුලේ සාමාජිකයන්ට මෙන්ම සමස්ත රට වැසියන්ට උදාවූ අලුත් අවුරුද්ද සාමය, සතුට පිරි සුබ අලුත් අවුරුද්දක් වේවා!යැයි ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරමි.

මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජයේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය

Prime Minister’s Media Unit

Friends and citizens of Sri Lanka.

I speak to you at a crucial time as we grapple with many challenges that have overcome our people. These challenges are not new to me having overseen the journey our nation has undertaken in my fifty plus years of politics.

Friends, I am sure by now that you are very aware of the deep economic crisis that has befallen our country following the battle we fought, to keep our citizens safe from the Coronavirus pandemic.

Although we ensured the safety of the lives of the people from the pandemic, we were unable to avoid falling into this economic abyss.

Needless to say, with the closure of our international borders and the travel ban within the country, foreign exchange inflows were halted and subsequently, foreign reserves dried up as they were used up for sustenance.

You know the situation has become serious when tankers providing fuel have arrived at the port, but we are unable to clear it for want of foreign exchange.

My mind goes back to when I addressed you following the 2010 presidential election after the culmination of the war.

I promised you a future free of power cuts.

Power plants were built for this purpose in an effort to ensure the fulfillment of those promises. However, because the previous government stalled the development of these projects, we were not been able to fulfill those expectations and upkeep those assurances.

That is the truth.

I understand the fatigue of the people who have been queuing for days in the fuel queues and empathize with the pain of our citizens queuing up for gas. I feel that pain.

We intimately understand the suffering of the people in the face of the skyrocketing price of goods.

Friends, although we have extended an invitation to all parties to come forward in unity to address the current situation, they have not stepped forward. This is not a time to prioritize party affiliations over the resurrection of the country’s economy. With this call being unanswered, we as the party commanding a majority have taken up this responsibility. We will overcome these challenges.

30 years of a terrorist threat and the fear of death that existed among the people of this country was eradicated; not to further endanger the people and to relegate them to a fate of hardship and pain.

We built highways, modern roads and infrastructure – not so that you can stand in queues on those roads.

We built ports, not to suffocate supply chains and halt tankers carrying fuel because we’re unable to pay for it.

When thousands died in neighboring countries due to the Coronavirus, treatment centers equipped with facilities were mobilized. Indigenous medicines such as Koththamalli were dispensed, medicines were given and the whole country was largely vaccinated.

All this was done, not so that our people would be victimized by tear gas and bullets.

Historically, we have spared no sacrifice to protect our people from every challenge. As in times past, we will make every effort to overcome this crisis.

Friends, this government restricted taking loans from international stakeholders and prioritized working with and empowering our people to make Sri Lanka a debt free country.

This government has always strived to protect the independence of the country even from international influences under trying circumstances, to the point that at times, we withdrew opportunities to bring in large scale investments to Sri Lanka when public opinion dictated so.

Friends our responsibility is to uphold the sovereignty of the people. We will never take decisions that will undermine the democracy, the country’s governance structure or its Supremacy.

We work with that purpose in mind. In politics we are accustomed to letting go.

Friends, the chant ‘No 225 in Parliament’ today echoes through the streets. That immediately translates to a rejection of this democratic system. While it may sound good, I urge you to understand its danger from a historical perspective.

We have witnessed the tragedy of the bombing of Parliament and attempts to destroy it. The blood of our youth flowed along the streets as those parties rejected democracy. Thousands of young people were burned alive in tires as that movement took wind. So much so that 1988/1989 proved to be the darkest age in our history as this rebellion claimed over 60,000 young lives.

Your elders will remember the massive effort we put in to saving those young lives then. I want to remind the youth of the North as well as the South about it.

Your parents will attest to the bloody past that shrouded our history.

A movement was birthed in the North of our country during the 1970s and 1980s by the youth who killed elected people’s representatives on the streets as they protested governance, by declaring their refusal for elections and a parliament. The ensuing distress affected not only those in the North but also those in the South of Sri Lanka for over 30 years due to that political movement. Tens of thousands paid with their lives as landmines and bullets claimed Sri Lanka’s children.

People lost their homes and gradually, school children began to take to the streets in protest. The next inevitable step was to forcibly conscript school children into this evil war.

I urge our sons and daughters this evening to consider this carefully and protect our nation from once again slipping into a time as dark as that in our history, through these actions.

Friends, we are embarking on an enormous program to overcome the crisis we face today. Every second spent by the President and this government is used up exhausting avenues to rebuild our country.

This government has historically imbued our farmers with the highest relief packages to aid their industry. However, today the farmers stand against us.

No matter how honorable the notion of organic fertilizer is, it is not the time for it to be implemented. As such, we will be reinstating the fertilizer subsidy to once again equip our farmers to optimize their craft.

The country needs to urgently recover from this debilitating crisis which includes the unbearable cost of living and the requisite shortages.

Even if it is not possible within the next two or three days, we have initiated action to address these crises with the highest urgency.

Friends, every second you protest on the streets, our country loses opportunities to receive potential dollars. The reform that is being sought is currently secondary to the collective responsibility and the urgency that is required to stave off this crisis.

To facilitate this, we have extended an open invitation all those who have the courage to join us in serving our great nation. Remember that the country right now needs the patience of all of us to endure this hardship a little while currently.

Dear Daughter, Dear Son, we know that you all love your homeland passionately. I undertook many miles of protest walks in the past for the sake of the youth who were being oppressed from the violence that was prevalent. However, the infinite grains of sand that I trampled do not begin to compare with the humiliation and insults that my family and I have been levelled with.  We can bear it. We can face it.

My one humble plea is that you do not harass or insult those who serve in the police of the tri forces who have dutifully served our country.

Remember that today you walk the streets without fear of oppression protesting, because those war heroes sacrificed their lives to save this country for you.

Keep in mind that these very same war heroes came back to battle for you during the recent pandemic.

My Sons and Daughters, I see how proudly you wave our national flag during your protests, and it fills my heart with joy. However, do not forget those who laid the foundation for that flag to be freely hoisted anywhere in our homeland.

Today, despite the many challenges, there is one thing is not lacking -our courage, and determination to once again fight this crisis together. We will fight and we will overcome, as we have in times past.

May the blessings of the noble Triple Gem be with you.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

මිත්‍රවරුණි,

අපේ රටේ ඉතාම තීරණාත්මක මොහොතක ඔබ අමතන්නට මට සිදුව තිබෙනවා. මගේ පනස් වසරකට අධික දේශපාලන ජීවිතය තුළ ඉතාම තීරණාත්මක දේශපාලන සන්ධිස්ථාන රාශියක් පසුකර තිබෙන බව මම කියන්න ඕනෑ.

මිත්‍රවරුණි,

කොරෝනා වසංගතයෙන් පස්සේ අපිට මුහුණ දෙන්න සිදුවුණු ආර්ථික ප්‍රශ්නය අපේ රටේ ජනතාව හොඳින් තේරුම් අරගෙන තිබෙන බව මම විශ්වාස කරනවා. මේ වසංගතයෙන් ජනතාවගේ ජීවිත බේරා ගන්න අපට පුළුවන් වුණත් දැන් අපේ රට විශාල ආගාධයකට ලක්වෙමින් තිබෙන හැටි අපට දැනෙනවා. රට වසා තැබීමත් එක්ක විදේශ විනිමය එන මාර්ග ඇහිරුණ හැටිත්, විදේශ සංචිත සිඳී ගිය හැටිත් මම අමුතුවෙන් කියන්න ඕනෑ නෑ. තෙල් නැව මුහුදේ පෙනි පෙනී තියෙද්දී ඒක බා ගන්න ඩොලර් නැති නිසා ජනතාවට විවිධ ප්‍රශ්න වලට මුහුණ දෙන්න සිද්ධ වෙලා තියෙනවා.

යුද්ධය ජය අරගෙන 2010 ජනාධිපතිවරණයෙන් ජයගත්ත මොහොතේ ජනතාව අමතලා කළ කතාව මට මේ මොහොතේ සිහිපත් වෙනවා. අනාගතයේ විදුලිය කපන්නේ නැති රටක් බිහි කරනවයි කියලා” එදා මම කිව්වා. ඒ සඳහා බලාගාර ඉදිකරගෙන වැඩ කළත් ඒ බලාපොරොත්තු අපට ඉටු කිරීමට නොහැකි වූයේ පසුගිය රජය අපේ වැඩපිළිවෙල ඉදිරියට ගෙන නොගිය නිසයි. ඒක තමයි ඇත්ත.

තෙල්, පෝලිම්වල දින ගණන් රස්තියාදු වුණ ජනතාවගේ වෙහෙස අපට තේරෙනවා. ගෑස් ගන්න පෝලිම්වල රස්තියාදු වුණ කාන්තාවන්ගේ වේදනාව අපට තේරුම් ගන්න පුළුවනි. බඩු මිල අහස උසට නැගලා තියෙන තත්ත්වය හමුවේ ජනතාව විඳින දුක්ගැහැට ගැන අපි කාටත් හොඳ අවබෝධයක් තිබෙනවා.

මිත්‍රවරුණි,

අපි හැම පක්ෂයකටම ආරාධනා කලා එකතු වෙලා රට ගොඩ ගමු කියලා ඒත් ආවෙ නෑ. මේ වෙලාවෙ  පක්ෂ ගැන හිතනවාට වඩා රටේ ආර්ථිකය  ශක්තිමත් කරගැනීමයි අප සියලුදෙනාගේම වගකීම වන්නේ.

කවුරු වගකීම බාර නොගත්තත් බලයේ ඉන්න පක්ෂය හැටියට අපි ඒ අවසාන වගකීම භාර ගත්තා. අපි මේ ගැටළුවලට විසදුම් ලබා දෙනවා.

30 වසරක ත්‍රස්තවාදී තර්ජනය නිමා කරලා මේ රටේ ජනතාව තුල තිබුණ මරණ භය තුරන් කළේ මේ වාගේ ඉරණමකට, වේදනාවකට ජනතාව පත් කරන්න නෙවෙයි. අපි අධිවේගී මාර්ග හැදුවේ, නවීන පාරවල් හැදුවේ තමුන්නාන්සේලාව ඒ පාරවල්වල පෝලිමේ තබන්න නෙවෙයි. අපි වරායන් හැදුවේ, සල්ලි ගෙවා ගන්න බැරිව තෙල් නැව් වරායන්වල රස්තියාදු කරවන්න නොවෙයි.

වෙන රටවල කොරෝනා වසංගතය නිසා දහස් ගණන් මැරෙද්දී සියලු පහසුකම් තියෙන කොරෝනා මධ්‍යස්ථාන හදලා, කෑම බීම, බෙහෙත් ටික, කොත්තමල්ලි කෝප්පයක් දීලා රටම එන්නත් කරවලා ජනතාවගේ ජීවිත රැක ගත්තේ කඳුළු ගෑස්වලට, වෙඩි උණ්ඩවලට බිළි කරන්න නෙවෙයි. අපේ රටේ සෑම ප්‍රශ්නයකදීම ජනතාව රැක ගන්න උපරිම කැප කිරීම් කරපු ඉතිහාසයක් තමයි අපට තියෙන්නේ.

අපි මේ අර්බුදයෙන් ගොඩ එන්නත් සෑම උත්සාහයක්ම ගන්නවා.

මිත්‍රවරුණි,

මේ ආණ්ඩුව විදේශවලින් ණය ගැනීම සීමා කළේ ජනතාවත් සමග ධෛර්යයෙන් වැඩ කරලා ලංකාව ණය නැති රටක් කරන්න.

ඉතාම දුෂ්කර තත්ත්වයක් යටතේ වුණත් විදේශවලින් උදව් ගන්නකොට රටේ ස්වාධීනත්වය රැකගෙන උදව් ගන්නයි මේ ආණ්ඩුව නිතරම උත්සාහ කළේ. ඒ නිසාම විශාල ආයෝජන ලංකාවට ගෙන්න ගන්න තිබුණ අවස්ථාත් ඇතැම් අවස්ථාවල ජන මතයට ගරු කරලා අපි පස්සට ගත්තා.

මිත්‍රවරුණි,

මේ රටේ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී පාලන ව්‍යූහය කඩා බිඳ නොදැමෙන විදිහේ තීන්දුවක් ගැනීමයි ජනතා පරමාධිපත්‍ය ලබාගත් අපේ වගකීම වන්නේ. ඒ අරමුණ ඇතිව පමණයි අපි වැඩ කරගෙන යන්නේ. මතක තියාගන්න අහිමි වීම වාගේම අතහැරීමත් දේශපාලනයේදී අපට හොඳට පුරුදුයි.

මිත්‍රවරුණි,

පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ දෙසීය විසිපහම (225) එපා කියන සටන් පාඨය දැන් ඇහෙනවා. එයින් අදහස් කරන්නේ මේ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ක්‍රමය ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කිරීම නම් එහි භයානකකම ඉතිහාසය දිහා බලලා තේරුම් ගන්න ඕනැ. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට බෝම්බ ගහලා මුළු පාර්ලිමේන්තුවම විනාශ කරන්න හැදීමෙන් වුන විපත අපි දෑසින් දැක්කා.

එදා පාර්ලිමේන්තු ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරපු නිසා පාරවල් දිගේ තරුණ ලේ ගලා ගියා. ටයර් සෑ මත දහස් ගණන් තරුණයෝ පණ පිටින් පිච්චුනා. 1988/89 අඳුරු යුගයේදී 60 දහසකට අධික තරුණ ජීවිත අපේ රටට අහිමි උනා. අපි එදා තරුණ ජීවිත රැක ගන්න දරපු මහන්සියේ තරම ඔබගේ වැඩිහිටියන්ගේ මතකයේ තියෙන බව අපි දන්නවා.

දකුණට වාගේම උතුරේ තරුණයන්ටත් මම ඒ ගැන මතක් කරලා දෙන්න ඕනෑ. ඒ අතීතය ඔබගේ අම්මා තාත්තාගෙන් වැඩිහිටියන්ගෙන් ඇහුවොත් කියලා දේවි. පාර්ලිමේන්තුව එපා, ඡන්ද එපා කියලා මහජන නියෝජිතයෝ මහමග මරා දාලා තමයි 1970 – 80 කාලේ උතුරේ තරුණයෝ පටන් ගත්තේ.

ඒ ආරම්භ කළ දේශපාලන ව්‍යාපාර නිසා වසර තිහක් උතුරේ පමණක් නොවෙයි දකුණේ ජනතාවත් දුක් වින්දා. බිම් බෝම්බවලට, වෙඩි උණ්ඩවලට දස දහස් ගණන් ගොදුරු වුණා. උන්හිටි තැන් අහිමි වුණා. ටිකෙන් ටික පාසල් දරුවනුත් විරෝධතාවලට පාරට ඇදගෙන යන්න පටන් ගත්තා.ඊළඟට කළේ පාසල් දරුවන් බලෙන් යුද්දෙට ඇදගෙන යන එක. එදත් පටන් ගත්තේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවම එපා කියලයි. ඒවායේ විපාක දන්න අපි ආදරණීය දූ පුතුන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා ඒ අඳුරු අතීතයට ඔබ ඉපදුන, ජීවත්වෙන මේ මව්බිම ආයෙත් සැරයක් ගෙනියන්න එපා කියලා.

මිත්‍රවරුණි

අද අපි මුහුණ දී තිබෙන අර්බුදය ජය ගන්න අපි දැවැන්ත වැඩපිළිවෙලක යෙදිලා ඉන්නවා. ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේත් ආණඩුවේත් හැම තත්පරයක්ම ගෙවෙන්නේ මේ අර්බුදයෙන් අපේ රට ගොඩගන්නයි. ගොවියාට ඉතිහාසයේ වැඩිම සහන දුන්න අපිට දැන් ගොවියා විරුද්ධයි. මොන තරම් රටට හොඳක් වුණත් කාබනික පොහොර  වැඩපිළිවෙළ ගෙනියන්න මේක වෙලාව නොවේ. ඒ නිසා අපි පොහොර සහනාධාරය යළි ලබා දෙන්න තීන්දු කරලා තිබෙනවා. දරාගන්න බැරි ජීවන වියදම වගේම කඩදාසි හිඟ වීම දක්වා මුහුණ දීලා තිබෙන අර්බුද වලින් රට ගොඩ ගන්න ඕනේ. දවස් දෙක තුනකින් බැරිවුනත් හැකි ඉක්මනින් මේ අර්බුදයට යන ගමන නවත්වන්න අපි කටයුතු කරනවා.

මිත්‍රරවරුනි,

ඔබ පාරේ විරෝධතා දක්වන සෑම තත්පරයකම අපේ රටට ඩොලර් ලැබෙන්න තියෙන අවස්ථා අහිමි වෙනවා. මහා ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ කරන්න කලින් ජාතියට  අත් වී ඇති මේ විනාශයෙන් රට බේරා ගැනීම අප කාගේත් වගකීමයි. ඒ සඳහා ශක්තිය තිබෙන ධෛර්යය තියෙන හැමෝටම අපි දැනටමත් ආරාධනා කරලා තිබෙනවා. ඔබ සියලු දෙනාගේම ඉවසිලි වන්ත ධෛර්යය මේ මොහොතේ රටට උවමනා බව මතක තියා ගන්න.

ආදරණීය, දුවේ පුතේ, අපි දන්නවා ඔබ කවුරුත් උපන් බිමට අසීමිතව ආදරය කරන බව.

එදා තරුණයන් භීෂණයෙන් බේරා ගන්න පාද යාත්‍රාවේ යනකොට පයේ පෑගුණ වැලි කැටවලට වඩා වැඩියි මටත් පවුලේ අයටත් මේ වන විට කියලා තියෙන නින්දා අපහාස. ඒවා අපට දරා ගන්න පුළුවන්.

එහෙත් රට වෙනුවෙන් රාජකාරියේ යෙදෙන ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදාවේ පොලිසියේ සේවයේ යෙදෙන අයට හිරිහැර, අපහාස කරන්න එපා. අද ඔබ නිදහසේ බය නැතිව මහ මග ගමන් කරන්නේ විරෝධතා දක්වන්නේ රණවිරුවන් තම ජීවිත පරිත්‍යාගයෙන් ඔබට රටක් ඉතිරි කර දුන් නිසා බව මතක තබා ගන්න.

ඒ වාගේම කොරෝනා වසංගතයෙන් ඔබව බේරාගන්න මහා පරිත්‍යාගයක් කළ විරුවන් බව ඔබ කෙළෙහි ගුණ දත් අය හැටියට මතක තබා ගන්නා ලෙස කාරුණිකව ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා.

දුවේ, පුතේ,

විරෝධතාවලදී ඔබගේ අතේ ජාතික කොඩිය ලෙල දෙනවා මම දකිනවා. ජාතික කොඩිය අපි උපන්න මේ බිමේ ඕනෑම තැනක ඔසවන්න පුළුවන් රටක් හදා දුන්නේ අපි. එදා ඒ අභියෝග වලට මුහුණ දුන්න ධෛර්ය වගේම පන්නරය තවමත් අපට තියෙනවා.

තෙරුවන් සරණයි!

Dhinesh Kallungal Courtesy The Hindu

Huge increase in transshipment volume at ICTT

The economical and political turmoil in Colombo coupled with the congestion at the Colombo port has come as a blessing for ports in south India, especially the International Container Transshipment Facility (ICTT), Vallarpadam, Kochi, where the cargo traffic has increased by over 62% in March with the mother vessels calling at Cochin port.

According to the statistics available with the Cochin port, the transshipment volume at the ICTT has increased to 13,609 TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent unit) in March 2022 compared to 8,394 TEUs in March 2021.

M. Beena, chairperson of the Cochin Port Trust, told The Hindu, Obviously Cochin port will be the major beneficiary in the event of an uncertainty in Colombo. However, there has been a gradual shift in transshipment volume to Cochin port in recent years especially from the end of 2020. The volume increased to 86,761 TEUs in 2020-21 from 36,183 TEUs handled in 2019-20, a growth of 140%. It increased to a record high of 1,56,159 TEUs in 2021-22, registering a growth of 80% against the previous fiscal. The growth was mainly due to the arrival of new services, apart from some ‘ad-hoc’ vessels calling at the port during this period,” said Ms. Beena.

There were reports recently that some shipping lines have started skipping Colombo for reasons beyond port congestion there. The process of shifting the business to another port would take some time due to the existing contract terms of shipping lines and partner alliances with other shipping lines. The current developments in Sri Lanka indicate that the growth path is likely to continue at least this year too, added Ms. Beena.

Vizhinjam will benefit

Jayakumar, CEO of Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd. (VISL), said the crisis in Colombo would give more opportunities to the ports in Kerala. The under-construction Vizhinjam port, when completed, would be a major beneficiary, due to its proximity to the international sea route.

N.S .Pillai, who took over as chairman of the Kerala Maritime Board, said the reconstituted board had decided to upgrade its coastal infrastructure at mini ports in tune with the rise in traffic to the major ports in the State. There were also reports that ports like Thoothukudi, Chennai, and Mundra have become beneficiaries with traffic being diverted from Colombo due to various reasons.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa today said that every second the youth protested, the country was losing vital dollars and the government would take all possible measures to address the current issues since the other parties refused to accept the request for an all party government.

In his televised address to the nation, the Prime Minister said his government ended the war that plagued the country for 30 years , and he never intended to leave people suffering in queues to purchase gas and fuel . 
He said he is sensitive to the sufferings of the people and he, along with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would leave no stone unturned in the efforts to overcome the current difficulties.
Commenting on the slogan rejecting all the 225 MPs, he said history is full of examples to prove repercussions of assaulting parliamentary democracy . He urged the youth in the protests not to drag the country back to such a period of horrific violence.
He said there was a lot of blood shed during the 88/89 period due to the rejection of democracy at that time . 
“Around 60,000 young lives were lost as a result of the violence unleashed at that time,” he said .
He said, I see national flags fluttering in your hand . You have recieved that freedom due to the enormous sacrifices made by the three forces ,” the Prime Minister said. (Kelum Bandara)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Even certain groups from the neighboring countries have begun intervening in the affairs of Sri Lanka today, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said over the weekend.

” A curse is upon Sri Lanka as a result of action taken by certain groups who had set people against each other to come into power, Some politicians used the Easter Sunday attacks to come into power. They failed to implement most of the recommendations made by the Presidential commission which proved the attacks on April 2019. They are hiding those who were really behind the Easter Sunday attacks. Therefore a curse is upon Sri Lanka,” the Cardinal Ranjith said.

” We even see efforts made by certain groups in neighbouring countries to intervene in Sri Lanka’ s affairs. However it is possible to pull this nation from the present crisis ,” he added. (Yohan Perera)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The rebel Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MPs, which includes former Ministers Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Wimal Weerawansa, have decided not to support the no-confidence motion against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Nanayakkara told Daily Mirror that they had advised the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya not to go ahead with the no-confidence motion against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

He said that they feel a no-confidence on the President will not be appropriate at this time. Instead, Nanayakkara says they will push for a 21st Amendment to be presented to Parliament to curtail the powers of the President.

The former Minister said that they have already had talks with the President and the opposition and put forward a set of proposals.

He said the proposals include establishing a National Executive Council, seeking a debt moratorium, having a cabinet that does not draw any perks and submitting a 21st Amendment to Parliament.

Courtesy Adaderana

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa says although an invitation was extended to all parties to come forward in unity to address the current crisis situation, they have not stepped forward. 

This is not a time to prioritize party affiliations over the resurrection of the country’s economy, he said, delivering a special televised statement today on the country’s economic situation.

I understand the fatigue of the people who have been queuing for days in the fuel queues and empathize with the pain of our citizens queuing up for gas. I feel that pain,” the PM said.

We intimately understand the suffering of the people in the face of the skyrocketing price of goods.”

He stated that although the government has extended an invitation to all parties to come forward in unity to address the current situation, they have not stepped forward. 

This is not a time to prioritize party affiliations over the resurrection of the country’s economy. With this call being unanswered, we as the party commanding a majority have taken up this responsibility.” 

We will overcome these challenges,” he said.

Rajapaksa said that 30 years of a terrorist threat and the fear of death that existed among the people of this country was eradicated; not to further endanger the people and to relegate them to a fate of hardship and pain.

We built highways, modern roads and infrastructure – not so that you can stand in queues on those roads.” 

We built ports, not to suffocate supply chains and halt tankers carrying fuel because we’re unable to pay for It,” he emphasized.

Historically, we have spared no sacrifice to protect our people from every challenge. As in times past, we will make every effort to overcome this crisis,” he added.

He said the government’s responsibility is to uphold the sovereignty of the people. We will never take decisions that will undermine the democracy, the country’s governance structure or its Supremacy.”

We work with that purpose in mind. In politics we are accustomed to letting go,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the chant ‘No 225 in Parliament’ today echoes through the streets. That immediately translates to a rejection of this democratic system. While it may sound good, I urge you to understand its danger from a historical perspective.”

I urge our sons and daughters this evening to consider this carefully and protect our nation from once again slipping into a time as dark as that in our history, through these actions.”

He said the government is embarking on an enormous program to overcome the crisis which the country is facing today. Every second spent by the President and this government is used up exhausting avenues to rebuild our country, the PM said.

This government has historically imbued our farmers with the highest relief packages to aid their industry. However, today the farmers stand against us.”

Rajapaksa said that no matter how honorable the notion of organic fertilizer is, it is not the time for it to be implemented. As such, we will be reinstating the fertilizer subsidy to once again equip our farmers to optimize their craft.”

The country needs to urgently recover from this debilitating crisis which includes the unbearable cost of living and the requisite shortages, he stressed.

Even if it is not possible within the next two or three days, we have initiated action to address these crises with the highest urgency.”

Friends, every second you protest on the streets, our country loses opportunities to receive potential dollars,” the prime minister said. He said the reform that is being sought is currently secondary to the collective responsibility and the urgency that is required to stave off this crisis. 

 To facilitate this, we have extended an open invitation all those who have the courage to join us in serving our great nation. Remember that the country right now needs the patience of all of us to endure this hardship a little while currently.”

The PM further said: Dear daughter, dear son, we know that you all love your homeland passionately. I undertook many miles of protest walks in the past for the sake of the youth who were being oppressed from the violence that was prevalent. However, the infinite grains of sand that I trampled do not begin to compare with the humiliation and insults that my family and I have been levelled with. We can bear it. We can face it.”

My one humble plea is that you do not harass or insult those who serve in the police of the tri forces who have dutifully served our country.”

Remember that today you walk the streets without fear of oppression protesting, because those war heroes sacrificed their lives to save this country for you.”

Keep in mind that these very same war heroes came back to battle for you during the recent pandemic.”

My sons and daughters, I see how proudly you wave our national flag during your protests, and it fills my heart with joy. However, do not forget those who laid the foundation for that flag to be freely hoisted anywhere in our homeland.”

Today, despite the many challenges, there is one thing is not lacking -our courage, and determination to once again fight this crisis together. We will fight and we will overcome, as we have in times past.”

Read Full Speech Below: 

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s special statement on Sri Lanka’s economic crisis by Adaderana Online on Scribdhttps://www.scribd.com/embeds/569295497/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-tuUWDT9YQyzmV0stAnMa

Courtesy Adaderana

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India on Monday said it has attached assets worth INR 359 million of four Indians allegedly involved in drugs and arms smuggling as part of a plan to ‘revive’ the banned Sri Lankan terror group LTTE that was militarily defeated in 2009.

The accused are being probed by the federal agency in a case linked to the seizure of 300 kgs of heroin, arms and ammunition from a Sri Lankan boat that was intercepted by the Coast Guard in Indian waters on March 18 last year, Indian media reported.

Six plots, a dozen vehicles, cash and bank deposits of Suresh Raj A, Satkunam alias Sabeshan, Ramesh A and Soundararajan alias Sounder have been provisionally attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the agency said.

The ED case of money laundering against the accused is based on a National Investigation Agency (NIA) FIR registered after a Sri Lankan fishing boat named ‘Ravihansi’ was caught near the Minicoy Island, Lakshadweep, in March last year.

The boat was within the territorial waters of India” and on rummaging, the Coast Guard recovered about 300 kgs heroin, five assault rifles, and 1,000 rounds of 9 mm bullets, the ED said in a statement.

Probe found that the drugs and arms smuggled in the Sri Lankan boat were meant for Suresh Raj A, Satkunam and their associates and sale proceeds of the said drugs would be used for purchasing the next consignment of drugs and also for revival of proscribed terrorist organisation LTTE”, according to the agency.

The ED said Suresh Raj A and Satkunam have been involved in a similar crime earlier with the active support of Ramesh and Soundararajan,” it said.

Suresh Raj A. and Satkunam were convicted earlier in a narcotics case and a criminal case is also pending against Soundararajan, it said.

Source: PTI

Courtesy Adaderana

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) says that fuel will not be pumped into canisters, barrels and other portable containers at CEYPETCO filling stations on April 12, 13 and 14.

CPC Chairman Sumith Wijesinghe said that a decision was taken to suspend issuing fuel to cans and such as a preliminary step as there will be no scheduled power cuts in the country for three days. 

Accordingly, pumping fuel into canisters and barrels will be halted within the next three days starting from tomorrow, he told reporters in Colombo.

However, he said, they have devised a system to issue fuel in a manner that does not hinder the work of a large number of farmers engaged in agriculture during this period.  

He said that fuel required for vehicles used for agricultural purposes can be obtained from filling stations if certified by the Agricultural Research Officer or Grama Niladhari (GN) officer of the area.

The CPC chairman said recently a large number of people had obtained fuel in cans and barrels and that therefore a request was made to the IGP to intervene in this matter. 

Accordingly, it is reported that within yesterday alone, 10,000 liters of such unnecessarily and illegally hoarded fuel was seized by the police from several places, he revealed.

This is because ordinary people do not have the authority to store fuel privately in any way. Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s fuel can be stored only at filling stations,” he stressed. 

Courtesy Adaderana

Several leading licensed commercial banks in Sri Lanka have today declared their selling rate of the US Dollar at Rs. 330.

Meanwhile the buying price of the dollar has been declared at Rs. 320.

Accordingly, the following selling rates of the USD had been listed by commercial banks:

Bank of Ceylon – Rs. 330.00

People’s Bank – Rs. 329.99

Sampath Bank – Rs. 330.00

Hatton National Bank – Rs. 330.00

National Development Bank – Rs. 320.00

DFCC Bank – Rs. 320.00

Amãna Bank – Rs. 330.00

Shenali D Waduge

Sri Lanka is facing a decisive period in its democratic history. It requires all to relook at how government & governance is structured & look for ways we can adopt a system beneficial to us.

PRESIDENT will be the Head of State & head of Parliament. There will be no Prime Minister.  Instead of MPs getting elected & given portfolios, the proposed new system will have Subject Ministries to which candidates can come forward to contest & be elected based on their knowledge & expertise. There is no party politics as candidates are voted only on their merit & not because of the political party they belong to. This proposal aspires to end divisive politics & concentrate on getting the best out of the ministries by people who are experts in that area for which the tax payers are remunerating.

ex: Ministry of Education & Teacher Training – anyone who is qualified in the field of education/teacher training can contest to be elected to this key ministry from which 1 out of the 9 members will be selected to Cabinet rank

PROPOSED MINISTRIES

1. MINISTRY OF DEFENSE & NATIONAL SECURITY & LAND-SEA-AIR SOVEREIGNTY
2. MINISTRY OF FINANCE
3. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
4. MINISTRY OF BUDDHASASANA & RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS, CULTURE & HERITAGE
5. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & TEACHER TRAINING
6. MINISTRY OF HEALTH & INDIGENOUS MEDICINE
7. MINISTRY OF LAW & ORDER, PUBLIC SECURITY & JUSTICE
8. MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS & PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION 
9. MINISTRY OF MASS MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS
10. MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION, 
11. MINISTRY OF ROAD,TRANSPORT,HIGHWAYS
12. MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS 
13. MINISTRY OF SHIPPING & PORT
14. MINISTRY OF SMALL INDUSTRIES, INDUSTRIES & COMMERCE & TRADE
15. MINISTRY OF POWER & ENERGY
16. MINISTRY OF SPORTS & YOUTH
17. MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT & FORESTS
18. MINISTRY OF SCIENCE, INFORMATION & TECHNOLOGY
19. MINISTRY OF TOURISM  
20. MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FARMING & IRRIGATION & WATER SUPPLY
21. MINISTRY OF HOUSING & PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
22. MINISTRY OF SKILLS/VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
23. MINISTRY OF RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT & INNOVATION
24. MINISTRY OF INVESTMENT POLICY & IMPLEMENTATION
25. MINISTRY OF OMBUDSMAN FOR PUBLIC COMPLAINTS & COMPLAINTS BY PUBLIC SERVANTS

QUALIFICATIONS TO CONTEST TO BE ELECTED TO EACH MINISTRY

• A list of qualifications & experience to be decided for anyone wishing to contest for each ministry.
• People will vote for 9 persons for each Ministry (Total Parliament 225)
• The head of each Ministry will become a member of the Cabinet headed by the President. (Cabinet will be 25 + 1) – decisions must have 2/3 majority
• There is no requirement to have a Prime Minister

The above new system is to depart from Party Politics which is

• End culture of divisive politics – Divisive politics is unproductive to the Nation
• An unnecessary expense for campaigning funds leading to corruptions as candidates have to depend on people’s funds for their campaign and after coming to power pay back in more ways than the funds given.
• People will elect candidates based on their abilities & qualifications.

The selection to these Ministries will be solely based on candidate’s expertise in a particular area so they are conversant & knowledgeable to take decisions on the subject. Candidates must be minimum 25 years of age. There is no age limit as it is left to the voters to decide who they choose. The minimum age is given as 25 generally enables a person to obtain a basic degree.

If candidate who has only O/L or only A/L applies but has a wealth of experience inspite of the lack of basic qualifications, it is up to the voters to decide their vote. The candidates will be campaigning based on why they should be elected to the Ministry & not because their political party has nominated them as previously. It is important that people realize that inspite of not have A/L or only O/L a person can gain knowledge & expertise in other ways & deserves a chance to apply his expert knowledge.

9 experts for each Ministry will be preparing the policy framework for Sri Lanka vis a vis their ministry.

They will function for 5 years. There is no restriction for the number of times a candidate can come forward for elections to a particular ministry – it is the democratic right of the candidate to contest & it is the democratic right of the voters to elect or reject him.

Thus, every election we will see only experts coming forward to contest & they will get elected & prepare policies & implement the best solution for Sri Lanka.

You are welcome to comment on the above new system taking to consideration that the current system where we choose 225 individuals nominated via their political parties are given portfolios which they are clueless about & as a result they are unable to take important decisions or have to rely on others to make their decisions.

It is best that we give prominence to the Ministry and elect persons qualified to be members of that Ministry.

When people do not think about their political party & divisive politics and concentrate on the subject ministry at hand & given that it is an area that is of special interest to them – we are likely to get better results for the benefit of all. This proposal is unlikely to please politicians and those who thrive on politicians but if we are looking at system change, we must look for a productive new way to take the country forward.

Shenali D Waduge

John Rozario Karnataka, India

The South Asian Island nation of Sri Lanka is currently going through an extreme economic crisis. Foreign exchange reserves have fallen so low that school examinations have been closed indefinitely due to a lack of imported paper. In addition to cooking gas, there has been a shortage of kerosene or petrol. Blackout has started due to a lack of electricity.

The situation is so dire that due to inflation, high unemployment, and shortages of almost all necessities, many Sri Lankans are fleeing their country in the hope of a better life abroad. Countless Sri Lankans are now being forced to do something other than their main occupation as not everyone can afford to leave the country. Or living an inhuman life. The suffering of the people of that country is coming up in the world media.

The country has never been in such a bad situation since independence in 1947. To cope with the situation, the Sri Lankan government has asked for a new loan of 1.5 billion US dollars from neighboring India. When Sri Lanka faced problems, Bangladesh provided 250 million in currency assistance for the first time. This was the first loan from Bangladesh for any country. They again asked for a loan from Bangladesh. Besides, they have been repaying loans of different countries through the exchange of goods.

Sri Lanka was quite capable of human resources and internal prosperity. Then why their situation? In this regard, economic analysts have brought forward various factors, from which different countries can learn lessons in their current and future plans.

Sri Lanka has undertaken several mega projects in their country for more than a century. These include seaports, airports, roads, and other projects that are currently considered unnecessary and redundant. Different governments of Sri Lanka have taken loans from different sources at home and abroad. As a result, their foreign exchange reserves gradually run out. According to the country’s economists, there has been little foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka in the last 15 years. Instead of foreign investment, various governments have focused on borrowing.

The country’s government has issued sovereign bonds since 2007 to raise money. This type of sovereign bond is sold when the expenditure is more than the income of a country. Such bonds are sold in the international capital market to raise money. That is what Sri Lanka has done. But he did not give much thought to how the money would be paid. At present, Sri Lanka has a debt of 12.5 billion for that bond alone. Besides, the government has also borrowed from domestic sources.

The once-self-sufficient country is also in dire straits due to tax cuts, reduced income from tourism remittances, and unplanned decisions in agriculture. Different countries including Bangladesh have to learn from this situation. The world economic situation has begun to change rapidly since the Russia-Ukraine war, at which time any country could fall into a new crisis. Although our foreign exchange reserves are in a good position so far, the situation in Sri Lanka can be kept in mind in future state plans. At the same time, we are hopeful that friendly Sri Lanka will soon be able to return to normalcy with the help of various countries and organizations around the world.

On the other hand, the economy of these 220 million countries (Pakistan) is in turmoil. Pakistan is in debt, amounting to 130 billion USD. At the same time, inflation seems to have picked up speed (12 percent). Over the past three years, Pakistan’s progress has stalled.

the recent political instability has created a crisis in Pakistan. The recent political unrest has shaken the business and industrial sectors. The country’s economy is already fragile due to the depreciation of the rupee, declining reserves, rising commodity prices, and revenue shortfalls.

Not only has the currency depreciated, but the wheel of Pakistan’s economy has slowed down over the past three years. The recent political unrest has shaken the business and industrial sectors. The instability in Pakistan’s politics is showing no signs of abating anytime soon. A few days before the fall of the government, it affected the economy. The Pakistani rupee is depreciating. The rupee depreciated against the dollar on Thursday, hitting a new record. 188 Pakistani rupees are available for one dollar. Never in the history of Pakistan has the rupee depreciated so much.

The biggest challenge for Imran Khan’s government was the economic crisis and he claimed that he would change the country’s economy. He won’t go to the IMF, reduce debt, and bring down inflation.

During his tenure, there has been an increase in the amount of debt, ranging from inflation, to a record fall in the value of the Pakistani currency, with the finance minister changing it three times. According to Prime Minister Imran Khan, despite the improvement in the economic situation, the Corona epidemic broke out and global inflation soared.

On the other hand, the small size of Bangladesh is currently a wonder of development. The implementation of big projects is now just a matter of time. City facilities have also been ensured in the villages. Visible flyovers on most of the roads in the capital. Metrorail will be launched in a few days. The long Padma bridge is not a dream now, it is real. Economists speculate that the GDP growth rate could rise to one percent for the bridge. This bridge has given new hope to the people of the south. The implementation of such a project with the government’s own funding was at one time unimaginable. The country is moving forward with a sound plan.

The present government in Bangladesh has shown great prudence and foresight in the progress of Bangladesh. For this reason, there is nothing to be afraid of seeing the situation of any country as a nightmare. For example, the mega project Padma Bridge and Metrorail utility and how much is already known to everyone. 100 economic zones are being formed. Investment is coming from different countries. Foreign exchange reserves are adequate (45 billion USD, January 2022), and remittances are satisfactory. It can be said that every economic foundation of Bangladesh is still in a strong position.

During the Sri Lankan corona, the tourism industry was almost destroyed by giving more importance to the health sector Unnecessary development projects have been done with loans, the return of which has not come the organic agriculture sector has come to a standstill and the tax on public welfare has been greatly reduced but the economy of Bangladesh was also active in Covid emphasis has been laid on revenue collection and the agricultural sector of Bangladesh is very strong

 According to him, Bangladesh is in a positive position in terms of foreign exchange reserves, remittances, and export earnings.

Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves now stand at more than 45 billion, despite rising import costs. With which we will be able to meet the import cost of six months. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, is less than two billion dollars. It is not possible to meet the cost of one week’s import. So, Bangladesh cannot be compared with Sri Lanka.

On the other hand, Bangladesh’s growth rate was way above Pakistan, even before the pandemic; in 2018-19 it was 7.8% compared to Pakistan’s 5.8%. Various international organizations, including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and the Economic Intelligence Unit, have identified Bangladesh’s economic development as a wonderful puzzle.”. while the current economy of Bangladesh is 410 billion, the size of Pakistan’s economy is about 260 billion.

Bangladesh has improved its quality of life, economic strength, prosperity, education, and research in every field. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, Bangladesh’s growth has slowed down. But where the growth of all the developed countries of the world was negative in these years, the achievement of Bangladesh was also noticeable.

Successful statesman Sheikh Hasina has achieved full potential to move from a least developed country to a developing country. It has been possible because of People’s hard-working, strong leadership. Political stability, the flow of FDI, empowerment of women, unique poverty alleviation model, inclusivity of economy, etc. That is the story of South Asian countries: ‘Bangladesh’ is a ‘miracle story’ while Sri Lanka and Pakistan are disaster tales.

Malinda Seneviratne

There are calls, obviously from oppositional elements, for snap elections. There are of course constitutional provisions for holding parliamentary elections and those who make such demands cannot be ignorant about them. It’s therefore empty rhetoric. There are elections that have not been held, though, which not many seem to be concerned about. Yes, even the wide-eyed democracy advocates who lose their voices when their political masters/friends are in power, have been pretty silent about provincial council elections. The reconciliation-now-through-federalism (or some diluted form or else as it is but sugar-coated) haven’t whined either; maybe they’ve lost the taste for devolution or are eyeing some bigger prize.

Elections are very important elements of a democratic system. Minor elections such as those held to elect local government bodies are also important. If they happen to be held around the middle of a parliamentary or presidential term, the results can indicate approval levels of the particular party/individual. If ‘ratings’ are low, the signal is for course-correction. The calls for elections, however, are not about such things. It is about contesting the status quo of political power.  

It is certainly a valid demand because politicians are about about power and for those out of power who sense that the centre of gravity might be shifting or has shifted must necessarily try to exploit the situation. Par for the course for the political animal. Legit. Whether elections will alleviate all the problems currently faced by the people is another question altogether. That question will have to factor in how we got to where we all, all those responsible from, say, the turn of the century, global issues that impact etc., in addition to specific and broad policy decisions taken by the government. That would be tedious and even embarrassing. Who wants to work hard, though, and who would be willing to subject him/herself to the necessary undressing? No, the call for elections is good enough, selectivity in enumerating causes makes sense.

All that said, the dissatisfaction-signs are too large and too many to be ignored.  Whoever lit the fire or when the fire was first lit are not things that incumbents can whine about forever and certainly not at each and every moment when things go sour. Governments are elected to do better and to make sure that past mistakes aren’t repeated. They can talk about factors beyond control, but not everything can be attributed to these. In the very least, such developments should be anticipated and measures put in place to deal with them.

So let’s leave elections aside and talk about the electors and the elected (and of course those who aspire to high office). People get the governments they deserve is an oft-mentioned adage which is not entirely correct. It is not that people have stellar options to choose from. Ideology, the worth of proposals for making things better, track records and such haven’t really come into the frame when people voted. Too often it is about punishing those who didn’t deliver (which again is a phenomenon that allows those out of power, especially the stronger forces in the opposition, to be lazy — all they have to do is to bide their time until those in power find themselves in hot water, regardless of who heated it in the first place). As the song goes, the fire ‘was always burning since the world was turning,’ a cop-out explanation and alibi for incompetence and villainy if ever there was one!  

Don’t the citizens deserve better in terms of governments and programmes? The answer, obviously, is yes. On the other hand, should citizens bet on hope that the beneficiaries of the punishment exercise would deliver, regardless of what they have done or failed to do on occasions when they themselves were in power? Is the only consolation available the lament, ‘well, we had to choose from those who contest and therefore we really didn’t have much of a choice — differently coloured and named, they are all the same under the frills and frocks’?

The rhetorician always sounds good. After all, no one waves a torn flag. Branding is not about truth; it is about exaggerating the good, hiding the bad and detailing the comparative ills of the competition. Sincerity is not important. Well, sincerity in appearance has its uses but this does not mean there’s any integrity worth talking about.

The challenge, then, for the electors is formidable. They have a project which they’ve not really been serious enough about. Let’s call it ‘The Sincerity Project.’  That calls for a serious reconsideration of the world, the nation, community, household and self. Who did what and when is important but not to the point of fixation. The more important question is, ‘can I/we not do better that what we’ve done all these decades, come election time and between elections too?’

If we’ve been slothful in our political engagement or if we’ve seen such engagement as being limited to casting a vote, we have essentially failed as citizens. If we’ve not done what we can and have instead treated the state as an entity which exists to distribute goodies, we have been lazy and irresponsible. If all we’ve done by way of protesting perceived injustices or poor governance is joining a hoo-hoo-club or hurrah-club as add-on choir boys and girls, we really compromised righteousness credentials.

We can do better. If we want sincerity, if we demand it from others, then the necessary precondition is sincerity on our part. If we are in this for crumbs and the occasional moment of glory, a selfie-second with the victories (for example), then we certainly deserve the trials and tribulations that come our way.  

We can do better. We can make citizenship meaningful. Sincerity is a good place to start.

malindadocs@gmail.com.

Malinda Seneviratne

Someone robs a bank. Now, obviously, it is not always the case that those who carry out such heists do all the planning themselves. The brains prefer not to get their hands dirtied. Also, in case things go wrong, they would obviously want the out of ‘not being involved,’ which of course would be tough if they were caught with their hands in the kitty. It is the same with terrorists and terrorism. The leaders let others handle the doing and dying.

There’s a difference though. While all organisations, right and left, fundamentalist or otherwise, can be used, the very nature of terrorism, especially in operations involving suicide attacks, such manipulation by ‘outside forces’ is a tad difficult. However, it could be argued that to the extend that terrorism and terrorists have their financial backers there is some form of nudge involved. The USA, for example, does it all the time (think, ‘Afghanistan’ from at least since 1980). That said, it would be silly to claim that the financial backers set the agenda right down to the finest detail. Typically, such outfits are set up and/or funded and even armed and trained to tilt a political equation in a particular direction. It is the terrorist on the ground who picks targets, does the homework, designs strategy and executes.  

There’s only so much juice, then, that one can extract from that particular useful political orange called ‘brains.’ Those who love conspiracy theories can backtrack several decades or even the beginning of recorded history or even beyond. Prabhakaran was a construct of Sinhala Buddhist Chauvinism, it has been argued. He is also the issue of Tamil Chauvinism that predates Sinhala Buddhist equivalents by several decades, it can be argued. No, it was the British, did someone say? No, Raja Raja 1, the Chola brigand, sacker of cities and plunderer of wealth, right?  

So, can we argue that the attack on the Central Bank building or the Sri Maha Bodhi or the Dalada Maligawa or the assassination of Appapillai Amirthaligam was the handiwork of Anagarika Dharmapala or Arumugam Navalar? No. That’s how silly the conspiracy theories being floated about a ‘mahamolakaru’ (mastermind or ‘brains’) associated with the Easter Sunday attacks are.

That said, there can be accomplices, accessories after the fact of terrorism. Those who have aided and abetted or helped set things up. The negligent, it could be argued, belong to that group of individuals. Negligence on the part of those mandated to keep eyes open and take necessary action is a serious matter. The negligent in such cases are friends of the enemy, even though they may not have broken bread with the likes of Zahran Hashim.

Negligence is the word. It implies incompetence. Its colour is even more pronounced when the person in question is supposed to be an expert. So if the then president, Maithripala Sirisena (not an intelligence officer and not an investigator) and then Minister of Public Administration and Management and Law and Order Ranjith Maddumabandara (not an intelligence officer and not an investigator) were negligent (yes, they were both aware of the warnings), what could one say of the pin-up boy in charge of investigation during the Yahapalana years, Shani Abeysekera?

Shani ‘I am the Man’ Abeysekera (as per his FR affidavit) was the then government’s go-to guy. Remember that this was a period in which the military was sidelined by a political regime that believed anything or anyone associated with the Army was a threat to their version of peace, reconciliation and all such things. Intelligence was not just ignored, the relevant apparatuses were all but dismantled.

The intelligence agencies, crippled though they were, still did their job. They are mandated to report and report they did. They do not have investigative power nor such mandates. During those  years it was the CID that led. Others had to watch from the sidelines.

What happened? On the 19th of February, 2019 (just two months before the attack), the CID visited Zahran’s house in Kekunagolla, Kuliyapitiya. A statement was recorded. That’s it. Now if Shani’s CID was such a stellar outfit they would have known or at least found out that Sara Jasmine (wife of Hasthoon, the  Katuwapitiya Church suicide member) and Ferosa (wife of Azath,  Batticaloa Zion Church suicide member) were in that house at that very moment? They didn’t search. They just left.

In December 2021, a petition was submitted to the Secretary, Public Security, regarding the above. It was referred to the AG for advice and a case was filed in the Magistrate’s Court Kuliyapitiya. That’s the context for Shani’s FR application.

What is he claiming?  He’s essentially saying that he was misled by intelligence reports. He cites the investigation regarding the Vavunathivu attack and others, claiming in essence that intelligence agencies had offered red herrings. Well, if he’s such a star, he would have noticed the fact quickly and called on his political friends for punitive action against these miscreants. Anyway, chasing red herrings is no excuse to let the big fish get away, especially considering the resources at his disposal and the political backing he enjoyed. The CID, moreover, is not an adjunct of the DMI or SIS.

Shani led the investigations into 11 incidents related to extremist activity prior to Easter Sunday, but failed to identify suspects or take action that could have prevented the attacks. Even if, as he claims, he was led astray by the intelligence agencies, who may or may not have mentioned several possible groups involved in the Vavunathivu attack, in the first week of April 2019, the DMI specifically informed the CID that Zahran was responsible. That’s not mentioned in the FR. Why not, one wonders.

Anyway, there’s a simple fact that’s missing in Shani’s story. It’s called responsibility. Investigation is his business. If the CID’s work is done by intelligence agencies, then why should we have a CID? It’s police work. They need to investigate. They need to find evidence. They play a key role in law enforcement and public security. What we see here, then, is a cheap attempt to get others to share the blame. Well, you can’t have it both ways: you can’t in one instance say ‘I am the Man, all seeing, all powerful, competent beyond belief etc., etc.’ and then say ‘some idiots in the intelligence agencies played me for a sucker and I went along with them.’ You cannot be THE pin-up boy and when things go wrong say ‘I was just one among many on that stage; in fact I was in a corner and made to twiddle my thumbs.’

Back to brains. Shani was not responsible for the Easter Sunday attacks. He’s not the  mahamolakaru, if there was one anyway. He was obviously negligent. And now he’s essentially saying ‘I am incompetent, I didn’t know, I was led astray, don’t blame me.’ 

ෂම්මි උයනගේ පරිගණක මෘදුකාංග ඉංජිනේරු

ජාතික සංවිධානය යනු කුමක්ද? විජාතික පණ්ඩිතයන් නිතරම අසන ප්‍රශ්නයක්! වචනාර්ථයෙන් ගත්විට එයට යම් නිශ්චිත තේරුමක් පැවතියද එහි නියම අර්ථ දැක්වීම යම්කිසි පරාසයක් තුළ විහිදෙයි. අද කාලයේ සමහර ජාතික සංවිධාන වල සිටින පුද්ගලයන්ගේ කියුම් කෙරුම් අනුව නම් ජාතික සංවිධාන වල ස්වභාවය විග්‍රහ කර ගැනීම තරමක් අපහසු බවයි මාගේ හැඟීම. නම් වලින් සඳහන් කළ හැකි ජාතික සංවිධාන 120 ක් පමණ පැවතෙන බව පසුගියදා කැලණියේ ශ්‍රී ප්‍රඥානන්ද ධර්මායතනයේ දී පැවැති රැස්වීමකදී සඳහන් වුණි. එයින්ද 10-15 ක් පමණ කිසි යම් ක්‍රියාකාරී මට්ටමකින් පවතින බවද වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් වුනි. එජාප- ජවිපෙ වැනි පක්ෂ තම හුදු දේශපාලන වාසිය තකාම පමණක් පිහිටුවා ගෙන ඇති විජාතික “ජාතික සංවිධාන” මෙම ලිපියට පදනම් නොවේ.

මා මේ මාතෘකා කරන බොහොමයක් සංවිධාන බෞද්ධ දර්ශනය පෙරට දමා පිහිටුවා ගෙන ඇති තමුත් ඒවා කොතෙක් දුරට බෞද්ධ දර්ශනය මත පදනම් වී ඇද්දැයි ප්‍රශ්නාර්ථයකි. එම සංවිධානවල නම, සංකේත යනාදියේ හෝ ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ බෞද්ධ දර්ශනය අඩංගු වී තිබේ. එසේම අතීතයේ පැවති ප්‍රෞඩ, සිංහල ශිෂ්ටාචාරය පෙරමුණට දමා පිහිටුවා ගෙන ඇති සංවිධාන ද අපට දැක ගත හැක. ඒවායේ දුටුගැමුණු, කාවන්තිස්ස  වැනි ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ සිංහල නරපතීන්ගේ අතීත ක්‍රියාකාරකම් සිය සංවිධානවල අනන්‍යතාවය නිරූපණය කිරීම සඳහා යොදාගෙන ඇත.

ඉහත කුමන ක්‍රම පැවතිය ද මා මේ කතා කරන්නේ සමස්තයක් වශයෙන් සිංහල බෞද්ධ” මත පදනම්වී පිහිටුවා ගෙන ඇති සංවිධාන සම්බන්ධවයි. එකයි එකයි එකතු කළ විට පිළිතුර දෙක වුව ද “සිංහල බෞද්ධ” යනු අවුරුදු ගණනක් විග්‍රහ කළ ද අවසන් නොවන මාතෘකාවකි. මේ සම්බන්ධව සිංහල බෞද්ධ ඊනියා උගතුන් අතර පවතින අපෝහක, විසංවාද, මතවාද, දෘෂ්ටීන්හි කෙළවරක් නැත. සිංහල නොවන බෞද්ධ සංවිධානත්, බෞද්ධ නොවන සිංහල සංවිධානත් මේ අතර නැතුවා නොවේ. ඒ ගැන කතා කිරීම මෙම ලිපියේ අරමුණ ද නොවේ.

පෙර රජ දවස මෙ සිරිලක සමෘද්ධිමත්ව පැවති බවට ඕනෑ තරම් ඓතිහාසික සාධක ඇත. අල්පේච්ඡ ජාතියක් වාසය කළ, බත බුලතින් සශ්‍රීකව පැවැති මේ මනරම් දිවයින අද වන විට කිසියම් ගැටළුකාරි තත්වයකට පත්ව ඇත. සශ්‍රීකත්වයත් කොහෙත්තම පෙනෙන්නට නැත. සියලු දේම පිටරටින් ආනයනය කරන තැනකට ජාතියක් වශයෙන් පත් වී ඇත. ස්වයංපෝෂිත තත්ත්වයකට කවදා කෙසේ පත්විය හැකිදැයි සිතා ගැනීමටත් අපහසුය. එසේ අඩුම තරමින් අප ආහාරපාන වලින් වත් අප ස්වයංපෝෂිතව සිටියා නම් මේ කෝවිඩ් අර්බුද සමයේ ඇති වී තිබෙන ඩොලර් අර්බුදය” මේ තරම් ඔඩු දුවන්නේ නැත.

පසුගිය දශක හත අටක කාලයක් පුරාම මේ රට දියුණු කිරීම සඳහා නොයෙකුත් ආණ්ඩු නොයෙකුත් උත්සාහ ගනිමින් පවතී. ආණ්ඩු යැයි පැවසූ විට දේශපාලඥයන් මෙන්ම රජයේ සේවකයන් ද අයිති වන බව කරුණාවෙන් සලකන්න. රට දියුණු කරන ක්‍රියාදාම වල දී රටේ ජනතාවගේ ආකල්පද ඉතාමත් ම වැදගත් සාධකයකි. ඒත් තවමත් සිදු වූ දියුණුවක් නම් පෙනෙන්නට නැත. ඒත් ආණ්ඩු පක්ෂයේ, විපක්ෂයේ සිටින දේශපාලනඥයෝ කවදාවත් එය පිළිගන්නේ නැත. ඔවුන් සැම විටම තමන් ආණ්ඩු පක්ෂයේ සිටින කාලයේ දී රට දියුණු කළ බව ද, දියුණු කරමින් සිටිනා බව ද කියති. එසේ නැත්නම් ඔවුන් ආණ්ඩු බලය ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ රට දියුණු කිරීම සඳහාය. කෙසේ හෝ සියලුම ආණ්ඩු පසුගිය අවුරුදු ගණනාවක් පුරාම දේශපාලන බලය ඉල්ලා සිටින්නේ රට දියුණු කිරීමයි. තවමත් මේ රට දියුණු වී නැති බව එයින් ගම්‍ය වේ.

පසුගිය අවුරුදු 70 තුළ මේ රටේ පහළ වූ දේශපාලඥයන් හොර රහසේම රට දියුණු කර අවසන් වී ඇද්දැයි සමහරකුගේ කතා ඇසීමෙන් සැකයක් මතුවේ. කෙසේ හෝ බටහිර මිනුම් දඩු වන උද්ධමනය, ඒක පුද්ගල අදායම, බැංකු පොලී අනුපාත, විදේශ සංචිත, දළ දේශීය නිෂ්පාදිතය, විරැකියා අනුපාතය, කොටස් වෙළෙඳපොළ, දරිද්‍රතාවය, තාපාංකය, හිමාංකය, (වැරදුනා, අන්තිමට ලියපු දෙක අදාළ නැත.) අනුව බැලුවද තවම මේ රට දියුණු වී නැත. බටහිර මිනුම් දඬු වලින් කුමක් පැවසුවද රටේ සමස්ත ජනතාව බත බුලතින් සරුසාර ව සතුටින් සොම්නසින් කල් ගත කරනවා නම් මේ රට “දියුණු” වී ඇතැයි අපට සතුටු විය හැක.

මෙතැනදී අප කතා කරන ජාතික සංවිධාන වල වගකීම කුමක් විය යුතුද? ආණ්ඩුවට, රට දියුණුව කරා ගෙනයන අවංක උවමනාවක නැතිනම් ඒ සඳහා පවතින ආණ්ඩුවට බලපෑමක් ඇති කළ යුතු, ඒ වෙනුවෙන් රටේ ජනතාව පෙළ ගැස්විය යුතු, දැනුවත් කළ යුතු, වගකීම් කරට ගත් යුතු ජාතික සංවිධාන, එකම තැන පල් වෙවී සිටිනවා නම් අපි කුමක් කරමුද? ඒකත් හරියටම රටේ මහජනතාව විසින් රටේ ප්‍රශ්න විසඳීම සඳහා කෝටි ගණනාවක් වියදම් කොට ඡන්දයක් පවත්වා, ඡන්දයෙන් පත් කොට පාර්ලිමේන්තු යැවූ මන්ත්‍රී ඇමතිවරු, අනේ අපිට ඒක කළ නොහැකි බවද, කරන්න දෙන්නේ නැති බවද මහජනතාවටම පෙරලා ආඬපාලි කියන්නා සේය. බොහොමයක් ජාතික සංවිධාන ඊළඟ ඡන්දය එනතුරු නිදාගෙන සිටින අතර තවත් සංවිධාන ඊළඟ ඡන්දයේදී “තවත් විකල්පයක්” ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම සඳහා දත කට මදිමින් සිටී.

මා මේ කතා කරන සමහරක් ජාතික සංවිධාන වල නියෝජිතයෝ ස්වෙච්ඡාවෙන්ම තම කාලය හා ශ්‍රමය රටේ උන්නතිය උදෙසා වැය කරති. සිය පෞද්ගලික මුදල් ද ජාතික වැඩසටහන් සඳහා නොමසුරුව වියදම් කරන වෘත්තිකයන් ද බොහෝ විට හමු වී ඇත. සිය වටිනා කාලය, ශ්‍රමය මෙන්ම මුදල් ද වැය කරමින් යහපත් චේතනාවෙන් ඉදිරිපත් වන පුරවැසියන්ගේ කාර්‍යයන් අපතේ යැවීම සහ මහත් උනන්දුවකින් රට දියුණු කරන්න වෙහෙසෙන දේශපාලනඥයන්ගේ අමනෝඥ ක්‍රියාකාරකම් අතර කිසිදු වෙනසක් නැත. කොතරම් මහන්සි වුවද ප්‍රතිඵලයක් නැත. පංචේන්ද්‍රයන්ට ගෝචර වන ප්‍රගතියක් නැතුවා මෙන්ම ඉහත සඳහන් කළ බටහිර මිනුම් දඬු වලින් ද දියුණුවක් පෙන්නුම් නොකරයි නම් එය ගඟට ඉනි කැපුවා සේය.

සමහර සංවිධාන “අදෘශමාන ව්‍යාපෘති” කරේ තබාගෙන ඔබ මොබ හැසිරෙන අයුරු අපට නිරීක්ෂණය වී ඇත. වරක් මාගේ මිත්‍රයෙක් විමසා සිටියේ වියත්මග යනු ජාතික සංවිධානයක් ද යන්නයි. වියත්මග යනු ජාතික සංවිධානයක් නොව එය ඉඳුරාම ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ජනාධිපති කරවීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයේ එක් ව්‍යාපෘතියකි. ව්‍යාපෘති සහ ජාතික සංවිධාන එකට පටලවා නොගත යුතු බවයි මාගේ අදහස. තම දේශපාලන ගමන ජයග්‍රහණය කරවීම සඳහා යම් යම් ව්‍යාපෘති ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට ඕනෑම දේශපාලන පක්ෂයකට අයිතියක් ඇත. කෙසේ නමුත් මේ ලියුම්කරු මෙන්ම ඒ අවස්ථාවේදී ක්‍රියාත්මක වූ බොහොමයක් ජාතික සංවිධාන ගෝඨාභය මහතා ජනාධිපති කරවීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයේ උර නුර ගැටී ක්‍රියා කළේය. ජාතික ව්‍යාපාරයට තම ශක්තිය උරගා බැලීමටද එයින් ඉමහත් ඉඩ ප්‍රස්ථාවක් ලැබුණි.

අධ්‍යාපනය, සෞඛ්‍ය වැනි සේවා සපයන රාජ්‍ය ආයතන කෙසේ වෙතත්, මුදල් අයකරමින් පවත්වාගෙන යනු ලබන බොහෝ රාජ්‍ය ආයතන අද ක්‍රියාත්මක වන්නේ පාඩු ලබමිනි. හේතු විශාල ගණනක් සහිතව, අවුරුදු ගණනක් තිස්සේ පාඩු ලබමින් පවත්වාගෙන යනු ලබන ලංකා ගමනාගමන මණ්ඩලය එක උදාහරණයකි. අපේ නගරයේ ලංගම බස් ඩිපෝවට යාබද ඉඩමේ වාසය කරන පෞද්ගලික බස් රථ හිමියා දැනට අවුරුදු කිහිපයකට පෙර අලුත්ම බස් රථ දෙකක් තම මුදලින් මිලට ගන්නා ලදී. ඔහුගේ පෞද්ගලික භාවිතය සඳහා නවීන පන්නයේ මෝටර් රථයක් ද මිලදී ගෙන තිබුණි. අල්ලපු ඉඩමේ “ශ්‍රී ලංගම” 2020 සඳහා රුපියල් බිලියන 2.3 ක පාඩුවක් ලබා ඇති බව Ceylon Today සහ Daily News වාර්තා කර සිටී.

රට තුළ ක්‍රියාත්මකත්මක වන දේශපාලනය, රාජ්‍ය පාලනය, ආයතන පාලනය තුළ බොහෝ නොමනා, අවිධිමත් කටයුතු සිදුවෙමින් පවතී. නොඑසේ නම් රට තවමත් දියුණු වෙමින් පවතින රටක් වශයෙන් තිබිය නොහැක. ද්විත්ව  පුරවැසියන් කීප දෙනෙක් සිටිය ද ඉහත සඳහන් සියලුම ආයතන වල වැඩ කටයුතු සිදුකරන්නේ / මෙහෙයවන්නෙ ශ්‍රී ලංකික වැසියන්මය. ඔව්, සමහරවිට ඔවුන් ශ්‍රී ලාංකික වූවාට ඔලුව (මනස) ඇත්තේ වෙනත් රටක වෙන්න පුළුවනි. නොඑසේ නම් ඔවුන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිටිමින් වෙනත් රටවලට ආවඩමින් සිටිනවා විය හැක. සමහරුන්ගේ පවුල් පිටින්  විදේශීය රටවල ජීවත්වෙන අතර ඉහල තනතුරුවල සිටින, උගත් යැයි කියාගන්නා මෙම නිලධාරීන් ද ඇඟිලි ගනිමින් සිටින්නේ විශ්‍රාම ගිය පසු හැකි ඉක්මනින් විදේශිය වාසස්ථානය වෙත පියාඹා යාමටයි. වරක් මාහට හමුවූ පළාත් පළාත් පාලන ප්‍රධානියෙක් කියා සිටියේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ 225 දෙනා මාසෙකට හොරකම් කරන ප්‍රමාණය, ලක්ෂ 15 ක් පමණ වන රාජ්‍ය සේවකයන් විසින් එක දවසකට “විනාශ” කර දමන බවයි. මෙම විනාශය තුළ වංචාව, දූෂණය සහ අකාර්යක්ෂමතාවය නිසා සිදුවන සියලු දෑ අඩංගු ය.

එය ඇත්තක් නම් මෙයින් හැඟී යන්නේ පවතින සියලුම ක්‍රමවේද මුල් සිට අගටම වැරදි සහගත බවයි. දේශපාලන ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ කොතරම් විප්ලව සිදුකළද අවසන් ප්‍රතිඵලයේ එතරම් වෙනසක් නැති බව පෙනී යයි. දේශපාලනඥයා ඡන්දයෙන් අවුරුදු පහෙන් පහට හෝ ගෙදර යැවිය හැකි වුවද, රජයේ සේවකයන් විශ්‍රාම ගන්නා තුරුම තම “සුපුරුදු රාජ්කාරි” කටයුතුවල නිරත වෙති. ක්‍රමවේද සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම වෙනස් කරනවා සේම සමාජ වගවීම, පුද්ගල සංවර්ධනය ඉලක්ක කර නොගන්නා වැඩපිළිවෙළක් එතරම් ඵලදායි වන්නේ නැත. මේ වෙනුවෙන් ජාතික සංවිධානවලට, රටේ ආගමික නායකයන්ට අති විශාල වැඩ කොටසක් සිදු කළ හැක. නීතිරීති සහ දඬුවම් පනවා වැරදි පාලනය කළ හැකි වුවද පුද්ගල සංවර්ධනය මගින් වැරදි සිදුවීම් අවම කිරීම දීර්ඝකාලීනව වාසි සහගත විසඳුමකි. කෙටි කාලීන ඉලක්ක ජයග්‍රහණය කර ගැනීම සඳහා නීතිරීති අවශ්‍ය වුවද ඇති කරන්නා වූ “වෙනස”, දීර්ඝකාලීනව පවත්වා ගැනීම සඳහා පුද්ගල සංවර්ධනය ඉතා වැදගත් වේ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකිකයන් “කුහක” ජාතියක් යැයි සමහර අය මා සමග පවසා ඇත. මම එය විශ්වාස නො කරමි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ  ජනගහනයෙන් 3% පමණ සිටින එවැනි කුහක පිරිස නියෝජනය කිරීමට සමහර දේශපාලන පක්ෂ පිහිටුවාගෙන ඇත. රටක් වශයෙන් කොතරම් භෞතිකව දියුණු වුවද ජනනතාවගේ අධ්‍යාත්මීය සංවර්ධනය නොසලකා හරිමින් කටයුතු කළ නොහැක. කොතරම් බෙදී වෙන්වී සිටිය ද අවශ්‍ය ඕනෑම අවස්ථාවක දී ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ජාතිය එකට එක්තු කළ හැකි බවට මෑත ඉතිහාසයේ ද නිදර්ශන ඇත. දෙමළ ත්‍රස්තවාදී ප්‍රශ්නයේදී සිංහල ජාතිය ඒ වෙනුවෙන් දැක්වූ  දායකත්වය වචනයෙන් විස්තර කළ නොහැක. ඔවුන් දැක්වූ අප්‍රහිත දායකත්වය, කැපවීම නොවන්න අදටත් දවසකට මළ සිරුරු 10-15 පමණ උතුරේ සිට දකුණට ගුවනින් පැමිනෙනු ඇත. පසුගිය ජනාධිපතිවරණයේ මෙන්ම මහ මැතිවරණයේදීද 69 ලක්ෂයක් පමණ වූ ජනතාව ඉතාමත්ම කෙටි කලකින් එකට එකතු වූයේ විනාසකාරී යහපාලන රජය පලවා හැරීම සඳහාය. මෙම ලියුම්කරුගේ ද අදහස ඒ අවස්ථාවේදී එම තීරණය ගත යුතුවම පැවති බවයි. එක් එක් අවස්ථාවේ දී සියලු ජාතික සංවිධාන එක පෙළට, එකාවන්ව ජාතිය සංවිධානය කිරීමෙහිලා දැක්වූ කැපවීම් මේ මොහොතේ සිහිපත් කළ යුතුය.

රාජ්‍යයේ වගකීම වන්නේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති සහ නීති සකස් කිරීමයි. එවැනි ප්‍රතිපත්ති සහ නීති සකස් කිරීම සඳහා සුදුසු පුද්ගලයන් රාජ්‍යය තුළ සිටිනවා දැයි ප්‍රශ්නාර්ථයකි. එසේ සිටිනවා නම් අවුරුදු 70 ක් තිස්සේම මේ රට දියුණු වෙමින් වෙමින් වෙමින් පවතින්නේ කෙසේදැයි යන්න උභතෝකෝටික ප්‍රශ්නයකි. යථාර්ථය කතා කරමු. මේ සඳහා ජාතික සංවිධානවල ක්‍රියාකාරී උගත් බුද්ධිමත් ජාතිකවාදීන්ට කළ හැකි වැඩ කොටස අති විශාලය. සමහර විට ඒ සඳහා ඔවුන්ට රාජ්‍ය අනුග්‍රහයක් හෝ අනුමැතියක් හිමි නොවේ. සමාහර අවස්ථාවල දී ජාතික සංවිධාන සමස්තයක් වශයෙන් ලබාගෙන ඇති ජයග්‍රහණ අපට සුළුවෙන් තැකිය නොහැක. රටට ජයග්‍රහණ ඇති කර දීම සඳහා මුල්වී කටයුතු කර පසුව තම පාඩුවේ සිටින ජාතිකවාදීන් අපට හමුවී ඇත. එසේම අප සමඟ සිටි තවත් සමහර ජාතිකවාදීන් මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් ඇමතිවරුන් වශයෙන් පත්වූවා පමණක් නොව රජයේ ආයතන වල නිලතල ලබා ගෙන කටයුතු කරන අවස්ථා ද ඇත. එහි කිසිම වැරද්දක් නැත. ජාතික සංවිධාන ඔවුන්ගෙන් බලාපොරොත්තු වූ කාර්ය, ඔවුන් ඒ අයුරින් ඉටු කරනවා දැයි සමාජයේ කුකුසක් පවතී. සමහර විට පවතින ක්‍රමය තුළ ඔවුන්ට ක්‍රියාත්මක වීම නොහැකි වන්නට පුළුවන. නමුත් පවතින ක්‍රම වෙනස් කරමින් හෝ රටට, ජාතියට, ආගමටට පිටුවහලක් වන ක්‍රියාදාමවල නිරත වීම අපි ඔවුන්ගෙන් බලාපොරොත්තු වූවෙමු.

යථාර්ථවාදී සමාජ සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපාරයකට නොයා කාලෙන් කාලෙට එක එක ආණ්ඩු පත් කර ඔවුන්ගෙන් සංවර්ධනය සහ සෞභාග්‍යය බලාපොරොත්තු වීම හරියට අර මොකාගෙන් මොකද්ද එක වැටෙනවා බලාගෙන සිටිනවා වැනි වැඩකි. අද බොහොමයක් සංවිධාන සිදු කරනුයේ රජය ගන්නා තීන්දු තීරණ හෝ එම තීන්දු තීරණ නිසා ඇති වන සමාජීය ගැටලු මුල්කරගෙන මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ඡා පැවැත්වීම පමණි. එක ප්‍රශ්නයක් අවසන් වූ පසු තවත් ප්‍රශ්නයක් අල්ලා ගනී. පවතින ඕනෑම ආණ්ඩුවක් ඔවුන්ට එසේ අල්ලා ගැනීමට අඩුම තරමින් මාසෙකට ප්‍රශ්න 1-2 ක් හිතාමතාම දෝ මන්දා සකස් කර දෙන බව ද පෙනේ. මෙසේ මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ඡා පැවැත්වීම අනවශ්‍යයිි යන්න අදහස් නොකරන අතර එවැනි මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ඡාවක් වත් නොමැතිවුව හොත් ඇත්තටම පවතින තත්වය සම්බන්ධව රටේ ජනතාවට  සත්‍ය තොරතුරු ලබා ගැනීමට ක්‍රමයක් නොමැති විය හැක. 

කුණුවී යල්පැනගිය පද්ධති වෙනස් කළ යුතුව ඇත. පද්ධතිය වෙනස් නොකර, කුණුවී යල්පැන ගොස් ඇති පද්ධතියෙන් එළියට එන කුණු කෑලි පසුපස ගමන් කිරීමෙන් ඵලයක් නොමැත. කුණුවී යල්පැනගිය ඇති පද්ධතිවලින් කොහොමත් එළියට එන්නේ කුණු කෑලි මය. ජාතික සංවිධාන ඔය පිළිබඳව නොදන්නවා නොවේ. නමුත් සමස්ත පද්ධතියමය වෙනස් කිරීමේ මහා කාර්යය සඳහා ඔවුන් ස්වයංව සංවිධානය වන බවක් තවම පෙනෙන්නට නැත. සමහරු දියසෙන් කුමාරයා වඩින තුරු බලා සිටිති. දියසෙන් කුමාරයාගේ අප්පච්චිලා, බාප්පොච්චිලා කාලයෙන් කාලයට කරළියට පැමිණියහ. තවම දියසෙන් කුමාරයා පැමිණියේ නැත.

ජාතිකත්වයට මුල්තැන දෙමින් රට ගොඩ නැඟීම සඳහා අවංකවම කැපවීම්ක් ඇති සංවිධාන ඇත්තේ ඉතා අතළොස්සකි. තනිවම සටන් කරමින් බොහෝ මහන්සි වී වැඩ කරන තනි  පුද්ගලයන් කීප දෙනෙක් ද අපට හමු වී ඇත. බොහොමයක්ම සංවිධාන සතිපතාම මාර්ග ගත සාකච්ඡා පවත්වමින්, පුවත්පත් නිවේදන නිකුත් කරමින්, මාධ්‍ය සාකච්ඡා පවත්වමින් එදිනෙදා රටේ සිදුවන සිද්ධීන් පිළිබඳව තම දේශපාලන විග්‍රහයන් ඉදිරිපත් කරති.  බොහෝමයක් සංවිධාන එමගින් අදහස් කරන්නේ තමන් සජීවීව පවතින බව ශ්‍රී ලාංකික පුරවැසියන්ට දැනුම් දීමයි. අවස්ථාවක් පැමිණෙනතුරු සජීවීව අල්ලාගෙන සිටීමේ කලාවක්ද ලොව පවතී. කෙසේ නමුත් ඡන්දය පැවැත්වෙන දින නියම කළ පසු උඩින් පහත් වෙන සෙන්සර් පප්පලා, හමුදාපතිවරුන් යන ආදී ජෝකර් වරුන්ට වඩා එය වැදගත් වේ.

බොහෝ සංවිධාන වල සමාජ මාධ්‍ය කණ්ඩායම්, ගිණුම් ක්‍රියාත්මක වන්නේ හරියට යූ.එන්.පී  ජේ.වී.පී දේශපාලනය පක්ෂ වල සමාජ මාධ්‍ය කණ්ඩායම් ලෙසයි. යූඑන්පී ජේවීපී දේශපාලන  කුලී හේවායන් විසින් නිර්මාණය කර දෙනු ලබන ආණ්ඩු විරෝධී පෝස්ටු තමන්ගේ කණ්ඩායම් තුළ තරගයට මෙන් හුවමාරු කර ගනිති. සාමාන්‍යයෙන් එවැනි එක් පෝස්ටුවක් එක් අයෙකුට හතර පස් වතාවක් පමණ ලැබෙන බව අපගේ මූලික අධ්‍යයන වලින් හෙලිවී ඇත. ආණ්ඩු විරෝධී කුමන්ත්‍රණකරුවන්ගේ ව්‍යායමය එක අතකින් සාර්ථකය. ඔවුන්ට ඇත්තේ පොස්ටු සකස්කර දීම පමණි. හුවමාරු කිරීම් සහ ප්‍රචාරණය කිරීම නොමිලේම අප විසින් ඉටු කරදෙනු ලැබේ. කිසිම සෙවිල්ලක් බැලිල්ලක් නැතුව තමන්ට ලැබෙන පෝස්ටු ශෙයා කිරීම බොහෝ සංවිධාන වල ඇඩ්මින් වරුන්ගේ දෛනික රාජකාරියයි. මෙසේ ආතක් පාතක් නැතුව තමන්ට ලැබෙන පෝස්ටු ශෙයා කර නින්දට යන ඔවුන් උදේට නැගිට, “ඉන්න හිතෙන රටක්” සෙවීම හාස්‍යජනකය.

ඵලදායී ප්‍රතිඵලයක් ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා සියලු ජාතික සංවිධාන එකට එක්තු විය යුතුම යැයි අදහස් කරන්නේ නැත. කෙසේ නමුත් බොහොමයක් සංවිධානවල අරමුණු සහ ප්‍රතිපත්ති එක හා සමාන බැවින් අවශ්‍යම අවස්ථාවන් වලදී  ඒවාට එකතු වීමේ බැරිකමක් නැත. කොහොම නමුත් සමගිය බලය වේ” යයි ප්‍රසිද්ධ කියමනක් ඇත. දේශපාලනයට ඕවා අදාල නැති වෙන්නත් පුළුවන්. නමුත් ජාතික සංවිධාන වැඩ කරන්නේ ජාතික පරමාර්ථයන් සිත්හි  දරාගෙනයි. සමහරක් ජාතික සංවිධාන වල සිටින ඔලමොට්ටල නායකයින්, වෙනත් අය, තම සංවිධානයේ සාමාජිකයන් සමඟ කතා කිරීම පවා  නුරුස්සයි. ඔවුන්ට අනෙකුත් ජාතික සංවිධාන වල නායකයන් පෙනෙන්නේ නයාට අඳුකොළ මෙනි.

එසේම බොහොමයක් ජාතික සංවිධාන සිය කටයුතු සිදු කරන්නේ කොළඹ නගරය කේන්ද්‍ර කොට කොට ගෙනයි.  වැඩිම වුවහොත් ඔවුන් සිය සංවිධානවල කටයුතු ගම්පහ සහ කළුතර ප්‍රදේශ දක්වා ව්‍යාප්ත කරනු ලබති. ආරම්භක අවස්ථාවේදී කෙසේ හෝ කොළඹ නගරයේ විශේෂිත සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවක “සමුළුවක්” පැවැත්වීම බොහෝමයක් ජාතික සංවිධානවල පළමු සහ එකම “ජාතික” ක්‍රියාකාරකම වේ. ඔවුන් තුළ පවතින කෙටිකාලීන අරමුණු නියාවෙන් සමස්තයටම ජයග්‍රහණ ලබා දීම සඳහා දියත් කළ යුතු පුළුල් වැඩපිළිවෙලක් පිළිබඳව අන්‍යෝන්‍ය වශයෙන් පැවතිය යුතු කතිකාව ඉතාමත් පහළ මට්ටමක පවතී.

ෂම්මි උයනගේ

පරිගණක මෘදුකාංග ඉංජිනේරු

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KAMALIKA PIERIS

J.R.Jayewardene came from an elite family. He was the eldest of twelve children of Justice Eugene Wilfred Jayewardene KC, a prominent lawyer and Agnes Helen Don Philip Wijewardena daughter of Tudugalage Muhandiram Don Philip Wijewardena, a wealthy merchant. He was looked after by a Scottish nurse when a child. When he entered politics, he converted from Christianity (Anglican) to Buddhism and adopted the national dress as his formal attire.

JR started his political career by getting elected to the Colombo Municipal Council from the New Bazaar Ward in 1940. In 1943 he became a State Councilor.  State Council was replaced by Parliament and JR was a Member of Parliament, almost continuously from 1947- 1978. During this period he   represented the electorates of   Colombo West, Colombo South and Kelaniya.

JR was Minister of Finance in first Cabinet of 1947 and Minister of Agriculture and Food in the 1953 Cabinet. Philip Gunawardene, who took over from JR in 1956 as Minister of Agriculture was highly critical of JR’s role in agriculture.  Philip said that JR had in 1953 and 1954   got rid of very valuable state farms.  If JR had waited for a year or two, most of these farms would have shown a return, said Philip. Some of the farms were for research, not to make a profit.

The secret participation of both Dudley Senanayake and JR in the 1962 coup is no longer a secret, announced critics. JR had prior knowledge of the 1962 coup. For decades people had suspected this .It was confirmed in JR’s biography, written by K.M. de Siva and H Wriggins, (1988). It recorded advice that JR gave to a key conspirator, Sydney de Soyza. JR was in the Opposition at the time.  Mrs. Bandaranaike also decided to keep it a secret when she came to know about it.  (Island 4.3.09 p 9).

After sitting in Parliament for decades, JR hit the jackpot in the 1970s. JR led the UNP to a landslide victory in 1977 General Election. The UNP won a staggering five-sixths of the seats in one of the most lopsided victories ever recorded, said analysts.  JR became Prime Minister.

JR had a venerable bearing, standing straight with aristocratic dignity and sombre composure and looking the part as few of his predecessors had done said KM de Silva.  He was a good listener and would summarize an idea given to him, and put the argument even more persuasively. He was a warm and witty leader and a great person to work for, said KM de Silva.

He was well informed about the people he wanted to enlist for his work. He had files on all his MPs. If he had confidence in a minister he let them get on with the work as with Ronnie de Mel, Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake, said KM de Silva. 

Despite the 1977 victory JR was never sure that he was all that popular, said KM de Silva.  JR had a public reputation as a hard man, a tough disciplinarian, no nonsense person. He had a long memory and did not appreciate being crossed.  Those who opposed him were promptly eased out. There were few dissenting views, there was acquiescence, concluded KM de Silva.

 His opponents considered him underhand and devious. JR despite pretensions to statesmanship, finally emerged as just another political schemer, less trustworthy, more cunning, said a critic.

JR did not stay Prime Minister for long. He amended the constitution and became Sri Lanka‘s first President. He was President of Sri Lanka from 1978-1989. Analysts observed that JR   became President without facing a Presidential Election. However, he contested the Presidential election of 1982. JR wanted the presidential election staggered  and done by Electoral College, and, Chandrananda de Silva, Elections Commissioner said No, it must be held on one day.

.JR won 52.91% of the vote, winning 137 of the 160 polling divisions.  His rival the SLFP candidate, Hector Kobbekaduwa won 39.07%, winning 15 electoral divisions. But it was not a total win. Kobbekaduwa got more votes than JR in too many electorates, observed analysts. 

As President, JR successfully  initiated and complete two projects, Accelerated Mahaweli project and the Parliament building at Diyawanna Oya, in Kotte. These are his only successes.

JR is still remembered for the Referendum he initiated in 1982. The next General Election was due in 1983. Instead, Jayewardene decided to extend the life of the existing Parliament by conducting a Referendum in December 1982. 

JR first obtained undated letters of resignation from his MPs and Ministers. Ranil Wickremasinghe had distributed   the letters, which the MPs signed and    returned. JR then forwarded to the Supreme Court a Bill that said that the existing Parliament shall continue until August 4, 1989. This would extend the life of Parliament for a further six years.

He said the Bill was urgent in the national interest” and required the Court’s decision within three days. The seven- Judge Bench returned a divided verdict of four to three. JR then submitted the Bill to Parliament to be debated and voted on in a single day. The day before it came to Parliament the leftist paper Atththa was sealed.

This Bill became The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. This Amendment   was then submitted for approval   of the public at a Referendum. The public were asked to decide via this referendum to extend term of office of government without holding a general election in 1983.

The ballot paper had Lamp for ‘yes’ and Clay pot for ‘no’. The Lamp won, the government obtained 54.7% of votes polled which was just 38% of the registered vote. The General election was postponed and UNP government continued for another 6 years. 

This Referendum, was a novel experience, said Walter E. Fernando. A state of emergency was declared for the duration of the Referendum. The Referendum was not conducted correctly. UNP resorted to mass scale rigging and open violation of election laws, making it a farce, said Keerawella. There were rampant malpractices, said G.H.Peiries.

The 1982 referendum had the worst abuses in Sri Lanka’s electoral history, Nimal Punchihewa  said. This referendum is considered the first genuine mass rigging exercise in the country’s electoral history, said Nihal Jayawickrema. There was organized violence to cover organized mass impersonation, said Colvin R de Silva.

The violence, intimidation and fraud were such that in Attanagalla, where   Bandaranaike family members were always returned with overwhelming majorities, and where two months earlier the SLFP presidential candidate had won 55%, this time the government won 67% of the votes polled.

Wiswa Warnapala  called it a massive electoral fraud. The 1982 referendum  was one of the most fraudulent elections in Sri Lanka , said Wiswa .He wrote a book Recent politics in Sri Lanka (Navrang 1983) where  the fraudulent aspects were exposed.  This had angered JR who wanted to ban the book.

JR’s UNP, having been returned with a 5/6 majority in 1977, had established a regime of lawlessness, said Vinod Moonesinghe. Armed gangs of thugs roamed the country for weeks after the election, chasing left supporters from their homes, before turning on the minorities.

At the 1982 presidential election and the referendum, the UNP made a mockery of the electoral process. UNP thugs seized polling booths, stuffed ballots and intimidated and impersonated voters, including Hector Kobbekaduwa and Pieter Keuneman, concluded Vinod.

This lawlessness continued .On 8th June 1983 a three-judge bench comprising B.S.C. Ratwatte, Percy Colin-Thome and J.F.A. Soza delivered a judgment in a case where Mrs. Vivienne Goonewardene, and her husband Leslie had complained of wrongful arrest and degrading treatment by the Kollupitiya Police while they were protesting about the referendum.

Court found the police officer concerned guilty and fined him. Government paid the fine  and  gave a double promotion to the officer. That was not all. A large crowd arrived in vehicles with banners and staged noisy protests outside the residences of the three judges who delivered the judgment. These two events received much prominence in the newspapers.

 JR was unperturbed. He said that the country needed a ruler who feared neither judiciary, legislature nor the party and he had the power to do anything for six more years. ( Continued)

By A. Abdul Aziz.

(Given below is an excerpt of the Friday Sermon delivered by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Supreme Head of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam, on 8^th April, 2022, at ‘Masjid Mubarak’, Islamabad, Tilford, U.K. gave a discourse on Striving in the Way of God, During Ramadan and Beyond & Launch of 313 Companions Website.

Ahmadiyya Head (Khalifa) His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah strengthen his hands) after reciting Tashahhud, Ta‘awwuz and Surah al-Fatihah, recited the following verse of the Holy Qur’an:

‘And when My servants ask thee about Me, say: I am near. I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays to Me. So they should hearken to Me and believe in Me, that they may follow the right way.”’ (The Holy Qur’an, 2:187)

His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands said that by the grace of Allah, we are passing through the month of Ramadan. It is a month for the acceptance of prayer, as God has announced that with His mercy, prayers will be especially accepted during this month. One strives to attain God’s pleasure during this month and to attain His blessings, hence we even abstain from food and drink. As the Holy Prophet, (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, God informed him that the gates of heaven are flung open and the gates of hell shut, and Satan is shackled during this month. Hence, during this month, we can truly attain the nearness of God and it would be our own misfortune if we didn’t take advantage of this opportunity.

Who is Satan Shackled for During Ramadan?

His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that certainly during this month, there are those who still commit vices. Therefore, when it is stated that Satan is shackled during this month it is a manner of God admonishing us that if we abstain from even that which is permissible for us (i.e. food and drink etc.) for His sake, then God has shackled Satan for such people and has taken them under His protection. As the Promised Messiah and Imam-al-Mahdi Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim in Islam, peace be on him, states, when we lessen our physical nourishment, it gives us the opportunity to increase in our spiritual nourishment. Otherwise, merely staying hungry for the entire day holds no meaning of its own if it is not accompanied by efforts to increase in spirituality.

His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that we must understand this principle and lead our lives in the same manner, as is the purpose of Ramadan. His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that the verse which he recited is from among the verses stating the importance and obligation of Ramadan. Those being spoken of in this verse are those who are servants of the Gracious God” who wish to be freed from the clutches of Satan and come under the protection of God. Thus, God said that when such people are in a state of anxiety and fear wondering where and how they can find God, tell them that God will answer when they call unto Him. It is for such people that Satan has been shackled in Ramadan, but these efforts should not be limited to this month, rather they should become an enduring part of people’s lives throughout the year. When people fulfil the rights of God and His creation and strive to fulfil the commandments of God and attain His pleasure, then they will find that God answers their calls unto Him.

His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that fortunate are those who take advantage of Ramadan and the opportunity it affords for the acceptance of prayer. We should pray to become true servants of God, to fulfil His commandments and to complete our faith. We are fortunate to have accepted the Imam of the Age and the true servant of the Holy Prophet^(sa), the Promised Messiah, peace be on him. He taught us the ways of becoming closer to God and the ways in which to pray.

Prayer – The True Means to Success

His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) quoted the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, who said that the true means for attaining success is prayer. The Promised Messiah, peace be on him, also said that before praying, one must utilise the faculties granted to them by God and strive their utmost, and then pray to God. This is what is meant by ‘Guide us on the right path’. Some people say that if one prays then there is no need for any apparent means or effort, whereas prayer is essentially a means for procuring more means. We should pray to be among those who are sincerely devoted to God in their actions and belief. They should strive to be those whose actions draw the pleasure of God and those whose faith is completely unwavering. They believe that God can turn dust to gold and can turn the wicked into spiritual people who tread upon His path.

Ahmadiyya Khalifa (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that God has stated this principle in the Holy Qur’an when He says:

‘And as for those who strive in Our path — We will surely guide them in Our ways. And verily Allah is with those who do good.’ (The Holy Qur’an, 29:70)

This month of Ramadan is certainly an opportunity to undertake this Jihad and strive towards Allah and become those who are close to Allah the Almighty, those whose prayers He answers, who adhere to His commandments, those who have complete belief in His attributes, those who are truly guided and those whose Satan is forever shackled. Achieving this certainly requires striving in the way of Allah.

Fulfil the Requirements to Attaining the Nearness of God

His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) quoted the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, who said that one cannot attain God’s pleasure and nearness through laziness and slackness, rather true effort is required. His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that many people write to him saying that they prayed but their objective was not attained. They must analyse to see whether they have truly undertaken the required struggle in prayer. Then they must also analyse the manner in which they pray because God says those who truly strive in His path, who strive to attain His nearness with sincerity and strive to fulfil His commandments, then He surely answers their prayers.

Our Striving Must Not Remain Constrained to the Month of Ramadan

His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that in a Hadith it is stated that if we walk towards God, He will run towards us. This is the grace and mercy of God, however we must truly strive in his cause. It should not be that we vow to offer prayers and do good deeds during the month of Ramadan, but then forget about all of these things for the rest of the year. If God sees that a person is praying and making efforts only during the month of Ramadan, then He can deal with us however He pleases. Certainly he can still answer our prayers so that we experience His grace and mercy in order to keep us motivated to keep striving in His way. God desires to take us into His mercy. His happiness for us is greater than a mother’s happiness for her child. Hence, before lamenting that our prayers have not been answered, we must analyse ourselves and our efforts.

His Holiness Ahmadiyya Khalifa (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that we should never allow our efforts or Jihad in the cause of attaining Allah’s pleasure, fulfilling His commandments and becoming His true servants to subside. In fact Ramadan should be a milestone in this Jihad.

His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that as the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, explains, if one does not strive to tread upon the path of God, then they will fall into Satan’s lap and become perverse. Thus, not only are there glad tidings in the above-mentioned verses, but there is also a warning to remain safe from the grasp of Satan.

Efforts Must be Accompanied by Prayer

His Holiness Ahmadiyya Head (may Allah strengthen his hands) also explained in light of the Promised Messiah’s, peace be on him writings that certainly it is within human nature for there to be various stages in our lives. There are ups and downs. However after the down times, a righteous person fervently turns to God in repentance and seeking forgiveness out of embarrassment and then becomes resolute in striving upon God’s path. Thus, doing so requires steadfastness and a firm resolve. As we make these efforts and pray, we should repeat the prayer ‘Guide us on the right path’ as this prayer is vital for one to become rightly guided.

His Holiness Ahmadiyya Supreme Head (may Allah strengthen his hands) explained that even in worldly terms, people must strive to attain what they desire from the world. When they strive and struggle, God bestows His blessings and they are able to attain their objectives. The same applies in the spiritual realm. If one can strive for the world, why then can they not strive to attain God’s nearness and pleasure. If they strive and struggle for this, then God will certainly bestow His blessings in their efforts so that they can achieve their purpose. It cannot be that one merely asks and automatically receives, rather there is a level of effort required. This is a basic principle which applies to all things.

His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that when a person turns to God, God will turn to them. They must however strive their utmost. Then, when they have truly tried their best, they will certainly see the light of God. One should not become disheartened, as is the case in trying to attain anything. The doors of attaining the nearness and pleasures of God are open, but require effort to get through.

His Holiness Ahmadiyya Head (Khalifa)  (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that we cannot expect God to be bound to accept anything and everything we desire. Even in worldly terms if we consider any one of our relationships we find that this cannot be the case. Why then should we apply the same restriction to God? Hence we must believe in God, which means fulfilling the rights owed to Him and His creation; then we can find acceptance in the sight of God. If we don’t constantly nurture plants, they will become lifeless. So too is the case with our faith.

Strive in Every Way Possible to Attain God’s Pleasure

His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that in striving towards God, we must ensure that our belief is not tainted with associating partners with God in any way. Similarly, if we look to the examples of the Companions (Allah be pleased with all of them) did they attain their stature only through prayer? No; in fact they were ready to lay down their lives for God and present any sacrifice in His cause. Hence, we cannot expect to attain any sort of rank in the sight of God without first striving and struggling in His way. We must strive not only with our words, but in every way possible to attain the pleasure and nearness of God. Some consider prayer to be an ordinary matter, whereas it is much more. Mere words cannot be considered prayer, rather true prayer requires bringing about a sort of death by the level of efforts made.

His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) said that upon reaching a certain level in connection with God, one does not even have to pointedly ask for his worldly needs to be fulfilled, as God takes that person into His protection and fulfils those needs Himself. Attaining this level however requires a great deal of effort.

His Holiness Ahmadiyya Khalifa (may Allah strengthen his hands) prayed that may we be able to fulfil these things and make Ramadan an opportunity for us to establish a firm relationship with Him, fulfilling His commandments, having complete belief in Him and enable us to see examples of the acceptance of prayer. May this extend even beyond Ramadan. May we become true servants of God; may we never stray from the path of God and always be the recipients of His love. May we do justice to the favour which God has bestowed upon us by accepting the Promised Messiah, peace be on him. May Allah enable us to pray in a manner that can render our prayers accepted.

His Holiness Ahmadiyya Supreme Head Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah strengthen his hands) again made an appeal for prayers in light of the current world situation. He prayed that may Allah save the world from destruction and enable people to recognise their Creator.

Launch of 313 Companions Website

His Holiness Ahmadiyya Khalifa (may Allah strengthen his hands) informed that he would launch a new website and mobile application created by MTA International which comprises His Holiness’  sermons on the 313 Companions who took part in the Battle of Badr. The website includes introductions of the Companions, questions and answers, maps, explanations of difficult Arabic terms and there will be new information uploaded every week. The website is www.313companions.org.  His Holiness (may Allah strengthen his hands) prayed that may this website prove to be beneficial.

(Source: www.alislam.org

Orpheus Perera

I am trying to restructure my points about the current situation in Sri Lanka. Intelligent people will never believe the story that one family robbed all the wealth of a country. It is the fault of the politicians for not educating the people of the real world.

People worked hard during the colonial period and when they got freedom, they thought of having easy lives. Sri Lanaka did not have to fight for independence. People of India rallied behind Mahatma Gandhi  in 1920 to fight against the British, mainly by refusing to buy imported goods including apples. As a result India is far ahead of Sri Lanka today(Not that individual familie are living comfortable lives). They still work hard long hours eating Roti and “Parippu” every day.

Sri Lankans who have migrated to America return and show off their riches. They never tell the Sri Lankans how hard they have to work in the richest country in the world. Doctors and nurses have to work 12 hours per day adding up to 60 hours per week. That is why they are well paid.

Seven years ago I got a chance to visit the USA. I show the glory and the riches. But I also show how hard they have to work. We went to see Niagara falls in a tour bus. There was a bucket near the door of the bus with a label saying “Please tip Generously”. I tipped $5 even if I did not have much money to spare.  Then we went on a harbour cruise in Hudson Bay in New York. The Skipper of the boat, explained about the history of all the buildings in New York. He pointed to an apartment building and said “The rent of a one bedroom up there is $2000 per month. My annual salary is only $27,000, I cannot dream of living even a day in those apartments.

We manage to survive, thanks to generous tourists like you. Please donate generously so that my-self and my staff can share the money. When the boat returned to the pier  and we walked down the ramp, the skipper and a few of the staff were standing there with a bucket half full of dollar notes and on behalf of the three of us I dropped $10 into the bucket, because I felt sorry for the poor people in the richest country.

The other day Dr. Harsha De Silva, in an interview with News-1st TV mentioned about the GDP of Bangladesh and Vietnam which are much higher than Sri Lanka. He never mentioned how hard the people of those two countries work,  for a small wage.

In Bangladesh, 100 thousands of children under 14 of age work 64 hours per week for mere US$2 per day to support their families. They rarely see their parents. They live in the factory premises, without schooling. Few of them attend evening classes run by good sumereturns. No child hood for them and this issue was brought up in UNICEF. But they stopped talking about it, taking into consideration the poor parents(Or maybe American Fashion Industrialists want to make profit selling made in Bangladesh garments cheaply).

So are people in Vietnam who work hard for a few Dollars, sometimes 50 hours per week.

None of these countries have FREE HIGHER EDUCATION which Sri Lankans enjoyed for the last 70m years. On the other hand in Sri Lanka the majority laze around and look for easy money. Businessmen in Import industry bribed factory managers to sabotage and cut down production and finally sell or shut down the industries owned by the state or even some small local businesses.

In 1953 Mr. Dudley Senanayake increased the price of rice from 50 cents to 1 rupee. He did that because the government could not afford to give rice at 50 cts. People started a “Harthal ” breaking down telephone lines and attacking public property. Dudley had to go and hide in a Ship. All politicians kept on promising things “Free”. In 1966 the UNP government gave a Free ration of rice. Still they  lost the election in 1970 to  SLFP and Dr. NM Perera coalition, who promised to bring Rice from the moon and give 2 rations per person.

Mrs. Bandartanike tried to make the country self-sufficient and build up the national wealth by cutting down imports drastically(which India did in 1948). It became hard because the west was unhappy for shutting the western multinationals out.

In 1950’s JR had this idea of making Colombo a vibrant place (like Singapore now). It was called the Colombo plan. He was not given a chance then. But in 1980 JR with the full backing of people like Upali Gunawardane carried out this plan. It became a flop and made things worse(in building a more stable economy). Country looked like it was being developed(very fast). Roads were filled with imported cars and they had to build new roads and motorways.

All my life in Sri Lanka I used to travel by CTB buses or walk up to 2 or 3 miles. I can remember one day in 2000 I walked from 6th lane Nawala Rd to come to Koswaththa. It was so hard to walk with too many vehicles on the road and with the black fumes they emitted.

One guy, I knew stopped the car and gave me a left and he said his driver was laughing at me for walking???.

Markets were filled with all foreign goods. Locals brought them with the help of their poor family members who went to the middle east and worked hard.

Politicians wanted power and they kept on not educating them about the welfare of how people work in other countries. These are my observations in a nut cell. You can always find information from the internet(not the Face Book).

Easy road has come to an end. ඔබට පුතේ මගක් නැතේ, මේ මග මිස යමන් පුතේ(හෙළ ගැඹුරුය් ඉහල බලන් යමන් පුතේ)

Orpheus Perera

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, April 9 (NewsWire) –

Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe assumed duties as the 17th Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) today.

According to the CBSL, Dr. Weerasinghe is a career central banker, with extensive experience in Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy. Dr. Weerasinghe was promoted as Deputy Governor on 27 September 2011 while he was serving as an Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund and assumed office as Deputy Governor of the CBSL on 01 September 2012. Dr. Weerasinghe holds a Ph.D. and Master’s Degree in Economics from the Australian National University and a B.Sc. Degree from the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka.

As Deputy Governor, Dr. Weerasinghe has served as the Chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee and the Foreign Reserve Management Committee of the CBSL and has overseen the Departments of Economic Research, Statistics, International Operations, Domestic Operations, Macroprudential Surveillance, Exchange Control, Currency, and Communications.

Prior to being released to the International Monetary Fund as the Alternate Executive Director for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Bhutan, from January 2010 to August 2012, Dr. Weerasinghe served as Assistant Governor from August 2009 to September 2012 as well as the Chief Economist and Director of Economic Research from January 2007 to August 2009.

Dr. Weerasinghe also served as Visiting Lecturer for the Master’s Degree Course in Economics at the University of Colombo, Visiting Research Economist at the SEACEN Centre, Malaysia, and Visiting Research Fellow at the Australian National University. He is also an Advisory Board Member of the Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University.

He has represented several Cabinet Sub-Committees on economic matters and was a member of the Committee appointed to review the Power Purchase Agreements, the Financial Sector Monitoring Committee of the Ministry of Finance & Planning, the Steering Committee on Market Program for Private Sector Development, and the Petroleum Refinery Project Coordinating Committee. He was also a Director of the Board of Management of the Sustainable Energy Authority and the Board of Investment. He was responsible for negotiating Financial Services in bilateral trade and services agreements with China and Singapore. He has published several research papers in international and local journals, including the CBSL Staff Studies.

Dr. Weerasinghe retired from the Central Bank as the Senior Deputy Governor in January 2021 and worked as an Independent Consultant for economic and financial matters for multilateral agencies and Global Investment firms. 

Courtesy Livemint.com

It (economic crisis) never happened in our time…when our government was here there were no queues of the people to buy the basic necessities, Sri Lanka’s ex PM said

Former Prime minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesingheon Sunday blamed the incumbent government of plunging the country into a deep economic and political crisis. Wickremesingheon also pointed out, the government is “incompetent in dealing with the financial challenges”. He further praised India for its maximum support during the crisis period. He also stated that no Chinese investment under this government has come to the country.

“It (economic crisis) never happened in our time…when our government was here there were no queues of the people to buy the basic necessities. There should have not been any reason for the people to come on the streets. But it’s all happening because of the incompetence of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government in the country,” former PM Wickremesinghe told ANI.RECOMMENDED FOR YOUView All

He added, “The dire economic situation has led to the political crisis, and what is happening is a disaster to the country. For two years, this government ignored all the signs of the looming economic issues. I remember when I left the office in 2019 we had a surplus budget and there was enough money to pay (for our imports).”

For not approaching the IMF during the economic crisis, Wickremesinghe slammed the incumbent government for not making timely interventions. “I don’t think that the government has enough resources left in the reserves and now they seek to borrow from the leading export companies to pay the bills. The line of credit for fuel extended by India will last till the second week of May,” he said. adding that Sri Lanka will be in serious trouble afterwards.

He said that India has helped Sri Lanka to the maximum. “We will have to see the outcome of the support of India while New Delhi is still helping in non-financial ways,” said Wickremesinghe.

Wickremesinghe charged that the government was not looking after the economy while suggestions were made for going to the IMF in 2020 and 2021. “The government did not go to the IMF on the advice of the central bank and the treasury and the people are now paying the price,” he told ANI.

Bibhudatta Pradhan and Eric Martin, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) — The International Monetary Fund said it will hold discussions with senior Sri Lankan policymakers in the coming days and weeks” about a possible support program to help the island nation overcome an economic crisis that’s spiraled into political turmoil and daily street protests. 

We received a request for an IMF-supported program from the authorities, and have started technical-level engagement with teams at the ministry of finance and the central bank,” Masahiro Nozaki, the IMF’s mission chief for Sri Lanka, said in a statement. We commit to assisting Sri Lanka consistent with our policies.”

The South Asian island has appointed an advisory panel to provide guidance on how the nation deals with its current crisis and engages with outside lenders, including the IMF. Sri Lanka is facing a balance of payments crisis, struggling to pay for imports and service debt as its foreign exchange holdings dwindle. 

The IMF is very concerned about the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka and hardships suffered by the people, especially the poor and vulnerable,” Nozaki said in the statement. We are monitoring the political and economic developments very closely,” he said.

Newly appointed central bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said on Friday that Sri Lanka would seek virtual talks with the IMF before officials visit Washington for the lender’s spring meetings later this month. Authorities have also called for proposals for a financial adviser and legal consultant to help with recasting the nation’s debt, which stands at $8.6 billion for this year, including a $1 billion sovereign bond payment in July.

Sri Lanka is seeking about $3 billion in bridge financing in the next six months to pay for fuel, medicine and other essentials, to help it manage the crisis, Finance Minister Ali Sabry told Reuters in an interview Saturday.  

The nation’s central bank on Friday raised borrowing costs by an unprecedented 700 basis points to cool inflation that’s the fastest in Asia, preserve dollars needed to import food and fuel and lend support to the local currency that has dropped more than 57% since being devalued.

Resignation Demands

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, left with a minority in parliament, has been struggling to form an interim government after his cabinet resigned last week. On Sunday night, he will meet with the over 40 lawmakers who left his ruling coalition to discuss their proposals for an interim government, local media reported, citing a senior member of parliament. 

The proposals put forward include limiting his executive powers as president and appointing a national executive council comprising of leaders from all the political parties in parliament to make policy decisions and appoint a new prime minister. 

The talks come as thousands of people converged in Colombo’s business district over the weekend, waving flags and holding placards demanding that Rajapaksa, a former military officer, submits his resignation. Rajapaksa has yet to address the country over the economic and political turmoil since his cabinet resigned. 

Several protesters waited near the president’s office and said they would not leave until he quits, according to videos posted on social media and news reports. The demonstrations are expected to continue well into Sunday in Colombo and across several smaller cities and towns.

By Yeshi Seli Express News Service Courtesy The New Indian Express

NEW DELHI: Amid the severe economic crisis, extreme shortage of essentials, and street protests, the Sri Lankan Parliament is likely to reconvene between April 19 to 22 in a bid to bring about a no-confidence motion against President Gotabaya Rajapaksha.

“We have called a meeting with all opposition leaders and will take a day a final decision soon,’’ said Sri Lankan opposition leader, Sajith Premadasa.

Meanwhile, India has sent a consignment of food and vegetables to Sri Lanka today, in its bid to continue assisting the Island nation.

“I think India has helped the most, even in non-financial ways so we are thankful. No Chinese investments have been done yet, the only discussions going on with China are regarding the repayment of loans,’’ said former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Wickremesinghe said during their rule there was a surplus on the primary budget and money to pay debts. The present government is responsible for the economic crisis.

India has already supplied over 270,000 MT of fuels to Sri Lanka till now and granted $2.5 billion line of credit. Sri Lanka needs an additional $3 billion in funds to keep it afloat.

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Meanwhile, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had assured Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksha (who visited India twice in recent months) that India would stand with Sri Lanka as it occupies a central role in New Delhi’s `neighbourhood first policy.’

Sri Lanka is also facing a foreign exchange shortage which has limited its imports of essentials and they are now dependent on assistance from neighbours like India.

In February the country was left with only $2.31 billion in its reserves but faces debt payments of $4 billion in 2022 – this includes a $1 billion International Sovereign Bond (ISB) maturing in July. ISB makes up the largest share of  Sri Lanka’s $12.55 billion foreign debt.

IMF is expected to initiate a loan to Sri Lanka during the course of this week.

Meanwhile, there is a trickle of refugees too coming into India. Around 40 refugees have already come to Tamil Nadu. In addition, there are over 1 lakh Sri Lankan Tamils who live in India.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

All paediatricians and neonatologists in the country are in dilemma due to the absence of Endotracheal (ETT) Tubes for the ventilation of new-born babies, infants and children, Castle Street Teaching Hospital Consultant Neonatologist Dr. L.P.C. Saman Kumara said.

He said it will be very soon all hospitals will run out of all their stocks of ETTs, and the hospitals have come to the situation where they are re-using the endotracheal tubes for ventilating new born babies, which is totally unacceptable.

Due to the economic and political crisis in the country, medical supplies have run out in the hospital network, the doctor said. 

Therefore, the hospital doctors are forced to change their norms of using re-usable ventilator circuits in the country. 

“With the current perilous  situation in the country, Dr. Kumara sends an appeal to the people living overseas to find a way to send some Neonatal ETTs which are in 4mm, 3.5mm, 3mm, 2.5mm, and 2mm in sizes. But we mostly need size 3 mm and 3.5 mm, “he said.

We need a national requirement of 3,500 Neonatal ETTs in sizes 3 mm and 3.5 mm, as well as 500 in size 4 mm, on an annual basis. 2,500 from 2.5mm and 500 from 2mm, the doctor added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Director General of Health Services Dr Asela Gunawardena has appointed an official coordinator to maintain uninterrupted healthcare services and facilitate medicinal and equipment donations to Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, Director Medical Technology Services at Health Ministry Dr. Anver Hamdani has been appointed as the coordinating officer on behalf of Ministry of Health to coordinate, facilitate and liaise with relevant stakeholders.

The relevant official is expected to coordinate within relevant ministries and the private sector organizations, donor agencies, provincial and regional health authorities and professional colleges to maintain uninterrupted service provision during the present challenging period.

Dr Hamdani can be reached via 077 1214131 (Official), Fax 011 2669491 and moh.covid.coordinator@gmail.com

The step has been taken in the wake of the looming shortage of drugs in the country which has compelled some hospitals to suspend certain surgeries. (Sheain Fernandopulle)