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Prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stressed that the law should take its due course, when he answered a phone call pertaining to the demolition of an archaeological site in Kuruengala town, says minister Wimal Weerawansa.
The minister referred to this when he attended the ‘Salakuna’ programme of Hiru TV last night
Riyaz Bathiudeen, the brother of former MP Rishad Bathiudeen, who is in the custody of the CID, was brought to the Police Investigation Unit of the Presidential Commission appointed to Investigate the Easter Attacks at around 9 am today to record a statement.
Our correspondent stated that he was taken back at around 3 pm after recording his statements for nearly 5 hours.
Rev. Madille Pannaloka Thero also visited the Police Investigation Unit of the Presidential Commission appointed to Investigate the Easter Attack today to make statements.
The total number of coronavirus infections in the country has increased to 2809 with the reporting of two more cases.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa says that in order to save the youth from the menace of drugs, the underworld must be suppressed first.
The Prime Minister stated this while participating in a public meeting held in Kurunegala.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday participated in several public meetings organized in the Kurunegala District for the victory of the candidates contesting the forthcoming general elections from the Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna.
Opportunity for Sri Lankan Tamils to revisit their priorities”by N S Venkataraman certainly raises the question, if India is rolling out a new modus operandi, towards Tamils & Sri Lanka. If that is so, it necessitates all Sri Lankans to be alert. Ignorance and belief that India would not play any role in Tamil militancy was proved wrong when India provided ground, training, arms & safe haven to LTTE. That nightmare lasted virtually 30 years. In a terrain of no-LTTE militancy, what is India’s next move?
The author notes that Tamil parties have reduced & are continuing to advance arguments related to ‘past issues’. As per the author one of the prime issues is ‘genocide’. They may well like to prove what kind of genocide took place for certainly LTTE were killed but close to 300,000 Tamil civilians were saved. Genocide of LTTE as a grievance is rather strange given that more Tamils have been killed by LTTE than anyone cares to count. The author also needs to be corrected on categorizing Sri Lanka’s conflict as a ‘civil war’ – even the Darusman report described Sri Lanka’s conflict as a non-international armed conflict and LTTE was banned as a terrorist organization not only by Sri Lanka but by even India and 32 countries. That ban continues 11 years after vanquishing LTTE.
Well, isn’t it strange that India feigns ignorance for political placards that Tamil political parties hold! Is this new tone and shift following the secret meeting with Indian envoy & the TNA and the arrival of more Indian intel to change the course of the General Elections in Sri Lanka?
Have India & TNA realized that battering the bogus genocide card is no longer working or that Tamils are getting more than a bit tired of the pro-LTTE reference without looking into the welfare of the Tamils. Are the years India & TNA spent on white-washing LTTE now losing its sheen amongst the Tamil voters and is this eating into TNA vote base? How is India planning to salvage the situation? India will want to place an India-friendly party in the North and if possible in the East as well while also now maneuvering ways to exert influence in the Central Province. The Sri Lankan Government and policy makers must take serious note of the advances India is making into the deep terrain of Sri Lanka.
The author is finally bringing to the table that substantial number of Tamils lost their lives from fractions between different Tamil militant groups. India should know, India trained them in different locations and armed them too. India also holds responsibility for the death of Mahaththaya, the LTTE deputy leader who was exposed for being an Indian mole and was tortured to death by Prabakaran. India plotted to replace LTTE with a more India-friendly militant group. India also plotted to kill Prabakaran & replace him with another India-friendly Tamil leader. Eventually, the Indian PM was assassinated by LTTE contract in India itself.
Anyone turning ‘genocide’ into a casual trendy term are kindly requested to produce name lists of all the people supposed to be killed and by whom and how they died as well. The term genocide was used during the final phase not when LTTE & Militant groups were killing each other and not even when IPKF went on a killing spree as well. Will India call IPKF killings in Sri Lanka as genocide?
The theatrics and drama choreographed and orchestrated by not only India but West and their bandwagon of NGOs is an open secret. When these parties tell Tamils to hold placards they do so, when they tell Tamils to cry & protest, they do so. All this has been with the assurance of greener pastures to them. As many would have seen from the protests outside the Sri Lankan mission in the UK, these protestors are now dwindling. It was easy to count just about 30 persons. This is an important feature showing that even the LTTE Diaspora are moving on simply because their games are now getting exposed by people asking questions regarding ‘genocide’ that they cannot answer.
The author says entire Sri Lanka has suffered due to the ‘civil’ war” – India must take key accountability for that suffering. Not only did India provide training ground for scores of Tamil militant groups, but India armed and financed them to cause mayhem in Sri Lanka. Not stopping there India went on to prevent Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces from capturing Prabakaran by whisking him off to Delhi where he was kept until the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed. This accord full of historical fallacies was used as a means to divide Sri Lanka and merge 2 provinces with aim to use militancy to secure an area that India could control (greater Eelam)
Things did not work out as planned however. The merged province was annulled after India’s local puppet declared UDI and fled for refuge while in 2006 the Supreme Court de-merged the 2 merged provinces. Three years later LTTE ground force was vanquished. India made quite a drama on the one hand presenting notion India was ‘concerned’ about the Tamils & then demanding Sri Lankan officials fly to Delhi to brief them on the progress of the military offensive.
For everyone including the Tamils to ‘look forward to the future’ India must lead the way. The author may like to read out his list of advice to India’s bureaucracy, the Indian Government & the intel units first. With the fall of LTTE, India also lost a significant component of ‘pressure’ it could exert but was quick to transfer that to demanding India play a major role in post-conflict Sri Lanka vis a vis a the future of displaced Tamils, presence of military, economic & development goals. Did it take till 10 years after the conflict ended & massive development measures were embarked for India to now realize & tell the Tamils to move on? Why couldn’t India have told this to Tamils when LTTE was defeated instead of cheering them on towards more dramatics against the Sri Lankan State?
A component of the Srima-Shashtri Pact was the choice given to Tamils to decide if they wished to remain in Sri Lanka or return to Tamil Nadu. If India deems that India can look after Tamils better than Sri Lanka, that same question should be posed to the Tamils & India must facilitate Tamils to relocate to India/Tamil Nadu. However, when Tamils are holding citizenship in Sri Lanka, they must live as per the Sri Lankan constitution & cultural ethos of Sri Lanka. They are not Tamils of India if they are holding citizenship Sri Lanka. Those that wish to claim they belong to India, India must embrace them & give Indian citizenship. Tamils cannot expect to have one foot in Sri Lanka and another foot in India/Tamil Nadu. The choice must be made & India must respect their choice once made. India cannot poke its nose into Sri Lanka’s internal affairs claiming Tamils are theirs. If that is so, then India must take ‘their Tamils’ to India. Every Tamil living in the North will know that they have enjoyed a better life post-LTTE defeat than under LTTE & Prabakaran.
It is welcome news that the author is suggesting Tamils need to stop searching for ‘separatism’ a notion India fed into them and inadvertently, we hope India has also stopped searching for separatism of Sri Lanka.
If India and other countries that arouse the minorities using various ploys & plots and allow minorities to assimilate and integrate, Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans would be happier and without conflict and building a prosperous future together. We all deserve better than what we have suffered by all the external parties that have doused the flames of division and separatism for their geopolitical benefit & advantage.
In forwarding a new narrative, we remain watchful as to what India’s new maneuvers are in dangling a new carrot to the Tamils.
Shenali D Waduge
වයඹ පළාත සංවර්ධනය කිරීමේ පස් අවුරුදු සැලැස්ම වයඹ පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාර ඒ.ජේ.එම්. මුසම්මිල් සහ වයඹ පළාතේ ප්රධාන ලේකම් පී.බී.එම්.සිරිසේන මහත්වරු එක්ව ශ්රී ලංකා ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදී ජනරජයේ ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා වෙත පිළිගැන්වූ අවස්ථාව …
ජාතික කොවිඩ් මර්ධන අරමුදල වෙනුවෙන් පළාත් සභාවේ කාර්ය මණ්ඩලයේ එක් දිනක වැටුප වශයෙන් එක්රැස්වූ රුපියල් මිලියන 22.6 ක මුදලක්ද මෙහිදී ආණ්ඩුකාර මුස්ම්මිල් මහතා විසින් ජනාධිපතිතුමා වෙත බාර දුන්නේය.
මෙම අවස්ථාවට වයඹ පළාත් අධ්යාපන අධ්යක්ෂ කේ.එස් කේ ජයලත්, වයඹ නියෝජ්ය ප්රධාන ලේකම් (සැලසුම්) කේ.ඒ නන්දසේන, නියෝජ්ය සැලසුම් අධ්යක්ෂ සිසිර ධර්මසේන යන මහත්වරුන්ද එක්ව සිටියහ…
வடமேல் மாகாணத்தை
அபிவிருத்தி செய்யும் ஐந்து வருடத் திட்டம், வடமேல் மாகாண ஆளுநர் ஏ.ஜே.எம். முஸம்மில் மற்றும்
வடமேல் மாகாண பிரதான செயலாளர் P.B.M. சிறிசேன ஆகியோரினால் இலங்கை ஜனநாயக குடியரசின் ஜனாதிபதி
கோத்தாபய ராஜபக்ஷ அவர்களிடம் கையளிக்கப்பட்டது.
இதன்போது, கொவிட்- 19 நிதியத்திற்காகச்
சேகரிக்கப்பட்ட வடமேல் மாகாண ஊழியர்களின் ஒருநாள் சம்பளமான 22.6 மில்லயன் ரூபாய் பெறுமதியான
காசோலையும் ஆளுநர் அவர்களினால் ஜனாதிபதியிடம் கையளிக்கப்பட்டது.
நிகவெரடியில் நடைபெற்ற
இந்நிகழ்வில் வடமேல் மாகாண கல்விப் பணிப்பாளர் கே.எஸ்.கே. ஜயதிலக, வடமேல் மாகாண பிரதான
திட்டமிடல் உதவிச் செயலாளர் கே.ஏ. நந்தசேன, உதவி திட்டமிடல் பணிப்பாளர் சிசிர தர்மசேன ஆகியோர்
கலந்துகொண்டனர்.
ஊடகப் பிரிவு
There are certain opinions among the people today that intellectuals should go to parliament and run the country. The Collective recently formed and held the first inaugural meeting with the participation of the minister of industries has a different opinion. Interlevuals should allow the politicians to go to parliament and support constitution but the intellectuals should form committees and advise politicians to walk along the right path
It is like the minister taking action to make manufacture local Mammoties and agricultural tools using local recyclable raw materials and start production lines But the Interctuals should play an advisory role and educate the minister that the manufactured tools should undergo Normalizing by heating it and insert in oil or cold water to strengthen and harden the tools to last long
Another example is that according to Sinhala saying that intellectuals cannot walk across Footbridge made of the single log but he needs a handrail
The politician should be that handrail to cross the waterway which helps to overcome obstacles along the path of development
Viyath Maga formed a few years back should not try to become legislators but support them to walk along the right path
Just like the president said lately Brother, you do politics I will build the country
Similarly, politicians with Pannaraya should do politics but intellectuals should help them to build the country
I am not supporting intellectuals running the country but to become advisors to people-friendly politicians
Dr. Sarath Obeysekera
No, I am not going to sacrifice an animal this Eid-ul-Adha nor am I going to pay someone to do it for me.
Instead, my sacrifice is going to be of a non animal nature and yes, it is religiously sanctioned and justified.
I saw animals being slaughtered when I was a boy and it hurt me deeply.
I couldn’t understand why such beautiful creatures had to die.
Still don’t.
Remember, killing is not something humans are innately born to do.
Children do not naturally kill kittens, lambs and bunnies. They play, explore with and protect them. Their first instinct is to love.
In other words, I don’t see how it’s part of the fitra” or natural human disposition to go out of one’s way to kill when there’s no genuine need to.
Yes, I am aware of the verses in the Qu’ran regarding consuming certain animals but if you’ve ever seen an animal get slaughtered from a young age when your innocence is still intact, it stays with you; believe me.
We’re told Islam requires us to slaughter humanely. What exactly, is humane” slaughter?
The word humane is defined as: having or showing compassion or benevolence.
How does one compassionately” or benevolently” cut someone’s throat? Doesn’t the act of killing by definition negate any benevolence?
This is another discussion worth exploring as I genuinely would love to learn.
For now, I know in my heart God will not be displeased because I decided to show compassion to his creatures and not kill them.
In fact this attitude was openly condoned by the Prophet Muhammad in an authentic tradition:
Qurra ibn Iyas reported: A man said, O Messenger of Allah, I was going to slaughter a sheep but I had mercy on it (or felt sorry for it).” The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, If you had mercy on the sheep, then Allah will have mercy on you twice.” (al-Adab al-Mufrad 373 Book 20, Hadith 373), Graded as Sahih (authentic) by Sh. Al-Albani, rh).
Having said that, let me make a couple of things abundantly clear from the outset:
I’m here to ask how these can be reconciled with the very real challenges we are faced with today.
Yes, some difficult and perhaps uncomfortable questions will be asked and I sincerely hope our scholars, learned folks and community alike have the spiritual, moral and ethical courage to address these questions with objectivity and pragmatism.
I feel there are two main points:
1. The impact our animal consumption is having on our world today
2. The way animals are treated especially during the Haj season (and of course at other times of the year).
As stated earlier, Islam permits Muslims to consume certain animals.
So we have the text.
Scholars have written extensively about the rules and regulations on this topic.
We have the guidelines.
Sadly however they are devoid of today’s context.
What we have today are rules and regulations based on what should be” and not what is”.
From an environmental perspective, today’s world is vastly different than the one Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) lived in.
Unfortunately, we are yet to upgrade our practices to reflect this reality.
In fact, we have superimposed our modern day cruel and exploitative practices on Islam thereby rendering the original mosaic into an eyesore.
We grieve for dead Leopards, dead elephants while remaining mum and in total silence over the impending mass slaughter of innocent animals during Hadj festival beginning tomorrow i.e. July 28.
Millions of animals are killed all over the world in the name of religion with none so poor to say in public that it is a crime and contrary to our humanity.
Life must be revered and not destroyed to claim reward from an unknown God. The true test of a religion lies in saving and preserving life, and not destroying it.
Our insensitivity to killing of animals is a product of brainwashing starting from school days. This must be corrected.
The Buddha condemned animal sacrifice.
The Buddha and Mahavira played a big role in converting India to a largely vegetarian country . Highest percentage of Vegetarians is in India. Thanks to the Message of the Buddha calling for compassion and loving – kindness to be extended to all living beings.
Colombo, July 27: In the run up to the August 5 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections, only the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has been openly saying that it wants to amend or wholly jettison the 19 th. Amendment (19A) of the constitution. And it is not shy about declaring that it wants two thirds majority precisely for that. The other parties are maintaining an ominous silence on the issue, though the 19A was brought by them in 2015 to drastically prune the powers of the Executive President (EP) ostensibly to restore democracy.
The opposition parties have not explicitly opposed a change, preferring to observe silence on the question and highlight other issues. In the case of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) the stress is on flaws in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic issues spawned by it. In the case of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the foremost issue is devolution of power to a unified Northern and Eastern Provinces. In the case of the Muslim parties, it is wanton discrimination against the Muslims since the SLPP captured the Presidency in November 2019.
The opposition’s silence could be attributed to their own experience since 2015, which has shown that the multiple centers of authority created by the 19A have stymied efforts by elected Presidents and ministers to carry out their popular mandates.
In 2019, the then President Maithripala Sirisena stated that the 19A was a de-stabilizing element as it had created two centers of power, the President and the Premier who pulled in different directions. Without a singular political leadership, it was impossible for the country to move forward. The 19A created political uncertainty and instability that was harmful to the country. Achieving the objectives of good governance proved futile under the 19A,” Sirisena said in 2018.
The 19A’s contradictory provisions stymied Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s efforts too. Several MOUs his government had signed with India, including one on the Eastern Terminal at Colombo port, could not be implemented because President Sirisena opposed them. These soured relations with India.
The current President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, told this correspondent that the Independent Commissions which had no popular mandate and were far removed from the problems on hand, were crippling the President’s power and the powers of other elected persons like Ministers. Even top officials tasked with taking major decisions, were chained he added.
The Inspector General of Police cannot appoint, transfer or sack a police officer without the sanction of the Police Commission, though he is the hands on man who knows who is competent and who is not,” Gotabaya said. After the 2019 Easter Sunday serial blasts, President Sirisena could not remove the IGP Pujith Jayasundara because appointments, transfers and dismissals were the functions of the NPC.
Columnist C.A.Chandraprema recalls how ministers Karunasena Kodithuwakku and Tissa Vitarana (belonging to different governments) were unable to carry out their development projects because the Public Service Commission sat over them. The President is the sole authority to appoint and dismiss Secretaries to the ministries but he cannot touch other officers.
Article 33A states that the President shall be responsible to parliament for the exercise, performance and discharge of his constitutional powers, duties and functions. But this provision nullifies his popular mandate because he is made responsible to parliament and not to his voters.
19A says that the President shall be a member of the Cabinet of Ministers and shall be its Head too. But the cabinet is responsible not to him but to parliament. He also cannot take a portfolio including the Defense portfolio, even though he is the Supreme Commander of the armed forces and has the sole right to appoint service chiefs.
The 19A says that the President shall appoint as Prime Minister a Member of Parliament, who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of parliament. But he cannot sack the man he so appoints. There are provisions which shackle the Prime Minister too. The Prime Minister cannot chose his Council of Ministers. The constitution says that the President shall, in consultation with the Prime Minister, where he considers such consultation to be necessary, determine the number of Ministers of the Cabinet of Ministers and other ministers, the Ministries and the assignment of subjects and functions to such Ministers. The President may at any time change the assignment of subjects and functions and the composition of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Rajapaksas have consistently charged that the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government pushed for and rushed through the 19A in 2015 only to keep them out of power. The 19A was brought to prevent Mahinda Rajapaksa from contesting a third time by saying that a person who is twice elected as President is disqualified from contesting for a third time. It banned dual citizens from contesting to keep out Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa who were US-Lankan dual citizens. It raised the lower age limit for contesting for President to 35 to keep Namal Rajapaksa out.
Every Presidential aspirant from Chandrika Kumaratunga onwards to Maithripala Sirisena swore to abolish the Executive Presidency and went some way to carry out their promise, when elected, they always found an excuse to stop short of scoring the goal. The political consequences of the abolition was too daunting. During the Presidency of Chandrika Kumaratunga, the UNP led by Wickremesinghe opted out of cooperation at the last moment giving Kumaratunga an excuse to drop the idea of reform.
During the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe regime from 2015 to 2019, a half baked 19A was thrust on the political system to achieve a few narrow partisan goals. The process of writing a new constitution was abandoned due to some political exigencies but actually because the expert panels had suggested reforms which no major Lankan political party with a majority Sinhala Buddhist vote bank will accept.
No leader aspiring to be President had really wanted the Executive Presidency abolished. The only candidate and incumbent President who has unabashedly declared his intention to keep and strengthen the Executive Presidency is the incumbent Gotabaya Rajapaksa. But the Rajapaksas have also argued that Sri Lanka could not have fought the war against the LTTE without a strong government headed by an unfettered Executive Presidency.
Milinda Moragoda, former minister and founder of the Pathfinder Foundation has pointed out that a strong Presidency had enabled Sri Lanka to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. A developing country faced with multifarious problems, needs a strong and cohesive government which the directly elected Executive Presidency purports to provide, Moragoda said.
He recalled what Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers the US Constitution said: A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government. A feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution, and a government ill-executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government.”
Critics of the bid to abolish or drastically amend 19A abound. Backed by international organizations the critics point out that a powerful Executive Presidency will lead to an unhealthy and dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a single person and the coterie around him as it did in Sri Lanka between 2010 and 2014, which alienated from the masses, even an iconic figure like Mahinda Rajapaksa.
However, indications are that the SJB and UNP will support selective amendments to 19A and keep the Executive Presidency intact. M.A.Sumanthiran of the TNA and a strong votary of the 19A, has said that some of the dysfunctional aspects of the 19 A could be taken up for discussion with the Rajapaksas.
Indians are supposed to accept without compelling scientific proof the existence of Jesus or Mohammed, but a Ram or a Krishna cannot break the glass ceiling of mythology
Irony had a hearty laugh last week, skipping across the chain of shoals that links India with Sri Lanka. Embracing Ramayan, the epic that binds the two nations, the Civil Aviation Authority of Lanka issued an advertisement inviting documents and literature for a research on ‘King Ravana and the ancient domination of aerial routes now lost’.
It is believed that Ravan travelled widely in his Pushpak Viman, and the aviation routes could tell us more about Lanka’s geopolitical reach and influence.
Sri Lanka tourism promotes an elaborate Ramayan trail stretching from Munneswaram to Trincomalee, Ella to Colombo. The nation’s first satellite launched last year is named ‘Ravana-1’.
Contrast this with India, where a masjid stood on Lord Ram’s birthplace for centuries and despite overwhelming evidence presented in court, ‘seculars’ stayed in denial. Any proposal to enhance the philosophical understanding of Ramayan, or studying Ram’s journey and alliances, or building tourism circuits based on the epic is mocked and met with disdain and protests.
While Sri Lanka unabashedly embraces its past, identity and legacy, Hindus in the homeland of their faith are repeatedly shamed and censored from honouring their defining epic because it would apparently be communal and upset minorities.
Indians are supposed to accept without compelling scientific proof the existence of Jesus or Mohammed, but a Ram or a Krishna cannot break the glass ceiling of mythology.
Even intellectual curiosity into Hindu epics is discouraged. In 2015, a paper presented on Ravan’s Pushpak Viman at the Indian Science Congress in Mumbai met with massive outrage. Five years later, a neighbouring government has proudly launched a full-scale study on the subject.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was incessantly mocked when in 2014 he said cosmetic surgery originated in India. Four years later, a Columbia University’s Inving Medical Centre study traced the roots of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures to ancient India more than 2,500 years ago.
During the 6th Century BCE, an Indian physician named Sushruta — widely regarded in India as the ‘father of surgery’ — wrote one of the world’s earliest works on medicine and surgery,” the paper said. The Sushruta Samhita documented the etiology of more than 1,100 diseases, the use of hundreds of medicinal plants, and instructions for performing scores of surgical procedures, including three types of skin grafts and reconstruction of the nose.”
The sheer genius of the British colonial project to ruin homegrown Indian knowledge and education and replace it with one that produces clerical, self-loathing brown sahibs is evident even today. Jawaharlal Nehru continued with this colonial system, outsourcing the massacre of history to Left intellectuals.
While Sri Lanka reconstructs its past by studying its tradition and trade routes mentioned in ancient texts like Ramayan and Valahassa Jataka, India is still to fix its education system, distortions of history, and broken pride in its glorious roots.
While India is in denial on Ram, Lanka proudly flaunts the extraordinary antagonist, Ravan, about whom writer Amish Tripathi says: He is different from your ordinary villain. Just because he is so scholarly. He is a brilliant musician, a brilliant poet, a good dancer, he is exceptionally well read, he is a very good administrator. Which makes him a deep, complex man, and fascinating to write about. Even Ravan’s violence was scholarly.”
Sri Lanka, wisely and justifiably, is delving into its rich trade, maritime traditions, and now even aerial routes to construct a robust national mythology. Vinod Moonesinghe, in his piece, outlines the scope of that knowledge from the story of Yakkhinis of Jataka Tales who captured and married shipwrecked merchants to Sinbad the Sailor to Tamil Nadu and Odisha connections to ship links with China and Vietnam.
These strengthen the story of Ravan’s regional influence. India, with a much richer maritime history and way bigger geopolitical influence in the Indian Ocean, don’t even give space to the likes of Rajendra Chola.
Sri Lanka has done what India should have long ago. An expansive study of Lord Ram’s travels and alliances is long overdue. But before that, we need to shed our apologist attitude towards our own past and roots.
COLOMBO — With its blends of soft red, pink and yellow, the fragrant cannonball flower (Couroupita guianensis) is a favorite of Sri Lanka’s Buddhists when making floral offerings during religious activities. They call it sal, with religious tales linking the tree to the birth and death of Gautama Buddha, the founder of the faith. Hindus in the region call it nagalingam, a flower offered to Lord Shiva, the most powerful of gods in the Hindu pantheon.
The problem, however, is that the cannonball tree isn’t the sacred plant that countless devotees believe it to be. In fact, it didn’t arrive in Asia until the late 1800s, brought over from its native Central and South America by the British. That means there’s no way it could be part of the canon of Hinduism or Buddhism, which were established more than 2,000 years earlier.
The Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon by the British botanist Henry Triman (compiled between 1893 and 1900) doesn’t mention the cannonball flower; nor does Flora of British India by the botanist J.D. Hooker in 1875.
These books contain details on both introduced and naturalized plants but the cannonball tree is conspicuous by its very absence in these historical scientific compilations on the island’s fauna, indicating that the tree was not naturalized or found locally at the time,” said Siril Wijesundara, former director-general of the Department of the Botanical Gardens of Sri Lanka.
The cannonball tree was introduced to Sri Lanka with the planting of the first sapling at the Royal Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya, way back in 1881,” Wijesundara told Mongabay. He added the plant adapted well to Sri Lankan soil, reaching fruit-bearing stage after about 15 years.
A century ago, when the plant was still relatively new here, there was no confusion about the identity of the cannonball tree, Wijesundara said: it was recognized as an introduced plant.
There’s no mention of the local name sal on this 1901 plaque that records the planting of a cannonball tree (Couroupita guianensis) sapling by England’s King George V to mark his visit to Sri Lanka, indicating that the confusion over the tree is much more recent. Image courtesy of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya.
To commemorate the visit by England’s King George V to Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon), a cannonball tree was planted at the Royal Botanical Gardens in 1901. The commemorative plaque in the local language, Sinhala, identifies the tree only by its genus, Couroupita. If the confusion over the name sal was prevalent then, botanists who documented Sri Lankan flora would have definitely used the local name for the script, introducing the tree in the local language,” Wijesundara said.
Shelomi Krishnarajah, the current head of the Royal Botanical Gardens, told Mongabay that the original sal tree mentioned in Buddhist lore is the tree known as Shorea robusta. It’s common throughout the Indian subcontinent, including in Nepal, where the Buddha was born. Even the legend matches. Peradeniya Botanical Gardens have several blooming Shorea robusta trees,” Krishnarajah told Mongabay.
It’s not hard to see how the fragrant cannonball tree got incorporated into the origin stories of two of world’s most ancient religions, thanks to its flower.
The cannonball flower has six petals with a base at the center, with a small bulge in the middle and a hood. At the base around the bulge, there are stamens with pollen, and on the hood that covers the bulge there are longer stamens without pollen.
One Buddhist interpretation is that the bulge represents a stupa, a shrine of sorts in which relics are preserved, while the stamens at the base represent devotees worshiping the relics. The long stamens on the hood are considered gods who have descended from the heavens to pay homage to the stupa.
For Hindus, the name of the flower, nagalingam, combines the Sanskrit naga, meaning cobra, and lingam, the symbol of Lord Shiva. According to Hindu mythology, the bulge at the base is considered the lingam, while the hood represents a cobra offering protection to the lingam.
Multiple misidentifications
As C. guianensis has thrived since its introduction to Sri Lanka, it’s been increasingly mistaken for the sacred sal tree over the actual sal, S. robusta. One of the most notable mistakes is the inclusion of the cannonball flower in a textbook prescribed for state-run schools, effectively mainstreaming the wrong information to the public from the outset.
According to Nimal Gunatilleke, emeritus professor of forest ecology at the University of Peradeniya, the mistaken identity of the real sal tree has led to serious problems at times.
During a conference on Ayurvedic science, a research team testing an Ayurvedic recipe reported that the combination of medicinal compounds didn’t work. Gunatilleke looked into the compounds used by the researchers and found that the team had used the bark from the wrong sal tree. Obviously, that combination wasn’t going to work as the properties were different,” he told Mongabay.
The imposter species gained higher levels of recognition and became a symbol of peace” in 2002, ahead of peace talks facilitated by Norway between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebel group. The facilitators wanted both delegations to plant a flowering tree that was significant to both Buddhists and Hindus, and mistakenly picked a cannonball tree sapling to symbolize the new journey toward making peace.
Those peace talks collapsed, but the cannonball tree’s identity as the sal tree remains strong.
Banner image of the religiously significant cannonball flower. With its blends of soft red, pink and yellow, the fragrant cannonball flower (Couroupita guianensis) is among the favorite flowers of both Buddhists and Hindus and frequently offered in veneration. Image courtesy of Asanka Dewage.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has directed the Minister-in-Charge to accelerate the construction works of the Central Expressway project, the President’s Media Division said.
It said construction of the section from Colombo to Kurunegala has been disrupted due to issues relating to the compensation payment process.
The President instructed Minister Johnston Fernando to complete the construction of the expressway while providing a quick solution to the prevailing problems.
President Rajapaksa gave these directives during a public gathering held in Mawathagama Public Fair premises, Kurunegala, during his tour of the district for the second day yesterday in support of the candidates representing Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who accompanied the President to a public meeting organized by candidate Kamal Perera, stated that strong and stable parliament is needed to implement the promises in Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour” policy statement.
President Rajapaksa, in response to a request by the All Island Inter District School Children Transportation Association, agreed to grant another six-month moratorium on the leasing rentals of all school vans.
The President also instructed the Army Commander to fulfil the request made by the students of Nidahasgama Vidyadeepa and Devapola Kumara Schools to renovate their school playgrounds.
Minister Johnston Fernando told the President that he will take necessary measures to build an Indoor Badminton Court in Mawathagama National School.
President engaged in cordial discussions with the people who gathered on both sides of the road leading to Dodangaslanda Rideegama Sathi Pola grounds.
A group of employees who had gathered in front of the Dodangaslanda Hospital told the President that patients had to travel to Kurunegala due to shortcomings that existed in the hospital.
The President instructed the relevant officials to look into the matter and find a speedy solution to it.
Both President and the Prime Minister participated in the public rally at Dodangaslanda Weekly fair premises organized by the SLPP candidate R.D. Wimaladasa.
President Rajapaksa was informed of several issues faced by the residents of the area including, the price drop in minor export crops, drug menace and the need to improve the condition of the road network in the area.
The President and the Prime Minister also attended the public meeting in Pradheshiya Saba Ground, Alawwa organized by the candidate Sumith Rajapaksa. Several artistes as well as the SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris were present at the location.
Twenty-two new cases of novel coronavirus have been detected increasing the total number of confirmed cases reported in the country to 2,804.
The new cases include 17 inmates of the Senapura Rehabilitation Center and 05 returnees from Qatar, who are under quarantine.
Accordingly 672 patients infected with Covid-19 are presently being treated at hospitals while the total number of recoveries has increased to 2,121.
With the report of another coronavirus infection, the total number of infected people in the country has increased to 2805
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa says that although his government suppressed terrorism and the underworld, those activities were reactivated during the subsequent period of good governance.
The Prime Minister stated this while participating in a public meeting held in Dodamgaslanda – Rideegama area
The Presidential Commission appointed to inquire the Easter Attacks today commenced questioning the then Director of the State Intelligence, Nilantha Jayawardena, who was the first to receive prior information and warning on the series of terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday.
At the request of Nilantha Jayawardena and the Attorney General’s Department, which supports the Commission, the hearing was held without being opened to the media.
However, the majority of the Commissioners of the Presidential Commission were of the opinion that at least part of this inquiry should be open to the media.
Here are some of the views expressed by various politicians.
Former parliamentarian Daya Gamage stated that although they presented Sajith thinking that he could win, in the end the UNP was defeated.
Former UNP MP Hesha Vithanage stated that there were thieves in his government as well.
Addressing a public meeting Prasanna Ranaweera stated that Sajith Ranil’s factions are again demanding power without shame.
The candidate of the Jathika Jana Balawegaya, Samantha Vidyaratne stated that the real devil will appear after the election.
Vasudeva Nanayakkara stated that the previous government increased taxes and stole people’s money.
Navin Dissanayake has stated that he hopes to lead the UNP after Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Minister Prasanna Ranatunga stated that candidates cry on the election platform to gain sympathy.
Sri Lanka has almost completed the E-Land Register.Do we need MCC funds with demands that require constitutional changes?This supposed ‘gift’ comes with a set of conditions & pre-conditions that even warrants the MCC Compact to be passed by Parliament & made into domestic law. The MCC demands include ownership of Sri Lanka’s intellectual property rights, immunity from our law for US citizens, exemption & privileges to even former staff of MCC, exemptions of taxes & duties. The MCC even demands to pass all Sri Lankan governmental duties vis a vis MCC Compact to a private company – MCA-Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. Such drastic changes for a $67m land project that demands major constitutional and administrative changes by Sri Lanka is too dangerous to even consider. We do not need to proceed with MCC Land project because we already have the solution.
Sri Lanka has already prepared the e-land registry for 20 land registries feeding all of the deed information to the computers.This ongoing process will soon complete the balance registries.
Thus, the allocation of MCC Funding for only 10 land registries in 7 districts from deed to title registration on an e-land register operated & owned by the MCC is a venture that is pointless and a waste of time, money & effort to covert an existing deed system into an 19thcentury Australian title registration system.
This Australian title registration system will make deeds redundant and will repeal Roman Dutch Law operating in the country as well as co-ownership & repeal inheritance laws where shared are owned by children. The Torrens Title Registration system or Bim Saviya” the local name given to it will also repeal prescription & history of our lands & personal laws that govern different ethnic groups. Most importantly, it also removes the access to court for those affected by land fraud to regain ownership of any fraudulently acquired lands.
We do not need to continue with the $67m MCC Land Project because
We already have an existing deed system which is being modified and modernized by the Ministry of Lands. What is lacking & needs quick remedy is to implement laws that are necessary to protect owners from fraud. MCC Land Project does not address this.
The Trust Ordinancehas been amended to register the owner’s photographs and signatures to identify owners before land sales etc. The extension of this law to all land transactions will give Sri Lanka a fraud free electronic land register continuing the deed system already in place.
Most importantly, in continuing with the deed system, we are complying with the Constitution of Sri Lanka & the Electronic Transaction Act which prohibits fully automation of land transactions vide section 23 of Act No 19 of 2006.
The MCC controversial clauses together with the requirement to transfer deeds to title registration is a headache Sri Lanka does not need to venture into when we already have the solution before us.
In short, we do not need the MCC Land Project and MCC & US Government can utilize this $67million for the covid-19 efforts in US.
Shenali D Waduge
ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ නායක අනුර දිසානයක ස්වර්ණවාහිනී නාලිකාව ඉදිරිපත් කල Sri Lanka Next වැඩසටහනේ පෙනීසිට ඉදිරිපත්කල ඔහුගේ තර්ක ජනතා විමුක්තිපෙරමුනේ තවත් දේශපාලන අසරණ බවක් පෙන්නුම්කරන ලංකාවේ දෙසපාලනයට ඇතුලත් වීමට තාමත් අපහසු නොමේරු ගැටවර බවක් පෙන්නුම්කලා. ඔහු කියනවා ජනතාවට දේශපාලනය තිත්තවෙලාලු .
ඔහු කියන ආකාරයට ලංකාවේ කාටද දේශපාලනය තිත්තවෙලා තියෙන්නේ ?
ලංකාවේ මිනිස්සුන්ට දේශපාලනය නොවේ තිත්තවෙලා තියෙන්නේ, නමුත් දේශපාලකයයි කියාගන්න සමහරක් ඊනියා දේශපාලකයොයි තිත්තවෙලා තියෙන්න. ඒ ගනයට ජනතාවිමුක්තිපෙරමුනේ දේශපාලකයොත් වැටී තියෙනබව ඔවුන්ට නොපෙනෙන එක කනගාටුදායකයි. එකට හේතුව ඕනාවට වැඩිය ඔවුන්ගේ ඔළුගෙඩි ඉදිමුවාගෙන තියෙන එකයි.
2004 එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානයේ සමජිකයන්වශයෙන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු චන්ද සටනින් ආසන 39 දිනාගත් ඔවුන්ට හොඳට ඒත්තු ගන්න තිබුනා ඔවුන්ට දේශපාලන අනාගතයක් තියෙන්නේ ලංකාවේ සමාජවාදී වාමාංශික දේශපාලනයත් සමග එක්ව සිටීමෙන් බව.
නමුත් එයින් ඔවුන්ට ඇතිවුයේ තනියම ආණ්ඩුවක් පිහිටුවන්නට හැකිවේයයි අසීමිත දේශපාලන බල ලෝභයක්. ඒ බල ලෝභය නිසාම ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ නිර්මාතෘවරයා වූ රෝහණ විජේවීර අමු අමුවේ පුළුස්ස මරා දැමු හා රෝහණ විජේවීරගේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂයේ සමජිකයෙක්වසිට එක්සත්ජාතික පක්ෂයේ මැරවරයන් විසින් තලා පෙලා ජීවිතකාලයටම අංගවිකලයකු කල, එක්සත් ජාතිකපක්ෂය සමගම 2010 සමගි ගිවිසුම් අත්සන්කලා මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපති තුමා පරාජය කිරීම සඳහා සරත් ෆොන්සේකා ජනාධිපතිකිරීමට.
ඒ එක්වීමත් සමග ජනතාවිමුක්ති පෙරමුණ ජනතාවගේ අප්රන්සන්නතාවයට භාජනය වුවා. එපමනක් නොව ඒ ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුනේ දේශපාලන අවසානයද වීය..
දැන් ඉඳ හිට තරුණයන් හා දේශපාලන අනාගතයක් නැති වෘතිකයන් හා කථිකාචාර්යවරුන් දේශපාලනයට ඇතුලත්වීමේ හීනමවමින් ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙර්මුනේ ජාතික ජනබල වේගයට එක උනාට ඒ ජනතා විමුක්තිපෙරමුන වටා රොක්වන ජනතා රැල්ලක් නම් නොවේ.
ඊටත් පෙර 2008 විමල් වීරවංස ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණින් ඉවත් වී වෙනම දේශපාලන පක්ෂයක් පිහිටුවීමෙන් පසුව ජනතා විමුක්තිපෙරමුන ජනතාවගෙන් සම්පුර්ණයෙන්ම වෙන්විය
ඒ වෙන්වීමේ ප්රතිපලයක් නිසාදෝ දැන් ජනතාවිමුක්තිපෙරමුන ජනතාවගෙන් තවතවත් ඈත්වෙමින් වුර්තිකයන්, විශවවිද්යාල ආචාර්යවරුන්, හා නීතීන්ඥයන්ගේ පක්ෂයක් වී ජාතික ජනබල වේගයක් බවට පරිවර්තනය වී තිබෙන්නේ.
අනුර දිසානායක ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුන ශ්රී ලංකා දේශපාලන වේදිකාවෙන් අතුගා යැවීමේ පොරෝගාමියා ලෙස සැලකිය හැක. පසුගිය අවුරුදු හතරක්ම ඔවුන් පාරලිමේන්තුවේ පුහුණුව ලැබුවේ විවෙචන, හොරුඅල්ලීමට වාරතා සැපයීම, අල්ලස් කොමිසමට වාර්තා සැපයීම, සමාජවාදී වාමාංශික පක්ෂවලට විරුද්ධව ධනේෂ්වර අධිරාජ්යවාදී එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය හා ජාතිවාදී දෙමල එක්සත් සන්ධානය සමග එක්ව කටයුතු කිරීම .
ගොටාබය රාජපක්ස ජනාධිපතිතිමා, මහින්ද, බැසිල් ආදී රාජපක්සවරුන්ට විරෝධීව කටුයුතු රාශියක් ඔවුන් ගෙන යන්නේ දෙකඩ වූ එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය ඔවුන්ට දේශපාලන බලයට පැමිණීමේ කාර්යට ප්රතිවිරෝධී පක්ෂයක් නොවිය හැකිබැවින් රාජපක්ෂ වරුන් දේශපාලන බල හීනයන් කලොත් ඔවුන්ට ජාතික ජනබල වේගයේ රජයක් පිහිටවිය හැකියයි මතයක සිටගෙන බව පෙනේ.
ඒ බව Sri Lanka Next වැඩසටහනේ අනුර දිසානායක ඉදිරිපත්කල සමහරක් තර්කයන්ගෙන් පෙනීගියා.ඔවුන් දැන් ගෙනියන අල්පේච්ච ජීවිතය ජනතාවට දෙන්න අදහස් කරන්නේ නැතිලු, බලය ලබාගත්තොත් වෙනත් විධියේ දැන් ජනාතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණට අනන්ය ජීවිත ගෙවන්නේ නැතිලු. ඔවුන් රුවන්වැලිසෑය ගඩොල්මොඩයන්ගේ සන්කෙතකයක්යයි නොසිතන බවත් සිංහල බෞද්ධ අද්යාත්මිකත්වය මංකොල්ල නොකන බවත් කියයි.
මොවුන් කෙසේකීවත් මොවුන්ගේ ඉතිහාසය ඔවුන් අමතක කරන්න උත්සාහ කලත් ජනතාව ඔවුන් 1971 කල 30000ක් පමණ ජීවිත විනාශයත් 1987 දකුණේ දහස්ගණන තරුණ ජීවිත විනාශකිරීමවත් අමතක කර නෑ.
ලංකාවේ සිංහල බෞද්ධයෙකුට තමන්ගේ සිංහල බෞද්ධකම නොබියව කිය නොහැකි යුගයක් පැවතියා. ජනතාවිමුක්තිපෙරමුන ඊනියා ජාතික එකමුතුවේ සංහිඳියාව නිසා තමන්ගේ බෞද්ධකම කොන්දෙසිවිරහිතව ප්රකාෂනොකරයි. රුවන්වැලි සමිදුන්නගැන කතා කරදදී ගඩොල් මෝඩ කතාවක් කීවත් දේශපාලන වාසි බලාගෙන කුරුණෑගල භුවනෙක ස්මාරකය බුල්ඩෝසර කිරීම ගැන කතාකරද්දී මහත් සන්වේදීව වේදනාවකින් යුතුව කතාකලා.
ජනතා විමුකිති පෙරමුණ නමවෙනස්කරගෙන ආවත් ඔවුන්ගේ මාක්ස්වාදීත්වය හොදාහරින්න බැරි නිසා කවදාවත් තනිව පාලන තන්ත්රයක් පිහිටුවීමට ජනතාව චන්දයනම් දෙන්නෙම නෑ.
ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ මුහුකුරාගිය ජනතා හිතවාදීන් නොසිටියේය , අද ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ පරිවර්තනය වී තිබෙන ජාතික ජනබල වේගයේ දකින්න ලැබෙන මුහුණු සාමාන්ය ජනතාව පිළිගන්න තරම් මිනිසත්කම සුන්දරකම විදහාපාන ජනතා සිත් දිනාගත හැකි මුහුණු නොවේ. සිංහල බෞද්ධජනතාව මාර්කස් වාදය ගෑවුණු කෙනෙකුටවත් චන්දයදීමෙන් වැලකී සිටියේය. එදා ලංකා සමසමාජ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂද මේ බෞද්ධ සිංහල මාක්ස්වාදී අකමැත්තට බිලිවුයේය.
මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා වයස්ගත දේශපාලකයෙක් විය හැකියි. නමුත් මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා නිහතමානි ජාති හිතෛෂී තාමත් පිරිසිඳුව සිතිය හැකි අභිමානවත් සිංහල බෞද්ධ නායකයෙකි. එබැවින් එතුමා ජනාදරය හිමි කරගත් ජනතාවගේ ගෞරවාදර නායකයෙකි.
අපේ බෞද්ධ සංස්කෘතියේ අනන්ය තාවය වැඩිහිටියන් කෙරෙහි විෂවාශය තැබීමයි. එබැවින් වයසක් ගැන නොතකා අපේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනතාව මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා කෙරෙහි තබා ඇති විශ්වාශය කඩ නොකරයි.
අනුරකුමාර දිසානයක කීවා ඔහු මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ ජනාධිපති තුමා 2014 හමුවී එතුමාට ජනාධිපති තේරීමේ චන්දයට නොපැමිනේන්නයි කී බව. එකයි අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක කල වරද.
ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණට හෝ ජාතික ජනබල වේගයට ඔවුන්ගේම රජයක් කවරදාකවත් පිහිටුවාගත නොහැකියි. ගොටාබය,මහින්ද රාජපක්ස ආදී නම් සිංහල බෞද්ධ ජනතා හදවත් වල කෙටී තිබෙන නම්ය. ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුනේ නායකයින් මිනිස් කම ගැන තවත් බොහෝ දේ ඉගෙන ගත යුතුව ඇත.
Most of us have seen news of another fatal accident in which a Sri Lankan army soldier has died on the Nugegoda fly-over recently when the army vehicle he was driving was hit by one private bus which tried to take over another.
I strongly believe that the issue is with the way that bus service was privatised by the late JRJ government which came to power in 1977. All private buses need to compete with buses of other private owners as well as those of government (SLTB) in order to secure an income which would be sufficient to cover all their costs including finance. In a civilised country, transport, health and education sectors need to mainly belong to the government and if privatised, they should be under strict control of the government and should not be allowed to operate for the sole ambition of making profits. In developed countries like Australia, though transport is privatised, all income generated from ticket sales go to a central fund and respective companies providing the services are paid their shares while the government monitors that the buses, trains and trams provide satisfactory services.
Since privatising the bus service after 1977, thousands of innocent lives have been lost due to incidents like the recent fatal accident but none of the successive government have taken any action to prevent them. There is no doubt that more will die in future unless necessary remedial action is taken without delay. Appreciate if the new president Hon Gotabhaya Rajapakse’s attention is drawn towards a radical change in the bus service system in Sri Lanka to eradicate this menace.
Nimal
Rajakaruna
Melbourne
Australia
කඩා බිඳ දමා ඇති මේ රට ලෝකයේ ධනවත් හා බලවත් රාජ්යක් බවට නැගී සිටීමට අවශ්ය වන්නේ බලයයි. මේ රටේ සියලුම ජන කොටස් වලට අවශ්ය තරම් බලය ලබාදෙන්නේ කෙසේද? ඒ සඳහා සැලසුම් කල යුත්තේ කුමන ආකාරයටද යන්න අපි සාකච්චා කරමු.
මේ රටේ මිනිසුන්ට විදුලි බලය නොමිලේ ලැබෙන්නේ නම් කුමක් වේවිද? එය එසේ කල හැකිද?
රට සංවර්ධනයට අනිවාර්යෙන්ම විදුලිබලය තව තවත් නිෂ්පාදනය කල යුතුය. විදුලිබල ව්යාපෘතියකට රජයට දරන්න යන පිරිවැය ඇති විශාල බැවින් ඒ කටයුත්ත ජනතාවම සිදු කරගන්නවා නම් එය රජයට ඉතා පහසු කටයුත්තකි.
දැන් අපි කතා කරන්නේ, මිනිසුන්ට නොමිලයේ විදුලිය ලැබෙන, රජයට සතයක්වත් වියදම් නොවෙන විදුලි බල උත්පාදන ව්යාපෘතියක් ගොඩනගන්නේ කෙසේද යන්නයි.
1.පළමුව කොලොඹට ආසන්න, ග්රාම සේවා වසමක් තෝරාගෙන, ඒ අයට ඉතාමත් අඩු පොලියට 4%ක වගේ පොලියකට සෑම නිවසකටම සුර්ය කෝෂ සවිකර ගැනීමට නය පහසුකම් ලබාදීම විශේෂිත ක්රමයකට ආරම්භ කල යුතුය.
2.තමන් පාවිච්චි කරන විදුලියට වඩා නිපදවන විදුලිය රජය මිලදී ගැනීමට සුදානම් බවද ජනතාවට දැන්විය යුතුය.
ග්රාමසේවා වසමක සාමාන්ය වශයෙන්, නිවාස 500කට ආසන්න සංඛ්යාවක් තිබේ. නිවසකට අවශ්ය විදුලි බලය ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා විදුලි බල පාරිභෝජනය අනුව, රුපියල් ලක්ෂ 4 සිට ලක්ෂ 8 දක්වා මුදලකින් එක නිවසකට සුර්ය කෝෂ ස්විකිර්මේ කටයුතු කල හැක. මේ අනුව නිවාස 500ක් සඳහා උපරිම වශයෙන්,ලක්ෂ 4000ක් මුදලකින් එක ග්රාමසේවා වසමක විදුලි අවශ්යතාවය සම්පුර කල හැක. ඒ සඳහා සාදාරන පොලියක් මත බැංකු ණයක් මුදා හරිය විට අපිට එක මාසයකින් සුර්ය කෝෂ වලින් පණ ලබන ග්රාමසේවා වසමක් නිර්මාණය කල හැක.
මේ ජනතාවට තමන් විදුලි බලය සඳහා යන වියදම හා අමතරව විදුලිය විකිණීමෙන් ලැබෙන මුදල් බැංකු ණය ගෙවීම සඳහා යෙදවූ විට වසර 5කින් බැංකු නය පියවිය හැකිය.ඇත්ත වශයෙන්ම තමන් බැංකු නායක ගෙව්වද තමන් විදුලි බිලක් නොගෙවන බැවින් මෙය අමතර බරක් ලෙස බලපාන්නේ නැත. වසර 5කින් පසු තමන් ට ගෙවීමට බැංකු නායක නැති බැවින්, එයින් නිදහස් වන පාරිභෝගිකයාට තමන් අමතරව විදුලි බට මණ්ඩලයට විකිණීමෙන් ලැබෙන මුදල නිසා. විදුලි බල උත්පාදනයෙන් මුදල් උපයන්නෙක්ද බවට පත්වේ.සුර්ය කෝෂ සඳහා අවුරුදු 20ක වගකීමක් පාරිභෝගිකයාට ලැබෙන තවත් වාසියකි.
මෙම ක්රමය ප්රචලිත කිරීමෙන් රජයට විදුලි බලය උත්පාදනය කිරීම සඳහා නොරොච්චෝලේ වැනි විදුලි බලාගාර ඉදිකිරීමට මුදල් වය කිරීමට සිදු නොවේ,
එකම ගැටලුව වන්නේ මේ ක්රමයට එරෙහි බලවේග විදුලි බල මණ්ඩලය තුල ක්රියාත්මකව, මේ ව්යාපෘති කඩාකප්පල් කිරීමට බලපෑම කිරීමට ඇති ඉඩ කඩයි.
විදුලි බලය නොමිලයේ ලබන යුගයකට පා තබමු!
සාමකාමී මැතිවරණයක් උදෙසා ඉදිරි මහ මැතිවරණයේදී විශේෂ අවධානය යොමු විය යුතු ප්රදේශ රැසක් පිළිබද කැෆේ සංවිධානය පොලිසියට දන්වයි. පූර්ව මැතිවරණ සමය තුල සහ පශ්චාත් මැතිවරන සමය තුල ගැටුම්කාරී තත්වය වර්ධනය විය හැකි ප්රදේශ හඳුනා ගනිමින්ඒවායෙහි සාමකාමී මැතිවරනයක් පැවැත්වීමට අවශ්ය කටයුතු සම්පාදනය කිරීම සඳහා මෙම ඉල්ලීම කළබව කැෆේ සංවිධානයේ විධායක අධ්යක්ෂ මනාස් මකීන් මහතා පවසයි.
මෙම ප්රදේශ “හොට්ස්පොට්ස්” ලෙස කැෆේ සංවිධානය විසින් හදුන්වා ඇති බවත් පැවැති පූර්ව මැතිවරණ සමය තුළ එම ප්රදේශ වල මැතිවරණ හැසිරීම් නිරීක්ෂණය කිරීමෙන් පසු මෙම අනුමාන කිරීම සිදුකල බවත් ඒ මහතා වැඩිදුරටත් පැවසීය. ඒ අනුව ඉදරි මැතිවරණ සමය තුළ පොතුවිල්, සයින්දමරුදු, අක්කරෙයිපත්තු, කාත්තන්කුඩි, ඒරාවුර්,කින්නියා, පොලොන්නරුව, අනුරාධපුර, කුරුණෑගල, කඩුවෙල, තංගල්ල, හැටන්, නාවලපිටිය, ගම්පහ, පුත්තලම සහ යාපනය යන ප්රදේශවල යම් උණුසුම්කාරී තත්වයන් සිදුවීමේ අවධානමක් පවතින බවට කැෆේ සංවිධානය විසින් හඳුනාගෙන තිබේ.
මෙම තත්වය සලකා බලා එම ප්රදේශ වල නීතිය හා සාමය ආරක්ෂා කර ගැනීම සඳහා සුදුසු ක්රියාමාර්ග ගන්නා මෙන් ඉල්ලමින් කැෆේ සංවිධානය වැඩබලන පොලිස්පති වරයා වෙත ඊයේ දිනයේ ලිපියක් යොමු කර තිබේ.
(කැෆේ විධායක අධ්යක්ෂ මනාස් මකීන් මහතා ගේ හඩපටය සහ ඡායාරූපමේ සමඟ යොමු කර ඇත. )
මාධ්ය ඒකකය
කැෆේ සංවිධානය
The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka states that the sovereignty rests in the people of the country and the legislative power of the People shall be exercised by Parliament through their elected representatives and directly by the people at a referendum. On 5 August, we vote to elect representatives to the country’s primary legislature, the Parliament.
As one newspaper has recently reported the Parliamentary Election would cost Rs100 billion. Nearly Rs 50 million to elect one representative. As the newspaper aptly asked: Is it worth? Spending that much of tax money, what kind of Parliament should we vote for on 5 August? There are many answers to this question. These answers come from many different perspectives.
Some would argue that we must elect wise” women and men at least with a college degree. A recently formed group thinks a Parliament with more women representatives would be good for the country’s political health. Why not vote for new faces getting rid of 225 people in the last Parliament. All these and many other suggestions of course entail some sense, so should not be thrown away. In casting my vote in every Election, national, provincial or local, the saying that invariably reverberates in my inner self is what Arhat Mahinda advised King Devanampiya Tissa about 2500 years ago. O Great King! The birds of the air and the beasts on earth have equal right to live and move about in any part of this land as thou. The lands belong to the people and all other beings and thou art only the guardian of it.”
Angel Guardians for Five Years
Even though the representatives we are going to elect on 5 August are wise youth with college degrees, they are elected only for five years. They are not the owners of the land but just guardians. Hence, their legislative power has to be conditioned, controlled and restricted not only by the relevant clauses of the constitution but also by the needs of the birds of the air and the beasts on the earth”. Nonetheless, the experience of the last 42 years has amply shown that they surpass the constitutional limitations, and totally disregard the latter, i.e. the needs of the birds of the air and the beasts on the earth”. The Leopard killings in the last three months has proved that these representatives have failed to protect the rare animals in the country.
Post COVID-19 Context
According to epidemiologists the country is now in a post COVID-19 situation identified by two principal characteristics:
(1) A serious economic crisis marked by mass unemployment and underemployment, sluggish even negative growth and growing poverty.
(2) An increase in conflicting forces in the Indian Ocean region (IOR) that have a direct spill-over effect on Sri Lanka.
When people pass their power for five years to their representatives, it is imperative to think about how these representatives interrogate with this situation dominated by these two features. However, we have to bear in mind they are paradoxically related.
It’s evident the economic crisis requires a greater degree of inward orientation. It is clear that the outward orientation that Ranil Wickremesinghe has repeatedly campaigned for is not going to work under the given international situation. There would be a reduction in export earnings because the global economy would experience 5 per cent of negative growth that would reduce world consumption significantly. Similarly, the earning from tourism will also decrease substantially. In such a scenario, continuous faith on export-oriented growth strategy is a chimera. Hence, import substitution sectors with reasonable cluster effects have to be encouraged. While in the sphere of economics, the idea of delinking is making headway, it is interesting to see that in the arena of international politics, more and more integration appears to be reinforced. This may be attributed to the increasing tension between China and the United States in the Pacific and IOR. Although it is not the largest ocean, the significance of the IOR has greatly increased in the last ten years or so. China’s recent presence in the IOR has led India to move towards the US while Pakistan, its traditional ally, moved away from it. The US is planning to form a big alliance in the Indo-Pacific region linking India, Japan and Australia.
In this backdrop, protection of the sovereignty that rests on the people of the country will be problematic if the representatives of the people succumbed to the pressure of the international and regional powers haunting in the region.
Vacillating President and the Cabinet
The Prime Minister has appointed a commission headed by Professor Lalithasiri Gunaruvan to examine the pros and cons of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact as far as its expressed objectives and operational modalities are concerned. The Committee has recently submitted its report and indicated the signing of the MCC as it exists would be a serious threat to the island’s sovereignty. From the report it’s clear the preparation process of the MCC had been done without giving any importance to Sri Lanka.
Although the committee report has revealed the danger of the MCC to the country’s sovereignty, its foreign policy, its economy and finally its people, it appears the President and the Cabinet appears to be vacillating to take a firm decision on the MCC seemingly for two reasons. Although it is not within the MCC, the President has already asked to expedite land registry digitalisation contracted to the US firm.
(1) First, they seem to think US$ 480 million is a big support to the COVID-19 affected country. In support of this view, they emphasise the fact that it is a grant. Because it is a grant it would be much worse that a high premium loan.
(2) The second argument which is equally feeble is it’s not fair to change foreign policy decisions and agreements with other countries after a Government change. Of course, such decisions should be taken with proper analysis, not just short-term gains. In this sense, we have seen the brilliance of non-aligned foreign policy that was taken in the 1960s. However, in the last forty two years (1978- 2012), Sri Lanka’s decisions in the foreign policy arena have been shaky and based on short term considerations. Former Foreign Secretary Dr Palitha Kohona warned sometime back that once the MCC process was begun there was no turning back.
It is quite clear, both arguments to sign the MCC and associated two agreements ACSA and SOFA should be vehemently opposed by the electorate in Sri Lanka at the 5 August Parliamentary Election. The people who have an iota of concern on their sovereignty and its future generation should not vote for candidates who appear to be in support of the MCC.
The writer is a retired teacher of political economy at the University of Peradeniya.
E-mail: sumane_l@yahoo.com
The Yahapalana Government flunked in their management of international affairs. Mangala Samaraweera simply made Sri Lanka a co-signatory instead of challenging the UNHRC Resolution 30/1. By doing this, the Yahapalana Government overcame the confrontation that was brewing between the U.S. and Sri Lanka. However, Sri Lanka becoming a co-signatory did not make the Resolution any less hostile!
Negotiations gone awry
Likewise, they blotched the free trade agreement signed with Singapore. Initially they kicked the Chinese out of the Port City Project; afterwards they begged them to return and were forced to pay a penalty. How about leasing the Hambantota Port for 99 years to the less favourable bid? These were all terrible negotiations. Signing a military agreement with the US that does not serve Sri Lanka was bad enough. The fact the agreement did not consist of an exit clause or that only five out of 88 pages were shown to the then President Maithripala Sirisena adds to the contention.
Yet, Sajith Premadasa, the Yahapalana Government’s Presidential Candidate at a recent Election rally speculated the reason their people lost confidence in them might be inconsistencies in decision making. He said that Cabinet decisions taken on Monday were changed by Wednesday.
MCC Compact – Inauspicious announcement
The reason for him not to attribute their failure to the Yahapalana Government’s foreign policies maybe due to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact awarded to Sri Lanka. This is the largest grant ever offered to
Sri Lanka.
It was the Yahapalana Government’s initiative that made the MCC, which lost interest in Sri Lanka during the Mahinda Rajapaksa Administration, agree to reconsider Sri Lanka for a grant and thereafter offer this Compact. Therefore, it’s natural for that Government to pat their back on attracting MCC to offer USD 480 million for a two-pronged project to better manage Sri Lanka’s traffic and State land.
The announcement of MCC’s decision to award the Compact could not have been worse timed. It was made four days after the Easter Sunday massacres, the simultaneous attack on churches and hotels took Sri Lankans by complete surprise.
Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith urged communities to remain calm and shared his deep suspicions that this attack could be the work of geopolitical forces.
Ignored notifications
It soon came to light the Yahapalana Government had received nearly hundred repeated intelligence notifications of impending attacks with almost pinpoint accuracy. This information collaborated with certain incidents in Sri Lanka. The destruction of the Gautama Buddha statues in Mawanella and the discovery of explosives indicated strongly that extremists were once again active in the Island. However, top ranking officials did not give the received information its due importance.
The ongoing Presidential Commission to investigate the Easter Sunday massacres found out Military Intelligence had passed the intelligence to the relevant Police authorities. Yet, at the very highest level, the police had refused to act on it. DIG Ajith Rohana explained that it is easier to criticise the Police for inaction on hindsight. However, had the police acted and disrupted an important religious ceremony as the Easter Sunday and it turned out to be a false alarm, it would have been misconstrued as an act against reconciliation. The collective opinion of the security establishment was that the then Government’s focus was on reconciliation than national security.
Who was responsible?
While the country reeled with shock, the Yahapalana Government acted in a state of excitable frivolity. They were neither shocked nor repentant and no one was willing to accept responsibility. Then both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were estranged. Wickremesinghe claims he was not aware about the intelligence notifications as he was not invited to the Security Council meetings. He however fails to explain his reasons for not being able to address this serious lapse in Parliament. Sirisena on the other hand retorts how was he responsible for something he did not know? Four days after the attack, then Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera blithely announced the likely collapse of the tourism industry.
However, after pronouncing the tourism industry’s doom after the Easter Sunday massacres, neither Ranil Wickremesinghe nor Sajith Premadasa offered solutions or what measures their Government would take to cushion the fall. Instead Samaraweera announced that he had some good news on the economic front. That’s how Sri Lankans got to know about the Compact.
Now as the incumbent Opposition, it’s entertaining to watch both Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sajith Premadasa tripping over each other with solutions to manage the economic crisis had they been in power.
MCC a hangman’s noose
As information about the MCC and the Compact began to trickle through patriots got alarmed and pointed out that though these were a grant, the strings attached were akin to a hangman’s noose. MCC insists that the recipient country must always adhere to ‘Good Governance’ if to commence and continue with the Compact. Professor Lalithasiri Gunaruwan, who headed the review committee on the Compact, when presenting their findings observed the MCC had paused their grants halfway in other countries.
Sri Lankans’ own experience after nearly five years of Yahapalana ‘good governance’ is that ‘good governance’ is an extremely subjective term. Democracy, accountability, reconciliation and corrupt free governance were the promised components. Instead, the Yahapalana Government compulsively obsessed over the opinion of the West, whose expectations of Sri Lanka seemed to be strongly influenced by an extremist group, the Tamil Diaspora who holds the entire Tamil expatriate community in an iron grip.
Thus, the Yahapalana Government ignored the UPFA – the largest opposition political alliance with representation in eight provinces and 56 seats in Parliament. The UPFA continued to suffer step-motherly treatment at the Parliament. They were even denied adequate time to address the Parliament.
Instead the TNA, the one time political proxy of the LTTE and an alliance composed of exclusive Tamil politicians representing two provinces with only 16 seats in Parliament, was appointed as the Opposition. It is most unfortunate that they did not use their powerful status to bring forth any development or economic relief to at least their constituents.
Mangala co-sponsored Resolution 30/1 without Cabinet approval
Mangala Samaraweera as the Minister for Foreign Relations in 2015 co-sponsored the UNHRC Resolution 30/1 without either Cabinet approval, or a debate in Parliament or a mandate from the people. The conditions set forth in this Resolution decidedly treated the Sri Lankan Military as war criminals and the LTTE terrorists as victims. The free trade agreement with Singapore was another international contract signed with equal secrecy and equally detrimental to the country’s economic security.
In the name of good governance, some of the acts and bills the Yahapalana Government tried to implement included reparations for terrorists and their families, persecution and incarceration of security forces, dismantling intelligence networks and attempts to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act with one that conceded more rights to the suspected terrorists than given to even common criminals and laws against enforced disappearances that are only effective to security forces. Some Western countries even tied up economic relations such as GSP+ with these conditions.
Where the 19th Amendment went wrong
The 19th Amendment was structured to make the President listen to the recommendations of his premier in making crucial appointments. However, the Amendment did not support a provision to use when these appointments needed to be reversed. This is how the IGP continued to remain as the IGP despite failing in his duty. Yet, the Yahapalana Government was hailed for strengthening democracy in the country.
Obviously, none of these were agreeable to the people. Yet, the proponents of good governance continued to applaud the Yahapalana Government and claimed democracy was established. To add insult to injury, the Yahapalana Government failed miserably on the economic front as well. The failures seemed almost deliberate. Nearly, half a million people lost their livelihoods.
Removing one’s foot without detonating it
Today, both Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sajith Premadasa are jeering the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Administration for not tearing up the Compact immediately. Instead, the reviewing of the Compact was passed from expert committee to Cabinet.
However, one must understand the Compact is only a carrot. Discrediting the political leadership to lead to regime change and passing the UNHRC Resolution 30/1 to persecute the Military whilst creating divisions between Sinhalese and Tamils were all foundations of the Compact. To tear the Compact without understanding the objective expected from it would be foolish – because after the carrot comes the stick.
As far as the U.S. or any other international body is concerned, it is Sri Lanka that requested a grant from the MCC. It certainly is not their problem that it was ‘that’ Government and not ‘this’ Government. By inviting the MCC we had metaphorically stepped on a landmine. The trick is now to remove the foot without detonating it.
ranasingheshivanthi@gmail.com
The fickle consciousness of the public is legendary and we realize that politicians depend greatly on yet another fact – namely, the very poor memory of voters. The sheer effrontery of leaders of the LAST Government who make criticisms on the economic policies of the PRESENT Government makes our adrenalin levels rise dangerously. The last Government BEGAN with the economic disaster of the Bond Scam. No one took the blame. No one was punished. Yet past Ministers and leaders have the NERVE to still talk, talk, talk ad nauseum of the mistakes that others are making or are going to make.
The leaders of the last government seem to be conducting contented postmortems of their own which I am sure some of them are too intelligent to actually believe. Do reporters themselves not report these silly opinions (for they are really mighty silly) with a high degree of disbelief? It is well said that a Govt. which can forget its past history has no future history.
All this talk of DEMOCRACY being at stake is also laughable. The self proclaimed leader of the democratic world sent thousands to their deaths by his cavalier attitude towards the Corona virus. Our own President protected us. We accept this with deep gratitude.
And let us look at Democracies anyway. The Greek model worked because it was a direct system. Not the all the populations of the Greek City States were citizens. The vast number of them were slaves who had no vote. Injustice, corruption, elitism and economic disasters are all a part of a Democracy. One of Churchill’s better known comments was that the best argument against democracy is a five minute chat with a voter. Indeed most of us wear a permanent patina of discontent with the way ‘Democracy’ is handled in Sri Lanka.
Elections will bring us a new Government. We hope desperately it will prove worthy of the trust voters place in it. We hope it will follow Gotabaya Rajapakse’s example and govern with dignity, panache and efficiency. Action, with less talk is his hallmark. All Ministers and MPs would do well to do likewise.
We hope the new Government will not display the insane hubris of many of our past Ministers and will tone down their public pronouncements and public appearances. We hope OUR money will not be wasted on uneducated MPs……. on their cars, their security, their absurd salaries, their hanger-on relatives to mention a few things we voters really regard as ‘Un-Democratic’. Our dwindling resources can do with a drastic cutting down of Ministerial mismanagement (the fiasco of Education being a case in point.)
Sri Lanka could be such an easy country to govern. We have everything right here. A small population, a pleasant climate, a rich soil ( which is not adequately made use of) an extremely intelligent people and a geographical placement that makes us highly important to the rest of the world. Surely we can elect a Government that will make Sri Lanka a contented and successful country and one which can again be regarded as the best run in South East Asia?
Goolbai Gunasekara
Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva says that the repatriation of Sri Lankans abroad will be resumed within the next week.
He stated this speaking to the media following a religious program held in Kaduwela.
Responding to a question raised by a journalist regarding the escape of a COVID-19 patient from the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH), the Army Chief said that the police have taken necessary action regarding the security situation at the hospital.
The Army Commander further stated that the drug addicts who are infected with COVID-19 are held at the Kandakadu Hospital and there is no room for them to escape as there is military security have been given to the hospital.
Two associates of notorious crime figures in the country have been arrested today (26), according to Police Media Division.
The arrests have been made in Colombo this evening.
One suspect has been identified to be a close associate of underworld gang leader and drug dealer ‘Kanjipani Imran’.
The other is reported to be a close associate of gangster and drug kingpin ‘Makandure Madush’.
Both ‘Kanjipani Imran’ and ‘Makandure Madush’ are currently under the custody of authorities.
Police Media Spokesman SSP Jaliya Senaratne stated that a survey has been launched on information books in police stations island wide.<br /><br />He stated at a media briefing held in Colombo today that the survey is being conducted on the instructions of the Acting IGP.
Recently it was revealed that some officials of the Narcotics Bureau were involved in drug trafficking with drug traffickers.
It is with this in mind that the Acting IGP has decided to conduct a survey to find out whether documents of such corruption or misrepresentations are missing from police stations islandwide.
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