Courtesy Catchnews

The Pakistani church leadership has condemned the killing and burning of the body of a Sri Lankan Christian by a Sialkot mob on Saturday.

As many as 124 people have been arrested in the lynching of a Sri Lankan export manager by dozens of factory workers in Sialkot.

The gruesome killing of Priyantha Kumara, who was working in a sports garments manufacturing factory as a general manager for the last 10 years, on blasphemy allegations had shocked and pained the entire country, said Church of Pakistan Moderator/President Bishop Dr Azad Marshall and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lahore Sebastian Francis Shaw.

“Mr Kumara’s cold-blooded murder has left us all grieving. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family and to the Sri Lankan people on this great tragedy. As Pakistanis, our heads hang in shame,” they were quoted as saying by The Nation newspaper.

On Friday, a mob had tortured Diyawadana to death before burning his body in Sialkot over alleged blasphemy. The incident took place in the Wazirabad Road area.

Local media reports said the workers of private factories attacked the export manager of the factory Diyawadana and burnt his body after killing him, Dawn newspaper reported.

According to Bishop Marshall, the public outcry over the Sialkot incident showed that a huge majority of Pakistani citizens were opposed to growing extremism and intolerance in society.

Meanwhile, the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) has demanded a speedy and impartial probe into the lynching of Sri Lankan factory manager Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana in Sialkot.

“We, at the commission, are deeply perturbed by the brutal mob violence and blatant violation of human rights, especially against a guest in our country. It is unfortunate that the commission is issuing its very first introduction statement over such a horrific incident that has shaken the whole nation,” the statutory body was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper.

(ANI)

Courtesy Gulf News

PM Imran Khan assures Lankan President of strict action against culprits

Islamabad: Two primary suspects, Farhan Idrees and his colleague Usman Rasheed, whom the Sri Lankan general manager of a factory in Sialkot city of Punjab province used to chide for poor output and indiscipline, incited their colleagues to lynch him over ‘blasphemy’, says an interim police report on the torture and murder of Priyantha Diyawadana Kumara.

They disliked 49-year old Priyantha Kumara, a textile engineer by qualification, for being strict in enforcing discipline.PauseUnmuteLoaded: 10.92%Fullscreen

Later, both of them also admitted in interviews with TV channels on the spot that they had killed the ‘blasphemer.’

Background

As per details, on December 3, Priyantha Kumara was dragged out of the factory onto the road, kicked, tortured and beaten to death with iron rods and sticks by hundreds of workers over blasphemy charges. Later, his body was set on fire by the mob.

According to details, Kumara had removed a poster of the erstwhile banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) from the outer wall of the factory ahead of a whitewash of the building.

This gave the disgruntled men an opportunity to settle scores with their boss and they circulated a rumour that he had committed blasphemy.

The incident drew international condemnation from around the world calling upon Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party’s government in Punjab to take strict action against the culprits.

Immediately after the murder of the factory manager in Sialkot, known as the industrial hub of the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan in a tweet had assured justice to the family of Priyantha Kumara saying he was personally monitoring the investigation.

PM Khan talks to Lankan President

In another tweet, PM Khan informed that he had spoken to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and conveyed our nation’s anger & shame to the people of Sri Lanka at the vigilante killing of Priyantha Diyawadana in Sialkot. I informed him 100+ ppl arrested & assured him they would be prosecuted with full severity of the law.”

Spoke to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today in UAE to convey our nation’s anger & shame to people of Sri Lanka at vigilante killing of Priyantha Diyawadana in Sialkot. I informed him 100+ ppl arrested & assured him they would be prosecuted with full severity of the law— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 4, 2021

More than 100, including primary suspects, detained

The Punjab police also arrested more than 100 factory workers including the two primary suspects accused of torturing Priyantha Kumara with the help of the closed-circuit TV cameras (CCTV) footage.

Six more people were arrested on Sunday for alleged involvement in the lynching of Priyantha Kumara.

The First Information Report (FIR) was registered against 900 workers of Rajco Industries on the application of Uggoki (Sialkot) Station House Officer (SHO) Armaghan Maqt under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) including the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).

According to the FIR the protesters had slapped, kicked, punched and hit Kumara with sticks in the SHO’s presence, and dragged him out of the factory on Wazirabad Road where he died.

Police helpless before the mob

The SHO said he was helpless in front of the mob owing to shortage of personnel.

According to District Police Officer (DPO) Omar Saeed Malik raids were still being carried out to arrest more suspects. More than 300 factory workers have been identified in the CCTV footage for involvement in the gory act and the police teams have been constituted to find them, he said.

A day earlier, Chief Minister of Punjab Buzdar had stated that the investigation was being taken forward in a scientific manner.

Wife seeks justice

Kumara’s grieving wife, Niroshi Dasaniyake, has pleaded with both Pakistani and Sri Lankan leaders for justice for her slain husband.

My husband was an innocent man. I found out from the news that after working abroad for so long he had been brutally murdered. I saw on the internet how inhuman the killing was. I appeal to the Sri Lankan president and the Pakistani prime minister and president to conduct a fair investigation so my husband and our two children get justice,” she said in a statement.

Kumara and his family had been living in Sialkot for the last seven years.

SAMAA | Samaa Web Desk

Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced a bravery award for a Sialkot factory worker who tried to shield Priyantha Kumara from the mob before the Sri Lankan national was lynched and his body was set on fire on Friday.

Malik Adnan has told SAMAA TV that he was trying to save humanity.

A video of Malik Adnan, who is a production manager at the Rajco Industries, trying to shield Priyantha Kumara went viral on Saturday. 

The video shows Adnan pleading with the mob and shielding Priyantha, especially his head from the attacks, as the Sri Lankan national clings to his legs.

Wearing a red sweater, Adnan leans over Priyantha as the mob tries to snatch the Sri Lankan national to “throw him down.” Many of them are heard saying “he would not escaped today.”

Another video recorded at what appears to be the factory courtyard shows Adnan trying to convince the factory workers to spare Priyantha from lynching. This video was recorded before the mob went to the rooftop.

Some social media users claim Adnan held the mob back for a total of 45 minutes.

PM salutes the bravery

PM Khan on Sunday saluted Adnan’s “moral courage and bravery” and acknowledged that he put his life on the line.

The prime minister announced Tamgha-e-Shujaat, the fourth-highest bravery award in the country, for Malik Adnan.

“On behalf of the nation I want to salute moral courage & bravery of Malik Adnan who tried his utmost to shelter & save Priyantha Diyawadana from the vigilante mob in Sialkot incl endangering his own life by physically trying to shield victim. We will award him Tamgha i Shujaat,” the prime minister said in a tweet.

Tried to save humanity and country’s image

Malik Adnan on Sunday spoke to SAMAA TV’s Shehzad Ahmed.

“We tried to save humanity, everyone should… I put my life on the line so that my country’s image is not tarnished.”

Narrating the Friday’s events at the Rajco Industries, he said, “We were in a meeting and suddenly I received a call that Priyantha sahib has repimanded someone and people are rushing towards his office.

“We came out and stood at the stairs [in front of Priyantha’s office] but those people outnumbered us. They pushed us away and entered the building. Meanwhile, Priyantha sahib was going towards the rooftop where there are solar panels.

“They [the mob] surrounded him there and started beating him. By that time I got there and we tried to shield him by leaning over him and doing everything else we could possibly do but…”

Adnan said he is thankful to Prime Minister Imran Khan for “presenting my behaviour as a positive [image of Pakistan] to the world” and announcing the award for him.

Other faces of humanity

To protect Adnan’s identity, SAMAA TV has blurred his face.

He uses the plural ‘we’ instead of singular ‘I’ in his conversation for people who tried to protect Priyantha Kumara.

Reports say a few other factory workers also tried to protect Priyantha Kumara after he exchanged heated arguments with a group of workers and was accused of blasphemy.

They hid him on the rooftop but the mob found him.

A BBC URDU report claimed four workers who tried to protect Priyantha were wounded during the scuffle and now their families fear reprisal attacks from the mob.

The Police in Sialkot have arrested 124 people so far including 19 prime suspects, who allegedly incited others for violence.

At least 800 unidentified people have been nominated in the FIR registered after the lynching incident.

Those who appeared on CCTV footages or viral videos were arrested.

Priyantha Kumara was among thousands of Sri Lankan managers working in Pakistan. Factory owners prefer them over locals for a reason.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Health Ministry says that another 160 persons have tested positive for Covid-19, pushing the daily count of new cases detected to 746.

The new cases confirmed within today includes 04 returnees from overseas.

This brings the tally of coronavirus cases registered in the country thus far to 567,682 while over 11,000 infected patients are currently undergoing treatment across Sri Lanka. 

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 21 coronavirus related deaths for November 04, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 14,461.

The deaths confirmed today include 14 males and 07 females while three of the victims are between the ages 30-59 years. The remaining 18 are in the age group of 60 years and above. 

H. L. D. Mahindapala

Jaffna burst into  history under violent and tragic circumstances. It began when Megaha of Kalinga, South India, invaded and occupied Jaffna in 1215. He opened his reign with ruthless terror. His violence knew no limits. The historical records reveal that he destroyed non-Saivite shrines, smashed Buddhist temples, and gouged the eyes out of heretics. His lasting contribution, apart from setting up a new state,  was to establish the culture of political violence in Jaffna. The violent culture he established never left Jaffna. This explains why he is known in the history of Jaffna as Megaha the Tyrant. Variants of his intolerant, fascist culture  ruled Jaffna from 1215 to 2009 – the last year of Velupillai Prabhakaran. Prabhakaran who ran the North with an iron-fist was also the last in the line of Megaha political culture.  The successors of Megaha — Sankili, the Vellala casteist supremacists and Prabhakaran — took to the Megaha violence like duck to water. His successors in turn wrote the darkest chapters in the history of Jaffna. It was also tragic because the fascist violence of the Jaffna Tamil rulers denied dignity, justice, equality, and basic human rights to the Jaffnaites. Those who followed Megaha put the knee to the throat of the Jaffnaites and never let them breathe freely.

Jaffna was a multi-ethnic society, with a sizeable community of Sinhala-Buddhists. Sporadic pogroms expelled the Sinhala-Buddhist and the Muslims. It was the Tamils, in particular, who remained as the common victims of the violent Tamil regimes. Some low-caste Tamils were denied even the right to walk in day light. The turumbas, for instance, were allowed to walk only in the night. The Sudra Vellalas, the ruling caste, imposed the daylight ban on the turumbas to keep them away from their sight : they enforced this casteist rule to prevent even an accidental meeting of a turumba. The sighting of a turumba was supposed to pollute the purity of the Vellala eyes. Denial of basic human rights was a part of Jaffna Tamil culture. Collectively, the casteist culture dehumanised Jaffna society. The Sudra Vellala casteism was designed to impose Vellala supremacy by controlling every aspect of Jaffna life. In the absence of political power during colonial times, Vellala supremacy was imposed through casteist laws that controlled the lives of the low-castes from the womb to the tomb. It was a typical Gramscian scenario of exerting power through culture/ideology.

On top of Thesawalamai which legalised fascist casteism, including slavery, Hinduism authorised the oppression  of Tamils by the Tamils as the sacrosanct way of life. Vellala casteism was the governing cultural/ideological force of the ruling elite to maintain their power. The Sudra Vellalas reduced the low-caste to a subhuman outcast unfit for human society. The worst enemies of the Tamils were the Tamil rulers.  The Vellala oppressors of Jaffna never gave the Tamils dignity, justice, equality or basic human rights. Though there was deplorable inter-ethnic violence in the post-Independent era, the minorities had better living conditions when they were with the Sinhala-Buddhists than under Tamil rule. For instance, the Muslims migrants who settled down in the North and in the South found greater security under the Sinhala kings than in the North. Whenever there was any ethnic  cleansing of the Muslims in the North they rushed to seek protection in the South. The last expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna was in October 1990. They were given only two hours to leave Jaffna. The Muslims found refuge in the South.

Overall, the Jaffna Tamils too had better opportunities and living conditions in the South than in Jaffna. Wellawattam” and Cinnamon Gardens were affluent havens for the Tamils who left Jaffna. The Jaffna Tamils, who were suppressed, oppressed and enslaved by its traditional religio-cultural laws, were liberated for the first time only in the free and open society of the South in the post-Independent era. Excluding the other” was an incurable malady buried deep in the Tamil psyche. The Megaha cult of hate politics, injected into the Tamil political culture, drove the two communities apart. Jaffna was never inclined to co-exist peacefully with the other”. Electoral politics in particular thrived on demonising the Sinhala-Buddhists. S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, Thanthai (the Father of the Tamils”) refused to buy a house in Colombo arguing that the free and cosmopolitan life-style of the South would drag his children away from their Tamil roots in Jaffna.  He preferred to buy two estates in the hills populated by the Indian Tamils. (p. 9 – S. J. V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, `1947 – 1977, A Political Biography, A. Jeyaratnam Wilson.)

A cadjan  curtain was thrown round Jaffna to prevent the subversive forces of modernity undermining and dismantling the oppressive Vellala fascism. The main thrust of the Jaffna rulers and the Vellala supremacists throughout the feudal, colonial and modern times was to keep Jaffna as an exclusive ethnic and casteist enclave under Vellala hegemony. Humane politics seldom ruled Jaffna. The Muslims and Buddhists were persecuted by Tamil Saivite extremists at the drop of a fez. The Sinhala settlers in Jaffna rebelled against tyrannical Tamil kings. In the South the minority Tamils, Muslims and Christians coexisted peacefully. The first communal clash in the South occurred in 1939 when G. G. Ponnambalam made his provocative speech denigrating Sri Lankan  history and the Mahavamasa. Unlike in the South, Tamil-Sinhala clashes occurred in Jaffna from 1215 – i.e., from the birth of Jaffna.

Jaffna is noted for regular pogroms against the Buddhists and Muslims. Expelling of Sinhala-Buddhists and ethnic clashes in Jaffna occurred from time to time under intolerant Jaffna rulers from the 13^th century onwards. The violent Mega cult did not hesitate to expel the Sinhala-Buddhists and Muslims from Jaffna. The Sinhalese in turn joined hands with the Vanniyar chieftains and fought  the rulers of Jaffna. The Tamils too revolted against Tamil rulers who oppressed and supressed them. Mono-ethnic extremism, casteist oppression and Saivite religious fury made Jaffna a hot bed of political violence. The most revered religious guru of Jaffna, Arumuka Navalar, told his Saivite followers to kill blasphemers and if they can’t, hire someone else to do it. Chelvanayakam who was hailed as the Gandhi” of Jaffna, steered the declaration of war in the Vadukoddai Resolution from A to Z. He went along with the violence exploding in Jaffna in the 70s. He garlanded the statue of Sivakumaran – the Tamil militant who attempted to assassinate a Police Superintendent. In the Sinhala-Buddhist South the power struggle was confined mainly to elitist rivals, leaving aside the JVP uprisings. In the North the people at the grassroot level rebelled against their tyrannical rulers at the top from feudal times. Jaffna was not the peaceful haven that it is painted to be. Violence in the peninsula did not receive much attention because its history was hidden.

Not much attention has been paid either to the fact that the North and the South were ruled by two different political cultures. Sociologist agree that the caste system in the South, influenced by Buddhism, was milder and humane unlike the Northern caste system which was cruel and inhuman. The hegemonic role of the Vellala supremacists too have been swept under the carpet. The one-man regime of Prabhakaran that ruled the North during 33 years of the Vadukoddai War gives a taste of the violent political culture that ruled Jaffna throughout its history. Prabhakaran’s quasi-state is the highest achievement of Tamil politics. Is Prabhakaran’s fascism rule the alternative to the  parliamentary democracy of the South? The liberalism of the South amply demonstrates, with all its infirmities, the two different political cultures. The South was an open, democratic, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, tolerant and liberal society. The North was a closed, authoritarian, mono-ethnic, mono-cultural, intolerant, ill-liberal society. 

Besides, a political feature generally ignored by the analysts is that there were two states that ruled the nation in the post-Independent era. In the South there was a parliamentary democracy, with, of course, the usual infirmities that haunt democracies.  In the North it was a one-man fascist regime bent on hunting its political opponents, most of whom were the Tamils. The LTTE regime had all the trappings of a state which was, in reality, nothing but a ruthless killing machine. For instance, it had law courts  that dispensed laws made to sustain the one-man regime in power. No professional or respectable Tamil lawyer, including those Tamil lawyers like R. Sampanthan and M. Sumanthiram, who complain bitterly about Tamils not having  dignity, equality and justice in the Sinhala state”, practised law in the Tamil courts  of Prabhakaran’s quasi-state. Isn’t it because they found dignity, equality and justice only in the courts of the Sinhala state” and not in Prabhakaran’s Tamil courts? Would the Tamil leaders send their children   to study law in Prabhakaran’s Law College or would they enroll them in the Law College in Colombo? What respect would C. V. Wigneswaran have earned if he served as a judge in Prabhakaran’s courts? What justice did Tamil parents get from Prabhakaran’s courts when they went to court seeking the release of their children abducted by Thamil Chelvam? Did the Tamils find justice in the Sinhala courts” or in the Tamil courts? From the beginning (i.e, 1215) the Tamil rulers never led the Tamils down the path of liberalism. They showed no capacity to run a democratic government. They had a penchant for running only fascist states riddled with violence. From Megaha to Prabhakaran the pattern never changed.

In the Jaffna political culture, the individual was denied his/her right to be human. Under the Pol Potist Tamil rulers, or under the facist casteism of the Vellalas, the oppressed Tamils hardly had the opportunity to experience even a modicum of human dignity, equality and justice. Even in colonial times the dominant Vellalas invoked the Thesawalamai law to impose their casteist hegemony. It gave them the right to exploit their fellow-Tamils as slaves. Jaffnaites had their first taste of human dignity, officially, under the law, only after S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike enacted the Prevention of Social Disabilities Act of 1958. It dismantled the powers of the oppressive Vellalas to rule over a slave-owning system. No other ruler – colonial or native — dared to challenge the casteist supremacy of the  entrenched Vellalas. The Dutch legalised the Theswalamai laws in 1707. It empowered the Vellalas to impose their casteist customs and laws and rule with ruthless force. Even after the British banned slavery in 1844 the Vellala supremacists continued to impose the Thesawalamai laws through devious means. The Vellalas fought to retain their power in the legislature and in the courts. For instance, Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan went on a special mission to London to convince the British of the importance of preserving the caste system for internal stability.

Jaffna became humane only in the post-Independent years and that too was interrrupted by the reign of Prabhakaran. He revived and re-imposed the Megaha cult of violence which turned Jaffna into a Pol Potist regime. In the end, it was left to the Security Forces to restore democracy in the North. Nandikadal brought not only peace but also liberation and dignity to the Tamils of Jaffna. Tamil leaders like R. Sampanthan and M. Sumanthiram are able to walk, with their heads held high, and pursue their politics with dignity because the Security Forces liberated the North. Today the Tamils are entitled to criticise the President without fear of any reprisals. Under their Tamil Thaliavar, (Leader), whom they anointed as the sole representative of the Tamils”, they did not have a chance to utter a word against him. They lost their dignity when  they consented to accept his authority knowing that they will not get justice, respect or equality. They regained their dignity to act as independent human beings  only under the Sinhala state” which they denigrate and blame wherever they go. 

The denial of dignity, justice, equality and human rights by the Tamil overlords of Jaffna to their fellow-Tamils makes a mockery of their bogus complaint that they have lost their dignity, equality and justice under the Sinhala state”. The topsy-turvy caste system of Jaffna which elevated the lowest Sudra Vellala to the highest in the caste hierarchy created a political culture that warped Jaffna society. From 1215 to 2009 – except for the brief spell from 1948 to 1976 when Jaffna was a part of the democratically elected multi-ethnic, multi-cultural state —  the indigenous settlers of Jaffna lived either under the insane fury” (Yalpana Vaipava Malai) of Tamil tyrants or the hegemony of the Vellala supremacists who imposed fascist casteism to enslave a segment of Jaffna.  With all its infirmities the democratic state of Sri Lanka gave its citizen optimum freedom even when it was fighting two wars – one in the South against  the fascist JVP and the other in the North against the fascist LTTE. The Tamils accepted, with the connivance of the NGOs and INGOs, all the humiliating indignities under their Pol Potist Leader. Tamil leaders like Douglas Devananda narrowly escaped the fate that befell Alfred Duraiyappah and Appapillai  Amirthalingam, only because the mysterious forces that protect him are far superior to Prabhakaran. Right now, Tamils owe everything – including  the right to dissent  — to the rescue mission of the Security Forces that saved them from living in permanent state of fear and humiliation in the Tamil state of Eelam.

The moral choice before them is clear: are they willing to live with the kind of dignity, justice and equality dished out by Prabhakaran, their Divine Leader, or do they prefer the dignity, justice and equality in the Sinhala state”? What were the rights of the Tamils guaranteed by the Prabhakaran? For instance, was the right of the Tamil children to go to school and return home to their parents guaranteed  by the Tamil state or by the Sinhala state?” Was R. Sampanthan’s right to go to Parliament and speak without fear or favour guaranteed by the Tamil state or by the Sinhala state”? Why didn’t  Sumanthiram practise law in Prabhakaran’s Tamil courts if he sincerely believed that the Sinhala stat” does not deliver justice to the Tamils? Was C.V. Wigneswaran’s right to deliver judgment based on the finest legal principles guaranteed by the Sinhala state” or in Prabhakaran’s courts? The list is unending. Underlying all these issues is the question of making a moral choice between the state that would guarantee the highest degree of dignity, justice and equality and the state that is politically incapable of delivering these basic essentials. After all, the Tamils were fighting for their dignity, justice, equality and security. When a state has to forcibly recruit under-aged children to fight its futile war how much of dignity, justice, equality and security prevailed for the glory of Tamils in their Tamil state?

In other words, the moral choice was crystal clear: should the Tamils opt to live in a multi-cultural democracy with human rights, however imperfect it may be, or live in a mono-ethnic Tamil fascist state without even a minimum of human rights? To go for Tamil rights at any cost in a fascist state – and there was no other option under Prabhakaran – was to live as mono-ethnic slaves deprived of basic human rights. What is equalling galling, is that over the centuries the Tamils have proved that they were totally incapable of running a liberal state, guaranteeing human dignity with the right to walk in daylight. The political culture was so perverse that they denied to human beings the right given to cattle and dogs. They have no political experience either of running a democratic state. They have specialised in  fascism but not in liberalism. There has been no redeeming feature in Tamils politics except wallowing in mono-ethnic rhetoric and Tamil fascism. The moral option in Tamil politics has been to find an alternative to Megaha-Prabhakaran cult of fascist violence. Though the initial ideology on which the Vadukoddai War was launched focused on  choosing between Sinhala-Buddhist state and a Tamil-Hindu state it was becoming increasingly clear, as the violence intensified and  dragged on, that the greater choice was between democracy and fascism. The mindless violence of Prabhakaran killing Tamils took the shine away from the ideals of Tamil nationalism”. Besides, towards the end when Prabhakaran knew he was losing he was forced to fight for his own survival than that of the Tamil nation”.  He chose to fight until the last Tamil left for Canada, not to negotiate a settlement to save the lives of the Tamils trapped in a futile war. He dug his own grave with his intransigence and arrogance.

It was also clear that saving Prabhakaran was not going to save the Tamils, or the security of the Tamils, or their thirst for peace after 33 years of war that was going nowhere. All attempts to negotiate a settlement, even with international guarantees, failed. Prabhakaran refused to abide by negotiated settlements. The only option  open to achieve peace and security was to remove him from the political equation. The Vadukoddai War had gone long enough and the time had come to end it. The only way to achieve peace was to neutralise the killing machine of Prabhakaran. Morality was in ending the war and restoring peace. Anything short of that was moral hypocrisy.

It at this critical moral juncture that the Centre for Policy Alternative (CPA) stepped in to save Prabhakaran. It was obvious even in the last stages of the war that Prabhakaran was committed to Chelvanayakam’s doctrine of fight to the end.” In a speech delivered in Batticoloa on May 11, 1975 Chelvanayakam said: ”There is no other alternative for the Tamils to live with self-respect other than fight to the end for a Tamil Nad ( i.e. a Tamil State)”. ( p.127 – Ibid). The only difference between Chelvanayakam and Prabhakaran was that the latter was more honest in his politics than the former.  Chelvanayakam posed as a saintly Gandhian in Parliament in Colombo and stoked the fires of war in Jaffna. Chelvanayakam’s actions, particularly in the 70s, confirm that he was a committed war-monger who tried to cover up his belligerence with Gandhian  poses and utterances.  When in the 70s the violence of the Tamil youth was escalating, his thinking was shifting to a fight to the end”. Amirthalingam, his deputy, and M. Sivasithamparam were hand in glove with the militant youth gearing up to fight to the end”. By 1975 Prabhakaran had killed his first Tamil victim – Alfred Duraiyappah. Chelvanayakam, the Gandhian, had prepared Jaffna ideologically, to wage the Vadukoddai War which was officially declared under his chairmanship in Vadukoddai on May 14, 1976. It didn’t take long for Prabhakaran to decimate most of the 37 rival militant group and take over Jaffna. With his early military successes, he attained a divine status. He was anointed as Surya Devan”. At the political level he was hailed as the sole representatives of the Tamils”. No Tamil had reached such giddy heights of power in Jaffna.  His arrogance and intransigence grew proportionately. Drunk with power he was determined to fight to the end”. He refused to read the signs of the time. And then, almost overnight he  came down from hero to zero at Nandikadal. He had come to a dead end. He had outlived his usefulness. The inevitable was moving  inexorably to happen: he had to be removed for the Tamils to move forward.

It is at this decisive point that Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, head of the CPA, staged his best tragi-comic act. He was leap-frogging from one Western capital to another to stop the war. He knew that Prabhakaran was trapped and only international intervention could save him. So, he went jumping from one Western city to another to prevent the impending carnage, he said. Pah! He could not reveal, of course, that his farcical exercise was to save Prabhakaran and not the lives of Tamils sandwiched between two warring forces.  Like all the moral hypocrites running politicised NGOs, he took cover under the noble principles of human rights. If he was genuinely concerned about stopping the war to save lives why didn’t he feel the urgency for 32 years and seven months when Prabhakaran was killing more Tamils than all the others put together? Why did he start jumping up and down only in the last five months of the war, from January 2009 to May 2009, when Prabhakaran was facing  certain defeat? He was quite smug and content with the progress of the war when Prabhakaran was scoring military successes. He felt no urgency to stop the war when Prabhakaran was winning ground. His heart began to bleed only when Prabhakaran was losing territory!

The moral hypocrisy of intellectuals like Saravanamuttu is appalling. It is easy to see through his theatrics: he was attempting to use moral principles to save an immoral political criminal. After that, can he be trusted to do anything honest?

By Garvin Karunaratne  

The IMF has successfully taken Sri Lanka to its grave.  

In 1976, Sri Lanka did not owe a single dollar to anyone. In 1977 Sri Lanka held SDR 170 million in its foreign exchange budget. That was the last year we held a credit. Since then it is not a credit but a foreign debt.  

Today, five decades later, the banks hold no dollars and importers are finding it difficult to obtain dollars from their banks. The dollar shortage has created a shortage of goods of all types and with the Government easing control of prices, the sky is the limit even for essential food. Bakery owners have voiced that they cannot obtain flour etc. The earnings of people have not increased and therefore  people will be unable to buy essential supplies. I am sad to be aware that many families have to depend on one meal a day. Pauperization is very severe.  

The causes for the present  situation go back to a decision Sri Lankan leaders made five decades ago. President Jayawardena and my close friend, Ronnie de Mel, the Minister of Finance were fooled by the IMF.  

When President Jayawardena sought the help of the IMF in 1977, the IMF insisted that funds would be given only on the condition that the country would follow the Structural Adjustment Programme provisions. The provisions laid down were that Sri Lanka had to liberalize the spending of foreign exchange- allow those who could afford- the rich to spend dollars as they wished,  free imports without any restrictions and the IMF readily provided dollar loans. The foreign funds loaned to us was in this process, shunted back to the donors- the Developed Countries, fattening their banks with profits,  leaving the debt saddling our country. The IMF even provided grace periods where the loan instalments and interest need not be paid- the IMF actually ‘bribed’ the then leaders as they could freely spend and leave the burden of repayment to their successors! That is truly what the IMF did! 

The IMF also laid down that the Public Sector should not attend to any commercial tasks. With this dictate the Government had to call off all public sector work on development. It was the Public Sector that brought about development   To mention a few-the Marketing Department activities- its Cannery that made Sri Lanka self sufficient in all fruit preparations was closed down and imports took its place. The Vegetable & Fruit Purchasing & Sales Scheme that assured high prices to producers and also made available goods at low prices to consumers was abolished.  The textile manufacturing units – 96,000 handloomers, powerlooms and textile mills were privatized or abolished and a country that produced all its textiles came to import instead.  In the pre 1977 period we never imported a single rail carriage or bus or lorry. We imported the chassis and built them ourselves. Local enterprises closed down because the bank interest rate was jacked up to 25%, which made enterprises uneconomical to run. I am not exaggerating as I was a key administrator attending to development tasks in the pre 1977 era, working in the Marketing Department, in the Agrarian Services and in Small Industry. .  

Going on this path the foreign debt increased to $ 6 billion  by 1994, when the UNP rule ended. There was no going back because Sri Lanka had abolished or crippled the infrastructure  that had ushered in develoment. Stalwart administrators who brought  

about development were confined to the barracks. . There was unemployment and poverty.  

The foreign debt increased to $ 20 billion by 2009, to $ 30 billion by 2012, to $ 42.9 billion by the end of 2014. 

Following the IMF advice the foreign debt is at $ 56 billion today to service which  the country has to find $ 4.8 billion a year. The country does not earn that amount and is forced to obtain foreign loans to service the debt, which means that the debt is immediately increased by another $4.8 billion. Upto now Sri Lanka has paid up its dues but the day is not far when it will be forced to default and tell the IMF that we have gone on the path you told us to follow and have lived on loans and this is why we have built up the foreign debt. It was your wrong advice that led us to this predicament. 

The IMF has been told again and again that their structural adjustment provisions only serves any country that follows it to become further indebted.  

In 1992, in an  address to the South Asian Forum at the University of London I happened to point out that foreign aid, if accepted in a non-developmental manner… can lead to a situation of  chronic debt, widespread poverty” .I pointed out that a country that did not owe a single dollar in 1976 had a foreign debt of $ 5 billion by 1989, with high unemployment due to flooding the country with imports, allowing the rich to spend dollars, that the country did not have and totally dismantling the administrative infrastructure we had to bring about development. This warning went unheeded.  

In 1997, my book: Microenterprise Development:… The Way Out of the World Bank & IMF Stranglehold, the first book to criticize the IMF, detailing how Sri lanka got into debt  playing poodle to the IMF,  was published by Sarasavi. It proved that the IMF was taking Sri Lanka to its grave. This  documents a presentation by me to the economic dons at Peradeniya, my first and last assignment as a Visiting Lecturer! To them,  I was talking nonsense. Till now(2021) our economic dons have sidetracked teaching the neoliberal economics of the IMF that has taken Sri Lanka to its grave. It is time that our President rules that our premier universities should undertake detailed studies into the predicament that Sri Lanka’s economy  faces today and find remedies. .  

In 2000, the foreign debt was $ 9 billion, definitely on the increase. In 2006, I have proved that the IMF ruined Sri Lanka’s economy in my book: How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success(Godages). George Axinn, Assistant Dean of International  Studies at Michigan State University, in his Foreword stated: It is hoped that this timely book will enable international organizations  to arrest the trend of failures.” 

Not an outsider  like me, but authoritative capitalist sources like the Wall Street Journal and the Economist have also been pointing out that the IMF’s advice to our countries was actually taking poor countries  more into debt and ushering poverty and destitution…  

The Wall Street Journal of 22/2/2001 comments: 

The IMF drill is as follows: A Third World poor country  with a pegged currency is working towards taming its inflation.  . Instead of a growth formulae it gets the IMF’s old austerity dosage which slows down the economy. The Banks begin to falter in paying their old debts. The IMF  recommends yet more medicine- devaluation,  making the bank predicament and capital flight worse. The currency slumps and the banks are now in real trouble… Is this anyway to run an international monetary system?” 

This warning by the Wall Street Journal was in 2001, when Sri Lanka’s debt was around  $ 9 billion. The IMF went on heedless.  

The Economist, the epitome of capitalist journals hauled the IMF over the coals in 2002: 

Over the years these institutes- the IMF and the World Bank have often handed poor advice and squandered many billions of dollars on loans that helped Governments to postpone necessary economic and political reform…. The World Bank has achieved little for its $ 500 billion loans during the past half century, besides saddling very poor countries with huge debts  that should now, mostly be forgiven”(The Economist: 18/24, May 2002) 

Two decades have passed since this warning was made by the Economist.  

In fact President Nestor Kirchner of Argentina in his address at the United  

Nations General Assembly on 21/9/2004, said: 

An urgent tough  and structural redesign of the IMF is needed to prevent  crisis and help solutions. The IMF must change that direction it took from being a lender for development to a creditor demanding priviledges”  

The immediate reply he got  from the seven  superpowers  was a firm warning  that Argentina had to come to  an immediate debt restructuring agreement with creditors and President Kirchner was forced to abide. Nestor Kirchner and the next President Christina Kirchner fully paid the dues to the IMF and subjected people to austerity. Christina Kirchner was defeated by Mauricio Macri who followed the IMF policies in 2015 and  was rewarded by loans of $ 44 and $ 57 billion, the latter obtained even without Parliamentary approval.  Mauricio Macri was defeated in the 2019 elections but his successor had to agree to repay the loans taken by Maurico Macri later on in 2022 and 2023. 

In short the IMF actually ruins the economies of Third World countries. My 2017 book: How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development  documents how the Third World countries that had self reliant economies and were not in debt were made indebted.  

In fact FullSpate says:  

these two agencies have become two of the strongest proponents of today’s form of globalization process whereby all the countries of the world are forced  to open their markets, thereby maximising  the opportunities for the largest  and most powerful companies  in the world. This means an  insistence upon free markets that disregard the consequences for local communities  and their traditional ways of life. The poor African countries  that previously subsidized  agricultural activities  in remote rural areas When they needed help from the IMF  they were forced to stop these subsidies  and let the local markets operate without  government intervention.”  

This also encapsulates what has happened to Sri Lanka today. Sri Lanka has allowed the  rich to spend foreign money  it did not have and has been living on loans given by the IMF and its associated creditors since 1977. Since 1977 Sri Lanka  has been ruled entirely by the IMF dictates and in the process has run up a debt of $ 56 billion, to service which in 2021 the Government had to obtain  $ 4.8 billion on loan. 

Already the leaders have said that they would not default on debt payments. The next payment of some $ 4.8  billion will be due in 2022 and the crucial question that crops up is as to whether it is morally right  for further loans to be raised to pay up the next of $ 4 to $5 billion and to place the burden on the people- for them to go through austerity, when the fault lies with the IMF and not with the people.  

Certain Cabinet Ministers have suggested that the Government should go to the IMF for funds but this has been shot down by the majority of Cabinet Ministers who had said that the IMF will insist on the Government following further restrictions, which will be non developmental. Minister Cabral had rightly stated that if we seek the help of the IMF they will insist on increasing interest rates, depreciate the Rupee, reduce public servants, sell State Assets, curtail pensions, which action are not necessary”(CeylonToday:26/11/2021) This will take the country further down to destitution.  

I have had to point out that since 1977, the Government has failed to control its foreign  exchange. The Central Bank voiced that it does control only the local Rupee. The Central Bank was actually forced to make this statement when on 25/1/2001, the two State banks- the Peoples Bank and the Bank of Ceylon had to pay a large oil bill and their collection of dollars was insufficient. They had to go hat in hand to the foreign banks that had collected dollars and strangely that foreign bank had increased the price of dollars to as much as Rs 106 to the dollar when the price had been only Rs 86.00.that morning The State banks had no alternative other than to buy the dollars at the higher price. This caused an immediate devaluation. 

Getting back to today, it is important to note that even today the Government gets into the Treasury only the foreign funds collected by the Bank of Ceylon and the Peoples Bank which is only a fraction of the foreign exchange that comes in.  The dollars collected by other banks and the private exchange dealers do not get to the Government Treasury. Instead the other banks and private dealers fix their own rates of purchase and sale prices. Importers are said to be  buying dollars at rates like Rs 275 to the dollar! The Government instead of collecting all the dollars that come in,  allows the banks and private dealers to collect the dollars sell them, profiteering as they wish, and go begging for foreign fund from Bangladesh- from the Middle East and Minister Basil is on the run to beg from India. 

What can be done? We have to step back to the time before we started following the IMF- that was from the day we became independent- from 1948 till the IMF took charge at the end of 1976. We were not a country in debt to anyone. We carefully collected all dollars coming in to the Treasury and did not have banks and private currency dealers collecting dollars, fixing their own rates of exchange, and making profits as they please.  We did allocate dollars for essentials first and thereafter made small allocations to import non essentials but useful items life fridges, cars etc. No dollars   were   given for foreign studies. This was how we managed and that is essentially the blue print we have to follow to get out of the current quagmire.   

It was the IMF that advised us to spend and live on loans and the IMF has to take the blame and as advised by the Economist decide to forgive the debts we owe.  

The country had two budgets- a foreign exchange budget  and a Rupee budget.  The foreign exchange  budget was entirely fed by dollars which we carefully collected from exports and tourists etc. The Rupee budget was fed from taxes and printed Rupees.  

I happened to be in the thick of the administration in the pre 1977 period as a high ranking officer of the Administrative Service. Once in 1970 I was in charge of allocating foreign exchange to small industrialists  and every small industrialist was given an allocation to import items that were required for manufacturing what the country needed. Small Industries were highly developed and our country produced all its textiles. When I was the Government Agent, some Divisional Secretaries had to manage powerlooms.  They were adept at it and our Hakmana Poowerloom suiting was even sought by people from London, UK. 

What has to be done: Collect all the dollars and handle the totality of development.  

Instead of importing consumer goods that are today in short supply, we should be making them. In 1971, my officers slaved for three months from six to midnight closeted in the science lab at Rahula College, to find the recipe to make crayons and Member of Parliament Sumanapala Dahanayake, in his capacity as the President of the Morawaka Cooperatives,  under my personal supervision,  established Coop Crayon in two weeks working on a 24 hour a day basis. Coop Crayon was equal in quality to the Reeves crayons and my blood boils today when I see Crayola Crayons on sale in Sri Lanka!. That Coop Crayon became  the flagship industry of the Divisional Development Councils Programme, of 1970-1977. 

 The country has administrators and politicians who can undertake this task, bringing incomes to the people and making what the country needs. It will usher in an economic revival which is eagerly awaited today. It is a task that can be accomplished.  

I can vouch for success, as I did establish the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh, a task which the ILO had failed earlier,  within nineteen months as the Commonwealth Fund Consultant to the Ministry of Labour and Manpower, and also trained Bangladeshi youth directors and youth workers in economics and extension methods to manage after my two year consultancy ended. This Programme is  today the premier employment creation programme the world has known, having guided three million youths to become self employed.  Bangladesh does not dance to the tune of the IMF! 

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Michigan State University,  

5 th December 2021 

Author of: 

Microenterprise Development..The Way Out  of the IMF and the World Bank and IMF Stranglehold(Sarasavi:1997) 

How the IMF Ruined Sri lanka & Alternative Programs of Success(Godages:2006) 

How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development(Godages/Kindle:2017) 

MD Pathik Hasan

South Asian neighbors Bangladesh and Bhutan have a harmonious relationship on the strength of their mutual interest, shared history and culture. On December 6, 1971, Bhutan and India became the first countries to recognize the independence of Bangladesh. Bangladesh-Bhutan ties started to deepen from this period. Bhutan and Bangladesh can work together in the sectors of information and communication technology, agriculture, horticulture and fisheries to enhance trade and investment relations between Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Bangladesh and Bhutan have excellent relations in various fields including trade investment, communication, education, cultural exchange, people-to-people contact, tourism.

Bhutan is a loyal, true friend of Bangladesh. The people of Bangladesh are always grateful to the government and people of that country for their unwavering support and cooperation in the war of liberation in 1971. Bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Bhutan are very good. Over time, this relationship is reaching new heights.

Bangladesh and Bhutan signed the ‘Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA)’ on December 06, 2020. This is Bangladesh’s first priority trade agreement or PTA with any other country in the world.

As per this agreement of Bangladesh with Bhutan, 100 products of Bangladesh will get duty free facility in Bhutan and 34 products of Bhutan will get duty free facility in Bangladesh. As a result, trade relations between the two countries will increase further.

According to the Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh, trade between the two countries in 2018-2019 is 56.90 million US dollars.

Bhutan imports vegetables and fruits, minerals, construction materials, boulder, limestone, coal, pulp and chemicals from Bangladesh. On the other hand, garments, furniture, food items, medicines, plastics and electrical products made in Bhutan are exported from Bangladesh.

Duty-free market facility

Since 2010, Bangladesh has been providing duty-free market access to Bhutan on 18 products. Besides, 90 products of Bangladesh are getting duty free market facilities in the Bhutan market. Bhutan is the largest exporter of stone to Bangladesh. Bangladesh is Bhutan’s second-largest export market.

All ports of Bangladesh can be potential for Bhutan

According to Bangladeshi media outlets, PM Sheikh Hasina commented that Bhutan can use Bangladesh’s Chittagong, Mongla, Payra seaport and Syedpur airports including river ports of Bangladesh if it wants. They can also set up warehouses anywhere in Bangladesh if they want to facilitate inland transport.

Bhutan wants to use our river routes from Chittagong and Mongla ports in Bangladesh to take goods to Dhubri port in India. Bhutan is very close to Dhubri, so they want to use the rivers of Bangladesh to transport goods there. Bangladesh has shown a positive attitude towards bringing and taking goods through Roumari-Chilmari.

Besides, Bangladesh has initially agreed to allow Bhutan to import and export goods by rail. To this end, the Rohanpur-Singabad rail route between Bangladesh and India will be launched.

Three land ports can bring the potential for both countries

At one time trade with Bhutan was done only through Burimari land port. However, Bangladesh has now allowed the use of land ports at Tamabil, Banglabandha and Nakugaon as an initiative to increase trade by land.

Traffic between the four countries

There has been a discussion between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) on the movement of passenger, private and freight vehicles by road. Once the agreement is completed, the residents of the four countries will get many benefits while moving from one country to another. However, the other three countries agreed to the agreement, but due to the environment, the Bhutanese parliament has not yet agreed to the agreement.

Hydropower exports

Most of the total hydropower generated in Bhutan is not needed. Bangladesh has shown interest in buying this electricity.

However, Bhutan’s Prime Minister Lotay Tshering stressed the need for trilateral talks to bring it through India during his visit to Bangladesh in March 2021.No agreement has been reached yet, but it has been discussed at various meetings between the two countries.

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina and the Prime Minister of Bhutan Lotay Tshering have emphasized building the necessary infrastructure to avail the maximum benefits of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) signed between Bangladesh and Bhutan. The two Prime Ministers discussed cooperation between the two countries in various sectors including trade and connectivity.

Bhutan and Bangladesh have already agreed to operate naval routes between the two countries to expand Bangladesh-Bhutan trade. Bhutan and Bangladesh also emphasized building more seaports. Besides. A bilateral or tripartite memorandum of understanding would be potential for the construction of cooperative hydropower plants.

Lotte Schering requested one-time full-term visas and multiple-entry facilities for Bhutanese students studying in Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina agreed with the Prime Minister of Bhutan on the issue and directed the concerned parties to take necessary steps in this regard.

Bangladesh can cooperate with Bhutan in the IT sector including broadband internet. Bangladesh and Bhutan can work together in international forums including the United Nations.

The visit of Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering was very important. Because this year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Bangladesh’s diplomatic relations with Bhutan as well as the golden jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence. At any rate, this is a very important and historic event for both countries. During his visit to Bangladesh, the Prime Ministers of the two countries reviewed the overall aspects of bilateral relations and expressed interest in enhancing mutual cooperation in various fields of potential.

Sheikh Hasina and Lotay Tshering discussed trade and investment, roads, rail and air communication, hydropower, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, health, education, agriculture, culture and increasing people-to-people contacts between the two countries. During this time several bilateral memoranda of understanding have been signed between the two countries. Earlier, the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) was signed between Bangladesh and Bhutan on December 6 last year; Which is of special importance in the expansion of inter-trade between the two countries.

Muslim Civil Society Alliance

The Muslim Civil Society Alliance (ACJU, MCSL, NSC, YMMA) is shocked and condemns the cold blooded murder of fellow Sri Lankan brother Mr Priyantha Diyawadana by a rabid mob, accusing him of blasphemy. He was a Sri Lankan expat worker and General Manager of a factory of the industrial engineering company Rajco Industries in Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan. This is an extremely shameful and barbaric crime and should not be tolerated. Extra judicial vigilantism cannot be condoned at any cost by anyone, no matter which religion, ethnicity or nationality they belong to.

The Muslim Civil Society Alliance (MCSA) condemns this horrific killing, and appreciates the swift action by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Hon. Imran Khan and his administration in ordering the arrest of the perpetrators of this crime. We understand  that over 75 have been already arrested and an investigation report has been called for within 48 hours. We sincerely hope that Pakistan will set an example to the world that extremist vigilantes will face tough judicial action. We call upon Prime Minister Imran Khan to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice, and to compensate the family adequately for their loss.

We extend our deepest condolences to the family of brother Priyantha. May he attain the supreme bliss of Nirvana.

Hilmy Ahamed Vice President

Courtesy The International News

Punjab government has sent an initial investigation report to Prime Minister Imran Khan, sources say

SIALKOT: Two key suspects have “confessed” to the police of their involvement a day earlier in the torture and killing of a Sri Lankan factory manager, well-placed sources told Geo News on Saturday.

During initial interrogation, the two suspects, identified as Farhan and Talha, “admitted” their role in the brutal attack on the foreign national, the police sources said.

A day earlier, Priyantha Kumara, who had been working as a manager at a private factory on Wazirabad Road in Sialkot, was tortured to death and his body set on fire by a mob over allegations of “blasphemy”.

Sources privy to the investigation said the Punjab government has presented an initial report to the prime minister.

Police have arrested 13 key suspects involved in the attack with the help of other managers of the factory where the incident took place. The suspects have been shifted to an undisclosed place for further investigation.

Those who incited the mob have also been taken into custody by police, the sources added.

Briefing the media on the progress made so far, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information Hasaan Khawar said as many as 118 people, including 13 key suspects, have been arrested for the cold-blooded murder.

Khawar said the suspects were arrested with the help of 160 videos that yielded 12 hours of footage.

He said the provincial government has formed 10 teams to arrest all suspects involved in the murder.

The Sri Lankan manager had already died when police received the first telephone call regarding the incident, he said.

The Punjab government spokesperson said police and the civil administration will take the investigation to its “logical end”.

He revealed that the Sri Lankan national had been living alone in the country.

Speaking on the occasion, the inspector general of police for Punjab said police negligence was not a factor in the brutal murder.

He said the district police officer (DPO) and a superintendent of police (SP) had to reach the crime scene on foot as roads were blocked in the area on that day.

Kumara ‘apologised for misunderstanding’

As per the preliminary report turned in by the provincial government, a dispute had emerged when Priyantha Kumara removed some posters from the walls of the factory at 10:28am. The posters were reportedly inscribed with the name of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

Shortly after, the factory owner reached the spot and resolved the issue. Kumara had apologised for the misunderstanding on his part.

After Kumara made the apology, the matter was reportedly considered settled and the factory workers had dispersed.

However, some workers then incited their colleagues to attack the manager.

Within a few minutes, a mob formed and set on the victim within the premises of the industrial unit, eventually killing him.

A total of 13 security guards were present in the factory as the brutal attack was occurring. None of them tried to rescue the victim or disperse the mob, said the report.

Kumara’s body was later dragged outside the factory and burned.

Police received a phone call at 11:28am about the incident, officials said. A police party reached the site within 12 minutes, they added.

Heavy contingents of police were later dispatched to the crime scene to round up and arrest suspects.

Courtesy The Express Tribune

Policy say initial report of incident submitted to PM Imran; 112 suspects detained so far

SIALKOT:

The police have arrested a prime suspect and booked at least 800 people under the Anti-Terrorism Act a day after a mob tortured a Sri Lankan man, employed as a manager in a factory on Wazirabad Road, Sialkot, to death and set his body on fire.

The police said Farhan Idrees, the key suspect, has been detained.

They said hundreds of people armed with sticks and batons were present inside the factory at the time of the murder of the foreign national, Priyantha Kumara.

After the murder, the mob dragged his body on the streets, the police said, adding that it failed to stop the crowd due to a lack of strength.

As per the initial investigation, the police said that the Sri Lanka citizen was killed over allegations of blasphemy. They added that they were investigating the matter from all angles.

Meanwhile, an initial report of the incident has been submitted to Prime Minister Imran Khan by the Punjab Police. As per the report, at least 112 suspects have been detained who were identified with the help of the factory managers. The provocateurs have been arrested as well.

A copy of the FIR available with The Express Tribune.

The detained suspects have been moved to unknown locations, they said, adding that investigation was still underway.

Separately, the body of the deceased has been handed over to the police after post-mortem for legal formalities.

In a statement, cleric Mufti Taqi Usmani condemned the killing of the foreign national over blasphemy allegations. He said blasphemy was a grave crime” but the evidence to prove the blasphemy charges must be beyond doubt.

The Sialkot incident has tarnished the image of Pakistan and Muslims across the world, he added.

He expressed concerns over the violent state of affairs in Pakistan, saying instead of using force, the government should table the matter before parliament to resolve such issues. He also urged the protesters to use peaceful means instead of destroying national properties and violence.

Lynched over ‘blasphemy’

The nation was shell-shocked and disgusted on Friday when a Sri Lankan national was brutally lynched and his body was set on fire by a mob in Sialkot. The sickening incident outraged the nation as the civil and military leaders denounced it as horrific” shameful” and extra-judicial vigilantism”.

President Arif Alvi said the vigilante attack has nothing to do with religion, while Prime Minister Imran Khan promised that those responsible will be punished with the full severity of the law”.

The gut-wrenching incident took place on Sialkot’s Wazirabad Road, where workers of private factories brutally lynched the Sri Lankan national.

Several gruesome video clips shared on social media showed a mob beating the victim while chanting slogans against blasphemy. Other clips showed his body set ablaze, as well as the overturned wreckage of what was said to be his car.

Many in the mob made no attempt to hide their identity and some took selfies in front of the burning corpse. The police claimed that the grisly incident took place inside the factory premises and there was no way of knowing about it before that time.

SAMAA | Samaa Web Desk 

The body has been moved to Lahore

The preliminary postmortem of Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara reveals that he died of a severe blow to his head and most of his limb bone had been shattered before the body was set on fire.

The report and additional videos that surfaced on Saturday have revealed new details on the lynching. It emerged that at least one colleague tried to shield Priyanatha from the mob.

The body of Priyanatha has been moved to Lahore on the way to Islamabad, where it would be handed over to the Sri Lankan High Commission.

The Sri Lankan national was lynched by a mob of factory workers and others on Friday over alleged blasphemy allegations. He worked as exports manager at Rajco Industries’ unit located at Wazirabad Road.

Factory employees first killed him and then dragged his body out to set in on fire. The grisly events were recorded on mobile cameras.

Postmortem report

The postmortem report reveals the final moment of Priyanatha Kumara, who had been working in the country for over a decade.

According to the report, Priyantha’s skull received multiple hits and a severe blow then went deep into his brain causing the death.

The mob broke almost all of the limb bones, according to SAMAA TV.

About 99% of the tissues were damaged with burns and wounds. The body was burnt except for the lower legs.

Following the legal formalities and postmortem, the police have escorted the body to Lahore under security. The body will be handed over to Sri Lankan High Commission in Islamabad.

The Sri Lankan High Commission staff will accompany the body to Colombo, according to reports by the Sri Lankan media outlets.

The real cause of heated exchange

The mob had accused Priayanatha of blasphemy after he allegedly tore down some posters of a religious outfit pasted to the factory walls.

However, a police investigation on Saturday revealed that Priyanatha and workers had a heated exchange over another issue, SAMAA TV reported.

The report says that an inspection of the Rajco Industries by foreign companies was due and the deceased had ordered the complete overhaul and maintenance of the factory machines.

According to the police, the manager and workers first got into a heated argument at 10:00am on Friday that escalated to violence.

It says some of the workers had been fired for derelict.

Following the dispute, the workers staged a protest in the factory and alleged that Priyanatha Kumara has committed blasphemy.

The protest suspended the traffic in the area and the crowd gradually grew larger.

The report has been submitted Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar.

Poice has obtained 12 hour CCTV footage recorded by 160 CCTV cameras in the factory.

Colleagues try to shield Priyanatha

New videos and reports emerged on Saturday suggesting that after the mob re-entered the factory following the protest on the road, Priyanatha run to the rooftop to save his life.

Videos show that mob surrounds him on the rooftop amid an array of solar panels.

At least one colleague tries to shield Priyanatha from the mob as the Sri Lankan national clings to his legs.

SAMAA TV‘s Shehzad Ali, who visited the factory on Saturday, says there were a few other factory workers who tried to protect their manager.

A BBC URDU report says at least four workers were proactively trying to rescue the manager. They had told him to flee to the rooftop, but the mob somehow detected him there.

The four were wounded during the scuffle.

The violent mob continues to attack saying the manager will not escape today.”

The man shielding the Sri Lankan national was later identified as Malik Adnan, the production manager at Rajco Industries.

They reportedly threw him down from the top.

His body was later dragged out of the factory to the main road and then set on fire.

The mob continued to record videos and take selfies with the burning corpse.

After the lynching, the mob vandalized the properties and cars outside the factory.

The attack has caused outrage in Pakistan and Prime Minister Imran Khan termed the lynching a day of shame for the country.

Police have arrested over 120 people, including the 13 prime suspects.

The Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry paid homage to Priyanatha Kumara by lying flowers before his photo. It has condemned the horrible act and resolved to formulate policies to avoid any such incidents in future.”

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At a press conference in Lahore, Punjab Inspector-General Rao Sardar Ali Khan briefed journalists and media on the investigations into the case. During the last 24 hours, we have conducted raids in over 200 areas of the city and arrested nearly 120 men,” IG Rao said.

SAMAA | Hamid ur Rehman –

Dr Niaz Brohi

Pakistan is the largest recipient of eye donations from Sri Lanka, having received at least 35,000 corneas since 1967, says Dr Niaz Brohi a leading ophthalmologist of the country.

He is a member of the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society from Pakistan.

Ever since a mob lynched the Sri Lankan national Priyanatha Kumuara in Sialkot on Friday, Dr Brohi says he has been grief-stricken like many others in the country. We hang our heads in shame,” he says.

He has written to the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society to offer condolence.

Brohi, a former head of the famous Spencer Eye Hospital in Karachi, has performed several cornea transplants so far.

Speaking to SAMAA Digital, he said Sri Lanka has donated 83,200 corneas to different countries in the world.

Brohi claims Pakistan is the largest recipient of Sri Lankan cornea donations having received 40% of them. Since 1967, the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society has donated 35,000 eye corneas to Pakistan, he said.

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Pakistan’s first cornea transplant was carried out at the Spencer Eye Hospital by Dr MH Rizvi, and the cornea was donated by Sri Lanka, he says.

He lamented the Sialkot incident once again and then said, Sri Lankan donated us eyes, but we have lost sight.”

Courtesy The Telegraph

In a shocking incident on Friday, angry supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan lynched Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana over allegations of blasphemy 

Over 800 people have been booked under terrorism charges while 13 prime suspects are among 118 arrested so far in the horrific lynching of a Sri Lankan national over allegations of blasphemy in Punjab province of Pakistan, a top police official said on Saturday, as pressure mounted on the government to bring the guilty to justice.

In a shocking incident on Friday, angry supporters of the hardline Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) attacked a garment factory and lynched its general manager Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana before setting his body on fire over allegations of blasphemy. Advertisement

Diyawadana, who was in his 40s and hailed from Kandy city, was working as the general manager in the Rajko industries (dealing in garments and sportswear) in Sialkot district, some 100km from Lahore, for the last seven years. 

Lankan anger

The Lankan parliament and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday condemned the lynching and hoped that Prime Minister Imran Khan will keep his commitment to bring all those involved to justice and ensure the safety of the rest of the island nation’s expat workers. 
A preliminary report of the incident was shared with the media by Inspector General of Police (Punjab) Rao Sardar Ali Khan and the Punjab government spokesperson Hasaan Khawar here on Saturday. 

Courtesy Adaderana

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has announced a series of benefits to ensure that more migrant workers send remittances to the island via official channels.

Speaking at a media briefing today (December 04), the CBSL Governor, Ajith Nivard Cabraal listed some of the benefits the bank hopes to introduce, such as insurance and pension schemes.

Apart from export earnings and tourism receipts, the foreign remittance inflow which is the hard-earned money of the Sri Lankan migrant workers plays a major role in strengthening the country’s economy.

In such a backdrop, the CBSL has observed a fall in foreign remittances over the past months, with USD 300 million in October alone.

The main suspicion is that people may be using unofficial and sometimes questionable channels to send money, bypassing proper mechanisms.

With this in mind, the CBSL established the Foreign Remittances Facilitation Department on November 03.

Today, it was announced that the bank is taking further measures to incentivize the migrant workers to use proper channels to send money.

Addressing the media briefing, Cabraal said: We will strengthen this sector in three areas. Firstly, we will facilitate the overseas travel of Sri Lankans. The number of people leaving the county for employment reduced over the past two years. The situation gradually started to become normal since the last month. That is why we saw a large congestion at the passport office and that’s the pressure build-up of two years.

We have taken steps to facilitate those travelling abroad, after discussions with the government and the passport office. We have created facilities for migrants to open accounts when leaving the country and send money via those accounts. The banking system is proving to be a strength for this purpose. We have taken steps to establish branches of banks at the passport office. The second one is that once arriving there, facilities are needed to send money to the island. There were certain issues when remitting money to Sri Lanka. Measures are put in place by the Central Bank and the country’s banks to improve facilities to overcome such issues.”

Cabraal also noted that the CBSL hopes to provide more benefits when the migrant workers send remittances. Accordingly, Rs. 10 above the rate will be paid this month to those who send remittance via official channels.

He further stated: Measures are being taken to introduce pension and insurance schemes for those who send money, by discussing with the Labour Department. We are also taking steps to increase the duty-free allowances for them. We expect to provide loan facilities to the dependents via the banks as well. Additionally, steps are taken by banks to provide benefits at their level.”

In this backdrop, the CBSL yesterday said it has received information that some Sri Lankan expatriates send remittances to their dependents on the island nation – knowingly or unknowingly – through various racketeers.

The CBSL noted that it is aware that there have been instances where certain brokers collect foreign currency from Sri Lankan employees in other countries and credit the accounts of their dependents in Sri Lankan Rupees by way of cash or transfers through the financial system.

The public may not be aware that they are committing offences punishable in terms of law for the violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the CBSL said in a notice published on its official Facebook page.

Further, available information indicate that these transactions could be linked to drug trafficking and other illegal activities, it read further.

Accordingly, the CBSL informed all Sri Lankans residing abroad and their dependents not to fall victim to illegal operators.

They were also advised to ensure that they remit their foreign remittances to Sri Lanka only through banks and through financial institutions which are supervised by the CBSL or other international banks and financial institutions.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) today gave the nod to release liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)to the market under three conditions.

In a statement, the Authority’s chairman Major General (Rtd.) Shantha Dissanayake said the gas samples collected under the supervision of the committee appointed to monitor the two ships that imported LPG stocks along with Industrial Technology Institute, Sri Lanka Standards Institution and CAA, were referred to the laboratory of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) yesterday.

Accordingly, based on CPC’s test reports and the recommendations of the relevant technical committee, a decision was taken to commence distribution of domestic gas with effect from tomorrow (December 05) under the following three conditions:

01. Not releasing previously imported LP gas stocks to the market.

02. Adding Mercaptan (also known as methanethiol) to new stocks before they are released to the market, enabling the consumers to identify any leaks by its odorant.

03. Testing one per every 100 gas cylinders during the manufacturing process, serializing and producing them to the CAA.

The gas companies are required to make the technical committee aware of the fulfilment of these requirements before releasing the products to the market, in order to ensure quality.

The companies should allow the said committee to monitor the gas manufacturing process at any given moment, the statement noted.

The CAA further stated that ships carrying LP gas have anchored at the Colombo Port and that samples tested from all ships comply with the required standards.

Courtesy Adaderana

The daily count of COVID-19 cases confirmed in Sri Lanka moved to 740 today (December 04) as 199 more people were tested positive for the virus, the Epidemiology Unit said.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 566,936.

As many as 542,010 recoveries and 14,440 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the COVID-19 outbreak.

More than 10,486 active cases in total are currently under medical care, official figures showed.

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 21 more coronavirus-related deaths for December 03, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus pandemic to 14,440.

According to the figures released by the Govt. Information Department, the deaths reported today include 17 males and 04 females.

Six of the patients are between the ages 30-59 years while the remaining 15 are in the age group of 60 years and above. 

Sarath Bulathsinghala

4 Dec 2021

The ‘experts’ – the politicians, the administrators, and the businessmen are trying to ‘rediscover the wheel’! A few days ago, we witnessed parliamentarians, administrators, and perhaps businessmen with vested interests in the ‘gas saga’ sitting together to find solutions for the gas explosions happening throughout Sri Lanka.

Is this the best coterie of ‘wise men’ who can come up with solutions for what is happening? The country would have expected the Institution of Engineers investigating almost now a month of Guy Fawkes ‘fire works’ happening throughout the island.

Why not follow the best practices from the rest of the world without ‘pussy footing’ around the problem? The ‘experts’ look like an assembly of beggars trying to make porridge around a campfire, only a few having anything worthwhile to contribute in terms of real experience!

From what has happened already the evidence for gas fires and explosions point to the following:

• Loss making Gas companies resorting dubious business practices
• Recently an abundance of leaking gas bottles released to the users
• Absence or near absence of added smelling agent
• Collection of leaked gas confined spaces in houses or other places of gas use – gas being heavier than air!
• Presence of gas igniting mediums eg: unsafe electrical wiring, electrical switches, mobile phones, simply match sticks used for initiating gas ring fire for cooking or even hot surfaces left after cooking initiating fires or explosions

All this is happening while the rest of the world is using gas safely and happily without concern or untoward incident. Gas has been in use for lighting, heating, transportation and power generating purposes for nearly two centuries. Over the years the world has mastered how to obtain gas from natural sources – ground based natural gas (methane) , or from petroleum manufacturing – LPG (Propane, Butane etc) . They have also mastered how to store, transport (over land, sea and air) and use gas safely in widely different places and climes – in business, transportation, industry and in households.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is also referred to by its constituent names – propane or butane. LPG are hydrocarbon fuel gases used for heating, cooking, hot water and vehicles. Most countries have either 100% propane (Australia & USA), an LPG gas mixture of 60:40 propane:butane (NZ & Belgium) or percentage of propane and butane in LPG around 35:65 propane:butane LPG gas mixture (India, Spain & Hungary). Thus, the much talked about ‘doctoring’ of the mixtures now in vogue among the ‘frogs of the Diyawanna Oya doesn’t seem to have much traction in the science of gas mixtures technologically speaking!  PROBLEMS LIE ELSEWHERE TO BE FOUND OUT BY REAL EXPERTS AND NOT BY THE PRETEND TO BE QUALIFIED, THE BARELY QUALIFIED, THE RARELY QUALIFIED AND THE NOT QUALIFIED!

The safe and best practices have been used and are working well elsewhere in the world with little danger to users. It is worthwhile to note that behind every safety practise now in use, there are many of victims, some still among the living with horrid tales to tell and others as dearly departed, leaving only sad memories for those left behind to suffer not only their personal loss but also the loss of entire livelihoods.  

For safe practises, it is not only the dead and the injured that are counted – ALSO THE ‘NEAR MISSES’! Every ‘NEAR MISS’ IS CONSIDERED ALMOST AS A REAL INCIDENT FOR IT COULD HAVE GONE ONE WAY OR THE OTHER – MAIMED, DEAD OR ‘ESCAPED WITHOUT INCIDENT’! So far in Sri Lanka the reported incidents discounting fake news are only ‘near misses’! This is no cause to celebrate for death was only inches away for those who escaped grave injury or death! Also in Sri Lanka, it is not readily apparent that near misses are taken seriously enough to give due recognition and consideration. This is unfortunate! Most left in the category of God’s will, Good Luck or Good Karma!

In industry, it is usual when untoward incidents take place for engineers to come together an analyse the cause of the incident and come up with solutions to completely eradicate or if not find ways to mitigate the possibility of such incident happening again. One such investigative method is called a HAZOP ( Hazard and Operability)  study. During this investigation, simple questions are asked and answered leading to intelligent insights and methodologies to improve the process or mitigate danger to acceptable level where entire elimination of the problem is not cost effective.

In the case of the above incidents, carrying out a simple HAZOP involving the gas bottle, its accessories and the gas burning device study would suffice. Each of the components should be studied asking relevant questions.

Hazops

Can it happen? – leaks, fires, explosions

How do you know? – smell; gas hose connections damaged, substandard; hissing noise or soap bubble test;

Does it matter? – If matters, can the leaks if any be stopped, what regulatory measures should be implemented by law and by the vendors? Role of the governmental safety watchdogs?

For the gas bottle: The design specifications of the gas bottle – holding capacity litres, weight, maximum and all pressure limits of the bottle, storage and handling methodologies;

LPG cylinder can blast if it is continuously kept exposed to immense heat or fire. In houses, LPG cylinder will not just get blasted on its own. first there will be a LPG leak from the O ring/ faulty regulator or leaky cylinder (rare). then the gas will mix with air, form a combustible mixture and when it comes in contact with a spark or naked flames, the gas explodes. But then also LPG cylinder itself will not get blasted.” – Gautam Das, Indian Oil Corporation.

The graph above shows how the bottle pressure varies according to the ambient temperature, (the pressure within being simply a function of the ambient temperature).  All bottles are normally designed to withstand 5 times or more pressure than what these gasses in any combination of can generate within, 100% Propane being the highest. They are normally equipped with a pressure relief valve in case the pressure goes high due to temperature hikes.

For the gas mixture: what gases were used and their properties, individually and in mixture. The effects of usage at different proportions – the experiences worldwide. Most countries have either 100% propane (Australia & USA), an LPG gas mixture of 60:40 propane:butane (NZ & Belgium) or percentage of propane and butane in LPG around 35:65 propane:butane LPG gas mixture (India, Spain & Hungary).

From high pressure to low pressure at the user’s end:  the accessories used – pressure relief valve and pressure regulators etc, when replaced last, whether within the warranty period?

For the gas utensil: domestic cooker mostly : what make, all connectors including gas hose from the pressure regulator to the gas ring; how old, within any warranty or not? whether maintained well?

However, in Sri Lanka they have to contend with dubious business and political interests too in arriving at ‘solutions’! The situation in Sri Lanka in regard to the ‘leaking gas bottles and blowing gas appliances’ should be understood in this context. Are we in Sri Lanka following the best practices followed elsewhere in the world? If not where have we gone wrong? Do we have to ‘rediscover’ the wheel in Sri Lanka or follow already well established safety protocols in use elsewhere in the world without wasting much needed capital?

https://www.elgas.co.nz/resources/elgas-blog/252-how-much-pressure-is-in-lpg-propane-cylinders-in-what-state/

https://www.elgas.co.nz/resources/elgas-blog/245-how-lpg-works-gas-bottles-regulators-appliances-vaporizers

Senaka Weeraratna

I am very sad to hear of the passing of Douglas Wickremeratne. He was in touch with me by forwarding posts until the last. I used to reciprocate. 

He has a huge claim for gratitude of Sri Lanka and it’s patriotic people for the stand he took in 1983 when he alone stood up to fight the disinformation campaign of the country’s detractors in London. His brave stand triggered others to come out in support of national unity, territorial integrity and an undivided Sri Lanka. He gave leadership to this cause  particularly among Overseas Sri Lankans. 

In Melbourne, we formed the Overseas Sri Lankans’ Organization for National Unity (OSLONU) under the leadership of Professor C.G. Weeramantry who was the first President of OSLONU. Dr. Ranjith Hettiarachi and H.L.D. Mahindapala were the Joint Secretaries. It grew into a sizeable body to counter anti – Sri Lanka propaganda world wide. We used to liaise constantly with Douglas Wickremeratne. Even the Govt. of Sri Lanka gave him top recognition and VIP treatment whenever he visited Sri Lanka at that time. Because he was performing better than any of our diplomats stationed overseas. 

He is a real hero by any definition. He is an old Anandian with a firm commitment to the ‘ Rata, Jathiya, Agama’. A person of great moral courage.

He deserves a National Salute because such people are rare. A man with a back bone and spine is not easy to find. 

The adage ‘ Come the hour, Come the man’ is strikingly illustrated in the manner of Douglas Wickremeratne stepping forward to defend Sri Lanka in the hallowed portals of elite British institutions and Universities, and convince others of the lesser heard side of the story.

May Sri Lanka and the Govt. of Sri Lanka find the strength to show remembrance and gratitude at a public level to this great national Hero.

May he attain the supreme bliss of Nirvana.

In sorrow

Senaka Weeraratna

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando

Last week the writer approached a local studio to get some photographs to get his passport renewed. During the conversation with the photographer, he advised the writer about the legal requirements of the Immigration office, which require both ears to be visible in the photograph to renew his passport. He also informed the writer that Muslim women, need not bother about exposing their ears in the photograph because Muslim women are allowed to wear the Hijab covering their head and chest, including their ears. 

The friendly conversation suddenly touched on a serious note. The disgruntled photographer advised the writer about a mixture of laws in Sri Lanka, and how it applies to each section of the community. He said  because of the Election promises,  the Government is getting  into an awkward situation due to failure of adhering to such promises. He observed that the legal framework of Sri Lanka is complex and a mixture of laws ranging from Roman, English, Dutch, South Indian, and Old Ceylon Law.

Momentarily the writer became thoroughly confused with such a lot of laws in Sri Lanka. To get it clarified, the writer communicated with his friend in London, Douglas Wickramaratne, who is well versed in Sri Lankan politics.  Douglas Wickramaratne( I received a sad news about Douglas Wickramaratne died on 01-12-2021) dealt with a lot of problems when Sri Lanka experienced a gruelling time with a separatist war for thirty years against the LTTE. Douglas acted on behalf of the Sri Lanka High Commission in London to counter all adverse exposures by the LTTE. Such false propaganda spread internationally instantaneously. 

The Sri Lanka Mission had to obtain permission from the Foreign Ministry before commenting on any sudden situation, such as a bomb explosion. When a response reached the Sri Lanka High Commission from the Foreign Ministry in Colombo, the stable door was closed, and the horse had already bolted. Douglas Wickramaratne was a patriot and represented the Sinhala Association in the U.K. He bravely faced the LTTE supporters on all T.V. and radio debates.

Douglas Wickramaratne replied, attaching an email in Sinhala. The following is a translation done by the writer, to the best of his ability. 

” The President of Sri Lanka appointed a Commission to investigate and report on the concept of One Nation and One Country. The Professor Nalin de Silva believes it is essential to appoint Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara thera as Chairman of the Presidential Commission. He cannot remember whether he has had any conversation with the thera, but he has heard about his speeches. However, the Professor may not agree with the Venerable’s ideology altogether, and disagrees with the Venerable’s associations with some personnel. However, ‘The Professor believes that a Buddhist monk is the best solution for the Presidential Commission. In this respect Ven. Gnanasara thera is the most suitable official” he states.

Some people may object to the monk’s appointment as Chairman of the Presidential Commission on a delicate topic stating that the monk was penalised by Court“. The Professor cannot recollect the incident properly, and thinks it was due to the monk’s appalling behaviour inside the Courthouse. The Professor too has some experience in dealing with Courts in Sri Lanka, from the Labour Courts up to the Magistrate’s Courts. He is not aware how the Sri Lankan Courts operate. However, the Professor believes that everyone must pay respect inside Courts. The Sri Lankan Courts follow vital decisions made in accordance with the Constitution that affects the Nation. To negate the Courts’ decisions is highly thorny. 

The professor Nalin de Silva believes, ‘if his memory serves right, venerable Gnanasara thera expressed certain statements to Ekneligoda’s wife inside the courts complex that was not acceptable to the Court.’ It should be questioned from Ekneligoda’s wife whether she became popular only after the disappearance of Ekneligoda? The Professor admits that he cannot comment on the number of issues made by Sri Lankan Courts. He will not expand on that issue further because he too will likely become a victim by criticising Court procedures!

Sri Lanka follows a mixture of British, Roman, and Dutch laws, Professor states. That is not favourable to Sri Lanka. It is also not to say the existing laws are partisan. It comes to his memory also about the ancient Ekneligoda Nilame, who fought against the Sinhala Motion (Panatha). The Professor can remember only one other Committee member, named Sumeda Weerawardene. Although he was not a lawyer, he was knowledgeable about the legal profession. ‘Romans did not invent Roman law’, he states. Even before the Dutch conquered our land, Ceylon had a profession called  Sirith Lena. Currently, it is equivalent to the legal profession. The basis of any law is dependent on the culture and tradition of a nation,” declares the Professor.

The Dutch 

The Dutch when in Ceylon amended many laws, in addition to the Roman and Dutch law. They introduced tobacco to Ceylon and brought the Tamil Vellala community to cultivate tobacco. After the harvest, the Vellala community returned to their homeland in India. The Dutch did not prevent them from returning. At that time, there existed a Muslim (Thesawalimi) law in Jaffna. The Muslim Thesawalimi law incorporates Kovils too. The Vellas established the Thesawalimi law. 

Subsequently, the British introduced the Thesawalimi law again and incorporated Roman and Dutch law into British law. In addition, there exists a separate Muslim law in the country. There is also a law called the Upcountry (Kandy – Udarata) law. The British called the Upcountry (Udarata) law as the Sinhala law. During that time, the Kings ruled the hill country.  The British, naming it as the upcountry law, made a muddle out of it. Nevertheless, we need to bear in mind the Sinhala law includes various sections from the Nanayakkara kings.

The Professor believes eminent scientists in the West believe in the explosion theory, but it is only a belief.  Any law depends on the country’s culture and tradition, but Sri Lanka goes by British law, Roman and Dutch law.  There is no such law in existence without a national, religious, and cultural basis. The world does not have any adverse laws—British science wraps around Greek Christian philosophy, which is a blatant lie.”

‘One country one law’ means not to execute a mixture of English, Roman and Dutch law on everything and everywhere. In England, there is no law about the Chinese population. English culture encases British law. In Sri Lanka, what is required is a law commensurate with different cultures. Insincere socialists will cry out, saying an individual law applies to various sets of people. The Professor challenges anyone to go to France and try to implement the Muslim law.

At this juncture, there is an important feature we need to remind ourselves about. ‘The Agreement entered in 1815 promised the British and Dutch to rule the country according to the Sinhala Law. Though it was agreed with the Christian rulers, everyone failed to adhere to this agreement. Though Sri Lanka achieved its Independence seventy-three years ago, no one has yet concentrated on the 1815 Agreement. One cannot expect this from either the Senanayake’s, J.R. Jayawardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa or Ranil Wickremesinghe.’

The President appointed a knowledgeable Buddhist monk as Chairman of the Presidential Committee to investigate and report to him on all aspects that affect the society in implementing the concept of ‘One Law, One Country’.

tilakfernando@gmail.com

MD Pathik Hasan

Image source:  Internet

On the Rohingya issue (repatriation), Nepal and Bangladesh can work together. Nepal can play role in resolving Rohingya crisis. As a regional country, Nepal should play in resolving the regional crisis. Rohingya refugee crisis is a regional problem for both South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Nepal and Bangladesh are two of South Asia’s closest friends and peace-loving neighbors, their ties made closer by recent high-level state visits. President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid visited Nepal in 2019. Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari likewise visited Bangladesh in 2021 as a guest on the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. So, they can work together in resolving common regional challenges.

For decades, Myanmar has gone through extreme cruelty to the Rohingya. Never cared about the law. The Rohingya problem is not new to Bangladesh. This problem, which started in 1978, became apparent in August 2017. More than 1 million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to save their lives when the Myanmar army launched a brutal operation against the Rohingya ethnic group. Bangladesh is seeking the intervention of the United States, the European Union and the United Nations as well as the regional alliance ASEAN for a lasting and acceptable solution to the Rohingya problem.

According to data of Nepalese media outlets, there are approximately 300 Rohingya living in Kathmandu, specifically in the Kapan area; and reports state that around 600 more are scattered all over Nepal However, the exact number of these asylum seekers is not known. (The Rohingya in Nepal, Kathmandu Post, January 01, 2020) The Rohingyas entered Nepal in the 1990s and mainly in 2012.

According to Nepal Police, ‘some Stateless Rohingyas have been found entering Nepal via Kakarbhitta border in eastern Nepal for the past few days. The incident came to light after 14 Rohingya refugees, including some children, were found to have entered Nepal and got apprehended when they arrived in Kathmandu on September 12. According to the Metropolitan Police Circle Bouddha, they entered Nepal from the Rohingya refugee camp of Bangladesh via India through Kakarbhitta. After entering Nepal, they arrived at the Rohingya refugee camp, Baluwakhani in Kapan of Kathmandu. (Rohingya Refugees Continue To Enter Nepal Illegally, Rising Daily Nepal, September 17, 2021)

On the other hand, now Bangladesh is facing serious problems for this artificial crisis committed by Myanmar.  Some socio-economic threats are rising in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has given shelter to Rohingyas for humanitarian reasons. But because of this humanity, the country is now at risk. As a result, there is a danger of Rohingyas spreading all over the country, there are also many challenges

The forest is being uprooted, they are cutting down the mountains and destroying them. There are also long-term economic risks Socio-economic and political problems may also be evident, and security risks may increase. Illegal narcotics trade, human trafficking, prostitution, terrorism in Rohingya camps is increasing in camps.

So, it can say that Rohingya problem isn’t the problem only for Bangladesh but also Nepal. Nepal should understand this. It’s times for both Bangladesh and Nepal to work together to repatriate Rohingyas in Rakhine in Myanmar.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement to repatriate the Rohingya to Myanmar within two years in 2017 and 2019 respectively. The Myanmar authority did not take back the Rohingyas according to the agreement. It is true that they don’t want to repatriate Rohingyas in Myanmar. Bangladesh raised the issue in every international forum. Many countries have supported Bangladesh. But Myanmar has no respect the international law and norms. Some mighty powers may have behind the scene.

Bangladesh Prime Minister has raised the issue at UNGA on September 25, 2021 to draw the attention in solving the Rohingya crisis. She has focused specially on the engagement of ASEAN leaders. It is ASEAN which can solve Rohingya refugee problem easily.

As a South Asian country and well trusted friends of Bangladesh, Nepal can help Bangladesh to resolve it. Nepal can be mediator in this regard. Nepal has very warm relations with both Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Image source: Internet

Various countries and international organizations have taken various measures to resolve the Rohingya problem. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized Myanmar authorities for being lax in repatriating displaced Rohingya. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has expressed deep concern over the ongoing Rohingya crisis. Yang Lee, the UN special envoy for human rights in Myanmar, said all major countries in the world had a responsibility to resolve the Rohingya crisis.

In this regard, Nepal can and should play very significant role to resolve the crisis such ways:

1. Nepal can support Bangladesh at every international forum such as at UNGA, regional conference. It can vote in favor of Bangladesh. It can raise the issue in BIMSTEC and SAARC platforms.
2. Nepal can negotiate with Myanmar diplomatically and bilaterally. It has good bilateral relations with Myanmar.
3. Nepal can engage with others regional states to solve the crisis.
4. Nepal’s Buddhist society can play an effective role in this regard. The relations of Buddhists between Myanmar and Nepal are well established. Nepalese Buddhist can do it very easily. Buddhism is more related to establishment of Peace and non-violence. Sri Lankan Buddhists can play a significant role in this regard. They can exercise the path shown by the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha. Buddhist will be recognized as the Avatar of human rights if Buddhist community plays to role in solving Rohingya crisis. It will ensure the regional to some extent World peace and communal harmony. Nepal’s Lumbini is the birth place of Gautama Buddha. It is a holy place for all Buddhists around the world. Myanmar Buddhists and government may have also respect for Nepal for this holy place. Nepal can use this opportunity. Nepalese Buddhists, people and government should make the Burmese Buddhists understand in this connection. Then, the people of Myanmar can be motivated to pressurize the Myanmar government to repatriate Rohingyas to their land. Bangladesh is also contributing to establishing a Buddhist monastery in Nepal. ‘Bangladesh Finalizes Agreement to Build Buddhist Monastery in Lumbini, Nepal’ was the headline of Hong Kong-based Global Buddhist Door headline on October 11. Can anyone imagine a Muslim country building a Buddhist monastery in Nepal, a religiously Hindu country? All Buddhists around the world especially Burmese and Nepalese Buddhist should realize this with special attention.
5. Nepalese businessmen can engage themselves to some extent. Because stability in the region is very needed for promoting investment and trade.

Why should Nepal paly role to resolve the problem?

1. This issue is a humanitarian issue. Rohingyas are the son of Land in Rakhine in Myanmar. They have birth rights to reside in Myanmar.
2. It is an issue of Justice. According to Luther king Junior “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Myanmar authority committed genocide. The perpetrators should be under international legal jurisdiction.
3. It is the issue of region. The whole South Asia and South East Asia may be volatile for this issue. As a South Asian state, Nepal has some responsibilities.
4. Nepal has bitter experience in case of the dealing with Bhutanese refugees. Nepal knows this how the refugees can become a burden and threat for a society to some extent the country. Bangladesh has been suffering from the same problem. As a well-wisher friend, Nepal could understand the Bangladesh’s sufferings in this regard. Thus, Nepal should do something as per its capabilities.
5. Nepal has very good relations with both Myanmar and Bangladesh.
6. Enhancing bilateral relations could contribute to the growth of trade and investment relations with ASEAN and SAARC countries. This will create an opportunity to serve grater regional interest.
7. Re-establishing the Himalayan-South Asian connectivity can occur if political and diplomatic solutions of Bangladesh-Myanmar strained ties can be found.
8. Normally, Bangladesh supports Nepal at every common international forum. Now it is time and duty for Nepal to stand by Bangladesh in her crisis moment.

However, Tourism, Covid-19, counter-terrorism, microfinance, exchange of training expertise and education are some sectors in which Bangladesh and Nepal can collaborate. Bangladesh faces a refugee problem after the massive influx of Rohingya refugees into the country in 2017. Now Bangladesh wants to repatriate them to Myanmar. Nepal should support Bangladesh at all international fora to repatriate them peacefully. Such a gesture will not go unnoticed in Dhaka.

Nepal should consider this. Nepal should do somethings in favor of Bangladesh regarding Rohingya refugee repatriation to Myanmar. Nepal can make Myanmar understand and agree in this regard.

Nepal can play a very significant role in this regard. Nepal can mediate to bolster the strained relations between Bangladesh-Myanmar. Nepal can play to repatriate the Rohingyas in Rakhine in Myanmar. Nepal can easily solve the problem because it has a very good relations with Myanmar.

However, as a well-wisher friend and partner in the development process and trade, Bangladesh can expect cooperation and support of Nepal regarding the repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. Bangladesh deserves it. So, Nepal should help, support Bangladesh and mediate in resolving the crisis as soon as possible.

-Hafizur Talukdar

  In the last five years or so, various initiatives have been taken in bilateral and international forums to repatriate the displaced Rohingyas or to resolve the crisis, but to no avail. The adoption of a unanimous resolution for the first time in the Third Committee of the United Nations on this issue on Wednesday is a beacon of hope in the current crisis. The matter has been published in the media for a good reason. We have also seen that Japan-Russia-China has expressed their views again after the adoption of this proposal. They have explained their position despite being with the proposal. It is important for us to observe their attitude in this regard. We can claim that their previous position has changed a bit. Earlier, when such a proposal was raised in the third committee of the UN, whatever their position, this time they did not oppose it; Apparently a little positive. But the question is – what is the real attitude of the displaced Rohingyas towards the place we want to go to, the environment, or the favorable conditions for them to be ensured in Rakhine?

The statement of the European Union in this regard is significant. They said the unanimous resolution would play an important role in protecting the rights of other minorities. In the adopted resolution, Myanmar has been informed about many issues. There is no room for complacency in the Third Committee of the United Nations. The General Assembly did not reflect the effectiveness of such a proposal. The question may arise, the proposal of the past was not as unanimous as this time. That is not unreasonable. But we see that many of the people who are committed to us in resolving the Rohingya crisis have not acted on their word. The UN General Assembly has already passed resolutions in this regard in the Third Committee of the United Nations. But Myanmar did not follow the prescribed path. The Third Committee deals with such proposals. It will now go to the General Assembly again.

If the resolution is passed in the General Assembly session, then the Security Council should also pass it – that is the goal now. we assume that since the proposal has been unanimously adopted by the Third Committee, there will not be any undesirable situation in the General Assembly session. But if Myanmar’s attitude is not positive, it will remain an obstacle to resolving the crisis. First, the Myanmar side needs to create a conducive environment for the displaced Rohingya to return to their homeland. Second, multifaceted pressure on them is essential. we can say that the way to create that pressure has become a little easier. Various branches of the United Nations have also made proposals in this regard. But Myanmar is not moving. At present, the military government is directly in power there. Earlier they were indirect helpers.


In the last few months, we have not seen any activity of the present government in this regard, which is different from the activities of the previous government. Even so, owning one is still beyond the reach of the average person. But this relief is not enough to resolve the current crisis. A major solution could be found through the UN Security Council. The consensus of the permanent members of the Security Council is crucial. The United States, the United Kingdom is with us in this matter. China, Russia, Japan, France – these countries need to take a clear stand on resolving the Rohingya crisis. But for this, we need more vigorous and far-sighted diplomatic activities in the context of new realities. We cannot say that the position of China and Russia is in our favor. The desired outcome cannot be expected until others as powerful as them pass a resolution in the UN Security Council unanimously.

If that happens, the pressure on Myanmar will be severe and Myanmar will be forced to change its position. This requires the sincere initiative of many parties. China, Japan, Russia – we need to strengthen our diplomatic relations with these countries. Our economic relations with these countries are deep. They are all our development partners. Several mega projects are being implemented in the country with their financial support. If we can convince them that this is putting pressure on Myanmar, then hopefully the way to resolve the crisis will be smooth. Because Myanmar also has economic relations with them. It is difficult to say how far Bangladesh has come in such a strong position.

Now we need to work on a new framework for diplomacy to make all international alliances and organizations more active. There is an opportunity to do more in our existing relationship with Japan. With the economic relations that we have with China, Japan, Russia, it cannot be said that we have succeeded in managing the politically desired level. The constant goal of Bangladesh should be to make the diplomatic process stronger and stronger. In this case, Bangladesh has to work more bilaterally. This goal must be multilateral. If the positive position of the member states in the Security Council can be confirmed, then this will be a source of great hope for Bangladesh to change its position. Bangladesh must continue to make every effort to strengthen our relationship with all our friends and development partners.

It is important to increase the depth and foresight of diplomacy. For example, the full support of 107 countries to the proposal of the Third Committee of the United Nations is a testament to our diplomatic success. It is important to increase the depth and foresight of diplomacy. For example, this time the full support of 107 countries on the proposal of the Third Committee of the United Nations is a testament to our diplomatic success. Many countries have abstained or voted against such a proposal in the past. But this time around, the exceptional incident will send a fresh message to Myanmar that their chances of remaining steadfast in resolving the Rohingya crisis are diminishing. The international community is now more positive than ever. There are many motives on the part of Myanmar to prolong this issue. They may think that if the issue is prolonged, the attention of the international community will be reduced. But this time the incident has left a mark on their thinking. But Bangladesh should not seek relief here. Even if it stops. We have to work hard to increase the pressure on Myanmar as much as possible to resolve this crisis. We hope that the fruits of Bangladesh’s continued efforts will be seen in the Security Council as well.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ශිරාස් යුනුස් (Shiraz Yunus) මහතා ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ සම්බන්ධීකරණ ලේකම්වරයෙකු ලෙස කටයුතු නොකරන, අතර එවැනි තනතුරක් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලය විසින් ලබා දී නොමැති බව මෙයින් දන්වා සිටිමි.

ශිරාස් යුනුස් (Shiraz Yunus) මහතා විසින්, ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ මුස්ලිම් කටයුතු පිළිබඳ සම්බන්ධීකරණ ලේකම්වරයා ලෙස කටයුතු කරන බව පවසමින් සිදු කරන ප්‍රකාශ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලයේ කිසිඳු සම්බන්ධයක් නොමැති බව ද මෙයින් ප්‍රකාශ කරමි.

එසේම, ඔහු හට කිසිඳු ආකාරයේ තනතුරක් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලය විසින් ලබා දී නොමැත.

ඔහුගේ ප්‍රකාශ සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම පුද්ගලික වන අතර වත්මන් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා හෝ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලය එම අදහස් අනුමත නොකරන බවද වැඩිදුරටත් දන්වා සිටිමි.

තිසර සමල් – අනුරාධපුර

අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙ පෙරිමියන්කුළම, ගල්කඩව ප්‍රදේශයේ මිරිස් , වම්බටු හා බඩඉරඟු ඇතුළු ගොඩ භෝග වගාවන් රසායනික පොහොර නොමැතිකම හේතුවෙන් කාබනික පොහොර යෙදූ පසු, එම කාබනික පොහොර හරහා දිලීර රෝගයක් බෝ වී වගාවන් විනාශ වන බවට ලැබුණු තොරතුරකට අනුව ඒ පිළිබඳව සොයා බැලීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ ජාතික සංවිධායක, රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතා අදාළ ගොවි බිම් නිරීක්ෂණය කරනු ලැබීය.

අනුරාධපුර, පෙරිමියන්කුළම, ගල්කඩවල ප්‍රදේශයේ වම්බටු හා මිරිස් වගා බිම් කීපයක් මෙන්ම ගොවීන් විසින් සැකසූ කොම්පෝස්ට්ද අමාත්‍යයවරයාගේ නිරීක්ෂණයට මෙහිදී ලක් විය.

එහිදී ගොවීන් අමාත්‍යයවරයාට පෙන්වා  දෙනු ලැබුවේ වසර ගණනක් විශාල ලෙස ආදායම් ලබා ගත් තම ගොවිබිම් වලින් මෙවර ආදායම් ලබා ගත නොහැකි තත්වයක් උද්ගත වී ඇති බවයි. රසායනික පොහොර නොමැතිකම නිසාවෙන් කාබනික පොහොර යෙදූ පසු තම වගාවන්ට දිලීර රෝගයක් වැලඳුන බවත්, වගාවන් වල පත්‍ර කහගැසී පත්‍ර හැකිලී යන බවයි. රසායනික දිලීර නාශක වෙළඳපොල තුළ නොමැති වීම හේතුවෙන් මේ වන විට තම වගාවන්ට යථා තත්වයට පත් කර ගත නොහැකිව වගාවන් අත්හැර දැමීමට සිදුව ඇති බවත් ගොවීන් එහිදී පෙන්වා දුන්හ.

පසුගිය මාස් කන්නයේත් අදාළ භූමියේ රසායනික පොහොර යොදා වගාවන් සාර්ථකව සිදු කළ බවත්,මෙවර කොම්පෝස්ට් යොදා ගනිමින් වගා කිරීම හේතුවෙන් පැළ මලානික වූ බව ගොවීන් පෙන්වා දුන්හ.නැවත එම වගාවන් සාර්ථක කර ගැනීමට රසායනික පොහොර 50% ක් හෝ යෙදිය යුතු යැයිද ගොවීන් පවසති.

ලක්ෂ 30 ක් විතර අක්කර 4 කින් බටු වගාවකින් අපි ගත්තා, අපි රසායනික යූරියා පොහොර දවස් 20 න් 20ට මිටි 07 ක් විතර අක්කර 04 ට දැම්මා.ඒ විතරක් නෙමෙයි බටු වලට එන කෘමිහානි වලක්වන්න ගහන කෘමිනාශක දැන් නෑ, ඒ නිසා බටු වල පණුවෝ හැදිලා දැන්,ඒ නිසා මේ වගාවෙන් දැන් ආදායමක් ගන්න බෑ දැන්.වැස්සත් එක්ක කාබනික පොහොර වල සංඝටක වැඩි වෙලා මෙහෙම වෙන්න ඇත්තේ කියලා අපි හිතනවා.දැන් මේ වගාවට මාස 02 ක් වෙනවා, සාමාන්‍යයෙන් මේ ගහක් රසායනික පොහොර යෙදුවා නම් අඩි 03 ක් විතර ඉස්සිලා තියෙන්න ඕන, නමුත් කාබනික පොහොර දැම්ම මේ වගාවේ ගස් හැදුනේ නෑ.රත්තරන් බඩු උකස් කරලා පවා වගාව කලේ, දැන් ඉතින් වගාව අතාරින්න වෙලා තියෙන්නේ.මේ අවට බඩඉරඟු අක්කර 150 ක් විතර තියෙනවා ඒවා ගොවියෝ අතෑරලා තියෙන්නේ,අක්කර 47 යි වගා කරලා තියෙන්නේ යැයි ගොවීන් පැවසූහ.

තවද කෘඹිනාශක වල් නාශක ඉතා ඉහළ මිලකට අලෙවි වන බවද , වගාවන් රැක ගැනීමට එක එක වර්ගයේ කෘමිනාශක යොදන බව ගොවීන් පැවසීය.

 දියර පොහොර වලින් මේ වගාවල් කරන්න බෑ, මේ දවස් වල දවස පුරාම වහිනවා, දියර පොහොර හේදිලා යනවා.හැබැයි පසට දැම්මාම වැස්සත් එක්ක ඒක ගහට උරා ගන්නවා.තවත් සතියකින් හරි රසායනික පොහොර ටිකක් ලැබුනොත් අපිට මේ වගාවන් ගොඩදාගන්න පුලුවන්, දැන් අපි කරකියා ගන්න දෙයක් නැතිව ඉන්නේ  යැයිද ගොවීන් එහිදී අමාත්‍යයවරයාට පැවසීය.

අදාළ වගාවන් යථා තත්වයට පත් කර ගැනීම සඳහා ඉහළ නිළධාරීන් දැනුම්වත් කර  කඩිනමින් අවශ්‍යය කරන පොහොර හා කෘමි නාශක,වල් නාශක ගෙන්වා ගැනීමට අවශ්‍යය කටයුතු කර දෙන ලෙස කෘෂි පර්යේෂණ නිළධාරීන්ට එහිදී අමාත්‍යයතුමන් උපදෙස් ලබා දුන්හ.

By Sumanasiri Liyanage Courtesy Ceylon Today

Without questioning the honesty of the Government’s initiative to move away from the system of industrial agriculture in spite of the presence of some contrary evidence it is not difficult to reach a conclusion that the Government’s effort has ended with abject failure. Although many had anticipated the Finance Minister, Basil Rajapaksa, in his maiden Budget would have reversed the import ban on chemical agricultural inputs in the face of growing protest by the farmers and small scale tea estate owners, such a policy reversal had to wait until the committee stage of the Budget debate. 

The Government has taken a 360 degree turn once again going back to the chemical agriculture input solution. No emphasis was placed on the following quote from the Budget Speech: Therefore, I propose to draft a Green Agricultural Development Act that protects the traditional knowledge of our farmers, safeguards their right to own lands and right to the distribution of water and ensures the participation of farmers in the decision-making process.” The private sector appears to be allowed to import chemical inputs and to sell them to the farmers following their own price formula. 

In the current context in which the world market prices of urea has reached an alarming level, the question arises if the farmers can afford to buy them at market prices in the absence of a fertiliser subsidy. Hence, one may wonder that all the zigzags and reversals that the Ministry of Agriculture had performed in the last six months are oriented towards the abolition of the fertiliser subsidy that have been in operation since the early 1960s in varying ways by almost all the Governments.

The policy shift if it leads to a systemic shift from industrial agriculture to natural farming would definitely change the agrarian landscape of the island. However, there has been no consensus among the scientific community with regard to the impact of such a transition. The debate between the soil and agriculture scientists on the one hand and the medical practitioners on the other around the impact of the use of chemical inputs goes on with no sign of consensus. 

Like in India, the majority of agricultural and soil scientists in Sri Lanka, especially those who are attached to the Sri Lankan university system, seem to reject the idea that agriculture without chemical inputs is possible. This is understandable since these specialists acquire their training and knowledge from the universities and research institutions that are designed to cater for the needs of multinational chemical companies. This is evident in that case of India where while the Central and some State Governments have taken measures to encourage natural farming methods, national institutions of agricultural scientists had vehemently opposed such a policy shift.

I am not a natural scientist so that I opt not to enter into this debate notwithstanding the fact the discussion would not produce a complete picture if it does not refer to the possible long-term reactions of chemical inputs in soil and agricultural products.The social scientists have much to offer on this debate since what matters most are the farmers. 

Industrial agriculture balance sheet

The practices in Sri Lankan agriculture adopted after the Green Revolution are key elements of the system of industrial agriculture a presence of certain traditional practices notwithstanding.The system is based on the use of imported or commodified seeds, chemical fertiliser, pesticides and weedicides, the principle of monocrop, separation of crop from livestock and fisheries and the heavy use of labour-subsuming machinery. As a result, the yield has increased so is the total agricultural output, especially in paddy. That has been the positive aspect often cited in the debate. 

Nonetheless, this balance sheet is not a neutral and objective observation. Nor is it a complete one. Drawing from his own experience on the left bank of the Walawe, Mahinda Siriwardene, a farmer who is one of the key leaders of the Walsapugala farmers protest, has shown that the net income of an average farmer who engages in paddy cultivation is Rs 675 per day. Of course, there may be spatial variations. Athula Disanayake of Eppawala has given figures relating to the cost of production in paddy farming and has revealed that the cultivation of one hectare of paddy in the North Central Province under the present condition may cost 

Rs 300,000. If the average yield is between Rs 5,000 – 6,000 kilograms of rice, the cost of production of paddy would be Rs 60 a kilogram. It is important to note that some of the reproduction cost of farmer households is not included in this figure.  

So, one may also ask if there is any use of continuing with industrial agriculture practices? We may ask the Opposition Parties: is the non-availability of chemical inputs the problem that farmers face or is there some other unfathomable involvement here? My conclusion is the problem that is at the centre of the agricultural crisis is this very mode of agriculture, namely, industrial agriculture. So, steps should be taken, through a system of mass education, to come out of this system that was introduced in the 1960s. 

A different system of agriculture

Two agricultural practitioners cum agro-scientists from Japan and India have shown with empirical evidence that there is a different system of agriculture. The increasing world prices of urea have shown that agriculture would be a totally unprofitable and a costly business to our farmers as it was to Japanese farmers. Fukuoka writes: When the concept of commercial agriculture first appeared, I opposed it. 

Commercial agriculture in Japan is not profitable for the farmer. Among merchants the rule is that if an article which originally costs a certain amount is further processed, an extra cost is added when the article is sold. But in Japanese agriculture it is not so straightforward. Fertiliser, feed, equipment, and chemicals are purchased at prices fixed abroad, and there is no telling what the actual cost per pound will be when these imported products are used. 

It is completely up to the merchants. And with selling prices also fixed, the farmer’s income is at the mercy of forces beyond his control.” The Government put the farmers once again in the same situation where the monopoly in importing agricultural inputs is given to a private company. The solution to which is not to statize the import but to go for natural farming. Natural farming is less costly and no significant difference in yield. Of course, there may be a slight and insignificant reduction of yield in the first two kannas but in the long run it would be more profitable for the farming community and to the environ in which they live. 

The response of the Opposition led by Samagi Jana Balavegaya, and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna to the decision to stop the import of chemical aagri-inputs and the policy reversal of the Government has demonstrated that politicians do not have a vision how the agriculture problem can be resolved. The problem lies with the extant agricultural mode of production and transforming it into a new mode of production is in the hands of the peasant community itself. No saviours coming from Colombo will resolve their problems.

The writer is a retired teacher of Political Economy at the University of Peradeniya. sumane_l@yahoo.com

By Priyan R Naik Courtesy Ceylon Today

By Priyan R Naik

When the ship ‘Hippo Spirit’ departed from China in September 2021 carrying 20,000 tonnes of organic fertiliser for Colombo as the first of several consignments totalling 99,000 tonnes of organic fertiliser nobody would have imagined  something with the  shipment would go so horribly wrong leading  to a diplomatic tussle, a blacklisting of a bank and a group of unhappy farmers. 

Later in October 2021, the ‘Hippo Spirit’ moved away from Colombo harbour and reportedly sailed to Hambantota port. Meanwhile Sri Lanka obtained Nano Nitrogen fertiliser from the Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), which was flown in by two Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft. 

In this column, I have no intention of going into the merits or otherwise of these incidents but will instead share my co-brother’s experience with  organic farming by avoiding chemical inputs that reduce soil biodiversity, avoid land degradation and curb chemical pollution. Compared to conventional farming, a lower cost of production and a higher price premium on farm products accompanied with health and environmental benefits on the face of it should actually be encouraging farmers to switch over to organic.  

 Organic farming uses fewer pesticides, reduces soil erosion, decreases nitrate leaching into both groundwater and surface water, aiding in recycling animal waste, but mineralisation is a problem. Unlike chemical Fertilisers that are already mineralised, nutrients are unmineralised and cannot be absorbed by the plants. Microbes are needed to break down organic matter and transform nutrients into a mineralised state. 

Yet when microbes are added to the soil, pest and weed control is now required. Both compost and manure do add beneficial microbes along with organic matter to the soil but it is difficult to completely replace synthetic fertiliser. Only a tiny amount of nutrients ends up as food eaten by cattle and an even tinier part will go into their dung. How can using cow dung for soil rejuvenation replace the nutrients sucked out by growing crops? 

Self-sufficient in food production today, nobody remembers India in the 1960s, when the situation was pretty bad with the risk of famine conditions in the background. Undeniably, India’s Green Revolution increased food production, alleviated extreme poverty and malnourishment helping feed millions of undernourished people lacking sufficient food to meet daily nutritional requirements.  An increase in consumption of chemical fertilisers was the mainstay of the green revolution. 

One frequently used fertiliser was the NPK fertiliser because of its ingredients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Many farmers in India, like my co-brother, in his agricultural estate in South India, swear by the  recommended level of NPK fertiliser and ensure their soil is rich with nutrients by trying to keep as close to the recommended benchmark as possible.

During and post the Green Revolution, it was chemical fertilisers that ensured food sufficiency and catered to the burgeoning population growth. Green Revolution crops became high yielding because they suck the maximum possible nutrients from the soil. This naturally depletes the soil and in the traditional low yielding pre Green Revolution era, farmers were required to keep the farm fallow regularly and recover some fertility. This lowered the grain production per acre requiring chemical Fertilisers to replenish soil nutrients. If the Green Revolution had not come to the rescue, foreign food aid and mass starvation would have been inevitable. 

Conventional farming everywhere is going through a very tough phase, gradually becoming unviable. Farmers are getting into a vicious cycle of debt due to high production costs, high interest rates for credit, volatile market prices of crops, rising costs of fossil fuel based inputs, and the cost of private seeds.  A new method, the  Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF –  ZB means not requiring any purchased inputs , while  NF refers to   organic farming using nature and without chemicals ) is spreading fast to various states in India with wide success rates in the state of Karnataka where it first evolved when Subhash Palekar, a strong advocate of organic farming implemented   ZBNF practices with the state farmers association, the  Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha.  Farming the ZBNF way, promises to end a reliance on loans, to cut production costs drastically and end the debt cycle for desperate farmers, resulting in reducing cultivation cost, enhancing yields, increasing incomes and reducing risks.

But there are voices of criticism against the ZBNF method as well.  India’s experts from The Natural Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the country’s top body of farm scientists, calls ZBNF an ‘unproven’ technology that will not bring tangible gain to either farmers or consumers. Even Sri Lanka’s master tea maker Herman Gunaratne, one of 46 experts picked by President Rajapaksa to guide the organic revolution, fears that by going completely organic, the tea industry will lose 50 per cent of the crop, without getting a 50 per cent higher price.

Nevertheless today’s urban elite, concerned with their health and bothered about the environment do look out for new gastronomic experiences. This group is willing to pay higher prices for natural products if an improved product taste and nutritional value is guaranteed. Through natural farming they expect to benefit from food diversity, healthy products free of industrial pesticides, insecticides, fertilisers, chemical medications, hormones and growth-boosters that harm both humans and the soil. On the flip side, unfortunately, production volumes decrease, farming labour increases, frequent pest and weed control is now required and shelf life is shortened as natural organic food spoils faster in the absence of preservatives.

This is pushing organic farming to becoming a niche segment today. The rich are willing to pay fancy prices for organic products but the masses will continue to require food at lower prices, in turn needing chemical inputs for high yields.  This will be the challenge for the future of organic agriculture, increasing yields, and reducing prices while meeting the challenges of an increasing world population.  Fortunately there are several advantages addressed by organic farming, including environmental awareness, concerns with individual health and the absence of pesticide residue. In fact certain crops like legumes, peanuts and soybeans are able to fix their own nitrogen in the soil and are being grown organically free of chemicals.

A way forward is to withdraw the existing opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMO) crops. Via genetic engineering in the laboratory, crops are grown to be more nutritious, colourful, tastier, insect, and drought resistant, with a longer shelf life, engineered to fix their own nitrogen in the soil, like legumes can do in a natural state. However, if opposition to genetically modified crops continues, technology will have to evolve to break out of a small niche, not depress yields and not raise prices. My co-brother and other farmers in Sri Lanka and India know this very well. It’s consumers like us who need to grasp the reality. 

Priyan R Naik is a columnist and a freelance journalist living in Bengaluru, India. He appears in the Deccan Herald, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Hindu Business Line, Times of India, Navhind Times, Daily Star of Dhaka and on various on-line websites. 

E-mail: priyannaik211@gmail.com  Twitter: @priyannaik

By Lakshman I. Keerthisinghe Courtesy Ceylon Today

Good Governance with good intentions is the hallmark of our Government. Implementation  with integrity is our core passion” –  Narendra Modi

Sri Lanka has backed down from its ambitious plans to become the world’s first completely organic farming Nation, reversing a ban on the import of chemical fertiliser. Earlier in May, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa imposed a total ban on agrochemicals, saying he wanted to make farming 100 per cent organic. Plantations Minister Ramesh Pathirana said the change was to help growers of Ceylon Tea, exports of which are $1.3B annually. Considering the fact that there has been a quality drop in tea that was produced in factories, the Government has taken the decision to import sulphate of ammonia,” Minister Pathirana told reporters in Colombo. 

He said the import of chemical fertiliser would continue until the island was able to produce enough organic fertiliser for local agricultural needs. The Government policy had sparked anger among tea plantation owners and other farmers who warned that a lack of organic fertiliser and lower yields would lead to shortages. This risked compounding problems for the Government already facing an unprecedented shortage of foreign exchange to import fuel, food and medicines. Last week, the Government breached its own ban by importing 30,000 tonnes of potassium chloride from Lithuania, but called it ‘organic fertiliser.’ We are not a stubborn Government,” Government Spokesman Dullas Alahapperuma told reporters.We are sensitive to the needs of the people.”

This is indeed a wise decision made by the democratic policies of our leaders and should be greatly appreciated in the best interests of our motherland presently facing an economic debacle, which has been remedied to some extent by the recent Budget proposals which would permit a breathing space for Sri Lankan economy to revive.

 Although organic farming is extremely beneficial compared to utilising harmful chemicals in agriculture steps have to be taken to methodically transform into organic farming without harming the present ailing economy of Sri Lanka. As agriculture experts state the soil is the biological filter that detoxifies the soil removing a large proportion of the poisons that have been added to the soil by people who throw such toxins in to the soil which protects the surface of our planet almost like a  ‘living skin’.. Movement of living organisms within the soil is slow; the faster organisms like the worms are the giants of this world, tunneling through at a fairly rapid rate measured in centimetres per minute. 

More common are the fungi, which move by growing through the soil at rates measured in centimetres per month, or the bacteria which have rates measured in centimetres per year. The estimates of the mass of living organisms in a fertile living soil are estimated at about 10,000 to 14,000 Kg per hectare. This is the key to agriculture that supported mankind for over millennia. A good soil with a mass of living microorganisms amounting to over 8,000 tons per hectare, represents an energetic input equivalent to about that supplied by twenty horses or twenty horsepower of energy, applied 24 hours a day. It is this energy spent on natural soil chemical transformations that supply the energy to maintain a healthy soil ecosystem. 

In traditional farming systems, the addition of compost, green manure, cultured microorganisms etc., was used to enhance the natural fertility of a field. When high energy industrial chemicals are applied onto the soil, many species of biota are lost and its biomass gradually decreases. The huge mass and diversity of soil microorganisms is gradually reduced until finally, the natural productivity of the soil is lost through attrition and it cannot produce without a further input of industrial chemicals. The living soil has been lost and the farm has become addicted to the additional energy of industrial chemical in order to produce a crop.

 The European Parliament, concerned about food safety and human health commissioned experts from several countries to review the possible health advantages of organic food and organic farming. Three long-term birth cohort studies in the U.S. suggest that pesticides are harming children’s brains. In these studies, researchers found that women’s exposure to pesticides during pregnancy, measured through urine samples, was associated with negative impacts on their children’s IQ and neurobehavioural development. Even in Sri Lanka some such adverse effects were suspected.

 In conclusion, the President’s decision to listen to the complaints of the affected farming community and the adverse effects on a major export item of Sri Lanka ‘Ceylon Tea’ has been the turning point in this decision in the welfare of the nation. After an in depth study and increasing the stocks of sufficient organic fertiliser manufactured in Sri Lanka turning to organic farming in stages would be the most suitable strategy in this endeavour.

The writer is an Attorney-at-law with LL.B, LL.M and M.Phil.(Colombo)

By Chandre Dharmawardana Courtesy The Island

It was mystifying to read Professor Kulasooriya’s article Don’t deride Sri Lankan scientists”, (Island, 29/11/2021) because it is not clear who has derided Sri Lankan scientists. By Sri Lankan” scientists, did he exclude expatriate Sri Lankan citizens, dual citizens and others as being fair game for derision?

For many decades Dr. Nalin de Silva has derided Sri Lankan scientists as well as science itself. The media perhaps allowed such misinformation with the oddity of a Science Dean” attacking science. I remember articles where Prof. Carlo Fonseka as well as Prof. Amaratunge were the unfair targets. Keerthi Tennakoon, Bodhi Dhanapala and I wrote to provide some balance.

Dr. Channa Jayasumana published a Sinhalese book titled Vakugadu Satana” where many scientists who pioneered research on chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology were tar-brushed intolerably. A band of fringe scientists” alleged that the scientists of the Department of Agriculture (DOA) destroyed the use of traditional seeds”. Those involved in pesticides and agrochemicals were labeled as agents of international companies knowingly promoting poisons and pocketing commissions”.

If Professor Kulasooriya read any of my newspaper articles going back to decades, he will find that I had consistently defended the scientists working on topics on food, agriculture and environment, when it was fashionable for environmental militants” to attack not just local scientists, but the likes of Norman Borlaug.

I stated many a time that the rice breeders of Sri Lanka should be named national heroes. But the heroes of these zealots are the likes of Vandana Shiva, Dr”. Mercola or Stephanie Senaff. So, I am glad that Professor Kulasooriya has also at last come forward to defend local scientists.

However, what is not clear to me is who has derided” what set of scientists? Prof. Kulasooriya mentions a debate where a Chris Dharmakirti had responded to one of my articles. Nothing like that ever happened. Instead, I responded to a group email by Dharmakirti where I felt that he was unfairly rebuking local scientists, asking why they do not embrace various technologies that use soil microbes for enhancing soil fertility?

I quote one of Dharmakirti’s several rebukes directed at the DOA scientists:

A scientific paper published in peer reviewed journal as far back as 1987 (Nitrogen Fixation in some Rice Soils in Sri Lanka, published in the MIRCEN Journal of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology), suggest the promotion of algae growth in the paddy field during the first 21 days of planting to obtain as much free nitrogen as possible. In fact, the paper states the following: ” In situ measurements of nitrogenase activities in some rice soils, representing three different agroclimatic zones of Sri Lanka, demonstrated that there is a great potential for nitrogen fixation in these paddy soils, provided that they are continuously flooded and that nitrogenous fertilis er levels are relatively low. Under such conditions cyanobacterial (blue-green algal) fixation predominates. In certain areas of the wet zone, with highly organic soils, cyanobacterial fixation could probably meet a great part of the N-fertiliser input recommended. Heterotrophic rhizosphere fixation may also be significant, especially in the dry zone.” Thus it begs the question once again why our Department of Agriculture does not make a concerted effort to utilise all available scientific knowledge and proven methods to reduce to application of artificial inputs by pursuing a natural input maximization strategy and then FILL THAT MISSING PERCENTAGE and not waste public money on EXCESSIVE application of UREA …

I responded that using microbial fertilisers is NOT YET a proven method. Even the paper quoted by Dharmakirti talks of great potential”. A 2016 review by Prof. Kulasooriya and Dr. Magana-arachchi (KMA) explicitly support my view.

So, I was DEFENDING the local DOA scientists (who cannot respond except through their ministry spokesman). Has Dharmakirti recently returned from the West and derided the local DOA scientists, and perhaps Dr. Kulasooriya is complaining about it? If so, Prof. Kulasooriya’s write up is completely misleading.

This gives an opportunity to ask WHY microbial enhancement of soil fertility does NOT have wider adoption.

In an Island news item (Saman Indrajith , 20-Feb-2017) Dr. Gamini Seneviratne, Prof. Kulasooriya and others are acclaimed for developing a microbial bio-filmed bio-fertilizer (BFBF) that allegedly gives the same yield as with 100% chemical fertilisers, by merely using 50% of chemical fertiliser mixed with BFBF made by a company linked with local scientists.

The 50% reduction in chemical fertiliser was explicitly claimed for tea, rice, maize, radish, cabbage, bitter gourd, aubergine, okra, chili, wax pepper, tomato and pole beans. However, these claims given in the Commonwealth Agricultural Bulletin Journal (CABJ, 2016) or in the newspapers are WITHOUT foundation, as the reported harvest data seem INCORRECT and unrealistic.

The tests done by DOA scientists (independently of the work of Professor Kulasooriya’s colleagues) show NO IMPROVEMENT in harvests on adding BFBF. So, the farmer pays extra for BFBF and has to use the same amount of chemical fertiliser, (and not 50% of it as claimed) to get the same yield, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 data are for maize. The BFBF results for all corps (for trials done around 2014) can be compared with independent data given in the 2014 DOA Report titled Cost of Cultivation of Agricultural Crops”. We give typical examples to show that the marketing claims for the BFBF fertiliser are UNSUBSTANTIATED. This remains true even today, in 2021.

The yields claimed by BFBF for rice (Ampare, Yala season) with 100% fertiliser is 3580 kg/ha while DOA gives 6059 kg/ha without BFBF, i.e., a DECREASE of the harvest to almost half! Cabbage is given as 980 kg/ha while DOA says it should be around 27,945 kg/ha. The same mismatch is found for all the crops.

However, recovering full harvests with 50% fertilisers on using BFBF is the astonishing 2016 claim, repeated in fertiliser handouts of the Yahapalanya Presidential Secretariat in 2019, and in current websites of BFBF marketeers and scientists, even in 2021. The prestige of the Institute of Fundamental Studies, as well as social links of senior academics prevent the public or concerned scientists from open critical appraisal of BFBF. Was a comment on BFBF submitted to the Sri Lanka National Science Foundation Journal by Dr. Waidyanatha suppressed?

We should also look into the claim by Professor Kulasooriya et al., that they have proven techniques of using microbial inoculants (rhizobia microbes) for enhancing soil fertility. Let us quote Professor Kulasooriya.

In adopting this technology for Sri Lanka, we have gone through several years of study. ….

These have been authenticated and screened under greenhouse conditions … field tested in small plots in collaboration … at HORDI and other research stations. … the most promising strains were used in large-scale field trials, … conducted with … farmers under our strict supervision and those of the field officers of the Plenty Foods company.

Where have the results of these greenhouse tests etc., been published? The rhizobia technology has been given to farmers since 2010. Hence the research and development must have appeared during the 2000-2010 period. Searching through (e.g., Google scholar for S. A. Kulasooriya) we find no results showing harvest comparisons for soils with and without inoculants, or establishing increased bio-available nitrogen in inoculated soils. Although the technology had been marketed by 2010, only pot experiments on green gram appear even in 2011 (Ariyaratne et al) , but not much beyond previous work (e.g., Nieuwenhove et al 2000, Wijesundara et al 2000, Bandara et al 2006). An abstract dated 2019 (Sumudumali et al) says that:

However, further studies are needed to confirm the effects of Rhizobial inoculants for groundnut with the strain isolated from the control to evaluate their performances with the other strains in different field conditions”.

That the rhizobia microbial technology has been sold to innumerable farmers since 2010 does NOT prove that the product meets what is claimed. While the BFBF people have published some data (which actually disprove their claims), the rhizobia inoculation people haven’t done even that?

The scientific or marketing claims of the BFBF or microbial-inoculant purveyors remain unproven from the data available in the public domain. The international experience confirms the fickle nature of these techniques, as seen in a recent Nature Report (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56954-2). Perhaps we should thank Chris Dharmakirti for his unwitting role of whistle blower.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Chinese embassy said , China’s Sino Soar Hybrid Technology Co., Ltd, had not withdrawn from the execution of northern power projects.

A spokesman for the embassy said the  project had been   suspended by Sri Lanka earlier this year , but it was still valid. 

The company will continue the contract after the cabinet approval . There is no  withdrawal,” he said.

Earlier , the embassy tweeted , Sino Soar Hybrid Technology, being suspended to build Hybrid Energy system in 3 northern islands due to ‘security concern’ from a third party, has inked a contract with Maldivian gov’t on 29 Nov to establish solar power plants at 12 islands in the Maldives.”

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Punjab government spokesperson Hassan Khawar on Friday said that at least 50 people allegedly involved in killing of a Sri Lankan national over blasphemy allegations in Sialkot have been detained thus far.

The Sri Lankan national was tortured to death in the Punjab Town earlier today. An angry mob of hundreds also set the body of foreign national on fire after lynching him over blasphemy allegations.

Addressing the media hours after the tragic incident, the spokesperson, flanked by PM’s aide on interfaith harmony Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi and Inspector General Police Punjab Rao Sardar Ali Khan, said Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar have issued directives to detain all accused involved in the heinous crime.

He said that officials were obtaining the CCTV footages of the incident to arrest the culprits and added that the Punjab police chief had directed the officials to submit the report within 48 hours.

Khawar said as per a preliminary police investigation report the incident occurred at 11.30 in the morning, when the enraged factory workers tortured the foreign national, who was a manager in the factory, to death and later burnt his body on Wazirabad Road in Sialkot.

Speaking on the occasion, PM’s aide Tahir Ashrafi condemned the incident saying the lynching of the man is against the teachings of Islam.

We are ashamed over this incident and offer condolences to Sri Lanka,” he added.

Ashrafi said no one is allowed to take law into their own hands as laws are present to deal with blasphemy related cases. If someone has committed blasphemy then he should be brought to justice in court,” he added.

Asrafi, who is also a chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC), said that all religious scholars will hold a separate press conference on this matter and will also visit the Sri Lankan embassy to offer condolences.

Undoubtedly, this is an act of barbarism which has nothing to do with Islam, Sunnat or humanity,” he remarked.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq termed the incident highly reprehensible saying that the brutal killing of the foreign national defamed the image of Islam and country.

This has nothing to do with Islam or religious teachings. The perpetrators should be arrested through an impartial investigation and punished,” he demanded in a tweet.

A police official, who arrived at the scene of the incident, had told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity that the deceased was the operational manager at the factory for the past seven years.

He said the Sri Lankan national was accused by the factory workers of “tearing down Durood Sharif” written on posters of a religio-political party on the factory walls. Rumours then started circulating across the factory area and a mob started gathering in the morning, he said, adding that police were informed about the incident much later at around 12:15pm.

When the police arrived at the scene, the victim had already been tortured to death and his body was being set to fire. “The police did try to stop the mob from setting the body on fire, but the rioters’ strength was overwhelming,” police told The Express Tribune.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said he is overseeing the investigations into the killing of a Sri Lankan national over blasphemy allegations in Sialkot and that those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law.

A mob in Sialkot brutally murdered the Sri Lankan man and set his body on fire over blasphemy allegations. Priyantha Kumara, the export manager of a private factory, was attacked by workers of the factory on Wazirabad road in Sialkot, Pakistan.

“The horrific vigilante attack on factory in Sialkot & the burning alive of Sri Lankan manager is a day of shame for Pakistan. I am overseeing the investigations & let there be no mistake all those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law. Arrests are in progress,” the Prime Minister tweeted.