Meera Srinivasan Courtesy The Hindu

With the campaign for Sri Lanka’s August general election heating up, India and its role in resolving the lingering national question have begun figuring prominently in the election discourse, especially in the Tamil-majority north and east.

Addressing a recent public meeting, the Tamil National Alliance’s (TNA) former parliamentarian S. Shritharan said: India is watching us closely, pointing to inadequacies in our campaign, they tell us you should be a formidable force, and work with hill-country Tamil leaders, only then we [India] will be able to pressure Sri Lanka.”

To be such a force”, the TNA needs to garner at least 20 seats, he said. His remark comes at a time when the alliance is grappling with visible tensions within. India has not commented on Sri Lanka’s general election.

Asked about his remark, Mr. Shritharan said: I said that in Jaffna. I was making a point about the need for the TNA to stand united and emerge legitimate representatives of the people again, for us to be able to engage with India.”

In the August 2015 parliamentary polls, the TNA secured 16 seats in the 225-member legislature. Its leader R. Sampanthan was the Leader of Opposition until December 2018, when current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa succeeded him, after the then-President Maithripala Sirisena triggered a constitutional crisis by abruptly sacking former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Currently campaigning in the eastern Trincomalee district, Mr. Sampanthan recently told Tamil media that the international community and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are standing behind us [TNA]”.

Referring to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Colombo immediately after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s big win in the November 2019 presidential election, and to the President’s and Prime Minister’s respective visits to New Delhi, Mr. Sampanthan said India had, on all three occasions, underscored the need for the Sri Lankan government to resolve the Tamil question, based on justice, equality and dignity”.

Talks in Delhi

TNA spokesman and former legislator M.A. Sumanthiran has also been referring to India in his pocket meetings — the Election Commission has banned big rallies due to COVID-19 — in the Northern Province, comparing the current poll context with that in 2010. At that time, the TNA fought the election after the candidate we backed for Presidency [Sarath Fonseka] lost, just like this time. But we won 14 seats and were subsequently invited to New Delhi to hold talks with the then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In that meeting, PM Singh advised us and the Rajapaksa administration to hold discussions and we held at least 18 rounds of talks after that,” he said.

However, rivals and critics of the TNA have criticised the alliance’s contestants for misleading” the Tamil people that the international community or India would back them”. The sentiment — shared by some on social media — is in line with a growing view among sections that New Delhi has been less vocal about Tamil concerns, and more preoccupied with its own geopolitical interests in the island.

On the other hand, citing the 13th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s Constitution — born out of the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 — that remains the only substantive legislation on power devolution to the provinces, the TNA maintains that New Delhi’s role is crucial.

Meanwhile, India also figured in a recent controversy in the south when Colombo port unions and Opposition party JVP objected to Sri Lanka giving away” the East Container Terminal to India. Ceding control” of national assets to foreign countries” has been a recurring concern voiced by nationalist groups in the Sinhala-majority south.

Speaking at campaign meeting, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said his government had conveyed to New Delhi that the southern Mattala Airport will not be jointly developed with India, as had been proposed by the previous government.

During my recent visit to India (in February) — and also by the President — I told them please do not take it (airport),” PTI quoted him on the airport that adjoins the Chinese-run Hambantota Port.

by C.A.Chandraprema Courtesy The Island

• Yahapalana domination of CC may continue till October 2021
• -CC member Javed Yusuf openly engages in politics
• -SLPP on a roll as opposition flounders

Last Thursday’s headline story in The Island should set the alarm bells ringing within the SLPP government. This report said that one of the three persons from outside Parliament appointed to the Constitutional Council, lawyer Javed Yusuf, had joined the group of NGOs that had come together last week to oppose the SLPP’s bid for a two thirds majority in Parliament and to revitalize the floundering yahapalana election campaign. No member of the Constitutional Council should have joined such a gathering. Even though Parliament stands dissolved, the existing Constitutional Council will remain functional not only till the next Parliament meets, but till a new Constitutional Council is formed. When it comes to the three outsiders on the CC, they hold office for a fixed term of three years. Yusuf was appointed in October 2018 and according to the wording of Article 41A(8) he will continue to hold office as a member of the CC for over another year till October 2021.

By being present at a political event, he has violated the spirit of Article 41A(5) which states that the persons who are not Members of Parliament who are appointed to the CC shall be persons of eminence and integrity who have distinguished themselves in public or professional life and who are not members of any political party. Yusuf can claim that he is not a member of any political party even though he is openly engaging in politics against the SLPP. Once appointed, however, there is no mechanism by which such an appointed member can be removed from office unless both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition form the opinion that such member is physically or mentally incapacitated and is unable to function further in office. There is no provision to remove the outsiders appointed to the CC even if they openly engage in politics after being appointed.

Who will continue into 2021?

People are used to the idea that when Parliament stands dissolved, the new Parliament that convenes after a general election will start everything afresh. That does not appear to be the way things work with the Constitutional Council which appears to stand outside Parliament as a separate body. According to the provisions in Chapter VIIA of the Constitution which was introduced by the 19th Amendment, we see that the Prime Minister, Speaker and Leader of the Opposition will sit on the Constitutional Council only so long as they hold those positions. But when it comes to the Parliamentarian appointed by the President, the two Parliamentarians jointly appointed by the PM and Leader of the Opposition, and the Parliamentarian appointed collectively by the smaller political parties in Parliament, they have fixed terms of three years.

Article 41A(8) does not specify that they will cease to hold those offices if they cease to be parliamentarians due to losing an election when they are half way through their terms on the CC. However, if any one of them ceases to be an MP after the forthcoming election, they will be debarred from sitting on the Constitutional Council by implication because the Constitution specifies that the person occupying that particular slot on the Constitutional Council has to be a Member of Parliament.

However, if such an MP who happens to be sitting on the Constitutional Council at present is reelected at this general election, then it follows that he has to continue to serve his three year term even though the new President may not want that MP to represent him, the new Prime Minister will not want to have anything to do with the two MPs appointed jointly by his predecessor and the Leader of the Opposition and the smaller political parties in the new Parliament may not want to have anything to do with the MP representing them! Nothing has been said anywhere about what happens when a Parliamentary election is held halfway into the tenures of the MP members of the Constitutional Council. All those on the Constitutional Council continue to sit on the CC through the dissolution, the election, the convening of the new Parliament and right up to the formation of a new CC under a new Speaker, a new PM and a new Opposition Leader. So what happens if the MPs who were on the CC are re-elected at this election?

According to articles 41A(8) and 41E(7) of the Constitution, the only way that a Constitutional Council member with a fixed three year term can be removed is as follows: a) if he resigns from his office b) is removed from office by both the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition forming an opinion that such member is physically or mentally incapacitated and is unable to function further in office c) is convicted by a court of law for any offense involving moral turpitude d) if a resolution for the imposition of civic disability upon him has been passed by Parliament and e) if he without obtaining prior leave absents himself from three consecutive meetings of the Constitutional Council.

As of now, the Constitutional Council is made up of the following members: Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, the President’s nominee Mahinda Samarasinghe, Bimal Ratnayake representing the smaller political parties, Talatha Athukorale and R.Sampanthan as the joint nominees of the PM and Opposition Leader and the three non parliamentarians, Jayantha Dhanapala (who resigned recently and has not yet been replaced), Naganathan Selvakumaran and Javed Yusuf.

Of these individuals, Mahinda Samarasinghe has joined the SLPP so if he gets re-elected to Parliament, there will be no issue with him continuing to represent the President till the end of his three year term. If he does not get re-elected the President can nominate another MP to represent him in the CC. Of the two MPs that the PM and Opposition leader are supposed to appoint jointly, Mr Sampanthan had been nominated to that position after he lost the position of Leader of the Opposition to Sajith Premadasa. It follows that if he is re-elected to Parliament as he certainly will, he will continue to be on the CC. The MP representing the Prime Minister is UNP/SJB Parliamentarian Talatha Atukorale who will continue on the CC if she is re-elected to Parliament. Then there will be the two outsiders Javed Yusuf and Naganathan Selvakumaran who were both appointed in October 2018 by the yahapalana Prime Minister and the yahapalana Opposition Leader.

The next Speaker’s burden

So even after trouncing the yahapalana presidential nominee and winning this general election, the country would still not be rid of the yahapalana Constitutional Council. Of the existing ten members of the CC, there is the possibility that apart from Javed Yusuf and Naganathan Selvakumaran, Bimal Ratnayake, Talatha Atukorale and R.Sampanthan could still be sitting on the CC after the general election as well – that’s five already. Then the opposition leader will be a yahapalanite which means that six of the ten members of the CC will be yahapalanites and this situation will continue till October 2021. This has very serious implications.

The Constitutional Council is the body that decides who will sit on important commissions like the Election Commission, the Public Service Commission, the National Police Commission, the Audit Service Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption, the Finance Commission, the Delimitation Commission and the National Procurement Commission.

The Constitututional Council also has veto powers over the appointment of the Chief Justice and the Judges of the Supreme Court, the President and Judges of the Court of Appeal, the Members of the Judicial Service Commission, other than the Chairman, the Attorney-General, the Auditor-General, the Inspector-General of Police, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (Ombudsman), and the Secretary-General of Parliament. What we are now faced with is the possibility that till the last quarter of 2021, we will be saddled with a Constitutional Council which does not represent the will of the people. The two thirds majority that the SLPP is asking for is not a luxury but a necessity.

Due to the possibility of the continuation of a yahapalana majority in the Constitutional Council, the defeated yahapalanites may be able to stuff the independent commissions full of yahapalanites just as they did earlier in 2015. According to Article 41B, when the Constitutional Council recommends persons to be appointed to the independent commissions, the President has to make those appointments within 14 days of receiving the recommendations. If he fails to do so, the persons so recommended will be deemed to have been appointed as the members of the said Commission and the person whose name appears first in the list will automatically become its chairman.

The Elections Commission appointed at the end of 2015, will be completing its five year term at the end of this year. One can only imagine what could happen if the yahapalanites are able to continue to have a majority in the Constitutional Council. The Speaker of the next Parliament will have to be a very strong individual who will not take any nonsense from the Constitutional Council if the yahapalanites still have a majority in it after the election. According to Article 41E(1) the CC is required to meet at least twice every month. But such meetings have to be summoned by the Secretary- General to the Council only on the direction of the Speaker who will be its Chairman. If the worst case scenario materializes and the new SLPP government is saddled with a yahapalana majority Constitutional Council, the Speaker will have to keep it under control until October 2021 when a new CC can be appointed in the proper manner laid out in the 19th Amendment.

The very fact that a sitting member of the Constitutional Council could openly join a political movement at an election shows the dire situation this country is in. Due to a providential piece of luck Javed Yusuf did not get to partner Ratnaveevan Hoole in the three member Elections Commission in 2015. After winning the parliamentary election of August 2015, the yahapalana camp divided up the positions in the government and the opposition among themselves with the TNA assuming the leadership of the opposition and the JVP taking over the position of chief opposition whip. The three non-parliamentarian members of the Constitutional Council were chosen by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and Opposition Leader R.Sambandan which basically meant that all three were yahapalanaites.

A yahapalana Parliamentarian who may be sitting on the Constitutional Council has every right to join any political movement he likes because he is an elected representative of the people and he is sitting on the CC in his capacity as an MP. However it’s a very different matter when unelected members of the CC openly engage in politics. To be sure if the Constitutional Council had been constituted in the proper manner with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and Mahinda Rajapaksa (the leader of the largest opposition group in the 2015 parliament) deciding on the nominees, this situation would have been very different. Proponents of the 19th Amendment may argue that the Constitutional Councils appointed in 2015 and 2018 were aberrations and that the CC was never meant to be constituted in the way it was under yahapalana hegemony.

Indeed it was an aberration which places an added onus on the so called distinguished personalities appointed from outside Parliament to the Constitutional Council to make up for that by their exemplary conduct. But what we are seeing is the very opposite.

Lackluster election campaign

Victory for the SLPP at this election is a foregone conclusion and the holding of the general election may not be disrupted despite the discovery of an unexpectedly large Covid-19 cluster in a rehabilitation centre in Kandakadu. The discovery of this cluster was a reminder to everyone that we are not through the woods yet. However similarly large clusters were found among returnees from overseas but the spread of the disease has so far been successfully contained. By now the health authorities would have mastered the way of imposing localized lockdowns to contain outbreaks. The health guidelines issued for the election were based on the assumption that the Covid-19 threat was still ongoing, so the proper implementation of the same will enable the election campaign to go ahead without interruption.

With just over three weeks to go for polling day, the only visible signs of enthusiasm in this campaign are to be seen at meetings of the SLPP attended by the President and PM. The opposition parties appear to be struggling to maintain the momentum of their campaigns. Covid-19, the split in the UNP and the certainty of defeat at this election have all taken their toll on the UNP’s breakaway group the SJB. However, there always is a greater level of activity in breakaway groups of political parties which appears to be missing in this case. There was even the report that the feverish attempts to get the Gazette notification dissolving Parliament cancelled was to allow the estanraged factions of the UNP to patch up and contest as one entity as the prospects of both factions would be bleak if they contested separately.

This in fact may be why the NGO community got together to oppose the government’s bid to obtain a two thirds majority as recounted earlier. Personalities not seen in public after 2015 have emerged out of the woodwork to salvage what they can out of the shambles of the yahapalana experiment. There is the possibility that the efforts of the NGO community may depress the opposition campaign even further. That would be the equivalent of the SLPP having figures of the past like Sajin Vaas and Mervyn Silva on their stages. Be that as it may, the election campaign overall is so devoid of dynamism and the adrenalin factor that though we are in the midst of an election, the evening news bulletins start not with politics but with the arrest of hitherto unkown underworld figures and the like – a very unusual situation indeed. The situation is such that one fears for the voter turnout at this election. Something will have to be done in the remaining three weeks to get the adrenalin pumping in order to bolster voter turnout.

Lahiru Pothmulla Courtesy The Daily Mirror

I will take action to put an end to underworld activities and the drug menace which had intensified during the tenure of the previous government, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Leader, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said today.

https://youtu.be/_qUMKNdJxCs

He told a SLPP rally held in Horana that the people in this country and especially the young generation face grave difficulties because of underworld activities and and drugs that a spreading across the country.

Drug smuggling has increased to such an extent that the institutions set up to curb the drug menace and seize drugs have been infiltrated by drug smugglers. Drug smuggling and underworld activities being operated from within the prisons is a serious problem we face and the President has taken action to prevent this,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr. Rajapaksa said the new government will pledge its fullest support to the President’s drug eradication programme and underworld activities.

I will launch and continue the investigations into drug-ralated activities and will reveal information about drug smuggling and underworld activities,” he said.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Russian authorities have made up a list of 13 countries including Sri Lanka that Russia can resume flights to at the first stage of the resumption of international flights.

The list of countries that meet epidemiological safety requirements include the UK, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Finland, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Sri Lanka.

On Thursday, Russian consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor sent the list to the Transport Ministry of and the Federal Air Transport Agency. This is according to the watchdog’s letter that is available to TASS.

Earlier on Thursday it was reported that the operational headquarters for preventing the spread of coronavirus in Russia supported the proposal of the Transport Ministry, the Federal Air Transport Agency and Aeroflot to resume international air traffic in two stages.”It is possible to consider these countries as candidates for resuming flights at the first stage,” the letter says.

The letter also indicates that “Rospotrebnadzor assessed the epidemiological situation in countries in accordance with the criteria” established by the service earlier.

Earlier Thursday, TASS, citing the minutes of the headquarters meeting, reported that the operation staff agreed with the consumer safety watchdog on the approach to assessing the epidemiological situation in foreign states when deciding to resume air communication with them.

The watchdog proposed considering such criteria as “the rate of increase in the incidence of a new coronavirus infection over the past 14 days and the prevalence rate of this infection, as well as a possible additional criterion – the incidence rate of a new coronavirus infection over the past 14 days per 100,000 people).”Since March 27, Russia completely closed its regular and charter international air service, carriers and conducted only special flights for the return of Russians from abroad.

Courtesy Adaderana

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka has confirmed 43 more fresh cases of COVID-19 as at 11.50 pm on Saturday (11), increasing the total number of patients to 2,511.

Thirteen patients have been detected from the Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre – East in Kandakadu and the rest of the 30 cases are close associates of the former, the Department of Government Information said.

Further, four returnees from the United Arab Emirates and one from Kuwait, who are under quarantine, tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Saturday (11). 

In addition, 02 patients from Welikanda, 05 from Rajanganaya and one each from Habaraduwa and Lankapura were identified. These cases were also confirmed to be close associates of the Kandakadu Rehabilitation Centre’s inmates who had contracted the disease.

Thereby, 57 positive cases of COVID-19 were detected within the day.

Out of the total cases count, 520 patients infected with the virus are currently being treated at hospitals while 1,980 patients returned to health.

Courtesy Hiru News

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa alleges that although his government took loans and carried out development activities, none of the loans obtained by the previous government have been used for development work.

The Prime Minister was addressing a rally in Nupe, Matara today in connection with a series of public meetings to confirm the victory of the candidates of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna contesting the forthcoming general election from the Matara District.

When the Cabinet spokesmen continuously makes controversial statements and does not apologize for the mistake, it is natural for citizens to be anxious given that most Governments have not only fooled the public, but have made enough and more decisions that have proven detrimental to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka and has burdened the tax payer as a result of shady deals ventured into in secret. The MCC Agreement was first made public after much public outcry by the previous government who even omitted 2 vital pages that was later inserted and found in the website of the Finance Ministry.  There are varying commentaries made on the MCC and much of that is due to the fact that neither the MCC nor the previous government saw fit to translate the Agreement so that the citizens of this country who speak Sinhalese and Tamil could read and understand it. However, it is the onus of any government to make available a document as serious as that of the MCC in the medium that the people of Sri Lanka are conversant with. Even of the handful of English speaking and English understanding people in Sri Lanka only 2% have probably read the Agreement & understood the dangerous contents in it. However, it is the right of the citizens to know what their elected Government is signing claiming to be for their good. Therefore, the Government must immediately get the Government translator to translate the MCC Agreement into Sinhala and Tamil. The Government has given the Cabinet a further 2 weeks to study the MCC Agreement & provide their comments. How many in the Cabinet are able to read, understand English and make their observations or reservations in English? When the Constitution itself clearly says where there is any doubt the Sinhala translation will prevail, it is imperative that the MCC Agreement is translated into Sinhala & Tamil.

Finance Ministry website: MCC Agreement (with missing pages 12 & 13 later inserted)

http://treasury.gov.lk/documents/10181/519892/MCC+Rescan1.pdf/a5d28fac-22cc-4139-a88e-a37311bafb6b

The US Embassy website in a list of notes and factsheets on its website has factsheets translated inboth Sinhala & Tamil but not the agreement 

The US Embassy website does have the MCC Agreement link and note how it has been saved (MCC Agreement with the consent of the Attorney General) Incidentally, the present Chief Justice was the AG the document is referring tohttp://treasury.gov.lk/article/-/article-viewer-portlet/render/view/mcc-agreement-drafted-with-the-consent-of-ag

If the US embassy can get the factsheets & brief summaries translated into Sinhala & Tamil, why didn’t they translate & publish the MCC Agreement too? 

https://lk.usembassy.gov/mcc-fact-sheets_/

Be that as it may – none of these factsheets or briefs come anywhere near to what the contents of the Agreement holds in English format and it is essential that the ENTIRE MCC AGREEMENT is TRANSLATED INTO SINHALA & TAMIL for all the citizens to read, debate and make their observations and reservations public. This is what open discussion and democracy is all about.

Simply presenting a version in English and expecting 99% of the country to whom English is foreign to understand and accept it is totally unacceptable.

In fact, when the Gunaruwan Committee presented its report in the majority language, those who ran to demand the English translation of it remained silent about demanding the MCC Agreement to be in Sinhala & Tamil. Why?

Is there a reason why the MCC Agreement is being kept only in English?

Is the translation in Sinhala & Tamil versions not being presented because the public in reading the Sinhala or Tamil versions will realize the dangers in particular the Maha Sangha?

The present Government that assured the voters during the run-up to the Presidential election that no strategic assets of the country would be sold or no detrimental agreements would be signed must now undo the damage done by the previous government and take the interests of the country & its citizens first above pleasing any foreign party that had ventured into an agreement in secret.

Therefore the onus is on the present Government to immediately task the Government Translator to translate the MCC Agreement and all associated documents (Constraints Analysis etc) into Sinhala & Tamil and have it made available in electronic & print format for the citizens to read and understand and make their observations.

Shenali D Waduge

By Garvin Karunaratne

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has made the difficult decision not to sell the Mattala Airport to India.  It is the right decision and he deserves to be congradulated. 

I wrote about how the Mattala Airport and the Port of Hambantota have to be activated back in 2014. That Paper is annexed because every detail of what I then wrote will hold good for today. Nothing happened in 2014 and we lost the Port during the regime of the UNP.

Let me hope that the contents of this Paper will reach our leaders President Gotabhaya and Prime Minister Mahinda. To make the Mattala Airport pay  is very simple. 

Firstly we must understand our resources.  The Chena cultivators in Hambantota and Moneragala have to be activated to plant melon, red pumkin, ash pumkin. A Marketing Department has to be re established with two of their earlier programmes- the vegetable and fruit purchasing scheme and the Cannery.  The MD can be created overnight. The cost of creating it can be recouped within the very first year from the profits that come in by the purchase of veg and fruit that is supplied to the Cannery. 

A Cannery has to be set up. A medium scale Cannery has to be imported and assembled. My take is that it can be done within three to four months judging at the speed I worked at Matara in 1971..

The produce is already there the chena cultivators will produce all the Red Pumpkin, Ash Pumpkin we need and Melon to make all the fruit Juice and Jam and within one year we will be self sufficiuent in Jam and Juice. The foreign exchange we spend to get imports of Jam and Juice today wil leasily match the production we make. We can grow Tomatoes and be self sufficient in items like Tomatoe Sauce.

If I can find the equal of Assistant Commissioiner Oswald Tillekeratne  we can even export pineapple. He was in charge of the Cannery. We then exported 8% of our pineapple products.

I have seen children in Lunugamvehera running behind my car to sell us mangoes. Our crop of Mangoes is vast and half goes waste as we pluck to the ground.

The Mattala Airport is to be used to export the products.

That is easily the way ahead. Someone in the Administrative Service has to be put in charge.

If there is none to bell the cat I can undertake, though lingering in my Eighties I can undertake that job.. A place in the Administrative Service or an assignment will do that trick. Establishing a Marketing Department, a Cannery and getting it going will be far easier a task than establishing the Youth Self Employment Programme in Bangladesh which I did in 1983 when working as a consultant.

If anyone confronts and tells that this cannot be done. I will be there if intimated.- (garvin_karunaratne@ hotmail.com)  Once I had a two hours’ duel with the highest officer in Bangladesh- the Secretary to the Treasury who contested my statement that I will establish a self employment programme. He quoted the International Labour Organization’s failure to establish a self employment programme after trying for three years and getting down experts from all over. The Minister who presided at our duel Air Vice Marshall Aminul Islam, the Minister for Labour and Manpower was convinced of my arguments and immediately approved my establishing a self employment programme. An entire Department of Youth Development took orders from me and within nineteen months I established the programme and also trained the staff to continue it. Today that Programme is the premium employment creation programme in the world and has by now guided three million youths to become self employed. Establishing a Marketing Department and a Cannery is a far simpler task. If I had failed I would have been court marshalled for wasting funds, as it was a military government

It will be a pleasure to work for my Motherland. and I am dead certain that the task of establishing a Cannery can be accomplished and our country can also be self sufficient in all jam, Juice, Sauce and many more items that are imported today. 

A Rural Renaissance in the Offing
Posted on January 12th, 2014 in Lanka Web

By Garvin Karunaratne

My travel to Kataragama in December 2013 took me to the Mattala Mahinda Rajapaksa Airport and via the new road that is being built through Lunugamvehera Tank to Kataragama.  .

A Rural Renaiussance in the Offing

Hambantota in the throes of Development

By Camelia Nathaniel/Daily News

Sri Lanka will be in danger unless the masterminds located in Europe, UK. Canada and Australia are neutralized by governments there, says Camelia Nathaniel

Colombo, July 9: The LTTE network overseas has been planning a series of attacks in Sri Lanka since the war ended in May 2009. The latest attempt to disrupt peace and stability in Sri Lanka was on July 4, 2020.

A former member of the Tamil Tigers, Thangarajah Thevathashan, was preparing to conduct a bombing to mark Black Tigers’ Day on July 5. The foreign handlers knew Thangarajah Thevathashan by his LTTE name Gangai Athman alias Kavinjan. He was serving in the LTTE Intelligence wing, notorious for assassinating several leaders including the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Thevathashan’s Improvised Explosives Device (IED) exploded prematurely in a house at Iyakkachchi, Kilinochchi, in Northern Sri Lanka on Saturday July 4, 2020. He was about to take the bomb and other things to Mullaithivu to plan an attack to mark the Black Tigers’ day. If not for the premature explosion of the bomb, the terrorists organized by Thevathashan would have carried out their plans to mark Black Tigers Day.

The Context

The Black Tigers are members of the LTTE Suicide Squad. The LTTE drew inspiration from the Lebanese Hezbollah’s bombing of the US marine barracks and the French paratrooper HQ bombings in Beirut on October 23, 1983. The two truck bombs struck the buildings housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), a military peacekeeping operation. 307 people including 241 US and 58 French military personnel, six civilians, and two attackers were killed.

The first Black Tiger, Vallipuram Vasanthan, alias Capt.Miller, drove a truck laden with explosives into the army camp at Nelliady, Jaffna on 5 July 1987, killing and injuring 40 Sri Lankan soldiers. Immediately afterwards, LTTE cadres attempted to overwhelm the camp but the soldiers fought back. Although the LTTE tried to coach and coerce his mother, Kamaladevi Vallipuram, to say that her son died a hero, she lived a sad life.

Thevathashan lived with a school teacher from Iyakkachchi who was also arrested by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID). A former terrorist, she shared the same ideology of creating a mono-ethnic separatist state in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Together, they radicalized a network of youth who were arrested. In their house, the police found two bombs and detonators.

Thevathashan was first admitted to the Kilinochchi Hospital. However, as his condition worsened, he was transferred to the Anuradhapura Hospital. He succumbed to his injuries on July 8.

A member of the LTTE Intelligence wing, Thevathashan was instructed by his foreign handlers to surrender to the Sri Lanka Army in May 2009. Although he joined the rehabilitation program, he did not genuinely repent, regret and express remorse. He continued to work for the LTTE network overseas. The rehabilitation program had a follow up component where those who were reintegrated were visited. But from 2015-2019, there was virtually no follow up. Furthermore, the military was recalled to the barracks and security and Intelligence platforms were weakened. The neglect of Intelligence and security by the Wickramasinghe-Sirisena regime led to a revival of LTTE activity.

Thevathashan also infiltrated the newly formed Crusaders for Democracy (CFD), a political party of former terrorists who abandoned separatism and wanted to build good relations with Sinhalese and Muslims. However, the leadership and membership of the Crusaders for Democracy felt uncomfortable with Thevathashan as he continued to promote the separatist agenda.

Background

With the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009, the LTTE international network that supported the terrorist campaign, changed its strategy. A part of the network started to masquerade as human rights activists and campaigned against Sri Lanka in Geneva. The entire world knew that the LTTE engaged in ethnocide of Sinhalese and Muslims in the North and the East. Another part of the LTTE international network started to fund LTTE’s un-rehabilitated members in Sri Lanka to conduct terrorist attacks.

In response, the Sri Lankan government listed 16 LTTE proxy groups and 424 individuals – March 21, 2014. LTTE activities overseas diminished significantly from March 2014 until the Yahapalanaya Government delisted a number of LTTE proxy groups and individuals in November 20, 2015.

The de-listed organizations were Global Tamil Forum (GTF); British Tamil Forum (BTF); National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT); Tamil Youth Organization (TYO); World Tamil Coordinating Committee (WTCC); Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC); Australian Tamil Congress (ATC); Tamil National Council (TNC).

The following organizations remained proscribed despite efforts by Mangala Samaraweera, the Foreign Minister of the Yahapalanaya government to delist them too. Organizations which are still banned are: the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE); Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO); Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC); World Tamil Movement (WTM); Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE); Tamil Eelam Peoples’ Assembly (TEPA); World Tamils’ Relief Fund (WTRF) and Headquarters Group (HQG).

Delisting the LTTE organizations overseas prompted LTTE remnants to revive the LTTE by enlisting Tamil youth both at home and abroad to work for terrorism and separatism.

With the delisting of LTTE affiliates, LTTE activities grew. As the LTTE threat overseas was not contained by the host countries, the pace of LTTE activity grew from 2015-2019. Eventually, LTTE became bold and called for delisting of the LTTE in the UK, Canada, US, India and other countries.

The LTTE is now planning to rebuild its clandestine military capabilities both abroad and in Sri Lanka. It necessary for the current Sri Lankan government to review the activities of LTTE affiliates delisted by the then Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and relist them under UNSC Resolution 1373.

Recent Developments

The LTTE front, cover and sympathetic organizations overseas also attempted to infiltrate Jaffna university. However, the university teachers and students informed the police the identities of the organizers. The organizers received funds from LTTE affiliates overseas to mark Black Tigers’ Day.

The LTTE front, cover and sympathetic organizations that were delisted in 2015 by the Yahapalanaya Government radicalized and recruited the student bodies to organize the event. Although student participants were asked to offer flowers and light candles in front of the pictures of the dead Black Tigers, most refused.

Interviews conducted by the police and the Intelligence officers reveal that the LTTE continues to pose a threat to peace and security in Sri Lanka. Operating in Europe and North America through front, cover and sympathetic organizations, the LTTE continues to radicalize and fund Tamil youth to engage in violence.

Much of Sri Lanka’s fight to cripple the LTTE network will be in Canada, UK, continental Europe and Australia. In 2006, the European Council placed the LTTE on the EU list relating to frozen funds of terrorist organizations and has maintained them on that list ever since, referring to, inter alia, decisions of the Indian authorities.

The LTTE contested their maintenance on the list in the European Court. They submitted that their confrontation with the Government of Sri-Lanka was an ‘armed conflict’ within the meaning of international law, subject only to international humanitarian law and not to anti-terrorist legislation.

The LTTE seeks legitimacy in the West despite its past of ethnic cleansing that is reminiscent of the Nazis and its preponderant use of suicide terrorism that has now become a global challenge.

The Wickramasinghe government’s strategy of appeasing separatists did not help contain the threat. The delisting of the LTTE front, cover and sympathetic groups has created an environment and a bridge for the flow of propaganda and funds from overseas to Sri Lanka.

Unless Europe and UK act decisively, the present threat will grow in the immediate (1-2 years) term, and in the mid-term (2-5 years) reversing the peace and stability Sri Lankans, especially Tamils, have been enjoying since May 2009.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Attorney General has filed indictments in the Colombo High Court against former Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka for causing grievous Injury to a person by Rash and Negligent Acts and other charges, AG’s Coordinating Secretary Nishara Jayaratne said.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

While condemning the actions of the 18 officers alleged involved in a chain of drug related charges, Senior Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Ajith Rohana today said the guilty parties should be served the capital punishment.

Speaking to media, he said even though the death penalty hasn’t been implemented in the country for a long time these officers if proven guilty should be served the capital punishment as such these officers should be completely removed from the society.

He said the 18 police officials attached to the Police Narcotics Bureau were being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and no bias would be shown towards those officers simply because they were police officers.

Police officers risk their lives in their battle with the drug syndicate. They have been shot. Among those brave officials, it is disgraceful to see these few officials who tainted the ” name of the police” he said.

He said they wished to conclude the investigations as soon as possible and take strict legal action against the guilty parties. (By Thisari Walawege)

Courtesy Hiru News

Police Narcotics Bureau Inspector Neomal Rangajeewa has threatened and intimidated a journalist at the Colombo High Court premises this morning.

The victim was a photojournalist who had come to cover a court case.

The photographer had taken a photo of Inspector Neomal Rangajeewa at the Colombo High Court.

Inspector Neomal Rangajeewa dragged the journalist by his shirt and taken to the police post at the court premises

The aggrieved journalist has lodged a complaint with the police post at the Hulftsdorp court complex and the Colombo SP’s office regarding the incident.

Courtesy Hiru News

A total of 87 people at the Kandakadu Drug Rehabilitation Center have been diagnosed with coronavirus.

It was revealed yesterday that 57 people were infected with the virus and by this morning another 196 people have been identified as positive for Covid -19 infection.

In addition, 13 people who arrived in the country from overseas were diagnosed with coronavirus infection.</p>rn<p>Accordingly, the highest number of coronavirus infections reported in a day in the country was seen today with 296 patients.

The Kandakadu Quarantine Center which has been established adjacent to the Kandakadu Rehabilitation Center has been converted into a hospital to treat the corvid-19 patients.

Meanwhile, 13 people in the Ambalantota area who had visited the detainees at the Kandakadu Rehabilitation Center have been sent to self-quarantine according to the Regional Medical officer U P Malaka.

Meanwhile, 12 officers and 12 inmates of the Angunukolapelessa Prison have been sent to self-quarantine within the premises.

The 12 inmates were transferred from Welikada Prison to Angunakolapelessa Prison and it has been revealed that they had been in contact with a coronavirus infected inmate identified at Welikada Prison.

Meanwhile, two other persons who had returned home from the Kandakadu Rehabilitation Center after completing their rehabilitation were also identified in the Ratnapura District.</p>rn<p>Sabaragamuwa Provincial Health Services Director Dr. Kapila Kannangara said that 17 persons from Kuruwita, Kolonna and Embilipitiya who were in contact with him were sent for self-quarantine.

Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, the head of the National Action Center for Prevention of Covid 19, has urged the people to avoid any undue fear since the steps to control the socialisation of the virus has been taken.

Meanwhile, a 22-year-old youth who was admitted to Mundalama Hospital this morning has died after being transferred to the Chilaw Hospital.

It is reported that he was a drug addict and showed signs of respiratory distress while hospitalized.

Puttalam District Medical Officer Mahalingam Paskaran stated that the biological samples of the deceased have been sent for PCR tests.

Later, as a precautionary measure, it was decided to close the Mundalama Hospital but it was reopened later.

The staff in contact with the deceased have been advised not to leave the hospital premises until the PCR inspection report is received.

Meanwhile, DIG Ajith Rohana, at a media briefing in Colombo today emphasized the need for further compliance to health guidelines to prevent a second wave of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the number of corona infections reported in the country is currently 2450 and 1980 of them have fully recovered and discharged from hospitals.

The Epidemiology Unit stated that 459 patients are still being treated at the hospital under medical supervision.

Courtesy Hiru News

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa states that immediate steps will be taken to eradicate the underworld and drug trafficking from the country.

The Prime Minister said this while participating at a public meeting held in Horana.

A series of rallies were held today in the Kalutara District under the patronage of Prime Minister .

Courtesy Hiru News

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe says that the people are disgusted with all politicians since  they are not working with the best intreste of the voters.

He was speaking at a function in Colombo today.

Former Sports Minister V.A. Sugathadasa’s 47th Commemoration Ceremony was held under the patronage of UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at his statue near the Sugathadasa International Stadium in Colombo.

Courtesy Hiru News

The Police Media Spokesman stated that the law will be strictly enforced against those who make false propaganda on social media that coronavirus infected people have been found in various parts of the island.

Accordingly, the police urge the public to trust only the official announcements made by the Corona Prevention Task Force or the Director General of Government Information regarding corona virus infected patients.

Ratanapala

9 Jul 2020

Apprehending large hauls of narcotics in vogue now! Though this is nothing new the pace has accelerated since the election of President Gotabhaya. This has been happening over the years now more often than ever in the history of narcotics in Sri Lanka. Throughout what has been a mystery to the public is what happens to the apprehended narcotics? Although occasionally we have seen hauls of marijuana or ganja being burnt we have not seen what happens to the stuff like – heroin, ice, and other methamphetamines – how the stuff is destroyed – if at all!

The latest news is about a haul of heroin amounting to 247 kg apprehended mid-seas. It turns out that the haul has been handed over to a few low-ranking police officers for safe custody and storage pending production as exhibits at court hearings. What has happened to this narcotics haul is now the latest news. The part has been passed over to heroin dealers and the rest reconstituted with the addition of the food additive Ajino Moto (MSG) so that alike weight can be spirited away for later distribution through drug networks concealed in rice bags!

Heroin gets sold in milligrams. Thus 247 kg is 247 million grams with a street value running perhaps into billions of Rupees. Carrying a few grams is sufficient for a person to be put behind bars for many years in many countries including Sri Lanka, I believe. In this scenario is difficult to comprehend why such a highly-priced as well as a highly dangerous haul of drugs have been handed over to a few low-ranking police officers for safe custody.

The story gets even more juicier. The latest investigations reveal that this has been the practice during the last so many years to recycle the apprehended narcotics back to the streets by the very same officers in charge with the ‘understanding’ of their superior officers – under the very snotty nose of the law! So far it has escaped the eyes of the law how those narcotics officers including who knows colluding politicians connected with drug rings are getting super-rich. Some of the palatial residences they occupy their lifestyles as well as their investments show the extent of the money spread.

Most importantly the aspect that is not easily understood is the reason why these ‘so-called court exhibits’ need to be held in totality. One would imagine in this day and age with the available technology it is possible to suitably record, photograph such materials, and only statistically representative samples kept for court exhibits. The rest of the drugs that are more dangerous out in the street almost as fissionable radioactive materials should be destroyed in a fully transparent manner that will leave no legal stone unturned for its thoroughness or veracity.

THE NEW GOVERNMENT IS ON THE RIGHT PATH. LET US BRING A NEW PARLIAMENT THAT WILL SUIT THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT GOTABHAYA – A ONE WITH AN OVERWHELMING OVER 2/3 MAJORITY FOR THE POHOTTUWA! IT IS TIME THE AUGEAN STABLES ARE CLEANED UP!

Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr) Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada.

7 July 2020
Your Excellency David McKinnon
High Commissioner for Canada in Sri Lanka
33A, 5th Lane
Colpetty
Colombo 3
Sri Lanka

Dear High Commissioner David McKinnon: Re: Your Canada Day Message to Sri Lanka.

We must stand together and embrace our diversity as strength.” And you continued and said, Canada would continue to support the reconciliation process through their long-standing collaboration on national languages and by assisting with demining work,”

High Commissioner, did you not hear a chorus of Sinhlese voices responding to you saying Oya okkoma boru..boru.”  With your smattering of the Sinhalese language, I suppose you were able to translate what they said.  If you didn’t, well this is what they said, All what he said was lies..lies.”  And do you know what High Commissioner McKinnon, I agree with those Sinhalese voices 100 per cent.  What you said was a load of Diplomatic disingenuous goody-two shoes, poppycock.  But since your bellywyck is Trade, I will excuse you for your partial ignorance about Canada’s acceptance of foreigners who are non-white as equals.

Here is a splendid opportunity for you to understand without prejudice, the ingrained white policy” in employment in Canada…”to embrace our diversity as strength.”  Nonsense!   You cannot embrace an inequitable population of Asian-browns and african/west indian blacks among the Canadian-whites and tell me that is where our Strength is. 

 Ummmm….Dream on High Commissioner McKinnon.

Diversity,  of a  Canadian Doctor qualified in Canada could practise  medicine with no problem anywhere in Canada , but a Doctor qualified in Sri Lanka will be changing  bed-pans in a Senior’s Home.  Such diversity has no strength, except for disappointment, and losing one’s dignity.  And some ‘Brown’ and ‘Black’ PhDs would be taxi drivers or Security Guards.  I have met them all, That should be an exercise of a  realty check for you, and you will be amazed!.

And here are the reasons :

1. Story No, 1.  High Commissioner, you’re wanting to embrace diversity has strength., has little currency when Canada operates a discriminatory white policy where employment is concerned.  This has gone on for donkey’s years.   Here is the Litmus test that yours-truly, this brown-man, had experienced 49 years ago at the end of March in 1971.

The  Victoria Memorial Museum in Ottawa was closed in 1969, promising the public that it will be opened with brand new exhibition Halls in a year,  They didn’t have a clue what they were talking about as they knew nothing about Museum exhibition design.

The National Museums Corporation of Canada created a Design and Display Division, to research, interpret the Natural and Human Sciences and write storylines, design and construct 15 brand new Halls for the National Museum of Natural Sciences and the National Museum of Man.  This Division was housed at 39, McArthur Road in Vanier. 

This new Division had no difficulty to fill the positions of Chief (Tom Wood -War artist), Head of Design (Jacques Saint Cyr, The designer of the Maple leaf in the Canadian flag), and Head of Administration – Retd, Army Major Charles Jessop).  But they had difficulty to fill the position of Head of Thematic Research, with liberal research- a scientist who would understand design in Canada). So they went Headhunting and found ‘yours-truly’,  Asoka Weerasinghe, a research scientist (Geology/Palaeontology), an award-winning published poet, an award-winning artist and a sculptor in England, a musician/composer on the piano.

So they invited me to come over to join the Museums Design and Display team on 2 June 1970.   I accepted the offer and left a very good paying job as a Geologist at an engineering firm, Marples Ridgway in London.

After my Canadian immigration clearance in London I arrived in Ottawa on the 16th October and started working on 1 November., 1970, At the end of March, 1971,  Tom Wood,  Jacques Saint-Cyr, Charlie Jessop and I, Asoka Weerasinghe, received letters from the Public Service Commision requesting us to come to their offices on Albert Street, to sign the papers of permanency on 1st April.  All four of us were quite pleased.

         On Wednesday, 31 March, 1971,  morning,  the phone rang at the  office, and a person from the Public Service Commission tell’s me, Mr. Weerasinghe, please ignore the letter that we sent you to come over tomorrow to sign the papers of permanency.  It was sent to you in error.”

Is this some kind of an April Fools joke. Are the other three coming over to sign the papers”, I asked.

Yes, Mr. Weerasinghe, but we have decided to open the competition for your job across Canada.” I was smarting by then.

Let’s cut out that ‘bull-shit, I said.   You guys couldn’t find anyone to fill that position, and you found me in London, England, and invited me.  I left an excellent job in London as a Geologist and here I am, and you tell me this.

If I had known that there was a White policy” in employment in Canada which Says –

If you are White, you are alright
but if you are Black stay back,
and if you are Brown stick around,

Yes, my skin colour is a beautiful shade of an Azetic-Bronze- Brown, but I won’t stick around.  And I give you until noon on Monday, to make up your mind whether you want My services or not.  If you don’t want me, I will be on the first plane back to London, England, where I came from.  Let me tell you one thing.  It was not the country Canada that made me decide to come over,  it was the creative job in the National Museums, to interpret Sciences to the public through exhibits, an opportunity that I wouldn’t have missed.  A dream that I had since I was a child in Sri Lanka, to work in a Museum.”

          Well, High Commissioner McKinnon, the National Museums  Corporation was bothered and was in an upheaval. And the issue went up to the  Corporation ‘s  Museums Directors and finally to the Deputy Minister for National Museums, Mr MacKenzie.

          On Monday, 5 April, 1971, morning the phone rang at the office.  It  was  a  staffer from the Public Service Commission, who said, Mr. Weerasinghe, we are sorry for the confusion, please  come to our offices to sign the papers.,”

          Thank you.  It was an excellent decision, as it is a Win-win situation, for me as I know I would love working at the Museums  creating 15 brand new Halls, and the Victoria Memorial Museum gains an excellent creative research-Scientist.   But please don’t tell me that there was a confusion”  about my appointment.  Rubbish! as you all knew exactly what it  was all about.  As it was all about the  beautiful  brown colour of my skin, which I am very proud of. 

          And there is one thing that you can be sure of.  It is that no  white-Canadianis going to take my dignity away because I am Brown-skinned, a member of the visible minority population.

           High Commissioner McKinnon, if you ask me the question,  Asoka after 50 years in Canada, do you think that things have changed for the better to erase your ‘Second Class citizen” attitude  in Canada, my answer is an  emphatic No”.

           And I am still waiting after 50 years in Canada for your  Manthra to happen – We must stand together and embrace  our diversity as strength.”  The time has arrived for you to go and preach it to your, hypocritical, bigot-White-Canadians, High Commissioner  McKinnon.

• Story No. 2: If the 1971s Canadian employment policy of
   If you are White you are alright,
  But if you are Black stay back;
   If you are Brown stick around”, had improved, my lead letter to The Ottawa Citizen, on Page B5, on Saturday, August 24, 2002, would not have picked-up ink, with a 5” x 71/2” photo of mine.

Minorities in the Public Service – Let us be visible from top down Re: 1 in 5 PS recruits to be visible minority, Aug. 19.

I have waited 34 years to read a headline like this one. And I am glad of the news.  It has been a long wait.  I believe in the honesty of Privy Council Clerk Alex Himelfarb and that he is the person who will get the job done.  It certainly makes sense to hold back the performance pay and bonuses of deputy ministers and senior executives of federal departments if they will not achieve  these targets,

     Not that there is  a lack of bright, clever,  intelligent, diligent, qualified visible minority candidates waiting to enter the public service,  There are oodles of second-generation visible minority youngsters graduating from universities who can be eligible for such appointments.  And, of course, their parents, with university degrees, with years of work experience, and the cream of the crop in their professions in their home countries, can be picked like potatoes from the taxi, security, cleaning and retail industries.

     However, I hope that such recruitment will not be an exercise to cluster the new visible minority recruits at the bottom of the public-service employment scales to make up the numbers, but that they would be spread right along the ladder up to senior executive levels,

     Although I cringe and have some difficulty accepting there will be two lists for recruitment one for whites”, and another for non-white”’ – unquestionably an aparthied system – I don’t care at this point anymore, as long as the federal government, which has encouraged these visible minorities to immigrate to Canada in the first place, gives back their dignity.
Asoka Weerasinghe, Gloucester

Say what you may, High Commissioner David McKinnon, your intentions may be genuine and sincere, to say to Sri Lankans in your Canada Day message that We must stand together and embrace our diversity as strength.”  I don’t see how you could when the Canadian racist  ‘white’ bigots will not allow the Brown and Black visible minorities stand shoulder to shoulder with the Canadian-whites, that exercise will  not be possible.  Embrace” you said.  Let’s not be naive.

•  Story No. 3.   High Commissioner McKinnon, you may have wondered why the big fuss to employ a Liberal Research- Scientist to Head the Thematic Research Section of the Design and Display Division of the National Museum Corporation, and the Public Service Commission had difficulty to accept this Brown Asian scientist who was also an award winning published poet from London, England.  And this is why.

One late autumn of 1971, Dr. William Taylor, the Director of the National Museum of Man called me into his office and told me, Asoka we are in trouble with the storyline for the Orientation Hall because the Ethnologist and the North-West Archaeologist cannot agree.

You are an anthropologist, a geologist and palaeontologist and  also and also an archeologist and poet, why don’t you hide yourself for two days at home and come up with a long poem to see whether we could break this negative spell.”

So this brown Asian-poet did as asked by Dr. Bill Taylor.   The long Poem – The Trail of Mankind was accepted as the storyline for the Orientation Hall without an addition, editing or substraction.

High Commissioner, you may recall this Hall which was on the right when you entered the Victoria Memorial Museum with a human skeleton at the entrance with a crown on its head, and the long poem was piped softly from the recesses of the ceiling and also on panels.  So this coloured brown Asian scientist-poet won the day for the National Museum of Man.  So that was all the fuss about hiring me, a coloured.  And I was not willing to let any White- Canadian take away my dignity as I am a proud coloured-Asian, proud of the colour of his skin.

4, Story No. 4.  High Commissioner David McKinnon, here is the text book example  of  proof  positive that yours and my 1975 Canada was well into practising ‘apartheid’, not allowing a Brown-coloured person to be appointed to a higher position in a Federal government Department, or a Black applicant for that matter.. .Your truly, Asoka Weerasinghe, is a brown-coloured Sri Lankan who was employed by National Museums Corporation as the Head,’

Thematic Research Section of the Design and Display Division in Ottawa.  They found me in London, England, and thought that I would fit in the position perfectly.  And I  came to Ottawa on an invitation by Canada’s National Museums Corporation.  Started working on 1 November 1970.

The first two floors of the Victoria Memorial Museum with eight brand new Halls was officially opened by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, on October 4, 1974.   I was assigned to  guide Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his wife Margaet Trudeau through the Halls.

The International Museum reviews said they were excellent.

I continued working on the brand new exhibition Halls on the 3rd and 4th floors  interpreting Canada’s Natural and Human Sciences.

I created, for Canada, exhibits of  World Class- Excellence, within the walls of the Victoria Memorial Museum on Argyle Street.

Then, the summer of June 1975 came around and there was a meeting called at the Museum of Natural Science, Interpretation Division, and chaired by the Chief of Interpretation (Al.H).  All who attended were white” Interpreters trying to create new exhibits,  After the meeting was over, the Mammologist who attended the meeting, made a beeline to my office and said ‘Watch out Asoka, they are coming at you with their daggers drawn!”.  

What really happened”, I asked.  Al, told us that,we cannot knock

Asoka’s work, but we cannot let a coloured guy tell us what to do.”  High Commissioner, if this comment is not one of raw classic ‘Apartheid’, then what is it.?” 

High Commissioner David McKinnon, this white-Canadian got my goat as no White-Canadian will try to undermine my dignity since my skin colour was that of a beautiful shade of an Azetec-bronze.   

Follow this conversation that I had with Al.H.     

Al, what’s this announcement that you made at  the meeting about exhibits, telling the interpreters to not to corporate with me, the

Head of Thematic Research Section of the Design and Display Division, by saying, ‘We cannot knock Asoka’s work, but cannot let a coloured guy tell us what to do’. 

 You  disappoint me Al.  Since we may have to work together for at least another five years, that observation of my colour should not have been brought into our work.  Especially, with my 20 white-staff minus one, the Botanist,  Dr. Fazal Mohammad, a Bangladeshi,  working on the Botany Hall.

Do you know what Al,  I am quite aware that you white-guys have difficulty to accept that I, the brown-Asian, in the Museums campus in Ottawa,  was identified by the Deputy Minister Mckenzie, to lead the Musuomobile Programme, and informed by memo to all the Directors of Museums of the Corporation.

This is going to hurt you Al, as my observation about you and of your colour is most acceptable by me – that my Brown colour is on the crown of your Head, and your White is on the sole of my feet.  

But that’s OK!   I have no reason to point it out to anyone.

So lets not be stupid about all this, and you better come down from your high-horse.  I know you seem stunned by my observation and seem that I have choked you.  And now you know where I am coming from.

Let’s shake hands, forget about all this.  I have no intention to declare war on you, and I hope you will sanitize yourself with your Apartheid’ notions about coloureds, specially me, as I won’t

take it that kindly.  Lets have some harmony at our workplace.  Al, now that you know where I am coming from, and the contributions of Excellence” that I have contributed to these exhibition Halls , let’s enjoy our Interpretive-creations and be proud of ourselves.  Yes, I’m a coloured, a Brown, and so are you a coloured, an egg-shell White,  and as a poet I could conjure the images of two beautiful people. Brown and an egg-shell White/ a halo of a heavenly delight…”

Let’s shake hands Al. Come on, let’s not be stupid. We both have

great jobs to do, and let’s enjoy it.  I have no hard feelings anymore.  Trust me.”

High Commissioner McKinnon,we were cautious from then on and

not trample each other’s toes, and we were extremely civil.

High Commissioner McKinnon, back to your comment in your Canada Day message to Sri Lankans, We must stand together and embrace our diversity as strength” is a charm for a Happy Canada. Since Canada is peppered with white- racist bigots, you will have to drum your manthra into their thick-skulls to succeed.  I don’t think it would happen in my lifetime, but I pray that it happens during your lifetime, and for you to be proud of being a citizen of non-racist- Canada.

Sincerely,

Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr)

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

A blast in a house in Iyakachchi in North Lanka in which an ex-LTTE cadre died, is the immediate provocation for the proposed ban

Colombo, July 8: Sri Lanka is likely to re-list some foreign organizations and individuals as terrorist” under UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution No: 1373 following intelligence reports that a group of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres, including some rehabilitated ones, could be planning to stage suicide attacks on the lines of the Black Tigers”, a Sri Lankan expert on terrorism close to the government said.

The Lankan media said on Wednesday quoting the police, that four persons were arrested on information that there had been a plan to commemorate Black Tiger Day’ on July 5 this year with a suicide blast. Last Saturday, a bomb prematurely exploded in a house in Iyakkachchi in Kilinochchi. One of the injured is reportedly a rehabilitated LTTE cadre. He reportedly succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday.

Black Tiger Day is commemorated by the acolytes of the LTTE every year on July 5 to honor the LTTE’s first suicide bomber Vallipuram Vasanthan alias Capt. Miller, who drove an explosives-laden truck into an Lankan army camp in Nelliyadi in Jaffna district in July 5, 1967, killing anywhere between dozens of soldiers.

On April 1, 2014, the Sri Lankan government headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced that it was banning sixteen organizations and four individuals under UNSC 1373, to freeze their funds, resources and assets. In addition,

As per a press release issued by the then Minister of External Affair, G.L.Peries, the Foreign Terrorist Organizations that were banned for alleged involvement with terrorism were: the LTTE; Tamil Rehabilitation Organization; Tamil Coordinating Committee; British Tamil Forum; World Tamil Movement; Canadian Tamil Congress; Australian Tamil Congress; Global Tamil Forum; National Council of Canadian Tamils; Tamil National Council; Tamil Youth Organization; World Tamil Coordinating Committee; Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam; Tamil Eelam Peoples’ Assembly; World Tamil Relief Fund; and Headquarters Group.

The foreign individuals listed were: Perinbanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyabvan ; Rev.Fr.S.J.Emmanuel; Visuvanathan Ruthirakumaran, and Sekarampillai Vinayakamooorthy alias Vinayagam. A further 424 individuals had also been listed as terrorists and banned.

In March 19, 2015 an AFP report said that the government announced plans to remove 16 groups and hundreds of Tamils from a list of foreign terrorists” as part of an ethnic reconciliation process. The then Foreign Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, told parliament that the Rajapaksa regime had banned them to build up hysteria about an LTTE regrouping.” He further said that reviewing this list of individuals and entities is an important exercise at this juncture when the government of President Sirisena is seriously committed to expediting the reconciliation process.” Samaraweera also said that some of the 400-odd individuals list were long since dead and gone.

According to the terrorism expert quoted earlier, the Good Governance” regime dismantled the security apparatus set up after the war to keep an eye on the ex-cadres of the LTTE both in Lanka and overseas. With the result, there have been at least a dozen attempts at terrorism since the end of the war in May 2009,” the expert said.

While the LTTE’s military structure in Sri Lanka was destroyed by the Lankan forces, its shipping, commercial and political networks are still active in various parts of the world. In fact, Black Tigers Day is observed without let or hindrance in Tamil Nadu, UK, Canada, Europe and Australia.”

This year, the Black Tigers‘ Day was observed in Sydney Australia with a New South Wales MP, Hugh McDermott, as the Chief Guest. According to a report in Tamil Guardian of July 6, : Photos of 346 Black Tigers were displayed and the event ceremony was initiated by ex-LTTE cadre, Salkillai and his brother and ex-Sea Tigers training teacher, Vetharasa Dinesh, who both lit up the memorial flame.”

The Australian Aboriginal flag, the Australian flag and the Tamil Eelam national flag, were hoisted by the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam Australian representative and member, Perinbarasa Mukunthan, New South Wales MP, Hugh McDermott and Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam Australian representative and member Kalirasa Naventhira, respectively.”

In his speech Australian MP Mc.Dermott said: As you know I was attacked by the Sri Lankan government for supporting Tamils. I want to thank the Tamil community for rallying behind me. Not only here in Australia but all throughout the world. This fight is just the beginning. We will have recognition of the genocide and the systematic discrimination of Tamils. This fight has a long way to go, the current government is full of war criminals. I stand with you. May god bless everybody who gave a sacrifice that are not here today.”

Meanwhile in Sri Lanka, with the election fever increasing, seoratist Tamil nationalism has come to the fore with politicians and aspiring candidates vying to identify themselves with the LTTE and its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran who tried to establish an independent Tamil Eelam by force of arms. The former Chief Minister CV.Wigneswaran who is a key figure in the campaign in the Tamil-majority North Sri Lanka openly stated that Prabhakaran was his younger brother” and would always be.

The terrorism expert quoted above added that apart from banning the existing pro-LTTE organizations and individuals, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government should re-establish the security system in the North and East, which were dismantled by the previous regime.

The armed forces should be brought close to the people by getting them involved in agriculture, construction and other grass roots level development activities,” he said. (The article originally appeared in Daily Express)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has briefed the cabinet on Wednesday on the success of the economic fundamentals adopted to face the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and said Sri Lanka’s exports revenue had overtaken the imports revenue for the first time since the open economy was introduced in 1977, Cabinet spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardana said yesterday.

In June, Sri Lanka’s exports revenue has topped US$ 1,020 million while US$ 961 million has been spent on imports, saving US$ 59 million after four decades, Minister Gunawardana told the media at the weekly cabinet news briefing.

The government has been able to achieve this success after the imposition of import restrictions imposed soon after Gotabaya Rajapaksa assumed presidency in November last year. The Rajapaksa government clamped down on the import of food items, fruits, vegetables, spices and other commodities which can be produced locally. You may recall how the Yahapalana Government issued permits to import kites, Vesak lanterns, candles, toys, spices, pepper and even cashew with no concern at all on the unrestricted draining of foreign reserves,” Minister Gunawardana stressed.

Uncontrolled imports had contributed to the rapid depreciation of the rupee against the dollar under the Yahapalana Government and as a result, the rupee devalued against the dollar to Rs.180 by 2020 from Rs.131 in 2014, he added.

Minister Gunawardana said one of the main objective of import restriction was to increase foreign reserves and thereby appreciate the value of the rupee against the dollar.

President Rajapaksa is of the view that restriction of non essential or highly luxurious imports has begun to pay dividends. Despite the global recession brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, Sri Lanka has been able to keep the rupee around Rs. 180 against the dollar and make more exports than imports. This will appreciate the rupee against the dollar and contribute to bring down the cost of living,” Minister Gunawardana emphasized. (Sandun A Jayasekera)

Courtesy Adaderana

Fifty-six persons from the Kandakadu Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre and a female counselor employed at the center have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

Prior to being transferred to the Welikada Prison, the recently COVID-19 infected inmate had been detained at the Kandakadu Rehabilitation Centre for 03 months.

Accordingly, 450 inmates and staff at the Rehabilitation Center had been subjected to PCR tests.

So far, 56 among them have been confirmed to have contracted the virus, stated the Department of Government Information.

Meanwhile, a female from the Marawila area has also tested positive for coronavirus this morning (09). She is identified to be a counselor employed at the Kandakadu Rehabilitation Centre.

Health sectors and security forces are currently taking all necessary action for testing and quarantining in relation to the matter, states the Government Information Department.

With the new cases, the total number of COVID-19 cases reported in the country has spiked to 2,151 cases.

Courtesy Adaderana

Four lorries, two vans and a luxury car belonging to two police officers attached to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) have been taken into custody from Pallewela, Gampaha this evening (09).

These PNB officers in question are currently under detention over the alleged links they had with drug dealers.

The raid was carried out by the officers of the crimes investigation unit of Gampaha Police, under the supervision of Senior Superintendent of Police of the said police division, on a tip-off received by the Senior DIG in charge of the Western Province.

One of the four lorries belongs to a Police Sergeant and the rest of the vehicles were owned by a Sub-Inspector, according to reports.

All these vehicles had been rented to a factory in the area of Banduragoda in Pallewela.

The two vans were registered under a relative of the PNB Sub-Inspector, who was employed at the said factory, the police said.

The seized vehicles are to be handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for further investigations.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Cabinet of Ministers has granted its approval to upgrade Gampaha Wickramarachchi Ayurvedic Institute as a fully-fledged university.

The relevant proposal was tabled by the Minister of Higher Education, Technology and Innovations during the recent meeting of Cabinet ministers.

Gampaha Wickramarachchi Ayurvedic Institute, which is currently affiliated to the University of Kelaniya under the University Grants Commission (UGC), offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Ayurveda and allied sciences.

Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour” the policy framework of the country had identified the institution to be upgraded as a fully-fledged university.

Courtesy Hiru News

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa says that attacking the Rajapaksa’s was the main objective of bringing the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

The Prime Minister expressed these views while participating at a meeting held in Mawanella today.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse states the Muslims should join the present government irrespective of party affiliation

The Prime Minister made this observation while addressing the Muslim community in Kurunegala.

Kurunegala District Muslim Conference was held under the patronage of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, while a group of electoral activists of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress joined hands to support the present government

Courtesy Adaderana

Despite the repatriation of Sri Lankan workers from abroad in the wake of COVID-19 spread made a considerable change to our overall employment profile, Sri Lanka’s aim was to secure the lives of our workforce, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said.

https://youtu.be/SDpoHhNbZvE

Sri Lanka has a considerable workforce that is employed outside the country. Even during the period when restrictions for air travel were in force, we have repatriated nearly 15,000 Sri Lankans from destinations abroad so far” President said addressing ILO Global Summit on ‘COVID-19 and the World of Work – Building a Better Future of Work’ today (08).

The Summit, hosted by the International Labour Organization, commenced on July 01 will continue till July 09. Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu, and several world leaders addressed the largest ever online gathering of workers, employers, and governments.

Participants discuss addressing the economic and social impact of the pandemic, which has laid bare the extreme vulnerability of millions of workers and enterprises.

President Rajapaksa, addressing the Summit, stated he appreciates the efforts that all countries have taken for smooth sailings of their ‘Worlds of Work’ at this sensitive period when all are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 posed us with perhaps the greatest human crisis in the modern period. As a result, the ‘World of Work’ is undergoing a massive reorganization in the post-COVID-19 period in developed as well as developing countries alike”.

Explaining the Sri Lankan context, President said that particular attention was paid to safeguarding the Sri Lankan workforce from the shockwave that was created by the impact the pandemic had on the global economy.

President said: We have an active labor force of 8.6 million, out of which, the private sector employs nearly 3.5 million. The social security measures that we introduced during the COVID outbreak covered all sectors of this workforce.”

The most notable one was the payment of a fixed monthly allowance (of Rs. 5,000/-) to the most affected self-employed categories in our workforce during April and May. These included all employees on a daily wage as well as many other vulnerable categories such as pre-school teachers and self-employed persons”, President said.

The Sri Lankan workers who returned from overseas will now have the choice to join the local labor force, without returning to their original countries of employment. This in turn will shape the ‘new normal’ of our ‘world of work’.

Skills sector of Sri Lanka required a re-thinking and re-engineering, in order to accommodate the new normal of the post-COVID period said the President adding that  ‘Re-skilling’ and ‘upskilling’ of employees will be addressed in our action plan to empower those who lost employment during this crisis.”

Full text of the message delivered by the President:

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very pleased to have this opportunity to share my thoughts at the ILO Global Summit on COVID-19 and the World of Work – Building a Better Future of Work”.

I wish to appreciate the efforts that all countries have taken for smooth sailings of their ‘Worlds of Work’ at this sensitive period when we all are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 posed us with perhaps the greatest human crisis in the modern period. As a result, the ‘World of Work’ is undergoing a massive reorganization in the post COVID-19 period in developed as well as developing countries alike.

Sri Lanka is a developing economy with a sensitivity to external determinants. We paid particular attention to safeguard our work force from the shock wave that was created by the impact that this pandemic had on the global economy.

We have an active labour force of 8.6 million, out of which, the private sector employs nearly 3.5 million. The social security measures that we introduced during the COVID outbreak covered all sectors of this workforce.

The most notable one was the payment of a fixed monthly allowance (of Rs. 5,000/-) to the most affected self-employed categories in our work force during April and May. These included all employees on a daily wage as well as many other vulnerable categories such as pre-school teachers and self-employed persons.

Sri Lanka has a considerable workforce that is employed outside the country. Even during the period where restrictions for air travel were imposed, we have repatriated nearly 15,000 Sri Lankans from destinations abroad so far. Although this made a considerable change to our overall employment profile, our aim was to secure the lives of our work force. This fraction of the labour force will now have the choice to join the local labour force, without returning to their original countries of employment. This in turn will shape the ‘new normal’ of our ‘world of work’.

Skills sector of Sri Lanka required a re-thinking and re-engineering, in order to accommodate the new normal of the post-COVID period.  ‘Re-skilling’ and ‘upskilling’ of employees will be addressed in our action plan to empower those who lost employment during this crisis.

Sri Lanka has pledged to eliminate hazardous child labour by 2022. Abiding by this commitment, our Department of Labour continued to conduct investigations on complaints received regarding hazardous child labour even during the lockdown period of COVID-19 outbreak.

Providing an umbrella cover to all activities related to the labour force is the Tripartite Task Force chaired by our Minister of Labour. This Task Force acts as a point of convergence where employment security, wage reconsideration and all related issues are discussed between representatives of employers, employees and the Labour officials.

Excellencies, I believe that the COVID-19 situation globally has not reached an equilibrium where countries can start having long term plans. However, it has given ample opportunities for creating a new normal in the short term and consolidating it in the medium term. Sri Lanka views this as a stepping stone towards re-shaping her ‘world of work’ to suit the new normal in the post-COVID 19 period.

I sincerely hope and wish that this opportunity will serve as a means for all countries to re-align their ‘worlds of work’ accordingly and emerge safer and stronger after this global calamity.

Thank you.”

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම, LL.B., Ph.D.

හැඳින්‌වීම

1861 දී ජනාධිපති චන්දය කාලයේ ලින්කන් සිටියේ වහල් ක්‍රමයට පක්‍ෂවය. එහෙත් කාලයත් සමඟ ඔහු ඊට විරුද්‌ධ පරිණාමය වූයේය. ඒ වන විට වහල් ක්‍රමය රැකගැනීමට සටන් කල දකුණේ වහල් හිමියන්ද, ඔවුන්ගේ උදව්වට එන මෙන් තම වහළුන් ගෙන් ඉල්ලන තරමට හෙම්බත්‌වී සිටියේය. සිවිල් යුද්‌ධයේ ආරම්භයේදී ලින්කන්ට තිබූ බලවත්ම ප්‍රශ්ණයවූයේ හරිහමන් යුද හමුදාපතියෙක් හොයා ගැනීමය. දෙපැත්තෙන්ම ලක්‍ෂ ගණනක් මියගිය පසු, යුද් ධය දිණූ පසු ලින්කන් අණකලේ සතුරාට සිය තුවක්කුවද සමඟ ආපසු තම ගංබිම් බලා යන ලෙසටය. වහළුන්ට නිදහස ලබාදීමේ ප්‍රඥප්තියේ තීන්ත වේලිමටත් පෙර, 1865 දී ලින්කන්ව ඝාතනය කරණ ලද්දේ වහල් ක්‍රමය නැතිකිරීම නිසා උරණවූ පිරිස්වල කෙනෙක් විසිනි.

අතිගරු බාලසිංහම්

ලින්කන්ගේ මේ පරිවර්‌තනය මට සිහිකලේ ජී. එල්. පීරිස් මහතා අහම්බෙන් වැටුණ ඔහුගේ දේශපාලන ගමනය. සමහර විට ශිරානි බණඩාරනායක හරහා චන්ද්‍රිකා හඳුනාගෙන, නීලන් තිරුචෙල්වම්, ජයම්පති වික්‍රමරත්නලාද සමඟ රට කැබලි කිරීමේ පැකේජ් ඩීල් වලට, 1995-2000 කාලයේදී හවුල්වූ ඔහු, වික්‍රමසිංහ අගමැති සමයේ ඇන්ටන් බාලසිංහම්ට හිස් එක්‍ෂලන්සි යයි කියා ආමන්ත්‍රණය කරන්නට පවා ඩිප්ලොමැටික් විය. ඔහුගේ ඉල්ලීමට ලංකාවට ආදරය කල ස්කොට් ජාතික පෝල් හැරිස්ට ලංකාවේ පදිංචිවීමට නොදී රටින් පිටුවහල් කල විදේශ ඇමති ඔහුය. පෝල් කල වරද, 2002 සටන් විරාම ගිවිසුම ලෝකයේ ලොකුම පාවාදීම යයි කල ප්‍රකාශයය!

බකල් වුන පෙඩරල් මඟුල නොහොත් රටේ වාසනාව

මේ හැමටම වඩා චමත්කාර ජනක වූයේ, ඔස්ලෝ ගිවිසුම මඟින් ප්‍රභාකරන් විසින් ඊළමක් වෙනුවට පෙඩරල් භාරගෙන, පැරඩයිම් වෙනසක් කලා යයි ජී. එල්. කල උදම් ඇණීමය. නමුත් ප්‍රභාකරන් කලේ ඒ ගැන බාලසිංහම්ට බැණවැදීමය! නොයෙක් ආකාරයේ අවතාර වශයෙන් පෙනී සිටි ඔහු මෑතක් වන තුරුම පෙඩරල් පප්පා කෙනෙක්ම විය. ඉන් පසු සිදුවූයේ 17 දෙනාගෙන් කෙනෙක් වශයෙන්, ජී. එල්. මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ රජයට ඒමය. කරු ජයසූරිය ආපසු ගියත්, ජී. එල්. ගියේ නැත. එතැන් සිට දිගටම ඔහු රැඳී සිටියේ ජාතික ලැයිස්තු වෙන් ආ ඇමති කෙනෙක් වශයෙනි. සජින් වාස් ගුණවර්‌ධනට පිඟන් කඩේට ඇතුල්වූ ගොනෙක් මෙන් හැසිරෙන්නට ඉඩ දෙමින්ම, විදේශ ඇමතිකමේ සිටීමට තරම් ඔහු නිහතමානී විය.

අහිංසක ගාමිණී ලක්‍ෂ්මන්

2015 දී මහින්ද සුළඟ හා ඉන් පසු පොහොට්ටු පක්‍ෂය පිහිටුවීමෙන් පසු හා විශේෂයෙන් ගෝඨාභය ජනාධිපතිවීමත් සමඟ, ලින්කන් වහළුන් නිදහස් කලා මෙන් ජී. එල්. ද පෙඩරල් පීල්ලෙන් එලියට පැන ඇතැයි සිංහලයා සිතුවේය. පෙඩරල් බදාගෙන හොරගල් අහුලන කීප දෙනෙක්ම පොහොට්ටුවේ සිටින බව රහසක් නොවේ. මේ අය නිහඬ බොදු බල සේනාවට හා හාමුදුරුවරුන්ට ඇති භය නිසාය. නමුත් දැන්, සජිත් ප්‍රෙමදාසගේ යාපනේ 13 වන සංශොධන ප්‍රකාශයෙන් හා අගමැති මහින්ද විසින් 13-ඒ හරහා රට බෙදීමේ සජිත්ගේ ජනාධිපති චන්ද ප්‍රකාශණය උපුටා දක්‌වමින් නිකුත් කල නිවේදනයෙන් පසුව, ජී. එල් විසින් පලාත් සභා චන්ද ඉක්මණින්ම පවත්‌වනවා යයි කල ප්‍රකාශණය නිසා සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ ජනයා විමතියට පත්‌වී ඇති බව නිසැකය.

මුන් 225 ම එපා නොහොත් අහක යන නයි කලිසම් සාක්කුවේ දමා ගැනීම

ජී. එල්. වැනි අයෙක් එවැනි ප්‍රකාශයක් කලේ ඇත්ත ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය වෙනුවෙන්ද, බොරු නාස් ලණු (තන්ත්‍ර) වාදය වෙනුවෙන්ද, පලාත් සභා රන් ආකර සේ සළකා වැජඹෙන හොරුන් රැළේ චන්ද හා ධන බලය නිසාද, දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදීන් සතුටු කොට යම් දෙමළ චන්ද ප්‍රමාණයක්වත් ලබාගත හැකියයි සිතාද, නැතිනම් ඒ නිසා සිංහල චන්ද, විශේෂයෙන් ගෝඨාභය දිනවූ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ චන්ද අඩුවී යාමේ අවදානමක් ඇතිබව නොදැනද යන සැක මතු වන්නේය. ඔහුද, මේ ලෝකයේ, ලෝභ-ද්වේෂ-මානයෙන් පිරි තවත් එක පංචස්කන්‌ධයක් පමණය. කරුණා අම්මාන් සොල්දාදුවන් මැරීම ගැන හෝ හරීන් ප්‍රනාන්දු කාදිනල්තුමා ගැන හෝ මෙන්, ජී. එල්. ද කටවරද්දා ගත්තාද විය හැකිය. මෙහිදී ඔහු පොහොට්ටුවේ සභාපතිවීම අපට අදාල නැත. ඔහු වැනි අයෙක් සිටිනවා නම් තුනෙන් දෙකක් ලැබුණත් සිංහල බෞද්‌ධයාට වෙන්නේ මුන් 225 ම එපා යන කතාව අවුරුදු 72 කට පසු දිගටම ගෙන යාමය. සිංහල බෞද්‌ධයා 2020 න් පසුව, නැවතත්, හිත හොඳ ගෑණියෙක් වී යාම මය.

ජී. එල්. ගේ වැඩිහිටි/වැඩිදුර අධ්‍යාපනය පිණිසයි

මැරෙණ තුරුම යමෙක් ඉගෙන ගන්නවා යන චීන කියමණ අනුව යමින් ජී. එල්, ගේ අධ්‍යාපනය පිණිස 2011 හා 2013 දී මා ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන් ලියූ 13-ඒ සම්බන්‌ධ දිගු ලිපි දෙකක් මේ සමඟ අමුණන්නේ හුදෙක් සිංහල ජාතියේ අභිවෘධිය පතාය. රට ජාතිය, එක් පුද්ගලයෙකුට හෝ එක් පක්‍ෂයකට වඩා ඉහළය. විශේෂයෙන්ම, චන්දයෙන් තුනෙන් දෙක ලැබුණු පසු අළුත්, මහජන අනුමැතිය සහිත, ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවක් සදන බව රටට පවසා තිබියදී, ඊට පෙර සිදුවිය යුතු 19 සංශොධන මගඩිය ඉවත් කිරීම වෙනුවට, දැනට වලදමා ඇති පලාත් සභා මර උඟුලට පණ දෙන්නට කතා කරන්නේ ඇයි? මධ්‍යම ආණ්ඩුවක් හා ජන මූල සභා ක්‍රමයක් (ජන සභා වශයෙන් ප්‍රාදේශීය සභා?) ගැන ගෝඨාභයගේ චන්ද ප්‍රකාශණයේ ඇති ව්‍යුහයට, නැවත කඩිමුඩියේ පලාත් සභා චන්ද ගෙන ඒමට ජී. එල්. හා දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්‌ධන ප්ලෑන් කරනවාද? චන්ද දායකයාගේ මනස අවුල් කරන්නට හදන්නේ මක්නිසාද? අළුත් ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන් කල යුතු වන්නේ, 2009 මැයි 19 දා ජනාධිපති යුද ආඥාවකින් අහෝසි කල යුතුව තිබූ 13-ඒ මර උඟුල නමැති පිළිකාවද සහමුලින්ම උඳුරා දැමීමය.

අගමැතිගේ මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනයේ වැදගත් කොටස මෙසේය:

එක්සත් ජාතික පක්‍ෂයේ 2019 ජනාධිපති අපේක්‍ෂකයා ලෙස සජිත් ප්‍රේමදාස ඉදිරිපත්‌කල ප්‍රතිපත්ති ප්‍රකාශණය-
<ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉදිරි ගමනට සීමාවක් නැත. එක්ව ගමන යමු>
ජනතාවගේ ව්‍යවස්ථාව (පිටු 15-16)

1. ඒකීය රාජ්‍ය සංකල්පය අතහැර, නොබෙදුණු හා වෙන් කල නොහැකි රාජ්‍යයක් ලෙස ශ්‍රී ලංකාව හැඳින්‌වීම;
2. මධ්‍යම ආණ්ඩුව සතු බලතල උපරිම ලෙස පළාත් සභාවලට බෙදා හැරීම;
3. පළාත් සභා නියෝජිතයින්ගෙන් සදුණ දෙවැනි මන්ත්‍රී මණ්ඩලයක් ඇති කොට, මධ්‍යම ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකයේ (පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ) බලය තවත් සීමා කිරීම;
4. පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ මුදල් බලය අහෝසිකොට පළාත් සභා වලට ස්වාධීනව මුදල් රැස්කිරීමට ඉඩහැරීම;
5. දැනට මධ්‍යම ආණ්ඩුව යටතේ සිටින දිස්ත්‍රික් ලේකම්වරුන්, ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම්වරුන් ඇතුළු නිලධාරීන් පළාත් සභා යටතට පත් කිරීම;
6. පළාත් සභා හා මධ්‍යම ආණ්ඩුව අතර ඇතිවන ආරවුල් විසඳීමට වෙනම ව්‍යවස්ථාමය අධිකරණයක් පිහිටුවීම.

මූලාශ්‍රය: ලංකා සී නිව්ස්, ජූලි 5, 2020

පලාත් සභා චන්දය වහාම තියනවා යන පොහොට්ටු පණිවුඩය, දෙමළ ඊළම් දේශපාලකයින්ට දෙන කෝඩ් එක (සිග්නල්) නම් ඉහත සඳහන් කාරණා ගැන බලාපොරොත්තු තැබිය හැක යන්නය. ඒ කතාව ඔවුන් විසින් දෙමළ ජනායාට දී ඔවුන් කියන්නේ ඒ නිසා ඔවුන්ට චන්දය දෙන ලෙසය. මේ නිසා සිදුවන්නේ දැනට ඊළම් විරෝධී ලෙස යාපනේ වර්‍ධනය වන චන්ද (ගෝඨාභය උදෙසා ලැබෙන්නට යන දෙමළ චන්ද) මේ බෙදුම්වාදී දේශපාලකයින්ට ආපසු හැරී යෑමය. මේ නිසා ජී.එල්. ගේ ප්‍රකාශය බරපතල ඉල්ලන් කෑමකි.

පලාත් සභා නම් හෙණ ගෙඩිය

පලාත් සභා සුදු අලියෙක් නොව කළු යකෙකි. දකුණේ සභා හත ගහ මරා ගන්නා දූෂිත, මහජනයාට සත පහකවත් වැඩක් නැති පිස්සන් කොටු නොවීද? නැඟෙනහිර සභාව හිස්බුල්ලාගේ අරාබි රාජ්‍යයකට ඉණිමඟක් නොවුනාද? දයාන් ජයතිලකලා වැනි මාක්ස්වාදී, ක්‍රිස්තියානි කළු සුද්දන් විසින් ඉහලින් වර්‌‌ණනාකල විග්නේෂ්වරන් විසින් රටටත්, ලෝකයටත් එලි කලේ 13-ඒ යනු ඊළම් සඳහා යන පෙඩරල් ඉණිමඟක් බව නොවේද? කොටින්ම කියතොත්, ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ සිට තමන්ටම තුප්පහියා යයි කියා ගන්නා, දෙමළන් ජාතික ගීය ගායනා කල යුතුය යන ව්‍යාපාරයේ සඟවුණු පියාවූ, ගාල්ලේ උපන්, බර්‌ගර් ජාතික, මයිකල් රොබට්ස්ට පවා අන්තිමේදී තේරුණ අන්දමට, ඊළමක් එපා කියන මධ්‍යස්ථ දෙමළෙක් නැත මතය, කොළඹ ඉපදී, කොළඹින් සියළු දේම ලබාගත්, පුත්තු දෙන්නාටම සිංහල ලේලිලා ලබාගත් විග්නේෂ්වරන් ක්‍රියාවෙන්ම ඔප්පු කලේය. 1948 සිට සිංහල ආණ්ඩු දෙමළ සංහාරයක් කරගෙන යනවා යයි කීමටත්, උතුරට බුදු පිළිම එපා, පොල් රා එපා, නිරිත දිග මෝසම් (වාරකන්) සුළං කාලයේ උතුරට ධීවරයින්ට එන්න දෙන්න එපා යයි කීමට තරම් පහත්, දීන මිනිහෙක් බවට ඔහු පත්‌වූයේ ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ විසින් ප්‍රජා (තන්ත්‍ර)නාස්ලණුවාදය අනුව යමින් චන්දයක් තබා, වෙස්සන්තර කෙනෙක්‌වී, විග්නේෂ්ට උතුරු පලාත බන්දේසියක තබා පුදකල නිසාය (අවුරුදු 30 ක යුද්‌ධයකින් වූ මානසික හානිය අවුරුදු දෙක තුනකින් සුව කල නොහැකිය. නාසි හානියේ සුව කිරීම් අදටත් කෙරෙමින් පවතී). ඊට කලින් පිළිවෙලින්, ප්‍රේමදාස හා චන්ද්‍රිකා, ප්‍රභාකරන්ට උතුරු පලාත සින්නකර බද්දකට දීමට යෝජනා කලා වැනි විය. හැමදේම සිදුවන්නේ හොඳට වගේ මහින්ද එසේ නොකරන්නට මේ 13-ඒ කෙළියේ තරම රටට එලිවන්නේ නැත. එය දයාන් ජයතිලක ඇමතිද සමඟ වර්‍ධරාජා පෙරුමාල් උ-නැ මහaැමති රටින් පලායාමට වඩා වෙනස්, බෞද්‌ධ අහිංසාව ගනයේ අත්දැකීමක් විය. මේ වන විට විග්නේෂ් දමිළ ජනයා ඉදිරියේ අවලංගු කාසියක් වැනිය.

මීනින්ෆුල් ඩෙවොලූෂන්

රොබට් බ්ලේක්, හිලරි ක්ලින්ටන්, මන්මෝහන් සිං, බෑන්කි මූන් ලා ඒකාලයේ ඉල්ලූ නියමාකාරයේ බලය බෙදීම වනාහි වංක දෙමළ දේශපාලකයින් අතලොස්සකට උ-නැ අගමැතිලා වීමටත්, ඒ හරහා ඊළම් පාරක් කපා ගැනීමක් මිස දෙමළ ජනයා බලවත් කිරීමක් නොවීය. මෙය ඒකාලයේ සිංහල දේශපාලන කළු සුද්දන්නට මෙන්ම දැන් 2020 දී ජී. එල්ටත් නොවැටහීම අභාග්‍යයකි. ඊළම යනු උතුරේ කුලහීන යයි සළකන ජනයා, වෙල්ලාල කුලයට පාවා දීම බවත්, මිලේනියම් ට්‍රෝජන් අශ්වයාගෙන් එලිවෙන අන්දමට සිංහලයාගේ රට විනාශ කිරීමේ උපායක් බවත් මේ වන විට ඉතාමත් පැහැදිලිය. පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරයේදී පවා කතෝලික නොවන, ක්‍රිස්තියානි සුමන්තිරන් කියා සිටියේ ඊට හේතුව මුස්ලිම් සුළු ජන ව‌ර්‌ගයට කරණ අසාධාරණකම් යනුය!

භූගෝල විද්‍යාව, බුද්‌ධාගම හා නීති විද්‍යාව

ඊළම්වාදය පරාද කලයුතු ප්‍රායෝගිකව හා මතවාදීවය. යුද්‌ධය මඟින් පරාජය කලේ ප්‍රභාකරන්වාදය පමණක් නොව, 13-ඒ නම් ජරමරයදය. දෙමළ ජනයාට බලය ලැබෙන්නේ ජන සභා ක්‍රමය යටතේ බිම් මට්ටමින් ඔවුන්ට තීරණ ගැනීමට දීමෙන්‌ය. සිංහල, මුස්ලිම් අයටද එසේමය. ගම-වැව-දාගැබ යන අතීත පාලන ත්‍රිත්‌වය එවැන්නකි. එය පරිසර විද්‍යාවට අනුකූල විය. එපමණක් නොව එය රීසනබල් විසඳුමය. නීති විද්‍යාවේ රීසනබල් යනු බුද්‌ධාගමේ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදාවය. භූමියේ විවිධත්‌වය හඳුනා ගන්නා භූගෝල විද්‍යවට පටහැනි වුනොත් එතැන රීසනබල් කමක් හෝ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රතිපදාවක් (කොම්ප්‍රොමයිස්) නැත. 13 වන සංශොධනයට විරුද්‌ධ විය යුතු මේ නිසාය.

යම් දමිළ වැසියෙකුගේ පුද්ගලික අවශ්‍යතා (නීඩ්ස්) හා උවමනාවලුත් (වෝන්ට්ස්), දමිළ සමාජයේ පොදු අභිලාශත් (ඇස්පිරේෂන්ස්) අතර වෙනස හඳුනා ගැනීමට පක්‍ෂ දේශපාලකයින් අසමත්‌වීම ඛේදජනකය. ජන සභා මට්ටමෙන් නීඩ්ස් හා වෝන්ට්ස් සපුරා ගත හැකිය. ඒ සඳහා දේශපාලන පූසාරීන් අනවශ්‍යය. එසේ සපුරා ගැනීමට යාමේදී මහජාතියට ඉන් තර්‌ජනයක්ද එල්ල නොවේ. ප්‍රශ්ණය වන්නේ තමන්ගේ පැවැත්ම සඳහා වංක දේශපාලකයින් විසින් ජාතික අභිලාශ කතාවක් ඉදිරියට දැමීමය. එක ජන වර්‍ගයක අභිලාශ, තවත් ජන වර්‍ගයක අභිලාශ සමඟ ගැටෙන විටය. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් යුරෝපය කතෝලික/ක්‍රිස්තියානි කර තබාගැනීම ප්‍රංශයේ අභිමතාර්‌ථයය. යුරෝපයේ රටක් වීම තුර්කියේ අභිලාශයය. මෙයට කියන්නේ යා දෙක නොරත රත කියාය. උ-නැ දෙමළ නිජභූමියක් ඉල්ලන අභිලාශය, සිංහලයාගේ සිංහලේට තර්‍ජනයකි. නිජ භූමිය ඉල්ලන අය විශාල පිරිසක් ඉන්නේ නිජ භූමියෙන් පිටවීම තුර්කියේ ජනයාගේ නොව තුර්කි දේශපාලකයින්ගේ ඉල්ලීම සිහිකරවයි.

පලාත් නවයේ බෙදීම රටේ භූගෝල විද්‍යාවට පටහැනි සුද්දාගේ කෘතිම බෙදීමකි. මේ නිසා කලයුතුව ඇත්තේ දැනට ඇති ග්‍රාම නිලධාරී වසම් 14,022, පරිසර සාධක අනුව නැවත මායිම් කිරීමය. ගංඟා ද්‍රෝණි, භූගත ජල ද්‍රෝණි වශයෙන් ඒවා හඳුනාගත යුතුය. එම මායිම් භාෂාව හෝ ආගම හෝ කුලය අනුව නොවිය යුතුය. මෙසේ බිහි කරණ ජන සභා (ජන මූල සභා) එකතු කර පරිසරයට අනුකූල ප්‍රාදේශීය සභා, ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් ප්‍රදේශ මායිම් කල හැකිය. උවමනා නම් දැනට ඇති පලාත් නවයේ කෘතිම බෙදීම වෙනුවට රට ගංඟා නිම්න හතකට බෙදිය හැකිය (සිතියම බලන්න). එසේ නැත්නම් දිස්ත්‍රික් 25 ට ගැලපෙන සේ ගංඟා නිම්න 25 කට බෙදිය හැකිය. ලංකාවේ තිබෙන්නේ මධ්‍යම කඳුකරයේ සිට වටේට ගලනා ගංඟා 103 කි. මහවැලි ගඟ හැර විශාල, දිග ගංඟා පද්‌ධති රටේ නැත.

ඉතා කෙටියෙන් මෙහි සටහන් කලේ 13-ඒ පස්සේ දුවන්නට හදනවා වෙනුවට, පලාත් සභා චන්ද වෙනුවට ඒ මුදල් සිංහල හා දෙමළ භාෂා පාසැල්වල ඉගැන්‌වීමට විශාල වැඩපිලිවෙලක් සඳහා යොදා ගැනීමය. මේ සඳහා පරිගණක භාෂා ක්‍රමයක් දැනටමත් පිලියෙල කර එය රටේ පරිගණක වර්‍ධන වැඩ භාර ආයතනයට (අයි.සී.ටී.ඒ.) ඉදිරිපත් කලත්, එහි දූෂිත නිලධාරී කට්ටල යලි යලිත් එය ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කලේය!

මේ සමඟ ලින්ක් කර ඇති ලිපි දෙකෙන් හා ලංකාවෙබ් වෙබ් අඩවියෙන් පොතකට සෑහෙන තරමේ විස්තර මේ 13-ඒ මර උඟුල හා ඉන් ගැලවීමේ මඟ වශයෙන් ලියා වාර්‌තා කර ඇත. ඒ සම්බන්‌ධයෙන් රට, ලංකා වෙබ් අඩවියට ණය ගැති වන්නේ සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් මේවා දනගත හැකි වෙන මාධ්‍යයක් ලෝකයේ කොහේවත් සිංහල ජනතාවට නැති නිසාය.

https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/category/c-wijeyawickrema/

https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2013/03/31/bodu-bala-sena-and-llrc-buddhist-self-reliance/
http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2012/02/llrc-recommendations-and-path-of.html

By Indu Balachandran/www.medium.com

Lockdown in Chennai? Well, not quite in my building. In the past three months of lockdown, a lot of un-locking has happened — unknown talents, unspoken dreams, unexpected actions.

Don’t tell anyone, but I am going to reveal a few things about my neighbours I believed I knew for years — without really knowing them at all — till a virus made them break out.

Aunty, your bra is showing…

I really never thought I’d see Mrs Ambujam of 5B walking around my neighbourhood in her bra.

Whoever thought this conservative Mami from the flat downstairs would be out hobbling about at 7.30am, in her bright flowery home-made face-bra, (the size looked to be a single 34A cup), standing before me on the fourth circle in the queue? She even pulled the elastic downwards seductively at Ponnusamy, our vegetable man, but only for a brief moment, to admonish him for not putting back his own mask hanging rakishly around one ear.

Ambujam Mami stuffed her yellow LG Asafoetida cloth bag with fresh keerai, and quickly walked past me. Who had time for idle chit-chat when there was so much housework to be done before sitting down to stitch more and more of her home-made face-masks — all from her granddaughter’s unworn dupattas?

Now that the face-bra had become compulsory over-wear, as obligatory to wear in society as underwear, I was so pleased to see that even Ambujam Mami was looking at the fashion industry, excited by the new business opportunities ahead. At first Ambujam Mami had been shocked when that bold Mrs Acharya of her Mylapore Ladies’ Club had suggested this word: ‘Face-bra’ for her home-made masks. Her son had set up something very complicated called Zoom on his laptop for her, but she was thrilled to see familiar faces from her neighbourhood pop up in small squares (even though some were unrecognisable as all she could see were big nostrils and diamond nose-rings) but over time, they learnt to ‘adjust’ and present better angles of themselves when they met twice a week. Face-bra?! Many had giggled in embarrassment over that word, hoping their family wasn’t listening in. But Mrs Acharya’s helpful demos soon had them all raiding their cupboards for new soft material to cut up, pin and stitch and even embellish — what about one with a touch of zari for that postponed wedding of her grand niece, coming up in February ’21?

Of course her cheeky teenager granddaughter had spread the word that her Paati was now making face-bras. And even getting made-to-order requests from her friends. ‘Paati, my friend’s father now wants one, too! But you must make it a plain, manly bra. And how about calling it a ‘Face-Bro’ just for guys, Paati!’

‘Thatha is behaving like a teenager…’

I met Cheenu Mama of 3C just as we both stepped into the lift. Without appearing rude, we both took extreme corners of the small lift, keeping at least a 3-foot distance till our respective floors came up. But in that 15-second masked encounter I did see what Cheenu Mama had furtively picked up in his red plastic shopping bag that day from Surya Greens: pizza bases!

I grinned unseen behind my mask. So Cheenu Mama was fed up of the daily Tam-brahm sambar-rasam-poriyal routine. I simply had to find out What Happened Next.

So I brought up the subject with Meenu Paati, Cheenu Mama’s wife, when I saw her one day at our common corridor. ‘Ayyo, any need for all this? Is he a teenager or what? But he quietly went and bought so many, many things just to make two small pizzas! A whole bottle of some red paste, a box of cheese cubes, expensive coloured koda-molagas, even some horrible mushrooms! Any need? And not to mention one herbs bottle from Amma Nana Stores! So what next, are you going to buy an oven just for this one day, from Viveks? I asked. No need! he says. I saw a YouTube video called Mangala’s Kitchen” where we can make pizza on our gas stove itself, with our tawa. Oho what a fine mess he created — trying to make it all by himself. I spent one hour just cleaning up the kitchen…’

But, hey, did I detect a mischievous delight and pride through this rant about her husband’s bold foray into the kitchen? ‘Meenu Paati! So that’s the great smell I was getting last week from your kitchen! Tell Cheenu Mama, next time, he has to make an extra pizza, just for me.’

Lipstick under my hijab…

It was on an evening terrace walk that I bumped into Jamila Aunty. Well, ‘bump into’ is only an expression; who does that anymore, even accidentally?

I thought I saw an extra spring in her 70+ legs during her walk these days (of course, I guessed the reason, but pretended I didn’t know a thing). ‘Hello Jamila Aunty! How’s life…’ I said, as I saw her emerge from the far end of our mottai-maadi. We stopped a respectful corona-dictated gap, but I felt there was no generation gap between us any more. If what her daughter-in-law Farah said was true!

Well, if I could only be a lizard on the wall of Flat 2B, I would be able to see for myself Jamila Aunty’s guilty secret.

Every Wednesday, at 7 pm, Farah, my good friend from 2B, would be ready, closing herself up in the drawing room for an hour, wearing her dancing shoes and red lipstick, for her Zoom online Salsa classes to begin. But it was only after a month of Wednesdays that Koki Ma’m, Farah’s Salsa teacher, began to spot a face in the far background intently peeping in, inside Farah’s square in the Zoom grid. ‘Watch out, Farah, your ma-in-law is spying on you!’ Koki messaged Farah after class that day.

Farah decided in her next class to see if it was true. Yes! There she was peering from the small grill window in the kitchen, into the drawing room. Farah danced on regardless with her class of eight happy young women — but did notice a huge big smile on her mother-in-law’s face, especially during a rather sexy Latino hip-swing that ended that day’s session.

It was Koki’s cheeky message after class that started it all. ‘Pull her in, Farah! What’s the bet she wants to dance too…’

And that’s how Jamila Aunty’s life changed. ‘Ammi, come, I’ll teach you some basics of Salsa…don’t worry, Ammi, my teacher says there’s no age to start learning; there’s even a 67-year-old lady in her Jive class who doesn’t miss a single day’s session!’

Farah laughed and told me all about this saas-bahu pact that had got Jamila Aunty swinging her hips again — just as she had years and years ago at Farah’s mehendi ceremony. ‘We had all forgotten how surprisingly well she danced. So now it’s our own little secret. Even my husband and kids don’t know a thing! We play Despacito on her cell phone in her bedroom, and I teach her beginner’s ‘shines’ or basic steps of Salsa, but I’m worried if she’s going to get better than me soon… Who knows, she could even join my class, Koki Ma’m insists!’

And you won’t believe what Ammi said today, after a fit of giggles… ‘But what about Koki Ma’m’s rules of your Wednesday class, Farah beti. Okay, I do have some heels I can wear again, but I need to borrow something from you. And only then I’ll be ready to dance — with lipstick under my hijab!’

(Originally published in Lockdown Journal Chennai, July 2020)

(Indu wrote advertising slogans for a living, till the travel-writing bug bit her.(Free travel, free stays, free food!). Her 30-year advertising career at JWT led to her first best-seller, Don’t Go Away, We’ll Be Right Back: The Oops & Downs of Advertising. As a travel/humour columnist, Indu’s writings appear in Lonely Planet, Sunday Hindu, Firstpost, Readers Digest; and five anthologies of stories. Her romantic novel Runaway Writers has been republished in the UK as The Writers Retreat: indubee8@yahoo.co.in)

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

The film is the story of two men from rural Sri Lanka wading their way into the city to request a correction be printed on a newspaper which falsely accuses one of them to be a terrorist and the turbulent passage they endure along the way.

Colombo, July 8 (newsin.asia): The Sri Lankan Sinhala language feature film, The News Paper” has received a Commendation award at the IndieFEST Film festival, California, US.

The certificate of the award was presented to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat today (July 08).

A number of countries including the USA, Italy, India, Australia, Lebanon, Syria, Switzerland and the UK had presented their work to the film festival.

The IndieFEST Film festival admired The News Paper” for its outstanding depiction of liberation, social justice and concepts of antagonism in a motion picture. It is a co-direction of Sarath Kothalawala and Kumara Thirimadura while it was co-produced by Minister Bandula Gunawardana, Ravindra Guruge and H.D. Premasiri.

Dimithri Wijesinghe reviewed the film for The Morning daily

The film tells the story of an unwavering friendship between two individuals on a journey to right a wrong; it is the story of two men from rural parts of Sri Lanka wading their way into the city to request a correction be printed on a newspaper which falsely accuses one of them to be a terrorist and the turbulent passage they endure along the way.

The movie premiered on 2 July and the first show at 10.30 a.m. was made open to the public free of charge. Healthcare services, tri-forces, Police, and media personnel who had been actively engaged in eradicating the Covid-19 virus are allowed to watch the movie once, using their office IDs.

We spoke to both Kothalawala and Thirimadura about the film and this intriguing time in which they are screening their movie.

Household names in the Sri Lankan cinema circuit, especially well-known as comic actors and theatrical performers, the duo stated that they screened the film very briefly prior to Covid-19 and once the pandemic hit; like all other films, they were forced to shut down distribution. However, now with the Government having given the go-ahead for cinema halls to reopen to the public, they said it is their responsibility to provide content that would entice the public to come to the theatres.

They shared that there really is no purpose of cinema halls reopening if there are no films to be screened particularly, as certain films are being withdrawn from cinemas because it would be a loss-making move to keep it up during these times where people are less likely to come see their film.

Thirimadura stated that they have chosen to screen their film in this way because they do not mind biting the bullet if it means it would encourage people to visit the cinema halls to watch the movie, thereby keeping the local cinema industry alive as well.

The duo also stated that as they do hail from the theatre background and are theatre people at heart, there is an underlying hope of success of cinemas reopening, lending itself to the eventual opening of stage dramas to the public as well. Their wish is that in contributing to the reopening of cinemas and hopefully providing for crowds to make their way to the cinema hall, they would in turn make it so that stage dramas too get back to normal and open up.

According to Thirimadura, while globally the entertainment industry is at an all-time high in terms of progression, Sri Lanka is still lagging behind; this is particularly due to the lack of collaboration and involvement on the part of the audiences in the island with the growth and sustenance of the cinema industry. Of course, there are numerous alternatives available now and unless the industry comes up with an extraordinary product, there is no need for the general public to spend their hard-earned money and precious time in a cinema hall.

Noting the fact that there are only 117 cinema halls in this country, which is shockingly low, he said live theatre and cinema are a dying art as technology and streaming has made it so that people would rather stay at home to watch new releases at home.

Thirimadura further shared that in Moratuwa, where he spent his childhood running from one film to the other, there was a total of six halls – namely, Tower, Emess, Manel, Vijitha, Odeon, and Padma – out of which four have been closed down. He said when he first heard that Odeon might close down, his heart skipped a beat and he was overcome with a melancholic feeling because that is where he has caught so many cinematic masterpieces that have inspired him to this day; it had been a place that holds a special place in his heart.

I was devastated when I heard it would close down. It is a shame that this is the state the local cinema industry has come to,” he emphasised.

While The Newspaper has been highly anticipated, there was another element that was cause for intrigue even before its release – it was co-produced by Co-Cabinet Spokesperson Dr. Bandula Gunawardana, Ravindra Guruge, and H.D. Premasiri.

We asked both Kothalwala and Thirimadura about the involvement of a prominent political figure in the country, particularly at such a time when the election is coming up and the political sphere is charged up. They both stated that they are not and have never been the type of people who wish to be entangled with politics, and while the nature of our country is such that one cannot speak or think entirely in isolation without the involvement politics, their film is not a piece of propaganda and you are sure to know this when you watch the film. They said they see no reason to either hide the involvement of a political figure or distance themselves in anyway.

They added that, however, if ever there was anyone who should be recognised for their contribution to cinema, they would have to say it is Minister Bandula Gunawardana as he has been a part of some of Sri Lanka’s cinematic masterpieces and facilitated the creation of them.

With regard to the co-production credit on the film, The Sunday Morning Brunch reached out to Minister Gunawardana. I have been making efforts to be a part of good cinema in Sri Lanka for about 37 years now. At first, I wanted to help make Dharmasiri Bandaranayake’s debut film Hansa Vilak, but I was unable to do so. However, in 1987, I was able to make his film Suddhilage Kathawa which went on to become the Best Film in Sri Lanka that year. Then in the case of Siri Medura, I brought down Parakrama Niriella to direct it, which went on to win nine awards that year including the Best Film. I gave Ayoma starring Swarna Mallawarachchi to Parakrama as well because I have already seen what he can do.”

Speaking about the current film, he said: As for this particular script, Thirimadura is an old student of mine and I saw that he has written a great script and that they were making rounds trying to find someone to produce it for them. They were told that since they are theatre folk coming from the theatre background, they should bring in somebody else to direct it. But I felt that if they wrote the script and will be acting in it, then they are best to direct it too. The concept in their heads cannot be executed better through an outside perspective.”

The Minister went on to add that he has cared deeply about local cinema for years and hopes only to contribute quality productions that we as people can be proud of, through which it will gain worldwide recognition while being entertaining to all.

I have made my best efforts to support good local cinema; back in the day, there was a system where the (National) Film Corporation would provide funds for filmmakers to produce films. However, that is no longer available. In order to support work such as this, I brought Ravindra Guruge and H.D. Premasiri and created the company which will function not as a profit-making entity, but one that will aid filmmakers in a corporative way. If there is a profit to be made, then that will go into a trust to be used for other good films,” he said.

He added that with the accreditation those involved in the film have received, he is glad to have been a part of something that could contribute significantly to Sri Lankan cinema.

Co-directors and stars of the production Kothalawala and Thirimadura stated that they believe their part of the deal is now complete; it is now up to the Sri Lankan audiences to show their support and play an integral role in reviving the local cinema industry. They said that they have created a piece of art they are proud of and hope it will be well received. They invite all Lankans to go and see the film in theatres and have an enjoyable time.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, July 8 (newsin.asia) – Maldives and Sri Lanka were today verified for having eliminated rubella, making them the first two countries in WHO South-East Asia Region to achieve measles and rubella elimination ahead of the 2023 target.

Protecting all children against these killer and debilitating diseases is an important step in our endeavor to achieve healthier population and health for all,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, congratulating Maldives and Sri Lanka on their achievement.

The announcement was made after the fifth meeting of the South-East Asia Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination, held virtually. The Commission comprises of 11 independent international experts in the fields of epidemiology, virology and public health. A country is verified as having eliminated measles and rubella when there is no evidence of endemic transmission of the measles and rubella viruses for over three years in the presence of a well performing surveillance system.

Maldives reported last endemic case of measles in 2009 and of rubella in October 2015, while Sri Lanka reported last endemic case of measles in May 2016 and of rubella in March 2017.

Coming at a time when the entire world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, this success is encouraging and demonstrates the importance of joint efforts, Dr Khetrapal Singh said, lauding the Ministries of Health, health workforce, partners, and most importantly the communities, who together contributed to this public health achievement.

The Regional Director commended Member countries’ efforts to deliver life-saving vaccines to children even while battling the pandemic. Though mass vaccination activities have been postponed in several countries, it is encouraging to see that efforts are underway to resume them at the soonest,” she said.

In a global survey, more than half of all countries reported moderate-to-severe disruptions, or a total suspension of vaccination services in March and April. Preliminary information from the Region suggests both immunization coverage and surveillance have been impacted. However, countries in WHO South-East Asia Region have been making concerted efforts to resume immunization and surveillance activities and plug gaps that have arisen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In recent years, all countries in the Region introduced two doses of measles-containing vaccine and at least one dose of rubella-containing vaccine in their routine immunization programme. First-dose coverage of measles-containing vaccine is now 88% and the second-dose coverage 76%. Since 2017, nearly 500 million additional children have been vaccinated with measles and rubella-containing vaccine. Surveillance for measles and rubella has been strengthened further.

We cannot allow for our progress towards measles and rubella elimination to be put on hold or reversed. We must achieve our 2023 target,” the Regional Director said, adding that WHO is committed to supporting Member countries and partners to fully revive immunization and surveillance activities, and to refine the strategic, operational and policy guidelines that will facilitate progress towards our goal.

Now more than ever, we must pull together to realize our vision of a Region in which no child suffers or dies from a disease as easily prevented as measles; where no pregnant woman loses her unborn baby due to a virus as avoidable as rubella; and where no neonate is born with a heart ailment or loss of hearing owing to a tragedy as needless as in-utero rubella infection,” Dr Khetrapal Singh said.

Member countries of WHO South-East Asia Region had in September last year set 2023 as target for elimination of measles and rubella, revising the goal of the flagship programme that since 2014 had focused on measles elimination and rubella control.

Bhutan, DPR Korea and Timor-Leste are other countries in the Region who have eliminated measles.