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විශ්රාමික මේජර් ජෙනරාල් කමල් ගුණරත්න – ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්
ලුතිනන් ජෙනරාල් ශවේන්ද්ර සිල්වා – යුද හමුදාපති
අද්මිරාල් ඔෆ් ද ෆ්ලීට් වසන්ත කරන්නාගොඩ – හිටපු නාවික හමුදාපති
මාර්ෂල් ඔෆ් ද එයාර්ෆෝස් රොෂාන් ගුණතිලක – හිටපු ගුවන් හමුදාපති
It’s now bordering the ridiculous when foreign MPs are muttering ‘genocide’ without stopping to actually ask a basic question – how many actually died or were killed. It is ludicrous of them to be parroting ‘genocide’ for killing ‘terrorists’ even banned by their countries. As for ‘civilians’, to claim genocide, surely we must know how many civilians died or were killed. The simplest method to ascertain that is if those mourning their dead can at least produce the names of the supposed dead, or a police complaint that they are still missing. However, in the absence of all these basic facts – groups of people have got some white men and women foreign MPs to be parroting ‘genocide’ across the world. This is now looking rather hilarious when it is clear that they are being used to commemorate LTTE dead.
Fundamental questions to answer
How many civilians died or were killed during the final phase of Sri Lanka’s conflict?
– We need to have a number
– We need to know their names
Were they really civilian (by international definition)
– Rules of War clearly define who a civilian is. Therefore, no one who had been engaged in hostilities can claim to be a civilian.
– The distinction of a civilian is blurred by LTTE because some LTTE fought in civilian attire,
– LTTE had its own civilian clothed army, LTTE recruited (forcefully/voluntarily) civilians
Thus,
– Any LTTE fighting in civilian clothing and getting killed is NOT A CIVILIAN
– Any LTTE member of the LTTE CIVILIAN ARMY is NOT A CIVILIAN
– Any Civilian who died engaged in hostilities IS NOT entitled to claim to be A CIVILIAN
LTTE must take blame for blurring the distinction of ‘civilian’ afforded to civilians in an armed conflict and by Geneva Conventions.
Thus, 3 groups not entitled to be called civilian are
But, we must know how many died in the above groups too.
Thereafter, we come to the all-important question – how many civilians who were not members of the LTTE, who did not engage in any form of hostilities with the army, who did not die from natural causes were killed?
Answering this is not easy, because LTTE fired and killed fleeing civilians.
How many of these civilians, fleeing LTTE, were shot & killed by LTTE?
These deaths cannot be credited to the Sri Lanka Army.
For anyone to claim ‘genocide’ accusing a national army of killing civilians must answer the above questions first.
The Sri Lanka Armed Forces can only be accused of killing civilians who were not LTTE firing in civilian clothing, civilians in LTTE CIVILIAN ARMY, civilians who temporarily engaged in hostilities)
What is this number? Do they have facts to prove so?
What has happened since 2009, is that even the international pundits in the UN and UNHRC without answering these fundamental and basic questions are allowing the usage of the term ‘genocide’ unfairly against a National Army, who was only doing their duty in protecting the Nation and its People from an armed non-state actor indulging in terror.
Until such time those making allegations can prove by name and number as well as evidence that Sri Lanka Armed Forces purposely and with intent killed civilians, no charges against the Sri Lankan Armed Forces should be entertained and the GoSL must make this very clear to the foreign governments.
We also see quite a lot of commemorations by Tamil groups across the world.
Are they commemorating LTTE dead or Civilians?
Obviously, the reason why they are hesitant to give names and numbers is that the moment they give a name, Sri Lanka’s intelligence will be able to determine if
A recent report that did forward some names were all LTTE asylum seekers or runaway LTTE and this is possibly why the LTTE fronts are reluctant to name anyone as dead for it will expose their lies.
As a result, they are more than happy to fund foreign MPs to mutter ‘genocide’ and in turn become a laughing stock over social media as was seen in the manner people were ridiculing Mayor in Canada, MPs in UK & Australia.
ARMY DEAD
As per the report by Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (2011)
(note: adding 169 to the 5556 makes 5725 deaths)
LTTE DEAD
As per the report by Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (2011)
This 10,435 LTTE dead CANNOT be put as CIVILIAN DEAD
Therefore, the GoSL must conclude identifying and naming this 10,435 LTTE dead and ensure these names are not quoted by any groups claiming Sri Lanka killed civilians.
Therefore, Robert Blake, Siobhain McDonagh, Gordon Weiss, Charles Petrie, Times of London, Amnesty International, Alan Keenan, UK Guardian must be able to answer all above questions before blurting numbers unfairly alleging Sri Lanka Armed Forces.
What cannot be overlooked is the figures given with facts – the names of these must be used to verify against the names that may be duplicated to present ‘dead’ civilians
The Presidential Commission of Missing Persons listed 23,586 missing as of 2017 (covering 1982 to 2009), of which 5000 are missing Sri Lankan soldiers.
Who are the 18,586 in the Missing Persons Commission? (are they all Tamil or people belonging to other communities)
Are they still missing – how many are living overseas as refugees, how many are LTTE and fled overseas? Who can answer? GoSL must seek lists of refugee seekers by name through foreign ministry from respective countries.
The ‘Missing’ issue also poses further questions
All those crying crocodile tears commemorating Mullaivaikkal dead – please let us know how many LTTE dead you are mourning – that the Mullaivaikkal commemorations are for LTTE is visible by the emblems and decorations used.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maaveerar_Naal– LTTE flowers used during Maaveerar Naal commemorating dead LTTE. Tamils in UK universities commemorating this event & emblems used is further highlighted https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/british-tamil-students-hold-maaveerar-naal-tributes%C2%A0
Can these Canadians answer the above questions
Can UK’s Foreign Secretary Dominique Raab,
Surely, these foreigners should not make a fool of themselves making statements without knowing facts. The commemorations claiming them to be ‘genocide day’ ‘Mullaivaikkal commemoration’ ‘Remembrace Day’ etc is only to mourn the DEAD LTTE and no one else.
Shenali D Waduge
On the 19th of May we mark the 11th anniversary of the victory against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. That was not a war against the Tamil people but against an organization designated by the FBI as the deadliest terrorists in the world. Due to the defeat of the LTTE, Tamil people are now free to live as they wish. Tamil children are no longer forcibly recruited by the LTTE. Tamil politicians no longer live in fear of LTTE assassins. Furthermore, due to the absence of the LTTE, elections can be held in the Northern and Eastern provinces and that has safeguarded the sovereign rights of the people of those provinces.
The armed forces and police that amazed the entire world by winning what was widely considered to be an unwinnable war, are now once again engaged in a joint operation with the state health sector in combating Covid-19. All indications are that Sri Lanka is winning the battle against Covid -19 as well. The frontline role played by the armed forces and police in working with the general public, has undoubtedly been of immense help to the health sector in bringing the spread of Covid-19 under control in the present manner.
This once again reminds all of us that the armed forces and police are the sentinels of the nation, ensuring the safety of the general public in all crises whether man-made or natural – whether the crisis be terrorism, floods or disease. In this context, I wish to condemn in the strongest possible terms, the attempt being made by the yahapalana political parties to create an artificial social dichotomy between ‘military’ and ‘civilian’. If a retired member of the armed forces is appointed to some position in the government, that is being portrayed by the opposition as ‘militarization’. A person who has retired from the armed forces is a civilian and no longer a member of the military.
Furthermore, the Ranaviru constituency is now an integral part of the Sangha, Weda, Guru, Govi, Kamkaru social line up of former times. So whenever we happen to be in power, there will always be former members of the armed forces and police holding various positions in the government. We must always be mindful of the historic role that the armed forces and police have played in this country in safeguarding the peoples’ sovereignty based on universal franchise by defeating all attempts to destroy the democratic system of government.
On this 11th Anniversary of the war victory that amazed the whole world, I wish to reiterate that the manner in which the yahapalana government betrayed our armed forces internationally and the vicious manner in which they persecuted both retired and serving members of the armed forces have not been forgotten. We once again pledge that justice will be done to all those who faced humiliation and persecution under the yahapalana government.
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Prime Minister
දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි සංවිධානයට එරෙහි යුද ජයග්රහණයේ එකොළොස් වන සංවත්සරය අපි මැයි 19 වන දා සමරන්නෙමු. එය දෙමළ ජනතාවට එරෙහි යුද්ධයක් නොව ඇමරිකාවේ එෆ්.බී.අයි ආයතනය විසින් ලෝකයේ දරුණුම ත්රස්තවාදීන් හැටියට නම් කරනු ලැබූ සංවිධානයකට එරෙහි යුද්ධයක් විය. කොටි සංවිධානයේ පරාජය නිසා දෙමළ ජනතාවටද දැන් නිදහසේ ජීවත් වීමට ඉඩ ලැබී ඇත. දෙමළ ළමුන් දැන් කොටි සංවිධානය විසින් පැහැරගෙන යන්නේ නැත. දෙමළ දේශපාලනඥයින් කොටි ඝාතකයන්ට බියෙන් ජීවත් වන්නේ නැත. කොටි සංවිධානය පරාජය කිරීම තුළින් උතුරු නැගෙනහිර පළාත්වලත් මැතිවරණ පැවැත්වීමට හැකිවීම නිසා එම ප්රදේශවල ජනතාවගේ පරමාධිපත්ය බලයද නැවතත් තහවුරු වී ඇත.
කොටි සංවිධානයට එරෙහි යුද්ධය ජය ගැනීමෙන් මුළු ලෝකයම මවිත කළ ඒ ත්රිවිධ හමුදාව හා පොලිසිය අද කොවිඩ්-19 උවදුරට එරෙහිව සෞඛ්ය අංශත් සමග ඒකාබද්ධ මෙහෙයුමක නිරත වී සිටි. මේ අවස්ථාවේ සියලුම කරුණු වලින් පෙනෙන්නේ ශ්රී ලංකාව කොවිඩ්-19 සටනින්ද ජයග්රහණය කරමින් සිටින බවයි. මහජනතාව අතර රෝගය පැතිරීම වැලැක්වීමට ත්රිවිධ හමුදාව හා පොලීසිය සිදුකරන පෙරමුණු බළඇණි කාර්යභාරය, කොවිඩ්-19 රෝගය මේ ආකාරයට පාලනය කිරීමට සෞඛ්ය අංශ වලට අතිමහත් පිටිවහලක් වූ බව අවිවාදාත්මකය.
මෙයින් නැවත වතාවක් තහවුරුවන කාරණය වන්නේ ත්රස්තවාදයක්, ගංවතුරක්, හෝ වසංගතයක් වේවා, සෑම ආපදා අවස්ථාවකම ත්රිවිධ හමුදාව පොදු මහජනතාව සුරකිමින් පෙරමුණේ සිටින බවයි. මේ නිසා, අපේ සමාජය තුළ ‘සිවිල්’ හා ‘මිලිටරි’ වශයෙන් කෘතිම භේදයක් ඇති කිරීමට යහපාලන දේශපාලන පක්ෂ අද ගනිමින් සිටින දුෂ්ඨ උත්සාහය මම හෙලා දකිමි. කුමක් හෝ තනතුරකට ත්රිවිධ හමුදාවෙන් විශ්රාම ගිය නිලධාරියකු පත් කළහොත් එය ‘මිලිටරිකරණයක්’ හැටියට ඔවුන් හඳුන්වති. ත්රිවිධ හමුදාවෙන් විශ්රාම ගිය අයෙකු සිවිල් පුරවැසියෙකු මිස හමුදා සාමාජිකයෙකු නොවේ. එදා සිටි සඟ, වෙද, ගුරු, ගොවි, කම්කරු බලවේගයට අද රණවිරු පාර්ශවයත් එක්වී සිටි. එමනිසා අපේ ආණ්ඩුවක් බලයේ සිටින විට ආරක්ෂක හමුදාවල හිටපු සාමාජිකයන් අනිවාර්යෙන්ම ආණ්ඩුව තුළ විවිධ තනතුරු දරණු ඇත.
ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදී ක්රමයට පිටින් පැමිණි සියලු අභියෝග පරාජය කොට මේ රටේ ජනතාවගේ සර්වජන ඡන්දය මත පදනම් වූ පරමාධිපත්ය බලය රැක දීමට ත්රිවිධ හමුදාව හා පොලිසිය ඓතිහාසිකව කර තිබෙන කාර්යභාරයත් අපි මෙහිදී සිහිපත් කළ යුතුය. මුළු ලෝකයම මවිත කළ යුද ජයග්රහණයේ එකොළොස් වන සංවත්සරය සමරන මේ අවස්ථාවේ යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව අපගේ ත්රිවිධ හමුදාව ජාත්යන්තරව පාවා දුන් ආකාරයත්, ත්රිවිධ හමුදාවේ දැනට සේවය කරන හා විශ්රාම ගිය විශාල පිරිසක් දඩයමට හා අවමානයට ලක් කළ ආකාරයත් අප කිසිසේත්ම අමතක කර නැත. ඒ අගතියට පත් සියලු පිරිස් වලට යුක්තිය ඉටු කරන බවට අපි නැවතත් ප්රතිඥා දෙමු.
මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ
අග්රාමාත්ය
17 May 2020
Your Worship Bonnie Crombie
Mayor of Mississauga
Mississauga Civic Centre
300 City Centre Drive
Mississauga
L5B 3C1
Ontario,
Dear Mayor Bonnie Crombie:
I read with much disappointment your Statement on the Tamil Memorial Day.
What was that all about, Mayor. What Tamil Memorial Day are you talking about..?
I hope you are going to tell me – Oops ! Asoka, it was a genuine typo. It was meant to read as ‘Mississauga’s Sinhalese Memorial Day.” It was a day meant to commemorate the days of 30-savage bloodying years, that saddened all of us, when Tamil Tigers killed 1000s of your unarmed innocent Sinhalese folk with Kalashnikovs. Claymore mines; plucking infants from the young Sinhalese mother’s breasts and dashing their heads on hard charnockite-granite boulders and enjoying watching ketchup blood oozing out of smithereened little skulls; or creeping into Sinhalese fisherfolk’s adobe Huts at night and chopping innocent mothers and infants and men, like Tamil Nadu Roadside butchers with machetes (Dollar and Kent Farms, Vavuniya. 30.11.1984); like pulling out 32 novice Buddhist monks from a pilgrim-bus and shooting them point blank. (Aranthalawa, Amparai, 2.6 1987); and bringing down the Central Bank Building in the Fort, Colombo, with a Truck bomb. (31.1.1996) The 60 tons of explosives bought from the Ukraine’s Rubezone Chemical Factory with a cheque cut from a Bank in Vancouver. The explosives were of 10 tons of hexagon, a plastic explosive like Semtex, 50 tons of trinitrotoluol (TNT) that killed 114 innocent civilians, and 1338 were maimed for life. I know these Tamil Tigers were no paragons of virtue. Nor were they Babes-in-the-Woods, who perfected the human suicide body pack used to assassinate two Heads if State, Rajiv Gandhi of India, and your President Premadasa of Sri Lanka.”
If this is really not your story with an apology to your City’s Sinhalese-Mississaugans, then let me tell you Mayor Bonnie Crombie;
Mayor your naive understanding of separatist Tamil deceptive politics, made you Miss-a-Saga of a deception of theirs, that got you trapped and made you slither into their well gingerly-oiled trap-net, trying to reach for the slippery gingerly-oil covered election-ballots. Pity!
A fool is born every minute of the day. It is no different in the community of Canadian politicians. What a brilliant catch for the Mississauga Tamils. Another Liberal politician fell for the Tamil Humbuggery. Sad.
I am not sure whether I want to cry or let my angry cart-wheeling eyes spit out dragon breath with anger.
So you Missed-a-Saga of another unfounded Cock-and-Bull, Tamil Lie accusing Sri Lanka of Genocide. Unfounded lie, I said. Are you able to prove it? You know what, if the Liberal’s Ugly 5 (Robert Oliphant, Derek Lee, Jim Karygianni, Judy Sgro and Alibina Guanieri), who tried the same shenanigan during the Special Debate called by NDPs Jack Layton, on Genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka, on February 4, 2009 afternoon, during the Jack Layton’s Canadian Tamil Blarney Gong Show, at the Parliament Chambers, they failed miserably. They tried to stick that label of Genocide with crazy glue on Sri Lanka, but it was too Tamil-Vindaloo-lying-Hot as an unfounded lie and the body politic of Sri Lanka rebelled and refused to let it stick on her. Knowing what happened Mayor Crombie, you have insulted the worthy Mayoral Chain that you wear around your neck. Please do not try your Liberal luck again for a few hundreds of Tamil-Canadian votes. Pity. Do not give it a try again, as it’s foolish, specially, when your effort to tell the world that We are holier than thou, Sri Lanka ”, is a bitter concoction of lies, when we Canadians are absolutely NOT squeaky clean. I know it, and I am sure you know it too.
You know what Mayor Crombie, Sri Lanka will gesture at you and say, Shish!…Lady.. see who is speaking, surely not you, when your Canada is a maestro of Genocide as you did it to the First Nations peoples missing and murdered girls and women. I think you should consider using Teflon tape across your mouth if you are not sure of the Tamil context when it comes for discussion at Council and at Caucus.
Mayor Crombie, give me/us a break and stop hurting us Sinhalese-Canadians with your foolishness. I am one of them, and I do not take it kindly. It is best for you to stop flirting with the Tamils. Joining them to hurt us Sinhalese -Canadians is not acceptable not even for a plate of Vindaloo beef, Dhal curry and yellow-rice, which had a dinner-table value of $60 at a fundraiser for the Tamil Tigers organized by FACT on May 6, 2000, in Toronto, attended by then Minister of Finance Paul Martin, Maria Minna, Minister responsible for CIDA and nine other Liberal backbenchers from the Greater Toronto area..
As for the yellow belly-aching Tamil separatists of Mississauga, who whine and lie, let me remind them, and you take notes Mayor Crombie. I demand from them to tell the Truth and nothing but the whole TRUTH to you Mayor Crombie and to your Councillors. If not that they and You all at the City Council will hear my voice loud and clearly like the 12-noon chimes of the Big Ben, with the WEERASINGHE’s TAMIL FACTS. We Canadian-Sinhalese, especially me, have had enough of your lies and insults about us, the honest Sinhalese-Canadians. And I say to you politicians of all brands, to Hell with Tamil votes and STOP insulting us Sinhalese-Canadians. We had enough of it.
Sincerely,
Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr.)
Cc. stephen.dasko@mississauga.ca
karen.ras@mississauga.ca
chris.fonseca@mississauga.ca
john.kovac@mississauga.ca
carolyn.parrish@missisauga.ca
ron.starr@mississauga.ca
dipika.damerla@mississauga.ca
matt.mahoney@mississauga.ca
pat.saito@mississauga.ca
sue.MacFadden@mississauga.ca
George.carlson@mississauga.ca
Responding to some of the media reports and concerns over the proposed International Cricket Stadium in Homagama, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) today said the project will be an absolute and private investment of SLC and no government funds will be utilized and/or will be sought at any stage of the construction.
In a statement, the SLC said there were several media reports published regarding the proposed International Cricket Stadium in Homagama and some of these reports may have created misconceptions in the minds of the readers, which are detrimental to the image of both the Government and the SLC.
“We wish to state that the renowned R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Khettarama has been obtained for a 30-year lease from Sugathadasa Sports Complex Authority of Sri Lanka in 2006 and SLC is proud to say that a substantial amount of Cricket has been played in the stadium annually and it is now designated as the High-Performance Centre for Cricket with a view to raise the game to the next level.
For a considerable period of time, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has been on the watch and was exploring possibilities in acquiring a suitable land closer to Colombo to build a fully-fledged International Cricket stadium with a view to accommodating 40,000 spectators, as the need has arisen with the popularity of the game of Cricket and to best suit the demands of the World Cricket.
In the meantime, the proposal was extended to SLC by the Government of Sri Lanka allocating 26 Acre land in Homagama in order to build an international Cricket stadium at SLC’s cost. In view of the diverse climate and bio conditions in the Country, SLC has invested in International Level Cricket Stadiums around the country, which is aimed at playing in different seasons in consideration of the respective weather conditions.
SLC having discussed the Homagama International Cricket Stadium project, called for an Expression of Interests from reputed Audit Firms in Sri Lanka to carry out a feasibility study on the finances associated with the project along with repayments of the capital expenditure to be staggered for a period of 15 years.
In view of the increasing demand for the game and especially due to the popularity of the short formats of the game, the need has arisen to cater to large crowds with easy access in an urban environment. It should also be noted that ICC has now afforded the opportunity for member countries to express the Interest in staging the World Cup series in the respective countries for which it is expected to have at least five international level cricket stadiums in the country with a seating capacity of around 25,000 – 40,000.
It is undoubted that Cricketing events of such magnitude will bring massive foreign currency inflow to the Country which is an essential fact in today’s economy standpoint. Further, it is important to note that Sri Lanka Cricket has also expressed interest in the ICC’s request to host two ICC World Cup events which are scheduled to be held in the year 2023 to 2031.
Taking all aspects into consideration and after evaluating the completion of a comprehensive study on the project’s operational aspect and its financial feasibility, the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket will decide on how to proceed with investing in this project as the sole investor.
It also should be noted that financial feasibility should assure the non-hindrance to the operational and other development projects which are currently engaged by SLC due to the commencement of the Homagama International Cricket Stadium project,” the statement said.
We Sri Lankan should feel fortunate to have an altruistic, utterly-patriotic. determined, and iron-willed President at a time when the whole world is gripped with the deadly Corona pandemic. When this epidemic erupted in Wuhan in China’s Hubei province and was spreading very fast to countries beyond China our futuristic visionary President took immediate action on 27th January to form an all-embracing Task Force comprising the tri-forces, the civil protection forces. The health sector establishment personnel, the Police, the officials of the strategic services, the provincial, district, regional administrators, Samurdhi, and Grama Sevaka services officials and entrusted them the joint and individual tasks that needed to be undertaken to save the people from the epidemic.
Incidentally, on the same day 27th January, the first Corona infected patient of this country, a 44-year-old female Chinese tourist was found and she was admitted to the IDH hospital for treatment. The Task Force made all arrangements necessary for establishing 45 quarantine centers with proper guidance from the health service personnel, army personnel constructed several extension units to hospitals, the Police mapped out operational plans to be undertaken under Curfew and other sectors also got in readiness to undertake their tasks. However, there was no patient-reported for the whole month of February, which gave ample time for the Task Force to get properly established. The first local patient, a tourist guide serving for Italian tourists, was reported only on 11th February. Subsequent detections were all from people who have arrived from Iran, Italy, India, and South Korea and tourist guides who have served foreign tourists. (Please refer to a detailed description of how potential patients were traced, quarantined, and cured outlined by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defense Major General (Rtd) Kamal Gunaratne in an interview with Derana TV – highlights of the interview translated into English follows)at the tail-end of this article.)
In the meantime, the President who was very much concerned about the people’s hardships under the curfew, established another all-embracing Task Force, headed by the former Minister of Economic Development Mr.Basil Rajapaksa to provide redress to the people. Among the functions undertaken by this Task Force included ensuring an uninterrupted and adequate supply of food, medicine, and other essential items to the people throughout the country, farmers provided with adequate fertilizer and another utensil, ensure rice, vegetables, fruits, eggs, and other farm products are purchased by government authorities for distribution at concessionary prices and for free distribution for destitute people, prevent high jacking of prices by middlemen, ensure transport of these items to all over the country, ensure the distribution of Rs. 5000 /- per month distress allowance to the needy families, to prevent hoarding, creating artificial shortages and shooting up of prices by unscrupulous traders, etc.
The people throughout the country belonging to all walks of life, all ethnicities and all religions appreciating the efforts being taken by the government to save the people and curb the spread of the virus joined hands with the government efforts by making enormous sacrifices and foregoing many of their activities.
Buddhists refrained from visiting temples on Bak and Wesak Full Moon Poya days to offer various poojas, observing Sil at temple premises, listening to overnight pirith and Poya Day Damma sermons at temples. Instead, they performed all these activities including offering Aamisa and Prathipatti poojas in their houses. There were no Pandols, Dansals, and other roadside and public places Wesak illuminations but they carried out these activities in their home gardens and decorated their houses. There were no Wesak tour bus services and community tours to prominent temples including Sri Pada, Sri Maha Boduya and Sri Dalada Maligawa.
Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations faded into inhouse events. There were no crackers, no cross country races, no pillow fights, no pol pora events, no climbing of greased poles, no swimming and boat roving contests, no chariot (thirikkal) races, no coconut scraping and weaving of thatches, no breaking of pot by the blind, no placing of the eye for elephant by the blind, no search for the hidden guest, no spoon and lemon and gunny bag races, no bun eating and bursting of balloon contests, no selection of New Year Queen or Avurudu Kumarata to name a few traditional events. Kevum, Kokis, and other food items were prepared for the consumption of family members. There were no oil annointing functions at the village or area temples and it was done in the houses itself by the elders. Even money transactions known has Ganu Denu were carried out among family members.
It was reported that President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa did not visit his ancestral home, Medamulana this year to celebrate New Year with his brothers, family members, relations and villagers and instead, he held several meetings in Colombo to review progress and shortcomings to Coerona arrest, food and medicine distributions, curfew control by the Police and other contingencies. It was also reported that the President donated his salary for three months to the Virus Control Fund and a cheque amounting to Rs. 292,5000 in this respect was handed over to his private secretary P.B.Jayasundera to deposit in the Fund.
The Christians too gave up many traditional religious observances and commemorations performed at the Churches including visiting churches for Sunday mass, observing Lent, Maundy Thursday, Goof Friday, and Easter Sunday commemorations and instead they were held at their residences. There was also no staging of crucifixion displays and pandols displaying Jesus Christ’sresurrection.
Muslims rescind from attending Friday Jumma congregational prayers and the five times a day congregational prayers at mosques and many social and community activities related to the Holy month of Ramadan and performed such activities individually in their residences. The activities included performance of long hours congregational night prayers Tharaweeh by men and woman, performance of congregational Qiyam ul Lail prayers after midnight during the last 10 days of Ramadan and congregational pre-dawn Thajjud prayers in the mosques. There were no whole night congregational prayers and supplications on the 27th day of Ramadan called Lailathul Qadr, the blessed night, holding community Ifthar breakfasts, group Ifthars in mosques, group recital of Holy Quran called Hizb at mosques after Tharaweeh prayers, visiting friends houses for Tharaweeh snacks and drinking sherbeths etc.
Tamils too did not have any communal public functions in respect of the New Year, and refrained from holding Sivarathri poojas at kovils, and holding Ther (chariot) processions and offered all their poojas individually in their residences without going to Kovils.
Many philanthropists also came forward to offer considerable assistance to the Virus control, programme. The business tycoon Dhammika Perera placed orders worth Rs. 29 Million for the import od several ventilators, ICU facilities and many modern hospital beds. Mr. Dulith Jayaweera, offered his 150 Roiom Citrus Hotel in Hikkaduwa with necessary modifications to use as a quarantine centre, Hemas and John Keels also offered their hotels in the Eastern province to be used as quarantine centres. Kalutara District MP Vidura Wickremanayake and many others offered their ancestral bungalows to be used as quarantine centres. Several Apparel industries, including Brandix changed their production schedules to manufacture face masks and corona protection kits.
Several media institutions and civil service organizations made arrangements to distribute rice dry ration, vegetable, and fruit parcels to households in many areas.
However, it is sad to note, that despite all sacrifices being made by people all over the country devoid of ethnic and religious differences, the opposition politicians in this country were the only disgraceful and loathsome ruffians in the world who politicized the virus threat and wholeheartedly aspired for its extensive escalation throughout the country in vicious anticipation of the collapse and fall of the government and did not come forward even to offer a bottle of water or a Maalupaan (fish bun) to the distressed people. They wanted Sri Lanka to become the worst affected country in the world even surpassing the situation in their country of mentors, America and Britain. They condemned all the gallant and splendid measures being taken to combat the virus threat.
The Chinese President Xi Jinpinh who sent several plane loads of face masks, corona prevention kits, testing machines, disinfections and other equipment has telephoned the President and commended the excellent and exemplary work being carried out for combating the virus threat. He has said that China and Sri Lanka, while ensuring COVID-19 prevention and control, should gradually resume practical cooperation in various fields, advance major cooperation projects, in an orderly manner, and promote the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road initiative, and has added that such efforts would provide impetus for Sri Lanka’s economic recovery.
Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that Xi recalled that various sections of Sri Lankan society offered China active support at a critical moment in China’s fight against the coronavirus disease, with many moves particularly heart-warming and touching measures. The report stated that the Chinese President noted that under Gotabaya’s strong leadership, Sri Lanka had effectively contained the spread of the epidemic, adding that China stood ready to continue to provide firm support and as much assistance as its capacity allowed for the South Asian country in line with its needs and expressed his confidence that the people of Sri Lanka would certainly defeat the epidemic at an early date.
It said that Xi also thanked the Sri Lankan government and people for taking care of
Chinese citizens in their country, during the pandemic, and said the Chinese
side would continue to ensure the safety and health of Sri Lankan citizens on
its soil.
The Rodiya caste pseudo Buddhist Pa.Cha.Ranawaka who has a record of joining political parties and betraying them (For instance- JVP,Sinhala Urunaya, Hela Urumaya) and now in the Shameless Jabbering Bandits (SJB) group attempting to become its deputy leader bypassing founders such Harin Fernando, Mangala Samaraweera and Rahitha Senaratne has been continuously critical of the government’s activities and making hollow gallery talks similar to his political root fellows Jeppos perhaps to get support from the politically infantile members of the Bandits group. Statements that had been made by this Rodiya caste nincompoop include that the government figures on Corona Virus incorrect, Only President’s prime Minister’s family members and staff are being thoroughly checked about virus infection, government deliberately subjecting security forces to become virus infected victims. Another statement made by this nincompoop was that the President had been an American citizen at the time of his election and he should be forced to vacate the posy. He got a thundering slap for this statement from the American Ambassador Aliana B, Teplitz. She said that as per their records Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa relinquished his American citizenship from April 2019.
The imbecile ignoramus self assumed leader of the Shameless Jabbering Bandits (SJB) Sajith Premadasa has suggested that the government should suspend holding elections and that expense should be used to pay the salaries of the servants. The firmer Minister of Finince Mr, Ravi Karunanayake criticizing this statement which has exposed Sajith Premadasa’s lacuna of economics has skinned him saying that several times of the amount required for holding the election is required to pay public servants salary. He has hinted that it is better for Sajith Premadasa to refrain from talking about unknown economics.
The other morons who are worried about the success being achieved by the government are the despicable Jeppos. Belimal Ratnayake who had been alleged to have functioned as a Gonibilla in 89-90 period and betrayed innocent JVP supporters has said the Corona in African countries is less than in Sri Lanka exposing his dimwit nature as it is only now the corona virus has entered the African continent. In another statement this blockhead has said that some mercenaries who are being paid by the Rajapaksas were criticizing the JVP since they are he says a significant force. On top of this his leader Mr. 3% has accused that the President was not respecting the constitution and the country is now in a lawless status.
Reopening the country from 11th May by confining curfew only to Colombo and Gampaha districts was a great success. The CGR and the SLTB played significant roles in this measure. 10 office trains carrying public and private sector staff arrived from Beliatte , Kandy and other destinations and there were adequate SLTB bses to take them to their offices and work places. In the evening they were taken back to their homes by return services. All measures had been taken to disinfect the offices and work places by 10th May and provide safety measures at work places. Only wayside shops remained closed in these two districts but that too are expected to be opened in this gradual process of reopening the country. The CGR has also announced normal train services to be commenced from 18th may.
Meanwhile, the State Airlines, the Sri Lankan Airlines played a significant role by bringing back stranded Sri Lankan students and public servants who were on training in foreign countries. All those who were brought in this manner wer subjected to disinfection and then ferried to quarantine to undergo a minimum 14 days quarantine period. The airline has announced that its normal services will start from the 18th May.
It was sad to note that a meeting convened by the Prime Minister to enlighten the former parliamentarians by the health service and security personnel on the measures being taken to combat the virus threat, keep them advised about the current situation and obtain their views and views and suggestions was boycotted by the former parliamentarians of the opposition except by members of the TNA. After the meeting the Prime Minister told the media that the boycott of the meeting by the opposition displayed their utter disregard for the welfare and protection of the people of this country.
The Educational, Health and Security sectors are reported to be cautiously reviewing on the possibility of reopening Universities and schools as they are very much concerned about the vulnerability of students to the virus in a situation of difficulties to maintain minimum distance requirements and other essential virus prevention requirements. They are also reported to be planning to open this sector taking into considerations the guidelines that had been issued by the WHO.
Meanwhile, all arrangements have been made to commemorate the 11th Victory Day (on 19th May), celebration of which had been suspended since 2015 by the terrorist servile and TNA obsessed Sirisena/Ranil government The function will be held under the leadership of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Over 1,000 persommel belonging to all units of the security forces are to be promoted on this day.
Major General (Rtd) Kamal Gubaratne participating in the Derana 360 peogramme, interviewed by veteran TV journalist Dilka Samanmalie said that when you have a determined leadership to support, when you have the right dedicated personnel and when you plan it properly there can be nothing that can prevent you from achieving your objectives. He said that when the deadly corona virus erupted in Wuhan in the Hubei province of China and was fast spreading all over and beyond China and killing people the President took a bold decision on 27th January that we should make all efforts to defeat the virus and prevent the people of our country falling prey to it. Accordingly, he formed a Task Force integrating the tri-forces, the health sector personnel, the Police, the intelligence service units, the civil defense force, officials of the strategic service departments, provincial, district and regional departments and samurdhi service and grama seva department officials.
Incidentally, the first corona infected person from our country was reported on 28th January that was a 44 year Chinese female tourist who was admitted to the IDH Hospital. For the whole of February no virus infected person was reported on 8th February and by that time we were in full readiness on how to tackle the situation, on the mechanism to be undertaken, roles to be played by the health service personnel, the intelligence services and each and other allied services. We were fully prepared. Then there were increase and decrease in the number of infected persons.
He said that they have full confidence that unlike America, United Kingdom. France, Italy, Spain where thousands of people have died despite being the powerful, rich, resourceful countries in the world. The reason for that those countries completely entrusted the task of curbing the spread of the virus. That was the difference between the measures adopted by them and the measures being undertaken by us. The Defense Secretary explained that it was a race between the virus and us. The virus was running fast but their forces ran faster ahead of the virus and took measures to curb it. This was done by intelligence gathered and identified on the potential areas of virus attacks and taking action to combat it. That was why, he said, that when all the powerful countries were genuflecting before the virus, we proudly stood straight and firm. It was possible because we as in developed countries did not palm it out only to the health sector and said that the PHIs, MOHs and Nurses too rendered an enormous contribution.
Major General Gunaratne said that the first local patient was reported on March 8th and today being May4th there had been only 7 corona virus deaths and the 8th death reported on that had been due to renal disease. He said that this splendid achievement was possible due to form leadership and guidance being given to them. He pointed out that there were many criticisms from some politicians that we are putting patients in danger as we do not have sufficient ICU facilities, He said that upto now only one patient has been treated in the ICU. Countering an allegation that had been made by former MP Patali Champika Ranawaka that the country is being militarized under the guise of Corona eradication, the Major General regretfully said it is sad to find some people expect the people of our country expect the security forces to leave the citizens of this country die on roads like cats and dogs.
Explaining about the spread of the virus the Major General said that a priest from Switzerland had cisited Jaffna and had held prayer sessions for which many people have participated. The person who served acplyte of this got with the virus and upon making enquiries it was found that the said priest has died from Corona upon returning to Switzerland. Then the intelligence officers with great difficulty found more than 250 persons who have attended prayer sessions. All those 250 people were sent to quarantine centres and out of them 16 were identified as virus infected patients. He said that Jaffna is an area with high density of population and if they did not manage to identify and treat those 16 persons it would have been a great calamity in Jaffna. Explaining further he said that on 19th may 2009 at 19.39 a.m. they put an end to terrorism in this country. After that the political leaders in Jaffna said that there is no war there and the army should be withdrawn. Even today these political leaders are making this demand in foreign countries. He said that none of those 16 affected persons volunteered to identify themselves and if the intelligence officers did not make a large number of people in Jaffna would have perished by now.
Explaining about the modus operandi undertaken to trace the affected patients her said that when they come across a patient he said that the intelligence service personnel (ISP) enquire about people he/she had associated recently, he/she had visited recently and then they check his telephone records to ascertain hos/her vosots etc. He said that some provide accurate information but some others do not do so. For some people from Colonbo may say that he/she went to Kurunegala whereas he/she had actually gone to Hambantota. It was facong such difficulties, he said, that the ISPs traced the people. Giving statistics pertaining to patients in hospitals and those who have left for homes, he said that almost 50% have been cured and left for homes. He asked in which country that 50% had been cured and left for hones other than in Sri Lanka.
Commenting on lockdown of villages, the Defense Secretary said that when there was suspicion of lsrge number of people in certain areas could get affected such areas were locked down and sometimes all of them in that village was brought under self quarantine under the observation of PHIs and Police officers and people were not allowed to go out from or come into that area. He said that in certain instances the potential threatened miber of people were high all the people in the village, or in a street or on a certain floor of a flat were takren to quarantine centres for a ,minimum period of 14 days quarantine and after that they are brought back to their residences with advise to undergo a further 14 days of self quarantine at their residenes, and some people who have not followed these rules strictly have got attacked again.
Explaining about large number of Navy personnel getting affected by the Virus, Mr/ Gunaratne said that a youngster in Suduwella, Ja Ela area was apprehended by the police for possessing drugs and then he was found to be infected with Corona virus and he has associated a large number of drug addict persons. Many of them were found to be virus infected and when it was requested for them to go to quarantine centres they refused and became violent. It was he at this time requested Navy personnel in the Welisara camp to go to Suduwella and make arrangements to take them for quarantine even by force if it becomes necessary. Only some of them in them in the camp had face masks, gloves and virus prevention kits. Others despite lack of protection attire did not refuse to go there voluntarily regardless of potential they would encounter. That was how they became infected. He said that most of them were not critically affected and they are getting cured and returning to their camp safely. Explaining further he said that in the camps of the security forces they have closely laid camp beds one above the other, a common mess for consuming meals, and common toilets. That was also one factor that made them vulnerable. However he said if the Navy personnel had refused to go to Suduwella without protection gear by now the virus could have invaded Wattala, Mabola, Kandama. Ekala and many other areas in the Gampaha district.
Responding to a question about the reopening of the country from 11th May, the Defense Secretary said that the President does not take unilateral decisions on nationally important issues and this decision for gradual re-opening of the country from 11th May onwards had been taken after extensive review of the situation and in consultation with all parties involved in the current operation.
Referring to the allegations being made against our se4curity forces as communal, the Defence Secretary said that it was the security which combed all over Jaffna and identified over 250 people who could have become virus victims and took all steps necessary to quarantine and cure them without just leaving them that they are Tamils and let anything to them. He said a female PHI in Jaffna telephoned him and personally requested to continue with the curfew in Jaffna said that she wants to get her peopled. Her said that on 19th 2009 the war was ended for all people of this country. Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Malay and Burgher from Point Pedro to Point of Dondra to live as one nation as Sri Lankans devoid of ethnic, religious and other differences.
https://www.facebook.com/srilankans.nz
Thank you for affording me the privilege of being able to reinforce for the 11th consecutive year, our deep debt of gratitude to the Ranaviru for having liberated Sri Lanka from three decades of Tiger terror and even more for the life and limb that some lost in the process.
Sadly for five years from 2015, the sanctity , might and majesty of these achievements and sacrifices had been tarnished by an UNHCR resolution that implied acceptance of the baseless allegation initiated by the Tiger Diaspora that this liberation was achieved at a cost of an unacceptably high loss of civilian lives , anything from 40 to 100 thousand despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This they claimed tantamounted to war crimes and demanded international investigation.
However, the greatest scandal was that this resolution was co-sponsored in 2015 by Sri Lanka’s very own government of the day . This cloud hung over the achievements and sacrifices of the Ranaviru for five years, despite the mounting evidence exposing the fallacy of the premise of this resolution. This evidence included the UN resident representative in Colombo in May 2009 at the end of the war, estimating a casualty figure of around six to seven thousand. This figure has since been corroborated by the Tamil University Teacher’s census, the Paranagama Commission’s findings & Wikileaks revealed cables from both US & UK embassies in Colombo. In 2017 , Lord Naseby tabled many of the originals of these documents in the House of Lords in London after a hard fought battle with authorities to access them.Besides no traces have been found of graves of the claimed 40 to 100 thousand killed or the two to thee times more that should have been injured, the well established ratio of injured vs killed in warfare.
Despite these , the administration that cosponsored this scandalous resolution continued to annually reaffirm it at the UNHCR sessions in Geneva each March.
Thankfully, at these very same sessions in March 2020, the newly elected administration of President Gotabaya Rajapakse, himself a Ranaviru who ensured the coordination of the tri forces war effort, that played a pivotal role in Sri Lanka’s liberation from Tiger Terror, forthwith withdrew sponsorship of this resolution , so putting to an end a most shameful phase in Sri Lanka’s over two thousand five hundred year proud history.
This was despite considerable pressure being brought on him not to do so particularly by the US, the other cosponsor of this resolution and the UK, both of whom were probably driven by political expediency. However, leaders of both of these countries have stated publicly that they will never allow their soldiers to be hauled before war crimes tribunals, despite much more strong evidence of these in Afganistan and Iraq respectively . One rule for them and another for little Sri Lanka!
That President Gotabaya withstood these pressures and did what he did will go down as another Golden Moment in Sri Lanka’s history, like the moment when his brother President Mahinda withstood similar pressure from the foreign ministers of UK and France who had travelled to Sri Lanka in April 2009, to force him to withdraw the Ranaviru war effort, reminding them that Sri Lanka was no longer their colony”.
With the glory and sanctity of the Ranaviru achievements and sacrifices now restored, we can once again pay homage to these with dignity , reminding our selves that it is because of these achievements and sacrifices that:
· People of all ethnicitie, Tamils Sinhalese, Muslims & Burghers can now live in Sri Lanka in peace and travel to and around Sri Lanka without fear of a Tiger attack destroying or maiming them
· That Mothers and Fathers and families of all ethnicities in SL can travel together in the same bus or train without the fear of them all being wiped out by one bomb.
· That children of all ethnicities can go to school without similar fears
· That SL was able to replace their pot whole ridden road network with well surfaced roads and expressways without fear of being destroyed by Tiger bombs
· That SL has been able to build new ports, airports, a port city in Colombo without fear of Tiger generated destruction.
· That SL was able to beautify Colombo and make it a worthy travel destination
· That SL has been able to provide electricity to every corner of SL, an unparalleled achievement in South Asia
· That the per capita income doubled and trebled in the first five years post liberation , though stagnant since 2015,
· That SL was named the top travel destination, twice by lonely planet and once by CNN
It is for all of these and many other reasons that we reaffirm our gratitude to the Ranaviru , the unsung heroes and unnamed privates and corprals coming from heart land Sri lanka , whose mothers , fathers brothers, sisters, and even children released their young men to go to war to liberate SL, & even more to the 25000 that never returned home and even many more that were left maimed
We shall remember them.
The many decorated Generals and other ranked security forces leaders who planned and led the campaigns,
We shall remember them.
The many war administrators and political leaders who gave leadership and support to the war effort,
We shall remember them.
The many civilian victims of Tiger carnage , drawn from all communities, Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslims and Burghers
We shall remember them.
The many great and successful campaigns of the war , the not so successful campaigns of the war, to the final campaign of liberation on the lagoons and shores of Nandikadal,
We shall remember them
The flame of gratitude and remembrance will never cease.
May the blessings of the Triple Gem protect the Ranaviru and us all.
Dr.Chula Rajapakse MZM
Spokesperson
USLA
19.5.20
When we commemorate the victory over terrorism and separatism achieved in the fight to preserve unitary Sri Lanka, it is necessary to remember with gratitude the sacrifices made by our war heroes. Thousands of members of the armed forces were killed and thousands sill live in their homes or at special caring units with injuries sustained and many without a limb or some who have lost both.
To remember their priceless determination to protect the Motherland, let us in these difficult times of COVID 19. hoist the national flag and say a silent prayer thanking the men of the armed forces.
We should also resolve ourselves never to give in to terrorism or separatism which if not nipped in the bud will result in another bold bath. We nearly were there, when the Easter carnage took place the nation by surprise and many hundreds of innocent civilians were massacred.
This nation is strong enough to withstand any illegitimate means of securing power with the use of armed violence as proved in the ancient as well as the modern history of the Island. Let us also dedicate ourselves to help the disabled members of the armed forces for their physical as well as mental rehabilitation and also to assist in any way possible to educate their children while we express our gratitude,
RANJITH SOYSA
I read a news report that contained an address of Mr.Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka, and reported that the president stated the country needs to build a system that looks for graduates to employ in the organizations than graduates are looking for jobs. This statement directed a very good vision and stressed that many missions need to achieve the vision. The literal meaning of the statement may not applicable, but the message gave to the policy-makers was strong and expects a radical change in education policies in the country.
The mission relates to the vision is broader and the president stated before his election to the office in the last year that he will change education policies to make a country that educated people would not leave the country people who left come back. The vision has a strong relationship with education reforms that are stuck with bureaucrats either they do not know how to develop policies in the mission to achieve the vision or the bureaucrats are sabotaging vis a viz policy aims of the president or there is a problem with a shortage of funds to spend for policy development.
The traditional university education aims at granting a degree to university students to use it end of the name and university students satisfied with the role of universities as the job vacancies in the economy were sufficient to absorb all graduates pass out in each year. When the number of universities increased and student numbers increased to show that there are students to universities, but the quality of education and the quality of degree programs were neglected by the university authorities, and when students passed out after graduation it was a problem that university graduates had no jobs in the market. The issue has a positive relationship with economic growth and development. Although a heavyweight should be given to the issues in education policies economic issues are not free from the aggregate issue.
During the past 50 years, graduate unemployment became a political issue, and politicians of the country have been using graduate unemployment to mislead voters and politicians who used the issue to expand political power university level finding a solution to the problem when the party achieves the power of the country. The best example is the election in 1970 and 1977. Two different political parties attracted to power in 1970 and 1977 and no party has developed policies to solve the unemployment problem of graduates.
Graduate unemployment in the country has been a problem related to education reforms, university authority would have taken steps to reform education to improve the quality of education that creates the demand for graduates in the job market. It needed collaboration with economic policymakers of both sides, and the activities of policymakers showed that they were working isolation and finally not a single side achieved objectives of policymaking. Traditionally, university authorities did not believe that university education concerns with the development of knowledge, skills, quality, values, and applicability of knowledge, skills, and values in the workplace.
Since the late 1970s, university graduates in Sri Lanka had opportunities to embark on the job market in Sri Lanka as well as in other countries, but university authorities did not initiate programs that promote knowledge, skills, and values of graduates. They haven’t promoted opportunities for graduates to communicate in various languages such as English and European languages like French German and Russian, and Asian languages such as Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, and others. Left political parties such as JVP created problems university education forcing authorities to close universities and Ragging used to promote students to leave university and go oversea for education. These problems new university authorities and never proposed workable solutions to the government. Some members of university authorities were active members of JVP, who were interested in promoting the political philosophy at the cost of students destroying higher education in Sri Lanka.
There were negative attitudes towards skills learning and many mythical views on blue-collar jobs. Left political parties invaded universities and university authorities have been prevented to reform education and diversification of programs and university students used to achieve political purposes.
To achieve the expectation of Mr.Gotabaya Rajapaksa all universities should unite to work policy decisions. During the CONID 19 problems, it seemed that many students have gone overseas for various education programs, which have not quality and recognition. They wasted parents’ money and foreign exchange reserves of the country. As a person with experience in education, economic and Banking, and finance policy development, I would live to suggest the following policy actions in favor of the president’s expectation.
රාජා භවතු ධම්මිකෝ මතක්වීම
කොළඹදී රැස්වෙන නෝනා මහත්වරු, ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ හාමුදුරුවන් කියන ඕ මයි ගෝඩ් අයද, බුදු අම්මෝ අයද යනු පැහැදිලි නැතත්, ඔවුන් හැමදෙනාම, 2009 ට කලින් මේ යුද්ධය නම් කවදාවත්ම දිණන්න බෑ යයි කී පිරිසමය. ඔවුන් කළුසුද්දන් බව එලිවන්නේ රාජා භවතු ධම්මිකෝ… යන අගනා බෞද්ධ රාජ්ය පාලන සංකල්පය, පාලි ටෙක්ස්ට් (පාලි වචන) කියා බාල්දු කිරීමෙන්ය. මෙම සමහර විට නොදැන, නොසිතා කල අපහාසයේ බැරෑරුම්කම ඔවුන්ට ඉදිරියේදී හෝ වැටහෙන්නේ එය හැඳින්වීමට පාලි ටෙක්ස්ට් වෙනුවට ඉන්ග්ලිස් ටෙක්ස්ට් කියා යෙදුවොත්ය. වැදගත්, පාලි යන භාෂා වාහනය නොව, බෞද්ධ දේශනාවය. බුදු දහම ගැන හරිහමන් දැනීමක් නැත්නම් දේශපාලන අරමුණක් ඇති ලියුම් වලට දේවෝ වස්සතු…කතා නොදැමිය යුතුය. ඉන් සිදුවන්නේ, ජේ. ආර්ලාගේ ධර්මිට සමාජය, සිරිසේන/රනිල් යහපාලන-ලිච්චවි සමාජය මතක්වී, ජනයාට තරහක් ඇතිවීම පමණය.
ශීඝ්රයෙන් අඩුවෙමින් යන සාමාජිකයින් පිරිසක් සිටින මේ සමාගම, වරින් වර රටේ නොයෙක් දේ ගැන හොට දමයි. එවිට ඒච්. එල්. ඩී මහින්දපාල මහතා ඕස්ට්රේලියාවේ සිට ඔවුන්ට නිසි අවවාදද ලුණු ඇඹුල් සහිතව නොමිලයේම ලබාදෙමින් සිටී. ඔවුන් විසින් ජනාධිපතිට ලියූ අළුත්ම කෙටි ලිපිය, කේවට්ටයා බ්රහ්මදත්ත රජතුමාට දුන් උපදෙස් වලට සමානය (අයිලන්ඩ්, මැයි 16). ලියුමේ ඒකායන අරමුණ වන්නේ මේ ධර්මිෂ්ට පදය, ව්යවස්ථාවේ 70 (7) වගන්තිය සමඟ පටලවා පරණ පිංගුත්තර පිරිසට (අතලොස්සක් හැර) දියවන්නා හොටලයේ දොර අරවා ගැනීමය. ඒ අනුව සිතන විට මේ සිකුරාදා කට්ටිය වනාහී රට කැබලි කිරීමේ මහා ව්යාපාරයට සම්බන්ධ කරත්ත රෝදයේ එක පොල්ලක් පමණය. මේ හැම දෙයකම අන්තිම අරමුණ රටේ යහපත, රටේ (නැති) ජනතා පරමාධිපත්යය නොව, 1921/23 පමණ සිට හටගත් විෂබීජයක්වූ දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදයට (2009 මැයි 18 දා වැළලූ එහෙත් නොමළ) ඔක්ෂිජන් සැපයීමය .
නා නා මාදිලියේ පංචස්කන්ධ දියවන්නා හෝටලය ඇරගන්නට නොයෙක් ආකාරයේ කෙස්පැලෙන තර්ක ඉදිරිපත්කරයි. කලම්බු ටෙලිග්රාෆ් වෙබ් අඩවිය දැන් දියවන්නා හෝටලයේ ලන්ඩන් ශාඛාව වැනිය. මේ අතරින් කැපී පෙනෙන්නේ ජෙහාන් පෙරේරා, කුමාර් ඩේවිඩ් හා ලංකාවට කොඩිවිනයක්වූ දැන් ජීනීවා නුවරට පැනගොස් සිටින මාක්ස්වාදය යූ.එන්.පී. කල ජයම්පති වික්රමරත්නත් ය. වික්රමබාහු නම් කලේ එක වේදිකාවට නැග්ග එක පමණය. ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදය නමැති බරව කකුලේ එල්ලී ඉන්නා මොවුන්ගේ එක් තර්කයක් නම් 2020 නොමිනේෂන්දී ඇති 150 කටත් වඩා, පරණ දියවන්නා හෝටල්කාරයින්ම නොවේද යන්නය. තිබෙන්නේ ලුනුමිදෙල්ල ලී නම් ඉන් බුරුත කැබිනට් එකක් සැදිය නොහැකි යයි කියන්නේ මේ නිසාය. පවතින බරවා කකුලෙන් ගැලවිය හැක්කේ පවතින ක්රමය තුලින්ම මිස නාගානන්ද ක්රමයට නොවේ. අළුත් ආණ්ඩුක්රම ව්යවස්ථාවක් ගෙනා හැක්කේ එලෙසය. ඌරාගේ මාළු ඌරා පිටම කැපීමෙන්ය. පවතින දූෂිත නොමිනේෂන් ක්රමය හා චන්ද ක්රමය යටතේ, බෞද්ධ ක්රමයට අනුව දැනට කලහැකි දේ එයය. නමුත් ඉතා පැහැදිලි දෙයක් නම් ඒ 150 ට කලින් කල සෙල්ලම් කරන්නට, පගා ගෙන, බත් කා නිදාගන්නට ඉඩ නොලැබෙන, ඉඩ නොදෙන බවය. මහජනයාට පොරොන්දුවී ආ තම ප්රතිපත්ති ක්රියාවට යොදවන්නට අකමැතිනම් රජ්ය සේවයෙන් ඉවත්වෙන ලෙස ජනාධිපති දුන් අවවාදය අනාගත පොහොට්ටු මන්ත්රීලාටද වලංගුය. මන්ත්රී පරාණ පෙත්සම් මගින් ආපසු කැඳවීමේ බලයක් ජනතාවට ලබාදිය යුතුය.
රාජා ධම්මිකෝ පාර
රට ගැන හරිම දුකෙන් ඉන්නා සිකුරාදා පිරිස මෙවැනි යෝජනා වෙනුවට ගේන්නේ මොනවාද? යහපාලන කාලයේ මහජනයා වෙනුවෙන් කෙරෙන <යහපාලන> වැඩ ගැන නිදා සිටි මොවුන් අවදිවන්නේ ජනතා පරමාධිපත්යය, නැතහොත් යහපාලන කල්ලියට තර්ජනයක් එන විට පමණය. එසේත් නැත්නම් ඔවුන් කියන බහු වාර්ගික ලංකා සමාජය රැක ගැනීම උදෙසාය. ලංකා මානව හිමිකම් කොමිෂමේ ලොකු නෝනාගේ පිටකසන්නන් වශයෙනි. දැන් මේ අළුත්ම ලියුම ගන්නේ අළුත්ම පාරකි. එය <රාජා භවතු ධම්මිකෝ> පාරය. මීට සතියකට දෙකකට කලින් කලේ උසාවියේ නඩුකාරයින් උදෙසා පිලියෙල කලා වැනි දීර්ග නීති සංදේශයකින් පරණ මන්ත්රී හෝටලය නැවත ඇරීම යනු ජනතා පරමාධිපත්යය රැකදීම යයි තර්ක කිරීමය. නමුත් මෙවර, කලින් සිරිසේන/රනිල් නඩුවේදී මෙන් ජයම්පති අටවාදී පැනගිය 19 සංශොධන හුටපටය තුලින් කබරගොයා තලගොයා කල හැකිවේද යන සැකයක් සිකුරාදා නීතිඥයින්ට පහලවී ඇතිසේය.
ජේ. ආර්. ව්යවස්ථාවේ අගට ඇති දේවෝ වස්සතු කාලේන…යන්න බෞද්ධයින් රැවටීමට කල ඇස්බැන්දුමක් මිස, ව්යවස්ථාවේ වගන්තියක් නොවේ. එය හරියට ව්යවස්ථා පොතේ කොලවල පිටු අංක වගේය. පිටු අංක ව්යවස්ථා වගන්තිද? එය නීතියෙන් 70(7) ට බද්ධ කල හැකි අදහසක් නොවේ. එය නීතියෙන් බාහිර බෞද්ධ සංකල්පයකි. දැනට තිබෙන තත්වය නම් ජනාධිපති මෙතෙක් ගෙන ඇති තීරණ ජයම්පති-සුමන්තිරන් ශූක්ෂම ප්ලෑනට අනුව යන්නය. දියවන්නා හෝටලය බෝම්බයක් වැටී විනාශ වුනොත් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව මාස තුනකට වඩා වසා තැබීම සිදුවනවා මෙන්, කොරෝනා නිසා එය වසා තැබීමට සිදුවීමේ නීති විරෝධී කමක් නැත. බලතල බෙදීමේ න්යාය නිසා, ඒ කාලයේ එන්.එම්-කොල්වින්ලා ව්සින් කතා සාප්පුවක් ලෙස හැඳින්වූ, දැන් නම් හරිහමක් කතාවක්වත් නැති බත් කඩයක්, නැවත ඇරීමට, ගලේ කෙටූවාසේ කෙරෙන බලකිරීමක් ලෝකයේ කොහේවත් නීති පොතක නැත.
ඒ නිසා මෙයට උසාවියට ඇඟිලි ගැසිය හැකි එකම විධිය නම් මහජන ආරක්ෂක පණත යටතේ හදිසි නීතිය ප්රකාශ කිරීමට අවශ්ය නැත යනුවෙන් ජනාධිපති ගත් තීරණය නීත්යාණුකූල වුවත්, ධාර්මික නැත (සුද්දගෙ නීතිය අනුව හිතුවක්කාර, අසාධාරණ) යයි තීන්දු කිරීමෙනි. මේ සඳහා, <නෙසසිටි> හෝ <එක්සෙප්ෂනලිසම්> යන සුද්දාගේ ඩොක්ට්රින්ස් පස්සේ දුව ගියත් අන්තිමට එන්නට වන්නේ මේ එක්ට්රා-ලීගල් (නීති පොතෙන් පිට) රාජා ධම්මිකෝ තියරි එකටය.
එසේ බාහිර කරුණු සළකනවා නම්, උසාවිය ජනාධිපතිගේ මනස විග්රහ කලයුතුවේ. ඔහුව බලයට පත්කලේ මුන් 225 ම එපා, මුන් අවුරුදු 71 ක් ම රටකෑවා යන සටන් පාඨය පිළිගත් ලක්ෂ 69 ක් විසිනි. එය සිදුවූයේ යහපාලනකාරයින් රටේ සංඝ ශාසනයට, බෞද්ධ නටබුන් වලට, රටේ පැවැත්මට කල හානි ඉදිරියේ පාරට බැස්ස හාමුදුරුවරුන්ගේ මැදිහත් වීම නිසාය. 69 ලක්ෂය 80 ක් ඉක්මවීමට පවා ඉඩකඩ තිබෙන්නේ, කෙතරම් භාධක ඉදිරියේ වුවත්, ජනාධිපති කිව් දේ කරණ කෙනෙක් යයි චන්ද දායකයින්ට පෙනීයාම නිසාය. උතුරේ අහිංසක දෙමළ ජනයා යුද හමුදාවට කැමතිය; සිංහල ජනයා යුද හමුදාවට කැමතිය. භටයින් දකින්නට අකමැති වංක දේශපාලකයාය. මිසිස් චන්ද්රිකා ඒ කාලයේ කී දෙයක් නම් හොඳ ඇමතිලා 10 ක් ඉන්නවා නම් ඇයට රට හදා දෙන්නට පුළුවන්ය කියාය! දැන් ජනාධිපතිට කරන්නට සිදුවී ඇත්තේ දක්ෂ, අවංක අමාත්යාංශ ලේකම්ලා සොයා ගැනීමය. ඒ සඳහා ඔහුට විශාල හමුදා පූල් එකක්ම ඇත. මීට ඊර්ෂ්යා කරන්නේද ජේවීපී ඇතුළු දේශපාලක හොරුමය.
මෙවැනි පසුබිමක් යටතේ උසාවිය තීරණය කල යුත්තේ ජනාධිපතිට ජනතාව දී ඇති පරමාධිකාරී බලය භාවිතා කිරීමට ඉඩ දෙනවාද, නැත්නම් ජයම්පතිගේ-සුමන්තිරන්ගේ පොතේ ඇති බලතල බෙදීම නම් මන්ත්රී පරමාධිපත්යයක් නමැති මායාවක් ජනාධිපතිගේ මනසට බලෙන් ආරූඪ කරන්නට හදනවාද යන්නය. සිකුරාදා පිරිස දෙන්නේ මෙම ආරූඪ කිරීමේ උපදේශයය. එය කේවට්ටයා කල දේමය. ධර්මිෂඨ වීම කතාවෙන්, නීති පොතෙන් සිදුවනවා නම් ජේ. ආර්, රනිල් හෝ සිරිසේනලා ලංකාවේ ධර්මාශොකලාය. ගෝඨාභය එය ක්රියාවෙන් පෙන්වන්නට පටන් ගෙන තිබෙන්නේ, ධර්මිෂ්ට යයි කියන්නේ, සධාරණත්වය, යුක්තිය, සිංහල බෞද්ධයා නොපෙලා ගෙනයන පාලනයකට වීම නිසාය. මීට වෙනස් අර්ථකතනයක් ධර්මිෂ්ට යන්නට දීමට උසාවියට දැණුමක්, දැක්මක් තිබේද?
මෙම ඓතිහාසික හා රටේ මානව-දේශපාලන භූගෝල විද්යාවට අදාල සාධක සලකා බලන්නේ නම්, 1954 දී බ්රවුන් එරෙහිව බෝඩ් ඔෆ් එඩියුකේෂන් හා 2000 දී බුෂ් එදිරිව ගෝර් යන නඩුවලදී ඇමෙරිකන් සුප්රිම් උසාවිය දුන් තීන්දු දෙකේ හරයට අනුව මිස ඉන්දියන් හෝ පකිස්ථාන් නඩු හා බිර්ලාලාගේ පරණ නීති ග්රන්ථ කියවා, තමන්ගෙන් රටට හා ජාතියට (රටේ ශිෂ්ටාචාරය ගොඩනැඟූ ජාතියේ) හානිකර නිගමනයකට සුප්රිම් උසාවිය නොපැමිණිය යුතුය. හිටපු යහපාලන ඇමති හැරිසන් ඊයේ අනුරාධපුරේදී කටමැත දෙඩවූ අන්දමට උසාවි තීරණය නිසා සජිත්-රනිල් සමඟි වූ පසු ඇළුතින් නොමිනේෂන් දෙනවා යන්න නඩුකාරයින් ක්රියාකරණවාද යන සැකයක් මහජනයා තුල ඇතිවුනොත්, එය උසාවියේ මොටෝ එකට පටහැනිව යාමක් වන්නේය.
ප.ලි.
මේ පිලිතුරු ලිපිය කෙලින්ම ඔවුන්ට යැවීමට ඊමේල් ලිපිනයක් වත් දක්වා නැති නිසා මෙය අයිලන්ඩ් කතෘට යවන්නේ ඔහු එය ඔවුන්ට යවතියි බලාපොරොත්තුවෙනි.
It is important to note that for the first time since 1977 Sri Lanka is taking action to ensure that our foreign exchange is not taken away by foreign countries. I refer to the recent action taken by our Central Bank to ensure that profits are not repatriated.
I enclose a paragraph from my Paper: Playing Poodle to the IMF is not the way ahead”, appearing in the Lanka Web of 12/1/2020:
Third World countries have enticed McDonalds, Pizza Hut and such Multinationals to come in. They bring in a small sum of foreign exchange initially to establish their business. They get into local trading in the local currency but take away the profits in foreign currency forever without paying any taxes. It amounts to a net loss of our foreign reserves.
Foreign companies getting into trading in local Rupees – like Uber etc. also amounts to a net loss of our foreign exchange as though they calculate profits in Rupees they take away their profits in foreign currency. One of the latest inroads is hotel bookings by foreign companies over the internet. Hotel bookings done insist on payment in Rupees to the hotelier, but the internet companies get fifteen percent of the payment paid to them in foreign currency. Again this goes from our reserves. It is sad that our Central Bank fails to even understand how our foreign reserves are being robbed by these foreign investors.
Needs it to be said that since 1977 our foreign exchange has been taken away to the Developed Countries by various methods.
If only our Central Bank orders that the intake of foreign exchange by Authorized Foreign Exchange Dealers should be credited to the Central Bank coffers we will amass a large amount of foreign exchange. Today the intake of foreign exchange at these Dealers does not come into our coffers. It is resold by the dealers. This foreign exchange only serves to make a profit to the Dealer. In actuality, it is a foreign currency that has come into our country and the country is entitled to it. It is also necessary for all banks to accept foreign exchange offered by anyone without holding investigations- checking passports to check arrival dates, etc.
Our leaders should know that FDI (foreign direct investment) is a shrewd googly deployed by the IMF to take away foreign exchange from our reserves.
Our economists need to do some hard thinking about what happens to the foreign exchange that comes into the country.
Garvin Karunaratne
e-Learning has become a buzz word nowadays. e-Learning essentially uses information and communication and technology (ICT) for teaching and learning. The importance and relevance of e-Learning can be well recognized in view of the current pandemic situation and general global trends in education.
His Excellency the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his manifesto has given the highest priority to providing higher education opportunities to all those who pass the A/L exam. This indeed is a noble task and implementation of such a task can be greatly facilitated by e-Learning, which does not require heavy investments on expensive physical infrastructure to accommodate large numbers of students and facilities. An e-Learning approach with proper ICT networks, sound learning management systems (LMS) and appropriately developed e-Learning content can make a significant contribution towards enhancing the access to a larger portion of the deserving youth. The present situation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic has added another dimension to the importance and relevance of e-Learning. e-Learning came to the rescue of many pupils and students during the lock-down period as an alternative to missed face-to-face classes and lectures. It is evident that the use of e-Learning can help us in meeting many of the challenges that are created by the emerging trends in education as well as emergency situations such as the current pandemic.
The global trends are: The demand for education is rising. The education which was previously accessible only to a limited few representing the elitist groups has become more widely accessible to members of the larger community. This has created enormous pressure on existing traditional educational institutions, which usually have limited resources and until recently operated only on the face-to-face mode of teaching.
The demand for distance learning is rising. Today the jobs are very demanding due to the rapidly advancing technology. Therefore, everyone has to continuously update or upgrade their training and education to stay competitive. Accordingly, many would resort to distance learning for keeping themselves up-to-date and stay competitive in their jobs. Also, many would like to acquire their initial qualifications or new skills to change their career paths, through distance learning.
Life-long learning is gaining increasing relevance. In view of the necessity to keep up with the changes in technology and to stay competitive in their jobs, many would embrace life-long learning as an appropriate approach.
Shift from teacher-centred learning to learner-centred learning. Another important change that is taking place is that the focus of teaching and learning has shifted from the teacher to the learner. The teacher’s role has changed from teaching or lecturing to coaching or facilitating. The future vision for education is identified as one that provides access for anyone, for any type (subject) of learning, at any place and at any time.
These emerging trends in the field of education amply highlight the importance and relevance of e-Learning as a useful means for meeting the challenges emanating from the new trends in education.
However, one of the biggest concerns among the educators involved in e-Learning is the lack of sufficient pedagogical input in the design of related instructions. It is obvious that e-Learning is a very worthwhile endeavour in present context. However, what is not so obvious is what it takes to implement e-Learning successfully.
Successful implementation of e-Learning has three main fronts to tackle. They are: the technological front, the front concerning the learner preparedness, and the front involving the effective design of instructions.
The technological front involves the provision of ICT networks with appropriate capacity, economy and reliability to meet the demands of e-Learning. This means having a reliable communication network, accessible to users throughout the country and capable of transferring large amounts of data including audio and video files at a reasonable speed and at affordable price. Presently, this does not pose a major concern to e-Learners, even if there are concerns in some areas, the necessary actions are underway to rectify them. The initiatives taken by Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) and network expansions undertaken by telecom companies would alleviate this concern to a large extent.
The second important front in implementing e-Learning is the learner preparedness. It is necessary for the learners to be computer-literate to participate in e-Learning. Despite the high rankings in traditional literacy ratings, Sri Lankans lag behind its neighbours in terms of computer literacy. The current computer literacy rate of Sri Lanka is 30.1%, where this percentage for urban sector is around 41.5%, and rural and estate sectors represent, 28.6% and 13.7%, respectively, as per the statistics available. This is another major concern that needs to be addressed promptly.
Another essential factor under learner preparedness is the competency in English language. Our English Proficiency Indices are also lower than that of most neighbouring countries. It is obvious that without a competency in English the learners are unlikely to reap the full benefits of e-Learning. It is therefore necessary to initiate programmes to uplift the competencies in English and computer literacy throughout the country, particularly in the rural communities.
Solutions to this issue can also be found through Computer-Aided Learning (CAL) materials. Particularly, the improvements to the competency levels in English can be achieved through properly designed interactive multimedia learning materials to be made available through CDs. Provision of learning materials through such a medium will provide wider access and consistency in training, minimise the problems associated with the lack of human tutor support and also train the users towards e-Learning. These CDs can be run on individual computers without networks or Internet. A high degree of computer literacy is not required to use the CDs for learning.
The third front, which is not obvious to many, is the instructional design. It is important that e-Learning materials are properly designed with appropriate pedagogical inputs, if successful learning outcomes are to be achieved. It is quite possible that both the first two fronts are already satisfied (technology and user preparedness) but no successful implementation of e-Learning is possible since the e-Learning content is either not developed or poorly designed. It is therefore important to pay high attention to the design of e-Learning content with appropriate pedagogical inputs and sound instructional design techniques.
However, the objective of using the appropriate instructional design techniques is to achieve effective learning outcomes. The instructional designers design instructions, learning activities, discussion forums, practice sessions, assessments, feedback mechanisms, etc. These design activities are based on the context within which the learning takes place (learning context), the type of learner, and the type of learning task. The use of technology and media such as discussion forums, chat rooms, audio, video, etc. is dependent on the instructional design. The technologies should not be used indiscriminately just because they are available. On the other hand, appropriate use of technologies such as audio, video, animations, etc. in instructions may make them appealing to a diverse cross section of learners, thus making them more useful and effective.
Creating necessary facilities for e-Learning for both urban (20%) and rural (80%) sectors in the country may help reduce the existing inequalities between the two sectors in access to quality education thereby the overall economic and social gaps. Therefore, this is an excellent opportunity to be snatched by the authorities responsible for alleviating the social inequalities present in our society. However, if such facilities are not adequately provided to the rural communities in a timely manner, they will be further alienated by what is known as ‘the digital divide”.
It is advisable that policy makers have a thorough review of the total requirements for implementing e-Learning successfully and provide necessary direction to the appropriate institutions. e-Learning shall be used as a standalone approach as well as a complementary approach to traditional teaching and learning (Blended Learning), using existing educational institutions as well as new ones.
Author:
Dr. Gamini Padmaperuma, a Chartered Professional Engineer and a former Senior Lecturer at OUSL, holds a PhD from the University of Canterbury, NZ. His PhD thesis was on Instructional Design for Computer-Based Learning. email: gamini_pad@hotmail.com.
May 18, 2020 at 3:22 am | lanka C news
කොරියාවේ වැටුණු ආර්ථිකය ගොඩගැනීම සඳහා කොරියානුවන් තම කණකර එරට භාණ්ඩාගාරයට ලබාදුන් බව ඇමති සී.බී. රත්නායක මහතා සඳහන් කරයි.
කිසිවකුට අත නොපා අපි නැගිටිමු යන අධිෂ්ඨානයෙන් මෙම පරිත්යාගය එරට වැසියන් විසින් සිදුකළ බවද ඔහු පැවසුවේය.
මේ අවස්ථාවේදී ඒ දේශ මාමකත්වය මෙරට අපට ද තිබිය යුතු බවද ඔහු පැවසීය.
ශ්රී ලංකා පොදු ජන පෙරමුණේ මූලස්ථානයේදී පැවති මාධ්ය හමුවකදී ඔහු මේ අදහස් පළ කළේය.
When I read the above article today I was really thinking whether Sri Lankan’s should start thinking with patriotism
I will gladly donate if the politicians all so start donating the wealth accumulated for the last 70 years after independence
They should sell the luxury land cruiser and start driving a microcar or go to my public transport
They can get rid of number of security guards
They can sell on of their second or third house they own
They should bring the money stashed abroad and replenish Treasury coffers
Then I will gladly donate for the well being of the nation
Dr Sarath Obeysekera
CEO Walkers Colombo Shipyard
Colombo
Sri Lanka
We’re going to turn it around. And we have the cards, don’t forget it. We are like a piggy bank that’s being robbed. We have the cards. We have a lot of power with China”[i] President Donald J. Trump during the 2016 election campaign.
President Donald Trump was elected on a platform challenging long-standing American foreign policy premises with a particular criticism of US – China relations. Tensions in the US – China relationship exacerbated due to Trump’s continuous rhetoric and action during his Presidency reminding the American polity that China’s rise as a global power was not beneficial to the US on economic and security domains. In the economic front, China’s protectionist regulations, non-transparency, intellectual property theft and economic cyber espionage has escalated towards a tense trade war and a national security threat.
China’s economic dominance as the global manufacturing hub, providing financial assistance to many developing nations whilst expanding its tentacles towards the entire world through the Belt and Road initiative to AIIB has changed the geopolitical landscape in Asia. The tense US – China relationship which is at direct risk of a military confrontation is located in four geographical locations in Asia – the Korean peninsula, Taiwan, Senkaku/Diaoyu islands and the South China Sea. Protecting vital US interests and regional allies and friends from its liberal order established since the Second World War is at the core of US foreign policy. President Richard Nixon’s invitation to China in the 1970s of a diplomatic, economic and security partnership to secure US military presence in Asia was a geostrategic manoeuvre to draw China away from the Soviet orbit. This helped to strengthen US interest in the region to protect its allies and to end the Cold War three decades ago.
China’s Mask Diplomacy to Wolf Warrior Diplomacy
Today, thirty years after the Cold War, a Pandemic has triggered another cold war between the US and China, with US accusing China of a form of biological warfare. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused China stating that there was enormous evidence” supporting the claim adding there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan…. I think the whole world can see now, remember, China has a history of infecting the world and running substandard laboratories.”[ii] Chinese media, responding to this direct accusation states, If evil politicians like Pompeo continue to lie and bluff, then the Americans ‘becoming great again’ can only be seen as a joke.”[iii] Previously on social media, Chinese diplomat Zhao Lijian strongly signalled their anger with the assertion that the coronavirus was a bioweapon used by American soldiers. China is carrying out wolf warrior diplomacy[iv], retaliating aggressively and responding with firmness than never before while carrying out its soft power mask diplomacy – a term employed for millions of masks donated with medical equipment. The dual diplomatic postures have increased Chinese soft diplomacy and power projection.
China, as part of its mask diplomacy, provided medical equipment and a concessionary loan of US$ 500 million with a repayment term of 10 years, to assist Sri Lanka in its fight against COVID19. This will increase the island’s existing debt profile with China and will certainly increase future borrowing from China due to unavoidable external shocks from the global recession. China, was seen by Anil Jai Singh as the first off the block to capitalize on the vulnerabilities created by the spread of this pandemic. It has reached out to nations and offered support that obviously comes with strings attached. While there has been some pushback against coercive debt-trap diplomacy, the ability of the poorer or smaller nations to avoid succumbing to Chinese pressure will depend on the alternatives available”.[v] According to IMF, Sri Lanka’s debt-to-GDP ratio is 82.7% one of the highest ratios in South Asia. The Economist [vi] in its ‘Which Emerging Markets are in Most Financial Peril?’ statics recently ranked Sri Lanka at 61, a significantly reduced position compared to a few other South Asian nations.
Domestic challenges and strategic alignments
Months after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s appointment in November 2019, he was to prove his leadership to a significant external humanitarian crisis from a global pandemic. Similarly, his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa faced a devastating humanitarian crisis after being appointed Prime Minister in 2004 – the Indian Ocean tsunami that took almost 35,000 lives in Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa proved his leadership skills managing the challenge which eventually won him the Presidency in 2005. His brother Gotabaya, demonstrated his leadership contributing his military expertise, efficiently coordinating with armed forces, the police, intelligence and healthcare officials. Sri Lanka is the second-best in the region for COVID19 testing (graph) and perhaps the best in contact tracing with a low rate of death under 10. It appears as if the ‘Rajapaksa decision-making’ works well in a crisis.
Among powerful nations, China provided one of the most substantial donations back then for the Tsunami affected island. Similarly, China was the first to step in to assist in this emergency. Behind the crisis, a tense geopolitical storm is brewing between the US and China. Crises usually accelerate geopolitical fissures, drawing out underlying pre-existing geopolitical fault lines and building strategic partnerships and alignments among like-minded nations. This was how the Quad (India, Japan, US and Australia) was created in 2004 after the Asian Tsunami. In the present day, as explained by Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan ‘The United States has stepped up diplomatic consultations for cooperation with a geographically diverse group of countries, which has now been dubbed the Quad-Plus as it includes South Korea, Vietnam and New Zealand in addition to the original Quad. China’s actions are making this cooperation easier.’[vii]
The new grouping with like-minded countries will play a strategic role in the Indo-Pacific. Recently, US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien conveyed US support to Sri Lanka ‘to provide much-needed ventilators’ and recognizing ‘Sri Lanka is an important part of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.’[viii] How will Sri Lanka face this new strategic alignment and manage its Chinese sphere of influence? Sri Lanka’s erudite Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar noted in 2004, China has never sought to influence the domestic politics of Sri Lanka” claiming that the country has never tried to dominate, undermine or destabilize Sri Lanka. China has never tried to strike a quick bargain in a crisis. There have been no strings attached to Chinese aid”.[ix] Nearly two decades following this statement, China’s interest and its role in the Indian Ocean has evolved with strength due to the tense geopolitical atmosphere.
Countering the Chinese infrastructure diplomacy in the Indian Ocean with alternative options are already afloat by the western allies. As explained by Hudson scholar Satoru Nagao Bangladesh has already chosen Japan’s Martabali port project instead of China’s Sonadia port project. If the Trincomalee Port project—involving Japanese assistance—in Sri Lanka succeeds, then the importance of China’s Hambantota port will decline. Similarly, the Chabahar Port project in Iran can mitigate the importance of the Chinese Gwadar Port in Pakistan.” Further, to strengthen the western grip in Malacca Straits, India is modernizing infrastructure to deploy warships and planes in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. [x]
The strategic relations established by President Mahinda Rajapaksa with the arrival of President Xi Jinping to the Island in 2014 will continue strongly under the current Presidency in a more complex setting. With Geopolitical Cold War 2.0 and domestic economic strain, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has the two daunting challenges ahead of him. He would have to navigate global shocks and balance the country’s internal political challenges within a squeezed economy. As explained by LKY Professor Razeen Sally, the present environment of unstable and contested geopolitics revolving around competition is going to squeeze global trade and globalization. Domestic malign mercantilism with more state intervention and restricted markets will see a different kind of capitalism coming out of this pandemic [xi]. Sri Lanka should foresee this danger to avoid malign mercantilism drifting towards losing liberal values. The nation has to balance its foreign policy, protecting its liberal democratic values and its important relationship with China amid a geopolitical storm.
End Notes
[i] https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2016/0502/Should-Trump-be-using-rape-to-describe-US-China-relations
[ii] https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/05/04/pompeo-continues-china-blame-game/
[iii] China’s National Radio https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3082665/china-has-history-infecting-world-us-secretary
[iv] Wolf Worrier Diplomacy, https://www.timesofisrael.com/chinas-wolf-warrior-diplomats-show-teeth-in-defending-virus-response/
[v] Anil Jai Singh, https://thediplomat.com/2020/05/the-quad-and-the-pandemic-a-lost-opportunity/
[vi] Economist, https://www.economist.com/briefing/2020/05/02/which-emerging-markets-are-in-most-financial-peril
[vii] https://www.cfr.org/blog/pandemic-and-china-are-strengthening-us-india-relations-now
[viii] O’Brien ‘National Security Council’, @WHNSC twitter message, https://www.newsfirst.lk/2020/05/09/us-national-security-advisor-calls-on-president-gotabaya-rajapaksa/
[ix] Quoted in J Dhanapala and J Goonaratne, ‘Sri Lanka:China as a growth of modernization’ in a resergent China:South Asia perspectives, eds S.D.Muni and Tan Tai Young( London Routledge 2012) pp 245-6.
[x] Satoru Nagao, Hudson, https://www.hudson.org/research/14402-countering-china-in-the-indo-pacific
[xi] Razeen Sally LKY School online discussion Asia Thinker Series 6th May 2020
* This piece was initially published by the Observer Research Foundation(ORF) New Delhi. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/sri-lanka-facing-geopolitics-of-covid-19-to-cold-war-2-0-66169/
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera is the author of ‘Sri Lanka at Crossroads’ (WorldScientific, Singapore).
He was the former Director General at the national security think tank INSSSL under the Ministry of Defence and former Executive Director at the foreign policy think tank LKIIRSS under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka. He can be contacted at asangaaa@gmail.com
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) – As couples do all over the world, Darshana Kumara Wijenarayana and his fiance, Pawani Rasanga, spent months planning a grand wedding.
And everything was on course for the Sri Lankan couple – until the coronavirus struck the island nation off India’s southern tip, leading to an indefinite lockdown.
“By that time, we had made all the arrangements. Clothes, rings and cakes had been ordered. The reception hall was booked. We had planned to invite 250 guests,” Darshana told The Associated Press by phone from his home in Malimbada, a small town about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of the capital Colombo.
Family and friends urged them to postpone their April 27 wedding.
Instead, the couple chose to celebrate their love by feeding the poor.
The first COVID-19 patient in Sri Lanka was a Chinese tourist who fell sick in January during her vacation. She was discharged in February.
In this April 27, 2020, photo, Darshana Kumara Wijenarayana and his bride Pawani Rasanga walk with packets of food to distribute in the small town of Malimbada, about 160 kilometers (99 miles) south of the capital Colombo. The Sri Lankan couple cancelled a wedding party and instead, shared their wedding day with some of their neediest neighbors who have been economically hit due to the lock down following the new Coronavirus. (Darshana Kumara Wijenarayana via AP)
Until the first week of March, there was little panic about the disease. Then on March 11, the first Sri Lankan – a tour guide – tested positive for the virus, triggering fear and the closure of schools and universities and many businesses.
The ongoing curfew has curbed the spread of the virus, but also dealt a severe blow to many who survive on a daily wage.
As the couple’s wedding day approached, the local curfew was lifted during daytime hours, so they were free to host the wedding as planned, albeit under strict social distancing guidelines.
But they’d hatched another plan.
Darshana, the 30-year-old owner of a small retail shop, and Pawani, 25, a lab assistant at a state-run school, decided to share their wedding day with some of their neediest neighbors.
After registering the marriage with a few close family and friends, the couple cut the wedding cake and fed each other a piece before getting to work.
The groom wore a dark blue, three-piece, Western-style suit with an ivory tie and boutonniere, and the bride was in a white lace sari and a jeweled wedding headpiece with pink and purple flowers pinned above her chignon.
Both wore masks as they delivered plastic bags of goods to each home, some built of uneven wooden planks on mud floors. Little girls and their mothers beamed at the bride as she distributed colorful plastic headbands; they offered the couple blessings for a happy married life.
Darshana and Pawani presented children with toy cars. They even offered slices of their cake. Then, they applied hand sanitizer and moved on to the next home.
They have since received a flood of phone calls and visits at their home and shop from strangers who praised them for their generosity.
“By doing this, we got a great satisfaction,” Darshana said. “When you see the happiness on the face of these people, especially the kids … you see …. I don´t have words to explain that happiness.”
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While nonstop news about the effects of the coronavirus has become commonplace, so, too, have the stories about the kindness of strangers and individuals who have sacrificed for others. “One Good Thing” is an AP series reflecting these acts of kindness.
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In this April 27, 2020, photo, Pawani Rasanga hands a packet to a young girl, watched by her husband Darshana Kumara Wijenarayana in the small town of Malimbada, about 160 kilometers (99 miles), south of the capital Colombo. The Sri Lankan couple cancelled a wedding party and instead, shared their wedding day with some of their neediest neighbors who have been economically hit due to the lock down following the new Coronavirus. (Darshana Kumara Wijenarayana via AP)
In this April 27, 2020, photo, Pawani Rasanga hands a gift packet to an elderly woman, watched by her husband Darshana Kumara Wijenarayana in the small town of Malimbada, about 160 kilometers (99 miles), South of the capital Colombo. The Sri Lankan couple cancelled a wedding party and instead, shared their wedding day with some of their neediest neighbors who have been economically hit due to the lock down following the new Coronavirus. (Darshana Kumara Wijenarayana via AP)
In this April 27, 2020, photo, Pawani Rasanga hands a care package to a child in the small town of Malimbada, about 160 kilometers (99 miles) south of the capital Colombo. Rasanga and her groom cancelled a wedding party and instead, shared their wedding day with some of their neediest neighbors who have been economically hit due to the lock down following the new Coronavirus. (Darshana Kumara Wijenarayana via AP)
The island nation’s high testing rate coupled with its established healthcare and surveillance system has kept COVID-19 mortality at bay. However, it seems the country’s Muslims are not equally reaping benefits.
Sri Lanka reimposed a 24-hour curfew on Saturday in an apparent move to restrict people’s movements during the weekend, even though the government has begun easing a two-month lockdown.
The curfew relaxed on Monday morning with health authorities saying SARS-CoV-2 is under control in the Indian Ocean island nation. Private businesses and government offices had already reopened last week.
With a population of about 21.5 million people, Sri Lanka has only 960 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus with nine deaths. Sri Lanka’s success story can be partially attributed to its relatively high coronavirus testing rate. As of April 30, the country was conducting 930 tests per 1 million people, in comparison to other South Asian countries such as Bangladesh (393), India (602) and Pakistan (703).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Sri Lanka also has seen milder cases of COVID-19 due in part to an early lockdown.
“More than 50% of the COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka are of people between the ages of 20-60. These are relatively younger people who are less vulnerable to a severe presentation of the disease. A reason why most of the cases are mild may be that the lockdown in Sri Lanka started very early,” Razia Pendse, the WHO’s representative to Sri Lanka, told DW.
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Lessons from Sri Lanka
Health experts from around the world have been using Sri Lanka’s healthcare system as a case study since the 1980s.
In 1985, the Rockefeller Foundation’s report, Good health at low cost, identified Sri Lanka as one of the countries that successfully secured good healthcare at low costs. The country has a legacy of early, decades-long investment in its health system and low overall spending. Most Sri Lankans live within 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) of a public health facility, and since 2000 there has been an average of three hospital beds per 1000 people (compared with the average of two beds per 1000 people in middle income countries).
According to the report, good geographic access combined with a lack of financial barriers to public facilities produced a relatively equitable health system in Sri Lanka.
Read more: Coronavirus: Countries scramble to retrieve tourists stranded in Asia
Established system of surveillance
Having learnt from its past experiences with numerous communicable and non-communicable diseases, Sri Lanka also invested in its public health surveillance system, which has proven to come in handy during the current coronavirus pandemic.
Sri Lanka closely monitored the pandemic’s movement right after the first case appeared in the nation, tracking any potential COVID-19 suspects. “The first case came out in Sri Lanka in the last week of January, after which there were no cases till about mid-March. During that gap, the government ensured that the public health surveillance was activated to find any cases with respiratory illnesses. Once the cases were identified, we conducted the needed diagnostics so that we were able to rule out any suspected COVID-19 cases,” explained Pendse from the WHO.
Sri Lanka had already developed a surveillance system based on the Open Source DHIS2 platform in early 2020. The system has since become the basis for the worldwide deployment of the DHIS2 COVID-19 response package via the Health Information Systems Program (HISP) to respond to the outbreak.
The country also released the mobile-app COVID Shield to help people keep track of their health and provide support during self-isolation and quarantine. The app is now being deployed in several other countries, including the Maldives.
In addition, the Sri Lankan government also closed down public health clinics and instead started delivering routine health checks and medication directly to the homes of patients. A hotline was created to allow non-COVID patients seek advice from healthcare workers.
Demographics matter
Oommen C. Kurian, the head of the Health Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), an Indian think tank, said the small nation of Sri Lanka cannot be directly compared to its larger, more populated neighbor, India.
“A direct comparison between India and Sri Lanka is difficult. Sri Lanka is a very small country. Managing that population is easier as compared to India,” explained Kurian. “Sri Lanka was lucky as compared to India as its coronavirus cases were clustered. About 40% of Sri Lanka’s cases were from a navy facility. This allowed Sri Lanka to take a targeted approach to deal with the virus,” he added.
However, the southern Indian state of Kerala has had a similar approach to the coronavirus pandemic as Sri Lanka. Kerala implemented a lockdown much before the rest of the country. The state, which had already dealt with a previous outbreak of another disease, effectively traced people with respiratory symptoms similar to those found in COVID-19 and isolated the infected patients.
Muslims as scapegoats?
Despite its success in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, Sri Lanka’s handling of the outbreak is not without its criticism. Members from the country’s Muslim minority have allegedly become stigmatized as carriers of the virus. Of the nine people who died of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, four came from Muslim communities.
Religious tension in the country has been on the rise following last month’s anniversary of the 2019 Easter bombings. On April 11, the Sri Lankan government further exacerbated religious divisions when it amended its guidelines for the disposal of COVID-19 corpses – making cremation mandatory. Several Muslims decried the move, saying that cremation was against their religious right to bury the dead.
Sri Lankan authorities then arrested retired government official Ramzy Razeek after he criticized the cremation of a Muslim COVID-19 victim and warned against increasing hate propaganda against Muslims on social media.
According to guidelines from the WHO, dead bodies of COVID-19 victims can be cremated or buried.
Read more: Sri Lanka’s Catholics and Muslims deeply divided by terror attacks
Challenges with migrant workers
Sri Lanka also faces the risk of a possible new wave of the virus from imported cases. The country has over a million migrant workers abroad, of whom about 60,000 want to return home, according to the International Labor Organization.
However, one of the conditions for repatriating citizens back to Sri Lanka is based on the availability of quarantine facilities, explained Pendse.
“The influx of people is being managed according to the accommodation available in existing quarantine facilities. There has been an increase in the capacity for quarantine from when the pandemic first began,” she said.
Read more: Sri Lanka remembers Easter Sunday bombing victims
Five more cases of COVID-19 infections have been reported a short while ago, confirmed the Ministry of Health.
With the new cases, the count of COVID-19 cases identified today (18) rises to 10. Previously, 5 Navy personnel were reported to have contracted the disease.
Thereby the total count of novel coronavirus cases reported in Sri Lanka has moved to 991.
The number of recoveries in the country rose to 559 earlier today while a total of 418 active cases are currently under medical care.
The number of fatalities due to the virus in Sri Lanka is 09.
According to the Health Ministry, around 1,254 PCR tests were carried out yesterday and 21 new cases were identified within yesterday.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa explored the possibility of finding employment for Sri Lankan youth at prominent shipping companies in the world in the context of the current situation where major shipping lines are facing labor shortages in the international market due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was discussed during a meeting with the representatives of leading local shipping companies at the Presidential Secretariat, today (18), stated President’s Media Division.
The possibility for Sri Lankans working in foreign ships which are sailing from east to west close to the southern coastal belt to enter and leave from the Galle harbor was also discussed at the meeting.
The representatives of the shipping companies revealed that daily more than 300 trade vessels sail 10 nautical miles away from the Galle Port. They pointed out that by creating an environment for those sailors to return to their respective countries via Sri Lanka will pave the way to generate huge foreign exchange revenue. President Rajapaksa emphasized that this opportunity can be used to promote SriLankan Airlines as well.
It was pointed out at the meeting that the Galle harbor could be developed into a Global Crew Exchange Hub. President instructed the officials to adhere to health guidelines and regulations in the course of implementing this program.
Of the 1.6 million global shipping crews, 16,000 or 1% of the total are Sri Lankans, and they annually contribute USD 300 million to the Sri Lankan economy, states the PMD. President Rajapaksa added that a two-fold increase in the number of Sri Lankans in the field would double the country’s foreign exchange income.
With the assurance of a quality-centric service to foreign naval corporations, Sri Lankan employees can secure more opportunities to work for longer periods in foreign vessels, positively affecting the local economy.
Secretary to the President, P.B Jayasundara, Principal Advisor to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva, Chairman of Sri Lanka Port Authority, Retired General Daya Ratnayake and several heads of a number of prominent Naval Corporations were present at the discussion.
Daughter of DIG Ajith Rohana, a statement, refuted the rumors that she had allegedly absconded the quarantine process made mandatory by the government for persons arriving in Sri Lanka from foreign countries.
Certain media reports claimed that the daughter of DIG Ajith Rohana had returned to the island from Belarus – where she had been studying – and had been escorted home without being subjected to the mandatory quarantine process.
However, posting a video on Facebook, she refuted all such claims and stated the relevant media reports were false.
She stated that nearly 400 Sri Lankan students are at the university in Belarus where she is carrying out her studies.
She further said that she hopes to return to Sri Lanka once her final examinations conclude at the end of June.
The case filed regarding the shooting of a pet dog to death in Negombo was taken up at the Negombo Magistrate’s Court today (18).
A pet dog named ‘Max’ was shot dead in the Dalupotha area in Negombo, on the Vesak Full Moon Poya Day (May 07).
President’s Counsel Ashan Fernando made submissions to the court regarding the death of the dog.
Negombo Chief Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya ordered all reports regarding the incident to be submitted to the court on May 22.
Further, the case was postponed to May 26, when revoking of bail granted to the suspect will be considered.
Supreme Court fixed May 22 to consider the petition filed seeking a writ order for the Elections Commission to reject the nomination papers submitted by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya for the upcoming general election.
The petition was taken up today (18) before a three-member Supreme Court bench comprising of Justices S. Durairajah, Murdu Fernando, and Yasantha Kodagoda.
The petition has been filed by United National Party (UNP) candidate Oshala Herath.
Members of the Election Commission including Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya, former Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, General Secretary of Samagi Jana Balawegaya former MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara, Chairman of ‘Ape Jathika Peramuna party’ Senaka Haripriya de Silva and its Secretary Diana Gamage have been named respondents of the petition.
The party which has handed over nominations for Samagi Jana Balawegaya is based on the ‘Ape Jathika Peramuna’ party, petitioner pointed out.
The petitioner further points out that the appointment of Ranjith Madduma Bandara as the General Secretary of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya has not been approved by the Working Committee of the UNP.
Accordingly, the nomination papers submitted with the signature of Ranjith Madduma Bandara as the General Secretary of Samagi Jana Balawegaya are illegal, petitioner claims.
Thereby, the petitioner has appealed to the Supreme Court to rule that the Elections Commission has no jurisdiction to accept the nomination papers and nullify relevant nomination papers.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa says that the Sri Lankan armed forces and police are the sentinels of the nation, ensuring the safety of the general public in all crises whether man-made or natural – whether the crisis is terrorism, floods or disease.
Issuing a statement to mark the 11th Anniversary of Sri Lanka’s victory against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Prime Minister points out this was not a war against the Tamil people but against an organization designated by the FBI as the deadliest terrorists in the world.
He says that the Sri Lankan armed forces and police, who won a war that was widely considered to be unwinnable, are now once again engaged in a successful joint operation with the state health sector in combating COVID-19.
Prime Minister Rajapaksa further says that he condemns the attempts of the Yahapalana political parties to create an artificial social dichotomy between ‘military’ and ‘civilian’.
A person who has retired from the armed forces is a civilian and no longer a member of the military”, the Premier said.
He says that as long as they will be in power, there will always be former members of the armed forces and police holding positions in the government as the ‘Ranaviru’ constituency is now an integral part of the ‘Sangha, Veda, Guru, Govi, Kamkaru’ social line up of former times.
The full message of the Prime Minister:
On the 19th of May, we mark the 11th anniversary of the victory against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. That was not a war against the Tamil people but against an organization designated by the FBI as the deadliest terrorists in the world. Due to the defeat of the LTTE, Tamil people are now free to live as they wish. Tamil children are no longer forcibly recruited by the LTTE. Tamil politicians no longer live in fear of LTTE assassins. Furthermore, due to the absence of the LTTE, elections can be held in the Northern and Eastern provinces and that has safeguarded the sovereign rights of the people of those provinces.
The armed forces and police that amazed the entire world by winning what was widely considered to be an unwinnable war, are now once again engaged in a joint operation with the state health sector in combating Covid-19. All indications are that Sri Lanka is winning the battle against COVID -19 as well. The frontline role played by the armed forces and police in working with the general public, has undoubtedly been of immense help to the health sector in bringing the spread of Covid-19 under control in the present manner.
This once again reminds all of us that the armed forces and police are the sentinels of the nation, ensuring the safety of the general public in all crises whether man-made or natural – whether the crisis be terrorism, floods or disease. In this context, I wish to condemn in the strongest possible terms, the attempt being made by the yahapalana political parties to create an artificial social dichotomy between ‘military’ and ‘civilian’. If a retired member of the armed forces is appointed to some position in the government, that is being portrayed by the opposition as ‘militarization’. A person who has retired from the armed forces is a civilian and no longer a member of the military.
Furthermore, the Ranaviru constituency is now an integral part of the Sangha, Weda, Guru, Govi, Kamkaru social line up of former times. So whenever we happen to be in power, there will always be former members of the armed forces and police holding various positions in the government. We must always be mindful of the historic role that the armed forces and police have played in this country in safeguarding the peoples’ sovereignty based on the universal franchise by defeating all attempts to destroy the democratic system of government.
On this 11th Anniversary of the war victory that amazed the whole world, I wish to reiterate that the manner in which the yahapalana government betrayed our armed forces internationally and the vicious manner in which they persecuted both retired and serving members of the armed forces have not been forgotten. We once again pledge that justice will be done to all those who faced humiliation and persecution under the yahapalana government.”
Today, we commemorate one of the most significant milestones in Sri Lankan history, where 11 years ago we witnessed an end to the constant fear of death, terror and bloodshed. The courage of our brave and heroic soldiers ended the bloodshed that soaked our soil for decades. Thousands sacrificed their lives to end the terror that ravaged our land for over three decades. Today, once again, our brave war heroes have joined hands with the frontline health care professionals to heal our nation that’s grappling with the COVID-19 global pandemic. Today, I remember our war heroes with gratitude and utmost respect. They saved our nation from decades of terror in the past and is today working tirelessly to protect us and save our lives from a global pandemic. As we look to the past to appreciate and remember with gratitude the sacrifices made by our war heroes and their beloved families, I also look towards the future to join hands to re-build a prosperous nation together with you.
මිට වසර 11 කට පෙර අද වැනි දිනයක ශ්රී ලංකාව අභිමානවත් දේශයක් ලෙස ජයග්රාහී සන්ධිස්ථානයක් පසු කළේය. එනම් ශ්රී ලංකාවාසී සැවොම මරණය නමැති භීතියෙන් ඇලලී ගිය තිස් අවුරුදු සාපලත් යුද්ධය අභීත විරෝධාර රණවිරුවන් විසින් අවසන් කිරීමය. අපගේ විරෝධාර රණවිරුවන් දහස් ගණනින් සිය ජිවිත පුජා කරමින් මව්බිම ලෙයින් තෙත් කළ යුද්ධයට තිත තැබුවේ සිය නිර්භීත කම හා දක්ෂකම ලොවටම විදහා පාමින්ය. එදා සමස්ත ශ්රී ලංකාවාසීන්ට අභය දානය ලබා දුන් විරෝධාර රණවිරුවන් අද සුව විරුවන් සමග එක්වෙමින් කොරෝනා වෛරසයෙන් රට මුදා ගැනීමේ මෙහෙයුම සාර්ථකව නිම කරමින් පවතින්නේ ලොවම මවිත කරවමිනි. තිස් අවුරුදු සාපලත් යුද්ධයෙන් රට මුදා ගැනීමට සිය දිවි කැප කළ විරෝධාර රණවිරුවන් අභිමානයෙන් යුතුව මා සිහි කරන අතරවාරයේම අද කොරෝනා වෛරසයෙන් රට මුදා ගැනීමේ මෙහෙයුමට උරදී ඇති සියලුම රණවිරුවන්ට මා ස්තුතිවන්ත වන අතර අනාගතයේ සෞභාග්යමත් ශ්රී ලංකාවක් බිහි කිරීමට ඔබගේ දායකත්වය රටක් ලෙස අපි සැම අපේක්ෂා කරන්නෙමු.
We have only guestimates of Tamil children kidnapped by LTTE and turned into child soldiers. We don’t really know the exact numbers of Tamil children kidnapped, how many died during LTTE training, how many were killed trying to flee LTTE training camps, how many lie injured from training, how many children died during hostilities, how many children were brainwashed to commit suicide by biting cyanide capsule, how many children were suicide bombers, how many children were trained by the LTTE female child soldier trainer – the Australian nurse now living a good life in UK. But we do know that all of the Tamil children were kidnapped from low caste and poor Tamil homes and not a single Tamil child was kidnapped from any rich Tamil parent. On 18 May 2009, with LTTE’s defeat, it was a victorious day for the Tamil low caste and poor Tamils. They would never have to live in fear of their children getting kidnapped and turned into child soldiers.
By end of the conflict some 12,000 LTTE combatants in civilian clothing surrendered to the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. Among them were 594 child soldiers – 364 males and 230 females.Sri Lanka decided to do what No military in the world and no foreign government has ever done. Sri Lanka’s then President declared Our hearts are not vicious. We will not prosecute children and he offered the 594 child soldiers a Presidential Pardon and instructed that they be given the education they were denied. For years, the Tamil children that held a gun were finally given to hold a pen/pencil by the Sri Lankan Government.
When the government drew up its indigenous rehabilitation & reintegration program, the entities that did nothing to stop LTTE from kidnapping children and turning them into child soldiers came to poke their noses to advise how Sri Lanka should rehabilitate the child soldier.
Life of a Child soldier
Former LTTE child soldiers in government rehabilitation camps
The many messages and drawings by these children in the army camps that looked after them is testimony to the affection they were shown by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and was clearly opposite to the gruesome treatment they received from the LTTE. Many of these children shed tears when the day came to leave and return to their families and restart life again.
Their youth was stolen by the LTTE. Their parents were denied watching their children grow. Parent and child lived in agony – all because of LTTE. Today the LTTE fronts are running global tamashas, have they ever sought to look after a single child soldier whom they used as cannon fodder?
Gokulan is one such child soldier who found freedom with the victory over LTTE. He found love and care instead of orders to kill. He was taught to hate the Sinhalese, today the Sinhalese love him. Gokulan is now a singer and actor. He is now 34years. He was dragged and taken away when attending A/L classes. Both his brothers were also child soldiers and both had died in battle. His sister had been conscripted by LTTE during the final stages. She luckily survived and surrendered in May 2009 and both have reunited with their families in Mankulam. Gokulan in the interview with Shanika Sriyananda thanks the Army Rehabilitation making special mention of Lt. Col. Manjula Gurusinghe as well as Anoja Weerasinghe who taught him. They filled the void of a father, guided and tapped our talent from the beginning and directed us to suitable paths to brush up our skills” said Gokulan. Gokulan, who sang and danced at the ceremony held to reintegrate 1,000 ex-LTTE cadres at Temple Trees in the presence of President Mahinda Rajapaksa two months ago, said he had a sleepless night as he had to perform before the leader who gave them the opportunity to surrender and secured for them a better future. Among his dreams now is to talk to the President to thank him for saving their lives.
http://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2011/12/04/fea10.asp
Gokulan singing
But many children were not as lucky as Gokulan. Selvaratna Subitha recounts how the LTTE took her 16year old sister Marisalin Sukhandha in March 2009 –LTTE female combatants disguised in civilian came to their home in Keppapilavu and dragged her away. They took away our children as if they were taking away goats and cows”. Sukhanda never returned. Sad as it is, she dies a LTTE combatant but not a civilian. Her civilian status was removed the moment LTTE handed her a gun and ordered her to fire and engage in hostilities.
We had only report after report from the West/UN and NGOs. They however, did nothing to prevent LTTE from recruiting children nor took action against LTTE for recruiting children.
2004 HRW report on forcible recruitment of child soldiers claimed LTTE had recruited over 3500 children from 2002 bogus ceasefire agreement brokered by Norway.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2004/11/11/sri-lanka-tamil-tigers-forcibly-recruit-child-soldiers
There was a Sri Lankan too holding a top UN post responsible for both women and children but other than walking away with accolades for herself, she too did nothing to stop LTTE from kidnapping children and turning them into child soldiers or even recommending global action against LTTE for it.
Tragically the same Western/UN/NGO entities do nothing but encourage by their inaction as over 350 ‘LTTE madrassas’ are operating across Europe indoctrinating hate into the minds of Tamil children. None of these are likely to take up arms, but they are being indoctrinated to internationally be used as a witch hunt for political purposes against Sri Lanka.
The subject of child soldiers and that they were plucked from POOR and LOW CASTE TAMIL parents is a topic that no one likes to broach on for it brings to the surface issues among Tamil society they would rather keep hidden. However, all of the LTTE combatants who have been rehabilitated and reintegrated are living life as outcasts in their own society. Many have been made to feel that they have failed the ‘cause’. How much of the very rich LTTE kitty enjoyed among the LTTE fronts is been utilized to look after these men, women and children who sacrificed their lives for the LTTE? While they were battling in the jungle, the richer Tamils nicely cried crocodile tears of discrimination and won themselves asylum in Western countries. They are now making an identity for themselves milking the ‘discrimination’ cow and even becoming politicians in their new foreign habitats. But, all the while they are beating the drums through tamashas like ‘genocide’ day. ‘mullaikvaikkal remembrance’ day and what not because that is the only way they can forge an identity for themselves and show their importance in those foreign countries. Are they looking after the Tamils that sacrificed in the dirt and thorny jungles – NO.
It was the Sri Lankan Government in May 2009 that embraced the LTTE child soldier and turned them into human beings from the killer machines that LTTE had turned them into.
LTTE turned them into Child Soldiers
Sri Lanka turned them into actors & singers
LTTE gave them a Gun
Sri Lanka gave them a Pen
LTTE kidnapped them from their Parents
Sri Lanka returned them to their Parents
LTTE destroyed their freedom
Sri Lanka gave back their freedom
Every commemoration of 18 May 2009 we also celebrate FREEDOM for the LOW CASTE & POOR Tamil CHILD SOLDIERS
Shenali D Waduge
දිනය හරියටම 2009 මැයි මාසේ 17 වෙනිදා එළිවෙන ජාමය,හරියටම කියුවොත් අවුරුදු 11කට කළින් අද වගේ දවසක, එල්ටීටීඊ කදවුරු බිදගෙන ඉදිරියට ආපු හමුදා සේනංක මුළු උතුරු-නැගෙනහිරම නිදහස් කරගෙන මුලතිව් වලින් හමුවෙලා.නන්දිකඩාල් බිම් කඩට එල්ටීටීඊය කොටු කරල තිබුන අවස්ථාව.මේ රවුමෙන් සලකුණු කරපු බංකරයේ ඉඳල නන්දිකඩාල් කළපුව අතර දුර මීටර් 300 – 500 විතර..දැනුවත් වුන විදිහට, ඒ සිමාව තුල ප්රභාකරන් තමන්ගේ අවසාන ගැලවීමට රඳවාගත් අවසාන මිනිස් පලිහ වුන 50,000 පමණ දෙමළ ජනතාවක් රඳවාගෙන ඉඳල තියෙනවා.
මේ අතරතුර කොළඹ තත්වය වුනේ, ගෝඨාභය වටා යුඑන් සහ බටහිර තානාපති කාර්යාල අධික ලෙස පීඩනය යොදමින් ප්රභාකරන් ජීවග්රහයෙන් ලංකාවේ මුහුදු සිමාවේ නවතා තිබු ඇමෙරිකානු යුද නැවට පැටවීමේ මෙහෙයුමද ක්රියාත්මකයි.ඒ වෙනකොට හමුදාපති සරත් ෆොන්සේකා ඒකාබද්ධ මෙහෙයුම් කාර්යාලයේ වගකීම් වලින් ඉවත් වෙලා,මොකද එතුමා චීන නිළ සංචාරයකට සහභාගී වෙලා.නමුත් එතුමා මෙම බටහිර/ඇමරිකානුඅත පෙවීමකට සූදානමින් සිටින්න කියලා අවශ්ය උපදෙස් හමුදාවටත් දන්වලා තිබිලා තියෙන්නේ.
නමුත් ගෝඨාගේ නියෝගය වෙලා තිබුනේ, ඉක්මණට ගහල දාපන්, මෙතන මම බැලන්ස් කරගන්නම් කියන ස්ථිර වචනය. නමුත් ආරක්ෂක ලේකම්ට වුනත් බටහිර බලපෑම අල්ලන් හිදීම දරාගැනීමේ උපරිමයට ලඟා වෙමිනුයි තිබ්බේ. තානාපති කාර්යාල පීඩනය ක්රියාන්විතයේ යෙදුණු නිලධාරීන්ටත් නොතිබුනත්, ඔවුන්ට ඉවෙන් වගේ දැවැන්ත බටහිර මැදිහත්වීමක සලකුණු දැනෙන්න ඇති. කොහොම වුනත්, වැඩිපුර මිනිත්තුවක හෝ ප්රමාදය, ප්රභාකරන් තවදුරටත් ජිවත් වෙනවද නැද්ද කියන එක තීරණය කරනවා.ඒ කොටස කිවේ, ප්රමාද වෙන මිනිත්තුවක් රටේ දෛවය වෙනස් කරන්න ඇති කල හැකි බලපෑම ගැන අදහසක් ගන්න.
ඒ වෙනකොට, LTTE විශේෂ බලකාය හෙවත් කළු කොටි දියත් කරපු ප්රභල ප්රහාර රැළි 2කින් අපේ පිහිටුම කි.මි.1 වඩා පස්සට අරගෙන නැවත ඔවුන් දෙසට පීඩනය යොමු කරමින් ආපු ගමනකයි අපේ පිරිස ඉඳල තියෙන්නේ.
රැයක් එලිවීම, තවත් එවැනි රැල්ලක් හෝ අවදානම් සිමාව උන්ගෙන් අපිට මාරු වෙන්න ඉඩකඩ උපරිමයි. මේ කියන බංකරය මේ බෙදුම් රේඛාවේ තීරණාත්මක තැනක්. ඕක කඩපු ගමන් පිටිපස්සේ ඉන්න මිනිස් පලිහෙන් 2/3කට වඩා දොර ඇරෙනවා. ඊට පස්සේ විවෘත වෙන්නේ, තැනිතලා සහිත අභියෝගයන්.ඒ වෙනකොට, විශේෂ බලඝණයන් සහ ස්නයිපර් කණ්ඩායම් ඔවුන්ට නියමිත සමාන්තර වැදගත් කමින් යුතු මෙහෙයුම් වල අතිශයින්ම කාර්යබහුලයි. මේ ඉලක්කය දීලා තිබ්බේ, 58 සේනාංකය බාරව හිටපු ශවේන්ද්ර සිල්වාට, ඔහුගෙන් මේ කාර්යය බාර වෙලා තියෙන්නේ, බ්ලු චැනල් අන්වර්ථ නාමයෙන් යෙදුණු 586 (හෝ වෙනත් බ්රිගේඩ් එකක්) 9 වන ගැමුණු හේවා බල සේනාංකය බාර වෙලා හිටපු එවකට ලුතිනන් කර්නල් ලාල් චන්ද්රසිරිගේ කණ්ඩායමට. ඒ ඔහු ඊට නියමම සුදුස්සා නිසා (ඊටත් හේතු විශාල ප්රමාණයක් තියෙනවා).
ඔහුගෙන් මේ වගකීම පැවරෙන්නේ ඔහුගේ බලඇණියේ තුල නිර්මානය කල අටේ කණ්ඩායමට.මිට අදාලව රෑ 2ක් ඔවුන්ට බරපතල පුහුණුවක් ලබා දෙන්නත් කටයුතු කරලා තියෙනවා. කොහොම හරි, මේ 8 , 4 ඒවා 2ට බෙදිලා දෙපැත්තෙන් මීට සමාන්තර බංකර් පේළිය රෑම කඩල, මේකට විතරක් එළිවෙනකන් ගේමක් දීලා. අවතක්සේරු කරන්න එපා, LTTE විශේෂ බලකාය හෙවත් කළු කොටි අතිශයින්ම කාර්යක්ෂමයි, සහ ඔවුන්ගේ ප්රහාරක බලය ඉතාම ඉහලයි. එදා එලිවෙනකොටත් මේක ගලවගන්න බැරි වීම බොහෝවිට යුද්ධයේ හැරවීම් ලක්ෂයක් වෙන්න තිබ්බලු.
ඔතන අටේ ඉඳල තියෙනවා සාජන් හෝ කෝප්රල් කෙනෙක් (නම නොදන්නා නිසාම ඔහුට නාදුණන සොල්දාදුවා කියලා හදුන්වමු). මෙයා කියල තියෙන්නේ, ” සර් ටෙරාල ගහන විදිහට ඕක සුසයිඩ් එකකින් මෙහා ගලවන්න කිසිම විකල්පයක් නැහැ, මගේ අම්ම තාත්ත වයසයි, සහෝදරයෝ නැහැ, මම බැඳලත් නැහැ. අඩුපාඩුවකට තියෙන්නේ ගෙයක් නැති එක විතරයි. ඒකට අවුලක් නැහැ සර්, මම මේක ඉරපායන්න කලින් සර්ට මේක කඩල දෙනවා
” ඒ තමයි 9 වන ගැමුණු හේවා බල සේනාංකය බාරව හිටපු එවකට ලුතිනන් කර්නල් ලාල් චන්ද්රසිරිට ලැබුණ අවසාන පණිවිඩය..පැයක් ඇතුලත බංකරේ ඇතුළෙන්ම පිපිරීමක් ඇවිල්ල එතන හිටපු ටෙරාලගේ විශේෂ බලඝනයේ 10, 15ක් පිරිසත් එක්කම අපේ කොල්ලගේ ජීවිතෙත් අවසන් වෙලා තියනවා
.මේ අටේ කණ්ඩායමේ ඔහුත් සමග හිටපු කෝප්රල් සම්පත් පවසන ආකාරයට , අපේ එක්කෙනෙක් ඒකට පනින එකෙන් මෙහා එක ගලවන්න බැරි නිසා ඔවුන් අසරණ වෙලා හිටපු බව සහ මේ නාදුනන සොල්දාදුවා කෝප්රල් සම්පත්ට එයාගේ නේම් ටැග් එක ගලවල එයාගේ අම්මට දෙන්න කියලා භාර දීල.තමන්ගේ ජීවිතය කැප කරමින් මෙම ක්රියාවට පිටත් වූ බව..
මේ විදිහට, පරාර්ථය වෙනුවෙන් ස්වාර්ථය කැපකළ නාදුදන සොල්දාදුවන් දහස් ගානක් නිසා, විශේෂයෙන්ම දෙමළ ජනතාවටත්, මුස්ලිම්, සිංහල ඇතුළු, සමස්ථ ජාතියම අද නිදහසේ හුස්ම ගන්න බව ආශ්වාස ප්රාශ්වාසයේ යෙදෙන හැම මොහොතක සිහියට ගන්න.
අද මම ඔබ, ඔබේ දරුවන් ගන්න හුස්මක් හුස්මක් පාසා අප ඔවුන්ටත් ඔවුන්ගේ දෙමව්පියන්ට සහ දරුවන්ටත් ණය බව අමතක නොකරන්න.
අවසානයේ යුද්ධය අවසන් වීමෙන් පසුව, ලු.ක. චන්ද්රසිරි මහතාගේ පුද්ගලික මැදිහත්වීමෙන් ඔවුන්ගේ දෙමාපියන්ට නිවසක් තනා දී තිබෙනවා. පපුවට අත තියාගෙනයි ඔවුන් මෙවැනි ආකාරයට කැප කිරීම් කළවුන් ගැන කථා කරන්නේ.
මතක තබාගන්න මෙවැනි හසලක ගාමිණි කුලරතනල පන්නයේ, නම නොකියවෙන නාදුනන සොල්දාදුවන් දහස් ගනනක් ඔබට මට හෙට උපදින දරුවන්ට සුරක්ෂිත සාමයෙන් පිරි රටක් උදා කරදීම සදහා මෙවැනි තීරණාත්මක කඩයිම් බොහොමයක් දිවි පුදා පසුකරදුන් බව…
The opposition in the Sri Lanka Parliament was dissolved by the President on 2nd March 2020. is clamoring with the News First TV at the forefront asking the President to recall the dissolved parliament despite Article 150 of the Constitution, stating that he has no right to continue to take money under the consolidated Fund without the permission of the Parliament.
This is a false argument, as the President after the dissolution of the Parliament is Constitutionally in full charge of running the country, with the right to draw necessary finances from the Consolidated Fund until a new Parliament begins its sitting and for three months thereafter. The past obsolete opposition of the dissolved parliament argues that the 20th June 2020 set for the General Elections is not suitable to hold the General election as the country is not out of the COVID -19 pandemic.
In view of this, it would be interesting for those pessimists of opposition to the government, to note the situation with regard to France. France has 142 291 reported Covid 19 cases. There had been 27 625 deaths. 19 432 patients are in hospitals, out of 2132 in reanimation. The recovered cases reported are 61066.
Despite this France has successfully eased off from the locked-up situation.
After 55 days of confinement, France announced easing out of its citizens as from 11th May 2020. It has been reported that the deconfinement was a success. They have announced that sea beeches will also be opened to the public and parks and gardens will eventually be opened. Schools and Universities have also been listed to be opened soon subject to conditions to be announced later.
The government of France held up the second round of local government election on the 15th March 2020 due to Covid – 19 pandemic. It involves 5000 municipalities representing more than 25 million French people.
The government is expected to decide next week if it is safe to hold the second round of local government elections by the end of June, after consultations with health experts. Why should not Sri Lanka which is much safer than France under the Covid -19 pandemic find a safe method for holding elections in consultation with the Health Authorities, the Defence Forces, and the Police ?.
Today the 17 May 2020, first time after two months President Emmanuel Macron attended a public gathering to commemorate the day Charles de Gaulle still an unknown Colonel led an armored division to fight against the advancing Nazi Forces famously called the battle of Moncornet in which 60000 French soldiers lost their lives.
However complicating the situation in France further, it has been announced that 34 positive cases of Covid-19 affected persons were found among the workers in a slaughterhouse. The same has been reported in slaughterhouses in Germany, and in America. They argue that it may have come from the workers living in insalubrious quarters close to the slaughterhouses. They still do not say whether the flesh of the slaughtered animals was either contaminated or the virus had been found in the slaughtered animals.
Sri Lanka should start testing the butcheries, workers in slaughterhouses and also the workers in fish markets who cut and pack fish.
France not taking lessons from China did not start off well with its fight against Covid-19. When China built two hospitals in two weeks to take care of the persons affected by the Virus, France did not eve open any existing hospital especially for the treatment of Corona Virus affected patients. France indicated a telephone number to be called if anyone suspects having signs of Corona Virus. It recommended self-confinement as it had no special quarantine centers to receive suspected patients.
France lacked masks even for sale for the public, whatever was available were meant for hospital stuff. Unfortunately last week it was said that France had found a stock of 362 million old and unusable masks which were destroyed.
”The stock of surgical masks was burned between January and March 2020, just as the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to take hold in Europe. Public Health France has defended the move, as they state the masks were out of date – but they weren’t checked to see if they were still usable prior to being destroyed. It comes as a stock of 362 million out-of-date surgical masks were found in storage, with almost a quarter, 85 million, considered to be fit for use.” https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1281806/face-masks-coronavirus-latest-france-ppe-Emmanuel-Macron-face-mask-shortage-eu-news.
Fighting off the Covid 19 is more political and the Medical experts are consulted but not seen much as they are in Sri Lanka where the government takes no action without consulting the Health Services.
Asking people to maintain social distance and at the same time opening the liquor shops will ruin the progress achieved so far in combating COVID 19. Most of our people don’t enjoy a drink, they simply drink it as a glass of water, without mixing with soda, water, etc. Rarely they use ice as a supplement.
The eagerness to have a drink they could not enjoy for the past several weeks was clearly demonstrated by a large number of queues outside bars, from the early hours of the morning.
A most important element of Sri Lankan drinking is that they naturally drink with friends an unlimited quantity, with a famous bite, Beef, Pork, or Chicken devil. With curfews operating at night times from 8 pm, they gather in private residences in groups of friends, similarly to a Club environment. They drink almost till 3 or 4 am. The Police raids are unlikely to enter private residences during curfew hours to arrest these culprits.
South Korea, which has controlled COVID 19, relaxed the social distancing and opened Clubs and Bars a couple of days ago. There is a sudden surge of infected persons since the relaxation 2 days ago. This has prompted the South Korean government to close Bars and Clubs and re-introduce social distancing.
We urge the President and the Prime Minister to close all Bars and Clubs for an indefinite period of time. Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya recently confirmed that the damage to the national economy, health, safety, criminal activities as a result of liquor consumption could be as high as 7 times greater than the revenue otherwise generated from selling liquor.
For man Sri Lanka the kick from liquor is not enough. Liquor does not work itself alone for them. Sri Lankan drink Gal Arak, mix with Three Coins or Larger Beer. This opens a market for Drug Runners, who sell large quantities to those who are intoxicated. The recent capture of a massive haul of Drugs is a testimony to assess the size of the local market.
There is a strong case for the closure of liquor shops.
If Messrs Gotabaya and Mahinda cannot stamp out liquor from Sri Lanka, no one will ever be able to do it.
Export Development Board is quite active in trying to promote various export-oriented Industries to enhance foreign currency earnings for the country
One of the proposals they are promoting is the development of nautical tourism which involves boat and leisure craft building and various marinas around the island
One of the pioneers in Sri Lanka in nautical tourism Mr. Pier Pringers who is almost a naturalized in Sri Lankan built few luxury boats to promote nautical tourism
He invited the Tourist board to visit the boat which he called a Boutique floating hotel. Tourist Board misunderstood the meaning and visited the yard in Mirissa to inspect a boutique hotel
When we met the tourist board to develop Game Fishing, they thought that they have to approve a boathouse and the ground accommodation
Tourism board does not have a clue what is nautical tourism and in their marketing strategy they cover only ground-based hotels etc
They hardly attended any of the EDB meetings to support nautical tourism which is the future
The government should appoint people who have broad-based exposure in the field of Nautical Tourism to support the bureaucrats who head these organizations
Dr. Sarath Obeysekera
CEO Walkers Colombo Shipyard
Colombo
Sri Lanka
කොවිඩ් 19 සෞඛ්යය හා සමාජ ආරක්ෂණ අරමුදලට හුදී ජනයාට ද දායක විය හැකි පරිදි ‘ඉටුකම’ අරමුදල ඇරඹීම ඉතා වැදගත් ය. ඒ සඳහා දායකවීම රටට ආදරය කරන සෑම රටවැසියකු ගේ ම යුතුකම යි. ඒ සඳහා මහා සංඝරත්නය හා ජාතික සංවිධාන ජනයාට මඟ පෙන්වනු ඇතැයි අපේක්ෂා කරමු.
වැන්දඹු හා අනත්දරු අරමුදලට තම වැටුපෙන් කොටසක් පරිත්යාග කරන ලෙස ජනාධිපති ලේකම් ආචාර්ය පී. බී. ජයසුන්දර මහතා රජයේ සේවකයන් ගෙන් කළ ඉල්ලීමට ධනාත්මක ව ප්රතිචාර දැක්වීම ද ඉතා වැදගත් වේ. ඒ උතුම් පරිත්යාගය සිය පවුලේ මෙන් ම රටේ ද සුරක්ෂිතතාවය වෙනුවෙන් එකවිට කරන ඉතිරියකි; ආයෝජනයකි. වෘත්තිකයන් මේ අවස්ථාවේ රැකගත හැක්කේ රට රැකගැනීමෙන් පමණක් ය යන අවබෝධයෙන් කටයතු කිරීම වෘත්තීය සමිති නායකතාවයේ ද යුතුකම යි. වෘත්තිකයන්ගේ ජාතික පෙරමුණට ඒ සඳහා නායකත්වය දිය හැකි ය.
මෙ ලෙස රට වෙනුවෙන් පරිත්යාග කිරීමට ඉදිරිපත් වන රටවැසියන් ඇගයීමට රජය කටයුතු කරනු ඇතැයි අපි අපේක්ෂා කරමු. එය, සිය මවුබිමට ආදරය කරන රටචැසියන්ට හිමි වන අගනා සිහිවටනයක් වනු ඇත.
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