By Senior Lawyer [e mail srilankastudycircle@yahoo.com]
The purpose of
this article is to present the expert views and advice so far
published on how to preserve our sovereignty, when nations which describe
themselves as a ‘core group’, comprising
Canada, UK, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Germany, have proposed a resolution
at the 43rd session of the UNHRC that threatens the very sovereignty of Sri
Lanka. This group proposes to violate Sri Lanka’s sovereignty,
by changing the global rules, masquerading under the cover of ‘Human
Rights’. Their proposed
resolution, as reported, is based on the outrageous Report of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet who has no clue of what happened in Sri Lanka
and is relying on questionable ‘hearsay’ evidence.
The Government
has the responsibility to tell the
people in detail what they will do at the UNHRC. They must tell the people that
Bachelet with the CORE GROUP are cutting the path to recolonise Sri Lanka,
as acceptance of her report means, the
international community will take
appropriate collective action,taking away our independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Government
must request a friendly Non Aligned Movement [NAM] country,
member of the Human Rights Council, to call for a vote. If we do not, the draft
resolution will be adopted by consensus without a vote .
This is the
reality because this is the procedure practiced at the UNHRC. It is similar to
seconding a motion. If the draft resolution is adopted the Sri
Lanka Government will be implicitly accepting that it is unable and unwilling to protect its
population from war crimes ,
genocide, crimes against humanity
and /ethnic cleansing. By doing so we
will be admitting we are a failed state and therefore exposing the forces to be
tried outside the country
Have Bachelet and the 5 ‘Core Group’ forgotten what President Bush said after the 9/11, terrorist
attack? He said “Every nation, in
every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are
with the terrorists.”
People
of great character in Sri Lanka have stood-up to bullies before, and we shall
do the same, this time too. Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam spoke at a Sinhalese
Conference in 1919 for the purpose of organizing ‘People ‘s Associations’ throughout
the island. This was during the British colonial period when he said, The
people are deprived of all power and interest in the administration of their
affairs; we are almost like cattle, driven at the pleasure of their official
masters. People have been reduced to a state of helpless
dependency.” [ ‘Speeches and Writings of Sir Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam’ , my friend, a
granddaughter of that great gentleman, gifted the invaluable book. The
time is right to get together to form a similar ‘People’s Associations’.
This article is based on the path shown by great, present day patriots like Tamara Kunanayakam who was Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the
UN in Geneva, Chairperson of the UN Working Group on the Right to Development
leading intergovernmental negotiations, and a senior official at OHCHR, Shenali
Waduge that indomitable vanguard and heart
of Sri Lanka patriotism with her prolific writings and
research and the many committed members of the Sri Lanka Study Circle and
other groups including Nidahas net work, Professionals’ National Front (PNF),who, fed
by the people, have kept alive the spark of a great Nation.
They all point out that colonisation in the 21st
Century is mainly not with weapons, but
by hegemony where the minds of the people are bombarded with fake reports,
false allegations and with the use of Human rights as a weapon.
.
Has the
government looked into the
legality of Bachelet Report
Has
the government looked into
the legality of Bachelet Report with regard to its compatibility with the UN Charter and the 1970 General Assembly Declaration on
Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Corporation
among States, which is the authentic interpretation of the Charter? The patriots point out that Bachelet has shown
utter contempt for the mandate given to her by the General Assembly
within the framework of the Charter . To understand the legality of
the Bachelet Report , attention must be drawn to the doctrine known as the Responsibility to protect [ R2P].
The Bachelet report attempts to
use the Responsibility to Protect’ [R2P] to advance a vision of
a unilateral world order to replace the multilateral order based on
the UN Charter.
The birth of the doctrine ‘Responsibility to Protect’ people of other nations [the
R2P ]
The Responsibility to Protect
(R2 P) concept was coined, not by the United Nations, but by the
2001 International Commission of Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS),
which was set up by the Government of Canada in 2001.
The doctrine marked a poignant
transformation of international understanding of ‘sovereignty’. In the words
of the drafters, a country loses its
sovereignty if it is proved to have committed four
atrocious crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic
cleansing. Such was the case when
UK and US simulated the language of the
Responsibility to Protect [R2P] doctrine to justify waging war in Iraq in 2003
under the guise of humanitarian grounds. Is this justifiable?.
Tamara Kunanayagam repeatedly alerts
the government to the R2 P language sneaked into the Bachelet
Report found in Para. 56 of R to P : that is — The Government has now demonstrated its
inability and unwillingness to pursue a
meaningful path towards accountability for international crimes and serious
human rights violations.” It is this language that Bachelet uses to
justify a call for preventive action and
application of unilateral coercive measures against Sri Lanka such as
sanction which are, incompatible with
the UN Charter.’’
Does this imply the Government
admits that it is unable and unwilling to protect its own people?
People ask, why has the Government not
responded to the R2P logic underlying the
Bachelet Report. Does this imply that
the Government admits that it is unable and unwilling to protect its own people. The
report is not about promoting and
protecting the human rights of Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims but paving the way for foreign occupation and
interference in our internal affairs with aggressive unilateral measures
Bachelet’s new precedent to exercise R2P in the conduct
of the UNHRC is a warning to all
countries
The Bachelet Report, by adopting the logic
and language of R2 P, attempts to set a
precedent to undermine Charter based multilateralism and the sovereignty
principle. The Study Circle in its articles point out to the Government that
if we concede and accept the outrageous report of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, we
will lose our sovereignty and we
will endanger other countries by allowing an
illegal precedent to be set up much against the UN Charter, whereby other nations will also
automatically lose their sovereignty.
The UNHRC members [34 from NAM ] who suffered immensely under colonial
domination must realize the new
precedence to recolonize.
The Foreign
Minister at the 43rd UNHRC session rightly said that Sri Lanka rejects the
resolution and seeks closure. If that is so, the only way forward is to call for a vote
through a friendly member state. It
is on the basis of common interest that we must mobilise the countries of Non
Aligned Movement and the Global south to vote against the resolution. If we
fail in this regard it can imperil the foreseeable future of many countries. It
is therefore a grave responsibility cast on us, the Non-Aligned nations, by history to preserve our independence and
sovereignty.
Sri Lanka’s vital role to unite the NAM to prevent return to foreign occupation
and domination
Sri Lanka today
has a major role to play as before when NAM
was founded to unite all the countries to strengthen the Non Aligned
Movement to prevent a return to foreign occupation and domination
The
Sri Lanka study circle asks, ‘Why does Colombage barefacedly lie that the key
to our Foreign Policy is ‘Neutrality’. What strength
would we be able to garner if we had the 120 countries of the Non Aligned
Movement with us, on a common platform? Can we afford to alienate 120 out
of the 193 countries, members of the United Nations, 34 out of the 47 members
of the Human Rights Council ? Can we afford to isolate ourselves and become
prey to the ambitions of a hegemonic power?
Why
does Colombage say
that we will not surrender without a fight?. Does it mean that the Government has an idea to surrender
?.
Shenali Waduge—in her article
titled ‘ Bring intrusive UNHRC Resolution against Sri Lanka to a
conclusion with a VOTE’ endorses Tamara Kunanayagam who
with her experience had said this in many interviews.
. The Non-Aligned Movement’s
objectives are clearly enunciated by Fidel Castro in his Havana
Declaration of 1979. As he said the Movement
is the safety net to ensure the national independence, sovereignty,
territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries in their struggle
against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of
foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as
against great power and bloc politics.
Colombo, March 8 (DailyMirror) – Health officials from the Colombo Municipal Council said that the COVID-19 infections in Colombo were on the decline in recent weeks and from an estimated 250 random PCR and antigen tests being conducted, an average one or two people were testing positive in comparison to the average 70 or 80 positives.
Chief Medical Officer of the CMC, Dr. Ruwan Wijemuni told Daily Mirror that random tests were ongoing in targeted public areas, but a lower number were now testing positive. He however urged people to remain cautious and follow all the health protocols stating that the COVID19 virus continued to be a threat , especially in the urbanized areas.
Admitting that the number of random PCR and antigen tests conducted across Colombo city, following the launch of the mass vaccination programme since February, was lesser than what was conducted before the vaccinations started, Dr. Wijemuni however said that testing was ongoing in high risk areas and in populated areas.
He further said all first line contacts continued to be tested immediately after a patient was identified and the second and third contacts were also tested after they were identified.we will continue conducting random tests in public bus stands, markets and other public areas, to detect more patients. (Jamila Husain)
Following the unequivocal support extended by China to Sri Lanka on the Core Group’s draft resolution at the UNHRC, Sri Lanka questioned the reliability of the data in the report on the Uighur Muslims of China.
Following the unequivocal support extended by China to Sri Lanka on the Core Group’s draft resolution at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Sri Lanka questioned the reliability of the data in the report of the Special Rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed, on the Uighur Muslims of China.
Sri Lanka’s representative C.A.Chandraprema strongly defended China’s treatment of the Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang province of China in the Interactive Dialogue on March 4.
Chandraprema said that Special Rapporteur Shaheed’s claims about discrimination against the Uighurs were based only on biased and sensational reporting in the Western media.
Problems facing the Muslims community in Sri Lanka received a brief reference in Shaheed’s report, specifically referring to mob attacks against Muslims in which the police appeared to be complicit. In reply to Shaheed, Chandraprema said that the Sri Lankan Constitution upholds the right to freedom of religion and denied violence and discrimination against Muslims following the Easter Sunday bombings in April 2019.
Focus On Defending China
Having said that Ambassador Chandraprema quickly switched focus to the UN Special Rapporteur’s findings on the treatment of the Uighurs in China’s Xingjiang province. He said Shaheed’s report on the Uighurs had quoted various Western media outlets” that had made various sensational claims” about issues encountered by the Muslims in China.
We have serious concerns about the credibility of these sources. We note that the policy of freedom of religion has been fully implemented in the Xinxiang province,” he said.
In a broadside against Western countries, the Sri Lankan Envoy said: Many Muslim countries have been destroyed in the past two decades in the guise of promoting democracy. However, Xinxiang has been at peace and has enjoyed democracy with the rest of China during this period.”
Shaheed had also been critical of the Indian Government in his Islamophobia report which drew a harsh response from New Delhi’s representative participating in the Interactive Dialogue. But the Lankan Ambassador did not make a reference to the allegations against India during his intervention.
Colombage Defends China
Sri Lanka’s Envoy’s remarks came in Beijing’s defense came in the wake of Foreign Secretary Adm. Prof. Jayanath Colambage’s assertion that he had seen no evidence” to suggest genocide in Xinjiang.
The Foreign Secretary had called the Government of China guardians” of the people of Xinjiang. Colambage’s interview was widely circulated in the form of a promotional video by the Chinese State media.
China Backed Sri Lanka
China had earlier strongly backed Sri Lanka over the Core Group’s draft resolution on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and the war crimes charges against its armed forces.
Chinese envoy Chen Xu had said: The proposed targeted sanctions contained in the OHCHR’s report are clear interference in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka and exceed the mandate of the OHCHR. We hope that the HRC and the OHCHR will strictly follow impartiality, objectivity, non-selectivity and non-politicisation principles, respect the sovereignty and political independence of all nations, respect the efforts of the nations for the protection and promotion of human rights, advocate constructive dialogue and cooperation, and abandon the practice of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and exerting political pressure.”
UN View on Uighurs
Draft UN experts and activists claim that one million Muslim Uighurs are detained in camps in Xinjiang Province. Last week, UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet decried the ill-treatment of the community and demanded access into the region.
In February, the Dutch Parliament passed a non-binding motion saying the treatment of the Muslim Uighur minority in China amounted to genocide, the first such move by a European country.
Chinese Envoy Reprimanded
During Thursday’s Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur, China was reprimanded by the Chair for using its time to launch a scathing attack on Shaheed. The Chinese Delegation said Shaheed had relied only on BBC and New York Times” to slander and smear China.
The Special Rapporteur was wantonly” spreading false information, the Chinese representative said, adding that Shaheed lacked basic professional ethics and serves as a political tool for Western countries”.
The Chair said: I would like to remind the speaker that I cannot allow derogatory or inflammatory remarks to be made against a special rapporteur. That is not allowed by the rules. No personal attacks should be made.”
Ahmed Shaheed’s Report
Introducing his damning report about Islamophobia world over at the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, Shaheed said institutional suspicion and fear of Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim have escalated to epidemic proportions.”
The UN Special Rapporteur said that numerous” States, regional and international bodies were to blame. In a report to the Council, he cited European surveys in 2018 and 2019 that showed that nearly four in 10 people held unfavourable views about Muslims.
In 2017, 30% of Americans viewed Muslims in a negative light”, the Special Rapporteur added.
Parts of Muthurajawela Wetland cleared for private commercial constructions
Intending to build public opinion against the foreign private enterprises taking over lands on a large scale and causing irreversible impact on the environment, a forum named ‘Our Land is Not For Sale’ was formed recently with the participation of environmental activists and other civil groups movements in collaboration with the Centre for Society and Religion (CSR).
Today we see a tendency that the State mechanism has created room for selling lands and resources to large scale private enterprises. This has not only posed a threat to the forest cover but also to the coastal resources. Most ongoing development strategies seemed to be based on this.
Need for collective action
It is necessary that all concerned citizens and organisations work together to overcome challenges related to the environment. Today we rally here, as a first step to oppose the foreign private companies taking over our lands,” said Rev. Fr. Rohan Silva, the Director of the CSR. He said there was a need to remind the responsible authorities of the great saying by Mihidu Thera: we’re only caretakers of Earth, not its owners. We must protect it for our children.”
We are living in a context in which political systems take turns. We have a doubt about how our politicians talk and make decisions regarding certain vital issues. It is our intention to develop this country. There is a question which is the model they use to achieve this. The successive governments seems to have, maybe due to external influence, followed the same model,” Fr. Silva added. He said the gap between the rich and the poor was rapidly increasing around the world. Even in Sri Lanka most of the wealth is with a few people who accumulate a large amount of money and increase the poverty crisis while making the richer rich and the poor poorer. These are the outcomes that the model we have been following has given us. We are in dire need of an alternative model which could ensure sustainable development. A government often gives opportunities to private investors to implement their hidden agendas. One of the most tragic parts of this issue is selling thousands of acres of lands to these investors,” he lamented.
The Director of Environmental Conservation Trust and the Convener of the Lands and Agricultural Reforms Movement Convener Sajeewa Chamikara said, Today we see a tendency that the State mechanism has created room for selling lands and resources to large scale private enterprises. This has not only posed a threat to the forest cover but also to the coastal resources.” He said most ongoing development strategies seemed to be based on this. When analysing The ‘Saubagya Dakkma’ manifesto– Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour, Mr. Chamikara said that it reminded citizens of their caretaker role in protecting fauna and flora. The wanton destruction of natural resources violates the manifesto and even the environmental laws,” he added.
The National Fisheries Solidarity Movement’s convener Mr. Herman Kumara said, At a time the 73rd Independence Day was celebrated on February 4, Hambantota district farmers had launched a hunger strike urging the responsible authorities to resolve their issues related to the human-elephant conflict. They are in a situation where they cannot sleep as the elephants could enter their lands and either kill them or destroy their cultivation. It is necessary to develop a country but wanton destruction of forests cannot be tolerated and would not lead to sustainable development.”
The National People’s Council’s convener Chameera Perera said the lands were being sold based on neo-liberal principles. Explaining how neo-liberalism had entered the country he said the state had become structured. The Executive presidency was such a structure that neo-liberalism brought into the country. It is always citizens’ struggles that have made a great impact on the state. These neo-liberal policies have posed a threat to the land rights of the people. The Government in Sri Lanka is structured in such a way that allows room for the land grabbers in the guise of investors to sneak into the country,” he added.
Expressing his views at the forum the Government Trade Unions Workers Association’s Chairman D.M.D. Abeyratne said, People in this country will experience what is left for them soon. There is a question of how long the resources in this country will be protected. The governments try to sell the country’s resources to strengthen their power. The public sectors’ privatisation was evident after 1977. The then government started to sell lands and resources to investors. Thus, resources and the public sector were being gradually privatised and were given to foreign enterprises. The revenue that should have been gained for Sri Lanka was shifted to multinational companies.” He said many government institutions that had profits were being privatised and sold, adding that the human-elephant conflict had become a pestering issue. As the forest cover depletes due to development projects the elephants have started to come to the villages. They destroy the cultivations and even kill people. Even when the people protest against these issues, the Government seems to have little or no concern for them. Both the people and animals have no space as deforestation continues,” he noted. Mr. Abeyratne called on the citizens to give their collective support and show their resistance to the destruction of the environment.
Muthurajawela Sanctuary under threat
The Muthurajawela wetland was declared a sanctuary on Oct. 31, 1996, under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance. It was also named one of the 41 internationally important wetlands in the country by the Asian Wetland Inventory of 1989. According to a study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Muthurajawela is home to 209 species of animals and insects along with 194 species of trees, 40 species of fish, 31 species of reptiles, 102 species of birds and 48 species of butterflies. There are 18 out of 22 mangrove species in Muthurajawela wetland.
Expressing his opinion on some landfilling attempts at the Muthurajawela sanctuary by private companies, the Muthurajawela Protection Organisation leader Anil Jayamaha said, Environmentalists have urged authorities to stop attempts to fill up Sri Lanka’s largest coastal wetland, the Muthurajawela sanctuary. For 73 years, we have not been able to choose a proper leadership. This has resulted in forming forums or organisations of this nature. We saw Government’s inefficiency when it allowed the destruction of about 5,500 hectares of valuable wetlands in Muthurajawela. He said the environmental laws in Sri Lanka, having identified the invaluable contribution of ecosystems to people’s livelihoods, did not allow for any action that posed a threat to this sanctuary.
Before Sri Lanka became predominantly Buddhist following the conversion of the 3rd. Century King Devanampiya Tissa (247 BC-207 BC), the island had an amazing assortment of religious cults, practices and faiths including animism, Jainism, Shaivism, Brahminism and Buddhism. There were many gods, goddesses and deities of local and Indian origin.
According to the ancient Sri Lankan chronicles such as the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, Buddhism was introduced into the island in the 3rd., Century BC after the Third Buddhist Council by Mahinda Thera and Therini Sangamitta, son and daughter of the great Buddhist Emperor Asoka of India.
However, the Mahavamsa itself says that Buddhism had its adherents in Sri Lanka even earlier in the 5th. Century BC, during the lifetime of the Buddha. He had visited Sri Lanka thrice. The first visit was made to Mahiyangana in the ninth month after he attained Enlightenment. During this visit, the Buddha subdued the Yakshas thereby setting the stage for the establishment of Buddhism later on.
His second visit was made to Nagadeepa in North Sri Lanka in the fifth year after his Enlightenment. Here he settled a dispute between the Naga kings Chulodara and Mahodara. In the eighth year after Enlightenment, the Buddha made his third and final visit, this time to Kelaniya with 500 Bhikkhus, at the invitation of a Naga King Maniakkika.
According to the author of the Mahavaṃsa, Prince Vijaya, the ancestor of the Sinhala people, arrived in Sri Lanka on the day the Buddha lay down between the two Sala trees to pass into Nibbaṇa (Nirvana). In the midst of the great assembly of the Gods, the Buddha told the Sakka around him: Vijaya, son of king Sihabāhu, is coming to Laṅka from the country of Lāta, together with seven hundred followers. In Laṅka, O lord of Gods, will my religion be established, therefore carefully protect him with his followers and Laṅka.”
When the lord of gods heard the words of the Tathagata, he handed over the guardianship of Laṅka to the god Upulvan, the Mahavamsa says.
However, Buddhism took root in Sri Lanka only in the 3rd. Century BC after the conversion of King Devanampiya Tissa. Prior to that, the religious scene in the island was a hodgepodge of faiths and practice. There was no one religion in the island, as Geethani Amaratunga and Nadeesha Gunawardana of the Departments of Sociology and History at the University of Kelaniya say in their 2019 paper in the International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science. Evidently, no systematically organised national or state religion, existed in the island, they say. People worshipped Yakshas, Devas, and snakes. There were Nigaṇṭhas (followers of Jainism, an Indian faith), Paribbajakas (wandering saints), Nagas (worshippers of snakes) Saivas (worshippers of Lord Siva). Ajivakas (those who believed only in destiny) and Brahmins practising Brahminism with its rituals. King Paṇḍukabhaya (437 BC to 367 BC), the builder of the city of Anuradhapura, had built a monastery for Paribbajakas and a house for Ajivikas there.
Ajivikas
According to www.britannica.com the Ajivikas were an ascetic sect that grew in India about the same time as Buddhism and Jainism. The sect was founded by Gosala Makkhaliputta, a friend of Mhavira, the founder of Jainism. The Ajivikas believed that the affairs of the entire universe were ordered by a cosmic force called Niyati (rule or destiny) which could not be altered by human effort. The Ajivikas practised austerities.
Yakshas
The Yakshas and Yakshnis were benevolent spirits that could also be mischievous, capricious, sexually rapacious, or even murderous. They were powerful magicians and were the custodians of treasures, cities and lakes. The Yaksha was a term used for believers in such spirits. The Yakshas were among the earliest deities to be depicted in art and sculpture, preceding the depiction of the Bodhisattvas and Brahmanical deities, whose representation they influenced.
Nagas
The Nagas were snake worshipping people of South Indian origin. H. Parker, a British historian and author of Ancient Ceylon” considers the Nagas to be an offshoot of the Nayars of Kerala. Cobra worship was later adopted by Buddhism. The Naga King Muchalinda had shielded the Buddha from getting wet in the rain by coiling around him and holding his large hood above his head. The Nagas were one of the four aboriginal people who ruled Nagadeepa or Naga Nadu in North Lanka from the 6th century BC to the 3rd century AD. Several kings of Rajarata were from the Naga tribe. Many Buddhist temples in south Sri Lanka have made the divine form of Naga (Natha Deva) into a Bodhisattva.
Worship of Deities
God Sumana of Samantakuta is also a pre-Buddhist deity. According to Amaratunga and Gunawardana, the Buddha had gifted strands of his hair to the God Sumana during his first visit to Sri Lanka. When he was lying on the bed for his Nibbaṇa in the midst of the great assembly of Gods he asked for the protection of Prince Vijaya and his followers in Laṅka. When the Lord of the Gods heard the words of the Tathagata he handed over the guardianship of Laṅka to the God Upulvan.
Brahminism
Brahmins or Brahmanas were a force in pre-Buddhist Sri Lanka. The Mahavamsa mentions a Brahman named Paṇḍula, whose son, Chandra, was the priest in the court of King Paṇḍukābhaya. The Rasavahini sheds light on a Brahman called Sirinaga who ruled Anurādhapura for a short period.
Jainismand Saivism
Before the advent of Buddhism, Jainism was well entrenched in Sri Lanka during the reign of 21 Kings. Jainism crossed over to Sri Lanka from South India around the 8th., Century BC and became one of the most important religions of Lanka. According to the Mahavamsa, King Pandukabhaya accommodated them in Anuradhapura. The Jains were called Niganthas in Sri Lanka. The Niganthas eventually lost influence due to actions taken by King Vattagamini (29 BC to 17 BC), but managed to survive up till the 14th.Century AD. There is ample evidence of the existence of Saivism in the island. The Mahavaṃsa sheds light on the SivikaSāla built by king Paṇḍukābhaya.
Consolidation of Buddhism
As a result of the work of later South Indian Buddhist scholars who were associated with the Mahavihara, mainly Buddhaghosa (4th–5th century AD, Dhammapala and Buddhadatta, Sri Lankan Buddhists adopted Pali as their main scholastic language, which enabled them to go international and spread Theravada Buddhism. From the 5th Century AD to the 11th., Century, Sri Lanka came under periodic attacks by Tamil rulers from India who were staunchly Hindu. They had banished Buddhism from their land and attempted to crush it in Sri Lanka too. But the eventual triumph of the Sri Lankan Buddhist rulers over the invaders ensured Buddhism’s survival and growth to be the religion of 70% of Sri Lankans. However, as Geethani Amaratunga and Nadeesha Gunawardana, say in conclusion, that despite the overwhelming power of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, pre-Buddhist cults and practices have survived, either after incorporation into Sri Lankan Buddhism or independently as part of folk culture. The umbilical connection with India still remains an essential ingredient of Sri Lankan Buddhism.
The former OIC of the Kelaniya Divisional Crime Bureau and other officers who have been suspended for allegedly assaulting Migara Gunaratne, the son of former Governor Maithri Gunaratne, made a special revelation at a press conference today.
He also released audio recordings of a threatening phone call he received after the incident.
Philip Gunawardene was the creator of the Multipurpose Cooperatives Society. Until
1956, the cooperatives had been single purpose ones. There were separate cooperatives for
food distribution, for savings and loan disbursement.
There were about 10,500 of cooperatives and they were of 70 different types. Philip
decided to weld them into one organization, the Multipurpose Cooperative Society. By 1958 a fair number of Multipurpose
Cooperatives were formed, others were converted. There was terrific enthusiasm
on the part of the public, said Meegama
The village level Multi-purpose Cooperative was a small unit and it would have to
depend on the private sector for its stock. Therefore Multipurpose
Cooperatives were combined into unions.
each Union of multipurpose Cooperative
had a fleet of lorries to transport goods and distribute them to the to the
individual multipurpose cooperatives This Union of Multipurpose Cooperatives played a major role in the development
of the area long after Philip Gunawardene had left the Ministry, said Garvin Karunaratne.
S. Piyasena, who had contested under MEP in
the 1960 election, said that Philip’s greatest achievement was not the Paddy
Lands Act, but the creation of the Multi-purpose cooperative society. Those
days, where Gunasinghepura is today, you could see ranks upon ranks of stalls
with cheap vegetables and other food items, brought there from all over the
island by rows of lorries emblazoned with the insignia of the Multi-Purpose
Co-operatives.
later he tried to reform the fisheries on the
same lines of cooperatives to enable the fishermen to get some of the profits
that were going to the middleman, the fish mudalali, but vested interest
prevented this.
Philip took over the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment.
CWE was selling a bare minimum of items at that time. the public had to go to the private trader
for the rest. Philip gave CWE trading rights and monopolies in respect of
several items of food stuffs. Philip
wanted to make the CWE the sole importer of all essential food stuff. He appointed a new Board of directors and
the CWE had shown a profit in 1956 itself.
Philip found that there were five
firms which imported fertilizer, Colombo Commercial, Baur, Shaw Wallace,
Moosajee and two other small firms. They have a virtual monopoly. CCC, Baur and
Shaw Wallace work together. The government subsidizes 50% of the cost to the
paddy cultivator and also pays out enormous amounts for fertilizer for coconut,
rubber and paddy. All these go to the
importing firms. We are their mercy said Philip.
Philip wanted to make the CWE the
sole importer of fertilizer. The idea was opposed, by many including the Minister
for Commerce. Cabinet refused to give approval for
CWE to import fertilizer.Even the Prime Minister had objected to the state importing
fertilizers.
Philip then suggested creating a
separate state organization for the purpose. It would be able to sell
fertilizer cheaper. And eliminate the high profits the three foreign firms were making since they had a monopoly on it. Nothing came of this.
The Marketing
Department under Philip had four services, a Vegetable Marketing Scheme, a
Fruit Cannery, a Bakery and Retail Fair Price Shops in all cities. I can state that The Marketing Department
functioned very effectively under Hon. Philip Gunawardena said Garvin
Karunaratne I was Assistant Commissioner
of Agriculture Marketing at the time.
The Vegetable and Fruit Marketing Scheme,
implemented by the Marketing Department was something unique to Sri Lanka,
said Garvin. Its function was twofold- to provide a high price to the
producer to encourage production as well as sell to the consumer at cheap
rates, a scheme that kept inflation of local produce in check, said
Garvin. This was a Scheme begun during the days of World War II. Under
Philip, this mechanism had to work perfectly.
Tripoli Market was the Headquarters of the
Vegetable and Fruit Marketing Scheme. Garvin, together with another officer
were in charge in 1956. Tripoli Market
was at that time, in a large hanger in
the Colombo Goods shed.
We bought vegetable and fruit from producers
at the producer’s fairs all over the island. This controlled the prices at
which the traders purchased vegetables. we then fixed a selling price higher
than the purchase price and kept ten to fifteen percent mark up to
cover transport and handling.
we sold vegetables at this price at 50 well
stocked small retail shops in Colombo. the traders all fell in line. With vegetables offered at low prices at our retail shops no
one would buy from other traders at a
higher price in this way we controlled
the prices very effectively but unofficially.
We did not use middlemen. We handled the goods
from the producer to the consumer. there
were Purchasing Units in all the producer areas. Marketing Department had a
Purchasing Unit present at every major vegetable fair. These Units purchased
vegetables at a higher price than what the private trader paid.
The
purchasing price was decided at Tripoli Market which had 24 hour
surveillance on the availability of produce and the prevalent wholesale prices
at the Colombo Wholesale Market. Three to four officers were on duty
there.
The vegetables purchased at the Fairs were
sent to Tripoli Market overnight by rail and lorry and by ten in the morning
the vegetables had to be distributed to the retail units in all corners of the
city. We had a staff with a dozen
lorries always on the move in the City. The Department with over a hundred
lorries, purchased only around ten percent of the produce, but that was
sufficient to unofficially control the prices.
We had a staff of Marketing Officers in every
producing area and Assistant Commissioners were always on the move. The
Assistant Commissioners contacted major producers and advised them on what
varieties were required for the market in Colombo. This was done through the
Divisional Revenue Officers as well.
At Ratnapura where I worked in 1956, on
four days in the week, I was driving on the tortuous roads to the Fairs at
Embilipitiya, Colombage Ara, and Godakawela. I had to be there before six in
the morning to ensure that my staff of Marketing Officers made purchases. The
vegetables were packed and sent to Tripoli Market overnight. We had to relay
the prices at which traders purchased at the Fairs to Tripoli Market and daily
discuss prices.
Marketing Department Cannery was probably set
up by Philip, for Garvin says, The Cannery being established, the Department
offered floor prices for Red Pumpkin, Ash Pumpkin and Pineapple, turning them
into Golden Melon Jam, Silver Melon Jam and Juice. This stopped imports from
Australia and saved our foreign exchange. A Floor price meant that we
purchased everything offered by the producer. the officer in charge of the Canning
Factory went often to Europe to find markets for pineapples and we built up an
export market. (continued)
Philip Gunewardene,
who was very sympathetic towards the farmers, introduced a Crop Insurance Scheme which benefited the farmers immensely. I am
not sure whether this insurance scheme is still operative, said Elmo de Silva
in 2020 .
Philip prepared a Crop Insurance Bill in 1958. It
was necessary to protect the farmer from crop failure, through crop insurance. This would be tried out first in two pilot
projects, one where risk is high and one where risk is low. The pilot projects will not be experimental
ones, they will be fact finding. At
present we do not compensate when there is loss of crops. We wait till they are
destitute and then give relief.
Philip
was also deeply concerned with the plight of the farmer when it came to selling his rice. The
Department of Agricultural Marketing, handled the Guaranteed Price Scheme to buy paddy from farmers at a premium
price, recalled Garvin Karunaratne. We were extremely strict to ensure that the
premium price got to the real producer.
Philip wanted
to reduce the
payment of Rs 12 for a bushel of paddy to Rs 10 with the remaining 2 paid in form of fertilizer. It was to
be retained by the Cooperative to make it easy for farmer to buy fertilizer and
other agricultural supplies. There was opposition. CP de Silva was the
strongest opponent of the scheme.
Protests
were organized with the support of mudalalies of Polonnaruwa and Minneriya who
bought the farmers paddy at Rs 8 or lower and who stood to lose. They brought
people in vans and cars from those areas and picked up some from Dematagoda,
Bambalapitiya and other places and organized a demonstration to defeat the
proposal. Philip’s Harbor and Dock workers Union met
the march and there was a free for all. Prime Minister got frightened,
when he saw the demonstration and supported
CP de Silva. Philip had to drop
the scheme, and a proposal that would have led to an increase in paddy
yields was blocked, said Meegama.
The
rural sector needed a body which would give them medium and long term credit.
There were no credit facilities available for the small traders either. The two available banks, Agricultural and
Industrial Credit Corporation and the Cooperative Federal Bank did not help. Bank of Ceylon was not operating in rural
Sri Lanka, either. The main sources for
credit were the private loan agencies.
Philip
wanted to set up a Cooperative Credit
Bank, which would provide credit to the ‘small man’ in industry, trade or
agriculture, as the existing commercial banks did not support him. The
Cooperative Credit Bank would grant loans to the rural sector, for financing
small agricultural industries and businesses, and also give loans for building.
It would also act as a pawn broker. The
Bank would have branches in the principal towns and rural centers. The plan was
to open 100 branches in the first year.
The
Bill had received the support of the Central Bank. Governor of the Central Bank
Arthur Ranasinghe had in a personal letter to Philip, praised the idea and
offered the services of his staff to help the take over the Cooperative Federal
Bank into the new Bank. Amendments suggested by Central Bank were incorporated.
The
Cooperative Credit Bank Bill was put to the Cabinet in 1958. It received the unanimous approval of
Cabinet. Then the Bill was opposed by Minister for Lands and Land development,
CP de Silva and Minister of Finance, Stanley de Soyza. CP de Silva said they
would give Rs. 10 million to the Cooperative Federal Bank, instead. Stanley de Soyza attacked the Bill when the
draft was published in Daily News. He protested that this Bank was to be set up
under its own Act, and would have the powers of a normal commercial bank, not a
cooperative bank.
Philip
explained that the Cooperative Credit Bank which was a pioneer venture had to
be liquid if it was to provide credit into the rural sector. It had to first
make that money. ‘We have combined the function of a commercial bank with the
functions of a development bank. The commercial side was to earn the money and
lending was to be done by the development side, he said. There are savings among the
farmers when the harvest is in and these could be banked.
Philip
thought that foreign banking interests were behind the opposition. The Finance
Minister is expected to see that
banking facilities were provided to the rural sector. Instead he took the side
of the foreign vested interests and opposed the setting up of this bank. SWRD took over the Bill from Philip, promising
that he would see it through. That did
to happen. Philip resigned from Cabinet
and the Bill was forgotten. In any
case, a Cooperative Development Bank would have needed a strong Minister to
successfully implement it as there were powerful vested interests opposing such
measures, observed Meegama. (Continued)
International Women’s Day, originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. The UN theme for Women’s Day in 2021 is Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”. The theme celebrates the tremendous efforts made by women and girls around the world to make the post-COVID-19 world more equal than it has been so far.
The way I see it, equality begins at home with the responsibility of raising the children and doing household chores shared equally between husband and wife. Currently, in most households, there is a major disparity in this area, mainly due to stereotyping and patriarchal attitudes, where the husbands are of the firm belief that it is the wives sole responsibility to raise the children and attend to housework.
The reality of the matter is that the wife for a day works on 4 shifts! Yes, you heard me right, 4 shifts. It starts at dawn by preparing breakfast and lunch, getting the children ready for school, attending to laundry, getting ready to go to work, seeing or dropping the children off to school (1st shift). Then concentrating on her 8 – 5 job (2nd shift). Upon returning home, she has to iron the laundered clothes, fold them, supervise the children’s homework (or e-class), fix dinner and do the dishes (3rd shift). Whereas, the husband, once he comes home showers and is all fresh to watch TV or get on his phone on social media, or goes to meet his friends. He comes home to dinner and retires to bed ready to claim his conjugal rights, whereas the poor woman by then is dead beat! (4th shift) And if she doesn’t oblige, God forbid! It results in an argument, domestic violence, infidelity or divorce.
Sri Lankan women frontline soldiers
According to the UN, this year is like no other. Even before COVID-19 hit, violence against women and girls had reached pandemic levels. Globally, 243 million women and girls (Sri Lanka included), were abused by an intimate partner in the past year. Meanwhile, less than 40 per cent of women who experienced violence reported it or sought help. As countries implemented lockdowns to stop the spread of the coronavirus, violence against women, especially domestic violence, intensified. In some countries, calls to help lines have increased five-fold. In others, formal reports of domestic violence have decreased, like in Sri Lanka, as survivors find it harder to seek help and access support through the regular channels. School closures and economic strains left women and girls poorer, out of school and out of jobs, and more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and harassment.
For women, achieving an equal future, leave alone in a Covid-19 world, in a normal world has been hard. In the context of political participation, in Sri Lanka, despite having had two female leaders (Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike as Prime Minister and Chandrika Kumaratunga as President) and that too from the sympathy vote, women are marginalized owing to the general perception that they lack desirable traits to engage in the political and decision-making process. Such attitudes are more apparent in the South Asian region, Sri Lanka included. Women are not encouraged to empower themselves and develop confidence in their capacities, but discouraged from involving in the political/decision-making process and engaging in healthy discussions relating to issues which affect them and children.
Sri Lankan garment worker
The reality relating to quotas for women’s representation in Parliament and local government in Sri Lanka is that, currently a very low percentage has been allocated (4.4%), which means there are very few women Parliamentarians. Although said to be having equal participation in the decision-making process, this is not really the case. If at all, the current Parliament has only 10 female legislators out of its 225 members! They are subjected to discriminatory practices and stereotyping.
Although the Women’s Caucus in Parliament forwarded a Memo several years ago suggesting increased representation of women in Parliament, nothing has come of it. If at all it has remained a dismal 4%. India has 78 members in Parliament (14.3%), Pakistan has 20.2%, Bangladesh 19.7%. Whilst it is heartening to note that some of the members of the Women’s Caucus in Parliament have spoken for the rights of the recently appointed woman Deputy Inspector General of Police and submitted a motion seeking the Public Services Commission to probe gender-based discrimination, so far I have not heard, leave alone a roar, even a whimper from them regarding the non-increase of women’s representation in Parliament to at least 25% (ideally 50%), so that they can raise their voices on issues which affect them such as sexual and reproductive health, decent work, children’s health, education, etc.
Like I said before, in this era of Covid-19 pandemic, School closures and economic strains have left women and girls poorer, out of school and out of jobs, and more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, forced marriage, and harassment.
Prime Ministers Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Indira Gandhi
Brighter Side
Yet, there have been tremendous strides in the workplace where women’s leadership is concerned. Since March 2011, Women in Management, Sri Lanka, have been conducting the ‘Professional and Career Women Awards’ celebrating the achievements of remarkable women who inspire those around them.
This year’s ‘Top 50’ awards also saw a special appreciation of those who helped combat COVID-19 in 2020, specifically during the height of the pandemic. These special appreciation awards went to the Sri Lanka Police, Sri Lanka Army, Public Health Officers and Medical Practitioners for their contribution as part of the COVID-19 taskforce in Sri Lanka, risking their lives. Yet, it is unfortunate that one of the award recipients, the newly appointed first woman Deputy IGP, Bimshani Jasin Arachchi’s promotion was not viewed well by some of her male colleagues who had gone to court over the matter. Spoil Sports!
Neelika Malaviga, a professor at the University of Sri Jayawardhanapura and a visiting professor at the University of Oxford walked away with the award for Inspirational Women of the Year (COVID-19 category) for her contribution in COVID-19 research. Top awards were also presented to women leaders from a cross section of industries. Notable was the award given to Hiran Cooray, Chairman of Jetwing Symphony for being the Male Champion of Change. This, I think is a commendable feature – a male being a change agent for women in leadership roles. Three cheers! for the gentleman concerned.
Indani Gunasinghe at 52 drives a tuk tuk for a living in a changing world
Yet, there have been tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery. Some have engaged in efforts such as helping husbands who lost their jobs, owing to the companies they worked for downsizing or going bankrupt, by starting SME’s such as food catering services, small sewing units, etc. to help make ends meet. I once had a gentleman deliver food in a Mercedes! His story was that he had been a top executive in a mercantile firm, used his privileges and taken housing loans, car loans, etc. Owing to the Covid-19 situation the company downsized and he suddenly found himself out of job with a huge debt burden in his hands. Since in this scenario it was difficult to find another job and in order to make ends meet, the wife had started a food catering service.
Last, but not least, in the legal sphere too, Judges have an equal or more responsibility to ensure parity by adopting a functional and practical approach promising justice and equality in the law and to better ensure that the law meets the reasonable expectations of both men and women.
Colombo, March 8: India-Sri Lanka trade goes far into the past, to the Early Historic Era in fact. The island had also played the additional role of being a transit point, a hub, in the trade between the Eastern and Western worlds.
The story of India-Sri Lanka trade in ancient times is told by Prof. K. Rajan of Pondicherry University in his book: Churning the Indian Ocean: Maritime Trade of Early Historic Peninsular India.”
Rajan says that if the similarities between South India and Sri Lanka are striking it is partly because they were part of a single land mass in the Pleistocene Epoch. India and Sri Lanka were connected by a natural land bridge across the Palk Strait. The Pleistocene Epoch is defined as the time period till about 11,700 years ago.Stone artefacts found in Lanka which are identical to Indian artifacts have been dated between 45,000 to 80,000 BP (BP is ‘Before Present’ with the year 1950 being considered the ‘present’).
Microlithic tools found in Teri in Tamil Nadu are similar to those found in Lanka. A microlithic tool is a small stone tool, usually made of flint. They were made between 35,000 and 3,000 years ago. Microliths were used as spear points and arrowheads.The microlithic tools found in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka could be dated between 45,000 and 5500 BP, Rajan says.
When the physical separation of Sri Lanka from India took place about 11,700 years ago, the contact between the two did not cease. South India and Lanka continued to be a single cultural entity with frequent interactions on many planes, Rajan asserts. In the Iron Age, iron technology and ploughshare agriculture were shared. And technology moved both ways, he points out.
Megalithic culture, which lasted from the Neolithic Stone Age to the Early Historic Period (which spanned from 6th century BC to 4th century BC) is an important landmark in the evolution of society and culture. It is marked by the use of stones.The structural similarity between the megalithic monuments in South India and Sri Lanka, the nature of the rituals performed during monument building, are indicators of culture diffusion, Rajan says.
At the socio-cultural-religious level also, the ties were close. They seem to be indelible too. The marriage of the progenitor of the Sinhala race, Prince Vijaya from Bengal, with a Pandyan Princess from Tamil Nadu, and the arrival of Mahinda Thera with Buddhism from Bihar in North India, testify to close links and the lasting impact of these links. The use of the Brahmi script to write Tamil and Prakrit (the common man’s language) in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu is another indicator of the Indo-Lankan link. As in peninsular India, in Sri Lanka too, human settlements are at the ports and the mouth of rivers and on river banks. These indicate the importance of communication and trade in the lives of the people. Examples of port cities cum trading hubs are: Mantai (Mahathitha or Mathotam) is Sri Lanka; Korkai and Arikamedu in Tamil Nadu. Major settlements in Sri Lanka linked to rivers are: Salavathotta (Chilaw) on the Deduru Oya; Wattala on Kelani Ganga; Kalathitta (Kalutara on the Kalu Ganga; Bhematitta (Bentota) on Gin Ganga; Mahawalukagama (Weligama) at Polwatta Ganga; Milwala thitta (Matara) on Nilwala Ganga. These ports had maritime links with the outside world.
The Second Century rouletted pottery found in Arikamedu in Tamil Nadu and Tissamaharama in Lanka are similar. Rajan says that these rouletted pottery are not necessarily from Rome as a British archeologist thought,but were local. According to Heidrun Schenk polished greyware found in South India and Sri Lanka were from the Gangetic plain in North India. According to Schenk again, fine greyware from North India arrived in Sri Lanka from the 5th. Century BC to 2nd. Century BC but that ceased around 100 BC.
The Brahmi scripted potsherds found in Arikamedu, Alangulam and Kaveripatinamin Tamil Nadu are of Sri Lankan origin. Mantai in Mannar was trading with Alankulam and Korkai in Tamil Nadu. Tissamaarama traded in rouletted ware, beads of semi-precious stones, glass and potsherds inscribed in Prakrit. Glass ingots were found in shipwrecks off Godavaya. Kautilya’s work on economics the ‘Arthashastra’ mentions pearls from the Gulf of Mannar. The Chinese came to Lanka and India to buy glass and pearls in exchange for silk and gold.Sri Lanka was also known for its gems across the world.
Role of Traders
Besides Buddhism and Jainism, traders had a huge role in connecting India and Sri Lanka. Traders introduced the Brahmi script which Emperor Asoka of North India (268 to 232 BC) had popularised to spread Buddhism. But recent evidence shows that the Brahmi script in Sri Lanka predated Asoka’s Mauryan Empire and was being used by traders. Siran Deraniyagala discovered that the script was used in Anuradhapura in the 4th and 5th Century BC. Brahmiscript of Sri Lankan origin was found by epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan in Arikmedu, Alankulam and Kodumanal in Tamil Nadu.
Pearl fishing had also contributed Indo-Lankan links. Pearl oysters moved from one coast to another in the Gulf of Mannar. This made the Baratha community move from the Indian to the Sri Lankan coast and vice versa. According to Pushparatnam, there are 21 inscriptions in Sri Lanka bearing the name Baratha. Some had the term Tissa added to the name, indicating high status. Baratha Tissas were Royal emissaries, captains of ships, and big traders. In the 2nd Century BC, Tamil traders carrying the title Tissa had made offerings to the Buddhist Sangha. Tamil traders Magha and Perumaga find a place in inscriptions in Anuradhapura and Mihintale, both Buddhist centres.
In an inscription in Anuradhapura, dated 2nd Century BC, Navika Karavas or sea traders are mentioned. The father of Kannagi, the heroine of the Tamil classic ‘Silapathikaram’ was a Maha Navikan, or a prosperous member of the Tamil community owning ships. In Thirupparan kundram in Tamil Nadu, there is a Tamil Brahmi inscription with the name Ila-kutumpikan (A man belonging to a family from Eelam or Lanka). The Tamil work Pattinapalai’ speaks of an Ila-kutumpikan contributing to Jain monks in Tirupparankundram.
According to the Mahavamsa, two Tamil horse traders, Sena and Guttika, were the first Tamil rulers in Sri Lanka (177 to 155 BC), and they came from Tamil Nadu. Another Tamil king, Elara, ruled from 145 to 101 BC.
However trade those days was not linked to politics. Trading was done independently of Kings. Trade associations existed to help promote trade. Inscription carry terms denoting trade organisations like Nikama, Nigama, Sreni and Sattan (Tamil).
Coins have been found in South Sri Lanka, not so much in Anuadhapura. This is because Anuradhapura was a political and not a trading centre. Trade was largely conducted in South Lanka. Traders used coins and did not carry any reference to a Raja (ruler) indicating they were issued by traders. Roman traders did not directly trade with Sri Lanka but through South India, Rajan says. Lankan goods like ivory, glass ingots, pearls and semi-precious stones were taken to Indian ports from where ships took them to ports in the Arab world and Rome. West Asian ceramics like ivory and Turquoise shell found in Tissamaharama may have come via India, Rajan says.
The Buddhists of Sri Lanka and the Krishna Valley in Andhra Pradesh were in close contact. The bas reliefs or rock cut images depicting the life of the Buddha were imported from the Amaravati-Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh by traders and monks.
Colombo, March 7 (newsin.asia): The Sri Lanka Port Workers’ Union General Secretary Niroshan Gorakahenna told the media on Saturday that the workers are opposed to handing over the port to the Adanis and asserted that the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) itself should undertake to build the WCT.
It can do the ECT, it should be able to do the WCT too,” he said and added: Sri Lankan nationalists cannot oppose foreign involvement in the East Container Terminal and allow it in West Teminal. Workers will oppose it. We plan to talk about this to the Chairman of the SLPA on Monday,” Gorakahenna is quoted in Virakesari as saying.
On Friday India had denied Sri Lanka’s announcement that New Delhi had cleared the proposal of an Adani group company to develop the West Container Terminal (WCT) at Colombo port. The Telegraph online said
Our high commission in Colombo has already conveyed to the government of Sri Lanka that their media release in so far as the reference to the approval of the High Commission was concerned, is factually incorrect. We understand that the government of Sri Lanka has engaged directly with investors on this project,’’ external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
This is the first time the ministry has commented officially on the Lankan government’s announcement.
Cabinet approval has been granted on 01-02-21 to develop the West Container Terminal of Colombo South Port as a private–public limited company in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority and parties nominated by Indian and Japanese government,” the Lankan announcement on Tuesday had said.
It added that the proposal presented by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ Consortium) had been approved by the Indian High Commission.
Asked on Friday if India had got the formal offer for participation in the project, spokesperson Srivastava did not give a specific answer.
He said: Our High Commission in Colombo has already conveyed to the government of Sri Lanka that their media release in so far as the reference to the approval of the High Commission was concerned, is factually incorrect. We understand that the government of Sri Lanka has engaged directly with investors on this project.’’
Adanis On A Roll In India
Meanwhile, the Adanis are on a roll in India. P.Manoj of Hindu Business Line reported from Mumbai as follows:
With three big acquisitions having a combined value of INR 146590 million in five months, the Gautam Adani-led Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) is on a roll. On March 3, APSEZ acquired a 31.5% stake in Gangavaram Port Ltd (GPL) from a unit of private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC for INR 19540 million and said it was in talks with D V S Raju and family, the promoters of the port located in Visakhapatnam, for buying their 58.1% stake in GPL.
APSEZ’s second big acquisition in Andhra Pradesh, India’s second biggest maritime state by cargo volumes handled, after picking up a 75% stake in Krishnapatnam Port Co Ltd (KPCL) for an enterprise value of INR 120000 million on October 5.
On February 16, APSEZ said it has completed the acquisition of Dighi Port Ltd, located close to state-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), for INR 7050 million under India’s bankruptcy law.
A consortium led by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) will soon announce a deal to develop the West Container Terminal (WCT) at Colombo Port with an investment of over $1 billion under a government-to-government agreement.
The three Indian acquisitions expand APSEZ’s market share to 30 per cent on a pan-India basis, a level many believe will not make it a monopoly, adversely impacting competition. This is because the 12 major ports owned by the Centre controls more than half of the country’s ports traffic.
Yet, many smaller, single terminal operators are frightened at the scale at which APSEZ is expanding. I told my promoter let us pack up and leave”, said the CEO of a company operating a single berth at a port on the eastern coast.
Industry sources said that only Adani has the money and the appetite to buy ports and terminals. Because of its demonstrated capability to run ports efficiently, banks are also comfortable in lending money to APSEZ for acquisitions,” said an investment banker.
The stress facing many single terminal or stand-alone single port operators, in the wake of the COVID are making them sitting targets for take over at reasonable valuations, particularly reflected in the case of Krishnapatnam and Gangavaram.
APSEZ’s size and capability
Despite the industry fears over the growing size of the APSEZ empire, Singhal opines that it could become even bigger”. Even today, APSEZ is under-estimated,”
The port and logistics field are open to all, but others Indian business houses could not make it because they did not have the management capability and the vision to grow bigger. It is not Adani’s fault,” he said referring to concerns that rivals have been left far behind.
For instance, the erstwhile UK port operator P&O Ports (which was later acquired by D P World) approached the Tata Group for a partnership when it was building India’s first private container terminal at JNPT in the late 1990’s. But Tatas declined the offer and lost the opportunity to enter a sector which would have fetched high value proposition to the Group and made it a big player,” the executive who made the offer to Tatas said.
APSEZ’s model, according to Singhal, is to offer integrated solutions to customers. The game is not just ports, the game is ports, hinterland transport and logistics parks to provide single window supply chain solutions to industrial clients,” he said.
APSEZ is efficient, can raise huge capital and has integrated into the entire logistics chain encompassing ports, container trains, dry ports and multi-modal logistics parks, he said.
If ports give X revenues, hinterland logistics could give 3-4 times more revenue,” he noted. In contrast, the margin from port business is as high as 70 per cent whereas in inland logistics, it could be about 15per cent.
Once APSEZ has control over the hinterland cargo, Adani would control large swathes of national supply chain which in turn would augment Adani port volumes and port profit margins creating a value enhancing virtuous circle. That’s the game plan,” he added.
Austrian authorities have suspended inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after the shots, a health agency said on Sunday, Reuters reported.
The Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) has received two reports in a temporal connection with a vaccination from the same batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the district clinic of Zwettl” in Lower Austria province, it said.
One 49-year-old woman died as a result of severe coagulation disorders, while a 35-year-old woman developed a pulmonary embolism and is recovering, it said. A pulmonary embolism is an acute lung disease caused by a dislodged blood clot.
Currently there is no evidence of a causal relationship with the vaccination,” BASG said.
Austrian newspaper Niederoesterreichische Nachrichten as well as broadcaster ORF and the APA news agency reported that the women were both nurses who worked at the Zwettl clinic.
BASG said blood clotting was not among the known side effects of the vaccine. It was pursuing its investigation vigorously to completely rule out any possible link.
As a precautionary measure, the remaining stocks of the affected vaccine batch are no longer being issued or vaccinated,” it added.
An AstraZeneca spokesman said: There have been no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine,” adding that all batches are subject to strict and rigorous quality controls.
Trials and real-world experience so far suggests the vaccine is safe and effective and it had been approved for use in well over 50 countries, he said.
AstraZeneca also said it was in contact with Austrian authorities and would fully support the investigation.
European Union regulators at the end of January approved the product, saying it was effective and safe to use, while the World Health Organization (WHO) in mid-February listed the product for emergency use.
Adverse reactions seen in trials were short-lived for the most part and blood clotting issues were not reported.
A safety assessment by Germany’s vaccine regulator of more than 360,000 people who received the Astra vaccine in the country between the launch in early February and Feb. 26 concluded that adverse reactions were in line with the safety profile described in clinical trials.
Recommendations made by the Presidential Commission, which probed the Easter Sunday attacks should be implemented soon while more investigations should be carried out to determine as to who organised and facilitated the attacks, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said today.
Cardinal Ranjith who was speaking to the media after participating in the Black Sunday protest at St. Sebastian’s Church Katuwapitiya said the government should immediately implement the recommendations made by the Presidential commission.
The Commission had recommended action against certain people and this action should be taken without delay,” Cardinal Ranjith said.
It is also essential to carry out further investigations to determine who facilitated the attackers and who got them to carry out the Easter Sunday attacks,” he added.
We hope to see practical steps in this regard by April 21 this year,” he also said.
Pope Francis is currently touring Iraq and had discussions with Muslim leaders of that country. Therefore, global religious leaders are working towards bringing about religious unity. Sri Lanka should also follow and bring about religious unity,” he stressed.
Cardinal thanked everyone who worked towards making today’s Black Sunday a success including the Buddhist monks and members of Muslim communities.
Cardinal said this at the mass at St. Anthony’s Shrine Kochchikade and proceeded to Katuwapitiya Church to participate in the Black Sunday programme. (Yohan Perera)
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa today said, they are ready to accept responsibility for not being able to prevent the Easter Sunday attacks as a member of the previous regime.
He also called for a proper probe to identify the real perpetrators who were behind the attack.
Speaking during the Opposition Leader’s mobile service programme in Bundala, Mr. Premadasa said it is the people’s desire to see a real transparent probe taking place to find the real culprits behind the Easter Sunday attacks.
It is the view of the people that the real criminals behind the Easter Sunday attacks are roaming freely at the moment. This is not a story that was fabricated by me, it the opinion of the common man in this country. Therefore a transparent probe is a paramount need at this moment,” Mr. Premadasa said,.
The official stance of my party is that the terrorists and the drug traffickers and drug peddlers should be subject to capital punishment. It should be introduced through a legislation in Parliament. Some are criticising me for having taken this stand. However are we to keep the criminals in prisons throughout their lives using public funds?” he questioned.
Sri Lanka should find out as to why there is no terrorism and/or drug trafficking in Singapore, and should introduce a same set of laws here as well,” he stressed.(YohanPerera )
Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith says he will continue to protest until justice is done for the victims of the Easter attack.
He mentioned this speaking a peaceful protest in front of St. Anthony‘s Church in Kochchikade carried out in parallel to the ‘Black Sunday’ protest declared by the Archdiocese of Colombo.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Colombo declared today as a ‘Black Sunday’ against the lack of justice for all those who died and were affected by the Easter attacks.
Accordingly, Catholics island-wide dressed in black attire to attend the Sunday Masses today.
The Archbishop said, We are holding this protest in the hope that justice will be done. We wanted the commission to find out who was behind this attack. We do not know to what extent it has been activated. I am reading that report these days. There are many things that can be enforced, especially the implementation of the law against the perpetrators.
My belief is that the government should be more committed to conducting an honest investigation. I wonder if it was necessary to appoint the six-member committee. What is needed here is for the President to carry out what he directly has to do on a practical level. It would be wrong to choose only some of them [the perpetrators] and punish only them.”
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith further said that they will continue to carry out this protest campaign until they receive a definite sign.
He added that other religious organizations will also be involved in the campaign as it is an issue that affects all people in the country.
Meanwhile, several monks of the National Bhikku Front had also joined in the protest.
Sri Lanka’s COVID-related fatalities crossed the grim milestone of 500 today (March 07) as five more individuals fell victim to the virus infection.
Thereby, total lives claimed by the pandemic outbreak in Sri Lanka now stand at 502, the Department of Government Information said.
Details of the deceased are as follows:
01. A 74-year-old man from Pallekele area – He was under medical care at the Kandy National Hospital at the time of his death on March 02. The cause of death was recorded as COVID pneumonia and brain haemorrhage.
02. An 82-year-old man from Nugegoda area –After testing positive for the virus, he was transferred from Colombo South Teaching Hospital to National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) where he passed away today. The cause of death was reported as COVID-19 infection and lung infection.
03. A 72-year-old man from Barawardhana Oya in Kandy District – He died of cancer and COVID-19 infection earlier today while receiving treatment at the Badulla General Hospital.
04. A 77-year-old woman from Matara area – She has passed away on admission to Dambadeniya Base Hospital on February 25. The cause of death was recorded as acute heart disease and COVID-19 infection.
05. A 67-year-old man from Kannaththota area in Kegalle District – He has passed away on December 20, 2020 due to COVID pneumonia. He had been under medical care at the Karawanella Hospital at the time of his death.
What kind of double game is India playing? How long does India think it can pretend to be friends of its neighbors while planning the downfall of its neighbors? Obviously this stems from a DNA that goes back to colonial rule wherein India was Colonial Britain’s trusted sepoy. India became India only after the Colonial British christened it as India in 1947. When India is today not only part of the Five Eyes (US-UK-Canada-NZ-Australia) Intelligence Alliance in 2020 and a member of the QUAD since 2007, India is purely functioning as a vassal of the West and even India’s foreign policy is today decided by Washington.
There would have been a good reason why colonial Britain treated British India more of a sepoy than it did Ceylon. The British army was supported heavily by Indian sepoy army. South Indians were colonial Britain’s eye to prosperity, enslaving on their plantations and transported around the world. Indians that make up populations in the Caribbean, South Africa, East Asia are those that colonials transported as indentured labor. The Indian sepoy army played a key role in slaughtering their own people on behalf of the British East India Company. History is certainly getting repeated as India is ever ready to do as the West orders. Indian sepoys were recruited by the Portuguese, the French, the British and other Europeans in plundering nations.
India is agreeing to do the very same via R2P & Geneva Resolutions.Notice the manner West dishes out international positions, prestige, privileges to Indians who are doing a better job on behalf of the Western nations & their agendas than the Westerners themselves. Look at the number of Indians playing lead roles in the West at government & private levels! They claim to be ‘Indian’ for publicity only – their heart & mind serves western interests and the awesome feeling they get of rubbing shoulders with the white man. The Navi’s, the Biswals, the Bobby’s and the Kamala’s are West’s heart throbs for good reason.
Fast forward to present times the QUAD alliance was initially discussed in 2004 with official level meetings commencing in 2007. Note how it matches the timelines of Sri Lanka’s military offensive against LTTE. Obviously, India and West realized that Prabakaran was a barrier and a thorn to their designs for South Asia. They planned his ouster pretending to fight for his survival. A LTTE withou Prabakaran was a good tool for the West’s R2P Geneva.
The Pivot to Asia came in 2011, round about the same time that Ban Ki Moon suddenly decided to appoint a personal panel for a conflict that had concluded. No surprise his son-in-law is Indian and was in the IPKF! The successive UNHRC Resolutions against Sri Lanka since 2012 are no coincidental initiatives. India played a key role on the backdrop of each resolution, even the draft clauses inserted. India’s role was no different to its background role played when drafting the 2002 Cease Fire Agreement mediated by Norway. India played the silent partner.
Also note Sri Lanka’s regime change in 2015, it was the same time that India not only assisted US to oust Rajapakse but went on to sign a Joint Strategic Vision for Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Regions with the US. The hype India promoted for ousting Rajapakses was allowing Chinese submarine to Sri Lanka claiming it a threat to India’s security. Ever since 2015, US planes have landed and flown across Sri Lanka and US ships and marines regularly docking at all of Sri Lanka’s Ports, is no matter of concern for India’s security it seems. Wait till US rolls out its other plans unbeknown to India! But, for the moment India is mesmerized by the new-found co-habitation with US and US is only happy to dole out titles knowing India will do anything in exchange.
When US renamed its Asia-Pacific Command in Hawaii as the Indo-Pacific Command, India was on cloud 9. India’s dream of becoming a member of the UNSC is momentarily replaced with the Malabar Exercise which is the military dimension of the India-US vision for an Asian NATO. Ironically, the camp that claims to be championing to challenge and contain China are all dealing with China more than any other countries. Hypocrisy at its best. China in fact spends much to help Indian start-up companies in India and have elevated plenty of Indian entrepreneurs.
Sri Lankans knows too well how Sri Lanka has suffered at the hands of India. Whether India was outfoxed into playing a role in nursing Tamil militancy, India was without a doubt a willing player in allowing India to be used as a logistics hub for LTTE and India trained and even funded over 3 dozen Tamil armed groups of which LTTE became the most prominent. India simultaneously pretended to be Sri Lanka’s friend, Tamil’s big brother, LTTE’s logistics partner and West’s consort in this ugly exercise.
We also know the role played by Indian intel even preferring to side with the LTTE ‘boys’ against India’s peace keeping force sent for a different reason but packed off for Sri Lanka’s fortune. India’s other agent JVP ensured a large number of lives were lost in vain during this horror period. We can all recall the infamous parippu drop violating our airspace, the phone threat by Dixit and the whisking away of Prabakaran to India in a helicopter until the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed in July 1987.
Sri Lanka’s terror would have ended in May 1987 and no May 2009 had it not been for India’s intervention.
All of India’s trade agreements with Sri Lanka has been one-sided and tipped to be advantageous for only India. India spends a lot of efforts in lobbying locals to be their mouthpieces. These voices are now well known to all.
Therefore, the local camp that follows the appeasing model ‘don’t anger India’ not only offer no alternative but wish to give anything and everything India demands of Sri Lanka completely ignoring India’s bad record of destabilizing Sri Lanka pretending to be its friend. Probably they played a role in preventing Pakistan PM from addressing Sri Lanka’s Parliament simply to please India. This highlighted the spinelessness of the Government. An element it needs to seriously take note of. Thankfully, the patriotic people have fought tooth and nail to ensure Colombo’s ECT was not given to rogue Indian port operator though Government stooges are now trying to do greater damage by offering WCT.
Exactly why should India be given anything if India is trying to at every level to destabilize Sri Lanka?India has never supported Sri Lanka in Geneva and India is now lobbying countries adopting bullying tactics learnt by its masters in the West to force countries to abstain from voting against the UK backed Core Group Resolution against Sri Lanka. When the Core Group inserts 13a and the UNHRC head parrots 13a in her report, India’s role against Sri Lanka is obvious.
How can countries of Asia rely on India if India shakes hands with one hand and has a readied—knife in the other. Its a pity India wishes to be a foreigner in Asia amongst its Asian neighbours and working against its Asian neighbours.
What if the British High Commissioner in Colombo Sarah Hulton met with the Ambassador of South Korea Woonjin Jeong on Tuesday, the 2nd of March, 2021? What if he was accompanied by former Foreign Minister and the man who happily tossed Sri Lanka under the UNHRC bus driven by a warmongering Uncle Sam? What if Canadian High Commissioner in Colombo David McKinnon held discussions with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Tareq Ariful Islam, at the Canada House, Colombo 7, around the same time?
Now there are no laws against diplomats meeting other diplomats. There are no laws to stop diplomats meeting citizens of the country they happen to be posted in. However, it is significant that both South Korea and Bangladesh are members of the Human Rights Council. It is significant because in a few days time a vote will be taken in Geneva on a resolution on (well, ‘against,’ really) Sri Lanka. It’s a one country-one-vote situation, and therefore every vote can count. Indeed, if it is a close affair then that one vote becomes even more significant.
The Resolution is not just against Sri Lanka; it is a vote which, if succeeds, will set a dangerous precedent and effectively turn ‘human rights’ into an even more ironic, preposterous and pernicious weapon that the worst thug-nations in the world can deploy to wreck nations and regimes refusing toe the line. In other words, it would give credence to vexatious persecution
The earth is not flat, this we know. Neither is Switzerland despite the lovely mountains, except in th dullness of the flavors pertaining to political economy. Countries might have equal voting worth on paper, but then again few would not have heard of that stinging truism ‘some are more equal than others.’ That oft quoted Golden Rule makes sense: he who has the gold makes the rules (we’ll come to that shortly). One can add ‘guns’ to the equation except that such killing-instruments are outdated in a world where there are nuclear weapons and countries which possess them have not hesitated to use biological weapons.
If it has come to a point where local diplomats have been directed by their respective governments to canvass votes then it simply means that the bosses driving the resolution have got jittery. Now one might be persuaded to imagine these diplomats sipping green tea and trying to persuade the relevant counterparts to join the club. However, persuasive arguments were never part of the story. It’s never been about right or wrong, good or evil. No. It’s about proposals that end with ‘or else…’ directly stated or suggested. Bribes too are part of the story. ‘How about if we…’ could be the ice-breaker in such situations. Considering the geographical (and yes, ideological) location/orientation of the key players, this is essentially a West vs East game. This brings to mind a curious case of ‘seeing the light’ not too long ago. Let me elaborate.
It is no secret that the UNP faction of the previous regime was cosy with the political West. You could, if you are generous, call it ideological agreement of course but there has always been a streak of servility that prompts one to think and label, ‘colonial remnants.’
That dispensation, led by Ranil Wickremesinghe banked on the West. Mangala Samaraweera, Foreign Minister of that government, played ‘local agent’ to the extent that he bent backwards to get Sri Lanka to dig a hole and crawl into it. He’s gone now, but he (and all those in that government who either cheered, watched in silence or looked away) essentially laid a minefield for those who would arrive later to walk on. This is why ‘Geneva’ is still in the news.
This, however, is not about that kind of political intrigue. It’s about the West (and therefore, obviously, the East). Wickremesinghe’s cabal, sweethearts as far as the West was concerned, operated as though we live on a planet so misshapen that there was only the West. Obviously the word means nothing if there’s no East, so maybe they operated as though the East, existent though it is, was inconsequential. Brexit hit them between the proverbial eyes. Wickremesinghe came up with a classic and ironical observation: ‘we will look to the East.’
OMG! Wickremesinghe, thought of as some kind of whizkid in things economic, we learned, hadn’t heard of China or known that China and Japan own North American and European debt! OMG all over again!
So then, that’s how we need to frame this charade. East vs West. T.S. Eliot, in his iconic poem ‘Wasteland’ had a pretty and perceptive line (if it’s ok to interpret it in terms of a tectonic shift in ‘seeing’ and true domination): There is shadow under this red rock, (Come in under the shadow of this red rock), And I will show you something different from either Your shadow at morning striding behind you Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you; I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
The above is obviously a description of someone moving from West to East. We can think of it as an ideological shift or even a re-alignment of philosophical orientation, but at a more mundane level, it’s about a shift in the balance of global power. In that sense, the Geneva Circus of Vexatious Persecution using/abusing Sri Lanka is but symptomatic of a last gasp effort on the part of those who have called the shots for a long century and are suddenly realizing that they are going to lose their voices.
The title has ‘India’ in it. Why India, someone might wonder. Well, India seems ideologically confused and geographically challenged right now. The West (or rather the spokespersons for the ideological and political camp that uses the locational term as identifier) has made it’s position clear: ANTI-SRI LANKA. The key voices of the opposite camp, led of course by China, have backed Sri Lanka. Even Japan and Australia (the other two Quad members) haven’t shown any of the belligerence of the world’s worst human rights offender over the past several centuries, Britain (yes, add ‘perpetrator of genocide, common thief, generator of inter-communal conflict, pyromaniac’) and her present day allies. India hasn’t mimicked the ‘Mother Country’ of course, but the noises are not supportive. They are marked by grumpiness. So much so that it would not be unfair if the relevant authorities assume ‘India will side against Sri Lanka.’ India could abstain, but at this point, it would be silly for India to assume that Sri Lanka would applaud such a position.
It’s simple, really. India has an issue with a strident China. India can play pawn and scoot over to the country that raped her. India might even be envisaging a future world order that is divided between two new superpowers, China and India. India could, on the other hand, envisage a new world order led by powerful nations which will not settle things with guns and bucks, even if they have the bombs and the gold. Instead of carving up the world (as the European powers carved up —and impoverished — Africa at the Berlin Conference in 1884), India, with China, could use new found sway to heal the world and make it a better place (for you and for me, as MJ said).
India has a single vote. However, the stand that India takes will be taken note of. Sri Lanka certain would. Other nations would too. Sometimes, arms need not be twisted (as the British and Canadian mission heads in Colombo might very well be doing — Bangladesh and South Korea are proud nations, we still believe, by the way). A threat if often more powerful than its execution, as the great Polish and French chess master Savielli Tartakower once said.
So. India. Where is it located or rather where does India wish to locate itself? That’s the question. The answer will be important for Sri Lanka because it will could persuade Sri Lanka to reassess her location (as nations do from time to time).
[The writer is the Director/CEO of the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute. These are his personal views].
Philip took a
deep interest in paddy production and studied it from all angles. He complained repeatedly about the paucity of statistics on
paddy cultivation. There was no information on the size of holdings, yield,
ownership and so on. Thanks to Philip, in 1962, Department of Census and
Statistics started an agricultural census.
There
was the problem of low paddy yields. The
basic principles of land use in ancient Ceylon were sound and in accordance
with modern principles of land utilization, said Philip, quoting Ernest
Abeyratne. Therefore all what was needed now was the introduction of modern
techniques adapted to the Dry Zone environment.
The
soil conditions and fertilizer needed In the Dry Zone, was known from ancient
times, said Philip. But knowledge of soil conditions and fertilizer needs for
paddy production in the Wet Zone was lacking.
Philip found that experimental plots and private individual farms in the
Wet Zone had shown good yields where soil had been analyzed and correct
fertilizer used. ‘They have obtained as high as 60 to 110 bushels per acres.’ In Kegalle, the Food Production Department
had managed to increase yields by providing fertilizer, credit, high yielding
seeds and adopting transplanting instead of the traditional method of sowing. Philip had drawn attention to government’s
neglect of paddy cultivation in the wet zone, with focus on Dry Zone.
Philip
encouraged agricultural research. He wanted the research scientists in the
Department of Agriculture and elsewhere to concentrate on research and not
administration. He appointed administration officers for the 24 districts and
relived the scientific officers of this work. Technical
officers should be left to do technical work, not promoted to do administrative
work, such as petitions, he said.
Philip wanted Gannoruwa to do research on
rice. He set up other research units.
Rahangala for potato and citrus,
Hambantota for cotton, sugar in Kantalai, and paddy at Batalegoda. Under
him, the Department of Agriculture started a soil survey.
Philip
said that J.R. Jayawardene had in 1953 and 1954 disposed of very valuable state
farms. If JR had waited for a year or
two most of these farms would have paid. Some of these farms were for research
not to make a profit, observed Philip.
Philip
contested the existing notion that it was cheaper to import rice than produce
it. He said
that it was not necessary to open up more and more land for paddy cultivation.
It was better to increase production in the existing paddy fields in
purana villages and colonization schemes. He strongly
urged investment in already asweddumised land through higher use of fertilizer,
high yielding seed, use of mechanization for ploughing and sowing. This would
give greater returns.
Philip
Gunawardena was very critical of the colonization schemes of D.S
Senanayake. The
independent peasant small holder as dreamt by DS Senanayake does not exist said Philip. The majority of
the owner cultivators held less than one
acre and that one acre could not provide
a living for a family. Many small holders were wage laborers as well.
In a recent Patha Dumbara survey 45 % neither
owned paddy nor had anything to do with paddy production. The remaining 55 %
also did not depend wholly on paddy cultivation. A pauperized peasantry has been created. .
This is the picture, of the much idolized ‘peasant proprietor,’ said Philip in
1957. Many had
become tenant farmers in these schemes. There was indebtedness and wage laborers confirmed others.
Increasing
the peasant ownership of small lots of paddy would not solve anything, said
Philip. Paddy cannot be grown in small un-economic units. You
cannot offer land divided up into five acres and three acres, as high land and
low land and ask the farmer to cultivate,
because he cannot get a good return. Also the fertility of the land varies.
It was not
possible to apply modern techniques of farming to small holdings of 5 or 3 or 2
acre farms either. You need large units. The land had to be worked in large units to
be productive. What
was needed was collective farming, not small scale units. Philip thought the
future lay in some sort of cooperative endeavor. (Continued)
‘If you are not with me, I will assume that you are against me,’ is a prudent rule of thumb, but only in certain situations. Not all questions can be answered with either ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Complex realities don’t often offer such luxurious indulgences. This is true of people, it is true of nations. It is true whenever there are multiple factors in play. There are costs and there are benefits, always and therefore decisions are based on assessing marginal benefits and marginal costs. Sometimes, of course, one takes a principled stand, regardless of costs that may have to be incurred. Then there are situations where one determines not to be carried away by the moment but to think ahead. In other words, one wonders about repercussions, one wonders about precedents set.
Alright. Enough preamble. Let’s cut to the chase now. It’s about Geneva. In a few days time the Human Rights Council in Geneva will vote on a resolution on (well, ‘against’) Sri Lanka. Council members will support or reject or abstain. Some members have made it clear that they will support the resolution while others have stated they will not. India has been noncommittal.
Obviously, as noted above, many factors have to be taken into account. After all it’s not a vote on a country whose affairs are irrelevant to India. Also, it’s not as though India (or any other country for that matter) privileges principle over self-interest. In the discussions that have taken place India has flagged the 13th Amendment.
Yes, India has a stake in all that. The Indo-Lanka Accord was essentially a misnomer. What was signed by Rajiv Gandhi and J.R. Jayewardene was an Indo-Indo Accord. It was an exercise of capitulation. Sure, India agreed to sort out the terrorist problem. India FAILED. Nevertheless, India insists on the full implementation of articles in a piece of legislation forced down on Sri Lanka and which, most importantly, has no relevance on the ground. For the record, provincial councils have been dissolved but there’s not even a whimper of protests from any quarter; the most ardent advocates of the 13th Amendment have been absolutely silent on the matter. So what’s India’s interest in the 13th Amendment? We can surmise. India or rather Delhi (or ‘the ruling party’) has a DOMESTIC issue to sort out: Tamil Nadu. India has to demonstrate some love for the Tamil brethren across the Palk Straits, never mind the fact that India doesn’t give a hoot about the trials and tribulations of Tamil fishermen. In other words, when push comes to shove, India balks. So much for professed love. Anyway, some noises needed to be made and they were. Does it mean that India will vote against Sri Lanka when the time comes? We don’t know. Does it mean that India will vote against those determined to haul Sri Lanka over the coals?Will India be neutral? We don’t know. India cannot be happy over the status of the Sri Lankan government’s relations with China. On the other hand, having played regional bully and currently acting as proxy for the USA, the country that has bent over backwards to earn the tag ‘Sri Lanka’s Worst Enemy,’ India really cannot complain. Sri Lanka doesn’t have the guns nor the bucks. India is part of a cabal that’s pushing Sri Lanka into the arms of China and therefore India can only blame herself.
China is Sri Lanka’s friend. Pakistan is Sri Lanka’s friend. Other nations in the SAARC haven’t played hardball as India has. India’s foreign policy, contrary to the rhetoric from Delhi, has not been neighbor-friendly. India seems to have opted to go with the international bullies.
Let’s consider Geneva again. We are told that around 20 countries had spoken in favor of Sri Lanka’s position and 15 against in the interactive dialog on the UK-led resolution against Sri Lanka on alleged (keyword, that) human rights abuses and accountability issues. Shockingly, as Lord Naseby has pointed out, the movers (and shakers, obviously) have studiously avoided perusing the dispatches of Colonel Gash, who was attached to the British High Commission in Colombo during the period under scrutiny. Gash made no mention of anything seriously untoward having been perpetrated by the security forces. Here’s a pertinent extract from Naseby’s speech: ‘By not providing these dispatches in un-redacted form, the British Government is hindering the process of establishing the truth of what really happened at the end of the Sri Lanka conflict.’ Not surprisingly, those who spoke against Sri Lanka included Norway, Canada, the USA, Germany and other European Union nations. Let’s interject a historical note here. At the Berlin Conference of 1884, European nations decided how Africa would be carved up. A lot of care was taken to cut the cake in ways that split tribes, some not all being nomadic, ensuring years, decades and sometimes more than a century of conflict. Here’s a note from an unnamed author posted in social media: ‘[In 1884] 13 European nations shamelessly gathered in Berlin to parcel out the African continent like famished school children (on a school trip) haphazardly dividing up a pizza. Great Britain was represented by Sir Edward Malet (Ambassador to the German Empire). The US, the emerging but reluctant superpower, had a delegate – the explorer Henry Morton Stanley. ‘In utter disregard and with not a single iota of conscience or concern for the culture or the families of the continent, the map was redrawn and lands claimed.
What followed was the systematic scramble and undoing of Africa. Resistance was met with the brutal force of gunpowder. The Herero Massacre was the first genocide of the 20th century: tens of thousands of men, women and children were shot, starved, and tortured to death by German troops as they put down rebellious” tribes in what is now Namibia. Tens of thousands of defenseless women and children were forced into the Kalahari desert, their wells poisoned and food supplies cut. In Uganda, the first election fraud (in favor of Apollo Milton Obote) was masterminded by London.
The British governor then, Sir Fredrick Crawford, an honest man to a fault, resigned because he was unwilling to be party to this gerrymandering. This has since become the template for regime survival. Congo and many other African nations have never recovered from this trauma that was orchestrated at Bismarck’s official residence on that bleak weekend.’ [Check out the map above].
Now what did they do in Africa? Well, what they did everywhere they planted a flag. The butchery, in a way, provided a blueprint for the USA, but that country, in much of the 19th century, had issues with the UK. In 1851, an American Journal (The United States Magazine and Democratic Review), highlighted and exposed the genocidal crimes committed on the Sinhalese people in British occupied Ceylon, under the administration of the then Governor Lord Torrington. The piece ends with this telling conclusion: ‘The history of Lord Torringtons administration in Ceylon affords an epitome of English rule, wherever throughout the world, by force, or fraud, or violence, she has succeeded in planting her guilty flag.’ The Americans (of the US) at the time, feared a fate not unlike that which befell lands such as ‘Ceylon’. Here’s the rhetoric: ‘We have reproduced this Ceylon tragedy, because it contains a moral upon which it behooves the Democracy of America, at the present moment, seriously to reflect. The flag which sanctioned the massacres of the Cingalese, and has witnessed the devastation of Celtic Ireland; the flag which, usurping every advantageous commercial and political position throughout the globe, has been the harbinger everywhere of desolation and death’ . The USA, having opted out of the UNHRC because it is, in their eyes, ‘a cesspool of bias’ is getting the UK to do the dirty work today. In other words, the bloody flag-baton was eventually passed on to the USA, but that’s another story. So much irony in all this! India knows this ‘past’.
India knows the present. India’s choices will bear on the future.
[The author is the Director/CEO of the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute. These are his personal views]
Philip
Gunawardena was given the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in the MEP
government of 1956. The portfolio included peasant agriculture, animal
husbandry and the plantations. He
was ably
assisted by GVS de Silva as Permanent Secretary. The combination of GVS and Philip offered the
country a socialist vision, said Garvin Karunaratne. I worked in his Ministry
throughout this period and I can say that the forceful ideas that he uttered in
his fiery speeches at last got channeled into action, said Garvin.
Philip was one
of the ablest minister seen in independent Sri Lanka, said Meegama. K. Alvapillai,
who was Permanent Secretary to Philip, said Philip was intensely practical with a desire to
see Sri Lanka achieve prosperity in the
shortest possible time. Hs vision was long range. He always looked far ahead but
did not ignore the needs of the present and immediate future. Alvapillai found that Philip needed very little in way of
guidance. He was a capable and
farsighted administrator.
Philip had
got down to work immediately after taking up the appointment, perusing files, talking
to officials, visiting state farms, research and experimental stations, talking
to farmers, and visiting Pettah to inquire into prices of rice and other food
stuffs, said Meegama.
Philip
had looked at the village surveys of Das Gupta and Shenoy, done in the 1930s. Also the more recent series
of economic surveys on selected areas,
Kegalle, Kalutara, Chilaw, Galle Kurunegala, Matara, Hambantota Puttalam and
Moratuwa. Philip studied these carefully.
That is evident from his speeches said Meegama.
In July
1958 Philip Gunawardene published an
Agriculture Plan prepared by the Planning Committee of the Ministry of
Agriculture. This was a substantial document, said
Meegama. It was prepared with the support of a
group of dedicated public servants. It had an overview of the
Agriculture sector, crop by crop, with
information on each, and what was needed. It
covered food and plantation crops, animal husbandry, distribution, credit, crop
insurance, multipurpose co-ops. It examined all the problems and was a
good starting point for anyone working on an agriculture plan of Sri Lanka,
said Meegama. The
plan was criticized by his opponents within the MEP.
A new
Department of Agrarian Services was established to implement the Paddy
Lands Act and also to take charge of the distribution of fertilizer to paddy
cultivators, implement the fertilizer subsidy scheme for paddy farmers, provide
agricultural credit, provide crop insurance, purchase paddy from
farmers under the Guaranteed Price Scheme and also minor irrigation, a subject
that was till then handled by the Government Agents of the Districts. All
functions dealing with paddy cultivation were taken over from the Marketing
Department.
A
Commissioner of Agrarian Services was appointed. All Assistant Commissioners were handpicked
from the Marketing Department and other services. All were experienced officers,
selected for their experience in handling development work, said Garvin Karunaratne.
They were screened for aptitude and orientation. Philip had the knack of selecting the
right person for a job, said K Alvapillai. He knew to
assess the capacity and ability of an officer and not put square pegs into
round holes.
Elmo de Silva
recalls, I was appointed as one of the Administrative Officers in the
Agriculture Department in 1957. In addition to my duties as Administrative
Officer, I was gazetted as an Asst. Commissioner of Agrarian Services, to
inquire into the grievances of the tenant farmers.
My monthly basic salary would be Rs. 340 plus
an allowance of Rs.300, and some other allowances making a total of Rs.740/=,
which was a handsome salary at that time when the dollar fetched six rupees and
a brand new Volkswagen could be bought for Rs. 8,500.
After I was
appointed to this post, I went for an interview held by the Central Bank for an
intake of officers. On being questioned whether I was employed, I stated that I
was functioning as Administrative Officer, Dept. of Agriculture. The interview
board informed me that they had instructions from the Hon Minister Philip
Gunewardene, not to select anyone who was functioning as an Administrative
Officer in the Agriculture Dept. This was because he wanted a cadre of
committed, trained and experienced officers to implement his well planned,
futuristic and visionary policies, said Elmo de Silva.
Hon. Philip
Gunewardena introduced a new system of Administration, said Elmo. All of us were
summoned to the Agriculture Department head office at Peradeniya for an official
briefing. The Hon. Minister addressed the new officers. Among the thoughts he
expressed, there was one outstanding statement which has guided me throughout
my government career where I have served
in several Departments and Ministries. Philip emphasized ‘that we could violate
any Financial or Administrative Regulations, if we could prove that this action
of ours was done in the Interests of the country and the citizens we serve’
This
exhortation has guided me throughout my public life. To give one example, when
I was Administrative Officer for the Matara District, there was a rubber plant
nursery to supply clones to peasants given land under the Land Development
Ordinance. They were to be given a subsistence allowance till they could get an
income from their rubber plantations. Delay in giving the nursery plants to the
peasants, would have resulted in extending the subsistence allowances given by
the Govt. to the landowners. There was severe a drought and the plants in the
nursery would have withered.
The position demanded immediate action to
maintain the nursery. Though I was yet a novice in the public service, in terms
of the verbal authority given by the Hon Minister, as referred to above, I
hired two water bowsers to water the nursery for about two months enabling the
plants in the nursery to survive. I did not seek the consent of any authority
or call for tenders. There were no queries from
audit.
Administrative
Officers were put in charge of the administrative and financial functions in
all the agricultural offices throughout the country. This new system was
bitterly opposed by the Technical Officers, as the removal administrative and
financial duties, was seen by the Technical officers, as a reduction in their
official powers and status. But the Hon Minister would not brook any
opposition. They had to comply with the Minister’s very progressive move, said
Elmo de Silva.
Philip
wanted efficiency. He did not like waste of time, waste of money, waste of
effort or poor co-ordination, observed Meegama. Work had to be done well. Every officer had to work to his best .
Philip
breathed fire into the departments under him and got them working at maximum
capacity like no other minister known to me in my 18 years service, said Garvin
Karunaratne. Officers worked as though the Minister was breathing down their
necks, agreed Elmo de Silva.
Hon Philip
Gunewardena used to make surprise visits to offices, and would fault officers
who had not completed their assignments, said Elmo. He somehow knew if we
faltered, we never knew how ,said Garvin. Irregularities at the Tripoli market were known to the Minister before I got to know, said Garvin who
was in charge there. Minister had his
own spy system which was very active.
When I worked
in Anuradhapura he knew of falsification in our store before we did. It was a
Gestapo service that no other minister known to me had and I have directly
worked under 20 or 30 ministers over time , continued Garvin.
But Philip was
extremely easy to work with, and a source of inspiration in the Ministry. Many
officials in the district rallied to him, said Meegama, Philip’s biographer. Philip did not hesitate to record his
appreciation of the services of
competent and hardworking public officers, as for instance when he placed on
record the good work done by several officers in formulating the implementing
the Paddy Lands Act (Hansard 1961.06.06 Col. 7197-7244).(Continued)
To: UNHRC
member nations at the 46th Sessions in Geneva, to be shared with
your representatives at the meeting.
From: Concerned
citizens of the small and nonaligned nation of Sri Lanka dispersed around the
world. (Author’s identity is withheld for personal safety.)
Date: March
2, 2021
We seek support for the nonaligned,
independent nation of Sri Lanka, and desire for consensus through a vote to
preserve the sovereignty and independence of Sri Lanka that ended terrorism 12
years ago in 2009 after 30 years of suffering for all its people. Also, to join in maintaining support for
other small nations that number around thirty-five, that can be subject to
persecution in place of assistance needed. With hard won peace, they are making
progress although the UNHRC resolutions do not wish to recognize progress and
choose a path of retribution instead.
Ignoring progress based on assumptions
and unproven allegations, from unverified sources, the charter of assistance
and support to small countries has become one of vengeance that can be
influenced by hostile elements and hidden plans to target, destabilize, and occupy
countries. It is not necessary for
UNHRC to rake up hatred while undermining the UN Charter when people are living
freely within the country. Sri Lanka is not benefitted politically or
militarily by targeting civilians. It
has proven evidence of saving civilians mostly from the Tamil minority.
The weapon used here is Human Rights”
applied and interpreted as deemed necessary for the agenda of the divided UNHRC.
Countries can solve their problems without interference or domination from
bodies that do not have a mandate to do so.
The countries could be assisted with resources and with fair and
equitable judgement instead.
The demands and proposed actions of the
UNHRC and its Commissioner Michelle Bachelet are moving in a direction to
violate the Human rights of all people of Sri Lanka including the Tamil People
who consider themselves Sri Lankans living peacefully in the country. It will further exacerbate the suffering of
people that is not a solution to their allegations.
The USA is among 32 countries that
proscribed the terror outfit called Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) that
invented the suicide bomb, used forced conscription of men women and children
as young as ten years old, to make them into human bombs. Even domesticated
animals in families were not spared. Declared the deadliest terror outfit by
none other than the FBI in the USA. This
invention by Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers continue to kill in suicide bombings around
the world including US and NATO troops. Link to information from the FBI
explaining their operation appears below:
https://www.google.com/search?q=FBI+reference+to+LTTE&rlz=1C1UEAD_enUS940US940&oq=FBI+reference+to+LTTE&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160l2.7179j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Protecting such offenders in subtle ways
are not justified in the charter of any international organization with scant
attention to the human rights violations by terrorists. The UNHRC is hounding Sri Lanka with threats
of punishment when it is not a danger to the region. The remedial action proposed will deal
further blows to civilian life in the island nation violating their human
rights by self-guided protectors doing more harm than good.
When bigger countries with large armies have
not been successful even with invasion or occupation, they are not held accountable
for missing persons. In such cases
missing persons become collateral damage except in the case of Sri Lanka. The proof of the security forces saving a
large population of Tamil civilians captured in the safe zone from certain
massacre by the LTTE that crept in with heavy artillery is ignored. Anti Sri
Lankan nations are aware of their forces that have been destroyed with the same
suicide bombs invented by the terror outfit in Sri Lanka.
With the case of Sri Lanka, Human Rights
is a weapon, when the weapons of terrorism and the human suffering on two sides
of a conflict are ignored on one side.
UNHRC can preserve its hard line on one side using Human Rights to gain
their goal and overextend their powers. Peace is persecuted.
Sanctions to punish Sri Lanka is not a
solution for the minorities, as it contradicts the claims made by UNHRC. As a
body that is part of the UN, to bring threats to Sri Lanka to destroy the
country is preposterous. The obvious sources of information should be the
surviving civilians who want the protection of the military remaining among
them. Not the assumption of the diaspora
and their imaginary outcomes.
Let Sri Lanka continue to progress, preserve
their sovereignty and democracy for sustaining peace. Sri Lanka strengthened
can render assistance joining in the global effort of counter terrorism
strategies that benefits peace. Aggression against Sri Lanka is not the
solution. It will result in a reversal and return to conflict that was left
behind.
The pursuit of peace happens when all forms of aggression are
exhausted.”
― Stewart Stafford.
