Courtesy Adaderana

The family of a Sri Lankan woman who died in March following mistreatment at an immigration center visited the immigration agency Friday to seek the full disclosure of two weeks’ worth of security camera footage showing her final days.

The family members of Ratnayake Liyanage Wishma Sandamali, 33, were only able to see about half of a two-hour edited version of the footage in August due to its shocking content. They also demanded that the Immigration Services Agency accept the attendance of their lawyer while they watch it.

The agency was prepared to show the remaining part of the footage to the family on Friday, but the family refused to watch it as their request to be accompanied by their lawyer was turned down.

Wishma’s younger sister, Wayomi, 28, said the response of the agency was regrettable.

Shoichi Ibusuki, the lawyer for the family, said the agency had medical staff on call in case the family members felt unwell while watching the video but that they did not allow his attendance.

The agency does not understand the feelings of the bereaved family,” he said.

After seeing a portion of the video for the first time on Aug. 12, the younger sisters of Wishma, who died on March 6 while in custody, said their sibling had been treated like a dog.”

Selected parts of the video showing the last days of Wishma included scenes of her talking with other detainees and being mocked by immigration officers, the family said.

Wishma was taken to the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau in August 2020 after it was found her visa had expired. She had complained of stomach pain and other symptoms from mid-January and applied for provisional release for hospital treatment but was refused.

Wishma’s other younger sister, Poornima, said at a news conference in August that Wishma could have been cured if they had hospitalized her temporarily.”

Wayomi said, Our sister was murdered. Anyone could see that her condition was deteriorating. She was not treated like a human being. We want to see the whole video, not just a part of it.”

The agency’s final report on the death, released in August, said the Nagoya immigration facility failed to provide appropriate medical care, though the probe could not determine the cause of her death.

The agency had at first refused to disclose the footage to the family, citing security, but changed its policy after facing criticism.

An online petition launched by Wishma’s family and supporters in July to press the government to release the full video footage collected over 50,000 signatures and was handed to an agency official the following month. The petition is ongoing and the supporters plan to submit additional signatures.

As of Friday afternoon, more than 76,000 people had signed the petition.

A university graduate and English teacher in her home country, Wishma entered Japan in June 2017 on a student visa planning to teach English to children, according to her family, supporters and the Justice Ministry.

Source: Japan Times
-Agencies

Courtesy Adaderana

The ongoing island-wide quarantine curfew orders will stay in effect for another week, the Cabinet Spokesman, Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella announced today.

Accordingly, the restrictions will be effective until 4.00 a.m. on September 21 (Tuesday).

The decision to further extend the quarantine curfew was taken during the meeting of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control convened under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa this morning (Sep. 10).

With COVID-19 figures steadily declining, the government is confident that Sri Lanka will once again be able to reopen without risk,” the health minister said in a tweet.

He appealed to the members of the public to adhere to health regulations and to use the locked-down period to get themselves vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.

A ten-day island-wide quarantine curfew was first imposed on August 20, however, the restrictions were rolled over twice in a bid to mitigate the spread of the virus and to ramp up the vaccination process.

Connor Sephton, news reporter  Courtesy Sky News

Booster jabs ‘set for go-ahead next week’ – but vaccine creator says not everyone may need them

Booster vaccines are reportedly set to be given the go-ahead next week, despite a professor who helped develop the AstraZeneca jab warning that a mass campaign may not be necessary.

© Reuters Data reportedly suggests that an additional Pfizer dose, months after a second vaccine is given, significantly boosts the body’s immune response to coronavirus

According to The Times, data suggests that an additional Pfizer dose, months after a second vaccine is given, significantly boosts the body’s immune response to coronavirus.

A positive benefit was seen among those who had previously been given Pfizer or AstraZeneca jabs too, indicating that vaccines could be mixed and matched.

However, the newspaper said that millions of older Britons may only receive a third jab later this autumn to ensure they have maximum protection over the winter.

Data about the effectiveness of booster vaccines was reportedly delivered to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation yesterday.

Sky’s chief political correspondent Jon Craig said the government is determined to press ahead with booster jabs, but ministers are waiting to receive final recommendations.

He added: “The prime minister is desperate to avoid having to bring in lockdown measures in the autumn, hence he wants to go ahead with the booster jabs for as many people as possible, flu jabs, and possibly – if he can get it through the House of Commons – COVID passports as well.

But speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert said immunity is “lasting well” for most people who have been double jabbed, and she suggested surplus doses should instead be redirected to countries where vaccination rates are low.

Dame Sarah, who led the development of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, said the elderly and people with weakened immune systems should be in line for a third jab, but told the newspaper: “I don’t think we need to boost everybody.”

She added: “As the virus spreads between people, it mutates and adapts and evolves, like the Delta variant.

“With these outbreaks, we want to stop that as quickly as possible.”

Dame Sarah also called on the UK to “do better” in supporting countries where a small percentage of the population have received a jab – adding that “the first dose has the most impact

The latest government figures show 48,344,566 people in the UK have now received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and 43,708,906 have had their second.

Her remarks echo those of former prime minister Gordon Brown, who told Sky News on Sunday that COVID-19 will “come back to haunt us” if jabs aren’t distributed to developing economies.

Mr Brown warned that new variants like Delta could emerge and potentially hurt double-jabbed Britons unless vaccination rates in Africa improve.

He added: “We are doing the worst possible thing when it comes to making the world safer against COVID. If we leave these people unprotected, if it spreads uninhibited, it will come back to us.”

By Rohana R. Wasala

Ref. ‘Compulsory training to instil discipline, not jeopardise freedom of choice’ by Rear Admiral (Rtd) Dr Sarath Weerasekera/The Island/September 4, 2021. It is a response to an earlier opinion article of mine under the title ‘Candour without caution dangerous naivety’ (July 29, 2021). Thank you, Dr Weerasekera, for your lavish compliment ‘erudite academic’, which I don’t think I deserve, but I sincerely appreciate your generous sentiments regarding me. I have similar thoughts about you. I am very sincere when I say this.

There is absolutely no disagreement between you and me about the subject you are broaching.  The themes announced in the titles ‘Compulsory training to instil discipline, not jeopardise freedom of choice’ and ‘Candour without caution dangerous naivety’ are not contradictory, but complementary.  

I decided to write this after reading Dr Weerasekera’s piece only to  state two things: 1) that he seems to have misread my Candour without caution….” article, and 2) that he has inadvertently misquoted me at the beginning of his piece, both not surprising, given the busy circumstances he must cope up with as Minister of Public Security.

To take the second point first, here is Dr Weerasekera’s obviously unintended misquote: 

He has written: Wasala at the outset says not so arbitrarily, not so hastily” and continues to ask isn’t it more urgent to look after the discipline of minority Police officers who act in ways unbecoming of their profession?”, whereas what I actually wrote was: ‘But, anent this idea of his, I’d say in all humility: Not so arbitrarily! Not so hastily!” However, as education is not his responsibility, the Public Security Minister may be making an implicit suggestion to his cabinet colleague who is in charge of that subject. Isn’t it more urgent for the well meaning minister to look after the discipline of  the minority of police officers who sometimes act in ways unbecoming of their profession, by getting the police hierarchy to enforce discipline on those few of their subordinates?’. I need not dwell too long on the potentially harmful implications of this faux pas on the part of Dr Weerasekera. His …..minority Police officers who…..” and my the minority of police officers who…..” imply two different things.

To anyone comparing the two texts above (Dr Weerasekera’s and mine) the following will be instantly clear: I didn’t mean to reprimand Dr Weerasekera by cautioning him in a friendly spirit with the words Not so arbitrarily! Not so hastily!”. It appears to me that he sometimes acts arbitrarily and hastily because he is direct and honest in asserting what he believes to be the truth in any situation. I always admire him as a patriotic war hero, an honest politician, and an honourable upright human being. Ironically, he has a combination of good qualities that is likely to make him vulnerable in the cut-throat world of politics. 

As the famed English playwright and poet William Shakespeare said To be direct and honest is not safe” (Othello) in a world where There is no trust, no faith, no honesty in men; all perjured, all forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers” (Romeo and Juliet). These pieces of wisdom are easily applicable to the political theatre in any country including Sri Lanka where the struggle for power is an immorally amoral, no-holds-barred contest. Honest men and women in politics, beware! be cautious! That’s all I tried to say in my opinion piece of July 29, 2021.

In the article that Dr Weerasekera is responding to, I explained my reasons why I believe that young people everywhere are generally uncorrupted, creative and sensitive to ethical direction. I am talking about the majority of young people, not the minority who display traits of delinquency and criminality, for which the adult society is generally responsible. It is more often than not the doings of the few young miscreants that hog the limelight in the media. That is also something rotten with the adult world.

If some of the young act in ways that reflect a negative standard of behaviour, then the adults must be held accountable for that. It is true that daily we hear in the media about delinquency among the youth. But what is the percentage of delinquents? Usually, delinquency among children and young adults is not without its causes, which often have no connection with any inborn moral depravity among them. It is often an acquired trait, something learned from corrupt adults. There is a grave lack of adult leadership in our country. Often, those who should model good behaviour for the young people to learn from, fail them. There are many youth betrayers in the country, many more of them than there ever were in the past. The point is clear enough, I think. I need not suggest examples.

But I can’t help pointing at one example. Look at how some of our teachers (under the aegis of trade unionism) are behaving like zombies in obedience to the rash dictates of their equally mindless leaders who don’t seem to have had the benefit of even a smattering of education or culture. How unfortunate it is that a nation has no option but to entrust their innocent young to their care!

Incidentally, I watched a social media video of a group of striking teachers trying to get an audience with the Most Venerable Mahanayake Theras in Kandy a couple of days ago.  The Nayake monks refused to see them. They were only allowed to hand over a petition that they had with them to the security officers at the gate in both places. For once the Most Venerable Mahanayakes were asserting their power of unquestionable leadership. Then the teacher delegates called on the Venerable Gatembe Hamuduruvo: He was blunt as usual. This is roughly what he said: Your pay anomaly is a question that has been dragging on for over twenty-four years  passing on from government to government. We got Gotabaya Mahattaya elected as President because there is no one else for the job. We trust him. He will do whatever he can do to resolve your problem. But these are trying times, especially with this ravaging Corona pandemic. Not only our country, but the whole world is in dire straits. You are doing something that you should not be doing; that is, instead of doing what you can do to help control the pandemic, you are engaging in trade union activity”. (One could say that the plain-spoken prelate spoke for all the monks.) The teachers showed agreement with the monk, paid him obeisance, and left the place. 

I am not against the idea of providing some sort of mandatory personality and leadership development training to our youth comparable to what the Higher Education Ministry conducted in May 2011 for new university students as a kind of initiation for them prior to the beginning of their academic lectures. (I mentioned this in my ‘Candour without caution….’article.). Some 20,000 fresh university students participated in the training at 28 centres across the island. I’d wholeheartedly support such a programme for young people above 18 as Dr Weerasekera proposes, be it ‘military’ or not. (‘Military’ in this context may not be politically correct, though it is no harm in reality. Shouldn’t we be mindful of that?) But it must be introduced after wide consultation and meticulous planning. Discipline is something that cannot be imposed on thinking people, be they young or old. What we can do is to design a course of meaningful physical and mental activities for them to engage in that induce discipline in them on the lines of the 2011 leadership programme. However, it is good to remember that, in the information saturated world of today, packaging and marketing aspects cannot be neglected even when perfectly good things are offered for popular consumption.

Dr.Preethi Rajapakse 

Your Excellency the High Commissioner for NZ in SL

In the first place, I was shocked by the event and my sympathies go to the injured and their friends and relatives.

However, I was disappointed by the publicity following the incident.

Immediately after the incident, the PM of NZ went on TV to say that the assailant was a Sri Lanka nationals. It is unfortunate that she did not emphasize that he had been residing in NZ for 10-11 years and that he had come to NZ as a student

Following the incident, the family of the assassin issued a statement I believe to Reuter. In that statement they were magnanimous. They said they had been on a trip to NZ and they admired your country and the people of N Z. 

They also said  that in several telephone conversations the alleged assassin  seemed to be disturbed and that his family members in this country tried to dissuade him from his recently acquired radical views 

It is clear at least to me that he was indoctrinated or radicalized during his stay in NZ

The main purpose of my letter is to point out to the authorities in NZ that there may be other cells in NZ waiting to indoctrinate and radicalize inexperienced and naive students who come to your country. 

I hope steps could be taken to find out how this student was indoctrinated since coming to NZ and to prevent such occurrences in the future 

Yours sincerely 

Dr.Preethi Rajapakse 

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය පාර්ලිමේන්තු කටයුතු ලේකම් ධුරයට හිටපු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී උදිත් ලොකුබණ්ඩාර මහතා පත් කර තිබේ.

උදිත් ලොකුබණ්ඩාර මහතා ඊට අදාළ පත්වීම් ලිපිය ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ අතින් අද (09) දින පෙරවරුවේ අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී ලබා ගත්තේය.

උදිත් සංජය ලොකුබණ්ඩාර මහතා කෘතහස්ත දේශපාලඥයකු වූ විජමු ලොකුබණ්ඩාර මහතාගේ දෙටු පුත්‍රයාය. බදුල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කය නියෝජනය කරමින් 2009 වර්ෂයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට තේරී පත්වූ උදිත් ලොකුබණ්ඩාර මහතා 2015 වර්ෂය දක්වා 7වැනි පාර්ලිමේන්තුව නියෝජනය කළේය.

අමාත්‍යාංශ උපදේශක කාරක සභා රැසක නියෝජිතයකු ලෙස කටයුතු කළ උදිත් ලොකුබණ්ඩාර මහතා කලක් රාජ්‍ය ආරක්ෂක හා නාගරික සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යාංශයේ අධීක්ෂණ මන්ත්‍රීවරයා ලෙස ද කටයුතු කළේය.

2015 මැතිවරණයෙන් පසුව පස්වැනි විධායක ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ පෞද්ගලික ලේකම් වශයෙන් ද සේවය කළ ඒ මහතා නුගේගොඩ ලයිසියම් ජාත්‍යන්තර පාසලේ ආදි ශිෂ්‍යයෙකි.

ලන්ඩන් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ ආර්ථික විද්‍යාව හැදෑරූ උදිත් ලොකුබණ්ඩාර මහතා ලන්ඩන් වාණිජ මණ්ඩලයේ අලෙවිකරණ ඩිප්ලෝමාව සහ වරලත් අලෙවි කළමනාකරණ වෘත්තියවේදියෙකු ලෙස ද කටයුතු කර ඇත.

තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යංශය, සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධීකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය, ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණ හා ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශය.

දිවයිනපුරා සිදුවන සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිවල වත්මන් ප්‍රගතිය නිරීක්ෂණය කිරීමේ කටයුතු  අද (09) දින යාපනය දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙන් ආරම්භ කරමින් සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධීකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මේ බව පැවසීය.

පවතින වසංගත තත්ත්වය සාර්ථකව පාලනය කරන අතර ම අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ සෞභාග්‍යයේ දැක්ම ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනයෙන් ඉදිරිපත් කළ මෙරට සංවර්ධන වැඩපිළිවෙල යටතේ දිවයින පුරා සංවර්ධන යෝජනා ක්‍රම රැසක් ක්‍රියාත්මක වේ.

එම සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිවල ප්‍රගතිය සොයාබැලීම සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධීකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යවරයා වශයෙන් අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ  ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් සිදුවේ.

ඒ අනුව, අද දින යාපනය දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ පහත සඳහන් ස්ථානවල ක්‍රියාත්මක වන සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිවල වත්මන් ප්‍රගතිය අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ නිරීක්ෂණයට ලක්විය.

එහිදී අමාත්‍යවරයා මෙසේ ද කීය.

අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ හා අගමැතිතුමාගේ උපදෙස් හා මගපෙන්වීම අනුව කොවිඩ් වසංගතය පාලනයට සෞඛ්‍ය විශේෂඥයන් හා සියලුම සෞඛ්‍ය අංශ සමග එක්ව විශාල වැඩපිළිවෙලක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනු ලබනවා.

ඒ අනුව, රට තුළ කොරෝනා වසංගත තත්ත්වය සාර්ථකව පාලනය කරමින් දිවයිනපුරා දිනකට අවම වශයෙන් එන්නත්කරණ මධ්‍යස්ථාන 400 කදී පමණ එන්නත්කරණය කිරීමේ වැඩසටහන් ඉතාමත් ම සාර්ථකව ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙනවා.

ලෝකය විශ්වාස කරන අන්දමට කොරෝනා වසංගතයට එන්නත්කරණය සිදුකොට එහි ව්‍යාප්තිය පාලනය කර සෞභාග්‍යයේ දැක්ම හරහා ලබාදුන් රටේ සංවර්ධන හා ආර්ථික සංවර්ධන සැලැස්ම ඉදිරියට රැගෙන යන්න අපි කටයුතු කරනවා.

මේ වනවිටත් මහා පරිමාණයේ සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘති 280කට වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක් සහ ග්‍රාමීය මට්ටමින් කුඩා පරිමාණයේ සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘති 25,000කට වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක් සෑම අමාත්‍යාංශයකින් ම පළාත් පාලන ආයතන දක්වා ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙනවා.

දිවයිනපුරා සිදුවන එම සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිවල ප්‍රගතිය අධීක්ෂණය කිරීම අද යාපනය දිස්ත්‍රික්කය තුළ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන ව්‍යාපෘති අධීක්ෂණයෙන් ආරම්භ කරනවා.

ඒ අනුව, යාපනය දිස්ත්‍රික්කය තුළ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘති සිදුවන ආකාරය, ඒවායේ අඩුපාඩු සහ ප්‍රමාද දෝෂයන් ඇත්නම් හඳුනාගෙන එම ව්‍යාපෘති කඩිමින් අවසන් කිරිමට කටයුතු කරනවා.

රටේ ජනතාවට අතිගරු ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාත් ආණ්ඩුවත් ලබාදුන් එම සංවර්ධනීය බලාපොරොත්තුව යථාර්ථයක් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය වැඩපිළිවෙල ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනවා.

ඉදිරි කාලසීමාව තුළ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීතුමන්ලා ගරු කැබිනට් අමාත්‍යවරු සහ රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන්ගේ ආශිර්වාදයෙන් රට ආර්ථික වශයෙන් ශක්තිමත් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය ව්‍යාපෘති රාශියක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනවා.

ඒවගේ ම සෑම සංවර්ධන යෝජනා ක්‍රමයක් ම කඩිනමින් සහ නිවැරදිව ක්‍රියාත්මක වීම සහ නියමිත ප්‍රමිතියෙන් හා නියමිත කාලවකවානුවල දී එම ව්‍යාපෘති අවසන් කිරීම පිළිබඳව අධීක්ෂණය කරමින් ගමේ ජනතාවගේ බලාපොරොත්තු ඉටුකරනවා.

දෙවුන්දර තුඩුවේ සිට පේදුරුතුඩුව දක්වා එම සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘති අද අපේ රටේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙනවා.

යාපනය දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ මේ වනවිටත් එන්නත්කරණ වැඩසටහන්වල පළමු දෙවන මාත්‍රා ලබාදීම  සහ තරුණ ප්‍රජාවේ එන්නත්කරණ කටයුතු සිදුවෙනවා.  

සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය දෙනු ලබන උපදෙස් පිළිපදින්න. ඒ අනුව නව සාමාන්‍යකරණයත් සමග කටයුතු කරන්න යැයි මා යාපනයේ දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ ජනතාවගෙනුත් ඉල්ලනවා.

මේ රට ආර්ථික වශයෙන් ශක්තිමත් කරන්න අපි රටක් ජාතියක් ලෙස එකට එක්වෙමු යැයි එහිදී අමාත්‍යවරයා සියලුදෙනාට ආරාධනා කර සිටියේය.

අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය භාණ්ඩ මිල ඉහළ යාම පිළිබඳව එහිදී මාධ්‍යවේදීන් ඇසූ ප්‍රශ්නවලට අමාත්‍යවරයා  මෙසේ පිලිතුරු ලබාදුන්නේය.

අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය භාණ්ඩවල මිල පාලනය සඳහාත්  යම්කිසි කෙනෙක් භාණ්ඩ සගවාගෙන සිටී නම් ඒ පිළිබඳව දැඩිව නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කර පාරිභෝගිකයාගේ අයිතිය තහවුරු කරන ලෙසත් අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමා විශේෂයෙන් බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන ඇමතිතුමාට උපදෙස් ලබාදී තිබෙනවා.

ඒ වගේම දේශීය කෘෂිකර්මාන්තය වගේම දේශීය නිෂ්පාදන හා ව්‍යාපාරිකයන් අද ශක්තිමත් වී තිබෙනවා.

මේ තුළ ඉදිරි කාලසීමාවේ දී අපේ රටේ දේශීය ආර්ථිකය ශක්තිමත් කළ හැකි බවට අපි විශ්වාස කරනවා.

කෙනෙක් හිතා මතා  අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය භාණ්ඩවල මිල වැඩි කරනවා නම් ඊට විරුද්ධව තරාතිරම නොබලා නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට ආණ්ඩුව කටයුතු කරනවා.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් වන අංගජන් රාමනාදන්, සුරේන් රාඝවන් යන මහත්වරුන් සහ යාපනය දිස්ත්‍රික් දිසාපති රාගවන් මහතා ඇතුළු නිලධාරී මහත්ම මහත්මීහු පිරිසක් සහභාගි වූහ.

මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය,

තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යංශය, සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධීකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය, ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණ හා ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශය.

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM, Spokesperson, United Sri Lanka Assn

It is now clear that the Aukland Supermarket terrorist’  heinous acts  had all to do with his being radicalised by ISIS ideology and nothing to do with his Sri Lankan origins. Reference to this only unfairly tarnishes those of Sri Lankan origin and exposes them to their consequence.New information may suggest that he has had brushes with the law in Sri Lanka , before coming to NZ in 2011, possibly from Tamil Tiger radicalisation., These he appears to have distorted  to get NZ refugee status in 2013 that was subsequently revoked.

The struggles  that NZ law enforcement had to contain him gives an insight into the  similar challenges the Sri Lankan law enforcement may have faced with him before 2011.The need to tighten the terrorism prevention legislation in NZ also gives an insight into the wisdom of similar actions Sri Lanka took many years earlier in the face Tamil Tiger radicalisation. These  have been heavily criticised by human rights groups and some western governments, This terrorist has exposed the lack of wisdom  with such criticism .

Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM
Spokesperson,
United Sri Lanka Assn

තිසර සමල් – අනුරාධපුර

පුත්තලම මූලික රෝහලට ඇතුළත් කරන කොවිඩ් රෝගීන්ට ඔක්ෂිජන් ප්‍රථිකාර ලබා දීම සඳහා, වින්ඩ් ෆෝර්ස් (WIND FORCE PLC) බලශක්ති  ආයතනයේ ප්‍රජා සත්කාර වැඩසහනක් යටතේ ඇඳන් 16 කින් සමන්විත කොවිඩ් ප්‍රථිකාර ඒකකයක් සහ ඒ සඳහා අවශ්‍යය උපකරණ පරිත්‍යාග කිරීම රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් සිදු කෙරිණි.

වින්ඩ් ෆෝර්ස් (WIND FORCE PLC) බලශක්ති  ආයතනය මගින් පුත්තලම දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ  සෙගුවන්තිවු හා විදාතමුනෙයි ගම්මාන කේන්ද්‍ර කර ගනිමින් සුළං බලාගාරයක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනු ලබයි.එම ආයතනය මගින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන ප්‍රජා සත්කාරයක් ලෙස පුත්තලම මූලික රෝහලේ පැරණි වාට්ටුවක් නවීකරණය කර කොවිඩ් රෝගීන්ට ඔක්සිජන් ප්‍රථිකාර සිදු කිරීම සඳහා  ඇඳන් 16 කින් සමන්වි කොවිඩ් ප්‍රථිකාර ඒකකයක් , ඒ සඳහා අවශ්‍යය සෞඛ්‍ය උපකරණ හා රෝගීන්ගේ පරිහරණය වෙනුවෙන් රූපවාහිනි යන්ත්‍රයක්ද  රෝහල වෙත පරිත්‍යාග කිරීම මෙසෙ සිදු කෙරිණි.මේ සඳහා එම ආයතනය රුපියල් ලක්ෂ 15 කට ආසන්න මුදලක් වැය කර ඇත.

පුත්තලම මූලික රෝහලේ රෝහල් අධ්‍යක්ෂ අර්ජුන දුෂ්යන්ත මහතා,

අපේ රෝහලට කොවිඩ් රෝගීන් පැමිණීමේ වැඩිවීමත් සමඟම අපිට දැඩි අවශ්‍යතාවක් තිබුණා කොවිඩ් රෝගීන්ට ඔක්සිජන් ප්‍රථිකාර සඳහා ස්ථානයක් වෙන් කර ගැනීමට, මේ අවස්ථාවේදී අපේ තිබුණ ස්වසන රෝග පිළිබඳ වාට්ටුවෙන් කොටසක් කොවිඩ් ප්‍රථිකාර සඳහා වෙන් කරලා ඇඳන් 16 කින් සමන්විත අංග සම්පූර්ණ වාට්ටුවක් නිම කරලා ලබා දීම සම්බන්ධව ස්තූති වන්ත වෙනවා.

එහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ සූර්ය බල සුළං හා ජල විදුලි ජනන සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක මහතා,

ඉතාමත් සතුටු වෙනවා වින්ඩ් පෝර්ස් ආයතනය විසින් මේ රෝහලේ විශාල අඩුවක් වෙලා තිබුණ අඩුපාඩු රාශ්‍රියක් සඳහා සහය ලබා දීලා තියෙනවා, පුනර්ජනනීය බලශක්ති අමාත්‍යංශය විදිහට අපි සතුටු වෙනවා අපේ රටේම ව්‍යාපාරික ආයතනයක් ලෙස, ව්‍යාපාරයක් කරන ගමන් අපේ රටේ ජනතාවට උදව්වක් අවශ්‍යම  වෙලා තියෙන මොහොතේ විශේෂයෙන්ම සෞඛ්‍ය පැත්තෙන් අපි හැමෝම අසරණ වෙලා ඉන්න වෙලාවක මේ වගේ ආයතනයක් තමන්ගේ ලාභයෙන් කොටසක් ඒ වෙනුවෙන් කැපකිරීම පිළිබඳව මමත් විශේෂ ස්තූතියක් පුද කරනවා.ඒ වගේම රටක් විදිහට අපි හැමෝම නැගිටින්න අවශ්‍යය වෙලාවක් මේක, කාගේ අඩුපාඩුවද ? කාගේ හැකියාවද? කාගේ දක්ෂතාවයද ? කියන එක නෙමෙයි.  ලෝකයම මේ රෝගයෙන් දුක් විදින වෙලාවක රටක් විදිහට අපි නැගිටින්න අවශ්‍යයි. ඒ සඳහා වෛද්‍යවරුන්ද, දේශපාලඥයෝද, ව්‍යාපාරිකයෝද, අපි හැමෝම මේ වගේ එකට එකතු වෙලා රටක් නැගිට්ටවන්න හදන එක තමයි හොඳම දේ, ඉදිරියටත් මේ කොරෝනා වසංගතය ඉවර වෙනකල් මේ තියෙන එකමුතුව, මේ තියෙන සමඟිය, මේ නැගිටින්න හදන උත්සහය තවත් ශක්තිමත් කරන්න අපි අත්වැල් බැඳගමු යැයි පැවසීය.

පුත්තලම් දිස්ත්‍රික් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී චින්තක මායාදුන්නේ,

විශේෂයෙන්ම මේ කොවිඩ් වසංගතය රටෙන් හා ලෝකයෙන්ම තුරන් කරන්න අවස්ථාවක් උදා කර ගන්න තමන්ගේ දායකත්වය ලබා දීම පිළිබඳව වින්ඩ් ෆෝර්ස් ආයතනයට ස්තූති වන්ත වෙනවා.මේ වැඩපිළිවෙලේ සාර්ථකත්වය පිළිබඳව දේශපාලනය කරන කෙනාද, වෛද්‍යවරයාද, සෞඛ්‍ය අංශයද කියන කාරණාවෙන් එහා ගිහින් මනුෂ්‍යත්වයෙන් කරපු මේ සත්කාරයට ස්තූතිවන්ත වෙනවා යැයි පැවසීය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට පුත්තලම් දිස්ත්‍රික් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී චින්තක මායාදුන්නේ, සූර්ය බල, සුළං හා ජල විදුලි ජනන සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් හේමන්ත සමරකෝන්, වින්ඩ් ෆෝර්ස් (WIND FORCE PLC) සුළං බලාගාර ආයතනයේ කළමණාකාර අධ්‍යක්ෂ මංජුල පෙරේරා, ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිළධාරී ලසිත් විමලසේන, ප්‍රධාන කළමනාකාරුන් වන  චමීර ගුණරත්න,  ප්‍රසන්න දිසානායක , යාන්ත්‍රික අධිකාරී සනත් සමරසේකර යන මහත්වරුන් හා පුත්තලම මූලික රෝහලේ රෝහල් අධ්‍යක්ෂ අර්ජුන දුෂ්යන්ත මහතා ඇතුළු සෞඛ්‍ය කාර්ය මණ්ඩලයද  සහභාගී වූහ.

By P.K.Balachandran/Daily Mirror  

Colombo, September 9: Sri Lanka’s last king, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha of Kandy, was vilified as a cruel despot and was overthrown by the British in 1815, acting in cahoots with disgruntled local chieftains. But Vikrama Rajasinha was a creative builder, town-planner and executor of irrigation projects for the benefit of the common man.

In the latter part of his politically troubled reign (1798-1815), Vikrama Rajasinha had turned all his energies towards making his capital city, Kandy, a cosmic city” fit for God Sakra, the Sinhala version of the Hindu God Indra.      

Kandy lost its lustre after the British takeover in 1815. The occupying British showed scant regard for Vikrama Rajasinha’s renovated city. According to Prof. Gerald Peiris, the British intelligence chief, John D’Oyly, who masterminded the coup of 1815, made the king’s palace his residence. Many buildings in the temple-palace complex were turned into military barracks. The Magul Maduwa (the Audience Hall) became an Anglican chapel and later a court of law. The Pattiruppuwa (an octagonal pavilion, one of three main structures which comprise the Dalada Maligawa) was desecrated. A part of the Malwatte monastery premises became a military hospital and an Anglican church came up in the ground belonging to the Pattini Devale. John Day wrote in his work Account of the Interior of Ceylon published in 1821, that the British hoped that not a vestige of the old town will remain, and an English town will rise on the ground it at present occupies.”

Though the British wish was not realized, Kandy town did lose its celestial” character. But there is now a ray of hope that it will recover some its past glory with the US government giving US$ 265,000 for the renovation of the kings’ Palace and the Archaeology Museum located within the Dalada Maligawa complex.  

Building of Cosmic City

The saga of Vikrama Rajasinha’s exploits in the field of reconstruction is told engaging by Gananath Obeyesekere in his book The Doomed King: A Requiem for Sri Vikrama Rajasinha (2017). Kandy had been extensively destroyed by British troops in the 1803-04 war. Even the Dalada Maligawa suffered damage. As a devout Buddhist (though a Telugu Nayaka from Madurai in Tamil Nadu), Sri Vikrama Rajasinha began his renovation project by repairing the Dalada Maligawa. He put up the Pattiruppuwa, theeight sides of which represented the eight directions of the universe with the monarch at the center.”

By the end of 1810 he had converted the Bogambara marsh into a lake which was used by devotees to bathe before entering the Dalada Maligawa. Simultaneously, work was in progress on the Kandy lake, the palaces and other civil infrastructure in the city. According to the civil servant cum historian, R. L. Brohier, Vikrama Rajasinha was struck by the idea that he should be able to walk from his palace to the Malwatta Vihara. He ordered his chief architect to build a bund” over the intervening soggy paddy fields. The water, which the bund eventually held, turned out to be a beautiful lake which pleased the king immensely. He named it ‘Kiri Muhuda’ which means sea of milk,” Brohier wrote.

According to Ingirisi Hatana, a valuable source of material on the reign of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, the king had the length and breadth of the city surveyed. What came up on the land were as if it were the work of Vishvakarma (the divine architect).” The water in the lake resembled the milk ocean (Kiri muhuda). The palace (Vimana) was fit for the God Sakra.” There were 12 streets, one of which was the Svarna Kalyana Street (Golden Pleasant Street). In the words of the Ingirisi Hatana:  The streets were replete with arches and other sights and were bustling with people. Beside the large lake, were attractive red lotuses in full bloom. Honey bees hummed and golden geese played in the water full of fish. The rice field and gardens bloomed as if they were the Nandana Gardens of the God Sakra. The city shimmered with silver and gold pinnacles with little openings (kavulu) in the shape of a lion’s mouth.”

Kandy was Sirivardhana (Overflowing with prosperity), where, according to Ingirisi Hatana, resides Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, the noble lord of Lanka as he appeared full decked in ornaments and wearing a golden crown such as that he is like the radiant God Purandara himself. May this noble prince be protected by beauty and prosperity, as long as the sun and moon and the Great Meru itself lasts owing to the power, luminosity and fame of the God Ishwara, Maha Brahma, Vishnu, Ganesha, and Skanda Kumara.”

Purandara is another name of Indra and Mount Meru is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology which is considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes.

Obeyesekere says that the king was also a compulsive builder of dams, ponds and irrigation reservoirs, all for the common good. He built a dam across the Talatuoya, north of Kandy for the use of the people of the area. He also built a canal for the people of Pasgama and Sagama.

Controversial Project

However, the renovation of Kandy was highly controversial in the Seven Korales (present-day Kurunegala district) and also the Four Korales. This was because the Vikrama Rajasinha was commandeering labor from there. The anti-king monk, Hurukgommuwa Unnanse, told British spy John D’Oyly that people were rounded up, bound and taken away to work in Kandy. Molligoda, the Disawe of the Four Korales, was collecting people at the rate of two or three per family and sending them forcibly”. He tore down the roofs of some men who absconded.” One of British spy D’Oyly’s informants told him that the people were waiting for the English to take over Kandy.”

However, Obeyesekere does not attribute opposition in the Seven and Four Korales to forced labor but to the fact that the people were suffering from diseases at that time and there were crop failures too. In 1806, there had been a revolt which Vikrama Rajasinha had crushed.

British Eyed Kandy

The British had been eyeing the Kandy kingdom ever since Fredrick North became Governor in 1798. They began exploiting divisions between  Vikrama Rajasinha and his politically ambitious Adigars and  chiefs. They seized Kandy by force in 1803 and 1804 but failed to retain control because of the Kandyans’ guerilla tactics. However, the British  saw to it that Kandy suffered extensive damage. On his part, king Vikrama Rajasinha treated the rebel chiefs mercilessly, which led to the propaganda that he was a sadist.          

Unfazed by the defeat in 1803-04, British Governors Thomas Maitland and Robert Brownrigg, continued with the campaign to overthrow Vikrama Rajasinha. Spy John D’Oyly sowed seeds of discontent among officials and chiefs of the Fourth and Third Korales where the British were influential. He sold the notion that Vikrama Rajasinha is an alien Tamil oppressor of the Sinhalese. He also bribed the officials heavily with cash. According to Obeyesekere, cash, however small, was much valued in these areas at that time.  

However, Obeyesekere insists that despite the anti-king leanings of the top officials and chiefs, ordinary people were supportive of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha. They were dismayed when the British captured their kingdom. The British wanted to make their takeover of Kandy in 1815 a public spectacle. But the people ignored the event, not even coming out to the streets to witness the military parade. In fact, some of the local chiefs who handed over power to the British on a platter in 1815, themself rose in rebellion against them in 1817-1818. The British reaction to the rebellion had a devastating effect on Uva-Wellassa.

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, September 9 (Counterpoint): Supporting China on the COVID-19 origin tracing controversy, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday,  that the next phase of the study should be based on scientific and evidence-based methods and should not be politicized.”

The study should reflect the key findings of the previous WHO-led joint study report, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe disruptions to the health, safety, and livelihoods of people around the world. Therefore, multilateralism and international cooperation provide the best possible means to effectively and sustainably defeat the pandemic. It is equally important to conduct a comprehensive, inclusive, and impartial study on the origin of the virus.”

Sri Lanka notes the leading role played by the World Health Organization (WHO) in this regard and the contents of the joint report of the WHO–convened Global Study released in March 2021. Sri Lanka will continue to constructively engage with all international partners to find amicable and comprehensive solutions to unresolved issues in this regard, the Foreign Ministry said.

China’s Case

In an exclusive article in Global Times of August 18, the writers pointed out that the US intelligence agencies had not been able to come to any conclusion on the origins of the virus after 90 days of investigations done on the orders of President Joe Biden. They could not find concrete proof to support the lab leak” theory. America’s own research institutions and allies believe the virus was almost certainly not created artificially.

Despite all those hurdles, the US, determined to use those presupposed investigation to throw mud at China, will make do with mostly circumstantial evidence that is completely unreliable in their report,  sources told Global Times.  

They confided that Washington has been pressuring the World Health Organization (WHO) and marshaling its allies, including the EU, Australia, Japan and other countries, to launch the second-phase origins tracing on China as soon as possible and trying to bend the will of scientists to churn out materials to chide China,” the Chinese Communist Party publication said.

In May, US President Joe Biden ordered US intelligence officials to redouble efforts to investigate the origins of COVID-19, including the theory that it came from a laboratory in China. He said the US intelligence community was split on whether it came from a lab accident or emerged from human contact with an infected animal, and he asked groups to report back to him within 90 days.

Desperate US

Sources told the Global Times that the US intelligence agencies cannot produce any concrete proof or scientific support to make up the lab leak” theory. Sources, who noted that the so-called evidence that has been fabricated so far is mostly circumstantial and completely unreliable.

Moreover, the US research institutions and the US allies also believe that the virus was almost certainly not created artificially, and that it will be highly unlikely they will be able to draw definitive conclusions within 90 days which can verify the lab leak” theory. CNN cited sources on August 12 that the US intelligence community is still divided over two theories – one suggesting the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan, and the other suggesting it jumped naturally to humans from animals. Officials told CNN that the Biden administration is considering whether to launch another investigation if the current one proves inconclusive.

Finding that it is making little progress on the report itself, the US also resorted to pressuring other countries, the WHO and international scientists to turn them against China on the probe of coronavirus origins.

Sources told the Global Times that the US knows clearly that the Chinese government insists on scientific principles in the virus origins tracing issue, and opposes the politicization or disregarding the conclusions reached in the joint report on the China-WHO research, a stance that is also supported by many other governments.

China’s Refusal To Participate

China’s refusal to participate in the US-led second stage of the WHO virus origins tracing work and the joint statement China made with some developing countries that was sent to the WHO have seriously impeded the US plan to promote their virus origins investigation” that targets China.

In desperation, the US government has to win support from the international community by perpetuating lies like China refuses to join in the virus origins investigation” and China refuses to cooperate with the WHO.”

The latest move by the US government is to arrange the director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy and presidential science adviser to coordinate with governmental science advisers from the EU, Australia and Japan to issue a statement on the second phase of investigation to urge the Chinese government to reflect on its decision on the rejection, expressing disappointment on China and requiring China to shoulder responsibility” and take action,” according to the sources.

US Bid To Wear Down China

A source close to the matter told the Global Times previously that the US’ push for the probes on the virus origins was aimed at consuming China’s diplomatic resources. The US is trying to find loopholes” in China’s epidemic control policy, and planning to continue pressuring the WHO and collude with its allies to pressure China in an attempt to discredit the Chinese government for covering up the truth about the origins of the virus.”

While the US is shepherding the trend of politicizing the coronavirus origins probe, a growing number of scientists stepped forward and rejected the US-led lab leak” theory, with some scientists believing objective and scientific voices will be heard more widely which may prompt more objective reporting on COVID-19 origins in Western media.

In early July, 24 international scientists published an open letter in The Lancet reiterating the natural origins hypothesis and their firm support to health professionals and scientists of China and the world, the same views they have been holding since they published their first joint letter in February 2020 in The Lancet, when the Trump administration attempted to smear, attack and stigmatize China on COVID-19.

The Global Times learnt previously that prominent US scientists who have been focused on the tracing of COVID-19 origins have been facing tremendous political pressure, and some have been sidelined for not yielding to politician-driven conspiracy theories on the matter, and many have received anonymous threats.

Jonathan Stoye, head of the division of virology at Britain’s Francis Crick Institute, told the Global Times previously that at this stage, accusations are particularly unhelpful, and merely compound the difficulties in carrying out a successful investigation.”

This process [virus origins probe] must be collaborative and fully transparent. Perhaps this is a little naive, but I truly believe we must set aside any political or cultural differences in order to understand this question for the benefit of the entire population of the world,” Stoye told the Global Times.

Srejita Nandy Courtesy Livemint.com

Our Neighbourhood First policy had led to increased economic cooperation with Sri Lanka but its economy is in deep trouble and India’s relations with it have taken a turn for the worse this year

India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy towards Sri Lanka had resonated with Sri Lanka’s ‘India First’ foreign and security policy in 2020. India is Sri Lanka’s third largest export destination, after the US and UK. More than 60% of Sri Lanka’s exports enjoy the benefits of the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in March 2000. India is also a major investor in Sri Lanka. India’s development partnership with Colombo has always been demand-driven, with projects covering social infrastructure like education, health, housing, access to clean water and sanitation, besides industrial development. Concessional financing of about $ 2 billion has been provided to Sri Lanka through various Indian government-supported Lines of Credit across sectors (for railway connectivity, infrastructure, supply of defence equipment, security, and counter-terrorism and solar projects, among others). Foreign direct investment (FDI) from India amounted to around $ 1.7 billion over the years from 2005 to 2019 and went into retail petroleum, hotels and tourism, real estate and manufacturing, apart from telecom, banking and financial services.

However, relations between the two neighbours seem to have plummeted since the beginning of this year. In February, Sri Lanka backed out from a tripartite partnership with India and Japan for its East Container Terminal Project at the Colombo Port, citing domestic issues. Later, the West Coast Terminal was offered under a public private partnership arrangement to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Ltd.SIMILAR STORIES

Last July, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had signed a currency-swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) under the Saarc Currency Swap Framework 2019-22, for withdrawals of up to $400 million. The CBSL settled the scheduled facility with RBI in February 2021. Even though the agreement was valid till 13 November 2022, India declined any further renewal of it in the absence of an International Monetary Fund programme to address Sri Lanka’s current macroeconomic imbalances.

On 31 August 2021, Sri Lanka declared a state of economic emergency, as it is running out of foreign exchange reserves for essential imports like food. The CBSL was the first Asian central bank to increase policy rates after the covid pandemic in response to rising inflation in August 2021 caused by currency depreciation. Tourism, a big dollar earner for Sri Lanka, has suffered since the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 2019, followed by the pandemic. Earnings fell from $3.6 billion in 2019 to $0.7 billion in 2020, even as FDI inflows halved from $1.2 billion to $670 million over the same period.

Sri Lanka’s fragile liquidity situation has put it at high risk of debt distress. Its public debt-to-GDP ratio was at 109.7% in 2020, and its gross financing needs remain high at 18% of GDP, higher than most of its emerging economy peers. Following an international sovereign bond settlement of $1 billion in July 2021, its gross official reserves slipped to $2.8 billion, which is equivalent to just 1.8 months of imports. The external debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 62% in 2020 and is predominantly owed by its public sector. More than $2.7 billion of foreign currency debt will be due in the next two years.

As of June 2019, China’s loans to the Sri Lankan public sector amounted to 15% of the central government’s external debt, making China the largest bilateral creditor to the country. Unable to service its debt, in 2017, Sri Lanka lost the unviable Hambantota port to China for a 99-year lease. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka has increasingly relied on Chinese credit to address its foreign debt burden. Many loans have been negotiated between Colombo and Chinese institutions, including a recent syndicated loan for budgetary support of $1.3 billion from China Development Bank and a $1.5 billion currency swap pact with the People’s Bank of China this March. China’s exports to Sri Lanka surpassed those of India in 2020 and stood at $3.8 billion (India’s exports were $3.2 billion). Owing to Sri Lanka’s strategic location at the intersection of major shipping routes, China has heavily invested in its infrastructure (estimated at $12 billion between 2006 and 2019). In May, Sri Lanka passed the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act, which provides for establishing a special economic zone around the port and also a new economic commission, to be funded by China.

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis may further push it to align its policies with Beijing’s interests. This comes at a time when India is already on a diplomatic tightrope with Afghanistan and Myanmar. Other South Asian nations like Bangladesh, Nepal and the Maldives have also been turning to China to finance large-scale infrastructure projects. Nurturing the Neighbourhood First policy with Sri Lanka will therefore be important for India, albeit with due caution, to preserve its strategic interests in the Indian Ocean region. The Colombo port is crucial for India as it handles 60% of India’s trans-shipment cargo. Regional platforms like the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation and the Indian Ocean Rim Association could be leveraged to foster cooperation in common areas of interest like technology-driven agriculture and marine sector development, IT and communication infrastructure, renewable energy, and transport and connectivity. Both countries could also cooperate on enhancing private sector investments to create economic resilience.

Srejita Nandy is an economist with India Exim Bank/ These are the author’s personal views.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Chairman of Sinopharm Group Liu Jingzhen has expressed his enthusiasm in setting up a vaccine refilling plant in Sri Lanka,the Sri Lankan embassy in Beijing said.

According to the embassy, Sri Lankan Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona, met with Mr. Liu and the Senior Management Group on September 7, 2021. He also handed over a personal letter from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to the chairman appreciating the ‘uninterrupted supply of Sinopharm vaccines’ to Sri Lanka.

The chairman said that Sinopharm will continue to collaborate with Sri Lanka and supply vaccines. He was enthusiastic about setting up a vaccine refilling plant in Sri Lanka to take advantage of Sri Lanka’s favourable trade access in the region and beyond.

He said that the Sinopharm Vaccine is being used in over 100 countries and over 50 Heads of State and other highranking officials have been inoculated with the vaccine.

Further, he said that there are no recorded adverse effects to persons who have been inoculated with the Sinopharm vaccine. Ambassador Dr.kohona conveyed his appreciation, on behalf of the President and the Sri Lankan people, to the Government of China for supplying vaccines.(Kelum Bandara)

Courtesy Hiru News

Police have arrested several persons who had come to the vaccination centre of Sangamitta Vidyalaya in Galle and tried to leave by marking on the card that they had been vaccinated without actually administering the vaccine.

Hiru Correspondent stated that a group of residents from Athiligoda and Kongaha areas in Galle have been arrested in this manner.

The health officials who were present at the vaccination centre at the time of the suspects leaving with only the vaccination card marked and had informed the police about it.

Later, the police detained them and arrested them.

They are due to appear in court on charges of reckless conduct that could spread a dangerous disease.

The suspects have been released on police bail after being summoned to appear in court on 21 September.

Courtesy Hiru News

The United Rice Growers’ Association alleged that there is no systematic approach in the government’s rice procurement program.

Speaking at a media briefing held today (09), the President of the Association Mudith Perera stated that in order to control the price of the rice properly, a new price of rice should be Gazetted so that the owners of rice mills can profit Rs. 5 and the shop owners can profit Rs. 5.

Meanwhile, Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena speaking to the media today stated that the owners of rice mills have agreed to release rice to the market at the prices imposed by the government and then take action to create a shortage of rice in the market.

Also, all economic centres on the island and the Peliyagoda Manning Market will remain open tomorrow (10).

Courtesy Adaderana

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed another 175 coronavirus-related deaths for September 08 (yesterday), increasing the official death toll in the country to 10,864.

According to the figures reported by the Department of Government Information today (09)the victims include 96 males and 79 females while only one are below the age of 30.

Thirty-five of the Covid-19 deaths are individuals between the ages of 30-59, and the remaining 139 are persons aged 60 and above.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry reports that another 910 persons have tested positive for coronavirus, increasing the daily count of new Covid-19 cases identified today to 2,856.

This brings the tally of Covid-19 cases confirmed in the country thus far to 477,636.

The number of infected patients currently under medical care at hospitals and treatment centers and under home-based care is 58,656.

Meanwhile total recoveries from the virus has risen to 408,116 and the death toll stands at 10,864.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has decided to impose a 100 per cent cash margin deposit requirement against the importation of selected goods of non-essential/non-urgent nature made under Letters of Credit and Documents against Acceptance terms with Licensed Commercial Banks and National Savings Bank, with immediate effect. 

The decision has been made by the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka at its meeting held on 08 September 2021 (Wednesday).

The decision to impose the cash margin deposit requirement is expected to support the ongoing efforts to preserve the stability of the exchange rate and foreign currency market liquidity, particularly by discouraging excessive imports of speculative nature,” the central bank said.

A summary of product categories that are subjected to cash margin deposit requirements, along with information on import expenditure under each category in 2019, 2020 and thus far in 2021 (provisional), is given in the Table below:

Courtesy Adaderana

Defence Secretary Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne urged the public not to be misled by the various false claims being made regarding the Easter Sunday attacks and that police investigations have progressed rapidly. 

A certain group is attempting to create a public opinion that this is a conspiracy by the President to come to power. They are attempting to drag the President into this,” he said during a media brief held on Thursday at the Defence Ministry.

As the Secretary of Defence, I can responsibly say that our police, the CID have carried out investigations to a large extent and are further continuing with the investigations, cases have been filed before court and the Chief Justice has also appointed a Trial-at-Bar with this regard.”

Therefore, I am requesting the public not to be fooled by these false opinions.”

With regard to the Easter Sunday bombings, he went on say that the burden of proof plays a crucial role which is now on state agencies” and he reasoned that is why it seems like time consuming” he also stated responding to further questions from the media personnel present.

Navy Commander Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana Wickramaratne were also present at the media briefing.

The police chief requested that any information related to the aforesaid incident be submitted to CID for onward legal proceedings. The IGP added that the confidentiality of all informants related to any incident will be assured. 

The Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne said the present government since its emergence to power in 2019, has crippled all avenues of social threats posed in the face of organized crimes, drug smuggling, underworld activities and extortion through the combined efforts of top level state-run defence agencies under the guidance of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as stated in the policy framework, ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’.

Further speaking, he said, in a short span of less than one year and nine months of the government, the law enforcing agencies have nabbed over 3,200 kilos of heroin, a number of illegal weapons from the clutches of underworld kingpins and various other types of narcotics as of today.”

The government would not leave room for anybody to drag the national security into jeopardy under the guise of COVID-19, he asserted.

The Defence Secretary stressed it is pointless conducting isolated media conferences without informing the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), if precise information available related to any case”.

Illustrating all the strategies adopted to overcome the deep-seated corruption and malpractices in the Prison system, he said it has been regulated strictly while jamming the prison intimates’ communication to external wrongdoers”, adding Because we recognized all the crimes being operated through Prisons”.

Describing swift measures introduced to crush the drug and crime network operated behind the bars in prison cells, he said the conversion of Boossa Prison into a ‘High Security Prison’ was instrumental and the high-profile notorious criminals are imprisoned there as of now”.

Moreover, mobile jammers were fixed at the Negombo and Angunakolapalassa prisons and similar precautions would be introduced to Mahara and Welikada Prisons in due course”, he added.

Elaborating the number of narcotics nabbed to date, Gunaratne said 20,949 kilos of Kerala Cannabis, 42,354 drug-embedded capsules and 104,097 related tablets were also taken into the custody following great endeavours exerted jointly by the Defence Ministry and the Public Security Ministry.

All the routes of drug inflow into the island have been identified as well,” he revealed during the briefing.

Navy Chief Vice Admiral Ulugetenne while citing action initiated to educate the fishing community around the island, requested from the owners of fishing craft to be on alert and find whereabouts of their valuable vessels since a section of persons venturing into sea may use their vessels for such illegal activities.

All the assets associated with illegal drug trafficking will be liable for confiscation if proved guilty, IGP Wickramaratne also emphasised.

Responding to why military is also intervening into the prevention of the spread of highly contagious virus, the Defence Secretary said, facing the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare is a part of the duty of the armed forces personnel and therefore, we have employed our professional medical staffers with them to contain the spread of the pandemic”.

We have informed all our vaccination centres to facilitate all civilians arriving to receive the jabs”, he affirmed.

Revealing on operations in progress, he stated: We are now in the process of netting all persons involved in online advertising of prostitution in the country and they will be produced before the law eventually”.

Meanwhile, replying to a question on a bit relaxed method experiencing in the current quarantine curfew enforced, the Defence Secretary explained we must look into the status quo in a rather humanitarian angle”.

Courtesy Adaderana

The University of Peradeniya has developed a new low-cost test kit to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infected patients in a relatively shorter time with a higher accuracy.

Developed by a team led by Dr. Ruchika Fernando of the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, this COVID-19 test kit has been priced at only Rs. 1,500.

The test kit has already received the approval of the technical committee of National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA).

As the test kit is based on the Reverse Transcription-Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP) principle, patients are detected based on amplification of SARS-CoV-2 virus specific RNA in the sample and compatible with patient samples collected for regular qRT-PCR.

According to its developers, the positive agreement of this test kit with qRT-PCR is very high (97%) compared to similar alternatives such as Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) in which the positive agreement with qRT-PCR can be in the range of 12-71%.

The test kit is equipped with an internal control assay based on human beta actin messenger RNA which can confirm the quality of the patient sample received by the laboratory.

The developers of the COVID test kit have presented it to Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella, who commended the new invention.

During the event, the minister stated that Sri Lanka is receiving international acclaim for its national COVID-19 inoculation drive. He assured that the Ministry of Health would take all necessary measures to bring the country back to normalcy as soon as possible.

Courtesy Adaderana

The World Health Organization called Wednesday for countries to avoid giving out extra Covid jabs until year-end, pointing to the millions worldwide who have yet to receive a single dose.

I will not stay silent when the companies and countries that control the global supply of vaccines think the world’s poor should be satisfied with leftovers,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists.

Speaking from WHO’s headquarters in Geneva, Tedros urged wealthy countries and vaccine makers to prioritise getting the first jabs to health workers and vulnerable populations in poorer nations over boosters.

We do not want to see widespread use of boosters for healthy people who are fully vaccinated,” he said.

The WHO called last month for a moratorium on Covid-19 vaccine booster shots until the end of September to address the drastic inequity in dose distribution between rich and poor nations.

But Tedros acknowledged Wednesday that there had been little change in the global situations since then.

So today I am calling for an extension of the moratorium until at least the end of the year,” he said.

High-income countries had promised to donate more than one billion vaccine doses to poorer countries, he said — but less than 15 percent of those doses have materialised.

We don’t want any more promises,” he said. We just want the vaccines.”

Appalled”

Despite the call for a moratorium, some countries have been arguing for booster jabs not only for vulnerable people but also for the wider population, citing signs of waning vaccine effectiveness against the highly transmissive Delta variant.

The WHO has acknowledged that an additional dose could be needed for immunocompromised people, but stresses that for healthy people, the vaccines still seem very effective, especially in preventing severe disease.

There is not a compelling case to move forward with a generalised recommendation for booster doses,” Kate O’Brien, the WHO’s vaccines chief, told Wednesday’s news conference.

The UN health agency has set a global target of seeing every country vaccinate at least 10 percent of its population by the end of this month, and at least 40 percent by the end of this year.

It wants to see at least 70 percent of the world’s population vaccinated by the middle of next year.

But Tedros lamented that while 90 percent of wealthy countries have hit the 10-percent mark, and more than 70 percent have already reached 40-percent, not a single low-income country has reached either target”.

He expressed outrage at a statement by a pharmaceutical industry organisation that the world’s seven wealthiest nations, known as the G7, now had enough vaccines for all adults and teenagers — and to offer boosters to at-risk groups — and so the focus should shift to dose sharing.

When I read this, I was appalled,” he said.

In reality, manufacturers and high-income countries have long had the capacity to not only vaccinate their own priority groups, but to simultaneously support the vaccination of those same groups in all countries.”

-Agencies

Wishmitha Wedakama – විශ්මිත වෙදකම

අපේ රටේ හොදින් වැවෙන පළතුරක් වන කටු අනෝදා ශාකය මෙන්ම දේශීය පළතුරු සහ හෙළ ඔසු රට තුල වගාකිරීමට අපි සැවොම එක් වෙමු. එම ඖෂධීය බෝග භාවිතයෙන් නිරෝගිමත් රටක් බිහිකරමු. සියලු හෙළයන්ට බුදු සරණයි!!!

Leelaratne Geekiyanage

https://www.facebook.com/neelaratna.geekiyanage.31/videos/871722856609401

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The fourth country that supported Eelam was Canada. Sri Lanka was handled at the UNHRC in the 1980s by Canada, said Pathfinder Foundation. Canada is part of the Core group which put forward resolutions against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in Geneva in 2021.

 Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, tens of thousands of Tamils arrived in Canada and settled in large metropolitan cities like Toronto and Montreal. The Tamil asylum claims lodged with the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board between 1989  and 1998 had an average acceptance rate of 85 percent, compared to 60-70 percent acceptance rates overall .  The largest number of expatriate Ceylon Tamils therefore are in Canada, totaling 157,000 in 2016. The second largest group is in UK, totaling 120,000 in 2007.

Canada has provided asylum to LTTE members convicted of criminal charges. Canada gave   asylum to Ravi Sanker Thiagarajah who was found guilty by Supreme Court of Sri Lanka of terrorist charges. He disappeared. He is now living safely in Canada.

The plot for the bomb explosion at the Central Bank (1996) had originated in Toronto. Sri Lankan intelligence officials tell me they traced the explosives used in the bomb and found they had come from the Ukrainian shipment purchased two years earlier with money wired from British Colombia, Canada, reported Ranjit Soyza.

It was decided that an organization should be created in Canada that could provide support for the notion of Tamil Eelam as well as the Vaddukoddai Resolution., with its separatist platform. The Eelam Society of Canada (TESOC) was registered as a non-profit organization in 1978.

TESOC functioned throughout the late-1970s, and gradually developed a very strong relationship with the Canadian government, reported Amaranth Amarasingham. Stewart Bell in his book Snow Tigers” said that Canadian Government had helped fund Tesco which in turn funneled funds to the LTTE. One of the directors of TESCO, Devakumar Sabapathy, issued a threat to kill the former President of Sri Lanka and his brother.

World Tamil Movement (WTM) was created in 1986. WTM was the Canadian arm of the LTTE, and was tasked with not only raising money for the LTTE, but also keeping alive the sentiment of Tamil separatism among the Tamil in Canada.

WTM employed sophisticated methods of remitting funds from Canada to the LTTE via Singapore and Malaysia using Bank of Nova Scotia and Canadian Trust Bank. WTM had once remitted a sum of 3 million dollars via Singapore to the LTTE. WTM had also deposited approximately dollars 7,63,000   collected by force from the Tamils in Canada.

Stewart Bell stated that the LTTE and its fronts used every conceivable tactic, government grants, front companies, every type of migrant smuggling and drugs. ” Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) estimated that $2 million a year, in collections were  funnelled to the  LTTE in Jaffna from Canada. Another CSIS study puts the figure at $ 1 million a month.

Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils (FACT) was formed in 1992. It lobbied the Canadian government about Tamils in   Sri Lanka undergoing persecution by Sri Lanka government. FACT was replaced in 2000 by Canadian Tamil Congress.  CTC focused mainly on facilitating the integration of Ceylon Tamils into Canadian society but it also supported the political aspiration of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Many Tamil organizations  arose in Canada after the end of the war in May 2009 , reported Amaranth  Amarasingham .The National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT) was  set up  in 2010 with the expressed purpose of serving as an ethnic lobby group in Canada. In 2012 it submitted a memorandum to the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review.

The NCCT and the Canadian branch of Tamil Youth Organization (TYO)   organized conferences and meetings to push the idea of the self-determination of Tamils in Sri Lanka. In February 2012, they organized an Eelam Tamil Youth conference in Toronto where they brought together representatives from 14 Tamil student associations in high schools, colleges and university and they pledged to ‘continue the struggle for Tamil sovereignty.”

The meeting passed nine resolutions, two  of which said, we reject the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka state that occupies Tamil Eelam and we reject the imposition of Sri Lanka identity on Eelam Tamils. This meeting was opposed to presenting the conflict in Sri Lanka as a civil war. They rejected the unitary state of Sri Lanka.  The conflict is between two nations, and can only be resolved through a two-state solution. 

In 2014 the Canadian ambassador in Sri Lanka demanded the cancellation of the victory parade, on behalf of all those, who had been pursuing war crimes allegations, against the Sri Lankan military.”

In 2014, Canadian High Commissioner in Colombo, sent a strongly worded statement, saying that five years after the end of the conflict, the time has arrived for Sri Lanka to move past wartime discourse and to start working seriously towards reconciliation. Canada has encouraged the Government of Sri Lanka to retire its annual Victory Day Parade, which perpetuates roles of victors and vanquished within the country, for a day of remembrance for all those who suffered as a result of the conflict.

Sri Lanka quite rightly rejected this as blatant Canadian interference in purely a domestic matter, said Shamindra Ferdinando . Canada then declared that it would not attend the victory parade.

In August 2021,  Canada announced funding to nine Sri Lanka  NGOs to the tune of CAD 300,000 under a programme labeled Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. These nine Organizations includes Centre of Human Rights and Development, Transparency International Sri Lanka, Verité Research, as well as Colombo Friend in Need Society. ( Continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

In 2019 a Private Member’s Bill (Bill no104) titled An Act to Proclaim Tamil Genocide Education Week was placed before Ontario Legislative Assembly, Canada   by Vijay Thanigasalam, MP for Scarborough-Rouge Park. Vijay Thanigasalam is a LTTE supporter.  The move had been facilitated by the Committee on Regulations and Private Bills coming under the purview of Logan Kanapathi also of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. The Bill claimed that 146,679 were killed in the final days of the Eelam War that civilians were starved and Tamil children were forcibly taken away from their homes.

The progress of this Bill was closely watched by the anti-Eelamists in Canada.  Several Sri Lankan organizations strongly opposed the Bill. Submissions were made in writing to the Standing Committee on regulations and Private Bills. 

The Bill stalled at the second reading, Only 59 supported it. 66 either refrained from voting or said ‘No.’ The Bill was then referred back to the relevant committee for want of required support.  In the meantime anti-Sri Lanka resolutions were passed in Brampton, Pickering and Toronto Municipal Councils, though the matter was outside local politics.

On May 6, 2021   Ontario Legislative Assembly, Canada, voted in favor of the Bill. It was carried through without a vote taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic which had restricted the participation of the majority of members. Vijay Thanigasalam declared the passage of the Bill ‘a historic event for Tamil people in Ontario and across the world.  Ontario is the first government worldwide to pass such a law.”

The newly passed Tamil Genocide Education Week Act establishes a week each year, May 11 to 18, during which Ontarians are encouraged to educate themselves about, and to maintain their awareness of, the Tamil genocide and other genocides that have occurred in world history. However, the Bill would not become law until Ontario Lieutenant Governor General gave her consent on behalf of the Canadian Government.

Analysts saw this Ontario move as very   significant. This Bill is an attempt to legitimize the claim that a Tamil Genocide happened in Sri Lanka. Such projects intended to legitimize war crimes accusations, should be nipped in the bud, they said.

Canada-based Dr. Chandre Dharmawardana said that the move in the Ontario Legislative Assembly was a prelude to the Diaspora grouping seeking to move a similar Bill in the Canadian Parliament. The provincial move couldn’t be dismissed lightly.  He appreciated the fact that the government of Sri Lanka took up the issue with both Federal and Provincial authorities of Canada.

It would be a serious mistake, on Sri Lanka’s part, to consider the genocide rap as a project of the Ontario Legislative Assembly instead of a Canadian move. The Canadian move is severely inimical to Sri Lanka. The Ontario project would further strengthen the Geneva-led campaign meant to weaken Sri Lanka, said Shamindra Ferdinando. The Geneva onslaught will take a new turn with this Genocide charge.

Sri Lanka acted promptly. The Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa protested.  In Colombo, Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena   conveyed Sri Lanka’s deep concern to Canadian High Commissioner.. Canadian High Commission in Colombo responded.”It is important to recognize the high degree of autonomy of the federal governments of the provinces in Canada, including on issues such as this one.

Anti Eelamists in Canada also responded.  Neville Hewage,  went to Supreme Court against the Act. He said that Ontario Legislative Assembly did not have the jurisdiction to pass Bill 104  and the facts presented in Bill 104 were completely false.

Mahinda Gunasekera sent an open letter to^. Prime Minister, Ministers, Premier of Ontario, Members of the Federal Parliament/ Ontario Legislature and GTA Mayors on the matter   It was titled On the Impact of Ontario’s Bill 104, Tamil Genocide Education Week Act, 2021 and GTA ( Greater Toronto Area)Mayoral Proclamation of Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day on May 18^th..

He pointed out that Eelam war IV was a civil war not a genocidal one and its was initiated by the LTTE not the government, that the UN has not declared the Eelam war to be genocidal and that the Ontario Provincial Legislature does not have the authority to determine Genocide.

The Ontario Centre for Policy Research organized a webinar on LTTE Terrorism and Alleged Tamil Genocide in June 2020 to discuss the Ontario Bill. The panel consisted of Neville Hewage, Sarath Chandrasekara and Chandre Dharmawardana.

On June 3 2021, the anti-Eelamists in Canada issued a joint statement. We are pleased to announce that the following Sri Lankan-Canadian organizations have joined as a united front to fight a Superior court case against the Ontario law on Tamil Genocide Education Week, Sri Lankan Canadian Action Coalition (SLCAC) Canadian Sri Lankan Center for Social Harmony (CSLCSH) Sri Lanka United National Association of Canada (SLUNA) and Sri Lanka Canada Association of Brampton (SLCAB). A 12-member steering committee will address aspects of the proceedings and fundraising campaigns, we hope to draw attention to the misinformation contained in the Act, and see that Tamil Genocide Education Week Act is repealed, this group said.

On the 2nd of October 2020 Gary Anandasangaree, MP for Scarborough tabled a petition in the Canadian Parliament.  He wanted Sri Lanka taken before the Committee established under the Convention Against Enforced Disappearances. He said, inter alia, that genocide in Sri Lanka is unique among genocides in history because it has occurred over several decades and under different governments before intensifying into a no- holds-barred war for nearly three decades and culminating in the mass atrocities of 2009. Sri Lanka’s historic violations against Tamils, such as 1958 and 1983, in addition to the 2009 war must go before an international court.

Canada said that it could not comply since it was not a member of CED. Full response from the Government of Canada can be found at: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=432-00052. Neville Hewage submitted a 619 page rebuttal against the petition. His full rebuttal can be found at: https://policy-research.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/01-Neville_Hewage_Report_432-00052_V3.pdf  (continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

At the June 2021 session of the UNHRC in Geneva, Canada led an alliance of 44 States (mainly Western and European countries), demanding that China allow meaningful and unfettered access to investigate credible reports of widespread human rights violations against China’s Muslim minority Uighur in Xinjiang province.

Immediately after this China delivered a joint statement, on behalf of eight countries (Belarus, China, DPRK, Iran, Russia, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Venezuela) expressing ‘[deep concern] about serious human rights violations against the indigenous people

Canada,’ and demanding a UN investigation into Canada’s serious human rights violations against indigenous people.’

This was a reference to the recent discovery of a mass grave containing the remains of over 200 children, at the site of a former ‘residential school’ for indigenous children in British Columbia. China argued that the discovery of the mass grave demonstrates long-standing discrimination against indigenous people in Canada, and drew particular attention to the treatment of indigenous children from the 1830s to the 1990s. During this period, many children were forcibly taken away from their parents and sent to boarding schools, where they were often victims of malnutrition, violence, rape, and abuse.

Canada has this image internationally of a great defender of human rights violations, the protector of human rights throughout the world, but in its own backyard it has ’ violated the rights of   the indigenous inhabitants, agreed critics. Canada’s ugly record of Genocide is now emerging.

Canada has its own ugly record of Genocide, critics said. Canada destroyed the indigenous people of Canada. There was forced sterilization. Canada created a special school system for the indigenous children, the Resident or Industrial School system run by the Federal Government and the Church. Residential Schools were part of a policy to eliminate Aboriginal people as distinct peoples and to assimilate them into the Canadian mainstream against their will.”

From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools, most run by Roman Catholic missionary congregations, in a campaign to assimilate them into Canadian society. Nearly three-quarters of the 130 residential schools were run by Catholic missionary congregations, with others operated by the United, Presbyterian and Anglican churches.

This school system removed children from parents, who were not permitted to visit their children. They in fact never saw their children again. The result was children who lacked family love and parental guidance.

Over 70% of the children were tortured, sexually abused by school teachers, priests, and nuns. When they left school after 10 years, their level of knowledge and education was at the level of a Grade 2 child. They did not receive higher education or skills. They often resorted to larceny, drug and alcohol addiction, ending up as urban poor.

Five generations of children went through this school system. Between1890-1970 over 100,000 children were forced to attend 139 resident schools. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015 released its final report, documenting the tragic experience of at least 150,000 residential school students.

The government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant in the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages. Thousands of children died there of disease and other causes, many never returned to their families.

The discovery of 600 or more remains of children at the Marieval Indian Residential School, which operated from 1899 to 1997, in the province of Saskatchewan, the remains of 215 children, some as young as 3, were found buried on the site of what was once Canada’s largest Indigenous residential school near Kamloops, British Columbia.

Canadians across the country are waking up to something that quite frankly that Indigenous communities have long known,” Mr. Trudeau said . Canada’s genocide was camouflaged as state policy and it was carried out with state patronage and blessings. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology in Parliament in 2008 and Canada offered billions of dollars in compensation as part of a lawsuit settlement between the government, churches and the approximately 90,000 surviving students. ( CONTINUED)

තිසර සමල් – අනුරාධපුර

මහවැලි අධිකාරියෙන් සෑම ගොවියකුටම කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනයට නොමිලේ ජපන් ජබර ට්‍රැක්ටරයක් හා පොස්පේට් පොහොරත් ලබා දීම හේතුවෙන් මහඉලුප්පල්ලම ගොවියෝ කාබනික පොහොර ඒකක සකසා මහ කන්නයට සූදානම් වෙති..

මහවැලි එච් කළාපයේ, මහඉලුප්පල්ලම කොට්ඨාශයේ අක්කර 10 200 ක භූමි ප්‍රමාණයක් වෙනුවෙන් පසුගිය කන්නයේ  රසායනික පොහොර ලෙස යූරියා කිලෝ 880 000 ක්, ටී.එස්.පී පොහොර කිලෝ 2 04 000 ක්, එමි.ඕ.පී පොහොර කිලෝ 2 24 000 ක්  ගොවිබිම් වෙත මෙවර මහ කන්නයේ කාබනික පොහොර ටොන් 4080 ක් නිෂ්පාදනය කිරීමේ ඉල්ලක්කය වෙත ලඟා වෙමින් පවතියි.

මේ වන විට එම ඉලක්කයෙන් 70 % ක් සම්පූර්ණ කර ඇතැයි මහවැලි එච් කළාපයේ, මහඉලුප්පල්ලම කොට්ඨාශ කළමණාකාර කපිල කුමාර මහතා පවසයි.

රසායනික පොහොර භාවිතය වෙනුවට කාබනික පොහොර වලට ගොවීන් යොමු කරවීමේ වත්මන් රජයේ ප්‍රථිපත්තිමය තීරණයට අනුව රසායනික පොහොර ආනයනය සීමා කිරීමත් සමඟ මහවැලි එච් කළාපයේ ගොවීන් කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනයට යොමු කරවීමට මහවැලි අධිකාරිය හා ගොවිජන සේවා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ඒකාබද්ධව වැඩපිළිවෙලක් ආරම්භ කරනු ලැබීය.ඒ වෙනුවෙන් ගොවීන්ට කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනය කිරීම සඳහා දැනුම ලබා දීමට මෙන්ම රසායනික පොහොර නොමැතිව වුවද කාබනික පොහොර තුලින් හොඳ අස්වැන්නක් ලබා ගත හැකිය යන ආකල්පමය වර්ධනයන් ඇති කිරීම සඳහා ප්‍රායෝගික පුහුණු වැඩමුළුද සංවිධානය කර ඇත.ඉන් පසු ගොවීන්ට කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනයේදී අමුද්‍රව්‍ය සොයා ගැනීමේ ගැටලු පැවතීම හේතුවෙන් මහවැලි අධිකාරිය මගින් වැව් වලින් ඉවත් කරන ජපන් ජබර, පාසි ඇතුළු ජලජ ශාඛ ට්‍රැක්ටරයක් ගොවීන්ගේ නිවසේ හෝ ගොවිබිම් වෙත නොමිලේම ප්‍රවාහනය කර දීම හා අමුද්‍රව්‍යය ලෙස අවශ්‍යය වන එප්පාවල පොස්පේට් නොමිලේ ලබා දීමද මහවැලි අධිකාරිය මගින් සිදු කිරීමත් සමඟින් කාබනික පොහොර සෑදීමට මැලිකමක් දැක්වූ ගොවීන් කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනයට මහත් උනන්දුවක් දක්වන බව මහවැලි අධිකාරිය පවසයි.

මේ වන විට මහඉලුප්පල්ම කොට්ඨාශයේ ගොවි සංවිධාන 50 කට අයත්, ගොවීන් 5 600 ක්, තම වගාබිම් වන අක්කර 10 200 ක ඉදිරි මාස් කන්නය වෙනුවෙන් කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනය ආරම්භ කර ඇත.මෙම කොට්ඨාශයේ වගාබිම් සඳහා කාබනික පොහොර ටොන් 4080 ක් පමණ අවශ්‍ය වෙතැයි ගණන් බලා ඇත.ඉන් 70% ක් පමණ මේ වන විට නිෂ්පාදනය කර ඇති අතර, ඉතිරි ප්‍රමාණයද මෙම කොට්ඨාශය තුළ ගොවීන් අතින් නිෂ්පාදනය කරන බව මහවැලි අධිකාරිය පවසයි. ගොවීන්ට නිසි ප්‍රමිතියකින් යුතු කාබනික පොහොර ඒකක පිහිටුවන ආකාරය පුහුණු කිරීම, පිහිටවූ කාබනික පොහොර ඒකක ගොඩපෙරළීම , තෙතමනය හා උෂ්ණත්වය පරික්ෂා කරමින් පවත්වාගෙන යාම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ගොවීන් දැනුම්වත් කිරීම මෙන්ම අදාළ කාබනික ඒකක පරික්ෂාවන්ට ලක් කිරීමද මහවැලි අධිකාරියේ ක්ෂ්‍රේත්‍ර නිළධාරීන් හා කෘෂිකර්ම පර්යේෂණ නිළධාරීන් මගින් සිදු කරනු ලබයි.

මේ වන විට මහඉලුප්පල්ලම මහවැලි කොට්ඨාශයේ ගන්තිරියාගම වැවේහි පැවති ජපන් ජබර හා පාසී ඇතුළු ආක්‍රමණික ශාඛ වැවෙන් ඉවත් කර වැවද සංවර්ධනය කර ඇති අතර, ඉවත් කළ ජපන් ජබර  හා පාසී ගොවීන්ගේ නිවෙස් හා ගොවිබිම් වෙත ප්‍රවාහනය කර ඇති අයුරු දැක ගත හැකිය.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් දැක්වූ මහඉලුප්පල්ලම මහවැලි කොට්ඨාශකාර්යාලෙයේ වාරී මාර්ග ඉංජිනේරු,  ඒ.එම්.ඩබ්ලිව් අලුත්ගල  මහතා,

ගන්තිරියාගම වැවේ ජලජ ශාඛ ඉවත් කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපෘතියට සමගාමීව මේ දින වල සිදු කරන කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදන කටයුතු සඳහා එක ජලජ ශාඛ ට්‍රැක්ටර් ලෝඩ් එකක් ගොවි මහතෙකුට නොමිලේ ලබා දෙනවා. ගොවි මහත්වරුන්ට ඒත් සමඟ තවත් අමුද්‍රව්‍ය හා සත්ව අපද්‍රව්‍යයත් යොදා ගෙන කොම්පෝස්ට් නිෂ්පාදනය කර ගැනීමේ හැකියාව තියෙනවා.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් දැක්වූ ඉපලෝගම ගොවි සංවිධානයේ සභාපති එච්.එම් අමරසිංහ මහතා,

මේ දිනවල රට පුරාම කාබනික පොහොර සකස් කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපෘති  සිදු කෙරනවා, ඉපලෝගම ගොවි සංවිධානයේ ගොවීන්ට ගැටලුවක් තිබුණා මේ සඳහා අමුද්‍රව්‍යය සපයා ගැනීම පිළිබඳව.ඒ නිසා ගොවීන් කාබනික පොහොර සකස් කිරීමට තරමක මැලිකමක් දැක්වූවා.ඒ අවස්ථාවේදී මහවැලි එච් කළාපයේ, මහඉලුප්පල්ලම කොට්ඨාශ කළමණාකාරතුමා ඇතුළු නිළධාරීන් එකතු වෙලා මේ ගැටලුවට විසදුම් ලෙස ගොවීන්ට කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනය සම්බන්ධයෙන් දැනුම ලබා දීම සිදු කරනවා, ගොවීන්ට පවතින අමුද්‍රව්‍යය හිඟයට විසඳුමක් ලෙස සෑම ගොවියකුටම වැව් වලින් ඉවත් කරන ජලජ ශාඛ ට්‍රැක්ටර් ලෝඩ් එකක් සහ කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනයේදී  මිශ්‍ර කිරීමට යොදන පොස්පේට් පොහොර මිටියක්  නොමිලේ ලබා දීම සිදු කරනවා.ඒ නිසා මේ වැඩසටහන ඉතා සාර්ථක තත්වයට පත් වෙලා තියෙනවා.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් දැක්වූ ගෙවිලියක වන   රේණුකා එදිරිසිංහ මහත්මිය,

අපි අක්කර 3 1/2 ක් පමණ ගොවිතැන් කරනවා, මාස් කන්නයේදී වී වගාවත්, යළ කන්නයේදී සොයා/ බඩඉරගු වගේ දේ වගා කරනවා.රසායනික පොහාර භාවිතය තහනම් කිරීමත් සමඟ අපි කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනයට යොමු වුණා. මහවැලි අධිකාරිය මගින් ඒ සඳහා උපදෙස් හා මගපෙන්වීම ලබා දුන්නා.අපි කොම්පෝස්ට් එකක 03 ක් මේ වන විට නිෂ්පාදනය කරලා තියෙනවා.ඉදිරි කන්නයේදී අපි 100% ක් කාබනික වගාවකට යොමු වෙන්න බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා.

මහඉලුප්පල්ලම රන්කැකුළු ගොවි සංවිධානයේ, අලුවිහාරේගම ගොවි ජනපදයේ එච්.එම් තිලක් සුසන්ත හේරත් මහතා අදහස් දක්වමින් කියා සිටියේ,

ෙමගේ ප්‍රධාන ආධායම් මාර්ගය ගොවිතැන,  මම අක්කර 05 ක පමණ ගොවිතැන් කරනවා, රසායනික පොහොර තිබුණ නිසා බොහෝම පහසුවෙන් ගොවිතැන් කළත්, දැනට රජයෙන් රසායනික පොහොර තහනම් කිරීමට ගත් තීරණයත් එක්ක අපි ඉදිරියට කොහොමද ගොවිතැන් කරන්නේ කියන ප්‍රශ්නයක ඉද්දී  මහවැලියෙන් අපට උපදෙස් දුන්නා කොම්පෝස්ට් ව්‍යාපෘති ආරම්භ කරමු කියලා. ඒ සඳහා අවශ්‍යය දැනුම ලබා ගැනීමට පොත් පිංචක් ලබා දුන්නා, ඒ වගේම කොම්පෝස්ට් සාදා ගන්නා ආකාරය පිළිබඳව  පුහුණු වැඩමුළු පවත්වනු ලැබුවා. ඒ වගේම මහවැලිය මගින් වැව් වලින් ඉවත් කරන ජපන් ජබර හා එප්පාවල පොස්පේට් පොහොර නොමිලේ ලබා දුන්නා. මම දැනට අක්කර  3 1/2 කට කොම්පෝස්ට් හදලා අවසන් කරලා තියෙනවා.ගොවි මහතුන් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් මේ වන විට කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනයට යොමු වෙලා තියෙනවා.‍

මහඉලුප්පල්ම රංකෙත ගොවි සංවිධානයේ සභාපතිතුමන් කියා සිටියේ,

අපේ ගොවි සංවිධානයේ ගොවි මහතුන් 72 ක් අක්කර 196 ක් කුඹුරු වගා කරනවා. අපි සියලු දෙනාම මේ වන විට කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනය කරලා තියෙනවා.ඒ සඳහා මහවැලි අධිකාරිය හා ගොවිජන සේවා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව මගින් අපිට විශාල සහයක් ලැබුණා. කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනයට උපකාර මෙන්ම උපදෙස් ලබා දුන්නා.අපි ඉදිරි කන්න වලටත් වී ගොවිතැනට, එළවලු හා පළතුරු වගාවන් වලටත් කාබනික පොහොර යොදා ගෙන වස විසෙන් තොර ශ්‍රී ලංකාවක් බිහි කිරීමට දායක්තවය ලබා දෙන්න බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් දැක්වූ ඉපලෝගම ගොවිජන සේවා මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ, ගොවිජන සංවර්ධන ප්‍රාදේශීය නිළධාරී  ඩී.එම්.ජී.එස් ජයරුවන්  මහතා,

වත්මන් රජය විසින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන වස විසෙන් තොර කාබනික පොහොර භාවිතයෙන් වගා කිරීමේ කාර්යය සඳහා ඉපලෝගම ගොවිජන සේවා බලප්‍රදේශයේ ගොවීන් ඉතා හොඳින් පෙළගැසෙමින් සිටිනවා. ගොවිජන සංවර්ධන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව හා මහවැලි අධිකාරිය ඒකාබද්ධ වෙමින් ගොවීන් උත්තේජනය කිරීම සිදු කරනවා.කාණ්ඩ  03 ක් යටතේ ගොවීන් ලියාපදිංචි කිරීම අප සිදු කරනවා. තම වගාවට කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනය කරන ගොවීන්, සුළු පරිමාණ හා මහා පරිමාණ කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදකයින්  ලෙස ලියාපදිංචිය සිදු කරනවා.බිම් මට්ටමේ ගොවීන් ට මේ පිළිබඳ විදිමත් පුහුණුවක් ලබා දී අවසන් කර තිබෙනවා, ගොවීන් උත්තේජනය කිරීම සඳහා මහවැලි අධිකාරිය මගින් වැව් වලින් ඉවත් කරන ජලජ ශාඛ ගොවීන්ගේ නිවසටම නොමිලේම ලබා දීලා ගොවීන් උත්තේජනය කිරීමේ කටයුත්තක් සමඟ අපි ඒකාබද්ධව කටයුතු කරනවා.එය ඉතා සාර්ථකව සිදු කෙරනවා.මහවැලි බලප්‍රදේශයේ 70% ක් පමණ ගොවීන් මේ සඳහා යොමු වී තිබෙනවා. මුල් කාලයේ ගොවීන් මේ සඳහා පසුගාමීව කටයුතු කළත් ගොවීන් හා ගොවි සංවිධාන සවිබල ගන්වමින් මේ කටයුත්ත අපිට සිදු කරන්න හැකියාව ලැබුණා.අපි නොහැතපු අකාරයේ ප්‍රථිචාරයක් මේ වන විට  ගොවීන්ගෙන් ලැබෙනවා. ඉදිරි කන්නය සඳහා අවශ්‍ය සියලු කාබනික පොහොර ප්‍රමාණය අපේම ගොවි මහතුන්ට මේ ප්‍රදේශයේම නිෂ්පාදනය කර ගත හැකි වේයැයි බලාපොරොත්තුව අපිට තියෙනවා. 

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් දැක්වූ මහවැලි එච් කළාපයේ, මහඉලුප්පලම කොට්ඨාශ කළමණාකාර කපිල කුමාර මහතා,

මහඉලුප්පල්ලම කොට්ඨාශයේ 2021/22 මාස් කන්නයේ වගාවන් සඳහා අක්කර 10 200 ක භූමි ප්‍රමාණයක් වගා කිරීමට නියමිතයි.ඒ වෙනුවෙන් රජය මේ වන විට ගෙන ඇති ප්‍රථිපත්තිමය තීන්දුව අනුව යමින් කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනය කිරීම මේ දින වල සිදු වෙනවා.ඒ සඳහා ගොවීන්  යොමු වීමට මුලදී යම් මැළිකමක් දැක්වීම හේතුවෙන් මහවැලි අධිකාරිය මගින් ගොවීන්ට කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනයට අවශ්‍යය දැනුම හා අකල්පමය වෙනස ඇති කිරීමට පුහුණු වැඩසටහන් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනවා.මේ කොට්ඨාශයේ ගොවීන් 5600 ක් පමණ සිටිනවා. ගොවි සංවිධාන 50 කට ගොණු ගත වෙලා ඉන්නවා. ඔවුන් අක්කර 10 200 ක භූමි ප්‍රමාණයක් වගා කරනවා.ගොවීන් 30 දෙනෙකුට එක් පුහුණු වැඩසටහන බැගින් පුහුණු වැඩසටහන් රැසක් මේ වන විට සිදු කර තිබෙනවා.කොම්පෝස්ට් නිෂ්පාදනයට අවශ්‍යය අමුද්‍රව්‍යය  ලෙස ජපන් ජබර හා පාසි සහිත ජලජ ශාඛ ට්‍රැක්ටරයක් ගොවීන්ගේ නිවස හෝ ගොවි බිම වෙත නොමිලේම ප්‍රවාහනය කරලා දෙන වැඩසටහනක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කෙරෙනවා, ඒ වගේම පොස්පේට් පොහොර අක්කරයකට කිලෝ 20 බැගින් නොමිලේ  සියලුම ගොවීන් වෙත ලබා දීමට අවශ්‍යය කටයුතු සිදු කර තිබෙනවා.මේ වන විට ගොවීන් 70% ක් තමන්ගේ අවශ්‍යතාවට සරිලන ලෙස කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනය කරලා අවසන්.මහඉලුප්පලම කොට්ඨාශය කියන්නේ කලාවැවෙන් පෝෂණය වන, පුරාණ  යෝද ඇළෙන් දියවර ලබා ගන්නා  ගොවි බිම් ඉදිරි මාස් කන්නයේදී වගා කටයුතු සිදු කළ පසු මේ කාබනික පොහොර නියමිත පරිදී දිරාපත් වෙලා වගාවන්ට යොදන තත්වයට පත් වෙයි.ඒ අනුව අපි ඉලක්කය වී ඇත්තේ අක්කර 10 200 ක භූමි ප්‍රමාණයට කොම්පෝස්ට් ටොන් 4080 ක වගේ ප්‍රමාණයක්  ගොවීන්ගේ අතින්ම නිෂ්පාදනය කිරීමයි. පසුගිය කන්නයේදී මෙම කොට්ඨාශයේ ගොවීන් වෙත රසායනික පොහොර ලෙස යූරියා කිලෝ 880 000 ක්, ටී.එස්.පී පොහොර කිලෝ 2 04 000 ක්, එමි.ඕ.පී පොහොර කිලෝ 2 24 000 ක්  පමණ ලබා දී තිබෙනවා.  ඒ වෙනුවට තමයි කාබනික පොහොර ටොන් 4080 ක් නිෂ්පාදනය කරන්න වැඩසටහන් ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙන්නේ.කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනය කරන මෙම කොට්ඨාශයේ ගොවීන් වෙත දිරි දීමනා ලෙස රුපියල් මිලියන 50 ක් පමණ ගොවීන් වෙත ප්‍රදානය කිරීමටද නියමිතයි.ඒ සඳහා අවශ්‍යය කටයුතුද මේ වන විට සිදු කෙරනවා.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ටෝකියෝ නුවර පැවැති පැරාලිම්පික් 2020 තරගාවලියේ දී හෙල්ල විසි කිරීමේ ඉසව්වෙන් නව ලෝක වාර්තාවක් තබමින් මාතෘ භූමිය රනින් සැරසූ දිනේෂ් ප්‍රියන්ත හේරත් සහ ලෝකඩ පදක්කමක් දිනාගත් සමිත දුලාන් කොඩිතුවක්කු අද (08) දින අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා හමුවූහ.

පැරාලිම්පික් තරගබිමේ නව වාර්තා තබමින් ඔබ ලැබූ ජයග්‍රහණයන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා අභිමානය ජාත්‍යන්තරය තුළ ගෞරවාදරයට ලක් කිරීමක් බව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මෙම සුහඳ හමුවේ දී ක්‍රීඩකයන්ට සුබ පැතුම් එක් කරමින් ප්‍රකාශ කළේය.

ඉතිහාසය අලුතින් ලියා තැබූ මෙම ජයග්‍රහණයට මග පෙන්වූ පුහුණුකරුවන් නිලධාරින් ඇතුළු සියලු දෙනාට සිය ප්‍රණාමය පුද කරන බව සඳහන් කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා, ක්‍රීඩා ජයග්‍රහණ හිමිකර දෙමින් රටට අභිමානයක් එක් කිරීමට කැපවන සියලු ක්‍රීඩක ක්‍රීඩිකාවන්ගේ පුහුණුවීම් සඳහා අවශ්‍ය පහසුකම් අඛණ්ඩව සැපයීමට රජය පියවර ගන්නා බව අවධාරණය කළේය. 

ජපානයේ ටෝකියෝ හී පැවති 2020 පැරාලිම්පික් තරගාවලියේ දී F46 හෙල්ල විසිකිරීමේ ඉසව්වෙන් මීටර් 67.79ක දුරක් හෙල්ලය විසිකරමින්  නව ලෝක වාර්තාවක් පිහිටුවමින් රන් පදක්කම දිනා ගැනීමට දිනේෂ් ප්‍රියන්ත හේරත් සමත් විය.

එම තරගාවලියේම F64 හෙල්ල විසිකිරීමේ ඉසව්වෙන් මීටර් 65.61 වාර්තාකරමින් සමිත දුලාන් කොඩිතුවක්කු ලෝකඩ පදක්කම දිනා දුන්නේය.

ජයග්‍රහණ ලබා ගැනීම උදෙසා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යතුමා ඇතුළු රජය ලබා දෙන සහයෝගයට සිය ප්‍රණාමය පුදකරන බව මෙහි දී පැරාලිම්පික් පදක්කම් දිනූ දිනේෂ් ප්‍රියන්ත සහ සමිත දුලාන් ක්‍රීඩකයෝ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට පැවසූහ.

තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා මෙරට ක්‍රීඩාව සැළැස්මකට අනුව දියුණු කිරීමට පියවර ගැනීම ජයග්‍රහණ පිළිබඳ අනාගත බලාපොරොත්තු තැබීමේ හැකියාව උදාකරන බව ද අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මෙහි දී විශ්වාසය පළ කළේය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ, ග්‍රාමීය හා පාසල් ක්‍රීඩා යටිතල පහසුකම් ප්‍රවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය තේනුක විදානගමගේ, ක්‍රීඩා සංවර්ධන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් අමල් එදිරිසූරිය, ජාතික ඔලිම්පික් කමිටුවේ සභාපති ලුතිනන් කර්නල් දීපාල් හේරත්, ලේකම් බන්දුල බණ්ඩාර, හෙල්ල විසිකිරීමේ පුහුණුකරු ප්‍රදීප් නිශාන්ත මහත්වරු ඇතුළු පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යංශය, සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධීකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය,ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණ හා ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රීඩා ඉතිහාසය තුළ රන් සලකුණු තබමින් මළල ක්‍රීඩාවෙන් ලද ඉහළම ජයග්‍රහණය රැගෙන දිවයිනට පැමිණි ජාතික පැරාලිම්පික් කණ්ඩායම අද (08) දින තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා හමු වූ අවස්ථාවේදී අමාත්‍යවරයා මේ බව පැවසීය.

ජපානයේ ටෝකියෝ නුවර පැවති 2020 පැරාලිම්පික් උලෙළේ දී ලෝක වාර්තාවක් සමගින් රන් පදක්කමක් සහ ලෝකඩ පදක්කමක් දිනාගත් ජාතික පැරාලිම්පික් කණ්ඩායම ඊයේ දින සන්ධ්‍යාවේදී UL 455 දරණ ගුවන් යානයෙන් කටුනායක ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපොළ විශේෂ ප්‍රභූ පර්යන්තයේ රතුපලස මතින් දිවයිනට පැමිණියහ.

පවතින වසංගත තත්ත්වය හමුවේ සෞඛ්‍ය මාර්ගෝපදේවලට අනුකූලව අද (08) දින තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශයේදී ජාතික පැරාලිම්පික් කණ්ඩායම  ඉතා ම උණුසුම් අන්දමින් පිළිගත්  අමාත්‍යවරයා ඔවුන් සමග කෙටි පිලිසඳරක යෙදිණි.

ලෝක ශූර රන්පදක්කම්ලාභී දිනේෂ් ප්‍රියන්ත හේරත් ක්‍රීඩකයා තමා ලබාගත් ජයග්‍රහණය පිළිබඳව ක්‍රීඩකයන් අමාත්‍යවරයා සමග අදහස් බෙදාගත්තේ මෙලෙසිනි.

”අපිට ගොඩාක් සතුටුයි ලෝක වාර්තාවක් සමග රන් පදක්කමක් සහ ලෝකඩ පදක්කමක් දිනා ගැනීමට හැකි වීම පිළිබදව. ඉදිරියේදී  අපි වාර්තාවන් අලුත් කරන්න කැපවෙලා පුහුණුවීම් කටයුතු කරනවා.

යුද්ධ හමුදාවෙන් ලැබුණු පන්නරය සමග ඔවුන්ගේ සහයෝගය අපිට ශක්තියක් වුණා. ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශය, ජාතික පැරාලිම්පික් කමිටුව මේ ජයග්‍රහණවලට ලොකු පිටුවහලක් වුණා.

ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශයෙන්  අපි වෙනුවෙන් සැලැස්මකට අනුව ලබාදෙන පුහුණුව, පහසුකම් හා දීමනා මේ ජයග්‍රහණවලට සුවිශාල සහයෝගයක් වුණා වගේම ක්‍රීඩකයන් හැටියට අපිට ඒක ලොකු දිරිගැන්වීමක්.”

අපේ පුහුණුකරු ප්‍රදීප් නිශාන්ත මහතා අපිට ඉතා දක්ෂ ලෙස අවශ්‍ය පුහුණුවීම් කටයුතු කිරීම සදහා උපදෙස් ලබා දුන්නා. ඔහුගේ මගපෙන්වීම යටතේ මා ලෝක වාර්තාවක් සමගින් රන් පදක්කම ජයග්‍රහණය කිරීමට හැකියාව ලැබුණා යනුවෙනි.

ලංකා ඉතිහාසයේ පළමු වතාවට ජාතික ගීය වාදනය වුණා. හරිම සතුටක් දැනුණා ඒ වෙලාවේ.  ඒක අපිට ඉමහත් අභිමානයක්.

ඒ අභිමානය ජාතික පැරාලිම්පික් කමිටුවටත්, ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යතුමාටත් ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශයටත් හිමිවිය යුතුයි. හැමෝම එකතුවෙලා මේ ගමන ගියේ නැත්නම් අපිට මේ ජයග්‍රහණ හම්බවෙන්නේ නැහැ.

ඒ එකමුතුකම, සහයෝගය ඉමහත් අගේ කොට සළකනවා යැයි ඔවුන් අදහස් ප්‍රකාශ කර සිටියහ.

එම අවස්ථාවේදි ජාතික පැරාලිම්පික් කමිටු සභාපති ලුතිනන් කර්නල් දීපාල් හේරත් මහතා විසින් අමාත්‍යවරයාගෙන් කළ ඉල්ලීමකට අනුව මෙම ක්‍රීඩක ක්‍රීඩිකාවන්ගේ පුහුණු කටයුතු සඳහා ක්‍රීඩා සංකීර්ණයක් හා අනුව පැරාලිම්පික් කමිටු කාර්යාලය පවත්වාගෙන යාමට සුදුසු ස්ථානයක් ලබාදීමට කටයුතු කරන ලෙසත් අමාත්‍යතුමා විසින් නිලධාරින්ට උපදෙස් ලබාදුනි.

එහිදී අමාත්‍යවරයා මෙසේ ද කීය.

පළමුවෙන් ම ජාත්‍යන්තර වශයෙන් ලෝක වාර්තාවක් ද සමග පැරාලිම්පික් රන් පදක්කමක් සහ ලෝකඩ පදක්කමක් සමගින් රට සහ ක්‍රීඩාව වෙනුවෙන් ඔබ ලබාගත් ජයග්‍රහණ වෙනුවෙන් ක්‍රීඩක ක්‍රීඩිකාවන්ට වගේම ඔවුන්ගේ පුහුණුකරු වන ප්‍රදීප් නිශාන්ත මහතා ඇතුළු සියලුම පුහුණුකරුවන්ටත් මා ගෞරවනීය ස්තූතිය පුදකරනවා.

ඒ වගේම මෙවර පැරාලිම්පික් තරගාවලියේ දී  බොහෝ ක්‍රීඩක ක්‍රීඩිකාවන්  ඔබගේ හොඳම පෞද්ගලික දක්ෂතාවයන් වාර්තා කළා. ඒ පිළිබඳවත් ඉතාමත් ම සතුටුයි.  

එළඹෙන තරගාවලි ඉලක්ක කරගනිමින් ඒ සඳහා පුහුණුවීම් ආරම්භ කර හොඳින් සූදානම් විය යුතුයි.

ක්‍රීඩාවෙන් ඉදිරියට යන ඔබ දෙස බලා සිටින අපේ දරුවන්ට ඔබ ආදර්ශයක් වි යුතුයි. ඔබේ දක්ෂතා වැඩි දියුණු කරගනිමින් සාර්ථකත්වය කරා යන ගමනේ දී  ඔබ දෙස බලාගෙන සාර්ථක වෙන්න උත්සහ කරන අපේ ඊළග පරම්පරාවට ඔබ ආදර්ශයක් වෙන්න.

අපේ ඉදිරි පරම්පරාව තීන්දු තීරණ ගන්නේ සාර්ථක කතාන්දර දිහා බලලා. ක්‍රීඩාවෙන් ජාත්‍යන්තරය  ජයගත් ඔබේ කතාවත් ඔවුන්ට ආදර්ශයක් විය යුතුයි.

ක්‍රීඩාවෙන් මගේ දරුවාට හොඳ අනාගතයක් තිබෙන බව පසක් වූ විට අපේ රටේ දෙමාපියන් වුණත් බියකින් සැකයකින් තොරව තමන්ගේ දරුවන් ක්‍රීඩාවට යොමු කරාවි. ඒ විශ්වාසය ඔවුන්ට ලැබෙන විදියට කටයුතු කරන්න.

ස්වයං විනය ඇතිව ක්‍රීඩාවෙන් වගේම ජීවිතය දිනන්නත් ඔබ සියලුදෙනාට මා සුබ පතනවා.

ඉදිරි තරගාවලිවලදීත් ඔබ සියලුදෙනා ඔබේ උපරිම දස්කම් දක්වමින් අපේ රට වෙනුවෙන් ජයග්‍රහණ ලබා ගනිවී යැයි මා  විශ්වාස කරනවා.

ඒ වෙනුවෙන් ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යවරයා සහ ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශය ලෙස උපරිම සහයෝගය මා ඔබට ලබාදෙනවා යැයි අමාත්‍යවරයා පැවසීය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට ග්‍රාමීය පාසල් හා යටිතල පහසුකම් ප්‍රවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය තේනුක විදානගමගේ මැතිතුමා, තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් අනුරාධ විජේකෝන්, අතිරේක ලේකම් (පාලන හා ප්‍රසම්පාදන) චන්ද්‍රරත්න පල්ලෙගම, යුද්ධ හමුදාධිපති ජනරාල් ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා, ක්‍රීඩා සංවර්ධන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් අමල් එදිරිසූරිය, ක්‍රීඩා වෛද්‍ය ආයතනයේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් වෛද්‍ය ලාල් ඒකනායක, ජාතික ක්‍රීඩා සභාවේ සාමාජික යෂ්වන්ත් මුත්තෙට්ටුවගම යන මහත්වරුන්, ක්‍රීඩා සංවර්ධන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ (පාලන) කේ.පී.පී සිරිවර්ධන මහත්මිය ඇතුළු ව ජාතික පැරාලිම්පික් කමිටුවේ සමාජික මහත්ම මහත්මීහු  පිරිසක් සහභාගි වූහ.

මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය,

තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යංශය, සංවර්ධන සම්බන්ධීකරණ හා අධීක්ෂණ අමාත්‍යාංශය,ඩිජිටල් තාක්ෂණ හා ව්‍යවසාය සංවර්ධන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශය.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ඉතාලියේ සංචාරයකට එක්වන ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා එම සංචාරයේ දී අතිඋතුම් ෆ්‍රැන්සිස් පාප් වහන්සේ වතිකානුවේ දී බැහැ දකින බවට පළවන මාධ්‍ය වාර්තා මුළුමනින්ම අසත්‍ය වේ.

බොලොඤ්ඤා විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ පැවැත්වෙන අන්තර්ජාතික සමුළුවක ආරම්භක සැසියේ ප්‍රධාන දේශනය පැවැත්වීම සහ රාජතාන්ත්‍රික හමුවීම් පදනම් කරගනිමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ ඉතාලි සංචාරය සැළසුම් කර තිබේ.