A.A.M.NIZAM

The imbecile Sajith Premadasa’s Shameless Jabbering Bandits (SJB) suffering from an acute election phobia following mass isolation by credible political personalities in the village level is making desperate efforts to get the forthcoming election cancelled or to get it indefinitely postponed.  All the Bandits who played leading roles in getting the local government elections postponed by more than 2 years and suspend holding the Provincial Council elections by resorting to unconstitutional methods during the Sirisena/Ranil regime are now in the SJB and they shiver when the mere mentioning of election is made.

The imbecile self assumed leader was so power hungry and attempted to completely destroy the UNP if he could not get the leadership of that party, as attempted by his harrowing father to grab the power of that party from Dudley Senanayake who was held in high esteem by party members forming a frontline outfit named ‘Citizen’s Front. The popular fable those days was that this man’s harrowing father went to Malayalam exorcist in Kerala and invoked a charm (a hoonium) that led to the death of Mr. Senanayake and when he visited Woodlands to see Mr. Senanayake’s body the angry UNPers attempted to crush him and Mr. Robert Senanayake , Dudley’s brother saved him.  It was also in the grapevine that it was the grapevine that a Kerala astrologer who read Sajith’s horoscope and said the horoscope belonged to the son of a former Prime Minister.    This Bandit leader, the son of that harrowing father who got crackers lit and kiribath served by the UNPers when he was killed made several unsuccessful attempts to grab the leadership of the UNP through inside rebellions and even by street demonstrations (Cinnamon Pole encounter). 

At the initial outbreak of the Corona pandemic in Sri Lanka these Bandits whose leader and other prominent members who were responsible for taking no action for preventing Easter Sunday carnage even though they knew well advance about the impending disaster through credible intelligence reports.  (former Minister Harin Fernando’s self-confession suffice) blamed the government for delaying action to curbing the spread of the pandemic.  These Bandits were profusely delighted about the outbreak and assumed that the government would collapse being unable to curb the virus.  These Bandits never anticipated even in their dreams that the government similar to it faced the terrorist onslaught and wiped it out was firmly determined to face the calamity and they did not know that in this instance the government had the dedicated service of our health sector and the public servants manning essential services in addition to the backing of our legendary security forces.

When the shark that swallowed and ruined the well established Sathosa sales network and the Marketing Department purchasing and processing network, became the first Finance Minister of the Sirisena/Ranil regime he wanted our farmers to give p paddy farming saying that it is cheaper to import than cultivating it locally and asked them to either to cultivate maize or fill the paddy lands and sell them for building/house constructions.  As a result of this many farmers gave up their vocation of cultivation which they had been following for generations and some even went to the towns as coolies or helping hands.

It must be recalled that during the Mahinda Rajapaksa presidency, fertilizer subsidy and other concessions were granted to the farmers considering them as investments for the future which highly encouraged farmers even to barren lands that had been left out for several decades and the country became not only self sufficient in rice but an excess rice producer, perhaps after the reign of King Parakramabahu.

Unlike America which destroys excess wheat productions to maintain price levels without falling, Sri Lankan did not resort to such methods and exported the excess rice production to several African countries and also donated a large quantity of rice to the World Food Program (WFP) for feeding the hungry mouths of several people suffering from malnutrition in certain countries. 

Fortunately, when Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Govi Raja got appointed as the Prime Minister in October 2018 the first thing he did was to revive the agricultural sector by resuming the fertilizer subsidy and granting loan facilities and several other concessions to farmers which gradually opened up the paddy mills that had been closed down.

If the country had remained in the ship to mouth for food requirement situation created by Ravi Karunanayake at the time of the Corona Virus outbreak by now there would have been food riots all over the country with people killing each other for a loaf of bread or a plate of rice. 

Recently several weeks after this government came to power the alleged drug peddler Mujibur Rehman and another SJBandit MP brought some vegetable items to Parliament and wasted the precious parliament making long lectures saying that people suffering from many hardships as they are unable to feed their children even with one meal a day.  When they now see the excess fruit and vegetable production in the country most of which are being distributed free by some voluntary organizations these two MPs should quit politics forever or hang themselves in the parliament building.  Among the items in excess production was several tons of WaterMelon for which on the request of the President some food-exporting firms have come forward to purchase all excess production and export them to their customers in the U.S. and in European countries. 

With these setbacks and hopes shattered the imbecile self-assumed leader of the Shameless Jabbering Bandits (SJB) while praising the illustrious work done by the Health sector personnel and the Police in curbing the pandemic has said that holding an election at this juncture would be a great injustice done to the country and has repeated his mania of getting the parliament reconvened which the President has firmly rejected.  

The SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris gas meanwhile assured that the government wouldn’t do anything to endanger the lives of the people or undermine the ongoing battle to bring covid-19 epidemic under control. Responding to Opposition accusations that the government planned to conduct the parliamentary election before the crisis caused by the pandemic was brought under control he has recalled how the Sirisena/Ranil government delayed Local Government polls till Feb 2018 and also sabotaged Provincial Council polls and now, they sought to delay scheduled general election as much as possible citing covid-19, He has pointed out that the Opposition never recovered from the humiliating defeat it suffered at the November 16^th polls and hence utterly scared to face the electorate.

The rogue Dr. who dialed G.C.E.A/lL twice and has purchased a doctorate from the U.S.A and is a prominent member of the SJBandits gang Harsha de Silva has said that the wisest thing to do was to pave the way for parliament to meet again by rescinding gazette that dissolved the House.


This rogue Dr. (Hora Archatiya) is among the majority pf SJBandits who have lost Parliament pension as a result of President’s early dissolution of Parliament, has pointed out that parliament could continue till late August 2020 as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa dissolved parliament, six months ahead of the completion of its term, in accordance with the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

Referring to South Korean elections this SJB has said t5hat the President should not get swayed by the South Korean elections and it was held after that country became confident of the ground situation. He has further stated that South Korea took tangible measures to ensure the safety and security of voters, as well as the polling staff, and has urged the government to examine the two situations carefully without resorting to a disastrous course of action and South Korea polls shouldn’t be under any circumstances a reason to justify parliamentary polls, in Sri Lanka, amidst he says the continuing spread of coronavirus.

This bogus Dr. SJBandit who is suffering from a publicity craze and tries to be showy and afflicted with a superiority complex perhaps after see3ing TV clips about Kallathoni descendants 50,000 claims has called a media conference and that there are more corona patients in the country as per an Austrian report and 6the Health sector figures are false.  

The notorious wild cat (Kala Wedda) who was defeated by Mr, Mahinda Rajapaksa by a majority of 1.9 million votes, a leading figure of the SJBandits, Sarath Fonseka has said that it is better to maintain the Parliament with 225 members rather than maintaining one dictator.  Maintain Parliament with several hundred million worths of super luxury vehicles in addition to numerous perks and privileges s amounting to another several hundred million rupees per month for each member? It was this jabberer who said that both Messrs Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa will be hanged at Medamulana after the November 16^th election. It must be reminded that the Prime minister of India, the country with the world’s highest population uses only a locally manufactured Ambassador Car.  It is difficult to imagine what the people of the historical Kelaniya electorate will do to this Kala Wda after election since they chased out JR Jayawardene to Colombo and proudly held R.S.Perera as their beloved leader until his death. 

Sri Lanka’s worst quisling and sworn enemy Mangala Samaraweera who is also a prominent SJB has warned against rushing into the election.  In a sudden sympathy, he has evolved about the people of this country, who are non-Buddhists and non-Sinhalese under his Mangalism theory, he says the election should be held on a day in which the people of this country can feel 100% secure in leaving their homes and the Election Commission, health authorities, other responsible officials and the Government can give an all-clear assurance. He has said an election does not only entail people going out and casting their votes but also means candidates having the freedom to campaign freely so that they can reach out to voters.

Meanwhile, the Kallathoni descendant Mano Ganeshan , a champion of the SJBandits’ coarse has rejected statistics being given by Health Sector and Police sources and has said that there are more than 50,000 corona patients in Sri Lanka and this statement has been vehemently condemned by Health authorities and many politicians and civil service organizations.  Many have asked this windbag fellow was referring to Corona patients in his ancestral homeland Tamil Nadu? For the reference of this  nincompoop’s and other SJBandits and their cohorts extracts from a statement issued by the Australian Institute of Management Accountants which  commissioned a global research to evaluate the response and leadership shown in each country to develop the report titled Global Response to Infectious Diseases (GRID)Index

The ICMA said it was of the view that a country’s ranking on the index could be a motivator to a country in terms of being prepared for the next global pandemic or crisis.

Sri Lanka has been ranked 9th in the index and shared the rank with Hong Kong, UAE, Japan and Taiwan.

The index, in its introduction to Sri Lanka, said Sri Lankan authorities started to take vigilance in stopping the potential danger as the origin of the novel corona virus in Wuhan was announced.

It says “The military forces and the national intelligence service were put on high alert. The government created specialized aviation and border control expert teams, to track the movement of all inbound tourists and with a potential threat. Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to send rescue missions to Wuhan to evacuate 33 Sri Lankan families. The families were brought down via an exclusive carrier and quarantined in a unique quarantine military facility. All potential contacts were observed continuously under quarantine. Those in the military facility were given full access to information; and there was no government control of information, hence increasing its reliability.

The reason Sri Lanka responded so well is that Sri Lanka has a well maintained public health system thousands of well-qualified healthcare professionals and paramedical workforce for many decades through well-regulated and state of the art medical faculties covering all regions of the country; all free of charge. The doctors and paramedical staff receive post-graduate training and continuous medical education throughout their career. The life expectancy is highest in the region. The nation is 100% vaccination covered, and all treatments under the extended program of immunization are administered free of charge,”

It said arguably the worst response was from the United States.

Revisiting IndianOrigin Tamil (IOT) Ganesgab’s felony the Director General of the Health Services Specialist Dr, Anil Jasinghe has profusely and painfully rejected the allegation saying that such malicious accusations can only be made by persons who do not have the basic knowledge of medical science.  Many others have said that Ganeshan due to lack of power was suffering from dementia and he should soon be admitted to a mental hospital.  

It is sad to note chameleon Rajitha Senaratne who unsuccessfully attempted several times to join the government,  then carried out a great effort to patch up differences between Ranil and Sajith and now firmly anchored in the SJBandits gang, despite being a former Health Minister has for some political reasons endorsed the views expressed by the nincompoop Ganeshan. It is strange that this tongue twister could not find some bearded van drivers to hold a news conference and get attested by them that the President or the Prime minister killed corona patients.       

The gigolo Hakeem who has no moral right under Islam even to lead a family until he gets acquitted by facing lashes stipulated in Soorah(chapter) Al-Noor of the Holy Quran for the illicit Mary Cooray Affair and who now heads the political outfit called Sri Lanka Muslim Con-gross the objective of this outfit is to create rivalry between Muslim and Sinhala communities and gain political mileage over it, and who unilaterally made that political outfit as a constituent of the SJBandits has requested the Chairman and Members of the Election Commission not to hold parliamentary polls, amidst the cooked up corona virus epidemic threat. He has said that requested the EC not to hold elections until the authorities, including Health and Police, provide complete clearance for free movement throughout the country and an assurance that the spread of the said contagion has been fully halted or eradicated from Sri Lanka.

He has also requested the EC to convene a Party Secretaries’ meeting at their earliest convenience saying that at this meeting many matters and matters of concern could be discussed.

Now let us observe the position of the Tamils of Sri Lanka whose diaspora servile party TNA is reported to be fractured and some members of this outfit have joined the party of extremist racist Vigneswaran.  The diaspora proxy Sumanthieran who is the worst racist wholeheartedly following the father of Tamil racism in Sri Lanka, Ponnambalam Arunachalam has given an interview to the racist foreign-based scribe D.B.S.Jeyaraj and in this interview, he emphasized about Tamil objectives and their objection to holding elections. Relevant extracts of the interview are given below:

Initial steps to curb the spread of the corona Virus ought to have been taken well before March 20. had it been done; we wouldn’t have been in the present position now. In his anxiety to somehow hold the Parliamentary Elections (he reflected this in the video conference held between SAARC leaders in mid-March), the President faltered in not taking action to combat the COVID-19 threat from the time it became clear that such action was necessary. If he had revoked the Gazette dissolving Parliament (better still, if he had not dissolved Parliament at all) Parliament could have been met then and put many laws into effect.

I must concede that subsequent actions by the government have been fairly satisfactory. However, food and other essential items being distributed, daily wage earners’ welfare is looked at and many other aspects including striking the balance between staying at home and going out to keep the economy going, are matters that haven’t been adequately and satisfactorily addressed.

At the time we called for the postponement of the Polls, it was clear that elections could not be held for quite some time under the prevailing conditions. The nature of the Pandemic is such that ‘Social Distancing’ is the key to the containment of the virus spread. No election can be held while exercising ‘Social Distancing’. Electioneering is the very anti-thesis of social distancing. One has to ‘socialise’ with the electorate and that is a fundamental feature of free and fair elections. A period of free campaign is absolutely essential.

To be continued…..

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම, LL.B, Ph.D.

යහපාලන ජනාධිපති සිරිසේන මහතා යටතේ මාස 11 ක් උතුරු පලාතේ ආණ්ඩුකාරයාව සිටි, තමන් බෞද්‌ධයෙක් කියනා සුරේන් රඝුවාන්, ලහිරු මුදලිගේ හරි ටීවී හරහා පුදුම (අද්භූත?) ඉල්ලීමක් කලේය (අප්‍රියෙල් 17). දෙමළාට නිවන අකැපද යන ප්‍රශ්ණය නඟන රඝුවාන්, ලංකාවේ හාමුදුරුවරු උතුරේ දෙමළ ජනයාට බුද්‌ධාගම බෙදාදීමෙන් (ප්‍රචාරය) වැළකී සිටින්නේ ඇයිදැයි විමසා සිටී. මේ වනාහී මේ අබුද්දස්ස කාලයේ ඇසෙණ කතාය. රඝුවාන් දැන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්‍ෂයේ ජාතික ලැයිස්තුවට නම දමා ගෙන සිටී. පරණ ජේවීපී කාරයෙකු‌වූ රෙජිනෝල්ඩ් කුරේට, විග්නේෂ්වරන් ජාතිවාදී, බෙදුම්වාදියෙකු බව තේරුම් ගන්නට කාලයක් ගියේය. කුරේ යාපනේ ජනප්‍රසාදයට ලක්‌විය. ඔහු වෙනුවට යැවූ රඝුවාන් දෙවන විග්නේෂ් කෙනෙක් විය. උතුරු-නැඟෙනහිර <සිංහලීකරණයක්> තිබෙනවා යයි කීමට රඝුවාන්ට ගතවූයේ දිවුරුම්දී සුළු කාලයක් පමණය! එහෙත් කොළඹ නගරයේ දෙමළීකරණයක් හා ඉස්ලාමීකරණයක් වෙලා කියා සිංහලයින් නහයෙන් අඬන්නේ නැත.

උතුරේ දෙමළ බෞද්ද්ධයින් 40,000 ක් පමණ සිටිනවා කියන රඝුවාන් <දෙමළා නිවන් යායුතු නැද්ද> කියා අසමින්, දමිළ බෞද්‌ධයින් අඩුවීමට හේතුව සිංහල හාමුදුරුවරු ධ‌ර්‌ම ප්‍රචාරය සඳහා උතුරට නොේම යයි මැසිවිලි කියයි! මොහු ඔක්ස්ෆර්ඩ් වල ඉගෙන ගෙන ඇත්තේ මොන බුද්‌ධාගමද කියා සිතෙන්නේ මේ නිසාය. ඒහි පස්සිකෝ මිස, එව අදහව, කියා බුදු දහමේ නැත. ලක්‍ෂ ගණන් ඩලිත් ජනයා බුදුදහම වැළඳගත්තේ අම්බෙඩ්කාර්ගේ මඟපෙන්‌වීමෙන් අයුරු, මේ රඝුවාන්ටද එය කල නොහැකිද? ඔහු කල යුතු චතුරාර්ය සත්‍යය සරලව දෙමළ ජනයාට කියා දීම පමණය. ලංකාවේ හාමුදුරුවරු, බලවත්සේ ක්‍රිස්තියානිකරණයට ගොදුරුවූ ඩලිත් ජනයා හෝ, වෙල්ලාල කුලය විසින් පාගා ගෙන සිටින යාපනේ කුලහීන යයි කියන ජනයා හෝ (ආදි සිංහල වැසියන්?), බුද්‌ධාගමට හරවා ගන්නට සිතුවේ නැත. බුදු දහම, කඩුවෙන් පතුරන හෝ, දවසට පස් සැරයක් මක්කම පැත්තට හැරී අල්ලා වඳින ගනයේ දෘඨ දෘෂ්ඨිවේදයක් නොවේ.

අනිත් අතට ඔහු චෝදනා කරන්නේ ලංකාවේ භික්‍ෂූන් ප්‍රචන්ඩත්‌වයට නායකත්‌වය දෙනවා කියාය. සිංහලයින් බුද්‌ධාගම තමන්ට අයිතිය කියා සිතන බවත් ඔහු කියයි. මෙය රඝුවාන්ලා විසින්ම සිතෙන් මවා ගන්නා දෙයක් මිස බුද්‌ධාගමේ අයිතිකාරයෙක් මට නම් මුණගැසී නැත. ලෝකයෙන් ථේරවාද බුද්‌ධාගම නැතිවී යාම වැළකුණේ ලංකාවේ හාමුදුරුවරුන් නිසාය යන කරුණ දෙස බෙදුම්වාදී දේශපාලන ඇසෙන් බලන විට මෙවැනි විකෘති තර්‌ක, දවල් හීන මතුවේ, ඇතිවේ. මීට පෙර මා විසින් ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන් ලියූ ලිපියකින් රඝුවාන්ගේ කුහක හැසිරීම එලිකර එහි කොපියක් ඔහුටද ඊමේල් කර යවන ලදී. එම ලිපියට ලින්ක් එක මෙහි පහතින් ඇත.
https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2019/02/26/brother-charles-governor-raghavan/

එම ලිපිය ලිවීමට හේතුව වූයේ උතුරේ සීංහලීකරණයක් තිබෙනවා යයි රඝුවාන් ආණ්ඩුකාරයා විසින් කල ප්‍රකාශය නිසාය.

මේ මතයම ඔහු විසින් 2013-14 කාලයේ ලියු ලිපිවලින් එලියට දැම්මේ, ලංකාව, ඊශ්‍රායලය මෙන් සයනිස්ට් රටක් යයි ලියමින්‌ය (Buddhist Zionism, pure nation). සිංහලයින්ගේ හා යුදෙව්වන්ගේ අරමුණු එක සමානය යන්න ඔහුගේ පණිවුඩය විය. එය මේ පලවෙනි උතුරේ දෙමළ ආණ්ඩුකාරයා විසින් කල, පුදන කොටම කාපි යකා නොහොත් සංහිඳියා විරෝධී මුල්ම ප්‍රකාශය විය. ඔහු, විග්නේෂ්වරන් නම්, මධ්‍යස්‌ථ මතධාරී දෙමළෙක් යයි කොළඹ සිංහලයින් විසින් සිතා සිටි, දෙමළ මහ ඇමතිට වෙනස් චරිතයක් නොවීය. විග්නේෂ්වරන් කිව්වේ ලංකාවේ කොළඹ ආණ්ඩුව දෙමළ ජනසංහාරයක් කරණවා කියාය. දෙන්නාගේ මේ කියමන් දෙක එකිනෙකට පෑහේ. රඝුවාන් ඇත්තටම බෞද්‌ධයෙක් නම් මෙවැනි කතා කියන්නට පුළුවන්ද?

අපට වරින් වර මෙවැනි අඥාන කතා ඇසෙන්නට ලැබේ. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ තුප්පහියා වෙබ් අඩවියේ මයිකල් රොබට්ස් කියා සිටියේ, සිංහල ජාතිවාදය ආරම්භ‌වූයේ 1912 දී අනාගාරික ධ‌ර්‌මපාලතුමා විසින් එක් ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන් ලියූ ලිපියක අපි සිංහලයින් <වී සිංහලීස්> කියා ලිවීමෙන් බවය! ඇමෙරිකාවේ ජීවත්‌වන එච්. එල්. සෙනෙවිරත්න ඔහුගේ ද වර්ක් ඔෆ් කිංස් යන පොතේ කියන්නේ ලංකාව විනාශ කලේ වල්පොල රාහුල හා යක්කඩුවේ ප්‍රඥාරාම යන හාමුදුරුවරුන් දෙන්නා යනුය! ඔහු ලඟදී යෝජනා කලේ තරුණ භික්‍ෂූන් විසින් විප්ලවයක් කර රට නැවත 1956 ට පෙර තිබූ අගනා යුගයට ගෙන යා යුතු බවය. රඝුවාන්ද මේ තියොරි එකම ගෙනාවේ වැඩි ඈතකදී නොවේ. ස්ටැන්ලි තම්බයියාට තිබුණ ප්‍රශ්ණය නම්, බෞද්‌ධයින් මිණී මරන්නේ ඇයි යනුය. රඝුවාන්ද මේ අයගේ ගෝලයෙක් පමණක් නොව කුහක පුද්ගලයෙකි. ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ හාමුදුරුවන් විසින් 1990 ගණන් වල රණවිරුවන් දිරිගන්වමින් සිංදු 50 ක් පමණ ලිවීම රඝුවාන් දකින්නේ එය පිරිසිදු සිංහල ජාතියක් හුවා දැක්‌වීමක් ලෙසය.

මගේ කලින් ලිපියෙන් පෙන්‌වා දුන්නේ රඝුවාන් මහාවංශ විරෝධී ස්ටැන්ලි තම්බයියාගේ හා ද වර්ක් ඔෆ් කිං පොත ලියූ එච්. එල්. සෙනෙවිරත්නගේ අනුගාමිකයෙක් බවය. දයාන් ජයතිලක, රඝුවාන්ව හැඳින්‌වූයේ චන්ද්‍රිකාගේ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ විරෝධී කල්ලියේ සේවකයෙකු ලෙසය; පටු සමාජ-දේශපාලන දැණුමක් ඇත්තෙක් ලෙසය. මෙවැන්නන්ට නොයෙක් දේශපාලන ප්‍රකාශ කර සුදනන් මෙන් ගැලවීයාමට දිය යුතුද? ඉඩම් හා පොලිස් බලතල ඉල්ලන රඝුවාන් බුද්‌ධාගම පිරුවටයක් කරගෙන පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට යාමට වෑයමක් දරයි. කාරණා නොදන්නා නාගදීපේ හාමුදුරුවන් රවටා ගැනීම පමණක් ඒ සඳහා නොසෑහෙන බව ඔහු දනී.

ගුරුකන්දේ හාමුදුරුවන්ගේ ආදාහනයට ටී.එන්.ඒ මන්ත්‍රීන් හා පාස්ටර්ලා විරුද්‌ධව පෙලපාලි යනවිට මේ රඝුවාන් ආණ්ඩුකාරයා සිටියේ කොහේද? විග්නේෂ්වරන් උතුරට බුදු පිලිම එපා කියන විට ඔහු කලේ කුමක්ද? විග්නේෂ්චරන්ගේ දේවානම්පිය තීෂන් කතාවට රඝුවාන් එකඟද? මේවා ගැන වචනයක්වත් කතා නොකල, උතුරු-නැඟෙනහිර බෞද්‌ධ නටබුන් සංහාරය හා ආක්‍රමණ ඉදිරියේ නිහඬව සිටි රඝුවාන්, හාමුදුරුවරු උතුරට බුද්‌ධාගම ගේන්නේ නැතැයි මැසිවිලි කියයි! පොලොන්නරුවේ ශිව දේවාලය යට තිබී හමුවූයේ දෙමළ බෞද්‌ධ විහාරයක නටබුන්ද? අයෝධ්‍යාවේ බැබ්‍රි මස්ජිද්-රාමා දේවාලය යට තිබී හමුවුන බෞද්‌ධ නටබුන් දෙමළද, හින්‌දු ද?

මේ දෙමළ බෞද්‌ධයා කතාව අහිංසක අතීත ඉතිහාස කතාවක් බෙදුම්වාදී දේශපාලනයට අතකොළුවක් සේ හරවාගැනීමට දරණ වෑයමක් පමණය. බුදුහාමුදුරුවන්ගේ කාලයේ දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ බෞද්‌ධයින් සිටි බව නිසැකය. විහාර දාගැබ් වල නටබුන්ද පොලොවෙන් නිතරම හමුවන බවද සැබෑය. එහෙත් අවුරුදු 2,500 ක් නොව, පසුගිය අවුරුදු 100 ක හෝ 200 ක අඛණ්ඩ පැවැත්මක් තිබෙන ක්‍රියාත්මක පන්සලක් සමස්ත ඉන්දියාවේම තිබෙනවාද? මෑතක සිට සාංචියේ වුනත් පන්සලක් තිබෙන්නේ ලංකාවේ හාමුදුරුවරු නිසාය. මේ දෙමළ බෞද්‌ධයා කතාවේ මතය ආරම්භ වූයේ, සුනිල් ආරියරත්න හා නන්දා මාලිනී චෙන්නායි වල සැඟවී සිටි කාලයේදීය. මේ සම්බන්‌ධව කෘතියක් කොලට් සේනානායක හා නාරද කරුණාතිලක විසින් ලියා පලකර ඇත. ලංකාවේද මහින්දාගමණයට පෙර බෞද්‌ධයින් සිටින්නට ඇතත්, සුනිල් ආරියරත්නගේ දෙමළ බෞද්‌ධයා නම් පොත විග්නේෂ්වරන්ලා භාවිතාකරන්නේ ලංකාවේ මුල් පදිංචිකරුවන් දෙමළ ජනයාය යන ඊළම් තර්‌කයක් සඳහාය. බර්‌ගර් ජාතික වැදගත් බෞද්‌ධයින් ලංකාවේ සිටියේය. එහෙත් බර්‌ගර් බෞද්‌ධයා (හෝ මුස්ලිම් බෞද්‌ධයා) කියා ලාඩම් ගැසීමක් සිදුවූයේ නැත.

මේ නිසා භාෂාව ඉස්සරහට නොදමා යම් පංචස්කන්‌ධයක් මහණවීමට කැමති නම් එය කිරීමට මේ බෞද්‌ධ රඝුවාන්ට මැදිහත් විය නොහැකිද? ත්‍රිපිටකය සිංහලෙනුත්, ඉංග්‍රීසියෙනුත්, දෙමළෙනුත් එකම ත්‍රිපිටකයමය. හාමුදුරුවරුන්ට දෙමළ ඉගෙන ගන්න යයි ඔහු කියයි. නිර්‍මාල් රංජිත් දේවසිරි නම් ජේවීපී සපෝටර් කියා සිටියේ 2015 ජනවාරි 8 දා සැමරුවේ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධයාගේ මළගම කියාය. ඔහු මෙන්ම රඝුවාන්ද දැන් අතරමංව, අන්ද-මන්දව සිටී. මේ, දෙමළාට නිවන් ගෙන ඒමේ බැලුම ඒ නිසාය. ඔහුට කියා දිය යුතු ඉතිහාස කතාවක් ඇත. එය පටන් ගන්නේ 1980 දී පමණ කැනඩාවේදී මා ලත් අත්දැකීමක් සමඟය. මහ ප්‍රභාකරන්ගේ (ඥාති?) සහෝදර තවත් ප්‍රභාකරන් කෙනෙක් මා සමඟ කනඩාවේ එකට ඉගෙන ගත්තේය. ඔහු කියා සිටියේ කහ සිවුර (තට්ටයෝ) යාපනේ ඇවිදිනවා දැකීම ඔවුන්ට ලොකු තර්‌ජනයක් බවත්, ඔවුන්ව යාපනෙන් එලවා ගතයුතු බවත්‌ය. වෙසක් දින නිවාඩුවක් යාපනේට අනවශ්‍ය බවය. ඔවුන් යාපනේ තිබුණ එකම සිංහල පාසැල බලෙන් වසා දැම්මේය.

මෙවන් පසුබිමක් යටතේ හා අනුරාධපුර ශුද්‌ධ නගරයේ බෞද්‌ධ පුරාවස්තු රැකීමට ඩොනමෝර් කාලයේ රජයෙන් සුළු මුදලක් වෙන් කල විට, ජී. ජී. පොන්නම්බලම්, එය ජාතිවාදී ක්‍රියාවක් (දෙමළ සුළු ජනයාට කල වෙනස් කමක්?) යයි සෝල්බරි කොමිෂමට චෝදනා කල කාලයේ සිට හාමුදුරුවරු යාපනේ යාම නාගදීපයට සීමා කලේය. ගමන් නතර කලේය. මැත් ප්‍රොෆෙසර් සුන්දරලිංගම් යාපනේ කුලහීන ජනයාගෙන් කෝවිල් දූෂණය වීම වැළැක්‌වීමට යකා නැටූ කාලයේදී, අගමැති බණ්ඩාරනායක විසින් 1957 දී, ඊට විරුද්‌ධව නීතියක් ගෙනා අවස්ථාවේ වත් හාමුදුරුවරු මේ කුලහීන ජනයා බුද්‌ධාගමට හරවා ගන්නට ගියේ නැත. බුද්‌ධාගම අවස්ථාවෙන් ප්‍රයෝජන ගන්නා, බැටළු පැටවුන් සොයා යන ආගමක් නොවේ. රඝුවාන් කරන චෝදනාව, එනම්, ඉතා අමාරු ස්වීඩන් භාෂාව පවා ඉගෙන ගෙන හාමුදුරුවරු යුරෝපයට, ජර්‌මනියට, ඇමෙරිකාවට ගියා, යාපනේ අමතක කලා, යන කතාව නොදන්නා කමට කල කතාවක් ලෙස මිස වංචාකාරී කතාවක් ලෙස මා නොසිතන්නේ ඔහුගේ ඔක්ස්ෆර්ඩ් ආචාර්ය උපාධිය ලංකාවේ හාමුදුරුවරුන්ගේ දේශපාලනය ගැන ලියූ එකක් නිසාය. පෙඩරල් පක්‍ෂයට නටන්නට තවත් ශ්‍රී අකුරක් ලබාදීමට හාමුදුරුවරුන්ට අවශ්‍ය නොවීය. කෙතරම් හාමුදුරුවරු නොබියව ටයිගර්ලාට මුහුණදී යුද ප්‍රදේශවල සිටියාද? සංස්කෘත භාෂාවට වඩා අමාරු යුරෝපා භාෂවක් තිබේදැයි මම නොදනිමි. මේ හමුදුරුවරු යුරෝපයට ගියේ ඔවුන් සඳහා, රඝුවාන්ගේ භාෂාවෙන් කියනවා නම් <ඉල්ලුමක්> තිබුණ/තිබෙන නිසාය. මෑතදි, විශේෂයෙන් 1983 ජූලි වලින් පසු, දෙමළ ජනයා ලංකාවේදී ඔවුන් මරණවා කියා යුරෝපා රටවලට ගොස් සිංහල වෙනුවට ඒ රටවල භාෂා ඉගෙන ගෙන කම්කරු රැකියා කරනවා මෙන් නොවේ.

රඝුවාන් විසින් චාල්ස් තෝමස්ගේ කඳුල වැඩසටහනෙන් ඉගෙන ගතයුතු පාඩමක් ඇත (ඉංග්‍රීසි ලිපියේ ඇති වීඩියෝ දෙක රඝුවාන් බැලිය යුතුමය). එය නම් යමෙක් අවංකද, නැද්ද යන්න යමෙකුගේ ක්‍රියාවෙන් ඔප්පු වෙන බවය. චාල්ස් විසින් යාපනයේදීත්, ලන්ඩන් වලදීත් ලුණුැඹුල් සහිතව කියන්නේ දෙමළ බෙදුම්වාදය එක්තරා කල්ලියක් විසින් යාපනේ අහිංසක ජනයා රවටන කැත ව්‍යාපාරයක් බවය. ඔහු යාපනේ කරන තල් ගස්/පොල් ගස් වැවීමේ සේවයට රඝුවාන් දුන් සහයෝගය කුමක්ද? ප්‍රේමදාස, රනිල් යන අයගේ සේවකයෙක් හා ස්වාමියෙක් යන රඟපෑම් දෙකම කල පාස්කරලිංගම් මෙන් රඝුවාන්ද හීතල හොරෙකි. සමස්ත ලංකා හින්දු සම්මේලනය, අරුණළු ජනතා පෙරමුණ, ආවා කට්ටියේ සිටි නාගානන්ද කොඩිතුවක්කු සමඟ එකතුවූ පිරිස රඝුවාන්ලාටත්, සුමන්තිරන්ලාටත් අභියෝගයකි. යුද හමුදාවට යාපනේ ජනයා දක්‌වන ප්‍රසාදය අව්‍යාජය. බොදු බල සේනාව හා හින්දු සම්මේලනය අතර ඇති සම්බන්‌ධය ඔවුන්ට හිසරදයකි. මේ සියල්ලටම වඩා 2019 චන්දයේදී චන්ද කොට්ඨාශ මට්ටමින් ගෝඨාභයට ලැබුණ උතුරේ දෙමළ චන්ද සංඛ්‍යාව ටී.එන්.ඒ ඊළම් මළබෙරයේ හඬය.
https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2019/02/26/brother-charles-governor-raghavan/

Brother Charles & governor Raghavan

Dr sarath obeysekera 

The whole country has been grateful to Gotaghata Rajapakse when he spearheaded the war against tigers. Though some others have tried to take credit I believe that his tough decision making has been the reason for winning the war

Now possibly after beating Corona spread and saving the country, he wants agro-based economy which should have been done a long time ago.

That means the farmers should be treated well to

Give real meaning to Goviya Can he a King 

One more aspect HE president should ponder is to develop Fishery Sector at high gear 

Fishery sector was not only neglected but development was stalled due to mismanagement by every successive minister 

Most of them living or dead were benefitting from

Fishery budget but nothing has been given  to fishermen 

Developing fisheries will provide food to people but also make way to earn much needed foreign currency

Building state of the art new fishing vessels will provide employment to youth

Dr. Sarath Obeysekera
CEO Walkers Colombo Shipyard
Colombo
Sri Lanka

වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග 

මේ දින වල ෆ්‍රොයිඩ් පිලිබඳ Netflix හි කතා මාලාවක් බලමි. එහි බොහෝ අතිශයෝක්තියන් තිබේ.  

මනෝ විශ්ලේශණය (Psychoanalysis )පිලිබඳව මා ඉගෙන ගත්තේ නැගෙනෙහිර යුරෝපයේ මහාචාර්‍ය වේව්ස්කයා(1992) , එංගලන්තයේ බාන්ස්ලි විද්‍යාලයේ ස්ටීවන් හීත් මෙන්ම කැන්සාස් හි Colmery O’neil Veteran Hospital වෛද්‍ය මහසෙන් ද සිල්වා (වෛද්‍ය මහසෙන් මනෝ විශ්ලේශනය ඉගෙන ගත්තේ ෆ්‍රොයිඩ් ගේ සිසුවෙකු  වූ කාල් මැනිංග වෙතිනි) , මෙන්ම යෝක් විශ්ව විද්‍යාලයේ මහාචාර්‍ය ජිම් ඇල්කොක් හරහාය.  මේ වන විට මා සිංහලෙන් සහ ඉංග්‍රීසියෙන් මනෝ විශ්ලේශනය පිලිබඳව පොත් 4 පමණද පරියේෂණ පත්‍රිකා කීපයක්ද ලියා තිබේ.  එහෙත් මනෝ විශ්ලේශණය ඉතා ගැඹුරුය. එය අවබෝධ කර ගැනීමට තව වසර ගනනාවක් එය හැදෑරිය යුතුය.  

ෆ්‍රොයිඩ් ගේ බහුතරයක් රෝගීන් හිස්ටීරියා තත්වයන්, වඩාත් නූතන අර්ථකථනයෙන් කියන්නේ නම් විශාදය , කායික රූපී ආබාධ somatization  , සංවර්තන ආබාධ conversion disorders , ක්ලමථ ආබාධ stress disorders  , ක්‍ෂිතිමය ආබාධ වන පශ්චාත් ව්‍යසන ක්ලමථ අක්‍රමතාවය PTSD , අධි පශ්චාත් ව්‍යසන ක්ලමථ අක්‍රමතාවය C PTSD / DESNOS ,  Rape Trauma Syndrome වැනි තත්ව වලින් පෙළුණු රෝගීන් වූහ. ෆ්‍රොයිඩ් මෙම රෝගීන් ගේ රෝග මූලයන් පිලිබඳ ඉතා ආසන්නව නිවැරදි විස්තර ලබා දීම මානසික රෝග පිලිබඳව ඔහු තුල තිබූ ගැඹුරු දැණුම පෙන්නුම් කරයි. ෆ්‍රොයිඩ් වසර පනහකට පසුව උපත ලැබුවේ නම් මිනිස් මනස පිලිබඳ මීටත් වඩා ගැඹුරු විවරණයක් කරනු ඇත.  

උතුරු ඇමරිකාවේ සහ යුරෝපයේ  (විශේෂයෙන් ප්‍රංශයේ ) පුහුණු කෙරෙන මනෝ වෛද්‍යවරු සඳහා මනෝ විශ්ලේෂණය අනිවාර්‍ය විෂයක් වෙයි. මනෝ චිකිත්සනය සඳහා ඔවුන් ෆ්‍රොයිඩියානු මෙන්ම නියෝ ෆ්‍රොයිඩියානු මනෝ විශ්ලේෂණය හදාරති. ලංකාවේ මනෝ වෛද්‍යවරුන්ට මනෝ විශ්ලේෂණය පිලිබඳව ඇත්තේ මොන්ටිසෝරි දැණුමක් බව දීප්ති කුමාර ගුණරත්න පවසයි. නමුත් ඔහුගේ ප්‍රකාශය සියයට සියයක්ම නිවැරදි නොවන බව මගේ අදහසයි. මනෝ විශ්ලේෂණය ගැන ගැඹුරු දැණුමක් තිබූ මනෝ වෛද්‍ය  නීල් ප්‍රනාන්දු ,  මනෝ වෛද්‍ය දයා සෝමසුන්දරම් වැනි වියතුන් සමග මා අදහස් හුවමාරු කරගෙන තිබේ. එසේම මා විසින් ලියන ලද Between Literature and Psychology  මනෝ විශ්ලේෂණාත්මක කෘතියට ඔවුන් ගෙන් ද මනා අදහස් ලැබුණි.   එහෙත් මෑතකාලීනව ක්‍ෂේත්‍රයට එකතු වූ තරුණ මනෝ වෛද්‍යවරු තුල මනෝ විශ්ලේෂණය ගැන තිබෙන ඌණ දැණුම මගේ අවධානයට යොමුවී තිබේ. යන්තම් ෆ්‍රොයිඩ් ගේ අවිඥාණය ගැන සඳහන් අයිස් කන්ද සහ ඉඩ්, ඊගෝ , සුපර් ඊගෝ යනව වචන කට්ටලය ඇරුණු කොට මනෝ විශ්ලේෂණය පිලිබඳ ගැඹුරු දැණුමක් ඔවුන් බොහෝ දෙනෙකු සතුව නොමැත. එසේම මනෝ විශ්ලේෂණ ආකෘතියකින් කිසිම පරියේෂණ පත්‍රිකාවක්වත් මොවුන් එළි දක්වා නොමැත. මෙය ශ්‍රී ලංකා මනෝ වෛද්‍ය ක්‍ෂේත්‍රයේ තිබෙන බලවත් අඩුපාඩුවකි. මෙම අඩුපාඩුව මඟ හරවා සඳහා පියවර ගැනීම සුදුසු වේ.

වෛද්‍ය රුවන් එම් ජයතුංග 

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

            සුනාමිය නොහොත් මුහුද ගොඩ ගැලීම සිදු වන කල්හි එවකට සිටි පාලකයන් එම ව්‍යසනය කළමනාකරණය කරන ආකාරය දැන නොසිටියහ. අතීතයේ සිදු වූ මුහුදු ගොඩ ගැලීම් ඉතිහාසයට පමණක් සීමා වීම නිසා දේශපාලකයන් ඒ බැව් නොදත් බව පැහැදිලිය. සුනාමියට මුහුණ දෙන්නට අවශ්‍ය සංනිවේදන උපක්‍රම සූදානම් කර ගැනීමට මෙන්ම ආරක්ෂාව කල් තියා යොදා ගන්නට  ලක ලෑස්ති වීම සිදු වූයේ විනාශයෙන් අනතුරුවයි. මුහුදෙන් වටව තිබෙන දූපතක් වශයෙන් පවතින වාසි අවාසි ගැන තක්සේරුවක් කෙදිනකවත් ලක් රජයට තිබුණේ නැත. වසංගත රෝග වලින් මිදීමට මේ දූපත් ස්වභාවය අතීතයේ සිට යොදා ගන්නට ඇතිවාට නිසැකය. දාසය වන සියවසේ සිට පැතිරුණු ඇතැම් වසංගත ලංකාවට බලපෑම් කරන ලද්දේ විදේශිකයන් මුහුදු බඩ පළාත් අල්ලාගෙන සිටි බැවිනි. ඒ අත්දැකීම් පිලිබඳව හෝ දැනුමක් වත්මන් පාලකයන්ට ඇතැයි සිතිය නොහැකිය. කෙසේ වෙතත් කොරෝනාව වැළදී ඇතැයි සැකකරන විදේශ කාන්තාව හමුවුණ සැනෙකින් දිවයිනට පැමිණෙන මාර්ග වසා දමන්නට රජය නොඑළඹණු බව අපි දනිමු. එයට තරයේම දොස් නැගිය නොහැකිය. රට පත්ව සිටින ආර්ථික අහේනිය ඊට හේතුවයි.පස්වසරක් තිස්සේ රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ රජය විසින් කරන ලද ආර්ථික ඝාතනයන් අපට මතක නැතිවා නොවේ. ඒවා හිතාමතාම කළ මෙහෙයුම් බවට නිසැකය. ඇමරිකාවේ බලපෑම මත කළ ඒ දේවල් කොරෝනාව නිසා ජනතාවට දැන් මතක නැත.කෙසේ වෙතත් වසංගත රෝග ඉතිහාසය නොදැන සිටීම ගැන නම් පාලකයන්ට සමාව දිය නොහැකිය. පැරණී රජවරු පාලකයන් බවට පත් වන විට ශිල්ප රාශියක් ප්‍රගුණ කර තිබුණි. ඒ අතර තමන්ගේ රටේ ඉතිහාසයද විය.නමුත් වත්මන් පාලකයන්ට වඩා වැදගත් වනුයේ බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය යන් අප මත බලෙන් පටවා ගිය ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදයයි. වසංගත අභීයෝගය ඉදිරිපස මැතිවරණ සිහියෙන් කටයුතු කිරීමද නාමයොජනා සඳහා රට සූදානම් කිරීමද සිදු වන්නේ මේ නිසාය. මේ පසුබිම මත  විදෙස් අසාදිතයන් රට පුරා පැතිරුණු බව පෙනේ.

           කෙසේ වෙතත් වසංගත තත්වය හමුවේ රට ඇඳිරි නීතිය මගින් වසා ගැබීම දිගින් දිගටම කළ නොහැකිය.නොයෙකුත් වෙළඳ ව්‍යාපර වලින් සහ ජනතාවගෙන් රජයට එකතු විය යුතු බදු මුදල් මේ තත්වය හමුවේ ලැබෙන්නේ නැත. මධ්‍ය ගත පාලනය ක් යටතේ සියලු දෙනහට මූලික අවශ්‍යතා සපිරීමද සෑමදා කල නොහැකිය.හමුදා මෙහෙයුම් සාර්ථක වුවද එයටද සීමාවන් ඇතිවේ. එම නිසා ඇඳිරි නීතිය ලිහිල් කරලීමට රජය තීරණය කර තිබේ.ජන ජීවිතය මේ පසුබිම තුළ නැවත ඉක්මනින්  යථා තත්වයට පත් වේ යැයි සිතිය නොහැකිය. ඒ සඳහා ඉතා කඩිනමින් රටේ  නිෂ්පාදන කටයුතු ආරම්භ කළ යුතුය. ආහාර ද්‍රව්‍ය බෙදා හැරීම සහ මිලදී ගැනීම වැනි කටයුතු වලදී  ඇඳිරි නීතිය සමයේ දී ආණඩුව දැක්වූ අසමත් බවට හේතුවද පක්ෂ දේශපාලනයයි.නැවත රට ගොඩ නැගීමේ දී පවා මේ අසමත් බව ප්‍රදර්ශණය වීම වැළැක්විය නොහැකිය. ආර්ථික කටයුතු වලදී ප්‍රමුඛතාවය ගත යුතු කරුණු පිළිබඳ රජයට දැක්මක් නොමැත.අප දන්නා පරදි මේ වන විට යල් කන්නය ආරම්භ වී තිබේ ගිය මාස්කන්නයේ වී මිලදී ගැනීම අහවර ව තිබුණද නිෂ්පාදන ආර්ථිකය එතනින් නවතින්නේ නැත.යල් කන්නයේ නියමිත වේලාවට ජලය නිකුත් කළ යුතුය.එයට හේතුව මාස් කන්නයට වඩා  යල් කන්නයේ දී පලිබෝධ හානි පැතිරෙන බැවිනි.

         .රටේ ආහාර සුරක්ෂිතතාවය දීර්ඝ කාලීනව තහවුරු කරලීමට නම් මේ රටේ වී අස්වැන්න මෙන්ම අනෙකුත් භෝග ඇති පමණට වගා කළ යුතුය. විදෙස් වලින් ආහාර ගෙන ඒම කලකට අත්හිටුවා ලීමට නිසැකවම සිදු වේ. විශේෂයෙන්ම පරිප්පු උඳු කුරහන් වැනි ධාන්‍ය වර්ග පමණක් නොව තිරිඟ පිටිද ආනයනයට නිතැතින්ම බාධක ඇති විය හැකිය. එම නිසා මෙම ධාන්‍ය මෙරට වගා කිරීම කෙරෙහි උනන්දුවක් ඇති කළ යුතුය.ඇඳිරි නීති සමය තුළ එවැනි සැලැස්මක් ගැන රජය සාකච්ඡා කල බවක් පෙනෙන්ට තිබුණේ නැත.  ඒ සඳහා කෘෂීකර්ම බලධෘරීන් ගේ ඇස් ඇරුණේද නැත. එළවලු පිළිබඳ දැඩි අවධානයක් යොමු කර තිබුණද බහුතරයක් එළවලු වගා කරන්නන් ධාන්‍ය වගාවට යොමු කරලීම කෙරෙහි සැලැස්මක් මේ කෘෂි විදයාඤයන් අතින් ඉදිරිපත් විය යුතුව තිබුණි.විශේෂයෙන්ම බඩ ඉරිඟු වැනි පිටි ආදේශකයන් මිනිස් පරිභෝජනයට වගා කරලීම කෙරෙහි උනන්දුවක් රට තුළ ජනිත කිරීම ඔවුන් ගේ වගකීම වෙයි. තිරිඟු පිටි වලට සීමා පැනවෙන කල්හි. ඉරිඟු පිටි සහ යම තරමකින් හෝ සහල් පිටි මේ අඩුව පුරවනු නිසැකය. නමුත් අවාසනාවකට මේ නිළධාරීන්ද නිවසට වී සිටියා පමණකි. දේශපාලකයන් ඉදිරියේ මුණිවත රකින ඔවුන් ගෙන් රටට සේවයක් සිදු නොවන බව පැහැදිලිය..

    පරිප්පු සුදු ලූණු වැනි අත්‍යවශ්‍ය ද්‍රව්‍ය වගා කිරීම ලෙහෙසි නොවන නමුත් කල හැක්කක් නොමැත.විශේෂයෙන්ම මහවැලි ගොවිබිම් සුදුසු තන්හි එක් කන්නයක මේ ධාන්‍ය වගාවෙන් විශේෂයෙන්ම පරිප්පු කුරහන් සහ මෙනේරි ප්‍රචලිත කළහොත්  ආහාර සුක්ෂිතතාවය පිළිබඳ අපට බලාපොරොත්තු තැබිය හැකිය. නමුත් සිදු වන්නේ කුමක්ද ආණ්ඩුව මැතිවරණය ඉලක්ක කර වැඩ කිරීමට පෙළඹීමයි. එයට ප්‍රධාන හේතුව ව්‍යවස්ථාවේ තිබෙන ප්‍රධාන දුර්වල කම්ය.19 වන සංශෝධනය මූලික නීතියක් බවට පත්ව නැති අවස්ථාවක මැතිවරණ කොමිසම මත යැපීම මගින් ව්‍යාජ ව්‍යවස්ථා අර්බුදයක් මවා තිබේ. ව්‍යවස්ථාවන් සකස් කර ගන්නේ ජනතාවගේ සුභ සිද්දිය උදෙසාය. ඒවා පිලිපැදීමෙන් ජනතාව අසීරුවට පත් වන්නේ නම් එම ව්‍යවස්ථාවෙන් වැඩක් නැත. මැතිවරණයක් ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කර තිබෙන අවස්ථාවක හදිසි තත්වයක් යටතේ එය කල් තැබීම සාධෘරණය.  ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකයක් නැති මොහොතක නිතැතින්ම  මහ ජනතාව ව්‍යවස්ථාදායකය බවට පත් වේ. ජනතා පරමාධිපත්‍ය සැමට ඉහළින් පවතී. එම නිසා මැතිවරණ තැබීම කෙරෙහි ජනතාව  ගේ උනන්දුව ඇති කරලීමද පක්ෂ දේශපාලනය තුළ නැවතත් ජනතාව අසහනයට පත් කිරීමද කළ යුතු නොවේ.මෙවැනි සමයක විශේෂයෙන්ම ජනතාව බියෙන් සිටින සමයක චන්දය පිළීබඳ උනන්දුවක් ඇති නොවන අතර ලැබෙන චන්ද ප්‍රතිශතයද අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම පල්ලම් බහී. එයින් සිදු වන්නේ ඇතැම් විට අන්තවාදී චන්ද ප්‍රතිශතයන් ඉස්මතු වීමයි. පසුගිය පස් වසර තුළම රට බෙදීමට මෙන්ම රට ඇමරිකන් කොළ ණීයක් කිරීමට වලි කෑ කල්ලි වලට ක්‍රීඩා කිරීමට හොඳ තණ තිල්ලක් ලබා දීම මෙයින් සිදු වේ. දැනටමත් ඇතැම් කුමන්ත්‍රණකාරී රාජ්‍ය නොවන සංවිධානයන් ජනපති වරයාගේ කාර්ය මණ්ඩලයට කිට්ටු වී ආර්ථික උපදේශ සපයන බව රහසක් නොවේ.නැවත M C C වැනි ගිවිසුම් බල ගැන්වීමට ඔවුන් වලිකනවා විය හැකිය. ජාන තක්ෂණයන් මගින් මුලු ලොව යටපත් කිරීමට උත්සාහ කරන නමුත් බිඳ වැටෙමින් තිබෙන නව ලිබරල් වාදී ගෝලීය ආර්ථික මොඩලයන් තව දුරටත් වලංගු නොවන බව වත්මන් පාලකයන් දැන්වත් තේරුම් ගත යුතුය. මෙම වසංගත තත්වයෙන් අපට කියා දෙන පාඩම එයයි

මතුගම සෙනෙවිරුවන්

Courtesy HomeopathyPlus

India is not the only country using homeopathy as a preventative for COVID-19.

Cuba with its population of 11.34 million is doing the same.

Since early April, the Cuban Ministry of Health has been rolling out the combination remedy PrevengHo®Vir as a way to increase resilience in its population to viral diseases and respiratory infections.

PrevengHo®Vir consists of the remedies: Anas barbariae 200; Baptisia tinctoria 200; Bacillinum 30; Pyrogenium 200; Eupatorium perfoliatum 200; Influenzinum 200; Arsenicum album 200.

The head of the Department of Natural and Traditional Medicine when speaking on state television, It is not a product that has been specifically registered for the coronavirus but is used in the prevention of viral illnesses and acute respiratory diseases.”

The treatment is being distributed to the entire population through the primary health system and the ‘family doctor’, a professional assigned to each Cuban neighborhood and who directly cares for an average population of about 600 people.

In spite of a late start, how is Cuba progressing in its fight against COVID-19?

Wordometer shows that, like India, it still has a surprisingly low incidence of infections in comparison to other highly developed and affluent countries.

As of today’s date (20th April, 2020) Cuba reports 91 infections per million of population. In contrast, the US reports 2,309 per million and the UK reports 1,769 per million. India still impresses with 13 per million.

This is not the first time Cuba has used homeopathy for the treatment and prevention of epidemics.

PrevengHo®Vir was also rolled out for the Influenza A (H1N1) epidemic while other homeopathics are regularly used in Cuba’s outbreaks of cholera, Dengue fever, and leptospirosis.

(In tomorrow’s newsletter we will explain why several different homeopathic remedies rather than just one are being suggested and used by doctors and goverments for COVID-19.)

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Lankan Foreign Minister requests help to bring back Lankan students from India

Colombo, April 20 (newsin.asia): The Acting High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Vinod K. Jacob called on Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Dinesh Gunawardena in Colombo on Monday.

During the meeting, the Acting High Commissioner briefed the Lankan Foreign Minister on India’s efforts to deal with the COVID 19 pandemic. The Lankan Minister in turn briefed the Acting High Commissioner on steps taken by Sri Lanka to fight the global pandemic, the Indian High Commission said in a release.

They expressed happiness with the ongoing bilateral efforts to fight against the COVID 19 and agreed to continue to work together in this regard. They agreed that while countries are dealing with the pandemic in their own manner, the post-pandemic economic revival requires a substantial collective effort.

The Lankan Foreign Minister thanked India for its support in bringing back stranded pilgrims from India in March. He also expressed appreciation for the gift consignment of over 13 tonnes of essential life-saving medicines supplied by India to Sri Lanka in early April. He sought further cooperation for bringing back Sri Lankan students from India.

The Minister and Acting High Commissioner discussed the state of bilateral relations and agreed to take forward the understandings reached during the visits of President H.E. Gotabaya Rajapaksa to India in November 2019, Prime Minister Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa in February 2020 and Foreign Minister Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena in January 2020.
(The picture at the top shows the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry)

By Shivanthi Ranasinghe/Ceylon Today

The answers are already in WHO’s guidelines, points out Shivanthi Ranasinghe

Last week the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Ahmad Shaheed wrote to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to emphasize the importance of upholding the right of freedom of religion or belief as well as the rights of the minorities even during this challenging time. His concern was precipitated by the decision of the Ministry of Health (MoH) to cremate all who had succumbed to the COVID-19 virus, including those who were suspected to have been compromised.

The letter exemplifies the failure of the UN to honor its mandates.

People in countries like Sri Lanka often mistake the UN as an apex body that has overriding rights over sovereign countries. This is inadmissible. The UN is simply an assembly of member States to present their issues at a global forum that is essentially made of sovereign states. After all, the UN was formed after the World War II with the clear objective to ensure that relationships between countries do not deteriorate to warrant a similar catastrophe.

Therefore, UN officials prying on internal matters of a country and worse, dictating terms to governments, is an antithesis of its mandate.

It certainly does not help when, as illustrated by Shaheed’s letter, UN officials react after jumping to erroneous conclusions based on ill-founded information. Shaheed is under the misunderstanding that the Sri Lankan government is discriminating against Muslims by not allowing them their final rites. He has come to the ridiculous conclusion that the MoH has decided on cremation arbitrarily. He has hinted that this decision could perhaps be due to a racist” agenda.

He has completely missed that final rites are denied not only for Muslim COVID-19 victims, but all victims of the virus. Sinhala Buddhists are the majority in Sri Lanka and yet, they too have been denied paansakulaya which is just an issue for Buddhists as cremation is for Muslims or for that matter Catholics. Yet, these communities are not at this point prioritizing religion when the issue is a national medical emergency.

In his letter Shaheed writes: We are concerned that the amendment is inconsistent with the infection prevention & control for the safe management of a dead body in the context of COVID-19 guideline provided by the WHO. Furthermore, we are concerned about the lack of consideration provided and the lack of sensitivity in the MoH guidelines to differentiate communities and their religious and cultural practices. The legitimacy for such amendments should be based on the principles of legality, necessity, proportionately and non-discrimination.”

He thus highlights two issues regarding the MoH decision to only cremate. One is that the MoH decision is arbitrary as it fails to comply with WHO guidelines. The other is that the decision is discriminatory, when in fact the same regulations are followed in the case of all, in complete disregard of ethnicity or religion.

Shaheed extensively quotes the WHO guidelines as if any opinion outside these guidelines would be heratic. On this basis, he had questioned a Head of a sovereign nation, with the clear expectation of a prompt response. This Head, however, may not respond because he has bigger concerns than correcting a mere UN official who has failed to do his homework.

It was not by accident that in the Global Response to Infectious Diseases index, Sri Lanka and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa have been ranked ninth. This is an index to measure the leadership given to preparing the country to deal with COVID-19. It is noteworthy that this particular Head foresaw the dangers of COVID-19 as early as January 03, 2020. On the other hand, WHO was too busy ensuring self-preservation.

It was only on March 11 that finally WHO plucked the courage to change the warning from a public health emergency of international concern” to a pandemic”. By this time, more than 118,000 people were infected in 114 countries, and 4,291 had succumbed to the virus.

This delay to warn the world of the pandemic is costing many countries. They were not ready for the highly infectious disease or for the possibility of its widespread community transmission. Therefore, their travel policies were not amended on time, nor were cities or countries ready with quarantine facilities and for social and economic disruptions.

Most countries, including those with highly advanced healthcare systems, were woefully under-prepared with adequate medical and healthcare facilities. Many patients die today simply because the capacities in these countries are overwhelmed.

Thousands are dying daily and WHO, a body of the UN, cannot absolve itself fully from culpability. Amidst this chaos, a UN official is focusing his energy on just three victims and calling for explanations from the President of a sovereign nation.

When studying the WHO guidelines, it is clear that WHO does not make a presumption to be all-knowing. In fact, WHO is very candid that it does not have enough information to offer concrete advise to nations. Hence the guidelines” and not regulations.”

COVID-19 is a new virus and a new experience to the world. WHO is also still learning about this virus. Almost daily, our understanding of it is being challenged. We do not even know whether the virus itself is evolving making our current knowledge of it obsolete or whether we had underestimated its capabilities in the first place.

Therefore, WHO is basing its guidelines based on its past experience with similar diseases and not from a full understanding of this particular virus. Based on its past experiences with similar viral infections, WHO notes that: It is a common myth that persons who have died of a communicable disease should be cremated, but this is not true”.

However, WHO stops short of assuring that the virus will not be transmitted by dead bodies. Instead, WHO simply observed that to date, there is no evidence of persons having become infected from exposure to the bodies of persons who died from COVID-19”. WHO was correct to be reserved in its opinion for a case has recently emerged from Thailand of a care worker succumbing to the virus after getting infected from a corpse.

Shaheed who is extensively quoting WHO guidelines, seems to have missed the warning WHO had issued with the guidelines. WHO clearly states that as this is a new virus whose source and disease progression are not yet entirely clear, more precautions may be used until further information becomes available.”

At the very least, Shaheed had not even bothered to support his presumption that Muslims are being discriminated with parallel evidence. He ought to have checked if Muslims were discriminated in treatment or denied facilities available to others. If Muslims are not maltreated while living, and same efforts are made to save them as the next patient, what is the objective of discriminating them in death needs to be answered.

In his letter Shaheed is advising President Gotabaya that when cultural or religious sensitivities are involved, an inclusive and participatory dialogue or consultation with relevant stakeholders, including the civil society and different ethnic or religious communities must be conducted before a decision is taken”.

To strengthen his case, he notes that WHO guidelines clearly outlined that one of the key considerations is to avoid hasty disposal.”

Yet, WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, notes on March 12 that we have to humbly acknowledge that COVID-19 is a fast evolving situation. We may not always have the best evidence at hand on which to base our decisions, but we do not have the luxury of time to wait until better evidence becomes available….. if we all pull together and recognize that this is a time to put health first, above all other considerations, we can overcome this difficult and challenging moment.”

President Gotabaya need not respond to Saheed because WHO itself, through Dr Kluge’s statement, has already done so.

(The picture at the top shows Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief)

Courtesy Adaderana

The COVID-19 outbreak is a good economic opportunity for the country, says President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

He mentioned this at a special discussion held with Chief Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga this evening (20), on the effects of COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

With the halt of the industries that generate foreign exchange, provide employment opportunities,  open self-employment and SME opportunities – such as tourism and apparel industries –,industries that are linked with importation, or deal with foreign investment have seen a major setback with the virus outbreak, the President pointed out.

However, this is a great opportunity to change Sri Lanka’s economic system and move towards a more local economic plan, said President Rajapaksa.

For a long time, we have imported things that we could manufacture within the country. Due to cheaper imported goods, the local manufacturers, industries got shut down.”

Pointing out that ways to increase the income of farmers have always been a topic of interest, the President said that a good opportunity has presented itself to develop this sector with the use of new technology.

We must change the local economy, the complete economic model”, said President Rajapaksa.

Courtesy Adaderana

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is considering the idea of creating a new mechanism to purchase, store and distribute agro products by combining all districts in the country, stated President’s Media Division.

Making observations during a meeting with the District Secretaries held at the Presidential Secretariat today (20), the President emphasized that government agents should take this mechanism forward.

President commended the cooperation extended by the District Secretaries for the success of measures taken to control the spread of COVID-19. 

The fact that those who are identified as infected on a daily basis are either from quarantine centers or from isolated areas is a testimony to the success of the efforts of combating the virus, President pointed out.

The Government is gradually easing curfew restrictions in order to restore normalcy in civilian life with the aim of economic revival. 

The national economy has to be strengthened while giving priority to the agriculture sector to achieve this objective, said the President. 

Further, attention should be paid to develop indigenous industries and other production sectors at the district level, the President said. President also emphasized the necessity of encouraging entrepreneurs by providing necessary assistance.

Attention was also drawn to the importance of establishing an institute similar to Fisheries Corporation to purchase agro products, according to the PMD. It has been agreed to formulate a practical methodology to promote recommendations of the researches conducted by the Post-Harvest Institute among the public and the farmers and their implementation. 

Given the prevailing situation, many tend to sell agro products purchased from farmers directly to the customers. Government agents, pointing out benefits of this system, said this has helped both the farmer and the consumer. They also emphasized the importance of developing a legal structure to strengthen this process.

They also pointed out the necessity of setting up cold rooms and storages.

The importance of encouraging farmers to cultivate uncultivated lands with the support of security forces and prison inmates and cultivating other crops in close proximity to paddy fields was also discussed at the meeting.

Increasing rubber production, promotion of local industries including textile, dairy products and the development of several other sectors were discussed in length.

Secretary to the President P. B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the Prime Minister Gamini Senarath, Cabinet Secretary S. Amarasekara, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S. R. Attygalle, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration S. Hettiarachchi, Secretary to the Ministry of Health Bhadrani Jayawardene, Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva and Acting IGP C. D. Wickramarathna were also present.

Courtesy Adaderana

One more person has been confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus, stated the Ministry of Health.

The newly identified patient is a fish vendor from the Piliyandala, said the Ministry.

Sri Lanka has reported 33 new COVID-19 positive cases as of 7 pm today (20).

This brings the total count of COVID-19 cases in the country to 304 cases.

Currently, 199 active cases are under medical care at Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), Welikanda Base Hospital, Colombo East Base Hospital and Iranawila Hospital, the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry says.

The total number of coronavirus recoveries in the country stands at 98.

Sri Lanka has so far confirmed 7 fatalities from the novel coronavirus.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

අද වාර්තා වූ 33 වන කොරෝනා රෝගියා පිළියන්දල ප්‍රදේශයේ පදිංචිකරුවෙකු බවට වාර්තාවනවා.

ඔහු පිළියන්දල, නිවන්තිඩිය ග්‍රාමෝදය මාවතේ පදිංචි 33 හැවිරිදි අයෙකු බවයි සෞඛ්‍ය අංශ ප්‍රකාශ කළේ.  

මාලු ව්‍යාපාරිකයෙකු වන මොහු ඇදිරිනීති බලපත්‍රයක් සහිතව නිවෙස් වෙත මාලු බෙදා හැර ඇති අතර ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් විශේෂ පරිෂණයක් සිදු කරන බවද සෞඛ්‍ය අංශ වැඩිදුරටත් ප්‍රකාශ කරනවා.

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

යම් පාලනයක් ඇතිව රට විවෘත කළත් කොරෝනා වෛරසයේ තර්ජනය තවම අවසන් වී නොමැති බව ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ප්‍රකාශ කරනවා.

ඔහු මේ බව ප්‍රකාශ කළේ ජනාධිපති ප්‍රධාන උපදේශක ලලිත් වීරතුංග සමග කළ විශේෂ සාකච්ඡාවකදියි. හිරු ටී වී ඔස්සේ විකාශය වූ එම සාකච්ඡාවේදී ජනපති වැඩිදුරටත් පැවසුවේ තවත් රට වසා තැබීම කළ හැකිද යන්න බැරෑරුම් තීරණ ගැනීමට සිදුවූ බවයි.

ජනතාව අත විශාල වගකීමක් ඇති බවත්, ඔවුන්ගේ සහයෝගය අතිශය වැදගත් බවත් ජනපති සඳහන් කළා.

විදේශවල සිටින ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් ප්‍රමුඛතා අනුපිළිවෙළට මෙරටට ගෙන්වා ගන්නා බවද පැවසු ජනපති, මැතිවරණය ගැන සම්පූර්ණ  බලය තිබෙන්නේ ස්වාධින මැතිවරණ කොමිසමට බවද කියා සිටියා.

සම්පුර්ණ සාකච්ඡාව ඇතුළත් වීඩියෝව පහතින්

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

දිනක් තුළ මෙරටින් හමු වූ වැඩිම කොරෝනා ආසාදිතයින් ප්‍රමාණය අද වාර්තා වුණා. එම සංඛ්‍යාව මේ වන විට 32ක්.

වසංගත රෝග විද්‍යා අංශය නිකුත් කළ නවතම වාර්තාවට අනුව පෙරවරුවේ තහවුරු කර ගත් රෝගීන් 24 දෙනාට අමතරව අලූතින් ආසාදිතයින් 8 දෙනෙකු පස්වරුවේ සොයා ගෙන තිබෙනවා.

ඔවුන් ද කොළඹ – කෙසෙල්වත්ත – බණ්ඩාරනායක මාවතේ පදිංචිකරුවන් වීම විශේෂත්වයක්.

මේ සමඟම එම ප්‍රදේශයෙන් මේ දක්වා සොයා ගැනුණු රෝගීන් සංඛ්‍යාව 57 දක්වා ඉහළ ගියා.

බණ්ඩාරනායක මාවතෙන් පළමු කොරෝනා ආසාදිතයා වාර්තා වූයේ පසුගිය 15 වන දායි.

59 හැවිරිදි කාන්තාවක් වන ඇයට වෛරසය වැළදී ඇති බවට කොළඹ ජාතික රෝහලේදී තහවුරු වුණේ පවුලේ සමාජිකයින් සමග දඹදිව වන්දනාවේ ගොස් මෙරටට පැමිණ දින 33කට පමණ පසුවයි.

එදින සිට එම ප්‍රදේශයෙන් අඛණ්ඩව ආසාදිතයින් වාර්තා වන අතර, මේ දක්වා වාර්තා වන  රෝගීන්ට පූර්ව රෝග ලක්ෂණ නොපෙන්වීම ද විශේෂත්වයක්.

වෛද්‍යවරුන් සහ මහජන සෞඛ්‍ය පරීක්ෂකවරුන්ගේ මැදිහත්වීමෙන් ඊයේ සහ පෙරේදා මෙම ප්‍රදේශයේ පදිංචිකරුවන්ගෙන් ජෛව සාම්පල ලබාගෙන පරීක්ෂණ සඳහා යොමු කෙරුණා.

ඒ අනුවයි අද දිනයේ අලූතින් රෝගීන් තිස් දෙදෙනෙකු සොයා ගැනුණේ.

ඊයේ දිනයේ බණ්ඩාරනායක මාවත ප්‍රදේශයට සබඳතා ඇති දෙදෙනෙකුට ද කොරෝනා වෛරසය වැළදී ඇති බව තහවුරු වුණා.

ඉන් එක් අයෙකු, දඹදිව ගොස් පැමිණි කාන්තාවගේ ස්වාමි පුරුෂයා සේවය කරන ස්ථානයේ සේවකයෙකු වන අතර, ඔහු කොළඹ 12, ගෝමස් පටුමගේ පදිංචිකරුවෙක්. ග්‍රැන්ඞ්පාස් ප්‍රදේශයේ පදිංචි අනෙක් පුද්ගලයා කාන්තාවගේ පුත්‍රයෙකුගේ මිත්‍රයෙක්.

මේ අතර, ගෝමස් පටුමග සහ බණ්ඩාරනායක මාවත යන ප්‍රදේශ වල වෛද්‍ය පරීක්ෂණ සඳහා සම්බන්ධ වූ මහජන සෞඛ්‍ය පරීක්ෂකවරුන් ඇතුළු පුද්ගලයින් 50 දෙනෙකුගේ පමණ පී.සී.ආර් පරීක්ෂණ ලබා ගැනීම අද සිදුකෙරුණා.

වැඩිම කොරෝනා ආසාදිතයින් සංඛ්‍යාව සොයා ගත් සෞඛ්‍ය වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරී කොට්ඨාශය වන්නේ ද බණ්ඩාරනායක මාවත පිහිටි මැදකොළඹ සෞඛ්‍ය වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරී කොට්ඨාශයයි. මීට පෙර වැඩිම ආසාදිතයින් ප්‍රමාණයක් වාර්තා වී තිබුණේ බේරුවල  සෞඛ්‍ය වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරී කොට්ඨාශයෙන් වන අතර එම සංඛ්‍යාව 36 ක්.

කොළඹ මහනගර සභාවේ ප්‍රධාන වෛද්‍ය නිළධාරී රුවන් විජේමුණි කියා සිටියේ බණ්ඩාරනායක මාවතේ අධික ජන ඝනත්වයක් පැවතීම ද වෛරසය ව්‍යාප්ත වීමට හේතුවන් වී ඇති බවයි.

මේ අතර, නීතිපති දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ සේවය කරන පෞද්ගලික ආරක්ෂක නිලධාරිනියකට කොරෝනා වෛරසය ආසාදනය වී ඇති බව තහවුරු කර ගැනීමත් සමඟ එම දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව නැවත දැනුම්දෙනතුරු වසා තැබීමට තීරණය කර තිබෙනවා.

එම දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ සේවය නිරත පෞද්ගලික ආරක්ෂක සේවයේ නිලධාරින් සියලූදෙනාට දෛනික ආහාර වේල් සපයා ඇත්තේ බණ්ඩාරනායක මාවතේ පදිංචිකාරිනියක් වන ඇය විසින්.

අවට පවතින තත්ත්වය සලකා අලූත්කඬේ අධිකරණය විවෘත නොකිරීමට තීරණය කළ බව අධිකරණ අමාත්‍ය නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා සදහන් කළා. එසේම, අලූත්කඬේ ප්‍රධාන මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණය හමුවේ විභාග වන නඩු සියල්ල කොළඹ කොටුව මහේස්ත්‍රාත් අධිකරණය හමුවේ කැදවීමට පියවර ගන්නා බවයි ඔහු කියා සිටියේ

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

කොළඹ, ගම්පහ, කළුතර සහ පුත්තලම දිස්ත්‍රික්කවල හැර සෙසු දිස්ත්‍රික්කවලට ලිහිල් කෙරුණු ඇඳිරි නීතිය අද පස්වරු 8ට යළිත් පැනවීමට නියමිතයි. එලෙස පැනවෙන ඇඳිරි නීතිය අප්‍රේල් 24 සිකුරාදා දක්වා ක්‍රියාත්මක වන්නේ රාත්‍රී අටේ සිට පසුදා අලූයම පහ දක්වා පමණක් බවයි ජනාධිපති මාධ්‍ය අංශය සඳහන් කළේ. කෙසේ වෙතත්, මේ මස 25 වනදා සහ 26 වනදා සති අන්තයේදී මෙම දිස්ත්‍රික්කවල ද ඇඳිරි නීතිය අඛණ්ඩව ක්‍රියාත්මක කෙරෙනු ඇති. ඒ අනුව 24 වනදා රාත්‍රී 8 ට පනවනු ලබන ඇදිරි නීතිය ඉවත් කරනු ලබන්නේ 27 වන සදුදා අලූයම 5 ටයි. මේ අතර, කොළඹ, ගම්පහ, කළුතර සහ පුත්තලම යන දිස්ත්‍රික්කවලට අනිද්දා ඉවත් කිරීමට නියමිතව තිබූ ඇඳිරි නීතිය මේ මස 27 වන සඳුදා අලූයම 5 දක්වා යළි දීර්ඝ කර තිබෙනවා. මීට අමතරව එම දිස්ත්‍රික්කවලට පිවිසීම සහ ඉන් පිටවීම සියළු දෙනාට සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම තහනම්  වන බවයි ජනාධිපති මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කළේ. ඇඳිරි නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කාලය තුළ අත්‍යවශ්‍ය සේවා පවත්වාගෙන යාම සහ කෘෂිකාර්මික කටයුතු ආදිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් කළින් ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කළ කොන්දේසි සහ උපදෙස් නොවෙනස්ව පවතින බවද ජනාධිපති මාධ්‍ය අංශය ඇඳිරි නීතිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් නිකුත් කළ නවතම නිවේදනයේ සඳහන්. ඇදිරි නීතිය කඩ කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් මේ වනවිට පුද්ගලයින් 34,183 දෙනෙකු අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන තිබෙනවා. මේ අතර, අද ඇඳිරි නීතිය ඉවත් කෙරුණු ප්‍රදේශවල ජනතාව මීට පෙර අවස්ථාවල මෙන් නොව අද දිනයේ නගර වෙත පැමිණීමේ අඩුවක් දක්නට ලැබුණු බව හිරු වාර්තාකරුවන් සඳහන් කළා. ඇතැම් ප්‍රදේශවල ජනතාව සෞඛ්‍යාරක්ෂිත ක්‍රමවේදයන් අනුගමනය කර තිබුණ ද ප්‍රදේශ රැසකින් වාර්තා වූයේ ආරක්ෂිත ක්‍රමවේදයන් අනුගමනය නොකොට සිය දෛනික අවශ්‍යතා ඉටු කර ගත් බවයි. >ඇඳිරි නීතිය ඉවත් කරන ලද ප්‍රදේශවල බස් රථ සහ දුම්රිය සේවා ක්‍රියාත්මක වූ අතර සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය ඊයේ දිනයේදී ඒ සඳහා විශේෂ උපදෙස් මාලාවක් ද නිකුත් කළා. එහිදී ප්‍රවාහන බලධාරීන් සහ සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය දැනුම් දුන්නේ මීටරයක පරතරය පවත්වාගෙන යමින් ප්‍රවාහන කටයුතු සිදුකරන ලෙසටයි. එහෙත් එම උපදෙස් නොතකමින් මගීන් බස් රථවල ගමන් ගන්නා බවට ප්‍රදේශ රැසකින් තොරතුරු වාර්තා වුණා. එවැනි අවස්ථාවලදී සෞඛ්‍ය බලධාරීන්, පොලීසිය හා එක්ව මගීන්ට සහ එම බස් රථ රියදුරන්ට අවවාද කළා. කෙසේ වෙතත්, ඇඳිරි නීතිය ලිහිල් කළ ප්‍රදේශවල සෞඛ්‍ය උපදෙස් පිළිනොපදිමින් මගීන් ප්‍රවාහනය කරන සියලූ බස් රථ රියදුරන් සහ කොන්දොස්තරවරුන්ට එරෙහිව නීති මගින් කටයුතු කරන බව අමාත්‍ය මහින්ද අමරවීර පවසනවා. හිරු ප්‍රවෘත්ති අංශයට අදහස් දක්වමින් ඔහු කියා සිටියේ එවැනි බස්රථ වල ධාවන බලපත්‍රය අහෝසි කිරීමට කටයුතු කරන බවයි. එමෙන්ම, එළඹෙන බදාදා විවෘත කිරීමට නියමිතව තිබූ කොළඹ – කටුනායක අධිවේගී මාර්ගය එදින විවෘත නොකරන බව මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අධිකාරියේ සභාපති චමින්ද අතුලූවගේ පවසනවා. බස්නාහිර පළාතට ඇඳිරි නීතිය ඉවත් කිරීමේ දිනය දීර්ඝ කිරීමත් සමඟ මෙම තීරණයට එළඹුණු බවයි ඔහු සඳහන් කළේ. කෙසේ වෙතත්, මීට පෙර දැනුම් දුන් පරිදි දක්ෂිණ අධිවේගී මාර්ගයේ කොට්ටාව – හම්බන්තොට දක්වා කොටස සෑම දිනකම පෙරවරු හතේ සිට රාත්‍රි 7 දක්වා විවෘතව පවතිනු ඇති. කෙසේ නමුත් එය භාවිත කළ හැක්කේ ඇඳිරි නීති බලපත්‍ර දරන්නන් සහ අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය සේවාවල නිරත වන්නන්ට පමණක් බව ද ඔහු කියා සිටියා. මේ අතර, සිල්ලරට මත්පැන් විකිණීම සඳහා වූ සුරාබදු බලපත්‍ර සහිත ස්ථාන, ඒ, ඒ ප්‍රදේශවල ඇඳිරි නීතිය ලිහිල් කරනු ලබන කාලසීමාවට යටත්ව නැවත විවෘත කිරීමට සුරාබදු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අනුමැතිය ඊයේ හිමි වුණා. ඒ අනුව ඇතැම් ප්‍රදේශවල ජනතාව මත්පැන් මිලදී ගැනීම සඳහා පෝලිම්වල රැදී සිටි බවයි හිරු වාර්තාකරුවන් සඳහන් කළේ. විශේෂයෙන් මසකට ආසන්න කාලයක් වසා තිබී යළි විවෘත කෙරුණු වතුකරයේ මත්පැන් අලෙවිසැල් ඉදිරිපිට අද දින දිගු පෝලිම් දක්නට ලැබුනු අතර, ඇතැම් මත්පැන් අලෙවිසැල්වල මත්පැන් දහවල් වනවිට විකිණී අවසන් වී ඇති බවට ද වාර්තා වනවා. කෙසේ වෙතත්, මධ්‍යසාර හා මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය තොරතුරු මධ්‍යස්ථානය නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් සඳහන් කළේ මේ මොහොතේ සුරාසල් විවෘත කිරීමට රජය ගත් තීන්දුව කිසිසේත් අනුමත කළ නොහැකි බවයි. මේ අතර, කොළඹ, ගම්පහ, කළුතර සහ පුත්තලම දිස්ත්‍රික්කවල ඇදිරි නීතිය ලබන 27 වනදා දක්වා අඛන්ඩව ක්‍රියාත්මක වීම හේතුවෙන් කොළඹ කොටස් වෙළදපොල යළි විවෘත කිරීම කල් දමා තිබෙනවා. ඒ අනුව එය ලබන 22 වනදා ගනුදෙනු සදහා යළි ආරම්භ නොවන බවයි කොටස් වෙළදපොල නිවේදනයක් නිකුත් කරමින් ප්‍රකාශ කළේ.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

REVISED 17.3.21

 In 1956, SWRD formed his last ‘party’ the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP). The MEP consisted of Sri Lanka Freedom Party led by SWRD, Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party (VLSSP) led by Philip Gunawardene,   the Samastha Lanka Sinhala Bhasha Peramuna led by W. Dahanayake and an ‘Independent Group.’ These were the four constituent parties mentioned in the MEP   program given in Daily News, March 8.1956.  ‘Bhasha Peramuna’ was an organization of Sinhalese teachers and literati who wanted Sinhala as state language.

These four parties were joined by the Uda Rata Peramuna led by TB Ilangaratne and TB Tennakoon, and K.M.P. Rajaratna’s Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.  Two Tamil lawyers of the SLFP, A.C. Nadarajah, and S Thangarajah as well as ACS Hameed and Badiudeen Mahamud also joined the MEP. Mettananda, Kularatne and many other leading Buddhists supported the movement.

Eksath Bhikshu Peramuna  was formed in 1956.  It was led by Henpitagedara Gnanasiha, with Talpavila Wimalawansa, Mapitigama Buddharakhita, Hewanpola Ratanasara, Kotagama Vachissara, Bambarende Siri Sivali and Madihe Pannasiha. Eksath Bhikshu Peramuna was a major contributor to the success of the MEP at the 1956 General election.

Eksath Bhikshu Peramuna presented a programme of action to the MEP shortly before the 1956 elections. They wanted, inter alia, the implementation of the Buddhist Commission Report and Sinhala made the official language of the country. Ven. Yakkaduwe Pragnarama, Walpola Rahula, Ven. Baddegama Wimalawamsa, and Henpitigedera Gnanasiha of Ratnapura were foremost in this matter.

MEP issued its manifesto on March 1956. The four parties had agreed to the programme. This manifesto was published in Daily News of March 8.1956.

 The manifesto said, firstly that the MEP wanted the Constitution amended. The MEP objected to Dominion status. MEP wanted Ceylon to be a democratic Republic.  In foreign policy, MEP wanted Non-alignment and the immediate removal of   the two foreign bases in Sri Lanka. 

MEP supported the Buddhist Commission recommendations and wanted Buddhism given special recognition as the religion of the majority, but said ‘‘we guarantee the fullest freedom of worship to all. There shall be no discrimination on religious grounds.

Sinahla must be declared the sole Official language of the country, said MEP, but this will not involve the suppression of such minority languages as Tamil whose reasonable use will receive due recognition.

If MEP came to power there will be national planning .Key industries would be run by the state. Small industries by the private sector .There would be special emphasis on sugar, textiles, fisheries, salt and fertilizer industries. Foreign owned plantations, transport, banking and insurance companies will be progressively nationalized.  Trade and commerce would ‘go into Ceylonese hands’. Agriculture would be diversified to include cotton and sugar cane.  There was a vast extent of land still uncultivated.

Housing would be the responsibility of the central government. There would be village expansion schemes for the landless and colonization schemes where ownership of land will be vested in the farmer. MEP  wanted to set up  regional councils to help with local government. 

 MEP promised full employment with satisfactory wages and conditions of service, without discrimination on the  grounds of  language. Full trade union rights will be given to all workers, also fundamental rights such as 8 hour working day, guaranteed minimum wage and pension or provident fund schemes. Full trade union rights  to public servants too.  MEP would introduce health and unemployment insurance and old age pensions. Cost of living would be lowered by reducing the price of necessities like rice and sugar.

We shall repeal the Public Security Ordinance, Police amendment Act, Trade Union Amendment  Act and all undemocratic public service regulations and similar restrictions and invasions of public and personal rights, particularly those affective the freedom of Association, assembly and speech, said MEP. Lastly, MEP would complete without delay the new Town of  Anuradhapura, see to the preservation of the ancient city of Anuradhapura as well as other ancient cities and monuments.

Sudath Gunasekera recalled that the first public meeting of the MEP held at Ananda College, SWRD with Philip Gunawardene, Iriyagolla and others vowed to implement the recommendation of the Buddha Sasana committee. As a schoolboy of 17, I attended the meeting and saw SWRD and his team sat on the floor of the stage in front of the Maha Sangha said they would implement the recommendation of the committee if they came to power. This as the historic meeting at which the MEP for the first time received the acceptance of the people. 

The General election of 1956 was announced. The UNP had enough money, the backing of the bureaucracy and had won two by-elections just before 1956. UNP confidently dissolved Parliament early. The UNP foolishly brought forward the gen election date from 1957 to April 1956, which was    Buddha Jayanti year.

The fledgling MEP negotiated a no contest pact with LSSP and CP  and launched into election work. Marxist parties  were so anxious to defeat the UNP that they gave their support to the MEP. SWRD had no candidates and no funds for the election, no affluent patrons or mudalalis, observed Meegama. SWRD had gone to the Bank of Ceylon to ask for a loan but the General Manager would not see him and he had to go home empty handed. General Manager was Chelliah Loganathan.

SWRD mortgaged his properties to pay for election expenses of his candidate since most of them had no money to spend on an election. B.H. Aluvihare deserted MEP just before the election and SWRD nominated Nimal Karunatilleke who had no contacts in Matale, but he won handsomely. In Anuradhapura Sirimevan Godage, an Office assistant contested PB Bulankulame.

SWRD had some of the best Sinhala orators and writers on his side, such as Somaweera Chandrasiri, a brilliant Sinhala scholar and poet.  He was a fine orator, clever at coining words, and could compose Sinhala verse on the spot. He was a fine addition to MEP, said Meegama.

But the election swung decisively to MEP only when the bhikkhus came out in support. UNP had managed to anger the Buddhists, by its statements and actions.  The Buddhists had asked that the election be held after the Buddha Jayanti. But government  did not agree. The Lake House newspaper group had ridiculed the Buddhist Commission report and the monks who were campaigning for it. This had angered the Sangha and the Buddhist public too. From the poorest house to the richest Bhikkhu was treated with the greatest veneration.

 Sangha sabhas actively came out in favour of MEP and everywhere the saffron robe   was seen in vehicles flying the blue and red flag of the MEP. In many areas monks went house to house campaign urging support for SWRD. 

The night before the 1956 election, Ratnapura town saw on the hill above the road to Potgul vihara, a row of lanterns moving as in a perahera. It was Ven.Henpitigedera and his supporters going from house to house in the distant villages on the hill asking people to vote for the hand symbol of MEP.

SWRD was never considered a winner.  He had no proper candidates and the MEP coalition lacked financial resources. Meegama says SWRD has arrived to speak at meeting organized by his supporters at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, the audience was very small.

Only the Lankadeepa” newspaper, edited by DB Dhanapala supported the MEP, said Meegama. Lankadeepa ran MEP speeches and   gave news of MEP meetings.90% of its editorial staff were sympathetic to the anti UNP movement.  It had some young Turks  who were to become famous in the future, such as  Karunasena Jayalath   and   Nimal Karunatilleke.  Lankadeepa showed a staggering 61.7% increase in circulation  in the run up to the election. No other newspaper could match this.

Lankadeepa played a key role in the UNP years to keep the issues that were  stirring the people in the limelight. The paper gave publicity to the  demand for switch over to Sinhala, rightful place for Buddhism, simple living, liberation from servility to degrading foreign customs,  and liberation of people from capitalism. Lankadeepa gave sizzling editorials just before the election. 

Now I know why, in my home, in the 1950s, when everybody else down the street was reading the Dinamina, ‘Lankadeepa’ arrived every day. It had a cartoon by Motagedera Wanigaratne on the front page. That is all I can remember now.

But the MEP gained support as the campaign went on. The MEP was supported by the Pancha maha Balavegaya,” sangha, veda, guru, govi, kamkaru.  It  would be observed that there is no ‘lipikaru’ in the Balavegaya.

 At the election meetings Philip was wanted everywhere for his thunderous denunciation of UNP. In the last day of the campaign there were scenes verging on hysteria. When SWRD came to   Kandy, he could hardly be heard, there was cheering and shouting. People were rushing to touch him. Such were the emotions.

The general election of 1956 was spread out for 3 days. A staggered poll was held to help the UNP. The first day the elections were held in key UNP electorates and the rest on the next two days. UNP only secured the 8 seats they won on the first day.  UNP lost all seats on the 2nd and 3 days. in this election for the first time symbols were allotted. Later the SLFP introduced the one day poll. 

 I.D.S.Weerawardana remarked that the electorate displayed a surprising maturity. The electorate voted clearly for the party and not for individuals. Voter turnout was 69% which was considered good for that period of time, said Weerawardene.  It is considered good even today, in most countries. Bradman Weerakoon said that unlike in the previous elections which had resulted in many electoral challenges, there had been few instances of bribery, violence or impersonation in this election.

 P.A. Samaraweera observed ‘people took all the money lavishly given by rich UNP politicians, wore the green bush shirts given by them, took the lunch packets, went to the polling booth and voted for the MEP.’ It was said later that they would have voted for even a polpiththa.

DRO of Kalagam Palatha in Anuradhapura district had asked an elderly lady how she had voted. She said Mudalali of our village is Christian. He gave each of us Rs.  10, bread and tea and led us to the school. He said we should mark a cross in front of the elephant and put in the box. I could not go against my religion so I voted for the Sri Hasthaya symbol.

MEP coalition at the start looked impractical and unlikely. 60facing a solid UNP phalanx of 76 many of them sitting members. Yet MEP had a landslide victory. The momentum was unstoppable. Result left us speechless, recalled Bradman Weerakoon.

The first result was Matale at 10 pm .Nimal had won with a majority of 2500. Lankadeepa office was jubilant as he had written for it since its inception. Dhanapala said ‘now that Nimal has won, victory is certain for Bandaranaike.’ The MEP won 51 out of the 60 seats it contested.  43 of them were won by the SLFP.  UNP got 8 seats.

MEP got 1,046 277 votes and 39.5% of the votes cast. LSSP came second with 274,204 and 21    seats. Third was Federal Party with 142,758, 5.4 % and 10 seats.  The ranking of a separatist party in third position in this historic election is significant and should be noted. On a mere 5.4% they got 10 seats.

The results of the general election were a surprise even to the victors. It baffled even the architects of its victory. The ignominious defeat of UNP was also a surprise, said analysts. But there w as a sense of freedom and liberation in the air among students, peasants, urban workers and the intelligentsia. It was a time of great happiness, said Meegama.  It was Ape aanduwa.”

I still recall the excitement of listening to the election results,   hearing the words Mahajana Eksath Peramuna spoken over and over again,  very dramatically by an announcer, who could not keep his delight out of his voice. The words ‘Mahajana Eksath Peramuna” has a lilt to it and that added to the impact.

The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna MPs, took their oaths in national costume at the request of the Maha Sangha.  On 20.4. 56 when Parliament had finished its business, the public invaded the chamber. SWRD, as Prime Minister said ‘let them in.’ This should be applauded. This was a once in a lifetime experience for the island and SWRD realized this.

However, a shocked observer reported ‘ the people came like a horde of wild horses ,not only that day into the Chamber of the country’s supreme legislature but for days and weeks  and months after that to the other citadels of the government .’

 In 1962, one of the officers   involved in the attempted coup, gave as a reason for his animosity to SWRD, that when he was trying to prevent people rushing to the Parliament chamber after the “ape aanduwa” victory in 1956, SWRD’s order to him, was Let them come in.”  

The General Election of 1956 was a watershed in the modern history of Sri Lanka, said I.D.S. Weerawardena.It changed the political landscape, said Meegama. 1956 was a major landmark in Sri Lanka, said Wiswa Warnapala. The common man for the first time understood that he could change the government of the country peacefully, through ballot. (Continued)

චන්ද්‍රසිරි විජයවික්‍රම, LL.B., Ph.D.

මෙහි පහතින් දැක්‌වෙන්නේ මිලින්ද මොරගොඩ ගැන අන්තර්‌ජාල විකිපීඩියාවේ සඳහන් වා‌ර්‌තාවකි. මෙහි ඇත්ත-නැත්ත මම නොදනිමි. එහෙත් ගින්නක් නැතුව දුමක් නඟින්නේද නැත. ඒ කාලයේ තමන්ට එල්ලවූ අල්ලස්-දූෂණ චෝදනා වෙනුවට අද රටේ විශාල ඩොලර් බලයක් සහිතව මහ ඉහළින් වැජඹෙන මිලින්ද ගෙන් ප්‍රවේශම් වන ලෙස හාමුදුරුවරු වත්මන් ආණ්ඩුවට ප්‍රසිද්‌ධියේම අනතුරු ඇඟවීමක් කලේය. නිදහස් සංවාද වැඩබිමේ චපා බණ්ඩාර විසින් මිලින්දව සළකන්නේ මිලේනියම් උගුලේ ඔත්තුකරුවෙකු ලෙසය. මෙහි පහතින් ඇති ඇමෙරිකන් තානාපති කාර්යාලයේ රහස් කේබල් පණිවුඩය අනුව මිලින්ද නියමම, කදිම ඇමෙරිකන් ඒජන්ත කෙනෙක් බවට විවාදයක් නැත. මිලින්ද ගැන තොරතුරු රට වැසියාට පෙන්වාදීමට වගකීමක්, යුතුකමක් ඒ ගැන යමක් දන්නා අයට ඇත. මිලින්දට කරුණු පැහැදිලි කිරීමට අචස්‌ථාවක් ලැබෙන්නේද මෙසේ ඔහු ගැන ලිව්වොත් පමණය.

ඇමෙරිකාව ඒජන්තලා සොයා ගන්නා ආකාරය විෂ්මය දණවයි. එය ඔවුන්ගේ දක්‍ෂතාවයයි. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් 2010 රොබට් බ්ලේක් ගෙනා සරත් ෆොන්සේකා වෙනුවට 2019 දී හදිසියේම කඩාවැටුන මහේෂ් සේනානායක, ඇමෙරිකන් තානාපතිනියගේ ඉත්තෙක් බව දැනගන්නට ලැබුණේ චන්දයෙන් පසු මහේෂ් ඇමෙරිකා යුද කඳවුරක පරණ රක්‍ෂාවට පලාගිය පසුවය. සර්වෝදයේ වින්ද්‍යා ආරියරත්න හා තවත් ඉංජිනේරුවෙක් සමඟ මහේෂ් තානාපතිනිය මුණ ගැසී තුන්වන බලවේගයක් වශයෙන් නොමිනේෂන් දුන්නේය. සිදුවූයේ ඒ නිසා ගොඨාභයගේ චන්ද කැඩීයාම නොව තව තවත් වැඩිවීමය!

මිලින්ද උපන්නේ ඇමෙරිකාවේය. මිලින්ද විවාහ වුනේ ඇමෙරිකන් කාන්තාවක් සමඟය. ඒ කාලයේ කතාව වුනේ ඇය ජනාධිපති බුෂ් පවුලටද දුරින් සම්බන්‌ධ කෙකෙන් යනුය. මිලින්ද සුරතලෙක්‌ වූයේ ඇමෙරිකන් රිපබ්ලිකන් පක්‍ෂයේ සෙනේට් සභිකයින් අතරය. ඔහු ප්‍රසිද්‌ධකල, විත් අ වෝම් හාර්ට්, අ කූල් හෙඩ් ඇන්ඩ් අ ඩීප් බ්‍රෙත්, නම් ලිපි එකතුවට (2003) පෙරවදනක් ලිව්වේ 2008 ජනාධිපති අපේක්‍ෂක‌වූ ජෝන් මැකේන්‌ය. සරත් ෆොන්සේකාට, රොබට් බ්ලේක් හෝ මාදුළුවාවේ සෝභිත හිමියන්ට මිචෙල් සෙසන් හෝ රංජන් රාමනායකට ඇලිනා ටෙප්ලිස් හෝ මෙන් නොව මෙවැනි මිලින්දගේ සම්බන්‌ධකම් හොඳින් අක් මුල් සහිතය. උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් සමන්තා පවර්ස්ගේ මුද්ද ඉම්බ මංගල සමරවීරව, ඇමෙරිකන් රහස් සංදේශයේ සඳහන් කර තිබෙන්නේ ජෝකර් කෙනෙක් කියාය.

බිම් බෝම්බ ඉවත් කිරීමේ, පාත් ෆයින්ඩර් ක්‍රියාවෙන්, ලංකාව හැදීමේ පාත් ෆයින්ඩර් කමට මිලින්ද ඉබේම පාත් විය. මිලින්ද හා කෙළින්ම සම්බන්‌ධ දෙන්නෙක්ම (ජෙනරාල් දයා රත්නායක හා අද්මිරාල් මහාචාර්ය ජයන්ත් කොළඹගේ) ගෝඨාභය පාලනයේ ඉහළම තනතුරු දෙකක් දරණ බව චාපා බණ්ඩාර එලිකලේය. හාමුදුරුවරු එකනමක් වත් (ඔහුගේ සංවිධානයේ පඩි ලබන?) මිලින්දට ස්ත්‍රොත්‍ර ගායනා කලත් (ලිට්‍රෝ ගෑස් සල්ලි ලබාගෙන දඹරාවේ අමිල හිමි යහපාලන වේදිකාවේ සිවුර ගැලවෙන තරමට යකා නැටුවා මතකද), 2019 නොවැම්බර් 18 දා ගෝඨාභය දිනවා රටේ හාමුදුරුවරුන් කල විප්ලවය බකල් කිරීමට, මිලේනියම් හුටපටය කෙසේ හෝ රටට රිංගවීමට ඇමෙරිකාව ගන්නා නොනවතින උත්සාහයට ජනාධිපති අසුවේද යන සාධාරණ බියක් රටේ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධයින්ට ඇත. මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා නම් දැන් නැතත්, අතීතයේ නම් හොඳ මිලින්ද වාදියෙකි.

මිලින්දගැන ඇති බියට හේතුව නම් ඔහුගේ අතීත හා වත්මන් ක්‍රියා යුරෝපය උතුම්‌ය යන ආකෘතිය මත පදනම්‌ව තිබීමය. ඔහු යෝජනා කරණ පාත් එක (ප්‍රතික‌ර්‍ම) ලෝක බැංකු පාරය. කොරෝනාවට පෙර තිබූ දුප්පත් රටවල් සූරා කෑ කොම්පැනි ධනවාදයට, මොන අන්‌දමින් හෝ පැලැස්තර දමා කොරෝනාවට පසු ලෝකයේ ඒවා දිගටම ගෙන යාමේ ඇමෙරිකන් ප්ලෑනට අඩතැබීම මිලින්දගේ අළුත් ප්‍රොජෙක්ට් එකේ අරමුණ බව පැහැදිලි වන්නේ, දැන් ඒ අළුත් උපක්‍රමය සඳහා ඔහු පත් කල 20 දෙනාගේ කොමිටියේ සාමාජිකයින්ගේ වතගොත සොයා බලන විටය. ඉන් බොහෝ දෙනෙක් යහපාලන කාලයේ රනිල්-මංගල-මලික්-රවි ගැත්තන්‌ විය. මේ අය ඇල්ලේ ගුණවංශ හාමුදුරුවන් කියන බුදු අම්මෝ අයද්, ඕ මයි ගෝඩ් අයද? පැහැදිලි එකම දේ නම් රටේ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධයින් වෙනුවෙන් ප්‍රසිද්‌ධියේ කතාකරණ එක් අයෙක්‌වත් මිලින්දගේ කොමිටිවල නොසිටීමය. එවැනි සුදුස්සන් නැද්ද, එවැනි අය ආරාධනාව ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කලාද,එසේත් නැත්නම් එවැනි අයවළුන් මේ වැදගත් කොමිටිවලට සහභාගි කරගන්නවාට විරුද්‌ධ බලවේගයක් යටින් තිබෙනවාද?

උදාහරණයක් වශයෙන් සංවර්‍ධනය සඳහා, නාස්තිය, කුණු කසළ හා වස-විස කළමනාකරණය පිළිඹදව ධර්‌මපාල පරපුරේ නිර්‌මාතෘ ඉඳුරාගාරේ ධම්මරතන හිමිඳුන් හා, අතුරැලියේ රතන, බොදු බල සේනාවේ ඥානසාර යන හාමුදුරුවරුන් ඉදිරිපත් කරණ පාත් එකට මිලින්දගේ පාත් එකේ ඉඩක් තිබේද? ග්‍රාම රාජ්‍ය සංකල්පය ගැන මිලින්දගේ අදහස කුමක්ද? රට යායුතු මෙග ව්‍යාපෘති පාරේද, නැත්නම් කර්‌ක් පැට්‍රික් සේල් ගේ හියුමන් ස්කේල් නම් පරිසරවාදී තිරසර සංවර්‌ධන පාරේද? මේ සියල්ලටම වඩා වැදගත් වන්නේ මිලින්ද, ජනාධිපතිට දෙන සංදේශ ප්‍රසිද්‌ධ නොකරන්නේ මන්ද යන කරුණය. ඒවා රහස් ලියවිලි වන්නේ මොන ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රය යටතේද?

තවද මිලින්දගේ ඩී.එන්.ඒ (ජාන) වල මහාවංශ විරෝධී අංශු තිබිය හැකිය. ඔහුගේ සීයාගේ පියා රෙස්ට්‌හවුස් කීපර් කෙනෙකුගේ පුතෙකි. මේ පුතා (එන්. යූ. ජයවර්‌ධන) ඉගෙනගෙන අන්තිමේදී මහ බැංකුවේ අධිපති විය. ජේ. ආර්.මුදල් ඇමතිව සිටියදී නීති විරෝධි වැඩක් කරණ ලෙස ඔහුට කල ඉල්ලීම ඔහු ප්‍රතික්‍ෂේප කලේය (සර් ජෝන්ට එංගලන්තයේ වත්තක් ගන්නට විදේශ විනිමය දීමට). මේ නිසා ඔහුගේ රක්‍ෂාව අහිමි කලේය. ඔහු ලුනාව දේවාලයේ භාරයක් වෙමින් දේවාල මිදුල දිනපතාම අතුගෑවේය. පසුව බණ්ඩාරනායක අගමැති ඔහුව එම බොරු අල්ලස් චෝදනාවෙන් නිදොස් කලේය.

එහෙත් මේ දක්‍ෂ, අවංක සීයාගේ පුතා (ලාල්) හා ලේලි (විශාඛා කුමාරි සොයිසා) යුවල රට කැඩීමේ ඊළම් ව්‍යාපාරයට වක්‍රව හෝ දායක විය. තම්බයියාගේ (බොරු කරණාද ඇතුලත්) බුඩිසම් බිට්‍රේයිඩ් (1992) යන පොතේ පිටකවරයට තරුණ මාදුළුවාවේ සෝභිත හිමියන්ගේ යක්‍ෂාරූඪ වූවා වැනි පින්තූරය සැපයූවේ සුදු මවක් සමඟ එංගලන්තයේ හැදී වැඩුණු මේ විශාඛා තොමෝය. සමහරු හිතුවේ ආනන්ද තිස්ස ද අල්විස් ගේ නම මෙන් මැයද ඇගේ නම අනුව හොඳ සිංහල බෞද්‌ධ උපාසිකාවක් කියාය! බෞද්‌ධයින් කුහකයින්‌ය යන ලේබල් එක ගෙනා ආ ඈ උග්‍ර මාක්ස්වාදියෙකි (ඒ පොත ලංකාවේ තහනම් කිරීමට මේ පින්තූරයද හේතුවක් විය. ගණනාත් ඔබේසේකරලා පොත තහනම් කිරීමට විරුද්‌ධ ලිපි ලියුවේය). ලාල්, ඊට යූ. එන්. ඕ. සරසවියේ වයිඩර් ආයතනය හරහා අරමුදල් සපයා, දිග පෙරවදනක්‌ද ලිව්වේය.

ඇන්.යූ. ජයවර්‌ධනගේ දුවගේ සැමියා, පින්තු මොරගොඩ (මිලින්දගේ පියා) ලෝක වාර්‌තාවක්ද තැබු අයෙකි. ගුණපාල මලලසේකර මහතා යූ.එන්.ඕ. සභාපති ධූරයට චන්දය ඉල්ලූ අවස්ථාවේදී එවකට එහි සේවය කල පින්තු, මලලසේකරට චන්දය දෙන ලෙස ඉල්ලා, ඔහුට පක්‍ෂ යයි සිතූ රටවලට යැවීමට පිලියෙල කල සංදේශය, මලලසේකරට විරුද්‌ධව චන්දය දේය සිතූ රටවලට යවා, මලලසේකරට පක්‍ෂව චන්දය දේයයි සිතූ රටවලට, ඔහුට විරුද්‌ධව චන්දය දේ යයි සිතූ රටවලට යැවීමට පිලියෙල කල අනිත්, වෙනස් සංදේශය යැව්වේය! මෙසේ පින්තු සිදුකල බරපතල අකරතැබ්බය අත්වැරදීමක්ද නැද්ද යන්න ගැන මලලසේකර මහතා සිතුවේ කුමක්දැයි අපි නොදනිමු. දිණන්නට සිටි මලලසේකර පැරදුණේය. පින්තෝ තවමත් ජීවත්‌ව සිටින නිසා ඔහුට අවංකව මෙය පැහැදිලි කල හැකිය. යූ.එන්.ඕ. වනාහි ලෝක හොර ගුහාවකි. යම් රහසක් කතාකරන්න ඕනෑ නම් ඒ සඳහා බිල්ඩිමෙන් ඉවත්‌ව මිදුලට එන්නේ චරපුරුෂ සේවය ඒතරමටම උග්‍ර නිසාය!

Political career of Milinda Moragoda

United National Party
During his political career of almost 10 years, Moragoda has worked in a number of key areas. He was a principal Government negotiators in the peace talks of 2002–2004. He was Minister of Economic Reform. He also gave leadership to the development and implementation of Sri Lanka’s ICT policy, E-Sri Lanka.
Moragoda was first entered to Parliament as a National List Member in 2000 with the United National Party (UNP) and was re-elected in 2001 and in 2004 from the Colombo District.[6]

Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Upon crossing over the government Moragoda was appointed as the Minister of Tourism by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. During his tenure, he was able to successfully implement the Tourism Act of 2001. In July 2009 he was appointed as Minister of Justice and Law Reform. Even though he sat and voted with the government, he remained a member of the opposition UNP until 2010 when he started the Sri Lanka National Congress (SLNC). The SLNC was disbanded in 2011 when Milinda joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the main party of UPFA led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In the 2010 general election he lost his parliamentary seat.

In 2011 he became the UPFA’s mayoral candidate in the October 2011 municipal election in Colombo. He was elected to Colombo Municipal Council, becoming its opposition leader.

Allegations of Corruption
In 2007 Moragoda’s party was in the opposition having lost the 2005 elections to the UPFA. As the UPFA Government sought to expose corruption during the UNP regime the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) released a report accusing Moragoda of widespread corruption and abuse of power.
Mercantile Credit Ltd, a subsidiary of Mercantile Merchant Bank, founded by Moragoda was found to defaulted on loans of 4.7 Billion Rupees (which had been obtained by providing false information) while Moragoda was Minister for Economic Reform. COPE conducted three inquiries into these loans and their defaulting but on each occasion the investigations were never allowed to reach the final stages due to political pressure.
In 2002 Lanka Marine Service (Pvt) Limited owned by state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation which sat on an 8.5-acre plot in the Colombo harbour was sold to the Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings. The Supreme Court ruled that as then PERC chairman, Dr. P.B. Jayasundara and Executive Director of JKH Susantha Ratnayake had acted with dishonest intent in the sale of LMSL shares. The Bribery Commission also began investigations into criminal charges against Dr. Jayasundara, former Ministers Milinda Moragoda (PERC was under him) and Karu Jayasuriya (CPC was under him) on the charge of abusing public property in connection with this deal.
Before the investigation could reach conclude both Moragoda and Jayasriya crossed over to the government. Reporting on the privatisation of Lanka Marine Service COPE stated that by his actions Moragoda had at the very least incurred a loss of 1.7 Bn rupees for the government.

The COPE report also alleged severe irregularities in the privatisation of Sri Lanka Insurance which happened under the tenure of Moragoda. The report stated that Moragoda created a loss of over 3 Bn Rupees for the government solely through non-compliance with the 4th term of the contract. These investigations too were not concluded before Moragoda crossed over to the government.

Links to the USA
US Embassy cables released by WikiLeaks show Moragoda to be a long time information source of the US Embassy in Colombo. The cables also state the US Government’s interest in Moragoda as their key partner in Sri Lanka. Writing to Washington in 2003, then US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ashley Wills says of Moragoda:

[Regarding] the U.S., the intelligent, articulate Moragoda is a perfect fit. born in Washington, D.C, he is a dual national Amcit (please protect) married to an American, with plenty of Washington connections, many from his days as a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and at Harvard. A “big picture” person, Moragoda is also highly aware that the U.S. is the most powerful country in the world, and he feels that it is better that Sri Lanka recognize that fact and work within it.

Other work
Moragoda has served as a member of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, which was co-chaired by Madeleine Albright and Hernando de Soto.
He has founded a number of non-profit organisations. Among them is the Milinda Moragoda Institute for People’s Empowerment, under whose aegis operates a humanitarian de-mining programme in the North and East which has been in operation since 2002 and Apeksha, a free English Education Programme for children of low income families.

Honors….

Engr. Kanthar Balanathan, Australia

DipEE (UK), GradCert(Rel-Eng-Monash), DipBus&Adm(Finance-Massey), CEng. MIEE(UK) Former Specialist Engineer Power & Control NRG-GPS, Australia

Planet earth underwent two world wars, because of four or more psychiatric patients (leaders) who wanted to show their muscle strength. Still, the egoism and the shortfalls in perception with a weak mind of a few leaders who were driven into a mental state wanted to show their strength or maybe wanted to liquidate their old weapons to replace with new state of the art automatic weapons. Mankind has experienced a few wars within the last century; Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, SriLanka, South America, and the current devastating, destructive and dreadful killing in Syria. Why were these wars fought for decades? It may be difficult for humans to assess whether the reason is: power, wealth, superiority, or eliminate a certain race from the face of this earth?

The planet administrations have a common body known as the UN. Quote: The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations; Ref: https://www.un.org/en/

There are several other UN bodies to address the various areas/divisions. Quote: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Nations_organizations.The United Nations (UN) is an organization between countries established on 24 October 1945 to promote international cooperation. It was founded to replace the League of Nations following World War II and to prevent another conflict. When it was founded, the UN had 51 Member States; there are now 193. The UN is funded primarily by member countries. The United States remains the largest donor to the United Nations, contributing more than $10 billion in 2017, roughly one-fifth of the body’s collective budget.

Under the contribution, USA makes maybe it gains dominance in the indirect governance of the UN.

Who was dominating these organisations? No doubt, it’s the USA. E.g. WHO ‘s responsibility is to promote the mental and physical health of humanity. Just a question? To what extent have they achieved in promoting the mental health of people and state leaders? Second question? Can people assume that WHO operates with little or no fraud, well to state kickbacks”? What is the operating transparency, clarity, cleanliness of these organisations, which is; non-partisan policy, nepotism, ideology alliances etc. e.g. a common man in Nigeria may not know about the UN and the other orgs and their functions? Even when they query, their government will shut them down.

With the UN and other orgs in place, countries carry on doing their research to develop modern weapons to kill more people in a short time. Production increased to maximise productivity for local consumption and sale to their friendly countries. In 1960 a modern weapon was produced to fire one million bullets per minute. Quote Ref; https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-fastest-gun-2016-2?IR=T

Quote: (i) The highest rate of fire for a machine gun in service is the M134 Minigun. The weapon was designed in the late 1960s for helicopters and armoured vehicles. It fires 7.62 mm calibre rounds at a blistering rate of 6,000 rounds per minute, or 100 rounds per second — about ten times that of an ordinary machine gun, according to the Guinness Book.

(ii) The Metal Storm gun, on the other hand, makes the M134 look like a toy. The prototype gun system was rated at 16,000 rounds per second or 1,000,000 rounds per minute. The gun system was developed by an Australian weapons company of the same name. In 2007, Metal Storm Inc. started delivering its gun systems to the US Navy for surface ships. This video shows how the Metal Storm gun achieves its head-spinning firing rate.

(iii) Bombers, aircraft careers, Drones, Nuclear submarines, Tanks, and so on are not be forgotten.

With the ‘x’ number of orgs to maintain and achieve peace on this planet (åUN-orgs) do the humans need such fast-acting guns which can kill more people within a short time? Time for humans to shift to the thinking mode.

Purpose of maintaining a body known as UN and the branch orgs is questionable if they cannot control the eruption of war, whether nuclear or WMD. Today the Syrian people are suffering because of the avidity of some warmonger countries. Islamists are greedy people with the Jihad slogan. They need more education to enhance their knowledge to live in peace on this planet.

It is a request that the UN form a council to research into the need of a UN body. OR formulate regulations to manage the body with clear justice.

Bombs

Bombs by local hand made to professional manufacture has been produced. Quote: (i) https://www.britannica.com/technology/thermonuclear-bomb (ii) The largest and most powerful thermonuclear weapon of all time was the RDS.-220 hydrogen bomb, also known as the Tsar Bomba. On 30 October 1961, the Soviet Union exploded the RDS.-220 over Novaya Zemlya Island in the Russian Arctic Sea. (ii) The Soviet Union also tested the most powerful explosive ever detonated by humans, (“Tsar Bomba”), with a theoretical yield of 100 megatons, intentionally reduced to 50 when detonated. After its dissolution in 1991, the Soviet weapons entered officially into the possession of the Russian Federation.

To know the extent of damage to the world if all bombs are detonated at the same time, please visit;  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyECrGp-Sw8

Already we know that the USA dropped old bombs in Vietnam and destroyed Vietnam. Today Vietnam has proved that they are a capable, intelligent & knowledgeable country which can compete with any other literate country.

COVID-19 Corona (CO)- VI(Virus)-D(December) 19 (2019)

In the recent time in 2019 till now, a dangerous virus is travelling around killing humans. The truth is said to be that it originated in Wuhan in China. Anatomy and physiology of the coronavirus. Quote:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus.

Check to see the extent of infections of some countries. Ref: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

It’s not originated in the USA. People shall be clear of this fact. With the intellectual capacity and technical competence that the USA possess, USA need not develop a WMD and pass it onto humans around the world killing millions of humans, particularly the Europeans. The USA preaches Freedom, Democracy and independence with abreast of technological advancement. Further, they are the only country who assist in the form of aid to countries in need. Well, the USA is the neuron of the whole åUN+ to give intellectual dictation in most areas. No one can deny that sometimes the USA walk into territories which they are not supposed to.

Epidemiology Mers-Cov was first detected in Jeddah Saudi Arabia. Sars Cov and Sars-Cov2 were detected in China. The Middle East virus was detected in Saudi Arabia (SA). Quote; Ref: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/middle-east-respiratory-syndrome-coronavirus-(mers-cov)

Saudi Arabia claims that they own the purest Islam location (Mecca) and that they are the purest and richest country. With their Wahabi promotion. Quote; For more than two centuries, Wahhabism has been Saudi Arabia’s dominant faith. It is an austere form of Islam that insists on a literal interpretation of the Koran. Strict Wahhabis believe that all those who don’t practice their form of Islam are heathens and enemies.

Islamists have three different sects. Sunnies, Shiites, Wahhabis. Muslims may have killed millions of people to conquer countries via their Jihad movement and still, they have in mind to take over India via terrorism.

Is China the culprit who let the virus infects the humans in China and the world. What is the reason? Is it for world economic dominance? China knows that they cannot win any war with weapons, hence shovelled to this low level of WMD destruction. Could this be the beginning of karmic retribution to China? Quote Ref: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Countries spend trillions of dollars to research military warfare. A portion of the funds could be diverted to research deceases and cure/prevention etc. Hundred years ago, countries developed vaccines and cure for smallpox etc. Until now no vaccine or cure is available for COVID-19.

Superpowers should know that every time they test a nuclear bomb under the sea or earth, they are exerting a tremendous amount of force onto a revolving ball (earth), which may or may not influence in the wobble or shift the path of rotation by a negligible amount. NASA should clear this fact. Testing nuclear bombs may be a violation of NATURE’S norm.

1. On the whole; the World Health Organisation has failed in its goal, vision and mission. WHO’s objective should have been to find a solution and make a decision to the WMD development. i.e. the UN should have a decree for member countries to stop researching into WMD if the UN is a meaningful org.
2. Every country’s health research orgs have failed in its vision and mission.
3. UN should have banned on trade wars between countries.
4. No more nuclear or heavy weapon development.
5. It is the NATURE that controls the planet.
6. Nothing shall be done to bring about an imbalance in NATURE.
7. Countries possess WMD lab for destruction should be removed from the Security Council.
8. Sanctions should be brought against such countries. E.g. Sanctions shall be made against CHINA for violating the peace. Afterall US invaded Iraq on the pretext of WMD.
9. Those who eat infectious living things that crawl, flies, walks, jumps should be treated as another kind of two-legged animals.

Let the Earth be a planet for humans to live in peace.

Dr Sarath OBEYSEKERA 

Docs threaten to leave SLMC if it is hijacked by Health Minister ….News Item

Above article was written two years back

THE same GMOA protested against the Russian affiliated SAITM. How come now GMOA approves Russian Medical system

When Russian trained educated Sri Lankan  doctors to return to Sri Lanka return to Sri Lanka so many hurdles like passing Act 16 exam etc are created by GMOA

 Luckily Anil Jasinghe managed because he did post-graduate degree and became a specialist an£ he is given the position rightly 

GMOA was dead against anyone educated outside Sri Lanka

Thi# is the best time for GR to break th3 backbone of GMOA union like Thatcher killed Arther Cargills’s coal miners union 

Dr. Sarath Obeysekera
CEO Walkers Colombo Shipyard
Colombo
Sri Lanka

Courtesy Adaderana

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has stressed that the measures to contain the local outbreak of COVID-19 will follow despite the curfew being relaxed in several areas from tomorrow.

He also noted that the objective of relaxing the curfew is to reactivate the economy.

Taking to his official Twitter account, the President urged the public that it is imperative to adhere to the health guidelines & act responsibly for the safety of society at large.

The government Saturday (18) decided to relax the ongoing curfew, which was imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19, in several districts and police areas.

Accordingly, the curfew for 18 districts will be relaxed from 5.00 am to 8.00 pm on a daily basis starting from tomorrow, until further notice.

The government has decided not to relax curfew imposed in Alawathugoda, Akurana, Warakapola and Akkaraipattu police areas in Kandy, Kegalle and Ampara districts. However, the curfew for the rest of the police areas in these three districts will be lifted at 5.00 am and re-imposed at 8.00 pm from April 20.

In the meantime, curfew for several police areas in Colombo, Kalutara, Puttalam and Gampaha districts the curfew will be lifted from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm on a daily basis from April 22, except for the following police areas:

Colombo District: Kotahena, Grandpass, Bambalapitya, Keselwatte, Maradana, Gothatuwa, Mulleriyawa, Wellampitiya, Mount Lavinia, Dehiwala and Kohuwala police areas

Gampaha District: Ja-Ela, Kochchikade and Seeduwa police areas

Puttalam District: Puttalam, Marawila and Wennappuwa police areas

Kalutara District: Bandaragama, Payagala, Beruwala and Aluthgama police areas

Measures have been taken to disinfect train stations and trains today, while also certain cities underwent the disinfection process as the public transport services are scheduled to resume tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the government also issued a set of guidelines to Heads of state entities especially in the district of Colombo on resumption of work once the curfew is lifted.

Courtesy Adaderana

Two Habeas Corpus petitions have been filed with the Appeals Court seeking the release of the attorney-at-law who was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on suspicion of having links to the Easter Sunday terror attacks.

The petitions, filed by his father and brother through, have cited the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Director of the CID and the Attorney General as respondents.

Petitioners have alleged that the arrest of the lawyer in question is unlawful and baseless.

The petitioners are further seeking an order directing the CID to grant access to legal counsels to obtain instructions from the corpus in confidence for the purpose of prosecuting his application and or any other proceedings before a court of law.

They have also sought an order directing the respondents to release the corpus.

Courtesy Adaderana

Two more persons have tested positive for COVID-19 as of 9.40 pm today (19), says the Ministry of Health.

Accordingly, a total of 17 coronavirus cases were confirmed in Sri Lanka during the course of the day as the tally escalated to 271.

The 15 positive cases that were confirmed earlier today have been identified from Keselwatte, an isolated area in Colombo. It was reported they have had close contacts with COVID-19 infected patients.

In the meantime, the COVID-19 recoveries in the country have risen to 96, the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry said.

Currently, 168 active cases are under medical care at Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), Welikanda Base Hospital, Colombo East Base Hospital and Iranawila Hospital.

Earlier Fifteen persons have tested positive to have contracted the COVID-19 virus as of 5 pm today (19), said the Ministry of Health.

All 15 new patients have been identified from Keselwatte, an isolated area in Colombo, according to the Health Ministry. Reportedly, they have had close contacts with COVID-19 infected patients.

In the meantime, the total number of coronavirus recoveries in the country stands at 91.

Currently, 158 active cases are under medical care at Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), Welikanda Base Hospital, Colombo East Base Hospital and Iranawila Hospital, the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry says.

Sri Lanka has so far confirmed 7 fatalities from the novel coronavirus.

Courtesy Adaderana

Investigations have revealed that a second attack had been planned following the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, said Police Media Spokesman SP Jaliya Senaratne.

The Police Media Spokesman, holding a special press conference at the Department of Government Information today (19), said that according to investigations, a second-tier team had been recruited and trained for another attack to follow the Easter attacks.

However, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been able to thwart those plans through their investigations, the Spokesman added.
 
As per previous investigations, Zahran Hashim’s team had divided and a portion parted ways, while Hashim’s team continued to plan and carry out the attacks. However, the latest investigations have revealed that the division of the team was fabricated to misguide intelligence units and mislead investigations.

Currently, 197 suspects have been arrested in connection to the attacks. Some suspects have established, led and funded organizations that misinterpreted Islam and spread extremist ideas among youth to create a second-tier team, said Senaratne. The suicide bombers who carried out the attack had also been directly involved in this process, he said.

Information has been uncovered on individuals who have aided, abetted and prompted such plans and investigations are carried out along this new information, according to Senaratne.

It has also been revealed that foreign nationals, too, have been involved in the process, he added.
Further, information has been recovered that there had been plans to hide some foreign nationals in Sri Lanka after they carry out an attack against a certain South Asian country, said Senaratne.

Responding to a journalist’s query regarding the arrest of a lawyer, the Media Spokesman clarified that the aforementioned suspect was not arrested over a telephone conversation with a client, as per certain social media posts. Senaratne said that relevant suspect was arrested with sufficient facts and evidence and that the Police completely reject accusation made through social media.

He further said that the CID has not carried out investigations targeting a certain person or a profession. All investigations are based on sufficient facts, information and evidence with legal validity, he added.

Courtesy Adaderana

Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva says that the public should make sure not to loiter or idle outside once the curfew is lifted.

The Commander of the Army mentioned this joining the ‘Derana Aruna’ Breakfast Show on TV Derana this morning (19).

The decision to relax the curfew regulations was taken considering the hindrances caused to the public by the curfew, he said. He pointed out that many are unable to attend work or pay salaries without running businesses.

The Army Chief saluted the Sri Lankan public for their cooperation in measures to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Silva says that the government led by the President and the Prime Minister has taken this difficult decision to move the country forward and not for people to go out freely.

Therefore, the Sri Lankan citizens should consider it their duty to act with the ultimate aim of not becoming infected by the virus, he said.

H. L. D. Mahindapala

The sartorial signatures of the three main leaders of recent times  – Mahinda Rajapakse, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Gotabaya Rajapakse — have escaped the notice of the commentariat. Each one of them has come out sporting three different garments signifying their respective brands of politics. Mahinda Rajapakse displays the most recognisable costume – the white national dress with the kurakkan satakaya of his father thrown round his neck. He is saying that his roots run deep into the soil.  Ranil, of course, sticks stubbornly to his Western attire refusing to concede to anything that smacks of being national”.  He walks around nervously with his hands in the pockets to prevent his trousers from slipping down to his ankles. It depicts the embarrassing plight of the UNP leader: how to keep his trousers up when everything else around him is falling down.  The most plain – and, therefore, the significant — is the shirt and trouser of President Gotabaya without the Rajapakse signature symbol wrapped around his neck. It announces to the world that he is a different kind of Rajapakse. He is messaging emphatically that he has not only his own style of clothing but style of governance as well.

He has opened his innings with calculated strokes signalling clearly that he is not  the run-of-the-mill batsman, either tha-at-tu-fying” defensively, or risking too much with rash flashes of the bat. He whacked the Swiss Embassy spin for a six. He stepped forward and lifted the American underarm ball to go over the head of the American Ambassadress. He left the crude ball lobbed by Rajitha Senaratna severely alone. He didn’t have to do anything with it either. It went on its own, flying past the wicketkeeper all the way to the boundary. In Geneva, he cut the ball nicely to outmanoeuvre the Western umpires and his foreign-funded fielders in the NGOs. Of course, like all state leaders he has been stalled by the corona balls. Even that has been managed by him to prevent any disastrous collapse. The commentators in the box are pleased that his performance so far has been surprisingly sound. Better than expected indeed! They were hoping to stump him if he stepped out of the crease. But his footwork so far has been cautious nearing almost perfection.

They were also hoping to catch him in the slips. And the anti-Rajapakse gang is now howling that they had caught him with a ball that had snicked off his bat. It came  from the Legal end of the  field. The controversy is whether he should have let the ball go and not touched it at all, or followed the precedent set in Lords – the hallowed grounds of this global game. To come down to the nitty-gritty, the controversy is focused on President Gotabaya’s decision to release Staff Sgt. Sunil Ratnayake, overriding the judgement confirmed by two of the highest courts.

This decision is overblown to project President Gotabaya as the ogre preparing the way to establish a dictatorship by undermining the judiciary. The usual mediocrities in the moral mafia are pretending that the President’s decision is an unprecedented political act of a wannabe dictator determined to whittle down the integrity and the independence of the judiciary. The other threadbare argument is that the punishment imposed on Sgt. Rathnayake would stand as a deterrent to others in the battlefields – a bogus claim that has never been proved in any recorded battle fought by human beings. They also argue that releasing Sgt. Rathnayake is not only against all known norms of democratic states but also a blow to the process of reconciliation. 

These are tiresome arguments recycled for political ends by the mythomaniacs in the moral mafia whose bread, butter and whiskey depend solely on dancing to the drum beat of Western masters who have not hesitated to discard, with absolute contempt, all known moralities and universal laws of justice whenever it suits them to pursue their self-interests. Besides, the pretentious political purists tend to go berserk when one branch of the triumvirate in a democratic state – i.e., the legislature, executive and the judiciary —  tries to challenge or override any one of the other two branches. In a sense it is a good sign of a vibrant and healthy democracy.  But it cannot  be pushed to extremes. In the perennial and ineluctable contest between these three branches the rising tensions should not be exploited for cheap political ends. In these confusing times it is the historical precedents set by the Westminster model – the reputed  mother of all parliamentary democracies – that can prevail as a model to the parallel or lesser democracies.

If there is any doubt or suspicion, one solid example from Westminster should suffice to validate President Gotabaya’s action. And there isn’t a better historical precedent than the landmark case of Augustino Pinochet, the head of the Chilean government, who was rated as a despicable political criminal of his time. Gen. Pinochet overthrew the elected government of Salvador Allende, a socialist. And with the backing of US government Pinochet went on a spree of liquidating the leftist dissidents. The sole political objective of the regime was to wipe out all traces of Allende’s socialism. In the process Pinochet earned three new middle names: Persecution. Disappearance. Execution. Chile became the leading terror state in Latin America. Corrupt capitalism triumphed under Pinochet. It was another feather in Henry Kissinger’s anti-communist cap.

But Pinochet’s world turned topsy-turvy the day he stepped into UK for medical treatment. On a charge made by Spain for torturing Spanish citizens he was put under house arrest in UK. Spain requested that Pinochet be extradited. Never in the history of modern international relations has a head of state being arrested by the host nation on behalf of another state. To cut to the chase, the British courts, going up to the House of Lords, the highest judiciary in the land, upheld the decision to extradite Pinochet. But pressure was mounting from the international Right-wing. Two former heads of state, Margaret Thatcher and George H. W. Bush appealed to the British government to release Pinochet. They urged that he  be sent to his homeland and  not to Spain. Thatcher even went to the extent of sending Pinochet a bottle of single malt whiskey with a note saying: Scotch is one  British institution that will never let you down.”

In 2000 all eyes were on Jack Straw, the Foreign Minister, who had taken office boasting that British Foreign policy under him would be run unwaveringly on principles of high morality. Legal scholars were agog as this was a unique case that would make history.  Human rights activist were beside themselves believing  that they had won the day. They were cock-a-hoop believing  that Jack Straw would abide by the decision of the judgement of the House Lords. After all the judicial hierarchy had decided that  Pinochet should be extradited to Spain. But Jack Straw rejected the judgement of the highest courts in the land and freed Pinochet.

What is relevant to President Gotabaya’s case is the key element of the British government dismissing the judgement of its highest court. It has set the precedent for President Gotabaya to act accordingly without being accused of being  dictatorial, or violating the principles of separations of powers, or undermining the authority and dignity of the judiciary. If her Majesty’s Government can dismiss the judgement of her Law Lords – the supreme judicial authority – what justification is there to accuse selectively President Gotabaya who has adopted the same precedent and exercised the identical political power to fulfil the mandate given by the people? Releasing soldiers who defended the nation was a mandate given in the last presidential election. President Gotabaya did no act arbitrarily to pave the way for the establishment of a dictatorship. Jack Straw did not have a mandate to reject a judgment of the courts. For what  it  is worth, President Gotabaya had a mandate from the sovereign people.

Besides, the underlying principle that applies to both cases is the same: under exceptional circumstances the government of the day can decide to overrule a selected decision or two of the judiciary without undermining  the overarching independence of the judiciary.  President Gotabaya is unerringly in line with the practices of the Mother of Parliaments in freeing Sgt. Rathnayake. When is adhering  to a notable precedent  set by the Mother of Parliaments a violation of the principles of parliamentary democracy? Besides, Jack Straw’s decision has  not brought down British democracy or destroyed the independence of the judiciary.

The morality of  it, of course, is a different issue. Critics can argue that Sgt. Rathnayake is the Pinochet of Sri Lanka and both deserve the same punishment for violating human rights. Or both should be judged on the identical moral metrics.  But Pinochet’s case cannot be compared by any rational metric to that of Sgt. Rathnayake. They are two different cases packed with two different circumstances, carrying two different set of moral and political values. For instance, the enormity of the crimes of Pinochet  cannot be compared to the dubious and questionable legal issued that surround the sentencing of Sgt. Rathnayake. The case against Pinochet was cut and dry. There were no issues of questioning the identity, culpability, and responsibility of Gen. Pinochet.  Violence committed in a battlefield by a sergeant in  an isolated incident in which the responsibilities and culpabilities of the accused are questionable cannot be compared to a criminal who had deliberately gone on the rampage to liquidate his opponents on a mass scale throughout his regime (1973 – 1990).

Pinochet’s  was an open and shut case. The Courts did not have to depend on some controversial clause of command  responsibility or collective responsibility to sentence Pinochet. The Law Lords did not have to ferret out an obscure law to sentence Pinochet on a charge of guilt by association. Besides, the evidence that was accepted to sentence Sgt. Rathnayake is open to considerable doubt. In the absence of certain proof the Courts resorted to a legal excuse of fixing his guilt by association.  It is tantamount  to giving a dog bad name and hanging him. Normally, punishment  is meted out  to fit the crime. But Rathnayake’s was sentenced for being a part of a gang who had committed the crime. The charge of guilt by association  is a controversial law. If there is no direct evidence to  prove that he had executed the Tamils then what was his crime? Did he  dig the  graves? Or was he the one who dragged the bodies to the grave? Or was he the one who gave instructions for the execution? If, for instance, he  did  not  commit the crime of killing the victims then is it fair to sentence him  to death for digging the graves? Unlike in the case of Pinochet there are a set of doubts that can justify the exoneration of Sgt. Rathnayake like the others who were with him. Not only the precedent set by the Lords but the doubts surrounding the role of Sgt. Rathnayake are two factors that validates his release.

Mahinda Rajapaksa Prime Minister

MEDIA RELEASE

The Coronavirus pandemic hit countries like the USA, India and Bangladesh in a situation where their economies had been experiencing strong growth for years. In contrast, Sri Lanka has had to face this crisis in a state of economic ruin. During the five years of yahapalana misrule from 2015 to 2019, our debt burden increased by 71%, the Rupee lost one third of its value and economic growth had plummeted to 2.7%. Furthermore, though we had won the presidency in November 2019 and formed a government, we did not have a majority in Parliament and were not able to get a vote on account passed even to pay off the previous government’s debts to suppliers of fertilizer and medicine.

The financial powers vested in the President under Article 150(3) of the Constitution is the only saving grace in this situation. It was with all these debilitating disadvantages that we had to face the Coronavirus pandemic. After the first Coronavirus patient was discovered on 11 March, we introduced a raft of measures to control the disease including early detection, isolation and treatment of patients, quarantine for those exposed to risk, the tracing of patients’ contacts and social distancing measures. An operation like this has not been seen in our lifetimes. Curfews lasting for weeks on end had to be imposed to prevent the spread of the disease.

People unable to go out of their homes had to be supplied with essentials like foodstuffs, medicines, and even cash throughout the country. Aid had to be provided to low income earners. The produce of paddy and vegetable farmers and fishermen had to be bought to keep the production process going. The fact that all these tasks were dealt with simultaneously at short notice is nothing less than a managerial miracle. Today, the whole world acknowledges Sri Lanka’s success in containing the coronavirus pandemic.

The President’s leadership in this regard has to be commended. Our government doctors, nurses, and health service workers have come to the attention of the entire world. The skill and dedication of the intelligence services in tracing the contacts of patients, the efficiency of the armed forces in implementing quarantine and lockdown measures has prevented the spread of the disease. The Police, and government officials at all levels have all contributed to the success of the anti-Coronavirus campaign. Today, our country is one of the safest places to be in the whole world. We have achieved this despite an economy that had been driven into the ground, and an unpatriotic and opportunistic opposition bent on undermining our government at every turn.  

The opposition leader tried to sabotage the anti-coronavirus campaign at the very outset by personally encouraging protests against the quarantine process. Then they tried to undermine government services including the health service with the argument that the President had no power to allocate funds for government services after the dissolution of Parliament. Now they say that the Gazette dissolving Parliament should be rescinded the as the new parliament has to meet before the 2^nd of June, and the parliamentary election cannot be held before that.

The yahapalana government delayed local government elections by nearly three years. Their attempt to postpone that election indefinitely by moving courts failed only because the Elections Commission declared they would hold elections to the institutions that were not involved in litigation. With just days to go for the dissolution of the provincial councils in 2017, the yahapalana government changed the provincial councils elections system to prevent elections from taking place. When the Attorney General held that a two thirds majority in Parliament was required to pass that amendment, they bartered policy for votes in the corridors of Parliament to obtain the required majority.

As a result of that unprincipled political horse trading, the local government elections law which was passed on 25 August 2017 has 40% proportional representation whereas the provincial councils elections law passed four weeks later has 50% proportional representation! Sri Lanka is also the only democratic country in the world where political parties petitioned the Supreme Court to get the declaration of a parliamentary election annulled. The present scramble to have the parliamentary elections put off is a continuation of that deplorable past.

Things have to come back to normal sooner or later. In eleven of the 25 administrative districts, there have been no coronavirus patients at all. In another seven districts, there have been only one or two patients, and five to seven patients in two more districts. Only five districts have a high incidence of coronavirus patients.

On 2 March the President dissolved Parliament and fixed 25 April for the poll and 14 May for the first meeting of the new Parliament. Ten days later, when the first Coronavirus patient was found, the President did not have the power to postpone the poll. Under Section 24(3) of the Parliamentary Elections Act No: 1 of 1981, when the poll cannot be held on the day fixed by the President, the Elections Commission is mandatorily required to fix another day for the poll. They have no power to postpone the poll without fixing another date. Such mandatory legal requirements cannot be ignored on the basis of speculation as to what may or may not happen weeks and months into the future. The Elections Commission should first fulfill its duties under Section 24(3) and thereafter take up for discussion any outstanding issues.   

Mahinda Rajapaksa

Prime Minister

මාධ්‍ය නිවේදනය  අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ

කොරෝනා වෛරස් වසංගතය ඇමරිකාව, ඉන්දියාව, බංග්ලාදේශය වැනි රටවලට බලපෑවේ එම රටවල් කාලයක් මුළුල්ලේ වේගවත් ආර්ථික වර්ධනයක් සාක්ෂාත් කරගෙන, ශක්තිමත්ව සිටි අවස්ථාවකය. නමුත් ලංකාවට මේ උවදුරට මුහුණ දීමට සිදුවූයේ දරුණු ආර්ථික කඩාවැටීමක් මධ්‍යයේය. 2015 සිට 2019 දක්වා සිදු වූ අවපාලනය නිසා අපේ ණය බර 71% කින් වැඩි විය.  රුපියලේ අගය 30% කින් කඩා වැටුණි.  ආර්ථික වර්ධන වේගය  2.7% ක් දක්වා අඩුවිය. 2019 නොවැම්බරයේදී අපි ජනාධිපතිවරණය දිනා අලුත් ආණ්ඩුවක් පිහිටෙව්වද, අපට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ බහුතරයක් නොමැති වීම හේතුවෙන් පහුගිය ආණ්ඩුවේ බෙහෙත් හා පොහොර සැපයුම්කරුවන්ට හිඟ මුදල් ගෙවීම සඳහාවත් අතුරු සම්මත ගිණුමක් සම්මත කර ගැනීමට නොහැකි විය.

මේ අවස්ථාවේදී අස්වැසිල්ලට ඇත්තේ ව්‍යවස්තාවේ 150(3)  වගන්තිය යටතේ ජනාධිපතිවරයාට හිමිවෙන මුදල් බලතල පිළිබඳ විධිවිධාන පමණි.  අපිට කොරෝනා වෛරස් වසංගතයට මුහුණ දීමට සිද්ධ වූයේ මේ සියලුම අවාසිදායක තත්ත්වයන් මධ්‍යයේය.  පසුගිය මාර්තු 11  වැනිදා පළමු කොරෝනා රෝගියා  හමුවීමත් සමගම,  අපි රෝගය කල්තියා හඳුනා ගැනීම, රෝගීන් වෙන්කර ප්‍රතිකාර කිරීම, අවදානමට ලක්වූ පුද්ගලයන් නිරෝධායනයට ලක් කිරීම,  රෝගීන් ඇසුරු කළ පුද්ගලයන් සොයා ගැනීම සහ සමාජ දුරස්ථ භාවය පවත්වා ගැනීම වැනි පාලන ක්‍රමවේදයන් හඳුන්වා දුන්නෙමු.  මේ ආකාරයේ මෙහෙයුමක් අපගේ ජීවිත කාල තුළ කිසිදාක අපි අත්දැක නැත.  රෝගය පැතිරීම වැළැක්වීමට සති ගණන් එක දිගට ඇඳිරිනීතිය පැනවීමටත් අපට සිදුවිය. 

රට පුරාම තම නිවෙස්වලින් පිටවීමට නොහැකි ජනතාවට ආහාර,  බෙහෙත් වැනි අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය ද්‍රව්‍ය ලබාගැනීමට ක්‍රමවේදයක් සැලසිය යුතු විය.  අඩු ආදායම්ලාභී පවුල්වලට ආධාර සැපයිය යුතු විය.  රටේ නිෂ්පාදන ක්‍රියාවලිය පවත්වාගෙන යෑම සඳහා වී ගොවීන්,  එළවළු ගොවීන්,  හා ධීවරයන්ගේ නිෂ්පාදන මිලදී ගත යුතු විය.  මේ සියලුම දේවල් එක විට ඉතා කෙටි කාලයක් තුළ සංවිධානය කර ගැනීමට හැකිවීම සැබැවින්ම කලමනාකරණයේ ප්‍රාතිහාර්යයකි.  කොරෝනා වෛරස් වසංගතය පාලනය කිරීමේදී ලංකාව ලබාගෙන ඇති සාර්ථකත්වය අද මුළු ලෝකයම පිළිගනී.

ජනාධිපතිවරයා  මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අද්විතීය නායකත්වයක් සපයා ඇත.  අපේ රජයේ වෛද්‍යවරුන්, හෙදියන් ඇතුළු සෞඛ්‍ය කාර්ය මණ්ඩල මුලු ලෝකයේම අවධානය දිනාගෙන ඇත.  රෝගීන් ඇසුරු කළ පුද්ගලයන් සොයාගැනීමේදී අපේ බුද්ධි අංශ පෙන්වා ඇති දක්ෂකම හා කැපවීම නිසාත්,  නිරෝධායනය ක්‍රියාවලිය පවත්වාගෙන යාමේදී  ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදාව පෙන්වා ඇති කාර්යක්ෂමතාවය නිසාත් රෝගය පැතිරීම පාලනය වී ඇත.  පොලීසිය ඇතුළු සෑම තරාතිරමකම රජයේ සේවකයන් කොරෝනා මර්ධන ව්‍යාපාරයේ සාර්ථකත්වයට දායක වී ඇත.  අද කොරෝනා වෛරසය නිසා අනාරක්ෂිත වී ඇති ලෝකය තුළ අපේ රට වඩාත්ම සුරක්ෂිත ස්ථානයකි.  අපිට මේ තත්ත්වයට ඒමට පුළුවන් වූයේ විනාශ කරන ලද ආර්ථිකයකුත්,  පුළුවන් හැම අවස්ථාවකදීම ආණ්ඩුවේ කකුලෙන් අදින,  රටට ආදරයක් නැති අවස්ථාවාදී විපක්ෂයකුත් මේ රටේ තිබියදීය. 

නිරෝධායනයට යෑම ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කළ අය දිරි ගැන්වීම තුළින් විපක්ෂනායකවරයා මුල් අවස්ථාවේ සිටම කොරෝනා වෛරස් මර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතිය  කඩාකප්පල් කිරීමට උත්සාහ දැරීය. ඉන්පසු, පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවා හැර තිබෙන අවස්ථාවක රජයේ මුදල් වැය කිරීමට ජනාධිපතිවරයාට බලය නැතැයි කියමින් ඔවුන් සෞඛ්‍ය සේවය ඇතුළු සියලු රජයේ  සේවාවන් කඩාකප්පල් කිරීමට උත්සාහ දැරුවේය. නව පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ජූනි දෙවැනිදාට කලින් හමුවිය යුතු බවත්, පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණය ඊට කලින්  පැවැත්වීමට නොහැකි බවත්, එම නිසා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවා හරිමින් නිකුත් කළ ගැසට් පත්‍රය අහෝසි කළ යුතු බව අද ඔවුන් පවසා සිටී.

යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව අවුරුදු තුනකින් පළාත් පාලන ඡන්දය කල් දැමූ ආකාරය අපට මතකය. ඒ ඡන්දය උසාවියට ගොස් දින නියමයක් නැතිව කල් දමා ගැනීමට ඔවුන් ගත් උත්සාහය  ව්‍යාර්ථ වූයේ නඩු නැති පළාත් පාලන ආයතන වලට හෝ ඡන්දය පවත්වන බව මැතිවරණ කොමිසම ප්‍රකාශ කළ නිසා පමණි. 2017 දී පළාත් සභා විසුරුවා හැරීමට දින කිහිපයක් තිබියදී,  පළාත් සභා ඡන්දය පැවැත්වීම  වැළැක්වීමට යහපාලන ආණ්ඩුව පළාත් සභා ඡන්ද ක්‍රමය වෙනස් කළේය.  ඒ සංශෝධන පනත සම්මත කිරීමට පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ තුනෙන් දෙකේ බලයක් අවශ්‍ය බව නීතිපතිවරයා ප්‍රකාශ කළ විට ඔවුන් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ කොරිඩෝවේ දැමූ ඩීල් තුළින් ඡන්ද වෙනුවෙන් ප්‍රතිපත්තිය පාවා දී අවශ්‍ය බහුතරය ලබාගත්තේය . 

ඒ අපකීර්තිමත් ගනුදෙනුවේ ප්‍රතිඵලයක් හැටියට 2017 අගෝස්තු 25 වැනිදා  සම්මත කළ පළාත් පාලන මැතිවරණ සංශෝධන පනතේ සමානුපාතික නියෝජිත  ප්‍රතිශතය 40% ක්  වන අතර,  ඊට මාසයකට පසු සම්මත කරනු ලැබූ පළාත් සභා මැතිවරණ සංශෝධන පනතේ සමානුපාතික නියෝජිත ප්‍රතිශතය 50% ක් වේ. ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණයට  පෙත්සමක් ඉදිරිපත් කොට ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කර තිබුණු පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණයක් අවලංගු කර ගත් දේශපාලන පක්ෂ සිටින ලෝකේ එකම ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී රට වෙන්නෙත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවය.  වත්මන් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණය කල් දමා ගැනීමට මේ ගෙනියන උත්සාහය ඒ අපකීර්තිමත්  යටගියාවේම දිගුවකි. 

කුමන අවස්ථාවකදී හෝ සාමාන්‍ය ජනජීවිතය මෙය රටේ නැවත ආරම්භ විය යුතුය.  අපේ පරිපාලන දිස්ත්‍රික්ක 25න්, එකොළහක එකම කෙරෝනා වෛරස් ආසාදිතයෙක් වත් නැත.  තවත්  දිස්ත්‍රික්ක හතක ආසාදිතයන්  හමුවී ඇත්තේ එක්කෙනෙකු හෝ දෙදෙනෙකි.  තවත් දිස්ත්‍රික්ක  දෙකක රෝගීන් පස් දෙනෙකුත් හත් දෙනෙකුත් අතර ගණනක් සොයාගෙන ඇත.  රෝගීන් සැළකිය යුතු ගණනක් සොයා ගෙන ඇත්තේ  දිස්ත්‍රික්ක පහක පමණි.  

පසුගිය මාර්තු දෙවැනිදා ජනාධිපතිවරයා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව විසුරුවා හරිමින් මැතිවරණය පවත්වන දිනය අප්‍රේල් 25 හැටියටත්,  අලුත් පාර්ලිමේන්තුව මුල් වරට හමු වෙන දිනය මැයි 14 වැනිදා හැටියටත් නියම කළේය.  ඊට දින දහයකට පසු පළමු කොරෝනා රෝගියා සොයා ගත් අවස්ථාවේදී මැතිවරණය පවත්වන දිනය කල් දැමීමට ජනාධිපතිවරයාට බලය නොතිබුණි. 1981 අංක 1 දරණ  පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණ පනතේ 24(3)  වගන්තියට අනුව ජනාධිපතිවරයා නියම කළ දිනයට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණය පැවැත්වීමට නොහැකි නම්,  ඒ සඳහා වෙනත් දිනයක් නියම කිරීමට මැතිවරණ කොමිසම බැඳී සිටී. දිනයක් නියම නොකොට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මැතිවරණය කල් දැමීමට මැතිවරණ  කොමිසමට  බලයක් නැත. 

සති ගණනක් හෝ මාස ගණනක් ඉදිරියට අනාගතයේ විය හැකි හෝ නොහැකි දේවල් පිළිබඳව ඇතිකරගන්නා උපකල්පන මත අනිවාර්යෙන්ම පිළිපැදිය යුතු නීතිමය ප්‍රතිපාදන නොසළකා හැරිය නොහැක.  මැතිවරණ කොමිසම මුලින්ම 24(3) වගන්තිය යටතේ ඔවුන් වෙත පැවරී ඇති කාර්‍යභාර්ය නීතියට අනුකූළව ඉටුකර, ඉන් පසුව සාකඡ්චා කළ යුතු කාරණයක් ඇත්නම් ඒ වෙත යොමු විය යුතුය.  

මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ
අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය

KAMALIKA PIERIS

REVISED     17.3.21

The General Election of 1956 is associated with the name of SWRD Bandaranaike. SWRD came from a long line of native administrators appointed by the British administration.

SWRD’s two paternal great-grandfathers   held the positions of ‘Mudaliyar of Siyane Korale East’ and ‘Mohandiram of the Governor’s Gate.’ Their names were Don Solomon Dias Bandaranayake, and Phillipsz Gysbertus Panditaratne. SWRD’s grandfather   also held the positions of ‘Mudaliyar of the Governor’s Gate’ and ‘Mudaliyar of Siyane Korale’. Grandfather’s name was Don Christoffel Henricus Dias Abeywickrema Jayatilake Seneviratne Bandaranaike, with the prefix ‘Gate Mudaliyar’.

SWRD father, Solomon Dias Bandaranaike (1862-1946) was ‘Muhandiram of the Governor’s Gate’ then ‘Mudaliyar of the Siyane Korale East’ and finally, ‘Maha Mudali’. Maha Mudali was the highest position available to a native Ceylonese in British Ceylon .The post had been held earlier by his uncle, Conrad Petrus Dias Wijewardena Bandaranaike. Solomon had applied for the post and was successful.

 SWRD’s father was  knighted and became Sir Solomon.  He was also awarded the CMG. The letters CMG  stand for  ‘Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George’.This is a very high honor given by the British monarch. Clearly, the British have appreciated father’s loyalty.

Sir Solomon was one of the richest men in Siyane korale, now Gampaha .He was a wealthy land owner with large estates, mainly coconut and valuable urban property. He had inherited a walauwwa in Horagolla, (Attanagalla), which he converted to stables and built Horagolla Walauwa next to it. He was the first Ceylonese to own a house in Nuwara Eliya, which was an exclusive holiday destination for the British.

Sir Solomon was educated at S.Thomas College. He was a collector of antiquities. He donated Sir Henry Blake’s collection of palm leaf manuscripts to the Colombo National Museum. He was a life-member of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.

A keen horse breeder, he was Life President of the Colombo Turf Club, which erected a statue of him, during his life time, in front of the Turf Club in Colombo. This statue was in a neglected state until Yahapalana arrived. Yahapalana in 2018, turned it into an imposing monument, enclosed with installations and water pools. The message is clear, ‘Honor British rule.’

Sir Solomon has been very proud of his special position and haughty too. When told  that H.V. Perera, later Sri Lanka’s leading lawyer, was going to study in London, Sir Solomon had told  H.V’s  father, haughtily ,  that his son could not possibly dream of ever  making it to London. H.V. had won a scholarship, explained the father, humbly. H.V.’s father had been a surveyor and the first to do ground water surveys. He would probably have been at Horagolla in his professional capacity. (Personal communication from Ralph Pieris, nephew of H.V. Perera.)

 historian  KM de Silva said  of the Bandaranaike Obeyesekera clan.  that no other indigenous family in the whole of the British Empire has had such a long record of collaboration with the imperial power, in crushing indigenous resistance movement, enthusiastic assistance in the processes of conquest and support of consolidation of colonial rule.

SWRDS great grandfather had been given a medal in 1803 for helping the British forces in the Kandyan war of 1802. The Sinhala representative in Legislative Council from 1833-1911 were form the Bandaranaike Obeyesekera group, (with one exception).

They were also subordinate part of the governing elite,  a position which they flaunted with much arrogance. They saw themselves as a group set apart by birth and rank from all others. the Sinhala representative,  in Legislative  council  from 1833-1911 were form the Bandaranaike Obeyesekera group,( with one exception) As time went on the family assumed aristocratic status,  said K.M. de Silva.

SWRD father was Maha Mudaliyar  for 32 years, continued de Silva. In his hands, the position was a blend of major domo, i.e. steward of a household and principal aid to governor in matter relating to the natives. He was very prominent in public life, gloried in his proximity to the governor and visiting royalty on ceremonial occasions, concluded KM de Silva.

The subject of this essay, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, (1899-1959) was named after the Governor, West Ridgeway, who also agreed to be the baby’s godfather. This indicates the privileged position held by Sir Solomon.  It also indicates that Sir   Solomon hoped that baby Bandaranaike would also enjoy similar privileges and in return,   continue the family tradition of loyalty to British rule.

SWRD was tutored at home by 2 English tutors. For a short time he attended S. Thomas’ College, Mutwal, boarding at Warden Rev. Stone’s residence.  He passed the Cambridge Senior examination with distinctions in English, Latin, Greek and French. He had come second in the exam, out of all the candidates in the British Empire.

He then read Modern greats at Christ Church, Oxford  but did not get the first class he hoped for.Sir Solomon had entered his son’s name for Oxford, ten years earlier in 1923. SWRD did well as on orator at the Oxford Union.  He had strongly criticized British rule In India. The applause had gone on for several minutes. Unfortunately Bandaranaike     did not become President of the Oxford union as he had   hoped. Bandaranaike  was the Secretary of the Oxford Union and the President of the Majlis Society. Majlis was a debating society founded by the Indian students of Oxford.

Bandaranaike did not change into a Brown Sahib at Oxford but remained an earnest easterner. He wrote of many bitter memories of his time at Oxford. He gained great prestige and standing at oxford for his debating ability but anti colonialism was always to be seen there, observed HSS Nissanka.

In 1924, he was called to the bar as a Barrister in the Inner Temple. He returned to Ceylon in 1925 and took oaths as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Ceylon. He practiced as a lawyer and got an  adequate income which made him independent of his father, observed KM de Silva

SWRD did not join the British administration as his father would have hoped. Instead he took to politics. From the beginning, SWRD wanted a leading role in politics, nothing less.   In 1926 he started his own political party, Peoples Progressive Party, but this failed. This was the, the first of the three parties started by him.

SWRD   then joined the Ceylon National Congress. In 1927 SWRD became Secretary of the Congress. This was his arrival on the political scene, said Wiswa Warnapala.  SWRD was President of Ceylon National Congress in 1931.

SWRD went into electoral politics as soon as possible. In 1927 he was elected to the Colombo Municipal Council, from the Maradana Ward, defeating the trade unionist A. E. Goonesinha. SWRD had the money to win the election, Goonesinha did not, observed Meegama.

  SWRD also participated in local government. In 1928, SWRD became President of All Ceylon Village Committee Conference    (est. 1925).  Under Bandaranaike , it underwent a change and became an effective pressure group. It was an emerging pressure group with wide influence in rural areas, said Wiswa. And the Young Lanka group, who published a magazine of that name, had complained that Bandaranaike converted    the Conference to a political one.

 SWRD had got the Village committee Ordinance amended to remove restrictions and democratize it. In 1929, SWRD became Chairman of Veyangoda Egoda Peruwe Pattu Gamsabha. SWRD, in this manner, gained a political foothold at all three electoral levels, village, urban and national. 

SWRD established a network of contacts with village committee chairmen, monks of village temples, and the intelligentsia of the village, which was of immense support to him later when forming the SLFP, observed Meegama. SWRD was able to establish links with the emerging rural intelligentsia and the rural political leadership, agreed Wiswa Warnapala.,

SWRD formed the Sinhala Maha Sabha (SMS) in 1934.  SWRD was President. There were eight vice presidents and they included CWW Kannangara, and Sir John Kotelawela.  There was at the time no political party that could articulate the nationalist issues.  The objective of the SMS was the unity and advancement of the Sinhalese. It was a loosely knit pressure group which revolved around one personality, SWRD . All the other political groups that emerged in this time were also like this, said Wiswa.,

The name of the Association, Sinhala Maha Sabha” was given by Piyadasa Sirisena. At the inaugural meeting SWRD had wanted the word ‘Sinhala’ changed to ‘Swadeshi.’ But Munidasa Kumaratunga, who was present, had given a scholarly analysis of the word ‘Sinhala’ and asked ‘Why are people frightened of the word Sinhala.’ Munidasa Kumaratunga was the first to raise the Sinhala language to the status of a cause and a mission, observed Wiswa.

The parent organization of the SMS was the Lanka Mahajana Sabha formed by F.R. Senanayake in 1919, said Wiswa.  But SMS would surely have tapped into the full Mahajana Sabha network as well.

There were nearly 27 Mahajana Sabhas primarily in rural areas in the mid twenties. There were Mahajana sabhas in Matara, Moratuwa, Lunugala, Panadura, Gampola, Dodanduwa, Polgahawela, Rambukkana, Kalutara, Kandy, Negombo and Dehiwela. Some were branch organizations of   Ceylon National Congress and Ceylon National Association, as well, said Wiswa. This showed that a new trend was emerging with the rural segment also getting   politically activated, observed Wiswa. Proceedings were conducted in Sinhala in these sabhas. .

There were a few political Associations as well. There was Kurunegala Political Association (est. 1920), Ratgama Association (1928) Ambalangoda Association (1920,) and Anuradhapura Association (1912). The population was becoming politically activated, said Wiswa. The Sinhala Maha Sabha would undoubtedly have approached these as well.

Three   organizations which SWRD had been associated with also   joined. They were   All Ceylon Village Committees Conference, Urban District Councils of Ceylon Association and All Ceylon Ayurvedic Sammelanaya.

SWRD was always an ardent supporter of local government, specially  All Ceylon Village Committees Conference, Urban District Councils of Ceylon Conference, All Ceylon Town Councils Conference.  These were major pressure groups, and he used them for his political party, said Wiswa. SWRD regularly attended their annual sessions, and made speeches. He was mobilizing this emerging village leadership around his magnetic personality, said Wiswa.

SMS attracted a galaxy of nationalists such as Piyadasa Sirisena.  Other writers such as Ananda Rajakaruna, Munidasa Kumaratunga   and ayurvedic physicians such as W. Daniel Fernando Waidyasekera and Pundit G.P. Wickramarachchi joined SMS.

Hemapala Munidasa who had edited Sinhala Bauddhaya took over the SMS newspaper ‘Sinhala Balaya’ in 1941. This newspaper played a key role in awakening the Sinhalese, said Wiswa. It overtook ‘Sinhala Bauddhaya’ in no time.  Later Hemapala was imprisoned on a fraud charge and Sinhala Balaya went into decline. SWRD had to sell the press.

SMS became a platform for the Sinhala literati.  They met at a special meeting at Ananda College to discuss Sinhala language and literature. Another meeting presided   by Kalukondayawe Pannasekera was on Buddhism. This would have strengthened the Sinhala Buddhist nature of the organization.

Before long SWRD had successfully welded SMS into a monolith. SMS soon emerged as a political force and eventually, SMS superseded the Ceylon National Congress as an influential political organization. SMS provided a much needed link between nationalism, the Buddhist resurgence, and the national heritage associated with Buddhism” said Wiswa.  A national committee was formed in 1941.

Leftist forces openly campaigned against SWRD saying SMS has been formed to fight the minorities.  However, N.M.Perera, while criticizing SMS for its communal bias, said that SMS had aroused an apathetic Buddhist public to a full recognition of its rights. SWRD often held meetings in Anuradhapura, to draw public attention to the need to reawaken the ancient heritage, observed Wiswa. SMS held its meetings in rural centers.

The Sinhala Maha Sabha was not a political Party in the modern sense of the word, said Wiswa Warnapala.  It was a loosely knit pressure group which revolved around one personality, SWRD. SMS played a pioneering role in the construction of a mass base in politics. This was more significant than the arrival of the Marxists, said Wiswa.  It was the beginning of the road to 1956, said Meegama.  Wiswa, on the other hand, observed that SWRD   saw the SMS only as an intermediate venture, ‘a passing role’, on the way to wider national unity.

SMS met with much opposition from vested interest, as well as non Buddhists and non Sinhalese. SMS was dubbed an extreme Sinhala organization. SWRD was called a chauvinist   SMS was dubbed an extreme Sinhala organization. Leftists were scornful. The emerging professional class also protested.

The Christian sector spearheaded a virulent campaign against the SMS. They said there was no need for a SMS. The CNC and the Mahajana sabha are both completely Sinhalese.  The SMS was ‘avowedly and unashamedly Sinhala, much more than the CNC and the Mahajana sabhas’. This segment was also very critical of SWRD. They did not like his rise in politics.  They feared and resented his influence.

Wiswa Warnapala assessed the SMS. It provided a link between nationalism and Buddhist resurgence, and the national heritage associated with Buddhism. SMS held its meetings in rural areas. SWRD often held them in Anuradhapura, to draw public attention to the need to reawaken the ancient heritage.

This link was much more significant than the arrival of the Marxists, continued Wiswa. Even SWRD’s marriage helped. It was a union between a first rank family of the lowlands and a first rank family of the Udarata. SMS superseded CNC as an influential political organization. CNC specialized in the politics of the Europeanized middle class. Now it was necessary to have a nationalist platform for expressing Sinhala nationalism, concluded Wiswa.

SWRD was a member of the two State Councils set up under British administration. SWRD was elected unopposed from Veyangoda to the first State Council of 1931.  He was elected unopposed to the second State Council of 1936, too. He was also seen and heard on important political platforms. He spoke at the memorable Galle Face rally in 1937, in support of Bracegirdle.

SWRD was Minister of Local Government in the second State Council 1936–47,  One of SWRD actions as Minister was to declare Anuradhapura a sacred city. V.C. Jayasuriya, then Commissioner of Local government, said that SWRD had made many improvements to local government when he was Minister. The Abeywardene report (1999) also said that SWRD in 1936 was instrumental in preparing the necessary legislation and took steps to deliver development through the local government system.’

SWRD had revoked the Local Government Ordinance of 1920 under which local boards were created.  This led to the modernization of the local government institutions. SWRD had introduced the Gam Sabha Ordinance no 60 of 1938. The enactment of this Ordinance was a major landmark in the modernization of Gam sabhas. 

The subject of Health was added to his Ministry later on. George E de Silva was Minister of Health earlier. SWRD and George set up a countrywide network of maternity hospitals, rural hospitals and provided the service of trained midwives, said Meegama. together with the eradication of malaria,  these measures   of 1937-47,  helped to lower infant mortality and maternal mortality,  to what was a record low for a third world country, he said.

SWRD played an important role in the independence negotiations. This is not well known. In the 1940s, the issue of independence had advanced to the vital stage of drafting the conditions of independence. State Council needed persons who could interpret a document and spot hidden meanings and lapses.

The incisive mind of SWRD was particularly useful,” said Jennings. He saw our weak points with remarkable speed and expressed them with ruthless logic.  SWRD represented far more than DS the section of opinion which was suspicious of British intensions and therefore insisted on precautions that otherwise would not have been taken.”

Queens House also recognized SWRD .London had written to Colombo to say that the Secretary of State in London was not prepared to accept the ‘Ministers Draft’ but had read it with interest. SWRD who had called at Queens House on some other business, had been shown the document, even before DS Senanayake saw it. 

  When the independence negotiations were coming to a close, DS Senanayake had asked Sir Oliver Goonetilleke discuss with Bandaranaike as leader of the Sinhala Maha Sabha the draft agreements for independence. SWRD had viewed the draft with mixed feelings, but refrained from objecting. The agreement was signed, making way for Ceylon to gain self-rule.

When D. S. Senanayake presented the Soulbury Constitution to the State Council, Bandaranaike seconded the motion stating that he does so as the Sinhala Maha Sabha was the largest party in the State Council. It was also decided that DS would move the vote for Dominion status and SWRD would second it as the best debater and the leader of the Sinhala Maha sabha.

With Ceylon heading for self-rule, D. S. Senanayake invited Bandaranaike to combine his Sinhala Maha Sabha with other smaller parties into the United National Party (UNP) which Senanayake was forming to contest for the 1947 election  DS had asked CWW Kannangara and A. Ratnayake to speak to SWRD, who agreed to join the UNP.

The very first United National Party was therefore composed of Ceylon National Congress, Sinhala Maha Sabha, Muslim League and Moors Association. It was a coalition representing different shades of opinion from socialism to conservatism. Opposing the UNP were LSSP, BLP, CP and All Ceylon Tamil Congress.  The SMS was the most powerful group in the UNP, recalled Sirimavo Bandaranaike. His SMS was the most powerful group in the UNP. SWRD and his SMS constituted a vital segment of the UNP, agreed Wiswa. 

A general election was held in 1947. UNP won but did not get the sweeping victory it hoped for. it got  only 42 out of a total of 95 seats. This was a weak majority.  [1] The opposition said that the UNP   did not command the confidence of the country.  A certain group had wished to form an alternative government with SWRD at its head. They were going to build it ‘around the personality of SWRD’, said Meegama. This shows the importance of the personality of SWRD and the SMS.

This group met to discuss the possibility of creating an alternative government consisting of SMS, the Left and independent members, with SWRD as leader. Nearly 50 MPs had been prepared to support SWRD, said Wiswa.  The talks were held at ‘Yamuna’, the home of H. Sri Nissanka, on the initiative of H Sri Nissanka, IMRA Iriyagolle and Wilmot Perera,  who incidentally came from three different castes, Goigama, Karava and Salagama. These discussions were   known as the ‘Yamuna talks’. The exact dates are not available.

The Yamuna proposal became a near possibility but SWRD was reluctant said Wiswa.SWRD thought that DS should not be prevented from becoming the first Prime Minister of Ceylon. . This led to the breakdown of the talks. If the strategy of the Yamuna talks had succeeded, SWRD would have become the first Prime Minister of Ceylon, said Wiswa. Others agreed. H. Sri Nissanka thought that SWRD, had, on his own, missed an ideal opportunity, to become the first Prime Minister of Ceylon.

SWRD however rejected the proposal. Instead he  joined the UNP. SWRD later  explained that he thought the country needed a strong and stable government  at the time of independence. He added that the UNP would not have come into being, if not for him. D.S. Senanayake therefore became Prime Minister. SWRD was elected the Leader of the House. This made Bandaranaike the most senior member of the cabinet, after the Prime Minister.  

Vernon Mendis said, Even before he became Prime Minister SWRD gave a foretaste of his inborn statesmanship by his impressive role at the Asian Relations Conference held by Nehru in New Delhi in 1947,  where  SWRD presented his vision of Asia as a brotherhood of independent states.

Ceylon had sent a delegation of 20, for this Conference, led by SWRD. The calls for Asian Federation were endorsed by Solomon Bandaranaike of Ceylon and Aung San of Burma, reported one account.

SWRD wanted the portfolio of Agriculture and Land but was given Health and Local Government.  Dr. L.O Abeyratne, who was head of Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital, pleaded with SWRD to improve the hospital. So after much persuasion and difficulty SWRD managed to get funds allocated in the Budget for a completely new hospital.

He also got, again with difficulty, funds for improving Ratnapura hospital, which often got flooded by the Kalu Ganga.  But Kotelawala who headed the Ministry of transport and Works, including public works, was obstructing the Health Ministry building projects, so this   project did not even start. The UNP wanted to keep SWRD down, recalled Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

SWRD had thought that the UNP could be   turned into a truly national party,  under the direction of the SMS.  But his plan to convert  the UNP was not successful. SWRD had hoped to influence the UNP from within.  Instead he found his own position was being assailed from within. The leaders of the UNP were opposed to the SMS and its nationalist agenda. Opponents complained that SWRD had converted the All Ceylon Village Committee Conference to a political one.

SWRD was also unsuccessful when it came to policy. UNP was   reluctant to implement the clauses in the manifesto, with regard to language, religion and culture. SWRD failed to get legislation passed on these subjects.

SWRD made scathing reference to the UNP government. He said UNP was drifting to a one party dictatorship. SWRD also   complained that no important questions were ever placed before the  Executive Committee of the UNP. 

SWRD opponents objected to both SWRD’s politics and his speeches. SWRD had complained to the All Ceylon Village Committees Conference that the UNP had failed to implement the proposal of the SMS. UNP working committee asked SWRD to send in an explanation, which he did, saying the UNP should implement the policy set out in its manifesto, not hold tamashas.

The SMS held its annual sessions at Madampe in 1951. Several resolutions approved by the branch organizations of the SMS were unanimously passed. These Madampe resolutions included  the  need for an official language policy,  recognition of Buddhism, Sangha to be given  a special place, a national industrial policy, the  essential  services  to be in the hands of the state, implement recommendation of the Social services Commission, development of ayurveda,  improve  public services, banning horse racing and a sound foreign policy. SMS also decided to urge the government to implement the policies promised in the 1947 election.

UNP working committee said that under the UNP constitution, SMS could not place these resolutions before the UNP. According to the UNP constitution all constituent members were under the UNP and had to conform to its rules and ‘loyally accept all decisions of the UNP.’   further, the Madampe resolutions went against the policy of the UNP and they could not be accepted.

SMS  sent a deputation to DS,  without any result. SMS pointed out that SMS has been sending resolutions to the working committee for the last four years.  Also that UNP permitted resolutions to be presented at the annual conference.

The Madampe resolutions were the  precipitating event.  SWRD was urged to leave the UNP. It was clear that DS did not intend to retire and make way for SWRD, though SWRD was considered the successor to DS Senanayake. 

In July 1951, SWRD left the government benches and crossed the floor of the House to the Opposition, followed by five others, including DA Rajapaksa. They expected more to follow but they did not. There were 18 SMS members in Parliament.

Crowds had gathered in front of Parliament to garland him and also at his house, recalled Sirimavo. SWRD had taken the precaution of keeping the SMS going. He had also given leadership to the Swabhasha movement and the Buddhist resurgence of the time. Crowds had gathered in front of Parliament to garland him and also at his house, recalled Sirimavo.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party was started on September 2^nd, 1951 at Colombo Town Hall. The public were informed of the launch and invited to the Town Hall to participate at the launch. A crowd estimated at over 10,000 attended.  The crowd had overflowed onto the verandah and the lawn of the Town Hall. The meeting was attended by bhikkhus, also Buddhist nuns. Some bhikkhus were   seen standing outside with the rest of the crowd.

The SLFP was built on the SMS, this is   forgotten today. Sinhala Maha Sabha had a formidable base, a network of pressure groups of the villages. SWRD utilized this to form the SLFP said Wiswa. The SMS, had taken care to maintain its political identity as a separate organization, and had continued its activities while functioning as part of the UNP government. 

In addition, SWRD had built up strong links with the local government agencies.  He had spoken before the various local government Conferences, every year. This became very useful when the SLFP was formed.  SWRD also  recruited political activists for his political party through the Gam Sabhas.

Throughout out the 1930s and 1940s Bandaranaike had created powerful pressure groups at the local level and the leaders of these organizations became a vital segment of the Party. The All Ceylon Village Committees Conference and the All Ceylon Ayurvedic Physicians Conference were activated to support the party. 

The name Sri Lanka Freedom Party was given by H Sri Nissanka. It is important to note that the word ‘Sinhala’ has been left out. This aversion to the word ‘Sinhala’ should be noted. SWRD was appointed President, with Badiuddin Mahmud and S. Thangarajah as joint secretaries. The Udarata Socialist Front   led by TB Ilangaratne dissolved into the SLFP.

SWRD formed the SLFP for two reasons. To offer a political party in  the middle ground between the UNP and the Marxist parties, and to provide a means of political expression for Sinhalese and Buddhist vested interests.

This brand new SLFP had to face a general election in May 1952.  It made an attempt to form a common front with leftist’s parties but failed.   SLFP had no cash and no suitable candidates, but it did quite well, observed Meegama. SLFP won 9 of 48 seats   got 15.5% of the vote and came second. SWRD became Leader of the Opposition. LSSP also got 9 seats out of 30. But SLFP secured more votes than LSSP.

SLFP came into existence to fulfill certain historical tasks, said Wiswa. It had identified certain interest groups, which taken together formed a kind of social movement.  SLFP had to cater to the needs of these interest groups..  Unlike the other parties, SLFP knew how to make use of these interest groups.

SLFP  had the support of the rural peasantry and the rural elite. Grass roots support constituted an important source of  recruitment.  The rural intelligentsia were the main stay of the party for decades, Wiswa added.

SLFP throughout the period of its existence successfully maintained organization unity, comparable stability and continuity as the major political formation of this country.

The SLFP has survived several crises. Powerful politicians were unable to oust the SLFP.  The party faced internal dissention but it never went into oblivion, due to its political and ideological resilience. SLFP is not a fragile organization. The Party was expected to remain loyal to its rural base. Rural forces never allowed the party to move in any other direction.

Sri Lanka  unlike other counties in Asia has not shown a dislike for party government.  The traditional two party rivalry is a very powerful factor in the rural   sector, and the party alignments are very sharp in those areas. Control of village politics has been a vital factor in political power and influence , observed Wiswa. (Continued)

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[1] W.A.Wiswa Warnapala. Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Godage. p 51

Dilrook Kannangara

This is very dangerous. These people are known to align with a certain political ideology that in my view is not in the best interests of SL.

Moragoda was the foreign minister under Ranil’s 2001 to 2004 regime that is known to be the most treacherous.

They presented a National Security Strategy for Sri Lanka 2020 and a Study on Managing Foreign Policy and Relations with the UN System to President Rajapaksa. Any such policy must be widely discussed. A policy created by a small group of people who don’t even represent SL is not valid.

What is going on behind the scenes? Why weren’t these presented to media? I smell a rotten rat.

The Pathfinder Foundation has set up a study group chaired by Pathfinder Senior Fellow and former Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, to prepare a set of action-oriented recommendations aimed at steering the Sri Lankan economy into the post-COVID-19 era.

Dr. Sisira Pinnawala, Department of Sociology University of Peradeniya, and Dr. Ganeshan Wiganaraja, Executive Director Lakshsman Kadirgamar Institute, will serve as principal authors for this initiative. The report is expected to be presented to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by the end of April.

Other members of the Study Group, which will consist of twenty leaders from academia, research and the private sector, include Prof. Sirimal Abeyratne, Prof. Saroj Jayasinghe, Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, Prof. Muttukrishna Sarvanthan, Ashroff Omar, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Krishan Balendra and Mohamed Mushin.

Recently the Pathfinder Foundation was responsible for preparing 1) a National Security Strategy for Sri Lanka 2020 and 2) a Study on Managing Foreign Policy and Relations with the UN System. Both of which were presented to President Rajapaksa.

Pathfinder sets up eminent panel to prepare post-COVID-19 economic strategy | Daily FT