By P.K.Balachandran/Daily Mirror

Biden’s nuanced approach to China and his development-orientation will suit Sri Lanka under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Colombo, November 10: Going by the policy pronouncements made by the US President-elect Joe Biden during the poll campaign, it seems that Sri Lanka can hope for better understanding from, and fruitful bilateral cooperation with, the Biden Administration when it comes into being on January 20, 2021.

US-Lanka relations will have to be seen in the context of US-China relations because as in the case of Trump, containment of China will be Biden’s focus in his policy on Asia, including South Asia. Therefore, Sri Lanka, with its growing economic ties with China, may continue to feel the pinch. But Biden’s approach to China is expected to be more nuanced than Trump’s, and this could work in Sri Lanka’s favor.

Biden sees China’s rise as a serious challenge, but he does not see China as a sworn enemy which deserves an urgent regime change. Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been openly campaigning for the overthrow of the predatory” Chinese Communist Party. In contrast to Trump, Biden sees China as a competitor” albeit an unruly competitor. He has riled against China’s abusive” practices in the trade, technology and financial sectors, but he will counter it with better US technologies and the willing cooperation of America’s democratic allies”. Biden is pledged to take America’s democratic partners along with him in his campaign to make China realize that change will be in its own interest.

Biden has acknowledged that China is making massive investments in energy, infrastructure, and technology that threaten to leave the US behind. He would attempt to reverse this trend to be able to face China credibly and in a peaceful manner.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Biden believes that remaining competitive with China hinges on US innovation and uniting the economic might of democracies around the world.” This involves economic cooperation with other countries, including Sri Lanka.

As Vice President under Obama, Biden had backed the Administration’s Asia-Pacific trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), arguing it helped check China’s influence. But Trump had quit the TPP saying that it favored China.

On military intervention abroad, Biden advocated narrower objectives for the use of force, and was skeptical about US attempts to reshape foreign societies through regime changing. This is good news for Sri Lanka as it is constantly worried about alleged Western attempts to bring about a regime change.

Human Rights Issues

Yes, like any other US President, Biden would encourage democratic and human rights movements in various countries including Sri Lanka. But he is against unilateral and aggressive efforts, preferring diplomacy and working through alliances and global institutions, CFR points out.

Biden will take the US back into the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), reversing Trump’s decision. Therefore, as in the Obama era, the US would back Western efforts to push for the implementation of UNHRC resolutions on ethnic reconciliation in Sri Lanka including the setting up of credible” judicial mechanisms to address allegations of war crimes” against the Lankan armed forces.

This could be an embarrassment for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa particularly because he has clearly stated that Sri Lanka would quit international organizations which poked their noses into its internal affairs” and that on no account would he allow the country’s war heroes to be hauled before international judicial mechanisms.

Tamil Factor

A section of the majority Sinhalese are perturbed by the fact that the Vice-President-elect, Kamala Harris, is party Tamil. This section, using the social media, is incorrectly portraying Harris as a person of Jaffna-Batticaloa origin to underline her alleged links with the Lankan Tamils and the Tamil Diaspora in the US . A columnist in a State-owned Lankan paper has even said that the Tamil Diaspora has established links with her.

However, knowledgeable sources say that while Harris and Biden are committed to human rights, in contrast to Trump, they will weigh various issues before they shape their policy on the human rights and war crimes issues in Sri Lanka. One of the most important considerations will be the need to keep the government in Colombo from leaning more and more towards China and one way to doing so is not to press too hard on the rights and war crimes issues. India too is focused on the Chinese threat to its position in the region and its policy on the island nation will be shaped by that.

Development Oriented

Unlike Trump, Biden will be development-oriented which will suit Sri Lanka, as it is presently focused on development under the leadership of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. According to a report in devex.com, Antony Blinken, a foreign policy adviser for the Biden campaign, said: We’d bring aid back to the center of our foreign policy — the emphasis would be on diplomacy, on democracy, and on development.” Biden is one of the most knowledgeable on development. He was very supportive of development” as Vice President. At USAID’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2011, Biden talked passionately about the role of development, with really deep knowledge of how USAID and development works, according to a former USAID official.

Lanka Ready For US Investments

That Sri Lanka is ready to go half way to make friends with the US by welcoming US investments, was made clear by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa when the current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came calling recently. Answering the US allegation that China had put Sri Lanka in a debt trap, Gotabaya told Pompeo that this was not true and that China was only funding development works. The President also made it clear that Sri Lanka has no favorites and that it will welcome US investments.

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunwardena gave a list of areas in which US investments will be welcome. The listed included: trade, investment, and tourism; assistance for building capacity of Sri Lankan business; enhancing bilateral cooperation in fields such as ICT, Cyber Security, science, technology, and innovation; power (LNG) sector; energy sector and railway sector (locomotives); greater access to the US market including through the expansion of US-GSP List.

On his part, Pompeo promised aid in developing Lankan tourism and agriculture. In order to further invigorate the bilateral engagement to enhance cooperation in economic, defence and security spheres, the two countries intend to convene the already established bilateral dialogues, i.e. US- Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue, and the Joint Council of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement at an early, mutually convenient, time frame. Pompeo suggested that Sri Lanka work with International financial institutions such as IMF to address debt-related relief measures. Sri Lanka is already doing so.

Sri Lanka Will Remain Neutral

While the United States was keen to advance the US initiative to keep the Indo-Pacific region free and open”, President Gotabaya stated that Sri Lanka’s foreign policy will be neutral.

As a Sovereign, Free, Independent nation, Sri Lanka’s foreign policy will remain neutral, non-aligned and friendly. Conscious of the opportunities and responsibilities that come with our strategic location, we see the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation in our seas and air space, also protecting sea lines of communication and undersea cables. We believe all countries should adhere to and respect international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We share views on the potential multifaceted maritime cooperation.”

The Trump Administration has not challenged this policy yet. But Biden is expected to be more accommodative on these issues than Trump. He would try and get American companies to invest as much as possible, though the investment climate in Sri Lanka for the private sector is not ideal. To take Sri Lanka along, Biden’s administration might even agree to re-negotiate the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact. A Sri Lankan Presidential Commission had pressed for the re-negotiation of the controversial pact.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The government will only take a decision to bury Muslim citizens who died due to Covid-19 disease on the advice of a committee appointed by the Ministry of Health, Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera said.

Responding to questions on whether the government has taken a decision to bury Muslims who died due to Covid 19 disease, the Minister said the government would only agree to act on the recommendation given by the health sector.

He said the government will give its approval most likely today.

The last rites of people who die of Covid-19 disease are not based on race or religion. The decision will only be taken on the advice of a committee appointed by the Ministry of Health,” he said.

The Minister said that the government would not oppose the recommendation to bury Covid-19 victims on the instructions of the health authorities.

When burying the bodies of those who died due to Covid 19, a dry land was selected to prevent the germs from the corpses seeping into ground water” he added.

The Minister said that Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi had clarified the facts at the recent Cabinet meeting which has been approved by many countries in the world.

Ceylon Thwaheed Jamaath (CTJ) yesterday thanked President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for permitting the burial of deceased COVID-19 victims of Islamic faith.

Darshana Sanjeewa Balasuriya Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Ministry of Health says that it has not taken a decision to change the current procedure of cremation of those who succumbed to COVID-19, Health Ministry Spokesman Dr. Jayaruwan Bandara said.

He said the current decision to cremate corpses of persons who tested positive for COVID-19 was taken by the Director General of Health considering scientific and technical reasons both related to the pandemic as well as the soil in Sri Lanka. He said a circular was issued in this regard. As of this moment there is no change in that decision, Dr. Bandara said.

Meanwhile, he said Sri Lanka still has a chance to avert a major disaster if everyone follows safety precautions to avoid being infected.

Commenting on several reports of suicide incidents reported in the county over fear of virus infections, Dr. Bandara said there is no need to be afraid of Covid-19.

Nearly 80 per cent of COVID-19 patients recovered completely without showing any symptoms. Most of other patients who recovered experienced some complications such as breathing difficulties and fever,” he said.

He said individual commitment is vital to avoid contracting the Coronavirus.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s Covid-19 death toll climbed to 41 as another person infected with the virus passed away, the Director-General of Health Services confirmed.

The Department Government Information said the victim is a 48-year-old male residing in Ragama area.

Reports revealed that he had been suffering from cancer for a long period of time.

He has died while at home and the post-mortem examination carried out at the Ragama Hospital has posthumously found him to be a novel coronavirus infected person.

Sri Lanka also registered 4 other deaths from Covid-19 earlier today.

Courtesy Hiru News

Another 125 have tested positive for COVID-19. All are close contacts of previous patients. 

The total reported cases today increases to 430 with this 125 persons. 

Courtesy  Hiru News

Parliamentary council observations to appoint 06 Supreme court judges

Courtesy Hiru News

There is a debate as to whether the bodies of covid-19 victims should be cremated or buried.

However, Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that permission would be granted in the future to bury the bodies.

විමල් පටබැඳිගේ (ශාස්ත‍්‍රවේදි, නීතිඥ, විශ‍්‍රාමික සොලිසිටර්)

ෂරියා, මුස්ලිම් නීතිය දිවයිනේ පැවති ‘සිරිත් නීතියක්’ (ජමිඑදප්රහ ඛ්අ* ය’යි සමහර මුස්ලිම් උගත්තු කියති. ලියති. එය නො දැනුවත්කමට කියන, ලියන කථාවක් නො වේ. එය රටේ ඉතිහාසය, සංස්කෘතිය, සමාජය පිළිබඳ අවබෝධයක් දැනීමක් නැති ජනයා මුලා කිරීම සඳහා උවමනාවෙන් ම ගොතන ලද ප‍්‍රබන්ධයකි. යම් භූමි ප‍්‍රදේශයක හෝ ජන සමාජයක් තුළ නීති රීති හෝ සිරිත් රීති කි‍්‍රයාත්මකව පැවතීමට නම් අවම වශයෙන් ඒ භූමියේ හෝ ජන සමාජය තුළ ස්ථාවර, බලාත්මක දේශපාලන හෝ සමාජ සංස්ථාවක් කි‍්‍රයාත්මකව පැවතිය යුතු ය.

ෂරියා ආනයනය
ඉංගිරිසි පාලකයෝ භේදකොට පාලනය කිරීමේ (ඩිවයිඞ් ඇන්ඞ් රූල්* කුප‍්‍රකට පිළිවෙත අනුව 19 වෙනි සියවස ආරම්භයේ දිවයිනේ මුහුදුබඩ පළාතේ (මැරිටයිම් ප්‍රොවින්ස්* සිටි මුස්ලිම් ලබ්දිකයන්ට මුස්ලිම් ෂරියා නීතිය අදාල කළ බව සහ ඒ වෙනවිට දිවයිනේ පැවති පොදු නීති ක‍්‍රමයෙන් වියුක්ත කළ බව සැගවීමට ගන්නා උත්සාහය කි. පළමු වරට ශී‍්‍ර ලංකාවේ භාවිතය සඳහා ෂරියා නීතිය ආනයනය කළේ ඉංගිරිසි පාලකයන් බව වසං කිරීම කි. ලන්දේසීන් විසින් බතාවියේ මුස්ලිම් භක්තිකයන් සඳහා ව්‍ය.ව. 1766 දී යොදාගනු ලැබූ ලන්දේසි නීති සංග‍්‍රහය (ඩච් කෝඞ්* ලබාගෙන එය පරිවර්තනය කරවා ඉංගිරිසි ආණ්ඩුකාර ප්‍රෙඞ්රික් නෝත් ‘‘1806 මහමදික නීති සංග‍්‍රහය’’ (මොහමඩින් කෝඞ් ඔෆ් 1806* නමින් පනවා ඔවුන් යටතේ පැවති මුහුදුබඩ පළාතේ මුස්ලිම් භක්තිකයන් සඳහා පමණක් භාවිත කිරීම මුස්ලිම් නීතිය (ෂරියා නීතිය* දිවයින තුළ යොදාගනු ලැබූ මුල් ම අවස්ථාව බවට ඇති ඓතිහාසික වාර්තාව කිසිවෙකුට ප‍්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කළ නො හැකි ය.

ශී‍්‍ර ලංකාව තමන් යටතට ගැනීමට සිංහලයන්ට එරෙහිව සටන් කිරීම සඳහා හමුදා සේවයට යොදාගත්, දකුණු ඉන්දියාවෙන් සහ විශේෂයෙන් ම බතාවිය ඇතුඵ මලයානු කලාපයෙන් ගෙනවිත් පදිංචි කරවන ලද මුස්ලිම් භක්තික මැලේ ජාතිකයන් වෙනුවෙන් මහමදික නීති සංග‍්‍රහය පනවන ලද බව වාර්තාගත කරුණකි. කෙසේ වෙතත්, ව්‍ය.ව. 1852 වසර තෙක් ෂරියා, මුස්ලිම් නීතිය බලාත්මක කළේ මුහුදුබඩ පළාතේ මුස්ලිම් භක්තිකයන් සඳහා පමණකි. බතාවියේ භාවිත කරන ලද නීති සංග‍්‍රහයක් ලන්දේසීන්ගෙන් ණයට ගෙන දිවයිනේ ඉංගිරිසි ආණ්ඩුකාරයා විසින් ශී‍්‍ර ලංකාවේ කුඩා ප‍්‍රදේශයක සුඵ පිරිසකට යොදාගනු ලැබූ ආගමික නීතියක් ශී‍්‍ර ලංකාවේ පැවති ‘සිරිත් නීතියක්’ ලෙස හැඳින්වීම ලෝ වැසියන් රැුවටීම කි. ඉංගිරිසි විජිතවාදී පාලනය යටතේ දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ සිට මුස්ලිම් ලබ්දිකයන් බාධාවකින් තොරව පැමිණ දිවයිනේ විවිධ පළාත්වල පදිංචි වී ඇත. 19 වෙනි සියවසේ මුල් දසකවල මන්නාරම, පුත්තලම, වන්නිය, නැගෙනහිර පළාත ආදී ප‍්‍රදේශවල පදිංචි වී ඒ ප‍්‍රදේශවල සිංහලයන්ගේ ඉඩම් උගසට සහ බද්දට ලබාගෙන දේපල හිමියන් බවට පත් වූ සමහරුන් ඉංගිරිසීන් ගෙන් ‘වන්නියා’ සහ ‘මුදලි’ පදවි පවා ලබාගෙන ඇති බව, 1815 ගවිසුම මගින් සිංහල රාජ්‍යය පවරා ගැනීමෙන් පසු සෙන්කඩගල ඉංගිරිසි පාලන නිලධාරියා වූ (රෙසිඩන්ට්* ජෝන් ඩොයිලි හෙළි කරයි. විශේෂයෙන් ම වර්ෂ 1833 කෝල්බෲක් කැමරන් යෝජනා අනුව ඉංගිරිසීන් විසින් කොල්ලකන ලද, සිංහල ජනයා සහ බෞද්ධ සිද්ධස්ථාන අවුරුදු දහස් ගණනක් භුක්තිවිඳින ලද, ඉඩම් අක්කර දසදහස් ගණනක් අක්කරය සිලිම් පහට හයට ඉංගිරිසීන්ගෙන් මිළට ගෙන ඉඩම් හිමියන් බවට පත් වී ඇත.

මුස්ලිම් භක්තිකයන්ගේ පදිංචිය වැඩි වීම නිසා දීර්ඝ කාලයකට පසුව 1852 අංක 5 ආඥාව ( ඕඩිනන්ස් නම්බර් 5 ඔෆ් 1852* මගින් එය මුඵ දිවයිනේ ම මුස්ලිම් භක්තිකයන් සඳහා බලාත්මක කරනු ලැබීය. එහෙත් කි‍්‍රයාත්මක කරන ක‍්‍රමයක් සකස් කළේ නැත. ෂරියා, මුස්ලිම් නීතිය දිවයිනේ පැවති සිරිත් නීතියක් නොව ඉංගිරිසීන් බතාවියෙන් ආනයනය කොට රාජකීය ආඥා මගින් පනවන ලද එකකි. (දේශපාලන අරමුණක් සඳහා විය හැකි ය.* එසේ වුවත්, ව්‍ය.ව. 1937 වෙන තෙක් ඉංගිරිසි පාලකයන් මුස්ලිම් ලබ්දිකයන් වෙනුවෙන් වෙන ම උසාවි ක‍්‍රමයක් ඇති කළේ නැත.

ක්වාසි (කාති* උසාවි උපත
වසර 120 ක පමණ කාලයක් ගතවුව ද ෂරියා නීතිය භාවිත වූයේ නිසි පිළිවෙලකට නොවේ. සම්මත විධි ක‍්‍රමයක් නො වීය. තම තමන්ට උවමනා විදියට ය. තමන් විසින් ම හෝ තම පියා වැනි තමන්ගේ ආසන්නම ඥාතියෙකු විසින් තමන්ගේ කැමැත්ත පරිදි ක්වාසි (කාති* කෙනෙකු පත් කොට තමන්ගේ විවාහය අවසන් කොට දික්කසාදය ලබා ගැනීමට හැකි වෙන තරමට මේ ආගමික නීති ක‍්‍රමය අවිධිමත් එකක් වීය. (මයි කා, මයි පැට්රෝල් විය.*

විවාහක කාන්තාවකගේ විවාහය අවසන් කිරීමේ ඉල්ලීම තීන්දු කිරීමට ක්වාසිට (කාතිට* නීතිමය බලයක් නැති බව සහ දික්කසාදය සඳහා කරන ඉල්ලීම අනුව විවාහය අවසන් කිරීම කළ හැක්කේ දිසා අධිකරණයකින් පමණක් බවට 1925 කරන ලද ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීන්දුව මුස්ලිම් පිරිමින් කුපිත කළේය. ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ තීන්දුව බල රහිත කිරීම සඳහා මුස්ලිම් ආගමික ආයතන සහ ප‍්‍රධානීන් මෙහෙය වූ උද්ඝෝෂණ නිසා 1926 ව්‍යවස්ථදායක සභාවේ තේරීම්කාරක සභාවක් මගින් නිර්දේශ ලබාගෙන 1929 මුස්ලිම් විවාහ සහ දික්කසාද රීති ආඥාව (මුස්ලිම් මැරීජ් ඇන්ඞ් ඩිවෝස් රෙග්‍යුලේෂන් ඕඩිනන්ස් 1929* මගින් මූලික අධිකරණ බලය සහිතව ක්වාසි උසාවි සහ අභියාචනා අධිකරණ බලය සහිතව ක්වාසි මණ්ඩලය (බෝඞ් ඔෆ් ක්වාසිස්* පිහිටුවනු ලැබීය. පොදු අධිකරණ ක‍්‍රමයෙන් තව තවත් වියුක්ත කළේය. එහෙත් කි‍්‍රයාත්මක වූයේ නැත. 1930 කොමිටියක් මගින් යළිත් නිර්දේශ ලබාගෙන (නිර්දේශ ප‍්‍රකාශයට පත් කොට නැත.* 1934 අංක 9 ආඥාවෙන් සංශෝධනය කරනු ලැබූවත් කි‍්‍රයාත්මක කරන ලද්දේ 1937 දීය.

ඒ අඵත්වැඩියා කිරීමෙන් ද ක්වාසි උසාවිය සහ ක්වාසි මණ්ඩලය විධිමත් ලෙස කි‍්‍රයාත්මක කළ නො හැකි වූ නිසා යළිත් වසර දෙකක් ඇතුළත 1939 දී ඉංගිරිසි ආණ්ඩුකාරයා එය තවදුරටත් සංශෝධනය (අඵත්වැඩියා* කිරීමට නිර්දේශ ලබාගැනීම සඳහා කොමිටියක් පත් කළේය. පෙර කොමිටි වාර්තා ලෙසින් ම මේ කොමිටියේ නිර්දේශ සහිත වාර්තාව ද ප‍්‍රකාශයට පත් වූයේ නැත.

එසේ වුව ද වසර දොළහකට පසුව, පළමු ‘නිදහස්් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ ඞී.එස්. සේනානායක ආණ්ඩුව හමස්පෙට්ටියේ තිබුණු ඒ නිර්දේශ අනුව යැ’යි 1951 අංක 13 මුස්ලිම් විවාහ සහ දික්කසාද පනත (මුස්ලිම් මැරීජ් ඇන්ඞ් ඩිවෝස් ඇක්ට් නම්බර් 13 ඔෆ් 1951* පනවා ඇත. (ටී.බී. ජයා පෙරමුණ ගෙන ඇත.* එය බලාත්මක වූයේ 1954 වර්ෂයේ ය. අද පවා බලාත්මක ඒ පනත ය. එය එකලැ කි‍්‍රයාත්මක වූ සෝල්බරි ආණ්ඩුක‍්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවට පටහැනි එකක් වීය. කෙසේ වෙතත් මේ පනත 1954, 1955, 1965 දෙවරක්, 1969, 1975 සහ 2013 වර්ෂවල වරින් වර (වාර 7 ක්* සංශෝධනය කොට ඇත. (ආරම්භයේ සිට පත් කරනු ලැබූ සියලූ ම කොමිටි මුස්ලිම් පිරිමින්ගේ කොමිටි වීය. කිසි ම මුස්ලිම් කාන්තාවකගේ හෝ මුස්ලිම් නො වූ පිරිමියෙකුගේ නියෝජනයක් නො වීය.

මුස්ලිම් කාන්තාවන්ට සර්වජන ඡුන්ද බලය හිමි වුවත් තමන්ගේ ජීවිතයට බලපාන කරුණු සාකච්ඡුා කරන කොමිටියක් නියෝජනය කිරීමට අයිතිය හිමි නො වීය. ෂරියා නීතිය ඒ ඒ රටවල මුස්ලිම් භක්තික පිරිමින්ගේ අභිමතය සහ අවශ්‍යතාව අනුව සකස් කෙරෙන බවක් පෙනෙයි. ඉංගිරිසි පාලනය යටතේ 19 වෙනි සියවසේ සිට ‘නැට්ට බල්ලා වැනීම’ සිදුවී ඇත.*

මේ පනත යටතේ ස්වදේශ කටයුතු ඇමති ක්වාසි (කාති* උසාවිය සහ ක්වාසි මණ්ඩලය පත් කිරීමේ බලධාරියා වීය. වසර දොළහකට වඩා වැඩි කාලයකට පසුව අධිකරණය එය ආණ්ඩුක‍්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ විධිවිධානවලට අනුකූල නො වෙන බව තීන්දු කිරීම නිසා 1965 අංක 1 සංශෝධන පනත මගින් ක්වාසි පත් කිරීමේ බලය අධිකරණ සේවා කොමිෂන් සභාවට පවරන ලදී. එහෙත් පරිපාලන බලතල ස්වදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය යටතේ පැවතුණි. (’ඔලූව ජපන්, කඳ ජර්මන්’ ගීතය දැන් නො ඇසේ. සියල්ලන් ම එවැනි නිසා දෝ විය හැකි ය. අතකින් පත් කරයි. තවත් අතකින් පරිපාලනය කරයි. ‘දකුණු අතින් දෙන දෙය වම් අත දැනගත යුතු නැතැ’යි මුස්ලිම් අය නිතර කියන කියමන අනුව දැ’යි නො වැටහේ.*

වසර හතලිහකට පසුව, ‘ගැහැණියක පිරිමියෙකු හෝ පිරිමියෙකු ගැහැණියක නළ නො හැකි’ 1978 ආණ්ඩුක‍්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන් පැවරෙන බලතල යොදාගෙන 2005 දී එවකට සිටි ජනාධිපතිනියගේ නියෝගයකින් ඒ බලතල අධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාංශයට පැවරීය. යළිත් 2015 දී ඒ බලතල අනුව ම එවකට ජනාධිපති නියෝගයකින් ක්වාසි අධිකරණය සහ ක්වාසි මණ්ඩලය මුස්ලිම් කටයුතු පිළිබඳ අමාත්‍යාංශයට පවරනු ලැබ, ටික කලෙකින් තවත් නියෝගයකින් යළිත් අධිකරණ අමාත්‍යාංශය යටතට පත් කරනු ලැබීය. (රැුජින, රජු දෙදෙනා ම නටවා ඇත.*

ක්වාසි (කාති* සහ ක්වාසි මණ්ඩලය
දැනට දිවයිනේ තිබෙන අධිකරණ බල කොට්ඨාශ 64 තුළ ම පොදු අධිකරණවලට අමතරව මුස්ලිම් භක්තිකයන් සඳහා පමණක් විශේෂිත වූ කාති උසාවි පිහිටුවා ඇත. මුස්ලිම් විවාහ, දික්කසාද, විවාහ දේපල උරුම සහ බිරිඳක් සහ දරුවන් නඩත්තු කිරීම පිළිබඳ මුස්ලිම් ලබ්දිකයන්ගේ පවුල් දිවිය සම්බන්ධ සියඵ ගැටඵ විසඳීමේ අධිකරණ බලය කාති උසාවිය සතු ය. ඒ සඳහා අධිකරණ සේවා කොමිසම විනිසකරු ලෙස කාතිවරයෙකු පත් කරයි.

පොදු අධිකරණවලට විනිසුරන් පත් කිරීමේදී ජාති, ආගම්, ස්තී‍්‍ර පුරුෂ භේදයක් නැත. මුස්ලිම් ලබ්දික කාන්තාවෝ ද ඇතුළත් වෙති. එහෙත් කාති උසාවිවලට කාන්තාවන් පත් කිරීම ‘හරාම්’ ය. ෂරියා නීතියට අනුව මුස්ලිම් භක්තික පිරිමියෙකු පත් කිරීම අනිවාර්ය ය. කාති තනතුරට පත් කිරීමේ දී මුස්ලිම් භක්තික ජනයාගෙන් සියයට පනහකට වැඩි ප‍්‍රමාණයක් වෙන කාන්තාවන් බැහැර කොට ඇත. එමගින් ඔවුන්ට ක්වාසි (කාති* මණ්ඩලය නියෝජනය කිරීමේ අයිතිය ද අහිමි කොට ඇත.

රජය ෂරියා නීතිය භාවිත කිරීම මගින් ජාතික සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර නීති නො සලමින් ස්තී‍්‍රපුරුෂ පදනම මත වෙනස් ලෙස සැලකීමට (සෙක්ස් ඩිස්කි‍්‍රමිනේෂන්* ඉඩ සලසා ඇත. පොදු අධිකරණ පද්ධතිය තුළ විනිසුරු තනතුරු දැරීමට කිසිදු බාධාවක් හෝ වාරණයක් නැති මුස්ලිම් භක්තික කාන්තාවන්ට, කාති උසාවි ක‍්‍රමය තුළින් ම වෙනස් ලෙස සැලකීම (ඉන්ස්ටිට්‍යුෂනල් ඩිස්කි‍්‍රමිනේෂන්* ෂරියා නීතිය මගින් තහවුරු කොට ඇත. ක්වාසි උසාවි ක‍්‍රමය ආණ්ඩුක‍්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව මගින් සහතික කොට ඇති මූලික අයිතිවාසිකම්වලට පටහැනිව පවත්වා ගැනීම සම්බන්ධ වගවීමෙන් ජනපති, පාර්ලිමේන්තුව සහ අධිකරණ ක්‍ෂේත‍්‍රය ඇතු`ඵ රජයට මිදිය නො හැකි ය.

කාතිට ඕලෙවල් නැතත් කම් නැත
අදාල නීතියට අනුව කාති තනතුරට පත් කරනු ලබන පුරුෂයාගේ අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසු කම් හෝ නීති ක්‍ෂේත‍්‍රයේ පළපුරුද්ද අවශ්‍ය නැත. එක ම සුදුසුකම සමාජ තත්වයක් ඇති යහපත් කෙනෙකු ලෙස ‘සැලකීම’ පමණකි.

පොදු අධිකරණ පද්ධතියේ මුල්ම ස්ථරය වෙන මහේස්ත‍්‍රාත් අධිකරණයේ මහේස්ත‍්‍රාත් තනතුරට පත් කරනු ලබන තැනැත්තා අවම වශයෙන් වසර තුනක නීති අධ්‍යාපනය ලබා, සමත්ව, මාස හයක ආධුනික පුහුණුවකින් පසු නීතිඥයෙකු ලෙස කි‍්‍රයාකාරී ලෙස අධිකරණ ක්‍ෂේත‍්‍රයේ වසර කීපයක වෘත්තීය සුදුසුකම් සපුරා තිබීම අනිවාර්ය වෙයි. දිවයිනේ අධිකරණ බල කොට්ඨාශ 64 තුළ ඇති සියලූ පොදු අධිකරණවල ස්තී‍්‍ර පුරුෂ භේදයකින් තොරව මුස්ලිම් භක්තික නීති වෘත්තිකයෝ සිය ගණනක් සිටිති.

දැනට ශී‍්‍ර ලංකාවේ පිහිටුවා ඇති කාති උසාවි ගණන 64 කි. නීති වෘත්තියේ වසර දසක ගණනක පළපුරුද්ද තිබුණත් මුස්ලිම් කාන්තාවකට කාති තනතුර ‘හරාම්’ ය. මුස්ලිම් භක්තික නො වෙන අයෙකුට නීති වෘත්තික සුදුසුකම් ලබා තිබුණත් කාති තනතුර දැරීමට අයිතියක් නැත. අදාල නීතිය මගින් වාරණය කොට ඇත.

පොදු අධිකරණ ක‍්‍රමය තුළ තනතුරු දැරීමට පුරවැසියන්ට ජාති, ආගම් මත කිසිදු වාරණයක් නැත. එසේ ම සිංහල, දෙමළ, බර්ගර් ආදි පුරවැසියන්ගේ විවාහ, දික්කසාද, විවාහ දෙපල උරුමය සහ නඩත්තු කිරීම් පිළිබඳ ගැටඵ විසඳීමට මුස්ලිම් භක්තික විනිසුරන්ට සහ විනිසුරුවරියන්ට කිසි ම වාරණයක් නැත. මුස්ලිම් භක්තිකයන්ගේ එවැනි ගැටඵ විසඳීම සම්බන්ධව, සමානාත්මතා මූලධර්මය (පි‍්‍රන්සිප්ල් ඔෆ් ඊක්වලිටි* නො සලකා හැර මුස්ලිම් භක්තික නො වෙන විනිසුරන්ට ෂරියා නීතිය මගින් වාරණ පනවා ඇත. එමෙන් ම කාති උසාවියේ පාර්ශවකරුවන්, පාර්ශවකාරියන් වෙනුවෙන් යුක්තිය පසිඳලීම සඳහා සහාය වීමට නීති වෘත්තිකයන්ට අයිතිය නැත. නීති වෘත්තිකයන්ට පොදු අධිකරණ සහ අධිකරණමය ආතනවල පාර්ශ්ව වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටීමට ඇති වෘත්තීය අයිතිය කාති උසාවියේ වාරණය කොට ඇත.

(නඩු ගොඩගැසීමට බලපාන හේතු නො සොයා, එය වැළැක්විමට අවශ්‍ය විසඳුම් වෙනුවට පැලැස්තරයක් ලෙස අධිකරණ කලාප 80 දක්වා වැඩි කිරීමට එනම් අ`ඵත් අධිකරණ කලාප 16 ක් පිහිටුවීමට සැලසුම් කොට ඇති බවට පුවතක් ඇත. පාලකයන් පාලිතයන් එක්ව ‘එක රටක්, එක නීතියක්’ ජප කරන, ජනතාවගෙන් 93%ට කිසි වැඩක් නැති තවත් කාති උසාවි 16ක් සහ කාති මණ්ඩල 16ක් නඩත්තු කිරීමේ බර පොදු ජනතාව මත පැටවෙන අතර ‘ජනපතිගේ, අගමැතිගේ දැක්ම’ යන ප‍්‍රශස්තිය මතුරමින් අධිකරණ ඇමැතිගේ කරට මල්මාලා පළඳවනු ඇත. මුස්ලිම් භක්තික පිරිමි ‘පීස් බී ඔන් යූ’ සීනිබෝලය රටට කවනු ඇත.*

එකට හතර අනුපාතය
පොදු නීතියට අනුව එක් අයෙකුට නීත්‍යනුකුළ එක විවාහය කි. රටේ නීති පොතට එකතු කොට ඇති ෂරියා, මුස්ලිම් නීතිය අනුව මුස්ලිම් ලබ්දික පිරිමියෙකු කාන්තාවන් හතර දෙනෙකු විවාහ කරගැනීම නීතියට අනුව අපරාධයක්, වරදක් නො වේ. ඒ සඳහා ඇති එක ම කොන්දේසිය ඔහු හතරදෙනාට ම සමානව සැලකීමට සමත් වීම පමණකි. වයස පනහට අඩු ආච්චි, අම්මා, දුවක සමාන වයස දොළහක දැරියක වැනි අඹුවන් ඒ සිව්දෙනා අතර විය හැකි ය. විවාහ ජීවිතය පුරා මේ අඹුවන් ‘සපත්නී රෝෂය’ නම් රෝගයෙන් පෙළෙන්නේ නැතැ’යි සහතිකයක් නැත.

රටේ අනෙක් කාන්තාවන්ට මෙන් මුස්ලිම් කාන්තාවට විවාහ විය හැක්කේ එක පිරිමියෙකු සමග පමණකි. ඇය මුස්ලිම් නො වෙන පිරිමියෙකු සමග විවාහ වීම හරාම් ය. විවාහවෙන්නේ නම් ඔහු මුස්ලිම් ලබ්දිකයෙකු කළ යුතු ය. විවාහයෙන් බාහිර පිරිමියෙකු පැතීම හෝ මුස්ලිම් නො වෙන පිරිමියෙකු සමග විවාහ වීම ජීවිතයෙන් පවා වන්දි ගෙවීමට සිදුවෙන බරපතල දේව විරෝධී අපරාධය කි. දෙවියන් කෙසේ වෙතත් ‘දේව ශාපය’ අතට ගත් මුස්ලිම් පිරිමි දඬුවම් කරති. එවැනි මිනීමැරීමක අපරාධකරුවන් ෂරියා නීතිය බලාත්මක රටවල ‘ගෞරවය රැුක ගැනීමේ ඝාතනයක්’, ‘ඔනර් කිලිං’ විත්තිවාචකය නිදහසට ඉදිරිපත් කෙරෙයි.

බහුවිවාහ අදාල නැත
පොදු නීතිය අනුව බහු විවාහය ස්තී‍්‍ර පුරුෂ භේදයක් නැතිව අපරාධ නීති සංග‍්‍රහය යටතේ දඩුවම් ලැබිය යුතු සහ දඩුවම් කළ යුතු අපරාධය කි. ෂරියා නීතිය අනුව මුස්ලිම් ලබ්දික පිරිමියෙකු ‘බහු විවාහ’ (බිගමි* වරදට යටත් නැත. රටේ ජනගහණයෙන් 3% ක් පමණ වෙන මුස්ලිම් ලබ්දික පිරිමින් පමණක් පොදු අපරාධ නීතියට ඉහළින් තබා ඇත. ආගමික නීතිය තුළින් මුස්ලිම් පිරිමියා ඒ අපරාධයෙන් මුක්තිය (ඉන්ඩෙම්නිටි* ලබයි. පොදු නීතියෙන් අපරාධ වරදක් වෙන, හිතාමතාම කරන අපරාධමය ‘බහු විවාහ’ වරද කරන අපරාධකරුවන්ට ආගම අනුව මුක්තිය හිමි කිරීම නිවැරදි ද?

මුස්ලිම් භක්තික සමාජයේ කාන්තාවන්ට මුස්ලිම් පිරිමින්ගේ හිගයක් නැත. ස්තී‍්‍ර පුරුෂ ජන අනුපාතය අසමාන නැත. එක් පිරිමියෙකු කාන්තාවන් හතර දෙනෙකු විවාහ කරගැනීමෙන් මුස්ලිම් පිරිමින් තුන් දෙනෙකුට විවාහය සඳහා මුස්ලිම් කාන්තාවන් තුන් දෙනෙකු අහිමි කරයි. ම්ලේචඡු (බාබේරියන්* සමාජයකට මග සලසයි.

සාර්වභෞමික අයිතිවාසිකම් නසන ළමා විවාහ
රටේ බලාත්මක නීතියට අනුව විවාහය සඳහා විවාහාපේක්‍ෂකයන් අවම වශයෙන් වයස අවුරුදු 18 සම්පූර්ණ වූ අය විය යුතු ය. වයස අවුරුදු 16 සහ 18 අතර අයට දෙමවුපියන්ගේ ප‍්‍රකාශිත කැමැත්ත, අනුමැතිය ඇතිව විවාහ විය හැකි වුව ද කිසි ම ආකාරයකින් වයස අවුරුදු 16 ට අඩු අයගේ විවාහය වලංගු නො වෙන අතර ශී‍්‍ර ලංකාවේ බලාත්මක පොදු නීතිය අනුව එවැනි විවාහයක් දඬුවම් ලැබිය යුතු සාපරාධී වරදක් වෙයි. ඒ විවාහය ඔවුන්ගේ මවු පිය දැනුම ඇතිව නම් මව් පියෝ් ද දඬුවමට යටත් වෙති.

එහෙත් ෂරියා (මුස්ලිම්* නීතිය මුස්ලිම් භක්තික මනමාලිය අවුරුදු 12 සහ මනමාලයා අවුරුදු 16 සම්පූර්ණ නම් ඔවුන්ගේ විවාහය නීත්‍යනුකූල කොට ඇත. සියල්ලන් ම මුක්තියෙන් ආරක්‍ෂා වී ඇත. එසේ ම ක්වාසිගේ (කාතිගේ* කැමැත්ත පරිදි, පාසලේ පහ, හය වසරේ ඉගෙනුම ලබන වයසේ අවුරුදු 12 ට අඩු ළදැරියක පවා අවුරුදු තිහ, හතලිහකට වඩා වැඩි වයස් වූ විවාහක පුරුෂයෙකුට වුව ද විවාහ කරගැනීමට හැකි ය. (ළමා අයිතිවාසිකම් බල්ලට දමා ඇත.*

මුස්ලිම් ලබ්දිකයන්ගේ ළමා විවාහ සාපරාධී වරදක් ලෙස නො සලකන ෂරියා නීතිය ඔවුන්ට මුක්තිය හිමි කරයි. ළමා අයිතිවාසිකම් සහ ආරක්‍ෂාව සම්බන්ධ, සියලූ ආකාරයේ ජාතික සහ ජාත්‍යන්තර නීති රීති සහ විධිවිධානවලට පටහැනි ය. රටේ සියලූ ම දරු දැරියන්ට අනිවාර්යයෙන් වසර දහතුනක නිදහස් පාසල් අධ්‍යාපනය ලැබීමේ අයිතියට සහ රාජ්‍ය ප‍්‍රතිපත්තියට පටහැනි ය. එසේ ම පුරවැසියන්ගෙන් සියයට හතකින් අඩක් පමණ වූ මුස්ලිම් පිිරිමින්ට විශේෂ වරප‍්‍රසාද හිමි කිරීම සමානාත්මතා මූලධර්මයට පටහැනි වෙයි. වෙනස් ආකාරයකට සැලකීම කි. රටේ මූලික නීතිය උල්ලංගණය කිරීම කි. මුස්ලිම් ළදැරියන්ට ද හිමි සාර්වභෞමික අයිතිවාසිකම් (යුනිවර්සල් රයිටිස්* පැහැර ගැනීමට සහ අහෝසි කිරීමට මුස්ලිම් භක්තික පිරිමින්ට නීතිමය අයිතියක් ලබා දීමට තරම් නීතිය වනචර, අශිෂ්ට විය යුතු නැත. (මෑතක රූපවාහිනී සාකච්ඡුාවක දී අධිකරණ ඇමැති ළමා විවාහ ප‍්‍රශ්ණයෙන් ‘ආ\ ලිස්සන හැටි’ යස අගේට පෙන්වී ය.*

දික්කසාදය
පොදු නීතිය අනුව දිසා අධිකරණයෙන් පවතින විවාහයක් අහෝසි කිරීම, දික්කසාදය සඳහා මූලික කරුණු හතරින් එකක් හෝ අවම වශයෙන් හේතු විය යුතු අතර එය සනාථ කළ යුතු ය. මුස්ලිම් විවාහය අහෝසි කිරීමට, දික්කසාදය ලබාගැනීමට ඒ කිසි හේතුවක් නැතත් තමන්ට අවශ්‍ය නම් මුස්ලිම් පුරුෂයා තුන් වරක් ‘තලක්’ කීම කාතිට තහවුරු කිරීම ප‍්‍රමාණවත් ය. පස්වැන්නියක බිරිඳ ලෙස ගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය නම් හතරෙන් එක් තැනැත්තියක ‘තලක්’ කියා විවාහයෙන් මුදා හැරීම සිදු විය නො හැකි දෙයක් නො වේ.

දික්කසාදයෙන් තමන්ට හෝ හා දරුවන්ට නඩත්තු ලබා ගැනීම සංකීර්ණ ය. නඩත්තු නියම කිරීමට කාතිට බලය ඇතත් කි‍්‍රයාත්මක කිරීමට බලය නැත. පැහැර හැරි විට දික්කසාද පුරුෂයාට එරෙහිව මහේස්ත‍්‍රාත් අධිකරණයේ පිහිට පැතිය යුතු ය. එය දික්කසාද කරන ලද කාන්තාවට නො හැකි ය. කළ යුත්තේ කාති විසිනි. තමන්ගේ සහතිකය සහිතව කාති විසින් ඇය වෙනුවෙන් ඉල්ලීම කළ යුතු ය. (කෙසේ වුවත් කාති උසාවි තුළ අල්ලස වැඩ කරන බවට සහ ඒ තුළ කායික අල්ලස් පවා ඇතුළත් බවට වාර්තා පළවී ඇත. ‘අසඩක්ගේ පිළිවෙත’ ද ඉක්මවා ගිය අය ඇත.*

මේ අපේ නීති පොතට ඇතුළත් කොට ඇති ෂරියා නීතියේ කොටසක් ගැන පමණකි.
යම් යම් කරුණු සම්බන්ධයෙන් ජනාධිපතිට රටේ උත්තරීතර නීතියෙන් (ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන්* හිමි නෛතික මුක්තිය අහෝසි කිරීමට ලියන, කථා කරන, පෙලපාලි යන මහජන නියෝජිතයන් ඇතුඵ සකලවිධ කසකරුවන් ව්‍යවස්ථාපිත පොදු නීතියට පටහැනිව සුඵ පිරිසකට ෂරියා නීතියෙන් දී ඇති අපරාධ සම්බන්ධ මුක්තිය පිළිබඳව ‘ගොඵ බිහිරි වෘතය’ රකින්නේ තමන්ට ලැබෙන, ලැබිය හැකි ප‍්‍රතිලාභ වෙනුවෙන් ද? කෙසේ වුවත් කාති උසාවියේ අධිකරණ බල සීමාවට අයත් ගැටඵ, ජාති, ආගම්, ස්තී‍්‍ර පුරුෂ භේදයකින් තොරව විනිශ්චය කිරීමට රටේ පොදු අධිකරණ පද්ධතියට සියලූ හැකියාව තිබියදී පුරවැසියන්ගෙන් සියයට හතක් පමණ වූ එක් ආගමික ජන කොටසකට පමණක් විශේෂිත වූ කාති උසාවි ක‍්‍රමයක් තබාගැනීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවයක් නැත.

කාන්තා ‘සුන්නත්’-ෂරියා
රටේ නීති පොතට ඇතුළත් කොට ඇති මුස්ලිම් විවාහ නීතියට අදාල නැතත් දැනට වසර කීපයක සිට ‘කාන්තා සුන්නත්’ කිරීම සීරුවෙන් සිදු කෙරෙයි. ජනතාවට රහසක් වුව ද මුස්ලිම් නියෝජිතයන්ට, නායකයන්ට, උගතුන්ට, අධිකරණ ඇමතිට රහසක් විය නො හැකි ය. ඕල් සිලෝන් ජමයතුල්ලා උලමා සංවිධානයේ අනුමැතිය සහ අනුග‍්‍රහය ඇත. වසර දහයක පමණ සිට ආගමික මෙහෙය වීමක් අනුව දිවයිනේ ළමා, තරුණ සහ වැඩිහිටි මුස්ලිම් කාන්තාවන් හිස සිට දෙපතුල දක්වා වැසෙන ‘බ්ලැක් ක්ලෝත්’ මෝස්තරයකට යට වීමට වඩා සීඝ‍්‍රයෙන් ‘කාන්තා සුන්නත්’ කිරීම පැතිරෙයි.

සුන්නත් කිරීමට කුරාණයෙන් කාන්තාවන් අනිවාර්යයෙන් බැඳෙන බවත් ‘සුන්නත්’ නො කරන කාන්තාවන් ‘අපිරිසිදු’ බවත් උගන්වමින් මානසික වහල් බවක් ඇති කරමින් සහ සුන්නත් නො කරන කාන්තාවන් නිසා තමන්ගේ පුරුෂයන්ට ඒඞ්ස් ආදී ‘සමාජ රෝග’ (එස්.ටි.ඞී* හැදෙන බව උගන්වමින් අභූත බියක් ඇති කරමින් එ සඳහා පොළඹවති. තරුණියන්, විවාහක සහ දරුමිනිපිරියන් සිටින කාන්තාවන් පවා සුන්නත් කරවා ගනිති. එපමණක් නොව කිසිවක් නො දන්නා ළදැරියන් පවා ‘සුන්නත්’ කිරීමට යටත් කරති. මද්‍රාසා පාසල්වල උගන්වන පිරිමි සහ කාන්තා ‘ආගමික උගත්තු’ ගැහැණු ළමයින් පෙළඹවීම ජයට කරති. මද්‍රාසා පාසල් වෙන මල්වානේ සහ කල්එළිය වහබි අරාබි කාන්තා විද්‍යාල ගැහැණු ළමයින් පොළඹවන ප‍්‍රධාන මූලස්ථාන දෙකකි. මේ සඳහා කේරළයේ ආගමික අන්තවාදීන්ට සම්බන්ධ මුස්ලිම් දේශකයන් ද ඉතා කඩිසරව දිවයින පුරා සැරිසරමින් ඇත. එන්ජී ඕ පූර්ණ අනුග‍්‍රහය ලබන වෛද්‍ය මධ්‍යස්ථාන කීපයක් මේ ‘පූජා පැවැත්වීමේ විධිය’ සඳහා කල්කටාවේ ඇත. මුස්ලිම් පවුලේ ළදැරියන් ඇතුඵ සියලූ කාන්තාවන් කේරලයට යන ‘වෛද්‍ය සංචාර’ (මෙඩිකල් ටුවරිස්ම්* ගැන කිසිවෙකුගේ අවධානයක් නැත.

කොරෝනා වසංගතයට (කෝවිඞ් 19* බිලිවීමෙන් මුඵමහත් ජනතාව ආරක්‍ෂා කරගැනීමට, සෞඛ්‍ය නිර්දේශ සහ උපදේශවලට අනුකූලව සහ අනාගතයේ යළි කොරෝනා වෛරසය මතුවීම වැළැක්වීම සඳහා විද්‍යාත්මක මග පෙන්වීම් අනුව වසංගතයට බිලිවූවන්ගේ මිනී කිසි ම භෙදයක් නැතිව පිළිස්සීමට ගත් තීරණය සියලූ රටවැසියන්ගේ යහපත වෙනුවෙනි. පළමු රැුල්ලට වඩා දස ගුණයකින් පමණ වැඩි දෙවෙනි රැුල්ලේ දී වසංගතයට ගොදුරුවූවන්ගේ මිනී වැළලීමට යළිත් ආගම මුල් කරගෙන ඉල්ලීම ආගමික අන්ධභාවයක් නො වේ ද? අදත් හෙටත් මතුවටත් දස දහස් ගණනින් මිනිසුන් කොරෝනාවට බිලිවීම වැළැක්වීමට වඩා ආගමික වශයෙන් භූමදානය වටිනා නිසා ද? ඒ වෙනුවෙන් රජය කොමිටියක් පත්කොට ඇත. දියවන්නාවේ 225 පමණක් නොව රජයේ අධිකරණ ඇමැති ද ඇතුඵ මුස්ලිම් ආගමික සභා සොම්නසින් විය හැකි ය. මිනිස් ජීවිත වසංගතයෙන් බේරා ගැනීමට වඩා, මිනිස් ජීවිතවල වටිනාකමට වඩා වටිනා වෙනත් මොනවා හෝ දෙයක් ලැබෙන නිසා ද? ‘නැට්ටේ නැටවීම’ හරි අගේට පෙනෙනු ඇත. මුස්ලිම් භක්තික නො වෙන අනෙක් ආගමිකයන් මරා දැමීම තමන්ගේ ආගමෙන් උගන්වා ඇතැ’යි පිළිගෙන යුරෝපයේ, මැද පෙරදිග, ඇෆ්ගනිස්තාන, පකිස්තාන, බංගලාදේශ, මියන්මාර්, තායිලන්ත, මාලදිවයින්, ඉන්දුනීසියාව ආදී රටවල මුස්ලිම් ලබ්දිකයන් කළ සහ කරන සමූහ මිනිස් ඝාතන අපමණ ය. එසේ ම 2019 අපේ‍්‍රල් 21 පාස්කු ඉරිදා මිනිස් සංහාරය පමණක් නොව අහිංසක පුද්ගලයන් මරා දැමීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ආගමික ඉගැන්වීම මත මුක්තිය ඉල්ලා ඉදිරියේ යම් දිනෙක දිවයින තුළ බලපෑම් කිරීම් විය නො හැකි ද? රටේ ජනගහනයෙන් 3% ක පමණ වූ මුස්ලිම් පුරුෂයන්ට පමණක් විශේෂ වරප‍්‍රසාද මුක්තිය සලසන ෂරියා නීති ක‍්‍රමය පමණක් නොව රටේ උතුරු අර්ධද්වීපයේ වෙල්ලාල කුලයේ කොටසකට පමණක් විශේෂ වරප‍්‍රසාද, අයිතිවාසිකම් සලසා ඇති තේසවලමෙයි නීතිය ද රටේ මූලික නීතියට සහ පොදු නීතියට පටහැනි ය. ශී‍්‍ර ලංකාව ආගමික රාජ්‍යයක් නො වේ. ලෞකික රාජ්‍යය කි. ජාති, ජනවර්ග, ආගම් වෙනුවෙන් සහ ප‍්‍රාදේශීය වශයෙන් කිසිදු විශේෂත්වයක් නැතිව සියලූ ම පුරවැසියන්ට එකම නීති ක‍්‍රමයක් බලාත්මක විය යුතු ය. ‘‘එක ම රටක් එක ම නීතියක්’’ අඵත් ආණ්ඩුක‍්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන් සහතික විය යුතු ය. 2/3 ක බලය ඉල්ලා ලබාගත් ජනපති, පාර්ලිමේන්තුව සහ අධිකරණය ඒ වගකීම ඉටු නො කරන්නේ නම් රටට සහ ජනතාවට ද්‍රෝහී වීමකි.

By  The Sri Lanka Study Circle 

Mr Biden, we the members of the Sri Lanka Study Circle in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, a founding member of the Non Aligned Movement – the largest organised grouping of nations after the UN –  that initiated a UN General Assembly Resolution in 1971 which was unanimously adopted by the entire world to make forever the Indian Ocean a zone of peace within which area no nuclear weapons whatsoever  would be permitted, looked on with grave concern at the conduct of your recently concluded Presidential Elections, fraught with massive voter fraud, as alleged with conviction by both you and Mr Trump.  

We were concerned because your country has the most destructive military capability in the world and this military-machine, operating out of a country badly divided down the middle and unstable, could have catastrophic consequences to the peace and harmony of the world. 

 In this context, your country’s track record in recent times in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Venezuela, to name a few, did not give us the solace we desired.  

Our wishes go out to you that you will be blessed with the strength of character necessary to bring peace and stability to your very divided country and to heal the deep wounds caused by the wide chasm, between the rich and poor, that was sharply exacerbated during the Elections. 

We pray and trust that once you restore peace in your country, the US will take its rightful position in the global assembly of Nations, as an equal among other Nations and shed illusions of being a primus inter pares.  

We would like to remind you, as President Elect of the US, that Sri Lanka is a committed Non-Aligned State, not swayed by any Power because of its military or economic might; we take our stand on global issues, as a Non-Aligned State, according to the moral rectitude of the issue facing us.  

This is a principled stand Sri Lanka takes, as highlighted by successive Governments, for which the people have given their unconditional mandate. 

We do not stay immorally ‘Neutral’ and look the other way, if the situation demands outright condemnation and effective action.  

To make our stance better understood, if, God forbid, there were ever to be a holocaust like what the world faced not too long ago or if mass drone murders were taking place, as at present, we shall, as a Non-Aligned State, take a definite stand on such issues by condemning such conduct and pressing in the international forum for retributive justice.  

We were mildly amused but more embarrassed by the invention and oxymoronic usage of a geo-political concept by some persons, posing off as pundits, who made a travesty of their posts by talking of ‘Neutral-Non-Alignment’. 

Mr. Biden, we like to take this opportunity to rectify certain inaccuracies conveyed in some communiques issued by the US, that we have a shared vision for the world. The scope of our respective visions is so disparate that we do not share a common platform on many matters; if it is peace, yes, we share that value with you. If it is regarding the type of governance, we practice, we do not have a common vision.  

Your Government is a Government based on Capitalism, where development is led by the private sector and where private interest prevails over public interest. The factors of production are mostly in the hands of the private sector.  

Ours, Mr. Biden, as reflected in our Constitution, is a Socialist State where public interest prevails over private interest; that is how 83% of the country’s Land -one of the key factors of production – is held by the Government, on behalf of the people, for the common good and use of the people.  

The MCC programme as proposed by the US, requires the privatisation of all State Land; the very idea, whether practised through the MCC or otherwise is subversive because it subverts our Constitution and is opposed by the majority of the people. And subversion of the country and the Constitution is a Capital offence.  

We believe that divergent forms of Government can co-exist and countries can live peacefully in the world respecting each other’s Sovereignty.  

We wish you once again the very best in your endeavours to heal the deep wounds of your country and urge you to shed illusions of grandeur and work instead towards making the Indian Ocean a zone of Peace. 

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The most significant fault line in USA, however, is not any of these. It is the racism shown to the African American.  When the African slaves were released from their cotton plantations in 1865, instead of freedom, the former slaves, found themselves less safe. Slavery was replaced by organized terror. Negroes were killed by   anti –black organizations, like Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

 KKK was a white supremacist hate group whose primary targets are Americans. It was active in the south between 1860-1870. There was a second wave of KKK starting in 1915 and peaking in 1920. This is its best known period.  The KKS is still around. It has not disappeared completely. Researchers found   in 2016 that there are just over 30 active Klan groups in the US, plus an unknown number of associates and supporters.

There was also systemic racism,” operating through segregation laws. Systemic means spread throughout the system.  Segregation by colour was legal in the US.  This means that it is not only South Africa that had apartheid against the African Negro. USA also had similar laws.

There was segregation in schools, public transport, public places, restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains. The separate facilities for African Americans were inferior. Sometimes, there were no facilities at all for them.

In 1954, segregation of state- schools  was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education  But states  took many years to implement this decision. The segregation laws were finally removed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

 However, in 2018, on the 50th anniversary, of the assassination of Martin Luther King, it was found that things had not changed. Schools are still racially segregated, poverty is greater among the blacks, home ownership is still less than whites said the media.  The racism became more   systemic, not less. There is systemic racism across every institution in America, said analysts in 2020.

Communities are racially segregated, in the USA, TIME observed in 2018. In Chicago the Polish, Greek, Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, are set close to each other, but they do not speak to each other, said TIME in2018. Racism extends to Puerto Rican and Korean immigrants and the Hmong refugees from Lao.

In the first quarter of 2020, 74% of white people owned their homes, only 44 % blacks did. Black Americans trying to buy homes are denied mortgages, or are given them at higher rates.  Federal mortgage schemes helped whites to buy houses, but not blacks. They said that the presence of a black resident in the neighborhood reduced the value of the home. Black Americans live in less prosperous areas. Hurricane flooding affects black neighborhoods more.

If you were not white you could not get a well paying job.  A study showed they called for interview those with white sounding names. Black Americans were left toiling into old age or were forced onto the streets.

Unemployment is higher among black than whites. Black Americans are more likely to be unemployed, and those with jobs earn less than their white peers. Even if a black or brown person earns a college degree she will still lag behind a white American with the same degree.

Health wise, Black children lack nutrition, so they are prone to health ailments.   Black women are three times more likely to die in childbirth. Covid 19 killed more blacks than whites in USA. 53% were  black. 

Schools are not totally integrated in the USA, TIME observed in 2018.  The best schools are for whites only. Black children are more likely to be in  schools which lack resources.  In integrated schools, there are different punishments in school for black and brown children. Only 7% of primary school teachers in USA are Black.

Black voters face difficulties  in  voting at general election.   Laws are designed to keep them from exercising voting rights,    also they are disenfranchised due to felony convictions. 

There are strict requirements for voter ID s which act against Blacks and younger voters. Voters have to have street addresses, not PO boxes.  There are Voter roll purges, discrepancies of name, or how recently they last voted. Also  felony records. Reduction of voting hours,  last minute changes  of voting locations,  disproportionately target those of color. Black voters   are given false information before the general election about when, and how to vote.

There is a racist bias in policing, sentencing and rates of incarcerations said TIME. Black residents were about nine times more likely than whites to be arrested for low level offenses. Blacks were thrown in prison for decades for say cocaine, when a white was not. Black prisoners outnumber white prisoners. Sentencing has torn apart families and left black children to grow up in single parent homes.

Police spoke less respectfully to black drivers than white, said TIME. They are faster to shoot black people with guns than white people with guns. They shot black people even when they were not using guns. CNN reported in  August 2020 that two Wisconsin police officers  had shot a Black man multiple times in the back as he entered  his car. The man’s three children, 3, 5 and 8 years old, were in the car .

In the case of the death of George Floyd, the world saw the police officer casually kneeling on the victim’s neck. Neck restraint  is permitted in Minneapolis and Minneapolis police have used this at least 44 times. In 3/5 of these cases they were black.

When more than 140 cities exploded after Floyd killing, police used tear gas and rubber bullets. Those who protested over the Floyd killing were arrested. Most we black. Arrests involve costly fines, loss of employment, and a stigma which could affect  the ability to obtain housing, jobs, education and occupational licenses.

 National surveys have shown that 60-80% of private institutions and 55% of public institutions require prospective students to answer on their criminal record. This is also biased towards black people.

Criminal history questions appear in the majority of undergrad applications. Even minor cases do not disappear from criminal records. It is very difficult to get a record expunged also many states only allow one expungement in a life time. Arrests can be easily discovered and it affects employment.

Sri Lankans visiting US have observed this   racism. Wiswa Warnapala  observed that on our way to Canada,  in the 1970s,our car at a gas station in Chicago was the last to be served. Such minor incidents were plenty, he said.

Jehan Perera said, in the 1980s, when I was a student in the US, the black-white divide persisted , despite the laws and affirmative action policies. This was most evident in the freshman dining hall for first year students. There was a series of long dining tables in the hall where students could sit wherever they pleased. But it soon became evident that there were a row of tables on a side towards the back where only African American students would sit. 

Malinda Seneviratne (b. 1965) said, I spent around seven years, total, in the USA. I have seen racism. I have spoken to victims of the racists every day in the USA.  Racism is  a serious  issue in the USA. It is  several centuries long.  It is, was and is likely to remain a problem. ( Continued)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

There is violence in the USA. This is well known. There are about 50,000 gun deaths per year. There were at least   18 school shootings by February 2018. School children are now equipped with bullet proof backpacks, bullet proof hoodies. Classrooms have bullet proof windows and curved walls, said TIME in 2019.

There was a shootout at Pulse night club, Orlando, in 2016   and people died. Families of those who died sued the owner of the night club, as well as Google, Face book, Twitter in separate lawsuits. They sued the parents of one killer saying the parents knew the son was dangerous but did not keep weapons away from him.  The Orlando police officer handling the matter was first praised and then sued.

But no one sued the makers of the guns. Gun manufacturers are protected by the Protection of lawful Arms Act. Owning a gun is a constitutional right. The National Rifle Association has a powerful lobby in Washington. The NRA helps in campaign spending for the Presidential election. It has its own media, its own news company, and says a person gains confidence through shooting.

There are legal misadventures. This is not confined to USA, but according to the publicity given, it seems to be most evident in USA. Three Baltimore men spent 36 years in prison accused of murder of a teenage boy in 1983. They were exonerated in 2019. These three men were convicted, as children. The police and the prosecution were guilty of misconduct, said the state attorney. The three were formally exonerated by court and released from prison.

The Boy Scouts movement was very popular in USA. In 1972 the movement was at its peak, families were eager to enroll their sons, but all was not well. Thousands of men say they were sexually abused as boy scouts. It has been called a century long cover up.  Sex abuse cases against the Boy Scouts movement in USA were made in 2019.    12,254 had complained.  Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy in February 2020.  

USA does not have a free state health service like in Sri Lanka and the NHS in Britain. In USA medicine is a profit making private enterprise. Medical treatment is purchased through health insurance provided by insurance companies. They are also profit making concerns. Those who can afford it, buy health insurance.  Also companies provide health insurance to its employees.

USA said it was not ready anywhere in the country for the current Corona virus onslaught. US only has a fraction of the medical facilities   equipment, supplies and staff needed for this kind of surge. It has insufficient ventilators, or personal protective equipment like gowns, masks gloves, eye protection, said TIME . USA also has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world.

Barrack Obama when President tried to improve the health services. He introduced the Affordable Care Act. This was done amidst much opposition. Persons profiting from the private insurance scheme   opposed it. Obamacare had  positives and negatives. Premiums shot up, many insurers left.

 The middle income group  fell between two stools. They did not qualify for  Obamacare and  could not afford to buy health insurance.   But  20 million people gained health coverage and health standards rose. The poor were given subsidies to help them afford expensive insurance plans. The uninsured rate dropped among blacks and Hispanics, said TIME.

US industries are protected, regardless of the human cost. Courts allow Corporations to challenge regulations related to consumer protection, such as product labeling. A law to protect workers from a deadly chemical would be challenged and delayed for more than a decade, with lawyers contesting the meaning of every word.  A major alcohol study by the National Institute of Health  was closed down, after an investigation  found that officials  solicited money from the alcohol industry.

A  WHO resolution of 2018, to encourage breast-feeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily in the WHO but USA opposed it. The $70 billion baby food industry is dominated by American and European companies. American officials sought to water down the resolution .When that failed, they turned to threats. Ecuador, which had planned to introduce the measure, was told bluntly, that If Ecuador refused to drop the resolution, Washington would  employ punishing trade measures and withdraw crucial military aid. The Ecuadorean government gave in. So did a dozen other countries, most of them poor nations in Africa and Latin America, citing fears of retaliation. Russia introduced the resolution. USA  did not threaten Russia.

 US Companies have mandatory arbitration agreements. Employee contracts have clauses that prevent them from suing their employers in court for any reason including sexual harassment. Some 60 million American have signed these, said TIME in 2017.

 Here is a   miscellany on work in the USA . Women get paid less than men for the same work.Labor laws were routinely violated by employers, said TIME in 2018. Unions continued to dwindle. Supreme Court ruled that employers had the right to deny insurance cover for birth control. USA is the only industrialized nation without guaranteed paid parental leave, declared TIME. USAis also  probably the only country, where  customers are asked by the management,  to  tip the employees.

US is the world’s largest producer of oil, but  the US economy, on the whole, is not doing well. General Motors closed down  5 plants in USA and Canada In 2018. US Postal service is teetering on the brink of insolvency.  Public services are  declining. Public schools are  short of money. Classes in school are getting larger and the teachers pay is now inadequate to live said TIME in 2018.

UN Special Rapporteur on Poverty and Human Rights, Philip Alston reported in 2018 that 18.5 million Americans live in extreme poverty with another 5.3 million living in absolute poverty. The top 1% in USA is living well and those at the bottom are struggling, said TIME in 2018.

The  economically vulnerable  population in USA  is finding it  difficult today, continued TIME. There are food stamps  and  some sort of monthly welfare payment but not  much, said critics. There is no rent control. Pensions are  inadequate. Begging is a punishable offence.   Going through garbage bins is also an offence. 

The younger  generation,  the Millennials , are not able to live as well as their parents did, said TIME in 2010. They are more likely to have debts,  less likely to own a car or house, compared with the generation  before them.  Millennials have greater  student debt than their parents. Only a third of the  Millennials thought US was the greatest country in the world, concluded TIME.

More than 560,000 Americans were homeless in  US in  2019.. They  could be found in New York City, Washington and Los Angeles too said TIME. There are so many homeless people in Los Angeles that relief organizations have started to build small wooden huts to provide them with a roof over their heads.

The homeless are thrown out if they cannot pay the rent or their mortgage. The landlord can evict if the rent is late by five days. The eviction is done by the police. YouTube showed them entering the home with guns raised. Homeless people  then ended up living in their cars or in the streets. The number of homeless children has  risen dramatically, reaching 1.5 million.

These people do not seem to  have any safety net at all. No social assistance  or social security. They  use up their savings, said a DW  documentary about the  poor in the United States  . Deutsche Welle posted  this documentary on Youtube  in November 2019. The comments section was closed because there were too many offensive comments. ( continued)

By Aziz Haniffa Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Her doctor father Wijeyadevendram Ravindran was a student of St.Thomas’ College in Colombo

Rohini Lakshmi Kosoglu, who created history when on Dec. 10, 2018, she became the first South Asian American to be appointed a chief of staff in the Washington, D.C. office of a U.S. Senator, has said that while it is an honor to break any barrier,” her boss, Kamala Devi Harris — the first-ever Indian American U.S. Senator—”has a long history of doing that herself.”

In an exclusive interview with India Abroad, Sri Lankan- American Kosoglu, whose parents, Dr. Wijeyadevendram Ravindran and Shobhana Ravindran hail from Jaffna, Sri Lanka, said ultimately Harris, who is also half African American, firmly believed that her staff should reflect the makeup of California and our country, but the Senate as a whole has more work to do in that regard.”

Thus, she said, We need diversity of experience, background, and opinion in order to promote the best policies for working families in this country.”

Asked how she came to be working for Harris and how excited she was to be appointed chief of staff to a potential presidential candidate in 2020, whose mantra has been that the country today is at a point of inflection,” Kosoglu, who’s in her early 30’s and currently the only Asian American woman chief of staff in the U.S. Senate, said she had been working in the Senate for over a decade, and when Senator Harris was elected, I was offered the position of deputy chief of staff.”

In terms of how much of a challenge her new position would envisage and what her top priorities would be besides her administrative duties of running Harris’s D.C. office, she said since joining the new Senator, it has been an honor to do this work on behalf of Californian and all Americans, and I am proud to continue to work alongside Senator Harris now as her chief of staff as we fight to protect health care and civil rights, and economic opportunity for working families.”

The New Jersey born and raised Kosoglu’s foray into politics began at the time she was a senior at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, when she went to work as an intern in the state office of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D.Mich.) and then when she was offered a position in D.C. had grabbed the opportunity and worked as the lawmaker’s mail room manager.

Then two years later, in 2008, when she had worked her way up in Stabenow’s office as a senior policy adviser, she had an offer to work for U.S. Senator Michael Bennett (D.Colo.) as a policy director and senior health care adviser, which was at the time the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare as it came to be known, was being deliberated in Congress.

Meanwhile along the way she obtained a master’s degree at George Washington University, and in 2016, after a stint with Senator Bennett for seven years, when Harris was elected to fill the seat vacated by Senator Barbara Boxer, and the then Senator-elect offered her the deputy chief of staff position, accepting it was a no-brainer.

Kosoglu, the mother of two children aged 3 and 5, when asked how she was now going to balance all of her responsibilities as chief of staff, motherhood and home, said, I don’t think of it as a balancing act — where you have to choose one thing or the other. They aren’t separate from each other,” she said, and noted, If my kids have a day off from school during a workday, they’re welcome to visit the office.”

Kosoglu also said my family is very supportive of the work I do.”

Her father has been a practicing emergency room physician for the past 36 years at the Community Medical Center in Tom River, New Jersey, and her mother is a homemaker, although she’s received a master’s degree in accounting from Rutgers University. She has one sibling, a brother Raman Ravindran, a video editor at the Aspen Institute.

Earlier, in an interview with Bustle, Kosoglu had said that juggling both roles has been made easier in an office where we’re transparent about our lives.”

She said: Certainly Senator Harris encourages our office to be open and honest and transparent with each other with the lives that we have. And she understands the sacrifices we all make to do public service.

The part that I enjoy is that when we’re able to take certain experiences that we’ve all had … and be able to focus that on policy agenda that helps the middle class,” Kosoglu added.

She also expressed optimism about Congress becoming more diverse in 2019, saying that as a woman of color in this position, I think it’s important to create a pipeline of talent,” and that diversity is an issue that Harris also feels is important.”

Kosoglu said, I think it’s important that when we advance diversity [in Congress], we also advance the ability to address many issues in front of us,” noting that our staff reflects California — the makeup of California, as well as the country.”

In May, she told Roll Call, the newspaper that exclusively covers the U.S. Congress that she was passionate about advancing diversity and that in this regard, I definitely try to prioritize if any women, particularly women of color…just want to meet to talk about how to move up on the Hill or they are interested in working on the Hill.”

In announcing Kosoglu’s elevation to chief of staff, Harris said in a statement that Rohini has been an invaluable leader on our team as we’ve fought for our shared values and the best of who we are during these first two years.

Californians, and All Americans, are looking to their leaders in Washington, D.C. to protect our families and communities, and I’m proud to continue that fight with Rohini,” Harris said.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Sri Lanka will follow the guidelines of burials followed by other countries over COVID-19.

Colombo, November 9 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, on Monday instructed health authorities to look into the possibility of allocating a dry land for Muslims to bury any COVID19 victims hereon.

Sri Lanka will follow the guidelines of burials followed by other countries over COVID-19.

To date Sri Lanka only allowed those who succumb to the virus to be cremated.

Courtesy  Hiru News

36th COVID-19 death reported in Sri Lanka.

The victim was a 84 year old female from Kandana and she has died at the IDH.

Courtesy Hiru News

Another 184 tested positive for COVID-19. All are close contacts.

Accordingly, 356 cases of Covid 19 have been reported so far today (09)

Courtesy Hiru News

President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa stated that covid-19 can be easily controlled by the competent health service of this country and what is required is the cooperation of the people.

The President made this observation during the daily meeting with the members of the Presidential Task Force on COVID – 19 Prevention held at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (09).

“The Covid epidemic is a health problem. It is the responsibility of the health service and the government to protect the people and take the country forward. I strongly believe that we have the world’s most knowledgeable doctors and therefore the health sector can control the situation.”

There are three options we can take in the face of the pandemic. One is to impose a curfew and lock down the country, the second is to do nothing, the third is to control the disease and get the country back to normal. We chose the third option.”

“Physicians and staff have been able to diagnose and treat Covid patients in the early stages, so intensive care has not been necessary.

“After the satisfactory control of Covid-19, the media as well as the people forgot everything and neglected their responsibilities. The country cannot remain closed until the threat of the virus is eradicated from the world. Reports suggest that closure alone will not control the pandemic. “

“The easiest thing is to shut down the country, but people must live. It is my responsibility to protect the economy through the engagement in jobs, agriculture, fisheries and all other activities. The government spends more than 60 million rupees a day on PCR tests. It is the duty of the people to understand this situation and take personal responsibility to prevent contracting the disease, ” the President said.

Ambassador Sarath Wijesinghe, President’s Counsel, President of the Ambassadors Forum, Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to UAE and Israel.

War of words are not uncommon in international circles. But the war of words between China and USA relating to Sri Lanka occurring in Sri Lanka has to be taken seriously based on the context, contents and tone of the exchange of words. The fact that it has happened in our soil worries us as peaceful peace loving people. Exchange of words among the members of the diplomatic community should be based on diplomacy conventions, practices, and norms of international law and practices based on conventions and precedents.

The recent visit of the US Secretary Of State Michael Pompeo to Sri Lanka during a tour in Asia, looking for opportunities to play a role with friendship and hopes as stated in the speech has unfortunately led to controversies and discussions in many circles in the international arena. This has sent shock waves to the international community engaged in diplomacy and international affairs due to protests in Sri Lanka over various allegations. Secretary Pompeo smilingly answered the questions posed by the interviewer giving underlying messages to all the parties concerned and the sanctions imposed on 24 Chinese companies including builders of Colombo Port City. This indicates that the war of words have connotations. The Construction Company and the Chinese Embassy tweeting immediately in response to those comments made and thus aggravating the issue further. War of words or deeds on our soil will not be in our interest nor in favour and it is our duty to pacify the tension between parties using our good office based on our experience as done my Madam Bandaranaike during the Indo – China conflict in 1960s.

USA and China are world leaders in trade, fiercely competing with each other for world supremacy on trade and commerce. Both demands friendship and ownership with credentials claiming China as predators whereas USA as a true friend. Obviously trade and political power runs parallel using political power to promote trade and commerce adopting illegal and unethical practices. China has given funds to Sri Lanka lavishly and with less conditions with no expectations whereas USA expects transparency, proper fiscal management, in a democratic environment with human rights protected and adherence to international standards. China has funded Hambantota Harbour, Mattala Airport and Port City and is reminiscent of the Rubber Rice pact in 1952. USA is the single largest buyer of 45% of our apparels.

World trade is complicated and covers a large spectrum with the involvement and interference of WTO in which the Chinese obtained membership in 2001. World powers with political and economic interests are interested in extending the power in the Indian Ocean, once a quiet sea with great potential and treasures in the sea bed which has today transformed in to an active important and vibrant ocean utilized by a large number of ships. Sri Lanka is positioned in the most strategic position with historic traditional bonds running back to thousands of years with Arab, Chinese and other sea merchants often dealing with Sri Lanka on the traditional ‘Seda Mawatha’ (Silk Route) which currently embeds the Belt and Road initiative. Sri Lanka maintained links with the West due to the trade links with naval powers, resulting intervention in politics of this independent island with a long history of culture and friendship with the rest of the world. Sri Lanka’s bonds with the West, USA, UN and subsidiary bodies and international organizations are close in keeping with the model of diplomacy she has adhered to.

Since the end of the cold war between then world powers USA and USSR, USA and China has emerged as world trade leaders fiercely competing with each other for trade, commerce and political power. USA and China being the two large trade giants respectively look for a pivot role in Asia and USA is seeking entry via Indian Ocean for free access to Asia for trade and political power. International politics is a ‘Chess Game’ which is ever changing, reminding that there are no permanent friends and enemies in politics, local or international. Today USA, India, Australia and Japan have formed the ‘QUAD’ as a group to compete with the common enemy – China, allowing the new found friendship for USA to develop political ambitions and the others for trade and commerce. The visit of the US State Secretary to Asia is for a multi-purpose exploration of political, business and goodwill missions with many plans and hopes with all nations visited. Visits to other countries were without much controversy except Sri Lanka due to mass opposition to MCC, SOFA, ACSA agreements and plans for and kind of defence agreements.

The strength of a Nation is the firm and correct foreign policy. It is doubtful whether Sri Lanka is equipped and armed with this weapon as before when Sri Lanka and India led the Non-Alignment Movement in the most exemplary way in 1970s with firm political leadership. Indian foreign policy and principles are static based on India first foreign policy aiming at promoting India. Do we have a foreign policy on a Sri Lanka first basis when successive governments to date have taken different positions? The Text book version of the Sri Lankan foreign policy has been friendly with all and angry with none based on principles non-alignment and neutrality with a practical approach. Were we non-aligned/neutral and did we conduct ourselves so – especially during ‘Yahapalanaya’ regime when the Executive, Legislature and the Minister of Foreign Affairs took independent, arbitrary actions in dealing with international affairs?

On the other hand non-alignment does not mean being quiet and impartial alone. State must play a positive role in dealing with the interest of the country you represent. Switzerland is impartial in international affairs but does not belong to the Non-Alignment Movement and adhere to its principles. Sri Lanka must have a firm, powerful, correct and coherent Sri Lanka friendly foreign policy which will give strength, direction and acceptance, acting fast and smart with a proper policy framework. A nation must be fortunate have an effective Foreign Minister efficient Secretary, a vibrant Ministry and an extremely able battery of Ambassadors working round the clock, giving priority to trade and image building. We fondly remember Madam Bandaraneika as the best foreign minister ever with great respect and wish the present group will learn from our past glory hoping mother Sri Lanka will be active in foreign policy making and implementation which leads to the success of all other areas in governance.

Lord Buddha said ‘He who lives by Dharma is protected by Dharma’ meaning that the Dharma preached by the Buddha is supreme and should be practiced for success and protection and that the individual or the nation will be protected by Dhamma (Teachings of Buddha) they practice. In the same way if and when a nation has a firm and correct foreign policy in practice it will be the protection and the success of the Nation.

(The author takes responsibility for the contents of the article and could be contacted on sarath7@hotmail.co.uk)

Dr. Gamini Padmaperuma

Background

Online Learning has become a household term and is fast becoming a way of life. Schoolchildren and students from state and non-state higher educational institutions, and their teachers and lecturers have started experiencing online teaching and learning during the last several months. Although online teaching and learning existed in a limited scale before the onset of Covid-19, a rapid transition to online teaching and learning occurred following the closure of educational institutions owing to the spread of virus. The way and speed with which the educational institutions adapted to and faced the challenges of shifting to online learning are commendable. Higher educational institutions and schools, and private tutors have implemented online teaching and learning with varying success. The general satisfaction level among the students and teachers about online learning appears to be somewhat satisfactory despite certain shortcomings such as internet connection issues and associated costs, lack of suitable digital devices to practise online learning and appropriate learning material, etc.

Definitions and contexts

Online learning can be broadly defined as learning that takes place over the Internet. However, online learning is just one type of distance learning – the ubrell term for any learning that takes place across distance and not in a traditional classroom. Online learning can be used in both distance learning and in face-to-face context. Blended learning uses a mix of online and traditional face-to-face approaches. This however, makes it necessary for the online learning material to be prepared with appropriate design features. It is not effective to use teaching material prepared for face-to-face context in online teaching without modifications as the two contexts are quite different.

Current Situation

The common approaches to online teaching have been to use free videoconferencing software such as Zoom to organize online lecture sessions where the lecturer explains the subject matter using PowerPoint slides or whiteboards. Lecture notes are sent to students electronically in advance to read and come prepared for the Zoom session on a specified date.  During Zoom sessions, the lecturer explains material, solves problems, questions students, answers student queries, etc. In some sessions, video and audio clips are played or sent them for use by students at their leisure.

Notes, hand-outs, etc. prepared for face-to-face teaching may not be attractive to all the online learners. There are different types of learners in any given student cohort. Four primary types of learners are Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing preference and Kinaesthetic. Appropriately designed online lessons shall meet most of these learner types. When particular learning material cannot meet all types learner styles, there shall be other complementary material which can satisfy the unmet styles. Ideally, there shall be different learning material which caters for different types of learners. Attention also needs to be given to learners who have visual, auditory and other impairments.

Some institutions have more structured online courses which are designed and built using Learning Management Systems (LMS) which also enable effective course and programme administration. In other institutions, LMS are used primarily for routine course administration purposes only; uploading assignments, receiving answer scripts, project submissions, conducting surveys, recording online presence, etc.

The above emphasises the importance of appropriate design of instructions to suit online learning. In order to achieve desired learning objectives, the lessons need to be designed using appropriate instructional design strategies and models. Instructions need to be developed with high visual appeal, clearly stated learning outcomes, means for close engagement, availability of feedback on student performance, summaries of core content, appropriate media components, all delivered in small chunks to sustain student attention during the lesson.

While the access to many institutional web servers has been made free by many educational institutions in collaboration with telecom providers, poor internet connections in rural areas, costs associated with general internet access, heavy dependence on mobile phones (with attendant limitations) for online learning due to lack of better devices such as tabs or laptops have not made online learning a pleasant experience to a significant portion of learners.

Actions to get the next phase right

Now that the first phase of online learning has passed, what comes next? Following are a few specific actions that universities and other educational institutions could take to help improve student learning, engagement, and experience while operating remotely.

These moves may inspire institutions to pilot new initiatives, learn what works, iterate, and position themselves to create capabilities that will enhance instruction permanently. However, the educational institutions may not be able to handle all of them alone. Due organizational, professional and financial support need to be provided by the government, public and private sector corporations, non-governmental organizations, professional institutions, philanthropists, specialists, consultants, alumni, etc.

Focus on access and equity: Moving from on-campus to remote learning raises issues related to access and equity. There are the immediate logistical challenges of ensuring students have the basic technology they need to learn remotely. Some possible actions include: offer stipends for internet access and laptop rentals or purchases. Provision of loaned equipment and hot spots for internet access to under-resourced students.

Consideration also needs to be given to effects on mental health and stress created by the epidemic, and also to mitigate the additional difficulties encountered by physically impaired learners due to shifting to online education, e.g. provision of recorded lessons with captions, etc.

Support faculty: Most academics are working hard to respond creatively to teach their students to the same standards. What methods work best in a remote environment will differ by discipline and the technology available. There are a few broad ways that institutions can help.

• Offer more teaching support. Many institutions have centres that offer support to faculty in their teaching; these should be scaled up and shift their orientation to support the academics in design and development of online learning material and learning environments.

• Use social media and online forums to share best practices. Highlighting and explaining successful remote-teaching practices during faculty meetings can cultivate a sense of camaraderie, as well as a culture of sharing and improving.

• Set up a structure for the faculty to get regular feedback on their teaching. Two sources are: student surveys and engagement data derived from LMS. These surveys should be used not to judge professors, but to give them information on how students are responding and where they can improve. Survey results can also give administrators a sense of where they might need to intervene to support student learning.

• Create online ‘student centres’.  As institutions move to remote learning, they can think about how to use existing tools to move in-person gatherings online and open up spaces for discussions, events, wellness classes, study groups and online tutoring. This is to offer virtual spaces in lieu of physical ones to enable the university community to continue to connect.

• Activate stakeholders.  One way to start is by identifying and activating tech-savvy students and staff to coach faculty and other students to use online tools. Another possibility is to ask alumni and community members to provide remote mentorship and coaching to support students with remote learning, career discussions, and virtual internships.  

• Invest in cybersecurity to ensure the continuity of teaching and learning.  This is to ensure security and data privacy while enabling teaching and learning to go on.

Summary                                                                                                    

Often with limited experience and training, our educational institutions have hurriedly shifted to online learning and teaching. Many have done so in an exemplary manner; others have not been as successful, at least so far. This can provide institutions with an opportunity to experiment and innovate. Universities may find that they have a new remote-learning capability that can be integrated with on-campus instruction, to everyone’s benefit, when this crisis has passed. This added online education capability can directly assist the government in meeting its commitment to increase the intakes to universities and provide access to higher education to all who qualify.

Author:

Dr. Gamini Padmaperuma, a Fellow Member of IESL and a former Senior Lecturer at OUSL, holds a PhD from the University of Canterbury, NZ. His PhD thesis was on Instructional Design for Computer-Based Learning. email: gamini_pad@hotmail.com

Statement by George Steuart Health

07th November 2020: As the oldest mercantile establishment in Sri Lanka, George Steuart & Company has contributed to the betterment of the nation for nearly two centuries, whilst making enormous strides in diverse fields of business.

George Steuart Health was established nearly 33 years ago and since then, has partnered with over 60 principals from across the globe, in our quest to introduce novel and advanced therapies to Sri Lankan patients.

We have been constantly evolving and thus have implemented robust growth strategies. We are considered as one of the fastest growing healthcare firms in the Island.

George Steuart Health has been at the forefront in the introduction of rapid diagnostic testing to Sri Lanka, following the establishment of the diagnostic division in 2008.

We introduced rapid diagnostics through Standard Diagnostics (SD), Korea way back in 2009 with the launch of the first WHO prequalified Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) for HIV. In 2010, we introduced the first dengue antigen rapid diagnostic test to Sri Lanka, providing a breakthrough in the management of dengue, which was rampant in the Island.

Thus far, two local clinical studies have successfully been conducted and now, this test is considered by clinicians as the main tool in detecting dengue patients at an early stage, thus helping them save valuable lives.

Today, these rapid diagnostic tests are the primary tests used for the detection of the Dengue. Subsequently, we introduced rapid diagnostic tests for influenza A/B/AH1N1. In 2013, Standard Diagnostics was subsequently bought over by Alere Medical; the world leader in rapid point of care tests and a conglomerate of 200+ rapid diagnostic and point of care test manufacturers.

We have further expanded the rapid diagnostic basket for infectious diseases including leptospirosis, hepatitis, cardiometabollics & drugs of abuse.

Following the global acquisition of Alere Medical by Abbott Diagnostics in 2018, GSH has represented Abbott Rapid Diagnostic Products in Sri Lanka.

With the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, Abbott Diagnostics introduced the antigen and antibody rapid test kits earlier this year. The use of these tests in Sri Lanka was however discouraged, due to concerns on the sensitivity and specificity of the tests at the time. Our requests to consider use was turned down by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority in March 2020, as the WHO at that time had recommended the tests for research studies only.

The rising infections have however, offered scientists a better understanding of how the virus operates. The efficacy of the test kits have since been scaled up by manufacturers.

The world health organization has subsequently evaluated rapid test kits from many manufacturers worldwide. On 28th September, Dr. Tedros Adhanom – Director General of the World Health Organization, stated that the WHO was pleased to announce that two such antigen test kits manufactured by Abbott Diagnostics and Standard Diagnostics, have proven to be effective in the identification of the virus, whilst promising to be a cost effective and faster method for screening.

Accordingly, the WHO, through funding received from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, placed orders for 120 million tests, to be distributed amongst low and middle income countries.

Highlighting the Emergency Use Listing granted by the World Health Organization, George Steuart Health sought NMRA approval for product registration early in October 2020.

Following expert evaluation, the NMRA granted Provisional Registration for the test kits, under the condition that the tests be made available to healthcare institutions alone, at a regulated price of Rs.1,146.22 per test. Samples of these tests have also been provided to the NMRA and the Ministry of Health for validation purposes.

Having received the certificate of registration and import license on 22nd October, we received orders from major private hospitals and the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society. Requests were also received from WHO affiliated agencies, for supplies to the Ministry of Health.

Subsequently, orders were placed with the manufacturers on 25th October.

Considering the national emergency, the kits were imported through a special aircraft operated by Sri Lankan Airlines on 03rd November 2020, paying the necessary airfreight and handling charges.

A virtual training was conducted on Microsoft teams for microbiologists, virologists, epidemiologists and officials from the Ministry of Health on 2nd November, by experts from Abbott Diagnostics. Further trainings have been scheduled in the forthcoming weeks.

The goods were distributed among private hospitals and the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society on 06th November. The screening process of targeted populations will commence, no sooner the guidelines for use are issued by the Ministry of Health. These tests have a sensitivity of 91.4% and specificity of 99.8%, when tested within the first 7 days of infection, where antigen levels (viral load) and transmission rates are noted to be highest. Patients can be promptly identified within 20 minutes of conducting this test. The faster identification and isolation of patients, will aid in effectively disrupting the chain of transmission.

Following a similar routine, registration was also granted to the product from Standard Diagnostics shortly thereafter, to be marketed at the same price.

A tender for the test kits was closed by the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation on 2nd November 2020. This tender is under evaluation and is yet to be awarded.

George Steuart Health is a premier healthcare provider and a significant subsidiary of George Steuart & Company Limited.

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

කොරෝනා ආසාදිතයන් ඉක්මනින් හදුනා ගැනීමට භාවිත කරන ‘රැුපිඩ් ඇන්ටිඩන්’ පරීක්‍ෂණ කට්ටල තොගයක් මෙරටට ගෙන්වීම සම්බන්දයෙන් මතබේදාත්මක තත්වයක් ඇතිව තිබේ.

එම චෝදනාව එල්ල වන ජේර්ජ් ස්ටුවට් සමාගම විසින් තම පාර්ශවයේ මතය පැහැදිලි කරමින් නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කර ඇත.

එම සම්පූර්ණ නිවේදනය සහ පරිවර්තනය පහත දැක්වේ.

Rapid Antigen Test එක යනු කොරොනා වෛරසය හඳුනා ගැනීමේ නවතම ක්‍රමවේදයයි. මෙම ක්‍රමය නිෂ්පාදනය කරන සමාගම් දෙකකට ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානය විසින් මීට මාස දෙකකට ප්‍රථම අනුමැතිය ලබා දුන්නා. එම ජාත්‍යන්තර සමාගම් දෙකේ ම දේශීය නියෝජිතයා ලෙස පසුගිය දශකය පුරාම කටයුතු කරන්නේ george stuart සමාගමයි. ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානය මේ අනුමත කළාට පසුව ජාතික ඖෂධ නියාමන අධිකාරිය විසින් ඔක්තෝබර් මස විසි දෙවැනි දා ලංකාවට මෙය ගෙන්වීමට අවසර ලබා දුන්නා. එය අනුමත කල සැනින් පෞද්ගලික අංශයේ භාවිතය සඳහා, පෞද්ගලික රෝහල්වල භාවිතය සඳහා George Stuart සමාගම විසින් එම Antigen කට්ටල ලංකාවට ගෙන එනු ලැබුවා. එය සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම පෞද්ගලික අංශයේ සමාගමක් සහ පෞද්ගලික රෝහල් අතර සිදු වූ ගනුදෙනුවක් මිස රජයට කිසිදු සම්බන්ධයක් නැහැ.

කොරියන් ගුවන් සේවා විසින් කිලෝග්‍රෑම් එකකට ඩොලර් තුනක් පමණක් අය කරගෙන මෙම උපකරණ කට්ටල ලංකාවට ගෙන ඒමට කැමැත්ත පල කලත් ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් සේවය පාඩුපිට පවත්වාගෙන යන මොහොතේ එයට සහාය වීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් සේවයෙන් කිලෝග්‍රෑමයක් ඩොලර් 4.50 මුදලක් ගෙවා මෙම කට්ටල ලංකාවට ගෙන ඒමට George Stuart සමාගම කටයුතු කලා. Rapid Antigen කට්ටල රැගෙන ඒම සඳහා රජය විසින් ද මේ වන විට ටෙන්ඩරයක් කැඳවා ඇති අතර, එම ටෙන්ඩරය තවමත් සම්පූර්ණ වී නෑ. එම ටෙන්ඩරය හිමිවන්නේ කාටද යන්න පවා තීරණය කර නෑ. එය රාජ්‍ය ඖෂධ නීතිගත සංස්ථාව විසින් සිදු කරාවි. දැනට ගෙන්වා ඇති කට්ටල රජයට කිසිදු ආකාරයකින් සම්බන්ධයක් නෑ.

මේ සම්බන්ධව D.V. චානක අමාත්‍යවරයා කළ ප්‍රකාශය තොරතුරු නොදැන සිදුකළ එකක්. ඔහු එය නිවැරදි කර තිබෙනවා. PCR ක්‍රමවේදය හා සමාන නිරවද්‍යතාවයක් යුතු මෙම අලුත් ක්‍රමයෙන් විනාඩි 15 ඇතුළත corona හඳුනාගැනීමටත්, රුපියල් 7000-20000 පමණ වැය වෙන PCR පරීක්ෂණය රුපියල් දහසක ආසන්න මුදලකට කරගැනීමට අවස්ථාව ලැබෙනවා.

මෙම මිත්‍යාව සමාජගත කරන සියලුම අයට විරුද්ධව නීතිමය ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගැනීමට මේ වන විටත් කටයුතු සම්පාදනය වෙමින් පවතිනවා. එබැවින් අසත්‍ය ප්‍රචාර සිදුකරමින් කොරොනා මර්දනයට එරෙහිව ගෙනයන වැඩපිළිවෙළ අඩපන කිරීමට දායක නොවන්න.

by Dr. Upul Wijayawardhana Courtesy The Island

Rather than discoursing on the profound truths expounded by the Buddha, some Bhikkhus have specialised in telling stories. Worse still, they are spreading canards the latest being that the Buddha was born in Sri Lanka. Though I would love for this to be true, unfortunately, there is no archaeological evidence even to support that the Buddha visited Sri Lanka, leaving aside being born here. The excellent article by Bhante Dhammika of Australia printed in this newspaper proves with archaeological evidence where the Buddha was actually born (Was the Buddha born in Sri Lanka? Sunday Island, 25 October) but I am sure these Bhikkhus and their supporters would disregard archaeological evidence and concoct their own.

Fortunately, caste is a fading entity in modern society only politicians and bhikkhus attempting to keep it alive. I need not dwell much on the utterly disgraceful practice of perpetuating the caste system by some Nikayas, as I have discussed this in detail in my article Have we let down Gautama Buddha” (The Island, 8 May 2020) except to ask the question: Is it not the height of hypocrisy to deny ordination on the basis of caste when the Buddha decreed that it is not birth but actions that decide whether one is an untouchable or a Brahmin? (Kammna Wasalo Hothi, Kammana Hothi Brahmano)

We will take trade union action in 48 hours, if our demands are not met” was the recent rallying cry of a trade union leader, in the midst of a grave national emergency, which shocked me for more reason than one. Though the initial grasp in controlling the Covid-19 epidemic seems to have been lost, for whatever reason, and the problem in Sri Lanka is nothing compared to what is happening in the rest of the world, around 300 dying daily of the deadly virus in UK, still we are facing a grave situation as our battered economy is not likely to withstand any more challenges.

In this situation an implied strike, to say the least, is grossly irresponsible. And what is this trade union? A nurses’ union. Are they not supposed to be healing angels? Who is the leader of this union? A Buddhist Priest! Has he forgotten what the Buddha said: Health is the greatest gain” and He who would minister to me should minister to the sick”? For a Buddhist priest to even suggest risking patients’ lives is the greatest insult that could be done to the ‘Compassionate One’ who introduced the concepts of ‘Metta, Karuna. Muditha and Upeksha’.

It is a great shame that nurses in Sri Lanka, who are second to none, are not able to find a member of their own profession to lead their trade union. In the country that produced the first female prime minister in the world, is there no lady with leadership qualities to lead the union of a profession still largely dominated by women? It indeed is an outrage for a Buddhist priest to be lead a trade union, nursing or otherwise. Obviously, he is politicking as his latest offer is to lead the opposition to the government! Is he trying to replace Sajith?

It is true that Bhikkhus have come to the rescue of the nation at times of national peril but that does not entitle them to play a part in daily politics, which some of them are doing in various guises. At least partly due to the efforts of one Buddhist Monk who took to a ‘political clean-up campaign to get rid of Rajapaksas’ we had to endure almost five years of a rotten Yahapalanaya, unfortunately. Now another group of Bhikkhus are attempting to dictate to the new government. In fact, one of them had the audacity to state in a press conference If they want to amend the constitution, they should get our permission first”! Have they forgotten that the government is there to carry out the will of the people, not that of the Sangha? Let them be reminded that Sri Lanka does not belong to them, nor to Sinhala Buddhists alone, but to all citizens.

Bhikkhus entered the parliament and behaved as disgracefully as other elected ‘honourable’ politicians. There were brawls in the well of the House. Disappointed Buddhists stopped voting for Bhikkhus though a party which was formed by them got a seat on the national list but the debacle that followed can only be equalled to antics of the now-doomed UNP! Did the Buddha get involved in politics? Did He go round doling unsolicited advice to the rulers? Definitely not. He maintained a distance and recognised the fact that rulers had to make unpalatable choices at times. He gave advice only when sought. In contrast, some of the modern day ‘political priests’ not only attempt to be king makers but also threaten to bring down the government when it refuses to do what they want, often personal favours. By the actions of a few, unfortunately, the entire Sangha may be tainted as there are many with hidden agendas who are keenly waiting for any opportunity to discredit the Sangha.

I have heard rumours that some Bhikkhus are charging for Bana preaching in various guises. They are selling the Dhamma! However, first-hand confirmation of this came with a recent conversation I had with one of my very dear friends who, unfortunately, lost his daughter to cancer: When the Hamuduruwo, a renowned preacher whom I invited for the Mataka-Bana sent a message that he needs Rs. 25,000 I was shocked. I had only Rs. 15,000 cash with me which I sent”. This Bhikkhu discharged his noble responsibility for a fee! I am told some others insist that they need their own sound system and charge for that; a simple ruse to sell the Dhamma! We get enraged when a Buddhist exhibits a tattoo of the Buddha but venerate and encourage these businessmen in robes!

I am reminded that Ven, Walpola Rahula accepted invitations for Bana Preachings on the express understanding that no pirikara was offered. In his writings he mentions how guilty he felt after receiving an umbrella after a Bana preaching. He feels he may have indicated that he needs an umbrella but from the time he received it, every time he looked at it, guilt overcame him, that he had sold the Dhamma. I can well understand devotees desire to make an offering as we are made to believe that it adds to our good karma. Just to satisfy that desire if a Bhikkhu accepts a pirikara, perhaps it may be construed as harmless but to preach for profit is totally despicable.

Maybe, I am paving my path to hell by writing this as some Bhikkhus say that criticizing the Sangha is an unpardonable sin. Perhaps, the Buddha may not agree with them had He been alive today. Not only that, He would have been shocked and dismayed by what some members of the Sangha is doing in His name. The greatest achievement of the Buddha is empowering us to seek our own destiny; freeing us from any supernatural overlords. He gave us freedom of thought and laid the foundation for the scientific basis of analysis of questions. He walked miles and miles, most likely barefooted, around large parts of India to pass on His message to all and sundry, explaining in terms each group understood. During his travels, on most nights, the Buddha would have slept under a tree gazing at the night sky above with the vast universe beyond. His bed would have been nothing more than a folded robe. In contrast, what do some of His followers do today? They live in opulence, boast of enlightenment, seek power and profit by selling the Dhamma. What a great shame?

Thomas Frank Courtesy The Guardian

Ding-dong, the jerk is gone. Finally, we have come to the end of Donald Trump’s season of extreme misrule. Voters have rejected what can only be described as the crassest, vainest, stupidest, most dysfunctional leadership this country has ever suffered.

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Congratulations to Joe Biden for doing what Hillary Clinton couldn’t, and for somehow managing to do it without forcefulness, without bounce, without zest, without direction and without a real cause, even.

It is a time for celebrating. Let us praise God for victory, however meagre and under-whelming. But let us also show some humility in our triumph. Before we swing into a national sing-along of the Hallelujah Chorus, I urge you to think for a moment about how we got here and where we must go next.

We know that 2020 has been a year for reckoning with the racist past, for the smashing of icons and the tearing-down of former heroes. Also for confronting the historical delusions that gave us this lousy present.

In the spirit of this modern iconoclasm, let me offer my own suggestion for the reckoning that must come next, hopefully even before Biden chooses his cabinet and packs his bags for Pennsylvania Avenue: Democrats must confront their own past and acknowledge how their own decisions over the years helped make Trumpism possible.

I know: this was a negation election, and what got nixed was Maga madness. The Democrats are the ones who won. Still, it is Joe Biden who must plan our course forward and so it is Biden who must examine our situation coldly and figure out the answer to the burning question of today: how can a recurrence of Trumpism be prevented?

Biden’s instinct, naturally, will be to govern as he always legislated: as a man of the center who works with Republicans to craft small-bore, business-friendly measures. After all, Biden’s name is virtually synonymous with Washington consensus. His years in the US Senate overlap almost precisely with his party’s famous turn to the third way” right, and Biden personally played a leading role in many of the signature initiatives of the era: Nafta-style trade agreements, lucrative favors for banks, tough-on-crime measures, proposed cuts to social security, even.

What Biden must understand now, however, is that it was precisely this turn, this rightward shift in the 1980s and 90s, that set the stage for Trumpism.

Let us recall for a moment what that turn looked like. No longer were Democrats going to be the party of working people, they told us in those days. They were new Democrats” now, preaching competence rather than ideology and reaching out to new constituencies: the enlightened suburbanites; the wired workers”; the learning class”; the winners in our new post-industrial society.

For years this turn was regarded as a great success. Bill Clinton brought us market-friendly reforms to banking rules, trade relations and the welfare system. He and his successor Barack Obama negotiated grand bargains and graceful triangulations; means-tested subsidies and targeted tax credits; tough-minded crime measures and social programs so complex that sometimes not even their designers could explain them to us.

Almost all of the celebrated policy achievements of the centrist era lie in ruins

In the place of the Democratic party’s old household god – the middle class” – these new liberals enshrined the meritocracy, meaning not only the brilliant economists who designed their policies, but also the financiers and technologists that the new liberalism tried to serve, together with the highly educated professionals who were now its most prized constituents. In 2016 Hillary Clinton lost the former manufacturing regions of the country but was able to boast later on that she won the places that represent two-thirds of America’s gross domestic product … the places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward.”

© Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images ‘What Biden must realize now is that it was precisely this turn, this rightward shift in the 1980s and 90s, that set the stage for Trumpism.’

However, there are consequences when the left party in a two-party system chooses to understand itself in this way. As we have learned from the Democrats’ experiment, such a party will show little understanding for the grievances of blue-collar workers, people who – by definition – have not climbed the ladder of meritocracy. And just think of all the shocking data that has flickered across our attention-screens in the last dozen years – how our economy’s winnings are hogged by the 1%; how ordinary people can no longer afford new cars; how young people are taking on huge debt burdens right out of college; and a thousand other points of awful. All of these have been direct or indirect products of the political experiment I am describing.

Biden can’t take us back to the happy assumptions of the centrist era even if he wants to, because so many of its celebrated policy achievements lie in ruins. Not even Paul Krugman enthuses about Nafta-style trade agreements any longer. Bill Clinton’s welfare reform initiative was in fact a capitulation to racist tropes and brought about an explosion in extreme poverty. The great prison crackdown of 1994 was another step in cementing the New Jim Crow. And the biggest shortcoming of Obama’s Affordable Care Act – leaving people’s health insurance tied to their employer – has become painfully obvious in this era of mass unemployment and mass infection.

But the biggest consequence of the Democrats’ shabby experiment is one we have yet to reckon with: it has coincided with a period of ever more conservative governance. It turns out that when the party of the left abandons its populist traditions for high-minded white-collar rectitude, the road is cleared for a particularly poisonous species of rightwing demagoguery. It is no coincidence that, as Democrats pursued their professional-class third way”, Republicans became ever bolder in their preposterous claim to be a workers’ party” representing the aspirations of ordinary people.

When Democrats abandoned their majoritarian tradition, in other words, Republicans hastened to stake their own claim to it. For the last 30 years it has been the right, not the left, that rails against elites” and that champions our down-home values in the face of the celebrities who mock them. During the 2008 financial crisis conservatives actually launched a hard-times protest movement from the floor of the Chicago board of trade; in the 2016 campaign they described their foul-mouthed champion, Trump, as a blue-collar billionaire”, kin to and protector of the lowly – the lowly and the white, that is.

Donald Trump’s prodigious bungling of the Covid pandemic has got him kicked out of office and has paused the nation’s long march to the right. Again, let us give thanks. But let us also remember that the Republicans have not been permanently defeated. Their preening leader has gone down, but his toxic brand of workerism will soon be back, enlisting the disinherited and the lowly in the cause of the mighty. So will our fatuous culture wars, with their endless doses of intoxicating self-righteousness, shot into the veins of the nation by social media or Fox News.

I have been narrating our country’s toboggan ride to hell for much of my adult life, and I can attest that Biden’s triumph by itself is not enough to bring it to a stop. It will never stop until a Democratic president faces up to his party’s mistakes and brings to a halt the ignoble experiment of the last four decades.

Should Joe Biden do that, he might be able to see that he has before him a moment of great Democratic possibility. This country has grown sick of plutocracy. We don’t enjoy sluicing everything we earn into the bank accounts of a few dozen billionaires. We want a healthcare system that works and an economy in which ordinary people prosper, even people who didn’t go to a fancy college. Should Biden open his eyes and overcome his past, he may discover that he has it in his power to rebuild our sense of social solidarity, to make the middle-class promise real again, and to beat back the right. All at the same time.

• Thomas Frank is the author of The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism. He is also a Guardian US columnist

ලංකා ගුරු සේවා සංගමය.

ගරු අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍ය,
ජී.එල්. පිරීස් මහතා,
අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශය,
ඉසුරුපාය,
බත්තරමුල්ල.

අමාත්‍යතුමනි,

පවතින වසංගත තත්වය හමුවේ පාසල් හරහා මාර්ගගත :Online
ක්‍රමයට ඉගැන්වීම් සිදු කිරීම හේතුවෙන් බහුතර සිසු දරුවන්ට
අසාධාරණයක් සිදුවීම සම්බන්ධව.

රට තුළ පවතින වසංගත තත්වය හමුවේ වරින්වර පාසල් වසා දැමීමට සිදු වීම තුළ සිසු දරුවන්ගේ පාසල් අධ්‍යාපනය අඩපණ වීම හා විෂය අධ්‍යාපන කටයුතු ම`ග හැරීම දිගින් දිගටම සිදු වෙමින් පවති.

මෙයට විකල්පයක් ලෙස පහසුකම් ඇති සීමිත පාසල් කිහිපයක් ඉගැන්වීම් කටයුතු ස`දහා මාර්ගගත :දබකසබැ- ක්‍රමය භාවිතා කරමින් සිටි.

එසේ වුවද මෙම පාසල්වල දරුවන් ද මෙම ක්‍රමය හා සම්බන්ධවන්නේ සීමිත අවස්්ථාවන් හා සීමිත දරුවන් සංඛ්‍යාවන්ගෙන් බව පැහැදිලි වී තිබේ.

මෙයට හේතුව බොහෝ දරුවන්ගේ දෙමාපියන්ට දබකසබැ ක්‍රමයට ඉගෙනීමට අවශ්‍ය තාක්ෂණික උපාංග නොමැතිවීම හා අන්තර්ජාල පහසුකම් සපයා ගත නොහැකි වීමයි. තවද එක් නිවසක දරුවන් කිහිපදෙනෙකු සිටින අවස්ථා ඇති බැවින් දෙමාපියන් සතු සීමිත තාක්ෂණික පහසුකම් දරුවන් සියල්ලගේ අවශ්‍යතාවයට සරිලන ලෙස ලබා දීමට නොහැකි වීම ද ගැට`ඵවකි.

මෙරටේ අතිබහුතරයක් දෙමාපියන් ඉතා අවම ආර්ථීක හැකියාවන් සහිතව ජීවත් වන බැවින් එම දෙමාපියන්ට තම දරුවන්ට දබකසබැ ඉගෙනීමට අවශ්‍ය තාක්ෂණික පහසුකම් සපයා දීමේ හැකියාවක් නොමැත.

එසේම ඉහත තාක්ෂණික පහසුකම් යම් මට්ටමකට සපයා දිය හැකි දෙමාපියන් ද රටේ පවතින වත්මන් තත්වය හමුවේ තම ආදායම් මාර්ග අහිමි වී තිබිම හේතුවෙන් එකී පහසුකම් තම දරුවන්ට සපයා දීමට නොහැකි තත්වයට පත්ව සිටිති.

මේ හේතුවෙන් දබකසබැ අධ්‍යාපනයට මෙරටේ බහුතර සිසු දරුවන්ට අවස්ථා අහිමිවීමෙන් එකී දරුවන් ද ඔවුන්ගේ දෙමාපියන් ද දැඩි අසරණභාවයකට පත්ව සිටිති.

පහසුකම් සහිත සීමිත පාසල් සංඛ්‍යාවක් හා එකී පාසල්වල සීමිත පහසුකම් සහිත සු`ඵතරයක් වු දෙමාපියන්ගේ දරුවන් පමණක් මෙම දබකසබැ ක්‍රමය හරහා පාසල මගින් ද උපකාරක පන්ති ගුරුවරුන් මගින් ද ඉගෙනුම් කටයුතු කරද්දී රටේ අතිබහුතරයක් සිසු දරුවන්ට පොදු විකල්ප ඉගෙනුම් – ඉගැන්වීම් මාධ්‍යයක් සකසා දීමට අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශය අපොහොසත් වීම ඉතාම කනගාටුදායක බව පෙන්වා දෙන්නෙමු.

පාසල්වල දබකසබැ ක්‍රමයට ඉගැන්වීම් හේතුවෙන් එකී ඉගෙනුම් අවස්ථා තම දරුවනට අහිමි වීම පිළිබදව එම දෙමාපියන් අප සංගමය වෙත ද කරුණු ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් සිටිති. ඔවුන් ඉදිරිපත් කරන කරුණු ද සැලකිල්ලට ගනිමින් සාධාරණ හා පොදු විකල්ප ඉගෙනුම් - ඉගැන්වීම් වැඩසටහනක් සදහා අප සංගමය පහත කරුණු ඔබ වෙත යොමු කර සිටිමු.

01ග අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශයේ මුලිකත්වයෙන් හා මෙහෙයවීමෙන් ජාතික අධ්‍යාපන ආයතනය, විශ්වවිද්‍යාල හා පාසල් ගුරුවරුන්ගේ සම්පත් දායකත්වයෙන් ගුවන් විදුලි හා රූපවාහිනි නාලිකා හරහා විකාශය කිරීමට හැකි පොදු අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන් මාලාවක් සැකසීම.

02ග එකී වැඩසටහන් මාලාව විකාශයට ජාතික ගුවන්විදුලිය, ජාතික රූපවාහිනිය හා පෞද්ගලික ගුවන්විදුලි මෙන්ම රූපවාහිනි නාලිකාවලින් සුදුසු විකාශන කාලයක් ලබා ගැනීම.

03ග විධිමත් සැලැස්මකට හා කාලසටහනකට අනුව දරුවන්ගේ මනසට ගැලපෙන ආකාරයට විකාශන කාලයක් ලබා ගනිමින් මෙම වැඩසටහන ක්‍රියාත්මක කළ යුතුය.

04ග මෙරටේ පවතින ගුවන්විදුලි හා රූපවාහිනි ඇතු`ඵ සියලූ සම්ප්‍රේෂණ මාර්ගවල පරම අයිතිය ජනතාව සතුවන බැවින් මෙවැනි අවස්ථාවක රටේ දරුවන්ගේ අධ්‍යාපන වෙනුවෙන් පෞද්ගලික ගුවන්විදුලි හා රූපවාහිනි නාලිකාවලට ද අත්නොහැරිය හැකි වගකීමක් ඇති බව ද පෙන්වා දෙමු.

05ග එබැවින් සියලූම ගුවන්විදුලි හා රූපවාහිනි නාලිකාවලින් ප්‍රමාණවත් විකාශන කාලයක් ලබා ගනිමින් මෙම පොදු අධ්‍යාපන වැඩසටහන් මාලාව ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට රජයේ පූර්ණ මැදිහත්වීම සිදුවිය යුතුය.

මේ ස`දහා ලංකා ගුරු සේවා සංගමය ලෙස අපගේ පූර්ණ සහය හා දායකත්වය සැපයීමට සුදානමින් සිටින බව දන්වා සිටින අතර ඉහත කරුණු ද සැලකිල්ලට ගනිමින් මෙරටේ සියලූ සිසු දරුවන්ට සාධාරණ විකල්ප අධ්‍යාපන අවස්ථාවක් සලසා දිය හැකි ලෙස කටයුතු කරන ලෙස ඉතා ඕනෑකමින් යුතුව ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.

මෙයට,
විධායක සභාව වෙනුවෙන්,

මහින්ද ජයසිංහ,
ප්‍රධාන ලේකම්,
ලංකා ගුරු සේවා සංගමය.

පිටපත් – 01. ලේකම් – අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශය

Mahinda Karunaratne Chairman Karuna Trust

 It’s exactly six months ago we made an appeal to our donors and
well-wishers requesting donations for our COVID  19 relief work.
There we got a very good response for it and with that donations we
severed 3412 families.

Unfortunately, the second wave came up five weeks ago and by now it
has spread all over the country. This wave is much more powerful than
the first one and It’s spreading very fast. Within these five weeks
over 9000 positive patients have been identified.

Entire Gampaha District and many police station controlling areas have
been under curfew for the last 35 days. Entire Western Province has
been under curfew for the last seven days. Under this situation there
are thousands of daily wage workers, small vendors, and visiting
housemaids who work on daily wages are having a hard life. Also there
are several thousands of three-wheel drivers who are not the owners of
the three-wheels but they run others three-wheels where they have to
pay a daily fixed amount whether they have the income or not. Now most
of the people are not traveling in three-wheels and in taxies.

After a study we decided to give a parcel of dry ration to such
families. So we allocated rupees one million from our cataract surgery
fund to buy the goods. We have already given an order to Sathos, the
Government owned consumer goods distributor, where we will be getting
a special discount if we do the distribution through the Divisional
Secretaries. Each parcel costs Rs.2116.00. Already we have ordered 500
parcels which we will be getting only on the 9th Monday.

We can’t make any request from our donors to make a donation for the
second time. It’s not even six months gone after their first donation.
It’s the wish of the donors whether to join with us for the second
time to help the neediest who suffer without food. If anyone gives we
accept it with great respect and use it to give dry ration for the
neediest people.

This morning, two of our local donors, each of them have deposited
Rs.25000.00 after hearing that we have started distributing dry
ration. Also a Los Angeles based US NGO who always supports our
activities has deposited US$.1500.00 to our account without any
request.

Herewith we have attached a few memories of our previous COVID 19 relief work.

With metta,

Mahinda Karunaratne
Chairman
Karuna Trust

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට සෙත් ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරමින් වැල්ලවත්ත මයුරපති ශ්‍රී භද්‍රකාලී අම්මාන් කෝවිලේ පැවති ආශිර්වාද පූජාව සඳහා අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමන් අද 2020.11.08 දින පස්වරුවේ එක් විය.

වැල්ලවත්ත මයුරපති ශ්‍රී භද්‍රකාලී අම්මාන් කෝවිලේ ප්‍රධාන පූජක තුමන් වන උදය රාගම පූජකතුමා විසින් මෙම ආශිර්වාද පූජාව පැවැත්වූයේය. මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආර්යා ශිරන්ති රාජපක්ෂ මැතිණිය ද එක්ව සිටියාය.

මෙහිදී කොවිඩ්-19 වසංගත තත්ත්වයෙන් ආරක්ෂාවීම සඳහා අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාගේ පවුලේ සාමාජිකයින්ට හා රට වැසියාට සෙත් ප්‍රාර්ථනා කළේය.

ඉන් අනතුරුව කෝවිල් භූමියේ පිහිටි කඩවර දේවාලයට ගොස් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා ආශිර්වාද ලබා ගත්තේය.

මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා කෝවිල් භාරකාර මණ්ඩලයේ සභාපති සුන්දරලිංගම් මහතා ඇතුළු පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

කොවිඩ්-19 වසංගත තත්ත්වය මව්බිමෙන් දුරු වේවායි ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරමින්, රට වැසියාට සෙත් පතා  දිවයින පුරා රතන සූත්‍ර දේශනා කිරීමේ වැඩසටහන් මාලාවේ සමාරම්භක අවස්ථාවට ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා අද 2020.11.08 දින එක් විය.

ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය හා බුද්ධ ශාසන ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාගේ උපදෙස් පරිදි අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යාලයේ හා  බුද්ධ ශාසන ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යංශයේ මූලිකත්වයෙන් දිස්ත්‍රික්ක 25 පුරා ඒ ඒ දිස්ත්‍රික්ක කේන්ද්‍රවන පරිදි මෙම රතන සූත්‍රය දේශනා කිරීමේ කටයුතු සම්පාදනය කර තිබේ.

මෙම වැඩසටහන් මාලාවේ සමාරම්භක අවස්ථාව අද දින කොළඹ 07, ආර්. ජී. සේනානායක මාවතේ ශ්‍රී සම්බෝධි විහාරස්ථානයේදී පැවැත්විණි.

එම අවස්ථාව එක්වූ ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමන් ආගමිකවතාවත්වල නිරතවීමෙන් අනතුරුව මහා සංඝරත්නය වෙත අටපිරකර පූජා කළේය.

රතන සූත්‍ර දේශනා කිරීමේ අවස්ථාව සඳහා පූජ්‍ය බොරලන්දේ වජිරඥාන නාහිමියන් ප්‍රමුඛ පූජ්‍ය ඉත්තදෙමලියේ ඉන්ද්‍රසාර නාහිමි, පූජ්‍ය ආචාර්ය කිරින්දේ අස්සජි නාහිමි හා පූජ්‍ය එගොඩ උයනේ ඥානවිමල නාහිමි ඇතුළු මහා සංඝරත්නය වැඩම කළ වදාළහ.

අමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය විදුර වික්‍රමනායක, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී ජගත් පුෂ්ප කුමාර, බුද්ධ ශාසන ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යංශ ලේකම් මහාචාර්ය කපිල ගුණවර්ධන, කොළඹ දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම් ප්‍රදීප් යසරත්න මහත්වරු ඇතූළු සැහැදැවතුන් රැසක් මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්ව සිටියහ.

By Sugeeswara Senadhira/Daily News Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

The Gotabaya Rajapaksa government has taken a variety of steps to correct economic distortions brought about by the pandemic

Colombo, November 6: On the eve of the first anniversary of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government, the Budget for 2021 is to be presented by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who also holds the Finance portfolio. Some people are of the view that the budget could also be considered as a scorecard of performance in the first year.

However, it is a wrong assumption. The government’s performance since November 2019 had been tested at the people’s court and at the August 5, 2020 General Elections and the voters had overwhelmingly given full marks to the government. They gave it a thumping victory, nearly a two-third of seats in the 225-member parliament.

Budget 2021 is being presented at a time of global and local economic retardation due to the Covid-19 pandemic forcing economic activities to slow down and in some spheres. The government will present the budget based on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ‘Vistas of Prosperity’ Policy Statement targeting people-centric development, and the general economic development and welfare of the people.

While the economy is on the downslide, the government is faced with unemployed persons and their families amidst a drop in expatriate remittances and loss of jobs for many expatriates. Despite all these, the government will definitely put forward proposals to revitalize collapsed businesses.

All said and done, Sri Lanka’s resilience in the face of challenges is well known and the government is expected to take stern measures to ensure fiscal consolidation to reduce the deficit and give a push to economic revival.

Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle acknowledged that the budget deficit for 2020 would be 9% but insisted that this was largely due to expenses that were carried over from the previous year and also Covid-19 related expenses. Government expenditure for the year 2021 has been estimated at Rs. 2,678 billion with the highest allocations for the Ministries of Defense, Highways and Provincial Councils, according to the Appropriation Bill for next year.

Separate allocations have been made for State Ministries in the Budget with those related to agriculture and rural development sectors getting the bulk of the allocations along with the highways and road development sector.

Of the total of approximately Rs. 2,678 billion (Rs. 2,678,040,000,000) estimated for the period beginning January 1, 2021 and ending on December 31, 2021, Rs. 1,714,301,178,000 is for recurrent expenditure while Rs. 963,738,822,000 will be for capital expenditure.

The expenditure will be met from payments which are authorized to be made out of the Consolidated Fund or any other fund or moneys at the disposal of the Government and from borrowings made in the financial year 2021.

The limit on borrowings for the financial year 2021 has been set at Rs. 2,900 billion with the details of such loans to be incorporated in the Final Budget Position Report which is required to be tabled in parliament under Section 13 of the Fiscal Management (Responsibility) Act No. 3 of 2003.

The difference between the total short-term borrowing during the financial year 2021 and the total settlement of short-term borrowing made during the financial year 2021 shall only be considered in deciding the volume of short-term borrowing for the purposes of calculating the borrowing made during the financial year 2021 as specified by the Appropriations Bill.

Dr. Attygalle stated that the highest allocations in the Budget will be for the Ministry of Defense Rs. 355 billion (Rs. 355,159,250,000) of which Rs. 316 billion (Rs. 316,806,290,000) will go towards recurrent expenditure while capital expenditure is at Rs. 38 million (Rs. 38,352,960,000).

The State Ministry of Internal Security, Home Affairs and Disaster Management has been allocated around Rs. 152 billion (Rs. 130,818,002,000 for recurrent expenditure and Rs. 21,647,040,000 for capital expenditure).

The Ministry of Education has been allocated over Rs. 126 billion with over Rs. 102 billion (Rs. 102,670,000,000) towards recurrent expenditure and around Rs. 23 billion (Rs. 23,870,000,000) towards capital expenditure.

The Ministry of Health has been allocated around Rs. 159 billion but the bulk of the money around Rs. 128 billion (Rs. 128,480,998,000) will go towards capital expenditure while around Rs. 30 billion (Rs. 30,995,000,000) will go towards recurrent expenditure.

The Appropriations Bill provides for the financial year 2021; authorizes the raising of loans in or outside Sri Lanka for the purpose of such service; makes financial provisions in respect of certain activities of the government during the financial year; enables the payment by way of advances out of the Consolidated Fund or any other fund or monies, of or at the disposal of the Government, of monies required during that financial year for expenditure on such activities and provides for the refund of such monies to the Consolidated Fund and to make provision for connected matters.

It is a matter of fact that the government is keenly working to reduce the deficit to about four percent over the next few years.

Economists admit that it is impossible to reduce the budget deficit at once. But we hope to gradually reduce it from next year. One of the main reasons for the Budget deficit to increase to nine percent this year was unpaid bills by the State,” they asserted. Of the Rs. 242 billion that was owed, Rs. 226 billion has already been disbursed. Once these payments reach the rest of the economy, including banks, we are anticipating a resurgence of growth in the third and fourth quarters.”

State Minister of Finance, Capital Market and Public Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivaard Cabraal has dismissed predictions of doom. He said that those predictions failed to recognize and do justice to the ground reality of the ongoing rapid economic recovery backed by the vastly improved business confidence arising from the return of political and policy stability after a lapse of five years in Sri Lanka.

He charged that a leading global credit rating agency has unreasonably and in a biased manner, downgraded Sri Lanka’s Credit Rating without analyzing the ground realities of the national economy, mainly in the successful fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and economic reforms introduced by the new government.

During the three different phases of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government was compelled to impose a curfew in order to implement social distancing effectively to prevent the spread of the pandemic. While this has curtailed the spread of coronavirus, the downside of the move was that the entire economic sphere came to a standstill. The services sector, manufacturing and retail services have come to a halt. Although the public and private sector employees have been instructed to work from their residences during the period of the lockdown, only a very few economic activities could be carried out in such a manner.

Even though the Government has allowed agricultural production to continue unhindered, doubts about marketing the produce due to uncertainties surrounding the lifting of curfew hours, difficulties in obtaining fertilizer and other inputs, and worries about possible crop wastage due to lack of storage facilities prevented a substantial section of the farming community from harvesting.

The sectors that suffer the most are the daily wage earners and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), including those in the informal sector. The daily wage earners could be taken care of by the temporary welfare scheme of giving an Rs. 5,000 handout and supply of essential food items.

However, loss of economic contribution from MSMEs which account for a little over half of national employment would be a heavy loss to the Gross Domestic Production (GDP). The absence of any meaningful economic activity for a month or two will severely affect the well-being of those involved. Since daily wage earners and many MSME employees operate on thin margins and low levels of reserve savings, a prolonged lockdown without adequate support would lead to unemployment and a major loss to the GDP.

With these in mind, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has instructed that a post-Covid-19 economic strategy should be devised to minimize possible economic downturn due to the ceasing of almost most economic activities as a result of the coronavirus. The steps taken had enhanced employment opportunities in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), leading to lower social tensions. The resulting economic activities in the country would ensure a rise in government tax revenues.

Other steps to revive economic activities included fiscal steps to augment the small and medium sector, directing and providing facilities to the Department of Agriculture and to the Department of Agrarian Services to provide seeds, plants, fertilizer and equipment required for farming and encourage seed farming, use of organic fertilizer and home gardening as well as to grant loans to farmers through State banks. Budget 2021 is expected to continue these fiscal measures to ensure a speedy revival of economic activities in these vital sectors.

By P.K.Balachandran/Daily Express Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

While containment of China will be the core of his South Asian policy, Biden will try to meet the concerns of the countries here and make the US an alternative to China as a catalyst of economic development

Colombo, November 8: In the last few years, South Asia has become important for US policy on Asia given the fact that China has spread its tentacles in the region with huge investments in infrastructural projects.

The existing regional and global powers, namely India and the US, have also been apprehensive about China’s throwing its weight about in the Indian Ocean region just as it is doing in South China Sea. This is the reason why India and the US are harping on freedom of navigation and rule-based navigation and have formed the Quad” which is an anti-China alliance of the US, India, Japan and Australia.

Therefore, China is the main factor determining America’s relations with Asia, whether it is East Asia, South East Asia or South Asia. Bilateral relations with any of the countries in the region will be determined by that country’s relations or engagement with China.

Outgoing President Donald Trump had an aggressive approach to China, and, as often stated by his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, Trump’s goal was to dislodge the Chinese Communist Party’s from power in Beijing. In other words, the Trump Administration was going at China’s jugular. The US had made the conflict not just a fight between two nations but between two ideologies, democracy and communism, between good and evil. American’s trade and technology policies were hard-hitting and the language employed was harsh. In Colombo, Pompeo dubbed the Chinese Communist Party a predator” out to put fund receiving countries in a debt trap”. Pompeo’s idea was to sow seeds of fear in countries like Sri Lanka which are receiving huge dollops of development funding from China.

While Joe Biden will certainly attempt to contain China which is challenging America’s pre-eminence in the world, his methods will be different. Under his scheme, the emphasis will not just be on strategic/military cooperation but economic cooperation based on mutual gain. Biden is expected to put the US back in economic organizations like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) which Trump had quit. His aim will be to provide countries with a credible alternative to China’s allegedly debt trapping Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Unlike Trump, Biden does not see China as a sworn enemy but as a competitor”. His approach will be to convince China that it would be in its interest to reform its conduct in international affairs including the trade, technology and maritime sectors. He would not want to seek a regime change in Beijing but to get together all democratic countries to put pressure on Beijing to change its human rights, trade, technology and maritime policies. Though Biden used the word thug” to describe Chinese President Xi Jinping, he would refrain from using such epithets as President of the US.

Most importantly, instead of merely curbing China, as Trump did, Biden would improve the US’s own economic and technological capabilities. This he proposes to do not unilaterally, but through cooperation with allies and other democratic countries in a mutually beneficial manner. He would also lend an ear and accommodate the concerns and needs of the countries he would be befriending. This could mean that Biden would give these countries a better alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which allegedly spawns unsustainable debt. This will suit countries like Sri Lanka which want US investments and not just criticism for accepting Chinese funds for developing infrastructure.

India

India has a border row with China going back to 1959 and the two countries had fought a month-long war in 1962. India is irked by China’s growing ties with Pakistan with which it has fought three wars – two over Kashmir and one over Bangladesh. India is also hurt that China supports Pakistan on the issue of cross-border terrorism.

Like Trump, Biden too will support India against China and seek to enhance India’s participation in the Quad. But unlike Trump, he would be less keen on seeing India and China go to war because his overall approach to China would not be muscle flexing or sabre rattling but constructive diplomacy. This will prevent a Sino-Indian war.

Unlike Trump, who cared little for the Narendra Modi government’s alleged human rights violations in Kashmir and discriminatory policies on Muslims, Biden is expected to speak out on rights violations albeit without alienating Modi. Biden is most likely to put the US back in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which was shunned by Trump. This will be a shot in the arm for human rights advocates in India.

Impact of Iran Policy

Biden is expected to reverse Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran. US withdrawal from the deal had only resulted in Iran’s continuing its nuclear weapons program. To cajole Tehran to yield on the nuclear issue, Biden could go soft on the sanctions against Iran. This might result in India’s getting back its abandoned projects – namely, building the Chabahar port and the Chahabar-Zahedan railway and developing the Farzad-B gas field. This will help India regain its long-standing friendship with Iran.

Sri Lanka

Biden is expected to take up Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s suggestion to Mike Pompeo that the US should find ways of investing in the island nation instead of indulging in false propaganda that China is putting Sri Lanka in a debt trap.

Gotabaya and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena had given Pompeo a list of sectors in which American investment would be welcome. Biden is expected to take this offer seriously as he is interested in carrying democratic countries with him in his bid to make America friendly and relevant to all countries.

There is a fear in Sri Lanka that Biden will pillory Colombo on the human rights and ethnic reconciliation issues, especially after the US gets back into the UNHRC. Democrats have traditionally taken up rights issues. The Obama Administration had done that earlier vis-a-vis Sri Lanka.

There is a particular fear among the majority Sinhala community in Sri Lanka that Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris will take up the Tamil separatist” cause as she is half Tamil. The Tamil Diaspora must be working on her already, wrote HLD Mahindapala in The Sunday Observer of November 8.

However, while the Biden Administration will take up ethnic and reconciliation issues to prove its democratic credentials, it will not go hammer and tongs against the powerful and well-entrenched Gotabaya Rajapaksa government as it needs the Lankan government for its geo-strategic need to contain China in the Indian Ocean. Over time, it may try to rope strategically located Sri Lanka into the Quad.

Unlike Trump, Biden is keen on expanding existing alliances and not walking out of them. Biden might even agree to re-negotiate the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact which the Rajapaksa government wants re-negotiated.

Pakistan

Pakistan’s main concerns are ceaseless tension with India and unease with the slow progress in the peace process in neighboring Afghanistan. With Biden unlikely to be overtly friendly with India’s Narendra Modi, Pakistan could expect Modi to restrain himself in his dealings with it.

Like Trump, Biden is committed to withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan but not in a hurry as Trump wanted to. Like Trump he will encourage the Taliban and the Kabul government to reach a peace settlement as soon as possible while keeping a contingent of US troops to help the peace process. An unhurried US withdrawal and moves towards a peace settlement will be in Pakistan’s interest.

Committed to working through consensus, Biden might begin a dialogue with Islamabad and the all-powerful Pakistan army to ensure peace in Afghanistan and also to prevent Pakistan going over to China wholesale. He could encourage US investments. His commitment to lifting Trump’s ban on immigration from Muslim countries will help improve ties with Pakistan.

Nepal, Bangladesh and Maldives

US strategic and economic involvement in Nepal, Bangladesh and the Maldives is negligible as these countries come under the Indian umbrella. However, Biden will keep an eye on developments in these countries as Nepal shares a border with China and the Maldives is the gate keeper” of the Indian Ocean. The US is to establish an embassy in the Maldives.

By PTI Courtesy The New Indian Express

Fishermen association leader P Sesuraja appealed against destruction of the boats and said steps should be taken to return to their owners.

RAMESWARAM: A court in Sri Lanka has permitted officials to destroy several Indian mechanised fishing boats seized in the last 3-4 years for allegedly crossing into the island nation territory, officials here said on Sunday.

The court in Jaffna gave the orders for destroying 27 out of the 94 boats of fishermen from this region in Lankan custody, they said, quoting information received by them.

The development triggered tension in this island town and fishermen association leader P Sesuraja appealed against destruction of the seized boats and said steps should be taken to return to their owners.

Sri Lankan Navy had seized several boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen for allegedly fishing in their territorial waters in recent years.

Some of the seized boats had been released in batches in the past and brought back by the fishermen.

Courtesy Hiru News

Government Information Department states that the 35th COVID-19 death has been reported in Sri Lanka. Victim was a 78 year old Male. 

He was pronounced dead on admission to the Colombo National Hospital.

The post-mortem identified him to be infected with covid 19. The cause of death was pronounced as a heart attack due to covid 19.