Courtesy Adaderana

Former State Minister of Defence, Deputy UNP Leader Ruwan Wijewardene testified before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing the Easter Sunday terror attacks on Thursday (24).

Responding to a question raised by the panel, he said the former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe often times left during the National Security Council meetings.

He also revealed that former President Maithripala Sirisena had instructed the commanders of the Tri-forces not to meet with the former Prime Minister if they are summoned in his absence.

Courtesy Hiru News

12 more tested positive for Covid-19, arrivals from the UAE, Qatar, a seaman from Albenia, increasing total infected in Sri Lanka to 3,345

Courtesy Hiru News

The Minister of Justice Ali Sabri stated in Parliament today that the present government will not make calls and exert pressure on the judiciary like the previous government.

He was responding to a question raised by Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Chaminda Wijesiri regarding the case of Dr. Safi Sahabdeen who worked at the Kurunegala Hospital.

Courtesy Hiru News

The Sinhale National Organization states that a committee should be appointed to ensure justice to all parties affected by the judgments that were created by fabricating false evidence during the period of good governance.

It’s General Secretary Ven. Madille Pannaloka Thero stated this at a press conference held in Colombo today.

19A inclusion of Dual Citizenship was specifically targeted at preventing Gotabaya Rajapakse from contesting Presidential Elections and requiring to revoke citizenship which created a thorny situation with US declaring him and Shavendra Silva as war criminals. Geetha Kumarasinghe had to forfeit her Parliamentary seat as she was honest enough to declare she was a dual citizen while Gotabaya Rajapakse revoked his dual citizenship in order to contest elections. That gesture won him the Presidency with an overwhelming majority. With 19A we came to accept the need to have law makers declare allegiance and loyalty to one nation – the nation they desired to represent in Parliament as People’s nominees. As such, the majority of the people accept the 19A provision for a MP to not be a dual citizen when contesting Parliamentary elections. Nevertheless, that Basil Rajapakse is a dual citizen and does not wish to forfeit his dual citizenship is part reason for many to argue in favor of 20A allowing dual citizenship holders to contest. We should not take legislative clauses considering the needs or wishes of one person because we are neglecting to look at the bigger dangers of 20A continuing to allow dual citizens to contest elections. Present constitutional amendments must not ignore the global dynamics and geopolitical sensitivities lurking in Asia & the risks & threats to Sri Lanka. Therefore, constitutional amendments must seek to solidify and strengthen Sri Lanka’s sovereignty not weaken it.

We all know that the LTTE thrived as a result of the support it received from the West.

We all know that all of the LTTE fronts are today operating from the West

We also know that even throughout LTTE terror reign the West did their utmost to ensure LTTE terror was treated as a cancer – providing temporary cures like negotiations, peace talks and ceasefires but no permanent solution.

We also know that the LTTE terror rule was used as a camouflage buying time for West and its allies to set up Plan B of their imperial expansion for Asia.

This was how 2009 elimination of LTTE coincided with US ‘rechartering’ their strategy for Asia.

This was how US used bogus arguments to draft UNHRC Resolutions against Sri Lanka

This was how US got UN to pressure Sri Lanka to succumbing to internal domestic changes that were all advantageous to them.

This was how US and allies began weakening Sri Lanka.

All this while, the LTTE Diaspora were given wings to magnify their bogus stories and create an international anti-Sri Lankan image and subject the National Army to ridicule as war criminals.

Look at the many international players that are linked to LTTE Diaspora today retained by LTTE Fronts with the strength of the LTTE kitty. That LTTE kitty has enabled them to tap top lawyers, authors, UN officials, human rights activists, religious organizations & leaders and even foreign politicians. When foreign parliaments are given to hold LTTE events what more is there to say!

All of these LTTE Diaspora leaders were nowhere to be seen when Prabakaran was alive. Many dead scared of the LTTE leader and many hiding in the background and being groomed to take over the international role once LTTE leader was eliminated. This obviously has to have foreign nod of approval and involvement. This is why we see LTTE Diaspora do as they like and what they like and Canadian, US, UK, European or other Governments do nothing about them or against them. Only India realizing that there is a threat to India quickly takes action against LTTE trying to raise their heads in India. One person who is a frequent visitor to Indian jail is Vaiko.

If 20A allows dual citizens to contest it also means all of the LTTE Diaspora will be arriving to contest elections in Sri Lanka.They will also be manipulating the investment opportunities being opened up and manipulate the land privatization provisions in MCC and in all probability will be the fronts of US & allies to buy up Sri Lanka and create the Eelam that they had been espousing with the gun for 30 years and failed.

It is in the West’s gameplan to continue to hold the hand of the LTTE Diaspora and enter Sri Lanka & Tamil Nadu where the Greater Eelam will mean the breaking up of India in time to come.

Let’s also keep in mind that Tamils from Tamil Nadu were the favorites of colonial British. They were transported as indentured labor to all corners of the world – Caribbean, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore etc. This bond is continuing still. LTTE’s international headquarters was in London. The office was opened by Bishop Rayappu Joseph. The Church & Christian/Catholic NGOs played a major role in LTTE terror. The post-LTTE in both Sri Lanka & South India are dens of evangelical conversions today. These are all with a bigger plan in mind and aspire to use new converts as the West’s foot soldiers. India, we assume must be worried though shying from taking action lest that should deter its friendship with the West. But that friendship is shortlived and India will soon find out a fragmented India sans super power status will end up with bits and pieces of India playing vassal to the West’s agenda. No more will India be able to dictate terms to anyone.

What is the new role of the LTTE Diaspora?Well if foreigners are banned from acquiring land, the LTTE Diaspora dual citizens will step in as alternative. The LTTE illegal kitty (money laundering, credit card scams, human smuggling, hawala system etc) is more than enough to acquire North and East. The bravado’s shown by a rejuvenated Wigneswaran signals a new gusto in plans and new modus operandi tasked to them. This will soon gather momentum in all of the countries that LTTE Diaspora exerts its pressure in a marriage of convenience with the foreign politicians and officials of international organizations.

Sri Lanka is only facilitating their Eelam and there onwards Greater Eelam with the 20A & Dual Citizenship.The Basil-factor is not as important to take cognizance of than the possibility of ACSA (now signed) – MCC (rolled out incrementally) – QUAD partnerships throttling even the signatories – militarization of Asia & the Indo-Pacific Ocean – Port development aligned to this bigger objective – diplomatic and military strategic partnerships connecting the dots to result in a weakened India and a vulnerable Sri Lanka, all perfect ingredients for the vultures to descend & devour.

Nationalists in both India & Sri Lanka must be concerned.

Mahinda Rajapakse, the savior of Sri Lanka must realize the impending dangers. Gotabaya Rajapakse must also read the writings on the wall. The country has been kept diverted debating on dual citizenship & 20a but only from the spectrum of Basil Rajapakse, this has completely ignored the serious situation that will result if 20A + Dual Citizenship will mean the LTTE Diaspora descend, enter Parliament, purchase land and declare Eelam in Sri Lanka & expand that to Greater Eelam with the patronage & help of West. India’s partnership in Quad & Indo-Pacific & permanent seat in the Security Council will end up a red herring that India foolishly fell for. South Asia will come under Western hegemony & Sri Lanka a base.

Shenali D Waduge

Chanaka Bandarage

Impressions

Edward Henry Pedris is one of Sri Lanka’s least recognized National Heroes.  He was killed by the British more than 105 years ago in Welikada Prison, on the charge of Treason.

True a statue of him was unveiled by the Prime Minister Premadasa in 1987, and a playground and a stadium were named after him on that same day; very little national level commemoration of this Great hero takes place in the country. There is scant discourse about his heroism among the populous and his brave life story has been taken away from school history books.

Is this because he was never a politician and did his struggles against the British on his own, solitarily? Also, that the Pedris family has not sought publicity about their dead member?

Pedris was charged with Treason, Shop breaking, Attempted murder and Wounding with intent to Murder.

An incident happened on 1 June 1915, near Pedris’ shop in Main Street, Pettah, where a Muslim gang had advanced towards him to attack him or set fire to his shop.  During this time the Sinhala – Muslim riots had erupted in many parts of the country. Pedris had come out of the shop with a gun and had fired six shots into the crowd. No Muslims were killed or injured except the Police Constable Senevirathne who was injured in the head.

There had been absolutely no other involvement of Pedris in the riots though allegations were made in the trial that he had instigated a mob to travel from Peliyagoda to Colombo to attack Muslims.  Pedris in his defence stated that he as a Commissioned Officer settled certain disputes between the Sinhalese and the Muslims.

The riots had been very brutal with over 100 Muslim deaths mainly in Gampola, Kandy and Mathale. The Police and the military had shot dead over 100 Sinhalese who were accused of killing Muslims and looting Muslim shops.

To Pedris’ utter misfortunate during this time he and his family had come to the adverse attention of the British authorities. Pedris had left an arrogant lifestyle and the British and their Sinhalese cohorts fiercely despised him.

Pedris was a young man born into an elite Sinhala Buddhist family.  His father, Duenuge Disan Pedris, a native of Galle was a very wealthy businessman, who among other business ventures had shops in Pettah. Pedris was educated at Royal and St Thomas’ colleges. He represented both Royal and St Thomas’ at cricket.  He must be the only person to have represented both schools in Royal- Thomian cricket matches. 

Young Pedris was an excellent marksman and he was enlisted as a commissioned officer of the Colombo Town Guard. At the time of the riots he held the rank of Captain.  Prior to his death he was de-commissioned by the British rule in Sri Lanka.

Pedris excelled in horse riding too. He had a wide knowledge about horses. A Russian Prince from the Tsar dynasty  had presented him a horse named Rally”.  Pedris rode this horse with the composure of a Prince, and the British and their Sinhalese cohorts hated this.

There had been several clashes of young Pedris with the British hierarchy. In one incident, at a Cinema Hall a white man had demanded that Pedris gave him his seat.  Pedris had refused and belittled the British saying that he had paid for his seat.

It is fair to infer that news about young Pedris had reached Governor Sir Robert Chalmers. 

Chalmers, a racist, was an introvert and a recluse.  He was ruthless in eliminating enemies.  Under his command, Brigadier Malcolm went on a killing spree of Sinhalese in areas where the riots took place – notably in Colombo and the upcountry. 

Chalmers was basically scared that the Sinhalese would use the riot to overthrow the colonial administration. During this time the World War 1 was in full swing. The British suspected that there were prominent Sinhalese businessmen in Colombo who had close trade links with Germans. It is believed Pedris family was one.  Over the riot, two of Pedris’ cousins – Albert and Edwin Wijesekera, who were leading businessmen, were taken into custody and were imprisoned in

Jaffna. 

When the riot occurred, the German cruise ship  ‘Emden’ had berthed in Colombo and Colombo businessmen had conducted trading  with it.

It is believed that Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, the Maha Mudaliyar, father of SWRD Bandaranaike, was not in good terms with the Pedris family and he may have had a part in creating the ill feeling between the British administration and Pedris family.  Except hearsay, there is no concrete evidence to prove this. Bandaranaike was the Chief Advisor and Chief  Native Interpreter to the Governor.  Basically, he held the highest native position under the British administration. Prior to him his father and grandfather had also held the same or similar positions for the British administration.

Governor Chalmers and the Inspector General of Police, Herbert Layard Dowbiggin, were adamant that Henry Pedris must die.  They wanted to use Pedris to teach other national leaders a lesson. Pedris was seen as an easy, soft target.

A military court, comprised of three military judges was convened and Pedris was tried on 1 July 1915; a death sentence was passed on him on the same day.  He did not have appeal rights.  A request for clemency was made to King George V by the family and several others but that was rejected.

On 7 July 2015 Pedris was killed by a firing squad. 

Even immediately prior to his death, Pedris showed bravery.   

After he was sentenced to death, he demanded that he should be shot by a Punjabi firing squad, and not by a white British firing squad.  He stated that Punjabi soldiers were Non-Christian and Asian. His request was granted.  A Punjabi firing squad was rushed to Sri Lanka.

When blindfold was afforded to him, Pedris rejected it.  He faced death without any fear.  Until he was twice shot to death, he held his head high.

A remarkable incident took place at the time of the execution. The Additional District Judge of  Colombo, Arthur Charles Allnut, a graduate of the Oxford University and a member of the Ceylon Civil Service had ordered that the 86 Sinhala Buddhist nationalists who were detained in Welikada Prison at that time (over the Sinhala/Muslim riots) should witness the shooting of Pedris.  Thus they were lined up in the verandah outside of the  L-Hall of Welikada Prison, and were compelled to watch Henry Pedris being shot to death.  Among the inmates were DS Senanayake, DR Wijewardane, FR Senanayake, Edwin Wijeyeratne, DB Jayathilaka, Dr Cassius Pereira, Dr WA De Silva, ET De Silva, FR Dias Bandaranaike, Dr CA Hewavitharana, H Amarasuriya, AH Molamure and AE Goonesinghe.

Over the Sinhala/Muslim Riots, the British had also detained Anagarika Dharmapala the Great, in a different location (he had nothing to do with the riots; when the riots happened he was in India).  Until early 1920s, Anagarika Dharmapala the Great was held under house arrest in Calcutta.  He was the longest held political prisoner over the riots. The objective was to teach him a lesson so that he will curtail his anti-imperialist struggle/rhetoric and that he will be psychologically drowned (Anagarika Dharmapala the Great was Sri Lana’s Mahatma Gandhi).   The British were partly successful in achieving both these objectives. The writer has elaborated the altercation that Anagarika Dharmapala the Great had with Governor Chalmers in a previous article (see ‘Why Anagarika Dharmapala is important to India, particularly to the Indian Buddhist? – Chanaka Bandarage, ‘New Buddhist’, India July 2015 edition, pp 23 -28; reproduced in Lankaweb, July 29, 2015)

The cream of the country’s nationalist leaders were arrested. This is evidence that the British were using the Sinhala – Muslim riot as a pretext to punish them.  Furthermore, the immense fear that the British had that attempts may be made during that time to overthrow their regime.

Even a person with no legal knowledge would realise that Pedris had done nothing to commit Treason.  Basically, he had done no offence to deserve such a harsh punishment – the death sentence.

Pedris was buried in Borella Kanaththa. The father, who owned several burial plots in Borella Cemetery managed to bury him one of those plots.  The British was unaware of this. Later, the family built a large commemoration plaque in his memory. It exists to this day.

Pedris’ father died as an extremely dejected man. His main hope was that his son would take over his vast business empire one day.  That dream was shattered.  He lost his two sons-in laws as they were also incarcerated in Welikada and Jaffna jails. The parents out of their own money built Isipathanarama Viharaya in Colombo 5 and offered it to Maha Sangha. They did many other meritorious  constructions in memory of young Pedris including the Pilgrims Rest in Polonnaruwa. The mother, Mallino,  died as a Dasa Sil Upasikawa. In 1920 she gifted valuable land to Mallikarama Temple in Dematagoda.

Young Pedris was only 27 when he was mercilessly killed by the British.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

JVP was given a new lease of life when the UNP came to power in 1977. Under the previous SLFP government JVPers were brought before the Criminal Justice Commission, (CJC) a special tribunal set up through a special Act of Parliament. JVPers were charged with waging war against the lawfully elected government, breaking the peace, loss of human life, possession of arms and explosives.

The CJC had been permitted to accept evidence that would otherwise have been inadmissible under the Evidence Ordinance. The UNP government of 1977 declared that this was a violation of justice. The UNP government repealed the Criminal Justice Commission Act and all the JVP convicts including Rohana Wijeweera, became free in 1978.

Once they were freed, JVP started its usual activities, such as meetings. The police challenged the JVP at every possible turn.  When the police intervened at the Tissamaharama JVP mass rally in 1978 JVP complained to JR and Premadasa.  

JVP was allowed to register as a political party in 1981. The first elections the JVP contested were DDC elections.  JVP contested four seats in the District Development Councils election in 1981, and won two.  The seats were Colombo, Gampaha, Galle. I was unable to find out what the fourth was  , probably Matara. JVP participated in the District Development Council (DDC) elections of 1982 too.

JVP then started to  regularly contest the two major national elections, General and Presidential. JVP made sure that it had a presence, however small, in each election. Rohana Wijeweera contested the Presidential Elections in 1982 and obtained 4.16% of the votes cast.   He received more votes than Colvin R. de Silva. 

The next significant election, for the JVP, was the General election of 2000. The General election of 2000 clearly showed how well the JVP had recovered, when it won 10 seats in the parliament, said Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, as opposed to the one seat it secured at the 1994 election, and recorded 6 per cent out of the total valid votes,.

JVP further broadened its voter base at the following election in 2001, with 16 seats and 9.10 per cent of the vote. There was every sign at this juncture of JVP emerging as a serious threat to the existing hegemonic two-party system, especially with its growing ability to attract the support of the semi-urban middle classes, said Dewasiri.

But at the 2015 general election JVP only got 4.87 % and six seats.  One reason was the rush to Hansaya. The Joint Opposition openly stated that the JVP was there to support the Yahapalana government. The Joint Opposition called them ‘Rathu Ali’. Verité Research however had ranked four of the six JVP MPs among the top five MPs for their work ethic.

The General  elections of 2010 and 2015 showed a link between JVP and UNP. It would be pertinent to mention that the UNP-led coalition, that backed former Army Commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka and Maitripala Sirisena at 2010 and 2015 presidential elections, respectively, included the JVP, said  Old Soldier

JVP  cuddled up to the UNP. the UNP and JVP are now almost conjoined. JVP often provides the   crucial support to decide between victory and defeat and survival for the UNP government in parliament,   concluded  Old Soldier”.

At the Presidential election of 2019, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, head of JVP, only got 3.16% of the total votes. This is the lowest percentage JVP has got so far, commented analysts. He was supported by 29 organizations  including civil society organizations, at a media briefing.

JVP only obtained 3.84% of the total vote at the General election of 2020. This election showed that the JVP support base was shrinking said Island editorial.    Analysts observed that a sizeable segment of UNP votes had gone to the JVP, which means the true JVP vote is less than even 3.84%.

Of the six seats JVP had in the 2015 Parliament, JVP could retain only three of them in 2020.These were in Colombo and an ]adjoining urban centre’  at Gampaha. JVP lost badly in the areas that constituted the heartland of its militancy such as Matara, Galle, Hambantota and Moneragala. The present-day JVP leaders have lost their hold on the Wijeweera belt, which stretches along the southern littoral, said the Island editorial.

These election results  show that voters still haven’t forgiven the JVP for atrocities during the 1971 and 1987-89 insurrections, said critics. JVP   replied we are far ahead of the rest. We fielded the best qualified candidates with unblemished records”. Our movement is honest, free of corruption and committed to working for the betterment of the country. The people know that, but that is still not enough for them to vote for us. .

The JVP has managed to survive as a political party with parliamentary representation only because of the proportional representation system. JVP  would not have had a snowflake’s chance in hell of making it to Parliament under a first past the post system, said Chandraprema, bluntly.

For the 2020 general election, the JVP formed a new party, the Jatika Jana Balavegaya. This is  nothing more than an ‘alias’ for the JVP . The three seats won by this JJB were taken by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Head of the JVP , followed by  Vijitha Herath.

Another new thing in the 2020 election was that a set of University  academics got together and  urged the public to vote for   the JVP  Balavegaya. Several of them came from leftist parties and were open supporters of Separatism.

These academics made a strong appeal for the  JJB which they called NPP. Only the NPP has a sound plan to save this country, they said.” The NPP was formed with the hope of saving the country from its present predicament and people should extend their support by voting for it..”

The academics stressed the need for electing honest, capable candidates as MPs to solve the problems and threats the people were faced with. .” The NPP has experts and academics who have drafted a credible programme for Lanka’s economic future.  NPP has the only Parliamentarians with an unblemished record of financial integrity, incorruptibility and devotion to their tasks in the last three decades have been MPs elected from the JVP,  they chorused.  The academics said that The NPP will be a strong voice and the only real force standing both inside and outside parliament for a democratic polity and against dictatorship.

JVP is not a popular party.  The JVP have huge floats  of  Karl Marx and Lenin  in their May Day processions to hide the fact that  they have very few supporters marching with them. Bu it is determined to keep going.

JVP has its  memorials. This is not well known.60 students at  Sri Jayewardenepura University were killed,  including two female students in the  1987-89 insurgency. An exhibition and a musical program were held to commemorate them in 1992 and in 2008. A memorial too was erected. The chief guest at the event was the mother of one of the victims, medical student Wenura Edirisinghe. 

JVP has absolutely no economic  or development plan for the country. They never had. This is seen over and over again in their numerous, verbose, utterly  empty utterances. Sometimes it is nonsense. Here is an example. When JVP  was asked what its development plan was, JVP replied,  ‘We need to give priority for education and create a new structure with education. That is the way out of all miseries. Education is the base for that.’ 

JVP gets much attention in Parliament and on television today, because Its leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake keeps speaking and speaking  , holding audience attention,  using  long sentences,  in  slow measured tones. His statements are without exception  completely empty . I once listened to him give a speech at a function. He spoke for  some time and avoided saying anything of substance.

There are indications that JVP have not abandoned their  terrorist tactics. Gamini Samaranayake  drew attention to the JVP controlled Inter-University Student Federation, IUSF. This name is only a cover, he said. The IUSF is a ‘terrorist movement’. The IUSF was very active during the Yahapalana period.

JVP supports separatism. JVP said  in 2015 that seats in the new parliament must accommodate fair representation for the ethnic and religious minorities. DJV had links with the international community which supported devolution , said Sampanthan. 

Analysts  have shown connections between JVP and LTTE . JVP was the Sinhala twin of the LTTE said Rohan Gunaratna. The  original JVPers,  such as Victor Ivan,   have consistently taken a separatist or anti-national stance. For years Ravaya argued that the LTTE couldn’t be militarily defeated and did their best to demoralize troops and sabotage the efforts of the security forces.

The NPP programme calls for devolution of political and administrative power to the regions, The Tamil and Muslim minorities in this country have been in distress for decades and been taken for endless rides by the two main parties. The NPP is a trustworthy ally  The NPP demands release of political prisoners, protection of Muslims from injury and insult, establishing a new Truth and Reconciliation Commission, empowering the Commission on the Disappeared to deliver justice to families of victims, releasing military occupied lands, terminating ethnic based colonization and economic upliftment of war affected areas. said Kumar David, speaking on behalf of the JVP  in 2020.

in 2011 it was reported that JVP had 13 international branches in UK, US, Italy, France, Cyprus, Sweden, South Korea, Australia,  Japan, Saudi Arabia, UAR, Qatar and Oman. This did not surprise those  suspicious of the JVP .Many consider JVP to be a  tool used by foreign handlers.

Nalin de Silva observed on two separate occasions, in 2004 and 2010 that JVP was a western tool. JVP was being used by the western forces, he said.  JVP is an agent of the west and is attempting to create trouble in the country, he declared.

Wimal Weerawansa said  in 2010, that JVP is run with the help of funds given by some foreign embassies. JVP was getting huge sums from US and Norway to support Fonseka in Presidential election ,he added.

JVP are  outrageous hypocrites, said ‘Old Soldier’. They may  mystify some with their verbosity, but who and what do they represent? Could they be working as a proxy for a shadow organization,  he asked in 2019.

JVP has its admirers. The JVP has come a long way since its two armed insurrections and the passing of the leadership from the old school and discredited past of Somawansa Amarasinghe to the younger generation of Anura Kumara Dissanayake, said JVP admirers.

JVP bashing should end   said K. Siriweera  writing to Island”. In parliament,  at political meetings and  elsewhere, JVP members are criticized for incidents that took place in the  1971-89 period.  Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his group were not involved in these criminal acts. Further they have shown excellent behavior since they came into the political scene. It is sickening to see politicians who are involved in anti social activities shout about events that happened decades ago to demonize a group who are thousand times better than them, concluded Siriweera.

JVP admirers are in a minority. ‘Old Soldier’ has summarized what most  of the public think of the JVP .  The JVP has a blood soaked, murderous and genocidal history, he said.. The JVP brutalized a generation twice, once in 1971 and then in 1989-90.

Their favourite method of murder was by slitting the throat. Their preferred way was not with a knife but with a blade, slowly, enjoying the agony of the victim. They then hanged the head of the murdered on a pole, gate, and fence or placed it on a wall.

After their first abortive attempt in 1971, they brought the country to a virtual halt in 1989-90 by placing ‘death notice’ chits in work places and murdering innocents all over the South. They attempted to destroy the state by attacking the armed forces and police, the state administrative structure and staff, including the judiciary, health services, education, transport and national infrastructure amongst other things. Apparently this was their way of showing their opposition to the invading IPKF and the LTTE’s campaign of terror. They did not however threaten or attack  IPKF or LTTE ,but turned on the Sinhalese people exclusively, continued Old Soldier.

The JVP believes that by swamping the people with other issues, the people will forget its gory year of murdering that dehumanized a peaceful Sri Lanka . Sri Lanka  must never forget how the JVP ordered the closing down of hospitals and made death threats to the doctors and staff if they attempted to work. They threw the entire health system into disarray. It caused the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of seriously ill patients adding to the 60,000 deaths they were responsible for by murder, said Old Soldier

Though Wijeweera died, some leaders escaped. They got back into society. They pretend to follow democratic politics fooling many but not all, and biding their time. They have survived by cunningly playing one political party against the other. [The behavior  of their  supporters] protesting and blocking roads and government offices almost daily and making it almost impossible for universities to function, should give more than a glimpse of what will follow,  ended Old Soldier, writing in 2019. ( Concluded)

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

අමරපුර මහා නිකායේ සිරිසුමන පාර්ශවයේ මහා නායක ආචාර්ය කොලොන්නාවේ සිරි සුමංගල මහා නාහිමියන්ගේ ඡන්ම දිනය නිමිත්තෙන් පන්නිපිටිය ශ්‍රී දෙව්රම් මහා විහාරයේ ඉදි කළ සුවිසි විවරණ මන්දිරය විවෘත කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවට අද 2020.09.24 දින ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා එක්විය.

පළමුව ආගමික වතාවත් සඳහා එක් වූ ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා අනතුරුව දුටුගැමුණු රජතුමාගේ පිළිරුව සහිත සූවිසි විවරණ මන්දිරයට මල් කළඹක් පූජා කළේය.

ආචාර්ය කොලොන්නාවේ සිරි සුමංගල මහා නාහිමියෝ  මෙහිදී ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට සමරු තිළිණයක් ද පිළිගැන්වූහ.

පන්නිපිටිය ශ්‍රී දෙව්රම් මහා විහාරෙය් විසි එක් වෙනි සංවත්සරය හා සිරි සුමංගලාභිධාන මහා නාහිමියන්ගේ 51 වෙනි ජන්ම දිනය නිමිත්තෙන් පැවැත් වූ මෙම පිංකම් මාලාවේ  දානමය පිංකම සඳහා මහා නිකායික ස්වාමීන් වහන්සේලා 27 නමක් හා සංඝයා වහන්සේලා 300 නමක් වැඩම කළහ.

By Ishara S. KODIKARA Courtesy Japan Today

Sri Lanka’s president has ordered the termination of a $1.5-billion Japanese-funded light rail project, saying it is not a “cost-effective solution” for the congested capital Colombo, officials said Thursday.

The deal signed under the previous government is the largest single foreign-funded infrastructure project in Sri Lanka, and was seen as a sign of the island nation reducing its dependence on China.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, elected last year, told the transport ministry to “terminate this project and close the project office with immediate effect”, top aide P.B. Jayasundara said in a letter to the ministry.

There was no immediate comment from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which in March last year loaned 30 billion yen ($285 million) to finance the first phase of the Light Rail Transit (LRT).

Japanese technology including rolling stock was to be used on the rail system, which included 16 stations over 15.7 kilometers.

Detailed planning and land acquisition for the project in Colombo, which has some of the worst traffic congestion in South Asia, had already been completed and initial construction was under way.

The Japanese loan carries an interest rate of 0.1 percent and is repayable over 40 years with a 12-year grace period. Japan has already funded sections of new expressways and a key bridge to reduce traffic congestion in and out of the capital.

Under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa — the incumbent’s brother — Sri Lanka borrowed billions of dollars from China for projects including ports, highways and railways.

But several ended up as white elephants and left the country facing a mountain of debt — mainly to China — stoking fears about Beijing’s “Belt and Road” master plan for overseas infrastructure.

Unable to service its loans, the then government of prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe leased a Chinese-built port at Hambantota in the island’s south to a Beijing company for $1.12 billion in 2017.

Courtesy Hiru News

Two arrivals from Qatar & 02 from Kuwait tested positive for COVID- 19, increasing total infected in Sri Lanka to 3,333.

Courtesy  Hiru News

The Russian national who was diagnosed with coronavirus while staying at a hotel in Matara was taken to the Hambantota Hospital. The hospital director Suranga Ubeysekara stated that with the second PCR test conducted the reports has come negative.

However, he said they would take biological samples tonight and conduct another PCR test before a final decision is taken.

he director of the hospital stated that his infection would be confirmed accordingly.

Fifteen members of the Russian flight crew arrived at a tourist hotel in the Polhena area in Matara on the 13th.

They were scheduled to leave the country today (24) and before that PCR tests were carried out at a private hospital in Matara.

One Russian national was diagnosed with coronavirus infection.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Public Health Inspectors Association alleges that the Russian national who was diagnosed with the corona virus and the other flight crew members who were with him had stayed at a tourist hotel in the Polhena area in Matara without informing the health authorities including the public health inspector in the area.

Meanwhile, all the employees of the hotel where they were staying were quarantined inside the hotel.

Matara Chief Public Health Inspector Eraj Weerasuriya told the Hiru news team that the families of the hotel employees were also quarantined.<br /><br />However, seven members of the hotel staff have gone home on leave and are residents of Galle – Wakwella, Ahangama, Gonapinuwala and Ratnapura, Thambuththegama and Bandaragama areas.

The health department said that steps have been taken to bring them back immediately and subject them to quarantine.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly & Association and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression are receiving letters to tell Sri Lanka to allow LTTE to commemorate a dead ‘martyr’. Who is LTTE? An internationally banned terrorist organization. Who is Thileepan – a member of that internationally banned terrorist organization who died after going on a death fast in 1987 September 26. It’s the month of September and LTTE fronts naturally need to show they exist, so they pluck out the dead from the grave some 33 years after death. The virtual government making the appeal seem to forget that the LTTE Thileepan died protesting against India and not Sri Lanka. Given that the virtual government is operating from US where the US Government has no issues in him delivering speeches with the US flag side by side with LTTE terrorist flag, why don’t this virtual government & head commemorate the dead terrorist in USA?

If TGTE read the history of Thileepan & his death fast, they would correct their appeal to the UN. Thileepan went on a death fast against India not heeding LTTE’s 5 demands made by LTTE to India on 13 September 1987. LTTE gave India 24hours to respond to their 5 demands which India ignored & then Thileepan began his fast on 15 September 1987 and died on 26 September 1987.

The Indo-Lanka Accord was signed under emergency in July 1987. Indian Peace Keeping Force landed in Sri Lanka assuring the GoSL they would disarm the LTTE within 72 hours which India failed to do.

Therefore, TGTE in its appeal to the UN has got the whole story wrong as the death fast was against India not heeding LTTE’s 5 demands. 33 years later only those that support terrorism and separatism would wish to commemorate a dead LTTE member.

https://www.einpresswire.com/article/526810376/tgte-appeal-to-un-to-help-thileepan-s-memorial-to-be-observed-peacefully-in-sri-lanka

When regime change took place in 2015 with LTTE agents also providing political support, the nod of that government was given to hold LTTE dead commemorations inspite of LTTE ban.

Thus in 2018 LTTE dead Thileepan was commemorated by

• Students at the Eastern University in Batticaloa
• Tamil National People’s Front – S Kajendran
• ITAK leader & TNA MP – Mavai Senathirajah
• EPRLF leader – Suresh Premachandra
• Staff and students of University of Jaffna inside university grounds
• Kallapaadu office of Northern Province – Provincial Councillor T Ravikaran
• Families of LTTE disappeared office in Ananthapuram
• Former LTTE combatants, families of dead LTTE in Batticoloa – event organized by Crusaders for Democracy (oh yeah crusaders for terrorist democracy)

https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/thileepan-remembered-across-north-east

Google LTTE propaganda sites and there’s a bevy of commemorations held for Thileepan even upto 2019.

So was TGTE born yesterday to suddenly realize mistakenly that dead LTTE Thileepan who died in 1987 needed to have a commemoration 33 years later? Obviously living in USA, holding US passports and working in USA, this group does not know what goes in Sri Lanka or they are simply trying to pluck a terrorist from the grave and make themselves relevant. Digging a grave for publicity – poor TGTE! How bankrupt these LTTE fronts have become for lies and propaganda.

You have to feel for the dumb foreigners who present these appeal letters to the UN and ask where are work ethics gone in this 21^stcentury when for money, organizations calling themselves ‘transparent’ and ‘independent’ would even lobby to commemorate LTTE dead terrorists! Unbelievable what the world has come to. This also raises the question would the UN & its bodies wish to also be part of a terrorist and separatist set up is the question we are all now asking.

Cannot wait to see international legal firms getting hired by terrorist organizations to dispatch appeals on behalf of their terrorist clients to also commemorate dead terrorists …. what a joke this is going to turn into!

Shenali D Waduge

By Garvin Karunaratne,former G.A. Matara 

My craze for motoring in the forsaken neglected Sinhala areas where poor unequipped buddhist monks struggle to guide  the people  following the dictat of Lord Buddha: Charita Bhikkae Charikan Mahajana Hitaya, Sukhaya” took me this time to Sandamal Eliya, five miles before one reaches Tanmtirimale.  

The    Sandamal Eliya Temple is run by Venerable   Viharegama Sangarakkhita, a pupil of the chief monk  at Tantirimale who was killed by the LTTE cadres.  

As happens very often I think I know the roads where I had often travelled long ago when I worked in the Sixties in the Anuradhapura District.. I keep forgetting that new roads and new junctions have emerged and often get lost.  

This time I was lost in the Illuk jungles of Mahawilachchiya and Tantirimale. I motored through the dense illuk forest that seemed to have no end. I saw patches of illuk everywhere I looked. People had even resorted to burn the illuk when it invaded their homes. I was lost for long among illuk jungles.  When I finally reached the Sandamal Eliya temple I spoke with Ven Sangarakkhita and he confirmed the fact that the area is full of illuk grass, a grass that cannot be eradicated. Illuk has become a nuisance. 

Then it did flash in my mind that the machinery imported toValachenai to make paper was intended to use illuk grass.  What did happen was that illuk grass was consumed fast and the machinery lay idle. Then it was our engineers and scientists who for the first time found out that straw could be used for making paper. Then the farmers at Hingurakgoda and Polonnaruwa made good money by selling lorry loads of straw to the paper mill. I entered the scene at that time. In Agrarian Services to keep the truants and fraudsters in check I happened to be a lone islandwide flying squad and the circuit bungalow of the Valachenai provided me a night’s rest on many a day. My interests in industrial development made me see the paper factory at work several times. 

It has so happened that despite the fact that Mother Nature provided fertile land, plenty of rain water and our ancient rulers also provided a sophisticated and advanced irrigation system with canals taking water at a gradient of six inches in a mile, a feat that baffles the irrigation experts of today, there is plenty of starvation among the people. The otherday I came across a family of three living on two and a half perch house at Bandaranayakepura Rajagiriya, shared with other close relatives all living within the pangs of hunger, where they forego lunch with a cup of tea. That is in our capital. Go to the colonies at Padaviya and Mahavillachchiya, the situation is far worse. The rains will provide two crops of paddy but the cost of getting machinery to plough and harvest is forbiddingy high. Once a portion of the crop is sold for living expenses there are days when there is no money and a vast number of people have  to forgo a meal. Their life remains a true misery. This scene of utter poverty has to be eradicated. Today we perhaps have the last chance to eradicate this, if ever it can be done. 

The Illuk grass at Mahavillachchiya can come to the rescue if only some engineer and scientist can resurrect the paper making with illuk grass. It only needs the import of a small scale paper making machine from India or China. One inquiry by me on the internet found a vast range of suppliers of paper making small factories. It is a simple operation- cutting the illuk into small pieces, then churning it with the addition of a few substances to  pulp and then we can make cardboard or paper. All this is done in a small scale machine and the people will find employment and incomes while the country will be able to save the foreign exchange now being spent to import paper. 

I am dead certain that this is some task that can be done. Mind you that the team of President Gotabhaya has done wonders in the past few months by getting the Valachenai Paper Factory functional. That was a factory that was closed and neglected for over half a century from  the Eighties till the North and the East were liberated from the clutches of the LTTE- a task accomplished by no other than President Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda. For that Gotabhaya and Mahinda combination, establishing a illuk paper factory will be a simple task. We only require President Gotabhaya to order it done. 

I too can make a contribution- this time in writing a few words- mine is a NATO type- it is No Action Talk Only. But once upon a time  from 1955 to 1973 I was in a role full of action. As the Government Agent at Matara in 1971 when I was  charged with the task of creating employment I did direct my Planning Officer who was a chemistry graduate to conduct a myriad experiments to find the art of making a crayon. It took three months locked up in the science lab at Rahula College Matara, helped by the science teachers. They won the day and found the art of making superb crayons equal to the quality of the then best Reeves. Thereafter the Morawak Korale Cooperative Union under Sumanapala Dahanayake the Member of Parliament, in his capacity as the President of the Coop Union, established a crayon factory within three weeks and for the next seven years 1971 to 1978 this Coop Crayon was sold islandwide. Immediately Coop Crayon got going we secured a small allocation of foreign aid to import dyes, from the Controller of Imports, Harry Guneratne and within minutes of his signing that allocation paper to us he cancelled the import of crayons. 

I am dead certain that this is a task that can be achieved and look forward to see the day when the Illuk grass will alleviate the poverty in Tantirimale and also help our Motherland in saving foreign exchange.  

I live with the firm hope that this plea will reach our President and Prime Minister.  

Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D. Michigan State University. 

Author of  How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka and Alternative Programmes of Success, Godages, 2006 

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

garvin_karunaratne @ hotmail.com 24092020

N.A.de S. Amaratunga

Prof. Gamini Keerawella (GK) in an article titled Genealogy of Concept and Genesis of 13^th Amendment” (The Island 16^th & 17^th Sept. 2020) attempts to show that the 13^th A was not something forced on us by India, that it was a concept discussed by political leaders starting before independence and that India had to intervene as a midwife due to the failure of our political leaders to deliver their own baby. He says It must be noted that at the outset the Provincial councils have to carry a certificate of illegitimate birth due to Indian intervention. However, the Indian role was just a midwifery role. The politically and ideologically weak ruling class of Sri Lanka failed to give it a natural birth”. He further says It is important to note that even in 1940s the Tamil leadership had not taken the issue of Regional Council and devolution of power to regions into their hands”.

It could be shown that the discourse among the political leaders about Regional Councils that GK refers to was a direct consequence of the intransigence of the Tamil leadership which occurred when the Donoughmore Report had recommended a population based franchise which would effectively make Tamils who hitherto had enjoyed parity with the Sinhalese in the State Council, a minority in the government thereafter. This intransigence was quite clear in the attitude of Ponnambalam Ramanathan who was considered the leader of the Educated Ceylonese” in the State Council.

From as far back as 1916 Ramanathan was against the appointment of a majority into the State Council by a popular vote. He together with Ambalavanar Kanagasabe had been for some time engaged in communal politics (see K M de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka p 393). They did not like the idea of the Sinhalese assuming their rightful place in the government as the majority in the country. The Donoughmore Report had recommended universal franchise, and in a last minute attempt to scuttle it, Ramanathan had even gone to London to request British authorities not to implement it. T B Jayah the leader of the Muslims too submitted a memorandum against the implementation of the Report.

If this is not communal politics what is, one may ask. This was the genesis of communal politics in Sri Lanka. Tamil leadership was not prepared to accept that the Sinhalese have to be given their due place in the governing body of the country. GK on the other hand attempts to make it appear that Tamil leaders had no causative role in the genesis of the idea of Regional Councils or devolution of power. Obviously Donoughmore Commission and Sinhalese leaders  started talking about regional councils in response to the blatant presence of communal politics among the Tamil leaders.

GK has at length traced the genealogy of the concept and the genesis of the 13^th  Amendment beginning from the time of the Donoughmore Commission to the time of  Rajiv Gandhi’s parippu diplomacy”.  However, when one discusses the  genesis of anything one must begin from the beginning and analyse the cause also quite thoroughly. Else the analysis is totally inadequate, incomplete and lacking in conviction, particular when one goes to the length that GK has gone in this instance. When one talks about the genesis of a child for instance one doesn’t begin from the pregnancy, one begins from the physical union of the father and mother which is the first cause. GK has conveniently omitted to mention the first cause because that does not fit into his argument.

GK has described in detail the several attempts made by political leaders to introduce regional/provincial councils and how they failed. He has not considered why they failed. Why did SWRD withdraw the proposals of the BC pact.  Because he knew he has no chance of political survival if he disregarded the protests mounted by the priests. Same could be said about Dudley / Chelvanayagam pact. Why did JRJ withdraw the 10^th Amendment ?  All these politicians knew they cannot survive if they antagonized the majority community.  They cannot do something that is unfair by the majority, something that would compromise the single sovereignty and the territorial integrity.

Why have the people given a 2/3^rd majority to this government and in the process kept out of the parliament those who were responsible for the treacherous betrayals? They were concerned about the survival of the country as a single entity due to the antinational activity of the previous government, its many treacherous deeds that impinged on the sovereignty of the people. People want a permanent solution to this problem, they cannot live in fear for ever. Same fate would befall any politician who attempts to tamper with the people’s sovereignty and the territorial integrity of their country. SWRD, Dudley, JRJ had realized the possibility of this fate but the leaders of the previous government had not and they are now in the political wilderness.

Rajiv Gandhi knew why JRJ would not implement what was agreed upon during their discussions. He knew he had only one option and that is to use force. Vadamarachchi operation gave him the opportunity he wanted. This is why it is often said 13^th A is something that was forced on us by India. Therefore it is not quite correct to say as GK does;  The politically and ideologically weak ruling class of Sri Lanka failed to give it a natural birth”. The child would have been the death of the parents had they attempted it.   

GK strongly endorses the 13^th A as an arrangement that strengthens democracy and thereby solves the ethnic issue.   He says The dominance of centralized political culture of the country has negated the true potential of the provincial council system as another tier of democratic governance”. He has not explained why the country needs another tier of democratic governance”.  Cannot he think of some other method to satisfy the Tamil demand for political power sharing and solve the ethnic problem.  Isn’t Sri Lanka too small to be divided into nine political and administrative  provincial areas. Aren’t four tiers of democratic governance” too many, redundant, costly and corruptible. Is it fair to ask the poor people to carry this burden which is not of their making. If the political aspirations of the minority communities could be accomodated at the centre 13^th A and the PCs could be done away with. Administrative decentralisation is possible at grassroot level. This is what the people want and why they have given a 2/3^rd majority to this government.

N.A.de S. Amaratunga

By Raj Gonsalkorale

Two issues had rankled Buddharakkitha. One was the Prime Minister’s refusal to hand over a lucrative shipping contract to a company named Colombo Shipping Lines that was co-founded by him in the name of his associate HP Jayawardena to import rice from Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand. The second was over a sugar manufacturing licence to start a sugar factory – DBS Jeyaraj 30^th September 2019 – THE PRIME MINISTER IS DEAD! How and Why SWRD Bandaranaike Was Assassinated Sixty Years Ago)

26^th September 2020 is the 61^st death anniversary of Sri Lanka’s fourth Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike. A gun and a bullet ended his life, but what really killed him was the unmitigated avarice of a person who was the opposite and a disgrace to the message of Buddha. That person was the Chief incumbent of the Kelaniya Temple, a businessman who knew no ethics nor morality, Mapitigama Buddharakkitha. It is not befitting to call this person a Buddhist Monk as he was anything but a follower of Buddha or the Buddha Dhamma.

The man who fired the gun and emptied bullets into the Prime Ministers body, Talduwe Somarama was not of sound mind and easily brainwashed, and he was, to the extent of killing the Prime Minister to save Sinhala Buddhism”, by  Buddharakkitha.

Sordid politics and unmitigated avarice has not abated in Sri Lanka, and neither has the misuse of Buddhist robes by persons who are anything but Buddhist. Sri Lanka has not learnt from that fateful episode on the 25^th of September 1959 when a wearer of a Buddhist robe emptied bullets into the country’s Prime Minister who was paying obeisance to that person in Buddhist robes.

Politics is equally or even more sordid than then when one reads about the mudslinging going on at the enquiry into the Easter bombings in 2019. It is so when one reads about the life and times of the Yahapalanaya government of 2015 and the tussle between the then President and Prime Minister of the country.  It is when one hears and reads about the calibre of politicians we have and have had, who have traded the country’s principles and wealth and dignity for monetary gain. There is plenty more to write about, but that will require several volumes of books.

Buddharakkitha was the driving force behind the Eksath Bhikku Peramuna or the United Bhikku Front. He has been described as a virtual kingmaker at that time.  Later, he attributed Bandaranaike’s failure to aggressively pursue the nationalist reforms as the sole motive to assassinate him. But it was revealed that the real motive for the assassination came as a result of the Prime Minister’s refusal to award business deals, in particular, a government contract for the construction of a sugar factory and government concessions for a shipping company he planned to set up. Talduwe Somarama, a misguided man wearing a robe” so described by the dying Prime Minister himself, fired the bullets that ended Bandaranaike’s life on September 26, 1959.

DBS Jeyaraj writing on the 60^th death anniversary of SWRD Bandaranaike (THE PRIME MINISTER IS DEAD! How and Why SWRD Bandaranaike Was Assassinated Sixty Years Ago), lays bare the poisonous and unstable environment in the country in 1959.

He writes about the vertical and horizontal tensions of the country where on the one hand there was overt inter-ethnic strife on the grounds of language while there was on the other hand covert tussles on the basis of class and ideology.  

He says the ethnic dimension was exaggerated or distorted to divert focus away from or under-emphasise the class dimension. Jeyaraj writes to say Bandaranaike himself had begun acting against his class interests. The nationalization of bus transport, Insurance companies and Colombo harbor etc were some of the socialist measures enacted by the SWRDB government. Since most of the vested interests affected by these measures were UNP or pro-UNP it did not matter much to the regime. But the Paddy Lands Act pushed through mainly due to efforts of Philip Gunewardena regarded as the Father of Marxism” in the country had different repercussions. The act provided greater rights and concessions to the long suffering tenant cultivators. There was however a large segment of semi-feudal, land-owning classes supportive of the SLFP also. The Paddy Lands act hit these sections and there was resentment”.

The exaggerated ethnic dimension and the aftermath of the class war had resulted in the government’s Parliamentary strength being just 47 out of 101 by June 11^th 1959, and Bandaranaike was in fact leading a minority government when he died on 26^th September 1959.

The incident on the 25^th September may not have been the first to get rid of the man who was a victim of the class battles and avarice and at the same time the one person who was in the way of a total victory by forces driven by rightist ideology and unmitigated avarice. What had happened on August 25, 1959, when Minister CP De Silva had drunk a glass of milk suspected to have contained a vegetable- derived poisonous substance in the boardroom where the cabinet met, may have been intended for the Prime Minister himself. CP De Silva’s condition had proven so critical that he had to be flown to London for medical treatment.

Jeyaraj writes about the purge of leftists and assertion of rightists to shackle SWRD Bandaranaike. The intention was to transform him into a puppet but the aristocratic Oxonian though beleaguered would not give in totally to Buddharakkitha’ s diktat. Irritated by this the kingmaker” priest now decided to remove Bandaranaike altogether. The flashpoint causing this change of mind was not race, class or ideology. It was sordid commerce”.

He goes on to note two issues that had rankled Buddharakkitha. One was the Prime Minister’s refusal to hand over a lucrative shipping contract to a company named Colombo Shipping Lines that was co-founded by him in the name of his associate HP Jayawardena to import rice from Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand. The second was over a sugar manufacturing licence to start a sugar factory. Buddharakkitha was a very rich businessman and he used whatever means at his disposal to acquire power in order to further his business interests. The wealth of the Kelaniya temple gave him the foundation to build his business empire. He did not tolerate anyone who stood in his way, and even a Prime Minister was not spared.

Had he been a Buddhist, acted as one and lived as one, heeding the Buddha’s message of love and impermanence, and the consequences of avarice, he wouldn’t have suffered the ignominy of dying as an inmate of the Welikada prison in 1967 serving a life sentence for the crime he had committed.

It is interesting to note Jeyaraj’ s comment about the exaggeration of ethnic issue as a contributor to the tensions that existed in the country in 1959. In this context, it is opportune on this sad anniversary to note the following.

Firstly, there had never been a question of implementing the so called Sinhala only policy “in 24 hours” as widely and successfully marketed by opportunists. As Bandaranaike said, nolaw had been needed to make English the language of the country, therefore no law was needed to change it. It was to be a limited and a gradual process.

Secondly, there was clear articulation on a transition period for public servants to acquire a working knowledge of Sinhala, by December 1960, but this specific mention related only to the Supreme Court.

Bandaranaike said, in presenting the Bill, “it is our intention, as far as possible, to make that change wherever possible but if, in the course of our proceedings in implementation, we find on sufficient grounds and data that the changeover just cannot reasonably made during that time, we will not hesitate to come before this House and the country for passing the necessary amendments to the Bill”.

Thirdly, at the time the bill was passed, there were no specific provisions in it in regard the medium of instruction in schools. Bandaranaike did recognize that the medium of instruction should be the mother tongue of the student, rather than the official language of the country.

Fourthly, the Bill did not specify time frames for a changeover to the official language in other areas like local authorities. In the public service, the stated intention was to provide an adequate knowledge of Sinhala to all public servants so that, as contemplated, public service should be conducted in the official language within 10 years, meaning by December 1967. The Reasonable use of the Tamil language in predominantly Tamil areas would have required Sinhala public servants working in those areas to acquire a working knowledge of Tamil.

It is well to remember that less than 5% of the population of the country were literate in English when Ceylon gained independence in 1948, and all Courts, Police stations, government departments carried out their official work in English. An overwhelming population of Sinhala and Tamil citizens, in excess of 95% of the population, lived as foreigners in their own country, unable to enjoy their rights as citizens of their newly independent country.

It is in this backdrop that one has to judge the changes that took place after 1956. SWRD Bandaranaike’s enemies, both within the Sinhala community and the Tamil community, were those from the upper class he came from, the English educated brown sahibs who probably were more British than the British. They were his friends until he decided to espouse the cause of the majority in the country, who did not wish for one set of colonialists to be replaced by another.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Wiswa Warnapala declared that violence was first injected into the politics of Sri Lanka by the JVP. JVP was a violent murderous movement from the very beginning. They were guilty of gruesome killings.

Despite JVP ‘s attempts to identify itself with Fidel Castro and Ché Guevara,  JVP had more in common with the Peruvian Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), and Kampuchea’s Khmer Rouge, said Tisaranee Gunasekera. Its use of lethal violence is very similar to Shining Path. Like the Khmer Rouge it eliminated anyone who opposed them. JVP killed their accomplices so as not to leave any evidence. 

JVP indulged in political violence in order to destablise the state, said Wiswa Warnapala. The only threat to state authority which exceeded the JVP insurrection of 1971 is the JVP resurgence of 1987–89, observed analysts. The LTTE never threatened the state the way JVP did. JVP wished to break the will of the state and make it obey their demands. JVP had compiled information regarding vital institutions which affected the country security and economy, said Indradasa. 

Gamini Samaranayake made special mention of the JVP controlled Inter-University Student Federation, IUSF. This name is only a cover, he said. The IUSF is a ‘terrorist movement’.  Anybody who wants to study political violence and terrorism in Sri Lanka   must look at the IUSF    as well, he said. 

 One result of the JVP violence was that it changed the attitude of the army. Prior to 1971 Sri Lanka army was a small force. After the 1971 insurgency the government saw the need for a larger army. They increased the officer cadet cadre, they took in 30 trainees of which 17 graduated. The training which was 18 months was reduced to one year. Since JVP activity was in the jungle, special jungle training was given at Lahugala, said Kamal Gunaratne.

After the defeat of 1971 the JVP did not fade away, it simply got ready for the 1987 insurgency. JVP’s plans for the next insurgency was known to the authorities from July 1983, said Gunaratne.

Osmund   Jayaratne recalled that after the 1971 uprising ended, from time to time in different areas threatening notes were passed to shops and boutiques and anonymous telephone calls were given to them. Even bus drivers were threatened. As a result in several areas there were days when all shops and boutiques put up their shutters through fear and normal buses did not ply these routes.     .

Then in 1987 JVP started its second insurgency. JVP planned to get ‘pockets of resistance’ all over the country set up between July and August 1987 and use this as basis for war against the government.

The JVP provided a three year period of terror from 1987-1989. It was a relentless, daily round of killings, sabotage and strikes organized by the JVP and of counter-terror by Security forces. This period saw a huge number of ambushes, kidnapping, torture and assassinations.

In 1987 an estimated 40,000 died, mostly men, leaving women and children, said Nira Wickremasinghe. In January    1988 the JVP terror campaign was in full swing. By November 1988, Sri Lanka experienced near total anarchy. This continued at an increased level and the country witnessed unprecedented violence in 1989.

The peak was in 1989 when the JVP was effectively running a parallel government with a military power and, to some extent, popular support. The entire country experienced a terrible wave of violence and collapse of law and order in 1989, said Wiswa Warnapala. 

Individuals or organizations were warned or intimidated with messages dropped in the night to homes or posters or graffiti that appeared over night. Those that did not cooperate were brutally killed, with the repercussions extended to their family members. Executions were mostly carried out at night with armed groups coming to the homes of the victims and carrying them away to be tortured, executed and left as an example.

Sagarika Gomes was killed because she read the Rupavahini news when the JVP had forbidden it and many of the newscasters refused to present the evening news. She was kidnapped from her home on September 13 1989, by a group of armed men. She was then taken to the beach, raped and killed.

DJV murdered probably thousands of people and crippled the country with violently-enforced general strikes for two years said the media. Killings took place in both urban and rural areas. JVP killed 30 politicians, 23 academics, one clergy, two government officials, 89 civilians and 61service personnel, from July 1987 to January 1990. DJV killed more than seventy (70) members of parliament between July and November 1989. . In most cases the funerals of these victims were not allowed by the DJV, traditional final rights were not allowed and the caskets were to be carried below knee level as a mark of disrespect, concluded the media.

After Wijeweera and Gamanayake were killed Saman Piyasiri Fernando, head of DJV and Lalith Wijeratne, (Aravinda) had taken over leadership of JVP. There was an immediate escalation of violence.  UNP supporters were killed in Tangalle, Ahangama, Poddala, Ambalangoda Hikkaduwa, Akuressa and Baddegama. This violence fizzled out when Saman and Lalith were arrested.

JVP also committed murders for personal reasons and robberies for personal gain, added Chandraprema. They had long lists of persons to be eliminated. Prof  Patuwatavithana,  when Chairman of Plywood Corporation   had  refused to reinstate four officers and nine employees of Kosgama Complex   who had been dismissed for fraud. He was shot and killed. One JVPer said that after the 1971 insurgency he had carried out several murders of alleged informants, political opponents and vigilantes on his way from Kegalle to Wilpattu.

JVP had a good spy network which they used to extort money. In 1989 JVP came to home of garments exporter Ramya Weerakoon and demanded money. Come out you and your daughters, api deshapremi jatika sahodarayo, they said.  They mentioned a bank account to which Ramya had received a remittance for a shipment sent out earlier.   

 She said the payment was for raw material for the new shipment. We don’t care the sahodarayo said. Our leaders have ordered us to take Rs 50,000 from you. We will come here tomorrow. Have the money ready. The next day they came at 9.30 pm and took the money away. 

Up to 1987, no weapons were available for the JVP to train the youths, said analysts.  Collection of weapons started in early 1987    and weapons training began in mid 1987. The instructors were deserters from the army.

Weapons were purchased for Rs. 50,000 from Nimrods. Galkatas manufacture increased in Weeraketiya, Beliatte and Middeniya in 1987,  but this was not sufficient. Guns were got after breaking into houses Island wide. There was a set pattern in doing this. JVP collected pistols and shotguns from people who had gun licenses from the Government. They only took the guns and ammunition, nothing else.

A spate of gun thefts were reported from Hakmana, Deniyaya, Nochchiyagama, and Balangoda in 1987. There were reports in May 1987 that more and more youths were collecting such weapons from houses in the south. 600 weapons, mostly shot guns were taken by JVP in July 1987. An ASP reported that his pistol and ammunition had been   stolen from his car in May 1987. 24 shot guns were taken from   villagers in Kohombana area in August 1988. 

There was also increasing theft of firearms from police stations and military stations.  JVP took guns and ammunition from Bentota and Kurunegala police stations and from Kotelawala Defence Academy, Panagoda army camp and Modera army     camp.

JVP  also had a quantity of quick firing automatic rifles better than what the IPKF had. Peradeniya undergrads were  armed with lethal weapons, observed Wiswa. Where did they get these guns Peradeniya academics asked. The frequent use of landmines by the JVP indicated that JVP was receiving regular supplies of explosives from overseas, said Intelligence. The mystery surrounding the sources of arms supply to the JVP has not been resolved, said analysts.

In 1987, the JVP moved weapons to strategic locations in Colombo and other southern spots. JVP distributed arms to its loyalists in the villages as well. On the day of the signing of the Indo-Lankan accord, Upatissa Gamanayake, General Secretary, came to the safe house in Hokandara, where a large haul of weapons was in place. He met JVP activists and briefed them on the course of action to be taken. They were told to take positions in Colombo, Kaduwela, Welikada, Battaramulla Homagama and Maharagama. JVP was getting ready to carry out violence.

There are two specific instances of JVP violence which need special mention. First, the plan to assassinate Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, second the attack on the Dalada Maligawa.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

JVP was always against Sirimavo and out to kill her. Somawansa Amarasinghe was instructed to kill or abduct Sirima, said Gunaratna.  The interview data from JVP cadres said that the instruction was to abduct or kill Sirima. That cannot be correct. What can JVP do with the abducted Sirimavo? The instruction would have been to abduct and kill, that is, take away and kill where no one could see. Kamal Gunaratne also confirms that the JVP was planning to assassinate Sirimavo in 1971.

 The 1971 attack on Sirimavo was planned. Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike would be taken into custody from her Rosmead Place residence. The attack would be carried out by the JVP cadres in University of Sri Jayewardenepura. The attackers were given a plan of Rosmead Place, additional supply of ammunition was kept at Ritz cinema.  At the same time, the army cantonment at Panagoda would be attacked.  Navy personnel at Ragama and Air force personnel at Katunayake were to be immobilized by introducing a purgative to their food. 

This plan failed. The attackers were arrested by the police at Vihara Maha Devi park, said Kamal Gunaratne. JVP  tried to have another go at Sirimavo, in the 1987 insurgency. The JVP attacked the SLFP inaugural rally at Hingurakgoda in 1988 and Mrs. Bandaranaike barely escaped death.

Attack on Dalada Maligawa.

JVP attacked the Dalada Maligawa, Kandy on 8 February 1989. Eyewitness accounts, including a former JVP member who took part in the attack, describe the incident in detail. Former JVP member, Adhikari alias Kosala, had  participated in the attack. A fully-fledged member, Adhikari had received arms training, and participated in several operations on behalf of the party, including the 1987 Pallekelle Army camp attack, 1987 Bogambara prison attack and Digana bank heist.

According to Adhikari, the first meeting to plan the attack was held at the house of a JVP co-ordinator named Sunanda, in Kandy. In that meeting, Sunanda explained the motivation behind the attack.  He said that if they stole the Tooth Relic, which had been residing in the country for at least 1,700 years, would have made the people to rise up against the government which couldn’t even protect the sacred property.

Next week, another meeting was held at the same place, with the presence of D.M. Ananda alias Kalu Ajith, the JVP leader of Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces, and Somawansa Amarasinghe alias Sanath, In that meeting, Adhikari proposed a place in Medamahanuwara, to hide the relic after getting hold of it. He was asked to be present near the Queen’s Hotel, Kandy around 2.00 – 2.30 pm  the next day.

There Sarath, one of his colleagues in Digana bank heist,  introduced him to 4 boys and 2 girls. The girls, dressed in white lama saris were carrying two trays filled with flowers. Adhikari’s task was to bring the group to the entrance to the Maligawa. There he would meet two gentlemen, who would be carrying pens attached to their pockets. After that he was to proceed to  Kundasale where he would  receive the casket which contained the tooth relic.

But the plan went wrong. The two girls had gone past the checkpoint near the entrance, without being properly searched, and waited for the others to follow. A guard had become suspicious and had come forward towards the girls. The other members of the group  then arrived. They had snatched the guns hidden inside the flowers on the tray; and shot at the guards. Guards had returned fire. The following firefight left at least two attackers dead.

During the 2001 Parliamentary election,  JVP denied that the JVP was involved in the attack. The politburo of the party issued a statement denying that the attack ever took place. These statements were rejected by the Diyawadana Nilame and Mahanayake theros of Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters .Diyawadana Nilame said “There was blood-letting at the Sri Dalada Maligawa and five persons were killed in the JVP attack”.

Police

The police stations and police officers were  a permanent target of the JVP , both in 1971 and 1987. They were an easy target. The police were not  trained in protecting themselves or detecting enemy activity. Kamal Gunaratne commented on the planning that would have gone into a simultaneous attack on 92 police stations  in 1971.

JVP  killed police in  1971 and then again in 1987. JVP killed many policemen in cold blood. A reserve constable was killed while drinking tea  at a Kegalle hotel.  Police on duty at Hingurakgoda town were  killed with knives.   At Pitakotte two constables were   stabbed.  Policeman on guard duty at CSU unit  at Uduwella , Galle was  shot dead. A reserve police constable was beheaded in Matara .

Police sergeant  Wijesooriya was  shot and killed in Hungama in 1987. In June 1988 JVP  stabbed policeman at  Minneriya. A policeman was shot and killed in Alawwa in 1988. JVP  also shot the administrative officer coordinating  the police HQ. He was on his way to church. At Kudagammana  in June 1988,JVP   fired at police patrol  and killed one PC. In 1989 police sergeant  was shot dead in Middeniya,   and one   PC was  killed in landmine blast in Embilipitiya. .

JVP also attacked police stations. The police stations attacked n 1988 and 1989, included, Gothatuwa, Moratumulla, Kirulapona, Mattakkuliya, Ragama , Bambalapitiya, Pitigala, Moratuwa.   In July 1988 fifty JVPers attacked Madulsima police station and took away a large  haul of arms. Padukka police station was  attacked in 1988  and weapons removed. Bentota police  station was raided  in 1989 . JVP had attacked Kahawatte police station and taken away much ammunition, also police uniforms, typewriters, gun powder, caps with insignia, explosives’. 

JVP   attacked police patrols and even resorted to killing unarmed constables on beat duty and traffic duty. JVP assassinated several servicemen and policemen in their homes or while on leave or off duty when they could not defend themselves. Director CID and Director, Counter subversive Drive were gunned down close to their homes while on their way to work.

Marxist parties.

The JVP always maintained that it was the only genuine Marxist-Leninist revolutionary movement in Sri Lanka.  JVP tried to make this a reality by killing all other  Marxists. Wijeweera   wanted leaders of all leftist parties destroyed before the revolution, reported Gunaratna.

The JVP is the only ‘Left’ party in Sri Lanka which  has  engaged in killing fellow Leftists. The  older Marxist parties in Sri Lanka did not kill each other, though they had deep  differences with each other. This indicates that JVP was not a true Leftist party at all, but a killer  organization .

Hundreds of leftist leaders, activists, sympathizers were killed in1988-89, said Chandraprema. PD Wimalasena, veteran  LSSP trade union activist and manager of Star Press was  shot inside the Press in May 1989.  In 1988  LW Panditha, Communist Party trade union stalwart  was killed in Dematagoda.  Gamini Medagedara , Communist Party , was  killed at Polonnaruwa .

KAD Saddhatissa,  a retired school principal living in Akuressa and supporter of Communist party  , was killed while he was sick and in bed. His son was also killed. JVP then  ordered the  perturbed villagers not to put up white flags. No flags went up. Six members of a NLSSP family were  killed at Pujapitya in Katugastota, in  1989.

JVP’s main target was not the old left but the so called ‘new left’ because only  they could have  functioned as  an alternative to the JVP. JVP launched a massive campaign against leftist activists who were seen to be rivals of JVP . JVP   shot and  killed a lot of student leftist leaders, such as Yapa Bandara of the University of Kelaniya.

The killing of Daya Pathirana signalled the beginning of a concerted campaign aimed at exterminating  all those leftists who were competitors, said Tisaranee Gunasekera. Daya Pathirana, was  the leader of the Independent Students Union (ISU) of the University of Colombo. He and the ISU led by him was the sole obstruction to the JVP’s domination of the university students’ movement. Taking over the universities was  vital. The Inter-University Students Federation (IUSF)  had an important role to play.  There were gang wars between ISU and Deshiya Sisya Viyaparaya of the JVP .

The Pathirana killing was a targeted assassination.  JVP did not have good hit squads at the time, and had developed links with the underworld for the purpose.  Pathirana was killed by hired killers from Piliyandala underworld.

 Pathirana, along with a colleague Somasiri, was abducted on 15th December 1986 and taken to a lonely spot off the Bolgoda Lake in Piliyandala. The JVP abductors then began to torture him and Somasiri, demanding information about other students and left activists. The intervention of a group of pilgrims – it was the full moon poya day – saved the life of Somasiri. Pathirana succumbed to his wounds.

SLFP and UNP

SLFP thought JVP was going to support them in  1988 for the forthcoming election 247. SLFP was mistaken. JVP was anti SLFP. The intensity of JVP violence reached its peak after the announcement of Sirimavo as presidential candidate in 1988, said Wiswa Warnapala. 

There was a spate of killings of SLFP candidates between Presidential election   (1988) and Parliamentary elections (1989).  In 1988, there was a bomb attack on SLFP  rally at Matara  and another at the SLFP meeting at Badulla.  In 1989 SLFP Parliamentary candidates were  killed in droves and supporters too. SLFP member  for Dambagalla was shot dead in June 1988. JVP planned to take SLFP away from Bandaranaikes.  JVP liquidated thousands of  SLFP supporters. Most had a personal allegiance to Bandaranaikes.

JVP  was also anti-UNP. JVP assassinated UNP  activists.  UNP Chairman was  attacked in December 1987.  UNP branch meeting at Kotahena attacked in 1988. Senkadagala UNP office was bombed and six persons died.

 UNP officials were killed in Colonne, Embilipitiya, Suriyawansa, Panamure,  Balangoda and Kuttigala.  UNP Provincial councilor was  killed  in his house at Wanathamulla in 1989. At Pitipana, UNP candidate for PC elections, was killed together with wife,, daughter ,  supporters and home guards. A UNP supporter was taken away at midnight,  tied to a tree, tortured, and killed brutally, there were many such instances, said Evans Cooray.

JVP attempted to disrupt the Presidential election of 1988  and Parliamentary election of 1989. The JVP  killed voters  and candidates.   JVP declared an unofficial curfew and people had to remain indoors. When they went electioneering down south, they found electricity supply cut off, Kalutara streets deserted,  shops closed. Same at Alutgama and Galle, recalled Evans Cooray, who accompanied Premadasa on his election campaign. Even the friend where they ate was scared to host us,  he said.

During the 1988 election, JVP atrocities in south were increasing. People kept away from election rallies.    Hand bombs were exploding at the site of the meetings. At one meeting, probably Dodanduwa,  the audience was just one old female betel seller. She came near the stage and leaned against it listening. She was killed the next day, said Cooray.

However, the UNP knew to outwit the JVP .At Dodanduwa meeting Premadasa spoke  through loudspeakers and the people listened from behind closed doors. He did so at other meetings as  well. He spoke for hours to empty seats, knowing that they were listening to him behind closed doors, said Cooray.

How was the JVP  able to  exercise such power  when  the country had strong elected governments.   The answer is,  because the heads of  these governments pandered to the JVP  and did not allow the government or  armed  forces to crush  JVP .

When  Wijeweera  was arrested  in 1970 Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike  released him. Wijeweera thereafter  held a dozen spectacular, well attended     rallies all over the island  in August-October 1970.

JR Jayewardene (1977-1989) released JVPers  held in prison in three bouts.  65 university students were released by August 5, 1987. In October 1988 government had released fifty detainees as a good will measure .

The biggest release was in  March 1989,  About 1500 JVP detainees from Boossa and Moratuwa were released and the proscription against JVP was lifted. By April 1989  JVP was   a major force.  They had posters on all the walls possible and was starting hartals, said Gunaratna.

In November  1988 JR invited JVP for talks.  Gunaratna says JR had offered to dissolve Parliament and have an interim government if JVP stopped violence. In 1989  he invited the JVP  to the All Party Conference. JVP ignored both requests.

JVP knew it had the support of JR and knew when to use it.  When  the police intervened at the  Tissamaharama  JVP mass rally in 1978  JVP complained to JR and Prime Minister.   Shantha Bandara, was  captured  in 1988 but was released on intervention of JR.  JVP  had threatened to retaliate if Shantha Bandara was executed.  There was support of another sort too from the top..   Instead of using pepper gas, plastic bullets and other means of riot control, JR’s government used  live ammunition for the  school demonstrations  organized by the JVP .

JE had repeatedly told the forces  that Wijeweera was in Sinharaja and kept telling the army to search Sinharaja. Wijeweera was on an estate. Chandraprema commented that the JVP leadership did not go into the jungles.  If Wijeweera  had been in  the jungles he would never have got caught, JVP had watch posts on top of trees.

Ranasinghe Premadasa (1989-1993)  who succeeded JR as President was also supportive of the JVP . He had a secret meeting with JVP leaders on 1 August 1989. Premadasa asked JVP to come for talks, several times. Others opposed this.  One said it was futile to  release JVP and ask them to join democratic stream, their activities must be met with force. Premadasa gave JVP venues to address  meetings,  but those  who objected to JVP went and booked them beforehand. Clearly, the  administration was getting fed up with JVP .

While the President of Sri Lanka  danced attendance on the JVP , the army and police  had stayed alert. The security establishment knew all along what the JVP was  doing, but their hands were tied.

In the period 1983-1987    state Intelligence knew  that JVP  cells were being built at village level.  UNP government was told , it took no action , but the  police crackdown continued, said Gunaratna.  The Police also suspected  that an attack was being planned but the authorities and the Parliamentarianshad ignored the information given to them.

Government knew in 1986  from an arrested JVPer that there were plans to capture power through armed struggle,  also that there was  a secret programme of recruitment. But government took no action.   In 1987,   arrests were made after the after     Galgamuwa and Maradankadawala bank robberies and Kalebokka estate pay roll and this provided further concrete information on JVP.  Lastly, Ministry  of Defence was given a report in late 1988  predicting the creation  of an insurgent movement.

By this time, that is 1988, the villagers were fed up of the JVP, said Chandraprema.  In Meetiyagoda,   when the JVP  had arrived to kill a villager ,the  villagers had beaten to death the two hit men and arrested a third. But JVP issued death  threats and the village youth responsible for the killing,  had panicked and run away.

By August 1989  JVP started losing popularity., said Gunaratna. When President Premadasa held his first mobile ministry on November2, 1989, JVP could not prevent people from attending it, thousands turned up.

Finally, the armed forces moved in and the insurgency was crushed in late 1989 and early 1990, with almost the entire leadership being executed.But when they were caught the JVP  leadership had wanted to meet the President.[1]  (Continued)

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[1] CA Chandraprema sri lanka the years of terror. P  308

Laksiri Warnakula 

It is not that religeous fanatics always walk around with a few kilos of explosives tied to their bodies, looking for a good spot to push the button. There can be others, who are as explosive, destructive and vicious as those suicide-bombers”  

It has been nearly one and half years now, since the tragedy happened. Nearly three hundred innocent including children perished and probably as many suffered: deeply bruised and burnt to the bone, scarred and some maimed for the rest of their lives. 

And for the kith and kin of those victims, they are now living with the memories and many I am sure are still trying to come to terms with what happened to their loved ones, who untimely departed them.   

Yet those, who knew about it in advance and could have averted this disaster, are still among us, smiling, laughing and living their lives to the full. 

And the never-ending investigations, probings and questionings have been going on since almost that very day, to find them and bring them to justice.  

Alas. It is still very far from over. Accusations and allegations have been flying in all directions, yet none have been found so far, who could be held responsible, whose negligence and delay in taking adequately proactive measures that would have prevented the carnage.  

Now it looks like the investigations are going in circles while, finger-pointing and buck-passing often being the case. 

This whole process makes one angry. None of the persons supposedly or otherwise knew that it was coming don’t seem to give two hoots for the suffering of the victims and their relatives. What all of them, whoever they are, doing is the utmost to save their skins seemingly without the slightest remorse and feeling for the affected. In fact, I have this strange feeling that some of them are even enjoying it, deriving some form of abominable pleasure from this whole investigation. 

Perhaps what may be left now to find those apathetic, irresponsible shirkers of duty, who probably didn’t have even a minute amount of care for the fellow citizen, is to call on the ones, who actually carried out the suicide bombings. But they are all dead now.  

Lastly I wish all those dedicated persons and investigators, who have been entrusted with the enormously challenging task of finding the culprits and bringing them to justice, courage, strength and resilience in the face of adversity and ignorance. 

And before I end this short write-up: Seeds of hatred and suspicion are sown every day, in the name of religion, race and politics. And there are interested cultivators, who would be more than happy to nurture, manure and water them. Don’t they know? Divided we fail and fall. United we hold our heads high as proud Sri Lankans” 

Laksiri Warnakula 

Chanaka Bandarage

Mr Bogoda Premarathne is a pioneer in streamlining Sri Lanka’s education system. 

As the Commissioner of Examinations he devised a strategy to release public exam results (O/L and A/L) within few weeks of their completion. This was a remarkable achievement as in the 1970s it took many months for the results to be released. Sometimes students had to wait for more than 12 months for the results to be released.

Mr Premarathne served on the American Field Service (AFS) and Fulbright Scholarships committees.  He was very fair, honest and reasonable in selecting students for these scholarships. Mr Premarathne unlocked doors for many rural youth to travel to USA and obtain valuable educational qualifications.

Previously these opportunities were mainly available to students from Colombo schools. The main selection criteria was whether or not they spoke fluent English. Thus, only students from elite schools such as Royal, St Thomas’ St Peter’s. St Joseph’s, Ladies, Bishops, St Bridget’s were able to secure these scholarships.

Mr Premarathne was appointed as Chair of the Educational Reforms Committee of Sri Lanka in 1980, this appointment was made by the then President, JR Jayewardene. Mr Premarathne’s committee report was so successful, it was fully accepted and implemented by the government.

An ardent Buddhist, Mr Premarathne wrote a number of books on Buddhism. He was a senior member of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC). He made valuable contributions to this organisation. His contemporaries at the ACBC included Dr Gunapala Malalasekera, HW Amarasuriya, Douglas Umagiliya, JW Piyatissa, Prof MB Ariyapala, Dr DS Bandarage, Albert Edirisinghe, YR Piyasena, Leelananda Caldera, PC Perera and Hewage Jayasena.

Some say Mr. Premaratne’s knowledge of Buddhism surpassed that was of the most erudite monks. Mr Premarathne was not a realist Buddhist, but, a practical Buddhist. He observed Sil on almost every Full Moon Poya day (along with the above mentioned luminaries).

As the Principal of Royal College (from 1959 to 1966) Mr Premarathne undertook many steps to solidify that school as Sri Lanka’s premier boy’s school. He was the first Buddhist and the first non – Old Royalist Sri Lankan to be appointed as the Principal of Royal College (he was an old Anandian). Apart from the many good things he did for Royal he introduced the Sinhala translation to Royal’s school song ‘Disce Aut Discēde’.  It is still being used.

Mr Premarathne was an able school administrator, he was not ardently strict.  He was kind to students and worked with them to overcome their difficulties/problems. He wanted the parents to become heavily involved in their children’s education.

Mr Premarathne gave a true Buddhist dimension to Royal College. Under his auspices Sil campaigns on Poya Days were started. Mr Premarathne is credited with establishing the Royal College swimming pool.  He raised funds for this project with the support of the Royal College Old Boy’s Association.

At the ripe old age of 92 Mr Premarathne sighed his last breath; on 26 December 2013.

May Mr Bogoda Premarathne attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana!

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

              මහනුවර පොළව කම්පාවී ඇත.බූවැලිකඩ පස් මහල් නිවසක් කඩා වැටීමෙන් එකම පවුලේ තිදෙනෙකු ජීවිතක්ෂයට පත් වී ඇත. මේ ඛේදවාචකය උලුප්පා තලු මැරීමෙන් වන්නේ සැබෑ ප්‍රශ්ණය යටපත් වීමයි.එනම් මෙම විනාශය දක්වා පැමිණි ගමන් මග පිළිබඳව සාකච්ඡා නොකර අත හැරීමයි.සෙංකඩගල සිරිවර්ධනපුරය නොහොත් මහනුවර නගරය බිහිවන්නේ උඩරට රාජධානියේ ක්‍රමික විකාශනයත් සමගය.අවසාන සිංහල රජවරුන් ගේ ආරක්ෂාව තහවුරු වන ආකාරයට තැනූ මේ පුරවරය සිංහල බෞද්ධයන්ගේ මුදුන්මල්කඩ වූ දළදා වහන්සේ වැඩ සිටින අති පූජනීය සිද්ධස්ථානය වෙයි.එම නිසා මහනුවර නගරයේ පවතින ‌‌ෙඑතිහාසික වටිනාකම් ආක්ෂා කර ගැනීමට විශේෂ තැනක් ලබා දිය යුතුයි.ඉංග්‍රීසින් මහනුවර නගරය අත්පත් කරගත් පසු එහි ඉඳි කරන ලද බෝගම්බර හිරගෙදර බිහිවූයේ මහනුවර නගරයේ පරිසර පද්ධතියට සුවිසල් සේවයක් කළ බෝගම්බර වැව විනාශ කරමිනි. එලෙසම බොරවැවද විනාශ කරනු ලැබිණ.දළදා වීදිය දේව වීදිය උඩුනුවර වීදිය කන්දෙ වීදිය කොටුගොඩැල්ලවීදය බොරවේ වීදිය ආදී මහනුවර සමයේ පැවති රාජකීය වීදි ජනාකීර්ණ වෙළෙඳ සල්පිල් බවට පත් වන්නට වැඩි කලක් යන්නට නැත. වඩුග නායක්කර පෙළපත් රටින් පිටුවහල් කළ පසු මහනුවර නගර වීදි ඔස්සේ මුස්ලිම් පල්ලි ඉඳි වන්නට වූයේය.ඉංග්‍රීසි ආන්ඩුව දළදා මාළිගාවට අස්ගිරියට මල් වත්තට පූජා කරන ලද සාංඝික ඉඩම් වෙන්දේසි කරමින් අන්‍ය ජාතිකයන්ට භූමියේ අයිතිය තහවුරු කළහ.කඩුගන්නාවේ ගල බිඳ බිංගෙය තනා රථවාහන එන්නට පටන්ගත් දා සිට මහනුවර රජකීය අභිමානය හෑල්ලු විය.යටත් විජිතභාවයේ ගිලී නිවට වූ උඩරට ජනතාව යලි අවදි නොවන්නට අවශ්‍ය උගුල් ඇටවිණ.

       එක්දහස් අටසිය පහළොවේ බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය කීරීටයට පවරාදුන් සිංහලේ රටවල් යලි 1948 දී අපට නොලැබුණි.එලෙස ලබා දිය යුතු යැයි ස්වදේශික නායකයන් ද ඉල්ලා නොසිටියහ. සිංහලයට රජපවුලක් දැන් නැත යන්නෙන් මුසා පවසා වෙසට්මිනිස්ටර් නිදහස දිනාගත් ඩී.එස්. ප්‍රමුඛ මේ රට සිංහල නායකයන් එංගලන්ත රැජිනට සුවච කීකරුව සිලෝන්හි පාලනය ගෙන ගියහ.එදා සිංහල කිරීටය ප්‍රභාමත් වූ සෙංගකඩගල නගරයේ දළදා වහන්සේ ගේ ආශීර්වාදය නොතකා කොළඹ කේන්ද්‍ර කොටගත් වසල ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රය සරණ යමින් සිංහල බෞද්ධ උරුමය යටපත් කළහ.පරංගි කප්පිත්තන් විසින් ඇටවූ කොළඹ බලකොටු නගරය වෙළද තොටමුණක් ලෙස ඔසවා තබමින් තේ රබර් විකුණා යුරෝපයේ ටයිකෝට් ටේල් හැට් ආනයනය කළ මෙරට කලු සුද්දන්ට දේශීය ආර්කය ගැන විකල්පයක් තිබුණේ නැත.රුපියල් කාසි ගණින්නට මිසක් සිංහල කහවණුව මසුරම ගොඩනගන්නට මෙරට බැංකු වලට කොන්දක් ලැබුණේ නැත. සුද්දා කරන සෑමදදේම අනුකරණය කළ මෙරට කලු සුද්දන් ඔවුන්ට අනුව ඇඳ පළඳ වෙඩින් හෝම් කමින් ගනිමින් අගතියටම ගියහ. අනගාරික ධර්මපාල තුමා මෙන්ම පියදාස සිරිසේන වැනි ජාතිමාමකයන් එදා මේ සිංහලයාගගේ පරිහරිනය දැක රළු පරළු හඬින් දේශනා කළහ.මේ එදා ධර්මපාල තුමා කී දෙය.

     ගොල්පේස් හෝටලේ පිටිපස්සේ දොරෙන් ඇතුල් වී කලුඅප්පු ගෙන් විස්කි ග්ලාස් එකක් මිලදී පාන කොට සිංහල ධනවතාගේ පුත්‍රයා අනාර්ය ක්‍රියාවල යෙදෙන්නේය.ඇතැම් සිංහල තරුණ තරුණියන් වැඩි ධන වියදම් කොට කාර්ගිල් වයිට්වේ ලේඩ්ලො ඉංග්‍රීසි වානිජයාගේ ආපන ශාලාවලට පැමිණ ටුවිඩ් නොම්ස්පන් ආදී ඉංග්‍රීසි පිළීවෙලට පැෂන් එකට කලිසම් කෝට් ගවුම් බ්ලවුස් ආදිය මස්සවා ගෙන අඳිනු ලබන්නේය.

බොහෝ ධන වියදම් කිරීමට අකමැති සිංහල තරුණ තරුණියෝ පිටකොටුවේ කාරල්ලා ගේ සාප්පුවට කූරය්යා පාවයියා පින්තු මැල් යන පරවරුන්ගේ ද පකීර් තම්බි  මහමදු ලෙබ්බේ ගේ හෝ ආපන ශාලාවලට පැමිණ ලේටස්ට් පැෂන් වලට අනුකූලව රෙදි පිළී මිලදී ගෙන ඇඳිම කරන්නෝය.සිංහල තරුණ එක්කොටසක් සුද්දාගෙ සාප්පුවට ගොස් සුද්දා කියන ඕනාම බොරුවක් විශ්වාස කොට අත තිබෙන ධනය මෙසේ වියදම් කර ගණිති.

      ධර්මපාල තුමා දෙසූ මේ කරුණු බහුතර සිංහලයන් අවබෝධ කොට නොගත් බව පැහැදිලිය.1948 සිටම මාරුවෙන් මාරුවට වෙනස් කරගන්නට පක්ෂ දෙකක් අටවා දුන් බැවින් පක්ෂ දේශපාලනයට වහවැටී ජාතිය බෙදා හම්බ මරක්කලයන්ට බෝරා කාරයන්ට පුරවැසිකම් දුන්නේද සිංහල පක්ෂ වල නායකයන්ය.අනුරධපුර සමයේ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ සිංහලයන්ගේ වාස්තු විද්‍යා ඥානයෙන් හැඩගැන්වුණු පරිසර හිතකාමී ගොඩනැගිලි වෙනුවට පරංගි ලන්සි ඉංග්‍රීසි බංගලා අනුගමනය කරමින් මහා මන්දිර තැනවීමේ හීනමානයක් මේ රටේකලු සුද්දන් ගේ සිත්තුළ පැලපදියම් වූ බව පැවසිය යුතුය.

         සිංහලයෝ නගර ගොඩනැන්වූ හැටි අනුරාධපුරයෙන් ඉගෙන ගත හැකිය.පරිසරයට ආදරය කළ ඔවුහු පරිසර සමතුලිතතාවය නොබිඳෙන ලෙසින් නිර්මිතයන් සකස් කළහ. ග්‍රාමීය වැවේ සිට මහා වැව දක්වා තිබෙන වැව් සංස්කෘතිය එලෙස අපට හඳුනාගත හැකිය.1948 න් පසු මෙරට පාලනය කළ කලු සුද්දන්නට මහනුවර නගරයේ ‌ෙඑතිහාසික අගය සුරකනින්ට නොහැකි විය.ඔවුහු සුද්දා අනුව යමින් නගරය මෙන්ම එහි ‌‌‌ෙඑතිහාසික වටිනාකමත් සුන්බුන් කළහ. වර්තමානය වන විට එදා මහනුවර පරිසරය අලංකාර කල හන්තානකන්ද උඩවත්ත කැලේ බහිරව කන්ද ගුණ්ඩුමලේ වර්තමාන ප්‍රිම්රෝස්  වැනි මනස්කාන්ත පරිසර පද්ධතීන් විනාශ කරමින් ගිනිපෙට්ටි පිට ගිනි පෙට්ටි අටවමින් මීනී පෙට්ටි වලින් මිහිදන් වීමට පසුබිම සකස් කර ගෙන සිටිති.මේ විනාශය මහනුවර නගරයට පමණක් උදා වූ දෙයක් නොවේ ‌ෙඑතිහාසික කුරුණෑගල නගරයට ද එම කලදසාවම උදා වී ඇත. පැරණි නටබුන් විනාශ කරමින් එද ඉංග්‍රීසින් ඇට වූ කච්චේරිය අනුකරණය කරමින සෑදූ ගොඩනැගිලි නිසා කුරණෑගල වැවේ අස්වැද්දුම අද බස් නැවතුම් පළට යට වී තිබේ.කොළඹ මහනුවර කුරූණගල පමණක් නොව අනුරාධපුරය පොළොනේනරුව වැනි ‌‌ෙඑතිහාසික නගර හරහා දිව ගිය මේ ඛේදවාදකය මතුවන්නේ නාය යෑමෙකිනි. මහා ගංවතුරාවකිනි.නැතිනම් සුනාමියකින් නැති කම් භූ කම්පාවකිනි.පසුගිය යහපාලන රජයේ මෙගා නගර සංකල්පයෙන් ඔද්දල් වූ ජන මනස මගින් වේගවත් කරන ලද නූතන භෞතික සංවර්ධනයේ වැරැද්ද බූ වැලිකඩ පස් මහල් නිවස ගිලා බැසීමෙන්  පෙන්වා දී තිබේ..මහනුවර සෑම කන්දකම අටවා තිබෙන මෙවැනි ගොඩ නැගිලි වර්තමාන නාගරික සංවර්ධනයේ විකෘති ය කියාපායි. කෙතරම් හොඳට අත්තිවාම දමා තිබුණද පිහිටි පොළව දක්වා කොන්ක්‍රීට් කණු ගමන් කළද භූවිද්‍යා සමීක්ෂණ වාර්තා ලබාගෙන මේවා ඉඳි කළද කලක් පවත්නේ යැයි කිව නොහැකිය. වික්ටෝරියා ජලාශය පිහිටා ඇත් තේ හුණු ගල් තට්ටුවක් උඩය.මහා ජල කඳක් උසුලා තබා ගන්නා විට ඇති වන පීඩනය මෙන්ම හුණුගල්  දිරාපත් වීම තව තවත් මහනුවර ට දැනෙන විට කල් පසු වී අවසන් වනු ඇත.මහනුවර වැඩ සිටින නාථ දේවතාවුන් වහන්සේ විසින් එම දේවාලයේම බස්නායක නිලමේ ගේ මන්දිරය ගිලාබස්සවා පෙන්නා දී ඇති යථාර්තය අනෙකුත් සිංහල බෞද්ධයන්ද මැනවින් තේරුම් ගත යුත්තේය.

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

ගරු නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන, වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන, පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යඅංශය

බොහෝ දීර්ඝ කාලයක් තිස්සේ මෙරට ජනතාව මුහුණ දෙන සමාජ ගැටලුවක්ව පවතින අලි මිනිස් ගැටුමට විද්‍යාත්මක පර්යේෂණ ඔස්සේ විසඳීම් සෙවීමට නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන, වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන, පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය සහ වනජීවී රැකවරණ හා වන සම්පත් සංරක්ෂණ රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය එක්ව වැඩපිළිවෙළක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කෙරෙමින් පවතී. ඒ පිළිබඳ විශේෂ සාකච්ඡාවක් පසුගිය දින විෂය භාර රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන් වන විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය සීතා අරඹේපොල මහත්මියගේ සහ විමලවීර දිසානායක මහතාගේ සහභාගිත්වයෙන් නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන, වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන, පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශ ශ්‍රවණාගාරයේ දී පැවැත්විණි.

සීතා අරඹේපොල අමාත්‍යවරියගේ උපදෙස් මත එම අමාත්‍යාංශය යටතේ පවතින පර්යේෂණ ආයතන මෙරට පොදු ජනතාව මුහුණ දෙන සමාජ ගැටලු වලට විද්‍යාත්මක පර්යේෂණ දැනුම මගින් විසඳුම් සෙවීමට ඉදිරිපත්ව සිටී. ඒ අනුව අලි මිනිස් ගැටුමට ප්‍රායෝගික විද්‍යාත්මක විසඳුම්   තිරසාර ලෙස යොදා ගැනීම පිළිබඳව මෙහි දී සාකච්ඡා විය.  නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන, වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන, පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය යටතේ ක්‍රියාත්මත වන ශ්‍රී ලංකා නව නිපැයුම්කරුවන්ගේ කොමිසම, ජාතික මූලික අධ්‍යයන ආයතනය, කාර්මික තාක්ෂණ ආයතනය, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නැනෝ තාක්ෂණ ආයතනය, මේ වන විටත් මේ පිළිබඳව පර්යේෂණ ගණනාවක් සිදු කෙරෙමින් පවතින අතර, ඉන් කිහිපයක සාර්ථක නියමු පරික්ෂාවන්ද සිදුකර තිබේ. ඉදිරියේ දී මෙම පර්යේණයන් තවත් පුළුල් කොට මෙම ගැටලුවට විද්‍යාත්මක විසදුම් ලබා දීම සඳහා නවීන තාක්ෂණය පිළිබඳ ආතර් සී. ක්ලාක් ආයතනයේ සහ ජාතික ඉංජිනේරු පර්යේෂණ හා සංවර්ධන මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ තාක්ෂණික සහයෝගය ලබාගැනීමට නියමිතය.   

වන අලි ගම් වලට පැමිණීමට ප්‍රධාන හේතුව වී ඇත්තේ අවශ්‍ය ආහාර සහ ජලය ප්‍රමාණවත්ව නොමැති වීම බවත් ඒ සඳහා යාන්ත්‍රණයක් සකස් කොට ඔවුන් වනජීවී සීමාවන්ට කොටු කළ හැකිනම් මෙම ගැටලුවෙන් 50% ක පමණ ප්‍රතිශතයක විසඳුම් ලැබෙන බවත් මෙහි දී ප්‍රකාශ විණි.  වනය තුළ ඇති කුළු වැව් ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණය කර එම කුළු වැව් මගින්  මහ වැව් පෝෂණය කරන පැරණි ක්‍රමය නැවත ස්ථාපිත කිරීමත්, අලින්ට ආහාර පිණිස වේගයෙන් වර්ධනය වන දේශීය තෘණ වර්ග හඳුනාගෙන එම වගාවන් ඇති කිරීමත් පිළිබඳව නව නිපැයුම්කරුවන්ගේ කොමිසම සහ ජාතික මූලික අධ්‍යයන ආයතනය මගින් පර්යේෂණයන්හි නිරත වේ.

 නව නිපැයුම්කරුවන්ගේ කොමිසමේ මූලිකත්වයෙන් සාම්ප්‍රදායික අලි වැට වෙනුවට ඉහල කාර්යක්ෂමතාවක් සහිත එල්ලෙන අලිවැටක්, අලියාට විනාශ කළ නොහැකි ලෙස වැඩි දියුණු කළ වැට කණුවක්, පාලනය කිරීමට ප්‍රමුඛතාව ලබා දිය යුතු ප්‍රචණ්ඩකාරී ලෙස හානි සිදුකරන අලි සඳහා පැළඳිය හැකි විශේෂ සංඥා ලබාදෙන කොලර් සිස්ටම් එකක් නිර්මාණය කර ඇති අතර කරුවලගස්වැව, උඩවලව සහ අම්පාර ප්‍රදේශවල එහි නියමු පරීක්ෂාවන් ද සිදුකර තිබේ. වන අලි දුම්රියේ ගැටීම වැළැක්වීම වෙනුවෙන් මංජු ගුණවර්ධන මහතාගේ ද මග පෙන්වීම ඇතිව දුම්රිය දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ සහය ඇතිව සාර්ථක ඩ්‍රෝන තාක්ෂණික යෙදවුමක් ද නිර්මාණය කර තිබේ. කාර්මික තාක්ෂණ ආයතනය මගින් වන අලි ප්‍රහාර වලින් ප්‍රජාවගේ ආරක්ෂාව තහවුරු කිරීම සඳහා සන්නිවේදනය පදනම් කරගත් ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කෙරේ.

මෙහි දී අදහස් දැක්වූ ඇමතිනී සීතා අරඹේපොල මහත්මිය ප්‍රකාශ කළේ මෙම ගැටලුව විසඳීමට අප අමාත්‍යාංශයත්, වනජීවී රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයත්, වනජීවී දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, වන සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, වාරිමාර්ග දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ආදී ආයතනත් එකට එක්වීම තුළින්  ගැටුම්  ඇතිවීම වළක්වා ගනිමින් සාර්ථක විසඳුම් සෙවීම පහසු වන බවයි. එසේම මෙම සමාජ ගැටලුවට විසඳුම් සෙවීමේ දී ප්‍රමුඛතාව ලබාදිය යුතු ප්‍රදේශ හඳුනාගනිමින් නියමු ව්‍යාපෘති ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමට යාන්ත්‍රණයක් කඩිනමින් සකස් කළ යුතු බව ද ඇය පෙන්වා දුන්නා ය.

මූල්‍යමය හා නීතිමය ගැටලු ද විසඳාගනිමින් දැවෙන ප්‍රශ්නයකට විසඳුම් සෙවීමට උත්සාහ කරන බවත්, සාමූහික ප්‍රයත්නයක් තුළින් සාර්ථක ප්‍රතිඵල ලබාගත හැකි බව විශ්වාස කරන බවත් විමලවීර දිසානායක රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරයා මෙහි දී සඳහන් කළේ ය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන, වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන, පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශ ලේකම්, එන්.එච්.එම්.චිත්‍රානන්ද මහතා, අනුබද්ධ ආයතනවල ප්‍රධානීන්, වනජීවී රැකවරණ හා වන සම්පත් සංරක්ෂණ රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශයේ නිළධාරීන් ඇතුළු පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

Senaka Weeraratna

The true test of a Sri Lankan is neither the waving of a Sri Lankan National flag nor the singing of the National Anthem nor the composing of Music for the YouTube such as ‘We are Sri Lanka’, but it is much more than that.

It is the willingness to ensure that any manifestation of your religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching, should be carried out in peace and harmony with Buddhism, and such conduct should not cause hurt to the moral sensitivities of the Sinhala Buddhists, who constitute the overwhelming majority of people (70%) of Sri Lanka.

These two historical identities – Sinhala and Buddhism – are rooted in the national identity of the people whose ancestors, being Sinhala Buddhists, built an unique Buddhist civilization over a period in excess of 2000 years in the country that is now called Sri Lanka.

It is an extraordinary civilization that has always won the admiration of the world.

The proposition ‘when in Rome you must do as Rome does’ has a certain reasonableness attached to it. It is the adaptation to a foundational culture and acceptance of religious practices that are deeply embedded in a country that would make inter – racial and inter – religious peaceful co – existence possible, and not by trying to replace them at the behest of third parties, which would generate both conflict and violence as we have seen in the recent past.

Senaka Weeraratna

September 23, 2020

by C.A.Chandraprema Courtesy The Island

Over the past several days, we have been hearing various criticisms of the 20A by members of the opposition as well as from pro-government quarters. Some members of the government audit service too came out against certain provisions in the 20A. Are these criticisms valid or are we missing something? If we grade the criticisms that have got the most amount of media coverage from the most serious to the irrelevant, the most serious allegation relates to the issues concerning the Auditor General and the Audit Service Commission.

The decision of the government to abolish the Audit Service Commission and to make changes in the 19th Amendment provisions relating to the Auditor General are being portrayed as preparations for grand larceny on a hitherto unprecedented scale by the new Rajapaksa government. This is due to a misconception about the role of the Audit Service Commission. Many people are obviously under the impression that the Audit Service Commission is similar to the Elections Commission that the 19A created.

 We all know that the Elections Commission is the body that’s responsible for holding elections and after an election, all three members of the Elections Commission sign the Gazette announcing the names of those who have won seats. The Audit Service Commission that the 19A created was not a body like that. It’s not an Audit Commission but an Audit ‘Service’ Commission.  According to Article 153C(1) of the Constitution introduced by the 19A, the sole purpose of the Audit Service Commission is to preside over the appointment, promotion, transfer, disciplinary control and dismissal of the members belonging to the Sri Lanka State Audit Service. The only other task it has been assigned is to prepare the annual estimates of the National Audit Office, but you don’t need an Audit Service Commission for that.

 In other words, the Audit Service Commission was created simply to duplicate the work already being done by the Public Service Commission. The question that has to be asked is, why have a clone of the Public Service Commission just to cater to the rather limited number of employees in the government audit service? Furthermore, if the Auditor General’s subordinates come under a specially created Audit Service Commission, shouldn’t the subordinates of the Attorney General also come under an AG’s Dept. Service Commission? If taken to its logical conclusion, there will be as many ‘service commissions’ as there are divisions of the government service. The decision to abolish the Audit Service Commission is therefore obviously a housekeeping measure so as not to needlessly duplicate work already being done by other bodies such as the Public Service Commission.

Powers of the Auditor General

Changes have also been proposed to the provisions relating to the Auditor General. Under the 19th Amendment, the provisions relating to the powers of the Auditor General reads as follows:

 154(1)The Auditor-General shall audit all departments of the Government, the  Office of the Secretary to the President, the Office of the Secretary to the Prime Minister, the Offices of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Judicial Services Commission, the Constitutional Council, the Commissions referred to in the Schedule to Article 41B, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, the Secretary-General of Parliament, local authorities, public corporations, business and other undertakings vested in the Government under any written law and companies registered or deemed to be registered under the Companies Act, No. 7 of 2007 in which the Government or a public corporation or local authority holds fifty per centum or more of the shares of that company including the accounts thereof.”

 Under the proposed 20A, the above provision is to be replaced with the following:

 154(1) The Auditor-General shall audit the accounts of all departments of Government, the Offices of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Judicial Service Commission, the Public Service Commission, the Provincial Public Service Commissions, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, the Secretary-General of Parliament and the Commissioner of Elections, local authorities, public corporations and business or other undertakings vested in the Government under any written law.”

 We see that under the changes contemplated by the 20A, references to the Office of the Secretary to the President, the Office of the Secretary to the Prime Minister is being taken out of Article 154(1). We also see that companies in which the government owns more than 50% of the shares has also been taken out of Article 154(1) by the 20A Bill. These changes are being portrayed as moves by the President and Prime Minister to create an environment conducive to engaging in grand larceny with complete impunity. The removal of the reference to companies in which the government owns more than 50% of the shares in the 20A is also being portrayed as a situation where all these companies will be placed outside the ambit of the Auditor General. But is that true? It has to be understood that all that the 20A seeks to do with regard to Article 154(1) which deals with the powers of the Auditor General is to restore the status quo ante before the 19th Amendment was enacted – nothing more. Before the 19th Amendment was enacted, the old Article 154(1) was identical to that which is now being proposed in the 20A.

 Does this mean that before the 19th Amendment was enacted, the Offices of the President and Prime Minister and companies in which the state owned more than 50% of the shares, were exempt from the scrutiny of the Auditor General? To make any such assertion would be to be unfair to President J.R.Jayewardene and the UNP which promulgated the 1978 Constitution. The President’s Office and the Prime Minister’s Office were ALWAYS under the purview of the Auditor General under the 1978 Constitution. The reference to all departments of Government” in the pre-19th Amendment Article 154(1) includes the Offices of the President and Prime Minister. Any pre-19th Amendment version of the Government Financial Regulations will bear this out. This writer is in possession of an old 1992 copy of the government Financial Regulations in which Appendix 10  on pages 411-43 lists the Presidential Secretariat under ‘A Class’ government departments and the Prime Minister’s Office and the Cabinet Office under ‘B Class’ departments. The Office of Former Presidents is also categorized as a ‘B Class’ government department.

 So all these bodies were always under the purview of the Auditor General. This writer can distinctly recall that there were exchanges between members of the opposition and the government regarding the Auditor General’s reports on the President’s Fund during the previous Rajapaksa government long before the 19th Amendment was enacted. All that the 19th Amendment did was to specify the inclusion of the Offices of the President and Prime Minister under Article 154(1) in a situation where they already came under that provision anyway. This a bit like the 19th Amendment repealing Article 42 of JRJ’s 1978 Constitution, and re-enacting it as Article 33A without changing a single word or comma and then claiming that it was the yahapalana government that made the President responsible to Parliament!

 The actual fact was that from the time the 1978 Constitution was first promulgated, the President had always been responsible to Parliament under old Article 42! (It may be stated as an aside that the 20A has sought to undo this piece of chicanery by repealing Article 33A and restoring JRJ’s old Article 42 to its rightful place.) If the yahapalanites fraudulently sought to claim credit for making the President responsible to Parliament by engaging in such blatant manipulation, it’s only to be expected that they would try to do the same when it comes to the changes made to Article 154(1).

Government owned companies

 Another criticism being made is that while the 19th Amendment brought companies in which the government owns more than 50% of the shares within the ambit of the Auditor General, the 20A seeks to abolish that provision. To be sure, the 19th Amendment has included under Article 154(1) business and other undertakings vested in the Government in which the Government or a public corporation or local authority holds fifty per centum or more of the shares”. The 20A replaces this with the more general phrase business and other undertakings vested in the Government”. Some members of the government audit service even went to see the Ven. Mahanayake Theras and complained that all the companies in which the government owns more than 50% of the shares were to be taken out of the ambit of the Auditor General. That too is a false assertion. Companies in which the government owns more than 50% of the shares refers to business undertakings like Lake House and Lanka Mineral Sands Ltd. The Auditor General did audit the accounts of such companies even in the pre-19th Amendment era.

 However both before and after the 19th Amendment, it was not mandatory for any business undertaking in which the government held shares over 50% to use the services of the Auditor General. Article 154 (2) of the Constitution as introduced by the 19th Amendment reads as follows:

 154 (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1) of this Article, the Minister in charge of any such public corporation, business or other undertaking or a company referred to in paragraph (1) may, with the concurrence of the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance and in consultation with the Auditor-General, appoint a qualified auditor or auditors to audit the accounts of such public corporation, business or other undertaking or a company referred to in paragraph (1). Where such appointment has been made by the Minister, the Auditor General may, in writing, inform such auditor or auditors that he proposes to utilize his or their services for the performance and discharge of the Auditor-General’s duties and functions in relation to such public corporation, business or other undertaking or a company referred to in paragraph (1) and thereupon such auditor or auditors shall act under the direction and control of the Auditor-General.”

 Before the 19th Amendment, the old Article 154(2) read as follows:

 154 (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1) of this Article, the Minister in charge of any such public corporation or business or other undertaking may, with the concurrence of the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance, and in consultation with the Auditor-General, appoint a qualified auditor or auditors to audit the accounts of such public corporation or business or other undertaking. Where such appointment has been made by the Minister, the Auditor-General may, in writing, inform such auditor or auditors that he proposes to utilize his or their services for the performance and discharge of the Auditor-General’s duties and functions in relation to such public corporation, business or other undertaking and thereupon such auditor or auditors shall act under the direction and control of the Auditor-General.”

 Readers will note that the content of the two provisions are identical. Both before and after the 19th Amendment, the Minister in charge of the subject may appoint an audit firm to audit the accounts of a government owned company. In doing so, he is required to obtain the concurrence of the Minister of finance, and to consult the Auditor General. After an audit company has been appointed to audit the accounts of a mostly government owned company, the Auditor General can write to that audit company and make them perform their duties under the direction of the Auditor General. Nothing has changed in this regard before and after the 19th Amendment. So if anyone claims that the 20th Amendment seeks to take companies in which the government owns more than 50% of the shares out of the ambit of the Auditor General, that’s a complete falsehood.  

Urgent Bills and dual citizenship

One of the changes made by the 19th Amendment was to amend Article 78 so that the time that had to lapse between Gazetting a Bill and presenting it to Parliament was increased from seven days to fourteen days. The 19A also repealed Article 122 which made provision for urgent Bills. Under the provisions of old Article 122, if the Cabinet certifies a Bill as being urgent in the national interest, the provision that a certain number of days has to lapse between the time a Bill is gazetted and presented in Parliament will have no application. The provision of Article 121 which enabled citizens to challenge the constitutionality of a Bill within one week of it being placed on the order paper of Parliament also ceased to apply. When Article 122 was invoked in the case of urgent Bills, the President could write to the Chief Justice requesting him to issue a special determination on the constitutionality of that Bill and the Supreme Court had to make their determination within 24 hours or a period not exceeding three days, as specified by the President.

 The 20A proposes to revive the provision for urgent Bills by re-enacting the old Article 122. The 20A also proposes to amend Article 78 so as to shorten the time between the gazetting of a Bill and its introduction in Parliament from fourteen days to seven days as it was in the pre-19th Amendment days. The proposed reintroduction of this provision for urgent Bills by the 20A has also run into much criticism. According to this writer’s recollection, nobody had any real issue with the provision for urgent Bills in Article 122 until for more than three decades until the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was brought forward as an urgent Bill in 2010. The NGO lobby which seeks to hit out at the government with everything they can lay their hands on, raised a hue and cry about the 18th Amendment being introduced as an urgent Bill. However in actual fact, even if the 18th Amendment had been introduced as an ordinary Bill, and gazetted seven days before it was presented in Parliament, as per the provisions of Article 78, the end result would be the same. 

 Even urgent Bills have to go before the Supreme Court. If there was anything unconstitutional in the 18th Amendment, it would have been shot down by the SC. If it was not shot down by the SC, then it was going to be passed anyway because the 2010 government had a steamroller majority in Parliament. The fact that it was brought as an urgent Bill had little or no impact on how things finally turned out. Yet the provision for urgent Bills itself became a target of those opposed to the Rajapaksas. As a matter of principle, every country should be able to introduce urgent legislation when the need arises. This is a necessary safeguard and a fallback position. The antipathy to the provision for urgent Bills stemmed from the fact that it was used to bring in a constitutional amendment. However the proposed Article 122 in the 20A has taken this into consideration and introduced a totally new clause 122(3) which states that the provisions relating to urgent Bills will not apply to any Bill for the amendment of the Constitution. If the 20A is passed into law, the provision for urgent Bills cannot be used to bring in constitutional amendments.

 The 20A also seeks to repeal Article 91(1)(d)(xiii) by which the 19th Amendment added dual citizenship to the list of disqualifications for election to Parliament. Nobody in this country had any issue with dual citizens contesting elections. This became an issue only because the yahapalana government wanted to remove Gotabaya and Basil Rajapaksa from politics. To countenance this will mean wholesale surrender to yahapalana thinking. The yahapalana side is trying to pass off one of the most egregious outrages they committed as a virtue. We have heard some people citing the instance of Arjuna Mahendran to justify the ban on dual citizens contesting elections. However, Mahendran was not a dual citizen. He was a Singaporean not holding any kind of Sri Lankan citizenship. 

By Lakshman I. Keerthisinghe Courtesy Ceylon Today

This is a new dawn for Sri Lanka, a fresh era creating the opportunity for the country to come together…Now is the time for the West to understand the new mood in Sri Lanka, the desire on all sides for reconciliation to become realistic without any interference from the West or the UN Human Rights Council.” –  Lord Naseby President-All Party British Sri Lanka Parliamentary Group in UK.

Ceylon Today reported on 18 September that Cabinet Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella, while concurring with the position that Sri Lanka should pull out from United Nations Human Rights Council said Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena informing the UNHRC of the withdrawal from co-sponsorship of resolution 30/1 was the initial step in the process. Incidentally, addressing National Ranaviru Day commemoration last May President Gotabaya Rajapaksa expressed similar views that he would not hesitate to withdraw from any international body or organisation if such entities target the country and war heroes using baseless allegations. 

Bachelet’s baseless allegations

Criticising the UNHRC, cabinet co-spokesman Dr.Ramesh Pathirana has pointed out that Sri Lanka’s Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dayani Mendis had dismissed the allegations against Sri Lanka made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet pointing out that such allegations are baseless.

 It is relevant to note that the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. 

The UNHRC has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. The headquarters of UNHRC is in Geneva, Switzerland. The UNHRC investigates allegations of breaches of human rights in United Nations member states, and addresses important thematic human rights issues. The UNHRC was established by the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006 to replace the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) that had been strongly criticized for allowing countries with poor human rights records to be members. 

Members are selected via the basis of equitable geographic rotation using the United Nations regional grouping system. Members are eligible for re-election for one additional term, after which they must relinquish their seat. The General Assembly can suspend the rights and privileges of any Council member that it decides has persistently committed gross and systematic violations of human rights during its term of membership. The resolution establishing the UNHRC states that “when electing members of the Council, Member States shall take into account the contribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary pledges and commitments made there to” and that “members elected to the Council shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights”. 

The UNHRC holds regular sessions three times a year, in March, June, and September. The UNHRC can decide at any time to hold a special session to address human rights violations and emergencies, at the request of one-third of the member states.  As of May 2020, there have been 28 special sessions.

US withdraws

The United States withdrew from the membership of UNHRC in June 2018 stating that the UNHRC adopts a disproportionate focus on allegations of human rights abuses committed by its ally, Israel. In 2006, when the council was established, then-US President George W Bush refused to join because the organisation included members accused by Washington of human rights violations. United States withdrawal from the United Nations refers to various proposals for the United States to terminate its membership in the United Nations, where it is one of the founding members and one of the five Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. 

These proposals are often motivated by a perceived threat to U.S. sovereignty, or theories that the U.N. is a potential World Government. The United States also announced its intention to withdraw from the World Health Organisation on July 6, 2021.

 It has been the practice of the UNHRC in the past to level baseless allegations of human rights violations against Sri Lanka’s security forces at the behest of the LTTE based diaspora groups such as the Transitional Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) based internationally in the United states of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland. Its Prime Minister is Visvanathan Rudrakumaran, the former international legal advisor to the LTTE. 

 In conclusion, as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had indicated it is time for Sri Lanka to consider withdrawal from the membership of the UNHRC following the example set by the US as continued membership only results in erosion of the sovereignty of our motherland. As Lord Naseby has very aptly stated as quoted at the outset hereof for reconciliation to become realistic in Sri Lanka, it should be pursued without any interference from the West or the UN Human Rights Council.

 The writer is an Attorney-at-Law with LLB. LLM and MPhil(Colombo)

By Lakshman I. Keerthisinghe Courtesy The Ceylon Today

It was settled by the Constitution, the laws, and the whole practice of the Government that the entire executive power is vested in the President of the United States.” – Andrew Jackson-Former US President

Presidential powers are not exercised by a body or group. The Constitution vests ‘all executive power’ in one and only one person – the president.” –William Barr-US

Public Servant

The draft of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution has been published in the Government Gazette and made available for public scrutiny. Public excitement has erupted over the proposed provisions of the Bill implying that all executive power has been bestowed on the President granting an autocratic power. As quoted at the outset as Andrew Jackson and William Barr have aptly observed all executive power in the United States is vested in the President. This does not mean that the US is governed by an autocrat or a dictator. The three main pillars of a democratic Government are the legislature the executive and the judiciary according to the doctrine of separation of powers proposed by Montesquieu, French social and political philosopher in, Spirit of the Laws, where political authority of the State is divided into legislative, executive and judicial powers. He asserted that, to most effectively promote liberty, these three powers must be separate and acting independently so as to prevent the concentration of power and provide for checks and balances. 

 The powers of branches of Government are: 

The legislative branch for enacting laws of the State and appropriating money necessary to operate. 

The executive branch, for implementing and administering the public policy enacted, funded by the legislative branch.

The judicial branch responsible for interpreting the Constitution and laws and applying their interpretations to controversies brought before it.

Parliamentary Council

The passing of the new Bill on the Twentieth Amendment in Parliament will restore the Executive Presidential powers enjoyed by the President since 1978 until they were diluted in the 19th amendment in 2015. According to the draft, the Constitutional Council (CC) will be replaced with the Parliamentary Council which is comprised of the Prime Minister, the Speaker, Leader of the Opposition, a nominee of the Prime Minister and a nominee of Leader of the Opposition. This will enable the President to hold Cabinet portfolios, to appoint the Cabinet of Ministers.

The President will be vested with powers to appoint Chairmen and members of Commissions: Election Commission, Public Service Commission, the National Police Commission, the Human Rights Commission, Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, Finance Commission and Delimitation Commission. The President will also appoint the Attorney-General, the Auditor-General, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and the Secretary-General of Parliament with the observation of the Parliamentary Council.

Dissolving Parliament

A notable amendment in 20A is the President could be a member of the Cabinet of Ministers while being the Head of the Cabinet of Ministers and he can determine the number of Ministers in the Cabinet and Ministries. He can assign subjects and functions to Ministers in consultation with the Prime Minister when necessary.

At present, the President is unable to dissolve Parliament after one year but has to wait for four-and-a-half years to do so. When President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected in November 2019, he did not have the support of the Parliament to get an approval for Finance Bills until 2 March 2020 – the day Parliament completed four-and-a- half years of its 5-year term to dissolve it. Under the 20th Amendment, the President would be allowed to dissolve Parliament in a year after it first convenes and would also be vested with the power to remove the Prime Minister.

Due to the 19A, the President’s authority was drastically curtailed in the appointment of members to the Independent Commissions. The Constitutional Council has the power in this regard. In the original draft of 19A, there was a proposal to include five civil society representatives to it, but it was reduced to three at the intervention of the opposition at that time. If not for that, civil society nominees would have been able to supersede elected representatives in the appointment of members to the Independent Commissions.

Political bias

It was evident that political motivation was central to the hasty enactment of the 19th Amendment. The political parties did not have sufficient time for an in-depth studies of the 19A Bill. As a result, the country had to grapple with many a contradiction during the actual implementation of it. The two power centers failed to act in consort on most issues, leading to indecision, ending in unstable governance.

In conclusion, the misconception created in the public mind the Government is heading for an autocracy should be removed as President Gotabaya would undoubtedly lead our motherland into peace, tranquility and prosperity.

(The writer is an Attorney-at-Law with LLB, LLM, MPhil.(Colombo)-keerthisinghel@yahoo.co.uk)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

• Will not push probe on Lasantha, Thajudeen murder
• 13th Amendment to be revisited 
• Media freedom will be guaranteed
• If you introduce that system here, you are talking about 1.5 million people wearing batik clothing
• To supplement that we must make use of the Port City
• The drug menace and the underworld have to be controlled at any cost
• The 13th Amendment needs to be revisited. From 1986 we have been talking about Police powers and land powers
• When we are competitive the people will accept what is competitive

The former Government placed much focus on a political solution for the Tamils, fighting corruption and assuring justice for high profile murders and other incidents.  In an interview with the Daily Mirror online Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella asserted that the priorities of the new Government  are different.

Excerpts:

QLet me start off by asking you about the composition of this Government. We have a group of Ministers and State Ministers; some with questionable pasts and some with questionable portfolios. Will this Government really meet the expectations of the public?

That’s the intention. Based on that we have mapped out a structure. As we move forward we may encounter a requirement for some changes or else we will stick to it. I believe the authorities would have done a comprehensive study on the promises and how to convert the promises into reality. And for that the structure has been made with the Ministers and Ministries. There are areas where some people may have questions. But I can explain to you if you come out with the names.

QWell you have some Ministers who behaved violently in Parliament during the political crisis and then in the portfolios you have a State Minister for Batik, Handloom and Local Apparel Products

Good that you came out with that. Before the 1983 riots tourism brought the main income to the country. It was really flourishing.  And one of the main items at the time was batik. It was so lucrative and there was a huge market for it. I even know that some people who are involved in the batik trade purchased houses in Colombo 7. Food, clothing and housing are three things you need to embark on. Those are areas you will never fail in. 

   
In Indonesia Friday is known as casual day. They are encouraged to wear batik clothing. If you introduce that system here, you are talking about 1.5 million people wearing batik clothing. There is also a demand in the world market. We must pursue that. Then there is also clay and betel leaves. There was a consignment of betel leaves that was sent to Pakistan. So these are markets we have totally neglected. These are things which we have in Sri Lanka. All we need is proper management and modern technology to develop these products.

QAnd what about the faces behind some of these Ministries. There is a concern they would behave like they did during the political crisis.

Well I will not condone such behaviour. But things did happen spontaneously (during the political crisis in 2018).  That whole episode of events is not in isolation. There were situations where even the Speaker at that time abused power. So there was no redress and these were natural reactions which I don’t justify. I hope that the entire episode would never take place in the future.

QWhat does this Government hope to accomplish over the next five years?

One is, we are an agriculture based country. We need to view that sector and give priority to areas in agriculture. Industrializing should be agri-based. Then we need Foreign Direct Investment. To supplement that we must make use of the Port City. That’s a money spinner if you really use it well. 

On the other side there are other matters we will look into; for example, getting rid of the underworld. The drug menace and the underworld have to be controlled at any cost. We need to make this country livable and lovable by everybody.

QSo your Government will give an assurance to the public that they will not see another Easter Sunday attack?

Well we have proved that. We got rid of thirty years of agony.  Ever since we got rid of Prabakaran in May 2009 there was not one incident in the country. In other countries even after a settlement there had been isolated incidents. But in Sri Lanka, until the Easter Sunday incident, we hadn’t had any incident related to terrorism. So we are sure and confident we can maintain that.  

QHow would your Government deal with those accused of neglecting their duties which resulted in the Easter attacks?

One country one law. I suppose the law will prevail. Simple answer.

QConsecutive Governments have spoken about addressing issues in the North through a political solution. We have not heard much on that from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and this Government. Is that an issue which is taking a back seat now?

I think there are only a few people who are talking about a political solution. The need is more for an economic solution. There were 11 people elected from the North and East to Parliament at the recent elections. The people there want their irrigation, a but back guarantee for their products,  a solid education system and a healthy relationship with communities. That was broken down at various times. All politicians are equally responsible for this; including people like Gajen Ponnambalam and Wigneswaran. They are promoting disharmony. I am sure people there want to live in harmony with others. This political interest is an interest of a few people.   
The TNA used to say they are the only representatives of the Tamils. But now I don’t think they have any right to say that.  

QAre you ruling out the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and devolution of powers?

The 13th Amendment needs to be revisited. From 1986 we have been talking about Police powers and land powers. I feel you can put a better system in place to bring about harmony. 

QSo you are going to tell India that the 13th Amendment isn’t the solution since India has been pushing for this?

My humble opinion is that India was also not really for this. They just wanted to get rid of an issue at that time. 

QCOBID-19 has really taken a toll on several businesses and the daily lives of many. Do you see a turnaround any time soon?

You need to have a note of appreciation for the Health sector particularly, then the President’s directives, the defence authorities and all those who were involved. We  have controlled it thanks to all sectors who were involved. 

Having said that, the drawback we are experiencing as a result of this is terrible. It’s not easy. We are engaged in an uphill task. It’s like the tsunami. But then we had enough and more countries willing to assist us. Here the whole world is affected. So its not easy. One thing we are focusing on is self sufficiency with regards to food items. Then we need to manage the service sector. Then there is tourism and foreign employment. 

Extravagances will have to be curtailed. We have to simplify our lives and have confidence in ourselves. It’s a tough job, but self-discipline and finance discipline can bring about a change.   

QLets talk about your Ministry. State Media comes under your Ministry. Is State Media just playing the role of being the mouthpiece of the Government or doing more service to the public?

They should be the mouthpiece of the Government. But the interpretation is what matters. If a Government is progressive and there is development taking place, it is the right of the people to know that. If the private media is not doing that it is up to to the State media to do so.  All I am saying is lets be competitive. For example if the Government newspaper can provide something people want to read its good. You don’t have solid reading material in most newspapers. You need to strike a balance while giving space for Government opinion. If there is something against the Government that must also be there so we are competitive. When we are competitive the people will accept what is competitive.    

QWhat plans do you have for the media in Sri Lanka?

I don’t think you can bring in rules and control the media. That should not be in the system and that should not be the system. It must be on consensus. I should be able to tell you that some article is not right and you should be able to tell me yes maybe that article was not right. We should be able to discuss. That is what you call a beautiful culture. Achieving that might be difficult, but I am trying. 

QSo you are guaranteeing media freedom?

I am definitely guaranteeing media freedom.

QSuccessive Governments have given assurances that investigations into the murder of journalist Lasantha Wickremetunga, attacks on journalists and even the murder of rugger player Wasim Thajudeen will be investigated and justice would be served. Your Government has not said a word about these issues since assuming duties. Why is that?

You should ask the former Government about that. They are the people who accused us. They are the people who put the blame on us. They had five years to investigate. We denied our involvement. We investigated. Around the world there are so many murders that have gone without a final finding. I am not trying to justify that. But those are the factors which the former Government used in 2015 and the change took place because of that. One was corruption and the other was these incidents of murder and harassment. Every time they spoke about Thajudeen.

 
QSo that is of no concern to this Government? Is that what you are saying?

I am saying one country one rule. Justice will prevail. The system in place for justice will have to carry out its investigations. 

QSo would the government push for those investigations?

I don’t think we will push for anything. It’s the duty for the institutions to make sure that the final results are there. If not we can question them. We cant tell them do this and do that or don’t do that. Again you become dictators. We say let these institutions be independent, let them carry out their investigations, and if they don’t do that they will need to give a viable explanation as to why that is so. They can say they cannot find the proper witnesses. But then people cannot question that because it has happened all over the world. The former Government was given five years to complete the investigations. I believe what the authorities have said was that there was not sufficient evidence. 

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

• Checks and balances also have limits
• The president of the country is not entitled to be the defence minister but bound to be the defence minister
• President is accountable to people 

Education Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, in an interview with Daily Mirror, comments on the 20th Amendment to the Constitution and responds to questions about it. Excerpts:   

QThe 20th Amendment has been the subject of criticism these days. What is the rationale behind the government’s move?

The 20th Amendment has been brought forward to address very practical questions. The opponents of the 20th Amendment are trying to raise various controversies. The rationale is very simple. The 19th Amendment which is sought to be rolled back by the 20th Amendment was an exercise in vengeance. It has no other purpose than wreak vengeance on a particular family to sweep them away from the political field, and if possible, to put them in jail. The price for that folly was paid not by the Rajapaksa family but by the people. The 19th Amendment made governance impossible. As long as you have executive presidency as an institution, the President is empowered to do the job for which he was elected. The rationale of presidency is that a country that needs to have rapid development needs to have a strong executive. The President is elected for five years. He receives a mandate directly from people. He is elected on a particular programme of work- a specific agenda. People of the country endorse that agenda and give him the power to implement it. He has to deliver in keeping with the mandate.   
The 19th Amendment prevented the President from giving effect the mandate he received from the people. The responsibility is there. What he lacks is the authority to deliver. That is very clearly demonstrated. That is why nothing happened during the Yahapalana years. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected with 6.9 million votes. There is no doubt about his mandate. But, how can  he deliver? He cannot hold the defence portfolio. But, he is responsible for maintaining the law and order of the country. How can he deliver if he cannot even dismiss the Inspector General of Police?   

The President has no say in the appointment or removal of the IGP. The IGP faced serious allegations. He was brought to court in shackles. The magistrate decided that he should be consigned to remand jail. After all that, the President cannot remove him. He is still the IGP. All that the government can do is to appoint an acting IGP. Then, who is responsible for the defence of the country?   

We argue that, in spite of prohibitions contained in the 19th Amendment, the President of the country is not entitled to be the defence minister but bound to be the defence minister.   

According to Article 4, defence is an inherent part of the executive power. The President is the repository of executive power, and defence is an integral element of it.   

Take the Easter Sunday carnage! Evidence transpiring before the Presidential commission is really horrifying. It is crystal clear that all the facts were known to the government. Indian intelligence has brought this to the notice of the Sri Lankan government not once but many times. All the facts were known, but the government could not do anything at all to prevent this disaster which resulted in the loss of 265 lives. That is because of the creation of two centres of power. In a coalition consisting of different parties, there is a divergence of policies, approaches and a ferocious conflict of personalities. It was the people of the country who paid the price. The result was the state of anarchy. That situation could not have existed before because there was clear attribution of responsibility. That became cloudy.   

The 19th Amendment which is sought to be rolled back by the 20th Amendment was an exercise in vengeance. It has no other purpose than wreak vengeance on a particular family to sweep them away from the political field

QWhat is the reason for the proposal to replace the constitutional council with the parliamentary council?

The 20th Amendment substitutes the parliamentary council for the constitutional council. The constitutional council consisted of ten persons. Three out of them had to be nominated from civil society by the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader. In the unusual circumstances which prevailed in the Yahapalana days, it was possible because the Opposition Leader, for all intentions and purposes, was virtually a member of the government. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) supported every budget of the Yahapalana government without proposing one single amendment. It was normally an opposition. Therefore, it is not difficult for the government and the opposition to agree on a set of names. In the context of today, it would be difficult for the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader to agree on names.   

QWhy is it inappropriate for civil society to play a role in this case?

You bring people from outside. The constitutional council operates really above the President. The 19th Amendment clearly declared that as far as the commissions are concerned, the commissioners can be appointed only on the recommendations of the constitutional council. Without them, the President cannot act.   

Secondly, a series of officers cannot be appointed without the approval of the constitutional council. That means the President cannot discharge those functions without recommendations or approval. There is this myth skillfully cultivated in the country that these are dangerous powers to be entrusted to the President; that it will erode separation of powers, freedom of individuals etc. That has been cultivated. Then, there is absolutely no danger in giving these powers to people from civil society. One must rationally examine this premise.   

QHow do you argue against it?

You are empowering the President. The President is elected and accountable to the people of the country. After five years, he has to submit himself to the judgment of people. If the people are not satisfied with his performance, he is defeated. That is the ultimate accountability of the President to the people. What about the people from civil society. From whom have they got the mandate? To whom are they responsible? Where is the accountability?   
Today, you have a situation in Sri Lanka where the President, the prime minister and the Cabinet have changed. But, one thing that has not changed is the constitutional council. These members from civil society hold office until October, 2021. More than a year from now, they are in office. People cannot change them. Is that upholding of democracy or negation of democracy? These people are a law unto themselves.   

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected with 6.9 million votes. There is no doubt about his mandate. But, how can  he deliver? He cannot hold the defence portfolio. But, he is responsible for maintaining the law and order of the country. How can he deliver if he cannot even dismiss the Inspector General of Police

QThey argue that the aspiration is good. What is your response?

But, it is obvious that it was not achieved on the ground. Empirical experience of the Yahapalana years demonstrates that beyond any doubt. The objective was to depoliticise all these appointments. Did that really happen in practice? Evidence is very much to the contrary. You have Javid Yusuf. He is above the President. He is expected to be apolitical. Is he objective? He called upon people at a public forum not to give two-thirds majority to an alliance led by SLPP. 

He is as much as politicised as anybody else. He is not far removed from politics. Election Commission member Dr.Ratnajeewan Hoole asked people not to vote for the SLPP. Everything they have done so far shows that they have been instruments of the government in power. You have this pretense of impartiality. They say it is dangerous to concentrate too much power in the hands of one individual. Then, what about concentration of power in the hands of people who are not accountable? The problem arises when there is power without accountability. The President is accountable whereas Dr. Hoole is not.   

QBut, you need checks and balances in a democracy. What is your response? 

Like everything else in life, there must be a sense of balance. We need checks and balances. We accept that. But, if you have checks and balances to the extent that the person elected cannot move this way or that way, it is negating. It destroys their very purpose. The result is inaction. Checks and balances also have a limit.   
If too much power in the hands of one person is bad, what is the right balance? The President could not act without the approval of the constitutional council. Now, the parliamentary council is proposed to be set up. The President has to refer his appointments to the parliamentary council for observations. That is a check on arbitrary or capricious actions. 

He must make the appointments after all. It is he who was elected by the people. If he acts unreasonably, the public opinion will build up against him.   

QThere is a whole lot of criticism on the move to do away with the National Audit Commission. Why has it been proposed?

Seven commissions have been retained. The powers of the audit commission have been transferred to the public service commission. It is not that function has disappeared. It is exercised by the public service commission. Many other powers of the police commission are also exercised by the public service commission.   

QThe President is always a member of a particular political party. If he gets the authority to appoint members to the election commission, it will affect independence of the body. How do you counter that argument?

The entire tradition since the Soulbury Commission was that. All these bodies were appointed by the government in power. That was never accepted inappropriate since 1948. It was like that. The election commission has to be appointed independently, you said. What happened when Dr. Hoole made this statement on TV that people should not vote for Pohottuwa? The Secretary of SLPP protested in writing and asked for the response of the chairman of the election commission. There was no response at all. Is that being independent?  

The President is elected for five years. He receives a mandate directly from people. He is elected on a particular programme of work- a specific agenda. People of the country endorse that agenda and give him the power to implement it. He has to deliver in keeping with the mandate

QWhy have you sought to remove the ceiling on the size of the Cabinet? 

There was never a ceiling. That was entirely fictitious. That was a public relations exercise. On the face of it, you have 30 Cabinet Ministers and 40 state and deputy ministers. Simply by signing an agreement with another party, you can knock off all those limits. It was sleight of hand.   

QDoes it mean the government will stick to the present number or increase it?

The President will have that power to decide under appropriate circumstances to change numbers this way or that way. It does not mean you must have 30. When the President appointed this Cabinet, the 19th Amendment was in force. But, he did not go up to 30. 

He appointed only 28. Actually, the 20th Amendment will preserve the rights of people in a way that did not exist earlier. 

Courtesy Adaderana

Investigations have revealed that the ‘Save the Pearls’ organization, belonging to currently detained Hejaz Hizbullah, has received funds from an institute in Qatar suspected to be funding terrorist activities.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) informed the court today (23), that the said institute had deposited an amount of Rs 13 million to the bank account of the ‘Save the Pearls’ organization.

The relevant institute in Qatar has been identified as a banned organization that provides funding to various terror groups.

Therefore, the CID informed the court that further investigations are being carried out with regard to the Qatari institution.

Courtesy Hiru News

05 arrivals from the UAE, &amp; 01 from Ethiopia tested positive for Covid-19 increasing total infected in Sri Lanka to 3,321.

Courtesy Hiru News

A girl who is about to enter the first grade of a school next year had received an inspirational letter from the school.

Courtesy Hiru News

Former IGP Pujith Jayasundara making a statement today before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Easter attacks stated that former President Maithripala Sirisena has instructed him not to conduct any open investigation into Islamic extremist activities.

He was giving evidence before the commission for the second day today

This was when the Commission inquired whether the Prime Minister had been consulted without obtaining advice from the President at any time

Meanwhile, while Pujith Jayasundara was giving evidence, former President Maithripala Sirisena arrived at the commission at around 4.00 pm this afternoon.

Then, as he had done yesterday the former President sat in solitude at the back, observing the hearing and continued to stay there for about 45 minutes before leaving, where journalists questioned the former President.

Meanwhile, former President Maithripala Sirisena and his private secretary were again issued notices today to appear before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Easter attacks.

In addition, notices were issued to the three Auxiliary Bishops of the Archdiocese of Colombo to appear before the Presidential Commission tomorrow.