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
http://www.infolanka.com/org/srilanka/hist/37.htm
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
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.
FROM: RAJAGIRIYA LK TO: BALTIMORE, MD
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
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.
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.
By P.K.Balachandran/Weekend Express Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
The decision to review the ban on the burial of Muslim COVID-19 victims and messages on the Prophet’s birthday indicate a change in attitude to the alienated Muslim community
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.
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.
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
Confronted with rising anger among workers, who forced the closure of an infected factory, Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapakse on Sunday announced an extension of a lockdown in selected areas and home quarantine” for suspected cases. At the same time, he tried to blame ordinary people for the resurging COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Last week, the MAS Holdings-owned Bodyline garment factory, which employs about 6,000 workers, was compelled to close down. One member of a 200-strong team tested positive. When 145 team members were tested, another 34 were found to be infected. Workers’ opposition forced the factory to shut.
MAS is a giant company, with factories in 15 countries employing around 99,000 workers, producing apparel for international brands such as Victoria’s Secret, Marks & Spencer and Calvin Klein.
Nurses protesting in Kandy last July
Rajapakse made his announcement in a discussion with the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 at his office. The media ran reports painting those measures as the government intensifying the battle against rapid spread of COVID-19.” In reality, the decisions are aimed at continuing corporate operations, particularly factory production for exports, forcing workers to stay on the job.
Basil Rajapakse, the president’s younger brother, who heads the PTF, said on Monday: The majority opinion was to impose a nationwide curfew.” He added that health authorities wanted to stop everything at least for 10 days.” However, the lockdown was limited to the Western Province.”
Since one coronavirus infected worker was found accidentally on October 4 at a Brandix Fashion Wear factory at Minuwangoda, the number of cases nationally has rapidly increased, to over 12,000 with 24 deaths, as of Wednesday. These numbers understate the toll because the government is not conducting systematic testing.
The president extended a lockdown of the Western Province until November 9. Major commercial, industrial and administrative institutions are located in this province. In the North-Western Province some areas in the Kurunegala district have been isolated also.
However, these restrictions do not affect big business or state institutions. Last week, President Rajapakse told the cabinet that economic activities would continue without hindrance, despite the pandemic. The Colombo government and the ruling class are following similar, criminal pro-business policies as their counterparts in other countries.
After the country felt the impact of the global coronavirus earlier this year, Rajapakse declared that the government had uniquely handled the pandemic and was able to control it, unlike other countries. Over recent weeks this lie has been exposed as the pandemic began to spread.
During the last nine months the government has taken no measures to overhaul the health system, which has been increasingly run down during the past four decades under successive governments.
Last week, the head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak, Army Commander Shavendra Silva, said the first contacts of infected patients would undergo home quarantine but would not be sent to designated quarantine centres. That is because there is inadequate space and funds. Yesterday, it was reported that nearly 64,000 persons are already in home quarantine.”
The government is not recommending systematic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for people in home quarantine. Tests should only be conducted on the 10th day of quarantine, the president has ordered.
Rajapakse cynically emphasised the importance of conducting continuous and regular random tests.” Yet the government has just 25 PCR test machines, which can process about 8,000 samples daily, state health spokesman doctor Jayaruwan Bandara said. One machine was broken for days and only repaired this week.
An editorial in the pro-government Island newspaper indicated the run-down condition of the public health sector. It warned that limited intensive care units could be overwhelmed soon. The country has only 641 hospitals with 84,728 beds (3.9 beds per 1,000 persons),” it stated, and most of them were overflowing with patients even before the COVID-19 outbreak. They usually have patients lying under beds and in corridors.”
There are only 91 medical officers and 212 nurses per 100,000 persons. The editorial added: These numbers are not sufficient. Frontline health workers are burnt out, and some of them have even contracted COVID-19.”
Already, about 100 health workers, including doctors, nurses and other hospital employees, have been infected.
An incident recently reported in the Kaduwela area, near Colombo, demonstrated the impact of the government’s policies on the lives of the affected people. A man who tested positive for the virus had to stay at home for four days. When he called the relevant authorities, he was told there was no room in hospitals.” He spent all four days outside his house, fearing that his wife and children would become infected.
The government last week decided to use a low-cost Rapid Antibody Test (RAT), which is not widely endorsed by epidemiologists. Sri Lankan medical expert Ravi Rannan Eliya told the Daily Mirror: RAT tests are not as accurate as PCR, since a majority of those who tested positive are asymptomatic in Sri Lanka.”
Rajapakse is blaming ordinary people in order to cover up the responsibility of the government and the ruling class. At the meeting last Sunday he said: This is not a virus dropped by the government. It is a worldwide health issue. People have a great responsibility. Obviously this situation has arisen because the people have given up that responsibility.”
Rajapakse’s priority is propping up the corporate elite, not funding the health sector. The government has released to big business, via the Central Bank, funds totalling 178 billion rupees, but for 2021 the government has allocated only 159 billion rupees ($US873 million) for health expenditure.
At the same time, the government has set aside 500 billion rupees for the military and internal security agencies. The Rajapakse regime is preparing to suppress working class unrest.
The government is keeping the economy open for the benefit of the business elite, particularly for export production. Export Development Board chairman Prabhash Subasinghe last week said exporters should capitalise on the European Union’s recently extended Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP) tax concessions.
Sri Lankan exporters have a natural hedge because of the GSP,” while creating a cost advantage to the European importers,” Subasinghe said.
The EU is the biggest market for Sri Lankan exports, while the US is the largest importer of Sri Lankan textiles. Giant supply chains are reaping huge profits from apparel and other imports from sweatshops in Sri Lanka, as well as those in Bangladesh, Vietnam and other impoverished countries.
Foreign investors, some in partnership with local big business, are running factories in Board of Investment (BOI) approved operations, including in free trade zones (FTZ), amid the deadly pandemic, with the Rajapakse regime’s blessing.
Some 1,615 factories outside the FTZs employ 580,000 workers, while 133,000 workers are employed inside FTZs. According to the BOI figures, however, only 28,670 PCR tests have been conducted among these more than 700,000 workers. Even with such low numbers of tests, more than 1,500 workers have tested COVID-19 positive.
According to BOI director general Sanjaya Mohottala: All the factories in general are strictly adhering to health and safety guidelines. The BOI is strongly upholding the relevant regulations.”
The reality is the opposite. When the government announced the reopening of these factories at the end of April, the employers adopted minimum safety measures, only to abandon them within a few weeks.
It is on record that the Brandix Fashion Ware management did not allow workers at its Minuwangoda plant to seek medical treatment, even when hundreds of them showed symptoms of infection during September. When the company was compelled to carry out the testing of all workers in early October, more than 1,000 employees were found to be infected.
The only concern of the Rajapakse government and big business is the extraction of profit from workers’ labour power, not human lives.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is keen that a 10-day curfew now in force in Sri Lanka’s Western Province and some other areas be lifted Monday
Sri Lankan authorities will end a pandemic curfew imposed in parts of the country, saying people themselves should take the responsibility to avoid being infected the new coronavirus.
Army Commander Shavendra Silva heads a COVID-19 task force and he says President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is keen that a 10-day curfew now in force in Sri Lanka’s Western Province and some other areas be lifted Monday. Silva says the country’s economy can’t sustain continued closure, with daily wage earners and small businesses being particularly hit hard. He told Sri Lankans, The country must move forward and the responsibility is with you the public.” Sri Lanka is in the midst of a second wave of virus infections after the detection of large clusters centered on a garment factory and the country’s main wholesale fish market.
The Government Information Department has announced that there has been another 05 deaths due to Covid infection today (05).<
Accordingly the number of Covid infected deaths in the country has increased to 29.
The following deaths have been reported today.
46 year old male from Colombo -02, who died in hospital yesterday (04). He has been suffering from long term Kidney ailments.
68 year old female from Wellampitiya who died in hospital yesterday (04). She has been admitted to the Colombo National Hospital with chest pains.
58 year old female from Colombo -12 who has died at home and covid-19 infection confirmed after the post mortem. Cause of death reported as a heart attack caused by coronavirus.
73 year old female from Colombo -14 who has died at home and covid-19 infection confirmed after the post mortem. Cause of death reported as a lung infection caused by coronavirus.
74 year old male from Colombo -15 who has died at home and covid-19 infection confirmed after the post mortem. Cause of death reported as a heart attack caused by coronavirus.
Sri Lanka Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists stated that information regarding the stock of rapid antigen tests which is said to be brought down to Sri Lanka must be disclosed.
President of the Association Ravi Kumudesh stated the above while addressing the media today (05)
A new form of test that can diagnose Covid-19 in minutes is set to be rolled out across the globe, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced.
The test will provide results in 15-30 minutes, rather than hours or days, and dramatically expand the capacity to detect coronavirus cases in low- and middle-income countries, the global health body said on Monday.
It is hoped that will allow health care workers to get a better grip on where the virus is circulating in poorer countries and therefore assist containment efforts.
The development comes as the global death toll from Covid-19 continues to climb having now already surpassed the one million mark.
So, here’s what you need to know:
The antigen test will provide results in 15-30 minutes (AP)
How does the new test work?
The antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests are being produced by two drugs manufacturers – Abbott and SD Biosensor – and work by detecting proteins found on the surface of the virus.
The tests look similar to pregnancy tests and can yield results within 30 minutes, simply displaying two blue lines for a positive result.
How do they differ from other tests?
The main difference between rapid-antigen tests and nasal/throat swabs and finger-prick blood tests is the antigen tests do not require laboratory processing to produce results.
This means they are able to detect coronavirus infection within minutes, compared to the hours or days necessary for the genetic tests, known as PCR tests, to turnaround results.
They are also far cheaper, with each test costing just 5 US dollars (£3.90) each for low- and middle-income countries, however, they are generally considered less accurate than laboratory-based tests.
The companies which manufacture the tests claim they are about 97 per cent accurate, but that is in optimal conditions.
The non-profit Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (Find) puts their sensitivity between 80 per cent and 90 per cent in real-world conditions.
How important are these new tests in the fight against coronavirus?
The rapid antigen tests will be vital in improving the testing capacity of lower and middle-income countries who lack enough laboratory resources or trained health workers to properly carry out PCR tests.
They will also allow health care workers to get a better grip on where the virus is circulating in poorer countries, in hopes of following up with containment and other measures to stop it.
Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund, a partnership that works to end epidemics, said the tests represent a significant step” in the effort to combat and contain the virus on a global scale.
He said: They’re not a silver bullet, but hugely valuable as a complement to PCR tests.”
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus meanwhile hailed the antigen tests, described by the WHO as “highly portable, reliable, and easy to administer”, as good news” in the fight against Covid-19.
The WHO has agreed a deal with drugs manufacturers Abbott and SD Biosensor as well as the charitable Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, alongside other partners, to deploy 120 million rapid-diagnostic tests over six months.
The deal spans 133 countries, including several in Latin America, which is currently the hardest-hit region by the global pandemic in terms of fatality and infection rates.
Catharina Boehme, chief executive of Find, said the initial rollout would take place across 20 countries in Africa, starting in October this year.
What do the new tests mean for the UK?
While poorer countries will primarily benefit from the rapid-antigen tests, wealthier countries who have signed up to the Access to Covid tools initiative, which the UK has, will also be given access to them.
They represent a potential boon to the Government’s Operation Moonshot scheme for mass testing, though it is not clear if the UK intends to buy these tests.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock previously said mass testing was the nation’s best chance” of reducing social distancing measures without having a vaccine.
What have other people said about antigen tests?
Former prime minister Tony Blair has called on the Government to adopt the rapid antigen tests, saying they could enable an extra 300,000 coronavirus tests to be carried out every day within a few weeks.
However Baroness Dido Harding, the head of NHS Test and Trace, warned companies and individuals could be forced to foot the bill for the swift turnaround tests as they were too unreliable for use within the health service.
But she said those without symptoms might choose to pay for the tests to act as a kind of Covid-19 passport to allow them to take part in non-socially distanced activities.
A
simple solution to the tyranny of minoritarianism. This is just a personal
opinion for what it’s worth.
Post-independence
politics in Sri Lanka has been characterised by a continuous struggle between
exclusive minority communalism and inclusive majority nationalism, in the form
of roughly thirty years of cold war between the two and another thirty years of
open conflict, which ended with the defeat of armed separatism in 2009.
Minority communalism has gradually acquired a religious dimension with intensifying
fundamentalist Christian and Islamic subversive activities targeting Buddhists
and Hindus; Islamists have been active particularly since the early 1970s. On
top of this, Sri Lanka’s strategic geographic location has led global and
regional superpowers to be actively engaged in exploiting these anti-majority
movements to their advantage, thereby condemning Sri Lanka to constant
political destabilization, economic stagnation, threatened national security,
sovereignty and independence.
The
title is an English rendering of a line from a ‘freedom song’ written by
Tibetan Buddhist monk S. Mahinda Thera (1901-1951): ‘aesgedivalata hena
gahalada sihalunne?,’ lit., ‘Have the eyeballs of the Sinhalese been struck by
lightning?’. As an author and poet writing in Sinhala, he made a passionate
contribution to Ceylon’s independence movement in the 1930s and 40s decades by
inspiring nationalism among the Sinhalese, whom he criticized for what he
thought was their ignorant indifferent laid-back attitude towards the grave
injustices they, especially as Buddhists, were being subjected to under British
colonialism. Current happenings in the Sri Lankan political scene brought this
striking line of verse to my mind.
It
is a fact that in Sri Lanka there is a simmering problem of religious
fundamentalism, which is an incubus that takes away the peace of mind of the
majority population and disengages their attention from the more vitally
important problems that the country is facing as a nation. It is being used as
a weapon of destabilization by the powers that be that want to exploit Sri
Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian, lately Indo-Pacific, Ocean.
There are numerous fundamentalist Christian and Islamic sects that have been
active in the country for many decades. Fortunately, they are not of the type
that is likely to set the mainstream Christians and Muslims against Buddhist
Sinhalese and Hindu Tamils. Apparently, religious fundamentalists are a problem
to the respective mainstream Abrahamic religions as well, giving rise to
internecine doctrinal disputes.
Unlike
in the case of traditional Christians and Muslims, the fundamentalist attitude
to Buddhists and Hindus is not one of peaceful coexistence. They treat the
latter as spiritually misguided subjects ripe for conversion. The twofold
fundamentalist menace shows no sign of abating in the near future. The
most virulent form of religious fundamentalism that is posing a formidable
challenge to Sri Lanka’s intercommunal unity and peace right now is Islamist
extremism. Activist Buddhist monks and their lay followers claim, based on
evidence, that Jihadist agents have already infiltrated practically every
department of life in the Sri Lankan state. (It is upto the authorities
concerned to check this evidence.) The problem is worsening because politicians
of both the main parties seem to be following the Three Wise Monkeys’ example:
See no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil where evil is seen and heard, but
nothing is said against it.
An
online Sinhala news website, Lankacnews, reported October 24, 2020 that,
according to government sources, there was a possibility that state minister
portfolios will be given to two of the nine MPs of the Opposition who voted for
20A. I, for one, originally believed that this was not true; the website could
have been reporting an unfounded rumour or somebody’s fabrication. But, another
online publication, Colombo Telegraph, which is usually critical of the present
government, lamented in a headline: ‘20A Once Again Proved: Muslim Political
Opportunists Are Up for Sale’. Meanwhile, the more authoritative and reliable
website referred to at the beginning, Lankacnews, again reported (26) that
Diana Gamage, one of the nine SJB MPs who voted for 20A with the government, as
saying that she would like to accept, if offered, the post of minister for
child and women’s affairs though she did not support 20A in expectation of a
ministerial portfolio or any other reward. This faintly hints at such offers
having probably been made, after all. If that is true, isn’t it possible that
the Muslim MPs were enticed with even bigger quid pro quos? The marked
cordiality that minister Chamal and MP Rishad greeted each other with in that
picture that shocked us all would not help neutralize such speculation.
But
there was absolutely no need for horse trading with questionable characters in
the circumstances. What is the use of legislation passed with assistance from
wheeler-dealer politicians who the majority consider duplicitous? (In the case
of 20A, however, their help was not critical; their votes were actually
redundant.) Besides, these MPs were (and still are) in a politically vulnerable
situation of their own making in which they didn’t know (and still don’t know)
which way to look. The latest news I read about Hakeem was that he wanted to
launch an internal inquiry into why his four MPs violated his party’s policy of
opposing 20A! This is in spite of the fact that he had given his four MPs tacit
permission to vote for the amendment. National list MP Diana Gamage of the SJB
told a You Tube journalist that her leader Sajith Premadasa knew beforehand
that she was going to vote for the amendment, for her husband had phoned him
and told him the night before about her decision, though, later, like Hakeem in
the case of his MPs, Premadasa threatened to take disciplinary action against
her. There is no doubt that both Premadasa and Hakeem are partly trying to
salvage the little prestige that they ever had and that they have now
irretrievably lost. Be that as it may, until the government establishes clarity
in this respect, negative reflections will not stop. More important, what about
the just anger and frustration that the ambitious MPs of the SLPP and allied
parties must feel at the danger of some crooks of the Opposition who worked for
the downfall of Gotabaya and Mahinda getting ministerial positions that even
they were denied?
Doesn’t
this mean that a government which has got an overwhelming popular mandate to
rule by restoring law and order, national security, and political and economic
stability (all of which had appallingly deteriorated under the previous
administration) could not even take the first step towards that goal by
abolishing the controversial 19A and bringing in the stopgap 20A, without having
to buy over MPs or to engineer desertions from the Opposition benches? It is no
ordinary mandate: it is a doubly confirmed mandate in the form of a president
elected by 69.9 million voters and a prime minister leading an alliance
that won 144 seats in parliament, the kind of huge mandate that is not likely
to be repeated unless those who have been given that mandate act
sensibly. Whenever is Sri Lanka going to make headway as an independent
sovereign nation? Seventy-five percent of the voters are Sinhalese, who
don’t cast their vote on a communal basis. They overwhelmingly account for the
above people’s mandate. The passage of 20A with due amendments was what they
wanted. If a few anti-majority extremists were allowed to be in a position to
decide on its fate, who was to blame for that grievous anomaly? Wasn’t it the
fault of the Sinhalese MPs elected by their own people to serve the nation
whether they happen to sit in the Government or in the
Opposition?
The
appointment of two more ministers is constitutionally defensible thanks to a
clause that is being retained in 20A as a salutary feature from the now
abolished 19A, which set limits on the numbers of cabinet and state minister
portfolios respectively at 30 and 40. Currently, there are only 38 state
ministers; so, there are two vacancies. The Yahapalana coalition rechristened
itself as a national government in order to increase the number of ministers
beyond these limits until practically every government MP was some sort of
minister. Awarding ministerial positions to corruptible MPs as mere
political sinecures just to ensure their mechanical Ayes and Noes on
appropriate occasions in the legislature is a despicable ruse that must be put
an immediate end to. If it had to be resorted to particularly at this juncture
(when the undeniable fact of the majority community being victimized by a few
communalist opportunists is so evident), it was all due to there being not
enough patriotic Sinhala MPs in the Opposition (Not that all Sinhala MPs in the
Government are patriotic either. What I found as an independent observer living
abroad trying to penetrate the real motives and concerns that drove them as
revealed in their speeches and occasional acts during electioneering prior to
the August 5 general election was that nearly all of them, with a very few
exceptions, were unashamedly narrowly focused self-seekers worried only about
their personal ‘political careers’, not about their mandatory obligations to
the country/nation.
But
still there is time for them to think, and support, from wherever they are, the
only ‘philosopher ruler’ that we have got since independence in the
non-partisan GR (I believe GR is free from political ambitions that distort his
vision and that cause him to baulk at taking action when it is necessary but
difficult to do so).
Communalistic
behaviour is out of character for Sinhalese MPs. However, for the time being,
there is no alternative for them but to act as if they were communalists
themselves. On the contrary, right now, it looks as though most Sinhalese MPs
in parliament are behaving like willing dupes of some Islamist extremists or
their sympathisers; they seem to voluntarily assist the miscreants in their
stratagems. Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kirielle has asked the Speaker in
writing (as reported in the media October 31) that a special seating plan on
the government side be made for the nine SJB members that he claims have been
expelled from the party. Seven of these are Muslims, one Tamil, and one
Sinhalese. In effect, the SJB is palming off the extremists that it fostered
and used to prolong the Yahapalana misgovernance onto the government, in the
apparent vicious hope that they initiate a cankerous relationship with it.
Kirielle and the rest of the SJB hierarchy cannot be expected to take kindly to
this criticism, but this is my gut feeling.
State
minister Dayasiri Jayasekera has long been complaining that the SLFP MPs are
not receiving the recognition they deserve within the government. Its leader,
former president Sirisena, who was expecting an agrapalaya or an ultimate
reward got nothing, but the PM was reported to be ‘creating’ a suitable post
for him. Anyway, do these people worry as much about vital national issues
including the Grim Reaper abroad in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic? Are the
disgruntled SLFP’ers within government ranks trying to rock the boat? The
President twittered November 1st that he was presented with a locally produced
Lion Flag by state minister Dayasiri Jayasekera. A former provincial Governor
Rajith Tennekoon has complained that the Lion in this flag is holding the sword
by its blade, not by its hilt! and that this is a grave violation of the
Constitution, because disfigurement/distortion of the Flag is a criminal
offence. Probably, Tennekoon, who is another political activist, is exaggerating
an apparent shortcoming in the drawing of the flag. A careful look at the image
of the locally produced flag will reveal what I mean: the cross guard that
separates the blade from the grip part of the handle of the sword is not
properly drawn; it is as if it is not there. Having said this, it is a big
defect that must be corrected. Is it a result of a genuine oversight or of an
act of deliberate sabotage? Tennekoon’s demand that the circulation of this new
local flag be immediately halted must receive the attention of the
authorities.
The
few communalists and religious extremists that there are will try to cripple
the government whether they are in it or in the opposition. However, it is
clear that they get little support from the general public. Foreign
interventionist powers are laying siege to the country, but they can’t do much
damage if Sri Lankans manage to put their own house in order. In this all Sri
Lankans have a collective responsibility. Each community must be united within
it and act in solidarity with other communities as equal Sri Lankan citizens,
and this must be reflected among the MPs in parliament. Partisan politics must
be shelved for the time being. People of each faith must take responsibility
for and deal with the extremists among them, without giving in to their
extremist ideologies. If there is any terrorism, let the government security
apparatus deal with that. People of all faiths must be united as a single
nation. It will be of the strongest support for overcoming religious
fundamentalism in general and the Islamist terrorism in particular if Sinhalese
Buddhists and Tamil Hindus, who share similar peaceful nonviolent religious and
cultural values, overcome artificial divisions and enmities of the past and
decide to find refuge in each other as children of Mother Lanka against both
overt and covert aggression and oppression. That will be the end of meaningless
separatism as well.
President Trump is reported to be trying all sorts of methods not
to concede defeat. The more he tries his
pranks, the more does our Prime Minister’s image gets boosted.
Let us see what Prime Minister Mahinda did:
Sri Lanka: President Mahinda Rajapakse concedes defeat in election
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse this morning
conceded defeat to the pro-US opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena in
yesterday’s presidential election. Rajapakse reportedly left his official
residence, Temple Trees, and stated through a spokesman that he will
facilitate a smooth transfer of power.
Overall
results are to be announced this afternoon, but initial figures indicate
Sirisena received around 51.25 percent of the votes counted. Some 75 percent of
the 15 million eligible voters cast ballots.” (From WSWS.org)
With
the first indication of defeat Prime Minister Mahinda, packed his bags and ran to his home at
Medamulana.
The more President Trump
tries his tricks to linger longer. the more does he boost the image of
our Prime Minister as a true democrat.
France is keen on establishing more
people-to-people contact with Sri Lanka, through initiatives such as
scholarship and exchange programs. This was expressed by the Ambassador of
France in Sri Lanka Eric Lavertu when he met Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa
yesterday (Nov. 3) evening at Temple Trees.
The Ambassador mentioned that a number of
government sector employees are already pursuing advance studies at French
higher educational institutions and that the two countries could collaborate on
more student exchange programs.
During the courtesy call, the French
Ambassador also congratulated the Prime Minister on the election victory and
spoke highly about the Government’s handling of the pandemic.
We’re all in the same boat,” Ambassador
Lavertu said while opining that the low COVID-19 related death rate in Sri
Lanka is indicative of the good healthcare infrastructure that Sri Lanka has
invested in throughout the years.
Prime Minister Rajapaksa said that the
Government’s first priority is to deal with bringing the pandemic situation
under control. Thereafter, the focus will be on economic development, the Prime
Minister added.
In addition to France being keen to be a
part of the development of the Hambantota Port,” Ambassador Lavertu said that
France is also in the market for more Sri Lankan products, indicating a
potential to increase trade relations between the two countries. Both countries
are keen to further bilateral trade and investment. Currently, Sri Lanka’s
major exports to France include apparel, precious stones and pneumatic rubber
tires.
Some are aghast at the news trickling in that Basil Rajapaksa is
to be anointed with a Ministerial position.
But when one thinks of things actually done, Basil Rajapaksa
stands out.
It was no other than Basil that created a political party from
scratch when both Chandrika and Maithripala were holding on to the SLFP.
Again earlier when his brothers Gotabhaya and Mahinda had
won the war, there was a mass of some three hundred thousand refugees- Tamil
people moved from their hearth and homes, dragged at gun point as a human
shield by the LTTE when their forces were defeated and pushed from Batticaloa
in the South and Mannar and Vavuniya to the shores of Mullativu. It was
then Basil that took charge of finding temporary accomodation for them, finding
their homes and putting them back. Go to other parts of the world and one
can find refugees in tents without finding their roots for decades despite
attempts by the prestigious United Nation attempts.
Take what is happening right now- who directs the major operation
to provide food etc to people in their thousands, confined to the curfew areas.
I am certain that all these were difficult tasks. These
words come from a son of Mother Lanka who has experience in attending to
difficult tasks. I know what it takes to do something worthwhile. It was
I that designed and established the Youth Self Employment Programme in
Bangladesh, starting from scratch, without any funds, scraping the barrel for
savings in budgets to implement a new programme that has today stood the test
of time- three million youths guided to be self employed.
The achievements of Basil Rajapaksa detailed above, to me, show
him as a person of steel that can tackle our problems, a person who cannot be
derailed. Our Motherland needs him. I am fairly certain that our Motherland
will eventually grab him back.
Good Luck dear sir,
May I wish him luck and I am certain that Sri Lanka’s economy will
find a major contribution from him.
Biden moves closer to the presidency as Trump launches legal challenges
Former Vice President Joe Biden has moved to within 17 electoral votes of claiming the presidency by winning the state of Michigan, CNN projects, in the latest twist of a dramatic election clash with President Donald Trump that has left America’s political fate uncertain hours after polls closed.His breakthrough came as Trump’s campaign launched a flurry of lawsuits in several states designed to stop the former vice president from getting over the line, including challenging Pennsylvania’s vote count at the Supreme Court.
