Jayantha Gonsalkorale CPA A concerned citizen

Suggestions and recommendations have been made to settle the current stalemate and to bring normalcy to Sri Lanka. The country is in an abyss and the biggest losers are the innocent people whose livelihood is dependant on a daily wage and often do not have savings to live through periods of unemployment, the students and our future generation

The Proportional Representation system of electing Members of Parliament needs to be abolished. This system has devastated the social fabric of Sri Lanka and created politicians who are at the mercy of businessmen of various calibre from honest law abiding socially astute to absolute rogues who are engaged in businesses such as drug running, prostitution and unethical business practises.

PR system

Elections held under the PR system members are elected in multi-seat constituencies through proportional representation system where each party is allocated a number of seats from the quota for each district according to the proportion of the total vote that party obtains in the district.

What does this mean. If simplified, the system makes possible for a Party to nominate more than one candidate for an electorate. There can be multiple nominees/candidates from each party and the one who will ultimately represent the electorate will be the person who gets the highest votes or Manapa”. This person can be someone who does not live in that electorate and as such has no clue of the issues and aspirations of the people in that electorate and cannot be held accountable.

The person who received the next highest also plays a role in establishing the final count for the party and I will not go into that as the issue I am addressing is the unwanted competition between nominees of the same party.

Competition between candidates

The inter-candidate competition within the same party is what leads to corruption. It makes honest politicians dishonest as they get the flavour of making money without any effort. An election campaign around 2005-8 cost a candidate around Rupees 5.0 million. None of these candidates are millionaires prior to entering politics. These election expenses are funded by businessmen from all walks of life from the honest to those in drug running and prostitution just to name two extremes. On winning elections, these funded” MPs become slaves of these businessmen and more often than not, have to provide favours which involves the turning of a blind eye to any illegal activities or providing favours like large contracts. Both these activities lead to a domino effect of corruption and an interdependency between the politician who is supposed to serve the country, to one who serves the businessmen. They end up serving the businessmen and not the people who voted them in. They are in other words accountable to the businessmen who provided funding for the election campaign.

Change needed in the electoral system

One party should only nominate one candidate for an electorate and should be from the electorate. On winning an election, the person will be answerable to the people of the electorate and will be held accountable to the people who voted.

Any infighting between candidates of the same party will cease.

All election campaign costs should be provided by the party funds and any donations made to the party should be disclosed to the public and subject to an audit by the Auditor General.

An electorate with predominantly of people from a different ethnicity will often be represented by a MP of the same ethnicity. Again, this will lead to a greater understanding of the cultural needs of the people.

The cost of Government will be reduced drastically with the reduction of the number of MPs .

I make these suggestions in the interest of the people who have been led up garden path by all Governments since 1977 thanks to the Constitution introduced by our former President late Mr JR Jayawardena.

Politicians prior to this hailed from the electorates who mingled and lived amongst the people who appointed them to the Parliament as a result the people of the electorate were truly represented in the highest decision-making institution of the country, the Parliament. Hence, they were respected.

We need to bring accountability back to the Members of Parliament if Sri Lanka is to progress and rise as a nation again.

Thank you

Jayantha Gonsalkorale CPA

A concerned citizen

BY Dinitha Rathnayake  Courtesy Aruna

The Police have commenced investigations in connection with the damage to a number of homes and other properties owned by former Ministers, incumbent Government MPs, and Local Government (LG) members, following attacks that also led to acts of arson by protestors on Monday (9) and yesterday (10).

The attacks followed in the wake of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Government supporters attacking peaceful protestors at the protest sites in MainaGoGama” in Kollupitiya and GotaGoGama” in Galle Face on Monday. 

Speaking to The Morning, Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) of Police Ajith Rohana said that investigations would be processed by the relevant police stations where the incidents have been reported.

Accordingly, former Prime Minister and incumbent MP Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Carlton house in Weeraketiya and the Medamulana Walawwa”, as well as properties connected to the Rajapaksa family such as the D.A. Rajapaksa Museum and memorials were attacked and destroyed on Monday and yesterday. 

Further, the properties of Ministers, including Cabinet and State Ministers, such as Vidura Wickramanayaka, Shehan Semasinghe (his residence), Rohitha Abeygunawardena (his office in Kalutara), Johnston Fernando (his offices in Kurunegala and Lillie Street, Colombo), Nimal Lanza (his residence in Negombo), Dr. Bandula Gunawardena (his residence in Nugegoda), Dr. Ramesh Pathirana (his residence in Galle), Arundika Fernando (his residence in Wennappuwa), Prof. Channa Jayasumana (his residence in Anuradhapura), and Prasanna Ranatunga (his residence in Udugampola), were set on fire. 

Properties of former Deputy Speaker and incumbent MPs Wimal Weerawansa (his residence), Ranjith Siyambalapitiya (residence), Duminda Dissanayake (residence), S.M. Chandrasena (residence), Kapila Athukorala (residence), Sahan Pradeep Withana (residence in Kadawatha), Siripala Gamlath (residence in Polonnaruwa), K. Gunawardena (residence in Meerigama), Tissa Kutti Arachchi (residence in Bandarawela), Chinthaka Mayadunne (residence and office in Puttalam), Anuradha Jayaratne (office in Gampola), Gunapala Rathnasekara (residence in Kurunegala), Santha Nishantha (residence), Anupa Pasqual (residence in Mathugama), and Akila Saliya Ellawala (residence in Balangoda) also came under attack. 

Further, the properties of Moratuwa Mayor Saman Lal Fernando (residence), the Chairman of the Attanagalla Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) (residence), the Chairman of the Kotikawatte-Mulleriyawa PS (residence), the Chairman of the Walallawita PS (residence), the Chairman of the Elpitiya PS (residence), and the Horana Mayor (residence) were also among those that came under attack.

By Noor Nizam – Peace and Political Activist, Political Communications Researcher, Patriotic Citizen, May 9th., 2022.

People like Chathura Seneratne, the president/secretary and the former president/secretary of the IUSF and JVP Lal Kantha should be arrested immediately. 

What the opponents of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s political victory since 2005 and followed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2015 could not achieve with all their conspiracies initiated by the Western powers and the connivance of the JVP with the involvement of the “Yahapalana gang” has now (nearly) been achieved under the disguise of a “peoples protest”. What the JVP did in these protests and riots have been well planned over a period of at least one year, it can be assumed. 

The 1987–89 JVP insurrection (also known as the 1989 Revolt) was the second unsuccessful armed revolt conducted by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna against the Government of Sri Lanka under President J. R. Jayewardene then. Unlike the first unsuccessful JVP insurrection of 1971, the second insurrection was not an open revolt, but appeared to be a low intensity conflict that lasted from 1987 to 1989 with the JVP resorting to subversion, assassinations, raids and attacks on military and civilian targets.

The R2P promoters of the West have pulled there strings against the Rajapaksa regime and the Gota Presidency quite smartly now. The so-called “democratized” JVP and he SJB is working very closely with the “powers that would be” who are interested in Regime Change in Sri Lanka since 2005. The JVP, Inter University Students Federation (IUSF), Frontline Socialist Party and the Catholic Church have shown their real faces in this “political game” that is being played in Sri Lanka at the cost of the suffering people and innocent student population. 

The recent interview by Chamuditha with JVP Lal Kantha broadcasted over national TV channels/YouTube has revealed the “TRUTH” about the JVP’s involvements in the violence that is taking place all over the country. 

Lal Kantha says clearly that he phoned all his senior cadres in every important city and asked them to launch protest in their localities after the action taken by the government to clear the protesters camped outside Temple Trees and then the SLPP supports clashing with the “Gota Gama” protester at Galle Face green and in front to the President’s Secretariat, destroying them and burning the protesters tents and temporary shelters and driving all of them away.

Was that call from JVP Lal Kantha the call to burn the residences of Former President and PM Mahinda Rajapaksa and other SLPP politicians whom the JVP decided to be revenged for the destroying and burning of their “make shift” tents and shelters/enclosures near Temple Trees and at Galle Face green and in front of the Presidents Secretariat by some SLPP supporters.

The government should be very “FIRM” in their resolve in bringing these protests and riots under control. They should take into custody all the so-called leaders who are involved in these violent actions of “arson and damage to private and public property” with a strong “arm”. People like Chathura Seneratne, the present president/sectary and the former president/secretary of the IUSF and JVP Lal Kantha should be arrested immediately. TV news reporting should be used to identify the “JVP, SJB, Frontline Socialist Party, UNP drug addicts and the JVP goons who had been away in foreign countries and the Middle East who flew to Sri Lanka to carry out the special missions of the so-called “peoples protest” and create anarchy these days as we have witnessed in our beloved “MAATHRUBOOMIYA”. Where were these goons when Prabaharan and the LTTE went on an “on slaughter” both militarily and otherwise in Sri Lanka and abroad through their front lobbies in Canada, Europe and North America? 

Have you SINHALESE PEOPLE FORGOTTEN THE DISASTER THEY CREATED TO YOUR NATION AND HOW THE TRI FORCES DEFENDED OUR “MAATHRUBOOMIYA” UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF SLFP/SLPP GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIPS. Was it not Mahinda and Gota along with Sarath Fonseka save the “SINHALA NATION” without being divided like what happened in making Aceh an independent Nation in 2005 by the US and Western conspirators, just after the Tsunami.

Like what the Canadian PM Justin Trudeau did to the Truckers Protest which happened a few months ago in Ottawa and then in other cities in Canada, all their bank accounts should be probed immediately and frozen and details of those who funded them must be made public. Using the “EMERGENCY” they should be brought before the “Rule-of-Law”. 

වාගිස ප්‍රනාන්දු.

ඉන්දීය භාරතීය ජනතා පක්ෂය නියෝජනය කරන තමිල්නාඩුවේ උපත ලද සුබ්‍රමනියම් ස්වාමි දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදයට තදින්ම විරුද්ධවූ අයෙකි. අපේ රට දෙමළ කොටි ත්‍රස්තවාදය හා සටන් කරද්දී ඉන්දීය පාර්ලිමෙන්තුව තුල හා ඉන් පිටත අපේ රට වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටි එකම ඉන්දීය මහජන නියෝජිතයාවූයේ සුබ්‍රමනියම් ස්වාමි පමණයි. ඇතැම් අවස්ථාවන්හීදී කොටි ත්‍රස්තවාදයේ ඉලක්කයක් බවට පත්වූ අවස්ථාද නැත්තේ නොවේ.

නමුත් එදා අපේ රට වෙනුවෙන් සිටි එකම ඉන්දීය මහජන නියෝජිතයා, අද පීල්ල මාරු කර ඇති සැටියක් පෙනේ. ඊයේ ඇතිවූ කලහකාරී සිද්ධීන් පාදක කරගෙන එය ඉන්දීය විරෝධයක් දක්වා වර්ධනය වේයැයි උපකල්පනය කරමින් ඉන්දියාවේ ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව පතා ලංකාවට ඉන්දීය හමුදා එවිය යුතු බවට ඔහු දැන් යෝජනා කරයි.

රාජපක්ෂවරුන් රට පාලනය කරන අවස්ථාවන්හීදී රට ඉන්දියාවට වඩා බෙහෙවින්ම චීනය පැත්තට නැඹුරුවූ බව සත්‍යයකි. එසේ වීමට අපට විවිධ සාධාරණ හේතුද තිබේ. දෙමල කොටි ත්‍රස්තවාදය පැවැති වකවානුවේදී ඇතැම් විට ඉන්දියාව අපේ රටට යුධමය ආධාර දීමට අදිමදි කල අවස්ථාවන්හීදී අපේ ගැලවුම්කරුවන් වූයේ චීනය සහ පකිස්ථානයයි. ඉන්දීය සාගර කලාපයේ තමන්ට හිමි ස්ථානය රැක ගැනීම සදහා නිතර වෙහෙසවන ඉන්දියාවට පකිස්ථානයේ මෙන්ම චීනයේ මැදිහත්වීම් ලංකාවට ලැබීම නොරුස්නා බව පැහැදිළි කරුනකි. ඒවාගේම සේද මාවත හරහා චීනය විසින් ලෝකයේ භූමිය අත්පත් කරගනිමින් සිදුකරන ආක්‍රමණය කලාපයේ බලවතාවන ඉන්දියාවටද, ලෝක බලවතාවන ඇමරිකාවටද හිසරදයකි.

සෑම විටම බළලුන් ලවා කොස් ඇට බෑවීමට ප්‍රසිද්ධ ඇමරිකාව, යුක්රේනය බලයෙන් රුසියාව සමග යුද්ධයකට තල්ලු කර රුසියාවට එරෙහිව තහංචි පණවමින් රුසියානු ආර්ථිකය විනාශ කිරීමට උත්සාහ කරනවා සේම ඉන්දියාව හරහා ලංකාව ඕනෑවටත් වඩා චීනයට නැඹුරුවීම වැළැක්වීම සදහා කටයුතු නොකරනු ඇතැයි විශ්වාස කල නොහැක. රටේ ආර්ථික අර්බුදය පිපිරී ගිය අවස්ථාවේ සිටම ලංකාවට විවිධ ආකාරයෙන් මුල්‍යමය හා මුල්‍යමය නොවන ප්‍රතිපාදන ලබාදෙමින් සිටින ඉන්දියාව ඒ හරහා ලංකාව චීනයට ඇති නැඹුරුව අවම කර තමන් දෙසට වැඩියෙන් නැඹුරු කරගැනීමට උත්සාහ නොකරනු ඇතැයිද විශ්වාස කල නොහැක.

එළෙසින්ම ලංකාවේ Big Brother යන අන්වර්ථ නාමයෙන් හදුන්වන ඉන්දියාව අපේ රටට ලබාදී ඇති සහ ලබාදීමට පොරොන්දු වී ඇති ණය සහ ණය පහසුකම් හරහා අපේ රටේ ආර්ථිකය හැසිරවීමට යම් උත්සාහයක් තිබෙන බවටද ආරංචි නැත්තේ නොවේ. ඉන්දියාව මෑතක සිට ලංකාවේ ඉන්ධන වෙළදපොලේ ප්‍රමුඛතම මිළ තීරකයා වී ඇත. ඊට අමතරව බොරදියේ මාළු බෑමට සමත් ඉන්දියාව මෙවන විටත් අපට ලබාදුන් ණය සහ ණය පහසුකම් හරහා  සාම්පූර්, මන්නාරම සහ ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ සැළකිය යුතු භූමි ප්‍රමාණයක ඉන්දීය ජාතික කොඩිය එසැවීමට අවශ්‍ය කරන පසුබිම දැනටමත් මැනවින් සකස් කරගෙන සිටින අතර  අවසානයේදී ඉන්දීය මහ බැංකුව හරහා අපේ රටේ ආර්ථිකය සහ ලංකාවේ මුදල් ඒකකය වන රුපියල හැසිරවීමටද ඇත්තේ සුළුපටු ඉඩකඩක් නොවේ.

එවන් තත්වයක් තුල සුබ්‍රමනියම් විසින් කිසිවෙකුත් නොහිතූ ආකාරයෙන් පීලි මාරු කිරීම ඔහුගේම අවශ්‍යතාවයම නොවුනත් බොහොවිට තමන්ගේ දේශපාලන බල අධිකාරියේ උවමනාව මත සිදුවූවක් විය හැක. එමනිසා සුබ්‍රමනියම් විසින් ඊයේ රටේ සිදුවුනු කළහකාරී හැසිරීම් ඉන්දීය විරෝධයක් දක්වා වර්ධනය වේ යැයි අනුමාන කරමින් ඉන්දීය ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව පතා ඉන්දියානු හමුදා ලංකාවට එවීමට යෝජනා කිරීමද , හුදු අහම්බයක් නොව  ඉන්දියාව විසින් ලංකාව ගිල ගැනීමේ ඉහත ව්‍යාපෘතියේම කොටසක් විය හැක.

Jubeda Chowdhury  in Dhaka city

Dear respected Policymakers of Myanmar,

We, Bangladeshi citizens want a friendly relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar with neighbourly spirit. Because you are ours immediate neighbours  Thus, you should strengthen the bilateral ties with Bangladesh by resolving bilateral problems such as Rohingya crisis. Myanmar and Bangladesh should bolster their ties with neighbourly spirit for various reasons. Currently the strained Myanmar-Bangladesh relations need to be smoothened. January 13, 2022, marked the 50 years of bilateral ties between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Myanmar recognized Bangladesh as a sovereign state on January 13, 1972. But there weren’t any seminars, discussions, statements, reciprocation, felicitations between the two neighbors to mark the special day. There were many ups and downs between the tow neighbors over 50 years. But Myanmar-Bangladesh needs to strengthen ties for ensuring the greater interest of the two regions such as South Asia and Southeast Asia.

When Bangladesh celebrated its glorious journey of 50 years, many countries in the world felicitated Bangladesh. Even Pakistan PM Imran Khan has felicitated Bangladesh marking the 50 years of Bangladesh’s independence. But it’s a matter of sorrow that its neighbour, Myanmar didn’t congratulate Bangladesh. Even both countries’ respective embassies remained silent on the issue. Why this is? Because the relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar are strained now. But this strained tie must be smoothed for ensuring greater regional interest.

However, the relationship between Myanmar-Bangladesh has never been smooth and has gone through frequent ups and downs over the last 50 years on a number of issues. Despite having many possibilities, the two countries have not been able to build a real relationship with each other. The people from both sides are deprived of enjoying neighborly advantages for these stained relations.

The improved ties between the two neighbors can ensure some common regional advantages. Geographically, Myanmar is located in the eastern part of Bangladesh with a 271 km border. To its southeast, it is at least 150 km wide, due to its hilly terrain and dense forest cover. Strategically, Myanmar enjoys a distinct position between the two Asian giants, China and India. The same position applies to Bangladesh. Naturally, both Bangladesh and Myanmar enjoy important strategic positions in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Basically, Myanmar and Bangladesh both can be used as a gateway between South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Myanmar can use Bangladesh as a transportation route to reach the markets of Bhutan, Nepal, North East India easily.  Bangladesh and Myanmar share some regional common platforms such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation (BIMSTEC), an organization made up of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand which seeks strategic and economic development. If Bangladesh and Myanmar improve their relations with each other, their dependence on China and India could be reduced and could increase trade with other countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Bangladesh can be used as an important hub to connect ASEAN and SAARC. Myanmar too, as an ASEAN member, can access the SAARC free-trade bloc through Bangladesh if the Myanmar-Bangladesh ties can be improved.

In the case of bilateral relations, there were two issues that caused some annoyance between them. The first was the demarcation of the sea-boundary between them. It is a matter of satisfaction that the matter was settled peacefully by the 1982 International Tribunal of the Sea Convention in March 2012. As Myanmar and Bangladesh, both share the Bay of Bengal area and 271km long border, Myanmar and Bangladesh both can take part in tackling nontraditional security threats in the Bay of Bengal such as tackling piracy, illegal drug dealing, human trafficking, environmental degradation, countering terrorists in the region.

The second is on the Rohingya refugee issue. Between August and November 2017, it was reported that a military operation in Myanmar had forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to cross the border into neighboring Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh government has faced the Rohingya crisis many times. In 1978, an anti-insurgency operation by the then military government of Myanmar in Rakhine State resulted in a massive brutal crackdown, with some 300,000 Rohingya crossing the border into Bangladesh. This is again in 1991-92, the second wave of more than 250,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to escape the ongoing military repression. The two countries have resolved the issue peacefully through bilateral talks. But current 2017 Rohingya crisis needs a fruitful sustainable solution between Myanmar and Bangladesh to bolster the ties. Definitely, Bangladesh and Myanmar should find a durable Closer Bangladesh-Myanmar ties have great economic potential – but the Rohingya issue must be resolved. Enhanced bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Myanmar could contribute to the growth of trade and investment relations with ASEAN and BIMSTEC countries.

There are other routes to bilateral cooperation. Myanmar is rich in natural resources such as tin, zinc, copper, tungsten, coal, marble, limestone, natural gas, hydropower, etc. Myanmar could thus be a major source of energy for Bangladesh to ensure its energy security.

Myanmar is also a major supplier of natural wood to the world. While it has traditionally eyed foreign investment in the oil and gas sector, the country has recently shifted its focus to attracting production-based investment. The country is well ahead in power generation following a good investment in hydropower generation. The tourism industry is also a promising sector of the country. Religious tourism can be a source of potential. There are many Buddhists Biharis in Bangladesh.

A number of important Buddhist archeological sites have already been uncovered in different parts of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is believed to be a rich repository of South Asian Buddhist heritage. In order to draw the world’s attention to the rich Buddhist heritage in Bangladesh, the Government organized an international event in collaboration with World Tourism Organization in October 2015.

There are a number of magnificent modern-era Buddhist temples in Bangladesh. The Golden Temple at a hilltop in the Bandarban district is probably the most charming Buddhist temple in Bangladesh. Gigantic Buddha status in Dhaka, Chittagong, and other parts of Bangladesh are special attractions for devotees and tourists. There are also a number of Buddhist learning centers and pilgrimage spots in Bangladesh.

This area of archaeological sites refers to Paharpur in Naogaon, Mahasthangarh in Bagura, Mainamati in Comilla, and Bikrampur in Dhaka district. Each of these sites has unique qualities as part of history. Some archaeological sites are important for both Hindu and Buddhist investigation because religious sculptures of each can be found. Thus, Myanmar and Bangladesh can exchange religious tourism.

Through the import of gas and electricity, Bangladesh can obtain its future energy security. The two countries can jointly explore oil and gas fields in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh can also contribute to the development of Myanmar’s infrastructure.

The proposed construction of the Asian Highway, funded by the Asian Development Bank, can increase land connectivity between the two countries and increase trade in products such as fertilizers, plastics, cement, furniture, etc. Bangladesh is on the way to the completion of its railway project Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar railway line. The line will run from Dohazari in Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar (one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country).  This line can be extended to North East India, Nepal, and Bhutan. If this line can be extended to China-South East Asia via Bangladesh’s Ghundhum- Myanmar as part of the proposed Trans Asian Railway Network Asian Highway Network, the whole region can definitely benefit.  Myanmar should take such an initiative to join the Trans Asian Railroad. 

Myanmar, which at present does have sophisticated manufacturing, can import electronics and pharmaceutical products that are readily produced from Bangladesh and benefit from the technology transfer.

However, the two countries can also increase agricultural production through joint ventures. Apart from adopting joint investment projects, Bangladesh can increase imports of various agricultural products including pulses, spices, fish, and rice.  Enhanced bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Myanmar could contribute to the growth of trade and investment relations with ASEAN and BIMSTEC countries. This will create an opening to solve the Rohingya problem and stop militant activities.

Basically, the Rakhine region of Myanmar can be used as a trade hub between Bangladesh and Myanmar. The agro-products in Rakhine need a viable market. Bangladesh can be a big market for the goods that are produced in Rakhine. On the other hand, Bangladesh has vast and tremendous experience in garments and production of agricultural sectors. Myanmar can exchange Bangladeshi expertise to benefit. Myanmar’s products (Known as Burmese products are very popular in Bangladesh), Myanmar and Bangladesh can set up some border hats (border market) between Bangladesh and Myanmar to boost up the trade. India and Bangladesh are benefitting from such kinds of border hats at the border. Thus, strengthening people-to-people contact, bolstering public diplomacy between the two sides can mend the strained ties between two neighbors. Thus, we urge the policy makers of Myanmar-Bangladesh to bolster the ties.

Sincerely regards

I favor of the Citizens of Bangladesh

By Dr. Tilak S.Fernando

Private organisations work more efficiently than Government ones do. The Russian Friendship Teaching Hospital in Malabe could be seen as a typical example, (before and after the Government took over). One can still, have a private consultation (from the 4^thfloor) at a price. Could this impasse be due to the lackadaisical approach of the staff working on Government concerns?

The writer recently accompanied a patient to a semi-Government hospital in Kotte for an operation on 21 March. The surgeon was exceptionally kind and arranged everything possible for the patient. The patient was asked to get x-rays before surgery. The patient produced the x-rays taken at a private hospital, but the doctors at the semi-Government hospital rejected them saying All x-rays must be taken at a particular private hospital in Colombo”.

So, the patient had to spend extra money to travel to Colombo, amidst the fuel scarcity in Sri Lanka to obtain a fresh set of x-rays at an extra cost.  This semi-Government hospital should have in the first place advised her where to get the x-rays from?  Later, this hospital requested the patient once again to get more tests such as lipid profile, complete blood count to ensure that she was physically fit for the operation. The patient got all the tests in the Colombo named private hospital to cut down on extra expenses.

The Difference

Private hospitals are more efficient when compared to semi-Government hospitals, the latter lacks professionalism. At the Colombo private hospital there was a special counter on the ground floor to obtain copies of the laboratory tests, which helped patients immensely. It is the standard practice of any hospital to give a patient a list of instructions when a patient is admitted for surgery. The semi-Government hospital requested the patient to come on 21 March at 7 a.m., to prepare for surgery on the following day, without such a list. When the patient reached the hospital, there was no receptionist available to make inquiries , and not  even the parking ticket counter was open. However, when the writer on his return approached the exit point of the car park and informed the attendant that there was no one in the morning” the gatekeeper opened the barrier and let the writer’s vehicle pass without a charge.

Exasperated

The patient was lost inside this semi-Government hospital.  She was advised by a nurse to take PCR and Antigen tests for starters, but did not point out where the tests were performed. The patient has had three Pfizer injections in London and the ‘booster’ in Sri Lanka. She seemed to be frustrated after going through every rack when another patient advised her and directed her towards an isolated spot in the hospital compound for PCR tests. The patient was given a form in duplicate by an official in the main building where payment was made first. 

Later at the PCR test counter the patient handed over the completed forms. Another nurse performed the PCR and Antigen tests. It was amusing when the nurse requested the patient to fetch cotton swabs required for tests from another counter. The nurse’s responsibility should have been to have ordered the requisite paraphernalia in advance instead of expecting patients to fetch them for her convenience.

Inside this semi-Government hospital there were long corridors, which was quite a fair distance to even walk up to the lift area. By this time, the patient was exhausted. Is it necessary to emphasise how frustrated can a patient be sent from pillar to post? The patient was dog tired after wasting time from 7 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. by wandering inside the hospital corridors! After reaching the ward a nurse informed the patient needed to be registered first. So, the patient had to come down again to the ground floor and fill out another set of forms for registration!

Returning to the hospital ward again a nurse advised the patient about the non-availability of private rooms, even though the patient had requested a private room. The nurse soothed the patient by promising to arrange a private room and admitting her to a 6-bed cubicle. When the writer visited her again in the evening, the patient was still in the 6-bed cubicle!

If the authorities of this semi-Government hospital read this column, the writer requests them not to harass patients in this manner.

A description of instructions  should be in the following manner:

(1) Indicate where the PCR/Antigen counter is.

(2) Advise the PCR/Antigen counter staff to be more flexible and sympathetic!

(3)  Indicate the registration procedure – where and how to get registered.

(4) Not to assume patients are aware of the hospital procedures.

(5) Ensure that Private Patients get separate rooms.

(6)  Advise female patients to remove all nail varnish.

 (7)  A detailed list to patients to bring what is required when hospitalised ( e.g., a glass to drink).

(8)  Supply cutlery to private patients.

(9) Provide toilet paper ( and add as extra charges on private patients’ bills).

(10) Indicate that there is no Wi-Fi facility in this semi-Government hospital.

At 7.30 pm, the patient decided to return home and forgot about the surgery.

tilakfernando@gamail.com

picture credit: Ceylon Today Newspaper

Courtesy Adaderana

The armed forces have been ordered to open fire on any person involved in looting public property or causing physical harm to others, the Ministry of Defence says.

In a video statement, Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne urged the general public to refrain from such conduct.

He urged the country’s youth to continue their struggle in a peaceful manner without causing any harm to any individuals and without damaging to setting fire to any properties, be it public or private. 

The Defence Secretary said that a large number of incidents regarding violent behavior, causing disturbances, taking the law into one’s own hands, assaulting police officers and destroying public and private property have been reported in the country. 

He also gave an update on the casualties and property damages reported since the nationwide eruption of tensions yesterday.

The defence secretary stated that a total of 08 lives have been claimed, including two police officers, amidst the tense situations while at least 219 individuals have sustained injuries, with some of them are in critical condition.

He said it is the duty of the police and the tri-forces to protect the law and order in the country and therefore called on all Sri Lankan citizens to help them to fulfill that task.  

Gunaratne said that there have been reports of groups of mainly youths, disregarding the state of emergency and the police curfew currently in effect, who are breaking into homes in various areas and committing crimes such as assault, murder, robbery and arson.  

According to the police, six persons had died in incidents in the Western Province and two in the Southern Province. 

The police added that 68 houses and 47 vehicles had been set on fire while damages have been caused to another 65 houses and 41 vehicles.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The residence and shrine of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s personal shaman, Gnana Akka, were destroyed by the protesters’ attack in Anuradhapura last night.

Courtesy Daily Mirror

Police said violence throughout the island on Monday has resulted in eight deaths and number of arson attacks on houses and properties.

They said eight men including a Parliamentarian, a Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman, a Sub Inspector of Police and a Police Seargent had died during the riots and violent activities that took place island wide on Monday.

More than 230 have been injured in those incidents.

Police said 47 vehicles and 38 houses came under arson attack, while 41 vehicles and 65 houses had been severely damaged.

Most of the vehicles and houses destroyed belonged to former ministers or MPs of the ruling party.(Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya)

Courtesy Adaderana

As a close neighbour, India has reiterated its support for the democracy, stability and economic recovery of Sri Lanka.

The official spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs has conveyed this in response to media queries on the recent developments on the island nation, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said.

As a close neighbour of Sri Lanka, with historical ties, India is fully supportive of its (Sri Lanka’s) democracy, stability and economic recovery.”

The spokesperson also recalled that India, in keeping with its Neighbourhood First policy, has extended this year alone support worth over USD 3.5 billion to Sri Lanka to help overcome the ongoing crises.

In addition, the people of India have provided assistance for mitigating the shortages of essential items such as food and medicine, he added.

India will always be guided by the best interests of the people of Sri Lanka expressed through democratic processes.”

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka Police says that two suspects have been arrested in connection with the assault on Senior DIG in charge of Western Province, Deshabandu Tennakoon.

The suspects have been arrested by Kollupitiya Police, a short while ago. 

Earlier today, it was reported that Senior DIG Deshabandu Tennakoon has been injured in an attack carried out by a group of persons. 

According to reports, the high-ranking police officer had been assaulted by a group at Perahera Mawatha near the Beira Lake in Colombo.

The angry mob had also attacked and damaged the Senior DIG’s vehicle.

Meanwhile footage of the incident, circulating on social media, shows several persons surrounding and attacking the police officer with clubs, sticks and other objects. 

However, it is reported that the Senior DIG has not been seriously injured in the incident. 

Courtesy Adaderana

The Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) Capt. Themiya Abeywickrama has rejected the ‘false rumours’ being circulated on social media accusing him of certain allegations. 
 
During this current crisis, false rumours are been circulated on social media accusing me of certain false allegations,” he said in a statement. 

The DG of Civil Aviation stated that as a private citizen and in his official capacity he sincerely denies the baseless and false allegations” currently circulating in social media claiming that he is linked with the illegal transport and removal of any person or persons from Sri Lanka.

Capt. Abeywickrama also denies that he has in any manner or form threatened any licence holder/pilot by interfering in the legal performance of their flying duties.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa — who resigned as prime minister after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters and sparked a day of violence — will not flee the country, his son MP Namal Rajapaksa told AFP on Tuesday.

He said the Rajapaksa family had no plans to leave Sri Lanka despite weeks of protests demanding they relinquish power.

There are a lot of rumours that we are going to leave. We will not leave the country,” he said, describing the surge of national anger against his family as a bad patch”.

He added that Mahinda Rajapaksa would not step down as a lawmaker and wanted to play an active role in choosing his successor.

The former prime minister was taken to an undisclosed location after protesters on Monday night breached the compound fence at Temple Trees, his official residence in the capital Colombo.

My father is safe, he is at a safe location and he is communicating with the family,” the former sports minister was quoted as saying by AFP.

Weeks of overwhelmingly peaceful protests against the government’s mismanagement of the crisis turned violent on Monday when supporters of Mahinda Rajapaksa had attacked demonstrators outside Temple Trees.

Anti-government crowds defied a nationwide curfew to retaliate against government supporters for the attacks late into the night.

Namal said his family believed that Sri Lankans had a right to protest.

We will always stand by our people,” he added.

Source: AFP

Courtesy Hiru News

Police Media Spokesman SP Nihal Thalduwa stated that an ALL ISLAND police curfew has been imposed indefinitely&nbsp;with immediate effect.<br /><br />The police spokesman said in a statement that strict action would be taken against those who damage public property, mobilizing public assembly and committing acts of violence during the curfew.

MUNZA MUSHTAQ Courtesy Nikkei Asia

Opposition debates future as protesters insist President Rajapaksa must go too

COLOMBO — An eerie calm descended on Sri Lanka’s capital on Tuesday, the day after the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, with citizens harboring more questions than answers about what the future holds.

But while Colombo was relatively quiet after a night of violent clashes and burnings across the country — which killed at least seven, injured more than 200 and left properties owned by the Rajapaksa family and other politicians in smoldering ruins — fresh trouble was brewing in the east.

In the city of Trincomalee, protesters gathered outside a naval base on Tuesday afternoon, as rumors spread that former Prime Minister Rajapaksa and family members had taken refuge there and were attempting to flee the country. Rajapaksa is believed to have left the official prime minister’s residence in Colombo, known as “Temple Trees,” early Tuesday morning, once the military dispersed an angry crowd outside.

At the naval base, hundreds of demonstrators chanted: “Mahinda, come out. You robbed our money. Come out. You ruined our country. You’re a rogue.”

Mahinda’s resignation on Monday night — after a tumultuous day in which pro-government mobs attacked peaceful protesters — appeared to mark the stunning end to the career of a once-popular leader who previously served two terms as president and oversaw the end of a civil war. It was also a pivotal moment for a family dynasty that has dominated Sri Lankan politics for years, though his younger brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, remains president.

Much remained uncertain, however. Attempts by Nikkei Asia to contact Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son Namal, also a member of parliament, were unsuccessful. And nearly 24 hours since Mahinda’s resignation, Gotabaya had yet to issue a statement or name a successor.Sri Lanka’s former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa: His resignation on May 9 marked a pivotal moment in the country’s political and economic crisis.   © Reuters

The president himself has been under intense pressure to resign. Many citizens blame him and his government for dire shortages of fuel, essentials and electricity, along with usable foreign reserves that have shrunk to as low as $50 million. Although Mahinda indicated that he hoped his resignation would enable the formation of an interim unity government to find a way out of the economic emergency, it was unclear whether the opposition would work with Gotabaya.

At the time of reporting, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya party led by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa was holding an urgent meeting on the way forward. Most opposition parties have been insisting that all the Rajapaksas, including Gotabaya, must go.

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo-based think tank, said that what Sri Lanka needs first is a new prime minister. But he said the president should then step aside. “He must nominate a prime minister, and then get it confirmed by parliament, and then he must resign,” Saravanamuttu said of Rajapaksa.

“The resignation of Mahinda can’t be seen as a sacrifice for Gotabaya to stay in power,” he added.

Saravanamuttu pointed to the constitution, which states that once a president resigns, the prime minister or speaker of parliament takes over. Then, in 30 days, parliament must appoint someone who can command confidence.

He agreed that Sri Lanka must hold elections as soon as possible, but argued that an interim government would need at least a year to negotiate assistance from the International Monetary Fund and deal with the sweeping executive powers of the president. “If we abolish the executive presidency then we need to go for a general election and not for a presidential election,” he said.Vehicles of Sri Lanka’s ruling party supporters are seen in a lake on May 10, after being pushed into the water during a clash of pro- and anti-government demonstrators near the prime minister’s official residence in Colombo.   © Reuters

Protesters who have been peacefully demonstrating for over a month opposite the presidential secretariat in Colombo continue to insist Gotabaya must also step down.

One said that despite an attack on the site by pro-Rajapaksa supporters on Monday, which damaged some of their tents, they have already started rebuilding. A curfew imposed to stem the violence has not dissuaded them, either. “We never stopped even though the site came under attack yesterday,” said protester Kishan Karunaratne.

He, too, insisted that Gotabaya must resign. “That has been our demand, and we are continuing it.”

Amid the political impasse, however, many experts fear the economic woes may only get worse.

W.A. Wijewardena, former deputy central bank governor, said that with the resignation of the prime minister, the government has ceased to function. “Sri Lanka doesn’t have a finance minister or finance secretary to offer credibility to negotiate with the IMF,” he told Nikkei Asia. Only the central bank governor “is left behind but with no government in existence, he doesn’t have mandate to do so.”

Wijewardena said the result is that Sri Lanka has now taken several steps backward in its drive for economic stability.

Courtesy CGTN

A top Sri Lankan policeman was attacked by a mob and hospitalized on Tuesday, AFP reported citing the police.

Local media reported that Deshabandu Tennakoon, a senior inspector in charge of Western Province, was assaulted in Colombo.

By Iqbal Athas, Hannah Ritchie and Rhea Mogul, CNN Courtesy CNN

A Sri Lankan man protects his eyes from tear gas as he passes the site of anti-government protests in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 9.

(CNN)Sri Lanka’s outgoing Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was rescued in a pre-dawn military operation Tuesday, hours after his resignation, as violent clashes between pro and anti-government protesters left several dead and 217 injured.The military were called to the Prime Minister’s ‘Temple Trees’ compound after protesters tried to breach his private residence twice overnight, a senior security source told CNN.The attackers managed to “enter the outer perimeter” of the residence where they hurled petrol bombs, but their attempts to enter the building were thwarted when the military fired tear gas, according to the source.

One police officer involved in the clashes died at the scene when a tear gas gun exploded, the security official said, confirming that Prime Minister Rajapaksa and his family have since been taken to an undisclosed location.

The scenes followed an evening of violent clashes across Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo on Monday, during which at least seven people died according to police, although it is unclear if all of the deaths were directly related to the protests.Some 217 people were also injured as a result of the clashes, local health authorities reported.Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa quit on Monday evening shortly after a nationwide curfew was imposed. The curfew came after live television showed footage of government supporters, armed with sticks, beating protesters at several locations across the capital, including at Galle Face Green park, and tearing down and burning their tents. Dozens of homes were torched across the country amid the violence, according to witnesses CNN spoke to.

The park has become a focal point for protesters who have been demonstrating for weeks against the government’s alleged mishandling of an economic crisis that has caused prices of everyday goods to soar and widespread electricity shortages.Armed troops were deployed, according to CNN’s team on the ground, while video footage showed police firing tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters.”We are helpless now, we are begging for help,” Pasindu Senanayaka, an anti-government protestor told Reuters, as black smoke spiraled out of a burning tent nearby and parts of the protest camp lay in disarray.Riot police attend the protest in Colombo.Police have accused the protesters of violence too, saying they attacked buses carrying local officials to Colombo for a meeting with the Prime Minister.Following the chaotic scenes, the government brought in an island-wide curfew, and soon afterwards the Prime Minister, 76, resigned. “Multiple stakeholders have indicated the best solution to the present crisis is the formation of an interim all-party government,” he said.”Therefore, I have tendered my resignation so the next steps can be taken in accordance with the Constitution.”However, it remains unclear if the curfew and his resignation will be enough to keep a lid on the increasingly volatile situation in the country of 22 million.Many protesters say their ultimate aim is to force President Gotabaya Rajapaksa — the prime minister’s brother — to step down, something he has so far shown no sign of doing.The President has condemned the violence in a post on Twitter, but has stopped short of apportioning blame.”(I) strongly condemn the violent acts taking place by those inciting and participating, irrespective of political allegiances,” he wrote. “Violence won’t solve the current problems.”On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said the use of violence by government supporters had sparked “a dangerous escalation, increasing the risk of further deadly violence and other abuses.”Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, urged the government to “uphold the right to peaceful protest.””It is vitally important for the security forces to fully respect the right to peaceful assembly, and for those responsible for violence to be held to account,” Ganguly said.

Surgery by mobile phone light and reusing catheters: Sri Lanka’s economic woes push hospitals to the brink of disasterFor weeks, Sri Lanka has been battling its worst economic crisis since the island nation gained independence in 1948, leaving food, fuel, gas and medicine in short supply, and sending the cost of basic goods skyrocketing.Shops in the country have been forced to close because they can’t run fridges, air conditioners or fans, and soldiers have been stationed at gas stations to calm customers, who must line up for hours in the searing heat to fill their tanks. Some people have died waiting.Protesters in Colombo first took to the streets in late March, demanding government action and accountability. The government was recently thrown into disarray when ministers stepped down en masse.Last Friday, President Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency following skirmishes near the country’s parliament, but public anger continues to escalate.

The Rajapaksa family has dominated Sri Lankan politics for over two decades. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s resignation comes as several other family members who previously held cabinet level positions have also been forced to step down.President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the only remaining family member still in power.

Diannah Paramour Australia

Dear Sri Lankan’s

You have been suffering for 1,000’s of years and managed to triumph all alone, with only your passion for the Motherland coupled with your bravery, resilience and loyalty to ensure that Serendib survives.

Yes I do believe in the right to protest but if your prize is the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa, then the crowds can cheer as he falls upon his sword…..however tread carefully.

As President he raised his loving arms into the air, reaching to the universe with these empathic and genuine words:

NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST

 YOU ARE ALL MY CHILDREN”

How dare you place blame for global inadequacy and your terrible suffering at his feet.

Who better to save you now than the brothers of destiny who saved you all, at the end of this Earths longest and bloodiest terrorist war, with Tamils now free to rejoin the island as slaves viscously held as prisoners by the LTTE.

Can the rainbow of that tremendous efforts  shine above you forever?

Of course not because we are struggling to force the entire worlds people to end global inequality.

THE NAME RAJAPAKSA MUST NEVER BE TRAMPLED  UPON…

Nor should ‘any’ citizen go without food and other basics that are their right to share in the islands finances.

Sadly, the protesters, however totally valid their concerns have a minor victory that now ensures that they bring shame upon themselves and their family’s name.

Instead of lighting fires and removing your underwear, why not be mature and stop this silly behaviour and instead, request mediation sessions to help your government instead of what is beIng seen by the International Community as ‘Citizen Terrorism’

Please don’t allow that to happen.

Let’s not climb back into the trees of evolution, let’s not give those evil colonists the little chuckle over their evening Port and cigars as they perceive the sight as a funny affair that reflects that it is actually their victory that you are unable to behave without their brutality and control.

Today I know that your Prime Minister cries tears of blood, not for himself, but for you….

His children of North South East West..That his family has incontrovertibly served you for years.

So be ashamed of your miserable schoolyard behaviour, that will now cause an instability that will see you all drown in a far greater misery.

My heart breaks for you all, as I watch from afar as the lemmings leap to their own demise.

It’s not too late protesters, ‘ LEMMINGS GO HOME’

Signed with love and hope

Diannah Paramour

Australia

ආචාර්ය සුදත් ගුණසේකර

(ත්‍රයි නිකායික මහානායක හිමිවරුන් ප්‍රමුඛ සමස්ථ භික්ෂු  සමාජයට සහ දේශප්‍රේමි සියළු ශ්‍රී ලාන්කික ජනතාව වෙත විවුර්ථ සන්දේශයක්)

ආචාර්ය සුදත් ගුණසේකර අග්‍රාමාත්ය සිරිමාවෝ බන්ඩාරනායක මැතිනියගේ හිටපු ස්ථිර ලේකම්, ශ්‍රී ලන්කා රාජ්ය පරිපාලන සේවා සන්ගමයේ සභාපති (1991-1994) සහ මහනුවර සින්හල බෞද්ධ ජෙෂ්ඨ පුරවැසියන්ගේ සන්විධානයේ සභාපතී 1985 සිට මේ දක්වා))

8.5.2022. මහනුවර

පූර්විකාව

අද මේ රට හා ජාතිය පත්ව ඇති අර්භුධයන්ගෙන් ගොඩගැනීමට  ඇති හොඳම විසඳුම

*පවතින මැතිසබයෙන් නියෝජනයවන සර්වපාක්ශික අන්තර්කාලීන රජයකි.

(මන්ද මේ අවස්ථාවේ මැතිසභය විසුරුවා මැතිවරණයකට යාමෙන් රටේ ප්‍රස්න තවත් උග්‍රවන අතර රටේ පවතින තත්වය යටතේ පැවත්වෙන මැතිවරණයකින් කිසිම පක්ශයකට රජයක් පිහිටුවීමට බහුතරයක්ද නොළැබෙන නිසා එය කිසිසේත්ම සුදුසු නොවන බැවිනී)

 එහෙත් එම සර්වපාක්ශික අන්තර්කාලීන රජය.

 *මේ රට සින්හල බෞද්ධ රාජ්යක් යන මූලික සන්කල්පය මත පදනම් වූ ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් අනුව රට පාලනය කිරීමට දිවුරා සපථ කරණ,

*1815 වේ සිට මේ රටේ සින්හල ජාතියට අහිමිවූ සියළු උරුමයන් නැවත ලබාදෙන, (සියළු සුළු ජන කොටස්වල වාර්ගික හා ආගමික අයිතීන් ආරක්ශා කරමින්)

*1948 ලබාගත්තායයි කියන ඊනියා නිදහස 1972 න් මෙපිටට සමූර්ණ කිරීමට සපථ කරන

* 1987 ඉන්දු-ලන්කා ගිවිසුම සහ 13 වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම සන්සෝධනය සහ මේ රටට සාපයක්වූ පලාත් සභාද අහෝසිකොට

* දැනට මේ රටේ පවතින බටහිරින් ආදේශිත දේශපාලනයේ පවතින ආත්මාර්ථය වෙනුවට බුදු දහමෙන් අපට උරුමවූ,  රටේ, ජනතාවගේ  මෙන්ම සියලු සත්වයන්ගේ සුභසෙත මූලික පදනම වශයෙන් සලකන

**මේ රටේ දේශීය සන්ස්කෘතිය, චිරාගත සම්ප්‍රදායන් සහ සිරිත් විරිත් පදනම් කරගත් දේශයට ගැලපෙන නව ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම විව්ස්ථාවක් වසරක් තුල ජනමත විචාරණයට ඉදිරීපත් කිරීම.

තවදුරටත්

*එම රජය මෙම ලිපියේ  පහතින් දක්වා ඇති ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්තීන් අනුව දැහැමින් සෙමින් රට පාලනය කිරීමට ශ්‍රී දළදා වහන්සේ සහ ත්‍රයිනිකායික මහානායක හිමිවරුන් ඉදිරියේ දිවුරා පොරොන්දුවන රජයක් විය යුතුය.

එසේම

මේ රට අද පවතින දේශපාලන සමාජ සහ ආර්ථික අර්බුධවලින්  ගොඩගත හැක්කේ ජනතා ඉල්ලිම අනුව වහාම ජනාධිපතිවරයා සහ අගමැහිවරයා ඉල්ලා අස්වි  පාර්ලිමෙන්තුවෙන් පත්කරගන්නා විධායක නොවන නව ජනාධිපති වරයකු හා මැතිසබයේ බහුතරයේ පිළිගැන්ම ඇති අගමැතිවරයකු සහිත ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් අනුව රට පාලනය කිරීමට දිවුරා සපථ කරණ  රටේ සාම්ප්‍රදායික දේශපාලන මඩ ගොහොරුවෙන් මිදුනු, රටේ ඉතිහාසය, සමාජ, ආර්ථික හා තාක්ශනික සම්ප්‍රදායන් පිලිබඳ දැණුමක් ඇති දේශප්‍රේමි ජනතා හිතවාදී බුද්ධිමතුන් සහිත කුඩා (17) පහත දක්වා ඇති පරිදී අමාත්ය මන්ඩලයකින් පාලනයවන අන්තර්කාලීන සර්වපාක්ශික රජයකට පමණි

වර්තමාන අර්බුධයන්ගෙන් රට සහ ජනතාව ගොඩ ගැනීමේ ඒකායන ක්‍රමය යන මැය යටතේ 20.4.2022 වන දින ලන්කාවෙබ් පුවත්  අඩවියේ පලවූ මගේ ලිපියේ පළමු ඡේදයේ සඳහන්වූ

1 පුලුල් ජාතික වැඩපිලිවෙලක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට එකඟවන,

2 නව ජනාධිපතිවරකු සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සිටින සියළුම පක්ශ නායක්යින්ගෙන් යුත්,

3 සර්ව පාක්ශික අන්තර්කාලින ඇමති මන්ඩලයකින්,

4 රට පාලනය කිරීමට

ජනාධිපතිවරයා සහ පක්ශ 11 කණ්ඩායමේ නියෝජිතයින් එකඟ වූ බව ඇසීම මට නිම් හිම් නැති සතුටකි 

කෙසේ වුවද ඉහත දක්වනලද මගේ ලිපියේ එම ඡේදයේම සඳහන්වන

1.අමාත්ය තනතුරුවලට අදාල විශයන් පිළිබඳ විසේසඥ සහ ප්‍රායෝගික දැනුමක් ඇති පුද්ගලයින් කීපදෙනකු රාජ්ය සභාවට පිටතින් ගැනීමේ සහ 3 අවුරුදු කාලයකට  යන කරුණු දෙකද මෙම ලේඛනයට එකතුවිය යුතුය. එහි සඳහන් 3 අවුරුදු කාලය පළමුව 1 අවුරුදු කාලයකට සීමා කිරීම මැනවයි දැන් මට සිතේ. මන්ද පළමු වසරේ ප්‍රගතිය අනුව, 2 සහ 3 දක්වා එය දීගුකළ හැකි බැවිනි. මා එසේ කියන්නේ 20.4.2022 වන දින ලන්කාවෙබ් පුවත් අඩවියේ පලවූ ලිපියේ සවිස්තරාත්මකව දක්වා ඇති පරිදි මේ අවස්ථාවේදී මැතිවරණයකට යාම කිසිසේත්ම සුදුසු නොවන බැවිනි.එයවත් තේරුම්ගැනීමට නොහැකි කිසිවෙකු මේ රටේ පාලනයට කිසිසේත්ම සම්බන්ධවීමට තබා ඒ සඳහා සිහින දැකීමට හෝ සුදුසු නැති බව මගේ දැඩි අදහසය.

යෝජිත රජයේ සන්යුතිය සහ වැඩපිළිවෙල ප්‍රකාශකොට එවැනි රජයක් පිහිටුවීමත් සමඟම රට තුල වර්තමානයේ පවතින දේශපාලන සහ,සමාජ උද්ඝෝෂන, අසහනය සහ අරාජිකත්වය මුළුමනින්ම නැතිවී  ජනතාවට සැනසුම් සුසුමක් හෙලීමට එය හේතු වියහැකියයි මම සිතමි.

1.නව රජය ප්‍රථමයෙන්ම සිදුකළයුතු කාර්ය

1ජනතාවගේ එදිනෙදා ජීවිතයට අත්යාවස්ය සහල් පිටි, අල, පරිප්පු, ලොකු ළුුණු, කරවල සහ සීනි  වැනි ආහාර ද්‍රව්ය සහ, ඉන්ධන, ඖෂධ වැනි දේවල්, පෝලිම්වල පැය ගණන් නොසිට  හිගයකින් තොරව සාධාරණ මිලකට ලබාගැනීමට මෙන්ම ජලය, විදුලිය සහ ප්‍රවාහන සේවා අඛණ්ඩව ලබාගතහැකි  පරිසරයක් ඇතිකිරීම

2 අත්යාවස්ය භාණ්ඩ සඳහා දැඩි පාලනමිල ක්‍රමයක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සහ එය උල්ලන්ඝනය කරණ සහ භාණ්ඩ සඟවන පුද්ගලයින්ට එරෙහිව දැඩි දඩුවම් දීම

3 වී වගාව ප්‍රධානකොට ඇති කෘශිකර්මාන්තයට, මෙන්ම අපනයන වැවිළි කර්මාන්තයට අවශ්ය රසායනික පොහොර සහ පළිභෝධ නාසක වැනි යෙදවුම් සාධාරන මිලකට හිගයකින් තොරව ලබාදීම.

4 ගෙවතු මුල්කොට ගෙන  දීපව්යාප්ත දැවන්ත ආහාර නිශ්පාදන වැඩ පිළිවෙලක් ගම් මට්ටමින් වහාම ඇරඹීම සහ  නිස්පාදිත භාණ්ඩ, ප්‍රවාහනය,අළෙවිකිරීම ගබඩාකොට තැබීමට සීතගබඩා  පහසුකම්, අලෙවි සන්වර්ධන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවෙන් සැපයීම

5 පසුසම්පත් හා ධීවර කර්මාන්ත වලටද අවශ්ය සියලුම පහසුකම් ලබාදී විශේසයෙන්ම ධීවර කර්මාන්තය දැවැන්ත අපනයන කර්මාන්තයක් බවට පත්කළහැකි අන්දමින් සන්වර්ධනය කිරීම.

6 බහුතර ජානතාවගේ එදිනෙදා ජීවිතයට අනවස්ය, ඇපල්, මිදි චීස් සහ රට බීම වර්ග වැනි සුඛෝපභෝගී භාණ්ඩ ආනයනය කිරීම තාවකාලිකව වහාම නතර කිරීම

7 අතීතයේදී පැවති අන්දමට අඩු ආදායම් ලාභීන්ට සලාක ක්‍රමයට සහල්,පිටි සීනි වැනි අතයාවස්ය ද්‍රව්ය ලබාදීම සහ වැඩි ආදායම් ලබන පුද්ගලයින් සහ ආයතන වලින් වැඩි බදු අයකර ගැනීම

8 රජයේ අනවශ්ය වියදම් වහාම නතර කිරිම

9 පාසැල් යන ළමයින්ට ඇඳුම් සහ පොත් ලබාදීම වැනි අනවශ්ය දේවලට විරාමයක් තැබීම.

10. 13 වන විවස්ථා සන්සෝධනය සහ පලාත් සභා අහෝසිකිරී.

11මැති අමතිවරුන්ගේ වැටුප් වසරකට නතර කිරීම සහ ඔවුන්ට ලබාදෙන සියළුම අමතර දීමනා, වරප්‍රසාද  අහෝසි කිරීම සහ දැනට දී ඇති නිල වාහහන සියල්ල ආපසු ලබාගෙන වෙන්දේසියේ විකුනා එම මුදල් ඹාණ්ඩාගාරයට බැරකිරිම සහ ඔවුන් සියලුදෙනාටම විදෙස් ගමන් තහනම් කිරීම.මැතිසභා රැස්වීම වලට පොදු වාහනවලින් එන මෙන් දැන්වීම.ඒ සම්ඟම ඔවුන්ට දී ඇති පුද්ගලික සේවක මන්ඩල (ඇමති 25 රාජ්ය ඇමති?—) සහ ආරක්ශක නිලධාරින් ආදී සියල්ලද වහාම ඉවත් කළයුතුය

12 ශ්‍රී ලන්කා පරිපාලන සේවට අයත් නැති සියලුම අමාත්යාන්ශ ලේකම් වරුන්  සහ ශ්‍රි ළන්කා විදේශ සෙවයට අයත් ජනාධිපති වරයාටට නැති සියළුම විදේශ සේවා පත්වීම් අවළන්ගු කල යුතුය.(අන්ක 11 සහ 12 යටතේ ඇති යෝජනා කීපය පමණක් කිරීම ජනාධිපති වරයාටට නැවත ඉපදීමට, ප්‍රමාණවත් යයි මම කියමී

2.දෙවනුව

මෙම වැඩපිළිවෙල කාර්යක්ෂමව ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට සුදුසු පරිපාලන යාන්ත්‍රණයක් සකස්කළයුතුය.  

1)      මෙම වැඩපිළිවෙල කාර්යක්ෂමව ක්‍රියාත්මක කළහැකි අදාල විෂයන් ගැන මනා පරිචයක් ඇති කුඩා අමාත්ය මණ්ඩලයක් පත් කිරීම

2) අදාල සේවාවන් කාර්යක්ශමව ක්‍රියාත්මක කළහැකි පළපුරුදු දක්ශ වෘතීය සේවාලේකම් වරුන් ඇතුල වෘතීය නිලධාරීන්  රාජ්ය ආයතනවලට පත්කිරීම

3) රජයේ සේවයට බඳවාගැන්නීමේ පටිපාටියට  සහ ක්‍රම්වේදයන්ට පටහැණිව සහ භණ්ඩාගාරයේ  සේවා හා සන්ක්යා අද්යක්ෂකගේ නියමයන්ට පටහැනිව කිසිම රජයේ ආයතන්යකටකිසිම සේවකයෙකු බඳවා නොගත යුතුය.

මෙම ක්‍රියාත්මක වැඩපිළිවෙල නිසියාකාරව සිදුවේදැයි සොයාබැලීමට විෂේෂ ඒකකයක් බැගින් සෑම අමාත්යන්ශයකම පිහිටුවීම

4 රජයේ මෙම වැඩ පිළිවෙල ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමේ ජාතික මට්ටමේ ආයතනවලට අමතරව දිසා, උපදිසා සහ ගම් මට්ටමේ පූර්ණ වගකීම දිසාපති, ප්‍රාදේශීය උප දිසාපති සහ ග්‍රාමසේවා නිලධාරීන් හරහා ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම.

(මෙම වැඩ පිළිවෙල ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම දේශපාලන ඇඟිලිගැසීම්වලින් තොරව සිදුකළ යුතුය.)

පළමුව සතිපතාද  දෙවනුව දෙසති පතාද ඉන්පසුව මාස්පතා ප්‍රගති සමාලෝචනය කළයුතුය. සෑම මසක අවසානයේම කාර්ය සාධනය සමාලෝචන වැඩපිළිවෙලක් මගින් නිලධාරින් මෙන්ම ඇමැතිවරුන්ද ඇගයීමේ වැඩපිළිවෙලක්ද ක්‍රියාත්මක කළයුතුය..

3.තෙවනුව

ණය ගෙවීම සහ හාණ්ඩ ආනයනයට අවස්ය ඩොලර් සොයා ගැනීම

1)      මහබැන්කුව මගින් දැනට කෙරීගෙන යන වැඩපිළිවෙලට අමතරව ලෝකය පුරා විසිරීසිටින ශ්‍රී ලාන්කිකයින්ට මාස්පතා රට ගොඩගැනීමේ අරමුදල නමින් මහ බැන්කුවේ විශේෂ ගිණුමක් ආරම්භකොට එයට තමන්ට හැකි මුදලක් එවනමෙන් නව ජනාධිපති වරයා ඔවුන්ට ආයාචනයක් කිරීම. ඒ සඳහා ඔවුන් උනන්දුකිරීම සඳහා විසේෂ ප්‍රතිලාභ ක්‍රමයක්ද ඇතිකළ යුතුය

ළොව පුරා විසිරී සිතින 10 ලක්ස්ගයකට අදික පිරිසකගෙන් මසකෙට එක් අයෙකු ඩොලර් 10 ක් එව්වත් $ මිලියන 10 ක් ලැබේවි නේද 

2)  හෑම ශේස්ත්‍රයකම අපනයන ඉහල දැමීමේ වැඩපිලිවෙලක් ක්‍රියාත්මක් කිරීම. අපනයන කරුවන්ට අව්ස්ය සෑම පහසුකමක්ම ලබාදිය යුතු අතර  ඒ සඳහා ඔවුන් උනන්දුකිරීමේ විසේෂ වැඩ සටහනක් ඇතිකල යුතුය.

3) අත්යාව්ස්ය දේට පමණක් ආනයන භාණ්ඩ සීමාකිරීම

4) රට අහරින් ස්වයන්පෝෂනය කිරීම. ඒ අතර වී වගාවට ආර්ථිකයේ ප්‍රමුඛස්ථානය දියයුතු අතර අවශ්ය ඊට ජලය,රසායනික පොහොර, පළිභෝධනාසක ආදිය සාaaධාරණ මිලකට ලබාදීම. මීට සමගාමීව වනසතුන්ගෙන්  වගාවන්ට සිදුවන හානි (දැනට 35 %) අවම කිරීමේ දීපව්යාප්ත වැඩපිළිවෙලක් ක්‍රියාත්මක් කිරිම.

5.ඊට සම්ගාමිව රටතුල කෘශිකාර්මික, කාර්මික සහ සේවා ආදි සියළු අන්ශවලම අපනයනය කඩිනමින් වර්ධනය කිරීම මඟින් විදේශවිනිමය ලබාගැනීම වැඩි කරගැනීම සහ ඊට් අවස්ය ව්යාප්ති උපදෙස්, යෙදවුම් සහ වෙනත් සේවා සැපයීම.

මෙම වෙනස්කම් සමඟම පහත දැක්වෙන පරිදි ශුභවාදී බලාපොරොත්තුවක් තැබිය හැකි වාතාවරණයක් රට තුල ඇතිවිය හැක.

1 1948 න් පසු, කිසිම අව්ස්ථාවක සිදු නොවූ පරිදි, ප්‍රථම වතාවට මේ රටට හිතකර එසේම ගැළපෙන ජාතික ප්‍රතිපතියක් මත සියලුම දේශපාලන පක්ශ එකඟවීම මෙන්ම  සියළුම දේශපාලන පක්ශ ජාතියේ පෙර ගමනට එකම මාර්ගයකට ප්‍රවේශවීම.

(මේ වූ කලී මේ රටේ ඉතිහාසයේ අයිතිහාසික  සන්සිද්ධියක් වනු නො අනුමානය.මගේ අදහසේ හැටියට නම් මෙය සිදුවියයුතුව තිබුණේ 1948 ඊනියා නිදහස ලැබීමත් සමඟමය).

 2එසේම 1948 සිට මේ රට හා ජාතිය විනාශකළ, රට සන්වර්ධනය පසෙක තබා තමන්ගේ දේශපාලන බලය සහ මඩීය තරකරගැනීමේ එකම අරමුණ ඇතිව එකිනෙකා මරාගනිමින් මේ රටත් ජාතියත් යන දෙකම අද තිබෙන තත්වයට පත්කල, අධිරාජය වාදීන් විසින් අප බෙදා පාලනය කොට විනාශ කිරීමට අපට දායාදකොටදී ගිය මරඋගුලක්වූ, දේශපාලන පක්ශ ක්‍රමය අවසන්වීම ආරම්භවීම සහ පක්ශ දේශපාලනය නිසා උනුනුන් කුලල්කාගැනීම ද තාවකාලිකව හෝ නතර වීම.

3 ජාතියේ පෙරගමනට නැතිවම බැරි ජාතික සම්ඟිය ස්ථාපිත වීම.

4 දේශප්‍රේමි, ජනතා සේවයට ඇප කැපවූ උගතුන් බුද්ධිමතුන් කීපදෙනෙකුගෙන් හෝ සමන්විත අමාත්ය මණ්ඩලයක් සහිත රජයක් පළමු වරට රටට ලැබීම

5.ඒ සමඟම රට දේශපාලන සහ ආර්ථික වශයෙන් ශුභවාදී මාවතට පිවිසීම,  යන සියළු ජාතික අපේක්ශාවන් ඉන් එකවර ඉටුවන නිසාය.

එබැවින් විපක්ශ නායකයා සහ ජාතික ජනබල වේගයේ නායකයා ඇතුලු කිසියම් දේශපාලකයකු හෝ පක්ශයක් හෝ මෙම ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති නොපිලිගන්නේනම් එසේම ඊට විරුද්ධවේනම්  අනිවාර්යෙන්ම. ඔවුන් මේ රටේ දේශපාලනයෙන් සදහටම ඉවත් විය යුතුය. ඉන්පසු ඔවුන් සදාකාලික දේශපාලන වනසණ්ඩයට යනු ඇත.එසේම ඔවුන් නායකත්වයදරණ දේශපාලාන පක්ශද මියයනු ඇත, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්සය, ශ්‍රී ලන්කා.නි.ප, සමසමාජ, සහ ල. කො. ප. යනාදියට අත්වූ ඉරණම මේ පක්ශ දෙකටද  සිදුවීම නොවැලැක්විය හැක.

මේ රටේ දේශපාලන ස්ථාවරය ඇතිකිරීම සඳහා මෙම ලිපියෙන් මවිසින් ඉදිරිපත් කරණ සියළුදෙනාම විසින් පිළිගතයුතු, සාකච්චාකළ නොහැකි මූලික ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති මාලාවක් පහතින් දක්වමි.

4.රටතුල පවතින අර්බුධකාරී තත්වයෙන් ජනතාව සහ රට මුදාගැනීමට යෝජිත ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති.

වහාම ගතයුතු පියවර කීපයක්

1රජයේ අනවශ්ය වියදම් වහාම නතර කිරීම සහ ආදායම් වැඩි කිරීම

උදා: 1 අමාත්ය මණ්ඩලය මෙම ලිපියේ සඳහන් පරිදි වහාම 17 ට අඩු කිරීම

2 ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය විහිලුවක් බවට පතකොට කැබිනට් ඇමතිවරුන් හුදු පඹයන් බවට පත්කොට ඇති විවස්ථා විරෝධී රජයේ ශබ්ද විකාශන යන්ත්‍ර සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ කොඩිගස් පමණක් බවට පත්වී සිටින රාජ්ය ඇමතිවරුන් වහාම ඉවත් කිරීම එසේ කළ විට අමාත්යාන්ශ 24 ක් වැසීයාම නිසසා ඊට අදාල කාර්යාල,නිලධාරින්න්,යාන වාහන සහ වෙනත් වියදමද කෝටි ගණනින් අඩුවෙනු ඇත

3 කිසිම වැඩකට නැති පින්පඩිකාරයින් රැළක්වන පලාත් සභා ආණ්ඩුකාරයින් වහාම ඉවත් කොට, 1987 සිට වසර 35ක් පුරා ඉන්දියාව සතුටු කිරීම සඳහා ජාතික ධනය කෝටි ප්‍රකෝටි ගාණක් විනාශකල එසේම  වරෙක ලන්කා රාජ්ය පාලනයේ මුදුන් මල්කඩවූ දිස්ත්‍රික් පාලනය විනාශකල ජාතියට සුදු අලියෙක් සහ හූනියමක් වූ පලාත් සභා වහාම අහෝසිකොට දිසාපතිවරුන්ට තම දිසාවේ රාජකාරිය කිරීමට යලිත් නිදහස දීම.

ඒ සමඟම ප්‍රාදේශීය පාලනයේ , වියළි කලාපය,තෙත් කලාපය සහ කන්ද උඩරට වසර 12 ක් වත් අවම සේවා පුරුද්දක් ඇති මහජන සම්භන්ධතාව පිලිබඳ විසේශ කුසලතාවක් ඇති දිසා මට්ටමේ  වසර 6 ක් වත් අතිරේක දිසාපති වරයෙකු වශයෙන් පළැපුරුද්දක් ඇති  ඊට අමතරව ජාතික මට්ටමේ  දෙපර්තමේන්තු  දෙපර්තමේන්තු ප්‍රධානි සහ අමාත්යාන්ශ සහකාර සහ අතිරේක ලේකම් වරයෙකු වශයෙන් වසර 6 ක හෝ අවම සේවා පලපුරුද්දක් ඇති දක්ශ, ජේෂ්ඨ ලන් ප. සේ නිලධාරීන් පමණක් දිසාපතිවරුන් වශයෙන් පත්කළයුතුය..

4 මැති ඇමතිවරුන්ගේ සියලු දීමනා සහ වැටුප් නතරකොට මෙතෙක් රටට හා ජාතියට කර ඇති පව් ගෙවීම සඳහා, රට යථා තත්වයට පත්වන තුරු,නොමිලේ සේවය කරන මෙන් දැන්වීම,ඔවුන්ට සපයාඇති සියළුම සොඛෝපහෝගී වාහන  වහාම රජයට ගෙන ප්‍රසිද්ධ වෙන්දේසියේ විකුනා මුදල් රාජ්ය හාණ්ඩාගාරයට බැරකිරීම

5 පාඩු ලබන රාජ්ය ආයතනවල ප්‍රධානීන් වහාම ඉවත්කොට ඒවා යථාතත්වයට පත්කළ හැකි අය පත්කිරීම

6 සියලුම අතිරික්ත අමාත්යාන්ශ සහ රාජ්ය ආයතන වසා දැමීම

7 සියලුම විශ්‍රාමික මැති ඇමහිවරුන්ගේ ඔවුන්ගේ පවුවල අයගේ  සහ හිටපු ජනාධිපතිවරුන්ගේ සහ ඔවුන්ගේ බිරින්දෑවරුන්ගේ විශ්‍රාම වැටුප් සහ සියලුම වරප්‍රසාද වහාම අහෝසිකිරීම කිරීම

8 අඩුම ගානේ 1977 සිට හෝ සියලුම දේශපාලකයින්ගේ වත්කම් පරීක්ශාකොට වැරැදිකරුවන්වන් සියලුම දෙනාට දණ්න්ඩුවම් කිරීම සහ යුතු අන්දමින් උපයාගෙන මේ රටේ හෝ විදේශවල තිබෙන සියළුම වත්කම් ශ්‍රි ලන්කා  භාණ්ඩාගාරයට ලබාගැනීම

8 අධිකරණය ,රාජ්ය සේවය සහ සියලුම විස්ව විද්යාල ස්වාධීන කිරීම

9 සියළුම රාජ්ය අයතනවල අතිරික්ත රාජ්ය සේවක්යින් වන්දි

ගෙවා ඉවත්කොට ස්වයන් රැකියාවලට යොමුකිරීම

10 ජාතික රාජ්ය වැටුප් ක්‍රමයක් හා අර්ථවත් අයබදු ක්‍රමයක් ඇති කිරීම.

11.මහපොල ආධාර ණයක් බවට හැරවීමෙන් අති විශාල මුදලක් රජයට ඉතිරි කරගත හැක

ආදී වශයෙන් මේ යෝජනා කීපයෙන් මේ පමණක් ප්‍රකෝටි කීයක් රටට ඉතිරිවේදැයි බලනමෙන් මම ජනාධිපහිවරයාට කියමි.

6. එක්සත්, සව්භාග්යමත් ප්‍රබල ශ්‍රී ලාන්කික ජාතියක් ගොඩ නැගීම සඳහා සියළු දෙනාම ඒකමතිකව පිළිගත යුතු ජාතික  ප්‍රතිපත්ති මාලාවක්.

1 කි පු 307 සිට 1815 දක්වා නිලවශයෙනුත් එදා සිට අද දක්වාම නිලනොවන ලෙසිනුත් අඛන්ඪව වසර 2329 පැවති පරිදි මේ රට සින්හල බෞද්ධයින්ගේ පරම මාතෲ භූමියමිය බව මෙරටවාසී සෑමදෙනාම මෙන්ම සමස්ථ ලෝකවාසීන්ම අවිවාදයෙන් පිළිගතයුතුය

තවද කිසිම අවස්ථාවකදි කිසිවෙකුට ඒ තුල වෙනම වාර්ගික ප්‍රදේශයක් හෝ වෙනම පාලන ප්‍රදේශයක් හෝ වෙනම රාජ්යයක් ඉල්ලීමට අයිතියක් නැත. එබඳු ප්‍රකාශකිරීම හෝ ක්‍රියාවන්වල යෙදීම   රාජද්‍රෝහී වරදකි..

මේ අතර රටේ පුරවැසියන් වශයෙන් ජීවත්වන දෙමළ, මුස්ලිම් සහ වෙනත් සුළුජනකොටස් මේ බිමෙහි වසර 2500 කට වැඩි කලක් පුරා රටේ පරම උරුමකරුවන් වන සින්හලයින් සමඟසුහදව ජීවත් වී ඇත. ජාතියේ උරුමයට තර්ජනයක් නොවන තුරු ඔවුන්ද සින්හල අපගේම සොහොයුරන් වශයෙන් අපි සලකමු. කෙසේ වුවද අපගේ එම පරම උරුමයට ඔවුන් කිසිදිනක වචනයෙන් හෝ ක්‍රියාවෙන් තර්ජනයක් නොවිය යුතුය. එමනිසාම ඔවුන් කිසිවෙකුට මේ රටතුල අයිතිහාසික නිජබිම් හෝ වෙනමරාජ්යයන් ඉල්ලිමට කිසිදු අයිතියක්ද  නැත.එසේම මේ රටේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම විවස්ථාවේ ඒ බව විව්ස්ථා ගත කළ යුතුය.  එසේම සැමදෙනාම  ඒ බව පැහැදිළිව වටහා ගතයුතුය.

2රටේ නම සින්හලේ/ශ්‍රී ළන්කාව විය යුතුය ඒ හැර ඉලන්කයි, ඊළම්  ආදි වෙනත් වචනවලින් එය හැඳින්වීම රාජද්‍රෝහී අපරාධයක් වශයෙන් සැළකිය යුතුය.

3 මේ රටේ ජාතිය. ක්‍රි පූ.548 සිට පැවති පරිදි සින්හල /ශ්‍රී ලාන්කික වියයුතුය දෙමළ සහ මුස්ලිම් ජනකොටස් යනු මේ සින්හලයින්ගේ රටට විටින් විට පැමිණි සින්හලේ රජ්වරුන්ගේ සහ පසුව මේ රටේ පාලකයින්ගේ අනුග්‍රහය ඇතිව මෙහි පදින්චි පුරවැසිකම ලබාගත් සන්ක්‍රමනික ජනවර්ග පමණි. ඔවුන් අතීතයේදී කිසිම අවස්ථාවක මේ රට තුල වෙනම ජාතීන් වශයෙන් ප්‍රකාශ කොට නැත.එබැවින් වර්තමානයේද නොකළ යුතුය. එසේම එවැනි ප්‍රකාශ කිරිම හෝ කටයුතුවල යෙදීම රාජ්ද්‍රෝහී  අපරාධ්යක් වශයෙන් නීතිගත කළයුතුය

4 ක්‍රි ව පෙ 307 සිට අඛ්හණ්ඩව පැවති පරිදි අදද බුද්ධාගම මේ රටේ රාජ්ය. ආගම විය යුතුය කෙසේ වුවත් සියළුම ආගම් ඇදහීමේ පූර්ණ අයිතිය සහතික කෙරේ.

5 රටේ රාජය භාෂාව 1978 විවස්තාවේ තිබුණු ඵරිදි නැවතත් සින්හල විය යුතුය (ඒ අනුවනුව 16 වන විවස්ථා සන්සෝධනයද  අහෝසි කළ යුතුය

7 බුද්ධාගම රටේ රාජ්ය ආගම වියයුතුය.

8 මේ රටේ,ජනාධිපති,අගමැති, අග්‍රවිනිස්චයකාරතැන,ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදාපතිවරුන්, පොලිස්පති සහ නීතිපති      සින්හල යින්ම වියයුතුය

9 සියලුම ජනවර්ග,ආගම්,ආදිය මුල්කරගෙන පිහිටුවා ඇති සියළුම දේශපාලනපක්ශ තහනම් කළ යුතුය.

10 ඒකීය රටක් එක  නීතියක්     

11     මධ්යම කඳුකරයේ මු ම අඩි 5000 ඉහල අධිරක්ශිතයක් වශයෙන් ප්‍රකාශකොට 3500-5000 අතර විශාල තේ වතු තිබුණද සෑමවර්ගයේම ජනාවශ තහzනම් කළයුතුය. 

12 එක් ජාතික කොඩියක්. 1815 තිබුණ සින්හලේ කොඩිය

13 ජාතික ගීය දිවයින පුරාම ගායනා කළැ යුත්තේ රටේ රාජ්ය බාශාව වන සින්හලෙන් පමණි

14 නිදහස්  දින්නය මැයි 22 වශයෙන් නැවතත් ප්‍රකාශකළයුතුය.

15ජාතික ආර්ථිකයේ ගොවිතැනට මුල්තැනදිය යුතුය.

16 නව මැතිවරණ ක්‍රමයක්. පැරැණි ආසන ක්‍රමය යළි හඳුන්වා දිය යුතුය. අනුපාත, ම්නාප සහ බහු ආසන  ක්‍රමය ඉවත්  කිරීම.අපේශාක්යින් තේරීම අඩාල ආසන්යේ චන්ද දායකයින්ට දීම සහ අපෙක්ශකයකු වීමිම ට අදාල චන්ද කොට්ඨාශයේ වසර 5 ක් ඉස්තිර පදින්චිය හෝ ඉපදී තිබීම අනිවාර්ය කිරීම

17 ජාතික ලැයිස්තුව අහෝසිකිරීම ඒ වෙනුවට රටට විසිස්ඨ සේවයක් කර ඇති යම් යම් සේස්ත්‍ර පිලිබඳ විසේසඥ දැණුමක් ඇති කීප දෙනකු පත්කල මන්ත්‍රීන් වශයෙන් ගැනීමට විවස්ථාවේ ප්‍රතිපාදන සැලසීම.

18     දරුණු අපාරධවලට මරණ දඬුවම

19 දේශීය සහ විදේශීය රාජ්ය සේවය වුර්තිකයින්ට පමණක් සීමා කිරීම

20 වෙනස්නොවන නොබැඳි විදේශ ප්‍රතිපත්තියක්

21 සෑමපුර වැසියෙකුටම රටේ ඔනෑම තැනක පදින්චියට, දේපල මිලදි ගැනීමට සහ රැකියා කිරීමට අව්ස්ථාව      

22     මේ රට ෆෙඩෙරල් රාජ්යක් කොට දෙමල බලය නන්ග්වා සින්හල බ්ලය බිඳ දමා සින්හල ජාතිය විනාශ කිරිමට       ඉන්දියාව විසින් බලහත්කාරයෙන් අප හිස මත පැටවූ1987 ජූලි 29  ඉන්දු-ලන්කා ගිවිසුම සහ ඒ තුළින් උපන් 13 වන විවස්ථා සන්සෝධනය අහෝසිකොට මේ රටට හා ජාතියට  හූනිමක් වි ඇතිති පලාත් සභා වහාම අහෝසි කිරීම.

23 මේ රටේ ආර්ථිකය බිඳවැටීමට ප්‍රධාන හේතුවක් වන  දැනට පවතින අඅධිකක රජයේ නිවාඩු දින ගණන ජාත්යන්ත්‍ර  සාමාන්ය න්න්යන්ය ගණන වන 12 හෝ ඊට ආසන්න සන්ක්යාවකට අඩුකොට  වසරකට අපතේ යන මිනිස් දින ගණන රටේ සන්වර්ධනයට යොදාගතයුතුය.එය පහත සඳහන් පරිදි විය යුතුයයි යෝජනා කරමි

. නම                                   මාසය                    දින ගණන

1 සින්හල අලුත් අවුරුද්ද  අප්‍රේල්  13 &14               2

2 වෙසක්                             මැයි    වෙසක්  පෝය    2

3 ජනරජ දිනය                          මැයි  22                     1

4  ජාතික ගොවි කම්කරු දිනය    මැයි 1                     1

5  සින්හලේ ජාතික දිනය පොසොන් පෝය              1                                                

රජය් විසින් තීරණය කලයුතු නිවාඩු දින 

6    ජාතික වීර දිනය                                                  1

7   පරිසර දිනය                                                         1

8 ජාතික ළමා  දිනය                                                 1

9 ජාතික මව්වරුන්ගේ දිනය                                    1

10 ජාතික වැඩිහිටි දිනය                                           1

මුළු ගණන                                                                12

මීට අමතරව සෑම පෝය දිනයක්ම රජයේ නිවාඩු දිනයක් කිරීමෙන් තවත් නිවාඩු දින 49 ක් රජයේ සේවකයින්ට එක්වෙයි, ඒ අනුව පාසල් සතියද සකස්කරගත හැක.ඒ අනුව මේ රටේ සින්හල බෞද්ධ අනන්යතාවද  ආරක්ශා වනු ඇත.

අනෙකුත් ආගමික නිවාඩු දින අදාල ආගම අදහන අයට පමණක් සීමා කලයුතුය                   

යෝජිත අමාත්ය මණ්ඩලය

ජනාධිපති; අමාත්ය මණ්ඩලයේ ප්‍රධානියා, ආණ්ඩුවේ ප්‍රධානියා සහ සන්නද්ධ සේවාවන්හි ප්‍රධානියා

1අග්‍රාමාත්ය, රාජ්ය ආරක්ශක,  බුද්ධසාසන හා සන්ස්කෘතික කටයුතු

2 මුදල් හා ක්‍රම සම්පදන හා රජයේ වැඩ

3 ඉඩම්,  වාරිමාර්ග සහ පරිසර සන්රක්ශන

4 කෘශිකර්මාන්ත, වැවිලි කර්මාන්ත සහ කුළුබඩු

5 කර්මාන්ත, බලශක්ති හා තාක්ශන 

6 අධ්යාපන සහ ක්‍රීඩා

7 අධිකරණ, නිතිය හා සාමය

8 සෞක්ය, ආයුර්වේද සහ සමාජසේවා

9 නිවාස, පලාත්පාලන හා ජලසම්පාදන

10 වෙලඳ හා නාවික 

11 විදේස සහ ජාත්යන්තර (මෙම ඇමති ධුරයට නිතරම පත්කලයුත්තේ ශ්‍රි.ලන්. වි.සේ  විශිස්ඨතම නිලධාරියෙකි- ජාතික ළැයිස්තුවෙන්)

 12 ධීවර සහ සමුද්‍ර සම්පත් –

13 කම්කරු හා රැකිරක්ශා –

 14 ගමනාගමන, මහාමාර්ග හා ගුවන්සේවා 

 15 ප්‍රවුර්ති, ගුවන්විදුලි, රූපවාහිනී සහ ජනමාඩ්යධ්ය

16`උඩරට ගැමි පුනරුත්ථාපන සහ කන්ද උඩරට (ජාතියේ හදබිම ) සන් රක්ශනය 

17 ස්වදේශ කටයුතු රාජ්ය පරිපාලන හා ග්‍රාම සන්වර්ධන (මෙම ඇමති ධුරයට නිතරම පත්කල යුත්තේ ශ්‍රි.ලන්.ප.සේ විශිස්ඨතම නිලධාරියෙකි- ජාතික ළැයිස්තුවෙන්)

(ස්වදේශ කටයුතු, රාජ්ය පරිපාලන හා ග්‍රාම සන්වර්ධන අමාත්යාන්ශය මට භාර දෙන්නේනම් 1948 සිට නොකෙරුණු මේ රටට ගැලපෙන දිස්ත්‍රික්ක, ප්‍රාදේෂීය සහ ග්‍රාම පාලන ක්‍රමයක් 6 මසක් අතුලත මට මේරටට නිර්මාණය කොට දිය හැකි බව්ද ප්‍රකාශකරමි).

දැනට තිබෙන අමාහ්යාන්ශ, දෙපාර්තමේන්තු සහ අනෙකුත් රාජ්ය ආයතන සියල්ල(අනවශ්ය ඒවා වසාදැමීමෙන් පසු ඉතිරිවන) මෙම අමාත්යාන්ශ යටතට විධිමත්ව අන්තර්ගත කළ යුතුය

5 ජාතික ලැයිස්තුවෙන් ඇමතිමන්ඩලයට ගත යුතු කීපහෙනෙක්

ආචාර්ය ගාර්වින් කරුනාරත්න

ගාමිනි විජේසින්හ හිටපු විඝනනාධිපති

නීතිඥ නාගානන්ද කොඩිතුවක්කු

ප්‍රභාත් මහනාම

වන්නියෑලෑ ඇත්තො

ආචාර්ය චන්ද්‍රේ ධර්මවර්ධන. මෙම ළැයිස්තුවට ලක්ස්මන් කදිරගාම වැනි දෙමල නියෝජිතයෙක්ද ඇතුලත් කරගත යුතුය

                   (මොවුන් ඇමති තණතුරු භාරගැනීමට අසතුටුනම් යටත් පිරිසෙයින් ජාතික සැලසුම් මන්ඩලයේ උපදේශක වරුන් වශයෙන් හෝ පත්කර ගත යුතුයයි මම යෝජනා කරමි)

නම                                   මාසය                    දින ගණන

1 සින්හල අලුත් අවුරුද්ද  අප්‍රේල්  13 &14               2

2 වෙසක්                             මැයි    වෙසක්  පෝය    2

3 ජනරජ දිනය                          මැයි  22                     1

4  ජාතික ගොවි කම්කරු දිනය    මැයි 1                     1

5  සින්හලේ ජාතික දිනය පොසොන් පෝය              1                                                

රජය් විසින් තීරණය කලයුතු නිවාඩු දින 

6    ජාතික වීර දිනය                                                  1

7   පරිසර දිනය                                                         1

8 ජාතික ළමා  දිනය                                                 1

9 ජාතික මව්වරුන්ගේ දිනය                                    1

10 ජාතික වැඩිහිටි දිනය                                           1

මුළු ගණන                                                                12

අනෙකුත් ආගමික නිවාඩු දින අදාල ආගම අදහන අයට පමණක් සීමා කලයුතුය         

Courtesy newsin.asia

Colombo, May 9 (newsin.asia) – The police curfew imposed until 7 am tomorrow has been extended to 7 am the next day (11).

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, May 9: The Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, resigned on Monday following violence indulged in by his followers against protestors demanding the exit of the Rajapaksa clan from the government.

With the resignation of the Prime Minister, the cabinet of ministers automatically stands dissolved. This should pave the way for the formation of a National Government which has been on the anvil for weeks now but held up by a lack of consensus among the political parties represented in parliament.ADVERTISEMENT

Mahinda Rajapaksa is yet to issue a statement on the reasons for his resignation, after saying all along that he would not go unless sacked by the President. He had also told his supporters on Monday, that he would not chicken out of his responsibilities as an elected leader and would do his best to solve the problems facing the country.

However, it appears that the violence unleashed by his supporters on the Go Gota Go” campaigners in two places in Colombo on Monday, which led to the imposition of an island-wide curfew and the deployment of the army, had an unsettling effect on him, affecting his political confidence.

The country is already under a State of Emergency since May 6.

Twenty three persons were reportedly injured in the clashes. The clash took place outside the gates of the Prime Minister’s official residence Temple Trees, and the Presidential Secretariat on Galle Face, where groups of people were carrying on a continuous campaign to force President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign so that an efficient and corruption-free government is formed to solve the country’s pressing economic problems.

After a meeting with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at his official residence, his supporters, who had been brought in buses from various parts of the country, clashed with the already encamped anti-Rajapaksa protestors forcing the police to use tear gas and water cannons to disperse them.    

The pro-Mahinda Rajapaksa group then marched to the Presidential Secretariat on Galle Face where the ‘Go Gota Go” campaigners were encamped.  Clashes took place there too. The pro-Prime Minister group set fire to the tents put up by the protestors. Lending support to the Go Gota Go” group were the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Leader of the Opposition, Sajith Premadasa.  But they were booed by the protestors who expressed lack of confidence in the entire political class.

Fearing an escalation of the conflict, the police promptly clamped an island-wide curfew. In an appeal for calm, President Gotabaya said that violence would not solve the current problems and urged all to come together and find solutions. He condemned the violence and the perpetrators of violence, irrespective of political allegiances.  

Counter-violence

But despite the curfew and emergency, counter-violence began and continued in several places. Amarakeerthi Athukorala, a ruling party MP and his security guard were killed in a fracas involving anti-government protestors in Nittambuwa. The main roads were blocked at several locations as protestors waited for supporters of Mahinda Rajapaksa to attack them as they passed. Buses carrying Rajapaksa loyalists were attacked by mobs in several locations in Colombo. Houses of ruling party leaders like those of Johnston Fernando and Nimal Lanzawere set afire.

Gota-vs-Mahinda  

Monday’s incident was a fallout of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa-Mahinda Rajapaksa clash over the issue of resignation. While President Gotabaya wanted the Prime Minister to resign so that a multi-party government could be formed to tackle the grave economic crisis, the Prime Minister wondered why he should resign when he was not responsible for the decisions which landed the country in an economic mess. He refused to be a scapegoat and challenged the President to sack him. He even threatened that he would cross over to the opposition with a large chunk of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) members of parliament.

To demonstrate his grassroots-level support, the Prime Minister invited his supporters in the SLPP for a meeting on Monday at this residence. In an emotionally charged speech he said that he was ready to make any sacrifice for the welfare of the people of Sri Lanka and added: My policy is to overcome challenges by facing them. We don’t have a habit of fleeing from challenges.” 

The rhetoric was obviously meant to convey the impression that he would not meekly resign and fade into retirement. If he had chickened out and announced his resignation, his supporters, who came to hear him from near and far, would have dispersed quietly. But the fact that they attacked the anti-Rajapaksa group protesting outside, showed that the message given by the Leader was that he would dig in and fight against his brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

However, since the violence might create public odium against him, Mahinda has made a tactical withdrawal. But a solution to the political question is still not within sight given the fact that the Go Gota Go” campaign is still on, and might have got a shot in the arm after the resignation of the Prime Minister. Now, pressure is likely to mount on Gotabaya Rajapaksa to also resign.

Three of his ministers, including the prominent Channa Jayasumana and Vidura Wickramanayaka, had resigned before the Prime Minister resigned. President Gotabaya will not find it easy to find an MP capable of getting majority support and become eligible to be called upon to form a government. Top line leaders do not want to be Prime Minister in a government where the Executive President is the discredited Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The million-dollar question now is: whether Gotabaya Rajapaksa would read the writing on the wall and quit.

Gotabaya’s defense is that he can be sent out only by passing an impeachment motion, and that, he knows, is a very complicated and arduous process involving the judiciary also.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, May 9 (Ceylon Today/newsin.asia): Medamulana Walawwa’, the ancestral home of the Rajapaksa family, was set ablaze by protesters a short while ago (09). Earlier, protesters were seen setting fire to the D.A. Rajapaksa memorial in Medamulana, Hambantota.

In Colombo, three vehicles parked inside the Prime Minister’s official residence Temple Trees were torched by anti-government protesters. In the evening, the police had to fire in the air to disperse a crowd outside the Temple Trees.

Meanwhile, the curfew imposed on Monday had been extended up to 7 am on Wednesday.

The Grayzone

Inside America’s Meddling Machine: NED, the US-Funded Org Interfering in Elections Across the Globe.

As you notice on TV, when all politicians of the main political parties who visited the protest groups are booed and hooted and threatened except a certain pseudo Marxist group, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) comes to ones mind – see video how NED funds regime change groups.

In this Grayzone special, Max Blumenthal attends a Capitol Hill gathering of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and explores the group’s destabilizing global campaign to meddle in other countries’ affairs. The report covers the NED’s interference in foreign elections in Russia and Mongolia, its participation in coup attempts from Haiti to Venezuela to Nicaragua, and its escalating public relations efforts against China and North Korea.

Sri Lanka News

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung has condemned the situation today (09) by posting a message on her Twitter account.

The message says “We condemn the violence against peaceful protestors today, and call on the government to conduct a full investigation, including the arrest prosecution of anyone who incited violence. Our sympathies are with those injured today and we urge calm and restraint across the island.

Meanwhile, the so called peaceful protestors are accused of perpetration of following violences against the parliamtarians reported in the local news papers.

MP Kumara Welgama assaulted – Hiru News

It is reported that MP Kumara Welgama has been assaulted.

He was injured in the attack and is currently receiving treatment at a hospita

Ancestral home of Rajapaksas set on fire in Medamulana (Daily Mirror)

The ancestral home of the Rajapaksas in Medamulana in Hambantota has been set on fire by a group of protestors a short while ago.

Video footage showed the entire house burning away as protestors hooted away. 

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s house in Kurunegala set on fire (Video) – Hiru News

People have set fire to a house belonging to Mahinda Rajapaksa in Kurunegala.<br /><br />It is reported that a large fire has spread in the house.

Shooting at the Weeraketiya Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman’s residence – Hiru News

It is reported that a person has been shot dead at the house of the Chairman of the Weeraketiya Pradeshiya Sabha.

Eight others were injured in the incident, police said.<br /><br />Further details about the deceased and the incident have not been reported yet.

Medamulana monuments destroyed (Video) – Hiru News

The two monuments erected at the Medamulana Walawuwa in memory of D.A. Rajapaksa and Dona Dandina Rajapaksa have been smashed and destroyed.

According to reports 33.9 million rupees of Sri Lankan citizens’ tax money was wasted on these monuments.

Tear gas fired at protesters trying to enter Temple Trees (Adaderana)

The police have fired tear gas to disperse a group of anti-government protesters who attempted to forcibly enter the Temple Trees this evening (May 09).

Protestors trying to forcibly enter Temple Trees, tear gas fired (Daily Mirror)

A group of anti-government protestors who were forcibly trying to enter Temple Trees have been tear-gassed by the police a short while ago. 

Despite the tear gas, the protestors are attempting to forcibly enter the premises.

MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala found dead amidst unrest in Nittambuwa (Adaderana)

Polonnaruwa District MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala and his personal security officer are reported dead amidst the unrest in Nittambuwa today.

A shooting incident was reported in the area this evening, following which a total of six injured people were rushed to the Wathupitiwala Base Hospital.

Hospital sources confirmed that three of them have sustained gunshot wounds. A 27-year-old who was in critical condition later succumbed to injuries.

According to reports, the parliamentarian and his assistant had opened fire at the protesters and critically injured two people blocking his vehicle. He was later found dead while hiding inside a nearby building.

Footage secured from a nearby CCTV camera showed MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala fleeing the scene with his assistant, who was armed with a gun.

https://youtu.be/PiY-AwapvUk

Thisakutti Arachchi’s house attacked (Video) – Hiru News

People have attacked the house of Badulla District Parliamentarian Tissa Kuttiarachchi.<br /><br />Protesters reportedly set fire to the MP’s house after the attack.

Meanwhile, several houses of parliamentarians were attacked while the house of Puttalam MP Santha Nishantha was completely damaged due to an arson attack.

MP Sanath Nishantha’s house set on fire (Video) – Hiru News

Puttalam District Parliamentarian Sanath Nishantha’s house has been set on fire

MP Johnston Fernando’s house damaged – protesters surround residence – Hiru News

It is reported that the house of Kurunegala District Parliamentarian Johnston Fernando has also been surrounded by protesters.

Protesters have also set fire to his house and smashed equipment according to reports.

SLPP MPs houses under attack, vehicles burnt (Daily Mirror)

he houses of several SLPP MPs have come under attack by the protestors and some have been set ablaze.

Some SLPP offices have also been set on fire, the Daily Mirror area correspondents have reported.

Some of the MPs whose houses have been attacked are Johnston Fernando, Kanchana Wijesekara, Sanath Nishantha, Ramesh Pathirana and Nimal Lanza.

Security has been heightened outside all ruling party MP’s houses. 

Moratuwa Mayor’s residence set on fire (Courtesy NewsIn.Asia)

A group of individuals has set fire to the residence of Moratuwa Mayor Saman Lal Fernando, located in the area of Willorawatte.

According to Ada Derana correspondent, the situation has been brought under control.

Courtesy Hiru News

Police Media Spokesman SP Nihal Thalduwa stated that an ALL ISLAND police curfew has been imposed indefinitely&nbsp;with immediate effect.<br /><br />The police spokesman said in a statement that strict action would be taken against those who damage public property, mobilizing public assembly and committing acts of violence during the curfew.

Courtesy Adaderana

At least 141 people have been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital following the violent situation that erupted near Temple Trees and spread out to the Galle Face Green protest site and other parts of the country.

An unruly group of SLPP supporters today (May 09) attacked the GotaGoGama anti-government protest site set up at the Galle Face Green.

They caused havoc, assaulting the peaceful protesters at the site while destroying their tents and other properties in the area. 

The SLPP supporters had staged a demonstration near the Temple Trees this morning urging Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa not to resign from his position.

Following an audience with the prime minister, they also assaulted the anti-government protesters engaged in a peaceful protest near Temple Trees.

However, PM Rajapaksa announced his resignation hours after the eruption of the tensions.

Courtesy Adaderana

Polonnaruwa District MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala and his personal security officer are reported dead amidst the unrest in Nittambuwa today.

A shooting incident was reported in the area this evening, following which a total of six injured people were rushed to the Wathupitiwala Base Hospital.

Hospital sources confirmed that three of them have sustained gunshot wounds. A 27-year-old who was in critical condition later succumbed to injuries.

According to reports, the parliamentarian and his assistant had opened fire at the protesters and critically injured two people blocking his vehicle. He was later found dead while hiding inside a nearby building.

Footage secured from a nearby CCTV camera showed MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala fleeing the scene with his assistant, who was armed with a gun.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has stepped down from his position, amidst the ongoing protests against the government across the country.

He has tendered his letter of resignation to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a short while ago, the PM’s Office confirmed.

Rajapaksa’s resignation comes amid ongoing anti-government protests across the island over the worst economic crisis in the country since its independence.

Earlier today, police imposed a nationwide curfew and Army troops were deployed in Colombo as supporters of the ruling party attacked anti-government demonstrators outside the President’s office, leaving at least 23 people injured. 

Supporters of the SLPP rallied inside Mahinda Rajapaksa’s office earlier on Monday, urging him to ignore the protesters’ demand to step down and requesting he remains in office. 

After the meeting, they went to the front of the office where peaceful protesters have been demonstrating for several days while video footage showed the pro-government supporters attacking protesters with clubs and iron bars, demolishing and later burning down their tents.

The citizens of the island country have been showing this discontentment with the present government as they continue to struggle in long queues to meet their basic necessities, including food and medicines. 

It was reported last week that the Sri Lankan President and several ministers had also requested for the Prime Minister to resign allowing to form a government of national unity, an interim arrangement till the present economic crisis could be dealt with. 

Rajapaksa’s resignation as PM comes after rounds of discussions among the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Party (SLPP) and its constituent parties. The PM’s departure also results in the dissolution of the Cabinet. 

The government is currently struggling to meet basic requirements for its population of 22 million citizens amid an unprecedented economic crisis caused by mishandling of finances and ill-timed tax cuts. 

The island nation is also currently facing a foreign exchange deficit, which has resulted in food, fuel, power, and gas shortages, and has sought economic assistance from friendly countries. 

Meanwhile, people in the country have been protesting for nearly a month demanding for the government, led by the Rajapaksa family, to resign. 

Shenali D Waduge

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has presented a list of proposals claiming they will ‘restore political & economic stability’ in the country. While these are a set of ‘aspired’ goals, there is no pressing necessity to be implementing any one of the proposals unless they provide immediate solutions, which are the call of the hour.

The Executive Presidency is not the failure of the crisis but the blame can be pinned on the sitting Executive President if BASL presents points on where the sitting President has failed.

If BASL claims 20^th amendment is the reason for the current crisis – BASL may like to provide reasons for other economic crisis we have had in the past without 20^th amendment.

What is the ‘system change’ that can provide equitable governance?

The 19^th amendment re-established independent commissions. Instead of seeing unbiased actions, we saw an independent commission member run to Supreme Court to file FR showcasing his political bias. What is the assurance that BASL can provide that similar situations will not arise?

Can BASL explain what it means by a ‘common Sri Lankan identity’ respecting the ‘diversity of its People’. This looks like terms taken from western-backed NGO jargon.

There is nowhere that says Government MPs cannot function independently – in fact prior to 1978 constitution, a Government MP crossing led to a by-election and another MP getting elected. Ideally, the current proportional representation should change & first past the post system of electing MPs should be brought back. This will certainly end deal makers entering parliament.

Sri Lanka has been following parliamentary democracy & as such governments get elected and rejected through the ballot only. People’s protests are their fundamental right, but a precedence cannot be created by overthrowing a government by placards and protests. Their demands must be pressurized into implementation so long as they are valid and relevant to all citizens.

It is strange that the BASL are taking pains to promote only one western monetary institute for economic recovery & emergency financial assistance. Has BASL looked at the long term repercussions for the people from the conditions that Sri Lanka has to agree to obtain this loan facility? Is this the sole solution for Sri Lanka to gain economic stability? Is this loan to improve credit ratings so that Sri Lanka can entrap itself further by securing more loans?

Given that the BASL is also in agreement that ‘appointment of new Ministers will not’ resolve the present political instability, will a bi-partisan consensus without appointments happen in the current Parliament?

Will BASL proposal bring down the value of the Sri Lankan rupee & the queues or make available gas, petrol, medicines, essential goods & reduce power cuts.

The BASL has given 5 objectives in its proposal

1. Create political, economic & social stability
2. Create environment to address fundamental problems that led to the crisis & provide future reforms
3. Restructure external debt by entering multi-lateral institutions including IMF (BASL’s favored option) – appoint financial & legal advisors (opportunity for BASL)
4. Obtain bridging finance & using savings from debt standstill to procure uninterrupted supply of essentials until IMF program is in place.
5. Create environment to combat corruption & ensure accountability & strengthening independent institutions.

– None of the proposals provide an immediate solution except perhaps item 4.

BASL further presents a list of 8 proposals as Overarching Requirements” for a stable government – once again the BASL mentions IMF.

1. Actions to be consistent with Constitution & relevant legal instruments & the transitional provisions are purely to address the exigency of the situation & not a precedent – BASL says.

This first proposal and its message nullifies all of the proposals that have been made thereafter as the BASL says that what they are proposing are only ‘transitional provisions’ and are meant solely to ‘address the exigency of the situation’ and are not a ‘precedent’. Therefore, why go to pains to make out a list of proposals with so many major changes?

1. BASL proposes introduction of 21^st amendment & repealing of 20^thamendment & restoring 19^th BASL requests to maintain the present number of Judges of the Court of Appeal & Supreme Court. BASL says the Constitutional Council should be re-established as well as Independent Commissions. BASL is also proposing that the CC and IC are given ‘enhanced financial independence’ transparency & accountability.

If BASL proposals are only to address the exigency of the situation why propose 21^st a, repealing 20^th a, restoring 19^th a and even include number of judges and demand another additional expense in re-establishing Constitutional Council & Independent Commissions? With the current currency crunch why should CC & IC be given ‘enhanced financial independence’ – what is BASL implying? Should they be allowed to get external financial assistance directly? Will this not create conflict of interest?

1. BASL says that in addition to the provisions of the 19^tha, the 21^st a should give CC to approve the appointments of the Governor of CBSL and Monetary Board/ – appointments of Secretaries to Ministries/Governors/Ambassadors/Heads of Missions to be done on advice of PM in consultation with Cabinet – Presidential Pardon on recommendation by a body established by law appointed on recommendation of the CC.

On what grounds is BASL suggesting that CC choose the above positions, given that this very document constitutes BASL’s 21^st amendment proposals?

1. BASL proposes that after enacting 21^st a – all Secretaries to Ministries to be appointed & all independent Commissions other than Judicial Service Commission be reconstituted.
2. BASL says the President should not hold any portfolio (as per 19^th a)

If the President is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, why should he not hold position of Minister of Defense, when he is the one who has the right to declare war?

1. BASL says the Executive Presidency should be abolished in 15 months by Parliament on 30^th Nov 2022 (what about referendum asking the people) Executive Presidency to be replaced by a Parliamentary form of government, PM is head & Cabinet accountable to Parliament.

On what grounds is the BASL giving to abolish the executive presidency? When the people are the one’s that directly elect the President, why should that right be hijacked from the people without a referendum?

1. BASL is proposing to create an Interim Government of National Unity” consisting 15 Cabinet Ministers – PM to be a MP with a consensus of all political parties. If such does not arise, BASL is proposing that a National List MP resigns to bring an individual to be appointed as PM even if such an individual is not named in the list sent to the National Elections Commission.

We saw how the ‘Unity’ government under yahapalana functioned. The present proposal is attempting to parachute individuals outside of the parliamentary system and place them as PM. Who is the national list MP that will agree to resign? From which party is this national list MP to resign? How can an outsider be allowed to become PM of a country?

1. BASL wishes that this newly created ‘interim government’ consults with independent, apolitical professional/trade/civil society & appoints an independent Advisory Council of 15 qualified professionals for the 15 Ministries. BASL requires the Government to consult the Advisory Council on all ‘major policy decisions’.

 If the BASL proposals are only as transitional provisions and not precedents – why should BASL recommend that an a team of ‘civil society’ be appointed & the government has to consult them on ‘all major policy decisions’? Is this an attempt to plug civil society into politics?

1. BASL is next proposing to ‘rescind the Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed by Gazette (Extraordinary) No. 2212/53 of 29^th January 2021 to implement recommendations & decisions of the Presidential CoI to investigate allegations of political victimization during commencing 8 January 2015 ending 16^thNovember 2019 appointed by Gazette (Extraordnary) No 2157/44 of 9^th January 2020.

With this – BASL has self-exposed itself. Why should BASL presenting a set of proposals to bring economic & political stability to Sri Lanka nit pick this particular gazette covering only period from 2015-2019 & propose that the Presidential CoI recommendations should be annulled? This is a very strange proposal from BASL.

1. BASL is proposing that the Cabinet of National Unity” prepare a Common Minimum Program (CMP) consulting the civil society” Advisory Council & have it tabled in Parliament. The CMP is to focus on – debt restructuring, negotiating IMF (BASL has already decided on who Sri Lanka should go to) & obtain bridging finance from bi-lateral partners / shortages of essential goods & services / divesture & privatization of state assets & awarding tenders / uphold Rule of Law / adopt foreign policy that supports national interests / enact legislation on crime, recovery of state assets, law on anti-corruption, regulation of political parties, campaign finance, amendments to Declaration of Assets & Liabilities law / amendments to Monetary Law & new legislation to strengthen independence of Central Bank of Sri Lanka / enact inputs of professional organizations & trade associations / strengthen Consultative Committees of Parliament & Sectoral Oversight Committees & invite professional organizations to attend meetings / complete reforms on conduct of elections

• IMF is mentioned 8 times
• 19^th amendment is mentioned 5 times
• 20^th amendment is mentioned 3 times
• 21^st amendment is mentioned 3 times
• A civil society Advisory Council” is mentioned 3 times
• power, fuel, gas, medicines, food etc is mentioned only TWICE.

What warrants hurrahs for the BASL proposals requires explanation given that it has not provided any solution apart from going to IMF and a string of constitutional changes that are meant to only weaken Parliament and subtly transfer powers to civil society with financial independence. What is shocking is the 9^th proposal to annul the Gazette that created a Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the victimization during 2015-2019 with recommendations by the Commission. Why would BASL take pains to nitpick only this Commission and propose it to be annulled?

This highlights the political bias of the BASL and its proposals

Shenali D Waduge

Jubeda Chowdhury  in Dhaka city

Myanmar-Bangladesh must have mutual strategic engagement as they share common border. Myanmar-Bangladesh have some common problems which need to be resolved bilaterally as soon as possible. Myanmar, Bangladesh need defense diplomacy for cementing their ties with neighbourly spirit. Myanmar must understand that Bangladesh is a good neighbor for Myanmar. The neighbourly friendship needs to be bolstered through defense diplomacy. Defense diplomacy has long been regarded as an important component of international diplomacy and an effective tool for fostering bilateral and regional relations.

Military training cooperation is an important part of military diplomacy and aids in the development of close relationships with other countries.

This type of collaboration also aids in the strengthening of strategic security ties and the resolution of common security challenges.

Bangladesh and Myanmar are two neighboring countries that share a border of 271 kilometers.

Bangladesh gained independence in 1971.

Myanmar recognized Bangladesh as an independent state on January 13, 1972.

Bangladesh and Burma signed a broad trade agreement on August 13, 1973.

On June 1, 1989, three memorandums of understanding were signed to begin border commerce and economic cooperation.

The bilateral partnership between the Myanmar military and the Bangladesh military has a lot of potential. There are a lot of areas where the two countries may collaborate and work together, with the enhancement of relations being the most important.

Myanmar’s military-to-military ties with other countries are crucial for Myanmar, which has been governed by the military for decades. The military of Bangladesh should likewise enhance its links with the Tatmadaw. Myanmar’s military (Tatmadaw) should strengthen ties with Bangladesh’s military to safeguard common bilateral interests.

Myanmar’s military can collaborate with Bangladesh’s military to broaden the scope of their relationship and explore deeper cooperation in areas such as counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, Bangla-language skills, Burmese-language skills, joint naval and air exercises, and intelligence sharing in the Bay of Bengal region. In order to combat trans-border crimes such as illegal arms trade, drug trafficking, and human trafficking, the two military forces can increase mutual cooperation through training exchanges, intelligence sharing, and joint patrolling along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border.

The exchange of military delegations between Bangladesh and Myanmar could open the way for the two countries to resolve their bilateral concerns. Both sides can cooperate and exchange their knowledge and expertise in order to address certain common bilateral issues. Military training exchanges between the two-armed forces can help both sides improve their operational skills. Some examples of sectors of cooperation include combined military exercises, UN peacekeeping operation (UNPKO) training, and disaster management cooperation, as well as exchanging programs, senior-level visits, and medical cooperation, sports events, adventure activities, military tourism, joint cycling expeditions, and adventure training.

In 2019, Bangladesh’s then-Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Aziz Ahmed, embarked on a four-day tour to Myanmar. The goal of the tour was to strengthen both countries’ current military connections and determine the breadth of potential cooperation. General Aziz’s visit to Myanmar was Bangladesh’s first high-profile military visit to Myanmar in over five years. Gen. Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, the former Chief of the Bangladesh Army, visited Myanmar in 2014 to discuss topics such as trans-border crime and human trafficking. Air Marshal Muhammad Enamul Bari, the Chief of Air Staff, and his five subordinates departed Dhaka for Myanmar in 2019. U Ne Win, President of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma (Myanmar), arrived in Dhaka for a four-day official visit on April 26, 1974. Bangladesh President Mr. Muhammadullah and Prime Minister Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman greeted him at the airport. In 2011, Lt. General Myat Hein, the then-Commandant in Chief of the Myanmar Air Force, arrived in Dhaka for a six-day visit to Bangladesh. These types of high-level visits, on the other hand, are critical for both Myanmar and Bangladesh to strengthen ties and improve mutual understanding.

In the past, Myanmar defense officers attended Bangladeshi training schools such as the National Defense College and the Defense Service Command and Staff College (DSCSC). However, in order to maintain a higher level of interest, these training exchanges must be resumed. As a result, Bangladesh and Myanmar should work together to provide additional training opportunities.

The two forces’ joint endeavors may pave the way for stronger ties between the two neighbors. Improved military connections between Bangladesh and Myanmar can help to smooth out ties and resolve long-standing concerns including the Rakhine displaced persons crisis in Bangladesh, maritime disputes, and border-related trans-border crimes.

In general, members of Myanmar’s and Bangladesh’s armed services should exchange visits, training, and joint exercises on a regular basis. These will help to eliminate mistrust and increase trust and understanding. This may also aid in the resolution of the region’s long-standing Rohingya refugee dilemma.

On the environmental front, both Bangladesh and Myanmar should guarantee that global climate conferences do not merely focus on climate issues, but also set actual steps and a constructive framework, with the genuine purpose of reducing environmental degradation.

The only thing that matters for Bangladesh is that there is enormous economic potential for Bangladesh within Myanmar. Bangladesh should have no concerns about the military in Myanmar ruling the show. Regardless of who is in power in Myanmar, Bangladesh must fight for tighter connections. Myanmar’s Constituent Assembly still has a strong military presence. Bangladesh has discovered new opportunities to earn billions by exporting to and investing in Myanmar. As one of Myanmar’s five neighbors, Bangladesh should endeavor to seize such possibilities, strengthen its connections with Myanmar, and take advantage of Myanmar’s economic potential through military diplomacy between the two countries.

Countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar, which are among the worst-affected by climate change, with the worst yet to come, may band together to solve concerns related to global environmental degradation. Aside from the obvious issues of poverty and illiteracy, Bangladesh and Myanmar’s environmental vulnerability is particularly concerning. Basically, through collaborative disaster management systems, operations, and initiatives, the Tatmadaw and Bangladesh military may work together to reduce the risk of regional environmental degradation. The finest example to grasp it was Cyclone Nargis in 2008. This natural disaster impacted both coastline countries. Both Myanmar and Bangladesh have numerous potentials to collaborate in order to reduce the danger and loss of environmental deterioration.

The relations between the two countries are the cross-border communication of general people from the two sides of Bangladesh and Myanmar. The people-to-people connection between two sovereign countries must be made the most effective way to progress together and to keep a peaceful relationship between the concerned countries. This factor is particularly important when the concerned countries are neighbors. There must be a smooth and vibrant relationship between the people of both Bangladesh and Myanmar. Basically, both militaries can promote Trade and Commerce with each other.

Being one of the closest neighbours of Myanmar, both countries should maintain a friendly relationship with each other. Bangladesh armed forces must take effective steps to improve the relations with Myanmar armed forces assuring the zero-tolerance policy of the Bangladesh government against terrorists, human traffickers, illegal drug traders criminals.  

Myanmar’s military should take effective steps to foster the ties. It must understand that Bangladesh is a peace-loving country and friendly neighbours. Bangladesh believes in peaceful coexistence. Thus, engagement with Bangladesh would be beneficial for Myanmar also. Military ties between the two neighbouring countries can assure peace, harmony, regional stability, regional greater interest, etc. in the whole regions (South Asia and Southeast Asia)