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Another 227 have tested positive for COVID-19. All are close contacts
Therefore, the number of patients reported for the day has increased to 510.
Accordingly, the number of reported infections in the country has increased to 13,929.
Say what you like against Donald Trump, the man was a phenomenon. Whether the legacy he leaves behind is good or bad is a judgement that will be determined finally by those who will feel the impact of his regime in the years to come. Win or lose, (he is losing at the time of writing) he will be remembered as the leader who articulated and released the underlying undercurrents that had been dormant in the political landscape, awaiting a leader to take up the challenge. Trump is the leader that represented the subterranean forces which the pundit class had never expected to rise to levels raised by Trump. Though Trump seems to be doomed at the polls (midday – Friday) Trumpism he generated has the force to haunt US politics in the foreseeable future. One of his ambitions has been to make his mark in history. He would achieve that place as the most unorthodox, controversial and unpredictable president ever who bucked the system and won. In short, he has changed the style, the substance and the contours of American politics with the arrogance of an outsider spitting into the inside.
His aggressive confrontations have traumatised America and raised the political heat to a boiling point. In Michigan FBI has arrested six pro-Republican men who were plotting, with 200 men, to provoke a civil war leading to a societal collapse”. They were planning to abduct the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and try her for treason. As usual Donald Trump has been silent, refusing to condemn undemocratic violence which has the consent of the President. His call to the white supremacists to stand by” is ringing in their ears. The post-election period is threatening to be nasty and brutal.
A wounded Trump is not likely to lie low. Trump admitted at a recent press conference that he is a bad loser. Even before the votes have been counted he has been preparing the ground to find excuses for his loss. Predictably, he has been blaming his opponents. But even Republican lawyers have condemned his tactics of trying to undermine the democratic process. They said that his allegations of voter fraud and false declarations of victory are premature, baseless and reckless.” Against all odds he is going ahead with legal challenges believing that the Democrats had stolen victory from him. His capacity to believe in his own lies is an incurable disease which is sapping all his energies.
Refusing to concede to the rising tide against him he is hoping that he could stop the counting of votes coming in late and reverse the fate awaiting him. But the unrelenting developments are eroding his power by the minute. At the moment he is tilting at windmills, twittering fire at selected targets which are not going to work the way it did when he was in office. The danger is that he still has time to wreak havoc till January. He will be concentrating more on trying to save his back than the nation facing Coronaviurs-19 and the economy struggling alongside Coronavirus-19 to recover. But he seems to have run out of steam in mid-election. His election was rerun of the campaign against Hilary. He tried to revive the lock-her-up slogan against Biden but it did not click the way it did with Hilary. Against Hilary he was the rebel promising to clean up the swamp in the White House and Washington. This time around he was seen as the swamp. He threw mud at Biden but it did not stick the way it did against Hilary.
Nevertheless, he managed to garner over 70 million votes despite the massive onslaught from the mainstream media. In the main, his base has not abandoned him. Despite the race riots, despite the minorities crying I can’t breathe!’ echoing the words of George Floyd who was choking under the pressure of a Police knee, despite receiving the benefits of Obama care, and despite the deadly blows from Coronavirus-19 Trump received a substantial bloc of votes, particularly in Florida, to run a close race, running neck-and neck with Biden. The fact that he managed to be in the race against the massive mainstream media onslaught is a testimony to his bouncing energy and his instincts to read the mood of the electorate better than the pundit class.
His unbounded energy seems to flow from an inexhaustible inner source. He was like a multi-barrel gun firing non-stop. His below-the-belt red tie sits prominently on his protruding belly as a symbol of his below-the-belt politics. At 72 he is buoyed by self-belief of greatness in everything he does and in himself, in particular. He stands out as an unabashed egomaniac who is driven by the arrogant belief that he can do whatever he likes and get away with it. He has survived two divorces, one impeachment, 26 accusations of sex misconduct, and estimated hundreds of law suits on tax evasion charges. Many more cases of tax frauds are awaiting him in the Federal and State courts after he leaves the White House. And yet he hopes to carry on like Johnny Walker in whiskey bottle labels.
All this is at the personal level. The political man, despite all his missteps, misspeaks and monstrous mendacities has turned out to be the most fascinating political performer on the American stage. He, of course, belongs only to this age at this point of time. Other periods did not create the culture needed for a Trump to triumph. It is a populist cult that combines McCarthyism with Hooverism. This duo rose and survived in the fear-driven ethos of the Cold War. In an atmosphere of fear, it is easy to sell lies. Both McCarthyism and Trumpism thrives on lies. The fear of a red under the bed enabled McCarthy to manipulate and ride the fears of the day to his political advantage. . But they remained as a marginal cult, with considerable power no doubt. Tramp also has the Mc Carthyist tendency of lying through his teeth to create fear and thrive on fears of real and imaginary foes. He also has the Hooverish iron-fist to rule the roost with vindictive terror. Above all, he had crafted a new style of politics that has thrown tried and tested conventions and formulas into the winds. He has got away with never ending lies which has reduced fact-checkers to exhausted statisticians keeping useless records. His idiosyncratic style is in a class by itself. The pundit class overloaded with Cassandras are left puzzled by each unpredictable turn of events. The latest is stunning. When he got the first whiff of losing to Biden he ordered that the polling booths should stop counting. And he added even before the count had finished: ‘We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we
He steams and explodes like a volcano bubbling with hot lava from time to time to divert attention away from the problematic issues confronting him. He dances on the stage. He chants with the mob. He performs on the stage like an African leader railing and swinging to the rhythms of his tribe. He fires them up with hate politics. The symbiotic relationship is electrifying. It has been his effective counter-attack against the traditional forces, including some in the Republican Party, who had rejected from day one. He is plugged into his base – one of the most dynamic sources of hidden American power — as no other President in history” had done before, to use one of his favourite phrases. He is wont to compare himself with some figure in history to make him look like a unique figure destined to tower over the American giants that dominated history.
His power to polarise is magnetic. His them-vs.-us-politics” is designed to keep his electorate loose and tight – loose enough to cover a broad church of diverse ethnics and tight enough for his white base to follow him unswervingly as their leader. He acts as if America owes everything to him for its greatness. He rocks and he mocks as he markets the cheapest politics that has no relevance to the greatness of America either in the past or the present. On one occasion he claimed to be even greater than Abraham Lincoln, the revered holy father of American political culture. He parades as the enabler and the enforcer of all that is great in America without acknowledging that America has in reality dwindled in stature after he took over. He came promising to make America great but it is being dwarfed every day by China. Great leaders come up and thrive only in a culture that is conducive for the rise of greatness. The post-World War II culture that threw up the Roosevelts and the Kennedys seemed to have exhausted its power to produce greatness. After them came the loud-mouthed wheeler-dealers trying to make a fast buck either on their way to the White House or out of it.
Apart from his idiosyncratic style of governance Donald Trump has shown no brilliance in articulating or defining a noteworthy political philosophy. He is at his best when he twitters vituperative – and sometimes misspelt – remarks that tend to irritate more than enlighten the polity. He loved to strut the international stage as if he was going to be the next messiah arriving to fulfil the mission of being the world’s next saviour. His meeting with Kim Jon Un was the biggest theatrical flop which was full of sound and fury signifying nothing. His penchant for cohabiting with the dictators abandoning his traditional allies and global institutions did not take America anywhere except into the hell-holes of N. Korea and the Middle East. His misguided dabbling in foreign affairs has not added one smidgin of respect or stature to America’s standing in the international stage.
In essence, he represented the whitelash” of American racism. The white supremacists too were happy to embrace him as their messiah. America has embraced Trump as the man who had come to fulfil the needs of their time. And he too is playing up to that expectations with his rhetoric, theatrics, swagger and lies. In appearance he resembles more like Mussolini than Hitler – the man who made the trains on time. Trump was equally committed to build walls and keep the people apart rather than open the doors to communal harmony.
Halting and reversing Trumpism is the main task before Biden. He has to begin by discarding the mumbo-jumbo of medieval science and bring back America to the 21st century. He will have to tell the God-loving policy-makers in the Senate that Jesus did no charge a cent for giving sight to the blind and healing the sick. He will have to make the Americans understand that if their Constitution guarantees equality to all men, and if all men are entitled to life, liberty and happiness then all Americans are entitled to the same kind of treatment that Trump got when he was hospitalized for Coronavid-19. He will have to go all out to deal with Corona virus with courage and scientific evidence.
Coming nearer to home, the new President has become more relevant to Sri Lanka more than Trump. Trump’s policies were confined mainly to the overall strategic interests of America in the Indian Ocean Rim. America tended to keep a distance without interfering too heavily in the internal affairs. America’s interests in Sri Lanka were focused on balancing its interest with China. But with the coming of Biden a new element has crept in : his Vice-President, Kamala Harris with direct Indian connections linked to Sri Lankan Tamils. Her presence in the White House has added a new dimension and a deeper meaning to US-Sri Lanka relations. Her personal links to the Tamils, and India in general, can play a significant role in future relations with the White House. Naturally, this is likely to generate new and deeper interests in Sri Lankan affairs. The new Biden-Harris thrust into Sri Lankan affairs is likely to come from the usual human rights and minority rights issues. The hired moralists in NGOs too would gladly join the American bandwagon knowing that there is funding available in the NGO market to crank up American interests disguised as human and minority rights.
Her presence in the Oval Office can make all the difference to Sri Lanka. The well-oiled Tamil lobby in USA now has a golden opportunity which the Tamils never had before: a direct line to the White House. It is gift made in heaven for the Tamils. Her role cannot be underestimated as the 78-yer-old President may not be able to bear the weight of the increasing burdens of office. This means that she is likely to take on a greater share of foreign policy. One can even expect an early visit from Kamala Harris to Sri Lanka with guided tours in the North to convince her that the Sinhala state” has been nasty to the Tamils. Besides, in the most unlikely event of something happening to the President Biden (absit omen!) she is the next in line to step into his shoes. So, the real and the potential power of Kamala Harris has to be weighed in every step of the way.
Since the Tamil diaspora is quick to grab any opportunity that comes their way they would have made moves early in the elections campaign to infiltrate her domain. In the previous election they ran a campaign openly declaring Tamils for Hilary” hoping to get into the White House through her. They were also heavy contributors to Democratic Party fund. The Tamil diaspora consists of seasoned campaigners who know when and where to sow their seeds to reap the harvest later. Knowing that they have a sympathetic ear in the White House now they would move with all their resources to exploit Kamal Harris to pull out their political chestnuts from the fire.
Besides, Delhi too will have easy access to the White House through her to craft common programs that would serve the foreign policy objectives of both parties, particularly with the new Quad playing a central role in managing the Indo-Pacific region. In other words, the international pressure on Sri Lanka is bound to increase, with both India and America operating jointly to twist Sri Lanka’s arm. The Indo-American combination is likely to come down like a ton of bricks on Sri Lanka. The likely outcome of this will be to throw Sri Lanka into the arms of China in a big way.
There is no other pathway for Sri Lanka to prevent any likely moves to interfere in its sovereignty and internal affairs. Any attempt to meddle in the internal affairs will open up the Pandora’s box all over again. Of course, both America and India are aware that the IPKF misadventure in Sri Lanka was America’s Vietnam, all over again. Any direct intervention is most likely open the door for China to step in. The Tamils, on their part, will move heaven and earth to get America involved on their behalf. In addition to the American Congressmen and the Senators in their lobby they now have a Vice-President too.
Sri Lankan diplomacy will have to rethink its responses to the emerging situation. The Tamils too are likely to seize the opportunity and go out all to increase pressure. Some provocateurs might even instigate internal violence to destabilise the nation, hoping to benefit by it. This, it must be emphasized, represents only a likely scenario not an inevitability. The fear is that personal relationship can develop and pave the path into harmful ends. While the personal relationships tend to come and go the ground situations created by personal relationships can remain with devastating consequences. The Biden-Harris administration has a greater responsibility and duty to pursue foreign policy on the tried and tested ground realities to stabilise a volatile region rather than pursue polices based on personal preferences that may spell disaster to all parties concerned.
The US is an exceptional country that is different from and superior to all other countries, say admirers of the USA. I always thought that Europe and North America had it figured out. I saw them as Utopia,” a commentator from Buenos Aires told TIME. She changed her mind after the Corona virus. Here are some other not-so-lovely aspects of the USA.
The US Presidential election, which is going on, as I write, is a historic one for USA and USA watchers. It has thrown up a hostile, divided America unlike anything ever seen before. Party supporters are fighting on the streets while the counting is going on. In Arizona, groups were waving Trump flags and carrying guns. Concrete barricades had been put in front of the White House. Shop fronts were boarded up expecting violence after the final result was announced.
After a four year dose of Donald Trump, America found to its surprise that a considerable segment of the population is still for Trump. At one point the voting was 50.5% for Biden (73,486,646 votes) and 47.9. % for Trump (69,622, 185 votes).
Trump had tapped into the public dissatisfactions lying just beneath the surface. USA was no longer a booming economy, people were impoverished and Trump’s policies appealed to them. Trump supporters liked Trump’s policy of America First. Trump had cut taxes, removed regulations that hampered business, raised military spending, exactly as he promised. Trumpism is here to stay said analysts. Trump practiced racism and protectionism, said his opponents.
The term Divided States of America” was used in 2016 in an essay in the New York Times. The author said instead of being a two-party nation, USA is becoming two one-party nations. Frontline did a documentary in 2017 on Obama’s administration and titled it Divided States of America”.
When the 2020 Presidential election results started to come in TV anchors used the title Divided states of America”. They said that USA is a deeply divided nation that needs healing. Who can reunite and reconcile this bitterly divided nation, asked Deutsche Welle on its ‘To the point’ programme. Sri Lanka will laugh. The US used these exact words for Sri Lanka. US said that Sri Lanka was a bitterly divided nation which needs to be reconciled.
TIME notes that there are dynasties of a sort in American politics. Rodney Frelinghuywn, Republican representative for New Jersey is a descendant of a line of public servants going back to the Congress in 1779. In 1970 25% of the Congress members had a close relative who served in Congress. In recent years roughly 1 in 10 members of Congress has had a close relative who has served in the Capitol. In the Senate at least 25 members have some political family history, said TIME in 2013.
In the US Congress, Senators use ‘filibuster’ to delay passing of bills. The filibuster tactic has prevented important bills from becoming law. Filibuster means talking and talking to delay the vote on a bill. Senators are permitted to speak for as long as they wish, and on any topic they choose, unless 60% of the Senate gets fed up and vote to end the discussion.
US Congress permits lobbying by interested parties, when new laws are placed before Congress. This lobbying is legal. Lobbying is considered to come under the First Amendment and is part of ‘participatory democracy,’ representing the interests of the ‘citizens’.
However, most of the lobbying is by corporations and businesses. They hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to look after their interests in Congress. In 2017, New York Times reported that Devon Energy, an oil and gas company and Talen Energy a coal burning electric utility fought environmental regulations, including the landmark Clean Power plan. Lobbyist of the Association of Builders and Contractors focused on legislation on overtime pay, and workmen wages for government contracts.
In 2019, lobbyists spent USD 3.47 billion on influencing policy. Lobbyists were able to get exemptions worth billions inserted into legislation governing trade, job safety or industry subsidies.
Lobbyists are registered with Congress. It is a paid activity. In 2009, it was estimated that there were 13,700 registered lobbyists, in Washington. There are more than 20 registered lobbyists for every Member of Congress. Most are deployed to block anything that would tax, regulate or otherwise threaten a wealthy company, said TIME.
Lobbyists made good money. One lobbyist had received more than USD 350,000 in payments in 2014 and 2015 from a dozen different pharmaceutical companies. In 2017, one lobbyist worked for 10 different health care companies, lobbying the Medicare billing rules as well as rules for health care supplier accreditations.
In USA the law courts are central to American life, not simply to American law, said the Economist. The judiciary shapes American life by its decisions, said TIME. Courts in USA, specially the Supreme Court, are increasingly politicized, said critics. They are appointed according to their politics. Analysts therefore speak of the ‘slant’ of the Supreme Court. Republicans are in control of the Supreme Court and the Federal judiciary now said an analyst in November 2020. ”
The political and religious affiliations of Supreme Court judges are known publicly and the judges are expected to make Supreme Court rulings according to their biases. When Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, recently, there was speculation about her replacement. If Trump’s nominee is selected then six of the nine will be conservative, said analysts. If so, the new judge could be the deciding vote on cases to strike down the Affordable care Act and the abortion law.
Amy Coney Barrett was appointed to the Supreme Court in place of Ginsburg. She belongs to a religious community which is against abortion. Analysts also observed that Judge Barrett’s confirmation to the lifelong post will favor Republicans in politically sensitive cases that will come to Supreme Court for decades to come”. In USA a Supreme Court judge is appointed for life.
Progressive legislation does not always have a smooth ride in the USA. The pro-abortion Roe vs Wade” law has still not been fully accepted. Roe v. Wade was a landmark legal decision issued on January 22, 1973, in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute banning abortion, effectively legalizing the procedure across the United States. But this statute has been challenged, over and over again. Americans are divided on the matter. Many states have imposed restrictions that weaken abortion rights.
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), intended to guarantee equal rights for women through an amendment to the Constitution, has not been ratified. In 1972, it passed both houses of Congress and was submitted to the state legislatures for ratification. It seemed headed for quick approval until women groups opposed it, arguing that the ERA would affect certain laws which favored housewives , mothers and working women. The amendment received 35 of the necessary 38 state ratifications but five of these later withdrew. The amendment did not become part of the Constitution. However, ERA has not been abandoned. Supporters are working on it.
‘Freedom of speech’ is not so free in USA. American Higher Education Research Institute found that due to the emphasis on ‘political correctness’ there are now doubts about the right answer, and teachers talk about they really think only in secret. Many University lecturers worry that saying or doing something that students object too, could lead to complaints and they could lose their jobs. Some academics have had to resign because their observations were considered inacceptable.
The Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority was removed from his post because he sounded the alarm about the Corona virus in early January, 2020 and raised health concerns over a drug repeatedly pushed by President Trump as a possible cure for Corona virus. He said that he had been asked to buy drugs and medical products for the nation’s stockpile of emergency medical equipment from companies that were linked politically to the administration and that he resisted such efforts.
The captain of U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt”, Capt. Brett E. Crozier wrote a letter In March 2020 to the Pentagon direct, by passing the routine channels. He said that corona virus outbreak aboard his ship was spreading fast, dozens of sailors had been infected, more needed to be done to remove 5,000 sailors from the carrier docked in Guam. The media published the letter. Crozier was promptly relieved of his command. There were not enough beds in Guam to accommodate the entire crew, explained the Navy. (continued)
ඉහත මාතෘකාව යටතේ මා ලියූ ලිපියක්, 2009 ජූනි 22 දා අයිලන්ඩ් පුවත් පතේත් (http://pdfs.island.lk/2009/06/22/p6.pdf), එහි සංශොධිත කොපියක් 2012 පෙබරවාරි 15 දින ලංකාවෙබ් වෙබ් අඩවියේත් පලවිය. කරුණු කීපයක් නිසා මෙම ලිපිය දැනටත් ඉතා වැදගත්ය: (1) 13- ඒ ප්ලස් පියා ලෙස සැළකෙන දයාන් ජයතිලක මහතා ප්රමුඛ, පරණ යටත් විජිත කැබලිකිරීමේ හා ඒවායේ කළුසුද්දන්ට හීනමානය ආරූඪ කිරීමේලා අළුත් උපාය මාර්ග දෙකක් වන, <නන්මැජෝරිටේරියන්>, <ආර්.ටූ.පී> කතාවල ලෝකල් ඒජන්තලා කල්ලියක් බිහිවී සිටී. මොවුන් විසින්, මේ දිනවල, දිනපතාම වාගේ, 13-ඒ වෙනුවෙන් ඉංග්රීසි ලිපි ලියමින්, නැගී එන මිශ්ර සිංහලබෞද්ධ අන්තවාදයක් හා මිලිටරිවාදයක් ඉදිරියේ ගෝඨාභයගෙන්, ඉන්දියාවේ මෝඩි ලවා 13-ඒ රැකගත යුතුයයි තර්ක කරමින් සිටී. මෙහිලා ටී.එන්.ඒ. කාරයින්, විග්නේෂ්වරන් හා පොන්නම්බලම් එකමුතුව සටන් කල යුතුයයි දයාන් ඔවුන්ට උපදෙස් දෙමින් සිටී.
(2) අනික නම් 2015-19 යහපාලනයෙන් ඉතිරිව ඉන්නා පඬරැල් හෙවත් විරුද්ධ පක්ෂය සත පහකට වැඩක් නැති නරුමයින් පිරිසක් බව ඔවුන්ගේ ක්රියාවලින් පෙනීයාමය. මොවුන් රට රැකීම නොව කුමණ අක්කාරයකින්, කොරෝනා මිණී උඩින් හෝ, ආණ්ඩුව බකල් කිරීම තම කාරිය යයි සිතන, දයාන් තම න්යායාචාරියා ලෙස සිතන බාල-මහළු පිරිසක්ය. ඒ නිසා දයාන්ලාට දෙන උත්තර ඔවුන්ටද අදාලය. ඔවුන් හා (අද්මිරාල් සරත් වීරසේකර හා තව කීපදෙනෙකුට අමතරව), ආණ්ඩුපක්ෂයේ මන්ත්රී පංචස්කන්ධ මෙම කාරණා දැනගැනීමේ ඇති වටිනාකමය.
(3) සමහර විට මෙහිදී වැදගත්ම කරුණ නම් දැනට පත්කර ඇති ව්යවස්ථා සම්පාදන විද්වත් කමිටුවේ සාමාජිකයින් 9 දෙනාගෙන් 8 ක් දෙනෙක්ම නීතීඥයින් වීමය. රටේ ඉතිහාසය හා භූගෝල විද්යව පිළිඹඳව ඔවුන්ට ඇති දැණුමට අදාලව ඇති සැකයය. පාසැල් වලින් මේ විෂයයන් දෙක ඉවත් කිරීම සිදුවූයේ සිරිමා අගමැති කාලයේ බදිුද්දීන් ඇමති යටතේය. ඇමෙරිකාවේ මෙන් නීති ශිෂ්යයෙක් නම් ඊට පෙර වෙනත් ප්රථම උපාධියක් ලංකාවේදී ඉල්ලන්නේ නැත. මේ නිසා ලංකාවේ නීතිඥයින්, නීතිය නමැති රේල්පාරේ යන කෝච්චි වැනිය. ඔවුන් හා වෛද්යවරුන් අතර වෙනසක් නැත. මියගිය, විනිශ්වයකාර, මහාචාර්ය සී. ජී වීරමන්ත්රි වැනි මීට ව්යාතිරේකවන අය ඇත්තේ සුළු පිරිසකි. කමිටුවේ ඉන්නා කොළඹ ලෝ ෆැකල්ටි එකේ අයද රේල්පාරේම ගිය අය මිස, එහි සිටින එක නිතීඥයෙක් නොවන සාමාජිකයා වන ජී. එච් පීරිස් විශ්රාමලත් මහාචාර්යවරයා මෙන් සමාජ පර්යේෂණ කල බහුශ්රැතයෙක් නොවේ. පොතේ ඇති නීතිය හා ක්රියාවේ යෙදෙන නීතිය යන දෙකේ වෙනස දැනගත හැක්කේ ක්ෂේත්ර සමීක්ෂණාදිය මඟිනි.
මේ නිසා මේ කමිටුවට වෙනත් විෂයයන් ගැන විශාරද දැනුමක් ඇති අයවද ඇතුලත් නොකිරීම බරපතල අඩුපාඩුවක් යනු මගේ මතය වන්නේ භූගෝල විද්යාව හා නීති විද්යාව සසඳමින් මා කල පශ්චාත් උපාධි දෙකෙන් ලද අත්දැකීම් නිසාය. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන්, මෙම ලිපියේ සඳහන් වන මායා චඩ්ඩගේ (1997) කෘතිය මෙම කමිටුවේ සාමාජිකයින් වන නීතිවිද්යා ගුරුවරු කී දෙනෙක් කියවා ඇද්ද කියා මට සැක සිතේ. මේ නිසා මෙවැනි කරුණු ඇතුලත් මා ලියූ පරණ ලිපි කමිටු ලේකම් හරහා ඔවුන්ට යැවීමට මම බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමි.
කරුණානිධිගේ ජීවිත කතා පොත (2020)
1997 චඩ්ඩ ගේ පොතෙන් මා ඉගෙනගත් දේට අමතරව, ටැමිල්නාඩ් මහaැමතිව සිටි කරුණානිධි හා එම්.ජී. රාමචන්ද්රන් ගැන 13-ඒ ට අදාල විස්තර, මා දුටුවේ කරුණානිධිගේ පොත ගැන ස්ක්රොල්.ඉන් (නොවැම්බර් 3, 2020) වෙබ් අඩවියේ පළවූ සාරාංශයකිනි. අවුරුදු 2600 ක ලිඛිත ඉතිහාසයක් ඇති ලංකාවේ විශාල ජීවිත විනාශයකට ලෝභ-ද්වේෂ-මෝහයෙන් පිරි පංචස්කන්ධ අතලොස්සක් දායකවූ හැටි කෙතරම් ඛෙදජනකද? මේවා පුදගලික කෝන්තර උඩ සිදුවූදේය. ජේ. ආර්. (හා ආර්. ප්රේමදාස) විසින් ඇමෙරිකාවට පන්දම් ඇල්ලීමත්, සිරිමා හිටපු අගමැතිනිට දුන් වධ හීංසා නිසාත්, තමාට හා තමාගේ පුත් සංජයට, එළදෙන හා වස්සා යයි, හරක් මුත්රා බිව් ඉන්දියා අගමැති මොරාජි දේශායි (1977-8) සමඟ එකතුව උපහාසයෙන් කතාකිරීමත් නිසා ඉන්දිරා ගාන්ධි ප්රභාකරන්ලාට මිසයිල් පවා දුන්නේ ජේ ආර්ගෙන් පලිගන්නය. දැන් මෝඩි ඇමෙරිකාව සමඟ එකතුව ලංකාවට ඔච්චන් කරන්නේය. හරක් මුත්රා බොන අය ඔහු සමඟද සිටින්නේය!
ටැමිල්නාඩ් නාට්යය යනු චිත්රපටි නළු-නිළියන් මාරුවෙන් මාරුවට මහaැමති වීමය. එහි ලංකාවට අදාල (1987 රජිව්-ජේ.ආර් ගිවිසුම හා 13-ඒ සම්බන්ධ), එක් ජවනිකා අවධියක් කරුණානිධිගේ පොතේ හැටියට මෙසේය:
1969 දී ඇන්නදොරෙයි මියගිය පසු කරුණානිධි ප්රධාන ඇමති විය;
1981 මැයි 31 යාපනේ පුස්තකාලයට ගිනි තැබීම;
1981 න් පසු කරුණානිධි හා ලංකාවේ කඳුකරයේ උපන්,එම්. ජී. රාමචන්ද්රන් වෙන වෙනම අගමැති ඉන්දිරා මුණගැසීම;
1986 මැයි 4-කරුණානිධි විසින්, ටැමිල් ඊළම් සපෝටර්ස් සංවිධානය, මදුරෙයි නගරයේදී කැඳවීම;
1986 මැයි 6- ප්රභාකරන් විසින්, ටෙලෝ නායක සබාරත්නම්ව මුදාහරින ලෙස කරුණානිධිකල ඉල්ලීම නොසලකා, මරා දැමීම නිසා, කරුණානිධිට ඇතිවූ කළකිරීම;
එම්.ජී.ආර්, ප්රභාකරන්ට කෝටි හතරක් දීම, එහෙත් ප්රභාගේ අකීකරු හැසිරීම, මේ නිසා ප්රභාට දුන් අවි ආයුධ ආපසු ගන්නා ලෙස (කන්ෆිස්කේට්) එම්.ජී.ආර් විසින් පොලිස්පති මෝහන් දාස්ට අණකිරීම (මේ වනවිට මහaැමති එම්.ජී,ආර් ය).
මීට විරුද්ධව ප්රභා උපවාසයක් ඇරඹූ විට කරුණානිධි හා ඉන්දියා ආණ්ඩුව ප්රභාගේ පැත්ත ගැනීම. ප්රභාලාගේ සෙල්ෆ් ඩිෆෙන්ස් සඳහා ඒවා අවශ්යය යන තර්කය. මේ නිසා ඒවා ආපසු දීම.
සියළුම ඊළම් සටන් කාර පාර්ශව ගෙන්වා රජිව් ගාන්ධි පැවැත්වූ සාකච්චාවට ප්රභා ගෙන්වා ගන්නට එම්.ජී.ආර් අසමත්විය;
1987 ජූලි 29- ජේ. ආර්.-රජීව් ගිවිසුම, ඉන්දීය ආම හමුදාව යැවීමට ජූනි 2 දා එම්.ජී.ආර් එකඟවීම (මේ වනවිට එම්.ජී.ආර් කොන්ග්රස් පක්ෂය හා මිත්රව සිටියේය);
ප්රභා සැළකුවේ සාම හමුදාව ඔහුගේ ගමනට අවහිරයක් ලෙස්ටය;
නැවතත් මහ ඇමතිවූ කරණානිධි සාම හමුදාව ආපසු කැඳවන ලෙස ඉල්ලා සිටියේ එය දමිළයින් මරණවා යන තර්කය නඟමින්ය;
1989 දී වී. පී. සිං (ජනතා ඩාල් කෝලිෂන් ගවර්න්මන්ට්) අගමැතිවීම;
සාම හමුදාව ආපසු චෙන්නායි වලට ආවිට ඔවුන් පිළිගන්නට කරුණානිධි ආවේ නැත;
කරුණානිධි, ප්රභාගේ ඝාතන ක්රියාවලට විරුද්ධ වුවත්, ඒවා නතර කිරීමට ක්රියාකලේ නැත.
මෙවැනි කාරණා දෙස බලන විට, එනම් ටැමිල්නාඩ් නළුවන්ගේ පදයට නැටූ දිල්ලි දේශපාලකයින්ගේ පඹයින් ලෙස හැසුරුණු ඒකාලයේ ලංකාවේ පක්ෂ දේශපාලකයින්, දැන් කෑ ගසන දයාන් වැනි කළු සුද්දන්, පරණ යහපාලන දේශපාලක ගැත්තන්, 13-ඒ බදාගෙන කරණ නිදිමැරිල්ල, දැඟලිල්ල, මානව හිමිකම්, නන්මැජෝරිටේරියන්-ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදය හරහා රට කැබලිකිරීමට දෙන උදව් මොනතරම් ලංකාවේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ ශිෂ්ටාචාරයට එරෙහිව කරණ දුෂ්ඨ ක්රියාවක්ද?
Police powers under the 13th Amendment: A rare example
Posted on February 15th, 2012
C. Wijeyawickrema
Leo Perera’s summary essay ‘The 13th Amendment to the Constitution – Devolution of Public Order and exercise of Police powers – Indo-Lanka Accord has no such requirement’ (The Island Newspaper, 6/10/2009) explaining (1) the conflict between 13-A and 17-A, and (2) the failed past attempts during the colonial times (1892-1905) to implement police powers by Government Agents at the Province-level, is a significant contribution especially due to three new developments we see today. These developments indicate that Tamil separatism is buried and not dead. The lucrative, many-faceted international network created by Prabakaran is rapidly raising its head again ironically, blaming the dead man for his undemocratic (inhuman?) acts!
All three developments are linked to the 13-A or a 13-A plus formula, which will open the path for Eelam by devolution sooner or later. (1) UN-SG Ban Ki-Moon as well as some Indian politicians tries to pin” President Rajapaksa to a promise” they say he made to them before the end of the war. The hint is that he will agree to Tamil group rights in a homeland, which was the apparent goal behind the 13-A passed in 1987. (2) Suresh Premachandran of the TNA now in crisis makes an interesting proposition, which is: Give rule of our province to us in a unitary state” (Lanka-e-News, 6/14/2009). He thinks replacing the words United Sri Lanka by Unitary Sri Lanka would cure all the worries of the majority people in the island against the 13-A! (3) The plan to have an Eelam government in exile by those who inherited Prabakaran’s international dowry (all kinds of business enterprises including drug manufacture, drug trafficking, gun running and money laundering) will be a pain in the neck for the IDP Tamils, village Tamils and the GOSL.
====http://pdfs.island.lk/2009/06/22/p6.pdf
As Leo Perera explained (1) the legal jargon in 13-A (1987) completely politicized the Provincial police, and (2) the legal jargon in 17-A, expected to depoliticize the Police Force. What kind of mad politics was this? To quote Leo Perera:
Under 13-A, the DIG of the Province was the Chief Minister’s nominee, with the DIG, the Chief Minister had two nominees in the three-member Provincial Police Commission, and the DIG was responsible to and under the control of the Chief Minister in the maintenance and the exercise of police powers in the Province. It removed all the powers the President had in respect of the Police Force at the national level and the powers the President had under the 13th Amendment at provincial levels. But it failed to completely depoliticize the Police Force at the provincial level…”
…The 17th Amendment (2001) did not amend Appendix I item 4 (of 13-A) which provided for a nominee of the Chief Minister to be in the Provincial Police Commission, item 6 which required the IGP to appoint the DIG of the Province with the concurrence of the Chief Minister, and, item 11:1 which made it mandatory for the DIG of the Province to be responsible to and under the control of the Chief Minister in respect of the maintenance of public order and the exercise of police powers in the Province. It is submitted that it is a very serious anomaly to depoliticize the Police at the national level and to keep the Police politicized at the provincial level as practical police work is done at provincial levels and in that respect the 17th Amendment was an amateurish exercise in depoliticizing the Police Force…”
India and Europe
Nehru did not like the idea of language-based state boundary demarcation. In 1956, he agreed to it reluctantly, when a Telegu politician began a fast unto death! The treacherous two-India (two-nation) plan of the colonial master in India received official recognition with the 1935 Government of India Act, and from then onward the communal cancer could not be stopped. Ali Jinnah had the nerve to tell Gandhi, Mr. Gandhi, you worship the cow, and we eat the cow, how can we be friends?”
But because India is a sub-continent as big as the Western Europe, one can argue that language-based regions were unavoidable. It is like German, French, and Italian language regions in Europe. On top of that was the fact that Hindi was a newer language compared to Tamil, Telegu or Bengali. Hindi was spoken between 30-40% Indians when it was made the official language in 1949 with a majority of just one vote. Therefore, 13-A cannot be justified in Sri Lanka applying the standards of Indian politics or Indian geography to a tiny island.
Hindia and Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu was the only state which had a set of politicians with an inferiority complex in not accepting Hindi as the Indian official language. Gandhi used to ridicule Tamil politicians for not learning Hindi. It was also the only region which asked the colonial master to create a separate country for them (a Dravidasthan). Under the Indian F” system, education, land and police powers are state functions. The implementation of a unifying language policy (Hindi was made the official language for unifying the country under one language and not to kill other languages) by teaching Hindi in schools was prevented for some time by Tamil Nadu politicians because the state controlled education.
Tamil Nad police and IPKF
Quoted below is a rare example of how ‘hostile’ provincial police officers could sabotage, a larger national plan, whether the plan is reasonable or not. One can imagine how grave the situation will become in the case of Sri Lanka, considering the fact that there will always be separatist-minded Tamil elements in Colombo, Killinochchi, Malayanadu, and Tamil Nadu, helped with the money from the LTTE government in exile. There will also be a set of white politicians from the UK, the EU, Norway, Canada and the US helping them separately, jointly or using UN agencies as a veil. These politicians are not Mother Theresas overflowing with humanitarian love for the Tamil IDPs, but scheming persons who want to tap the Tamil block vote to win their local elections. Humiliation they are now suffering at the hands of the Sri Lankan government by way of deportation etc. would therefore not stop their political behaviour.
…The decision to wage a war against the LTTE was not an easy one for Rajiv Gandhi. Nor was he oblivious to the cruel irony in being forced to crush the very elements he and Indira had nurtured with care and money. Rajiv could abandon neither the Tamils nor could he support its chief representative, i. e. the LTTE…”
…Confrontation with the LTTE had followed from the need to maintain relational control and to restore balance of forces between the various actors in Indo-Lanka relations. That the balance was in danger is clear from the account of the IPKF operations by Field Commander Sardeshpande:
…We gathered credible intelligence through smugglers, boatmen- about exact bungalows, lanes, hospitals, beds, towns, cities and helpers of the LTTE cadres, convalescing Tigers, gunrunners and manufacturers of explosive devices and grenades and gave it to the Tamil Nadu police, only to be told that there were no such individuals and no such activities! We told them that the LTTE cadres after enjoying India’s shelter and medical treatment were returning to Sri Lanka and killing IPKF soldiers. All this made no impression on the Tamil Nadu government and the police. This was the tragicomedy played out on our own country…”
…Facing an impasse in Tamil Nadu and fearing its deleterious impact on the IPKF role in Sri Lanka, the Central Government, on January 1988 imposed President’s Rule in the state.”
From Ethnicity, security, and separatism in India by Maya Chadda, 1997, p. 169
What Sri Lanka needs is not language-based spatial units with Tamil police stations in the south. Belgium, Northern Ireland, and Scotland are all examples of how language or religion-based arrangements will not work even after 100 years of experimenting. In the US, 13 colonies did not join together as language units. German was going to be the official language of the US! Now in the Mexican border regions, with larger concentrations of Hispanic-speaking people, the old debate of making English the official language in USA has renewed. Whether students should be taught in English or it should be bi-lingual is the new issue due to the requirement that schools must show results of student learning under the No Child Left Behind Law passed in 2001.
In 1983, in Sri Lanka, the IGP, all the DIGs and the Attorney General were all Tamils. Tamil terrorists threw CID Inspector Bastianpillai into an abandoned well. He behaved as a police officer and not as a Tamil. Similarly, what Sri Lanka should do is not 13-A or 13-A plus, but recruit and train Tamil police officers on a national basis and employ them all over the island. When both Sinhala and Tamil police officers know both Sinhala and Tamil, they will become real peace officers. Why is this so difficult an idea for the Colombo crowd to understand is puzzling? When Anton Balasingham agreed to a federal solution giving up Eelam at the 2002 Oslo meeting, the then GOSL and its NGO agents celebrated it as a golden opportunity and a paradigm shift in Prabakaran’s thinking. Maybe characters with this kind of self-imposed foolishness are still lurking in the dark in some ministry corridors in Colombo.
(Karunanidhis’ biography indicates that IPKF was withdrawn, not because R. Premadasa demanded so!)
Supreme Head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (May Allah strengthen his hands) made an appeal for special prayers during his Friday Sermon delivered on 6th November 2020, at Masjid Mubarak, Islamabad, Tilford, U.K.
His Holinesssaid that we pray for ourselves and our Community, but we must also pray for the entire Muslim world. There are some world leaders who harbour malice and spread very negative thoughts and ideas regarding Islam. These days, rather than believing in God, these leaders consider the general public to be their god and change their policies and their statements according to their wishes. They lead their people astray by proclaiming that there is no God, whilst they consider the people whom they lead to be everything. Even if they do not explicitly make such comments, they harbour prejudice towards Islam, and the general public is also against Islam due to being unaware of its true teachings. Hence it is the duty of Ahmadi Muslims to present the true image of Islam.
His Holinesssaid that in recent days, the French President openly made comments against Islam, saying that it is in ‘crisis.’ If anything is in crisis it is their own religion; that is if they even adhere to any religion. As far as Islam is concerned, it is a living, growing and prospering religion. God Almighty has ensured that it continues to spread throughout the world, and as a result of the efforts made by the Community of the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, it is spreading to all the corners of the earth.
Ahmadiyya Khalifa said that these anti-Islamic forces and individuals are able to attack Islam in this manner because they are aware that there is no unity in the Muslim world. His Holiness commended the Canadian Prime Minister, who refuted that comments of the French President, saying that comments which explicitly injure the religious sentiments of others should be abstained from. His Holinesssaid that if only other world leaders could think like the Canadian Prime Minister and to act upon it to ensure the peace and security of the world. His Holinesssubsequently prayed for the Canadian Prime Minister.
His Holinesssaid that if the Muslim world had been united, then never would such forces rise against Islam. Muslim countries are all against one another but if the world could see them united, they would never commit such acts, nor would a newspaper publish heinous depictions of the Holy ProphetMuhammad (PBUH). His Holinesssaid that a few years ago, when such cartoons were published, some Muslim countries raised a hue and cry for some time and announced they would boycott their products, but then it all disappeared within a few months. It was in fact the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community which responded in the true, Islamic fashion which was appreciated by people and leaders around the world. In truth, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continues these efforts today and states in response that the actions of a few misguided people cannot be regarded as the true Islam. It is not the place of any world leader to label the actions of a few people as Islam, or to label Islam as being in ‘crisis’ and that they will continue to fight against the religion. It is in fact such people who incite the emotions and actions of others. His Holinesssaid that publishing such cartoons surely injures the sentiments of any true Muslim; and if they continue to publish such things and remain persistent in their actions, then they themselves are inciting others to commit unlawful acts. Yet, these are things which are labelled as ‘freedom of expression’. Thus, it is the non-Muslim world which incites these actions.
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad continued to say that in a series of previous sermons, he highlighted what the true response of true Muslims should be in such situations, and this was much appreciated by the world. Above all, His Holinesssaid that we must continue sending Durood [salutations] upon the Holy Prophet(PBUH) and continue to pray. No matter how much we may be opposed by Muslim clerics, we will continue to defend and spread the true message of Islam. The killing of three or four people is only an expression of momentary, misguided passion. Such acts however, do not present any real solution to the problem. If Muslims world desires a true and permanent solution, then the entire Muslim world must unite as one. In response to the French President’s comments, a Turkish President and a few other leaders have made some comments. However, the impact of such comments is nothing compared to the impact of a response from a united Muslim world. Some say that the French President changed some of his statements in light of the response from the Turkish President, however desire this, he remained firm in his stance against Islam. If all the Muslim countries had united and raised their voice as one, then the French President would have been compelled to seek forgiveness and repent.
Ahmadiyya Supreme Head (Khalifa) said that we must pray for the Muslim world to at least be able to show others that they are united. Only then will true change come about.
His Holiness said that we will continue in our mission, for it is the responsibility of those who have accepted the Messiah of this age to spread the true teachings of Islam, and show the world the extremely beautiful example of the Holy Prophetof Islam Muhammad (PBUH). We should not rest, until the entire world does not gather under the flag of the Holy Prophet(PBUH). We must inform the world, that their salvation lies in recognising the One, True God and cease the committing of injustices.
His Holinessfurther said that in recent months during the pandemic, he wrote to certain world leaders, including the President of France, in which he warned them in the words of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – the Promised Messiahthat such calamities strike the world due to the grave injustices being carried out. Thus, true justice must be established, and only such statements should be made which are based in the truth.
His Holinesssaid that we have been fulfilling our responsibilities and will continue doing so. Now it is up to the world if they wish to take heed or not. In any case, we must not forget the Muslim world in our prayers. His Holinessprayed that they may be able to recognize the Promised Messiah, who was the true servant of the Holy Prophet(PBUH). The world must realize that if it continues to move away from God, then it will only result in their ruin. Thus, we must continue our efforts of helping the world in recognizing the Unity of God. His Holinessappealed for everyone to pray for the general conditions of the world; lest it be that after passing through the calamity of this pandemic, the world is stricken by another calamity in the form of a world war. His Holinessprayed that may the world come to its senses and recognise the One, True God and fulfill the duties and responsibilities owed to Him.
The Registrar General of Land Registration Mr N C Withanage stated in March 2019 that almost 40 – 50% of the land deeds in Sri Lanka are likely to be forged documents. He also said that it has been proven that over 1/5th of the birth certificates, marriage certificates and death certificates in the country are also forged (https://www.newsfirst.lk/2019/03/17/50-of-land-deeds-in-sri-lanka-forged-registrar-general/#:~:text=COLOMBO%20 (News%201st)%20%E2%80%93%20The,the%20country%20are%20also%20forged.
If we are to take the Registrar General at his word, in the land of Theravada Dhamma, the citadel of the most ancient Buddhist doctrine, and a fertile ground for Christianity and Islam, almost one in two Sri Lankans are stealing land that belongs to someone else, changes their identities to someone else, probably commits adultery on a mass scale by forging marriage certificates and also brings alive those who have died with forged death certificates. As far as known, only Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It is nearly 18 months since the Registrar General made this observation. The situation could be different now. Hopefully it has not worsened.
This issue is such a blemish on the character of Sri Lankans, it is hoped that His Excellency President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will take urgent measures to rescind the Bim Saviya land registration Act which does not give people access to court if their lands are affected by fraud and to direct the Minister of Justice to address the legal issues pointed out in this article by the Sri Lanka Study Circle, an informal group of concerned professionals from different walks of life. A special request to His Excellency is to launch a campaign through the Lands ministry to give wide publicity about land fraud and how citizens could verify that the eRegister contains an accurate record of their land deeds. A major anomaly in the eRegister that needs to be heeded, and addressed is the fact that what is in the eRegister would be inaccurate if the registration process has used fraudulent deeds in the first place.
It is also suggested that the graduate employment program be extended to the Land Registry with a special unit formed to assist the hundreds and thousands of very ordinary citizens who will need assistance to have their land deeds checked in the eRegister.
President Rajapaksa has to be commended for reiterating that the MCC Agreement will not be signed during his administration. In a news item in Newsfirst (https://www.newsfirst.lk/2020/11/01/mcc-wont-be-signed-even-in-my-dreams-president/), he had stated that MCC won’t be signed even in my dreams”. This statement is of special relevance as many have been speculating as to what might have been indicated or even promised to the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his recent visit. In the minds of many, the MCC Agreement is the passport for US intervention in Sri Lanka, and certainly as far as Bim Saviya is concerned it is the pathway for this intervention to occur. The MCC Agreement and Bim Saviya are closely linked.
There are however some incongruences in the land registration process as defined in Bim Saviya, and the ownership of land that has been reported. A report on the Land Tenure Considerations in Sri Lanka’s Proposed National REDD+ Strategy by the Sri Lanka UN-REDD Programme in April, 2016 which states that in Sri Lanka, 82.25 percent of the country’s land is owned by the State while only 17.75 percent is privately owned, reflecting a history of centralized control over land. If this is the ground reality, the question arises as to why Bim Saviya has stringent requirements for issuing titles for State land, and in fact whether titles are needed in the first places unless the end motive of Bim Saviya is to privatise State land. Considering that the land component of the MCC Agreement and land being registered under Bim Saviya are linked, and all intellectual rights pertaining to what is in the eRegister is to be assigned to the company to be formed under the MCC Agreement, it does appear that the end objective of the Bim Saviya project is to privatise State land.
The report mentioned above is not clear as to whether land that belongs to religious institutions like Christian Churches, Buddhist temples, Moslem mosques are accounted for and if so, which category they fall into. Potentially, these traditional lands could also be privatised depending on their categorisation.
The land registration process has been an abject failure as it has managed to register less than 5% of the 11 million land blocks that were to be registered since 2007. The fault is not with the Registrar Generals department, but with the law that governs the registration process. This law, called the Bim Saviya has turned out to be a Bim Malluma!
The writer, in an earlier article titled Bim Saviya -Is it serving Sri Lanka or a foreign interest?” and published in the Sri Lanka Guardian and Lankaweb, explored the history and the reasons for this failure. Two key reasons need to be highlighted. Firstly, because Bim Saviya is based on a foreign law, the Australian Torrens Title system and its unsuitability to meet Sri Lankan historical and community heritage. Secondly, the impractical, arduous, process that requires every lot to be visited by staff from the land registry to see for themselves and ascertain ownership”. Less than 5% of the lots have been registered in 12 years. It will take more than two centuries to register the balance.
If the fraudulent deeds are to be exposed, and rightful owners identified through the tracking of the history of land ownership has to be done, and then, genuine deeds be registered. Bim Saviya has to reflect Sri Lanka’s land ownership history. This is not the case with Bim Saviya as it is set to erase the history of land ownership with inadequate and inappropriate methods to establish land ownership. There is absolutely no argument or a reason to keep Bim Saviya unless there are and were ulterior motives to retain it.
The extent of land fraud may eclipse the value of the Bond scam. In an article written by eminent lawyer Kirthimala Gunasekera titled Build a protective wall around your land-ownership deed – Some insightful information for those who own land and those who wish to buy land” published in the Sunday Times on the 15 Jun 2014”, the inroads made by fraudsters has been exposed quote An alarming feature of these incidents is that fraudsters have reportedly been successful in infiltrating the sacred inner sanctum of the land registry to destroy and deface the vital documents safely stored to support and protect the land rights of land owners. The CID has frequently warned the general public that its investigations have often failed due to the victims not being able to substantiate their (the victims’) case with evidence that normally should have been available with the custodian, the Land Registry; the ‘evidence’ having been altered, defaced, missing or torn”. She also quotes the following The Sunday Times in a recent article headlined ‘You may have deeds but you may not be the owner’
[http://www.sundaytimes.lk/120902/news/you-may-haveland-deeds-but-you-may-not-be-the-onlyowner-]
exposed the shocking news of vital documents missing from the Land Registry and how a fraudster duo of mother and daughter had sold a 14 perch land for Rs. 6 million to 8 different people”.
Ms Gunasekera suggested several precautionary measures to safeguard one’s legal ownership of land. A summary is noted below
A] Vital documents from the Land Registry
Obtain certified copies of the duplicate, and the extracts from the respective land registries.
Duplicate deed: A Notary attesting a deed is mandatorily required to file a copy of the deed referred to as the Duplicate copy with the Land Registry together with the receipt paid for stamp duty.
Extracts – All deeds are recorded chronologically in pages bound together into volumes called registers. Extracts are copies of pages or sheets of paper from these volumes where the deeds are registered.
B] Vital documents from the service providers
As stated earlier the idea is to build a wall of protection around your ownership deed with documentary evidence. Therefore, owners need to be vigilant to register their names not only in the Land Registry, but also with the relevant service providers as these service providers will provide evidence of ownership and possession when required. They are:
1. The local authority, (Municipal Council, Urban Council or Town Council where the land would be situated). Retain the tax receipts issued for payment of taxes and obtain the ownership certificate in the name of the owner after due registration of ownership. 2. The Water Board 3. The Electricity Board 4. The telephone authorities 5. The Elections Department 6. Any others such as receipts from contractors, house keepers, repairman for repairs, clearing, fencing and renovations etc.
C] Vital identification documents
Do not rush to buy land: Land purchasers rush to complete transactions especially when they find bargains. They fail to have consultations and face-to-face interviews with owners, agents, witnesses, surveyors and even notaries. Beware of people posing as notaries. They also impersonate notaries long deceased. Check from the list of notaries maintained in land registries.
Ms Gunasekera mentions an instance where a lady had been swindled to the tune of Rs. 42 million by a person. She bought the land relying on the identity card to identify the owner. She subsequently wanted to sell the land, but the prospective purchaser diligently searched the identification of the owner and found that the land belonged to the UDA, and the woman had bought the land from a fraudster who had pasted a forged folio in the register including his name as the owner. The suspect had cheated about 110 people previously.
D) Exercising due diligence: Buyers need to exercise due diligence. When buying land, enquire and find out from neighbours as to ‘ who owns the land or the house’.
Land fraud is a subject taken seriously by other nations. They have developed advanced integrated systems of transacting laws with ‘owner identification’ methods for solicitors over the course of the past decades and also adopted biometric solutions to identify owners to prevent land fraud. Many nations have introduced electronic identity data bases to land registries to register and protect the identity of land owners. They take the thumbprints, iris and digital photos of those participating in transactions at the time of notarising documents to ensure that fraud does not take place. The internet carries an extensive range of information from different countries that can be searched under the relevant names given to the data bases. They are Enjoa – new electronic notary logbook used in the US, e-Tanah in Malaysia, Bhoomi project in India, Loucha Pathap in Manipur.
It does not appear that Sri Lanka has taken land fraud seriously. Perhaps fraud per se has not been seriously treated and land fraud just a malady within a malady.
Sri Lanka has now nearly completed an electronic registration process (eRegister). However, unless this register has strong inbuilt safeguards, fraud would still go unabated considering the prevalence of Cybercrimes. The law that is linked to this register, Bim Saviya, has numerous shortcomings as has been detailed and combination of this trifecta, an ineffective law, lack of system security for the eRegister, and the lackadaisical indifference to land fraud seems like ideal conditions for perpetuation of land fraud.
More information on land fraud could be obtained by writing to landrightsasia@gmil.com or by telephoning 0712730616. For the benefit of land owners, senior Attorney at Law Ajithaa Edirmanne, a member of the ‘committee on land fraud’ has uploaded a slide presentation titled ‘Protect Your Property from Land Scam’, which can be accessed at http://ajithaa2.wordpress.com/2014/03/20 /protect-your-property-from-land-scams/
The Sri Lanka Study Circle have noted the following. Firstly, they are unambiguous that the eRegister has to be compulsory and should be secured and that it requires to be governed by a law familiar to land owners and lawyers. Bim Saviya is neither and it is an impractical impossibility for it to serve as the law that governs the eRegister. The Study Circle also is of the opinion that the eRegister should be managed, staff and user capacity built by an institution like the Moratuwa University and if need be, a consortium led by the Moratuwa University and that all intellectual rights should be with the local entity (Moratuwa University) and not any company.
The Study Circle says the register requires the following amendments with immediate effect
1] eRegister has to be made compulsory. The Register is not compulsory under our law. A comprehensive register is where all owners ‘rights to land are registered. Therefore, require that land sales, gifts leases, agreements and all land transactions to be compulsorily registered.
2] The eRegister is not safe as the law available does not protect the register. The following need to be attended to as fraud and money laundering are extremely pervasive in our country.
Registration of Documents Ordinance of 1927 Section 7 states that the Registrar is not responsible for the validity of deeds registered. This must be immediately changed as under this provision the Registrar cannot refuse registration of forged deeds.
Unfortunately, Central Bank regulations for the safety of Financial transactions have been selectively introduced to Trust deeds to identify owners and archive identification verification documents for the buyers or whoever deals with the trust lands in the future. [Trust Ordinance 9 of 1917 amended by TRUSTS (AMENDMENT) ACT, No. 6 OF 2018
According to these regulations, trustees are required to maintain, verify and update the following information relating to express trusts, 1. Information about the trust (name, address, purpose), 2. Information about the author of trust, trustees and co-trustee/s (name, identification, address, etc) 3. Information of the beneficiary/beneficiaries/ class of beneficiaries (name, identification, address) 4. Information of any other person engaged in the execution of the trust 5. Information of any beneficial owners 1/2 At the same time, trustees are required to submit the information maintained above to the Registrar of Lands of the area, within which, the trust property is situated and to the Registrar General. These measures have been taken to minimize the misuse of legal arrangements/ trusts in money laundering by increasing the transparency of trusts created in Sri Lanka. The Registrar General and the trustees have to be responsible to identify the trustees and prevent money laundering]
The Study Circle is hopeful that His Excellency President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will initiate action to address the entirety of legal, political, commercial and administrative issues pertaining to land and establish true guardianship of what belongs to future generations and not to some short sighted, avaricious segment of the present generation.
The Covid19 epidemic has disrupted the economies of almost all the countries in the world including Sri Lanka.
The finance chiefs of both public and private sector should take a fresh look at the activities and projects under their purview when preparing budgets. The Zero Based concept of budgeting that we have forgotten over the years is the best tool that can be used under this scenario.
Definition of Zero Based Budgeting (ZBB);
ZBB is a management tool which provides a systematic method for evaluating all operations and programmes, current or new, allows for budget reductions and expansions in a rational manner and allows re-allocation of resources from low to high priority programmes.”
The United States Department of Agriculture introduced this system in 1964, but it was not found to be quite successful and, hence, abandoned.
Pytor, A. Pyhrr, a staff control manager of Texas Instrument Corporation (USA), studied and developed this concept and created an awareness among the financial mangers through his writings. That was in early seventies. Since then many private sector organizations in the USA adopted this concept in their budgetary control mechanism.
When Jimmy Carter became the governor of the State of Georgia successfully used the technique in the state budgetary control process saving millions of dollars. When he became the president of the USA, the concept was introduced to the Federal Government, in 1977. As a result many countries looked at this positively and adopted the concept. Even in Sri Lanka the General Treasury attempted to introduce the ZBB in 2002. Then Director General of Department of Public Enterprises Mr.V. Kanagasabapathy took a keen interest in introducing the technique to the public enterprises.
The basic idea is that each year’s budget should start from a zero base, rather than from the prior year’s spending. To facilitate this the process, start with identifying all expenditure components and then following points are to be considered under each component;
(i) Is it absolutely necessary? (Justification)
(ii) What should be the qualitative features of current activities? Can we improve them?
(iii) Will production/services be continued according to the existing system?
(iv) What is the cost of production/service under current conditions?
ZBB is not a cost control method. But it is to create a mentality where people throughout the organisation think about value, not just cost. Of course, the end result would be identification of wasteful expenditure and eliminate them when you find an answer to ‘’Why should I spend?”
Ultimately the concept can change the culture of the organization when it will help everyone to think like an investor.
According to Wall-Street Journal many companies in the USA are turning to ZBB to take a more detailed look at their companies’ spending to enable them to face the present economic downturn, better.
Therefore I feel Public sector as well as private sector organizations should seriously think of switching over to ZBB when preparing respective budgets including National Budget.
Rohan Abeygunawardena ACMA, CGMA
Financial & Management Consultant
ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා හා ගරු අග්රාමාත්ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා ප්රමුඛ පවුලේ සාමාජිකයින්ගේ සහභාගීත්වයෙන් දිවංගත ඩී. ඒ. රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාගේ 53 වෙනි ගුණ සමරුවට සමඟාමීව වීරකැටිය, මැදමුලන නිවසේ දී සෙත් පිරිත් දේශනයක් හා අද 2020.11.07 පෙරවරුවේ දානමය පිංකමක් පැවැත්විණි.
ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා, ජනාධිපති ආර්යා අයෝමා රාජපක්ෂ මැතිණිය, ගරු අග්රාමාත්ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා, අග්රමාත්ය ආර්යා ශිරන්ති රාජපක්ෂ මැතිණියගේ සහභාගීත්වයෙන් ඊයේ 2020.11.06 පස්වරුවේ ඩී. ඒ. රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාගේ හා දන්දිනා සමරසිංහ දිසානායක රාජපක්ෂ මැතිණියගේ ස්මාරක වෙත පුෂ්පෝපහාර දැක්වීම සිදු විය.
මෙම අවස්ථාව සඳහා අමාත්ය චමල් රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා, චන්ද්රා රාජපක්ෂ මැතිණිය, බැසිල් රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා, අමාත්ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රී නිපුණ රණවක මැතිතුමා ඇතුළු පවුලේ සාමාජිකයෝ එක්ව සිටියහ.
මැද මුලනේ පිහිටි ඩී.ඒ.රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාගේ හා දන්දිනා සමරසිංහ දිසානායක රාජපක්ෂ මැතිණියගේ ස්මාරක වෙත පුෂ්පෝපහාර දැක්වීමෙන් අනතුරුව, පැවති පහන් පූජාව සඳහා ද පවුලේ සාමාජිකයින් සියලු දෙනා එක් වූහ.
පිරිත් දේශනය සඳහා හපුගම්පොත පුරාණ මහා විහාරාධිපති මිද්දෙනියේ ඉන්ද්රරතන නාහිමි, පල්ලෙ මුලන ගිරුවාසෑය විහාරාධිපති සපුගස් යායේ ධම්මරතන නාහිමි හා හපුගම්පොත අතුල දක්ෂිණාරාම විහාරාධිපති වකමුල්ලේ චන්ද්රවිමල නාහිමියන් ප්රමුඛ මහා සංඝ රත්නය වැඩම කළ වදාළහ
දානමය පිංකම සඳහා රුහුණේ ඓතිහාසික තිස්සමහාරාම, සඳගිරි උභය රාජමහා විහාරාධිපති, කාවන්තිස්ස පරිවේණාධ්යක්ෂ, මාතර කන්දබඩ පත්තුව ඇතුළු මාතර හම්බන්තොට දෙපළාතේ ප්රධාන සංඝ නායක, ආචාර්ය දේවාලේගම ධම්මසේන නාහිමි, සද්ධර්ම කීර්ති ශ්රී විමලසිරි රුහුණු මාගම්පත්තුව ඇතුළු ගිරුවාගම් දොළොස් දහස් රට ප්රධාන අධිකරණ සංඝනායක කසාගල රජමහා විහාරාධිපති පරිවෙණාධිපති තලම් පොරුවේ ඉන්දු සුමන නාහිමියන් හා මාතර හම්බන්තොට දෙපළාතේ සංඝනායක මුල්කිරිගල රාජමහා විහාරාධිපති බෙලිගල්ලේ සරණපාල හිමියන් ප්රමුඛ මහා සංඝ රත්නය වැඩම කළ වදාළහ.
කොවිඩ්-19 වසංගත තත්ත්වය හමුවේ නිසි සෞඛ්ය උපදෙස් පිළිපදිමින්, පවුලේ සාමාජිකයින්ගේ සහභාගීත්වයෙන් පමණක් මෙම ආගමික වතාවත් පැවැත්විණි.
The Police said that the Sri Lankan couple would be lodged in Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai and the boy could be sent to a juvenile home.
NAGAPATTINAM: A 45-year-old Sri Lankan businessman was arrested along with his wife and minor son after landing at Kodiyakarai illegally. His company has been accused of cheating hundreds of investors with billions of rupees.
The 45-year-old businessman Ahamed Shareem Mohamed Shihab, from Colombo in Sri Lanka, was wanted based on complaints regarding misappropriation of funds and was arrested at Kodiyakarai in Vedaranyam block in Nagapattinam district on Friday night. He had landed at Kodiyakarai along with his wife Fathima Farzana Markar, aged 39, and his ten-year-old son.
We secured the family near Kodiyakarai bus Stand around midnight. They gave us false aliases when we secured them. When we checked their identities and found they were lying. We learnt later that the family was run after scamming people in Sri Lanka,” Inspector M Selvaraj M from Marine Police Station in Vedaranyam told The New Indian Express.
According to police, the Marine Police received information from the fishers that a Sri Lankan family was landing near dense casuarina plantations at the shores of Kodiyakarai on Friday night around 10 pm. They had arrived in a Sri Lankan boat from Jaffna district in Sri Lanka with the help of a smuggling group. The boat had left for Sri Lanka after dropping them. The Marine Police, along with Law and Order unit, started looking for suspects with unusual appearances on the shores. They found a family of three near Kodiyakarai Bus Stand.
The family was taken into police custody and interrogated.
This The New Indian Express reporter learnt that Ahamed Shareem Mohamed Shihab alias Shiham Shereeb and his wife Fathima Farzana Markar are founding directors of Privelth Global Private Ltd. They had found the company in February 2014. Thousands had allegedly invested in the company which is headquartered in Colombo and has branches in Sammanthurai, Kalmunai, Eravur, Pottuvil and Nintavurin the Eastern Province in Sri Lanka, according to Sri Lankan news reports.
The New Indian Express learnt that this company Privelth Global Private Ltd was caught in a major controversy in recent months after the investors started to complain that they are not getting any profits. The alleged scam triggered protests and hunger strikes. The scammed amount is said to be about Rs 1200 crores in Sri Lankan currency (Rs 482 crores in Indian currency). The scam was addressed in Sri Lankan Parliament in October after the victims started to request relief from the Sri Lankan government.
The Marine Police handed the family to the Law and Order Police on Saturday at 4.00 pm after completing the initial investigation. “The family had themselves smuggled through a network of smugglers. We have booked Ahamed Shareem Mohamed Shihab, Fathima Farzana Markar and their son under Section 12 of Passport Act 1967 for illegal landing. We will produce them before a magistrate,” said Inspector S Ravichandran from Vedaranyam Police Station told The New Indian Express.
The Police told that the couple would be lodged in Central Prison in Puzhal in Chennai and the boy could be sent to a juvenile home.
A total of 257 more Covid-19 patients were reported, Army Commander Shavendra Silva said.
All of them are close contacts of the Peliyagoda cluster.
Accordingly, the total Covid-19 cases detected so far in Sri Lanka stand at 13, 227.
Sri Lanka has reported four more coronavirus-related deaths thus hiking the country’s death toll to 34, the Department of Government Information confirmed.
According to the Director-General of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena, 03 females, and one male had succumbed to the virus in this manner.
One of the deceased is identified as a 42-year-old woman from the Maligawatte area who had passed away at home. Reportedly, she had been ailing from a chronic heart condition in addition to COVID-19.
The next victim is also a resident of the Maligawatte area. She had been suffering from a number of chronic illnesses. When her conditions had escalated she had been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital where she succumbed to her ailments. The cause of death is reported as the worsening of a pneumonia condition due to COVID-19.
A third woman from Ganemulla, aged 88 years, has succumbed to sepsis caused by COVID-19 related pneumonia. She had been identified as a close contact of the Minuwangoda cluster patient and had been undergoing quarantine before being admitted to the Laggala Pallegama Hospital. However, with the worsening of her conditions, she had been transferred to the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) where she passed away.
The remaining victim is a 67-year-old male from Wellampitiya. He, who also suffered from chronic illnesses, had been ailing from fever over a number of days. Subsequently, he had passed away from COVID-19 related pneumonia at his home.
Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing incidents of political victimization has decided to seek legal action against four parliamentarians of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).
According to PCoI chair, former Supreme Court Justice Upali Abeyratne, MPs Harin Fernando, Nalin Bandara, J.C. Alawathuwala and Mayantha Dissanayake have allegedly made derogatory comments about the commission and challenged its authority.
It is reported that notices were issued on the four lawmakers to appear before the police unit of the commission to record statements on the matter.
One of its senior officers said these MPs had made the derogatory comments speaking to the media and subsequently filed a complaint with Bribery Commission, claiming that the PCoI’s conduct has challenged the judicial process established by the Constitution and the country’s independent judiciary.
In the meantime, reports revealed that the PCoI chair has made a request from the President to extend the term of the commission until the 23rd of November.
Public Health Inspectors (PHI) in charge of the Hunupitiya area in Kelaniya raided an illegal quarantine center today (07).
According to Ada Derana reporter, two persons at the center were found to be infected with the COVID-19 virus.
Subsequently, all persons found at the center were directed for quarantine at the center itself.
In addition, health authorities had sternly advised the individuals who operated the illegal quarantine center.
May I hope that the incoming Budget includes funding for a major new Programme of Poverty Alleviation, cum creating Production and also obviating imports. Such a development programme implemented all over our Motherland will bring about definite results in terms of creating employment, production- both agriculture, animal husbandry and small industry, involving thousands and also reducing imports. This will bring great credit and be a major contribution to the economy of our country.
I can speak through sheer experience having handled, been an active partner in many development programmes for over five decades and also having started new development programmes from scratch. One can find many who have participated in development programmes, but it is very rare to find someone who has started a new development programme from scratch especially a programme that was a success. Let me detail that achievement in order to enable readers to understand that my suggestions do not come from the blue.
My commencing a development programme from scratch happened when I served as the Commonwealth Fund Consultant to the Ministry of Labour and Manpower in Bangladesh in 1981 to 1983. and was ordered to design and implement a Youth Self Employment Programme and train the staff to continue the programme after my consultancy was over. It was done in the teeth of opposition from the Treasury of Bangladesh, who said it will be a waste of funds. The Treasury had to eat its words and its later Five Year Plan devoted eight full pages to document my programme.. This Programme is today the premier employment creation programme the world has known and so far has guided over three million youths to become self employed. Even today, in the fourth decade of its implementation it is yet being run by the officers trained by me.
Since the beginning of 1978, when our President Jayawardena caved in to the International Monetary Fund, and decided to follow its advice in return for loans Sri Lanka has not had a single development programme that brought employment and incomes to the people and also created production. We have Samurdhi to talk of . Samurdhi is only a welfare grant type of programme. Its savings aspect and training aspect have never developed. In terms of production Samurdhi is a nonsensical programme. I have seen with my own eyes the receipients marching weekly and at times getting involved with some measly clearing a drain or a public place. Samurdhi has to someday get altered to become a production oriented programme, contributing to our Motherland. We have to teach people to fish, not give them fish.
May I suggest a new Training Cum Production Programme
The Method is to identify areas in the economy, and establish small industries where local resources can be utilized to make items either for local consumption or for export. Sad to say we gave up National Planning in 1978 at the behest of the IMF. National Planning has to come to the forefront to identify areas where there is scope for producing what we need and training to enable the people to get involved. There have to be programmes involving the people to develop their abilities and capacities to become entrepreneurs.
To commence with I would suggest the following:
Making Fruit Preparations- Juice, Jam, Sauce
Making Items from Wood
Making items from Metal
Some details of each of the above are submitted:
Making Paper is a simple operation and thanks to President Gotabhaya and his team that resurrected the mass of metal at Valachenai to make paper. His success proves that we can.
Just import a few small scale paper making machines from India or China. This can be done in weeks. Set them up in Padaviya, Tissa, Mahavillachchiya and Polonnaruwa and we can kiss good bye to all imports of paper.
Setting up the machines can be easily done in three months at the speed at which I worked as the GA at Matara, to establish the Mechanized Boatyard that turned out 30 seaworthy boats a year.
Also we can use the waste paper. Today we collect and send off the waste paper to India and buy back paper after they convert it. Mind you once in 1971 the Divisional Secretary at Kotmale established a Paper Making Industry with waste paper. President Jayawardena of the UNP kicked it, and out went Paper Making and today the Paper Economists of the UNP cry loud finding fault. It is the UNP that ruined all the industries our country had developed from 1948 to 1977- the Powerlooms, handlooms, Textile Industries, paper and everything we had done including the Crayon Factory at Morawaka established by me which had islandwide sales from 1971 to 1977 were all abolished by President Jayawardana and since then we became a non producing and import consuming country.
I have suggested making paper from Illuk at Tantirimale. That was recently when I happened to get lost in the Illuk jungles at Mahawillachchiya and remembered that originally the paper machines at Valachenai was intended to use Illuk. Making Paper out of Illuk is a fait accompli within months if only we want it done. It will take only three months to set up a small paper making machine. Though I speak from sheer experience the mandarins with doctorates that adorn our higher climes will think otherwise. Ask them to find people from the 1971-1977 era who are alive who will tell that the Boatyard with all sorts of wood work machinery was done within two to three months and my Coop Crayon Factory was done- three months of experiments in the Rahula College Science Lab to find the method and two to three weeks working day and night- a 24 hour operation to set it up. We did work fast and can do it again.
If there is a problem of expertise in making paper out of waste paper, I can phone some officers in Bangladesh and obtain the services of a few youths who., under the guidance of my officers now do paper making from waste paper and make a living out of it. They will come as Consultants! I wrote that we need to have our heads examined bcause the drop out youths in my programme have beaten us hollow in making paper.
Look at the shelves of any Supermarket and one will find fruit juice, jam, tomatoe sauce, even vinegar from as far as the United States of America, Australia, Cyprus.
. The Marketing Department did set up a Canning Factory in 1954/1955 and by 1957 we made Sri Lanka self sufficient. We offered floor prices i.e. prices at which we will buy all the produce offered. We then bought all the Tomatoes, Pineapple, Red Pumpkin and Ash Pumpkin and at the Canning Factory we turned them out to Tomatoes Sauce, Pine Slices and Juice, Golden Melon Jam and Silver Melon Jam. By 1957, in three years’ time we were self sufficient. The UNP Government of President Jayawardena privatized the Canning Factory and now the production has dropped and we import every item today.
Install one or two small fruit processing machines in Colombo, Kandy and Tissa and we can be self sufficient within two years.
This is something we did earlier. Then eight percent of our pineapple products were exported. I have been in charge of the Canning Factory when Oswald Tillekeratne, the Assistant Commissioner in charge of the factory was overseas building up exports.
Two years ago I could not find a locally made ladder at Nawala. I went to everyshop. Even the ladders imported from Thailand and Singapore were not that great.
If we cannot make a basic item like a ladder we can give up metal work. But Jinasenas will stand out and say no because they have now developed and make water pumps that can stand to any world specification. The story goes that once, the Government had said they will import water pumps and Jinasena is reported to have said that if that does happen he will close his factory and eight hundred workers will be sent home.
The success of Jinasena tells anyone that our production can succeed.
Once I was the Deputy Director of Small Industry in charge of allocating foreign exchange to small industrialists. They had to submit applications to import the machinery they required or the raw materials they wanted. They had to get an allocation of forex from me and then open a letter of credit with a bank and order the stuff. I gauged that most manufacturers would be ordering their production after they come to know the order.
We must have two manufacturing Units, one with wood working lathes and another with metal lathes and when an order is received we set the lathes working and get the product turned out. I am aware that the Hardware Corporation has such a unit, but never gets to systematic production not because they cannot but because there is no system. Dealers who import have only to place the order and these lathe workers can get it done. That is a simple operation.
All what I have suggested earlier is what we have done and there is no doubt we can do it again.
I have had the occasion to trail behind lorries full of flowers in Southern France. They cannot be easily overtaken like the straw laden lorries that plied from Polonnaruwa to Valachenai long ago.
It is sad that we do not know what to do with the mass of flowers at Ruwanweliseya, the Sri MahaBodhi and the Temple of the Tooth at Kandy. It is a simple operation to set up a distillery and I have seen many in France distilling lavender to oil. .
Once touring Wales I came across a mini distillery. Had I known of it in 1971, I would have got it down and set it up at Matara. That was when I was in charge.
My Paper on setting up a Perfume Factory proves that it is feasible
Finally if asked to set up my Coop Crayon again I do not know whether I will succeed. I will have to find the equal of Vetus Fernando, my chemistry qualified Planning Officer and the patriotic Science Teachers at Rahula and get down to experiments to find how. In 1971 it took three full months experiments from six to mid night. Once that was done I will have to find a Sumanapala Dahanayake to undertake production- then it was as the president of the Morawak Korale Coop Union. Suffice it to say that crayons were sold islandwide and Harry Guneratne the Import Controller and Minister Illangaratne cancelled all imports of crayons. Sumanapala is not with us today.
The lesson in all this is that we can do it again and I pray that the new Budget will make provision.
I am certain that the targets I have set can be done. I am aware that many of the economists who will be consulted on this matter will doubt. If that happens I will request the authorities to find whether those pundits did ever get to a situation of working, setting up an industry.
Finally I wish to add that if no one will undertake to keep to these targets I will undertake to bell the cat. If called upon it will be a pleasure to get back into my working boots and Land Rover once again to be of service to my Motherland
Garvin Karunaratne, Ph d Michigan State University
Former GA Matara
Author of How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success, Godages
Howthe IMF Sabotaged Third World Development, Kindle/Godages
10/11/2020
Pathfinder Advisory Services (Pvt.) Ltd. recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with world’s leading information and communication technologies (ICT) solutions provider Huawei, to establish a framework to encourage, develop and ICT in Sri Lanka.
The partnership will enable the two institutions to achieve a deeper understanding of the possibilities that ICT technologies will open up for Sri Lanka.
“We are excited to work with the world’s leading ICT solutions provider Huawei in shaping future ICT technologies for Sri Lanka through cutting-edge technologies. Our constant effort is development of communication technologies to ensure Sri Lanka stay ahead in digitalization with latest technologies” said Bernard Goonetilleke – Chairman of Pathfinder Advisory Services, who is also the Chairman of Pathfinder Foundation.
Huawei aims to share latest cutting-edge innovation and technologies to leverage the most advanced ICT technologies and innovations and cooperate with Pathfinder Advisory Services to jointly develop ICT solutions for Sri Lanka’s vertical industries. Huawei will remain committed to open innovation and cooperation, creating greater value for its customers, driving the ICT industry, and ultimately contributing to building a better-connected Sri Lanka.” CEO of Huawei Sri Lanka Liang Yi said.
The MoU is mainly focused on bringing Huawei and Pathfinder together to promote cooperation enabling joint discussion on the collaboration opportunities and implementation of ICT technologies in vertical industries such as ports, airports, education and agriculture in Sri Lanka. Further, the two organizations will also jointly incubate and implement ICT User Cases projects in Sri Lanka under collaboration of both Parties.
Pathfinder Advisory Services (Pvt.) Ltd. is a member of MMBL-Pathfinder Group and is associated with the Pathfinder Foundation.
Huawei Sri Lanka has been operating in Sri Lanka since 1998 and has extensive and in-depth cooperation with local telecom operators, the government, vertical industries and end users.
We are all familiar with catchcries’ such as inter – faith dialogue and conferences and inter – ethnic peace talks and the like.
This was being broadcast almost day and night as a panacea for all our mundane troubles ad nauseam, during the period of the previous Yahapalana Govt.
Ever heard of Inter – species fellowship and extension of natural justice to members of non – human species?
If you have not it is time you hear of it and think of exploring it as a worthy moral cause.
Many species of animals have families, have offspring and show love and affection to their loved ones just like humans do.
Some animals even show fellowship and offer companionship to members of other species, including humans.
Though this is evident and acknowledged, however when it comes to giving legal connotations, problems arise.
The purpose of this article is to explore this area.
Inter – species fellowship and justice
The promotion of inter – species fellowship and justice, is a worthy proposition.
This concept is very much in line with Buddhist doctrine and Buddhist Jurisprudence.
Buddhism views animals as sentient beings and fellow companions in the Sansaric Journey. Buddhism does not degrade Animals as Chattels as it is done in our courts. ‘Animal constitutes a chattel’ is a legal concept derived entirely from Abrahamic religious thinking and entrenched in our legislation enacted in the colonial era, that tends to view all animals as gifts from God for the benefit of humans and their dominance. An infinite number of animals in their trillions have suffered and died throughout history because of such conceptually flawed thinking and insensitivity to suffering of non – human living beings.
There are enough examples to show affection, loyalty and virtue in animals.
Pets give love, affection and companionship to humans far better than many fellow humans. Our inner lives would be irreversibly crippled if not for the unconditional love we receive from our pets.
A female animal defending her young with her life, a dog remaining with its unconscious master in a burning house rather than saving itself. animals showing devotion to their offspring, being sympathetic to their kindred, affectionate to their mates, self-subordinating in their community are all indicative of behaviour which qualify them to be removed from being segregated as chattels in judicial proceedings in our courts.
Sri Lanka had a pre-colonial legal system (influenced by laws of Manu and Buddhist jurisprudence) which treated animals as subjects of the State. It attributed greater value to the lives of animals than the legal system which we have inherited from our colonial masters (influenced by Abrahamic religious jurisprudence) and which we are unable to reform in a manner that would ensure dignity, protection, fair play and justice to animals, as this country did in the pre-colonial era.
An enlightened approach requires us at this juncture of our country’s history to abandon judicial concepts that are rooted in Abrahamic jurisprudence and are morally indefensible. If Buddhist jurisprudence offers a better alternative, then the way forward for reformers of our archaic laws governing animals such as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, No. 13 of 1907, is to choose the more humane and enlightened alternative.
Re categorize the Human – Elephant conflict as an ‘ inter – species dispute’
For example, in the context of Sri Lanka, it may be feasible to re- categorize the so called ‘Human – Elephant’ conflict as an ‘ inter – species dispute’, and proceed to resolve it on the principles of natural justice rather on the basis of a one – sided exercise of ‘unbridled power in the hands of humans’.
If promotion of inter – faith and inter – ethnic amity is in order and in the right direction, what would stop us from exploring inter – species fellowship and promoting inter – species justice?
What humans i.e. the British colonial rulers, have done to Elephants beginning from the time of the Waste Lands Ordinance of 1840 have been to steal their lands and destroy their habitats to establish tea and coffee plantations in a manner no different to what the European Colonists did all over the world particularly in America where they stole land belonging to native Indians, colonized the land with European settlers and put the native Indians in reserves.
In the process the British settlers and professional hunters such as Samuel Baker, encouraged and rewarded by the colonial Govt. decimated the elephant population in the upcountry (Kande Uda Rata) causing a loss of over 10, 000 wild elephants. Samuel Baker later published a book titled “The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon” (1857) describing the brutal destruction of Sri Lanka’s wild elephants by him with pride. A man without a heart and lacking in respect for the sanctity of life which is grounded in Buddhism, Samuel Baker nonchalantly illustrated his book with drawings of the massacres he had indulged in.
Mass Massacre of Elephants in Sri Lanka
Godwin Witane in an article says as follows of Samuel Baker:
According to the description in his book (“The Rifle and Hound In Ceylon”) he had spent days and weeks in the unfriendly jungles enjoying homely comfort in well-furnished spacious tents stocked with imported tinned meat, fish and fruits and also an assortment of imported spirits to mellow the bodily strain undergone during a day’s outing in the unexplored forests of the dry zone. It had been an army of servants and helpers such as carriers, cooks, trackers and horse keepers numbering sixty to seventy he had employed at each safari. A day’s success at hunting was measured by the number of animals killed in one day not sparing even an orphaned destitute baby elephant that strode behind hugging the mother’s heel. Sometimes this figure reached thirty or forty in number. In his narrative he has shamelessly admitted that when a lactating elephant was killed he and his brother did not fail to enjoy the spilling milk from the animal’s udder sucking the nipples with their mouths as it was deemed wholesome. The picture on this page clearly illustrates the heartless cruelty practiced by this alien hunter on freely roaming herds of the champions of our forests. Besides elephants he had killed other game for his food and that of the host of employees that accompanied him throughout his stay in the wilds”.
Furthermore, the British colonial Govt. had no compunction in destroying the lives of both humans and animals. The manner in which they suppressed the Kandyan Sinhala uprising of Uva – Wellassa (1818) and the Sinhala Rebellion at Matale (1848), that resulted in Inquiries being conducted in the British House of Commons (1850) regarding the savagery and barbarity with which the British suppressed the popular rebellion against British occupation of Ceylon, is a sad and poignant tale.
The British were enthusiastic hunters who destroyed the fauna in their colonies in Asia and Africa in the name of game and sport. In Ceylon they soon began hunting elephants for sport. One British officer, Major Thomas William Rogers, is estimated to have killed over 1,400 elephants during a period of 11 years. It was an atrocious crime against wildlife of the country. It is said that he himself lost count of the number of defenseless elephants that he had killed in the later years.
However, on the 7th of June 1845, Major Thomas William died struck by lightning while staying at the Haputale Guest House. He was buried in Nuwara Eliya and a tombstone was erected on his grave, which too had been struck by lightning many times over the years, leading people to believe that karmic retribution had finally caught up with him for his heinous crimes.
See also
Holocaust of Elephants by the British Raj in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, unfortunately we are doing exactly the same thing to our Elephants in the post – independence era by taking over their habitats under the guise of development and restricting their movements in their own traditional Homelands. There is no end in sight to this brazen and unlawful grab of terrain that ought to be treated as wild life sanctuaries for elephants and other forms of wildlife.
The best precedent comes from our own history when King Devanampiyatissa upon being convinced by Arahant Mahinda in their very first encounter at Mihintale of the blatantly unrighteous and evil nature of hunting (deer and other innocent animals) turned around and in deep regret for causing the death of countless animals established the world’s first wildlife sanctuary.
Legal Aid for non – human species
In any resolution of inter – species conflict, the non – human species, ideally speaking, must be entitled to and given access to advocacy services like Legal Aid. They too have interests that are precious to them i.e. their life and their natural territory and space. That must be protected. We require a paradigm shift in thinking to accommodate the vital interests of animals in our evolving legal system.
One sided hearing and biased decision making is a violation of natural justice. Law is an expanding canvas. It is not meant to be static. There is always scope for replacing outdated and archaic laws with new laws that reflect modern standards of treatment such as the Animal Welfare Bill.
Remember the Declaration of Arahant Mahinda to King Devanampiyatissa at Mihintale, over two thousand three hundred years ago:
“Oh! Great King, the birds of the air and the beasts have an equal right to live and move about in any part of this land as thou. The land belongs to the peoples and all other beings and thou art only the guardian of it.”
This is one of the greatest declarations ever made in favour of the rights of animals in world history and the fact that it happened in Sri Lanka is a huge boost to the image of the country’s age-old Buddhist civilization.
A long line of Buddhist Kings for over 2000 years have faithfully followed this advice of Arahant Mahinda until the arrival of the Portuguese in 1505.
Zoo – a concentration camp for animals
It was during the colonial era that concentration camps for animals called ‘Zoos’ were introduced. The injustice inherent in this colonial legacy of animal prisons is plain to see and understand by anyone with a sense of justice. The very same types of people established ‘Human Zoos’ in European countries and USA exhibiting a wide variety of people brought over from their colonies for the joy and merriment of the locals. These were crimes and affront to the dignity of the subject peoples.
Zoos and Rule of Law are incompatible. Imprisoning someone for life without committing a wrong is morally indefensible by any yardstick. But that is exactly what Zoos deliver to animals with the sanction, if not indifference, of the country’s rulers.
Rule of Law must ensure natural justice for animals
A ‘Rule of Law’ that overlooks the rights of animals is perverse and immoral. A true Rule of Law must ensure that animals too receive the protection of natural justice.
It must be said that ever since independence in 1948, we have had rulers in this country who never saw fit to look into the plight of animals or raise a voice for them in Parliament or take inspiration from the pages of the Mahavamsa which is replete with instances of how our Buddhist Sinhala Kings cared for the well – being of our animals.
Even the Tamil King Elara (also known as Manu Neethi Chola) who ruled at Anuradhapura in the third century B.C. upheld the laws of Manu while dispensing justice to his subjects, which included all living creatures in his kingdom. It was said that there hung a bell outside his palace gates and anybody seeking justice could ring it any time to bring their case to the notice of the King. The story of how a distraught cow had run and rang the bell when its calf was run over by the chariot driven by the son of the king is well known to be repeated here. Even the Mahavamsa acknowledges that he i.e. Elara, was a just king and says that the king ruled ‘with even justice toward friend and foe, on occasions of disputes at law’.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it must be said that we require a paradigm shift in thinking in respect to reforming the law including the Constitution to protect animals who are also subjects of the state. State responsibility for animals cannot be discarded nor palmed off to animal rights groups.
A conflict with any animal species e.g. stray dogs, must be resolved on the footing of an ‘inter – species dispute’ and on the basis of Justice and invocation of the ethical principle of Protection of the Weak by the Strong. Destruction of stray dogs en masse as we saw being done in a neigbouring country a few years ago is not a solution for a civilized state or for any nation aspiring to be recognized as civilized by universal standards.
All animals including wild elephants and stray dogs, have a right to live on this land and morally speaking, to be treated with understanding and compassion.
Senaka Weeraratna
Former Hony. Legal Consultant to the Law Commission on Animal Welfare legislation
එක්සත් ජනපද රාජ්ය ලේකම් මයිකල් පොම්පියෝ පසුගිය අඟහරුවාදා කොළඹට පැමිණියේ ඉන්දීය නායකයන් සමඟ සාකච්ඡා කර ඉන්දියාව සමඟ ගිවිසුමක් අත්සන් කිරීමෙන් පසුව ය.
පසුගිය ඔක්තෝම්බර් මස 9 වන දින ඉහළ පෙළේ චීන දූත පිරිසක් ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා හමුව ශ්රී ලංකාවේ සමෘද්ධිය සඳහා චීනය සිය කැපවීම යළිත් අවධාරණය කළ අනතුරුව මෙම සංචාරය සිදුවිය.
ඇතැම් ධනවත් හෝ බලවත් කාමතුරයින් වෙසෙන ප්රදේශ අසල ජීවත්වන පෙනුමැති අසරණ කාන්තාවන්ට මෙන් ලෝකයේ උපායමාර්ගික ස්ථානවල පිහිටා ඇති ශ්රී ලංකාව වැනි කුඩා රටවල් වලටද, ලෝකයේ ධනවත් හා කලාපීය බලවත් රටවලින් විවිධ දුෂ්කරතාවන්ට මුහුණ දීමට සිදුව තිබේ. බොහෝවිට කාමතුරයින් එම කාන්තාවන් අපයෝජනයට ලක්කරනු ලබන්නේ උපායශීලීව විමුක්තිකාමීන් ලෙස පෙනී සිටිමිනි. එක්සත් ජනපදය චීන ණය උගුලක්” ලෙස හඳුන්වන දෙයින් ශ්රී ලංකාව නිදහස් කර ගැනීමට ඉදිරිපත් වීමද එවන් ජාත්යන්තර උපායශීලී විමුක්තිකාමීන්ගේ තවත් උගුලකි.
පසුගිය දශක දෙක වෙත ආපසු හැරී බැලීමේදී ශ්රී ලංකාවට බලවතුන්ගේ උගුල්” අලුත් දෙයක් නොවන බැව් පෙනීයන සාධක බොහෝ තිබේ.
2002 දී නෝර්වේජියානු ජාතිකයින් විසින් සංවිධානය කරන ලද සටන් විරාම ගිවිසුම මගින් රජය හා එල්.ටී.ටී.ඊ ත්රස්තවාදීන් අතර සිදුකෙරෙන සාකච්ඡාවලදී ප්රගතියක් පෙන්නුවහොත් ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 4.5 ක ආධාර ලබාදීමට ප්රතිඥාවක්දී ශ්රී ලංකාව ‘’මූල්ය උගුලක්’’ මගින් අසුකරගැනීමට එක්සත් ජනපදය ප්රමුඛ ටෝකියෝ ‘’සම සභාපතිවරුන්’’ විසින් ගත් උත්සහය අපට මතකය. වාසනාවකට මෙන්, 2008 දී එම ගිවිසුම අහෝසි කරන ලද අතර 2009 දී ත්රස්තවාදය පරාජය කිරීමට අපේ ආරක්ෂක හමුදාවන්ට හැකි විය.
ඇමෙරිකානු එක්සත් ජනපදය, එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලය හරහා ජාත්යන්තර යුද අපරාධ විමර්ශනයකට අපගේ රණවිරුවන් ලක්කොට ශ්රී ලංකාව තවත් උගුලකට හසුකල ඇති ආකාරය සහ ත්රස්තවාදය පරාජය කොට නොබියව ජීවත් වීමට සහ උතුරු හා නැගෙනහිර පළාත් වල ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදය නැවත ලබා දීමට උපකාරී වූ වත්මන් හමුදාපති ඇතුළු ඉහළ පෙළේ හමුදා නිලධාරීන්ට එක්සත් ජනපදය සංචාරක තහනමක් පනවා ඇති ආකාරය ද අපට මතකය.
ජාත්යන්තරව, වර්ධනය වන චීන අභියෝග ජය ගැනීමට ඇමෙරිකානු එක්සත් ජනපදයේ මිලිටරි හා ආර්ථික හැකියාව එතරම් ප්රයෝජනයක් නැත. ඒ එක්සත් ජනපදයට සහ ඔවුනගේ මිතුරු රටවලට ණය ලබා දීමට හෝ ලොව පුරා සංවර්ධන ව්යාපෘති භාර ගැනීමට චීනයට ඇති හැකියාව හා සැසඳීමට ප්රමාණවත් අතිරික්ත අරමුදල් නොමැති බැවිනි. .
පැහැදිලි හේතුන් මත චීනය අභියෝගනට මුහුණ දිය නොහැකි නොහැකි ඇමෙරිකානු එක්සත් ජනපදය, චීන ආධාර මත යැපෙන ශ්රී ලංකාව වැනි මෘදු ඉලක්ක වෙත යොමුවී ඇති අතර, ඔවුනගේ හීන වෙමින් පවතින බලය ඉහළ නැංවීම සඳහා අනෙකුත් ජාතීන් සමඟ සන්ධානගත වෙමින් සිටී.
ශ්රී ලංකාවට පැමිණ ජනාධිපති රාජපක්ෂ මහතා සමඟ සාකච්ඡා කිරීමෙන් පසුව, එක්සත් ජනපද ලේකම්වරයා ඉතාමත් රාජ්ය තාන්ත්රික අන්දමින් සුළු දේවල් ප්රසිද්ධියේ ප්රකාශ කළද, කොළඹට පැමිණීමට පෙර සිටම එක්සත් ජනපද රාජ්ය දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ශ්රී ලංකාවට ලබා දී තිබුණු පණිවුඩයෙහි අර්ථය වුයේ ‘එක්කෝ ඔබ අප සමඟ හෝ ඔබ අපේ සතුරා වන චීනය සමඟ’ සිටීමට තීරණය කලයුතුය යන්නය.
එක්සත් ජනපදය, ඉන්දියාව, ජපානය සහ ඕස්ට්රේලියාව 2007 දී සන්ධානයක් ඇති කර ගත් අතර එය ක්වාඩ්රිලැටරල් සෙකුරිටි ඩයලොග්" (ක්වාඩ්) ලෙස හැඳින්වේ. මෙම සන්ධානය, තම සාමාජික රටවල් අතර තමන්ගේ අරමණු සපුරා ගැනීම සඳහා අවශ්ය තොරතුරු හුවමාරු කරගැනීම් සහ මිලිටරි අභ්යාස පවත්වාගෙන යනු ලැබේ.
'ක්වාඩ්' කණ්ඩාමේ මෙම ක්රියාවලියන් චීන ආර්ථික හා මිලිටරි බලය වැඩි කිරීම සඳහා වූ ප්රතිචාරයක් ලෙස සලකනු ලබුවද, චීන රජය ‘ක්වාඩ්’ සාමාජිකයින් වෙත ප්රතිචාර දක්වමින් රාජ්ය තාන්ත්රික විරෝධතා නිකුත් කරමින් සිටී..
වෙනත් වචන වලින් කිවහොත්, 1991 ට පෙර එක්සත් ජනපදය හා සෝවියට් සංගමය අතර පැවති යුද්ධයට සමානව එක්සත් ජනපදය හා චීනය අතර සීතල යුද්ධයක් දැන් සිදුවෙමින් පවතී.
මේ අනුව ක්වාඩ් කණ්ඩායම, ප්රධාන වශයෙන් එක්සත් ජනපදය හා ඉන්දියාව ආසියාව වටා ගොස් චීනයට එරෙහිව සන්ධාන ගොඩනඟා ගැනීමට උත්සාහ කරන අතර එකිනෙකා සමඟ ආරක්ෂක ගිවිසුම් අත්සන් කිරීම, නාවික අභ්යාස පැවැත්වීම සහ චීනය ප්රජාතන්ත්ර විරෝධී, මානව හිමිකම් උල්ලoඝනය කරන, විලෝපිකයෙකු ලෙස අපහාස කරන කරමින් සිටී.
ක්වාඩ් කණ්ඩායම, ඔවුන්ගේ අරමුණු වලට සරිලන පරිදි රටවල පාලන තන්ත්ර වෙනස් කිරීමට පවා ඔවුහු පසුබට නොවෙති.
හිටපු ඉන්දීය රාජ්ය තාන්ත්රිකයෙකු හා ජාත්යන්තර දේශපාලන විශ්ලේෂකයෙකු වන එම්.කේ.භද්රකුමාර් විසින් 2020 සැප්තැම්බර් 30 දිනැති නිව්ස්ක්ලික්.ඉන් වෙබ් අඩවියේ ජියෝපොලිටික්ස් ඔෆ් ශ්රීලoකන් ටැමිල් පොරොබ්ලම්” (ශ්රී ලංකා දෙමළ ගැටලුවේ භූ දේශපාලනය) යන මාතෘකාව යටතේ පළ කරන ලද එක් ලිපියක ඉන්දීය සහ ඇමෙරිකානු පාලනයන් චීන ගැති යැයි සැලකෙන රාජපක්ෂ පාලනය නෙරපා හැර පාලන තන්ත්ර වෙනසක් සිදු කළේ කෙසේද යන්නත්, එසේ සිදුකළේ ඇයිද යන්නත් විස්තරාත්මකව සඳහන් කර ඇත.
පාලන තන්ත්ර වෙනස් කිරීමේ මෙහෙයුමෙන් ඉක්බිතිව 2015 මැයි මාසයේදී ශ්රී ලංකා වට පැමණි එක්සත් ජනපද රාජ්ය ලේකම් ජෝන් කෙරී, දුෂ්කර තීරණ” ගැනීම ගැන ජනාධිපති මෛත්රීපාල සිරිසේන, අගමැති රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ සහ විදේශ ඇමති මoගල සමරවීරට ප්රශංසා කොට උතුරේ බෙදුම්වාදී දේශපාලන නායකයින්ද මුණගැසී ගිය අයුරු සිහියට නැඟේ.
2015 දී බිහිකල යහපාලන ව්යාපෘතිය අසාර්ථකවී 2020 දී යලි ස්ථාපිත වූ රාජපක්ෂ පාලනය යලිත් ශක්තිමත්වීම දුටු ඉන්දීය සහ ඇමෙරිකානු පාලනයන් ඔවුන්ගේ චීනය පාලනය කිරීම සඳහා ඇරැඹි ඉන්දු-පැසිෆික් උපාය” හමුවේ ශ්රී ලංකාවට වැඩි පීඩනයක් එල්ල කිරීමටත් රාජපක්ෂ රජය ක්වාඩ් කක්ෂයට ගෙන ඒමටත් තීරණය කළබැව් පෙනේ.
නමුත් කොළඹදී දෙපාර්ශ්වය අතර පැවති සාකච්ඡාවේදී, ආසියානු මහාද්වීපයේ අනෙකුත් බොහෝ රටවල් දරණ ස්ථාවරය අනුව යමින් ලෝක බලවතුන් අතර පැත්තක් ගැනීමට ශ්රී ලංකාව අකමැති බව අනාවරණය විය. ශ්රී ලංකාවේ විදේශ ප්රතිපත්තිය පිළිබඳව විස්තර කරමින් ජනාධිපතිවරයා පැවසුවේ එය මධ්යස්ථභාවය මත පදනම් වූවක් බවයි. ශ්රී ලංකාව සහ අනෙකුත් ජාතීන් අතර සබඳතා කොන්දේසි කිහිපයකින් මත තීරණය වන බවත්, එහිදී සංවර්ධන සහයෝගිතාවය, ඓතිහාසික හා සංස්කෘතික සබඳතා ආදිය ප්රමුඛස්ථානය ගන්නා බවත් කුමන තත්වයන් යටතේ වුවද විදේශ සබඳතා පවත්වාගෙන යාමේ දී ජාතියේ ස්වාධීනත්වය, ස්වෛරීභාවය සහ භෞමික අඛණ්ඩතාව පාවා දීමට තමන් සූදානම් නැති බව ජනාධිපතිවරයා අවධාරණය කළේය.
ඉහළ මට්ටමේ ආර්ථික සංවර්ධනයක් ළඟා කර ගැනීම සඳහා ශ්රී ලංකාව සමඟ සමීපව කටයුතු කරන ලෙස එක්සත් ජනපද ලේකම්වරයා දුන් සහතිකයට ප්රතිචාර දක්වමින් ජනාධිපති රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පැවසූයේ ශ්රී ලංකාවට අවශ්ය වන්නේ අඛණ්ඩව ණය ලබා ගැනීම නොව වැඩි විදේශීය ආකර්ෂණයක් ලබා ගනිමින් ඉහළ ආර්ථික වර්ධනයක් අත්කර ගැනීම බවයි.
මේ පිළිබඳව තවදුරටත් අවධාරණය කරමින් ජනාධිපති රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පැවසුවේ ශ්රී ලංකාව යනු ඉහළ කෘෂිකාර්මික සංවර්ධනයක් ළඟා කර ගැනීම සඳහා අවශ්ය සාධක ඇති රටකි. අපේ කෘෂිකාර්මික අංශය නවීකරණය කළ යුතුයි. මෙම ඉලක්කය කරා ළඟාවීම සඳහා විද්යාත්මක පර්යේෂණ පැවැත්විය යුතුය. මේ සඳහා ඔබගේ සහාය අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමු” යනුවෙනි. බෙදුම්වාදී යුද්ධයේ අවසානයෙන් පසු රටේ යටිතල පහසුකම් සංවර්ධනය කිරීමට චීනය සහාය දුන් බව සඳහන් කළ ජනාධිපතිවරයා, ශ්රී ලංකාව ණය උගුලකට හසු නොවන බව යළිත් වරක් කියා සිටියේය.
මතභේදාත්මක මිලේනියම් චැලෙන්ජ් කෝපරේෂන් කොම්පැක්ට් (එම්.සී.සී.) සාකච්ඡා නොකළ බව පෙනෙන්නට තිබීම විශේෂයකි.. රූපවාහිනි නාලිකාවක පැවති සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවේදී විමසූ විට පොම්පියෝ කියා සිටියේ එය තීරණය කිරීම ශ්රී ලංකා රජයට පැවරී ඇති බවයි. ශ්රී ලංකාව මීට පෙර ප්රතික්ෂේප කළ බැවින්දෝ හමුදාවන් හා අදාල ගිවිසුමට (සෝෆා) අත්සන් කළ යුතු යැයි එක්සත් ජනපදය කළ මතභේදාත්මක ඉල්ලීම ගැන පවා කතා කර නැත.
සංගදාස අකුරුගොඩ
අධ්යාපන ලේකම්තුමා
අධ්යාපන අමාත්යංශය
ඉසුරුපාය,
බත්තරමුල්ල.
අධ්යාපන ලේකම්තුමනි,
ගුරු අධ්යාපනඥ සේවයේ iii
ශ්රේණියට බඳවා ගැනීමේ සීමිත තරඟ විභාගය පිළිබඳව.
ගුරු අධ්යාපනඥ සේවයේ සසස ශ්රේණියේ සීමිත තරඟ විභාගය සඳහා පිරිවෙන් ගුරුවරුන්ටද ඉල්ලූම් කිරීමට අවස්ථාවක් මෙවර චක්ර ලේඛනය මගින් උදාකර දී ඇත.
02. එසේ අවස්ථාව සලසාදී තිබුණද පිරිවෙන් ගුරුවරයාට ඉල්ලූම් කළ හැකි විෂය ප්රමාණය සීමා කර ඇත. (2020 ඔක්. 13 දින ඔබතුමාගේ නමින් නිකුත් කර ඇති චක්ර ලේඛයේ 04i (vi) ) එය පිරිවෙන් ගුරුවරයාට කළ අසාධාරණයකි. සෞන්දර්ය හා තොරතුරු තාක්ෂණය යන විෂයන්ට පවා පිරිවෙන් ගුරුවරයාට ඉල්ලූම් කළ හැකිනම් සෙසු විෂයන් සඳහා ඉල්ලූම් කළ නොහැක්කේ මන්දැයි බරපතල ගැටලූවක් පැන නගී. එය නිවැරදි කරදෙන මෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.
03. මෙම විභාගය සඳහා ඉල්ලූ කළ හැකි සෙසු ක්ෂේත්ර අතරට පිරිවෙන් ක්ෂේතයත්, එසේ නොවේ නම් උපකෘත පාසල් යන ක්ෂේත්රයත් පොදුවේ එකතු කළේ නම් මෙම ගැටලූව පැන නොනගිනු ඇතැයි අපි විශ්වාස කරන්නෙමු.
04. තවද මෙම දිනවල පවතින කොවිඞ් වසංගත තත්වය නිසා නගර, ගම්, දිස්ති්රක් වසා තැබීම හා තැපැල් කාර්යාල වසා දැමීම ඇතුළු #කොවිඩ් වසංගතය සම්බන්ධව අනුගමනය කරන විවිධ රෙගුලාසි කි්රයාත්මකව පවතී. ඒවා එසේ තිබියදී 60. 11. 2020 වන අද දිනයෙන් අධ්යාපනඥ සේවයේ සසස ශ්රේණියේ තරඟ විභාගය සඳහා ඉල්මම් කළ හැකි අවසන් දිනය දන්වා තිබීම විසින් මෙම තරඟ විභාගය සඳහා සුදුසුකම් ලාභීන්ට ඉල්ලූම් කිරීමට තිබෙන අවස්ථාව මගහැරීයාමට ඉඩ තිබේ. එම නිසා යම් සාධාරණ දීන ප්රමාණයකින් විභාගය සඳහා ඉල්ලූම් කළ හැකි අවසන් දිනය දීර්ඝ කිරීම සිදුකළ යුතුව ඇත.
05. මෙකී ඉල්ලීම් දෙක සම්බන්ධව ඉක්මන් අවධානය යොමුකර පීඩාවට පත්වන පාර්ශවයන්ගේ පීඩා දුරුකරන මෙන් මෙයින් කාරුණිකව ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.
ස්තූතියි.
මෙයට,
පූජ්ය වකමුල්ලේ උදිත හිමි
සභාපති,
ලංකා පිරිවෙන් ගුරුසේවා සංගමය.
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පිටපත් :-
01. අධ්යාපන රාජ්ය අමාත්යතුමා – අවධානයට හා අවශ්ය කටයුතු සඳහා
02. අධ්යාපන අධ්යක්ෂ (පිරිවෙන්) – අවධානයට හා අවශ්ය කටයුතු සඳහා
03. සියලූ ජනමාධ්ය (ජනමාධ්යයට)
During this unusual time, I want to share with you, the time, energy, and cost of participating in the US Elections. This is an example of the civic duty of US citizens who take presidential elections seriously and try their best to have a voice in a democratic process important to all citizens.
As your readers try to understand the complicated procedure of the American political process and try to decipher the steps of the electoral college operation, please note the dedication of the more than three million expats who this year have participated in this democratic exercise.
Travel History: Wednesday, 9/23/2020
Left FedEx origin facility
7:36 am COLOMBO LK
In transit
Friday, 9/25/2020
10:18 pm
SINGAPORE SG
At local FedEx facility
4:57 pm
SINGAPORE SG
At local FedEx facility
Saturday, 9/26/2020
3:31 pm
HONOLULU, HI
International shipment release – Import
Sunday, 9/27/2020
10:23 pm
HONOLULU, HI
In transit
Monday, 9/28/2020
11:40 am
HONOLULU, HI
In transit
12:52 am
HONOLULU, HI
At local FedEx facility
Tuesday, 9/29/2020
12:33 am
MEMPHIS, TN
Arrived at FedEx location
Wednesday, 9/30/2020
2:56 pm
MEMPHIS, TN
Departed FedEx location
6:13 am
MEMPHIS, TN
In transit
5:36 pm
BALTIMORE, MD
At destination sort facility
8:19 am
LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, MD
On FedEx vehicle for delivery
7:21 am
LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, MD
At local FedEx facility
Thursday , 10/01/2020
9:40 am
BALTIMORE, MD
Delivered
British lawmakers on Tuesday adopted a bill to prevent “vexatious” prosecutions of military personnel and veterans over war crimes allegations.
The prosecution of British soldiers for alleged past crimes in Northern Ireland, and more recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, has dogged the military and government for years.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The legislation proposes measures to “reduce uncertainty arising from historical allegations and create a better legal framework to deal with claims from future overseas conflicts”, according to the defence ministry.
The House of Commons passed the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill by 345 votes to 260. It now heads for debate in the House of Lords, the UK parliament’s unelected upper chamber.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told the Commons that the bill would deliver on the Conservative government’s 2019 election promise to protect service personnel and veterans from “vexatious claims and endless investigations”.
Veterans minister Johnny Mercer, a former army officer who served in Afghanistan, insisted the legislation “does not decriminalise torture” but strikes “an appropriate balance between victims’ rights and access to justice”.
However John Healey, defence spokesman for the main opposition Labour party, said the bill was “dishonest and damaging” as it would not prevent “baseless” investigations and could risk British troops getting hauled before the International Criminal Court.
The legislation discourages the prosecution of current or former soldiers for alleged offences committed on overseas operations more than five years ago.
It raises the threshold prosecutors will use in deciding to pursue a case after five years to “exceptional”, and requires them to weigh the public interest and get consent from the attorney general before prosecuting.
The bill will restrict the discretion of courts to extend time limits for bringing civil claims for personal injuries, deaths and human rights act violations to a maximum of six years.
However, the government said military operations will continue to be governed by other international humanitarian law, and denied the bill amounts to an “amnesty” for UK troops.
The UK military has been accused of covering up credible evidence of war crimes by soldiers against civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to leaks last year from two government-ordered inquiries.
In June, an independent British investigator looking into the Iraqi allegations said that all but one of thousands of complaints — which ranged from rape and torture to mock executions and other atrocities — had been dropped.
That followed a 2017 UK tribunal ruling that ex-lawyer Phil Shiner, who investigated and chronicled hundreds of the accounts of such crimes, was guilty of misconduct and dishonesty.
Colombo, November 6: Sri Lanka’s ruling party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Permuna (SLPP) appears to be moving towards a rapprochement with the alienated Muslim minority.
After winning the November 2019 Presidential election decisively and the August 2020 parliamentary elections with a two-thirds majority without the support of the Muslim and Tamil minorities, the SLPP felt it could co-opt Muslims without loss of political credibility among its Sinhalese-Buddhist vote bank.
According to SLPP insiders, the decision to seek and secure support for the 20Th.Amandment from Muslims MPs elected on the opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya ticket stemmed from the confidence that its core Sinhala-Buddhist community would not view it as a sign of weakness but as a sign of confidence. In the event, six of the eight cross voters from the opposition were Muslims.
That the Rajapaksa’s supremacy and power in the SLPP and the government was real was established when the rebels in the ruling camp, including the vociferous and ultra-nationalistic Wimal Weerawansa, who had threatened to quit if the 20A was not suitably amended, finally fell in line without a whimper. That the leadership of the Muslim parties from which the cross voters came were silent testified either to the power of the Rajapaksas or to a secret willingness on their part to begin cooperating with the government and the ruling party.
After getting 20A passed with more than the minimum votes required, the Rajapaksa’s greeted the Muslims on the Prophet’s birthday. The wording of the messages from the President and Prime Minister indicated that they highly respected the Prophet’s call for peace and brotherhood among different communities.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that giving priority to religious beliefs at a time of distress like the one brought about by the pandemic would bring solace to the mind. We must socialize the virtues learnt from the character of the Prophet to achieve mutual prosperity, reconciliation among different ethnic groups and the common good.”
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said that Prophet Muhammad was committed to building a respectable society full of humanity. The qualities he practised throughout his life, the sacrifices he made for humanity are infinite. Mutual understanding, brotherhood, helping one another and fairness are the basic teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. Similarly, his vision was to fill the human society with good qualities, knowledge and non-violence.”
He further said: Islamic countries have always supported Sri Lanka unconditionally in international organizations. I would like to express my gratitude for the international support given to us.”
Also, we have faced an era of severe health due to COVID-19. Hence I request you to celebrate this great day by following proper health instructions according to Islamic guidelines.”
The use of the expression according to Islamic guidelines” appears to be significant as within days the government came out with an announcement that it has appointed a committee to meet this week to reconsider a decision taken in March that made it mandatory for bodies of those who succumbed to the coronavirus (COVID-19) to be cremated.
Health Minister Pavitra Wanniarachchi told Parliament on Tuesday that the decision to allow only cremation was based on the advice of medical experts who gave the government a scientific analysis of the situation at the time. In March it was an unknown virus and there was a need to study it further, she said. Therefore, a committee appointed in this regard would meet this week to reconsider this decision,” Wanniarachchi said.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said the government could have done so earlier instead of communalizing the issue of cremation and making the Muslims, who insist on burial as per their faith, feel bad.
Eminent persons in the medical field such as Professors Rizvi Sheriff, Vajra H.W. Dissanayake, Ruvaiz Haniffa and Ravindra Fernando were among those who called for an independent committee to look into this matter and give a decision but that was not done,” he said. Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella said that WHO guidelines did not favour cremation over burial. .
UNP Colombo District MP Mujibur Rahman said that nine Muslims who succumbed to COVID-19 had been cremated so far and urged the Government to do away with the mandatory cremation regulations. This is a psychological issue and not a political one,” he said.
SLPP sources said that many well-known Muslims had been campaigning quietly for getting the ban on burial rescinded and Justice Minister Ali Sabry was liaising with them and being a conduit between them and President Gotabaya.
While the nature of the water table in Sri Lanka is an issue which has to be considered any change in the policy will have to be studied from a scientific angle and the final recommendation will have to appeal to the rational mind. Only then will the majority community which is scared COCID-19 will be able to accept burial without fear or reservation,”said an SLPP source.
The expectation is that the committee will sanction burial. It is noteworthy burial has been allowed in every country hit by COVID-19 except Sri Lanka and China,” the source said.
If, indeed, burial is allowed eventually, it will help smoothen the rough edges in the relationship between the Rajapaksas and Muslims to some extent. But not all Muslims are likely to fall in line as the chasm between the community and the Rajapaksas is both wide and deep. The 2014 riots in Aluthgama, the various anti-Muslim campaigns of the government-backed Bodu Bala Sena and the April 21, 2019 suicide bombings by Islamic terrorists had led to alienation of a high order which will take long to end.
Sales collapsed after a viral outbreak at a Colombo fish market. Activists urge the authorities to counter public disinformation. Fishing industry workers are unable to pay debts. Advocates want the government to provide refrigerated sites and buy unsold stock.
Colombo (Asia News) – Sri Lankan fisherman have started a campaign to inform the public that COVID-19 is not transmitted from fish to humans.
Fishing industry advocacy groups also urge the government to take steps to protect the fishing industry from the effects of the pandemic.
After a COVID-19 outbreak was reported in Colombo’s Peliyagoda Fish Market, fish sales collapsed as a result of fears that fish could spread the pulmonary virus.
In a statement released yesterday, advocacy groups called on the authorities to support fishermen and launch an information campaign on the real dangers posed by the coronavirus.
They stress that the government action must be immediate to prevent hunger and starvation among workers in the fishing industry and their families.
According to Herman Kumara, national coordinator of the National Fisheries Solidarity Organization, and special guest at the World Fishermen’s Forum, misinformation about the spread of COVID-19 has caused enormous damage to fishermen.
He wants the government to remedy this situation. “Small fishermen are unable to sell what they catch and also have difficulty in carrying out their business due to the curfew,” he told AsiaNews.
Indeed, fishermen are facing a massive crisis,” said Jude Vianny, a multi-day trawler fisherman from Kudamaduwella, Chilaw. Fishermen are unable to repay the loans they contracted to go fishing.” For this reason, The government should intervene in this matter as soon as possible.”
Vianny explains that a fishing trip of several days can cost at least 1.1 million rupees (almost US$ 6,000). He complains that the authorities are not buying the unsold stock, nor providing refrigeration sites to store it.
Echoing his demands, advocacy groups urge the government to help out in this time of crisis by buying the fish at a fair price.
The Lanka premier League will now be held from November 27 to December 17, 2020 and will only be played at the MRICS, Hambantota.
Sri Lanka Cricket has announced that the Lanka Premier League has been rescheduled. The tournament will now be held from November 27 to December 17, 2020 and will only be played at the MRICS, Hambantota.
The latest revision, both in the commencement date and the venue, was affected, following several rounds of meetings Sri Lanka Cricket had with the health ministry officials. Accordingly, the Government today gave its approval to go ahead with the tournament, subjected to strict and stringent health guidelines to adhere to during the tournament.
Holding of the tournament in Hambantota and in one venue, enhances our plan of setting up and maintaining an effective Bio-Secure Bubble, and with the approval coming from the government, we are now confident of going ahead with the tournament,” said Ravin Wickramaratne, Vice President of Sri Lanka Cricket and the Tournament Director of the LPL.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have thanked Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, Honorable (Mrs.) Pavithra Wanniarachchi, The Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine and Honorable Namal Rajapaksa, The Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs for extending their support towards holding the tournament.
Sri Lanka Cricket also wishes to thank Lieutenant General Shavendra De Silva, The Head of the Covid-19 Task Force, Major General (Dr.) Sanjeewa Munasinghe, Secretary, Ministry of Health and the Director General of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena for also extending their support towards holding the tournament.
These are difficult times and the Sri Lankan Government and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have come up with the best solution possible and I am thankful to all involved in these discussions in the last few days. It wasn’t easy, but I think this is the best decision keeping the well-being of Sri Lankan cricket and Sri Lankan people in mind,” said Anil Mohan, CEO of Dubai-based IPG, the promoters of LPL.
According to the latest plan, the revised new schedule of the tournament will be announced shortly.
A 23-year old male, died due to Covid-19 while receiving treatment at the IDH reporting the 30th Covid death in Sri Lanka.
The Government Information Department said he is a resident of Modara, Colombo.
He was suffering from complications associated with diabetic.
The Government has issued a new set of Covid-19 guidelines on public activities based on Alert Level System.
The Health Ministry said the new set of guidelines is supported by the previous guidelines issued by the Ministry on the relaxation of public activities in response to COVID 19.
The COVID 19 situation in the country is subject to change from time to time and level of activity permitted and the number of people engaged in these functions is required to change.
The alert level system introduced based on an understanding of public and work settings in Sri Lanka, is as follows,
Alert level 1– Cases reported are only those coming from outside the country (detected in quarantine); no clusters
Alert level 2– One cluster of cases
Alert level 3– Several clusters in different districts
Alert level 4– Cases are appearing with no connection to any cluster – Community transmission
Earlier, the Department of Government Information issued guidelines in relation to the restriction of activities in non-curfew imposed areas.
However, the latest set of guidelines is applicable to the entire country.
According to the new guidelines, the schools, higher education centres including universities and tuition classes in areas under the alert level 3 and 4 remain closed while pre-schools and day-cares in areas under the alert level 3 can be operated with only 50% of capacity.
When it comes to holding of weddings, weddings in areas under alert level 1 can be held with adherence to health guidelines, weddings in areas under alert level 2 can also be held
with the number of guests not exceeding 50% of the seating capacity of the hall up to a maximum of 200 guests adhering to the instructions given.
Weddings in areas under alert level 3 are allowed with a maximum of 50 guests adhering to the instructions given while under alert 4, weddings can be held with a maximum of 20 guests adhering to the instructions given.
Meanwhile, cinemas, theatres, children’s parks, carnivals, musical shows and beach parties in areas under the alert level 2 can be held with 50% capacity while they are not allowed in areas under alert level 3 and 4. (Sheain Fernandopulle)
Attorney General (AG) Dappula de Livera has directed the Acting IGP to inform him immediately of the Investigating Team appointed to investigate the Brandix cluster as no probe has been launched yet, AG’s Coordinating Officer said.
ජනපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා යටතේ පත් කරගන්නා ලද නව රජය ස්වකීය ප්රමුඛ කාර්යයක් වශයෙන් සලකා ඇත්තේ නව ආණ්ඩුක්රම ව්යවස්ථාවක් සකස් කිරීමයි.මේ කරුණ සාකච්ඡා කිරීමේ දී පැවති ආණ්ඩුකම ව්යවස්ථා පිළිබඳ විමසීම කරනු වටී. එංගලන්ත රැජින යටතේ ස්වාධීන පාලනයක් ලංකාවට ඇති කරලීම පිණිස 1948 දී සකස් කළ ආණ්ඩුක්රම ව්යවස්ථාවක් සමග යම් පමණක දේශපාලන නිදහසක් රටට හිමි විය. නමුත් ලංකාව පූර්ණ වශයෙන් රැජින ගේ පාලනයෙන් මිදී නිදහස ලබනුයේ 1972 වසරේදීය.ආචාර්ය කොල්වින් ආර්.ද සිල්වා මහතා ගේ මූලිකත්වයෙන් සැකසුණු 1972 ව්යවස්ථාව තුළ මෙතෙක් සිංහලේ නැතිනම් සිංහල ද්වීපය යනුවෙන් භාවිත කල රට ශ්රී ලංකාව බවට පත් විය.කොල්වින් ආර්.ද සිල්වා මහතා වරක් පිළිසඳර කතාබකදී පවසා ඇත්තේ එකල සිටි ශ්රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂයට සාපේක්ෂව එම නාමය ඇති කළ බවයි.1977 වර්ෂයේ දී විශාල ජන වරමක් ලබාගත් ජේ.ආර්.ජයවර්ධන මහතා 1978 දී නව ආණ්ඩුක්රම ව්යවස්ථාවක් ලබා දෙමින් විධායක ජනපති ක්රමය ලකාවට දායාද කලේය.ඒ සමගම ඔහු ලංකාවේ ජීවත් වූ පාරම්පරික සිංහලයන් සහ ලියාපදංචියෙන් පුරවැසිකම් ලැබූ විදෙස් ජන වර්ග එක මට්ටමක ලා සලකමින් පුරවැසි භාවය පිළිබඳ නව වගන්තියක්ද ඇතුලත් කලේය.එසේම එක්සත් ජාතීන් ගේ සංවිධානයේ නිර්දේශයන් මත ලංකා ආණ්ඩුක්රම ව්යවස්ථාව තුළ මූලික අයිතිවාසිකම් ඡෙදය වඩා බල ගන්වමින් එය මගින් ජනතා පරමාධිපත්ය තහවුරු කරන බවටද ප්රතිපාදනද ඇතුලත් කලේය.1978 සිට 2020 දක්වා මෙම ආණ්ඩුක්රම ව්යවස්ථාවට සංශෝධන විස්සක් ගෙනවුත් තිබේ. මේ සංශෝධන ගෙන ඒමට මුල් වූයේ හුදෙක් දේශපාලන කාරණාය.අතැම් විට බලයේ සිටි පුද්ගලයන්ගේ බලය වැඩි කර ගැනීමටද විරුද්ධ පක්ෂයේ අයට චන්දයට ඉදිරිපත් වීමට නොහැකිවන ලෙසටද ගෙනා සංශෝධන විය. එලෙසම විවිධ ජන වර්ගයන් සතුටු කිරීමට සහ ඔවුන් ගේ බලය වැඩි කර දීමට ගෙනා සංශෝධන ද විය. උතුරේ සහ නැගෙනහිර පළාත් වල දෙමළ පාරිපාලන භාෂාව කරන ලද්දේ 16 වන සංශෝධනය මගිනි.නමුත් මේ සංශෝධන වලින් කිසිවිටක සිංහල බෞද්ධයන් ගේ අයිතිවාසිකම් සුරක්ෂිත කර ගැනීමට එකදු පියවරක් තැබීමට නොහැකි විය.
13 වන ව්යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය සහ 19 වන ව්යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය මගින් බෙදුම්වාදය ශක්තිමත් කර ලීමට පියවර කීපයක් තැබූ ආකාරය මේ වන විට පැහැදිලිය.ඉන්දියාව සහ ඇමරිකාව කරන ලද බලපෑම් මගින් මේ කටයුත්ත සඳහා මෙරට අතරමැදියන් පත් කරතිබුණි.19 ගෙන ඒමට ජයම්පතී වික්රමරත්න සහ එම්.ඒ .සුමන්තිරන් වැනි අය මැදිහත් වී සිටියහ.19 සම්මත වන කල්හි 1978 ව්යවස්ථාවේ 70(1) ව්යවස්ථාව අනුමත කරන ලද්දේ 2002 ශ්රේෂ්ඨාධීකරණ තීරණයන්ට පටහැනිවය. එසේම කාරක සභා අවස්ථාවේ දී මන්ත්රීවරුන්ට කොලේ වසා නොයකුත් සංශෝධන ඇතුලත් කරන ලද්දේ විය.මේ අවුල විසින් යහපාලන රජය පරිහානියට ගෙනයන ලද්දේය. ඔවුහු ව්යවස්ථා සම්පාදක මණ්ඩලයක් පත් කරමින් වසර කීපයක් කල්මරමින් සිට ඔරුමිත්ත නාඩු නම් බෙදුම් වාදී ආණ්ඩුක්රම ව්යවස්ථා කෙටුම්පතක් සම්මත කරගන්නට උත්සාහ දරනු ලැබීය.මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් රට පුරා ඇති වූ විරෝධය ඉතා මහත් විය.ඇතැම් කරුණු සඟවා ගන්නට උත්සාහ කළ ද ඒවා වේගයෙන් ජනතාව අතරට සන්නිවේදනය විය.ඒ අතර යුධ අපරාධ චෝදනා රණ විරුවන් සිරගත කිරීම් ආදිය නිසා ජනතා අප්රසාදය දිනෙන් දින උත්සන්න විය.
ජනතාව නව නායකයෙකු කෙරෙහි විශ්වාසය තබන ලද්දේ ඒ නිසාය. 19 ව්යවස්ථාව මගින් මහින්ද රජපක්ෂ මහතාට නැවත ජනපතිවරණයට ඉදිරිපත් වීමේ ඉඩකඩ අසුරා තිබුණි.එසේම ද්විත්ව පුරවැසියෙකු වන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතාටද එම පුරවැසි කම නිසා මෙරට නායකත්වයට පත් වීම පිණීස අවස්ථාව අහිමි කර තිබුණී.නමුත් චන්දයෙන් පරාජයට පත් කරන ලද මහින්ද රජපක්ෂ මහතා ජනතා අනුකම්පාව දිනමින් නැවත ජනප්රියත්වයට පත් වීමත් සමගම නව නායකයෙකු ලෙසට ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහාතාට පිළිගැනුමක් ඇති විය. ඒ ඔහු ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්වරයා ව සිටි සමයේ කල සපන්කම් නිසාවෙනි. වෙසෙසින්ම යහපාලන කාලයේ උත්සන්නව පැවති මත්ද්රව්ය ව්යාපාරය ග මුස්ලිම් අන්තවාදය දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදය මෙන්ම රාජ්ය සේවයේ බිඳ වැටීම් ජය ගන්නට නම් ඔහු වැනි සෘජු නායකයෙකු පත් විය යුතු යැයි මතයක් සමාජ ගත විය.2019 වසරේ වත්මන් ජනපති වරයා ජයග්රහණය කරන ලද්දේ මේ සියලු කාරණා එකට ගොනු වීමෙනි.
ලංකාවේ දේශාපාලනය තුළ ව්යාකූල තත්වයක් ඇති කරන ලද 19 වන සංශෝධනය ඉවත් කිරීම කළ යුතුම දෙයක් විය.එදා 19ට විරුද්ධව සිය චන්දය භාවිතා කල එකම මන්ත්රීවරයා සරත් වීරසේකර මහතා පමණි. මහින්ද රජපක්ෂ මහතා ගේ සහ මෛත්රීපාල සිරිසේන හිටපු ජනපති වරයාගේ මැදිහත් වීම මත බොහෝ විරුද්ධ පක්ෂ මන්ත්රීවරු 19 ට පක්ෂව චන්දය භාවිතා කළහ.එසේ භාවිත කිරීම විශ්ලේෂණය කරන විට දැන ගන්නට ඇත්තේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු විවාදය පැවැත්වෙන විට සහ කාරක සභා අවස්ථාවන්හිදී මන්ත්රීවරුන් අදාල වගන්ති වලට නිසි අවධානයක් යොමු කොට නැති ආකාරයයි.සභා මේසයට පැමිණෙන කෙටුම්පත් කියවා නොබලා අත් ඉස්සීම සුලභ දෙයකි. හිතු හිතු ලෙස කල ව්යවස්ථා සංශෝධන නිසා 19 අවුලක් බවට පත් වූයේ එලෙසයි. නමුත් තමන්ගේ අරමුණු කර යමින් සිටි ව්යවස්ථා චෞරයන්ට එනම් රනිල් වික්රමසිංහ ජයම්පතී වික්රමරත්න සහ සුමන්තිරන් වැන්නවුන්ට මේ වංචාව ක්රීඩාවක් විය.කෙසේ වෙතත් අද වන විට 19 නැවත ආපිට හරවා යවා ඇත. ඒ සඳහා 2020 අගෝස්තු මාසයේ දී ගෙන එන ලද 20 ව්යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය ඉදිරිපත් කළ සැණින් ජනතාව ඉදිරියේ එය මහත් කලබගෑනියක් ඇති කරන ලද්දේය. වෙසෙසින්ම ද්විත්ව පුරවැසි බාවය ඉවත් කිරීම රාජ්ය සමාගම් විගණනය ඉවත් කිරීම ප්රතිඥාව ඉවත් කිරීම අමාත්ය මණ්ඩල සීමාව ඉවත් කිරීම ආදී කරුණු එම පනතේ තිබූ බැවින් වෙසෙසි සාකච්ඡාවට බඳුන් විය.ශ්රේෂ්ඨාධීකරණයේ දී අභියෝගයට ලක් වූ වගන්ති හතර ගැන නීතිපතිවරයා සහ අධීකරණ ඇමතිවරයා සැලකිල්ල නොදැක්වීම මේ අවුලට තවත් හේතුවක් විය.ජනමතවිචාරණයට තුඩුදෙන මේ වගන්ති හතර නිසා 76 ව්යවස්ථාවෙන් කියැවෛන් ව්යවස්ථාදායක බලය අත් හැරීමක් ද සිදුව ඇත.අවසානයේ ජනතා විරෝධය මත ආණ්ඩුව පියවර කීපයක් පස්සට තබා ගනිමින් ජාතික සංවිධාන ඇතුලු භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේලාගේ ඉල්ලීම් වලට කන්දුන්හ.
2020 ඔක්තෝබර මාසයේ 20 වන දින 20 වන සංශෝධනය පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සංවාදයට බඳුන් විය. ඒ මෙම පනතට දුන් ශ්රේෂ්ඨාධිකරන තීරණය ද සභාගත කරමිනි.නමුත් එය සභාගත කරන ලද්දේ ඉංග්රීසි භාෂාවෙන් පමණකි.ඔක්තෝබර 20 වන දිනට කලින් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රී අනුප පැස්කුවල් මහතා ස්ථාවර නියෝග යටතේ මෙම ඉහළ උසාවියේ නියෝග වල සිංහල පරිවර්තනයක් ලබා දීය යුතු යැයි ඉල්ලීමක් කරන ලදී. නමුත් පාර්ලිමේන්තු ලේකම්වරයාගෙන් එය සිදු වී නැත.හැන්සාඩ් වාර්තාවටද සිංහල පරිවර්තනය ඇතුලත් වී නැත.
20 සම්මත කරන ලද්දේ යම් සංශෝධන කීපයක් සමගිනි. ද්විත්ව පුරවැසි භාවයට මරාගත් ජනපති වරයා සහ ආණ්ඩුව 1978 සිට 2015 දක්වා සිංහලයන්ට විරුද්ධව ගෙනා සංශෝධන අකුලා ගන්නට කිසිම තැතක් නොදරන ලදී.ඒ වෙනුවට දේශපාලන වශයෙන් සහ පුද්ගලිකව වාසිදායක වන සංශෝධන සඳහා උනන්දු වූ බව පැහැදලිය. එයට අමතරව කාරක සභා අවස්ථාවේ දී අධිකරණ අමාත්ය වරයා 20 පනත් කොටුම්පතේ නොවූ නමුත් 19 යටතේ 46(4) වශයෙන් තිබූ වගන්තිය එනම් ජාතික ආණ්ඩුවක් ඇති කර ගෑනීමට ලබා දී තිබෙන බලය පිළීබඳ ප්රතිපාදනය නැවත ඇතුලත් කර තිබේ.මෙම ප්රතිපාදනය ඉහල උසාවියේ පවා ප්රශ්න කරඇති අතර යහපාලන කාලය තුළම ජනතා විවේචනට ලක් ව තිබුණි.මේ සංශෝධන සියල්ල ඔහු සාකච්ඡා කරනුයේ නැතිනම් සභාගත කරනුයේ ඉංග්රීසි භාෂාවෙනි.සිංහල බසින් හොඳින් කතා කළ හැකි අධිකරණ ඇමතිවරයා සිංහල භාෂා පාඨයට තිබෙන මුල් තැන ගැන නොදන්නවා නොවේ.අතැම් විට ව්යවස්ථාවේ ඉංග්රීසි පිටපතේ එක තිතක් වෙනස් කිරීමෙන් අර්ථය ද වෙනස් කළ හැකි බව ඔහු දන්නවා ඇත. උදාහරණ වශයෙන් 9 වන වගන්තිය සහ 76 වගන්තිය ගත හැකිය. ඔහු සටකපට අන්දමින් ඉංග්රීසි බසින් සංශෝධන ඉදිරිපත් කරමින් සිටිනාතර ලක්ෂ්මන් කිරිඇල්ල මහතාද රීති ප්රශ්ණ අසමින් සභාවේ අවධානය වෙනත් තැන් වලට යොමු කළ ආකාරය 2020 ඔක්තේබර 22 හැන්සාඩ් වාර්තවෙන් බලාගත හැකිය. කෙසේ වෙතත් සිංහල බෞද්ධ නායකයෙකු වශයෙන් මහත් විශ්වාසයක් තැබූ ගෝඨාභය රජපක්ෂ මහතා සිය අධීකරණ අමාත්යවරයා මගින් ජනතා විශ්වාසය වංචනික ලෙසින් කඩ කරතිබේ. අලුත් ව්යවස්ථාවක් සෑදිමටද භාර දී ඇත්තේ ද මෙවැනි චෞරයෙකුටය.මේ තටයුත්තට විද්වත් කමිටුවක් පත් කර තිබුණද එම කමිටුවේ එක් පුද්ගලයෙකුට ඇරෙන්නට මෙවැනි භාරදූර වැඩක් ගොඩ දාන්නට අනෙක් අයට තිබෙන සුදුසුකම් මොනවා ද යන්න ප්රශ්ණයකි.ඒ අතර අලුත් ව්යවස්ථාව ගෙන ඒමට ගන්නා ලද මුල් පියවරෙන්ම මේ චෞරයන් ගේ හැටි තවදුරටත් අනාවරණය වේ.
ඒ සඳහාද උදාහරණ මෙහි දැක්විය හැකිය.එනම් යහපාලන රජය විසින් නව ව්යවස්ථාවක් සම්පාදනය කරන බවත් ජනතාවගේ අදහස් විමසීමට දැමූ පුවත් පත් දැන්වීමත් වර්තමානයේ අධිකරණ ඇමතිවරයා දැමූ පුවත් පත් දැන් වීමත් පෙන්වා දිය හැකිය. යහ පාලන පුවත්පත් දැන්වීම තුළ අදහස් දැක්විය යුතු වගන්ති 20 ක් ඇතුලත් විය. එහිදී බලය බෙදීම බල හවුල්කාරිත්වය වැනි බෙදුම්වාදී මාර්ග ගැන අසා තිබුණී. වර්තමාන පුවත් පත් දැන්වීමේ ඇත්තේ වගන්ති 12ක පමණකි. ආගම පුරවැසි භාවය ආදී මූලික වැදගත් කරුණු එහිදී මහජන අදහස් විමසීමෙන් ඉවත් කර තිබේ. ඒ අතර යහපාලන දැන්වීමට සමාන බලය බෙදීම යන කාරණයද ඉස්මතු කරතීබීම විශේෂයකි. මෙයින් අප තේරුම් ගත යුතව ඇත්තේ ව්යවස්ථා චෞරයන්ට ජනතාව රවටා හිතු හිතූ දේ කරගන්නට අවස්ථාවක් ලැබී ඇති බවයි.මුස්ලිම් මන්ත්රීවරයෙකු වන අලි සබ්රි මහතා කොරොනා නිසා මිය යන මුස්ලිම් මිනිසුන් ගේ භූමදාන කටයුතු නීතියෙන් කරගන්නට විශේෂ උත්සාහයක් දරයි.පවිත්රා ඇමතිතුමිය ඒ ගැන සලකා බැලීමට කමිටුවක්ද පත් කර තිබේ.නමුත් සිංහල බෞද්ධයන්ගේ චන්දයෙත් පත් වූ මන්ත්රී වරු අඩු ගණනේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු වගකීම් වත් ඉටු කර නැති බව පෙනේ . ජාතික ආණ්ඩු වගන්තිය නැවත ඇතුලත් කරන විට මේ මන්ත්රිවරු එයට කිසිම අවධානයක් යොමුකර නැත.
මේ වන විට පළ වී තිබෙන හැන්සාඩ් වාර්තාව පවා කියවා ඇත්දැයි සැකයකි.මෙවැනි තත්වයක් තුළ අලුත් ව්යවස්ථාවක් ගෙනවුත් රටේ එකීය භාවයද බුද්ධාගමට තිබෙන ප්රමුඛස්ථානයද හිමින් සැරේ ඉවත් කරන්නට මේ චෞරයන්ට හැකිය.ව්යවස්ථා මර උගුලක් ගැන අපට නැවත කතා කරන්නට සිදුව තිබෙන්නේ සෞභාග්ය සඳහා යන ගමනට චෞරයන් ද සාභාගි කරගෙන ඇති බැවිනි.
මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්
බදුල්ල දිස්ත්රික් කොවිඩ් වසංගතය පාලනය කිරීමේ මෙහෙයුම් කමිටු රැස්වීම ඌව පළාත් ගරු ආණ්ඩුකාරවර ඒ.ජේ.එම්. මුසම්මිල් මහතාගේ ප්රධානත්වයෙන් බදුල්ල දිස්ත්රික් ලේකම් කාර්යාලයේ දී පවත්වන ලදී.
මෙහිදී කෝවිඩ් වසංගත තත්වයත් සමග නිවෙස්වල නිරෝධායනය වන ජනතාවට ආහාර පාන ලබාදීම ගැන වැඩි අවධානය යොමු විය.
එමෙන්ම හදිසි තත්ත්ව වලට මූණ දීමට ඇති රෝහල් පහසුකම්, කොරෝනා වසංගත තත්ත්වයෙන් මිදීමට අවශ්ය සෞඛ්ය උපදෙස් හා අනුගමනය කලයුතු පිළිවෙත් පිලිබද ජනතාව දැනුවත් කිරීම, ජීවන උපාය සංවර්ධන වැඩසටහන් යටතේ ආරම්භ කර ඇති ගෙවතු වගාව වැඩසටහනේ ඉදිරි කටයුතු සම්බන්ධයෙන් සාකච්ඡා කෙරුණි.
මෙම අවස්ථාවට අමාත්ය තේනුක විදානගමගේ මැතිතුමා, බදුල්ල දිස්ත්රික්කයේ සම්බන්ධීකරණ කමිටු සභාපති පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්රී සුදර්ශන දෙනිපිටිය මහතා, චාමර සම්පත් දසනායක මහතා, සෙන්දිල් තොන්ඩමාන් මහතා, ඌව පළාත් ප්රධාන ලේකම්,
ආණ්ඩුකාරවර ලේකම්, විශේෂඥ වෛද්යවරුන්, නියෝජ්ය පොලිස්පතිතුමන්,
සෞඛ්ය අංශයේ අදාළ නිලධාරීන් සහභාගී විය.
Crisis. This is interestingly a word that at some level warms the cockles of a politician’s heart. Governments can point to calamities and pooh-pooh demands to address issues that have plagued society for a long time. They provide ammunition to the opposition, even one which is weak, clueless and indeed precipitated the issues that are marked ‘Of overriding importance.’
We saw this during the long decades of the country’s struggle to defeat terrorism. We see milder versions of the phenomenon during natural disasters such as the tsunami, landslides, floods and droughts. Respective governments can and have brushed aside persisting problems such as lawlessness, poverty, inter-communal harmony, climate change, drugs etc. citing ‘the grave situation at hand,’ whatever it may be.
Crises are useful for the sustainable development of a system skewed in favor of the rich and powerful. The system depends on crises. Politicians depend on them too. Is anyone interested in ‘Wilpattu’ or ‘Lankagama’ these days? Anyone for the human-elephant conflict? How about captive elephants and animal cruelty? Reconciliation, anyone?
How about the so-called ‘Draconian 20th Amendment’? The 20th, for the record, did not do away with the 19th Amendment, as some claim. Therefore it is not a reinstatement of the 18th, as they also claim. Anyway, if the 20th was as bad as its opponents claim, then the logical thing for a principled political activist to do would be to work tirelessly to mobilize the masses through awareness creation and organization. We didn’t see that. We are not seeing it. We are unlikely to se it either.
Covid-19 was a bless-’em-all kind of development. It blessed them all. It enables governments to ‘legitimately’ put things on the back burner or junk them altogether. The nature of the virus ‘legitimizes’ the imposition of restrictions. It makes surveillance ok. It’s great for the Opposition too. Nothing that’s done is good enough. There’s always something that could have been done differently. A surge, a bad story, a death make for slogans and memes, criticism and ridicule.
So what of the moves to formulate a new constitution, in the middle of a pandemic, no less? Is this the time for such things, for goodness’ sake? What’s most pressing is combating the virus, surely? First stop the spread, then think about other stuff, a new constitution included. People are going through a rough time, especially the daily wage earners in the city; this is not the time to make new laws. The economy is under severe strain, didn’t you realize?
There’s a lot of noise along these lines. Covid-19, let me repeat, makes for noise. Bigger noise than usual. Remember how the virus was waved by some to criticize the dissolution of Parliament and how moves to replace a legislature that had lost legitimacy was called ‘undemocratic’ and ‘uncivilized’ by those who, funnily enough, wanted to convene that same illegitimate parliament ‘to respond to the pandemic’? Remember how they also wanted elections postponed (citing Covid-19)? Remember the dire predictions? It’s easy of course to make pronouncements after the fact, but it does seem that Covid-19 had little or nothing to do with the concerns expressed. Some were terrified of elections for reasons that became clear a few months ago.
That script was re-used when the 20th Amendment was tabled. In the middle of a pandemic, are you crazy, asked the (selectively) horrified. Today, they express horror about the new constitution. Covid-19 to the fore, once again, we see.Let’s break it down. First, do we need a new constitution? The obvious answer is ‘yes’ and if the need to amend the J.R. Jayewardene ‘The Mother of all Draconian’ Constitution no less than 20 times doesn’t make a conclusive case, then the non-believers are unlikely to ever believe. Do we need it right away? No, we don’t. We’ve not folded up as a nation. We have demonstrated admirable resilience, in fact. We can wait.
That said, would it detract from the country’s efforts to combat Covid-19, as the nay-sayers insist? Well, right now, there’s a committee tasked to draft a new constitution. That committee has called for public comment. There is a strain on every citizen, but then again, not all citizens really get involved in such exercises. It is hard to argue that all those who do care will not have the time, energy, peace of mind and ability to offer suggestions. Life is never smooth. Everyone has issues. We attend to multiple tasks. Those who really feel a need to get involved, can make the time for it.
In any case, it’s a job for representatives. It’s the job of the legislator. Now there are 225 of them. What are they doing right now? They are, we hope, maintaining social distance, wearing masks and washing their hands, i.e. strictly adhering to protection protocols. This is something everyone is required to do, even as they go about the not-easy task of living and earning bucks, one way or the other, to meet their various expenses.
Covid-19 or no Covid-19 MPs have ample time to study the existing constitution, its flaws and suggested correctives. They have time to peruse from home constitutions of other countries to find out how others have resolved similar issues through legislation.
The truth is that the 225 worthies we elected on August 5, 2020 are not in the forefront of the battle against Covid-19. That’s for the health authorities in the main, with the support of the relevant state institutions and the public sector workforce. Legislators are not part of that story, outside of the responsibilities they have as citizens, just like any of us.
In short, they have the time. They have the JD. They can and better get to work on it.
Interestingly, those who say ‘this is not the time,’ are not saying ‘this is not the time to do business, operate factories or shops.’ They are not saying ‘let’s shut down the entire country.’ No, they are arguing against such ‘draconian’ measures. ‘The economy must move,’ they insist. ‘People must work, must earn money,’ they argue. Well, politicians are people too. They do get paid and enjoy perks on account of being elected to….to….to do what? Well, MAKE LAWS!
So let’s retire these silly objections. The economy must move. The country cannot be shut down. If something is working, we can work to make it work better. If something is not, we fix it. The constitution. It needs fixing. Seriously. And now is as a good time as any. Indeed, this could be the best time. The lawmakers don’t have to preen and parade. They can law-make.
malindasenevi@gmail.com
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