By Shivanthi Ranasinghe Courtesy Ceylon Today

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa asked for a strong Parliament to abrogate the 19th Amendment. At the recently-concluded General Election, he received an overwhelming mandate with a rare two-thirds majority. The Opposition, struggling to keep its nose above water was too distracted and embarrassed even to oppose it. It is the West-mentored civil organisations and Media bodies outside Sri Lanka that are deeply concerned over the fate of the 19th Amendment.

West Mentored Gentle Coaxing 

The Guardian and The Hindu echoes that the Rajapaksa brothers are now with powers to change the constitution and unravel democratic safeguards…made by the previous administration aimed at decentralising power and preventing the rise of another strongman.”  Sophie Landrin for ‘Le Monde’ – a French Daily writes, This concentration of power is fearful of the worst in this country scarred by decades of civil war.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet has urged the Rajapaksa Administration to preserve and build upon the gains which have been made over the last few years.” According to her, ‘Independent institutions, strengthened under the 19th Constitutional Amendment, are a key pillar in its democratic structure.’

Understanding the Constitution first

However, this hastily pushed through Amendment is with many misinterpretations and ambiguities. It is almost as if those who drafted this Amendment were unfamiliar with the Sri Lankan Constitution. For instance, the 19th Amendment implies that the President may not hold a portfolio. Yet, the Constitution stipulates the President as the head of the Government, Cabinet, Armed Forces and Defence. As the Head of the Cabinet, the President is naturally a Cabinet member. As such, the President may or may not hold a portfolio. 

Furthermore, all ministers derive their executive powers from the President. The voter only gives passage for an MP to enter Parliament. It is the President who decides the subjects and vests the necessary powers on the person awarded with the subject. Therefore, ministers are in effect the President’s representatives. 

The best case to illustrate this point would be the appointment of Ali Sabri as the Minister for Justice. This appointment was made amidst the controversy that brewed in social Media as to whether Sabri was the best man for the job. The fact that he is a Muslim by faith was held against him, despite his track record and stance against Islam extremism. He publicly frowns upon the burka, which he dissociates from the faith and links with the Arab culture. He advocates anyone who wishes to live in Sri Lanka must embrace the Sri Lankan culture. 

Therefore, despite the opposition orchestrated by some quarters, President Gotabaya without any qualms appointed Sabri for the post. As far as President was concerned, the only thing that really mattered was the fine subject knowledge Sabri would bring to the complex decision making process. Hence, even if some of his voters were against Sabri becoming the Minister of Justice, the prerogative lies with the Executive President and not with the voter. When this is the case, it is an absurd supposition that the President cannot hold a portfolio. 

Nonexistent Independent Institutions

This is not the only confusion the 19th Amendment presents. The independent institutions supposedly strengthened by this Amendment that Bachelet spoke of in reality do not exist. This is best exemplified by the drama played out by the Election Commission (EC). 

The three-member commission has become the biggest joke. Throughout its appointment, its undisguised objective had been NOT to hold Elections. During its tenure, local Government Elections were postponed for two years. Interestingly, none of the entities who are expressly concerned over democracy under the Rajapaksa Brothers worried over this delay. They are yet to raise even a peep over the delay of holding Provincial Council Elections. The Provincial Councils are the key to decentralising the power at the Centre. Yet, as Election have not been held when the Council’s term expired, all nine provinces have fallen defunct. 

On 29 October, 2018 President Maithripala Sirisena sacked his Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and moved for fresh Parliamentary Election. This raised a howl of protests from the Yahapalana Government proponents. While the objections from Wickremesinghe’s vote base are acceptable, that from Election Commission member Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole was not. Yet, he was among the petitioners who submitted to the Supreme Courts his objections AGAINST holding Elections. 

EC cannot be excused

The fact that the 19th Amendment prevented the President to call for fresh Elections when the then Government was failing should not be dismissed lightly. The absurdity of having to endure a failing Government for four and half years out of a five year term cannot be lost on a genuine advocator for democracy. As the High Commissioner for UNHR Bachelet should seriously study the causes that allowed for the Easter Sunday massacres just six months after President Sirisena’s desperate move to establish proper governance in the country. It was none other than the 19th Amendment that prevented President Sirisena from doing so. 

The 19th Amendment forced the voter to suffer the presence of political entities who had lost credibility. Had the 19th Amendment not prevented an Election on 5 January 2019 as President Sirisena wanted, the Yahapalana Government partners would have merely lost the Election. The local Government Election that were held in February 2018 attests to this fact. However, the voter was not allowed to decide for a further one year and eight months. The consequent festering resentment resulted in politicians such as Ranil Wickremesinghe not just losing the Election, but been resoundingly sacked by the people. 

The manner the EC conducted itself during the COVID-19 pandemic certainly did not inspire people’s confidence in the Commission. Using the pandemic as an excuse, the Sajith Premadasa-Ranil Wickremesinghe led Opposition protested against Elections. Using that very same cover, the EC too baulked at conducting General Election on the due date. 

As the pandemic was an extraordinary and unprecedented experience, the EC can be arguably excused for indefinitely postponing the Elections that were due on April 25. However, the EC cannot be excused for its failure to explore alternative avenues to hold Elections or complete the tasks that they could have executed. It seems that they too were waiting with the expectation that the dissolved Parliament would be recalled as demanded by the Opposition. This would then excuse them from their obligation to hold Election. 

SC decides 

The matters deteriorated to the point it ended up in Supreme Courts. A main demand before the SC was for the President to recall the gazette that dissolved the Parliament and called for Elections. However, disagreeing with the petitioners, the SC deemed that to allow a President to recall a gazette could lead to a dangerous precedence. In normal circumstances, the new Parliament must convene within three months from the date of dissolution. However, the SC ruled that under extraordinary conditions as the pandemic, the new Parliament may convene even after the lapse of three months. After all, the law does not expect the impossible. 

With this ruling from the SC, the EC had to proceed with the Election. It was at this point that Hoole took matters to his own hands and started an active campaign against SLPP. This is obviously in violation to the Commission’s mandate. Yet, the EC members are of the same league as a Supreme Court judge. Thus, when a member turns rogue as Hoole did, the way to terminate him would be to impeach him in Parliament. As it turned out, the Parliament was not in its ‘proper sense’ to deal with such a matter. 

How did the 19A strengthen Democracy?

A similar obstacle prevented the termination of the IGP, even after it transpired that his gross neglect of duty allowed the Easter Sunday Massacres. The Government was then forced to send him on compulsory leave and appoint an acting IGP. Even when he was taken into remand custody, he could not be terminated. In short, the 19th Amendment made a comedy out of the State affairs. Its aim was to clip the President’s executive powers. However, such a move needs a referendum from the people. After all, this power is vested in the President by the people. Thus, it is not possible to shift this power to another source without the people’s consent. 

Even though the 19th Amendment is being pandered as a reform that strengthened democracy, the Yahapalana Government feared to seek permission from the people to implement the Amendment. Instead, they tried to work around the clauses that demand a referendum. This is how the Constitution got bogged with a chicken-wire-chewing-gum Amendment. 

Sri Lanka has suffered immensely because of the 19th Amendment. The time to bin it is long overdue. Those who had not studied this Amendment or understood its failures should not profess an opinion about it. 

ranasingheshivanthi@gmail.com 

Health Promotion Bureau

To date, Sri Lanka is among the elite group of countries that have controlled this epidemic successfully.

This is a result of all the hard work and commitment showcased by all Sri Lankans.

We have won the first battle to control the epidemic. Still, the war with the virus will continue for years to come, and it will test our resilience and endurance as a country to uphold this achievement until COVID-19 is eliminated.

Thank you all, and we hope you will make Sri Lanka proud for years to come.

by Shivanthi Ranasinghe  Courtesy The Island

Sri Lanka is the first country to defeat Regime Change”. The fact that this whole operation was reversed by the ballot makes this accomplishment irrefutable. It is after all in the guise of strengthening democracy that this Regime Change” Operation was launched. Critics have tried to downplay this turn of events by claiming that the voter turnout was the lowest in the decade. With a voter turnout of over 71 percent however, the recently concluded general elections can hardly be considered to have been apathetic.

This election was held at a time that is trying for the whole world. There was an attempt within the country to postpone elections indefinitely and instead for the dissolved Parliament to be recalled. This would have allowed those politicians whose popularity that had nosedived to remain as decision-makers without a people’s mandate.

It is interesting that advocates of democracy found fault with President Gotabaya. They accused him of running the country without a Parliament. However, instead of taking the ground situation into account or exploring ways of safely conducting elections, their expectations were also for the dissolved parliament to be recalled and elections to be postponed. Surprisingly, it did not bother them that such an act would violate the people’s franchise.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa however decided that he could still meet the challenges with the powers vested in him. True to his word, the infected clusters were quickly contained. Sri Lanka is yet to face the dreaded second wave that had engulfed most other countries. Though imports were severely controlled, his Administration ensured that there were no shortages of any essentials.

The Supreme Courts agreed with the President that he had taken the right steps in dissolving Parliament and calling for general elections. Therefore, the onus of holding elections were with the Elections Commission.

The EC that had already postponed elections twice had no other choice but to proceed. By this time, since the Kandakadu cluster, not a single new patient had been identified from within the Island.

It is also noteworthy that independent observers have declared this election to have been both fair and peaceful. Therefore, no one can interpret the two third majority that the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Administration received as anything but a clear mandate from the people.

A healthy voter turnout, elections conducted in a peaceful environment despite the trying circumstances and a clear message from the people attests to the strength of the democracy in Sri Lanka. Yet, the silence from the so-called proponents of democracy is deafening.

Mandate Received in

2015n & in 2020

After the 2015 presidential and parliamentary elections, many international players as well as independent bodies applauded Sri Lanka for reestablishing democracy. Some even took credit for it. The then US State Secretary John Kerry revealed that nearly USD 800 million of American taxpayers’ money was invested to change the governments of four countries. Sri Lanka was one of them.

Yet, none of the countries that propelled the Yahapalana Government into power enthusiastically extended its support for the 2019 presidential elections. India’s lackluster approach is understandable. As far as India is concerned, the betrayal of leasing of the Hambantota Port to China for 99 years, which can be extended for another 99 years is equivalent to LTTE assassinating Rajiv Gandhi.

During the Mahinda Rajapaksa Administration, the ambitious Chinese-funded projects made India uneasy. The occasional visits from Chinese nuclear subs hardly compares though to the permanent residency Yahapalana Government granted to China with th leasing of the Port.

Absurd amounts of money were spent on the elections by all parties, especially on social media. However, it is not clear if the Yahapalana candidate, Sajith Premadasa received the same or similar support that Maithripala Sirisena did from external bodies.

In 2015, the Yahapalana Government came to power after receiving much support and assistance, especially in social media, from external sources. This was somewhat reminiscent to the LTTE days when the Government troops struggled without weapons comparable to those of the enemy. Likewise, the Mahinda Rajapaksa Administration too could not counter the social media onslaught.

Yet, the mandate the Yahapalana Government received in 2015 was not as clear as that received by the Gotabaya Administration in 2019-2020. By this time, the playing field in social media had leveled out. This allowed the Rajapaksa camp to effectively counter disinformation as well as carry out their own campaigns. Therefore, it is possible to surmise that the voters’ decision was less manipulated in 2019.

Manipulations for a

Democratic Majority

After Maithripala Sirisena won the 2015 Presidential Elections, he took control of the SLFP. This was a bizarre situation as the SLFP was the main party of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). As such, backed by the UNP, Maithripala Sirisena contested against the UPFA. Thus, when he took over the SLFP, he effectively became the Head of the Government as well as that of the legitimate Opposition.

Sirisena came to power on the UNP vote base on an apolitical” platform. Hence, the UNP voter was rather taken aback when he become the leader of their arch rival. They however calmed as Sirisena was then able to exert influence over the UPFA, enabling Ranil Wickremesinghe’s minority government to plough ahead unhindered. This allowed the minority government to even tinker with the Constitution.

Except for Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara, the new Opposition was in a confused daze and somewhat cowered by Mahinda Rajapaksa’s defeat. Therefore, they offered zero resistance. Their failure resulted in the 19th Amendment which they too supported. In the course of the next four years, the country was to suffer immensely because of an amendment without due democratic process.

To overcome the failure of obtaining a majority at the 2015 General Elections, Ranil Wickremesinghe formed a National Government. Maithripala Sirisena too helped in this manipulation by convincing about 40 UPFA MPs to join this union. He even replaced the names of those on the list placed before the electorate as National List nominees with defeated candidates who were loyal to him.

This violated the people’s mandate. Candidates rejected by the people do not have the moral right to represent them. Moreover, the National List is a means to bolster the intellectual capacity of the Parliament by inviting highly respected personalities and subject experts with a proven track record. It is most definitely not for candidates scorned by voters. The voters were in effect cuckolded twice because the promised National List was not the one that eventually materialized.

Maithrpala Sirisena’s actual motive was self preservation. Had he not got his own team, he would have been a mere puppet of the UNP. Yahapalana Government supporters argued that this as a progressive move that would end the era of divisive politics with both main parties on the same side.

In reality however, Maithripala Sirisena fortified with a team of his own began to assert his own independence. As a result, the two factions – one led by Sirisena and the other by Wickremesinghe – could not agree on many issues. This indecisiveness led to nine different economic policies within three years. By the fourth year, a Cold War of sorts had set in between the two camps, which led to the catastrophic Easter Sunday massacres.

Before this fission became apparent, the extraordinary lengths the Yahapalana Government went to ensure its dominance in Parliament were heralded as democratic. The various western agents who dropped in” heaved a sigh of relief that the era of Mahinda Rajapaksa authoritarianism is over”. It was only after Donald Trump became the US President that ended these visits, which in reality were a trespassing of our sovereignty.

These agents who oohed” and ahhed” over the democratic reforms” ushered in with the Regime Change Operation, refused to see just how much the democratic norms were been violated. Maithripala Sirisena was able to lure only about half of the UPFA MPs. The corruption charges against these MPs miraculously disappeared. Despite the lure of power and perks, 55 MPs refused to be part of the Yahapalana Government. They continued to be persecuted by a special criminal investigation division directed by the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

This group presented themselves as the Joint Opposition (JO) as they contested against the Yahapalana Government. As such, the mandate JO received from their voters was to oppose the Yahapalana Government. Therefore, none of the UPFA MPs had a right to sit with the Yahapalana Government.

JO was the largest group in Parliament as an opposition. Together, this group represented eight of the nine provinces. Yet, Maithripala Sirisena as the President and Karu Jayasuriya as the Speaker refused to acknowledge the JO as the Opposition. Instead, the TNA with its meager presence in the Parliament, representing only two of the provinces was appointed as the Opposition Leader.

While Karu Jayasuriya agreed to treat the ostracized group as a separate entity, he refused to acknowledge the large number in the group. As such, he refused to allocate a reasonable time for the JO to speak in Parliament.

An Opposition Protective of Its Government

The TNA, while accepting the prestige of the position of the Leader of the Opposition, never spoke on any of the National issues. In fact, they barely disguised their complicit partnership with the Government. They never raised an issue over the Central Bank bond scams, even as the interests rates began to rise as a direct rippled effect of these scams. The economic repercussions were enormous as businesses collapsed and cost of living soared. As imports increased while the export markets struggled, the rupee came under intense pressure. The sudden devaluation of the rupee by 31 percent was unprecedented. This in turn increased our debt burden, causing our interest rates to rise even more.

During the tenure of the Yahapalana Government, Sri Lanka experienced a number of tragedies. Droughts and floods are common phenomenon in Sri Lanka. Apart from these, the Salawa explosion, the Meetotamulla garbage disaster and the massive Aranayaka landslide took place while the TNA sat as the Opposition. Not a single TNA MP visited any of these disaster sites, nor raised in Parliament the delay in compensating the victims. They did not even raise the issue faced by the Northern fishermen due to poaching by the South Indian fishing trawlers.

The TNA’s focus was holding the Sri Lankan Military accountable for alleged war crimes and gaining more autonomy. These were also the very objectives of the Yahapalana Government. As such, both the Yahapalana Government and the TNA were working in partnership.

While the Yahapalana Government co-sponsored the UNHRC Resolution 30/1, the TNA was formulating a new constitution with irreversible conditions to strengthen the provinces at the cost of the central government. They were thus working on the same project.

Even as the TNA were pushing for more autonomy, they failed to protect the powers they already have at hand. One by one the Provincial Councils became defunct as the PC elections were postponed indefinitely. The very reasons Provincial Councils were created was as a step to redress the grievances of the Tamils in the North and East. Yet, to date they have not expressed any distress over the fact that these councils are no longer functioning. It is ironic indeed that since the expiration of these councils, the provinces are being run by the Government.

It was indeed eyebrow raising when the TNA tried to protect the Yahapalana Government. As the popularity of the Yahapalana Government plummeted, a petrified TNA beseeched India to protect the government. By doing so, TNA must have become the first Opposition to want to protect the sitting government.

Democracy Advocators Break their Silence

Not a single West mentored entity was bothered by these vulgarities that shammed democracy. They continued to be relieved that the Rajapaksas were not at the helm. However, the people have voted with an overwhelming majority the Rajapaksa brothers back to power.

This is very alarming to the West-led foreign media as well as civil groups. They refuse to acknowledge any positive stride taken by the new Rajapaksa headed Administration. Even Sri Lanka’s superb management of the COVID-19 pandemic is met with countless criticism and without a single word of praise or acknowledgment of its remarkable successes. They worry that the democratic reforms” introduced by the previous government will be rolled back.

Sri Lanka can be assured that the next four years will be a never ending complaint from these entities as they nitpick over isolated incidents and make mountains out of molehills. They may moan and groan, but it is the people in Sri Lanka who has to live with the situation. Therefore, it is the Sri Lankan citizen who must decide what is right and not for Sri Lanka.

(ranasingheshivanthi@gmail.com)

By Noor Nizam – Peace and Political Activist, Political Communications Researcher, SLFP/SLPP Stalwart and Convener – The Muslim Voice”, August 15th., 2020.

The cut-off point in proportional representation has to change from 5% to 12.5% in the new constitution.

POLITICAL PARTIES BASED ON COMMUNITY, RELIGION AND COMMUNAL BASIS HAS TO BE BANNED IN SRI LANKA BY THE 2/3 MAJORITY NEW GOVERNMENT, THE SINHALESE COMMUNITY AND NATIONALIST SINHALA FORCES IMMEDIATELY UNDER ANY NEW CONSTITUTION TO BE PRESENTED IN PARLIAMENT. FOR THIS –  ALL SINHALA FORCES, INCLUDING THE MAHA SANGHA, THE SLFP, UNP (those who love the maathruboomiya”), JVP AND OTHER PATRIOTIC POLITICAL PARTIES INCLUDING THE SLPP/SLFP SHOULD GIVE THEIR FULLEST SUPPORT TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. SEVENTY FOUR PERCENTAGE (74% ) SINHALA MP’s (voters) CAN EASILY DO THIS. MINORITY REPRESENTATION SHOULD ONLY BE IN THE NATIONAL PARTIES BY MEMBERSHIP AND BY BEING ELECTED FOR OFFICE IN THOSE PARTIES.

THIS IS THE ONLY WAY VOTE BANK CREATION BY MINORITY COMMUNITY POLITICAL LEADERS (THE MUSLIMS AND TAMILS) WHO TRADE THE VOTE BANK FOR SELFISH PERSONAL BENEFITS, FORGOING THE REAL BENEFITS FOR WHICH THE MINORITY GROUPS, ESPECIALLY THE MUSLIM VOTERS CAN BE SURE TO REAP THE TRUE BENEFITS OF THEIR POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS AND INSPIRATIONS, BE MADE POSSIBLE / A REALITY. A good example is the confession made by Rauf Hakeem when Rauf Hakeem admitted that he took money from Mahinda Rajapaksa, then President, to vote in favour of the 18th., Amendment Bill to the constitution on September 8th., 2010. One of the SLMC stalwarts, Segu Dawood exposed this incident and Rauf Hakeem admitted it in public. Browse this web link and learn how this political leader (MP. Rauf Hakeem) got money to vote for the 18th., Amendment in parliament on 8th., September 2010.

http://www.jaffnamuslim.com/2016/07/blog-post_144.html  (for Muslim tamil readers).

In 1994, when the SLMC found an opportunity, supported by R. Premadasa to reduce the cut-off point in proportional representation from 12.5 to 5 per cent, in return NOT to field a Muslim candidate as a Presidential candidate, to stop the Muslims voting Premadasa. This done, the SLMC joined the UNP. Rishad Bathiudeen and the Atthaullah, regional Eastern province Muslim party), began to adopt THIS POLITICAL TRADING OF THE MUSLIM VOTES” and making DEALS” with the national parties that were struggling to form governments, to form goverments, that was of NO BENEFIT, BUT DETRIMENTAL TO THE MUSLIM FACTOR”. These deals were supported by the All Ceylon Jamiyathul Ulema and so-called Muslim Civil Society groups, whose leadership also were given a SHARE” of these SPOILS and BENEFITS”, became the NORM” of the SLMC, ACMC, NATIONAL CONGRES, ACJU, THE NATIONAL SHOORA COUNCIL and the MUSLIM COUNCIL OF SRI LANKA, in the equation of Minority politics in Sri Lanka since 1994/1980. As a result of these deceptions, the Muslims in Sri Lanka do NOT have a voice – a POLITICAL VOICE” for that purpose. The Muslims did not benefit to resolve their economical, employment, development, land education and fundamental rights issues by VOTING the SLMC, ACMC or THE NATIONAL CONGRESS. The Muslims became POLITICAL ORPHANS” in Sri Lanka at last. Today this has become a MENACE and a SICKNESS in the democratic political process of our country. Not only has it affected the Sri Lanka Muslims, but also PRALALYSED THE DEMOCRATIC RIGHT OF THE MAJORITY SINHALA COMMUNITY WHICH IS 74% OF THE NATION TO MAKE ANY DECECIVE POLITICAL CONCLUSSION BENEFICAL TO THEIR AND OUR MAATHRUBOOMIYA” OR TO AMEND / ADJUST THE CONSTITUTION TO THEIR NEEDS FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE NATION AND OUR MAATHRUBOOMIYA”. It created a lot of constitutional conflict in parliament is a result of this POLITICAL PLIGHT” since 1994. With the SLPP getting a 2/3 majority government in parliament on August 5th., 2020, without having to make “deals” with the minority community parties, to make the cut-off point in proportional representation from 5 to 12.5 per cent is only a matter of parliamentary procedure.

With the media uncovering the corruption and deception of the Muslim political leaders in recent times and exposing these DECEPTIVE AND HOODWINKING” Muslim politicians and their operating beneficial gangs, the Muslim political culture has begun to change. Today this VOTE BANK TRADING BY MINORITY MUSLIM AND TAMIL POLITICAL PARTY LEADERS” has become a MENACE and a SICKNESS in the democratic political process of our country. THIS HAS TO STOP FORTHWITH FOR A HEALTHY POLITICAL PROCESS TO TAKE PLACE IN OUR COUNTRY and the RIGHT for the voters to decide what their communities should do and the majority who are SINHALA VOTERS to decide what is best for the country they should do.

As for the Muslim Minority Community, the fact remains NOW, they do NOT wish to be represented by these MUNAAFIKK and DECEPTIVE MUSLIM POLITICIANS”. THE SLMC AND ACMC MP’S SHOULD ALSO ACT ON THEIR OWN NOW and decide to support the new government, Insha Allah. We Muslims should set an example like our predecessors who TRUSTED” the majority community in the wake of the British trying to delay giving us independence in 1948. The role of Dr. T B Jayah becomes paramount at this moment to recollect, because had he, or the Muslim community, sided with the British at that time, granting of Independence to Ceylon would have been postponed. It is only because the minorities agreed that there was a United Front of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims asking for Independence. But one man was against it. That was G G Ponnambalam who tried to extract his pound of flesh. He said I will sign on the dotted line only if you agree to Fifty Fifty”. That is 50% of the seats for the Sinhalese and 50% for the minorities. Only if you agree to that, he told D S Senanayake, will I support the call for independence. It was at this point that Jayah rejected the ‘fifty fifty’ formula. He said he preferred to work in trust, to work in faith and goodwill with the majority community. Thereby T.B.Jayah totally undercut G G Ponnambalam’s fifty fifty” cry. That was the death knell of Fifty Fifty”. If Jayah joined the fifty fifty” cry at that time, Independence would have been postponed. One has to remember that even the word Sinhala was erased from the political lexicon. S W R D Bandaranaike ditched the idea of the Sinhala Maha Saba and he first joined the UNP and later set up the Sri Lanka Freedom Party which too did not have racial connotations. Everybody felt that communal parties were counter-productive. 

It is time up that a “NEW POLITICAL FORCE” that will be honest and sincere that will produce CLEAN” and diligent Muslim Politicians to stand up and defend the Muslim Community politically and otherwise, especially from among the YOUTH has to RISE”, and this NEW POLITICAL FORCE” has to support the new government formed under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and PM Mahinda Rajapaksa and the majority Sinhalese citizens notwithstanding the fact that the Tamils of the North and East and the Upcountry Tamils and all minorities should be equally respected, politically, for a better Sri Lanka, God willing, Insha Allah. Nearly 650,000 Muslims have voted the SLPP and casted their votes in support of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the New President of Sri Lanka and PM Mahinda Rajapaksa and the SLPP/SLFP Alliance this August, 2020 wholeheartedly, and to be part of the VICTORY OF THE SRI LANKANS in helping to form a 2/3 majority government by those who love our MAATHRUBOOMIYA”, Insha Allah.  The new government has to help the Muslims create a “NEW POLITICAL CULTURE” by declaring the above change in the new constitution or parliament at the earliest.  

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA

Lional Bopage, who was the first General Secretary of the 1971 JVP, who was the first of the 21 leaders of JVP accused for launching a rebellion to topple the government and who was a close associate of Victor Ivan and who now enjoys a luxury life in Australia and who was also responsible for the untimely death of thousands of poor educated village youth in 1971 in an article to foreign sustained NGO vulture Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu’s one of the websites, the Groundviews titled The best and the worst – 2020 General Elections” states the general elections on 5 August turned out to be an outstanding victory for the Rajapaksa Family and the Sinhala Buddhist nationalists and ordinary members of the country’s majority community. He says that in his opinion a victory of this magnitude provides a great opportunity which could be used for the benefit of the country and its people. It also brings up, he says, a more worrisome scenario where militarisation of the democratic institutions will continue, concerns of minorities will be ignored, and erosion of the rule of law and less transparency and accountability are most likely to occur and this victory has opened a new chapter where the government could perform at its best or at its worst.

He claims that when the Rajapaksa regime led the campaign to defeat the Tamil terrorists (which he calls as a Tamil militancy and not as terrorism)  solely based on a strategy of war, he was  critical of that approach and after the military defeat of the LTTE the regime had a unique opportunity to address the issues that caused the  war by developing a just solution to the Tamil demands and even now these issues remain unresolved and keep festering since a historic opportunity was missed. He adds that had this been handled with honesty and statesmanship, it could have paved the way for the regime to stay in power for a long time, with the possibility of Mahinda Rajapaksa even becoming a Nobel laureate.

Bopage says that Sri Lanka had several such opportunities in the past when different political persuasions were brought to power by the electorate with a two-thirds or even higher majority. Mr S W R D Bandaranaike, Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Mr J R Jayawardena, all had the same opportunity, but they did not rise to the occasion due to their self-centred desire to remain in power which they could only do by catering to the partisan needs and demands of their political factions and most of the time, these factions could not see beyond the tunnel vision of a mono-cultural unitary state and their own corrupt financial interests.

This doomsday pundit states that from 1956 till 2015, the minority parties did not play any major policy determining role as constituent parties of government. Despite this, for nearly 60 years there was no constructive solution proposed or implemented to address the numerous issues the minority communities had raised and now that the new government is free from the elements that the SLPP identified as racist”, there is another great opportunity to concretely address the power-sharing issues with minorities and create a better country for all.

This doomsday pundit has completely ignored the solution President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa offered during his first foreign visit, during the visit to India in which when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned about the need to implement the 13^th amendment the President responded that he has been elected as the President of all Sri Lankans and he is committed to serve all Sri Lankans alike without any ethnic, religious or caste discriminations.  What else we need and why the doomsday pundits cannot understand the real meaning of this noble statement by thevisionary President and commend him for this stance. 

Continuing further Bopage states that at the election, the plea of the SLPP leadership was to grant them a two-thirds majority to change the constitution to rearrange the power relationships between the parliament and the president. Yet, under the current constitutional arrangements, the brothers, Gotabhaya and Mahinda continue to enjoy the totality of presidential and prime ministerial powers between them. Whatever the changes that would be made in the future, the totality of constitutional power shared between the two brothers will remain the same and only the checks and balances that scrutinize their activities by parliament and independent commissions are open to manipulation.

Having received an overwhelming majority and not at the mercy of the so-called minority racist and extremist parties he says that the SLPP and the Rajapaksas have now got an opportunity to carry out their long-term political intentions unhindered. What they proposed he says was to modify the constitution by abolishing the 19^th and 13^th amendments and discarding these (oppressive) safeguards will abolish the devolutionary nature of the governance established under those amendments and debilitate the independence of the institutions that were established to scrutinize (dominate) the process of governance.

Not only the 13^th and 19^th the 15^th amendment which reduced the original percentage of votes required by a political party to become eligible for parliamentary sear from 12.5% to 5% should also be repealed.  This amendment was adopted 48 hours before the 1988 presidential election on the commandeering of Ashroff to Premadasa to get Eastern province Muslim votes in the 1988 highly manipulated and rigged presidential election.  If it was not for this political bribe to Ashroff, Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike would have won the presidential election in 1988.

Bopage claims that these amendments were adopted with the intent of addressing certain fundamental issues that prevailed for many long years and that that intent was wantonly diluted from the drafting stage onwards, and even before the bill was presented to the cabinet for approval, it was further diluted by last minute amendments made during the final parliamentary proceedings. Some of those responsible for such dilution later became leaders of parties like the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.

Referring to 1970s Bopage states that the Constitutions of 1972 and 1978 were imposed upon the people without any consultation and the constitution making process was neither participatory nor inclusive. This claim applies only to 1978 constitution whereas in respect of 1972 constitution it was formulated by Parliament for which the National State Assembly constituted itself as a Constitution assembly in which all parties including the then major Tamil party TULF participated and this constitution was not unilaterally imposed on the people as the bizarre 1978 constitution well known as the Bahubootha Vyawasthawa. 

He warns that the Nationalist extremists in the new regime could negatively influence the chances for justice, democracy, human rights and economic opportunities, except for a select few. This may lead to escalating corrupt practices, disempowerment of the judicial and parliamentary processes, ignoring legislative responsibilities (was there legislative responsibilities during the last five years?), sidelining non-majoritarian communities (was not the Sirisena/Ranil government over appeasing TNA diktats and neglecting its duty and responsibility to the majority community?), ethno-religious discrimination in policy and decision making, adopting antagonistic foreign policy positions, and introducing repressive legislative and constitutional arrangements. This doomsday pundit who confined his JVP in 1971 only to rural Sinhala youth and pontificated against Tamils in their 5 political orientation classes now states that here could be protests and strikes by the disillusioned electorate, who would be forced to rethink about who they have brought into power and it could also lead to bloodshed.

He says that the election results also reflect a class divide between the intelligentsia and the ordinary people of the country. Confirming he still holds his allegiance to the JVP he says that the low vote for the National People’s Power (the camouflaged JVP) and similar organisations represents the mismatch of the thinking patterns between the people at the grassroots level and those of the intelligentsia. The necessity of the traditional organisational patterns at the grass roots level and the urban intelligentsia, mostly professionals, want a regime for good governance, rule of law, and an economic model that would cater for the increasing profitability of a few.

Bopage says that the working people, both rural and urban, however, want to elect a regime that would provide them with work opportunities that satisfy their basic needs, such as shelter and food for the survival of their families and in any political and economic endeavour, both these needs need to be catered for and this can only be done by analysing the prevailing issues based on evidence and their causes. Only then can these issues be addressed and polices developed that address these issues at the ground level. Otherwise the election results for progressive parties (Do we have anyparty that can be branded as a progressive party other than the SLPP.  Bopage’s colleagues the JVP is now an utter reactionary party prepared to do any scavenge for monetary benefits) will continue to be abysmal, as has been the trend for at least two decades.

In a form of ridiculing the high literacy rate in Sri Lanka, this doomsday pundit says that it refers only to those who have the actual ability to read and write and such a literacy level has not developed the ability at a societal level or the capability at an individual level to develop political empathy in understanding the differences between a mono-cultural society and a multicultural one with its attendant advantages for long-term peace and prosperity.

There is unfortunately a global trend in which a strong segment of nationalist intelligentsia does not focus on the betterment of society and the long-term future of the generations to come. Instead, they, like ‘Viyath Maga’ in Sri Lanka and their collaborators, appear to focus on developing better ways for duping people, promoting individual self-greed with short-term emphasis, he says and adds that even during the 1920s in Germany, similar intellectual groupings helped Hitler to gain and sustain power, while the media similarly played the role of providing publicity only to Hitlerite Nazi views.

Ordinary people will attend a meeting; listen to leaders and go back home, later to be trapped by the political and idealist influences of the mass media and the organisational networks that largely serve the interests of the privileged and the ultra-nationalists. Without organisational networks at the grass roots level to mobilize people and counter such influences, the efforts of the intelligentsia will fail as attested by the current elections.

Bopage, who still persists in his original JVP ideology states that in addition, ordinary people who had been previously politically active may have perceived those trying to influence them from the top as leaders, intellectuals or outsiders as a threat rather than working for the collective benefit of all and it had become increasingly difficult to expose the misleading positions presented by the nationalist intelligentsia to the people at the grassroots level due to the barrage of misinformation spread via strong media campaigns. He says the election results confirm the success of the nationalist intelligentsia and a notable failure of the efforts of the more pluralist orientated approach of the intelligentsia.

Commenting about the future he asserts that the disastrous failure of the political forces that value plurality, diversity, equity, fairness and social justice to get political traction compels Sri Lankans to rethink, re-strategize, regroup and reorganize and such an effort cannot be made by daydreaming or being an armchair critic.    He says that Sri Lanka’s most urgent priority is to connect with the ordinary working people both rural and urban and enter into a dialogue with them, learn about the issues that concern them most and then produce evidence based and consensually agreed solutions on issues that affect their lives.(If it is so, why did his acolytes, the JVP functioned as loyal stooges of Sirisena/Ranil dispensation during the last five years?)

He predicts that such actions will provide the opportunity to critically examine the previous approaches and re-strategize for the future, and only then  Sri Lanka could work towards an alliance that is open to all people travelling in the same direction, who are taking diverse paths for achieving the same goals of prosperity, human rights, rule of law and good governance, that will benefit all members of Sri Lankan society as a whole and not just a few.

Again focusing attention on two thirds majority he asserts that Sri Lanka’s post-independence history has witnessed on several occasions, regimes coming to power with a two-thirds or a higher majority but they failed, and failed abysmally, leading the country into three major rebellions. Afterwards, the regimes that led to such situations have also been defeated. If the new government traverses a path creating better opportunities for all and a rule-based society that values individual life, treats everyone with dignity and respect, ensures a guaranteed minimum standard of living, and empowers people so they may develop their full potential – then we have a duty and responsibility to support such moves and otherwise, it would not be too long before the disillusioned voters take to the streets demanding implementation of the many pledges made to them, in particular the improvement of their socio-economic conditions, in an organised and democratic manner, he concludes.

In the meantime the notorious Tamil servile traitor Dayan Jayatilleke who is obsessed with the craze of devolution of power to Tamils even in excess of what is outlined in the despicable 13^th amendment enforced by hegemonic India and who was a Minister in the Varadaperumal’s Eastern Provincial Council and associated Perumal in his unilateral and illegal declaration of indepemdemce for the Eastern province and later became a close associate and shameless advisor to former President Premadasa and who unsuccessfully attempted to infiltrate Viyathmaga to create internal dissensions and got kicked out from that patriotic organization and now reported to be functioning as a political advisor to imbecile Sajith Premadasa in an article titled Understanding the unipolar moment of Sinhala nationalism” states that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa repeatedly made two requests to voters during his electioneering walkabouts and one was that they had given him 69 lakhs (6.9 million) of votes at the Presidential Election but now he wanted 79 lakhs (7.9 million) votes and the other was that he wanted a two-thirds majority. He didn’t get his first wish, but has surely got his second and strategically more significant. 

Continuing his anti-Sinhala rhetoric he says that one cannot comprehend the 2019-2020 steamroller majority without understanding who and what it rolled over; who and what the voters chose to bury – and why one could not understand its precursors 1956, 1970 and 2010 without understanding the target profile the UNP presented.

Dayan asserts that the new hyper-majority, which unprecedentedly empowers the Rajapaksa clan and the Sinhala supremacist agenda, can be traced to clusters of factors and tracked through specific periods and states that the most proximate was ‘Yahapalanaya’ which contained within itself a grand asymmetry: it had not won the majority of the majority which happened to be Sinhala-Buddhist. It should have been mindful that in the Sinhala heartland it was on very thin ice indeed. Instead of consolidating and expanding its Sinhala base in concentric waves, it adopted a pronouncedly minoritarian profile starting with Ranil’s appointment of the expatriate Central Bank Chairman and the top appointee of Mangala Samaraweera to ICTA, and ending with the outline documents of a new constitution which dropped the definition ‘unitary’ in English and substituted ‘orumittanadu’ instead.

When Mahinda was defeated in January 2015, the Sinhala nation was in shock. The Sinhala people felt that Mahinda was their hero and he had not been displaced by their collective electoral consent. They felt it occurred without their warrant. This translated into a sense of conspiracy. It manifested itself in a spontaneous surge of Sinhala solidarity with Mahinda. Sinhala angst, guilt and outrage were the springboard of the rapid revival and resistance, starting with the Nugegoda ‘Mahinda Sulanga’ rally of February 2015 and culminating in MR’s triumphant re-election last week.

The 2015 Yahapalana experiment does not, by itself, explain the volume and velocity of Sinhala nationalism that made the two-thirds majority possible. 

The ‘driver’ was the mismatch between the military defeat of Tamil separatism in May 2009 and the adventurist over-assertiveness of Tamil nationalism after and despite that defeat, the Tamil Diaspora was in denial about the defeat and that state of denial took the form, backstopped by inflows of funds, of encouragement of Tamil political personalities and parties to go on a permanent political offensive, abandoning the framework of and pressing beyond the 13th Amendment in talks with President MR in 2011. This was mightily compounded after 2013 by Chief Minister Wigneswaran’s provocative political discourse and behavior, which swung the balance of opinion in Sinhala society, from settling Tamil grievances by negotiated political accommodation based on devolution, to unilateral imposition of a post-war order. 

This traitor points out that at the dawn of Yahapalanaya, Sumanthiran trumpeted it as proof that the minorities had political weight equal to the majority and the Yahapalanaya state media and supportive ‘civil society’ lustily disseminated these ideas in an orgy of nihilism towards the war, the Lankan state, and the Sinhalese majority. 

To the collective Sinhala psyche, he says that it appeared as if the fellow-travellers of Prabhakaran, fronted by those Sinhalese who had appeased and collaborated with Prabhakaran, would have a greater hold on political power and the state than would the Sinhala nation that comprised the overwhelming majority, which had resisted, sacrificed and defeated armed separatism. An effort was underway he says to overturn the military victory by political means, demonise and vilify the victorious war and the side that won it, install the losers as political winners, and move towards dismantling the unitary state the military fought for – making for future separatism.

He points out that the Sinhalese felt an existential threat and hence turned to Mahinda Rajapaksa who had saved them before. But with his second defeat at the August 2015 Parliamentary Election, word travelled on the temple network MR had operated on after his defeat – and the word was ‘Gotabaya’. He alone could be guaranteed to generate, by taking it the next level, that enhanced Sinhala swing which could offset the entrenched minority support for the UNP. It was a Fox News/Trump candidacy moment.

The Gotabaya succession, he admits,  had been in gestation during MR’s second term, hence the launch of the volume with the hyperbolic title Gota’s War” (2012), but it took Ranil-Mangala-Chandrika discourse and policy direction within the Yahapalanaya administration to give it the traction needed for the candidacy and victory. 

Referring to the heroic war heroes, this Tamil acolyte says that the role of the ex-military brass was crucial and they saw in Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader who had called off a Long Range Rapid Penetration ( LRRP) hit on Prabhakaran, arrested Military Intelligence officers, entered a lopsided ceasefire agreement, allowed the LTTE back into Jaffna, permitted a Tiger buildup around Trincomalee harbour – and this time around, endorsed a self-hating Geneva resolution and a non-unitary federal and secular draft Constitution. 

He asserts that the confluence of the Sinhala masses of the heartland (represented by Mahinda Rajapaksa), the monks, and the ex-military brass (around Gotabaya), created the hegemonic social bloc of today which is quite determined never to experience, permit or leave room for the humiliating experiences the Sinhala majority was put through under the Sirisena/Ranil government. He says it will therefore demolish every reform ‘tunnel’ that makes such traumatic incursion possible and build a wall and moat around Sinhala political power, promulgating a new Constitution which changes power-relations so that hierarchy is inscribed, full-spectrum Sinhala-Buddhist domination entrenched and its ideology driven deep, and minorities permanently marginalised by the truncation of proportional representation, restoration of a high cut-off point, and ethnic gerrymandering (‘re-demarcation’) of electorates. 

Tamil servile Dayan further states that Wigneswaran’s arrogance and mythology  will cease to be possible once the 13th Amendment is castrated, boosting the power of the Governor, ex-military governors appointed, and devolved land annexed. 

Referring to ITAK/TNA’s failed constitutional reformsoverreach and Wigneswaran’s ‘developmental boycottism’ has revived avatars of Chelliah Kumarasuriyar and Alfred Duraiappah in the North. He says that the regime gleefully believes in the Trump-Jared Kushner-Netanyahu formula of the trade-off of political self-identity and territorial autonomy claims in return for development funding.

This 13^th amendment maniac nutty political commentator in conclusion states that the sole salvation for the Tamils is to apply the written advice that Lord Soulbury gave C. Sunderalingam in 1964, which denotes that all their political representatives must ally with and support Sajith Premadasa and mount a defense of the 13th Amendment and boasts that this imbecile and

ignoramus guy for whom he functions as am advisor is the only southern political leader who stands by it while the JVP and FSP are non-committal. 

To be continued……….

චන්ද්‍රසේන පණ්ඩිතගේ

වසර ගණනාවක් රටේ එක පෙදෙසකට වැස්ස. වතුරට ගෙවල් යටවෙලා, මිනිසුන් අනාත කඳවුරු වල. කඳු කඩා වැටිලා මිනිසුන් ඒවාට යටවෙලා මැරෙනවා. ඒ රටේ එක පැත්තක. අනික් පැත්තේ නියගය. කෙළවරක් නැති නියගය.මිනිසුන් එකතුවෙලා දෙවියන්ට කන්නලව් කළා. අඛණ්ඩව වසර හතරක්ම කන්නලව් කළා. අවසානයේදී දෙවියෝ තීරණය කළා මේ කර්තව්‍ය සඳහා විෂම කාර්ම පුත්‍ර රාජයාව මනු ලොවට එවීමට.. ඔහු පැමිණ  නියගයත් ගංවතුරත් එකවරම නිම කිරීමට අදිටන් කර ගත්තා.

මිනිසුනේ! මට පුළුවන් මේ ප්‍රශ්නය විසදන්න. මම මේ ගැටලුව විසදන්න මහා යන්ත්‍රයක් හදනවා. ඒ යන්ත්‍රයට පුළුවන් මේ දෙගොඩ තලා යන ගංවතුර වියලි කලාපයට පොම්ප කරන්න. එවිට ගංවතුරත් නියගයත් දෙකම නවතිනවා. හැබැයි මේ පොම්පයේ කොටස්කරුවන් බවට පත්විය යුත්තේ ඔබ සැමයි. ඒ සඳහා ඔබ සුදානම්ද?

ඔව්! ඔව්! ඔව්! අපි සුදානම් සියල්ලන්ම මොර දුන්නා.

හොදයි මේ යන්ත්‍රයට අවශ්‍ය කරන උපාංග බවට ඔබ සැම මම පත්කරනවා.ඒ උපාංගය කල යුතුදේ ඉතා හොදින් කිරීම ඔබේ වගකීමයි.

සියල්ලන්ම ඉතා උනන්දුවෙන් මේ වෙන්න යන්නේ කුමක්දැයි බලා සිටියා.

මෙන්න බලන්න මේ යන්ත්‍රය හදන්න අවශ්‍ය කරන උපාංග දෙස.

1. Casing  2. Impellers  3. mechanical seals  4.Bearings  5. Roller bearings  6. Ball bearings  7.Babbit bearings  8. Sleeve bearings
9. Connecting rods  10. Connecting rod bearing  11. Pistons  12. Plungers  13. Wrist pins  14. Pump valves  15. Relief valves
16. Pressure gauges  17. Couplers  18. Oil seals  19. O ring seals

මෙන්න මේ උපාංග මේ දැවැන්ත යාන්ත්‍රනය හදන්න අවශ්‍යයි. මේ යන්ත්‍රයේ උපාංගයක් බවට පත්වීම මහා ගෞරවයක්. ඔබ හැමට ඒ සඳහා අවස්තාව දැන් ලබාදීලා තියෙනවා. ඔබ සමාව එම උපාංග බවට පත්කරනවා.

සියලුදෙනාම  මේ සිදුවෙන්නේ කුමක්දැයි ඉතා සතුටින් බලා සිටියහ. විෂ්ම කාර්ම දිව්‍යරාජයා එහි සිටි සියල්ලන්වම දැවැන්ත යන්ත්‍රයේ උපාංග බවට පත් කළහ.

රට සුරකින යාන්ත්‍රණයේ උපාංග බවට පත්වූ මේ මිනිස්සු තමන්ට සිදුව ඇති දේ දැක මුමුණන්නට පටන් ගත්හ.

බලන්නකෝ මට වෙලා තියෙන දේ මම නිකම්ම නිකම් Connecting rod එකක් වෙලානේ, අඩු තරමෙන් මම  Piston එකක් වුනා නම් කමක් නැහැ.

නොසතුටට පත් ය මොන මොනවා හෝ කියන්න ගතතා. මේ බව වටහා ගත විශ්ම කාර්ම ඔවුන් අමතා.

ඔබ තවම උපාංග පමණයි.කලබල වෙන්න එපා. ඔබ හැම එකලස් කලාම තමයි මේ මහා යන්ත්‍රය නිර්මාණය වෙන්නේ. දැන් ඔබ connecting rod එකක් වුනාට ඔබ සියල්ලන්ම එකලස් කලවිට මහා දැවැන්ත යන්ත්‍රයක් නිර්මාණය වෙනවා. එතකොට මිනිසුන් ඔබ දෙස බලන්නේ උපාංගයක් ලෙස නොවෙයි මහා දැවැන්ත යන්ත්‍රයක් ලෙසයි. පැහැදිලි කළා.

ඔබව සැනසීමට මට ඔබ සමාව Impellers හෝ Piston බවට පත්කළ හැකියි. එවිට මේ රටේ තියෙන දැවෙන ප්‍රශ්නය විසදන්න
අවශ්‍ය කරන යන්ත්‍රය නිර්මාණය වෙන්නේ නැහැ. පසුගිය වකවානු පුරාම සිදුවුයේ එයයි. ඒ දේ කරන්න මම මෙතනට අවශ්‍ය නැති බව පවසා, කෙලෙසක හෝ තමාට බාරදුන් වගකීම ඉටුකරන බවට අදිටන් කරගත් විශ්ම කාර්ම දිවය පුත්‍රයා නික්ම ගියහ.

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම, LL.B., Ph.D.

මාළු ඔතන්නවත් නොවටින හැන්සාර්ඩ් වා‌ර්තා

දැන් ඇමෙරිකාවේ ජීව‌ත්‌වන සන්ඩේ ලීඩර් කතෘව සිටි, ෆෙඩ්‍රීකා ජෑන්ස් වරක් කියා සිටියේ ලංකාවේ පත්තර හොඳ, මාළු ඔතන්නටය කියාය. දියවන්නා හෝටලය නඩත්තුවට යන වියදම, මන්ත්‍රී ප්‍රාණ විසින් කරණ කුණුහරුප කතා හා විෂයට අදාල නැති කතාද ඇතුළු මුළු කතාවල වචන ගණනින් බෙදුවොත් එක වචනයකට යන වියදම කෙතරම් විය හැකිද? මේ ප්‍රජා-තන්ත්‍ර (නාස්ලනු) වාදයට රටවැසියා ගෙවන බිල නොවේද? ලංකාවේ මෑත ඉතිහාසය පන්සල හා කළුසුද්දන් අතර අරගලයේ ඉතිහාසය ලෙස සළකණ විට, පසුගිය අවුරුදු 72 න් පසු නොව, 1960 න් පසුව, 1970 න් පසුව හෝ 2005 න් පසුව සිංහල හෝ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ මන්ත්‍රී පඬරැල් කී දෙනෙක්, 1956 සිට 2002 ද‌ක්වා කාලය තුල රටේ රජයෙන් ප්‍රසිද්‌ධ කල බෞද්‌ධ කොමිෂන් සභා වා‌ර්තා ගැන පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී එක වචනයක් හෝ කතා කර තිබෙනවාද? එතෙක්, මෙතෙක්, මුස්ලිම් මන්ත්‍රීලා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී ආගමික පණත් ගෙනාවිට මේ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ මන්ත්‍රී ප්‍රාණ අඳ, ගොළු බිහිරන් සේ සිටියේ නැද්ද? මේවා ගැන රටේ මහානායක හිමිවරු දන්නවාද?

9 වගන්තිය නමැති ප්‍රෝඩාව

බුද්‌ධාගම රකිනවා, පෝෂණය කරනවා යන 9 වෙනි වගන්තිය මොන තරම් ප්‍රෝඩාවක්ද යන්න එලිදරව් වන්නේ මෙවැනි අළුත් ප්‍රශ්ණ අසන්නට අපට ශක්තියක් තිබෙනවා නම් පමණය. ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රුවන්වැලි මහසෑය ඉදිරියේ දිවුරුම් දීමේ අව්‍යාජ බවත්, අනිත් අය ඒ අනුව කොපිකරමින් කැළණියේ හා දළඳා මාළිගාව අසල දිවුරුම් දීමත් අතර වෙනසක් පේන්නේ, දේශපාලකයින් සහභාගී වූ විට රටේ සෑම තැනම කියවෙන පිරිත් ප්‍රමාණය සුළුපටු නොවන නිසාය. ඒවා ඒ කණෙන් අසා මේ කණෙන් පිටවී ශබ්ද පමණක් නොවීද? දශමයක හෝ අවධානයක්, පිළිපැදීමක් වූවා නම් රට පින් කෙතක් නොවන්නේද?එන්න එන්නම අතේ බැඳ ගත් පිරිත් නූල් ප්‍රමාණය කඹ තරම් මහත් වන්නේද මේ න්‍යායට අනුවය. පිරිතෙන් පාලියෙන් කියන්නේ සියළු සත්‌වයෝ සුවපත්වේවා කියාය. මුස්ලිම් පල්ලියේ පාරට හැරවූ ලවුඩ් ස්පීකර් වලින් අරාබි බසින් යා‌ඥාකරන්නේ ලංකාව අල්ලාගේ රට කියා නොවේද?

කුරගල පුරාවිද්‍යා පුදබිමේ අනවසර මුස්ලිම් පල්ලියට හෙන වැදීම

මා දන්නා අන්‌දමට, තම අතේ <දේශපාලන> පිරිත් නූල් බඳින අය අතරින් ඉන් පිහිටක් ලැබෙන බව එලිපිටම කිව්වේ, සොල්දාදුවන් 400 ක් මුදවා ගැනීමට කල පුනරින් ආක්‍රමණයේදී, සතුරාගේ කාලතුවක්කු වලින්, මහ දවල්, තම නැව් දෙක බේරා ආවරණය ලබාදුන් ධාරානිපාත වැස්ස හා වළාකුළු ගැන සඳහන් කල රෙයාර් අද්මිරාල් සරත් වීරසේකර පමණය. මෙය දෙවන ලෝක යුද්‌ධයේදී ජෙනරාල් ජෝර්ජ් පැටන් විසින් වැස්ස නතරකර ගැනීමට ඔහුගේ චැප්ලින් ලවා ලියවා ගත්, අදටත් ඇමෙරිකාවේ පල්ලි වල ගයන <පැටන් යාඥාවට> සමානය! චන්දය දිණුවාට පෙර හෝ පසු පවිත්‍රාදේවි වන්නිාරච්චිද ඈ එහි ගියවිට රත්නපුරේ මහ සමන් දේවාලයේ දෙතැනකින් හමා ආ මල් සුවඳක් ගැන සඳහන් කරනවා මම දුටුවෙමි!

සිංහල බෞද්‌ධයින්ගේ ස්වයංමුලාව

අගමැති බණ්ඩාරනායක කාලයේ විද්‍යෝදය හා විද්‍යාලංකාර පිරිවෙන් දෙක විශ්ව විද්‍යාල කර සංඝ සමාජයට දිගුකාලීනව කල හානිය, මිසිස් බී ගේ කාලයේ ඉතිහාසය පාසැලෙන් ඉවත් කිරීම, සිලෝන්/සිංහලේ වෙනුවට ශ්‍රී ලංකා යයි රටේ නම් වෙනස් කිරීම, ඩඩ්ලි විසින් ඉරිදා සෙනසුරාදා වෙනුවට, පෝය පෙරපෝය නිවාඩු කිරීම, පාරේ භාෂාවෙන් කියනවා නම්, සිංහල බෞද්‌ධයාට යම් <මෝඩ සුදියක්> දුන් පරිදිම, 9 වගන්තිය කියන්නේ කුමක්දැයි නිර්‍වචනය නොකිරීමද මේ රැවටීමටම අයත්‌ය. මේ වගන්තිය හා බුද්‌ධ ශාසන ඇමති හා අමාත්‍යාංශය යනු, බෞද්‌ධයින්ව රටතුලත්, පිට ලෝකයේදීත් අමාරුවේ දැමූ මුග්‌ධ ඉල්ලන් කෑම් විය. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන්, ලංකාවේ බුද්‌ධාගමට විශේෂ වරප්‍රසාද දෙනවා කියා ඊළම්කාරයින් හා ලෝකල් එ‌න්.ජී.ඕ කාරයින් කෑ ගසයි. ආණ්ඩුවෙන් ආධාර දෙනවා යන කතාව නිසා පන්සල් වලට දායකයින්ගෙන් ලැබුණ ආධාර අඩුවිය. ඒ අතරතුර, සමහර විට ඉරිදා දහම් පාසැලකටවත් නොගිය බුද්‌ධ ශාසනය භාර නිලධාරීන් දුප්පත් පන්සල් හිඟන්නන්ගේ ගනයට දමා හිතුවක්කාර බලධාරීන් ලෙස ක්‍රියා කරයි. මොවුන් මුදල් ආධාර අවශ්‍ය පන්සල් වල විස්තර ලැයිස්තු, අල්ලස් දී හෝ නොදී ඒවා ලබාගන්නා ක්‍රිස්තියානී හා වෙනත් විදෙස් සතුරු බලවේග වලට සපයාදේ. යූ.එ‌න්.පී භාණ්ඩාගාරිකව සිටියේ ටකරම් පල්ලි (යාඥාමඩු) දෙතුන්සීයක් භාරව සිටි අයෙක් බව දන්නේ කී දෙනාද?

හොද්දට දාන කරපිංචා

එහි ඇති ගුණය නිසා හොද්ද සමඟ පිඟානට වැටී ඇති කරපිංචාද බත් සමඟ කෑමට ඇමෙරිකාවේදී මා පුරුදුවූ නිසා, හොද්දෙන් කරපිංචා විසිකිරීම ගැන ඇති කියමන මට දැන් අදාල නැත. එහෙත්, ලංකාවේ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ දේශපාලකයින්, පොදුවේ සංඝ සමාජයටත්, කලින් කලට ඉන් තෝරා ගත් ජනප්‍රිය සංඝයා වහන්සේලාටත් සළකන්නේ කරපිංචා වගේ නොවේ යයි කියන්නට පුළුවන්ද? බුද්‌ධාගමේ ඉගැන්‌වෙන අනිත්‍යය, එහි අවුරුදු 5,000 ආයු කාලය, හැම පෘථග්ජනයාම ලෝභ-ද්වේෂ-මෝහයෙන් පිරි පංචස්කන්‌ධ යන්න හා කොසොල් රජතුමාගේ සීන දාසැයෙන් ලොවට දී ඇති බෞද්‌ධ දේශපාලන විග්‍රහය අනුව සළකණ විට, හිතහොඳ ගෑණී කතාවට හෝ දත් මැදලා දමණ දැහැටි දඬු වලට හෝ වඩා මේ කරපිංචා කතාව වඩා ශීලාචාර යයි යමෙකුට පෙනී ගියොත් එය සාධාරණය.

මෛත්‍රී කිරීම ලෞකික ට්‍රැප් එකක්ද?

ක්‍රිස්තු පූ‌ර්‍ව පස්‌වන ශතවර්‌ෂයේදී බෞද්‌ධ ඉන්‌දියාවේ ලෝකයට වඩා, 2020 ලෝකයේදී ලංකාවේ ථේරවාද බෞද්‌ධයින් වනාහි, ක්‍රිස්තියානි මූලධ‌ර්‍මවාදය, ශාරියා-ඉහ්වාන්වාදය හා විග්නේෂ්වරන්ලාගේ බුදුපිළිම අරහං දෙමළ බෞද්‌ධයා වාදයට, ඩොලර් එ‌න්.ජී.‌ඕ කොම්පැනිවාදයට හා චන්ද්‍රිකා-රෝසි-මංගලලාගේ සමරිසි ලිබරල්වාදයට, මැදිවූ, එනම් බිලියන් හය හතක ලෝකයක, මිලියන 15 කටත් අඩු වඳවෙමින් පවතින ජන කොටසකි. මෙය සමාන කල හැක්කේ ගිරයට අසුවූ පුවක් ගෙඩියකට වඩා දත් තිස්දෙකට මැදිවූ දිවකටය. ඊට හේතුව හතුරා විසින් බලා ඉන්නේ ඉඩක් ලැබුණු හැම අවස්ථාවේදීම, කෝ බුද්‌ධාගමේ කියන මෛත්‍රීය කියා, නැත්නම් මියගිය ස්ටැන්ලි තම්බයියාගේ අවිහිංසාවාදය ගැන කියන බෞද්‌ධයින් මිණීමරන්නේ ඇයි කියා අසමින් කොටුකර පහර දෙන්නටය. කඩුව හෝ මුගුර අවශ්‍ය තැන නවගුනවැල ගණින්න එපා යයි නන්දා මාලිනී ගයන්නේ ඒ නිසාය. අශොක රජතුමාගේ ධර්‌මිෂ්ට රාජ්‍යය, ඔහු මියගොස් වැඩිකලක් යන්නට පෙර ඉන්‌දියාවෙන් අතුගෑවී ගියේය. අද ඉතිරිවී ඇත්තේ, ඉන්දියන් ජනාධිපතිලා වන අබ්දුල් කලාම්, ප්‍රතිභා පටිල් හා අගමැති මෝඩිලාගේ බුද්‌‌ධාගමේ රාජ්‍ය පාලන වටිනාකම ගැන කරණා ආවැඩීම් පමණය.

ඥානසාර හිමිඳුන්ගේ මස් රාත්තල

යම් සමාජ ශොධක හිමිනමක් අපවත්‌වූ විට එය අපවත් කිරීමක්ද යන සැකයක් අසන්නට ලැබෙන්නේ ඇයි? මිගෙට්ටුවත්තේ ගුණානන්ද හිමියන්ටද වස දෙන්නට හැදුවා යයි කතාවක් මා අසා ඇත. කොටගම වාචිස්සර හාමුදුරුවන්ගේ මරණය හා තවත් එවැනි උදාහරණ ඇත. බණ්ඩාරනායක අගමැතිට කැබිනට් රැස්වීම් මේසයේදීම දුන් නයි විෂ දැමු කිරි වීදුරුව වැරදීමෙන් බිව්වේ සීපීද සිල්වාය. රනිල්, රාජිතව ශල්‍ය කර්‌මය සඳහා රජයේ වියදමින් සිංගප්පූරුවට යැව්වේද මේ බය නිසාය. සෝම හමුදුරුවන්ගේ අභාවය කුමන්ත්‍රණයක් නොවේයයි, යම් ඩොලර් බලයක් විසින් රාවයේ වික්ටර් අයිවන් යොදවා, පන්සලේ විප්ලවය යනුවෙන් පොතක් ලියවූයේය. අයිවන් ඒ පොතෙන් සෝම හාමුදුරුවන්ට, සිනමා නළු රූපයක් සහිත ප්‍රේම සම්බන්‌ධයක්ද පැටලුවේය. යහපාලනකාරයින් මාදුළුවාවේ සෝභිත හිමියන්ව සිංගප්පූරු යැව්වේ භාගෙට මළ පසුවය. මෙම සිද්‌ධි වලදී සෝම හාමුදුරුවන් සතුරාගේ උගුලට අසුවුනේ පෘථග්ජන තෘෂ්ණාව නිසාය. ජීවිතය පුරාම රට ජාතිය වෙනුවෙන් බැටකා ලේ හැලූ සෝභිත හිමිඳුන්ද ඇමෙරිකන්-චන්ද්‍රිකා යහපාලන ගැටයට අසුවුනේද ඒ නිසාය. මේ ඉතිහාසය ගැන සිතන විට ඥානසාර හිමියන් ඝාතනයෙන් බේරී සිටීම, ජනාධිපති ගොඨාභය දෙවන වරටත් ඝාතන උත්සාහයකින් බේරී සිටිය යුතුවීම තරම්ම ජාතික වැදගත් කමක් ඇති කරුණකි.

බොරු ප්‍රජා-තන්ත්‍ර (නාස්ලණු) වාදය

පුද්ගලයෙකුට කලහැකි හැම අපහාසයක්ම කර, චන්දය ඉල්ලීමට හැම භාධාවක්ම කර, මාධ්‍ය හා ඇමෙරිකන් මුහුණු පොත් කොම්පැනියෙන් පවා වාරණ දමා, අන්තිමේදී යම් අදෘෂ්‍යමාන බලවේගයකින් ඥානසාර නම් මන්ත්‍රී උන්නාන්සේ කෙනෙක් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සිංහනාද කිරීමට දුන් අවස්ථාව ප්‍රමාද කිරීමට දැන් සිදුවෙනදේ සමාන කල හැක්කේ, අන්තිම මොහොතේ ජනාධිපති අපේක්‍ෂක කම නැතිකිරීමට රණවිරුගාය හැදුන චන්ද්‍රගුප්ත තේනුවර හා වියන්ගොඩ විසින් උසාවියෑම හා, ජනාධිපතිවූ වහාම ස්විස් තානාපති විසින් කල විගඩමටය. බොදු බල සේනාව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට යෑම හරියට සියළු සුදු-කළුසුදු හතුරන් පරදා අනාගාරික ධර්‌මපාලතුමා ඩොනමෝර් රාජ්‍යමන්ත්‍රණ සභාවට ගියා වැනිය. කලකට පෙර දළඳාව පැහැරගෙන යන ලෙස ඥානසාර හිමියන්ට යෝජනාකල රතන හිමියන්, මේ අවස්ථාවේ කල යුතු වන්නේ, උන්වහන්සේව පාර්ලිමේන්තු අසුනේ තබා, මන්ත්‍රීගේ පුද්ගලික ලේකම් වශයෙන් සෙවනැල්ලක්සේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු ගොඩනැගිල්ලට ගොසින් තම අවුරුදු 15 මන්ත්‍රී අත්දැකීම් එතුමාට ලබාදීම නොවේද? රතන හිමියන්ගේ දළඳා මාළිගා උපවාසය කෙළවර කල හැකිවූයේ කාදිනල්තුමා එතැනට ඒමෙන් නොව, ඥානසාර හිමියන් විසින් යහපාලනකාරයින්ට තර්‍ජනය කරමින් කොළඹ බලා ඒමට ආරම්භකල මහජන පෙලපාලිය නිසාවෙන්‌ය. මාවිල් ආරුවේදී සටන් කාමීවූ රතන හිමි, උපවාස කරණ රතන හිමි වූ පසු, මතවාදී සටන භාරදියයුතු බෝධි සත්‌ව නාගයාට යන්න මින් ඔප්පු විය.

රතන හිමියන්ගේ කැපසිටිය (ධාරිතාව)

වස විසෙන් තොර-සූර්ය, සුළං බල-සිංහල-වතු දමිළ සහජීවනයෙන් පිරි- රටක් ගොඩ නැඟීමේ කාරිය තමන් විසින් තවදුරටත් කරගෙන යමින්, නොයෙක් රට කඩන මතවාද, පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ සිට මතවාදයෙන් පැරදවීම ඥානසාර හිමියන්ට භාරදීම රතන හිමියන්ගේ යුග පුරුෂ කාරියය. දැන් අළුතෙන්ම ඥානසාර හිමියන් දුන් මාධ්‍ය සාකච්චාව අනුව එලිවන්නේ රතන හිමියන් වැරදි දෙක තුනක්ම කර ඇති බවය. උන්වහන්සේගේ අවුරුදු 15 මන්ත්‍රීකාලය, රනිල්ගේ අවුරුදු 26 ට සමානය. ලේකම් භික්‍ෂූ විමලතිස්සව හොයා දෙනවා මිස උසාවියට යෑමට යෝජනා කිරීම 67,000 ක චන්ද දායකයින් පිරිසක්, උසාවි පංචස්කන්‌ධ දෙක තුනකට පාවා දීමකි. නාම යෝජනා පත්‍ර ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේපවීමේ සිටම, රතන හිමියන් දැන හෝ නොදැන, යම් සංවිධානාත්මක කුමණ්ත්‍රනයක් සිදුවී ඇති බව දැන් පෙනීයයි. කොළඹ නාමයෝජනා වලට මැදිහත්‌ව ඇත්තේ සෝලංග‌ආරච්චිගේ බිරිඳය. තුෂාර පීරිස් නම් පැරිසියේ වසනා පාතාලයෙක්, අරඹේපොල රතනසාර නම් භික්‍ෂුවක් සමඟ මේ පට්ට කුමන්ත්‍රණයට හවුල්වී ඇතැයි ඥානසාර හිමි මාධ්‍යයට කියා සිටියේය. එක් එක් කාලයේ හා එක් එක් වයස් වලදී මේ රටේ ප්‍රසිද්‌ධ සමාජ සේවක හාමුදුරුවරු තම හැකියාවේ හා තම භූමිකාවේ ලක්‍ෂණ එලිකලේය. මිගෙට්ටුවත්තේ ගුණානන්ද, වල්පොල රාහුල, ගංගොඩවිල සෝම හා මාදුළුවාවේ සෝභිත යන හාමුදුරුවරුන් ගැන සිතා බලන විට මේ වෙනස්කම් පෙනේ. මඩිහේ පඤ්ඤාසීහ හාමුදුරුවන් ජේ.ආර් ට යැවූ සංදේශ කාලය අපතේ යැවීමක්, බීරී අලියෙකුට, ජේ. ආර්. පී. සූරියප්පෙරුම මහතා කී පරිදි කපුටු බෝ ගසකට දත නියවීමක් විය! මෑතකාලයේදී ඥානසාර හිමියන් කරණ සිංහනාදය, රතන හිමියන් සිය තරුණ වයසේදීවත් කර නැත. ලොවින් එකෙක් එක් දෙයකට වෙයි සමත කියන්නේ මේ නිසාය. ධර්‌මපාලතුමා, දිඹුලාගල හාමුදුරුවෝ, නාමල් උයනේ වනවාසී රාහුල හිමි, මඩකලපුවේ මංගලාරාමයේ අම්පිටියේ සුමනරතන හිමි එක් එක් ආකාරයේ වෙනස් යුතුකම් ඉටුකල/කරණ, ඒ සඳහා ජීවිතය කැපකල පංචස්කන්‌ධ විය. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ අනිත් 224 ඉදිරියේ මතවාදයෙන්, ඊළම්වාදය, ශාරියාවාදය, ක්‍රිස්තියානි මූලධ‌ර්‌මවාදය, ලෝක ලිබරල්, කොම්පැනි ධනවාදය පරාජය කිරීමේ හැකියාව හා පෙර ආත්මයෙන් එන පින තිබෙන්නේ ඥානසාර හිමියන්ටය.

සිංහලයා ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයා කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපාරය

1551 දී දොන් ජුවන් ධර්‌මපාලගේ සිටම සිදුවූයේ, සිංහලේ හා සිංහලයා, ශ්‍රී ලාංකික කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයය. රජමහා විහාරයට යාබදව පල්ලියක් සදා, කෝට්ටේ ප්‍රභූන් කතෝලික කිරීමෙන් ඇරඹුණ මේ ක්‍රියාවලිය, එතැන් සිට, කළු සුද්දන් බෝ කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපාරයක් වශයෙන් ප්‍රවර්‌ධ නයවී, 1948 දී කළු සුද්දෙක් අගමැති වීමෙන් කූඨප්‍රාප්ත විය. 2015 දී එය යහපාලන ශාපයක් විය. 1815 දී සිංහලේට නැතිවූ නිදහස, 1947 දී 29 වෙනි වගන්තිය මඟින් නැවතත් නැතිකරණ ලදී. මේ ගැන තරුණ සිංහලයින්ට කියා දිය යුතුය. මානසික වශයෙන් සිංහල ජාතිය තම මව්බිමේම එක් ජන වර්‌ගයක් පමණක් කලේ ඒ වගන්තියෙන්‌ය. මේ නිසා ඩී. එස් නිදහසේ පියාද යන්න නැවත විමසා බැලිය යුතු නොවේද? පෙත්සම් ගැසූ විට නියම නිදහසක් දෙන යටත් විජිත පාලකයෙක් නැත. එක්සත් ජාතියක්, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්‍ෂය තුලවත් නොවීය. සිදුවූයේ පෙඩරල් කාරයින් ප්‍රසිද්‌ධියේත්, ශාරියා කාරයින් දිය යටිනුත්, සිංහලේ නමැති පාන් රාත්තලෙන් කෑලි කුනිත්තා ගැනීමය. 1957 බණ්ඩා-චෙල්වා ගිවිසුමෙන් දමිළ ජන වර්‌ගයට ලංකාවේ කෘතිම මව්බිමක් යෝජනා කරණ ලදී. 1965 දී ඩඩ්ලි හා ජේ ආර් එය තහවුරු කර දෙන ලදී. 1987 දී 13-ඒ හරහා එය නීතිගත කරණ ලදී. ඒකීය රටක් නීතිය ඉදිරියේ දැනට නැත.

වෙන රටවලදී මෙන් මේ කුඩා දූපත කැබලි කරගැනීම ප්‍රමාදවූයේ රටේ, ජාතියේ මුරදේවතාවුන්‌වූ භික්‍ෂූ පරපුර නිසාය. මේ ඉතිහාසයේදි වැරදි පාරේ ගිය, හා යන, සිල්වත් නොවන භික්‍ෂූන් සිටින්නේමය. භික්‍ෂූ සාසනයේ මේ පිරිහීමට සුද්දන්න්ට වඩා වගකිව යුතු සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ යයි කියනා පාලක කළු සුද්දන්‌ය. 1920 ගණන් වල සිට අරාබි ආගමික පාසැල්, 1951 දී කාති උසාවි යනාදිය නීති මඟින් සදාදුන් පාලකයින්, අඩු තරමින් උසාවි කොරිඩෝර් වල රස්තියාදු වෙන හාමුදුරුවරුන් සඳහා ශීලාචාර ක්‍රමයක් හදා දෙන ලෙස සුදු නඩුකාරයින් කල් ඉල්ලීමටවත් කන් නොදුන් අන්දම, ප්‍රින්ස් ගුණසේකර විසින් 1958 දී ලියූ විහාර නීති විත්ති යන පොතේ විස්තර කර ඇත. සුද්දගෙ නීතිය අදවන විට කළුසුද්දන් රකින, වඳින නීතිය වී තිබේ. අනිත් සුළු ජන වර්‌ග වලට ශ්‍රී ලාංකික යන පලිහ සමඟ, මුස්ලිම්-දෙමළ යන කඩු අතට දී ඇති අතර, සිංහලයාට ඇත්තේ උපතින් ඔහුට/ඇයට ලැබුණ අත් දෙක හා කකුල් දෙක පමණය.

සුෂුම්නාව කැඩුණ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ නායකයෝ

උප්පැන්නෙන් සිංහල ජාතිය යන්න ඉවත් කර, සිංහලයා දිවයිනේ එක් ජනවර්‌ගයක් කිරීමේ හොර උත්සාහයට විරුද්‌ධව චන්ද කාලයේදී ප්‍රසිද්‌ධියේ කතා කලේ විමල් වීර වංශ හ උදය ගම්මන්පිල පමණය! සිංහල බෞද්‌ධයා හිත හොඳ ගෑණී වූවා පමණක් නොව සිංහලයා පාපිස්සක්, මුව හමක් බවට පත්‌වී ඇත. මෙම අවාසනාවන්ත ඉරණම නතර කිරීමට 1956 <අපේ ආණ්ඩුව> අසමත් විය. ඊට හේතුව එය කළු සුද්දන්ගේ ග්‍රහණයට අසුවූ ආණ්ඩුවක් වීමය. විශාල වශයෙන් සිංහල-දෙමළ ලිපිකරුවන් බඳවා ගන්නටත්, විපක්‍ෂය ආණ්ඩුවට සම්බන්‌ධ කරගන්නටත්, තරුණ ගම්පහ මන්ත්‍රී, පසුව ඉඹුල්ගොඩ වීරයාවූ, ඇස්.ඩී. බණ්ඩාරනායක කල යෝජනාව අගමැති විසින් ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කලේය. මාස දෙකක් යන්නටත් පෙර බෞද්‌ධ බලවේගයේ එල්. එච්. මෙත්තානන්ද අගමැති ගෙන් ඉවත්‌ව ගියේය. 1960 හා 1970 දශක වල මිසිස් බී, මාක්ස්වාදීන්ගේ, ඇන්ග්ලිකන් ෆිලික්ස් ඩයස්ගේ, ඉස්ලාම් බදිුද්දීන් මොහමඩ්ගේ බලපෑම් වලට ගොදුරුවිය. එන්. කිව්, ඩයස් තනියෙන් සටන්කල නියම බෞද්‌ධයා විය. උපාසිකාවක් ලෙස සැළකෙණ මිසිස් බී, දළයිලාමාට දළදාව වැඳගැනීමට සංචාරක වීසාවක් යටතේ දවසකටවත් ලංකාවට ඒමට ඉඩදුන්නේ නැත්තේ චීනයට බයේද නැත්නම් චීන පිලේ සේනානායක දෙබෑයින්ගේ (රත්න දේශප්‍රිය) බලපෑමටද? පසුව එතුමාගේ මවගේ වළල්ලක්, එතුමාගේ නැඟනියක් විසින් දළදා මාළිගාවට පැමිණ පූජා කලේ ඒ නිසාය.

2020 පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ මන්ත්‍රී පංචස්කන්‌ධ

ඥානසාර හිමියන්ට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට යෑමේ අවස්ථාව අහිමි කලත්, ඒ වෙනුවට, මතවාදයෙන් සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ හතුරන් පරාදය කිරීමට විභව ආත්ම ශක්තියක් ඇති මන්ත්‍රීන් කීපදෙනෙක්ම දැන් පත්‌වී සිටී. එහෙත් මේ අය, අඩු තරමින්, <ඥානසාර මතවාදය> අනුමත කල 2017 ජූනි 20 හා ජූලි 4 අස්ගිරි ප්‍රකාශනයෙන් හා අස්ගිරි නිවේදනයෙන් පසුව වත්, ඥානසාර හිමියන් වෙනුවෙන් ප්‍රසිද්‌ධියේ වචනයක්වත් කතා කලාදැයි මම නොදනිමි. පක්‍ෂ දේශපාලනය හා විනය විසින් ඔවුන්ට, ඥානසාර හිමියන්ට ඇති ස්වෛරීභාවය නොදෙනු ඇත. චන්දයේදී ඔවුන් කී එක රටක්, එක නීතියක් යන සංකල්ප ක්‍රියාවට නඟන්නේ කෙසේද?

මේ නිසා රට පුරා උත්සව පවත්‌වමින්, ලැබුණ ධූර ගැන නාහෙන් අඬමින්, පන්සල් ගානේ යමින් හැසිරෙන පොහොට්ටු මන්ත්‍රීන් තේරුම් ගතයුතු කාරණා රාශියක්ම ඇත. දැනට ඇති අමාත්‍ය සංඛ්‍යාවද විශාල වැඩිය. රැවුලත්, කැඳත් බේරා ගැනීම, දැනට රටේ තිබෙන නාස්ලණුවාදය යටතේ කල යුතු බව සැබෑය. එහෙත් එහි සීමාවක් තිබේ. ඒ සමඟ සාධාරණකමක්ද ඇති බව චන්දය දුන් අයට පෙනී යායුතුය. විජේදාස රාජපක්‍ෂට, විදුර වික්‍රමනායකට සළකා ඇති ආකාරය පුදුමය.

1. තුනෙන් දෙකක චන්ද බලයක් ජනාධිපතිට ලබාදී ඇත්තේ ඔහු ගැන විශ්වාසය තබා මිස පරණ සෙට් එකට නැවත කයිය ගසන්නට නොවේ.
2. රටේ ලක්‍ෂ 50 ක් චන්දය දී නැත. ලක්‍ෂ 7 කට වඩා චන්ද පත්‍රිකා නරක්‌වී ඇත. මෙය අනතුරු ඇඟවීමකි.
3. විරුද්‌ධ පක්‍ෂ සිය කුහක හා මුග්‌ධ වාචාල කටවල් ඇරගෙන යමින් සිටී. හිරුනිකා වැනි රාජපක්‍ෂ දුවක් සේ හැදුන තරුණ ස්ත්‍රියක්, මහින්ද තව අවුරුදු දෙකකින් මැරෙනවා යයි ප්‍රසිද්‌ධියේ කියන මට්ටමට පිරිහී ඇත. බොරු ප්‍රකාශකර ජනයා නොමඟ යවන මෙවැනි දේශපාලකයින් හිර අඩස්සියට ගෙන රජරට වැව් ශුද්‌ධකිරීමට දැමීමට ප්‍රජා-තන්ත්‍රවාදය ඉඩ නොදේ.
4. දමිළ හා ඉස්ලාම් දේශපාලන හොරුන්ට මිනිසුන් රවටීමේ ඒකාධිකාරය අහිමිවෙමින් පවතී.
5. සිංහල-දමිළ, හින්‌දු-බෞද්‌ධ සහජීවනය සඳහා අවශ්‍ය දහස් ගණන් ජනයා උතුරෙන් හා නැඟෙනහිරෙන් ඒ සඳහා සිය චන්දය ප්‍රකාශකර ඇත.
6. දරිද්‍රතාවය නැති කිරීම සඳහා බිම් මට්ටමෙන් ආණ්ඩුව ගන්නා පියවර යහපත්‌ය. පාරවල් හා ගොඩනැඟිලි වෙනුවට පාසැල්, ජලය, වැසිකිලි, රෝහල්, වගාවට ආධාරදීම, ගොවියන් අතරමැදි කූඨයින්ගෙන් බේරා ගැනීම වැදගත්‌ය. භූටාන් රටේ මෙන් හැපිනස් ඉන්ඩෙක්ස් එකකට වඩා ඉහළ සෑම සත්‌වයාම සුවපත්වේවා යන දර්‍ශකය අපේ ඓතිහාසික උරුමය නොවේද?
7. එහෙත් දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදය හා ශාරියාවාදය මතවාදයෙන්ම පරදවන තාක්, 1923 සිට එන මේ පිළිකාව කෙළවර වන්නේ නැත.
8. මෙය පාර්ලිමේන්තුව තුල සිදුකල යුතු අතර එය දැනට කල හැක්කේ ඥානසාර හිමි වැනි අයෙකුට පමණය. සරත් වීරසේකර, ගෙවිඳු කුමාරණතුංග, චන්න ජයසුමන, සීතා අරඹෙපොල යන අයට එය කල හැකිද?
9. මෙහිදී වැදගත් වන්නේ, සිංහල බෞද්‌ධයාට අවුරුදු 500 ක් පුරා කල වෙනස්කම්, හිරිහැර, සාධාරණ ලෙස ඉවත්කිරීම (ඩිස්ක්‍රිමිනේෂන් විත් රීසන්), සෙසු ජනවර්‌ග වල මානව හිමිකම් කඩකිරීමක් නොවන බව අඩුතරමින් පොහොට්ටු මන්ත්‍රී පිරිසවත් මනාව වටහා ගැනීමය. ඊට හේතුව එසේ වෙන තෙක් මේ ගැන කට්ටි පැනීමට ඔවුන් යොමු වන නිසාය. පෙඩරල් හොල්මන් රැසක්ම පො‌හොට්ටුවේ එල්ලී, සැඟවී සිටී.
10. මානව හිමිකම් මුවාවෙන් එන නොයෙක් මාදිලියේ දේශීය හා විදේශීය ඩොලර් ආක්‍රමණ වලට මුහුණ දිය යුත්තේ බෞද්‌ධ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදාවෙන් මය. තිරසර සංවර්‌ධනය යනුද එයමය. රුවන්ඩාවේ සිදුවු ජාති ඝාතන ලංකාවේ සිදු නොවුයේ කුමක් නිසාදැයි ජීනිවාකාරයින්ට, ඊළම් චන්ද හා ඩොලර් වලට යටවුනු සුදුරටවල දේශපාලකයින්ට පෙන්වා දිය හැකි දැණුමක් ඇති විදේශ අමාත්‍යාංශයක් අපට අවශ්‍යය.
11. සෑම සංවර්‌ධන ක්‍රියාවක්ම පොලෝතලයේ, බිමේ සිදුවන්නකි. මේ නිසා භූමි (භූගෝල)විද්‍යාව හා ඉතිහාසය අමතක කිරීම නොකල යුතුය. රටක ඉතිහාසය යනු ඒ රටේ අතීත භූගෝල විද්‍යාවය.
12. මේ නිසා ඒකිය රටක්, සහජීවන රටක්, සමෘධිමත් රටක් බිහිකිරීමේ අත්තිවාරම වන්නේ රටේ පරිපාලන ඒකකය භූගෝල විද්‍යාවට අනුව ස්වාභාවික ඒකක ලෙස මායිම් කිරීමෙන්‌ය. සීමා නිර්‌ණ කොමිෂන් සභාව පොරෝඩාවක් වන්නේ මේ නිසාය. ලංකාවේ දැනට ඇති ග්‍රාම සේවා වසම් 14,026, ස්වාභාවික, පරිසර මායිම් සහිත ඒකක ලෙස නැවත හඳුනාගෙන, ඒ අනුව රටේ අනිකුත් පරිපාලන ඒකක හා චන්ද කොට්ඨාශ බෙදිය යුතුය. ග්‍රාම සේව ඒකක එකතු කර ලොකු කුඩා අනිත් ඒකක සැදිය හැකිය. මේ මඟින් ආගම, ජාතිය, භාෂාව අනුව දේශපාලනය ගැන සිතීමට ඇති ආශාව තුරන් වන්නේය. කූඨ ජාතිවාදී (ජාතික නොව) දේශපාලකයාගේ මදුරුවල හිස් වන්නේය.

පණ්ඩුකාභය රජතුමා මෙය කලා යයි පැවසේ. ගම-වැව-දාගැබ යන ත්‍රිත්‌වය අපගේ ආර්ථික, සාමාජික හා දේශපාලන මොඩලය නොවූයේද? මේ ආකාරයට ස්වාභාවික පරිසරය අනුව, ලොකු කුඩා ගංඟා ද්‍රෝණි අනුව පරිපාලන ඒකක මායිම් කිරීම නිව්සීලන්තයේ ව්‍යවස්ථා අනුව අනිවාර්‌යකර ඇත. තිරසර සංවර්‌ධන සංකල්පය අපට අළුත් දෙයක් නොවන්නේද?

දැනට සිදුවන ජාතික මන්ත්‍රීධූර කුමන්ත්‍රණය මඟින් එලිවන්නේ ඥානසාර හිමියන් විනාශ කිරීමට 2012 සිටම සිතූ පිරිසේ වෑයමය. හාමුදුරුවන්ට මඩ ගැසීමට ගෙනා කාරණා දෙකටම (නෝර්වේ ඒජන්ත හා බීමත්‌ව රිය පැදවීම) අවශ්‍ය පැහැදිලිකිරීම් ඒ කාලයේදීම ලබාදෙන ලදී. බොදු බල සේනාව ගැන චෝදනා නොකර ඒ ගැන විමසීමට (අළුත්ගම සිද්‌ධිය වැනි) කොමිෂමක් පත්කරණ ලෙස ඥානසාර හිමි ආණ්ඩුවලට දිගින් දිගටම අභියෝග කලේය. උන්වහන්සේට චෝදනා කල කිසිවෙක් මුහුණට මුහුණ දී විවාදයක් කරන්නට ඉදිරිපත්‌වූයේ නැත! මේ නිසා මන්ත්‍රී උන්නාන්සේ කෙනෙක් වශයෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට ගියොත් මන්ත්‍රී පංචස්කන්‌ධවලට වෙනදේ අපට සිතාගත හැකිය.

The massive mandate received from the people should not be obstructed by sepoy scribes who have infiltrated the high places of the Editorial staff and always writing to please embassies of western countries & NGOs with anti-national, anti-Sinhala, and anti-Buddhist narratives. There is a well-funded campaign to vilify Buddhists & Buddhism in particular by the private owned mainstream English newspapers giving a platform to writers using pseudonyms. While writers using their real names can be challenged, people throwing stones hiding behind a bogus name cannot be held accountable for the malicious & vindictive manner they write. In such a scenario, it is the editors of these mainstream newspapers and even web journals who have to be held to account as they know the identities of the cowards who do not wish to say what they want to say openly but do so hiding behind a false name. This ugly practice must stop. The Media Minister & the new Government must also look into the grievances of the majority and one key area is the denigration the majority is subject to in all forms of communication channels. Strict rules and regulations must be issued to the mainstream media channels with regard to attacking Buddhists and Buddhism using pseudonyms and hiding behind ‘freedom of press’ ‘rights of media’. The Sri Lankan Press must be sensitive to all readers. Name calling and ridiculing 2/3 of the people of Sri Lanka by cowards is not acceptable. 

Who are these cowards writing & bashing Buddhists & Buddhism using pseudonyms? 

–       Don Manu

–       Vishwamithra

–       Naan

–       Cassandra

–       Notebook of Shani

This is nothing but biased and unethical gutter journalism at play.

The mainstream English newspapers are circulated internationally and end up being the main source that individuals and organizations refer to. If the international community have an adverse opinion against the majority in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan press has to be held accountable in view of their role in vilifying the majority Sinhala Buddhists.

The manner the editors and the owners allow scribes to ONLY ridicule and denigrate the majority Sinhala Buddhists is nothing they can deny. A content analysis will reveal the derogatory nature of Buddhist bashing press, the editors facilitating the bashing and the scribes given a forum to do so.  To add to injury the editors do not even allow right of replies or even opportunity for new writers. The same columnists have been writing for decades. Dictatorial nature of editorial positions can be assuaged in the manner main editors have also been glued to their seats while they lambast politicians for not retiring!

In a country with 74% Sinhalese – the Buddhist opinion is purposely suppressed and even Poya Day supplement write up by English mainstream private newspapers is given to a non-Buddhist or a pseudo-Buddhist to question Buddhism or put forward some uncouth opinion. How many editors are Buddhists? How many writers are allowed to put forward Buddhist opinion? Thankfully the alternate media and social media have enabled the Buddhists to challenge the injustices. Soon the print media, already in decline, will realize that they will have no circulation or purchase of their papers because they carry the same old vindictive opinions of writers and the same denigration and offer people nothing new to think about.

Given that the Press Complaints Commission is under the Media Minister and a Code of Professional Practice binding newspapers, publishing companies, editors, journalists and contributors for print & online exists, the Minister must clearly issue a circular banning pseudonym writers bashing Buddhists/Buddhism.

If they want to bash Buddhists/Buddhism come into the open and do so, without being cowards, hiding behind the editors and throwing stones via pen.

Code of Professional Practice for Sri Lankan media.

6.3 of the code: a journalist

shall not knowingly or willfully promote communal or religious discord or violence. The conclusion of the article declares ‘

6.4 of the Code:

The Press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to a person’s race, color, religion, sex or to any physical or mental illness or disability’.  

Use of pseudonyms by scribes only displays their moral cowardice seeking cover under a fake name and throwing stones. 

No country allows mainstream press to give a platform to scribes to bash the majority using a pseudonym. Sri Lanka should not either.

The media minister must appoint a national media commission and release report along the lines of 1964 Press Commission Report.

The media minister must bring legislation banning pseudonyms attacking Buddhists/Buddhism via mainstream media

The media minister must build Patriotic writers to defend Sri Lanka. 

War of arms is over in Sri Lanka.

The soldiers did their part magnificently

Now is the War of words

It is the task of the patriotic writers to defend the Nation using the pen.

The Govt must recruit a team of such writers.

The pen army will be Sri Lanka’s next defense.

They must dictate the narrative which has been unfairly held by sepoy press, lascoreen journalists & coward scribes.

Patriotic forces of Sri Lanka must be on top in the war of words.

Sepoy Journalism must be replaced with Patriotic Journalism.

Shenali D Waduge

Progressive Women’s Collective

The Progressive Women’s Collective (PWC) is delighted with the announcement that theNational List parliamentary seatof the National People’s Power (NPP) has been offered to, and accepted by, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya. Dr. Amarasuriya is an extremely accomplished activist and educator, and we are thrilled that such an active advocate for education rights and women’s rights will represent the NPP at the Parliament.

PWC has consistently advocated for the increase of women in political leadership and decision-making. Along with NPP, PWC supported and lobbied for 20 number of women candidates put forward by the NPP in the recently concluded parliamentary election. The appointment of Dr. Amarasuriya as the National List candidate, we believe, shows the NPP’s true and integral commitment to the feminist vision outlined in the PWC policy as well as NPP’s overall policy regarding women’s participation in politics. This is principle in action—walking the talk. We are also thrilled that it is our colleague Dr. Amarasuriya who will represent us, and women and men in Sri Lanka as an NPP Member of Parliament.

Dr. Amarasuriya has been an ardent advocate for public educational rights in Sri Lanka, supporting and leading movements which demand structural change in our education system. Dr. Amarasuriya has always been led by a passionate commitment to ensuring that education in Sri Lanka be accessible, equitable, just and truly public. But her commitment to social transformation isn’t limited to any one issue. Dr. Amarasuriya, in her role as a member of the Public Representations Committee for Constitutional Reform, advocated for public representations to be taken seriously on matters of the state, religion, socio-economic rights and more. Her deep respect for a diverse range of stakeholders was evident through this process, and it enabled her to bring these representations into multiple fora and public discourse in a meaningful way.

Dr. Amarasuriya’s contributions within the Progressive Women’s Collective have been invaluable. Her insightfulness and perceptiveness enabled her to make incisive contributions in shaping PWC’s feminist vision and policy. She has also advocated tirelessly for the adoption of a feminist lens within the broader NPP.

It is common to see petty politicking within political parties following elections, where party leadership typically sideline original National List candidates or female candidates in the final seat allotment, in favour of candidates who didn’t get sufficient preferential votes to win a seat. We trust that this is an instance where NPP has shown our commitment to democratic and participatory politics, eschewing patronage politics and exclusionary practices. We are setting a new trend in politics, where politics is no longer a matter of self-gain and individual advantage, but a broad praxis where principles and vision rules the order of political decision-making.

As women, we believe that NPP’s decision to allot the National List seat to Dr. Amarasuriya is a defining moment in our Left political history. We deeply appreciate this move by the NPP as bold decision. In this time of profound electoral setbacks for left political parties, we remain hopeful that the NPP will become a touchstone of political incorruptibility and ethical behaviours, committed to a safer, healthier, and economically sustainable society. We also laud the courage that Dr. Amarasuriya has shown by accepting this invitation of the NPP during such challenging times. For us, as the PWC, this is an indication that the long road ahead will be one of unity, respect, and commitment to women’s rights in Sri Lanka, a sign, that the times are, indeed, changing, after decades of political neglect of female leaders by left and right political parties.

Progressive Women’s Collective

ප්‍රගතිශීලී ස්ත්‍රී එකමුතුව

ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ ජාතික ලැයිස්තු පාර්ලිමේන්තු ආසනය ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසුරිය වෙත ප්‍රධානය කිරීම සහ ඇය විසින් එය පිළිගනු ලැබීම පිළිබඳව ප්‍රගතිශීලී ස්ත්‍රී එකමුතුව ලෙස අප අතිශයින් සතුටට පත් වෙමු. ආචාර්ය අමරසුරිය යනු අතිශයින්ම දක්ෂ සමාජ ක්‍රියාකාරිනියක් සහ අධ්‍යාපනඥයකු වන වන අතර, අධ්‍යාපන අයිතිවාසිකම් සහ කාන්තා අයිතිවාසිකම් වෙනුවෙන් හඬ නගන එවැනි ක්‍රිරියාකාරිනියක පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේදී ජාතික ජන බලවේගය නියෝජනය කිරීම ගැන අපි සතුටට පත් වෙමු.

දේශපාලන නායකත්වය තුළ සහ තීරණ ගැනීමේ ක්‍රියාවලියේ දී කාන්තා සහභාගීත්වය වැඩි කිරීම සඳහා ප්‍රගතිශීලී ස්ත්‍රී එකමුතුව නිරන්තරයෙන් පෙනී සිටී. මෑතදී අවසන් වූ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයේදී ජාතික ජන බලවේගය සමගින් ප්‍රගතිශීලී ස්ත්‍රී එකමුතුව විසින් කාන්තා අපේක්ෂකයින් 20 දෙනෙකු සඳහා සහයෝගය ලබා දුනි. ආචාර්ය අමරසුරිය ජාතික ලැයිස්තු අපේක්ෂකයා ලෙස පත් කිරීම, ප්‍රගතිශීලී ස්ත්‍රී එකමුතුවෙහි ප්‍රතිපත්තියේ දක්වා ඇති ස්ත්‍රීවාදී දැක්ම කෙරෙහි ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ සැබෑ සහ ඒකාග්‍ර කැපවීම මෙන්ම දේශපාලනයේ කාන්තා සහභාගීත්වය පිළිබඳ ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ කතාවට සීමා නොවුණු විශිෂ්ට ක්‍රියාකාරීත්වය ද පෙන්නුම් කරයි. එබැවින් අපගේ ආදරණීය සගයා වන ආචාර්ය අමරසුරිය පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරියක ලෙස අප ඇතුළු සියලු ගැහැණුන් සහ පිරිමින් වෙනුවෙන් පෙනී සිටීම සතුටට කරුණකි.

ආචාර්ය අමරසුරිය අපගේ අධ්‍යාපන ක්‍රමයේ ව්‍යුහාත්මක වෙනසක් ඉල්ලා සිටින ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පුරවැසි අයිතිවාසිකම් පිළිබඳ ප්‍රමුඛ පෙළේ ව්‍යාපාරවලට සහාය වූ අයෙකි. ඇය සැමවිටම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ අධ්‍යාපනය සියල්ලන්ට ප්‍රවේශ විය හැකි, සාධාරණ, යුක්ති සහගත හා සැබවින්ම මහජන සේවාවක් බවට පත් කිරීම වෙනුවෙන් කැප වූවාය. එහෙත් සමාජ පරිවර්තනය සඳහා ඇය දක්වන කැපවීම එක් ගැටලුවකට පමණක් සීමා නොවේ. 

ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථා ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ සඳහා වූ මහජන උපදේශන කමිටුවේ සාමාජිකාවක් ලෙස ආචාර්ය අමරසූරිය, රාජ්‍යය, ආගම, සමාජ-ආර්ථික අයිතිවාසිකම් සහ තවත් බොහෝ දේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් මහජන නියෝජනයන් බැරෑරුම් ලෙස සැලකිල්ලට ගත යුතු යැයි කියා සිටියාය. සියලු පාර්ශවකරුවන් කෙරෙහි ඇය දක්වන ගෞරවය මෙම ක්‍රියාවලිය තුළින් පැහැදිලි වූ අතර, එකී අදහස්  විවිධ වේදිකා සහ පොදු කතිකාවන්ට අර්ථවත් ආකාරයකින් ගෙන ඒමට ද ඇයට හැකි විය.

ප්‍රගතිශීලී ස්ත්‍රී එකමුතුව තුළ ද ආචාර්ය අමරසුරියගේ දායකත්වය මිල කළ නොහැකි ය. අපගේ ස්ත්‍රීවාදී දැක්ම සහ ප්‍රතිපත්තිය හැඩගැස්වීමේදී ඇයගේ තීක්ෂණ බුද්ධිය සහ ප්‍රත්‍යක්ෂතාව නිසා නොවරදින දායකත්වයක් ලබා දීමට ඇයට හැකි වූ අතර, පුළුල් ලෙස ජාතික ජන බලවේගය තුළ ස්ත්‍රීවාදී දැක්මක් සම්මත කර ගැනීම සඳහා ඇය වෙහෙස නොබලා කටයුතු කර ඇත.

මැතිවරණයෙන් පසු පක්ෂ නායකත්වය, සාමාන්‍යයෙන් ආසන වෙන්කිරීමේදී මුල් ජාතික ලැයිස්තු අපේක්ෂකයින් හෝ කාන්තා අපේක්ෂකයින් පසෙකට දමා, ආසනයක් දිනා ගැනීමට ප්‍රමාණවත් මනාප ලබා නොගත් අපේක්ෂකයින්ට පක්ෂපාතී වීම දේශපාලන පක්ෂ තුළ බහුල දෙයකි. එබඳු පසුබිමක මෙය ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී, සහභාගීත්ව දේශපාලනය වෙනුවෙන් සහ අනුග්‍රාහක දේශපාලනය බැහැර කිරීම කෙරෙහි ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ කැපවීම පිළිබිඹු කළ අවස්ථාවක් බව අපි විශ්වාස කරමු. අප දේශපාලනයේ නව ප්‍රවණතාවක් සකස් කරමින් සිටින අතර, දේශපාලනය තවදුරටත් ස්වෝත්තමවාදී සහ පුද්ගල වාසි පිළිබඳ කාරණයක් නොව, ප්‍රතිපත්ති සහ දැක්ම දේශපාලන තීරණ ගැනීමේ අනුපිළිවෙල පාලනය කරන පුළුල් ව්‍යායාමයකි.

එමෙන්ම, ජාතික ලැයිස්තු ආසනය ආචාර්ය අමරසුරිය වෙත ලබාදීමට ජාතික ජන බලවේගය ගත් නිර්භීත තීරණය අපගේ වාම දේශපාලන ඉතිහාසයේ තීරණාත්මක අවස්ථාවක් බව ස්ත්‍රීන් වශයෙන් අපි විශ්වාස කරමු. වාමාංශික දේශපාලන පක්ෂවලට ප්‍රබල මැතිවරණ පසුබෑමක් හිමිව තිබෙන මේ කාලය තුළ, සුරක්ෂිත, නිරෝගී සහ ආර්ථික වශයෙන් තිරසාර සමාජයක් වෙනුවෙන් කැපවී සිටින ක්‍රමවත් සහ ආචාරධාර්මික දේශපාලනයේ නිදර්ශකයක් බවට ජාතික ජන බලවේගය පත්වනු ඇතැයි අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙමු.

මෙවැනි අභියෝගාත්මක කාලවලදී ජාතික ජන බලවේගයේ මෙම ආරාධනය පිළිගැනීමෙන් ආචාර්ය අමරසුරිය දැක්වූ ධෛර්යය ගැන අපි ප්‍රශංසා කරමු. ප්‍රගතිශීලී ස්ත්‍රී එකමුතුව ලෙස අපට මෙය දිගු ගමනක ආරම්භයකි; දශක ගණනාවක වාමාංශික සහ දක්ෂිණාංශික දේශපාලන පක්ෂ විසින් කළ නොසලකා හැරීම්වලින් අනතුරුව, කාලය සැබවින්ම වෙනස් වෙමින් පවතින බවට ඉඟියකි; එමෙන්ම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කාන්තා අයිතිවාසිකම් සඳහා එකමුතුකම, ගෞරවය සහ කැපවීම සහිත දිගු ගමනක් ඇරඹීමට කදිම මොහොතකි.

ප්‍රගතිශීලී ස්ත්‍රී එකමුතුව
2020 අගෝස්තු 16 දින

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The State Intelligence Service (SIS) was aware that Zahran Hashim had physical and mental capacity to conduct an attack in the country, even before it received the foreign intelligence on April 04, 2019 with regard to a possible terror attack, former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena yesterday testified before the PCoI probing Easter Sunday attacks.

Responding to a question raised by a commissioner, SDIG Jayawardena said that he was aware about Zahran’s physical capacity to conduct an attack in the country after the Wanathawilluwa explosives raid in January 2019.

“After raiding explosives at Lacktowatta, Wanathawilluwa, the SIS has no records pertaining to other physical explosive stores maintained by Zahran in the country. We didn’t conduct an inquiry with regard to finding more explosives but we were aware about Zahran’s physical capacity to conduct an attack in the country,” Jayawardena said.

SDIG Jayawardena said he had obtained a basic record check on Zahran after receiving the particular foreign intelligence on April 04, 2019 with regard to a possible terror attack.

“After getting a basic record check on April 5, 2019, I decided to inform about the particular foreign intelligence with regard to the attack, to Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) Sisira Mendis,” Jayawardena said.

He said that the SIS had informed about the foreign intelligence to former IGP Pujith Jayasundara, former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and former CNI Sisira Mendis for necessary action on April 07, 2019.

SDIG Jayawardena further added that in March, 2019 two intelligence services in Sri Lanka said that Zahran had escaped the country.

“SIS didn’t even receive such information that Zahran had escaped the country in March, 2019. SIS officers were only aware that Zahran was in the country during that period,” he said. (Yoshitha Perera)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne said that security agencies had received 97 warnings prior to the Easter Sunday attacks.

He expressed these views addressing a gathering of professionals at a session themed ‘Post COVID-19 Renaissance – Present and future development of Sri Lanka’, organized by the ‘Harimaga organization’ at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on Friday.

He said that despite receiving early warnings of the impending attacks 97 times by the security agencies, those who were  responsible had overlooked its graveness and severity and failed to prevent the carnage that left over 290 dead and approximately 500 injured.

Our military intelligence operatives were imprisoned and harassed leaving a huge dearth in our intelligence apparatus which also paved the path for the extremists to operate scout free and under the radar” he said.

Last week, we arrested over 1.5kgs of high explosives and some 90 odd detonators from Mannar. In addition, the military has also taken a few remote control devices into custody. If we also overlooked those incidents, none of these would have been recovered. We will never leave room for separatism from the North to rise nor extremism from the East to spread fear and destruction in this country ever”,  Maj. Gen. Gunaratne stressed.

Maj. Gen. (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne also said that national security and defence were paramount for country’s development.

He said without securing them,  it was impossible for a country to progress and develop.

Maj.Gen. Gunaratne emphasised that national security and defence were also crucial in attracting much needed direct investment to the country.

Though separatism was militarily defeated in May 2009, we need to eliminate the separatist ideology which a few individuals of the Tamil diaspora are constantly sponsoring”, Maj. Gen. Gunaratne said.

He said 12,242 ex-LTTE cadres were rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society during the post war period and that some remnant front organizations of the LTTE were still attempting to indoctrinate and recruit these individuals to fuel their separatist cause for financial gains.

I assure you that there will be no room for separatism in this country now and ever”, he added.

The Defence Secretary explained about the steps taken to  eliminate drug syndicates that had been operating from prison cells.

To put plans to the right direction in fighting the drug menace and organized crimes operated from the prisons, first we appointed capable officers in charge of the Prisons Department and the Police Special Task Force, ” he said.

Highlighting the initiatives taken to change the existing system in prisons, Maj. Gen. Gunaratne said while a  maximum security prison was already under construction to imprison  notorious criminals and drug smugglers,  mobile phone jammers had already been installed at the Boossa and the Angunakolapelessa prisons.

He also revealed plans to address welfare issues of prison inmates and also to reduce overcrowding in prisons.

We have taken several  measures  to increase facilities to rehabilitate drug addicts. A special Centre with state-of- the art facilities to accommodate over 1,000 inmates is now under construction in Nittambuwa. Another facility to be constructed to accommodate 2,000 inmates at Weerawila”, he added.

The Defence Secretary highlighted the plans to curb illegal sand mining and minimise illegal encroachments epecially in the Western Province.

According to the Defence Secretary, a special unit has been established at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate public complaints.

Commandant of the Police Special Task Force (STF) DIG Waruna Jayasundara, Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya, Chairperson ‘Harimaga’ organization Kanishka De Silva were also present at the occasion.

Courtesy Adaderana

Three more foreign arrivals have tested positive for coronavirus infections, according to the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry.

The new cases have been identified among the recent arrivals from Oman, confirmed the Department of Government Information.

Accordingly, the total number of COVID-19 cases reported in the country stands at 2,893.

Among them, 212 active cases are under medical care at selected hospitals.

The recoveries reported in the country hiked to 2,870 today (16) with four more patients being discharged upon recovery.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has witnessed 11 deaths from the virus thus far.

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga has called for a report on an accurate assessment of the damage caused by paddy storage at the Mattala International Airport (MIA) during the Yahapalana regime.

During a discussion on the upcoming plans of the airport, Minister Ranatunga has directed the report to be handed over to him within a week.

At the meeting, trade union representatives had pointed out to the Minister that the Airport & Aviation Services Sri Lanka Ltd (AASL) had not yet made an accurate assessment of the damage caused by the paddy storage at MIA.

Chief Financial Officer of the company, too, had agreed that an accurate assessment in this regard was essential.

Minister Ranatunga has further stated that the Yahapalana government has neglected MIAwith the intention of causing a natural death.

He added that after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa assumed power steps were taken to turn MIA into an active airport.

Lakmaw National Movement

The 19^a has shown that making a constitution or even an amendment should not be done in a hurry, with intent to stifle opposition, embrace undue powers, grab power, squash the people’s rights & freedoms and ignorantly thinking that the insidiously plugged proposals will not one-day backfire. Anything done with ill-will & insincerity will certainly rebound. This is exactly what happened to the architects of 19a. Therefore, let us not be in any hurry to completely nullify existing constitution. In reality, there are only a handful of adverse aspects that impede democratic norms and only these should be done away with. The US has 27 amendments to its constitution (in 231 years) while India has 104 amendments to its constitution (71 years). 16 out of 19 amendments to Sri Lanka’s constitution was done between 1978 & 1988 by the very political party that drafted it. The 17^thamendment was in 2001, 18^thamendment in 2010 and 19^thamendment in 2015. So the 20^thamendment in 2020 is welcome but it must be sensible, it must be relevant to the future and must not commit the same blunders that 19^tha architects committed.

The 19a Bill was passed in Parliament on 28^thApril 2015 with a 2/3 majority after 174 amendments. 212 voted in favor, 1 abstained, 10 were absent and 1 voted against. We mention with admiration the sole person who voted against it – Admiral Sarath Weerasekera. With so many amendments we would like to know whether the 19a Bill passed was the same as what was debated in Parliament on 16^thMarch 2015 or was it a different version?

A political party in power as government should not think they can tweak the constitution for their benefit or tweak it to the disadvantage of their opposition. The good part of democracy is that Governments come and go but the Nation and its resources must remain intact. Therefore rule number 1 at all times should be that any attempt to amend or insert any new clause or even change the existing constitution should only be based if there is a serious need to and if there is no alternate method.

We know that 19a came with political vengeance and as party of the regime change bogey. The original draft of 19a submitted by Ranil W to Parliament virtually abolished the executive presidency transferring the President’s power to himself as PM. It was clear what the plan behind 19a was.

KEEP

• Term of President & Parliament to 5 years (Article 30(2) Clause 3)
• Denial of dual citizens to be representatives in Parliament or Public Service (Anyone serving nation should have allegiance to only 1 country not 2) – citizens holding dual citizenship is not an issue
• 2 consecutive term limit for a Presidential Term (Article 31(2) – Clause 4) – this doesn’t deny anyone who had been President to contest again but not 3 times in a row.
• Article 85(2) which was repealed by 19a – that removed President’s powers to put to referendum any Bill (not a constitutional amendment) rejected by Parliament.
• Article 43(2), 44(1), 45(1) and 46(3)(a) that demands the President to act on advice of the PM when appointing or removing cabinet, non-cabinet or even deputy ministers.
• Cabinet to 30 (Government of 30 Ministers)
• Powers of President to assign to himself any subject or function not assigned to any other Cabinet Minister (which was removed by 19a clause 50a 51) but as commander of the armed forces – the President should be allowed to keep the subject of Defense.
• Immunity of the Supreme Court on Fundamental Rights will not apply to official acts of the President.
• Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police should retire on reaching the age of 60 years.

REMOVE

• Clauses that have diluted the President’s Powers without asking the People
• Restriction to dissolve Parliament – but give provisions on which President can dissolve Parliament after 1 year.
• Remove provision for National Government
• Remove age restriction on contesting Presidency but put some criteria to contest
• Article 46(2) Clause 9 that prevents President removing the PM at his discretion
• Clause that says if post of President falls vacant before term of office ends, MPs who can generate most support can propose someone to be President (this is encourage buy overs)
• Article 43(1), 44(2) that says President can consult PM only if he/she considers it necessary to determine number of cabinet ministers/non-cabinet ministers & subjects assigned to them.

National Unity Government clause that allowed for 45 cabinet ministers and 55 non-cabinet & deputy ministers

ADD

• Clause that can remove appointees to Independent Commissions with criteria for removal
• number of Deputy Ministers & their functions
• limit to number of non-Cabinet & Deputy Ministers.
• Clause binding President/Parliament/Judiciary to uphold the constitution which provides them powers that is DELEGATED to them by the inalienable sovereignty belonging to the People

REVISIT AREAS of 19A that are CONFUSING & CONTRADICTORY

Article 104B(5)(c) clause 26 – Powers to the Election Commission and remove any controversial clauses giving powers that can be misused by Commission.

Who is to be Head of Cabinet? – Article 42(3) proposed PM to be head of Cabinet

Who will determine number of Ministers/Ministries & Assigning of subjects? – Article 43(1) proposed PM to determine number of Ministers & Ministries & assignment of its subject & functions

– Article 43(3) proposed PM to change assignment of subjects & recommend to the President changes in composition of the Cabinet

– Article 44(2) proposed the PM to determine subjects & functions of non-cabinet Ministers

– Article 44(3) proposed the PM to change subjects assigned to non-cabinet Ministers

– Article 44(5) proposed that any cabinet minister at the request of the PM could by gazette delegate power, functions to any minister by cabinet minister.

Article 46(2) Clause 9 denies President powers to remove PM at his discretion – add on what grounds the President can remove the PM

Constitutional Council

19a empowered 10-member Constitutional Council to set up independent commissions.

The inclusion of the 3 civil society members in the light of their controversial selections should be removed as they are NOT ANSWEREABLE to the PUBLIC while the other 7 are.

Instead 3 members of the Opposition Parties should be appointed as the Public can voice through them their objections.

However, there should also be provision for Public to submit their opinions for and against nominees before they are appointed. Here registered civil society organizations can be allowed to make their formal submissions to the Constitutional Council (similar as how UN systems allows civil society/NGOs to make submissions)

This new criterion should be included into any amendments of 19a.

SOME ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

Remove ONLY adverse aspects in 13a 

Sri Lanka must remain UNITARY& therefore powers to be DECENTRALIZED not DEVOLVED under a quasi-federal format that currently exists.

(Powers to be decentralize & not devolved)

Provincial Councils to function in a decentralized model not devolved model.

Return Land & Police powers to Centre – all National Assets/Resources will remain under Centre. 

All archaeological historical, nationally important sites to remain under Central Govt

HateSpeech

Calls to bring hate speech must include any religious texts that include clauses to defeat & destroy their enemies.

Electoral system & People’s Representatives

In terms of People’s wishes, this comes right on top for there is an urgent need to revisit how People elect their representatives to Parliament. The PR system currently in practice is an absolute failure given the disproportionate representation taking place.

A party getting 250,000 votes is able to send 10 MPs to Parliament but a party getting similar number of votes has no seat & only 1 national list seat. This cannot continue. The minimum entry requirement of obtaining 12.5% to be eligible to enter Parliament must be re-implemented from its current 5% allowing ethno-religious parties to become kingmakers and hold the country to ransom with their personal bargaining & demands of plum portfolios.

The People’s sovereignty cannot be abused & manipulated by those People vote to represent them.

Therefore, the present Government given a mandate by the People to secure and safeguard the country must call for public proposals and opinion on their suggestions for a new electoral representation system & have these made publicly available for all to see WHILE the Parliament can and should also appoint Committees to present their proposals too. The final decision must be made by the Election Commission.

Shenali D Waduge

H. L. D. Mahindapala

     Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain – Gerard Manly Hopkins

After zig-zagging under the pressures of multiple inimical forces, evolving history has once again returned to its traditional Centre to reclaim its roots. From the thirties, the Marxists struggled to take the nation through parliamentary/electoral manoeuvres, and sometimes through brutal violence, to a socialist paradise. The nation rejected the false prophets and returned to its traditional democratic, pragmatic Centre governed by the Sinhala-Buddhists. From the forties, the mono-ethnic extremists of the North launched a movement to take a part of the nation to an ethnic enclave. After the longest war, the nation bounced back to the democratic Centre of the Sinhala-Buddhists. In the meantime, a group of Right-wing fascists in uniform attempted to stage a coup. That too was nipped in the bud with the democratic Centre winning again. In the last attempt, a mish-mash of alien and the deracinated forces fought relentlessly and collectively to drag the nation away from its roots to a neo-liberal camp driven by Western dogmas. But it came crashing down in one big heap on August 5, 2020, like the mountain of garbage at Meetotamulla, burying those who dumped all their muck into it. All of them paid heavily for trying to drag history away from it roots. The last bastion of the corrupt and the decadent forces that stood in the way was the die-hard Right-wing citadel of Colombo. When that too came thundering down it brought down the last anachronistic panjandrum of the ancien regime, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was hanging on to his crumbling fortress.

The fall of Colombo marks the beginning of a new era. It is more than the loss of numbers, or the traditional base of the UNP held firmly since its inception. It is the supreme symbol of the collapse of the Right-wing along with its leader. The Left went to pieces after J. R. Jayewardene swept the polls in 1977. The Right sank to its lowest depths on August 5 when the Rajapaksas won the unwinnable” 2/3^rd in 2020, after winning the unwinnable war” in 2009 at Nandikadal and the equally threatening war against Covid-19.

Never has this happened ever before to the Right that stood solidly unshakeable like Sri Pada. Even in 1956 when the UNP fell to its lowest, Sir. John Kotelawela, the then leader, retained his Dodangaslanda seat. The UNP survived as a national institution and as a people-based organisation, despite facing massive assaults from the Left and the Sinhala-Buddhist forces. It never lost its political network, or the respect it gained from the Founding Fathers of independence.

In 1956 Sir. John at least had the opportunity to cross the floor and shake the hands of his rival, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, congratulating him on his victory, and retire with some dignity to his farm in Kent, UK. Ranil, on the other hand, goes home kicked out of Parliament unceremoniously by the people. He paid the ultimate price for dismissing the aspirations of the people with his neo-liberalism which had no roots in the hearts or minds of the people.

He delighted in being the King of the bastardized Western political culture sold to him by NGOs and Western embassies. Quite cynically, believing in his own imported ideology, he turned a blind eye – not to mention a deaf ear – to the forces that were cutting the ground under his feet. Neither the alien forces nor their intellectual side-kicks in academia and hangers-on, had the power to move the grassroot forces that were vital for his survival. Brushing aside the factors that matter, Ranil opted to live in his ideological bubble and when it burst on August 5^th he hit the dirt for the last time. Yesterday’s rooster became a feather-duster overnight. 

After the Senanayakes it was president Ranasinghe Premadasa who peoplised” the Party. He led the Party with his down-to-earth Kehelwatte philosophy brewed by bare-foot foot-ballers. But from November 8, 1994 – and for the next 25 years, eight months and 23 days — the Party was hijacked by the trousered Kurunduwatte cricketers, most of them from Royal College, whose neo-liberalism, linked to the International Democratic Union (IDU), did their level best to drag the nation away from it roots.

August 5, 2020 was Sri Lanka’s Bastille Day when a regime disconnected with the people was thrown out, lock, stock and barrel. It was the equivalent of the humiliating routing of the Tamil Right-wing Vellalas on May 19, 2009 at Nandikadal. It was 1956” all over again with a lesser breed of Alzheimeric mediocrities repeating history for the umpteenth time. What surged on August 5^th was a total rejection of the decadent politics by the overwhelming spirit and power of the determinative forces of history that had shaped the destiny of the nation down the ages.

Once again August 5^th proved the massive power of the Sinhala-Buddhists to go to the brink and regain their lost heritage. Once again it proved that the Sinhala-Buddhists can muster, even at the eleventh hour, the necessary political clout, with or without the minorities, to determine their path in evolving history as they did in the past. In the post-colonial period Dudley Senanayake, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, J. R. Jayewardene, Chandrika Kumaratunga, and Mahinda Rajapaksa have proved that the power of the Sinhala-Buddhist forces to rise from the depths of despair to the heights of glory. Their power has been proved with the ballot and also with the bullet. This is not triumphalism of the Sinhala-Buddhists. This is what is written in history of our time. Ranil failed because his immoral regime committed the other heinous crime of trying to hijack history and park it in the backyard of Jehan Perera and Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu.

This is also the moment of renewal. History sometimes acts like a vacuum cleaner. From time to time nations need a powerful force to suck the muck out of the political system. August 5^th was a critical date on which the nation was balancing between Ranil’s regime rigged by rorts and the Rajapaksas promising a new beginning. The subterranean historical forces of the day came, in the nick of time, as the cleanser to regenerate the nation and restore the values robbed Ranil’s regime. One of his biggest crimes was to let the robber barons run riot. In every which way he lost the moral base on which power is won and retained. Politics, after all, is all about morality. Those who undermine morality lose authority and legitimacy to rule. The life span of immoral regimes is very short.

August 5^th was the day the people went to the cleaners. It was also the day a new political map was drawn by the people with their little crosses at the polling booths. They declared, in no uncertain terms, that the power lies with the central force of history and not in the peripheral hands of the Johnnies-come-lately. And that Centre has been captured comprehensively by the Rajapaksa brothers. Today there is no Right, no Left nor is there the North as we knew it. There is only the Centre held by the Rajapaksas and it has been entrusted with untrammelled power by the people to shape the next stage of evolving history.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, who whittled away the enlightened national values, the image and the integrity of the Grand Old Party of giants each day he occupied the chair of leadership, should take full responsibility for the massacre of the UNPers on August 5. For 26 years – give or take a few days — he was very clever at manipulating the chess pieces at the top for his own survival and glory. But he never had the common touch or sense to be a leader of the people. He never had his feet on the ground. He was hoisted by his own petard. Eventually he became a victim of his own manoeuvres. The Bond Scam, the Easter Sunday attack, the 19^th Amendment that kept him swinging in the air like a rope round his neck, changing the constitution to enthrone the minorities at the expense of the majority,  the betrayal in Geneva, the abuses of parliamentary procedures and privileges to cover-up his sins and keep him in power etc., were all his creations which accumulated, one by one, to reduce his image to that of a chained monkey dancing to the tune of his organ-grinders in the West. On top of all this, the mighty forces of history, resisting his moves to drag the nation away from its roots, came down on him a ton of bricks and pulverised him and his irrelevant and alien ideology to smithereens.

He will also be remembered as the founder of social distancing” that kept the people away from the Party. He never understood the dynamic swings of politics, or how emerging forces determined the shape, form and direction of unfolding events, or even how to read the plain visible signs that were telling him to go. The more he was told to go the more he dug deep into his set refusing to go. How could he understand politics when he couldn’t understand the meaning of an election? Each time he lost an election – at least one for each year of his stewardship – he was made to believe that it was an expression of the indispensability of his leadership. He acted as if he could override the will of the people with his government run by do-nothing committees that took him nowhere. It took a direct kick in his pants for him to realise that the people do not want him anymore. The unceremonious eviction from Parliament by the people will be the badge he will carry for the rest of his life. It is a sad ending for a man who assumed that he knew everything that needs to be known in politics.

It took a long time for the message to sink in. Now it seems that the message has sunk in. He goes to live on a Parliamentary pension which he should, rightfully, give it back to the people for leaving them with a legacy that is empty as his political career.  A leader is judged by the victories he/she scores in time of crises. Sadly, there isn’t a single significant victory which stands to his credit on the national stage.

History has been kind to him and given three chances to occupy the Prime Ministerial seat. Three chances to solve the issues exploding in his face. He botched it each time he took the reins of power. For instance, the biggest threat to the nation was Velupillai Prabhakaran. When the time came he surrendered the national interests by signing the Cease Fire Agreement (22/2/2002) with international guarantees without telling the President, the Parliament, his Party or the people. Prabhakaran treated it with contempt it deserved and left him twisting in the winds of despair. Second, was his gigantic effort to change the Constitution, starting with his futile 19^th Amendment. Soon it will be wiped out of the statute book as it has failed to serve any man, woman or the LGBT.

He was also hailed as Mr. Clean” and the better economic manager. With the Bond scandal all that went down the drain. He also went behind George Soros hoping that the patron of open society would come to his rescue with massive investments. But Soros had no time for him. Aiming to rope in the patronage of the Western investors he joined the International Democratic Union (IDU), the powerful club of the capitalist hub. His membership did not help to get any favours from the IDU either. Lastly, in a sacrificial ritual at UNHRC in Geneva, he offered to the West the heads of the heroic soldiers who fought and won peace for all to enjoy normalcy, dignity and the democratic rights denied by the Tamil fascist regime.

It was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Handing the soldiers to a foreign court to be tried on hear-say evidence cooked up by the Tamil lobby and NGOs questioned his loyalty to the nation. In handing over his soldiers to be tried by foreign judges was an act that betrayed his confidence in the national judiciary. In other words, he was telling the world and the nation that he had no faith in the local judiciary to deliver justice on testable evidence. People in return paid him back by declaring no confidence in his role as leader of the nation.

The public declaration of the will of the people was, perhaps, too harsh on him. But how can the people trust him to deliver justice when he, as a lawyer of the national legal system, has rejected the prime legal instrumentality of the nation, as unreliable, unworthy and untrustworthy means incapable of upholding the law fairly, independently and objectively? He has placed his trust in foreign judges and not ours!

If anything, his career exposes him as the only outstanding model that should be avoided in politics at any cost. No one can emulate his style or ideology and hope to win or retain power. His idea of being a leader is to stand on the shore of politics and command the waves rising from oceans of history to stop rolling. Long before him King Canute, pointing to the limitations of power, proved to his ministers that it just can’t be done.

Something that the new leaders of the UNP should learn is that it is not possible to take history out of politics. If the new leadership hopes to gain credibility and acceptance it must come back to the centre of history. Politics cannot drift too far away from history. Example: After 1956” the alienated UNP went back to Dudley Senanayake – the accepted centre of history, the collective force evolving in time to mould politics. As stated by Arnold Toynbee it is possible to turn the wheel of history only a wee bit at a time. It is not possible to turn it full circle overnight. Nor is it possible to take what belongs to the majority, who were the makers of history, and hand it over to the minority hoping that it would be the magic formula to resolve majority-minority conflicts and tensions.

Besides, the decimated and the inexperienced leadership in the opposition now is no match for the seasoned bull-fighters in the ring. Sajith cannot go far out from the Centre to appease the extremist demands of the minorities and at the same time win back the majority that defected from the UNP. In any case, it is not possible at this stage to know for how long the unpredictable and opportunistic minorities will be with him. There is only the Sinhala-Buddhist Centre that is in command right now. The rest is chaos. They will take time to find their place and direction in the political compass.

In the meantime, we can say Farewell!” to Ranil.

We all must wish him a better time in retirement than he had in power.

A paper submitted by the Sri Lanka Study Circle

Mahinda Rajapakse led the Pohottuwa to an unparalleled victory at the Parliamentary Elections held on 05 Aug 20, surpassing the expectations of many patriotic forces in the country. If 19 November 2019 was Gotabaya’s day, 05 August 2020 was, without argument, Mahinda’s day.

Mahinda led from the front. His popularity among the people, as reflected in the preferential votes cast, was unrivaled.

It was a landslide victory, with Pohottuwa gaining 145 seats in the 225-seat House. When combined with the seats won by the ‘Pohottuwa’ allies, Mahinda is able to muster 150 seats in the Legislature to give the Party the 2/3^rd majority needed to amend the obnoxious Article introduced into the Constitution during the Yahapalanaya regime and, to re-spell clearly without any trace of ambiguity, certain Articles in the Constitution which were muted, straitjacketed and made redundant by a judicial interpretation that surprised many; by re-spelling these Articles, Mahinda would be restoring the Articles to its previous status quo; the authors of the Constitution, in their profound wisdom, believed these provisions were of paramount importance; Mahinda and his team valiantly fought for the retention of these provisions in October 2018.

It should not be construed that the ‘amendment’ to Amendment 19 of the Constitution would include the restoration of the ‘rights’ of Americans and other foreign Nationals with dual citizenship, to hold any form of political office in this country. They should remain forever barred from political life in this country as they continue to pose a major threat to Sri Lanka’s National security, given the total betrayal of their country of birth at the time of pledging absolute and undivided loyalty to their adopted country.

Mahinda’s majority in Parliament would enable the Pohottuwa to immediately pass legislation to regulate all Foreign Funded Organisations (FFOs) that deceitfully pose off as NGOs and which have now re-christened themselves as ‘Civil Society Organisations’. They need to be regulated, by law, in respect of the membership, objectives, work plans, work executed, monies coming-in, monies paid-out, justification for payments, sources of funding, etc. Importantly, their work and funds need to be audited by the Auditor-General, strictly according to Sri Lankan guidelines. The personal accounts of the membership of those in these organisations need to be scrutinised by ‘Income Tax’, the ‘Bribery Department’, and the Money Laundering unit of the CID.

The re-registration of the FFOs, each year, would be dependent on their performance. By law, FFOs and their contractors should be denied access to Government offices and debarred from holding appointments in any Government or semi-Government Organisation as they are duty-bound to do the bidding of Foreign Governments and Foreign Corporations.

The just-concluded Elections made political history when, for the first time since Independence, the UNP that took over the reins of power from the British were literally swept out from the House. It was a case of dial zero for the UNP.

The blame for the defeat could be laid squarely on a corrupt UNP leadership, discerned by many as a boot-licking class groveling at the feet of Western patronage and fawningly seeking their indulgence at every turn; this attitude is personified by Wickramasinghe, a self-centered politician whose behaviour evokes revulsion and demands that the rule of law be applied and justice is done.

The election also saw another major Party, the SLFP, reduced to just one seat, with the comedy of Sirisena, the leader of the SLFP, abdicating his party to contest on the Pohottuwa ticket, under Mahinda’s leadership.

JVP’s frugal representation in the previous Parliament took a further knock to make it an insignificant nada in Party politics. The exposure of the JVP is complete; a pseudo-left party – like many of its ilk in Asia and Africa -denigrating ‘Che’s life and legacy and working covertly in cahoots with Washington. The party is not short of funds and gets richer with each Election.

In the North and the East, the power of the monolithic Tamil and Muslim Parties has been dispersed.

The Party that has emerged as the largest opposition grouping is the Telephone Party of Premadasa with 55 seats; strongly linked to the Western Governments, Premadasa’s  voter base shrank alarmingly from a 5 Million in November 2019 to a 3 Million on 05 August 2020, reducing him to a sound-box, ‘full of sound and fury’.

How did this happen?  Was Premadasa not fore-ordained to get more seats? Were the scales in Parliament planned to be so heavily weighted in favour of the Pohottuwa? Was the election script written for Wickramasinghe to be booted out of Parliament so unceremoniously? 

It all happened this way because the people are concerned about the real threat to Sri Lanka, the threat posed by the Americans and they know that Mahinda, a man for all seasons, is the man who could be trusted to rescue Sri Lanka from the American snare. 

A major feature of the Sri Lankan political scene, especially in recent times, has been the flagrant interference by the Americans in the internal affairs of the country. The interference continues unabated, even to this date.

Just prior to the Elections, news surfaced that the Americans were working very hard to stage-manage the results of the Election and the composition of the new Parliament. According to the American Plan, doing the rounds at the time, Pohottuwa was to get a majority, but not a 2/3^rd majority. The major Tamil and Muslim communities along with the JVP were to get reduced representation in Parliament so that they would not be a party or hindrance to the bargaining process in the formation of a National Government that would include MPs mainly from a Pohottuwa – Telephone alliance.

As planned by the Americans, the Telephone was to win about 20 more seats than it actually did, so that the Telephone would be in a strong bargaining position, to offer support for the establishment of a National Government based on a mutually agreed programme and to provide a 2/3^rd majority to the Pohottuwa, if required.

The Parliament that the Americans had plotted to create had no place for Mahinda; the Americans consider Sri Lanka’s National hero a major threat to their plans; there was a massive campaign afoot to defeat Mahinda at Kurunegala. With Mahinda out of the way, the Americans were free to install a puppet of their choice as the Prime Minister.

In the developing political scenario, the American Plan had a pivotal role for Ranil, Basil and Premadasa. The post of Prime Minister (in the absence of Mahinda) and some key portfolios were plums on the table to be had after haggling and bargaining between the two political Parties dominating the Parliament.

The American objective in ‘Operation-General-Election’ was to establish a National Government in the country that would sign the MCC; thus signed, it would convey to the world (and to history) that – with the two major parties in the South (the South is the bedrock of opposition to the MCC) unanimously approving the MCC in Parliament –  the Sri Lankans accepted the MCC with open arms.  Viz, Sri Lanka’s surrender to the US was of her own volition.

Divine providence forewarned the people and Mahinda about the plot. Mahinda had to work very hard against a strong undercurrent of assorted forces that was attempting to dislodge him from Kurunegala; but work he did. A true son of the soil, he sensed the stark danger the MCC posed to Sri Lanka.

On 05 August 2020, Mahinda, with the people solidly behind him, soundly defeated the American plan. The people gave Pohottuwa a 2/3^rd majority in Parliament and to Mahinda, personally, over 500,000 votes in Kurunegala so that he and his team in Parliament could confidently dump the MCC in the trash can.

Mahinda, the charismatic hero, with the people of Sri Lanka solidly behind him, had once again defeated the Americans at their own game.

Teplitz reacted badly. In a tersely worded statement meant to pass off as an ‘expression of good wishes to the new Government’, she alluded slyly in gypsy style, to the signing of the MCC by conveying a couched threat that Sri Lanka must perforce ‘partner’ America.  

It is regrettable that Teplitz used the occasion to refer to the COVID 19 pandemic; a threat to be read between the lines?  This line of thinking, as constructed in this paper, may be controverted by arguing that Teplitz was only referring to Sri Lanka’s success in handling the virus. That, is a hard sell.

A mention of ‘COVID’ does seem inappropriate, or out of place, to be included in a ‘congratulatory’ note. Sri Lanka is only too keenly aware that Agent-Moragoda, at a time when the Sri Lankan medics were coming to grips with COVID 19, nearly derailed the medical efforts by attempting to coerce Sri Lanka to follow the deadly ‘herd-immunisation’ path; herd-immunisation was America’s answer to the bug; this policy has taken a toll of 160,ooo human lives in the US thus far.

 Had Sri Lanka followed Agent-Moragoda’s advice, the country would have been a virtual cemetery and the US Indo-Pacific forces would have invaded Sri Lanka to ‘rescue’ her.

It is pertinent that on 07 August 2020, the American Defence attaché paid a call on Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Services and reportedly discussed with him about COVID 19 issues.

It is of grave concern that on 10 Aug ’20, the US awarded ‘Sarvodaya’ a 1.5 M USD to manage a portentous disaster that awaits Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lanka must necessarily be alert and take necessary precautionary measures, in anticipation, against a possible COVID 19 attack considering America’s dreadful track record. Sri Lanka’s defences against such a virus attack must include a plan that would stymie the introduction of the bug by Agents and Contractors.

In the meantime, Mahinda and his Parliament must take all steps to dump the MCC, ACSA and SOFA to where it belongs.

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA

On the eve of the August 5th historical General Election there was a surge of articles written by reactionary scribes and those who self proclaim as political commentators, particularly by those who mushroomed in the latter part of 2014 to launch Sri Lanka’s hitherto worst fake news campaign to oust the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime and in the 2020 General Election too they re-emerged and were painting a bleak future for Sri Lanka in the event of SLPP gaining a 2/3 majority as it was being envisaged by the SLPP and these doomsday pundits warned and earnestly urged the voters to take all measures for what they said to prevent a calamity that could befall on Sri Lanka if the SLPP achieve its objective. 

Victor Ivan, the man who was responsible in the 1970s for introducing bomb manufacturing culture to Sri Lanka and radicalizing the youth of this country to shun the Parliamentary system writing an article titled  The post-election Saga” said that if the government fails to achieve a favourable result conducive to enhancing the trust of the people at the parliamentary election, it might lead to weaken the dominance the government has established at ideological level and after the election, it is likely that the political system of Sri Lanka in its entirety including the President, the Prime Minister, the ruling party and the opposition will end up in a severe deadlock.        

In this article this silly doomsday pundit stated:

• Whatever the strength of the result of the parliamentary election secured by the government, it would be unavoidable that not only the affairs of the government, but also the standard of living of the people will fall into a major crisis
• The government will be compelled to pay the salaries of public servants from loan overdrafts obtained from state banks through the Central Bank and his system cannot last long.
• The collapse of the economy is unlikely to be rectified and restored soon.
• The impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has made on the world economy tends to have its depressing repercussions on the economy of Sri Lanka as well.
• The job opportunities of migrant workers, especially those employed in the Middle East, which has been the main source of foreign exchange earnings of Sri Lanka, is at a severe risk.
• It is estimated that around 500,000 jobs might be lost resulting in a steep decline in the transition income Sri Lanka used to receive from migrant workers, which is unavoidable.
• The tourism industry, another major source of foreign exchange earnings, is also in a state of total collapse.
• The garment industry is also in a similar situation. A large number of jobs in the garment sector have already been lost. The risk of losing more jobs persists.
• The government will be compelled to impose more and more taxes to meet its needs and to cover the expenses which in turn will oppress the people who have already been hit hard by the economic downturn.
• The lives of those living on interest earned on savings will become miserable. The cuts in wages, overtime and the other allowances will result in making the lives of those who are employed also equally miserable.
• The socio-economic atmosphere will lead to conflicts, labour disputes and public unrest. Theft, robbery and crime will increase in the country.
• The crisis of balance of payments amidst the potential scenario outlined above will have serious repercussions.
• If the country fails to pay at least one installment due on commercial borrowings obtained from international capital markets on commercial terms, Sri Lanka is likely to be declared a bankrupt country.
• If that happens Sri Lanka will fall into an abyss from which it cannot recover easily.
  Such an eventuality could be avoided only by pursuing a policy of selling valuable resources of the country to foreign powers.
• Sri Lanka cannot be described as a democratic country merely because it conducts elections regularly.
• We did not have mature leaders; mature leaders should have emerged through a freedom struggle.
• All the Heads of State from the time of the first Prime Minister to the present day can be considered as unconscientious leaders who have violated the Constitution of the country.
• Even the judiciary, the supposed protector of the Constitution tends to be encouraging its violation by the politicians.
• This reflects the level of degeneration and the extent of unconscientious and uncivilised character of political and bureaucratic structures of Sri Lanka.
• The failure to build a modern nation disregarding the recognition accorded to ethnic, religious and caste differences can be considered as the main reason for the failure of Sri Lanka.
• The compensation the country has paid for the violent conflicts that arose as a result thereof was enormous. The damage caused by violent conflicts has been estimated as $ 200 billion.
• The next reason for the failure of Sri Lanka can be attributed to the rapacious policy of large-scale plundering of public property pursued since 1978, by people’s representatives elected by public vote, when they were under their temporary custody.
• The State of Sri Lanka can be considered not as a democratic State but a State of pirates and bandits.
• The opportunism and impotence shown by the judiciary of Sri Lanka can be considered as another important factor affecting the failure of Sri Lanka.

The above comments show to what an enormous extent this self proclaimed political commentator who attempted to destabilize this country, once directly and several times indirectly has a grudge against this country.  It is hilarious to find that this individual has remained blind and tongue tight about the enormous progress and services done by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to this country since his election to presidency on 16^th November last year. 

Listed below are some of these remarkable services initiated by the President:

• When it became known about the outbreak of the Coroona-Virus immediate steps were taken to prevent it affecting Sri Lankans and a Task Force was formed comprising the armed forces, Health sector officials and it was given complete liberty to formulate strategy to combat the spread of virus which all developed countries such as America, U.K and evem the neighboring India were incapable to do.
• Established 45 quarantine centres and suspected positive patients were subjected to a minimum of 14 days quarantine and areas that were found to be congested with suspected patients were locked down and each and every person in such areas were subjected to strict quarantine measures.
• While Corona death toll in theso-called world’s super developed country America exceeded millions and the neighboring India several thousand Sri Lanka was able to restrict the death toll to only 11 persons and became one of the best Corona controlled country among the 230 affected countries in the world. 
• Special flights were operated to bring in Sri Lankan nationals who were stranded in airports all over the world and all those who arrived in this manner were subjected to PCR tests at both BIA and Mattala airports and all of them were directed to quarantine centres to undergo the required quarantine period;
• Similarly thousands of students who were in foreign countries all over the world were also brought in and thy too were subjected to PCR tests and quarantine. It should also be mentioned that most of these students had been sent to overseas Universities by their parents to save them from Sirisena/Ranil government’s brutal water cannon, tear gas and baton charge attacks;
• Many of the world leaders including the Presidents of the United States, Russia and China and Prime Ministers of U.K, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and the World Health Organization commended the President for making Sri Lanka one of the least affected Corona Virus countries in the world. 
• Another Task Force led by Mr. Basil Rajapaksa was formed to look into humanitarian issues.
• A cash payment of Rs. 5,000 per month was paid to each deserving family on the recommendations of the Grama Niladari officers without any form party, ethnic or  rekigious discriminations’
• People’s movements were controlled by curfew measures;
• Wearing face masks and maintaining distance between the people and hand wash while entering places were made compulsory;
• Holding public meetings were banned and gatherings at weddings and other very important functions were restricted;
• Banks, Leasing, Insurance and other financial institutions were ordered to make deferment of acceptance of lease installments for buildings, all kinds of vehicles and three-wheels and loan installment payments;
• Banks were instructed to grant special loans with only 4% interest all businessmen, industrialists, exporters, tourist industry personnel and manufacturers;
• Steps were taken to provide employment to 50,000 unemployed graduates and 100,000 from low income families but it was suspended by the Election Commission saying that it would tantamount  to election bribe and now it has been decided to provide this 150,000 employments from next month (2^nd September)..  
• Schools, Universities and other educational institutions were closed down to protect the children and they were reopened on a scattered basis this month;
• Advanced Level and Grade 5 scholarship examinations usually held in the monthy of August were postponed to the month of October provide the concerned students sufficient time to prepare for their examinations;
• Police, Excise officials and STF were entrusted to carry out sweeping raids under Opertationj Underworld” to apprehend drig peddlers, illicit brewers, under-ground contract killing operators, money launderers and under these operations king-pins of drug and narcotic trade, Police and Prison officials assisting these activities have been taken into custody for the first time’ The drug peddlers and the underworld were ruling this country under the Sirisena/Ranil government thereby Sri Lanka becoming another Mexico and several high ranking Ministers patronizing these anti-social elements;
• Train and bus services were also suspended for several months to prevent the spread of the Virus and re-started last month under strict supervision of maintaining required between passengers, wearing face masks and adhering to other safety measures. 

This reactionary commentator in his desperation over the mammoth and historical victory achieved by the SLPP has written another controversial article titled The dilemma of the Victory” although it may be a dilemma for him and his ilk of traitors but it is a jubilation for the majority of the people of this country similar to the celebration they had on 09^th May. 2009 – the day that ended the 30 years of terrorist aggression against this country. .  .

In this article Ivan laments that undoubtedly, the Government has acquired enormous power, it is huge and miraculous, and the enormity of power alone will not be a solution to the crisis Sri Lanka is facing and it can only be overcome if there is a greater creative wisdom that transcends the magnitude of power. He says that had there been a First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system instead of the current system of Proportional Representation, the result achieved by the SLPP could have been much greater than the result achieved by the United National Party (UNP) in 1977. 

The landslide victory of the UNP at the ’77 election resulted in weakening the Opposition movements in the Sinhala south (displays his divisive desires by referring to South as Sinhala South and thereby implying North as Tamil North)  to a maximum and creating a single party hegemony. The political outcome of the result of the recent election is more or less similar to that of the ‘77 election. 

This sycophant describes the government that existed before 1977, which unleashed an admirable policy of making the country self sufficient in food and many industrial products and ended the status of ship to mouth life pattern as a repressive economic policy that had a significant impact on the victory of the 1977 Parliamentary Election by the UNP. He adds that the current split of the UNP led to the enormity of the victory of Pohottuwa this time.

He admits that the massive victory of the UNP in 1977 changed the overall trajectory of the country, and the economy was opened up, plundering the resources of the country by government MPs and their cohorts started and Sri Lanka was turned into a country of incessant bloodshed. 

Referring to the JVP hooligans whom he was partly responsible for creating in the past, Ivan says that the JVP demanded for J.R’s his head publicly, but neither the JVP nor the LTTE were able to assassinate him, but he was unfortunate to witness several of his best loyalists and close confidants being assassinated when he was alive.

He asks wat is the present Government which has got an almost similar power going to do now? Will it make Sri Lanka which has been rendered miserable, a paradise? Or will it make it a hell?   

This sycophant in his desperation blames Sirisena/Ranil government for eventually pushing the country into a state of extremism and states that if the two leaders of the UNP, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sajith Premadasa, had managed to maintain the unity of the party subsequent to the defeat at the last Presidential Election, though it was not possible to prevent the Pohottuwa winning the election, at least its victory would not have been so huge.

This reactionary lackey blames UNPcand says that there were no serious or concrete reasons for the split in that party and adds that it occurred because of the arrogance of the two leaders and the stupidity of their main supporters, and find faults with Ranil for not making a serious attempt to defuse the tension that arose on the issue of the party leadership and prevent a rift in the party while safeguarding his authority in it. He says the end result of this split has been the demise of the UNP as a political entity together with the political career of Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Sajith becoming a leader who had lost the strength of the UNP to a large extent.  

Writing about the JVP, he says that JVP is a movement that, after a massive armed struggle, has re-entered the democratic path effectively and it could be described as a political movement which has failed to mobilize itself on a new path creatively and says that  It has to deal with a distorted and corrupt political system. He blames the JVP for not asserting itself strongly for pragmatic reforms to bring about a positive change in the system except for contemplating shortcuts to seize power under the existing system. As a result, instead of becoming an effective alternative, he says it has fallen victim of the cruel system itself, he says.

Referring to TNA this bootlicker says it has suffered a great deal due to its close involvement in the Yahapalana Government, and it refrained from playing a strong role in solving the burning issues of Tamil people and hence it had to pay a huge price for that. 

This backscratcher who was responsible with terrorist proxy Sumanthiran for drafting ignoramus Sajith Premadasa’a presidential election manifesto says that the Samagi Jana Balavegaya, the party led by Sajith, stands as the main force among the Opposition parties even though it has not been able to acquire a strong position. He expresses douts about Sajith Premadasa possessing a strong vision and courage to bring all Opposition movements together under one banner?

Referring to minorities he says that the minorities are the most distressed among the people of Sri Lanka and a significant share of votes polled for the Samagi Jana Balavegaya of Sajith Premadasa (SP) consists of the votes of Muslims and Up-Country Tamils and under the circumstances, if SP fails to pursue a balanced policy that strongly safeguards the interests of the minority communities in a manner that would not undermine the confidence of the majority Sinhala community, certainly it might result in a major depletion in the support base of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya. 

Only a strong leader who possesses the self-confidence to speak out strongly against repressive actions of the Government and the ability to gather together all Opposition movements under one flag and provide a practical solution to the crisis facing Sri Lanka can create a strong Opposition movement against the ruling party, he says and we do not know what is the illusory ‘crisis’ he is referring to/.  

This cynic says that the entire socio-economic and political system is in disarray and the Government is confronted with a situation in which it finds it difficult to pay at least the salaries and pensions of public servants and $ 3 billion has to be paid this year for the foreign debts obtained. Once again this foreign stooge asserts that the only solution available would be to sell the country’s valuable and scarce resources to foreign powers on a large scale and stupidly asks whether the Government have an alternative solution for that?  In conclusion this nincompoop says the Government should explain it to the country and if the Government has a solution for the crisis, which is sound and practical, then it should be supported by everyone to implement it irrespective of differences and without undue obstructions.

To be continued………………………….

Anjalika Silva 

Dear friends,

I checked on this and the posting that went around was a year old.  This is the Chief of Staff for her Senate position.  

This should not have a bearing on whether people vote or don’t vote for the Biden – Harris ticket.  The Chief of Staff should have no bearing on voting choice.

Just clarifying the incorrect news circulating.

The Old news in circulation is:

Senator Kamala Harris, Vice Presidential Running Mate of former US Vice President Joe Biden, for the US Presidential Election, has as her Chief of Staff a young lady of Sri Lankan origin.

Rohini Lakshmi Ravindran
Kosoglu, 31,  is the daughter of W. Ravindran

an Old Thomian and crickerter and Shobana Mylvaganam daughter of Dr Mylvaganam, a famous Surgeon who worked in Kandy for many years.

The Real Chief of Staff appointed for Kamala Harris is:

Her new Chief of Staff was named on the news just after the ticket was announced as Karine Jean-Pierre and she was the black girl who jumped in the middle when KH was attacked by a visitor to one of her speaking sessions.  Karine is an MSNBC political panelist and has a very soft spoken mentality and hopefully our Embassy in Washington will establish some contact with the team and staffers.  I have already alerted them about this note that is old news circulating and also the new update.

Please don’t make some foolish Sri Lankan American voters have their usual poorly thought out a rationale to vote the conman back.  WE ARE SAFE. THE OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVES WILL TAKE CARE OF THEIR PUBLIC RELATIONS.  In my small way, I plan to do my part without any status but just access to as a voter with a few ears that listen.

Link for more information

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karine_Jean-Pierre#Early_life_and_education

By Garvin Karunaratne, Ph.D.

On my second visit to Laya Waves I was struck with some new ideas.

To get down to the hospitality track, the sleuths who have forgotten their guns for now and are on an entirely different – hospitality track; they are a marvel. The accommodation was spick and span., cleanliness perfect,  the front desk manned by Dilruksha and Chandima courteous and very helpful, even attending to my car for a small defect, and last but most important of all,  the chef, Nishanta Perera, a great chef, with a hand that makes every meal tasty- mouth-watering in the extreme. At the end of a meal we wait for the next to see what he offers and he was always up to the mark. It is very rare to find a chef of that ability.

In my working life in Sri Lanka,  the Administrative Service has taken me to work in eight districts and my covering the whole island for agricultural loans, fertilizer distribution and paddy cultivation for some five years, with islandwide circuits. I am thus aware of what is where. These range from the Guava belt in Belihul Oya-Balangoda, the Rambutan belt in Dompe, the Mangosteen belt in Kalutara,  the Coffee belt in Kitulgala, the Pepper belt in Wellawaya, the Tomato belt in Hanguranketa, the Flower and Vegetable Belt in Nuwara Eliya- Bandarawela,  where flowers grow wild and I bagged more than my salary from flowers and vegetables in my years’ stay at Nuwara Eliya, the Avacado belt from Galaha to Peradeniya, and the Dry Zone Areas-Padaviya to Anuradhapura and Moneragala to Tissamaharamsa, wherein any one season November to February all the fruit needed to make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in all fruit and juice can be produced. Today we import fruit juice and jam from the USA, Australia & Europe. Hanguranketa can provide all the tomatoes we need to provide our full requirement of tomato sauce which we today import from as far as the USA. That can be a years’ project- setting up a small Cannery and processing fruit. I am certain that it can be accomplished in a year.  Once we exported coffee but today we do not grow and we import from Europe. Coffee does not grow in Europe, but is imported in seed from Africa, processed in Belgium and exported to our countries. At Kitulgala on my inspections I have been struck with the luscious coffee bunches. I know of the  Cardamum- Spices belt in Kotmale- sadly denuded today by the Kotmale Dam.

It is a sad fact that these resources are not put to full use, though Mother, Nature has provided all bountifully. The produce goes to waste and the people remain within the bounds of poverty.  In the Fifties and Sixties, we made progress but the rot set in,  in 1977 with President Jayawardena accepting the International Monetary Fund’s Structural Adjustment Programme with open arms. That was our undoing. Told to accept the Private Sector as the Engine of Growth, we were advised to abolish and abandon the development infrastructure that our leaders had painstakingly developed- the Cannery and the Veg and Fruit Marketing Scheme, of the Marketing Department and to this day we have failed to bring back that development infrastructure to enable development to commence once again. We fail to understand that the lost infrastructure is a prerequisite for development. Unfortunately to please the IMF we have to follow their advice and seek foreign investment. We sadly forget that all foreign investment is geared not to develop our country but to take away our resources in some form or other. The latest is to come in, trade-in local currency, but take away the profits in foreign currency from our reserves. Our economic sleuths are naïve and fail to grasp.

On this Visit to Laya Waves what struck me was the two large plots where aloe vera grows wild. I have never seen that wild growth anywhere else. I inquired and the sleuths who now maintain the garden told me that the trick was perhaps the salty water and the climate.

My craze for travel has taken me  to Lanzarotte, an island in the Mediterranean, where some  uncultivable land on rugged sedimentary rock is being developed and aloe vera is grown on a large scale with a factory producing a full range of aloe vera products sold everywhere in the Harrods and Selfridges of Europe and USA,

My find of aloe vera thriving at Laya Waves tells, me of a great possibility in development. Its potential if tackled prudently can easily earn billions of dollars, annually to our depleted coffers,  a task, if done at the pace I worked as the G.A. at Matara in 1971-1973, can easily be accomplished within two years. Working singlehandedly in Bangladesh, I designed and established the Youth Self Employment Programme and trained the Bangladeshi officialdom to continue it after my two-year assignment was over- and the result- a programme that has guided three million youths to become employed, all accomplished within nineteen months. The task of developing aloe vera will be a far easier task.

The task to develop aloe vera in Pasikuda can easily be accomplished within two years at most. This estimate of time is not out of the hat but a calculation based on sheer experience in similar exploits. My working life has been full of such exploits. So that estimate of timing can be held firm.. The best method of indicating that this task can be accomplished is to hark back to a similar or more daunting task accomplished by me earlier.. I enclose details of a similar task- establishing Coop Crayon in the Appendix.

Accessing AloeVura products at Orzola Lanzorette, I find the following products::. Gel, Oil, Drink, Cream, Moisturising Cream, anti-ageing Cream, Face Cream, Foot Cream, Night Cream, Dog Shampoo, Shampoo, Hand Cream, Relax Gel, Bath Gel.

Conducting experiments to make the varied aloe vera products will be far easier than finding the art of making crayons and establishing the Crayon Factory.

It is suggested that the Sri Lanka Army may kindly initiate action to conduct experiments at making products with aloe vera.  Nishantha Perera the chef at Laya Waves could provide the leadership for the experiments at the initial stage. Further, the science lab at a College or University has to be commandeered.  An alternative will be to get the Army to put up a tent and get going in Laya Waves itself and to buy essential equipment.

It would be ideal to have some officer from the army who has a background qualification in agriculture, chemistry or biology to be in charge.

This Project has to be handled by a person of standing like a Brigadier as there has to be contacted with many high ranking officials in government institutions, the Ministry of Industries,  Food Technology Institutes, Department of Education, Ministries etc and the person appointed at the initial stage at the helm has to be able to shake Government Departments and spur them to action..  After a few years when the industry is well on the keel, the high ranking officer can be removed and an officer like a Lt Colonel or Major could handle the project.

May I also suggest that the land of the Army  Bungalow next to Laya Wave be used to cultivate aloe vera, The land has to be prepared immediately if the planting is to be done with the November rains.

I am aware that there is a section of the Army that attends to agriculture and is actively involved in producing food crops. A Unit of that section can be put on the task of producing aloe vera at Pasikuda. Full details have to be worked out and I am dead certain  of success not only in production but in developing foreign sales which will bring in an income in foreign exchange

An idea may be for an officer from the agriculture and land cultivation section of the Army to be consulted, especially to find whether any crown land suitable for the cultivation of aloe vera is available in the vicinity. If the land is available the Army can open a farm. Simultaneously the army can have seed farms, distribute to private farmers and collect the crop.

It may be interesting to note that in the USA the Army is used for many development projects. The Mission of the US Army Corps of Engineers is to deliver vital public and military engineering services, partnering in peace and war to strengthen our nation’s security, energise the economy and reduce risks from disasters”. 

 At New Orleans, a city below the sea level,  levees(bunds) are constructed and maintained by the Army. On the Columbia River, there are stupendous hydro projects constructed and manned by the Army. I have seen these stupendous structures. The US Army is deployed in many ways for civilian functions. In my travels in the USA-I owned a MotorHome and have clocked over 50,000 miles crossing the USA thrice and have seen for myself the stupendous civilian work being done by the US Army all over the USA. It is my opinion that the  Sri Lankan Army can and has to play a major role in bringing about the economic development of our beloved Motherland.

Expecting the Private Sector to contribute is wishful thinking. The Private Sector has to make a profit as its motto. Poverty alleviation, creating productivity, national development is not within their vocabulary. Projects like developing Aloe vera products have to be done by the State and the Armed Forces can easily be entrusted with that task. In the hands of the ARMY, success can be assured.

. I am aware that planting aloe vera is in progress at Wilpattu. However, that is at an infancy stage and there is ample scope for a few industries to be established in aloe vera.

I am dead certain of success. The success does not depend on the ability to grow aloe vera.  Success will depend on the leader chosen, who has to have a personality;  foreign sales will depend on the charm of the officer selected. Both must be of the type that can, as the saying goes- take fire underwater. ,

I wish to be associated with any initiatives and can assure success. It would b a pleasure to contribute to the development of our  Motherland.

Garvin Karunaratne, B.A, & M.A.( Peradeniya), M.Ed.(Manchester)

, M.Phil (Edinburgh) & Ph.D. (Michigan State University)

Former SLAS, G.A.Matara.(1971-1973)

Commonwealth Fund Advisor to the Ministry of Labour & Manpower in Bangladesh, 1982-1983, who designed, directed and established the Youth Self Employment Programme in Bangladesh, the premier employment creation programme the world has known, a programme that has left its imprint on the sands of time.

Author of

How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success.(Godages) 2006

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

13/08/2020      garvin_karunaratne @hotmail.com

Appendix

Tasks accomplished in the Divisional Development Councils Programme of 1970-1977

 Let me detail what I did as the Government Agent at Matara in 1971–73, when I was charged to create employment.   

 While most Government Agents in charge of other districts , some of  whom adorned the seats of Secretaries to Ministries in later life,  slept and were satisfied with small potty little agricultural farms and small sewing and craft type of small industries, my team  at Matara put forward semi large industries. The first was a Mechanized Boatyard turning out 40 foot seaworthy inboard motor fishing boats. The Ministry of Planning did not appreciate and the Director of the Fisheries Department was dead against but after  a lone battle, I obtained approval and the Boatyard, the first and last such cooperative industry was established within  three months. It was done by my handpicked officers Ran Ariyadasa and Development Assistant Kumarasiri(later Secretary to the Ministry of  Employment Creation under  Minister Basil Rajapaksa, ) We successfully turned out some 30/40  boats a year. That was a feather in the cap of the DDCP.

My feasibility reports to establish  similar small industries- a Water Colour Paint Box Industry,  A Grass Growing and Milk Producing Industry with a Creamery at Deniyaya were all turned down and lost. The Ministry was frightened at new undertakings and advised me to make bricks and tiles. I was disgusted and instead of lying down, took charge of the situation.

 I summoned the Planning Officer Vetus Fernando, a chemistry graduate of the University of Colombo, a graduate who had not had a day’s experience in chemistry since graduating, fed him all details I knew about  a Water Colour Industry.  Once I had approved an allocation of foreign exchange to an industrialist that made water colours and knew the ingredients but not the proportions and techniques-that was when I had served as a Deputy Director of Small Industry. Making water colours to my thinking was akin to make Crayons and I got Vetus to apply his knowledge of chemistry to make crayons. We bought the ingredients and decided to make a start on experiments at my Residence in the night. In a few days we realized that more equipment was needed. I then obtained approval to use the science lab at Rahula College, the Leading College in the District. That science lab was ours from six in the evening till midnight, The Headquarters Assistant Government Agent   Wimalaratne, District Land Officer Chandra Silva, Development Assistant Palihakkara and I  were the Cheer Leaders who went cheering the scientists – Vetus Fernando and the science teachers at Rahula, when they did fail in every experiment for a long two months. The crayons we made were never of the correct texture. Then Vetus got a brain wave. He was a trained chemistry graduate and said he will consult his professors who had trained him in chemistry a year ago at the University of Colombo. He took the crayons we had made and was certain that working in the university labs equipped with  sophisticated equipment that we did not have in the school lab,  he could sort out the problem with ease. We awaited his arrival. 

Vetus turned up on the fourth day a broken down and dejcted man. He had gone behind every professor and lecturer he knew and beseeched help but had been turned away because they were too busy teaching and reading through student tutorials. That defeat made us more determined. Earlier I had been there only on some days, but I made it a point to go to the school lab every evening. My team was very determined and daily the experiments went on. Finally in about a months’ time after a myriad- really countless experiments Vetus finally made the final crayon. Then I sat with him and we together finalised the texture to be equal to the Reeves crayons that we then imported from the UK.

Then the question cropped up of how we were going to establish an industry. I could have summoned Harischandra a business magnate and he would have liked the idea of establishing a factory., But that would not be us. Finally I decided that we should establish it as a cooperative  managed by us. I summoned Sumanapala Dahanayake, the member of parliament for Deniyaya, who was also the President of the Morawak Korale Cooperative Union. In my estimate he was a tough guy, tough to the extreme if necessary. The Union had enough money to roll till we recouped the expenditure involved through sales.  However he had no authority to use the funds to establish an industry. I too though I controlled a vast amount of finances did not have authority. It was a major stalemate.  I could try to speak to  the Commissioner of Cooperative De velopment  for approval but I was certain that he would turn it down. That officer followed rules to the very letter. He was a great friend of mine but of the type that would not use his discretion to interpret rules.. For purposes of ensuring coordination in paddy production Premier Dudley Senanayake had gazetted all Government Agents as Deputy Directors of Cooperatives.  That was for coordinating the paddy production. I  summoned the Assistant Commisioner for Cooperatives in Matara and told him that I am using my designation as Deputy Commissioner of Cooperative Development as authorized by the gazette notification and approving the Morawak Korale Coioperative Union to finance the project and establish the industry,. I ordered him  not to breathe of this decision to his Commissioner.

I authorized the Morawak Korale Cooperative Union to buy the cookers, gas burners  and other equipment,  find premises and recruit twenty youths. Sumanapala needed only two days. A section of his Cooperative Union was cleared for this projected and my team of five moved in . It was to be a 24 hour operation, with Vetus training the youths and Chandra, Ranjith and Daya taking turns, all working round the clock.. I broke rest on about three days till everything was off the ground, living on shortmeats and sipping coffee provided by Gunam Tambipillai an Estate Owner a firm supporter in all our endeavours at bringing about development.  It was a hand made crayon where every crayon had to be carefully crafted. The youths worked in shifts. On the second day production was in good progress and Sumanapala ordered the printing of labels. The production got on and in two weeks there were two large rooms full of crayon packets.

Sumanapala and I then went off with samples to meet the Minister of Industries Mr TB Subasinghe who was surprised at the quality and he readily agreed to officiate to open sales.   That was a grand occasion and with that authority Sumanapala and I felt safe for having worked without Ministry authority. Both of us had bent rules and regulations all for the sake of national development.

The only import within the ingredients that went in to the manufacture was dyes. Dyes were imported and I sought an allocation from the Ministry of Industries, the Department where I had worked two years earlier when I had the authority to offer an allocation of foreign exchange, But I was told that the Ministry did not have funds for cooperatives and we were lost.

In a few days I met Harry Guneratne the Controller of Imports the officer who allocated foreign exchange for imports and  he was allocating funds for the import of crayons. I pointed out that by allocating a fraction  of what he was spending for imports to enable us to import dyes he could cancel the import of crayons. He was an immediate convert but wanted us to get the aspproval of his Minister Mr Illangaratnre.  Sumanapala knew him but I had never met him earlier. We produced the crayons we made and he not only approved an allocation of foreign exchange to import dyes but also insisted that I should open a crayon factory at Kolonnawa, his electorate. Harry canceled all imports of crayons. This true story tells us the one and only method of saving our foreign exchange. .In addition we created employment. It was poverty alleviation.

Coop Crayon got off the ground and Sumanapala developed it to have islandwide sales. His Coop lorries, selling crayons  reached both Alimankada and Pamankada. This Coop Crayon was the best industry that we established.

This industry was managed well by Sumanapala.

I left Matara for further studies abroad  in 1973.  Sumanapala managed Coop Crayon and when Sirimavo fell in the 1977 Premier Jayawardena wanted to somehow punish Sumanapala. That was political vengeance.  Years later I met AT Ariyaratne  an officer of the Administrative Service and when I stated that I had been GA Matara, he told me that in 1977 he had been sent on a special mission-instructed by President Jayawardena to inspect and audit  Coop Crayon and find some misdeed to punish Sumanapala and to close down the Crayon Factory. He was the Deputy Director of Cooperative Development. He told me that he had spent a few days inspecting and auditing  but had to report that the industry was run well and that all books were in perfect order. Ariyaratne was not the type of officer who would stoop to find evidence to please someone in authority.

I have dealt with CoopCrayon in full detail to enable us to realize the difficulties involved in establishing an industry. Though an industry can be established it is a difficult task . However it can be done.

I have to conclude stating that establishing an aloevira industry is a far easiler task.

Garvin Karunaratne

15/08/2020

garvin_karunaratne@hotmail.com

Engr. Kanthar Balanathan DipEE(UK), Grad.Cert.(Rel.Eng-Monash) DipBusAdm(Finance-Massey), C.Eng., MIEE Retired Director & Specialist Engineer Power & Control Systems

Mr V. Thanigasalam
Member, Legislative Assembly
Ontario,

Dear Mr Thanigasalam,

Private Members Bill- Bill 104

1. General

It is a regret to note that at the age of 31 you have become a Legislative member in Ontario representing the Scarborough area which is known to have two sectors, (i) murky type area, (ii) normal area.

Whatever it is politicians are considered to be above the law, in the third world countries. SriLankan Tamils migrate to the developed world to better their knowledge and intelligence and bring up their children as scientists, engineers, doctors etc. When Sinhalese people move into the North (Jaffna), Tamils and Politicians create mayhem, turmoil and pandemonium in SriLanka and run to the UN shouting COLONISATION”. The basic principles of cohesive living are absent in the minds of the Tamils because they are still backwards in their culture, which is uncivilised in general terms. However, you guys can colonise Canada and change their culture, habits etc.

The reasons you are there is because Velupillai Prabakaran (VP) wanted Tamils for SL to migrate so that he can elevate his position. This was the reason he blew up 13 soldiers in Tirunelveli in July 1983 inciting a racial riot. Psychology works counterproductively in humans. People who attempt to commit suicide can be considered to have some degree of Psychiatric disorder. In this context, the black tigers and the entire LTTE cadre can be regarded as psychiatric patients including VP who suffered from a lot of sicknesses, like Bi-polar disorder, BP and heart issues. What he made use of is plunder Tamils wealth and made unwanted rowdies to become rich overseas. Do you know the number of Tamils plundered LTTE funds in Ontario?

Okay, coming to the question of perception and knowledge: If I inform you that I have travelled 72.32 billion kilometres in space can you work out my age or will you laugh at me, which may depend on the level of your perception. What are SOx and NOx? How environmentally does Transport limit the longevity of a person?

The lamenting part is that despite bringing good positive private member bill, you have taken into your hand to place a negative unproductive racial topic known as An act to proclaim Tamil Genocide Education Week”. You have not understood that this type of bills will have a negating effect on the psychology of humans in SL. Your Tamils in Scarborough can have whisky and chicken during weekends; however, Tamils in SL suffer due to lack of finance, which your people will not advance. The reason is that there was not any genocide in SL. It was only a racial riot provoked by LTTE.

Tamils will fund Tamil politicians during elections, however, will not help the poor.

• Bill 104-Preamble

1.(1)     The seven days in each year ending on May 18 is proclaimed as Tamil Genocide Education Week.

This ending period before May 18 was a war between the military of SriLanka and the LTTE terrorists. You must look at the weapons LTTE was manufacturing with the help of the western world. Please refer the following web site: http://nrnmind.blogspot.com/2020/06/blog-post.html. It cannot be concluded that the military massacred the Tamils during this period. You can see the people were rescued by the military. LTTE could not use the weapons, maybe, because the operators ran away to Kerala and Goa on finding out the result. You are aware that the LTTE planes bombed the Katunayake airport, Tax office and the Anuradhapura military camp. The result is that the immature and untrained LTTE cadre were cowards who ran away and LTTE human resources were not quite trained to withstand a massive SriLankan military force. Therefore, where during this line you see the genocide. Tamil Diaspora (TD) has been lying to the world about Genocide without understanding the meaning of Genocide. Have you analysed and quantified the killing of Sinhalese by the LTTE? I do not think partiality will take your life anywhere.

(2) During this period, all Ontarians are encouraged to educate themselves about and to maintain their awareness of the Tamil genocide and other genocides that have occurred in world history.

It is ridiculous to note that you are requesting a meaningless and valueless request from the Ontarians, when during this time they can supplement/strengthen their knowledge with Science, Arts and Canadian Culture. You guys are Canadians. Please do not be a front-runner to drive out a Tamil state in Canada/Ontario. Now, you are wasting your time and the Government / Royal time by requesting for Royal Assent. Did you know that Tamils of Indian origin after more than 100 years were disfranchised in SL in 1948? No one took this up for a royal assent to cancel the result of the bill. There were several Lawyers in SL in 1948 sucking the British but were afraid to talk about the bill.

Have you studied Cost-Benefit Analysis? What Benefit does this Bill accrue by observing the theoretical Genocide”.

It is hoped that you are married. If then bring up your children in the developed Canadian environment to be scientist, Astrophysicist, Doctors or in nanoelectronics rather wasting your time in theoretical genocide.

Just to explain you on knowledge:

Humans perceive different effects about the same state, as perceptions vary from person to person. People assign different meaning to what they perceive.  (Kanthar B)

Although all human males are born with ≈1.5 kg of the brain, not all perceive the same thing in the same perspective, the same way. Knowledge is defined as information, proofs, aptitudes and proficiencies, acquired through involvement and practise; i.e. an appreciation of the theoretical and practical training, and understanding of a subject or job.

Yours Faithfully

Engr. Kanthar Balanathan

By A. Abdul Aziz.

Those who do not believe in the Existence of God,  primarily contend that they would believe in God if they could see Him. It always surprises since people perceive different types of physical properties through different senses; for example, [some properties are perceived through] sight, others through touch, or smell, or sound or taste. As a case in point, colour is recognised through sight rather than by smell, touch, or taste. Hence, if a person denied its existence on the grounds that they could not discern it by way of the faculty of sound, would they not be considered a fool? Similarly, sound itself is perceived through hearing. Again, would it not be ignorant for a person to insist they would only believe someone could speak once they had seen their voice? Likewise, fragrances are known through the sense of smell; yet, if someone were to claim they would only accept the truth of the aroma of a rose if they could taste it, could such a person be considered erudite and intelligent? In contrast, flavours such as sweet, sour, bitter, salty and so on are known by taste and can never be recognised through smell. Hence, it is not necessary to disbelieve in that which cannot be seen and accept only that which is visible to the naked eye. To do this would be to deny the existence of the fragrance of a rose, the sourness of a lime, the sweetness of honey, the bitterness of aloe, the hardness of iron and the beauty of the [human voice]; none of these phenomena are perceived through sight, rather through the faculties of smell, taste, touch and sound. Thus the assertion that one has to see God to believe in Him is gravely mistaken. Do such detractors recognise the fragrance of a rose or the sweetness of honey through their sight? If not, why do they insist on sight as the determining factor for belief in God?

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

Wide publicity has given a proposal to establish an industrial development bank in Sri Lanka by the Minister of Industries, Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, and it is a good ideological contribution from a politician, and the government must instigate the idea. An industrial development bank needs the country to stimulate investments in industries that have been neglected areas of the economy as the investors in the country turned to service industries to make quick profits from services such as tourism, contracts, sales, and others. When the service sector attracted to provide employment and to promote businesses in the country after the Cold War industrial development was given less attention. Many developed countries followed the promoting service sector neglecting the manufacturing sector. The best example is Australia. Mr. Weerawansa as the minister of industries has proven that he can develop good policies as well as can implement policies that are copious for the economic progress of the country.

After taking over the ministry before the election, Mr.Weeravansa has taken keen steps to revive industrial firms that have been abandoned and neglected by the previous government, and these industrial firms need modernizing in a variety of ways such as product developments, product quality development, application of technology, improvement of the production process, marketing of products, searching for export markets to sell products overseas, Industrial research, and many others. To successfully play the new role in government industrial firms demand the injecting funds to industries and the government has limits to allocate funds in the current economic environment of the country.  In this background, an Industrial Development Bank could play an excellent role and promote investments.

The COVID pandemic has given a signal that Sri Lanka may need to restrict the exporting skilled labour and now it might not easy as was in the past. While making an internal market to absorb repatriate labour industrial development effort to contribute 25% of GDP would be an alternative approach to policy development. An industrial development bank could play an effective role to absorb repatriated labour in various sectors of the economy.  The policy-makers in the past considered short-term indulgence exporting domestic labour, and they didn’t consider that encouraging a production-based economy would bring more benefits to people while allowing exporting excess labour.

When looks at the policy developments of Taiwan and Hong Kong it seems that the UK supported during a long period to come up Hong Kong, and Taiwan gained economic strength in a short period with the supports of direct investments from the USA and trade supports from China.  Sri Lanka has a similar land area and population to Taiwan, but it is behind Hong Kong and China, talking about the past and to becoming a Singapore, where shows the prosperity in statistics based on the lower population.  I don’t abase the achievements of Singapore and my argument is attempting to become a Taiwan would be the best choice.  Sri Lanka could come up to the level of Taiwan if it can provide intelligent investment services for expanding the economy in the industrial sector. An industrial development bank could give leadership not only providing finance supports for industrial development but also to develop policies for the entire industrial sector with great supervision.

It is seen in newspapers reporting industrial base innovation by young people, these products have not been tested considering multiple aspects of the products such as quality, marketability, cost of production, application of technology, safety, and many aspects.  They report for the publicity and vanish or neglect after new reports.  An industrial development bank can motivate such innovation and provide financial supports to commercial productions. China, India, Japan, Korea, and other industrial countries have been working for industrialization giving priority for innovation, and an Industrial development bank can play a massive role in this process. Before the establishment of the national development bank, big talks were in the country practically administrators have neglected the role, and an executive of the national development bank turned to preach religion and play politics. An industrial development bank should learn lessons from the past and must focus to achieve the purposes.  Financial institutions in Sri Lanka including the Central Bank, trading banks, long term financial institutions, savings banks have incompetent to achieve purposes because they were launched misguided policies by stupid executives.       

The operations of trading banks have become a critical issue in the country as the mountain of non-performing credits the system is a congruous factor for circumscribing industrial credits, and many related factors have become a dogma to the banking market in Sri Lanka. The proposed industrial bank should not follow the steps of the management style of other banks that are like a contrite sinner with a volume of transgressions.  According to the idea of the minister, the proposed institution should be a government bank that means the preponderance of ownership shall be in the government hands. There is a strong logic in the idea of the minister because the capacity of the private sector in Sri Lanka doesn’t appear that it can provide a monumental volume of capital to successfully operate a bank that aims at providing financial supports for industrial development. Industrial development should have a massive volume of capital due to two major reasons, inflation and declining the foreign value of Sri Lanka Rupee. The liquidity and the lending capacity of the bank should be based on the volume of the capital of the bank 

If Sri Lanka’s government has reserved funds from budget surplus and foreign exchange reserves to spend for industrial machines, raw materials, and other input the keeping full ownership of the proposed bank in the hand of the government would be a good idea, but at this crisis time, could the government budget allocate sufficient funds, to establish an industrial development bank is a question. As the government has many commitments with the COVID pandemic it is required to consider a different structure for the proposed bank without harming the idea of government ownership.

The government policy-makers must agree with the idea to inject a large sum of funds to establish a bank if the entire volume of capital is contributed by the government. The current economic condition in the country shows that the government is not in a position to make a huge contribution and it invites to rethink the capital structure.

The proposal to establish an industrial development bank should focus to invest massive sum of funds, and strategically, it should work as a measure to control and reduce inflation and to attract excess money in the economy for development purposes.  Helicopter money created in the COVID 19 pandemic situation has caused increasing prices of consumer goods and services, and if the government has strategies to reduce money from the market it shall support reducing the prices with production incentives, especially in the agricultural sector.  How can encourage people in Sri Lanka differing consumption to invest in the industrial development bank might be a problem to the government policymakers. But they must find strategies with an effective marketing campaign.   

When the government plans to establish a bank, it needs to consider a broader area of aims and strategic structure of the bank and the purposes of using funds. The proposed bank must be free from political influences and an institution that operates consistent with its policies.  As it is known to people banking market in the country pushed a weak environment as it had not been operating with a strong policy structure and political influences and dishonest of the management launched the banking market to a trap.  The policymakers in connection with an industrial development bank must learn lessons from past banking operations.  The government policy needs focusing to manipulate strategies that would not be a failure and would be successful to achieve objectives.  There may be a range of impediments to establishing an industrial development bank.  Government politicians must critically evaluate such views because many people in Sri Lanka tend to criticize this type of proposal without knowing positive impacts on the economy and without studying the proposal.

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS

When looks at the structures of various banks established in the country the proposed industrial development bank invite to consider a different structure, especially the proposed bank must get away from trading bank functions as Sri Lankan bankers, as well as the attitude of regulators’ have stuck with money creation and cheque books and short-term lending and securities. Sri Lanka has many trading banks with intense competition between them. These popular features could include the proposed industrial development later deeply analyzing how could such businesses absorb to bank critically analyzing the business environment.  

I have no idea of talking too much about the proposal but I would like to highlight the following points that should be considered when forming the bank. There may be views against my points and it is essential to consider views and the bank should be established without a severe burden to the government.     

OWNERSHIP OF THE PROPOSED BANK

The proposal was made with an idea to establish the bank as a government bank and the meaning of this term is to establish the bank as a government own entity.   The current financial position or the strength of the government doesn’t permit to allocate a large sum of budget spending to establish a bank because of a massive commitment to various government services.  However, the concept of government ownership could be interpreted and broadened by different strategies.

• The government can be contributed to the entire volume of the capital of the bank if it has funds, sufficient reserves, and an ability to spend budget funds ignoring other areas.
• The government can contribute a possible amount of capital without harming the idea of government ownership and continuing allocations in other areas of the economy.
• Government banks and government institutions could contribute to the capital fund of the bank to maintain the ownership of the government and this would be more practical than proving funds for capital from the budget.
• The government agencies could contribute to the fund if the agencies have reserves and excess.  Many government agencies spend unnecessary purposes and such money can divert to buy shares of the bank.
• The government and its agencies can contribute paid-up capital intending to withdraw later the contributed amount of capital by the sale of ownership to the domestic private sector or other government agencies in the future.

The ownership of the government can go up to 60% and it would not harm the term that is owned by the government, but the style of contribution may diverse. When the private sector is allowed to contribute to the capital it would scrutinize the management and operations of the bank. Private partners always look at how the bank is operating and if anything needs to correct they will take actions.

From the balance ownership, 10% could be given to Sri Lankans to those who were born in the country and living exile.

From the balance, 25% of ownership could be given to Sri Lankan institutional and individual investors

The balance volume of 5% ownership could be given to foreign investors.

The bank should be established as a public company with limited liability. The bulk of shares own the treasury and the government agencies.

CAPITAL STRUCTURE

The capital structure should consist of the issued capital and debt capital (preference shares) as given below.

Authorized Capital: Rs10.00 trillion

Issued capital (Ordinary Shares fully paid) = Rs 1.00 trillion

Debt Capital (Preference Shares 6%, fully paid) Rs 500 billion

The bank should contribute 50% of annual profit to general reserves until the bank builds a strong capital structure, and the balance profit could be paid to shareholders including the government 60% of the ownership.

BUSINESS POLICIES

• The bank maintains a healthy finance portfolio which is based according to the requirement of industrial development. The finance portfolio will be balanced to increase the contribution from the industrial sector to 25% of GDP.
• The bank develops a credit and operational policy framework to achieve the vision and work with the mission and objectives.
• Bank will have internal divisions financing for large industries, medium industries, and small industries.  Besides, there will a division to provide financial supports for free trade zones and foreign investors.
• The main financing system would be against collateral and cash flows.
• Finance monitoring and remedial management for finance should be maintained and the implementation of monitoring and remedial management will be organized with a time framework.
• The industry Research Division should be established in the bank that develops industry and company averages and prognosis.  The company prognosis is confidentially maintained.
• Finance monitoring and customer classification will annually perform but the information will not be given anyone.
• The financing policy document will be prepared and the financing business will consistent with the policy document.
• The bank performs a non-financing business to increase the volume of profits and to give a healthy and competitive return to investors.
• The business of the bank will not go beyond the tolerable level.

EMPLOYMENT AND STAF TRAINING

The bank must recruit graduates who completed university courses in various subject areas and advanced Diploma from graduates from TVET institutions rural, semi-urban, and urban areas without giving preference for specific subjects learned and gives them 6 months of intensive training and two years of English language program, which will base on high skilled comprehension, writing, and speaking skills.

INTERNAL AUDIT AND RISK ASSET REVIEW

Internal audit support detecting irregulates in operations and risk asset review aims at reviewing credit decisions, the quality of credit portfolio, classification of the credit portfolio, and identifying grated credit to make loss provision and many areas.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM

The bank will launch a bank building each district and provide renting facilities for other businesses in the area to cover the cost of construction and provide accommodation at affordable rents and initiate an insurance company to provide insurance services to customers but credit guarantee services will not be provided.   

The bank budgets making annual profits from all businesses and pay higher returns than the market rate of interest.      

nidahas නිදහස් CHAPAbandara

nidahas නිදහස් CHAPAbandara

20 ගෙනාවට පස්සේ බැසිල්වත් ඇතුලට ගන්නවා. මීයක් කැඩුවේ අත පිහගන්න නෙවේ නේ.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

State Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government, retired rear admiral Sarath Weerasekara who assumed duties yesterday, pledged to remove all clauses — in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution — which are detrimental to the well-being of the nation.

We will not devolve police and land powers to the provincial councils,” he said while highlighting the fact that handing over the State Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government to him might have been a plan of destiny because he was one who vehemently opposed the 13th Amendment.

The state minister said the government would use its two-thirds majority in Parliament to remove all draconian laws in the Constitution and pledged to make every city in the country beautiful with cooperation of the local bodies.

I will also restore the Mulleriyawa lake which is of historical value because it is the location where the locals defeated the Portuguese,” he said.

Local Government and Provincial Councils Ministry Secretary J.J. Ratnasiri said ministry staff were ready to work to fulfill the government’s prosperity policy (Saubagayaye Dekma).

Defence Secretery retired major general Kamal Gunaratne, several high ranking army officers, clergy and several guests were present at the ministry to welcome the new state minister. By Yohan Perera

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

A ‘People-Centric Economy’ to improve the living standards of the most vulnerable people will take priority when it comes to the new government’s economic policies, Finance, Capital Market and Public Enterprises Reform State Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal said yesterday.

He said the government would also have to address the dwindling of Foreign Direct Investment, drop of exports, depreciation of the rupee against the dollar, weakened industrial sector and the huge debt burden. These national calamities are a legacy left by the yahapalana government while COVID-19 has further aggravated the situation.

The state minister, who is a former governor of the Central Bank, assumed duties at the Finance Ministry last morning after religious observances and the chanting of ‘Seth Pirith’ by the Maha Sangha.

He told the media that the SLPP and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa were given a clear mandate by voters and it was now up to the government to deliver.

The people will not take ‘no’ for an answer or failure as an excuse. Therefore, Cabinet ministers and State ministers will have to work with dedication and commitment to develop the country, raise the living standards of the people, increase family income and reduce the cost of living. To do that the entire system of governance, economic and finance policy, industrial policy, followed up to now has to be fully reviewed and changed. Only then will the President’s vision of a ‘Saubagyaye Dekma’ will be achieved, the state minister said.

He said his ministry would have to rebuild the confidence among investors to strengthen the capital market and the industrial sector, enhance the profit base of the state ventures and rebuild loss-making state ventures.

“The Finance Ministry will have to review the policy on finance companies and if necessary introduce new regulations to prevent their collapse and explore the possibility of rebuilding some finance companies where thousands of unsuspecting clients have deposited their hard earned savings,” the state minister said.

He said the future of the industrial sector remained in high tech products and value addition to our domestic industry.

“Local products have to be of high quality on par with those in the global market. Only then can Sri Lankan products penetrate foreign markets. The Finance Ministry will create the environment necessary to achieve this goal by introducing tax reforms, monetary and banking regulations and financial back up,” the state minister said.

State Minister Shehan Semasinghe, Senior Presidential Advisor Lalith Weeratunga, Treasury Secretary S.R. Atygalle and several officials were present at the ceremony. By Sandun A. Jayasekera

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Newly appointed Foreign Secretary Admiral (Retired) Prof. Jayanath Colombage said he would re-evaluate the foreign policy adopted so far and focus closely on a ‘South Asia, ASEAN and Asia centric approach ‘.

Making his remarks to Daily Mirror after assuming duties in his office, he said his vision was to implement the foreign policy of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government. He said Sri Lanka’s foreign policy had been oriented towards the western hemisphere hitherto, and it would be re-assessed.

Prof. Colombage said Sri Lanka had set up quite a lot of missions in the western world and the re-evaluation of their efficacy would be another priority area of his duties.

We spend a lot of money to maintain them, so their efficacy has to be re-evaluated,” he said.

Before the present appointment, Prof. Colombage served as the Additional Secretary to the President on Foreign Affairs. The President handpicked him for the post when he appointed new Ministry Secretaries on Thursday replacing Ravinatha Aryasinha who held it formerly.  (Kelum Bandara)