by Dr Sunil J. Wimalawansa, MD, PhD, MBA, DSc.Professor of Medicine, Endocrinology, & Human Nutrition

(a failed system designed to benefit Big Pharma, not the public).

From Regulation to Restoration: Reforming Food and Nutraceuticals for Public Health

Post Categories: Diet and Nutrition | Environmental Health | Healthy Aging Practices | Nutrition and Lifestyle | Perspectives 

New comprehensive Legislation is needed to help the public and to reduce healthcare costs.

https://townsendletter.com/from-regulation-to-restoration-reforming-food-and-nutraceutical-for-public-health

https://www.grassrootshealth.net/blog/from-regulation-to-restoration-reforming-food-and-nutraceutical-policy-for-public-health-executive-summary/   
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Full Paper with recommendations:
Foods 2025, 14(13), 2328; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14132328

https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/13/2328

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Series of five Q&As—All you need to know about Vitamin D—Disease Prevention

Vitamin D: Everything You Need to Know… and More

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Prevention of Cancer Incidences and Cost- What Can We Do?

The Role of Vitamin D in Reducing Risks of Cancer and Associated Deaths:
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17/14/2333  (May 2025)

Executive Summary of Cancer Prevention:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sunil-Wimalawansa/research

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col) සමායෝජක, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන

1. 2019 නොවැම්බර් මස ජනාධිපති ධූරයේ ප්‍රතිඥා දුන් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට ජනාධිපති ධූරයේ කටයුතු කළ නොහැකි වූ තැන ජනාධිපති ධූරයෙන් ඉල්ලා අස්වී ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට කටයුතු කළේය.

2. ඉන්පසු පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසින් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිවරයාගේ ඉතිරි ජනාධිපති ධූර කාලය වෙනුවෙන් අනුප්‍රාප්තික ජනාධිපති ලෙස රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා පත් කර ගනු ලැබීය.

3. 2024 වර්ෂයේදී පුරවැසියන් විසින් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයට මූලික අයිතිවාසිකම් නඩු ගොනු කරමින් ජනාධිපතිවරණය වසර 5ද, 6ද යන ප්‍රශ්නය විසඳා ගැනීමට උත්සාහ කළද හිටපු අගවිනිසුරු ජයන්ත ජයසූරිය මහතා ප්‍රධානත්වය දැරූ විනිසුරු පීඨ විසින් ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඇති ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව පරිශීලනය කරමින් එකී නඩු ලක්ෂ ගණනින් නඩු ගාස්තු නියම කරමින් නිශ්ප්‍රභා කරනු ලැබීය.

4. ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීන්දු අනුව 2024 ජනාධිපතිවරණයක් පැවැත් වූ අතර ඉන් අනුර දිසානායක මහතා ජනාධිපතිවරණය ජයගත් අතර හිටපු අගවිනිසුරු ජයන්ත ජයසූරිය මහතා ඉදිරියේ ජනාධිපති ලෙස ප්‍රතිඥා දෙනු ලැබූ අතර එකී හිටපු අගවිනිසුරුවරයා විශ්‍රාම යාමත් සමඟම එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නිත්‍ය නියෝජිත තනතුරට පත් විය.

4. නීතීඥවරුන් 209ක් සහ නීතීඥවරුන් නොවන පුරවැසියන් 104ක් විසින් ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඇති ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ (b) ඡේදය නිවැරදිව පළ කර ගැනීමට ජනාධිපතිවරයා වෙත ඉල්ලීමක් කළ අතර මැතිවරණය කොමිෂන් සභාවද ජනාධිපති ලේකම්වරයා මගින් ජනාධිපති වෙත එම ඉල්ලීම කර ඇත.

5. ඒ අනුව 1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ සහ එහි ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා පාඨ අතර වෙනස්කම් පවතින හෙයින් ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂා පාඨ අනුව ක්‍රියා කිරීම හේතුවෙන් ජනාධිපතිවරුන්ගේ, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරයන්ගේ, කතානායකගේ, පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ, නීතීඥවරුන්ගේ, පුරවැසියන්ගේ අයිතිවාසිකම් අහිමි කරනු ලැබ ඇති අතර, ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය සහ නීතියේ පාලනයද, ව්‍යවස්ථාපිත යුතුකම ඉටු කිරීමද අහිමි කර ඇත.

6. මැතිවරණ කොමිෂන් සභාව විසින් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ සහ ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඇති ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83.(ආ) සහ 83.(b) ඡේද අතර පවතින වෙනස නිවැරදි කිරීමට අදාල පියවර ගැනීමට ජනාධිපති ලේකම් වෙත දැනුම් දී ඇති හෙයින් ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඇති ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83.(b) ඡේදය මූලාශ්‍රය කර ගනිමින් ලබා දුන් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීරණ (Determination) / තීන්දු (Judgement)/ මත (Opinion) නැවත සමාලෝචනය කිරීමට, නෛතික සළකා බැලීමට ලක්කළ යුතු වන අතර (Per Incuriam) මේ වැරැද්ද හේතුවෙන් අයුක්තියට පත් ජනාධිපතිවරයෙකුට, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙකුට, කතානායකවරයෙකුට, නීතීඥවරයෙකුට හෝ පුරවැසියෙකුට මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් නෛතිකව ක්‍රියා කළ හැකිය.

7. මැතිවරණ කොමිෂන් සභාව විසින් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ සහ ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඇති ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83.(ආ) සහ 83.(b) ඡේද අතර වෙනස නිවැරදි කිරීමට අදාල පියවර ගැනීමට ජනාධිපති ලේකම් වෙත දැනුම් දී ඇති හෙයින් අනුප්‍රාප්තික ජනාධිපති වන රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා 2025 නොවැම්බර් දක්වා ජනාධිපති ලෙස ක්‍රියා කළ යුතු හෙයින් ඔහුට එසේ ජනාධිපති ධූරයේ කටයුතු කළ නොහැකි වන්නේනම් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපති මෙන් ඉල්ලා අස්වීම කළ යුතු අතර (2025 නොවැම්බර් දිනට පෙර), නොඑසේනම් ඔහු ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව ආරක්ෂා නොකරන්නෙකු බවට පත් වන අතර අනුර දිසානායක මහතා ජනාධිපතිවරණය ජයගත් ජනාධිපති අපේක්ෂකයා වන අතර ඔහුගේ ධූර කාලය 2025 නොවැම්බර් ප්‍රතිඥා දීමෙන් වසර 6ක කාලයකට පවතී.

(2025 සැප්තැම්බර් 21 ඉරිදා  සවස 2.00 – 4.30 – අංක 09, කොළඹ පාර හඳපාන්ගොඩ, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන් දේශන ශාලාවේදී සහ

2025 සැප්තැම්බර් 29 ස‍ඳුදා සවස 1.00- 4.45කොළඹ මහජන පුස්තකාල සම්මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාවේදී
“මැ.කො. ලිපියෙන් පසු
අනුර වසර 6කටත් , රනිල්  2025 නොවැම්බර් දක්වාත් ජනාධිපති වීම සහ හිටපු අගවිනිසුරු ජයසූරියට එරෙහිව පරීක්ෂණයක් පැවැත්විය යුත්තේත් ඇයි?

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව සහ එහි ඉංග්‍රීසි භාෂාවෙන් ඇති ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව වෙනස් බව මැතිවරණ කොමිසම, නීතීඥවරුන් 209ක් සහ නීතීඥවරුන් නොවන පුරවැසියන් 104ක් විසින් ජනාධිපතිට පෙන්වා දී ඇති බව ජිනීවා මානව හිමිකම් කොමිසමට සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර සංවිධානවලට පෙන්වා නොදිය යුත්තේ ඇයි? මැයෙන් නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන් 2ක් පැවැත්වීමට කටයුතු යොදා ඇත.)

http://neethiyalk.blogspot.com/2025/08/2.html?m=1

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col)
සමායෝජක, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන දුරකථන 0712063394
(2025.08.29)

by Arundathie Abeysinghe Courtesy PIME Asia News

A new environmental emergency has hit the strait separating the Indian coast from Sri Lanka, threatening to cripple local tourism and fishing. Carried by currents from India, mounds of plastic reach the Mannar region. Monsoon currents, which carry dust, are more difficult to collect, compounding the problem. Globally, the failure to ratify or implement agreements and treaties weighs heavily on the country.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – Sri Lanka is facing a major environmental emergency that threatens to deal a severe blow to tourism and fishing, two of the main industries in the South Asian nation’s economy.

Currently, the coastlines of Mannar (Northern Province) are buried under large mounds of plastic brought in by waves coming not only from within the country, but also and especially from neighbouring India in what constitutes transboundary pollution”.

According to many environmentalists, this year’s situation is even worse than in the recent past with the southern coast leading to Adam’s Bridge  covered in plastic waste.

Also known as Ram Setu, the 48-kilometre-long limestone shoals connect Pamban Island (also known as Rameswaram Island), the largest of the Tamil Nadu group located between peninsular India and Sri Lanka, to Mannar.

Although the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) performs regular cleanup to remove plastic pellets (nurdles), the plastic dust dispersed by monsoon winds is harder to collect. For local communities, the problem is getting worse with each season.

Although some plastic debris washes away during the rainy season, monsoon currents typically push the debris toward Sri Lanka,” said Kithsiri Ramanayaka and Anuradha Paranawithana, two environmentalists who spoke to AsiaNews.

Since most countries fail to address their domestic waste management problems, plastic will continue to circulate through ocean currents,” they added. Plastic pollution in Mannar has disastrous ecological consequences,” especially for marine wildlife that ends up ingesting or becoming entangled.”

Habitat degradation and the disruption of production cycles causes “a decline in potential fish populations and health risks for local fishermen who depend on marine resources for their livelihoods.”

The experts warn that, “Addressing this problem requires a cross-sectoral approach involving collaboration between various sectors, including the fishing industry, waste management sectors, and local authorities.”

To this end, Adequate sampling is needed to determine the impact of ‘plastic dust’, which has not been done so far. According to available data, Sri Lanka’s coasts receive plastic from South and Southeast Asia.”

Scholar Ravihari Alwis and Nishantha Gamlath share these concerns, and for them, the issue must be addressed immediately.”

In 2022, the 193 United Nations member states agreed to develop a legally binding international treaty to end plastic pollution, addressing its entire life cycle from production to use and waste disposal.

Despite five rounds of negotiations, the last in April in Kenya, no agreement has been reached, while the follow-up session in Geneva also failed. At the same time, the sixth round of negotiations of the Global Plastics Treaty (legally binding to address the problem of plastic waste) also failed. However, a treaty is still considered crucial, as it would place greater responsibility on the richest plastic-producing nations.

For the experts, there are two key issues, namely whether the entire life cycle of plastics, starting with production, and their health implications, including endocrine-disrupting chemicals, should be included in the treaty. Oil-producing countries oppose these measures.

Overall, island states such as Sri Lanka, compared to producers and users, face the brunt of plastic pollution”, and call for the full cycle to be included.”  

Arjun Pathmarajah (46) and Neelan Ravichandrarajah (39), social and environmental activists in Mannar, are aware of the major issues.

Apart from plastic pollution, there’s plastic dust in the air, too, brought by the winds. We usually get a lot of it, but this time it is intense. We speculate that the trash is coming in from India. The pollution has an extremely bad impact on the environment and our ecosystems, including on groundwater, fish, the primary source of income of the community and health consequences.”

The Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) has been coordinating cleanup operations in co-operation with the military, government authorities, including the Central Environment Authority, local NGOs, and communities in several coastal regions. Several teams have been deployed to Mannar to address the debris that washes ashore.

By Anuka Vimuthi Silva and Amali Wedagedara, Courtesy Al Jazeera

From Africa to Asia to Latin America, billions go hungry while creditors profit.

Sri Lanka is undergoing one of the most complex economic recoveries in its history. The country’s financial collapse in 2022 was precipitated by a toxic mix of unsustainable borrowing, poor fiscal management, and external shocks.

Mass protests erupted under the banner of Aragalaya, a broad-based citizens’ movement demanding accountability, economic justice, and an end to political corruption.

The uprising ultimately forced the resignation of the sitting president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. However, following his resignation, the administration of Ranil Wickremesinghe recaptured power.

Delaying calls for new elections, in 2023 the Wickremesinghe administration negotiated $3bn of support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under its New Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. Later that year, to unlock a second instalment of this bailout package, Sri Lanka also reached a debt restructuring agreement with a group of creditors including China, India, and Japan.

Even though, by September 2024, the Sri Lankan people elected a progressive government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, with a historic mandate, the new administration has since been trapped within the constraints imposed by the IMF and the previous political establishment.

The mainstream neoliberal narrative has been quick to highlight the arrangement with the IMF, known as the 17th IMF program, as a sign of stabilisation, praising the debt restructuring agreement and compliance with IMF conditions.

But what of the human cost of this recovery”?

The punitive structural adjustment process includes privatising state-owned enterprises, disconnecting the Central Bank from state control, curtailing the state’s capacity to borrow, and subordinating national development aspirations to the interests of creditors. It has placed the burden of its Domestic Debt Optimisation on working people’s retirement savings, specifically the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), raising concerns among salaried workers whose current real incomes have already been cut by high inflation and higher taxes.

Public sector hiring has been frozen, major rural infrastructure projects in transport and irrigation have been delayed or cancelled, and funding for health and education has stagnated even as costs rise. The reforms undertaken to achieve macroeconomic stability, including interest rate hikes, tax adjustments, the removal of subsidies, increased energy pricing, and the erosion of workers’ pensions, have demanded a great deal from citizens.

The IMF program has also ushered in neoliberal legal reforms that erode the public accountability of the Central Bank, limit the government’s fiscal capabilities, and encourage the privatisation of land, water, and seeds through agribusiness.

To meet IMF targets – most notably, the goal of achieving a 2.3 percent primary budget surplus by 2025 – the Sri Lankan government has introduced sweeping austerity measures. Where else will that surplus come from if not from the money pots of the poor? Bankers may welcome this austerity, but for those living and working in rural areas and coastal villages, it spells hardship and fear. The imbalances within the debt restructuring program prioritise investor profit over the public interest, shrinking the fiscal space needed to rebuild essential services.

Civil society groups estimate that 6.3 million people are now skipping meals, and at least 65,600 are experiencing severe food shortages.

In a noteworthy move, newly elected President Anura Dissanayake has instructed the treasury to reinstate subsidies for the agricultural and fishing sectors. While welcome, this may not be enough. Fishermen report that fuel costs remain steep, eating into their incomes.

Farmers, many locked into chemical input-intensive production, are struggling with rising costs, climate catastrophes, and reduced state support.

Sri Lanka’s 2025 public health allocation accounts for just 1.5 percent of its gross domestic product – five times smaller than the amount allocated to service the interest on public debt. This stark disparity highlights the fiscal constraints placed on basic social spending.

But this is not just a Sri Lankan story.

It is part of a broader global debt emergency draining public finances across the Global South. A vast number of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Central Europe have been forced to cede national policymaking autonomy to international financial institutions like the IMF, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

A recent United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report reveals that half of the world’s population – approximately 3.3 billion people – now live in countries that spend more on interest payments than on health or education. In 2024 alone, developing countries paid a staggering $921bn in interest, with African nations among the hardest hit.

UNCTAD warns that rising global interest rates and a fundamentally unjust financial architecture are entrenching a cycle of dependency and underdevelopment.

Developing countries routinely pay interest rates several times higher than those charged to wealthy nations, yet existing debt relief mechanisms remain inadequate – ad hoc, fragmented, and overwhelmingly tilted in favour of creditors. The demand for a permanent, transparent debt resolution mechanism – centred on justice, development, and national sovereignty – is gaining momentum among Global South governments.

This issue is also drawing serious attention from global grassroots movements.

In September this year, more than 500 delegates from around the world will convene in Kandy, Sri Lanka, for the 3rd Nyeleni Global Forum for food sovereignty. The gathering will bring together small-scale food producers, Indigenous peoples, trade unions, researchers, and progressive policy think tanks. One of the key themes will be the global debt crisis and how it undermines basic rights to food, education, health, and land.

The forum is expected to serve as a space to chart alternatives. Rather than relying solely on state-led negotiations or technocratic financial institutions, movements will strategise to build grassroots power.

They aim to link local struggles – such as farmers resisting land grabs or workers organising for living wages – with global campaigns demanding debt cancellation, climate reparations, and a transformation of the international financial system.

It is clear to those of us in the Global South that a just recovery cannot be built on fiscal targets and compliance checklists alone. We demand the reclaiming of public space for investment in social goods, the democratisation of debt governance, and the prioritisation of people’s dignity above creditors’ profit margins.

For Sri Lanka – and for countless other countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America – this may be the most urgent and necessary restructuring of all.

KELUM BANDARA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The government’s action has now created a launching pad for the Opposition to form an alliance

In politics, even the right action has to be taken at the right time

The arrest and remanding of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has become the talking point of politics

Almost all the political parties in the Opposition stood in solidarity with each other to secure bail

The arrest of Mr. Wickremesinghe has now become a unifying factor for the Opposition.

In recent Sri Lankan political history, there were watershed moments that changed the directions of governments. 

The past governments sometimes experienced such defining moments when they were at the peak of popularity. The immediate impact of them was minimal, rather invisible. Nevertheless, it started becoming visible in the long run changing the course of government and ensuring its downfall in the end. 

Such defining events only sowed seeds to be sprouted up later when conditions develop in favour.

For example, the 2010/2015 Mahinda Rajapaksa government took a radical decision to impeach then Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake. She was impeached according to the procedure laid down in the Constitution. A Parliamentary Select Committee was appointed to hear charges framed against her. 

Afterwards, a motion was presented in Parliament. She was stripped of her post with the approval of that motion by two-thirds in the House. 

The Mahinda Rajapaksa government was at the peak of its popularity in the wake of war victory. There was no major public backlash against the government in the immediate aftermath, although it offered ammunition to the then Opposition to take on the ruling side. 

No matter what, the impeachment of the then Chief Justice turned out to be a fatal political mistake for the then government years down the line.

It infuriated the legal fraternity. Meddling with judicial independence and alienation of professional groups are a clear recipe for electoral disaster for any government.

The impeachment was widely interpreted as an assault on judicial independence. The Opposition amplified its protesting voice against the Rajapaksa government. Infringement of the rule of law was one key allegation that led to the downfall of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in 2015. 

The Yahapalana government succeeded the Rajapaksa rule. It was established with the promise to restore the rule of law and root out corruption and fraud. 

The Rajapaksa government faced a lot of criticism over that.

Less than two months into office, the Central Bank bond scam occurred on February 27, 2015 rupturing the foundation of the Yahapalana (Yahapalana is the Sinhala word for good governance) government which professed the anti-corruption approach as the cornerstone of running the country. 

It was a turning point for that government, a government elected on a platform of eradication of corruption and restoration of the rule of law.

The Gotabaya Rajapaksa government that followed also made policy errors leading to its abrupt end in 2022.

Popularity of the current government is now on the wane. It was proven at the last local authorities’ election. The ruling National People’s Power (NPP)’s vote share has significantly dropped by about two million compared to the last general election conducted last year.

The government is now about to complete its first year in office. 

Its recent decision- the arrest and remanding of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe- has become the talking point of politics.

It is now a case before court. Hence, it is not time for anyone to discuss merits and demerits of the case until court proceedings are over. 

Still, the event bears political significance, for sure. His arrest and incarceration were unexpected, and therefore it was a shock to his camp. Whispers of such an eventuality had long been in circulation, though.

The Opposition parties remained scattered up until then despite attempts being made in certain political corners to unify them as a viable alternative to the government. Mr. Wickremesinghe’s arrest suddenly turned out to be a rallying cry for them.

Almost all the political parties in the Opposition stood in solidarity with each other to secure bail for Mr. Wickremesinghe. 

The arrest was seen by the Opposition as a major attempt by the government to stifle democracy and silence dissent. The old dictum ‘united we stand, divided we fall’ now resonates among them. They were meeting for quite some time to forge unity . In the wake of Mr. Wickremesinghe’s arrest, they have now felt a sense of urgency to form a broad alliance.

 However, in politics, political parties come together or part ways under circumstances. There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics. When interests merge, it will decide who should forge ties with whom. In Sri Lankan politics, what was perceived as impossible had happened in the past. At one point, it remained unimaginable for many that the NPP would win national elections. Yet, it was a reality last year.

The coming together of the opposition parties, at this time of crisis, is understandable. The situation demands them to be together. 

For them, it is solidarity in time of crisis. Now, they try to strengthen this unity for a possible alliance in view of future elections. However, it is riddled with challenges. Current unity has been forged in the heat of a single issue.

In the future, they have to face practical questions of leadership, policy direction, and electoral strategy. The opposition alliance in the making has to grapple with several challenges.

 Who will be the face of such an alliance? Each party carries its own leader with ambitions and followers. Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) is the main party in the opposition. Its leader Sajith Premadasa did not see eye to eye with Mr. Wickremesinghe in the past. Following the latter’s arrest, Mr. Premadasa expressed solidarity. Who will be the leader in case the two parties merged in an alliance?

The government’s action has now created a launching pad for the opposition to form an alliance in the future. The government’s declining popularity provides fertile ground for such an opposition platform. However, its gradual progression into a well-knit alliance will depend on how the government performs in the months to come.

The arrest of Mr. Wickremesinghe has now become a unifying factor for the Opposition. These parties had a meeting on August 27 and decided to stand together in the face of repressive actions by the government. 

More and more parties and individuals will be invited to join the Opposition. The event has turned out to be a trigger point for the Opposition to converge. 

For the government, Mr. Wickremesinghe’s arrest is an ill-advised action in that sense. 

In politics, even the right action has to be taken at the right time. If anyone takes the right action but at the wrong time, he or she will fall flat on the ground in politics. 

by Rajan Philips Courtesy The Island

Troops in Washington

In Ranil Wickremesinghe’s parlance a cynic would probably describe the former president’s predicament as being the result of an L-Board arrest. Mr. Wickremesinghe himself might have described it as such had he not been weakened and silenced owing to excessive dehydration during and after his police questioning and long court hearing last Friday. As has now been extensively reported, the former president has multiple health issues which given his age would seem to have been concerningly aggravated by Friday’s ordeal. In the circumstances, the granting of bail for reasons of health is a healthy pause in an unfolding drama that has no script for its ending. Keeping Mr. Wickremesinghe in remand would have been pound-of-flesh meanness, with potential risk to his health and continuing headache for the government.

There have been plenty of commentaries on the political fallouts of the episode, but little has been and can be said about the legal precedents that may or may not ensue. While there is much to be said about the government’s amateurishness in the whole matter, it would be an exaggeration to suggest, in my view, that the arrest of Ranil Wickremesinghe is a portent sign of a threat to democracy or drift towards a one-party polity. While These interpretations are obviously far-fetched, what has to be conceded is that the government’s handling of the matter has created a huge and unnecessary distraction to its own agenda and has provided further ammunition to those who constantly question the NPP’s competence for governance.

Mayhem in America

As for the threat to democracy and the danger of a one-party polity, Sri Lanka is nowhere near what is unfolding in America under President Trump’s endless executive orders. Trump has declared executive war on the Federal Reserve, the American Central Bank, because its Chairman and Board are not reducing interest rates as the President wants them to be reduced. He is sending the military to American cities in Democratic states with African American Mayors purportedly to fight urban crime. And he is directing the FBI and the Justice Department to investigate those who worked in the Biden Administration and Republicans who have been critical of him for their alleged acts of treason. The investigations likely will go nowhere but their purpose is to subject the targeted individuals to public slander and force them to expend money defending themselves in investigations.

Yet for all of Trump’s excesses, and there are a lot more than what I have listed above, it would be an exaggeration to say that American democracy is in its death throes. That has been the Democrats’ party line, forever warning the Americans of Trump’s existential threat to democracy but doing nothing about it except getting the people tired of the leadership of the Democratic Party. But there is no denying the massive stress that the American institutions are going through as they respond to Trump’s executive orders and unconventional demands.

None more so than the American judiciary. The FBI and the Justice Department have become Trump’s weapons against his political opponents and policy targets who are mostly immigrants and minorities of all kinds. The judiciary, on the other hand, is torn between those who are constrained to fight Trump’s attacks on them and the government lawyers whose brief is to defend Trump’s actions in the courts.

The stress is especially on the lower tier federal judges who are the first line of defence for those facing the brunt of Trump’s orders. These judges invite Trump’s wrath if they rule against the government as most of them have been doing. The appeal courts are caught in between while the Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, decidedly sides with Trump. The conservative judicial agenda is to expand the power of the unitary president over the legislature and the judiciary. That takes priority even if some of the conservative judges might be disgusted by the vulgarity of Trump’s actions. Chief Justice John Roberts has papered over them, calling them transient results and present  exigencies.

Sri Lanka is nowhere near the troubled state of the US either in regard to the attacks on democracy or the stresses on the judiciary. It is indeed a sea of calm relative to the political turbulence in America. For all his political assaults on institutions, the undoing of the Trump presidency, if at all, will be precipitated not by his politics but by his mercurial interventions in the economy. The deluge may come after him, but he is quite capable of hastening it a lot sooner than any other political leader.

In Sri Lanka too, it will be the economy that will determine the people’s ultimate verdict on the NPP and not the politically grand projects like Clean Sri Lanka or Constitutional Reform. The government has to keep the economy humming and keep essential goods in steady supply and at affordable prices to win the next election. The implementation of the grand projects will take more than one term, even two, and to complete them successfully the NPP will have to win not only the next but the next two elections. If the economy goes south, food scarcity returns and prices rise, the electorate is not going to reward the NPP for fighting corruption and arresting politicians who are well past their Best Before or Expiry dates.

Much Ado about What?

The arrest of Ranil Wickremesinghe has led to predictable reactions. Government ministers have been touting the precept that law should be applied equally to all citizens and that the NPP government is creating an atmosphere in which law enforcement will not exempt anyone. Wickremesinghe has become the government’s Exhibit A to illustrate the new enforcement regime. A victim of poetic irony in that he had in the past intervened to protect other politicians from prosecution in spite of promising to do the opposite.

To wit, the total betrayal of the yahapalanaya promises when he was Prime Minister and Maithripala Sirisena was President. Now, Sirisena and practically everyone else from the old parliament are now united in solidarity with Wickremesinghe. Yet there is no earth-shattering outrage against the arrest. While a majority of the commentaries are critical of the arrest in varying degrees, there are also a good number of voices that are more measured if not expressively supportive. These viewpoints fall along party lines and along established political alliances.

A common reaction across party lines has been bafflement. Why did the government, or anyone on its behalf, have to do this? Was he arrested merely to prove the point that under the NPP government law will be applied equally to all citizens regardless of their status?

L-Board in Colombo

Wickremesinghe is apparently the first President or Prime Minister to be arrested and charged with a crime. He could also be the first person in Sri Lanka, if not anywhere, to be indicted over travel and accommodation expenses. It is not uncommon for employees, whether in the public or private sector, travelling on official business to piggyback some private engagement involving additional travel or longer stay. Employees are reimbursed according to approved allowances for the official portion of the trip and pay out of pocket for any additional expenses for their private engagement. No one is accused of fraud or sent to jail over travel and per diem expenses. If anyone abuses the system they could be caught and dealt with administratively, including financial penalty, interdiction or dismissal. Not jail.

In the case of government ministers or heads of state, the disbursements will be large because of accompanying staff and security detail, but disbursements will have to be within approved allowances for specific purposes with full reconciliation at the end of the trip. The vaunted SLR 16.9 million that Mr. Wickremesinghe is accused of illegitimately overspending is not money that he or his aides had somehow pilfered from state coffers, or spent on his own and got reimbursed. On the contrary, from what has been reported it would appear that the disbursement has been assessed and provided through the normal back and forth process involving multiple agencies.

The point of contention is whether the London stay by Wickremesinghe on the return leg of an otherwise official travel to Cuba and USA, is private or official. Someone in police or the Attorney General’s office would seem to have determined that the London stay should be deemed private and, therefore, Wickremesinghe should be charged for a non-bailable offense on a Friday afternoon for a weekend sojourn at Welikada.

There is a bureaucratic saying: ‘this is above my pay grade”, to indicate that certain decisions are beyond the purview of officers at certain levels. Someone higher up must make the call. Not so, it seems, in Sri Lanka when it comes to dealing with a former president over his travel itinerary.

What is official or private conduct for an American president has been vigorously debated in courts and by legal scholars for the last four years. There is now a Supreme Court opinion on the matter which many disagree with but all abide by. And President Trump is the principal beneficiary of the Supreme Court ruling. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be president now. And he could be the only beneficiary in history. The ruling differentiates between and deems that all core functions of a president are absolutely immune from prosecution, there should be presumed immunity for conduct that straddles the official and the private spheres, and no immunity at all for conduct that is totally private.

But the debate is all about presidential powers and actions and not about air fare or hotel accommodation. No one is questioning Trump to pay for his weekend flights from Washington to his Florida club. Or for all the time he spends playing golf with full security paid for by the taxpayer. No one is suggesting a Sri Lankan president should be afforded all the luxurious perks of an American president. But whatever perks that Sri Lankan presidents might be availing themselves of, their entitlement should be determined in some proper way and not by officials acting above their pay grade.

There would have been some plausibility in taking legal exception to a London trip by Mr. Wickremesinghe if the trip had been solely for the purpose of accompanying Mrs. Wickremesinghe to a celebratory lunch at the University of Wolverhampton. Even then, it should have been more a socialite question, not a legal one, as to why Sri Lanka’s first couple would bother flying all the way to London town for lunch at a by and large nondescript institution. There is much political hay to be made of the fact SLR 16.9 million were spent when the country was struggling without food and fuel and the coffers were apparently empty to pay for local government elections. But arraigning in court – that is simply beyond the pale.

Ranil Wickremesinghe is perhaps the most serially defeated political leader in the country. Electoral defeats are an indication of people’s judgment on political parties and leaders for their acts of omission and commission. There will never be a specific correlation between a particular act and the voter’s verdict, but in the scheme of things elections provide a way of cleaning the stables for at least another four or five years. Defeat in elections should be punishment enough for political failures and there should be no need for prosecutorial follow through. This was the case in the stripping away of Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s civil rights by President Jayewardene. And it should not have been the example for the NPP government to follow with modifications in the case of Ranil Wickremsinghe.

Ironically, after the UNP parliament in 1980 suspended Mrs. Bandaranaike’s civil liberties, the admixture of executive presidency and the open economy created a political culture of impunity for abuse of power and corruption in government. This culture that was not there before 1977 went on to thrive for long after the UNP was gone in 1994. There have been multiple rebirths of the same old corrupt governments. Until now, that is, the NPP government might say with some justification.

The upshot is that electoral defeats may not be enough to deal with corruption in government. More so when criminal culprits, including two of them convicted for murder, who managed to win elections and find accommodation in government benches. So, there is much to do, plenty to investigate, and many trespassers to be brought to book. My contention is that the arrest, remand and the likely trial of Ranil Wickremesinghe over his luncheon date near London, has devalued rather than advanced the government’s mission of fighting corruption.

It may be that the government may have wanted to test the waters by taking in Ranil Wickremesinghe before going after others who are more capable of creating trouble on the streets than Ranil Wickremesinghe can ever be. Or it may be that someone in the police or the AG’s office decided to act above their pay grade. We can only speculate. Moving forward, the government may want to consider inviting independent lawyers, say people of high calibre from the unofficial bar, to review police files and findings involving political leaders and make recommendations regarding prosecution.

The government may also want to study the application of the Shawcross principle in criminal cases. Named after British Attorney General Hartley Shawcross, who formulated it in 1951, the principle is for the Minister of Justice or Attorney General to act independently in decisions regarding criminal prosecutions without pressure or direction from cabinet. The cabinet could be informed of such decisions but it will have no say in the matter. It is a delicate balance but life will be worthless without delicate balancing. The principle is assiduously followed in Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, but I am not aware of its status in other Commonwealth countries including Sri Lanka. The NPP government may want to take a crack at it if only to show that it is serious about gaining competence in governing in addition to claiming honesty in politics.

by Rajan Philips ✍️

Courtesy Adaderana

The United National Party (UNP) has decided to invite all opposition political party leaders to its annual convention.

A preparatory discussion for the convention, which is scheduled to be held on September 6, was held this morning (31).

A proposal in this regard has been made and is scheduled to be submitted to the UNP’s Working Committee meeting on September 3.

The party has also decided to lift the ban on former members whose memberships were suspended, considering them as having left the party.

This proposal will also be presented at the upcoming Working Committee meeting.

In the coming days, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to personally invite opposition party leaders to attend the convention.

The UNP has also decided to hold the convention at a neutral location, rather than at Sirikotha, the party’s headquarters, so that opposition representatives can also participate.

However, according to political analysts, this year’s convention is expected to be notably different due to these decisions.

Courtesy Hiru News

The United National Party has lifted the suspension orders against Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and all party members who joined the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, or SJB.

A senior UNP spokesperson stated that the decision was made on the instructions of UNP leader and former President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The party views this move as the first step toward uniting the opposition. All members, including those from the opposition, have been invited to the UNP’s annual convention on 6 September to discuss the current political situation.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena have also been invited to the conference.

The move follows a recent visit by Sajith Premadasa and other SJB members to check on Ranil Wickremesinghe’s health while he was in hospital.

ISLAND EDITORIAL

Tuesday 26th August, 2025

Minister Bimal Rathnayake has said Ranil Wickremesinghe should have been arrested about four decades ago over the Batalanda torture chamber, the 1983 racial violence, etc. The former has also flayed the latter for the Treasury bond scams (2015). It is now up to the judiciary to scrutinise charges against Wickremesinghe, arrested and remanded for alleged misuse of state funds, and determine whether he is guilty or not. Those who are keen to have corruption and misuse/abuse of state funds eliminated rejoice when politicians and state officials are prosecuted for such offences—and understandably so. Their concerns should be appreciated and their call for stringent action against the corrupt heeded. But the question is whether the JVP/NPP has any moral right to condemn others for causing losses to the state coffers.

Minister Rathnayake may not have realised that it was self-defeating for him to refer to what happened 40 years or so ago. He has unwittingly reminded the public of the JVP’s wanton destruction of state assets in the late 1980s. The JVP burnt 553 SLTB buses, 15 SLTB depots and workshops, 16 trains, 24 railway stations, and countless transformers and pylons belonging to the CEB, according to media reports published during that period. The human cost of the JVP’s mindless terror and the UNP’s savage counterterror was incalculable.

Maithripala Sirisena, whom the JVP backed in the 2015 presidential election, has revealed that the JVP destroyed 245 out of the country’s 545 agrarian service centres and the warehouses of the Paddy Marketing Board with paddy stocks in them. If those crimes had been properly investigated and criminal proceedings instituted against the perpetrators, many of the present-day JVP leaders would have been thrown behind bars.

As for the Batalanda torture chamber, will the JVP-led government explain why the second part of the parliamentary debate on the Batalanda Commission report has not taken place yet. The first part of the debate was held in April. Is it because the report reveals numerous crimes the JVP committed during its reign of terror in the late 1980s? If the JVP is so concerned about the Treasury bond scams will it explain why it honeymooned with Wickremesinghe’s UNP from 2015 to 2019? During the 2018 ‘constitutional coup’ when President Sirisena tried to sack Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, the JVP leaders were among those who scuttled that move both legally and politically. Why didn’t issues like the Batalanda torture chamber and the Treasury bond scams cause any concern to the JVP at that time?

When the UNP-led Yahapalana government, together with the JVP had politically motivated probes conducted against their rivals, we warned that they were setting a very bad precedent. The then Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and other JVP stalwarts were on very intimate terms at the time. The JVP vilified the leaders of the previous UPFA government and raised questions in Parliament about allegations against them thereby preparing the ground for their arrests. Some courts were kept open until midnight for the suspects to be remanded. The JVP was represented in the powerful National Executive Council of the Yahapalana government and its leaders frequented Temple Trees, where the Anti-Corruption Secretariat was located. The members of the UPFA government were no doubt corrupt and had to be brought to justice, but the Yahapalana government and the JVP set about the task of doing so the wrong way to gain political mileage. They turned the arrests of their rivals into political circuses. All the cases filed in a hurry at their behest collapsed, and the Rajapaksa played the victim card, regained public sympathy and made a stunning comeback.

The Yahapalana government, just like its predecessors, had the Attorney General’s Department and the CID on a string, with SSP Shani Abeysekera as the CID Director. Today, the JVP/NPP has gone a step ahead; it has pulled Abeysekera out of retirement and appointed him CID director. Abeysekera and ex-SDIG (CID) Ravi Seneviratne joined the NPP and actively took part in its election campaigns as key members of the NPP’s Retired Police Collective. Seneviratne is the incumbent Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security. The CID has been reduced to a mere appendage of the ruling JVP/NPP. No wonder some pro-government social media activists predict impending arrests accurately. Interestingly, the newly appointed Police Chief has gone on record as saying that his department is free from political interference at present!

Ironically, Wickremesinghe is claiming victimisation at the hands of his erstwhile chums and the forces he was instrumental in creating during the Yahapalana government to further his political interests.

Shenali D Waduge

Switzerland, long celebrated for neutrality, serenity, and banking secrecy, has also quietly served as a discreet hub for global capital, both legitimate and controversial and the safe haven of dictators’ wealth. Street riots or public unrest has never been linked with Switzerland. Yet, the recent killing of a 17-year-old migrant during a police chase has violently disrupted that image. Riots in Lausanne, fires on streets, and clashes with police show a Switzerland many did not expect to see. It showed that beneath the peaceful exterior was something brewing unpublicized.

This incident is not isolated; it is the latest flashpoint in a continent grappling with deep demographic and cultural shifts. All of the human rights templates preached to Global South need to be re-circulated to Europe, it appears. 

Switzerland, despite its wealth, neutrality, and carefully cultivated international reputation, is not immune to the same tensions that have shaken France, Germany, Belgium, UK and Sweden. The very nation that prides itself on order and balance is now staring at the consequences of long-ignored social fractures. We were told they were the civilized states and we needed to take them as examples on coexistence. We are now witnessing their cracks..

Demographic Changes and Social Fault Lines

Switzerland’s immigrant population is significant: over 25% of its residents are foreign-born, one of the highest ratios in Europe. Migrants are essential to the Swiss economy, filling both skilled and low-wage jobs, yet they are also segregated into underprivileged communities with higher unemployment and limited political voice. How is this possible?

The official narrative of harmony masks deeper divides between native Swiss and immigrant-origin youth, who often feel alienated from the wealthy, orderly system around them. So what we have been shown has been a façade – an uneasy coexistence now showing cracks.

These demographic shifts are not unique to Switzerland. Across Europe, the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, immigration over decades has created societies far more diverse than in the post-WWII era. With diversity has come enrichment — but also identity crises, cultural tensions, and political backlash.

Assimilation is the key – Integration has often felt one-sided — with natives adjusting, while immigrant communities sometimes resist assimilation, which with time has annoyed natives who have felt their original nations are being turned into a replica of what immigrants left to find better pastures. They say when in Rome be a Roman – such is not taking place & whose fault is it?

Why these flashpoints keep occurring

1.     Policing & Trust Deficit: Minority youths often perceive law enforcement as discriminatory and hostile. Incidents like Lausanne’s death — whether accidental, negligent, or deliberate — become lightning rods of pent-up anger. Has law enforcement been discriminatory? Is their validity in such perception or is it being used to gain sympathy & secure more privileges for migrants?

2.     Economic Inequality: Many immigrant communities remain locked in cycles of poverty while witnessing the wealth of the societies they live in. This duality fuels resentment, particularly among youth. Has the Swiss govt investigated this. If this is a recurring issue, why has it not been addressed without allowing it to simmer into friction by both sides.

3.     Cultural Clash & Integration Gaps: Host societies expect assimilation; migrant communities strive to preserve identity. This tug-of-war leaves both sides dissatisfied, often erupting in conflict. Is it really preserving identity or stretching the freedoms of host societies in ways that fuel resentment. Migrant communities must first respect & honor the existing culture – they cannot expect their culture to be considered on par or even above. No one has denied them to indulge in their cultural traditions & customs within their homes. But it is unfair to demand that they turn their new home into a replica of what they left. 

4.     Media & Political Amplification: Right-wing groups highlight such incidents to argue migration has failed,” while another set use media to sensationalize the issue & deepen the friction. Activist groups frame these as systemic racism as these are livelihood issues for their sustenance while media bloats anything & everything out of proportion for profit. Both narratives deepen polarization rather than build solutions. The larger blame must fall on the politicians who have been flirting with immigrant lobbyist groups and have used them to advance their political careers & win votes, promising them and even giving them what has later turned into the reasons for natives to hate the immigrants. UK politicians must answer for increasing taxes of the taxpayers but housing boatloads of people in 4 star hotels, giving them buffet meals & a stipend.

Even in Switzerland, where politics prides itself on consensus, the same cycle of exploitation of migration narratives for short-term political gains is visible

Whose Fault Is It?

The blame is shared:

·      Governments that welcomed migration but failed to build integration models beyond economics or looked into concerns voiced by natives.

·      Host populations that benefit from migrant labour but resist cultural inclusion.

·      Migrant community leaders who sometimes foster insularity rather than encouraging bridges.

·      Media & elites who exploit incidents to fuel either fear or victimhood narratives, instead of dialogue.

Why it resonates across the West

·      From Minneapolis to Melbourne, from London to Toronto, the Lausanne riots echo familiar themes. Migration is no longer a European problem” — it is central to the Western world’s future. Countries built on liberal democracies are discovering their limits when diversity collides with identity, economics, and security concerns.

·      Europe: Terror attacks, riots, and ghettoization feed both populism and far-right parties.

·      Australia & New Zealand: Immigration debates are increasingly tied to housing crises, wage stagnation, and cultural anxieties.

·      Canada: Once the model for multiculturalism, it is now facing pushback on refugee intake and affordability.

·      US: The immigration debate is central to every election cycle, shaping policies on border control, policing, and racial justice.

·      UK: the nation where the sun never sets is asking what happened to mighty Great Britain. Britain, once projecting global dominance, now grapples with the question of what remains of that identity amid migration-driven change.

Outcomes to Expect

1.     Harder Politics: Expect stronger right-wing movements across Europe and the West, using incidents like Switzerland to argue for stricter migration laws.

2.     Community Polarization: Riots deepen mistrust between immigrant communities and police, making integration even harder.

3.     Identity Crisis of the West: Countries will need to decide whether they truly embrace multiculturalism, or retreat to exclusionary nationalism.

4.     Global Image Costs: Switzerland, the supposed neutral haven,” is now a symbol that no nation is immune from the fallout of mismanaged diversity.

More importantly, what if immigrants decide to return back home – taking with them all that they have earned, their knowledge, their experience – Low fertility rates, delayed marriages, and shrinking family structures among native populations promoted by global LGBTQIA agenda add another layer to the demographic challenge the West will face — making immigrant growth appear even more pronounced.

Switzerland’s riots show that no nation, however wealthy or neutral, is insulated from the pressures of migration, identity, and demographic change. The West must decide whether to manage these shifts with foresight — or continue reacting in crisis

Shenali D Waduge

Hiru News

Dilrook Kannangara

When Imran Khan became PM of Pakistan the whole world knew Pakistan will end its rot and turn the tide. However, it was not seen in good light by enemies of Pakistan both internal and external. Imran worked hard to contain corruption. But corrupt politicians, their lackeys, their supporters, extremists and the underworld joined forces to topple him and his regime and condemned him to prison. Since then, Pakistan has again fallen back to corruption, worsening poverty, extremism, war and total hopelessness. It should not surprise anyone if parts of Pakistan successfully agitate for independence tearing it apart. Will this be the fate of Sri Lanka too?

Since 1948 Sri Lankans have not experienced the meaning of equal rights when it comes to the law. They were forced to believe that politicians are a different breed of creatures entitled to more rights than the common man. Using this falsehood politicians robbed the nation to bankruptcy and war. However, since of late Sri Lanka seems to be at least trying to go the right way. It is an abnormal and unusual thing for islanders though it is very common in successful countries and countries that are trying hard to become successful. Recently the Thai PM was removed from post over the violation of the law. A number of Japanese and South Korean politicians including former presidents and PMs were imprisoned for corruption. It is just normal in successful countries. But in Sri Lanka which is destined to doom and failure, these normal acts are seen as unusual acts.

Like in Pakistan, all former political rivals have joined forces in Sri Lanka, not for any benefit for the nation, but for their own survival. Though they lack public support, they can still cause disruption, agitation, violence and racism. Unless the rulers act with determination, it will be the righteous who will end up in prison, not the crooks.

𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

SepalAmarasinghe

Shenali D Waduge Sri Lanka Political Analyst

1. Actions of then UNSG Ban Ki-moon immediately following end of Sri Lanka’s Conflict

A. Unprecedented Unilateral Action

·      First occasion in UN history that a Secretary-General personally appointed the 2011 Panel of Experts (PoE) and separately commissioned the Petrie Report, both without UNGA or UNSC mandate, after a conflict had concluded.

·      These reports became the foundation for all subsequent UNHRC Resolutions and UNHRC High Commissioner reports and the OISL investigation against Sri Lanka.

·      Double standard: decades of LTTE terror and mass civilian killings went ignored, yet scrutiny was initiated only after the war ended, implying political or geopolitical motivations.

·      Such precedent threatens the sovereignty of all member states.

B. Lack of Legal Basis

·      UNHRC is an advisory body, created by UNGA (GA 60/251, in 2006), not judicial, with no mandate to create quasi-judicial panels.

·      11 successive resolutions against Sri Lanka violate UN Charter provisions: Articles 2.1 (sovereignty) and 13–14 (ECOSOC/UNGA purview).

·      Serious procedural violation of UN standards, including Fifth Committee oversight of expenditures.

C. Violation of Domestic Mechanism Respect

·      Sri Lanka appointed the Lessons Learned & Reconciliation Commission LLRC in May 2010; Ban Ki-moon’s Panel was appointed barely a month later, preventing completion of domestic accountability.

·      Raises the question: did the UNSG intentionally bypass the principle of national accountability first, a standard recognized in international law?

D. Funding Transparency

·      Was funding formally approved by the Fifth Committee, and if not, who contributed and what were the amounts?

·      Did larger powers influence funding to push a political agenda?

·      Was there any external funding outside UN oversight undermining integrity and independence of UN mechanisms.

E. Political Bias and International Hypocrisy

·      UN ignored decades of LTTE terror, targeting the state that defeated terrorists.

·      Has UNHRC become a tool of geopolitical leverage, rather than neutral human rights body?

·      Could human rights issues have been addressed through the Universal Periodic Review, rather than UNHRC overreach into international human rights law in armed conflicts?

F. International Precedent

·      First UNSG-appointed panel operated without mandate, oversight, or state consent, a report that was later leaked, leading to successive resolutions.

·      If Sri Lanka could be targeted post-conflict, which member state can claim immunity?

G. Accountability of UN Leadership

·      Did Ban Ki-moon commit personal overreach, ignoring UN checks and balances?

·      Is there any mechanism to ensure UNSGs do not overstep their mandate?

·      As a result successive UN High Commissioners have overstepped mandates, continuing the pattern.

2. Role and Oversight of the Fifth Committee

A. Mandate and Responsibility

·      The Fifth Committee is responsible for reviewing and approving UN budget allocations and expenditures, ensuring proper oversight of all UN programs and mechanisms.

·      Even personally commissioned panels, such as Ban Ki-moon’s Panel of Experts and the Petrie Report, require formal authorization and budget approval to comply with UN procedures.

B. Procedural Questions

·      Was Fifth Committee consulted or funding for Panels & investigations formally approved?

·      If not, does this violate UN financial regulations?

C. Political Influence

·      Were larger nations exerting pressure to approve funding or permit overreach?

·      Does this represent politicization of UN financial oversight?

D. Precedent for Future Misuse

·      Lack of oversight allows unilateral creation of investigative mechanisms, undermining sovereignty.

E. Key Questions

·      Who authorized expenses if Fifth Committee approval absent?

·      Were external pressures undermining procedural integrity?

·      Does this threaten the legitimacy of UN investigative mechanisms & what remedial actions to be taken?

3. UN Internal Legal Oversight and Accountability

A. Role and Responsibility

·      The UN has internal legal and compliance mechanisms tasked with ensuring all actions and expenditures comply with UN Charter, financial regulations, and procedural safeguards.

·      These mechanisms are meant to prevent overreach, unilateral actions, or politically motivated investigations.

B. Apparent Lapses in Oversight

·      Despite the unilateral appointment of the Panel of Experts (2011) and the Petrie Report without UNGA or UNSC mandate, and subsequent funding questions, there appears to have been no intervention or corrective action by the UN’s internal legal oversight.

·      Raises concerns whether the internal compliance and legal teams fulfilled their duty to prevent violations of procedure and mandate.

C. Accountability Questions

·      Why did the UN’s internal legal oversight allow these overreaches to proceed unchecked?

·      Were internal legal teams influenced or constrained by political pressures from powerful member states?

·      Does this failure undermine the credibility and legitimacy of the UN’s internal governance and investigative mechanisms?

4. Successive UN High Commissioners for Human Rights

A. Mandate Extensions

·      Successive Commissioners did not adhere to the UNGA mandate 60/251 and extended investigative mandates without Sri Lanka’s consent, overstepping advisory functions.

B. Selective Attention and Bias

·      LTTE terror ignored for decades; UNHRC resolutions recommendations & High Commissioners reports focused on issues falling under domestic jurisdiction far beyond the conflict phase, suggesting geopolitical motivations.

C. Transparency and Accountability

·      Reports and resolutions issued with limited transparency, violating principles of due process and sovereign equality.

D. International Precedent

·      Continuous post-war resolutions items not related to the conflict being regularly raised, establish a precedent where any state could be selectively targeted.

E. Key Questions

1.     Are Commissioners acting within advisory mandate or overstepping?

2.     Does selective scrutiny reflect political bias?

3.     How does this affect UNHRC credibility and legitimacy?

5. Overreach of UNHRC Beyond Advisory Capacity

A. Advisory vs Quasi-Judicial Role

·      UNHRC is advisory, not judicial; yet it commissioned panels and issued resolutions mimicking judicial authority.

B. Procedural Violations

·      Did resolutions and reports follow UN Charter processes, including Fifth Committee review?

C. Sovereignty Concerns

·      Targeting a member state without consent or mandate infringes on sovereignty.

D. Key Questions

1.     Can UNHRC legally assume quasi-judicial powers?

2.     Are member states’ sovereignty and due process being respected?

6. 11 Successive Resolutions Against Sri Lanka vs 30 Years of LTTE Terror

A. Inaction During Conflict

·      LTTE committed suicide bombings, assassinations, massacres, child soldier recruitment, and ethnic cleansing.

·      During the conflict, LTTE forcibly recruited civilians, compelled them to fight, and even shot and killed those attempting to flee to the national army.

·      UNHRC passed no resolutions condemning LTTE terror during the 30-year conflict or even during the last phase of the conflict or against those providing material support as engaged in propaganda for LTTE’separatist cause inspite of LTTE being banned in the very countries that these campaigns continue to be held. Some countries proudly have large images of the LTTE leaders on their shop windows, the LTTE’s ideologue has had a portrait unveiled in a European country.

B. Post-War Targeting

·      11 resolutions post-2009 focus exclusively on Sri Lanka, ignoring LTTE atrocities.

C. Double Standards and Bias

·      UN selectively monitors victor after concluding conflict, not the terrorist, undermining neutrality and credibility.

D. Key Questions

1.     How can UNHRC claim impartiality after decades of inaction?

2.     Does this reflect political, not human rights, motivations?

7. International Precedent and Geopolitical Weaponization

A. Precedent for Other States

·      Successive resolutions and unilaterally appointed panels create a template to target any state post-conflict.

B. Geopolitical Leverage

·      UNHRC functioning beyond UNGA/UNSC consent allows larger powers to weaponize human rights mechanisms.

C. Implications for Global Governance

·      Sovereign nations may face unilateral investigations without oversight, due process, or transparency.

D. Key Questions

1.     Are member states at risk of selective targeting under similar mechanisms?

2.     Is UNHRC exceeding its advisory mandate to become a geopolitical tool?

International Precedent being set

This exposes overreach, legal irregularities, selective bias, and precedent-setting actions of the UNHRC, Ban Ki-moon, and successive Commissioners.

If Sri Lanka can be targeted post-conflict, no state is immune from unilateral UNHRC scrutiny.

Shenali D Waduge Sri Lanka Political Analyst

Rohana R. Wasala

The desert will rejoice, 
and flowers will bloom in the wastelands. 
The desert will sing and shout for joy;
 it will be as beautiful as the Lebanon Mountains
 and as fertile as the farmlands of Carmel and Sharon.
 Everyone will see the Lord’s splendour,  see his greatness and power.
–Isaiah 35: 1-2

This is an expanded version of Gaza conflict: Reply to ‘Another view’” published in The Island daily (Sri Lanka) of August 29, 2025. It is not meant to open a political debate on which side to support as Sri Lankans in the Gazan crisis, Israeli Jews or Palestinian Arabs? The conflict is beyond our powers of mediation. We have nothing to share with either except our inexpressible pain over their suffering and  our great concern for their eventual release from it. We need to remain friends of both, as we have done over the decades. Palestinians are important to us, because, among other crucial things, they are co-religionists of  the Sri Lankan Muslims minority. Israelis are equally important to us, because 30-40,000 Sri Lankan workers find employment there and are looked after exceptionally well, as many of them have told us. Sri Lanka has always followed a conspicuously pro-Palestine policy, while also maintaining friendly relations with Israel, though subject to some stress due to unavoidable global political and economic realities (which both Israelis and Palestinians understand). Christian/Catholic Sri Lankans have natural unbreakable bonds with Israel as part of the Holy Land.  The people of Sihela/Ceylon (Sri Lanka) transacted with Jewish traders as early as the 3rd century BCE according to documented history, which was contemporaneous with the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lanka is obliged to protect the rights of the Jews who visit Sri Lanka and interact with Sri Lankans in any way they like, just as much as Palestinians who do the same, without breaking the laws of the country. But there were reports of some anti-Israeli protests in Colombo, and Baticaloa in the East. Israelis have not committed any terrorist acts in Sri Lanka and they don’t represent the Israeli government which is embroiled in a war with Hamas. Please read the following with this introductory information in mind

Offering ‘Another view’ (The Island/August 20, 2025) in reply to the first part of the article ‘Gaza conflict: Sarvajana Balaya’s response’ published Wednesday 13th, Stanley Weerasinghe of Pannipitiya has raised seven arguments against my opinion about SB’s Gaza reaction. SW has done so even before seeing the second part of my article, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with SW doing that. Now that the second (or concluding) part has been published (August 22), there probably is no need for a reply from me. Still, in appreciation of SW’s concern for truth, which I also share, and equally importantly, for reasons that must be talked about more explicitly before long, in order to prevent the re-emergence of extremist tension in different forms, I decided to gladly try to answer his criticisms. 

Stanley Weerasinghe has done us a good turn by articulating those counter arguments. I am sure he has his own sources of information to support them. But there is a problem that none of us can avoid in looking for reliable information about anything nowadays, especially about controversial, hotly disputed subjects such as the raging Gaza conflict. It is this: Today we mainly depend on electronic media for instant news, most frequently, YouTube, the American social media platform owned by Google. Google is a multinational tech-giant, which is globally the most widely used search engine. YouTube has us, its users, in its thrall by influencing our choice of content, even our inner thoughts, beliefs, prejudices, and opinions through its recommendation algorithms. Through this it tries to please every user happy, to hell with truth, values, culture, and the rest. Unless we are critical and discriminating enough in our approach to interacting with the deluge of information that is turned on us, we tend to get latched onto some opinion, belief, or ideology, and fixated on a position that ignores really valid alternative stands regarding important issues. YouTube can even affect unwary users’ mental health.

 What has brought us together here is, I think, our great protective love of Mother Lanka, our truly resplendent Homeland, which we have saved as one country from South Indian and later European invaders. But today, our only refuge seems to be the representative parliamentary system of government based on democracy.

First, what I meant by saying that the SB delegates did not ‘care or dare’ to make any reference to Israel was that they probably wanted to register  their ‘politically correct’ indifference to that country in order to please the local Muslim voters. They must have thought that to do otherwise would antagonise the latter. But not all Muslims are extremists who are blind Jew haters, something I know through personal experience with fellow Sri Lankans of the Muslim community. My feeling is that most minority leaders (please note, not ordinary citizens who belong to different ethnic minorities) traditionally fail to reciprocate the friendship and flexibility offered by the liberal policy of political correctness usually adopted by nearly all politicians who come from the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community. The urgent need of the hour is to focus on the increasing vulnerability of the Sri Lankan people/nation to the predatory influence of extremist ideologies (whether political or religious), but not to appease opportunistic politicians generally believed to be indirectly benefiting from the actions of extremists. 

Second,  SW argues that the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been declared a war criminal  by the ICC (International Criminal Court). But its ruling (in effect, its authority) seems to be ignored by some countries. Recently, the Hungarian PM Viktor Oban said, just ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled visit to Hungary, that his country had started proceedings to withdraw from the ICC. PM Bart De Wever of Belgium announced that the Israeli PM will not be arrested by his country either. Heads of State of sovereign nations undergoing internal crises should not be treated as common criminals merely on being charged with wrongdoing on suspicion. For all nations economy matters much much more than religion.

Three, the widely circulated allegation that Israel is starving Gazans is vehemently disputed by the IDF with plenty of video evidence available on free social media. If there is any starvation there, according to the IDF, it is due to the involvement of disguised Hamas members in the distribution of relief foodstocks  given to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) for the purpose  by Israel and other donors including some Arab states. It is alleged that Hamas members have penetrated the UNRWA as drivers of the aid trucks and as other workers; they first secure the relief food supplies for Hamas’s own use before giving it to the ordinary Palestinians (who are allegedly being used as human shields, much like Tamil civilians in the north of Sri Lanka before 2009). Some of the food supplies find their way to an impromptu blackmarket, it is claimed by the IDF sources. References are made to alleged UN collusion with Hamas terrorists. Free media posts cite the IDF as the only army in the world that feeds the enemy that is fighting against it. This is due to its commitment to supplying humanitarian aid to Gaza civilians including basic essentials such as food and medicines. The Sri Lanka army similarly fed the armed terrorists in the North during the separatist civil conflict while supplying relief to stranded Tamil civilians. Bogus whistleblower Azad Maulana, once aide to Pillayan, was also employed by the UNRWA, before he was featured in the fake video produced in 2024 by the infamous Channel 4 of UK about falsely alleged Sri Lanka government collusion in the Easter Sunday attacks of April 2019. UNHRC chief Volker Turk’s offhand, even dismissive, refusal of an urgent request by some prominent members of the Patriotic National Movement organization including its Secretary Dr Wasantha Bandara, senior lawyer and civil activist Kalyananda Tiranagama, former Eastern Province Governor Anuradha Yahampath, former Cabinet Minister Retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera, etc., to meet him before he ended his recent official visit to Sri Lanka (23-26 June, 2025) or even to acknowledge a written appeal by them, while at the same time taking care to send an immediate reply to a Jaffna Tamil civilian’s letter (a sinister gesture, no doubt) according to some YouTube channels. There are other instances of blatant UN discrimination or active prejudice (entirely unexpected in terms of the founding principles of the United Nations) against at least 80% of the Sri Lankan population. In this respect, Israel (with a 75% Jewish and 25% non-Jewish population) and Sri Lanka are in the same boat. The minorities in both countries live in harmony with the respective majorities due mainly to the natural expansiveness and enhanced democratic values of the latter (that is, Jews in Israel, and Buddhists and Hindus in Sri Lanka). Sarvajana Balaya should have taken the opportunity to show Israel that we understand their difficulties. 

Four, SW’s implicit charge is that Netanyahu is the main culprit responsible for the persistent human suffering in Gaza. But, so long as Palestinians chant: ‘From the River to the sea – Palestine will be free’, Israel, under Netanyahu or any other future leader, cannot be expected to agree to any arrangement that recognizes such a Palestine, because it means total non-recognition of Israel as a sovereign state. It is not Netanyahu who insists on genocide. It is Hamas (harakatul-muqawwamah al- islamiyyah or the Islamic Resistance Movement) that insists on the elimination of Israel.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was recently (August 23) questioned by some journalists about the still ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza:

 ‘And what about the civilians that are being killed everyday?’ 

Rubio said: ‘I blame Hamas. Hamas should stop hiding behind civilians, putting civilians in the way…Hamas has to stop building their military installations underneath hospitals. I think you guys get this. I want them to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on…..These people are vicious animals who did horrifying crimes and I hope you guys post that.

A woman journalist asked: ‘So you don’t care about the 15,000 that died, the babies being killed everyday?’

‘I think that’s terrible and I think that Hamas is 100% to blame. Make sure you post that, please’.

That’s straight from the horse’s mouth. Who gets more authentic information about the ground situation in Gaza than the US Secretary of State?  

Though we recognise and fully support a Palestinian state at present, it is still recognised by only 147 (76%) out of the 193 countries of the UN. The territory it encompasses remains disputed. President Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestine National Authority  comprises Judea and Samaria, which are Palestinian enclaves in the Israel-occupied West Bank. The resolution of this confusing situation remains a problem mostly due to Hamas’s refusal to recognise the existence of Israel.

Five, SW’s contention that my ‘fervent hope’ to see Israelis and Palestinians living as peaceful neighbours is not likely to be fulfilled because Netanyahu ‘had shattered such hopes from the inception’. I don’t agree. Surely, no leader in power could agree to the genocide of his/her own people (unlike our purblind, narrowly power craving, politicians who are turning a blind eye to what could be described as a cultural genocide that is being perpetrated against the majority Sinhalese Buddhists in the form of destruction or vandalism of archaeological sites in the North and the East provinces, propagation of the fictitious Hela Budun concept, deliberate distortion of the Dhamma, unethical conversion of innocent poor as well as not so poor Buddhists and Hindus, etc). A couple of days ago, Netanyahu said something that he had repeated several times before: ’Our goal is not to occupy Gaza. Our goal is to free Gaza, freed from Hamas terrorists. The war can stop tomorrow if Hamas lays down its arms and releases all the remaining hostages.’ But this stance seems to have now turned sterner due to Hamas’s intransigence. SW should remember that about six months ago US president Trump pledged to rebuild the destroyed Gaza with Israel collaboration, if only terrorism stopped.

Six, I didn’t write that Hamas killed 1200 Israelis, although that number is right. If the UN Secretary General (Antonio Guterres) said that the massacre (of October 7, 2023) didn’t happen ‘in a vacuum’, (he did make such a statement; I myself saw several videos of Guterres in this connection on the internet), didn’t he seem to partially justify terrorism?,  which, I don’t think, is worthy of the head of the UN. A hateful local NGO employee made a similar malicious comment in support of a vicious separatist terrorist atrocity just committed:  he  said that it was to be expected! (implying his secret admiration of separatist terrorism, as some commentators at the time read it).   

Seven, SW’s implicit comparison of Netanyahu with Yitzhak Rabin’s real killer is not acceptable. Netanyahu served in the IDF for six years (1967-73) as a Captain, taking part in active combat in a number of wars including the Yom Kippur War of 1972 and also in the celebrated anti-terror Entebbe, Uganda airport raid or Operation Thunderbolt of 1976. Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated by an extremist Jew, a law student by the name of Yigal Amir, who believed that Rabin endangered the lives of Jews by his Oslo Accords (Oslo I and II, signed respectively in 1993 and 1995). 

It is true that he was charged on several counts (breach of trust, accepting bribes, fraud) in 2019, which caused him to relinquish portfolios other than the post of prime minister. His trial began in the Jerusalem district court in 2020; his prosecution rested in July 2024, and defense started in December 2024. Justice will be meted out to him in due course.  Israel is not a lawless country. It is democratic and law abiding. That is why it is so powerful.

Netanyahu posted audio ‘Greetings from Jerusalem to the proud people of Iran’ on August 26, 2025.

Greetings from Jerusalem to the proud people of Iran

A few days ago, the Iranian president said, ‘We have problems with water, electricity, money and inflation. Where don’t have a problem? There won’t be any water in the dams, by September or October’. 

He is right. Everything is collapsing. In this brutal summer heat, you don’t even have clean cold water to give your children.

Such hypocrisy. Such disdain for the Iranian people. To live like this is not fair to you. It’s not fair to your children.

But I have very good news !

Israel is the Number 1 recycler of water in the world”.

Netanyahu is implicitly offering assistance to Iran provided it abandons its hardline genocidal stand against Israel. I found this post on the internet. It suggests that Netanyahu is closer to humanity than Hamas that is committed to Israel’s physical elimination.

In this post, Netanyahu is also echoing the beautiful biblical passage I have quoted at the beginning of this essay. I read about Israel’s Green Revolution (turning dry arid land into fertile farming areas through innovative water management for sustainable agriculture) many decades ago in my youth. Jews and Christians believe that this was achieved as predicted in the Bible in several places including Isaiah 35: 1-2, which has stuck in my memory because of its poetic beauty and its profound message about the power of righteous living in keeping with unshakeable faith in God.

For me, no believer in any religion, but brought up in my native Buddhist culture, these biblical lines resonated (as they do now) with the Buddhist blessing lines repeated at the end of Seth Pirith (Blessing chant) recitation every morning heard over the SLBC radio in my youthful years in the 1970s. 

Devo vassatu kalena/sassa sampatti hotuca/phito bhavatu lokoca/raja bhavatu dhammiko

(May the rains come in time/So that the harvests may be abundant/May the world be prosperous/May the ruler be righteous)

Buddhists believe that for a nation to flourish, gaining prosperity and happiness, they must live righteously, especially the ruler. Where democracy rules, equality, mutual tolerance, care for others, rule of law, absence of corruption, non-discrimination, and so on  become the principles of governance, and foster the emergence of a righteous society

චානක බණ්ඩාරගේ

19/8/25 දින ලංකාවෙබ්හි පළවූ ‘Sri Lankan Marxists have not been pro – Sinhala or pro – Buddhist’ යන ඉංග්‍රීසී ලිපියේ සංශෝධිත සිංහල පරිවර්තනය, එම මුල් ලේඛකයා විසින්ම  

ආචාර්ය එන්.එම්. පෙරේරා ආදී ආනන්දීයයෙක් බව සත්‍ය නමුත් වැඩිහිටියෙකු ලෙස ඔහු බුදු රජානන්  වහන්සේට සැබෑ ලෙස වන්දනා කිරීමේ අරමුණෙන් බෞද්ධ විහාරස්ථානයකට ගොස් තිබේද නැද්ද යන්න සැක සහිතය. සමසමාජ පක්ෂය කිසි විටෙකත් සිංහලත්වය, බෞද්ධ අයිතිවාසිකම් වෙනුවෙන් සටන් කළ පක්ෂයක් නොවේ. ඔවුනගේ අනෙක් මාක්ස්වාදී සහකරු, කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය ද එසේමය.

ඩී.එස්. සේනානායක සහ ඩඩ්ලි සේනානායක උතුරේ, උතුරු මැද පළාතේ (රජරට) සහ නැගෙනහිර ‘ජනපද’ පිහිටුවීම  පිළිබඳව කාර්යබහුලව සිටියදී, මෙම මාක්ස්වාදීන් එයට දැඩි ලෙස විරුද්ධ විය. උතුරට, රජරටට සහ නැගෙනහිරට  පදිංචියට නොයන ලෙස එන්.එම්. දකුණේ ජනතාවගෙන් අයැද සිටියේය. ඔවුන්ට මැලේරියාව වැළඳෙන බව පවසමින් ඔහු ඔවුන්ව බිය ගැන්වීය. උතුරේ සහ රජරට කපුටන්ගේ ප්‍රමාණයේ මදුරුවන් සිටින බවට ඔහු බොරු ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ භීෂණයෙන් රට බේරා ගත්තේ ඩීඑස් සහ පසුව ඩඩ්ලිගේ ජනපද වලට ස්තූතිවන්ත වන්නට බව අප කවුරුත් දනිමු. ඊලාම් යුද්ධ සමයේදී, ඩීඑස් සහ ඩඩ්ලි විසින් පිහිටුවන ලද කෘෂිකාර්මික ජනාවාස – පදවිය, ශ්‍රී  පුර, වැලි ඔය, ගල් ඔය, අරන්තලාව, කන්තලේ ආදිය – අනුරාධපුර, පොළොන්නරුව සහ අම්පාර වැනි විශාල නගර සඳහා අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය ආරක්ෂක පද්ධතියක් සැපයීය.

මේ ‘මායිම් ගම්මාන’ නොතිබුනේ නම්, ප්‍රභාකරන් අනුරාධපුර, පොළොන්නරුව ආදී ප්‍රදේශවලට පහසුවෙන් සම්ප්‍රාප්තව අහිංසක ජනයා බොහෝ දෙනෙකු මරා දැමීමට අවස්ථාව තිබුණි.

දෙවන ලෝක යුද්ධ සමයේදී එන්.එම් සහ තවත් කිහිප දෙනෙකු කෙටි කාලයක් සිරගතව සිටියහ. නමුත් ඒ නිදහස් අරගලයේ නියැලීම නිසා නොවේ. ඔවුන් 1942 අයවැයට විරුද්ධ විය. රට යුද්ධයක යෙදී සිටි බැවින් (2වන ලෝක යුද්ධය), ඔවුන් ස්වභාවිකවම සිරගෙට යවන ලදී. එන්.එම් සහ සගයන් බන්ධනාගාරයෙන් පැන ගොස් ඉන්දියාවට පලා ගියහ. ඔවුන් ආපසු පැමිණි පසු, ඔවුන්ට ක්‍ෂමාව ලැබී සිය මන්ත්‍රී ආසන නැවත ලබා ගැනීමේ භාග්‍යය ලැබූණි.  

ඉන්දියාව මෙන් වූ ශක්තිමත් අධිරාජ්‍ය විරෝධී ව්‍යාපාරයක් (ගාන්ධි) ශ්‍රී  ලංකාවේ නොතිබූණි.  නිදහස බන්දේසියක බහා අපට මහා බ්‍රිතාන්‍යය පිළිගැන්වීය.  

අනගාරික ධර්මපාලතුමා බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය පාලකයනට එරෙහිව තනි සටනක් කළේය. බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය විරෝධියෙක් වීම නිසා ඔහු බොරු චෝදනා යටතේ බොහෝ කලක් ඉන්දියාවේ සිර අඩස්සියේ සිටියේය. ධර්මපාලතුමා නිදහස් කර ගැනීම සඳහා අතිමහත් කැපවීමකින් සටන් කළේ වෛද්‍යවරයෙකු වූ ඔහුගේ සහෝදරයායි.

ඩී.ආර්. විජේවර්ධනගේ ලේක්හවුස් ආයතනය ධර්මපාලතුමාට දරුණු ලෙස පහර දුන් අතර, ධර්මපාල හොරෙක් ලෙසට බොරු චෝදනා පවා එල්ල කළේය. ඩී.එස්., එෆ්.ආර්. සේනානායක, සර් ඩී.බී. ජයතිලක ඇතුළු පිරිස ධර්මපාල රටට කරන මෙහෙය නොපිළිගත් අතර රහසින් ඔහුට පහර ගැසුහ. ධර්මපාලතුමා ශ්‍රී  ලංකාවෙන් පිටත්ව යාමට මේවාද හේතු විය. නමුත් ඔහුගේ භෂ්මාවශේෂ ඉන්දියාවේ සිට වැඩම කර ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ  තැන්පත් කිරීමේ දැවැන්ත උත්සවයේදී, ඩී.එස්., සහ සර් ඩී.බී. ප්‍රධාන කාර්යභාරයක් ඉටු කළහ. එහිදී ඔවුහු  ධර්මපාල වෙනුවෙන් ‘හොසනා’ ගායනා කළහ.

ධර්මපාලතුමා ජීවත්ව සිටියදී ඔහුට ඉහළ ගෞරවයක් හා පිළිගැනීමක් මෙරට නොලැබීම, විශේෂයෙන්ම ‘ප්‍රභූ’ පන්තියෙන් නොලැබීම පිළිගත යුතු කරුණකි. නමුත්, පොදු නිර්ධන සිංහල ජනයා සැමවිටම ඔහුට ආදරය කළහ.

බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයන්ට දණ නොගසා තරුණ එඩ්වඩ් හෙන්රි පේදිරිස් නිර්භීතව තම ජීවිතය පූජා කළේය. කිසිදා නොකළ වරදකට ඔහුව කොළඹ බන්ධනාගාරයේදී වෙඩි තබා ඝාතනය කරන ලදී.

70 දශකයේ මුල් භාගයේ සහ 80 දශකයේ අග භාගයේදී රෝහණ විජේවීර ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කුරිරු ත්‍රස්තවාදී කැරලි දෙකක් මෙහෙයවීය. නූතන ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ත්‍රස්තවාදය හඳුන්වා දුන් මිනිසා ලෙස ඔහුගේ නම ඉතිහාසගත වේ (ශ්‍රී ලංකා ත්‍රස්තවාදයේ පියා). ප්‍රභාකරන් තුල පවා මුල් ත්‍රස්තවාද බීජය රෝපණය කරන ලද්දේ විජේවීරයි.  

ජවිපෙ අරගල දෙකම අන්ත අසාර්ථක ඒවා විය. ඒවායේ ප්‍රථිපලයන් ලෙස දහස් ගණනකට ජීවිත/ අත් පා නැති විය. රාජ්‍ය සහ පෞද්ගලික දේපළවලට සිදු වූ හානිය කියා නිම කල නොහැකි තරම්ය.

ජවිපෙ අරගල දෙකම සිංහල සහ හෝ බෞද්ධ අයිතිවාසිකම් වෙනුවෙන් වූ සටන් නොවේ.

මේ කැරළි පිළිබඳව විජේවීරගේ අරමුණ හුදු ආත්මාර්ථකාමීත්වය සහ ඊර්ශ්‍යාව විය. එකළ, ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදීව තේරී පත්වූ ආණ්ඩු කෙරෙහි ඔහු තුල වෛරයක්/ද්වේශයක් විය.

රටේ ආරක්ෂාව දුර්වල බව විජේවීර දිටීය; එයින් ප්‍රයෝජන ගත හැකි බව ඔහුට හැගින.

විජේවීරගේ විශිෂ්ට සංවිධානාත්මක කුසලතාව සහ මුඛරිත්වය නිත්‍යානුකූල ලෙස බලයට ආ රජයන් අවී මඟින් පෙරළා දැමීය යුතුය යන ප්‍රබල මතය තරුණයින් තුල ගොඩ නැංවීමට සමත් විය.

විජේවීර මේ තරුනයන්වද රැවටුවේය. උලපනේ වතුයායේ සැඟවී සිටියදී, ඔහු අතිශය සුඛෝපභෝගී ලෙස ‘රජෙකු’ මෙන් ජීවත් විය. විස්කි පානය කිරීම සහ චෙස් ක්‍රීඩා කිරීමෙන් කාලය ගත කළේය. සැඟවී සිටියදී  දරුවන් පස් දෙනෙකු බිහි කළේය. අල්ලා ගන්නා අවස්ථාවේ ඔහුගේ බිරිඳ 6 වන දරුවා අපේක්ෂාවෙන් සිටියාය.

විජේවීරගෙන් පසුව, රජයන් විසින් මෙම පවුල දීර්ඝ කාලයක් රැකබලා ගන්නා ලදී.

1987/88 දී විජේවීර ප්‍රභාකරන්ට ඇලුම් කළේය. ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ යුද්ධය නිසා දකුණ හමුදාමය වශයෙන් දුර්වල බව විජේවීර දැන සිටියේය. එයින් ප්‍රයෝජන ගෙන ඔහු තම ත්‍රස්ත ව්‍යාපාරය ඉතාම කුරිරු ලෙස දියත් කළේය.

රජයට එරෙහිව සටන් කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් විජේවීර ප්‍රභාකරන් සමඟ ලිඛිත නොවන ගිවිසුමක් ඇති කර ගත්තේය – එල්ටීටීඊය උතුරෙන්/නැගෙනහිරින් රජයට පහර දෙන අතර ජවිපෙ දකුණෙන් රජයට පහර දීම.

මෙය කිසිසේත් දේශප්‍රේමියෙකුගේ නොව දේශද්‍රෝහියෙකුගේ චින්තනයයි.

රජයට අවශ්‍ය වුයේ දකුණේ අමතර යුද්ධයක් ඇති වීම නොවේ.  නමුත්, විජේවීරට අවශ්‍ය වුයේ එයයි. ඔහු ඒ දේ කළේය.

මූළිකව, ප්‍රභාකරන්ට සහ සහ විජේවීරට වුයේ එකම මානසිකත්වයකි – ශ්‍රී ලංකාව විනාශ කර එය  සමූලඝාතනය කිරීමයි. තම අභිමතාර්ථයන් උදෙසා මනුෂ්‍ය ජීවිත නැති කිරීම ඔවුන් දෙදෙනාට සුළු දෙයක් විය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව යම් හෙයකින් බිඳ වැටුණි නම් (ඒ වගට ඉතා ආසන්න විය), ප්‍රභාකරන් සහ විජේවීර ශ්‍රී ලංකාව එකිනෙකා අතර බෙදා ගනු ලබනවා ඇත.

නමුත්, බටලන්ද, සූරියකන්ද ආදී ප්‍රදේශවල වූ දේ කිසිසේත් අනුමත කළ නොහැකිය.

ජවිපේ ඉල් මහ විරුවෝ දේශප්‍රේමීන් නොවේ.

දේශප්‍රේමියෙකු කිසි විටෙකත් රජයේ පොලිස් භටයන්, සොල්දාදුවන් මරා දමන්නේ නැත, පොදු දේපළ සිත් පිත් නොමැතිව විනාශ කරන්නේ නැත.

මෙම ත්‍රස්තවාදීන් ලංවිම ට්‍රාන්ස්ෆෝමර් සිය ගණනක් පුපුරුවා හැර, ශ්‍රී ලංගම බස් රථ/පොදු වාහන දහස් ගණනකට ගිනි තබා, විවිධ හමුදා ඉලක්කවලට පහර දුන්හ; කොළඹ කොටුවේ පිහිටි විශිෂ්ට, පෞරාණික වටිනාකමක් තිබු සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශ ගොඩනැගිල්ල පවා (1987 දී සුනේත්‍රා රණසිංහ අමාත්‍යවරිය වූවාය) ඔවුන් විසින් ගිනි තබා විනාශ කරන ලදී.

රෙක්ස් ද කොස්තා, විජය කුමාරණතුංග, මහාචාර්ය ස්ටැන්ලි විජේසුන්දර, ප්‍රේමකීර්ති ද අල්විස්, දොස්තර ග්ලැඩිස් ජයවර්ධන, සාගරිකා ගෝමස්, පුජ්‍ය කොටිකාවත්තේ සද්ධාතිස්ස හිමි, රංජිත් වික්‍රමරත්න වැනි  වැනි අහිංසකයන් ජවිපෙ ඝාතනය කළේය.

මෙවැනි දරුණු අපරාධ සිදු කළ අය, සමහරවිට මනුෂ්‍යත්වයට එරෙහි අපරාධ කළ අය – කිසිදා යහපත් මිනිසුන් වේ යයි සිතීම සැක සහිතය.

සමහර ජවිපෙ ප්‍රවීනයන් දැන් ඔවුන්ගේ අපරාධ වීර ක්‍රියා ලෙස පම්පෝරි ගසන ආකාරය අමුතුය. සමහරු හමුදා ස්ථානවලට පහර දුන් ආකාරය සහ ට්‍රාන්ස්ෆොර්මර් විනාශ කිරීම ආදිය ගැන විවෘතව පවසති. නීතිය යටතේ, ඔවුන්ට එවකට නඩු පවරා නොමැති නම්, දැන් ඔවුන්ට නඩු පැවරිය හැකිය. බරපතල අපරාධ නීති කාලාවරෝධයක් නොමැතිව ක්‍රියාත්මක වේ.

නැවතත්, රටේ ජන ජීවිතවලට සහ පොදු දේපලවලට බරපතල අපරාධ සිදු කල මේ අයට කිසිසේත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට අවංකවම ආදරය කළ නොහැක. මේ නිසා, ඔවුන් කිසිදා දේශප්‍රේමීන් නොවේ.

මෑත කාලයේ පොදු දේපළ, මහජන මුදල් සොරකම් කල අයද (මෙවැනි දේශපාලනඥයෝ බොහෝයි) කිසිදා දේශප්‍රේමීන් නොවේ.

තමන් ඉපදී හැදී වැඩුණු රට කෙරෙහි ඔවුන්ගේ වූ ආවේණික වෛරය/ආදරය නොමැතිකම නිසාය ඔවුන් මෙවැනි තදබල වැරදි වලට පෙලභේන්නේ. මේ විෂම අදහස් තවමත් ඔවුන් තුල තිබිය යුතුය.

බලයේ රැඳී සිටීම සඳහා ඔවුන් රට දියුණු/සංවර්ධනය කිරීම් කරන නමුත්, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ගොඩනැගීමේ සැබෑම වූ, සත්‍ය  ආශාවක්, චින්තනයක්  ඔවුනට තිබේද? මේ ලියුම්කරුගේ අදහස නැත යන්නය.

මෙම තර්කය අනුව, මාක්ස්වාදී (ජවිපෙ) සහ වෙනත් බොහෝ ශ්‍රී ලාංකික නායකයින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට , විශේෂයෙන්ම සිංහලත්වයට, බෞද්ධාගමට සැබවින්ම ආදරය නොකරන නිසා, ඔවුන්ට පහසුවෙන් මේ රට කැබලිවලට බෙදීමේ මනස සකසා ගත හැක.

බෙදුම්වාදී සහ වෙනත් සිංහලත්වයට/බෞද්ධාගමට විරෝධී න්‍යාය පත්‍ර අනුව වැඩ කිරීමට මේ අය කැමැත්තක් දක්වන්නේ, සිතන්නේ ඒ නිසායි.

විජේවීර කිසිදා බෞද්ධයෙකු නොවීය. ඔහු කතෝලික කාන්තාවක් සමඟ විවාහ විය, නමුත් ඔහු ක්‍රිස්තියානි ආගම ඇදහු බවටද කිසිදු වාර්තාවක් නොමැත.

ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ අදේවවාදී – නිරාගමික  දේශපාලන පක්ෂයකි. මාක්ස්වාදීන් වශයෙන් අප ඔවුන්ගෙන් මෙය අපේක්ෂා කළ යුතුය.

එන්.එම්. සහ විජේවීර අතර ඇති ප්‍රධාන වෙනස නම්, පළමුවැන්නා විශිෂ්ට මහත්මා ගති පෙන්වන්නෙකු වීමයි. මාක්ස්වාදියෙකු වුවද, ඔහු ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය තදින් විශ්වාස කළේය. විජේවීර මෙන් නොව එන්.එම්. (සහ ඔහුගේ සගයන්) කිසි විටෙකත් මිනීමැරුම් වැනි අපරාධ චේතනාවලින් යුක්ත වුවන් නොවුහ.

එදා සිටී සමසාමාජ/කොමියුනිස්ට් නායකයන් හොරුද නොවුහ.

විජේවීර අතිශය කෲර, හිතක් පපුවක් නැති අයෙක් විය. කළින් සඳහන් කළාක් මෙන්, මනුෂ්‍ය ජිවිතවල අගය ගැන සැලකීමක් නොදැක් වූවෙකි. 

මාක්ස්වාදී පොල්පොට් කාම්බෝජයේ වැඩිහිටියන් සියල්ලන්ම පාහේ මරා දැමීය. කණ්නාඩි පළදින්නන් බුද්ධිමතුන් යයි පැවසූ ඔහු ඒ අයට බියව ඔවුන් බොහෝ දෙනනෙක් මරා දැමීය. උතුරු වියට්නාමයේ ද එවැනිම මානසිකත්වයක් පැවතුනි, වාසනාවට දැන් එසේ නොවේ.

මාක්ස්වාදී ස්ටාලින් රුසියානු ඕතඩොක්ස් ක්‍රිස්තියානි පූජක පක්ෂයේ සෑම සාමාජිකයෙකුම වාගේ සහ එම ඇදහිල්ලේ බොහෝ ඇදහිලිවන්තයන්ව ඝාතනය කළේය; හෝ ඔවුන්ව කම්කරු කඳවුරුවලට යවා දමන ලදී.

මාක්ස්වාදී මාඕ සේතුං චීනයේ බෞද්ධ විහාරස්ථාන රාශියක් විනාශ කළේය. සංස්කෘතික විප්ලවය අතරතුර (1966 – 1976) තිබතයේ බෞද්ධ භික්ෂු ආරාම සහ විහාරස්ථාන 6,000 ක් පමණ විනාශ වූ බව විශ්වාස කෙරේ.

ක්‍රිස්තියානි අධ්‍යාපනයක් සහ හැදී වැඩීමක් ලැබුවද, මාක්ස්වාදී කැස්ත්‍රෝ කියුබාවේ කතෝලික පල්ලියේ බලපෑමට එරෙහිව කටයුතු කළේය.

2024 සැප්තැම්බර් මැතිවරණයට පෙර, වත්මන් ජාතික ජන බලවේග නායකයින් සිංහල විරෝධී, බෞද්ධ විරෝධී හැඟීම් විටින් විට ප්‍රකාශ කළහ. ඒ සමහර දේ පහත සඳහන් වේ:

• අප සම්ප්‍රදායෙන් මිදිය යුතුයි. සම්ප්‍රදාය හොඳ නැහැ, මොකද එය ආර්ථික වර්ධනයට බාධාවක්.
• රාජ්‍යය ආගමෙන් වෙන් විය යුතුය. රාජ්‍යය කිසිදු ආගමකට ආධාර/අනුග්‍රහ ලබා නොදිය යුතුයි.
• බුද්ධාගමට ප්‍රමුඛස්ථානය දෙන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 9 වන වගන්තිය අහෝසි කළ යුතුයි.
• වසර 76ක් තිස්සේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට දෙමළ අගමැතිවරයෙකු බිහි කිරීමට නොහැකි වීම ගැන අප රටක් වශයෙන් ලැජ්ජාවට පත්විය යුතුයි.

රුවන්ඩාවේ ජනගහනයෙන් 9% ක් පමණ ටුට්සි ජාතිකයන් වන අතර, 90% කට වඩා හුටු ජාතිකයන් වේ. වත්මන් ටුට්සි ජනාධිපති ධුරයේ සිට, රුවන්ඩාවේ ඉහළම තනතුරු ටුට්සි ජාතිකයන්ගෙන් පිරී ඉතිරී ඇත.

කොංගෝවේ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී ජනරජයේ (DCR) නැගෙනහිර කොටසේ වාසය කරන හුටුවරුන්ට එරෙහිව යුද්ධයක් දියත් කිරීමට M23 ටුට්සි කැරලිකරුවන්ට උදව් කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් රුවන්ඩාවට තදින් දොස් නැගේ.

ඕනෑම පුද්ගලයෙකුට, මානසික නිදහස, සංස්කෘතික නිදහස, ඕනෑම පලාතක ජීවත්වීමේ නිදහස සහ රාජ්‍යයේ අනිසි බලපෑමෙන් තොරව බියෙන් තොරව ජීවත් වීමේ නිදහස තිබිය යුතුයි. මේවා ආර්ථික නිදහසට වඩා වැදගත්ය.

මෙම ලේඛකයා දෙමළ අගමැතිවරයෙකු පත් වීම ගැන විරුද්ධ නැත, නමුත් රුවන්ඩා ආකාරයේ තත්වයකට නොවැටීමට අප ප්‍රවේශම් විය යුතුය.

කුසලතා මත තේරී පත්වන මේ රටේ දෙමළ හෝ මුස්ලිම් ජනාධිපතිවරයෙකු හෝ අගමැතිවරයෙකු අප සාදරයෙන් පිළිගත යුතුයි. නමුත්, කෝටා මත පදනම්ව ඉහළ තනතුරුවලට එන අයගේ තත්ත්වය මීට වඩා වෙනස්ය.

වත්මන් අගමැතිනි හරිනි එම තනතුරට පැමිණියේ කාන්තාවක් වීම නිසා නොව; ඇගේ අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් හා පෙන්වන ලද කුසලතා නිසාය.

අද, ජාතික ජන බලවේගය මාස 10 කට වැඩි කාලයක් බලයේ සිට ඇත. ඔවුන් මෙම කාලය තුළ සිංහලයට, බුද්ධාගමට බරපතල හානියක් සිදු කර නොමැත. නමුත් අනාගතය අවිනිශ්චිතය. ඉදිරියේදී කුමන ආකාරයේ ප්‍රථිපල ඔවුන් නිසා ලැබේදැයි කිසිවෙකුට කිව නොහැක.

පහත සඳහන් සිදුවීම් කනස්සල්ලට හේතු වේ:

• ඔවුන් බුද්ධශාසන අමාත්‍යවරයෙක් පත් නොකළහ.
• ඔවුන් ජය මංගල ගාථාව ඉතා වැදගත් පොදු උත්සවයකින් ඉවත් කළහ.
• උතුරු පළාතේ ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයා ලෙස සිංහලයෙකු පත් කිරීමට ඔවුන් අසමත් විය.
• ඔවුන් යාපනයේ අලුතින් ඉදිකරන ලද ජනාධිපති මන්දිරය (කාමර 27, අක්කර 200) වෙනත් කටයුත්තක් සඳහා පැවරීමට සැලසුම් කරමින් සිටිත්. අනාගත ජනාධිපතිවරයෙකු යාපනයේ සිටින විට ආරක්ෂිතව වාසය කරන්නේ කොහේද?
• දෙමළ ඩයස්පෝරාව සමඟ සමීප සබඳතා ඇති කර ගැනීමට ජාතික ජන බලවේගය පක්ෂයේ ධූරාවලිය අසාමාන්‍ය උනන්දුවක් දක්වයි. මේ ඩයස්පෝරා අයගෙන් බොහෝ දෙනෙක් දෙමළ ඊළාම් අදහස අත්හැර නොමැති බව අපි කවුරුත් දනිමු.
• දෙමළ ඩයස්පෝරාවට උතුරේ වටිනා ඉඩම් ලබා දීමට රජය සැලසුම් කරයි. නැවතත්, ඔවුන්ගෙන් බොහෝ දෙනෙක් ඊළම විශ්වාස කරන්නෝය. යුද්ධයෙන් පසු, උතුරේ ආයෝජනයට කෝටි ගණනින් මුදල් යොදවනවා කියා වසර ගණනාවක්  දකුණේ නායකයන්ට ඔවුහු පම්පෝරි ගැසුහ. අපේ නායකයන් සැමදා මේ රැවටිලි වලට අසු වන්නේ ඇයි?
• රටේ සෑම ප්‍රදේශයකම ජීවත් වීමට සියලු ජනතාවට මාර්ග සිතියමක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමට මෙම රජයද අසමත් වී ඇත. උතුරු හා නැගෙනහිර බොහෝ ප්‍රදේශවල ජීවත් වීමට කැමති දකුණේ සිංහලයන්ට එම පලාත්වල රජයේ නිලධාරීන්ගෙන් කුඩම්මාගේ සැලකිලි ලැබේ.
• සිසුන් 50 ට අඩු පාසල් වසා දැමීමට රජය ගත් තීරණයත් සමඟ, රනිල්ගේ රජයට ස්තූතිවන්ත වන්නට මන්නාරමේ සහ වවුනියාවේ මෑතකදී නැවත ආරම්භ කරන ලද සිංහල පාසල් නැවත  වසා දැමීමට නියමිත බවද මේ ව්‍යංගාර්ථයෙන් පවසන්නේ?
• අභිමානවත් සිංහල බෞද්ධ ඉතිහාසය ව්‍යාජ  ලෙස විකෘති කරන පුද්ගලයින්ට ප්‍රමුඛත්වය  සහ අනවශ්‍ය පිළිගැනීම් ලබා දීම.
• රාවණාගේ යැයි කියනු ලබන ‘ගුවන් යානා’ සොයා ගැනීම සඳහා NPP රජයේ සිවිල් ගුවන් සේවා අධිකාරිය වෙනුවෙන් අනවශ්‍ය දැවැන්ත වියදමක් රජය දැරීමට යයි. මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතිය සඳහා කාබන් කාල නිර්ණය කිරීමේ පිරිවැය පමණක් ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන ගණන් වැය වනු ඇතැයි විශ්වාස කෙරේ. ව්‍යාජ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ඉතිහාසයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීම සඳහා ප්‍රසිද්ධ කුප්‍රකට පුරාවිද්‍යා මහාචාර්යවරයෙකු මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතියටද සම්බන්ධ ව සිට ඇති බවට වාර්ථා වේ.
• අධ්‍යාපන ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ හරහා, පාසල්වල ඉතිහාසය ඉගැන්වීම සීමා කිරීමේ සැලැස්මක් ජාතික ජන බලවේගය පක්ෂයට ඇති බව පෙනේ.

• අපගේ වත්මන් පාසල් ඉතිහාස පොත්වල සහ අනෙකුත් සංසදවල, විශේෂයෙන් අන්තර්ජාලයේ නොකඩවා නිපදවෙන ව්‍යාජ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ඉතිහාසය නිවැරදි කිරීමට කිසිදු ක්‍රියාමාර්ගයක් ගෙන නොමැති බව පෙනේ. පහත වැරදි සමහරක්:
• විජය උතුරු ඉන්දියාවෙන් වසර 2500කට පෙර මෙහි පැමිණියා වෙනුවට මේ රටේ ප්‍රාරම්භාකයා  අප්‍රිකානු හෝමෝ සපියෙන් බවට පාසැල් සිසුනට උගැන්වීම.
• මිහිඳු මාහිමියන්ගේ ආගමනයත් සමඟ මුළු රටම බෞද්ධ වූ බව (වැද්දන් කිහිප දෙනෙකු හැර) මෙය හොඳින් ළමුනට නොඋගැන්වේ.
• දේවානම් පියතිස්ස රජුගේ කාලයේ ආරම්භ වූ මහා සිංහල බෞද්ධ ශිෂ්ටාචාරය පිළිබඳව සිසුනට නොඋගැන්වීම. ඒ වෙනුවට වසර 7,000 – 40,000 කට පමණ පෙර, මෙහි නොතිබූ, ව්‍යාජ උසස්  ශිෂ්ටාචාරයක් ඉතා මෑතක සිට ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීම – මෙහි අරමුණ ශ්‍රේෂ්ට සිංහල බෞද්ධ ශිෂ්ටාචාරය දියාරු කර හැරීමය.
• මහා රජවරු – දුටු ගැමුණු, ධාතුසේන, විජය බාහු ආදීන් – වර්තමාන පොත්/ඉතිහාස කතා වල ඔවුන්ගේ ශ්‍රේෂ්ටත්වය ගැන කිසිවක් සඳහන් නොවේ.
• පණ්ඩුකාභය, දේවානම් පියතිස්ස යන මහා රජවරු – ඔවුන් දෙමළ විය හැකි බවට සැකයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීම; කුවේණිද  දෙමළ විය හැකි බවට මත පළ කිරීම.
• වෙනත් රටවලට පවා සහල් අපනයනය කළ, දිග් විජය ජයගත් මහා පරාක්‍රම බාහු වික්‍රමයන් ගැන වර්තමාන ඉතිහාසය පොත්/පාඩම් බොහෝ නිහඬය. දරුවන් මේ ගැන නොදනී.
• සීගිරිය කාශ්‍යප රජුගේ නිර්මාණයක් නොවිය හැකි බවට පළ කිරීම.
• ශ්‍රී ලංකා භූමියේ මුල් වැසියන් හෙළයන් නොව දෙමළ ජනතාවය යන මතයක් ඉතා සියුම්ව ඇති කිරීම. හෙළ ජනතාව (උදා: බලන්ගොඩ මානවකයා) විජයගේ සිංහ වංශය (700ක් පිරිවර)  සමඟ මිශ්‍ර වීමෙනි සිංහල ජාතිය බිහිවුයේ.

තවද;

• සහල් සහ යකඩ මුලින්ම සොයාගත්තේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ යයි මතයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීම (නැත, චීනයේ). මෙවැනි දේ කරන්නේ ඉතා පිරිසිඳු සහ නිරවුල් වසර 2500 පැරණි ශ්‍රී ලාංකික ඉතිහාසය ව්‍යාකුල, අවුල් ජාලයක් බවට පත් කිරීමටය.
• බාර්ලි සහ ඕට්ස් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වසර 7000ට පෙර සමු වීය යන්න (නැත, ඊශ්‍රායලයේ සහ මැද පෙරදිගින් – වසර 4000 – 5000 පමණ පෙර  මේවා සොයා ගතී).
• ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිංහයන් සැරිසැරූ බවට (මෙම කථාව ගොතා ඇත්තේ මහාවංශයේ සඳහන් සිංහබාහු පුරාවෘත්තය බොරු කිරීමේ චේතනාවෙන් විය හැක).
• රාවණා රජු දෙමළ ජාතිකයෙකු බව. ඔහු ඇත්තටම සිටියා නම් (මිත්‍යා කථාවකි) හෙළයෙකි.
• යාපනයේ දෙමළ රජවරුන් ඉතා උසස් කර දක්වා තිබේ. ඔවුන් ඇත්තටම සිටියාද? සමහර ප්‍රමුඛ  ඉතිහාසඥයින්/විද්වතුන් පවසන්නේ නැත කියාය. පෘතුගීසින් එනවිට උතුරේ සංකිලි (රජ) සිටියා නම්, ඔහු කෝට්ටේ රජුගේ (8 වෙනි වීර පරාක්‍රමබාහු) උප රජෙකු වූ බව පෙනේ.

කලින් සඳහන් කළ පරිදි, ඓතිහාසිකව, ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ සිංහල සහ/හෝ බුද්ධාගම කෙරෙහි කිසිදු විශේෂ අනුග්‍රහයක් දක්වා නැත (අනිත් ජාතීන්ට හානියක් නොවන පරිදි). ජාතික ජන බලවේගය මෙයින් වෙනස් වනු ඇතැයි අප බලාපොරොත්තු තබා ගනිමු.

ශ්‍රී  ලංකාව යනු ගතානුගතිකත්වය, සාරධර්ම, විනය, සිරිත් විරිත්, ආගම, සංස්කෘතිය, ඉතිහාසය වැනි දේ පිළිබඳව ඉහළ අගයක් තබන සමාජයක් බව ජාතික ජන බලවේගය මතක තබා ගැනීම වටී.

අප සමාජය වනාහි සිංහල, දෙමළ, මුස්ලිම්, මැලේ, බර්ගර්, වැදි කදිම සම්මිශ්‍රණයකි.

ලිබරල් මතවාදයට තැන දෙනු පිණිස අපගේ මුල් බැස ගත් සම්ප්‍රදායනට අනවශ්‍ය ලෙස ඇඟිලි ගැසීමට ගියහොත් එය සියළුම  ජාතීන්ගේ ඉමහත් දෝෂාරෝපණයට ලක්වන කරුණක් බව ජාතික ජන බලවේගය දැන සිටීම වටී.  

සිංහලයන්ට සහ බුද්ධාගමට සාධාරණ ලෙස සැලකීම පසෙකලා, ජාතික ජන බලවේගය අවම වශයෙන් සිංහලයන්ට සහ බුද්ධාගමට ආසාධාරණ ලෙස සැලකීමක් නොකරනු ඇතැයි අප උදක්ම  බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමු.

මෙම මාස 10 තුල NPP රජයට අදාළ වෙනත්, සමහර කරුණු ඉතා සංෂික්ප්තව:

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආර්ථිකය ඔවුන් සංවර්ධනය කරනු ඇත, නමුත්, එයට කාලයක් ගතවේ (SJB ද එය කරනු ඇත, සමහරවිට මොවුනටද වඩා හොඳට).

IMF ආධාර සහ අනුදැනුම, ලෝකයේ වේගයෙන්ම වර්ධනය වන ආර්ථිකයන් දෙක වන චීනය සහ ඉන්දියාව අතර වූ අපගේ භූ ගෝලීය පිහිටීම, අධි සීග්‍රයෙන් ඉහල යන අපේ සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය, ට්‍රම්ප්, ෂී, මෝඩි, EU, ජපානය, UK  – මේ සියල්ලෝම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට දෙන සම්පූර්ණ සහයෝගය ආදිය නිසා ඉදිරියේදී අපේ ආර්ථිකය හොඳින් ඉහල යනු ඇත – නමුත්, වැඩ වර්ජන, උද්ගෝෂණ, අරගල, කඩාකප්පල් කිරීම්, කකුල් මාට්ටු අවම වුවහොත් පමණි.

රටේ ඉදිරි ගමන කෙසේ හෝ කඩාකප්පල් කිරීමට ඇතැම් යු ටියුබ් කරුවෝ  පුදුමාකාර උත්සහයක් ගනිත්.

වාහන ආනයනය සඳහා ආර්ථිකය විවෘත කිරීම, කොටස් වෙළඳපොලේ සීග්‍ර වර්ධනය, විරැකියාව පහළ යාම රජයේ ධනාත්මක ආර්ථික ප්‍රගතියේ සංකේතයි.

කෘෂිකර්ම සහ අදාළ අමාත්‍යාංශ, අධ්‍යාපන, ප්‍රවාහන, සෞඛ්‍ය  යන අමාත්‍යංශන් ඉතා දුර්වල ප්‍රගතියක් මෙම මාස 10 තුල දක්වා ඇත. රජය අපකීර්තියට පත් කිරීමට මේ අය සමත් වී ඇත.

හොරු ඇල්ලීම ජනතාවගේ එකම අපේක්ෂාවයි. මහ හොරුන්ට සුළු චෝදනා යටතේ නඩු පැවරීම පුරවැසියාට ප්‍රශ්නාර්ථයක් වී තිබේ.

බිලියන ගණනින් වත්කම් හිමි දුෂීත දේශපාලනඥයන් සහ උසස් නිලධාරීන් ඒවා සොයා ගත් ආකාරය අල්ලස් සහ දුෂණ මර්ධන කොමිසන් සභාවට පැහැදිලිව පෙන්වීමට නොහැකි නම් එයම බරපතල නඩු නිමිත්තකට කාරණයකි.

මේ දක්වා අප දන්නා පරිදි NPP දේශපාලනඥයන් අල්ලස් හා දූෂණයට සම්බන්ධ නොවීම ගැන NPP රජයට ප්‍රසංශා කළ යුතුය. මෙය වසර 76 ක් තුළ රටට සිදුවූ විශිෂ්ටතම දෙයකි. මෙය ඔවුන් දිගටම පවත්වා ගෙන යනු ඇතැයි මුළු රටේම අපේක්ෂාවයි.

නමුත් කළින් කී පරිදී, පුරවැසියාට වඩාත්ම වැදගත් දේ මෙයයි – මානසික නිදහස, සංස්කෘතික නිදහස, ඕනෑම තැනක ජීවත්වීමේ නිදහස සහ රාජ්‍යයේ අනිසි බලපෑමෙන් තොරව බියෙන් තොරව ජීවත් වීමේ නිදහස. මේවා ආර්ථික නිදහසට වඩා වැදගත්ය.

sinhalasanvardhanasanvidhanaya@gmail.com

National Development Bank PLC

NDB Bank, in partnership with NewsFirst, proudly celebrated the Grand Finale of the Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana Awards on 20 August 2025, honouring extraordinary women across the island and marking a milestone season that advanced beyond recognition to long-term empowerment through the programme’s five-year sustainability model. This year built on the initiative’s expanded structure, including the introduction of the Digital Entrepreneur and Foreign Employment categories, while continuing to champion financial literacy, enterprise growth and market access for women nationwide 

At the heart of the evening was the coveted Most Popular Woman title, decided by public SMS voting from a shortlist of five national personalities which included Anudi Gunasekara, Tharindi Fernando, Kanchana Anuradhi, Lochana Jayakodi and Shanudrie Priyasad. The title was awarded to Anudi Gunasekara.

The Corporate & Professional Sector also celebrated a distinguished cohort of achievers. Honoured at the Grand Finale were Chathuri Munaweera, Suleesha Perera, Hyacinth Wijesinghe, Ashcharya Peiris Jayakody, Nilanthi Sivapragasam, Linda Speldewinde, Sandamini Perera, Prof. Neelika Malavige, A.G. Kumudika Fernando, Bernadine Jayasinghe, Bhagya Iddamalgoda, Princy Mangalika, Shiromal Cooray, Rishini Weerarathne, Deshika Rodrigo, Dulani Nissanka, Bimshani Jasin Arachchi, Suneetha Wijesuriya, Vaidyawathi Rajapaksha and Anusha Kodithuwakku.

Recognising lifetime contributions to the nation, five Vanithabhinandana (Lifetime) Appreciation Awards were conferred upon Manike Attanayake, Tilaka Jinadasa, Anomaa Rajakaruna, Wasanthi Chathurani and Vasugy Jegatheeswaran.

At the provincial level, excellence was recognised across multiple sectors, including V.M. Ayoma Nishanthi for Small Entrepreneur, D. Ransirini Gamage for Upcoming Entrepreneur, Anoma Wijethunga for Digital Entrepreneur, Nilma Samanthi Aluthgama for Education Services, Rajeepan Tharmini for Art & Literature, K.G.S. Maneesha Wicramasooriya for Young Leader, Nisha Shareef for Social Services and Chandrika De Silva for Sports.

The Foreign Employment category also honoured three exceptional women whose contributions abroad continue to uplift Sri Lanka’s global presence and inspire others in the sector. The winners were Lakmali Vidhanapathirana, S.W.Dhammika Priyadharshani and L.Sudhahari. Their stories reflect resilience, leadership, and a commitment to excellence that transcends borders.

Beyond awards, this landmark season advanced the programme’s five-year sustainability model, linking recognition to real, practical support. Through upskilling pathways, advisory and access to markets and finance, Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana is designed to help more women start, strengthen and scale businesses, with an ambition to nurture export-ready women-led enterprises by 2030. The initiative continues to serve as a national platform for capability building and sustained economic participation.

The Grand Finale of Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana 2025 underscored NDB Bank’s and NewsFirst’s shared commitment to inclusive progress, celebrating achievements while also facilitating the removal of entry barriers so more Sri Lankan women can convert potential into performance and recognition into long-term results.

NDB Bank is the fourth-largest listed commercial bank in Sri Lanka. NDB was named Sri Lanka’s Best Digital Bank for SMEs at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2025 and was awarded Domestic Retail Bank of the Year – Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka Domestic Project Finance Bank of the Year by Asian Banking & Finance (Singapore) Awards 2024. NDB is the parent company of the NDB Group, comprising capital market subsidiary companies, together forming a unique banking and capital market services group. The Bank is committed to empowering the nation and its people through meaningful financial and advisory services powered by digital banking solutions.

-SRI LANKA SOVEREIGNTY FORUM-

As a fellow member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Sri Lanka expresses deep concern at Malawi’s alignment with the Core Group on Sri Lanka — comprising the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Germany, North Macedonia, and Montenegro — in advancing hostile resolutions against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC.

Sri Lanka is a NAM nation that ended a 30-year terrorist conflict by defeating the LTTE, a group proscribed in 32 countries, while rescuing 300,000 civilians held hostage by terrorists. 

For 30 years of LTTE atrocities, not a single resolution was passed at the UNHRC. 

Yet, after ending terrorism, 11 resolutions have been brought against Sri Lanka, none supported by verifiable evidence of the claims made — such as the allegation of 40,000 dead,” which remains unproven after 16 years without even a list of names.

By aligning with a handful of Core Group states, Malawi risks endorsing a dangerous precedent:

·      The UNHRC, a subsidiary of the General Assembly (GA), is being weaponized to act beyond its mandate, contrary to the UN General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006 that strictly defined its advisory role.

o   UNHRC not an independent or judicial body

o   UNHRC mandate limited to promotion, dialogue, cooperation, capacity-building, making recommendations – not punitive or quasi-judicial role

o   UNHRC’s all human rights issues to remain under authority of UNGA & UNSC

·      A small bloc of Core Group nations is misusing the UNHRC to set geopolitical precedents, targeting Global South countries and bypassing both the General Assembly and the Security Council.

·      If this precedent against Sri Lanka — a NAM state that defeated terrorism — is allowed, it will inevitably boomerang on other NAM nations, including Malawi, whenever they resist external pressure.

We therefore respectfully ask Malawi:

·      How does aligning with the UK and Canada against a fellow NAM state serve the interests of NAM solidarity?

·      How does Malawi justify endorsing a precedent where a few nations dictate to the majority of the Global South?

·      Will Malawi stand by the founding principles of NAM — defending sovereignty, non-interference, and solidarity against colonial pressures — or allow this dangerous precedent to weaken all NAM members?

We appeal to the people of Malawi: like Sri Lanka, your nation won its independence by resisting colonial domination. Do not allow your voice to be used today to strengthen those same former colonial powers against a fellow Non-Aligned nation that defeated terrorism. True solidarity lies in upholding sovereignty, dignity, and the principles on which our nations were built.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

අර්තාපල් සහ ළූණු සඳහා බද්ද පනවන බවට වූ තොරතුර එම බද්ද පැනවීමට පෙර තමන්ට කීකරු ව්‍යාපාරිකයන්ට රජය විසින් ලබා දී ඇතැයි සමගි ජන බලවේග දූෂණ විරෝධී බලවේගයේ කැඳවුම්කරු, හිටපු පළාත් සභා මන්ත්‍රි නිරෝෂන් පාදුක්ක කොළඹ සජබ කාර්යාලයේදී පැවසීය.

මේ හේතුවෙන් බදු අය කිරීමට පෙර ආණ්ඩුවට හිතවත් කූට ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් අල සහ ළුණු තොගයක් ලංකාවට ගෙනැවිත් අවසන් බවත් ඔහු කීවේය.

පසුගිය දින 10 තුළ ළූණු ටොන් 18,000ක් සහ අර්තාපල් ටොන් 23,000ක් බද්ද අය කිරීමට පෙර ලංකාවට ගෙන්වා ඇති බව දූෂණ විරෝධී බලවේගයේ කැඳවුම්කරු සඳහන් කළේ ය.

ඒ අනුව, දේශීය ගොවීන්ට ඔවුන්ගේ අස්වැන්න විකුණා ගැනීමට වෙළෙඳපොළක් නැති වී යන බව ඔහු කීය.

ආණ්ඩුව බරපතළ ලෙස රටේ ගොවීන් අපහසුතාවට පත් කිරීමට කටයුතු කරන බවත් දුක් විඳ බැංකුවලට ණය වී ලබාගත් අස්වැන්න විකුණා ගැනීමට අවස්ථාවක් නොදී ආණ්ඩුවට හිතවත් කූට වෙළෙන්දන්ට වෙළෙඳපොළ විවෘත කර දී තිබෙන බවටත් ඔහු චෝදනා කළේ ය.

ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී, මහ මැතිවරණයේදී, පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණයේදී ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ පැලවත්ත කාර්යාලය ආර්ථික වශයෙන් ශක්තිමත් කළ ආණ්ඩුවට ශක්තිය ලබා දුන් කූට ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් වෙනුවෙන් රාජපක්ෂ ආණ්ඩුවටත් වඩා වැඩි වේගයකින් වර්තමාන ආණ්ඩුව ආරක්ෂාව සලසමින් සිටින බවටත් ඔහු තවදුරටත් චෝදනා කළේ ය.

සචිත‍්‍ර පෙරේරා

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

පොහොසත් රටක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමේ අදහස් ඇතිව කටයුතු කරන ජනාධිපතිවරයෙකු විදෙස්ගත වූ විට රාජ්‍ය නායක පෞරුෂයට ඔබින ආකාරයට ඉහළම පහසුකම් භුක්ති විඳිමින් කටයුතු කරන බව සර්වජන බලය නායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී දිලිත් ජයවීර පවසයි.

රාජ්‍ය නායකයෝ විදෙස්ගත වුණාම ඒ රටේ තියෙන හොඳම වාහනේ යනවා. ඒ රටේ හොඳම මිනිස්සු ආශ්‍රය කරලා. හොඳම වයින් එක බීල, හොඳම තේ බිලා තමයි වැඩකරන්නේ. මිනිස්සුන්ට ධනය නිර්මාණය කරන්න ඕන රටක් හදන්න උවමනාවක් තියෙන රාජ්‍ය නායකයෙක් කටයුතු කරන්නේ එහෙමයි.

සහෝදරයන්ගෙන් කාල, ලන්ඩන්වල කොත්තු කඩේකින් කාලා නෙමෙයි, ජනාධිපතිවරු රටවල් හදන්නේ. ජනාධිපතිවරයෙකුට අවශ්‍ය පෞරුෂය, ඒක නිර්මාණය වන පරිසරය හදා ගන්නේ එහෙම තමයි. මෝදි ඉන්දියාව දියුණු කරන්න කලින් පෞද්ගලික ජෙට් යානයකින් ඇමරිකාවට ගියේ. එහෙමයි ඒ රාජ්‍යෙය් පෞරුෂය ජාත්‍යන්තරයේ ගොඩනගන්නේ.

අනුර ජනාධිපතිතුමා රට රටවල ගිහින් යාළුවන්ගේ ගෙවල්වල ඉඳලා වියදමට රාජ්‍යය වෙන් කළ සල්ලි ආයෙම ගෙනැත් ආඩම්බරෙන් භාරදෙනවා. මම දිගින් දිගටම කියනවා, එතුමාට ඔය හිඟන වැඩේ කරන්න එපා කියලා. ඒ නිසා හිටපු ජනාධිපති රනිල් අත් අඩංගුවට ගැනීමේ තිරපිටපත ජාත්‍යන්තර මාධ්‍ය වර්තා කරන විදිහ දැක්කාම අපට ලැජ්ජායි. මහ බැංකු වංචාවට රනිල් අත් අඩංගුවට ගත්තා නම් අපට ලෝකය ඉස්සරහා ඒ ගැන ආඩම්බරෙන් කතා කරන්න තිබුණා.

අපි හිඟන විදිහට හිතන්න නරකයි. අපි ලොකුවට හිතන්න ඕන. අපි ඉතිහාසයේ ලොකුවට හිතුව ජාතියක්. අපි හැදිවේ මහ වැව්. වැව් නෙමෙයි සමුද්‍ර. පරාක්‍රම සමුද්‍රය හැදුවේ. මේ වගේ හිතුවා නම් ඒ කාලේ හදන්නේ ආඬු ළිං. මොකද දෙකෙන්ම වතුර ගන්න පුළුවන්. ආඬි ළිං කපන ආණ්ඩුයි, පරාක්‍රම සමුද්‍ර හදන ආණ්ඩුයි එකක් නෙමෙයි, දෙකක්.”

දිලිත් ජයවීර මේ බව ප්‍රකාශ කළේ මොනරා පුවත්පත සමග සාකච්ඡාවකට එකතු වෙමිනි.

Courtesy Eastern Eye

The former political rivals of Wickremesinghe said the charges against him were frivolous and politically motivated.

THREE former presidents of Sri Lanka expressed solidarity with jailed ex-leader Ranil Wickremesinghe last Sunday (24) and condemned his incarceration as a calculated assault” on democracy.

The former political rivals of Wickremesinghe, who was president between July 2022 and September 2024, said the charges against him were frivolous and politically motivated.

Wickremesinghe has been accused of using $55,000 (£40,780) in state funds for a stopover in Britain while returning home after a G77 summit in Havana and the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2023.

The 76-year-old was rushed to the intensive care unit of the main staterun hospital in Colombo last Saturday (23), just a day after being remanded in custody. Doctors said he was suffering from severe dehydration on top of acute diabetes and long-standing high blood pressure.

What we are witnessing is a calculated onslaught on the very essence of our democratic values,” former president Chandrika Kumaratunga, 80, said in a statement.

Her successor Mahinda Rajapaksa, 79, also expressed solidarity with Wickremesinghe and visited him in prison last Saturday, shortly before he was moved to intensive care.

Maithripala Sirisena, 73, who sacked Wickremesinghe from the prime minister’s post in October 2018 before being forced by the Supreme Court to reinstate him 52 days later, described the jailing as a witch hunt.

Wickremesinghe’s own United National Party (UNP) said last Saturday it believed he was being prosecuted out of fear that he could stage a comeback.

He lost the presidential election in September to Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the current head of state.

Wickremesinghe was arrested as part of Dissanayake’s campaign against endemic corruption in the country.

He has maintained that his wife’s travel expenses in Britain were met by her personally and that no state funds were used.

Iraj Show

Adaderana

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Colombo National Hospital, has been discharged from the hospital on Friday.

The 76-year-old was rushed to the intensive care unit of the National Hospital in Colombo last Saturday (23), just hours after being remanded in custody.

Wickremesinghe, who was granted bail on Tuesday, was ordered to be released on three surety bails of Rs. 5 million each by Colombo Fort Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura.

Former President Wickremesinghe was taken into custody for allegedly misusing government funds” after being questioned about a September 2023 visit to London to attend a ceremony for his wife at a British university while he was head of state.

However, considering his health condition, he was first admitted to the Prison Hospital, and later transferred to the Intensive Care Unit of the Colombo National Hospital based on medical advice.

Doctors said he was suffering from severe dehydration on top of acute diabetes and long-standing high blood pressure.

The case against Wickremesinghe over the alleged misuse of state funds is scheduled to be taken up again on October 29. 

Chamara Wijesooriya

Lanka Voice

Maathalan – (මාතලන්)

VFM RADIO 107

අන්තිම මොහොතේ ප්‍රභාව ගෙනියන්න ඇමරිකාවෙන් නැවක් ආවා රනිල්ව හිරේ දානවට වඩා මෙන්න මේ අයවයි ඇතුළට දාන්න ඕනේ හිටපු නාවික හමුදාපතිගෙන් ඇඟ හිරිවටෙන හෙළිදරව්වක්

Shenali D Waduge

Following US exiting UNHRC calling it a cesspool of political bias”, the United Kingdom has come forward to head the Sri Lanka Core Group which comprises of Canada, Malawi, Montenegro and North Macedonia – a cluster that aligns purely based on influence by either UK, Canada or both. Had UK & Canada exited like US & Germany, would these nations have continued case against Sri Lanka independently? All of their diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka is hardly 3 decades & questions what direct harm Sri Lanka has caused them to merit such disproportionate hostility?

As the United Nations Human Rights Council’s so-called core group” turns its focus on Sri Lanka, one must ask a simple yet piercing question: Have these nations forgotten the colonial crimes committed by the United Kingdom, a former empire whose shadow still lingers over many of them?

Sri Lanka, a sovereign nation that has harmed none of these countries directly, is now under scrutiny for alleged human rights violations during the final phase of the conflict to end 30 years of terrorism —an accusation that demands careful reflection on historical context and fairness. 

The UK, the most prominent member of this Core group, played a central role in shaping the destinies of several of these nations during colonial rule, often to the detriment of the local populations.

Colonial Legacies of Core Group Members

Canada: The British colonial human rights violations to Indigenous peoples come nowhere near those defined as human rights” violations today.

The Indian Act (1876) institutionalized systemic discrimination, restricting cultural practices, governance, and land rights. Even today, Indigenous communities face challenges under federal and provincial laws that advance development projects without meaningful consultation, infringing on self-determination. 

Malawi: 

Formerly Nyasaland, Malawi was economically exploited under British rule, with cash crop economies designed to benefit European settlers. Today, the legacy of these colonial structures persists in poverty, inequality, and limited access to education and health services 

Montenegro & North Macedonia: 

While not traditional colonies, these nations experienced significant European interference, including UK influence in political boundaries and the formation of the Yugoslav state. Today, both face political instability, ethnic tensions, and governance challenges rooted in externally imposed structures. 

United Kingdom: 

The former colonial power exploited, divided, and controlled populations across continents, including Sri Lanka. Today, the UK faces rising inequality, post-Brexit economic and political instability, unresolved regional tensions in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and systemic racial inequities. 

United States: 

The first European settlers in what became the U.S. were largely British convicts and indentured servants. These early settlements laid the foundation for a nation built upon colonial practices. Presently, the U.S. continues to wrestle with systemic racism, inequality, and the legacies of colonial displacement of Indigenous peoples and slavery.

Are you aware of Sri Lanka’s Conflict?

Sri Lanka faced three decades of terrorism and external pressure while striving to uphold its sovereignty and implement post-conflict reconciliation. Unlike the colonial impositions that disrupted the development and social fabric of core group nations, Sri Lanka’s policies have been directed toward rebuilding, maintaining peace, and protecting its citizens.

Yet, the core group pursues a narrative that selectively condemns Sri Lanka while ignoring broader historical and global contexts. This selective lens undermines the credibility of international human rights advocacy and raises the question of fairness: Is this truly about human rights, or about maintaining influence and exerting moral pressure?

Historical and Present-Day Reflection

It is worth reminding the core group that colonial exploitation is not merely history:

·      Canada continues to struggle with Indigenous rights and environmental justice.

·      Malawi continues to confront structural inequalities rooted in colonial economic systems.

·      Montenegro and North Macedonia still navigate political instability and ethnic tensions from externally imposed boundaries.

·      The UK faces unresolved domestic inequality, regional unrest, and historical accountability for colonial crimes.

·      The United States continues to grapple with systemic racial inequities and the consequences of its colonial foundations.

If these nations have yet to fully reconcile their own pasts and present failings, their authority to lead a selective campaign against Sri Lanka is deeply compromised.

A Call for Fairness

Before launching what increasingly resembles a witch-hunt, the members of the core group should pause and reflect on their own histories and present challenges. 

Sri Lanka asks only to be judged on facts and actions, not on selective narratives shaped by historical amnesia and geopolitical interests.

The principle is simple: nations that were once colonies, or whose foundations were built on colonial displacement, exploitation, and division, deserve a fair and consistent application of international standards. 

Sri Lanka, which has harmed none of the core group countries, merits an approach grounded in factual assessment, fairness, and respect for sovereignty.

The world must ask itself: If colonial crimes are forgotten and unaccounted or even acknowledged, can we truly claim moral authority to judge another nation – one that suffered 30 years of terrorism, abiding by the internationally promoted ceasefires, peace talks & negotiations in spite of which the terrorists targeted & killing hundreds & thousands of unarmed civilians. The Government of Sri Lanka was compelled to take action only after the LTTE terrorists closed the sluice gates denying water to over 40,000 farmers committing a war crime. While eradicating the terrorists the National Armed Forces saved close to 300,000 civilians in spite of which a figure of 40,000 killed is being promoted falsely without any proof or evidence failing to even name the dead even 16 years after the end of the conflict.

The Dangerous Precedent being Set

What is being applied to Sri Lanka today sets a dangerous precedent for tomorrow. 

If unproven figures, unverifiable allegations, and politically motivated reports can be used as the basis for punitive action, then no country is safe. Any state — particularly in the Global South — could find itself subject to the same kind of witch hunt” under the guise of human rights, when in fact the motivations are political, strategic, or economic.

If this model of selective justice continues, it risks turning the UNHRC into a tool for global power struggles rather than a platform for genuine human rights protection where a handful of Nations in connivance with the UNHRC attempt to usurp the powers of the UNGA & UNSC 

The very countries driving this agenda should ask themselves: would they consent to having their own colonial crimes, present-day discrimination, or military interventions subjected to the same standard they now impose on Sri Lanka?

Shenali D Waduge