By a concerned Kandyan: Dr Sudath Gunasekara. Mahanuwara
Naming newly acquired bear cubs in the Dehiwala Zoo.
I read that these two cubs have been named as Nilame and Menike.I regret very much this foolish decision made by the Zoo authorities. This is highly defamatory and malicious.Therefore, I demand this foolish and defamatory decision should be withdrawn immediately and corrected in the press and the YOUTUBE as it is an attempt made by some scruples donkey, to defame the Kandyans and humiliate them, with the intention of doing so or not. He should withdraw it immediately. I also demand that the man or the woman who made this decision should be punished.
Thereafter, pl find a suitable name for a bear.
The term Nilame was coined and used to designate a faithful servant of the King in traditional Kandyan Sinhala society. It means the bearer of a high position in the service of the King and the People and the Sasana as all three were one, as the Mahavansa says. The term Menike was used to call the lady of the house.Both terms were used in an honorary sense. The father was called Loku Nilame and the lady Loku Menike The male children Podi Nilame and females Podi Manike. The person whether an officer or a Minister must be ashamed to have defamed and humiliated great clan of our society who fought for nearly 350 year against the Portuguese, Dutch and the British invaders to save the Sinhale Kingdom and Sinhala nation together with the Buddha Sasana for have a land for all of us to live without being disappearing like the Natives of North and South America,,Australia and New Zealand. As such instead of honoring those Great people and paying respect to them, nobody should be allowed to humiliate them by resorting to this type of low and unsavory tactics. Dr Sudath Gunasekara. Mahanuwara 28.3.2025
Leader of ‘Pivithuru Hela Urumaya’ Udaya Gammanpila has alleged that US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung, has omitted certain words from the statement issued by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to the sanctions imposed by the UK government on former military chiefs.
Commenting regarding the matter, Gammanpila said: We think that Minister Vijitha Herath wrote the statement engulfed in patriotic thoughts, but US Ambassador Julie Chung, who has power over the government, must have omitted certain words and edited the statement.”
The Canadian Tamil Congress that congratulated President Anura Dissanayake when he rose to power sent a congratulatory letter to the President urging him to fulfill his duties, stating that they have completed theirs”, Gammanpila stated, questioning the government on what these responsibilities which they have promised to the Canadian Tamil congress.
It has not been revealed to the country as yet. We have to assume that the government is fulfilling their duties to the Canadian Tamil congress when the government is responding lackadaisically to Britain’s hunt against military personnel”, he said.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake convened a high-level meeting today (28) at the Presidential Secretariat with senior officials from the Ministry of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation, as well as the Ministry of Urban Development, Construction and Housing.
During the discussion, the President instructed the relevant officials to expedite the construction of the Mirigama-Kadawatha section of the Central Expressway, the President’s Media Division (PMD) reported.
The meeting also focused on the Colombo Port Access Elevated Highway project, with deliberations on strategies to swiftly integrate its benefits into the national economy. Furthermore, the meeting also explored both short-term and long-term solutions to address associated challenges.
Addressing the urgent need to mitigate traffic congestion in Colombo, discussions centred on upgrading the railway system and standardizing bus and road transportation service. The implementation of a pilot project in the Colombo District was proposed as an initial step toward these improvements.
Furthermore, discussions were held regarding the development of multimodal transport hubs in Colombo, Kandy, Kurunegala and Moratuwa, aimed at improving urban mobility and streamlining public transportation.
The meeting also included extensive discussions on identifying underutilized lands belonging to the Railway Department that do not contribute to the national economy and implementing proper management strategies to optimize their use, the PMD said.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Bimal Rathnayake, Minister of Urban Development, Construction, and Housing Anura Karunatilaka, Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Dr. Prasanna Gunasena, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake and other senior officials from the relevant Ministries.
It was revealed in the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that a private company named ‘Savorite’ was issued Waiver of Registration (WoR) certificates to import 38 types of medicines in 2022 without the evaluation of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA).
The former Secretary to the Ministry of Health also informed the Committee that the former Minister of Health had given instructions to select this private company called ‘Savorite’ to import medicines in this way.
This was disclosed when the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) of Parliament met in Parliament on Wednesday (March 26), under the chairmanship of Member of Parliament (Dr.) Nishantha Samaraweera, to examine the Auditor General’s reports for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 and the current performance of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority, the Department of Communication of Parliament said.
The Committee Chair informed the committee that on December 30, 2022, the NMRA had issued Waiver of Registration (WoR) certificates to a private company named ‘Savorite’ for the import of 38 types of medicines submitted through unsolicited proposals without the evaluation of the NMRA. The Committee Chair said that the NMRA has abdicated its responsibility, stating that the purpose of establishing the NMRA is to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of those medicines and that it cannot be handed over to the Medical Supplies Sector.
Former members of the Board of Directors of the NMRA said that since the import of medicines through a special pathway with prior approval was carried out, the Board of Directors could not grant permission for it without conducting a proper evaluation. Therefore, they said that they did not accept responsibility in this regard.
Accordingly, this matter was discussed at length in the committee, and it was revealed that the former Minister of Health had instructed to select a private company called ‘Savorite’ to import the medicines in short supply for 3 months.
Meanwhile, the Committee also discussed at length the Cabinet Memorandum submitted by the former Minister of Health on 26 September 2022. The Committee Chair inquired from the Ministry of Health officials about the fact that a large number of medicines would reach zero levels within the next 3 weeks from the date of submission of the relevant Cabinet Memorandum.
The officials who responded said that the information had been added to the Cabinet Memorandum based on the information obtained from the existing database regarding medicines. However, the committee Chair said that it was unacceptable for a large number of medicines to reach zero levels at the same time and that the relevant responsible officials had acted irresponsibly until such a level was reached.
The Auditor General, who spoke at the time, stated that the medicines that were ordered and to be received in advance have also been imported, citing that the medicines have reached zero levels.
Accordingly, the committee chair instructed the officials to submit a full report to the Committee on who were the officials involved in preparing this Cabinet Memorandum. The Chair further stated that a full report regarding the import of these medicines will be prepared by the Committee and submitted to Parliament, and that necessary action will be taken expeditiously.
The Members of Parliament Mano Ganeshan, Nalin Bandara Jayamaha, S. M. Marikkar, Chaminda Wijesiri, Attorney-at-Law Nilanthi Kottahachchi, Chandima Hettiarachchi, Asitha Niroshana Egoda Vithana, Kosala Nuwan Jayaweera, Sudath Balagalla, (Dr.) S. Sri Bavanandarajah, Lieutenant Commander (Retd.) Prageeth Madhuranga and Samanmali Gunasinghe were present in this committee meeting.
Following independence from Britain, both India and Sri Lanka emerged as leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement, which sought to advance developing nations’ interests during the Cold War. Indeed, the term “non-alignment” was itself coined by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during his 1954 speech in Colombo. The five principles of the Non-Aligned Movement are: mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty; mutual non-aggression; mutual non-interference in domestic affairs; equality and mutual benefit; and peaceful co-existence.”
Later, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi played a key role in supporting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s 1971 proposal to declare the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace at the United Nations.
Such progressive ideals are in stark contrast to the current neocolonial negotiations between the two countries.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s forthcoming visit to Sri Lanka on April 4, 2025, is presented as representing a mutually beneficial partnership that will bring economic development to debt-burdened Sri Lanka. However, the details of the strategic agreements to be signed during Modi’s visit remain undisclosed to the public. This opacity cannot be a good sign and should not be accepted uncritically by the media or the people of either nation.
The Indo-Lanka Agreement of July 29, 1987, was also crafted without consultation with the Sri Lankan people or its parliament. It was signed during a 48-hour curfew when former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi arrived in Sri Lanka. This agreement led to the imposition of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution and established the Provincial Council system. The political framework it created continues to challenge Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Rather than bringing peace, India’s 1987 intervention resulted in one of the most violent and chaotic periods in the island’s recent history.
Will these agreements being finalized with Prime Minister Modi also lead to a period of pillage and plunder of the island’s resources and worsening conditions for its people, rather than delivering the promised economic benefits? It is crucial that any bilateral agreements include enforceable measures to stop Indian bottom trawlers from illegally fishing in Sri Lankan territorial waters. This decades-long practice has caused severe damage to Sri Lanka’s marine resources and inflicted significant economic losses on its fishing communities.
Facing an increasing Chinese presence in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean, India has sought to strengthen its political, economic, strategic and cultural influence over Sri Lanka through various overt and covert means. During Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic crisis, for example, India provided $4 billion in financial assistance through currency swaps, credit lines, and loan deferrals that enabled Sri Lanka to import essential goods from India. While this aid has helped Sri Lanka, it has also served India’s interests by countering China’s influence and protecting Indian business in Sri Lanka.
Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit represents the culmination of years of Indian initiatives in Sri Lanka spanning maritime security, aviation, energy, power generation, trade, finance, and cultural exchanges. For example, India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for digital payments was introduced in Sri Lanka in February 2024, and in October 2023 India provided funds to develop a digital national identity card for Sri Lanka raising concerns about India’s access to Sri Lanka’s national biometric identification data. Indian investors have been given preferential access in the privatization of Sri Lanka’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in key sectors like telecommunications, financial services, and energy. The Adani Group’s West Terminal project in Colombo Port is explicitly designed to counter China’s control over Sri Lanka’s port infrastructure, including the Colombo International Container Terminal, Hambantota Port, and Port City Colombo.
India and Sri Lanka have recently agreed to resume negotiations on the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ECTA), which focuses primarily on the service sector and aims to create a unified labor market. However, Sri Lankan professional associations have raised concerns that ECTA could give unemployed and lower-paid Indian workers a competitive advantage over their Sri Lankan counterparts. These concerns must be properly addressed before any agreement is finalized.
On December 16, 2024, India and Sri Lanka signed several Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) in New Delhi to enhance cooperation in defense, energy, and infrastructure development. These include plans for electricity grid interconnection and a multi-product petroleum pipeline between the two countries. Building on these agreements, construction of the Sampur power plant in Trincomalee is expected to begin during Prime Minister Modi’s April visit.
The Sampur power plant project, combined with India’s takeover of the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm, represents a significant step toward integrating Sri Lanka into India’s national energy grid. This development effectively brings Trincomalee’s strategic natural harbor – often called the crown jewel” of Sri Lanka’s assets – under Indian control, transforming it into a regional energy hub. In 1987, during India’s military intervention in Sri Lanka, New Delhi pressured Colombo into signing a secret agreement stipulating that the British-era Trincomalee oil tank farm would be jointly developed with India and could not be used by any other country.
While India promotes its energy interconnection projects as enhancing regional energy security, recent experiences in Nepal demonstrate how electricity grid integration with India has made Nepal dependent on and subordinate to India for its basic energy needs. Similarly, Bangladesh’s electricity agreement with the Adani Group has created an imbalanced situation favoring Adani over Bangladeshi power consumers. What collective actions could Sri Lanka and other small nations take to avoid such unequal “energy colonialism” and protect their national security and sovereignty?
India’s emergence as a superpower and its expansionist policies are gradually transforming neighboring South Asian and Indian Ocean states into economically and politically subordinate entities. Both Sri Lanka and the Maldives have adopted “India First” foreign policies in recent years, with the Maldives abandoning its “India Out” campaign in October 2024 in exchange for Indian economic assistance.
India’s “Neighborhood First Policy” has led to deep involvement in the internal affairs of neighboring countries including Sri Lanka. This involvement often takes the form of manipulating political parties, exploiting ethnic and religious divisions, and engineering political instability and regime changes – tactics reminiscent of colonial practices. It is well documented that India provided training to the LTTE and other terrorist groups opposing the Sri Lankan government during the civil war. Many in Sri Lanka also suspect, though without conclusive evidence, that India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was involved in both the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings and the 2022 Aragalaya protest movement during Sri Lanka’s economic crisis.
Contemporary Indian expansionism must be viewed within the broader context of the New Cold War and intensifying geopolitical competition between the United States and China. Given its strategic location along the vital east-west shipping routes in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka has become a pawn in this great power rivalry. In addition to granting China extensive control over key infrastructure, Sri Lanka has signed the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) and Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States, effectively allowing the use of Sri Lanka as a U.S. military logistics hub. It was reported that during a visit to Sri Lanka in February 2023, Victoria Nuland, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs of the United States strongly suggested the establishment of a joint US-Indian military base in Trincomalee to counter Chinese activities in the region.
As a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) – a strategic alliance against Chinese expansion that includes the United States, Australia and Japan – India participates in extensive QUAD military exercises like the Malabar exercises in the Indian Ocean. However, India’s role in QUAD appears inconsistent with its position as a founding member of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), which was established to promote the interests of emerging economies and a multipolar world order. Unfortunately, BRICS appears to be replicating the same patterns of domination and subordination in its relations with smaller nations like Sri Lanka that characterize traditional imperial powers.
India presents itself as the guardian of Buddhism, particularly in its relations with Sri Lanka, to foster a sense of shared cultural heritage. However, it was Sri Lanka – not India – that preserved the Buddha’s teachings as they declined and eventually disappeared from India. Sri Lanka maintained the Buddhist tradition despite seventeen major invasions from India aimed at destroying the island’s Buddhist civilization.
Even today, despite its extensive influence, India has not taken meaningful steps to protect Buddhist temples and archaeological sites in Sri Lanka’s north and east from attacks by Tamil separatist groups. Instead, India appears focused on advancing the concept of Akhand Bharat (Undivided India) and Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation), which seeks to incorporate neighboring countries like Sri Lanka into a “Greater India.” The promotion of the bogus Ramayana Trail in Sri Lanka and the accompanying Hinduization pose a serious threat to preserving Sri Lanka’s distinct Buddhist identity and heritage.
Indian neocolonialism in Sri Lanka reflects a global phenomenon where powerful nations and their local collaborators – including political, economic, academic, media and NGO elites – prioritize short-term profits and self-interest over national and collective welfare, leading to environmental destruction and cultural erosion. Breaking free from this exploitative world order requires fundamentally reimagining global economic and social systems to uphold harmony and equality.
In this global transformation, India has a significant role to play. As a nation that endured centuries of Western imperial domination, India’s historical mission should be to continue to lead the struggle for decolonization and non-alignment, rather than serving as a junior partner in superpower rivalries. Under Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership, India championed the worldwide movement for decolonization and independence in the modern era.
Upholding the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement could forge a partnership benefiting both nations while preserving Sri Lanka’s independence and Buddhist identity. Otherwise, the New Cold War will continue to trample local sovereignty, where foreign powers vie to exploit the island’s resources, subjugate local communities and accelerate environmental and cultural destruction.
All citizens of Sri Lanka irrespective of party politics must stand together united in defense of Sri Lanka & its National Army. All those with the ability to analyze history, its legacies & the colonial crimes committed but unaccounted for should question the manner in which those who stand guilty of 500 years of colonial crimes and human rights violations of the non – European peoples, are now brandishing the weapon of Human Rights while having lost all moral authority to do so. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka which comprises over 25, 000 members currently are tasked to interpret the law & must now come forward in defense of the Nation. If they came forward to provide free legal services to hooligans inducted by Western funds to overthrow a legitimately elected President in 2022, why can’t they come forward in defense of Sri Lanka’s National Army & Sri Lanka using the law?
The leaders of the UK and other Western Christian nations have become the world’s laughing stock.
Their use of the International Criminal Justice system in a shameless manner in a Witch Hunt of Third World countries leaders and soldiers, have generated amusement and anger among the people of Third World nations.
It is like Hitler preaching Human Rights to the Jews whose relatives died in the Holocaust.
Having lost moral authority by evading Accountability for Colonial Crimes, not allowing International Truth Commissions to conduct public hearings on British Crimes, refusing to repatriate stolen artifacts now displayed in British Museums to their rightful owners in former colonies, among other wrongdoings, have reduced the public image of Britain to its lowest level since the signing of the Magna Carta in the 13th century. Today, the mighty British govt is depriving the basic needs of its own people to fund wars abroad while the British are suffering back home, while a handful of British MPs are in the pocket of terrorist/separatist promoters & abusing their office & misusing British tax payers money to press for sanctions against Sri Lanka.
Britain is not a symbol of Righteousness. It has now become a symbol of Wickedness, Duplicity, Divide and Rule, Promoter of cut – throat disputes among people of minority religions and races against the majority in former colonies.
The UK is a dying nation and in a last flicker of the dying flame UK is trying to salvage and white wash its poor Human Rights record by joining hands with the Tamil Diaspora whose membership comprises a large number of Terrorists who have fled Sri Lanka and are evading Accountability for their crimes in Sri Lanka.
The BASL’s reputation has come into question with the former BASL President having to resign from his position & BASL accused of accepting funding from USAID & other destabilizing Western agencies which has questioned their integrity in the minds of the General Public. There is much that the BASL must do to regain its tarnished reputation.
The present scenario is best suited for lawyers of the BASL irrespective of their political affiliations to come forward in defense of the Nation against the malicious allegations hurled by the UK Govt 16 years after LTTE terrorism has ended sans any proof but relying on LTTE sources & propaganda to impose sanction on select military heads clearly proving an agenda & political witch-hunt at play.
When the Medical Association comes forward to provide their expertise in affairs related to the medical field, the present UK Govt. press release requires a matching response by way of legal interpretation & legal action by Sri Lanka’s Bar Association.
The Bar Association must take up this challenge & come forward as a group or as individual lawyers to challenge the British Govt’s decision.
This is a challenge that the Bar Association must accept without any reservation.
With a newly elected President Mr Rajeev Amarasuriya about to accept Office and lead the BASL, the time is ripe for BASL to shed its past that was dependent on the funds of the World’s biggest trouble maker USAID, and re-calibrate its future in a Patriotic manner to serve the nation. Nothing less would suffice at this important juncture.
President Trump, who promised to end wars and never start one, has travelled 8,000 miles to bomb Yemen. If he continues, Yemen will be his Vietnam and Afghanistan. In many ways they are similar countries, populated by dogged fighters. Since the President and his team know not a jot about its history, sociology, topography, herewith, a brief note from my travels.
At a height of 8,500 ft, the old city of Sanaa, capital of Yemen, has a magical air of leisure, its maze of lanes, lined with multistoried mud and brick mansions, decorated with exquisite mosaic.
But the peace of Sanaa disguises the storm clouds of conflict, every bit as complex and dramatic as Afghanistan. The reason why Yemen conflicts do not dominate our TV screens is easily explained. The theatres of conflict in Saa’da, for instance bordering Saudi Arabia, are bare, steep and craggy mountains, suited more for rock climbers than TV crews.
That Wahabi rulers from adjoining Saudi Arabia in the 19th century destroyed Najaf, the Shrine of Ali, and Karbala, gives clues of the theological Saudi-Yemeni conflict which remains unresolved to this day.
How did a system of Imams find root in Yemen? Prophet Mohammad’s son-in-law, Hazrat Ali is the first Imam for the Shias. Sunnis revere him as the fourth caliph. Somewhere there lies the roots of Shia-Sunni tussle. Ali was sent to Sanaa by the Prophet as Qazi or Judge.
Ali’s oldest son, Hasan, is the second Imam. Younger son, Hussain, the martyr of Karbala is the 3rd. Hussain’s son, Zain-ul-Abedin was the only surviving male relative of Hussain at Karbala because he was ailing and could not go into battle.
He recovered and became the fourth Imam. His two sons Baqar Ibne Ali and Zaid Ibne Ali differed in their response to the Battle of Kabala. Baqar’s was the more Gandhian approach. He believed that martyrdom of Imam Hussain and his family at Karbala had already spurred a massive revival of Islam. Zaid thought the Omayyad had to be defeated. Zaid’s follower set up their Imamate in Yemen, much the more civilized part of the Arab peninsula.
Post Ottomans, Yemen remained two countries, north Yemen with a population of 20 million, with its capital at Sanaa. South Yemen, with a population of four million had its capital at Aden strategically local at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden.
The British therefore held onto it tenaciously until Arab socialism swept the Arab world under Nasser. The socialist ferver ousted the British in 1967. In the context of the cold war, raging then, Southern Yemen came under Soviet influence.
Here let me insert another detail even on the pain of complicating the narrative. When the last Imam Yahya, was under pressure from the Ottomans he bargained with the Saudis, his northern neighbour for peace. Under this bargain, two districts of Nigran and Jizan were given to the Saudis on a sort of renewable lease.
According to Dr. Nasr al-Naqeeb, a well known Sanaa intellectual, the two districts are oil rich”. Otherwise why would the Saudis accept two Shia dominated Yemeni towns next door to the militant Shias called the Houthis. Houthis derives from name of their leader Malik as Houthi.
Now, let us pick up the narrative chronologically from 1980s after the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The US, Saudis and Zia-ul-Haq started manufacturing extreme Islamists in countless Madarsas in Pakistan for which that country is paying the price to this day.
For Prince Naif bin Abdel Aziz, Saudi Interior Minister, the Pakistani Madarsas were not enough. Thoroughbred Arabs had to be trained in militant Islamism too. Just as the Afghan Mujahideen would expel the Soviets from Afghanistan, their counterparts would strive to unsettle pro Soviet Nasserism in Aden.
What better place to open training camps than in neighbouring Yemen, particularly since South Yemen was close to the very Soviets the militants were being trained to oust out of Afghanistan. Yemen President Saleh’s half brother Ali Mohsin al Ahmar took local charge of all the training camps. Look at the concept: bases for Islamic extremism would check wherever the Soviets reared their heads. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the picture has changed radically. It is this Arab component which is at the heart of what is called Al Qaeda as different from the Pushtoon dominated Taleban.
In 1990, therefore the South lost its principal Soviet support with the fall of the Soviet Union. The South could no longer resist unification. Saddam Hussain played a leading role in unification of Yemen in 1990.
Since Saleh, Yemani strongman in Sanaa at the time was beholden to Saddam Hussain, he opposed the wars on Iraq bringing him on a side opposed to the Saudis.
Taking advantage in a chill in Riadh-Sanaa relations, the Shia’s (Houthis) bordering Saudi Arabia stepped up their Shiaism” on both sides of the border. This offended the Saudis. The decade old Saudi-Yemen war destroyed Yemen but never defeated the Houthis. This despite air and intelligence support from the US and UK. Take note, President Trump.
There were once reports, put out by US intelligence, that 400 Hezbollah fighters were, at one stage, present to fight alongside the Shias. These fighters have since been withdrawn. In any case, there have been atleast five full fledged wars against Sanaa since 2002.
International pressure caused the two sides to sign a six-point peace agreement. One of the points was that the Shias will refrain from attacking Saudi territories”. This led to a kind of peace which I witnessed.
In the old town of Sanaa people sat around in circles chewing Qat, a bunch of leaves, a sort poor-man’s non-addictive cockaine (imagine paan with an intoxicating edge), spending their days in this legally sanctioned national habit, very easily oblivious of the storms which in their collective memories have hovered over them for as long as they can remember. The threat of raining hellfire” is one such President Trump.
Synopsis: Kandy, a UNESCO World Heritage city, faces a waste management crisis with environmental and social impacts from the Gohagoda landfill and unsustainable solutions like waste diversion. Issues of dignity and accessibility for vulnerable groups highlight the need for inclusive approaches. Immediate actions like waste segregation, community engagement, and infrastructure investments are essential. Collaboration with stakeholders, such as the Governor, Clean Sri Lanka Project, and JICA, can transform Kandy into a model of sustainable urban development.
Kandy, March 2025 — The historic city of Kandy, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is at a critical juncture as it faces severe waste management challenges. Decades of mismanagement and lack of long-term planning have brought the city’s system to the brink of collapse. The Gohagoda landfill, operational since the 1970s, has reached maximum capacity, creating serious environmental, health, and social issues. Recent temporary measures, such as diverting waste to the Digana Aluthwatta area at a daily cost of LKR 50,000, represent an unsustainable financial burden. Meanwhile, the collection of pampers and ladies’ hygienic pads by Encare has failed to address the root causes of the crisis. This article explores Kandy’s key challenges and presents actionable solutions to establish a sustainable and inclusive waste management system that upholds human dignity while ensuring long-term environmental stewardship.
The Gohagoda landfill, operating for over 50 years, has evolved into a source of environmental degradation, health hazards, and social unrest. Positioned near the Mahaweli River, it risks water contamination through leachate runoff, threatening ecosystems and communities downstream. Residents have filed a “Saparadhi Aparadha” (negligence) case against the Kandy Municipality, citing gross mismanagement and deteriorating living conditions. The absence of proper leachate treatment facilities and environmental safeguards at the site underscores the need for immediate intervention. Without long-term planning, the landfill has become a symbol of institutional failure to manage waste responsibly. Temporary diversion of waste to Digana Aluthwatta costs LKR 50,000 daily, reflecting poor financial planning and failing to represent a viable long-term solution while draining municipal resources. Assuming that a 5-liter bag holds 2 kilograms, a 10-liter bag holds 5 kilograms, and a 20-liter bag holds 10 kilograms, Encare, tasked with managing non-biodegradable waste like pampers and hygienic pads, relies on the sale of specialized bags—priced at LKR 295 for a 5-liter bag, LKR 535 for a 10-liter bag, and LKR 1,065 for a 20-liter bag. By collecting one ton of non-compacted waste, Encare can earn only between LKR 53,250–147,500, exclusive of transportation and incineration fees. However, discussions with residents indicate that low-income families often avoid purchasing these bags due to financial constraints and privacy concerns, further underscoring the unsustainability of the current waste management model and its limited accessibility for vulnerable groups.
One of the key considerations in Kandy’s waste management strategy must be addressing the needs of vulnerable groups with empathy and respect. This includes not only schoolgirls and their families but also women, unemployed individuals, and other adult users of pampers and hygienic pads. For many individuals, especially those experiencing economic hardship, the prospect of openly seeking financial assistance for waste disposal can be deeply uncomfortable. Concerns about dignity and privacy often prevent these individuals from contacting municipal helplines to disclose their inability to afford Encare’s waste collection bags. Recognizing this barrier is essential. It underscores the need for proactive measures that respect cultural sensitivities and individual circumstances. The municipality must establish systems that allow these groups to access waste management services discreetly, without exposing their economic struggles or compromising their sense of self-worth. Establishing discreet collection points at schools, community centers, clinics, and residential areas would encourage usage without fear of judgment or stigma. Implementing privacy-first service models, such as discreet bag distribution and waste handling, would ensure these services are inclusive and compassionate. By embedding waste collection services within educational institutions and community hubs, Kandy can create trusted spaces for residents, ensuring that no one is left behind, regardless of financial situation.
To address the broader challenges, several proposed solutions are essential for establishing a more sustainable waste management system. Immediate interventions include introducing Effective Microorganisms (EM) at landfill sites to control odors, pests, and leachate contamination. Regular compaction and covering of waste will improve site conditions and reduce groundwater contamination. On the infrastructure front, source-level waste separation must be mandated, with localized composting and recycling partnerships to process biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste, respectively. Public engagement and education are also crucial. Launching awareness campaigns that emphasize the importance of waste segregation can foster a culture of sustainability. Incentivizing eco-friendly practices through subsidies or tax benefits will further encourage households and businesses to participate in responsible waste management. In alignment with the Clean Sri Lanka Project, which promotes national efforts to reduce single-use plastics, enforce waste segregation, and introduce tech-driven solutions like smart waste monitoring systems, Kandy can enhance its strategies by adopting these best practices. By actively participating in this initiative, Kandy can contribute to the shared vision of a waste-free and sustainable future for the country.
Long-term investments in advanced composting plants, sanitary landfills, and public-private partnerships will be necessary to construct infrastructure capable of addressing Kandy’s waste management needs. Collaborations with organizations like JICA, which have supported impactful projects such as the Greater Kandy Urban Plan, can introduce innovative waste management solutions. These might include waste-to-energy technologies and biogas production, contributing to Kandy’s environmental sustainability goals. Targeted interventions for Lewella are also crucial. Establishing door-to-door collection services, pet waste management systems, and public awareness campaigns will help to reduce trash accumulation and promote eco-friendly practices within the community.
The waste management crisis in Kandy underscores the need for urgent action to address decades of neglect and mismanagement. By investing in infrastructure, fostering community engagement, and exploring innovative technologies, Kandy can transform its challenges into opportunities.
By Palitha Ariyarathna JICA Commercial Group Community Group Secretary, Writer, Journalist, and Author, Former Beach Filed Officer and Life Safety Officer.
This article is not merely a critique to any person, company, or KMC but a call to action. With collective effort and visionary leadership, Kandy can evolve into a model city for sustainable urban development. Let us commit to a future where human dignity, environmental sustainability, and heritage preservation remain at the forefront.
Key Stakeholders for Action To address Kandy’s waste management crisis effectively, this article invites the attention of:
Governor of the Central Province: Ensuring regional policy alignment and resource mobilization.
Clean Sri Lanka Project: Supporting sustainable and tech-driven waste management strategies.
Women’s Organizations: Advocating for dignity, privacy, and inclusive waste management practices.
Kandy Municipal Council (KMC): Implementing innovative, community-centric waste management solutions.
JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency): Facilitating technical and financial collaboration for long-term infrastructure improvements.
References
Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka. “Poverty Indicators-2019.” Accessible through the Ministry of Economic Policies and Plan Implementation. ISSN 1391-4693, April 2022.
Community reports and legal cases concerning Gohagoda landfill operations, including the ongoing “Saparadhi Aparadha” (negligence) case filed by nearby residents against the Kandy Municipality.
Leaflet distributed by the Kandy Municipality detailing Encare’s waste collection services and pricing structure.
Greater Kandy Urban Plan (GKUP) developed in collaboration with JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), highlighting sustainable urban planning initiatives.
Tropical Agricultural Research, Volume 13: 23-33 (2001). “Managing Solid Wastes in Kandy City: A Cost Effectiveness Analysis” by S. Liyanage and J. Weerahewa. Accessible through Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). “Kandy New Wastewater Management System.” o Financial assistance provided for construction to address wastewater challenges, benefiting over 300,000 residents and migrants. The project reduces pollution and enhances sanitation in Kandy.
JICA and GKUP Collaboration. “Greater Kandy Urban Plan (GKUP).” o Revises urban development strategies for sustainable growth, heritage preservation, and efficient waste management, with a focus on recycling and infrastructure improvements.
JICA. “Solid Waste Management Master Plan for Kandy.” o Emphasizes governance, ownership, and long-term waste solutions, envisioning a cleaner and healthier city prepared for rapid urbanization.
The India-Sri Lanka Strategic Dialogue, hosted by the Pathfinder Foundation in association with the Ananta Aspen Centre of India, took place in Colombo on 25 March 2025. Coming a week before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka on April 5, the Dialogue serves as a valuable platform to explore key bilateral and regional matters that are expected to influence the India-Lanka discourse.
Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman of Pathfinder Foundation, delivered the opening remarks, followed by Dr. Naushad Forbes, Chairman of Ananta Aspen Centre. Indian High Commissioner Santhosh Jha delivered special remarks.
Over four sessions, subject experts examined in-depth issues such as balancing great power influence in South Asia, the India-Lanka fishing dispute, securing the shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean, defence cooperation within the Indian Ocean framework, India’s role in infrastructure development in Sri Lanka, and the opportunities for both countries to shape best practices and technology in digital governance. The Dialogue emphasised the importance of strengthening India-Lanka economic ties, particularly in the context of Sri Lanka’s post-IMF recovery program.
Session 1, titled India and Sri Lanka Bilateral Relations,” was moderated by Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha, the former High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka. Session 2, titled Strategic Partnerships in the Indian Ocean – India-Sri Lanka Relations for Regional Stability, ” was chaired by Ahmed A. Jawad, Director of the Pathfinder Foundation. Ms. Indrani Bagchi, Chief Executive Officer of Anantha Aspen Centre, moderated Session 3 on Navigating Investment Opportunities between India and Sri Lanka, ” while Mahesh Perera, Chief Executive Officer of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), chaired Session 4, which focused on Digital Public Infrastructure.”
Pathfinder Foundation’s Director, Ahmed A. Jawad, and Indrani Bagchi, Chief Executive Officer of Anantha Aspen Centre, delivered closing remarks.
This latest interaction between Pathfinder and Ananta is the third in their series of discussions. The two sides previously held dialogues on ‘Bridging Borders: Enhancing Connectivity between India and Sri Lanka’ and’ Navigating the Maritime Maze: India and Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean Region.’
The representatives of the two institutions held a wrap-up session at a breakfast hosted by Pathfinder Founder Milinda Moragoda, during which they discussed the future programs they plan to undertake.
Industry experts at the Lanka Property Show 2025 expressed confidence in Sri Lanka’s real estate sector, highlighting its potential for growth despite past economic challenges. While factors such as rising interest rates, currency depreciation, and fluctuating taxes previously impacted the market, experts were optimistic that stabilizing interest rates, exchange rates, and tax policies will foster a more predictable and business-friendly environment for investors and homebuyers alike.
Building on this positive outlook, the Lanka Property Show 2025 reinforced the sector’s resilience and promising future. The event featured 25+ premier projects, including highly anticipated new launches, attracting a diverse audience of over 17,000 visitors both in person and virtually. The live stream on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube also garnered an impressive 59,721 views, further cementing the show’s success. The strong turnout and enthusiastic engagement from buyers, investors, and industry professionals underscored the sustained demand for real estate in Sri Lanka.
Now in its 9th edition, the Lanka Property Show (LPS)—the country’s largest property expo—was held on February 15th and 16th at the Kingsbury Hotel. Since its inception in 2017, the event has grown significantly, and in recent years, it has evolved into a hybrid physical and virtual show. This year saw an increase in visitors and exhibitors, reaffirming that buyers are actively returning to the market after the pandemic and economic downturn.
As in past editions, the Lanka Property Show 2025 hosted two engaging panel discussions, offering valuable industry insights. The first session delved into the growth and future of Sri Lanka’s property sector, examining key trends and market projections.
Kicking off the discussion, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, former Governor of the Central Bank, shared his perspective on the evolving economic landscape. He noted that, unlike in the past, challenges such as high interest rates, currency depreciation, and tax instability are expected to stabilize. This shift, driven by stricter fiscal policies introduced through the Public Finance Management Act and the Central Bank Act, is set to create a more predictable and investment-friendly environment.
Discussing the current market landscape for developers, Prime Group Chairman, Mr. Premalal Brahmanage, highlighted that Sri Lanka has the highest construction costs in South Asia, making property development more expensive and limiting the supply of affordable housing. He emphasized the financial burden on developers, stating that from the first bag of cement to the final sale, direct and indirect taxes can account for up to 40% of each property transaction.
With the real estate industry contributing around 7% to the country’s GDP and generating substantial tax revenue, he urged the government to provide greater support to the sector to ensure its sustained growth and affordability for buyers.
To address these challenges, the industry is actively exploring innovative solutions such as cheaper financing options, enhanced supply chains, and advanced construction techniques to improve affordability and sustainability in the market, added Mr. Brahmanage.
In summary of Mr. Brahmanage’s comments, the moderator, Mr. Dhananath Fernando, remarked, it sounds to me like you’re in the business of paying taxes and in the middle of it building some property”.
Addressing the challenges developers face in attracting foreign buyers, Mr. Kishore Reddy, Managing Director of Platinum Realty Investments urged the government to expedite the implementation of investor visas. Despite being gazetted, these visas remain difficult to obtain, posing a barrier to international investment in Sri Lanka’s property market. He highlighted the need to make housing more affordable by addressing import barriers on essential building materials such as tiles, aluminium, and other construction materials. The imposition of cess and high duties on these imports increases construction costs, ultimately impacting both developers and buyers. By reducing such restrictions, the government can facilitate more cost-effective development. He also noted that while the rupee has depreciated against the dollar, property values have risen proportionally, ensuring that investors have not faced losses. This natural market adjustment, he emphasized, reinforces the view that real estate remains a secure and reliable investment option.
The panel discussion, moderated by Dhananath Fernando, (CEO of the Advocata Institute) also featured Nadeem Shums, (Vice President at John Keells Holdings PLC) and Saminda Jayasekara, (Chairman, Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Regulatory Council and Property Law Consultant) providing an in-depth and balanced view of the future trajectory of the market.
Continuing with the theme of real estate and construction, the second panel discussion centered on the affordable construction of individual homes. Moderated by Dr. Prathap Kaluthanthri (MRICS, Head of the Department of Estate Management and Valuation, University of Sri Jayewardenepura), the panel featured Dr. Janaka Fernando (Head of the Department of Business Economics, University of Sri Jayewardenepura), Dr. Yasas Pathiranage (Business Consultant), Plnr. E.A.C. Piyashantha (Deputy Director General, Urban Development Authority), and Chartered Architect Tharangika Ranathungarachchi (Partner, Makevita and Ranathungarachchi Architects). The discussion covered vital themes for those looking to build houses, including passive design, locally sourced materials, adaptive design, green roofs and living walls, all aimed at reducing costs, improving efficiency, and enhancing affordability and sustainability of houses.
Concluding the discussions, Industry experts emphasized the need for policy stability, affordable housing solutions, and streamlined investment processes to drive growth. With strong buyer interest, increased investor confidence, and ongoing discussions on key industry challenges, the event highlighted a promising path forward for the sector. As Sri Lanka’s property market continues to evolve, collaborative efforts between stakeholders and policymakers will be crucial in ensuring sustainable growth and greater accessibility for both local and foreign buyers.
This year’s event truly embodied its theme, “Everything Under One Roof for Property Buyers,” by bringing together a comprehensive range of real estate opportunities and services. Exhibitors showcased a diverse selection of apartments, houses, and land projects across the country, while four leading banks offered home loans starting from 11.5%. Attendees also had access to house builders, solar providers, free legal consultations, and expert advisory services on buying and selling—all conveniently available under one roof throughout the two-day event to fulfil their property buying process in the same location.
It was made possible with the support of its esteemed sponsors and partners. Platinum sponsors included Marina Square, John Keells Properties and Iconic Galaxy, while Gold sponsors included Baili Investment and Prime Group. The event was further supported by its Banking Partner, Commercial Bank along with the media partnership of Sirasa Media Network, Outdoor Media Partner Storm Media and Communication Partner Textware.
The imposition of sanctions by the UK on three retired Sri Lankan military officers—Shavendra Silva, Wasantha Karannagoda, and Jagath Jayasuriya—and a former LTTE commander, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (Karuna Amman), on March 24, 2025, reflects a significant interplay between UK domestic politics and international human rights policy.
These sanctions, which include travel bans and asset freezes, were enacted under the UK’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime and target individuals accused of serious human rights violations during Sri Lanka’s civil war (1983–2009).
While framed as a move to promote accountability and support reconciliation in Sri Lanka, the timing and context suggest that domestic political dynamics, particularly the influence of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in the UK, played a pivotal role.
The Sri Lankan Tamil community in the UK, estimated to number between 110,000 and 300,000, is a well-organized and politically active group concentrated in key electoral constituencies such as London (Harrow, East Ham, Redbridge, Tooting), Leicester, and Surrey. This demographic concentration transforms them into a critical voting bloc in Britain’s highly competitive political landscape, where parliamentary constituencies are small, and tight margins can determine electoral outcomes.
Unlike the smaller, less politically engaged Sinhalese community, the Tamils have leveraged their numbers, organizational strength—through groups like the British Tamils Forum (BTF)—and economic influence (with Tamil-owned businesses generating an estimated £1 billion annually) to amplify their voice.
Historically, the Tamil diaspora has leaned toward the Labour Party, which has consistently championed their calls for justice regarding alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. This alignment became particularly evident in the lead-up to the July 2024 UK parliamentary elections.
Labour leaders, including Keir Starmer, David Lammy, and Wes Streeting, made explicit promises to the Tamil community, such as imposing Magnitsky-style sanctions on Sri Lankan officials and pushing for a referral of Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
These pledges were reiterated at events like the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day” in May 2024, hosted in Parliament, where Labour figures underscored their commitment to accountability as a foreign policy priority. The sanctions announced in March 2025 can thus be seen as a fulfilment of these electoral promises, aimed at consolidating Tamil support in constituencies where their votes could tip the scales.
The Labour Party’s victory in July 2024, ending 14 years of Conservative rule, brought this agenda into government policy. Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who had vowed during the campaign to deny impunity to those responsible for human rights abuses, framed the sanctions as a step toward supporting Sri Lanka’s communities.
However, the timing—15 years after the war’s end and amidst a shifting political landscape in Sri Lanka, where Tamils have recently supported the National Peoples’ Power (NPP)—suggests a domestic political calculus. The issue of Sri Lanka’s civil war had largely faded from the international spotlight, resurfacing annually at the UN Human Rights Council with little tangible progress. The UK’s sudden action thus appears less about responding to an immediate crisis in Sri Lanka and more about addressing the expectations of a key domestic constituency.
The Tamil diaspora’s influence extends beyond voting power. Their activism, exemplified by the 2009 Parliament Square protests and sustained lobbying through the BTF and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG), has kept the issue of accountability alive in British political discourse.
Labour MPs like Siobhain McDonagh, Gareth Thomas, and John McDonnell have been vocal advocates, reflecting the community’s ability to shape policy through grassroots pressure and parliamentary engagement.
The absence of a comparable Sinhalese lobby further tilts the political scales in favour of Tamil narratives, making their demands—such as sanctions and ICC referrals—more likely to gain traction.
Beyond electoral politics, the sanctions enhance Labour’s image as a defender of human rights, appealing to both Tamil voters and broader liberal constituencies. This aligns with the party’s historical stance and differentiates it from the Conservatives, who faced criticism for prioritizing trade over human rights in dealings with Sri Lanka.
The lack of similar action under previous governments, despite the availability of the Magnitsky sanctions regime since 2020, underscores how Labour’s responsiveness to Tamil advocacy marks a shift driven by domestic imperatives.
In summary, UK domestic politics, particularly the electoral influence of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, significantly shaped the decision to sanction Sri Lankan military figures in March 2025. The Labour Party’s need to secure Tamil votes in key constituencies, fulfil campaign promises, and project a human rights-focused image converged to revive an issue that had waned internationally.
While presented as a principled stand, the sanctions reflect a strategic blend of diaspora politics and electoral pragmatism in a competitive British political arena.
P. K. Balachandran is a senior Indian journalist working in Sri Lanka for local and international media and has been writing on South Asian issues for the past 21 years.
Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic turnaround is ‘remarkable’ though many households are yet to feel the impact, according to two IMF experts, who noted that the economy has rebounded strongly and quickly, growing by 5 per cent in 2024.
The country’s tradeable debt instruments are once again attractive to investors, credit rating was upgraded by at least three notches and high inflation has been halted.
Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic turnaround is ‘remarkable’ though many households are yet to feel the impact, according to two experts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
They observed that the economy has rebounded strongly and quickly, growing by 5 per cent in 2024 and in a mere 18 months recovered just under half of the output lost from the peak in 2018 to the nadir in 2023.
This March marks the mid-point of Sri Lanka’s four-year economic reform programme supported by the IMF. In the two years since its inception difficult but much needed reforms were undertaken with significant gains, they wrote.
The debt relief provided by external creditors has reduced the burden the Sri Lankan people need to shoulder, and the country’s tradeable debt instruments are once again attractive to investors as they have been included in international bond indices, an op-ed piece by Peter Breuer, the IMF’s former mission chief for Sri Lanka, and Martha Tesfaye Woldemichael, the IMF’s current resident representative in the country, said on the IMF website.
Sri Lanka’s credit rating was also upgraded by at least three notches, they noted.
Skyrocketing inflation has been halted. Tax revenues as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) are up by more than two-thirds and the government’s balance excluding interest payments (primary balance) has improved by nearly 6 percentage points, they said.
External creditors have forgiven $3 billion in debt and stretched another $25 billion due in the near term or already overdue over a much longer time horizon over the next 20 years with much reduced interest rates.
Markets have rewarded Sri Lanka’s reforms with sharp declines in domestic borrowing cost from a peak of 30 per cent in 2023 to currently 8 per cent and in the sovereign risk ‘spread’ indicator in international markets from a peak of 70 per cent to 5 per cent.
Responsible international market access should be within reach in the next few years, the experts observed.
As about half of IMF programmes in Sri Lanka has had, prior to the current one, ended prematurely, often followed by economic underperformance, it is important to arrest this boom-bust cycle and manage the economy so that the recovery can be sustained even in an uncertain global environment and so that all Sri Lankans benefit from it, the op-ed added.
එම ලියවිල්ලේ Advocata Institute, Verite Research Institute, Institute of Policy Studies, Pathfinder Foundation, Centre for Policy Alternatives සහ Ceylon Chamber of Commerce යන ආයතන සම්බන්ධයෙන් කරුණු ඇතුලත් වේ.
When British MPs who are regular mouthpieces for pro-LTTE demands & regular visitors to pro-LTTE events & regularly read of LTTE prepared speeches, abuse their office to sanction individuals on conjectured crimes, the Govt of Sri Lanka must first of all demand that the UK Govt investigate all British MPs who are voicing one-sided statements completely ignoring facts & evidence. The 4 names on UK sanction list perfectly highlights the bias. The Army Commander who led the military onslaught is excluded but just 3 officers who took orders from him are. The former LTTE leader named left LTTE in 2004 & LTTE committed scores of crimes thereafter. What continues to go unexplained is how the Sri Lanka Armed Forces would save 300,000 people but would kill” 40,000, 70,000, 120,000, 200,000” Tamils who the accusers cannot still name, whose skeletons are not even found & whose families have not even filed habeas corpus. The entire genocide” claim rests on the ability to prove 40,000 or more were killed, which has yet to be proved even after 16 years. Moreover, where in the world have we heard of Tamil genocide” when Tamil population is increasing?
The GoSL must demand that the British Govt investigate all British MPs linked with LTTE Diaspora especially their accounts & their misuse of British taxpayers money for witch hunts to satisfy LTTE Diaspora agenda.
According to a UK Govt press release 24 March 2025, 4 Sri Lankans have been sanctioned for serious human rights violations and abuses during the civil war in Sri Lanka” – exactly what court of law has found them guilty? How is Sri Lanka’s conflict civil” when the National Army was fighting an armed group that was even killing members of its own community? Does that qualify as ‘civil”.
UK has sanctioned a former LTTE commander Karuna Amman who left LTTE in 2004?
What about all of LTTE’s crimes after 2004 which included assassination attempts of Sri Lanka’s Army Commander Sarath Fonseka in April 2006.
The following list of assassinations were committed by LTTE after Karuna left LTTE.
Minister Jeyraj Fernandopulle – April 2008
Minister D M Dissanayake – January 2008
MP T Maheshwaran (Tamil) – January 2008
Herath Abeyweera – Chief Secretary Eastern Province – July 2007
Kethesh Loganathan (Tamil) – Deputy Secretary General of SCOPP – August 2006
Nataraj Raviraj (Tamil) – August 2006
Josepha Parasingham (Tamil) – December 2005
The British Govt may like to explain why the Commander of the Armed Forces who led the defeat of the LTTE is not included while those he gave orders to are.
These all point to a witch hunt especially when the British MPs mooting for these accountability” are frequent visitors to pro-LTTE forums.
Has David Lammy even been to Sri Lanka to be such a vocal critic?
His statements are purely based on his association with pro-LTTE elements & gracing the events held by them in honor of dead LTTE terrorists. That hardly calls for unbiased judgement by a British politician.
Given the largess of the LTTE kitty, the UK Govt & Scotland Yard should do an investigation into the transactions of all UK MPs vocalizing on the Sri Lankan issue taking a one-sided stand and basing their statements on speeches prepared for them by the LTTE lobby.
Other than David Lammy & Catherine West there are a host of other UK MPs who should be investigated.
Sri Lanka’s terrorist conflict ended in 2009.
It’s now 2025 there has been no violence associated with LTTE since 2009.
UK MPs reading prepared scripts & using their office & UK tax payers money to whine about an event that concluded 16 years ago echoes some for of witch hunt by those whose agenda was defeated.
UK Govt seriously needs to explain why the Army Commander who headed the defeat of the LTTE is omitted & why those who took orders from him are included into a sanctions list 16 years after the conflict?
David Lammy claims that the current action is to ensure those response for past human rights violations & abuses are held accountable”.
Then he may like to explain why the British are taking NO ACTION against Adele Balasingham who was the key trainer of LTTE’s child soldiers & she is happily living in the UK.
Does the UK sanction foreigners but give safe haven to the real culprits?
Let us jog everyone’s memories.
Adele Balasingham is the wife of so-called LTTE theoretician possibly British agent Anton B.
She is an Australian nurse and undertook to training kidnapped Tamil children as young as 7 years. These Tamil children were kidnapped from POOR & LOW CASTE Tamil homes. Another noteworthy factor – no high caste/high class Tamil had their children kidnapped & turned into child soldiers.
One third of LTTE comprised children. These children underwent gruesome training from 4a.m. some even perished during the gruesome training. No one is held accountable for these deaths.
They were denied their fundamental rights. The UN appointed a Tamil rapporteur but she did sweet nothing except compile reports & walk away with awards. No child was saved from being turned into a child soldier. During the hay day of LTTE’s rule in North Sri Lanka, scores of NGOs/INGOs, Faith-based organizations had their offices set up virtually next to LTTE offices. None of these tried to prevent poor & low caste Tamil children from being turned into child soldiers.
These children were denied to be with their parents. They were denied the right to education, freedom of movement & the freedom to enjoy their childhood. Where was David Lammy & Catherine West then?
Has Adele not violated the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (2000)? Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) prosecuted cases involving child soldier recruitment, wouldn’t this apply to LTTE, Adele B & the LTTE Diaspora who has supported LTTE?
Adele Balasingham stands guilty of also training these children to commit suicide by biting the cyanide capsule & killing themselves without surrendering to the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. How many would have died or committed suicide following her orders. Are these not valid reasons to at least arrest & question her?
Books Written by Adele Balasingham:
The Will to Fight: The Tamil Liberation Struggle in Sri Lanka” (2004)
She admits to her involvement in LTTE.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam: A History of the Tamil Liberation Struggle”
She justifies LTTE rights for a separate Homeland.
Documentaries
Sisters in Arms” (2006) – covers Adele’s role in training women & children
I believe the children who have taken up arms and sacrificed their lives in the cause of Tamil Eelam are martyrs.”
In one of her interviews, she said: The training of these young soldiers is not just physical but also ideological.They are not just warriors; they are the future leaders of our struggle.”
On the role of women and children: The women and children in the Tamil Tigers are not victims. They are soldiers fighting for freedom, fighting for their people.”
Jayantha Liyanage has lodged several complaints with Scotland Yard regarding the British silence & inaction against Adele Balasingham. There are scores of videos of her training children & handing the cyanide capsule and she has even written 2 books boasting of her achievements. These are more than enough evidence & far more than the fairy tales the LTTE Diaspora keep churning annually to keep alive their kitty, enable their people to get asylum & refugee status & mix & mingle with foreign Govts and even contest elections & wriggle into their parliament. We have no issue in their bettering their careers, but these lies must stop, these fabrications must end.
Adele B is the White Tiger living off LTTE’s ill-gotten gains in New Maiden, London.
A BBC produced documentary in 1991 shows Adele in LTTE uniform carrying an AK 47 and wearing a cyanide capsule around her neck & tied cyanide capsules around necks of innocent children & young Tamil women.
Tamil children were not only kidnapped but Adele & LTTE went from school to school indoctrinating Tamil children – they all referred to her as Aunty Adele”. One of these schools was Patrima from which 543 students were taken to Skandapuram camp & trained by Adele. At the Abu base camp children as young as 12 were trained & sent to fight. Any children who fled were captured & jailed. No one knows what happened to them. https://mfa.gov.lk/sin/the-white-tiger-in-london/
The UK Govt, David Lammy, Catherine West have no moral right to be demanding accountability if they are ignoring the White Tiger aunty living in UK having taught thousands of kidnapped Tamil children to kill and commit suicide. All the fictitious genocide” war crimes” allegations which are only iced with LTTE propaganda cannot erase what Adele committed on behalf of the LTTE.
If UK Govt continues to provide her safe haven and sanction retired military officers 16 years after the conflict ended excluding the head of the armed forces who led the end of LTTE, it clearly shows bias.
The former LTTE members, especially child soldiers who are now adults must file case with UK authorities & demand action against Adele for denying them their childhood & youth. We do not know how many kidnapped children actually died having fled & being punished by LTTE. Where is the accountability for these deaths?
These former child soldiers should now realize how foreign based LTTE made money riding on the separate homeland song while happily living in foreign shores & educating their children in Ivy League schools/universities with the money made from LTTE propaganda machine, while poor & low caste Tamils suffered in the jungles. Tamils who suffered must seek accountability from their own first!
GoSL must call for the UK authorities to investigate the biased actions of pro-LTTE British MPs.
Mahinda Rajapaksa Leader Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
The United Kingdom govt. has announced sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes against Sri Lanka’s former Chief of Defence Staff Shavendra Silva, former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda and former Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya over unproven allegations of human rights violations during the war with the LTTE. It was I, as the Executive President of Sri Lanka who took the decision to militarily defeat the LTTE and the armed forces implemented that decision on the ground.
Despite the 2002 ceasefire agreement, the LTTE had carried out 363 killings during the ceasefire between February 2002 and the end of September 2005. LTTE attacks intensified in the first few weeks and months after I was elected President in November 2005. Among the most serious such incidents were claymore mine attacks on 4 and 6 December 2005 in Jaffna that killed thirteen soldiers, a suicide attack on a naval craft on 5 January 2006 that killed 15 naval personnel, and the suicide attack on the Army Commander inside Army Headquarters in April 2006.
Despite all that, my government held two rounds of peace talks in January and June 2006 in Geneva and Oslo which were unilaterally halted by the LTTE. The LTTE landmine attack on a civilian bus in Kebithogollawa in June 2006 which killed 64 and seriously injured 86, many of them children – was a pivotal moment for me and my govt. Military operations commenced in July 2006 when the LTTE closed the Mawilaru anicut cutting off irrigation water to cultivators in the Trincomalee district and did not stop until the LTTE was completely defeated on 19 May 2009.
I categorically reject the UK govt.’s allegation of widespread human rights violations during the military operations. Lord Naseby stated in the House of Lords on 12 October 2017 that the then UK Defence Attache in Colombo Lieutenant Colonel Anton Gash had in conversation with him, praised the discipline of the Sri Lanka army and stated that there certainly was no policy to kill civilians. Because Lt. Col Anton Gash’s war time dispatches to London differ so significantly from the narrative promoted by the UK political authorities, only a heavily redacted version of those dispatches have been released. We conducted military operations only against the LTTE and not against the Tamil people.
Just months after the war ended, when my wartime army commander came forward as the opposition candidate at the 2010 presidential elections, the Tamil National Alliance issued a statement on 6 January 2010 appealing to the Tamil people to vote for the former army commander and he won over 60% of the votes cast in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, thus directly contradicting the narrative being promoted by the UK govt. Imposing sanctions on Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan a.k.a Karuna Amman who broke away from the LTTE in 2004 and later entered democratic politics is a clear case of penalizing anti-LTTE Tamils so as to placate the dominant segment of the Tamil diaspora in the UK.
When the UK foreign secretary David Milliband came to Sri Lanka in April 2009 and demanded a halt to military operations, I flatly turned him down. Later, a London based newspaper The Telegraph revealed – quoting secret documents made public by Wikileaks – that Mr. Miliband had tried to intervene in Sri Lanka to win Tamil votes for the Labour Party. Regrettably, to this day vote bank politics determines the UK’s stand on Sri Lanka’s war against the LTTE.
Three decades of LTTE terrorism claimed the lives of 27,965 armed forces and police personnel not to mention the lives of many thousands of civilians including politicians. What Sri Lanka defeated in 2009 was the organization that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had officially designated as the deadliest terrorist organization in the world. It is noteworthy that the United Kingdom introduced special legislation in 2021 and 2023 to protect their own armed forces from persecution by interested parties.
Hence I expect the present government to resolutely stand by and defend former armed forces personnel who face persecution by foreign governments and organisations for doing their duty to safeguard Sri Lanka’s national security.
Aruna Laksiri Unawatuna B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col), AAL, Coordinator, Dr. Thilaka Padma Subasinghe Memorial Legal Education Program.
Some people have forgotten that a President said at the opening of the New Court Complex in Galle that there is an error in the 19th Constitutional Amendment brought in 2015 regarding the presidential and parliamentary terms of office and that it was due to an oversight by a certain legal expert and that he would apologize to the people for it.
Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe, other judges and government officials were seated in that audience.
Also, the 22nd Constitution Amendment Bill has been gazetted under Article 78 of the Constitution with the approval of the Attorney General to correct the error in the Constitution.
Accordingly, it is clear that the terms of office of the President Anura Dissanayake and “Malimawa” Parliament is 6 years. Because when a Constitution Amendment Bill was gazetted under Article 78 of the Constitution, it (Bill) was also the opinion of the Attorney General.
Accordingly, the position of the Attorney General is that there is an error in Article 83 of the current Constitution and it should be corrected.
The Attorney General noticed the error in Article 83 of the Constitution after several citizens filed cases in the Supreme Court about this error and paid lakhs of ruppess as court fees for it.
The important legal and social question that arises is whether Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya refrained from studying the error in the Constitution that led to the introducing/gazetteing of the 22nd Constitutional Amendment Bill because he will be entitled to the position of Permanent Representative to the United Nations upon retirement.
The people cannot forget how a certain Chief Justice said “I’m sorry” after his retirement filled with shock and regret for the judgement he gave along with other Supreme Court judges.
In such situations, the people should understand the need to enact laws to enable reviewing the judicial orders given earlier by judges when these judges take up government positions after retirement (except for positions in independent commissions).
After the appointment of retired Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya as the permanent representative of the United Nations, the good image of the judges and judicial independence can be preserved in association with the sovereignty of the people through such a law amendment.
It would be good for democracy if free thinkers deeply studied the appointment of former Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations after his retirement, the impact on the independence of the judiciary, the solutions, and the 22nd Constitutional Amendment Bill brought to correct an error in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.
Recently many appreciative articles appeared regarding a sperm bank being set up. Superficially looking at it, it sounds like a wonderful idea providing an opportunity for those who cannot have children due to the infertility of the husband and the fact that the sperm is from an anonymous donor is expressed as a great advantage.
But in fact this is a very dangerous matter. While a person may donate sperms he will be having children on his own with his wife. Later on the children born out of artificial insemination might end up marrying these children – i.e. siblings may end up marrying each other -absolute incest. The sad fact is they may never know they are siblings since the donor is unknown to the mother or the child.
Islam totally forbids such procedure. No sperms of a person other than the woman’s husband can be used for artificial insemination according to Islam. However if other religions do not forbid insemination by a person who is not her husband, at least the full details of the donor must be given to the recipient so that she can inform her child who the actual father is, to be aware of his progenies. How the common man looks at this matter is unknown but certainly incest cannot produce a healthy generation.
Will the medical professionals consider this important fact?
Colombo, March 26 (Daily Mirror) – The exposition of the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha will ensure religious harmony in Sri Lanka while it helps safeguard Buddhism which is the backbone of national heritage, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said today.
The steps taken by the government and the Venerable Mahanayaka Theras to initiate an exposition of the Scared Tooth Relic is a welcome move. Everyone should ensure its success. I request Catholics to consider this event as a special one which brings religious harmony,” the Cardinal added.
olombo, March 27 (Daily Mirror) – In response to the UK sanction on the Sri Lankan officials including three former military leaders, former Navy Commander, Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda has accused the UK of hypocrisy, stating that while British colonial atrocities in Sri Lanka and India remain unaddressed, the UK is targeting Sri Lanka with human rights sanctions.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mirror, Karannagoda pointed out that Britain has never apologized for its past actions and questioned why it remains silent on ongoing global conflicts like those in Gaza, Syria, Afghanistan, and Libya.
Admiral Karannagoda also alleged that LTTE sympathizers remain active in Western countries such as the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe, working towards their goal of creating a separate state in Sri Lanka. He claimed they are collecting funds to influence politicians in these countries to impose sanctions on Sri Lankan military leaders who played a key role in defeating the LTTE.
He warned that this could be just the beginning, with further sanctions likely as a result of external pressure. The British Prime Minister, a former human rights lawyer, is using this issue to gain majority votes. This is very unfair,” he added.
Meanwhile, Admiral Karannagoda urged the Sri Lankan government to take a firm stance against the sanctions and stand by its military leaders who helped end the war against terrorism.
Sri Lanka’s central bank governor said monetary policy is appropriate” right now, as the South Asian nation’s economy and inflation are moving in line with their goals.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka held the overnight policy rate at 8% for the second straight meeting this year on Wednesday. The move was in line with the forecast of most of the economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The monetary policy is transmitting into the economy nicely” and inflation will come back into positive territory” from the second half of the year,” Governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe told Bloomberg TV’s Haslinda Amin in an interview on Wednesday. So we thought this is the right, appropriate policy stance for the time being.”
Sri Lanka’s economy expanded 5% last year, bouncing from a contraction of 2.3% in 2023, and is expected to sustain the pace in the current year. However, the monetary authority will closely” monitor the risks from the possible impact of volatile commodity prices and US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the governor said.
A $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund has helped in stabilizing Sri Lanka’s cash-strapped economy. Since the historic default in 2022, authorities have raised taxes and unveiled measures to keep up with the conditions of the lender’s loan program. The country needs to increase energy prices and meet fiscal parameters for further aid, the IMF recently said.
The country will have to stay” the course to meet the revenue-based fiscal consolidation targets and deliver on the promised governance reforms, Weerasinghe said.
There’s a lot of confidence and assurance from the administration that they’ll move in the same direction,” he said.
What Bloomberg Economics Says
The policy rate is at an appropriate level, based on our estimates of inflation and the output gap. Any easing beyond this point could cause the economy to overheat — leading to an undesirable jump in imports which would pressure FX reserves and hit the rupee. We doubt the central bank will want to risk those events.
Ankur Shukla, economist
Sri Lanka secured about $334 million in loans from the IMF on Feb 28. The nation is also in the process of signing debt restructuring agreements with bilateral partners in the official creditor committee such as India and members of the Paris club, the governor said.
The Foreign Ministry has condemned the UK government’s decision to impose sanctions on four Sri Lankans, calling it a “unilateral action” that complicates the ongoing national reconciliation process.
The ministry stated that Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath conveyed Sri Lanka’s position to British High Commissioner Andrew Patrick during a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism.
The ministry referred to the UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) press release dated March 24, which announced asset freezes and travel bans on three former military commanders and a former minister.
Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said it is also noted that the UK FCDO Press Release refers to a commitment made during the election campaign to ensure those responsible are not allowed impunity;.
In this regard, the Ministry said it wishes to underline that this is a unilateral action taken by the UK government which involves an asset freeze and travel ban on the individuals concerned.
Such unilateral actions by countries do not assist but serve to complicate the national reconciliation process underway in Sri Lanka, the ministry said in the statement.
Emphasizing Sri Lanka’s ongoing efforts to strengthen domestic mechanisms for accountability and reconciliation, the ministry asserted that past human rights violations should be addressed through local processes.
When we became independent in 1948, we- the colonies were the market for everything produced in the UK.
With independence, we had to change to enable development, production in industry and agriculture and foremost to alleviate poverty.
We had commenced Land Development, Irrigation, and Agriculture. To enable people to be trained, we started a major Department- Rural Development and Cottage Industry. Rural Development Officers were everywhere. They organized development at grass grassroots level, Handlooms took the stage. A major Department of Small Industry handled cooperatives to weave and sell. Laksala emerged to handle sales. By 1970, with handlooms, powerlooms and a few textile factories, we produced all our textlies. .
In 1955 I started work as Assistant Commissioner in the Department for Development of Agricultural Marketing. It was buying vegetables and fruit at Producer Fairs there by ensuring that the producers got a fair price, moving the produce to the Cities and selling at low prices keeping a mark. up of fifteen percent to cover up transport costs and wastage aimed at making traders sell at low rates. A Cannery was established in 1955. We handled far less than 10% of the produce but were successful in ensuring that the producers got a fair price and also ensured that the traders in the Cities had to sell at low rates. It was a unique system not found anywhere else. In three years- by 1958 we produced all our requirements of jam and juice. Even 8% of our pineapple pieces were exported.
Then came the Paddy Lands Act of Comrade Philip Gunawardena. I did muster the farmers into cultivation committees in Matara, Kegalla and Anuradhapura. . Plans were drawn up for the farmers to plan their cultivation, proper seed paddy was found from seed farms belonging to the Government , fertilizer obtained through multi purpose cooperatives, fed through fertilizer stores of the Government . H4 a high yielding variety of paddy was found by 1954, well before the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute)came into existence. This planning and organization was done by two Departments the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Agrarian Services. I worked in Agrarian Services as an Assistant Commissioner and our Department had a Field Assistant, a one year trained at the viillage level. The Agriculture Department also had an year trained Overseer. This combination of two Departments did wonders. Comrade Philip left us but he had set up the organization for us workers to get going.
In 1965 the Prime Minister Mr Dudley Senanayake decided to direct the paddy production programme personally.
In every District the most senior officer -the Government Agent was instructed to devote his entire time for paddy production. For this purpose the Government Agent was instructed to hand over all his work to an Additional Government Agent and the Government Agent was also gazetted as a Deputy Commissioner of Agrarian Services, Cooperatives and Agriculture. There was meticulous planning and implementation. The harvest was good and Sri Lanka became self sufficient in paddy.
The Prime Minister wanted to be certain of the achievement. Hitherto it was the Department of of Agriculture that did the crop cuttings to arrive at the yield. The Prime Minister was not satisfied. He wanted crop cuttings done on plots found on random sampling and further he wanted the crop cuttings done by staff officers of other Departments, Though costly, This was done to arrive at the actual yield,
Ten years later, when I met the Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, he boasted of the paddy produced and then I asked for the crop cuttings survey results He said that they had found it an expensive process and stopped it. The yields reported by the Department of Agriculture had been accepted as final.
Today decades later we lament of low yields
What did happen.
With the abolition of the Paddy Lands Act in the Eighties, The cultivation committees ceased to exist, The Agrarian Services Department was curtailed in action,.Its cadre of Field Assistants was abolished. Today we have Agrarian Services Centers that sell fertilizers They no longer organize cultivation.
Further, President Premadasa promoted all Agricultural Overseers, some 2300 to the rank of Grama Niladhari and the post of agricultural overseer was abolished. With this move there is no field officer at the grass route level. This has eaten into the ability of the Department of Agriculture as it has no officer at the village level. In fact the Department of Agriculture ceases to exist after the Divisional Level. This Divisional Agricultural Instructor has to attend to the requirements of as much as 13,000 farmers at Yodakandiya and 3500 farmers at Ranorawa. Without a Field Assistant- an Overseer under him the work of the Department of Agriculture is very ineffective. In other words the Department of Agriculture the only Department in charge of agriculture is inactivated.
In addition comes the decision of the IMF that the officers of the Department of Agriculture should not use any peoples organizations like cooperatives in extension. In our Developing countries many are the farmers cultivating small parcels and thus the efficacy of the Department of Agriculture is highly curtailed- in fact it may be correct to conclude that the Department of Agriculture almost ceases to exist.
Luckily MotherNature has provided water through rain at particular times very regularly, which helps cultivation.. The major part of the acreage under paddy cultivation is cultivated rain fed. Mother Nature has provided rain on a very regular pattern and it is necessary to plan cultivation but as stated earlier, in the absence of any organization, there is late cultivation and a portion the crop ends invariably damaged.
In the dry zone our forefathers had developed an intricate system of small tanks to ensure that there is a continued water supply after rains cease. . There are no cultivation committees now to organize the people together to ensure that people cultivate together and this too impedes orderly cultivation. The Yaya Palakas are very ineffective. Cultivators are left to themselves. Paddy cultivation requires cooperation as water flows from field to field and
there is no organization to bring the cultivators together.
Mother Nature has not deserted us humans. The failure is in our hands-
Thus today we have to start from scratch to cultivate the maximum area and also ensure that improved seed and improved techniques are used.
Thus as far as paddy cultivation is concerned, a peoples organization to plan the cultivation is essential and this is a fundamental necessity that has to be addressed.
Then comes marketing the produce. In the Fifties and Sixties SriLanka had a Guaranteed Price scheme for all major food items that were imported. The people could plant any crop in demand and hand over the produce to their own cooperative and get paid. There was a Department for Development of Agricultural Marketing which implemented the Guaranteed Price Scheme and the cooperative would hand over to the Marketing Department and get paid.
The Marketing Department established a Cannery in 1955. This Cannery, offered good prices for many items and processed them to market. Red Pumpkin was turned into Golden Mellow Jam and Ash Pumpkin into Silver Mellow Jam. Within the three years 1955 to 1958 we produced all the jam we required and even sold 8% of our pineapple tins abroad. . All over Sri Lanka there were Public Fairs where anyone could bring in produce and get sold. The Marketing Department also purchased goods at their stores and also at the Fairs. As Assistant Commissioner for Development of Marketing I surveyed what happened at the Fairs and if I found the traders fleecing the producers with low prices I would get the Marketing Department to start purchases to make the traders offer reasonable prices. With the abolition of the Marketing Department this situation does not exist today.
The IMF with one stroke of the pen- its Structural Adjustment Programme insisted that if Sri Lanka is to be provided with finance it has to abolish the Marketing Department and all its activities on he premise that the Government did not deal with any commerce. The Cannery that made Sri Lanka self sufficient in many fruit produce was privatized.
Today we boast of Economic Centers. These are only shop premises offered to traders.
Thus today many current programmes are defective and new programmes have to be initiated, This task falls very squarely on the shoulders of our new saviour President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the NPP. We do wish him well to take our country to a situ where poverty is alleviated.
Perhaps these rambling thoughts of mine could somehow usher in development initiatives.
ChatGBT මත පදනම්ව, විවිධ සංවිධාන විසින් ශ්රී ලංකාවේ සිදු කළ හැකි පාලන-වෙනස් කිරීමේ” ක්රියාකාරකම් සඳහා USAID විසින් සපයන ලද අරමුදල් සම්බන්ධයෙන් වන ලියවිල්ලක් සමාජ මාධ්ය ඔස්සේ සංසරණය වෙමින් පවතී.
