By the 9th Century AD, the Sinhalese kings had beefed-up their defences and had also taken to diplomacy to ward off South Indian predators.
While Pali was the vehicle of Theravada Buddhism practiced in Sri Lanka, Lankan Buddhist monks learnt Sanskrit, wrote works in it and communicated with Indian scholars in that language.
Despite wars and even during wars between the South Indian forces and the Sri Lankan armies, Sri Lanka-South India trade flourished.
Repeated invasion of Sri Lanka from South India in the ancient and medieval periods did shape the attitude of the Sinhalese towards the Tamils. But the relationship was not always antagonistic. There was ample and significant accommodation, tolerance and absorption of ideas and cultures between the two, right through. This fascinating tale of conflict and cooperation is told by Prof. Amaradasa Liyanagamage in his book: Society, State and Religion in Pre-Modern Sri Lanka (Social Scientists Association 2008).
According to Dr. Liyanagamage, by the 9th Century AD, the Sinhalese kings had beefed-up their defenses and had also taken to diplomacy to ward off South Indian predators. Since the mighty and expansionist Cholas of the Tamil Coromandel coast were the principal threat, the Sinhalese kings began striking alliances with the Pandyas, the rivals of the Cholas in Tamil Nadu. Diplomacy coupled with defense preparedness, helped the Sinhalese keep the peace for a millennium.
It is pertinent to note that no invading force, including the most formidable imperial Cholas, succeeded in over-running and capturing the entire country. The southern half of the island remained free even during the worst times,” Dr. Liyanagamage points out. Even in the worst times in the 13th, Century, when Parakramabahu II was faced with invasion of the Maghas, Chandrabhanu and the Pandyas, Southern Sri Lanka was free. Did the invasions create an anti-Indian sentiment in Sri Lanka? The overwhelming weight of evidence points to an answer in the negative,” asserts Dr. Liyanagamage. Jambudvipa or India, remained holy for the Sinhalese Buddhists. While Pali was the vehicle of Theravada Buddhism practiced in Sri Lanka, Lankan Buddhist monks learnt Sanskrit, wrote works in it and communicated with Indian scholars in that language.
The historian goes on to say that it would be an error to presume that relations with South India, the source of the invaders, had always been geared to the battlefront. In point of fact, Sri Lanka’s commercial and cultural relations with South India seem to have been much closer and more cordial than is commonly believed and these relations have certainly left an impact on the island’s social and cultural evolution,” he says. Interestingly, during some invasions, Buddhist monks, would seek refuge in lands in South India ruled by the rivals of the invaders. For example during Chola invasions the monks used to seek refuge in the Pandyan kingdom. Bhadanta Ananda Thera, in his book Upasakajanalankara, which he wrote while being in a monastery in the Pandyan country, says that during the ferocious Magha (Kalinga-Kerala) invasion of Sri Lanka, many Sinhala Buddhist elders including himself, had found shelter and succor in the Pandya and Chola countries. The Atthakatha (Commentaries) composed between the 5th and 9th Centuries, which became an important part of Lankan Buddhist literature, were written mainly by South Indian monks such as Buddhadutta and Dharmapala. While Hinduism was the dominant religion in the Chola country, Buddhism survived in Kanchi, Kaviranagara and Nagapattana.
The splendid Chudamani Vihara built in Nagapatana by the Chola Emperor Raja Raja I (926-1014 AD) was repeatedly endowed by his successors. Buddhapriya Thera, the incumbent of the Chudamanivarma Vihara, a scholar of repute, was known as the ‘Cholia Dipankara’ in Sri Lanka. The Buddhist establishments in the Tamil country and Sri Lanka maintained close links with each other. During the reign of Parakramabahu II (1236-1270) donations received during Higher Ordination ceremonies were shared with Buddhist institutions in Tamil Nadu. Despite wars and even during wars between the South Indian forces and the Sri Lankan armies, Sri Lanka-South India trade flourished. Unlike these days when economic sanctions and trade restrictions are imposed in times of war or even a political conflict, in those days trade and commerce were not interfered with. In the 12th and the 13th Centuries when wars were being fought, the ‘Trading Corporation of Lanka’ flourished in the Chola and Pandya Kingdoms in Tamil Nadu. At the end of the 12th Century, during the reign of Parakramabahu’s wife Lilawati (she had four stints 1197–1200, 1209–10, and 1211–12) the Nanadesi merchants from South India flourished in her domain around Polonnaruwa.
Dr.Liyanagamage notes that invasions and commercial traffic led to the settling of Tamils and other South Indians in Sri Lanka. Contemporary records mentioned invaders coming with thousands of soldiers (ranging from 24,000 to 94,000 men). Many of them opted to settle down in Sri Lanka rather than go back. While small groups of Tamils or South Indians settled in every part of the island, it was only in the North that settlement occurred in a big way, enabling the formation of a Tamil kingdom. The decline of the Sinhalese Rajarata kingdom, made this easier. According to historian Parnavitarana, the Jaffna kingdom was founded by the Aryachakravartis who were Brahmins from Rameswaram. They in turn traced their ancestry to the Ganga dynasty of Kalinga (present- day Odisha). During the 14th Century, the Aryachakravartis reached the pinnacle of their glory by establishing their power over the Sinhalese kindgoms in Central (Gampola) and South West Sri Lanka (Kotte/Colombo/Panadura). It was Parakramabahu VI (1415-1467) who reversed the trend by resisting the Aryachakravartis, taking the battle into Jaffna itself and putting his nominee as the Administrator. Interestingly the South Indian Keralite families of Alahakkonars and Alakeswaras (especially Gen. Nissanka Alahakkonar) had a huge hand in defending Kotte and Panadura against the marauding Jaffna troops.
Repeated and destructive invasions by the Tamil kings of India did create ill feeling towards the Tamils (all South Indians were lumped together and called Damila and despised). But according to Dr Liyanagamage, this was not always so. In the early days of encounter with the Tamils, the good qualities of the Tamil rulers were acknowledged and written about. Even Tamil usurpers like Sena, Guttika and Elara, were praised for their righteous rule. But in the chronicles of the 13th Century onwards, the Tamils came in for severe censure. Even Elara (205 BC to 161 BC) who was praised earlier, was portrayed as a man who destroyed innumerable dagabas built by King Devanampiya Tissa and rules un-righteously for 44 years.” In these writings, unlike in the past, the opposing armies were identified as ‘Tamil’ and ‘Sinhalese’ and not as belonging to particular Kings.
Resentment against the ‘Damila’ invaders reached a high point in the Pujavaliya written by a Buddhist monk who was an eyewitness to the depredations of the Magha invaders. Interestingly, all South Indians were dubbed ‘Damilas’ though they were not all Tamils. Among them were Kalingas (from Odisha), Malalas (from Kerala), Doluvara (Tulu speakers from North Kerala and coastal Karnataka) and Karnata (from Karnataka). Dr. Liyanagamage warns that it would be wrong to say that conflicts of those days were ethnic in nature – Sinhala against the Tamils and vice versa. Parakramabahu VI, who conquered Jaffna, was a patron of Hindu temples. A Tamils inscription at the Munneswaran Siva kovil in Chilaw records his contribution to the temple. Most interestingly, the foundation of the Kandaswamy temple in Nallur in Jafffna, is attributed to Parakaramabahu VI”, Dr. Liyanage points out. Again, Ulakudaya Devi, the daughter of Parakramabahu VI, was married to a South Indian Tamil Nannur Tunaya.
The 15th Century poet Tottagamuwe Sri Rahula wrote that in the Tottagamuwe Vijayabahu Pirivena near Hikkaduwa, Tamil and Sanskrit were compulsory subjects apart from Sinhalese and Pali. Sinhalese works of the medieval period such as the Pujavaliya and Saddaramalankaraya had Tamil words. Even in the present-day spoken Sinhalese there are Tamil words especially in agriculture, land measurement and kinship terminology. And there are titles like Koon, Peruma, and Alaha which are of Tamil origin.
The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today ordered to remand the wife of former minister Rishad Bathiudeen and three others until August 09 in connection with the suspicious death of a teenage domestic worker who had been employed at their home.
The four defendants, including Bathiudeen’s father-in-law, brother-in-law and the broker who had brought the girl for employment from Dayagama, were produced before the court when the case was taken up today (26).
Meanwhile the court also ordered to exhume the remains of the girl and to conduct another postmortem examination, Ada Derana reporter said.
Shabdheen Ayesha – the 46-year-old wife of MP Bathiudeen, her father Mohamed Shabdheen and the middleman in question identified as a 64-year-old named Ponnaiyah Pandaram, were arrested by police on July 23 following the recording of their statements regarding the death.
Police had also obtained a court order permitting the detention of the trio for 72 hours for interrogation.
In the meantime, the brother-in-law of MP Rishad Bathiudeen had also been arrested on the same day on charges of allegedly sexually abusing a young woman.
The incident was brought to light amidst the probes carried out into the death of the 16-year-old domestic worker at the parliamentarian’s private residence.
Investigating officers had uncovered that the MP’s brother-in-law had sexually abused a female who worked as a domestic helper at the parliamentarian’s official residence between 2015 and 2019. The girl, who is now 22 years of age, had shed light on the matter during police interrogations.
On July 15, a 16-year-old girl, who was serving as domestic help at the Bathiudeen residence, succumbed to severe burn injuries while receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital. She had been under medical care for 12 days since her admission to the hospital on July 03.
The girl, who was residing in the Dayagama area, had been 15 years of age when she was brought to the parliamentarian’s residence at Bauddhaloka Mawatha for domestic work last October.
The judicial medical officer who conducted the post-mortem on the girl’s death concluded that she had been sexually exploited.
The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry reports that another 635 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, moving the daily total of new cases to 1,653.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 298,181.
As many as 269,007 recoveries have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The Epidemiology Unit’s data showed that 25,075 active cases are currently under medical care.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has registered 48 more COVID-19 related fatalities on Saturday (July 26).
The new development has pushed the official death toll from the virus outbreak in Sri Lanka to 4,147.
According to the data released by the Department of Government Information, the latest victims confirmed today include 30 males and 18 females.
None of them are aged below 30 years, twelve victims are between 30-59 years and the remaining 36 are aged 60 and above.
The CID has commenced an investigation into a complaint made regarding protests in public places violating quarantine laws and endangering public health.
A statement issued by the Police Media Division stated that the investigations are being carried out into a complaint lodged with the CID by Damgalla Gamage Danushka Dilshan Gamage, Chairman of the People’s Justice for Justice organization, demanding that such persons be dealt with legally.
He has lodged a complaint on July 24 stating that no one has the right to create a serious health problem in the country by spreading public protests across the country at a time when the spread of COVID-19 has not completely stopped.
Accordingly, the CID is still investigating whether anyone has deliberately acted in violation of quarantine laws and contrary to the criteria issued by the Director-General of Health Services to prevent the spread of the disease.
The four suspects, including Rishad Bathiudeen’s wife, who were arrested in connection with the death of 16-year-old Ishalini who was working as a servant at MP Rishad Bathiudeen’s house, were remanded until August 9.
>That was when the relevant case was taken before the Hulftsdorp Magistrate’s Court.
Deputy Solicitor General Dilipa Peiris stated that steps would be taken to name MP Rishad Bathiudeen as a suspect in the case.
Meanwhile, Deputy Solicitor General Dilipa Peiris asked MP Rishad Bathiudeen why he was not sensitive enough to enslave a child of the same age as his 16-year-old daughter.
Four persons including the wife of MP Rishard Bathiudeen were arrested recently in connection with the death of a minor girl named Ishalini Jude while she was working as a servant in her house.
They have been charged with cruelty, enslavement, and trafficking of a minor girl.
In addition, Shihabdeen Ismadeen, the brother of Rishad Bathiudeen’s wife, was arrested on two counts of raping a young woman who worked at his official residence during Rishad Bathiudeen’s tenure as minister.
The four suspects were produced before the Hulftsdorp Magistrate’s Court yesterday and remanded for 72 hours for questioning.
Accordingly, Rishad Bathiudeen’s wife was detained at the Kirulapone Police Station and her father, brother, and the broker who sold the girl to the Bathiudeen family were detained at the Borella Police Station for questioning.
The suspects were brought to the court premises today after being produced before the Judicial Medical Officers.
When the case was taken up, the police officers submitted an eight-page report containing the progress of the investigations carried out so far.
Deputy Solicitor General Dileep Peiris who appeared for the complainant made a lengthy statement before the court
The
COVID-19 pandemic urged social distancing because experts on the epidemic
believed that social integration through various methods will agent the spread
of the virus, and it considers that the social distancing any method would be
supported to control the virus. In addition, there are health and hygiene rules
that are difficult to implement in the environment of Sri Lanka. The style of
education delivery for kids in classrooms might support the spread of the virus
and changing the method of education delivery using technology-based education
or electronic delivery throughout the country would be supported to the
controlling effort of spreading the virus. This issue remains in all countries
and Sri Lanka has no exception for it.
The
successful delivery of education on electronic techniques requires good
countrywide infrastructure facilities, it should be not only in the Colombo
district. The actual situation is, Colombo has adequate infrastructure and
regional Sri Lanka has badly neglected in the modernization process. The ad hoc
arrangement in the current disposition has limited to perform electronic
delivery using a mobile phone, it is not a fecund domain and electronic
delivery also needs a supervised environment and facilities for students to
take part in a mobile phone. A small domain in a mobile phone would not support
attracting the attention of students. This is the biggest challenge in the
education history of Sri Lanka.
Program
delivery through television is in Sri Lanka for over three decades. They are
one-way delivery that learners cannot directly take part with teachers. It is a
teacher-centred education and the difficulty or uncontrollable situation is the
teacher cannot control a classroom or distracting students. In Western
countries, religious programs are delivered using television and the success of
such delivery is depending on the disciplines of participants. In this way,
there are two major challenges: one is maintaining the attention of students
without distraction, and two is maintaining the relationship between students
and the teacher. This system is suitable for students in grades 8 and above.
Students below Grade 8 need a controlled environment and how to organize such
an environment is the challenge.
In Sri Lanka, management of electronic signals
might be a problem and the environment might be improper, and the change of
such an environment would be difficult because of various reasons. Online
facilities must be in schools or at delivery places or homes in all districts
and service providers should be funded by the government to offer the service
free. The advantage of online delivery is students can save programs and when
they are not clear about the program or need to view the program, it could be
done. It is more flexible and advantaged to learners than the face-to-face
delivery system. In this way, electronic delivery needs teachers’ supervision
and help. As parents are working, they cannot take part in supervision.
This
is a primary requirement to achieve online education and the experience in
regional Sri Lanka appears to need more facilities for kids. Many do not know
whether sufficient funds have been allocated for the purpose. If the annual
budget has not provided allocations, alternative arrangements are needed. Trade
unions blindly protest considering selfish issues and have ignored the major
problem, and they are concerned with job shedding of teachers, but the rural
infrastructure is the major concerned issue on electronic delivery of
education.
On-line
delivery of education will be supported to eliminate social disparities in the
society which incurred division among students attending excellent schools,
lower grade or quality schools, urban schools, and village schools. Electronic
delivery of education will be the biggest social revolution in Sri Lanka because
education reforms were unsuccessful in changing society.
As
the internet service is provided charging a higher fee, the use of technology
is expensive and strict controls must be to prevent kids abusing the service
from using the technology for irrelevant purposes, and iPad or computers to use
for students at homes and other places must be available and they should be
replaced when need to do so. The income structure of many parents shows they are
not in a position to afford the service fee and to purchase the delivery
instrument. In addition, protecting facilities is a concerning matter. These
are significant issues and impediments to electronic delivery. Providing
electronic service is expensive, and the government encounters many issues when
it is concerned with spending in the crisis time. Technology is dynamic and
expensive, and even after the Covid pandemic education delivery must be
electronic-based and schools need to use interactive whiteboards.
Training
teachers for electronic delivery is also expensive. There should be at least 12
weeks of intensive training for teaching staff as long as they become competent
to deliver. The training facilities are needed in all districts and they should
be lower-level education administration. Many teachers in Sri Lanka are not
qualified for electronic delivery of education, as they didn’t get sufficient
knowledge and skills through education and assessment outcomes using criteria.
Curriculum development and assessment organization have been worked or not are
unknown to parents and education administrators.
It
is difficult to understand why teachers taking trade union action against
modernizing education. These trade union leaders are living in the past and
they should get out from petty politics. Education is a nationwide requirement
and teachers are only a part of the process.
Many
problems could easily be solved by saving money through restructuring and
micro-reforms within the education department, which spends a large sum of
money for unnecessary purposes, preventing dispensable spending for various
activities such as scholarship examination, G.C.E.Ordinary Level examination,
and others. Education in Sri Lanka should get away from exams’ culture to outcomes
achievements. In this effort, examinations are about 20% of total learning.
Practically, parents handle kid’s education than teachers and the outcomes of
studies should be showed by students, but not parents. Parents should
contribute funds reasonably to educating kids except those who are
unaffordable. The nature of Sri Lanka is parents those who are affordable for
contributing for expenses and not affordable are enjoyed government free
education facilities and this setting should be changed ignoring the political
differences. Free education doesn’t mean that parents are released from
responsibilities.
Teacher’s
training for the application of technology, enhancement of content knowledge,
methods of assessing students regarding outcome achievement consistent with
values, the way of application of
knowledge in the practical environment must be trained at least once in two
years and money should spend on these training purposes. If teachers are
quality personnel, they would make quality performance and admirable service in
the future.
It
is a widely published view that tuition for students is business at the expense
of parents and tuition teachers are comparatively higher earners in the country
than government teachers because there is no government control for providing
tuition and free education has become a service charge oriented as teachers’
role is not playing at school level. Inspection of teachers’ roles and
assessing them keeping in the job is not efficiently performed by the
department. Tuition teachers have not trained personnel who can properly assess
students’ achievement of learning outcomes.
The
department of education has been addicted to a culture of holding competitive
examinations and creating unrest among kids and parents. The education advisors
of the government should stand on admonition to continue the system. They are
not laterally thinking to change the system. Developed countries are too
concerned about the electronic delivery matter. If the government arranges
equal education provision in all schools and maintains quality and control, it
could be successful in adapting electronic delivery and the broader use of
technology for education.
The
department of education should investigate how other countries use strategies.
It wouldn’t need Island-wide expensive exams for scholarships and year 10.
Schools could conduct these exams like in Australia and the department of
education could help schools providing exam papers and training for teachers to
assess students to conduct the exam within schools. The assessment of the
achievement of outcomes concerns with attitudes of the assessor and it may be
an arduous task in Sri Lanka to avoiding this issue.
The
examination has become a competitive exam and spends an enormous sum of money
on this purpose. The assessment of the achievement of outcomes cannot decide to
enjoy marking like a multiple choice question paper. The assessor determines
the decision like a judge in the court, considering many factors.
Parents
spend lots of money on tuition and other help for students. These are wasting
money and the government can use the money for electronic infrastructure in all
schools. Education reforms are vital for this type of radical change.
Parents
in Sri Lanka are not so poor compared to many poor countries and 90% of parents
could provide iPads and laptops to kids and support the government to provide
electronic delivery. About 20% of total students are kids of poor parents, and
they should be supported by the government.
However,
rich people, past pupils, officials, so-called major schools, and politicians
are against these reforms because poor people will gain equal opportunity,
equity, and justice. I spoke to many Sri Lanka’s born overseas who have a
fallacious mentality and the attitudes them comprise discriminating poor than
giving equity and justice. Many education-related trade unions protest against
the reforms because they are against equity and justice in society.
I am 44 years old and in my mind I’m a journalist, a mother, a wife, a cyclist, a mountain climber, a wild swimmer and an adventurer – just like I was 16 months ago.
But in my body, I’m like someone twice my age.
Most days I wake up in pain and go to bed with pain. I have vertigo, migraines and blurred vision. My joints feel like brittle bone grating on metal.
I’m one of 385,000 people in the UK who have been suffering “long Covid” for more than 12 months – and that number is growing.
For me, it all began in March 2020 when I got Covid-19.
At that time, there were no community tests but I had the full panoply of symptoms.
I was very unwell and contacted Scotland’s NHS 24 helpline twice because I was really struggling to breathe. Each time I was told that unless my lips were blue I should stay home and isolate.
My seven-year-old daughter was unwell too. She seemed to recover but then became plagued by fatigue and breathlessness.
We didn’t know how to help her and the doctors didn’t seem to know either. We were told to give it time. So we did.
It has been 16 months so far.
A new disease
Long Covid is still new and scientists are trying to work out what causes it in certain people and not others – and how to get rid of it.
There are multiple theories.
Some believe the symptoms are caused by live virus reactivating in the body.
Others believe it may be an autoimmune problem – which means the body is attacking itself.
A further theory is that it may be caused by an underactive immune system or one sent into freefall by the original virus.
Doctors have tried splitting it into different syndromes including post-intensive-care syndrome and post-viral-fatigue syndrome.
Or dividing it based on how ill patients were initially.
But some of those who were in hospital have recovered and some of those who stayed in the community have discovered they have serious underlying problems including organ damage.
We know that women are more likely to be affected than men and that many of the hundreds of thousands suffering the condition in the UK were previously young, fit and healthy.
The latest figures from the ONS show there are 962,000 people in the UK with multiple symptoms four weeks after initial infection.
But what I really want to know is what it is and how to make it go away.
Clinging on with my fingertips
image captionBBC Scotland correspondent Lucy Adams has been ill since March last year
I regularly lay in a dark room by myself because I couldn’t cope with the noise of family life and the sense that light – any light – was too bright.
The dark room which should have been a haven began to feel like a prison, a place I couldn’t escape.
The bed which should have felt warm and comfortable felt like a ship lurching in a rough sea.
In my inability to explain that sense of fear and isolation and loneliness I became convinced I would never be able to work again.
I feared that I would end up unable to look after my children or find another job or home or place in society. Being ill became my life.
Offers of support
After I wrote the piece for the BBC news website in November, hundreds of people got in touch to offer support. People from Australia, France, North America and the Netherlands.
They wrote messages of comfort and condolence and empathy. Many asked questions on behalf of relatives and friends who were also suffering.
I struggled to get back to everyone who got in touch and my answers to questions felt inadequate. I’m not a medical expert. I didn’t have the answers to their questions. And I couldn’t even say I was better myself.
Several people got in touch to tell me I would never get better. That I needed to accept my position was permanent.
I couldn’t do that, so I tried lots of different measures instead: restricted diets, cold water immersion, acupuncture, homeopathy. Bizarre supplements.
I started going for short walks – mindful that I often needed to stop and sit on the pavement. Sometimes even walking around the block I couldn’t be sure I would have the energy to make it home.
A tiny incline would leave me breathless when a year before I’d been climbing mountains.
image captionLucy says before Covid she climbed mountains but afterwards tiny inclines would leave her breathless
I feared the judgement of others who could see me going out for a walk and would assume I was recovered.
What they couldn’t see was the payback afterwards.
The fact I would have to go straight to bed or would most likely be punished with a blinding headache, fever or loss of vision later in the day.
I struggled with the idea of accepting help but realised I needed it. I struggled to cook or clean or load the dishwasher. Our neighbours started cooking for us twice a week and would pass delicious homemade meals over the wall every Monday and Thursday. Friends offered to look after the children.
I realised after almost a year of being off sick that I had not once lain on the sofa and watched a whole film during the day.
Not because I don’t have a telly but because most days the sofa seemed too far away and I didn’t have the energy to watch a whole film.
Things that helped me
I tried several times in the evening sitting with my husband but usually the tremors in my hands would be too bad or the headache or vision problems would interfere too much.
I found a number of things that really helped me.
These things might not help other people but to me they have become a way of getting through the day.
The first is yoga. A yoga teacher I know was training to be a yoga therapist and I became her first client with long Covid.
It helped with the breathlessness but also with coping with the uncertainty of not knowing when I would get better.
I would also say that acupuncture appear to help me deal with the symptoms.
I have given up alcohol and caffeine and I’ve also been doing singing lessons to help with the breathing.
Believing you will get better is an important part of the recovery but it is not easy to stay positive.
Integrative care
My GP referred me to the Centre for Integrative Care in Glasgow and Dr Bridie O’Dowd, who specialises in helping people with chronic ill health.
Until my appointment with her in December the only advice I had received was to rest. But that is surprisingly hard to do.
I know now that if you just rest and stop moving the body deconditions – which in turn causes other problems.
Dr O’Dowd explained that each day I should try to do three things I enjoy – each of which should last no longer than 20-30 minutes, as well as three tasks such as unloading the dishwasher for a similar amount of time.
It is deeply frustrating when your goal is to finish folding the laundry or to make the dinner and realise you can’t complete the task within the allotted time.
But I found it the most practical way of managing the symptoms.
It means you feel you have achieved a little and lived a little.
Through the centre I did an eight-week mindfulness course – something that in the past would have sounded far too fluffy for me.
And I started seeing a therapist. Psychologically not knowing when or if you will get better is really hard.
I am now part of a pilot in Glasgow, run by Dr O’Dowd, to support a small number of people with Long Covid with practical advice on sleep and diet, appointments with psychologists and physiotherapists and a course on mindfulness.
Eureka moment
The best email I received after the earlier article was from Paul Garner, professor of infectious diseases at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
We had contracted Covid around the same time and his articles in the BMJ describing his symptoms had been a eureka moment for me because until then no-one could understand what was wrong with me.
We had been in touch for months. He was supportive and helpful.
In November he emailed to say he was better. If he could get better I figured that meant I could too.
Just hearing that from him gave me a massive boost. I tried to focus on the ways the symptoms were reducing. And started to think about the hills I would climb once recovered.
My daughter went back to school. The staff were very supportive. She struggled with the stairs and the length of the school day so she was given time to rest in the teacher’s office.
Sport had been her favourite pastime but she tired easily and spent PE resting.
Our weekends used to be spent on family cycle rides but she and I spent time resting or reading books instead.
Back to work
By Christmas my daughter seemed much better and in January of this year I started to feel a little stronger too.
The migraines were less frequent – once every fortnight rather than every two days. The vertigo was still present most of the time but the joint pain eased a little.
I could get through a conversation without sounding too breathless.
I went through an occupational health assessment and agreed to a phased return to work. The first week would mean four hours work spread across a week. It sounds so meagre, yet I was terrified.
I had not sat at a computer for 10 months.
Brain fog had left me struggling for words, struggling to remember things.
I agreed to work on a Panorama about long Covid as part of the phased return.
I managed the first week and felt delighted with myself. The next day I woke up with a fever and a terrible pain in my kidneys.
I thought it was a reaction to my increased activity but then started to feel exactly as I had 11 months previously.
I went for a test and that evening I got an email saying I had Covid again.
I had been nowhere – not even to the local shops but my children were in school. A pupil and a member of staff were off with Covid. It felt brutally unfair.
The second time was not as severe. I had all the same symptoms but the fever was not as high, the breathlessness not as overwhelming.
I spent 10 days in bed and then started to feel a little better. I was terrified that the second bout would mean another 10 months of being unwell but used yoga and mindfulness. I knew I couldn’t think myself better but equally knew that panicking would make my symptoms worse.
Breathing pattern disorder
My daughter’s symptoms returned too. She was pale and exhausted and had Covid toes – her feet purple and itchy. Her breathlessness worsened and she was admitted to hospital for scheduled tests.
I felt utterly helpless. Remarkably she loved the hospital food and her “sleepover” on the ward. Tests showed problems with the way she is breathing but she has daily exercises to try to improve it and it should be reversible.
Many people with long Covid have breathing pattern disorder or hyperventilation syndrome. It is one of the things physiotherapists can help to change.
image captionLucy was active and adventurous before her long Covid
But it wasn’t until April this year when I met neuropsychiatrist Prof Alan Carson at Edinburgh University that I understood that I had it too.
The good news is that it is reversible and explains the sensation of fizzing I’ve had in my veins for months which he says is down to excessive carbon dioxide changing the PH levels in my blood.
The bad news is that it took more than a year to get it diagnosed and I am still waiting for the respiratory tests he has referred me for.
The NHS is busy
One of the downsides of being ill in a pandemic is that it makes it particularly hard to get medical help.
The NHS is understandably extremely busy. Not only that but the problem with having a new disease is that no-one knows quite how to treat it.
My GP has been helpful but she is no expert in long Covid.
She sent me for basic tests including a chest X-ray and an ECG but they came back clear.
This was reassuring in a way but also unhelpful because it leaves you with no explanation about what is wrong or how to fix it.
So I feel I’ve been left to my own devices.
image captionLucy had a brain scan as part of a study at Edinburgh University
As part of that I looked into different research. At Edinburgh University, Prof Carson is doing an in-depth study into the impact on the brain of long Covid. I feel fortunate that I was allowed to take part. It involves hours of clinical tests and questions and an MRI scan of the brain.
A high percentage of people with long Covid complain of brain fog – for me it has meant problems with memory and concentration and struggling to find the right words.
On social media many patients have expressed their dismay at being told the symptoms are purely a result of anxiety or “all in your head”.
But the scientists and the growing body of research on long Covid make clear it is a real problem not an imaginary one.
Prof Carson says that to suggest it is all in someone’s head implies that problems which do not have an obvious physical cause are in some way a lesser illness.
He says there is a “slightly unpleasant undercurrent” which suggests that if an illness is visible in your body it is real and worthy of concern.
“I find that very hard to tolerate,” he says.
“I kind of feel that if you’re in medicine and you need that biomarker to believe patient’s suffering is real or that they’re worthy in some way then I think you’re in the wrong game actually.”
Prof Carson says it is “ludicrous” to think of the body and head as somehow separate.
He says we need to understand that the brain is a “predictive organ that interacts with the world” – and he makes the point that it our brain is the only organ in the body capable of perceiving pain.
It is the brain that regulates body temperature and heart rate and the many other patterns of the body that seem to be to go awry with long Covid, he says.
And as with the virus itself, long Covid seems to affect different people in different ways.
Dementia sufferers
As part of the study Prof Carson has seen people with lung scarring and people whose brain scans show dementia and other people whose brain scans are clear and healthy but who are still suffering debilitating symptoms.
Unfortunately in a small number of cases they are seeing patients with dementia which seems to have been accelerated by Covid.
He says this is not new dementia cases but “bringing forward” by several years what was going to happen down the line.
His hypothesis is that for a small number of older patients the acute phase of the illness and in some cases “delirium” has advanced permanent damage.
For many other patients – including myself – he believes it is partly a breakdown in the way the brain and other parts of the body are communicating.
My brain scan came back clear.
Prof Carson confirms that I have breathing pattern dysfunction and explains that this means too much carbon dioxide is left in my system.
He says my vertigo is in fact persistent postural perception dizziness which should ease with time but requires me to keep moving. He says the yoga should help.
He refers me for further testing for my breathing and suggests physiotherapy but says what I have been doing so far in terms of yoga and mindfulness should help.
According to Prof Carson, my long Covid symptoms should be reversible.
He describes them as a typical “constellation” and explains that while my brain looks ok structurally on the scan there seems to be some problems in the way it is anticipating and monitoring what I do.
There has been improvement
Last year my energy was severely limited. I can do more now but there is still a cap. I still try to push through but every time I do my symptoms pull me up.
To some the symptoms might not sound too bad. Having a headache for a day is irritating but having a headache and joint pain for months is difficult to handle.
As are the constant worries about whether you’ll be able to work properly again, when you’ll be able to run in the park with your children or spin them above your head. Or when you will be able make them dinner without swaying with dizziness and feeling like you’ve cooked for 100 people not four.
It is July now. I can watch a whole film but only if I have not already done too many other things that day.
I can cycle a short distance on the flat and I’ve even been paddle boarding. I am planning a family holiday soon where I will try to swim in the sea but I still have to weigh up one thing against another.
I can either work or walk or play with my kids. I can’t do everything. And I still have to take breaks in between.
For me this is not normal. This is not yet a return to who I was prior to Covid. That is hard. The rest of the country is returning to normal but I feel a long way behind.
I’m fully vaccinated yet I’m nervous about getting Covid for a third time but perhaps more apprehensive that this slog of pain and fatigue will just rumble on.
Yet I know too that I need to hold on to the idea that many people have recovered from long Covid and that I will too.
I am much improved. When I wrote the article last autumn about being seven months in to long Covid, it took me months.
I wrote that whole piece while lying in bed, typing on my phone with one finger.
When I started writing this article earlier this year my hands were often shaking too much to type.
I can now sit up and work and have been out filming for Panorama.
If I was not significantly better I would not have considered saying yes to making the documentary.
But I have to admit it has been hard working again and uncomfortable putting myself and my family into the centre of it.
I much prefer writing other people’s stories.
Hearing the stories of so many other patients has been moving and interviewing some of the leading scientists researching long Covid has been fascinating.
There is a huge amount of research going on across the UK – and the world – to investigate this new disease but so far there are far more questions than answers – about what causes it, how to diagnose it and how to treat it.
What has become increasingly obvious to me is that it is almost impossible to get through this on your own.
People need the help of friends and families. But also the right tests and medical support.
Long Covid affects different people in different ways.
The experts we speak to in the programme say we need to make sure we are getting people the right treatment and tests so we know who has underlying heart conditions or organ damage and who has breathing pattern dysfunction and requires specialist physiotherapy.
I am gradually recovering. I can do more now and the payback is not as bad as it was. But I still feel a long way from where I was and who I was before I got ill.
I’m pretty determined to hold on to the idea of myself as a bold adventurer, a mother, a wife, a journalist. Even if for now the mountains are just in my mind.
By Charlie Haynes and Flora Carmichael BBC Trending
A mysterious marketing agency secretly offered to pay social media stars to spread disinformation about Covid-19 vaccines. Their plan failed when the influencers went public about the attempt to recruit them.
“It started with an email” says Mirko Drotschmann, a German YouTuber and journalist.
Mirko normally ignores offers from brands asking him to advertise their products to his more than 1.5 million subscribers. But the sponsorship offer he received in May this year was unlike any other.
An influencer marketing agency called Fazze offered to pay him to promote what it said was leaked information that suggested the death rate among people who had the Pfizer vaccine was almost three times that of the AstraZeneca jab.
The information provided wasn’t true.
It quickly became apparent to Mirko that he was being asked to spread disinformation to undermine public confidence in vaccines in the middle of a pandemic.
“I was shocked,” says Mirko “then I was curious, what’s behind all that?”
image captionMirko Drotschmann was offered money to spread disinformation on his social media accounts
In France, science YouTuber Léo Grasset received a similar offer. The agency offered him 2000 euros if he would take part. Fazze said it was acting for a client who wished to remain anonymous.
“That’s a huge red flag” says Léo.
Both Léo and Mirko were appalled by the false claims.
They pretended to be interested in order to try to find out more and were provided with detailed instructions about what they should say in their videos.
In stilted English, the brief instructed them to “Act like you have the passion and interest in this topic.”
image captionLéo Grasset was horrified by the attempt to recruit him
It told them not to mention the video had a sponsor – and instead pretend they were spontaneously giving advice out of concern for their viewers.
Social media platforms have rules that ban not disclosing that content is sponsored. In France and Germany it’s also illegal.
Fazze’s brief told influencers to share a story in French newspaper Le Monde about a data leak from the European Medicines Agency.
The story was genuine, but didn’t include anything about vaccine deaths. But in this context it would give the false impression that the death rate statistics had come from the leak.
The data the influencers were asked to share had actually been cobbled together from different sources and taken out of context.
It presented the numbers of people who had died in several countries some time after receiving different Covid vaccines. But just because someone dies after having a vaccine doesn’t mean they died because they had the vaccine. They could have been killed in a car accident.
In the countries the statistics were from, greater numbers of people had received the Pfizer vaccine at that time, so a higher number of people dying after having a Pfizer jab was to be expected.
“If you don’t have any scientific training, you could just say, ‘oh, there are these numbers, they are really different. So there must be a link.’ But you can make any spurious correlation as you want really,” Léo says.
The influencers were also provided with a list of links to share – dubious articles which all used the same set of figures that supposedly showed the Pfzer vaccine was dangerous.
When Léo and Mirko exposed the Fazze campaign on Twitter all the articles, except the Le Monde story, disappeared from the web.
By any measure the disinformation campaign was bungled.
Since Léo and Mirko blew the whistle at least four other influencers in France and Germany have gone public to reveal they also rejected Fazze’s attempts to recruit them.
But German journalist, Daniel Laufer, has identified two influencers who may have taken up the offer.
Indian YouTuber Ashkar Techy usually makes jokey videos about cars and dating and Brazilian prankster Everson Zoio, has more than three million Instagram followers.
Each of them posted uncharacteristic videos in which they pushed the same message as the Fazze campaign and shared the fake news links from the agency’s brief. Both had also participated in previous Fazze promotions.
After Daniel Laufer contacted them, Everson Zoio and Ashkar Techy removed their videos but didn’t answer his questions. The BBC tried to contact both influencers, but they didn’t respond.
image captionAshkar Techy shared the dubious data in his video
We tried emailing the people who approached Mirko and Léo. The emails bounced back, not from Fazze, but from the domain of a company called AdNow.
Fazze is a part of AdNow, which is a digital marketing company, registered in both Russia and the UK.
The BBC has made multiple attempts to contact AdNow by phone, email and even a letter couriered to their Moscow headquarters, but they have not responded.
Eventually we managed to contact Ewan Tolladay, one of two directors of the British arm of AdNow – who lives in Durham.
Mr Tolladay said he had very little to do with Fazze – which he said was a joint venture between his fellow director – a Russian man called Stanislav Fesenko – and another person whose identity he didn’t know.
He said that he hadn’t been a part of the disinformation campaign. He said he hadn’t even known Fazze had taken on the contract before the story broke. He couldn’t enlighten us on who the mystery client was.
He said that in light of the scandal “we are doing the responsible thing and shutting down AdNow here in the UK”. He said Fazze was also being shut down.
We have tried to get Mr Fesenko to talk to us but had no success.
Both the French and German authorities have launched investigations into Fazze’s approaches to influencers.
But the identity of the agency’s mystery client remains unclear.
There has been speculation about the Russian connections to this scandal and the interests of the Russian state in promoting its own vaccine – Sputnik V.
Omid Nouripour, the foreign policy spokesman for the German Green party has suggested looking to Moscow for the motivation behind the Fazze campaign.
He said: “Bad-mouthing vaccines in the West undermines trust in our democracies and is supposed to increase trust in Russia’s vaccines, and there is only one side that benefits and that is the Kremlin.”
But in a statement the Russian embassy in London said: “We treat Covid-19 as a global threat and, thus, are not interested in undermining global efforts in the fight against it, with vaccinating people with the Pfizer vaccine as one of the ways to cope with the virus.”
While Fazze’s campaign was a flop, Léo Grasset believes it won’t be the last attempt to use the power of social influencers to spread disinformation.
“If you want to manipulate public opinion, especially for young people, you don’t go to TV” says French YouTuber Léo Grasset.
“Just spend the same money on TikTok creators, YouTube creators. The whole ecosystem is perfectly built for maximum efficiency of disinformation right now.”
All Sri Lankans over the age of 30 will be vaccinated by September, according to Minister Bandula Gunawardena.
Minister of Trade stated that the country will be reopened after that vaccination milestone.
He mentioned this speaking at the opening of the new Sathosa branch in Bulathsinhala today (July 25).
By September, we will be the country where all people over the age of 30 have completed the vaccination. After the vaccination, this country will be open.”
The Minister also spoke on the prices of face masks.
As schools are scheduled to reopen next week, we hope to discuss with manufacturers and further reduce the price of a face mask. Now a face mask sells at Rs 14.”
The Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry reports that another 446 persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, moving the daily total of new cases to 1,656.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 296,962.
As many as 267,602 recoveries and 4,099 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The Epidemiology Unit’s data showed that 25,306 active cases are currently under medical care.
Farmers alleged that the paddy harvest has dropped significantly this Yala season.
They complained that the problem has arisen due to the cultivation of seeds provided by the Agrarian Services Department.
Farmers in areas such as Laggala and Wilgamuwa in the Matale District are currently harvesting paddy during the Yala season, and their yields have dropped significantly this year.
They stated that they cultivated a variety of seeds distributed by the Agrarian Services Department.
Farmers also alleged that the crop has been severely damaged due to worms, caterpillars, mites and other insects.
Farmers in Wilgamuwa and Laggala areas have been using organic fertilizer this year.
But farmers stated that they have not been made aware of how to get a successful harvest.
TNA leader R.Sampanthan has called for a re-merger of Northern and Eastern Provinces and he has said that the problems Tamils face cannot be solved without the two provinces coming together. Moreover he has raised the matter with the American Ambassador Ms. Teplitz. The Tamil leader may have fired a salvo against the moves made by some nationalist groups campaigning for the abolition of the 13th Amendment which is being discussed at present by the committee assigned with the task of making a new constitution. He knows the impossibility of any governing political party granting such a demand. Even the ‘yahapalana’ regime which was hand in glove with the TNA could not accede to TNA demands though they attempted to bring in a federal constitution. The ‘yahapalanists’ paid the price for their folly.
Tamil politics had made the decision to chart a
different course and radically deviate from the main sociopolitical stream from
the time of independence though there were times of convergence and cooperation albeit of short
duration. Independence and universal franchise had driven a wedge between
Sinhala and Tamil leaders which was rather unfortunate for they were together in the struggle for independence. Tamil politicians
enjoyed parity of political power and suddenly they realized that their
privileged position was in danger due to universal franchise which would make
them a minority in the parliament. They could not reconcile with the fact that
they were representatives of a minority community. What is most unfortunate is
that they could not see the opportunities that were there for them to play a
vital role in the development of the whole country. The mistake the Tamil leaders committed at
that time was to abandon the opportunity that was available to jointly
participate in the central government and contribute to the development of not
only the Tamils but also the whole country and instead choose the narrow
parochial path of communal politics. This blunder has continued to plague the
country and even caused the birth of terrorism and a bloody war. Power sharing
at the centre by all the communities could have been a reality, ending the so
called ethnic problem, if not for that grave blunder.
The present sociopolitical chasm between the different
communities had its beginnings in those early times and successive Tamil
leaders have contributed to its widening instead of making an effort to achieve
reconciliation. Muslim leaders had taken a page out of Tamil separatism and
this has led to the emergence of Islamic terrorism too in the country. Leaders
of communal politics such as SJV, Amirthalingam, Ashrof, Sampanthan,
Wigneshvaran and others had adopted communal politics as their political
philosophy and this had caused an intractable communal problem in Sri Lanka.
Instead of advocating a common ownership for the whole country they started to
carve out territories with no regard to the historical fact that a certain
community had developed a civilization on this land and therefore have a claim
to the entirety of it. The fact that the evidence of that civilization is
strewn all over this land is of no consequence to the Tamil politicians. On the
contrary every effort is made to distort this history. Could such leaders contribute
towards reconciliation.
For Tamil political leaders communal harmony is an
anathema. They need disharmony to create issues and slogans for their political
survival. Knowing very well that no major political party could afford to grant
their demands without committing political suicide these Tamil leaders continue
their demands mainly to keep the fires of discord burning in the hearts of
communities which would ensure their political survival. Sampanthan asking for
the merger of the North and East has to be viewed in that background. American
Ambassador too would welcome such signs of communal discord. They would not
want to see communal harmony being achieved in Sri Lanka. That would not fit
their grand designs for the country and this region. This is why they helped
the LTTE to develop into the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world.
The Tamil separatist agenda suits the imperialist’s geopolitical agenda very
well. And they are holding the poor Tamil people at ransom in the pursuit of their
dastardly agendas.
It is time Tamil leaders thought about this country.
The game of political expedience they engage in will not help the Tamil people.
Attempt to distort history is childish to say the least. The aim here is to
create in the minds of ordinary Tamils that they have been denied their
heritage, their lands and their culture. A discontented frustrated people would
serve the purpose of the Tamil politicians as well as the imperialists. A
permanently destabilized country which is the aim of the imperialists would not
help the Tamils. Tamil leaders must realize the futility of pursuing this kind
of political philosophy.
Tamil intellectuals often talk about a Tamil Course
and Tamil struggle that have been
continuing since independence. The nature of this problem has never been
defined in clear terms. If they describe it in terms of the need for self
determination of the Tamils the counter argument would be that more than 50% of
the Tamils live outside the North and the East. They cannot talk about issues
concerning language, religion, education, employment, culture or infra
structure for all of that have been resolved and Tamils are equal if not better
off compared to Sinhalese. But the discourse on the Tamil problem continues in
vague abstract terms which attempts to portray the Tamils as an oppressed group
of people. This is an attempt to keep the Tamil people in a perpetual state of
discontent. Yet this discourse is incomplete unless it contends with the
rupture that occurred at the time of independence referred to above and
convincingly show that that was not the origin of the Tamil problem. But the
discourse studiously avoids any reference to those historical beginnings of the
Tamil problem.
However the solution to the problem may lie in that
historical error and the missed opportunities discussed above. The failure of
the then Tamil leadership to face up to reality and decide on a political
arrangement for power sharing at the centre has led to the creation of a
situation that could be amplified by separatists into a huge problem. If
leaders like Ponnambalam Ramanathan didn’t commit the mistake of
misrepresenting historical facts about Tamil habitation on this land and their
role in its civilization there would not have been such a Tamil problem. They
should have sought political inclusiveness for Tamils at that time not by
asking for 50% representation or a separate state for Tamils but by negotiating
an arrangement that fits the magnitude of the problem. Instead the Tamil
history in the country was blown up to fit their separatist agenda. This
historical error has remained to plague the country.
At least now after so much blood and tears the Tamil
leadership must make an attempt to correct that historical error. They must
realize the grave injustice they commit against their own community. They must
know the immense benefits that would accrue to the Tamils if there is communal
harmony. In the areas of economy, trade and commerce there could be greater
inter communal activity bringing much profit to Tamils. All communities could
participate without harboured acrimony in economic, social and cultural
activities to a much greater degree. Such endevours would be more successful if
there is unity and harmony.
If instead the Tamil leaders continue to make demands
like Mr. Sampanthan it would only cause
feelings of bitterness on both sides of the divide. Extremism begets extremism.
Sinhalese will close rank like they did in 2019 and will not allow minority
politics to hold the country to ransom. They must think of the future of the
Tamils and try to build a country conducive for communal harmony. A merger of
North and East would create pockets of minorities who in their own country
would feel second class. Instead a central power sharing mechanism could be
worked out for the good of everybody. Peripheral administration could be
facilitated by creating a system of District Councils which could reflect the
ethnic composition more accurately and which will not create minorities within a
devolved unit. Time is opportune for such a course of action as a new
constitution is being constructed. If this opportunity is missed it would be a
repetition of the mistake Tamil leaders committed at the time of independence.
Sri Lanka ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) Convention in
January 1994 and incorporated the Convention into Sri Lankan law by enacting
the ‘Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment Act, No. 22 of 1994’, more commonly referred to as the
‘Convention against Torture Act’ (CAT ACT).
In the UN Convention against Torture, the act of torture is a
separate criminal office. The Convention
restricts its application only to police and armed forces and other forces of
the state. Others like LTTE are exempt from the provisions of this Act. Which means
this Convention is intended only to control the armed forces and not on
terrorists.
the
Convention provided for a UN
Committee against Torture made up of representatives of member states, set up
to investigate allegations of torture in member states. All member
states are required to co-operate in the investigations of the committee. The
Convention specifically states that “No exceptional circumstances
whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political
instability or any other public emergency, may be cited in mitigation of any
violations”.
This
Convention gave its member countries the
power to arrest former or serving state officers suspected of committing
torture which took place in another member state. This means that officers of
the state will be hunted by the governments of foreign countries but terrorists
will not, observed critics.
The Sri Lanka
Act was better than the UN Convention, said analysts. It made torture a
separate non-bailable criminal offence punishable with a prison sentence of
between 7 to 10 years and a fine. Most importantly, its application was not
restricted to officers of the state but to citizens of Sri Lanka and
non-citizens who are within the jurisdiction of Sri Lanka. The Act also
provides for extradition of a foreigner suspected of committing torture to his
own country or another country asking for his extradition. But these provisions were already in
operation in the Sri Lankan legal system even before the Sri Lanka Act.
The UN
prepared a second document, Optional Protocol of the International Convention
against Torture” which became effective in June 2006. Yahapalana government
signed this on 14 November 2017. The decision was implemented soon afterward on
5 December and would come into force from 4 January 2018.
The Optional
Protocol declared that a UN Subcommittee of the Committee against Torture would
be established. The members
of this Subcommittee will serve not as representatives of their countries but
in their individual capacity to ensure independence. Members of
this Subcommittee will visit member states and make recommendations to the
relevant governments. The Subcommittee must pay regular visits to places of
torture, and make confidential reports.
The Protocol stated that the Sub Committee has the right to choose
the places it wants to visit and the persons it wants to interview. Objections to a visit to a particular place
of detention may be made only on urgent and compelling grounds and that can
only be temporary. The existence of a state of emergency cannot be used as an
objection. Persons and organization must be free to communicate with the Sub
Committee. The state must not prevent this. The state must also not retaliate
against these groups for having communicated information to the Subcommittee,
whether true or false.
Member states are obliged to give the Sub-committee access to
places of detention and provide unrestricted access to all information
concerning the number of persons deprived of their liberty and places of
detention, and unrestricted access to all information referring to the
treatment of those persons, as well as their conditions of detention; as well
as the opportunity to have their private interviews without witnesses, as well
as with any other persons who the Sub-committee believes may provide
information.
Under the
Optional Protocol, each member state is also expected to set up at the domestic
level one or more national preventive mechanisms. The state
must guarantee the
independence of these mechanisms” and their staff. The national mechanisms are
to have unrestricted access to places of detention and information and exercise
all the powers the international Subcommittee is entitled to.
The UN Sub
Committee will maintain direct, and if necessary confidential, contact with the
national preventive mechanisms and offer them training and technical assistance.
The national mechanisms must be given unrestricted contacts with the
Subcommittee, to send it information and to meet with it and no sanctions can
be applied to anybody who provides information, whether true or false to the
national mechanism.
A special fund set up
within the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights of the UN finances the activities of the Subcommittee
of the Committee on Torture. This special fund is financed through ‘voluntary
contributions’ made by governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations. It is western governments
that provide funding to UN bodies for particular projects. One can see
the opportunity provided for physical intrusion by outsiders through the
provision of funds into activities of a country, commented Bandu de Silva.
Thus by
acceding to this Optional Protocol, what we have done is to agree to give a
body functioning under the Office of the UN Human Rights Commissioner
unrestricted access to all places of detention in Sri Lanka and to provide them
with all such information regardless of the situation prevailing in the country
and to set up local mechanisms which can maintain direct links with the
international Subcommittee and feed information to foreign parties without any
restriction, said Chandraprema.
Previous attempts to bring in foreign judges, investigators and
prosecutors fell by the wayside due to stiff public opposition. The attempt to
use the Office of Missing Persons as an entry point also failed. The provision
that would have given the OMP unrestricted power to enter into agreements with
foreign parties was dropped also due to public opposition. Now
the government has signed this Optional Protocol to give their foreign masters
an opportunity to intervene directly in Sri Lanka.
Yahapalana government has, through this action given foreign powers the opportunity to
intervene directly in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs. This shows
that if these foreign powers are unable to get in through the front door, they
will enter through a window or even a chink in the roof, said Chandraprema. The
question is whether we need foreign parties nosing around in Sri Lanka and
maintaining fifth columns in this country. (Continued in C12.)
The Office of
Missing Persons Act was passed in Parliament on 12.8.16, during the rule of the
Yahapalana puppet government. It was rushed through Parliament ignoring
objections. It went
through all three readings within 40 minutes. The Bill was not referred to
Supreme Court.
The
Joint Opposition refused to accept OMP Bill as properly passed. They said Parliament had not followed proper
procedures in adopting it. It was passed
against the Standing Orders of Parliament. Only a Bill passed in accordance
with the Standing Orders could be accepted as a proper piece of
legislation. Also, a Bill cannot be
deemed to have been passed when more than half of the MPs were standing on the
floor of the House. Even government MPs were not in their seats.
Nowhere
in Asia has a mechanism such as this OMP been set up, said Dayan Jayatilleke.
The only OMPs set up so far were for persons missing under military juntas in
Latin America also where there were agreements between guerilla movements and their
governments. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, was a democratic state with a democratically
elected government, whose legitimate army fought a war within its borders
against a secessionist group and won an outright victory.
But
Yahapalana went ahead and the Office of Missing Persons was put in place. The
Office of Missing Persons is no Office’, said critics. It is a fully fledged
quasi judicial body just one step away from a fully fledged war crimes
tribunal. The ‘Missing Persons’ had to be connected with
armed
conflict, political unrest and civil disturbances. Therefore the
‘Missing Persons’ would be those missing in the northern and
eastern provinces only.
The
OMP would operate entirely outside the state justice system. OMP can arrive at
‘findings’ relating to serious crimes like abduction and murder without any of
the safeguards availed to suspects in ordinary courts, said critics. The OMP has extensive
powers to compel the giving of testimony and production of documents and other
material.
The Evidence
Ordinance will not apply. The OMP can admit as evidence statements which
contravene the Evidence Ordinance or considered inadmissible in civil or
criminal proceedings. This is most dangerous, said critics. OMP can
receive complaints from just anybody. Without safeguards of the Evidence
Ordinance, a ‘case’ can be built up against a person by the OMP and he can be removed
from the armed forces.
The Right to
Information Act and Official Secrets Act will also not apply to the work of the
OMP. Right to Information Act has been excluded so that people could give
information without fear, said supporters of the OMP. This is necessary because
the OMP is a mechanism designed to discover the truth of a missing person’s
fate and not act as a prosecutorial or judicial body. However, only information
that is communicated in confidence will be excluded from the provisions of the
RTI Act. All other information will be subject to the Right to Information.
Any unreliable organization can make a
complaint, false statements included, without having or face any consequences,
responded critics. They can
admit any kind of evidence in building up a story against a person, and that
story could cause serious damage to that person’s reputation and career.
OMP can
operate in complete secrecy. OMP can
initiate an inquiry on the basis of a complaint, which is then kept secret. This
means that people can charge each other in secret.
No court, not
even the Supreme Court can order any officer of the OMP to submit to its courts
any material communicated to him in confidence. Not even
Supreme Court of Sri Lanka can penetrate this fog of secrecy, remarked critics.
OMP
can summon any person in Sri Lanka before it.
Anyone who fails or refuses to cooperate with the OMP may be punished
for contempt of court.” OMP’s power
to charge contempt of court is equal to that of the Appeal Court.
All
government bodies, including the armed forces and intelligence services are
mandatorily required to give fullest cooperation to OMP. All local authorities rank below the OMP.
OMP
can establish committees, division or units for the administration of the OMP
and can delegate its power to them. OMP
officers have been conferred immunity. They are above the law. OMP officers can, without warrant, at any
time of day or night, enter any premises, including sensitive military
installation and seize any documents or object they require for
investigations. Documents supposedly
seized from military organization can be circulated all over the world.
OMP is allowed to bring in foreign personnel and OMP can appoint foreigners as officers
and staff of the OMP. Critics pointed
out that the members of the OMP can delegate the work to others who need not be
even Sri Lankans.
The
OMP can raise funds from national or international sources. They can receive
foreign funding directly. OMP has the power to enter into agreements on any
subject with any foreign government, NGO or any other institution, including UN
agencies like OHCHR. Since these UN organizations have been taken over by the
west through funding, the OMP will be operated by the West. OMP can have
agreements with LTTE as well, observed critics.
The
members of the OMP must statutorily have experience in investigating Human
Rights Law (HR) and International Human Rights Law (IHL) and they need not be
citizens of Sri Lanka. This means that the appointees can be representatives of
western funded NGOs or those who have worked with western sponsored
international war crimes tribunals, said analysts. These
officers can be foreigners.
If a missing person is found, the OMP need not announce the fact. If
that person so wishes he can remain missing, though he may be hale and hearty
and living abroad, observed critics.
Unless he agrees, his relatives will not be informed either.
Many of those listed missing during the war could have
obtained new identities courtesy of foreign governments, observed Gotabhaya
Rajapaksa. Foreign governments including Australia had refused to assist Sri
Lanka in its attempts to locate missing persons now living overseas under new
identities. Thousands have received new identities, especially in Europe.
Maxwell Paranagama said that his Commission had received 16,000
complaints regarding wartime disappearances and was inquiring into them when
the present government terminated the proceedings of the Commission. Some
foreign funded NGOs resented investigations undertaken by the Commission.
Paranagama said some of those declared as missing here were living
abroad. “Unfortunately, foreign governments have declined to help our
investigations by making available lists of those Sri Lankans living there as
refugees or given citizenship,” Paranagama said, adding that four of those
reported missing had been jailed in the Maldives. “We were able to speak
to them over the phone.
Kamal Gunaratne
was also critical. This is absurd he said. Anyone can just
come and complain that their son or family member is missing. OMP is just accepting complaints. The names of
those giving evidence are kept secret. You need to ascertain the accuracy of
these claims. How can we issue death certificates without knowing what happened.
If we are to issue death certificates or
compensation then it has to be established without doubt that the person
concerned is really dead. That cannot be done by this OMP. If we issue a death
certificate, and later that person is found, this whole process will become a
joke, continued Kamal.
The motives
of the present OMP can be questioned, concluded Kamal Gunaratne .The OMP has been
going to people’s houses and getting them to come forward and say that their
loved ones are missing.
The Chairman
of the OMP stated in 2020 in an interview, over
the last two years, we have built up the institution, including recruitment of
staff, building technical capacity, developing a temporary database, collating
information and establishing a Victims’ and Witnesses’ Protection Unit and an Investigations
and Tracing Unit .
OMP was now
busily at work, said the Chairman. There are ongoing individual investigations
which are at different stages. Depending on the facts of each case, the OMP is
required begin an investigation at different points.
In some cases, an investigation has begun with
a complaint from a family member regarding a missing or disappeared loved one.
In another scenario, the OMP has, in keeping with its mandate, intervened in
cases because unidentified human remains have been discovered and they may
belong to victims of disappearances.
Under the OMP
Act, it has the authority to intervene and observe inquiries into human remains
before a Magistrate’s Court. OMP has also provided financial and technical
support in the Mannar mass graves investigation. (Continued in C12)
Excerpted from SDIG (Retd.) Edward Gunawardena’s memoirs Courtesy The Island
The burning of the Jaffna public library in 1981 is not only a controversial subject, it is a sensitive one. Much has been written on it mainly for propaganda purposes and political advantage. It is significant that nobody who was a witness to the incident or was even present in Jaffna at the time of the incident has written anything on the subject.
Having kept mum for three decades, except once in 2006 when I was compelled to come out with the truth when an admirer of Anton Balasingham, writing to a Sri Lankan newspaper, alleged that I was responsible for the burning of the library, I decided that I should write particularly to dispel the untruths clouding this event; of what I witnessed, what I came to know of and the deductions and conclusions I arrived at particularly with my training and experience as an intelligence officer. I will elaborate this later in this chapter.
I thought the best way to make a start on this all important narrative is to present the reader with a reminder of the common perceptions regarding the burning of the library that existed in the eighties and even prevails to the present day. An article on the subject that appeared in a Sri Lankan newspaper in 2008 projecting the common perceptions in a nutshell provided me with a suitable platform to commence this effort.
‘Burning Memories’
A journalist named Aboorvan Prabanjana (I don’t know whether this was a real name or a pseudonym) writing on ‘Tamil Matters’ in the Sunday Lakbima of October 16. 2008, has opened his article titled, ‘Burning Memories’, thus: The burning of the Jaffna library in 1981 is an event that has left indelible imprints in the minds of Sri Lankan Tamils. It marked the destruction of the intellectual heritage preserved down the ages by the Jaffna community. It is now an open secret that the crime was plotted and perpetrated by the politicians of the then ruling party”.
This article written twenty 27 years after the event has been meant primarily to draw attention to a documentary film entitled ‘Burning Memories’ directed by one S. Someetharan. Among other things this article alleges:
a)
Mobs brought to Jaffna from the southern part of the country allegedly led by a prominent politician of the then ruling party who was active during the campaign for the District Development Council elections of 1981, created a frenetic situation in Jaffna. The mobs were reportedly aided by the police. They set fire to several important buildings in the Jaffna town including the public library”.
b)
President Ranasinghe Premadasa who in a public speech hinted about the culprits responsible for the wanton act, speaking at a Muslim College in Puttalam in October 1991, in the aftermath of the impeachment against him sponsored by the UNP dissidents Lalith Athulatmudali and Gamini Dissanayake, reportedly said,
During the District Development Council elections in 1981, some of our party members took people from other parts to the North, created havoc and disrupted the elections in the North. If you wish to find out who burnt the priceless collection of books in the Jaffna library you have only to look at the faces of those opposing us”.
The above assertions of Prabanjana, to me who was an eye witness to the happenings in Jaffna including the library going up in flames, are baseless and unsubstantiated. The present generation has been fed on writings of this nature and made to believe that mobs, politicians and police officers were the culprits. All these assertions have to be critically looked at without bias to arrive at any reasonable conclusion as to Who burnt the Jaffna library”.
In the penultimate paragraph of Prabanjana’s article he has made an observation on the formal opening of the renovated library, an observation that will become increasingly significant as we go along. The narrator of Someetharan’s documentary has stated that the renovated library began to function without any formal opening as opposition grew to the Government’s and Municipal Council’s willingness to declare open the library”.
But Prabanjana, wittingly or unwittingly adds, There is however another version of this story relating to the canceled opening ceremony which the documentary fails to mention. Many a ‘Dalit’ activist has pointed out that the move to declare open the library faced strong opposition because the event was to be headed by the then Jaffna Mayor Sellan Kanthaiyah who was from an oppressed caste. It is said that those who belonged to the dominant caste in Jaffna could not tolerate the public library being declared open under the chairmanship of a ‘low caste’ man”,
The question that comes to my mind and should to any prudent person is: if the dominant caste in Jaffna (vellala) could not tolerate a ‘low caste’ man opening the renovated library, with what restraint would the ‘low caste’ non vellala community have for decades tolerated the existence of the library which was symbolic of the intellectual and social superiority of the vellalas? Did they bide their time and wait for an opportune moment to destroy this symbolic edifice of the Hindu aristocracy? It was the oppressed non vellala castes that comprised the bulk of the Prabahakaran led LTTE.
To this LTTE with its unquestionable caste foundation the destruction of the intellectual heritage preserved down the ages”, was of little or no consequence. In fact it was not too long ago that the library was the exclusive preserve of the Vellalas. There is reason to believe that Prabahakaran and his young followers imbued with Marxist thinking would have viewed the public library symbolic of the establishment — the intellectually and socially superior elite Hindu vellala aristocracy. This was indeed a major stumbling block to the forward march of ‘the boys’. They certainly could not have had any qualms even of destroying this symbol if it were to give a turbo-boost to their ambitions.
The Beginnings of LTTE Terrorism
The lies and dubious assertions – all of which can be countered by facts – repeated over and over again even in our not so prestigious parliament, by individuals who pose as intellectuals interested in the so-called ethnic question and by mercenary NGO’s have come to be believed without question. The propagandists of the LTTE undoubtedly got maximum mileage out of the burning of the library as people in Sri Lanka and abroad had been made to believe that it was the work of Sinhalese politicians, police officers and goons.
More importantly, the present generation believes or has been made to believe that the LTTE’s quest for a separate state of Eelam through a war characterized by terrorism was motivated solely by acts such as the burning of the library and the anti-tamil riots of 1983.
If I were to recount briefly from memory, sporadic acts of terrorism began to emerge particularly with the promulgation of the Republican Constitution of 1972. As far back as May 1972 attempts were made by militant youths to topple a key high-tension electricity tower and also kidnap the children of a Tamil cabinet minister, Chelliah Kumarasuriyar.
Organized Terrorism
Organized Terrorism began to emerge by the mid-seventies. Alfred Duraiappah was personally assassinated by Prabahakaran. Police officers including retired officers and police informants began to be brutally killed. Robberies of banks, co-operatives, petrol filling stations and even passenger bus collections had become the order of the day.
Before the end of the seventies the LTTE had advanced to become a well-knit terrorist outfit that was seeking world attention. The meticulous planning that went into the explosion of the Air Ceylon Avro aircraft on Sept. 7, 1978 showed that the ‘boys’ had come of age. Fortunately the plan misfired. The explosion that was planned to take place over the Galle Face Green when the ceremonies connected with the promulgation of the new constitution were taking place, in fact occurred before the Avro took off from Ratmalana. Had it exploded as planned it would certainly have hit the world headlines like the Lockerbie crash.
Another sensational act of terrorism in the same year, in April if I remember right, was the brutal killing after much torture of IP Bastiampillai, SI Perampalam, PS Balasingham and PCD Siriwardena at Murunkan. The first information was of four decomposing bodies received by the Intelligence Services Division (ISD) of the Police of which I was the Director at the time.
It was about this time, 1979 to be more precise, when I was the Director of Intelligence that I accompanied Brigadier ‘Bull’ Weeratunga to Jaffna. His mandate from President Jayewardene was ‘to eliminate terrorism from the peninsula’. But the militant youths who began to be hunted down fled to India where they continued their training by Indian and the PLO experts on terrorism. By 1981 most of the trained youths had returned to commit murders and robberies with impunity. Their ranks were also beginning to swell, with more youth enamored by the adventurous nature of the movement, joining it.
It was in this atmosphere that the government decided to hold the District Development Council (DDC) elections. The Jayewardene government believed that the strengthening of the state’s hold over the peninsula by holding elections and having a democratic peripheral administration would help to break the back of the Tigers. To the latter, who by then not only had the backing of India, but had announced to the world of their existence as a formidable group of ‘freedom fighters,’ it provided a challenge of a different nature.
Anton Balasingham who by then was firmly in the saddle as the mentor of Prabahakaran was to tell the ‘boys’ that under no circumstances should the government of J.R. Jayewardene be allowed to take political control of Jaffna. The Indira Gandhi government that had strained relations with JR was also interested in ensuring that the central government did not have control over Jaffna. India wished for a manipulable power set-up in the North of Sri Lanka. Indian intelligence, (RAW) – Research and Analysis Wing – had been given the task of disrupting the DDC elections. I shall later recall an incident where I had an encounter with a RAW agent during the elections in Jaffna.
Reaching maturity
It is indeed significant that when the eighties commenced the separatist movement of the Tigers had reached a high degree of maturity. Splinter groups had been eliminated and Prabahakaran who had built up an image as a strong and dynamic leader had become the supreme commander. Uma Maheswaran who believed that a separate state could be achieved by resorting to urban guerilla tactics had lost his appeal.
Prabahakaran firmly believed that a well planned multi-pronged approach was required. He had realized the need for a sound theoretical base that would appeal to the youth, the importance of the collection of funds and getting the support of the western world where there were Tamils in influential positions in many cities. Above all he was determined to make the world know that the LTTE had launched a liberation struggle for the oppressed Tamil people.
The shrewd Prabahakaran also realized that to win the sympathy of the West he had to demonstrate an affinity with the Catholic faith. By indirectly portraying the Vellalas as the protectors of the Hindu tradition he had successfully won over the Catholic bishops to his cause. Dr. Anthonypillai Stanislaus Balasingham, a Catholic Marxist theoretician married to an Australian radical had become
Prabahakaran’s main propaganda organizer. Pamphlets craftily authored by Balasingham even with a map demarcating the boundaries of the proposed Eelaam were being circulated in all western capitals. These were freely available even in Pettah, Wellawatta and Wattala.
Balasingham who authored a book entitled, Towards a Socialist Eelaam”, was also a member of the Communist Party of Britain. A keen student of world terrorist movements he had hardened himself as a brutal strategist not opposed to the killing of non — Christians for the furtherance of the movement he represented. Had he not died before the war ended in 2009, perhaps he would have successfully used his clout with powerful elements in Europe, America and Canada or even Australia to provide safe passage out of the country for Prabahakaran, Nadesan and others.
By Sugeeswara Senadhira/Daily News Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
Colombo, July 23: For steady progress and economic development of a country the two most important requirements are peace and political stability. Any uncertainty on the duration of a government adversely affects its policy implementation process as Sri Lanka witnessed many times during its post-independence history of seven decades, especially during the last ‘Yahapalana’ government.
Hence, the people of the country can heave a sigh of relief over Monday’s announcement by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa that he intends to contest and win the next Presidential Election. Speaking to media heads and publishers he said that in addition to the remaining three years of his tenure he has got another five years to implement his policies, clearly underlining his fullest confidence in winning the next Presidential Election in 2024.
Whatever the system of government – Monarchy, Executive Presidency, Prime Minister-headed Westminster system or a single-party regime – developing countries made rapid economic progress under strong rulers who had ensured stability of the government. Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia are such examples in Asia.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is yet to complete the second year of his government. Two years is not at all a long period in history. For a nation, it is only a fraction of time. However, for the new government, with long term plans for five years, the first two-year period was important. In that short span of time, the government commenced implementation of long-term development programs and significant achievements were made, despite the overwhelming economic challenges and unprecedented health problems that surfaced.
The government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa succeeded in laying a solid foundation for the implementation of policies as envisaged in his Election Manifesto ‘Saubhagyaye Dekma’ or ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendor’.
The President’s biggest victory is his ability to give the people a sense of security and peace. The massive campaign to curb crime and drug smuggling and the steps taken to strengthen the law and order machinery have given people a sense of assurance and a feeling of security. There is confidence in the abilities of the police, ably assisted by the Security Forces, to maintain law and order. The people now feel that they could engage in their day-to-day activities without any fear. This was achieved in the first year in office.
Then came the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Against this massive challenge the health sector is cooperating fully with the Security Forces and Police and has succeeded in containing the first two waves of the pandemic in a remarkable manner.
Despite the alarming magnitude of the third wave, the government succeeded in bringing it to a manageable level by its most-ambitious accelerated vaccination exercise. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, with his methodical approach to problem-solving, deployed the Armed Forces to assist the health sector, thus ably supplementing the stretched health staff with disciplined soldiers to take over quarantine work as well as the planned vaccination program.
However, the spread was rapid in the third wave and the infected patients taking treatment in hospitals currently are a little over 20,000 and the number of deaths has crossed 3,800. Despite this alarming situation, the country can take pride in its robust public health service. Though the numbers were high and the virus stretched the health sector beyond its limits, this sector bravely batted on to get the situation under control. Initially a section of the people criticized the deployment of the Armed Forces. However, over the months, they acknowledged the positive role played by the Tri- Forces and the police.
Addressing the Buddhist Advisory Council last Friday, the President expressed confidence that all vaccines received since the arrival of the first batch of AstraZeneca vaccines on January 28, and the district-level vaccination programs implemented across the country will pave the way to completing the administration of two doses for persons who are over the age of 30 before the end of August.
It is also expected to complete the vaccination drive in Kandy District before the Dalada Perahera. The President pointed out that the World Health Organization (WHO) has commended the vaccination process in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has become one of the leading countries in South Asia in vaccination. The Maha Sangha commended the President and the government for their efforts to control COVID-19 from the outset.
One of the most significant steps taken by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was to uplift the poorest of the poor families in the country by recruiting 100,000 unemployed youth from poor families in the most under-developed regions in the country. The selected youth were assigned to public sector offices to fill existing vacancies of unskilled workers. Thus 100,000 poorest of the poor families were assured of a monthly income, uplifting them to a higher step on the social ladder. At the same time, the unskilled youths were given an opportunity to learn skills so they would be equipped with capabilities for upward mobility.
Simultaneously, under the graduate employment scheme, more than 60,000 unemployed graduates were given employment. The recruited graduates are being provided with skills training for public sector employment.
In the Education sector alone several new programs were launched in the last year. They include upgrading 1,000 schools to National Level Schools, ensuring university admission for every student who qualifies at the GCE A/L Examination and a program to provide vocational training coupled with proficiency in the English language and Information Technology to those who do not qualify to pursue higher education.
Furthermore, nursing and teacher training diploma courses have been upgraded to degree level by elevating those institutes as fully-fledged universities.
The decision taken by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to cut down unduly high salaries of some heads of institutions was highly appreciated by the people. One such example was the reduction of the salary of the Telecom Chairman from Rs. 2 million to Rs. 200,000. The government also gave instructions to follow the procurement procedures in a transparent manner and to halt unnecessary expenses for festivals at State Institutions.
The President displayed his strength to take decisions in the long-term interests of the country and the people, though some decisions brought an element of short-term unpopularity. His decision to ban chemical fertilizers came in for heavy criticism from some quarters. Despite that, he vowed not to change the decision taken in the interest of the health of the future generations. When he explained to the farmers’ representatives the measures to be taken by the government to promote the use of organic fertilizers, many district farmers’ representatives of 1.1 million farmers across the island, urged the President not to reverse the steps taken to use organic fertilizer.
The farmers’ representatives highlighted that it was their absolute duty and responsibility to return to the traditional farming methods and provide the people with a non-toxic healthy diet. They added that the citizenry will be grateful to the President for his decision to nourish a healthy next generation for Sri Lanka. The farmers’ representatives assured President Rajapaksa that all the farmers in the country would support the President in overcoming the challenge of going for agriculture based on organic fertilizer, as a team, for the benefit of all people in Sri Lanka, just like the country once faced the challenge of concluding the war against terrorism.
The President pointed out that this was not a sudden decision and this initiative was launched to fulfill a promise made in his ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’ policy statement, as the Presidential candidate. The previous governments on a number of occasions have tried to convert to organic agriculture. However, the President said that the reasons for their failure would be studied and the new program will be implemented rectifying those errors. Some people try to point this out as a reverse journey. But the President emphasized that the use of organic fertilizers, which is a new trend in the entire world, would take the country on a new path of agrarian economy.
President Rajapaksa selected the meeting with media heads for the important announcement of his intention to stand for a second term, perhaps because of his belief that as the Fourth Estate, the media has the responsibility of disseminating accurate and balanced information of the development policies and activities of the government which has embarked on a new journey towards prosperity.
A total of 517 more people tested positive for COVID-19 today (July 24), bringing the daily count of positive cases reached 1,737.
According to the Government Information Department, 1,707 new cases reported today have been associated with the New Year cluster. Meanwhile, the remaining 30 were identified as arrivals from foreign countries.
The new development has brought Sri Lanka’s confirmed coronavirus cases tally to 294,850.
As per official data, as many as 266,665 patients who were infected with the virus have regained health so far while 24,183 are still under medical care at selected hospitals and treatment centres across the country.
The death toll from coronavirus now stands at 4,054.
China, we are told, inveigles poorer countries into taking out loan after loan to build expensive infrastructure that they can’t afford and that will yield few benefits, all with the end goal of Beijing eventually taking control of these assets from its struggling borrowers. As states around the world pile on debt to combat the coronavirus pandemic and bolster flagging economies, fears of such possible seizures have onlyamplified.
Seen this way, China’s internationalization—as laid out in programs such as the Belt and Road Initiative—is not simply a pursuit of geopolitical influence but also, in some tellings, a weapon. Once a country is weighed down by Chinese loans, like a hapless gambler who borrows from the Mafia, it is Beijing’s puppet and in danger of losing a limb.
The prime example of this is the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota. As the story goes, Beijing pushed Sri Lanka into borrowing money from Chinese banks to pay for the project, which had no prospect of commercial success. Onerous terms and feeble revenues eventually pushed Sri Lanka into default, at which point Beijing demanded the port as collateral, forcing the Sri Lankan government to surrender control to a Chinese firm.
The Trump administration pointed to Hambantota to warn of China’s strategic use of debt: In 2018, former Vice President Mike Pence called it debt-trap diplomacy”—a phrase he used through the last days of the administration—and evidence of China’s military ambitions. Last year, erstwhile Attorney General William Barr raised the case to argue that Beijing is loading poor countries up with debt, refusing to renegotiate terms, and then taking control of the infrastructure itself.”
As Michael Ondaatje, one of Sri Lanka’s greatest chroniclers, once said, In Sri Lanka a well-told lie is worth a thousand facts.” And the debt-trap narrative is just that: a lie, and a powerful one.
Our research shows that Chinese banks are willing to restructure the terms of existing loans and have never actually seized an asset from any country, much less the port of Hambantota. A Chinese company’s acquisition of a majority stake in the port was a cautionary tale, but it’s not the one we’ve often heard. With a new administration in Washington, the truth about the widely, perhaps willfully, misunderstood case of Hambantota Port is long overdue.
The city of Hambantota lies at the southern tip of Sri Lanka, a few nautical miles from the busy Indian Ocean shipping lane that accounts for nearly all of the ocean-borne trade between Asia and Europe, and more than 80 percent of ocean-borne global trade. When a Chinese firm snagged the contract to build the city’s port, it was stepping into an ongoing Western competition, though one the United States had largely abandoned.
It was the Canadian International Development Agency—not China—that financed Canada’s leading engineering and construction firm, SNC-Lavalin, to carry out a feasibility study for the port. We obtained more than 1,000 pages of documents detailing this effort through a Freedom of Information Act request. The study, concluded in 2003, confirmed that building the port at Hambantota was feasible, and supporting documents show that the Canadians’ greatest fear was losing the project to European competitors. SNC-Lavalin recommended that it be undertaken through a joint-venture agreement between the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and a private consortium” on a build-own-operate-transfer basis, a type of project in which a single company receives a contract to undertake all the steps required to get such a port up and running, and then gets to operate it when it is.
The Canadian project failed to move forward, mostly because of the vicissitudes of Sri Lankan politics. But the plan to build a port in Hambantota gained traction during the rule of the Rajapaksas—Mahinda Rajapaksa, who served as president from 2005 through 2015, and his brother Gotabaya, the current president and former minister of defense—who grew up in Hambantota. They promised to bring big ships to the region, a call that gained urgency after the devastating 2004 tsunami pulverized Sri Lanka’s coast and the local economy.
We reviewed a second feasibility report, produced in 2006 by the Danish engineering firm Ramboll, that made similar recommendations to the plans put forward by SNC-Lavalin, arguing that an initial phase of the project should allow for the transport of non-containerized cargo—oil, cars, grain—to start bringing in revenue, before expanding the port to be able to handle the traffic and storage of traditional containers. By then, the port in the capital city of Colombo, a hundred miles away and consistently one of the world’s busiest, had just expanded and was already pushing capacity. The Colombo port, however, was smack in the middle of the city, while Hambantota had a hinterland, meaning it offered greater potential for expansion and development.
To look at a map of the Indian Ocean region at the time was to see opportunity and expanding middle classes everywhere. Families in India and across Africa were demanding more consumer goods from China. Countries such as Vietnam were growing rapidly and would need more natural resources. To justify its existence, the port in Hambantota would have to secure only a fraction of the cargo that went through Singapore, the world’s busiest transshipment port.
Armed with the Ramboll report, Sri Lanka’s government approached the United States and India; both countries said no. But a Chinese construction firm, China Harbor Group, had learned about Colombo’s hopes, and lobbied hard for the project. China Eximbank agreed to fund it, and China Harbor won the contract.
This was in 2007, six years before Xi Jinping introduced the Belt and Road Initiative. Sri Lanka was still in the last, and bloodiest, phase of its long civil war, and the world was on the verge of a financial crisis. The details are important: China Eximbank offered a $307 million, 15-year commercial loan with a four-year grace period, offering Sri Lanka a choice between a 6.3 percent fixed interest rate or one that would rise or fall depending on LIBOR, a floating rate. Colombo chose the former, conscious that global interest rates were trending higher during the negotiations and hoping to lock in what it thought would be favorable terms. Phase I of the port project was completed on schedule within three years.
For a conflict-torn country that struggled to generate tax revenue, the terms of the loan seemed reasonable. As Saliya Wickramasuriya, the former chairman of the SLPA, told us, To get commercial loans as large as $300 million during the war was not easy.” That same year, Sri Lanka also issued its first international bond, with an interest rate of 8.25 percent. Both decisions would come back to haunt the government.
Finally, in 2009, after decades of violence, Sri Lanka’s civil war came to an end. Buoyed by the victory, the government embarked on a debt-financed push to build and improve the country’s infrastructure. Annual economic growth rates climbed to 6 percent, but Sri Lanka’s debt burden soared as well.
In Hambantota, instead of waiting for phase 1 of the port to generate revenue as the Ramboll team had recommended, Mahinda Rajapaksa pushed ahead with phase 2, transforming Hambantota into a container port. In 2012, Sri Lanka borrowed another $757 million from China Eximbank, this time at a reduced, post-financial-crisis interest rate of 2 percent. Rajapaksa took the liberty of naming the port after himself.
By 2014, Hambantota was losing money. Realizing that they needed more experienced operators, the SLPA signed an agreement with China Harbor and China Merchants Group to have them jointly develop and operate the new port for 35 years. China Merchants was already operating a new terminal in the port in Colombo, and China Harbor had invested $1.4 billion in Colombo Port City, a lucrative real-estate project involving land reclamation. But while the lawyers drew up the contracts, a political upheaval was taking shape.
Rajapaksa called a surprise election for January 2015 and in the final months of the campaign, his own health minister, Maithripala Sirisena, decided to challenge him. Like opposition candidates in Malaysia, the Maldives, and Zambia, the incumbent’s financial relations with China and allegations of corruption made for potent campaign fodder. To the country’s shock, and perhaps his own, Sirisena won.
Steep payments on international sovereign bonds, which comprised nearly 40 percent of the country’s external debt, put Sirisena’s government in dire fiscal straits almost immediately. When Sirisena took office, Sri Lanka owed more to Japan, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank than to China. Of the $4.5 billion in debt service Sri Lanka would pay in 2017, only 5 percent was because of Hambantota. The Central Bank governors under both Rajapaksa and Sirisena do not agree on much, but they both told us that Hambantota, and Chinese finance in general, was not the source of the country’s financial distress.
There was also never a default. Colombo arranged a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, and decided to raise much-needed dollars by leasing out the underperforming Hambantota Port to an experienced company—just as the Canadians had recommended. There was not an open tender, and the only two bids came from China Merchants and China Harbor; Sri Lanka chose China Merchants, making it the majority shareholder with a 99-year lease, and used the $1.12 billion cash infusion to bolster its foreign reserves, not to pay off China Eximbank.
Before the port episode, Sri Lanka could sink into the Indian Ocean and most of the Western world wouldn’t notice,” Subhashini Abeysinghe, research director at Verité Research, an independent Colombo-based think tank, told us. Suddenly, the island nation featured prominently in foreign-policy speeches in Washington. Pence voiced worry that Hambantota could become a forward military base” for China.
Yet Hambantota’s location is strategic only from a business perspective: The port is cut into the coast to avoid the Indian Ocean’s heavy swells, and its narrow channel allows only one ship to enter or exit at a time, typically with the aid of a tugboat. In the event of a military conflict, naval vessels stationed there would be proverbial fish in a barrel.
The notion of debt-trap diplomacy” casts China as a conniving creditor and countries such as Sri Lanka as its credulous victims. On a closer look, however, the situation is far more complex. China’s march outward, like its domestic development, is probing and experimental, a learning process marked by frequent adjustment. After the construction of the port in Hambantota, for example, Chinese firms and banks learned that strongmen fall and that they’d better have strategies for dealing with political risk. They’re now developing these strategies, getting better at discerning business opportunities and withdrawing where they know they can’t win. Still, American leaders and thinkers from both sides of the aisle give speeches about China’s modern-day colonialism.”
Over the past 20 years, Chinese firms have learned a lot about how to play in an international construction business that remains dominated by Europe: Whereas China has 27 firms among the top 100 global contractors, up from nine in 2000, Europe has 37, down from 41. The U.S. has seven, compared to 19 two decades ago.
Chinese firms are not the only companies to benefit from Chinese-financed projects. Perhaps no country was more alarmed by Hambantota than India, the regional giant that several times rebuffed Sri Lanka’s appeals for investment, aid, and equity partnerships. Yet an Indian-led business, Meghraj, joined the U.K.-based engineering firm Atkins Limited in an international consortium to write the long-term plan for Hambantota Port and for the development of a new business zone. The French firms Bolloré and CMA-CGM have partnered with China Merchants and China Harbor in port developments in Nigeria, Cameroon, and elsewhere.
The other side of the debt-trap myth involves debtor countries. Places such as Sri Lanka—or, for that matter, Kenya, Zambia, or Malaysia—are no stranger to geopolitical games. And they’re irked by American views that they’ve been so easily swindled. As one Malaysian politician remarked to us, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss how Chinese finance featured in that country’s political drama, Can’t the U.S. State Department tell the difference between campaign rhetoric that our opponents are slaves to China and actually being slaves to China?”
The events that led to a Chinese company’s acquisition of a majority stake in a Sri Lankan port reveal a great deal about how our world is changing. China and other countries are becoming more sophisticated in bargaining with one another. And it would be a shame if the U.S. fails to learn alongside them.Deborah Brautigam is Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University
