Courtesy Adaderana

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 132 Covid-19 related deaths for September 14, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 11,699.

According to the figures released by the Govt. Information Department, the deaths reported today includes 66 males and 66 females.

Three of the victims including two females are below the age of 30 years while twenty-eight are aged between 30 – 59.

A hundred and one of the deaths reported are persons aged 60 and above.  

Courtesy Adaderana

The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry reported that 572 more people were tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka today (Sep. 15), moving the daily total of new cases to 2,314.

According to the Government Information Department, the new cases were associated with the New Year Cluster.

This brings the tally of coronavirus infections confirmed in the country to 496,423.

Official data showed that more than 57,400 active cases are currently under medical care at hospitals, treatment centres and homes.

Total recoveries from the virus infection reached 427,254 earlier today as 11,605 more patients were discharged from medical care upon returning to health.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka registered 132 new COVID-related fatalities confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Sep. 14. The new development pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 11,699.

Courtesy Adaderana

China told the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday (Sep. 14) that it opposes the interference of powerful nations in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka.

Delivering a statement at the 3rd meeting of the UNHRC General Debate of the 48th regular session, the Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Ambassador Chen Xu also voiced deep concerns about the human rights issues in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

These states interfere with the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of human rights and implement unilateral coercive measures and military interference against sovereign states which gravely violate the human rights of the people of other countries.”

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) should give sufficient attention to the above-mentioned issues, the Chinese ambassador stressed.

He further stated that China appreciates the Sri Lankan government for actively promoting and protecting the human rights, advancing national reconciliation and combating terrorism.

Courtesy Adaderana

State Minister of Prison Management & Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Lohan Ratwatte has resigned from his position over the incidents at the Anuradhapura and Welikada prisons.

A statement issued by the President’s Media Division said that the parliamentarian has accepted responsibility for the incidents involving him at the Welikada and Anuradhapura prisons premises and decided to resign from his post as State Minister of Prison Management & Prisoners’ Rehabilitation.

He has informed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of this decision and the President has accepted his resignation, the PMD said. 

Ratwatte’s resignation comes in the wake of accusations that he forcefully entered the Welikada and Anuradhapura prison premises with a group of friends while under the influence of alcohol on Sunday (12).

In his letter of resignation, the MP who hails from an influential political family, says that he has decided to tender his resignation with the aim of avoiding causing further inconvenience to the government.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa as well as opposition parties including the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) had called for the immediate resignation of the State Minster in the wake of the incidents. 

Premadasa said he vehemently condemns the disgraceful & illegal behavior” of the government minister at the Anuradhapura Prison Complex. 

This disgusting, unlawful act amply exemplifies the anarchical situation that exists in our country. It is incumbent upon this government to protect the human rights of all citizens of our motherland.” 

This unlawful & despicable act is a further illustration of the precipitous decline in the present human rights situation in our country. I call upon the President for the immediate removal of this minister from office,” he said.

by Garvin Karunaratne

Our Central Bank Governor Professor Luckshman is due to leave on 14 th September. Is important to note that when he assumed duties at the end of 2019 he vowed  to follow neoliberal policies, negotiate with the IMF and aim at a stable  and sustainable economy”(28/12/2019). He failed and in January 2021 decided that he will move away from an import oriented market economy towards a production oriented  strategy”(FT 5/1/2021).  The economy of Sri Lanka went into a tail spin due to the fact that Sri Lanka was in debt to the tune of $ 56 billion with a service payment of $ 4 to 5 billion a year, exacerbated due to the Covid epidemic which erased the incomes our economy derived from the Middle East Workers and Tourism.  In Professor Colombage’s words,  it was a severe situation. 

Externally, the country’s foreign reserves have fallen to less than $ 3 billion, as against the debt commitments of over $ 6 billion to be settled within the next 12 months, apart from having to meet day-to-day import outlays. The banking sector is running short of foreign exchange. As a result, the US dollar is traded at around Rs. 230 within the banking circles, despite the Central Bank’s insistence to keep it at Rs. 200 per dollar. The black-market rate is reported to be high as much as Rs. 260 per dollar.” 

Professor Luckshman could only curtail imports of non essential items but had no further action taken either to collect all the foreign exchange that entered the country or to get things produced locally like what Premier Sirimavo did when she created a separate Ministry of Plan Implementation and head hunted the most eminent economist of the time Professor HAdeSGunasekera and came forth with the Divisional Development Councils Programme to create employment and production.  

It is to be seen how the new Governor Cabral would handle the situation. 

Sri Lanka was till 1977 a country that was not in debt.  How did a country that had no foreign debt degenerate to have a foreign debt of $ 56 billion, within  the five decades 1978 to today.  Perhaps this long story is best detailed in my article: 

Playing poodle to the IMF is not the way ahead
Posted on January 12th, 2020 in Lanka Web. 

It is heartening to note that our new Governor of the Central Bank had understood that the IMF’s neoliberal economics that we have closely  followed from 1978, has miserably failed.(Sri Lanka’s new chief flays Neo Liberalism”: Economy Next 28/12/19) 

Following the IMF since 1978- for over four decades, has made us become a heavily indebted country, a situation from which there is no return. My two books, How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka and Alternative Programmes of Success(2006: Godages) and  How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development(Godages & Kindle:2017)  which happen to be the only books that are critical of the IMF’s teachings that also provide details of how salvation can be reached may be of service. In fact my guru, Professor George Axinn, Professor of International Development at Michigan State University  in his introduction to my 2006 book: How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka wrote: It is hoped that this timely book  will enable international organizations  to arrest the trend of failures.” 

In detail, in the late Seventies, the IMF took on the new role of prescribing the  path to be taken by the Third World countries to run their economies. This was the Structural Adjustment Program the IMF  imposed on  every country that sought financial help. In the Early Seventies  the Oil Sheiks increased the price of oil threefold and many countries had to flock to the IMF for help. The IMF laid down conditions that the countries had to follow if they are to get financial assistance and following the neoliberal policies was insisted on. 

. The IMF was the institution established  by the United Nations to help and guide all countries in  financial matters and no one questioned what the IMF did. 

Since gaining independence  the Third World Countries had to manage their finances. The incoming foreign exchange,  mainly from exports, was carefully handled and spent with great care, for essential goods and items that were required for national development. I speak through sheer experience. I was once in charge of allocating foreign exchange for small industrialists in Sri Lanka. We registered them after inspection where we carefully looked into what they produced, whether it was required for our country.  In case their production required any item imported- raw material or machinery, an allocation of foreign exchange was allowed. Anyone could apply for foreign exchange for travel or imports. Each case was looked into in detail by the Controller of Exchange of the Central Bank. No allocation of foreign exchange was made for foreign studies, unless the study could not be done in the country or the study was required for national development. A budget deficit was not heard of. A small deficit in any year had to be covered in the next year. It was a strictly controlled situation because the country had to manage with the foreign exchange it had. We had no other option whatsoever. 

Countries had  two budgets, a Foreign Exchange Budget and a Local Currency Budget. The foreign exchange  budget had to manage all our foreign expenditure, within the incoming foreign exchange while the Local Currency Budget was managed with tax collection supplemented by printed local currency, 

The IMF Model- the Structural Adjustment Programme, liberalized the use of foreign exchange. The IMF  prescribed that  the countries should  allow anyone any amount of foreign exchange  for everything-for luxury travel, for importing anything, for foreign studies and advised the countries to raise funds by privatizing State assets and also by borrowing foreign exchange if the country could not meet the demand. The IMF initially, gave loans at low interest and even gave periods of grace, when no repayment was charged. This helped the countries, and the leaders did not care about borrowing because they may  not be in charge when the loans have to be repaid. 

Even a small commercial entrepreneur,  a sweets peddler on the street, will know that this Model of extravagant spending, without matching the expenses to what is available is a guaranteed recipe for disaster, but the IMF bluffed its way through, by retaining the likes of erudite professionals like Stiglitz and Sachs, with whom no one could ever argue and win. 

The IMF laid down various conditions that had to be followed. 

The conditions laid down were carefully decided to help the Developed Countries. Paul Volker tells us of how the conditionality was decided.  

As Chairman of the Federal Reserve ,  along with administrative colleagues, major foreign Central Banks and especially the IMF, could arrange stop gap  official financing and set out appropriate conditions  for the heavily indebted borrower countries (determined) out of our common concern about threats  to the American  and the global banking system”(From Banker to the World) 

The funds obtained on loan were actually used to pay the debts and because the debts were to the IMF and financial institutions of the Developed Countries. Thus the foreign exchange that came in was shunted back  with profits (the interest), back to the Developed Countries.  However the country’s books recorded the loan as a debt and this is the how the foreign debt has ballooned. 

Imports were not to be controlled. 

The incoming foreign exchange was to be collected by the banks and to be used for imports and payments. The Government provided a list of items which should not be imported. The banks were to decide the exchange rate at which they would buy and sell the foreign exchange that came into the country. It was no longer to be controlled by the Government. It was supposed to be done by the process of supply and demand, but because the relaxed use of foreign exchange  caused a great demand, when the supply was inadequate, the local currency was inevitably devalued. Devaluation meant that all exports were discounted to the amount of the devaluation. In 1978 Sri Lanka devalued the Rupee by 101%. (Rs. 15.70 to Rs. 31.50)  This devaluation meant that our exports were sold at half price  while we had to pay double-101% more for imports. 

A High interest rate was imposed. This meant that entrepreneurs in the country had to obtain loans at  high interest rates. In Sri Lanka, when this Neo Liberal- Free Trade Model was  enforced, the bank loan rate was raised to  25%. The local entrepreneurs could not compete with the imports that came in without paying tariffs or paying low tariffs. The result was that local entrepreneurs gave up  their businesses. Instead they found easy money by depositing the money in Fixed Deposits. Imports took the place of local production and this increased the debt of the country. This was advantageous to the Developed Countries because they found buyers for their manufactures. 

The Private Sector was enthroned as the engine of growth and the Public Sector  activities were constrained. The problem is that the aim of the Private Sector is to gain the maximum profit while the aim of the Public Sector is the development of the Country. 

The commercial infrastructure that the country had built to enable development had to be abolished. This included the  guaranteed price scheme for paddy,  loan schemes to spur production and these had to be abolished. In Sri Lanka this also included the Marketing Department that offered high prices for vegetables and fruits and simultaneously conducted sales at fair prices to consumers through a network of small shops to avoid inflation. The aim of the Marketing Department was to break even and therefore kept a margin of around 15% to cover cost of transport and wastage, while the Private Sector traders kept a margin of 100%. This Scheme helped the producer because a price higher than what was paid by traders was offered to producers. Simultaneously the produce was sold at cheap rates to consumers in cities,  at Fair Price Shops. This effectively controlled inflation.  The Marketing Department also ran a Cannery that purchased stocks of fruits and produced jam, food preparations  and juice, making the country self sufficient thereby saving foreign exchange spent for imports.  There was the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment that purchased essential items abroad and sold keeping a low margin to avoid importers charging high prices. 

The Small Industries Department imported cotton yarn for distribution to textile makers. It also  guided handloomers to get into production. It  provided expertise for cooperative powerlooms to make fabric. The Department had a Research Unit at Velona to help the powerlooms. Thus Sri Lanka had a developed textile industry. We were self sufficient in producing all our textiles. 

This entire commercial infrastructure necessary for national development was abolished at the instance of the IMF on the grounds that the Public Sector should not deal with commerce. This was inimical for development. 

The IMF recommends that countries should obtain Foreign investment. Currently the Third World Countries  are bending backwards to entice foreigners to invest in Sri Lanka..  Investors come in search of profits. One area of Foreign Investment is Water.  Opening up water services for investors mean that foreign companies come in  establish water storage and purification systems and sell water to the people. They(foreign companies) collect profits for ever. This is the process set up by the IMF  for capital(foreign exchange ) to flow back from the Third World  to the Developed Countries.  Water services and purification systems are simple well known devices that can be easily set up by local entrepreneurs, but the locals are not provided with inducements  like tax haven periods and loans at reasonable interest to get into business. What has happened when foreign investors invest in water is that the local resource of water too has been converted to foreign exchange to flow from Third World countries to the Developed Countries! 

Third World countries have enticed McDonalds,  Pizza Hut and such Multinationals to come in. They bring in a small sum of foreign exchange initially to establish their business. They  get into local trading in the local currency, but take away the profits in foreign currency for ever without paying any taxes. It amounts to a net loss of our foreign reserves. 

Foreign companies getting into trading in local Rupees – like Uber etc. also amounts to a net loss of our foreign exchange as though they calculate profits in Rupees they take away their profits in foreign currency. One of the latest inroads is hotel bookings by foreign companies over the internet. Hotel bookings done insist on payment in Rupees to the hotelier, but the internet companies gets fifteen percent of the payment paid to them in foreign currency. Again this goes from our reserves. It is sad that our Central Bank fails to even understand how our foreign reserves are being robbed by these foreign investors. 

Overall all  the economies of the Third World got restructured by the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Programme and foreign exchange flowed from the Third World Countries to the Developed Countries. 

Tremendous  funds  were sent out of the Third World countries to the Developed Countries. The debt service alone flowing from Developing Countries to the Developed Countries amounts to $ 600 billion annually. This amounts to five times the Aid budget. The WTO’s  Agreement on Intellectual Property (TRIPS)  collects $ 60 billion annually. (Jackson Hickel: ‘Aid in Reverse: How Poor Countries develop Rich Countries’, in Global Policy(newleftproject.org) 

Thus as far as Third World countries are concerned foreign investment bore a negative result. 

On the whole every aspect of the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Programme  caused poverty in Third World countries  and created a situation where foreign exchange flowed from the Third World back to the IMF and the Developed Countries. 

Milton Friedman  of the Chicago School of Economics, the author of the Free Trade- Liberalization Neoliberal Model of the IMF died recently having taken all Third World countries and even some European countries to their graves. 

All these countries have followed the Neo Liberal –Free Trade Model. This Model also brought riches in billions  from the Third World to the Developed Countries. 

Yet the IMF holds on to this Neo liberal-Free Trade Model, like flogging a dead horse. It is upto the IMF to understand their mistake and provide a growth strategy. The single strategy used by the IMF is to impose Austerity, which only brings about more poverty in the country. The rich are supported as their life style and mode of living- purchase of luxury cars and luxury items, travel, sending their offspring for foreign education and holidays all create a flow of foreign exchange from the Third World countries to the Developed Countries. 

This is not a Model for Development; instead it is a Model designed to make the Third World countries indebted , create the flow of foreign exchange from the Third World  countries to the Developed Countries, in short to make the Third World countries ‘colonies’ of the Developed Countries. 

Isn’t it sad that the IMF despite its failures over the past four decades has failed to find an algorithm to bring about growth and prosperity. My book: How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development(Kindle) documents this story of how the Third World countries were gradually brought under the IMF  control. Their Model of Development actually enriched the Developed Countries at the cost of Third World Countries. 

As far as economic development  is concerned, the IMF Model of Development is not functioning in the interests of the Third World countries. Already the ruler of Ecuador has decided not to pay up  the loans, because the loans were non developmental. 

It is upto our leaders to ensure that loans are obtained for development purposes only and not used to provide for luxury living, the import of luxury cars and luxury travel all for  the rich. 

It is not surprising that the neoliberal policies imposed on Sri Lanka by the IMF has resulted in our having accumulated a foreign debt of some $ 55 to 60 billion, a debt to service which our country has to pay $ 4.8 billion in 2020. 

The solution 

In view of the fact that foreign direct investment has today a negative effect on our foreign resources, the only option available to the Government is to insist that where the profit comes from trading in the local currency, the profit cannot be taken away in foreign currency. In the days before the IMF introduced its Structural Adjustment Programme, the USA had to collect payments for the supply of food under the PL 480 in local currency. . Then the USA offered  this money to US agribusiness firms at below market interest.(Wessel & Hantman: Trading the Future) The Government has to understand the basic fact that  foreign investment brings a negative result to our own foreign reserves in case the investors trade in the local currency. 

The only path available to the Government is to follow import substitution, where we ourselves produce what we import and stop imports. We save the foreign exchange spent for imports and also find incomes for workers in the process. This has to be done on a massive scale. Our country has a great deal of experience in handling import substitution type of  industries. We hand a Marketing Department Cannery that was able to make Sri Lanka self sufficient in all food preparations, fruit juice and jam. It would be of interest to note that self sufficiency was achieved within three years-1955 to 1958. Once we produced around fifty percent of our Paper requirements. During the Divisional Development Councils Programme of Mrs Bandaranayake in 1971-1977 we established  many successful industries. There was a Paper Making Industry established in Kotmale, a Mechanised Boat Making Industry was established at Matara.  The Crayon Factory established in Morawaka is well known for its success. The art of making Crayons was unearthed at the Rahula College Science Lab at Matara after  three month long experiments under my personal direction. A crayon is a sophisticated product and if we could have produced crayons and successfully marketed it, which we did achieve, we can be dead certain of being able to spearhead a programme of import substitution. 

That to me is the only method of economic development available to us. 

Over to our new leaders. Hope the message in this Paper reaches our leaders. 

Garvin Karunaratne 

Former G.A. Matara 

Author of How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success(Godages) 2006 & How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development(Kindle & Godages)2017 

13/01/2020 

Professor Nalin Abeysekera  Ph.D.(University of Colombo) ,B. Sc Mkt. (Special) (University of Sri Jayewardenepura), MBA (University of Colombo), MCIM(UK), Chartered Marketer (UK), MSLIM, MAAT, Dip in CMA

As Sri Lankans, most of us are blessed with the free education of this country. If you compare this blessing word of free education” with the globe you would understand more value of this. And we have seen people just consider  free education is all about education for free” and think it is merely like a product or service given free of charge. In this context, Jayawardena (2013) defined free education as Free Education is not only to provide ‘education’ at free of cost but to provide equitable access to every child irrespective of the demography, exploit the individual strengths and cultivate good values to become a law-abiding citizen”. The actual meaning of Free Education”  needs to be the communicated for all who blessed with this as we can see people could not understand the real value of it in Sri Lanka. As per Khosla(2019) Sri Lanka has shocked the world with its success in its system of education. Within less than forty years of independence, the number of schools has increased by 50 percent. In fact, the number of students has increased by 300 percent”.

With this Blessed free education”, we should not forget the name of Blessed person”, Dr C.W.W Kannangara ,Father of Free education. This is what I have extracted from the site of  United nations Sri Lanka  In 1943, Dr C. W. W. Kannangara the Minister of Education, introduced the Free Education Bill in the State Council. After much debate, it was approved for implementation and on 1 October 1945 the Free Education Policy came into effect. This policy states that every child above the age of five and not more than sixteen is entitled to free education. It has benefited generations of students and has enabled Sri Lanka to succeed in achieving the Millennium Development Goal of Universal Primary Education”. I have seen many scholars  on the globe (only few can be seen  in Sri Lanka) have written on Dr. Kannangara and his remarkable contribution to the education sector. This country should read and respect this unsung hero .One Scholar Willemijn Wuister(Colonial & Global History, Leiden University, Netherlands) in his study in 2018 titled Colonial Education: A case study of education in late-colonial Ceylon from the  1930s until independence” allocated one section for Dr Kannangara and his contribution to education sector  . Refer to the excerpts  below

Kannangara  proposed the idea of free education, in which education would be free ‘from Kindergarten to  University’, for every citizen of Ceylon.11 It meant that every pupil was free of paying any fees for  education. It took him 16 years of lobbying and advocating in the State Council, before his plan of free  education became reality in Ceylon in 1945. The implementation of this free education scheme made  an end to the social inequality that was inherently promoted by the colonial education system. For this  reason, Kannangara is remembered as ‘the Father of Free Education’ in Sri Lanka nowadays. Wuister(2018) argued that A lot has already been written about education in the Commonwealth Countries. For unclear  reasons, Ceylon always seems to be left out of these studies. This is remarkable since a system of ‘free education’ was set up in Ceylon in the 1930s and implemented in the 1940s. The ‘system’ refers to all  the primary and secondary schools in Ceylon and other forms of education that were offered, for  example the University of Ceylon which was established during this period as well. An important  outcome of the implementation of free education, is that the literacy rates in Sri Lanka have become very high compared to other Commonwealth Countries like India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.Nowadays, the literacy rate in Sri Lanka is much higher in comparison with the world-wide standard. The period in which the fundaments of this system were laid is therefore important to analyze (Wuister,2018).”

It is important  to note that Immediately the educational reports presented in 1944 M.S. Aney who had come as a representative of India to listen  to the Free Education Bill walking to Dr. Kannangara stated that  had he presented this Bill in India as an Indian, he would have  been worshipped as a god. Giving the right of free education to  all the children in Sri Lanka was implemented”(Sedere,2016).As Sedere(2016) vividly elaborated our father of Education” has lost his seat within 2-3 years after he has introduced free duction to this country To the surprise of many the hero Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara who brought about free education and liberated the rural poor, lost his seat at the next parliamentary elections in 1947. Mr. Wilmet A. Perera defeated Dr. Kannangara with the help of the affluent rich and the socialists camp(Sedere,2016)”.

We have seen Sri Lankans are really famous for celebrating many heroes. I would like to suggest everyone who has gained from Free education have to take  The oath of Kannangara”  by pledging that the To mark the respect to free  education we will perform our duty to the nation forever by contributing to general public and country at large”.

(The writer is Professor in Management Studies Open University of Sri Lanka and You can reach Professor Abeysekera on nabey@ou.ac.lk )

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

කොවිඩ්-19 වසංගතය මිහිතලයෙන් දුරුවේවා ! ප්‍රාර්ථනයෙන් ලෝකවාසී සියලු ජනතාවටත් ජනපති, අගමැති ඇතුළු රජයටත්  සෙත් පතා අනුරාධපුර ඓතිහාසික මිරිසවැටිය චෛත්‍යරාජයාණන් අභියස පැවැති විශේෂ සති පිරිත් දේශනාව ඊයේ (13) නිමාවට පත්විය.

අටමස්ථානාධිපති උතුරු මධ්‍යම දිසාවේ ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක අති පූජ්‍ය ආචාර්ය පල්ලේගම සිරිනිවාස නාහිමි සහ රුවන්වැලි චෛත්‍යාරාමාධිකාරී නුවර කලාවියේ ප්‍රධාන සංඝනායක පල්ලේගම හේමරතන නාහිමියන්ගේ අනුශාසනා පරිදි මිරිසවැටිය රාජමහා විහාරාධිපති හා ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජරට විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ කුලපති ආචාර්ය ඊතල්වැටුණුවැවේ ඤාණතිලක නාහිමියෝ මෙම සති පිරිත් පිංකම සංවිධානය කර තිබිණි.

පසුගිය සැප්තැම්බර් 07 වැනිදා ආරම්භ වූ මෙම සති පිරිත් පිංකම සඳහා තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මහාසංඝරත්නයට දැහැත් වට්ටියක් පූජා කරමින්  ආරාධනා කළේය.

අතිගරු ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ, ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමන්ලා ඇතුළු රජයටත්, සෞඛ්‍ය සේවාවේ හා ආරක්ෂක අංශවල නියතු සියලු දෙනාටත්, රටවාසී සහ ලෝකවාසී ජනතාවටත් සෙත්පතා වසංගත රෝග දුරු කිරීමේ අරමුණෙන් මෙම විශේෂ සති පිරිත් දේශනාව පැවැත්වෙන බව මිරිසවැටිය රාජමහා විහාරාධිපති ආචාර්ය ඊතල්වැටුණුවැවේ ඤාණතිලක නාහිමියෝ පැවසූහ.

සති පිරිත් පිංකම සංවිධානය සඳහා අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලය අනුග්‍රහය දැක්වීය.

සත්වැනි දින පිරිත් දේශනාව ශ්‍රවණය කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවට තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ, අමාත්‍ය එස්.එම් චන්ද්‍රසේන, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන්වන ලොහාන් රත්වත්තේ, චන්න ජයසුමන, ෂෙහාන් සේමසිංහ, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රි ඩී.පී.කුමාරසිරි, උතුරු මැද පළාත් හිටපු මහ ඇමති එස්.එම්.රංජිත්, බුද්ධශාසන ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු  අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් මහාචාර්ය කපිල ගුණවර්ධන, යුද හමුදාපති ජනරාල් ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා, බෞද්ධ කටයුතු කොමසාරිස් ජනරාල් සුනන්ද කාරියප්පෙරුම, මහා භාරකාර ගනේෂ් ධර්මවර්ධන මහත්වරු ඇතුළු පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

RANJITH SOYSA

Defence Secretary Gen (retd) Kamal Gunaratne recently made a very sensible statement urging the public not to be misled by false claims made on Easter carnage. Many fake information concerning the state of the investigations are published in some of the main media as well as the social media which are apparently attempting to fish in troubled waters. The social media especially is fuelled by the anti -government motives for a long time beginning with series of fake stories on the destruction of the environment to the cargo ship  Xpress Pearl which caught fire, with disguised commentaries by pointing the finger to ‘corruption’ on the part of the government.

These fake stories move from one subject to the other in quick succession, but the essence is to draw the cork on the government and put it at unenviable position. One can easily conclude that the fake information programs on social media perhaps is part of a well-organized movement financed and encouraged by foreign and local groups who are promoting the well-known game of regime change in Sri Lanka. 

On the subject of the investigations into the Easter bombing the Defence Secretary specifically mentioned that the burden of proof is crucial to the final outcome and that is the reason for the state agencies taking time to fine tune the proceedings. While on the subject of Sri Lankan government’s attempt to file charges I quote below a report from Ementra regards the trail of suicide bombers in Paris in 2015.

The biggest trial in modern French history opens on Wednesday (Sept 2021) , with 20 suspects charged in the November 2015 Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed and hundreds more injured, with an expected nine months of hearings set to reopen still raw wounds.”

One would no doubt will agree that France has one of the best intelligence and prosecution machinery at her disposal and it has taken more than 5 years to bring the suspects to trail. Isn’t it fair to grant Sri Lankan government and the law-making authorities a reasonable time to get their act together for effective legal action for an incident which took place in 2019! Unfortunately, there is at least one face book entry in the social media , very popular among the government bashers  of a person who is supposed to be a catholic priest with pictures of the damaged churches and in the midst of the debris a picture of the present President! Pray; doesn’t he speak with his tongue in his cheek?

RANJITH SOYSA

India – Nava J. Thakuria

Guwahati: Can the proprietors of mainstream newspapers and satellite news channels be compelled to make their annual balance sheets public in India? Or will it be possible to ask the professional journalists to go for self-declarations about their assets so that they can question the financial integrity of individuals in other professions including in politics!

As the Union information & broadcasting ministry in New Delhi has taken initiatives to review the guidelines for working journalist’s welfare schemes, a northeast India-based scribes’ body urged the mainstream media houses and seasoned journalists of the country to display transparency in their financial transactions to qualify for such benefits.

Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA), in a recent media statement, opined that the professional media houses should show their financial balance sheets describing how much money they spent annually for the benefits of their regular employees including the working journalists.

At the same time, the so-called rich and glamorous journalists should reveal their assets (along with liabilities) as they demand transparency from employees in other sectors. It becomes necessary to reduce the erosion in goodwill from their valued readers, listeners and viewers before it’s too late, asserted the forum.

Mentionable is that the I&B ministry (under the Government of India) decided to have a look at the existing guidelines of various journo-welfare schemes and get appropriate recommendations for the required changes. The changing media scenario has made it necessary to redefine the professional guidelines of journalists, who are duly engaged with both traditional and modern/digital media outlets.

The review committee is expected to maintain the parity between the government accredited (recognized) and non-recognized scribes as the acknowledgment rules may vary from one State to another. For any reason, an accredited journalist should not be considered as an elite, because the status could be altered abruptly with the change of professional portfolios in the media houses.

Headed by renowned journalist Ashok Kumar Tandon, the committee is comprised of senior scribes namely Sachidanand Murthy, Shekhar Aiyar, Amitabh Sinha, Shishir Kumar Sinha, Ravinder Kumar, Hitesh Shankar, Smriti K Ramachandran, Amit Kumar, Vasudha Venugopal along with Kanchan Prasad from the Press Information Bureau as its members and it is expected to submit the report within two months.

According to the government-run Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), the country with a one billion-plus population has over 1,15,000 registered publications with more than 17,500 in the newspaper category. Those are published in different languages including English, Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannadi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Odia, Assamese, etc.

The largest democracy of the world has over 1,600 satellite television channels where more than 400 are news-related outlets. At the same time, over 300 million Indians use social media in different categories. Lately, many professional Indian journalists have abandoned the mainstream media (where many of them were sacked by the management) and joined the digital platforms to exercise the freedom of expression guaranteed by the country’s constitution.

We need to discuss about the importance of digital (alternate) media urgently and if the journalists engaged with those outlets could be recognized as working journalists enabling them to receive all kinds of legitimate government benefits,” said JFA president Rupam Barua, adding that the professional journalists should establish their integrity first as an exemplary manner.

Earlier, the forum commended the concern expressed by Madras High Court in a recent directive to the Tamil Nadu government to constitute a press council so that the menace of fake news/journalists can be legally addressed. The court ordered the State government in Chennai to form the ‘Press Council of Tamil Nadu’ within three months to eliminate the bogus journalists from the media fraternity.

The court observed that it becomes a common sight these days to find posh cars with ‘Press’ stickers on the front windshield being driven by unscrupulous fraudsters masquerading as working journalists. There have been quite a number of instances of such fraudsters being booked by the police. Politicians, land sharks, smugglers and even murderers have been seen to be hand in glove with these journalists.

The State directorate of information and public relations is aware of this, but the officials turn a blind eye, to avoid any wrath in the hands of those fake journalists. This needs to be stopped to ensure that journalism remains clean and strong. In view of the above position, necessary directions have to be issued to clean up the media in the interest of public, added the court observation.

The court even asked the government to avoid allotting any house or grant directly to any applicant journalists unless it is routed through the council to be constituted, which after due diligence can issue such benefits. It shall prohibit the conduct of State conferences or meetings by journalist’s associations without permission or approval from the council, which shall get details on the source of income and other relevant details before giving permission to them.

The common people aggrieved by the fake news or motivated and agenda-based news can send their complaints on fake journalists to the welfare board, which shall inquire and initiate criminal action against such scribes as they are simply a menace and threat to society. The council is proposed to have the power to direct the carrier of offending news items for a rejoinder or an apology urgently.

Courtesy The First Post

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan joined in the fun, sharing a hilarious video that superimposes the Singhala track over a dance scene from the movie KaaliaFP TrendingSeptember 14, 2021 16:42:58 IST

Screengrab from Instagram

Music has always cut across geographical boundaries, with the latest example being the Sri Lankan hit song Manike Mage Hithe, which has gone viral in India. The song has won hearts of a host of Bollywood celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, and Tiger Shroff.

The Singhala song has become popular on Instagram Reels, with several celebrities uploading videos featuring the hit track.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan joined in the fun, sharing a hilarious video that superimposes the Singhala track over a dance scene from the movie Kaalia. He wrote that the video had been edited by his granddaughter Navya Naveli, adding that the song was impossible to stop listening to.

Actor Madhuri Dixit-Nene shared a video, captioning that she loved this song.

Tiger Shroff, who is always known for his dance moves, has also posted a reel that features him showing off his moves on the hit track. The video has received over 2.6 million likes to date.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tiger Shroff (@tigerjackieshroff)

Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar star Parineeti Chopra also shared a video of herself humming along to the Singhala hit while driving.

Singer Sonu Nigam became a fan of the viral song, posting a video titled Shenanigans in Goa”.

https://www.firstpost.com/india/sri-lankan-song-manake-mage-hithe-goes-viral-in-india-tiger-shroff-madhuri-dixit-nene-groove-to-hit-track-9964361.html

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka rejects the proposal for any external initiatives purportedly established by Resolution 46/1, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. G.L. Peiris told the 48th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) today.

In response to the oral update on Sri Lanka by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, the minister stressed that domestic processes are vigorously addressing the relevant matters.

This will polarize our society, as we experienced with Resolution 30/1. The Council must adhere to its founding principles.”

External initiatives embarked upon without the cooperation of the country concerned cannot achieve their stated goals, and will be subject to politicization, the foreign minister added.

He went on to point out that the resources expended on this initiative are unwarranted, especially when they are urgently needed for humanitarian and other constructive purposes in many parts of the world.

Further, Minister Peiris emphasized that under the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government considers it a basic duty to ensure the uninterrupted supply of commodities essential to the life of the community.

We are open in acknowledging our challenges and as a responsible and democratic government, we are committed to achieving tangible progress on the entire range of issues relating to accountability, reconciliation, human rights, peace and sustainable development.”

He also stated that Sri Lanka continues to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of the appalling terrorist attack on Easter Sunday in 2019 in compliance with due process of law in all respects.

The full statement delivered by Prof. G.L. Peiris is as follows:

Madam President,

Let me begin by reiterating our strong and continued cooperation with this Council and the United Nations mandated human rights system, in keeping with our Constitution and our international obligations voluntarily undertaken.

Twelve years ago, Sri Lanka eradicated LTTE terrorism on its soil. We have restored peace, security and stability for the benefit of our people. We held firm to our democratic traditions and elections were held at regular intervals with high levels of voter participation – most recently at the 2019 Presidential and 2020 Parliamentary polls. The Government is committed to holding the Provincial Council elections at the earliest.

We are dealing with post-conflict recovery from the perspective of healing. Most recently, 16 LTTE cadres convicted of serious terrorist crimes were granted Presidential pardons. The success of post conflict demining, reconstruction and resettlement programs has contributed immensely to national reconciliation.

Despite the daily challenges of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, let me highlight the progress made in the domestic processes:

• The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) as its core function, is finalizing the list of missing persons in collaboration with other agencies.

• The Office for Reparations (OR) has processed 3775 claims this year.

• The Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) continues its 8-point action plan.

• The National Human Rights Commission is carrying on its mandate.

• A steering committee on SDG 16 is working towards enhancing peace, justice and strong institutions.

• A Cabinet Sub Committee was appointed to revisit the PTA and to bring it in line with international norms and best practices. A report will be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers at the end of this month. An Advisory Board was appointed to look into cases of detention under the PTA and to make recommendations to deal with such cases expeditiously. Speedy disposal of cases under the PTA is also taking place.

• A Commission of Inquiry headed by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court was established to address issues on accountability and missing persons and to revisit recommendations by previous Commissions. The COI submitted its Interim report to the President. The final report will be submitted within the next 06 months.

• We are maintaining vigorous engagement with civil society to obtain their insights and to harness their support in achieving reconciliation and development.

Madam President,

Sri Lanka continues to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of the appalling terrorist attack on Easter Sunday in 2019 complying with due process of law in all respects. As always, we will remain vigilant in combatting terrorism and protecting Sri Lankans of all religions.

Madam President,

We reject the proposal for any external initiatives purportedly established by Resolution 46/1 while domestic processes are vigorously addressing the relevant matters. This will polarize our society, as we experienced with Resolution 30/1. The Council must adhere to its founding principles. External initiatives embarked upon without the cooperation of the country concerned cannot achieve their stated goals, and will be subject to politicization. The resources expended on this initiative are unwarranted, especially when they are urgently needed for humanitarian and other constructive purposes in many parts of the world.

Madam President,

Under the current and pressing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, we consider it a basic duty of a government to ensure the uninterrupted supply of commodities essential to the life of the community. We are open in acknowledging our challenges and as a responsible and democratic government, we are committed to achieving tangible progress on the entire range of issues relating to accountability, reconciliation, human rights, peace and sustainable development.

I thank you, Madam President.

Courtesy Adaderana

New Zealand has granted refugee status to a Sri Lankan who may have unknowingly helped funnel money to terrorists behind the Easter bombings, Radio New Zealand reported.

The Immigration and Protection Tribunal in New Zealand found the man was not involved in supporting terrorist goals and did not know who the money went to or came from.

It heard he carried out several transactions a month in a money transfer scheme involving his mother-in-law overseas and a foreign broker.

His Tamil wife was arrested and beaten after the 2019 bombings as police tried to find him. She was released after a bribe was paid, and the couple went into hiding.

They flew to New Zealand on false passports and were granted refugee status in June on appeal.

The tribunal ruled their evidence was credible, consistent and compelling”.

Both the wife and the husband fear harm at the hands of the Sri Lankan authorities because the husband has been associated with a money transfer scheme which the authorities believe may have been connected to people involved in the Easter 2019 terrorist attacks.

The tribunal is satisfied that the husband was not involved in the scheme to support Islamist terrorist goals or views, nor is he aware if any money he deposited went to, or came from, people who may have supported such views.

Given the ongoing pressure the government faces to prosecute those responsible for funding and carrying out the attacks, it cannot be assumed that the authorities will not use torture and mistreatment to extract from the husband a confession or information that he does not genuinely hold.”

The husband’s knowledge of the money transfer business in which he was involved was rudimentary”, it said. He was not a broker but a courier who retrieved the cash from brokers in Colombo and deposited it at banks, with account details given to him by a foreign broker via his mother-in-law.

It was a side business that lasted almost a year but the authorities saw him as a traitor, he told the tribunal.

Although the husband is Sinhalese, [the overseas] broker was a Sri Lankan Muslim, and the fact that the wife’s sister is married to a Muslim may have also raised flags for the authorities.

Based on what the police told his wife, the authorities believe that he has helped finance terrorists involved in the Easter bombings. The husband thinks it might be possible that some of the accounts into which he deposited money were somehow linked to people involved in the attacks, but he has no idea about this nor does he have known connection to anyone associated with the attacks.”

-RNZ

Courtesy Adaderana

The total number of people who fell victim to COVID-19 infection in Sri Lanka soared yet again as 136 more fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Monday (September 13).

The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 11,567.

According to the data released by the Department of Government Information, the latest victims include 76 males and 60 females.

As many as 106 deaths were reported among elderly people who are aged above 60 years.

In addition, 28 individuals aged between 30-59 years and 02 below 30 years have also succumbed to the virus infection

Courtesy Adaderana

The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry reported that 847 more people were tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka today (Sep. 14), moving the daily total of new cases to 2,475.

According to the Government Information Department, 2,473 of them have been associated with the New Year Cluster and the remaining two were identified as returnees from overseas.

This brings the tally of coronavirus infections confirmed in the country to 490,957.

Official data showed that more than 63,700 active cases are currently under medical care at hospitals, treatment centres and homes.

Total recoveries from the virus infection reached 415,649 earlier today as 1,354 more patients were discharged from medical care upon returning to health.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka registered 136 new COVID-related fatalities confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Sep. 13. The new development pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 11,567.

Courtesy Hiru News

Courtesy Hiru News

Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella stated that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has also paid attention to the news report regarding the exorbitant room rates and other charges levied from migrant workers by the hotels that provide quarantine facilities,

The minister was commenting on the revelation made by the Hiru News team regarding exorbitant rates charged for overnight stay amounting to nearly 50,000 per night for a single person in some hotels. 

Hiru CIA invites anyone subjected to such incidents to provide information on 0770 322 821

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was formed in October 2001. TNA consists of four parties:   Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi, (ITAK), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), Peoples Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), and Eelam Peoples’ Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF). These are separatist parties and the last three TELO, PLOTE and EPRLF were active terrorist groups.    The leaders of the TNA are R. Sampanthan and M. Sumanthiran, one Hindu, other Christian and both graduates of the Ceylon Law College.

The TNA won 22 seats in Parliament, in 2004, with the help of the LTTE. At the 2015 Parliamentary election the TNA with a mere 4.62% of the votes   obtained 16 seats in Parliament. With just 16 members, TNA was given the Opposition Leader’s position, at the expense of the UPFA which had 95 seats. TNA leader, R. Sampanthan became Leader of the Opposition. TNA voted for the 2016   Yahapalana budget. This was the first time an opposition leader has voted for an annual budget of any government in Sri Lanka, said analysts.  

The TNA is firmly committed to Eelam, and has found various ways of demanding Eelam. Some utterances contradict each other. Some statements are plain stupid. The 2015 manifesto of the TNA said that the Tamils are a distinct people. They wish to live in Sri Lanka in peaceful coexistence, with dignity, self respect, freedom, as equal citizens, without fear of majoritarian hegemony.”  The Tamils have their historical habitat, their collective rights as a people and nation and the right to self determination. 

TNA said only a federal-based solution in the form of a merged Northern and Eastern province where Tamil speaking people live in majority numbers could ensure a lasting peace in an undivided country.

TNA wanted self government in the Tamil speaking north east within a united and undivided Sri Lanka. TNA said it is committed to a united country which was a heterogeneous, not homogenous society where people of different cultures contribute to the Sri Lanka nation.

TNA Leader R. Sampanthan said that the Tamil people only aspired for an equal and united nation. Having a history of their own, Tamil people never demanded separation or for that matter, even a federal arrangement. Tamils only demanded an equal and just rule in an undivided country.

In 2019 Sampanthan said that “Eighty five per cent of the Tamil people, on our call, voted against Gotabaya Rajapaksa .He could not capture their vote”. You will only capture their vote with the support of people who understand the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people, their civilization, their traditions, their language, their culture, their dignity and their self-respect.

There are other people in this country who have their own civilization and traditions and who have lived in this country at least as long as anybody else. I refer in particular to the indigenous Sri Lankan Tamil people who have historically inhabited the North and the East, Sampanthan concluded.

TNA has its own interpretation of political concepts, with some howlers thrown in. There is nothing called state sovereignty. Sovereignty is enjoyed by people, said Sumanthiran. Sovereignty of a country is for all people. If the majority only enjoys sovereignty, then you are leaving the other people out. You are forcing them to claim their own sovereignty.

This country consists of different people who each have different rights under the international law. You cannot hide behind the concept of sovereignty and violate international law and claim that these are domestic matters, continued Sumanthiran.

When the Europeans arrived and conquered this island, was there one state here? Was there one kingdom on this island then? No. There were three kingdoms on this island. All of them fell to Western powers at different times.  It was only in 1833, consequent to Colebrook-Cameron report, that it was made one country, concluded Sumanthiran.

TNA stood steadfastly with the LTTE  and worked closely with the LTTE throughout the Eelam Wars. The strategy of the LTTE and TNA are identical and remains the same today, said Rohan Gunaratne in 2013. TNA spoke for the LTTE in Parliament as can be seen from the Hansard reports, said critic.

When the Ceasefire Agreement was signed, in 2002 TNA allowed the LTTE to be recognized as the sole representative of the Tamil speaking people. TNA leaders announced the LTTE’s decision to boycott the 2005 presidential election. They made that announcement at a media briefing, in Kilinochchi, following a meeting with the LTTE, about one week before the election. TNA, on behalf of the LTTE, ordered Tamils not to exercise their franchise at the 2005 Presidential election.

The atrocities committed by the LTTE against Tamil civilians and children were well known to the TNA leadership.  But the TNA regarded such atrocities as necessary to achieve Eelam, said critics. TNA fully endorsed the LTTE strategy of holding civilians as hostages, for use as a human shield. TNA had wanted army leader Sarath Fonseka removed from the Eelam war front.

TNA stayed with LTTE to the end   and emerged unscathed when the government won the war. The government did not initiate action against the TNA for its active involvement with the LTTE No inquiry was conducted into the TNA-LTTE link.   

 After the LTTE was defeated the government should have proscribed the TNA, charged and prosecuting its leaders and supporters with links to LTTE, said Rohan Gunaratne. The Rajapaksa government must explain its failure to inquire into the TNA, said Shamindra Ferdinando.

In 2020 TNA denied that it had any connection to LTTE and the party could not be banned on that count. TNA cannot hoodwink those who are aware of its past deals with the Tigers, replied critics and recited a list of its pro-LTTE activities.

TNA took a strong anti-government line while Eelam War IV was going on. R. Sampanthan charged that the government starved the civilians holed up in Nandikadal in 2009. He  said that the government only sent enough food for  the  resident population of that area, which was 60,000 to 70,000, knowing that there were many more. When the number was as large as 350,000 why did you send food only for 60,000 or 70, 000, Sampanthan asked. He was suggesting that Tamil civilian population had been starved. He was hoping to create a Human Rights issue.

The government flatly denied that they had starved the Tamil civilians in Nandikadal. The government said that Commissioner General of Essential Services had continued to provide supplies in terms of the amounts agreed upon with the UN. A substantial amount of food and other essential supplies had been shipped to Puthumathalan, from February 10, 2009, to May 9, 2009, in accordance with a joint plan implemented by Sri Lanka and the international community. The civilians themselves never said they starved. Doctors who checked the several thousands who had escaped reported no malnutrition.

  In the 2019 General election TNA only got 10 seats but TNA unquestionably remains the predominant political party that represents Tamil national interests throughout the Northern and Eastern provinces, said Global Tamil Forum in London. Locals do not agree. EPDP, the SLFP, the SLMC, the TMVP and the SLPP have eaten into its vote base in the North and the East. The TNA is losing its appeal to the public if the erosion of its vote bank is anything to go by, they said.

A range of voter concerns came to the fore at a pocket meeting in August 2020; where a union of hairdressers in Jaffna met M.A. Sumanthiran, near Valvettithurai. The Federation of Hairdressers’ unions wished to see the TNA win the elections, but there were reservations. In the nearly 30 minute-long meeting, union members quizzed the TNA.

Seated with a group from Thondaimanaru town, a young man asked the TNA contestants why the TNA could not lay roads in the area, despite repeated appeals. The TNA’s overemphasis” on the ethnic question, while ignoring people’s economic problems,” has led to a reduction in its popularity, said Murugesu Chandrakumara, former EPDP MP now contesting independently.

The group said that the TNA members leave for Colombo following the election and they only return to the village when an election is impending. They never understand the real sufferings of the people. Children of the TNA members never attend ordinary schools in their area. A very few of their children even attend Colombo schools with most them attending schools abroad. They said that the TNA had never spent money that the government allocates for the development in their respective areas. They also accused the TNA of deceiving the people in this manner for many years.

Sampanthan belongs to that group of leaders who do not even think of succession planning, said analysts.  He has not named a successor. He has not laid out a succession plan for TNA leadership after his tenure. By not addressing this vital issue he is facilitating endless infighting and conflicts amongst the current constituent parties. This has the potential to dismantle the TNA, when he is gone and some say that history will not be kind to him. A post-Sampanthan era for the TNA will be one fraught with the danger of disintegration, said analysts. ( continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Revised 18.9.21

TNA became the dominant Tamil separatist party once the LTTE was eliminated at end of Eelam war IV. It is remarkable how quickly the Tamil National Alliance moved into this new phase, said Chandraprema. The war ended in May 2009 and by the end of that year, the TNA had taken the lead.

TNA then   embarked on an aggressive new strategy in collaboration with Tamil parties abroad.  TNA linked with Global Tamil Forum, which had its headquarters in London. Canadian Tamil Congress said it had worked closely with TNA and its spokesperson M.A. Sumanthiran at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

TNA supported Sarath Fonseka in the 2010 Presidential election. TNA welcomed the Darusman report of 2011.  TNA welcomed the US resolution against Sri Lanka at UNHRC in 2012. TNA wanted Sri Lanka taken before the International Criminal Court for war crimes committed in Eelam war IV.

TNA welcomed the charges against Army commander Shavendra Silva. The TNA issued the following statement:”Shavendra Silva, the Commander-in-Chief of the 58th Division, should be held accountable for the crimes committed against humanity by the war crimes committed during the latter stages of the war.

TNA became active at the UN Human Rights Council. A TNA delegation went to Geneva in 2015 to meet the members of the UNHRC. TNA welcomed the  2012 US backed resolution against Sri Lanka.

In 2020, too, the TNA sent a separate delegation to the UNHRC sessions and this delegation stayed back after the sessions to attend meetings organized by the Tamil Diaspora in Geneva, including some with international representatives. 

TNA was especially active in the UNHRC Resolution 30/1 of 2015.   M.A. Sumanthiran stated at the US Congressional Caucus for Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka, on June 14, 2016,   in Washington, that the Yahapalana   government, the US and the TNA    had come to a tripartite agreement on including foreign judges    into the   UNHRC Resolution 30/1 of October 2015. Sumanthiran’s statement was released in Sri Lanka by Sampanthan’s office. Otherwise Sri Lanka would not have known of this agreement, observed Shamindra Ferdinando.

Sumanthiran had told the Caucus “I was personally involved in the negotiations, with the United States of America also participating in that particular process. There were some doubts created, as to whether the Constitution of Sri Lanka would allow for foreign nationals to function as judges and we went into that question, clarified it, and said yes they can and that is how that phraseology was agreed upon. TNA had settled for a hybrid model though they had originally asked for an international inquiry. The agreement on foreign judges was not negotiable.

At this Caucus Sumanthiran had urged Samantha Power, US Ambassador to the UN,   to pressure the Sri Lanka government to implement the UN Resolution. Without the help of UN and USA the resolution will not be implemented. The UN and US should also ensure that a long term solution is achieved to enable the Tamil speaking people of Sri Lanka to live with respect.

The Washington Caucus is an initiative launched by the United States House Representatives Bill Johnson of Ohio and Danny Davis of Illinois, in November, 2013.  The Washington event was moderated by Sadhananda Dhume of the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

 The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report on Sri Lanka at 46th session of the Human Rights Council in 2020. (Report of OHCHR on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka (A/HRC/46/20). TNA said: We welcome the report from the Office of the UN Human Rights Commissioner. Many would have noticed that the report reflected some issues we raised in the collective letter we sent earlier to the office of Human Rights Chief. That is a coincidence.

  Pohottu government’s withdrawal from Resolution 30/1 was a blow to the TNA. When Sri Lanka withdrew from co-sponsorship of Resolution 30/1, TNA protested. You need the consent of the concerned country to do this. When the State fails to comply, it escalates to other steps such as referral to the International Criminal Court  urge other member states to apply universal jurisdiction, travel bans and freezing assets, howled TNA.

This matter is now vested with the Human Rights Council with the submission of the report by the Panel of Experts in 2011, continued TNA. But from the recent interviews given by the Foreign Secretary, it seems the Government is still continuing the denial mode even after ten years. We need to take a harder position now as the international community also realized after giving ten years for the Government to achieve wartime accountability and it failed to do so, continued TNA.

M.A. Sumanthiran said that the government cannot pull out of international commitments. . You cannot withdraw from an act that is already done.”  In the international system, these obligations are taken seriously.  Ladduwahetty replied, the international law provides for sovereign States to withdraw from commitments made by irresponsible members of  a State under Article 46 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

US and UK were working together to introduce a fresh UN resolution against Sri Lanka during the 46th Council meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, March 2021.  Media reported that   in December 2020 that there was a sudden meeting between US ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina B. Teplitz and Spokesperson of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) M.A. Sumanthiran at the residence of the ambassador. Mr. Sumanthiran assured the support of the TNA to the initiative.

 TNA has decided to focus on foreign intervention, to get their Eelam. TNA cultivated UN agencies.During Yahapalana rule, TNA met the  UN  specialists  sent by the UNHRC such as Pablo  de Greiff, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence. TNA had complained about release of lands belonging to civilians, missing persons and political prisoners.

TNA has also  run to sympathetic foreign countries asking them to help create Eelam. When India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’ visited Colombo in January 2020 TNA met him. TNA thereafter held a media conference at Indian High Commission.

 We discussed in detail issues that are critically important to the Tamil people. The Indian External Affairs Minister had  also made it clear to the Government of its commitment to implement the 13th amendment and go beyond that to resolve the ethnic conflict as promised to India in the past.  Both parties have decided not to publicize the things discussed but I assure you that all the critical issues faced by the Tamil community were taken up,”

after that Sampanthan’s office issued a s tatment. :”Visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Dr. Jaishankar met the TNA delegation at the Indian High Commission in Colombo. At the meeting, the TNA delegation apprised the foreign secretary of some pressing issues faced by the Tamil people including the lack of progress in relation to the release of lands held by the military in the North and East, disappearances, and Tamil political prisoners.”The TNA also updated Dr. Jaishankar on the new constitution, stating that the process had now stalled. The foreign secretary assured the TNA that he would raise these issues during his meeting with His Excellency the President and the Honorable Prime Minister.

Sampanthan announced in July 2020 that the international community and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are “standing behind us “.   With reference to External  Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Colombo immediately after the Presidential election of 2019 and  the Presidents and Prime Minister’s  visits to New Delhi thereafter , Mr. Sampanthan said India had, on all three occasions, emphasized the need to settle the Tamil question.

In June 2021 Sampanthan met Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay at his official residence, India House for a discussion.TNA was  seeking a one-on-one meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sampanthan briefed the Indian envoy on the need to find a solution for the ethnic conflict.

The TNA leader also sent an invitation to Prime Minister Modi through  ambassador Baglay, to  come and take part in the opening ceremony of the Rs 1.2 billion funded Jaffna Cultural Centre . High Commissioner Baglay assured the TNA leader that he would take up the issues they discussed.

The Indian High Commission issued a statement on the visit. A five member Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation led by R. Sampanthan, Member of Parliament called on the High Commissioner Gopal Bagley. The pre scheduled meeting took place on 17 June 2021 at India House. Leader of Ilangai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) Mavai Senathirajah and TNA Members of Parliament Dharmalingam Sithadthan, Selvam Adaikkalanathan and MA. Sumanthiran were present during the meeting. The High Commissioner reiterated India’s support for devolution within the framework of a united Sri Lanka on the basis of full implementation of the 13^th amendment which would be in line with Tamil aspirations for equality, justice, peace & reconciliation and would strengthen Sri Lanka.” ( continued in B3)

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

සසර සරණ සත්ත්වයා පෙළෙන්නා වූ භවදුකින් මිදීමේ ක්‍රමය බුදුදහම තුළ විග්‍රහ කෙරී ඇත්තේ චතුර්විධ ආකෘතියක් තුළ ය. දුක, දුකට හේතුව, දුක නැතිකිරීම සහ දුක නැතිකිරීමේ මාර්ගය ලෙසින් චතුරාර්ය සත්‍යය දේශනාව තුළ මෙය ඉදිරිපත් කෙරෙයි. ලෝකෝත්තර අරමුණු වෙනුවෙන් දේශිත මෙම ආකෘතිය බෞද්ධ ජනරජයේ සමාජ – ආර්ථික ගැටලු විසඳීම සඳහා ද යොදාගත හැකි ය.

මෙය කළ හැකිවනුයේ ගැටලුව, ගැටලුවට හේතුව, විසඳුම, එම විසඳුම කරා යන මාර්ගය යන ලෙසින් මෙම ආකෘතිය භාවිතයට එක්කිරීමෙනි. මෙය ඕනෑම ආකාරයේ සමාජ – ආර්ථික ගැටලුවක් විසඳීම සඳහා යොදාගත හැකි ක්‍රමවේදයකි. ඒ ඒ ගැටලුවට අදාළ වන ලෙසින් පියවරින් පියවර මෙම ක්‍රමය භාවිතය අපහසු කාර්යයක් නොවේ.

යම් ගැටලුවක් ඇති වූ කල්හි මුලින් ම කළ යුත්තේ එය මැනැවින් වටහාගැනීම ය. නිශ්චිත අයුරින් එම ගැටලුව සහ එහි ස්වභාවය වටහා නොගෙන එය විසඳිය නොහැකි ය. මූලික නිරීක්‍ෂණ, ඒ අනුව කෙරෙන තොරතුරු එකතුකිරීම් සහ පර්යේෂණ මාර්ගයෙන් මෙය කළ යුතු වෙයි. විවිධ වූ කෝණවලින් ගැටලුව දෙස බැලීම ද කළ යුත්තේ ය. සමාජයේ විවිධ මට්ටමේ අත්දැකීම් සහ අභිලාෂයන් ඇති පිරිසගේ දායකත්වය ලබාගැනීම ද මේ අරභයා අවශ්‍ය වෙයි. සමාජයේ වසන වැඩිහිටි පිරිස අත්දැකීම්වලින් පිරුණු අය වෙති. එහෙයින් මෙවැනි නිරීක්‍ෂණ සඳහා එවැනි අයගේ දායකත්වය අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වෙයි. තරුණ පිරිස අලුත් දැනුමින් සන්නද්ධ වී සිටිති. නැවුම් අභාලාෂයන්ගෙන් ද ඔවුන්ගේ සිත් පිරී පවතී. එහෙයින්, ගැටලුව හඳුනාගැනීමට එවැනි පිරිස්වල දායකත්වය ද අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වෙයි.

ගැටලුව උද්ගතවීමට හේතු වූ කරුණු සොයාබැලීම මනා ශික්‍ෂණයක් සහිතව කළ යුතු කාර්යයකි. සමාජයේ වසන උගතුන්ගේ සහ බුද්ධිමතුන්ගේ දායකත්වය මේ සඳහා අවශ්‍ය වෙයි. මේ වෙනුවෙන් මූලික කරුණු නිරීක්‍ෂණය සහ ඒවා ගැඹුරින් විග්‍රහකිරීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය කාරණයකි. පොදු සමාජ ගැටලු සඳහා පදනම් වී ඇති හේතු හඳුනාගැනීම බිම් (ගම් සහ නාගරික) මට්ටමින් ද, ප්‍රාදේශීය (කෝරළ) මට්ටමින් ද, ජාතික මට්ටමින් ද සිදු කළ හැකි ය. ගැටලුවේ ස්වභාවය, එහි තරම සහ අදාළ වන භූමිය යන කරුණු සළකා මෙම මට්ටම තීරණය කළ යුත්තේ ය. මෙම ප්‍රවාදයෙන් යෝජනා කෙරුණු කෝරළ බුද්ධි මණ්ඩල වැනි ආයතන ද, විශ්වවිද්‍යාල වැනි ආයතන ද මේ සඳහා දායක කරගත හැකි ය.

මෙම ක්‍රියාදාමයේ තුන්වැනි අදියර වනුයේ විසඳුම් යෝජනාකිරීම ය. අදාළ කරගත හැකි මානව සම්පත්, අනෙකුත් සම්පත් සහ දැනුම වැනි කරුණු මැනැවින් සළකා බලා අදාළ විසඳුම් යෝජනාකිරීම සිදුකළ යුත්තේ ය. මෙම කරුණු ගැන මනා අවබෝධයකින් යුතුව අදාළ විසඳුම් යෝජනා කරන කල්හි ඒවා යථාර්ථයක් බවට පත් කරගැනීම අපහසු නොවේ. එකී සාධක නො සළකා හැර ඉදිරිපත් කෙරෙන යෝජනාවල ප්‍රායෝගික වටිනාකමක් නොමැත.

ගැටලුව හොඳින් හඳුනාගෙන, එයට පදනම් වූ කරුණු ද අවබෝධ කරගෙන, පවත්නා තත්ත්වයන්ට ගැලපෙන විසඳුම් යෝජනා කළ පසු වෙහෙසිය යුත්තේ එම විසඳුම් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම කෙරෙහි ය. මෙම ආකෘතියෙන් නිර්දේශ කෙරෙන අවසාන (සතරවැනි) පියවර එයයි. විසඳුම කරා යන මාර්ගය පෙන්වාදිය යුත්තේ පියවරෙන් පියවර ය. ආර්ය අෂ්ඨාංගික මාර්ගයෙන් නිර්දේශිත ක්‍රමවේදය මේ සඳහා ආදර්ශයක් කරගත හැකි ය.

විසඳුම සම්බන්ධයෙන් තිබෙන අවබෝධය, එය යථාර්ථයක් බවට පත්කරගැනීමට ඇති උවමනාව තුළින් මෙම ගමන ආරම්භ වෙයි. ඒ තුළ ගැබ් වී ඇත්තේ එක්තරා ආකාරයක නිවැරැදි දැක්මකි. මෙම දැක්ම නැති කල්හි ගමනෙහි ඇරඹුමක් ගැන සිතිය නො හැකි ය. මනා සිහියකින් සහ කල්පනාවකින් යුතුව මෙම ගමන යා යුතු වෙයි. එහෙයින් නිවැරැදි කල්පනාව ද මෙම ගමනට අදාළ වෙයි. ගමනෙහි නිරවුල් බව තහවුරු කෙරෙනුයේ ඒ තුළ සිදුවන සන්නිවේදන ක්‍රියාදාමය තුළ ය. නිවැරැදි වචන භාවිතයක් ඒ සඳහා අවශ්‍ය වෙයි.

විසඳුම කරා යන මාර්ගයෙහි ඒ ඒ පියවරට අදාළ කාර්යයන් නිවැරැදිව ඉටුකිරීම තුළින් පමණක් ගමනෙහි සාර්ථකත්වය තහවුරු වෙයි. එහෙයින් අදාළ කාර්යයන් නිවැරැදිව සිදුකිරීම අනිවාර්යයෙන් ම සිදුවිය යුත්තකි. විසඳුම ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්නන්ගේ පුද්ගල – සමාජ භාවිතය ගැටලුකාරී වුවහොත් ඒ තුළින් ද ගමන අඩපණ විය හැකි ය. එහෙයින් මෙම කාර්යයට බාධා නොවන අයුරින් තම ජීවිත පිළිවෙත් පවත්වාගෙන යෑමට ද ඔවුන් කටයුතු කළ යුතු ය.

ගමනෙහි සාර්ථකත්වය තහවුරුවන්නේ ඒ වෙනුවෙන් දරනු ලබන ව්‍යායාමයෙහි නිවැරැදි බව අනුව ය. අලස බව, නිසි කලට නිසි පියවර නොගැනීම වැනි කරුණු නිසා ගමනට බාධා එල්ලවිය හැකි ය. සියලු කාර්යයන් මනා සිහියකින් සිදුකිරීම ද අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වේ. මේ සියල්ල සම්පූර්ණ වූ විට යෝජනා කෙරුණු විසඳුම සාක්‍ෂාත් කරගෙන (ගැටලුව විසඳා) අවසාන ය.

ආචාර්ය වරුණ චන්ද්‍රකීර්ති

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා බොලොඤ්ඤා හි නවාතැන්ගත් හෝටලය අසල දී ඉතාලියේ වෙසෙන ශ්‍රී ලාංකික හා ඉතාලි ජනතාවගේ මහත් හරසරට ලක් වූහ.

 ජී 20 අන්තර් ආගමික සංසදය (G20 Interfaith Forum) ට එක්වීම සඳහා අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා නවාතැන්ගත් හෝටලයෙන් ඊයේ (12) පස්වරුවේ පිටතට යන අවස්ථාව දැක බලා ගැනීමට මෙසේ විශාල පිරිසක් හෝටල් පරිශ්‍රය අසල රැස්ව සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට සහ ආර්යාවට සුබ පැතුම් එක්කරමින් ඔවුන් තම ජංගම දුරකථන ඔස්සේ ඡායාරූප ලබා ගැනීමටත් සුබ පැතුම් එක්කිරීමටත් උත්සුකවන අයුරු දක්නට ලැබිණි.

ජී 20 අන්තර් ආගමික සංසදය ඇමතීමට යන තමන්ට සුබ පැතුම් එක්කළ  ජනතාවට අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා ද සිය ආචාරය පුද කළේය. අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා ඊයේ පස්වරුවේ ජී 20 අන්තර් ආගමික සංසදය (G20 Interfaith Forum) ආරම්භක සැසිය ඇමතූ අතර එහි සැසිවාර හෙට (14) දින දක්වා පැවැත්වෙයි.

by A. Abdul Aziz

Ahmadiyya Khalifa His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad in his Friday Sermon delivered on 3^rd September said that recently, a very dear life-devotee, Syed Taalay Ahmed (31) was martyred in Ghana, Africa.

Ahmadiyya Head expressed his own love and admiration for Syed Taalay Ahmad too in the sermon. He said:

He was a gem that left us. May Allah the Exalted continue to grant the Jama’at such loyal people who have a relationship with Khilafat (system of Caliph) that is based on obedience and sincerity and who give precedence to faith over the world This beloved individual fully understood the spirit of waqf [life devotion] and fulfilled the oath that he had made in the truest sense.

Born in Hartlepool, U.K., he was the son of Syed Hashim Akbar and Amatul Shakoor. He left his wife Hazrat Nusrat Jahan Begum and two children.

On the night between the 23rd and 24th of August, the MTA (Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International) team which was filming a documentary was travelling when they were attacked by robbers who fired at them, injuring two people, Umar Farooq and Syed Taalay Ahmed. On the way to the hospital, Syed Taalay Ahmed passed away.

Syed Taalay Ahmed had been active in serving the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association UK in various capacities. He also served the Community in his local chapter of Hartlepool, UK. He was appointed to the MTA News team full-time in 2016. He had the opportunity of making various documentaries for MTA. He was also the one to initiate the very popular This Week With Huzoor programme which features on MTA, according to Ahmadiyya Head.

Syed Taalay Ahmed was very passionate about his work and seeing it through, no matter the hardships he may have to face along the way. His main focus was always to ensure that the work was carried out. This was evident from the incident of his martyrdom.

Robbers had begun firing at the vehicle after which they approached the vehicle and took whatever valuables they had. Syed Taalay Ahmed had been struck in the back and lost a great deal of blood. As the robbery was happening, he quickly hid the laptop and other equipment under the seats so that the robbers would not be able to find it. As they were driving to a nearby clinic, Syed Taalay Ahmed would ask whether His Holinesshad been informed about this incident. From the clinic, it was decided that he would need to be taken to a hospital. Along the way, he said, ‘Tell His Holiness that I love him and tell my family that I love them.’, as detailed by Ahmadiyya Head in his Friday Sermon of September 3^rd.

His Holinesssaid that this was a beautiful gem which has left us. This loss has shaken everyone. He understood his oath of life-devotion and fulfilled it to the utmost degree. His Holiness said that Syed Taalay Ahmed always surprised him, and he would wonder how a youngster who had been raised amidst a worldly environment was able to understand and fulfil his pledge of devotion. His level of love and devotion for Khilafat was such that even some who have deep-rooted knowledge of faith do not possess it. His devotion to Khilafat (System of Caliph) was such that even in his last moments, he was constantly expressing his love for Khilafat.

His Holinesssaid that a few years ago, Syed Taalay Ahmed wrote a poem in which he expressed his love for Khilafat (system of Caliph). He started the poem by saying that he loved his Khalifathe most………………

Below we produce Syed Talay Ahmad Sahib’s poem.

I love my Caliph more than the others,

They only love, I’m only his lover.

They crawl to his hand from far icy coasts,

A wonderful host, supported by hosts.

As mountains migrate for prophets and kings,

When heaven comes near, they see him and sing.

My silence might grate but I love him more,

Whole with holiness as my soothed soul soars.

When they see his face they weep and they cry,

My heart beats to tears but my eyes are dry.

But by God’s promise I’m able to boast,

I swear I can prove I love him the most.

They truthfully tell, disclosing their love,

Humble, he blushes, embarrassed enough.

For his weary eyes, here surely prefer,

Durood and takbirs, Allahu Akbar!

So their cue of lovers ends at this line,

I keep my secret for his sake not mine.

The lamp in my night, forever aglow,

I love my Caliph, but he’ll never know.”

(By Syed Talay Ahmad Martyr (Shaheed)

He ended by saying that perhaps His Holinesswould never know how much he loved him. Ahmadiyya Khalifa said that even before Syed Taalay Ahmed’s last words, he knew – he knew how much Syed Taalay Ahmed loved him when he was filming with his camera, and even when he met him without his camera. He could tell from the sparkle in his eyes and the light on his face, indeed from his every action, His Holinesswas aware of the love that Syed Taalay Ahmed had for him, according to the Friday Sermon of September 3^rd.

Ahmadiyya Khalifa said that he himself bears testament to the fact that Syed Taalay Ahmed fulfilled his oath of life-devotion.

His Holinessshared the sentiments of Syed Taalay Ahmed’s father Syed Hashim Akbar. He said that he had seen a dream about his own martyrdom and later learned that his son Syed Taalay Ahmed had seen the same dream about the martyrdom of his father. However he must have prayed that he should be martyred instead of his father. Seeing his excellent qualities, God Almihgty accepted his prayer and bestowed upon him the rank of martyrdom. His soul was devoted to the Holy Prophet, (PBUH) and he lived and breathed for the sake of Khilafat. Syed Taalay Ahmed’s mother Amatul Shakoor said that he was inclined towards religion from a young age. He was very good at his studies and would obtain good grades.

His Holinessshared the sentiments of Abid Khan, Press Secretary of the Ahmadiyya Community who was also Syed Taalay Ahmed’s maternal uncle. He said that Syed Taalay Ahmed possessed a profound love for the Promised Messiah, peace be on him. Though he was extremely proud to be from the progeny of the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, he never openly shared this fact nor did he ever use it to receive any sort of favourable treatment……..

His Holinesssaid that Syed Taalay Ahmed fulfilled his due in being the spiritual and physical progeny of the Holy Prophet(PUH) as well as the Promised Messiah, peace be on him. His Holiness said that thus, it is fitting that Allah Almighty chose the (Islamic) month of Muharram for Syed Taalay Ahmed to be able to present this sacrifice.

In the end, Ahmadiyya Khalifa prayed that may Allah Almighty continue to elevate the station of Syed Taalay Ahmed. Surely, he would have been given a place in Paradise near the Holy ProphetMuhammad (PBUH). In fact, someone saw a dream that he was running towards the Holy Prophet(PBUH) who was welcoming him. His Holinessalso prayed that his family may be able to bear this loss with patience.

In 2013, Syed Taalay Ahmad, after completing his master’s degree in journalism, sacrificed his life for the cause of Islam Ahmadiyyat and was posted to the Central Press & Media department. In 2016, he was assigned duties in the MTA News department, an office which he took to new heights.

Syed Taalay Ahmed, British Journalist completed a Masters in Journalism from Sunderland University, is reported to leave behind his wife, two young children, parents and siblings.

Being a Press Secretary of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Sri Lanka, I was familiar to him for years. Syed Taalay Ahmed (Shaheed – Martyr) was always assisting us in preparing our News to MTA and air in excellent manner.

Once he was contacting me until 10.30 p.m. as the MTA News to go at 11.30 p.m. (Sri Lankan Time) in an effort to include our News Bulletin on that day.

He also had the habit of appreciating our preaching efforts.

May Allah elevate his status further and further. Ameen.

(The word ‘Promised Messiah’ – refers to: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – the Holy Founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at in Islam.)

තිසර සමල් – අනුරාධපුර.

රසායනික පොහොර භාවිතය වෙනුවට කාබනික පොහොර භාවිතය ප්‍රචලිත කිරීමට වත්මන් රජය ගත් තීරණය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගොවීන්ගේ පවතින මතය සම්බන්ධයෙන් විමසා බැලීම සඳහා සූර්ය බල, සුළං හා ජල විදුලි ජනන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතා අනුරාධපුර තිරප්පනය ප්‍රදේශයේ බඩඉරඟු ඇතුළු අතිරේක භෝග වගා කරන ගොවීන් හමුවී ඔවුන් සමඟ සාකච්ජා කර ගොවි බිම්ද නිරීක්ෂණය කරනු ලැබීය.

අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ අක්කර 75 000 කට ආසන්න භූමි ප්‍රමාණයක දිස්ත්‍රික්කය පුරා ගොවි ගෙවිලියන් දස දහස් ගණනක් බඩ ඉරඟු වගාව සුළු පරිමාණ, මධ්‍ය පරිමාණ හා මහා පරිමාණ ලෙස වගා කිරීම සිදු කරනු ලබයි.

මාස් කන්නයේ වැසි ජලයෙන් බහුලව බඩඉරඟු වගාව සිදු කරන අතර ඒවා මිනිස් පරිභෝජනයට, ත්‍රීපෝෂ නිෂ්පාදනය හා කුකුල් කෑම ඇතුළු සත්ව ආහාර නිෂ්පාදනය සඳහා අලෙවිය සිදු කිරීම මගින් උපයා ගන්නා මුදල එම ගොවීන්ගේ ප්‍රධාන ආදායම් මාර්ගයයි. සුළු පරිමාණයෙන් සිදු කළ බඩ ඉරඟු වගාව අභාවප්‍රාප්ත උතුරු මැද පළාත් හිටපු ප්‍රධාන අමාත්‍යය බර්ටි ප්‍රේමලාල් දිසානායක මහතා විසින් අනුරාධපුර ප්‍රචලිත කිරීම සිදු කරනු ලැබීය.එතුමන්ගේ පුත්‍ර රත්නය වන සූර්ය බල, සුළං හා ජල විදුලි ජනන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතා තිරප්පනය ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කොට්ඨාශයේ ඌරාකොටේ, කුට්ටිකුළම, පඩිකෙටුවැව යන ගම්මානයන්හී ගොවීන් හමුවට ගොස් රසායනික පොහොර භාවිතය වෙනුවට කාබනික පොහොර භාවිතය ප්‍රචලිත කිරීමට වත්මන් රජය ගත් තීරණය සමඟ ගොවීන්ගේ ඉදිරි වගා කටයුතු සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගොවීන්ගෙන් විමසා සිටියේය.

එහිදී ගොවීන් කියා සිටියේ කාබනික පොහොර භාවිතා කර මීට පෙර බඩඉරඟු වගා කර නොමැති බැවින්, ගොවීන් මහා පරිමාණයෙන් වගා කිරීමට බියක් දක්වන බවයි.එබැවින් පසුගිය වසර වල මෙන් විශාල බඩඉරඟු අස්වැන්නක් බලාපොරොත්තු විය නොහැකි බවද ගොවීන් පැවසීය.පසුගිය කන්න වලදී මේ වන විට වගා කටයුතු සඳහා බිම් සකස් කළ නමුත් මේ වන තෙක් ගොවීන් හේන් සුද්ධ පවිත්‍ර කිරීමටවත් කටයුතු කර නොමැති බවද ගොවීන් පෙන්වා දුන්හ.

පසුගිය කන්න වලදී විශාල ලාභයක් බඩ ඉරඟු වලින් ලබා ගත් බවද ගොවීන් එහිදී පැවසීය.බඩ ඉරඟු බීජ පැකට්ටුවක් රුපියල් 8000-9000 ක් වන බවත්, එවැනි බීජ පැකට් 20-25 ක් කන්නයකට වගා කරනවාබිම් සැකසීමට ට්‍රැක්ටර් කුළියද ලබා දී බඩ ඉරඟු සිටවා පොහොර නැති වුණාම පාඩුව කවුද ගෙවන්නේ? ඒ නිසා භයට ගොවියෝ තාම වගාවට යොමු වෙලා නෑ, පාලුවට ඇරලා තියෙන්නේ හේන් ඔක්කොම.රජයෙන් දෙනවා කියන නයිට්‍රජන් දියර නොමිලේ දුන්නත්, සල්ලි වලට දුන්නත් අපිට අත්දැකීමක් නැති නිසා මහා පරිමාණයෙන් වගාවන් කරන්න භයයි.අපිට මේ කන්නයේ ආදයම් නැති වුණාම අපිට තියෙන්නේ ග්‍රාම සේවකලාට, සමෘද්ධි නිළධාරීන්ට කරදර කර කර ආධාර ඉල්ලන්න තමයි තියෙන්නේ.මේ වෙනකල් අපි ආණ්ඩුවට කරදර කලේ නෑ, දැන් අපිට ආණ්ඩුවට කරදර කන්න වෙනවා.

බර්ටි ඇමතිතුමා බඩ ඉරඟු ව්‍යාපෘතිය මේ අනුරාධපුරයට ගෙනාවේ නැත්නම් මේ ගමේ හැමතැනම තිබ්බේ මැටි ගෙවල්, බඩ ඉරඟු වැඩසටහන නිසා තමයි ගොවියෝ යම් මට්ටමකට ආවේ.අපේ ගමටම ට්‍රැක්ටර් 05-06 ක් ගෙනවා ගිය කන්නයේ.

මීට කලින් ආණ්ඩුව ඔය කියන කාබනික පොහොර ආදර්ශන හදලා ඔය කියන නයිට්‍රජන් දියර පොහොර ගහලා ආදර්ශ වගාවක් පෙන්නුවා නම් ගොවියාගේ මනස හදන්න පුළුවන්.එහෙම නැතිව දැන් එක පාරම කරන්න බෑ.තාම පිටරට තියෙන දියර පොහොර ගැන අපි කොහොමද විශ්වාස කරන්නේ.බඩ ඉරඟු ගොවිතැනින් තමා අපි ගෙයක් දොරක් හදාගන්නේ, ගෙදරට බඩු මුට්ටුවක් ගන්නේ යැයි ගොවීන් පැවසීය.

කාබනික පොහොර හොඳයි කියලා දන්නවා, මේ වැඩපිළිවෙල ආව ක්‍රමය වැරදියි, ක්ෂණික ආදායමකට තමයි ගොවියෝ හුරු වෙලා ඉන්නේ.ඔය දෙනවා කියන නයිට්‍රජන් දියර වුණත් වෙලාවට ලැබුණේ නැත්නම් අපිට වැඩක් නෑ.සහනාධාර පොහොර වුණත් අපිට හම්බුනේ කාලය පහු වෙලානේ. 

එහිදී රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතා කියා සිටියේ,

අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ සාර්ථකවම බඩඉරඟු වගා කළානේ, මට තියෙන ප්‍රශ්නය ඔයගොල්ල වගේම හැමෝම බඩඉරඟු වගාව අත්හැරියොත් ගොවියන්ට ආර්ථික ප්‍රශ්න ඇති වෙනවා වගේම, බඩ ඉරඟු නිෂ්පාදනය නැති නිසා කුකුල් කෑම, ත්‍රිපෝෂ නිෂ්පාදනය වගේ රටේ ආහාර ගැටලු ඇති වෙනවා වගේම අමතර ප්‍රශ්න ඇති වෙනවා.ගොවියෝ වගා කරන මේ ප්‍රමාණයනේ රටටම කන්න දෙන්නේ.ඒ නිසා මම මේක ගොවියෝ එක්කම සාකච්ජා කරලා ගොවීන්ට තියෙන ප්‍රශ්න ටික බළධාරීන්ට දැනුම් දෙන්න තමයි මම අද ආවේ.අනුරාධපුර වගේම හැම තැනම ගොවියන්ට මේ පොහොර ගැටලුව තියෙනවානේ.දැන් රජය කියනවානේ නයිට්‍රජන් දියර පොහොර දෙනවා කියලා, අපිට වගාව පටන් ගන්න බෑද?  ඔයාලා ආණ්ඩුව මේ නයිට්‍රජන් දියර පොහොර ගෙනත් දෙනවා කියන එක විශ්වාස කරන්නේ නැද්ද? අපි ආණ්ඩුවත් එක්ක සාකච්ජා කරලා ස්ථිර තැනකට එමු.කිසිම දෙයක් නැතිව අතාරිනවාට වඩා, රජයෙන් දෙන නයිට්‍රජන් ටික භාවිතා කරලා අපි වගාව කරමු.රසායනික පොහොර නැති කරන එක හොඳ වැඩක්, අස්වැන්න අඩු නොවී යන විදිහට අපි මේ වැඩේ කරන්න ඕන.යූරියා යූරියා කියලා අපි කිව්වට ඒකේ තියෙන්නේ නයිට්‍රජන්නේ, රජය ඒ සඳහා නයිට්‍රජන් දියර පොහොර දෙනවා, අනික් අවශ්‍යය පෝෂකත් දෙනවා, කාබනික වල් නාශකත් ගෙනාවොත් අපිට වගාව කරන්න පුළුවන්නේ. යැයි පැවසීය.

වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දක්වමින් ගොවීන් කියා සිටියේ, මේ වන විට ගොවීන් බහුතරයක් නිවෙස් වල හා ගොවි බිම් වල කාබනික පොහොර සකස් කරන බව පැවසූවද, රජයෙන් අක්කර 2 ½ කට ලබා දෙන රුපියල් 12500 ක මුදල ලබා ගැනීමට ඒවා සකස් කර ඇති බවයි.ඒවා පරික්ෂා කරලා බැලුවොත් එහෙම කොම්පෝස්ට් නෙමෙයි.

අනතුරුව රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතා හා ගොවීන් පිරිසක් සමඟ ගොවීන් අතැර දමා ඇති  බඩඉරඟු හේන් නිරීක්ෂණය කරනු ලැබීය.

එහිදී ගොවීන් පෙන්වා දුන්නේ පසුගිය කන්නයේ පොහොර හිඟය හේතුවෙන් වෙළඳපොලෙන් මිලදී ගෙන කාබනික පොහොර යොදා බඩඉරඟු වගාව සිදු කළ බවත්, එම වගාවන් අසාර්ථක වූ බවයි. රසායනික පොහොර යොදා සිදු කළ වගාවන් ඉතා සාර්ථකව සිදු වූ බවද ඔවුන් පෙන්වා දුන්හ.මේක ඉක්මනට විසඳා ගත්තේ නැත්නම් ගොවියෝ අසරණ වෙනවා.මම කියන්නේ මේ අභියෝග මැද්දේ කොහොම හරි වගා කරමු.මිනිස්සුන්ට දේශපාලනය කළකිරුනාම හොඳ එකාටත් තැනක් නැති වෙනවා, නරක එකාටත් තැනක් නැති වෙනවා.හැබැයි මම ආවේ දේශපාලඥයෙක් විදිහට නෙමෙයි,  අපි අනුරාධපුරයේ විදිහට මේ ගොවි ජනතාවගේ ආර්ථිකය නැති වුණොත් අපේ මිනිස්සුන්ට ජීවත් වෙන්න විදිහක් නැති වෙනවා.ඒ නිසා මම මේකට මැදිහත් වුණේ.ස්වභාවයෙන් ඇති වෙන්න යන විනාශය මට නවත්වන්න ඕන.

ඔබතුමා විතරයි මේ අවස්ථාවේ අපි ගැන හොයා බලන්න ආවේ, ඒ නිසා ඔබතුමාට අපි ස්තූති වන්ත වෙනවා, අපි ඔබතුමා විශ්වාස කරලා වගා කටයුතු කරනවා  යැයිද ගොවීන් එහිදී  පැවසීය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂ මිහින්තලය ආසන සංවිධායක සරත් ඉලංගසිංහසභාපති නිදහස් බඩඉරඟු ගොවි සන්සදයේ සභාපති  ඒ.ටී.එම් ඒකනායක යන මහත්වරුන් ඇතුළු ගොවි සංවිධාන නියෝජිතයින් ඇතුළු ගොවි ගෙවිලියන් පිරිසක් සහභාගී වූහ.

මාවතවැව, ඉලුප්පුකන්නිය, පුළියන්කුළම, ගැටලාව

By Sugeeswara Senadhira/Ceylon Today

Colombo, September 13: Recent detections of large quantities of heroin from vessels sailing in the Indian Ocean have once again brought home the imperative need for cooperation between the countries of the region.

At the end of August, the Sri Lanka Navy had seized a trawler with 5 suspects, carrying over 290 kilograms of heroin. The Navy Spokesman said that the consignment of narcotics, valued at nearly LKR 2,321 million, was secured from foreign smugglers in international waters. The operation was carried out by the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Navy, based on a tip-off received by the State Intelligence Service.

For similar articles, join our Whatsapp group for the latest updates. – click here

In April, the Sri Lanka Navy intercepted a vessel carrying 260 kilograms of Heroin and 56 kilograms of Crystal Methamphetamine (ICE). The Navy Spokesperson said the value of the narcotics was LKR 3,200 million. The Navy arrested seven foreign nationals, suspected to be Iranians, who were in the vessel and handed them over to police.

In the same month, India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of Kochi seized nearly 340 kg of heroin from a Sri Lankan fishing boat and arrested five people. Initial interrogation of the five men has led the NCB to believe that the Sri Lankan boat had picked up the drug consignment from a red-colored Iranian boat. Officials told the media the Indian naval ship Suvarna intercepted the Sri Lankan boat D.U Shashila” in the high seas in the Indian Ocean on suspicion of drug trafficking and brought the boat to Kochi’s Mattancherry Wharf for an extensive search by the NCB. The heroin consignment seized by the NCB had a street value of INR 340 crore (SLRs 8,500 million) and INR 1,750 crore (SL Rs 43,500 million) in the international market, an official of the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency in India said.

Intercepted in High Seas

The Indian anti-drug law enforcement agencies became extremely concerned over the recent seizure of more than 600 kg of heroin and the arrest of seven Pakistani nationals by the Sri Lanka Navy in the high seas. A foreign vessel used for drug trafficking was also impounded. In the latest operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Navy, in coordination with the police and intelligence agencies, the foreign vessel carrying the drugs and the seven accused persons was intercepted about 1,370 km south of the Sri Lankan coast on September 1.

The Indian media, quoting officials of drug enforcement agencies, said the vessel, which was camouflaged as a fishing ship, had originated from the Makran coast in Pakistan.

The breakthrough came after the Sri Lankan agencies, in a similar operation on 30 August, seized about 290 kg of heroin and arrested five local suspects who were trying to smuggle the contraband into the island in a fishing trawler. The contraband had been offloaded from the foreign vessel which was later seized on 1 September. It was after a long gap that a ‘mother’ ship transporting such a huge consignment was caught. Indian officials believe the same ship was used in the past to smuggle heroin into India. According to officials, such ships are kept in international waters to evade detection. In small consignments, the drugs are transported to various destinations in trawlers.

In March, the Indian Coast Guard intercepted a Sri Lankan fishing trawler off the coast of Vizhinjam in Kerala. Over 300 kg of heroin, apart from five AK-47 rifles and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, were seized. In another case reported this July, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized about 300 kg of heroin from some containers at Nhava Sheva Port in Navi Mumbai. At the same port in August last year, the DRI had found 191 kg of heroin. Several persons, including two Customs house agents, were arrested in that case. The Indian Navy had intercepted another Sri Lankan fishing vessel in the high seas in April. It was brought to Mattancherry Wharf, Kochi, on April 19.

Subsequent searches led to the seizure of 337 kg of heroin. Officials of the the National Investigation Agency (NIA) told Media that the probe into the seizure of heroin, AK-47 rifles and ammunition off the coast of Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram has led to speculation that an international drug running and weapon trading racket is aimed at reviving in Sri Lanka the LTTE, a terrorist organization now operating from abroad.

The case relates to the 18 March interception of a boat with the contraband by the Coast Guard following an intelligence input. The mastermind behind the operation was Suresh Rajan, a former Tamil resident of Colombo living in Kundrathur, a Chennai suburb, for some time.

Rajan was arrested from Angamaly, Kerala, in August and was later taken into custody by the Tamil Nadu Q-branch for his links with LTTE groups still active in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. During searches conducted by NIA at premises linked to the accused in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, several incriminating documents, including books relating to the LTTE and several cellphones, gadgets and SIM cards were seized.

According to the officer, the 18 March incident was not an isolated case. Evidence collected from Rajan after his arrest, including those of transactions worth crores, shows that he was an international drug smuggler with active links to Pakistan-based drug runner Haji Salim, who often shuttled between Dubai, Pakistan and Iran. Rajan had a prominent role in drugs and arms trafficking to Sri Lanka through the backyard of India,” the officer said.

A Tamil Nadu intelligence officer said there was evidence that Rajan met Sri Lankan drug lord Madhush Lakshitha alias ‘Makandure Madush’, who was killed in a shootout in Colombo in October 2020. Rajan was also in touch with Salim,” said the officer.

There was evidence that Rajan and Soundarajan worked closely with individuals who are LTTE sympathizers and its reported revival mission. If drugs were to earn money, the five AK-47 rifles seized from the boats were supposedly for LTTE sleeper cells,” the officer said.

The sleuths acknowledged they cannot confirm the strength of LTTE cells. We cannot ascertain at this moment whether there already is a LTTE revival in Sri Lanka or Tamil Nadu, or if it is a group earning money in the guise of reviving the group” said an officer.

Two similar seizures of Sri Lankan boats — before and after the Vizhinjam incident — are still being probed by the NCB. In March, the Coast Guard intercepted a Sri Lankan boat off Minicoy with six crew members and seized another Sri Lankan boat off Kanyakumari in November with 120 kg of narcotics worth approximately INR 1,000 crore and five weapons.

Keeping the deadly LTTE at bay

Recent investigations into drug smuggling cases revealed that the money to be received after the sale of drugs was for funding the LTTE’s revival efforts. India extended the ban of LTTE for five more years from 2019. The banned outfit has been trying to regroup in India using sleeper cells and with the support of funds sourced through dirty money raised through drug trade.

C. Rajeev, Director, Centre for Policy and Development Studies told The Wire website that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister wanted to keep a safe distance from the pro-LTTE groups. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin wants to stay clear of the LTTE and prevent the outfit from sowing the seeds of Tamil nationalism again in the minds of these refugees. The Chief Minister’s package for the Tamil refugees is a deft political move to prevent LTTE from garnering support from these refugee colonies,” said the think-tank researcher.

Last month, Tami Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced a package of INR 317.40 crore (LKR 7,925 million) to the Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camps spread across the state. The money was for the reconstruction of the camps as well as to provide education to the children and scholarships for the postgraduate students among the refugees.

Anusha Ondaatjie, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) — Sri Lanka is turning to a veteran central banker as it seeks to bolster depleted foreign exchange reserves and service debt without seeking an international bailout. 

Ajith Nivard Cabraal, a former junior minister overseeing capital markets who led the Central Bank of Sri Lanka from 2006 until early 2015, will return as governor. Cabraal, who resigned from parliament earlier on Monday, confirmed his appointment in a phone interview. I will be concentrating on stability first, then growth,” Cabraal said. 

During his previous governor term, Cabraal steered inflation to low single-digits and held down interest rates while foreign exchange reserves grew thanks to a resurgence in tourism and economic growth with the end of the island’s civil war.

He now faces a country virtually stripped of tourism dollars due to the coronavirus, as well as lockdowns to stem the virus that have hurt domestic activity. That’s drained the South Asian island’s foreign exchange reserves, a situation that triggered S&P Global Ratings to cut the country’s outlook to negative and now risks spiraling into a crisis.

Read more: Sri Lanka Is Running Out of Money for Imports as Delta Rages 

For now, the central bank has limited the amount of foreign currency that can leave the country, as well as tightened import rules to discourage purchases of items including chocolates, wines, cosmetics and electronics. 

Sri Lanka’s depleted reserves could force more aggressive tightening of monetary policy and even a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, according to investors of the nation’s dollar bonds. Cabraal has held that IMF help is unappealing, telling the BBC last week there is no need for Sri Lanka to go to the IMF and thereby cause unnecessary pain to its lenders and investors.”

Policy Responses

Cabraal replaces Weligamage Don Lakshman, who steps down Tuesday. Lakshman said Friday, when he announced his early retirement, that the monetary authority had to step in with resources” as the pandemic created an extraordinary period of disruption, and that an excessive money supply” created in the process could be easily reversed. 

The central bank in August unexpectedly raised its policy rate, citing the role of low credit cost in a sustained increase in imports, which led to a widening trade deficit. The rate action was also to preempt the buildup of any excessive inflationary pressures, the bank said at the time.

Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange reserves rose 26% to $3.55 billion last month, after the nation converted into U.S. dollars the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights, the central bank said Friday.

The country’s forex reserves had dropped to $2.8 billion in July after it used a part to repay $1 billion of debt. That dragged the import cover to 1.8 months, compared with the desired minimum of three months. 

Courtesy The Daily Star

Sri Lanka’s Capital Alliance (CAL) has recently made a foray into Bangladesh’s brokerage business. CAL is Sri Lanka’s leading investment bank, offering integrated investment and capital market solutions, and this becomes its first overseas foray.

CAL will hold a majority stake of CAL Securities, the company said in a press release yesterday.

The company’s local shareholders include Raihan Shamsi, former CEO of Accenture Bangladesh, and Salahuddin Ahmed, managing director of M&J Group.

“We are delighted to receive formal trading rights and are thankful to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and Dhaka Stock Exchange for their support,” said Ajith Fernando, chairman of CAL Securities, Bangladesh and group CEO of CAL, Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — both classified as frontier markets — have similarities in operating capital markets.

“With our deep experience in Sri Lanka and insatiable appetite for learning and growth, we are confident that we can extend our unique approach towards markets to investors in Bangladesh as well,” Fernando said.

“Our focus on creating market-leading insights has been our key differentiator in Sri Lanka,” said Deshan Pushparajah, managing director of CAL Securities, Bangladesh and managing director for global markets and investment banking at CAL, Sri Lanka.

“We are excited to bring these unique perspectives and approach to research to Bangladesh as well.”

VIJAY SAPPNI Courtesy Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

As Sri Lanka moves closer to China in its economic ties, concerns about the Indo-Sri Lanka bilateral relationship grow, writes Vijay Sappani in the ORF. 

By Vijay Sappani, September 13, 2021

India and Sri Lanka have enjoyed a cordial and relatively stable relationship since their independence. In the post-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) era, the neighbours align over key security and economic objectives, which includes maintaining freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean region, combating the threat of terrorism, and working together towards a more prosperous South Asian neighbourhood. Yet the relationship is in need of a fresh impetus. Over the years, Sri Lanka has drifted towards China for economic support and views her as a more reliable partner in enabling domestic economic development. This has generated concern in New Delhi over the state of the bilateral relationship between the two countries, which views Beijing’s proximity to its neighbours as undermining India’s influence in the island nation.

Killing of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, as well as the cancellation of the East Container Terminal port contract to India are lingering issues that have added to these concerns. In addition, the Sri Lankan government led by the Rajapaksa family are historically known to be closer to China than India and these developments have made India and her allies worried about China’s growing clout in the Indo-Pacific waters. China, for instance, is set to commence the construction of a US $13 billion city on Sri Lanka’s seafront close to Colombo, according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal.

Therefore, despite the convergence of objectives and interests, there is an urgent need for India and Sri Lanka to carefully and deliberately reinvigorate their bilateral relationship.

CHINA’S PRE-EMINENCE A GIVEN?

Over the last few years, Chinese footprint has increased dramatically in the island nation. Sri Lanka’s embrace of China largely stems from two factors. First, Sri Lankans continue to be suspicious about India’s motives vis-a-vis the Tamil cause. Second, India’s slow bureaucratic processes that delay approvals incite suspicions of India’s commitment to Sri Lanka. Last year, the Indian government took five months to approve a loan moratorium sought by Colombo while Beijing approved an additional US $500 million loan from its development bank in no time. China’s quicker decision making, and its far larger assistance makes them a more attractive partner.

Yet, this economic interaction with China has not been without ramifications for Colombo. Sri Lanka has been forced into a debt trap, and has had to sell its strategic assets though debt-equity swaps leading to creation of zones where its own sovereignty has been negated. Overtime, this is likely to force Sri Lanka to accord higher priority to diversity and balance in its foreign policy and international relations.

INDIA’S STRENGTHS

In education, healthcare, and tourism, India is a far stronger partner than China.  Under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Scheme and the Colombo Plan, Sri Lankan nationals can benefit from 400 slots for short- and medium-term training courses in a variety of technical and professional disciplines. Since 2017, students from the island nation can also appear for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and IIT JEE (Advanced) exams.

India can build on these educational exchanges by establishing an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT in Sri Lanka’s planned education zone. In the country’s northeast, India can set up technical and English language training centres like the Sri Lanka-India Centre for English Language Training (SLICELT) in Kandy. In addition, India and Sri Lanka  should look forward to extensive cooperation in pharmaceutical manufacturing, as announced in the joint statement issued during Jaishankar’s visit earlier this year.

LEVERAGING INDIA’S SOFT POWER

In the technology sector, India could create job opportunities by expanding the presence of its information technology companies in Sri Lanka. These organisations can create thousands of direct and indirect jobs and boost the island nation’s service economy—something that was recognised by both sides during Jaishankar’s visit. Aside from a special economic zone (SEZ) for pharmaceuticals, the two sides could also look into similar provisions for information technology and education, among other sectors.

As Sri Lanka embarks on the arduous project of drafting a constitution, India can lend its own experience in managing minority rights and diverse populations. It can help Sri Lanka draft policies ensuring linguistic and cultural freedom, access to grievance redressal, and reservation in representative bodies.

Last, India and Sri Lanka must look for ways to boost people-to-people contacts. The island nation’s greatest number of tourists come from India, but the scope of religious tourism is yet to be explored. Through Prime Minister Modi’s US $15 million grant for promotion of Buddhist ties with Sri Lanka announced last year, the two countries can look to create a Buddhism knowledge and tourism corridor. Finally, the grandeur and prevalence of cricket in both countries ought to be leveraged. Expanding the Indian Premiere League (IPL) to Sri Lanka in partnership with Lanka Premier League (LPL) will encourage people-to-people contact and boost tourism.

Cooperation in these sectors does not diminish concerns on issues where the two neighbours might not align: Tamil minority rights and China’s importance in Sri Lanka’s economy. However, history, cultural closeness and the constraints of geography poise India and Sri Lanka as natural and permanent partners to tide over these issues and explore synergies in new avenues to further their respective economic and developmental aspirations jointly.

Vijay Sappani is on the board of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

by Dennis Mombauer  Courtesy Mongabay

• Seaweed farming is an increasingly important part of the global food system and provides a range of benefits, including sustainable coastal livelihoods and economic diversification, food production, export revenue, climate change mitigation and adaptation, pollution control, and organic fertilizer.
• Sri Lanka used to have a prominent seaweed market in the 1930s, but today there’s only limited, small-scale seaweed farming in the country, mostly without processing or value addition.
• With greater investments of money, technology, and know-how, Sri Lanka could offer the perfect location to cultivate seaweed either on its own or as integrated mariculture, for example with shrimps, mollusks, or sea cucumbers, experts say.
• Farming seaweed in Sri Lanka could be a viable and highly beneficial part of expanding the blue economy if initial challenges are overcome and coastal communities engaged with support, guidance, technology, and quality control, experts say.

COLOMBO — In its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, Sri Lanka is home to an abundance of coastal and marine resources. And while national policies and development visions already aim toward a blue economy, much of this natural wealth is currently not being used in a sustainable way or to its full potential, experts say.

Coastal fishing communities are vulnerable,” says Ruchira Cumaranatunga, a senior professor in the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture at the University of Ruhuna. There is a need to create or enhance alternative livelihoods in coastal areas of Sri Lanka. While helping coastal fishermen to sustain their fishery activities, they should be provided with additional sources of income. The best method for this would be to promote small- and medium-sized enterprises based on fish processing, utilization of fishery waste or trash fish, and seaweed farming. Women and school dropouts in fisher families could be involved in these SMEs.”

The benefits of seaweed

Seaweed farming in particular offers a pathway for developing the blue economy and creating sustainable livelihoods, proponents say. Globally, seaweed aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing components of food production, with 99% of production taking place in Asia. If the sector is scaled up further, it could generate 500 million metric tons dry weight by 2050 and completely replace fishmeal and fish oil in animal feed, provide protein for humans, and save vast amounts of land and freshwater. There are many other ways in which seaweed is beneficial for humans, the environment, and the climate.

The commercially valuable types of seaweeds are species of algae that generally fall into three groups: green algae (Chlorophyta spp.), red algae (Rhodophyta spp,), and brown algae (Phaeophyta spp.). The different species of seaweed have many uses, and farming them has a small environmental footprint, as they do not significantly alter the existing coastal environment or require fertilizer input, freshwater resources, or medicines.

Seaweed species like Ulva lactuca [sea lettuce], Caulerpa racemosa, or Caulerpa lentillifera [sea grapes] are popular delicacies,” says Isuru U. Kariyawasam, a lecturer in the Department of Botany of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. In addition, chemicals extracted from seaweeds can be widely used as nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, UV blockers, anti-cancer compounds, and many other applications.”

Dilanthi Koralagama, a senior lecturer at the University of Ruhuna, says seaweed farming could provide inputs for the organic fertilizer industry as well. As some seaweeds and microalgae contain comparatively high percentages of nitrogen,” she says, issues related to nitrogen content in organic manure can be solved up to an extent, which is not possible using terrestrial flora and fodder alone.”

Seaweed can be grown rapidly and vertically, which makes efficient use of available water space and provides an opportunity to diversify the coastal blue economy. However, providing a sustainable source of income and employment for coastal communities is only one of the many benefits and opportunities that seaweed could provide.

Seaweed farming can provide alternative livelihoods,” says Sarath Jayanatha, research officer at the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA). Income generation is a major output of seaweed farming, but if it can be initiated on larger scales, seaweed could also be important to mitigate climate change.”

Seaweed is highly versatile and useful when it comes to addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. On one hand, seaweed stores carbon dioxide, and can be used for biofuel generation, replacing inorganic fertilizer, or lowering methane emissions as cattle feed. On the other hand, seaweed is an effective adaptation tool that can reduce wave energy and protect shorelines, improve water quality, and alleviate the local effects of ocean acidification and oxygen loss.

Furthermore, seaweed can be used to clean up pollution in the marine and coastal environment by removing agricultural nutrient pollution. Such pollution is difficult to remove once it has entered the water, and seaweed is one of the few effective methods to address it.

Seaweed farming in Sri Lanka

Currently, seaweed farming is only done on a small scale in Sri Lanka,” Cumaranatunga says. The seaweed is dried and exported without any value addition. Sri Lanka has a lot of living and non-living resources in the coastal belt, but at the moment, they are extracted and sold to other countries. Value addition within Sri Lanka could be a hugely important topic.”

Sri Lanka’s coastline abounds with seaweed species and habitats, for example along the southwest coast from Ambalangoda to Galle, or along the northern coastline near Jaffna, Palk Strait, and the Gulf of Mannar.

Seaweed farming or cultivation is a cheap, low-technology practice that requires little input and has been practiced in many Asian countries for decades or centuries,” Kariyawasam says. However, in Sri Lanka, it is still in its infancy. We have many sheltered bays, lagoons and estuaries that could be used, but so far, no large-scale attempts have been made to establish seaweed mariculture in the country.”

If such large-scale attempts would be made and seaweed farming enhanced alongside the coastal sector and its blue economy, Kariyawasam says, it opens up a future of many possibilities: Integrated Multitrophic Mariculture (IMM) systems are a very effective and sustainable method to culture seaweeds. Seaweed could be farmed in polycultures with shrimps and molluscs and even help to address problems of aquatic pollution and effluent water treatment for existing shrimp farms. Seaweed mariculture could also be integrated with sea cucumber farming to open up novel avenues for sustainable mariculture systems.”

Koralagama highlights the economic potential: Some seaweed species provide edible protein and are recommended as a dietary supplement. Growing such seaweeds for export could bring foreign exchange into the country, as there is already a well-established market in developing countries.”

Challenges and perspectives for Sri Lanka

Given all these benefits and applications, what is the potential for seaweed farming in Sri Lanka? If it is indeed a viable source of livelihoods that offers a range of co-benefits, why has it not been adopted at a larger scale yet?

Jayanatha from NARA says many companies are trying to get subsidies through seaweed projects. Therefore, many of these companies are not willing to invest their own money,” he adds.

It is important to note that seaweed farming requires sufficient capital and proper technical know-how to be set up,” Koralagama says. Therefore, support from the private sector is essential to scale up the seaweed industry in Sri Lanka.”

Even with financial support, however, there are still barriers and challenges that have to be overcome, Kariyawasam said. Some of the constraints to build a strong seaweed industry in Sri Lanka are lack of awareness and knowledge, lack of technology dissemination, lack of seed stocks, personal attitudes and lack of motivation among fishing communities, environmental fluctuations, and the short, seasonal lifecycles of certain seaweed species. Sri Lanka had a solid seaweed market in the 1930s, but it was lost due to adulterations done by our people. Therefore, it is very important to make high export-quality stocks when improving the seaweed industry in Sri Lanka.”

The scope to expand seaweed aquaculture is also limited by the availability of suitable areas, competition for these areas with other uses, the availability of engineering systems capable of coping with rough sea conditions, and market demand for seaweed products.

As the world increasingly becomes aware of the potential of a sustainable blue economy, investing in seaweed could provide many benefits for Sri Lanka, the experts say. In addition to providing a relatively cheap and low-technology option for economic diversification of coastal communities, they point out, seaweed farming also offers a range of use cases as well as serious co-benefits related to climate change mitigation, resilience, environmental protection, and pollution cleanup.

Banner image of seaweed on the beach near Mannar in northern Sri Lanka, courtesy of Dilanthi Koralagama.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Former State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal has been appointed as the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka by the President with effect from September 15, Presidential Media Division said.

Courtesy Adaderana

The total number of people who fell victim to COVID-19 infection in Sri Lanka soared yet again as 135 more fatalities were confirmed by the Director-General of Health Services on Sunday (September 13).

The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 11,431.

According to the data released by the Department of Government Information, the latest victims include 71 males and 64 females.

As many as 109 deaths were reported among elderly people who are aged above 60 years.

In addition, 26 individuals aged between 30-59 years have also succumbed to the virus infection.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry reports that another 805 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, moving the daily total of new cases to 2,560.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 488,482.

As many as 414,295 recoveries and 11,431 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The Epidemiology Unit’s data showed that 62,758 active cases are currently under medical care.