Senaka Weeraratna

Sri Lanka won freedom not in isolation but in step with the rest of Asian countries in the aftermath of the end of the Second World War in 1945.

Many factors contributed to the collapse of Western Colonial Domination of Asia. But the outstanding and most notable factor was the epic attack of the Japanese on Pearl Harbour on December 07, 1941, followed by Japan’s attacks on military bases in European colonies including India (Imphal and Kohima), and Ceylon. Japan ended the colonial occupation of Burma, Indonesia, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indo – China, Vietnam and several Pacific countries that were under foreign occupation. These blitzkrieg type Japanese victories inspired the National Liberation movements all over Asia and even Africa to come forward and fight for their freedom.

In 1939, i.e., prior to the beginning of the second world war, the entirety of Asia was under foreign (western) occupation bar Japan and Siam (Thailand). In varying degrees, vast swathes of Asian (and also African) territory were under the control of western colonial powers such as Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, France, Germany, Great Britain, and finally the USA, for nearly 500 years. However, incrementally South East Asian and South Asian countries won their freedom after 1945 as a fall out from the second world war, and with the victory of Vietnam over USA in 1975, the chapter of colonial occupation of the orient more or less came to a close. It must be remembered that not all countries in Asia wanted to fight and liberate their countries. Some obtained their independence on a passive footing virtually on a platter i.e., without a fight on the battlefield such as Ceylon and Maldives. Others gave hell for leather. It must be noted that the countries that fought the West heroically such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, and India are doing far better economically today than the countries that opted to walk the path of least resistance to foreign occupation e.g., Ceylon.  

Freedom did not fall from the sky to Asia. It came due to the freedom fight of Asians and their huge blood sacrifices.  Japan under Prime Minister Hideki Tojo played a big role in this effort being the only major world power to declare at the beginning of Japan’s entry to the second world war that one of its primary goals was the liberation of fellow Asians from Western imperialism. No other country either in the West or the East gave such a pledge to free people (black, brown and yellow races) then in colonial bondage.

Sri Lanka’s freedom struggle

Sri Lanka gained independence on the back of the Indian independence struggle. There was no threat of a physical nature from the locals to British occupation. It was a very passive movement confined to exchange of letters. We were very weak and incapable of giving ultimatums to the British to vacate the country. There was no push factor from our side.  In contrast , there was a push factor in the Indian struggle led by Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. Bose started a march on to Delhi with Japanese military assistance, with his call ‘ Delhi Chalo’.  If India did not gain independence on August 15, 1947 neither Burma nor Ceylon would have been granted independence on January 04, 1948 or February 04, 1948, respectively. When Britain lost the jewel in its Crown i.e., India, it decided to vacate South Asia altogether.

Lessons from India

The Govt. of India has declared Netaji Subash Chandra Bose as the father of India’s freedom struggle displacing Mahatma Gandhi from a pedestal that many thought was unassailable. This represents a historic shift towards changing the grand narrative of India’s liberation from British occupation. The colonial hangover of not saying anything to displease the former masters i.e., British Raj, now appears to be a thing of the past.

The view that Mahatma Gandhi using ‘Ahimsa’ and ‘non- violence’ in his civil disobedience campaigns won freedom for India has been discarded.

It was a big myth propagated by the British and empire loyalists in India.  Gandhi’s ‘Quit India’ Satyagraha campaign launched in 1942 fizzled out with no effect on the colonial Govt. They saw no threat to their colonial rule from Gandhi and the Indian Congress.

Indian Mutiny

It was the threat of a Mutiny from the British Indian Army soldiers, Navy and Air Force that finally convinced the Labour Govt. of Clement Atlee to quit India. A repeat of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 in 1946 would have ended in the slaughter of 30, 000 British soldiers then resident in India by more than 2, 500, 000 well trained Indian soldiers who had been discharged (demobbed) and returned to India.

The credit given to Gandhi for liberating India has now collapsed. There was no push factor in his campaign. The rest of Asia fought. Japan in particular had a battle plan to liberate India. (‘Japan’s Master Plan for Victory: What could have been’ by Moteki Hiromichi – Tokyo: 2018). Western colonialism in Asia was ultimately defeated by force of Arms on the part of the people of Asia. The Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesians, Burmese, Indians, Philippines, have all successfully fought the West, resisted foreign occupation and finally won.   The exit of the West from the East after nearly 500 years of military adventurism and hegemonic rule is one of the defining landmarks of the 20th century.

It must be admitted however that Netaji received help from both Germany and Japan to wage war against the British then in occupation of India. 

It can be asked: If Adolf Hitler did not supply a German Submarine to carry Netaji Subash Chandra Bose out of Germany and to rendezvous with a Japanese Submarine I 29 off the shores of Madagascar, which would then in turn carry him to Penang and later Japan, how would his life story have unfolded then? The level of support rendered by both Germany and Japan to Netaji to raise the Indian Legion in Germany, and the Indian National Army in Singapore, was pivotal to enable Netaji to play the role that he did eventually. Trying to be politically correct should not lead to sidelining or suppressing important facts from the narrative.

De – Colonization

We need to revise the narrative on how Sri Lanka achieved independence. We gained independence on a platter. No freedom fight in the colloquial sense of waging war on battlefields and defeating the enemy, and thereby gaining freedom from foreign occupation. Vietnam stands out in this respect. It defeated the most powerful country i.e., the USA.

Furthermore, Britain was forced to grant independence because it was heavily weakened economically and militarily by the war against Germany, and therefore was in no mood to fight more wars.

To be truly independent our minds and our institutions must be decolonized. All colonial legacies, if redundant and not necessary for Sri Lanka, should be rejected and replaced.  Ideally speaking, our written History particularly of the colonial era from 1505 – 1948 should be reviewed and rewritten by top scholars with de-colonized minds. This principle also applies to the drawing of the national constitution. It must be done by de-colonized minds as far as possible and not as a copycat exercise. It must never be treated as a Holy Book. Constitutional values should never be accepted as a substitute for Civilizational values.

Patriotism and compassion for animals must be inculcated in every child from the time of kindergarten. Animal Protection education must be introduced in schools. Self – reliance must be encouraged in respect to growing more food locally especially plant – based food and more use of traditional medicine. Sri Lanka is basically an agricultural country. This country is also a Dharmic Civilizational country. This identity supersedes all other descriptions borrowed from the West such as Multiculturalism and Secularism which are more explicable and better understood in the countries that they had their origins in rather than in the countries they were planted.

Senaka Weeraratna

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM  Spokesperson USLA

Sri Lanka’s independence commemoration often kindles nostalgic memories of it’s first Prime Minister, Rt Hon DS Senanayake hoisting Sri Lanka’s national flag on the 4^th of Feb 1948, following the Duke of Gloucester’s lowering the Union Jack on behalf of the British Crown, at the Independence Ceremony at the specially bult Independence hall at the Torrington Square in Colombo.

The day still kindles nostalgic memories of music that was frequently played in those days around independence day, songs such as  Namo Namo Matha, that in Sinhala urges its citizens to march forth  like children of one mother and others like Lanka, Lanka Pembara Lanka whose description of Lanka’s many virtues still inspires immense patriotic fervor.  

As a beneficiary of many of these virtues, not the least of which was it’s free education till the end of Tertiary, I often reflect on this with gratitude and ponder on how I could pay back these receipts. I remain acutely aware that having professionally served it’s citizens for seven years, the remainder of my over fifty years of professional service as a Medical Specialist has been to citizens of three other countries in three other continents. I have endeavored to make up for this shortfall by contributing to the training of Sri Lanka’s specialists in this field, by providing them opportunities in NZ and frequently contributing to their on  going education programs back in Sri Lanka.

In our frequent travels to Sri Lanka , we have endeavored to contribute to the lives and lively hoods of its citizens especially in the hospitality service by spending generously be it in five star hotels or in road side kiosks  enjoying a  Thambili or a delicious mango or a pot of curd and honey from the south.

We have also invested in Sri Lanka’s real estate and share market, not too faced by any losses , considering it a pay back to a country and people I owed.

As USLA’s spokesperson for nearly three decades, I have persistently and relentlessly defended Sri Lanka from  baseless and  vicious misinformation and denigration in the international and national media, and among politicians in NZ and internationally, during its thirty year war that successfully rescued Sri Lanka from  Tiger terror. This is the pay back that gives me the greatest satisfaction.

It was during this war that I realized the real significance of our independence , when a few weeks before this war victory the foreign ministers of UK and France, having travelled thousands of miles , pressured the then President to withdraw his offensive. His response was, please remember we ceased to be your colony sixty years ago. My people voted me in, to successfully end this war.  I have no intention of doing anything else” . A few days later he gave a similar response to a similar pressure  from New Delhi. One can only ponder what SL ‘s destiny would have been but for that steely resolve of its leader on that golden day in its history!

Today, Sri Lanka is in throes of another war , that against Covid. However, following an admirably successful vaccination drive , and the return of Tourism income and foreign remittances, we have every reason to be confident of a successful out come in this war too, similar to that in the terrorist war, especially with the same  drivers at the wheel.

Some glimpses of what this successful outcome, might mean was on display, with the opening of the Magnificent Golden Gate Kalyani, A bridge spanning the Kelani River in Colombo  featuring  a cable support system for the first time in Sri Lanka, where the water flow in the river was not disturbed by the bridge at all.

A similar glimpse was provided with the opening of the equally magnificent walkway and promenade of the brand new Port city Colombo with its Yatch marina with locally built Yatchs including double hulls on proud display. This promenade that is now the venue for many water front events provides vistas like in Hawaii , the likes of which was never before available to Sri Lankans who are now lapping them up in droves.

Finally, the opening of the Mirigama Kurunegalle section of Sri Lanka’s  central expressway provided scenes and arial views of a picturesque highway through Sri Lanka’s beautiful central hills that also provided new and pleasurable experiences to Sri Lankans who are eagerly lapping them up  as well.

With these dreams of the future , gradually becoming reality, I can only urge all Sri Lankans to respond to the call of it’s national anthem and march forward to prosperity, in unity  like the children of one mother.

Thank You

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM  Spokesperson USLA. 4.2.22

Prime Minister’s Media Unit

Sri Lanka and Denmark have both expressed interest in exploring the possibilities of collaborating on projects in the renewable energy sector. The discussion took place when the newly appointed Ambassador of Denmark to Sri Lanka Freddy Svane called on Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa this morning at Temple Trees.

Ambassador Svane told the Prime Minister that there is a lot of interest in Denmark to pursue investment in Sri Lanka. He said that in addition to manufacturing and dairy sectors, the renewable energy is another sector that could be explored.

The Sri Lankan delegation briefed the Ambassador about the Government’s policy to have 70% of the country’s energy consumption generated from renewable energy sources by 2030.

The Prime Minister encouraged the ambassador to promote Sri Lanka as an investment destination among Danish investors. The Ambassador said there are already plans to bring a business delegation from Denmark to Sri Lanka.

Ambassador Svane is resident in New Delhi, India, and this is his second time being accredited to Sri Lanka. He served as Denmark’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2015 as well.

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, February 4 (Counterpoint): It is widely acknowledged that Sri Lanka has not been in such dire straits economically as it is now in its 74 th. year as an independent nation. Seven decades of erratic economic policies adopted in the midst of a 30-year war, two insurgencies, self-defeating nationalism and ethnic and religious strife, have created a situation where the country is now going around with a begging bowl seeking loans from India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In a throw-back to 1952, when Sri Lanka had to barter its rubber for rice from China to stave off starvation, the government is now negotiating with China to secure a million tons of rice to make up for a severe rice shortage. The sudden ban on chemical fertilizers and pesticides to promote organic agriculture, and that in the midst of lockdowns, had hit farmers below the belt. A subsequent relaxation of the fertilizer policy left rice cultivation out and favored export crops like tea. Food price shot up. Government took to printed money. Inflation has now touched 14%.

Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates from around the world

A survey done by MTI Business Review found that in 2020, 74% of the businesses were down. It came down to 54% in 2021 due to the lifting of lockdowns. Thanks to the opening of the economy in 2021, there was an all-round recovery with GDP growing by 4% and industry growing by 6.8%. Some sectors in agriculture like tea and vegetables, improved with a partial relaxation of the ban on chemical fertilizer. Tea production rose by 17%. Apparel exports went up by 21.9%. Overall, exports went up by 23%  to rake in US$ 15 billion.

Grim Downside

However, the downside remains grim. In 2022, debt service payments of US$ 6.6 billion are due. The current usable official reserves are less than US$ 1 billion (2-3 weeks of imports). Tourism was down with less than 200,000 arriving in 2021. It is yet to pick up. 

READ: Sri Lanka’s inflation accelerates to Asia’s fastest

Sri Lanka is confronted with both a cash flow problem and a debt problem, says the Colombo-based think tank, Pathfinder Foundation (PF) in its latest report.

The liquidity problem is compounded by the fact that the only known additional external financing, at this point, are lines of credit from India (USD 1.5 billion)  and Pakistan (USD 200 million). These will certainly contain the depletion of reserves. They will not have a very material impact on the existing external financing gap, which is likely to be at least US$ 7 billion this year, even with very optimistic assumptions about receipts from tourism, asset sales, remittances and FDI.”

With each passing day, the dollar illiquidity will worsen unless there are large inflows. There will be some temporary reduction in the hardships being experienced by the people due to the Indian SWAP, the deferral of the Asian Clearing Union settlement and the lines of credit obtained in recent weeks. The intention of the Indian government to provide humanitarian support in this time of great need is very laudable. However, these generous initiatives will not serve to buy more than two or three months’ time. We need to do much more to help ourselves rather than relying on the goodwill of friendly neighbors, such as Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, whose per capita incomes are below ours,” Pathfinder Foundation said.

Solvency Problem

Thanks to the high level of external debt, the country also has a solvency problem. This formidable challenge will not be resolved by a few bilateral sources temporary financing. They do not alter the debt burden.”

The Pathfinder Foundation advocates: (1) an immediate announcement of a preemptive restructuring of external debt, (2) a very early and urgent approach to the IMF; and (3) bridging finance from friendly bilateral partners pending completion of the negotiations with creditors and the IMF which can take at least six months.”

Debt restructuring, excluding multilateral debt, can save over USD 3 bn, during the first year. These dollars can be used to finance imports that meet the essential needs of the people and urgent requirements of businesses. An IMF program can trigger a combination of balance of payments financing and direct budgetary support from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to the tune of USD 1.5- 2.0 bn in the first year. The combined increases in USD availability during the first twelve months will have a huge positive impact in resolving the problems currently being caused by dollar illiquidity.”

Need for Austerity

However, there can be no gain without pain, Pathfinder Foundation said.

The painful consequences of many years of indiscipline, resulting in the country living well beyond its means, cannot be wished away. An austerity program is inevitable. Its depth and duration can be mitigated by robust structural reforms that increase productivity/competitiveness and thereby strengthen the growth framework of the economy. This would increase output, employment and incomes. The policies adopted should also prioritize inclusiveness and sustainability.” 

A home-grown program needs to be developed to meet these objectives. It should also be credible enough to negotiate with the IMF and creditors. Such a program may include, inter alia, the following:-

(1) A realistic exchange rate that contributes to building reserves; and ends the current multiple exchange rates that incentivize the expansion of the black economy. (2) Continuation of the Central Bank’s shift to a more market-oriented monetary policy. (3) A medium-term fiscal consolidation program which sets out a clear path to debt sustainability, including by improving the primary balance through a widening of the tax base, improving tax administration, rationalizing public expenditure in accordance with a clear set of national priorities, and adopting transparent fiscal rules by strengthening the Fiscal Management Responsibility Act. (4) Reform of the present highly inefficient subsidies, which disproportionately benefit the non-poor, with a well-designed and targeted system of cash transfers supported by a digital Identity Card. (5) Full-cost pricing of fuel and energy based on transparent and predictable formulas. (6) Further progress in commercializing State Owned Enterprises.  

Need to Seek IMF Help

The above could, inter alia, be key elements of a home-grown reform program that can be the basis of negotiations with the IMF. It can also be credible enough to generate confidence among creditors. However, it is also important to accelerate the long over-due structural reforms to ensure that the above program, which is primarily focused on stabilization, does not lead to a growth deficit. This has been a repeated problem with reform efforts in the past decades.”

The structural reforms to generate growth are very well known and relate to: factor markets (land, labor and capital); the investment climate; investment promotion; trade policy, including trade agreements; trade facilitation; education, training and skills development; and digitalization.”

In conclusion the Foundation issued a grim warning: There is much to be done, and done quickly, to avoid falling into the abyss.”

By Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani Courtesy The News

Today, on February 4, the people of Sri Lanka are celebrating their 74th Independence Day to commemorate their freedom and sovereignty from British imperialism. The 5,000-year-old ancient island is also described in the sacred Hindu book ‘Ramayana’ as Lanka where Sri Ram had fought with the demon king ‘Ravana of Lanka’ who abducted his wife Sita.

According to historians, this beautiful island, currently sharing maritime borders with India and Maldives, has a human population for 3000 years, which belongs to different religions including Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. Many Sindh-origin people also emigrated from the Sindh province of Pakistan to the country.

On the diplomatic front, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are considered close allies that support each other on several international issues. The bilateral ties between the two countries are linked with cultural, military and diplomatic cooperation. Sri Lanka has faced insurgency in the form of the Tamil Tigers. The cooperation by Pakistan during this critical time is highly regarded and valued by Sri Lankan leadership.

In my view, faith tourism is another initiative that has brought Pakistan and Sri Lanka even closer. Present-day Pakistan was once considered a significant centre of the Gandhara ancient Buddhist civilisation that extended from the 1st century AD to the 7th century AD. Many Buddhist monuments and worship places are located in various places from Taxila to Swat.

Also, Sri Lanka used to host cultural exhibitions under the name ‘Gandhara Art of Pakistan’ regularly. Most recently, the high commission of Pakistan in Sri Lanka and Siddhivinayak Cine Arts (Private) Limited with the support of and in coordination with the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs of Sri Lanka have jointly produced a documentary titled ‘Gandhara’ with a focus on a visual journey along the Gandhara Buddhist heritage sites of Pakistan.

Thakshashila, the most ancient university of known human civilisation was based in Taxila, where a great philosopher and teacher, Kautliya Chanakya, used to teach his students. Even today, his books including ‘Arthashastra’ and ‘Chanakya Niti’ are most popular with a huge readership throughout the world.

Historians believe that the first sculpture of Buddha was created in the region now called Pakistan. There is also a huge global demand for Buddha statues made in Pakistan. In the historic city of Taxila, there are many talented sculptors who have learned the art of making statues from their ancestors. According to international media reports, these Pakistani sculptures are sometimes smuggled in the international black market and sold for $10,000. On the other hand, the sculpture artists are paid a few thousand rupees for their hard work.

The Pakistan Hindu Council has taken up the task of projecting a positive image of Pakistan in the eyes of the international community. In this regard, faith tourism could play a pivotal role. I wish we could start special international flights with Sri Lanka for facilitating Buddhist followers interested in visiting Gandhara heritage sites.

Similarly, Pakistanis could be facilitated to visit Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka. The more than 7,000 feet tall conical mountain contains the ‘sacred footprint’ which in Buddhist tradition is held to be the footprint of the Buddha, and in Hindu tradition that of Shiva. However, some Islamic and Christian traditions describe it to be Hazrat Adam’s first footprint when he landed from the paradise.

Apart from Sri Lanka, other Asian countries including Japan. Korea, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Bhutan, Hong Kong, Laos, India, and Mongolia also have large Buddhist populations. China’s 244 million people (18 percent population) are Buddhist followers. Similarly, there is a good number of Buddhists residing in Russia, the United States, and some Western countries.

Today, while extending my best wishes to Sri Lankans on their Independence Day. I would like to urge our authorities to promote Gandhara heritage as a symbol of international peace in order to attract foreign tourists from Sri Lanka and other Buddhist-majority countries.

The writer is a member of the National Assembly and patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council.

He tweets @RVankwani

Courtesy DNA India

India has stepped up and pledged a whopping Rs 3844 crores to Sri Lanka to help overcome dire financial constraints.

India continues its COVID-19 assistance to Sri Lanka by initiating the delivery of 100,000 Rapid Antigen Self-Test Kit from Friday, according to the High Commission of India in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Taking to Twitter, the High Commission said that the remaining kits to follow in the coming days.”A special gift from a friend on #IndependenceDay!! #India continues its #COVID19 assistance to #SriLanka by initiating the delivery of 100,000 RAT kits from today. Remaining kits to follow in the coming days,” India in Colombo tweeted.

As Sri Lanka is facing a serious financial crisis, India has stepped up and pledged a whopping USD 2.415 billion to the island nation to help overcome dire financial constraints caused by external debt payments and a lack of US dollars in the country for business.

Last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a virtual meeting with the Finance Minister of Sri Lanka Basil Rajapaksa. During the meeting, Jaishankar conveyed that India has always stood with Sri Lanka, and will continue to support Sri Lanka in all possible ways for overcoming the economic and other challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

To help Sri Lanka overcome its economic challenges, India under the SAARC currency swap arrangement has made an extension of USD 400 million to Sri Lanka and provided a deferral of ACU (Asian Clearing Union) settlement of Rs 3844 crores by two months.

India`s critical support to Sri Lanka is due to the ongoing fuel crisis where the country is unable to purchase due to short of US dollars in the country, the Policy Research Group (PRG) had said in its report. 

Courtesy Mail Online

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) – Sri Lanka celebrated its Independence Day on Friday with an appeal by the president to the country´s expatriates to send money home as it struggles with the worst economic crisis in decades mainly due to depleted foreign reserves.

Sri Lankans are facing shortages of milk powder, cooking gas, kerosene and other essentials. Cash shortages have hindered imports of raw materials for manufacturing and worsened inflation, which surged to 12.1% in December.

The pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to an economy that depends heavily on tourism and trade, with the government estimating a loss of $14 billion over the last two years. The economy is estimated to have contracted by 1.5% in July-September 2021, according to the central bank.

President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said Sri Lankans abroad who sent foreign currency back home are a major resource.

“I invite all expatriate Sri Lankans to invest in their homeland,” he said in an address during a ceremony marking Independence Day in the capital, Colombo. A colorful military parade followed his speech.

Data shows that overseas remittances – the nation’s main foreign exchange earner- have fallen by nearly 60% to $812 million in December from a year earlier. For the whole year, remittances declined 22% to $5.4 billion. The drop came after the government ordered the mandatory conversion of foreign currency and exchange rate controls.

Sri Lankan soldiers dressed in traditional costumes carry nation al flags during the Independence Day celebration in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. Sri Lankans celebrated it’s independence day on Friday as the island nation’s president made an appeal to the country’s expatriates to send money home as the country struggles in the throes of its worst economic crisis. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Because of the currency shortage, importers are unable to clear their cargo and manufactures are unable to buy raw materials from overseas.

Sri Lanka has borrowed heavily and faces repayments on $15 billion in international sovereign bonds.

Officials have said the government is gradually building back reserves to ensure it can honor its debts.

“None of the crises we experience today are long term problems. We can find solutions to them with an optimistic approach,” Rajapaksa said. “We have faced critical problems in the recent history as well and found solutions.”

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa hoists the national flag of Sri Lanka during the country’s Independence Day celebration in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lankan army soldiers march during the Independence Day celebration in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

By Neville Ladduwahetty Courtesy The Island

The Island of 31 Jan. 2022 carries a report which states: The Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case and launched a probe in connection with fake passports who are allegedly involved in raising money to revive the LTTE ….”

The amended Prevention of Terrorism (Special Provisions) Act No. 48, 1979 of Sri Lanka that is tabled in Parliament does not adequately address the act of raising money” by terrorist entities such as the proscribed LTTE. Instead, the amended PTA addresses mainly the rights and entitlements of perpetrators of terrorism, and not those who fund, advise and support the many facets of LTTE activities. Despite this shortcoming, Sri Lanka and several other states have sufficient provisions in their domestic law to proscribe entities such as the LTTE; the latest being the European Union that rejected the multiple pleas of the LTTE to lift their ban as a Terrorist Organization. However, limiting it to proscribing entities is not a sufficient deterrent to discourage terrorism. Instead, the breadth and scope of the legal provisions that exist need to be strengthened in order to prevent and suppress terrorism.

According to The Island report, the action taken by the NIA is under provisions of Unlawful (Prevention) Act and Foreigners Amendment Act among others of the Penal Code”. Whether these instruments cover only terrorist acts or are sufficiently wide in scope to cover fund raising” needs to be established if they are to prevent and deter terrorism. If not, they need to be extended beyond to activities such as selecting, training, fund raising and engaging the perpetrators of terrorism if the legal provisions are to have an impact. Since the Security Council Resolution 1373 is sufficiently wide in scope to address these issues, it is imperative that ‘all’ Member States incorporate its provisions because they are specifically designed to prevent and suppress terrorism. Since those arrested are now engaged in the revival of the LTTE, it is absolutely vital that Sri Lanka takes immediate action to implement the full scope of Security Council Resolution 1373, if terrorism is not to recur.

Security Council Resolution 1373

This Resolution states:

1. Decides that all States shall:(a) Prevent and suppress the financing of terrorist acts;(b) Criminalize the wilful provision or collection, by any means, directly or indirectly, of funds by their nationals or in their territories with the intention that the funds should be used, or in the knowledge that they are to be used, in order to carry out terrorist acts;(c) Freeze without delay funds and other financial assets or economic resources of persons who commit, or attempt to commit, terrorist acts or participate in or facilitate the commission of terrorist acts; of entities owned or controlled directly or indirectly by such persons; and of persons and entities acting on behalf of, or at the direction of such persons and entities, including funds derived or generated from property owned or controlled directly or indirectly by such persons and associated persons and entities;

(d) Prohibit their nationals or any persons and entities within their territories from making any funds, financial assets or economic resources or financial or other related services available, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of persons who commit or attempt to commit or facilitate or participate in the commission of terrorist acts, of entities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by such persons and of persons and entities acting on behalf of or at the direction of such persons;

2. Decides also that all States shall:(a) Refrain from providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts, including by suppressing recruitment of members of terrorist groups and eliminating the supply of weapons to terrorists; (b) Take the necessary steps to prevent the commission of terrorist acts, including by provision of early warning to other States by exchange of information; (c) Deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts, or provide safe havens;(d) Prevent those who finance, plan, facilitate or commit terrorist acts from using their respective territories for those purposes against other States or their citizens; (e) Ensure that any person who participates in the financing, planning, preparation or perpetration of terrorist acts or in supporting terrorist acts is brought to justice and ensure that, in addition to any other measures against them, such terrorist acts are established as serious criminal offences in domestic laws and regulations and that the punishment duly reflects the seriousness of such terrorist acts;(f) Afford one another the greatest measure of assistance in connection

with criminal investigations or criminal proceedings relating to the financing or support of terrorist acts, including assistance in obtaining evidence in their possession necessary for the proceedings;(g) Prevent the movement of terrorists or terrorist groups by effective bordercontrols and controls on issuance of identity papers and travel documents, andthrough measures for preventing counterfeiting, forgery or fraudulent use of identity papers and travel documents;

The sentiments and near identical opinions were expressed by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Holder v Humanitarian Law Project, when the …court voted 6 to 3 to uphold a federal law banning ‘material support’ to foreign terrorist organizations. The ban holds, the court explained, even when offerings are not money or weapons but things such as ‘expert advice or assistance’ or ‘training’ intended to instruct in international law or appeals to the United Nations” (Washington Post, June 22, 2010). Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. in writing the majority opinion said that those challenging the ban simply disagree with the considered judgement of Congress and the Executive that providing material support to a designated terrorist organization – even seemingly benign support bolsters terrorist activities of the organization…(the law) is on its face, a preventive measure – it criminalizes not terrorist attacks themselves, but aid that makes the attack more likely to occur…” (Washington Post 2010).

The provisions of Security Council Resolution 1373 have been in existence since 2001. Successive Sri Lankan governments did not deem it necessary to incorporate provisions of Resolution 1373 into domestic law perhaps of the belief that provisions of Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (No. 48 of 1979) provided sufficient cover to deal with all aspects of terrorism. What they did not appreciate was that PTA addresses only acts committed by perpetrators and not those who support, finance and promote others to commit acts of terrorism. The opportunity to justifiably incorporate provisions of Resolution 1373 as part of amending the PTA was not seized by Sri Lanka. This means that if Sri Lanka decides to do so at a later date it would have to do so as a stand-alone law that would inevitably be subjected to petitions. Instead, what Sri Lanka should have done was to have made provisions of Resolution 1373 as part of the PTA, thus combining acts of terrorism by perpetrators as well as those who support, finance and promote such acts.

Conclusion

The Island report fruther states that the Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) has launched a probe in connection with the arrest of three Sri Lankans with false passports who were allegedly involved in raising money to revive the LTTE”. The report also states that other Sri Lankan nationals had been arrested in 2021, also for possessing false passports. The Island refers to a report from The Hindu that Sri Lankan nationals operating from European countries are working towards drawing huge sums of money from dormant accounts to revive the LTTE.

While developments to revive the LTTE are under way, the focus in Sri Lanka is on the amended Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979 that is tabled in Parliament. The observations of civil society analysts and commentators are that the amended PTA does not go far enough. What they fail to realize is that even if the PTA is amended to be in keeping with international standards, all its provisions would relate ONLY to perpetrators of terrorist acts. The fact that the amended PTA does not contain provisions to prevent and suppress raising funds does not appear to concern them. Furthermore, the fact that it is the input from those who raise funds, advise and promote terrorism that enable and facilitate the perpetrators, does not also seem to occur to them. It is this realization that prompted the Security Council to introduce SC Resolution 1373 and called on all Member States to incorporate its provisions, to prevent and suppress terrorism, into its Domestic Law. The incorporation of provisions in the amended PTA would amount to fulfilling these international obligations. Hopefully, Sri Lanka’s Parliament would as the last resort prevail and ensure that provisions of Resolution 1373 are incorporated into the body of domestic law.

At the time of the Easter Sunday terrorist attack on 21 April, 2019 the only legal provisions available were those in the PTA and the Penal Code. Consequently, the scope of the inquiry has to be limited to the perpetrators and the lapses on the part of those responsible for security. No provisions existed to extend the inquiry to cover those who funded, planned and engaged the perpetrators – in other words those behind the scene that made it happen. Consequently, although the scope of the inquiry has been a cause for disappointment, the fact remains that it is constrained by the limits of the existing law. This lacuna will remain until provisions of Resolution 1373 are incorporated ito domestic law at least for the sake of the victims.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal was quick to set the record straight with regard to Sri Lanka’s intention to reach out to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance.

Referring to the comments made by the Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa last evening where he shared that the government had sought advice from the IMF in tackling the current economic crisis, Cabraal said it is about a routine technical assistance programme and nothing more.

Finance Minister’s comment yesterday (2) regarding Sri Lanka informing the IMF to provide expert advice on the economic situation is about a routine Technical Assistance Program on Macro-Fiscal capacity building for MOF’s new Macro-Fiscal Unit. Nothing else,” the Governor tweeted this morning, tagging the Finance Minister.

Governor Cabraal has always maintained, and continues to do so, that the ongoing economic crisis can be solved with following a home-grown fix as opposed to reaching out to international agencies for help.

While the Finance Ministry has hinted in the recent past that Sri Lanka might reach out to the IMF to ease the prevailing economic pressures, the Central Bank has been firm on its stance that such assistance is not required.

Courtesy Hiru News

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released a statement refuting the claims included in the testimony of Ambika Satkunanathan, during an exchange of views on the situation of human and labour rights in Sri Lanka at the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights on 27 January, 2022.

The full statement by the MFA is as below.

The Foreign Ministry notes with concern the numerous misleading statements contained in the testimony of the Chairperson of the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust Ambika Satkunanathan, during an exchange of views on the situation of human and labour rights in Sri Lanka at the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights on 27 January, 2022.

Ms. Satkunanathan’s testimony completely ignores the progress made by the government of Sri Lanka on many fronts and creates doubts about the government’s intents and sincerity, particularly at a time when it is engaged in a long-standing cooperation with the UN human rights mechanisms and the UN Human Rights Council and is delivering on its commitment to address accountability and reconciliation through domestic processes and institutions.

The Ministry is disappointed that among the recommendations made by Ms. Satkunanathan is that the EU uses its leverage on GSP plus facility to exert pressure on the government on human rights. If Sri Lanka loses the EU GSP plus facility, particularly at a time when livelihoods of millions of Sri Lankans belonging to all communities are already affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the resulting losses would exacerbate poverty and income inequality. Some of the worst affected sectors will be fisheries and agriculture which are among the key industries in the North and the Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka.

The Ministry also notes that the unfounded allegations about discrimination of ethnic communities in her testimony are reminiscent of LTTE propaganda that once stoked hatred among communities. In a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country such as Sri Lanka, such allegations need to be refuted in the interest of social harmony and to prevent the spread of dangerous fallacies about Sri Lanka in the international community.

The Ministry refutes Ms. Satkunanathan’s claims on ‘a culture of impunity’. The Ministry wishes to point out that the government is engaged in a long-standing cooperation with the UN human rights mechanisms as well as with the UN Human Rights Council. Sri Lanka is delivering on its commitment to address accountability and reconciliation through domestic processes and institutions. The government has been actively engaging the international community including the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review and Special Procedures to address the various concerns that have been raised. This includes the allegations of systematic torture. The Government has made it clear that additional reforms will be undertaken to further strengthen rule of law, access to justice, and accountability. It remains open to a constructive discussion on suggestions and further steps to address shortcomings.

The Ministry notes that Ms. Satkunanathan makes references to ‘Sinhala Buddhist nationalism’ and ‘militarisation’ as driving the actions of the Government. She makes vague claims of racial profiling in the absence of any concrete evidence of discrimination against minorities. In reply, the Ministry wishes to point out that Sri Lanka is a secular country and all citizens, irrespective of their religion or ethnicity share the same fundamental rights under the Constitution. Furthermore, Sri Lanka ensures access to public services such as free education and free health facilities without any discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or religion. In fact, even during the military conflict when large areas of the Northern and the Eastern Provinces were under the control of the LTTE, the government continued with the provision of such public services to the areas so that the civilians, who were mainly ethnic Tamils and Muslims, would not be affected.

Ms. Satkunanathan points to the Presidential Task Force on Archaeology which she accuses of being a tool for land grabbing and changing the demographics of minority-heavy areas and the Presidential Task Force on One-Country One Law” which she accuses of stoking ethnic hatred and violence. After the war, as displaced persons returned to the Northern and the Eastern Provinces, there has been an increase in unauthorized encroachment into forest areas inevitably leading to destruction of archaeological sites. So, there is an urgent need to take concrete measures in order to protect these sites. There is no truth in the claims that the Presidential Task Force on Archaeology is a pretext for land grabbing and introducing the Sinhalese to these areas. It may be noted that there is representation of all ethnic communities in this Task Force. With respect to the Presidential Task Force on One Country One Law,” it should be noted that it is expected to play an advisory role only. The Task Force’s recommendations will be first studied by the Justice Ministry, then the Cabinet of Ministers and finally the Parliament following the democratic traditions.

With regard to her allegations that the Northern and Eastern Provinces are ‘occupied’ by the military, it should be pointed out that the the majority (more than 92%) of the private lands occupied by the military at the end of the conflict in year 2009 have already been released to legitimate land owned civilians. A mechanism is already in place to expedite the process of releasing remaining private lands.

It is particularly disappointing to see Ms. Satkunanathan’s allegations that ‘civic space’ is shrinking and that informal and extra-legal processes are used to curtail the activities of civil society organizations. The Ministry asserts that government views NGOs as partners and not as adversaries. The government acknowledges the constructive contributions made by civil Society organisations in the work of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) and Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka. It has also introduced certain policy changes to facilitate the work of NGOs such as bringing the NGO Secretariat under the Foreign Ministry. It must be reiterated that apart from operating routine security networks in the interest of national security, particularly after the devastating Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, the Security Forces and intelligence agencies are not engaged in monitoring or targeting any specific group of people in the country.

The Ministry refutes Ms. Satkunanathan’s claims of extra-judicial killings and arrests under the pretext of a war and drugs.” With regard to the PTA, it should be noted that the government is in the process of amending the Act, which is now at the final stage and the international community is being briefed on that process.

Ms. Satkunanathan also alleges that the government is exploiting its friendship with China to undermine the efforts of states that call for accountability for human rights violations” in Sri Lanka. On the contrary, mindful of strategic competition that is increasing in the Indo-Pacific region, our main foreign policy directive is to maintain neutrality, in line with the non-aligned foreign policy we have adopted since Independence. The Ministry wishes to point out that apart from China, Sri Lanka has entered into partnerships with several countries such as India and Japan to fill gaps in national infrastructure development. Such partnerships have no bearing on Sri Lanka’s commitment to address accountability and reconciliation through domestic processes and institutions.

Courtesy Adaderana

Marking a moment of historical significance, Sri Lanka received its first ever Geographical Indication (GI) certification when the European Union (EU) Commission on 02 February,2022 granted GI status to Ceylon Cinnamon. The outcome was a result of a painstaking, decade-long, arduous endeavour led by the Sri Lanka Export Development (EDB) under the Ministry of Trade with the support of numerous public and private stakeholders.

During this monumental task, the much needed technical assistance was provided by UNIDO, Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) while some financial assistance was granted by the Common Fund for Commodities, based in the Netherlands. In this breakthrough mission, the EDB was ably supported by Foreign Ministry, Department of Commerce, National Intellectual Property office, the Department of Export Agriculture, Spice Council and the Spices and Allied Products Producers’, Traders’ Association (SAPPTA).

GI registration has the purpose to differentiate Ceylon Cinnamon in the EU market from its substitutes of lower quality. GI will act as a source of competitive advantage which will help to increase market differentiation, product turnover and allow for a premium price from the consumer. An enhanced competitive position of Ceylon Cinnamon in the EU market will have a positive impact in terms of an increase in exports for Sri Lanka, higher income and employment generation across the cinnamon value chain, benefiting about 30,000 stakeholders involved in cinnamon production and processing.

As part of obtaining the GI status, the Ceylon Cinnamon Geographical Indication Association (CCGIA) was established representing all the stakeholders in the cinnamon industry in the country. The responsibility of the CCGIA is to implement an internal control mechanism to monitor their members meeting the specifications stated in the GI specification document. The participants within the cinnamon supply chain need to be registered/obtain the membership of the CCGIA to export Ceylon Cinnamon to the EU region under the Ceylon Cinnamon” name.

The EDB wishes to place on record the wholehearted assistance and encouragement given by Trade Minister Hon Bandula Gunawardena in the course of this challenging task. Minister Gunawardena in October 2020, submitted a proposal to the Cabinet to advise the Legal Draftsman to draft a bill to amend the Intellectual Properties Act No. 36 of 2003, with the provisions to establish a comprehensive and definitive legal framework for the registration of geographical indications in Sri Lanka, which paved the way to secure GI status for Ceylon Cinnamon.

Objection was raised by the competing countries to block the granting of GI status by the EU commission to Sri Lanka for Ceylon Cinnamon, however, the EDB, with the support and encouragement of the aforementioned stakeholders, persevered against all the odds to realise this landmark accomplishment.

We have passed a long journey in obtaining GI for Ceylon Cinnamon. Since 2009, followed by branding of Pure Ceylon Cinnamon, the EDB started the journey to secure registration of GI for Ceylon Cinnamon in the EU. Obtaining GI representing the whole country is a significant achievement and GI is beneficial to all stakeholders representing the cinnamon supply chain. Further, special focus can be given on rural development through Ceylon Cinnamon GI certification”, EDB Chairman Suresh D de Mel expressed his views on this important milestone.

Courtesy Adaderana

The International Monetary Fund is ready to discuss options” with Sri Lanka if the government asks for financial support, its mission chief for the island told AFP on Thursday.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a disastrous impact on Sri Lanka’s economy, which has been deprived of its tourism bonanza while workers’ remittances from abroad have fallen sharply.

While the IMF has not received a request for financial support from Sri Lanka, the staff stands ready to discuss options if requested,” mission chief Masahiro Nozaki said in a written statement to AFP.

On Wednesday, Sri Lanka’s finance minister announced the country had sought advice from the fund and was considering seeking an international bailout.

This referred to an ongoing technical assistance mission by the IMF,” Nozaki said Thursday.

The mission aims to strengthen the Macro Fiscal Unit at the Ministry of Finance and focuses on training staff at the Unit, as part of our capacity development activities,” he added.

The mission is being conducted virtually until February 9,” he said.

The IMF continues to closely monitor economic and policy developments in Sri Lanka,” Nozaki added.

He said a fund team had visited Colombo in December last year as part of the annual bilateral discussions to review economic developments and policies.

A board meeting will be held at the end of February to review the latest economic data from the country.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Ministry of Health says that another 1,243 persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus today (February 04).

Sri Lanka’s tally of Covid-19 cases confirmed in the country thereby climbed to 615,902.

With this, the number of virus-infected people who are undergoing treatment moved to 20,138. Meanwhile, the death toll stands at 15,544.

This is the sixth consecutive day Sri Lanka recorded more than 1,000 daily cases of Covid-19.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 29 new coronavirus-related fatalities for February 03, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 15,544.

This includes 17 males and 12 females, according to the Department of Government Information.

Four of the victims were in the age group of 30-59 years. The remaining 25 virus-infected people were aged 60 years and above.

Courtesy Ukragroconsult

1 February 2022

If it is possible to learn from the mistakes of others, a moment has come for our parliamentary committees and the Ministry of Agriculture to take a good look at Sri Lanka. For, what better way to implement great policies than by seeing their impact beforehand?

And, as the Kenyan establishment continues to flirt with the idea of banning most of the country’s pesticides, it now has a full example of a country that did it. For, in April last year, Sri Lanka became the world’s first organic-only nation, by banning all agrochemicals.

So no one needs to argue anymore about what it does to agriculture stopping the medicines, the dips, the weed control, or the insecticides. Now, we can see it, as Sri Lanka handles a consequent and colossal food crisis.

This is particularly important, as it clearly cuts no ice pointing out the obvious outcomes of slashing our agricultural production by an estimated 40 percent.

For with organic versus conventional agriculture, it seems no one cares that without pest control mosquitoes spread malaria, termites eat buildings, Fall Armyworm and locusts eat crops, aphids spread viruses that kill plants, and weeds choke 50 percent of yields.

It matters not that keeping one hectare of land weed-free by hand takes an estimated 126 hours a year. It doesn’t matter that rigorous studies across the entire globe have never found any organic model that can produce as much food as conventional farming.

In the US, Department of Agriculture data shows that organic farms produce 67 percent of the yield of conventional farms.

Worse, German organisations have been funding the anti-pesticide campaign in Kenya, yet organic farmers in Germany harvested an average of 48 percent of the produce their conventional peers did, from 2012 to 2019.

So, is that our best future, to cut our yields to 48 percent? Putting Kenya on that path will deliver food not here for eating, extra imports needed — pushing down the value of the shilling and making every import more expensive — and smallholder incomes lost, destroying school fees and personal consumption across 70 percent of the population, thereby firmly ensuring it affects everyone else too.

Which is exactly what is now playing out in Sri Lanka. Indeed, by last month, the New York Times headline was Sri Lanka’s Plunge into Organic Farming Brings Disaster”.

It’s not a paper that uses the word disaster lightly. But, imagine now, the headline, on Kenya’s disaster: not that we would care about headlines, once we ran a train like that through our entire economy.

Yet, still, we have no impact analysis on banning pesticides — which have, additionally, never been proven harmful: and I say that fully aware of the foreign-funded slogans saying they are killing people. The missing pieces are only scientific evidence and an information regime that penalises NGOs for publishing completely baseless claims.

Sadly, that was the very same with Brexit too, in the UK, as another radical policy decision fuelled by misinformation and factual blindness.

There, one only had to look at the costs of running 1/27th of a very fine medicines agency, or police security system, or air traffic system, or all the rest, and then look at the cost of running, instead, an entire one, free-standing and with no synergies at all, and the costs didn’t add up to savings.

Add to that the lost grants, the collapsed trade regime, the free trade in banking and financial services, and, in fact, in all goods and services, and it would take pathological defiance of reality to call it a financial and economic gain.

But people did, and so now the price is being paid, in the first years of many years of non-stop price.

Do we really want to get into the same kind of learning as that, to go ahead regardless, and to pay the price over and over?

Or could we study what it is about organic farming that means it produces so much less, and weigh up genuine science-based health risks, versus the health risk of starvation and newly extreme poverty?

ByJoe Wallen, SOUTH ASIA CORRESPONDENT and Nishantha Hewage IN COLOMBO courtesy The Telegraph

The country’s worst economic crisis, compounded by a disastrous switch to organic farming, leaves impoverished unable to buy essential items

Dinner time has become Susila Irangani’s least favourite time of the day. Nowadays, the 62-year-old never knows whether she will be able to put food on the table for her two daughters.

The price of essential foodstuffs – from dhal to eggs – have doubled in her village of Dummalasuriya in Sri Lanka’s northwestern province over the last year alone.

We used to have three meals a day but now we are having to skip dinner because of the little income that we have. This is all because of the increase in prices of essential goods,” said Ms Irangani.

The cost of living is such that we cannot even think of having a balanced meal.”

The housewife says her family can no longer afford to purchase meat or vegetables when they do eat and that the extortionate price of kerosene has sent her husband into the nearby forests to collect firewood.

How can a family like us survive with the soaring prices of essential items?” asks Ms Irangani. Does the government want us to starve and die?”

Impoverished Sri Lankans say they cannot purchase enough food to eat, as the country endures the worst economic crisis in its history, which was compounded by a disastrous decision to switch to organic farming last year.Advertisement

Colombo in May announced that it was banning the use of all chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides in a shock move that was praised by environmentalists.

The Sri Lankan government said it would encourage more sustainable farming practices and would also reduce cases of kidney diseases among farmers, which it blamed on exposure to the chemicals.

But, the sudden switch resulted in one-third of Sri Lanka’s agricultural land being left dormant as farmers said they would be unable to suddenly cultivate land using organic fertilisers alone.

The policy was scrapped in November after farmers took to the streets in protest but its impact will be felt long into 2022.

Jeevika Weerahewa, a senior lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, predicts that the short-lived ban will reduce this year’s paddy harvest by an unprecedented 50 per cent.

I wouldn’t consider it a bad move in principle but it should not have happened in such an abrupt manner, the government was too quick to go ahead with a switch to organic fertilisers,” said Ms Weerahewa. In addition to the rice crop, the maize harvest was reduced and its prices went up and the cost of other goods, including chicken and eggs also rose. We anticipate that the food insecurity situation in the country will get worse over the next few months.”

When a harvest fails in a country it is usually the job of its government to purchase extra food stocks from abroad. But, that hasn’t been possible in Sri Lanka.

Colombo owes £21 billion to lenders over the next five years. This includes repayment of over £5 billion of high-interest loans to Beijing, as well as to international financial markets and the Asian Development Bank, after borrowing beyond its means to fund exorbitant infrastructure projects.

Already Sri Lanka has been forced to lease the use of its new deep water port, Hambantota, to China in lieu of previous payments.

This week, Dr Wijeydasa Rajapakshe, a prominent Sri Lankan MP, accused China of economic invasion, debt diplomacy and sowing corruption in the country.

It is a total disaster. The country has never faced the kind of food poverty as it does now and I think the finger of responsibility rests almost entirely on the government,” said Charu Lata Hogg, Associate Fellow in the Asia Program at Chatham House.

There were also enough examples out there from the many African countries who have over borrowed from China and Sri Lanka could have learnt from this.”

Sri Lanka has imposed a blanket ban on imports since March 2020 to protect its foreign currency reserves which have dwindled to around a mere £1 billion.

Rather than stabilise the market this has instead caused chronic shortages of foodstuffs and hoarding by shopkeepers, many of whom have been subject to raids by the police.

A further decision to print over £470 million of new currency in 18 months has contributed to soaring inflation rates, currently the second highest in Asia.

The price of rice is predicted to skyrocket to Rs300 (£1.10) over the upcoming months. One kilogram was sold at around Rs120 (£0.40) in December, 2020. 

One resident of the city of Kandy, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of their safety, said shortages had already become so severe that they could only purchase rice three times a week.

The transition from chemical to organic fertilisers should take a lot of time, at least a decade. The present food crisis is mainly due to the government’s ill thought out decisions,” they added.

Approximately 75 per cent of Sri Lankans are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. This drop in yields has also caused a direct loss in earnings while food prices are simultaneously at their highest.

Over 500,000 of Sri Lanka’s 22 million citizens have been pushed into poverty since 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic has further reduced earnings. Border closures have caused an estimated £10.5 billion loss in tourism revenue over the last two years.

It has been the perfect storm of events and living has become totally unaffordable for many lower and middle class people who can no longer afford to feed their families,” said Ms Lata Hogg, We are now looking at a severe humanitarian crisis.” 

Mr Rajapaksa has admitted that his government is not delivering” and this week, despite the grave financial situation, he agreed to pay £150 million compensation to the country’s farmers over a loss of earnings during the chemical fertiliser ban.

A proposed bailout is unlikely to include China. Thousands of protesters recently took to the streets of Colombo in an unprecedented protest against Mr Rajapaksa and some raised anti-China slogans, echoing recent rallies in Nepal and the Maldives, two other South Asian countries in significant debt to Beijing.

Relief could instead come from India and last week, Mr Rajapaksa made a surprise announcement that the Sri Lankan military would return land seized from Tamils during the civil war.

The announcement is likely to be warmly received in India as the country has a significant and politically influential Tamil minority.

Last month, the Sri Lankan government announced that it would pay off a $251m (£188m) Iranian oil debt by sending the country millions of dollars worth of tea every month.

The country will ship $5m of leaves to the country every month to settle the debt, in what is believed to be the first example of the beverage being used to settle a bill between governments.

Anusha Ondaatjie, Courtesy Bloomberg News

Pedestrians and shoppers at Pettah Market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. Sri Lanka’s gross domestic product unexpectedly contracted last quarter, adding a new layer of challenge to the economy facing default risks. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Sri Lanka’s inflation rate surged past Pakistan to make it the fastest in Asia, stoked by failed harvests, import restrictions to conserve dwindling foreign-exchange reserves, and high global prices of key commodities. 

Consumer prices rose 14.2% in January from a year earlier, faster than the median estimate of 13.2% in a Bloomberg survey. The average annual inflation rate rose to 6.9%.

Quickening prices pushed the central bank to raise its main interest rate for the first time in three meetings this month. The island nation’s foreign reserves were about $3.1 billion in December, with almost $7 billion of overseas debt due for repayment in 2022. 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration announced a $1 billion relief package this month, raising salaries of government employees and offering farmers compensation for failed crops in a bid to temper public anger over surging prices of food and medicine. 

Sri Lanka’s cabinet has also approved importing rice from India to cool prices. It is seeking a debt restructuring from China — its biggest creditor — after drawing down a $1.5 billion Chinese swap line and securing another $400 million facility from India. 

Pakistan reported a 12.3% inflation rate in December, which could rise to 13% this month, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1

1 February,  2022

Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
Office of the Premier
Legislative Building
Queens Park
Toronto, Ontario
M74 1A1
(Doug.Ford@pc.ola.org) 

Dear Premier Doug Ford of the Province of Ontario and your 29 Cabinet Ministers who voted for Bill 104 supporting the Tamil Pox-Hoax Genocide Coalition of Fraudsters.

Re: Bill 104- Tamil Genocide Education Week Act (May 11-18)

I suppose you all recall your High School Sock-Hop evenings when you all danced to the Beatles Song, Hello…Goodbye.”

Here’s my take on it, rejecting your Bill 104, which was an absolute lie, which makes all of you We are Holier than Thou – Oops! Liars.”.

I am a Canadian citizen domiciled in Ottawa since 16 October 1970. And I am disappointed in all of you who voted for Bill 104 to make it Law  after an arrogant display of not wanting to give a hearing to your Sinhalese-Canadian constituents who would be affected directly. 

Not democratic ….not cricket….not kosher….a completely  selective-ugly character of you Conservatives.

Once upon a time I happened to be a card carrying member of your Party.

You say ‘Yes’ and I say ‘No’
You say ‘Go…go…go’
And I say ‘Oh! No…No…No’
You say ‘Hello..Hello..

We have done it for the Tamils
and say ‘Goodbye and we must Go’.
But this Ottawa’s Sinhalese-Canadian says,
Hello, not yet. ‘Hello…Hello’
I don’t know why you say  ‘Goodbye’
as I have not finished dealing with you lot
and I say ‘Hello….Hello….don’t Go’.

I don’t know why you want 
to say ‘Goodbye’, is it that Your
‘We are Holier than Thou’
Liars bubble has already 
started to leak a stinky puke.

So ‘Hello..Hello…Doug..don’t go”.
So here’s the final verdict on Premier of Ontario Doug Ford’
and that of your 29 Cabinet caucus at Queen’s Park in Toronto, as published in An Edition of NP in the Ottawa Citizen, on Wednesday.

January 26, 2022.  It made me conclude that we Canadians are Maestros-of-Genocide – no If’s and no But’s.  And we have been sofor many, many moons.  Going back to the days of Newfoundland’s Beothuks, the last of them Shanawdithit who died on 6th June 1829.

Here is what it said, which killed/destroyed the innocence of your Ontarians as a Canadian-citizenry who believed in Generosity, Truth and Good Democratic Governance, and toed the line of our Charter of Rights and upheld every clause in it, and most importantly that of Human Rights, the Right-to-Life. As such there was No place for Genocide, in Canada. Right Doug!

The news item said,  Possible grave find at First Nation – British Columbia –  ‘Reflections’ could show 93 burial sites…indicating the number of children buried around the site of former  First Nation-residential schools.”

And here is more about ‘We Canada, are Holier than Thou’ arrogant mind-set of Ontario Provincial Premier Doug Ford’s legislators.

Well…well…well Premier Ford, You and your 29 Cabinet ministers who were metamorphosed into clowns by Vijay Thanigasalam, MPP for Scarborough Rouge-Park by making you all vote for Bill 104, a Hocus-pocus arrogant drivel just to earn the Tamil Sinhalese- blood-soaked-votes in the Greater Toronto Area.  Right.! You Conservatives sold your souls to live another day as a member of Ontario’s Conservative Governing party.  And with a handsome pay-cheque, preferred to eat a sirloin steak for dinner, rather than a hot dog with potato wedges with gravy.

And, of course, Vijay preferred to eat mutton-buriyani with chicken vindaloo and Tharka dhall; for dinner than a bowl of Kanji with a crumb of Naan.

You Ontario legislators were beaming with Holier than Thou arrogance pointing your fingers at Sri Lankans charging them of unsubstantiated Tamil Genocide” when you were Maestros of Genocide of First Nation residential kids all along!

The  May 2021 discovery of mass graves containing the remains of 215 First Nation native children at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential  Schools shocked me, and no doubt shocked you Premier Ford, shocked 38 million Canadians and also the whole world.  We, Canadians, who point our fingers at Sri Lanka accusing of Tamil Genocide were all along involved in Genocide of Native Indian children in Residential schools.  Shish!  What a story of despicable Canadian’ cunning.

 Sweet-Mother of Jesus, give these pathetic sinners some guidance to rescind the lying Bill 104 immediately and  give all Sinhalese-Canadian Ontarians our dignity back, sanitised, polished, cleansed and bathed in Turmeric  water and Garam Masala soap , provided by  Vijay Thanimasalam, a Tamil-Canadian, the  author of the Private Member’s  Bill 104 which is now Law.

Premier Doug Ford, I hope you hear me loud and clear.  Clear as the sound of the  First Nation Traditional drum beats of their Summer Solstice Festival..

boom.,.boom…boom.

Premier Doug Ford: I want my Canadian-Sinhalese-Sri Lankan dignity back. Let’s rescind the Hocus-pocus Bill 104 without delay,  and before May 11,  2022.

Now that the whole world knows of the Canadian involvement in Genocide of First Nation children in Residential schools, Premier Doug Ford, you have abdicated  the decency and moral right to point your finger accusing  my land of Birth- the beautiful Sri Lanka of Tamil Genocide,  who gave Vijay Thanigasalam a life and nurtured him for his first 14 years with -Free Education and all.  He convinced you all to become political-jokers of his Tamil Blarney Gong Show.  

You heard Vijay’s ‘Tamil Facts’,  but what you all denied yourselves was to listen to the ‘Tamil Truths’, before you decided to become Jokers of Vijay’s Tamil Blaney Gong Show.

It is still not too late to listen to the ‘Tamil Truths’, which might convince you that Vijay took you all down the muddy, thorny, lying-Puke-smelling garden path.

I am ever ready to provide you with the ‘TAMIL TRUTHS’.   Invite me and I will be delighted to give you a chance  to remove your Tamil-dunce caps and throw them into your Blue Bins for recycling.  

Afterall, there is no denying that Canada is bankrupt when it comes to upholding  Human Rights” , The- Right-Life.

But let me repeat myself again Premier Doug Ford, the bottom-line is that I demand that you restore my dignity as an honest and proud Sinhalese-Sri Lankan-Canadian, by rescinding your Hocus-pocus Bill104 at your earliest.

What choice have you got when the whole world knows that we Canadians  are Maestros of Genocide and not innocent, lily-white, We are Holier than Thou”’ world citizens anymore. 

Tough.  That’s how the ugly cookie crumbles!

Sincerely,

I am Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr)

who gave back to my adopted home Canada, handsomely with my honest hard work and have been acknowledged by the following citations  And that inner-pride which made me a proud Canadian, is no ones play to take it away from me or destroy it, whether its Premier Doug Ford of Ontario, or the MPP Vijay Thanigasalem of Scarborough-Rouge Park, just because my Motherland is Sri Lanka that I am still romancing with for the love of her.

 * Canada’s Who’s- Who;*Founder-Organizer of Gloucester Spoken Art of Poetry & Storytelling Series  1995-2007;

*City of Ottawa, Civic Appreciation Award for Arts and Culture, 2003;

*Canadian Millennium Encyclopedia of Immigrants who have contributed to enrich Multiculturalism as a Sri Lankan, 2000;

*Head hunted and brought me over from London, England, to Head the

 Thematic Research Section of the National Museums Corporation  for the renovation programme of the Victoria Memorial Museum, Ottawa.  And was the lead in the team that made Canada proud by producing one of the  World’s best Museum Dinosaur Hall’s (Life Through the Ages) 1974;

* My long poem Trail of Mankind, was adapted as the storyline for the   National Museum of Man’s  Orientation Hall, Victoria Memorial Museum,  1974;

* Awarded the Gold Medal for non-narrative Poetry at the Arts and Letters  Competition of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1969;

* Was invited to Chair the Advocacy Committee by the Gloucester Arts  Council to kick off building the Shenkman Theatre Complex in Orleans !993-95; 

* Invited as a Canadian Poet to be the Poet-in-Residence at the Dylan  Thomas  Sung and Word Festival, at Dylan’s Birthhouse at 5 Cwmdonkin  Drive, Swansea, Wales, September-October 2012;

* Invited by the British High Commissioner to Canada to start-off Dylan Thomas,  Welsh poet’s Centennial Celebration in January, 2014, in Ottawa by    introducing and reciting Dylan Thomas’s poetry and mine of him to a Welsh   audience of about 100 invited guests;

* Gloucester City Council 2000, Arts Award;

* 2002 Ontario Volunteer Service Award for 15-years;

* Outstanding Asian Canadian Award. Honouring the Pioneers” in   recognition of exemplary contribution to the Canadian Community,   Presented by Canadian Multicultural Council of Asians in Ontario,   May 3,

* Was guest, ‘Canadian Poet Asoka Weerasinghe’ at the International Poetry    Festival at Austin, Texas, US, 2001.

   And a few more, that made me proud to be a Canadian. And you Premier   Doug Ford of Ontario, and your 29 Councillors, tarnished Me because of   my Sri Lankan Heritage with your lying, bombastic,  finger pointing allegations   that my Motherland Sri Lanka committed Genocide against the Tamils which  She never did,  with  Your Bill 104.

    Doug, I stand by what I say, that it was a bunch of baloney, strings of Vijay’s      masalawade, Poppycock, a crock of full of codswallop,  two dead capelin on    the shores of Middle Cove in Newfoundland, and two Prairie straws waving in   the wind unhappy and distraught.

   Premier Doug Ford, I tell you to back off my Sri Lanka, because we Canadians   are  bankrupt as Human Rights Genocide police as we are now being    recognized as violators  of Human Rights Right-to-Life, by committing   Genocide on the First Nation childred in Residential Schools.

   I, Asoka Weerasinghe a Sri Lankan-Canadian,of Gloucester, Ontario,   demand my DIGNITY restored, by you Premier Doug Ford of Ontario, by    rescinding Bill 104, as it is null-and-void.  So Help me God!

   AW.

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

අන් සියල්ලට ඉහළින් නීතිය පිහිටුවිය යුතු බවට වන අදහස නිවැරැදි එකක් නොවේ. නීතිය යනු සමාජයේ පිළිවෙළ පවත්වාගෙන යෑමට උපකාරී වන ක්‍රමවේදයකි. සම්මත සහ පොදුවේ අනුමත පිළිවෙළට හානිදායක යමක් සිදුකිරීම වැළැක්වීම නීතියෙන් සිදුවෙයි. එහෙයින් වැඩි ප්‍රමුඛතාවක් ලබාදිය යුත්තේ සම්මත සහ පොදුවේ අනුමත පිළිවෙළක් සකසාගැනීමට ය. මෙවැනි පිළිවෙළක් සැකැසෙන්නේ විධිමත් ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති තුළිනි.

මෙම ප්‍රවාදය විසින් ජනරජයේ පරමාධිපත්‍යය තුළට ජනතාවගේ උපදේශන බලය ද ඇතුළත් කර තිබේ. විධිමත් ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති සම්පාදනය කරගැනීම සඳහා අවැසි මගපෙන්වීම් ලබාදීම ඒ අනුව පිහිටුවන උත්තරීතර උපදේශක සභාවේ මූලික වගකීමකි. විධායක බලයේ සිදුවන වෙනස්කම් නිසා ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්තිවල වෙනසක් සිදු නොවන බව ඒ තුළින් තහවුරු වෙයි. මැතිවරණවලින් බලයට පත්වන අයට කළ හැක්කේ තමන්ට පැවැරෙන විධායක කාර්යයන්ට අදාළ මූලික පිළිවෙත් අනුව කටයුතුකිරීම සහ ඒ සඳහා අවැසි සහායක ප්‍රතිපත්ති සකසාගැනීම පමණකි.

ජනරජයේ ඉඩම් සහ නිවාස ප්‍රතිපත්තිය යනු විධායක බලයේ සිදුවන වෙනස්වීම් අනුව නැවත නැවතත් සම්පාදනය විය යුත්තක් නොවේ. යම් යම් කාලීන අවශ්‍යතා අනුව එම ප්‍රතිපත්තියෙහි වෙනස්කම් සිදුකිරීම උත්තරීතර උපදේශක සභාවේ වගකීමකි. එම උපදේශන අනුව අදාළ නීති සම්පාදනයකිරීමේ වගකීම ජාතික ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාවට පැවැරෙයි. උත්තරීතර උපදේශක සභාව විසින් නිර්දේශිත ප්‍රතිපත්ති සහ ජාතික ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාව විසින් සම්පාදිත නීති අනුව ඉඩම් සහ නිවාසවලට අදාළ මෙහෙයුම් කාර්යයන් සිදුකිරීම ජනරජයේ විවිධ මට්ටම්වල ක්‍රියාත්මක විධායක ආයතන විසින් සිදුකළ යුත්තේ ය. ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්ති සහ ඒ අනුව සම්පාදිත නීති යටතේ අදාළ මෙහෙයුම් කටයුතු නිසි පරිදි සිදුවන්නේ ද යන්න තීරණයකිරීමත් ඉඩම් සහ නිවාස භාවිතයේ දී ඉස්මතු විය හැකි ගැටලු සහ ගැටුම් නිරාකරණයත් නීතිය පසිඳලන ආයතනවල (අධිකරණවල) වගකීම වෙයි.

එහෙයින් ජනරජයේ දේපළ නීතිය සම්පාදනය විය යුත්තේ එයට අදාළ ඉඩම්, නිවාස සහ අනෙකුත් වත්කම්වලට (දේපළවලට) අදාළ ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්තිය මත පදනම්වීමෙනි. මෙහි දී මෙම කාර්යයට අදාළ සංස්කෘතික කරුණු සැළැකිය යුතු බව ද මෙයට පෙර ලිපියෙන් පැහැදිළි කළෙමු. එයට අමතරව මෙහි දී ජනරජයේ පොදු සහ ප්‍රමුඛ අවශ්‍යතා කෙරෙහි ද අවධානය ය‍ොමු කළ යුතු වෙයි. නිදසුනක් වශයෙන් ආහාර අවශ්‍යතාව සැළැකිය හැකි ය. ආහාර අවශ්‍යතාව පහසුවෙන් සම්පූර්ණකිරීමට නම් වගා කළ හැකි ඉඩම් ප්‍රමාණය ආරක්‍ෂා කරගත යුතුවෙයි. මෙම කාර්යයට අදාළ අවම ඉඩම් සීමාවක් ජාතික මට්ටමින් නිර්ණයකිරීම ද එම සමස්ත ප්‍රමාණය කෝරළ සහ ගම් මට්ටමේ වගකීම් ලෙසින් බෙදා දැක්වීම ද ජාතික ඉඩම් ප්‍රතිපත්තිය තුළින් සිදුවිය යුත්තේ ය.

ඉඩම්වලට අදාළ දේපළ නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක විය යුත්තේ සහ ඒ ආශ්‍රිත ගැටුම් නිරාකරණය කළ යුත්තේ අදාළ බිම් මට්ටමේ වගකීම් සැළැකිල්ලට ගැනීමෙනි. වගා කළ හැකි බිම් ප්‍රමාණයට අදාළව නිශ්චිතව පැවැරුණු වගකීම් උල්ලංඝණය වන පරිද්දෙන් ඉඩම් පිළිබඳ දේපළ නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ නො හැකි ය. කිසියම් ගම්මානයක් තුළ වගා කළ හැකි ඉඩම් අක්කර තුන්සියයක් අවම මට්ටමින් ආරක්‍ෂා කළ යුතු බවට වගකීමක් පවරා ඇත්තේ නම් එය උල්ලංඝණය නොවන අයුරින් අදාළ නීති ගැටලුව පසිඳලීම ඒ් සඳහා වන බලය පැවැරුණු අධිකරණය විසින් සිදුකළ යුත්තේ ය.

තව ද, ජනතාවගේ නිවාස අවශ්‍යතාවට අදාළ නිශ්චිත සහ ප්‍රමාණාත්මක ජාතික ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් නැතිනම් සහ එය හොඳින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්නේ නැතිනම් ඒ ආශ්‍රිත ගැටලු සහ ගැටුම් ඇතිවීම වැළැක්විය හැකි නොවේ. නිවසකින් ලැබෙන ආවරණය සහ පහසුව ජනතාව අපේක්‍ෂා කරති. එසේ වුව ද, එම අවශ්‍යතාව නොමිලයේ ලබාදීමේ හැකියාවක් ජනරජයට නොමැත. එහෙයින් රාජ්‍ය නියාමනයක් සහිතව සාධාරණ මිලකට ජනතාවට නිවාස සැපැයීමේ නිශ්චිත වැඩපිළිවෙළක් හඳුන්වාදීම ජනරජයේ සියලු මට්ටම්වල ක්‍රියාත්මක විධායක ආයතනවල වගකීම වෙයි. මෙයට අදාළ සියලු කරුණු ආවරණය වන පිරිදි ජාතික නිවාස ප්‍රතිපත්තියක් සම්පාදනය උත්තරීතර උපදේශක සභාවේ වගකීමක් වන අතර එයට අදාළ නීති සම්පාදනය ජාතික ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සභාවේ වගකීමක් වෙයි.

සේවා ස්ථාන (නිදසුන් වශයෙන් පාසල්) ආශ්‍රිත නිල නිවාස සහ අනෙකුත් නැවතුම් ස්ථාන ඉදිකිරීම, විශ්‍රාමිකයන් සඳහා යෝග්‍ය නිවාස ක්‍රම ඉදිකිරීම වැනි කාර්යයන් ද මේ සඳහා යොදාගත හැක්කේ ය. තම වර්තමාන පැවැත්ම සහ අනාගත ආරක්‍ෂාව පිළිබඳ විශ්වාසයක් ජනතාවගේ සිත් තුළ ජනිතවන්නේ මෙවැනි වැඩපිළිවෙළ තුළිනි. එම විශ්වාසය ඇති මිනිස්සු දේපළ සම්බන්ධ ගැටුම් ඇති කරගැනීමෙන් වළකිති.

මෙවැනි ජාතික සහ පුද්ගලික අවශ්‍යතා තහවුරුකිරීමට අදාළ ප්‍රතිපත්ති සහ නිශ්චිත වැඩපිළිවෙළ හඳුන්වා නො දී ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනු ලබන දේපළ නීතියකින් පමණක් ගැටලු නිරාකරණය කළ නො හැක්කේ ය. දේපළ සම්බන්ධ ප්‍රතිපත්ති කිසි ලෙසකින්වත් කෙටිකාලීන ඒවා නොවන බව ද අපි වටහාගත යුත්තෙමු.

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

High Commission of Sri Lanka New Delhi

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda stated that it is critically important to develop eight thrust areas in moving Sri Lanka- India relations from a transactional phase to a strategic phase, in keeping with the fourth pillar of the four pillar-cooperation package announced during the recent visit of the Sri Lankan Finance Minister to India. 

High Commissioner Moragoda made these remarks, speaking at a virtual event organized by the Vivekananda International Foundation, a premier thinktank based in New Delhi, to discuss his policy roadmap, the “Integrated Country Strategy for Sri Lanka Diplomatic Missions in India 2021/2023”.

At this virtual event, organized as part of a series of such events to bring the Integrated Country Strategy to the attention of the Delhi-based thinktanks, High Commissioner Moragoda elaborated the importance of developing the thrust areas of petroleum, electricity, ports, tourism, ICT, exports, manufacturing and agriculture to elevate the Sri Lanka- India relationship to a strategic level as envisaged in the Integrated Country Strategy. In this context, he stressed the need to integrate the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farms and the Port of Trincomalee to the overall energy strategy of India with a view to making Trincomalee an energy hub, a move which he observed that would be beneficial to both countries.

At the beginning of the event the Integrated Country Strategy was introduced to the participants by Deputy High Commissioner Niluka Kadurugamuwa and the High Commissioner’s remarks were followed by a discussion that focused on many aspects of the bilateral relationship, including people to people contacts, connectivity, energy etc.

A large number of participants attended the virtual event. Ambassador Dinkar Srivastav, former Ambassador of India to Iran, Lt. General Ravi Sawhney, former Deputy Chief of the Army Staff and Mr. Anil Devli, CEO of the Indian Ship Owners’ Association were also among the participants.

The session was moderated by the Vivekananda International Foundation’s Director Dr. Aravind Gupta.

Vivekananda International Foundation, an independent, non-partisan institution that promotes quality research and in-depth studies was founded in 2009 and Mr. Ajit Doval, present National Security Advisor of India was its founder Director. Its present Director Dr. Arvind Gupta was a former Deputy National Security Advisor of India.

High Commission of Sri Lanka New Delhi

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

රැකියා ඇබෑර්තු පවතින ක්ෂේත්‍රයන් ආවරණයවන පරිදි විදේශ රැකියා ඉලක්ක කරගත් වෘත්තිමය පාඨමාලා ආරම්භ කරන්නැයි වෘත්තීය පුහුණු පාඨමාලා සිදුකරන රාජ්‍ය ආයතනයන්ට අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අද (31) දින උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

තරුණ තරුණියන් වැඩිපිරිසකට විදේශ රැකියා අවස්ථා ලබා දීම පිළිබඳ පැවැති විශේෂ සාකච්ඡාවට එක්වෙමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී මේ බව අවධාරණය කළේය.

වෘත්තීය මට්ටමේ විදේශ රැකියා අවස්ථා ලබා දීම මෙන්ම පාසල් අධ්‍යාපනය හැර යන තරුණ තරුණියන් පුහුණු ශ්‍රමිකයන් ලෙස විදේශ රැකියා සඳහා යොමු කිරීම කෙරෙහි ද මෙහි දී විශේෂ අවධානයක් යොමු විය.

 නිපුණතා සහිත එහෙත් සහතිකයක් නොමැති පිරිස කෙටිකාලීන පුහුණුවක් තුළින් විදේශ රැකියා සඳහා සුදුසු නිපුණ ශ්‍රමිකයන් බවට පත්කිරීමත්, විදේශ රැකියා වෙළඳපොළ සහ මෙරට තරුණ ප්‍රජාව සම්බන්ධ කළ හැකි ක්‍රමවේදයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීම පිළිබඳවත් මෙහිදී අවධානය යොමු කෙරිණි.

විදේශ රැකියා ප්‍රවර්ධන හා වෙළඳපොළ විවිධාංගීකරණ රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය පියංකර ජයරත්න මහතා විසින් දැනට රැකියා ඇබෑර්තු පවතින රටවල් සහ රැකියා ක්ෂේත්‍රයන් පිළිබඳව මෙහි දී අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා දැනුවත් කරන ලදි. 

තරුණ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය සහ නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යාංශය දැනටමත් තරුණ තරුණියන් සඳහා ඇතැම් වෘත්තීමය ක්ෂේත්‍ර ආවරණය වන පරිදි විදේශ රැකියා ඉලක්කගත පුහුණු පාඨමාලා ආරම්භ කර ඇති බව ද මෙහි දී අනාවරණය විය.

පසුගිය 26 වැනිදා වනවිට ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශය විසින් බලපත්‍රලත් විදේශ රැකියා නියෝජිත ආයතනයන් වෙත අනුමත කර ඇති රැකියා ඇබෑර්තු අතරින් ජපානය,දකුණු කොරියාව,ඉතාලිය,රුමේනියාව,දෝහ කටාර් ඇතුළු රටවල් 22ක් සඳහා ඇබෑර්තු 183,198කට ශ්‍රමිකයන් යොමු කිරීමට අවශ්‍යව ඇති බවද මෙම සාකච්ඡාවේ දී කරුණු ඉදිරිපත් විය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට  අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා,නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ,රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන පියංකර ජයරත්න, සීතා අරඹේපොල,  අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් අනුර දිසානායක,අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්ය මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානී යෝෂිත රාජපක්ෂ, කම්කරු අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් එම්.පී.ඩී.යූ.කේ මාපා පතිරණ, තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් අනුරාධ විජේකෝන්, විදේශ අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් මහාචාර්ය අද්මිරාල් ජයනාත් කොළඹගේ, කලාපීය සහයෝගිතා කටයුතු රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් ඒ.සේනානායක,නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන,වෘත්තිය අධ්‍යාපන,පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් දීපා ලියනගේ, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය අතිරේක ලේකම් නීතිඥ චමින්ද කුලරත්න, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශයේ සභාපති විශ්‍රාමික මේජර් ජෙනරාල් මහින්ද හතුරුසිංහ මහත්ම මහත්මීහු ඇතුළු ආයතන රැසක ප්‍රධානීහු එක්ව සිටියහ.

තිසර සමල් – එප්පාවල

එක් ගමකට එක් ව්‍යවසායකයෙක් බිහි කිරීමේ වැඩසටහන යටතේ උපකරණ බෙදා දීමේ රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතාගේ ප්‍රදානත්වයෙන් අනුරාධපුර මිහින්තලය  ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කාර්යාල පරිශ්‍රයේදී  සිදු කෙරිණ.

ග්‍රාමීය ආර්ථිකය ශක්තිමත් කිරීමට ගම තුළ ඇති සම්පත් කළමනාකරණය වඩාත් ඵලදායි ලෙස සිදු කිරීම වත්මන් රජයේ අපේක්ෂාව අනුව ව්‍යවසායකයින් දහ හතර දහසක් බිහි කිරීමේ සංකල්පය මත ඔවුන්ට අවශ්‍ය පුහුණුව, දැනුම සේම අනෙකුත් උපකරණ සපයා දී ව්‍යවසායකයින් බිහි කිරීම මෙමගින් සිදු කෙරේ.

ඒ අනුව බෑග් මැසීම, මදුරු දැල් මැසීම, රෙදි මැසීම සඳහා ජුකී මැෂින් , ඇඹරුම් යන්ත්‍ර, බහු කාර්ය වඩු යන්ත්‍ර හා වඩු උපකරණ, යකඩ වැඩ සඳහා අවශ්‍යය උපකරණ, හදුන් කූරු නිෂ්පාදන උපකරණ ආදිය බෙදා දීම සිදු කෙරිණි.මෙම පිරිස් සඳහා අවශ්‍යය පුහුණුව මිහින්තලය විදාතා සම්පත් මධ්‍යස්ථානය මගින් ලබා දී ඇත.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ මිහින්තලය ආසන සංවිධායක සරත් ඉලංගසිංහ මහතා ඇතුළු ප්‍රාදේශීය දේශපාලන නියෝජිතයින්, මිහින්තලය ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම්තුමන් ඇතුළු රාජ්‍යය නිළධාරීන්ද සහභාගී වූහ. 

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM

Politicians of spirit politicians of will,
Politicians of vision brain & power,
Fit to cope with anything ,
These are wanted every hour  

Not the weak  and whining drones,
That all troubles magnify,
Not the watch word of I can’t ,
But the nobler one I’ll try.

Do what ever you do,
With a true and earnest zeal,
Bend your sinews to the task,
Put your shoulder to the wheel,
Then my friend you will find,
Success awaiting  after your grind.

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM

Palitha Mapatuna

Chapter II of the Constitution of Sri Lanka requires the state to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana; this would imply protecting and fostering the assets of the Buddha Sasana.

The Principal Asset of the Sasana: The Authentic Teaching

The principal asset of the Buddha Sasana would be the authentic teaching of the Buddha, introduced to Sri Lanka well over 2000 years ago, and written down therein during the 1st century BCE to protect it.

However, it is evident that, in recent times, attempts are being made in certain quarters to distort and, thereby, corrupt the teaching.

These attempts consist of intentional distortion of the essential elements of the teaching, such as the discourses, including providing false and arbitrary meanings to its technical terms.

Onus of Enabling Checking

These quarters seem to deny distortion, claiming that they are based on original sources which they have had access to; if that is truly the case, the onus of enabling checking the alleged sources falls on them.

It  does not seem possible to conceive of a legitimate reason to hide the alleged original sources or to take the preposterous position that they are available only to ‘special’ people like themselves!

Sincere followers of the Buddha have come to be aware of the aforesaid attempts at distortion and seem to be keen to ensure that these attempts are arrested. 

This letter provides an outline of a suggested procedure to protect the authentic teaching of the Buddha.

Suggested Procedure in Sequence

1. Appointment of an official body of trustees of the Buddha’s teaching, consisting of suitable Bhikkhus from the three Nikayas. 

2. Identification by  this body of the sources of the authentic teaching, and making a list of them(provision may be made for expansion of the list, if necessary).

3. Determining authentic versions of these sources and officially publishing them.

4. Determining the correct meaning of technical terms and officially publishing them.

Having fulfilled this sequence, appropriate measures may be introduced to prevent propagation of any version that contradicts these authentic versions and correct meaning of terms. 

Legal Basis for Measures 

The legal basis for measures for the protection of the authentic teaching of the Buddha, including meaning of it’s technical terms, could be Chapter II, referred to above.

Rights and Perversions

It is possible that the quarters involved in distortion may raise questions against these measures in terms of individual rights.

However, deliberate distortion of whatever teaching, includingit’s technical terms, by any quarter does not appear to fall within the ambit of rights.

Malevolent intent would be implicit in distortion and engaging in it under the cover of alleged rights would constitute a perversion of rights; no one would, therefore, be entitled to it.

Thus, it appears that a clear distinction needs to be made between rights and perversions.

However, the right to engage in honest critical appraisal of any teaching is legitimate and this needs to be distinguished from distortion and protected.

Palitha Mapatuna

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, January 31 (Counterpoint): The Sri Lankan Tamil parties have sent a letter to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his help to establish a Federal Constitution in Sri Lanka in place of the present Unitary one on the plea that the minority Tamils are not able to realize their aspirations under a centralized, Unitary set up.

It is learnt that they have done this despite advice that they should seek an achievable goal, that is the full implementation of the 13 th. Amendment of the present constitution because it flows from the India-Sri Lanka Accord of July 1987.

Despite intense debates in which the parties of the Indian Origin Tamils from the Up country and the Western Province maintained that the majority Sinhala community would never envisage a federal setup because it equates federalism with separatism, the 11 Sri Lankan Tamil parties representing the Northern and Eastern provinces, adamantly stuck to the stand that they would not deviate from their long-standing demand for a federal structure.

India’s Limitations  

But the question that the Sri Lankan Tamil parties failed to ask themselves is whether the Indian Prime Minister can push for federalism in Sri Lanka when India itself is not federal State in the way the United States is. India has been slowly but surely centralizing governance since independence in 1947. And the process has intensified under Modi’s watch.Therefore, the pertinent question is: Can Modi support demand for federalism in Sri Lanka?

Eating into the States’ Share

The Central Indian government has been encroaching on the States’ rights even in regard to subjects assigned to the States by the Constitution. The financial dependence of the States on the Centre arising from asymmetric taxation rights, enables the Centre to dictate to the States. National policies on various subjects are made without systematically consulting the States. Formal and informal institutions set up for consultations are in disuse.

The Communist Party leader, D.Raja, points out in an article in Indian Express that the Planning Commission, a non-political body of experts that drew up policies in consultation with the States and the Union government, has been scrapped. The Inter-State Council has met only once in the last seven years. And the National Development Council has not met at all.

The tenure of the 15th Finance Commission (meant to divide the levies collected by the Centre between the Centre and the States) was mired in controversy and many states expressed apprehensions about the evolving pattern of financial devolution, Raja says. The All India General Sales Tax (GST) has taken away much of the financial autonomy of the States. The country’s federal indirect tax regime has become unitary.

Recently, parliament legislated on agriculture, an item in the State list, to enact the three contentious farm laws, which led to a year-long agitation by farmers in Punjab and a few other North Indian States.  Students in Tamil Nadu have committed suicide over the discriminatory nature of the national examination (NEET) conducted for admission to medical colleges, when education” is a devolved State subject. The right of States to determine the standards required for entry into professional colleges has been violated and sacrificed at the altar of  national uniformity. The principle of uniformity does not recognize  differences in the educational levels prevailing in States in a diverse country like India. Recently, the Centre arrogated to itself the power to withdraw from the States, officers belonging to the All India Administrative Services, thus severely handicapping the States.  

Until the Supreme Court put an end to it, the Centre could sack a State government on trumped up charges under Art.356. Recently, the Centre reduced Jammu and Kashmir State to the level of a Centrally administered Union Territory” citing terrorist threats. New States are carved out of existing States without consulting the affected States. The States have no control over the Central armed forces deployed in their territories. In the border States, the jurisdictions of these Central forces are determined solely by the Centre. The discriminatory policy on citizenship is affecting Muslim and Sri Lankan Tamil refugees.         

Constitution is Unitary             

All this has been made possible by the Unitary character of the Indian constitution. The Constitution was drafted between 1946 and 1949, when India was in turmoil. The country was violently partitioned into a mainly Hindu India and a Muslim Pakistan. There were hundreds of theoretically independent Princely States which needed to be integrated with India. Therefore, the primary concern of the makers of the Constitution was controlling separatism by making the Centre strong if not omnipotent. The Constitution did recognize India’s diversity but it also provided for a Centre with over-riding powers.

During the Constituent Assembly debates, the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, cautioned that it would be injurious to the interests of the country to provide for a weak central authority which would be incapable of ensuring peace, of coordinating vital matters of common concern and of speaking effectively for the whole country in the international sphere.” Other prominent members of the Assembly also demanded a stronger Union government necessary for India’s survival and political stability, given its vast diversity in religion, language, caste and ethnicity.

The Constitution gives the Union parliament discretion to reconstruct the boundaries of the States. The Union list of subjects contains more subjects than the State list. In case of a deadlock between the Union and the States over subjects in the Concurrent List, the Union law prevails. The Union parliament can also legislate on any State subject under extraordinary circumstances.

The Union Government has power to appoint State Governors and dissolve State governments by proclaiming President’s Rule if it deems fit. Institutions of governance like a single system of courts, all-India public services and integrated audit machinery and election machinery help the Centre exercise power over the States.

When States Can Assert Themselves

However, even as the Indian Constitution is biased in favor of the Union government, States have room to assert their interests under certain political conditions. When the liberal Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister and the Congress was the dominant party, the States enjoyed autonomy because he believed in consultation and consensus and the Congress leaders in the States were men of stature. But when his daughter, the imperious Indira Gandhi, was PM, she brooked no opposition. She held the States on a tight leash, even sacking State governments which did not toe her line.

However, when weak coalition governments ruled India from New Delhi, the States were assertive, especially when they were ruled by opposition parties or regional parties.

Currently, the States are under the thumb of the Centre because the Centre is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which not only believes in Centralization and uniformity, but also has a brute majority in parliament to enforce its will.  

The government in New Delhi is flexing its muscles by using the Centrally-controlled investigative agencies to rein in State leaders who are either from the opposition parties or are from the regional parties. The BJP is also using State Governors appointed by it, to act, not as constitutional figureheads as they are meant to act, but as an arm of the Centre in the latter’s schemes against the States. In Tamil Nadu, Governor R.N.Ravi, who has an intelligence background, started communicating with State government officials bypassing the State Chief Minister, against well-established norms.

This being the case in India, the Sri Lankan Tamil parties’ bid to get the Indian Prime Minister to press Colombo to replace the present Unitary constitution by a Federal one is doomed to fail. The move can only serve one purpose: winning elections. The Tamil voter is still wedded to the demand for Federalism despite dismal failure to get it in 74 years of struggle, both peaceful and armed, and with and without foreign help.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) says the third generator at the Lakvijaya Power Plant in Norochcholai has been repaired after it broke down last month.

Accordingly, 160 MW of electricity has been added to the national grid.

This generator, which adds 300 MW of electricity in total to the national grid, experienced a sudden malfunction in early December, 2021.

Following the breakdown, the Kelanitissa power plant had been supplying 300 MW of electricity to the national grid, in lieu of the 3rd generator at the Lakvijaya power plant.

Meanwhile, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) says it expects to convene a meeting later today to review the situation and to decide whether interruptions to the power supply are needed.

On January 27, the PUCSL stated that scheduled interruptions to the electricity supply until today after reviewing the situation at power plants and the availability of fuel stocks required by them.

According to reports, stocks of fuel required for power generation are being supplied to power plants.

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has declared that there will be no scheduled power interruptions in the country until further notice. 

The electricity sector regulator convened a meeting earlier today to review the current situation and to decide whether it is necessary to impose scheduled power cuts.

As the demand for electricity can be managed during the month of February starting tomorrow, the proposal made by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for a power interruption will not be allowed until February 04, 2022, the PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said. The CEB had proposed that there is a need for power interruption from 25th of January to 4th of February, he added.

We reviewed the power plants and the fuel stocks that are required for them, on a daily basis. Based on the results of those reviews we decide that there is no necessity for power interruption. It is estimated that the entire economy would incur around Rs. 31 billion of loss if the proposed power interruption was approved. We were able to save Rs. 31 billion by preventing a power interruption. It has been confirmed that a continuous supply of electricity can be provided without any power interruption even at the beginning of February.”

Mr. Ratnayake also noted that an uninterrupted supply of power should be provided to successfully hold the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination scheduled for the next month.

Speaking further, he said Unit 3 of the Nororchcholai Coal Power Plant, which was undergoing renovations, has commenced generation of power supply. Accordingly, 160 MW of electricity was added to the national grid today. This generator, which adds 300 MW of electricity in total to the national grid, experienced a sudden malfunction in early December, 2021.

Meanwhile, the 130 MW power plant at Sojitz, which was recently disconnected from the national grid for maintenance purposes, is expected to resume power generation from February 02, the PUCSL chairman continued, adding that, As a result, it has been confirmed that the power supply can be maintained uninterrupted.”

Mr. Ratnayake also stated that the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery has received crude oil and has already started the process of refining the fuel required for the power plants in the future.

The refinery produces fossil fuels and naphtha as by-products. Power plants such as Sapugaskanda, Colombo Barge Mounted, West Coast and Uthuru Janani which have a generation capacity of 495 MW require fossil fuel. A total of 495 MW of capacity can be generated for 13 days from the fossil fuel that is generated through the refinery process. Also, 150 MW power plant can be operated for five days from the naphtha produced by crude oil.”

PUCSL also pointed out that it is essential to get the support of the electricity consumers to manage the supply of electricity in such a challenging situation.

With regard to this, Mr. Ratnayake said, We have proposed a number of electricity conservation measures that can be implemented with the assistance of consumers, such as limiting lighting, saving the use of air conditioners, and limiting the lighting time of street lamps. We estimate that these measures alone will save us 3.7 GW hours per day. If so, a 150 MW power plant can be shut down for 24 hours. It is the responsibility of the electricity consumer to support the country by conservation of electricity in a situation like this.”

He urged all electricity consumers to support the conservation of electricity to the best of their ability, noting that inefficient electricity consumption in a situation like this can lead to power cuts. 

The PUCSL said it has also taken steps to get the support of private and state organizations to generate about 300 MW of capacity through the efficient use of power generators owned by them. One of the ways to get electricity instantly for us is the efficient use of the generators owned by various companies. We have already had a discussion on the matter with the owners of 100 MW so far. It is scheduled to discuss with another group on the same matter this week. We hope to reach a final decision on the availability of about 300 MW of capacity from state and private generators before the end of next month.”

Courtesy Adaderana

The Ministry of Health says that another 1,082 persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus today (January 31). 

This figure includes 06 persons who had arrived in the country from overseas. 

Sri Lanka’s tally of Covid-19 cases confirmed in the country thereby climbed to 611,185.

With this, the number of virus-infected people who are undergoing treatment moved to 17,312. Meanwhile, the death toll stands at 15,441.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 21 new coronavirus-related deaths for January 30, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 15,441.

This includes 11 males and 10 females, according to the Department of Government Information.

Five of the victims are in the age group of 30-59 years. Two others are s aged below 30 years and the remaining 14 patients are aged 60 years and above.

Dr. Sudath Gunasekara  B.A. (Hons) PhD Retired Permanent Secretary to   Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranayaka.

In memory of the brave Kandyan Sinhale patriots who sacrificed, their  lives in battles against three European Invaders, Portuguese, Dutch and English  from (1505 to 1948) to save the Motherland and the Sinhala nation.

(By this essay I propose to the Government of Sri Lanka to set up an International Museum on Colonial crimes from (1505-1948) in Kandy, at the old Bogamabara Prison site, in memory of the brave Kandyan Sinhale patriots who sacrificed their lives in battle against three barbaric and ruthless European Invaders, Portuguese, Dutch and English for Three Centuries continuously from (1505 to 1948) to save their Motherland and the Sinhala Nation)

(Proposed name for the Institute)

International Museum on Colonial Crimes Committed by Portuguese, Dutch and British from (1505-1948) in Sri Lanka :  A Memorial Institute in Memory of the Sinhala Patriots who sacrificed their lives to defend the Motherland from these invaders for, four and half Centuries.”

 Bogambara Prison

This was built by the British in 1874 as the second largest Prison in this country on the model of the famous Bastiile Prison in Paris. Bastiile was built to imprison and suppress those who rose against the French Monarchy. Similarly, this was built by the colonial invader British to imprisoned, suppress and hang the native Sinhala patriots who revolted and rose against the British colonial Government. Bogambara did the same job in Sri Lanka to Sinhalese, what the Bastiile did in France. There was little difference between what happened in Batiile in France and Bogambara in Sri Lanka.

No final Plan to develop Bogambara Prison complex even after 8 years of its closing.

Already 8 years have passed since this prison was closed down in2014. Four Governments since then have been talking high and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinha and a number of Ministers, of these governments and officials of different institutions also have visited this site many a time. Much public funds have already being spent on these public shows and many a report have been published, spending millions of public funds without any substantial development to be seen, for 8 long years. Apart from real development isn’t it a tragedy that even after 8 years there is no unanimity among the political masters or the officials entrusted with the job, on what really, they are going to do here.

According to the UDA Final Report: Vol.2 (2019-2020) ‘the redevelopment plan is not finalized yet”

Looking at the long delay in converting this historic place, located right at the center of the historic world heritage city Mahanuwara (Kandy), The Great City /Capital, of the last Kingdom of Sinhale, a glistering jewel of the 2500 years old Sinhala Kingdom, to a useful purpose and more over lack of clarity in the minds of those who are in charge of the project as stated in the UDA report, which says Currently, no decision has been made on who will redevelop the major part of the prison buildings” is really very puzzling. I wonder as to what 4 Governments have been doing for 8 years with so much of talking and public displays. Just like the governments, the management also has been going from hand to hand (Central Engineering Consultancy Services and UDA, the Prison Dept and dept of Archaeology) with different priorities and expertise that are far from the historical, cultural, political and strategic depth of this city and its environs.

In this state of confusion, I am convinced that this will be never converted to a functional level at least for anotherr10 years, as already 8 years have gone waste, under four Governments since 2014. Different Ministers, have come out with different, but stale utopian plans. Neverthelss, still it is at ground level after 8 years, as stated by the UDA. I remember once Minister Malik Samarawickrama of the Yahapaalanaya government said he will convert this place into a five-star Hotel to attract foreign tourists. His plan is now gone for good along with him, fortunately.

PM Ranil also declared open a so-called Cultural Park outside the Prison wall included in the2016 plan. This event was attended by 6 Ministers 2 Ambassadors, Thailand and Japan and about 10 officials. At that time, it was under the Central Engineering Service and UDA. But very little activity is seen around the place since then.  Surprisingly for a layman like me, it looks a ghost prison site now.

At a later stage Champika Ranavaka, Minister of Megapolis visited the place and declared that he will develop this place as a major tourist attraction. This plan was dropped in 2021 May and the Department of Prison also declared it will open a five-star Prison Hotel (a crazy idea) here. Champika’s fairy plans were also disappeared in the air along with him and the Yahapalanaya Government.

Then Minister Keheliya Rambukwella (New Government) on a tour conducted on 21.7.2021 weekend declared that plans were afoot to develop the old Bogambara Prison buildings and its land as a prominent tourist attraction for both local and foreign visitors to the heritage city of Kandy, the Minister said. Sri Lankans, particularly the Kandyan traditional craftsmen and artistes, would be given the opportunity to display their goods within the premises, the Minister said.

Meanwhile the State Minister Ministry of Heritage, Vidura Wickramanayake who visited the place on August 2. 2021, emphasized that a very special mixed project will be established in the premises of the Bogambara Prison and that priority will be given to artefacts of cultural and artistic value which have been protected up to now centered on the last kingdom of Kandy. He also has said the speculations that the old Prison building will be demolish is untrue.

State Minister Wickramanayake further has said that the environment required for artisans who engage in creations highlighting traditional arts which is hereditary to Kandy, will be set up within these premises. He said that the programme will be launched together with the Urban Development Authority, the Department of Archaeology and the Prisons Authority.

The UDA who are supposed to be in charge of this rehabilitation Project (as opposed to doing something novel) on the other hand in their GREATER KANDY URBAN PLAN, Final Report: Vol.2 says.

Main Text Plans ready to develop old Bogambara Prison Complex has said they are planning to convert it to a develop old Bogambara Prison Complex that will be turned into a mixed-use building with public open space in front as tourist attraction center (Details not given. Also, it looks very vague. As they say it will me a mixed project. The details of the composition of the mix are not reveled)

Scanning through all these Mixed stories” overall, it looks to me now, that it is like Alice in Wonderland. I wonder whether all the people who visited the site have fallen through the rabbit hole and are still in Alice’s Wonderland.

My observations

 Looking at all these news reports it is more than clear that even after 8 years there is no final plan or a final decision of development rehabilitation, whatever they call it, on the proposed new Project.  All speakers have highlighted only the conventional, but rather stale, tourist promotion aspect and the service they have in their minds on Kandyan Arts and Crafts. None of them seems to be aware of the existence of the Laksala and the Department of Small Industries, with their Kundasale Sri Narendra Sinha Arts and Crafts Colony and a large number of private shops with a massive Kandyan Arts Center (Incidentally for which I laid the Foundation in 1972 as Assistant Director of the Department of Small Industries Kandy, at that time.) just in front of the Kings wood College, to take care of this sector from late 1950 s.

All these lose talks prove that even after 8 year none of them seems to has a clear idea as to what the overall plan of development for this site should be.  Therefore, it is still in the speculation stage most of them groping in the dark, politicians taking center stage, as a display of cheap political propaganda to attract the votes only. It has been a merry-go round for everybody at public expense.

In this back drop, as I see it, the Bogambara prison site has become a mere theater for politicians for regular cheap political media shows, to deceive the voters, just as they had done in all other fields for the past 73 years, by pretending that they are seriously interested in developing this place on a multifaceted development fairy tale, like the Midsummer Night Dream of Shakespeare, without a clear idea as to what they are going to do with this historically and economically valuable site. The fact that each politician who visited the site had a different approach and a different perception of future development on this site explains the confusion and lack of purpose and clarity as to what the Government is going to do here or in other words it does not have a concrete plan at all in hand and it has just boiled down to a dirty political game only. All of them are still groping in the dark, I think. To me it appears that only Heritage Minister had said something sensible.

However, no one has said anything sensible. Also no one has seen or thought of the historical and political importance of this prison site in one of the darkest chapters of Sri Lankan history where many a conspiracy and crimes have been hatched and committed against the Sinhala Nation and similarly about the light it can throw on the atrocities of expansion of Colonialism and the spread of religion at gun point by the war minded hungry European invaders in the Middle Ages with no mercy on any human being outside their complexion.

Talking about the Prison per se, it is a pity none has taken in to account the importance of the historical and political role played by this prison during the time of repressive colonial administration in designing a plan that display the sacrifices made by the Kandyan peasants and their patriotic[S1]  leaders, the battles they fought and how valiantly they kept all the invaders locked in to a narrow coastal belt for 310 long years until the British succeeded in annexing the Island to the British empire by shrewd and cunning intrigue in1815.

 None of these politicians or the officials have had the slightest idea of the important role played by the Kandyan peasants, who suffered and died inside these walls helplessly, for fighting against the enemy,  and their unique braveries in defending the motherland and the Sinhala nation for 310 years, not only in protecting the Kandyan Kingdom but also the whole country and the Sinhala nation surrounded by the mighty Indian Ocean.

 In fact, in my view the new project that is to come up here should be dedicated to the memory of that great people, who are now completely forgotten and even their descendants criminally betrayed by everybody, including the politicians who are clueless about what their ancestors had done to save this land for us and moreover their own pristine heritage as a world class nation.  These politicians and officials who do not know that they had a glorious past live and fly high in an empty European made air balloon taking this country and the Sinhala Nation to imminent disaster. So how can people like that ever conceive a meaningful plan to make the best use of this wonderful site?

The best example I can quote to prove the ignorance, disregard, the callousness and jealousy the present- ay politicians have towards these great people (Kandyans) who saved the country and the Sinhala nation from Western Colonial invasions is the abolition of the Department of Kandyan Peasantry Rehabilitation and the Kandyan Area Development Authority in Jan 2014 by the present Minister of Finance Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, who still have double allegiance by being a dual citizen (1 America and 2 Sri Lanka)  to establish his pet Project  Divineguma in 2014. by closing down three important institutions started by previous governments namely, a) The Kandyan Peasantry Dept and the Kandyan Area Development Authority and the Janasaviya.   

Therefore, any Development Project designed for this site should be a Master piece that could take the world by surprise on the darker side of Colonialism and also that could pave the way for the countries in Asia Africa and Latin America, for political, economic and cultural liberation from the neo-colonial suppressions and oppressions   

I also suggest that this memorial institute is divided in to three separate sections to demonstrate each colonial period separately vide; Portuguese Wing, Dutch Wing and the British Wing to enable the visitors to see the scales of crimes done by each colonial power to this country. Such a division will make it easy to compare and differentiate the crimes each power had done and also understand the commitments for liberation betrayals of the natives of each period.

As such any project designed to this site should be able to expose the darker side of the barbaric, inhuman and savages’ European colonialism that reflect the true colonial history on this tropical Island.

A multifaceted approach preserving the Kandyan architecture.

All other activities like public Parks, Libraries, tourist shops, cafeterias, Cinema Halls, Conference Halls, Exhibition Halls, lecture theaters should be cited separately nice landscaped. All the new buildings should be designed in the traditional Kandyan Architecture to preserve the indigenous Sinhala architectural designs.

 In my view the development of this place should expand beyond the stale and common tourist promotion mania of average men. I suggest that it must also encompass a broader academic scope. So that it could be a gold mine for researchers and students of different types of colonialism in one place, both medieval and the present times, so that it could turn out to be an academic center par excellence in the Indian ocean, -the path way to the East and the West from ancient times. So that it will attract thousands of researchers and scholars from all parts of the world both the West and the East, thereby opening a super highway for earning Foreign Exchange as well.

No one involved in this project so far seems to have noticed the potentials of developing this historic place, on these lines as a center of attracting academic interests in studying how medieval colonial expansion has transformed and changed this modern world. How colonialism was responsible for the present day socio-political, economic and human mess and conundrums arisen from the ills of colonial policies to the victim nations and how to find workable solutions to such ailing white manmade problems due to the perpetuation of the same medieval colonialism in the modern world even today and arrest the neo-colonialism intruding in different forms into the affairs of the exploited countries like Sri Lanka.

As such the establishment of a museum of the model proposed here   could be a world famous research center for scholars the world over on colonialism and its impact on reshaping and transforming the old world and how colonialism has implanted the aggressors religion, language and culture at gun point and thereby destroying the native and replacing the local cultures that has disturbed and destroyed the global equilibrium that was brought about by environmental diversity where each nation respect the other man’s culture that might have far reaching effects on our co-existence on this planet  and WORLD peace, sans the present day global tension and unrest by practicing the ‘Matsya nyaaya as preached by Kautillya, where the stronger swallows UP THE WEAKER.

 In addition to what I have discussed above the proposed museum complex will also have separate sections to display

1 Visuals of brutalities committed by colonial invaders

Like murder, arson, vandalism, destruction of religious places slaughter of cattle, wanton destruction to the environment, large scale deforestation on the hill country, destruction of irrigation canals, village Tanks, destroying home gardens and paddy fields, economic bases social institutions removal of valuable books, ola leaves, artifacts, science and indigenous knowledge like Ayurveda

Instances of Destabilizing political harmony by discriminatory methods like giving minorities special privileges, discrimination against the Sinhala majority setting Tamils and Muslims against them, planting Indian nationals right at the centre of the country giving rise to a new Indian Tamil civilization to destroy the territorial integrity of this Sinhala country.

Introducing new laws for the minorities while denying the natives their own and imposing Roman Dutch Law on them. Robing the native land by repressive legislation like Encroachment on Crown lands Ord of 1840, Temple Lands Ord of 1853 and the Wasteland Ordinance of 1897. They also destroyed the age old native political, legal, administrative and social institutions and replaced them with systems   completely alien and inappropriate to the traditions of the colonies. The proposed Museum should provide a store House of information on these subjects.  

A special committee to study each of these aspects and prepare a comprehensive sectoral plan for each section

The Govt must set up a special committee to study each of these aspects and prepare sectoral plan for each section. Within this programme we also can have provisions for Hotels, Sale centers, Theaters, conference halls, craftsmen at work to demonstrate how medieval Sinhala Craftsmen work in their villages, Exhibition halls, libraries. In fact, this museum should be developed as a museum complex. This could be the first of its kind on studies on colonialism in the whole world. The entire site of 14 acres should be nicely landscaped and buildings should reflect Kandyan Architecture. I suggest the following statues should also be erected in prominent places to add colour, decor and pride of a nation that had a Great heritage.

Monaravila Kepetipola Disava, Ehelepola Disava, Pilimatalava Adhikaa

rama, Meegastenne Adikarama, Viira Madduma Banda  Wariyapola Sumangala and Kadahapola Thero and Welivita Sangharaja Thero,  Puran Appu.,Gongalegoda Banda Saradiyal Sirima Bandarnayaka and Tennakoon Wimlananda, Nittawela Gunaya and Thittapajjala Suramba, so that they will add colour, dignity and pride to a nations past. Keppetipola Disava walking with a hunch back looking for Independence of his motherland in Mauritius Isle in conversation with his French care taker.

1Use the traditional Temple painting technique in narrative form for Wall Paintings.

2Miscellaneous items that could be incorporated to enhance the historical and cultural values.

3 All displays should be arranged in a way that pays the nation’s highest  gratitude and honour to its heroes who fought against the enemies to defend the Motherland and the Sinhala nation and their religion and sacrificed their loved ones and everything they had and finally their lives  in the name of the motherland and its people. during one of the darkest chapters of Sri Lanka’s history

4Exhibit Sinhala weaponry and war techniques they used in battle against the invader

5 A fully equipped library to House documents pertaining to the 1505-1848 period with a competent library staff.

6 A research unit in collaboration with the Peradeniya University

7 A Theatre for regular display of Kandyan Dancing and Folk Drama for tourists

Finally, I also propose to set up a Special Committee of experts in Sri Lankan and World Colonial History. Pertaining to the period mentioned (1505-1948) with a mixture of experts in History, Architecture of this country, State Craft and  Kandyan Law, Sinhala Legal system and state craft, Indigenous Agriculture social system etc.

Members

Few names I would like to suggest to this Committee. Emeritus Professor Gerald Peiris, Senaka Weeraratna, Asoka Badarage, Senali Waduge, Ariyawansa Jayakodi, Palitha Ariyaratna,Wansaratna Senaanayaka,

Ex-Officio members

GA Kandy, Commissioner of Prisons, Mayor of Kandy MC or his Representative, Two scholarly Representatives from Malwatta and  Asgiriya Sects, Someone to represent the VC of Peradeniya University, Diyawadana Nilame. a Representative from the UDA, A Rep from the Ministry of Heritage and Com of Archaeology

(The services of the writer are also available if they want it, 

on request)

 [S1]

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

It is widely published the view expressed by Ms Diana Gamage in the parliament that the term of the president should be extended by two years and the reason for this change as pointed by Ms Gamage was the COVID-19 pandemic that has been limited the ability of president working to people. This is a critical constitutional issue and I do not know whether there is a constitutional provision to extend the period of the president. The reason given by Ms Gamage is shown as a valid point. It is a critical point for the country and lawyers could argue the issue looking at different perspectives. As it recorded, no country has extended the governing period because of the pandemic.

Ms Diana Gamage may have honest intention, but individual intention might not agree with the justice system in the country. Ms Diana Gamage wants to implement her idea through the parliament approval of a proposal by confirmation of two-third majority. What is the constitutionality of the way Ms Gamage expresses and the constitutional provision are more drastic than a simple expression of view?

The point raised by Ms Gamage is reasonable and people of the country agree with the view and the point need to consider is the pandemic has been a worldwide situation and has the pandemic reasonably limited the ability of presidents working and the other point is same idea may apply to members of the parliament too and the point may complicate if the issue goes to the court.

What is the opinion of the president? President is democratically elected officer and the individual view of the president might not be considered by the court.

The person expressed the view is also questionable because did she express the view to attract opinion of voters and without knowledge of constitutional provision? In other word, was it purposed to attract popularity?

What are the opinion of learned layers of the country?

By Manjula Fernando/Sunday Observer

Colombo, January 30: fSri Lanka’s Ambassador to China Dr. Palitha Kohona in an interview with the Sunday Observer explains where the ‘strong and warm’ bi-lateral relations between Sri Lanka and China are heading in the future, on the eve of 65th anniversary of establishing Sino-Lanka diplomatic relations.

Dr. Kohona said Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity has not been a bargaining chip on the table for Chinese development assistance.

Q: This year marks 65 years of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and China and the 70th anniversary of signing the China – Ceylon Rubber-Rice Pact. What is unique and important about our relations with China? 

A: I would not use the expression unique, when describing the relationship with China. I would say the relationship is extremely strong. And it has been built upon a solid foundation.

Sri Lanka’s relationship with China goes back 2000 years. In the distant past many traders voyagers, bhikkhus came to Sri Lanka from China, and Sri Lankan bhikkhus, bhikkunis, princesses and traders voyaged to China by sea. Famous voyager Admiral Zheng He visited Sri Lanka thrice. He left a stone pillar in Galle, commemorating his visit. The Chinese bhikkhu Fa-hsien came to Sri Lanka much earlier and lived in Anuradhapura for two years. The copious notes of his experiences in Sri Lanka, help us to gain an understanding of the society at the time.

Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to recognise the new People’s Republic in 1950. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in February 1957. In 1952, we breached an embargo imposed on China, by Western countries and agreed to sell rubber to China in exchange for rice. We were not a member of the United Nations at the time, like China.

When we were struggling desperately against a terrorist group, China came to our aid in a big way. It could be even said that Sri Lanka may not have been able to defeat the terrorist threat in 2009 if not for the assistance provided by China. The assistance was mainly in the form of military hardware.

Later when we were desperately trying to fast-track our post-war economic development, our traditional friends were not ready to offer the kind of help we needed. The Chinese funding assisted us to complete many major infrastructure projects including highways, airports and sea ports.

More recently when the pandemic affected us and was threatening to spin out of control, China provided us with 27 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine. Three million were given as a gift. It is not an exaggeration to say that Sri Lanka has managed to control the pandemic to this extent largely because of the Chinese vaccine. Over 72 percent of the Sri Lankans are now vaccinated.

We have to remember that China is the second biggest economy in the world after the US. It›s estimated by the World Bank that China will become the biggest economy by 2028. It is also the biggest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the world today. Close to US $ 150 billion flows out of China by way of FDI every year. Similarly, China is also the biggest magnet for FDI in the world, having surpassed the US last year.

China was also the biggest source of tourists prior to the pandemic. Over 169 million Chinese travel to other countries every year. In a political sense and an economic sense, China is going to be a very important player in our region and the Government of Sri Lanka recognises this. The leaders of the two countries have been in communication with each other on the phone recently. We have had the visits of Defence Minister Wei Fenghe last year and Foreign Minister Wang Yi early this month.

Q: Where do Sri Lanka, a relatively small nation, stand in China’s trajectory of diplomacy – are we as important for them as they are for us?

A: The challenge for our diplomacy is to make Sri Lanka important for China. It is a huge country. It is now a modern country with enormous resources. We need to make every opportunity to highlight Sri Lanka in the Chinese media. That is the reason why over the past few months the Sri Lanka’s mission in China had been conducting a vigorous campaign to raise awareness on Sri Lanka. We encouraged film producers to feature Sri Lanka. I have been on television promoting our country. I have visited 14 provinces meeting the Governors, Deputy Governors and Mayors to make Sri Lanka more prominent.

Q: Is Sri Lanka a favoured destination for Chinese tourists?

A: I discovered after coming to China that awareness on Sri Lanka among Chinese citizens is very limited. While Thailand has received 26 million Chinese tourists in 2019, Singapore 4.5 million and Australia 2.5 million, Sri Lanka received 265,000 tourists in 2018.

Q: What are the bi-lateral investment and tourism sector projections for 2022?

A: We have been talking to many Chinese companies on investment prospects of the Colombo Port City and the industrial processing zone near Hambantota harbour on manufacturing, assembling and even transshipment projects. There is a degree of interest. Our location in the Indian ocean is the main attraction, but we need to work at it more.

Awareness is being made on higher education levels of our people, favourable tax structures, welcoming investment climate and the Government which is committed to bringing in many foreign direct investments.

As a result of our vigorous campaigning, enthusiasm to visit Sri Lanka has risen. The Chinese, at the moment, are suffering from a pent up urge to travel, after two years of pandemic restrictions. Our goal is to make Sri Lank high on their agenda, as a destination for travelling. We have requested the Chinese government that Sri Lanka be designated as a preferred destination once the travel restrictions are relaxed.

We have spoken to some top Chinese travel groups such as Caissa, China International Travel Services and Shanghai Travel Bureau. These have a client base running into millions. They have promised us that they are capable of sending more than a million tourists per year to Sri Lanka.

Q: Is that our target?

A: Our target is much more. If Thailand can get much more, we should too. But this will be the immediate aim. We need to train more Chinese language proficient guides. The average Chinese does not care about English. We need guides who are familiar with historical sites. The Chinese are different from European tourists who like to relax on a beach. The Chinese want to learn about the places they travel to. We need to cater to that. The hospitality trade must focus more on Chinese tourists.

Q: The observers say Sri Lanka had been impressive in their balancing act between India and China, in addressing post pandemic economic challenges?

A: I would not call it a balancing act. India is an old friend which had been with us for thousands of years. Our ancestors arrived from India. Our religion and our culture came largely from India. Working effectively with India is essential. We need to be sensitive about India’s needs, and concerns. It has come to our aid when we needed assistance.

As I explained earlier, we have a very long relationship with China. We turned to them during the battle against terrorism and later for post war development and now when facing a deadly pandemic. China has readily come to our assistance. I don’t think this should be characterised as a balancing act. Friendships have their own rewards; bi-lateral relations should not be based on self interest alone.

Q: Any new major development projects envisaged jointly with China?

A: A number of highrise building projects in Colombo, mainly for residential purposes, is in the offing. They are not development projects. The investors are ready to begin the projects within the next two years. But approvals from Colombo are yet to be finalised. A major Chinese steel company is also keen on starting a plant in Hambantota.

A number of Chinese private companies has expressed desire to get involved in renewable energy programs of the Government. If these projects were implemented earlier, we would not have power cuts today. The whole is heading towards renewable energy at a breakneck pace, and I think we should take a cue from them. By 2030, 70 percent of our energy needs will come from renewable energy. By 2060 we will be carbon neutral. Sri Lanka has made that commitment. We need to head that direction.

Q: There is talk of a 100 acre Port City being planned in Galle. Is this funded by the Chinese?

A: The details of this project are not known yet. It is still at the planning stage. It is not a port city per se. It is a port to house cruise liners. I haven’t seen the name of any Chinese company associated with it at this stage.

Q: China has been a lifeline for the Government which is trying to overcome a US $ crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. But critics say the Chinese loans will be of no use since we can use the credit to buy only Chinese products. Your comments?

A: No country offers credit in a manner to boost the economy of a third party. This is the reality of the current world. It applies across the board.  This is almost a naive comment.

Q: China is an emerging ‘world super power’, embroiled in a battle for supremacy with other super powers. Thus, aren’t we unnecessarily putting our country in jeopardy by getting too close to China?

A: China is the second biggest economy in the world. It is the largest source of foreign direct investment in the world. It is the biggest consumer market in the world. Every country, including the developed countries in the West, wants to access the Chinese market.

The biggest destination of Chinese FDI is the US and the Europe. Has anyone criticised the US for accepting Chinese FDI? No. Similarly China is the biggest recipient of foreign FDIs. China is the biggest market for German, French and Italian goods. And also 51 percent of agricultural imports to China are from the USA. This is the reality. The First World countries are falling over each other to access the Chinese market.

these critics don›t have the best interest of the country in mind. They also criticise the Belt and Road initiative. The money invested under this initiative has dramatically revived economies of many countries in the region. Many African Countries and South East Asian countries such as Vietnam and Laos have started to progress as a result of Chinese FDI .

Of course, we need to be conscious that our independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity are not on the table as bargaining chips during our negotiations with the Chinese or any other Government.  Over 21,000 young men and women sacrificed lives to protect our territorial integrity in the face of a terrorist threat. A larger number was maimed for life.

Q: What is being done to minimise the trade imbalance between Sri Lanka and China?

A: There is a very big trade imbalance between China and Sri Lanka. China exports something like US $ 4 billion worth of goods to Sri Lanka. We have just managed to export US $ 232 million worth of goods to China. The Mission is encouraging the Export Development Board (EDB) to take a more proactive role in exploiting the Chinese market: the biggest consumer market in the world.

We can export almost anything to China – vegetables, coconut products, tea, gem and jewellery and handicrafts. Chinese love Sri Lankan gemstones. Two weeks ago our Mission hosted a major exhibition of Sri Lankan sapphires. Sadly all those sapphires belonged to a Chinese company.

By Shivanthi Ranasinghe Courtesy Ceylon Today

By Shivanthi Ranasinghe

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa’s response to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s opening statement of the second session of the ninth Parliament was thought provoking. Leaving aside his need to portray the Government as a failure, one must pay attention to the remarks he made vis-a-vis the military. That he makes his references to the military in his opening remarks itself makes this exercise important. 

The Opposition Leader notes that national security in its broad sense includes many aspects. The first element he declares is military security. Taking the recent incident involving the discovery of a hand grenade at All Saints Church in Borella, he builds his case that the military security under this Government has failed. 

Cardinal’s Misgivings 

Soon after the bomb was discovered, Cardinal Ranjith called a press conference to air his misgivings with the ongoing investigation. His contention was the Police did not seem to take into account a person who was in church that morning. 

Unwittingly, the Cardinal revealed certain facts the investigators were unwilling to make public at the time. Nevertheless, the Police were able to track the perpetrator — a septuagenarian, obviously disturbed by bitter memories. The Cardinal, perhaps embarrassed, has not retracted his accusations – especially as the perpetrator claims to have had suffered discrimination at the hands of the church. 

The Cardinal’s comments irked Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne. However, the need is for both the Cardinal and the Government to work on their deteriorating trust issues. Both need to understand that our country is not at a juncture where we can afford to let our ego get in the way. 

Capitalising on the Cardinal’s apprehensions, the Opposition Leader claims that military security has failed. The military, however, does not play a role in this bomb incident. This is a matter entirely for the Police. 

Even the dastardly Easter Attacks came under the purview of the TID, SIS and CID. The role the MI played was minimal. Even the underworld uses bombs and worse. Still, it is the Police that must deal with it and not the military. Therefore, the reason for a learned man who takes mighty pride in his knowledge to state the military had failed on a matter that concerns the Police is curious. 

This accusation itself is absurd. During the past two years, the entire world was crippled by the pandemic. Sri Lanka, however, managed better than most countries and that was because of the enormous service rendered by the military right from the onset. 

For instance, Sri Lanka’s vaccination programme has been tremendously successful. For a short while, it was in danger of being foiled because of trade union actions. However, the military took over the vaccination programme and did a far more efficient job. Today, not even vaccine producing countries like the US or India has the kind of record Sri Lanka has achieved. This was only possible because of the military. Yet, not once during his long speech did the Opposition Leader acknowledge the strength of the military and the services rendered by them to our country. 

Therefore, we must understand the reason for Sajith Premadasa to attack on the military in the opening remarks itself. He may have broken away from the UNP and distanced himself from Ranil Wickremesinghe. However, it is clear that he has not distanced himself from the agenda the UNP undertook when forming the Yahapalana Government. 

The Yahapalana Grudge 

A defining feature of the Yahapalana Government was its relentless persecution of the military, mostly the Military Intelligence (MI). Entire MI teams were detained by the CID, which was then headed by the politically corrupt SSP Shani Abeysekera. In addition, the then Yahapalana Government tried its level best to throw behind bars the top military brass that gave leadership to end terrorism in the Island. 

Among this target list were incumbent President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who functioned as the Defence Secretary, highly-decorated Major General K.A.D. Amal Karunasekara who functioned as the Director Military Intelligence, Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda who was the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy and Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne. Both Major General Karunasekara and Admiral Wijegunaratne were ignominiously detained by the CID over charges built on flimsy evidence. 

For instance, Major General Karunasekara was arrested by the CID in April 2018 over the abduction and assault of a national newspaper’s Associate Editor in May 2008. Much publicity was given to the investigation team that flew to Australia, where he now domiciled, to get his statement. However, very little Media coverage was given to his statement itself, which stated the investigators were after the wrong men. Yet, it took months more before the CID reluctantly released eight serving and former officers of the Directorate of Military Intelligence. The case, after dancing in the Media for 18 months quietly slithered away. 

Ramanayake’s Treacherous Task

Likewise, all these cases that targeted the MI were projected as high profile despite the paucity of evidence. The investigators could not furnish enough evidence to even file a b-report. Yet, they were exposed to the full glare of the Media. They were thus humiliated disregarding the enormous service rendered by these individuals during and after the war to usher and ensure peace in the country. 

Interestingly, every single officer and man that was thus arrested had played a pivotal role in defeating the LTTE. Furthermore, some were still engaged in defending the country from attempts to revive the terrorist group. 

The LTTE’s international network is still very active across the world. This entity that propagated the LTTE ideology bought sympathy for its macabre cause by getting politicians and journalists to delve deep in to their pockets. They funded terrorist activities in Sri Lanka and India which still continue to haunt us.

The MI unit that shadowed these activities was arrested in 2015 over the disappearance of a supposedly tabloid journalist Prageeth Eknalogoda, who was unknown until his disappearance. To date, investigators do not know if his disappearance was voluntary or not. Apart from his estranged wife, who gained publicity and perhaps monetary assistance, no one else benefited from his disappearance. In fact, he only became famous because his disappearance is something of a mystery. Therefore, his importance to the MI or their need for him to disappear has not yet been established. 

Subsequently, recorded telephone conversations between former MP Ranjan Ramanayake and SSP Abeysekera revealed the political motivation behind these arrests. Ramanayaka, who is currently serving a four-year prison sentence for contempt of court, claims that he had never stolen from the public. 

Be that as it may, the role he played was far worse in persecuting opponents of the Yahapalana Government. From his own recordings, he exposed the political favours he promised judges and his manipulation of the CID’s functions and investigations through the Director of the CID himself. 

Thus, it is extremely distasteful when SLPP MPs as Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgama and Geetha Kumarasinghe support the SJB’s call for a presidential pardon for Ramanayake. Perhaps MP Kumarasinghe’s sympathy stems from the fact that they are both from the same profession. Minister Aluthgamage is keen to prove that his battles with Ramanayaka are over. This level of immature reasoning distracts the actual damage caused by Ramanayaka. 

Premadasa, too, speaks of Ramanayake as a comrade. He is yet to condemn Ramanayake’s attempts to corrupt our law enforcement officers for political gain. Premadasa never visited any of the officers or men or their families during their incarceration visited Ramanayake in prison. 

Ramanayake’s efforts to persecute the MI must be analysed. The investigators did not have sufficient evidence to pursue the case. As in the case of Eknaligoda, it’s not clear if a crime took place. Yet, Ramanayake’s dedicated task was to ensure that investigators and judges breathed life into the persecution.

Killing the MI

The Yahapalana Government came to power on the promise to prosecute the corrupt. The failure to do so severely discredited that Government. However, persecuting the military was not part of that promise. In fact, then President Maithripala Sirisena even claimed his Government saved the military from possible prosecution from international courts. 

Yet, the persecution of the military continued – even though it contributed to that Government’s growing unpopularity. The public openly rallied around the Major who was order to pay Rs 2 million as compensation to the family of a terrorist, who was shot dead as he tried to escape arrest. Notwithstanding all these factors – lack of evidence and public disenchantment – the Yahapalana Government continued to engage in its agenda. 

The shocking conclusion is the Yahapalana Government was never interested in delivering justice to the victims, alleged or real. They just gave the excuse to hound the MI. Exposing the identity of an MI officer is the best way to end their career. One who works for the MI or any other intelligence unit does not operate in uniform but in anonymity.  They must blend with the environment as needed. Until the very public arrests of these officers and men, even their own families did not know their role or responsibility. 

As their identity got exposed, their active networks and ongoing operations were compromised. The roles they play in these operations are built over a long period of time. Thus, it is not possible for one to be replaced with another. Even former officers and men became targets because their actions played a direct role in the LTTE’s downfall. The turning point of the war was when the MI became an active component. The intelligence they gathered and their unique strategies hampered the LTTE. 

As such, the LTTE international network is bitterly angry with the MI. The anger of this network is useful to the West’s and India’s geopolitics that sees use in keeping Sri Lanka destabilised. Keeping the country’s national security weak and dumbing down its intelligence is important for this side of geopolitics. Having come to power on the shoulders of these wicked elements, the Yahapalana Government was beholden to discredit the military and weaken its intelligence. 

The Yahapalana Government was not an unwilling participant. The UNP opposed the war against terrorism, even to the extent of informing every international lending agency that they will not honour the loans given to fund the war. Hence, when terrorism was defeated they too were politically massacred. Their only way out is to discredit the war itself and criminalise those who rendered a great service to the country. Therefore, persecuting the MI and other efforts to imprison Military leaders was very satisfying to these discredited politicians. This was a bonus to the agenda set by their handlers. 

Power over Patriotism 

Premadasa is a victim of the LTTE. His father was assassinated by the LTTE, despite the support he gave them. He, more than any other, should be grateful to the military for ending that era of killing and destruction. 

Yet, even when he met the UK Minister of State Foreign Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, he failed to set the record straight on the alleged war crimes. Lord Ahmad is one of the main British politicians leading the persecution against the Sri Lankan military. He categorically had refused to take into account the records compiled by the British Home Office by the then British Defence Attaché Lt Col Anthony Gash simply because it does not fit the narrative against 

Sri Lanka. 

It is truly a sad state of affairs that the regime changes have an heir to carry their mantle – even after the resolute defeat of the Yahapalana Government. 

ranasingheshivanthi@gmail.com