Anjalika Silva

With a Sri Lankan American population in the United States now lingering between the third and fourth generation, the time has come to face one of the most decisive elections experienced by native and naturalized citizens with voting rights in the USA.  The choices are easy and plain to those who follow the facts and closely examine priorities for the country and its people.  Above all, we have a responsibility to uphold higher values than what we have experienced in the last four years.  It is imperative to pick the right reasons for making choices because this election is unique in the use of twists in the truth, vindictive actions and false unproven allegations, personal financial motives, and plans to destroy democratic rights of the people that can take the country on a journey of no return.

Fascism is staring in the face of the United States with the growing lean towards dictators, and the expanding empowerment of race based heavily armed white supremacist militia dragging the country back to dark ages.  Nothing said to the country can be withdrawn as sarcasm or jokes after it is spoken.   Words are also to be spoken with responsibility in public speeches spoken to the country.  Their words translate to assumed approval of action whether good or bad, whether it kills people in the process or incites violence.  The ultimate responsibility must be with the leaders whose words incite.   The mantra of white supremacy is frighteningly Neo-Nazi type and endangers nonwhite minorities including immigrants like us.  Even one life lost is one too many.

The anti-immigrant sentiments are so strong that it seems like the established policies to welcome diverse groups to the country  with a welcome from the Statue of Liberty and, accountability to all international conventions are on the brink of being ignored.  The FBI has warned that the greatest security threat faced by the US is not from foreign terrorism but more from domestic terrorism that defy factual truths. The number of armed militia groups have grown rapidly in the last four years.  They are free to carry assault weapons that belong in wars, in public places because Trump has the support of, and approval of the gun lobby.  With elections, weapons have been banned at polling stations due to the fearful threats that have crept into politics.  Weapons can be carried only by law enforcement. We have yet to see what happens on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, a historic day.

Priorities in a democracy is to evaluate whether the democracy is preserved by our voting choices.  Any country with democracy is aware that democracies are hard fought.   In doing so, one must examine the value of the ability to vote and how it can be preserved for future generations. On top of this basic value to be preserved is the peoples wishes and choices made for the better good of the country and its people who elect representatives to steer the country in the right direction.  The United States cannot survive with an isolationist policy that is the mantra today.  We live in a global community that requires participation of all countries. Biden advocates bringing back unity within the country and with international allies. This is in shreds in these four years with citizens and allies in friendly nations worldwide no longer able to look at the US as a beacon of hope and a leader.

Four years of a Trump administration saw some destructive policies that do not sit well with reasonable and intelligent voters.  The Trump base was supported mainly by non-college educated white men who did not consider or understand important factors that played a part in the global standing of the United States. Understanding global interaction between countries is beyond the understanding of some of the base that drove the agenda. Policy decisions were made mostly by Twitter and with abuse of Executive orders.  Basic needs of humans as citizens can be funneled to include healthcare, education, jobs and equal racial status, equal justice. 

With immigrants like us, race relations are critical, and so are other basic values tied to administration determined policies.  Currently policy takes shape determined by future votes for re-election and not the needs of the nation. Encompassing all of this is respect for human life and acceptance of all beings regardless of color, creed, national origin, or religion.  With the Trump administration, those of us who brought value with our choice to emigrate to the US were dismissed with disparaging name calling.  Our skin color was denigrated and what was not visible in the form of our education and value was ignored.  We were stereotyped and our homelands disrespected using language not permitted in the public domain as s**t hole countries.  We came from countries that invested in us and benefited the United States, but we were insulted as if it was a one-way street scraping the bottom by immigration.  America gained from us too.  We the Sri Lankan American citizens bring solid values and work ethic, education, assets and we abide by the law as a community with exceptions of some violations of the Patriot Act by supporters of terror who were dealt with the law to some extent when criminal activities were proven.

The choice to support Biden is not because he is a Democrat alone.  The basic choice of a leader for a country that is a democracy is human decency.  The US has lost its footing internally in terms of race relations and respect for the ordinary citizens who pay taxes and work hard to keep the wheels turning.  The treatment of racial, economic, political, and other diverse groups with lack of respect and decency has been the hallmark of the last four years.  Speaking the truth, acknowledging education, knowledge, and expertise like world renowned scientists received arrogant egotistical insults when they served humanity.

Every occupation is a necessity whether it requires education or only skills and desire to work.  Healthcare is an issue that has become the foundation on which fear has grown in the richest country in the world.  With dismantling the Obamacare that provided affordable healthcare to a third of the population that had no healthcare, the battle for four years has been to remove Obamacare by using the Supreme Court that is also politicized with the long term plan to defer decisions against that of the people to the divided court.  Favoring appointees who must pledge loyalty to the leader who put them there and not independent decisions guarantees a one-sided, self-driven agenda that moves away from a democracy to a dictatorship style.

The vindictive threat of removal of healthcare from 20 million people is preposterous.  Education and educated opinions have been dismissed in the last four years.  With the Biden-Harris ticket, there are some rough edges that need to be worked on, but people live in hope that they will listen to the people’s wishes and weigh decisions with input from those who bring knowledge and experience.  One such area that we must work on is a review of the Foreign Policy toward Sri Lanka that has resulted incomplete knowledge that has not done justice to Sri Lanka.  We must take responsibility for criticism over action that has resulted in less than favorable views except when firsthand information is shared by us.  Work to be done in this regard is staring in our faces and we must move forward.

Taxes are another issue.  It is known that the top 1% hold about 90% of the wealth in this country and they manipulate financial markets that almost throttled the small investor planning for retirement.  They used to pay 28% in taxes that the super-rich wanted reduced to 25%.  Self-serving Trump reduced it further to 21% giving them a 7% drop in 2017 serving himself and his wealthy friends, while he had not paid taxes and cheated the country for 10-15 years.  How can one respect this kind of individual to make serious decisions for We the people” as stated in the Constitution of the United States? 

This gap to give a 7% reduction in taxes was filled with deprivation of people like me by taking away tax deductions that ordinary middle class workers and retirees were able to claim at the end of a financial year in tax filings.  This meant piling a further 7% taxes to be paid by working and retired middle class to bridge the gap.  We felt duped to lose 7% of the tax exemptions we had prior to Trump.  With Biden-Harris, he has recognized an immediate need to remedy the tax structure and restore healthcare. Biden has vowed to and will ensure that those earning wages higher than $400,000 pay their fair share. Biden will reduce the burden on the middle and working class with tax reform that will make the rich pay a fair share.  Prescription drugs have increased 300% for some of us while the President claims he gave us the lowest drug prices which is not the truth.

Covid 19 has been the test for most American voters.  The callous politicizing a pandemic with selfish motives to use it for election vote winning, misleading the masses and calling world renowned scientists and doctors idiots” hit home to those of us who are educated in advanced science and exposed to biotech environments in our careers.  Biden understands the value of contribution from the experts who know more than a state leader.  He respects science and we as citizens have the confidence that when it comes to major issues he will respect the collective opinion of experts and not be afraid to make unpopular decisions, enforce policies with explanations that citizens can trust.  Bidens desire to encompass the input of experts in all areas to get the best of the better brains is a sharp contrast to Trump who is poorly informed, hardly educated and had to pay someone to take his college admission SAT tests.  Respect must be earned and not demanded.  Biden served one of the most popular Past Presidents, Barak Obama giving a sense of security to people.  His inability to fulfill some of his policies was due to partisan and deliberate blocking by an opposing Republican Senate that vowed to obstruct him even before he started.  The falsehood about Obama’s birth on US soil was Trumps birtharism lies that took more energy away from productive action with proof that was ignored to promote lies.  Not only have we lost respect within the country, but the USA has also lost respect worldwide among leaders and even ordinary citizens of other countries.  Biden was Vice President of the country.  He knows the norms and the accepted conduct we expect from our leaders.  He knows what is good for the country and people and will not be self-serving. His morality is above board.  He has lived by the laws of the land. 

When immigrants came to the USA, it was based on voluntary choice.  We are Sri Lankan in origin and familiar with our democratic right to vote and make choices.  Although many do not value what our home country provided with the freedom to choose, the free education, free healthcare with built in choices that are available according to affordability, it is comparable to the desires of Americans too.  However, in the USA education is not affordable, healthcare is unaffordable and until Obama stepped in, it was tied to the employer who had the choice to not offer health insurance.  The government took its share of taxes and social security but there were few guarantees of job security or protection from healthcare costs.

With Biden, he understands the basic needs of people.  As a Sri Lankan American I feel very strongly about the foreign policy toward Sri Lanka after ending the war on terrorism.  There was not enough force to set the tone that Sri Lanka was victorious against the terrorists who were labelled by the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) as the most brutal of all terror groups.  The Mackenzie Institute of Canada in a study determined that Sri Lanka’s terrorists stood among the top three most brutal in the world that included Al-Shabaab and Hamas.  Yet, the US took a hard line to march our trained military that lost 29,000 lives in uniform for Human Rights Violations.  Having been vocal about this discrepancy needs more support from Sri Lanka.  The elimination of over 70,000 civilian lives of all races has only been portrayed in half truths.  With a Biden administration, Sri Lanka’s foreign relations can be reviewed by educating a new administration with truth and facts that give a balanced picture.  It will not come by default.  We, the voters of the American system must use our avenues of input to follow up on requests to honor the independence to defend our home country from the same terrorism that is on the radar of the US government.  Terrorism is terrorism.  The tactics are the same.  Only the cause” varies and sometimes, with closer look at the so-called cause, it is evident that the cause is only an excuse that is hardly honored.

With a Biden-Harris administration, we as Sri Lankan Americans must do our part for the bridge building between our countries.  When we leave Sri Lanka and become citizens, we must not forget that it is not only the affluence and economic success that we enjoy.  We must also remember that some of us brought a high level of education, assets, and our values that we contribute to the American System.  We have added value.  It is disheartening to note that some Sri Lankan Americans look at the two countries and condemn Sri Lanka as all bad.  Some Sri Lankans condemn the US as all bad.  There is no such pure and clear-cut classification.  We the people of this world have individual responsibility to contribute with a balance of good and bad for the better good of humanity that stretches beyond the labels by country, politics, race, religion, and economic standing.  The world of humans must be built on values good for humanity and not personal gain. 

In this decisive time of the US Presidential elections referred to as the most important in history, each of us bear responsibility to make the world work and drive it in the right direction.  It takes effort beyond words and contempt.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

China kept mum during the time of the general election of 2020. But soon after, China moved quickly to re-affirm friendly relations.

The first high-powered Chinese business delegation to Sri Lanka to arrive was a  15-member business delegation  from Mianyang,   to sign agreements with Sri Lanka’s Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI). They came in December 2019.

Two landmark agreements were signed. A Cooperation Framework Agreement between COSMI and China Mianyang Enterprise Union for Import and Export, and a Strategic Cooperation Agreement between COSMI and Sichuan Yiyang Xuanyu Trading Co. Ltd were signed. The visiting Chinese businessmen also took part in many one-to-one B2B ‘COSMI matchmaking sessions’ with Lankan firms. .

COSMI President said COSMI works for the revival of the industrial sector in Sri Lanka that now faces various setbacks including lack of new tech and international links. This is why we bring international businesses here and link them to our local SMEs for investment and cooperation.

COSMI said Mianyang is an important pivot city on the junction of the OBOR project. It is the most dynamic city on China’s OBOR belt. Mianyang is the only science and technological city approved by the Chinese government. It is also one of eight Chinese national ‘layout areas’ for systematic promotion of comprehensive innovation and a leading electronic and intelligent manufacturing hub with multiple research and tech centres, and is the second largest economy in Sichuan Province,”

There were other China- Sri Lanka discussions, too.   China-Sri Lanka Belt and Road Political Parties Joint Consultation Mechanism between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and main political parties of Sri Lanka has been established on June  2020. The first meeting of the mechanism, with the theme of Building the Belt and Road Initiative and Promoting Economy and People’s Livelihood, was  held via video link in  June.   United National Party, Sri Lanka Freedom Party, and People’s United Front of Sri Lanka  had attended.

Song Tao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, addressed the event. He  said China was ready to work with Sri Lankan political parties to implement the consensus reached by the two Heads of State, strengthen the exchange of experience in state governance, consolidate the political foundation and public support for China-Sri Lanka ties, promote bilateral cooperation in all areas and contribute to the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. The meeting also approved a joint initiative of the political parties of China and Sri Lanka to support Belt and Road cooperation.

A high level Chinese delegation, from Beijing flew into Colombo, and met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in October 2020. The Chinese team were visiting Sri Lanka, UAE, Algeria and Serbia on invitation. Sri Lanka was their first destination. This was a very significant visit.

The Chinese delegation comprised seven members, led by senior Chinese leader and top foreign policy official Yang Jiechi.  He was Chinese Foreign Minister from 2007-2013 and China’s Ambassador to US from 2001 to 2005.  He is presently a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and the director of its Central Committee’s Foreign Affairs Commission, a  top policy-making body. He  holds a position equivalent to Vice Premier.

Also in the delegation were China International Development Cooperation Agency chairman Wang Xiaotao, Assistant Foreign Minister Deng Lee and the Foreign Ministry’s Asian Affairs Deputy Director General Chen Song.

The  leader of the delegation said that the present status of bilateral relations between China and Sri Lanka was highly satisfactory. Maintaining and promoting this friendship is a key priority of President Xi Jingping. China wanted  to maintain high-level exchanges and consolidate political mutual trust. Chinese President Xi Jinping considered further improvement of China-Sri Lanka relations a priority.

The delegation   recalled past history. China–Sri Lanka relations have stood the test of time, they said. What continued from the ancient spiritual ties since the visits of Chinese Buddhist monks centuries ago, received a big boost when the Rubber-Rice deal was signed in 1952, even before the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two newly emerged independent countries.

The Ceylon–China Trade Agreement of 1952 was undoubtedly the most useful trade agreement negotiated by Sri Lanka and one of the most successful and durable trade agreements in the world, having been in operation for 30 years , the delegation said.

The head of the delegation said that China will firmly stand with Sri Lanka to protect the country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity at international fora including the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The delegation  said that China would continue to assist Sri Lanka ‘s development drive. China has identified a number of areas conducive to the development of multilateral cooperation with Sri Lanka in addition to completing large-scale projects already underway; these include agriculture, education, tourism, water supply, healthcare, medical supplies, modern technology, the Digital Economy, the Blue Economy, and labor training.”

We will support not from words but by action,” said Jiechi. China announced a US$ 90 million grant to Sri Lanka, for medical care, education and water supplies in Sri Lanka’s rural areas.

There was a discussion on rural development . China and Sri Lanka could jointly implement rural revitalization (RR) projects based on the successes achieved in underdeveloped provinces in China. NeoChina Research Centre could help develop a centralized ICT platform and a Control and Coordination Centre for Rural Revitalization.

The delegation wanted  China and Sri Lanka to restart discussions on a FTA.  There were discussion on  Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port, Yang asked that  the Port City law to be passed no later than November. The law is expected to declare the reclaimed land to be the country’s first service-oriented special economic zone (SEZ). It will address red tape and shortcomings in approval processes within a ring-fenced, controlled environment. The Hambantota Port was Sri Lanka’s, not China’s, idea, President Rajapaksa said. But China had offered to fund it. Hambantota Industrial Scheme will be speedily completed.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa thanked China for its support in combating the Corona virus, saying China’s strong support in various fields has helped Sri Lanka strengthen its capacity to resume work and production amid the pandemic. Sri Lanka will work with China to maintain the firm mutual support, and welcomes more Chinese companies to invest and do business, he said, while hoping for increased bilateral people-to-people exchanges in the future.

The 26-member higher-powered Chinese delegation, which arrived on Thursday night, was whisked away under a tight security escort. the VVIP Lounge was declared out of bounds to journalists and no photographs of the visiting delegation were allowed. The delegation, which arrived aboard a special flight BJN099 from Beijing at 7.40 pm, had undergone a PCR test prior to arriving in Sri Lanka.

According to officials at the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Colombo, a special travel bubble” set up for the Chinese delegation, which will confine its members to Colombo, and restrict their engagements to just two meetings with the Head of State and the Prime Minister, under the strict health protocol” prescribed by the Ministry of Health.They stayed at a restricted floor of a local hotel and followed all health guidelines and regulations by the Health Ministry during their 18-hour visit.

China followed up on its promises. The Chinese ambassador met State Minister of Money & Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal and the Governor of the Central Bank Professor W. D. Lakshman to discuss the financial instruments to be implemented  after the Yang Jiechi visit.

Sri Lanka will aggressively pursue the signing of the much talked about and long overdue Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China soon,   said Sri Lankan Ambassador designate to China  Palitha Kohona. Kohona said that the China Sri Lanka trade balance is strongly in favor of China with USD 5 billion imports and USD 30 million exports and local exporters are partly to be blamed for this. Sri Lanka tea is considered a high fashion drink in China especially among youngsters and local exporters have not successfully exploited this.

The Sri Lankan Government, Kohona said, will formulate a reliable legal framework for special economic zones in the Colombo Port City and the Hambantota Port. There will be  flagship cooperation projects between Sri Lanka and China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, which would be attractive to investors from all over the world. . “What we need are investments and more investments. We need to create wealth. We need to create jobs. We need to create prosperity for our people,” Kohona said.

Sri Lankan exporters should particularly take advantage of the annual China International Import Expo set to open next month, November,  to boost exports,  said Kohona, “I would like to see a number of tea companies, rubber products companies, spice companies, coconut products companies, gem and jewelry producers, and other service providers, including Sri Lanka Tourism and Sri Lankan Airlines, make use of this opportunity to access the Chinese market, he said. ( Continued)

By Shivanthi Ranasinghe Courtesy Daily FT

PM Modi was wrong to reiterate his call for the 13th Amendment’s implementation – especially when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had already articulated his position on the matter. In the past, this has been a bait for the Tamils in the north and east to turn antagonistic to their own Government. This kind of interference on Sri Lanka’s internal affairs had not only led to the destruction of innocent lives, but had been catastrophic to India as well

It is ironic that Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka’s ‘Avoidable Crashes: Economics and External Affairs’ was published on 15 October. Exactly 30 years ago to this date, the LTTE began its brutal campaign of evicting Muslims from the Northern peninsula. Over the next two weeks, the LTTE targeted different areas of the peninsula and systematically forced the Muslims out of their homes at gunpoint. By 30 October 1990, all Muslims were forced out. 

They were robbed of their valuables, dignity and heritage. Those who accuse the Sri Lankan military of ‘credible war crime allegations’ never speak of this atrocity, which includes the kidnapping of wealthy Muslim entrepreneurs. While some returned to their families after paying a hefty ransom, others have disappeared to thin air. D.B.S. Jeyaraj’s LTTE’s Mass Expulsion of Muslims from the North 30 Years Ago” is a worthy read. 

As revealed at the LLRC, the Sinhalese had been ethnically cleansed long before this date. Forcing Sinhalese out began as far back as 1977. By 1987, out of the 5,684 families recorded by the 1981 census, there was not a single Sinhalese living in the north. 

This is how the north became exclusive to Tamils. The east, despite its violent past and brewing extremism, continues to home almost equal proportions of the three communities. The Muslims though may soon overtake the other two communities. Even with a near 100% Tamil population in the north, more than 52% of the Tamils continue to live outside the Northern and Eastern Provinces. For the first time since 1975, the Northern and Eastern Tamils have expressed their confidence in the incumbent administration via the August 2020 General Elections. 

Premier Narendra Modi faux pas

Indian Premier Narendra Modi ignored all these glaring facts when he reiterated the long hackneyed demand for ‘Tamil aspirations’ at the virtual bilateral summit with Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa on 26 September 2020. It is just not possible to devolve power to the Tamils in the north and east. Before any political solution can be considered, the grave injustice to the Sinhalese and the Muslims who were living in these areas must be corrected. As attorney-at-law and author Dharshan Weerasekera reasons, to ignore this fundamental step would in effect be validating ethnic cleansing as a tactic for gaining ‘self-determination’”. 

Dr. Jayatilleka warns that if the incumbent administration does not improve its image and continues to project itself as ‘hawkish Sinhala supremacists’, Sri Lanka will suffer economically. However, it is noteworthy that even when the country was under siege from terrorism, it was not the supremacists but the nationalists that stood for the country’s interests. As nationalists, Sri Lankans fought for a country that belongs to all communities. As supremacists, the LTTE terrorised all for an exclusive homeland for ‘only’ the Tamils in the north and east. 

In their quest, they terrorised the Tamil civilians the most. Those who could escape from the physical reach of the LTTE’s terrorism and fascism did do so. Many resettled outside the north and east and only returned after the LTTE was annihilated. Others in Western countries can now enjoy their comfortable lives in peace as the extortionists who used to regularly visit have disappeared. Those who escaped to Tamil Nadu too would like to continue with the lives that they had rebuilt in India. However, most are still confined to refugee camps and subject to strict regulations. 

Thus, for PM Modi to speak of ‘Tamil aspirations’ without addressing this anomaly is questionable. However, the greater concern is that for over four decades Sri Lanka has been unable to convince the world that the issues before the Tamils are not exclusive to the minorities or the privileges are not only for the Sinhalese. Just as there are very wealthy and successful Tamils, many Sinhalese are poverty stricken. When the LTTE was enjoying ‘the upper hand’, the Tamils preferred to live amongst the Sinhalese. 

Yet, this has not been communicated to the world. Dr. Jayatilleka’s article may hold the clue to this abysmal failure. It appears that he is intimidated by the ‘colossal asymmetry of power’ wielded by India. He is aghast that a State Minister dared to state the obvious that the Indian Premier was out of line. Yet, as the subject minister, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera was correct to point out that implementing the 13th Amendment or to change the unitary status of the country to a united nation is a decision solely for the people of Sri Lanka. As a subject expert, Minister Weerasekera was also correct to note that the 13th Amendment is not a solution for Sri Lanka. 

Surely, as a seasoned political analyst and a former diplomat, Dr. Jayatilleka cannot find the Indian Premier’s focus on one ethnicity acceptable. This was a bilateral summit and as such, was between nation to nation. Thus, neither country can address the concerns of only one community as artfully demonstrated by Premier Rajapaksa. The very implication that arises by doing so is undiplomatic and therefore unacceptable. In fact, PM Modi committed quite a faux pas by calling on the Sri Lankan Government to ensure equality, justice, peace and respect to Tamils. By doing so, he accused Sri Lanka of maltreating Tamils. 

Yet, even India knows that this is not the case as visible from the controversial India’s Citizenship Amendment Act. By excluding Sri Lankan Tamils from this Act’s eligibility list, India acknowledges that Tamils are not under any sort of persecution or discrimination in Sri Lanka. 

Small is no reason to be scared

It is true that territorially Sri Lanka is a small landmass. As Dr. Jayatilleka notes, Sri Lanka is no longer simply on the doorstep of the regional sub-super power; it is now located on the doorstep of a member of ‘The Quad’, a quasi-military, strategic alliance covering the Indo-Pacific vastness, with implications for the global balance.” 

On this basis, if we are to silently concede to India simply because it is a larger force and a member of an even greater force, what should be our position if the Muslim nations collectively impose on us to deliver on the ‘aspirations’ of the Muslims? The ‘extremist’ Tamil youth fought for an exclusive Tamil homeland while the ‘moderate’ Tamil elders worded it as ‘devolving power’ for Tamil areas. The Easter attack by the ‘extremist’ Muslims was to rid the non-believers. Can we even allow a ‘moderate’ wording of this ‘aspiration’? 

Clearly, Sri Lanka cannot afford to cower in fear or nod to every diktat in silent submission just because we are small. It means that we need to learn to speak up and articulate our position clearly. We need to be a lot more politically savvy than we are presently. 

Therefore, we must analyse the geopolitical implications behind PM Modi’s call for the 13th Amendment. As an Amendment it has utterly failed. It failed to disarm the LTTE. In fact, the ill-advised Indian intervention resulted in strengthening the terrorist organisation. The teacher could not control the student and India that trained, armed and financed the LTTE ended up with over 1,300 dead Indian soldiers and twice as many casualties. India’s foreign policy blunder vis a vis Sri Lanka came crashing down on India with former Premier Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination by an LTTE suicide bomber. 

Nalini Sriharan is currently the sole surviving member of the five-team squad accused in connection of the assassination. After Sonia Gandhi’s appeal for clemency, her death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment. Rotting away for the last 29 years in jail, she is India’s longest serving female prisoner. Those who fight for Easter attack suspect Hijaaz Hisbulla’s release are silent over the torture and indignity Sriharan is said to suffer. According to her mother, Sriharan is not even allowed access to her own lawyer. These allegations, if true, are a testament of India’s bitterness over the episode. 

India’s cost is however not remotely close to that of Sri Lanka. The IPKF left abandoning the crucial satellite military camps. These were promptly taken over by the LTTE. Over the next 19 years, the LTTE grew in strength and ferocity. The LTTE was not only a threat to Sri Lanka, or the region but to the whole world. Its ships provided logistics to other terrorist organisations and smuggled people and narcotics that mostly ended in the Western streets. Sri Lanka must be saluted for defeating the LTTE against all odds. 

Who wants the 13th Amendment?

Presently, the Provincial Councils ushered by the 13th Amendment are defunct because of the mess created by the Yahapalana Government, in which the TNA was a significant partner. Yet none of the minority politicians are worried over the PCs’ fate. TNA’s proposed constitution attempted to turn PCs into power centres and render the Central Government powerless. This would have adversely affected the minority communities living outside the north and east. The minorities therein will be under the rule of that province’s majority community. They would be without an overriding power to redress any communal injustice. In this context, the outcome of the east will be interesting, where the Tamil and Muslim communities vie for dominance. 

The two provinces – north and east – cannot and should not be merged without a referendum. It is unlikely that the Muslims in the east would agree to a merger that would bring them under Tamil dominance. Without the merger, the Eastern Tamils would be under the Muslim dominance, which would be disagreeable to them. 

Therefore, it is very clear that unless force is used the 13th Amendment is not feasible. Even then, it will not resolve any real or perceived grievance, but likely create problems of unmanageable proportions. Yet, as observed by Dr. Jayatilleka, Prime Minister Modi only reiterated what he had said many times before”. The reasons for India’s continued interest in an unattainable objective ought to pique political analysts’ interest. 

‘Good Governance’ as elusive as the 13th Amendment

The unhappy truth is that the West bludgeons Sri Lanka on imaginary human rights allegations. Likewise, India uses the 13th Amendment to keep Sri Lanka off balance. Both the West and India scheme to manipulate Sri Lanka’s governance. Dr. Jayatilleka’s argument that the Western investor/buyer is morally conscious is illogical when the worst violators are the West and have been so for the past so many centuries. West is more adaptable as obvious with their relationships with countries with terrible political and humanitarian track records.

We must not repeat Yahapalana Government’s mistakes. Instead of standing firm on the ground that we had not committed war crimes nor engaged in systematic discrimination, we timidly scrambled to measure up to ‘good governance’. This exposes our failure in foreign relations. Our attempt to please the ‘asymmetrical powers’ resulted in dismantled intelligence networks, incompetent officers, a confused chain of command, politicised commissions and the worst terrorist attack on Sri Lankan soil. 

Interestingly, not a single Western Government or agency nor India for that matter has expressed an opinion over any of these failures. On the other hand, grave concerns over the ‘draconian measures’ taken over the COVID-19 pandemic and the 20th Amendment were prompt. The Gotabaya Rajapaksa Administration’s success in containing the pandemic and managing associated social costs was impressive. Furthermore, the Administration’s quick responses and timely safeguards protected and strengthened the economy to outperform even pre-pandemic days. Studiously ignoring all these achievements, serious doubt is now being cast over Sri Lanka’s ability to meet its financial commitments. This is clearly to dissuade investors and lenders. 

Towards a peaceful coexistence with all stakeholders

To be pro-nationalist does not make one an antagonist of another nation or a xenophobic. Therefore, speaking on behalf of Sri Lanka does not make one anti-Indian, anti-West or an isolationist. In fact, if we are to enjoy robust relations with the world, Sri Lanka must learn to speak up and have the courage to call a spade a spade. 

This is especially important as the US gears itself to defend their interests against China’s rise in power. Most of our neighbours have already picked a side. Sri Lanka on the other hand has taken the challenging but noble path to maintain a zone of peace for all to trade and engage in commercial activities. 

In this context, PM Modi was wrong to reiterate his call for the 13th Amendment’s implementation – especially when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had already articulated his position on the matter. In the past, this has been a bait for the Tamils in the north and east to turn antagonistic to their own Government. This kind of interference on Sri Lanka’s internal affairs had not only led to the destruction of innocent lives, but had been catastrophic to India as well. Therefore, it behooves India also to move out of ‘traditional politics’ and partner with Sri Lanka towards a peaceful coexistence with all stakeholders. 

(The writer can be reached via ranasingheshivanthi@gmail.com.)

KAMALIKA PIERIS

After a long march, a great leap, a cultural revolution and ‘Tiananmen Square’, China is today emerging as the most powerful country in the world. China is the world’s first Communist state with a capitalist economy. China has managed to stay Communist while engaging in free market enterprise. This is considered unique and not to be replicated anywhere else. No other country plans to imitate China.

At the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017, the Party declared that its philosophy is   based on Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong thought, Deng Xiaoping theory and Xi Jinping’s Thoughts on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”.

China is ruled by one party, Communist Party of China. Analysts   observed in 2016 that the ruling Communist Party is very strong and is ‘unlikely to fall in the next ten years’. There is a sort of recruitment policy. A person joining the Chinese Communist Party must satisfy many conditions. His background is scrutinized very carefully. He is not allowed to rise in politics very fast. Third rate persons get excluded early on, said analysts. 

China’s miraculous economic growth, which started around 1980,  has enabled China to lift more than 850 million people out of extreme poverty. in 2015 China created 11 million jobs.

China moved rural people into urban settlements without waiting for it to happen as a natural outcome of the development process. This brought rural people out of poverty and allowed them to engage in more productive jobs in the industry and service sectors.

The quality of life  improved. There is almost universal literacy today, in China.  many attend primary and secondary schools. life expectancy has shot up and infant mortality has plummeted, said TIME in 2009.

But China is not complacent. China has further to go, said the Congress in 2017.China still needs to cater to the peoples ‘ever-growing desire for a better life.’ There are a lot of poor areas still in China, announced officials.  The economic development achieved so far, is inadequate and unequally distributed.

A two stage plan was formulated for the period 2020 to 2050.  From 2020-2035 China would    build a moderately prosperous society and from   2035 onwards, china would ‘fully build’ a modern socialist China.   The Party will ‘develop China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.”

China became rich through exports. Export production was   initially through FDIs.    China’s factories were set up by foreign multinational corporations, said analysts.    These MNCs had direct access to world markets and they produced goods that would sell. 

Production was on a large scale. The industries were supported by vertically integrated state owned enterprises in logistics, energy, roads, shipping and ports.  State owned banks financed the infrastructure needed. China also started many Special Economic Zones such as Shenzhen and these were used as a model by other countries, including Sri Lanka.

China now produces everything from stuffed toys to IPads, said analysts in 2015.  China is the largest producer of ships, steel, aluminum, furniture, clothing, textiles, cell phones, and computers. China has become the manufacturing powerhouse of the world.

It is also a leader in technology. Alipay, the Alibaba payment system, is more sophisticated than anything in the west. Then there is Huawei whose 5G technology is considered superior and cheaper. The successful  5G provider will also have a head-start into 6G and 7G.

China has also become the world’s largest consumer. China imported more oil, consumed more energy, and installed more solar power than any other nation, said analysts.  China has the world’s largest internet users.

 There are new consumer groups who have capacity to spend on sports, entertainment, clothes and shoes. Chinese consumers are now setting the pace for global commerce. For consumer product companies, you can’t win the world if you are not winning in China. China encourages domestic consumption and much of the spending is moving back into the country.

China was expected to overtake the United States as the largest fashion market in 2019, according to a report by McKinsey & Company. For example, Italian brand Ermenegildo Zegna now looks to China, instead of the US, as the place for testing new products, before deciding whether to promote them globally. The website said many luxury brands already depend heavily on Chinese customers, who have for some time been the world’s biggest buyers of luxury goods.

China has presided over the greatest economic transformation in modern history, said China’s admirers. China has vaulted to the top in a single generation. In 1980, China’s GDP was less than $300 billion. By 2015, it was $11 trillion, making it the world’s second largest economy by market exchange rates. In 1980, China’s trade with outside world amounted to less than $40 billion. By 2015, it was $4 trillion.  Hong Kong is now only 2.9% of the Chinese economy, TIME observed in 2019.

China is now the world’s second largest economy and the world’s top trading nation. It has more billionaires than the US and more high speed rail than the rest of the world combined, said TIME in August 2020. China’s march towards becoming the world’s largest economy is just a matter of time.

China has now overtaken the US to become the world’s largest economy according to the IMF’s World Economic Output 2020. Using the more reliable and now widely accepted measurement, Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), IMF has determined China’s economy at $24.2 trillion compared to America’s $20.8 trillion. This is a massive leap from less than USD 200 PPP in 1970. The PPP calculation method enables you to compare how much you can buy for your money in different countries.

By 2017, on most indicators, China had already surpassed the United States. Chinese consumers bought twenty million cars in 2015, three million more than were sold in the US. . TikTok, a leading social media app in the United States, is owned by the $75 billion Chinese tech giant Bytedance.

In 2015, Tsinghua University passed MIT in the US News and World Report rankings to become the number one university in the world for engineering. Among the top ten schools of engineering, China and the US each had four.

There is an increasing emphasis on Buddhism in China today. China is emphasizing Confucian and Buddhist values, said TIME in 2009.  Buddhism is encouraged by President Xi in order to fill China’s moral vacuum.  members of the Chinese elite including Xi Jinping’s wife, Peng Liyuan, are interested in Buddhism.   growing number of wealthy Chinese, have been drawn in recent years to the mysticism of Tibetan Buddhism, said the media.

There is a chain of Buddhist clubs and Tibetan gurus like Geshe Sonam preach in China. The travel   guide DK Eyewitness travel” (Dorling Kindersley 2012) listed around 63 Buddhist monuments and temples for tourists to visit.  There is hardly any mention of mosques, churches, Confucian or Taoist temples.

China has land borders with 14 countries and maritime borders with at least nine other countries. Since 1960, it has settled its   boundaries with 12 of the 14 countries with which it shares land borders. They are Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Laos, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia.

Its land boundaries remain unsettled only with India and Bhutan. The territory in contention with Bhutan is not large but is of strategic significance. once India settles the boundary dispute with China the boundary with Bhutan will automatically be settled.

China has very strong connections with other countries. Of the 53 states in Africa only Lesotho has no connection to China, the other 52 states all have connections with China.   China has signed agreement to allow Nepal to use Chinese harbors and roads for supplies. But those ports and roads are far away, observed analyst. China’s investments and presence in the Indian Ocean have increased, and no country can match China in that respect today, said analysts .

The countries which have benefited from Chinese assistance in Asia, Africa and Europe have not suffered a breach of their independence and sovereignty or lost any significant extents of resources. China has not dictated to any of these countries on how to run their country, how to change their constitutions, how to look after their security, or preached on democracy, human rights, minority rights and other internal affairs. China has not forced or pressurized any of the recipients of its aid to fall in line and join the B & R I. They have instead requested them to evaluate the pros and cons of the project and join if they agree with its broad principles, said .N.A. de S. Amaratunga.

China does not interfere in the internal affairs of any country agreed analysts. China never considers themselves to be a model.  China does not have the evangelistic approach of USA, which says Be like us, said analysts. China strategy for south East Asia is , come grow with me,    said Lee Kuan Yew.

China’s most recent linkup is with Iran. China and Iran have drafted a Trade and Military Partnership Agreement in 2020 which will vastly expand Chinese presence in Iran. The  military agreement  proposes deepening military cooperation.  It calls for joint military training and exercises, joint research and weapons development and intelligence sharing.

The trade agreement includes inter alia, new ports along the coast of the Sea of Oman, a 5G telecommunications network, Chinese Global Positioning System and cyberspace control by China’s Great Firewall. Chinese investments in Iran would total $400 billion over 25 years. In exchange, China would receive a regular, heavily discounted supply of Iranian oil over the next 25 years.

One of the proposed new ports is at Jask, just outside the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Persian Gulf. This will give the Chinese a strategic vantage point on the oil route. The passage is of critical strategic importance to the United States, as well, the US Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain.

Due to US sanctions, China is the only major player active in Iranian oil. China considers sanctions against Iran as an opportunity to secure huge fields and markets which might have gone to Western companies. Iran needs to increase its oil production to at least 8.5 million barrels a day to remain a player in the energy market, and for that, it needs China.

Beijing  allows its companies to do business in Iran. Chinese goods and services have flooded Iran’s market. Iranians welcomed this. Apart from Russia other nations were not willing to come in.

China and India are seen as rival for power in South Asia. Comparisons have been made. In 2016 it was said that China’s economy was five times that of India. That was not all. Inflation is low in China and high IN India, said analysts. There is political stability in  China, political instability in India.

Chinese firms including Tencent, Alibaba, and Xiaomi  have poured more than $5 billion into Indian enterprises in 2018, surpassing flows from Japan and the United States. Five of the top 10 mobile apps in India are now Chinese compared with just two out of 10 in 2017. The media warned of a Chinese invasion” of the Indian tech sector. Beijing now has access to Indian social media messaging, health records, user-generated content, and consumer spending and financial information, with New Delhi’s tacit consent, said observers.

China faces opposition from its ‘enemies’. There have been tensions between the Chinese and the majority Muslim group in China, the Uighur. The Uigher are claiming genocide.  They say that China had been introducing Han settlers into the area and giving them privileges such as the lion’s share of investments.  Uighur rights groups are demanding an independent Xinjiang. Chinese say this is instigated abroad. The headquarters of the World Uighur Congress   is in USA and the Uighur leader, Rebiya Kadeer, lives in the US.

Analysts say the agitation regarding the Rohingya in Burma has little to do with religion.  The west will not take an interest in the Rohingya of Myanmar unless there is some hidden agenda, they said. China has an oil and gas pipeline there.

China wants to build a 120-kilometre canal cutting through the isthmus of Kra in Thailand. ( Kra canal). China can then get to the Indian Ocean bypassing the Strait of Malacca. Now other countries  such as India, USA and Australia  wish to  join the project. More than 30 foreign firms have shown an interest in investing, providing financial and technical support . They want to sign a memorandum of understanding with us, said Thailand.  Foreign embassies have contacted us to get the latest status on the project . 

Lee Kuan Yew told TIME in 2013,  China has transformed from  a poor society to become now the second largest economy in the world on track to become the word largest economy.  They have a culture    4000 years old. And a huge population  pool to draw from. How could they not aspire to be No 1 in Asia

At the  19th CPC Congress in 2017 China pledged to be a major factor in the world.  China will be called on to  play a stabilizing, responsible role when it comes to questions of trade, security and international order, the Congress said.  

As part of this, China is preparing for war. Beijing will not take a single step back in the contested South China Sea, China said. China’s navy has become the world largest navy, said Economist in September 2020. China is now working at building a great navy, said Statesman. Navies do far more than fight. They protect trade routes, observed   Statesman.

When China  becomes the world’s largest economy over the next decade the global system will be led by a non-English speaking, non-Western, non-democratic state, observed Australia’s Kevin Rudd. ( continued)

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

කොවිඩ්-19 වසංගත තත්ත්වය හමුවේ රටට හා රටවැසියාට සෙත්පතා දිවයිනේ සෑම විහාරස්ථානයකම රතන සූත්‍රය සඡ්ඡායනා කරන ලෙස ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමන් මහා සංඝරත්නයෙන් ගෞරවයෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටියි.

කොවිඩ් – 19 වසංගතය හේතුවෙන් මේ වන විට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව පමණක් නොව මුළු මහත් ලෝකයම දැඩි අර්බුදකාරී අවස්ථාවකට මුහුණ දී තිබේ.

එවන් පසුබිමක් තුළ කොරෝනා වෛරසයෙන් සියලු ලෝකවාසී ජනතාව ආරක්ෂා වේවායි සෙත් ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරමින්, දිවයිනේ වෙහෙර විහාරස්ථාන රැසක් කේන්ද්‍ර කර ගනිමින් මේ වන විටත් රතන සූත්‍රය සඡ්ඡායනා කිරීම සිදු වෙයි.

මෙම අර්බුදකාරී තත්ත්වය හමුවේ දිවයිනේ සියලුම විහාරස්ථානවල සෑම දිනකම රතන සූත්‍ර සඡ්ඡායනා කරමින් රටටත්, ලෝකවාසී සියලු ජනයාටත් ආශිර්වාදය හා ආරක්ෂාව ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරන ලෙස අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා වැඩිදුරටත් ඉල්ලා සිටියි. 

By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary.

In France, the recent attack in Nice and following on from the murder of Samuel Paty on 16 October, the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad has condemned all forms of terrorism and extremism and called for mutual understanding and dialogue between all peoples and nations.

His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad states:

The murder and beheading of Samuel Paty and the attack in Nice earlier today (29 October) must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Such grievous attacks are completely against the teachings of Islam. Our religion does not permit terrorism or extremism under any circumstances and anyone who claims otherwise acts against the teachings of the Holy Quran and contrary to the noble character of the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

As the worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, I extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of the victims and to the French nation. Let it be clear that our condemnation and hatred of such attacks is not something new but has always been our position and stance. The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (peace be upon him) and his Successors have always categorically rejected all forms of violence or bloodshed in the name of religion. 

The fallout from this heinous act has further exacerbated the tensions between the Islamic world and the West and between Muslims living in France and the rest of society. We consider this to be a source of deep regret and a means of further undermining the peace and stability of the world. We must all join together to root out all forms of extremism and to encourage mutual understanding and tolerance. From our perspective, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community will spare no effort in our mission to foster a better understanding of the true and peaceful teachings of Islam in the world.”

Courtesy BBC

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a second national lockdown for England to prevent a “medical and moral disaster” for the NHS.

He said Christmas may be “very different” but he hoped taking action now would mean families can gather.

Non-essential shops and hospitality will have to close for four weeks on Thursday, he said.

But unlike the restrictions in spring, schools, colleges and universities can stay open.

After 2 December, the restrictions would be eased and regions would go back to the tiered system, he said.

Mr Johnson said: “Christmas is going to be different this year, perhaps very different, but it’s my sincere hope and belief that by taking tough action now we can allow families across the country to be together.”

• ‘A new lockdown will be far worse for businesses’
• Covid spreading faster than ‘worst-case scenario’
• Winter virus plans revealed in leaked Sage report

The prime minister told a Downing Street news conference that he was “truly, truly sorry” for the impact on businesses, but said the furlough system paying 80% of employee wages will be extended through November.

He said hospitals even in the south-west of England, where cases are among the lowest, will run out of capacity in weeks.

“Doctors and nurses would be forced to choose which patients to treat, who would get oxygen and who wouldn’t, who would live and who would die,” Mr Johnson said.

Takeaways will be allowed to stay open as pubs, bars and restaurants close and people are being told they can only meet one person from outside their household outdoors.

Mr Johnson, who chaired a cabinet meeting on Saturday afternoon, will make a statement to Parliament on Monday.

The UK recorded another 21,915 confirmed coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 1,011,660.

Another 326 people were reported to have died within 28 days of a positive test.

The UK is the ninth country to reach the milestone of a million cases – after the US, India, Brazil, Russia, France, Spain, Argentina and Colombia.

But the true number of infections is expected to be higher due to a lack of widespread testing at the start of the pandemic.

Full Story

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54763956

By Asiff Hussein/Roar.lk Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Names reflect beliefs and attitudes and give an insight into the manifold influences a people have been subjected to in the past, says Asiff Hussein, in his article in Roar.lk.

Little do we realise that names are the foundation of all knowledge. Naming people and things makes it easier for us to make sense of our world. In the Muslim creation story, for example, we are told how God taught Adam the names of all things, thus giving him knowledge of matters even the angels could not fathom. The names we give ourselves not only help us identify one another, but are also replete with meaning. However, our names have not always been the same; they have been changing over the ages and have intriguing stories to tell.

The earliest names Sri Lankans gave themselves were very simple. One has only to look at the names of the founding fathers of the Sinhalese nation to realise this. There was Vijaya, whose name literally means ‘victory’ or ‘conquest’. Then there were his ministers, like Anuradha and Upatissa, all of whom had names of a very simple kind.

Simple names continued to be used in the Brahmi inscriptions of the 3rd century BC – 3rd century AD in Sinhala Prakrit (an early form of Sinhala), where we find names like Abaya, Data, Guta, Deva, Mita and Sena. Abayameant ‘fearless’, Mita ‘friend’ and Sena ‘Army’. These simple names continued until the 10th century, as we find in the Sigiri graffiti of the 8th to 10th centuries, where there are names like Agbo, Bodur, Dev, Kasub and Mihind, though we also meet with a few double-barelled names like Mahamal Bud, Golagamu Niladevala and Salame Dev. These compound names reflected a trend slowly catching on then, that in later centuries would result in some really long names that peaked during the colonial era with the addition of names of European origin. That’s when we come across names like Johannes Franciscus Dias Wijeyasekere Bandarenayeke and Julius Valentyn de Saram Wijeyasekere Goenatilakaratne figuring in a list of Sinhalese headmen in the Ceylon Almanac of 1844.

Family Names

A few of the composers of the Sigiri verses a little over a thousand years ago were already identifying themselves as belonging to the house of so and so, such as Kasub himiyan-ge Mihind (Mihind of the House of Lord Kasub) and Magalamb Mihidala-malun-ge Agboy (Agboy of the House of Mahadala-Mal of Magalamb).

The suffix -ge used here means ‘of the house of,’ and serves a similar purpose to the ‘Von’ of German names. To this day, the Sinhalese use family ge-names such as Hevage (House of the Soldier), Liyanage (House of the Scribe) and Bambaravanage (House of the Forest of the Bees). These preceded the proper names of persons and in the olden days served as a sort of surname. Today, they may simply be adopted as surnames. For instance, Luvishewage Dayapala’s children would be called Chaminda Luvishewa and Lakmali Luvishewa.

E.B. Denham, in his Ceylon at the Census of 1911 (1912), already noted the tendency of ge-names to be adopted as surnames after the European fashion by dropping the -ge at the end. Among the examples he cites are Kodituwakkuge Andiris becoming Andiris Kodituwakku and Ratnayakage William becoming William Ratnayaka. He noted: The tendency to-day in the towns is to drop the ge-name altogether and to adopt surnames after the English fashion. In the interior and in the villages the ge-name is scrupulously regarded”.

Women’s Names

In the earliest Brahmi inscriptions of the country c. 2nd century BC, women tended to identify themselves as the daughter of so-and-so. For instance, Revati called herself the daughter of Mitapala (Mitapalasa jhita Revati) while Princess Anuradi described herself as the daughter of Prince Abaya (Aya Abayasa jhita Abi Anuradi). In later medieval times, as we gather from the Sigiri graffiti, the ladies tended to identify themselves more with their husbands, as the wife of so-and-so. One female composer identifies herself as Sevu, the wife of Nidalu Mihid (Nidalu Mihid Abu Sevu), while another calls herself Lady Nal, wife of lord Mahamet (Mahamet-himiya abu Nal himiyabuyun).

This does not necessarily reflect a patriarchal society, since there is a case of a man named Mahasattay identifying himself as the husband of Lady Boya (Boya kala semi Mahasattay). We also know that even up to Kandyan times, Sinhalese women did not take their husbands’ surnames, but kept their family names. It was only as a result of British rule that local women gradually took to adopting their husbands’ surnames. This British practice was no doubt a spillover from the days of Roman rule, reflecting the wife’s transfer from the patria potestas, or paternal power of the father, to that of her husband.

Caste Factor

Both personal names and family ge-names differed by caste. For instance, the name Banda in forms like Heen Banda, Tikiri Banda and Dingiri Banda was commonly borne by members of the Govi caste.

The fairer members of this caste bore names like Menike(Jewel) in forms like Ran Menike, Podi Menike, and Dingiri Menike. The untouchable Rodi caste had names that were vastly different. Hugh Nevill, the well-known British Civil Servant and Orientalist, in his Taprobanian (August 1887) mentions names like Asura, Wisiya, and Suruwana borne by Rodi men and Asurangi, Bingumali, and Singowalli borne by Rodi women.

As for ge-names, we would find that the Govigama, who have been traditionally considered farmers and hence much rooted to the land, have names based on localities like Bovattegedara (the House of the Garden of Bo Trees) and Siyambalagodage (the House of the Grove of Tamarind Trees). Karava ge-names may reflect a sea-faring and military tradition like Marakkalage (House of the Skipper), Galappatige (House of the Caulker, one who puts away water from a ship), Hennedige (House of the One prepared for War), Gardiya Punchi Hevage (House of the Little Soldier of the Guard) and Patabendige (House of those bound by the Band). Patabendige refers to a titular rank by some Sinhalese monarchs of old for some heroic deed by means of fastening a band of silk or gold round the forehead.

The Vahumpura have names like Devage and Hevage, testifying to a warrior tradition in the olden days, Deva being a synonym for the Aryan warrior caste known as Kshatriyas and Heva meaning ‘Soldier’. The Radawa commonly bear names connected to washing, like Haluge and Apullanagedara, Halu meaning ‘shawl’ and Apullana meaning to ‘wash clothes by beating them against a rock’, which is the manner by which they used to wash clothes in the olden days.

The Navandanna have names referring to their artisan tradition like Acharige, Badalge, and Abharana Gedara, and the Bathgama very often have Pedige of dubious meaning prefixed to their names.

Portuguese Names and Titles

The arrival of the Portuguese on our shores in 1505 had a profound impact on local society, not the least in the names of low country Sinhalese.

For one thing, the Portuguese title of Dom, originally applied to nobles and churchmen, caught on by undergoing a slight corruption to Don to precede the proper names of local men. Its feminine form, Dona, applied to ladies of very high standing (to this day the first lady of Brazil, which used to be a Portuguese colony, is called Dona), was also adopted by local women, especially of the south.

J.W. Bennett noted in his work, Ceylon and its Capabilities (1843), how the Sinhalese of his day still aspired for Portuguese names and titles, adopting names such as Don Louis and Don Christoffel. German Barons” he says, are scarcely less plentiful than Ceylon Doms and Dons, and the latter appendage is just as easily assumed as the former title”. Who can, after all, forget our well known Queen Dona Catherina, whom the conquistadors installed on the throne of Kandy? Or our first Prime Minister, Don Stephen Senanayake?

The Portuguese also left a very large number of their surnames behind, although this does not mean that those who bear them have Portuguese ancestry. Rather, these surnames seem to have been adopted by their forebears when they converted to Christianity, possibly taking after the names of Portuguese godfathers. Such Portuguese surnames were called alukunna from the Portuguese alcunna, which in turn had derived from the Arabic al-kunya.

While common Sinhalese surnames like Almeda, Cabral, Costa, Dias, Silva, Perera, Fonseka, Fernando, Pinto, Rodrigo, and Salgado are pretty straightforward Portuguese, there are others that have undergone slight variations such as Aponsu (Affonso), Livera (Oliveira), Grero (Guerrero), Peiris (Peres), Nonis (Nunes), Gomas (Gomes), Mendis (Mendes), Suwaris (Soares), Sigera (Siqueira), Pigera (Piqueira), Tisera (Teixeira), Thabrew (D ‘Abreu), Doluvira (De Oliveira), and Salpadoru (Salvador). Many of these Portuguese names have lovely meanings. For example, take Silva (of the Woods), Costa (Sea Coast), Perera (Pear Tree), Oliveira (Olive Tree), and Correa (Place covered with Carriolas plant). Yet others are diminutives, like Pinto (Chick) or suggestive of a heroic tradition, like Guerrero (Warrior).

Dutch Names

The Dutch influence on Sinhalese names was not as profound as the Portuguese whom they succeeded in 1658. They did not bestow any surnames on the Sinhalese or Tamils as they were more keen on trade than converting or culturally influencing the local populace. However, they did leave behind a number of personal names, many of which continued to be borne by the Sinhalese of the humbler classes until very recent times.

In fact, one may still come across such names borne by an older generation of men. Thus we have Karolis, Tepanis, Harmanis, Yohanis and Girigoris,which have arisen from the Dutch Carolus, Stephanus, Hermanus, Johannes and Gregorius. Not all such names are, however, of Dutch origin. Paulis is from the English Paul, Jaamis from the English James, and Chaarlis from the English Charles.

Tamil Names

The Tamils are fervent Hindus and believe that adopting the names of Hindu divinities are the best form of flattering the gods. Popular names include Arumugam (‘the six-faced one’, a reference to Skanda), Kanapati (a reference to Ganesh, the elephant-headed god), Murugan (another ancient name for Skanda, the god of war) Nadaraja (King of the Dance, meaning Siva in his manifestation as the cosmic dancer) for men and Lakshmi (Goddess of Fortune) and Sarasvati (Goddess of Knowledge) for women. There are also a few corrupted names like Lechchumi (a corruption of Lakshmi) and Meenachchi (a corruption of Meenaakshi meaning ‘the fish-eyed one’, the tutelary goddess of Madura). Although most Jaffna Tamils are Saivites or worshippers of Siva, they also bear Vaishnava names like Alvar, Gopal and Krishnan, which are connected with Vishnu (Personal Name in Jaffna Society, in the research journal Tamil Civilization, 1986).

Colour Names For Untouchable” Castes

The untouchable” castes were hardly, if ever, given the names of deities. Rather, they were often given names that indicated colour, height, or terms referring to demons. They bore names like Karuppan (black one), Kattaiyan (short one) and Muniyan (demon). The women were given names like Karuppi (black girl) and Puti (devil lady) (Caste and Language in Jaffna Society by S. Suseendirarajah, Anthropological Linguistics, 1978).

The Tamils of Jaffna, especially those of the Vellala caste, had a practice of prefixing their father’s names to their personal names by adding the word pillai or pullai (son) to it. Thus, Velu’s son Shanmugam would be called Velupillai Shanmugam. Even today this is known among older sections of conservative Tamils, though the practice has declined of late. In the olden days, this was fairly common. For instance, in a list of Tamil headmen of Jaffna given in the Ceylon Almanac of 1844, we come across one Sangerapulle Velyden.

To this day among the Jaffnese, one’s initials generally stand for one’s father’s name in the case of males and unmarried females. In the case of married women, it often stands for the husband’s name, perhaps a result of Dutch rule in Jaffna.

Muslims’ Ge Or House Names

It is a little-known fact that many Muslims of the country, more properly known as Moors, bear Sinhala ge-names. This is especially so of the Moors of the Kandyan areas, among whom one could find ge-names like Galgedara, Lindegedara, Kandegedara, Muhandiramla-gedara, and Nagahadeniya-gedara. These ge-names precede the personal names of individuals. Thus we have names like Alakoladeniya Gedara Yusuf Lebbe, Kurugoda Vidanalage Gedara Abdul Hameed Wahabdeen, and Kandegedara Abdul Gafoor Sitti Nafiya.

However, what is interesting is that the Moors of maritime districts like Aluthgama, Beruwala, and Maggona also formerly bore ge-names which are widely attested in the Dutch Tombos covering the period 1766-1771, where we find such names like Ibrahim Tandellage Ahamadoe Nainde, Daroebesie Lienege Oemoer Lebbe, Iratnewalli Aratjege Oedoema Lebbe, Ismail Mokedonge Oemoer Lebbe, Pawelekodige Sleman Lebbe, Kopeaediaerlage Ibrahim Lebbe, Mamina Marekelage Ahamadoe, and Assena Lebbelage Potoema Natja.

These ge-names could have come into existence among the Kandyan Moors due to one of two reasons: they were either borne by the Sinhalese ancestresses of these Moors, who passed it down to their offspring; or else might indicate the readiness of the Moors to adopt the salient features of the host culture, so as to identify themselves more closely with their Sinhalese neighbours, with whom they maintained friendly relations. Parallel situations were found among the Turkic-speaking Muslim peoples of Central Asia, who, after Russian practice, follow their personal names with the names of their fathers suffixed with –ov e.g. Karimov, Sultanov, and Rakhmanov. However, there is reason to believe that at least a few ge-names such as Muhandiramlage, borne by a number of Moor families, were acquired as a result of their ancestors being appointed to the high office of Muhandiram etc. by the Kandyan kings.

Funny Names Among Muslims

The Moor Muslims of old commonly bore nicknames. Such patta-perus, as nicknames were called, included Baba (Baby), Kolanda (Infant), Echchi (Miserly), Pushana (Indolent), Shoththian (Feeble-handed), Shemata (Brown or Tan), Dada-bada (Noise made when walking), Munda kan (Big-eyed), Poona kan (Cat’s eye), Madayan (Fool), Jemmi (Jewel) and Poo (Sweet).

There were others like Karupati (Jaggery), Kochchika(Chillie), and Pila kotta (Jak seed), perhaps referring to their tastes for these particular items of food. More interesting were names like Aana Bulingi ‘Swallower of elephants’, Baang Koli ‘Turkey’, Koli Kunji ‘Chick’, Porichchakoli ‘Fried Chicken’, Kumbala Mashi ‘Maldive Fish’, Karapothan ‘Cockroach’, Katchcha Karupatti ‘Bitter Jaggery’, Shappatayan ‘Flat Nose’, Velli Baba ‘Silver Baby’, Vengalam‘Loud-mouthed’, Bavulthavaly ‘Stomach ache’ and Anjishazathu Mapulle‘Five Cents Bridegroom’ who traveled as such in a decorated tramcar with his entourage” (Some Nicknames of Sri Lanka Moors by M. M. B. Ansari 1981).

There was a very good reason as to why some nicknames gained currency among the Moors. This was the similarities in many personal names borne by Muslims, which called for some way of distinguishing them. This is suggested by M. M. Thawfeeq who, in his Muslim Mosaics (1972) refers to the practice of calling people by nicknames in the early part of the last century and observes that: It just happened that there were scores of Hamids, Yoosoofs, Haniffas, Mohideens etc. in that concentration of Ceylon Moors”. The easiest way out, he says, was nicknames emphasising their attributes, penchant, and failings – even physical defects.

To conclude, we can see that the names we give ourselves say a lot about us as individuals and as communities. They give us identity and a sense of belonging to a particular group and help others identify us as such; they reflect our beliefs and attitudes and even give an insight into the manifold influences we have been subjected to in the past. In essence, they capture in a word or two what we are all about. There’s really no such person as a nobody if he or she has a name ‒ and therein lies the power of names.

Courtesy Adaderana

More COVID-19 positive cases have been identified raising the total number of cases reported from the Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda clusters to 7,185.

As per Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, 102 more cases have been detected.

Reportedly, 21 among the latest cases are identified from the quarantine centers.

The remaining 81 are close contacts of the Peliyagoda Fish Market cluster, the Department of Government Information confirmed.

Thereby, a total of 239 new cases have been detected within the day so far.

Yesterday a total of 633 new cases have been detected

Courtesy Adaderana

Following is a statement issued by the State Minister of Money & Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal on 30^th October 2020

With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, all countries including Sri Lanka, observed a contraction in economic activity, reduction in foreign exchange earnings, decrease in revenue collection, and increase in health and welfare related expenditure. However, the prompt and measured policy support provided by the Government and the Central Bank enabled Sri Lanka to contain the unfavourable effects of Covid-19 to a great extent, and return the economy to near-normalcy by mid-May 2020. In fact, most economic activities have displayed a notable revival from May onwards, and this recovery is on-going. The recent detection of a new Covid cluster is now being decisively addressed by the Government, and this wave is also expected to be short-lived. Accordingly, the expansion of the fiscal deficit and the increase in debt levels in 2020, should not be generalised as a prolonged debt distress, but rather as a one-off” deviation from the clear fiscal consolidation path that has been well articulated in the new Government’s policy framework.

The election of a new President in mid November 2019 and the formation of a single-party Government with a sizable majority in August 2020, has enable the new Government to address the uncertainties in the political and policy spheres observed during the period 2015 to 2019. Consequently, Sri Lanka has been able to address public health concerns swiftly, as well as take difficult economic decisions with greater confidence. For example, when the Government was of the view that it was necessary to conserve forex, given the likelihood of low foreign exchange earnings due to the pandemic, and the need to prioritize foreign debt service obligations, the Sri Lankan authorities imposed restrictions on non-essential imports from March 2020. Such decisive and bold action, along with the reduction in global petroleum prices, resulted in a substantial saving of nearly US$ 3 billion in terms of expenditure on merchandise imports in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period of the previous year. This saving, along with the better-than-expected outcomes in terms of merchandise exports, services exports other than tourism, and workers’ remittances, is now projected to compress the external current account deficit to below 1.5% of GDP in 2020.

It would also be noted that capital flows and official reserves were also affected during the early months of the global outbreak of Covid-19. However, growing business confidence due to decisive action by the Government and the Central Bank has enabled the country to stabilize the exchange rate with only a marginal depreciation of around 1.5% so far this year, even while the Central Bank was able to purchase/absorb US$ 300 million from the domestic foreign exchange market during the year. As a result, official reserves remain close to US$ 6 billion, after settling foreign debt service repayments of around US$ 4 billion thus far during the year, including the repayment of the matured International Sovereign Bond of US$ 1 billion in October 2020. In the meantime, it would be further  noted that the Sri Lankan authorities are presently negotiating a loan of USD 700 million from the China Development Bank which is expected to be at an interest rate and terms of repayment that are significantly more favourable than the USD 1 billion Sovereign Bond that was just re-paid. In addition, an attractive, exchange rate risk-free, Forex SWAP facility has been introduced for any foreign investor who invests in Sri Lankan government securities, which is expected to boost foreign exchange inflows particularly from the Middle-East, in the period ahead.

In terms of growth performance, Sri Lanka is once again set to embark on a growth path, following the setback in the first half of 2020 caused by the pandemic. The formulation of the new Government Cabinet and State Ministerial structure, with clear performance indicators has been geared towards improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the economy. These new governance structures are bound to enhance agriculture and agro-based and mineral-based industries, increase export opportunities, as well as facilitate large projects within the Port City, Hambantota Port, and dedicated industrial zones. The expected revitalization of state owned enterprises, together with the private sector-led growth projects would also revert the Sri Lankan economy to the high growth path that was observed prior to 2015 whereby annual growth rates of over 6.5% were regularly recorded.

In the meantime, Sri Lanka’s entire local debt stock of about Rs. 7.7 trillion (USD 42 billion) as at end July 2020 is being rolled-over and re-priced now at interest rates which are almost half of what was paid in 2019, while the Rupee remains stable. It may also be noted that a new trend has been established where greater reliance is being placed on domestic financing, and that strategy has already improved the domestic: foreign” ratio of the debt from 51:49 at end 2019 to 56:44 now, which trend the authorities are keen to improve further in the period ahead. It is therefore clear that the Government’s commitment and support towards better debt management, both directly and indirectly, has already started to take effect.

Sri Lanka is justifiably proud of its immaculate debt service record, without a single default. It would also be noted that Sri Lanka has experienced similar challenging circumstances previously, with high levels of debt. For instance, during 2001-2004, the country’s debt to GDP ratio was well over 100%, and by end 2005, it was at 91%.  Nevertheless, Sri Lanka was able to gradually reduce the debt to GDP ratio to just 72% by end 2014 through decisive and innovative action.

Courtesy Adaderana

The police have traced 454 individuals in total who had left the Western Province on the 29th of October, before quarantine curfew came into effect.

They have been placed under self-isolation at the establishments they are currently staying at, the Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana said.

Addressing a special media briefing held this evening (31), he said these persons were found while holidaying at tourist hotels in Bandarawela, Batticaloa, Ampara, Jaffna, Tangalle and Nuwara Eliya areas.

Further search operations to trace people who left the province on the 29th and 30th of October are underway, the police spokesperson added.

Quarantine curfew was imposed in the Western Province from midnight on Thursday (October 29) until 5.00 am on Monday (November 02) in an attempt to prevent long weekend getaways amidst the alarming pandemic outbreak in the country.

The members of the public were requested to refrain from leaving the Western Province before curfew is enforced, however, a large number of people have disregarded the announcement issued by the health authorities and security forces.

The police spokesperson said those who enter the Western Province on Monday will be strictly monitored and will be directed to quarantine procedure if it is revealed that they had left on the aforementioned two days.

He also noted that legal action will be sought against these persons for violating quarantine regulations.

Courtesy  Hiru News

The unfortunate news of a young special needs boy committing suicide after his mother was admitted to the hospital by public health inspectors due to symptoms related to the coronavirus was reported from the Dolahena, Homagama.

The infected woman had bought fish from a fish market in Maharagama and was admitted to the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital yesterday (30) due to her coronavirus symptoms.

She lives alone at home with her 25-year-old son with special needs. The residents of the area stated that the son who was shocked when his mother was taken, had committed suicide by hanging himself inside the house.

Courtesy Hiru News

Health Minster Pavithra Wanniarachchi, states that her Ministry has received the research report on the new coronavirus strain.

A special statement was made at the Ministry of Health today (31) regarding the relevant research report.

The Minister of Health stated that the research conducted by the team led by Professor Neelika Malavige, Director of the Dengue Research Unit of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura on the instructions of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has revealed that there is only one variety of the Covid 19 virus in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Prof. Nilika Malavige has further pointed out in the report that the corona variety which is currently spreading in several parts of the island including Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda has been revealed to be similar to the fastest spreading virus variety in Europe.

The scientists at the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine and Allergy, Immunology and Cell Biology Unit of University of Sri Jayewardenepura embarked on carrying out whole genomic sequencing of the virus, to determine to see if the current outbreak is due to spread of different strains, if there are certain mutations that result in the rapid spread of the virus and to investigate the relationship between the current circulating virus strains to previous strains circulating in Sri Lanka.

<strong>Key findings of the study were:
The current circulating strain is different to the strains that circulated previously.
It has the mutation associated with high transmissibility due to high viral loads.

The same virus strain is so far responsible for the infections detected in the Minuwangoda, Colombo Municipality area and the Fish  market cluster

16 virus strains originating from Brandix, Minuwangoda, the Colombo Municipality area, Beruwala fish market and patients admitted to tertiary care hospitals were subjected to sequencing.

The team of scientists that carried out the sequencing work are Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, Dr. Deshni Jayathilaka, Dr. Dinuka Ariyaratne, Mr. Laksiri Gomes and Mr. Diyanath Ranasinghe led by Prof. Neelika Malavige

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

When it talks about investment nobody can ignore the views of Schumpeter, who is regarded as a classical economist that investment is built upon on the level of returns that an investor gains and expected, which is based on the cost of investment plus the risk that could be tolerated by an entrepreneur. Investors are compensated by the return from the investment.  Beyond the classical era, the attraction of investment to a country has been generally dependent on the return from the investment. Mr. Mike Pompeo indirectly confirmed the view of Schumpeter at the interview with Ms. Indiwari Amuwatte that the making of investment would be a pure decision of entrepreneurs, and there are no easy ways either government or government-sponsored investments in America. Theoretically, it is a liberal concept of investment that interprets no government intervention or influence for investments from the point of view of America.      

The wording of Mr. Pompeo summarized the concept of investment in the USA, and it was a challenge to the attitudes of Sri Lankans concerning investment, and from the point of view of China. American aspect of the investment is when the private investor cannot invest the government participates such as space discoveries.  

Before and soon after the independence from the British imperial administration, Sri Lanka’s economic policies were built on the idea of Schumpeter, and it was changed after the political remodeling in 1956.  The role of the private sector took to the government hand through various strategies such as the nationalization of private investment (transport system and ports), direct government investments in public corporations, and contributions to public companies. The strategic changes of government investments have achieved negative repercussions on macroeconomic factors, such as budget deficit in the fiscal system, problems in the balance of payment adjustment process, terms of trade, borrowing for investment by the government, and many other issues created in the economy. The most hated economic issue was the public enterprises becoming refugees of the government.

Politicians and people of Sri Lanka trusted the government investment, but it seemed that the policy was economically challenging the beginning from the 1970 decade, creating fiscal and monetary problems that were difficult to comprehend and coped by politicians and the public. It seemed that except for a few educated people public did not concern about the matter.

Under the political administration of Mao Test Tung, China followed opposite views to American aspects of investment, and Den Zio Ping attempted to change the Chinese aspects of Investment by promoting cooperation with the US  relating to trade and investment, American policy allowed to give the most favorite nation status to China looking at changes, however, China did not deviate from the fundamental views of Marxism and attitude of hegemony and continued investment with the ownership of private and public.  China also helped many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. During the regime of Xi Jinping, billions of dollars invested in developing countries, and they were made in public enterprises. The volume of Chinese investment in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, and other countries is with public enterprises and they could be considered more than American investments in those countries. The other vital aspect of Chinese investment was the strategic cooperative partnership based on the consciousness reached by two countries.

Mr. Mike Ponmpeo stated that American investment in any country is decided by respective investors and the investment decisions are purely investors’ judgments despite the decisions of the government. The nature of the Chinese investments demonstrates that China wishes to engage in government investment, most probably the Chinese decisions associated with protecting of Investors and attracting comforts from the respective governments. However, it could be seen that the Chinese government adopted the capitalist system establishing government companies for investment in developing countries such as private companies for the management of investment in the Port City, Hambantota Port, and others. It is seen that there is a fundamental difference between Cina and the USA concerning the policy approach, and Mr.Mike Pompeo openly expressed American views despite the expectation of people.  

I have not visited China, many of my friends who have experience in living in China told me that they cannot see a vast difference between modern China and democratic countries, and investment in China dependent on the view of Schumpeter and practically people of China have capitalist views like in the USA.

In this background, why politicians created public opinion against the management of investments by private investors, and continuing government investment than they are privatizing to get out from economic burdens to the government? This is a root cause of economic problems in Sri Lanka and I pointed out the issues in many of my articles.    

The views of Mr.Pompeo showed the disguised direction to Sri Lanka that the country is in misguided footage, that the public investments must stay as they are, and despite the global policy changes after the cold war that the ownership of the public enterprises should be changed by privatizing or offering shares to private investors as it happened in many western countries.  Sri Lanka could have to get out of the problem in the 1990 decade, but the cunning politicians and public managers killed the opportunity at the birthplace.

The investment talks of Mr.Pompeo directed excellent advice to the country that it needs to make wise decisions. To increase or stabilize the exchange value of Sri Lanka’s monetary unit, and to gain relief from the repayment of a massive quantum of debt could be achieved if the government of Sri Lanka offers the ownership of public enterprises to the Chinese government than borrowing for the management of public enterprises.  The same process could be done by American investors too. Chinese public investment and American private investment could play a similar role. The difference is the approach of both countries.  This action will give a massive reduction of foreign debt and increase the efficiency of public enterprises with management acumen and investment stewardship of China or America.  The journalist, Ms. Indiwari Amuwatte made an excellent contribution to Sri Lanka directing the innovative questions to Mr.Mike Pompio.

If the government of Sri Lanka allows China to gain ownership of public enterprises the volume of foreign reserves in Sri Lanka could be increased to dollars 25 billion and the volume of the foreign debt of the country would be reduced by 50%.  In this way, Mr.Gotabaya Rajapaksa can uplift Sri Lanka with less foreign debt, a higher value of Sri Lanka Rupee.

Mr.Pompeo made a good idea on American investment and private investors in America could work consistent with the view of Mr. Pompeo, and the government of Sri Lanka could make toward a positive approach to make to change ownership of them.  I don’t think American investors will behave like the characters in the famous novel Ugley Americans”, they will be more responsible in the current environment.  The experience of the Asian crisis in the late 1990s guides Sri Lanka to manage investment policy.    

The views of Mr.Pompeo on the investment would be beneficial to the US, China, and India as well as Sri Lanka. If Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa promotes his policies to create producing and production economies with balanced growth in sectors and provinces the country would be a developed nation.

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම, LL.B., Ph.D.

රාජ්‍ය සේවා එක්සත් හෙද සංගමයේ සභාපති මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවේ ආනන්‌ද හාමුදුරුවන් සමඟ ඔක්තෝබර් 30 දින, ට්‍ර‌ැත් විත් චමුදිත විසින් කල සාකච්චාව බැලූ පසු මෙම ලිපිය ලිවීමට සිතුනි. ඊට හේතුව ඒ නිසා මට මා විසින් මාදුළුවාවේ සෝභිත හිමියන්ට යැවූ <අවවාදාත්‌මක> සංදේශයක් මතක් වීම නිසාය. මගේ බිරිඳගේ සහෝදරයා සෝභිත හිමියන්ගේ කිට්ටුම හිතවතෙකු විය. මේ නිසා 2012 දී ලංකාවට ගිය විට මම උන්වහන්සේව දේශපාලනය උඩ මුණගැසීමටද ගියෙමි. මේ සමඟ ලින්ක් කර ඇති ලිපිය .(www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2013/04/09/ven-maduluwave-sobitha-and-his-christian-marxist-friends/)
හාමුදුරුවන්ට යැව්වේ ඇමෙරිකන් තානාපති මිචෙල් සිසන්, අටපිරිකර සමඟ නාගවිහාරයට යෑමට පෙරද පසුවද කියා මට මතක නැත. නමුත් එම ලිපියේ අවධාරණය කල කාරණය වූයේ වැරදි වලින් පිරි මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ රෙජීමය වෙනස් කිරීමට යයි සිතා, රනිල්-චන්ද්‍රිකා-මංගල ඇතුළු එන්.ජී.ඕ. කල්ලිවල උගුලට අසු නොවන ලෙසය. මගේ අවවාදය කිරි ගහට ඇන්නා සේ නිවැරදි බව ඔප්පු වීමට ගියේ යහපාලන මරාලයේ ජනාධිපති දිවුරුම් දුන් වහාමය.

අගමැති බණ්ඩාරනායක ගැන කළකිරී ඉවත්‌වීම බෞද්‌ධ බලවේගයේ මෙත්තානන්ද මහතා මාස දෙකක් ඉවසා සිටියත්, <මහත්තයෝ අපි රැවටුනා> යයි සෝභිත හිමියන් කිව්වේ මරණ මංචකයේ සිටය. උන්වහන්සේගේ බාගෙට මළ ශරීරය සිංගප්පූරුවට යැවීම, ගංගොඩවිල සෝම හිමියන් රුසියාවට යවා මරවා ගැනීමේ කුමණ්ත්‍රණය හා සමාන නැද්දැයි යමෙකු සිතීම සාධාරණය. මහින්ද දමණය සඳහා මුල්වූ අනිත් හාමුදුරුවන්‌වූ අතුරැලියේ රතන හිමි, ජාම් බේරා ගෙන යම් සමාජ සේවයක්ද කලේය. එහෙත් බොදු බල සේනාවේ ඥානසාර හිමියන්ගෙන් 2020 මන්ත්‍රී ධූරය හොරාගන්නට රතන හිමි ක්‍රියාකල ආකාරය, සිහිපත් කරන්නේ, කලකට පෙර දළදාව හොරකම් කරණ ලෙස එතුමා ඥානසාර හිමියන්ට දුන් ලණුවය. ඒ අවස්ථාවේ ඒ ලණුව කෑවා නම් ඥානසාර හිමියන්ට වෙන්නේ කුමක්ද? රතන හිමියන් ඇඟබේරාගෙන වැජඹෙන්නේ නැද්ද?

මේ කාරණා වලින් පේන්නේ <ජාතියේ මුර දේවතාවා> යන සංකල්පය, දැලි පිහියෙන් දීකිරි කනවා වැනි එකවිටම සියුම් හා ගැඹුරු සංසිද්‌ධියක් බවය. එය අවදානම් සහිතය. රජුගේ අකටයුතු ක්‍රියා වලට විරුද්‌ධවූ, වැලිවිට ශ්‍රී සරණංකර නාහිමිඳුන්ට එකැස්කණා යයි අපහාස කරමින් උන්වහන්සේ අල්ලා මරා දැමීමට රජු තැත්කලේ ඒ නිසාය. ඒ සඳහාම කොළඹින් ක්‍රිස්තියානි ඝාතකයින් ගියේද ඒ නිසාමය. දේශපාලකයෙකු නොවන ගෝඨාභය නම් නිලධාරියා බලයට ගෙන ඒම සඳහා රටේ හාමුදුරුවරු එකතුවීම නොසිතූ විරූ ආශ්චර්යයක්, රටේ භාග්‍යයක් විය. පෘතග්ජන, පංචස්කන්‌ධ වශයෙන් මෙම හාමුදුරුවරුන්ද, ලෝභ-ද්වේෂ-මානයෙන් පිරි, සෝවාන් නොවූ අයවළුන්‌ය. බුද්‌ධරක්ඛිත-සෝමාරාමගේ සිට දිවෙන ඉතිහාසයක් හා වලානේ සිරි සිද්‌ධාර්‍ථ, හික්කඩුවේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල, මිගෙට්ටුවතේ ගුනානන්ද, ගංගොඩවිල සෝම දක්‌වා දිවෙන ඉතිහාසයක්ද අපට ඇත.

ලංකාවේ ගැලවීම ඇත්තේ, (1) පන්සලත් (2) යුද හමුදාවත් එකතුව, (3) ග්‍රාම රාජ්‍ය සභා (ජන මූල සභා) මට්ටමෙන්, පක්‍ෂ දේශපාලනයෙන් තොරව ගෙනයන පාලන ක්‍රමයකින් පමණමය. දැනට රට විනාශ කරණ, පක්‍ෂ දේශපාලකයා-නිලධාරියා- එන්.ජී.ඕ.කාරයා -යන දුෂ්ඨ ත්‍රිකෝණයේ ග්‍රහණය මුලින් උපුටා දැමිය හැකි බුද්‌ධාගමේ උගන්වන මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදාව අනුවය. ඉන්‌දියාවේ බෞද්‌ධ නොවන ජනාධිපතිලා දෙන්නෙක්, එනම් අබ්දුල් කලාම් හා ප්‍රතිභා පටිල්ද, හින්දු අගමැති මෝඩිද, <ලෝකයේ ප්‍රශ්ණ වලට විසඳුම් බුදු දහම අනුසාරයෙන් සොයා ගත හැකි යයි> කියන්නේ මේ නිසාය. කෝවිල්, කතෝලික පල්ලි හා මුස්ලිම් පල්ලි මීට එකතු කරගත හැක්කේ පන්සල් හරහා පමණ වන්නේ, චතුරාර්ය සත්‍යය යනු අයිසැක් නිව්ටන්ගේ, අයින්ස්ටයින්ගේ සූත්‍ර වලටත් වඩා එහාට ගිය විශ්ව පරම සත්‍ය නිසා, එයට යමෙකුගේ ලබ්ධිය අදාල නැති හෙයිනි. පන්සලක පිළිම කුටියකට, ලොව ඕනෑම ලබ්ධිකයෙකුට ඇතුළු විය හැක්කේත්, අනිත් පල්ලි දෙවර්‌ගයට අන් ලබ්ධිකයෙකුට ඇතුළුවීමට ඉඩ නොදෙන්නේත් මේ මූලික වෙනස නිසාය.

පල්ලියේ ලෙබ්බේට පන්සල එන්නට ආරාධනා කිරීම, කන්ද මොහමඩ් ලඟට නොeන නිසා මොහම්ඩ් කන්ද ලඟට යනවා වැනිය. සිංහල හාමුදුරුවරු, දෙමළ භාෂාව ඉගෙන ගෙන දමිළ ජනයාට බුද්‌ධාගම බෙදා නොදීම ගැන, <දෙමළාට නිවන අකැපද> යයි අසමින් උතුරේ මහ ඇමතිව සිටි සුරේන් රඝුවාන් කරණ චෝදනාව ලෝකයේ වෙන කිසිම රටක අසන්නට ලැබේවිද? දමිළ පූසාරිවරයෙක්ව සිට බුදු දහම වැළදගෙන, දැන් සිංහලෙන් හා දෙමළෙන් බණ කියන, දමිළ ජනයා අතර ජනප්‍රියව සිටින, වයස අවුරුදු 31 ක් පමණක් වන බගවන්තලාවේ රාහුල හිමියන්ද, උතුරට බුදු පිලිම එපා යයි විග්නේෂ්වරන් විසින් උතුරේ මහ ඇමති ලෙස ගෙන ගිය ව්‍යාපාරය හාස්‍යයට ලක් කරන්නේය. අම්බෙඩ්කාර් ලක්‍ෂ සංඛ්‍යාත ඩලිත් ජනයා බුද්‌ධාගමට හැරවූයේ ලංකාවේ හාමුදුරුවරුන්ගේ බලපෑමකින් තොරවය.

ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය විසින් මාසිකව පවත්‌වන සංඝ උපදේශක සභා රැස්වීම බොහෝ අයට ඇහේ කටු අණිනවා මෙන් බව නිසැකය. මෙවැන්නක් අන්තිමට කල සිංහල රජු කවුරුන් විය හැකිද? එහෙත් මෙම උපදේශක සභාවට හාමුදුරුවරුන් තෝරාගැනීමේදී, ඊට ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ, මුරුත්තෙට්ටුවත්තේ ආනන්ද හා ගලගොඩ‌අත්තේ ඥානසාර යන හිමිවරුන් තුන්‌දෙනා ඇතුලත් කර නොගත්තේ කුමක් නිසාද යන්න ප්‍රහේලිකාවකි. රටේ දැවෙන හා විවිධ ප්‍රශ්ණ ගැන බිම් මට්ටමේ දැණුමක් ඇති මේ තුන් නම විසින් ජනාධිපතිතුමා ඉදිරියට ගෙන එන තොරතුරු, ඇමෙරිකන් හෝ ඉන්දියන් රෝ චරපුරුෂ සේවාවලටද වඩා අනර්‌ගය. ජනාධිපති මුරුංගා අත්තේ තියනවාට වඩා, ඔහුගේ ක්‍රියාවල අඩුපාඩු පෙන්වාදීම කෙතරම් වැදගත්ද? මගේ මිත්‍රයා නොවන්නේ මගේ හතුරාය යන සිතුවිල්ලේ වරද ගැන ලියූ පොත් දුසිම් ගණනින් ඇත. බුදු දහම අනුව, සංඝ සමාජයේ පරිපාලන විනය නීති ආදිය දෙස බලනවිට, නොයෙක් අදහස් විවෘතව ප්‍රකාශ කිරීම මූලික ලක්‍ෂණයකි. රනිල් විසින් නිතර නිතරම ලිච්චවි පාලනයක් ගැන කතා කලා අමතකද?

මෙම හාමුදුරුවරුන් සහභාගි කර නොගැනීම බරපතල අඩුපාඩුවකි. ගෝඨාභයගේ ජයග්‍රහණය වෙනුවෙන් දර දිය ඇදි දැන් අමතක කර දමා ඇති කොටස් අතර මේ හාමුදුරුවරුන් තුන් නම කැපී පෙනේ. ඇමෙරිකන් ජනාධිපති ලින්ඩන් ජොන්සන් වරක් කල ප්‍රකශයක් මෙහිදී මතකයට නැඟේ. ඔහු විසින් තමාට විරුද්‌ධව කතා කරණ අයෙක් ආණ්ඩුවට සම්බන්‌ධ කරගත් විට, ඔහුගේ මිත්‍රයෙක් ඔහුගෙන් ඒ ගැන විමසුවේය. ඔහු දුන්නේ සරල පිලිතුරකි. <මගේ ආණ්ඩුවට (නමැති වතුර ටැංකියට) එලියේ සිට මුත්‍රාකරණ අයෙකු ඇතුලට ගත්‌විට, ඔහු එතැන් සිට මුත්‍රා කරන්නේ ටැංකියේ සිට එලියටයි!>. මීට පෙර මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ ජනාධිපතිවූ විට විපක්‍ෂ මන්ත්‍රීන් නොයෙක් ක්‍රම වලින් ආණ්ඩුවට ගෙන දේශපාලන කූඨ ඥානය විදහා දැක්‌වූයේය. ඔහුගේ මෙම ක්‍රියාව ජනාධිපති ලින්කන් විසින් සිය විරුද්‌‌ධවාදීන් හැම දෙනාම තම කබිනට් මණ්ඩලයට බඳවා ගැනීම වැනි යයි ඒ කාලයේ ලියූ ලිපියක පෙන්‌වා දුන්නා මට මතකය.

ඉහත සඳහන් කල හාමුදුරුවරුන් තුන් නමට අමතරව තවත් බඩගිනි උසුලමින් ගෝඨාභය ජය සඳහා අ‌වංකව කැපවූ දක්‍ෂ, දැණුමැති තරුණ හාමුදුරුවරු සිටිනවා විය හැකිය. මේ හමුදුරුවරු, මෙම රජයට විරුද්‌ධව, ඩොලර් බලපෑමට ලක්‌වූ අය ලෙස සිතීම පවා පාපයකි. එවැනි සමහරුන්ද සිටිය හැකි බවත් නිසැකය. අධිරාජයාගේ ඇඳුම් ගැන කතාව ගිහියන්ට පමණක් සීමාවූවක් නොවේ. මෙම හාමුදුරුවරුන් තුන්නම ජනාධිපති උපදේශක සභාවට ගෙන්නා ගැනීම, එහි දැනට ඉන්නා සෙසු හාමුදුරුවරුන්ට <අවුලක්> විය නොහැකිය.

අනිත් අතට, මේ ආණ්ඩුව පෙරලා දැමීමට සිහින මවමින් සිටිනා විවිධ බලවේග ඒ සඳහා යොදාගන්නා එක් උපක්‍රමයක් නම් ශාරියා අන්තවාදය, බෞද්‌ධ අන්තවාදයේ ප්‍රතිපලයක් යන්නය. හිටපු ජනාධිපති සිරිසේන මහතා පාස්කු ප්‍රහාර කොමිෂම ඉදිරියේ බෞද්‌ධ අන්තවාදයක් ගැන කියා සිටියේය. ඔහු ඥානසාර හිමියන් හිරෙන් නිදහස් කලේ, එසේ කරණ ලෙස අසාද් සාලි, රවි කරුණානායක, හිස්බුල්ලා, රිෂාඩ්, කබීර් හෂීම් වැන්නන් පවා ඉල්ලා සිටියදීය. බොදු බල සේනාවට අභූත චෝදනා එල්ල නොකර, අළුත්ගම සිද්‌ධිය හෝ හැම බොදු බල සේනා ක්‍රියාවක් ගැනම විමසීමට කොමිෂමක් පත්කරණ ලෙස ‌ඥානසාර හිමියන් දේශපාලකයින්ට අභියෝගයක්ද කලේය.

ජනාධිපතිතුමාගේ තීරණය නොසිතා සිදුකල සංඝයා දෙකට බෙදීමක් සේය. ඔවුන්ට ඔවුන්ගේ තර්‌ක-විතර්‌ක ජනාධිපතිට ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට අවස්ථාවක් ලබානොදීම බුද්‌ධ ශාසනයට කරණ අසාධාරණයකි. මෙම වරද නිවැරදි කිරීම රටේ අනාගත ශුභසිද්‌ධියට ඉතාමත් වැදගත්‌ය.

Sri Lanka Study Circle”

 ‘We are not now that strength which in old days 
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; 
One equal temper of heroic hearts, 
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will 
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield 
And Mahinda we call to lead the field’ -With apologies to Tennyson 

Senaka Weeraratna

The underlying basic premise of the Animal Rights movement is the regard for the sanctity of life.

Sanctity of life of all living beings.

This is highly regarded in Buddhism.

Buddhism and Jainism (both Dharmic religions) see kinship with animals in the Sansaric journey. 

One American Buddhist writer ( Norman Phelps) in his book ‘ The Great Compassion – Buddhism and Animal Rights’

said as follows:

 “Buddhism ought to be an animal rights religion par excellence. It has long held that all life forms are sacred and considers kindness 

and  compassion the highest virtues. Moreover, Buddhism explicitly includes animals in its moral universe. Buddhist rules of 

conduct―including the first precept, Do not kill”―apply to our treatment of animals as well as to our treatment of other human beings.”  

When someone says ‘all lives matter’ it should not be seen as all lives of only one species i.e. human beings, but rather as all lives of all species.

Once you are born you have a right to life until you die of natural causes.

This applies to all species.

This is the natural law.

One sidedness in this context means that you value only the interests of your species and disregard the claims of all other species to live in freedom and contentment in a natural environment.

We evolve when we give up self-serving and self-centeredness, and extend care for others, who are in need and would benefit from such care. Others must necessarily include animals.

Our moral conscience and life are diminished when the precious life of another being is taken away by the hand of a human.

No unacceptable conduct however painful can justify the killing of another person.

That is the huge difference between Buddhism and other major world religions.

That is why as Buddhists we must condemn the killings of 4 people in France recently.

Killing another because he or she belongs to another faith is wrong.

Three innocent people were killed in a church in France in a barbaric fashion two days ago for no reason other than they belonged to another faith.

Such conduct must be condemned unreservedly.

Likewise, iconoclasm i.e. the rejection or destruction of religious images of people of other faiths as heretical, is also wrong and should not be entertained.

Calling adherents of one’s faith in sacred texts to destroy idols of other religions is tantamount to hate speech.

Such conduct must be criminalized through amendments introduced to the Penal Code. 

What happened at Mawanella in Sri Lanka in December 2018 constitutes the best example of people blindly following hate speech in the religious texts and destroying what was sacred to others. 

Such conduct has potential to blow up the country through civil unrest. 

It must not be allowed to be repeated. 

The true test of a civilization is tolerance of differences and not intolerance of others’ right to worship.

People must engage in worship in spaces allotted for such worship without causing disturbance to others through use of sound 

amplifiers. 

The Right to Silence and the Right to Quiet enjoyment of property are well entrenched in our law that under no 

circumstances must these Fundamental Rights be allowed to be breached under the facade of practice of one’s religion.  

If these cardinal rules are broken then the authorities must step in and enforce the law as a matter of public duty. 

Senaka Weeraratna

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was never scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the latter’s visit to Sri Lanka, officials said on Friday.

There has been much speculation about PM @PresRajapaksa not meeting @SecPompeo.To set the record straight: #SriLanka PM was never scheduled to meet Mr. Pompeo. Given Sec. Pompeo’s short visit, meeting with one member of the senior #lka leadership was deemed sufficient,” Director General (International Affairs) of the Prime Minister’s Office Anuradha Herath tweeted.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Multiple scenarios have emerged in the hunt for patient zero linked to the Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda coronavirus clusters.

Head of the National Operations Centre for the Prevention of COVID-19 (NOCPC), Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva said that 80 percent of the investigations to find patient zero was now complete.

He said that the investigators are looking into at least six possible scenarios and once the probe is over the results will be made public. Of the six possibilities, one is the possibility of patient zero being linked to returnees from overseas.

However, Silva ruled out that possibility as the quarantine process of overseas returnees is handled by the military. The other possibilities are seafarers and pilots who are quarantined in hotels for short stopovers, flight crew members who arrive at Mattala or the Bandaranaike International Airport and are quarantined at hotels, ships docking at Sri Lankan ports or those linked to smuggling turmeric from India.

The other possibility linked to the Minuwangoda cluster is a Ukrainian national who had arrived from Turkey and tested positive while staying at a hotel in Seeduwa.

The Army Commander said that the hotel management had failed to follow the health guidelines at the time the Ukrainian national was quarantined at the hotel. There are reports that some hotel employees had gone home and later reported for work. The Army Commander said there is strong suspicion this could be the main source behind the Minuwangoda cluster, as no cases were detected in the country during the few months prior to this arrival.

Meanwhile, the Army Commander said that the main source behind the Peliyagoda cluster could be linked to fishermen purchasing fish from Indians and distributing it in Sri Lanka. He said that all the possibilities are being investigated and a clear conclusion will be reached. (Vyshnavy Velrajh)

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka Police today (30) received information regarding a wedding ceremony organized at a star-hotel in Kollupitiya police division, Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana says.

The police officers who visited the reception hall have observed that the ceremony was taking place in violation of quarantine regulations.

Nearly 35 guests had attended the wedding ceremony in question, DIG Rohana revealed.

A team of police officers subsequently launched an investigation into the incident, he said, adding that legal action will be sought against the hotel management, the organizers as well as the guests, under Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance.

The members of the public were informed yesterday and the day before that a wedding or an event of any sort which gathers a large number of persons should not take place within the Western Province, the police spokesperson recalled.

Meanwhile, the son of MP V. Radhakrishnan, Thivaharan Radhakrishnan, taking to his Facebook account, dismissed the social media claims on his involvement in the said wedding ceremony.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka Police have mounted a special operation to trace those who had stepped out of the Western Province yesterday disregarding the request made by the authorities.

Legal action will be taken against such persons under the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance, Police Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana warned.

He added that reports regarding persons who had avoided police checkpoints to leave the Western Province to lodge at tourist hotels in other provinces have been received.

We had informed those residing in the Western Province yesterday not to leave the limits of the province under any circumstances before quarantine curfew is imposed,” DIG Rohana said adding that details on people who disregarded the request will be collected and those who enter the Western Province after curfew is lifted on Monday morning will be strictly monitored.

Cases will be filed against them if it is revealed that they had left the province on Thursday or Friday, he stressed.

The police spokesperson further said movement of vehicles on expressways have been limited. He added that those who reside in southern areas and wish to use the Southern Expressway for any unavoidable reason are allowed to do so, however, only up to the Kurundugahahetekma interchange.

In the meantime, 24 persons were arrested for violating quarantine curfew within the past 24 hours. According to reports, 1,259 curfew violators have been taken into custody since quarantine curfew came into effect following the outbreak of Covid-19 cases in Minuwangoda. A total of 176 vehicles have also been seized.

By Garvin Karunaratne, former G.A. Matara

It was a great sight to see Paper roll out of Valachenai once again.

Thanks to our President and his team, including Minister Weerawamsa, officials of he Paper Mill and the Armed Forces that contributed  to Mother Lanka to bring back Valachenai to life.

Two years ago I had spent a few cosy nights at Bay Vista in Arugam Bay and on my way to Laya Waves, Pasikuda, I ventured out to see what was left of the Valachenai Paper Mill, one of my favourite haunts on my never ending circuits long ago. I motored to the gates that were shut, held firmly by trees and shrubs. I alighted from my car walked upto the gates, held the gate firmly with my hands and gazed at the buildings in ruins, with creepers and trees growing in them. I was sad, and gazed  for at least ten minutes.

That was my humble veneration. It was the Circuit Bungalow of this Mill that offered me a home perhaps a dozen times on my circuits to the East long ago. The purring engine of my Humber Hawk did that distance with easy with a single stop at a store inspection at Polonnaruwa.

Very recently we had the occasion to get lost in the jungles around  Tantirimale. We were motoring to Sandamal Eliya to the temple  to donate a wheel chair, to anyone who needs it,   in the ancient manner in inscriptions- agata anagata chatudiga sagasa”(for the Ven. Monks that came or will come from the four directions)_  and having known the roads once, turning here and there we got lost in the illuk jungles of Mahawillachchiya. I had for a moment forgotten that the roads I traveled on in the Sixties, when I commanded my troops in agrarian services in the march at paddy cultivation, succeeding in reaching self sufficiency by 1970, had been changed with new roads. We were lost and illuk was everywhere. It took long to find our way back  as the illuk could not speak back to show us the way. Finally when we reached Sandamal Eliya, very late, Ven Sangarakkita greeted us and provided dane- a mid day meal to the weary travellers, I inquired about the illuk that was threatening human existence- growing everywhere. He replied

Illuk is a nuisance. We set fire to it when it invades us. We know not what to do with it.”

On the way back after a cosy nights sleep at Miridiya, in Anuradhapura, it struck me that originally the Valachenai Paper Mill machinery was intended to make paper out of illuk. Illuk is a stronger product than straw and did provide both the long fibre and the short fibre that was required to make paper.  Valachenai mill proved great and devoured the illuk all around and the machinery grounded to a halt in a few years.  All was lost. But not so, due to the ingenuity of our engineers and scientists. They unearthed for the first time how straw can be used to make paper. It was then that I came on the scene, going behind the straw lorries for miles on  end,  enroute to the East. The straw provided only the short fibre and we had to import paper pulp to mix with the straw. Even then we produced paper till the LTTE took over. 

The irony of it all is that we, who unearthed how to make paper out of straw   do not use straw( till President Gotabhaya got it working recently) while India and China have marched miles ahead.

I have in my Papers suggested that a few small paper mills be imported from China or India, set them up in Padaviya, Tissa and Mahavillachchiya and turn our straw into paper. The cost of the paper machines and installing it can be recouped in one year from the savings on the obviated imports of paper. Actually we need not import any paper from the end of 2021, if only the Government will allow the import of three small scale mills costing less that a fifth of the cost of paper imports in any one year. If required I will be there to bell the cat.

Once long ago in 1982 in the Bangladesh Secretariat,  about the third day after the military coup, in the room of the Hon Minister for Labour and Manpower in the Military Government of General Ershard I was commanded; What can you do for Bangladesh?”. In short,   as an Advisor I was not wanted. I replied that the Government should approve my establishing a Youth Self Employment Programme to guide the 40,000 youths that were being trained every year to become self employed. The Secretary to the Treasury, the highest official in the land, objected. No one can establish self employment programmes. The ILO failed miserably in the past three years at Tangail and Bangladesh is not going to waste any money again. The ILO are the United Nations specialists and they did fail.” I argued with the Secretary to the Treasury for a full two hours, with the Minister listening. Finally the Minister stopped our duel and ordered me to design and establish a self employment programme.  The Secretary to the Treasury thought he could stop me by telling that he will provide no funds to which I replied that I needed no funds. I said I would find savings within approved budgets and vary the remits of officers. That was approved by the Minister. The rest is history. The self employment programme I designed and established is today the largest and premier employment creation programme the world has known, having guided over three million youths to be self employed.

I am quoting instances of my work to indicate that what I suggest is not out of the blue, but targets that can be achieved.

To get back to the Illuk at Tantirimale I wrote a paper and fanned it out. Prabath at The Island took up the cause and did publish a version: Illuk can reduce poverty and save foreign exchange” in the Island of  29/9/20. Lanka Web published it on 23/9/20- Mahavillachchiya Illuk to alleviate poverty and also to save foreign exchange”.

Making Paper is a clear area where we can be self sufficient in any one year.  The resurrection of Valachenai proves it to the hilt.

Once the Divisional Secretary at Kotmale set up a small industry to make paper out of waste Paper. It was a great success. It is sad to note that Sri Lanka is perhaps the only country in the entire world that wastes its waste paper and not make paper out of it.  Go about anywhere in Colombo and one can see people collecting waste paper and waste cardboard. We do not process it to paper. Instead   we export – some 30 tons a month to India and the ridiculous part of it is that we buy paper and board from India.  Truly we need to have our heads examined.

I remember that a few youths on my Youth Self Employment  programme in Bangladesh were collecting waste paper to make paper and they made incomes out of it.

To get back to the Illuk at Sandamal Eliya the Ven Sangarakkhita had spoken to the chief Venerable Chrandaratana the chief at Tantirimale Raja Maha Vihare, and he came on the phone to me. I have told him  that it is only President Gotabhaya or Prime Minister Mahinda that can call the shots.

Installing a small scale paper mill at Sandamal Eliya can be done in three months, working at the speed I did once in 1971 in establishing the Mechanized Boatyard at Matara.  Then my team did also unearth how to make crayons, within the small science lab at Rahula College Matara, and Sumanapala Dahanayake the Member of Parliament at Deniyaya in his capacity of the President of the Morawak Korale Coop Union established the hand made crayon factory working day and night in two weeks and that Coop Crayon Factory provided all the crayons we needed. Harry Guneratne the Import Controller cancelled the import of all crayons and Coop Crayon ruled the waves till President Jayawardena put a stop to the factory in 1978. That was the development” that the UNP brought to our country!

Today I can only write out my ideas and hope that my thoughts reach his Excellencies President Gotabhaya  and Prime Minister Mahinda and spur them to action.

 Garvin Karunaratne, Ph D Michigan State University

Former Government Agent, Matara

Author of How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternate Programmes of Success, Godages 2006 

How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development,Kindle/Godages, 2017 

29/10/2020

Courtesy Adaderana

Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena has assented the draft bill of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution today (29).

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane has put his signature validating the 20th Amendment to the Constitution which was passed in Parliament with 2/3 majority on October 22nd, the Parliament’s Department of Communication said. 

The Speaker signed the blueprint of the constitutional amendment at around 11.30 am this morning, the Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake said. 

The Deputy Secretary General and the Chief of Staff Neil Iddawala were also present during the event.

Thereby the 20th amendment to the constitution will be implemented in full from today (29). 

On October 22nd, the Parliament approved the second reading of the Bill with 156 in favor and 65 against. Subsequent to the Committee Stage, the third reading was passed with a majority of two-thirds after having taken a division (156 in favor and 65 against with 01 absent). 

The new constitutional amendment will now be considered as the law of the country with immediate effect, Chief of Staff and Deputy Secretary General of Parliament Neil Iddawela stated.

Hence, the existence of Constitutional Council has been abolished forthwith, he said adding that all provisions of the Act (Law) will now be in operation.

The draft bill has been signed at the office of the Speaker in the presence of Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General of Parliament.

The 20th Amendment was passed with a two-thirds majority in parliament on October 22, as 156 legislators voted in favour of the constitutional amendment while 65 MPs voted against.

SJB MPs Dayana Gamage, Ishaq Rahuman, M. Raheem, Ahamed Nasir, Mohomed Harris, Faisal Cassim, Aravind Kumar and M.S. Thowfeek had voted in favour of the draft bill, much to the surprise of many.

Former President and current SLPP Parliamentarian Maithripala Sirisena was absent during the vote.

Apart from the abolishment of Constitutional Council, several other major constitutional changes including the following will take place with the introduction of the new amendment.

Under the observation of Parliament, the President possesses the power to appoint the Chief Justice Justices to the Supreme Court, President of Court of Appeal and its judges, the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, the Auditor General and the Ombudsman.

The Article which says the President shall, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appoint from among Members of Parliament the ministers to be in charge of ministries will be repealed in the 20th Amendment, and the President will have the power to appoint the Prime Minister and the ministers at his discretion.

The President also possesses the power to hold a ministerial post under his purview.

The number of Election Commission members has been revised to 05 and the President is given the power to appoint members of the election body as well as its chairman.

The President has been empowered by the new constitutional amendment to dissolve the parliament after two-and-a-half years of its sitting, amending the previous Article which stated that the parliament cannot be dissolved until four-and-a-half years of its sitting.

The Constitutional Council will be abolished and instead the Parliamentary Council has been introduced.

Being a dual citizen will no longer serve as a disqualification to run for the Presidency or contest a parliamentary election as the barrier was removed by the newly-passed amendment.

The power to appoint the Heads of Departments is now vested with the Cabinet.

Through the 20th Amendment, the number of Supreme Court judge has been increased from 11 to 17 while the number of Court of Appeal justices was raised from 12 to 20.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Western Province Health Services Office has introduced a new application designed for the benefit of those who are in the medical sector and combatting COVID–19, the President’s Media Division said.

The new app will be instrumental in providing a wealth of vital data, including information on COVID infected, their close associates, quarantine, PCR testing services, observations, decision making and areas closest to the infected.

The app was introduced by a team led by Western Province Health Services Director Ms. Dhammika Jayalath on Thursday (29) during the meeting of the Task Force on COVID – 19 prevention chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, which meets at the Presidential Secretariat on a daily basis.

The President pointed out that the new application should be further improved so as to make relevant information on latest developments always available. 

There are 350 Medical Officers Health divisions throughout the country. COVID-19 infected persons have been identified in 28 out of these divisions. Members of the Task Force said that maximum possible measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the pathogen to other areas.

A total of 41,000 people, including first and second associates, have been quarantined to prevent the virus from spreading. President Rajapaksa emphasized the need of conducting random PCR tests covering every part of the country.

It is important to comprehensively understand the causes of the increase in COVID-19 infected on several occasions and prevent its recurrence. Random tests were carried out continuously within the limits of Colombo Municipal Council. However, unexpected COVID-19 clusters emerged near the Peliyagoda fish market and Minuwangoda.”

Support from all parties is essential to prevent the virus from spreading locally through supply chains. The President stated that it is the social responsibility of people from all walks of life to follow health guidelines to the maximum possible extent.

Random tests should be carried out at economic centers including Dambulla. The President highlighted the importance of paying constant attention to the possible occurrence of COVID-19 clusters.

Curfew has been imposed in the Western Province effective from midnight on Thursday (29).  The responsibility on the part of the health sector during the relevant period is enormous. Curfew violators should severely be dealt with. Curfew passes will not be issued by any Police Station. However, cases of extreme urgency will be exempted.

People should not gather in risk zones. President emphasised that no opportunity should be available to congregate people at events such as weddings and religious functions within the Western Province.

Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Secretary to the President P. B. Jayasundera, Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga and members of the Task Force on COVID-19 prevention were present during the discussion. 

-PMD

Courtesy Adaderana

Attorney General Dappula de Livera has given instructions to transfer the probes into the Brandix apparel factory from the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) and to a special investigating team from other units.

Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) C.D. Wickramaratne was directed to take the relevant measures in this regard.

The coordinating officer of the Attorney General, State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne said the directives came after it was revealed that certain CCD officers were tested positive for Covid-19.

On Tuesday (27), the Attorney General directed the Acting IGP to investigate the spread of COVID-19 from the Brandix apparel factory in Minuwangoda.

He also called for a progress report on the investigations within two weeks. 

The Minuwangoda facility became the new epicentre of a surprise resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the country after a female employee of the factory had tested positive for the virus earlier this month.

Courtesy Adaderana

There are reports that some who had organized excursions and pilgrimages were planning to leave the Western Province before the curfew is imposed tonight (29), stated Police Media Spokesperson DIG Ajith Rohana.

Speaking to media, he said that only a limited number of individuals will be allowed to enter or exit the boundaries of the Western Province.

He added: No persons who are not involved in essential services will have the opportunity to cross these boundaries. The same will apply for the expressway. In addition, roadblocks have been set up at the exits and entrances of the Western Province from this morning.

We have received some reports that people who had planned pilgrimages and trips are trying to leave the Province as the curfew is imposed at midnight today.

The meaning behind this curfew is not that COVID-19 will spread after 12 midnight. The aim is to prevent infected persons within Western Province leave the province. Some are allowed to leave within reason. We will look into it if people leave the province without a proper reason.”

We have a team of 4 led by US who are going around Asia trying to build alliances against China and signing defense pacts with each other, conducting naval exercises and even chiding China for being undemocratic, calling China a predator and a violator of human rights & the list of insults goes on. If all that is true, why do these nations have China as their largest trading partner? While China trades with them and calls it exercising mutual goals & objectives, the Quad nations while going to China to forge trade ties and deals have no hesitation in building blocks to go to virtual war with China. Why spend so much on defence pacts, weapons etc when all that they need to do is to simply stop trading with China. They must match rhetoric with action. It looks rather silly blowing hot & cold at China and then going to China for trade or being dependent on China for trade! The Quad should not be jealous of China’s rise.

China is one of the world’s fastest growing countries producing 9.3% of global GDP. China is also the largest exporter of goods. In 1978 China’s GDP equaled that of Zambia. It raised its GDP from $155 in 1978 to $7590 in 2014 and lifted 800million people out of poverty. China’s population equals the total population of North & South America, Australia, New Zealand & Western Europe.

If China could do it, so can other countries and China will not stop them.

China also has the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves of 3.21 trillion US Dollars.

China owns about $1.1 trillion in U.S. debt

Over 1million Chinese are working overseas. Over 1million Chinese students are studying overseas. Over 131million Chinese tourists travelled overseas in 2017 alone.

US-China

Over 41% of imports to US are by China with a 2.6% increase since 2019.

In short, US imports from China more than US exports to China.

Almost 80% of US imports from China are telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks

As for US exports to China – Aeroplanes and other aircraftaccount for 9%

The U.S. trade deficit with China in 2019 was $345.2 billion. The trade deficit exists because U.S. exports to China were only $106.4 billion while imports from China were $451.6 billion.

Americans of Chinese descent, including those with partial Chinese ancestry constitute 1.5% of the total U.S. population – 3.8million Chinese Americans.

Nearly 400,000 Chinese students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities in 2019 – more than one-third of the country’s international students.

In 2018, there were almost three million visitors from China to the U.S,

India-China

China is India’s second-largest trading partner after the US. And two, it accounts for nearly 12% of India’s imports across sectors such as chemicals, automotive components, consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals. 70% of India’s drug intermediary needs are fulfilled by China(Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance)

Chinese companies Alibaba and Tencent are pumping billions of dollars helping Indian startups such as Zomato, Paytm, Big Basket and Ola.

More than 90 Chinese investments have helped Indian startups, most of them made over the last five years.

China’s share in India’s total export and import are 9% and 18% respectively in 2019-20.
327 items form 3/4th of imports from China

India imported goods worth USD 62.3 billion from China during April – February FY20 out of a total import of $442billion (Dept of Commerce)

More than 14 per cent of India’s total imports come from China. India still imports 41 of 96 major items from China. Growth in imports in some cases has been over 200% and going up to 5,400%.

Chinese firms supply about 80 per cent of solar cells and modules to India.

The 4G network of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea is largely built by Huawei and ZTE

India’s imports of arms and ammunition parts and accessories from China were to the tune of Rs 3.24 lakh last year and this year till June, it has been Rs 52.3 lakh, an increase of over 1,500%.

China is also a major destination for India’s exports.

India earns over $15 billion by exporting its goods to China. During April-February FY20, India exported goods worth $15.5 billion to China, which was 5.3 per cent of India’s overall exports. Mineral fuel, mineral oil, and aquatic products are the main products that India exports to China.

Japan-China

Trade has increased from $1 billion to some $317 billion over the past 45 years and now represents more than 20% of Japan’s total trade

Japan exports to China was US$134.68 Billion during 2019,

Japan imports from China was US$169.22 Billion during 2019

70% to 80% covid masks are produced in China

Australia-China

China exports to Australia was US$47.55 Billion during 2018

Australia’s main imports from China are manufactured goods, which were worth more than AUD 21 billion in 2018

Australia imports from China was US$56.95 Billion during 2019

In 2018, annual two-way trade between China and Australia reached almost AUD 215 billion.

China is also the largest foreign buyer of Australian agriculture, forestry and fisheries products, with imports totalling around AUD 13.5 billion in 2017-18.

China is Australia’s largest source of international students with the services export market worth AUD 11.7 billion in 2018.

China is Australia’s second largest inbound tourist market (as measured by arrivals), and the largest when measured by tourism expenditure. More than 1.4 million Chinese visited Australia in the year ending September 2018 and were the largest source of tourism expenditures (AUD 10.9 billion) into the Australian economy.

Chinese investment in Asia and Oceania was $38.01 billion in 2017.  From 2005 to 2017, Chinese firms invested $324 billion into Europe, which constitutes 31.03 percent of China’s global outbound FDI. Over 43 percent ($238.2 billion) of these investments were concentrated in the UK, Switzerland, Russia, Italy, France, and Germany.

Europe and North America (excluding Mexico) has received $544.5 billion of China’s total global FDI outflows from 2005 to 2017.

According to Harvard Business Review Chinese state and its subsidiaries have lent about $1.5 trillion in direct loans and trade credits to more than 150 countries around the globe turning China into the world’s largest official creditor surpassing World Bank & IMF.

While all of the Quad nations are nicely trading with China, they demand other countries not only stop dealing with China but allow Quad greater stakes in their countries on the premise that they are nicer than China & they would protect their nations from China. While the Quad may want to drum war notes, none of these countries want to be at war with China. What the situation looks like, is a sheepish attempt to use China as an excuse to get a foothold into countries and build up their economies – China is just a convenient scapegoat!

Shenali D Waduge

How much is China more of a threat to India than US, will be a question India must continue to ask, as it rushes to sign agreements with US. Whether India will become ornamental allies like Montenegro & North Macedonia is yet to be seen. Who would have thought that India leaning Soviet Union and US aligned to Pakistan would end up allies in 2020? Let’s also not forget that both India’s Nehru and China’s Mao Zedong in 1954 shard anti-US sentiments. China has come far but can India match the strides China has taken? China has lifted 800million from poverty, has India matched this? Can India come near the economic reforms & entrepreneurship steps China has successfully taken? Can India measure up and equal itself with China? While China has been busy raising its nation to greater heights, India has been vocalizing only nationalist sentiment. In the case of China – action has begot results, for India inaction has left it no choice but to tag to US to show off its might.India has shown that its might cannot come on its own but requires prop ups. This is hardly a recipe for an aspiring super power demanding UN Security Council membership. India should certainly strive to be great just as China, but not by becoming a poodle – President Trump had no hesitation but to call India a filthy nation even while his Secretary of State landed for a crucial trip to seal pacts. President Trump didn’t even know India & China shared a border! But India has to now put up with all these side-ridicules. Can security cooperation with US alone bring India to the level of matching China? Eventually India will be signing military pacts allowing US to use its borders and shores against China, Indians & India will remain in stalemate situation while China will be rising and raising its portfolio.

So the question before India is – will all these pacts feed the poverty stricken Indians? Will military pacts solve all of India’s problems? How far has India progressed as against China’s progress? US will be more than willing to spur India to go to war – US can sell their arms and ammunition, but who will be sacrificing their lives – Indians. Is this what India wants? Has it occurred to India, the more US & India are waging war flags, China is game for every challenge and able to build its counter defenses quicker? Eventually, what would ensue for India would be a rising number of unhappy Indian states, more calamity within India and even quests to separate from the Centre. Shouldn’t India think that this could also be Plan B in America’s pivot to Asia? A weakened and fragmented India would allow US to have bigger stakes and call the shots & come closer to both its arch enemies – China & Russia. India by its rush to become an ally of the US would have weakened Asia, fragmented India & invited the enemies to Asia. As you can notice every Indian official seems to only be parroting the need to partner with US – in short exposing that India has no ability to stand on its own strength. If India thinks by tying with US it can goad over China and have China worried, India would be living in a dream world. In fact, the nations of South Asia are also worried about the manner India has made vulnerable all of South Asia. India is now a partner of US but not on India’s terms. India would be expected to simply carry out what US now orders. 

Is US striking these military pacts with India for the love of safeguarding India or its own interests.

According to Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University, more than 801,000 people have died as a direct result of fighting. Of those, more than 335,000 have been civilians. Another 21 million people have been displaced due to violence. Post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria have expanded to more than 80 countries.

Japan allocates only 1% of its GDP for the military, Australia allocates 1.8%, India allocates 2.4% & US allocates over 3.2% of its GDP for the military. 

U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan have cost American taxpayers $6.4 trillion since they began in 2001.

Does India want to be an ally to a new wave of destruction in Asia? 

Can the QUAD be Asia’s NATO?

Will Asian nations wish to militarily take on China and do they have the military means to do so? All of Asia’s economies are dependent on China. Will they take the risk and can US provide what China provides in same measure? 

Could it also not be possible that the Indo-Sino break-up was engineered to win India into become a main player in US-Quad operations? 

India is playing a bigger role than Japan or Australia. Yet, India depends on China to help revive a post-covid economy. US cannot provide what China can except the sets of military pacts US is ever ready to produce for signature. Will all these defense pacts with US mean India will depart from the non-aligned bloc and an independent foreign policy its predecessors have adopted?

Will future leaders of India and Japan follow the same sentiments & approach to US & against China that Modi & Shinzo Abe followed? Japan’s new leader has already displayed his attitude to China is not going to be as antagonistic as Abe’s. 

As for India, PM Modi is all out to be a US-ally & partner. But is this sentiment shared by the political parties of India. Who is Modi’s successor? 

After MODI – who? 

Anyone pausing to answer with name only reiterates what dire straits India has landed itself in which obviously has been well calculated by USA. A weak successor will only be a lottery for US goals in the Indo-Pacific war theatre and it will also result in a weak India, a weakened India & a fragmented India. All of India’s hopes for supremacy will be lost unless it asserts itself as a sovereign & independent nation – aligning with a war monger will only cost India its sovereignty & only time will show India its error. A country as big as India does not need to be tagging onto any country for supremacy. It should learn to stand on its own. Global respect would must be earned not demanded or by bullying. Two lessons both US & India have not learnt. 

Shenali D Waduge

By Raj Gonsalkorale

The test of the success of this title registration system (Bim Saviya) has to be judged by what has been achieved since the time the Act was introduced in 1998. Implementation began in 2007. Information available to date says so far only 0.72 million blocks have been registered in the Bim Saviya Register out of 12 Million blocks of land. This registration is less than 5% of the total number of blocks identified. It has taken 12 years to achieve this. How long will it take to complete it?

Much has been written and is being written about the Bim Saviya or the land registration system based on the Australian Torrens title law. While there may be issues relating to land titles including fraudulent titles, for all intents and purposes, Bim Saviya is more about land commercialism rather than about land productivity or land used or needed for dwelling purposes. Bim Saviya registration process has failed as it is an impractical one that requires officials to visit all land blocks, at least once if not more than that.

Sri Lankans may not be aware that changes to the land registration system in Sri Lanka was pushed by the World Bank as far back as the 1970s, and possibly even before. Thanks to legal luminaries like Hon Justice A.R.B. Amerasinghe, and erudite and upright politicians like Mr T B Ilangaratne, who as the subject cabinet minister vetoed the revision of land registration pushed by the World bank, these intentions never translated to realities. It is understood that a World bank delegation revisited this in 1994, and managed to get a Parliamentary Act passed in 1998 in a hurry and without debate. Thus Bim Saviya was born. Implementation had begun in 2007. It is difficult to come to terms with a notion that the World Bank and associated foreign agencies were interested in land registration in Sri Lanka for the sole benefit of Sri Lanka. These agencies, as their countries are wont to do, undertakes projects in other countries primarily to seek an advantage for themselves. The World Bank aids and abets powerful countries to establish a particular world order of their design by advocating projects that supports such a design.

Privatisation of State land and making available such privatised land and land that is already privately owned, for sale to foreign entities has been such a strategic design so that in turn, the political fortunes of a country could well and truly be tied to such a design.

This Act goes against the grain of Sri Lankan culture and its community understandings. It has no way of dealing with what is very traditionally Sri Lankan like anda goviya” or tenant farmer or sharecroppers, shared water resources and land paths. This is probably why Bim Saviya has failed.

There is a fundamental concept that should govern land and land management. Land should not be regarded as a tool for man to exploit and to trade for profit. Land is the composite of life itself. Diminish land and the consequence is that it diminishes life itself. Land is the whole, not part of the whole, human beings are only part of the whole along with other animal and plant life, and natural resources.

This was recognised by ancient civilisations, the indigenous people (or Veddah’s) of Sri Lanka, and by the indigenous people of Australia and in other countries including the Native Americans. They did not destroy land for profit, they nurtured it for survival. Those who invaded Australia destroyed much of this valuable land and introduced their Torrens titles replacing the concept of community guardianship of land. The very same Torrens titles are now attempting to colonise and destroy the traditions of Sri Lanka.

It is interesting to note the turning point in land titles in Australia. The following is quoted from the Sydney University web site (https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2017/06/02/five-things-you-should-know-about-the-mabo-decision.html#:~:text=On%203%20June%201992%2C%20the,and%20can%20still%20exist%20today).

Quote” On 3 June 1992, the High Court of Australia decided that terra nullius should not have been applied to Australia. This decision – known as the Mabo decision – recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have rights to the land – rights that existed before the British arrived and can still exist today.

The Mabo decision was a turning point for the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights, because it acknowledged their unique connection with the land. It also led to the Australian Parliament passing the Native Title Act in 1993.

1. Terra nullius nullified

Until 1992, land laws claimed that Australia was terra nullius or ‘land belonging to no one’. Effectively, these laws denied the fact that Indigenous peoples had prior occupation and connection to the land.

2. The man behind the fight

The Mabo decision was named after Torres Strait Islander Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo who led the fight to change land laws to recognise Indigenous connection and traditional ownership of land in Australia. He worked on the Mabo case for 10 years, but unfortunately passed away just months before he could learn the High Court’s decision on his legal battle.

3. Our alumni played a role

Three University of Sydney law alumni were members of the High Court of Australia which made this decision: Sir William Deane, AC, KBE, QC, Mary Gaudron, QC (first female Justice of the High Court of Australia) and Sir Anthony Mason, AC, KBE, QC, who was Chief Justice at the time.

4. Creation of the Native Title Act

The 1992 Mabo decision led to the Native Title Act (1993) which created a framework that recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have rights to, and interests in, certain land because of their traditional laws and customs. It allows access to land for living, traditional purposes, hunting or fishing and/or to teach laws and customs on the land.

5. Recognition of land ownership today

Today, native title has been recognised over more than one million square kilometres of Australian land and water (approximately 15% of Australian territorial land and waters). There are currently 629 registered Indigenous Land Use Agreements – a voluntary agreement between a native title group and others about the use of land and waters – in place -unquote

Sri Lankans should note that this historic decision paved the way for recognising what was termed a turning point for the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights, because it acknowledged their unique connection with the land”. Sri Lankans should also note that it is another Australian land title termed Torrens Title” that was introduced to Sri Lanka via Bim Saviya that did not recognise the traditional and unique connection with land”

Sri Lankans, barring a few concerned individuals, probably have not questioned this dichotomy, and how a land registration system that does not recognise what is truly Sri Lankan, had been introduced to replace what is Sri Lankan.

Any type of law or registration system relating to land should have regard to the history, culture and traditions of Sri Lanka, and not be based on a foreign system, particularly where such a system had managed to destroy the life giving vitality of land. Any system that does not recognise the concept of community guardianship rather community ownership or individual ownership, should not be entertained in Sri Lanka. It is community guardianship of land that must underpin land management in Sri Lanka

Given the above concept, the first and very basic point that should be considered by advocates of Bim Saviya is that land utilisation has no relationship or a dependency on land registration as envisaged by Bim Saviya. When it suits, many are quick to recount that Sri Lanka had been referred to as the granary of the East during the reign of King Parakramabahu I. There is no mention about land registration or titles or deeds during his time as having been pre requisites for the massive food production during his time.

Even in contemporary times, agricultural land utilisation will be greater if there is water, if there is a better distribution system for the produce, if there is value adding of agriculture products, and very fundamentally, if the grower gets a better price, consistently, for what is being grown. None of these have anything to do with land registration or titles or deeds.

The ethos of Bimsaviya to promote land utilisation is even against another fundamental principle that should be part of land management. The principle in land management should be to use less and produce more, not the other way around.

Agriculture research should underpin efficiency and effectiveness in land management where rather than opening land for more production, existing underperforming land holdings should be made more productive through agriculture research. The long goal of land reform should be to increase forest cover by allowing some land to become forests and by stopping deforestation.  Bimsaviya is likely to increase deforestation and further decrease the country’s forest cover.

It is also well to remember that the future of the rubber industry as well as the tea industry has question marks and large tracts that are currently planted with tea and rubber, especially rubber, may be available for other agriculture use. This has to be factored in any land management strategy as it would make additional land for specific agriculture products unnecessary. These lands no doubt are already registered under laws that existed before Bimsaviya and have titles and deeds.

So in the first instance Bim Saviya advocates should separate better land utilisation” through the Bim Saviya registration system as there is no relationship between the two.

It could address some of the other drawbacks mentioned as problems and examine whether Bim Saviya is able to address these problems. Judging by the record on title registration, clearly, Bim Saviya has not succeeded.

Bim Saviya is not an indigenous document as it is based on the Australian Torrens title law and introduced at the behest of the world bank, and supported with funds and manpower by USAID. Amongst the outcomes stated, the following is worth special attention Secured and clean title ownership is a critical factor in property sales. Bim Saviya will enhance the higher potential in terms of market value of property. and also Its provides solution to land disputes”. This statement appears to be real intent and motive of Bimsaviya as several other subsequent developments seem to indicate, with the latest being the MCC agreement.

As maximising utilisation of land has no link to a registration process as has been pointed out, the use of this erroneous outcome slogan has to be to provide opportunities for exploitation of land simply as a tradeable commodity. The creation of a land bank, selling land to foreign nationals, removal of restriction on extent of land ownership, seem to revoke the intents of land reform introduced since 1956 by SWRD Bandaranaike and Phillip Gunawardena and in the seventies by Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

Background

The Land settlement departments website states the following as the reasons why the Bim Saviya or the Registration of Title Act No.21 was introduced by the Parliament in 1998 (http://www.landsettledept.gov.lk).

• Land disputes
• Land cases
• Breach of peace among the communities
• Fraudulent land transactions
• Decrease of productivity in lands
• Non- receipt of income to the Government due to the absence of proper land management.

With a view to eliminating these unfavourable conditions and to use lands for the development purpose, a system of issuing title certificates for lands together with a plan showing correct boundaries of respective land was started with the enactment of the Registration of Title Act No.21 of 1998 by the Parliament. This Act confirms the state ownership and the private ownership of land and the possibility of identifying suitable lands for development of the country is another benefit gained for this Act” unquote.

The test of the success of this title registration system has to be judged by what has been achieved since the time the Act was introduced in 1998. Information available to date says so far only 0.72 million blocks have been registered in the Bim Saviya Register out of 12 Million blocks of land.

This registration is less than 5% of the total number of blocks identified. This cannot be termed a success by any measure. In fact, the following confirms it

a] World Bank’s ICR report — Sri Lanka’s titling project is a failure.http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/996161474635250504/pdf/000020051-20140617135844.pdf

 b] Performance Report of 2018 by the Government official administering the Australian law states that it will take over 100 years to complete. https://www.parliament.lk/uploads/documents/paperspresented/performance-report-land-title-settlement-department-2018.pdf 

The way forward

It is possible that laws and processes that existed for land management and registration prior to Bimsaviya may have needed some adjustments as they were enacted many years ago. However, any changes to the laws that were formulated recognising Sri Lankan historical and cultural practices, should be changed within the context of such practices. Land management laws based on an alien culture such as the Torrens title system, is not suited for Sri Lanka. Besides the unsuitability, the complexities associated in applying the system in Sri Lanka has been evident judging from reports

Given the failure of the Bim Saviya program, questions naturally arise as to why it is being promoted by foreign agencies (World Bank, USAID) and proposed agreements (MCC) without any consultations with Sri Lankan legal experts and reports. It is ironic that the MCC agreement should include the management of the eRegister and as per Section 3.9 of the agreement, all intellectual property rights of the e registry to be given to MCC when Sri Lankan expert reports state that it is nearly complete and it can be managed locally without difficulty. A senior lawyer from the Sri Lanka Study Circle has noted the following  

1] Samarasekera Committee Report.  A committee appointed by President Mahinda Rajapakse. They recommend to do away with compulsory conversion to a foreign law. It concludes that it is an impossible task and totally unworkable. The Law Reform Commission has also consistently opposed compulsory implementation of the foreign law.   2]  The amendments to the colonial statutes by a committee appointed by the Ministry of Justice to prevent fraud [when Mr Milinda Morogoda was the Minster] 3] Amendments to the Bim Saviya Act 21   1998 by the Bar Association 4] Reports from the Banks of Sri Lanka by legal officers who are experts in land ownership laws.

It is understood that the eRegister is almost ready to be operated with the law of the country. It is time to seize the opportunity to take advantage of the situation to research and revise the existing deed registration system to govern the e register with the Common law of the country.The laws of this country have to be revised only to prevent land fraud; that is to include the owner identification and verification laws to the notarial process and the registry and this will not require foreign funding.

It is also understood that Sri Lanka does not have a proper building to house the land registry and to securely safe guard title documents. It is a priority to have such a building and equip it with the necessary storage conditions and other equipment to manage the eRegistration process. It should be noted that the law which introduced electronics to Sri Lanka, namely the Electronic Transaction Act 19 of 2006 Section 23 specifically required paper needs for the eRegister. Bim Saviya in fact violates this law.

Sri Lanka also has ample expertise to manage the eRegistration process and an institution like the Moratuwa University, the hub of Sri Lanka’s IT expertise, could be partnered with to build the IT infrastructure, implement the eRegister and build capacity amongst the land registry staff to manage this process. Funding for such a project could easily be sought from an institution like the Asian Development Bank.

The failure of Bim Saviya as outlined and yet, the eagerness of interests via the MCC agreement to manage the eRegister raises valid questions about the intent of these projects. These have been articulated in many writings and to quote a few, the following

Articles written by Kamanthi Wickremasinghe (MCC and the Land Project: A Gordian Knot in the making –http://www.dailymirror.lk/news-features/MCC-and-the-Land-Project-A-Gordian-Knot-in-the-making/131-183058, Shenali Waduge (Sri Lanka’s Land Sovereignty being usurped by MCC & Bim Saviya- https://www.sinhalanet.net/sri-lankas-land-sovereignty-being-usurped-by-mcc-bim-saviya, and One law for all Bim Saviya E-Register: More problems than solutions by a Senior Lawyer from the Sri Lanka Study Circle (http://www.dailymirror.lk/news-features/One-law-for-all-Bim-Saviya-E-Register-More-problems-than-solutions/131-196730).

A foreign interest in what has been found to be ineffective, and in the case of the eRegister, an interest in managing the deed registration process for 5 years, with full intellectual rights, despite Sri Lanka’s ability to manage it, have all cast concerns over the real intent of these projects, in particular the MCC agreement.

A pre requisite in the MCC agreement is reportedly the passage of the the Land Special Provisions Act, which provides for absolute land grants to be included in the title registration system, aka Bimsaviya. The MCC Annex 1—31[b] is conditional that the eRegister should be governed by this law which is familiar to them and not any historical Sri Lankan law that Sri Lankans are familiar with. A legitimate question that needs to be asked is why the MCC Agreement is insistent on introducing Bim Saviya to operate the eRegister.

Whenever land registration crops up, the MCC agreement seems to be lurking behind it. It is understood that an explicit or implicit requirement of the agreement is the full implementation of the Australian law based Torrens title registration process. An offer to manage the land project component of the agreement for 5 years with a budget of USD 67 million has been included and it is conditional on registration via Bim Saviya which is based on the Torrens titles. If only less than 1% of land plots have been registered in 12 years, one does not have to be an Einstein to work out how many allotments would be registered in 20 years. One could suspect that MCC would be there for the long term as it will take decades for the land blocks to be registered.

The Government appointed a new official called Commissioner of Title. The department under him has several officials responsible to determine   ownership of each block by visiting homes of 12 million people and compulsorily taking over all the deeds [ Judicial function handed over to the administration]. See Commissioners report of 2018 – impossible task he says as the law does not  fit in to the legal frame work of this country  https://www.parliament.lk/uploads/documents/paperspresented/performance-report-land-title-settlement-department-2018.pdf

Bim Saviya is an inefficient, ineffective process which is inconsistent with the traditional customs and practices in Sri Lanka. It is an impractical registration process which would take decades if not more to resolve land registrations, if indeed a resolution is possible. It is strongly suggested that the government considers the following courses of action

1. Rescind the Act and appoint a committee of legal experts to revise laws that existed prior to 1998 to address any shortcomings and formulate a land registration Act that is consistent with Sri Lankan customs, practices and conventions.
2. While this is being done, an extraordinary gazette notification to be issued by His Excellency the President to identify the key requirements for the eRegistration process. Among other legal and administrative requirements, evidence of ownership and verification of identity, along with a provision for a land holder or even the land registry to challenge a deed in a court of law if fraud is suspected, could be included in such a gazette notification.
3. Take immediate steps to house land titles in a safe and secure building and recruit adequate number of competent staff who have basic computer skills.
4. Enter into a partnership with the Moratuwa University to manage the eRegistration process for 3 years. During this period, the capacity of registration staff to manage the eRegistration system should be built so that they will manage it after the 3-year period. Utilisation of local resources will be consistent with His Excellency’s directive pertaining to maximising local resource input into Sri Lankan commercial activities.
5. Consider the involvement of any foreign entity, or a local arm of such an entity, unnecessary for the land registration process.

Bim Saviya serves no purpose for Sri Lanka as has been more than amply demonstrated by legal, banking and land management experts. It has no benefit for Sri Lanka. It is time Sri Lanka cut its losses and moved on to something that is beneficial, something that is Sri Lankan and something that will serve its interests, and not any foreign interests. Digitalising records and completing the eRegister is a priority and this certainly should not take decades to complete and Sri Lanka has enough local expertise to do this.

President Rajapaksa should consider this important activity as a priority amongst objectives contained in his Presidential Manifesto Vistas of Prosperity & Splendor”, with the use of local resources and expertise to build the country’s capacity to be as self-sufficient as possible in all spheres of economic activity. The eRegistration process falls clearly within the ambit of use of local resources to implement it. In regard to land utilisation, and in relation to agriculture, the principle of maximising utilisation with less rather than more, should underpin the government’s policy on land management. Agriculture research, crop diversification, distribution improvements, insurance schemes to safeguard cultivators in times of droughts, floods, value adding initiatives that will yield better returns for growers are some of the activities that can maximise land utilisation.

In respect of use of State land for other commercial or industrial purposes, it is difficult to understand how Bim Saviya or what is envisaged under the MCC Agreement could produce better utilisation results, unless the real intention of the MCC project is to use the land banks in the eRegister, registered under Bim Saviya with Torrens titles, to privatise State land and sell them to locals and foreigners.

by Senior Lawyer – Sri  Lanka Study Circle 

[I refer to the article  appearing in the  Daily FT on the 22^nd  titled ‘ History repeating – Are we going to lose MCC or not by  an international development expert– ]  

It is understandable if   a  non-lawyer does not  understand the   Legal Packages  included  in the MCC   to change the land policy of the country and to change    the  land law of the country to the Australian law to suit  the expansion  of large-scale industrial farming complex    

 The Australian law is known as the  Torrens law or Title registration.  The law which took away the rights of the indigenous people of Australia  in 1858,  where farming and grazing lands were  often used and managed communally under customary laws.   Sri Lanka has  given a Sinhala  name Bim Saviya to the law, curiously repeated in the  MCC. This is a  misnomer as this  law  makes lands untenable for owners, specially farmers and  accessible for sale and mortgage with the elimination of traditional land rights  that had existed in the country for 100 years.

Sri Lankan Lawyers Ignored at Inception.

The MCC was created after the Government coordinated with   the   MCC of  USA  in partnership with    the Harvard  University’s Centre  for Information International Development to introduce a document known as the   Sri Lanka Constraints Analysis Report.  

During the compact development process   efforts were made by the Government to keep the US  Embassy , USAID, and other US Government  Actors updated on the land interventions under consideration according to the MCC  Annex 1—33.   It is unpardonable that  efforts were  not made to keep the   BRILLIANT LAND LAWYERS and the SRI LANKAN  ACTORS updated on the land intervention.  They researched and published the following that   provided  solutions for the  functioning of an efficient  land market —-1] Amendments to the Bim Saviya Act 21   1998 by the  Bar Association  2] Samarasekera Committee Report .  A committee appointed by President Mahinda Rajapakse.  They   concluded  that  it  is an   impossible task to forcibly register land under Bim Saviya and this  was totally unworkable. The Law Reform Commission has also consistently opposed compulsory implementation of the foreign law.      3]  The amendments to the colonial statutes   by a committee appointed by the Ministry of Justice to prevent fraud [when Mr Milinda  Morogoda was the Minster]    4] Reports from the Banks of Sri Lanka  by legal officers who are experts in land ownership laws. 

The three legal packages included in the MCC Land Project

                                       1^st Legal package .    MCC directs  to   implement Bim Saviya the Australian law, which the government failed to implement for the past 20 years. MCC has   offered to manage it for 5 years  according to Annex 1 –page 30 and Annex 1—page 31.

    MCC of  USA and the Harvard  University’s Centre  for Information International Development;  were they not aware; that the    implementation of Bim Saviya  attempted by the Government failed for 20 years, because  they could not  register the ownership rights of the poor traditional farmers.   Is it correct to exclude from the e register  rights of owners  essential for paddy cultivation and small farming such as,   Ande cultivation rights  of paddy lands ,Co-ownership  rights , right of Pre-emption   and Rights to waterways.   The Bim Saviya law   even eliminates all the inheritance laws  of the Sinhalese, Tamils and the Muslims according to the   Samarasekera Committee report.

                                       Failure of Bim Saviya  was also due to  the period required  to implement  Bim Saviya which was estimated to be  over  100 years,  according to the  Performance Report of 2018 issued by the  government.  ttps://www.parliament.lk/uploads/documents/paperspresented/performance-report-land-title-settlement-department-2018.pd.

                                        Although the government had consented to the MCC,  according to the World Bank’s ICR report,  Sri Lanka’s titling project Bim Saviya   was  a failure as the laws of the country does not fit into the legal framework of Australia that does not recognise rights of our local farmers.

.http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/996161474635250504/pdf/000020051-20140617135844.pdf

                                        2^nd legal packge  Includes a strict order,  that is  government lands must be   privatised and be governed by the Title registration law another name for Bim Saviya  before signing the MCC .  This is for the poor to obtain bank loans.  All who support the MCC  should refer the  books authored by Hon Justice A.R.B Amerasinghe and Justice Weeramanthry  to realise the untruth In Sri Lanka, it  is common knowledge that the banks are not interested in ‘ownership deeds’, Banks are  interested in the loan applicants’   financial statements,   to determine whether they are credit worthy. The banks  grant loans for lease hold interest of government land. 

                                      3^rd legal package  [Section 3—9   and Annex 1—29]   MCC to attend to the preparation of the e register under the law of Bim Saviya .  This is  presently not necessary as the e-register (e-LR) is almost  completed and  can be  operated without changing to a foreign law,  according to the Electronic Transaction Act 19 of 2006  based on the standards established by United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) .      which specifies that deeds are required [ Bim Saviya  takes away deeds ]

Gift 67 Million Cost Millions More  

The Bim Saviya introduces a massive economic burden to   the   Government?  The   government has to set up an ‘Assurance Fund’  to provide monetary compensation to land owners in lieu of judicial remedies as the  law repeals  the rights of land  owners to access court. Can the funding agencies   compel nations to   reduce their  judicial authority ?   

The E register is almost complete.   Do we need funding   from the MCC , to introduce a law that will be an economic burden to the government, to introduce a foreign law which takes a period of 100 years to be implemented or have only 5 million beneficiaries as given in the MCC for a period of 20 years[ MCC Annex 1—20] . I am sure the Hon President and the Hon Prime Minster  will look into this matter. Present parliamentarians   and  Sri Lankans may not be aware that changes  to our  land law was pushed by the World Bank as far back from  1960s.  However,  thanks to  our  legal luminaries like Hon Justice A.R.B. Amerasinghe and erudite and honest politicians like Mr T B Ilangaratne , the President of the Law society, Governor of the Central Bank Mr William Tenekoon, these intentions never translated to realities. They provided local solutions for  a  functioning land  market  where the poor could get loans from banks. Their   esteem  collaboration to prevent the Australian law is given  in Hon Justice  Amerasinghe’s book– Title Insurance.   

(srilankastudycircle@yahoo.comcom)