MD Pathik Hasan

The official journey of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) started in 1985 when seven states namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives formed this regional platform. Later in 2007, Afghanistan joined SAARC. Sri Lanka and the Maldives are island states among the eight SAARC members. On the other hand, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan are landlocked countries.

Realising that the unprecedented progress that other regions of the world have made by increasing regional communication and cooperation, the same development of this region is possible if the communication and cooperation between the states in this region can be increased to the desired level.

Comparing SAARC with other blocs

The EU, ASEAN, GCC and other regional blocs have achieved prosperity by joining the regional alliances. Citizens of these regional alliances excluding some member states are not required to obtain visas if they wish to travel from one allied country to another. Citizens of these regions can travel from one country to another by road, rail, sea or air without any hindrance in their respective territories. Even citizens of these regions can travel from one country to another in private cars. These regional alliances give more importance to regional trade in the development of their respective regions. It accelerated the development of these regions to increase regional trade.

After the establishment of SAARC, it was hoped that citizens of one country would be able to travel to another without a visa. One country would provide transit facilities to another country as required, including moving from one country to another by private car. But that goal has not yet been achieved. And, the prospect of achieving that in the near future is not very bright.

The main objective of establishing SAARC was to make the region one of the most prosperous in the world by enhancing regional connectivity and cooperation. But, almost 30 years after the establishment, it is clear that there is still a long way to go to achieve that goal.

India is the largest of the SAARC countries in terms of size and population. The second place belongs to Pakistan. Before the establishment of SAARC, India and Pakistan were engaged in three all-out wars. The state of Bangladesh was born in 1971 in Pakistan through a hardcore struggle. Perhaps, this background has also blocked the region to move ahead as other blocs.

Capitalizing on available resources

The SAARC region is home to more than a quarter of the world’s population. This region is the most populous region in the world. In recent times, the countries of the region have made great strides in agriculture. While the industrial development of the region is promising, there is a need to harness the potential for further development along the way. The scope of regional trade between SAARC countries is still limited. If this scope is expanded, the SAARC member states will be able to achieve unprecedented development within their own borders.

Among the SAARC countries, Nepal and Bhutan are bounded on the east, west and south by India. Although the two states are bordered by China on the north side, their entire border is rugged. So, communication in that direction is very impenetrable. Nepal and Bhutan are completely dependent on India for foreign trade. Although these two countries have long demanded transit facilities from the regional structure of SAARC through the two seaports of Chittagong and Mongla in Bangladesh, the slow pace of implementation has tarnished the spirit of SAARC.

The seven states of eastern India are called the Seven Sisters. As these seven states are surrounded by other states, these states maintain communication with the mainland of India through a narrow route called the Chicken Neck Corridor. Communication through this route is time-consuming and expensive. India is interested in establishing transit by road, rail and waterways with these seven states through Bangladesh. Although the transit is open by water, it is not fruitful throughout the year due to the low navigability of the rivers in different places.

On the other hand, Bangladesh is on the way to develop the infrastructure required for transit by road and rail for the usage of transit. Bangladesh would like to be a transit hub between South Asia and South-East Asia. Bangladesh is focusing on regional connectivity more. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is liberal in this regard. She always urges regional countries to be connected. She wants to make the way for Nepal and Bhutan for the usage of Bangladeshi seaports such as Chattogram, Mangla, Payra ports and Saidpur airport in Nilphamari.

Immediate concerns

We know the Afghan Crisis. A platform of regional countries like SAARC is needed to address such problems. But now, SAARC is inactive due to the Indo-Pak dispute. Pakistan and India should work together to revive SAARC for the maximisation of regional interests. 

Meanwhile, 54 common rivers flowing through India have fallen into the Bay of Bengal through Bangladesh. By unilaterally withdrawing water from most of these rivers upstream, India is using it to maintain the navigability of inland rivers, including hydropower generation and irrigation in agriculture. Bangladesh has faced an unfavourable situation due to the unilateral withdrawal of water by India and the consciousness of SAARC never allows one neighbouring state to create an unfavourable environment for another neighbour. India should work together with Bangladesh in regard to better regional benefits. India should complete a fair Teesta agreement with Bangladesh soon to maximise the mutual benefit. As a big fish in this region, it has some accountability towards others.

Disregarding and ignoring the spirit of SAARC as other SAARC member states are smaller than it, India has always shown a great vicious attitude towards other SAARC member states. Due to this behaviour of India, SAARC is failing to reach its goal on the one hand and the political stability of other SAARC member states is also being endangered on the other hand.

Although India has road and rail links with Bangladesh and Pakistan, trade is being conducted through transhipment due to the lack of transit facilities. Communication is not very easy as the citizens of these three countries also need a visa to communicate. It is as easy as possible for an Indian citizen to travel to these two countries by obtaining a visa from Bangladesh and Pakistan; it is not easy for the citizens of these two countries to travel to that country by getting an Indian visa.

At present, the trade between Nepal and Bhutan with Bangladesh is being handled through transhipment in the absence of transit. As a result, the import and export expenditure of both the states is increasing.

India’s economy is growing rapidly. Bangladesh’s economy is also booming day by day. Besides, the economies of all other countries in South Asia are also developing. Under the scope of regional cooperation, the following provisions should be introduced to reap benefits from this platform:

• Transit facilities between SAARC countries are opened
• The visa system is abolished
• The currency of one country is easily exchanged in another country or common currency is introduced
• Travel facility from one country to another in a private car is introduced
• The flow of electricity, gas, oil and water from one country to another is made easily available
• The same SIM card can be used to talk from one country to another easily and cheaply
• The scope of trade is maximised

This requires the SAARC countries to show the highest level of friendship and harmony towards each other and to make the best use of opportunities and cooperation. All member states should revive the SAARC as a regional platform.

By Rohana R. Wasala 

(Continuation of ‘Don’t forget people who elected you, Mr President!’/November 2, 2021)

My gut feeling is that the Presidential Task Force, if it is what I think it is, i.e., a brilliantly thought out ploy with an ulterior motive, is meant to abort the new constitution making project. It was probably designed to divide Sinhala Buddhists and Hindu Tamils, also create suspicion between the former and Christians, while pacifying radicalized Muslims. This will help …………

The PTF has been established, according to the gazette notification, Focusing on the fact that administration of justice, its implementation and protection under the law should be fair by all as set out in the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Whereas, it is indicated under fundamental rights therein that no citizen should be discriminated against in the eye of law on meted out special treatment on ground of nationality, religion, caste or any other grounds; And whereas, the implementation of the concept; one country, one law within Sri Lanka is reflected as a methodology of ensuring nationally and internationally recognized humanitarian values, And whereas, the fact that all citizens are treated alike in the eye of the law should be further ensure, ….”. This provides an idea of the brief that the PTF received. 

In implicit response to the mostly negative reception of the news of its establishment among the people, Ven. Gnanasara has repeatedly tried to rationalize the One Country One Law concept; but that is unnecessary for there is no quarrel about the cogent reasons that led to the call for the One Country One Law idea; the need for a single legal system has been correctly identified by the majority of the general public, with the negligible exception of a few religious extremists whose established religious traditions come into conflict with the country’s secular laws. The question is about the rationale of the establishment of the PTF.

Through the extraordinary gazette notification the president authorizes the task force  to make such inquiries and issue such instructions as are required for the purpose of executing the tasks so entrusted”.  The President appoints, as secretary to the PTF, his Senior Assistant Secretary Ms Jeevanthie Senanayake.  He further requires and directs all public officers and other persons to whom the said Task Force may issue instructions or from whom assistance for provision of services may be requested, to comply with all such instructions, render all such assistance and furnish all such information as may be properly complied with, rendered and furnished on that behalf”.  The President demands that the PTF report to him all instances where any Government employee or an officer in any ministry, government department, state corporation or any such institution who delay the performance of duties and fulfillment of responsibilities or fail to perform such duties and responsibilities to be entrusted by the said Task Force”. Surely, the President did not draft this legal document. President Gotabaya has been known for his spartan discipline and blemishless moral character as a person, and his strict disciplinarianism as a civil administrator. The last instruction to the PTF (to report to him instances, if any, of insubordination or non-cooperation) smacks of coercion and authoritarianism, for which no need should arise in this context. Why did the drafter include that sort of phraseology? It does not reflect favourably on the President. Food for thought. He directs the members  to submit reports to me at least once a month and submit the final report on or before 28th February, 2022”.

Getting a Buddhist monk involved in governance matters (in the form of virtual nationalistic legal framing) is the last thing I would have expected from a president who the people hoped would bring about a systemic change in the mode of government. In Sri Lanka’s long history, the kings maintained a close relationship with the monks, only as religious advisers, not as partners in making laws or ruling. As a whistleblower, Ven. Gnanasara Thera exposed the existence of burgeoning religious extremism years ago, but his exposures did not get enough recognition by the authorities for some reason. Instead, he was unfairly condemned as an irresponsible rabble-rouser intent on troublemaking for some political advantage. Ven. Gnanasara is trying to provide the initiative that only politicians and the Mahanayakes could and should provide in resolving the single issue that has caused him to deviate from his religious vows and engage in the rough and tumble of mundane agitational activism . But he is not equipped to play that role in any way. His berserk behaviour finally landed him in jail for contempt of court. Had he been more disciplined in his protests, he wouldn’t have been thus treated, in spite of his intentions having been genuinely benign as well as patriotic. His personality defect has damaged not only his personal reputation and his cause, and his credibility as a defender of the Buddha Sasanaya, the people and the country.

The Thera  has been led astray by the cynical opportunism of politicians who exploit the sensitive perennial issue of the threat posed to the country’s age-old Buddha Sasanaya/the Buddhist religious-cultural establishment and to its historic archaeological heritage in the form of ruins scattered, particularly, in the north and east. The threat comes from the local representatives of forms of the religious fundamentalism that is sweeping across the whole world, especially by different sects of potentially violent Islamic/Íslamist extremists, sponsored by moneyed foreign agents. Treasure hunters cause probably more damage to this heritage. Behind the religious extremists seems to stand the Western imperialist juggernaut that uses religious fundamentalism and other forms of extremism to destabilise nation states that it wants to control to achieve varied geopolitical ends at the latter’s expense. 

What the monks are demanding is protection for the Buddhist establishment from this threat. Theirs is not a political struggle; they are not fighting for political ends. What they say is: Stop unfair proselytisation of poverty stricken Buddhists and Hindus who are equally subject to subversion by numerous foreign funded, politicized fundamentalist Christian and Islamic sects. The problem can be easily sorted out if the politicians have the political will to do so, and if the politicians in power at any time get the government servants working in the vulnerable areas to implement the available archaeological conservation  and protection laws without abandoning their responsibilities for illicit monetary gains. The indifference and inaction of the traditional Mahanayakes (their culpable innocence and ignorance are inexcusable) form the other strong factor that betrays Buddhist interests. 

My criticism of the establishment of a Presidential Task Force for the implementation of the One Country One Law headed by a Buddhist monk does not mean a rejection of that important objective. It must be achieved during the presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. For that, a proper strategy must be adopted. However, as the Bar Council of Sri Lanka, has pointed out, the PTF has no role to play in implementing the stated concept, because the functions assigned to it are already being performed by the available constitutionally established institutions including the Parliament and the Ministry of Justice (The Island/November 3); so, it is a redundant body. The only ‘benefit’ that has accrued from the controversial move is that it has given the opportunistic minority politicians who hide behind extremists, without supporting them openly, extra ammunition for their blasts of criticism against the nationalist government. 

Incidentally, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), created by Basil Rajapaksa and led by Mahinda Rajapaksa (the current Finance Minister, and Prime Minister, respectively) held its 5th National Convention at the Nelum Pokuna Theatre, Colombo on November 2, 2021. Minister Basil Rajapaksa emphasized the importance of MR’s leadership. President Gotabaya congratulated the party, in a message, on its great success within a short time of its inauguration, reflected in its winning of a near two thirds of parliamentary seats (in August 2020). PM Mahinda Rajapaksa said, among other things, that the teacher strike and the farmer agitations would not have dragged on so long if they had maintained more political engagement with them (Did he mean showering cajolery on them?). He also made special mention of the young people who voluntarily beautified towns and cities across the country with beautiful wall paintings (when the new government came into being in 2019 with the election of the current president, whose advent generated in them the new spirit of hope that inspired them to engage in that voluntary exercise without any expectation of a reward); those youths, the PM remembered, by doing that, indicated their wish that politicians should not spoil the street walls with their ugly political posters. Where are those young people now? He asked, and provided his own answer: If they have joined the queue of passport applicants (who want to acquire a passport with the intention of leaving the country looking for greener pastures abroad), we should engage in the kind of politics that will encourage them to return”. If the PM is genuine about what he is saying here, we may expect him to stop monkeying around with monks and to change his attitude towards patriotic young politicians of all parties and communities vis a vis his own son. 

The PM must have meant what he said. If he really does, he will not relapse into the the 73 year long monkey business of taking the monks for rides or flights. It is disgraceful how political monks are conducting themselves at this critical time, especially that sneaky Ratana Thera, who stole the national list MP post from Gnanasara Thera, who actually earned it for their party, is causing embarrassment to Gotabaya and the government through his hasty implementation (for expected personal political reputation) of the organic fertilizer initiative. Ven. Gnanasara said, to his credit, talking about the PTF, that in the future the youth of the country must come forward to save the nation. The country is not short of of young men and women who are capable of providing a sound modern leadership to the country if only their way is not obstructed by ambitious oldies whose ‘Vaulting ambition, which overleaps itself, And falls on th’other… ‘ (i.e., excess of ambition lands them somewhere else than where they want to reach, lands them in trouble, as happened to Macbeth in the Shakespeare play).

It should be hoped that this occasion (the 5th anniversary of the SLPP) be utilised as an opportune moment to reflect on past errors, and resolve not to repeat them, and introduce a course correction, starting with rethinking a new approach to the implementation of the One Country One Law idea, that ensures the participation of all Sri Lankans, especially the young from all the communities, something that can be done through the existing agencies. 

Conclusion

My gut feeling is that the Presidential Task Force, if it is what I think it is, i.e., a brilliantly thought out ploy with an ulterior motive, is meant to abort the new constitution making project. (I have no idea of whose brainchild this could be.) It was probably designed to divide Sinhala Buddhists and Hindu Tamils, also create suspicion between the former and Christians, while pacifying radicalized Muslims for some unspecified reason. This might help revive the defeated separatist project, and breathe new life into secretly growing Islamism, and together help foreign designs on Sri Lanka, provoked purely by big power geopolitics due to its strategically important location in the Indo-Pacific region. Pitting guilless Islamist critic Gnanasara Thera against an Ulama Council maulavi by putting them in the same panel of advisors is like putting a dove and a cat in the same cage; for when it comes to religion, a believing Muslim will not compromise their religious principles to accommodate human reason. The government’s failure to achieve its key objective of introducing a new constitution  will delight the still operative forces which were behind the 2015 regime change (they may even have acquired new allies by now). It is good to remember that Mahinda Rajapaksa was betrayed by his lieutenant three times in a row between 2015 and 2019, which does not reflect well on his sense of judgement; it could be a different traitor this time.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is probably the most ethically and morally honest person ever to hold that post. The frustrated regime changers are now propagating the faint fictitious notion that he benefited from the April 2019 Easter Sunday Islamist bombings and that the intelligence services that had reached the highest professional efficiency levels under him as Defence Secretary during MR’s time had some connection with them. The charge that the government is deliberately slow in meting out justice to those responsible for the Easter bombings is, I think, 100% false. All peace- and justice-loving Sri Lankans including me want to see the Easter attacks perpetrators receive condign punishment at the earliest possible; the highest involved (be it president Maithripala Sirisena, prime minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, during whose watch the suicide bomb attacks happened or any other individuals accountable) shouldn’t be spared. I, for one, believe that President Gotabaya, PM Mahinda, and others in the government will be satisfied with no less.

However, even the Cardinal seems to have accepted that false allegation, in spite of repeated assurances given him by the President to the contrary. Two reasons for the Cardinal’s misgivings that occur to me are: potentially guilty former president Sirisena seems to be looking for refuge under his erstwhile boss that he betrayed three times, now PM; the other reason could be Gnanasara Thera’s arrogant, totally frivolous and uncalled for remarks about the Cardinal’s activism regarding the Muturajawela environmental issue. Gnanasara Thera was reported as having said about the Cardinal in this connection: I warn the Cardinal that he should not overstep his boundaries!” That alone should have disqualified the monk for the post that he has been appointed. I personally believe that the President, as a practising Buddhist, can receive much more constructive advice from the Cardinal than from Gnanasara Thera. 

The paragraph quoted below is about one of the academics that I find mentioned as a panel member of the PTF. It happens to be the concluding paragraph of an article of mine that was carried in the Lankaweb online journal on May 1, 2020 (Interested readers may look it up there: https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2020/05/01/academic-adolescents-against-the-nationalist-cause/): 

It is strange that this academic was not informed enough about the existing local realities (not exclusively those uncovered with evidence by the BBS – Bodu Bala Sena) relating to the problem of the menace posed to Sri Lankans of all races and religions and worldviews, especially to Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindus who together form over 80% of the population,  from Abrahamic religious fundamentalists (not from the mainstream adherents of those religions), when he wrote to that international journal. These monks do ‘deliberate on their views and stances before involving the public…’; there is nothing wrong with their actions, but whatever can they do if they are misreported to the world by indifferent media, and immature ill-informed academics? (A personal opinion)”

Finally, when the disciplined voters of the country (unfortunately, they don’t have enough disciplined politicians to serve them) voted for a new president and a new parliament about two years ago, they never expected a yahapalanaya type of government to come to power again, whatever happens later. Apparently, the country hasn’t  still emerged from its evil legacy. Gotabaya Rajapaksa started off with the purest intentions. Buddhists believe in the truth of the saying: dhammo have rakkhati dhammacari” the dhamma protects the faithful follower of the dhamma”. He need not fear. But whatever he is intent on doing, he should first win the agreement and support of the common people before trying it. 

Anyone with an average familiarity with the recent political history of the world know that patriotic leaders of independent countries who don’t serve the interests of more powerful nations at the expense of the welfare and wellbeing of their own people are not safe. Their safety depends on the people’s goodwill, provided democracy is allowed to rule. But as we know today, countries find themselves ruled from outside. That is an unpleasant reality, we can hardly overcome. In Sri Lanka, the two traditional parties or alliances have two different attitudes to this predicament. One favours it, the other opposes it. These are respectively the UNP/SJB and the SLFP/SLPP. The second, the nationalistic party/alliance, has a problem managing foreign interference, with which the UNP/SJB seem comfortable with. Nationalists support forces that protect the country’s democracy, independence, and sovereignty. Gotabaya is a nationalist leader. Nationalists need not be demoralised when they are falsely attacked as ethno-nationalist extremists by NGO mercenaries.

If Gotabaya Rajapaksa is able to bring in a new constitution as a non-party product that is fashioned according to the common consensus of all parliamentarians (including essentially all young ones, that is, those under 40, for example) who do not have to vote for it under duress, let that be the greatest achievement he will be remembered for. Such a constitution should be one that does not divide the nation on language, religion, or race bases. It will eliminate the influence of extremists, and definitely incorporate the One Country One Law principle. Giving anything a special place or special protection, as experience shows, invariably turns out to be counter-productive. So, this has to be avoided. This is a controversial suggestion, but it will be achievable, if the gerontocrats make way for the brilliant youth of the country to take centre stage in the political arena.

Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka Bangkok, Thailand

The King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua of the Kingdom of Thailand has graciously granted a Royal Audience to C.A. Chaminda I. Colonne, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Thailand, and Permanent Representative to UNESCAP, on 04^th November 2021, for the Presentation of Letter of Credence at Ambara Villa, Dusit Palace in Bangkok.

The King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua extended sincere best wishes to the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and recalled strong long-standing relations with Sri Lanka. While congratulating Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Ambassador Chaminda Colonne, the King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua assured fullest support of the Kingdom in discharging her official duties and fulfillment of the mission. 

Ambassador Chaminda Colonne conveyed warm greetings from the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka to the King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua, and assured her fullest cooperation  and support in enhancing and consolidating excellent longstanding bonds of friendship and cooperation with the Kingdom. Ambassador Colonne also extended an invitation for His Majesty to visit Sri Lanka.

Ambassadors of Vietnam, Slovakia, Kenya, Turkey and Nigeria also presented their Letters of Credence on the same day.

Ambassador Colonne is also concurrently accredited to the Kingdom of Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka

Bangkok, Thailand

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

The government has allowed emergency regulations imposed several weeks ago to ensure an uniterrupted supply of essential commodities such as rice, sugar and other consumer goods, to lapse. As a result the post of Commissioner General of Essential Services held by Maj. Gen. M. D. S. P Niwunhella has been abolished.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promulgated emergency laws after having named serving officer Niwunhella, the head of his security as the Commissioner General of Essential Services. The President’s Office made the announcement as regards Maj. Gen. Niwunhella’s appointment on August 30, 2021.

As per the powers vested in terms of the section 2 of the Public Security Ordinance, President Rajapaksa declared emergency regulations formulated as per the section 5 on essential food supply, with effect from midnight August 30, 2021.

The declaration of emergency regulations triggered protests from the Opposition with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) warning the move could lead to a state of repression. The civil society, too, protested against the move.

Authoritative sources told The Island that with the change of government strategy in respect of price controls, the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) had refrained from seeking parliamentary approval required to extend emergency regulations. The Parliament on Sept. 06 passed emergency regulations that authorized Maj. Gen. Niwunhella to seize food stocks, confiscate warehouses and vehicles used to transport such items.

Emergency regulations were passed by 81 majority votes with 132 lawmakers voting for and 51 against in the 225-member legislature where the SLPP enjoys a near two-thirds majority.

Sources explained that the original strategy had been for the newly appointed Commissioner General of Essential Services and Chairman of the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) retired Maj. Gen. Shantha Dissanayake, to work in close coordination to seize hoarded food stocks.

Against the backdrop of ceasing of emergency regulations meant to prevent hoarding and the termination of the Office of Commissioner General of Essential Services, the government yesterday (4) removed the retail price cap on several essential commodities through a gazette notification. The retail prices of dhal, sugar, sprats, green gram, potatoes, big onions, canned fish, chickpeas, wheat flour, full cream milk powder, dried fish, coconut, chicken and maize have been removed with immediate effect.

The new gazette notification has also removed the maximum price limit of Rs. 1,500 for a 400g packet of sausages and Rs. 1,500 for a kg of mackerel. In addition to that the Special Commodity Levy of Rs.65 per kg of imported rice has been reduced to 25 cents for the next six months.

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa has made these tax deductions with effect from November 2 in accordance with the powers vested in him under the Special Commodity Levy Act.

The duty on imported sugar, too, remains 25 cents a kilo since Oct 13, 2020 when the Finance Ministry slashed Rs 50 duty on a kilo of sugar.

The government brought in emergency regulations close on the heels of a spate of raids on warehouses from where authorities took 29,000 metric tonnes of sugar into custody. Having repeatedly vowed to maintain prices, the government recently allowed sharp increase of milk powder and liquefied petroleum gas. Interestingly, local producers also matched the increase in the price of imported milk powder.

Trade Ministry sources yesterday told The Island that price controls had been done away with as part of a new scheme to allow the market to decide prices. However, the government would make necessary interventions to prevent the importers from exploiting the consumers, sources said, adding that the second consignment of Nadu from India would arrive at the Colombo harbour today (5).

Since the cabinet recently authorized the importation of 100,000 metric tonnes of rice to meet the shortfall, the Trade Ministry imported 15,000 metric tonnes of Nadu from India. With the arrival of the latest stock, the total amount of Nadu imported from India would be 22,000 metric tonnes. According to the Trade Ministry, they are planning to procure about 40,000 metric tonnes of rice from India, Pakistan and Myanmar.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Says nano-fertilser imported from India recently and SLINTEC’s products are distinct in a variety of ways

The Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC), a one-of-a-kind public-private partnership aimed at developing advanced technologies, has introduced homegrown nano-fertilisers to the market with the aim of uplifting the local agriculture industry. 

In order to boost the industry and support farmers who are the backbone of Sri Lanka’s economy, SLINTEC has been working on novel innovations that could dramatically improve their way of life and increase their contribution to the economy significantly. 

One such novel technology is SLINTEC’s very own nano-fertiliser, invented by Prof. Nilwala Kottegoda and her expert team.

SLINTEC’s nano-fertiliser received four US patents and was rated as a global first by the World Intellectual Property Organisation, while Prof. Kottegoda, who headed this project, was selected as one of the nine most inventive women scientists due to this invention. 

The product boasts a 40 percent nitrogen loading capacity, noting 25-40 percent nitrogen saving and 5-15 percent in yield improvement, particularly for tea and rice.

Nano-fertilisers are extremely minute particles carrying nutrients that are delivered to crops in a controlled manner. The benefits of such slow-release of nano-fertilisers have been documented, with it notably having the potential to improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) and prevent waste and thus environmental problems. 

Slow-release fertilisers improve release efficiency and quality as the nutrients are released over time, thereby providing sufficient quantities of macronutrients required for higher crop yields.

Moreover, they could reduce the usage of urea, which in turn, would help lower its carbon footprint, meaning a notable reduction in the use of fossil fuels for production and emission of greenhouse gases.

Recently, there was a confusion regarding the importation of nano-fertilisers from India. 

Speaking on SLINTEC’s own unique product, Chief Executive Officer of SLINTEC Dr. Nareshkumar B. Handagama clarified that the two nano-fertilisers are fundamentally different; especially the method of application and plant uptake mechanism.

While both the Indian import and SLINTEC’s invention are nano-fertilisers, they are distinct in a variety of ways. SLINTEC’s product comes in a solid form and is dispensed into the soil as a controlled-release pellet, transporting nutrients (Nitrogen) via the natural root system. It contains urea nanoparticles anchored to nano-hydro-apatite scaffolding as a transport vehicle to travel via the root system,” he said, adding, The Indian import is a liquid that is sprayed onto the leaves, and the uptake is supposed to be via the stoma. 

It is believed that it comprises nano-urea that is anchored to sugar scaffolding.”

Talking about the significance of SLINTEC’s nano-fertilizer, Dr. Nareshkumar further explained, We should make use of our product to achieve scientific development in agriculture in Sri Lanka. As a country, Sri Lanka has much to gain by supporting and uplifting the local agriculture industry, which currently contributes around 8.4 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Production (GDP), but stands to grow much more with the right mix of skills and technology.   

Courtesy Adaderana

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) set another record today as the All Share Price Index (ASPI) surpassed 10,600 points for the first time in history.

The ASPI closed at 10,632.21 points at the end of trading today (November 05), marking an increase of 2.11% (220.19 points) from the previous day. 

The previous highest was recorded just last week when the index closed at 10,046.80 points on October 25. 

Over 212 million shares were traded overall within the day and the market turnover is recorded as Rs. 5.60 billion. 

Meanwhile, the S&P SL20 closed at 3,640.27 points today, down by 0.45% from the previous day.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Colombo Commercial High Court has extended the enjoining order issued against the Chinese company that shipped fertilizer containing harmful bacteria to Sri Lanka, its local agent and the People’s Bank.

This interim order, which prevents the payment to the Chinese firm on Letter of Credit, was accordingly extended until November 19.

A petition filed by the Ceylon Fertilizer Company (CFC) was called before Commercial High Court Judge Priyantha Fernando today.

During the court proceedings, the attorneys representing the respondents of the petition have requested the judge to grant an additional period of time for them to file objections.

Additional Solicitor General Susantha Balapatabendi, who appeared on behalf of the CFC, told the court that China-based Qingdao Seawin Biotech Group Co., Ltd. had shipped a fertilizer consignment, which is a partial shipment worth more than a billion rupees that was procured through a tender process initiated by the Agriculture Ministry.

Although the said Chinese firm was required to ship sterile organic fertilizer under the tender contract, it had admitted in its shipping advice that the consignment may contain microorganisms, he further told the court.

The National Plant Quarantine Services (NPQS), which tested the sample sent to them, had confirmed the presence of organisms, including certain types of harmful bacteria, the Additional Solicitor General said, adding that, in this context, the Chinese firm in question has failed to complete the accepted terms of the tender.

The CFC first secured an enjoining order on October 22 against the Chinese firm in question, preventing the People’s Bank from making any payment under a Letter of Credit opened in favour of Qingdao Seawin Biotech.

Courtesy Adaderana

Swiss International Airlines, a member of the Lufthansa Group, recommenced operations to Colombo on Friday (November 05).

The inaugural flight from Zurich to Colombo, LX 8064 operated by an Airbus 340 touched ground at 7:30 a.m. and was welcomed by a celebratory water cannon salute upon arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) followed by a traditional Kandyan dance performance and an inaugural ceremony to welcome the guests.

Reportedly, 96 passengers have arrived on this flight. The VIPs present to greet the flight included Ambassador for Switzerland to Sri Lanka & the Maldives Dominic Furgler , State Minister of Aviation and Export Zones Development D. V. Chanaka, Senior officials of Airport & Aviation Services, Civil Aviation Authority and senior officials of Sri Lanka Tourism.

The weekly service to Colombo every Friday with a capacity of 314 seats will feature 27 seats in Business Class and 287 in Economy. The economy cabin includes 70 seats with an extra recline and legroom.

With the commencement of Swiss International Airlines, it will support to boost the tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka after the pandemic and strengthen the economic cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, finance, education and culture between Switzerland and Sri Lanka. We have been continuing our efforts to make sure that our airports are operated in compliance with the international standards of health and safety. Further, we are with the plans to upgrade the aviation industry of Sri Lanka introducing new technology and digitalizing our airports to give a seamless passenger experience,” State Minister D. V. Chanaka said.

The airline was scheduled to operate a twice-weekly service year-round pre-COVID pandemic. Gauging from the interest demonstrated now by potential visitors to the island, we are optimistic we could revisit this plan in the not-too-distant future” stated Parveen Dassenaike, Chairperson and Managing Director of United Ventures – the General Sales Agent (GSA) for Lufthansa Group in Sri Lanka.

The distance from Zurich to Colombo is 8023 kilometers / 4332 nautical miles with an estimated flight time of nine hours and fifty-six minutes. Zurich serves as a convenient hub to the rest of Europe and the Americas and Swiss is offering attractive/competitive fares on its services.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 15 coronavirus related deaths for November 04, increasing the country’s death toll due to the virus to 13,821.

The deaths confirmed by the Govt. Information Department today include 06 males and 09 females while two of the victims are between the ages of 30 to 59. 

The remaining 13 are in the age category of 60 years and above.

Courtesy Adaderana

The daily count of COVID-19 cases confirmed in Sri Lanka moved to 628 today (November 05) as 146 more people were tested positive for the virus, the Epidemiology Unit said.

According to the Government Information Department, one returnee from overseas is also among the new infections.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 544,013.

As many as 514,573 recoveries and 13,821 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the pandemic.

More than 15,600 active cases in total are currently under medical care, official figures showed.

Shenali D Waduge

Undoubtedly, media, plays a crucial role in manipulating people’s minds. Media headed by the wrong people can have detrimental results on a populace. We know the lengths LTTE terrorists took fake propaganda. It’s an uphill task to reverse the lies people had been fed. Those who sit in media, dictate what people think & often are the instruments that are responsible for creating the reactions while also playing a biased role of judge & jury after stirring the pot of trouble via media. There is enough evidence to showcase how even terrorists use media to brainwash people’s minds with content. Action can only be taken legally & legislatively against such – the question is will Parliament & will the courts do so? Freedom of speech ends when it violates the freedoms of others. No columnist or cartoonist can profess to be the crusader or messiah and deem their right to criticize and ridicule.

In Sri Lanka, it is fashionable to project the notion that Sinhala Buddhists are the cause for all ills. This is impregnated into the minds of the people since 1505 when western colonial invaders deemed their enemy was Sinhala Buddhists. Anyone who wished to take over the island viewed those that defended it as their enemy. The project to vilify Buddhists/Buddhism was no secret and British Colonial records mince no words.

The 1964 Press Commission Report reconfirms that the project of the colonial British was still in place and continuing unabated. Therefore, we cannot forget the historical role now outsourced to kalu suddas and link the current vilifications using media with that colonial project.

There is another factor that we cannot forget either. While this is not a critique of any religion but the bitter truth is that both Christianity & Islam are expansionist faiths using the sword to convert people & take over their lands. There are ample examples of their bloodied past. Buddhism however spread as far as present day Iran & as far as Indonesia without a single sword or forced conversion. While the New Testament removed much of the violent texts in the Old Testament, the Quran still has verses to eliminate disbelievers/kafirs & permits the doctrine of taqiyyah (approval to use pretense) until the ultimate goal is achieved.

Identity Manipulation using Multiculturalism

While multiculturalism became a curse to citizens of western countries where they shockingly watched their ‘cultures’ become ‘multiculturalzed’ the former colonies were being lined up to have their civilizational cultures be eliminated incrementally as well. The quest was to denigrate the key stumbling block that prevented countries & their citizens being historically uprooted & being brainwashed to dislocate themselves of their cultural/heritage & turned into modern hippies/gypsies..

This goal was tasked to NGOs & Media outlets. Faiths which were in majority, would use political/social/religious/economic pressures to throw their weight behind their people” who were a minority amongst the majority.

A content analysis of the Sri Lankan print media & the selected regular columnists and their pet topics will showcase the systematic vilification at play. Media must be representative of the country’s demography – but in Sri Lanka it is not so & this must be changed to usher fair play.

There is no doubt that all faiths have mischief makers in robes who are not what we expect them to be. But it is not for us or cartoonists to decide or dictate how they should function. 

The present 3 cartoons are hurtful because these same cartoonists pick only on Buddhists/Buddhism. Perhaps they fear what happened to the Dutch cartoonist so their easy prey is Buddhists.

But, let them never forget that it was only during the Buddhist reign that all religions thrived without any discrimination. Buddhists have had to flee for their lives where they are the minority – Maldives even expunged the Buddhist history of Maldives. So no one can say Buddhism or Buddhists have discriminated minorities. Buddhists have had their theros killed, we have had the oldest library in the world brought to cinders, we have lost terrain and territory, the magnificent structures built by people to show their veneration to Buddha was demolished and vandalized. So don’t preach to us about Buddhists being ‘militant’ because those that do so are only trying to hide their criminal past. What was done to Buddhists comes nowhere near the media-propped lies being spread against Buddhists/Buddhism who are only reacting to the actions against them. Media conveniently diverts world attention to the reaction & away from the actions that resulted in the reactions. Media hardly criticizes the actions as they do the reactions!

If anyone has any issue with any thero, by all means express these views directly at the thero with supporting evidence & facts, but to dress a dogs bone in a robe is simply to use the chance to denigrate Buddhists/Buddhism & this is in bad taste knowing that Buddhists worship not the wearer of the robe but the robe because it represents the Buddha in our eyes.  

This was nothing but intentional hate speech.

The media entities and editors preach about discrimination and hate speech and are ever ready to dispatch dossiers overseas but when they commit the crime their mouthpieces attempt to justify by saying ‘Buddhists should not react because they have to give up everything & go to nirvana’.People seem to have been given a wrong interpretation of Buddhism – nowhere does it say Buddhists cannot defend what is theirs, nowhere does it say Buddhists have to walk away when their lands or sacred sites are being wrongfully taken over. Unfortunately, Buddhists are being fed these notions by the expansionists because the ultimate goal of the expansionists remain alive and they do not wish Buddhists to defend what is theirs.

In a world that preaches need for action against hate speech – it may be good to start first with the religious texts that are the root cause of the radicalism and terrorism that prevails and which are being subtly promoted by media personnel.

These cartoons are hate speech because they are directed only at Buddhists. Will these cartoonists draw similar ones for Islam/Christians? Doubt so.

So as hate speech, this is a violation of not only the 120/296 of penal code but spreading hatred falls under the PTA as well as ICCPR 56 of 2007. The Government & the Judiciary can certainly take action and should while the Buddhist associations and the Maha Sangha must make their objections. The Press Complaints Commission must not simply wait for complaints but should also be analyzing the content and vilifications themselves. We await action by the Buddha Sasana Ministry unless pressures are used not to – which is probably the outcome! So it is an advance prediction of the outcome!

The Government is given a mandate by the people to ensure unity & peace, the governments mandate is not given to newspapers, media, columnists or cartoonists to vilify the majority with impunity

Freedoms and rights do not have a carte blanch & are not meant to target only a segment community ad nauseam.Freedoms and rights STOPS where it infringes the freedoms and rights of others. With all the slogans and tamashas woven around freedoms and rights – what no one can deny is that pre-1505 era all of Sri Lanka’s communities lived in peace, without any differences & people were not divided as majority or minority. All these nuances were introduced by colonials with hidden agendas & part of their divide & rule now outsourced to the kalu suddas.

Shenali D Waduge

Written by Zulfick Farzan Courtesy News 1st

COLOMBO (News 1st); The two suspects, including a US Citizen, who were arrested from Theldeniya, Digana for the possession of multiple weapons were remanded to the 15th of November when they were produced in Court on Monday (1).

Sri Lanka Police arrested two men for the possession of multiple weapons and other material from a luxury scheme known as Victoria Range in Theldeniya on Saturday (30).

The arrests were made after police received information that the house was being used to assemble high-performance motorcycles.

The Police Media Division said one of the arrested men is a US citizen and is a Former US Navy Officer, who had retired from service and returned to Sri Lanka.

Police recovered 100 bullets compatible with a pistol, One Rambo Knife, One Telescope, One Air Rifle, Four Walkie-Talkies, Two motorcycles with no registration, Four registered motorcycles, Two mobile phones, One passport, and Rs. 700,600/- in cash, from the possession of the suspects.

44-year-old Chaminda Aloysius Bandara Dissanayake, one of the suspects, is a US Citizen and had served in the Strike Fighter Squadron 143 (VFA-143), in the United States Navy from 2004 to January 2021.

The Former US Navy Officer has a permanent residence listed in Attidiya, Dehiwala, and had rented out a house in Digana.

The other suspect was identified as Terrence Mario Perera, who was deported from Canada for criminal charges.

He has a permanent address listed in Nawala, in the suburbs of Colombo.

Detectives have identified the bullets seized from the possession of the suspect as .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) and this is a weapon used by US Military forces.

Senaka Weeraratna

The situation of the Press is far worse today

It is totally anti-national and anti – Buddhist.

A content analysis of the Political Columns of any English language mainstream newspaper will reveal this stark truth. 

The Govt. has the mandate to establish a Commission of Inquiry like what Mrs. Bandaranaike did in 1963, to investigate and report on matters concerning the reform of the National Press, given the increasing public dissatisfaction expressed by the Buddhist public, Buddhist organizations, and the Maha Sangha, about the state and activities of the Media. 

There is no space for Buddhist opinion in the newspapers today.  It is sad but it must be said that leading Buddhist organizations are exceptionally weak when it comes to the defense of Buddhist interests. There is no real Buddhist leadership provided by lay Buddhists. They are only Office Bearers. 

Almost all prominent newspaper columnists are non – Buddhists. Some have Sinhala Buddhist names and use these names to deceive the readers that their views reflect a Buddhist opinion. But in fact, they have a Christian link through one of their parents and are steadfastly loyal to the Church. 

The biggest achievement of Colonialism and its auxiliary Christianity has been its ability to manipulate the identity of people especially brown coloured people in former European colonies. The process continues in India, Sri Lanka, and other South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. 

An example is the  Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in Amritsar on April 13, 1919. It is Indian soldiers who killed over 379 unarmed fellow Indians, following orders given by a White Officer. 

There is no reported case of this type of incident happening in Chinese or Japanese History. 

Once you change your religion into that of an Abrahamic faith your loyalty also changes.

After that, the Brown man becomes the enemy of the Brown man (and woman) who continues to remain loyal to the ‘ Rata, Jathiya, Agama’ of their ancestors and cultural heritage. 

The missionary schools divided the nation in strict adherence to the colonial policy of Divide and Rule. 

Today the Editorial Staff of mainstream English language newspapers are full of brown people whose loyalties are to the Vatican primarily.

They are products of missionary schools or public schools.

Rarely would you find an old Anandian or an old boy of an Olcott school on the Editorial staff of leading English language newspapers?

Public opinion in Sri Lanka is created by scribes who are knee-jerk anti – Sinhala and anti-Buddhist.   

Hate speech is directed towards Buddhism and Buddhist monks daily ad nauseam, without state intervention to stop it.

The Govt. which came on a huge mandate given mostly by Sinhala Buddhists must exercise its lawful power to stop the vilification of Buddhism, demonization of Buddhist monks, and humiliation of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist Heritage, History, and Culture that happens almost on a daily basis. 

It is easy to establish the hate speech crimes of the scribes of the newspapers through a content analysis of their biased writings.

The Portuguese came to conquer and dislodge Buddhism. It was not an accident. The Portuguese and the Dutch forbade the practice of Buddhism. All the Buddhist Temples in their areas of control were destroyed and monks killed. Those who survived fled to Sitavaka and later to Kandy.  

Lascoreens ( those who embraced the faith of the invaders) turned against their original faith i.e. Buddhism, and joined the Portuguese to burn down Temples and then construct Catholic Churches on top of the sites of Buddhist Temples. Father Queyroz who wrote the monumental treatise ‘ The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon’ provides the full list of such Churches. An apology and compensation have yet to be paid for this dastardly crime. 

The Catholic Church likes to play the victim card but the actual victims of 450 years of colonial rule were the Sinhala Buddhists of this country.

Senaka Weeraratna

By Dr. Tilak S.Fernando

The masterpiece of the Great Russian poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin’s novel ‘Eugene and Onegin’ is translated into Sinhala for the first time by Dr Athula Withanage, who has written many books in Sinhala and English. Dr Withanage was a senior surgeon who worked for over twenty years in the NHS UK. After a heavy day’s work at the hospital theatre, he took up writing for relaxation. He has published many books in Sinhala and English. His first medical novel, Living Capsule, dealt with a clinical problem that any surgeon had to battle. Recently during the COVID-19 epidemic using his experience, he wrote his latest novel called The Pond, Butterflies and Rainbow

 Pushkin’s novel in verse has been translated into English as many as 45 times since 1800, but this is the first time that it has been translated into Sinhala directly from Russian by Dr Withhange, taking into account the Soviet era in the 1800s. It has taken him six years to do, and Dr Withanage becomes the 46th translator in English, and simultaneously in Sinhala for the Sri Lankan audience. Translators found it challenging to understand the poetic meaning of Pushkin’s words to portray his character and events. It is perhaps why since 1880, translations into other languages were imperfect, especially into English. 

Alexander Pushkin 

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born on 26 May 1799 in Moscow during the Russian Empire. He hailed from the Russian nobility; his father Sergey Lvovich Pushkin descended from a distinguished family of the Russian elite that traced its ancestry back to the 12th century. His mother, Nadezhda (Nadya), Ossipovna Gannibal descended from German and Scandinavian nobility through her paternal grandmother. 

His maternal great-grandfather was Central-African born general Abram Petrovich Gannibal. Pushkin grew up surrounded by maids and French tutors and mainly spoke French until the age of ten. He became acquainted with the Russian language through communication with household servants and especially with his nanny, Arina Rodionova, whom he loved dearly and became more attached to the nanny than his mother. After finishing school, Alexander Pushkin published his first poem at the age of 15 years, as part of the first graduating class of the prestigious Imperial Lyceum in Tsarskoye Selo, near Saint Petersburg. 

The Russian literary sector widely recognised his latent talents after attending the Lyceum. Pushkin plunged into the energetic and harsh intellectual youth culture of St. Petersburg, which was then the capital of the Russian Empire. Pushkin has married his lover, a gorgeous lady, Anna Petrovna, for whom he wrote the most famous love poems in the Russian language. Pushkin was a controversial writer. In 1820 when he published ‘Ruslan and Ludmila’ that challenged the boundaries of prose and poetry and lyrical poetry he faced criticism. In January 1837, Pushkin became famous as a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist. 

He was well known among the most significant Russian poets and considered the Master of Modern Russian literature. Evgeni Onegin, is a novel in verse consisting of three hundred and eighty-nine stanzas and 8 chapters. The entire work is written in 14 line short lyrical poems except for Tatyana’s love letter (3.32) and Onegin’s love letter (8.32). This rhythmic arrangement is a Sonnet. Alexander Pushkin Sonnets originated from the classic Greek tradition closely associated with great poets such as William Shakespeare and John Keats. 

It is commendable how Dr Athula Withanage has translated ‘Eugene Onegin’ while maintaining the same rhythmic style both in Sinhala and English. Upon graduation, Pushkin enumerated his controversial poem Ode to Liberty that led to his exile by Tsar Alexander 1 of Russia. When Pushkin was under severe observation by Tsar’s political police, he could not publish his poems; instead, he wrote an excellent play, called ‘Boris Godunov.’ After his exile in 1820, Pushkin’s friends and family continually petitioned for his release, sending letters and meetings with Tsar Alexander and Tsar Nicholas. 

Authorities summoned Pushkin to Moscow after his poem Ode to Liberty was found among the belongings of the rebels from the Decembrist Uprising. Pushkin obtained his release from exile and began to work as the Tsar’s Titular Counsel of the National Archives. However, because insurgents in the Decembrist Uprising in 1825 in Saint Petersburg, Tsar held Pushkin’s earlier political poems to control everything Pushkin published, and Tsar banned him from travelling at will.  Pushkin gradually became committed to social reform and emerged as a spokesman for literary radicals. 

He was inspired by the Greek Revolution when the war against the Ottoman broke out. That angered the government of the day that led to his transfer from the capital in May 1820. Finally, he became a Freemason. He joined the ‘Filiki Eteria,’ a secret organisation whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman rule in Greece and to establish an independent Greek state. 

Eugene Onegin 

His novel, ‘Eugene Onegin’ was serialised between 1825 and 1832. There are many Russian and Hollywood films, stage productions, ballets, operas, and radio shows from the BBC on this remarkable romantic novel. In 1825, Pushkin wrote his most famous play ‘Boris Godunov’ at his mother’s estate. He could not, however, gain permission to publish it until five years later. The original version of the drama was not staged until 2007. 

Pushkin’s Downfall 

In 1836, Pushkin fell into more outstanding debt and faced scandalous rumours that his wife had a love affair. Once he sent a challenge for a duel to Georges d’Anthès, who was supposed to be his wife’s lover, but his friends cancelled the dual. Irritated Alexander Pushkin once again challenged Georges d’Anthès for a pistol duel, which took place at the Black River. During the pistol dual, d’Anthès fired first, critically wounding Pushkin. The bullet entered Pushkin’s hip and penetrated through to his abdomen causing a significant injury. 

D’Anthès was only lightly injured in the right arm by Pushkin’s shot. Two days later Pushkin died of generalised peritonitis (inflammation of the tissue that lines the abdomen, which is deadly serious). The funeral service took place at St. Isaac’s Cathedral where many people attended. Pushkin’s wife’ requested not to place the coffin containing the corpse in a chamber-cadet uniform ( the uniform provided by the Tsar). 

Finally, the coffin having lowered into the basement where it stayed for a while, and later it remained at Pskov province, on the Svyatogorsky monastery, near Alexander Pushkin’s mother’s grave. Many Sri Lankan translators, like K.G. Karunathilake, Dadigama. Rodrigo’ have introduced classics of Russian authors to the Sinhala readers. Pushkin’s poetry was introduced by W. A. Abeysinghe and then by Karunathilake Handunpathirana. However, the Sri Lankan readers did not have the opportunity to reach Pushkin’s point of view of life and his concepts in poetry through his masterpiece ‘Eugene Onegin’ until now. 

It is of great importance to note the valuable literary contribution Dr Athula Withanage has made to Sri Lankan readers by translating this historical Sinhala translation. Dr Athula Withanage believes that the Sri Lankan audience now could learn Pushkin’s point of view of life, his concepts in poetry, Russian national spirit and aristocracy and ‘Pushkin’s beloved Russia’ through his masterpiece ‘Eugene Onegin’. Dr Withanage assures that Sri Lankan readers will enjoy Pushkin’s most remarkable work. The English translation is also available in Sri Lanka translated by Dr Athula Withanage. 

It can use as a comparison, because it suits the Asian audience in the straightforward narrative after freeing himself from the shackles of rhyme, yet retaining the original 14 lines of Pushkin’s stanzas, except in the two love letters in the introductory committed poem. The original Russian explanatory notes at the end of the English translation are helpful to understand the poetic meaning of some of the words. Dr Withanage is a Surgeon by profession and is not fully committed to writing. Nevertheless, he has produced five Sinhala novels, three English novels, one teledrama, two translations and a valuable educational book for any doctor in any field of medicine called Wound Care and Management.” 

He is the brother of actor, Shakespearian writer, author and drama producer of the late Bandula Withanage. ‘Evgeni Onegin’ is the authentic Russian pronunciation, but it sounds feminine. So, Athula Withanage translated the Sinhala version as ‘Evageni Anegini’ to make it sound more Sinhala and Masculine. Translations of both Sinhala and English versions were presented at the Russian Centre Book Festival in Colombo on 27 October 2021 at 3.30. pm, where the First Secretary at the Russian Embassy was present. 

At the Book Festival, all Russian language translators were introduced including Dr Athula Withanage and dramatist Ranjith Dharmakeerthi. A special mention made by the orators was how Dr Athula Withanage took seven years to translate Evgeni Onegin into English and Sinhala, especially the Sinhala version as a ‘historical’ translation. Comments were also made how Dr Withanage, amidst his hospital surgical duties managed to translate into Sinhala and English simultaneously. 

Dr Withanage had to learn the Russian language in the Soviet Union before he embarked on medical studies, for which he earned a gold medal. In the UK, he acquired three FRCS recognitions from the UK, Scotland, and Ireland. He received three nominations for the Golden Scalpel Award ( All Island) in the UK. 

tilakfernando@gmail.com

Hafizur Talukdar

Let there be a direction to keep the earth habitable

The plenary session of the second day of the COP-26 conference started on Monday. World leaders have gathered in Glasgow in a last-ditch effort to save the world from the ravages of climate change.

In his opening remarks, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told world leaders, “The world is at a crossroads. We need to take action now. If we are not sincere about climate change, all efforts will fail.

” Earlier in the day, dozens of leaders, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, spoke. Although he did not attend the conference, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a written statement.

Although the 48 countries in the CVF are the most affected by climate change, their contribution to global carbon emissions is negligible. Speaking as the chief guest at the CVF-Commonwealth High Level Discussion on Climate Prosperity Partnership at the Commonwealth Pavilion at the COP-26 conference venue in Glasgow, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on the richest countries to address the adverse effects of climate change. The Prime Minister said that climate change is now a global and cross-border problem and no country is free from its dire consequences. Referring to the recent IPCC report, he said it was a clear message that everyone must take urgent and decisive action to save this planet and future generations. CVF Chairperson Sheikh Hasina has put forward a six-point proposal for effective cooperation between the CVF and the Commonwealth.

US President Joe Biden has overturned a decision by US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Paris Agreement after taking office and pledged to make the fight against climate change a top priority. After a two-day meeting in Rome, Italy, G20 leaders said global warming would not be allowed to rise more than a degree and a half from the pre-industrial era by the end of this century. However, no details were given about the steps to be taken to meet this target. The world is eager to see the success of these conferences and the implementation of the promises made by world leaders. Appropriate steps need to be taken now to address the adverse effects of climate change. The clear direction to keep this planet habitable will come from COP-26, this is what the world wants to see.

MD Pathik Hasan

Bangladesh and Thailand are near neighbors, connected by the Bay of Bengal. The development of these maritime ties would benefit both countries in terms of trade, investment, and regional communications. 

The two countries are in talks to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) to boost trade and investment. Bangladesh is geographically positioned as a gateway between ASEAN and SAARC with potential access to both for each other’s export-driven manufacturers. ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, while SAARC includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. 

The Chittagong seaport is the main seaport in Bangladesh. 90 percent of Bangladeshi trade is conducted through the Chattagram Port Terminal, with the rest being taken up by Bangladesh’s Ports at Mangla and Payra.    

Thailand’s Ranong Port is situated on the Kraburi River of the Kra Peninsula, across from Myanmar and on the Indian Ocean, coast and lies 1,220km from Chittagong. 

Thailand’s Southern Economic Corridor project, approved by the Government in August 2018, emphasizes the development of Ranong port as a gateway to trade with Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. Using Ranong port for trade with Bangladesh’s Chittagong, Payra, and Mangla ports will reduce the distance between the two countries and boost trade. Then this connectivity can then be extended to India’s Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai ports. 

The launch of direct shipping services between Chittagong and Ranong ports has received a new push as trade between the two countries is increasing.

Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Thailand reached US$837.08 million in 2019-20. Bangladesh’s total exports to Thailand in 2020 were US$35.46 million while imports from Thailand were worth US$801.3 million, very much in Thailand’s favor. 

Bangladeshi exports to Thailand are on an upward trend, however. This year exported values are expected to reach just under US$40 million, a 12 percent increase YoY. 

According to FDI stock data in Bangladesh, Thailand is the 15th largest investor in the country. This however would increase significantly if an FTA can be agreed upon, and the two countries build direct maritime connectivity between Chittagong and Ranong ports. 

There is precedent. When Bangladesh signed FTA with the SAARC members in 2006, its imports and exports doubled within ten years, being a relatively constant (there was a dip in 2011) and sustainable 10% GDP growth in trade per annum. 

In terms of commodities, Thailand mainly exports cement, cereals, plastics, man-made staple fibers, sugar and sugar confectionery, machinery and mechanical equipment, cotton and cotton cloth, salt, sulfur, clay, stone, and mineral fuels to Bangladesh. 

In the reverse direction, Bangladesh exports garments, vegetables, textile fibers, garments, animal products, electrical and electronic equipment, frozen fish, and crustaceans to Thailand. 

Direct sea connectivity between Chittagong and Ranang can be expected to play an important role in expanding trade and commerce between the two countries. The time and cost of transporting goods between them can be reduced by 30 percent and are likely to play a key role in building ties with other Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar and India. The introduction of direct shipping between the two countries will encourage traders from both to expand their regional trade and investment.

Thailand could increase trade ties with India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka under the framework of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

The establishment of trade and economic corridors through coordination between the Look East Policy of Bangladesh and the Look West Policy of Thailand and the establishment of connectivity through coastal shipping is likely to bring prosperity for both. 

Dhaka is additionally counting on Bangkok’s support for Bangladesh’s bid for membership in the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Forum as well as the ASEAN Sectoral Partnership.

Thailand and Bangladesh are also both active partners in the Belt and Road Initiative. If Chittagong and Ranong port connectivity can be extended to Iran’s Chabahar port and Pakistan’s Gwadar port via Sri Lanka’s Colombo and the International North South Transport Corridor project (INSTC) through to Central Asia and Turkey, this will create significant trade potential. 

Although the Maritime Assistance Agreement between Bangladesh and Thailand was completed in 1986 and is currently in force, changes need to be made to bring these opportunities to fruition. But the Bangladesh and Thailand can renew the agreement for ensuring their business interests. 

Progress is being made. Thai ambassador to Bangladesh, Makawadee Sumitmor stated at a bilateral business meeting with the Chittagong World Trade Center in September this year that there is a trade gap between the two countries. She also said that the expansion of the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral route will boost trade in this region and that she was waiting for the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Thai authorities and the Chittagong Port Authority to establish direct shipping links by sea. 

There are huge opportunities for Thai investors in infrastructure, light engineering, agriculture and food processing, and tourism and healthcare. Thailand and Bangladesh both could and should utilize these potentials. But smooth connectivity is needed to boost the Trade. Chittagong and Ranong port connectivity would boost up the trade, expansion of tourism. Bangladesh and Thailand can both benefit from this mutually rewarding sea connectivity project.

The article was first appeared in Hong Kong based ASEAN Briefing on November 04, 2021.

Hafizur Talukdar

The world is fascinated by the development of Bangladesh

The world is fascinated by the development of Bangladesh! On the occasion of Bangabandhu’s birth centenary and the golden jubilee of independence, the top people of Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India have come to Bangladesh in the confidence of a leader even in the difficult times of Corona. Besides, the heads of state of different countries including United Nations, United States, China, Russia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Turkey, Germany, Spain have praised Bangladesh, Bangabandhu and Sheikh Hasina.

Everyone has praised Sheikh Hasina’s leadership for successfully tackling the situation in Bangladesh. They have recognized the importance and contribution of Bangladesh to the world. Bangladesh is ahead of the world in many important sectors. Many have asked for cooperation in them. Bangladesh has also appealed to different countries. On the golden jubilee of independence, many issues have been agreed upon. In particular, India and Bangladesh are committed to corona risk. This commitment was made at the India-Bangladesh joint bilateral meeting. It has been decided that the two countries will jointly address the risk of the ongoing epidemic Corona, a new challenge in the health sector. The two countries will also celebrate the 50th victory celebration of Bangladesh on December 16. Besides, an agreement has been reached to start direct flights and shipping from Bangladesh to Maldives. Both Bangladesh and Maldives have agreed to sign a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to increase trade and commerce between the two countries. The Prime Ministers of the two countries agreed to enhance cooperation in various fields including enhancing road, rail and air connectivity between the two countries to expand Bangladesh-Bhutan trade. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also assured that Bhutanese students studying in Bangladesh will get one-time full-term visas. Abdar Naval and Airways of Nepal to Bangladesh in developing relations. During the visit, Nepal expressed interest in enhancing naval and air connectivity and Bangladesh agreed in principle. Sri Lanka has praised Sheikh Hasina’s leadership in successfully handling the situation.

Direct flights and shipping from Bangladesh to Maldives will start: Bangladesh and Maldives have agreed to sign a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to increase trade and commerce between the two countries. The two leaders agreed to sign the PTA during a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Salihar. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has requested to legalize illegal Bangladeshis staying in Maldives. Meanwhile, the President of Maldives said that he would stand by Bangladesh in resolving the Rohingya crisis. In addition, four Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed in various fields, including fisheries and cultural relations, at the summit between Bangladesh and the Maldives to further strengthen bilateral cooperation. During the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed interest in signing a preferential trade agreement with the Maldives. Describing Bangladesh as a potential trading partner of the Maldives, the President expressed hope that the PTA agreement between the two countries would be signed soon. On the Rohingya issue, the Maldivian president said, “His country wants to work with Bangladesh to ensure the rights of the Rohingya in the ICJ (International Courts of Justice).”

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said that direct flights and shipping from Bangladesh to Male in Maldives will start soon. He made the remarks at a joint press conference with Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid in the afternoon after a bilateral meeting chaired by the two heads of government. The Foreign Minister said, “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has announced that Bangladesh Biman will soon fly from Bangladesh to Maldives. Another good news is that soon we will launch a shipping line between Chittagong and Mal. ‘He said,’ Bangladesh and Maldives have agreed to sign a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to increase trade and investment. ‘ In this case we have not advanced too much yet. That is why we have made a proposal to them that we want to make a PTA, which we did with Bhutan a few days ago. ” At the time, Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid said, We are going to have a joint commission. We can take it to new heights. Through this we will be able to resolve all issues through regular discussions.

Bhutanese students applying for one-time full-term visas to study in Bangladesh: Bhutanese Prime Minister Dr. Lotte Schering met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last Wednesday. During the meeting, the Prime Ministers of the two countries agreed to enhance cooperation in various fields including expansion of Bangladesh-Bhutan trade, increase in road, rail and air connectivity between the two countries. During the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina emphasized on building the necessary infrastructure to avail the maximum benefits of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) signed between Bangladesh and Bhutan. He also emphasized on building more seaports. During the meeting, the Prime Ministers of the two countries discussed cooperation in various sectors between the two countries including trade and connectivity.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that a bilateral or tripartite memorandum of understanding for the construction of cooperative hydropower plants would be prepared. At the time, the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lotte Shering, requested for a one-time full-term visa or multiple entry facility 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. Expressing interest in cooperating in the IT sector, Sheikh Hasina said, “Bangladesh can assist Bhutan in the IT sector including broadband internet.” The Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and Bhutan also agreed to work together in international forums including the United Nations. He also directed the concerned parties to take measures for easy access of ships to facilitate trade and commerce.

Nepal’s Abdar Naval and Air Path to Bangladesh for Improving Relations: Nepal’s President Vidya Devi Bhandari paid a two-day state visit to Bangladesh. While Nepal expressed interest in enhancing naval and air connectivity during the visit, Bangladesh agreed in principle. Foreign Minister Dr. at the press conference held in the context of the visit of the President of Nepal Vidya Devi Bhandari to Bangladesh at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital. AK Abdul Momen said, “Nepal has expressed interest in using Bangladesh’s domestic air and sea routes.” They have expressed interest in using the airports of Syedpur, Sylhet and Chittagong in particular. At the same time, it has expressed interest in using naval routes. We have agreed in principle. At the behest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we want to transform Bangladesh into a gateway or multimodal connective hub for the whole of South and Southeast Asia. ”

He said, “This visit of the President of Nepal will further accelerate and strengthen the friendly bilateral relations based on the prevailing cultural and geographical proximity.” During the visit, Bangladesh and Nepal signed four bilateral agreements on various issues. Nepal is interested in supplying hydropower to Bangladesh. Besides, BVIN will be the first to connect with India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Later Bhutan will be added gradually. Noting that the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Nepal and Bangladesh will be signed soon, the Foreign Minister said, “Both leaders (Prime Minister of Bangladesh and President of Nepal) have emphasized on harnessing the huge potential for expanding bilateral trade.” Bilateral trade will increase significantly if preferential trade agreements are signed. We hope the agreement will be signed soon. “

Sri Lanka praises Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership in successfully tackling the situation in Bangladesh Sri Lanka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa have agreed to open new areas of trade and commerce between the two countries at the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka summit. Apart from agreeing to open up new areas of trade, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have also signed six MoUs to enhance cooperation in various fields including youth development, agriculture and technical education. Emphasizing on the need for a free trade agreement, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, “A joint feasibility study on a free trade agreement has already been completed. We should move quickly to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). ”Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, on the other hand, emphasized Bangladesh’s emphasis on increasing trade and the trade sector, as well as Bangladesh’s Blue-Economy concept, and expressed interest in sharing experiences with Bangladesh.

Emphasizing on the participation of the private sector in the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, “There is a huge potential for many Bangladeshi products in the Sri Lankan market.” We urge Sri Lankan investors to invest more in Bangladesh’s special economic zones, industrial parks and high-tech parks. In the presence of the two Prime Ministers, six Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed to enhance mutual cooperation between the two countries. ‘ We should move quickly to a free trade agreement. The Prime Minister also emphasized on sharing experiences in the field of agriculture including paddy cultivation and freshwater fish farming. He also expressed interest in learning technology from Sri Lanka on coast, aquaculture, and deep sea fishing. During the bilateral meeting, the Prime Minister emphasized on more institutional cooperation in the field of education for capacity building, technical training and skills development. Referring to the pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh, the Prime Minister said, “Sri Lanka can benefit by importing world-class medicines from Bangladesh.”

Expressing satisfaction over the existence of the two countries, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said, “Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are close friends. Rajapaksa invited Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit Sri Lanka next year to mark the golden jubilee of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The issue of transformation of Bangladesh into a digital country

World leaders in praise of Bangladesh: World leaders have greeted Bangladesh on the occasion of the golden jubilee of independence and the centenary of Mujib. They conveyed this greeting through a video message. On the occasion, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese President Yoshihide Suga, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, President Prince Charles, President of Pakistan, President of Pakistan Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Germany, the King of Spain, the Secretary of State of the United States Anthony Blinken and the President of the European Union sent greetings. In addition, the British High Commissioner to Dhaka Robert Dixon wished for the golden jubilee of independence. In a congratulatory message, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, “Bangladesh is playing a big role in the world arena. The people of Bangladesh have played a major role in social progress in the last five decades. I congratulate them for their improvement. I would also like to congratulate Bangladesh for being a developing country. ‘He said,’ Bangladesh is playing a big role in the world court. Bangladesh is the largest member of the UN peacekeeping mission. Bangladesh has given shelter to millions of Rohingyas. Thank them for that. ‘In his congratulatory message, US President Joe Biden said,’ Bangladesh has set an excellent example of world humanity by sheltering about one million Rohingya. Besides, Bangladesh is now known as a shining example of economic prosperity, ”the US President said in a video message on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Independence on Friday. Biden expressed hope that “Bangladesh will play an important role in mitigating global climate change.” His administration will do everything possible to help Bangladesh on the issue of climate change.

In a message sent on the occasion of the golden jubilee of independence, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the architect of Bangladesh, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was an extraordinary leader. “Bangladesh is also celebrating the birth centenary of Bangabandhu on the occasion of the golden jubilee of independence,” Putin said, referring to the deep friendly relations between Bangladesh and Russia. ‘

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson has commented that Bangladesh is currently one of the most economically developing countries in the world. Boris Johnson said Bangladesh is currently an economically developing country. We want to live with the dream of prosperity of Bangladesh. He said Bangabandhu came to 10 Downing Street (Prime Minister’s Office of the United Kingdom) in 1972. Which was the beginning of friendship between our two countries. This friendship has become stronger in the last 50 years. Boris Johnson said there are more than six lakh Bangladeshis in the UK. They are contributing to the development of the UK.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “The Covid-19 epidemic has spread around the world. It was not possible for me to accept this invitation. But if the situation improves, I have the desire to visit Bangladesh. “He said,” The feeling of brotherhood between the people of the two countries will strengthen the will to further improve our relations. “Addressing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Turkish president said: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has earned a place among the famous statesmen of the twentieth century through struggle and sacrifice for the nation. I believe that in the year of the golden jubilee of Bangladesh, our relationship and cooperation will be deeper. ‘

සමස්ත ලංකා බැංකු සේවක සංගමය

චීන තානාපති කාර්යාලය මගින් මහජන බැංකුව අසාදුලේඛන ගත කිරීම

රජය මගින් පොහොර මිලදී ගැනීමේ ගැටළුවක් සම්බන්ධයෙන් එම ගනුදෙනුවේ මූල්‍ය සේවා පහසුකම් සැපයීමට කටයුතු කරන ලද මහජන බැංකුව චීන තානාපති කාර්යාලය විසින් අසාදු ලේඛනගත කර ඇති බව එම තානාපති කාර්යාලය නිවේදනය කර ඇත.

ගනුදෙනුව සම්බන්ධයෙන් නිකුත් කරන ලද අධිකරණ නියෝගයකට අවනත වීම හේතුවෙන් මහජන බැංකුව මෙලෙස අසාදු ලේඛනගත කිරීමකට ලක්කර ඇති බව බැංකුව පාර්ශවයෙන් කරුණු දක්වා ඇත. මෙවැනි තත්වයක් තුළ වසර 60 ක් පුරා ජාතික ආර්ථිකයේ ජීවනාලියක් බඳු වූ මහජන බැංකුවේ කීර්ති නාමය ජාත්‍යන්තර වශයෙන් අපකීර්තියට පත් වීමටත් ව්‍යාපාරික පැවැත්මට හානියක් වීමටත් පසුබිම සකස් වෙමින් පවතී.

දැවැන්ත ආර්ථික පසුබෑම හමුවේත්, #කොවිඩ් වසංගත සමයේත් ජාතික ආර්ථිකය රැක ගැනීමට අඛණ්ඩ මෙහෙයක් ඉටුකළ මහජන බැංකුව ඇතුළු රාජ්‍ය බැංකු පත්ව ඇති අර්බුදය සම්බන්ධයෙන් මුදල් අමාත්‍යවරයා නොදන්නා බව මාධ්‍යයට පැවසීම විමතිය දනවන්නක් වේ. අදාළ පොහොර සමාගම ණයවර ලිපි විවෘත කිරීමේදී බලයලත් නිලධාරීන්ගේ අනුමැතිය හා බලපත්‍ර සහිතව අදාළ කටයුතු සිදු කරාද යන්න සමාජයේ සංවාදයට බඳුන්ව පවතී.
 
පසුගිය ආණ්ඩු සමයන් තුළ හෙජින් ගිවිසුම, මහ බැංකු බැඳුම්කර වංචාව වැනි දූෂිත ගනුදෙනු හරහා නිර්මාණය වූ අත්දැකීම් රාජ්‍ය බැංකු සම්බන්ධයෙන් මහජන විශ්වාසය බිඳ හෙළීමටත් රාජ්‍ය බැංකුවල ව්‍යාපාරික වපසරියන් හකුළුවා දැමීමටත් විවිධ ආණ්ඩු කටයුතු කර ඇත. නමුත් බැංකු සේවකයන්ගේත් පොදු මහජනතාවගේත් අඛණ්ඩ කැපවීම හා ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වය හේතුවෙන් මෙම ජනතා ආර්ථික මර්මස්ථාන රැක ගැනීමට හැකියාව ලැබී ඇත.

නීති තත්වය පරීක්‍ෂාවකින් තොරව ගෙන්වන ලද මෙම පොහොර තොගය පිළිබඳ වගකීම පොහොර සමාගම විසින් භාරගත යුතු වුවත්, මහජන බැංකුව අසාදු ලේඛනගත කිරීම නිසා ඉදිරියේදී මහජන බැංකුවට දැඩි මූල්‍ය පාඩුවක් සිදුවනු ඇති අතර රාජ්‍ය බැංකු මේ අන්දමින් අනතුරේ හෙළීමේ වගකීම මෙම පොහොර තොගය ගෙන්වීමට මූලික වූ රජය විසින් භාරගත යුතු බවට අවධාරණය කළ යුතුය.
 
අදූරදර්ශී හා දූෂිත ආණ්ඩු ක්‍රියාකාරකම් හේතුවෙන් මෙවැනි ලාභ ලබන ආයතන අර්බුදකාරි වාතාවරණයන්ට පත් කරන පාලකයන්ට එරෙහිව පෙළගැසෙන ලෙස සියළුම බැංකු සේවකයින් හා ජනතාවට ආරාධනය කරන අතර විදේශ තානාපති කාර්යාලයකට දැවැන්ත අර්බුද නිර්මාණය කළ හැකි යැපුම් ආර්ථිකයක් ඇති කළ වසර 73 ක් රට පාලනය කළ ආණ්ඩු වෙනුවට ජනතා ආර්ථිකයක් බිහිකළ හැකි දැක්මක් හා වැඩපිළිවෙලක් ගොඩනැඟීම සඳහා අත්වැල් බැඳ ගන්නා සියලූ ශ්‍රී ලාංකික පුරවැසියන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටීමට කැමැත්තෙමු.

ස්තූතියි.
 
මෙයට, විශ්වාසී
වසන්ත සමරසිංහ
සභාපති
සමස්ත ලංකා බැංකු සේවක සංගමය.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ගමන් කරමින් ඇත්තේ බංකොලොත් රාජ්‍යයක් වෙත බව වෙළෙඳ අමාත්‍ය බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.

2029 වසර අනතුරු කිසිවෙකුට ඔළුව උස්සන්න හැකියාවක් නැති බවත් ඔහු පවසයි.

දෙරණ නාලිකව සමඟ පැවති සාකච්ඡාවකදී එහි මාධ්‍යවේදියා සහ අමාත්‍යවරයා අතර සිදු වූ සංවාදය මෙසේය.

මාධ්‍යවේදියා – මූඩිස් ආයතනයේ ණය ශ්‍රේණිගත කිරීම්වලට අනුව CAA1 ඉඳන් CAA2 දක්වා අපේ ශ්‍රේණිගත කිරීම් පහළ ගිහින් තියෙනවා. තව දෙකක් පල්ලෙහාට ගියොත් default. ඒ කියන්නේ බංකොලොත්. අපි මේ යමින් ඉන්නේ බංකොලොත් රාජ්‍යයක් වෙන තැනකටද ?

ඇමතිවරයා – බේරගන්න ඕනේ, යමින් ඉන්නේ එතනට. 2029 වෙනකන් කාටවත් ඔලුව උස්සන්න වෙන්නේ නැහැ. අලුත් මුදල් ප්‍රවාහයක් ඇතිකරගත්තේ නැත්නම්. නැත්නම් මොනවා හරි කරලා ආයෝජන ටිකක් ගේන්න ඕනේ. එහෙම නැත්නම් විකුණනන්න ඕනේ. ඒත් විකුණන්න අපිට වත්කම් නැහැ.

උපුටා ගැන්ම TrueNews

ඉන්දියාවෙන් මෙරටට ගෙන්වන ද නැනෝ නයිට‍්‍රජන් යනුවෙන් හදුන්වන ලද පොහොර, කාබනික පොහොර විශේෂයක් නොව, යූරියා අඩංගු රසායනික පොහොරක් බව, විශ්ව විද්‍යාල ආචාර්යවරුවන්ගේ සමිති සම්මේලනය පවසයි.

පොටෑසියම් ෆ්ලෝරයිඩ් යනු රසායනිකයක් යැයි කියන්නේ මෝඩයින් බවත් එය පාෂාණයක් බවත් ඉන්දියාවෙන් ගෙන එන්නේ තාක්ෂණය භාවිත කළ නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් බවත් එහි වර්ග දෙකක් ඇති බවත් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී තිස්ස කුට්ටිආරච්චි පැවසුවේය.

පළමු වැන්න ශාඛ සහ සත්ව කොටස් එකතු කර සාදන නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් බවත් දෙවැන්න යූරියාවලින් සාදන නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් බවත් යූරියාවලින් තැනූ නයිට්‍රජන්වල රසායනික බව අධික බවත් එය ලංකාව ගෙන ඒමට තහනම් බවත් පවසන මන්ත්‍රීවරයා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ගෙන එන්නේ ශාඛ හා සත්ව කොටස්වලින් සාදන නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් පමණක් බවත් ඔහු අවධාරණය කළේය.

එසේ කියද්දී විශ්ව විද්‍යාල ආචාර්යවරුන්ගේ සමිති සම්මේලනයේ (FUTA) කෘෂිකර්මය පිලිබඳ ක්‍රියාකාරී කමිටුව විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කරන, ඉන්දියාවෙන් ආනයනය කරන ලද නැනෝ-නයිට්‍රජන් පොහොර පිළිබඳ සම්පුර්ණ මාධ්‍ය ප්‍රකාශය මෙසේ පළ කරන්නෙමු.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය විසින් මෑතක දී ඉන්දියාවේ Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO) නම් සමාගමෙන් දියරමය නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් පොහොර ලීටර මිලියන 3.1 ක් මෙරටට ආනයනය කිරීමට සැලසුම් කර ඇත. ඉන් පළමු තොගය වූ මිලි ලීටර් 500 නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් බෝතල් 90,000 ( ලීටර් 45,000) ක්, ගුවන් මඟින් 2021 ඔක්තෝබර් 19 දා දිවයිනට ලඟා විය. මෙම පොහොර සම්බන්ධව ජනමාධ්‍ය හරහා මේ වනවිට විවිධාකාර මතවාද ජනගත වෙමින් පවතින බැවින්, කෘෂිකර්ම ක්ෂේත්‍රයට සම්බන්ධ වගකිවයුතු වෘත්තීයවේදීන් සමුහයක් ලෙස දිවයිනේ කෘෂිකර්ම පීඨ සහ තාක්ෂණික පීඨවල ආචාර්ය මණ්ඩල සාමාජිකයන්ගෙන් සමන්විත වන, විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ආචාර්ය සමිති සම්මේලනයේ (FUTA), කෘෂිකර්මය හා සම්බන්ධ ක්‍රියාකාරී කමිටුව (Action Committee for Agriculture) නියෝජනය කරමින් මෙම ආනයනිත පොහොර සම්බන්ධව පවතින විද්‍යාත්මක කරුණු සහ අපගේ විශේෂඥ මතය මෙසේ ජනතාව හමුවේ තැබීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමු.

IFFCO සමාගම මඟින් නිෂ්පාදනය කෙරෙන මෙම නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් යනු, යූරියා අඩංගු සංයෝගයකි. බහු අවයවික සංයෝග මඟින් යූරියා අණු ආවරණය කර ඉතා කුඩා නැනෝ අංශු ලෙස සාදන නිසා සාම්ප්‍රදායික යූරියාවලින් මෙම නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් පොහොර වෙනස් වේ. මෙම නැනෝ අංශු ඉතාමත් කුඩා ප්‍රමාණයේ පවතින බැවින් ශාක පත්‍රවල ඇති පුටිකා හරහා කාර්යක්ෂමව ශාකයට උරා ගනු ලබයි. මෙම පොහොර විශේෂය කෘත්‍රිමව නිෂ්පාදනය කරනු ලබන සංයෝගයක් වන අතර එය කාබනික පොහොරක් නොවේ. මෙම දියර පොහොර ශාක පත්‍ර මතට ඉසීම සඳහා නිර්දේශ කර ඇති, 4% නයිට්‍රජන් අඩංගු සංයෝගයක් බව සඳහන් වේ. මෙම පොහොර වර්ගය ඉතා මෑතක දී ක්ෂේත්‍ර පරීක්ෂාවන්ට ලක් කරන ලද, එමෙන්ම මෙම වසරේ මාර්තු මාසයේ දී මහා පරිමාණ වාණිජ නිෂ්පාදනය සඳහා ඉන්දීය කෘෂිකර්ම දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවෙන් අනුමැතිය ලද රසායනිකයක් වේ. කෙසේ වුවද, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දැනට ක්‍රියාත්මක වන සම්මත ප්‍රමිතීන්ට අනුව (SLS1324:2018) කාබනික වගාවන් සඳහා නැනෝ පොහොර නිර්දේශ නොකරයි.

කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යංශ නිලධාරීන් විසින් සිදුකරන ලද මාධ්‍ය නිවේදන හරහා දැනගැනීමට ලැබෙන ආකාරයට, වී වගාවේ හෙක්ටෙයාරයකට මෙම දියර පොහොර ලීටර 2.5 ක් (4 ml/L) එක්වරකට යෙදිය යුතු වේ. එමෙන්ම වගා කාලය තුළ තුන් වරක් එය යෙදිය යුතු බැවින් එක කන්නයක දී හෙක්ටෙයාරයකට අවශ්‍ය මුළු දියර පොහොර ප්‍රමාණය ලීටර 7.5 ක් වේ. මෙසේ යෙදීමේ දී නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් දියර පොහොර මඟින් වී වගාවේ හෙක්ටෙයාරයකට සැපයෙන නයිට්‍රජන් ප්‍රමාණය ග්රෑම් 300 ක් වැනි ඉතා සුළු ප්‍රමාණයකි. සාමාන්‍යයෙන් හෙක්ටෙයාරයකින් නිෂ්පාදනය වන ටොන් 4-5 දක්වා වූ වී අස්වැන්නක් ලබාදීම සඳහා ගොයම් ගස් මඟින් ආසන්න වශයෙන් නයිට්‍රජන් කිලෝග්‍රෑම් 105 ක් සපයාගත යුතුව තිබේ. මේ ආකාරයෙන් බලනවිට, ශාකයේ නයිට්‍රජන් අවශ්‍යතාවය නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් පොහොර මඟින් පමණක් සැපයීමට අවශ්‍ය නම් ඒ සඳහා හෙක්ටෙයාරයකට මෙම දියරය ලීටර් 1,250 ක් යෙදිය යුතුය! මෙවැනි ක්‍රියාවක් කිසිසේත්ම ප්‍රායෝගික නොවන බව ඉතා පැහැදිලි කරුණකි.

IFFCO ආයතනයේ නිල වෙබ් පිටුවෙහි සඳහන් වන ආකාරයට මෙම දියරමය නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් පොහොර වගාවට යෙදීම නිර්දේශ කරනු ලබන්නේ ශාකයේ වර්ධක අවස්ථාවේ මතුපිට පොහොරක් ලෙස, යූරියා භාවිතය අඩු කිරීමේ උපක්‍රමයක් ලෙස පමණි. ඒ සමඟම වගාවට අවශ්‍ය අනෙක් ප්‍රධාන මුලද්‍රව්‍ය වන පොස්පරස් සහ පොටෑසියම් නියමිත ප්‍රමාණවලින් ලබා දිය යුතු වේ. මේ සම්බන්ධව දැනට ප්‍රකාශිත සියලු විද්‍යාත්මක පර්යේෂණ නිර්දේශ කර ඇත්තේ මෙම නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් දියර පොහොර, යූරියා භාවිතය සියයට පනහක් දක්වා අඩු කිරීමට උපකාරක පොහොරක් ලෙස මිස යූරියා භාවිතයට පූර්ණ විකල්පයක් ලෙස නොවේ.

මීට අමතරව, මෙවැනි මහා පරිමාණ දියර පොහොර ඉසීම කාර්යක්ෂමව කිරීම සඳහා නවීන ඩ්‍රෝන තාක්ෂණය යොදාගත යුතු වේ. එයට හේතුව, විශාල වපසරියකින් යුතු කෘෂිකාර්මික ක්ෂේත්‍ර සහ වඩා උසකින් යුතු බඩඉරිඟු සහ උක් වැනි වගාවන් සඳහා සාම්ප්‍රදායික ඉසිනයන් සාර්ථක නොවන බැවිනි. එමෙන්ම යොදන දියර පොහොර කාර්යක්ෂමව භාවිතා කිරීමට නම් ඒ වන විට බෝගයේ පත්‍ර පස ආවරණය වන තරමට වර්ධනය වී තිබිය යුතු වේ. මීට අමතරව පවතින කාලගුණික තත්ත්වය සහ දියර පොහොර ඉසීමේ තාක්ෂණික ක්‍රමවේදය මෙහි සාර්ථකත්වයට ඉතා දැඩි ලෙස බලපායි. ඒ බැවින් මේ සඳහා අවශ්‍ය තාක්ෂණය ගොවීන්ට නිවැරදිව ලබා දීම වැදගත් වේ.

මේ ආකාරයට සලකා බලන විට, මෑතක දී රජය මඟින් සිදුකරන්නට යෙදුනු රසායනික” පොහොර තහනමත් සමඟ, ගොවියන්ට තම වගා කටයුතු කරගෙන යාම සඳහා ලබා දිය යුතු විකල්ප කවරේදැයි යන්න ඉතා විශාල ගැටලුවක්ව පවතී. මෙම පොහොර සැපයුම් අඩාල වීමත් සමඟ බෝග වර්ධනය සඳහා විවිධ පෝෂණ ද්‍රව්‍යයන් හීන වූ පසුබිමක, ඉතා අධික මුදලක් වැය කරමින් ගෙන්වන්නට යෙදුනු නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් පොහොර භාවිතය හරහා අපේක්ෂිත ප්‍රතිඵල ලබාගත හැකි වේ දැයි යන්න ගැටලුවකි. නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් දියර පොහොර ශාකයේ පත්‍ර මතට ඉසින බැවින් ඒවායේ සාන්ද්‍රණය නිර්දේශිත ප්‍රමාණයට වඩා වැඩි කල නොහැක. එමඟින් ශාක පත්‍රවලට හානි සිදුවන බැවිනි. මේ හේතුව නිසා ශාකයට අවශ්‍ය සමස්ථ නයිට්‍රජන් ප්‍රමාණය පත්‍ර හරහා ලබාදීම ප්‍රායෝගික නොවේ. ඒ සඳහා ඇති එකම විකල්පය කුඩා සාන්ද්‍රණවලින් කිහිප වතාවක් මෙය පත්‍ර මතට ඉසීමයි. නමුත් 4% ක සාන්ද්‍රණයකින් යුතු පොහොරකින් ශාකයේ අවශ්‍යතාවය සම්පුර්ණ කිරීමට නම් ඉතා විශාළ වාර ගණනක් ශාකයට ඉසීම කල යුතුය. මෙය කිසිසේත්ම ප්‍රායෝගික නොවේ.

තවත් සලකාබැලිය යුතු කරුණක් වන්නේ නැනෝ නයිට්‍රජන් පොහොර, සාම්ප්‍රදායික යූරියා පොහොරට වඩා කිහිප ගුණයකින් මිළෙන් වැඩි බවය. එමෙන්ම, සාම්ප්‍රදායික කෘෂිරසායන ඉසිනයන් භාවිතයෙන් වී වගාවට මෙම පොහොර යෙදීම නිෂ්පාදන පිරිවැය විශාල ලෙස ඉහල නැංවීමට හේතුවක් වනු ඇත.

සාමාන්‍යයෙන් බලපවත්වන නීතියට අනුව, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ආනයනය කරනු ලබන ඕනෑම පොහොරක් ඒ සම්බන්ධව ප්‍රමිතිගත පරීක්ෂණයකින් සමත්වී තිබිය යුතු අතර, කිසිදු අහිතකර ද්‍රව්‍යයක් ඒ තුළ අන්තර්ගත නොවන බවට විද්‍යාගාර පරීක්ෂණවලින් තහවුරු වී තිබිය යුතු වේ. එමෙන්ම, ඕනෑම පොහොර වර්ගයක් පසට හෝ බෝගයන්ට නිර්දේශ කිරීමට පෙර නිසි ක්ෂේත්‍ර පරීක්ෂාවන්ට ලක් කර තිබිය යුතුය. මෙම පොහොර ආනයන ක්‍රියාවලිය තුළ ඒ කිසිවක් සිදු නොවන බව පෙනෙන්නට තිබේ.

අවසාන වශයෙන් සඳහන් කල යුත්තේ, පරිසර හිතකාමී, හරිත කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයක් කරා යන ගමනේ දී පසෙහි සාරවත්බව වැඩිදියුණු කොට පවත්වාගෙන යාම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය කරුණක් බවයි. එසේ වුවද, බෝගයන්ට ඉසිනු ලබන දියර පොහොර මඟින් පසෙහි සරු බව ඉහල නැංවීමට නොහැකි වේ. එබැවින් මෙම දියර පොහොර ආනයන වැඩපිළිවෙල හරහා අස්වැන්න වැඩි කරගැනීමේ අපේක්ෂාවන් ඉටුකර ගැනීමට නොහැකිවනවා පමණක් නොව හරිත කෘෂිකර්මාන්තය සඳහා වූ අපේක්ෂාවන්ද ඉටුකරගැනීම දුෂ්කර කටයුත්තක් වනු ඇත. 

Dr. C.S. Weeraratna,

Economic and social benefits of the agricultural sector, which includes cultivation of food crops and plantation crops, are well known to most of us. The value of the paddy and other food crops produced during a year is around Rs. 300 billion and we earned a similar amount in foreign exchange by exporting tea and other planation crops. Fertilisers and pesticides play an important role in crop production. However, the importation of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides was banned by a Cabinet Memorandum dated April 27, although these are not locally available in adequate amounts. As a result, inorganic fertilisers such as urea, Triple superphosphate, Muriate of Potash and other agrochemicals (insecticides, fungicides, etc.) became scarce. Agriculture Ministry in the meantime, promoted manufacture of organic fertilisers but they were unable to get sufficient amounts of organic fertilisers manufactured mainly because raw-material necessary for production of adequate amounts of organic fertilisers is not available locally. Thousands of farmers all over the country started to protest demanding that appropriate fertilisers and pesticides are made available. They have prepared the lands to cultivate paddy for the current Maha season but they are yet to start cultivating as they are not sure ofthe availability of appropriate fertilisers. Non availability of suitable fertilisers at correct times and appropriate pesticides is causing immense problems not only to paddy farmers but also among those who cultivate other food crops, horticultural and floricultural crops.

Probably the Finance Minister, having realised the utter foolishness of banning the import of inorganic fertilisers and synthetic pesticides lifted the ban and issued a gazette notification on 3 August re-authorising the import of several types of chemical fertilisers to be used in the Maha season. Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) realising the need to use inorganic fertilisers got down 30,000 of tons of potassium chloride. Although the MOA says that it is organic, to satisfy some, it is Muriate of Potash which is chemically potassium chloride (KCl) extracted from deposits of a mineral Sylvinite found in several countries. It does not matter whether it is called organic or inorganic as long it supplies potassium to crops

Perhaps because the MOA realised that there would be not enough organic fertilisers for the Maha season, Sri Lanka’s two state fertilizer companies signed an agreement with a Chinese fertilizer supplier to supply 96,000 MT of organic fertilizer (OF) in granular form containing 10 per cent of Nitrogen . According to National Plant Quarantine Service OF to be imported contain some pathogenic bacteria such as Bacillus and Erwinia. Hence, the shipment of the China-manufactured organic fertilizer was halted and the ship carrying the OF was supposed to have turned back.

As Sri Lanka is facing a severe shortage of both inorganic and organic fertilisers, after the import of the former was banned and the shipment of OF from China, was halted, MOA went ahead with the import of 3.1 million litres of nano- urea , a liquid fertiliser from Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO) . In their official website, IFFCO has indicated that this Nano-urea fertiliser should be applied only as a top dressing along with a reduced rate of urea, According to all research reports on this liquid fertiliser, Nano-urea is a supplementary source of Nitrogen.

According to a web site https://patents.google.com/patent/CN1269774C/en Nano Urea comprises 0.01 to 5 wt% of quinhydrone, 0.01 to 10 wt% of calcium cyanamide in addition to urea.. There were some who were of the view that Chronic Kidney Disease ( CKDU) is caused by fertilisers. This is one of the reasons to justify banning of inorganic fertilisers and synthetic pesticides. Whether nano urea will cause similar effects is not known. Nano particles are of minute size . In general, nearly 100 kg of nitrogen is taken up by the paddy crop yielding 4-5 tons of grains per hectare. Accordingly, Nano-Urea should be applied at a rate of 1,250 liters per hectare if it is the only source of nitrogen added to the crop. Nano- urea need to be sprayed to the foliage and it is possible that it could have a disastrous effect on the living organisms including human beings, which the health authorities need to give serious consideration. Nano products are new to the environment and not enough research has been conducted on the long-term effects of Nano particles on animal health and environment. There are no recommendations on the amounts, and frequency of Nano Urea to be applied to different crops . Many Farmers are refusing to apply nano urea as they have not being made aware of the appropriate recommendations which should not be made in an ad-hoc manner without conducting any field investigations.

Considering the cost of the fertilizer and labour cost for application, the use of foliar fertilisers in a crop like paddy, is expensive and will increase the cost of production. Any fertiliser imported to the country needs to be tested following the accepted protocols prior to giving approval for importation and after the shipment has arrived in order to assure quality and to avoid any negative impacts. It is not known whether such tests were carried out before Nano-Urea was brought to the country.

Dr. C.S. Weeraratna,

csweera@sltnet.lk

Chaturanga Samarawickrama Courtesy The Daily Mirror

A pecial gazette notification was issued announcing the Meerigama-Kurunegala section of the Central Expressway (E-04) which was designated as an Expressway to be an ‘User Fee National Highway’

The gazette notification was issued by the Highways Minister, Johnston Fernando.

The stretch of road is 40.910 km long and 80.000-100.000 metres wide, situated between Meerigama (36.981km) and Kurunegala (77.891km) of the Central Expressway, the gazette notification said. 

Courtesy Hiru News

The Department of Agriculture stated that a list is currently being prepared for the importation of pesticides. The department stated that it would then table the said list to the cabinet of ministers.

The Director-General of the Department Ajantha Silva further stated that as local pest control methods are increasingly used, attention will be paid to import eco-friendly pesticides as required.

Meanwhile, the Fertilizer Secretariat stated that the stock of nano nitrogen liquid fertilizer brought to Sri Lanka from India this morning will be distributed to farmers from next week.

Hiru News correspondent stated that about 385 farming families in the Onegama area in Polonnaruwa are preparing for cultivation by producing organic fertilizer required for the Maha season.

Farmers in the Giritale area in Polonnaruwa also stated that they are ready to commence cultivation as the government has promised to pay compensation for crop damage. Accordingly, they are constructing canals and dams to commence cultivation activities.

Farmers in the Medirigiriya area in Polonnaruwa have started cultivating with rainwater before releasing irrigation water and say that they have started cultivating as the government has promised to provide fertilizer for the Maha season.

Organic fertilizer required to cultivate 82,000 hectares in the Kurunegala District has been provided by 56 Fertilizer Centers in that district and the distribution of these to farmers has already commenced.

Courtesy Hiru News

Lawyers point out that the condition imposed by Trade Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena that at least five more items should be purchased without giving the opportunity to purchase only rice and sugar from Sathosa is a violation of the Consumer Affairs Act.

The decision taken by the Minister of Trade Dr. Bandula Gunawardena was implemented from today and consumers came to the CWE outlets to buy sugar and rice.

However, NM Shaheed, a former chairman of the Consumer Affairs Council, said that traders could not impose any conditions on consumers other than the requirement that the price of the product be paid promptly.

The Consumer Affairs Authority can take action against traders who sell goods by imposing such conditions.

Shaheed further added that the Consumer Affairs Authority Act No. 9 of 2003 provides for fines as well as imprisonment for such traders.

Meanwhile, a gazette notification was issued removing the maximum retail prices imposed on severel essential food items and removing the control prices imposed on sugar, chicken, dried fish, mackerel, green gram, chickpeas, big onions and maize.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has taken steps to reduce the Special Commodity Levy of Rs. 65 per kilogram of imported rice to 25 cents.

Nihal Seneviratne, Spokesman for the Importers of Essential Commodities, said that after the revision of the import duty, orders have been placed to import 15,000 metric tons of rice from India to date.

Our correspondents stated that people are still waiting in queues to buy gas, kerosene and cement in several parts of the island.

Courtesy Adaderana

A special gazette has been issued removing the price control on a number of food items including sugar, dhal, chicken, canned fish, corn, big onions, wheat flour, potatoes and milk powder.

The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) said the gazette is effective from Wednesday (November 03).

Thereby, seven gazette notifications previously published by the CAA have been rescinded by the new communiqué:

• Order No. 39 published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 1975/68 on July 14, 2016 for MRP on chickpeas, wheat flour and imported milk powder
• Order No. 40 published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 2003/44 on January 27, 2017 for MRP on dried sprats, green grams and imported potatoes
• Order No. 48 published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 2048/30 on December 06, 2017 for MRP on dried fish, coconut, dried chilies, Maldive fish and several other items
• Order No. 59 published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 2166/29 on March 12, 2020 for MRP on chicken
• Order No. 60 published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 2166/30 on March 12, 2020 for MRP on corn
• Order No. 61 published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 2167/9 on March 17, 2020 for MRP on Masoor Dhal, big onions and canned fish
• Order No. 76 published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 2243/13 on September 02, 2021 for MRP on white sugar and brown sugar

Courtesy Adaderana

The total number of people who died of COVID-19 infection in Sri Lanka moved up as 15 more fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Wednesday (November 03).

The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in the country to 13,806.

The latest victims include 08 males and 07 females, the Department of Government Information said.

According to official data, 12 deaths were reported among elderly people aged above 60 years. In addition, 03 people aged between 30-59 years have also fallen victim to the virus infection.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Ministry of Health reported that another 124 persons have tested positive for coronavirus today, increasing the daily count of new cases to 592.

Accordingly, the total number of Covid-19 cases registered in the country so far has risen to 543,385.

Over 15,000 patients infected with the virus are currently being treated across the island while total recoveries is 514,234.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has briefed the court of probes initiated into alleged misappropriation of Rs. 1 billion at the National Fertilizer Secretariat.

Former Secretary to the Agriculture Ministry, Major General (Retired) Sumedha Perera had filed a complaint, stating that this financial irregularity occurred in 2018 and 2019 during the process to import three types of fertilizer including urea into the country. He claimed that chemical reports and other documents had been forged in the process.

The financial crimes unit of the CID told the court that it has so far recorded statements from the plaintiff and two other officers about the allegations.

According to reports, four officers of the National Fertilizer Secretariat have already been suspended in connection with the incident.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The first census of Ceylon of which there is a record is the census of 1824. That was an incomplete census which grouped the population by caste.  The first complete population census   of Ceylon was the census of 1871.  This census left out ‘caste’ and introduced ‘race’ and ‘nationality’,   two European   concepts which were in vogue at the time.   Race appeared for the first time in this census.  There were 72 nationalities and 24 races, including foreign ones such as Chinese, German and Irish. The local ‘races’ were Sinhalese, Tamil, Burgher, Chetty, Malay and Moor. Sinhalese and Tamils were ‘races’ as well as ‘nationalities’. 

The Sinhala, Tamil and Moor races were officially recognized for the first time in 1871. The proportions were Sinhalese 69.40%, Tamils 22.21% and Moor 6.79%. There was a census every ten years or so after 1871.  At the 8th International Statistical Congress 1872, it was agreed that a census must include language, religion, birthplace and nationality. The 1881 Census referred to 72 nationalities in the text but classified the population only by ‘race.’ The races were ‘Europeans, Sinhalese, Tamil, Moors, Malay, Veddahs and Other’. Race became the main category of classification thereafter. The 1911 Census    had ten races, ‘Low country Sinhalese, Kandyan Sinhalese, Indian Tamils, Ceylon Tamils, Indian   Moors, (also known as Coast Moors) Ceylon Moors, Malays, Burghers, Veddahs, Europeans and Other’.

The 1911 Census said Sinhalese and Tamils are distinct, clearly differentiated races. They have their own religion and speak different languages. ‘Their settlements are clearly defined.’ Intermarriage between them is very rare. Even a superficial observer could see, it said, that there are marked physical differences between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. However,  the 1921 census has photographs of the ‘races’. They all look alike. The   difference was in their costumes, not in facial or physical characteristic.

Ponnambalam Arunachalam in his introduction to the 1901 census used history to show that the Sinhala and Tamil races were genuine and long standing. Arunachalam added a chapter on the history of Ceylon to the 1901 census. This   was not there in the earlier reports.  He wrote that the Tamils and Sinhalese have lived in the island for two thousand years. He drew attention to Dutugemunu’s fight with Elara. Denham in 1911 said that the Sinhalese and Tamils had been in Sri Lanka for centuries, fighting with each other. However, he added that only the Sinhalese could ‘regard Ceylon as home’. It was the ‘shrine of their national traditions.’

Each district was   designated ‘Tamil’ district’ and ‘Sinhala district’ according to the racial percentage. This created geographically contiguous ‘Tamil areas’ and ‘Sinhala areas’.   Census of 1871 showed 50-90% Sinhalese in all provinces except Jaffna, Vanni, Mannar (5%) and Trincomalee, Batticaloa (10%). Tamils were 90% in Vanni and Jaffna, 70% in Mannar and Eastern province, 40% in Central province and 16% in Badulla. Moors were 35% in Batticaloa 30-20% in Mannar, Trincomalee and Puttalam.

The Census of 1891 has three separate maps indicating the ‘relative proportions of races’ for Tamil, Sinhala and Moor. Jaffna, Vanni, Mannar, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts were assigned in bright pink to the Tamils. These figures ignore the important issue of population density.  The 1911 census showed the following population density. In Northern Province, Jaffna with 998 sq miles had 326,510 persons. Mannar had 904 sq miles and 25,603 persons, Mullaitivu had 1466 sq miles and 17,336 persons.  In Eastern province, Batticaloa had 2800 sq miles and 153,943 persons Trincomalee had 1048 sq miles and 29,374 persons.

Sometime after the Sinhala race” was invented, it got bisected.  Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Superintendant of Census, divided the Sinhalese into Kandyan and Low country for the 1901 census. Then he said that Tamils were equal to each of the Sinhala groups when taken separately. Census of 1921 stated that the Kandyan Sinhalese differed from the Low country Sinhalese in all respects except those of color, religion and language. Kandyan villagers saw the Low country Sinhalese as a separate race (pahata rata minissu), probably due to the impact of Portuguese, Dutch, British, Malay and Chinese influences (sic).

Census of 1911  however, stated ‘ the distinction between Kandyan and Low country Sinhalese is every year lessened, intermarriages are on the increase and in many parts   of the  ‘Up country’, it is difficult to distinguish  between Kandyan and Low country men and women’.  Then  in  1922   a  district court case dealing with property rights in marriage  went  into appeal and  Supreme Court ruled that  that Low country Sinhalese  and Kandyan Sinhalese were the same race. (NLR vol.24 p245)

But as late as 1946, persons from the Central, North central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa provinces, the Kurunegala and Puttalam districts and the ’Sinhalese divisions’ of the districts of Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Vavuniya continued to be Kandyan. Persons from Western and Southern provinces and Chilaw and Puttalam districts were Low country (Census 1946). Arthur Ranasinghe, Superintendant of census for 1946 cited the 1922 case and observed that this division made no sense. Kandyan and Low- country Sinhalese were treated as two separate census groups from 1901 to 1971.  They were combined in the 1981 census.

Ponnambalam Arunachalam said in the 1901 census that the ‘modern’ approach at that time was to identify ‘aggregations of persons believed or presumed to belong to the same stock and having a common language, character and political institutions.’  But no objective criteria  were devised for this. The answer given by the respondent was accepted by the enumerators in 1981. Denham had said in 1911 that it is inconceivable that any Sinhalese would enter himself as Tamil or vice versa.

In the Census of 1946, the enumerators were offered a list of races and had to slot people into one of them. The enumerators were instructed, ‘ enter the race of each as Low country Sinhala, Kandyan Sinhalese, Ceylon Tamil, Indian Tamil,  Ceylon Moor .Indian Moor, Malay, English, scotch, Irish etc. also state whether Malay, Parsee, Borah. Do not use general terms such as British , Ceylonese. The children were given their fathers’ race.

In 1946, the criteria for deciding if a person was a  Ceylon Tamil ,was ‘racial stock’. Ceylon Tamils are those who can trace their origins to a ‘Tamil district in Ceylon,’  said the Census. A Ceylon Tamil therefore  was a person who traditionally had his origins in a Tamil district. It was ‘stock’ not birthplace that decided.

For language, 1946 census said’ Enter in this cage the language of the race to which the father belongs. For Moor, Burghers, Eurasians the language used in the home.  The census asked for ‘mother tongue.’ But father’s tongue must be stated  for the mother tongue. Enter father’s language in the mother tongue column”, the Census instructed.

The Census asked whether   a person could speak Sinhala or Tamil. There was a separate question for literacy, which asked can they read and write Sinhala or Tamil.  Jennings said the census would have been more useful if it has asked, instead for mother tongue,  for languages spoken, literacy in mother tongue, literacy in other languages. The 1950 Whitepaper quietly dropped mother tongue and substituted the language of the home, noted Jennings.

The 1981 census classified the population into six ethnic groups: ‘Sinhalese, Sri Lanka Tamil, Indian Tamil, Sri Lanka Moor, Burgher, Malay and other.’  The 2012 census added ‘Sri Lanka Chetty’ and ‘Bharatha’ to the list. The ethnic pattern in 2012 was: Sinhalese (15,250,081) Sri Lanka Tamil (2,269,266) Indian Tamil (839,504) Sri Lanka Moor (1,892,638) Burgher (38,293) Malay (44,130) Sri Lanka Chetty (5,595), Bharatha (1,717) Other (18,215).  Total 20,359,439. (Census 2012). 

The Population Census, which is based on the Census Ordinance, has a great deal of authority and influence, observed Tudor Silva. Its statistics are used as the base for many economic activities, such as distribution of state resources.   Its ethnic categories, which are utterly artificial, are accepted as official. This has led to other complications. These artificial ethnic Identities then started to    develop a life   and history of their own   and become fixed.   Now they are claiming land rights and   sovereignty, Tudor concluded. (Continued)

 චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම,  LL.B., Ph.D.

වයිට් මෑන්ස් බර්ඩන්

ලංකා කොලනියේදී සුද්දාගේ උරචක්‍රමාලය වූයේ පන්සල හා ගැමියා අතරවූ ගහට පොත්ත වැනි බැඳීමය. ඔවුන්ගේ බර්ඩන් එක එය කඩාකප්පල් කරන්නේ කෙසේද යනුය.

‘සුද්දගෙ නීතිය අපිට එපා’ යන්න විශාල අර්ථයක් ඇති කියමනකි. එය බිඳහෙලිය නොහැකි මතවාදයකි. එය පදනම් කරගෙන මෑත ලංකා ඉතිහාස කතාව වුවද ලියන්නට හැකිය. මෙම කියමන නිල වශයෙන් හෝමාගම මැජිස්ට්‍රේට් රංග දිසානායක  මහතාට ඉදිරිපත් කලේ බොදු බල සේනාවේ ගල්බොඩ අත්තේ ඥානසාර හිමිඳුන් විසින්ය. එය, එක රටක්, එක නීතියක් නමැති කාසියේ අනිත් පැත්තය. මේ නිසා එක රටක්  එක නීතියක් සඳහා පත්කල ජනාධිපති කාර්ය සාධක බලකායේ සභාපති ලෙස ඥානසාර හිමියන් පත්කිරිම දිවයිනේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනයාට ලබාදී ඇති අගනා අවස්ථාවකි, ජයග්‍රහණයකි. 1956 දී අගමැති බණ්ඩාරණායකට සිංහල භාෂාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගන්නට සිදුවූවා මෙන්, මෙය 1815 න් පසුව දිගටම වරින් වර මතුවී යටවී ගිය ජාතික ‘නිදහස්’ සටනක ප්‍රතිපලයක් ලෙස, කයිරාටික පක්ෂ දේශපාලක බිස්නස්කාරයෙක් නොවූ ජනාධිපති ගෝඨභයට ප්‍රමාදවී නොව කල්තියාම, රුවන් වැලි මහාසෑය අබියස දීම 2018 දී ගන්නට සිදුව තිබූ තීරණයක් විය. ඔවුන් දෙන්නාම පිළිවෙලින් යුග දෙකක, ජාතික අරගල අවස්ථා දෙකක, වින්නඹුවන් පමණය. 1505 ට කලින් ලංකා ඉතිහාසය පසෙකට තබා, 1798 න් පසු කාලය ගත්තොත්, එය එක් අතකින් රටේ පන්සල් හා අනිත් පැත්තෙන් සුද්දන්-කළුසුද්දන් අතර ඇතිවූ සනාතන අරගලයක කතාන්තරයකි. මේ නිසා මෙම ජාතික රාජ්‍යපාලන කාරිය සඳහා මතවාදී නායකත්වය දීමට සුදුසුම පුද්ගලයා පත්කර ඇත. සියළු සත්වයෝ (මිනිසුන් පමණක් නොව) නිදුක්-නිරෝගී-සුවපත් වේවා යන්න සිංහල බෞද්ධයින්ගේ පුද්ගලික හා පොදු අභිලාශයය. ගස් ගල් වලට පවා කෘතගුණපූර්විකවීම බුදු දහමින් දෙන ආදර්ශයයි.

සිංහල බෞද්ධ අන්තවාදය

මේ දිවයිනේ පැවති සිංහල බෞද්ධ රාජ්‍යය තුල දෙමළ, මුස්ලිම් හෝ හින්දු ඉස්ලාම් භේදයක් නොවීය. සිංහලේ රට තුල දමිල හා මුස්ලිම් ජනයා හා 1551 ට පසුව සිට බිහිවූ ක්‍රිස්තියානි ජනයා සමානයන් සේ ජීවත් විය. සිංහලේ රජු පෘතුගීසීන් හා ලන්දේසීන් විසින් ඝාතනයට ලක් කල ඉස්ලාම් හා කතෝලික සරණාගතයින්ට පිහිට විය. මුහුදුබඩ තීරයෙන් පිටත රට තුල දැන් තිබෙන කතෝලික හා මුස්ලිම් ගම්මාන එහි ප්‍රතිපලයකි. පොලොන්නරුව සමය වනවිට ගවයා සඳකඩ පහණින් ඉවත් කලේ හින්දු භක්තිකයින්ට ගරු කිරීමක් වශයෙනි. 1883 කොටහේන කතෝලික-බෞද්ධ ගැටුම හා 1915 සිංහල-මුස්ලිම් කෝලාහලය හා ජී. ජී. පොන්නම්බලම්ගේ කට කැඩිච්ච කතාවක් නිසා ගම්පොල ඇතිවන්නට ගිය සිංහල-දමිල ගැටුම හැර ලංකා ඉතිහාසයේ,  යුරෝපයේ මෙන් ජාති-ආගම් ගැටුම් සිදුවී නැත. එය 1832 දී ඇරඹුණ කෝල්බෲක් කොමිෂමේ ජාතිවාදී නියෝජන ක්‍රමය තුලින් මතුවූ බෙදා පලනය කිරීමේ න්‍යායයේ නිෂ්පාදනයකි. ත්‍රිපිටකයේ හෝ ධම්මපදයේ හෝ පන්සිය පනස් ජාතක පොතේ හෝ ජාතික වාදයකට මිස ජාති වාදයකට ඉඩක් නැත. බුදු දහමේ කියන්නේ එව බලව මිස, එව අදහව (come and examine, not come and believe) කියා නොවේ. මෙම ලිපිවලදී සිංහල බෞද්ධයින් ගැන සඳහන්  කරන්නේ සුද්දගෙ නීතියෙන් අසාධාරණයක් සිදුවූයේ ඔවුන්ට නිසා මිස සෙසු ජනවර්ග වලට නොවන නිසාය. ධර්මපාලතුමාවත්, සෝම හාමුදුරුවන්වත්, බොදු බල සේනාවවත්, සිංහල බෞද්ධ නොවන අයට වෙනස්කම් කරන්නට යෝජනා කර නැත.

මේ ආකාරයට රටේ ඉතිහාස කතාව දෙස බලන විට, දිවයිනේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ ශිෂ්ටාචාරයට, උරුමයට, හතුරුව, රට කැබලි කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයට දැන හෝ නොදැන මුක්කු ගහන පිරිස්, දේශීය හා විදේශීය බලවේග, ඥානසාර හාමුදුරුවන්ගේ මස් රාත්තලම ඉල්ලා 2012 මැයි මාසයේ සිටම බෙරිහන්දුන් පිරිස්, වෙඩි වැදුන ඌරන් මෙන් දැඟලීම පුදුමයට කරුණක් නොවේ. මේ වනවිට එම පත්කිරීමට පක්ෂව ලියූ එකම පුද්ගලයා මහාචාර්ය නලින් ද සිල්වා පමණය.  මෙහිලා සෙනාලි වඩුගේ විසින් ලංකාවෙබ් වෙබ් අඩවියට ඔක්තෝබර් 27 දා ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන් ලියන ලද ලිපියකින් අසා ඇති ප්‍රශ්ණ එහි සිංහල අනුවාදයක් ලෙස පලකලොත් එය සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනයාගේ ඇස් අරවනවා නිසැකය LankaWeb – Regime Change & Constitutions – Is Sri Lanka ready? . මෙවැනි පසුබිමක් යටතේ සුද්දගෙ නීතිය අපිට එපා යන මාතෘකාව, නීති විද්‍යාව- භූගෝල විද්‍යාව-බුද්ධාගම යන ත්‍රිකෝණය (ත්‍රිත්වය) තුල  විමසා බැලීම සුදුසු යයි මට සිතේ. මෙම ලිපිය එහි පලවෙනි කොටසය.

එවැනි කාර්ය සාධක බලකායක් (1 ) අනවශ්‍යය (2 ) එයට පත්කර ඇති සාමාජිකයින් හෙවත් එහි සංයුතිය, දෝෂ සහිතය (ව්‍යවස්ථා නීති ව්ශාරදයින්/දමිළයින්/කාන්තාවන් නැත) (3 ) ඥානසාර හිමියන්ට එය භාරදීම නුසුදුසුය යනුවෙන් නඟන අදෝනා, නහයෙන් ඇඬීම් අතරින්, කර්කශ, දුෂ්ට, කුහක, අපහාසාත්මක හා අසාධාරණම  වන්නේ 3 වැන්නය. මෙහිදී අපට වැදගත් හාමුදුරුවන්ගේ මස් රාත්තලම ඉල්ලීමේ ඇති කෙටි ඉතිහාස කතාව හා එහි අසාධාරණ කමය. වෛරයෙන් අන්දවූ අඳබාල පිරිස් මැද සිටින න්‍යායාචාර්ය පඬිතුමා දයාන් ජයතිලකය. පුදුමය නම් සේපාල් අමරසිංහ, සුදත්ත තිලකසිරි හා නාගානන්ද කොඩිතුවක්කු වැනි අය පවා වලිගේ පාගා ගෙන තිබීමය. විග්නේශ්වරන්, ඒබ්‍රහම් සුමන්තිරන් ශිවාජිලිංගම්, රාවුෆ් හකීම්, ජෙහාන් පෙරේරා, පාකියසෝති, රාසමානික්කම් කොළුවා හෝ අලි සබ්‍රිගේ  ක්ෂණික විලිරුදා තේරුම් ගත හැකිය.

හිත හොඳ ගෑණු

සුද්දන් සමඟ එකතුව අනාගාරික ධර්මපාලතුමාට වටකරගෙන පහරදුන්නේ බෞද්ධ යයි කියාගත් දේශපාලක සිංහල කළු සුද්දන්ය. ඩී. ඇස්. සේනානායක පමණක් නොව ඩී. බී ජයතිලක පවා මෙම පාප කර්මයට හවුල්කාරයෙක් විය. 2003 දෙසැම්බර් 12 දා රුසියාවේදී සැකකටයුතු ලෙස අපවත්වූ සෝම හාමුදුරුවන් විසින් සිංහල බෞද්ධයින්ගේ අභිමානය හා දේශාණුරාගය ගොඩ නැංවීමේ ප්‍රතිපලයක් ලෙස මතුවූ සීහල උරුමය හා ජාතික හෙළ උරුමය ඒවා තුලට රිංගාගත් හතුරන් විසින්ම කඩාකප්පල් කර දමන ලදී. 2009 මැයි 18 දා උතුර හා නැඟෙනහිර නිදහස් කරගැනීමට සිංහල බෞද්ධ ගැමි තරුණ-තරුණියන් දායක වූයේද සෝම හිමියන් ගෙන් ලැබුණු දායාදයේ මහිමයෙනි. එසේ වුවත් යුද ජයග්‍රහණයෙන් සිංහල බෞද්ධයින් බලාපොරොත්තුවූ වෙනස්කම් සිදු නොවීම හේතුවෙන් ඇතිවූ අසහනයට පිළිතුරක් වශයෙන් 2012 මැයි මාසයේදී බොදු බල සේනාව බිහිවිය.

එතෙක් පැවති සිංහල බෞද්ධ සංවිධාන හා බොදු බල සේනාව අතර තිබූ වෙනස නම් එය බෞද්ධ කළුසුද්දන් විසින් ඇතිකල රාමුව/කොටුව නමැති වැට කඩාගෙන යාමය. සිංහල බෞද්ධයින්ට නායකයෙක් නැත යන ඥානසාර මතවාදය සිංහල පක්ෂ දේශපාලකයින් හා අනිකුත් නොයෙක් දේශීය හා විදේශීය ඩොලර් ඒජන්තලාට එල්ලවූ මරු පහරක් විය. මේ නිසා කළු සුද්දන්ගේ එකී නොකී සමස්ත රාජ්‍ය පාලන සංස්ථාවම/සංහතියම ඥානසාර විරෝධී  ව්‍යාපාරයක් දියත් කලේය. ඊට එක් නොවූ එකම ප්‍රසිද්ධ පුද්ගලයාවූයේ ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ පමණයයි මට සිතේ (මේ යුද්ධය දිණන්න පුළුවන් යයි කී එකම උසස් රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරියා වූයේද ඔහුය).

ධර්මපාලතුමාට සුද්දන් වත් නොකල අන්දමේ දීන කුමන්ත්‍රණ මඩ ව්‍යාපාරයක් හැම මට්ටමෙන්ම ක්‍රියාත්මකවිය. නොර්වේ රටේ ඒජන්ත කෙනෙක් යන මුසාවට මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, රජීව විජේසිංහ වැන්නන්ද හවුල් විය. එහි උග්‍රම අවස්ථාව වූයේ ලඟදීම බල සේනාව බලුකූඩුවේ දානවා යයි මිසිස් චන්ද්‍රිකා මුස්ලිම් රස්වීමකදී කල ප්‍රකාශයය. මහ රෑ ඈත කැලෑපාරකදී ඥානසාර හිමියන් අත්ඩංගුවට ගැනීමට පොලිස් බලඇනියක් කල සැලැස්ම මහජනයා මැදිහත්ව වලක්වන ලදී. දේශපාලකයින්, පොලිසිය, බාර් ඇසෝසියේෂන් හා නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව එකතුව ඥානසාර  හාමුදුරුවන් කොටුකර ගත්තේ හෝමාගම මැජිස්ට්‍රේට් හරහාය.

මෙම විස්තරය ලිවිය යුත්තේ උසාවියට අපහාස කර හිරේ ගිය අයෙක් ඉන් පසු ජනාධිපති සමාව ලබා ඇවිත් එක නීතියක් හදන්නේ කෙසේද යනුවෙන් ගොබෙල්ස් න්‍යාය අනුව ගිරවුන් මෙන් ලියන, කියන අයට සත්‍ය කතාව මතක් කර දීමටය. බොරු කාරයින් නිරුවත් කිරීමටය. නඩුකාරයින් යනු ලෝභ-ද්වේශ-මෝහයෙන් පිරි පංචස්කන්ධමය. ඔවුන්ගේ නඩුතීන්දු බයිබල් හෝ කෝරාන වාක්‍ය නොවේ. නඩු තීන්දු සද්භාවයෙන් විවේචනය කිරීම ලෝකය පුරාම සිදුවන දෙයකි. එය නීති විද්‍යාවට කරණ සේවයකි. මේ අනුව යමින් ඥානසාර හිමියන්ට රටේ උසාවි ක්‍රමය-නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව කල නීතිවිරෝධී ක්‍රියාවලිය මා විසින් විග්‍රහ කර එය ලංකාවේ සුප්‍රිම් උසාවියට, ඇපැල් උසාවියට, නීතිපතිට, බාර් ඇසොසියෙෂන් එකට, කොළඹ  නීති පීඨයට, අධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම්ට හා වෙනත් බොහෝ අයට ඊමේල් මඟින් යවන ලදී.

2019 ජනවාරි 22 ලංකාවෙබ් වෙබ් අඩවියේ පලවූ එම වාර්තා ලිපියට ලින්ක් එක පහතින් ඇත.

LankaWeb – Six lawyers and a monk: importance of impotence

 එහි විස්තර කර ඇති අන්දමට මෙම ඥානසාර නඩුව හා නඩු තීන්දුව මුළු ලෝකයේම නිග්‍රහයට පාත්‍ර විය යුතු අධිකරණ විකෘතියක් යයි මම සිතමි (වාර්තාවට අමුණා ඇති විඩියෝ කොටස් අසා බලන්න).  එය හුදෙක් නීතීඥයින් හය දෙනෙක් හා සුප්‍රීම් උසාවියේ දෙන්නෙක් එකතුව, ඥානසාර නම් පංචස්කන්ධයට කල හානියක් නොව, සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනයාගේ සර්වාධිපත්‍යය කොල්ලකා ගැනීමක් වන්නේය. මුළු නඩුවම බොරුව මත ගොඩ නැඟුණකි. ස්වාභාවික යුක්ති ධර්මය යන රීතිය අමු අමුවේ ගිල දැමීමකි. එක උදාහරණයක් පමණක් මෙසේය. රට බේරාදුන් සිංහල රණවිරුවන් වෙනුවෙන් සාධාරණ ලෙස මැදිහත්වූ හාමුදුරුනමකට  බරපතල වැඩ සහිත වසර 19 ක සිර දඬුවමක් දුන් විට ඊට විරුද්ධව සුප්‍රීම් උසාවියට පෙත්සමක් ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට අවසර ඉල්ලා සුප්‍රිම් උසාවියට ආයාචනයක් ගොනුකරණ ලදී. එහි නඩුකාරයින් තුන් දෙනාගෙන් දෙන්නෙක් එය ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කිරීමට තීරණය කලේය. ඒ දෙන්නාගෙන් එක් අයෙක් තමන් බාර් ඇසෝසියේෂන් එකේ සිටියදී ඥානාසාර හිමියන්ට හා බොදු බල සේනාවට විරුද්ධව බලවත් ලෙස ක්‍රියාකල අයෙක් විය. මොහු එම ආයාචනය ඇසීමෙන් ස්වකැමැත්තෙන්ම ඉවත් විය යුතුව තිබුණි. එසේ නැත්නම් ඥානසාර හිමියන්ගේ නීතීඥයා එය පෙන්වා දිය යුතුව තිබුණි. ලංකාවේ නීතීඥයෝ නඩුකාරයින්ට බය බව  රටම දනී.

කොසොල් රජතුමා දුටු සීන දාසැය

සිංහල බෞද්ධ විරෝධී පිරිසගේ අමන්දානන්දයට හේතුවූ මෙම විකෘති අධිකරණ තීන්දුව, ලඟදීම අපි බල සේනාව බලු කූඩුවේ දානවා යන මිසිස් චන්ද්‍රිකාගේ ප්‍රකාශයට අනුකූල විය. මෙම විකෘති පිරිසගේ හැසිරීම් රටාව උසාවියට පරිබාහිර යම් කාරණාවලින් සක්සුදක්සේ තහවුරුවේ. පසුකාලයක රන්ජන් රාමනායක නම් අන්දමන්දවූ පුද්ගලයා කලා මෙන් ඥානසාර හිමියන් තමන්ට සමාව දෙන ලෙස කාටවත් බැගෑපත්වූයේ නැත. තමන් ජාතිය වෙනුවෙන් කරණ ක්‍රියා වරදවල් ලෙස උන්වහන්සේ සළකන්නේ නැත. ඒවා සුද්දගෙ නීතිය යටතේවත් වැරදි නොවේ. එසේ නැතිනම් නම් ධර්මපාලතුමා සිටිය යුතුව තිබුණේ මහජනයා අතර දේශනා දෙමින් නොව හිරගෙදරය. හාමුදුරුවන් නිදහස් කරණ ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටියේ අසාද් සාලි, හිස්බුල්ලා, (හකීම්?) යන අයත් රවි කරුණානායකත්ය. ඒ පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරයට පසුව හාමුදුරුවන් තවදුරටත් හිරේ තබන්නට හැකි ආත්ම ශක්තියක්, රනිල්ට, චන්ද්‍රිකාට හෝ මෛත්‍රීපාලට නොතිබුණු නිසාය.

ඊට කලින් හාමුදුරුවන් නිදහස් කරන්නට එපාය යන පෙත්සමට මුලින්ම අත්සන් කලේ රනිල්ගේ බිරිඳ මෛත්‍රීය! මාක්ස්වාදය, ඉස්ලාම්, ක්‍රිස්තියානි ලබ්ධි වලින්  කරන්නේ අනුගාමිකයින් බිහිකිරිම මිස එව බලව යන ස්වාධීන, විචක්ෂණ මනසක් වර්ධනය කිරීම නොවේ. බුද්ධාගමට පහරදීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයෙන් හදන්නේ එවැනි පඹයින්, රොබාට්ලා, එහෙයියන් ගෙන් පිරි රටක් කරා හෙමින් හෙමින් මිනිසුන් දක්කාගෙන යාමය. එසේ නැත්නම් ලෝකයේ ප්‍රථම වරට තමන්ගේ රටට විරුද්ධ යෝජනාවට පක්ෂවු මංගල සමරවීර මියගියවිට ඔහුට ස්ත්‍රෝත්‍ර ගයන්නේ කවුද? සුනිල් පෙරේරා කරේ තියාගන්නේ කවුද? මේවාට කියන්නේ කොසොල් රජතුමාගේ හීන සැබෑවෙනවා කියාය.

ජනාධිපති ප්‍රේමදාස මියගිය විට රතිංඥා පත්තුකල පිරිස දැන් පුතානෝ පිටුපසින් යමින් සිටී. සජිත්ට අනුව රංජන්ට සමාව දීමට අවශ්‍ය ඔහු හිරේ සිට උපාධියකට පාඩම් කරන නිසාය! රන්ජන් රාමනායකට සමාව දෙන ලෙස කියන අය ඔහුට දුන් අවුරුදු 4 සිර දඬුවම අසාධාරණ හා මානව අයිතිය කඩකිරීමකැයි කියමින් නීතිය වෙනස් කිරීමට හෝ අළුත් නීතියක් ගේන්නට කියයි. උසාවි තීන්දුව දුන් පසුව උසාවි භූමියේ සිටම මුන් හොරු යයි වහසිබස් දෙඩවූ රංජන් වෙනුවෙන් ඉදිරිපත්වූ පිරිස්, ඥානසාර හිමියන්ට අවුරුදු 19 ක බරපතල වැඩ සහිත සිරදඬුවමක් දීම ගැන නිහඬව සිටියේ හාමුදුරුවන්ගෙන් පිළිඹිඹුවන සිංහල බෞද්ධ උරුමයට ඔවුන්ගේ ඇති දැඩි, දුෂ්ට වෛරය නිසාද? පොසොන් කියන්නේ ලංකාවට එල්ලවූ පලවෙනි ආක්‍රමණය යයි කිව හැක්කේ සටන් විරාම ගිවිසුමකින් රට පාවාදුන්, රට කැබලිකිරීමට සූදානම් අයෙකුට පමණය. රනිල්, රාජිත, අනුර කුමාරලාගේ හා උලමා සභාවේ ඩබල්ගේම් රටට එළිකලේ ඥානසාර හාමුදුරුවෝය. නිලධාරීන් රට කොට උඩ යවන්නට සදන බව නිර්භයවම කියන්නේද උන්වහන්සේ පමණය.

කතෝලික රදගුරු සමුළුව, දෙමළ මුස්ලිම් දේශපාලන පක්ෂ හා, සිංහල-දෙමළ ක්‍රිස්තියානි හා මාක්ස්වාදී පංචස්කන්ධ වනාහි මේ යුද්ධය නම් කවදාවත්ම දිණන්න බෑ කියූ පිරිස්ය. ඥානසාර හිමියන් දඩමීමා කරගෙන ඔවුන් නඟන   චෝදනාවලට  වලට යටින් ඇත්තේද 1815 න් පසු ක්‍රියාත්මකවූ සිංහලයගේ රට කැබලිකිරීමේ න්‍යායපත්‍රය මය. මුලතිව් ගුරුකන්ද විහාරයේ ආදාහන ප්‍රශ්ණයේදී මුළු රටේම හාමුදුරුවරු අසරණවී තුෂ්ණිම්භූතව සිටියදී එයට මැදිහත්ව, දැන් සුද්දගෙ නීතිය යටතේ චූදිතයෙක් වී සිටින්නේද ජාතියේ ප්‍රණාමය හිමිවිය යුතු ඥානසාර හිමියන්මය. තමන්ට භාරදුන් රාජකාරිය හාමුදුරුවන් විසින් කිරිගහට ඇන්නා මෙන් ඉටුකරණ බව සිංහල බෞද්ධ විරෝධී පිරිස් හොඳින්ම දනී.