When
we were studying Demography at the university, a popular topic was Brain Drain,
and we were not happy about the population policy planning at that time as the
government policy did not direct and address required policy measures to
control brain drain. The major reason to
displease the government policy was that competent human resources were subject
to leave from the country looking for higher earnings from overseas. Later,
since the 1980s the government has been encouraging to send skilled people
overseas for employment as such policy has been contributed to increasing
foreign exchange inflow, reduce unemployment, and empowering rural people. Many
rural women left overseas for a small wage that was a large amount when
converted to Sri Lanka rupees in a situation where the monetary unit of the
country has been radically depreciating. Going overseas for employment has
become a fashion as it becomes a way to make quick money disregarding the
dignity of labour and the war and terrorist activities too in the country
promoted going overseas and it has come to young people’s minds that the
purpose of education is to go overseas for employment than it is using for the
country where they were born.
People
going overseas for employment is a common facet in all countries in the world.
People in developed countries have gone overseas for employment, the purpose of
leaving from the native place is a preference of individuals who prefer a
different environment to gain experience, and some low-income countries
encourage citizens to go overseas for employment for specific economic
reasons. Sri Lanka followed similar
reasons in the past. In the beginning, many people go overseas with a strong
mind comeback after a few years with a wheelbarrow of money and some people go
with the family, and when the family adapts to the overseas environment they
have no idea of going back to the homeland, and some people begin doing
business. Many employees who have gone oversea from Sri Lanka were semi-skilled
or unskilled labour who have difficulties in finding employment with sufficient
wages for living, and hyperinflation created in the country after the 1978
liberal economic policy forced people to look for jobs overseas. Many people who have gone overseas are
performing unskilled and lower grade work, and some of them addicted to
anti-social behaviour.
When
the world is getting hardships from the COVID pandemic it seems that Sri Lankan
employees in many countries especially in the Middle East want to come back and
when they come back, they become unemployed in the country. Sri Lanka needs to
develop new policies to treat employees coming from overseas. Two major issues
with those who are coming from overseas are first finding employment, and the
second is earning in Sri Lanka isn’t adequate to satisfy the lifestyle they adapted
in overseas.
The
government could develop short-term and medium-term policies to solve the
problem. It can assume that 25% of
exodus employees from overseas can quickly train to go overseas again if they
are quality workers and qualified personnel, however, domestic workers in
Middle East houses will have to compete with people from other countries. The
COVID pandemic has created job losses in many countries. Last week it reported
that unemployment in Australia 7.1% of the laborforce and economists predict
that it will be double in the next month.
If it assesses from the 1990s economic downturn it would take more than
two years to recover.
The
following policy actions would be useful.
Retraining people in TVET
institutions for the same job area or shift into other fields. Each electorate
needs two TVET institutions with ten skill training courses from Certificate 1
to Diploma level. TVET institutions need
to develop short programs and curriculum for programs. TVET programs need to
structured consistent international standards ( Certificate 1, Certificate 2,
Certificate 3, Certificate 4, Diploma, and National Advanced Diploma). Changes
in the curriculum are essential to the modern environment and the curriculum
structure in the TVET system in Sri Lanka has not been changed consistently to
the modernization of skills and knowledge level. They need skills to apply values in the work
environment. The application of values
in the work environment is far behind and kids are needed to give skills to
become competent employees.
Under the education
reforms, if the government introduced Vocational Education in Secondary
contexts, many of these returnees can appoint as TVET teachers in secondary
schools with a one-year teacher training program. (If the government interested
in such a program, I can provide the program and curriculum in English). TVET training should offer in English with
promoting languages such as Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, German, and others.
Interested people could
be given training for initiating a small business. Entrepreneurial skills should be promoted
with broader skills in accounting, business strategies, marketing, and many
other areas to initiate many businesses and each business can provide jobs for
at least five persons. This strategy
would be helpful to reduce unemployment in the country.
The banking system needs
to introduce a credit project to help these returnees with credits and other
financial help. Many people in Sri Lanka
are lacking knowledge in developing projects, monitoring projects, and remedial
management.
People
have been working overseas need broader skills to adapt to the environment of
Sri Lanka, during the past several decades, the work environment in the country
has changed and the behaviour of people also changed, sometimes people come
back to the country they might have difficulties to deal with people in the
country who have adapted to the strange culture. I observed that Sinhala
language has changed and many words added to usage and modern Sinhala usage is
difficult to understand.
So
far in the game of Sri Lankan Cricket, there had been only one Leader who rose
to the occasion and won the world cup final to Sri Lanka.
That was none other than Arjuna Ranatunga. Since then, we had big names,
Aravinda De Silva, Ravi Ratnayake, Roshan Mahanama, Chaminda Vass, Lahiru
Thirimanne, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Lasith Malinga, Hashan
Tilekeratne, Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Angelow Mathews, Rangana
Herath, Dinesh Chandimal, Dilshan Tilekeratne, Suranga Lakmal,
Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Tissara Perera and currently Dimuth
Karunaratne. This is a staggering list of 20 players as ODI
captains, whilst not all of them had the opportunity to face a World Cup Final,
none of them succeeded. Change of 20 captains is an alarming situation,
in order to critically examine the reasons for our failure to win a world cup
since days of Arjuna Ranatunga, it is imperative to conduct Leadership
Successive Planning strategy post-mortem, which will help in our future goal
setting.
2.2011
WORLD CUP FINAL:
At
the end of the game, the economy rate of fast bowlers were:
Lasith
Malinga: 4.67, Nuwan Kulasekera 7.8 and Tissera Perera 6.11.
At
the end, the spinners had following unused overs:
Suraj
Randiv 1, Dilshan 5 and Murali 2.
During
41 to 50 overs, out of spinners, only Suraj Randiv ( comparatively a new
comer )was chosen for bowling, and in 3 overs India scored 12 runs,
an excellent performance by the spinner. Murali had 2 more overs
left ( with no wicket), with economy rate of 4.88, but was not used
during these overs. Dilshan had 5 more overs left, ( with one
wicket) with a economy rate of 5.40, but was also not used during these
overs.
During
these overs, Yuvraj Singh and M S Dhoni were batting. It is well known
Yuvraj Singh had been vulnerable against spin bowling with the moving
ball and his foot movements. MS Dhoni has failed in many instances, playing
against spin bowling, under pressure.
The
Spinners were replaced by fast bowling attack. Tissara Perera gave 12 runs in 2
overs, Lasith Malinga gave 14 runs in 2 overs and Nuwan Kulasekera
gave 18 runs in two overs. Why part-time spinner Dilshan and world best
spinner Murali were not used during death bowling? If Suraj
Randiv was effective in 3 overs, why others two spinners were ignored?
Did
any bad blood interfere with decision making on the field?
Though
some individual players achieved hallmarks, they cannot be ranked in the top
category of Captains like Arjuna Ranatunga.
Bakhtin, Mikhail
M.(1984). Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics. Translated by Caryl Emerson.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Breger, Louis.(1989).
Dostoevsky: The Author as Psychoanalyst, New York University Press.
Davison, R. M. (1999).Dostoevsky’s the Devils: A Critical Companion.
Edited by William J. Leatherbarrow. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern
University Press.
Deborah A.,
Maiorova, O.(2015). Dostoevsky in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. Dostoevsky, Fyodor. (1994).Crime and Punishment.
Trans. Constance Garnett. New York: Barnes & Noble Books.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor.
(2004), The Double: Great Short Works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, trans. George
Bird, Perennial, Classic Edition, HarperCollins Publishers, New York
Dostoevsky, Fyodor
(2009). Notes from Underground and The Double. trans. Ronald Wilks. London
& New York: Penguin Classics.
Frank, J. (2010).
Dostoevsky. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Freud, Sigmund.
Dostoevsky and Parricide” from The Collected Papers. Readings on
Fyodor Lantz, K.A.(2004). The Dostoevsky Encyclopedia. Westport:
Greenwood Press.
Pavlovic, R .,
Pavlovic, A. (2012).Dostoevsky and Psychoanalysis,” British Journal of
Psychiatry.
Let’s just imagine a scenario where the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka were given substantial autonomy to make its own decisions but remain within the ambit of what is oft described as a united Sri Lanka”. Let’s also imagine the present crisis that has enveloped the world causing over 470,665 deaths and affected over 9million people. Containing the spread of the virus has been the only successful method thus far. Let’s now imagine countries that have succeeded in containing the virus & those countries that have failed & probe why they have failed. The lessons to take from this is applicable to many more scenarios and which should clearly show Sri Lanka’s leaders as well as the general public why no form of federalism should be implemented in Sri Lanka.
USA has been the worst hit country with 122,247deaths and over 2million cases. One of the core reasons for the spread and the inability to curtail or contain the spread is that the federal states have their own laws and regulations and the mindset of the people have conformed to that thinking as well. So you have one set of states applying very rigid rules & regulations while another set of States going full liberal in allowing people to behave as they like. Not wearing the mask as a simple and basic requirement has resulted in a major increase in covid-19 and tragic fatalities.
South Carolina, Montana, Wisconsin and South Dakota do not require facial masks
Oklahoma, Ohio, Washington, Texas, North Carolina, Florida – part of state requires to wear face mask
Arizona, Georgia, Alabama, Colorado, Iowa only employees need to wear masks
Cases are rising in states that are not wearing masks.
But the crux of the argument is that in one country the varied laws & regulations is impacting on the whole country. In some cases, the politicization of the issue may likely create a bigger crisis.
Just to spite the republican ruling party leader of the country, imagine the opposing democratic party State head declaring that in his State people could do the exact opposite to what the country’s President declares!
Ultimately, the entire state will suffer and has suffered.
Fast forward to Sri Lanka, imagine a scenario if the type of federalism that TNA seeks which is essentially confederalism in nature existed during this corona crisis!
Will TNA head ruling the North wish to listen to the instructions given by the country’s President?
We know the measures and safeguards the Sri Lankan President, the health authorities and the Armed Forces, Police & intelligence agencies have taken to curtail and control the covid-19. What if the Northern Chief Minister rules that the armed forces, police or intelligence will have no role in the North’s covid-19 operations. What if a sudden spike in covid cases arose and the Chief Minister is too obstinate to seek help from the Centre, what if the Northern Chief Minister foolishly invites corona cases from Tamil Nadu to arrive without checking – the whole Northern Province would be made vulnerable by the TNA Northern Chief Minister just to play politics with the Centre. In so doing he is playing with the lives of the people and placing them in grave danger & death. When that happens what will he do, accuse the Centre of neglecting the North, ignoring his pigheaded obstinacy.
We have had 33 years of Provincial Council system brought in as a result of the 13thamendment. The PC’s have been given fund allocations but we can see that most of the development has been from the central government fund rather than the PC fund that has developed the provinces. Is there really any reason to continue with this system? In a small country like Sri Lanka we do not need the confusions and contradictions visibly taking place even in US and India.
The best example of federal hiccups was seen in India during the Mumbai terror attacks. It took a few days for the Centre to get permission from the State administrative apparatus to send in its elite troops to squash the terrorists. The delay resulted in unnecessary loss of life and kept entire populace in fear. Sri Lanka does not need to knowingly invite or walk into the same problems.
We have seen how inept and docile the Chief Ministers of North Sri Lanka have been since 2013 and they have done no magic for the people of the North except shed crocodile tears internationally on what has not been done. What they could have done but didn’t while they had the means to do is never spoken of.
In this present health pandemic, the country has 1 President who is steering the covid-19 operations together with a Task Force and Team comprising heath, public officials, army, police & intelligence and has successfully succeeded in curtailing, containing and controlling the spread of covid-19, shows we do not need 9 autonomous headaches with their laws & rules to worsen and destroy that success.
Even the citizens of US are angered in the manner fellow states opt not to wear masks jeopardizing the whole country & its people by their selfishness.
These are strong reasons why Sri Lanka must rethink whether to continue with the PC system as tied to it, are agendas and divisive programs that would impede Sri Lanka’s growth. Policy planners must wake up to the choke points that would be used by external elements as well as internal traitors and ensure those choke points are eliminated. Federalism is one such copied notion geographically unsuited for Sri Lanka, by a jobless few wanting to plug an ideology to give themselves relevance in politics.
Ideological concepts like federalism are practical chaos is what covid-19 has exposed.
Imagine federalism where even a MASK is debated for months at the cost of 122,247 deaths!
a dry canal-associated evergreen forest or canal forest, a new type of forest vegetation discovered from the ancient capital of Polonnaruwa in north-central Sri Lanka, courtesy of Magdon Jayasuriya.
A new type of forest ecology has been discovered from the ancient kingdom of Polonnaruwa in north-central Sri Lanka, centered around the irrigation canals abandoned there more than 700 years ago.
The unique new forest type closely resembles the riverine forests that are found alongside rivers and other bodies of water, but has a different species composition and vegetation structure.
Sri Lanka boasts a legacy of extensive ancient irrigation systems scattered within the island’s dry zone, raising the prospect of the discovery of more of these dry canal-associated evergreen forests.”
POLONNARUWA, Sri Lanka — For centuries, Sri Lanka’s ancient civilization diverted river water to large reservoirs and man-made canals for agriculture. After the collapse of the island’s hydraulic civilization about 700 years ago, these canals were abandoned. But water still flows through them today, nurturing a different type of vegetation.
That’s what plant ecologist Magdon Jayasuriya discovered when he examined one such abandoned ancient irrigation canal built between the 11th and 14th centuries, historically known as the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa. The canal was built to divert water from the Mahaweli River to a cascade of small reservoirs and farmlands scattered near what is today Somawathiya National Park.
The canal forest closely resembles a riverine forest or dry riverine evergreen forest, but differ in plant species diversity and characteristics. These differences may be because of factors ranging from the water flow, to the availability of groundwater, to the steepness of the banks, Jayasuriya told Mongabay.
Riverine forests
Riverine forests, found adjacent to bodies of water, are natural habitats with unregulated natural water flow. The canal forest, by contrast, would have experienced regulated and maintained water flow when the canal was in use, and a less uniform flow after its abandonment. The banks of the canal are also shallower than riverbanks due to seasonal strong and unregulated water flow creating more habitats in the latter and adding more diversity, according to the study.
The canopy of the canal forest appears shorter, too, at about 10-12 meters (33-40 ft), while river forests can grow to heights of about 20-25 m (65-82 ft).
The new forest type is dominated by Vitex leucoxylon, a tree known locally as nebada and which accounts for more than half of the vegetation. Terminalia arjuna, or kumbuk, a tree generally found in greater abundance within river forests, makes up only a fifth of the canal forest vegetation, the study says.
Ancient irrigation engineers used canals to divert water to cascading reservoir systems, retaining the water for irrigation purposes. Image courtesy of IUCN Sri Lanka.
Based on detailed analysis of the plant species found within this forest ecology, Jayasuriya said the Polonnaruwa area may have had savanna forests, though there is no direct evidence of such today. Hinting at the possibility of savanna forests in the past, Jayasuriya cites the presence of Tamilnadia uliginosa and Antidesma ghaesembilla trees, considered savanna species.
It is possible that over 700 years ago during pre-Polonnaruwa, this canal would have flowed through a savanna forest though it is not present today,” Jayasuriya said.
Jayasuriya said he had to take an uncomfortable tractor journey across Samawathiya National Park, lying in the flood plain of the Mahaweli River, to study this new vegetation type. Due to time constraints, I couldn’t fully study the forest. As Sri Lanka has lots of ancient irrigational canals and tanks, I’m sure canal forests would exist elsewhere as well, but would have been overlooked,” Jayasuriya said.
He called for further study of this vegetation type in Sri Lanka, with the support of both archaeologists and hydrologists.
The discovery of this new forest vegetation type after a long period is evidence of the possibility of many ecologically important discoveries waiting to be made,” Jayasuriya said, adding that young researchers in particular should delve into the field.
Citation:
Jayasuriya, A. H. M. (2019).A new forest vegetation type in Sri Lanka: Dry canal-associated evergreen forest. Ceylon Journal of Science,48(4), 375-381. doi:10.4038/cjs.v48i4.7679
The Attorney General has informed the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on political victimization that the process cannot be issued on his officers in terms of Section 16 of the Act.
Nine students of the University of Kelaniya have been arrested by the Police today (22) over the incident of removing CCTV cameras at the university premises in February, 2020.
On February 24, certain members of the Student Union of the University of Kelaniya had forcibly removed the CCTV cameras fixed at university premises for security purposes.
The Student Union had objected to the fixation of the cameras charging that this was done as a measure to control students.
After the removal of the cameras, the members of the Student Union had claimed responsibility for the action and stated that it had been done as a sign of protest.
The next day (February 25), the removed CCTV cameras had been returned to a point in the university.
On February 28, 04 university students, including a Buddhist monk, were remanded over the incident.
Opportunity is now open to commence productions in many sectors with the limiting of imports of several non-essential items, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said.
As pledged in “Saubhagyaye Dekma” policy statement the way has been paved for a people-centric production economy. The current challenge before the industrialists is to win the domestic and global market, President observed.
President made these comments during a discussion with the members of the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Industrial and Enterprise Development held at the Presidential Secretariat today (22).
At present there are several tasks before to be performed by businessmen. They include satisfying consumer needs, creation of new industries and introducing new technology to the country. President emphasized the importance of maintaining the highest possible level of standards in every product manufactured and every service provided in the country.
The Government apparatus is geared to assist the industrial sector. The ground work including the provision of loans at single digit interest rate has been laid. President Rajapaksa said he expects the industrialists to show results by manufacturing an array of goods ranging from brooms to medical drugs domestically.
Representatives of several fields including motor vehicle assembly industrialists, motor spare parts manufacturers association, packaging manufacturers, power cables industrialists, national marine manufacturers association, metal industrialists, leather industry advisory committee, rubber related products manufacturers association, advisory committee of electrical & electronic equipment, timber and timber-related products industrialists association, joint apparel association forum, apparel industrialists, cosmetic manufacturers association and advisory committee on the drug manufacturing attended in this meeting.
Minister of Industries, Wimal Weerawansa, Secretary to the President, P.B. Jayasundera and Ministry Secretaries participated in the discussion.
Police Inspector Neomal Rangajeewa of the Police Field Force Headquarters revealed at the Presidential Commission to Investigate Political Victimization that original evidence has disappeared regarding the Welikada Prison incident in 2012.
He also presented two CDs containing the voice of a drug dealer, Velesuda.
It was revealed today at the Presidential Commission probing into the Easter Sunday Attacks, that two ministers had attended the wedding of Ibrahim Ilham, a suicide bomber on Easter Sunday.
This was through a statement from Fatima Jeffery the mother in law of Ibrahim Ilham.
She testified before the commission that her youngest daughter, Fatima Jifri, married Ibrahim Ilham, a well-known businessman in Dematagoda in 2012.
She said that she remembers that the then Minister Rauf Hakeem and another Minister had come to the wedding ceremony.
However, she said that she could not recall who the other minister was and that she could check with her children if specific information is required.
The Catholic Church says it is deeply saddened and disturbed by the statement made by the former Parliamentarian Harin Fernando regarding the Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith.
This was in response to allegations made by the National List Member of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya, Harin Fernando at a meeting held at Polonnaruwa – Medirigiriya yesterday regarding Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith.
Harin Fernando said that Sajith Premadasa lost the Catholic votes due to the politics of his eminence the Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith.
However, the Catholic Church responded to this statement at a press conference held at the Archbishop’s House today.
The Rev. Dr. Cecil Joy, Director of the Daham Sevana Church in Kalutara, Rev. Fr. Camilles Fernando, Spokesperson of the Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Benedict Joseph the former Director of National Communications and Rev. Fr. Jude Chrishantha Fernando condemned the allegations.
Catholics in many areas including Negombo and Katuwapitiya expressed their displeasure over the statement made by Harin Fernando.
In addition, there is strong opposition from politicians and other parties regarding this statement of former MP Harin Fernando.
Dr. Sudath Gunasekara Former Secretary to Prime Minister Mrs Bandaranayaka and President Sri Lanka Administrative Services Association (1991-1994)
1 Abolition
of the Provincial Councils that have been a white
elephant breading and benefitting only politicians at provincial levels and
that has wasted billions or even trillions of public funds for the past 33
years with no benefit at all for the country or the people and has become a
political and Administrative disaster for this country, aggravating separatism
laying the foundation for a Federal State in this country. To continue a rotten
and devastative political machinery spending
billions that only multiplies a useless set of parasitic political rogues like
9 Governors, 5 Chief Ministers, another 36 Ministers and nearly 700 parasitic
politicians and 9 institutions called Provincial Councils wasting billions with
no service to the country at all when the whole nation is deeply sunk in a
national debt trap, where the debt ratio
to GDP stood at the end of 2018 at 80% and now it could be even 100%, is
disastrous for any country.
2 Abolishing
the Rajiv /JR Accord of 29 July 1987 whish has
almost nullified the Sri Lankan Constitution of 1987 reducing it to a mere
piece of useless demy paper by compelling us to
1) Accept the Northern and Eastern Provinces
as the Traditional Home land of the Tamils comprising 1/3 of the country and
2/3 of the coastal belt plus the marine resources for just less than 5 % of the
nation’s population who are claiming a separate Rata (EELAM) for Tamils, first for
the N&E provinces within this country and later to embrace the whole of Sri
Lanka that would finally form the Head Quarters of their dream world EELAM
Empire.
11) Making
Tamil also an Official Language in this country and
111)
Granting Sri Lankan Citizenship to all Estate Tamils contrary to the
Nehru/Kotalawala Pact of 1954 and
thereby paving the way for India to convert the entire Central Hill country of
this country in to an overseas Indian Protectorate in future.
(This is a total distortion of the history
of this land of the Sinhala Nation that was there for 2500 years and a criminal
and unprecedented betrayal of the Motherland and the Sinhala Nation by the
treacherous politicians in 1987 which has to be reversed at least now if we are
going to exist as a nation on this planet earth.)
3 Prohibit
all political parties based on Ethnicity, Language or Religion and have only
national political Parties.
.4 Reducing
the Cabinet to a maximum of 15 and the number of
Politicians in Parliament to 150 and abolish Pradesiya Sabhas and return to
Village Committees or Councils
5 Abolish the present District MP system and
PR system and revert to the old electoral system where we will again have true
representatives of the people in Parliament.
5 Abolition of Pensions and excessive privileges to politicians and
converting politics to a ‘Mahajana Sevayak and a Desa Sevayak” instead of the
present political culture of public exploitation and torment. Also do away with
Official vehicles to all; instead give them a loan to buy their own vehicles
and pay the mileage as it was done in the past.
6 Creation
of a new Political Culture by laying down minimum educational and other
qualifications like unblemished character, substantial wealth and a Strict Code
of Conduct to Politicians and making attendance in Parliament compulsory
7 Abolition
of the duty free car permit system to everybody
8
Abolish official vehicles to everybody and restore the old system of giving a
loan to purchase a vehicle to those who need to have a vehicle for their
official duties and have a vehicle pool at every Ministry, Department Kachchery
and Public Institution and improve the train service to make transport cheap
for public servants as well as the general public and avoid traffic congestion
and deaths on roads.
9 Pruning
exorbitant and overlapping Public institutionsand reducing overstaffed Public Service
to manageable levels to cut down public expenditure. At present there is one
public servant for every 16 people.
10 Ending
the menace of University ragging by addressing
their grievances and to convert the youth of this country to a dignified and
valuable asset for development.
11 Declaring
all lands over 5000 ft above Sea level as a strictly protected natural reserves
and prohibiting any form of settlement above 3500 ft MSL as it had been in the
past, to protect the water sheds of the country, as
rivers originating on these hills decide the entire life system and all
economic activities in this country like Agriculture, Hydroelectricity
potentials and all other industries the underpinning of human civilization on
this Island.
12 Making
Buddhism the State Religion as it had been
throughout history in this country
13 One country, One Nation, One Law, One official
Language one National Anthem, One National Flag
14 Need
for a clear Action Plan to solve the plight of the Kandyan Peasants (all Sinhalese) for 205 years (from 1815-2020) to rectify all
injustices done to them from 1815, not
attended to for the past 72 years by all Governments, although we are supposed
to have got some fake Independence in 1948 from the Colonial British.
15 Create
an independent efficient, productive and people centric Public service and
Judiciary free from Politics and Recruitments to Public Service and Judiciary
only on competitive exams and meritocracy to be the only criterion in selection
and appointment.
16 Prohibiting
all communal and religious Political Parties and replacing them with National
Political Parties [f you can’t think of a system to run the country without
political Parties imported from the colonial west and ending the tyranny of minority politics in this country wedded to a
One nation concept.
17
Formulate a National Plan generating avenues of self-employment
in the fields of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Industries, Shipping,
Aviation, trade and Commerce and Services instead of trying to pack all men and
women to an already excessive and unproductive government service that has
become a big burden to the national coffers and tax payers
18 Liberate
Foreign Service from inundating it with political appointments and replace it
with full time Professional men like USA and India and men and women who can
take Sri Lanka to the world and bring the whole world to Sri Lanka to develop
this country
19 Make
Sri Lanka number 1 in the world in Fishing Industry
by making use of the Indian Ocean that stretches from Africa in the West to
Australia in the East and South Pole in the South and making this country a major naval power in the world by using our
strategic location on the globe in relation to the Great East and West trade
routes and its enormous economic potentials of fabulous ports around the
Island. (The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world’s oceanic
divisions, covering 70,560,000 km² or 19.8% of the water on the Earth’s
surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west, and Australia
to the east)
20.To convert this country to
an International hub in Aviation, Shipping, trade, Banking and all kind of
Services to make this Island a world Giant making use of its strategic
location and god given resources both natural and Human.
21 Take
immediate action against Hindu and Muslim vandalism against Buddhist religious
places in the North and East and to take steps to protect those places and the
Monks living there.
22 Reduce
excessive public holidays (some years running in to 132) to world average of 12
per year and to limit religious holidays only to those who profess those
religionsto
save hundreds of millions of man days to boost development to catch up with the
competitive world
23 Restore Death Penalty immediately to
persons involved in drug dealing
24
Designation of Ministers should be confined to Cabinet Ministers and Deputies
only
25 A
national Planning Council and a Supreme national Advisory Council consisting of
non-political personalities
26 A new Constitution based on the
history, State craft, legal systems, cultural heritage and traditions and
customs of the 2500 year old civilization that suits this country best without blindly
following imported alien systems. That will end up with what is called A Civilization
State” as expounded by Martin Jacques in his When China Rules the World.
27 Ban the tragic House Maids trade with Middle East
countries that has completely ruined our culture and valued social fabrics and
reduced this country to a land supplying slave women to oil rich countries. And
replacing it with
a) Avenues of a dignified and safe
employment for them within the country and
b)
Start a programme of sending professionals and technicians as an
exportable item to earn foreign exchange, if the government cannot develop
other means of earning Foreign Exchange
28 Eliminate underworld and drug
lawlessness and restore Law and Order in the country
29 Ban all imports that affect
local production to develop agriculture and Industry
30 Deploy a vigorous incentive
scheme to motivate local industries, inventions and agriculture that will form
the sound foundation for economic development.
Realization of these objectives
entails far and wide structural changes in systems, institutions, education and
attitudes of people underpinning patriotism with the final goal of making Sri
Lanka the miracle of Asia at least.
By Noor Nizam – Peace and Political Activist, Political Communication Researcher, SLPP Stalwart and Convener – The Muslim Voice” & former Press and Information Officer – Presidential Secretariat (2011-2015), 20th., June, 2020.
The
above words of WISHES” will be the pillars of STRENGTH”, REALITY” and
FULFILLNESS” that will lead Sri Lanka, our Maathruboomiya” and Sri Lankans to
the goals and VISION” that HE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had laid down in his
Presidential election manifest – “Vistas of Prosperity and Splender”
in 2019 and that which will be carried through in the 2020 August general
election platform of the Sri Lanka People’s
Freedom Alliance (SLPFA).
The love of a brother towards his sibling President is
heartwarming to experience from the kind and compassionate words expressed by
former President and now Prime Minister, honouarble Mahinda Rajapaksa to his
brother HE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa – I wish for you wisdom, fortitude &
patience”. These words will be the pillars of STRENGTH”, REALITY” and
FULFILLNESS” that will lead Sri Lanka, our Maathruboomiya” and Sri Lankans to
the goals and VISION” that HE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Rajapaksa family
along with their teams will be striving in the years to come, to make it a
REALITY” to all Sri Lankans, the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers and
other minority communities who call Sri Lanka our home. On this occasion the
The Muslim Voice” on behalf of the Muslim Community who voted you at the 2019
Presidential elections wish the very best on the 71st., birthday today
to HE. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
In the view of the Muslims who shall support the SLPFA at the
next general elections, you have been selected by God AllMighty Allah to lead
the Nation of Buddhists/Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers and other minorities
towards Peace, Prosperity, Harmony and Dignity as a Sri Lankan Nation that will
set an example to the World in the coming years. May God AllMighty Allah
safeguard you from all evils, including political evils and give you all the
strength, vigour and support/cooperation of the Nation and our MAATHRUBOOMIYA”
to achieve your mission in life a success, with a 2/3 majority win for the Sri Lanka
People’s Freedom Alliance (SLPFA) at the August 2020 general
elections.
But the Lankan authorities had sat over the intelligence input, he adds
Colombo, June 21 (Ada Derana TV): Pakistan had shared with Sri Lanka, intelligence about the suspicious movements of Islamic terrorists before the Eastern Sunday bombings in the island in 2019, the Pakistan High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Maj.Gen (Rtd) Muhammad Saad Khattak, told a Lankan TV station.
Speaking to Ada Derana TV’s Indeewari Amuwatte in the Hyde Park programme, Gen.Khattak said that Pakistani intelligence agencies, which had been monitoring the movements and conversations of groups like the ISIS, had noticed movements of relevance to Sri Lanka and had promptly told the Lankan operators and the right authorities here about them, but no follow up action was taken by the Lankan side.
No information could be considered useless, Gen Khattak said and added that ignoring them would only enable Easter Sunday type attacks. Asked if there is not a place in Pakistan which serve as bases of such terror groups, Gen Khattak said that these groups were active at a time when the areas in which they operated were not quite under the control of the government of Pakistan. These were areas bordering (troubled) Afghanistan. Pakistan could not breed terrorism as it had itself been a victim of terrorism for 17 to 18 years, losing 70,000 people to this scourge. Pakistan has now regained control of the loosely administered areas, with the result there have been no terrorist attacks in recent times, the envoy said.
Pakistan is one with Sri Lanka in the latter’s fight against terrorism, Gen.Khattak said. The Defense cooperation between Pakistan and Sri Lanka is manifest in the fact that over 6000 Sri Lankan military personnel have so far been trained in Pakistan, he added.
Three suspects have been arrested by the Western Province Intelligence Unit over a drug racket operated within the Negombo Prison.
Investigations on a tip-off received that a narcotics racket is in operation at the Negombo Prison had led to the arrest of a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Sergeant attached to the Air Force Base in Katunayake at Seeduwa. Reportedly, 100 grams of heroin and 400 grams of Kerala Cannabis had been in the possession of the arrested officer.
Upon further interrogation, the wife and a brother of a Negombo Prison inmate who runs operation have been arrested as well, stated the Police Media Division.
Over two kilograms of Kerala Cannabis has been found with the suspects.
It has been revealed that the inmates who run the racket had regularly called the arrested wife and the brother using a mobile phone; and they had carried out the distribution of drugs based on the instructions received.
Further, the money received from the operations have been deposited into a bank account under the wife.
The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) submitted a report pertaining to the Easter Attacks of last year to the Fort Magistrate’s Court on Friday (19).
During the investigations, revelations have been made that 24 students were sent to a Madrasa in Puttalam by suicide bomber Zahran Hashim and his clan.
The report said that under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) the CID is conducting further investigations into Lawyer Hijaz Hizbullah.
According to the investigations that have been carried out so far, 07 phone numbers and 09 mobile phones were registered under Lawyer Hizbullah.
Revelations were also made on 24 children who were sent to the Al Suharia Madrasa in Puttalam through the ‘Save The Pearl Society’ where Lawyer Hizbullah held the title of chairman.
The CID told the Fort Magistrate’s Court that among the 24 students, 10 have identified Lawyer Hizbullah to have conducted lectures at the Madrasa, teaching them to hate other religions and races.
One student has given evidence saying that they were shown a video of an air force bombing and visuals of dead people by Mohamed Kasim Mohamed Zahran, who led the Easter Sunday terror attacks, Ilham Mohamed Ibrahim and Mohamed Ibrahim Naufer.
Another student, testifying on the matter, has said Lawyer Hizbullah had conducted lectures at the Madrasa. The student went on to say that the lawyer had shown them a video of the war between Israel and Palestine, saying that Israeli Christians had taken the mosques under control and the only way to make them scared is to attack the Christians in Sri Lanka.
The student also revealed that an individual named Hassir Naufer had conducted another lecture in the month of December 2018, stating that in Israel, it is taught that if one person dies another will remain, while pointing out that they should also learn the similar.
He has also stressed about their religion must be saved from Christians and working against the religion of Catholicism.
In the evidence given by the said student, it was further revealed that in January 2019, Zahran Hashim had arrived at the Madrasa to conduct a lecture. Zahran had told the children that he would help their families if they did as he said.
Saying that they must be willing to fight for their religion, Zahran had asked them who had the courage to fight to save the religion. When some of the children had responded that they are willing to do so, the principal had asked those who were not willing to leave.
Another student gave evidence saying that after school they were given training similar to that of the military.
The student had also identified Lawyer Hizbullah after his image was shown to him by the CID.
He also went on to say that Moulavi Rekaz had put him in a sack and continued to beat him as punishment for a mistake.
It was further revealed that people who called themselves Fesha Hajjiyar along with 4 other Arabs visited the Madrasa and handed out Rs. 3,000 to each student.
Another student who had given evidence, said speaking the Sinhala Language was prohibited in the Madrasa and doing so was met with punishment.
The student also stated that Zahran had visited the Madrasa quite a few times and that his brother Rilwan once dismantled a gun and a bomb during a demonstrating on how to fire them.
The principal of the Madrasa was present when Rilwan demonstrated how to use a gun, the testimony of another student revealed.
According to the CID report, in addition to suicide bomber Zahran Hashim, Ilham Mohamed Mohamed Ibrahim, Mohamed Jifry Fatima, Lawyer Hizbullah, Mohamed Azam Mohamed Mubarak and several others had also conducted workshops, lectures and training programs at the Madrasa.
Former Parliamentarian of the Samagi Janabala Wegaya Harin Fernando accuses that Sajith Premadasa lost the Catholic votes at the last Presidential Election owing to the Archbishop of Colombo his Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith.
He expressed this view at a public meeting in Medirigiriya in Polonnaruwa today.
The former MP claimed that he was appalled by the politicization of the Cardinal.
Samagi Janabalavegaya leader Sajith Premadasa says that every family will be given Rs 20,000 after they come to power. He was speaking at a public rally held in Kaduwela yesterday.
UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe states that since the 19th Amendment to the Constitution established the commissions, the suspects of the terrorist attack on Easter Sunday were quickly arrested with the assistance of the National Police Commission.
He made this statement participating at a meeting held today at Sirikotha party headquarters with a group of lawyers representing the party.
It
is curious how the unfortunate Sinhalese, to whom the credit of the decorations
(of a dance hall for a visiting British dignitary) was due, are always
overshadowed by the more widely known Tamils who are their fellow islanders.” – Ceylon in Early British
Times, J. P. Lewis, CMG, Government Agent of the Northern
Province. Left Ceylon in April 1910. Printed and published by the Times
of Ceylon Company, Ltd.
No
community in Sri Lanka has dehumanized their fellow-man and reduced him/her to
the lowest depths of wretched slavery as the Vellalas—the dominant casteist
elite of Jaffna — who ruled Jaffna with a fascist fist from feudal times. Nor
has any other leadership used its powers to massacre its own people on a mass
scale as the Tamil leaders. The first mass killer of Tamils was Sankili who
marched down to Mannar on the Christmas eve of 1544 and massacred 600 Tamils
for not recognising him as sole representative of the Tamils. As Catholics the
Mannar Tamils owed allegiance to the King of Portugal. The second mass killer
of Tamils was Prabhakaran, the first- born child of Vadukoddai (Batakotte)
Resolution, written and proclaimed by the Vellala leadership on May 14, 1976.
Based on the Saivite casteist ideology the Vellalas devalued and degraded their
own people, the non-Vellalas, to sub-human levels. The Vellala supremacists put
the knee to their necks and choked the oppressed Tamils under the hierarchical
Saivite casteist system, leaving hardly any oxygen for them to breathe.
Jaffna
Tamil political culture born out of (1) systemic oppression and persecution of
the non-Vellalas endorsed in the Thesawalamai , (2) Saivite
rituals that determined the Jaffna-centric lives from the womb to tomb,
and (3) casteist dogmas of the Vellala Guru, Arumuka Navalar who elevated
the Vellalas and anointed them as the God-given rulers of Jaffna, enabled the
Vellalas to tighten their grip on the peninsula. The Vellalas who monopolised
power and leadership – no one else was given space to counter their power –
wrote the darkest chapter in the history of Sri Lanka making Jaffna the
hell-hole of discrimination and oppression of Tamils by Tamils. In Gramscian
terms the Vellala hegemony concretised Vellala power which, in its last days,
turned into Tamil mono-ethnic extremism, which in turn turned into Tamil
nationalism” – the last refuge of the decadent and feudal Vellala casteists.
The
consequences of extreme Vellalaism had frozen Jaffna into a feudal gulag,
fenced by thatched cadjan leaves. Vellalism warped Jaffna society. In the last
days of the British raj, the Vellala hegemonists, moving reluctantly out of the
decadent and dying casteist framework into a class, were confused and were
casting around looking for a solid ideology to hold the Jaffnaites under their
hegemony. They realised that the two primary forces that sustained them —
feudal casteism and colonial patronage – were slipping out of their grip.
Besides, with market forces and modernity creeping into Jaffna, the Vellala
power-base run on hierarchical casteism, was losing its validity and the
Vellalas were fighting with their backs to the walls for survival. The
low-castes too were beginning to assert themselves.
But the
numerical superiority of the Vellalas (53%) gave them the upper hand. They were
also entrenched in their casteist bases because they owned the land, the
kovils, and schools. They were also in control of local councils and as
obedient subalterns to the ruling colonial masters, which made them close
partners in running the imperial regimes, they had accessibility to preserve
their privileges and push their agenda. Being at the peak of the hierarchical
Hindu-Saivism, the ruling ideology, also gave them the power to enforce the
rituals that controlled the daily behaviour of the Jaffnaites from the womb to
the tomb.
But by the
second decade of the 20th century Vellala supremacists were
beginning to feel the rising heat against Vellalaism. Creeping modernity was
undermining its feudal power. Besides the Vellalas were in the process of
transiting from a caste into a class. The norms, the bonds and the
Hindu-Saivite ideology that gave them power and held them together were coming
apart slowly but surely. The rise of the English-educated Jaffna youth in the
twenties against casteism and communalism was the first organised resistance to
Vellalaism. Retreating from feudalism into modernity was not easy. In the
twenties the Tamil youth were ready to make the great leap by abandoning
casteism, communalism and feudalism. But the counter-revolution came
swiftly from the Vellalas. G. G. Ponnambalam, who was thrown out of Jaffna,
returned by shaping the new Vellala agenda. He swung to the other extreme and
laid the foundations of anti-Sinhala-Buddhist racism with his demand 50-50”
for 12% of Tamils. The very first racial riot was sparked by Ponnambalam’s
provocative anti-Sinhala-Buddhist speech in Navalapaitiya in June 1939.
The
English-speaking Saivite Jaffna Vellala leaders, who were ensconced comfortably
in the British administration, were confused and looking for a way out. They never
took to liberalism, humanism, socialism, pluralism, multiculturalism etc. Not
even nationalism. They were only out to protect and consolidate the threatened
power of the Vellalas. Their first reaction was to ask for one extra seat for
the Vellala elite in the Western Province causing the first Constitutional
crisis when Governor Manning was in the process of reconstituting the
constitution of the Legislative Council. The demand for an extra had nothing to
do with Tamil nationalism”. In fact, one Tamil Legislative Councillor argued
that the extra seat was needed to represent the Tamils who had settled down in
the Western province to ensure their Thesawalamai rights.
It was a
time when nationalism was rising right across the colonised world. It was the
rage in India. But the Vellala leaders were obsessed with only preserving their
casteist rights encoded in the Thesawalamai – the Bible of the Vellalas. Tamil
nationalism”, which would have meant an independent movement pushing a
separatist agenda, never featured either in their rhetoric or their ideology.
The Vellala leadership was jockeying for Vellala casteist rights encoded
in the Thesawalamai and not for the rights of the Tamils which would have
meant going into partnership with the low-castes. Nationalism involved a
substantial cross-section of the population. But the Vellalas consistently
spoke only for the Vellalas and not for the low-caste non-Vellalas.
As everyone
knows, the non-Vellala low-castes were excluded from Vellala society as pariahs,
outcasts. Besides, in India, one of the key items in the nationalist movement
was against oppressive casteism. Nationalism went all out to embrace all layers
of society. The Vellalas wouldn’t have a bar of it. The Vellalas did not demand
an extra seat in the name of the oppressed low-caste. They asked for it only as
a demand of the Vellalas by the Vellalas for the Vellalas. Later they would
classify it as the grievances, demands and aspirations” of the Tamils.
Pro-Tamil propagandists are now trying to interpret this demand for an extra
seat for the Vellalas as the first signs of the birth of Tamil
nationalism”. But it was the first move of the Vellalas to demand a
disproportionate share of power to be equal with the majority. It was a naked
grab for power by the Vellala elite as seen in the demand for 50” per cent
share of power for 12 % of the population. In fact, the Vellala leaders who
were unable to justify the disproportionality of the demand for 50% for a
minority of 12% argued that 50 percent” demand was not for Tamils only but for
all minorities. But Tamil nationalism” as it turned out was for the Vellala
elite only.
Consider
also the launch of the separatist movement by S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, the
father of Tamil separatism. It was not done in Jaffna – the heartland of
the Tamils, as they claim. On December 18, 1949 he launched it in the
Government Clerical Service Union in Maradana. He was addressing the
English-educated Vellalas who dominated the public service. When he cried
discrimination” he meant jobs for the Vellala boys in the government service
and not the Tamils – a medley of Tamil-speaking people with characteristic
regional and cultural differences. Chelvanayakam’s federalism”,
self-determination”, Eelam” etc., were ideological labels minted to cover-up
Vellala hegemony that denied he non-Vellalas their basic rights and rally
the oppressed masses around them by pretending to be their saviours when in
reality their main political objective was to use them as cat’s paw to retain their
traditional casteist power, prestige, positions and perks. When in the last
lines of the Vadukoddai (Batakotte) Resolution they urged the Tamil youth to
take up arms and never cease until they achieved Eelam they meant that the
Vellala elders were going to ride on the backs of the youth to power.
Since they
could no longer rule Jaffna on an outdated ideology of casteism in the 20th
century the decadent and feudalistic Vellalas latched on to mono-ethnic
extremism, crying that the end of the Tamil language and culture is coming.
They wrapped themselves round Tamil nationalism” targeting Sinhala-Buddhist as
their bogeyman. They could no longer lay claims to the divine right to rule
Jaffna on Saivite casteism. But they could claim legitimacy as defenders and
saviours of the Tamil language and culture which cut across caste divisions.
The dying
caste resurfaced as a class, retaining their feudal power, as Tamil
nationalists’. It worked for them. They had survived in electoral
politics of the post-Donoughmore period only by demonising the
Sinhala-Buddhists. Success in Jaffna politics depended on how effective each
political party was in demonising their Tamil rivals with anti-Sinhala-Buddhist
hate politics. Those who ran the most effective anti-Sinhala-Buddhist hate
campaign won the day. No political ideology that went outside the
Vellala-dominated, mono-ethnic extremism targeting the Sinhala-Buddhist had any
chance of surviving in the electoral politics of Jaffna.
From the
beginning of ethnic rivalry, beginning with the one-seat demand in the 1920s,
the Vellala leadership paraded on the political stage with unwarranted
arrogance. Their arrogance rose to the point of claiming to be one of the two
majorities. Prof. K. M. de Silva in his brilliant analysis of the split in the
Ceylon National Congress wrote that Arunachalam shared the prevailing opinion
that the Tamils were not a minority but were one of two majority communities.”
(p.113 – Ceylon National Congress in Disarray, 1920 – 1: Sir Ponnambalam
Arunachalam leves the Congress” ; The Ceylon Journal of Hisotiral and
Social Studies Vol ii, July-Decemeber, 1972, No.2) , K. C. Nithiyandanda,
the Secretary of the then powerful Government Clerical Service Union, (the
uncle of Douglas Devananda), summed it up when he told me: You govern, we
rule!”. He meant that the Tamils had the tools of the
administration (the executive – the public service) in their hands to rule
while the Sinhalese had the political power in the legislatures to govern.
Arunachalam
split the National Congress by pushing a claim for an extra seat for the Tamils
in the Western province, in addition to the seats given to them in North. (See
Prof. K. M. de Silva’s incisive analysis cited above). The Vellala leadership
never stopped increasing their demands since then. They had increased their
demands from one seat in the Legislature of 1920 to Federalism (meaning 2/3rd
of the North-Eastern coastline and its hinterland (Eelam)) in 1940-50s.
Mark you,
on the eve of independence (1948) the English-speaking Saivite, Jaffna Vellalas
(SJVs) were the most powerful and privileged community in Sri Lanka. Holding
key and disproportionate positions in the public service, professions, economy,
elevated them to commanding heights of power. When the sun was going down over
the British Empire the Tamil father in Jaffna was reaping the harvest of the
son shining in Colombo. The young English-speaking Vellalas who colonised
Colombo suburbs like Wellawatta(m), were highly priced items in the Jaffna
marriage market. In Jaffna the Vellala landowners and political manipulators
closed the doors of the peninsula to prevent the other” (asangha) from
entering their domain. When they replaced casteism with mono-ethnic extremism,
they withdrew into their domain excluding outsiders behind the ubiquitous
cadjan curtain. They resisted the slow but steady invasions of Marxism, which
swept the South, and stopped it before it could cross the Jaffna lagoon. They
successfully blocked the invasion any non-Vellala ideology from crossing the
Jaffna Lagoon into the peninsula.
The
Vellalas succeeded in retaining Jaffna as their exclusive domain. But while
they kept Jaffna as a mono-ethnic enclave, they had no compunction in
colonising the south demanding more jobs, space and power. They were, for
instance, demanding pluralism and diversity in the south while excluding any
outsiders from stepping into Jaffna. Though the Marxists emerged as the biggest
threat to the state in the early forties, the Vellalas soon outstripped them
and turned into the most divisive and disastrous force in the post-Independent
era.
The
Left-wing petered out with the collapse of the Marxist morons in the JVP who
misled the Sinhala youth into a premature death. But the Vellalaism gathered
momentum as they incrementally escalated their demands pushing mono-ethnic
politics to the extreme end of the political spectrum. At its height Vellalaism
turned into the most critical factor in the post-independent decades. Though
they spread their tentacles down South, going right into the heart of Colombo,
they never abandoned Jaffna as their base – the only enclave that gave them all
the casteist privileges in the Thesawalamai.
With one
foot in the Thesawalamai North, where their laws prevailed, and the other in
the South the Vellalas consolidated their power to the maximum possible limit.
No other force had challenged the democratically elected state at the centre as
the Vellalas. They were the most formidable force that motivated, directed,
financed and organised their political children, the Tigers, to form a state
within a state. Without the Vellala backing the Tigers would have crumbled soon
after they began killing their fellow-Tamils (e.g., Alfred Duraiyappah) in the
seventies. Whether it is inside Jaffna, or outside the Jaffna, or even in the
Diaspora it is the Vellalas who ran the agenda for the Tamils. At the core of
all Tamil politics there is an omnipresent Vellala. The financing,
internationalising, propagandising, were all done by the Vellalas, taking cover
in safe havens in the West. The non-Vellala Prabhakaran and his gang merely
carried out the killing, torturing, persecuting and the general leg work for
the Vellalas who were manipulating the Vadukoddai agenda in the background. It
is the Vellala global networking and lobbying that enable them to rise as the
deadliest terrorist force” (FBI).
Clearly, no
other political group had organised themselves into destructive juggernaut as
the Vellalas. The failure to factor in the Vellalas as the overdetermining force
that exacerbated the North-South relations distorted the political realities
beyond recognition. Their monopoly of power inside the peninsula and their
capture of the commanding heights of power in the state bureaucracy,
professions and private sector in the South enabled them to manipulate national
politics, particularly to project and propagate the Vellala grab for power as
the Tamil nationalism”. Besides, the key issues in the Vellala agenda which
were presented as Tamil grievances,” Tamil aspirations” and Tamil demands”
had nothing to do with the basic issues of non-Vellala Tamils of Jaffna, nor
the Tamil-speaking people in the East, Central Hills or in the Muslim
community.
This is
only a miniscule fragment of the unwritten, untold history of Jaffna that
exacerbated North-South relations. It was the Vellalas who prepared, organised,
internationalised and financed the forces that led to the futile war declared
by them in the Vadkoddai Resolution. It was they who violated the crime against
peace – the first charge faced by the Nazi criminal at the Nuremberg trials.
They committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. Most of all crimes
against their people. And it is the Vellala moralists who are demanding justice
from the world. This is like the Nazis demanding justice from the
Jews!
Readers would note that the focus so far has
been exclusively on the Vellalas and not on the Tamils. Tamils, as defined
later by Chelvanayakam to increase his electoral clout, included all
Tamil-speaking people. It included the Batticoloa Tamils in the East, the
Indian Tamils of the central hills, the Tamil-speaking Muslims located mainly
in the East and Western coast. I took care to separate the Tamils from the
Vellalas because they had categorised themselves as a superior caste who
excluded some of the Tamils. Since they elevated themselves from the rest of
the Tamils with their arrogance and with notions of casteist supremacy,
ostracising the their fellow Tamils as pariahs / untouchables, they
should be considered as a separate society entity with a political agenda of
their own. They were the prime decision-makers at the top. They belong to
an exclusive political class. As revealed by Jane Russell (Communal
Politics Under the Donoughmore Constitution, 1931 to 1947) the low
castes were kept out of the Vellala political circles that made the key
decision. The Vellalas virtually monopolised power, wealth, and privileges,
including front row seats in the Church!. Chelvanayakam began his separatist
campaign only with the Vellalas in the Government service. Only they had
the internal and external political network, manipulative skills, the
experience and the connections to organise and pull the levers of power. I use
the word Tamil in the larger sense to include the low-castes. The
Vellalas I consider to be a parasites who sucked the blood out of the
Tamils to protect and nurture their own self-interests.
Even though
the Vellalas maintained their distinct identity in practically every area, they
were conscious of the political need to liaise with all the Tamil-speaking
people to increase their political clout in the electorates. In fact, S.
J. V. Chelvanayakam, the father of Tamil separatism, realising the need to form
a Pan Tamil front to present a formidable Tamil force to confront the
Sinhalese, launched the Iyakkum (movement) of Tamil
Payasoom Makkal (the Tamil-speaking people) trying to create a unity
of all Tamil-speaking people in the whole island inclusive of the
Tamil-speaking Muslims.” (p.70, S. J. V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of
Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism (1947 – 1977), by A. J. Wilson, son-in-law
of Chelvanayakam). The non-Vellallas realised soon that the Tamil
grievances”, Tamil aspirations” and the Tamil demands” of the Vellala
Vadukoddians had no relevance to their political circumstances, grievances,
aspirations or needs and they left the Iyakkum for the
Vellalas to run it.
This is
also meant to be a prelude to examine Dayan Jayatilleka’s political science.
Like all political scientists / commentators he has never factored in the most
evil and destructive force that came out of Jaffna to exacerbate North-South
inter-ethnic relations. In fact, his writings have never shown any in-depth
knowledge of the Vellala factor that made all the difference to peaceful
co-existence of the nation. He is shedding copious tears to the Tamil
aspirations”, Tamil grievances”, and Tamil demands” which originated from the
most privileged bloc in Sri Lanka. As a Marxist he is rooting for the most
exploitative, cruel, oppressive caste/class in the history of the nation. What
is his knowledge of Marxism worth when he can’t distinguish between oppressors
and the oppressed? Can he explain how the alleged issue of job discrimination
in government service affected the non-Vellala low-castes in Jaffna who were
not even allowed to drink water from the Vellala wells? If he were to shed
tears should it have been for the Vellala priviligentsia or the persecuted
Tamil slaves kept under subhuman conditions by the Vellala oppressors?
The history
of the Vellalas dovetails neatly into the Marxist and Gramscian models of a
ruling class distorting and exploiting ideology to hang on to power. Clearly,
Dayan has shown no originality in his thinking. He is parroting Tamil
propaganda which is sophomoronic. He takes to anti-Sinhala-Buddhist hate
politics because he has not done his homework. He must have read the Prison
Notebooks of Gramsci. But how many books on Tamil history has he read?
In expectorating anti-Sinhala-Buddhist hatred, without analysing the dialectics
of history which rejects mono-causal theories, he comes down to the level of a
perverted intellectual whose best efforts are in displaying his colossal
ignorance garnished as profound political philosophy.
What
happened to the dialectics of the Marxists whose interpretations of history is
based on the clash of thesis and anti-thesis? Dayan, the Marxist, is now writing
history as the sound that comes out of a clap with one hand? Like the other
commentators he is blaming only the Sinhala-Buddhists. It is time that
smug theoretical humbugs like Dayan gave up theorising for the world to regain
its normalcy, sanity and peace.
Engr. Kanthar Balanathan DipEE (UK), GradCert(Rel-Eng-Monash), DipBus&Adm(Finance-Massey), CEng. MIEE (UK) Former Specialist Engineer, Power & Control, NRG-GPS Australia
This article
focusses on Australian MPs, in particular, Labour Party members as to why they
have a soft corner for Tamils and Tamil refugees who are domiciled in NSW. It
is seen that this may be to attract votes. Tamils have a shrewd strategy where
they approach foreign politicians and brainwash them to talk about genocide, discrimination
and oppression and human rights violation. This is a tactical move by Tamils
use to coerce and damage SL image and reputation. Those MPs do not realise that
they are violating Human Rights in Sri Lanka and Australia, by instigating and
triggering ethnic differentials, economic progression and peaceful environment
by intoxication and indoctrination.
Western Sydney
University; A statue of Scholar poet Thiruvalluvar was to be erected in the
campus, if correct, of the Western Sydney University in 2019. Quote ref: https://m.facebook.com/hugh2019/posts/2820219784673494
In the perspective
of Justice, let me ask a question: What has Thiruvallluvar got to do with the
Australians? Is it necessary for Australians to view the statue of a person
whom they do not know? If Tamils do not know about Thiruvalluvar, then they can
buy the text of the said Poet and read. That’s what I have done. I am a
patriotic Australian. How much of
dollars is the state government(s) spending on grants to Tamil Diaspora? E.g.
Seniors, Hindu association, building temples, Associations, Congresses etc.
These funds could be diverted to Childcare, aged care, education, Medicare, sports,
research, etc where Australians will
benefit.
What is Social Justice?;
Quote; justice in terms of the distribution of wealth,
opportunities, and privileges within a society.” individuality gives way
to the struggle for social justice”
Distribution of
wealth shall bet through governmental services and not private social get-together
bodies because it will be considered ethnic and leave room for corruption.
Question: In
a few years, the Tamil Diaspora may approach the university to construct a
statute of Vellupillai Prabakaran, the leader of LTTE. Will the management
approve? More than the approval, the Tamils may approach through another
politician.
Point #3
Why not erect
the statue of the English scholar, Shakespeare”? Shakespeare is known internationally
and by all people in all countries.
Point #4
If approached would
the management approve a statue of a leading SriLankan person? The person is:
Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera
Quote: Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera (1408 – 1491)[4] was a Buddhist monk and an eminent scholar,[5] who lived in the 15th century in Sri Lanka.[1] He was a polyglot who was given the title “Shad Bhasha
Parameshwara” due to his mastery in six oriental languages which
prevailed in the Indian subcontinent.[6]Sangharaja Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera was also a
distinguished author, veteran astrologer and a proficient ayurvedic physician.[1]Quote ref:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thotagamuwe_Sri_Rahula_Thera
This is only an
example.
Point #5
In the seventies,
the GOSL introduced standardisation for entry to Universities, which limited
the number of Tamil students to enter Universities. Armed resistance and Terrorism
gave birth from the younger quarters because of the standardisation. This was
during Srimavo’s period through Badi-ud-din
Mahmud as Minister for Education.
However, in Sydney, the opposite
practice has given birth. Tamil has been introduced as a twelfth year subject
to make it easy for the Tamil students to enter Medical and E” faculties. The
marks scored would be high and hence the aggregate is high which allows the
student to enter the faculty. If standardisation is Racism” then, it may be
considered that this act is also Racism.
It cannot be
expected from the Australian quarters to allow such practice which only happens
in NSW.
Point #6
Unemployment
figures may rise during this COVID-19 endemic period. NSW has allowed engaging
Tamil teaching teachers to teach year 12 Tamil Language which is against norms
and discriminatory to other races. Question is-What is the Tamil Language rich
in like that of French is rich in Chemistry”.
Point #7
Issuing letters
and circulars in the Tamil Language in certain Council areas. This will result
in an act by the NSW government to limit the progress of Tamils in English
Language and life. Tamils are here to stay as Australians and not as Tamils.
There shall not be a Tamil Eelam in Australia. All shall achieve competency and
proficiency in the English Language which is a Universal Language. By
introducing such measures, the NSW government may be impairing the reputation
of the English language. Maybe the reason is that most of the migrants in this
area are illiterates and boat migrants.
The
organisations and associations do not care, but selfish for their achievement
and popularity.
It is the state
government who shall be careful enough to guide and direct the citizens in the
correct path.
It is an appeal
not to introduce RACISM” and ethnic differentials in Australia. There shall be
only one language spoken, written, and communicated and that can only be English
Language and one race which is Australian”
The page
consists of a large number of heavy weapons manufactured/ purchased by the
terrorist group LTTE. These were not manufactured for tourism purpose. These
were manufactured to kill people, state machinery and assets. Can any country
raise their hands and say that they will tolerate such acts and give in to the
demands of the LTTE? GOSL had every right to protect its sovereignty and wipe
out terrorism. The truth is hidden from the rest of the world. The last picture
indicates how the LTTE controlled areas were shrunk into Mullivaykal.
Point #9
In the North
killing by rowdies and thieves is being carried out. Drug smuggling, attack on
women and theft in houses are common. What have the Labour MPs and TDs got to
say about this.
