Madyawediya

Dasatha News

LAK FM

Dasatha News

Dasatha News

Pathfinder Foundation

Milinda Moragoda, founder of Pathfinder Foundation met with the Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenghong to discuss avenues for further widening China-Sri Lanka relations.  The meeting over lunch at the residence of Ambassador Qi provided an opportunity for both sides to discuss the prevailing global situation, China-Sri Lanka relations, investment climate in Sri Lanka for Chinese investors and a host of other topical issues.

Mr. Moragoda briefed Ambassador Qi of the work carried out by the China-Sri Lanka Cooperation Studies Centre of the Pathfinder Foundation and stated that several Chinese delegations will visit the Foundation in the coming weeks, which will enable both sides to better understand the status of relations between the two countries.  

He also indicated the desire of the Foundation to work with Chinese institutions interested in interacting with South Asia in general and Sri Lanka in particular.

Pathfinder Foundation Chairman Bernard Goonetilleke participated in the discussion 

 the Chinese Ambassador and diplomatic members of the Embassy. 

 Pictures 1. 

Milinda Moragoda, founder of Pathfinder Foundation met with the Chinese Ambassador H.E. Qi Zhenghong. Bernard Goonetilleke

Chairman, PF also participated in the discussion 

Milinda Moragoda, founder of Pathfinder Foundation met with the Chinese Ambassador H.E. Qi Zhenghong. Bernard Goonetilleke 

Chairman, PF and the diplomatic official of the Chinese Embassy 

Issued by Tigerbond Group Ltd on behalf of Specsavers.

A LIFE-CHANGING scheme for children and families affected by terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka has been put together by a group of Hertfordshire opticians.

The initiative comes after Easter Sunday 2019 changed the lives of many families in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, following the violent assault by terrorists on multiple churches and hotels – leaving many children orphaned, with some suffering terrible injuries.

Charity founder and Specsavers North West London Regional Relationship Manager, Sujith Weerasinghe, himself a Sri Lankan, decided that he wanted to offer support to those most in need.

Sujith says: ‘I have been fundraising for a variety of causes, mainly to support underprivileged children in Sri Lanka for over 25 years, so when this terrible tragedy occurred, I really wanted to help in some way.

‘I met up with David Brett-Williams, ophthalmic director from the Luton store, and had an initial chat, exploring ideas and what we could do in terms of fundraising. We then discussed our ideas with the regional Hertfordshire chair, Pragna Raghwani, and vice chair Ali Hashim.

‘Following discussion with store partners across Hertfordshire, a fundraising initiative was launched. For two weeks every store agreed to donate £1 from a sight test, which resulted in a total of £13,843 being raised.’

Sujith adds: ‘Everything came together pretty quickly, and with the support of David, Pragna and Ali, plus the store partners, we managed to raise a significant sum in such a short space of time, which was amazing.’

During 2019, contact was made with the head of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, with the aim of discussing setting up a scholarship programme whereby individuals would be nominated to receive a bursary for them to study and upskill in order to support themselves and family members.

Sujith and David Brett-Williams were originally due to visit Colombo during 2020, but the visit was postponed due to the pandemic.

Finally, Sujith flew to Colombo in October 2024 and met with the Archbishop and the Reverend Father Fernando to discuss how the contributions could be used, and to organise co-ordination of the funds. The charity Pathway to my Hope was founded, based on the same principle embraced by Specsavers, offering all staff the opportunity to add to their skill set and study for industry-related qualifications via the Specsavers Career Pathway.

The contributions raised in 2019 will be used to sponsor monthly scholarships to those most in need, with the overall aim of supporting their education. In addition, the bursary will be used to assist those families and individuals who require support to enable them to gain new skills and qualifications to help them earn a living, providing hope for a better future.

The Pathway to My Hope Scholarship Programme will launch on 1 May. Charity Trustees Sujith and David Brett-Williams said they are excited that an initial idea discussed in 2019 will hopefully offer invaluable support to many children and families affected by the Sri Lankan Easter terrorist attack.

It is planned that Sujith Weerasinghe will send regular updates detailing the outcome of the scholarship programme to the regional store partners, with further initiatives being considered.

(Left to right) Anil Hapugoda, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Head of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and Archbishop of Colombo, Sujith Weerasinghe, Specsavers North West London Regional Relationship Manager and Dilmith Weerasinghe.

– Ends –

Issued by Tigerbond Group Ltd on behalf of Specsavers.

For more information or to speak to a Specsavers expert please contact: 

  Philippa Bassett 

Tigerbond Group Ltd  

Specsavers Client Manager  

07704 536 170 

e-Con e-News

Posted byee ink.April 19, 2025Posted inUncategorizedTags:China, economy, politics, tariffs, Trump

blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com

‘Before you study the economics, study the economists!’

e-Con e-News 13-19 April 2025

*

‘Countries must put their houses in order

to face a world of uncertainty’ – IMF chief

*

‘US trade war poses risks to Sri Lanka’s

creditworthiness, warns Fitch’

The IMF is lying. Fitch is lying. All these economists who are still parroting the old London-Washington ‘export’ sound-bytes are lying. Even if they know not what, or that, they parrot. Yet their diagnostics are awry, their ratings are skewed, and these economists, parading degrees from Oxford & Harvard, etc., simply have no idea that imperialism has no intention to let Sri Lanka escape. Why are they acting as if they did not know their sugar-daddies in the belligerent North Atlantic have been planning such economic hijinks? Why are they acting surprised, and scurrying about like pissu kumbi on meth, screaming, ‘The sky is falling’? Why haven’t their dynamic & strategic forecasts apparently not taken reality, staring them in the face, into account. Then again, Israel’s horror in Gaza seems a surprise to them. The dictums of US President D Trump, too.

     They know not, or assiduously avoid learning about, the history of the English settler states of North Amerika; of their genocidal & enslaving heritage. A heritage which has greatly influenced & strangled our own economy. Worse, they do not know our own story. Then again, no one appears to dare author a true economic history of our country. Except of course our own SBD de Silva, who had to scour world history to begin to fit all the jigged pieces of the underdevelopment puzzle.

     Acting Surprised? If anyone thinks these rumblings are all the doing of one man, think again. The time of Kings (& even then, they were but one head) is long past. The Prince has long become an ‘executive committee of the bourgeoisie’ (or the proletariat, depending on who rules). And if you think it is all Trump’s doing, think again. Bush I. Clinton. Bush II. Obama. Trump l. Biden. Trump II: They have all read from the same scripts and enacted different chapters in this plot. Beware of those who make Trump a lone super-villain, for they are either naïve, ignorant, shallow, partisan or deliberately diversionary. So here it is:

     The latest US government’s economic actions are all laid out in the US Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 paper under Chapter 26, ‘Trade Policy’ (see ee Focus, Brian Bertelic’s New Atlas). The HF is the most expensive thinktank that the corporate US can buy. Under US President R Reagan, HF promoted seemingly opposite policies, which led to the ‘Washington Consensus’ (again, using such silky language, it was less ‘consensus’ & more ‘dictat’ for ‘crisis-wracked developing countries’).

     And as for USAID? Voice of America? This US regime is ‘not eliminating them’, they are simply ‘streamlining these tools, consolidating them under the State Department’. ‘President Trump isn’t making any decisions at all on his own. This is all predetermined policy’. They are preparing for war with China, while dumping their Ukraine conflict (aka, the invasion of Russia) onto Europe.

     All this has less to do with ‘free trade’ or ‘protection’ or a ‘sound plan to re-industrialize USA or to genuinely balance the US ‘trade deficit’.  All this foofaraw aims to maintain: the USA ‘as the world’s dominant superpower’ (‘a direct quote from Chapter 26’). It is straight-out wholesale gangsterism. It is now clearer than ever that many countries, are all US colonies, but in name. The still English colony of Australia, for example, ‘subordinates all Australia’s export industries to US government directives’ (see ee Quotes). The US is trying to force strategic industries in Asia, and in Europe, to move to the USA, as it shuts its borders. They have already demanded the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer TSMC, to also produce chip machines in Arizona, and threaten to destroy their puppet Taiwan and TMSC, rather than allow them to rejoin China. So it is less about making ‘America’ great again. It is about making the Chinese, nay, all of us, ‘coolies’, again… All because they cannot compete with China. They have 400 military bases surrounding China. There are ’10,000s of US forces… closer to Chinese shores than they are to the USA’s own shores’.

     And here is where they plan to use Sri Lanka as a pawn. The US has been preparing to target ‘Chinese maritime shipping worldwide rather than taking on the Chinese military itself along or within its shores & borders’. Meanwhile, the capitalist media is totally quiet about whether Sri Lanka has a bilateral ‘defense partnership’ with the US. And they are equally sotto sotto, certainly the international media, about the nature of the Sri Lanka government’s recently signed ‘defense pact with India, which seeks to entrap us in the US-led Quad’s intrigues’. Only the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) has unequivocally exposed the link between the US and India, without somehow trying to blame China as well (See ee Sovereignty, All progressives and anti-imperialists must fight against the security pact signed with India)

*

‘The US is preparing to subject its own population as well as those of

 its supposed ‘allies’ to immense long-term economic, social & political pain.

The cost-of-living crisis in the US will only grow worse. The US hopes

that it can endure economic pain & disruption at home & abroad

better than the emerging multipolar world can.

Multipolarism’s survival will depend on proving otherwise.’

 Brian Bertelic (see ee Focus)

*

Indeed, all this talk of ‘reciprocal tariffs’ makes no mention of all the US & EU & English & Indian banks & multinationals exploiting Sri Lanka, etc., or their loan sharking through ISBs. Meanwhile, the US government is about to ban all talk of reparations for slavery & colonialism, while our accountants that they ‘charter’ will join in saying it is only we who owe them…

     We should also watch out for so called ‘forgiveness’ of debt. They did that to Ghana in exchange for the forced privatization of water services and the ‘opening up’ of agriculture to foreign companies. A plan, the US Envoy and their agricultural professors have been hinting at as a ‘final solution’ for Sri Lanka. The US also aims to use their economic & military muscle to gut ‘online privacy & big tech anti-monopoly policies’, while undermining ‘food safety, health, & environmental laws’. So, no wonder there are no tariffs on services…

*

This ee Focus also reproduces Vijay Prashad’s ‘The New Bandung Spirit is about Industrial Development’. The 4^th most populous country in the world, Indonesia’s entry into the BRICS+ this year marks the 70^th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955. The 1955 Conference gave birth to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), formed in 1961, and United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD), formed in 1964. Indonesia is the world’s largest nickel producer, and their government finally banned the export of raw nickel ore while insisting that it be processed within the country. They should have insisted that all processing of the ore take place through Indonesian firms, with investment in making local machinery, however they apparently lacked the capital, and this is where the BRICS+ countries, particularly China, can offer the necessary knowhow.

     So, while there may be no lack of funded naysayers to pooh-pooh the striving to create another ‘International’ – after all, imperialism has for many years sought to fatten & entrap a so-called middle-class, who exist largely to thwart true independence – true independence can only be sustained not by merchantry but by industrialization.

Prashad concludes that ‘the contradictions of the present’ will ‘generate their own new spirit’. After all, this spirit will be energized by the strivings of over half the world’s people.

*

• Crisis. Crisis. Crisis. The word ‘crisis’ appears to outnumber the name ‘Trump’ in the news. Crisis! ‘But what is the crisis?’, ee’s muse SBD de Silva always asked. The loyal Left & Right always cry ‘Crisis’. Some even have called for ‘struggle’. But struggle against what? And yes, what is the crisis? Pity the schooled fools who do not wish to know that we are nation ruled by merchants, merchants of goods & money.  Our captains of commerce are generally involved in cheating and have successfully sabotaged all governments since 1948. A government run by merchants, corruption is thy name, regardless of the politicians.

     So, watch them acting surprised? These economists & the state & corporations & their lip-&- eyeball-grabbing services? Isn’t it tiresome that the Sanderatnes & Wijewardenas & Abeyratnes & Colombages & Coomaraswamys, and their latest little spawn, repeat the same tired blah-blah-blah about exports, discipline, rule of law, populist policies, etc., while promoting the tired old colonial plantation game.

     Is the capitalist class that controls them surprised? Why are the IMFs & World Banks & ADBs, so constantly headlined in the English media, the Fitch’s & the S&Ps & Moodys, etc, supposedly more scientific & sophisticated than the auspicious & inauspicious prognostications of astrologers – with all their sophisticated AI & Blockchain, etc. – why are these ‘experts’ always signaling such definitive ratings, which change all the time. They should at least be gaming each possible scenario, where a supposedly triumphant capitalist system has a menu of possibilities to choose from. Yet they cannot be so honest. They have to hide their immediate tactics and long-term strategies and ambitions. The capitalist media meanwhile trumpet every diversion, and their media-dogs bark in unison. All their number-spluttering minions then quote their forecasts as gospel, and use them to demand commensurate policies.

Are they not aware of the practices of their governments & their ruling classes? Mr Trump would not even attempt such policies, or twit such tweets, if he knew that his backers, both latent and blatant would not abide him. The US government has continued their wars throughout various administrations with varying intensity depending on the level of resistance… We are told that it is not the US opposition in and out of government that controls Presidents but their capitalists, as represented by their bondholders, 1.3% of the US population, who have held, propelled or stayed, essentially guided, the US Presidents’ edict-signing knuckles. But what exactly made Trump retreat? Was it China’s power, and the potential loss of intermediate capital supply value chains?

     The time is long long past when individuals (absolute monarchs & other private dispensables) rule. So the question is not free trade or protectionism, de- or re-industrialization, but how people & nations, long divided by every possible fragmenting funding category, can get some program & accompanying rhythm going to thwart the latest offensives of imperialism.

*

     The imperialists have deployed a myriad tactics over 500 years and more to establish Sri Lanka as the colonial import-export plantation merchant-dominated economy it remains to this day. Yet still non-settler, for they have been unable to genocide the majority Sinhala people.

     India’s Vijayanagar tried to divide the country into feudatories. The Portuguese invaded the maritimes. The Dutch grabbed the country trade – the economic intercourse between neighboring countries. And the English sought to command all the waves to set up maritime power across the world, while proclaiming ‘free trade’.  In 1947, just prior to the ‘grant’ of independence, the English imposed a ‘defense agreement’ to retain English bases in the country, apparently to thwart any Indian designs on the country. 10 years later, the SWRD Bandaranaike government removed the English bases, after even having to pay great monetary compensation! The English & the US responded with a bullet, cowboy-salon style, from the hip.

     Then again, the first part of the 1950s saw the USA not just refine their wholesale aerial genocide techniques in Korea, but also their retail ‘regime change’ operations involving early fake ‘rebellions (later revolutions) of color’, coups d’état and assassinations from Iran to Guatemala to the Congo, etc. Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve set up Sri Lanka’s Central Bank, which helped to promote a culture of conspicuous consumption of imported luxuries. They avoided a culture of production, by recapturing our home market from the likes of Unilever, Nestle, et al. The 1960s saw unsuccessful attempts at coups, successful parliamentary coups, the entry of the loan-sharking World Bank & IMF twins… followed by full-scale wars, south and north, from the 1970s to this day.

     Many believe an alternative economic program for Sri Lanka will simply not be allowed. In Greece, a so-called ‘Leftist’ political party, which came to power promising to overturn the IMF’s strictures, is now led by a former Goldman Sachs trader. In Argentina, a self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist has been rescued, for now, by the IMF. Any country challenging the IMF’s dictats, gets bought or couped. It seems therefore to be a priority for any ‘progressive’ government to reform the police & military, before they can begin to serve the people and their skilled artisans, rather than protect thieving merchants…

*

________

Contents:

Dilrook Kannangara

Anura Kumara and Modi signed a number of agreements and the most significant is their defense pact which is shrouded in mystery. However, nothing remains under wraps in Sri Lanka as news travels fast. Indian media also published its contents in point form. Sri Lanka is now an aligned military partner of India and by extension USA and the QUAD alliance which includes India.

The last time Sri Lanka was not a non-aligned country was in 1950. Anglo-Ceylon Defense Partnership Agreement was signed between Sri Lanka, USA and the UK in 1947 and it lasted until 1955. Until it was cancelled, the Soviet Union vetoed Ceylon’s entry to the UN. Strangely the 1947 defense pact was against India and the 2025 defense pact is with India!

As per the new defense pact with India, Sri Lanka cannot hold join military drills with any country without India’s approval, Sri Lanka cannot host any ship, aircraft or delegation without India’s permission, Sri Lanka cannot allow any other country to invest in the island without Indian sanction and cannot purchase weapons without Indian approval. This will end hostility between Sri Lanka and India and Sri Lanka and the West. USA, EU, UK, Japan and India are Sri Lanka’s largest trading partners and largest loan creditors.

The annual defense drill with Pakistan was cancelled due to Indian disapproval recently and a number of Chinese ships were denied entry to ports in the island for the same reason.

This may turn Sri Lanka’s traditional friends into enemies. Until 2025 Sri Lanka’s only enemy nation was North Korea (since 1971). Now there will be plenty from a military point of view and they will include China, Pakistan and their allies. As Sri Lanka is now part of India as far as military interests go, Sri Lanka is fair game in any confrontation with India. However, China and India are part of a number of Russia-led alliances and they remain mostly peaceful.

There is another side to it. Although most Sri Lankans prefer Sri Lanka to remain non-aligned, there was no good or benefit for Sri Lanka being a non-aligned nation. While Sri Lanka headed the non-aligned movement, another member of the same movement, namely India, trained and armed terrorist groups. Another supporter of the non-aligned movement, the Palestine liberation movement also trained Tamil terrorists. Other key non-alignment movement leaders including Yugoslavia and Burma have ended up committing acts of genocide and are now fragmented. Essentially the non-aligned movement was a tragicomedy and it rightly died. However, Sri Lanka continued to follow a non-aligned foreign policy until now. What is useful is an opportunistic foreign policy that benefits Sri Lanka on a case-by-case basis. However, MoUs with India have made it impossible.

Although the defense deal with India is relatively slightly more beneficial to multiethnic Sri Lanka than detrimental, it is anathema for Sinhala and Muslim interests in the island. It also means India will interfere in future elections in the island and all political parties will compete against one another to become the darling of India. On their part, India and the West will ensure Sri Lanka remains undivided, multiethnic, multi-religious, democratic”, and unitary since Sri Lanka is now very much part of their military apparatus. Sinhala and Muslim interests in the island will be gradually stamped out and they will be replaced by Indian cultural identity to cement the military deal. The need for a Sinhala exclusive nation within part of the island is felt stronger than ever. Unless it is created, the Sinhala nation will also succumb to Indian colonization along with the rest of the island of Sri Lanka.

Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

Leaders of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka have again called for a proper investigation into the Easter attacks staged six years ago. Meanwhile, a local political blame-game, starring Pillayan, to conceal the foreign finger prints and geopolitical motives of the attacks has ramped up.

Cover up investigations and copious Disinformation in the corporate and social media echo chamber, as well as, from national security think tanks have all but buried the external interests evident in the design and targets of the Islamic State (ISIS), claimed Easter crime that killed hundreds in geostrategic Sri Lanka in 2019.

Earlier this year a smokescreen ‘investigation’ headed by the redoubtable sleuth Shani Aberysekere, of the Criminal Investigation Division was launched, seemingly to quiet Church leaders and public outcry that justice be served for the victims, and the Mastermind revealed. The Cover story about Pillayan once again masked the role of foreign intelligence agencies, both in the Easter crime and subsequent investigations. 

Yet despite and perhaps because of endless disinformation by local and foreign intelligence networks, such as the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which removed the cell phones of the Easter suicide bombers, the Mastermind’s networks have become increasingly visible. This, given new information and geopolitical developments in the Indian Ocean region.

ISIS targets a Chinese Research Vessel

The Easter suicide attacks were a complex multi-sited logistics operation that was clearly remote controlled and coordinated in the strategic island at the center of the Indian Ocean that sits on some of the most important energy, trade and Submarine Data Cable Routes in the world. 

The Suicide bombers targeted a curious mix of four sea-side luxury hotels and three churches, signifying a hybrid attack on the tourism-dependent economy. Simultaneously, religion was weaponized to stage a distracting Cascade of violence”. Both the west and east coast of the country were hit in an operation calculated to conceal other Geopolitical targets.

Four Chinese marine scientists who were part of a research program with Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Research Agency (NARA) were killed in the attacks at Kingsbury Hotel which overlooks South Asia’s busiest Port on Easter Sunday, 2019.

Remarkably the religiously motivated ISIS-inspired Easter bombers had targeted a Chinese Marine research mission whose ship the Shi Yan-3, was berthed in the Colombo Port, as well as, the Shangri La hotel.

Both the US and lately India had expressed grave concern about any Chinese research ships that may visit the island. As more than 8 foreign intelligence agencies, including Australia’s ASIO and India’s RAW arrived in the country to investigate the Easter crime, it was revealed that while both India and Saudi Arabia had advance information about the attacks, only the India authorities had shared the information with the Sri Lankan authorities.

Wisdom of Hindsight: New Geopolitical Economic Developments

New developments, such as the statement of the nominee for the post of US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Elizabeth K. Horst, at Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings last year throw light on the geopolitical dimensions and international networks behind the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka. 

Speaking of Chinese marine research vessels Horst had stated: we have huge concerns and have asked for a moratorium. We think it is in Sri Lanka’s best interests”. After the Easter attack that killed the Chinese scientists, the research mission was aborted and the Shi-Yan 3 ship left the Colombo Port to return to China.

Was it an accident, coincidence or conspiracy that ISIS inspired suicide bombers killed four Chinese scientists and aborted a research mission, given US concerns about Chinese research vessels in the Seas of Sri Lanka? This happened just as a new hybrid economic Cold War led by the United States ramped up across the Indian Ocean targeting Chinese assets and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for global connectivity? 

Other geopolitical economic developments in Sri Lanka also throw retrospective light on the hybrid Easter crime.

The 2019 ISIS-claimed Easter attacks were a body blow to Sri Lanka’s tourism-dependent economy. This was followed by two years of Covid-19 Lockdowns in 2020-21. These Exogenous Economic Shocks staged to Make the Economy Scream” set the groundwork Sri Lanka’s first ever Sovereign Default with rapid local currency depreciation and Lawfare by the shadowy off-shore Hamilton Reserve Bank in 2022– into the waiting arms of the Washington Consensus (IMF and WB). At this time, Eurobond debt colonized Sri Lanka has lost economic sovereignty and policy autonomy to the IMF and secret Eurobond holders of Odious debt. The largest private creditor is BlackRock.

Other geopolitical developments such as the emergence of the I2U2, comprising India, Israel, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and United States, also known as the QUAD targeting China in the highly militarized western Indian Ocean are also relevant to understand how religion was weaponized at Easter Sunday 2019, given a long history of Israel’s Mossad operating in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka where the Suicide Bombers hailed from and the mysterious Zion Church mushroomed. Moreover, recently Zionist Chabad houses have popped up in Arugam Bay and elsewhere.

Some of the Special Forces and paramilitary groups trained by Mossad and British KMS mercenaries in the Eastern Province in the mid-1980s on the invitation of the J.R Jayawardena regime to fight the Liberation Tigers (LTTE), were later implicated in the Batalanda terror and torture house networks. This was during the South American Dirty War style killings and disappearances in Southern Sri Lanka in 1988-1990 when Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF), took over the northeast. Batalanda has lately been in the media, but ‘Operation Colombo’ in Santiago de Chile remains unknown.

The UAE and India are now set to build a Liquid Natural Gas power plant in strategic Trincomallee Harbor according to a MOU inked between Sri Lanka President Anura Dissanayaka and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s recent visit to Sri Lanka.

Does I2U2 signal the Arab Muslim-Zionist partnership for the New World Order in the Indian Ocean, or the onset of evangelical Christianity’s biblical ‘End Times’ for Palestine? Are these the same thing? While I2U2 is said to be about economic corporation and soft power, the question arises at this time: Is India taking Sri Lanka for a ride, while being also take for a Petrodollar fueled ride by the U2 (UAE and USA), as Zionists and Arab Muslims (Israel and UAE) become proxy partners in crime?

Revisiting the Evidence

In the context of the clear geopolitical dimensions of the Easter attack, would it not be appropriate for the redoubtable Mr. Shani Abersekere to invite the former Attorney General Mr. Dappula De Livera who clearly stated that there was a Conspiracy behind the Easter attacks. De Livera was  harassed by the previous regime for saying so but perhaps he should be given a chance to reveal what he  had gleaned during investigations of the Easter attacks?

So too, it would be appropriate to summon then head of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSSSL), Asanga Abeygoonesekere, who clearly told this writer that several foreign experts from Germany and Bangladesh had informed him that a leader of such a group as Zaharan’s National Thawheed Jamat would never kill himself in the first operation. In other words, the conspirators and mastermind were at large and did not die in Suicide attack despite FBI claims to the contrary.

A related question is: Does political correctness play a role in the impunity and immunity of promiscuous Muslim Politicians like MLAM Hizbullah of Kattankudi, in the Eastern Province, where the lead bomber Zaharan hailed from and was headquatered? Hizbullah who had passed Saudi funds to the lead suicide bomber, Zaharan, had switched sides among all major political parties. Apprehending the no doubt dubious Tamil Pillayan instead of Hizbullah seems like a decoy especially since the lead bombers were Muslim and from Kattankudy.

Finally, the Pillayan story sold in lieu of the long promised investigation into the Easter crime seems to have let the new President Anura Dissanayaka who appointed Shani Abeysekera to the top investigator job off the hook. Shani was parachuted in from retirement despite many questions about the adequacy of investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department which he headed. So too, there are new questions as to how and why Mossad-linked, Zionist Chabad houses have mushroomed across the country and enjoy Sri Lanka military protection at this time?

TO BE CONTINUED:

A History of Cover up Investigations and the Weaponization of Religion

By Ishara Gamage Courtesy Ceylon Today

In a move that could reshape Sri Lanka’s maritime industry, India’s State-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) is in advanced negotiations to acquire a controlling stake in financially troubled Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC), multiple sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Finance Today.

The deal, which centres on Japan’s Onomichi Dockyard Co. Ltd selling its 51% stake in CDPLC, could see a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) finalised by the end of April. If successful, the acquisition would mark a significant strategic shift for Colombo Dockyard—Sri Lanka’s flagship shipbuilder—and reinforce India’s growing influence in the region’s maritime sector.

Colombo Dockyard, a publicly listed entity on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), has been grappling with severe financial distress. Its latest audited financials reveal a staggering loss of Rs 2.48 billion for 2024, with total liabilities ballooning to Rs 38.28 billion. The company’s precarious state forced the CSE to move its shares to the Watch List in June 2024 after auditors flagged concerns about its ability to continue as a going concern.

Despite these challenges, CDPLC remains a key player in ship repairs and harbours ambitions to expand into high-value shipbuilding and offshore engineering. Its strategic location in Colombo’s port and potential expansion into Trincomalee and Hambantota make it an attractive asset for foreign investors.

Mazagon Dock, a defence shipbuilder under India’s Ministry of Defence, has emerged as the frontrunner after earlier bids from a UAE-based shipyard and two local players fell through, sources said. The UAE proposal stalled due to unresolved policy conditions requiring Sri Lankan government endorsement, while the domestic bidders failed to demonstrate sufficient financial and technical capacity,” sources said.

MDL’s strong financial position – bolstered by recent profits and dividends – and its existing ties to CDPLC give it a competitive edge. Nearly 200 Indian subcontractors are already working at Colombo Dockyard, providing Mazagon with operational familiarity. Known as the Ship Builder to the Nation,” MDL specialises in warships and submarines, but this acquisition would mark its first major foray into commercial shipbuilding abroad.

The deal aligns with India’s broader regional strategy, particularly its efforts to counterbalance China’s growing presence in Sri Lanka’s infrastructure and ports. For Sri Lanka, the infusion of Indian capital and expertise could revitalise CDPLC, attract foreign direct investment, and create jobs in the maritime sector.

However, the move has sparked mixed reactions. Trade unions have raised concerns over job security and potential shifts in management, while maritime experts and senior engineers view the partnership as a necessary step to stabilise the  listed company.

Onomichi Dockyard, CDPLC’s majority shareholder, has been seeking an exit since terminating its management agreement and withdrawing its nominee directors earlier this year. The remaining board members engaged a financial adviser to evaluate potential buyers, with Mazagon now being the recommended choice.

Other key shareholders include Sri Lanka’s Employees’ Provident Fund (16.34%), Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (9.92%), and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (3.04%). While the final decision rests with Onomichi, sources indicate that negotiations are progressing swiftly, with an MoU expected by month’s end.

In a corporate disclosure dated 4 April, CDPLC’s board urged the public to disregard speculative media reports, emphasising that no final agreement has been reached. The ultimate decision on the selection of the party to whom Onomichi will sell its shares will be Onomichi’s prerogative,” the statement read.

Key Stats:

= CDPLC Market Cap (17th April 2025): Rs 5.25 billion

= Share Price Range: Rs. 70.70 – Rs 75.60

= Major Shareholders: Onomichi (51%), EPF (16.34%), SLIC (9.92%)

by A. Abdul Aziz

Reports reaching us indicate a mob beat to death a member of Pakistan’s persecuted Ahmadiyya minority on Friday after hundreds of radical Islamists surrounded their place of worship in the port city of Karachi, police said.

A mob, many from the anti-blasphemy political group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), stormed through narrow streets of Saddar neighbourhood chanting slogans, enraged that Ahmadis were allegedly offering Friday prayers.

“One member of the community was killed after the mob identified him as an Ahmadi. They attacked him with sticks and bricks.

The victim, identified as Laeeq Cheema, died before he could receive medical treatment at a hospital in the southern port city, said Amir Mahmood, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community. Government Civil Hospital spokesperson Summaiya Tariq confirmed the death of Cheema, saying he had multiple injuries.

The mob included members of several religious parties and police took around 25 Ahmadis into custody for their safety. In Pakistan, the Ahmadiyya community have been persecuted for decades, but threats and intimidation have intensified in recent years.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the World wide Head (Khalifa) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamáat also mentioned in brief about the incident in his last Friday Sermon.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was “appalled by the orchestrated attack by a far-right religious party on a colonial-era Ahmadi place of worship”.

“This failure of law and order is a stark reminder of the continued complicity of the state in the systematic persecution of a beleaguered community,” it said on X.

Pakistan’s constitution has branded Ahmadis non-Muslims since 1974, and a 1984 law forbids them from claiming their faith as Islamic.

Unlike in other countries, they cannot refer to their places of worship as mosques, make the call to prayer, or travel on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Hardline TLP (Tehreek-e-Lebbaik) supporters regularly monitor Ahmadi places of worship and file police complaints against them for identifying as Muslims and conducting prayers in a manner similar to Islamic practices — illegal in Pakistan.

Mob violence is common in Pakistan, where blasphemy is an incendiary issue that carries the death penalty.

Nonetheless, the Pakistani government authorities, who continue to bring frivolous cases against Ahmadi Muslims under anti-Ahmadiyya, blasphemy, and cybercrime laws, turn a blind eye towards systematic and country-wide efforts by Islamic extremists to fan hatred and ignite violence against Ahmadi Muslims. Instead of prosecuting the makers of these social media posts and videos under cybercrime laws and the National Action Plan, the governmental authorities continue to protect and support extremists and target innocent Ahmadis.

In July 2024, a group of top UN Human Rights experts including UN Special Rapporteurs urged an immediate end to discrimination and violence against Ahmadis in Pakistan, citing documented evidence of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, attacks on places of worship and curtailment of free expression, peaceful assembly and association.” Apparently, their pleas fell on deaf ears.

It is called upon the Pakistani authorities to honor their international human rights commitments to protect religious freedom and promote religious tolerance towards the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

It is requested all members of the international community to urge the government of Pakistan to take urgent steps to bring its laws and practices in conformity with international standards as ordained by UDHR and ICCPR.

Source:  www.france24.com

Jinath Premaratne

Sepal Amarasinghe

Dasatha News

Dasatha News

Dasatha News

Press Release U.S. Attorney’s Office

Friday, January 8, 2021Share 

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California

The men allegedly were members of a group of ISIS supporters that carried out terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Day in 2019, killing 268 people

          LOS ANGELES – The Justice Department announced today that three Sri Lankan citizens have been charged with terrorism offenses, including conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (ISIS). The men were part of a group of ISIS supporters that called itself ISIS in Sri Lanka” and allegedly was responsible for the 2019 Easter attacks in the South Asian nation of Sri Lanka, which killed 268 people, including five U.S. citizens, and injured over 500 others, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed today.

          The complaint outlines the defendants’ roles in the conspiracy and the events that led to near-simultaneous suicide bombings in the Sri Lankan cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa on April 21, 2019. One of the U.S. citizens killed was a Department of Commerce employee who had traveled to Sri Lanka on official business.

          Two days after the attacks, ISIS claimed credit for the terrorist acts, attributing the murders to Islamic State fighters.” In late April 2019, the then-leader of ISIS praised the attackers for what he called a retaliation against the West” for defeating ISIS the prior month in Baghuz, Syria.

          This case clearly demonstrates that the United States will take decisive action to ensure terrorists face justice when they target Americans anywhere in the world,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. The United States remains confident in the Sri Lankan authorities’ ability to bring the perpetrators to justice – and this complaint makes clear that we stand ready with these charges in the event the defendants attempt to evade justice.”

          ISIS’s Easter attacks in Sri Lanka killed 268 people, including five Americans, many while they worshiped,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. Today, we charge these defendants with bearing their share of the responsibility for these deaths. According to these charges, the defendants were committed supporters of ISIS, recruited others to ISIS’s violent cause, purchased materials for and made IEDs, helped to prepare and trained others who participated in the attacks, and murdered in the name of this deadly foreign terrorist organization.  They are in custody in Sri Lanka. We fully support the Sri Lankan investigation and prosecution of these terrorists and will continue to work with the authorities there to pursue our shared goal of holding these defendants accountable for their crimes. At the same time, these charges reflect that the U.S. justice system remains a powerful tool to bring to bear against those who harm our citizens abroad. We will continue to pursue justice for the victims of these heinous attacks and for all American victims of terrorism.”

          The criminal case filed on December 11 in United States District Court in Los Angeles is the result of a nearly two-year investigation by the FBI, which assisted Sri Lankan authorities in the wake of the suicide bombings that targeted Christian churches and luxury hotels frequented by Westerners.

          The domestic charges announced today for an attack on foreign soil represent the FBI’s commitment to deliver justice to traveling American victims and to protect U.S. interests here and abroad,” said Kristi K. Johnson, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. For decades, and particularly since 9/11, the FBI has deployed agents to various parts of the world to establish an investigative foothold and to liaison with local counterparts with a shared goal of combating terror globally. Our enduring hope is that criminal prosecution – whether domestic or foreign – will bring some peace to the hundreds of victims killed or injured in Sri Lanka as a result of this horrific attack.”

          The defendants named in the complaint, along with other suspects linked to the attacks, currently are detained in Sri Lanka, where a criminal investigation is ongoing.

          According to the complaint, the three charged defendants and others involved in the conspiracy – including eight terrorists who died in the suicide bombings – conspired to provide, provided, and attempted to provide material support, including services and personnel, to ISIS through various actions, including: (1) creating, maintaining, and serving as members of a group of ISIS supporters in Sri Lanka devoted to ISIS, its ideology, and to planning and encouraging violent attacks to advance ISIS’s goals; (2) obtaining explosive materials and IED components; (3) manufacturing and testing IEDs, including the types of IEDs ultimately used in attack; (4) recruiting other ISIS in Sri Lanka members; (5) using ISIS-created training materials to instruct and train the attackers and their co-conspirators in the use of firearms and explosives; (6) procuring safe houses for the group to prepare for attacks in the name of ISIS, including the Easter attacks, while avoiding law enforcement detection; (7) following ISIS directives to use specific end-to-end encrypted messaging applications to conceal the criminal conspiracy; (8) murdering two Sri Lankan police offers to obtain the officers’ firearms; and (9) shooting a suspected police informant.

          The three defendants named in the criminal complaint, all of whom pledged allegiance to ISIS, are:

•          Mohamed Naufar, the second emir” for the group of ISIS supporters that called itself ISIS in Sri Lanka,” who allegedly led the group’s propaganda efforts, recruited others to join ISIS, and led a series of multi-day military-type trainings;

•          Mohamed Anwar Mohamed Riskan, who allegedly helped manufacture the IEDs used in the Easter Attacks; and

•          Ahamed Milhan Hayathu Moahmed, who allegedly executed a police officer in order to obtain the officer’s firearm, shot a suspected informant, and scouted a location for a separate terrorist attack.

          All three defendants are charged with conspiring to provide, providing, and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.  Additionally, Naufar and Milhan are charged with aiding and abetting the receipt of military-type training from ISIS.

          The FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force in Los Angeles, including personnel assigned responsibilities for extraterritorial matters, is leading the investigation.

          This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Annamartine Salick, George E. Pence IV and Christine M. Ro of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section, and Trial Attorney Alicia Cook of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

          The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department provided valuable assistance.

Contact

Thom Mrozek Director of Media Relations thom.mrozek@usdoj.gov (213) 894-6947

Updated April 4, 2023

Shenali D Waduge

Has it never occurred to the international media or so-called international community or even UN/UNHRC Officials to question the silence of LTTE fronts to LTTE’s recruitment of Tamil children who were turned into child soldiers forming one third of LTTE’s ground force? How can LTTE fronts call for justice when hiding their own crime of creating child soldiers & sending them to their deaths? How can LTTE fronts who funded LTTE guns & watched child soldier recruitment have any moral authority to demand human rights or draft curriculum for bogus genocide week? How can LTTE fronts hide behind human rights rhetoric when for 30 years they encouraged Tamil children to be kidnapped & turned into child soldiers. They claim to fight for a separate state but don’t mind kidnapping their own people’s children & sending them to die. These were their own people’s children who were denied fundamental rights, plucked away from their homes & loved ones & taught to kill. Prabakaran is no more but LTTE fronts must answer for the Tamil children forced into war. Genocide of these Tamil children’s childhood should take international centre stage not a trumped up 40,000 figure for which no names, no skeletons, no police complaints, no birth certificates have been presented even 16 years after the conclusion of the conflict. These hypocrites in exile watched as LTTE kidnapped, trained their own children to kill & die while they happily sought asylum & sent their kids to foreign schools, universities & secured foreign jobs. Now their children are trained to continue the lies so the LTTE can continue their kitty.

LTTE fronts have taken great pains to open websites, hold conferences, panel discussions, woo international media, make documentaries, hold campaigns/fundraises, lobby politicians & retain lawyers – there’s nothing they have not done since end of LTTE ground force in 2009. They have presented themselves as paragons of virtue, fighting for their people & their rights and begging the people of the world to listen to their grievance. Arguments lined up to fit into their goal for a separate state.

Let’s stop there.

Did these paragons of virtue living in foreign shores not feel an iota of sorrow to watch their own people’s children plucked away from their parents, from schools or orphanages or while returning home & dumped into LTTE camps to be trained to kill? Obviously not.

What kind of a separate state is envisaged when one third or an entire generation of Tamil children have been denied their childhood?

Did these paragons of virtue not count the number of children some as young as 7 years as per Human Rights Watch reports, undergo gruesome training those who fled were shot dead by LTTE?

Why did LTTE fronts — many based in safe, democratic countries — not campaign against this grave war crime committed by the LTTE against their own community’s children? Because they were complicit & were well aware of the recruitment.

What a crying shame to live overseas, have one’s own children educated in Western schools while one’s own people in rural areas were handed rifles

Why has author Harrison who has been counting the dead since 2009, not bothered to count how many Tamil children were kidnapped from 1980s by LTTE – how many died as a result of LTTE training, how many Tamil children were shot dead by LTTE trying to flee? How many Tamil children were raped or served as sexual toys for LTTE men in bunkers?

The conspicuous silence of the UN Agencies is to also be questioned.

LTTE violated Article 38(3) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child & Optional Protocol on the involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (2000) which prohibits recruitment of children under 18?

What did UN do to stop LTTE over 30 years of child soldier recruitment?

According to the Paris Principles & Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Groups, forcible recruitment of children not only violated humanitarian law but was considered a form of slavery under international law.

In over 30 years of recruitment of Tamil children, did the UN & associated agencies do anything to stop LTTE’s child soldier recruitment other than compile beautifully printed reports?

Why did diaspora leaders not rescue even one Tamil child soldier?

Why did Tamil political parties & Tamil politicians talking big in Parliament also not rescue one Tamil child soldier?

Yet LTTE Diaspora & Tamil politicians are happy to parrot genocide” ignoring their own community’s sin & betrayal of their own children.

A generation of children lost their childhood to satisfy an ideological dream of a handful.

How can LTTE Diaspora justify lobbying under banner of human rights” while conveniently ignoring the first & most sacred right – the Right of a Child to live free from war & forced combat.

The genocide” claim is nothing but a hyped charge sans facts or evidence only pumped by propaganda & sensationalism.

The genocide of the Tamil child used as child labor, for suicide, for ethnic cleansing, for assassinations, for killings is a bigger crime that has not received the international attention it should.

Under UN Security Council Resolution 1612 (2005) parties recruiting or using child soldiers must be held accountable.

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Article 8) lists recruitment of children under 15 as a war crime.

Why was nothing done against LTTE?

The UN Basic Principles & Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy (2005) applies to all victims of human rights violations – not just those on one side of a conflict. Where is the justice for LTTE’s child soldiers denied childhood as well as the children LTTE killed from other communities including foreign children?

UK Govt stands guilty of harboring the woman who trained Tamil children as child soldiers. Why has no legal action been taken against Aunty Adele? Why is the aunty behind the cyanide capsule still free?

Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (2000)

Article 4(1): Armed groups should not recruit or use children under 18 in any hostilities.
Article 6: States must take legal measures against those who violate the Protocol.

Why has the UK not prosecuted Adele Balasingham under this Protocol, which it ratified?

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Article 8(2)(b)(xxvi) – Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 into armed forces or groups, or using them to participate actively in hostilities = War Crime.

Adele Balasingham trained child soldiers under 15 — and wrote about it. Why no ICC case?

UN Security Council Resolutions on Children in Armed Conflict

UNSC Resolution 1612 (2005) – Calls for accountability for persistent violators of children’s rights in armed conflict.

The LTTE was listed. Adele Balasingham was its face for child recruitment. Why is she not on any sanctions list?

To the UN & Human Rights NGOs:

Why have international investigators failed to name Adele Balasingham, despite her public role in training child soldiers and glorifying their deaths in books?

How is justice credible if those who armed and trained children — not just used them — face no international consequences?

Why has there been no tribunal, arrest warrant, or even public inquiry into her actions, while she freely publishes and lectures abroad?

Denying a child their childhood is a tragedy & a crime against humanity, a theft of their innocence that no separatist cause can justify.

Turning children into soldiers is a genocide of their childhood. Recruiting children as soldiers is illegal & is a systematic destruction of their childhood, a soul lost forever, a genocide that cannot be ignored. No cause, no ideology, justifies turning a child into a killer.

LTTE fronts accuse the Sinhalese of discrimination. But it was not the Sinhalese who robbed Tamil children of their childhood. It was the LTTE who turned their own sons & daughters into weapons. It was the Sinhala soldier who ensured that from May 2009, not a single Tamil child was kidnapped or recruited & trained to kill.

The LTTE fronts who cry discrimination” are reminded that it was they who forced Tamil children to carry rifles instead of books – not the Sinhalese.

Tamil children were denied schooling by LTTE & LTTE Diaspora not the Sinhalese.

It was LTTE & its Diaspora cheer squads who took the childhood away from Tamil children. 

It was the Sri Lankan Army who gave the Tamil child soldier a second chance at life.

If the Sinhalese are accused of injustice & discrimination what do you call those who train their own children to die killing?

The hypocrisy is that those who parrot genocide” were the ones who were happy to force their own children to wear suicide vests & cyanide capsules.

This same LTTE Diaspora made a huge ruckus over the deaths of Prabakaran’s children but not a hum for the thousands of Tamil children who were turned into killers by them.

The international media, the so-called international community & the mighty officials of the UN & associated agencies kindly advised to revisit Sri Lanka’s conflict & ask themselves where the real discrimination lay? Was it not in turning innocent Tamil children into child soldiers? Was this genocide of the childhood not a bigger war crime for not only was these Tamil children’s childhood stolen from them, they were forced to kill & taught to commit suicide. 

What have the international media/international community/UN done to cover this by questioning the LTTE fronts & Tamil politicians & Political Parties for their role?

Shenali D Waduge

 by Neville Ladduwahetty Courtesy The Island

President Dissanayake and PM Modi

Of the several MOUs signed by the President of Sri Lanka during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka, the most consequential in respect of implications to Sri Lanka is the one associated with the Defence Cooperation.  Neither the public nor the Parliament is aware of its contents. What the public could glean about the scope of this vital MOU are from articles written by concerned citizens, like the one by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka in the Daily FT of April 10, 2025. The source of his material is from statements made by the President during political rallies relating to the Defence Cooperation MOU. One such statement is cited below. This reflects a seismic shift in respect of Sri Lanka’s relations not only with India, but also with other Nation-States, that is disturbing to say the least, because of its implications on Sri Lanka’s autonomy to act independently as a sovereign Nation-State and define its own destiny; a status Sri Lanka defended for nearly 2500 years despite repeated interruptions over the years.

SECURING ASSISTANCE

Justifying the need for Defence Cooperation with India, President Dissanayake is reported to have stated the following at an election meeting in Galle:

We need security in this region.  We need to safeguard the security of this region. We should secure the assistance of those who have greater technological capacities in defence, greater skills in defence. If not, how can a country move forward? …. For 76 years the world developed rapidly in science and technology. The world developed rapidly in military science.  Now, what should we do? We must secure the assistance of those states which have accepted new science and technology. Don’t we have to do that”? (Ibid).

 There are two pivotal issues that arise from the President’s comments. The first is discarding the principle of SELF-RELIANCE (SR). SR is the bedrock of Sri Lanka’s civilizational values. The inspiration to rely on one’s SELF to evolve answers to inscrutable questions or to challenges that present themselves as insurmountable comes from the single-minded approach adopted by Lord Buddha in his search for liberation. His attempts to seek the assistance of others failed him. It was the relentless determination to find the answers himself to what he was looking for, that enabled him to realise his goal; a goal that has benefited mankind.

The role model set by him was what inspired the spirit of SELF RELIANCE that enabled Sri Lanka to create a civilisation that was unique over millennia. It was not created by military conquest. It was not created by developing military science”. The monuments left behind are a testimony to the ingenuity and skills of the People of Sri Lanka. It was they, who developed the technologies needed for the Sri Lankan nation to lead a life of peace and contentment.

Throughout Sri Lanka’s history, its sovereignty has been repeatedly violated and its territory vandalised by invading armies. Whenever such invasions occurred, liberation and freedom came from military strategies developed and adopted by those within by relying on SR. They did not go running to sign MOUs seeking assistance from militarily powerful nations. On the other hand, whenever our Rulers sought the assistance of external powers, such as the Dutch, to get rid of the Portuguese who had invaded the country, the Dutch ended up colonising the whole country for nearly 150 years until they lost it to the British, who in turn colonised for a further 150 years. The Defence Cooperation MOU with India has the potential to repeat that history.

SAFEGUARDING REGIONAL SECURITY

The President has stated: We need security in this region. We need to safeguard the security of this region”. If this is a policy of this government, in what way could Sri Lanka contribute towards the security of this region”? Is there a clear understanding as to how Sri Lanka and India are going to undertake safeguarding the security of the region?  Whatever it may be, there is no doubt that the contribution Sri Lanka can afford to make is insignificant compared with what India would be making because it is in India’s self-interest as an aspiring Global Power to make the region secure. Furthermore, because of this disparity, the MOU would entitle India to enforce its will as to how regional security is exercised. Does this not amount to sacrificing Sri Lanka’s strategic autonomy?

If it did, would it not compel Sri Lanka to be under the hegemony of India; a condition that would only bolster the security of India based on India’s notion that the security of India depends on the security of Sri Lanka, meaning a weakened Sri Lanka under the control of India? On the other hand, if Sri Lanka exercises its independence and acts in pursuit of its own self-interests, and such actions do not mesh with that of India in its pursuit of becoming a global power, there would be consequences.

Therefore, any arrangement that compromises the independence of Sri Lanka and its ability to exercise its Self- Reliance has to be mindful of India’s interests.  This does not mean that Sri Lanka should not heed India’s concerns and interests.  Instead, it only means pursuing Sri Lanka’s interests while being conscious of India’s sensibilities, as it was with the Chinese research vessel”. However, under a Defence Cooperation MOU, it would be India that would decide the parameters as to whether to permit entry of foreign vessels or not; a constraint that would compromise Sri Lanka autonomy to pursue its self-interests.

IMPACT on FOREIGN POLICY

An alignment with a power that the President describes as: We sincerely applaud the way India has positioned itself not only as a regional power, but also as global power” (Ibid), means Sri Lanka has decided to disassociate itself with its long cherished position of being Non-Aligned as a founding member of Non-Aligned Movement, that morphed recently into being Neutral in the context of emerging Great Power rivalries in this region.    By aligning exclusively with a country that is positioning itself to be a global power and at the cost of distancing itself in its relations with other Global Powers, comes not only at a cost that Sri Lanka cannot afford to bear in the background of overdue debt to them, but also a degree of dependence that is unknown and unfamiliar to independent Sri Lanka.

The need to seek exclusive relations with India is in the hope that India would assist Sri Lanka in case such a need arises because Sri Lanka does not have the needed military science” to defend itself, not realising that there is no free lunch; a fact attested by Sri Lanka’s own history.  The President and this Government must accept the hard reality that Sri Lanka or any other small country can ever hope to match the degree of military science” capabilities that Global Powers possess. At the end of the day, it is a smart strategy that matters more than the stacks of military hardware by countries such as Sri Lanka; a fact demonstrated by David’s sling shot against the might of Goliath.

For instance, Sun Tzu, in The Art of War”, states: What is essential for leaders, generals, and ministers in running countries and governing armies is no more than … peak efficiency of knowledge and strategy is to make conflict altogether unnecessary. To overcome others’ armies without fighting is the best of skills”. It is clear from the wisdom of the ages that effective intelligence gathering and appropriate strategy is far more relevant for the security of a Nation such as Sri Lanka than relying on the unrealistic notion of military science to ensure its security.

CONCLUSION

During an election rally, the President is reported to have stated that there is a need not only to safeguard security for the region”, but also that Sri Lanka must secure the assistance of those states which have accepted this new military science technology” if Sri Lanka is to move forward. These objectives are to be incorporated in a Defence Cooperation MOU with India.

How Sri Lanka is to contribute to safeguarding the security of the region”, or what form and type of the assistance Sri Lanka expects from India, is not made public. Despite such lacunae, the implication of any form of Defence Cooperation exclusively with a country such as India that is positioning” itself to be a global Power or one that is already recognised as a Global Power, is bound to affect Sri Lanka’s relations not only with other Global Powers but also with other countries as well.

Furthermore, exclusive alignment with one Power means that Sri Lanka has decided to ditch not only the principle of Non-Alignment and its concepts that it championed for decades, but also, more appropriately, Neutrality, in the emerging context of Great Power rivalries in the region. Such exclusive arrangements for assistance with one country compel Sri Lanka to be in the vortex of India and its interests, the consequence of which for Sri Lanka is to be a vassal State of India.

The nearly 2,500-year old history of Sri Lanka has been to resist and defend such attempts. Throughout its history Sri Lanka has relied on its own strengths and abilities and created the spirit of Self-Reliance modeled on the example set by the founder of the religion of the majority of Sri Lanka. That is to develop its own strategies to create a unique civilization in which its People enjoyed peace and contentment. However, there were occasions when weak leaders abandoned the rewards of Self-Reliance and sought the assistance of the Dutch to overcome the threat of Portuguese occupation, and ended up being colonized for over nearly 150 years. The planned Defence Cooperation MOU with India could very well be a repeat of that history; an outcome that would permanently ensure India’s security.

The attempt to seek external assistance to move forward” is founded on the misguided concept that without the military and technological strength of external agents, Sri Lanka cannot move forward. In view of the fact that countries such as Sri Lanka cannot ever hope to match the capabilities of those who have advanced military technologies, the choice left to Sri Lanka is to be guided by the wisdom of the ages cited above, and develop efficiency of knowledge and strategy”.

That means, the compelling need for Sri Lanka to develop its Intelligence and strategic capabilities to a very much higher level than what exists today so that Sri Lanka is in a position to make conflict both internal or external unnecessary. The importance of strategy over Military capabilities is starkly made evident by the experience of the US in Vietnam. Notwithstanding the fact that the US possesses the most advanced military hardware in the world, the US lost the war in Vietnam because of a wrong strategy. The US relied totally on the capabilities of their military hardware and forgot the strategy of David’s slingshot. The hope is that the President is made aware of these lessons of history.

 by Neville Ladduwahetty

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

මහජන ජාතික ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් (People’s National Constitution) කෙටුම්පත් කිරීම මේ දක්වා “Gotagogama” තරුණ පරපුර ආරම්භ කර නොතිබීම නීතිය නොදැනීම පිළිබඳ ප්‍රශ්නයක් පමණක් නොවේ. එය රටේ ජනතාවගේ නෛතික නිදහස පිළිබඳ මූලික ප්‍රශ්නයකි, “ගෘන්නෝම”/ Grundnorm නීති මූලධර්මය ගැන අවබෝධයක් නැතිකම පිළිබඳ ප්‍රශ්නයකි. “ගෝඨාභය ජනාධිපතිවරයා ධූරයෙන් ඉවත් කරවීමට පෙර හෝ පසූව මහජන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව කෙටුම්පත් කර ජනතාව හමුවේ තැබීම “ගෘන්නෝම” මූලධර්මය අනුව සිදුවූයේ නැත.

වැද්දා වටුකූරුල්ලන්ට දැල දැමූ පසු වටුකුරුල්ලන් ඉන් මිදුන ආකාරය ලස්සන සිත් ඇදගන්නා බෞද්ධ කතාවක් පමණක් නොවේ. ඉන් ඉගෙනිය හැකි පාඩම් බොහෝය. පළමු වැන්න වන්නේ අනතුරේ හෙළන්නාගෙන් කිසිවිට සහායක් නොඉල්ලිය යුතු බවයි. ඒ මූලික පාඩම “Gotagogama” අරගලයේ යෙදුනු තරුණ ප්‍රජාව මේ දක්වා අවබෝධකර නැති බව පෙනී යන්නේ ගෘන්නෝම (Grundnorm) නීති මූලධර්මය ගැන ඔවුන් මේ දක්වා කතිකාවක් ආරම්භ කර නැති හෙයිනි.

එනම් පවතින නීතිය උල්ලංඝනය කරමින් නව මහජන ජාතික ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් (People’s National Constitution) කෙටුම්පත් කිරීමට අවශ්‍ය මූලික සංවාදයවත් ඔවුන් මේ දක්වා ආරම්භ කර නැත.

ඒ පිළිබ‍ඳ කතිකාවක් ආරම්භ කිරීමට පවතින ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව උල්ලංඝනය කරමින් අලුත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් තැනිය හැකි ජර්මන් ජාතික දාර්ශනිකයෙකු වූ කෙල්සන් (Kelsen) ඉදිරිපත් කළ ගෘන්නෝම නීති මූල ධර්මය පිළිබඳ දැනගත යුතුය.

වැද්දා දැල දැමූ විට වටු කුරුල්ලෝ වැද්දාගෙන් දැල අයින් කර දෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා නොසිටි අතර, වටු කුරුල්ලන්ම එකතු වී දැල අයින් කර ගත්තේය. ඒ සමාජ සිද්ධාන්තය මෙහිදීද අදාල වේ.

වර්තමනයේ සමාජ ආර්ථික ජීවන ප්‍රශ්නය ඇති කිරීමට මුල් වූයේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ 225 සහ විධායක ජනාධිපතිවරයා පමණක් නොවේ. අධිකරණය සහ පරිපාලන යාන්ත්‍රණයත් එයට වග කිව යුතුය.

ජනතාව ගෑස්, තෙල් පෝලිමේ දුක් විඳීමට සැළැස්වීමට සහ විදුලිය කප්පාදුවට සහ මෙසමයේ පවතින ආර්ථික අර්බුදයට විධායකය, අධිකරණය සහ ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය එකිනෙකා නොදෙවෙනි ලෙස දායක වී ඇත යන්න පිළිනොගන්නේ නම් එය සත්‍යට දුරස්ථය. ඒ සත්‍ය එළිදරව් කරන්නෝ බන්ධනාගාර ගත කිරීමෙන් ප්‍රශ්නය යම්තාක් දුරකට පාලනය විය හැකි වුවත් විසඳුමක් ලැබෙන්නේ නැත.

ජනප්‍රිය පාසල්වලට සිසුන් ඇතුළත් කරන අයදුම්පත්‍රවල ලිපින අනුව පාසල් බස් රථ හෝ පාසල් වෑන් රථ මෙතරම් ප්‍රමාණයක් කොළඹ ඇතුලු නගර වෙත පැමිණීමට අවශ්‍යතාවයක් නැති වීම සරළ උදාහරණයකි.

විධායක, ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සහ අධිකරණ ආයතන ත්‍රිත්වයේ අකාර්යක්ෂමතාවය,නාස්තිය, දූෂණය පිළිබඳ සමාජයේ සාධාරණ කතිකාවක් ආරම්භ වී නොතිබීම  “Gotagogama” තරුණ ප්‍රජාවේද අසාර්ථකත්වයකි. 

ඔවුන් ගෝඨාභය ජනාධිපතිවරයා ඉලක්කකරගත් පෞද්ගලික අවලාද කිරීමක ස්වරූපයෙන් උද්ඝෝෂණ මෙහෙයවනු ලැබූ ආකාරයක් දක්නට ලැබුණි.

ඝාතන කිහිපයක් පමණක් ඉස්මතුකරමින් සහ තෙල්, ගෑස්, විදුලිය අර්බුදයට පමණක් සමාජ ආතතිය සහ සමාජ පීඩනය ලඝු කරමින් වසර ගණනාවක් සමාජය මුහුණ දෙන අර්ධ වහල් සමාජ පාලන ක්‍රමය පිළිබඳ සාකච්ඡා නොකිරීමට “Gotagogama” තරුණ පරපුර පරිස්සම් වන ආකාරයක්ද දක්නට ලැබුණි.

සමාජයේ පවතින සෑම ආයතනයකම, ව්‍යුහයකම පවතින බලවන්තයින් විසින් දුබලයන් සහ සම්බන්ධතා නොමැති අය පෙළන පාලන ක්‍රමයේ ගැටළු “Gotagogama” සාකච්ඡා කරනවා පෙන්නුම් කළේ නැත.

ගෘන්නෝමය (Grundnorm) ගැන නීතීඥවරු පමණක් දැන සිටීම ප්‍රමාණවත් නොවේ. “Gotagogama” තරුණ ප්‍රජාවද ඒ පිළිබඳ සකච්ඡා ආරම්භ කළ යුතුය.

“Gotagogama” තරුණ ප්‍රජාගේ අරගලය සැබෑ ජන අරගලයක් වන්නේ ඔවුන් එය තේරුම් ගැනීමට කල්ගත නොකිරීම සහ දක්වන උනන්දුව මතය.

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ විධිවිධාන නොතකා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් තනා ගැනීම නෛතික විප්ලවයක් වන අතර එය කළ හැක්කේ පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට, අධිකරණයට හෝ විධායකයට නොව ජනතාවටය.

ජනතාවට ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා උල්ලංඝනය කළ හැකියි. ගෘන්නෝම මූලධර්මය මගින් කියන්නේත් එයයි.

1970 සමඟි පෙරමුණු ආණ්ඩුව එවකට පැවති 1947 සෝල්බරි ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව උල්ලංඝනය කර 1972 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා ගෙන එන ලදී.
1972 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව පනවා ගත්තේ එතෙක් පැවති 1947 සෝල්බරි ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුව හෝ රාජාධිකරණයේ හෝ බ්‍රිතාන්‍යය කිරීටයේ අවසරයෙන් නොවේ. ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් සුන්දරලිංගම් ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයේ එවකට නඩු පැවරුවද සාර්ථක නොවීය.

1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව ගෙන එන ලද්දේ  1972 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව අනුවය. 1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව නෛතික විප්ලවයක ඵලයක් නොවේ.

Grundnorm යනු හාන්ස් කෙල්සන් (1881 -1973) විසින් ඔහුගේ ශුද්ධ සිද්ධාන්ත
නීතිය පිළිබඳ න්‍යාය තුළ අර්ථ දක්වා ඇති නීති විද්‍යාත්මක යෙදුමකි. ඔහු Grundnorm යනු ඕනෑම නීති පද්ධතියකට පදනම වන මූලික සම්මතය, අනුපිළිවෙල හෝ රීතිය ලෙස අර්ථ දැක්වීය. එම නීති පද්ධතියේ ධනාත්මක නීතියේ වලංගුභාවයේ මූලාශ්‍රය ලෙස මෙය සැලකිය හැකිය.

කෙල්සන් විස්තර කරන්නේ විප්ලවය යනු නීති පද්ධතියක Grundnorm වෙනස් කළ හැකි එකම ක්‍රමය බවයි.

1978 ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ ජනාධිපති සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තු ධූරකාල සම්බන්ධයෙන් විධිවිධාන දැක්වෙන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 83වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ දෝෂයක් පවතින බව නීතිපතිවරයාද මේ වන විට පිළිගෙන ඇත. 22වන ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන පනත් කෙටුම්පත ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ 78 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව යටතේ ගැසට් පත්‍රයේ 2024.07.18 දින පළ කර ඇත. එනම් වර්තමානයේ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන්නේද දෝෂ සහිත ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවකි.

“ගෝඨා ගෝ හෝම්” අරගලය ගෘන්නෝමයක් බවට පත් කර නොගත්තේ කවුද, අලුත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් බිහිකර ගැනීමට “ගෝඨා ගෝ හෝම්” අරගලකරුවෝ ක්‍රියා නොකළේ ඇයි යන්න අවංකව සංවාදයට ලක්කළ යුතුය.

iiවන නෛතික විප්ලවයට සුදුසුම කාලය එළඹෙමින් ඇත.

http://neethiyalk.blogspot.com/2025/04/ii.html?m=1

නීතීඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B.Sc(Col), PGDC(Col), සමායෝජක, වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යයන වැඩසටහන.
දුරකථන  0712063394
(2025.04.1

ආචාර්ය සරත් ඔබේසේකර

විෂය:
ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ සමුද්‍රීය හා අක්වෙරළ කර්මාන්ත සංවර්ධනය වේගවත් කිරීම සඳහා යෝජනාව

අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමා
හරහා
වරාය ගුවන් සේවා සහ මාර්ග සංවර්ධන නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය

අපනයන සංවර්ධන මණ්ඩලය යටතේ උපදේශක මණ්ඩලයේ සභාපතිවරයා ලෙස, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ඇති උද්යෝගිමත් අවස්ථාවක් පිළිබඳව සාකච්ඡා කිරීමට මම ඔබ වෙත ළඟා වෙමි, විශේෂයෙන් නිල් ආර්ථිකයක රාමුව තුළ නාවික සංචාරක ව්‍යාපාරය ඇතුළුව අපගේ සමුද්‍රීය හා අක්වෙරළ කර්මාන්තය සංවර්ධනය කිරීමේ සන්දර්භය තුළ.

මෑත වසරවලදී, අපනයන සංවර්ධන මණ්ඩලය ත්‍රිකුණාමලය සංවර්ධනය සඳහා පෙනී සිටිමින්, තෙල් කර්මාන්තයේ භාවිතා කරන වේදිකා මෙන්ම පරිවර්තනය කරන ලද නැව් අලුත්වැඩියා කිරීම සහ ඉදිකිරීම සඳහා මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් ලෙස එය ස්ථානගත කර ඇත.

විශේෂයෙන්, වරාය අධිකාරිය 2021 දී ආසියානු සංවර්ධන බැංකුව විසින් අරමුදල් සපයන ලද ශක්‍යතා අධ්‍යයනයක් සම්පූර්ණ කරන ලද අතර, එය රටට සැලකිය යුතු ආදායම් උත්පාදන මූලාශ්‍රයක් ලෙස මෙම මුලපිරීමේ විභවය ගෙනහැර දැක්වීය.

සභාපතිවරයා ලෙස මා සේවය කළ කාලය තුළ, දේශීය හා විදේශීය කොන්ත්‍රාත්කරුවන්ට ක්‍රියාත්මක විය හැකි පහසුකම් ස්ථාපිත කිරීම සඳහා කදිම වෙරළබඩ ස්ථානයක් ලෙස ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ ක්ලැපන්බර්ග් හඳුනා ගත් පසුකාලීන ශක්‍යතා අධ්‍යයනයකට මම සම්බන්ධ වී සිටියෙමි.
විදේශීය ආදායම් උත්පාදනය කිරීම සහ කොරියාව, රුමේනියාව සහ එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යය වැනි රටවල අවස්ථා හඹා යාම සඳහා විදේශගත වෙමින් සිටින අපගේ දක්ෂ ශ්‍රම බලකායට රැකියා අවස්ථා නිර්මාණය කිරීම සඳහා නැව් තටාකයක් සහ අක්වෙරළ ඉදිකිරීම් අංගනයක් පිහිටුවීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය බව ආයතනික සැලැස්ම විසින් හඳුනාගෙන ඇත.

දැනටමත් දක්වා ඇති මූලික සංකල්ප සමඟින්, මෙම ව්‍යාපාරය සඳහා ආයෝජනය කිරීම සඳහා විශාල විදේශීය සමාගම් අතර උනන්දුවක් ඇති කිරීම සඳහා වරාය අමාත්‍යාංශය, කර්මාන්ත අමාත්‍යාංශය සහ ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලය (BOI) සම්බන්ධ කර ගන්නා ලෙස මම ඔබතුමාගෙන් ගෞරවයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිමි.

තවද, ඉන්දියාව ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ ඇතැම් සංවර්ධන අයිතිවාසිකම් දරන අතර, IOC හි ගබඩා ටැංකි වලින් ඔබ්බට සැබෑ ආයෝජන අවම වී ඇත.

ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ ටැංකි ගොවිපලෙහි ඌන උපයෝජිත සංවර්ධනය, ඉන්දියාවේ සිට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව දක්වා නල මාර්ගය සහ අදානි සුළං බලශක්ති මුලපිරීම සහ හරිත හයිඩ්‍රජන් උත්පාදනය වැනි විභව ව්‍යාපෘති ද අප සලකා බැලිය යුතුය. ස්ථාපිත සිංගප්පූරු හෝ කොරියානු අංගන සමඟ ටාටා, අබාන්ස් සහ එල් ඇන්ඩ් ටී ඇතුළු විදේශීය සමාගම් සමඟ සහයෝගීතාවයෙන් ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ අක්වෙරළ ඉදිකිරීම් අංගනයක් සංවර්ධනය කිරීම උත්ප්‍රේරණය කළ හැකිය.

සුළං, තරංග හෝ සූර්ය බලශක්ති ව්‍යුහයන් හරහා බලශක්තිය ජනනය කිරීම සඳහා ත්‍රිකුණාමලයට ඇති විභවය අතිමහත් වන අතර, අපගේ වරාය නගරයේ දක්ෂ අක්වෙරළ විශිෂ්ටතා මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් ගොඩනැගීම සඳහා අපගේ ඉඩම් සහ සම්පත් උපයෝගී කර ගත යුතුය.

ඩිජිටල්කරණය ඉදිරියට ගෙන යාම සඳහා අපි ඉංජිනේරුවන් සහ මෘදුකාංග සංවර්ධකයින් පුහුණු කරන අතරම, කර්මාන්තයේ දක්ෂ සේවකයින්ගේ අවශ්‍යතාවය ඉතා වැදගත් වේ. මීට අමතරව, හම්බන්තොට පිරිපහදුවක් සහ ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ ටැංකි ගොවිපල සංවර්ධනය සඳහා චීන ආයෝජන ගෙන ඒම අපගේ කාර්මික ධාරිතාව තවදුරටත් ශක්තිමත් කළ හැකිය.

දේශපාලන මැදිහත්වීම් හේතුවෙන් අතීතයේ දී පීඩාවට පත් වූ කර්මාන්ත ඉල්ලුම සපුරාලීම සඳහා වෘත්තීය පුහුණුව විප්ලවීයකරණය කිරීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වේ.

අපගේම බර කාර්මික අංශවල වැඩ කිරීමට අපගේ තරුණ තරුණියන් බල ගැන්වීමෙන්, අපට පුහුණු ශ්‍රම සංක්‍රමණයේ රැල්ල මැඩපැවැත්විය හැකිය.

කර්මාන්ත අමාත්‍යාංශයේ කාර්මික සංවර්ධන මණ්ඩලයට (IDB) වරාය අධිකාරිය සමඟ සහයෝගයෙන් ඉඩම් සංවර්ධනය සිදු කළ හැකි අතර, නැව් සහ රිග් සඳහා නැංගුරම් පොළවල් සහ නැංගුරම් බෝයා වැනි අවශ්‍ය යටිතල පහසුකම් නිර්මාණය කළ හැකිය.

ත්‍රිකුණාමලයේ සංවර්ධනය කඩිනම් කිරීම සඳහා, නිල් ආර්ථිකය ඉදිරියට ගෙන යාම කෙරෙහි විශේෂයෙන් අවධානය යොමු කරන කැපවූ අමාත්‍යවරයෙකු හෝ රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරයෙකු පත් කිරීමට මම යෝජනා කරමි. මෙම උපායමාර්ගික නායකත්වයට විදේශ ආදායම් උත්පාදනය කිරීමට සහ අපගේ තරුණ තරුණියන්ට රැකියා අවස්ථා නිර්මාණය කිරීමට මුලපිරීම් වේගවත් කළ හැකිය.

අපගේ සමුද්‍රීය හා අක්වෙරළ කර්මාන්තයේ අනාගතය සඳහා මෙම වැදගත් යෝජනාව සලකා බැලීම ගැන කල්තියා ස්තූතියි.

නීල ආර්ථික මුලපිරීම්වල ප්‍රමුඛයා බවට ත්‍රිකුණාමලය පත් කිරීම සඳහා ඔබගේ සහයෝගය මම බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමි.

අවංකවම,

ආචාර්ය සරත් ඔබේසේකර

Courtesy Daily Mirror

Colombo, April 18 (Daily Mirror) – Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Rohini Kaviratne in a letter addressed to Secretary Election Commission and Assistant Commissioner Matale District has lodged a complaint against a leaflet that has been distributed by the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) which indicates that funds for the local bodies which will be secured by the opposition at the Local Government polls will be blocked.

She had apparently urged the commission to halt the distribution of this leaflet.

Ms. Kaviratne said the following in her letter

The leaflet which is attached with my letter says that local bodies gets funds from the Central Government. Won’t the administration of a local body fall if it is won by another party. There will no connection between the Central Government and the local body in such an eventuality. Even President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has also come up with a similar remark at a recent meeting.

Funds have not be allocated for majority of local bodies in Matale District. However, the Central Government collects whatever funds earned by the local bodies in the district

There are legislations that govern funding of local bodies. Guidelines on funding of local bodies have also been specified by the 13th Amendment to the constitution. The Executive does not enjoy powers over the funds of local bodies as per the Municipal Ordinance and the Pradeshiya Sabha Act.

This particular leaflet will no doubt affect the people’s right for franchise. Blocking funds for local bodies run by the Opposition is a principle which is far from being democratic.

I hope that the Election Commission will carry out its duty and safeguard the rights of people in Matale. Therefore, I request the Election Commission to get the NPP to stop distributing this particular leaflet.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, April 18 (Daily Mirror) – The government which has become a pawn of thermal energy mafia is all out to destroy the renewable energy sector, Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa charged yesterday.

“Renewable energy is affordable where a country like Sri Lanka is concerned. It is a cost effective source of energy. This government pledged to safeguard renewable energy at the electoral platform. However, it has become a pawn of the thermal power mafia. This government has actually become a slave of coal power and thermal power plant owners,” Mr. Premadasa told a Janahamuwa in Minneriya.

Mr. Premadasa said pressure applied by the people forced the government to reduce electricity tariff by 20 percent.

He also said the following during the janahamuwa.

Electricity tariff could be increased soon because of government’s action. The Government is making falsehood reign in Sri Lanka at the time the whole world is moving towards renewable energy.

There is also a possibility of a fertilizer price hike. Farmers have not been paid compensation for the damages caused by recent floods and by the human elephant conflict.

Price of rice, coconut and milk food have increased. It is not possible to purchase a little quantity of salt. It is time for Sri Lankans to end deceptive politics.

By Pamodi Waravita Courtesy The Morning

A recent heated exchange between Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe and an Irrigation Department official has raised questions regarding the safety of ancient tanks islandwide. 

Sri Lanka’s ancient irrigation system, which is still functional, networks thousands of small tanks and larger reservoirs to collect rainwater for use during the dry season. This keeps the country’s agriculture operational year-round, divided into two seasons – the Maha and Yala seasons.

Today, reservoirs and tanks don’t just serve agricultural purposes; some also generate electricity and provide sustenance to smaller industries centring them, such as the tourism industry. Almost all come under the oversight of the Irrigation Department and the Mahaweli Authority, but most ancient tanks have not had any internal investigations conducted on them. 

Internal investigations only when necessary 

Irrigation Department Director General A. Gunasekara shed light on the maintenance process of tanks and reservoirs coming under its jurisdiction. According to him, investigations into the internal structures of these water bodies are only carried out when the need arises – that is, if any issues are observed from the outside. 

Earlier this month, at the Anuradhapura District Coordinating Committee (DCC) meeting, Minister Samarasinghe was caught in an exchange of words with an Irrigation Department official, after the former requested the road on the bund of the Nuwara Wewa be opened for tourism purposes. 

The official was seen cautioning about the safety issues that could come with allowing vehicles to travel on the tank bund. 

An official at the Anuradhapura District Secretariat said the road on the bund had been closed during the war years. However, smaller vehicles, three-wheelers, and motor cycles had used it previously as it was the shortest route from the Anuradhapura town to the Matale junction. It also provides the best view of the historic stupas in the city Anuradhapura. 

As such, tourism and commerce stakeholders in the city have requested the DCC to open the road. The DCC had sent a written request on the matter to the Irrigation Department on 29 March. 

We have requested only for lighter vehicles,” said the official, adding that if there was water seepage as the Irrigation Department was claiming, then repairs must be done regardless due to the threat to the whole city.  

Nuwara Wewa, which was built over 2,000 years ago according to tradition, has no records of any internal investigations or repairs since it was built, according to Gunasekara. This is the case for many ancient tanks and reservoirs, as the Irrigation Department only looks at the internal structures if it perceives a need for doing so. 

Irrigation Department limitations 

We are observing water seepage from the bottom of the Nuwara Wewa. However, to stop water seepage, we need to cut the bund and rebuild it or drain the tank for a season and build a clay wall inside it from the front,” said Gunasekara. 

Prior to deciding on the course of action, the Irrigation Department has to undertake an internal investigation. However, Gunasekara said the Engineering Geology division – which carries out investigations – was currently understaffed. 

The machines to check soil quality etc. cannot be taken out because the division needs at least four storekeepers. Currently, we only have one storekeeper, so the storage units are closed because there is no one to take responsibility for the machines. Whereas 320 engineers are required for irrigation, we only have about 150. We need the approved cadre to carry out our duties,” he added.

For the Irrigation Department, duties primarily consist of ensuring there is enough water in tanks to fertilise the crops during the Maha and Yala seasons. 

Other stakeholders may have different objectives centring the tank, but we cannot be compromised by those objectives,” said Gunasekara. 

He added that the bunds of certain tanks that vehicles currently travelled on had been repaired and widened to ensure safety. 

This is not such a bund. It is old and we have not investigated the depth in detail; if it breaks, it will be our responsibility. We have no record at all that the bund was checked,” he noted.

Similarly, many of the ancient tanks have not been investigated in depth, according to Gunasekara. The Irrigation Department has records of conducting in-depth investigations for only a few which had broken in the 1950s. 

However, Gunasekara said that conducting in-depth investigations routinely was not a necessity. 

We do physical observations and if we observe any issues, we immediately take action. We can do in-depth investigations routinely if we have the staff and if the cost can be borne by the country. It would cost about Rs. 10 million to investigate a tank in such a manner,” he said. 

Currently, the department conducts physical observations weekly.  

A bund connects two mountains or slopes when a reservoir is being built, forming a ledge of sorts. If a bund is destroyed, it could cause serious harm to people living on either side of the tank as the water would escape. 

If there is a national-level discussion to investigate some reservoirs, then we can give high priority to those to conduct the investigations,” said Gunasekara. 

Mahaweli Authority

The Mahaweli Authority conducts in-depth investigations in a similar manner. A top official at the authority said routine internal investigations could be conducted if the necessary funds were available. 

We do monitoring as and when the need arises; for example, if there is mud or if there are cracks, we do further checks,” the official said.

There are about 700 water bodies under the jurisdiction of the Mahaweli Authority of which 33 are major water bodies. 

Multiple attempts to contact Irrigation Minister K.D. Lalkantha and Deputy Minister Dr. Susil Ranasinghe proved futile.

Shenali D Waduge

Sri Lanka’s current judicial system stems from Judicature Act 2 of 1978 influenced by English & Roman-Dutch Law a carry-forward from Dutch to British colonial rule. Unfortunately, the leaders of post-independence forgot or ignored Sri Lanka had its own distinct Sinhala legal system. The Maha Naduwa was the Buddhist jurisprudence tribunal of ancient Sinhalese kings. The Kandyan Convention is said to have been signed in the Maha Naduwa on 2 March 1815. Following the 1817-1818 Rebellion, the Maha Naduwa was also the venue that passed death sentences of Keppetipola & Madugalla. The Maha Naduwa was also where the Sacred Tooth Relic is occasionally exhibited for public veneration, an event to take place in Sri Lanka from 18 April – 28 April, 2025. It is only right that Maha Naduwa & Dalada Legacy continues restoring ethical Governance in Sri Lanka through Buddhist Legal traditions rooted in the Dalada and Maha Nāduwa Heritage.

The British guaranteed the continuance of laws, customs & institutions that existed in the Kandyan Convention of 1815 though they abolished the ancient penal system. The 1833 Charter of Justice established the British model of Judiciary in Sri Lanka.

The Maha Naduwa (Great Tribunal) is an important historical site primarily located in Anurdhapura the 1^stcapital, the centre of Buddhist jurisprudence, where Buddhist law & moral governance took place.

It was a place where the King, the theroes & the laypeople all came together for spiritual, ethical & legal matters– similar to the Swiss democracy method. The governance by Buddhist principles assured morals, justice & peace prevailed.

The Buddhist vinaya (monastic code), Dhamma (doctrines of Buddha) & Sila (ethical conduct) became the legal framework for decisions. There was never room for loopholes or injustice. It is this type of ethical governance that is absent not only in Sri Lanka but across the world today. In Sri Lanka confounding matters is that inspite of Buddhist principles continuing to influence the lives of Sri Lankan society, Sri Lanka’s current legal system is a cut & paste of colonial laws, secular laws, modern statutes & customary laws. There is a disconnection. This disconnection needs to be addressed as it is a key root cause to why society is in a state of flux.

If Buddhists behave like headless chickens it is because what is missing is the Buddhist jurisprudence to govern this Buddhist state.

The Maha Naduwa’s role was to foster a system where Buddhist teachings shaped governance. Thus from individual, to thero, to society leaders & even ruler all had to follow Buddhist moral leadership & ethics based on Buddha’s principles. This was the national identity & this is why Sri Lanka to regain its National Identity has to return to the system of Maha Naduwa. The moral framework for governances is what is needed to address corruption & the many injustices to which the modern western tools have failed to resolve or solve even by punishments.

The secular groups that promote universarl rights” only make demands for rights but can never solve the ills in society. They only create new groups with new demands for rights.

The Buddhist principles on the other hand promote duties” – if everyone fulfills their duties automatically everyone’s rights are fulfilled.

UN drafts resolutions but no results from any of them.

The Maha Naduwa has been a time-tested & successful Buddhist jurisprudence principle. In comparison to the other western & even easter systems that prevailed, Buddhist jurisprudence has been by far moral & ethical.

King Dutugemuni, one of Sri Lanka’s most famous kings, sought advice of Buddhist theroes not only for religious matters but also to resolve conflicts & for statecraft to follow Buddhist principles.

The Maha Naduwa was a place for mediation where disputes between individuals, groups or communities were resolved abiding to Buddhist values of compassion, mindfulness & restoration of harmony. The emphasis was always on finding peaceful & moral solutions to conflicts rather than punitive measures. Those promoting Truth & Reconciliation Tribunals should study the Buddhist principles of the Maha Naduwa because the templates followed in all of the Western tribunals have been utter failures, waste of years, funding, time & justice to no one.

True restorative justice with focus on mental & moral well being of the individual is what Buddhist jurisprudence practices rather than the printed-wordings in western legal templates.

The concept of karma (action) and kusala-kamma (good deeds) were central to decision-making.

Thus, the Maha Naduwa was more than just a courthouse – it was a symbol of righteous Buddhist governance

The King (ruler) had to uphold the Dasa Raja Dhamma (Ten Royal Virtues of a righteous ruler) The Buddhist righteous king had to be a persound abound in generosity, humility, non-violence & fairness. In Western democracies, leaders are driven by political gain, cunning, electoral manipulations, political deals with no moral code.

The King was the defender of the Buddha Sasana & the ethical steward of the people.

The Theroes had to abide by the Vinaya Pitaka (code governing theroes) The Maha Sangha played a major role offering ethical guidance unlike many of the Sangha today who have become politicized and not following the code expected of them. Buddhist legal order would force them to align to continue being part of the Sangha.

The Lay persons had to also follow dana, sila, metta, karuna, ahimsa,… all of Buddhas principles.

Justice was dispensed not only to maintain order but to safeguard the moral harmony of the kingdom (which is what is lacking in Sri Lanka & across the world) Western law is divorced from spiritual input. In Western law legality comes before morality though that has got this system nowhere.

Yes, individuals who committed wrongful actions had to face consequences but these consequences were to help them develop spiritually & return to a path of good deeds instead of being shamed & discarded from society. The peace councils for mediation to resolve disputes amicably by the Police in Sri Lanka is a continuation of this ancient model.

This traditional Buddhist legal system was seen as a threat to the colonials as Buddhist jurisprudence linked ethics, culture, societal morals. So they quickly replaced with Western jurisprudence because their law was linked to divide & rule & moral governance was not part of their policy.

What makes Buddhist jurisprudence superior in many ways to western jurisprudence is that the Buddhist legal system lay emphasis on compassion, wisdom & non-violence whereas Western secular jurisprudence prioritizes legal precedent, contractual reasoning which have no moral alignment.

Buddhist legal system viewed punishment not as revenge, an eye for an eye but about karmic correction. Criminal law of the West is mostly about retributive justice which always leads to alienation & resentment. From the Inquisitions, to Nuremburg Tribunals to the Ad hoc Tribunals in Geneva, the hatred & revenge continues.

Why shouldn’t Buddhist jurisprudence be returned to its rightful place of jurisprudence in Sri Lanka given that Article 9 affords Buddha Sasana the foremost place?

There are arguments that just a legal system cannot fit into modern international trade, tech law etc. Why can’t Buddhist jurisprudence be made tech savy?

Why cant Sri Lanka develop AI-driven legal tools that incorporate Buddhist ethical reasoning. Even AI apps will admit the Human Intelligence is no match for Artificial Intelligence & the core of Buddha’s teachings is the power of the Mind.

Why cant virtual mediation platforms inspired by gihi vinaya (lay conduct rules) & ancient sangayana models of collective discussion not be rolled out?

Why cant we have AI & Digital Courts guided by the Dhamma?

Can an AI system be developed that not only analyses laws & precedents but can also take into account intention, karmic consequence & community healing? Isnt this better than bogus Truth Commissions?

Why cant we create digital Sangha Councils that can be accessible globally? Why cant these become moral advisory bodies for national disputes using Buddhist ethics as a guiding compass?

Why cant we create mobile apps (Dhamma Resolve App) for the lay people to learn about their duties & rights based on Buddhist values. These apps that offer advice on how to resolve disputes peacefully with karmic responsibility & filter grievances that require moral not just legal solutions.

Why cant we use blockchain or smart contracts to create transparent tamper-proof restorartive justice agreements? Victims & offenders can truly reconcile monitored by ethical AI & community advisors. Instead of sending a juvenile offender to jail, why not put him through meditation & restitution & tracked via an app?

Isnt it time with so many digital efforts taking place a Global Digital Library of Buddhist legal texts like the Vinaya Pitaka / Dasa Raja Dhamma Rules / Ancient Sinhale Kingdoms law codes were powered into a legal algorithm mixing ancient wisdom with modern law & made available in multiple languages, given a large number of Westerners are also being drawn to the teachings of Buddha.

What cant we integrate National Systems with Buddhist jurisprudence for E-Governance? Courts could consult digital Buddhist panels before sentencing or offer Dhamma based pathways.

Ethical AI will reduce mechanical rulings, digital accessibility will make justice reach rural & poor communities, restorative justice reduces prison population & repeat offences, cultural relevance aligns with Sri Lanka’s spiritual heritage while the global potential is that Buddhist jurisprudence offers a humane model to the world where its current legal system is subtly collapsing.

Thus, Constitutionally Article 9 has given Buddha Sasana foremost place. This means logically, constitutionally & morally, it is timely & necessary to reintroduce & integrate Buddhist jurisprudence into the modern legal framework in Sri Lanka. If the State is mandated constitutionally to protect & foster the Buddha Sasana, the spirit of governance must include he justice, leadership & law that reflects Buddha’s principles. Ignoring this while giving legal & policy space to foreign moderls risks violating both the Constitution & cultural sovereignty of the people.

Sri Lanka’s legal roots — from Anuradhapura to Kandyan times — were grounded in Buddhist legal thinking: moral law, intention, fairness, harmony. Why should that legacy be erased or marginalized in favor of purely colonial or Western legal imports?

The majority population — identifying as Sinhala Buddhists — deeply resonate with the values of Buddhist law, not just legally but emotionally, historically, and spiritually. The non-Buddhists too value the non-violence & peaceful teachings & principles of Buddha & these re-incorproted into a legal system is nothing anyone can object to.

Some of the prompt arguments are likely to be that

Buddhist jurisprudence will create a religious dictatorship – Buddhist jurisprudence is not religious rule or theocracy purely based on ethics, fairness & compassion.

Buddhist jurisprudence will violate minority rights – Buddhist jurisprudence is ethical wisdom based on humanity not religion or for a community

Buddhist jurisprudence is outdated – Buddhist legal system is timeless just like the Dhamma – it is more humane & future-ready than many rigid western models

Buddhist jurisprudence is just Sinhala Buddhist nationalism in disguise – Buddhist jurisprudence draws from Buddhist values & promotes moral leadership not racial or religious supremacy – if at all many corrupt Buddhists may not like such a legal system!

Buddhist jurisprudence will fail in a modern economy – A morally governed society attracts trust, peace & long-term investment. Buddhist jurisprudence will harmonize perfectly as a soft-power global tool and further sustains the island as a moral & peaceful non-violent nation.

Bhutan has offered the world a Gross-Happiness Model, Sri Lanka can offer the world an AI-guided by Human Intelligence Buddhist Jurisprudence Model.

We can create DhammaTech (ethical intelligence for Humanity)

BodhiGov (Compassion-Driven Governance)

Sila AI (Wisdom guided codes)

Samadhi Systems (Centred Governance with Artificial Intelligence & Human Intelligence)

We seek solutions because we lack solutions. We seek leaders because we lack leaders. In the Vasala Sutta Buddha redefines who is truly noble.

These are ethical red flags in governance:

1. One who harbors anger and bears grudges – resentful leadership
2. One who is deceitful and hypocritical – manipulative policy
3. One who strikes living beings – abuse of power, violence
4. One who does not support aged parents – abandonment of duty
5. One who speaks falsely – dishonesty in leadership
6. One who destroys villages or communities – warfare, ecological destruction
7. One who is greedy, selfish – corrupt governance
8. One who lacks gratitude – no accountability or acknowledgment of the people
9. One who preaches but does not practice – performative ethics

It is not birth or class, but conduct that defines who is noble” or outcaste” (vasala).

Adhammika Sutra further shows the impact of bad leadership trickling down from ruler to entire Nation.

The Dalada Exposition will commence from 18 April to 28 April. It is more than timely that Buddhist Jurisprudence be reintroduced to regain all the moral high ground lost to our Sacred Nation.

Shenali D Waduge

By Raj Gonsalkorale

Going by some decisions taken by US Presidents that have had very negative consequences for the USA itself and other countries, a dilemma does arise about democracy and what it means and how it is exercised in the USA. The latest being the decision taken by one person, President Donald Trump, that appears quite at odds with the Lincoln model of governance in a democracy, viz, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. A question does arise whether this decision, which appears to have had serious negative consequences for the people in the USA, had the support and approval of the people in the USA. If not, whether democracy has been derailed?

Historically, US Presidential elections have had low voter turn outs, generally around 60%. On the average, Presidents winning elections have received around 48 -50 % of that vote, effectively, around 30-35% of the registered number of votes. In effect, the Presidents have been minority leaders. This is not uncommon as similar outcomes do occur in other democracies, and it is a dilemma that needs to be considered and addressed. What stands out in the US and in its democratic” constitution, is the extraordinary power given to one individual via its executive order system, to make decisions that impact on its own citizens and the citizens of the rest of the world, without any consultation within with those who have elected the President, or without, with the rest of the world.

Amongst catastrophic decisions made by US Presidents in relatively recent times, the Vietnam war was one and it resulted in 3 million deaths in Vietnam, some 275,000–310,000 Cambodians, 20,000–62,000 Laotians and the death of 58,220 US service members. The Iraq war killed some 500,000 people in Iraq. The ousting of leaders and the destabilisation that followed in Libya and  Egypt, the open ended support given to Israel to decimate Gaza and kill more than 50,000 people, the tacit and implicit support given to leaders, both political and military, in Myanmar and Pakistan to fabricate cases and imprison democratically elected leaders like Aung Sun Su Kyi and Imran Khan and then pretend they do not exist, are some such decisions. Some decisions were for the sake of democracy”, while paradoxically, others like in Myanmar and Pakistan were to remain silent about the ousting of democratically elected leaders and their imprisonment on false, cooked up charges.

The latest executive order relating to the trade war that has been waged by President Trump and which keeps escalating (EO 14257: Regulating Imports With a Reciprocal Tariff To Rectify Trade Practices That Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits Signed: April 2, 2025, Published: April 7, 2025), is a strange case of US democracy.  It has reversed a rules-based order that the US themselves had a lot to do with, the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Created on 1 January 1995, it marked the biggest reform of international trade since the end of the Second World War and its agreements covered trade in services and intellectual property in addition to goods. The birth of the WTO also created new procedures for the settlement of disputes, and which permitted discussion amongst Nations and agreement based as far as possible, by consensus. Rather than addressing shortcomings and anomalies in the WTO, which several countries seem to feel are necessary, President Trump, with the powers that he, just one individual has, turned the world trading system upside down because he was of the opinion it was not serving the interests of the USA.

This article is not about the pros and cons of his decision, and it is not questioning the US constitutional right he had to take the decision. It is about the repercussions that follow for the people in the USA and the rest of humanity in the world, due to a decision taken by one individual. It is about the power that one individual has on account of the military and economic power of his country. It is about the power that a country has acquired by and large riding on the shoulders of other countries of the world. This is how empires came into being historically, and how the US empire, although not falling within the strict definition or understanding what an empire is, came into being in effect as an empire.

Empires were typically built through a combination of military conquest, political manoeuvring, and economic control. A dominant state would expand its power and influence by absorbing or subjugating other states, often relying on superior military technology or organizational structures. This could lead to the creation of territorial empires, where the dominant state directly governed conquered territories, or hegemonic empires, where the dominant state exerted influence through economic or political means. 

If one looks at the USA, would one disagree that its might was a result of a combination of military conquest, political manoeuvring, and economic control? The US may not have directly subjugated other states, although it has exerted influence and control through economic, military and/or political means. 

This kind of empire building was not uncommon when it came to non-democratic authoritarian States. In recent times, the USSR was a good example.  China, in one way or the other, has built its strength and power perhaps more through economic manoeuvring rather than military conquests or political manoeuvring.

But the USA? The citadel of democracy, fairness, justice and promoter of equity which it claims to be, and which faults other countries for not having such values?

In regard to democracy in the USA, the extract noted below from an article by Timothy Snowball, The United States is not a democracy—and it wasn’t meant to be one (https://pacificlegal.org/the-united-states-is-not-a-democracy-and-it-wasnt-meant-to-be-one/?gad_ source=1&gbraid =0AAAAADMUwoLF-YXqK9KBD2dHuFaRWfu2R&gclid =EAIaIQobChMIz7roy8bSjAMV0QyDA x1qNDRkEAAYAiAAEgLn9fD_BwE) is very interesting and it gives a point of view which in all likelihood is at the bedrock of what democracy is understood to be in the USA by many people in the USA who wield real power in the country and who have a significant say in who becomes President, senators and members of the house of representatives, judges of the supreme court etc.

Snowball says Contrary to catchy slogans, memes and other slick forms of electioneering, the government of the United States was never intended to be a pure democracy. In fact, most of the institutions today’s activists complain about were designed to thwart the pernicious effects of too much democracy. They’re anti-democratic by design. Rather than flaws that require remedy, these institutions were (and are) essential safeguards for individual liberty. The Framers knew that in its pure form democracy could be dangerous. The writings of the founding era are replete with warnings of this fact:

• Real liberty is not found in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments,” Alexander Hamilton wrote. If we incline too much to democracy we shall soon shoot into a monarchy, or some other form of a dictatorship.”
• Thomas Jefferson lamented that a democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where 51 percent of the people may take away the rights of the other 49.”
• James Madison argued that democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”
• John Adams concluded that democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”

Despite what many of today’s activists would have us believe, the anti-democratic institutions of the American Republic are just as vital now as they were over 200 years ago. For example, the Electoral College ensures that individuals elected to the presidency don’t only have the support of the population-heavy coasts, but broad support throughout the entire country. The function of the Electoral College is to respect and represent the states as sovereign entities within our federal system. Likewise for the Senate. Each state is represented equally in the Senate, irrespective of population, size or prestige. As a check upon democratic extremes, the Senate was even more effective before the unfortunate enactment of the 17th Amendment in 1913 subjected senators to direct election by voters rather than by individual state legislatures.

Finally, the Supreme Court is perhaps the least democratic institution of all. The court’s members are given lifetime appointments by presidents elected via the Electoral College, subject to no democratic oversight or elections. Justices are called upon to decide cases and controversies according to what the law demands, not according to their personal preferences or the passions and prejudices of the electorate.

Lincoln understood the role our institutions play in tempering democracy’s excesses and ensuring deliberation, balance and stability. As he noted in an 1856 speech: Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. And not to Democrats alone do I make this appeal, but to all who love these great and true principles. The advocates for increased democracy would do well to remember Lincoln’s wise warning.

Their demand for more democracy may stem from genuine concern and a desire for progress.” But in seeking to undermine or cast aside the less democratic institutions of the American system, they show a vast misunderstanding and lack of appreciation for our unique system of government.

In the United States, the people rule, but only through institutions designed to protect the individual and minority from the tyranny of the majority. That system is worth protecting and preserving”

The above-mentioned limitation to representative democratic governance is shown as positive limitations by the writer Tomothy Snowball and going by history, it appears that these limitations will continue, and democratic reforms will not be welcome in the US. Any effort to liberalise democracy is bound to be thwarted.  While the US system may have its benefits to its people, in terms of the well-being of the people, it is interesting to note some statistics relating to the USA, the richest country in the world which according to the World bank, with a GDP of 27.72 trillion in 2023 and a GDP per capita of $ 82,769.

As per the US Census Bureau, the US had an official poverty rate of 11.1%, with 36.8 million living in poverty. Malnutrition affects a significant portion of the population, including children and older adults, with disparities in food insecurity rates across different demographics. Child Malnutrition: 2022 Facts and Statistics contained in World Hunger Education Service -Hunger Notes (https://www.worldhunger.org/about-whes-hunger-notes/) reports that about one in seven households (13.5%) experienced food insecurity in 2023, with 47.4 million Americans living in these households, 13.8 million children lived in food-insecure households, 1.6% of U.S. adults aged 20 and over are underweight. Obesity or a non-communicable disease coupled with malnutrition, is prevalent in more than half of all malnourished households that reside in the US. Income disparity according to the Wikipedia, in 2021, the top 10% of Americans held nearly 70% of U.S. wealth, up from about 61% at the end of 1989 and the top 1% earned 13.2% of total income in 2019, nearly doubling from 7.3% in 1979. Besides these statistics, disparities relating to health services where, as mentioned by Joseph Stiglitz The U.S. being the richest country in the world, suggesting a highly efficient economy, recorded more than a million deaths from COVID, whereas Vietnam, with a GDP of 409 billion had about 43,000”.  All above indicators and a host of other indicators, too many to cite here, questions the beneficial outcomes for its people living in its present form of democracy.

In a research paper titled Understanding democratic decline in the United States (https://www.brookings. edu/articles/understanding -democratic-decline-in-the-united-states/ ) by Vanessa Williamson, Senior Fellow – Governance Studies, Senior Fellow – Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Centre, she highlights the following

• The United States is experiencing two major forms of democratic erosion in its governing institutions: election manipulation and executive overreach.
• Since 2010, state legislatures have instituted laws intended to reduce voters’ access to the ballot, politicize election administration, and foreclose electoral competition via extreme gerrymandering.
• In the U.S., executive power has grown significantly, threatening civil service independence. With a gridlocked, hyper partisan Congress, impartial executive oversight is lacking, and judicial impartiality is in question.

These anti-democratic developments highlighted by Vanessa Williamson would be of concern to many, but they may be consistent with what Timothy Snowball has written in his article that the less democratic institutions of the American system are a unique feature of the system of government in the USA. Perhaps they are regarded as measures needed to protect the system of restricted democratic governance in the US where inequality and inequity seems to part of that unique” system.

Despite Snowball’s statement attributed to Lincoln, the latter’s less publicised view on liberalising governance needs to be quoted here as it is about advancing democratic governance. Most governments have been based, practically, on the denial of equal rights of men, ours began, by affirming those rights. They said, some men are too ignorant, and vicious, to share in government. Possibly so, said we; and, by your system, you would always keep them ignorant, and vicious, to share in government. Possibly so, said we; and, by your system, you would always keep them ignorant, and vicious. We proposed to give all a chance; and we expected the weak to grow stronger, the ignorant wiser; and all better, and happier together.”

The issue for the rest of the world is not about democracy and how it is interpreted and practiced in the USA. It is a matter for the people of the USA. What matters to the rest of the world is the repercussions of some decisions to others in the world, and the political, economic and military interventions that the US engages in other countries claiming they are doing so to lift restrictions on democracy and advance democracy in those countries, although the form of democracy in the US has deliberate mechanisms to restrict rather than advance democracy. One can only hope that this duplicity will end, and as much as turning tables on the world trading system was undesirable and unwelcome, many may wish that President trump will issue an executive order banning US involvement in other countries to engage in political, economic and military interventions in the guise of advancing democracy.

Values and practices relating to advancing democratic governance in countries should be a matter for the United Nations, and not any single country. The purpose and objectives of the United Nations should be revised and its effectiveness strengthened. Democratic governance is a basic human right and all countries should subscribe to a set of values that resonate that right.

Political and economic dominance of others by one rich and powerful country should cease and it is perhaps time that groupings such as the European Union, Asean, the African Union, Mercosur, the Southern Common Market (commonly known by abbreviation Mercosur in Spanish and Mercosul in Portuguese) South American trade bloc with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as members, the Union of South American Nations (USAN), BRICS, APEC and other similar trading blocks exert more influence to thwart such dominance by current and would be single country power centres.

Global poverty reduction has slowed to a near standstill

The World Bank gives some very telling information on the well-being status of todays world. These statistics should surely be the sad pointers as to what imperfect governance has delivered to the global population.

It says that today, almost 700 million people (8.5 percent of the global population) live in extreme poverty – on less than $2.15 per day. Progress has stalled amid low growth, setbacks due to COVID-19, and increased fragility. Poverty rates in low-income countries are higher than before the pandemic. Around 3.5 billion people (44 percent of the global population) remain poor by a standard that is more relevant for upper middle-income countries ($6.85 per day), and the number or people living on less than this standard has barely changed since the 1990s due to population growth. In 2024, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 16 percent of the world’s population, but 67 percent of the people living in extreme poverty. Two thirds of the world’s population in extreme poverty live in Sub-Saharan Africa, rising to three quarters when including all fragile and conflict-affected countries. About 72 percent of the world’s population in extreme poverty live in countries that are eligible to receive assistance from the International Development Association (IDA).

Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge M.D.

ප්‍රභාකරන් තුල ව්‍යාථවේදී පෞරුෂ සාධක Pathological Personality traits දක්නට ලැබුණි. නමුත් මේ ගැන කතිකාවට බඳුන් වී ඇත්තේ ඉතාම අඩුවෙනි.2004 වසරේ ප්‍රභාකරන් දේශපාලනමය සහ යුදමය වශයෙන් ඉතා බලවත්ව සිටි අවදියේ දී ඔහුගේ පෞරුෂ සාධක හෙළි කරමින් කරමින් ප්‍රභාකරන් සාධකය පිලිබඳ මනෝවිද්‍යාත්මක විශ්ලේෂණයක් යන කෘතිය මම එළි දැක්වුයෙමි. එම ගවේෂණාත්මක කෘතිය මගින් ළමා ප්‍රභාකරන් චර්යාත්මක අක්‍රමතාවයකින් (Conduct Disorder) පෙළුණු බවත් පසුකාලීනව වැඩිහිටි දිවියේදී ඔහු තුල සමාජ විරෝධී පෞරුෂ ලක්ෂණ (Antisocial Personality Disorder) තිබෙන බවද ඔහුගේ ජිවිත කතාව සහ චර්යාව මගින් පෙන්වා දුනිමි. මේ මතය ඇතැම් වියතුන්ගේ විවේචනයට ද ලක් විය. නමුත් 2011 වසරේ මම යාපනය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ මනෝවිද්‍යා අංශයේ මහාචාර්ය දයා සෝමසුන්දරම් මහතා අමතමින් 2004 වසරේ ප්‍රභාකරන් පිළිබඳව මගේ අධ්‍යනයන් ගැන තතු පැවසුවෙමි. වේලුපිල්ලේ ප්‍රභාකරන් සමාජ විරෝධී පෞරුෂ ලක්ෂණ වලින් යුතු පුද්ගලයෙකු බව මහාචාර්ය දයා සෝමසුන්දරම් ද පිලිගත්තේ ය. 

ප්‍රභාකරන් සාධකය පිලිබඳ කථිකාවක්  WANESA TV සමග  ( සවන් දෙන්න );

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4oacvpyec8

By Special Correspondent[i]

Visual Aid: Cartoon Created with AI Assistance

Introduction

Sri Lanka has received substantial support from donor-funded development projects aimed at improving the economy and supporting social growth. However, a closer look reveals that many of these projects do not achieve their intended results. The pressing question is: How can Sri Lanka improve its oversight of these projects to better utilize donations?

Current Situation of Development Projects

Many donors, including international banks, have invested billions in Sri Lanka. While the initial results often seem positive—highlighted in reports and on social media—the reality on the ground can be quite different. Many projects struggle with issues like poor performance, misaligned goals, and lack of sustainability, which ultimately limit their effectiveness.

Key Problems in the System

Several common issues weaken the effectiveness of donor-funded projects in Sri Lanka:

1. Excessive Spending on Consultancies: A significant amount of money is spent on international consultants, especially during the closure of projects, which takes important resources away from core needs.
2. Issues with Procurement: The last stages of projects often involve questionable purchasing decisions that benefit personal interests rather than actual project needs.
3. Weak Audit Processes: Current audit systems are often just a formality and do not provide the in-depth analysis needed to ensure proper management or accountability.
4. Lack of Public Engagement: There is limited involvement from the public, and feedback mechanisms are often ineffective, which prevents the projects from reflecting the needs of the community.

Missed Opportunities and Sustainability Issues

Even when projects are successful, they often fail to continue after funding ends due to a lack of follow-up and planning. Without clear strategies for continuation, successful initiatives can disappear, leaving their benefits behind. Addressing sustainability must be a crucial part of project planning from the beginning.

Suggestions for Improvement

To manage donor-funded projects effectively, Sri Lanka needs to make several changes:

1. Strengthen Internal Audits: Create strategic review committees with the authority to act on red flags and set up independent audits that report directly to leadership.
2. Integrate Project Management Units: Incorporate project staff into permanent departments to improve coordination and knowledge sharing.
3. Focus on Outcome-Based Monitoring: Shift measurement from activities completed to real-world outcomes, including direct feedback from the community.
4. Enhance Transparency: Regularly provide clear spending reports, updates on project progress, and ensure that all procurement practices are openly disclosed.
5. Plan for Sustainability from the Start: Develop clear plans for handing projects over to local institutions and integrating successful elements into existing programs right from the beginning.

Immediate Steps for Project Managers

If you are currently managing a donor-funded project, consider these actions:

• Assess how many project components will continue without donor support.
• Create a plan for transferring skills to government staff.
• Form a procurement committee that includes community representatives.
• Set up a feedback system that allows the public to influence project decisions.

Conclusion

As Sri Lanka continues to rely on donor support, it is essential to treat these funds as a national responsibility that requires careful management. Success should not just be measured by the completion of tasks but by the lasting improvements made in people’s lives.

In this new approach, we shift our focus from superficial achievements to genuine, long-lasting benefits.

[i] The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any organization or institution. The information presented is based on the author’s analysis and research as of the date of publication. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult relevant sources for a comprehensive understanding of the topic discussed.