SepalAmarasinghe

By Sena Thoradeniya

1. Introduction

Dr. Sudath Gunasekera in his essay posted in LankaWeb on 15 August 2025 proposes the Government of Sri Lanka, to set up a Memorial Museum of Patriotic Wars of Kandyan Sinhalese (1505-1848) and an International Institute of Postgraduate Research on Colonial Crimes in Sri Lanka”.

Accordingly, the proposed Museum will be designed to tell the pathetic story of the Sri Lanka’s Buddhist Kandyans”, to narrate the cruel saga of three colonial invasions” and highlight the savage crimes committed by the Western invaders with special focus on the 1817- 1818 Uva-Vellassa liberation struggle and the 1848 Matale Uprising respectively. Attention will also be paid to the draconian laws, barbaric and uncivilized methods the invaders deployed to rob country’s riches”. The proposed Museum will also portray the different methods of indigenous warfare of the Sinhalese” including guerilla warfare, visuals of brutalities committed by the colonial invaders” and Sri Lankan heroes of this period. In addition, it is also proposed to set up an International Institute of Postgraduate Research in the fields of colonial invasion”, a library to house all books related to this period”, a theater, lecture rooms, a lab and an Administrative Branch.

The proposal is not only commendable but long overdue. It addresses a pressing need with clarity and purpose and we welcome it without reservation. As someone born and educated in the historic Kandyan kingdom, I feel a deep personal connection to this initiative and extend my wholehearted, unwavering support. It is a step forward that resonates with both heritage and hope.

2. Literature as a Predictive Lens for Future Events

While the following discussion is in no way intended to diminish the brilliance of Dr. Sudath Gunasekera ’s proposal, it is important to recognize a broader intellectual context. Literature has long served as a harbinger of future developments, often anticipating changes in science, technology, and society. Science fiction, for instance, has historically imagined innovations – such as space travel, artificial intelligence and virtual reality – well before their realization in the empirical world. Likewise, novelists frequently perceive or reflect emerging historical and sociological currents, offering prophetic insights into the path of human affairs.

It is therefore obligatory upon historians, political analysts and sociologists to examine how creative writers have anticipated or foretold future events. Such interdisciplinary inquiry supplements our understanding of literature’s predictive power and emphasizes the interdependent relationship between imaginative expression and empirical reality.

Futility” or The Wreck of the Titan” by Morgan Robertson (1898), a luxurious, “unsinkable” ship named Titan striking an iceberg and sinking in the North Atlantic, The World Set Free”  by H. G. Wells (1914), the invention and use of atomic bombs powered by the disintegration of atoms, 1984”  by George Orwell (1949), imagining a dystopian society under constant surveillance, where truth is manipulated and individual freedoms are suppressed, Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley (1932), imagining a future dominated by consumerism, genetic engineering and psychological conditioning, are a few examples from world-renowned authors whose literary works anticipated major historical and societal developments that underscore literature’s remarkable ability to foresee technological and societal transformations.These writers offered prophetic insights into the trajectory of human civilization.

There are many novels that foresaw Socialist Revolution. Of those Mother” by Maxim Gorky (1906), a classic of socialist realism, portraying a working-class woman’s political awakening inspired by revolutionary movements in Russia stands aloft. Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo (1862), set in post-revolutionary France, is a deep social commentary on poverty, justice and redemption, deeply sympathizing with the poor and oppressed.

Why all this elaborate discourse on literature? Simply to affirm that I have established a fictitious Research Centre for Kandyan Affairs and a Museum dedicated to the heroic deeds of the freedom fighters of Uva, Wellassa, Dumbara, and Walapone during the freedom struggle of 1817–1818. These institutions are embedded within the narrative framework of my 772-page epic novel, Saptha Apadana Wasthuwa” (Seven Narratives or Fifty Years After Peradeniya- A New Journey Begins), published in 2011- now fourteen years ago.

My research work titled Dumbara Rata” (in four volumes; volume I published in 2004), offers a detailed account of the genesis of these two conceptual institutions. In 1995, during the launch of my novel Udumbaragira” – which explores the changing patterns of rural leadership in the Kandyan countryside – from traditional structures to contemporary forms – a lady in attendance proposed the establishment of an institute dedicated to Kandyan Studies. Her suggestion may have been inspired by the thematic focus of the novel, which implicitly called for a new field of inquiry- Kandyan Studies.

The proposed institute, tentatively named the Institute of Kandyan Studies, would have required substantial financial support, likely from foreign-funded NGOs or donor agencies. However, due to limited resources and a personal dislike to becoming yet another NGO entity, I chose to set aside the idea. Nevertheless, the vision of these two institutions remained deeply embedded in my imagination.

Having resolved that the study of Kandyan Affairs cannot be pursued through an institutionalized framework but rather as an individual endeavor, I commenced my research in a private capacity. However, upon recognizing the vast scope of the subject – given that the ancient Kandyan Kingdom extended across regions such as Kanda Uda Pas Rata or Sath Rata, Uva, Matale, Sabaragomuwa, Sath Korale, Sathara Korale Maha Disa and Tun Korale, Walapane, Wellassa, Nuwarakalaviya, Tamankaduwa, Uda Palatha, Puttalama, Madakalapuwa, Kottiarama, Panama, Bintenna, Viyaluwa, and Matara Sulu Disa  – I made the well-thought-out decision to narrow the focus of my study. Thus, I confined my study to Dumbara alone, one of the principal Rata of Kanda Uda Pas Rata. Dumbara Rata” stands as the culmination of this focused exploration.

This conceptual foundation later found expression in my 2011 novel, wherein a fictional research institute and museum dedicated to the heroics of the freedom fighters of 1817-1818 were introduced. Over time, this imagined institute began to take on a mythic reality. Friends and acquaintances, upon learning of my visits to Kandy, would often ask if I was going to the Centre and request to accompany me—thus blurring the line between fiction and lived experience.

I do not state that Dr. Sudath Gunasekera borrowed this idea from me, nor am I certain whether he is aware of the existence of such a novel.

It is a recurring observation of mine that historians, political analysts and sociologists of our country lack a substantive understanding of their nation’s art and literature. Conversely, most writers and artists demonstrate limited engagement with historical, political or sociological discourse. This disciplinary divide hampers holistic cultural analysis.  

3. Saptha Apadana Wasthuwa” (Seven Narratives)

Some political and cultural activists who entered the University at Peradeniya in 1961, meet after 50 years in a newly-built Museum and a Research Centre in a picturesque setting in front of Hunnasgiriya Mountains, in Patha Dumbara, Kandy. They come from the four corners of the Island – from the valleys of four major rivers of Lanka Mahaveli, Kelani, Kalu and Walawe. As they travel up to the mountains, they recall their experiences, political involvements, aspirations, sentiments, interventions in art and literary activities and dynamism of a generation. At the same time, they discuss various contradictions that arose during the period in many fields of activity. 

After their meeting they resolve to begin a new journey with the wish, not to abandon the course again; not to see an unfinished end of the journey they began fifty years ago or the new journey ending with another tragedy. They relate eloquently and lucidly that they can rediscover their lost collective legacy and what was denied to them, what they could not achieve, the goal they had missed. Thereby the novel portrays the lives of some bi-lingual intellectuals, political and cultural activists unfortunately became extinct in the 1970s, who attempted to change the existing socio- economic system.

The novel takes the reader on an Odyssey beginning from the mountain passes, rugged river basins and forest covers of Kalupahana Mountains in the Knuckles Range, from tapping kitul trees for its sap in mountain hideouts, to the Sovereign Hill” gold mines, Eureka Centre” and Southern Cross” flag in Victoria, Australia and to Dreamtime” stories of the Aborigines.  It exposes the duplicity of the NGO Movement, international community and the so-called Peace Process” in Sri Lanka hitherto untouched by any novelist. It reveals the decadence of local professionals, officialdom and academics comparing them with their counterparts elsewhere.

The novel has two main parts. The first part takes the reader 50 years back to the Peradeniya University. Two friends of the same batch engage in a discussion about the beginnings of the university movement in Sri Lanka, establishment of a university at Peradeniya and the present degeneration of the university system. They plan to have a meeting of their erstwhile comrades. Of these two characters one is the prime mover of the project who donates a land for the Research Centre and the Museum and the other the financier of the new project. They build a Museum, a Research Centre and a library according to a plan given by an academic- the wife of a comrade killed by the security forces on mistaken identity in 1971 – domiciled in Australia. She comes back to Sri Lanka to work as the Curator of the Museum, Head of the Research Centre and Chief Editor of the journal, leaving an academic career in a prestigious Australian university. The old comrades were invited to attend the inauguration of the Museum and the Research Centre.

The second part of the novel consists of the narratives of each character invited for the big occasion. Recalling what had happened to them during the last fifty years they travel to the Centre. Twelfth or the last chapter depicts the opening of the Museum and the Research Centre.  

The novel ends on a positive note, providing hopes for a new beginning.   

4. Conceptualizing the Creation of a Museum: A Reflection on Historical Memory and National Identity

The idea of establishing a museum dedicated to Sri Lanka’s fallen heroes emerged during my visits to several historically significant sites in Victoria, Australia – namely Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill, the abandoned gold mines and the Eureka Centre (Eureka, gold miners’ hope for wealth and prosperity). These spaces commemorate the Eureka Rebellion of 1854, where gold miners took up arms against the oppression, torture, brutal and corrupt management and the oppressive licensing system imposed by colonial authorities. Though the uprising lasted only a half hour and resulted in approximately 28 deaths, its legacy has been immortalized through museums and monuments. Eureka Centreexhibits the story of the gold miners and reforms that followed the revolt.

Eureka Stockade, Eureka Stockade Memorial Park,  Eureka Flag (or the Southern Cross Flag woven by the wives of gold miners, (gold miners took their oath under it; original flag now housed at Ballarat Museum), detailed display of the Eureka Rebellion,  diorama (digital displays reenacting events) and the Contemplation Space (a quite atmosphere for the visitors to think and absorb the historical significance of the events), lectures and events are the main attractions of the Eureka Centre. (Please read my novel Yaara Yathrika” (Navigator of the River Yaara – 2015).

This experience prompted a profound reflection on the total absence of similar commemorative efforts in Sri Lanka. The British colonial massacres of 1818 and 1848 – both far more devastating in scale and consequence than the Eureka Rebellion – have not received equivalent institutional recognition. These uprisings, which saw thousands of Sri Lankans resist imperial domination, were met with brutal suppression, yet their memory remains marginal in the national consciousness, limited to annual commemorations by some dedicated personnel and micro level commemorative societies in the provinces.

It was in this context that I conceptualized the creation of a museum—not merely as a repository of artifacts, but as a space for historical reckoning, cultural affirmation and intergenerational dialogue. If a brief rebellion like Eureka warrants such extensive memorialization, then surely the sacrifices of Sri Lanka’s freedom fighters demand hundreds of museums across Uva, Vellassa, Walapone, Dumbara, Hewaheta, Harispattuwa and Matale. These institutions would serve not only to honor the fallen but also to educate future generations about the national pride, refusal of subjugation, defiance of oppression, rejection of foreign domination and servitude, courage and vision of those who resisted colonial subjugation and of course the brutality of the invaders.

Drawing inspiration from the Eureka Centre, the characters of the novel stroll through the Commemoration Park, explore the exhibits within and visit the lecture hall, library, diorama and contemplative space, where a profound dialogue unfolds, mapping out future political plans and strategies of this core group.

5. Prospects and Challenges for Establishing a Memorial Museum of Patriotic Wars of Kandyan Sinhalese Under the Current Government

Historical Commemoration and Political Realities

When we are evaluating the feasibility of this proposal, we must be mindful of historical commemoration and political realities. State-sponsored memory and minority politics will play a major role in this venture. The present Government will never endorse such a Museum. Foreign – funded NGO fraternity and Western governments will ring alarm bells to the tune of national reconciliation and pluralism compromised with national memory, clamoring that the politics of commemoration of historical heroes has no place in contemporary Sri Lanka. They will ask “Whose History Is It?

Commercial Priorities Over Commemoration

Dr. Sudath Gunasekara has proposed to establish the Memorial Museum of Patriotic Wars of Kandyan Sinhalese” at the historic Bogambara Prison site in Kandy. The site faces significant hurdles – chief among them, the value and strategic importance of the land itself. Located in the heart of the city, this prime property spans over 13 acres and is estimated to be worth billions of rupees. Its central location and colonial architecture have made it a magnet for commercial interest.
Plans are already underway to transform the site into a luxury hotel and high-end shopping complex. The previous government has approved redevelopment proposals that include a five-star hotel, a shopping mall, food courts and budget accommodations, while preserving the prison’s colonial façade.

Museum Proposal vs. Investment Agenda

This vision clashes with the government’s economic and cultural agendas. For a regime grappling with economic instability and dictates of the IMF, investments even in casinos and cannabis (ganja) takes precedence over historical commemoration – especially when the subject involves village-level guerilla resistance movements that do not remain even marginally in both historical and cultural memory of the JVP/NPP.

Cultural Amnesia and Political Will
Uva-Wellassa uprising of 1817–1818 and the Matale revolt of 1848 are scarcely remembered in mainstream narratives, limited to annual commemorations by some dedicated personnel and micro level commemorative societies in the provinces as stated above.

Their absence from collective memory makes it politically convenient for the politicians to sideline such commemorative efforts. In a climate where economic survival surpasses historical reflection, the proposed museum risks being dismissed as a romanticized relic of the past.

My ancestral village lies adjacent to the ancient Ethgala Para, a historic route that once connected the Kandyan Kingdom with the island’s principal sea ports. Alongside this strategic pathway, the British established a fort during the early 19th century to consolidate their control over the region. In 1818, during the Uva–Wellassa Uprising, this fort came under attack by the valiant Dumbara warriors, led by Amunugama Bathwadana Nilame. Although the assault was ultimately repulsed, the event stands as a testament to the fierce resistance mounted by local freedom fighters against colonial domination. Tragically, the memory of this fort, the ancient route and the heroic struggle of the Dumbara warriors has faded from local consciousness. Today, none of the residents in the vicinity are aware of an ancient bridle path, a fort and a battle and their historical significance.

At the same time, it would be unrealistic to expect meaningful support from the current Minister of Cultural Affairs, whose upbringing in a Catholic environment may not have instilled a deep appreciation of historical and cultural memory. Compounding this concern is the past conduct of his Deputy, who despite donning saffron robes – a symbol of monastic commitment-was alleged in actions that led to the near destruction of a structure of profound importance to the Buddhist community. Such contradictions raise serious questions about the sincerity and capacity of the present leadership to champion these initiatives.

In my article titled Black Smoke Billows from Pelawatta Chimney,” published in Lankaweb on 16 May 2005, I examined the implications of the recently concluded local government elections, with focus on the political messaging emerging from the Jaffna District. Notably, an MP affiliated with the National People’s Power (NPP) released a series of campaign songs that were overtly sympathetic to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). These songs, disseminated in the lead-up to the elections, pledged to erect a bronze statue of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, construct a new harbor and a memorial hall dedicated to Prabhakaran’s parents and undertake the reconstruction and maintenance of LTTE cemeteries. Furthermore, the MP vowed to rename the Nallur Sankiliyan Park as Kittu Park,” in honor of Sathasivam Krishnakumar (alias Kittu), a senior LTTE commander. These pledges, reflect a broader strategy of memorialization and identity politics that clash with the proposed Memorial Museum.

Under the proposed educational reforms by the NPP government, there is a plan to eliminate History and Buddhism from the school curriculum. The government intends to introduce a new cultural celebration in December, designed to be inclusive of all ethnic and religious communities. While this initiative may be framed as a move toward national unity, it raises serious concerns about the erosion of Sri Lanka’s rich cultural and religious heritage. Such a shift could signal the gradual phasing out of deeply rooted traditions such as the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, Wesak, Poson, and Christmas celebrations that have long served as vital expressions of communal identity and historical continuity. This represents a profound rupture in the cultural fabric of the nation.

Given the current trajectory of government policy, the proposed museum appears to be nothing more than a pipe dream, an initiative that fails to account for the prevailing political climate and the government’s demonstrated priorities. The assumption underlying its conception seems naïve, as if the government were a school administration run by inexperienced students, capable of safeguarding historical and cultural legacies. Such misreading of governmental behavior undermines the credibility and feasibility of the project.

Political and Ideological Opposition

Beyond the logistical and economic challenges, the proposal to establish a museum commemorating Kandyan resistance faces a complex web of political and ideological opposition. Key stakeholders aligned with the current administration- including NGOs, segments of the Tamil diaspora, remnants of the LTTE and various minority communities such as Tamils, Muslims and Upcountry Tamils – may perceive such a commemorative project as politically sensitive or exclusionary. Any project that highlights Sinhala nationalist ideas becomes especially controversial for them.

Institutional actors such as the Catholic Church, Western Embassies and Governments and regional powers like India – each of which played a role in the current regime change are likely to scrutinize the museum’s ideological framing. Moreover, advocacy groups including the LGBTIQ community, a vocal ally of the present regime, may challenge the museum if it is seen to reinforce majoritarian or exclusionary historical narratives.

International Oversight

International oversight further complicates the matter. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has consistently urged the Sri Lankan government to amend or repeal certain laws, accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and initiate accountability processes for alleged wartime abuses. Proposals for external investigations, targeted sanctions and constitutional reforms reflect a broader push for compliance with international human rights norms – an agenda that may conflict with domestic efforts to valorize historical figures labeled as war heroes” within nationalist discourse.

6. Conclusion

Anura Kumara is no Mahinda- he wouldn’t dare tell the modern-day Kushners and Milibands to stage their diplomatic kite festival elsewhere, preferably over an abandoned, sun-scorched reservoir in Ruhuna!

As a son of Patha Dumbara, I conceptualized the idea of a Museum and Research Centre and even went so far as to establish fictitious prototypes. However, it was Dr. Sudath Gunasekara, a son of Uda Dumbara, who independently formally proposed the initiative and developed its blueprints. Should this vision ever come to fruition, full credit rightfully belongs to him as its original initiator.

 

 

by Garvin Karunaratne

Let us harness the wind for power and stop spending dollars for oil

By Garvin Karunaratne

I enclose a write up by eesrilanka wordpress.com/2019/04/13/playing with history: on some of my writings.

__________________________________________________________

C2. Buying Power from Multinationals

Garvin Karunaratne recalls his experience of 18 years working in stations like Hambantota as well as in the hilly Districts of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. He chides the authorities for erecting wind turbines on the coast. He believes that the authorities seem to be working to prove that wind turbines are not suitable for Sri Lanka.

Karunaratne then mentions his vast travel experience and states that the US, Spain Portugal and many more countries have put up wind turbines never at their coastal areas but in their hills. Further he highlights authorities that have noted the vast resources of wind power in Sri Lanka. He urges Sri Lanka to use its wind resources and he actually has requested the State Engineering Corporation engineers who did make long concrete poles to hold the canopy for the Avukana Buddha statue to be enlisted to make the wind turbines. He emphasizes that Sri Lanka can become self sufficient in all its power requirements if only a few hundred wind turbines are constructed and he states that this can be done within a year.

Karunaratne speaks with the broad experience of having worked designing and establishing the Youth Self Employment Programme of Bangladesh in two years, a programme that has created employment for millions of youths, something which even the ILO  had failed earlier. He urges and provides many facts showing that wind power holds the magical solution for Sri Lanka.

– www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2019/04/09/buying-power-from-multinationals/

The only item that has to be imported for wind turbines is the turbine mechanism. It will be child’s play for Jinasenas, the makers of reputed Jinasena pumps to make these turbines if called upon.

For full details: Wind Power for Sri Lanka’s Energy Requirements: Godages, 2019 by Garvin Karunaratne

Anyone who disagrees is requested to  visit Spain, where turbines are made in small garages and  perched everywhere. Spain even sells electricity to France and earns dollars. All while we allow the winds to rage through at Hayes, at Ramboda, at Madugoda and many many places where on my irrigation inspections  I have chided with death facing abnormal wind power.

May we open our eyes wide. I repeat that a few hundred wind turbines can be erected in one year working at the Speed the Land Development Department did work not long ago and we need not import any oil.

Garvin Karunaratne

මාධ්‍ය අංශය, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන.

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (ආ) ඡේදයට ගැලපෙන ලෙස ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඇති ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (b) ඡේදය නිවැරදිව පළකරන ලෙස නීතීඥවරුන් 209ක් සහ නීතීඥවරුන් නොවන පුරවැසියන් 104ක් විසින් ගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමාගෙන් කරන ඉල්ලීම් ගැන ජනාධිපති ලේකම් කාර්යාලය දැනුවත් කර එකී ඉල්ලීම් සහිත A-3 ප්‍රමාණයේ ලේඛන 34 2025.08.14 දින ජනාධිපති මහජන සම්බන්ධතා අංශය වෙත බාර දී ඇත.

ජනාධිපති මහජන සම්බන්ධතා අංශය වෙත ඉල්ලීම් බාරදුන් බවට අදාල  ලේඛනය මේ සමඟ අමුණා ඇත.

ස්වාධීන රූපවාහිනීයේ 2025.08.14 දින සවස 6.30 ප්‍රවෘත්ති විකාශයේ  https://www.youtube.com/live/s5YIqYDoGvo?si=etwh3jdgQuf4gyQo?&t=1686
සහ 2025.08.15 දින දිවයින පුවත්පතේ 2 වන පිටුවේ පළවූ “සිංහල මුද්‍රණයට ගැලපෙන ලෙස ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ ඉංග්‍රීසි මුද්‍රණය නිවැරදි කරන්න.“
(දිවයින 2025.08.15)
https://www.divaina.lk/main-news/22720

ජනාධිපති ධූරකාලය සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව පවත්නා කාලය වසර 6කට වඩා වැඩි කිරීමට පමණක් ජනමතවිචාරණයක් මගින් ජනතාවගේ අනුමැතිය අවශ්‍ය බවත්, එම කාලය වසර 6කට වඩා අඩුකර ගැනීමට  ජනමතවිචාරණයක් මගින් ජනතාවගේ අනුමැතිය අවශ්‍ය නොවන බවත් ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන් මුද්‍රණය කර ඇති ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (b) ඡේදය අනුව දැක්වෙන අතර, ඒ අනුව 2015 දී ඉදිරිපත් වූ 19වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයේදී ජනාධිපති ධූරකාලය සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව පවත්නා කාලය වසර 6කට වඩා අඩු කර ගත්තේ එනම් වසර 5ක් බවට පත්කර ගනු ලැබූයේ ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඇති ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා මුද්‍රණය අනුව කටයුතු කිරීමෙන් ය. එසේ වුවත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව කටයුතු කිරීමේදී එනම් ජනාධිපති ධූරකාලය සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තුව පවත්නා කාලය වසර 6කට වඩා අඩු කර ගැනීමට එනම් වසර 5ක් කිරීමට ජනමතවිචාරණයක් පවත්වා ජනතාවගේ අනුමැතිය ලබා ගත යුතු වෙයි.

එසේම මැතිවරණ කොමිෂන් සභාවේ සභාපතිතුමාවද මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් දැනුවත් කර තිබූ අතර ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (ආ) ඡේදය නිවැරදිව ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවට පරිවර්තනය කිරීම සඳහා ගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමා දැනුම්වත් කොට අදාල නිවැරදි කිරීම ස‍ඳහා අවශ්‍ය කටයුතු සලසා දෙන මෙන් ජනාධිපති ලේකම්තුමා වෙත ලිපියක් යවා ඇති බව මැතිවරණ කොමිෂන් සභාවේ සභාපති ආර්. එම්. ඒ. එල්. රත්නායක මහතා විසින් නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන මහතා වෙත දැනුම් දී ඇත.

ඒ බවට අදාල ලේඛනය මේ සමඟ අමුණා ඇත.

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83.(ආ) ඡේදයේ ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා පාඨයේ ඇති දෝෂයක් නිවැරදි කිරීමට අදාල පියවර ගැනීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් මැතිවරණ කොමිෂන් සභාවේ සභාපතිතුමා ඇතුලු සියලු දෙනාටම ස්තුතිය ප්‍රකාශකර සිටී.

http://neethiyalk.blogspot.com/2025/08/83.html?m=1

මාධ්‍ය අංශය, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන. දුරකථන 0712063394
(2025.08.16)

Nava Thakuria

Guwahati: Commending Assam government for deciding to name the under-construction Dighalipukhuri–Noonmati flyover in the city after legendary Kamrup ruler Prithu Maharaj, a forum of nationalist citizens appeals to State chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for erecting a life-size statue of the iconic ruler of Kamrup (ancient Assam), also known as Visvasundaradeva, along with the longest flyover in northeast India.  The Patriotic People’s Front Assam (PPFA), in a statement, also lauded CM Sarma’s views that the  move was a part of the State government’s sacred duty to preserve Assam’s cultural heritage and to inspire younger generations by honouring historical figures who defended the region against aggression by Islamic invaders.

Sarma, after hoisting the Tricolour on the occasion of 79th Independence Day at Khanapara, announced that the four-lane elevated corridor (measuring around 5 kilometre) connecting Dighalipukhuri (Ambari) area with Noonmati locality will be named after the medieval Kamarupa king, who defeated the Turkish-Afghan invader Mohamad -I- Bakhtiyar Khilji and annihilated his army in 1206 CE. By then, the Muslim aggressor killed over 10,000 Buddhist monks and destroyed well-known centres of learning Nalanda and Vikramshila in central India. Khilji even tried to invade Tibet bypassing the Kamrup kingdom, but could not overpower the Tibetan forces and returned back through the Kamrup territory, when mighty warrior Prithu dismantled his armed forces, somewhere in present day North Guwahati. While on retreat the notorious  invader was assassinated by his own general Ali Mardan.

Prithu Maharaj should be honoured as he stood firmly against the invaders to safeguard the Hindu cultural legacy of Kamrup, where Sanskrit was recognised as Raj Bhasa, and prevented an early foreign aggression in this part of Bharat. The legendary Kamrup ruler earned strategic support from various tribal communities like Bodo, Koch- Rajbongshi, Keot, to overpower the Muslim forces,” stated the PPFA, adding the victory over Khilji by the Kamrup Nripati is now remembered in Assam as Mahavijay Diwas (27 March), however the historians in the rest of India are yet to recognise the valour and nationalism of Prithu, which should be restored with due honour and admiration.

lanka C news

August 15, 2025 at 10:22 pm |

‘මට ඩිමෙන්ෂියා තියෙනවා.. ළග ඒව පොඩ්ඩක් අමතක වෙනවා’ යයි ඇමති කේ.ඩී. ලාල් කාන්ත මහතා පැවසීය.

කොළඹදී පැවති රජයේ මිනුන්දෝරු සංගමයේ 99 වන සංවත්සර උත්සවය අමතමින් ඔහු මේ බව පැවසුවේය.

තමා දරන වෘත්තීය සමිති නායක සහ කැබිනට් අමාත්‍ය යන දෙකේම වගකීම් දෙකම සමබරව පවත්වාගෙන යාමට සිදුව ඇති බවත් එම නිසා කතා කිරීමේදී සහ තීරණ ගැනීමේදී ප‍්‍රවේශම් විය යුතු බවත් ඔහු සදහන් කලේය.

තමාට ඩිමෙන්ෂියා ඇති බවත් මෑත සිදුවීම් සමහරක් තමාට අමතක වන බවත් එනිසා සාකච්ඡා කළ කරුණු ලිඛිතව ලබා දෙන ලෙස ඔහු සංගමයේ සාමාජිකයන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටි බවත් හෙතෙම පැවසුවේය.

ඩිමෙන්ෂියා (Dementia) යනු මතකය, චින්තනය, භාෂාව සහ ගැටලු විසඳීමේ හැකියාවට බලපාන රෝගී තත්ත්වයන් කිහිපයක එකතුවකි. මෙය මොළයේ සෛල වලට හානි වීමෙන් හෝ මිය යාමෙන් ඇතිවන රෝග ලක්ෂණ සමූහයකි.

මතකය දුර්වල වීම, දෛනික කටයුතු සිදුකිරීමට ඇති හැකියාව අඩු වීම, කතා කිරීමට සහ භාෂාව තේරුම් ගැනීමට අපහසු වීම, මනෝභාවය සහ හැසිරීම් වල වෙනස්කම් ඇති වීම ප්‍රධාන රෝග ලක්ෂණ වෙයි.

ඩිමෙන්ෂියා යනු වයස්ගත වීමත් සමඟ ඇතිවන සාමාන්‍ය තත්ත්වයක් නොවන අතර, බොහෝවිට ඇල්ෂයිමර්ස් (Alzheimer’s) රෝගය හෝ වෙනත් ස්නායු රෝග තත්ත්වයන් නිසා ඇතිවේ. මෙම තත්ත්වයන් පුද්ගලයෙකුගේ දෛනික ජීවිතයට සහ සමාජ සම්බන්ධතා වලට බලපෑමක් ඇති කළ හැකිය.

Chanaka Bandarage

The President’s Office has clearly articulated that it will release all the Presidential Houses to the government’s housing pool except the Colombo and Kandy Houses. The government states they will be converted to various ventures like tourist hotels, education institutions, offices etc.

The following Presidential Houses are destined to be shut down:

• Anuradhapura – in close proximity to Thuparamaya
• Mahiyanganaya – overlooking the Sorabora Wewa
• Katharagama – in close proximity to Kirivehera
• Kegalle – the Dawson Bungalow
• Jaffna – in KKS, a palatial seaside house, still unused
• Ampara Lahugala (built at the cost of over Rs 110 Crores)
• There is also the Prime Ministerial Official residence in Nuwara Eliya used by the past Presidents
• Benthota – probably there is a one there

It is important for the government to bear in mind that in 2024 the people did not elect AKD as the President in perpetuity. His sojourn is confined to 5 years. In 2029, we shall have another Presidential election. If AKD has performed well, of course people will re-elect him as the President. But, if he has performed poorly, people will elect a different President. Eg: Sajith Premadasa or Namal Rajapakse.

With this decision, the government is creating an unfair situation for future Presidents. As, they may need the Presidential Houses for their use/occupation.

If the future Presidents would require at least some of those houses, that will cost the taxpayers many millions to rebuild.

The shutdowns seem to be an unanimous decision by the government. They put this issue in their election manifesto.

The writer states as we now have them, we should keep them.

The reason for the shutdowns as given by the government is cost saving and unnecessariness.

This is not an impressive argument.

They are already built, sound houses. The government incurs expenditure only in maintaining them. That is far little when compared with the cost of rebuilding.

The current politicians may well have to answer in the future why they embarked on such decision making.

The Supreme Court in the Eppawala Phosphate case stated (in obiter) that the governments are not owners of the land and/or resources, but mere trustees:

Bulankulama v. Min. of Industrial Development (Eppawala case), S.C. Application No. 884/99 (F/R) –  For as King Devanampiya Tissa was told three centuries before the birth of Christ, we are its guardians – not its owners.

It is being reported that when he visits Anuradhapura, our President stays in a private hotel.  The  fully equipped, most comfortable, extremely secure Presidential House is located in close proximity to that hotel.

It is stated that the same has happened in Nuwara Eliya.

This is most bizarre.

The Jaffna President’s House is a colossal structure consisting of 27 rooms, located in a 200-acre property. That area of  KKS is earmarked as a high security zone. What is the rationale in shutting this down? If not for this President’s House, where else can the President safely stay when he visits Jaffna?

It is the Tamil Separatists including the T Diaspora who largely want this President’s House shut down.

The President’s House in Colombo is part and parcel of the Office of Presidency. It is the formal residence and the principal workplace for the President.

Per his/her own whim and fancy, the President simply cannot refuse to reside there.

But, this is what all our Presidents have done, except R Premadasa and DB Wijethunga.

The situation about the Heads of State Houses in developed countries is very clear – it is mandatory for the President or the Prime Minister to live in the allocated official residence. They cannot say No. Eg: The White House in Washington DC (USA), No 10 Downing Street, London (UK) and the Lodge in Canberra (Australia).

The present government has decided not to use the Temple Trees and the Speaker’s Residence for the accommodation by the Prime Minister and the Speaker respectively.

Why?

Where are they living now?

The citizens have a right to know. We are a democracy.

The President, Prime Minister and the Speaker are the most powerful positions of this country. The CJ is also a powerful position.

Knowing the importance of residing in the official residence, the CJ, the tri forces commanders, IGP have always lived in their respective official residences.

It is the politicians who have moved away from custom.

It appears currently none of the top three (the President, Prime Minister and the Speaker) are living in their respective official residences. They seem to be living in private residences. This is not good.

Public figures who hold very important positions lose their privacy to a large extent.

It is a huge price that they have to pay.

This is the case all over the world.

If they want to maintain strict privacy and confidentiality, they should not have vied for very high positions.

All our politicians, especially the 225, must be exemplary in character.

People expect good, moral, decent behaviour from our leaders/politicians, other public figures like top bureaucrats, leading sportspersons, academics, singers, top professionals etc.

Prominent public figures are role models.  They must bear an unblemished character.  They are looked to by others as examples to be imitated.  If they behave badly, people that emulate them can also become bad. It will be very bad for our children. The whole society can collapse.

Worldwide, politicians and leading figures who misbehave like engaging in bribery/corruption, criminal conduct, illicit sexual affairs, extra-marital affairs,  anti-social behaviour, vulgar conduct ultimately get rejected by the very people who adore them.

If they can’t behave honourably and decently, such public figures must quit what they are doing.

In Sri Lanka, we are a conservative society that places a high onus on tradition, values, discipline, custom, culture and history.  

Sadly, the current leaders who are Leftwing (Marxist) Liberals, do not see this as important.

They do not like to call Sri Lanka a Sinhala Buddhist country.

The USA, Canada, Australia are multicultural countries. Millions of migrants flock to them. But, they identify themselves as Judeo-Christian countries. Each day the Australian parliament commences proceedings after reciting a Bible verse – not from the Bhagavat Geeta or the Dhammapada.

Reverting to the official residence argument– all these residences are magnificent buildings with beautiful gardens. They resemble the dignity, eminence, solemnity and the power of the occupier. The President is the executive head of this land – he possesses enormous power. We expect him to lead the country wisely, kindly and with lots of empathy.

When our leaders live in those beautiful residences that brings pride, joy and positivity to the masses. We proudly show them to others especially to foreigners, tourists.

But, if they are shut down and kept in the dark (like now), that shows the downwardness of the nation.

In such a situation, whether they like it or not, the President, Prime Minister and the Speaker must reside in the official houses provided for them. There are regulatory provisions that prescribe the provision of all facilities to those houses by the state.

Note, all the High Commissioners and Ambassadors who are in Sri Lanka live in their official residences. They all are well kept beautiful residences. These dignitaries frequently throw out parties at their state expense.

With respect, by living in unknown private residences, our said leaders may be bringing their most important positions into disrepute.

As soon as the new government came to power the road adjacent to the Temple Trees, specifically the stretch from St Michael’s roundabout to the Rotunda roundabout was reopened. This road had been closed for security reasons for approximately 20 years. As very significant modifications were needed to be made, lakhs of rupees were spent on that project.

What happens when a new PM comes to that position and that government decides to re-close that stretch of the road for security reasons?

Until recently, the Speaker had a beautiful residence erected on the banks of the Diyawanna Lake, built in 2000 (prior to that the Speaker’s Residence was the ‘Mumtaz Mahal’ in Colpetty – another magnificent residence). We now hear that the Speaker’s residence has been converted to some form of a parliamentary office and that the Speaker lives in a rented house in Lauris  Road, Colombo 5.

If this is true, then, does the government pay the rent for that property? Why? How much?

Isn’t there space in the current parliament (a gigantic structure) to put up that new parliamentary office?

When a new speaker comes to the seat in the future, he/she may want to reside in the Official residence, but, if that house is already gone? A future government may need to build a new Speaker’s Residence?

It is indeed sad to hear that the Speaker of this country lives in a rented house.

Rather than shutting them down or converting them to other ventures, these precious government houses must be preserved at least for the use of the future incumbents of those most important positions.

Overall, in the past 10 months the government has fallen from one pitfall to another. Its popularity has plummeted. Some Ministers like the Agriculture have brought forth much discredit to the government. That person does not deserve a place in the Cabinet. Sadly the Transport Ministry is still slack. Commuters (bus/train) face untold hardships on a daily basis. This is due to the country’s bad transport system. In the omnibus sector, private bus owners have the upper hand – basically they run it the way they want it.

One silver lining is the gradual improvement of the economy. Even the IMF has congratulated the government. The government was courageous to open up the economy for vehicle imports.

The government did well to resolve the Sevanagala issue.

The government deserves a pat on the back for not engaging in bribery and corruption. This is the biggest vice this country had for 77 years.

The government’s decision to shut down all the Ministerial houses (about 50) is a great one. No decent country in the world provides Ministers with residential accommodation, except of course Sri Lanka.

John Reid and Daniel Biasetto in Tabatinga, Brazil

Jul 27, 2025

Solar-powered units reciting biblical passages have appeared in the Javari valley, despite strict laws protecting Indigenous groups

Missionary groups are using audio devices in protected territories of the rainforest to attract and evangelise isolated or recently contacted Indigenous people in the Amazon. A joint investigation by the Guardian and Brazilian newspaper O Globo reveals that solar-powered devices reciting biblical messages in Portuguese and Spanish have appeared among members of the Korubo people in the Javari valley, near the Brazil–Peru border.

Drones have also been spotted by Brazilian state agents in charge of protecting the areas. The gadgets have raised concerns about illegal missionary activities, despite strict government measures designed to safeguard isolated Indigenous groupsShow

This is not thought to be the first recent attempt by missionary groups to reach isolated and uncontacted communities in the Javari valley. Shortly before the pandemic, a group of US and Brazilian citizens affiliated to evangelical churches were allegedly reported to be planning to contact the Korubo people. It was claimed they had used seaplanes to map trails and locate longhouses.

A plane carrying missionaries from the Asas de Socorro group lands in an indigenous village in the Javari valley. Photograph: biasetto@gmail.com

Three missionaries were identified as planning these alleged contact efforts: Thomas Andrew Tonkin, Josiah McIntyre and Wilson de Benjamin Kannenberg, linked to the Missão Novas Tribos do Brasil (New Tribes Mission of Brazil – MNTB) and a humanitarian group known as Asas de Socorro – or Wings of Relief. They were prohibited from entering Indigenous territory by court order during the Covid crisis.

Now it has emerged that missionaries have returned to the Javari valley and surrounding towns, such as Atalaia do Norte, with a new tool.

The first device uncovered, a yellow and grey mobile phone-sized unit, mysteriously appeared in a Korubo village in the Javari valley recently. The gadget, which recites the Bible and inspirational talks by an American Baptist, can do so indefinitely, even off-grid, thanks to a solar panel. Up to seven of the units were reported by local people, but photo and video evidence were obtained for just one.

A solar-powered In Touch Messenger audio device in the Korubo village, loaded with the Bible and religious teachings in Spanish and Portuguese

A message on the device located by the Guardian states: Let’s see what Paul says as he considers his own life in Philippians chapter 3, verse 4: ‘If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more’.”

The Brazilian government does not permit proselytising in the Korubo’s territory. Its policy, dating from 1987, stipulates that isolated groups must initiate any contact, a stance that made Brazil a pioneer in respecting Indigenous self-determination.

The state also strictly controls access, to protect the Korubo and other uncontacted peoples in the region from common diseases to which they have little or no immunity.

The device that reached the hands of the Korubo is called Messenger and is distributed by the Baptist organisation In Touch Ministries, based in Atlanta, Georgia. It is now a curiosity in the possession of the Korubo community matriarch, Mayá.

In Touch does not sell the Messenger. The devices are donated to unreached” people in countries around the world and are available in more than 100 languages. With its solar panel and built-in torch, the device is designed to bring the gospel to places that lack reliable electricity or internet connections.

In an interview with the Guardian, Seth Grey, In Touch Ministries’ chief operating officer, confirmed that the organisation uses devices such as the Messenger and that it is built for functionality, solar-powered, with a flashlight”. Then they discover the content,” he said, adding that the device is loud enough for 20-person listening groups”.

Grey said he personally delivered 48 of the devices to the Wai Wai people in the Brazilian Amazon four years ago. They contained religious content in their language and Portuguese. The Wai Wai have engaged with US missionaries, who have contacted and proselytised among communities in the northern Amazon, for decades, according to anthropologist Catherine V Howard.

Grey said, however, that the Messenger should not be present in the Javari valley in violation of Brazilian policy. We don’t go anywhere we’re not allowed,” he said, referring to In Touch staff. He said he was aware of missionaries from other organisations” who do carry the devices to regions and countries where they are prohibited.

As a recently contacted people, the Korubo are of keen interest to missionaries. Photograph: Paulo Mumia

The Korubo, known for their deadly expertise with war clubs, are a recently contacted people and therefore of keen interest to certain missionaries focused on preaching to the unreached”.

Sgt Cardovan da Silva Soeiro, a military police officer at the government protection post at the entrance to the Javari valley Indigenous territory, said he learned about the devices from an Indigenous person stationed at the base.

 I sent a report with the photos to police intelligence, but so far we haven’t heard anything back. The Indigenous people didn’t want to give me the devices, so I thought it best not to insist. I just managed to get the images,” he said.

Cardovan said military police officers are aware of the presence of missionaries allegedly linked to another Christian group, Jehovah’s Witnesses. Some of these religious entities are very likely trying to get closer,” he said.

A Funai base at the confluence of the Itui and Itaquai rivers – the main access point for Korubo sites in the Javari Valley – where officers reported drone sightings. Photograph: John Reid

He also reported to police command the presence of mysterious drones” that had recently appeared above the base, usually in the late afternoon. Cardovan was ordered to shoot them down, but so far has been unable to do so.

We don’t know if they belong to missionaries, drug traffickers, fishers or miners who are watching the base to see if they’ll have free passage through here. When I received the order from command to shoot them down, I aimed my rifle, but the drone fled at high speed. It seemed very sophisticated,” he said.

Daniel Luís Dalberto, a federal prosecutor’s office agent who monitors the rights of uncontacted and recently contacted peoples, said the key point to understanding the presence of missionaries is not how many there are in the territory, but rather the change in methods like those of the radios that are emerging now”.

It’s a stealthy, concealed, under the radar conversion,” he said. The method has become sophisticated and difficult, almost impossible to combat.”

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

In this essay, I propose to the Government of Sri Lanka to set up a Memorial Museum of Patriotic wars of Kandyan Sinhalese (1505-1848) and an International Post graduate Institute of Research on Colonial crimes in Sri Lanka” at the old Bogamabara Prison site, in memory of the brave Kandyan Sinhalese patriots who sacrificed their lives in tens of thousands in battle against three barbaric and savges sea pirate European invaders of the Atlantic civilization, Portuguese, Dutch and English, for almost three and half Centuries, confining them to a narrow coastal belt for 310 years to save their Motherland, the Sinhala Nation and the Buddha Saasana.

Although the Kandyan Kingdom was ceded to the United Kingdom on a mutually agreed Convention between two sovereign Governments, the Kandyan Kingdom of Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom of Great Britain, on March 2 1815 the British openly violated it and threw the Convention in to the dustbin of history by issuing the Royal Proclamation of Nov 21^st 1818. Thereafter they ruled this country as one of their colonies captured in war until Feb 4^th 1948, under their own system of Government of oppression, repression and merciless exploitation continuing the same colonial rule started first in the coastal belt in 1505 up to 1815 by the Portuguese, Dutch and the British and thereafter by the British.

The proposed Museum is designed to tell this pathetic story of the Sinhala Buddhist Kingdom, that had once thrived in the East as one of the greatest nations in the world for over 2500 years, standing in par with the Great ancient Empires and Kingdoms such as the Greek, Roman, Egyptians Persian, Indian and Chinese, as one of the greatest pristine human civilizations in the world.  

 The proposed Museum will narrate the cruel saga of these colonial invasions and also highlight the savages’ crimes committed on this country and its people by these three successive Western invaders (Portuguese, Dutch and British) with special focus on the 1817-1818 Uva Wellassa patriotic rebellion and the 1848 Matale uprising. Attention will also be paid to the draconian laws,  barbaric and uncivilized methods they deployed to rob the country’s riches for the enrichment of their empires, while trying to destroy the 2500 year old Sinhala Buddhis civilization in this country and consolidating their geopolitical, strategic and economic power together within the Indian ocean,  and the far east by taking control of Trincomalee, the gateway to their power in the Indo pacific region, as both Napolean and Lord Mount[S1]  Batton had once said.

Apart from the political, economic, social, physical and the cultural devastations they have done in their invasions it will also display how these sea pirate invaders flooded the land of the Sinhalese with south Indian Malaba coulees, historically the sworn adversaries of the Sinhala nation, from the 2^nd century BC to the 13^th century, to change the demography of the Island and weaken the native Sinhala Buddhist nation with the power of their guns and swords together with barbaric and inhuman torcher inflicted upon the natives followed by their subversive religious conversions with the assistance of the Wesleyan Methodist Mission (1879), with the ultimate objective of annihilating the Sinhala Buddhist  civilization from the surface of this Island.  Their first mission was to divide this country in to two countries to be designated as Sinhalese and Tamils districts, to destroy the 2500-year-old Sinhala Buddhist civilization in this age-old native Sinhala Kingdom. It was these American missionaries who first named these Malabar immigrants as Tamils, although they were officially designated as Ceylon Tamils only in1901 by Ponnambalam Arunachalam, who was selectively appointed as the first Registrar General in 1887 by the British.

All these events clearly show how the British and the Catholic Church had designed and manipulated the division of this land of the Sinhala people in to two countries as Sinhala and Tamil, with the idea of creating an eternal political hotch-potch right at the center of the Indian Ocean as the lounging pad for them to enable their empire building in South East Asia.

Malaba immigrants were brought by them in large numbers as coulees firstly, to be settled in the North and East starting from 1760 s to 1797 by the Dutch and subsequently by the British in order to colonize the North and the East with Malabar Tamils. Secondly, again by the British after1815 first, as sepoys to suppress and kill the Native Sinhala Kandyan freedom fighters, who rebelled against the repressive British rule in the 1818 and 1848 national rebellions. Thirdly, starting from 1840   through the latter part of the 19^th century up to 1910, they imported nearly 1.2 million indentured South Indian coulee labour to work on the newly opened up coffee and Tea plantations in the central hill country, started on lands forcibly taken over from the native Kandyan Sinhalese in 1840 under the Crown land Encroachment Ordinance,1853 Temple Land Ord and 1897 under the Wasteland Ord, by removing Kandyan Sinhalese by mass murder of all males over 18 years under orders from Governor Brownrigg to Major Mac Donald. Brownrigg fought the Great Rebellion of 1817–18 and managed to defeat that, aided by reinforcements from India, by enacting martial law. He strengthened his power in the Kandyan Kingdom by issuing a special announcement on 21 November 1818, which contains 56 statements, curtailing the power of aristocrats. Thereby he blatantly violated the Kandyan Convention of March 02. 1815.Those survived, men, women and children fled in to the valley bottoms and far away eastern jungles to save their lives.

 It is interesting to note that at the same time the British built up a fabricated and a diabolical lie, starting with a fairy tale, invented by Cleghorne (a Dutchman) in his famous minute, submitted to Governor North in 1799, often quoted by the Tamil separatist politicians stating that this country had two nations called Sinhala and Tamil (misquoting the Sinhalese have come from Thailand)  fabricating that there were two Ratas ( they called them districts) in this country from time immemorial. According to them the Tamil country started from Putlam and extended through the Northern Province and beyond, covering the entire Eastern Province up to Walave Gannga.  This refers to the narrow coastal belt where Malabar migrant labour brought from South India by the Dutch after 1765 and by the British after 1799 to work on their projects North (including toddy tapping in the Jaffna district) and East in the narrow coastal belt occupied by them. The Sinhala country according to them extended only from Walawe Ganaga to Puttalam covering the interior of the country.

This was a blatant and diabolical travesty of the 2500 years history of this Island nation, contradicting all available accepted native historical sources like the Mahavansa, local epigraphic and literal sources and also writings by all foreigners starting from the Greek, Roman, Persian and Egyptians and Chinese down to the Portuguese, Dutch, British, German and Italian historians, scholars, discoverers and travelers alike.

Based on the Cleghorne minute this was how Governor North had conveyed that fabrication to the home government in Britain in 1813 even before the 1815 Kandyan Convention was signed on march 1815 march 2^nd.

This in brief gives the well-planned long-term colonial intrigue and the conspiracies first, to concur this Island nation and then to weaken the native Sinhalese and empower the Tamil immigrants brought by them as their Malaba coulees and then subsequently erase the Sinhala Buddhist civilization from this paradise on earth, which they had made their Motherland from time immemorial. The invaders considered Sri Lanka as the most important geopolitical hub in the Indian Ocean, strategically, geo politically and economically as well, that is very crucial for the expansion and consolidation of the Atlantic civilization in the Indo- Pacific region.

It is to unravel and display these colonial intrigues and crimes committed on the native Sinhalese by the invaders on the one hand and the bravery displayed by our ancestors, the Kandyan Sinhala Warriors on the other, that I propose to set up this monumental Memorial Museum and the Research Institute in Kandy at this central place, I deem as the most appropriate place in this country for such a historic feat.

The proposed Museum will also portray the different methods of indigenous warfare’s of Sinhalese, their artillery and techniques’ like guerrilla warfare including the world’s first Kamikase at Wagolla adopted by the Kandyan Sinhalese and the Balana massacre to defeat the enemy invaders and to defend their Motherland by forcing them to limit the enemy’s sway to a narrow coastal belt around the Island for 310 years, (1505-1815) in spite of their mighty gun power.  

In addition, it is also proposed to set up an International Institute of Higher Studies and Research in the field of colonial invasions between 16^th – 20^th centuries by the Atlantic colonial invaders specifically in this Island and the   Afro-Asian region in general.

The sad story of the Bogambara Prison

This was built by the British in 1874 as the second largest Prison in this country (next to Colombo) on the model of the famous Bastille Prison in Paris. Bastille was built to imprison and suppress those who rose against the Feudal French Monarchy in the famous French Revolution 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Bogambara did the same job in Sri Lanka to Sinhalese, what the Bastille did in France to punish French feudal aristocracy. With regard to savages’ crimes committed to humanity it is said that there was little difference between what happened in Bastille in France and Bogambara in Sri Lanka. Moreover, it was built by the colonial invader British to imprison, summarily shoot dead, hang or banish those native Sinhala patriots who revolted and rose against the British colonial Government to save their Motherland, the Sinhala people and the Buddha Sasana from the enemy.

‘The Bogambara prison is eyesore”.

Native patriotic Sinhalese were being imprisoned, shot dead and some were hung frequently here, not for any crime they had committed but for the valiant resistance they had successfully displayed during the colonial rule against the invaders to save the bellowed motherland and their supreme religion Buddhism up to 1948.

Thereafter the same colonial prison was used by the so-called independent Governments up to 1976 both for imprisonment and hanging. Hanging was stopped thereafter as the government has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since then.  But the governments continued to have this institution in the heart of Kandy, the sacred City, that is sanctified by the Sacred Tooth Relict of Lord Buddha, up to 2014 as an ugly colonial monument.

At Last, the Bogambara Prison was closed in 2014, and it was shifted to Palekele. It took 66 years after the so-called Independence in 1948 to remove this ugly colonial symbol cited in front of the Sacred Daladhaa Maligawa by the British, right at the center of the commercial hub of the central province and the historic cultural city, the last capital of the 2566-year-old Sinhale Kingdom, after years of public agitation.

The following quotation from an article I wrote way back in 1977 to the Daily News 29th of August was the first agitation made in this regard, by anyone.

The Bogambara Prison located right at the center of the present day prime Sacred Buddhist city of the Sinhala nation,Kandy, where the Daladaa Maligawa that houses the Lord Buddhas sacred Tooth Relic and the two highest Buddhist Headquarters, Malwatta and Asgiriya are located, is a shame even after 77 years of a fake Independence given to this country on Feb 4^th1948, is an eye sore and a national disgrace. Men and women who are supposed to have committed crimes are imprisoned and some of them hanged here even after Buddhism was declared the State Religion in 1972 by the countries’ Constitution. We still continue to have this institution in the heart of the Kandy city. It is not late even now for those in Authority to shift this eyesore to a distant place away from the sacred town-to a place like Pallekele.

 I wrote this article as the Founder President of the Mahanuwara Jathika Kalamandalaya, found in 1977” (Daily News Monday August 29 1977)”

But nobody in authority at that time, took any notice of my request then.  However, I am happy now that at last it was shifted to Pallekele in 2014, as I had suggested in 1977. With that shifting the tragedy of having a prison right at the center of this sacred city came to an end at last. This closed the first part of the Bogambara Prison tragedy. In addition, I would also like to mention here for record purposes, the most important contribution I made to the preservation of the religio-cultural value of the Kandy Perahera and that of this historic city by compelling the Temple Authorities to ban the construction of Perahara viewing seats at the Mahamaluwa in 1977. Those seats were constructed purely for non-Buddhist foreigners and local privileged class including those of the DN to view the Perahara, seated at a higher level than that of the Sacred casket mounted on the royal tusker, thereby denigrating the most sacred of object of the Sinhala nation and its supreme cultural values. I deem it as the most important contribution I did to preserve the value of this heritage city, again as the President of the Mahanuwara Jathika Kalamandalaya. How I did that is a matter to be elaborated in a separate article.

Now I come to the second part of the Bogamabra Prison saga. perhaps even a more tragic and deplorable political and administrative bungling.

 For example, although the prison inmates were transferred to Pallekele and the Bogamabara Prison was officially closed in 2014, after 137 years of its inception, no final and meaningful plan to make use of this historic and valuable site has been made up to now, even after 11 years of its closing in 2014.

Although 11 years have passed since this prison was closed down and five Governments since then have come and gone and a lot of public funds have been wasted nothing has been done to convert this this historical site for a meaningful purpose. Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinha and a number of Ministers, of these governments and officials of different institutions have visited this site many a time. Much public funds have already being wasted on these public shows and many a report have been published, spending millions of public funds without any substantial development to be seen, for 11 long years. Apart from real development isn’t it a tragedy that even after 11 years, there is no unanimity among the political masters or the officials entrusted with the job, on what really, they are going to do here.

This appalling failure on the part of our governments and the bureaucracy reminds me the miracle of one man, Lee Kuan Yew, who converted a  tiny City State of just 281.3 square miles (or 728.6 square kilometers) with zero resources infested with slums in 1965 , from a third world country to a First World country within few years, making Singapore attractive as a destination for investment as well as the focus on drawing world class manpower; building state of the art infrastructure and excellent air and sea linkages; a low and transparent tax regime; clean and efficient bureaucracy; a strong regulatory and legal framework; a neutral diplomatic policy which has ensured it is an ally of the US as well as China; and developing a clean and green city, have ensured Singapore’s stupendous economic success.

Isn’t it a shame to us with 25,332 SQ km land area with enormous natural resources on land and sea around it, with 2500 years of glorious history and a pristine culture that was the second richest in Asia by 1950 and a country hailed as the paradise on earth by many a foreigner in history, has today plunged in to the depth of poverty and misery. The main reason for this deplorable situation as I see it is the absence of missionary leaders of the people with a far-reaching vision like Lee Kuan Yew. The failure on the part of five Governments for 11 years to take a decision as to what they should do on the old Bogambara prison site alone, I think bears glaring witness to the quality of our politicians and the public service, their dedication and commitment to nation building.

Going by what they have done for 11 years, I have no doubt that they will not take any decision until this 151 years old outer walls of the Bogamabra Prison collapse down to the ground.

This picture of the old prison wall, surviving (watch tower?) I think narrates the story of the criminal neglect for the past 11 years of the Bogambara prison site, in mute terms by the politicians and the officials for which they alone will be held responsible for the posterity.

                    Photo by Nimal

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

Looking at the long delay in converting this historic place, located right at the center of the world heritage city Mahanuwara (Kandy), the Great City /The Capital, of the last Kingdom of Sinhale, a glistering jewel of the 2500 years old Sinhala Kingdom, to a meaningful purpose and more over lack of clarity in the minds of those who are in charge of the subject as stated in the UDA report, which says Currently, no decision has been made on who will redevelop the major part of the prison buildings” is really very puzzling and appalling. I wonder as to what 5 successive Governments have been doing for 11 years with so much of talking and public displays. Just like the successive governments, the management also has been entrusted to different parties, going from hand to hand (Central Engineering Consultancy Services and UDA, the Prison Dept and dept of Archaeology) with different priorities and expertise that are far from the historical, cultural, political, realistic value of this site and its environs.

In this state of confusion, I am convinced that this will be never converted to a functional and a useful level at least for anotherr10 years, as already 11 years have gone waste, under five Governments since 2014. Different Ministers, have come out with different, with stale utopian plans. Neverthelss, still it is at ground level after 11 years, as stated by the UDA. I remember once Minister Malik Samarawickrama of the Yahapaalanaya government said he will convert this place into a five-star Hotel to attract foreign tourists. His plan is now gone for good, along with him as another mad Minister, fortunately.

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

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

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

Meanwhile the State Minister Ministry of Heritage, Vidura Wickramanayake who visited the place on August 2. 2021, emphasized that a very special mixed project will be established in the premises of the Bogambara Prison and that priority will be given to artefacts of cultural and artistic value which have been protected up to now centered on the last kingdom of Kandy. He also has said the speculations that the old Prison building will be demolish is untrue. As such everything seem to be eternally Mixed” As I see it the Prison building and its protective walls are all already fast crumbling down due to neglect.

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

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

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

Scanning through all these Mixed stories” overall, it looks to me now, that it is like Alice in Wonderland. I wonder whether all the people who visited the site have fallen through the rabbit hole and still all of them are lost in the Alice’s Wonderland. On the overall al these talks have got disappeared in the thin that reminds me the story of the 7 Andis and the kanji pot.

My observations in retrospect

Looking at all these news reports it is more than clear that even after 11 years there is no final plan or a final decision of development or rehabilitation, or whatever they call it, on a definite Project.   Isn’t this another glaring example where all speakers have highlighted only the conventional, but rather stale, tourist promotion. There is nothing in their minds on Kandyan Arts and Crafts. None of them seems to be aware of the existence of the Laksala and the Department of Small Industries, with the Kundasale Sri Narendra Sinha Arts and Crafts Colony” to which I gave a new lease of life in 1971-76 period, when I was Assistant Director of Small Industries in Kandy, and a large number of private shops with a massive Kandyan Arts Center (Incidentally for which I laid the Foundation in 1972 again as the Asst. Director of the Department of Small Industries Kandy, at that time.) just in front of the Kings Wood College, to take care of this sector from late 1950 s.

All these lose talks prove that even after 11 year none of them seems to have a clear idea as to what should be the best overall plan of development for this historic site of a great nation of the East. None appears to have any idea as to for what purpose this site had been used for 137years. Its historical, sociological and academic values seem to have been completely forgotten or not understood at all.   Therefore, it is still floating in the speculation stage, most of them groping in the dark, politicians taking the center stage, as a display of cheap political propaganda to attract the votes only. In my view it has been a cheap political merry-go round and an administrative musical Chair display only, at public expense, with no concrete result.

In this back drop, as I see the Bogambara prison site has become a mere theater for politicians for regular cheap political media shows, to deceive the voters, just as they had done in all other fields for the past 76 years, by pretending that they are seriously interested in developing this place on a multifaceted development fairy tale, like the Midsummer Night Dream of Shakespeare, without a clear idea as to what they are going to do with this historically, academically  and economically valuable site. The fact that each politician who visited the site had a different approach and a different perception of future development on this site explains the confusion and lack of purpose and clarity as to what the Government is going to do here or in other words it does not have a concrete plan at all in hand and it has just boiled down to a dirty political game only. All of them are still groping in the dark.

Even after 11 long years of fairy tales, no one, either a politician or an official, expected to advise them, has said anything sensible up to now. Also no one has seen or thought of the historical, political and academic  importance of this prison site that marks one of the darkest chapters of Sri Lankan history, where many a conspiracy and crimes had been hatched and committed against the Sinhala Nation and similarly about the light it can throw on the atrocities of expansion of Colonialism and the spread of religion at gun point by the war minded hungry European invaders in the Middle Ages, with no mercy on any human being outside their complexion.

Talking about the Prison per se, it is a pity that none has taken in to account the importance of the historical and political role played by this prison during the time of repressive colonial administration in designing a plan that display the sacrifices made by the Kandyan peasants and their Guardians of the nation like Ven. Wariyapola  Sumangala and  Kadahapola Thera and   their patriotic leaders such as Ahelepola and Keppetipola, who sacrificed their lives on behalf of the motherland and the Saasana, the battles they fought and how valiantly they kept all the invaders locked in to a narrow coastal belt for 310 long years until the British succeeded in annexing the Island to the British Empire by shrewd and cunning intrigue only in1815.

 None of these politicians or the officials have had the slightest idea of the important role played by the Kandyan peasants, who suffered and died inside these walls helplessly, for fighting against the enemy, and their unique braveries in defending the motherland and the Sinhala nation for 310 years, not only in protecting the Kandyan Kingdom but also the whole country and the Sinhala nation surrounded by the mighty Indian Ocean, restricting enemy’s sway to a narrow coastal belt of this Island nation for 310 years   a nation that had been an independent, sovereign and highly respected and accepted nation in the ancient world, in par with mighty empires like the Roman Greek and Egypt.

 In fact, in my view the new project that is to come up here should be dedicated to the memory of that great people, who are now completely forgotten and even their descendants criminally betrayed by everybody, including all government since 1948, the politicians who are clueless about what their ancestors had done to save their motherland its 2500 years old Sinhala Buddhis  culture and the civilization for us and moreover their own pristine heritage as a world class nation.  These politicians and officials who live and fly high in an empty European made air balloon taking this country and the Sinhala Nation to imminent disaster, do not know that they had a glorious past, one of the best in the world.

So how can a set of unpatriotic and ungrateful people like that, who do not know their own history, their land their religion or their own civilization ever conceive a meaningful plan to make the best use of this wonderful historic site?

The best example I can quote to prove the ignorance, disregard, the callousness and jealousy the present- day politicians have towards these great people (Kandyans) who saved the country and the Sinhala nation from Western Colonial invasions for 310 years (1505-1815)  is the abolition of the Department of Kandyan Peasantry Rehabilitation and the Kandyan Area Development Authority in Jan 2014 by the then Minister of Finance Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, who still have double allegiance by being a dual citizen ( America and Sri Lanka)  to establish his pet Project  Divineguma in 2014. by closing down three important institutions started by the previous governments namely, a) The Kandyan Peasantry Commissioners Department and the Kandyan Area Development Authority, betraying nearly 1/3 of the native Sinhala people called Kandyans (Hill Country Dwellers) landless, unemployed and high and dry as a set of refugees on their own motherland, that had been developed and protected for 2500 years by their own ancestors against all foreign invasions, from the 2^nd century BC.

Proposed Museum and the Research Institute

I also suggest that this Memorial Museum should be divided in to three separate sections to demonstrate each colonial period separately vide; Portuguese Wing, Dutch Wing and the British Wing to enable the visitors to see the scales of crimes committed by each colonial power to this country and its native people. Such a division will make it easy to compare and contrast the crimes each power had done to this country and its people.

At the same time any project designed to this site should be able to highlight the braveries of the patriotic Kandyan Sinhalese who sacrificed everything they had including first, their own lives, wives and children to protect our motherland and second, to expose the darker side of the barbaric, inhuman and savages’ European colonialism that were in action only, against the native Sinhalese over a prolonged period of 310 years.

 Preserving the Kandyan architecture.

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

 In my view the development of this place should expand beyond the stale and common tourist promotion mania of politicians and the average men. It should be designed to give a new lease of life   to the present-day decedents of their brave Kandyan ancestors, so that they will immerge as a vibrant, brave and patriotic new Sinhala nation, keeping in mind the braveries of their ancestors, who had put this little Island in the fame list of the ancient world.

 I suggest that it must also encompass a broader academic scope, both graduate and post graduate. So that it could be a gold mine and a treasure house for researchers and students of different types of colonialism in one place, both medieval and the present times, so that it could turn out to be an academic center par excellence not only in the Indian ocean but in the whole world, making this country once again the door to the East and the West as it  had been, throughout history from ancient times. So that it will attract thousands of researchers and scholars from all parts of the world both the West and the East, and the north and the South, thereby opening a super highway, both by air and sea for earning Foreign Exchange as well.

I also recommend that this should be affiliated to the University of Peradeniya, The Institute of Fundamental Studies and the Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy (SIBA Campus) Pallekele and the two Head Quarters of Asgiriya and Malwatta, the Supreme Seats of Theravada Buddhism in the world. But education here should not be free. As far as possible it should be converted to a self-generating revenue earning institution.

None of the politicians or the officials suffering from the tourist mania has realized the unlimited potential national and international benefits of such a project.

None of the politicians or the officials involved in this project so far, seems to have noticed the unlimited potential benefits the country and the academic world can get by converting this site in to a Memorial Museum of Patriotic wars of Kandyan Sinhalese (1505-1848) and an International Institute of Research and post graduate studies on Colonial crimes in Sri Lanka” on the line I have stated above.

I am confident such a broad-based Institute will attract academic interests the world over, in the fields of medieval colonialism, trade, geo politics and studies on medieval colonial expansion. It will also demonstrate how medieval colonialism has transformed and changed this world and how colonialism was responsible for the present day socio-political, economic and social  mess and conundrums in Asia Africa due to  exploitive and suppressive colonial policies towards the victimized nations and how to find a workable solutions to such ailing manmade problems due to the perpetuation of the same medieval colonialism in a different form  even at present through their multifaceted and interlinked financial  and legal institutions like the World BANK, IMF, UNO and its affiliated organizations such as the UNHRC and arrest the expansion of neo-colonialism intruding in different forms into the affairs of the exploited countries in Africa, Latin Amerika and Asia  like Sri Lanka and India. This research institute should also explore ways and means of preventing any colonial pursuits in a future world.

As such the establishment of an International Museum and a Research Institute as proposed   could also turn out to be a world-famous research center and a treasure house for scholars and connoisseurs the world over, in studies on colonialism and how it has changed the world civilization. This will also be the first of its kind in the world with international standards, making Sri Lanka the Head Quarters of such academic studies.

 It will also provide a window to see how colonialism has imposed and implanted the aggressor’s form of government, religion, language and culture, upon the victim nations by the gun, sword and the Bible destroying the indigenous civilizations and cultures the world over, that were indigenous and country specific.  The proposed research and higher study center might be able to come out with workable solutions for reconciliation and peaceful coexistence between different nations where each nation respects the other man’s culture and see every one as equals  that might have far reaching effects on our co-existence on this planet that would pave the way for a Brave New World  San  the present-day global tension and unrest arising from practicing the ‘Matsya nyaaya preached by Kautillya, where the stronger swallows up THE WEAKER, thus destroying global diversity leading to uniformity that goes against  nature and  makes the world artificially monotonous destroying natural diversity.  

I suggest that the proposed Memorial Museum and the Research Institute complex should have the following components to begin with.

1. Memorial Museum of Patriotic wars of Kandyan Sinhalese against the colonial invaders (1505-1848) displaying all leading personalities and events like the 1818 Uva Rebellion, 1848 Matale Rebellion and the Balana, Wagolla and Randenigala battles against the British and the Sithavaka Rajasinha victory over the Portuguese
2. Memorial Museum of Portuguese, Dutch and British colonial crimes against the Sinhalese Buddhists displaying the major personalities and events. together with the positive British marvel like the Colombo Badulla railway line.
3. An International Institute of Research on Colonial crimes in committed against    the native Sinhalese”          
4. A library to house all books and correspondence between 1505-1948, Portuguese, Dutch and British
5. A theater to display cultural and historical events like the first Dalada PeraHara by Sri Meigavanaa in the 3th century BC at Anuradhapura, Mahanuwara Perahara and a conference hall

5. General building with the Administration Branch, lecture rooms. Labs and any other facilities required for the Institute

The entire site of 14 acres should be nicely landscaped and all buildings should reflect Kandyan Architecture

 Visuals of brutalities committed by colonial invaders to be displayed

murder, arson, vandalism, destruction of religious places slaughter of cattle, wanton destruction to the environment, large scale deforestation on the hill country, destruction of irrigation canals, village Tanks, destroying home gardens and setting fire to paddy fields about to be harvested, disbanding judicial and social institutions like the Gamsabha, plundering of arts and crafts, valuable books, ola leaves, science and indigenous knowledge base like Ayurveda. discrimination against Sinhalese while giving special privileges to Malabaa settlers in the Jaffna peninsula and the plantations and Muslims (like the 1915 Muslim riots) such as Thesawalame for Jaffna Malaba settlers and Muslim law to Muslims all over the island while imposing the Romana Dutch Law of the invader in 1852 on the Native Sinhalese in place of their own Law. Settling Malabar immigrants in the North and the East along the coastal belt planting Indian nationals right at the center of the country, the geographical heartland of this Island thereby giving rise to a new Indian Tamil civilization right at the center of this country to change the demographic balance and to change the political map of this Sinhala country. Destruction of the primeval forest cover of the Central hills that decides the survival of the entire life system and the civilization in the country due to the loss of the physical stability of the central highlands that will result in drying up all the 103 rivers that have their sources on these hills.

Allowing the minorities to have their own laws while denying the natives their own and imposing Roman Dutch Law on them from 1852. Robing the native land by repressive legislation like Encroachment on Crown lands Ord of 1840, Temple Lands Ord of 1853 and the Wasteland Ordinance of 1897. Brownrigg also issued a special gazette order under Royal proclamation no 1 of 1818 asking all males over 18 years of age to be killed, paddy fields and orchards bearing fruits to be destroyed, all irrigation works to be destroyed and all the cattle to be slaughtered  

They also destroyed the age old native political, legal, administrative and social institutions and replaced them with their own systems, completely alien and inappropriate to the traditions of the natives.

This is only an outline of a proposal as it came to my mind.

The Govt must get a committee of experts in fields like history, native warfare, medieval colonial invasions, Archaeology and Architecture, Landscaping, construction engineering, Research etc to prepare a detailed Master Plan for this Project within 3 months.

 If accepted and established this could also be the first of its kind on studies on colonialism in the whole world.

Some of the personalities with a brief description on each one of them I suggest to be displayed in the Memorial Museum

Wariyapola Sumangala and Kadahapola Thero and Welivita Sangharaja Thero,Ahelepola Adikaarama ,Plimatalavve, Keppetipola, Meegasthane Adiikaarama, Keppetipola Disava walking with a hunch back looking for Independence of his motherland as displayed in Mauritius Isle in conversation with his French care taker Puran Appu. Gongalegoda Banda, Saradiyal, and Devendra Mulaacharya the Architect of the Octagon and the Walaakul Bamma. Ananda Coomaraswamy (Author of Medieval Sinhalese Art and Tennakoon Wimlananda, Nittawela Gunaya and Thittapajjala Suramba, and Sirima Bandarnayaka (A Kandyan lady who was the First Woman Prime Minister in the world any other historic personalities as recommended by the special Committee that is proposed to be set up to draw up the final plan.

Architecture and painting  

All buildings should be in Kandyan style with a mixture of Anuradhapura style as well. The lay out of the whole project, its buildings, art work landscaping and roads etc should be decided by a Pannal of experts in Architecture, landscaping, history, engineering and Aesthetics

I also suggest

1.We use the traditional Temple painting technique in narrative form for Wall Paintings in order to depict our traditions of Kandyan arts and crafts and village life.

2.Miscellaneous items that could be incorporated to enhance the historical and cultural values that awaken patriotism and love for the motherland, religion and our cultural values.

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

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

5. A fully equipped library to House documents pertaining to the 1505-1848 period with a competent library staff. Works by both local and foreign authors should be made available here.

6 A research unit in collaboration with the Peradeniya University the Institute of Fundamental Studies and The International Buddhist University Pallekele.

Foot note

Step1: Accepting the Proposal by the Government

Step 2 Selecting and appointing the panel of experts to prepare the final Report giving details of buildings lay out, landscaping, administrative authority, staff, equipment’s and machinery, revivals, Staff, and the Budget

Step 3 Preparation of the draft Act for the Memorial Museum of Patriotic wars of Kandyan Sinhalese (1505-1848) and an International Institute of Post Graduate Research on Colonial crimes in Sri Lanka” at the old Bogambara Prison site and getting it passed by Parliament

Step 4. Setting up the machinery of Administration and making appointment to the Authority. Under a Director General and two Directors, one to be in charge of the Museum and the other to be in charge of the Research and Post Graduate Section and the required staff under them

Step 5. If the Government accept the Proposal in Principle, the Cabinet can appoint an interim Board of management to operate with a Mini staff that can start the work from the bungalow of the Prison former Commissioner until the new building complex is completed so that the Director General can coordinate the expeditious completion of the building complex by on-the-spot supervision, in order to expedite the completion of the Project

.Meanwhile the Government can get the Act passed by Parliament concurrently, so that the new management can start operation in full swing.

Finally, I also propose to set up a Special Committee of experts in Sri Lankan and Colonial wars pertaining to the period mentioned (1505-1948) with a mixture of experts in Sri Lankan History, Architecture,  Kandyan State Craft and Kandyan Law, Sinhala Legal system and Indigenous war fare, weaponry, 1818 and 1848 rebellions and the art of war with the assistance of the Peradeniya and other universities may be sought in selecting the most competent scholars and scientists for this panel as suggested above.

Special note.

This proposal of mine is only an outline of a Project Proposal to be drawn up by a Pannal of experts.

I give below few names I propose as experts to be included in that Team, subjected to revision,

Emeritus Professor Gerald Peiris, Shoba Janaki Senaviratna (Architect and Member Sri Lanka Council of Architects) Mr Samantha Ratwatte (Presidential Council ),Mr. L.K.N Perera (Lawyer and retired Judge and Author of EELAAM EXPOSED), Mr. Nalaka Wijesinha Retired colonel Sri Lanka Army and an Activist on Kandyan affairs , Mrs Asoka Badarage*, (expert of International Affairs) Senali Waduge (Jounalistm and Patriot), Palitha Ariyaratna, (journalist and Activist on national and religious Affairs), and Activist on Kandyan Affairs, Dr. Mahesh Premarathna IFS (Biotechnologist) and young Activist  in many innovative fields)

 My services are also available free for the Preparation of the Final Report on this subject, as the proposer of this Proposal)

This institution should be administered by a Board of Governors. Appointed by the Head of the State.

Some of the members listed as experts below may also be included on the Bord of Governors

Ex-Officio members of the Board of Governors

Governor CP, GA Kandy, Mayor of Kandy MC, two scholarly Representatives from Malwatta and Asgiriya Sects (nominated by the Mahaanayka Theras), Diyawadana Nilame, of the Sri Daladha Maligava,Vice Chancellor of Peradeniya University or his /her nominee, The Head of Pallekele International Buddhist University or his /her nominee,  Head of the IFS or his/her nominee, The Four Basnayaka Nilames of the 4 Devalas, a Representative from the UDA, he Secretary to the Ministry of Heritage and cultural Affairs; Nominee by the Secretary to the Treasury.

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 [S1]

National Development Bank PLC

 Highlights

• Driven primarily by core banking operations, profit before all taxes and after tax grow by 32%  

• Net loans, deposits and total assets expand by 21%, 10% and 15% respectively, with the highest-ever absolute net loans growth during a first-half period  

• Net loans to SMEs crosses the LKR 100.0 billion-mark accounting for close to 20% of the loan book

• Solvency level continues to be sound with over 5.0% buffer in terms of CET1 and over 4.0% across Total CAR

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

National Development Bank PLC, Sri Lanka’s Premier Financial Services Provider, announced the results for six-month period ended June 30, 2025 reporting a total operating income and pre-tax profit of LKR 22.3 billion and LKR 8.6 billion, respectively (H1-2024: LKR 22.9 billion and LKR 6.5 billion).

Fund based income

Net interest income, which accounted for over 75% of the Bank’s total operating income, amounted to LKR 16.9 billion for the semi-annual period; rising 2.7% over LKR 16.5 billion in H1-24. This was notwithstanding the sharp decline in interest rates where the one-year government Treasury Bill yield fell to 7.9% at end June, 2025 from being close to 10.3% at end June, 2024. NDB was able to maintain its Net Interest Margins broadly at 4.0% levels (2024: 4.3%) which, excluding items of a one-off nature, was 4.2% on a like for like basis (2024: 4.4%). At end June 2025, the Bank had close to LKR 50.3 billion in Loans and Deposits under a special arrangement with its customer(s) with a netting-off feature (end 2024: LKR 19.6 billion).

Non-fund based income

Net fee & commission income grew by 8.4% to reach LKR 3.6 billion whilst, the second quarter alone considered, it was an impressive 20.8% quarter-on-quarter growth; underlining the conscious and diligent efforts made to improve its overall contribution to income from non-funded sources. Growth in net fees stemmed from almost all aspects of its core business operations.

Credit and operating costs

Impairment charges of LKR 4.5 billion for the period saw a 46.7% YoY reduction from LKR 8.4 billion in the same period of 2024, attributable to greater focus of the Bank on improving credit quality. This took the Bank’s total impairment coverage ratio, excluding such one-off items of a special nature, to 8.7% (end 2024: 9.6%); which compared well relative to the industry average at the said period end. Operating expenses totaled LKR 9.2 billion – which, whilst increasing by 14.8% over H1- 2024 – stemmed primarily from staff related routine increments and realignments to the industry, and higher investments in IT infrastructure and those of a direct business development nature.

Investor key performance indicators

Return on average equity was 10.6% down from 12.2% in 2024 whilst Annualized Earnings per share was LKR 19.65 down from LKR 21.25 for 2024. Respective ratios at the Group level were 10.8% (2024: 12.5%) and LKR 21.23 (2024: LKR 23.05), respectively. The Bank’s Pre-tax return on average assets was 2.0% (2024: 3.1%). Net asset value per share was LKR 186.81 (2024: LKR 186.91) and compared with a closing share price of LKR 120.25, which posted a 6.2% appreciation since end 2024. Group Net asset value per share was LKR 199.37 (2024: LKR 199.13).

FINANCIAL POSITION

The Bank’s total deposits amounted to LKR 696.1 billion at June 30, 2025 (end 2024: LKR 631.7 billion, 10.2% growth) whilst net loans expanded to LKR 557.0 billion (end 2024: LKR 460.7 billion, 20.9% growth). Excluding transactions of a one off and special nature, this represented a normalized absolute net growth of 5.5% and 14.9% over end 2024, respectively. The Bank’s CASA ratio on a normalized basis was 25.0% having improved from 22.5% at end 2024; ultimately reflecting the Bank’s conscious efforts to improve its low cost funding.

The Bank’s Impaired loans (Stage 3) to total loans ratio was 5.1% (end 2024: 5.2%) which compared well with the industry average. Its Stage 3 provision coverage was 53.4% (end 2024: 54.5%) which also was close to the industry norm.

LIQUIDITY AND SOLVENCY

Liquidity levels also remained strong with the Bank’s Liquidity coverage ratios, across both Rupee and All currency, being 330.9% and 253.8%, respectively at June 30, 2025 (end 2024: 358.1% and 308.3%) and its Net stable funding ratio being 124.5% (end 2024: 152.4%) – all of which were well above the minimum regulatory requirements of 100.0%. The Bank’s solvency levels as measured by CET1/ Tier I and Total CAR were 12.3% and 16.6%, respectively representing a strong over 5.0% buffer over its regulatory minimums from a CET1 perspective and over 4.0% buffer from a Total CAR perspective (end 2024: 13.7% and 19.1%).

OTHER NON-FINANCIAL INDICATORS

The branch network stood at 113 branches, supplemented by an ATM network of 60 and cash recycle machines (CRM) network of 106 spread across the island. Total staff as at the end of the period under review was 2,882 (2024: 2,920).

Commenting on the results for the first six months, the Bank’s Director/ Chief Executive Officer Mr. Kelum Edirisinghe stated that: Our results are testimony to our diligent, conscious and concerted effort to improve every aspect of our business whilst taking every measure reasonably necessary to strengthen our overall risk guard rails on a continuous basis. Supported by the continued positive progress of the Sri Lankan economy – albeit several macro level headwinds stemming mostly from the global economic landscape – we are very pleased to witness the resurgence of much of our customers across retail and all business segments.  With customer-centricity at the heart of our every endeavor, we focused on delivering impactful support across all our client segments to enable them move forward in this emerging environment.

For us, the first six months of this year marks many milestones. Amongst them all, one standout is our continued contribution to the SMEs in the country and one which is best reflected in our loan book crossing the LKR 100.0 billion mark and accounting for close to 20% of our total loans – a feat we are very proud of! NDB’s recent recognition as Euromoney’s Best Digital Bank for SMEs for the year 2025 provides further testimony to the success of this focused effort to serve this crucial and determinative segment of our economy.

Looking ahead, our focus is clear. We will continue to leverage on our deep rooted knowledge and experience in understanding customer behavior better, use our digital capabilities to create greater ease of access and use the diverse skills and capabilities of our staff at both a front end and back to adopt and adjust to an ever evolving business landscape in order to ultimately better enable us create sustained shareholder value over the longer haul. Conscious of also the challenges which may lie ahead, we remain confident of the Bank’s continuing trajectory of growth in its core banking operations and realizing its vision for the future sooner rather than later”.

ITN News

ITN ප්‍රවෘත්ති විනාඩි 28.06

Ministry of Defence  – Media Centre

The newly appointed Defence Attaché of the United Kingdom in Sri Lanka, Colonel Keith Miles, paid a courtesy call on the Defence Secretary, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd), today (Aug 14) at the Ministry of Defence in Sri Jayawardenepura, Kotte.

He met the Defence Secretary, accompanied by the outgoing Defence Attaché Colonel Darren Woods.

During the cordial discussions, several key topics were addressed, including enhancing defence cooperation, fostering mutual understanding, and exploring new avenues for collaboration between the two nations. They discussed ways to further strengthen the longstanding defence partnership and reaffirm the shared commitment to regional stability and security.

The Defence Secretary extended his best wishes to Colonel Miles in carrying out his official duties in Sri Lanka. He also expressed gratitude to the outgoing Defence Attaché, Colonel Woods, for the support and cooperation extended during his tenure, and conveyed best wishes for his future endeavours.

By Poojathmi Rivithma Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, August 14 (Daily Mirror) – The Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) has voiced strong concerns over the government’s decision to allow seven foreign investors to cultivate cannabis in Sri Lanka under the Board of Investment (BOI).

At a conference, Minister Nalinda Jayatissa announced that the cultivation would be strictly for export purposes, with security measures in place. He said the aim was to generate economic benefits by utilising all parts of the cannabis plant.

ADIC Executive Director Sampath De Seram recalled that a similar proposal was previously rejected following strong opposition from the Sri Lanka Medical Association, the College of Psychiatrists, the College of Community Physicians, and the broader public.

He noted that the current Deputy Minister of Investment Promotion, who had opposed the proposal while in opposition, is now promoting it in his new role.

ADIC warned that, despite global moves to legalise cannabis, many such efforts have failed due to strong resistance and expert concerns. Officials added that the international cannabis market shows no real growth, with oversupply and little profit potential.

They cautioned that the move poses serious risks to Sri Lanka’s health, economy, and security, and could push the country further into crisis.

Courtesy Hiru News

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Ramanathan Arjuna, an independent Member of Parliament for the Jaffna District, has announced that he will file a complaint against the Speaker with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on August 21.

According to MP Arjuna, the Speaker has disabled his microphone for eight days without any reason, interrupting his speeches.

He stated that interrupting his speech without cause for several days is a serious offense.

He also mentioned that he intends to file a complaint with the Geneva Human Rights Council regarding this matter.

The MP claimed that for 78 days, he was not given the opportunity to speak in Parliament.

He believes that denying him the chance to speak on behalf of the people of the Jaffna District is a severe injustice to his constituents.

Courtesy Hiru News

Senior Superintendent of Police Sathish Ranjan Hiyare Gamage, the acting Director of the Cultural Division (Administration) at the Police Field Force Headquarters, was remanded until August 19. The order was given today (14), by Colombo Additional Magistrate Pavithra Sanjeewanee Pathirana.

Gamage was arrested by the Bribery Commission in connection with a money laundering case. He is accused of accepting bribes of over Rs. 14 million from individuals, including organised criminals. The arrested Senior Superintendent of Police was taken into custody by the Bribery Commission this morning.

The Bribery Commission has accused the suspect of opening three bank accounts in another person’s name during his time as Senior Superintendent of Police for the Galle and Embilipitiya Police Divisions. The commission alleges he had over Rs. 14 million deposited into these accounts from organised criminals and other individuals who sought police services.

Assistant Legal Director, Attorney-at-Law, Thusitha Jayaneththi, appeared in court on behalf of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. The commission informed the court that it had received information showing the senior police officer accepted money from individuals who came to the police for services, as well as from organised criminals and other offenders. The Bribery Commission also informed the court that it was revealed the suspect had allegedly received money from illegal massage parlours and deposited it into the three bank accounts.

Continuing to present facts before the court, the Assistant Director of the Bribery Commission stated that the Criminal Investigation Department had recorded a statement from a powerful drug trafficker named Dulaj Tharanga. His WhatsApp account had received three messages, one of which contained the bank account details of a person named Anura Nanayakkara. The CID summoned and questioned Nanayakkara, who stated that the bank accounts did not belong to him but to the suspect in the dock. This is how the fraud was uncovered. An investigation was carried out, and based on the information, the suspect was arrested at his place of work”

The Assistant Director of the Bribery Commission revealed that the three bank accounts in question, which belong to the suspect and are under the name of Anura Nanayakkara, are held at three separate private banks. It was disclosed that money from individuals seeking services from the suspect, organised criminals, illegal massage parlours, and other offenders had been deposited into these accounts on numerous occasions. The Assistant Director also informed the court that a total of Rs. 14 million was credited to these three accounts in a short period of just eight months.

She added that the suspect’s wife was questioned and revealed the truth about the incident. It was also revealed that the suspect’s security officer had deposited money into the three questionable bank accounts on over a hundred occasions, and his driver had deposited over Rs. 1.4 million on fifty different occasions. Additionally, a powerful drug trafficker living abroad deposited money into the suspect’s personal account on three occasions. Money was also deposited into these accounts by another powerful drug trafficker named AmilaParanawithana. The commission stated that several other bank accounts related to the case needed to be investigated.

The Assistant Director of the Bribery Commission told the court that Anura Nanayakkara provided a sworn statement on the 5th of August, 2025, claiming he had been intimidated by the suspect. This is why he was reluctant to tell the truth when first questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department. The Assistant Director argued that the suspect should be remanded under the Bail Act and Section 122 of the Anti-Corruption Act, citing that the act constitutes a clear case of corruption. The Assistant Director requested that the suspect be remanded until the conclusion of the case, as permitted by a certificate from the Director-General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.

Meanwhile, the legal counsel who appeared for the suspect had this to say.

As per the Bribery Commission’s investigating officers claim Anura Nanayakkara gave his sworn statement on the 5th of August, 2025, but the investigation began in 2024. The Supreme Court has ruled that bail should be granted in bailable offences. The Bribery Commission and the CID can take sworn statements at any time, but a suspect cannot be remanded based solely on such a statement. As such, release my client on suitable bail conditions”

After considering the arguments, the Magistrate rejected the suspect’s bail request, stating that regardless of his rank, the investigation into the incident was not yet complete. The court also noted that there were revelations of potential intimidation of witnesses by the suspect and therefore ordered that he be remanded until the August 19.

Courtesy Adaderana

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has urged the Sri Lankan government to repeal or amend existing laws or proposed laws that unduly restrict the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, association, and peaceful assembly, including the Online Safety Act, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act, draft Non-Governmental Organizations (Registration and Supervision) Act, and proposed amendments to Personal Data Protection Act.

In a new report issued on Sri Lanka, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the Sri Lankan government’s pledges to deliver justice, restore the rule of law, and eliminate discrimination and divisive politics must finally yield concrete results.

Today, an opportunity presents itself for Sri Lanka to break from the past,” he said. It now needs a comprehensive roadmap to translate these commitments into results.”

The report follows High Commissioner Türk’s recent visit to Sri Lanka, where he met officials, civil society groups, political parties and religious leaders, and travelled to Trincomalee, Jaffna and Kandy – among the worst-affected areas.

The report also calls for a clear acknowledgment of the alleged violations and abuses committed – including during the civil war – and recognition of the State’s responsibility and that of the non-state armed groups, including the LTTE.

The pain and suffering of victims remains palpable and their demands for truth and justice must be addressed,” Türk stressed.

The report recommends comprehensive security sector reform and broader constitutional, legal and institutional changes to meet international human rights obligations. It welcomes the planned creation of an independent Public Prosecutor’s office.

It also urges the establishment of a dedicated judicial mechanism, including an independent special counsel, to handle cases involving alleged human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law.

Other recommendations include the release of military-held land in the north and east, repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and the release of long-term PTA detainees – some imprisoned for decades.

The report further calls for amendments or repeal of several restrictive laws, including those relating to data and online safety, NGOs, and civil and political rights.

While the primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting crimes lies with the Government, the report by the High Commissioner also calls for complementary international support.

It urges UN Member States to contribute to accountability and reconciliation efforts, leveraging OHCHR’s strengthened capacity to undertake related work.
These measures are crucial to realizing the Government’s vision of ‘national unity’ and above all ensuring there can never be recurrence of past violations,” Mr. Türk said.

Media Release – The Internet Media Action (IMA)

| August 14, 2025
The Internet Media Action (IMA) urges the government to immediately suspend the summons
issued by the Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division (CTID) to photojournalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan to ensure that journalists are able to work freely.

A police notice has revealed that the CTID has issued a summons to photojournalist
Kanapathipillai Kumanan to appear for an investigation.” According to this notice, he has been
informed to be present at the Counter Terrorism sub-office in Alampil, Mullaitivu, on August 17
to provide a statement. However, without providing any details or further information about this
summons, this action appears arbitrary and coercive. The Internet Media Action (IMA)
recognizes this as a form of harassment against a journalist.

The IMA strongly emphasises to the government that this summons should be immediately
withdrawn and that the harassment faced by Kumanan must be stopped. Furthermore, the
government must ensure a free and safe environment for journalists to carry out their
professional duties without intimidation, obstruction, or influence.

The misuse of police powers by employing a notorious institution like the Counter Terrorism
Unit is recognised by us as a serious threat to media freedom. Kumanan, an ethnic Tamil, is a
leading photojournalist who has been providing updates and photographs to the media on the
Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna, where more than 140 human skeletons were discovered,
fulfilling an important responsibility of reporting this significant event.

He has also been reporting on peaceful public protests in the Northern Province calling for truth
and justice for the disappeared, peaceful actions to reclaim land belonging to Tamil people, and
activities to safeguard human rights in the post-war North. His role as a journalist in these
activities deserves the highest recognition. In such a context, targeting such a journalist through
the Counter Terrorism Unit and acting in a harassing manner is a grave situation.

Therefore, the IMA urges the government of the National People’s Power (NPP) to
immediately halt these actions and to take swift measures to create an environment where all
journalists, including Tamil journalists, can carry out their professional work without
intimidation, interference or threats.

Freedom of the media is a cornerstone of democracy. Protecting and upholding it is a primary
duty of the government. Therefore, we stress to the government that it is their foremost
responsibility to rectify this situation immediately and to create an environment where journalists
can work without any hindrance.

Sampath Samarakoon
(Convenor) Internet Media Action (IMA) | +94 777 248304

Shenali D Waduge

Sri Lanka’s victory over the LTTE in May 2009 was not just a military success — it was the liberation of an entire nation from one of the most ruthless terrorist organisations in the world. After nearly 30 years of suicide bombings, assassinations, ethnic cleansing, and child soldier recruitment, the country was finally free from terror.

Yet, sixteen years later, those who led this historic victory are being treated as criminals, while LTTE operatives and their global networks enjoy freedom, political influence, and platforms to rewrite history.

This alarming reversal is no coincidence — it is the continuation of the LTTE’s war through political, legal, and propaganda channels, with the ultimate goal unchanged: a separate state.

Lest everyone has forgotten – the Armed Forces may have dismantled the LTTE’s military machinery, but the political project for separatism is still alive. This is precisely why the military must remain at full strength, with camps strategically positioned, never disbanded & never demoralized. The one’s playing poodle to terrorists will never defend the nation or its people – only our soldiers will.

Who has forgotten LTTE’s Atrocities?

The LTTE’s record of brutality is well documented:

• Assassination of President Ranasinghe Premadasa, former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and countless ministers, military leaders, and civilians.
• Use of human shields during the final battles, forcing civilians to remain in war zones and shooting to death those who attempted to flee.
• Ethnic cleansing of Muslims & Sinhalese from the North in 1990.
• Recruitment of thousands of child soldiers, documented by UNICEF and other agencies.
• Claiming to represent Tamils but killing all Tamils going against them.
• Over 300 attacks across 30 years.

Despite this, no LTTE leader or even accomplice has faced prosecution = internationally or even locally for these crimes. Instead, many have found safe haven abroad, rebranding themselves as activists” and human rights defenders” taking new names & identities while lobbying foreign governments to target Sri Lankan military personnel. Those living in Sri Lanka have found their way into Parliament openly claiming their hero is Prabakaran & no action taken against them.

From Victory to Vilification

Sri Lanka’s military achieved one of the most decisive counter-terrorism victories of the 21st century. No foreign military has matched despite their vast resources,  advanced weaponry & sophisticated training their governments provide.

Yet, instead of honouring those who led the fight, our war-winning officers are being hounded by politically driven accusations while LTTE operatives, financiers, and propagandists remain untouched and free to lobby foreign powers against the very men who ended their terror.

If cases that are over 15 years old are being plucked & being connected to the war heroes who played significant roles to end terror, why is this same standard not applied to the LTTE & their accomplices?

Many who actively supported or collaborated with the LTTE continue to operate openly and unashamedly promoting anti-national agendas both locally and internationally — yet they remain beyond the reach of justice.

The question must be asked: Why have the masterminds, funders, local and international operatives of the LTTE never been prosecuted, even in countries where they committed crimes? How have convicted LTTE members been released, rehabilitated, and in some cases rewarded with asylum and political refuge, while the very officers who defeated them are targeted?

Ironically, the very Western nations quick to cook up charges against Sri Lanka’s war heroes — relying on LTTE operatives as witnesses” — are the same Nations that shield and protect their own soldiers, even when there is undeniable evidence of atrocities against them.

Instead of being recognised as defenders of the nation, these naval heroes face relentless persecution and we cannot but question the motives of plucking out incidents that are over 1 ½ decades old when crimes are taking place on a daily basis presently!

This scenario should raise everyone’s eyebrows:

• Admiral Ravi Wijegunaratne– Cleared by the Attorney General for lack of evidence, yet subjected to sustained smear campaigns both locally and abroad.
• Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne– Dragged into a suspicious identification parade orchestrated around a rehabilitated” LTTE intelligence operative, until even the Magistrate halted the farce.
• Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda– Navy Commander during the decisive final phase of the war; cleared when the AG dropped charges, yet now placed under foreign sanctions even though he had not even applied to travel, courtesy of LTTE diaspora lobbying networks.

Intelligence Operatives: Silent Defenders

Much of Sri Lanka’s victory depended on intelligence operatives working in complete secrecy. By the very nature of their work, they cannot be publicly praised or acknowledged without compromising their missions, methods, and networks.

The danger of exposure is not theoretical. In 2002, during the Millennium City debacle, over 50 intelligence operatives were gunned down after the then Ranil Wickremesinghe government disclosed their identities to the LTTE immediately after  the Ceasefire Accord.

Today, attempts by the LTTE diaspora and foreign lobbies to publicize how Sri Lanka’s intelligence operatives work, and even their identities, echo that tragic precedent.

Bringing intelligence operatives into public debates, courts, or media discussions not only endangers operational security but is the ultimate injustice—punishing those who safeguarded the nation while exposing it to future threats.

These operatives serve silently, expecting nothing, and can never reveal their identities. Their commitment to the nation is absolute and cannot be compromised. Even their spouses or families often do not know the nature of their work. Yet the impact of their actions is immeasurable: they have prevented attacks, dismantled terror networks, and safeguarded the country’s survival, all without awards, recognition, or public accolades. The nation owes its very security to their unseen sacrifices.

This systematic vilification is no accident. It is the continuation of the LTTE’s war by other means — using foreign courts, human rights lobbies, and politically influenced investigations to achieve on paper what they could not win on the battlefield. These well-funded campaigns often occur close to Geneva sessions and are timed to showcase as examples & to justify the lies the LTTE propagandists spread to diplomats ready to use any means to exert political pressure against Sri Lanka for geopolitical reasons.

The Foreign Pressure Playbook

The post-war period has seen a coordinated campaign to paint Sri Lanka’s military as war criminals,” driven by:

• Diaspora lobbying– Funded by former LTTE financiers now operating legally abroad.
• Foreign political agendas– Using human rights” as a pretext to exert geopolitical influence. Following the money trail to every glossy report/documentary, media expose and you will find the fingerprints of LTTE backers.
• Selective investigations– Sri Lankan military leaders are targeted while LTTE crimes are whitewashed or ignored. Even the UN and UNHRC are complicit, violating due process and bypassing their own procedural safeguards.

These tactics have been used elsewhere — from Iraq to Afghanistan — to weaken nations that resist external control. Sri Lanka is simply the latest target.

The Danger to National Security

When a nation allows its defenders to be targeted and humiliated, it sends a dangerous signal:

• To itsenemies — that terrorism can still win through propaganda and foreign intervention.
• To itsarmed forces — that loyalty and sacrifice will not be protected by the state triggering demoralizing sentiment. A dangerous scenario.
• To itscitizens — the fine line that exists when national sovereignty can be traded away for political gain with citizens losing trust in their government.

If the same individuals who protected the nation are discredited, prosecuted, or sanctioned, it will cripple the military’s morale and readiness for future threats.

Nation & National Security First

This is not about protecting individuals because they wore a uniform. It is about defending the very principle that those who safeguard the country must not be sacrificed to appease political lobbies or foreign interests especially terrorist lobbies.

What cannot be denied is the manner that the very entities that promoted or supported LTTE back in the day are the very entities carrying out a smear campaign against those who defeated the LTTE. This ground reality cannot be ignored especially when the so-called justice appears to be one-sided and the terrorists are never on trial but those that defeated the terrorists are.

Sri Lanka’s victory over the LTTE was hard-won — paid for in blood, sacrifice, and resilience. To let that victory be rewritten as a crime is to betray not only our armed forces but the sovereignty of the nation itself.

The unfinished war is not being fought in the jungles of Mullaitivu — it is being fought in courtrooms, in foreign parliaments, and in the media. Why are they siding with terrorists?

If we do not stand now for our defenders, the cost will be far greater than the loss of reputation — it will be the loss of our independence.

Shenali D Waduge

Bodapati Srujana, Tricontinental Asia

On 31 July 2025, U.S. President Trump announced a blanket 25% tariff on all exports from India to the United States. This came despite the conclusion of five rounds of bilateral trade negotiations, with the sixth round scheduled for later in August. Trump’s frustration was evident, as India continued to resist U.S. demands – particularly the opening of its agricultural sector to U.S. exports, especially dairy products. In a series of outbursts on Truth Social, Trump denounced India’s trade barriers as ‘obnoxious’, referred to the country as the ‘tariff king’, and, in one of his more extreme remarks, described India’s economy as ‘dead’. He also threatened additional, unspecified penalties beyond the already announced 25% tariff, citing India’s continued purchase of Russian crude oil that was facing U.S. economic sanctions. That threat materialised on 6 August, when the Trump administration announced an additional 25% tariff on Indian exports. Once in effect, Indian exports to the U.S. will face a steep 50% tariff. Gaganendranath Tagore (India), Terribly Sympathetic, 1917. Trump’s outbursts and use of tariffs to arm-twist other countries into trade deals is now an internationally well-known tactic. Countries that rushed to conclude agreements in response to Trumpian threats have ended up with highly unfavourable terms. A case in point is the European Union, which accepted a lopsided deal. It now faces a 15% tariff on its exports to the U.S., while agreeing to invest $600 billion in the U.S. economy and purchase $750 billion worth of U.S. energy over three years. Meanwhile, U.S. exports to the EU will be duty-free. In Asia too, countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia have concluded trade deals with the U.S., which are likely to hurt them in the long run. Trump’s intemperate language targeting India and the steep tariff imposed, is undoubtedly embarrassing for the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, especially given his claims of a personal rapport with Trump, marked by periodic displays of obsequious bonhomie with his fellow right-wing demagogue. In this context, the Indian government’s refusal so far to yield to U.S. pressure is significant, and one hopes this position will hold in the coming months. It is hard not to recall the previous Trump administration, when India initially resisted U.S. demands to comply with sanctions on Iran and halt its oil purchases. In that case, the Modi government ultimately capitulated, ending all imports of Iranian oil and hurting its ties with a historically close neighbour, one that is critical not only to India’s energy security but also to its efforts to develop alternative trade routes linking it to Central Asia, Russia, and Europe. The penal tariffs imposed on India appear to stem from two reasons: first, India’s refusal to open its agricultural market to tariff-free U.S. imports; and second, its continued purchase of Russian oil, citing its economic needs and energy security. One of the key reasons for India resisting Uncle Sam’s pressure is that dismantling tariff protections for the agricultural sector would amount to political suicide of the ruling party. Over 45% of India’s population remains directly dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. When the balance of payments crisis triggered India’s neoliberal turn in 1990–91, protections for agriculture were among the first to be dismantled. Between 1990 and 1996, average tariffs on agricultural imports fell sharply from 81% to 40%, exposing millions of Indian farmers to the volatility of international agricultural markets dominated by large agribusinesses and commodity speculators. This led to a prolonged agrarian crisis, lasting more than a decade, marked by widespread farmer suicides due to debt. Unstable global prices of agricultural produces devastated rural incomes. It was also a period of serious political unrest, with frequent farmer protests across the country. The Indian political establishment would be careful not to recreate such a situation, considering Modi’s bitter experience with Farmers’ Protest in 2020. Soon after Modi triumphantly returned to power for a second term in 2019, he took on the farmers enacting three farm laws. These laws would have facilitated the removal of price support to farmers, and put agricultural trade in the hands of private corporations. The strength of the resilient farmers, who poured into the national capital in protest, stationing themselves on the borders of the Delhi and forcing Modi, a first in his career as prime minster, to accept defeat and withdraw the three farm laws, is fresh in the mind of the current political dispensation. A farmer who joined in the initial protest reads work by the revolutionary Punjabi poet, Pash, in his trolly at the Singhu border in Delhi, 10 December 2021. Vikas Thakur / Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research At the current cojuncture, when employment as well as investment in the manufacturing sector is stagnant and the shift away from agriculture to urban employment that took place till 2014, now somewhat reversed with people moving back to agriculture. Hurting the agriculture sector by removing tariffs and consequently causing damage to the rural economy is going to have severe consequences not only for the peasantry, but also for India’s overall growth . The trade negotiations have not been open to public input or scrutiny. However, based on media leaks, one of the major sticking points appears to be U.S. pressure on India to open its dairy sector. India’s dairy economy is deeply embedded in peasant agriculture. Unlike the large-scale dairy farms in the U.S. that keep hundreds of cattle, Indian peasants typically keep only a few animals alongside crop cultivation. Cattle rearing in India plays a crucial role in peasant economy. Given the seasonal variation in labour needs for crop cultivation, caring for cattle absorbs otherwise unutilised family labour. Crop residues, such as paddy and wheat straw, sugarcane and maize leaves, oil cakes, and farm weeds, are used as cattle feed, reducing the need for purchased inputs. For small-scale farmers, cattle rearing and milk sales are essential to make farming viable. Over several decades, the Indian government has implemented policies to increase milk yields and improve availability, beginning with Operation Flood in the 1970s. As a result, India has become self-sufficient in milk production and dairy consumption has steadily risen – making a significant contribution to improving protein intake among the country’s undernourished population. Succumbing to Trump’s demands for tariff removal on dairy products would be a severe blow to India’s dairy sector, reversing decades of effort to build self-sufficiency. The country’s long-term nutritional security would be placed at the mercy of international markets and U.S. whims, dragging India back to the 1960s when its leadership had to approach the United States with a begging bowl for wheat to feed its population. Arunkumar H G (India), Bhu-ka (Diet of the Earth), n.d. Clearly this is an outcome the Indian state would be wary of – irrespective of which party is in government. As such, the Indian government may never agree to U.S. demands on agriculture. Moreover, India’s leadership and commentariat appear to believe that the steep tariff imposed by the U.S. is a temporary measure, likely to be reversed once a trade deal is concluded on more favourable terms. Having fallen behind East Asia in comprehensive industrialisation and technological development, Indian policymakers hope to gain ground by replicating China’s success of export-oriented growth driven by access to Western markets, with the U.S being the major one. Since President Trump’s first term, when the U.S.-China trade conflict moved to the centre of global economic tensions, Indian businesses and the government have anticipated an opportunity to fill the potential vacuum in global supply chains serving Western consumers. As the U.S. pushes for a decoupling from Chinese production, taking advantage of the so-called ‘China+1’ strategy of U.S. companies, India hopes to leverage its massive labour force to attract a large share of this redirected investment and export demand. Apart from the size of its labour force to attract investments that are looking to diversify production away from China, India’s calculations for export-oriented growth also hinge on the anticipation that the U.S. would look at India as a strategic counterweight to China. India-China border tensions, marked by unresolved border issues, have fostered this outlook. It is also true that U.S. would like to co-opt India into various geopolitical schemes to contain China – one example being India’s membership in Quad. India has also for the last two decades increasingly shown willingness for a closer strategic embrace of the United States. Aswath (Young Socialist Artists, India), Marching with the Peasants, 2021. While India is unlikely to agree to removing tariffs on U.S. agricultural imports, it may well yield to U.S. pressure and step back from Russian oil purchases, as it did earlier in the cases of Iran and Venezuela. It may also allow itself to be dragged in to support U.S. geopolitical agendas in Asia. This strategy is, of course, deeply dangerous. India risks being dragged willy nilly into conflicts initiated by the U.S. in Asia. Pakistan offers a cautionary example. Despite being a close strategic partner of the U.S. for over half a century, it remains mired in chronic economic distress and dependency. Even those countries that have secured impressive economic performance by aligning closely with the U.S. – such as Japan, South Korea, and its European allies – have increasingly become exemplary Henry Kissinger’s statement that ‘Being [United States of] America’s enemy is dangerous, but being its friend can be fatal’. The U.S.-engineered destruction of Ukraine, in its bid to contain Russia, stands as a sobering warning for India. Even if Indian policymakers’ optimistic scenario materialises, and India secures a bilateral trade deal without hurting agriculture or compromising strategic autonomy – India is poorly placed to benefit from it. Past free trade agreements (FTAs), signed with great fanfare by India, have mostly led to widening trade deficits and further erosion of domestic industry. India’s FTA with ASEAN is a case in point, with the country’s trade deficit with ASEAN countries ballooning since its signing.  Similarly, the recently concluded bilateral trade treaty with the UK is also unlikely to deliver significant gains, and is instead expected to hurt the pharmaceutical sector. India has reportedly diluted its position on compulsory licensing and patents, setting a precedent that could undermine its stance in future trade negotiations with other developed countries. Warmly, Bodapati Srujana, Tricontinental Asia Srujana is an Indian economist. Her work focuses on agrarian relations, banking and inequality.

By Darini Rajasingham Senanayake*

AI-generated image perceived by Nastranis. – Photo: 2025

InDepthNews2025-08-12

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 12 August 2025 (IDN) — Real and staged crises present opportunities to reorient, innovate and think outside the box. Trump’s tariff ‘shock’ presents Sri Lanka’s business sector and national policy makers an opportunity for short, intermediate and long-term economic and industrial policy shift out of the current neocolonial, services-heavy, economic model.

At this time, the focus of discussion should be on the Development of New Products and New Markets by businesses and entrepreneurs, in partnership with state agencies like the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI), to grow the economy out of the Eurobond-USD debt trap and International Monetary Fund bailout business.

Sri Lanka has abundant fisheries and high-value Graphite and Minerals, including Rare Earths such as Zircon, as well as Titanium Ilmenite, phosphates, etc. These are low-hanging fruit with huge potential to grow the national economy through value addition and integration into regional supply chains.

Firstly, it would be essential to develop new export products by leveraging existing resources, Including Marine and Mineral resources, and to industrialise and add value in these sectors.

Secondly, identifying and targeting wealthy Central and West Asian markets, particularly the post-Soviet Republics and Shanghai Cooperation countries, as well as Middle Eastern countries, to export high-value Sri Lankan goods would be beneficial. Sri Lankan businesses also need to pivot to the BRICS and their allies to grow the economy- particularly China and Russia.

Asia is the growth hub of the world, and the West is in Decline at this time. South and Southeast Asian markets already have similar products, so targeting wealthy Central and West Asian markets, where transport costs would be manageable, makes sense.

Third, Sri Lanka has high-quality agricultural products but not large quantities or an economy of scale. Hence, priority should be given to identifying wealthy niche markets for traditional high-quality products like spices, Cinnamon, pepper, tea, rubber and coconut products, and for new marine (fishery) and mineral exports, such as Graphite, Zircon, Titanium, phosphates, etc.

Tariff Hype but Narrow Discussion Sans Data Analysis

Despite and perhaps because of the much-hyped Trump Tariff’ shock’ and possible economic disaster scenarios in the corporate media echo chamber and among think tanks, there has been a narrow focus on negotiations with Washington by the Sri Lanka Government team.

There has been inadequate analysis of the country’s export products and export market profile, also given questions about data accuracy, to assess any real impacts of the Trump tariff hike.

While the US claims to be the biggest export market of Sri Lankan goods and hence the biggest contributor to foreign exchange earnings, the European Union (EU) has made a similar claim!

By making such claims, both the EU and the US seek to exert influence in the country, to control its development policy trajectory and resources. Such claims have shaped the geostrategic island’s current pattern of dependent development on former Imperial powers, economic underdevelopment and failure to industrialise.

At a recent discussion at the Centre for Poverty Analysis, it was surmised that the Trump tariffs would have a marginal impact on primary commodity exports such as tea, rubber and coconut sectors, as these mainly go to other markets. However, women in the garment sector were the most vulnerable and likely segment of the population to face hardship if at all due to the Trump tariffs.

Data accuracy regarding the volume of Sri Lankan exports and their markets was necessary for an adequate assessment of whether any of the Trump tariffs impacted it. This, also in the context of concerns about some firms that are heavily import-dependent, such as apparel, under-invoicing, tax evasion and parking foreign currency overseas. The latter practice had also contributed to Sri Lanka’s staged first-ever Sovereign Default in 2022 amid the Aragalaya chaos and regime change operation.

The Geopolitical Economic Big Picture and BRICS

In the face of global Trump tariff shocks, we need lateral and critical thinking and analysis of the big picture of Geopolitical Economics. However, national media and think tanks have mainly focused on the untransparent negotiations in Washington by President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka’s inexperienced team.

India, one of the founding countries of BRICS, which was hit with 50% tariffs, had a dual or parallel track negotiation process with Washington. The first track focused on national economic issues (e.g., protecting local agriculture and dairy from multinational Agri-business, including GMO seeds, was a top priority of the Modi government, also for its survival). Sadly, Sri Lanka has already conceded these sectors that are crucial to national food security to the Bill Gates and Tony Blair Foundations!

The second track of Indian Govt tariff negotiations focused on geopolitical issues, which included Indian Govt. purchases of Russian oil amid Trump’s threats of secondary sanctions, as well as defence corporation.

The BRICS challenge of de-dollarisation and trading in local currencies, and other Geopolitical considerations, clearly are the subtext of the global Tariff Shock. Leading BRICS countries, Brazil, China, and India, have been hit with over 50 per cent tariffs.

President Trump is fighting to maintain the hegemony of the US Dollar as the Global Reserve currency, increasingly, of last resort, given a whopping $ 36 trillion US deficit, as economist and author of Super Imperialism, Professor Michael Hudson has noted. Hudson has also pointed out that the tariffs are set to compound odious debt traps in Global South countries, and make debt servicing impossible. Hence, the only solution is for debt-trapped countries in the Global South to refuse to pay predatory bondholders rather than remain in the IMF’s Odious debt restructure rabbit holes.[i]

At this time, questions remain as to what geostrategic security concessions were made by President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka’s team that went to Washington vis-à-vis Trump’s Tariff Shock red herring? Did the NPP regime promise protection of Israeli Spy-der webs and Container smuggling operations in Sri Lanka to turn it into an Indian Ocean hub for Project Stargate’s Artificial Intelligence infrastructure and data centres? This would include surveillance of the Indian Ocean energy, trade and submarine data cable routes for the coming Third World War on China, the BRICS and the Global South.[ii]

Was it an accident that in the same week that the Trump Tariff hype reached a crescendo, an announcement was made that Arkia Israel Airlines would resume flights to Sri Lanka in September 2025? Flights from Israel have been suspended in May 2024 as the War in Palestine escalated. The Tel Aviv – Colombo route would be operated by Gullivair Airbus A330-200 aircraft, it was announced. This, despite mounting opposition by citizens to Israeli land grabbing, shady business deals and tourism in strategic and environmentally vulnerable coastal and hilltop areas, not to mention the Chabad house phenomenon.

Board of Investment and Private Sector: Absence of Imagination, Innovation and Corruption?

It is indeed laughable that the NPP regime in Colombo continued to import salt and canned fish this year despite grand promises to develop the economy. Moreover, Sri Lanka is surrounded by the Indian Ocean, which is full of salt and fish, and the country should have industrialised to export volumes of these products.

However, rather than address the issue of underdevelopment and lack of industrialisation, there has been a blame game between the business sector and the government. The private sector seems to prefer to pass the buck to the State, rather than provide leadership as the ‘Captains of Industry’ should.

There has been an abject failure by the private sector, Chamber of Commerce, and BOI for decades to leverage existing resources such as Graphite, Salt, or fishery through industrialisation–even to supply domestic markets, never mind export markets. These include fishery by-products, fish feed and high-end fish oil pharmaceutical products.

In the context, it bears repeating that the Trump tariffs present an opportunity for Sri Lanka’s so-called ‘captains of industry’ and the AMCHAM colonised Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to reorient and pivot to develop New Products and New Markets outside Euro-America by leveraging existing resources in the country.

The Trump Tariff Shock also presents the NPP regime in Colombo an opportunity for long and short-term strategic economic planning to enable Transfer of Technology towards leveraging Sri Lanka’s valuable marine and mineral resources, such as fishery and Graphite.

However, endemic corruption in the marine and mineral sectors and relevant institutions like the National Aquatic Resources agency (NARA) and the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB), which have been mired in corruption, controlled and bankrolled by external actors and corrupt local networks remain a challenge. A former Minister of Fisheries, Rajitha Senaatne is currently under investigation for corruption vis-a-vis local fisheries harbours and corrupt deals with foreign trawler companies.

The failure to industrialise these sectors with a National Development Plan and an over-reliance on services and low end manufacturing (tourism and apparel), and exporting labour and brain draining the country to generate foreign exchange is reflective of a colonial dependency economy syndrome among the business community (so-called Captains of Industry) and National Policy Makers, which have contributed to the current ISB-IMF debt trap bailout business.

Private Sector: A Colonial Dependency and Handout Mentality?

When I briefly worked as a Consultant for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), on a ‘Constraints to Growth Analysis’, I was often asked by international experts: why is Sri Lanka, which is so well endowed in resources and talent, so lacking in innovation, i.e. industrialising and leveraging existing resources? My answer would be that the so-called business community has been, sadly, an engine of de-industrialisation and under-development because it remains highly dependent on Euro-American Development Aid, advisors and experts, and markets due to a colonial dependency mentality.

This dependency syndrome of the business sector and failure to recognise the real Wealth of the Nation is also valid to a great extent for the local economic think tanks, research community, and policy makers, albeit with a few exceptions.

The Business community constantly plays a blame game and passes the buck to the government, as if the GoSL signing Free Trade Agreements with all and sundry is the solution to their lack of entrepreneurship.

We may call this phenomenon, geostrategic Sri Lanka’s Neocolonial Hang Over– in the Asian 21^st Century because the country has long suffered from being a Donor Darling” with too many Economic Hitmen as’ advisors and experts’!

A foreign Aid and Experts dependency mentality is evident in the current context of the failure to recognise the rise of the BRICS and the need to pivot to Asian Markets, which are the growth centres of the world at this time, by the SL Chamber of Commerce and NPP policy makers alike.

Foreign Aid Dependency and Indian Ocean Resources in the Faux Anthropocene

The Marine and Mineral sectors should have been industrialised long ago, and Sri Lanka should be exporting and not importing Sea Salt and canned fish. However, these sectors have been deliberately kept small-scale and artisanal” while Distant Water States like France and Japan send industrial-scale trawlers to harvest Indian Ocean fishery resources.

Maintaining under-development in the Fisheries Sector in Sri Lanka has been in line with OECD Donor agendas and the name of ‘environmental protection’ in line with the United Nation’s faux Anthropocene, which is also being staged with geoengineering of climate disasters and the use of weather modification technologies, cloud seeding/ cloud bursts, heat dome, etc. generated with HAARP and Directed Energy Weapons (DEW).

The UN climate catastrophe and Anthropocene narrative increasingly serve to de-develop, de-industrialise and impoverish Global South countries in the name of environment protection”, while facilitating the financializing of Mother Nature and the marketing of Green and Blue Bond scams at this time.[iii] The result is depriving farmers and fishers access to their traditional farmlands, forests and ocean areas in the name of ‘environmental conservation’ with a gravy train of conservation NGOs as the Transnational Institute Report on Ocean Grabbing shows.[iv]

Meanwhile, development aid donors of the industrialised countries, particularly the EU, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, etc., harvest Indian Ocean fishery as data from the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission shows. Although these countries are not in the Indian Ocean, they take out Indian Ocean fisheries resources with industrial fishing fleets and trawlers. In contrast, Indian Ocean rim countries like Sri Lanka remain impoverished and engaged in ‘artisanal fishery’ – purportedly to save the environment and prevent over-fishing of the Indian Ocean![v]

France has claimed almost 20 per cent of the Indian Ocean seabed and valuable mineral resources at UNCLOS using colonial islands like Mayotte and Reunion. It is in a dispute with Mauritius at this time. So too, a part of Sri Lanka’s extended Exclusive Economic Zone has been claimed by France, whose International development agency- AFD- funds various think tank research projects on fisheries and the Blue Economy to distract from the EU’s Indian Ocean Grabbing![vi]

Performance of the Private Sector

Sri Lanka has valuable minerals, such as Graphite, Zircon, Titanium, etc., but only mineral sands are exported, and there is little value addition or attempt to integrate into regional and global value chains and no contribution to the country’s GDP and export income.

There needs to be a broader critique of the SL Business Community and Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, which remains historically colonised, heavily aid-dependent, mentally and materially (including GSP Plus and minus). The ‘Captains of industry ‘seem focused on pleasing Euro-American donors with a few products (garments, primary commodities, tourism, etc.) and unable to pivot to Asian markets with value products leveraging local resources rather than imported raw materials like textiles for garments.

Simultaneously, there is a need for concerted critical analysis of the performance and practices of the Business Sector in the county. At this time, there is a need for Government and Think Tanks to develop a fuller analysis of the challenges and opportunities that the Trump Tariff shock presents, particularly, a Geopolitical Economic discussion that relates the micro-level to the Macro global dimensions. The need of the hour is for proactive identification of new markets in Asia and Global South countries, which are increasingly the growth hub of the world for high-value export products from Sri Lanka.

Finally, the Trump tariffs underline the need for countries like Sri Lanka to eschew US dollar dependency, which exposes them to Exogenous Shocks and related currency manipulation, and have a long-term strategy towards de-dollarisation. In short, pivot away from neocolonial dependency and increasingly an IMF-fueled USD debt entrapment culture.

*Dr Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake is a social and medical anthropologist with expertise in international development and political-economic analysis. She was a member of the International Steering Group of the North-South Institute project: Southern Perspectives on Reform of the International Aid Architecture”. [IDN-InDepthNews].

AI-generated image perceived by Nastranis.

[i] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYMUa8DEO8k

[ii] Israel, the forefront of the new, global and electronic Nazism by harry Davies and Yuval Abraham https://www.defenddemocracy.press/israel-the-forefront-of-the-new-global-and-electronic-nazism/

[iii] How much Debt can the Ocean Sustain? https://www.tni.org/en/publication/blue-finance

[iv] https://www.tni.org/en/publication/the-global-ocean-grab-a-primer

[v] The Environmental Impacts of the Militarization of the Indian Ocean https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqV44gItEQ4

[vi] The Environmental Impacts of the Militarization of the Indian Ocean https://www.youtube.com/watch?

by Rohana R. Wasala

According to a news report carried in The Island of July 31, 2025, a group of senior representatives of the Sarvajana Balaya (SB) including its leader Dilith Jayaweera MP and Dr Channa Jayasumana had a meeting with Ihab Khalil, the Ambassador of the State of Palestine, two days earlier on Tuesday 29th. They called on the ambassador to communicate to him their condemnation of what they called the ‘Gaza genocide’ and to express ‘the deep and unwavering solidarity of the Sri Lankan people with the innocent civilians of Palestine, who continue to endure immense suffering and a prolonged and inhumane conflict’. The SB delegates expressed the party’s ‘grave concern over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories…. the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure……widespread displacement of families…systematic deprivation of basic necessities resulting in starvation…..which all constitute egregious violations of international law.’

While condemning ‘these atrocities’, the SB called upon Israel to ‘immediately halt all military aggression, lift the illegal siege, and end the collective punishment of an entire population.’ It added: ‘The international community, especially a nation like Sri Lanka, cannot remain indifferent while innocent lives continue to be lost on a daily basis’.

The SB leader MP Dilith Jayaweera stated ‘We should leave all differences aside and unite to support Palestine against this genocide, while sending a strong message as a nation’. He further said that, ‘guided by the timeless principles of our civilizational values, the Sarvajana Balaya reaffirms its belief that it is the moral duty of all global leaders and nations to stand on the side of peace and humanity’. The SB’s appeal ended with the words: ‘At this critical juncture in world history, we call upon international institutions, human rights organisations, and all nations of conscience to act decisively and without delay.’

What the SB’ers have done is a commendable thing, but subject to important reservations in my view. They have confirmed Sri Lanka’s existing and continuing friendship towards Palestine, while also expressing concern, on behalf of all Sri Lankans, about the avoidable human suffering that is being inflicted on innocent Palestinian civilians. SB’s appropriate appeal to the ‘international institutions, human rights organisations, and all nations of conscience to act decisively and without delay’ should have been supported by a stronger commitment to their own conscience, which is nothing if not ‘guided by the timeless principles of our civilizational values….’ (i.e., Buddhist moral and ethical values).

Media reports from Sri Lanka, especially independent social media reports, show that the majority of Sri Lankans, while helplessly watching on the suffering of the Palestinians with an overwhelming sense of human kindness, are equally concerned about the really genocidal hate directed at the innocent Israeli men, women and children. Why don’t the SB’ers recognise this? Was the shock and dismay they expressed during their meeting with the Palestinian ambassador concerning Palestinians a mere political act intended to win the hearts and minds of the local Muslim minority? Do they assume that the Jews, wherever they live, whether in Israel or elsewhere in the world, including the small number of Jews who live in Sri Lanka, and others who come as visitors, are not worth caring about? Do they believe that Sri Lanka’s foreign policy decisions regarding Muslim majority countries should not be otherwise than in accordance with the whims and fancies of some fundamentalists among the local Muslim community? By the same token, are SB’ers content with Indians interfering in Sri Lanka using the alleged Tamil minority issue as a false pretext? 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India is already mending fences with China; he is scheduled to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit due to be held from August 31 to September 1, 2025. President Donald Trump of America feels worried about this  development, as Hindustan Times (July 8) revealed. What will be the plight of Sri Lanka when the current leaders of those countries who are kicking the island nation about like a football in the rough and tough game of geopolitics, go out of power in the course of time? 

The last mentioned hazard is of particular relevance to the nearly 75% majority indigenous Sinhalese people of the country who are facing the same genocidal threat that the Jewish nation is facing in a different way. Incidentally, the global Jewish population is 15.7 million, according to Wikipedia, which is 0.2% of the global human population of 8 billion. These figures almost exactly match those for the global Sinhalese population, which is between 16-17 million. In Israel, Jews account for 73% of its nearly 10 million population, while in Sri Lanka, 75% of its nearly 22 million population comprise Sinhalese. There is a special unrevealed similarity between these two beseiged ancient peoples, except for one difference: the almost total diaspora status of the Jews across the globe after their ancient displacement from their original homeland of ‘the Land of Israel, also known as Palestine’;even today less than half of all the Jews live in modern Israel. In the case of the Sinhalese, though there is some global dispersion outside Sri Lanka (Ceylon/Sihale), their original homeland from time immemorial, almost the totality of the Sinhalese people still live there.  

 Demographically, Jewish presence is much less marked than Muslim presence. Being a predominantly business community, Sri Lanka’s Muslims, in the past, used to lean more towards the rightist UNP at elections than towards the left of centre SLFP. It was under the latter party that Sri Lanka’s friendship with the Palestinians became more pronounced. Even a street in Ramallah in the State of Palestine was named after president Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka in 2007 during his first term (2005-2010), which coincided with the beginning of the presidency of today’s incumbent Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who was also sworn in the office, like Mahinda Rajapaksa, in 2005. Abbas is not a uniformly popular figure; his control over Palestine is tenuous. He can hardly deal with the Hamas militancy, which is a big stumbling block to resolving the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Sarvajana Balaya delegates should have done better homework before deciding to go on that peace mission.

Relations between Sri Lanka and Palestine were repeatedly reaffirmed through mutual state visits and diplomatic exchanges between 2009 and 2014 (that is, during Rajapaksa’s second term). Having said that, it must be emphasized that this connection is not  based exclusively on Sri Lanka’s current Muslim demography. Ceylon’s links with the Arabs in West Asia predates the birth of Islam in the seventh century CE. Jews also had as ancient a friendly presence in the land of the Sinhalese (Ceylon) as traders, according to the island’s historical records.

Actually, in modern times, Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) collaboration with Israel started more than a quarter century before Lankan diplomatic relations with Palestine began in 1975 with the opening up of an embassy  by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Colombo. On the other hand, the State of Israel was founded on May 14, 1948 by the British as envisaged in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. This was just over two months after Sri Lanka gained its own independence from Britain on February 4. Whereas most of its neighbours refused to recognise or support Israel then, Sri Lanka under its first prime minister D.S. Senanayake did recognise the Jewish state and started buying weapons from it, including the River-Class navy frigate HMCyS Gajabahu, later named SLNS Gajabahu (Source: Wikipedia).

Sarvajana Balaya’s message of solidarity delivered to the Palestine ambassador on behalf of all Sri Lankans would have sounded more sincere if it had been less judgemental towards Israel. The SB representatives didn’t care or dare to make the faintest reference to Israel, let alone invoke, for humanity’s sake, the abhorrent memory of the horrendous genocidal raid by heavily armed Hamas terrorists on innocent Israeli civilians, still asleep, on that early morning of October 7, 2023. For the SB’s message of solidarity to be of any potential value for global peacemaking efforts in this conflict zone, its unequivocal denunciation of Israel should have been balanced by a similarly unambiguous condemnation of the horrific Hamas terrorism that provoked the massive Israeli military operations in Gaza that continue to this day. 

Important caveat:

I have the highest respect for the great Palestinian people,  and recognize their sovereignty and independence. I fully empathise with them over their undeserved suffering. I equally well recognize and respect the great people of Israel, the only democratic nation in the region, and deeply empathise with them over the miseries inflicted on them by terrorists. As a senior Sri Lankan of cosmopolitan views, rooted in the Sinhalese Buddhist culture which has a natural resonance with cosmopolitanism, it is my sincere and fervent hope to see these two great nations (Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs) living peacefully side by side as gracious neighbours in the near future.

By Sugath Kulatunga

The edifice of a democratic government rests on three pillars: of legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. In sl, there had been as many as 21 changes in the Constitution dealing with the powers of the executive and legislature. There were heated debates and profuse analysis on the issues involved in these themes. Similar but less frequent and less controversial reviews have been there on the Judiciary as well. The success or failure of a government pivots mainly on the executive. It is also the body that is directly engaged with the public. It is an axiom that the success of executive action depends on the proficiency and propensity of its Public Service (PS). It is unfortunate that in recent times there has been no attempt to examine in depth the system of our PS. This is in spite of the fact that the government spends 86 percent of the government budget on salaries and pension payments to maintain a massive public service (PS) which has burgeoned into around 1.5 million public servants at one public servant to 14 citizens or to 3.4 households.

The following is an impressionistic note on the present state of and possible remedies to our PS based on personal experience and several studies in the public domain. All governments are responsible for this unwarranted increase in numbers due to narrow political compulsions rather than actual needs. The attraction of the PS has been the security of tenure and the handsome lifelong pension. Public servants enjoy a five-day work week, 26 public holidays, and many other perks. They are on the job only on 235 days in the year, during which they enjoy 42 days of leave.    

The day-to-day operations of the PS are governed by the Financial Regulations and the Establishment Code. There have been a few cosmetic changes but no radical revisions to suit the demands of the contemporary concerns of national development and public interest.

The low productivity in the PS and even in the private sector is due partly to the excessive number of public holidays, which have increased to assuage sectarian interests. The biggest increase came with the Poya holidays. One doubts whether the religiosity of Buddhist public servants has increased due to this measure. On poya holidays other than Vesak and Poson the Saturday immediately following the Poya holiday should be made a working day to compensate for the loss of productivity on the Poya holiday. The better option is to allow casual leave to any person who is keen to make religious observations on a Poya day. It is noted that Vietnam a Theravada Buddhist country, has only 8 public holidays and Singapore has only 11 public holidays. In Sri Lanka, even during these lesser number of days of work rarely do public servants attend to their tasks full-time. The attendance register is a joke. It is manipulated to accommodate latecomers. It should be replaced with time recording machines. In city offices, clock watching is a common practice towards closing times. Hardly any work is done during the last half an hour. Public servants should also be required to sign off when they leave office.

Lack of discipline is another blight affecting productivity in the PS. An enormous amount of time is spent in offices reading newspapers and chatting in the canteens. In offices like Banks and even in some public corporations tea is served at the seat. This is a tradition which should be adopted by government offices as well. News papers should be confined only to the reading rooms. Most public servants are more informed on political gossip than on their areas of work.

While public servants have to accept the blame for the lack of responsibility and dedication, there are manifest conditions in which they work that influence their behavior. There is an over-concentration of administrative functions in Colombo City. The location of the Capital City and center of administration in Jayawardhanepura, only a short distance from Colombo, has not eased the problems of traffic congestion and environmental issues. This continuous concentration of public administration within the commercial and capital conurbations has put a strain on public servants travelling to the office. Not many public servants can afford to live within the city or even in the adjoining municipalities. Most public servants would be spending 2 hours or more travelling to the office by public transport. Travelling back home would take the same time. They do not have the time to prepare and have their breakfast at home. This makes them use the canteen to have their breakfast during office hours. More than all that, the hazard of travelling under intolerable conditions for a few hours to the office makes them tired and less alert.

A fundamental and long-term step to make PS more accessible to the public and make it more productive is to remove the domination of Colombo and Jayawardhanapura by dismantling the over-concentration of administrative activities from there.  Colombo should be developed only as a commercial city. Unfortunately, our effort in moving out the Administration out of Colombo was colored by the anxiety to perpetuate the name of a living national leader. The capital city was located in a new city named the Jayawardhane Pura, in a marsh, at a short distance from Colombo. This move has not reduced the inconvenience of the PS nor the public and made the PS more effective.

In this context, there are two measures that need careful attention. First is to locate the main government Departments in the Districts where the relevant activities are dominant. For example, the Irrigation Department and the Mahaweli Authority have no justification to be located in Colombo. They should be located in a District where irrigation is dominant, perhaps in Anuradhapura. The Paddy Marketing Board could be moved to Polonnaruwa. More Departments could be moved to District centers. What is the logic of the Department of Surveys, or the Malaria Control Division, being located in Colombo District? It should be noted that the Department of Agriculture, a major Department, has been functioning effectively in Peradeniya from British times. Such a move would also meet the objectives of the decentralization of governance on the principle of subsidiarity.

The other strategy is to establish satellite secretariats in the periphery of Colombo City. There is already a working model in the Kaccheri system (now District Secretariats) where several Departmental units operate under the nominal supervision of the Government Agent. The large Departments and other Public Enterprises in the City could locate sub-units in such a common secretariat. With fiber optic communications and advanced technologies, most of the work could be done online. If physical monitoring is a must, CCTV systems could also be installed. Such offices could reduce paperwork and the time wasted in travel by office workers at least by 50%, and drastically reduce traffic congestion. The opportunity cost of time wasted by road users is not normally considered, but it is enormous.

Besides the improvements in the working conditions of the PS there is the need to implement broader administrative reform to improve bureaucracy in order to deliver efficiently essential services to the people and attain national development goals. Unwarranted political interference is one of the evil forces strangling the PS. The intrusion on the independence of the PS started with the 1972 Constitution of SL where the public service was named the State Service denoting that the task of the PS is to serve the State and not the public. By this the ‘your obedient servant’ to the public disappeared.

In the following Articles of the 1972 Constitution powers of appointment, transfers and disciplinary control of public servants were vested in the Cabinet of Ministers. The Public Service Commission was abolished and replaced with a State Service advisory Board and a State Services Disciplinary Board.

 Article 113. (1) Appointment of State Officers : Except where the Constitution otherwise provides, appointments to posts of Heads of Departments and to such other posts as may be prescribed by the Cabinet of Ministers shall be made by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Article 117. Dismissal and Disciplinary Control of State Officers: The Cabinet of Ministers shall exercise its powers of dismissal and disciplinary control of state officers only after receiving through the Minister in charge of the Ministry or Department to which a state officer is attached, a recommendation from the State Services Disciplinary Board.

Article 118. (1): The Cabinet of Ministers may in accordance with the assignment of subjects and functions by the Prime Minister and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the Cabinet of Ministers, delegate to a Minister its powers of dismissal and disciplinary control of state officers.

Article 111.1: State Services Advisory Board: There shall be a State Services Advisory Board to exercise, perform or discharge such powers, functions or duties as are required of the State Services Advisory Board under the Constitution.

With the radical open market policies of 1977, it was expected that the independence of the public service would be restored. But in the 1978 Constitution the introduction of the following Articles tightened the hold of the Cabinet on the PS.

Article 55. (1) :Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the appointment, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary control of public officers is hereby vested in the Cabinet of Minis­ters, and all public officers shall hold office at pleasure.

(2) The Cabinet of Ministers shall not delegate its powers of appointment, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary control in respect of Heads of Departments.

(3) The Cabinet of Ministers may from time to time delegate its powers of appointment, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary control of other public officers to the Public Service Commission:

(4) Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Cabinet of Ministers shall provide for and determine all matters relating to public officers, including the formulation of schemes of recruitment and codes of conduct for public officers, the principles to be followed in making promotions and transfers, and the procedure for the exercise and the delegation of the powers of appointment, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary control of public officers.

Article 57. (1) : Whenever the Cabinet of Ministers so directs the Chairman of the Public Service Commission shall appoint a Committee of the Public Service Commission to exercise the powers of the Commission in respect of such categories of public officers as are specified in such direction.

Article 59: The Cabinet of Ministers shall have the power to alter, vary or rescind –

• any appointment, order of transfer or dismissal or any other order relating to a disciplinary matter made, on appeal or otherwise, by the Public Service Commission or a Committee thereof;

Article 52. (1) of the Constitution provides for the appointment for each Ministry a Secretary who shall be appointed by the President.

(2) The Secretary to the Ministry shall, subject to the direction and control of his Minister, exercise supervision over the departments of Government or other institutions in the charge of his Minister.

It is under the powers of control given to the Minister that political interference is justified. Even in public corporations a Minister can give general or special directions and most cases only in writing. Even in politically sensitive large institutions like the CTB and Mahavali Authority and a minor agency like SLECIC they are not under the control of the Minister.

Transport Board Act says that the Board shall be subject to, and act in accordance with, such general or special directions as the Minister may from time-to-time issue in relation to any matter that appears to him to affect the national interest or efficient administration of the Board. In the Mahavali Authority the Minister may, after consultation with the Authority, give to the Authority in writing general or special directions. In SLECIC the Board is subject to such general or special directions as the Minister may issue from time to time. But in Departments under a Ministry the Secretary has to act under the control of the Minister. This is in spite the Secretary being the Chief Accounting Officer responsible to the Parliament. Although the channel from the Minister to a Department is through the Secretary, Ministers find it expedient to avoid the Secretary and deal directly with subordinate officials.

Ministers are under constant pressure from their constituents to provide them with employment. It is in this field that Ministers intervene blatantly. In the past Ministers resorted to a device to ensure the selection of their candidates at interviews. Every interview board had to have a Minister’s/ Ministry representative whose job was to ensure the choice of the Minister is selected. The final ruse was that all appointments and promotions had to have the approval of the Minister. In Public Corporations in which the intervention of the minister is supposed to be through directions the fact that the Board is appointed by the Minister there is collusion between the Minister and the Board on appointments. It is no wonder that Public Corporations are heavily over staffed and the quality of the PS with political an excess of political appointed has declined. It may be necessary to make the Secretary the Chief Personnel Officer and hold him responsible for all appointments and promotions. In the past public servants has faith in the Public Service Commission on recruitment. It was in the name of the Public Service Commission that the letter of appointment was made. There were no ceremonies and Ministers to hand over the letters. They came in the registered post. The independence in selection was confined to that done directly by the Commission. But bulk of selections were done by authorities under delegation by the Commission. In the past there were allegations of these agencies came under external influence. One serious allegation was the involvement of a religious faction named catholic action. A good example was in the selection of a departmental interview board, for 19 staff level posts where there were 7 Christians and only 7 Buddhists. Looks equal treatment but in the proportion of religions with 70 percent Buddhists and 9 percent Christians it was suspect. The rumor was that the Catholic Action had a hand. Of course, the 7 Christian officers were outstanding.

The common accusation against the bureaucracy is that it is strangled with red tape. An OECD study revealed that even in OECD countries ‘one of the most common complaints raised by businesses and citizens was the amount and complexity of government formalities and paperwork. Enterprises and citizens spend much time and devote significant resources to activities such as filling out forms, applying for permits and licences, reporting business information, notifying changes etc. In many cases, practices have become extremely complex, or irrelevant and cumbersome, generating unnecessary regulatory burdens – so-called red tape”. The costs imposed on the economy as a whole are significant. When excessive in number and complexity, administrative regulations can impede innovation, create unnecessary barriers to trade, investment and economic efficiency, and even threaten the legitimacy of institutions’  This tale of woes is more relevant to PS of Sri Lanka.

Many governments have taken measures to reduce red tape and paperwork and provide a hassle-free service to the public. IT encourages governments to cut red tape and provide a speedy and seamless service. One stop-shops can reduce substantially time and cost to a client and also provide a common platform to several agencies for an integrated service.

A few countries have introduced legislation and monitoring agencies to reduce the burden of paperwork. U.S. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), for analysing and clearing individual government information collection requirements is one such example. The PRA is intended to minimise the amount of paperwork the public is required to complete for federal agencies. Norway also has a sophisticated regime for measuring and monitoring administrative burdens on enterprises. The Register of Reporting Obligations for Enterprises maintains a constantly updated overview of businesses’ reporting obligations .

Several countries have set time limits for response to public requests which can lead to reduced costs for businesses and citizens and can also make administrations more accountable and responsive. Sri Lanka too had a rule that any request from the public should be replied within a certain time. It is no more in practice. Public servants are no more ‘obedient servants’ of the public. They have become minions of the State.

The fault is not only in the procedures but is also with the personnel. PS is accused of not being proactive. Public servants are steeped in rules, conventions and precedents which most times have no contemporary validity. The offhand and presumptuous behavior was noticed even in supervisory authorities towards lower agencies. It was the practice of the then Treasury to respond to serious requests from departments with a curt note saying, ‘treasury does not approve your request” There was rarely an indication of the reason for rejection. Most times bureaucracy finds it convenient to reject than approve.

In a fast-changing world the challenges before a PS become more complex and demanding. In this context, capacity development in the PS needs concerted attention. This has to be addressed at both at the individual level and the institutional level. At the individual level the skills and knowledge of the public servant needs sustained upgrading to meet the changing tasks before them. A skill they cannot neglect today is IT. It is disappointing to note that most departments do not even maintain an updated website. E government could cut costs and time and make the PS more efficient. Public servants also have to make a solid change in their attitude to the service from a rigid bureaucratic to a citizen friendly approach.

Individual development will be of little use unless public institutions also keep pace with the new challenges. This is more difficult and requires dynamic leadership and political support.  A good example of such leadership was evident in the change of vision and mission of the former Academy of Administration to that of the Institute of Development Administration. 

Sri Lanka PS consists of several independent merit-based career services like the Administrative Service, Engineering Service, Scientific Service and Clerical Service. They are closed services other than in the Administrative Service where on merit and through competitive examinations promotions are made from the Clerical Service.

Traditionally Secretaries of Ministries were selected from the Civil / Administrative Service. But there is now a trend of bringing outsiders to these posts and also for scheduled posts. There is a justification to infuse special talent to the career service in special situations, but it should not be at the expense of continuity and neutrality in the PS. Most important of all, an established non-partisan PS is vital to democracy as it makes it possible to have a peaceful and orderly political succession, and thus genuine pluralism. In this context the PS of Sri Lanka has contributed actively in the conduct of elections in the country where there dedication and integrity when they act under conditions devoid of politics has been amply and repeatedly demonstrated.

A marked deficiency in our merit-based system is the dependence on written examination for promotions. Examinations are the logical method for entry into a merit-based system. But promotions should be on performance evaluation. It should be a reward for good performance. Every officer, especially in the staff ranks should make a self-evaluation at the end of each year which should be commented on by the supervisory officers. These reports should be the basis of decisions on promotion. Many promotional agendas are still based on academic examinations which suit shirkers and not workers. It has been the experience that most members of interview boards try to show their knowledge by asking the candidates exotic questions and are not interested in the candidates past performance. Better leaders in the PS are persons with emotional intelligence and not those who are only equipped with acquired academic knowledge. The only way to identify them is by examining their past performance.

In the general services like the SLAS where officers are shifted frequently from post to post they do not get the opportunity to develop expertise in a subject area. Every officer should be made to serve in several fields specially in the periphery during the first ten years of their service. After which they should be streamed into specialized areas of administration where they become experts in the subject and are able not only deal with routine administration but advise political authorities on policy. This is critical in higher posts like Secretaries of Ministries and Heads of Departments. It is sad to see Secretaries of Ministries rotated from post to post where they do not gather no moss” and have to depend on subject clerks and junior officials on policy issues. Members of general services at the higher levels should become repositories of information in their area of expertise. Such a practice will reduce the present predicament of amateurs as Ministers dependent on generalists as Secretaries and Heads of Departments.

Traditionally, public administration is identified with a system conducted with specialized bureaucracies, on the Weberian model differentiates politics from administration. In such a structure, politicians deal with policy, and the bureaucracy executes the policy. But in the real world of governance, this distinction tends to fade partly due to the failure of the bureaucracy to adapt to the new demands of PS and more due to the interventionist trait of the politician.

In the early 1980s, the disappointment with the Weberian model of PS, the emergence of open market policies and the rise of the private sector made a few Western countries to explore a New Public Management program (NPM). The main thrust of this effort was to diminish the role of the state and adopt private sector management systems. NPM is characterized by client focus, decentralization, and the separation of policy making from implementation. It also stresses on public- private partnerships.

An OECD study points out that People want the state and its public administration to act as a social and economic promoter, capable of ensuring equitable distribution of opportunities, sustainable management of resources and equitable access to opportunities (political, economic, social and cultural).  An established public administration has been, arguably, far more vital to economic development in historical fact than either free elections or parliaments. NPM measures success in terms of performance and efficiency. PS of Sri Lanka could immensely benefit from the lessons of experience of the NPM.

In Sri Lanka the Right to Information Act was enacted to foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public authorities and combat corruption and promote accountability and good governance. Article 8 of the act requires every Minister to publish a biannual report each year on

• the powers, duties and functions of officers and employees and the respective procedures followed by them in their decision making process;
• the norms set for the discharge of their functions, performance of their duties and exercise of their powers;
• (iii)  rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and any other categories of records, which are used by its officers and employees in the discharge of their functions, performance of their duties and exercise of their powers.

The compilation of such a report would have been useful to the public as well as the organization itself. It is doubtful whether Ministers are following this legal requirement.

In many developed countries electronic governance or e-governance is employed with the use of information technology (IT) for delivering services of the government as well as internal transactions. IT allows paperless on time communication where distance is no hindrance. It cuts red tape and reduces corruption. With fiber optic connections and use of IT administration could be decentralized removing for example the urban domination and the ills of city focus. Most staff can be allowed to work from home. IT also eliminates restrictions on data storage capacity. IT could facilitate knowledge sharing and training of personnel. A prerequisite for successful operation of e-governance is the presence of IT competent personnel and willingness to adopt IT. This is still absent in many government agencies. Although writing done through electronic means is legally accepted e,g RTI ACT 24.(6) many government agencies insist on written letters or facsimile fax” copies. Many government agencies do not maintain up to date websites. Majority of government officials are not proficient in the use of computers.

The advantages of using IT is demonstrated in the success of Estonia’s in the use of modern information and communication technologies in the public sector and governance which has placed the country at the forefront of states that are aiming to modernize their public sector and provide transparent governance. Numerous online
public services are available to Estonian citizens and residents, including digital identification, digital signatures, electronic tax filing, online medical prescriptions and,ultimately, internet voting. Driven by convenience, most of the services offer efficiency in terms of money and time saved by the users as well as public officials. For example, selling a car in Estonia can be done remotely with less than 15 minutes, filing an online tax declaration takes an average person no more than five minutes, and participating in elections by Internet voting takes 90 seconds on average.” https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/165711456838073531-0050022016/original/WDR16BPEstonianeGovec

Sri Lanka Public Service is much maligned due to in most cases where their initiative and dynamism is throttled with antiquated rules and poor leadership and more severely by political interference. In the absence of such constraints and where objectives are clear and the rule of law is supreme the SL PS has performed exemplarily. Their performance in conducting democratic elections many times efficiently and impartially, under difficult conditions has been exceptional.

10/11 Delimitation

In SL, the decentralized administrative units at the grassroots consist of 331 Divisional Secretariats, 14,022 Grama Niladari Divisions, and 276 Pradeshiya Sabhas. The delimitation of these units had been done from time to time by different Delimitation Committees appointed by different authorities. This ad hoc delimitation has resulted in the overlapping of boundaries between these units. There is a need to introduce a more holistic and cohesive scheme of delimitation of these units. For better coordination between DS Divisions and Pradeshiya Sabha, they should be made coterminous. This would need an increase in the Pradeshiya Sabha from the present 276 to 331. This would eliminate any new delimitation. The GN Divisions within the combined DS and PS Divisions could be the basis of the demarcation of wards of the PS. The ideal setting would be for DS Divisions to also be coterminous with electorates. This necessitates a drastic reduction of the number of DS Divisions, but it would bring about better coordination between the political representative and the administrative agency.

Ministry of Defence  – Media Centre

The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka, H.E. Khaled Nasser Sulaiman AlAmeri, paid a courtesy call on the Defence Secretary, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd), at the Ministry of Defence today (13 Aug).

During the cordial discussions, both sides explored avenues to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, with a particular focus on defence production, cyber security, information sharing and disaster relief activities.

Ambassador AlAmeri also commended the significant contribution of the large Sri Lankan workforce in the UAE, acknowledging their valuable role in his country’s socio-economic development.

The Defence Secretary extended seasonal greetings to the visiting Ambassador, and to mark the occasion, the two dignitaries exchanged mementos. Deputy Military Liaison Officer, Brigadier Kasun Adhikari, was also present at the meeting

National Development Bank PLC

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By Jehan Hameed Courtesy FT.lk

This article is written in response to the following:

https://www.ft.lk/opinion/Defence-Ministry-has-its-say-over-remanding-of-former-Navy-Commander-Ulugetenne/14-779939

https://www.ft.lk/opinion/Letter-of-concern-to-Defence-Secretary-over-arrest-of-former-Navy-Chief/14-779697

The Defence Ministry’s statement on the arrest of former Navy Commander Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne reduces a serious constitutional and security matter to a public relations slogan The law applies equally to all.” That is not a legal conclusion, in the military context equality before the law does not erase jurisdictional boundaries. Military law exists not to place service members above accountability but to ensure that offences committed in service or in connection with service are tried within the statutory framework designed to protect both national security and operational integrity.

At the heart of this case is a decisive legal question Did the alleged offence occur during service and in connection with operational duties? If yes, the Navy Act No. 34 of 1950 Sections 34 and 131 applies without question and the proper forum is a court martial If no civilian courts retain jurisdiction. This is not a matter of preference it is the law

The decisive factor here is not public opinion media noise or even the Defence Ministry’s soundbite. It is the B Report submitted by the CID to the Magistrate’s Court. That document determines how jurisdiction is framed in law. By classifying the alleged offence as a personal matter unrelated to naval service the CID effectively removed the Navy Act from the process and moved the case into civilian jurisdiction.

If the CID’s classification is wrong bypassing military law would be a procedural breach with serious implications for state security. If it is right the Navy stands correctly excluded. But that determination cannot be left solely to the CID, a civilian investigative body operating under the Inspector General of Police most likely advised by a Defence Ministry legal division that itself appears to be civilian in composition. Neither the CID nor the IGP has statutory power to overrule or nullify military jurisdiction created by an Act of Parliament.

The CID is not the supreme authority in criminal matters. It is a branch of the Sri Lanka Police commanded by the IGP tasked with investigating facts not deciding law. Yet here under police administration the CID has stepped outside its investigative role and assumed a power it does not possess deciding that the Navy Act does not apply. This is not mere overreach it is jurisdictional overreach that risks undermining the separation between military and civilian legal spheres.

The danger is twofold. First it creates a precedent whereby any sensitive case involving a senior military officer could be routed through the CID to bypass court martial procedures entirely. Second it allows the IGP’s administrative control to become the de facto gatekeeper of military law by virtue of the CID’s classification in the B Report. This is a direct encroachment on the armed forces’ legal sovereignty.

In its clarification to me the Defence Ministry claimed that the Navy Act does not apply because Admiral Ulugetenne is now retired. That position collapses under the weight of binding Supreme Court precedent.

In SC FR 556 2009 Captain AD Senaratne de Silva v Military Police and others, a bench comprising Priyantha Jayawardena PC J, author B.P. Aluwihare PC J, and P. Padman Surasena J – now the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, upheld the military’s right to proceed under the Army Act for offences committed during service even if the proceedings or arrest occurred later.

The Court’s logic was clear jurisdiction is determined by when the alleged offence occurred not the officer’s status on the day of arrest or trial. If the act happened in service and in connection with service duties the relevant Service Act Army Navy or Air Force applies in full Retirement does not erase that jurisdiction.

To accept the Defence Ministry’s position would create a dangerous loophole any officer facing allegations could be retired to block the Service Act and avoid court martial. This would strip the armed forces of internal disciplinary control and hand ultimate authority to civilian police undermining the very purpose of the Navy Act.

The triggering of the Navy Act in such cases is not optional. It is a statutory duty. The chain of command is clear.

1. Commander of the Navy: First responsibility to assess if the alleged act is service connected

2. Navy Legal Division: Formal legal review on jurisdictional applicability

3. Defence Ministry: Direction to enforce military jurisdiction where applicable

4. Attorney General: Final legal oversight ensuring statutory compliance

If all four remain silent when a case potentially within the Navy Act is moved into civilian court, the silence is not procedural it is institutional inaction.

The President is both Commander in Chief of the armed forces and head of the civilian executive. When a jurisdictional conflict arises between military law and civilian courts, the Commander in Chief is the only constitutional authority capable of bridging both spheres.

The judiciary hears what is presented before it. It does not initiate charges frame jurisdiction or draft B Reports. That process begins within the executive specifically within the Defence Ministry the CID under police administration and the Attorney General’s Department. The Commander in Chief must ensure that what is presented to the judiciary is legally and jurisdictionally correct before it ever reaches a court.

The Navy Act is not ceremonial. It is a wartime safeguard designed to protect the chain of command classified information and operational sovereignty. A former Director of Naval Intelligence carries classified operational knowledge from the nation’s war years.

Trying such a figure in a civilian court without the protective procedures of a military tribunal risks exposing operational secrets in open court. Civilian trials are not bound by the same security protocols as courts martial. The risk is not theoretical it is operational.

If the B Report’s personal matter classification is correct then the Navy stands rightly excluded. But if that classification is wrong, if the act is linked to service, then what we have witnessed is not just a procedural issue but a significant bypass of the Navy Act under police administration.

This case is not about Admiral Ulugetenne as an individual. It is about the integrity of the chain of command and the protection of national security mechanisms. If a precedent is set that allows the CID to bypass the Navy Act without challenge, future commanders will serve under the shadow of politicised scrutiny knowing that operational decisions made in war could later be second guessed in a civilian dock.

That is not just demoralising It is strategically dangerous.

•  Jurisdictional boundaries are law not preference: The Navy Act applies if an offence occurred during service or in connection with service
•  Civilian bodies cannot override military law: The CID and police administration cannot by classification nullify statutory jurisdiction
•  The commander in chief must intervene: This is a constitutional duty not a political option
•  National security requires controlled trials: Military courts protect classified material civilian courts risk exposure
•  The Supreme Court precedent is binding: Service related offences remain under military jurisdiction post retirement
•  Institutional silence equals complicity: Failure to challenge jurisdictional bypass is a failure of duty

The law is equal for all but the law is also structured. Equality before the law does not mean the abolition of jurisdictional limits. It means applying the right law in the right forum.

If the B Report is correct, the Navy stands rightly excluded. If it is wrong, then the CID’s action under police administration is a procedural bypass of the Navy Act that undermines military sovereignty and emboldens external pressures already seeking to weaken Sri Lanka’s defence structures.

If this is not clarified and resolved without delay, public interest litigation will follow to compel full disclosure of how this procedure was applied by whom and whether any jurisdictional safeguard was bypassed.

In such a war on jurisdiction silence is not neutrality. It is surrender.

This analysis is based on publicly available information, legal provisions, and reported facts at the time of writing. It is intended for public discussion and policy debate, not as a statement of guilt or innocence regarding any individual. All references to persons, institutions, or proceedings are in the context of jurisdictional, constitutional, and national security considerations. The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent any final judicial or official determination.

National Development Bank PLC

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Kaarige Channel Eka | Dharmasri Kariyawasam

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, August 13 (Daily Mirror) – Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe should be removed from the Cabinet for violating the collective responsibility of the Cabinet, Navin Dissanayake, a senior UNPer said today.

He said Minister Samarasinghe has actually challenged Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya by uttering about the SupremeSAT. The Minister should have discussed the matter within the government and presented his reservations on the Prime Minister’s comments rather than uttering things outside. The Cabinet has never acted the way the Ministers are behaving today. This must be the first time in Sri Lanka’s political history that a Cabinet Minister is challenging the Prime Minister,” he said.

My father, late Minister Gamini Dissaayake and late Minister Anandatissa de Alwis were against the move by the J.R. Jayewardene government to abolish the civic rights of late Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike back in 1980. They expressed their opposition on the move within the Cabinet. However, they did not utter things in public like what had taken place today,” he added.

Minister Samarasinghe should be removed from the Cabinet and one wonders whether President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is ready to do it,” he said.

Chanaka Bandarage

In the olden days citizens were not allowed to file complaints with the CID. It was a sacred establishment that only investigated serious crimes.  The IGP would refer from countrywide Police Stations of serious, unsolved crimes – mostly murders, big time theft etc to the CID.

Basically, the CID was out of bounds for ordinary citizens. People were advised to lodge complaints with the Police station located in their Police division. I believe even today this is the case, but politicians excepted.

The CID used to have the best Police brains. Most of them received training at such prestigious places as the London Metropolitan Police Academy, Scotland Yard, All India Police, The Police Service of Pakistan (PSP), NYPD, AFP etc. Such luminaries like Tyrell Gunathileke, LMP (Lumpy) Silva, RC Thavarajah, SK Iyer, Edward Guanawardane come to mind.

Thanks to the CID, many major murder crimes were resolved. Eg: Turf Club, Kelethhawa, Adeline Vitharana, Pauline De Croos, Mathew Peiris etc.

Today we see politicians (*and sometimes other ‘prominent’ people) running like crazy to the CID with petty personal complaints. For them, CID has become a haven from public criticism.

Some of them  arrive at the CID with scores of media (print and electronic) and cameramen, Youtubers etc. These media people wait outside of the CID to interview the politician upon his/her lodgement of the complaint.

Most of these complaints are about the politician’s minor personal grievances – largely defamation. As they get a freehand to talk to the media, it is not incorrect to state that these politicians use the CID’s Complaint Lodgement Process to whitewash themselves. They could very well be the guilty party, but through the publicity they receive from the CID complaint, they try to attract public sympathy.

Also, through the CID complaint, they try to estop public discourse about any bad conduct alleged against them.

Freedom of communication is a right given to the public by the Constitution. By making a CID complaint, Politicians try to suppress this?

Does the CID investigate these complaints made by the politicians? Your guess is good as mine.

Running to the CID has become a pastime of the present-day politicians. The writer is not aware of incidents where this has happened under the previous governments (he may be wrong).

Chandrika, Mahinda, Gota and Ranil are the leaders who have faced worst communications against their reputation (both in libel and slander).

But, to their credit, they never ran to the CID like the current NPP lot. These past leaders stood tall against the brickbats thrown at them. Sometimes they initiated civil action against those who allegedly defamed them. That was the correct course of action to take.

Ranil, perhaps the most progressive Liberal Leader of our time, was instrumental in decriminalizing defamation. He did this in 2002. Until then, a two-year jail sentence was possible under the Penal Code.

As defamation is a civil offence, prima facie our Police seems to have no jurisdiction to investigate the same.  Thus, what the politicians currently do may amount to using power that they have to obtain an ulterior advantage. It could also be an abuse of power.

What they must do is to file law suits against the alleged perpetrators in civil law courts. This is what all other citizens presently do.

Of course there is the Online Safety Act 2023. This covers online misinformation, cyber bullying and defamation. Herein, perpetrators must have acted with intention to cause actual harm. The Defendant may argue truth as a defence.

But, CID should not be the forum to complain online offences.

There is so much work at CID’s hand. They are investigating the Easter Sunday bomb attack. Nearly 50 people have been gunned down by the underworld this year alone. Colombo    resembles a mini Chicago sometimes these days.

Wild Elephants are being killed by villagers unmercifully in large numbers. What is the government doing about this?

What about the Container Gate scandal?

The politicians must realise that by constantly lodging their petty complaints with the CID, they are depriving the CID from doing much more important work.

We hear sometimes that complaints have been lodged with the CID by the politicians’ lawyers. How can a 3^rd party lodge a Police complaint on behalf another? The aggrieved party must attend the applicable Police station and state their complaint, and provide the Police with a full statement of facts. The aggrieved person themself must sign the complaint and leave the Police station.

The politicians should behave like ordinary citizens. If they expect special treatment from the Police – like what is happening now, that is not good governance.

All our politicians, especially the 225, must be exemplary in character. We are a traditional society. People expect good, moral, decent behaviour from our leaders/politicians.

The politicians must realise that they are role models – they are looked to by others as examples to be imitated.  If they behave badly, the society that emulate them may also become bad. It will be very bad for our children. Worldwide, politicians who have misbehaved like engaging in illicit sexual affairs, extra-marital affairs,  anti-social behaviour, vulgar conduct have mostly been severely punished by the people at elections.

If they can’t behave honourably and decently, such politicians must quit politics.

Ministry of Defence  – Media Centre

The National Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (NAHTTF) issues an urgent public warning in light of alarming information on new trend wave of human trafficking activities targeting Sri Lankan nationals.

Reportedly, organized trafficking syndicates operating cyber scam centers im South East Asia without effective government regulating contents have launched a large-scale recruitment drive. Information suggests these networks are attempting to lure and transport over 50,000 individuals to these scam compounds, from all countries and Sri Lankans are among the primary targets.

As per the information received, five new scam centers are reportedly being set up in remote areas. Drawing on recent information and established patterns of exploitation, traffickers are using misleading online advertisements and fraudulent job offers to attract job seekers. These operations remain highly active, with several Sri Lankans confirmed to have been trafficked to these locations in the past few weeks.

In addition to above, NAHTTF notes, that several victims had been attracted and initially recruited to these scam centers while working in Dubai. Further, the rest of the Sri Lankans among them have been directly recruited from Sri Lanka through the tactic of using fake job advertisement in social media platforms.

Victims rescued from these scam centers, reveal harrowing experiences of torture, including electric shocks, raising serious concerns for the safety and well-being of those trapped at present.

Therefore, NAHTTF urges the general public to exercise of extreme vigilance when responding to online job advertisement in South East Asia especially in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, and follow the legitimate procedures to go safely abroad for employment purposes though registration with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE). Families and communities are also encouraged to remain vigilant and report any suspicious recruitment activities to the relevant authorities in Sri Lanka.