Shenali D Waduge

Sri Lanka stands at a crossroads. At a time when hundreds of our own people have died, thousands are displaced, and entire villages lie in ruins from catastrophic floods and landslides, the Government’s decision to declare a Sri Lankan Day” is not only insensitive — it is profoundly dangerous for the cultural and historical integrity of this nation.

A National Identity cannot be manufactured overnight

For over 2,500 years, this island’s civilizational foundation was built by the Sinhala Buddhist heritage — a heritage that shaped the language, the law, the temple, the tank, and the village.

This is not a political claim.”

It is recorded in the Mahavamsa, Deepavamsa, Pujavaliya, Attanagaluvamsa, and dozens of inscriptions and it has been openly acknowledged by colonial rulers for centuries.

To erase this historical truth under the guise of creating a new uniform identity” is an attempt to uproot the very pillars that hold this country together. The aim is to sever people from their roots, indoctrinating their minds with a new ideology packaged as modern and progressive.” This is precisely what the new global education curriculum seeks to do — using funding and conditional aid to pressure national governments into adopting content that reshapes cultural thinking from childhood upward.

Working hand-in-hand with this agenda are powerful media-driven campaigns that promote the idea that history has no value, heritage is irrelevant, rituals are pointless, and customs are outdated. These narratives extend to dismissing respect for elders and undermining the role of religion in society. The end result is a culture that over-glorifies individualism — not to empower people, but to isolate them, weakening community bonds and making individuals easier targets for exploitation and influence.

Attacks on cultural, historical and religious Identity are not new

History has repeatedly shown attempts to suppress or diminish Buddhist heritage:

• Ancient temples destroyed or converted during South Indian invasions and colonial rule
• Buddhist land and monuments seized under colonial Portuguese, Dutch, British administrations
• Post-independence neglect of archaeological sites
• Attempts to discourage Buddhist rituals in national ceremonies
• Recurrent obstruction of archaeological preservation in the North and East
• Organized campaigns to rewrite history and present the island as plural from inception,” ignoring Sri Lanka’s documented civilizational origin
• Varied attempts to re-write the Constitution primarily to remove Article 9 and provisions that tie the Sinhala Buddhist heritage to the present.

Even today, there are coordinated efforts to sideline Buddhist cultural symbols — such as omitting the Jaya Mangala Gatha from parliamentary openings or discouraging traditional blessings in state events. These actions are symbolic but extremely telling: remove the rituals, remove the identity.

The danger of replacing history with a pseudo identity

Every ethnicity and religion on this island must be respected.

But respect does not mean replacing one’s heritage with an artificial, politically engineered new identity.”

Sri Lankans do not need an official celebration” to be united.

Unity comes from justice, fairness, and respect for each group’s traditions—not from forced rebranding.

Settler communities and the attempt to redraw the country

The colonial rulers in particular the British brought several groups as plantation labour and service communities, with intention of permanently altering Sri Lanka’s demography and political boundaries.

Today, some actors use colonial settlement patterns as justification to carve out new ethnic regions or claim ancient Buddhist sites as shared land” without historical basis.

This is fragmentation under the guise of political correctness.

Even the world is rejecting the multiculturalism model

Political correctness and forced multiculturalism have destroyed nations” —

1. Leaders who publicly declared multiculturalism a failure

Germany — Angela Merkel (former Chancellor of Germany)

This multicultural approach has failed, utterly failed.”

(Speech in Potsdam, 2010)

Merkel acknowledged that Germany’s attempt to build a society with separate cultural enclaves living side by side did not work.”

UK — David Cameron (former Prime Minister)

State multiculturalism has failed.”

(Munich Security Conference, 2011)

Cameron warned that forced multiculturalism created segregated communities and encouraged extremism by eroding national cohesion.

France — Nicolas Sarkozy (former President)

Multiculturalism is a failure. We have been too concerned with the identity of the person coming and not enough with the identity of the country receiving them.”
(Television interview, 2011)

Sarkozy noted that immigrant groups in France were living in parallel societies detached from French values.

• European Union Leaders

EU Commissioner Viviane Reding

We have been naive. Europe has clearly underestimated the challenge of migration.”
(2015)

She acknowledged that political correctness prevented honest discussions about integration problems.

• Examples where forced multiculturalism backfired

United Kingdom

• Creation of parallel communitieswith minimal integration.
• 2011 and 2020 street riots partly linked to cultural segregation.
• Grooming gang” scandals where political correctness prevented authorities from acting for years.

France

• Major suburban ghettos (banlieues) where French law is secondary to local community rules.
• Riots in 2005, 2017, and 2023 connected to failed integration models.
• Regular complaints by French mayors that the Republic no longer exists in certain areas.”

Germany

• Rising ethnic-based enclaves where German language and norms are not followed.
• Migrant-related tensions after the 2015 refugee wave.
• Police unions warning that political correctness stopped early intervention.

• Scholars & Thinkers Warning About Political Correctness

Samuel Huntington (Harvard University)

Author of The Clash of Civilizations:

Without core values, a society disintegrates.”

He warned that weakening national identity leads to internal fragmentation.

Douglas Murray

Author of The Strange Death of Europe:

Europe committed suicide by rejecting its own culture and pretending all cultures are equal.”

Across Europe, its own leaders admit that political correctness and forced multiculturalism have not created unity — they have created division, cultural ghettos, social conflict, and a loss of national identity.

These are not emotional statements — they are official acknowledgements.

Why is Sri Lanka rushing to adopt a failed foreign ideology precisely when those who invented it are abandoning it?

True Racism must be called out

Racism is not acknowledging heritage or demanding its preservation or flagging dangers to the nation’s history, heritage & sacred/archaeological sites.

Racism is when:

• A group claims another ethnicity cannot enter” a certain area
• Signboards are placed only in one languageto claim territorial ownership
• Constitutional language rights are ignored
• A community demands exclusive administrative control over historical multi-religious regions

These actions fracture unity — not historical truth.

In such an environment what good is spending Rs.300m on a Sri Lankan Day”.

Who are we fooling?

• Pakistan after the 2010 floods which displaced millions cancelled Pakistan Independence Day.
• India following the 2018 floods in Kerala, cancelled its Onam festival and funds were redirected towards relief, rescue & rehabilitation.
• Qatar cancelled its national day following the 2016 humanitarian crisis.
• Entire world cancelled New Year festivities after the 2004 Tsunami.

These examples highlight the manner nations choose mourning, relief & recovery not celebration when disasters strike. It’s a moral judgement and decision. It signals solidarity with victims & prioritization for relief over celebrations. No one can trivialize the suffering with going ahead with a celebration that is not even an annual event.

Sri Lanka’s disaster warrants a similar response. The Rs.300million allocated for the Sri Lanka Day” must be redirected for relief. It is the moral responsibility of a government that honors victims not throw parades.

A Country in mourning cannot celebrate

Right now, Sri Lanka is not in a state to celebrate anything.

• Hundreds have died.
• Families have lost parents, children, homes, memories, livestock, documents, livelihoods.
• Entire communities are sleeping in camps with only the clothes on their backs.
• Kids have lost schoolbooks, uniforms, and the safety of a home.
• Elderly people have no medicine.
• Women have lost jewellery and savings kept for decades.
• Farmers have lost harvests.
• Daily-wage workers have lost their ability to work.
• What families held dear was swept away or collapsed before their very eyes.

How can a nation declare a Day of Celebration” when its own people are trying to survive?

Funds must go to Rebuilding — not Ceremonies

All state funds allocated for this new Sri Lankan Day” must be reallocated directly to:

• Rebuilding damaged homes
• Providing emergency cash grants
• Restoring livelihoods
• Replacing lost school materials
• Providing safe sanitation and medical support
• Supporting the elderly, disabled, widows, and orphaned children

Every family must receive an amount proportional to their documented loss.

This is not charity — it is the duty of the State.

A Final Reflection

A nation is not built by celebrations.

A nation is built by truth, compassion, and heritage.

Sri Lanka must stand on its real history — not on artificially created slogans.
Sri Lanka must protect its real people — not host celebrations while survivors mourn.
Sri Lanka must honour its civilizational roots — not erase them for political experiments.

Unity is not created by forgetting history. Unity is created by respecting it.

This is the message the country must hear now — loudly, clearly, and without fear.

If a government insists on celebrating while its people are grieving, the public can only conclude that the government has divorced itself from the people.  

When a government pushes forward with an unwanted new event in the midst of tragedy, people will inevitably see it as a leadership more concerned with image than with citizens’ suffering. This will seal proof that the celebration is only to raise the image of the government with no concern for the citizens.

No new national event” should be forced on a grieving nation – its only an attempt to distract, rebrand & rewrite history at the worst possible moment.

If the government cannot pause to respect national tragedy, people will question whether such a government still shares the same heartbeat as the nation.

Forcing a celebration that has no cultural relevance, no historical roots, and no public demand tells the country that unity is being staged—not built.

If leaders refuse to realign with the nation’s sorrow, people will conclude that the government’s priorities lie elsewhere—far from the ground reality.

David E. Brown

Forget Bush’s National Missile Shield. The best military defense is a Russian winter. It got the better of King Charles XII of Sweden, sent Napoleon packing, and eventually shooed Hitler away. A few years after that, though, it was the Germans that were favored by the weather gods—for weeks, Patton’s Third Army was stuck near the edge of Germany, plagued by rain that kept American tanks and trucks and soldiers in place. The general’s solution? A prayer to those gods:

Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations.¹

Patton was certainly not the first military leader to beseech His Great Goodness for favorable conditions. When Hannibal invaded Italy in 217 BC, he waited for the marshes to freeze so his mounted troops could pour in. In 1776, the harsh winter helped George Washington’s army, letting it move quickly across the frozen Delaware River. And in 1941, the Japanese essentially hid their aircraft carriers moving toward Pearl Harbor in a large Pacific storm.

But, to paraphrase Mark Twain, everybody prayed about the weather, but nobody did anything about it. That changed in 1946, when General Electric scientists Vincent Schaefer and Irving Langmuir created an artificial cloud by introducing dry ice into a freezer, and then developed a technique for cloud seeding,” still used today.

By the late 1950s, people began to think about our new ability to alter the weather in military terms. The Cold War was kicking into high gear, and the US intelligence community became aware that the Soviets were experimenting with cloud seeding and other kinds of weather control, such as cloud dissipation. In 1957, Henry Houghton, chair of MIT’s meteorology department, noted, I shudder to think of the consequences of a prior Russian discovery of a feasible method for weather control.”² That same year, a Presidential Advisory Committee on Weather Control noted (with perfect deadpan sensationalism) that, weather modification could become a more important weapon than the atom bomb.”³ The weather race, though never as fierce or as public as the space race or the arms race, was on. (The Soviets really were working on weather, with the hopes of, among other things, warming its vast northern regions and removing the ice in the Arctic Sea.)

That any new technology that could be used as a weapon would be used as a weapon now seems obvious—a kind of first principle of warfare—but it is a relatively recent idea, a product of the total war” strategy of the two world wars, where tactics and weaponry became increasingly more destructive. And there was historical precedent for offensive uses of the environment. During the Franco-Dutch War of 1672–1678, for example, the Dutch breached the dikes around Amsterdam, flooding part of the low-lying country and putting the French on the defensive. (The Dutch won.)

With the political and military stage set, the US got to work on figuring out how to alter the weather, and what to do with that knowledge. Much of the work seems to have been done at the Navy’s China Lake weapons research center. Between 1949 and 1978,” the base’s in-house newspaper, The Rocketeer, reported, China Lake developed concepts, techniques, and hardware that were successfully used in hurricane abatement, fog control, and drought relief.”⁴

Drought relief” is an interesting way to put it. China Lake’s research caught the eye of the CIA in the early 1960s, which saw the potential of weather control in the rapidly expanding conflict in Vietnam. The CIA’s first use of the Navy’s technology was crowd dispersal. The Diem regime was having all that trouble with the Buddhists,” an agent told Seymour Hersh in 1972. They would just stand around during demonstrations when the police threw tear gas at them, but we noticed that when the rains came they wouldn’t stay on. The agency got an Air America Beechcraft and had it rigged up with silver iodide. There was another demonstration and we seeded the area. It rained.”⁵

In 1966, the idea of raining on Vietnam became the top-secret Project Popeye, which ran for some seven years and included more than 2,600 cloud-seeding flights over Vietnam and Laos. The objective was simple: Make rain that would make or keep the Ho Chi Minh Trail—a main supply route for the North Vietnamese—so muddy that it was unusable. (Why Popeye”? The artificially created rain was apparently called Olive Oil.”)

The story of the top-secret project—flown by the Air Force but controlled by the CIA and the White House—was broken in 1971 in Jack Anderson’s national newspaper column, then, to greater fanfare, in July 1972, with Hersh’s front-page story in the New York Times. And while there were no rules at the time about weather modification—or any environmental warfare, for that matter—the Nixon administration was not happy with Hersh’s revelations. The White House and the State Department declined comment, and one unnamed official said, This is one of those things where no one is going to say anything.”⁶ (People said even less about CIA weather modification in Cuba. During 1969 and 1970, planes from China Lake seeded clouds that rained over non-agricultural regions of Cuba, leaving at least some of the country’s sugar cane fields dry.)

The eventual response was an international treaty, the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, or ENMOD, which entered into force in 1978. The main tenet of the treaty, which stands today, is this: Each State Party to this Convention undertakes not to engage in military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury to any other State Party.”⁷

Weather control activities seem to have quieted down after ENMOD, but fortunately for the US military, the treaty has a loophole big enough to drive a truck through: It prohibits only action with widespread, long-lasting or severe effects.” When Air Force intelligence analysts turned their thoughts to the weather in the mid-1990s, they made up their own definition of these limits: widespread means affecting more than several hundred kilometers; long-lasting means for a period of months; and severe involves serious or significant disruption or harm to human life, natural or economic resources, or other assets.”⁸ Which is to say that, except for the human life part, most military applications, which tend to be short-term and localized, are allowed. These analysts’ conclusions are contained in an extraordinary report, published in 1996, called Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025.” If the US intelligence community did ignore the weather for a while, Owning the Weather” certainly made up for it. Envisioning a world where technology has made control over the local weather phenomena much more precise—and where a global network of sensors has greatly increased available atmospheric data—the writers declare that in three decades time, US aerospace forces can ‘own the weather,’” and shape the battlespace in ways never before possible.”⁹

While Owning the Weather” relies primarily on extensions of existing weather modification techniques, the authors strike more boldly into the future with speculation about nanotechnology-based artificial weather.” A cloud, or several clouds, of microscopic computer particles,” they note, all communicating with each other and with a larger control system could provide tremendous capability. Interconnected, atmospherically buoyant, and having navigation capability in three dimensions, such clouds could be designed to have a wide range of properties.”¹⁰

At times, the Air Force report reads like a declaration to violate the ENMOD agreement. The authors even note that the only reason they don’t discuss more serious weather control—made-to-order weather, large-scale climate modification, control of storms, etc.—is that it won’t be technically feasible by 2025. Such applications would have been included in this report as potential military options,” they note, despite their controversial and potentially malevolent nature and their inconsistency with standing UN agreements to which the US is a signatory.”¹¹

Why is the United States so interested in the weather that it would violate international treaty? The answer may lie more in the psyche of the government than in specific tactical advantages. The US military has long been used to having a stacked deck. The US Navy once owned the seas; later, the Air Force had the run of the skies. For a while, our sole possession of the atomic and hydrogen bombs gave us the ultimate” weapon. Dominion over the atmosphere might be the next ultimate” weapon, proof not only of military invincibility but perhaps, finally, of Divine Right.

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To see a page from UN Resolution 3264 (1974) which prohibits military interference with the environment, see here.

1. 1

Msgr. James H. O’Neill, The True Story of the Patton Prayer,” The Review of the News, 6 October 1971, available at http://members.aol.com/PattonsGHQ/prayer.html [link defunct—Eds.].

2. 2

United States House of Representatives Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Subcommittee on Health and Science, Weather Modification Research: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Health and Science. Eighty-fifth Congress, Second Session, 18-19 March 1958 (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1958), p. 55, as quoted in Nayef H. Samhat, A Genealogy of Climate Change,” Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution, vol. 1, no. 4 (November 1998), at http://members.aol.com/ peacejnl/1_4samhat.htm [link defunct—Eds.].

3. 3

M.S. Venkataramani, To Own The Weather,” Frontline (Chennai, India), 16–29 January 1999, www.frontlineonline.com/ fl1602/16020790.htm [link defunct—Eds.].

4. 4

China Lake Weapons Digest: 50 Years of Providing the Fleet with the Tools of the Trade,” The Rocketeer, 4 November 1993. Reprinted at www.nawcwpns.navy.mil/~bronkhor/ clmf/weapdig.html [link defunct—Eds.].

5. 5

Seymour M. Hersh, Rainmaking Is Used As Weapon by U.S.,” The New York Times, 3 July 1972.

6. 6

Ibid.

7. 7

Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques,” 1108 U.N.T.S. 151, entered into force on 5 October 1978. Available at www.un-documents.net/enmod.htm.

8. 8

Col. Tamzy J. House, Lt. Col. James B. Near, Jr., et al., Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025,” in Air Force 2025,” Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, 1996, p. 7. Available at archive.org/download/WeatherAsAForceMultiplier/WeatherAsAForceMultiplier.pdf.

9. 9

Ibid., p. vi.

10. 10

Ibid., p. 27.

11. 11

Ibid., p. 6.

https://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/3/brown.php

Dr. Ruwan M Jayatunge, M.D. PhD

In The Cult of the Goddess Pattini (1984), Gananath Obeyesekere analyzes the historical, sociological, and psychological aspects of the Pattini cult in Sri Lanka, examining the goddess’s syncretic nature and challenging conventional interpretations of South Asian religion.

Obeyesekere mentions that his study of the Cult of the Goddess Pattini was his inaugural field research, a project guided by Lyn Ludowyk. He emphasizes that this exploration of Pattini has influenced the entirety of his anthropological career. In his view, Obeyesekere portrays him as an Anthropological Don Quixote.

Obeyesekere explores the psychological dimensions of the goddess’s myths and associated rituals. He highlights the syncretic dimensions of the cult, its relation to sociocultural change and Sanskritization, and the gender dynamics within the Pattini myth.

The worship of Goddess Pattini holds significant historical importance in Sri Lanka, as it reflects centuries of cultural exchange, religious syncretism, and the enduring nature of folk beliefs. The worship has been deeply integrated into the Sinhala Buddhist and Tamil Hindu traditions; the cult offers a window into the island’s complex religious and social history.

Folk Religion

The veneration of Goddess Pattini (or Kannaki Amman) is considered a significant part of folk religion that involves numerous folk rituals and ceremonies. Folk cult has been established on the grounds of actualized and modified motives (Souček & Karásek, 2022). People are attracted to fork religions primarily to fulfill deep psychological and social needs. During times of transition or crisis, people seek a sense of purpose or direction in life. Moreover, it offers emotional support, community belonging and a feeling of security, helping individuals cope with anxiety and ongoing life stresses.

The Cult of the Goddess Pattini is largely syncretic and community-based, focused on immediate, worldly concerns, and operates outside the formal, scriptural-based doctrines of Theravada Buddhism. The integration of indigenous beliefs is evident in Pattni worship, which emphasizes the fulfillment of earthly desires. This cult is characterized by its poetic verses and folk dramas, showcasing a vibrant oral tradition.

The Origin

The origins of Pattini worship are rooted in South India. Her worship originates from the central character, Kannagi, of the Tamil epic Cilappatikāram (The Tale of an Ankle), but her story and cult have evolved differently among Sinhalese and Tamil traditions in Sri Lanka.

King Gajabahu of Sri Lanka, who reigned from 171 to 193 AD, played a fundamental role in the introduction of the Pattini Puja to the island. He established a temple dedicated to the Goddess Pattini and conducted daily rituals in her honour, thereby embedding her worship into the cultural fabric of Sri Lankan society.

Historical evidence indicates that the formalization of Pattini Puja in Sri Lanka occurred between the fifth and the sixteenth centuries. The Sinhala text Poojavaliya, thought to have been composed in the 13th century, references King Gajabahu and highlights the royal support for the worship of Pattini.

Notable figures such as King Mayadunne of Sitawaka (the founder and ruler of the Sitawaka Kingdom from 1521 to 1581), King Rajasinghe of Sitawaka (reigned 1581–1593), and King Wimaladharma Suriya I (king of Kandy from 1592 to 1604) are recognized for their patronage, which significantly contributed to the proliferation of this faith throughout the region.

The worship of Goddess Pattini in Sri Lanka is commonly associated with King Gajabahu I, who allegedly promoted the cult during his reign in the 2nd century CE. However, this narrative is challenged by scholar Gananath Obeyesekere. He posits that the story might be a constructed myth meant to account for the cult’s presence in Sri Lanka, emphasizing that it actually has its roots in South India.

Obeyesekere interprets the supposed “Gajabahu synchronism” as a metaphorical representation of the historical settlement and cultural impact of South Indians in certain regions of Sri Lanka. He argues that the Pattini cult was likely brought to Sri Lanka by colonists from Kerala after the 10th century, suggesting a timeline that contrasts with the traditional belief in a 2nd-century origin.  In sum, while the legend ties Goddess Pattini’s worship to King Gajabahu I, Obeyesekere views this as a myth rather than a factual account. He believes this narrative emerged for socio-political reasons long after the time of the king. His assertion about the cult’s true origins in South India and the later introduction into Sri Lanka aligns with a revised understanding of the historical context.

The Gender Dynamics

The Pattini myth presents a complex interplay of gender dynamics that reflects the cultural and societal norms of the time. Central to the narrative is the figure of Pattini, who embodies both feminine virtues and assertive agency, challenging traditional gender roles. Her story often highlights themes of sacrifice, loyalty, and the struggle for justice, positioning her as a powerful female archetype within a patriarchal framework. The myth explores the tension between male authority and female empowerment. The cult is a model of female power, and it challenges traditional patriarchal norms.

The Female Archetype

Obeyesekere identifies a complex and multifaceted female archetype in the cult of the Goddess Pattini. The female archetype of the Pattini cult is complex and dynamic, embodying a spectrum of female power that spans from the ideal, chaste wife and mother to a fierce, avenging deity with immense, destructive power. Although there is no direct, historically or anthropologically proven link between the specific Mother Goddess figurines found in the Mohenjo-Daro (Indus Valley) civilization and the South Indian/Sri Lankan Pattini cult, scholarly research points to a connection in the broader, continuous tradition of mother goddess worship in the Indian subcontinent, suggesting a shared archetypeor underlying cultural reverence for the divine feminine.

Religious Syncretism

The Pattini cult is a classic example of religious syncretism, where a Hindu goddess was incorporated into the Theravada Buddhist pantheon in Sri Lanka. It’s an indicator that highlights how religious traditions can merge and coexist in Sri Lankan society. The historical evolution of religious syncretism in the Pattini cult can be traced through a process of initial introduction, political integration, and gradual, organic blending with local beliefs over centuries in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Buddhists embrace the worship of Goddess Pattini through a process of syncretism, which blends indigenous folk beliefs and South Indian Hindu traditions with their practice of Theravada Buddhism. This practice is not seen as contradictory to their Buddhist faith but rather as a complementary way to address immediate, worldly concerns that the core Buddhist doctrine does not focus on.

Hindu-Buddhist Synergism in Sri Lankan Pattini Worship 

Samarakoon and Herapathdeniya (2021) describe Hindu-Buddhist synergism in Sri Lankan Pattini worship as a notable cultural phenomenon involving the integration of a Hindu deity into a local Buddhist framework.   Originally South Indian Hindu goddess (Kannaki) was seamlessly incorporated and transformed into a prominent Sinhalese Buddhist deity Pattini. This shared devotion acts as a significant cultural and social bridge between the two major ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. Transformation into a Bodhisattva: In the Buddhist context, the goddess is not merely a lesser deity but is elevated to the status of a Bodhisattva, a being aspiring to attain Buddhahood. This integration allows her worship to fit within the Theravada Buddhist worldview, which does not typically prioritize female deities at a supreme level. Both communities share similar beliefs about the goddess’s powers, particularly her ability to grant fertility, health, and protection from infectious diseases.   Ranganath (2015).  discusses the cultural adaptation of Pattini cult and its Hindu-Buddhist synergism.

Cultural Significance

Pattini worship holds a central and complex place within the culture of Sri Lanka. Revered as a symbol of justice, fertility, and healing, Pattini’s veneration transcends religious divides, attracting both Sinhala Buddhists and Tamil Hindus to her cult. This shared devotion illustrates a rich cultural heritage that endures despite the differing religious beliefs of these communities. Obeyesekere emphasizes that shared devotion and similar ritual practices act as a cultural and social bridge between these two ethnic groups. Moreover, Pattini worship illustrates how communities navigate their cultural identities through the lens of spirituality. According to de Alwis (2018), Pattini worship indicates cultural resilience in Sri Lanka.  

The Psychological Role of Pattini Worship 

According to Obeyesekere, the cult and its associated rituals serve as a mechanism for externalizing and addressing deep-seated individual psychological anxieties, particularly related to women’s status, sexuality, and reproduction, within a culturally sanctioned framework. Obeyesekere provided a psychoanalytic and syncretic analysis of Pattini worship in Sri Lanka and South India. He explored how religious myth and ritual provide socially sanctioned ways of expressing unconscious conflicts and anxieties, and how this practice both incorporates and transforms different religious traditions.

By employing psychoanalytic theory, Obeyesekere examines the unconscious motivations that drive individuals to seek solace and meaning in Pattini’s worship, suggesting that her veneration serves as a mechanism for coping with existential anxieties and societal pressures. Furthermore, his syncretic approach highlights the blending of various religious traditions and cultural influences that shape Pattini worship, illustrating how this practice not only preserves ancient beliefs but also adapts to contemporary contexts.

Psychologically, the cult offers insights into the collective consciousness of the Sri Lankan people, revealing how rituals and narratives surrounding Pattini provide a framework for understanding concepts of fertility, health, and protection. The veneration of Pattini not only reinforces community bonds but also serves as a coping mechanism for individuals facing life’s uncertainties, thereby highlighting the cult’s dual role as both a spiritual and social institution.  Weerakkody (2022) indicates psychological catharsis and therapeutic benefit for participants and the community by allowing for emotional release, acting as group therapy through shared social behaviour.

Psycho-trauma and Healing

Obeyesekere considered the Pattini cult to be a medical system, as its rituals focus on the treatment, management, and prevention of diseases. Pattini worship provides a powerful framework for psycho-trauma healing through catharsis, community support, symbolic expression of conflict, and narrative therapy, transforming private anxieties into public, shared experiences. Covid time.” ResearchGate. According to Jayasena (2021)   the Pattini cult in Sri Lanka served as a vital source of spiritual support and a traditional healing system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A victim of psycho-trauma can heal themselves through a process that transforms private suffering into a communal, culturally validated experience. Piyarathne (2021) indicates that the Pattini worshipping cult in Sri Lanka exemplifies how indigenous cultural practices serve as an effective community-based mechanism for disaster preparedness and survival. The collective nature of the worship transforms individual trauma into a shared social experience.

References

de Alwis, M. (2018). “The incorporation and transformation of a ‘Hindu’ goddess: the worship of Kannaki-Pattini in Sri Lanka.” The South Asianist, 6(1), 150–180.

Jayasena, N. (2021). “Pattini Cult in Sri Lanka and how it worked in Covid time. ResearchGate.

Obeyesekere, G. (1981). In The Cult of the Goddess Pattini.University of Chicago Press.

Piyarathne, A. (2021). The Pattini worshiping cult and indigenous approach to negotiating natural disasters in Sri Lanka. OURS.

Ranganath, G. I. Y. (2015). “An Exploratory Study of the Cult of Pattini in South Indian and Sri Lanka Societies based on Silappadikaram and Panthis Kolmura.” International Conference on the Humanities 2015.

Samarakoon, P. S. M., & Herapathdeniya, S. K. M. K. (2021). “The Pattini Cult: A review on the beliefs on a female deity venerated by people in Sri Lanka and the Hindu-Buddhist synergism in Sri Lanka.” World Wide Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development, 7(3), 75-77.

 Souček I, Karásek M. The Wedding with a Stolen Goddess: The Ethnography of a Cult in Rural Tamil Nadu. J Relig Health. 2022 Jun;61(3):2500-2513. doi: 10.1007/s10943-020-01010-x. PMID: 32221757.

Weerakkody, I.S (2022). The Lament of Goddess Pattini and its Therapeutic aspect with Reference to the Mara- Ipaddaweema (Killing and Resurrecting). International Research Journal of Social Sciences ISSN 2319–3565 Vol. 11(3), 36-46. 

Source: AI Overview

The All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) was the first institution in post-independence Sri Lanka to investigate colonial-era crimes and their impact

, culminating in the 1956 publication of the Buddhist Commission Report.  This report, popularly known as the Buddhist Commission Report (or in its abridged English version, The Betrayal of Buddhism), detailed the historical injustices faced by the Buddhist community under centuries of colonial rule and in the post-independence era, including the neglect of Buddhism under colonial rule, and was a significant event in Sri Lankan political and cultural history. 

• Investigation and report: In 1954, the ACBC established a Buddhist Committee of Inquiry to examine the status of Buddhism on the island. The committee’s findings were published in February 1956 in a report that became popularly known as the Buddhist Commission Report.
• Findings: The report argued that centuries of European colonialism under the Portuguese, Dutch and the British had privileged Christianity, leading to the decline of Buddhism. It also criticized post-independence governments for not rectifying the damage done and pointed to the disproportionate Christian control over educational institutions.
• Recommendations: Key recommendations included the establishment of a Buddhist Sasana Council with the power to support and foster Buddhism and the withdrawal of government grants to Christian schools.
• The report’s findings had a significant impact on the country’s political landscape, particularly the 1956 general election, and led to major social and educational reforms in Sri Lanka. The government of the time had previously declined to appoint a state commission to investigate these grievances, citing constitutional constraints, prompting the ACBC to conduct its own independent investigation. 

• Impact: Furthermore the report had a significant impact on Sri Lanka’s political, cultural, and social history, and some of its recommendations influenced later government policies. 

Source: AI Overview

https://share.google/aimode/ibrUujlfjZsXfgZKm

(ජර්මානු වෛද්‍ය විද්‍යා ශාස්ත්‍ර මහාචාර්‍ය නිශාන් සී විජේසිංහ විසින් නිකුත් කරන ලද විශේෂ මහජන නිවේදනයකි).

වික්ටෝරියා ව්‍යාපෘතියට අවශ්‍ය මුදල් හොයාගන්න එංගලන්තයට ගිය ජේ.ආර්. ජනාධිපතිතුමා සහ ගාමිණී දිසානායක ඇමතිතුමා මුණගැහෙන්නේ දෙවන එලිසබෙත් මහ රැජිනවයි. එතනදී ජනාධිපතිතුමා අපූරු යෝජනාවක් කරනවා. එතුමා කියනවා ලංකාවේ හදන්න යන මේ දැවැන්ත ජලාශයට, රැජිනගේ ආත්තම්මා වන වික්ටෝරියා රැජිනගේ නම දාන්න අපි කැමතියි, හැබැයි ඒකට අපිට ඔබතුමියගේ රටෙන් ණයක් ඕන කරනවා කියලා. ඇත්තටම එතන තිබුණු ස්වභාවික දිය ඇල්ලේ නම වික්ටෝරියා නිසා ඒ නම යොදාගන්න සැලසුම් කරලා තිබුණත්, මේ නම පාවිච්චි කරලා රැජිනගේ හිත දිනාගන්න ජනාධිපතිතුමා සමත් වුණා. මේ කතාවෙන් ගොඩක් සතුටු වුණු එලිසබෙත් රැජින, මේ ව්‍යාපෘතියට ණයක් නෙවෙයි ආධාරයක් විදියට සම්පූර්ණ මුදල ලබාදෙන්න එංගලන්ත රජයට නිර්දේශ කළා. ඒ වෙලාවේ එංගලන්ත අගමැතිනිය වුණු මාග්‍රට් තැචර් මැතිනියත් මේකට එකඟ වුණේ එක කොන්දේසියක් උඩයි. ඒ තමයි මේ ව්‍යාපෘතියේ ඉදිකිරීම් කටයුතු එංගලන්තයේ ඉංජිනේරු සමාගමකට පැවරිය යුතුයි කියන එක. ඒ විදියට තමයි රුපියල් මිලියන 8900ක දැවැන්ත ආධාරයක් අපේ රටට ලැබුණේ.

මේ අභියෝගාත්මක ඉදිකිරීම භාර වුණේ ලෝක ප්‍රකට බැල්ෆෝ බීටි සහ නටාල් සමාගමටයි. මධ්‍යම කඳුකරයේ මහා මූකලනක් වෙලා තිබුණු, පාරක් තොටක්වත් නොතිබුණු තෙල්දෙණිය ප්‍රදේශය මේ දැවැන්ත ව්‍යාපෘතිය නිසා සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම වෙනස් වුණා. මෙහි තිබෙන විශේෂම කාරණය තමයි වික්ටෝරියා වේල්ල කියන්නේ “ද්විත්ව ආරුක්කු” හැඩයේ කොන්ක්‍රීට් වේල්ලක් වීම. මීටර් 122ක් උස සහ මීටර් 522ක් දිග මේ වේල්ල හදන්න එකම යකඩ කම්බියක්වත් පාවිච්චි කරලා නැහැ. ඒ වගේම කොන්ක්‍රීට් මිශ්‍රණය සකස් කරලා තියෙන්නේ අයිස් වතුර පාවිච්චි කරලයි. විනාඩි තුනක් ඇතුළත අදාළ ස්ථානයට කොන්ක්‍රීට් එක දාන්න බැරි වුණොත් ඒ සම්පූර්ණ තොගයම අහක දාන්න තරම් ඔවුන්ගේ ප්‍රමිතිය ඉහළ මට්ටමක තිබුණා. ලංකාවේ දක්ෂ ඉංජිනේරුවරයෙක් වුණු චන්ද්‍රා පෙරේරා මහතාත් නේවාසික ඉංජිනේරුවරයා විදියට මේ දැවැන්ත නිර්මාණයට දායකත්වය ලබාදුන්නා.

අවසානයේදී 1985 අප්‍රේල් මාසයේදී මාග්‍රට් තැචර් අගමැතිනිය අතින් විවෘත වුණු වික්ටෝරියා ජලාශය අදටත් අපේ රටට කරන සේවය අති විශාලයි. මෙගාවොට් 210ක විදුලි ධාරිතාවක් ජාතික පද්ධතියට ලබාදෙනවා වගේම, මහවැලි සී කලාපයේ සහ බී කලාපයේ කුඹුරු අක්කර ලක්ෂ ගණනකට දියවර සපයන්නෙත් මේ ජලාශයෙන්. 

ගංවතුර පාලනය කරන්න තියෙන ස්වයංක්‍රීය සොරොව් පද්ධතිය නිසා මහියංගනය වගේ පහළ ප්‍රදේශ ගංවතුරෙන් ආරක්ෂා වෙනවා.

 සුද්දන්ගෙන් අපේ රටට අරගෙන ගිය සම්පත් වලට හිලව් වෙන්න ඔවුන් ලවාම මේ වගේ දැවැන්ත ව්‍යාපෘතියක් කරවා ගන්න එදා හිටපු නායකයන්ට තිබුණු දූරදර්ශී බව අදටත් අපි අගය කළ යුතුමයි.

Madubashana Prabath Ranahansa

SepalAmarasinghe

Madubashana Prabath Ranahansa

e-Con e-News

blog: eesrilanka.wordpress.com

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

e-Con e-News 23-29 November 2025

The US military has been given unrestricted access to all Sri Lankan ports, including Hambantota port, & airports through an Acquisition & Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA). The Sri Lankan government is supposed to have secretly signed ACSA (7 pages) in 2007, for 10 years. The USA subsequently provided satellite intelligence that facilitated the Sri Lanka government’s defeat of the LTTE.

     To ensure theACSA would be secretly re-signed in 2017, with 10-times more concessions (83 pages), the USA engineered & funded that awkward coalition of the Yahapalanaya, mashing together a rump SLFP, UNP & JVP in 2015.  Yet they were unable to force the then-President to sign the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement), which would have allowed US boots on Sri Lankan soil, nor finalize the MCC (Millennium Challenge Corporation) to enable deeper economic penetration (see ee Random Notes). They were also unable to prevent the election of Gotabhaya Rajapakse, though they soon engineered scarcities and an economic crisis, funding and fomenting a faux putsch, enabling his removal (but not his hanging) which ended up sending the country into the scaly arms of the IMF for a 17^th time. ‘Regime change’ indeed, yet the colonial import-export plantation fraud that has ruled the country for almost 200 years, was retained.

     ACSA is due to be extended again in 2027. The USA is plotting, to ensure another ACSA extension; watch the political, military & economic moves they have been making.

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The NPP government has sought to ‘calm’ investors about its capacity to scale the 2028 post-IMF ‘debt-repayment cliff’. ‘There is a little bit of an unwanted fear,’ Deputy Industry & Entrepreneurship Development Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe told an online forum last week organised by England’s Tellimer (‘an emerging markets investment banking boutique’) and Softlogic Stockbrokers. The USA will make any easing of their IMF terms for the heavy repayments to Wall Street, contingent on whether the Sri Lankan government extends the ACSA agreement and signs the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement). Can they make Sri Lanka jump off that cliff?!

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‘Was signing [the Montana] agreement a political condition

for the reduction in tariffs? Is this MoU a precursor

to signing a SOFA with the USA? Will Sri Lanka’s

military, naval & air force infrastructure facilities,

as well as Sri Lanka’s ports & airports, be placed at

the disposal of the US war machine? Is Sri Lanka

to be a pawn in US military aggression in Asia?’

– CPSL

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With the USA ready to launch yet another war, in the Americas this time, instead of resolving its own drastic problems, the NPP has not answered the Communist Party of Sri Lanka’s questions: if the recent ‘hasty’ defence partnership between the Montana National Guard, US Coast Guard District 13, and the Sri Lanka Armed Forces under the US Department of War’s State Partnership Program (SPP) entailed any military agreement for boots on the ground?  & where exactly on the seabed will the boots of those unnamed experts from the USA’s National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US Department of Commerce and the US Navy’s Meteorology & Oceanography Command (NMOC) who recently entered the country, dive off & land on?  

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The recent terrorist attacks in both Pakistan & India, were coordinated by the US through its agents in both countries. They are said to be preludes to sabotaging the upcoming tête-à-tête between Indian PM N Modi & Russian President V Putin in December. The incendiary comments by Japan’s government leaders to inflame China is being prompted by the USA, despite their blather about promoting peace. The aim is to divide what many see as an emerging – logical though winding & protracted – attempt at uniting the world against fascism.

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Capitalism is seeking to revive itself again through another world war – the Nobel Economics Prize was handed over to those who theorize ‘disruption’ (Hint! Hint!) to restore capitalism, and the Nobel peace Prizes to those who promote chaos & confrontation. ee continues Roy Singham’s arithmetic of ‘Who Really Defeated Fascism’, during what the whites call World War 2 (1939-45), which actually began much earlier in Asia and Africa, and witnessed the mass slaughter of 85 million human beings! While Hollywood & BBC, in movies & documentaries, like Bridge over River Kwai and Dunkirk only recall the suffering of whites, Singham calculates the real toll, including SE Asia & Africa (where WW2 actually began in 1935, when Italy invaded Ethiopia) – nearly 1 million Africans fought in that war, only to be returned to colonial servitude after. England, rather than taking on the Nazis outright, had first sought to preserve its colonial possessions, while the US manoeuvred to profit from the war, arming Japanese imperialists & the Nazis. It was the USSR & China, Asians & Africans, that took the brunt of the racialized genocides, forced-labour systems, & famines. Singham offers a forensic, meticulous recounting, never accounted before (see ee Focus).

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‘50-80% of Sudan’s overall gold production was

being still smuggled in 2022 – mainly to the UAE –

rather than officially exported’

(see ee Sovereignty, Sudan needs peace)

The horrific role played by the Emirates in the Sudan, backed by the usual suspects (US, England, Israel, EU), requires deeper examination. ee Focus concludes Joseph Garang’s essay on ‘The Southern Sudan’. Written over 50 years ago, Garang is no longer alive, but his study still contextualizes today’s news by providing the historical and political underpinnings to the meddling that has taken place after that country’s ‘independence’ from England & Egypt in 1956. A decade later, not a single representative in their parliament was a ‘peasant’ in a country 90% populated by cultivators. So-called leaders preferred to strike deals to divide the country, rather than unite with progressive forces north & south. Published in The African Communist in 1969, the essay helps sensitize us to the present upheaval in the Sudan (just across the pond from us), and the part played by England’s racialized colonialism (all too familiar to us). One of Sudan’s foremost progressive theoreticians & member of the Sudanese Communist Party, Garang was executed in 1971 by the then Sudanese government.

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Though criminally ignored by the English media, learning about Sudan remains very important for us. Several colonial governors and officials in Ceylon first practised their terroristic arts in Africa (and Sudan in particular). SBD de Silva, to whom this blog is dedicated, stands out as an original researcher who dared examine imperialism’s practices in Africa, and the lessons and the insights African history offered as precedent to and concomitant with, Europe’s and newer Anglo-American invasions of Sri Lanka.

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With Sri Lanka experiencing heavy floods this week, we recall: Just like Karl Marx in his final years, SBD de Silva in his sunset moments studied more closely the nature of Sri Lanka’s ancient villages & agriculture, based on the disciplined organization of the irrigation system. SBD recorded the colonial destruction of the irrigation system to undermine the old society, and impose the plantation system (and the failure of the English & post-1948 attempts to revive the old system of waterways). The English bestowed upon us the most impoverished peasantry in Asia. SBD de Silva noted the need for monetization and commercialization – hitherto prevented – of the peasantry, as the basis for a rural home market This was vital to reviving and advancing rural industrialization in coordination with the traditional cycles of rural agriculture.

*

Comparing and contrasting countries, side by side, in southern Africa, settler-colonial and non-settler, was the subject of last week’s excerpt from Chapter 4 of SBD de Silva’s classic, The Political Economy of Underdevelopment. He examined their investment patterns, the nature of their productions, and the settlers’ determined reliance on a home market (vs the constant whining for exports & foreign investment in non-settler colonies like ours). The last excerpt specifically noted the significance of a white settler working-class presence that hot-housed modern industrial growth.

     This ee Focus continues the Chapter, this time looking at the nature of settler economies in northern Africa. Algeria had more than a million Europeans, Morocco 600,000 Europeans; and Tunisia nearly a quarter of a million, yet holding ‘aloof’ from Europe (while segregated from the native Africans whom they impoverished). Commercialized settler Maghrebin agriculture accessed modernized techniques and a national market, generating both a European bourgeoisie & a large wage proletariat. Urbanization & transportation, rail & shipping, stimulated industrial growth, with manufacturing providing another source of dynamism.

     As an example of his exacting scholarship, SBD offers 2 complex exceptions to his settler-nonsettler dichotomy – the Belgian Congo (where the entry of Europeans was officially regulated), & (in the next ee) Indochina. Though they were not specifically settler colonies, ‘they became more industrially advanced than could normally be expected’. In the mineral-rich Congo, he examined the industrialization promoted by Katanga’s Flemish settlers, where, for example, the impurities from copper refining led to other valuable metal industries and chemicals.

*

Every November the Northeast Monsoon strikes. The media, which is supposed to know better about our climate, act surprised. This year rains & winds have struck us with a distinctive fury, leaving death, destruction and despair in its wake. Some turn this annual occurrence into a conspiracy. Some blame it on the gods. Others seeking to prevent industrialization in Sri Lanka at all costs, claim ‘global-warming’ is caused by industrialization. Still others blame it on our primordial wickedness, original sin, etc. The present rulers will blame it on past administrations. Past rulers blame it on the present rulers. Foreign armies step in offering to rescue us.

     Harnessing these freak furies, into growing green gold to feed ourselves and modern attempts to transform this silver lightning to energize our future, remain just idle talk.

     Many countries revere and celebrate the changes in their seasons; a truly national media would prepare and fortify people against what the tilting of the Earth against the rotation of the Sun in the northern hemisphere portends for a country centred in the turbulent Tropic of Cancer.

     The colonial practices of destroying the irrigation systems to undermine the solidarity of ancient villages, in order to quell resistance; the sabotaging the plans to hydroelectrify the economy – have all prevented the liberation of the country through modern industrialization. The images of the flooding of the former state-owned textile plant in Thulhiriya, that was turned over to foreign interests, provide further evidence of the inability of such privatized interests to look beyond their profits, while passionately preventing a planned economy and society.

*

‘The same blind eagerness for plunder

that in the one case exhausted the soil,

had, in the other, torn up by the roots

the living force of the nation…’

– Karl Marx, Capital

*

The misuse and wastage of the country’s natural resources is paralleled by the exploitation of workers. Th media promote the day-in day-out whining by such employers as the Planters’ Association. They claim their sectors are on the verge of dying out due to unreasonable labor demands, which are supposedly preventing foreign direct investments (FDI). A simple visit to a lineroom would disabuse anyone except the delusional, of their claims to modernity or gender equity, and other virtues that their media press releases constantly signal and broadcast. While there are hourly headlines about ‘gang’ violence, and much talk of democratic rights, there is little ongoing media reportage on how employers treat people at work.

     Workplace safety is the topic of Commercial & Industrial Workers’ Union President, Swasthika Arulingam’s interview by the Daily Morning. She declares, most factory workers or blue-collar workers don’t even have the right to sick leave. Workers are being increasingly pushed to prioritize reaching targets over protecting their own health & safety. With salary structures tied directly to productivity, workers are forced to ignore basic safety measures so as to earn a living wage. The corporate & IMF buzzword about ‘flexibility’ is just an excuse to remove remaining protections. The Employers’ Federations also constantly complain labour laws favor workers, but in reality they do not. Technical education is vital and should be encouraged from an early age. Arulingam opposes the ‘push towards getting younger people, even children of 16 years, into the workforce, and to introduce part-time work for children’.

*

SBD de Silva’s work exposes, the historical and determined opposition by merchants and moneylenders to oppose and sabotage – on behalf of their multinational masters – the modern industrialization of our countries. While trade unions are primarily self-defense organizations for workers, trying to climb up an escalator constantly going down, the labor movement should also make demands for modern industrialization, that would provide the economic basis for fulfilling their demands.  Economists, too (paid to offer elixirs, which amount to being temporary panadols leading to suicidal polydols) avoid the fundamental necessity for modern industry. Their usual and daily panaceas are privatization, exports, FDI, balance of payments, etc etc ad nauseam. Their daily media demands: Public-Private Partnerships (PPP)! MSMEs! Energy transition! Decarbonization! Blended finance! Carbon-credit markets! Digitalization. Fiscal consolidation. Flexibility. Sustainability! etc, etc. On and on… Who hasn’t seen or heard these words, and who can explain to us what they actually mean?

     ee reproduces South Africa’s Gillian Schutte’s eloquent takedown of all the media fluff, in her expose of the recent G20 meeting in South Africa (see ee Focus). Schutte describes the role of influencers full of sound & fury signifying nothing, appearing like they are hip & heavy but saying zero. The ‘core function’ of the G20 is ‘the consolidation of a global financial architecture that secures Western industrial & geopolitical interests.’

*

ee’s News Compendium has gathered & gleaned over 7 years of these mountains of corporate PR garbage, which repeats certain tropes over & over again, ad nauseam. Most news is diversionary, fog-heavy, full of aspirations, anodynes, replete with infinitives, about what corporation or governments aim ‘to’ do but never do. The media brims with ‘informercials’, with promises that never see the real light of day or night. ee will continue to highlight the more valuable ‘news’ that come across our screens. But most of what is published for mass consumption, as news, is highly processed, like canned food, toxic and inedible. Most of it is produced by corporate Public Relations (PR) agencies & their employees, past & present. Politicians and economists, especially those names that appear almost daily and weekly in the news, are sponsored by foreign, mainly imperialist (called ‘Western’) governments and their corporations. The corporate media always talking about corruption, is corruption itself!

*

The entire purpose of ee serializing Gustavus Myers’ 1917 History of Tammany Hall is to show how the daily media’s babble about corruption, cannot expose their sponsors, or the private ownership of political and economic structures, which is, itself, a deadlier form of corruption. The recent Tammany chapters show how, for over a century, the exposure of corruption in the capitalist media is used to tame those who threaten, in some way, the controllers of the capitalist system, especially those moving in on their monopoly.

     The recent US war on Russia via the Ukraine shows how imperialists, with their media barking alongside, has weaponized charges of corruption to target governments & officials they don’t like.

*

‘Under Obama, the US insisted on creating a second,

completely separate legal vertical in Ukraine focused

solely corruption. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau

investigates cases of corruption especially of officials

in higher position. The Specialized Anti-Corruption

Prosecutor Office assembled cases to go to court.

The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine is judging over them.

The vertical was designed to be independent of the Ukrainian

government & state. A special Civil Oversight Council – not the

parliament – is nominally in control of it. But the effective control

was always with the US embassy in Kiev through the various

anti-corruption NGOs & media it was financing in Ukraine.’

– Moon of Alabama

The real corruption is capitalism: the private appropriation of the workers’ surplus. Here is Myers’ ongoing tale of over 100 years ago, when monopoly capitalism was in its infancy, about the USA’s largest metropolis, home to Wall Street (whose bond vigilantes now hold Sri Lanka hostage). Here is a New York – Manhattan being the home of the largest publishers in the English world – that is constantly issuing sermons to the world, of how bad their enemies are, and how pure they are, why, even electing so-called socialist mavericks (minus a political machinery) as Mayors, etc.

*

The USA has pardoned a drug-dealing former President in Honduras, who was an agent of the USA, while falsely accusing the President of Venezuela of drug-dealing in order to grab its abundant resources.

     The US Embassy in Colombo recently celebrated the 250^th birthday of the US Marine Corps. Instead of promoting their macabre celebrations, a real media would have educated them that this is the US Marine’s 220^th anniversary. The Marines go back to 1805, and their protection of the first US purchases of opium from Smyrna in Turkey to China via the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. This lucrative drug dealing led to the first US attacks on North African and Ottoman ships, labeling the North Africans as ‘Barbary pirates’ for demanding the US pay tariffs when crossing their seas.

     A  Second Barbary War soon followed in 1815, when the US navy attacked Algiers, forcing a treaty to ban ‘piracy,’ ie, to stop attacks on US ships carrying opium. After attacking Algeria, the US ended taxes to Ottoman navies, although some European nations continued annual taxes. The US Marine Corps adopted the line ‘To the shores of Tripoli’ to open the ‘Marine Hymn’. Marines’ uniforms’ leather high collar was to protect against cutlass slashes, hence nickname Leatherneck for marines. The US traders soon became ‘consignment agents’ in Canton for ‘country’ ships carrying Bengal and Malwa opium from India. 1820s: US & English were shipping 100s of chests of Turkish opium to Southeast Asia & China. The US should invade itself. – Oh wait! It’s already planning that too!

*

________

Contents:

USA’s Boots on Sri Lanka’s Soil

Courtesy  The Daily Mirror

• Govt. shrugs concerns of debt serviceability, come 2028 

Sri Lanka’s foreign currency debt repayment per annum from 2028 onwards is estimated at between US$ 3.25 billion to US$ 3.5 billion the most, should the current level of debt remain unchanged.

Speaking at a media briefing, the Central Bank said Sri Lanka has to pay only up to US$ 2.75 billion through 2027 for settling foreign currency debt before the full debt repayments on sovereign bonds kick in from 2028.

According to the Finance Ministry, Sri Lanka has repaid US$ 1,674 million for debt servicing in 2024 and for 2025 it amounts to US$ 2,435 million, of which US$ 1,948 million for the first eight months has already been paid by September 30.

Only another US$ 487 million is set to be paid in the final three months.

The foreign debt service payments are estimated at US$ 3,259 million for 2028, up only US$ 824 million from 2025.Sri Lanka is expected to earn US$ 8.0 billion from tourism trade in 2030, which the Sri Lanka Tourism Hotel Association too endorsed subject to the industry doing more towards the target. Certain groups are spreading an unfounded opinion that an inability to pay foreign debt may arise in 2028”, the President and Finance Minister, Anura Kumara Dissanayake said.

We believe that the people of this country will not accept such false propaganda”, he added.

Sri Lanka lost nearly US$ 10.0 billion from tourism trade during 2020 and 2021 due to pandemic induced restrictions.The Central Bank last week said the government is set to receive around US$ 750 million in December 2025 from multiple multilateral sources, including US$ 347 million from the International Monetary Fund.

Courtesy Hiru News

The Sri Lanka Air Force reported that the pilot of the Air Force helicopter that met with a mishap in the Wennappuwa area succumbed to his injuries.

The Bell 212 type helicopter crashed this afternoon (30) in an area between Lunuwila and Wennappuwa while engaged in a disaster relief operation.

The five occupants aboard the helicopter at the time of the incident were swiftly rescued and hospitalised, where the pilot of the helicopter died, according to the Air Force.

Courtesy Hiru News

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) released the latest statistics regarding the loss of life and affected people due to the severe weather conditions across the country as of 6:00 PM today (30).

According to the report, the Centre officially announced that 334 people died and 370 people are missing at this time.

In addition, a large number of families are affected by this catastrophic situation, with the number of affected families totaling 309,607.

The DMC also stated that the number of affected individuals is 1,118,929.

Courtesy:  AI Overview

https://share.google/aimode/fvX39iFaANCcs2dME

Sri Lanka has produced several highly influential Buddhist figures, but the most renowned for their lasting missionary legacy are

Arahant Mahinda (and his sister Sanghamittā Therī) in ancient times, and Anagarika Dharmapala in the modern era. 

Arahant Mahinda and Sanghamittā Therī (Ancient Era)

Arahant Mahinda, the son of the Indian Emperor Ashoka, is the pivotal figure who introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE. 

• Key Accomplishment: He converted King Devanampiya Tissa and the royal household, leading to the widespread adoption of Buddhism as the national religion of the Sinhalese people. This event is considered the foundation of the Buddha Sasana (the Buddha’s message and monastic order) on the island. Article 9 of Sri Lanka’s modern Constitution is mandated to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana as a fundamental obligation of the State, a practice that has prevailed in Sri Lanka since the time of King Devanampiya Tissa (Third Century BC)
• Lasting Legacy:
  • Established the Sangha: Mahinda established the first community of monks (Bhikkhu Sangha) in Sri Lanka. The first Sinhalese monk was the nephew of King Devanampiyatissa, namely Arittha Thera.
  • Established the Bhikkhuni Order: His sister, Sanghamittā Therī, arrived later with a sapling of the sacred Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, and established the order of nuns (Bhikkhuni Sangha).
  • Cultural & Architectural Impact: Their arrival spurred a wave of stupa (pagoda) and monastery construction, including the Thuparama, which became major centers of worship and the cradle of an unique Sinhala Buddhist civilization and culture that persists to this day.
  • Literary Preservation: The Buddhist scriptures (Tipitaka) were first committed to writing in Sri Lanka during the first century BCE, a monumental effort that preserved the Theravada canon for the world.

Anagarika Dharmapala (Modern Era)

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Anagarika Dharmapala was a key figure in the global Buddhist revival movement. 

• Key Accomplishment: He was a pioneer in teaching the Dhamma in Asia, North America, and Europe, becoming the first global Buddhist Missionary. He was a leading voice against colonial suppression of Buddhism and played a crucial role in re-establishing a Buddhist identity in Sri Lanka and India.  He lived from 1864 to 1933. He is remembered for his missionary work in three continents and his pioneering role in the Sri Lankan independence movement,
• Lasting Legacy:
  • Maha Bodhi Society: He founded the Maha Bodhi Society in 1891 to revive Buddhism in India and regain Buddhist control of ancient shrines like Bodh Gaya and Sarnath. This organization continues its work today.
  • Pioneered Western Missions: Dharmapala was instrumental in founding the London Buddhist Vihara in 1926, which helped introduce Theravada Buddhism to the West.
  • “Protestant Buddhism” & Social Reform: He promoted a modern, lay-oriented form of Buddhism focused on ethics, self-reliance, and social consciousness, which deeply influenced Sri Lankan society and nationalism. 

Other notable modern missionaries include Narada Maha Thera, Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero, and Asoka Weeraratna, who further propagated the Dhamma in many countries, including Europe and the United States, through teaching, writing, and establishing viharas and meditation centers. 

Narada Maha Thera, born Sumanapala Perera was a Theravada Buddhist monk, scholar, translator, educator and Buddhist missionary who was for many years the Superior of Vajiraramaya in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was a popular figure in his native country, Sri Lanka, and beyond. Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narada_Maha_Thera)

Born: July 14, 1898,Colombo 13

Died: October 2, 1983 (age 85 years), Siri Vajirarama Temple, Colombo

Lineage: Amarapura Nikaya

Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero: A respected monk of the 20th century, he was a master of Buddhist meditation and known for reviving both samatha and vipassana meditation techniques. He also served as President of the Amarapura Sangha Sabha and was influential in propagating Buddhism both in Sri Lanka and abroad.

Asoka Weeraratna: A follower of Anagarika Dharmapala and widely renowned as the ‘Deveni Dharmapala’ (second Anagarika), he founded the German Dharmaduta Society (1952), Berlin Buddhist Vihara in Germany (1957) which is housed in Das Buddhistische Haus ( founded by Dr. Paul Dahlke in 1924) and the Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya (1967) a highly respected forest hermitage in Sri Lanka to promote deep meditation for monks and lay people alike. 

Courtesy:  AI Overview

see also

• Buddhist Studies: Profiles of Theravadin Buddhists – BuddhaNet
• https://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/theravada/

Profiles of Theraveda Buddhists * Ananda Metteyya (Charles Henry Allan Bennett, 1872 -1923) * Ba Khin, Sayaji U Ba Khin (1899-1971)

buddhanet.net

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· 

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·  Buddhism in Sri Lanka – Wikipedia

·  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_in_Sri_Lanka

The Buddhist revival also resulted in the spreading of Buddhism in Western countries. Anagarika Dharmapala and Asoka Weeraratna pi…

AI Overview

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The Buddhist Commission Report (1956) and the Book ‘ The Revolt in the Temple’ by D.C. Wijewardene (1953), laid the ideological foundation for the S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike led Sinhala Buddhist Electoral Revolution of 1956

TheBu ddhist Commission Report and the book The Revolt in the Temple by D.C. Wijewardena are widely recognized as having laid the primary ideological and foundational groundwork for the Sinhala-Buddhist electoral revolution of 1956 in Sri Lanka. 

• The Revolt in the Temple (published in 1953) served as a foundational theoretical text, inspiring the nationalist sentiment that culminated in the 1956 election. It presented a three-part narrative intertwining the history of the Buddhist faith, the Sinhalese race, and the land of Sri Lanka, urging Sinhalese Buddhists to resist foreign influences and reaffirm their collective identity. 
•  It helped to inspire the “Buddhist revolution” by framing the political struggle as a fight for justice against the legacies of colonialism and for the preservation of ‘Rata, Jathiya, and Agama’ (Nation, Race, and Religion).
• The Buddhist Commission Report, published in February 1956 by the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress, detailed the various injustices and grievances suffered by the Buddhist community under centuries of colonial rule and subsequent post-independence governments. It made specific recommendations for the restoration of Buddhism to its rightful place, particularly in education, and presented “Ten Commandments” (‘Dasa Panatha’) for political parties to pledge to implement. 

S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, leader of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) coalition, publicly declared his commitment to implementing the report’s recommendations if elected, a stance that secured the overwhelming support of the Buddhist monks and the wider Sinhalese-Buddhist electorate, leading to his landslide victory and the “Ape Aanduwa” (Our Government) era. 

• 1956 – A Year of National and Religious Awakening
• https://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=6,10168,0,0,1,0

• 

·  Book Review: The Revolt in the Temple by D.C. Wijewardena

https://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=10,13156,0,0,1,0

·  

LankaWeb

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THE GENERAL ELECTION OF 1956 Part 2

KAMALIKA PIERIS

https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2020/04/19/the-general-election-of-1956-part-2/

·  Historic report to be re-launched – Sunday Times

·  October 06, 2006

·  https://www.sundaytimes.lk/061001/Plus/pls15.html

Fifty years ago, a Report of a Committee appointed by the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress created a significant impact in the political, cultural and social history of Sri Lanka. It was Buddha Jayanthi year. The report outlined the grievances of Buddhists and set out a series of measures to elevate the position of Buddhism in the country. It argued that Buddhism had been neglected under colonial rule and post-independence governments had done little to rectify the damage done. Now, in the 2550th Jayanthi year, the report, which had been out of print for many years has been reprinted and is to be formally presented to the Maha Nayaka Theras of the three Nikayas and the Buddhist public at a gathering to be held at Ananda College on Tuesday, October 3. Leading Buddhist organisations including the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress, Colombo YMBA, Sasana Sevaka Samitiya, Dharmavijaya Foundation and Old Anandians Association are planning to make the event a noteworthy one to encourage Buddhists to take stock of their position and inspire them to work towards achieving their goals. It was on a pledge given by the President of the Congress, Professor Gunapala Malalasekera at the annual sessions held in Kegalle on December 27, 1952 that the committee consisting of well-known Buddhist personalities was appointed. The committee comprised Ven Ambanwelle Sri Siddahatha Anu Nayaka Thera of the Malwatta Chapter, Ven Halyale Sumanatissa Thera – Registrar of the Asgiriya Chapter, Pandita Palannoruwe Wimaladhamma Nayaka Thera – Deputy head of the Vidyodaya Pirivena, Balangoda Ananda Maitriya Nayaka Thera – Head of Sri Dharmananda Pirivena, Pandita Sri Gnanaloka Thera – Deputy head of Balagalle Saraswathie Pirivena, Ven Dr Kotahene Pannakitti Thera of the Vidyalankara Pirivena, Madihe Pannasiha Maha Nayaka Thera, Professor G. P. Malalasekera, P. de S. Kularatne, L.H. Mettananda, D. C. Wijewardena, Professor Tennekoon Vimalananda and C. D. S. Siriwardena. T. U. de Silva and M. D. S. Abeyratne were the joint secretaries.The committee obtained the views of the public through a questionnaire with 71 questions. The committee also held public sittings throughout the country. The report was released on February 4, 1956 at a public meeting held at Ananda College. On this occasion L.H. Mettananda (former Principal of Ananda College) made a resounding speech entitled ‘ The Conspiracy against Buddhism’ that still resonates even to this day.  A week after the report was released, Parliament was dissolved and a general election was fixed for April 1956. A document titled ‘Ten Commandments’ (Dasa Panatha) including a pledge to implement the recommendations of the committee, was presented to the major political parties. Only the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna led by the leader of the SLFP, S. W. R. D. Bandarakanie accepted the ‘Ten Commandments’. The result was a landslide victory for him. As Prime Minister, he took the initiative in appointing a Buddha Sasana Commission (March 4, 1957) to make recommendations based on the committee report. The Commission submitted its report to the Governor-General on June 4,1959 but with the assassination of the Prime Minister, its implementation was stalled. Tuesday’s meeting is looked upon as a major initiative in assessing the position of the Buddhists after 50 years since the Buddha Jayanthi and to impress on the need to at least build up a society based on the Five Precepts. It will also be a symbol of recognition of the immense service by the learned monks and the laymen in preparing such an extensive report. The attractively printed new edition is a Visidunu publication.

Courtesy Hiru News

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The Department of Irrigation stated that the flood warning issued for the low-lying areas of the Deduru Oya basin is extended for an additional 48 hours.

The Department of Irrigation also noted a high flood risk for the areas in the lower Mahaweli River basin.

It advises that residents in the low-lying areas, including Dimubulagala, Thamankaduwa, Medirigiriya, Welikanda, Kinniya, Mutur, Lankapura, and Kantale, should evacuate.

courtesy Hiru News

The death toll resulting from the disasters caused by the ‘Ditwa’ cyclone in Sri Lanka has risen to 132, the National Disaster Management Center (NDMC) confirmed.

The number of people currently missing stands at 176.

The NDMC stated that 716 safe centers have been established across the country, accommodating 22,212 families, or 78,010 individuals, where relief efforts are being provided.

The Kandy District reported the highest number of fatalities, with 52 deaths confirmed. This is followed by Badulla District, which has confirmed 35 deaths.

The highest number of missing persons, 105, was also reported from the Kandy District. An additional 27 people are missing from Badulla, and 24 from Kegalle.

The NDMC further confirmed that a total of 646,567 people belonging to 17,868 families have been affected across all districts of the country.

Although the Ditwa cyclone has now moved away from the island’s landmass, the Department of Meteorology indicated that its influence would continue to bring rainfall tomorrow as well.

කන්ඩලමේ මේ කාලකන්නි හැත්ත හැම අවුරුද්දකම මේ ආතල් එක ගන්නවා.බොරදියේ මාලුබානවා කියන්නේ මේවට. අහිංසක සතුන් සහ ඇතැම් මිනුසුන් ජීවිත බේරාගැනීමට උත්සාහ දරනවිට , සතුන්ගේ ජීවිත බේරාගන්නා වෙනුවට , සතුන්ගේ මරා කෑම තරම් අශික්කිත ක්‍රියාවක් මම නොදකිමි. ස්වභාදහම මිට වඩා දරුණු උනත් පුදුම විය යුතු නැත .

VFM RADIO 107

Borella Handiya

By Raj Gonsalkorale

The plantation industry is a major source of foreign exchange for Sri Lanka, with total annual export earnings of approximately $4-5 billion USD in recent years. The sector contributes around 24% of the country’s total export earnings. In terms of direct and indirect employment, the sector probably provides such employment opportunities to more than 3 million people. This industry may not survive into the future unless the very basics like who will pluck tea, tap rubber and pluck coconuts is addressed. Value adding cannot happen unless these basics are addressed as there will be no raw materials to add value.

One of the major problems faced in the industry even today is the labour shortage related to these basics. While these are key to the survival of the industry, the labour shortage is not limited to these basics. The industry, in particular the tea and rubber industry, requires a significant ground maintenance input of the planted areas like weeding, fertilising, prevention of soil erosion, among others. It is not uncommon to see increasingly large acreages of tea and rubber plantations in neglect while some continue to argue that the more land is needed for the industry if it is to be sustained. It is the optimisation of available land that is important rather than opening up of new land for cultivation. Researchers and industry experts argue that a key strategy to revive the industry is to make the existing, viable land more productive. They rightly argue that this approach is essential because simply expanding the total area is often not feasible or desirable due to land constraints, environmental concerns (e.g., soil erosion), and adding to labour shortages. 

With increasing opportunities in education and skills development, the migration of younger persons from plantations to other employment opportunities within Sri Lanka and overseas, is something that’s happening now and contributing to labour shortages in the plantation sector. This situation is bound to aggravate as more and more such opportunities open the doors for this generation. One should wish such persons well for striving for a better life for themselves and their families compared to the far from satisfactory life in plantations they and their forefathers experienced.  Industry leaders, politicians, media in general and the general public, could act like Ostriches and bury their heads in the sand oblivious to this issue, or wake up to this significant challenge to the industry on account of the labour shortage, and therefore to the country and its reliance on earnings from the industry, and address this issue from a national perspective considering its criticality to the very survival of the country’s economy.

Data available on key export earnings from major plantation crops for the most recent periods indicate:

• Tea: Export earnings were $1.43 billion in 2024. The Sri Lanka Tea Research Institute expects revenue to hit $1.5 billion in 2025.
• Rubber: The industry earned around $930 million in 2023, with expectations to reach between $900 million and $1 billion annually. The government has an ambitious plan to boost this to $3 billion by 2025.
• Coconut: Coconut-related products earned $836 million in 2022, with similar earnings expected in subsequent years.
• Cinnamon and Spices: Earnings from cinnamon, pepper, and other minor crops were about $400 million in 2022 and increased to $600 million in 2023. 

The tea industry

A key challenge faced in tea plantations, again, based on data readily available is low worker productivity: Sri Lankan tea worker productivity (around 16-18 kg of green leaf per day) is notably lower than in countries like India (40 kg) and Kenya (60 kg). Productivity is generally different between smallholdings and large estates in the Sri Lankan tea industry, with research suggesting that the smallholder sector is often more productive. For example, a 2022 estimate noted that tea smallholders produced up to 75% of the total tea production utilising about 60 % of the tea growing land area. The focus on land optimization and increased productivity includes strategies such as replanting and infilling, adoption of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), improving soil health, using appropriate fertilization, and implementing proper soil conservation measures, high-density cultivation, utilizing modern planting methods that can yield significantly more tea per hectare on existing land and mechanization by introducing technology and machinery for harvesting and other field activities to overcome labour shortages and reduce costs. 

The long-term viability of the industry may also be impacted by anecdotal information that some larger plantation companies inflate their administration costs and resort to retaining foreign exchange earnings overseas. This needs to be investigated in order to ascertain the truth. In general, a view does exist that plantation companies are there for short term profit rather than long term sustainability of plantations and are reticent about their intentions. The future of plantation companies needs to be looked at from the objective of long-term sustainability.

It is understood that the Sri Lankan tea industry operates under strategic planning efforts, often coordinated by the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the Tea Research Institute.

• While a formal Master Plan” title like the rubber document, there are multi-year strategic plans and roadmaps that address key challenges like declining production, increasing cost of production, low farm productivity, climate change impacts, and quality standards.
• The industry focuses on maintaining quality, exploring selective mechanization, and increasing market share through value addition.

Rubber industry

In an incisive article in the Daily FT (https://www.ft.lk/business/Declining-rubber-industry-s-skilled-tapper-shortage-set-to-receive-groundbreaking-support-through-Automated-Rubber-Harvesting-Robots-by-IHT/34-758869) points out some information very relevant to the rubber industry. It points out that the industry is facing  dire challenges, especially the drastic declining availability of skilled tappers and the lack of protection from adverse weather conditions. This shortage has led to severe under-tapping and the abandonment of plots, plummeting the rubber output in the country. From 150,000 metric tons (MT) in 2012, Sri Lanka’s rubber output sharply dropped – to below 70,000 MT in 2023. When examining yield per hectare, Sri Lanka’s performance in 2022 stands at 679 kg/ha, contrasting with other leading rubber-producing nations – Thailand achieved 1,469 kg/ha in 2018, while India reached 1,459 kg/ha in 2020. In 2021, Sri Lanka dropped to an alarmingly low 17th position globally in total rubber production. This has led to the rubber industry facing a perilous concern which has yet to be resolved. It is understood that Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure has embarked on developing strategies to address the challenges faced by the industry and identify solutions in discussion with stakeholders. Some of these key actions include:

• Developing a New Roadmap: The Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure intends to draft a new roadmap for the period of 2026 to 2035 to address current industry dynamics and future challenges.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Initial workshops involving all relevant state institutions, private sector organizations, and policymakers have already been conducted to ensure comprehensive input for the new plan.

While this is laudable, it is hoped that the new road map will include

1. An assessment of land currently under rubber, a breakdown of its productivity, by district, and reasons for variations, areas neglected and/or abandoned, and options for improvements or alternate cultivations such as coffee, cocoa and other suitable crops.
2. An assessment of labour availability for tapping, and maintenance, again by district.
3. Alternate options for more productive use of rubber land. For example, as timber industry.
4. Mechanisation options for tapping rubber

Coconut Industry

It is understood that the coconut sector has had several strategic initiatives, and a formal roadmap is in development. 

• The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Sri Lanka is actively involved in facilitating the formulation of a comprehensive “Strategic Plan and Roadmap (SP&RM) for Sri Lanka’s coconut sector” to outline actionable initiatives for stakeholders from 2024 onwards. This is designed to guide institutions like the Coconut Development Authority (CDA) and the Coconut Research Institute (CRI).
• Past planning efforts have included a Strategic Plan for 2016-2020, which emphasized research on land rehabilitation, soil improvement, and climate mitigation.
• The current focus involves improving the productivity of existing plantations and ensuring supply meets the growing global demand for coconut products, as directed by the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure.

While challenges associated with the future of the coconut industry are being considered, including plans to grow a vast acreage (40,000 acres) in the North of the country, it is hoped that future plans will take into consideration the very fundamental challenge as to who and how coconuts will be plucked in the future.  A full-grown coconut palm typically reaches an average height of 15 to 18 meters (50 to 60 feet), though some can grow much taller, up to 30 meters (100 feet) and finding coconut plucker’s is a challenge even now. While technology-based methods (including the use of Drones) for the plucking process is considered an option for the future, introducing more dwarf varieties which facilitate easier plucking from the ground, needs to be considered.

Another increasingly widespread challenge in the coconut industry is the theft of coconuts from trees itself. While theft itself does not reduce the output available for consumption in the short term, as what is stolen also finds its way to markets, the losses incurred by the plantation owners, even small holders, will deter them from even continuing in the industry, thus affecting the long-term viability of the industry.

To the best of the writer’s knowledge, the issue of theft and measures that can and should be taken to address it are not mentioned in the various current and long-term plans or in research studies relating to the coconut industry.

Cinnamon and spice industry

As data demonstrates, this industry earns around $ 500- 600 million USD and anecdotal evidence shows that more small holders are turning to this industry from others in some geographical locations within the country. Challenges facing the industry includes a shortage of skilled labour, particularly peelers, leading to low productivity and quality issues. Other challenges are poor infrastructure (like limited transportation and warehousing), a lack of research and development (R&D) support, inadequate extension services for smallholders, and difficulties with value addition, quality control, and market access. Low productivity is another issue arising from a combination of factors, including poor plantation maintenance and the difficulty in harvesting crops on time due to labour shortages. Low quality and value addition: There is a lack of proper processing facilities and awareness of quality parameters, which can lead to a degradation of the final product. The industry also faces challenges in branding and differentiating pure Ceylon cinnamon from the less expensive cassia. A serious long-term risk for the industry is adulteration where pure Ceylon cinnamon is blended with imported cassia damaging the brand image of Ceylon cinnamon. 

Conclusion

While it is heartening that each industry is addressing current and future challenges to the industry, it is not certain whether options for addressing labour dependent activities, such as weeding, ground maintenance, fertilizing, plucking, tapping, etc, which incidentally are critical for producing the raw materials in each industry, some for immediate use or consumption, and increasingly for value adding, are being adequately addressed. If this is not done, the industry will decline as a key revenue earner for the country.

Another observation is the apparent lack of interest, even lack of knowledge amongst many ordinary folks and the younger generation about the vital economic and social role played by the industry, and the challenges associated with it.

In this context, it is very opportune for a national dialogue on the future of the plantation industry. In order to depoliticize such a dialogue, it would be ideal if it is spearheaded by the industry itself and not politicians, although the government, the Opposition and all political parties represented in Parliament should be essential participants at such a dialogue. The contribution of experts from other countries engaged in this industry, their experience and knowledge gained through lessons learnt, technological developments and all out of the box lateral thinking should be the theme of such a dialogue. Irrespective of differences between the composites in the plantation industry, what is common to all, namely, land, water, labour and technology and challenges associated with all of this from a futuristic point of view should be the focus of the dialogue. Such a dialogue should not be a one-off talkfest without any solutions being discussed and agreed upon as long-term solutions. Such a dialogue should also include a mechanism to consult with grassroots people and entities, as they are best suited to provide a realistic perspective on problems and then to offer solutions to address such problems. The initial overall plantation industry dialogue could lead to such dialogues within each industry and finally a re-convening of the national dialogue to share inputs from the industries and from the grassroots and to finalise a long term, ideally a ten-year, plan for the plantation industry and its composites.

Finally, it is important to recognize the importance of research and development relating to the basic issues highlighted at the outset such as tea plucking, rubber tapping and coconut plucking, ground maintenance, fertilizing and replanting, as well as in areas like value adding and innovations developed using technological advancements. As per available reports, research and development expenditure for the plantation industry is a composite of the overall agricultural R&D spending. The entire agricultural sector’s R&D is reported as being less than 5% of total public agriculture expenditure, and in 2022, it accounted for 27.89% of the total national R&D expenditure of approximately LKR 25.28 billion (0.10% of GDP). R & D expenditure for the plantation industry is therefore a fraction of the overall R & D expenditure for the agricultural sector. It is further reported that plantation research institutes, such as the Tea Research Institute (TRI), Rubber Research Institute (RRI), and Coconut Research Institute (CRI), have historically faced challenges, including the siphoning away of cess revenues (a tax on plantation crops meant for R&D) to other government purposes.  

In essence, while the plantation industry is a vital part of the Sri Lankan economy, R&D funding has been historically inadequate and a small fraction of overall government spending, a situation that experts note needs to be addressed for long-term sustainability and competitiveness. As a way forward option, the national dialogue  could establish a policy position that a percentage of foreign exchange earnings from the industries mentioned here, namely, the Tea, Rubber, Coconut and Cinnamon and Spices, should be allocated for research and development in these industries.

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

6.1 ගෝලීය හා කලාපීය තත්ත්වය

භාරත් උප-භූඝටයේ නැවේ සෑදීමේ මඟහැරීම්ට බලපාන ප්‍රධාන සාධක ලෙස පවතින්නේ නෞකා කණ්ඩායමේ ප්‍රමාණය හා වයස, ගෝලීය වෙළඳ ගමන් මාර්ග හා වෙළඳ ප්‍රමාණය, නියාමන හා පාරිසරික පදනම, වැඩබලන ගනුදෙනුකරුවන්ගේ වියදම්, හා ප්‍රතිස්පර්ධා මට්ටමයි. නෞකා අලුත්වැඩියා හැකියාව නියම වන්නේ වසරකට අලුත්වැඩියා කළ හැකි නෞකා ගණන සහ වැඩබලන ඩ්‍රයිඩොක් එකක වැඩ කළ හැකි උපරිම Deadweight Tonnage (DWT) මතය.

නෞකා නිෂ්පාදන ක්ෂේත්‍රය පහත කාණ්ඩ තුනකට බෙදා හැරේ:

– විශාල අන්තර්ජාතික/දේශීය වෙළඳ නෞකා

– මධ්‍ය මට්ටමේ විශේෂිත craft

– ආරක්ෂක හා Coast Guard craft

2022 දී ගෝලීය නෞකා අලුත්වැඩියා වෙළඳපොළ USD 34.60 billion විය. 2029 දක්වා CAGR 4.1%. ආසියා-පසිෆික් ප්‍රදේශය—චීනය, කොරියාව, ජපානය, සිංගප්පූරුව, ඉන්දියාව—ප්‍රමුඛයි.

6.3 ප්‍රදේශයේ නෞකා අලුත්වැඩියා ස්ථාන

Colombo Dockyard PLC ප්‍රධාන සේවා සපයුම්කරුය. ඉන්දියාවේ Goa, Cochin, Mazagon, Garden Reach පවතී. 

කොරියාව, චීනය, සිංගප්පූරුව හා මධ්‍ය පෙරදිගට Drydock facilities ඇත.

6.10 නෞකා අලුත්වැඩියා සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වාසිගත විය යුතු හේතු

නෞකා අලුත්වැඩියා planned හා unplanned ලෙස අත්‍යවශ්‍යය. Offshore support vessels සඳහා dry-dock, floating dock, quay-side repairs අත්‍යවශ්‍යයි.

2022 → 2023: USD 33.04B → USD 36.65B (CGR 10.9%). 2027 වන විට USD 54.05B.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට වාසි:

– ඉන්දු-සමුද්‍ර මාර්ගයේ කුණුවට සමාන ස්ථානය

– India & Andaman Oil & Gas expansion

– Singapore, UAE, Oman, Bahrain monopolyට විකල්පයක්

– Trincomalee shipyard නම් annual USD 20M (0.1% Asia-Pacific share)

Colombo Dockyard 2022 දී USD 44.19M ඉපයි—ඉහත projection සාධාරණය.

අමතර වාසි:

– Trincomalee expansion

– රැකියා, දැනුම, විදේශ විනිමය වැඩිවීම

– Maritime economy uplift

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

6.1 Global and Regional Perspective

Demand for shipbuilding in the Indian subcontinent is shaped by several key factors including fleet size and age, global trade volumes and patterns, regulatory requirements, labour and material costs, and competitive pressures from other shipyards. Ship repair capacity, on the other hand, is defined primarily by the number of ships that can be handled and the maximum Deadweight Tonnage (DWT) that a facility can accommodate.

The shipbuilding industry globally can be categorized into three broad segments:

• Large ocean-going vessels for international and coastal trade
• Medium-sized specialized vessels including port craft, fishing trawlers, offshore support vessels, inland craft, and other smaller utility vessels
• Defence and Coast Guard vessels

The global ship repair and maintenance services market was valued at USD 34.60 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.1% between 2022 and 2029. The Asia-Pacific region remains the world leader, driven by the dominance of China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and India in shipbuilding and ship repair activities.

India, Sri Lanka’s closest maritime neighbour, holds a potential 7.5% share of the global ship repair market, although some reports suggest the actual realized share may be closer to 1.5%. India operates 39 dry docks across both public and private sectors, including eight located within major ports. However, several major ports still lack dry-dock capabilities, including Mormugao, JNPT, New Mangalore, Chennai, Kamrajar, Paradip, V.O. Chidambaranar, and Haldia.

Despite India’s advantages—such as low labour cost, a skilled workforce, and a strategic position along major shipping routes—the country faces constraints: limited dry-dock availability, bureaucratic delays, high taxation, and competition from regional players such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. These limitations present a strategic opportunity for Sri Lanka to position itself as a competitive alternative.

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6.3 Key Ship Repair Locations in the Region – Services, Capacity, and Competition

South Asia and Southeast Asia are rapidly expanding as competitive centres for ship repair. Within the South Asian region, Colombo Dockyard PLC remains a leading operator, while India continues to increase its ship repair capabilities across multiple locations.

Major regional ship repair service providers include:

• India: Goa Shipyard, Cochin Shipyard, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (Mumbai), Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (Kolkata)
• South Korea: Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, Dae Sun Shipbuilding
• China: China Shipbuilding Corporation
• Singapore: Sembcorp Marine, Keppel Offshore & Marine
• Middle East: Dubai Drydocks (UAE), Oman Drydock Company, Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (ASRY – Bahrain)

Key Market Characteristics

• Supply of global dry-dock facilities is concentrated in China, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan.
• Demand for ship repair services is rising due to growing global fleet size and newbuild deliveries.
• Dry-dock quality and service standards in Asia are rapidly improving through investments in modern technologies.
• Increased supply has intensified price competition among shipyards.
• Expansion of ship repair yards in India poses challenges to Sri Lanka in attracting vessels.
• Vessels on the West–East Indian coast routes would find Trincomalee more efficient than transiting across India for repairs.
• Ships travelling between the Far East, Middle East, and Europe can utilise Trincomalee for emergency or opportunistic repairs, owing to its location adjacent to major sea lanes.

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6.10 Why Sri Lanka Should Be Chosen as a Ship Repairing Hub

Ship repairs—both planned and unplanned—are essential for maintaining reliability, complying with classification society requirements, and reducing downtime. Offshore vessels in particular require frequent dry-docking, hull repairs, machinery overhauls, electrical work, and auxiliary system servicing.

The global ship repair market is expected to grow from USD 33.04 billion in 2022 to USD 36.65 billion in 2023, at a remarkable CGR of 10.9%, reaching USD 54.05 billion by 2027. Major ship repair countries include China, South Korea, India, Japan, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Russia, Indonesia, the UK, and the USA.

Strategic Advantages of Sri Lanka

• Geographic location: Sri Lanka sits along the world’s busiest East–West shipping route in the Indian Ocean.
• Proximity to offshore oil & gas fields: India and the Andaman region continue expanding exploration, increasing demand for offshore vessel repair.
• Regional gap in dry-dock services: Operators currently rely on Singapore, UAE, Oman, and Bahrain—creating a service vacuum Sri Lanka can fill.
• Opportunity for Trincomalee: Establishing a modern repair facility in Trincomalee would support offshore support vessels (OSVs), coastal vessels, and general cargo ships.

By capturing even 0.1% of the Asia-Pacific ship repair market—valued at USD 20.28 billion in 2022—Trincomalee could generate approximately USD 20 million annually by 2025. This projection is realistic, given that Colombo Dockyard PLC earned USD 44.19 million from ship repair alone in 2022.

Additional Benefits

• Availability of land for future expansion
• Increased maritime revenue and foreign exchange
• Strengthening Sri Lanka’s strategic maritime profile
• Job creation and skills development
• Support to the national economy through high-value industrial services

Regards

Dr Sarath Obeysekera

Wimal Weerawansa

Ratwatte, I.M.A.

indira.ratwatte@kdu.ac.lk
Lecturer in Law at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and Visiting Lecturer
APIIT Law School

Abstract
The article examines the social and economic consequences of colonialism and colonial state
policy, underscoring the exploitation and suffering of the colonized under such policies. The
writer specifically refers to India and Sri Lanka and the human and economic costs to the two
countries. The writer emphasizes that these must be acknowledged, apologized and atoned for,
by the former colonial governments. Counter arguments to this are examined, as to why exactly
reparations are owed in the current environment. As justification, the writer seeks guidance
from the examples of two nations – the Mau Mau and the Herero, who have obtained
reparations as examples of marginal success. Yet, in these small ‘victories’ too, there is much
to be desired. In conclusion, the writer suggests that the international community should take
note of this very poignant, ignored and pivotal aspect of collective human rights and strongly
recommends that action be taken immediately to provide redress for a most damaging, long-
term phenomenon which is already fading from the consciousness of the colonizers. The writer
proposes that the Right to Reparations be made an integral part of International Law, be made
a Fundamental Human Right recognized by a duly signed International Convention which
should constitute a specialized Tribunal to adjudicate such claims.

The following conclusion is extracted from this excellent article 

……………..

7. Conclusion
” It is humbly submitted that international law
and jurisprudence is yet to take serious note
of colonial reparations. No international
convention exists to confirm it as a right, or
the manner of computation. All one has are
isolated decisions, which may be emanating
from a few countries (and that too, for
individual incidents) or dicta from the
International Criminal Court on cases that are
not directly related to Colonialism or its
devastating policies. This is a striking and
blatant lacuna in the law, in an era where the
dignity and reclamation of worth by the
peoples of the world, is increasingly being
spoken of. What legal rights do the Sri
Lankans and the Indians have against the
dastardly acts of the British colonial
government? What rights do the indigenous
children of the Americas have against their
colonial oppressors, who sent them to their
deaths to residential schools, built to
‘assimilate’ them into western culture and to
stamp out any of their own language, culture
and rich heritage?53 

No international convention exists to date, for the victims of
these heinous crimes. It is time the
international community recognized that
colonial policy amounted to a crime against
western-prosperity-was-built-slavery-so-reparations-
should-be-paid, accessed on 14th July 2021.
53 Ian Austen, ‘With discovery of Unmarked Graves,
Canada’s Indigenous seek Reckoning’ The New York Times
(June 26th, 2021).

humanity;

 it is time it took cognizance of the
fact that reparations are due, even though
centuries too delayed. If one delays it further,
the help it can render aggrieved peoples is
denied. Justice delayed is justice denied,
indeed. If tortious /delictual claims can
encapsulate restitutio in integrum, why
cannot international legal action against
former colonists? There can be no room for a
country to claim that it compensating one
colonized people should not be taken as a
precedent for others to claim! This is the
epitome of injustice and brazen failure to be
accountable for the crimes committed. The
existing mechanisms, such as the Genocide
Convention and the International Criminal
Court, it is submitted, are woefully
inadequate and not specifically qualified to
deal with the intricacies of colonial policy.
A specialized international tribunal, armed
with an internationally ratified Convention,
specifically speaking of the Right to
Reparations as forming a part of international
law, and which recognizes it as a
Fundamental Right of all colonized peoples,
is proposed. This should be akin to the Rome
Statute which established the International
Criminal Court.54
In such an event, both sides can argue their
cases out in the international tribunal; it will
require a most specialized group of judges
and lawyers, for the balancing of interests,
the layering of benefits coupled with
atrocities, to ascertain the true monetary
54 The writer is fully aware of the virtual impossibility of
establishing such a mandate, given the attitudes of the global
north. One example comes to mind: on the 31st of December
2021, the United Nations adopted a Resolution at the
General Assembly entitled ‘A global call for concrete action
for the elimination of racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance and the
comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the
Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.’ There were
106 votes in favour, 14 votes against and 44 abstentions. It
is valued to be meted out to countries. This will
require thorough, painstaking analysis, which
may well take years and months of
arguments, computations and negotiations.
Yet it is time due international attention was
given and the mathematical computations
began. Fifty to seventy years after
decolonization is still too late to begin, yet it
must be begun at some date – for justice must
not have an expiration date. After all, we are
(or so it is told by the ‘liberal west’) on the
cusp of a year of accountability and
penitence; should it not be taken a step
further and be justiciable, for the betterment
of all humanity living in previously colonized
countries?” 

For more

visit 

https://www.sliit.lk/sjhs/pages/articles/Volume-1-Issue-2-2020/Should-claims-for-Colonial-Reparations-be-recognized-under-International-Law.pdf

Courtesy: SLIIT

AI Overview

The user’s statement about the moral heroism of Sinhalese Kings leading to Sri Lanka becoming a world leader in animal rights in the pre-colonial era is strongly supported by historical accounts and chronicles.

. The arrival of Arahant Mahinda approximately 2,300 years ago was indeed a pivotal turning point that embedded the principle of ahimsa (non-violence) into the island’s governance and culture. 

The Groundbreaking Encounter and Its Impact

During his first meeting with King Devanampiyatissa at Mihintale, Arahant Mahinda delivered a sermon that fundamentally redefined the King’s role, stating:

“O great king, the birds of the air and the beasts on the earth have an equal right to live and move about in any part of this land as thou. The land belongs to the peoples and all other beings and thou art only the guardian of it”. 

This sermon established the concept of the ruler as a guardian of all life on the land. Following this, Mihintale and its surroundings were declared a wildlife sanctuary, considered an early example globally. 

Moral Heroism and Royal Decrees

Following this encounter, Sinhalese Kings demonstrated “moral heroism” by incorporating compassion for animals into state policy through various actions:

• Establishing nature reserves and sanctuaries.
• Implementing the “Maghata” rule, banning the killing of animals, by five different kings.
• King Buddhadasa (4th century CE) established hospitals for both humans and animals.
• King Elara ordered the execution of his son for accidentally killing a calf, as recounted in the Mahavamsa.
• King Kirthi Nissanka Malla’s public edict protecting animals and fish. 

This historical evidence suggests that pre-colonial Sri Lanka, influenced by Buddhist principles, had a unique legal and social system that prioritized animal welfare and state responsibility, supporting the idea of a leading ethical stance on animal rights. 

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The user’s statement about the moral heroism of Sinhalese Kings leading to Sri Lanka becoming a world leader in animal rights in the pre-colonial era is strongly supported by historical accounts and royal decrees. 

The Groundbreaking Encounter and its Impact

The encounter between Arahant Mahinda and King Devanampiyatissa around 247 BCE at Mihintale was a pivotal moment. While on a deer hunt, the King was stopped by the Arahant who preached a revolutionary message of ecological trusteeship: “O great King, the birds of the air and the beasts on the earth have an equal right to live and move about in any part of this land as thou. The land belongs to the people and all other beings and thou art only the guardian of it”. 

This advice established a new ethical foundation for governance, leading to a “peaceful socio-religious revolution” where the state assumed the role of guardian for all life forms, not just humans. 

Moral Heroism and Royal Decrees

Following this encounter, several Sinhalese kings demonstrated “moral heroism” through concrete actions and laws, integrating Buddhist principles of ahimsa (non-violence) and metta (loving-kindness) into state policy. 

• World’s First Sanctuaries: King Devanampiyatissa is credited with establishing the world’s first recorded wildlife sanctuary in Mihintale and the surrounding areas, banning hunting and establishing a precedent for state-sponsored conservation.
• Maghata Rule: At least five kings implemented the Maghata rule (the right to life), which completely banned the killing of any animal within the kingdom’s jurisdiction.
• Veterinary Care: King Buddhadasa (4th century CE) was a renowned physician who founded hospitals for both humans and animals, an exceptionally early example of institutionalized veterinary care.
• Protection of Water Life: Kings like Kirthi Nissanka Malla issued rock inscriptions and used drum announcements to declare that no animals should be killed within a radius of seven leagues from the city and gave security to fish in the twelve great tanks, effectively creating aquatic sanctuaries.
• Justice Systems: The Mahavamsa chronicle recounts the story of King Elara, who, in a display of ultimate justice, executed his own son for accidentally killing a calf with his chariot, after the mother cow rang a bell, the king had installed for those seeking justice. 

These historical accounts, documented in chronicles and stone inscriptions, demonstrate that pre-colonial Sri Lanka, guided by Buddhist philosophy, developed a unique and advanced system of animal welfare that was arguably a world leader in its time, considering animals as sentient beings with moral claims to consideration and protection by the State. 

See also

Compassion to animals in ancient Sri Lanka gave moral leadership to Sinhalese Kings and raised the moral stature of the people of Sri Lanka

Animal Friendly Cultural Heritage and royal decrees in the legal history of Sri Lanka

https://www.worldgenweb.org/lkawgw/animal.htm

https://www.acu.ac.uk/the-acu-review/follow-thy-old-wisdom

High in Sri Lanka’s hills, Mihintale’s ancient ruins whisper of a king who revered nature’s creatures 2,300 years ago. King Devanampiyatissa, inspired by Buddhist principles, declared Mihintale a sanctuary in the 3rd century BCE, banning hunting, as recorded in ancient chronicles. Archaeological evidence supports this, with inscriptions promoting animal welfare. This pioneering act in Sri Lanka shaped global conservation ethics, blending spirituality with environmental care. Today, Mihintale’s forests teem with wildlife, a living legacy of Sri Lanka’s early commitment to protecting nature. (This image is generated using AI Technology to explain the fact) Source: Sri Lanka Department of Archaeology #MihintaleSanctuary #SriLankaConservation #AncientEcology

https://www.facebook.com/bloonsoo/posts/high-in-sri-lankas-hills-mihintales-ancient-ruins-whisper-of-a-king-who-revered-/786195813998495