Sri Lanka reports 61 more COVID-19 deaths

July 31st, 2021

Courtesy Adaderana

The Director-General of Health Services has confirmed 61 more COVID-19 related fatalities that have occurred yesterday (July 30).

The new development has pushed the official death toll due to the virus in Sri Lanka to 4,441.

According to the data released by the Department of Government Information, the new victims confirmed today include 36 females and 25 males.

None of them are aged below 30 years, nineteen victims are between 30-59 years and the remaining 42 are aged 60 and above.

Uptick in COVID cases as 2,150 more people test positive

July 31st, 2021

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka saw an uptick in COVID-19 figures, as 2,150 more persons were tested positive for the virus today (July 31), says the Ministry of Health.

All new cases are associated with the New Year COVID-19 cluster. The new development has pushed the total number of infections confirmed in the country to date to 308,812.

According to official data, more than 27,000 infected patients are currently under medical care at hospitals and treatment centers across the island.

Meanwhile, the number of total recoveries reached 277,118 earlier today as 1,906 more patients returned to health.

Is UN One World Government 2030/Agenda 21 & Corona Pandemic linked?

July 30th, 2021

Shenali Waduge

The UN was created in 1945 following the end of World War 2 promising to ensure no future world wars, to respect individual state sovereignty and to not interfere in internal affairs of sovereign states. Since 1945, only 10 countries around the world without a conflict and countries facing conflicts are as a result of proxy interventions and incursions. Within the UN itself mass corruptions and biases go ignored and whistleblowers chastised and cornered. It is plain to see that while democracy dictates requirement to elect governments & representatives and invisible and sinister group of people actually rule the world. These notions are purposely tackled by utilizing all forms of communications that these sinister groups control and manipulate to silence people. Thus slogans of ‘conspiracy theories’ divert people’s attention from piecing the puzzle of truth together. It is in this light that we look at the covid global epidemic.

The UN wishes to create a ‘New World Order’ with a ‘One World Government’ by 2030 as part of its Agenda 21 Goals set out in 1992. These were all incremental CHANGE” goals to reach the ultimate One World Government goal. These include One Government, One Cashless Currency, All Schools, Colleges, Universities under One & end to single-family homes. The ultimate goal is for a handful to secure title over the world’s resources & assets. The clue comes in mention of ‘central banking’ in reference to capacity-building in developing countries, but there is no restrictions to privately owned property though nothing is to be ‘mass owned’ – or loosely translated the objective is to ensure nothing is mass owned.  Just go to the UN website, access the relevant documents and find out for yourself.

2030 Agenda was adopted by the UNGA in 2015 – aspiring to end poverty by 2030, achieve food security by 2030, promote sustainable agriculture by 2030, ensure healthy lives by 2030, ensure education by 2030, achieve gender equality by 2030, ensure sustainable water and sanitation by 2030, ensure energy access by 2030, ensure employment for all by 2030, ensure inequality within and among countries, ensure conservation of oceans and marine resources by 2030, protect ecosystems by 2030, promote peaceful societies by 2030. The question is how can the UN which has not achieved anywhere near any of the above in 76years of its existence use the same system to achieve above in 15 years?

The 1992 New World Order listed terms one world”, currency” military” family”, 5G” private transportation” air travel” synthetic drugs” are not mentioned in the 2030 Agenda. What is a relief is that neither Agenda 21 nor 2030 Agenda are legally binding. This is probably why the UN system forces countries to sign to various internal programs that plugs these specific agenda items so taken together countries end up virtually endorsing Agenda 21 & 2030 without their knowledge! How many country advisors are bothered to compare notes and put the puzzle together?

Rule of One by One – is similar to the Rule of the Empire during colonial times where a handful ruled with iron fist and human rights was dictated & determined by them as were the laws & justice that prevailed. In short it was one-sided human rights & justice. Are we returning to that era?

We are in 21stcentury – things are far different from 15thcentury. People are informed & more aware of happenings around the world & more vocal as well. So to bring 7billion population under an Empire rule something major is required. Was Covid that ingredient?

Dr. James Fetzer’s proof that the pandemic was planned & with purpose” is an eye opener. https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/09/30/proof-that-the-pandemic-was-planned-with-purpose/He refers to a shocking statement made by 500 medical doctors in Germany. The Corona Panic is a play. It’s a scam. A swindle. Its high time we understood that we’re in the midst of a global crime’. 600 medical doctors from Spain too voiced similar sentiments. Covid-19 is a false pandemic created for political purposes. This is a world dictatorship with a sanitary excuse”. In the US too a documentary titled PLANDEMIC is supported by over 27,000 medical doctors.

That this article is controversial in nature has had the infamous ‘Fact-checkers’ to give their opinion –  https://digiteye.in/principia-claims-the-coronavirus-pandemic-was-pre-planned-and-with-purpose-fact-check/though all types of jargon is used, there is no clear statement to DENY any of the issues raised in Dr. Fetzer’s article and the references he quotes. 

What about thousands of people dying every day? We know this is happening.

What do these doctors know, that we don’t know?

Dr. Fetzer’s article refers to the 2015 patent Covid-19 by R. Rothschild. In 2017-18 millions of Covid-19 test kits had been sold The product code (HS Code 300215 : Covid-19 Test Kits)

Were test kits exported to US, EU, China & other nations 2years before the outbreak? Doctors should know.

Dr. Fetzer’s article also claims that the World Bank shows Covid-19 to continue until end of March 2025.

CLUE 1

Dr. Fetzer’s article also claims that Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in 2017 guaranteed a pandemic within 2 years.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57352992how controversial is Dr. Fauci? Why would Dr. Fauci give the Wuhan lab $3.7million in 2015.

Clue 2

Dr. Fetzer’s article refers to Bill & Melinda Gates public announcement in 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDxb21qIilM(2017) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ToWY_BYb00(2018)

https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-warns-the-next-pandemic-disease-is-coming-2018-4

Bill Gates thinks a coming disease could kill 30 million people within 6 months — and says we should prepare for it as we do for war

https://www.businessinsider.com/pandemic-risk-to-humanity-2017-9

Dr. Fetzer’s article refers to Bill & Melinda Gates claiming the world is densely populated. However, 7billion people live in a world in which 70% is covered in water.  Only 10% of Earth is inhabited by humans.

Clue 3

The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board released A World at Risk” in September 2019 stressing need for preparedness for a coronavirus outbreak.

https://cepi.net/news_cepi/a-world-at-risk-global-preparedness-monitoring-board-launches-first-annual-report/

https://apps.who.int/gpmb/assets/annual_report/GPMB_Annual_Report_English.pdf(full report) The September 2019 report cover has a picture of the virus and people wearing the masks that we are wearing now!

Now take a look at these lines from the September 2019 report 

Have they been deliberately releasing lethal respiratory pathogens to the world’s populace?

Clue 4

Months prior to the corona virus outbreak in China a coronavirus pandemic exercise’event was organized in New York by the Bill & Melinda Gates in October 2019

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-01/coronavirus-outbreak-researchers-simulated-severe-pandemic/11906562

https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/event201/scenario.html

Event 201 concludes that all humanity must be vaccinated. Is this what is now being rolled out?

If the virus was prepared” prior to the corona virus outbreak, was the vaccine also prepared”?

More than being bothered about the people planning these outbreaks” we must now wonder what these ‘vaccines’ are actually ‘planned’ to do for the ones who have taken them.

Predicting an epidemic killing thousands, boasting about selling vaccines – what should we deduce?

https://www.gatesinstitute.org

Bill Gate’s TedTalk in February 2010, where he says If we are doing a real good job, we could reduce world population by 10% to 15%”

Clue 5

The Institute for Disease Modeling (part of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) in 2018 released a video A Simulation for a Global Flu Pandemic” showing a flu virus originating in Wuhan, China & spreading all over the world. Is this a coincidence? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuBDP1Q8__0

Clue 6

Dr. Francis Boyle, Harvard trained law professor at the University of Illinois & a bioweapon expert.

Dr. Boyle claims the coronavirus is a biological weapon (transform existing virus into a biological weapon) for people control. People can accept or reject his theory. But everyone has a right to expression of thought.

Clue 7

2017-2018 saw a lot of films coming out about humanity, diseases, pandemics etc

Dead Plague shows a global pandemic with hydroxychloroquine given as cure!

The film Contagion made in 2011 shows how long the project has been in progress – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5V-UrQHwSg

Those that rule the world also rule our communication channels so it is no surprise that they enjoy using films to predict their plans. A worldwide lockdown was predicted in 2008 according to Dr. Fetzers article.

Investigative journalist Harry Vox warns against coming lockdowns & quarantines…in 2014

‘They will stop at nothing to complete their toolkit of control. One of the things that had been missing from their toolkit is quarantines and curfews. The plan is to get hundreds of thousands of people infected with it and create the next phase of control.’ 

Clue 8 

In 2010 the Rockefellar Foundation released a report titled Scenario for the Future of Technology & International Development” – read this report it has predicted exactly what we are currently going through. https://nebula.wsimg.com/f02ee252d0439ad252da1e628299c091?AccessKeyId=D40106E1331C24ABD7C3&disposition=0&alloworigin=1

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/research/csgr/green/foresight/scienceinnovation/green_future_trends_series_-_rockefeller_foundation.pdf

In 2010 the report predicts the responses by US & China in 2019 & beyond.  What is also predicted is totalitarian control. This is what we should all worry about.

The 2010 report also predicts that authoritarian control of citizens will include

  • Biometric IDs for all citizens
  • Tighter regulation of key industries vital to national interests

You have to wonder if the present ‘strikes’ across Sri Lanka has a underhand purpose fitting into this planned project?

The objective of the pandemic is two-fold. Cull population as much as possible & control the living wherein they handover their freedom to feel safe & healthy (both of which is unlikely to happen)

There’s more shocks awaiting – according to Dr. Fetzer there is a handbook for global control already prepared by Rockefeller Foundation National Covid-19 Testing Action Plan” on how to control the people.

https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/national-covid-19-testing-action-plan/https://www.hospimedica.com/covid-19/articles/294781880/rockefeller-foundation-lays-out-massive-covid-19-testing-action-plan-for-us.html

The Rockefeller Foundation recommended modes to control people

  • Use of digital apps
  • Tracking software for more contact tracking
  • Using Covid-19 as ruse to test people on a weekly basis
  • Digital ID denying access if not vaccinated.
  • Travel allowed only for the vaccinated (Bill Gates holds patent for the digital vaccine IDs)
  • To trace people anywhere in the world
  • Can the Vaccine change our DNA?

Interestingly former US President Bill Clinton and Governor New York Andrew Cuomo held discussions on how to set up a large control system to check their contacts & to have the army control this system. https://abc7ny.com/mike-bloomberg-tracing-army-coronavirus-testing-and-new-york/6122098/

(We need a tracing army”)

How valid is Dr. Carrie Madej’s claims of a plan to inject humanity with dangerous Covid-19 vaccines to reprogram our DNA creating hybrids easier to control & enabling handlers to control us through artificial intelligence via digital vaccine ID (Dr. Madej incorporates 20 years of study into her theory – anyone challenging her claim must provide substantial evidence against her claim)

Dr. Fetzer’s article takes us back further to a book Committee of 300” by former CIA Dr. John Coleman.

The book showcases how secret societies manipulate governments, health, food, media etc. Listen to what Dr. Coleman says https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc1NxfmtOTc

Peter Koenig in his article Forced Vaccination and the Road to Digital Tyranny”: Agenda ID2020 Revisited” says we will have to suffer much before 2030 Great Reset” by Klaus Schwab. Peter Koenig questions the ‘deaths’ Presidents of Tanzania, Burundi and Haiti as all opted for home remedies instead of jabs!.

According to Peter Koenig, the real danger is the ‘Digital ID”

  • Forced vaccination (under police/military surveillance – those who refuse penalized with fines or jail)
  • What’s in the Vaccine – no one knows
  • Possibility of introducing nano-chip unknown to the persons being vaccinated – chip remotely charged with personal data (bank accounts/digital money) – your money could be blocked or taken away for ‘misbehavior’
  • Peter Koenig claims the constitutional democratic rights of people even in US/EU & other parts of the world are being overtaken by Health Martial Laws” allowing governments to do as they like in the name of health.
  • Peter Koenig cites how the day prior to Bastille Day (14July1789) – on 13 July President Macros announced forced vaccination & other strong measures
  • Notice how Governments are being brought to book until UN Agenda 2030 and Agenda ID2020 materializes.

What is important to note is that the People of the world are all victims, whether they are US citizens, European citizens, Chinese citizens or any other global citizen. Even Governments may be just as clueless, mainstream media heads and the secret societies that run them rule the world. This is nothing that should surprise you as a read through the 2010 Rockefeller report predicting the coronavirus scenario and the solutions to be rolled out virtually place on the table the plan. They cannot be brushed aside as conspiracy theories as these are reports released by them. The various documentaries and interviews are all proof as well. These are no created notions but statements revealed from their own mouths!

There is some hope for example the Swiss via referendum rejected a law proposing electronic IDs mainly because the Swiss government planned to privatize the data & management and the Swiss did not wish to have their personal data open to private parties. The Swiss people have been regularly petitioning against attempts to suppress their rights. The 99.9% of the People of the World need to realize the bigger plan concocted by 0.001% or even less.

No one is against measures taken to curb or eliminate covid – but if this virus has been created to suppress and control the people even attempting to cull them & a handful are forcing governments to adopt tyrannical measures that align with the main obective, the People of the World must wake up & say NO.

Shenali D Waduge

ජාතික ක්‍රීඩා දින සුබාශිංසනය

July 30th, 2021

නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය

සමස්ත ශ්‍රී ලංකාව නියෝජනය වන පරිදි නව ක්‍රීඩා සංස්කෘතියක් බිහි කිරීමේ උදාර පරමාර්ථය පෙරදැරිව 2021 වසරේ සිට ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කළ ජාතික ක්‍රීඩා දිනය” වෙනුවෙන් සුබාශිංසන පළ කරනුයේ ඉමහත් සතුටිනි.

අභියෝග හමුවේ ලොව ජය ගැනීමට ක්‍රීඩාවෙන් ලැබෙන දායකත්වය අති මහත්ය. ජය පරාජය විඳ දරාගන්නා ශක්තිමත් මිනිසෙකු නිර්මාණය කිරීම පමණක් නොව නිරෝගීමත් පුරවැසියෙකු රටේ අනාගතය වෙනුවෙන් නිර්මාණය කිරීම ද අප සැමගේ වගකීමකි.

ඩන්කන් වයිට් මහතා ඔලිම්පික් තරගාවලියක දී ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වෙනුවෙන් පළමු රිදී පදක්කම දිනාදුන් දිනය සිහිපත් කරමින් ජාතික ක්‍රීඩා දිනය” ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කිරීමට ලැබීම මා ලැබූ භාග්‍යයක් කොට සළකමි.

ජාතික ක්‍රීඩා දිනය මගින් රටට මෙන්ම ලෝකයට පණිවුඩයක් ගෙන යා හැකි වන්නේ අදාළ දිනය තේමා කරගනිමින් ක්‍රීඩාවේ උන්නතිය උදෙසා අප ඉටු කරන ලබන සුවිශේෂී කාර්යය භාරයේ ප්‍රතිඵල දීර්ඝ කාලීනව බිම් මට්ටම දක්වා ගලා යාම තුළය.

ක්‍රීඩාවට ලැදි නිරෝගිමත් ජනතාවක් රටට බිහිකිරීම මෙන්ම වෘත්තිය මට්ටමින් ක්‍රීඩාවේ නියැලෙන ක්‍රීඩික ක්‍රීඩිකාවන්ට වටිනාකමක් ලබාදීම අප සතු වගකීමකි. ඒ වෙනුවෙන් පසුගිය කාලය තුළ පෙර නොවු විරූ වැඩසටහන් රැසක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට අපට හැකිවිය.

එපමණක් නොව ක්‍රීඩාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් නිවැරදි තීන්දු තීරණ ගැනීම උදෙසා ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් හසල අත්දැකීම් ලත් පිරිසක් සම්බන්ධ කරගැනීමට හැකිවීම ද මේ දක්වා අප ලබා ඇති ජයග්‍රහණයකි.

එක් ක්‍රීඩාවක් වෙනුවට ක්‍රීඩා රැසක් ජනතාව අතර ජනප්‍රිය කිරීමට අපි පසුගිය කාලය තුළ අඩිතාලම දමා ඇත්තෙමු. එහි ප්‍රතිඵල අනාගතයේ දී රටට හිමිවනු ඇත.

ඒ නිසා ජනප්‍රිය නොවන ඇතැම් තීන්දු තීරණ මතින් වුවද ක්‍රීඩාවේ දියුණුව වෙනුවෙන් ගත යුතු සෑම පියවරක්ම ගන්නා බව අද දිනයේ මම ඔබට සිහිපත් කරමි. 

සෞභාග්‍යයේ දැක්ම ප්‍රතිපත්ති මාලව අනුව යමින් ක්‍රීඩාවේ අභිවෘද්ධිය වෙනුවෙන් ප්‍රමුඛත්වය දී කටයුතු කිරීමට ඇවසි දිරි දෙන අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමා, අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා ඇතුළු රජයට මාගේ ප්‍රණාමය පුද කිරීමට ද මෙය අවස්ථාවක් කරගමි.

කොවිඩ් වසංගත තත්ත්වය හමුවේ ක්‍රීඩා සම්බන්ධයෙන් විවිධ සීමා පැනවී තිබිය දී වුවත් සෞඛ්‍ය මාර්ගෝපදේශයන්ට අනුගතවෙමින් ක්‍රීඩාවන්හි නිරතවීම නිරෝගී ජාතියකට අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වේ.

ක්‍රීඩක ක්‍රීඩිකාවන් මෙන්ම ක්‍රීඩාවේ උන්නතිය උදෙසා විශාල කැපකිරීමක් කරන පුහුණුකරුවන් ඇතුළු සියලු දෙනා සිහිපත් කිරීමට ද මම මෙය අවස්ථාවක් කරගමි. ඔබගේ කැපකිරීම් මා හොඳින් දන්නා අතර ඒ වෙනුවෙන් කළ යුතු කාර්යය භාරය නිසි ලෙස ඉටු කිරීම මම ප්‍රමුඛත්වයෙහි ලා සළකමි.

රටක් නිරෝගී ජාතියක් ලෙස ලොව විරාජමාන කිරීම උදෙසා ජාතික ක්‍රීඩා දිනය ඔස්සේ කරනු ලබන සියලු අභිමතාර්ථයන් සඵල වේවා! යැයි සුබ ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරමි.

නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ

තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය

JR Jayewardene and the July 1983 Anti-Tamil Violence

July 30th, 2021

By D. B. S. Jeyaraj Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Lands and Mahaweli Development Minister Gamini Dissanayake warned Tamils that it would require 14 hours for Indian troops to come and rescue them but the Sinhalese could destroy them in 14 minutes if they wanted to

On Sunday July 24, mobs began moving in the direction of Borella and Thimbirigasaya from Kanatte. Tamil homes and businesses were attacked and set on fire. As the Esala full moon shone brightly from a not-so-cloudy sky, clouds of smoke from burning Tamil establishments spiralled upwards

By
D. B. S. Jeyaraj

July 24, 1983 was the day on which a destructive spree of anti-Tamil violence commenced in Jaffna in the early hours of the morning and began spreading to Colombo in the later hours of the evening on the same day. It continued to other parts of the Island in the following days. The 38th anniversary of those dark days – etched in history as Black July”   revives bad memories among most Tamils who lived in Sri Lanka during July 1983. 

The week long spree of anti-Tamil violence saw over 4,000 Tamils and some Muslims – mistaken for Tamils – being killed. Thousands were injured. Some of the injured were killed in hospitals. There were close upon 300,000 displaced persons as a result. Around 130,000 of these were housed in makeshift refugee camps. More than 2,500 business enterprises ranging from factories to petty boutiques were damaged or destroyed. The number of houses and dwellings and vehicles damaged or destroyed has not been correctly estimated yet.

The anti-Tamil violence of July 1983 was not a mass uprising of Sinhalese against Tamils. Prior to the outbreak of violence, there existed a pre-planned conspiracy to launch a widespread attack against Tamil life, limb and property on a massive scale. All it required was a powerful incident to be the provocative pretext to justify such an attack. The ambush of an Army patrol in the north in the night of Saturday July 23 by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) resulting in the killing of 13 soldiers by the Tigers reportedly triggered off the violence beginning from Sunday July 24.

‘Four Four Bravo’ Patrol
What happened then was this. On Saturday July 23, 1983, the Army’s ‘Four Four Bravo’ routine patrol proceeded from the Mathagal military base. It consisted of 15 men travelling in a jeep and a half truck. The men were all from the 1st battalion of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI). They were commanded by an old Anandian, 2nd Lt. Vass Gunawardane who had a sub-machine gun. The others had self -loading rifles and grenades. 

Meanwhile, the LTTE had planned to launch an attack on the Army in Thirunelvely known generally as Thinnavely about two miles away from Jaffna town. Sathasivam Selvanayagam alias Sellakkili of Kalviyankaadu, the newly appointed Tiger Military Commander planned and supervised the operation with the support of Prabhakaran. The spot picked was about 150 metres south of the Post Box junction along the Jaffna-Palaly Road. The road had been already dug up for telecommunications cable laying. This made it convenient for the Tigers to bury land mines.

Four landmines were laid and the wires linked to the exploder were concealed on the back of the roof of a boutique facing the road. Sellakkili perched himself on the roof to explode the mines at the right time. The other Tiger cadres hid themselves behind brick walls in two groups on either side of the road.

The LTTE at that time had only 30 full-time members including its supremo Veluppillai Prabhakaran. Of these 19 were involved in the Thinnavely attack. They were Prabhakaran, Sellakkili, Pulendran, Ponnammaan, Reggie, Ranjan Lala, Kittu, Santhosham, Victor, Appiah, Ganesh, Lingam, Albert, Basheer, Rajesh, Suppanna, Ramu, Gnanam and Raghu (Kundappa).

When the two vehicles approached the landmines were set off. They exploded on the right side of the jeep and in between the jeep and truck. Thereafter the Tigers started firing and lobbing grenades. The soldiers also retaliated. At the end of it all, 13 soldiers including Lt. Vass Gunawardane were dead. The only two Army survivors were Cpl. Perera and Lance Cpl. Sumathipala. From the Tiger side the solitary casualty was Sellakkili, the newly-appointed Military Commander. 

Soldiers on the rampage
Once the news of the ambush became known, soldiers of the SLLI went on the rampage. The then SLLI Commanding Officer Lt. Col Upali Dharmaratne was either unwilling or unable to control them. The overall Jaffna Commander Brig. Lyle Balthazar too was unable to exert his authority and instill discipline among troops. 

The enraged soldiers went on a violent spree killing 51 civilians in Thinnavely and surrounding areas. This included a university lecturer Kala Parameswaran who was known to me. A mini-van carrying seven passengers was stopped and all eight including the driver were lined up and shot dead in cold blood. Among these was my friend Wimalathasan, a human rights activist and Editor of the journal ‘Manithan’. Later on, the then Army Commander Gen. Tissa Bull” Weeratunga transferred the SLLI 1st battalion out of Jaffna. Lt. Col. Dharmaratne was replaced by Lt. Col. A.M.U. Seneviratne.

The UNP Government headed by J.R. Jayewardene conducted a mass funeral at Kanatte for the 13 soldiers killed by the LTTE. Large crowds gathered at Kanatte on Sunday July 24. Many were brought there in Government vehicles. The situation took a violent turn around dusk. Mobs began moving in the direction of Borella and Thimbirigasaya from Kanatte. Tamil homes and businesses were attacked and set on fire. As the Esala full moon shone brightly from a not-so-cloudy sky, clouds of smoke from burning Tamil establishments spiralled upwards.

Sunday Sil, Monday Kill.”
The following Monday July 25 saw anti-Tamil violence spreading like wildfire. The plantation Tamil patriarch Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman known for his pithy comments later described the violence that followed Poya on Sunday as – Sunday Sil, Monday Kill.”

Despite repeated entreaties by the then IGP Rudra Rajasingham to declare a curfew, President Jayewardene delayed imposing one until the following Monday evening. Even after a curfew was supposedly in force, the violence went on for three days peaking on Wednesday July 27. It began ebbing on Thursday July 28, the day that Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent the then Indian Foreign Minister P. Narasimha Rao as her Special Emissary to Colombo.

On Friday July 29 saw Colombo and suburbs being terrified by the rumour that the Tigers had come to town. The afternoon of that fateful ‘Koti Dawasa’ (Tiger Day) saw the goon squads massacring Tamils again after being ‘sure’ that no Tigers were in town. Finally 30 and 31 July saw the violence diminish gradually. By August the violence had ceased as international opinion and pressure compelled the J.R. Jayewardene regime to normalize” the situation. 

Indira Gandhi-Narasimha Rao
The role played by India in general and her Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in particular was of crucial importance in curbing the anti-Tamil violence in Sri Lanka then. Indira Gandhi cancelled her trip to Tamil Nadu that had been scheduled earlier. Instead she telephoned President Jayewardene on Thursday July 28 morning and sent her foreign minister PV Narasimha Rao (Later PM) in the evening to Colombo as her special emissary. 

Narasimha Rao met with President JR, Premier Premadasa and Foreign Minister ACS Hameed. He spoke on the telephone to Opposition Leader Appapillai Amirthalingam. Rao also had a private unofficial” meeting in person with cabinet minister Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman. Prior to his return to New Delhi, the Indian Foreign minister  inquired” from his counterpart  as to whether Colombo  would require Indian security personnel to establish law and order in Sri Lanka if the Lankan Police and armed forces were unable to end the anti-Tamil violence. There was a marked change after Rao’s departure. The organized anti-Tamil violence began diminishing while the law enforcement machinery got re-activated miraculously.

President  Junius Richard Jayewardene and other members of the ruling United National Party (UNP) sought to explain the Black July violence as the ‘spontaneous reaction of the Sinhala people to the LTTE attack in Jaffna. ’The Sinhala people were collectively blamed for the violence by the President and his Government. This was done to deflect the blame falling on the Govt.

Blaming Sinhala People
There is, however, a major flaw in attributing blame for the dark events of Black July ‘83 to the Sinhala people on the whole. It is correct that the perpetrators were Sinhalese and the victims Tamils. But it was by no means a mass uprising of the entire Sinhala race against Tamils. If that had happened, only a few Tamils would have been left to tell the tale.

 Many Sinhala people were horrified at what happened and were helpless onlookers, while a minority of their ethnicity unleashed havoc in the name of their race and country. It is possible that a section of the people who were non- participants may have been supportive of the anti–Tamil violence and sanctioned it by their silence. But the majority of the Sinhala people were against to what happened then. It cannot be forgotten that a large number of Sinhalese protected and saved Tamils often at great personal risk. Many Muslims too gave shelter and protection to their Tamil neighbours in those dark days. Members of my own family as well as many relatives and friends were aided greatly by decent Sinhala and Muslim people in those troubling times.

The conduct and political role played by the then President JR Jayewardene in the Anti-Tamil violence in July 1983 has been widely criticized. In fact there were many who condemn JR as being responsible for aggravating the situation. The decision to stage a mass funeral for the 13 soldiers at Kanatte in Colombo and the long delay in declaring a curfew resulted in terrible carnage. In order to provide greater insight into the alleged acts of omission and commission by JR during July 1983, I shall reproduce here an electronic mail sent to me by former DIG of Police Ramachandra Sundaralingam.

DIG Sundaralingam
Sunda, as Sundralingam was known, was a very good friend to journalists of my generation in Sri Lanka. If we wanted a good law and order news story, all we needed to do was to contact him. Sundaralingam was serving as Senior DIG in charge of ranges at the time of the 1983 July anti-Tamil violence. Sunda later took up a post at the INTERPOL in Paris and became known as an expert in combatting the narcotics trade. After retirement he took up residence in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Sunda and I were in regular contact via e-mail and telephone until his demise in December 2018.

While researching for this article I came across an e-mail sent by Sunda in July 2017. What happened then was that he wanted to talk to me about the 1983 July riots and telephoned on my land line. I was away from home and did not respond promptly. An impatient Sunda then sent an e-mail summarizing his thoughts. However, we did converse on the phone subsequently and discussed in detail the points mentioned in the e-mail. However, I feel it is worthwhile reproducing that e-mail as it sheds much light on what had happened then. Here it is:

Sunda’s  Electronic Mail

Dear DBS,
In case we miss each other’s call. Briefly the facts on the Darkest Chapter of the History of Sri Lanka July 1983;
1) Thinnavely LTTE ambush killed 13 soldiers on July 23, 1983. Army HQ informed, President JR via Gen Attygalle ordered Army Commander Weeratunge get to Jaffna immediately.

2) DIG Rajaguru in charge of NP called IGP Rudra Rajasingham and myself stating Army running berserk, Police were helpless.

3) Security Council meeting with all Service Chiefs, Air Force, Naval Commander except Army Chief already in Jaffna to monitor the happenings there and elsewhere. IGP Rudra Rajasingham requested my presence at the meeting as Senior DIG Ranges overseeing NP DIG Rajaguru.  

4) Gen. Attygalle hourly discussion (3pm/7pm) with Army Chief Weeratunge.  In Jaffna situation was deteriorating with Army revolt in Jaffna, damage to property and injury to several persons, Commander Weeratunge was unable to exercise any control .Gen Attygalle informs JR on the ground situation, JR who in turn informd Gen Attygalle that Army soldiers be buried in Jaffna, as it happens in a war situation. When this message was conveyed to Gen. Weeratunge, his prompt reply, Sir I will also be buried here, make arrangements to shift the bodies to their native places early.”

5) Security Council decides the bodies be flown to Katunayake Air Force base, after embalming be dispatched to the 13 villages of the 13 soldiers. Police were instructed to organize 13 Air conditioned Ambulances be in readiness at Katunayake on arrival of bodies from Jaffna. This arrangement was approved by JR in his conversation with Gen Attygalle, I am an eye-witness to all these arrangements.

6) Direction received at Police HQ ambulance plan has been cancelled, the bodies will be brought to Ratmalana by air for common burial at Kanatte. In the meantime, tension was mounting in Colombo, with large crowds heading for Kanatte.

7) IGP Rudra Rajasingham, DIG Ernest Perera and I visited Kanatte, everything looked tensed up. I was able to sense the situation as serious. DIG Perera and I strongly advised IGP Rudra Rajasingham to meet the President immediately to impose curfew around 9.00 pm, otherwise the situation would get out of control. IGP left Kanatte to meet JR at Ward Place. Curfew was never declared until next evening by which time serious damage was caused to Tamil persons and their property and it was the worst in the history of country. JR could have averted this situation, but he failed to declare curfew. The big question is, who made the decision to bring the bodies to Kanatte for a common burial? Minister Thondaman told me it was Cyril Mathew who insisted on Kanatte funeral. All this is history.”

The organized violence
An important point to note is that the July 1983 violence was basically an organized act. Several persons may have engaged in the violence on their own but there were core groups at different locations that planned and executed it. As is the case in mob violence, these core groups were joined by others. These groups had absolute impunity and had the protection of important members of the UNP Government then in power.

The mobs had lists of Tamil-owned houses and businesses. They also knew the details of ownership. Wherever premises were owned by Sinhalese, only furniture and goods belonging to Tamil tenants were destroyed and set on fire. The buildings were not torched or damaged.

Many of the mobs were led by functionaries of the UNP trade union Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya (JSS). Several UNP Municipal and Urban councillors and family members were involved. Many prominent supporters and strong-arm men of cabinet ministers were involved. The Police were ordered by UNP politicians in several instances not to arrest the violent elements.

In many incidents, the large groups of thugs and goons were transported in Government-owned Transport Board vehicles or in vehicles owned by semi-Government corporations. Even food parcels and liquor were distributed systematically among those elements.

When some decent UNP leaders such as Shelton Ranarajah and Renuka Herath Ranasinghe got the goons locked up by the Police in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya respectively, and later their release was secured by ministers Cyril Mathew and Gamini Dissanayake. The role of Cyril Mathew and his political lackeys in the violence were well-known. Some of those involved are still in politics and holding high office.

Responses of Govt Ministers
One of the lamentable features of the July 1983 pogrom was the abominable response of J.R. Jayewardene and senior ministers on television. Not even a single word was uttered in sympathy for the victims of the violence. JR indirectly blamed the Sinhala perpetrators, but justified the violence by saying it was a natural and spontaneous reaction of the Sinhalese people.  Instead of reaching out to the victimized Tamil people, the President announced that legislation would be brought to forbid secessionism.

State Minister Anandatissa de Alwis spoke about a hidden hand, a foreign hand, being responsible. He said there was a conspiracy to provoke clashes between the Sinhalese and Tamils, the Sinhalese and Muslims and Buddhists and Christians. Lands and Mahaweli Development Minister Gamini Dissanayake warned Tamils that it would require 14 hours for Indian troops to come and rescue them but the Sinhalese could destroy them in 14 minutes if they wanted to. Trade and Shipping Minister Lalith Athulathmudali was sorry that people had to queue up again for essentials as a result of the violence. Finance Minister Ronnie de Mel gave a lecture in history about Sena and Guttiga. Cyril Mathew, the Industries and Scientific Affairs Minister, raised the Indian bogey and saw an alien hand behind the conspiracy that led to the July ’83 violence. His cabinet colleague, Rural Industrial Development Minister Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman refuted it and said elements inside or close to the Government were responsible.

Paul Sieghart
Notwithstanding the efforts of then President Jayewardene to tarnish the Sinhala people as being collectively responsible for this carnage, respected observers such as Paul Sieghart of the International Commission of Jurists exposed the real state of affairs.

As Sieghart himself pointed out in his report (‘Sri Lanka: A Mounting Tragedy of Errors’): Clearly this (July 1983 attack) was no spontaneous upsurge of communal hatred among the Sinhala people – nor was it as has been suggested in some quarters, a popular response to the killing of 13 soldiers in an ambush the previous day by Tamil Tigers, which was not even reported in the newspapers until the riots began. It was a series of deliberate acts, executed in accordance with a concerted plan, conceived and organized well in advance.”

Planned Pogrom
What happened in July 1983 was not a spontaneous riot but a planned pogrom. A ‘pogrom’ is defined as a form of violent riot, a mob attack, either approved or condoned by Government or military authorities, directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes, businesses, property and religious centres. The word pogrom is of Russian origin and means to destroy, to wreak havoc, to demolish violently” in the language.

Baseball-‘Best ball in the world’ gets mud bath, gloved treatment

July 30th, 2021

YOKOHAMA, Japan, July 30 (Reuters) – They hail from Sri Lanka, enjoy 30-second rubs in U.S. mud, get top-notch service in Japan because of the pandemic and are called the best in the world by Joe Ryan, an Olympian who played the game of his life on Friday.

They are the Olympic baseballs, 144 of them freshly unwrapped before each of the 16 games at Tokyo 2020. Made by Japan sporting goods company SSK Corp in Sri Lanka, the roughly 145g white spheres with red laces and black-ink logos are gaining attention at the Olympics for several reasons.

When the Olympics last held baseball in 2008, balls came from Japanese rival Mizuno Corp (8022.T), which still supply softballs, but lost the baseball deal.

In addition, to prevent COVID-19 spread, young stadium attendants are keeping separate bags of balls for each team during games and using white-cloth gloves or clear medical ones for handling. They also ferry to and from the pitching mound for each side separate bags of rosin, a mixture of pine tar and chalk to dry sweaty hands and slick balls.

Above all, the Olympic balls are reminding that alternatives exist to the Rawlings balls sparking frustration and cheating in the world’s top professional association, Major League Baseball (MLB).

The league this year instituted mid-game equipment checks to catch pitchers who “doctor” baseballs by surreptitiously rubbing banned sticky substances such as name-brand offering Spider Tack.

Pitchers contend the substance overcomes inconsistencies in design and slippery texture. Better grip increases ball movement, but MLB officials worry that all the darting and dipping pitches and the foolish swings at them is making the game boring.

Joe Ryan, a top Minnesota Twins prospect playing for the U.S. Olympic team, said on Friday the SSK version “is the best ball in the world” and urged America to adopt the “amazing” and “perfect” creation.

After allowing just a run on five hits over six innings, the 25-year-old earned some credibility.

“The hitters love it, I love throwing with it. All the pitchers love throwing with it,” he said. “It would solve a lot of the current issues with foreign substances. I can’t say enough: It is the best baseball I have ever touched.”

The mud rubbers get some credit. Ahead of Ryan’s start, Reuters watched a trio of masked umpiring officials dip their fingers in water and take a swipe of Lena Blackburne Rubbing Mud, which is harvested by a small company in a secret location along New Jersey’s Delaware River.

The team then patter balls with the mixture, as if they were shaping a pizza-dough ball. It removes the slippery sheen of fresh product.

“So the pitchers can grab it and when they throw it, it’s not slipping off their hands,” said Gustavo Rodriguez, baseball umpire director for World Baseball Softball Confederation.

Cheating and complaints have been minimal through qualifiers and the first three Olympic days, he said.

MLB requires use of the same mud, but the feel is better when applied to SSK’s ball, people who have used both say.

“If SSK wants to send me some more, I’ll give them an address,” Ryan said.

Sri Lanka has never produced an MLB player, but has celebrated on government social media accounts its Olympics role. Afterwards, balls will go to Japanese schools and clubs. Players get keepsakes, too.

Israel’s Danny Valencia, who homered off Ryan, said he got the ball he struck.

“To be able to take these little trophies to show your kid, show my son, it’s a really good feeling,” he said.Reporting by Paresh Dave Editing by Christian Radnedge

Sri Lankan bishops urge government to reopen schools

July 30th, 2021

UCA News reporter, Colombo

Catholic bishops have urged the Sri Lankan government to reopen schools and take drastic measures to stop the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the poor.

“The children will be able to learn not only the sciences but also achieve emotional, psychological and spiritual health, interact with their teachers, their fellow students and friends, and engage in extracurricular and sports activities with their peers in order to achieve a sense of emotional balance,” said Bishop Winston S. Fernando, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka, in a press statement on July 29.

“We appeal to the government in the interests of the children to be flexible and agree to rectifying the long-standing salary anomalies as the teachers matter the most in the moulding of our future citizens and leaders.

“We also call upon the teachers to consider it their sacred duty to form and mould the future citizens and call off their strike action to return to school for the love of the children they look after.”

Teachers and principals have stopped online teaching activities for 19 days over salary anomalies and the controversial National Defense University bill.

Teachers’ unions, university staff and civic rights groups have joined the strike and several demonstrations were organized in main cities. The strike continues as discussions between teachers and government concluded unsuccessfully.

If religious leaders raise their voice for justice and truth, it gives strength to ordinary people who are voiceless

The strike has affected the education of tens of thousands of students as most of them don’t have access to computers and the internet.

Joseph Stalin, general secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union, said trade unions could not accept proposals made by the cabinet subcommittee.

Ramesh Pathirana, co-cabinet spokesman, said the government has identified the need to resolve the salary anomalies but added that the government is not in a position to make immediate changes due to financial issues.

The bishops also said the country is facing a serious crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic affecting all aspects of life.Related News-Catholic schools join online teaching strike in Sri LankaBlack July weighs heavily on post-conflict Sri LankaSri Lankan faithful mark Indigenous Clergy DaySri Lankan girl’s death stirs protests over child slavery

“While we commend the government for its vaccination program, we also wish to reiterate that it needs to ensure that even more vigorous steps are taken to cushion the ill effects of the pandemic on the poorer sectors of society,” said Bishop Fernando.

Mahesh Nayanajith, a teacher who supports the strike, said it is very timely for the bishops to talk about children’s education as well as the large number of lives lost to Covid-19.

“Politicians always try to use these issues to maintain their power. If religious leaders raise their voice for justice and truth, it gives strength to ordinary people who are voiceless,” said Nayanajith.

Bishop Fernando said the entire country is helplessly aware of the severe economic constraints due to the pandemic.

“High rates of unemployment will create inevitable poverty, malnutrition and hunger. Therefore, priorities have to be drawn up and funds allocated to respond to what matters most and not for any ambitious projects,” the prelate said.

“We need to adopt the best practices of other countries, the leadership needs to go by expert advice and not by political views, opinions and self-serving agendas.”

Glasgow woman raped on Sri Lanka holiday finally gets justice 11 years after traumatising attack

July 30th, 2021

By Sarah Ward Courtesy Glasgow Times

A TOURIST who was raped by a hotel worker at a glamorous resort in Sri Lanka 11 years ago has finally won her quest for justice after the tour operator was held liable.

The woman, now aged in her 40s, was on holiday with her husband in July 2010 at the Club Bentota Hotel on Paradise Island for a 15-night all inclusive holiday.

The couple booked the holiday through package tour operator Kuoni.

In the early hours of July 17 the woman, from Glasgow, was walking through the grounds of the resort.

An electrician wearing maintenance worker uniform offered to show her a shortcut to reception – but lured her into an engineering room where he raped and attacked her.

She suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder in the aftermath of the horror assault.

The victim’s legal team argued package tour operator Kuoni was liable as the man was guiding her within the resort as part of the service provided under the package holiday contract.

The Supreme Court – the highest court in the UK – has now ruled Kuoni is liable to pay her compensation under the terms of the contract that the woman entered into when she booked the holiday.

It ruled the obligations of tour operators are not just services such as accommodation, meals and transport but also a duty to ensure safety and customers should be able to enjoy a holiday to a reasonable standard.”

But despite the victory the woman told how she felt she had been “put on trial” as Kuoni’s defence team trawled her social media accounts and counselling notes to build a case against her.

She said she believes victims of sexual assault are routinely subjected to character assassinations, and her mental health was repeatedly questioned.

The woman said: “Today’s decision is a huge relief for me and my family, and we are hugely grateful to our legal team for supporting us over the past 11 years.

This case was always about trying to force Kuoni to take account of its failings to protect and support me both before and after the incident.  by Taboola Coffee Drinks & Brain ChangesMEDSCAPE|SPONSORED Don’t play this game if you are under 40 years oldBEST GAME 2020|SPONSORED Play Now

Unfortunately, rather than take note and review its approach to my experience, Kuoni decided to double down and effectively put me on trial in an open court.

In a case that was supposed to focus on the legal interpretation of liability, I instead had the defence trawl through my Facebook and social media records, excerpts from my deeply personal counselling sessions with a cognitive behavioural therapy specialist were read out in court and my overall mental health was repeatedly called into question.

“This was all while I was actively suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Like so many victims of sexual assault, it was easier to attack me and my character than for Kuoni to really consider the case in hand and its own processes and procedures.

I only hope that by seeing this through to the end not only will Kuoni finally take action to review its approaches on customer health, safety and support – but that other women and victims of sexual assault will not have to fight as hard as I did for justice.”

The woman instructed Irwin Mitchell’s specialist International Serious Injury team to launch a legal case against Kuoni through which she and her husband booked their holiday.

James Riley, the specialist international serious injury solicitor at Irwin Mitchell, representing the woman, said after the hearing: The horrifying ordeal that our client went through and the impact that it has had, not only on her but her family can’t be underestimated.

“Their lives are still greatly affected more than a decade on.

While nothing can ever make up for what has happened we welcome this definitive judgment.

“What happened to our client on holiday is unthinkable and clearly falls far below a reasonable standard.

Not only does the Supreme Court’s ruling provide our client with the justice she deserves, it’s also of major importance to the wider travel industry.

The judgment provides clarity to tour operators regarding their legal obligations.

“Vitally it also preserves the rights of holidaymakers and protects them.

We now urge tour operators to ensure, where possible, that they learn lessons from this case to protect holidaymakers.

We will continue to support our client and her family so that they can try and come to terms with what has happened as best they can.”

During legal proceedings the High Court and the Court of Appeal ruled in Kuoni’s favour.

However, in July 2019 the Supreme Court handed down a preliminary judgment. It asked the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg to clarify the law on several further issues in the case as it has been pursued on the basis of regulations that originated from an EU Directive.

Earlier this year the CJEU ruled that, in view of the objective of ensuring a high level of consumer protection, a broad approach should be adopted when seeking to identify the scope of ancillary obligations undertaken under a package contract, irrespective of whether these obligations were to be performed by the package tour operator or by its suppliers of services.

The case was referred back to the Supreme Court for final judgment and Kuoni has been found liable today (July 30).

A spokesman for Kuoni said: This was a traumatic incident for the claimant and we remain extremely sympathetic to the impact it’s had.

“After many years, we are pleased that the Supreme Court has provided clarity in a very complex case.

“We will now take time to consider the full verdict.”

British Army’s Unjust Killing of Edward Henry Pedris

July 30th, 2021

By Major General (Retired) Ranjith Rajapathirana Courtesy Ceylon Today

British Army’s Unjust Killing of Edward Henry Pedris

Julie Hathai; 7 July 1915 eventually became a phrase signifying a major calamity. It is one of the darkest days in the annals of history on which date, young Edward Henry Pedris, age 28 years (1887-1915) and a scion of an immensely wealthy elite SinhaleseBuddhist family in Colombo, was asassinated by a Panjabi firing squad, consequent to an unlawful sentence passed by the Court Martial. Incidentally on 2 March 1815, 100 years previously, the British solemnly undertook to protect Buddhism but did exactly the opposite by suppressing the Sinhalese – Buddhists majority. In May 1915, a local skirmish between Sinhalese and Muslims near the Hill Street Mosque in Kandy developed into large scale island wide communal riots. As usual, the Ceylon Police were passive onlookers and seeing the Police apathy, local Sinhalese hoodlums had a field day at the expense of Muslim traders.

A very weak Colonial Governor Sir Robert Chalmers had declared martial law and handed over the law and order situation to Brigadier General Leigh Malcolm, the General Officer Commanding the troops in the Island of Ceylon. A state of terror was unleashed by the Military and without discrimination, people were shot at sight. A series of drum headed Kangaroo Courts under the grand name of ‘Field General Court Martial’ (FGCM) were convened in which their Lordships, the members of the Court Martial, though they had already convicted the accused concerned before the trial, nevertheless proceeded to try him in a manner befitting to a Court of Justice. Henry Pedris too had the misfortune to come before such a FGCM and was automatically found guilty and shot at dawn on 7 July 1915 at the Welikada Prison by a firing squad composed of Punjabi soldiers of the British Army. As I shall explain later, the FGCM that tried Pedris was totally flawed and even the purported death sentence was not confirmed by the competent authority, the Governor of Ceylon. Furthermore, a docile Ceylon Supreme Court in the form of Sir Alexander Wood – Renton C.J, Justice Shaw and Justice De Sampayo erroneously declined to interfere with the sentences passed by numerous FGCM citing lack of jurisdiction. This article will mainly focus on the legal infirmities of the Court Martial that tried Pedris and the judgments made per incuriam by the Ceylon Supreme Court declining to interfere with the sentences passed by FGCM’s that were convened during the period of martial law, 100 days from June 1915 to August 1915.

FGCM  

The facts related to the Henry Pedris’ case are briefly as follows. Riots broke out in Kandy on 28 May 1915 and soon spread to Colombo and other parts of the Island. Two groups of Sinhalese and Muslims had clashed in Pettah near Pedris’ shop and when the safety of the shop was threatened, Pedris fired 2 shots into air using his revolver and the mob dispersed. Pedris was soon arrested and brought before a FGCM of British Army officers stationed in Ceylon on an Indictment containing 5 counts inter-alia, treason by levying war against Our Lord, the King (levying war by firing 2 revolver rounds into the air!). The offences were said to have been committed on 1June 1915. Martial law was declared on 2 June 1915 and the proclamation did not specify that it had retrospective operation and it is trite law under the English law that an Act or Order has no retrospective operation unless it is clearly so spelt out on its face. Thus Mr. Pedris’ trial was ab initio void because at the time of the alleged offence, martial law was not in force in Ceylon.

The FGCM, composed of British officers of 17th Punjab Regiment (an Indian Regiment of the British Army) stationed in Colombo, was held at the Headquarters of the General Officer Commanding Troops Ceylon which was located at the present Defence School building at Malay Street, Slave Island. Unlike a General Court Martial (GCM), which must be presided over by a Judge Advocate General (JAG), for FGCMs, the presence of a JAG is optional. In the FGCM of Henry Pedris, there was no JAG and the Court Martial Board was entirely composed of lay Army officers who were not conversant in the law. Pedris was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. In the court martial Pedris was defended by Advocate L.H. de Alwis.

Unlawful execution  

Pedris was tried under and in terms of the Army Act (1881) UK and in terms of the said Army Act, a death sentence passed in a British colony had to be ratified by the Governor of the Colony. In addition, Pedris was a member of the Colombo Town Guard, which was a unit raised under the Ceylon Defence Force (CDF) Ordinance No 8 of 1910. In terms of Section 19(1)(b) of the CDF Ordinance, no sentence of a court martial awarded in Ceylon for the trial of any member of the CDF shall be carried into execution unless confirmed by the Governor of Ceylon. Despite this mandatory requirement, the General Officer Commanding Ceylon, Brigadier General Leigh Malcolm did not refer Pedris’ case to the Governor for him to consider exercising clemency of the Crown. The Governor Sir Robert Chalmers protested over this omission and other cases came to be referred to him after this; vide A.C. Dep. Ceylon Police and Sinhala-Muslim Riots of 1915.Thus it is submitted that the execution of Pedris was unlawful since the death sentence was never confirmed by the Governor of Ceylon.

A docile Ceylon Supreme Court

Soon after his conviction by the FGCM, Pedris’ relatives filed an application for a Writ of Certiorari: a Writ to quash or set aside that which is invalid or illegal, and prohibition in the Ceylon Supreme Court but the relief was denied by a bench comprising Sir Alexander Wood – Renton Chief Justice, Justice Shaw and Justice de Sampayo. This judgment was never published in the New Law Report. Nevertheless, the erroneous reasoning of the Supreme Court can be inferred from two FGCM cases related to a prominent VIP W.A. de Silva and Edmund Hewavitharana, an uncle of Pedris and a kinsman of Anagarika Dharmapala (Don David Hewavitharana). Anagarika Dharmapala had a narrow escape since at the time he was in Calcutta.

In the case of W.A. de Silva (1915),a writ of habeas corpus was filed onbehalf of W.A. de Silva.  Adrian St V Jayewardene, paternal uncle of President J.R. Jayewardene, supported the application. The Supreme Court issued notice to the Military but later refused relief on the ground that per Sir Alexander Wood Renton C.J. on 29 June 1915; when martial law is involved, the function of the municipal courts is limited. They have the right to inquiry and the duty to inquire into the question of fact whether an actual state of war exists or not. When once that question has been answered in the affirmative: the acts of the military authorities in the exercise of their martial law powers are no longer justifiable by the municipal courts”.

In the case of Edmund Hewavitharana (1915), a writ of prohibition was filed by Eardley Norton, a well-known Madras barrister on behalf of Hewavitharana. Again the same 3 judges declined to interfere on the ground the Ceylon Supreme Court had no power to issue writs against a court martial.

It is submitted that the above two decisions are wrong and totally inconsistent with well-known English judgments on martial law and courts martial cases: vide R v Cowle (1759) 2 Burr 835, The Case of Theobald Wolfe Tone (1798) 27 How St Tr 613; In re Anderson 7 Jur NS 122. In the local case of DC Negombo 221 Grenier (1873) DC 122, Sir Edward Creasy C.J. held that with regard power of issuing writs, the Ceylon Supreme Court was in a position similar to the Court of Queen’s Bench in England. In any case, if the Ceylon Supreme Court was uneasy of a martial law matter, they could have referred same to the Privy Council, the apex court of Ceylon ex mero mottu whilst staying military proceedings locally.

The legal defence of Henry Pedris, Edmund Hewavitharana (his uncle) and N.A. Wijesekara and N.E. Wijesekara (brothers-in-law of Pedris) were undertaken by the law firm Messers D.L. and F. De Saram and made up of lawyers: Adrian St Valentine Jayewardene, Eardley Norton, and L.H. de Alwis and the legal cost was to the tune of Rs. 11113.54 an enormous sum by 1915 Standards; vide A.C. Dep. Ceylon Police and Sinhala -Muslim Riots of 1915 at P-129.  Nevertheless the valiant efforts of the lawyers were futile as Pedris was executed and bravely faced the firing squad at the Welikada jail.

Pedris Vs The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co Ltd (1915) 

After the execution of Pedris, the administrator of his estate sought to recover from the Manufactures Life Insurance, an insurance company, a sum of Rs. 25000/=, a massive amount in 1915, due on his policy. The insurance company refused payment on the grounds that Pedris was not eligible under the policy because he was lawfully executed. In an action filed by the administrator of Pedris’ estate in the District Court of Colombo (Case No DC Colombo 44358), the District Judge Wadsworth upheld the contention of the insurance company and dismissed the action. 

The administrator appealed to the Supreme Court and the matter came before Sir Alexander Wood – Renton C.J. and  Justice Shaw, same judges who earlier heard the 1915 martial law cases. The appellant (the administrator of Mr. Pedris estate) was represented by Bawa K.C. with E.W. Jayewardene (father of President J.R. Jayewardene), L.H.de Alwis and Skelton de Saram. The Respondent insurance company was represented by Alan Dreiberg K.C. and  Samawickrama.  

Per Wood Renton C.J at P.377I would set aside the decree of the District Judge dismissing the plaintiff action and send the case back for further inquiry. It will, however, open to the plaintiff (the Estate of Pedris) to rebut that evidence by proving, if he is in a position to do so, that, in spite of the convictionPedris did not in fact commit treason by waging the war against the King”: vide Pedris v Manufacturers Life Insurance Co (1917) 19 NLR 321. In the District Court, the insurance company, presumably under pressure from the British Government, readily settled the matter by paying the full amount. Thus question with regard to the guilt of Pedris is still open. In fact the Pedris case set a precedence in Ceylon in that conviction by a criminal court is not conclusive with regard to civil (delictual or/ and contractual) liability of a person. 

Thus in Thenuwara v Thenuwara (1959) 61 NLR, (1960) 62 NLR 501, although Catherine Thenuwara was not indicted for murder of Dr. Thenuwara (her husband), yet in a testamentary case related to his estate, ex Captain Arthur Perera, who was convicted for the murder of Dr. Thenuwara, testified against his ex-girlfriend Catherine Thenuwara establishing her complicity. The District Judge Sivasupramanium, later Judge of the Supreme Court, awarded the estate to the brothers of Dr. Thenuwara on the legal principle that a murderer cannot take under a will or succeed to an interstate estate. The Thenuwara appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court on a technicality.

Conclusions

  1. In the circumstance aforesaid, it is evident that Pedris’ court martial was illegal on the grounds that:

In July 1915, King’s Courts were open and functioning in Ceylon and hence trial of civilians by courts martial was not permitted.

The alleged offences were committed on 1 June 1915 whereas martial law was declared on 2 June 1915; it could not have had retrospective operation of law.

In any cases, the death sentence was not confirmed by the Governor of Ceylon and hence there was no lawful sentence before the Officer Commanding the firing squad to carry into execution.

2.         On any one of the above grounds, Pedris was entitled to succeed had the Ceylon Supreme Court reviewed his sentence which it unlawfully declined whilst having the full power to review: vide cases mentioned above.

3.         Therefore this is a fit and proper case for the President of the Republic to exercise his power under Regulation 151(1) of the Court Martial Regulation.If it appears to the confirming authority that the proceedings of a court martial are illegal or involved substantial injustice to the accused and such authority has not confirmed the finding and sentence, he shall withhold his confirmation. If he has confirmed the finding and sentence, he shall direct the record of the conviction to be removed and the accused to be acquitted.”

4.       In the circumstances, the President of the Republic can still clear Edward Henry Pedris’ good name officially and legally under Court Martial Regulation 151(1) by publishing a proclamation in the Gazette to this effect.

Recommendations

1.  A Presidential Proclamation in the Gazette exonerating Edward Henry Pedris under and in terms of Regulation 151(1) of Court Martial regulations. 

2.  A Presidential Proclamation in the Gazette declaring all those who were killed by foreign invaders and the enemies of the state, from Chola times to 18 May 2009, as ‘Matyrs killed-inaction’ and to collectively award them the Desha Putra Sammanaya (Purple Heart), the highest medal currently awarded to killed-in-action/woundedin-action servicemen. 

3.         Appointing a Presidential Commission to chronicle a list of Martyrs who were killed by foreign invaders/enemies of the State from Chola times to 18 May 2009, the Day of Liberation. Although records might not be available with regard to earlier times, comprehensive records are available with regard to those who were killed in 1818, 1848 and 1915 insurrections and such heroes could be recognised individually by name. This Presidential Commission may examine historians, military and other experts and compile a Golden Book in which a list of all martyrs will be exhibited. Those who are identified and entered in the Golden Book” as martyrs should be awarded ‘Desha Putra Sammanaya’ individually.

The author: Major General (Retired) RanjithRajapathirana RSP VSV USP pscLLB(OU) LLM (KDU), Attorney-at-Law, former Judge Advocate General of the Army

(ranjithraja62@gmail.com)

AG informs Supreme Court: Bathiudeens supplied State-owned copper to bomber

July 30th, 2021

Kamal Weeraratne (RP) Courtesy Ceylon Today

Attorney General Sanjaya Rajaratnam yesterday informed the Supreme Court a probe conducted into the April 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks, had revealed that SJB MP Rishad Bathiudeen and his sibling Riyaj Bathiudeen had supplied a stock of State-owned copper, at a concessionary rate, to a copper factory owned by a bomber, who blew himself up during the attacks.

He said MP Bathiudeen had done this misusing his Ministerial powers at the time. The SJB MP and his brother are presently detained by the CID for interrogation in connection with the Easter Sunday carnage of two years ago. DSG Madawa Tennakoon appearing for Rajaratnam made this submission to the Apex Court Bench comprising Justices Vijith Malalgoda, N.B. Murdu Fernando and Gamini Amarasekera. 

Two FR petitions filed by the Bathiudeen brothers praying the Court to issue an order to release them from CID detention were taken up yesterday. The petitions were filed through Attorney Gowrie Thawarasa while Faiz Mustapha PC appeared for the two petitioners. Further hearing of the petitions was deferred to 25 August. 

Organic fertiliser

July 30th, 2021

By Jayasri Priyalal Courtesy The Island

Doing the right thing the wrong way

Nurturing nature is the right thing to do when mother nature is struggling to adjust to the manufactured damages taking their toll and challenging the mutual cohabitation of all living beings on earth. Feeding seven billion people with depleted natural resources and a degraded environment is a mammoth task for humanity. During the past ten millennia, homo sapiens have evolved to adjust and move ahead with their advanced cognitive abilities. However, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, there is ample evidence and warning signs to suggest that human beings have crossed the line in harming nature. Maintaining balanced biodiversity is advised by experts to mitigate natural disasters triggered by climate change.

Research in 2020 by the World Economic Forum found that $44 trillion of economic value generation – more than half of the world’s total GDP – was moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services and is therefore exposed to ‘nature loss’, including tropical forests.

This article was prompted by the presentation delivered by Senior Professor Buddhi Marambe, Department of the Crop Science, University of Peradeniya, yesterday (24 July 2021). My special thanks go to the Peradeniya Engineering Faculty Alumni Association [PEFAA] for organising the timely event.

The learned Professor presented his arguments with facts and figures from authentic sources and clarified many myths about synthetic fertiliser and pesticides use in Sri Lanka. All Sri Lankans are truly indebted to all these professionals dedicated to improving our agricultural productivity in a scientifically sound manner, causing minimum impact on biodiversity. Sri Lanka’s ranking in the use of synthetic fertiliser and pesticides, and emergence above our competitors in the region on maintaining food security was an alarming highlight of the lecture.

The discussion heightened the public awareness of the proposed move by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to ban the import of synthetic fertiliser and agrochemicals and switch to organic fertiliser. Professor Marambe dealt with points and forewarned the dangers of these short sighted policy directives that appear to have been formulated without sufficient consultations with experts dealing with agriculture, instead relying on ill-advised opinion makers, based on assumptions instead of scientific facts.

Recent developments in the country, mainly various draft bills, attempting to militarise higher education, attempting to dispose of the country’s iconic properties to attract investment, indicate the quality of advisors to the President. Those who teamed up with him as Viyath Maga experts appear to have misled President Rajapaksa.

At the webinar, Prof. Marambe revealed that he and other agricultural experts had been appealing for an audience with the President to explain the dangers of this policy directive, which entails long-term adverse repercussions to an agricultural economy. President Rajapaksa has come out with strong convictions on the benefits of using organic fertiliser and sadly lacks scientific evidence to back the perceived benefits and advantages of the proposed policy directive.

I am making a humble appeal to President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and his team of advisors to seek expertise from the experts and decide on the policy directives instead of counting on assumptions.

Fareed Zakaria devotes a chapter on why people should listen to experts and experts should listen to people, in his book ‘Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World’. He refers to President Donald Trump being questioned about experts he consults, during the 2016 Republican nomination campaign. Trump responded, I am speaking with myself, number one because I have an excellent brain; my primary consultant is myself.” His idea to inject a cleaning solution to treat COVID-19 patients could have surfaced through this process of self-consultation. Trump ridiculed the experts in 2016 thus: Look at the mess we’re in with all these experts that we have.” The rest is history; the mess he created during his tenure as the US President. These are useful lessons for many other political leaders.

Mothers concerned regarding fertilizer issue

July 30th, 2021

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Some Scandinavian countries and Bhutan who have converted to organic fertilizer have only achieved 18% and 10% respectively after 10 to 15 years 

This is for the kind attention H.E. the President and the Cabinet of Ministers. 

We are a group representing the mothers of this country. We are also professionals who have served this country for over 50 years and have contributed our share to the development of the country. 

Whilst we welcome the Government’s policy to introduce organic fertilizer to the agricultural sector, we are gravely concerned with the immediate ban on chemical fertilizer as such a measure would have an imminent negative impact on food production to sustain our growing population and eventually lead to a famine in the very near future. Academics, scientists and the intelligentsia in the country have endorsed that the move to organic farming should be gradual without disrupting the current farming activities. 

Before we proceed on this path, we should have a well- structured plan drawn up with the help of specialists and a gradually progress and embark on a massive campaign with appropriate policies. Organic farming entails preparation of soil to cope with the change and is long-term. 

Some Scandinavian countries and Bhutan who have converted to organic fertilizer have only achieved 18% and 10% respectively after 10 to 15 years. 

Furthermore, since Sri Lanka is an agricultural economy, agriculture should be given the greatest priority both for poverty alleviation and specially and for the improvement of the economy in general. The introduction of new technology, improved seedling and timely input of fertilizer and an efficient extension services are a must to sustain Food Security. 

Women constitute 52% of this country. Women are child bearers and double up as breadwinners; particularly in rural Sri Lanka. It is the women who are responsible to put food on the table and feed their children and their households. Women are the majority among the marginalised population of this country; living in dire straits and already heavily burdened with household chores, walking distance to access water. Imagine their plight if they have to deal with impending famine resulting from a policy decision to change into organic fertilizer overnight. 

We urge the President to consult and seek the advice of the many specialists in this country and have a plan of action to gradually move into organic farming without any disruption to the current farming activities by providing the farmers the needed fertilizers. We except the Precedent’s special attention to this matter and there by achieve his own expectations as well.

Signatures – Padma Nanayakkara, Rohini Nanayakkara, Mano Alles, Metta Kodikara, Sarojini Mudalige, Jeanne de Silva, Dhaleeni Rohim, Sakuntala Kuruppu, Enakshi Kotagama, Lilani Perera

All public sector employees called back to duty from August

July 30th, 2021

Courtesy Adaderana

The government has decided to call all employees of public service back to duty from the 2nd of August (Monday), subject to COVID-19 health guidelines, the President’s Media Division said in a press release issued today (July 30).

Secretary to the President, P.B. Jayasundera has informed the decision to the Secretary of the Public Services, Provincial Councils and Local Government Ministry J.J. Rathnasiri.

The presidential secretary has given additional directives to revoke all circulars issued permitting work from home arrangements and limited number of staff members to be present at the workplace on a rotation basis, in a bid to control the spread of COVID-19.

Under the national inoculation drive, which is operative in all districts, a large percentage of citizens have now been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, the PMD noted in its statement, adding that the priority should be given to restore normalcy in the public service as majority of public sector employees have also received the vaccine.

Coronavirus: 56 new victims take death toll to 4,380

July 30th, 2021

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka has registered 56 more COVID-19 related fatalities confirmed by the Director General of Health Services on Thursday (July 29).

The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 4,380.

According to the data released by the Department of Government Information, the latest victims confirmed today include 38 males and 18 females.

Reportedly, among the victims are fifteen were aged between 30-59 years and the remaining 41 were aged 60 and above.

Daily COVID cases count tops 2,400 today

July 30th, 2021

Courtesy Adaderana

A total of 825 more people were tested positive for COVID-19 today (July 30), increasing the daily count of positive cases to 2,460.

According to the Government Information Department, 2,455 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 306,662.

Epidemiology Unit’s data showed that as many as 275,212 patients who were infected with the virus have regained health so far. Meanwhile, the death toll now stands at 4,380.

More than 27,000 are currently under medical care at selected hospitals and treatment centres across the country.

Secretary to the Ministry of Finance on printing money (video)

July 30th, 2021

Courtesy Hiru News

Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S.R. Attygalle states that printing money takes place even when the economy is stable.

He was speaking at a media briefing held in Colombo today (30).

The Secretary to the Ministry of Finance further clarified regarding the payment of salaries of public servants.

Candour without caution dangerous naivety

July 29th, 2021

By Rohana R. Wasala

It was recently reported in the media that Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (Retd) Sarath Weerasekera had said that all young persons above the age of 18 years should be given military training in order to inculcate disciplinary values in them. He was speaking at the opening of a new police station at Hirana in Panadura last week. According to The Island/July 19, 2021, the Minister referred to the prevalent opinion about the young generation (i.e., children and young adults in education generally, I presume) that they have no respect for discipline, obedience to rules, or good behavioural values; he observed that the problem could be tackled with proper training. But he immediately qualified what he said with: This does not mean we must turn them into military personnel, but if we are to train the youth above 18 properly, the most suitable places for that training are military camps. We must design a course aimed at personality development.” 

Rear Admiral (Retd) Sarath Weerasekera is very honest and trustworthy. I haven’t an iota of doubt about his sincerity and his commitment to the job he has been assigned with. But, anent this idea of his, I’d say in all humility: Not so arbitrarily! Not so hastily!” However, as education is not his responsibility, the Public Security Minister may be making an implicit suggestion to his cabinet colleague who is in charge of that subject. Isn’t it more urgent for the well meaning minister to look after the discipline of  the minority of police officers who sometimes act in ways unbecoming of their profession, by getting the police hierarchy to enforce discipline on those few of their subordinates? He should not forget that there could still be blacklegs in the force linked with the yahapalanaya. 

By the way, the minister, quite sincerely and justly, showered the police with praise for rendering yeoman service during the past few months in overcoming the threats posed by the underworld, and fighting the pandemic”, when, as The Island/July 26 reported, he called upon the Venerable Maha NayakeTheras of  Asgiriya and Malwatta Chapters, and the Getambe Hamuduruwo, who, unlike the Maha Nayake monks, is known and respected for his blunt speech. The news item is illustrated with four telling pictures of the minister meeting with the prelates and paying obeisance to them. To me it looks like The Island photographer has caught the minister’s meetings with the monks in a satirical light. 

The Buddhist Sangha has a key role to play (though it is always unobtrusive, based on the dhamma) in fostering discipline among the people, including the rulers and the civil functionaries of government. Isn’t the motto of the Sri Lankan police Dhammo have rakkhati dhammacari” (The Dhamma protects the follower of the Dhamma)? But what is the heartbreaking reality the people encounter in this area today? Writer S.M. Sumanadasa’s opinion piece  Whither the Sangha and the Buddha Sasana?” (The Island/July 26) has well elaborated this deficit on the part of the Sangha. My own opinion is, as I have repeatedly pointed out, that only a united Maha Sangha can save the Buddha Sasana and the Buddhists, acting exclusively as moral guides, without dabbling in politics, except when the survival of the Sasana and the people is in danger (but even in such a situation, they must get the lay rulers to do the needful, or if that is not adequate, temporarily disrobe and indulge in a ruler’s duties as lay persons, as they did in history, but the last is something not possible today). The Mahanayake/s should be able to recall all the agitating young monks from the streets, ostracise those who don’t listen, put a stop to individualistic interpretations of Buddhism offered by  maverick monks that, though well intended, mislead the common laity (whose capacity to understand the dhamma is varied), and counter the conspiracies of anti-Buddhist proselytisers, etc, and put politicians in their place, who so unashamedly exploit the yellow robe to cheat in their immoral political games. This is a tall order, no doubt, but the Maha Sangha must do the task or let the Buddha Sasana perish. There’s nothing to worry about the Buddha Dhamma/Buddhist teaching. It is better understood, practiced, and protected among the enlightened civilized people of the world everywhere. Theravada Buddhism has been absorbed (without a label, characteristically) into the basically humane religious philosophies and forms of democratic rule in the whole world. But the continuing absence of such an undivided Sangha leadership in Sri Lanka is spelling disaster for the Buddha Sasana. It will have similar consequences for the Sinhala Buddhists,  because the preservation of a community’s cultural identity is as vital for its survival as for its flourishing.  

It is true that the country’s successful tackling of the Covid-19 pandemic through vaccination amidst untold difficulties and artificial snags owes much to the hard work and the discipline of the health and security personnel including the police. My opinion about the success of the Covid-19 containment operation is based on the following: by now (July 29), about eight million Sri Lankans have got at least one dose of an anti-Covid vaccine, and  two million of them have got both; in terms of a percentage of the population, it is well over 35%; and in some districts, nearly all vulnerable citizens have been vaccinated. This is in view of the fact that vaccination is the only remedy available against the deadly disease. While that is so, all  225 MPs and hundreds of local representatives must make themselves equally responsible for saving the people, who elected them to office, from the Corona virus. Their personal discipline must be exemplary, because they are also accountable if young people behave without discipline as alleged. However, I personally do not believe that the vast majority of our young people lack discipline.

But if it is perceived that there is such a problem, responsible politicians and educational authorities ought to do something about it in an apolitical, non-controversial, scientific manner (i.e.,through  ideological debate and discussion among experts, not leaving out willing and constructive youth interaction and involvement). They must take collective steps to democratically protect the young from falling into the hands of the negligibly few ignorant and immature political power seekers among them, who have ruined the lives of generations of youth over the past roughly fifty-five years. The people have convincingly rejected them, and the same people will wholeheartedly support any positive measures that responsible people’s representatives and civil authorities introduce in good faith by way of a remedy against their misleading quixotic adventures to ensnare the young into their schemes. But if they admit their past errors, and conceptualize a new approach to national politics, as a bulwark against minority communalism as well as the big parties that succumb to the trickeries of the few racists among minority politicians, Sri Lanka will be theirs to rule. My frank view is that, Uvindu Wijeweera, the well educated young son of the late Rohana Wijeweera, the founder ideologue and leader of the JVP, destroyed by the reactionary forces that his successors later befriended, has great potential in leading such a movement. Monks, please don’t wreck his chances. (Please bear with me! This is an anticipatory digression, but not entirely out of context, though.)

Back to my present subject. My gut feeling as a senior retired educator and educationist is that the alleged problem and the solution suggested by the Public Security Minister (alleged youth indiscipline and suggested military training remedy, respectively), must be better conceptualized, more carefully thought out with the assistance of relevant non-self-seeking specialists whose expertise is not in question, and whose love of the young and of the country is even more assured. (I don’t personally think that a problem of general youth indiscipline exists; if it does, adults must be held responsible, and  their (adults’) problems, if any, solved first. I have worked with adolescents and young adults of both sexes in secondary and tertiary education in Sri Lanka and abroad for over thirty-five years (the better part of that time in an alien culture abroad). The wisdom that I have gained in connection with the subject at hand is that normally young people everywhere are unspoilt and are moral idealists (within the cultures they have been born into and brought up). They are ready to act with self discipline and responsibility or are ready to subject themselves to formal discipline, when they are convinced that discipline, contrary to what the word basically implies – restraint, control -, makes them strangely free and strong enough to channel the physical and mental energies that they naturally possess to create happiness for themselves and for those around them. I experienced this more clearly when I taught abroad than when I was working in my own country Sri Lanka (where I worked for a shorter period in my less mature years). But, how disciplined our educated young people are in a conducive environment was demonstrated when they enthusiastically joined in a mass voluntary wall painting movement for town beautification across the country with the election of a new president in November 2019 that electrified them with new expectations and prospects of better times to come. 

Incidentally, the minister’s proposal reminds us of the leadership development programme that was introduced during the post-2009 government and implemented with army help for the benefit of fresh university entrants before the commencement of their academic studies. The army was co-opted to  the programme because it had all the human and physical resources required for such an undertaking. It was probably partly intended as a dampener on the chronic problem of initiation ragging which was historically inevitably associated with the rejected and depleted political minority mentioned above. The programme was no doubt a wholesome confidence building and personality development measure, being a more rational and more acceptable form of initiation (than the sadistic ragging administered by psychopathic criminals) into independent university life from secondary school. The program was well received both by the students and their parents, and by the general public. However, the well designed and well conducted initiative met with an adverse response, mostly for the wrong reasons, from foreign agenda promoting NGOs and blindly politicized oppositional groups. The proponents of the useful course of leadership training and personality development probably felt that, in the then prevailing context, this kind of reception was likely to later create public misunderstandings that could translate into electoral losses for the governing party. So it had to be abandoned almost as soon as it was started. A farcical personality development programme of the fake ‘Reconciliation’ brand was enacted under the yahapalanaya when it was on its last legs. 

The negative experience (i.e., being forced to abandon the first leadership programme for university entrants introduced during 2009-15) should have alerted the minister to the possible, nay probable, repetition of criticism from the same quarters. Those attacks on the previous leadership development programme were for the most part unfounded, but not totally so. Their politicized nature betrayed a severe deficit of sincerity on the part of the critics. Employees of foreign NGOs including even the (probably forcibly roped in) venerables of Friday Forum who disapproved of that military-like training cannot free themselves from suspected susceptibility to the attraction of the filthy lucre. Their opposition can be safely disregarded if the recipient students, their parents and the general public have no problem with the rudimentary military training that the public security minister proposes for all the young people of the country. But, in my opinion, the immediately existing political and social environment in Sri Lanka is not conducive for the success of such a personality development programme.

The Public Security Minister’s bona fides or genuineness of intention is beyond doubt. He pledged to stand by the police officers who carried out their duties in good faith. But he should know better than most if he has succeeded in emerging out of the lingering shadow of the yahapalana incubus. Candour without caution is likely to prove mere self-defeating naivety at the present critical juncture. 

ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 21Ha

July 29th, 2021

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Revised 1.8.21

When the Tamil civilians found that they were getting caught in the gunfire between the army and the LTTE, in the last phase of Eelam War IV, they decided to get out of the war zone, into which they had run so eagerly. They ran to the government sector, across the lagoon. Television news showed these hostages streaming in to the government sector between April and May 2009.

The Sri Lankan armed forces rescued nearly 290,000 Tamil civilians in this manner. This is considered the largest humanitarian operation in the world. The army had made special arrangements to receive them .Troops kept the civilians informed about the safe routes to the cleared areas as they opened up more escape routes. Public address systems were positioned at several locations to convey this information to the civilians.. Television news showed the soldiers helping the aged and sick very tenderly, as these persons came into government territory.

https://youtu.be/Lv0SaR9Zw9A

The government of Sri Lanka need not have rescued civilians who had joined the LTTE in its last stronghold. These Tamil civilians were complicit. Complicit means involved with others in an activity that is unlawful or wrong.”  In this case, they were engaging in treason. They had    willingly acted as a human shield at Nanthikadal. But the nervous government of Sri Lanka separated the civilians from the LTTE, rescued them, stabilized them and returned them to their homes in the north.

The Tamil civilians showed no gratitude towards the government. They never acknowledged the efforts and sacrifices made by the army to bring them to safety, noted analysts .They were simply making   use of the government for their own ends, which in this case was survival.    They had shown similar ingratitude earlier too. In the 1990s   the Tamil civilians   in Jaffna, had readily accepted the welfare services provided by the army but turned virulently against the army once the Ceasefire Agreement was signed.

Once the war was over the Tamil civilians resumed their opposition to the government. It is no secret that the majority of the Tamil community in the north and east sympathized with the LTTE, said analysts.   They now felt conquered. The cause for which the Tamils fought still remains, said Jehan Perera. They distrust the government which has prevented them from obtaining their Eelam.

Once these Tamil civilians returned home, they were given a   new status, that of ‘innocent victims.’  Tamil Separatist Movement concocted the story that the Tamil civilians had got caught up in the war, by accident. They knew nothing about the war, they were utterly innocent and they deserve sympathy and support.

Sri Lanka Tamil community has suffered disproportionately from a civil war which lasted nearly three decades, the Tamil Separatist Movement said. They have suffered unjustly during the war,”   They are the worst-affected by the war and many still remember the suffering they underwent due to decades of conflict.

Forty one (41) Sri Lanka academics issued a statement in 2016, where they drew attention to the ‘tremendous losses, suffering and trauma to which the citizen of the north and east were subject.’ We must remember that this war was fought against its own citizens and was the result of historical failures in state building, the statement said. It is necessary to acknowledge the loss, suffering and trauma of this war, they emphasized.  These educated persons seem to have forgotten that in a civil war fighting ‘against its own citizens’ was inevitable.  Also, it was the LTTE who initiated the war.

From victimhood, the Tamil civilians were then elevated to hero status. Some analysts chose to emphasize the victimhood of Tamils and from this to heroism and valor, observed Maunaguru. Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research has concocted a series of stories titled  ‘stories of resilience’. US Deputy Chief of Mission Martin Kelly visited a demining site in Vavuniya and spoke to several women de- miners. Clearing the deadly devices takes skill, patience, and bravery,” Kelly said. The women de-miners are performing a courageous service in rebuilding their communities.

The Tamil civilians were never ‘innocent victims’. That is nonsense. They supported the LTTE and they knew what they were doing. They spied for the LTTE .They watched the movements of the STF teams, and informed the LTTE. Tamil villages were hostile to   soldiers who entered them having lost their way. Soldiers avoided these villages.

The Tamil civilians were anti government from the beginning. In 1983 the Gajaba battalion was deployed to Jaffna for counter-terrorist operations.  We took in large number of youth for questioning, recalled Kamal Gunaratne.  Their parents and relatives used to come in large groups and start shouting and weeping outside the camps. They used to curse us   and ask us to release their children. I tried to console them only to have them come up to me and pull my uniform and hands whilst cursing and crying. I was continuously subject to curses. The other officers avoided them.

In 2009, in the last phase of the war, the Tamil civilians went to the war zone, to support the LTTE .Tamil civilians had readily travelled   towards the war zone, taking with them land deeds and personal belongings, including photo albums. Clearly, they were hoping to safely return home after this trip.

In 2010, photographer Cassie Machado photographed 14 burnt photo albums found at Mullaitivu at the battle site. These photographs were shown in a single frame at the exhibition titled ‘One hundred thousand small tales’ held in 2020 in the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Colombo

Cassie Machado 2010 burnt photograph albums,

The Tamil civilians voted against the sitting government at all three elections after the end of the War. The north voted for Sarath Fonseka against Rajapakse, In the Presidential election of 2010.    It voted for Maitripala Sirisena at 2015 presidential polls. They knew what they were doing. A Tamil woman was filmed speaking to President Sirisena.  She said in Sinhala it is we who voted you into power.”  (Derana news, 15.10.2017). Thereafter, the north voted against Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019.

More than half the population  of Jaffna listed in the 1981 Census were low caste farmers. They have been an oppressed group for a long time, said R. Cheran. Their participation in mainstream political matters has always been marginal. The Tamil leadership did nothing to uplift them.  Tamil Separatist Movement and LTTE would have found it easy to brainwash them.

The Tamil civilians never handed the LTTE over to the army and never supported the government . They  ran to them for shelter in 2009 and then voted against them at the next three elections.  (Continued)

Two Clarion Calls for the Sinhala Nation

July 29th, 2021

Dr Sudath Gunasekara Mahanuwara

I send two important messages to the nation with this call

1. Assert and protect our sovereignty, independence, freedom and political stability as an Independent country as an equal before any other world nation by keeping foreign Ambassadors in their due place

(This call is for the Government)

 2 Give up the bane of Political parties which have destroyed this nation and restore our own system of government based on the roots of our civilization, if you want to save and once again build up a united and prosperous Sinhala nation and usher in a vibrant state and a prosperous economy for tomorrow. (This call is for the whole nation. It will come at the end of this article)

Message 1

Assert and protect our sovereignty, independence and freedom and political stability as an Independent country as an equal before any other world nation by keeping foreign Ambassadors in their due place

(This call is for the Government)

 Here I do not want to deal with The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961)

  1. That precisely has laid down how Diplomats should deal with their host countries and
  2. How host countries should deal with those who violate it under this Convention,

as it had been already explained by Mr.Sangadasa Akurugoda in his Article that appeared in the July 26th, 2021 Lankaweb, which I have given as Annex 1 at the end of this brief note.

 My memo apropos this issue

This memo of mine is addressed as an open letter to The President, Prime Minister, the Cabinet, all MPs in the present Parliament of this country and all patriotic Sinhala people, living here and abroad, and particularly the Maha Sangha, who have gone down in the 2500 year history of this country, as the Muradevatavo of the Motherland and the Sinhala Jatiya, pleading them to join their hands, heads and hearts in unison to guarantee that the above objective given under Message 1  is realized as a living reality.

I am copying this write up to Lankaweb News site as I have a higher faith in getting it published definitely and quickly too, without any fear or favour.

However, considering the critical importance and the urgency of this public issue and National crisis I do hope and wish other media people will also copy this from Lankaweb and give maximum publicity to it as an urgent national issue of the hour, where the Government of the day has to take immediate action as a top priority.

My suggestions

First, the President, Prime Minister and the Government should take immediate action against these undiplomatic Ambassadors, under the provisions of  the Vienna Convention 1961,  not only the Ambassador of US highlighted in in Akurugoda’s  letter but also of India, UK and any other country violating Diplomatic norms by meddling with our internal matters, in blatant contravention to the Vienna Convention, asking  them to stop this nonsense immediately and put an end to this headache and nuisance forthwith, and protect our sovereignty, Independence and freedom as a free and equal Nation with any other nation on this planet irrespective of its geographical size, before every diplomatic goat will follow suit and demand us to shave his beard ”, as the proverbial Sinhala adage has very aptly stated

Second, The Government also should take immediate action without further delay against traitors like Hakeem, Sambandan, Sumandiram, Vignesvaran and all other traitors who get involved in this kind of treacherous and terrorist activities against the Sri Lanka State under relevant laws like the PTA, the 6th  Amendment to the Constitution and also simultaneously ban all communal and extremist political parties and such NGOO etc

Third, All the Opposition parties in Parliament should also fall in line with the Government’s stance and support the Government in this war, against these undiplomatic, uncivilized enemies of our country, keeping the country first, at this critical hour of the nation and the Motherland without any reservation, to get this headache sorted out for good without resorting to cheap and silly demonstrations and trying to rouse their supporters against the government creating more problems for the government already buried to its neck deep in Covid 19 pandemic, natural disasters and many other politically organized, too exhaustive to list here and learn to act as responsible political organizations without resorting to this kind of silly and foolish political gimmicks and trying to make narrow political capital like the man  who was trying to light his cigar while the other’s head is caught with fire”

Fourth, At least ten brave young MPP should form a ginger group within the Government as insiders and  demand the President and the Prime Minister to take action under 1 and 2 above, immediately  before everything goes out of control and  become irreparable and irredeemable, without any fear or favour as the entire country, or at least the 70 lakhs voters who voted the President (August 2019) and the Government (May 2020) with a 2/3 in Parliament without a single Muslim or Tamil Vote, except the very few like the Junior Thondaman who may have voted MR for personal reason for supporting his father’s funeral  even violating medical advice in May 2020,  will stand solidly  with the Government on this  bold decision of the Government.

This kind of approach must definitely get the nod from both the President and the Prime Minister, in the backdrop of the present wave of social unrest all over the country on trivial issues, fast growing unpopularity on various issues such as the unbearable cost of living, increased fuel prices, excesses of the government, and salaries anomalies of public servants and certain mad appointments such as Ministers like Ali Sabry and diplomats like Moragoda and Ministry Secretaries like Education and Health  and Chairmen  of certain cooperation  like Dumnida Silva, a list too long to list here for brevity against the wishes of the Sinhala Buddhists majority and the Buddhist clergy and respected personalities like Rev Malcom Ranjit Fernando, might be a welcome shower after a long drought.

 If you do that without fear or favour and without being un-necessarily servile any more, to party leadership and convince them to carry out 1 and 2 above, the fast growing unpopularity of the Government might disappear overnight that might give at least a breathing space to regain the lost popularity at least temporally in the country.

This is a golden opportunity to come back for the Government. That is why my dear sons I am asking you to make use of this wonderful opportunity for President and the Prime Minister to bounce back

 And address two very important national issues.

If you succeed I can vouch you will be the future leaders of this country. Because the whole nation is looking for a new Sinhala Buddhist leadership as they are fed up with all present day leaders as none of them are genuinely committed to the cause of the Sinhala Buddhists as the Kings of the yore such as Dutugemunu, Parakramabahu or vijayaba the 1st  were. At elections they all talk of Sinhalese and Buddhist. But immediately after the elections all of them serve only the Muslims and Tamils aspirations, expecting their vote at future elections , which will never happen like the proverbial goat testicle that never fell down in spite of the fox was following behind it for days.

There is no difference between the SLFP, UNP, SLPP or SJBV, in this regard. All of them have betrayed the Sinhala Buddhists, down the decades starting from 1948 up to date, except Mrs B. the only National Leader this country ever had since 1948.

Today we are witnessing a very turbulent and restless time where the people are exhausted with all the political parties   and therefore they are  desperately looking for a solid leader, moulded in the Anagarika Dharmapala calibre to rescue this country and the Sinhala Buddhist nation. If you carry out this historic mission intelligently to the letter and get these two things done for the moment (1&2) you will also go down in history as the valiant sons of the 21st  century Sri Lanka  who rescued the Sinhala Nation out of an imminent crisis of the demise of the Sinhala Buddhist civilization in this country, followed by its disappearance from the surface of this planet. Furthermore the people will adore you as true patriots, products of the Anagarika Dharmapala tradition who got the rulers to address two vital national issues in time. The people might find in you the younger politicians, the kind of future leaders they are looking for to convert this Paradise Island once again to its pristine glory.

Please remember there are only two things under the sun for which all political leaders are afraid of. What are they? The first is marana bhaya and the second is Chanda bhaya, for which these leaders are no exceptions.

 Therefore this is the time to strike the iron as it is more than hot just now.

But of cause this mission has to be done very carefully. You have to convince them that you are doing this in their own interest and the interest of the Party and the interest of the country and the Sinhala nation and the Motherland and that you are divine messengers sent by the Gods and you are carrying out their Commandments only. Other than that there is absolutely no private interest, you must make it very clear.

The strategy has to be well worked out for this noble mission and the members of the core group who go to meet the President and the PM (preferably together) have to be very carefully selected. They have to be trustworthy, genuine and men of unstinted past record of loyalty to the Party and the leadership and of commanding authority with whose every word will convince the leaders to the hilt and to whom the leaders can never say no.

In this regard I will give three instances where I have succeeded in three such important missions on my own.

The first, where I convinced Lalith Atulatamudali to join hands with his no 1 political rival Gamini Disanayaka, making up the differences, if he wants to defeat Premadasa the all-powerful UNP Leader at that time which he did. In fact this I did on his estate at Rambukkana one day in early 1991 on my way to Colombo. Next morning he rang me up from Colombo and said Sudath I told each and every word you spoke yesterday to Gamini and both of us have unanimously decided to join hands. Thank you very much for the advice”. This is how the DUNF was formed in 1991.

The second. In November 1992 where I got President Premadasa to withdraw the Cabinet paper that proposed to amalgamate the Divisional Secretaries with the  Pradesiya Sabha and appoint Divisional Secretaries as Secretaries to the PS Chairmen and also to appoint outsiders from parallel Services as Divisional Secretaries which would have been the end of the SLAS and professional Administration in this country.at all three levels namely National, District and Divisional which would  also have been the death-knell  of SLAS, the premier State machinery of the government in the country. This I did as the then President of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association.

The third, where I got Chandrika convinced to appoint Mrs. B as the Prime Minister of this country on the 11th of September 1994. I did this as the Permanent Secretary to Mrs Bandaranayaka’s Ministry.

So if the proposed group wants to know how to convince the President and the PM who may be definitely reluctant to do so either for personal reasons, threats from India (As they did it to JR in 1987) or US or bad advice of the so-called selfish Advisors to the President and the PM. But if you do it the way I propose you can win it. Because, you are doing it in good faith, in the interest of the country and the Sinhala nation at large.

On my part I will definitely volunteer to help you in the interest of my Motherland, Sinhala Nation and the Buddha Sasana.

Annex 1

US Embassy and its involvement in local politics

Posted on July 26th, 2021 Lankaweb.

Sangadasa Akurugoda

1 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/).  For details

2 General Description of the Procedure adopted i expelling a Diplomat

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961)

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:

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.”

Sangadasa Akurugoda

Message 2

2 Give up the bane of Political parties which have destroyed this nation, since 1948 and restore our own system of  government based on the roots of our civilization if you want to save and  build up a united and prosperous nation and usher in a vibrant state for tomorrow. (This massage is for the whole nation.)

 I request those who are interested in this subject to read my article An open letter to all political parties and politicians who seek a mandate to rule this country at the forthcoming elections Published in today’s Lanka web (29.July 2021).

 I will follow up by my proposal on How to form a Government without political Parties’

Dr. Sudath Gunasekara

Originally published in Lankaweb on 5th August 2019

ජාතික රෝහලේ නව මෞත්‍ර ලිංගික ශල්‍ය වෛද්‍ය සහ වකුගඩු රෝග විද්‍යාතනය අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ අතින් විවෘත වෙයි

July 29th, 2021

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතික රෝහල් පරිශ්‍රයේ ඉදි කරන ලද නව මෞත්‍ර ලිංගික ශල්‍ය වෛද්‍ය සහ වකුගඩු රෝග විද්‍යාතන ගොඩනැගිල්ල ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ සුරතින් අද (29) දින පෙරවරුවේ දී විවෘත විය.

නිදහස් සෞඛ්‍ය සේවයේ ප්‍රතිලාභ සමස්ත ජනතාවට සමීප කිරීමේ උදාර අරමුණ පෙරදැරිව ඊ.ඒ.එම් මැලිබන් ටෙක්ස්ටයිල් පෞද්ගලික සමාගම සිය පූර්ණ ධන පරිත්‍යාගයෙන් මෙම තෙමහල් ගොඩනැගිල්ල ඉදිකර තිබේ.

දැඩි සත්කාර ඒකක ඇඳන් 13 කින් ද සමන්විත මෙම විද්‍යායතනය ඉදිකිරීම සඳහා වැය කළ මුදල රුපියල් මිලියන 300කට ආසන්න වේ. සමරු ඵලකය නිරාවරණය කරමින් නව මෞත්‍ර ලිංගික ශල්‍ය වෛද්‍ය සහ වකුගඩු රෝග විද්‍යාතන ගොඩනැගිල්ල විවෘත කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා එහි නිරීක්ෂණ චාරිකාවකට ද එක්වූයේය.

මෙම පරිත්‍යාගය කළ ඊ.ඒ.එම් මැලිබන් ටෙක්ස්ටයිල් පෞද්ගලික සමාගමේ සභාපති ඉල්ලියාස් අබ්දුල් කරීම් මහතා සමඟ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා සුහඳ කතාබහක ද නිරත විය.

සෞඛ්‍ය ඇමතිනි පවිත්‍රා වන්නිආරච්චි, සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම් මේජර් ජෙනරාල් විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය එස්.එච් මුණසිංහ, පරිසර අමාත්‍යංශයේ ලේකම් විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය අනිල් ජාසිංහ, ජාතික රෝහලේ නියෝජ්‍ය සෞඛ්‍ය සේවා අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් වෛද්‍ය ඩබ්ලිව්.කේ වික්‍රමසිංහ, ඊ.ඒ.එම් මැලිබන් ටෙක්ස්ටයිල් පෞද්ගලික සමාගමේ සභාපති ඉල්ලියාස් අබ්දුල් කරීම් මහතා ඇතුළු එම සමාගමේ නිලධාරී මහත්ම මහත්මීහු පිරිසක් මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්ව සිටියහ.

ජල පෝෂක ප්‍රදේශ සංරක්ෂණයට වහා පියවර ගන්නැයි අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගෙන් නියෝගයක්

July 29th, 2021

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

දිවයින පුරා ජනතාවට පානීය ජලය ලබාදීමේ ව්‍යාපෘති කඩිනම් කිරීමට සමඟාමීව ජල පෝෂක ප්‍රදේශ සංරක්ෂණය සඳහා වහා පියවර ගන්නැයි ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඊයේ (28) පස්වරුවේ නියෝග කළේය.

ජල සම්පාදන අමාත්‍යංශයේ නිලධාරීන් සමඟ අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී පැවති සාකච්ඡාවකට එක්වෙමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මේ බව අවධාරණය කළේය.

ඒ අනුව ජල පෝෂක ප්‍රදේශ සංරක්ෂණය කරමින් එම ප්‍රදේශ ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීම සඳහා පරිසර අමාත්‍යංශය හා ඒකාබද්ධ වැඩපිළිවෙලක් සකස් කරන්නැයි අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මෙහි දී ජලසම්පාදන අමාත්‍යතුමා ඇතුළු නිලධාරීන්ට උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මෙම සාකච්ඡාවේ දී මෙසේ ද සඳහන් කළේය.

දිවයින පුරා ජනතාවට පානීය ජලය ලබා දීමේ වැඩසටහන අප විසින් කඩිනම් කළ යුතුයි. පානීය ජලය නොමැති වීම නිසා වියළි කලාප වල ජනතාව විශාල වශයෙන් දුෂ්කරතාවලට මුහුණ දෙනවා. මේ සඳහා අවශ්‍යවන පානීය ජල ව්‍යාපෘති සඳහා අනුග්‍රහය විදේශ ආධාර හෝ ප්‍රදානයන් ලෙස ලබා ගැනීමට හැකියාව තිබෙනවා.

පරිසරය රැකගැනීම වගේම අලුතින් ගස් රෝපණය කිරීමත් කළ යුතුයි. ඒ වගේම ජල පෝෂක ප්‍රදේශ ආරක්ෂා කරගැනීමේ වැඩපිළිවෙලක් විධිමත්ව ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්න අවශ්‍යයයි. ඒ සඳහා පරිසර අමාත්‍යංශය එක්ව වැඩපිළිවෙලක් සකස් කරන්න” යැයි අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා  උපදෙස් දුන්නේය.

මේවන විට දිවයිනේ සියලු ග්‍රාමසේවා වසම් ආවරණය වන පරිදි නල මගින් ආරක්ෂිත පානීය ජලය ලබාදීමේ සැලසුමක් ක්‍රියාත්මකවන බවත් ඒ අනුව ඉදිරි වසර තුනක කාලයේ දී සියලුම පවුල් සඳහා පිරිසිදු පානීය ජලය ලබාදීමට හැකිවනු ඇතැයි අපේක්ෂා කරන බවත් ජලසම්පාදන අමාත්‍යංශයේ නිලධාරීන් මෙහි දී පෙන්වා දුන්නේය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට ජල සම්පාදන අමාත්‍ය වාසුදේව නානායක්කාර, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ලේකම් ගාමිණී සෙනරත්, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ සහකාර ලේකම් ප්‍රියංග නානායක්කාර, ජල සම්පාදන අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් ප්‍රියත් බන්දු වික්‍රම, ජලසම්පාදන සහ ජලාපවහන මණ්ඩලයේ සභාපති නිශාන්ත රණතුංග, ජාතික සැළසුම් දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් ආර්. එච්. ඩබ්ලිව්. ඒ. කුමාරසිරි, විදේශ සම්පත් දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් අජිත් අබේසේකර මහත්වරු ඇතුළු පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

තංගල්ල නගර සභාවේ නව සභාපතිවරයා අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා ඉදිරියේ දිවුරුම් දෙයි

July 29th, 2021

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

තංගල්ල නගර සභාවේ නව සභාපති ඩබ්ලිව්. පී. ආරියදාස මහතා ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඉදිරියේ දී අද (29) දින පෙරවරුවේ අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී දිවුරුම් දුන්නේය.

සාගර විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ විශ්‍රාමික උපදේශකවරයෙකු වූ ආරියදාස මහතා වසර තුනකට වැඩි කාලයක් නාගරික මන්ත්‍රීවරයෙකු ලෙස කටයුතු කර ඇත.

එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂයේ හිටපු සභාපති රවිදු වෙදආරච්චි  මහතාව එම පක්ෂය විසින් ඉවත් කිරීම හේතුවෙන් පුරප්පාඩු වූ සභාපතිධූරයට  ඩබ්ලිව්. පී. ආරියදාස මහතා තේරී පත්වූයේ රහස් ඡන්දයකිනි.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට ආයෝජන හා ගුවන් සේවා රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ඩී.වී. චානක, ශ්‍රි ලංකා පොදුජන පෙරමුණේ ලේකම් සාගර කාරියවසම්, අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය අතිරේක ලේකම් චමින්ද කුලරත්න මහත්වරු ඇතුළු  තංගල්ල නගර සභාවේ නාගරික මන්ත්‍රීවරු පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

කැබිතිගොල්ලෑව කණුගහවැව ආදර්ශ ගම්මානයේ නව නිවාස හා ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ රැසක් ජනතා අයිතියට පත්කෙරේ.

July 29th, 2021

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

ග්‍රාමීය සංවර්ධනය යථාර්ථයක් කරන්නට තැනූ වේදිකාව ‘‘ගම සමඟ පිළිසදරක්‘‘ සිව්වන වැඩසටහනේ දී අතිගරු ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පොරොන්දු වූ පරිදි කණුගහවැව ආදරණීය ජනතාවගේ අපේක්ෂා මල්ඵල ගන්වමින් කැබිතිගොල්ලෑව කණුගහවැව ආදර්ශ ගම්මානයේ නව නිවාස හා ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ රැසක්  ගම සමග පිළිසඳර ග්‍රාමීය සංවර්ධන ජනාධිපති කාර්ය සාධන බලකායේ සභාපති අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් අද (29) වන දින ජනතා අයිතියට පත් කෙරිණි.

ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කිරිමේ කටයුතුවල දෙවන අදියර යටතේ සිදුකළ නව ඉදිකිරිම් හා ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කළ ගොඩනැගිලි ජනතා අයිතියට පත්කිරීම ගුවන් හමුදාවේ 70 වන සංවත්සරයට සමගාමීව සිදුවිය.

මෙහිදී කැබිතිගොල්ලෑව කණුගහවැව ආදර්ශ ගම්මානය වෙත නිවාස අහිමි පවුල් සඳහා අංග සම්පූර්ණ නව නිවාස 12ක් ද, කණුගහවැව විද්‍යාලයට නව කාර්යාල ගොඩනැගිල්ලක් ද හිමි විය.

එමෙන්ම කණුගහවැව අභිනවාරාම විහාරස්ථානයේ දහම් පාසල් ගොඩනැගිල්ල ද ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කරන ලදි.

කැබිතිගොල්ලෑව කණුගහවැව ආදර්ශ ගම්මානය ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය සහ නිවාස ඉදිකිරිම් කටයුතු ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව මගින් සිදුකරන ලදි.

එහිදී අමාත්‍යවරයා මෙසේ ද කීය.

මම හිතන්නේ අද ඔබ සියලුදෙනාටම සුවිශේෂි දවසක්. රටේ රාජ්‍ය නායකයා ඔබේ ගමට ඇවිල්ලා ඔබ සමඟ පිළිසඳරේ යෙදිලා ඔබේ ගැටලු හදුනාගත්තා. ඒ හඳුනාගත් ගැටලුවලට විසඳුම් ලබාදෙන්න කටයුතු කළා.

එහි එක් ප්‍රතිඵලයක් විදියට කැබිතිගොල්ලෑව කණුගහවැව ආදර්ශ ගම්මානය  දෙවෙනි අදියර යටතේ ඉඳිකළ නිවාස හා ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කළ ගොඩනැගිලි අද අපි ඔබ තමුන්නාන්සේලාට භාර දුන්නා.

ඒ වගේම තමයි මේ කැබිතිගොල්ලෑව කොට්ඨාශය කිව්වාම චන්ද්‍රෙස්න ඇමතිතුමාත් සඳහන් කළා ලංකාවේ පමණක් නොවේ ලෝකයටම ප්‍රසිද්ධියට පත්වුණ ගමක්.

එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ. ත්‍රස්තවාදය නිසා අහිංසක මිනිසුන් ගණනාවක් බිලිගත් කැබිතිගොල්ලෑව බස් බෝම්බය අපි හැමෝම තවමත් සංවේදී කරවනවා.  එදා මේ ගම්මානයේ මිනිසුන් කළ ඉල්ලීමකට අනුව ත්‍රස්තවාදය අවසන් කළ යුතුයි කියන තීන්දුව ගන්න එවකට හිටපු ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමා ප්‍රවේශයක් ගත්තේ මෙම ගම්මානය තුළ ඉදලා.

එය ඉතා අවාසනාවන්ත සිදුවීමක්. එවැනි සිදුවීම් නැවත වතාවක් අපේ මාතෘභූමිය තුළ සිදු නොවන්න කටයුතු කළ යුතුයි කියන දැඩි අධිෂ්ඨානයෙන් සැවොම එක්වී කටයුතු කළා.  ත්‍රස්තවාදය අවසාන කරන තෙක්ම එම අධිෂ්ඨානයෙන් කටයුතු කර රට ත්‍රස්තවාදයෙන් මුදවා ගැනීමට අපිට හැකි වූවා.

කැබිතිගොල්ලෑව ප්‍රදේශයේ කණුගහවැව ගම්මානෙයේ ජීවත් වන ඔබ එකපැත්තකින් වාසනාවන්තයි, රාජ්‍ය නායකයෝ දෙදෙනෙක් ඔබේ ගමට ආවා.

යුද්ධෙන් පස්සේ මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමන් ආරම්භ කළ දැවැන්ත ආර්ථික සංග්‍රාමය නිසා ග්‍රාමීය ප්‍රදේශ සංවර්ධනය වෙන්න පටන් ගත්තා. මෙම ප්‍රදේශවලත් මාර්ග ටික හැදෙන්න ගත්තා.

නිවාස, විහාරස්ථාන නැවත ගොඩනැගුනා. මිනිසුන් තමන්ගේ ගම්මානවල පදිංචිවෙන්න, ගොවිතැන් කරන්න පටන්ගත්තා.

ඒ අනුව වර්තමාන ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා ‘‘ගම සමග පිළිසඳර‘‘ වැඩසටහනත් එක්ක ගමින් ගමට යනකොට තීන්දු කළා ඔබේ ගමටත් එන්න ඕනේ කියන කාරණය.

එහිදී කැබිතිගොල්ලෑව කණුගහවැව ආදර්ශ ගම්මානය ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කිරිමට යෝජනා වුවා.

ප්‍රදේශයේ දේශපාලන අධිකාරිය හා රජයේ නිලධාරීන් ඇතුළු ඔබ සියලුදෙනා එක්ක සාකච්ඡා කරලා ගුවන් හමුදාපතිතුමන්ට භාරදුන්නා මේ ගම්මානය නැවත ගොඩනගන්න.

70 වෙනි සංවත්සරය සමරන මේ මොහොතේ ලෝකෙටම අපේ ගුවන් හමුදාවේ අභිමානය පෙන්නනවා වගේම අනෙක් පැත්තෙන් අපේ ජන සමාජය ගොඩනගන්න දායකත්වය ලබාදෙන්න ගුවන් හමුදාව කළ මෙහෙය ඉතා ප්‍රසංශනීයයි.

සෞභාග්‍යයේ දැක්ම තුළ අපි ප්‍රමුඛතාවය දෙන කාරණා අතරින් ග්‍රාමීය සංවර්ධනය කියන කාරණය ඉතාමත් ම සුවිශේෂී කාරණයක් විදියට හඳුන්වන්න පුළුවන්.

එහිදී ගමේ පාර, විදුලිය, ජලය වගේම ගමේ ජීවත් වන දෙමව්පියන්ගේ ආර්ථිකය ශක්තිමත් කරන්න. ඔබේ ගමේ මේ පුංචි දරුවට හොඳ අධ්‍යාපනයක් දීලා ඒ අධ්‍යාපනය තුළ සහතිකයකට එහාට ගිය ජාතික සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර රැකියා වෙළඳපොළ තුළ රැකියාවක් ලබාගන්න පුළුවන් දරුවෙක් බවට පත්කරන්න අපි කටයුතු කරනවා.

තවත් පැත්තකින් රටේ ජනතාවට වස විසෙන් තොර ආහාර වේලක් ලබාදෙන්න අවශ්‍ය දැඩි දේශපාලන තීන්දු තීරණ ගන්න අපි පසුබට වුයේ නැහැ.  මේ සියලු කාරණා සෞභාග්‍ය යේ දැක්ම තුළ සඳහන් වනවා වගේම අද ක්‍රමානුකුලව ඒවා යථාර්ථයක් බවට පත්කරමින් යනවා.

අපට ඉලක්කයක් තියෙනවා. අපි ආදායම් උපයන්නන් දෙලක්ෂ පනස් දාහක් මෙම වසර තුළ අපේ රටේ බිහි කළා.

අපේ ගමේ අපේ භාෂාවෙන් කියනවා නම් ස්වයං රැකියා කරන අය කියලා කියනවා. තවත් සමහරු මේ අය ව්‍යාපාරිකයෝ කියලා හඳුන්වනවා.

මේ කාරණා තුළ අපි විශ්වාස කරනවා අපේ රටේ අනාගත පරම්පරාව විශේෂයෙන්ම තරුණ පරම්පරාව ශක්තිමත් ව්‍යවසායකයන් බවට පරිවර්තනය කරන්න අපිට හැකියාව තිබෙනවා කියලා.

ඒ වගේම තමයි ගමේ නිවසක් නැති දෙමව්පියන්ට හා දරුවන්ට නව නිවාස ලබාදෙන්න ආණ්ඩුවක් විදියට අපි කටයුතු කරනවා.

එක පැත්කනින් නිවාස අමාත්‍යංශය සෑම ග්‍රාමසේවා වසමකටම රුපියල් ලක්ෂ 06 ක් වෙන් කර දීලා නිවසක් ඉදිකරගෙන යනකොට, සමෘද්ධි අමාත්‍යංශය අනෙක් පැත්තෙන් හැම සමෘද්ධි කළාපයකටම නිවසක් ඉඳිකරගෙන යනවා.

අද ඔබ තමුන්නාන්සේලාගේ ගම්මානයේ කටුමැටි බිත්ති තිබෙන, පොල් අතු සෙවිලි කළ සියලුම නිවාස සිමෙන්තියෙන් බැඳපු නිවාස බවට පත්කිරීමට ගුවන් හමුදාවත් එක්ක නව වැඩපිලිවෙලක් ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙනවා.

පාසලේ ගොඩනැගිලි නැත්නම් ඒ සදහා ගොඩනැගිලි ඉඳිකරන්න. ගුරුවරුන්ගේ හිඟයක් තියෙනවා නම් ගුරුවරු ලබාදෙන්න යන කාරණා සම්පූර්ණ කරලා මේ ගම්වල දරුවන්ට හොඳ අධ්‍යාපනයක් දෙන්න අපි කටයුතු කරනවා.

අනෙක් පැත්තෙන් අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ සෞභාග්‍ය යේ දැක්ම ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශනයට අනුකූලව රසායනික පොහොර වෙනුවට කාබනික පොහොර වලට අපේ ගමේ දෙමව්පියන් හුරුකරවන්න අවශ්‍ය වැඩපිළිවෙළ අද මේ ගම්මානවලින් ආරම්භ කර තිබෙනවා.

අද අපිට දේශපාලනික වශයෙන් රසායනික පොහොර තහනම් කිරීම පිළිබදව පහර එල්ල කළත්, අපි දන්නවා ග්‍රාමීය වශයෙන් සහ ජාතික වශයෙන් කාබනික පොහොර භාවිතා කර ගොවිතැන් කිරීමට ජනතාව තුළ ලොකු කැමැත්තක්, උවමනාවක් තියෙනවා. ගොවි මහත්වරු තවම මෙයට පෙළගැහෙමින් සිටිනවා.

මේ ගම්මානවල දෙමව්පියෝ බහුතරයක් ගොවිතැන් කරලා ජීවත් වෙන්නෙ. ආණ්ඩුවක් විදියට වගකීමකින් කියන්නේ අපි ඔවුන්ව ආරක්ෂා කරනවා.

ඔබට අවශ්‍ය කාබනික පොහොර ටික පෞද්ගලිකව හා ගොවි සංවිධාන හරහා ගමේ නිෂ්පාදනය කරන්න වැඩ පිළිවෙලක් ක්‍රියාත්මකයි.

තවත් පැත්තකින් ගුවන් හමුදාව වෙන්න පුළුවන්. සමෘද්ධි ව්‍යාපාරය වෙන්න පුළුවන්. යෞවන සමාජ හෝ ස්වෙච්ඡා සංවිධාන වෙන්න පුළුවන් ඔබේම ගොවි සංවිධානය වෙන්න පුළුවන් ඒ හරහා කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනය කරන්න අපි අවශ්‍ය සියලු පහසුකම් ලබා දෙනවා.

කාබනික පොහොර භාවිතයෙන් යම්කිසි හෙයකින් ඔබේ අස්වැන්න තුළ ඔබට යම් පාඩුවක් සිදු වුණොතින් ඒ සඳහා වන මූල්‍ය වටිනාකම ලබාදෙන්නත් කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යවරයා විදියට මහින්දානන්ද අලුත්ගමගේ ඇමතිතුමත් කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යංශයත් කටයුතු කරනවා.

ඒ තුළ  ගොවියාගේ ආරක්ෂාව, ගොවිජනතාවගේ ආදායම සහ ඔහුගේ ජීවන තත්ත්වය උසස් කිරීමේ වගකීම ආණ්ඩුවක් විදියට අපි භාරගන්නවා. ඒ නිසා අපේ ගම්වල ගොවි මහත්ම මහත්මීන්ට බියවීමට දෙයක් නැහැ.

ඔබ සියලුදෙනා එකතු වෙලා බිහිකරගත් ආණ්ඩුවක් මෙය. ඔබ මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපතිතුමා කෙරෙහි 2005 තැබූ විශ්වාසය හා සමානවයි ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා කෙරෙහි විශ්වාසය තැබුවේ. ඒ විශ්වාසය ආරක්ෂා කරන්න. තහවුරු කරන්න ආණ්ඩුවක් විදියට අපි බැඳිලා ඉන්නවා සහ කැපවෙනවා කියන කාරණය ඔබතමුන්නාන්සේලාට මතක් කරනවා.

අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමන්ගේ උපදෙස්  පරිදි අද මේ මොහොතට අනුරාධ ජයරත්න අමාත්‍යතුමන් මහනුවර ඉඳන් ඇවිල්ලා ඉන්නවා  මේ ප්‍රදේශයේ වැව් අමුණු  ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කරදෙන්න.

ඒ වගේම අපේ ඉඩම් ඇමතිතුමා හරහා අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා නව තාක්ෂණය අනුව ඉඩම් ඔප්පු ලබාදෙන්න. ඒ සම්බන්ධව පසුගිය දින කිහිපය තුළ අපි සාකච්ඡා වට කිහිපයක් තිබ්බා.

සෞභාග්‍යා ගම්මාන රටපුරාම බිහිකරන කොට ඔබ තමුන්නාන්සේලාගේ ගම්මානත් කේන්ද්‍රකරගෙන සෞභාග්‍යා ගම්මාන බිහිකරන්න එතුමා ඉදිරි කාල වකවානුවේ බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා.

එ් හරහා ඔබේ ආර්ථිකය ශක්තිමත් කිරීමේ වැඩපිළිවෙළ අපිට ක්‍රියාත්මක කරන්න පුළුවන්.

අපි ආණ්ඩුවක් විදියට මහා පරිමාණයේ ජාතික වශයෙන් වැදගත් රටට විදේශ විනිමය ගලාගෙන එන ව්‍යාපෘති ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනවා.

ග්‍රාමීය වශයෙන් ඔබේ ජීවිත ගොඩනගනවා වගේම සුන්දර පරිසරයක් තුළ සුන්දර ජීවිතයක් ගතකරන්න අවශ්‍ය වාතාවරණය සකසන්න අපි නිරන්තරයෙන් බැඳිලා ඉන්නවා යැයි අමාත්‍යවරයා වැඩිදුරටත් පැවසීය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට අමාත්‍ය එස්.එම්.චන්ද්‍රෙස්න මහතා, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන ශෙහාන් සේමසිංහ, අනුරාධ ජයරත්න යන මහත්වරුන්, අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික් කැබිතිගොල්ලෑව ආසන සංවිධායක කේ.එච්.නන්දසේන මහතා ඇතුළු  ප්‍රදේශයේ දේශපාලන නායකත්වය, ගුවන් හමුදාපති එයාර් මාර්ෂල් සුදර්ශන පතිරණ මහතා ඇතුළු ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදා නිලධාරින්, අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම්තුමන්, කැබිතිගොල්ලෑව ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම්තුමන්, කණුගහවැව ප්‍රාථමික විද්‍යාලයේ විදුහල්පතිතුමන් සහ සිසු දරුවන් ඇතුඵ  නිලධාරින් පිරිසක් සහභාගී වූහ.

මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය,

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

World’s largest star sapphire cluster will be sold at gem auction in China

July 29th, 2021

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, July 29 (Daily Mirror) – The world’s largest star sapphire cluster which was found in a backyard in Pelmadulla is expected to be sold at a gem auction in China in November, the Daily Mirror learns.

State Minister of Gem & Jewellery related Industries Lohan Ratwatte told Daily Mirror that the cluster would be sold at a foreign auction at the discretion of the owner.

He said the National Gem and Jewellery Authority has already commenced the process of assessing its value before selling it at an auction. The government will get 10 percent of the money from the sale of the stone. The State Minister said that the stone is currently with the owner under special security.

The cluster weighs around 510 kilograms or 2.5 million carats and has been named the Serendipity Sapphire”. The stone was found by workmen who were digging a well at a home garden at Pelmadulla in Ratnapura. According to experts, the stone, which is pale blue in colour, has an estimated value of up to $100 million in the international market.

Sri Lanka has enough Oxygen in hand, says Health Ministry

July 29th, 2021

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Despite the dependency on oxygen over COVID-19 patients has fairly gone up, there is no shortage of Oxygen required to provide treatment for COVID patients in the country, the Health Ministry said.

Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath dismissed reports that there is an imminent danger of a dearth of Oxygen in the country.

The health system is equipped with adequate stocks of Oxygen plus we also have potential to provide the necessary Oxygen to every hospital where Oxygen has become urgent,” he underlined.
  
It was reported to us that the dependency on oxygen over COVID-19 patients has slightly increased in several hospitals. However, right now we are prepared to provide Oxygen for the existing patients,” he said.
  
 Dr. Herath proceeded to say that they also had the potential to have more Oxygen if needed.

Thus, he asked people not to get panicked about the dearth of Oxygen, as they were equipped with adequate number of Oxygen cylinders.  
  
Meanwhile, the Deputy DG said they had noticed that people were not behaving with responsibility in terms of adhering to health guidelines and practices.

We urge people not to take this situation for granted, as it would take only a few days for the things to go from bad to worse,” he added. (Sheain Fernandopulle)

Sri Lanka confirms 66 more Covid-19 deaths

July 29th, 2021

Courtesy Adaderana

The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 66 coronavirus related deaths for July 28, increasing the death toll due to the virus in Sri Lanka to 4,324.

Forty-one of the victims are males while the remaining 25 are females.

Seventeen are between the ages 30-59 while 49 are aged 60 and above. 

Covid-19: 479 new cases push daily count to 2,329

July 29th, 2021

Courtesy Adaderana

The Ministry of Health says that another 479 persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, increasing today’s tally of new Covid-19 cases to 2,329.

All new cases reported within today are associated with the New Year Covid-19 cluster.  

Meanwhile this pushes the total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported in Sri Lanka thus far to 304,202.

Presently a total of 26,448 patients infected with the virus are undergoing treatment while total recoveries has increased to 273,496.

An open letter to all political parties and politicians who seek a mandate to rule this country at the forthcoming elections

July 28th, 2021

Dr. Sudath Gunasekara

Originally Posted on August 5th, 2019

 A people’s Manifesto for the next Presidential/General Election. ?

Fifty Demands for all political Parties and aspirant leaders who intend contesting next Presidential/General Election

Trilateral virtual dialogue between Pathfinder Foundation, Russian International Affairs Council and Asian Confluence on the Impact of Climate Change on Marine and Fresh Water Resources and Combating Water Pollution

July 28th, 2021

PRESS RELEASE Pathfinder Foundation

The Pathfinder Foundation (PF) has initiated a trilateral dialogue involving Sri Lanka, India and the Russian Federation to discuss issues of contemporary relevance. The first trilateral dialogue will be held on the Friday, July 30, 2021. 4:30 PM SLST on the Impact of Climate Change on Marine and Fresh Water Resources and Combating Water Pollution: Best Practices from Russia, Sri Lanka and India”.

For this dialogue, Pathfinder Foundation will be partnering with Russian International Affairs Council and Asian Confluence.

The distinguished panellists for the webinar are, Ambassador GlebIvashentsov, Vice President, Russian International Affairs Council, Ambassador (Retd.) Bernard Goonetilleke, Chairman Pathfinder Foundation, Ambassador. IFS(Retd.) Rajiv Kumar Bhatia, Member Governing Council, The Asian Confluence and Distinguished Fellow, Gateway House,Dr. Anastasia Likhacheva, Director, Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies, Higher Schoolof Economics, Dr. B. V. R. Punyawardena, Chairman, National Steering Committee on Climate Change Adaptation, Governmentof Sri Lanka, Dr. Fraddry D’Souza, Area ConvenerandFellow, The Coastal Ecology & Marine Resources Centre, TERI Goa,India , Dr. Konstantin Zgurovsky, Senior Advisor, Marine Programme, WWF Russia, Mr. Sarath Premalal, Retired Director General of Meteorology of Sri Lanka and Prof. Vinay Kumar Dadhwal, Director, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Professor Indira Gandhi Chair, National Institute of Advanced Studies, India

Those who are interested in participating may kindly register at the following link; https://bit.ly/3AZbYAN Program details are available at https://bit.ly/3zdUkY3 . The event will also be live streamed on the PF Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/pathfinderfoundation/

කාබනික පොහොර ව්‍යාපෘති වලට බව පවසා ව්‍යාපාරිකයින් දෙදෙනකු පශු වෛද්‍ය කාර්යාලයන්ට අයත් භූමි දෙකක් අත්පත් කර ගෙන

July 28th, 2021

තිසර සමල් – අනුරාධපුර

කාබනික පොහොර ව්‍යාපෘති වලට බව පවසා ව්‍යාපාරිකයින් දෙදෙනකු පශු වෛද්‍ය කාර්යාලයන්ට අයත් භූමි දෙකක් අත්පත් කර ගෙන ඇතැයි උතුරු මැද පළාත් පශු වෛද්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂ වෛද්‍ය අමරසිංහ මහතා ‘සෞභාග්‍යා’ තිරසර කෘෂිකර්ම සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහනේදී පැවසීය.

 ‘සෞභාග්‍යා’ තිරසර කෘෂිකර්ම සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහන අනුරාධපුර පිහිටි  උතුරු මැද පළාත් සභා සංකීර්ණයේදී විණි.දිස්ත්‍රික්කය තුළ ක්‍රියාත්මක කෘෂිකර්ම වැඩසටහන් වල ප්‍රගති සමාලෝචනය, ගොවින් දිස්ත්‍රික් මට්ටමින් මුහුණ දෙන  ගැටළු සාකච්ජා කිරීම, නව කෘෂිකාර්මික සංවර්ධ වැඩසටහන හදුන්වාදීම මෙම වැඩසටහනේ අරමුණයි.

එහිදී අදහස් දැක්වූ උතුරු මැද පළාත් පශු වෛද්‍ය අධ්‍යක්ෂ වෛද්‍ය අමරසිංහ මහතා කියා සිටියේ,

 අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ පශු වෛද්‍ය කාර්යාල තියෙන ඉඩම් පවා කාබනික පොහොර මධ්‍යස්ථාන හදන්න කියලා පවරා ගන්න හදනවා, මේ වෙන කොට ලියුම් ඇවිත්   තියෙනවා. අපිට ඒක නිදහස් කරන්න කියලා. ගොඩනැගිල්ල තියන භූමිය තියාගෙන ඉතුරු ටික නිදහස් කරන්න කියලා තියෙන්නේ. ගලෙන්බිදුණුවැවයි, කැකිරාවෙයි ව්‍යාපාරිකයෝ දෙන්නෙක් ඉඩම අල්ලගෙන ඉන්නවා යන්නේ නෑ, දැන් ඒ දෙන්නා. සති දෙකකට විතර ඉස්සරලා තමයි අල්ලා ගත්තේ.

ඊට පිළිතුරු  දුන් කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමන් –

ඒක අපි කථා කරගමු,මේ කන්නයේ ඉඩම් ප්‍රථිසංස්කරණ මණ්ඩලය මැදිහත් වෙලා ලොකු කාර්යභාරයක් කරනවා.ඒකට සයිට් එකක් නැති නිසා ගන්නේ, පවරා ගැනීමක් නෙමෙයි, අපි ඔබතුමන්ලාගේ ඉඩම් අත්පත් කර ගැනීමක් කරන්නේ නෑ, අපිට කාබනික පොහොර හදන්න තැන් ටිකක් තමයි ඔබතුමන්ලාගේ ඉඩම් තියෙන නිසා, ඒ භූමිය මේ කටයුත්තට විතරයි ඉල්ලලා තියෙන්නේ, මේක පළමු නියමු ව්‍යාපෘතිය නිසා හිඟයකින් තොරව කාබනික පොහොර නිෂ්පාදනය කර ගන්න ඕන, භය වෙන්න එපා ඒක අපි ගන්නේ නෑ.

ඉඩම් අමාත්‍යය එස්.එම් චන්ද්‍රසේන – ආ මං දන්නෙත් නෑ… මං ඒක බලන්නම් යැයි පැවසීය.

එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් කෘෂිකර්මයට අදාළ කරුණු ලෙස

 අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ කෘෂිකාර්මික සංවර්ධනය වෙනුවෙන් පමණක් මෙම වසරේ මිලියන 2619ක් ප්‍රතිපාදන වෙන්කර තිබෙන බව කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමන් පැවසූ අතර, එම වැඩසටහන ක්‍රියාත්මක වන ආකාරය, ඒවා ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමේදී නිලධාරීන්ට මුහුණ පෑමට සිදුවන ගැටළු සහ ගොවි ජනතාවට ඵලදායි ලෙස එම ප්‍රතිපාදන වෙන් කොට සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහන් ක්‍රියාත්මක වන ආකාරය පිළිබඳව මෙම ප්‍රගති සමාලෝචන වැඩසටහනේදී සාකච්ජා කෙරිණි. 

අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ ගොවි සංගම් නියෝජනය කරමින් ගොවි නියෝජිතයන් රැසක් මෙම සාකච්ජාවට සහභාගී වු අතර, ඔවුන්ගේ ගැටළු ද එකින් එක සාකච්ජා කෙරිණි.

අලි වැට ඉදිකිරීම් , වගාවන්ට සිදු වන වන සත්ව හානී, වැව් ප්‍රථිසංස්කරණය හා වාරී පද්ධති ප්‍රථිසංස්කරණය, කෘෂී උපකරණ මිලදී ගැනීම හා  වගා හානී වන්දි ලබා දීම ,  දීර්ඝ කාලයක් වගා කටයුතු කළ හේන් හා කෘෂී ඉඩම් සඳහා බලපත්‍ර හා  ඔප්පු ලබා ගැනීම හා  අනුරාධපුරයට ගොවි විශ්‍රාම ශාලාවක් ඉදි කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන්ද සාකච්ජා කෙරිණි.  

අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ ගබඩා පහසුකම් වැඩිදියුණු කිරීමට රුපියල් ලක්ෂ 700ක් වෙන්කර තිබෙන බවත්මේ,  සියලු ප්‍රතිපාදන අඩුපාඩු සහිත තැන් හඳුනාගෙන ගොවි ජනතාවගේ අදහස් හා යෝජනා අනුව යොදවා නියමිත අරමුණ කරා යොමුවන ලෙසටද කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයවරයා පැවසීය.

එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමා,

අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ සෑම ගොවිජන සේවා මධ්‍යස්ථානයකටම යන්ත්‍ර උපකරණ ඒකකයක් දෙනවා, ගොවිජන සේවා මධ්‍යස්ථාන දහයක් අංග සම්පූර්ණව නවීකරණය කිරීමට පියවර ගෙන තිබෙනවා,ඒ දහයටම යන්ත්‍ර උපකරණ ඒකක දහයක් එනවා.ඒ සියල්ල ටෙන්ඩර් කරලා තියෙනවා.ලබන වසරේ ඉතුරු ටික දෙනවා.

අතිගරු ජනාධිපතිතුමන් පහුගිය අප්‍රේල් 27 වැනිදා තීන්දුවක් ගත්තා මේ රටට රසායනික පොහොර ආනයනය, කෘමි නාශක, වල් නාශක, දිලීර නාශක ආනයනය සම්පූර්ණයෙන් තහනම් කරන්න.ඒ අනුව එළැඹෙන යල් කන්නයේ සිට මේ රටේ කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයට අපි යොදන්නේ වස විසෙන් තොර, රසායනික වලින් තොර  කාබනික පොහොර.

සෑම භෝගයකටම පොහොර නිර්දේශය කෘෂිකර්ම අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජෙනරාල් නම් කරලා තියනවා, ඒවා ගොවිජන සේවා මධ්‍යස්ථාන වෙත එවා තිබෙනවා. අපි සැප්තැම්බර් මාසයේ එළැඹෙන මහ කන්නයට අදාල පොහොර ටික දෙනවා. මහ කන්නයට අපි පටන් ගන්නේ අම්පාරෙන්, ඒ නිසා ගොවීන්ට පුහුණුව දෙන්න තව මාසයක් තියෙනවා.ඒ නිසා ඉදිරි මාසය තුළ සෑම ගොවියකුටම තාක්ෂණය, පුහුණුව, දැනුම මේ සියල්ල ලබා දෙන්න, කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යංශය, ගොවිජන සේවා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ඇතුළු ආයතන සූදානම්.

ඒ වගේම මේ රසායනික පොහොර සම්බන්ධයෙන් තීන්දුව ගත්තාම ගොවියෝ පොහොර නෑ කියලා 100% ක් පොහොර හම්බෙලා තියෙද්දී  ගොවියෝ උද්ඝෝෂණ කළා, අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයෙත් ගොවි සංවිධාන 04 කට ඇරෙන්න අවශ්‍ය පොහොර ප්‍රමාණය ලබා දුන්නා.එහෙම හිඟයක් එන්න හේතුව තමයි, අපෙන් ඉල්ලපු පොහොර ප්‍රමාණයට වැඩිය අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ වැඩියෙන් වගා කරලා තිබ්බා,ඒකට එක හේතුවක් හොඳට වතුර ලැබුණා, අනෙක් එක තමයි කොවිඩ් එකත් එක්ක ගොවියෝ වැඩියෙන් වගා කළා. හෙක්ටයාර 50 000 ක් අනුරාධපුරය වැඩියෙන් වගා කළා, ඒ නිසා පොහොර හිඟයක් ඇති වුණා, පහුවෙලා වගා කරපු අයට තමයි පොහොර හිඟයක් ඇති වුණේ.

ඉදිරි මහ කන්නයට අවශ්‍ය වන කාබනික පොහොර ලබා දීම සඳහා රජය වෙනම වැඩපිළිවෙලක් හදලා තියෙනවා. ඊට අමතරව ක්ෂුද්‍ර ජීවින් භාවිතයෙන් අපි දියර පොහොරක් හදනවා,ඒ පොහොර ලීටර 15 ක් ගොවීන්ට ලැබෙනවා.ඒ නිසා අනියත බියක් ඇති කර ගන්න එපා.ගොවීන්ට අවශ්‍යය කාබනික පොහොර සහනාධාර ක්‍රමයට ලබා දෙනවා. ගොවියෙක් තමන්ගේ කාබනික පොහොර හදා ගන්නවා නම් හෙක්ටයාරයකට රුපියල් 12 500 ක් ගෙවනවා. කාබනික පොහොර පිළිබඳ අනියත බියක් ඇතිකර ගන්න එපා, දේශපාලන පක්ෂවලට, රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන්ට, විවිධ ගොවි සංගම්වලට මුදල් වියදම් කරමින් පොහොර ගෙන්වන බහුජාතික සමාගම් පරිසර හිතකාමී කාබනික කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයෙන් ගොඩ නඟන ගමන අඩාල කිරීමට සියලු උත්සාහයන් දරන බවත්, ඒ පිළිබඳ  සිහිබුද්ධියෙන් කටයුතු කරන ලෙසත් කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමන් එහිදී ගොවීන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටියහ. 

ඉදිරි කන්නයේ පොහොර හිඟයක් වෙන්න ඉඩ දෙන්නේ නෑ, නිෂ්පාදනය දශමයකින් අඩු වෙන්න ඉඩ දෙන්නේ නෑ, යම් පාඩුවක් ගොවියකුට වුණොත් එහි සම්පූර්ණ වගකීම ආණ්ඩුව හැටියට අපි ගන්නවා,

 මිරිස් හා අර්ථාපල් වලට රෝග හැදෙනවා, ඒකට කාබනික දිලීර නාශක නෑ,අපි හදුනාගත් රෝග කීපයක් සඳහා තුන් වැනි, හතරවැනි කාණ්ඩයේ  රසායනික පළිබෝධ නාශක වර්ග 28 ක් ලංකාවට ගෙනල්ලා වරායේ ගුදම් කරලා තියාගන්නවා, උදාහරණයක් ලෙස අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ බඩඉරගු වගාවට හදිස්සියේ රෝගයක් හැදුනොත් අවශ්‍ය පළිබෝධනාශක භාවිතා කරලා ඒ ප්‍රදේශය කාබනික නොවන ප්‍රදේශයක් ලෙස නම් කරනවා.

අද අපි වී කිලෝවක් සඳහා  රුපියල් 50 ක් දෙනවා, මේ මිල යටතේ හාල් කිලෝවක් රුපියල් 97 ට විකුණනන්න පුලුවන්, හැබැයි හාල් මිල බැලුවොත් නාඩු කිලෝ එක රුපියල් 120, සම්බා කිලෝ 1 රුපියල් 150 යි, කීරී සම්බා 225 යි, මෙතෙක් කල් සහල් මිල පාලනය කලේ වී මෝල් හිමියන් දෙතුන් දෙනෙක්, අපි ඒ ඒකාධීකාරය කැඩුවා, මින් ඉදිරියට මෝල් හිමියන්ට වී මිළ හාල් මිළ පාලනය කරන්න. වී මිළ කීයට ගියත් අපි හාල් මිල පාලනය කරනවා. හාල් වැඩි මිලට වික්කොත් රුපියල් ලක්ෂයක දඩයක් ගහනවා. ජනාධිපතිතුමන්ට ඕන වස විසෙන් තොර ආහාර වේලක් ජනතාවට දෙන්නයි.අපි මේ හැප්පෙන්නේ ලෝකේ තුන්වැනි බලවතා එක්ක, ලෝකයේ ලොකුම ව්‍යාපාරය තමයි ගිණි අවි සහ මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය, දෙක බෙහෙත්, තුන රසායන ද්‍රව්‍ය. 

ඒ වගේම ඉදිරි වසර 03 තුළ කිරි වලින් ස්වයං පෝෂිත රටක් වීමයි බලාපොරොත්තුව, සත්තු ලක්ෂ 12 ක් ඉන්නවා, කිරි ගන්න සත්තු ඉන්නේ ලක්ෂ 2.5 යි, ඒ සත්තුන්ගේ කිරි වල සාමාන්‍ය්‍ය අගය ලීටර 02 යි, අපි සත්තුන්ට හොඳ කෑඹ දීලා එය කිරි ලීටර 05 දක්වා වර්ධනය කර ගන්න බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා, ගැබ් නොගන්නා සත්තු ලක්ෂ 05 ක් පමණ ඉන්නවා, ඒ සත්තු ගැබ් ගැන්වීමට අවශ්‍යය නිළධාරීන් බදවා ගන්න වගේම, පිටරටින් සත්තු 15000 ආනයනය කරන්න බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා.ඉදිරි වසර තුන තුල මේ රටේ අවශ්‍යය කිරි රට තුළ නිෂ්පාදනය කරන්න අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා.

ඉදිරි වසර තුන තුළ මෙරටට ආනයනය කරන මිරිස්, බී ළූනු, අල ඇතුළු නිෂ්පාදන රැසක් නතර කොට දේශීය ආර්ථිකයක් ගොඩ නඟන බවත්, ඊට ගොවි ජනතාවගේ සහාය අත්‍යවශ්‍ය බවත් අමාත්‍යයවරයා එහිදී පැවසීය.

බීජ ආනයනයට රුපියල් බිලියන 02 ක් වැය කරනවා, මේ ආනයනය කරන බීජ 90% ක් අපි ඉදිරි වසර හතර තුළ නවත්වනවා.අපේ රටේ ගොවියා ශක්තිමත් කර දේශිය ආර්ථිකයක් ගොඩනැගීමයි ජනාධිපතිතුමන්ගේ බලාපොරොත්තුව.

ගොවි ගැටලු සාකච්ජා කිරීමේ වාරයේදී වගා කටයුතු වලට හානී කරන රිලා -වදුරු කරදරය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් දැක්වූ කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමන් කියා සිටියේ,

දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ තැන් දෙක තුනක් දෙනවා නම් අපි අක්කරයේ- දෙකේ කූඩු ගහනවා, මේ රිලවුන්ගෙන් වෙන හානිය ගත්තාම, රිලවු කූඩුවකට දාලා ෆයිඩ් රයිස් දුන්නත් පාඩුවක් නෑ, ඊට වඩා පාඩුවක් කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයට කරනවා. අපි වනජීවී එකත් එක්ක මහා පරිමාණ කූඩු හදනවා.ඒ නිසා දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ අවශ්‍යය තැන් දුන්නොත් මේ සත්තු ටික දාලා කන්න බොන්න දෙනවා.ඒක සංචාරක ව්‍යාපාරයටත් සම්බන්ධ කර ගන්න පුලුවන් වෙයි.

අපේ රටේ කෘෂිකර්මාන්තයේ දත්ත නෑ, මෙතෙක් කාළයක් අපි රටට බොරු කියලා තියෙන්නේ ඒක කණගාටුවෙන් වුණත් කියන්න ඕන, මේ ඉන්න ගොවීන් ප්‍රමාණය, භූමි ප්‍රමාණය හදලා බැලුවම ඒ තොරතුරු වැරදියි, ඒ නිසා අපි ප්‍රථම වතාවට කෘෂිකර්ම ක්ෂ්‍රේත්‍රයේ දත්ත ගබඩාවක් හදනවා, සියලුම කෘෂි පර්යේෂණ නිළධාරීන්ට, ඩී.ඕ මහත්තුරුන්ට, ඒ අයි මහත්වරුන්ට  ලැප්ටොප් එකක් දෙනවා.හැම ගොවියෙක්ගේම තොරතුරු අපේ දත්ත ගබඩාවට එන්න ඕන.

 එහිදී අදහස්අ දැක්පිවූ ගොවි නියෝජිතයින්- මේ ආණ්ඩුව පත් කරලා සතුටු වුණා ගොවියට යමක් වෙයි කියලා, දැන් හැමතැනම ගොවියොන්ගේ අප්‍රසාදයක් තියෙනවා. රසායනික පොහොර හැම තැනටම ආවා කිව්වත්, අතිරේක භෝග වලට අවශ්‍යය පොහොර ලැබී නෑ,

කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමා – ඔබතුමාගේ ගොවිජන සේවා බල ප්‍රදේශය මොකක්ද? 

ගොවි නියෝජිතයා- රාජාංගනයේ, රාජාංගනයේ විතරක් නෙමෙයි හැමතැනකටම නෑ.

කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමා – ගොවිජන සේවා කොමසාරිස්තුමා ඇයි රාජාංගනයට පොහොර යවන් නැත්තේ කියන්න.

රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක – තව කොච්චර ඕනද කියලා අහන්නකෝ, ගොවි සංවිධාන නැගිට්ටව නැගිට්ටව අහන්න දෙයක් නෑ, නිළධාරීන්ගෙන් ඇහුවනම් කොච්චර ඉල්ලලා තියෙනවාද කොච්චර ලැබිලා තියෙනවාද ?

කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමා – දුමින්ද ඇමතිතුමා අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයට 3% – 4% ක පොහොර හිඟයක් තියෙනවා. වී සඳහා පමණයි, අනෙක් භෝග සඳහා පොහොර දැනුත් අපි ලඟ තියෙනවා, ඒ ටික එවන්න පුලුවන්, වී වලට පොහොර හිඟ වෙන්න හේතුව ගිය කන්නයේ වැඩ කළාට වැඩිය අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ වගා කරලා තියෙනවා.

රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක – ඔය ටික හරි, අතිරේක භෝග වලට විශාල පොහොර හිඟයක් තියෙනවා.

කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමා- දුමින්ද ඇමතිතුමා දැන් කියන්න අතිරේක භෝග වලට කොච්චර පොහොර ඕනද කියලා. වී හැර අතිරේක භෝග වලට දවස් දෙකක් ඇතුළත පොහොර දෙන්නම්.

රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක – අනුරාධපුර ගොවිජන සේවා නියෝජ්‍යය අධ්‍යක්ෂතුමා අවශ්‍යය පොහොර ප්‍රමාණය හරියට ඇමතිතුමාට කියන්න. කියලා ගෙන්න ගන්න..

අනුරාධපුර ගොවිජන සේවා නියෝජ්‍යය අධ්‍යක්ෂ –  ගොවි ජන සේවා මධ්‍යස්ථාන වලින් එළවලු පොහොර සඳහා  ටොන් 1481 ක් ඕන, රාජාංගනයට  ටොන් 50 ක් ඉලල්ලා තියෙනවා.

කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමා- මම ඉල්ලුවා මීට කලින් මම ඉල්ලුවා පොහොර කොච්චර ඕනද කියලා, නිකං බොරුවට  පොහොර ඕන කියලා ඊළඟ කන්නයට තියා ගන්න පොහොර එවන්න බෑ,ඒ නිසා මේ කන්නයට අවශ්‍යය පොහොර පැහැදිලිව අපි ඉල්ලුවා ඕන තරම් අපි දෙන්නම් කියලා.අනෙකුත් භෝග සඳහා පොහොර වල අපිට ගැටලුවක් නෑ, පොහොර  දෙන්න පුලුවන්. තව අඩු තියෙනවාද ? දවසින් දවසට නේ පොහොර ඉල්න්නේ, නියෝජ්‍යය කොමසාරිස් වුණාම එකක් කියන්න ඕන අනුරාධපුරයට. දවසින් දවස පොහොර ඉල්ලන්නේ ඊළඟ කන්නයට, මතක තියාගන්න ඊලග කන්නයට රසායනික පොහොර දෙන් නෑ, මේ කන්නයට විතරයි අපි පොහොර දෙන්නේ.ඔය සෙල්ලම නටන්න බෑ,මේ කන්නයට අවශ්‍යය පොහොර ටික දෙන්නම් අපි. ඔය ඉල්ලන පොහොර ප්‍රමාණය දුන්නොත් අනුරාධපුර ප්‍රශ්නය ඉවරද?  හරි මම ඒක එවන්නම්.

ගොවි නියෝජිතයින්-  මේ අස්වනු නෙලන අවස්ථාව ඔබතුමන්ලා තීරණයක් ගත්තා පිටරටින් හාල් ගෙන්වනවා කියලා, ඒකේ වාසිය අතරමැදි වෙලෙන්දා ගන්නවා. අපේ වී දැන් රුපියල් 40 ට ගන්නේ.

කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමා -ඒක වැරදියි,  අපි ගෙන්වනවා කිව්වම රුපියල් 30 කින් හාල් මිල බැස්සා, 2015-2020 ඔබතුමන්ලා වී විකුණුවේ කීයටද? කිලෝ එකක් රුපියල් 30-38 ට,  මේ ආණ්ඩුව යටතේ අපි වී කිලෝ එකක් රුපියල් 50 -52 කලා. මේ සංවාදය ගෞරවනීය සංවාදයක් කර ගන්න, කාටවත් දේශපාලන වාසී දාගෙන වීරයෝ වෙන්න නෙමෙයි අපි මේ එන්නේ. අපි පොහොර සහනාධාරය දුන්නා.වී අලෙවි මණ්ඩලයට ඔබතුමන්ලා වී ගේන්න, අපි රුපියල් 50 ට වී ගන්නවා.අපි අලුතින් ගොවියා ගාවටම ගිහින් වී මිලදී ගන්නවා.අපිත් වී මෝල් හිමියෝ වගේ ගොවියා ගාවටම ගිහින් වී මිලදී ගන්නවා. ඒ වෙලාවේම සල්ලි දෙනවා ගොවියා අතට.රුපියල් 50 ට අඩුව වී දෙන්න එපා.

අද ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ බොහෝම ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ කියනවා ගොවියාට රසායනික පොහොර දෙන්න කියලා.හැබැයි අනුර කුමාර මහත්තයා ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී කිව්වේ කාබනික පොහොර මේ රටට දෙන්න ඕන, ගොවියාට වහ දෙන්න බෑ කියලා.ඒ නිසා රසායනික පොහොර සමාගම් වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී ඉන්නවා ඒ අය.ගොවියා ආරක්ෂා කරමින් , ගොවියාට හොඳ මිලක් දෙන එකයි අපේ වගකීම.

රාජ්‍යය අමාත්‍යය දුමින්ද දිසානායක – එකම ගොවි මහත්තයෙක්වත් විහින් මැරෙන්න රසායනික පොහොර ඉල්ලන්නේ නෑ, ආදායම සහතික වෙනවා නම් ගොවි මහත්වරු ඔබතුමන්ලා කියන ඕන දෙයකින් වගා කරයි.

කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යයතුමා- මේ තීන්දුව ගත්තේ වගකීමකින්, ජනාධිපතිතුමා මේ තීන්දුව ගත්තේ ජනතාව බේරා ගන්න.කෘෂිකාර්මික ප්‍රදේශවල 25% ක් දියවැඩියා රෝගයෙන් පෙලෙනවා.මේවා හදුනා ගෙන තියෙනවා.  ඒ නිසා වී ගොවියා සඳහා කාබනික පොහොර ලෙස අපි කාබනික ජෛව පොහොර කිලෝ 500 ක් දෙනවා, ක්ෂූද්‍ර ජීවින් භාවිතාවෙන් හදලා තියෙන ජෛව  පොහොර ලීටර 15, නයිට්‍රජන් කිලෝ 05 ක්, පොටෑසියම් කිලෝ 35 ක් ලැබෙනවා. එහි මූල්‍ය වටිනාකම 42 000 යි. අනෙකුත් භෝග සඳහාත් නිර්දේශ අනුව පොහොර ලබා දීම සාමාන්‍යය පරිදී ලබා දෙනවා. 

    වී වලට වැඩි මිලක් ගොවියා ඉල්ලන බව මම ජනාධිපතිතුමාට, කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලයට දැනුම්වත් කරන්නම්, ගොවියාට වී වලට රුපියල් 100 ක් ලැබෙනවා නම්  වැඩියෙන්ම කැමති වෙන්නේ කෘෂිකර්ම ඇමතිතුමා.හැබැයි මතක තියා ගන්න   බඩඉරගු මිල වැඩි වුණාම කුකුල් මස් මිල වැඩි වෙනවා, වී මිළ වැඩි වුණාම හාල් මිල වැඩි වෙනවා. ගොවියෝ ලක්ෂ 11 , පාරිභෝගිකයෝ මිලියන 22 යි.මෙහෙම ප්‍රශ්නයක් තියෙනවා.මේ දෙකම මැද තැනකට ගෙනත් ගොවියා හා පාරිභෝගිකයා රැක ගනිමින්, ගොවියාට කිසිදු අසාධාරණයක් නොවෙන්න කටයුතු කරනවා යැයි පැවසීය.

අමාත්‍ය එස්.එම්. චන්ද්‍රෙස්න, උතුරුමැද ආණ්ඩුකාර මහීපාල හේරත්, කෘෂිකර්ම රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ශෂේන්ද්‍ර රාජපක්ෂ, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය දුමින්ද දිසානායක, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ඩී.බී. හේරත් සහ අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික් මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් ද,අනුරාධපුර දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම්තුමා ඇතුළු රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන්, පළාත් ප්‍රධාන ලේකම්තුමා ඇතුළු පළාත් නිලධාරීන්, කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍යාංශය සහ ඒ යටතේ ඇති ආයතනවල ප්‍රධානීන් සහ නිලධාරීන් මෙම අවස්ථාවට සහභාගී වූහ  

ප්‍රගති සමාලෝචන රැස්වීමේන් අනතුරුව තණකොළ කපන යන්ත්‍ර ඇතුළු කෘෂි උපකරණ ගොවි සංගම් නියෝජිතයන්ට බෙදා දීම ද සිදු කෙරුණා.


Copyright © 2026 LankaWeb.com. All Rights Reserved. Powered by Wordpress