If we
tread upon the path of righteousness and continue to bow down before Allah the
Almighty, then certainly the help and succour of Allah the Almighty will be
with us.” – Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad
The World
Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph),
His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, delivered the Eid-ul-Adha sermon
on 21 July 2021 from the Mubarak Mosque in Islamabad, Tilford,
United Kingdom.
Across
the world, millions of Ahmadi Muslims were able to listen live to the Eid
Sermon of their Caliph and to join in with the silent prayer led by their
spiritual leader through the global television channel MTA International.
During
the sermon, His Holiness spoke at length about the fundamental importance of
righteousness in relation to Eid-ul-Adha. His Holiness referred to chapter
22 verse 38 of the Holy Quran which explains that Eid-ul-Adha
is intrinsically linked to righteousness, stating that the flesh of sacrificial
animals reaches not Allah, nor does their blood, but it is your
righteousness that reaches Him.”
His
Holiness said that it was regrettable that many Muslims sacrificed animals on
the occasion of Eid merely for the sake of showing off or to boast about their
wealth.
Furthermore,
recently in Pakistan, people have even taken pride in not permitting Ahmadi
Muslims to partake in offering animal sacrifices based on the unjust and
erroneous declaration that Ahmadi Muslims are not Muslim and therefore not
permitted to act upon the teachings of Islam.
Hazrat
Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:
It is most regrettable that the government
officials and departments responsible for establishing law and justice (in
Pakistan) are unduly influenced by the so-called religious scholars and so they
bar Ahmadi Muslims from slaughtering animals (on Eid) as sacrifice.”
Hazrat
Mirza Masroor Ahmad further said:
The history of our Community shows that it
is the way of the opponents of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community that they do all
that they can to find ways to cause hardships to Ahmadi Muslims and this is
their established practice which is intensifying due to their utter lack of
righteousness.”
Speaking
of the role Ahmadi Muslims must continue to adopt whilst facing any hardship,
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:
We turn to Allah the Almighty and beseech
Him alone. If we tread upon the path of righteousness and continue to bow down
before Allah the Almighty, then certainly the help and succour of Allah the
Almighty will be with us, God willing.”
Explaining chapter
22 verse 38 of the Holy Quran, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad
said:
In this verse, Allah the Almighty has
informed us that God Almighty does not accept large and expensive animals
sacrificed (in His name) if there is no righteousness. Allah the Almighty does
not require the meat or blood of an animal offered in sacrifice – He is free of
such needs. Thus, we must not fear if we are barred from offering the sacrifice
of animals or if the clerics or the government officials seize our animals… If
we walk upon the path of righteousness whilst intending to or offering
sacrifice of animals, then Allah the Almighty will accept it. However, an
animal slaughtered sacrificially where there is no righteousness, then it is a
pointless and hollow gesture.”
His
Holiness narrated several passages from the writings of the Holy Founder of
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – Promised
Messiah (peace
be upon him) regarding the significance of righteousness.
Furthermore,
His Holiness quoted passages from the writings of the Promised Messiah (peace
be upon him) eloquently praising the most lofty and excellent status of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and how he brought
about a phenomenal and revolutionary moral change in the most wretched of
peoples in a way that is unparalleled in history.
His
Holiness mentioned that it is only through the Promised Messiah (peace be upon
him) that a true understanding of the unparalleled status of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) can be understood.
Hazrat
Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:
It was the Promised Messiah (peace be upon
him) who gave us the understanding of the blessed status of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him). However, despite this, the so-called
religious scholars allege that we have blasphemed against the Holy Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and therefore Ahmadi Muslims have no
right to carry out acts of worship in accordance with Islamic teachings and to
act upon its traditions and to follow the practice that was commanded by our
master and leader, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings be upon him). They can try all they like, but they can never take
away the unbridled love and respect that we carry in our heart for the Holy
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).”
Concluding
his sermon, His Holiness again highlighted the importance of righteousness and
said:
Today on the occasion of this Eid, in
relation to which Allah the Almighty has said that if your actions are devoid
of righteousness, they cannot make you the beloved of God, every one of us
should pledge to live our lives according to the standard that every act we
carry out should be in accordance with the commandments of Allah the Almighty.”
Hazrat
Mirza Masroor Ahmad further stated:
If we pledge to do this and make efforts
towards this then certainly Allah the Almighty will grant us what He has
promised to those who tread upon the path of righteousness…… If we do not
attain the pleasure of God Almighty, then even if we do offer the sacrifice of
animals, it will not be a cause of true joy.”
At the
end, His Holiness called on Ahmadi Muslims to pray that the world may be saved
from severe calamities that await it.
Hazrat
Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:
We should pray for humanity at large that
people may recognise Allah the Almighty and be saved from His Wrath. As the world
spirals towards destruction, we should pray that may Allah enable mankind to
act with sense and wisdom. May the people of the world recognise Allah the
Almighty and may they reform themselves, otherwise a large calamity looms
ahead. May Allah have mercy.”
Sri Lanka has settled the scheduled debt of USD 01 billion International Sovereign Bond Issue yesterday (July 26), State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal said.
Sri Lanka has transferred funds to repay the $1 billion bond by the Tuesday (July 27) deadline, keeping intact its reputation for honoring debt as concern mounts about the nation’s overseas financing.
The money was transferred Monday, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the state minister for money and capital markets, told Bloomberg by phone.
Moody’s Investors Service placed Sri Lanka’s ratings under review for a downgrade last week, citing its assessment of the country’s increasingly fragile external liquidity position and the risk of default.
I have been saying right throughout that we will pay. Unfortunately, some bondholders panicked due to rating actions and analyst reports and sold off at huge discounts,” Cabraal said in a separate interview Sunday. Those who came last profited most.”
The yield on the 6.25% Sri Lanka dollar bond maturing Tuesday slumped to 500% earlier on Monday, from 628% last week. The yield on the 5.75% 2022 dollar bond rose by 34 basis points to 21.62%, and that on the 6.85% 2024 note fell by 2 basis points to 26.26%.
The payment marks the clearing of only the first test. Two more payments — a $500 million bond and $1 billion of debt — become due next year, with Colombo saying arrangements have been made for the transactions.
Doubts about Sri Lanka’s ability to service debt began growing last year after the International Monetary Fund prematurely ended a $1.5 billion loan facility in the midst of the pandemic. While steps to control the coronavirus’s spread hurt the government’s capacity to generate earnings through sectors such as tourism, a downgrade of the sovereign’s rating deeper into junk hit investors’ confidence.
The island nation has since secured a $1.5 billion currency swap agreement with China, besides negotiating funding lines from its South Asian neighbors India and Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka’s central bank earlier this month said that while the government is expecting some inflows, it will dip into its foreign exchange reserves to bridge any shortfall in repaying the bonds. The stockpile stood at about $4 billion in June, enough to cover about three months of imports.
Any reserve fall will be temporary,” Cabraal said in a separate phone call late Sunday. It will be buttressed in a planned manner with non-debt investments, which will not flow out.”
Some $200 million of the payment will return relatively quickly as the central bank will conduct swap transactions with domestic banks that hold about a third of the maturing debt, Cabraal said. He didn’t share further details on the swaps.
State Minister of Money & Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms posting a tweet, yesterday (July 26), stated that ‘the bond investors who panicked due to rating actions and analyst reports and sold off at huge discounts must be regretting’.
The State Minister had tagged Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service, and the SP Global Market Intelligence in his tweet, along with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
A total of 526 more people tested positive for COVID-19 today (July 27), bringing the daily count of positive cases to 1,711.
According to the Government Information Department, 1,688 of the new cases reported today have been associated with the New Year cluster.
The new development has brought Sri Lanka’s confirmed coronavirus cases tally to 299,892.
As per official data, as many as 270,356 patients who were infected with the virus have returned to health so far while 25,389 are still under medical care at selected hospitals and treatment centres across the country.
In the meantime, the death toll from coronavirus now stands at 4,195.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa expressed the hope that more countries would be inspired by Sri Lanka’s bold approach to sustainably transform its agricultural system to organic agriculture in order to ensure food security and nutrition for future generations.
The President made these remakes addressing the virtual session of the Pre-Summit of the UN Food System Summit, yesterday (July 26). In partnership with the Government of Italy, the Pre-Summit takes place in Rome from 26 – 28 July 2021.
Leaders from a number of countries are taking part in the three-day summit, which is chaired by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
The conference will discuss the impact of food systems on achieving the desired sustainable development goals by 2030. Representatives from a wide range of fields, including young people, farmers, indigenous people, civil society activists, and researchers, are joining the conference with a new approach.
The Right to Food is a fundamental human right, the President said and added that though the governments act individually to safeguard this right for their people, they must broaden their understanding of the complexities of the global food system.
Sri Lanka in inherent with agriculture deeply entwined with a long-lasting, ancient, and yet highly advanced irrigation system. Therefore, sustainable organic agriculture is not new to this country. The President said measures will be taken to revitalize historic practices with new scientific advances and management techniques.
Transformation of the food system is an essential part of the adaptations that governments must execute for the survival of mankind and the planet. The COVID-19 pandemic was a wake-up call that made us realize we are all sharing a world that is deeply interconnected.
Although mankind is socially, politically, and economically diverse, the challenges they face are universal. Addressing the summit, President Rajapaksa said that these challenges could not be faced alone and that collective action was needed to overcome them.
The Heads of State who addressed the conference yesterday (26) focused on food security, mitigation of climate change, strengthening of environmental protection, and prevention of biodiversity loss.
The full text of the President’s address to the Food Systems Summit:
As per media reports, US Embassy officials led
by Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz held discussions with SLMC leader
Rauff Hakeem and earlier with TNA leader R. Sampanthan at the latter’s
residence, where the focus was on the proposed new Constitution, post-war
reconciliation efforts, devolution of power, rule of law, Prevention of
Terrorism Act and other issues which are solely internal issues of the host
country. It is also reported that both US and Indian missions are engaged in
discussions with political parties represented in parliament and other groups
to reach sort of common agenda. (https://island.lk/us-embassy-consultations-with-political-parties-devolution-of-power-among-issues-discussed/).
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
(1961) contains the most widely accepted description of the international law
on diplomacy. A diplomatic
agent is granted different inviolabilities and privileges, as well as immunity
from the jurisdiction of the receiving state, in order to enable them to
exercise their official functions independently and effectively and to avoid any interference on the part of
the receiving state. The functions of
a diplomatic mission are clearly stated in the Article 3 of the said
Convention. https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/English/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf
(a) Representing the sending State in the
receiving State;
(b) Protecting in the receiving State the
interests of the sending State and of its nationals, within the limits
permitted by international law;
(c) Negotiating with the Government of the
receiving State;
(d) Ascertaining by all lawful means
conditions and developments in the receiving State, and reporting thereon to
the Government of the sending State;
(e) Promoting friendly relations between the
sending State and the receiving State, and developing their economic, cultural
and scientific relations.
Organizing meetings with local
politicians, who are well-known for their racial extremism, to discuss the
proposed new Constitution of receiving State, devolution of power, rule of law
etc (none of which are any of the functions stated above) are gross violation
of the Vienna Convention since the foreign Diplomats are bound to respect the
laws and regulations of the hosting State.
The process of dealing with
diplomats who are no longer welcome has now been fully recognized under Article
9 of the Vienna Convention:
1. The receiving State may
at any time and without having to explain its decision, notify the sending
State that the head of the mission or any member of the diplomatic staff of the
mission is persona non grata or that any other member of the staff of the
mission is not acceptable. In any such case, the sending State shall, as
appropriate, either recall the person concerned or terminate his functions with
the mission. A person may be declared non grata or not acceptable before
arriving in the territory of the receiving State.
2. If the sending State
refuses or fails within a reasonable period to carry out its obligations, the
receiving State may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the
mission.
The most common response
when foreign diplomatic officials act inappropriately is to declare those
officials ‘persona non grata ‘and to
expel them from the country, if diplomatic parlance fails. While this is
traditionally a remedy for offenses committed by the actual personnel being
expelled, it is entirely at the host country’s discretion and several nations
have used it to respond to objectionable activities on the part of a foreign
government as a whole. We remember how President Ranasinghe Premadasa declared David Gladstone, who served as Britain’s High
Commissioner to Sri Lanka between 1987-1991, ‘persona non grata ‘and expelled from the country for his unwarranted interference in an internal matter
of the country”.
Statements issued by various foreign diplomats in
Colombo, notably those of former and current US ambassadors, almost one after
the other concerning the internal affairs of the host country, and reported
visits and secret visits said to have been made to meet the opponents of the
democratically elected government to matters related to internal politics are
examples of diplomatic excesses.
We also remember how the former US Secretary of
State John Kerry blatantly boasted in public that US funded to execute Sri
Lanka’s regime change in 2015. They didn’t utter a single word against any of
the undemocratic, unconstitutional and mega level corruption issues which took
place under the government they funded to install, but appears to have
restarted their old game, once again by various means, soon after the removal
of their choice.
The meddlesome foreign envoys in Colombo should
need the growing concern, among the Sri Lankan population about the undue
foreign interference. The government needs to act without further delay and
take remedial action to safeguard the country’s security and sovereignty.
Colombo, July 26 (newsin.asia): The International Buddhist Confederation, with the support of the Indian Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Mahabodhi Society of India and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations organized the annual Esala Poya Day (known as Ashada Purnima in India) on July 24 to mark the first sermon by Lord Buddha.
The President of India Ram Nath Kovind gave a video message on the occasion and also planted a sapling of the Bodhi tree in the garden of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the residence of the President, the Indian High Commission said in a release.
In his message, the Indian President said that the appeal of Buddhism goes way beyond the nearly 550 million formally ordained followers and noted that people belonging to other faiths, sceptics and atheists are also attracted to the teachings of The Buddha due to the logical, rational and simple answers to the fundamental problems of humanity provided by Buddhism.
He stressed that key principles of The Buddha such as universal compassion and non-violence; morality and moderation in all aspects of life; have inspired countless people over the last 2600 years since his first sermon at Sarnath. Further, Lord Buddha’s spiritual power was the result of his steadfast adherence to truth.
The President also mentioned that the world needs the healing touch of compassion, kindness and selflessness more than ever before as it is reeling under the aftermath of COVID-19. He also called for the adoption of universal values propagated by Buddhism.
Speaking at another event to mark the auspicious day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also echoed similar views and said that in times of tragedy, the world felt the power of love and harmony. Quoting The Buddha, PM said that Harmony between our mind, speech, and resolve and between our action and effort can guide us away from pain and towards happiness.
Buddhist linkages between India and Sri Lanka date back to the times of Lord Buddha himself who visited Sri Lanka on three different occasions as per ancient texts. Later, King Asoka sent his son Mahinda Thero and daughter Sangamitta Theri to Sri Lanka to spread Buddhism. In modern times, these deep bonds are marked by religious expositions, pilgrimage tours etc. It may also be recalled that Prime Minister Modi announced a USD 15 million grant for the promotion of Buddhist ties between India and Sri Lanka at the Virtual Bilateral Summit with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in September 2020.
The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has stated that strict laws are required to prevent child exploitation
A young bonded child laborer rests his head in his handsAP Photo/ Kevin Frayer
Days after the death of a 16-year-old girl who was employed as domestic help by a politician, Sri Lanka is set to toughen its child labour regulations by raising the minimum age for employment to 18 years in order to prevent child exploitation.
A Cabinet proposal to raise the minimum age to 18 is being produced, according to Piyal Nishantha, the state minister of women and child development. The Ministry of Labor has also agreed to increase the list of jobs that are considered harmful to children aged 16 to 18.
According to Labour Commissioner Prabath Chandrakeerthi, the list would be expanded from 52 to 76 people. The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) has stated that strict laws are required to prevent child exploitation.
Following the death of an adolescent girl working as a domestic help in a politician’s home, the topic of child labour resurfaced. On July 3, the girl was admitted to a hospital with burn injuries while working as a domestic helper at the home of Rishad Bathiyudeen, the leader of the All Ceylon People’s Congress, an Opposition ally.
After the girl died on July 15, authorities detained the leader’s wife, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and a broker. Bathiyudeen has been in detention since late April, pending the outcome of the inquiry into the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings, which were blamed on a terrorist organisation with ties to ISIS and killed more than 270 people.
By the 9th Century AD, the Sinhalese kings had beefed-up their defences and had also taken to diplomacy to ward off South Indian predators.
While Pali was the vehicle of Theravada Buddhism practiced in Sri Lanka, Lankan Buddhist monks learnt Sanskrit, wrote works in it and communicated with Indian scholars in that language.
Despite wars and even during wars between the South Indian forces and the Sri Lankan armies, Sri Lanka-South India trade flourished.
Repeated invasion of Sri Lanka from South India in the ancient and medieval periods did shape the attitude of the Sinhalese towards the Tamils. But the relationship was not always antagonistic. There was ample and significant accommodation, tolerance and absorption of ideas and cultures between the two, right through. This fascinating tale of conflict and cooperation is told by Prof. Amaradasa Liyanagamage in his book: Society, State and Religion in Pre-Modern Sri Lanka (Social Scientists Association 2008).
According to Dr. Liyanagamage, by the 9th Century AD, the Sinhalese kings had beefed-up their defenses and had also taken to diplomacy to ward off South Indian predators. Since the mighty and expansionist Cholas of the Tamil Coromandel coast were the principal threat, the Sinhalese kings began striking alliances with the Pandyas, the rivals of the Cholas in Tamil Nadu. Diplomacy coupled with defense preparedness, helped the Sinhalese keep the peace for a millennium.
It is pertinent to note that no invading force, including the most formidable imperial Cholas, succeeded in over-running and capturing the entire country. The southern half of the island remained free even during the worst times,” Dr. Liyanagamage points out. Even in the worst times in the 13th, Century, when Parakramabahu II was faced with invasion of the Maghas, Chandrabhanu and the Pandyas, Southern Sri Lanka was free. Did the invasions create an anti-Indian sentiment in Sri Lanka? The overwhelming weight of evidence points to an answer in the negative,” asserts Dr. Liyanagamage. Jambudvipa or India, remained holy for the Sinhalese Buddhists. While Pali was the vehicle of Theravada Buddhism practiced in Sri Lanka, Lankan Buddhist monks learnt Sanskrit, wrote works in it and communicated with Indian scholars in that language.
The historian goes on to say that it would be an error to presume that relations with South India, the source of the invaders, had always been geared to the battlefront. In point of fact, Sri Lanka’s commercial and cultural relations with South India seem to have been much closer and more cordial than is commonly believed and these relations have certainly left an impact on the island’s social and cultural evolution,” he says. Interestingly, during some invasions, Buddhist monks, would seek refuge in lands in South India ruled by the rivals of the invaders. For example during Chola invasions the monks used to seek refuge in the Pandyan kingdom. Bhadanta Ananda Thera, in his book Upasakajanalankara, which he wrote while being in a monastery in the Pandyan country, says that during the ferocious Magha (Kalinga-Kerala) invasion of Sri Lanka, many Sinhala Buddhist elders including himself, had found shelter and succor in the Pandya and Chola countries. The Atthakatha (Commentaries) composed between the 5th and 9th Centuries, which became an important part of Lankan Buddhist literature, were written mainly by South Indian monks such as Buddhadutta and Dharmapala. While Hinduism was the dominant religion in the Chola country, Buddhism survived in Kanchi, Kaviranagara and Nagapattana.
The splendid Chudamani Vihara built in Nagapatana by the Chola Emperor Raja Raja I (926-1014 AD) was repeatedly endowed by his successors. Buddhapriya Thera, the incumbent of the Chudamanivarma Vihara, a scholar of repute, was known as the ‘Cholia Dipankara’ in Sri Lanka. The Buddhist establishments in the Tamil country and Sri Lanka maintained close links with each other. During the reign of Parakramabahu II (1236-1270) donations received during Higher Ordination ceremonies were shared with Buddhist institutions in Tamil Nadu. Despite wars and even during wars between the South Indian forces and the Sri Lankan armies, Sri Lanka-South India trade flourished. Unlike these days when economic sanctions and trade restrictions are imposed in times of war or even a political conflict, in those days trade and commerce were not interfered with. In the 12th and the 13th Centuries when wars were being fought, the ‘Trading Corporation of Lanka’ flourished in the Chola and Pandya Kingdoms in Tamil Nadu. At the end of the 12th Century, during the reign of Parakramabahu’s wife Lilawati (she had four stints 1197–1200, 1209–10, and 1211–12) the Nanadesi merchants from South India flourished in her domain around Polonnaruwa.
Dr.Liyanagamage notes that invasions and commercial traffic led to the settling of Tamils and other South Indians in Sri Lanka. Contemporary records mentioned invaders coming with thousands of soldiers (ranging from 24,000 to 94,000 men). Many of them opted to settle down in Sri Lanka rather than go back. While small groups of Tamils or South Indians settled in every part of the island, it was only in the North that settlement occurred in a big way, enabling the formation of a Tamil kingdom. The decline of the Sinhalese Rajarata kingdom, made this easier. According to historian Parnavitarana, the Jaffna kingdom was founded by the Aryachakravartis who were Brahmins from Rameswaram. They in turn traced their ancestry to the Ganga dynasty of Kalinga (present- day Odisha). During the 14th Century, the Aryachakravartis reached the pinnacle of their glory by establishing their power over the Sinhalese kindgoms in Central (Gampola) and South West Sri Lanka (Kotte/Colombo/Panadura). It was Parakramabahu VI (1415-1467) who reversed the trend by resisting the Aryachakravartis, taking the battle into Jaffna itself and putting his nominee as the Administrator. Interestingly the South Indian Keralite families of Alahakkonars and Alakeswaras (especially Gen. Nissanka Alahakkonar) had a huge hand in defending Kotte and Panadura against the marauding Jaffna troops.
Repeated and destructive invasions by the Tamil kings of India did create ill feeling towards the Tamils (all South Indians were lumped together and called Damila and despised). But according to Dr Liyanagamage, this was not always so. In the early days of encounter with the Tamils, the good qualities of the Tamil rulers were acknowledged and written about. Even Tamil usurpers like Sena, Guttika and Elara, were praised for their righteous rule. But in the chronicles of the 13th Century onwards, the Tamils came in for severe censure. Even Elara (205 BC to 161 BC) who was praised earlier, was portrayed as a man who destroyed innumerable dagabas built by King Devanampiya Tissa and rules un-righteously for 44 years.” In these writings, unlike in the past, the opposing armies were identified as ‘Tamil’ and ‘Sinhalese’ and not as belonging to particular Kings.
Resentment against the ‘Damila’ invaders reached a high point in the Pujavaliya written by a Buddhist monk who was an eyewitness to the depredations of the Magha invaders. Interestingly, all South Indians were dubbed ‘Damilas’ though they were not all Tamils. Among them were Kalingas (from Odisha), Malalas (from Kerala), Doluvara (Tulu speakers from North Kerala and coastal Karnataka) and Karnata (from Karnataka). Dr. Liyanagamage warns that it would be wrong to say that conflicts of those days were ethnic in nature – Sinhala against the Tamils and vice versa. Parakramabahu VI, who conquered Jaffna, was a patron of Hindu temples. A Tamils inscription at the Munneswaran Siva kovil in Chilaw records his contribution to the temple. Most interestingly, the foundation of the Kandaswamy temple in Nallur in Jafffna, is attributed to Parakaramabahu VI”, Dr. Liyanage points out. Again, Ulakudaya Devi, the daughter of Parakramabahu VI, was married to a South Indian Tamil Nannur Tunaya.
The 15th Century poet Tottagamuwe Sri Rahula wrote that in the Tottagamuwe Vijayabahu Pirivena near Hikkaduwa, Tamil and Sanskrit were compulsory subjects apart from Sinhalese and Pali. Sinhalese works of the medieval period such as the Pujavaliya and Saddaramalankaraya had Tamil words. Even in the present-day spoken Sinhalese there are Tamil words especially in agriculture, land measurement and kinship terminology. And there are titles like Koon, Peruma, and Alaha which are of Tamil origin.
The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today ordered to remand the wife of former minister Rishad Bathiudeen and three others until August 09 in connection with the suspicious death of a teenage domestic worker who had been employed at their home.
The four defendants, including Bathiudeen’s father-in-law, brother-in-law and the broker who had brought the girl for employment from Dayagama, were produced before the court when the case was taken up today (26).
Meanwhile the court also ordered to exhume the remains of the girl and to conduct another postmortem examination, Ada Derana reporter said.
Shabdheen Ayesha – the 46-year-old wife of MP Bathiudeen, her father Mohamed Shabdheen and the middleman in question identified as a 64-year-old named Ponnaiyah Pandaram, were arrested by police on July 23 following the recording of their statements regarding the death.
Police had also obtained a court order permitting the detention of the trio for 72 hours for interrogation.
In the meantime, the brother-in-law of MP Rishad Bathiudeen had also been arrested on the same day on charges of allegedly sexually abusing a young woman.
The incident was brought to light amidst the probes carried out into the death of the 16-year-old domestic worker at the parliamentarian’s private residence.
Investigating officers had uncovered that the MP’s brother-in-law had sexually abused a female who worked as a domestic helper at the parliamentarian’s official residence between 2015 and 2019. The girl, who is now 22 years of age, had shed light on the matter during police interrogations.
On July 15, a 16-year-old girl, who was serving as domestic help at the Bathiudeen residence, succumbed to severe burn injuries while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. She had been under medical care for 12 days since her admission to the hospital on July 03.
The girl, who was residing in the Dayagama area, had been 15 years of age when she was brought to the parliamentarian’s residence at Bauddhaloka Mawatha for domestic work last October.
The judicial medical officer who conducted the post-mortem on the girl’s death concluded that she had been sexually exploited.
The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry reports that another 635 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, moving the daily total of new cases to 1,653.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 298,181.
As many as 269,007 recoveries have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The Epidemiology Unit’s data showed that 25,075 active cases are currently under medical care.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has registered 48 more COVID-19 related fatalities on Saturday (July 26).
The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 4,147.
According to the data released by the Department of Government Information, the latest victims confirmed today include 30 males and 18 females.
None of them are aged below 30 years, twelve victims are between 30-59 years and the remaining 36 are aged 60 and above.
The CID has commenced an investigation into a complaint made regarding protests in public places violating quarantine laws and endangering public health.
A statement issued by the Police Media Division stated that the investigations are being carried out into a complaint lodged with the CID by Damgalla Gamage Danushka Dilshan Gamage, Chairman of the People’s Justice for Justice organization, demanding that such persons be dealt with legally.
He has lodged a complaint on July 24 stating that no one has the right to create a serious health problem in the country by spreading public protests across the country at a time when the spread of COVID-19 has not completely stopped.
Accordingly, the CID is still investigating whether anyone has deliberately acted in violation of quarantine laws and contrary to the criteria issued by the Director-General of Health Services to prevent the spread of the disease.
The four suspects, including Rishad Bathiudeen’s wife, who were arrested in connection with the death of 16-year-old Ishalini who was working as a servant at MP Rishad Bathiudeen’s house, were remanded until August 9.
>That was when the relevant case was taken before the Hulftsdorp Magistrate’s Court.
Deputy Solicitor General Dilipa Peiris stated that steps would be taken to name MP Rishad Bathiudeen as a suspect in the case.
Meanwhile, Deputy Solicitor General Dilipa Peiris asked MP Rishad Bathiudeen why he was not sensitive enough to enslave a child of the same age as his 16-year-old daughter.
Four persons including the wife of MP Rishard Bathiudeen were arrested recently in connection with the death of a minor girl named Ishalini Jude while she was working as a servant in her house.
They have been charged with cruelty, enslavement, and trafficking of a minor girl.
In addition, Shihabdeen Ismadeen, the brother of Rishad Bathiudeen’s wife, was arrested on two counts of raping a young woman who worked at his official residence during Rishad Bathiudeen’s tenure as minister.
The four suspects were produced before the Hulftsdorp Magistrate’s Court yesterday and remanded for 72 hours for questioning.
Accordingly, Rishad Bathiudeen’s wife was detained at the Kirulapone Police Station and her father, brother, and the broker who sold the girl to the Bathiudeen family were detained at the Borella Police Station for questioning.
The suspects were brought to the court premises today after being produced before the Judicial Medical Officers.
When the case was taken up, the police officers submitted an eight-page report containing the progress of the investigations carried out so far.
Deputy Solicitor General Dileep Peiris who appeared for the complainant made a lengthy statement before the court
The
COVID-19 pandemic urged social distancing because experts on the epidemic
believed that social integration through various methods will agent the spread
of the virus, and it considers that the social distancing any method would be
supported to control the virus. In addition, there are health and hygiene rules
that are difficult to implement in the environment of Sri Lanka. The style of
education delivery for kids in classrooms might support the spread of the virus
and changing the method of education delivery using technology-based education
or electronic delivery throughout the country would be supported to the
controlling effort of spreading the virus. This issue remains in all countries
and Sri Lanka has no exception for it.
The
successful delivery of education on electronic techniques requires good
countrywide infrastructure facilities, it should be not only in the Colombo
district. The actual situation is, Colombo has adequate infrastructure and
regional Sri Lanka has badly neglected in the modernization process. The ad hoc
arrangement in the current disposition has limited to perform electronic
delivery using a mobile phone, it is not a fecund domain and electronic
delivery also needs a supervised environment and facilities for students to
take part in a mobile phone. A small domain in a mobile phone would not support
attracting the attention of students. This is the biggest challenge in the
education history of Sri Lanka.
Program
delivery through television is in Sri Lanka for over three decades. They are
one-way delivery that learners cannot directly take part with teachers. It is a
teacher-centred education and the difficulty or uncontrollable situation is the
teacher cannot control a classroom or distracting students. In Western
countries, religious programs are delivered using television and the success of
such delivery is depending on the disciplines of participants. In this way,
there are two major challenges: one is maintaining the attention of students
without distraction, and two is maintaining the relationship between students
and the teacher. This system is suitable for students in grades 8 and above.
Students below Grade 8 need a controlled environment and how to organize such
an environment is the challenge.
In Sri Lanka, management of electronic signals
might be a problem and the environment might be improper, and the change of
such an environment would be difficult because of various reasons. Online
facilities must be in schools or at delivery places or homes in all districts
and service providers should be funded by the government to offer the service
free. The advantage of online delivery is students can save programs and when
they are not clear about the program or need to view the program, it could be
done. It is more flexible and advantaged to learners than the face-to-face
delivery system. In this way, electronic delivery needs teachers’ supervision
and help. As parents are working, they cannot take part in supervision.
This
is a primary requirement to achieve online education and the experience in
regional Sri Lanka appears to need more facilities for kids. Many do not know
whether sufficient funds have been allocated for the purpose. If the annual
budget has not provided allocations, alternative arrangements are needed. Trade
unions blindly protest considering selfish issues and have ignored the major
problem, and they are concerned with job shedding of teachers, but the rural
infrastructure is the major concerned issue on electronic delivery of
education.
On-line
delivery of education will be supported to eliminate social disparities in the
society which incurred division among students attending excellent schools,
lower grade or quality schools, urban schools, and village schools. Electronic
delivery of education will be the biggest social revolution in Sri Lanka because
education reforms were unsuccessful in changing society.
As
the internet service is provided charging a higher fee, the use of technology
is expensive and strict controls must be to prevent kids abusing the service
from using the technology for irrelevant purposes, and iPad or computers to use
for students at homes and other places must be available and they should be
replaced when need to do so. The income structure of many parents shows they are
not in a position to afford the service fee and to purchase the delivery
instrument. In addition, protecting facilities is a concerning matter. These
are significant issues and impediments to electronic delivery. Providing
electronic service is expensive, and the government encounters many issues when
it is concerned with spending in the crisis time. Technology is dynamic and
expensive, and even after the Covid pandemic education delivery must be
electronic-based and schools need to use interactive whiteboards.
Training
teachers for electronic delivery is also expensive. There should be at least 12
weeks of intensive training for teaching staff as long as they become competent
to deliver. The training facilities are needed in all districts and they should
be lower-level education administration. Many teachers in Sri Lanka are not
qualified for electronic delivery of education, as they didn’t get sufficient
knowledge and skills through education and assessment outcomes using criteria.
Curriculum development and assessment organization have been worked or not are
unknown to parents and education administrators.
It
is difficult to understand why teachers taking trade union action against
modernizing education. These trade union leaders are living in the past and
they should get out from petty politics. Education is a nationwide requirement
and teachers are only a part of the process.
Many
problems could easily be solved by saving money through restructuring and
micro-reforms within the education department, which spends a large sum of
money for unnecessary purposes, preventing dispensable spending for various
activities such as scholarship examination, G.C.E.Ordinary Level examination,
and others. Education in Sri Lanka should get away from exams’ culture to outcomes
achievements. In this effort, examinations are about 20% of total learning.
Practically, parents handle kid’s education than teachers and the outcomes of
studies should be showed by students, but not parents. Parents should
contribute funds reasonably to educating kids except those who are
unaffordable. The nature of Sri Lanka is parents those who are affordable for
contributing for expenses and not affordable are enjoyed government free
education facilities and this setting should be changed ignoring the political
differences. Free education doesn’t mean that parents are released from
responsibilities.
Teacher’s
training for the application of technology, enhancement of content knowledge,
methods of assessing students regarding outcome achievement consistent with
values, the way of application of
knowledge in the practical environment must be trained at least once in two
years and money should spend on these training purposes. If teachers are
quality personnel, they would make quality performance and admirable service in
the future.
It
is a widely published view that tuition for students is business at the expense
of parents and tuition teachers are comparatively higher earners in the country
than government teachers because there is no government control for providing
tuition and free education has become a service charge oriented as teachers’
role is not playing at school level. Inspection of teachers’ roles and
assessing them keeping in the job is not efficiently performed by the
department. Tuition teachers have not trained personnel who can properly assess
students’ achievement of learning outcomes.
The
department of education has been addicted to a culture of holding competitive
examinations and creating unrest among kids and parents. The education advisors
of the government should stand on admonition to continue the system. They are
not laterally thinking to change the system. Developed countries are too
concerned about the electronic delivery matter. If the government arranges
equal education provision in all schools and maintains quality and control, it
could be successful in adapting electronic delivery and the broader use of
technology for education.
The
department of education should investigate how other countries use strategies.
It wouldn’t need Island-wide expensive exams for scholarships and year 10.
Schools could conduct these exams like in Australia and the department of
education could help schools providing exam papers and training for teachers to
assess students to conduct the exam within schools. The assessment of the
achievement of outcomes concerns with attitudes of the assessor and it may be
an arduous task in Sri Lanka to avoiding this issue.
The
examination has become a competitive exam and spends an enormous sum of money
on this purpose. The assessment of the achievement of outcomes cannot decide to
enjoy marking like a multiple choice question paper. The assessor determines
the decision like a judge in the court, considering many factors.
Parents
spend lots of money on tuition and other help for students. These are wasting
money and the government can use the money for electronic infrastructure in all
schools. Education reforms are vital for this type of radical change.
Parents
in Sri Lanka are not so poor compared to many poor countries and 90% of parents
could provide iPads and laptops to kids and support the government to provide
electronic delivery. About 20% of total students are kids of poor parents, and
they should be supported by the government.
However,
rich people, past pupils, officials, so-called major schools, and politicians
are against these reforms because poor people will gain equal opportunity,
equity, and justice. I spoke to many Sri Lanka’s born overseas who have a
fallacious mentality and the attitudes them comprise discriminating poor than
giving equity and justice. Many education-related trade unions protest against
the reforms because they are against equity and justice in society.
I am 44 years old and in my mind I’m a journalist, a mother, a wife, a cyclist, a mountain climber, a wild swimmer and an adventurer – just like I was 16 months ago.
But in my body, I’m like someone twice my age.
Most days I wake up in pain and go to bed with pain. I have vertigo, migraines and blurred vision. My joints feel like brittle bone grating on metal.
I’m one of 385,000 people in the UK who have been suffering “long Covid” for more than 12 months – and that number is growing.
For me, it all began in March 2020 when I got Covid-19.
At that time, there were no community tests but I had the full panoply of symptoms.
I was very unwell and contacted Scotland’s NHS 24 helpline twice because I was really struggling to breathe. Each time I was told that unless my lips were blue I should stay home and isolate.
My seven-year-old daughter was unwell too. She seemed to recover but then became plagued by fatigue and breathlessness.
We didn’t know how to help her and the doctors didn’t seem to know either. We were told to give it time. So we did.
It has been 16 months so far.
A new disease
Long Covid is still new and scientists are trying to work out what causes it in certain people and not others – and how to get rid of it.
There are multiple theories.
Some believe the symptoms are caused by live virus reactivating in the body.
Others believe it may be an autoimmune problem – which means the body is attacking itself.
A further theory is that it may be caused by an underactive immune system or one sent into freefall by the original virus.
Doctors have tried splitting it into different syndromes including post-intensive-care syndrome and post-viral-fatigue syndrome.
Or dividing it based on how ill patients were initially.
But some of those who were in hospital have recovered and some of those who stayed in the community have discovered they have serious underlying problems including organ damage.
We know that women are more likely to be affected than men and that many of the hundreds of thousands suffering the condition in the UK were previously young, fit and healthy.
The latest figures from the ONS show there are 962,000 people in the UK with multiple symptoms four weeks after initial infection.
But what I really want to know is what it is and how to make it go away.
Clinging on with my fingertips
image captionBBC Scotland correspondent Lucy Adams has been ill since March last year
I regularly lay in a dark room by myself because I couldn’t cope with the noise of family life and the sense that light – any light – was too bright.
The dark room which should have been a haven began to feel like a prison, a place I couldn’t escape.
The bed which should have felt warm and comfortable felt like a ship lurching in a rough sea.
In my inability to explain that sense of fear and isolation and loneliness I became convinced I would never be able to work again.
I feared that I would end up unable to look after my children or find another job or home or place in society. Being ill became my life.
Offers of support
After I wrote the piece for the BBC news website in November, hundreds of people got in touch to offer support. People from Australia, France, North America and the Netherlands.
They wrote messages of comfort and condolence and empathy. Many asked questions on behalf of relatives and friends who were also suffering.
I struggled to get back to everyone who got in touch and my answers to questions felt inadequate. I’m not a medical expert. I didn’t have the answers to their questions. And I couldn’t even say I was better myself.
Several people got in touch to tell me I would never get better. That I needed to accept my position was permanent.
I couldn’t do that, so I tried lots of different measures instead: restricted diets, cold water immersion, acupuncture, homeopathy. Bizarre supplements.
I started going for short walks – mindful that I often needed to stop and sit on the pavement. Sometimes even walking around the block I couldn’t be sure I would have the energy to make it home.
A tiny incline would leave me breathless when a year before I’d been climbing mountains.
image captionLucy says before Covid she climbed mountains but afterwards tiny inclines would leave her breathless
I feared the judgement of others who could see me going out for a walk and would assume I was recovered.
What they couldn’t see was the payback afterwards.
The fact I would have to go straight to bed or would most likely be punished with a blinding headache, fever or loss of vision later in the day.
I struggled with the idea of accepting help but realised I needed it. I struggled to cook or clean or load the dishwasher. Our neighbours started cooking for us twice a week and would pass delicious homemade meals over the wall every Monday and Thursday. Friends offered to look after the children.
I realised after almost a year of being off sick that I had not once lain on the sofa and watched a whole film during the day.
Not because I don’t have a telly but because most days the sofa seemed too far away and I didn’t have the energy to watch a whole film.
Things that helped me
I tried several times in the evening sitting with my husband but usually the tremors in my hands would be too bad or the headache or vision problems would interfere too much.
I found a number of things that really helped me.
These things might not help other people but to me they have become a way of getting through the day.
The first is yoga. A yoga teacher I know was training to be a yoga therapist and I became her first client with long Covid.
It helped with the breathlessness but also with coping with the uncertainty of not knowing when I would get better.
I would also say that acupuncture appear to help me deal with the symptoms.
I have given up alcohol and caffeine and I’ve also been doing singing lessons to help with the breathing.
Believing you will get better is an important part of the recovery but it is not easy to stay positive.
Integrative care
My GP referred me to the Centre for Integrative Care in Glasgow and Dr Bridie O’Dowd, who specialises in helping people with chronic ill health.
Until my appointment with her in December the only advice I had received was to rest. But that is surprisingly hard to do.
I know now that if you just rest and stop moving the body deconditions – which in turn causes other problems.
Dr O’Dowd explained that each day I should try to do three things I enjoy – each of which should last no longer than 20-30 minutes, as well as three tasks such as unloading the dishwasher for a similar amount of time.
It is deeply frustrating when your goal is to finish folding the laundry or to make the dinner and realise you can’t complete the task within the allotted time.
But I found it the most practical way of managing the symptoms.
It means you feel you have achieved a little and lived a little.
Through the centre I did an eight-week mindfulness course – something that in the past would have sounded far too fluffy for me.
And I started seeing a therapist. Psychologically not knowing when or if you will get better is really hard.
I am now part of a pilot in Glasgow, run by Dr O’Dowd, to support a small number of people with Long Covid with practical advice on sleep and diet, appointments with psychologists and physiotherapists and a course on mindfulness.
Eureka moment
The best email I received after the earlier article was from Paul Garner, professor of infectious diseases at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
We had contracted Covid around the same time and his articles in the BMJ describing his symptoms had been a eureka moment for me because until then no-one could understand what was wrong with me.
We had been in touch for months. He was supportive and helpful.
In November he emailed to say he was better. If he could get better I figured that meant I could too.
Just hearing that from him gave me a massive boost. I tried to focus on the ways the symptoms were reducing. And started to think about the hills I would climb once recovered.
My daughter went back to school. The staff were very supportive. She struggled with the stairs and the length of the school day so she was given time to rest in the teacher’s office.
Sport had been her favourite pastime but she tired easily and spent PE resting.
Our weekends used to be spent on family cycle rides but she and I spent time resting or reading books instead.
Back to work
By Christmas my daughter seemed much better and in January of this year I started to feel a little stronger too.
The migraines were less frequent – once every fortnight rather than every two days. The vertigo was still present most of the time but the joint pain eased a little.
I could get through a conversation without sounding too breathless.
I went through an occupational health assessment and agreed to a phased return to work. The first week would mean four hours work spread across a week. It sounds so meagre, yet I was terrified.
I had not sat at a computer for 10 months.
Brain fog had left me struggling for words, struggling to remember things.
I agreed to work on a Panorama about long Covid as part of the phased return.
I managed the first week and felt delighted with myself. The next day I woke up with a fever and a terrible pain in my kidneys.
I thought it was a reaction to my increased activity but then started to feel exactly as I had 11 months previously.
I went for a test and that evening I got an email saying I had Covid again.
I had been nowhere – not even to the local shops but my children were in school. A pupil and a member of staff were off with Covid. It felt brutally unfair.
The second time was not as severe. I had all the same symptoms but the fever was not as high, the breathlessness not as overwhelming.
I spent 10 days in bed and then started to feel a little better. I was terrified that the second bout would mean another 10 months of being unwell but used yoga and mindfulness. I knew I couldn’t think myself better but equally knew that panicking would make my symptoms worse.
Breathing pattern disorder
My daughter’s symptoms returned too. She was pale and exhausted and had Covid toes – her feet purple and itchy. Her breathlessness worsened and she was admitted to hospital for scheduled tests.
I felt utterly helpless. Remarkably she loved the hospital food and her “sleepover” on the ward. Tests showed problems with the way she is breathing but she has daily exercises to try to improve it and it should be reversible.
Many people with long Covid have breathing pattern disorder or hyperventilation syndrome. It is one of the things physiotherapists can help to change.
image captionLucy was active and adventurous before her long Covid
But it wasn’t until April this year when I met neuropsychiatrist Prof Alan Carson at Edinburgh University that I understood that I had it too.
The good news is that it is reversible and explains the sensation of fizzing I’ve had in my veins for months which he says is down to excessive carbon dioxide changing the PH levels in my blood.
The bad news is that it took more than a year to get it diagnosed and I am still waiting for the respiratory tests he has referred me for.
The NHS is busy
One of the downsides of being ill in a pandemic is that it makes it particularly hard to get medical help.
The NHS is understandably extremely busy. Not only that but the problem with having a new disease is that no-one knows quite how to treat it.
My GP has been helpful but she is no expert in long Covid.
She sent me for basic tests including a chest X-ray and an ECG but they came back clear.
This was reassuring in a way but also unhelpful because it leaves you with no explanation about what is wrong or how to fix it.
So I feel I’ve been left to my own devices.
image captionLucy had a brain scan as part of a study at Edinburgh University
As part of that I looked into different research. At Edinburgh University, Prof Carson is doing an in-depth study into the impact on the brain of long Covid. I feel fortunate that I was allowed to take part. It involves hours of clinical tests and questions and an MRI scan of the brain.
A high percentage of people with long Covid complain of brain fog – for me it has meant problems with memory and concentration and struggling to find the right words.
On social media many patients have expressed their dismay at being told the symptoms are purely a result of anxiety or “all in your head”.
But the scientists and the growing body of research on long Covid make clear it is a real problem not an imaginary one.
Prof Carson says that to suggest it is all in someone’s head implies that problems which do not have an obvious physical cause are in some way a lesser illness.
He says there is a “slightly unpleasant undercurrent” which suggests that if an illness is visible in your body it is real and worthy of concern.
“I find that very hard to tolerate,” he says.
“I kind of feel that if you’re in medicine and you need that biomarker to believe patient’s suffering is real or that they’re worthy in some way then I think you’re in the wrong game actually.”
Prof Carson says it is “ludicrous” to think of the body and head as somehow separate.
He says we need to understand that the brain is a “predictive organ that interacts with the world” – and he makes the point that it our brain is the only organ in the body capable of perceiving pain.
It is the brain that regulates body temperature and heart rate and the many other patterns of the body that seem to be to go awry with long Covid, he says.
And as with the virus itself, long Covid seems to affect different people in different ways.
Dementia sufferers
As part of the study Prof Carson has seen people with lung scarring and people whose brain scans show dementia and other people whose brain scans are clear and healthy but who are still suffering debilitating symptoms.
Unfortunately in a small number of cases they are seeing patients with dementia which seems to have been accelerated by Covid.
He says this is not new dementia cases but “bringing forward” by several years what was going to happen down the line.
His hypothesis is that for a small number of older patients the acute phase of the illness and in some cases “delirium” has advanced permanent damage.
For many other patients – including myself – he believes it is partly a breakdown in the way the brain and other parts of the body are communicating.
My brain scan came back clear.
Prof Carson confirms that I have breathing pattern dysfunction and explains that this means too much carbon dioxide is left in my system.
He says my vertigo is in fact persistent postural perception dizziness which should ease with time but requires me to keep moving. He says the yoga should help.
He refers me for further testing for my breathing and suggests physiotherapy but says what I have been doing so far in terms of yoga and mindfulness should help.
According to Prof Carson, my long Covid symptoms should be reversible.
He describes them as a typical “constellation” and explains that while my brain looks ok structurally on the scan there seems to be some problems in the way it is anticipating and monitoring what I do.
There has been improvement
Last year my energy was severely limited. I can do more now but there is still a cap. I still try to push through but every time I do my symptoms pull me up.
To some the symptoms might not sound too bad. Having a headache for a day is irritating but having a headache and joint pain for months is difficult to handle.
As are the constant worries about whether you’ll be able to work properly again, when you’ll be able to run in the park with your children or spin them above your head. Or when you will be able make them dinner without swaying with dizziness and feeling like you’ve cooked for 100 people not four.
It is July now. I can watch a whole film but only if I have not already done too many other things that day.
I can cycle a short distance on the flat and I’ve even been paddle boarding. I am planning a family holiday soon where I will try to swim in the sea but I still have to weigh up one thing against another.
I can either work or walk or play with my kids. I can’t do everything. And I still have to take breaks in between.
For me this is not normal. This is not yet a return to who I was prior to Covid. That is hard. The rest of the country is returning to normal but I feel a long way behind.
I’m fully vaccinated yet I’m nervous about getting Covid for a third time but perhaps more apprehensive that this slog of pain and fatigue will just rumble on.
Yet I know too that I need to hold on to the idea that many people have recovered from long Covid and that I will too.
I am much improved. When I wrote the article last autumn about being seven months in to long Covid, it took me months.
I wrote that whole piece while lying in bed, typing on my phone with one finger.
When I started writing this article earlier this year my hands were often shaking too much to type.
I can now sit up and work and have been out filming for Panorama.
If I was not significantly better I would not have considered saying yes to making the documentary.
But I have to admit it has been hard working again and uncomfortable putting myself and my family into the centre of it.
I much prefer writing other people’s stories.
Hearing the stories of so many other patients has been moving and interviewing some of the leading scientists researching long Covid has been fascinating.
There is a huge amount of research going on across the UK – and the world – to investigate this new disease but so far there are far more questions than answers – about what causes it, how to diagnose it and how to treat it.
What has become increasingly obvious to me is that it is almost impossible to get through this on your own.
People need the help of friends and families. But also the right tests and medical support.
Long Covid affects different people in different ways.
The experts we speak to in the programme say we need to make sure we are getting people the right treatment and tests so we know who has underlying heart conditions or organ damage and who has breathing pattern dysfunction and requires specialist physiotherapy.
I am gradually recovering. I can do more now and the payback is not as bad as it was. But I still feel a long way from where I was and who I was before I got ill.
I’m pretty determined to hold on to the idea of myself as a bold adventurer, a mother, a wife, a journalist. Even if for now the mountains are just in my mind.
By Charlie Haynes and Flora Carmichael BBC Trending
A mysterious marketing agency secretly offered to pay social media stars to spread disinformation about Covid-19 vaccines. Their plan failed when the influencers went public about the attempt to recruit them.
“It started with an email” says Mirko Drotschmann, a German YouTuber and journalist.
Mirko normally ignores offers from brands asking him to advertise their products to his more than 1.5 million subscribers. But the sponsorship offer he received in May this year was unlike any other.
An influencer marketing agency called Fazze offered to pay him to promote what it said was leaked information that suggested the death rate among people who had the Pfizer vaccine was almost three times that of the AstraZeneca jab.
The information provided wasn’t true.
It quickly became apparent to Mirko that he was being asked to spread disinformation to undermine public confidence in vaccines in the middle of a pandemic.
“I was shocked,” says Mirko “then I was curious, what’s behind all that?”
image captionMirko Drotschmann was offered money to spread disinformation on his social media accounts
In France, science YouTuber Léo Grasset received a similar offer. The agency offered him 2000 euros if he would take part. Fazze said it was acting for a client who wished to remain anonymous.
“That’s a huge red flag” says Léo.
Both Léo and Mirko were appalled by the false claims.
They pretended to be interested in order to try to find out more and were provided with detailed instructions about what they should say in their videos.
In stilted English, the brief instructed them to “Act like you have the passion and interest in this topic.”
image captionLéo Grasset was horrified by the attempt to recruit him
It told them not to mention the video had a sponsor – and instead pretend they were spontaneously giving advice out of concern for their viewers.
Social media platforms have rules that ban not disclosing that content is sponsored. In France and Germany it’s also illegal.
Fazze’s brief told influencers to share a story in French newspaper Le Monde about a data leak from the European Medicines Agency.
The story was genuine, but didn’t include anything about vaccine deaths. But in this context it would give the false impression that the death rate statistics had come from the leak.
The data the influencers were asked to share had actually been cobbled together from different sources and taken out of context.
It presented the numbers of people who had died in several countries some time after receiving different Covid vaccines. But just because someone dies after having a vaccine doesn’t mean they died because they had the vaccine. They could have been killed in a car accident.
In the countries the statistics were from, greater numbers of people had received the Pfizer vaccine at that time, so a higher number of people dying after having a Pfizer jab was to be expected.
“If you don’t have any scientific training, you could just say, ‘oh, there are these numbers, they are really different. So there must be a link.’ But you can make any spurious correlation as you want really,” Léo says.
The influencers were also provided with a list of links to share – dubious articles which all used the same set of figures that supposedly showed the Pfzer vaccine was dangerous.
When Léo and Mirko exposed the Fazze campaign on Twitter all the articles, except the Le Monde story, disappeared from the web.
By any measure the disinformation campaign was bungled.
Since Léo and Mirko blew the whistle at least four other influencers in France and Germany have gone public to reveal they also rejected Fazze’s attempts to recruit them.
But German journalist, Daniel Laufer, has identified two influencers who may have taken up the offer.
Indian YouTuber Ashkar Techy usually makes jokey videos about cars and dating and Brazilian prankster Everson Zoio, has more than three million Instagram followers.
Each of them posted uncharacteristic videos in which they pushed the same message as the Fazze campaign and shared the fake news links from the agency’s brief. Both had also participated in previous Fazze promotions.
After Daniel Laufer contacted them, Everson Zoio and Ashkar Techy removed their videos but didn’t answer his questions. The BBC tried to contact both influencers, but they didn’t respond.
image captionAshkar Techy shared the dubious data in his video
We tried emailing the people who approached Mirko and Léo. The emails bounced back, not from Fazze, but from the domain of a company called AdNow.
Fazze is a part of AdNow, which is a digital marketing company, registered in both Russia and the UK.
The BBC has made multiple attempts to contact AdNow by phone, email and even a letter couriered to their Moscow headquarters, but they have not responded.
Eventually we managed to contact Ewan Tolladay, one of two directors of the British arm of AdNow – who lives in Durham.
Mr Tolladay said he had very little to do with Fazze – which he said was a joint venture between his fellow director – a Russian man called Stanislav Fesenko – and another person whose identity he didn’t know.
He said that he hadn’t been a part of the disinformation campaign. He said he hadn’t even known Fazze had taken on the contract before the story broke. He couldn’t enlighten us on who the mystery client was.
He said that in light of the scandal “we are doing the responsible thing and shutting down AdNow here in the UK”. He said Fazze was also being shut down.
We have tried to get Mr Fesenko to talk to us but had no success.
Both the French and German authorities have launched investigations into Fazze’s approaches to influencers.
But the identity of the agency’s mystery client remains unclear.
There has been speculation about the Russian connections to this scandal and the interests of the Russian state in promoting its own vaccine – Sputnik V.
Omid Nouripour, the foreign policy spokesman for the German Green party has suggested looking to Moscow for the motivation behind the Fazze campaign.
He said: “Bad-mouthing vaccines in the West undermines trust in our democracies and is supposed to increase trust in Russia’s vaccines, and there is only one side that benefits and that is the Kremlin.”
But in a statement the Russian embassy in London said: “We treat Covid-19 as a global threat and, thus, are not interested in undermining global efforts in the fight against it, with vaccinating people with the Pfizer vaccine as one of the ways to cope with the virus.”
While Fazze’s campaign was a flop, Léo Grasset believes it won’t be the last attempt to use the power of social influencers to spread disinformation.
“If you want to manipulate public opinion, especially for young people, you don’t go to TV” says French YouTuber Léo Grasset.
“Just spend the same money on TikTok creators, YouTube creators. The whole ecosystem is perfectly built for maximum efficiency of disinformation right now.”
All Sri Lankans over the age of 30 will be vaccinated by September, according to Minister Bandula Gunawardena.
Minister of Trade stated that the country will be reopened after that vaccination milestone.
He mentioned this speaking at the opening of the new Sathosa branch in Bulathsinhala today (July 25).
By September, we will be the country where all people over the age of 30 have completed the vaccination. After the vaccination, this country will be open.”
The Minister also spoke on the prices of face masks.
As schools are scheduled to reopen next week, we hope to discuss with manufacturers and further reduce the price of a face mask. Now a face mask sells at Rs 14.”
The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry reports that another 446 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, moving the daily total of new cases to 1,656.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 296,962.
As many as 267,602 recoveries and 4,099 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The Epidemiology Unit’s data showed that 25,306 active cases are currently under medical care.
